USA > Indiana > Clay County > A History of Clay County Indiana (Volume 2) > Part 66
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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY
He carries on general farming and stock-raising, in both branches of which he has signal success.
On February 5, 1871, Mr. Mccullough married Nancy C. Mace, who was born August 14, 1852, in Cass township, Clay county. Her father, Isaac Mace, came from Tennessee, his native state, to Indiana, bought timbered land in Cass township, and was there engaged in tilling the soil until his death, about 1856, at the age of fifty-two years. His wife, whose maiden name was Delaney Akre, survived him about a year. Nine of the children born of their union grew to years of maturity, as follows: Robert, Henry, Nicholas, William, Leonard, Jane, Delaney, Nancy and Ellen. By a former marriage, Isaac Mace had four children, Jacob, John, Eliza and Betsey.
Mr. and Mrs. McCullough have reared six children, namely : Laura, Gilbert, Franklin, Seth, Mack and Gladys. Laura, the wife of Grant Nees, has three children, Marion, Marie and Berlin. Gilbert married Etta Jackson. Franklin married Lucinda Jackson, and they have one child, Eula. Politically Mr. Mccullough supports the principles of the Democratic party at the polls. Religiously both Mr. and Mrs. McCul- lough are consistent and esteemed members of the Christian church.
JOHN GEORGE MILLER .- Combining in his makeup the elements which constitute him an honest man and a good citizen, John George Miller, of Perry township, is an excellent representative of the agricultural class, and one who has met with unquestioned success in his independent calling. A son of John L. Miller, he was born December 13, 1840, in Bavaria.
John Miller, the grandfather of John G., was born in Bavaria, and there spent the greater part of his life. He was a veterinary surgeon and, likewise, a skilled mechanic, in the latter capacity manufacturing beehives, rakes and hoe and fork handles. After celebrating the seven- tieth anniversary of his birth in his native land, he came to America to visit his children, and lived but a short time after his arrival, dying in Hamilton, Ohio. His second wife and their two children, both daugh- ters, crossed the ocean with him. By his first marriage he had five chil- dren, of whom but two, John L. and Frederick, came to this country. Frederick subsequently married and settled in Shelby county, Ohio, and there reared seven children.
A native of Bavaria, John L. Miller was born, in 1807, in Dernbauch, and was reared to agricultural pursuits. Several years after his mar- riage he sold his property, and in July, 1843, accompanied by his wife and two children, started for America, the land of promise. He was two weeks in journeying from his home to the seaport town from which he sailed, and his ocean voyage covered a period of sixty-seven days. Landing in Baltimore, he proceeded to Cumberland, Maryland, thence to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, from there going by way of the Ohio river to Hamilton, Ohio, where he spent nine weeks. Pushing his way still west- ward, he came to Clay county, Indiana, and bought in Posey township one hundred and twenty acres of land, paying three dollars and a half an acre. Building a hewed log house on the place he at once began the improve- ment of the land. Clay county was then mostly timber covered land, and deer, wild turkeys and other kinds of game were plentiful, and the fox squirrels abounded. For several years thereafter there were no rail- ways, and in Brazil there was but one store, the one kept by Captain Olds, which was established in the only frame building the town boasted.
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All stock and farm produce was taken to Terre Haute, then a small vil- lage, to be disposed of. In 1844 there were not more than a half-dozen dwelling houses within the present limits of the city of Brazil. Clearing a good farm, John L. Miller resided on it until his death, in 1882. He had at that time cleared more than one-half of his land, and in 1859 had built a frame stable, and in 1861 had erected a frame barn. He married Mary B. Miller, who died in 1864. Of the children born to them six lived to mature years, namely: John George, John L., Barbara, Mar- garet J., Frederick and Charles.
But four years old when he came with his parents to Indiana, John George Miller obtained his early education in Clay county, the first schools which he attended being on the subscription plan. Free schools were established three years later, sixty-six days constituting a school year. The log schoolhouse was rudely constructed and furnished, having a puncheon floor, slab seats, no desks and a stick and clay chimney. Beginning when young to assist in the pioneer labor of clearing the land, he remained with his parents until twenty-nine years old, in the mean- time earning and saving enough money to buy forty acres of land. At the time of his marriage his father gave him forty acres more, and these two tracts are both included in his present home farm. An earnest and industrious laborer, using excellent judgment in his work, Mr. Miller has made wise improvements on his place, erecting a fine set of log and frame buildings, planting a variety of fruit and shade trees, and has now one of the best and most attractive homesteads in this part of Clay county.
