A History of Clay County Indiana (Volume 2), Part 5

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

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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY

being out in all kinds of weather, and through exposure his health failed. his lungs becoming weak, and rheumatism causing him much suffering. He then turned his attention to the study of medicine. and for many years was both a successful physician and a zealous worker in the Mas- ter's vineyard, continuing active until his death, October 12, 1892.

Rev. Absalom Briley was twice married. His first wife, whose maiden name was Mary Carroll, was born November 15. 1824, and died in 1848. He married second, in 1849, Martha Stewart. She was born, June 7, 1829, in Crawford county, Illinois, a daughter of John and Lucinda (Young) Stewart. Her paternal grandfather, Thomas Stewart, emigrated from Scotland, his native country, to America, becoming a pioneer of Kentucky, where he spent his remaining years. Migrating from Kentucky to Illinois, John Stewart was one of the early settlers of Crawford county. After living there a few years, he came with his family to Clay county, Indiana, settling in Lewis township, where he purchased from the Government the land now owned and occupied by his grandson, Flavius J. Briley, and on the homestead that he improved from the wilderness lived until his death. John Peter Young, father of Lucinda Young, and great-grandfather of Mr. Briley, was born in Ger- many, but as a young man emigrated to the United States, fought with the Colonists throughout the Revolutionary war, taking an active part in the Battle of Bunker Hill, and at the close of the struggle settling in Nelson county, Kentucky, where he remained until his death. By his first mar- riage, Absalom Briley had two children, Marinda and Albert G. By his second marriage he had six children, Flavius J., Florence, Lena, Alice, Eva, and Laura.

Flavius J. Briley obtained the rudiments of his knowledge in the rude pioneer log schoolhouse, with its slab benches, without desks in front, and with no backs. The larger part of his youthful days were spent with his maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. John Stewart, and as soon as old enough was given full charge of the farm, to the owner- ship of which he succeeded, and on which he has since resided. To the substantial hewed log house built by his grandfather, Mr. Briley has made extensive additions and improvements, and still occupies it, having, with the exception of two years, 1905 and 1906, when the family went to Terre Haute in order to give the children better educational advantages, lived in it since a boy. As an agriculturalist Mr. Briley has been suc- cessful, and in addition to managing his farm, he has for the past ten years been employed a part of the time in mining.

Mr. Briley married, August 15, 1869, Elizabeth Stewart, who was born in Jackson township, Sullivan county, July 4, 1851, a daughter of Charles Stewart. Her grandfather, Thomas Stewart, was born in Ken- tucky, and after his marriage to Sarah Clark came to Clay county, Indi- ana, bought a tract of government land in section 6, Lewis township, and on the homestead which he reclaimed from the forest spent his remaining days. His wife survived him, and spent her last years with her children, dying in Lewis, Vigo county. Coming with his parents to Indiana, Charles Stewart, who was born in Bullitt county, Kentucky, lived in Lewis township during his early manhood. About two years after his marriage he bought a tract of land, covered with its original growth of timber, in Jackson township, and built of round logs the cabin in which Mrs. Briley first opened her eyes to the light of this world. He had previously learned the trades of both a carpenter and shoemaker, and

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in winter made shoes, while in summer he built houses. Removing with his family to Pierson township in 1860. he purchased another tract of wild land, and while he worked at his trades his sons cleared and improved a farm. Four years later, he sold out, came to Lewis township, Clay county, bought land in section thirty-one, and there resided until his death, at the age of seventy-two years. Charles Stewart married, in Sul- livan county, Indiana, Nancy Sills, a daughter of Abraham and Eliza- beth ( Randolph) Sills, who came from Kentucky to Sullivan county, Indiana, being pioneers of Jackson township. Mr. Sills was a black- smith, and worked at his trade, his sons doing the work of the farm, on which he and his good wife spent their remaining years. Mrs. Briley's mother, Mrs. Nancy (Sills) Stewart, is still living, being now eighty- seven years of age. She reared nine children, as follows: Felix Chester, Tilburn Curtis, Charles Webster, Theodore Hamilton, Elizabeth, Willis P., Letha Jane, Newton Jasper, and Sarah Ann. The three oldest sons all served in the Union Army during the Civil war, Felix C., as a member of Company C, Thirty-first Indiana Volunteer Infantry, serving through- out the entire period of the contest.

