USA > Indiana > Clay County > A History of Clay County Indiana (Volume 2) > Part 68
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In 1895 Charles Raab became the owner of the old farm which was his boyhood's home and where his parents had so long lived and labored, and he has ably continued the work of his father and has made the old place one of the most valuable in the township. He is prominent in the public life of his community, voting with the Democratic party, and in 1904 he was elected the trustee of Jackson township.
Mr. Raab married, May 13, 1886, Nancy B. Riddell, who was born in Jackson township, and the history of her father, Job Riddel, is also given in this work. Mrs. Raab was the second born of a family of six chil- dren, and by her marriage she has become the mother of five, three sons and two daughters,-Gladys, Everett, Alfred, Thomas and Jessie, all of whom were born on the homestead farm. Mr. Raab is a member of the Knights of Pythias and Red Men fraternities.
PEARSON FRANCIS GARDNER MILLER .- Intimately associated with the agricultural and industrial interests of Harrison township is Pearson Francis Gardner Miller, who is actively and prosperously engaged in general farming on the Miller homestead, which he is managing with ability and success. Here he was born, February 2, 1859, his birth occur- ring in the log house originally used by his parents as a dwelling, and which is now in use as a stable on the farm. His father, Jacob Miller, and his grandfather, Jeremiah Miller, Jr., were born and reared in Somer- set county, Pennsylvania. His great-grandfather, Jeremiah Miller, Sr., was a native of Germany, and with a brother emigrated to this country in colonial times, being the only members of the family to come to America. He located in Pennsylvania, and at once became identified with the highest interests of his adopted home. On the breaking out of the Revolutionary war he enlisted in the army, and fought with the colonists in their struggle for independence. Returning home when the war was over, he was told that his wife had gone to join him, and he never after- ward heard from her. He was four times married, by his second marriage having one daughter, and by his third union having five sons, of whom Jeremiah, Jr, was the second in succession of birth.
Born in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, Jeremiah Miller, Jr., lived there until after his marriage. Subsequently moving to Ohio, he settled near Bedford, where he carried on farming on rented land for a number of seasons. Coming then to Indiana, he spent the remainder of his life with his son Jacob, passing away at the age of sixty-five years. He mar- ried Mrs. Susanna ( Hamburgh) Miller, the widow of his brother, Henry Miller, who died in early manhood, leaving three children, Elizabeth, Susanna, and Kittie. She, also, was born in Pennsylvania, and died at
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the home of her son Jacob, in Indiana, being at the time of her death about sixty-five years of age. She bore her husband four children. namely: Leah, Sally, Mary, and Jacob.
Jacob Miller was born, April 4, 1822, in Somerset county, but at the age of seven years was taken by his parents to Ohio, where he was reared and educated, and for awhile worked at the shoemaker's trade. Migrat- ing from there to Clay county, Indiana, in 1850, he bought land at two and one-half dollars an acre, in section 4, Harrison township, and at once began its improvement. His first step in this direction was to clear space in order to make room for the humble log cabin in which all of his chil- dren were born, and in which the family lived a number of years. His land, like the greater part of the surrounding country, was at that time heavily timbered, but he at once began its improvement, laboring with a courage and never-failing energy that enabled him to successfully cope with all difficulties that arose. By dint of perseverance he placed the entire tract under cultivation, set out fruit trees, and erected a substan- tial set of frame buildings, rendering his estate one of the best in the neighborhood as regards its improvements and equipments. Now, in the sunset years of his long and useful life, he is living retired from active cares, on the home farm that he hewed from the wilderness, having long since given to his son its entire management. He married, February 3, 1848, Margaret Van Horn, who was born in Jefferson county, Ohio, a daughter of John and Mary ( Rose) Van Horn. Her parents were natives of Pennsylvania, and were of German ancestry. She died February I, 1904, leaving four children, namely : Julia Ann, wife of Abraham Snellen- berger ; Leah Elizabeth, wife of George Roush; Pearson F. G., of this brief sketch ; and Ellen, wife of Lewis Storm.
Growing to maturity on the homestead, Pearson F. G. Miller acquired a substantial common school education in his younger days, and as a youth assisted his father in many of his pioneer labors. When his father gave up active business, Mr. Miller assumed the management of the home farm, on which he has spent his entire life, and has since successfully pursued his pleasant and independent occupation, being numbered among the skilful farmers of his community.
