USA > Indiana > Clay County > A History of Clay County Indiana (Volume 2) > Part 24
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On January 5, 1869, Mr. Ward married Carrie A. Beach. She was born March 12, 1848, at Point Commerce, Greene county, Indiana, a daughter of James and Agnes Beach. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Ward, of whom but one, Dona E., is now living. Cora B. died when seventeen years old; Pearl F., who married H. P. Ingersoll, died at the age of thirty-nine years, leaving one child, Bessie Ingersoll; and Freddie died at the age of two and one-half years. In early man- hood Mr. Ward joined Worthington Lodge, No. 137, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is the only one of the members now alive belonging at that time.
CAPTAIN EDWARD A. THOMPSON, who died at his home in Bowling Green, Clay county, on the 23rd of November, 1905, had already entered the seventy-fifth year of his age, and since early boyhood the strong and the good influences of that long life had been devoted to the development of Washington township along many lines of endeavor and progress. He was born in Jackson county, Indiana, September 7, 1831, a son of John D. and Elizabeth A. (Elsey) Thompson, the former, of Scotch- Irish extraction, being a native of Kentucky, born on the 10th of Jan- uary, 1793, and the mother, of German descent, was a native of Vir- ginia, born on the 15th of September, 1796. The father died April 13, 1881, at the age of eighty-nine years, and his widow passed away Jan- uary 16, 1886. John D. Thompson first bought a farm in sections 16 and 17, Washington township, where the family resided for about two years, when he bought a hotel in Bowling Green, which he conducted until it was destroyed by fire. The homestead was then re-established on the old farm, but the parents finally returned to the town, where they passed their last years.
Edward A. Thompson came to Clay county from Jackson county, Indiana, when he was but a boy, and received his education in the dis- trict schools of Washington township. He had mastered the tailor's trade by the time he had reached his majority, but found that vocation too sedentary, and associated himself with a Mr. Hopkins in cabinet making, continuing to be thus engaged until the commencement of the Civil war. In the meantime he had become so proficient in instrumental music that he enlisted in 1861 as a member of the band attached to the Fourteenth Indiana Regiment, and in that capacity participated in a por- tion of the Virginia campaign of the Army of the Potomac. Desiring more active military service, in 1862 he joined the ranks of Company D, Seventy-first Indiana Infantry, but was elected first lieutenant, and as such participated in the battle of Richmond August 30 of that year. In that engagement he was severely wounded in the shoulder with a piece of shell, was soon after captured and paroled, returning to his home until he recovered from his injury. Upon the re-organization of the Seventy- first Infantry as the Sixth Indiana Cavalry, Lieutenant Thompson was promoted to be captain of Company M, which he helped to recruit, and served in that capacity throughout the war. The command with which he was identified was a part of the Army of the Cumberland, and its
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chief scene of operations embraced Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia. Captain Thompson served with Stoneman and Kilpatrick in their celebrated raids, and was seriously wounded at the battle of Pulaski, Tennessee, in 1864. When he retired from service he was a major in the army.
At the conclusion of his military service Captain Thompson re- turned to the cultivation of his farm in section 16, Washington township, which he had purchased from his father, but in 1882 he moved to Bowling Green and formed a partnership with his brother in the dry- goods business. He thus continued until 1886, when he retired from active business, and continued in comfortable circumstances until the time of his death in 1905. The deceased was an old and honored mem- ber of the M. E. church of Bowling Green, and was also identified with the local Masonic lodge and the G. A. R. post. He was a man of many and warm friends, a brave soldier, and an active and able citizen.
Captain Thompson was married October 31, 1854, to Miss Cordelia Sutliff, born in Lafayette, Indiana, November 3, 1833, daughter of Cur- tis H. and Jane ( Blanton ) Sutliff. The father was a native of Kinsman, Trumbull county. Ohio, and the mother was born in Virginia. Mrs. Thompson was quite a young child when her father died and her mother moved with the family to Bowling Green, where she resided until her death, February 15, 1894. Captain and Mrs. Thompson were the parents of four children, as follows: Alice, deceased; Clinton M., whose biog- raphy is given elsewhere; Florence, who died in infancy; and John D. Thompson. The last named and youngest child was born in Bowling Green, being educated in the schools of that place and the district schools of Washington township. Except that for two years he assisted his father in his store, he has spent all his life on the farm.