Mr. Miller married, in 1870, Eva Barbara Hoffman, who was born in Perry township, this county, February 24, 1854, a daughter of Matthias and Barbara Hoffman. She died in 1888, leaving two children, Mar- garet Barbara and John M. Margaret B. is the wife of George Holder- fer, and has two children, Carl and Stanley. John M. is associated with his father in farming, and since the death of Mrs. Hoffman he and his father keep house, and in their pleasant home ever extend a generous hospitality to their friends and acquaintances.
JOHN BRAY .- Clay county has had no more efficient sheriff than John Bray, who for four years, beginning in 1903, filled that office and stood loyally for the right in the prosecution of his duties. He was born at St. Blazey, Cornwall, England, January 8, 1851, and his parents, William and Susan (James) Bray, were also natives of Cornwall, where they were married. The father was a miner in England and was first married there to Miss Jane James, a sister of his second wife. They were the parents of three children, all of whom are now deceased, and, the mother having passed away, William Bray wedded Miss Susan James. In the year 1861 he crossed the Atlantic to America, landing at New York City on the 21st of May of that year. He then became established in Dover, New Jersey, where he spent his remaining days as a miner, passing away in 1876 at the age of sixty years. The mother of our subject long sur- vived him and died in Dover at the remarkably old age of ninety-two years. Their family numbered seven children, five sons and two daugh- ters : Thomas, Simon, Eliza, John, Caroline, Joseph and Charles. After becoming a naturalized American citizen the father, as the result of his study of the political issues and questions of the day, became a supporter of the Republican party, and his religious faith was indicated by his membership in the Methodist Episcopal church.
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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY
John Bray was brought to the United States by his parents when ten years of age and pursued his education in the public schools of New Jersey. At the age of eighteen he became a miner in the iron fields of New Jersey, and at the age of nineteen went to Maryland, where he remained for about two years. He then came to Indiana, locating at Brazil, being employed in the mines in this vicinity. He was afterward engaged in the liquor business for fifteen years and in 1903 was elected sheriff of Clay county, in which office he discharged his duties so promptly and efficiently that he received public endorsement by the re-election in 1905. He therefore continued in the office until 1907, when at the end of a four years' incumbency he retired and accepted the position of pit boss with the Progressive Coal & Mining Company.
On the 20th of December, 1872, Mr. Bray was married to Miss Pearl Romans, who was born in Kentucky May 19, 1848, a daughter of Samuel and Emily ( Nichols) Romans, who were likewise natives of the Blue Grass state, but both are now deceased. The father was a Demo- crat, and throughout his business career followed the occupation of farm- ing in Kentucky. Unto him and his wife were born three children : John, Mrs. Bray and Adaline.
Mr. Bray is a member of Knightsville Lodge, No. 409, 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., while both he and his wife are members of William Black Chapter, No. 80, of the Order of the Eastern Star. Mr. Bray is also connected with Brazil Lodge, No. 762, B. P. O. E., and Brazil Lodge, No. 30, K. P. He has many friends among his brethren of these fraternities and has also many warm admirers among the Republicans as well as among the supporters of the Democratic party, with which he has been allied since age conferred upon him the right of franchise.
JOHN W. WINN, who follows farming and stock raising in Jackson township, Clay county, was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, September 30, 1847, and his parents, Andrew and Abigail (Raynor) Winn, were born in New Jersey and New York respectively, but both were reared and married in Orange county, New York, of Scotch-Irish and Dutch descent respectively. They moved from New York to Ohio soon after their marriage, and in 1856 came to Clay county, Indiana, where Mr. Winn purchased from Samuel Weaver one hundred and sixty acres in Dick Johnson township, paying two thousand dollars in gold for the farm, and he cleared about one hundred acres of the tract and placed his land under cultivation. He also owned one hundred and sixty acres in another tract in Dick Johnson township, and they continued their resi- dence on the former homestead until 1883, when Mr. Winn spent a short time in the west and returning to Clay county bought another farm of one hundred and forty acres. He became well known throughout the county, and died at the age of seventy-eight years, a life-long supporter of Democratic principles. In the family of Mr. and Mrs. Winn were eleven children, nine sons and two daughters.
