A History of Clay County Indiana (Volume 2), Part 7

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

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On the 5th of October, 1876, Jerome Bogle wedded Emma H. Cole, a native of Cloverdale. Indiana, born on the same day of the month eighteen years before. She is the daughter of Samuel S. and Elizabeth (Egnor) Cole, her father being a native of Hamilton, Ohio, and her

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mother of Indiana. When quite a young man Samuel Cole came to Indi- ana from Ohio, in 1849 locating at Cloverdale, Indiana, where he engaged in the harness business and met his future wife. In 1872 he located at Bowling Green, continuing in the same line for eleven years, and in 1882 making another change of business headquarters to Worthington, Greene county. He is still actively engaged in business at that place, being in partnership with his son, Charles B. Cole, who, with Mrs. Bogle, is the only surviving child. The father has been an untiring worker in the upbuilding of the Methodist church for the past fifty years. Fraternally he is a Mason, and politically a Republican. He was master of the Masonic lodge at Cloverdale for several years, and on his removal to Worthington assisted in restoring the charter to Green Lodge No. 577, of which lodge he was master for eight years.

CHAUNCY NEAL ROBISON .- The Robison family have been identified with the interests of Clay county since 1854, when John Robison, the grandfather of Chauncy N., established his home in Dick Johnson town- ship, and the name has ever since been prominently identified with its agricultural development. Mr. Robison was a native of Ohio, and after 'moving westward purchased eighty acres of land in Dick Johnson town- ship, which he partly cleared and improved and which was his home until within one year of his death, going then to Kansas and dying there. He was a life-long supporter of Republican principles. a valued and worthy member of the Christian church, and a man honored and revered by all who knew him, and his acquaintances and friends were many. He mar- ried Mary Baker, and they became the parents of ten children, six sons and four daughters. The mother was a strict member of the Christian church.

One of this family was Thomas Robison, who was born in Ohio, March 11, 1840, and he was but fourteen years of age at the time of the emigration of his parents to Indiana. He attended in his youth the early schools of Dick Johnson township, and in about the year of 1870 he moved to Vigo county and bought a farm of eighty acres and remained there until 1895, when he left the farm to live with his children. He served two years and eight months in the Civil war, participating in much hard service dur- ing that time. He is not bound by party ties in his political affiliations, and is a member of the Christian church. Mr. Robison was married in Brazil, December 20, 1868, to Martha Jane Shattuck, who was born in Williams- town and moved to Brazil at the age of six, and their family numbers three children: John Franklin, born March 11, 1870; Chauncy Neal, born February 16, 1873; and Theodore Ross, born January 8, 1875, the eldest born in Clay county and the remainder in Vigo county. The mother died when the youngest child was eight years of age. She was a member of the Christian church.

Chauncy N. Robison received his educational training in the schools of Vigo county, and in Clay county, on the 23d of August, 1896, he was married to Minnie Mercine Carter, a daughter of Lucius and Barbara A. (Huffman) Carter, prominent and well-known farmers of Dick Johnson township, where their daughter was born and reared. The only child of this union is Josie May, born May 10, 1897. The wife and mother died on the 20th of January. 1899, and on the 21st of October, 1902, Mr. Robi- son wedded Katherine Kennedy, who was born in Dick Johnson township, Clay county, November 12, 1881, a daughter of James and Martha J.

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( Horahan ) Kennedy. The father is a miner and one of the prominent early residents of Dick Johnson township, and his father, John Kennedy, assisted in sinking the first shaft in Brazil. Mrs. Robison attended the district schools of Dick Johnson township and the state normal at Terre Hlaute, and during three terms after the completion of her educational training she taught in the schools of that township. Mr. and Mrs. Robison have two sons, Ernest, born July 23, 1903; and James Thomas, October 23, 1905, both born on the home farm. Mr. Robison came to his present homestead in 1896, where he owns a valuable and well improved tract of eighty acres and makes a specialty of the raising of wheat and horses. His politics are Democratic where national issues are concerned. His wife is a member of the Methodist church.

