USA > Indiana > Clay County > A History of Clay County Indiana (Volume 2) > Part 71
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machine shops, foundries and even blacksmith shops were often many miles away. The early settler therefore had to depend upon his own labor and ability in everything that contributed to his life's success. In his early manhood Mr. Myers became a contractor and builder. His father took a contract for grading a half mile of the Vandalia Railroad, and Solomon Myers of this review superintended the work. Eventually, however, he turned his attention to other pursuits. In 1856 he purchased . forty acres of land in Posey township, Clay county, which he cleared from the forest, cutting the timber for railroad ties and thus paying for the land within a year. His success at that time enabled him in 1857 to add a tract of forty acres to his original purchase, and in 1858 he bought forty acres more. The following year he added still another forty acres, and upon the farm he built a four-room frame house, which stands to-day -a mute witness of the events which have framed the history of this part of the state. Within a few years he had become the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of land and in two years' time had cleared eighty acres of this. He stocked his farm with good grades of cattle and hogs, and as the years passed carefully tilled his fields and carried on his stock-raising interests, meeting with gratifying success in all that he undertook. In 1872 he contracted for the building of the old North & South Railroad, doing four thousand dollars' worth of work on the road, at the end of which time the company failed and Mr. Myers thus lost all of his time and money. He next took a contract for grading Main street in the city of Brazil, and later did contract work in Parke county, Indiana, on the North & South Railroad, removing to that county in 1886. Later he returned to Brazil and took a railroad contract to grade and clear five acres of land. On the expiration of the period devoted to that work he removed to Minnesota, where he did contract work for the Chicago, St. Paul & Omaha Railroad. Later he again came to Brazil and took contracts for the building of sidewalks in this city in 1896. Subsequently he was superintendent of the building of gravel roads. His early life for many years was a most busy, active and useful one and his success represented the result of earnest labor. It came not through speculation or through any favorable circumstance, but was the reward of his persistent, earnest toil. In 1898 he retired and is now enjoying a rest which he richly merits.
On the 4th of April, 1854, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Myers and Miss Sarah J. Mccullough, who was born in Clay county, Indiana, January 18, 1832, a daughter of George W. and Rachel ( Yocum) Mccullough, both of whom were natives of Kentucky, in which state they were reared and married. Their family numbered nine children but only two are living, Mrs. Myers and George Mccullough. In the year 1832 the father came to Indiana with his wife and children and located in Dick Johnson township, Clay county. He first located on government land in the midst of the forest and built a log cabin, which was the birthplace of Mrs. Myers. His son William was at one time sheriff of Clay county and the family was prominent and influential in pioneer days and contributed in substantial measure to the upbuilding of the community. Mr. McCullough gave stalwart support to the Democ- racy and was a devoted and zealous member of the Christian church.
By the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Myers there were born five chil- dren, but all have passed away with the exception of one, Rachel Emily,
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now the wife of Benton Van Hise. They are the parents of two sons and three daughters, and the grandparents are very proud of these grandchildren.
Mr. and Mrs. Myers are members of the Christian church, loyal to its teachings and faithful in following its precepts. Mr. Myers gives his political allegiance to the Democracy and is a most ardent advocate of the Nebraska statesman, William Jennings Bryan. He has always stood for progress and improvement, and as a public spirited citizen has co-operated in many movements which have been of direct and large value to the community. He stands for advancement in material, intel- lectual, social, political and moral lines. In 1856 he was one of the subscribers for the building in Sullivan county, Indiana, of the Union Christian College and has his stock subscription certificate to-day. He has paid taxes in Clay county for the past sixty-three years, and while he has never sought to figure prominently in public life as an office holder, as a business man and citizen his good qualities have won him the respect and esteem of all who know him. His friends are almost as numerous as his acquaintances and now in the eighty-second year of his age he receives the respect and good will of all who know him, for his life has been honorable, his actions manly and sincere and his purposes straightforward.