John W. Winn, the eighth born of the eleven children, received his educational training in the Carter school of Dick Johnson township, and after his marriage he rented land of his father for twelve years. He then bought eighty acres from Elijah Smith, but in 1883 he left the farm and went to Worth county, Missouri, but in a short time returned and located
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on his present homestead in 1884. He now owns one hundred and five acres of rich and fertile land, on which he has placed many valuable improvements, and has done his own carpenter work on his buildings.
On the 26th of April, 1869, Mr. Winn was married to Eliza K. Lemmons, who was born in Vigo county, Indiana, September 22, 1851. Her father, William Lemmons, was a native of Kentucky, but coming to Indiana after his marriage located in Vigo county. He was three times married and had eighteen children. Mr. and Mrs. Winn have had twelve children, four sons and eight daughters, all of whom were born in Clay county. Throughout his mature years Mr. Winn has given his political allegiance to the Democracy, and from 1890 to 1895 he served as the trustee of Jackson township and for six years was also a member of its advisory board. He has been a member of the Masonic fraternity since 1872, affiliating with Brazil Lodge No. 264, and he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
SARGENT STAGGS .- Having accomplished a satisfactory work as an agriculturist, acquiring a competency on which to live during his declining years, Sargent Staggs is now living retired from active pur- suits in Cory, enjoying to the utmost the well-merited reward of his long- continued, unremitting toil. Coming from pioneer stock, he was born, October 23, 1835, in Riley township, Vigo county, a son of Athel Staggs.
Born in Ohio in 1812, Athel Staggs came with his parents to Indiana when he was about twelve years old, and was brought up in Sullivan county, which was then in its original wildness. After his marriage he removed to Riley township, Vigo county, being one of the early settlers of the place. Buying a tract of timbered land, he built the log cabin in which his son Sargent was born. When the Erie and Wabash canal was begun he was employed on its construction, and at the same time his mother boarded a part of the employees. In 1840 he traded his Riley township property for land in sections 29 and 32, Perry township, Clay county, that in section 29 being covered with timber, while the other was prairie. A log house and a few acres cleared constituted the sole im- provements that had been previously made. He at once began clearing the land and breaking the prairie, and as the years passed by succeeded in placing the larger part of the land in a good state of cultivation. He replaced the log buildings with substantial frame structures, and there resided until his death, at the age of sixty-four years. He married Sarah Harris, a daughter of Benjamin Harris, who moved from Ohio to Indiana, becoming a pioneer of Sullivan county. She survived her husband for a long time, attaining the venerable age of eighty-one years. She reared six children, namely: Newport, Sargent, Sarah J., Elijah, Tyra J. and Annie.
But five years old when his parents settled in Perry township, Sargent Staggs has been a witness of almost the entire growth and development of this part of the county. At that time deer were very plentiful, and his father, an expert marksman, killed many of them, and Mr. Staggs, himself, killed four, shooting the last one from his own door- yard in 1859. His father kept sheep and raised flax for many years, and his mother, an adept in domestic arts, used to card, spin and weave the homespun in which she made garments for the family, the clothes and food of the household being produced on the farm. Sargent Staggs attended the pioneer schools as a boy and youth, in the meantime becom-
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ing familiar with the work on the farm, remaining at home until his marriage. His father then gave him a deed to one hundred and twenty acres of land in section 32, Perry township. Industrious and ambitious, he improved the land, bought more, and has in his farm one hundred and sixty acres, all well improved and highly productive. Here Mr. Staggs lived until 1890, when he rented his farm, and has since resided at Cory, as before mentioned.