Mr. and Mrs. Briley have reared nine children, namely: Della D .; Oscar O .; William Wallace; Absalom A .; Niman N .; Charles C .; Emery E. and Emily E., twins; and Flavius F. Absalom enlisted in the regular army, and served in China during the Boxer war, his company being for several months on guard in Pekin. Subsequently going with his regiment to the Philippines, he died while in service at Namar Island. Della D. married Alvin Stark, and has three children, Noel, Judson and Verne. Oscar O. married first Maggie Saunders, by whom he had one child Evelyn Geneve, and married second Mamie Harris, by whom he has one son, Merle O. William W. married Rachel West, and they have two children, Granville and Elizabeth. Charles C. married Elizabeth Will- iams. Emily E. is the wife of Emmett Hayth. Niman N., who married George Bear, died October 19, 1895, leaving one child, Walter Everett Bear.

BENJAMIN M. GUIRL .- Prominent among the foremost citizens of Clay county is Benjamin M. Guirl, of Clay City, a man of superior busi- ness discernment and judgment, and who by careful attention to the inter- ests of others and to those things conducive to the welfare and progress of society has shown himself a public-spirited and highly useful member of the community. Gifted with quick perceptions and an intelligent mind, he is also endowed with that peculiar vein of enterprise and ambition which is essentially American, and which has been the means of leading him onward to success in his undertakings. He was born February II, 1864, in Jennings county, Indiana, a son of Charles A. and Mary (Mill- house) Guirl. A short sketch of his parents and more immediate ances- tors may be found on another page of this work, in connection with a brief personal notice of his brother, Hon. William H. Guirl.

Completing his early education in the district schools, Benjamin M. Guirl remained at assisting in the care of the farm until twenty years of age. Beginning life then for himself, he obtained work in a sawmill at Lapel, where he acquired his first knowledge of the lumber business. Going from there to Kirklin, he had charge of a sawmill for a while, and then, buying a half interest in a flour mill, superintended the operations of both mills for about three years. Disposing then of his interest in the

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flour mill, he moved his sawmill to Clay City. A year later, in 1892, Mr. Guirl sold his interest in this plant to his brother, organized the Clay City Manufacturing Company, put up a large mill, and for ten years was here engaged in the manufacture of staves. During this time Mr. Guirl organized the Clay City Electric Light Company and the Clay City Packing Company, and for six years had the management of these three great enterprises, a part of the time having, in addition, the care of his brother's farms and of his lumber business. Disposing of his stock in the Electric Light and Packing companies in 1902, Mr. Guirl removed the plant of the Clay City Manufacturing Company to Alexan- der county, Illinois, whither he also took his family. Within five years the company had stripped all of the timber from the large tracts of land that they had bought in that locality, converting it into staves, and now, in 1908, have a large force of men at work removing the stumpage pre- paratory to placing the land under cultivation. Returning with his family to Clay City in 1906, Mr. Guirl took charge of the lumber business which he had previously purchased from his brother, and has since reorganized the Clay City Electric Light Company, and is here carrying on an exten- sive and lucrative business, being, in Western parlance, a "hustler."

On April 28, 1888, Mr. Guirl married Blanche E. Nickey, who was born in Whitley county, Indiana, which was likewise the birthplace of her father, Allen Nickey. Her grandfather, Jacob Nickey, was born, it is thought, in Virginia, from there coming to Indiana and settling as a pioneer in Whitley county. Allen Nickey was a practicing physician during his earlier life, but was afterwards engaged in the lumber business in Boone county, Indiana, where he also operated a flour mill. He is now engaged in farming near Tipton, this state. He married Mary Reed. a native of Whitley county. Mr. and Mrs. Guirl are the parents of six children, namely: Hazel, Paul. George, Mabel, Clara and Leona. Politically Mr. Guirl is a Republican, and is now serving as chairman of the Clay City School Board. Both Mr. and Mrs. Guirl are members of the Christian church.