SOLOMON NOLTE .- Among those who have contributed to the agri- cultural development of Clay county during a number of years past is numbered Solomon Nolte, a prominent farmer and stock raiser of Posey township. He was born in Carroll county, Ohio, February 28, 1850, and is of German parentage. His father, Adam Nolte, was born in Hanover, Germany, and was there married to Katherine Wesler, who was also born and reared in Hanover. About 1842, with their two chil- dren, they came to the United States, locating first in Pennsylvania, from whence they removed to Ohio, and in 1851 the family came to Indiana. Locating in Owen county Mr. Nolte bought two hundred and one acres of land there and farmed until 1873, when he retired and moved to Clay county, making his home with his children until his death at the age of seventy-two years. His politics were Democratic and he was a member of the German Lutheran church. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Nolte after coming to the United States, and of their family of eight children, four sons and four daughters, the following are living : Henry, Mary. John, Sarah and Solomon.
Solomon Nolte spent the early years of his life in Owen county, and his first purchase of land was eighty-six acres in Perry township. Clay county, of which he cleared about forty acres and made many improvements. From there he moved to his present farm in 1893, pur- chasing one hundred and thirty-five acres, on which he has also made many and substantial improvements and has placed his land under an excellent state of cultivation.
Mr. Nolte was married in Clay county, April 26, 1874, to Lena Nussel, who received her education in the schools of Posey township. and the history of her parents, George and Barbara ( Fleschman) Nussel. is given on other pages of this history. The following children have been born to this union: George, Christena, Joseph, Edward, Emanuel. Phillip, William and Martha, but the last three named are deceased. All
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were born in Perry township, Clay county. Mr. Nolte has given a life- long support to Democratic principles, and is a member of the Lutheran church.
WILLIAM W. DECKER, one of Clay county's brave and honored sol- dier citizens, was born in Butler county, Ohio, March 16, 1844, a son of Obediah D. and Sarah Ann ( Austin) Decker, both of whom were natives of the county named. The father, who was of German and Irish ancestry, died at the age of seventy-one years, and the mother, of English lineage, passed away at the age of sixty-two. They were married in Butler county, Ohio, June 11, 1837, and became the parents of nine sons, two of whom died in infancy and two ( Robert and John) in manhood ; the living are Jesse A., William W., Elmond A., Andrew S. and Obediah Decker. Seven lived to be voters and with their father cast their ballots for Republicanism.
Obediah Decker's father was John Decker, who came from Fayette county, Pennsylvania, to Butler county, Ohio, where he established him- self as a farmer and died at about thirty years of age. Obediah was the only son. The widow married David Hulse and she herself died when the boy was fifteen years of age. The orphaned youth then learned the shoemaker's trade and became an expert hunter of small game. After- ward he was employed on a packet boat, engaged in transferring coal along the Ohio river, but finally returned to Butler county, Ohio, where he married Sarah Ann Austin on the 11th of June, 1837. After residing there for some ten years they removed to Clay county, Indiana, where the husband engaged in various industries and lines of business and became a large dealer in furs and bought and improved a large farm and, after the building of the Vandalia Railroad, invested in coal mines. He also entered the real estate field, engaged in building and brick manufac- turing, and himself erected a fine brick house on his farm, which was quite a mansion for those days and is still standing: Further, he was associated with Messrs. Modisett, Hawkins and Serdam in a flour mill, which was destroyed by a hurricane in 1862. The plant was located at what was then Highland, now Staunton. During these early days before the courts and police machinery were fairly organized there was much lawlessness in this section of the state, murders and robberies being of not infrequent occurrence. What was called the John A. Clark gang, comprising about a hundred desperate characters, terrorized the whole country for a number of years, and for the purpose of breaking up the organization the citizens formed a company that was called the Regu- lators and elected Mr. Decker captain. The citizens' body comprised several hundred men from Terre Haute, Brazil, Bridgeton, Ashboro and Center Point, and in a short time drove the obnoxious characters out of the country. Mr. Decker was a large raiser of corn and wheat and also of stock, his stock always being prominent prize winners at the county fairs. He finally removed to Brazil, bought the Sherman House, in which occupation he spent the last years of his life, dying on the 9th of May, 1885.