Mr. Miller married, March 12, 1882, Anna Werner, who was born in Harrison township, May 20, 1861, a daughter of Louis and Catherine Werner, of whom further notice may be found elsewhere in this work, in the sketch of their son, Joseph L. Werner. Mr. and Mrs. Miller are the parents of eight children, namely : Ethel, Grace, Emma, Gertrude, Ruth, Esther, Cledus, and Raymond. Ethel, wife of Robert Orman, has two children, Ruby Fern and Harry. Grace married Clifford Buell, and they have one child, Lucille. Emma married Earl Coan, and Gertrude is the wife of George Rea.
GEORGE W. MILLER .- Ranking high among the practical and enter- prising agriculturists of Clay county is George W. Miller, of Lewis township, whose finely improved and well cultivated farm bears visible evidence of his skill and ability as a farmer, it being one of the best in regard to its improvements and appointments of any in the vicinity. A son of John G. Miller, he was born, October 27, 1854, in Jefferson town- ship, Owen county, Indiana, where he passed the days of his boyhood and youth. His paternal grandparents were natives of Pennsylvania, and early pioneers of Coshocton county, Ohio.
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Born in Coshocton county, Ohio, John G. Miller was brought up on a farm, and was engaged in agricultural pursuits in his native state until 1854. Migrating then to Indiana, he bought a tract of land in Jef, ferson township, Owen county, and in the space that he cleared built the log cabin in which his son George was, a few months later, born. Owen county had been settled several years previous to that time, but improve- ments therein had been slow, owing to the fact that there were neither railroads, canals, or convenient markets. Deer, turkeys and other wild game abounded, and in a large measure supplied the family larders. Beginning the improvement of his land, he lived there nine years, then sold and bought another tract in the same township. There he erected a commodious double hewed log. house, a very pretentious structure for those days, and continued his agricultural operations. Selling out in 1873, he purchased land in Wright township, Greene county, where for a number of years he carried on general farming with most excellent pecuniary results. Having by hard work and good management acquired a competency, he subsequently removed to Coal City, Owen county, where he lived retired from active business until his death, September 17, 1898, in the seventieth year of his age. His wife, whose maiden name was Margaret Hilligas, was born in Ohio, a daughter of John and Mary Hilli- gas. She died September 5, 1907, in the seventy-fourth year of her age, leaving five children, namely : Reuben, George W., Addie, Alonzo, and Daniel V.
Receiving a good common school education in the district schools, George W. Miller was well trained in the various branches of agriculture while living beneath the parental roof-tree. After his marriage, he set- tled in Lewis township, on the farm where he is now living, and continued in the free and independent occupation to which he was bred. He has made improvements of an excellent character, placing the land in a good state of cultivation, setting out fruit and ornamental trees, and entirely rebuilding the house. Mr. Miller is a systematic and thorough farmer, and everything about his premises indicates the existence of cultivated tastes and ample means.
On September 2, 1884, Mr. Miller married Minnie Vermillion, who was born in Terre Haute, a daughter of James Vermillion. Of their union eleven children have been born, namely : Albert, Leola, Ada, Edith, George, Neely, Marshall, Della, Clarence, Leonard and Chloe. Albert married Nellie Robinson and has one son, William Henry. Leola is the wife of Everett Shields, and has one child, Eveland. Ada wedded Stan- ley Hardesty, a coal miner and a resident of Greene county. They have one little son, Clarence Edward. Religiously Mr. and Mrs. Miller are consistent members of the Church of God and Mr. Miller has been a minister in his church for about fourteen years. He has wedded about two hundred couples and preached two hundred and fifty funeral sermons.
JOHN W. ENGLEHART .- The farming interests of Clay county in- clude among its most prominent representatives John E. Englehart, whose attractive and valuable homestead is located in section 11, Jackson township. The three years subsequent to his marriage and leaving home were spent in Harmony, Indiana, where he was engaged in teaming and coal mining, and then coming to Jackson township he bought forty acres of land, the nucleus of his present estate of one hundred and thirty and · a half acres, of which he has cleared about eighty acres and has made
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many valuable and substantial improvements. He makes a specialty of the raising of stock, and is very successful in both his farming and stock interests.