BENJAMIN F. KESTER, who is farming in Perry township, was born in Guernsey county, Ohio, August 26, 1840. His father, Jesse Kester, was born in Pennsylvania, and in his early life taught school during the winter months and clerked in a store in the summers. He was a son of John and Martha ( Hartley ) Kester, who were born respectively in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and in 1847 he came to Perry township, Clay county, Indiana, and bought eighty acres of timber land, which he at once began to clear and improve, but in 1851 he sold that farm and bought forty acres in section 21, Perry township, which now joins Cory on the southeast, but the town at that time had not been laid out. He died on the farm that he had sold, in August of 1851. In 1833, in Ohio, Mr. Kester had married Lydia E. Webster, who was also born in Penn- sylvania, a daughter of Joseph and Margaret (Gray) Webster, natives of Pennsylvania. After the death of her husband Mrs. Kester moved to a farm in section 21, which was her home until 1865, and thereafter until her death she lived among her children, dying in Greene county in 1897. In their family were four sons and three daughters, and all are yet living with the exception of two, and three are living in the vicinity of Cory.
Benjamin F. Kester, the fourth born of the seven children, devoted his early life to farm labor, and in August of 1862 he enlisted in the Eighty-fifth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, Company I, and was assigned to the Army of the Cumberland. He took part in many of the decisive battles of the war, having been at Rawley, North Carolina, at the time of the surrender of General Johnson, and he also participated in the
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siege and fall of Atlanta, receiving his final discharge in June of 1865, and he was mustered out at Washington, D. C. After returning from the war Mr. Kester bought a forty acre farm in the western part of Clay county, which he sold a few years afterward, and in 1872 bought the old family homestead from John West, who had previously purchased it from Mr. Kester's mother, and the land was only partially improved when it came into the possession of the latter. He has since, however, converted it into one of the finest and best improved places in Perry township.
Mr. Kester was married on the 22d of February, 1866, to Mary Knight, who was born in section 21, Perry township, a daughter of Sam- uel and Matilda (Donham) Knight, he born in Vigo county, Indiana, and she in Clermont county, Ohio, and the grandparents were Joseph Knight and John and Susan ( Reece) Donham, the latter born respectively in Ohio and Pennsylvania. In 1833 the Donhams came to what has since been apportioned as section 21 in Perry township, but this section of country was then in its primitive state, and Mrs. Knight has lived in this section since that formative period with the exception of three months spent in Vigo county, and can recall to mind the time when the wild ani- mals roamed at will in this vicinity. She was born on the 5th of April, 1826, and since 1900 has resided in the home of Mr. Kester. She is active in both mind and body, and possessing a retentive memory can recall many pleasant reminiscences of the early days of Clay county. She has been a second time married, wedding in September, 1848, Milton H. Pearcy, who was born in Kentucky, and died on the 5th of June, 1900. They had the following children: Elmira, deceased; Silas E .; Oliver Newton; Sarah A., the wife of John Jeffers; James H., of Brazil; and George and Wilson W., also of that city. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Kester are: John J., who died in infancy; Laura A., the wife of Miller Ray, of Vigo county, Indiana; Clarence Almon, of Perry township; and Leo Carl, at home with his parents. Mr. Kester is a Republican politi- cally, and he is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, Cory Post No. 477. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
JOHN A. KRIDER, well known to the business public of Brazil as proprietor of the Globe Grocery, was born in Christian county, Illinois, April 28, 1860. He comes of German ancestry and in his life manifests many of the sterling traits of the German race. His parents were Con- rad and Malinda (Ables) Krider, the former a native of Hanover, born in September, 1818. Coming to this country as passenger on a sailing vessel, he landed in New York city in 1848 after a voyage of eleven weeks. Eventually he drifted westward to Cincinnati, Ohio, and worked on a farm in that part of the country. Later he continued on his west- ward way to Franklin county, Indiana, and it was there that he met and married Miss Malinda Ables, who was born in that county in 1825. They began their domestic life upon a farm in Franklin county, where they lived for some time and then removed to Christian county, Illinois, where Mr. Krider carried on general agricultural pursuits until the fall of 1860. He then returned to Indiana, settling in Williamstown, Clay county. It was not his intention of locating there when he again came to this state, but he went to visit over night with his friend, Isham Yocum, who induced him to buy land in that locality and locate there. This he
