USA > Indiana > Clay County > A History of Clay County Indiana (Volume 2) > Part 64
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Eleven years old when he came with his parents to Clay county, Will- iam H. Cutshall continued the studies which he had begun in Ohio in the public schools, one of his teachers having been A. J. Doak, now of Terre Haute. Since attaining manhood he has been a resident of Dick Johnson township with the exception of the few years when as county treasurer he lived in Brazil, and during the time has been engaged in agricultural pursuits. Succeeding to the ownership of a part of the old homestead, Mr. Cutshall has made valuable improvements, and in 1902 built the house he now occupies. He is busily employed in general farming, gathering pleasure as well as profit in his congenial occupation, and he has also for thirty years been engaged in carpentering and contracting. Since 1895 he has contracted for and built a number of concrete bridges in Clay and Vigo counties.
On August 25, 1880, Mr. Cutshall married Lucy Crabb, who was born and bred in this township, a daughter of Silas Blunt Crabb. Her great-grandfather, William Crabb, Sr., emigrated from England, the place of his birth, to Ohio, and for a number of years lived in either Highland or Clinton counties. Later in life he came to Indiana, and as a pioneer of Clay county entered a tract of government land not far from the pres- ent site of Brazil, and there spent his remaining years, dying at a good old age. William Crabb, Jr., the grandfather of Mrs. Cutshall and a native of Ohio, came to Indiana in 1837, settling in Posey township, where he entered forty acres of government land, which he occupied a number
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of years. Selling out, he moved to Van Buren township, Clay county, where both he and his wife, Susanna ( Easter) Crabb, spent their remain- ing years. A native of Highland county, Ohio, Silas Blunt Crabb was in his twelfth year when he came with his parents to Indiana, and since that time he has been a resident of Clay county, for the past forty years occu- pying his present homestead. He has watched with pride and pleasure Clay county's transformation from a wilderness to a well settled, wealthy county, rich in its many industrial resources. He married Eliza Wallace, who was born in Ohio, a daughter of Thomas and Susanna Wallace, na- tives of Scotland. Mrs. Crabb died March 9, 1896.
Mr. and Mrs. Cutshall are the parents of four children, namely : James, Clay, Anna and Lucy. James married Adelaide McGranahan. Mr. Cutshall is a stanch Republican in politics, active in public affairs, and has filled various offices of trust. In 1884 he was elected township trustee, in 1894 county treasurer, and in 1902 county commissioner, in each position performing the duties devolving upon him with the utmost fidelity. Fraternally he is a member of Brazil Lodge, No. 264, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons ; of Brazil Camp, No. 3418, Modern Woodmen of America, and of Lodge No. 336, Knights and Ladies of Security. Both Mr. and Mrs. Cutshall are members of the Christian church.
CHARLES CUTLER FESLER .- Widely and favorably known as the post- master at Clay City, Charles C. Fesler takes a genuine interest in every- thing pertaining to his adopted township and county, and is among the foremost to forward all enterprises of a beneficial nature. He was born May 13, 1852, in Hutsonville, Crawford county, Illinois, a son of Nicholas Fesler, and is of excellent German ancestry.
A native of North Carolina. Nicholas Fesler was but a boy when he accompanied his parents on their overland journey to Illinois. He sub- sequently grew to manhood in Crawford county, that state, and after beginning life for himself was employed at different trades, including those of a wool carder, a shoemaker and a carpenter. He spent his clos- ing years in Bellair, Crawford county, dying in 1891 at the venerable age of seventy-nine years. He married Mrs. Lucinda (Sweeney ) Dorothy, a widow with one child, Francis M. Dorothy, who passed the last years of his life in Clay City, Indiana. Of this union the following named children were born: James O .; Emily ; Kate S .; William ; and Margaret M. and Charles C., twins.
Brought up in his native county, Charles C. Fesler began the battle of life very young, having been but eleven years old when he commenced to be self supporting. For three years he worked as a farm laborer, and at the age of fourteen entered a general store at Bellair, Illinois, as a clerk, and remained thus employed until 1870. Going then to Effingham, Illi- nois, he there worked in a lunch room two summers. In 1872 he located at Terre Haute, Indiana, where for seven years he was employed as clerk and bookkeeper in a grocery store. Coming to Clay City in October, 1879, Mr. Fesler was here engaged in mercantile pursuits with his half-brother. the late Francis M. Dorothy, until 1885, when the partnership was dis- solved. Opening then a grocery in this city, he operated it alone until 1894. For a few years thereafter he was employed in various ways, in 1897 superintending the building of the first gravel road made in Harri- son township. In 1899 Mr. Fesler was appointed by President Mckinley postmaster at Clay City, and at the expiration of his term, four years
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later, was reappointed to the same office by President Roosevelt, who again reappointed him to the office in February, 1908.