Mr. Englehart was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, March 20, 1846, and is of German parentage. His father, John Englehart, for many years a prominent farmer in Jackson township, was born in Ger- many, and when a young man came to America and married in Zanes- ville, Ohio, where he first located, a native daughter of his own country, Magdalina Zimmerman, they becoming the parents of five children, three sons and two daughters. For several years after coming to America Mr. Englehart worked at the stone cutter's trade, and was then engaged in agricultural pursuits in Ohio until his removal to Clay county, Indiana, in an early period in its history. He arrived here soon after the war and bought one hundred and sixty acres of land in Jackson township, which he and his sons cleared of its dense growth of timber, and this farm con- tinued as his home until his death. He gave his political allegiance to the Democratic party, and was a member of the Lutheran church.
His son, John W. Englehart, was a young man when he came to Clay county, and he was married in Jackson township in 1869 to Lena Byers, who was born and reared in Zanesville, Ohio. Her father, John Byers, came from his native land of Germany to America when a young man and located in Ohio, where he was married to Lena Bastian, also a native of the fatherland, and together they came to Clay county about five years subsequent to the arrival of Mr. Englehart, purchasing one hundred and sixty acres of land in Jackson township. Mr. Englehart affiliates with the Democracy, and is a member of the Lutheran church.
WILSON NEAL .- For many years a popular and successful educator, but now a farmer, Wilson Neal, of Lewis township, has spent the greater part of his life in this vicinity, and, ever regardful of the public weal, has been an able assistant in advancing the highest interests of town and county, at the same time gaining for himself the reputation of one who deserves the confidence and trust of his fellow-men. A native of this township, he was born October 19, 1857, being a son of Rev. John and Elizabeth (Love) Neal, of whom a sketch may be found elsewhere in this work.
The boyhood of Wilson Neal was passed in laying the foundation of his substantial education in the district schools of Lewis township. Being ambitious and studious, he afterwards attended a graded school in Riley township, Vigo county, taught by Prof. Moss, from there going to Hymera, where his teachers were Mahlon R. Neal and Judge Henry. Later he attended the State Normal School at Terre Haute, and at the age of nineteen years began his professional career in his home district, teaching in the Buchanan school. For twenty years he taught through the school terms of each season, being employed, principally, in his home town, although he taught a short time in Greene county, Indiana, and one term in Nebraska, near Lincoln. In 1888, turning his attention to agriculture, Mr. Neal located on his present farm, which then contained twenty-five acres of land, with no improvements. He has since bought additional land, having now eighty acres in his home farm, and twenty acres of bottom land, and in the care and management of his property displays much ability and skill. He has erected a good set of frame build- ings, the house being pleasantly located on an elevated site, and has
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further enhanced the beauty and value of his estate by planting shade and fruit trees.
On October 7, 1888, Mr. Neal married Mary Baughman, who was born in Wright township, Greene county, Indiana, January 21, 1863, a daughter of George W. and Emily (Larr) Baughman. Her parents were both of German ancestry, and natives of Ohio. Coming from there to Indiana in pioneer times, Mr. Baughman bought land in Wright town- ship, and was there extensively engaged in farming until after the dis- covery of coal in that vicinity, when he sold out, and afterwards lived. retired from active pursuits, in Linton, his present home. Mr. and Mrs. Neal are the parents of six children, namely: Ralph Emerson, Letha. Virgil, George, John M., and Mabel Louise. Politically Mr. Neal affil- iates with the Democratic party and has been an important factor in the political arena, in the furtherance of his party's measures. He has been delegate to both state and county conventions at various times. He is a member of Jasonville Lodge, No. 530, F. and A. M. Religiously Mrs. Neal is a worthy member of the Missionary Baptist Church.
JOHN E. GRIDER is prominently identified with the farming and stock raising interests of Posey township, and is also serving his fellow citi- zens in the office of trustee of his township. His family were early resi- dents of this community, and from the early days to the present they have been prominent in developing the agricultural interests. Cornelius Jones Grider, the father of John, came to Indiana with his parents when a lad of eight. He was born in Tennessee May 30, 1827. On arriving in Indiana the family located on a farm in Nevins township, Vigo county. There the little son grew to mature years, but during his early manhood. however, he came to Clay county, where he had charge for several years of a tannery in Posey township, and for some time following this oper- ated a flouring mill here. He then bought sixty acres of land in Posey township, which he cleared and improved, and in this township he was married to Mary Grass. She was born in Virginia, of German ancestry. and was reared and educated in Indiana. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Grider, a son and two daughters, and by a former marriage Mr. Grider also had three children, but all are now dead. He has been a lifelong Republican, and is a member of the United Brethren church at Cloverland.