DUDLEY W. BRATTIN, for thirty-eight years a prominent factor in mercantile circles in Brazil and also prominent in the public interests of the city, has left his impress upon its development and progress in many lines. A native of Chillicothe, Ohio, he was born October 26, 1845. His parents were Thomas S. and Sarah Brattin, both born near Staunton, Virginia, and the father was known in business circles as a carriage blacksmith and civil engineer. The great-grandfather of our subject in the Brattin line. came from the north of Ireland to America while this country was still numbered among the colonial possessions of Great Brit- ain, and the grandfather served in the American army in the Revolu- tionary war, while Thomas S. Brattin with equal loyalty defended the interests of the country in the war of 1812. The maternal great-grand- father was also a soldier of the Revolution and was with Washington during the memorable winter at Valley Forge, where the troops suffered. such hardships and were so in need of supplies that the snow was often marked by the bloody footprints of the soldiers. The grandfather, John Wiseman, was a Methodist minister for forty-nine years, being ordained by Francis Asbury, the first American bishop, in 1785. When the his- tory of the Wiseman family was published in 1887, mention was made of more than one thousand descendants, not one of whom was addicted to

Vol. II-3

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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY

the use of intoxicating liquors-a record of which they have every reason to be proud.

D. W. Brattin pursued his early education in a country school in Ross county, Ohio, about twenty-four miles from Chillicothe, and at the age of fourteen years he left the farm to go to Greencastle, Indiana, there to learn the watchmaker's trade. His school days were limited to six years in a country school, but reading, experience and observation have greatly broadened his knowledge in later years. He remained in Green- castle until 1870, when he removed to Brazil and embarked in business on his own account as a jeweler. Later he extended the scope of his activities by adding a stock of books and art goods and thus for thirty- eight years he has figured in the commercial interests of the city, ever sustaining an unassailable reputation for business integrity as well as enterprise and progressiveness.

On the 28th of May, 1878, in Brazil, Mr. Brattin was married to Miss Harriet C. McClelland. Her father, James W. McClelland, was one of the pioneer coal operators in Clay county and her brother, James H. McClelland, is and has been president of the Brazil Block Coal Com- pany for many years. Their children are: Mrs. Anna Scofield, who was born February 26, 1882; Dudley H., born August 11, 1884; Harry A., January 19, 1887; and Lucy H., March 26, 1889.

Mr. Brattin is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. Al- though he was only twenty years of age at the time the war closed, he had done faithful service with the Fifty-fifth Indiana Infantry, with the One Hundred and Sixth Indiana Infantry and the One Hundred and Third Indiana Infantry, continuing at the front until the expiration of his term of service. In addition to his membership relations with the Grand Army of the Republic, he has been a member of the Knights of Pythias for nearly forty years, of the Masonic fraternity for thirty-eight years and of the Odd Fellows Society and the Ancient Order of United Work- men for nearly an equal length of time. He likewise affiliates with the Knights and Ladies of Honor, the Knights and Ladies of Security and the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks, and that he is a valued repre- sentative of these organizations is indicated by his election to various offices. He is now a past chancellor commander of the Knights of Pythias, a past master workman of the Ancient Order of United Workmen and a past exalted ruler of the Elks lodge. His fellow townsmen have expressed their confidence in his public spirit and integrity of citizenship by electing him their chief executive on two different occasions. He was first called to the office of mayor in 1884 and again in 1896, and in both terms gave a public-spirited and businesslike administration, characterized by prog- ress and improvement. For three years he was a member of the Brazil school board and in 1896 he was chairman of the Republican organiza- tion during the campaign. Such in brief is the history of Dudley W. Brattin. In whatever relation of life we find him, in official service, in political circles, in business or in social life, he is always the same honor- able and honored gentleman, whose worth well merits the high regard which is uniformly given him.

JAMES C. STONEBURNER .- Distinguished not only as a native-born citizen of Perry township but as a representative of an honored pioneer family, James C. Stoneburner is especially deserving of mention in a work of this character. Actively engaged in the prosecution of the call-

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ing upon which the wealth and prosperity of our country so largely depend, he is meeting with excellent success, and holds a good position among the valued agriculturists of his community. A son of the late Joseph Stoneburner, he was born on section twenty-one August 20, 1865.

