USA > Indiana > Clay County > A History of Clay County Indiana (Volume 2) > Part 63
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John Boucher attended the public schools, and at the age of fourteen started to learn the baker's trade under the instructions of W. Shannon, with whom he remained during two summers, attending school in the winter months. During a short time he also worked in a rolling mill, and he then began work as fireman for the Chicago & Indiana Coal Rail- road Company, now the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Company, with whom he remained for seven years. For some time after leaving this company he was the engineer on a street roller, for two years was the engineer for the Brazil Brewing Company, operated a steam shovel for the Vandalia Railroad Company, and in November, 1904, assumed charge of the Brazil Water Works as engineer, his present position.
Mr. Boucher married, July 18, 1899, Katherine Richie, who was born in Knightsville, Clay county, Indiana, the daughter of Andrew and Louisa (Grant) Richie, both of whom were born in Germany. Three of their children are living-Mary, Mrs. Boucher and Garfield. Mr. Richie is a merchant in Brazil, and he is a member of the Catholic church and the Republican party. Mr. and Mrs. Boucher have had three chil- dren, James, Margaret and John, but one son died in infancy. Mr. Boucher supports the principles of the Democratic party, and he is also a member of the Catholic church.
JERRY M. KIRK, identified with contracting and building interests in Brazil, was born upon the present site of the city June 6, 1842, but at that time the district now enclosed within the corporation limits of Brazil was largely an unbroken wilderness, in which were few traces of the mod- ern civilizing influences of the white race. He has lived to witness the entire growth and development of the city and through his business inter- ests has contributed in substantial measure to its upbuilding. His parents were William and Sarah ( Myers) Kirk .. The father was born in Louis- ville, Kentucky, in 1817, and came to Indiana when about fifteen years of age, arriving in this state in 1832 in company with his parents. They drove across the country from Kentucky to Orange county, Indiana, and in 1836 came to Clay county, where Mr. Kirk built a log cabin in the midst of the wilderness where Staunton is now located. Alinost the entire countryside was covered with the forest. Deer roamed among the trees and over the prairies, and wild turkeys and other kinds of game were to be had in abundance, furnishing many a meal for the early settlers. The homes were largely log cabins, and the neighbors would frequently gather to aid in a log rolling and thus assist some friend or neighbor to put up his home in the wilderness. It was an arduous task to bring the
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fields into a state of cultivation, for the brush and stumps had to be cleared away, but the men who came into this district possessed a determined, resolute spirit and soon cleared the forest and converted the land into cultivable fields. Later Mr. Kirk removed to the present site of Brazil, where he built a log cabin in the midst of the green woods, helping to clear away the timber on the present site of the city. Hle there made his home until 1852, when he removed to Bridgeton and worked at the cooper's trade for James Mulligan for about three years. He then re- turned to his original claim in Clay county, and in 1862 removed to Illi- nois, settling in Sullivan, Moultrie county, where he worked at his trade as a cooper. In 1866 he returned to this county and spent his last days in Staunton, his death occurring in 1881. He always voted with the Demo- crat party, believing that its principles contained the best elements of good government. His religious faith was that of the Christian church, and he was always loyal to its teachings. His wife survived him for several years, passing away in 1888. They were the parents of nine children, of whom five are now living : Mary, the wife of John Bowles; Nancy, the widow of John Weaver; Jerry M., of this review; Rachel, the wife of Jacob McGlosson ; and Juretta, the wife of W. D. Stewart.
Jerry M. Kirk as boy and youth remained under the parental roof, assisting in the arduous task of developing new farms. In his boyhood days there were only three houses upon the present site of the city of Brazil. Mr. Kirk in early manhood took a contract to clear the timber on the right of way for the railroad, extending from the smelting plant to the Otter creek coal yards. He also helped to build the frame work for the smelting plant, which was the first of the kind put up in this district. In 1871 he removed to Sullivan, Illinois, where he engaged in the flour milling business for a year, after which he returned to Clay county, locat- ing in Staunton. There he carried on business as a carpenter and con- tractor until 1873, when he removed to Brazil and for a year was em- ployed in a sawmill. He next resumed carpentering and contracting in this city, and was thus identified with its building operations until 1893, when he purchased a farm in Washington township, Putnam county, In- diana, there carrying on general agricultural pursuits until 1900. In that year he disposed of his farm and came to Brazil, where he now lives and is again engaged in contracting and in.carpenter work.