Mr. Staggs married first, in February, 1859, Ellen Mason, who spent her entire life in Perry township, her birth occurring here in 1843 and her death in 1884. She was a daughter of Joseph Mason, and a granddaughter of John Mason, an early pioneer of this township. Mr. Staggs married second, in 1887, Mrs. Sarah ( Putoff) Kay. She was born, November 16, 1851, in Franklin township, Owen county, a daughter of Simeon Putoff. Simeon Putoff was born in Ohio, became a pioneer settler of Franklin township, where he improved a small farm, upon which he spent his last years. He married Priscilla Medlock, who was born in Washington county, Indiana, and died on the home farm in Franklin township. Sarah Putoff married first John Tryce, of Alabama. Her second husband, John Kay, lost his life in the cyclone that destroyed a bridge in Lewis township. By his first marriage Mr. Staggs had five children, Ida, Etta, Ollie, Clara and Cora. Ida, deceased, married Lean- der Reece, and at her death left two children, Effie and Reed R. Etta, deceased, married John Morgan. Ollie, wife of Charles Long, has chil- dren, Ernest, Obed, Harlan, Rosa and an infant. Clara, the wife of Byron Dalrymple, has six children, Carrie, Grover, Zoa, Marie, Grace and Blanche. Cora, wife of Emery Turner, has two children, Courtney and Dineen. By his present marriage Mr. Staggs has three children, Joel, Bonnie and Hazel. By her first marriage Mrs. Staggs had one daughter, Emma, who married Howard Jackson, and has three children, Oakey, Ermel and Fay. By her marriage with Mr. Kay Mrs. Staggs had one daughter, Bertha Kay. She married Don Fortner, and they have one daughter, Oka. 'Politically Mr. Staggs is an active member of the Democratic party, and for six years served as township trustee.
CASWELL H. COOPRIDER .- Prominent among the capable, skilful and progressive agriculturists of Harrison township is Caswell H. Cooprider, who carries on general farming in a thorough manner, and is meeting with most excellent results. Of him it can be most truly said that he is a native and to the manner born, his birth having occurred July 19, 1867, on the farm where he now resides. He is a son of the late Francis Marion Cooprider, grandson of George Washington Cooprider, a life-long resi- dent of Clay county, and great-grandson of John and Elizabeth ( Flesh- man) Cooprider, who were among the very early settlers of this part of Indiana. In an interesting sketch of John Cooprider, which appears else- where in this volume, may be found further ancestral history of the family.
George Washington Cooprider was born in Harrison county, Indiana, near New Albany, December 29, 1817, and came to Martz, Clay county, when two years old. Learning the trades of a carpenter and cabinet maker, he followed both for many years, residing in the meantime in Middlebury. About 1858 he bought land on section nineteen, Harrison township, and from that time until his death, May 30, 1890, was actively interested in agricultural pursuits. He married for his first wife Lidia
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White, the daughter of a Revolutionary soldier. She died in 1848, leaving three children, Missouri Ann, Francis Marion and Simeon.
His second wife was Polly Bowman, widow of Jacob Miller. She had three children by Jacob Miller, John W., Barbara Ann and Mary Catherine Miller. George Washington Cooprider and Polly Miller had three children, Elizabeth, Eliza Jane and Joseph J. His second wife died December 8, 1862. He married for his third wife Delitha Cummins, in the year 1863, April 7, and to this union five children were born: Chris- tena, on March 6, 1865; Wilson, born September 20, 1867, died October 18, 1868; Mary Etta, born March 1, 1869; George W., born January 31, 1871, died April 20, 1887; and James B., born June 6, 1873. Delitha, his third wife, had one child when she became his wife, Granville P. Mize, now in Dundurn, Saskatchewan, Canada. Mr. Cooprider had the follow- ing grandchildren : By first marriage, by Francis M .: Caswell H., James W., Florence and Lethie M. Cooprider. By Missouri Ann (Cooprider ) Brandenburg: William Simon, Bell and Rachel. By Simeon Cooprider : Clifford, Brisbane, Francis, Rilla, Mamie and Clarance. By second mar- riage, by Elizabeth (Cooprider) King: Leo, Mandy, Joseph and Mary. By Jane (Cooprider) Shawewecker : Charles, Nettie, Nellie, John, Jessie, Clarence .and Ruth. By Joseph J .: Louis, Chester and Argetha Bell. By his third marriage, by Christena (Cooprider ) Freed: Vivian, Esther and Elsie. By James: Atha and George, living at this date, August 20, 1908.
George Washington Cooprider framed and operated the last water saw mill, with a sash saw which ran up and down, and there is where his son Francis learned to swim in the tail race. This was the last such mill in the county. He also had a set of burrs to grind corn, and one of the stone burrs is still lying on the bottom of the little creek (Lick Branch), one and one-quarter mile west of Clay City. He framed the first frame for the first coal shaft on his brother Henry's farm, near Clay City, that was in southern Clay county.