Joseph Stoneburner was born in Loudoun county, Virginia, March 4, 1829, the son of John Henry and Sarah ( Fry ) Stoneburner, who were natives of the same state. Beginning life for himself as a farmer in Noble county, Ohio, he lived there until 1860, when, accompanied by his family, he came overland with teams to Perry township. Indiana, being sixteen days in making the journey, and located on an eighty-acre farm which he had purchased several years before. After living there three months, he bought one hundred and sixteen and one-half acres lying in sections twenty-one and twenty-two, all of which, with the exception of twenty acres of prairie, was covered with timber. He subsequently cleared almost the entire tract, and about 1872 purchased forty acres of adjoin- ing land. About one-half of that was cleared, and the log house that stood upon the opening is still in existence, being one of the oldest log dwellings in the county. He was an unusually skilful farmer, and in addi- tion to placing his land in an excellent condition was particular to keep his buildings, machinery, etc., in good shape, residing on his homestead until his death, April 22, 1888.

On September 22, 1851, in Noble county, Ohio, Joseph Stoneburner married Arletta Hartley, who was born March 24, 1830, in Warren county, New Jersey, a daughter of David B. and Phebe ( Parks) Hartley, natives, respectively, of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. She is still living, making her home with her son James C. She bore her husband seven children, namely : Charles, of Denver, Colorado; Hartley, of Independ- ence, Kansas; Emma, widow of the late Philip Coble, resides in Cory, Indiana; Joseph Edgar, of Perry township; Etta, widow of James Shaw, late of Perry township; James C., of this sketch: and John, of Cory, Indiana. The mother also brought up one other child, Audrey Stoddard, who lived with her from the age of six years until twenty years old.

Reared on the home farm, James C. Stoneburner acquired his early education in the old Center District School, obtaining a practical knowl- edge of the three "r's." After his marriage he bought a portion of the parental homestead, it being the last forty-acre tract purchased by his father, and has since carried on general farming in a most satisfactory manner, reaping abundant harvests from his well-cultivated and highly- improved land, his farm comparing favorably in its appointments with any in the neighborhood.

On June 14, 1888. Mr. Stoneburner married Lilly Cliver, who was born April 14, 1867, in Perry township, which was the birthplace, like- wise, of her parents, Jonathan and Sarah ( Donham) Cliver. Her paternal grandparents, Peter and Millie ( Hixon) Cliver, and her maternal grand- parents, Joseph and. Lucinda (Jeffers) Donham, were all born in Ohio, and were afterwards pioncers of Perry township. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Stoneburner has been blessed by the birth of three children, namely : Grace Arletta, born March 16, 1891, is the wife of Charles Cromwell, of Perry township ; Edna Irene, born September 10, 1897; and Vera Esther. born October 4, 1902. Politically Mr. Stoneburner is a strong and earnest advocate of the principles of the Republican party. Fraternally he is a member of Clear Creek Lodge, No. 449, I. O. O. F. Religiously he is a

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member of the Methodist Episcopal church of Cory, to which his wife and children also belong.

OLIVER JAMES, M. D .- Noteworthy among the more active and prosperous physicians of Clay county is Oliver James, M. D., of Cory, who has a large and lucrative practice to which he is devoted. A son of Thomas James, he was born July 13, 1841, in Carroll county, Ohio, and was there bred and educated.

Coming from English ancestry, Thomas James was a life-long resi- dent of Ohio, and during his active career was engaged in farming. He died while yet in the prime of a vigorous manhood, his death occur- ring in Carroll county in 1854. He married Susan Springer, a daughter of William and Sally Springer. She survived him many years, marrying for her second husband John Yingling. She died in Carroll county, Ohio, in February, 1881. By her first marriage she had seven children, Oliver, the special subject of this sketch, being the third child in succes- sion of birth. By her union with Mr. Yingling she had two children.

Remaining with his mother until eighteen years old, Oliver James laid a substantial foundation for his future education in the district schools. After leaving home he attended school winters and worked as a farm hand summers for two years. Ambitious then to advance his education, he studied for two years at the Harlem Springs Seminary, in Carroll county, after which he read medicine with a prominent physician for four years. Coming to Clay county, Indiana, in 1866, he practiced as an under-graduate until 1876, when he entered the Indiana Medical College at Indianapolis, where he was graduated with the degree of M. D. on March 28, 1877. Immediately after receiving his diploma Dr. James located in Cory, where he built up a fine practice, acquiring an extended reputation for skill and ability in his professional work.