William W. Decker was a small boy when he came with his parents to Indiana, reaching manhood in Clay county. His boyhood was spent in an unsettled country, and, like his father, he loved the woods and became a famous hunter of such game as mink, coons, wild turkeys, deer and. upon several very rare occasions, of bear and panthers. As he would
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rather work than study and schools were scarce at best, his education was of the most limited nature. At the age of sixteen he worked in the Highland flour mill, and afterward assisted his father in clearing his farm about a mile southwest, as well as in sawing logs for the house patterns which the father sent to Terre Haute, and chopping wood to be used in the brick manufactory. Later, he learned to make brick and to lay them.
At the declaration of the Civil war Mr. Decker enlisted in Company G, Seventy-eighth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, under Colonel Rose and Captain J. W. Sanders, and was afterward attached to the Fifty-fourth Regiment and Colonel Knox's regiment and then to the Fifteenth Indiana Volunteers under Colonel Donham. While with this command he participated in the siege and surrender of Munfordsville, Kentucky, September 12-14, 1862. The defending force of Union troops consisted of between 3,000 and 4,000 men, mostly raw troops, the 800 under Colonel Wilder having neither guns nor ammunition. But the order of the superior officer was to hold the place to the last ; and it was held against overwhelming odds until a surrender was effected with all the honors of war. The first night of the surrender 700 or 800 succeeded in making their escape (including Mr. Decker), but were recaptured about eight miles away and returned to the headquarters of Bragg and Butler, where the prisoners were paroled and sent to General Buell's army. They then marched through Bowling Green and thence to Brandenburg, on the Ohio river in Kentucky, where they boarded the transports, crossed the river and, marching to New Albany and Jeffersonville, obtained trans- portation to Indianapolis.
Following his return Mr. Decker attended school during a part of the winter of 1862, and after legal exchange enlisted in Company D, 115th Indiana Volunteer Infantry. While engaged in recruiting duty and in attendance at school he wore his uniform of blue, and during this period received a notice from the Knights of the Golden Circle (rabid sympathizers with the Confederacy) that they would hang any man wear- ing the garb of a Union soldier at their meetings. Mr. Decker and Cap- tain Sanders took the notice to Governor Morton, who provided them with a force and gave them orders to shoot to kill, in case they were molested. This action broke up the camp of the Knights of the Golden Circle, near the old hill, Clay county, Indiana. On the 5th of August, 1863, Mr. Decker re-enlisted for service, being assigned to Company D, 115th Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and was honorably dis- charged in 1864. He served as a member of the Twenty-third Army Corps from the ist of August, 1863, until his discharge, and was under the general command of Major Generals George L. Hartsuff and Burn- side. This corps took part in the following engagements, in many of which Mr. Decker personally participated: Scott's raid, from July 25 to August 6, 1863; Green River Bridge, July 4, 1863; Morgan's raid into Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana, July 2-26, 1863; Limestone Station, Ten- nessee, September 8, 1863; Cumberland Gap, Tennessee, September 7-10; Bristol, Tennessee, September 19, 1863 : Carter's Station, Tennessee, Sep- tember 20-21, 1863 ; Blountsville, Tennessee, September 22, 1863 ; Calhoun, Tennessee, September 26, 1863; Blue Springs, October 5, October 10, 1863 ; Philadelphia, October 20, October 26, 1863: Sweet Water, October 26-27, 1863 : Rogersville, November 6, 1863; Huff's Ferry, November 14; Marysville Loudoun Creek, Lenair, Holston River, Campbell's Station,
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. November 10, 1863 ; siege of Knoxville, November 17-December 6; Bean's Station, December 14; Blain's Cross Roads, December 16-19; Mossy Creek, December 24-29, 1863, all in Tennessee ; and Munfordsville, Ken- tucky, September 12-14, 1862. At Bean's Station Mr. Decker assisted in the capture of a train.
After his return from the front, Mr. Decker operated a sawmill in Posey township for a time, then engaged in farming, but soon returned to his sawmill work on the line of Vigo and Clay counties. He then successively engaged at the carpenter's trade, farmed and sunk a coal shaft in Perry township, removed two years later to Brazil and engaged in the grocery business, after a year embarked in the teaming and under- taking business, was in the grocery line with his brother Andrew, again worked as a carpenter and in 1886 established a business in second-hand merchandising. As a fraternalist Mr. Decker has been identified with the Ancient Order of United Workmen and with the General Canby Post No. 2. Grand Army of the Republic, at Brazil, Indiana.