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did and in his farming operations won success, continuing at that place up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1893 when he was seventy- five years of age. His wife passed away in 1893 at the age of sixty- eight years. They were devoted and faithful members of the New Light or Christian church and Mr. Krider gave his political allegiance to the Democracy. In their family were five sons, of whom four yet survive : George M., Anthony, William and John A. The last named remained at home with his parents until he reached adult years and the public schools acquainted him with the common branches of English learning, while lessons of industry, enterprise and diligence were impressed upon his mind by his parents. On reaching his majority he engaged in clerk- ing for a short time in a grocery store and then, ambitious to engage in business on his own account, he engaged in the grocery business with George W. Bevis, with whom he continued until 1881. In that year he disposed of his interest and for a short time engaged in clerking for W. H. Tiffey. With his former partner he then re-entered the grocery store on West Main street, where they conducted a successful business until the winter of 1883, when they were burned out. Not discouraged by this disaster, however, they resumed business in the fall of 1884 in the Thomas Block, conducting their store there for a time, after which they again sold out. Mr. Krider then engaged in clerking for Mr. Booth for one year, when he formed a partnership with Ed Brake and purchased a grocery store, which they conducted together for about five years, when they sold out to Owen T. Stark. Mr. Krider received for his interest one hundred and twenty acres of land in Lewis township, Clay county, In- diana, and removed onto this farm in August of that year, but he did not find agricultural life congenial and in the following November returned to Brazil, securing a clerkship in the store of Daniel Davis. In the mean- time he was looking out for a favorable opening in the business world and soon purchased the grocery store of Mr. Stark and entered business with A. O. Reubelt. Although this venture proved unprofitable, Mr. Krider deserves great credit for the fact that he paid up every dollar in full, working earnestly until this task was accomplished. Later he joined Marion Houk in the conduct of a grocery store, which they carried on together for about five years, when Mr. Krider bought out Mr. Houk's interest in the business on the 16th of December, 1901, and has carried on the store alone to the present time. He conducts business under the style of the Globe Grocery and has a well appointed establishment, carry- ing a large and carefully selected line of staple and fancy groceries. His stock is tastefully arranged and the neat and attractive appearance of his store is one of the elements of his success. He is also reasonable in his prices, straightforward in his dealings and earnest in his efforts to please his customers, so that his business has steadily increased.
In 1883 Mr. Krider was united in marriage to Miss Mary B. War- ner, a native of Illinois and a daughter of Derrick and Amanda Warner, who were natives of Kentucky. The father died in Brazil but the mother is still living. He removed from Kentucky to Illinois soon after his marriage and in the latter state engaged in farming for some time. He afterward took up his abode in Parke county, Indiana, where he fol- lowed farming. Subsequently he removed to Brazil, where he opened a meat market and in that city spent his remaining days, becoming widely known as a reliable and enterprising business man. His political views accorded with the principles of Democracy and he was a devoted member
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of the Christian church, to which his widow still belongs. In their family were ten children: David, who served as deputy sheriff of this county but is now deceased ; Eliza A .; Amanda, now Mrs. A. O. Reubelt ; Charles; Thomas; Margaret; Mrs. Krider; N. N .; Albert and Dovie, who are deceased.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Krider have been born five children: Albert Ray, at home; Sadie, who died in infancy; Derrick Conrad, Lilliard Smith and Jack Davis, all yet under the parental roof. The parents are members of the Christian church and are highly esteemed for their many good traits of character, having here an extensive circle of friends. Mr. Krider votes with the Democracy and fraternally is connected with Brazil Lodge, No. 215, I. O. O. F., Iron City Encampment, No. 118, and the Modern Woodmen of America. Although in his business career all days have not been equally bright, he has persevered in a persistent pur- pose and has ultimately gained a satisfactory reward. In an analyzation of his life and work it will be found that his prosperity has come as the result of a careful recognition and utilization of his opportunities, com- bined with a fidelity to business principles which neither seek nor require disguise.