Mr. Fesler married, in 1883, Mrs. Mary (Reed) Long, who was born in Ohio, a daughter of Samuel Reed. She married for her first husband Brisbon Long, by whom she had two children, namely: Orville, deceased, and Nettie, wife of Dr. H. O. Woodrow. Fraternally Mr. Fes- ler is a charter member of Uncas Tribe, No. 68, Improved Order of Red Men, organized in 1882; a member of Martz Lodge, No. 360, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and of Clay City Lodge, No. 562, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, organized in 1880, and of which he is a charter member, and was secretary and worshipful master for years. Of the first two lodges he has been treasurer since 1893. Politically he is an earnest advocate of the principles of the Republican party.
NELSON WEBSTER MARSHALL .- Prominent among the more prosper- ous, systematic and thorough-going agriculturists of Lewis township, Clay county, is Nelson W. Marshall, a typical Indiana farmer. Beginning life for himself even with the world, his present financial position is ample evidence of the wise manner in which he has employed his time, and of the ability and good judgment of which he is the fortunate possessor. He is the owner of one of the best appointed homesteads in his com- munity, and on account of his strict integrity and high character is num- bered among its most valued citizens. A native of Indiana, he was born, March 4, 1842, in Washington county, where his grandfather, Jesse Franklin Marshall, was a pioneer settler, and where his father, Iram Riggs Marshall, was reared from infancy. The parents of Jesse Franklin Marshall were born in Ireland, of Scotch ancestry, and from there emi- grated to the United States, locating first in North Carolina, from there going in pioneer days to Kentucky, where he cleared a farm, and resided the remainder of his life.
Born in North Carolina, Jesse F. Marshall was brought up and mar- ried in Kentucky. Migrating soon afterwards to Washington county, Indiana, he took up government land, erected a round log house, putting in a split puncheon floor, riving clapboards to cover the roof, and making a chimney from sticks, clay and stone. Improving quite a tract of the land, he there resided until his death, at the ripe old age of eighty-six years. His wife, whose maiden name was Catherine Waller, survived him but two days, passing away at the age of fourscore and four years. She was born in Kentucky, of Scotch-Irish ancestry, her parents settling in that state on their removal from North Carolina.
Iram Riggs Marshall wsa born in Kentucky, and when but a few months old was brought by his parents to Washington county, Indiana, where he grew to man's estate. Choosing farming as his life occupation, he lived there until after the breaking out of the Civil War, when he came to Clay county, and purchased land in section five, Lewis township. He was in poor health at the time, and as his health continued to fail he re- turned after two or three years to Washington county, where his death occurred a short time later. He married Elender Allis, who was born in Kentucky, a daughter of Peter and Christina (Starnge) Allis. She lived until eighty-two years old, and reared a fine family of children, namely : Catherine, deceased; Nelson W .; John; Ambrose D .; Jesse F .; James; Iram, deceased; Peter ; Cyrus ; and Christina.
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Brought up on a farm, Nelson W. Marshall attended school a part of each year until January, 1862, when he enlisted in Company F. Fifty- ninth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, which was attached to the First Bri- gade, Third Division, Fifteenth Army Corps. Going South with the command, he was soon in the thick of the fight, and his activities were con- tinuous, engagement following engagement. Among the more important battles in which Mr. Marshall took part were those at New Madrid; Tip- tonville, where the brigade captured five thousand prisoners; Shiloh; Island No. 10; Siege of Corinth; Port Gibson; Champion Hill; Siege of Vicksburg; Missionary Ridge; Siege of Alexandria; was with Sherman on his march to the Sea; and on April 8, 1865, at the expiration of his term of enlistment, was honorably discharged from the service at Golds- boro, North Carolina. During the siege of Vicksburg, Mr. Marshall received wounds in the leg and neck that incapacitated him for hard serv- ice, but he continued with his company. He was in the hospital but once, that being in Nashville, when he was vaccinated. He remained there three days, when he secured a pass, and getting a negro to secure his knapsack for him rejoined his command, instead of going home, as it was expected he would do.