WILLIAM BERRISFORD .- A self-made man in every sense implied by the term. William Berrisford is one of the many well-to-do citizens of Clay county who came to the United States poor in purse but possessing an unlimited stock of energy and perseverance, and who by untiring indus- try and good management have succeeded in acquiring a fair amount of this world's goods. The owner of a well-kept farm in Van Buren town- ship, he is engaged in tilling the soil, each year adding to the improvements of his estate. A native of England, he was born July 23, 1852, in Ipstones, Staffordshire, where his father, John Berrisford, spent his entire life.

At the age of twelve years William Berrisford began to be a wage carner, and the following six years worked at mining in his native county. Determining then to take advantage of the many opportunities offered the poor man in America for obtaining a living, he crossed the broad Atlantic, arriving in New York with no other available capital than good health, strong muscles, willing hands and a most resolute spirit. Proceeding westward to Ohio, he was for three years employed at mining about four and one-half miles from Akron. The following year he spent in Clay county, Indiana, after which he worked for a short period in the Missouri mines. Going from there to Illinois, Mr. Berrisford worked for a few months near East Saint Louis, and was afterwards in the lead mines at Rosiclare, the same state. He then came back to Clay county, staying in this vicinity until 1876, when he migrated to Colorado, and there for ten months was employed in mining at Erie, Weld county. Returning to Clay county, Mr. Berrisford has since been a resident of Van Buren town- ship, living mostly in the vicinity of Knightsville, although for a time his home was in Carbon. In 1887 he bought a place in that part of Knights- ville known as New England, and lived there twenty-five years. Then, in 1902, he purchased forty acres of land on the National Road, two miles east of the court house, and on an elevation commanding a fine view of the surrounding country built the modern house which he has since occu- pied.

On February 18, 1875. Mr. Berrisford married Annie Liddell. She was born in Shields, Northumberland county, England. May 17, 1855. Her parents, Joseph and Mary (Ladly ) Liddell, natives of the same county, came to America in 1862 and settled in Hubbard, Ohio, where the death of Mrs. Liddell occurred soon after. About 1870 Mr. Liddell came with his family to Clay county, this state, and a few years later removed to Illinois, where he spent the remainder of his life. To him and his wife four children were born, as follows: Anna, Maggie, Elizabeth and Jennie. Of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Berrisford eight children were born,

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namely : Joseph, who died in infancy; William; Thomas; Elizabeth; Joseph; John; Mary; and George.

William, born May 11, 1877, married Sophia Salmond, and died August 20, 1902, leaving two children, Willie and Margaret. John, born January 25, 1887, after his graduation from the Knightsville High School, attended the Brazil High School for a year. He died May 17, 1907. Eliza- beth, wife of John E. Carpenter, has three children, Anna, Lottie and Fern. Joseph married Myrtle Brown. Fraternally Mr. Berrisford is a member of Knightsville Lodge, No. 409, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; and of Knightsville Lodge, Knights of Pythias. Mrs. Berris- ford is a member of Knightsville Chapter, No. 238, Order of the Eastern Star ; of lodge No. 205, Pythian Sisters; and of Knightsville Lodge, Daughters of Rebekah. She is a woman of deep religious convictions, and a valued member of the Methodist Episcopal church.

ALBERT CALDWELL BURNHAM .- An Indiana man by birth and breed- ing, Albert C. Burnham has been identified with many of the industries of the state and is now numbered among the much respected and highly esteemed residents of Clay City. A son of Alexander Burnham, he was born October 17, 1843, in Sugar Creek township, Vigo county, in the log house built by his father in pioneer days. His grandfather, Orange Burnham, served in the war of 1812, after which he became one of the early settlers of Tennessee, and at a later day was a pioneer of Vigo county, Indiana, where he spent the closing years of his long life, passing away in the ninety-ninth year of his age.

Born in the Short Mountain district of Tennessee, Alexander Burn- ham lived in his native state until after his marriage. Starting west- ward then with his bride, he came to Vigo county, Indiana, making the entire journey on horseback, the one horse doing for both of them. Entering government land in Sugar Creek township, he built a log cabin for a dwelling place, began the improvement of his land, and by dint of sturdy industry and persistent energy established a good homestead and was there employed in tilling the soil until his death, at the age of fifty- six years. His wife, whose maiden name was Cynthia Skerlock, was born in Tennessee, not far from his birthplace, a daughter of Thomas Skerlock. She died in Sugar Creek township at the early age of forty- five years. She was the mother of ten children, all of whom grew to years of maturity, namely: Mary, Sylvanus, Albert Caldwell, James, Harriet, William S., Lottie, John, Ann and Callie.