In 1871 Mr. Kirk was married to Miss Emma Frances Graham, who was born at Crawfordsville, Indiana, August 13, 1849, a daughter of Joseph and Sarah (Van Cleve) Graham. Her father was at one time the owner of seven hundred acres of land near Crawfordsville, this state, and was also well known as a mill owner. In connection with Mr. Decker he built a mill at Staunton, this county, and was in other ways closely associated with the material development and progress of this section of the state, aiding in laying broad and deep the foundation upon which has since been built the present prosperity of the county. In the Graham family were nine children, those still living being: John, who makes his home in Colorado; Mrs. Martha Strawn, who resides in Ohio; William, who died in 1907 at his home in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he was a leading and prominent attorney, having also served as United States minister at Winnipeg, Canada : Joseph, who is vice president of the Erie Railroad Company ; and Mrs. Kirk.
Mr. and Mrs. Kirk became the parents of seven children, six of whom are living: Grace B., the wife of Paul Picket ; Margaret; William
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W., who wedded Mary Girton; Joseph; Kenneth, who wedded Margaret Simons ; and Evalyn, the wife of Claude Earhart. The parents are mem- bers of the Christian church and are interested in the moral development of the community. Mr. Kirk is a stalwart Prohibitionist in politics. He has long been a stalwart advocate of the cause of temperance and does all in his power to promote its growth and secure the adoption of total abstinence principles. His influence is ever found on the side of right, justice, improvement and truth, and he is recognized as a man of un- doubted integrity, ever loyal to his honest convictions.
FREDERICK J. S. ROBINSON .- During recent years the name of Fred- erick J. S. Robinson has appeared frequently upon the records of Clay county in connection with important public service as well as in connec- tion with its agricultural development. He was born in Fayette county, Indiana, September 19, 1845. His father, James Robinson, was born in Virginia in 1810, and was brought to this state by his parents when a youth of six, the family locating in Fayette county, where James was reared and educated. He was also married there to Eliza Sutcliffe, who was born in London, England, and came to America when about ten years of age with her father, a Methodist minister. She was reared in Indiana. Four children were born of this union-Mary Eleanor Maria (deceased), John F. C., Joseph W. J. and Frederick J. S.
In 1852 James Robinson came with his family to Clay county, In- diana, and located near Brazil. In 1855 he moved to Missouri, where he resided two years, when he returned to Indiana. He was a merchant, physician and farmer at Harmony, Indiana, for about seven years, and then purchased an interest in a grist mill in Cloverland. From here he moved to Kansas in the fall of 1867, where he farmed until 1877. His death occurred in Cloverland, February 16, 1877, while on a visit. He was a Republican in his later years, but formerly voted with the Free Soil Democrats. Religiously he was a Methodist.
In the district schools of Van Buren township Frederick J. S. Robin- son studied and received his elementary training, later attending West- field College of Illinois. Returning to Clay county he taught during the term of 1868-9. Purchasing an interest in a general store, he continued therein until 1881, and during four years of that time had entire charge of the store. Selling his store he bought eighty-eight acres of land in. Posey township, the nucleus of his present homestead of one hundred and sixty acres. He has made most of the improvements on his place, and although he devotes much of his time to its improvement and cultivation he is also active in the public life of the community. He was the present nominee for governor on the Populist ticket and a member of its national committee. In 1882, 1884 and 1886 he was elected to the legislature and served three consecutive terms of two years each. In 1896 he was a candidate for the office of state treasurer. He is overseer of the Indiana State Grange, a member of the Patrons of Husbandry, a director of the Brazil Trust Company and president of the County Good Citizens League, He is also a member of the Masonic fraternity and of the United Brethren church, of which he is the secretary of the quarterly conference and super- intendent of the Sunday-school.
On the 21st of August, 1870, Mr. Robinson was married to Laura E., daughter of George and Elizabeth Carpenter, of Cloverland, where the daughter was born and reared. Of the six children born to Mr. and
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Mrs. Robinson three died in infancy. The eldest daughter, Telulah, is a teacher in the State Normal at Terre Haute. She is also a graduate of that institution and of Westfield College, Illinois, and Stanford Uni- versity of California. James A., the only son, is a graduate of Westfield College, and is an ordained minister of the United Brethren church. He is now attending the Union Biblical Seminary at Dayton, Ohio. Jessie B. is a graduate of the State Normal at Terre Haute and the Bloomington University, and is now teaching in Indianapolis.