John E. Grider remained in his parents' home until the age of twenty-one, attending the district schools of Posey township, and from the age of maturity he has made his own way in the world. After his mar- riage he farmed on rented land for six years, and then bought eighty acres in Posey township, also at one time owning thirty-seven acres in another tract, and in addition to his home farm of eighty acres he also owns property in Cloverland, where he resides. In 1904 he was elected to the office of trustee of the township, and he has been quite active in local politics for many years.
Mr. Grider married, November 16, 1898, Dean O'Connor, who was born and reared in Posey township, Clay county, a daughter of Timothy and Martha ( Roberts ) ()'Connor, the father a deceased miner and farmer of this locality but a native of New York City. Mrs. Grider is the second of their four children, and all were born in Staunton. Mrs. O'Connor had four children by a former marriage. Two children, a son and a daugh- ter, have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Grider-Stanley and Anna Dell.
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Mr. Grider is a member of the Masonic, Knights of Pythias and Red Men fraternities, and is a worthy member of the United Brethren church.
Mr. O'Connor, the father of Mrs. Grider, served four years and eight months in the Civil war, a member of the Thirty-first Indiana Vol- unteer Infantry, and he was in service in Texas after the close of the conflict. He was wounded in battle, participated in the famous march of Sherman to the sea, and was discharged with the rank of a corporal.
REV. JOHN NEAL .- Prominent among the pioneer preachers of Clay county was the late Rev. John Neal, for many years an honored and esteemed resident of Lewis township. He was a man of earnest convic- tions, strong character, and deep consecration, bound heart and soul to the religious work in which he was engaged, and as a loyal and faithful min- ister of the Christian church was very successful in reaching the hearts of his hearers. To him, perhaps, may aptly be applied the poet's couplet regarding the village pastor of ancient Auburn :
"Truth from his lips prevailed with double sway, And fools who came to scoff, remained to pray.'
A son of Henry Neal, he was born in Miami county, Ohio, in 1816, coming from Welsh-Irish ancestry. Henry Neal was one of the early settlers of Miami county, and there spent the larger part of his active life, being engaged in agricultural pursuits. The maiden name of his wife was Mary Duncan. She was three times married, Mr. Neal being her second husband. A more extended sketch of her life may be found on another page of this volume, in connection with the sketch of Benja- min Coppock, the only child born of her third marriage. Henry Neal and his wife were both Quakers, and reared their children in that faith.
Coming from Ohio to Indiana in 1835, Rev. John Neal became a pioneer of Lewis township, living first in a log cabin on section ten, shar- ing it with his brother-in-law, and his family. Subsequently purchasing government land in section twenty-one, he erected a log house, which was the family home for many years, and the birthplace of nearly all of his children. Being converted in his youth, John Neal joined the United Brethren Church, but later transferred his allegiance to the Christian Church, and soon after settling in Lewis township became an ordained preacher. For many years thereafter he devoted the most of his time to the spread of the gospel, not only in Clay county, but in the neighbor- ing counties, making the rounds on horseback, and preaching more often in the log cabin homes of the pioneers than in a church edifice. It is hardly necessary to say that the salary of the itinerant in those days was by no means a munificent one, being never a stated sum, and he was often paid in the productions of the land rather than in cash, all realizing that the minister and his family must live, and ready money being a scarce article. In his religious capacity, Mr. Neal contributed his full share towards the intellectual and moral progress of this part of the state, and until his death, January 29, 1897, at the venerable age of eighty-one years. was deeply interested in everything pertaining to the welfare of town and county.
Mr. Neal married Elizabeth Love, who was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a daughter of James and Barbara (Hastings) Love, both natives of Ireland. Both parents came to America from the Emerald
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Isle when children, and were married in Philadelphia, where Mr. Love spent his remaining days, dying at the early age of thirty-six years. Mrs. Love survived her husband for many years, spending the latter part of her life in Indiana, with her children. Of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Neal, twelve children were born, two of whom died in infancy, while ten grew to years of maturity, namely : Mary Ann, Amanda, Barbara, Louisa, Elihu, Henry, Sarah E., Susan, Wilson, and John A. Mrs. Neal survived her husband six years, passing away July 23, 1902.
LEWIS FIELD .- Distinguished as a native-born citizen of Lewis town- ship, and as the descendant of an honored pioneer family, Lewis Field is, also, a representative of the prosperous and well-to-do farmers of this part of Clay county. An experienced agriculturist, possessing sound sense, good judgment, and an energetic nature, he has been quite suc- cessful in the work to which he has given his attention since early youth. A son of the late Aquilla Field, he was born in Lewis township, Clay county, Indiana, December 13. 1854, and was here reared and educated.