Returning to Indiana after his discharge, Mr. Marshall came to Clay county, where his parents were living, and here in Lewis township began the battle of life on his own account. Industrious and courageous, he be- gan working by the day at farm labor, and by dint of sturdy toil and economy he accumulated some money, and when ready to settle in life bought forty acres of land in section five, Lewis township. The two acres that were cleared, and a log cabin constituted the only improvements on the place at the time of purchase, and there he and his bride set up house- keeping. Getting busy, he cleared a large part of the land, and at the end of four years traded it for land in section nine, where he lived about a year. Selling then, Mr. Marshall bought eighty acres of his present farm, and to this has added by purchase until now his home farm contains two hundred acres of rich and highly productive land, while in addition he has a timber lot of twenty acres. . His improvements are most excellent, his buildings being substantial and convenient, his land in a fine state of culti- vation, and his many fruit and shade trees are both useful and ornamental.
Mr. Marshall married, in November, 1865, Sarah E. Chambers, who was born in Lewis township, a daughter of Rice and Mary (Crevison) Chambers, natives, respectively, of Knox county, Indiana, and Kentucky. . She died February 10, 1901, leaving three children, namely : Charles Clin- ton, Ivan Riggs, and Bernice W. Charles C. Marshall, now a minister in the Missionary Baptist Church, is a college graduate, and has been hon- ored with the degrees of LL. D., D. D., and Ph. D. His first wife, Estella Trinkle, died a year after their marriage, and he afterwards married Win- nie Dautaz, by whom he has two children, Byron and Hubert. Ivan Riggs Marshall, who conducts the management of the home farm, married Ad- die Spear, and they are the parents of five children, Thelma Ellen, Lavere Clinton, Mildred Madeline, George Nelson, and Oval Gerald. Mary Ellen, who married Thomas J. Crist, died in 1901, leaving four children, Bulus Fay, Thalus Jennings, Nova Zembla, and Naomi. Politically Mr. Mar- shall is a steadfast Democrat, and for one term served as township trustee. Religiously he is a member of the Missionary Baptist church, to which his wife also belonged.
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THOMAS P. JONES is the senior partner of the firm of Jones & Com- pany, beef and pork packers of Brazil, Indiana. He is one of the native sons of Brazil, born July 23, 1863, his parents being William R. and Susan (Crabb) Jones. The father, who was born in Wales, April 22, 1827, died February 3, 1901. His parents were Reece and Celia Jones, both of whom were natives of Wales, where they spent their entire lives. William R. Jones came to America when twenty-two years of age, crossing the At- lantic in a sailing vessel. Four times after that he made his way across the briny deep, making two visits to his native country to see family and friends there. He became a resident of Clay county, Indiana, where for many years he engaged in farming and in butchering. He bought and killed stock and sold the meat through the country until 1880, when his son Thomas became his partner, and while the father purchased and killed the beeves the son conducted a meat market in Brazil. Mr. Jones con- tinued an active, influential and respected business man of Clay county until 1899, when he retired, enjoying well earned rest up to the time of his death. Ile was a member of Brazil Lodge, No. 264, A. F. & A. M., and was laid to rest with Masonic honors. He also belonged to Brazil Lodge, No. 215, I. O. O. F., and gave his political allegiance to the Republican party. On the 21st of April, 1862, near Brazil, Indiana, he married Miss Susan Crabb, who was born in Clay county, December 4, 1844, and is now living in Brazil. They became the parents of sixteen children, six sons and ten daughters, of whom eleven reached manhood and womanhood and seven of the daughters married. Nine children of the family are now living. Further mention of William R. Jones is made on another page of this work.
Thomas P. Jones was only about a year old when his parents removed from Brazil to a farm near the city. He began his education in the dis- trict schools near his father's home and later spent a year and a half as a student in Danville, Indiana. Subsequently he engaged in teaching school for about two years and then, desiring the benefit of further instruction himself, he entered Purdue University, where he remained as a student for about two years. He afterward devoted sometime to assisting his father on the farm and later spent a year in Brazil, working for Charles Herbert as a clerk. In 1880 he embarked in business in partnership with his father, who bought and butchered stock, while Thomas P. Jones man- aged the sales, conducting a market in Brazil. He has since been identi- . fied with this line of business, but the father withdrew in 1899. To-day the business is carried on by Thomas P. Jones and his brother Lemuel un- der the firm style of Jones & Company, incorporated, beef and pork packers. Their location is at No. 512 West Main street, where they con- duct their packing interests, and in addition they also have eight meat markets and five of these conduct a grocery department in connection. Mr. Jones is associated with his brother-in-law, Harry E. Lett, in the grocery business, and he is also vice president and general manager of the Brazil Ice and Storage Company. His interests are now extensive and are an important element in the commercial and industrial activity of Brazil. He has developed his business along modern, progressive lines, ever displaying an aptitude for successful management, while keen busi- ness discrimination and unwearied industry have been marked attributes of his commercial career.