LLEWELLYN JOHN .- Among the active and prosperous business men of Van Buren township is Llewellyn John, a well-known merchant and farmer, who during his residence here has won for himself a good record as an honest man and a valuable member of the community. He was born February 10, 1852, at Bridgend, county of Glamorgan, Wales, the native place of his parents, John and Mary John. His father spent his entire life in Wales, owning and occupying a farm about two miles from Bridgend. After his death his widow came to this country, and now makes her home with her children, of whom she has eleven, namely : Elizabeth; Christopher; Llewellyn and John, twins; Thomas; Henry; Ivor; Joseph and Catherine, twins; Frances; and Noah. John is living in Australia, Elizabeth and Joseph in Wales, and all of the others are in America.
At the age of eight years Llewellyn John went to live with an uncle, and four years later began trapping in the mines, remaining in his native land until 1879. In that year, ambitious to take advantage of the better opportunities offered to the young men of this country for advancing their financial interests, he emigrated to the United States, and for two years resided in Pennsylvania. Since that time, with the exception of a brief period spent in Alabama, Mr. John has been a resident of Clay county. For a few years after coming here he worked in the mines, and while thus employed accumulated some money. Embarking in mercantile pur- suits in 1888, he was for five years located at Knightsville. Desirous of further enlarging his scope of action, he then bought fourteen acres of land on the National Road between Knightsville and Harmony, and here erected a number of buildings, including one for a store and dwelling and another for a stable. Stocking his store with a full line of groceries and of such articles as are of daily use in the household, Mr. John has here built up a thriving trade, his business being one of the largest of the kind in this vicinity.
Mr. John has been twice married. He married first, at the age of twenty-three years, Mary Ann Griffith, a life-long resident of Wales. She died eighteen months later, leaving an infant daughter. On May 2, 1882, Mr. John married for his second wife Mrs. Margaret (Davis) Will- iams. She was born at Carmarthen, Wales, a daughter of Thomas and Mary (Morgan) Davis. Marrying John Williams, she came with him from Wales to America, and lived here a short time. Going back to their native land, Mr. and Mrs. Williams remained there until 1879. Returning then to Indiana, they located at Knightsville, and shortly after- wards Mr. Williams lost his life in an accident at the mine in which he was employed.
Mr. John is very prominent in fraternal organizations, and does his full share in promoting the good of the orders to which he belongs. He is a member of Knightsville Lodge, No. 409, Ancient Free and Accepted
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Masons ; of Brazil Chapter, No. 59, Royal Arch Masons; of Brazil Com- mandery, No. 47, Knights Templar; of Colfax Lodge, No. 612, Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows; and of Iron City Encampment, No. 11. Both Mr. and Mrs. John are members of Knightsville Lodge, No. 328, Daughters of Rebekah, and Mrs. John belongs to Knightsville Chapter, No. 238, Order of the Eastern Star.
WINFIELD S. CARPENTER, a retired farmed of Posey township, was born on the homestead on which he is now living January 30, 1850. His father. George Carpenter, who for many years was one of the most prom- inent farmers of Posey township, was born in Bedford county, Pennsyl- vania, where he was reared and later married to Elizabeth Anderson, a native of that commonwealth, and they became the parents of nine chil- dren, three sons and six daughters, four of whom were born in Pennsyl- vania and five in Posey township, and Winfield S. is the eighth child and third son of the family. George Carpenter was a Pennsylvania farmer until 1839, when he emigrated with his family to Indiana and located on the present homestead of his son Winfield, buying about one hundred acres of land, of which he cleared a goodly portion and farmed his land until his death. He was a Republican in politics and a member of the United Brethren church.
Winfield S. Carpenter attended in his early youth the schools of Posey township, and passed from the district schools to the Asbury Uni- versity at Greencastle. He was married in 1877 to Lottie Rider, who was born and reared in the state of New York, and subsequently came with her parents to Clay county, Indiana, where her father followed his trade of a brick mason. Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter have two children, Margaret E. and Sara E., and the elder is the wife of John L. Butsch, a pharmacist and chemist. Throughout the years of his maturity Mr. Carpenter has supported and upheld the principles of the Republican party, and in 1888 he was elected the clerk of the Clay circuit court and served for four years in that position. He was a director of the Indiana Reformatory at Jef- ferson from 1896 until 1900, and has attained prominence in the public life of this section of Indiana. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and of the United Brethren church.