On April 28, 1868, Dr. James married Eliza Belle Harper, a native of Carroll county, Ohio, and they had one child, Howard T. James, of Clay City, Indiana. Mrs. Eliza B. James died September 14. 1872. The Doctor married for his second wife, July 22, 1875, Melissa D. Donham, who was born in Perry township, Clay county, Indiana, a daughter of Abijah and Margaret Donham, natives of Clermont county, Ohio. Of the four children born of this union, three died in infancy and one is living, namely, Floy, wife of Charles F. Engle, of Worthington, Indiana. Dr. James is a member of the Clay County Medical Society and of the Indiana State Medical Society. Politically he is a Republican, and since 1900 has been a member of the Pension Board of Clay county. Frater- nally he belongs to Clear Creek Lodge, No. 449, I. O. O. F. Religiously he is a valued member of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he has been recording steward for many years.

DR. WILLIAM H. ZENOR is well known in Brazil and is numbered among the native sons of Clay county, his birth having occurred upon a farm a mile west of Bowling Green on the 25th of February, 1837. His parents were David and Elizabeth Zenor, who for over sixty years lived upon one farm. The father was born in Harrison county, Kentucky, in the year 1801, and when twenty-one years of age came direct from his native state to Indiana, settling in Clay county. His wife was also from that county. Their farm, which was pleasantly located a mile west of Bowling Green, comprised three forties, two of which were entered direct

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from the government by David Zenor, who brought the land under a high state of cultivation, carrying on the farm work with good success for many years. Both he and his wife were of sturdy German stock and there are yet numerous relatives of the family living in Harrison county. Indiana, among whom is the Hon. W. T. Zenor, who has recently completed his third or fourth term in congress. Mr. and Mrs. David Zenor continued to reside in Clay county until called to their final rest, both passing away at an advanced age, the father dying when nearly ninety-three years of age, while the mother lived to the age of eighty- three. Their family numbered ten children, six sons and four daughters.

Dr. Zenor of this review, however, is the only one of the boys now living in Indiana. His boyhood days were spent upon the old home farm, where he carly became familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. He also spent several years with relatives in Illinois, and he supplemented his early education, acquired in the public schools, by study in Wesleyan University at Bloomington, Illinois. The little "temple of learning" in which he mastered the elementary branches. however, was a log schoolhouse of primitive construction. He afterward was a student in the common schools, which he attended through the winter months, while in the spring and summer he worked in the fields. In 1859 he matriculated in the Wesleyan University, where he remained until 1862. In December, 1907, he returned to his alma mater as a visitor and found it a flourishing school of nearly a thousand students, before whom he read his ode to the school, which he had written for that occa- sion. During his college days, however, he put aside his text-books in order to respond to his country's call, enlisting in 1862 with a company organized at Bowling Green and which became Company D, of the Sixth Indiana Cavalry. He served as a non-commissioned officer until the close of the war in 1865 and was in a number of hotly contested engagements.

At the close of the war Dr. Zenor was honorably discharged and returned home. After a brief period he engaged in the drug business at Hennepin, Illinois, where for several years he continued in that line under the firm name of Zenor & Seaton. In 1869 he sold out to James H. Seaton, who carried on the business for a number of years thereafter. Dr. Zenor then removed to western Missouri and later to Kansas. He spent nearly twenty-five years in the west, devoting his energies during much of that time to the drug business, also practicing medicine for ten years at Crestline and at Lake City, Kansas. He began the manufacture of a special medicine, which he had prepared and which has had a good sale for fifteen or twenty years. On leaving the west he returned to Indiana, locating in Brazil, where he is still engaged in the manufacture of his medicines.

Dr. Zenor was united in marriage in 1867 to Miss Mary E. Peacock. and they have two children : Lillie May, who is now the widow of Charles Farlow : and Arthur, who married Miss Annie Murray, and is editor of the Carbon (Indiana) Chronicle. Dr. Zenor is a man of marked literary taste and of considerable talent in that direction. He has now in manu- script a small volume of poems and a story entitled "When I Was in Tennessee." The prose volume is the account of his travels at the time and since the war in the mountains of Tennessee and Alabama. His resi- dence during the last sixteen years has been 617 East Pinkley street, Brazil, Indiana.

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A History of Clay County Indiana (Volume 2), Part 5

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

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