Pleasantly situated in his home life, Thomas P. Jones was married on the 28th of August, 1889, to Miss Mary J. Lewis, who was born near
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Danville, Illinois, a daughter of David H. and Mary Lewis, both of whom were natives of Wales, but, coming to America in early life, were married in Illinois. They became the parents of eight children, of whom six are yet living : David, Elizabeth, Mary J., Thomas, Benjamin and Daniel. It was in the year 1839 that Mr. Lewis arrived in Indiana, first settling in Clay county, where he resided for a short time prior to his removal to . Illinois. In that state he took up his abode near Danville, where he de- voted his time and energies to farming and mining, owning and operating coal mines in that locality. He was a man widely and favorably known, his business interests being capably conducted along lines which brought him success and gained him prominence. He was a member of the Bap- tist church and his political allegiance was given to the Republican party. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Jones has been blessed with eight children, of whom six are now living: Edna May, Bessie Lucile, Lewis Franklin, Helen, Thomas Paul and Mary Maxine.
Never remiss in the duties of citizenship, Mr. Jones has served as president of the school board for three years and his labors in behalf of education have been far-reaching and beneficial. He belongs to Brazil Lodge, No. 264, A. F. & A. M., Brazil Chapter, No. 59, R. A. M., Brazil Council, No. 40, R. & S. M., and Brazil Commandery, No. 47, K. T. He is also connected with the Indianola Tribe, No. 61, I. O. R. M., and with Aerie No. 274, F. O. E. His political views are in harmony with the principles of the Republican party. Mr. Jones has 'spent his entire life in this county and has been closely associated with its interests and development. His record has been that of a business man who, energetic and determined, has pushed forward along honorable paths, his life record proving that success is ambition's answer.
JOHN B. MERSHON, who is engaged in drilling for coal and also in drilling wells in Clay county, makes his home in Brazil, his native city. He was born July 14, 1871, of the marriage of Furnnace and Charlotte (Webster) Mershon. His father was a native of Kentucky and was engaged in the lumber business and in the manufacture of shingles on an extensive scale. He was also well known as a driller, in which capacity he was a pioneer, and also had a fine farm with superior improvements in Dick Johnson township. From a humble position in the financial world he steadily rose by his own efforts and determination until he had acquired a handsome competency, and his life record proved that success and an honored name might be won simultaneously. He belonged to Brazil Lodge, No. 264, A. F. & A. M. and was in entire sympathy with the prin- ciples and purposes of the craft. His political views were in harmony with the platform of the Democratic party. He married Miss Charlotte Webster, who comes of the same ancestry as Daniel Webster, the cele- brated New England statesman. Three children were born of this mar- riage, but only two are now living, the daughter being Ida, the wife of E. T. Aydelotte, now living in Dick Johnson township.
The experiences which came to John B. Mershon in his boyhood and youth were those which usually fall to the lot of the farmer boy, who divides his time between the duties of the schoolroom, the pleasures of the playground and the work of the fields. He supplemented his early education acquired in the district schools by study at Danville, Indiana, and when eighteen years of age began work as a driller, in which connec- tion he has been engaged with the development of the coal resources of
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the country to a greater extent than any man now (1908), thus engaged in Clay county. He is engaged also in drilling wells for mines. His services have been in constant demand and continuing in this line of busi- ness to the present time he has become well-to-do.
On the 3d of December, 1896, was celebrated the marriage of John , B. Mershon and Miss Grace Weatherwax, who was born in Owen county, Indiana, and was a daughter of John and Magdalena Weatherwax. The father was born in New York and died at the age of seventy-one years. He was one of the pioneer gold seekers to California, and served in the Fifty-fourth Indiana Regiment during the Civil war. The mother's birth occurred in Germany. She still survives and is now a resident of Clay county. Mr. Weatherwax was one of the pioneer farmers of Owen and Clay counties and aided in the agricultural development of this section of the state while reclaiming wild land for cultivation. Unto him and his wives, he having married three times, were born thirteen children, of whom Mrs. Mershon is the youngest. By her marriage she has become the mother of two daughters and a son: Charlotte M., Verna E. and John Furnnace.