Albert C. Burnham obtained his early education in the typical log school house of pioneer times, with slab benches and no desks, the board placed against one side of the cabin serving as a place upon which the pupils could write. Deer and wild turkeys were very plentiful when he was a boy, and timber wolves were destructive to the young stock, which had to be carefully guarded from their attacks. Reared to agricultural pursuits, he selected farming as his early occupation, and at the death of his father bought the interest of the other heirs in the parental home- stead, and continued its management for nine years. Selling the old farm, he then went to Terre Haute, where he was engaged in the wood and coal business for some time. In 1884. having disposed of interests in that locality, Mr. Burnham located in Clay City, and, in partnership with his brother James, was for five years engaged in the manufacture of tile. He subsequently spent two years in Indianapolis and two years

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in Jasonville, from the latter place coming back to Clay City, where he has since resided.

On January 14. 1883. Mr. Burnham married Ellen Kilmer, who was born in Holmes county, Ohio. She is a daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth Kilmer, of whom a brief sketch appears on another page of this volume.

FRANK M. MYERS, prominent farmer and stock raiser in Posey town- 'ship, was born in Brazil, Indiana, November 19, 1850. His father, Will- iam Y. Myers, for many years a well-known farmer near that town, was born in Orange county, Indiana, and was but a boy at the time of his removal with his parents to Brazil, and about two years after his marriage he located on a farm in Dick Johnson county, where at one time he owned one hundred and sixty acres, having cleared and improved the most of the tract. He finally moved to Nebraska, where he died in 1900, a life-long Democrat and a member of the Christian church. He married in Dick Johnson township Lucy Akers, whose father, Luke Akers, was one of the early pioneers of Clay county, coming from Vir- ginia and locating in Dick Johnson township, where his daughter was afterward born. He entered a farm from the government there, and lived under a poplar tree until he had cleared a sufficient space on which to erect his log cabin. His family numbered eleven children, all of whom were born in that township, two sons and nine daughters. He was a Democrat politically, and died when his daughter Lucy was young. Three children, two sons and a daughter, were born to Mr. and Mrs. Myers, Frank, Mary Jane and Daniel W., the last named now deceased.

In the fall of 1870 Frank Myers was married to Harriett E. Mor- gan, who was born and reared in Posey township, her father, Newton Morgan, having been one of the prominent early pioneers of Clay county, and they have had six children, Dennis O., Laura, Byron, John A., Anna and Florence, but Dennis, Laura and John are deceased. All were born in Posey township.

After his marriage Mr. Myers purchased his present homestead of eighty acres, of which he has cleared twenty acres, and his land is fertile and well improved. He has given his political support from the age of maturity to the Democratic party, and has been quite active in its local ranks. He is a member of the Knights and Ladies of Honor and of the United Brethren church.

JOSEPH L. WERNER .- Among the enterprising and progressive men who are identified with the manufacturing interests of Clay City is Joseph L. Werner, who as a harness maker is carrying on a successful business. A native of Clay county, he was born in Harrison township May 16, 1868, a son of Louis Werner.

Louis Werner was born in 1831, in Bolonden, Wurtemberg, Ger- many. At the age of sixteen years, having previously completed his early education and worked for a while at the butcher's trade, he emigrated to America, being ninety days in crossing the Atlantic. Two of his brothers, Frederick and Jacob, and one sister, Catherine, also came to this country to live. Spending but a few days in New York City, Louis Werner con- tinued his journey westward as far as Ohio, where he found employment on a farm in Coshocton county. In 1853 he pushed still farther towards the western frontier, coming to Clay county, Indiana, and locating in Harrison township, where, on section five, he bought from the govern-

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ment eighty acres of Erie Canal land. Clearing a space in the heavy growth of timber with which it was covered he built a log house, which became the birthplace of all of his children. Industrious, vigorous and courageous, he labored with a hearty good will to subdue the forest, and in the course of a few years had placed the greater part of the land in a good state of cultivation. He made various and substantial improve- ments on the homestead, replacing the original cabin by a modernly con- structed frame house, erected a large barn and such other, outbuildings as are required on a well-conducted farm, and from time to time pur- chased different tracts of land until at the time of his death he owned in Clay county, in addition to his Clay City property, two hundred and twenty acres of land, and land in Iowa besides. Renting his land in 1896, he removed to Clay City, and there lived retired, enjoying the fruits of his earlier years of toil, until his death, February 7, 1905.