A native of Harrison township, Francis Marion Cooprider was born August 24, 1844, and as a boy and youth materially assisted in the pioneer labor of redeeming a farm from the timbered land. When, in 1861, the tocsin of war rang throughout our land, he quickly responded to the first call for troops. Enlisting, he went into camp at Gosport, where he was soon stricken with measles and nearly lost his life, in consequence being sent home rather than to the south. In 1864 he again offered his services to his country, enlisting in Company I, First Indiana Heavy Artillery, and continued with his regiment in all of its engagements until receiving his honorable discharge in October, 1865. Returning to Harrison town- ship, he settled in 1866 on section twenty-five, and began the improvement of a homestead by building the log cabin in which his son Caswell, the special subject of this sketch, first opened his eyes to the light of this world. Devoting his time and energies to the clearing of the land, he met with exceptionally good success, having at the time of his death. which occurred October 28, 1906, a well-appointed and finely improved farm, with a substantial set of frame buildings, his estate comparing most favorably with any in the neighborhood.
Francis M. Cooprider was twice married. He married first, in June, 1866, Margaret Watts, who was born in 1850, in Cataract, Owen county. Indiana, a daughter of Dr. James Watts. Dr. Watts was born, bred and educated in Kentucky, and there began his professional career as a
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physician. He was a strong abolitionist, and on that account, at the breaking out of the Civil war came to Indiana to live. He subsequently raised a company of stalwart soldiers, and was commissioned captain of Company B, Ninety-seventh Indiana Volunteer Infantry, which he com- manded in some of the most closely contested battles of the entire war, in one of the engagements all but ten of his men being either killed or wounded. At the end of eighteen months, his wife having in the mean- time died, Captain Watts resigned his command, and returned home to care for his motherless children. Locating after his return in Martz, Clay county, the Doctor was there engaged in the practice of his profes- sion until his death. By this marriage F. M. Cooprider had three chil- dren, namely: Caswell H., the subject of this sketch; James, a well- known farmer of this township; and Lethie, wife of Allen D. Hayden, of Terre Haute. Mr. Cooprider married second Margaret Burkhart, who survives him, and with her step-son resides on the home farm. A brief sketch of her life may be found on another page of this biographical work.
An excellent scholar, fond of his books, Caswell H. Cooprider acquired a substantial education when young, and successfully passed the examination required of teachers. His health, however, demanding out- door exercise, he relinquished his ambitions for a professional career, and turned his attention to the rural pursuit of agriculture, and in this occu- pation has found pleasure, profit and physical vigor. With his step-mother he occupies the old homestead, and in its management is meeting with success.
On March 22, 1894, Mr. Cooprider married Julia May Fritz, who was born in this township, a daughter of Martin L. and Mary E. ( Padgitt) Fritz. She passed to the life beyond August 4, 1904, leaving one child, Cecil.
JOHN H. NEES .- For nearly forty years John H. Nees has been actively identified with the agricultural interests of Clay county, his home- stead being pleasantly located in Perry township, and in the pursuance of his independent calling he has met with good success. He was born Sep- tember 10, 1836, in Jackson township, Owen county, Indiana, a son of Adam Nees, a pioneer settler of that place. His grandfather, John Nees, born in either Virginia or Tennessee, migrated from the latter state to Indiana, and lived first in Union county. He subsequently pushed on to Owen county, becoming one of the first householders of Jackson town- ship, and on the farm that he redeemed from the forest he and his faithful wife spent their remaining years.
Adam Nees was born, May 29, 1807, in Tennessee, and in the eastern part of that state was reared and married. Emigrating with his parents to Indiana, he made the overland journey with teams, bringing his family and all of his earthly possessions. After spending a short time in Union county he settled in Owen county, which was then but sparsely populated. Buying a tract of woodland in Jackson township, he first erected a cabin of round logs, and in that his son John H. was born. He rived the boards to cover the roof and also to make the door, no sawed lumber being used. Later he built a hewed log house, in which he resided until his death, in 1850, while yet in the prime of life. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary A. Nees, was born in Tennessee, March 27, 1811. Her father, Michael Nees, a native of Tennessee, but not a relative of John Nees,
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was a pioneer settler of Cass township, Clay county, Indiana, where his death occurred in 1848. Mrs. Mary A. Nees survived her husband many years, passing away April 2, 1885. She reared ten children, namely : George W., Andrew J., William M., John H., Margaret, Mary, Louisa, Sarah, Henry H., and Thomas N.
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