GEORGE L. BROOKS .- During a number of years past George L. Brooks has been identified with the business interests of Clay county. He began learning horseshoeing and carriage making and repairing when but a lad of fifteen years, immediately after leaving school, and worked in Terre Haute until he had reached the age of twenty-four. Coming thence to Clay county, Indiana, in 1900, he began horseshoeing, blacksmithing and general wagon repairing in Center Point, and from January of 1903 until September of 1907 he was in business with a partner, but at the latter date bought his partner's interest, and is now the proprietor of the only establishment of its kind in Center Point.
Mr. Brooks is a descendant of the mother country of England, his paternal great-grandparents having founded the family in the United States and located in New York. His son, James Brooks, located in an early day in Oakland, Coles county, Illinois. He was born in New York, and was married in Fontanet, Indiana, and among their children was a son George, who became the father of George L. George Brooks was born in Ohio in 1828, and moving to Parke county, Indiana, was a mill-
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wright there until his removal to Terre Haute. In 1868 he went from there to lola, Allen county, Kansas, on account of ill health, and his death occurred there on the 12th of June, 1869, his widow afterward returning to Terre Haute. That city was her home until 1888, since which time she has lived among her children. She bore the maiden name of Mary Black and was born in Delaware in 1826, a daughter of Samuel W. and Lydia C. ( Mann) Black, born in Delaware in 1804 and 1800 respectively.
George L. Brooks, the second born of the four children of George and Mary Brooks, two sons and two daughters, was born in Vigo county, Indiana, April 17, 1863. On the 26th of September, 1885, he was married to Laura Flockart, born in Clay county, Indiana, and a daughter of Thomas Flockart, originally from Scotland. On the 26th of February, 1895, Mr. Brooks wedded Minnie C. Englehart, the widow of Philip Neid- linger, by whom she had seven children : Ernest and Jacob, who reside in Parke county, Indiana ; Henry and Theodore, of Brazil; Alonzo, of Center Point ; and Bertha and Minnie, of Terre Haute. Four children have been born to Mr. Brooks by his second union : Earl B., born December 6, 1895; George W., November 11, 1897: Ivan M., February 8, 1900; and Marie MI., September 13, 1903. Mr. Brooks is a Republican politically, and a member of the Knights of Pythias and Odd Fellows fraternities in Center Point, Indiana.
GEORGE DAVIS COBLE .- An excellent representative of the agri- cultural interests of Clay county, George D. Coble is also identified with the horticultural interests of this part of the state, a part of his fine farm, lying in Perry township, being devoted to the growing of fruits. A man of fine business ability and integrity, he stands high among the practical and progressive farmers of his community, and is one of its valued citi- zens. A son of Thomas Coble, he was born December 23, 1849, in Carroll county, Ohio, and there spent his boyhood days.
Thomas Coble was born October 17, 1816, near York, Pennsylvania, a son of Philip and Margaret (Thorley) Coble, natives of Germany. At the age of twelve years he moved with his parents to Ohio, and there lived for many years, as a farmer earning his living by the sweat of his brow. Coming to Clay county in 1864, he invested his savings in land in Perry township, in sections twenty-six and twenty-seven, buying two hundred and forty acres of land. Industrious and energetic, he labored with characteristic German thrift to improve a homestead, and was here prosperously employed in tilling the soil until his death in 1890. He married Catherine Davis, a daughter of Evan and Mary (McGuire) Davis, natives of Virginia. She survived him, dying November 27, 1902. at a ripe old age. Of the nine children born of their union but four are living, two boys and two girls.
The fifth child in order of birth of the parental household, George D. Coble was educated in the public schools of Center Point under the in- struction of William Travis, being there fitted for a teacher during his two years of study after coming to this county, in 1864, from Ohio. At the age of nineteen years he began his professional career in his home district in Perry township, and taught there seven years, after which he taught four terms in other parts of the county. Establishing himself as the head of a household in 1873, Mr. Coble purchased one hundred and sixty acres of the parental homestead, eighty acres of it being in section twenty-six, and eighty acres in section twenty-seven. Here he followed
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general farming almost exclusively until 1908, when he turned his atten- tion almost entirely to the culture of fruits of all kinds. In this line of industry he had previously had encouraging success, for in the fall of 1906 he gathered from his orchard, the largest in this section of Clay county, his first crop of peaches, which amounted to twelve hundred bush- els, and also about one thousand bushels of apples. Embarking, therefore, more extensively in horticultural pursuits, Mr. Coble now has thirty acres of his land set out to fruit trees, principally peaches and apples, and finds no trouble in marketing his harvests at a good price.