The maiden name of the wife of Louis Werner was Catherine Sigle. She was a native of Wurtemberg, Germany, and when a child came with her parents and her maternal grandparents to America. Her father died just a day or two after landing in New York City, and her mother and her grandparents proceeded to Ohio, where, after grown to womanhood, she met and married Mr. Werner. She has two brothers in this country, John Sigle, of Missouri, and Ferdinand Sigle, of Kansas, and two sis- ters, Margaret and Rebecca. She died April 5, 1908. She reared ten children, namely: Mary, Frederica, Matilda, Tena, Anna, Martha, Lu- cinda, Joseph L., Frank and Clara.

Brought up on the home farm, Joseph L. Werner attended the dis- trict schools when young, and as soon as old enough began to assist his father in clearing the land and tilling the soil. When sixteen years of age he went to Greenleaf, Washington county, Kansas, where he worked at the harness maker's trade with an uncle for eighteen months. He sub- sequently followed his trade as a journeyman in that state, working in Marion six months and at McPherson a year. Returning in 1889 to Clay county, Mr. Werner's father presented him with seventy-five dollars in gold, and with this capital he established himself in business as a harness maker, and continued thus employed until 1896. Going then to Iowa, Mr. Werner was for a short time employed in farming in Crawford county, after which he removed to Modale, Harrison county, where he carried on farming and stock-raising for eight years. Disposing then of his Iowa property, he came back to Clay City and bought out the business which he had sold ten years before, in the purchase being included many of the tools which he had previously sold.

On May 26, 1889, Mr. Werner married Samantha C. Summerlot, who was born in Owen county, Indiana, October 30, 1869, a daughter of William Summerlot, Jr. Her grandfather, William Summerlot, Sr., was, as far as known, a native of Ohio, and was of German ancestry. Coming from there to Owen county, Indiana, in 1846, he bought wild land in Marion township, and there cleared and improved a good homestead. Thrifty and industrious, he accumulated money, and making judicious investments became the owner of about five hundred acres of good land. On the farm which he improved he lived until his death in 1888, at the advanced age of eighty-two years. His wife, whose maiden name was Annie Miller, was born in Pennsylvania, and died in 1887, aged seventy- four years, in Indiana. Her father, David Miller, a native of Pennsyl-

Vol. II-4

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vania, moved to Ohio and thence to Indiana, and on the farm which he improved spent his remaining days.

William Summerlot, Jr., the father of Mrs. Werner, was born March 16, 1843, in Ohio, and at the age of three years was brought by his par- ents to Marion township, Owen county, where he grew to man's estate. When ready to begin life on his own account he bought a tract of land in Harrison township, Clay county, and has since been here successfully employed in general farming and stock-raising. He married Charity A. Bolton, who was born in Ohio July 16, 1844, a daughter of Louis Bolton, a native of Germany. Her grandfather, John Bolton, emigrated from the fatherland to this country with his family, settling first in Virginia, but from there migrating to Ohio, where he followed farming and shoe- making until his death. Louis Bolton married Eliza Batson, who was born in Pennsylvania, a daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Laramore) Batson, and they reared two children, John, a farmer in Harrison town- ship; and Mrs. Werner. Mr. and Mrs. Werner have two children, namely : Vernilia Verdonia and Leola Gwendolene. The eldest daughter, Vernilia V., is a natural artist, and the home is adorned with beautiful specimens of her skill as an artist at the early age of fourteen years. People of sterling integrity and worth, Mr. and Mrs. Werner are held in high esteem throughout the community in which they live, and Mrs. Werner and her children are valued members of the United Brethren church.

