A History of Clay County Indiana (Volume 2), Part 4

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

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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY

in the bakery business here for forty years, conducting an enterprise which is now one of the oldest and best established business interests of the city. He has always followed most honorable methods in his trade relations and has given to the public excellent products, so that through- out the intervening years he has enjoyed a profitable and constantly growing trade.

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Plumb have been born nine children : Maria M., the wife of William Bubb; Rebecca Anna, the wife of H. V. Sherburne ; Emily Ann, the widow of H. Ahlemeyer; Nellie, the wife of F. J. Plott ; John William; Charles; William II .; Ralph H., and George, who is deceased.

Mr. Plumb votes with the Democracy and has been somewhat promi- nent in its local ranks, while his fellow townsmen recognizing his worth and ability have called him to office. He served for four years as county assessor and for four years as a member of the city council and in both positions ably discharged his duties, so that no shadow of wrong or suspi- cion of evil fell upon his official career. Without ostentation or any desire for praise he has labored earnestly for the welfare of his city and his efforts have redounded to its credit and benefit. He has never had occasion to regret his determination to make America his home, for he has not only found prosperity here but also a good home and many friends and is sincerely attached to the stars and stripes-the symbol of this great country and her free institutions.

. WILLIAM C. STEINER .- The native born citizens of Harrison town- ship have as an excellent representative William C. Steiner, of Clay City, the son of Christian Steiner, one of the pioneers of this part of Indiana. He remembers the country when it was in its original wildness, the beasts of the forest roaming at large, and the Indians being numerous. The people lived in a most primitive manner, scarce even dreaming of the conveniences and comforts of to-day, which were made possible through their unremitting labors and privations. A life-long resident of Clay county, he was born December 10, 1852, of honored Swiss ancestry, his father and his grandfather, Peter Steiner, having been born in Canton Berne, Switzerland.

Peter Steiner worked at the carpenter's trade in his native canton, but with the small wages that he received found it hard to make more than a meagre living for his family. Therefore, in 1831. he emigrated with his wife and seven children to America, locating in Holmes county, Ohio, where he subsequently bought a home and worked at his trade of a carpenter until his death. After his death his wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Mosser, came to Indiana to live with her children, and died at the age of eighty-seven years in Clay county. She reared seven children, as follows: Annie, Elizabeth, Christian, John, Uriah, Peter and Annie Elizabeth.

Born in Canton Berne in 1817, in the month of September, Christian Steiner was in his fifteenth year when he crossed the ocean with his parents. He had attended school quite regularly in Switzerland, and after coming to this country learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed for a number of years in Holmes county, Ohio. In 1852, char- acterized by the same motives that had previously inspired his father. he sought a more favorable location in which to bring up his family, and, accompanied by his wife, came with teams to Indiana, being two

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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY

weeks in crossing the intervening country. Entering eighty acres of land in section fifteen, Harrison township, he built a log house, and in this primitive dwelling all of his children excepting the youngest were born. He met with encouraging success from the first, and in the course of time had his land finely improved, while a substantial frame house. barn. and other necessary farm buildings had been erected. There he lived happy and contented until his death, January 10, 1901. He married, in Holmes county, Ohio, Mary A. Baumgartner. She was born March 16, 1830, in Canton Berne, Switzerland, a daughter of Nicholas and Barbara (Mosser) Baumgartner, who were the parents of ten children, as follows: Christian, Elizabeth, Catherine, Samuel, Mary, Ann Eliza- beth, Frederick, Simon, Philip and Caroline. The first five were born in Switzerland, the next was born on the ocean while the family were en route to this country, and four were born in Ohio. Nicholas Baum- gartner emigrated with his family to America in 1832, and settled first in Holmes county, Ohio. Buying a tract of heavily timbered land, he cleared a part of it, then sold at an advantage, and subsequently bought and improved three other tracts of timber, the last one that he purchased being in Wyandot county, Ohio, where he improved a valuable farm of one hundred and twenty acres, on which he resided until his death in middle life. His widow survived him several years, dying in Upper Sandusky, Ohio. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Christian Steiner was blessed by the birth of eight children, namely: William C., Sophia, Eliza- beth, Caroline, George, Catherine, Henry and Matilda. Since the death of her husband Mrs. Steiner has lived with her son Henry and his family on the old homestead in Harrison township, a hale and hearty woman both mentally and physically strong. Her eight children are all living, and she has now thirty-two grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Both she and her husband were reared in the faith of the Reformed church.