Mr. Mershon gives his political allegiance to the Democratic party, but an active business life has left him little time for co-operation in political work. He is a faithful and valued representative of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to Brazil lodge, No. 264, A. F. & A. M .; Brazil chapter, No. 59, R. A. M .; Brazil council, No. 40, R. & S. M .; and Brazil commandery, No. 47, K. T. He has many warm friends in the city where his entire life has been passed, gaining that regard which is given in recog- nition of sterling qualities. In 1907 he purchased "Orchard place," the most beautiful home in Clay county.
JOHN A. FALLS, a retired farmer of Posey township, was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, July 8, 1829. His father, John W. Falls, was born in either Ohio or Virginia, but was reared in Ohio and was there married to Mary Marks, a native daughter of the state. Four children were born to them in Ohio-Mary Jane, John, Susan E. and Hester Ann. Mr. Falls, the father, went to Charleston, Illinois, in his later life and died there. He was first an old-line Whig in his political affiliations, finally transferring his allegiance to the Republican party at the time of its or- ganization, and he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. The father of John W. Falls was born in Ireland.
John A. Falls came to Indiana from Ohio in 1850, where he was born and educated, and located in Cloverland, resuming at once his former trade of a potter. After several years at that occupation he obtained a half interest in the business with which he was connected. In company with William Carpenter he later bought seventy-one acres of land in Posey township, of which they cleared about ten acres, and finally Mr. Falls bought his partner's interest in the land and is now the owner of the entire seventy acres. He has also bought other lands in Posey township, and now has in all about one hundred and forty-five and a half acres and property in Cloverland. About 1902, however, he retired from the active work of the farm.
Mr. Falls married, June 26, 1857, Katherine A. Carpenter, who was born in Pennsylvania October 2, 1836, and was but three years of age when brought by her parents to Clay county, Indiana. Her father was George Carpenter, one of the early pioneers of Cloverland, where Mrs.
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Falls was reared and educated. She was the fourth in her parents' fam- ily of nine children. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Falls-Clara Ellen (deceased), Carrie L. and Harry D., all of whom were born and reared in Cloverland. Mr. Falls has been a life-long mem- ber of the Republican party, and he is a prominent and worthy member of the United Brethren church.
CHARLES GALEN RECTOR .- One of the oldest native-born citizens of Clay county, Charles Galen Rector is an honored representative of the early pioneers of this part of our beautiful country, and a true type of the brave and courageous pioneers who came to this region in territorial days, and out of the dense forests established for themselves permanent homes in this vicinity. A son of John P. Rector, he was born October 2, 1839, in Perry township, Clay county, where his grandfather, John Rector, took up government land in 1835.
George Rector, the great-grandfather of Charles G., removed from Virginia to Claiborne county, Tennessee, in the very early part of the nine- teenth century, and lived there a few years. Going from there to Ohio in 1809, he spent four years in Preble county, after which he resided for a year in Miami county. From there, in 1814, he came to the territory of Indiana, locating near Vincennes, then the territorial capital. Afterwards settling in Vigo county, he lived near Mount Pleasant for several years, after which he went with his sons, George and James, to Missouri, set- tling in Buchanan county, about three miles below Saint Joseph, where both he and his wife lived to good old ages.
John Rector was born March 2, 1794, in Giles county, West Virginia, and as a boy lived in Tennessee and Ohio. In 1814 he came with the family to Indiana, and from Vincennes, where they settled, explored the surrounding country looking for a favorable location in which to settle. The greater part of Indiana was then a wilderness, owned mostly by the government. Indians still had their reservations in the territory, and deer, panthers, wolves and other wild animals roamed at pleasure through the forests. In the spring of 1816, accompanied by his father, George Rector, Joseph Liston, Thomas Puckett, William McClellan, Thomas Ramage and Isaac Barnes, he visited the locality now known as Mount Pleasant, and there established the first settlement in Vigo county. They broke and fenced several acres and planted corn. John Rector erected a log cabin in the settlement, which was about three miles from the present site of Terre Haute, which then had no existence. Locating his family in the cabin in the fall of 1816, he lived there until 1835, when he sold out and came to Clay county. Entering government land in section six, he improved a good farm, and here resided until his death in 1871. He married Catherine Price, who was born October 10, 1798, in Montgomery county, West Virginia, and moved with her parents to Ohio in 1811. She was there married in 1813, came with her young husband to Indiana in 1814, and after her settlement in Vigo county witnessed the landing of the "Plowboy," the first steamer to touch Terre Haute. She died October 24, 1879, at a venerable age. She reared twelve children, and at her death had eighty grandchildren, eighty-seven great-grandchildren and one great- great-grandchild. She and her husband were both active and faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and in early times services were for many years held in their home.
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