HENRY SPELBRING is proprietor of that fine piece of agricultural property known as "The Indian Camp Stock Farm," located in section 5, Washington township, and as a prosperous and honorable German- American well represents the thrift and enterprise of his ancestral race transplanted to the broader fields and more favorable conditions of the United States. His father, John H. Spelbring, was born in Prussia, Ger- many, and came with his parents, George and Catherine, to Pennsylvania in 1836. His wife ( formerly Hester Bauman) was born in the Keystone state, and soon after her marriage removed with her husband to Owen county, Indiana. The husband entered government land in Jackson town- ship, cleared it of timber, cultivated and improved it, and upon that home- stead were born the three daughters and five sons of his family. The faithful mother of the family passed away in 1857. In 1888, having reached a prosperous station in life, unclouded by questionable acts or methods, he removed to Poland, Washington township, where he died on the 5th of July, 1906.

Henry Spelbring was the third child in the family, and resided with his parents until he was twenty years of age, at that period of his life turning temporarily from the fields to the carpenter's bench. But after steadily applying himself to that trade for ten years, he returned to his old love by purchasing eighty acres of land in Washington township, upon which he erected such buildings as are now considered necessities in the establishment of the modern country homestead and farm. Im- provements of the most substantial kind kept pace with additions to the land, until at the present time Mr. Spelbring and his wife own two hun- dred and seventy acres of as finely developed property as can be found in Washington township. Although general farming is conducted as an important feature of his interests, Mr. Spelbring makes a specialty of raising horses, cattle and hogs, and "The Indian Camp Stock Farm" is

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widely known for its excellent management and its fine specimens of live stock. Outside of this noticeable creation in the way of agricul- tural property, he is chiefly interested in his family (which is really first), his church and the fraternity, Knights of Pythias. In the latter he is a member of Poland Lodge No. 364, and has long been identified with the German Reformed church. In his political belief he is a Democrat. On March 16, 1876, Mr. Spelbring was married to Miss Martha Kattman, who was born in Washington township on the 3rd of March, 1857, daughter of Christopher Kattman. The children born to this union are as follows: Louis F., of Cass township; Orville, a resident of Poland, Indiana ; Bertha, who married Rev. John Tapy, pastor of the Maplewood (Ohio) German Reformed church; Walter, Grace, Fred, Irvin and Roy, all of whom are at home.

ROBERT ANDERSON .- Classed among the enterprising and wide-awake business men of Poland, Clay county, is Robert Anderson, who as pro- prietor of a large sawmill is performing his full share in promoting and advancing the industrial activities of this part of the state. A son of Claudius Anderson, he was born January 13, 1844, in Dearborn county, Indiana, coming from sturdy and substantial Irish stock.

Claudius Anderson was born in Ireland, and for a number of years after his marriage to Jane Mann resided in county Tyrone, his birthplace. In September, 1830, he came with his wife and three children to the United States and located at first in Cincinnati, Ohio. In the spring of 1831 he continued his way westward in search of land that he could afford to buy. Arriving in Dearborn county, Indiana, he purchased a tract of land that was in its primitive wildness, and with true pioneer grit began the improvement of a homestead. He succeeded in his heroic efforts, and on the farm that he reclaimed spent the remainder of his life, dying in 1874, at the venerable age of four score and four years. His wife survived him six years, passing away in 1881, aged eighty-one years. They were the parents of nine children, six of whom were born in this country, and of this family but two are now living, John, a farmer in Morgan county, Indiana, and Robert, the subject of this brief sketch.

Leaving home at the age of twenty-two years, Robert Anderson, who was an ambitious student, subsequently attended the Bainbridge Academy two years, fitting himself for a professional career, and after- wards taught school eight terms, being employed in Dearborn county. Desirous then of establishing himself in business, Mr. Anderson went to Kansas, and for two years was engaged in mercantile pursuits in Olathe, handling groceries and general merchandise. Selling out at the end of that time he established himself in Rice county, Kansas, where he laid out the town of Kansas Center, of which he was made postmaster. Just as he was well settled, the grasshopper scourge came and drove away all of the people excepting Mr. Anderson, who left as soon as he sold his house, which was in reality the only one in the place. Returning then to Indiana, he lived with his mother until her death, as mentioned above. The fol- lowing six years, from 1881 until 1887, Mr. Anderson resided in Morgan county, carrying on an excellent business as a dealer in split staves and cross-ties. In 1887 he bought a stave factory in Henry county, Indiana, and in the ensuing year, in the month of May, he purchased timber on land in Clay county, and in the near-by town of Poland conducted a stave factory until it was burned to the ground in 1890. During those two

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A History of Clay County Indiana (Volume 2), Part 7

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

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