William C. Steiner obtained his rudimentary education in the humble log building that was used for both schoolhouse and church. The seats were plain slabs, without backs, and no desks in front, the pupils learning to write on a board placed along the side of the room. It was a sub- scription school, and the minister, who was the teacher. taught nothing but German. At the age of sixteen years he attended the first free public school established in the township. Leaving home on attaining his major- ity, Mr. Steiner learned the carpenter's trade, which he has followed until the present time, his residence since 1881 having been in Clay City.

Mr. Steiner married, in 1881, Rhoda Burkhart, who was born Jan- uary 18, 1851, in Coshocton county, Ohio, a daughter of Philip and Mary ( Riddle) Burkhart. Mr. and Mrs. Steiner have but one child, Effie, who married Claude Markle, and has two children, Grace and Gretchen. In religious matters Mr. Steiner and his wife are consistent members of the Presbyterian church.

WILLIAM H. BUBB, one of the leading business men and citizens of Brazil, was born in New Berlin, Union county, Pennsylvania, December 20, 1844, a son of Harry and Esta Ann ( Whitman) Bubb. The father, horn in Berks county, Pennsylvania, was a contractor and builder and came to Brazil. Indiana, in the spring of 1867 and assisted in building the first blast furnace erected in the west. After spending about four years in Brazil he returned to Pennsylvania, erecting many blast furnaces

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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY

in that state, and he was an expert in that line of work. He spent his last days in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, and died at the age of fifty-eight years. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity and of the German Reformed church, and was a Democrat politically. Mrs. Bubb was born in Mont- gomery county, Pennsylvania, and died when eighty years of age. They were married in Pennsylvania and became the parents of six children, five daughters and a son, but only three, Elizabeth, Emma and William, are now living.

William H. Bubb received his educational training in the schools of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, his father having moved there in 1849, and in April of 1867 he came to Indiana and to Brazil. He had previously studied mining engineering at the State College of Pennsylvania, and he with his fellows of junior and senior classes enlisted in a body at the time of Confederate invasion of Pennsylvania in 1864. Afterward he enlisted in the three months' service for the Civil war and re-enlisted in Com- pany C. Fifteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry, for one year or during the war. He served in all eleven months, and after being mustered out at Nashville, Tennessee, he returned to the Pennsylvania college and took a partial course, receiving the degree of B. S. Coming to Brazil în 1867. he began work as a mining engineer and helped his father to erect the first furnace in the west. In 1868 he made a western trip, going as far as southern Kansas and there enjoying the free life of a cow boy, until he went on to Jacksboro, Texas, from whence he drove sixteen head of cattle to where Coffeeville is now located, where they were bought by York and Tileston, who had the government contract to provide food for the Osage Indians. From there Mr. Bubb came east in the fall of 1869 as far as Springfield, Missouri, where he met Captain J. M. Johnson, of the Seventh Cavalry, and with him went down the White river to engage in the stock business. It was in 1871 that Mr. Bubb returned to Brazil, but after a short time went again to Missouri, to Stone county, where he contracted chills and fever and once more returned to Brazil. For a time afterward he was the mining superintendent for the Gartsherrie Coal & Mining Company, but received an injury while there which forced him to engage in office work, and for seven years thereafter he served in that capacity for the Vandalia Railroad Company. He then became the bookkeeper for the Jackman Coal & Mining Company, and is now the secretary for the Clay County Building & Loan Association. He served as a member of the city council in 1894-5, and during his term of office the first city water works was reconstructed and he was a member of the committee on street and alleys. In 1895 he was appointed to serve an unexpired term as mayor, and during his administration in this high office the remodeling of the city water works was inaugurated and the city buildings were purchased. E. S. Holliday, the present congressman, was also a member of the council at that time.