CLAYTON C. CHAMBERS .- Clay county has been signally favored in the class of men who have occupied her public offices, for with few ex- ceptions they have been citizens of ability and of public virtue, interested in discharging their duties to the best of their ability in behalf of the community at large. Such a record was made by Joseph M. Chambers, formerly county recorder of Clay county, to which position Clayton C. Chambers succeeded upon his father's death. He is one of the native sons of the county, his birth having here occurred July 26, 1882. His parents were Joseph M. and Susan (Lambert) Chambers. The father was born in Clay county, Indiana, September 15, 1848, and died Septem- ber 28, 1906. The mother, who was born in Hart county, Kentucky, June 1, 1862, gave her hand in marriage to Mr. Chambers on the 28th of February, 1878, and they became parents of four children: Ola, Clayton C., Bessie L. and Addie May. The father was a farmer by occupation and a representative of one of the old pioneer families of Clay county. His parents were Marshall and Betsy (Crevison) Chambers, the former a native of Indiana and the latter of Kentucky. It will thus be seen that the great-grandparents in the paternal line were residents of this state, locating here when the great district comprised within the borders of Indiana was largely a wild and unimproved region, which they as- sisted in reclaiming and converting into the uses of civilization. The maternal grandparents of Clayton C. Chambers were William and Pricy (Polly) Lambert, both of whom were natives of Kentucky, in which state they were reared and married. The former is now deceased but the latter is still living at the age of seventy-two years. She had a family of four children, of whom two sons and a daughter yet survive, Mrs. Joseph M. Chambers being the youngest child. Mr. Lambert was a soldier of the Civil war for three and a half years, valorous and loyal to the cause he espoused when on the field of battle. The last six years of his life were spent in Clay county, Indiana, where he died in his fifty-ninth year.
Joseph M. Chambers was a farmer by occupation and carried on general agricultural pursuits until 1904, when he was elected county recorder. He had previously served as township trustee of Lewis town-
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ship for five years and in public office was always prompt, accurate and faithful in the discharge of his duties. During the period of hostilities between the north and the south he enlisted for active service with Com- pany C of the Forty-third Regiment of Indiana Volunteers for three years or during the war, and at the front met all of the experiences inci- dent to military life. His political allegiance was given to the Republican party and upon that ticket he was elected to the office of county recorder, in which position he served until his demise. He was the only candi- date on the republican ticket elected to a county office that year-a fact which was strongly indicative of his personal popularity and the confi- dence and trust reposed in him by his fellowmen. He was long a de- voted member of the Baptist church and in his younger days was affiliated with the Order of Red Men. He likewise belonged to the Masonic Lodge at Lewis, Indiana, and when called to his final rest was accorded the honors of a Masonic burial. In business life, in public office and in home and social relations he ever commanded the respect and good will of those with whom he was associated and his name is now enrolled with the honored dead of Clay county.
Reared upon the home farm in this county, Clayton C. Chambers pursued his education in the graded schools of Lewis township, and after his father's election to the office of county recorder he became his assistant. Two years later, upon his father's death, he was chosen to succeed him in the position November 1, 1906. His previous experience had well qualified him for the capable discharge of his duties and his appointment was a gratification to his many friends who recognize his worth and fidelity. He is yet a young man but has full appreciation of the responsibilities that devolve upon him and in the discharge of his duties is proving himself worthy of the public trust. Like his father, he has given his political support to the Republican party since attaining his majority.