On September 4, 1873, Mr. Coble married Hattie A. Brill, who was born in Vigo county, Indiana, March 17, 1855, a daughter of William Brill. William Brill was born in Lowden county, Virginia, a son of Sam- uel Brill, who was a native of Virginia. He married Mary H. Johnson, who was born in Guernsey county, Ohio, where her father, David John- son, a native of Ireland, lived until after his marriage with Mary Mur- doch. William Brill came with his wife and family to Indiana in 1853, and after living for awhile in Perry township, Clay county, bought land in Riley township, Vigo county, where for five years he carried on farm- ing. Selling out then, he returned to Perry township, where he followed his trade of a carpenter for a number of years, residing here until his death, February 16, 1899. His wife died several years before he did, passing away March 9, 1875. Mr. and Mrs. Coble are the parents of three children, namely: Estella May, born June 4, 1875, is the wife of Howard Huff, of Perry township; Rue L., born May 6, 1881, married Zoe Bennett, and is a resident of Perry township; and Edsil D., born June 8, 1888, is a telegraph operator, and lives at home. Politically Mr. Coble is a steadfast Republican, and religiously he and wife are active and valued members of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he was steward from 1870 until 1897, and of which he has been a trustee since the erection of the church at Cory. They have two of the old parchment deeds, one dated October 1, 1835, under the hand and seal of President Andrew Jackson, and the other dated September 5, 1838, under the hand of President Martin Van Buren. They are valuable relics and are the eighth of their kind found in Clay county so far. The estate or homestead of Mr. and Mrs. Coble is known as "Sunny Side Fruit Farm" and shows extra care in detail.
WILLIAM H. CUTSHALL .- An extensive, skilful and progressive agri- culturist, William H. Cutshall is actively engaged in his independent vocation on one of the pleasantest and most desirable homesteads in Dick Johnson township. It is located on section twenty-six, and with its fer- tile and well-tilled acres and its comfortable set of farm buildings, gives visible evidence of the wise manner in which the proprietor has employed his time and means. A son of Henry Cutshall, he was born in Coshocton county, Ohio, September 28, 1853. His grandfather, William Cutshall, was born on a farm near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. His great-grand- father Cutshall, who emigrated to the United States from Germany, bought land near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and was there employed in tilling the soil until his death. He was very successful in life, acquiring a large estate.
Leaving his native state when a young man, William Cutshall located as a pioneer in Coshocton county, Ohio, and from the government bought a piece of land lying one and one-half miles east of the present site of
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Chili. Improving a good farm, he resided upon it the remainder of his life, passing away when upwards of eighty years old. He married a Miss Albert, who was of German parentage, and who had a sister that attained the remarkable age of one hundred and six years. She reared six of her children, William, Nicholas, Henry, John, Jacob and Margaret.
Henry Cutshall was born on the parental homestead near Chili, Ohio, and was there brought up as a farmer. Starting in life on his own ac- count, he bought a farm one and one-half miles west of Bakersville, on White Eyes creek, and lived there until 1863. Disposing then of his Ohio property, he came to Noblesville, Indiana, with a view of settling there. Not pleased with the place, however, he returned to Ohio, and remained in that state a few months. In 1864 he again came to Indiana, and after spending a month in Owen county settled in Clay county, moving with his family into a log cabin standing in the southern part of Brazil town- ship. The following year he purchased a tract of land in section twenty- six, Dick Johnson township, receiving a quit claim deed to the property. Clearing an opening in the forest, he erected a log house, and had lived there but five or six years when a man came along, claimed the land, and paid him one hundred and fifty dollars for the improvements he had made. He then purchased another tract of land in the same section, which in- cludes the farm now owned and occupied by his son William. At that time it was covered with the virgin timber, from which he cut down trees to make room for a log house. He improved a valuable farm, replaced the log cabin with a frame house, and there resided until his death, Sep- tember 27, 1902, aged eighty-three years. He married Anna Roshong, who was born in Coshocton county, Ohio, a daughter of Daniel and Fanny (Barnthouse) Roshong, the former of whom was born in France and the latter in Ohio, of German ancestry. She died in October, 1902, aged seventy-seven years, leaving the following-named children, Susan, Frank, William H., Elizabeth, James M., Margaret, Daniel H. and Louisa.
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