In December, 1871, Mr. Bubb married Millicent M. Plumb, who was born in London, England, the daughter of William and Millicent ( Mayo) Plumb, both of whom were also born in the mother country, and they are now living in Brazil, Indiana. They were married in London, and of their nine children eight are now living: Mrs. Bubb; Rebecca, now Mrs. Sheburne ; Emma, now Mrs. Ahlemeyer ; John; Charles ; William ; Nellie, now Mrs. Platt, and Ralph. Mr. Plumb, the father, was a baker by trade in London, and he made the voyage to this country in a sailing vessel some time in the '50s, finally drifting west to Greene county, Indiana,

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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY

from whence after a short time he removed to Vigo county, Indiana, then to Parke county, and then returned to England, spending about four years in the land of his birth, when he then came again to this country and to Indiana. He located in Clay county in 1868. He came to Brazil, but left this city for Knightsville, returning later to Brazil. He is a Democrat politically, and served one term each as a member of the city council and as assessor. Of the three children born to Mr. and Mrs. Bubb two are now living, and the elder is Harry W., who was first mar- ried to 'Zetta Decker, a daughter of Jesse A. Decker, and they had three children. After her death he married Edith Fuh, by whom he has one child. The other child is Grace, now Mrs. Geo. F. Volt, of St. Louis, Mo. One child died in infancy. Mr. Bubb gives his political support to the Republican party, and fraternally is a member of the Knights of Pythias and Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

JOHN W. CRICHFIELD .- Among the many men of energy and enter- prise that are so ably assisting in the agricultural development and advancement of Clay county is John W. Crichfield, who, on his well- improved and well-kept farm in Lewis township, is actively engaged in general farming and stock-raising. A son of John Crichfield, he was born, December 9, 1858, in the township where he is now living. His grandfather, Absalom Crichfield, was one of the early settlers of Greene county, Indiana, moving there, it is supposed, from Pennsylvania. He afterwards came to Lewis township, Clay county, bought timbered land in section 20, and on the farm which he improved lived for some time. When unable longer to manage his land, he made his home with his children, living retired from active pursuits until his death, when upwards of sixty years old. The maiden name of his wife was Elizabeth Jolly.

Born, without doubt, in Washington township, Greene county, Indi- ana, John Crichfield came with his parents in pioneer days to Lewis town- ship, and was here bred and educated. Arriving at man's estate, he entered eighty acres of government land in section seven, south half of northwest quarter. The land was heavily timbered, with the exception of six acres partially cleared. Building a hewed log house, which is still standing, he improved a good farm, and there was engaged in tilling the soil for thirty years. Selling out then, he removed to Missouri and finally to Illinois, and is now a resident of Normal, McLean county. He married Amanda Kester, a native of Illinois, and a daughter of William M. and ( Mosier) Kester. They became the parents of eleven children, seven of whom grew to years of maturity, as follows: Jesse F .; John W .; Eliza Bryce; William; Martha Robison; Frances M .; and George Riley.

Brought up on the farm, John W. Crichfield received a practical common school education, and under his father's instructions was well drilled in the numerous branches of agriculture. After his marriage, he followed mining for a long time, being employed in Clay City for eight years, and in Hymera, Sullivan county, for nine years. Resuming then the free and independent occupation to which he was reared, Mr. Crich- field for three years rented land in Jackson township, Sullivan county, after which he bought his present farm, lying in sections seven and eight, and has since devoted his time and attention to its care and culture, carry- ing on general farming most successfully.

Mr. Crichfield has been twice married. He married first, in March,

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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY

1881. Annie M. Burns, a daughter of John and Catherine (Coulson) Burns, of Lewis township, born in 1861. She died July 1, 1896, leaving three children, Samuel. Elwood, and Lena. Mr. Crichfield married second. October 8, 1889, Clara B. Brock. She was born in Jackson town- ship. Sullivan county, Indiana, June 18, 1870. a daughter of Elijah and Susan (Saunders) Brock. There were two sons and four daughters in the Brock family, and all are living. Joseph L., a resident of Hymera, Indiana, and a miner, married Miss Etta Nelson. They have five chil- dren : Lester. Elva, Roosevelt, Emma and Noble. Wm. E., residing in Jackson township, Sullivan county, is a farmer and married Flora Griffith. There are three children: Russell, Foster and Forrest (twins). Frances E., wedded James R. Liston, a farmer and resident of Clay county, and has two children, Paul and Leland. Dora A. is the wife of Thomas R. Nelson, a resident of Hymera, Indiana, and a salesman. They have three sons: Manley, Randolph and Harry. Lucretia R., wife of John Fox, a telegrapher, residing in Casey, Illinois, has one daughter, Juniata Belle. Clara ( Mrs. Crichfield ). Father Brock was a soldier in Civil war, serving four years, and was a prisoner thirteen months. He resides in Hymera and is a retired farmer. The mother is deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Crichfield have three children, namely : Willard, Ralph and Maston Beecher. Religiously Mr. Crichfield is a member of the Free Methodist church, and Mrs. Crichfield belongs to the Missionary Baptist church.

HON. ELIAS SELAH HOLLIDAY .- Whatever else may be said of the legal fraternity it cannot be denied that members of the bar have been more prominent actors in public affairs than any other class of the com- munity. This is but the natural result of causes which are manifest and require no explanation. The ability and training which qualify one to practice law also qualify him in many respects for duties which lie out- side the strict path of his profession and which touch the general inter- ests of society. Holding marked precedence among the members of the bar of Clay county stands Elias Selah Holliday, a prominent practicing attorney of Brazil and one who has performed important public service for his city and district in an official capacity.

Mr. Holliday is a native son of Indiana, having been born in Aurora, Dearborn county, on the 5th of March, 1842. His father, Dor- man Holliday, was a native of the state of New York and with his par- ents came to Indiana in 1819, his father being Selah Holliday, one of the pioneers of this state. Having arrived at years of maturity, Dor- man Holliday was united in marriage to Miss Julia Ann Little, a native of this state, and they became the parents of nine children, all of whom reached adult age, while seven still survive.

Elias S. Holliday, the third in order of birth, spent the first twelve years of his life upon the home farm in Dearborn county, Indiana, and then accompanied his parents on their removal to Missouri. They located in the northern part of the state, where they resided for about two years, and then took up their abode in Iowa, so that E. S. Holliday pursued his education successively in the schools of Indiana, Missouri and Iowa to the age of sixteen years, when he began teaching. As an instructor he was connected with the public schools of the middle west until June, 1861. when in response to the country's call for aid he offered his services to the government, enlisting in Company F, Fifth Regiment of Kansas Volunteers. When this command was mustered into the

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LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY

service at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, his company became Company K of the Tenth Kansas Infantry and with that band of brave men he remained until mustered out at Fort Leavenworth on the 12th of August, 1864, having served for more than three years. The regiment largely did duty on the frontier and with his command Mr. Holliday partici- pated in the battles of Prairie Grove, Kane Hill and others, including engagements with the hostile Indians. He was mustered out with the rank of orderly sergeant and returned north with a most creditable mili- tary record, having been fearless and unfaltering in the discharge of the duty assigned him as a soldier of the Union.

After being mustered out Mr. Holliday became a resident of Jen- nings county, Indiana, and resumed the profession of teaching. He also attended school as opportunity offered, acquiring a partial aca- demic education, this course being made possible through his own labor, which provided the funds necessary for expenses while in college. Becoming imbued with the desire to engage in the practice of law, he made preparation for the bar as a student in the law office of John Over- myer of North Vernon, Jennings county, Indiana, a partner of the firm of Overmyer & Overmyer. He continued his reading as opportunity offered and defrayed his expenses by teaching school at intervals. In March, 1873, he successfully passed the examination that secured his admission to the bar and immediately afterward entered upon the prac- tice of law in Carbon, Clay county, where he remained until November, 1874. Seeking a still broader field of labor, he then came to Brazil, where he has since engaged in practice. He has won for himself very favorable criticism for the careful and systematic methods which he has followed. He has remarkable powers of concentration and application · and his retentive mind has often excited the surprise of his professional colleagues. He ranks high in the discussion of legal matters before the court, where his comprehensive knowledge of the law is manifest, while his application of legal principles demonstrates the wide range of his professional acquirements. The utmost care and precision characterizes his preparation of a case and has made him one of the most successful attorneys in Clay county.