WILLIAM D. STEWART .- Among the representatives of commercial interests in Brazil is numbered William D. Stewart, who is successfully conducting a grocery store. He deserves representation in this volume by reason of the fact that he is closely associated with the present progress and prosperity of the city and also because he is a representative of one of the old pioneer families of the county. He was born in Williamstown, this county, September 5, 1851, his parents being James Harvey and Henrietta (Yocom) Stewart, both of whom were natives of Kentucky, the former born January 27, 1827, and the latter in 1829. Coming to Indiana in early life they were married near Cloverland, in Posey town- ship, Clay county, and three children were born unto them, but two have passed away, leaving William D. Stewart, the second child, as the only survivor. The wife and mother died in 1853 and the father after- ward married Catharine Russell, a native of Pennsylvania. Unto them were born five children, four daughters and a son, all of whom have passed away with the exception of the eldest, Mary, who is now the wife of Jacob Earlish, Sr. The father, James Harvey Stewart, left an orphan when quite young, was bound out to a Mr. Rogers near Crawfordsville, Indiana. While working for Mr. Rogers, they many times drove from Montgomery county to Cincinnati, Ohio, with wheat and there traded it for salt, bushel for bushel, showing the condition of the times then. When twenty years of age he hired a young man to serve out his time
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with Mr. Rogers, while he enlisted as a soldier of the United States army in the war with Mexico in 1847. He was honorably discharged the following year and returned to Indiana, after which he engaged in teaching school. Later he located in Turner, Indiana, in the blacksmith's business and subsequently carried on a shop at Williamstown and also in Staunton, where he died on the 12th of October, 1871. In politics he was a Union Democrat. In pioneer days he was a resident of Clay county and belonged to that class of representative men who in the faith- ful performance of each day's duties ably upheld the best interests of the community and promoted its general progress and improvement.
William D. Stewart in his boyhood days assisted his father in the blacksmith shop and was early taught the value of industry and energy as factors in active business life. In the winter months he attended school and in his youth he worked to some extent in coal mines, being thus en- gaged until April, 1883, when he entered the employ of Webster & Van Cleave, proprietors of a general mercantile establishment at Staunton. He was with that house for two years and in 1885 engaged in business on his own account, opening a meat market in Staunton, which he conducted successfully for about four years, when in 1889 he removed to Brazil and opened a grocery store. Here he has carried on business contin- uously since and in 1905 he built one of the first store buildings located in Brazil with cement floor throughout. He has a neat and tastefully arranged store, carrying a large and well selected line of staple and fancy groceries and as the years have passed has enjoyed a constantly increas- ing trade, which has come to him in recognition of his straightforward dealing, his earnest desire to please his patrons and his reasonable prices.
On the 13th of October, 1875, Mr. Stewart was united in marriage to Miss Juretta B. Kirk, who was born in Brazil, Indiana, May 19, 1854, a daughter of William and Sarah ( Myers) Kirk. Her father was born in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1816 and died in 1883, while his wife, a native of. Orange county, Indiana, born in 1816, passed away in 1897. They were married in Clay county, this state, in 1836. The father came to Indiana in 1832 when fifteen years of age, driving across the country with teams from the old home in Kentucky to Orange county, Indiana. He made the trip in company with his parents and in 1836 he became a resident of Clay county, where he built a log cabin in the midst of the wilderness upon the present site of the town of Staunton. He aided in the pioneer development of that locality and subsequently removed to the site of Brazil. There he built a log house in the midst of the green woods, for the district was then an unbroken wilderness, giving no evi- dence of the influences of progress and civilization. He assisted in clear- ing away the timber and lived at that place until 1852, when he removed to Bridgeton, where he worked at the cooper's trade for James Mulli- gan, for about three years. He then returned to his first location in Clay county and in 1862 removed to Sullivan, Illinois, where he worked at the cooper's trade until 1866. In that year he again came to Clay county and spent his last days in Staunton. In politics he was a Democrat and both he and his wife were members of the Christian church. The family numbered nine children, including Mrs. Stewart.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Stewart have been born five children: Frances Annie, the wife of Monroe Williams; Sarah Catherine, the wife of Ben- jamin Cheek ; Ralph William J .; Ray Austin; and Elizabeth La Vern.
In politics Mr. Stewart was a stalwart Democrat for many years,
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