Henry Field, the grandfather of Lewis, was born in Kentucky, and for a number of years after his marriage resided there. Coming with his family to Indiana in 1830, when this section of the country was in its primeval wildness, he bought land in Honey Creek township, Vigo county, lying about six miles from the site of the Court House at Terre Haute. With true pioneer courage, he began the improvement of his land, and on the farm which he reclaimed from the wilderness, both he and his wife, whose maiden name was Miss Ball, spent the remainder of their lives.
A native of Kentucky, Aquilla Field was born, February 24, 1824, and when six years old came with his parents to Indiana. Brought up on the home farm in Honey Creek township, he learned the trades of a car- penter and a shoemaker when young, and after settling in life for him- self made the shoes and did the carpentering for the family. In the spring of 1844 Mr. Field came to Lewis township, Clay county, where he had previously entered forty acres of government land in section thirty. He lived for a few months on land lying near his own, and while living there built a hewed log house on his own tract, and in the fall of the year took possession of it. There were neither railways nor canals here at that time, and no convenient markets, the chief subsistence of the people here- about being produced on farms, or obtained by expert marksmen from the surrounding forest, which was filled with deer, wild turkeys. and other kinds of game. Devoting his time to the clearing of the land and the tilling of the soil, he lived and labored here until his death, in April, 1901. He was twice married. His first wife, whose maiden name was Martha Hughes, was born in Ohio, a daughter of John Hughes, a pioneer of Honey Creek township. She died in March, 1859, leaving six children, namely : Susan, Henry, James, John, Lewis, and Thomas. He married second Nancy Holladay, by whom he had four children, as follows: George, Lucinda, William, and Frank.
Leaving the parental homestead when ready to assume the responsi- bilities of a married man, Lewis Field settled on the farm which he now owns and occupies. It then contained but fifty acres, thirty of which had been cleared, and a hewed log house had been built. Beginning work with a will, he added constantly to the improvements already begun on the place, setting out fruit trees of several varieties, erecting a substantial set of frame buildings, and has since bought additional land. On this
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pleasant homestead of ninety acres, he is now carrying on general farming and stock-raising to great advantage, meeting with well-merited success in his agricultural operations.
On February 29, 1880, Mr. Field married Elizabeth Henry, who was born in Columbiana county, Ohio, July 7, 1854, a daughter of Jacob Henry. Her grandfather. David Henry, was born in Pennsylvania, where his parents, who were born in Ireland, of Scotch ancestors, settled on coming to the United States to live. He subsequently migrated to Gallia county, Ohio, where he spent his closing years. He married Nancy Lyons, who was born in Pennsylvania, of Irish parents, and died in Beaver county, Pennsylvania. Jacob Henry was born and reared in Beaver county, his birth occurring March 1, 1829. He married Elvira Rowles, who was born in Ohio, close to the Pennsylvania state line, a daughter of William and Dorothy ( Leach) Rowles. Mr. and Mrs. Rowles were both natives of Culpeper county, Virginia, and were there married. They subsequently moved to Ohio, following the emigrants' trail on horseback, and taking with them all of their earthly possessions. Settling on land situated about five miles from Palestine, Columbiana county, they spent the remainder of their lives on the farm they improved from its original wildness. Of the fifteen children born to Mr. and Mrs. Rowles, twelve grew to years of maturity, and all married and had large families. After their marriage, Jacob Henry and his wife lived on the Rowles homestead, in Columbiana county, Ohio, until 1858, when they came to Greene county, Indiana. Buying a tract of timber land in Wright township, they built a log house. improved quite a portion of the land, and lived there till the family were grown. Mrs. Henry died in November, 1904. Mr. Henry sold that property, and is now living in Sullivan county. Mr. and Mrs. Henry reared nine children, as follows: David W .: Elizabeth, now Mrs. Field ; James P'. ; Leroy ; Rachel ; Lewis ; Thomas ; Marietta ; and Alfred. Mrs. Field is a woman of culture, and at the age of sixteen began teach- ing school, and taught for seventeen consecutive terms, being very suc- cessful as an educator. Mr. and Mrs. Field have three children, namely : Rupert. Viola, and Eva, all of whom are well known teachers in Clay and Vigo counties.
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