Mr. Holliday has also been called before the public in official capaci- ties and has ever been found loyal to the trust reposed in him. In 1877 he was elected mayor of Brazil and received public endorsement of his administration in a re-election in 1879. Eight years passed and he was once more chosen the chief executive of the city and, as before, gave a public-spirited, businesslike administration, characterized by reform, progress and substantial improvement. In 1883 he was chosen to serve on the school board and in 1884 was elected city attorney of Brazil. Offi- cial honors other than of a local character, however, have been conferred upon him and he is now serving for his fourth consecutive term in con- gress, having been first elected to represent his district in the fifty-seventh congress. In 1884 he was an elector on the Blaine ticket and went down with the balance of the ticket. In the halls of national legislation he has proved himself an able working member, connected with much important constructive work done in the committee rooms.

On the 5th of March, 1873, Mr. Holliday was married to Miss Lina Gregg, who was born in Bartholomew county, Indiana, a daughter of Aaron and Isabelle (Winn) Gregg, both of whom were natives of Frank- lin county, Indiana. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Holliday have been born three

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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY

sons: John G .. Albert E. and Eugene A. They have also reared an adopted daughter, Ruth, now the wife of John G. Bryson, and they have two grandsons.

Mr. Holliday is prominent socially, belonging to Brazil Lodge. No. 264. A. F. & A. M., to Brazil Lodge, No. 762, B. P. O. E., and to Gen- eral Canby Post, No. 2, G. A. R., to the teachings of which he is most loyal. He is a valued member of the Presbyterian church and his social qualities have won for him the warm devotion of many personal friends. On the political stage, such is his popularity and such his personal mag- netism, that his appearance to address the people is a signal for tumul- tuous enthusiasm. His is a sturdy American character and a stalwart patriotism and, having the strongest attachments for our free institu- tions, he is ever willing to make any necessary personal sacrifice for their preservation.

FLAVIUS J. BRILEY .- A life-long resident of Lewis township, and one of its most successful agriculturists, Flavius J. Briley has been an interested witness of the various changes that have here taken place, watching with delight the gradual transformation of the heavily tim- bered land into a rich and productive farming region, and has aided by every means within his power its growth and advancement. Having, seemingly, inherited a desire for knowledge, he has always been an intel- ligent reader, analyzing each subject as he read and forming opinions of his own, so that even as a young man he was always prepared to talk on any topic, and ably defend his convictions in a debate. He was born in this township, June 30, 1850, a son of Rev. Dr. Absalom Briley, who had the distinction of being the first white child born in Lewis township, his birth occurring here, February 21, 1823. He is descended from one of the very early settlers of Indiana, his great-grandfather, James Bri- ley, having settled in Crawford county in the early part of the last cen- tury. As an extensive dealer in horses and cattle, he made frequent trips South, on his last trip being intercepted by his hired man, and murdered for his money.

James Briley, the grandfather of Flavius J., was very young when brought from South Carolina, his native state, to Crawford county, this state. He was of Scotch descent, and had the same habits of industry, thrift and perserverance that characterized his ancestors. Coming to Clay county soon after his marriage, he entered a tract of Government land in section ten, on the bank of the Eel river, in Lewis township, and there built the log cabin in which his son Absalom was born. Several years later, he bought another tract in the same township, and was there profitably employed in farming and stock raising and dealing until his death, at a venerable age. To him and his good wife, who passed to the life beyond before he did, five children were born, namely: Absalom, Betsey, John, Mary, and Stephen.

Reared in early pioneer days, before public schools had here been established, Absalom Briley availed himself of every opportunity to obtain knowledge, and, having been converted while yet a youth, subse- quently became a preacher in the United Brethren church, laboring in his ministerial work in various places in Indiana and Illinois. In the mean- time his family lived, mostly, on the farm which he had improved, in Lewis township, Indiana, although for a short time they were with him in Illinois. Ile made his circuit, which was a large one, on horseback,

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A History of Clay County Indiana (Volume 2), Part 4

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

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