On the 27th of August, 1864, Mr. Decker married Miss Loretta Jane West, who was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, and died July 30, 1887, when but thirty-four years of age. She was the daughter of William and Amanda ( Lee) West. Her father was born in Clay county, Indiana, a son of James West, and he was a Terre Haute cabinet maker. He was a Republican, a Mason, a member of the Regulators (already mentioned), and of the Baptist church, and died in a soldier's hospital at Indianapolis from disease contracted in the Union army, in which he served as a member of the Seventy-first Regiment of Indiana Volunteers, Sixth Cavalry. Mrs. West was born in Vigo county, Indiana, was also married in that county, and Mrs. Decker was her only child. Four of the ten children born to Mr. and Mrs. Decker are living: Morton E., Charles S., Hattie B. and William W.
LEVI A. LAUDERBACK, who has spent much of his life in Brazil, is now filling the position of detective for the Vandalia Railroad Company. In all of his business relations, which have been of a varied character, he has been found true to the trust reposed in him and he has in this county many warm friends, who esteem him highly for his genuine worth. A native of Brown county, Ohio, Mr. Lauderback was born November 9, 1862, and was the seventh in order of birth in a family of eight children whose parents were Uriah and Nancy (Dunn) Lauderback. They, too, were natives of Brown county, Ohio, the father's birth having occurred December 22, 1822, while the mother first opened her eyes to the light of day on the 9th of October, 1825. They were married in the county of their nativity and the father is now living in Brazil at the venerable age of eighty-five years, but the mother died January 25, 1902. Uriah Lauder- back spent his boyhood and youth in Brown county, Ohio, and worked with General U. S. Grant in the tannery owned by the latter's father, Jesse Grant. Some time after his marriage, with his wife and three children he made a trip overland to Iowa, where he engaged in farming for a period. One son was added to the family during their stay in Iowa, where they were living fifty years ago. On the return trip they pro- ceeded by steamboat down the Mississippi river and up the Ohio river to the state of Ohio. In his younger days Mr. Lauderback had been engaged in service on the steamboats that went down the river to New Orleans. At the time of the Civil war he espoused his country's cause, enlisting in
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September, 1864, as a member of Company B, One Hundred and Seventy- . fifth Regiment of Ohio Volunteers. He remained with that command until honorably discharged at Nashville, Tennessee, in August, 1865, and participated in the battle of Franklin, Tennessee. It was on the 22d of September, 1867, that he came to Brazil, making the journey by wagon with his family. He became a timber contractor and furnished timbers for buildings and also for railroad ties. He likewise took contracts for the building and grading of streets in Brazil and graded West Main and West Knight streets. Extending his efforts to other lines of activity, he erected the old Sherman Hotel and was engaged in the hotel business for some time. The old Decker Hotel today stands on the site where he built the Sherman House, which was destroyed by fire in 1882.
At that time Mr. Lauderback removed to,his farm in Dick Johnson township, where he carried on general agricultural pursuits for a number of years. He then retired to a place near the city of Brazil and after his wife's death he turned over his property to his children and is now making his home with them. He has always been a stanch Republican, in thorough sympathy with the purposes and principles of the party. His wife was for seventy years a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal church and a most earnest Christian woman. They traveled life's journey together for more than a half century and reared a family who are a credit to their name. Five of their children are now living: Almina, the wife of Albert Michaelsee, who is living in Brazil; Henry, who married Naomi Webster; Sadie, the wife of George Cook; Silas, who married Miss Sallie Hewett ; and Levi A., of this review.
The last named pursued his education in the public schools of Brazil to the age of fourteen years, when he put aside his text-books and made his initial step in the business world as a farm hand. He was thus em- ployed for nine months and in the winter of 1876 he engaged in clerking for Charles Fisher, of Brazil. In the spring he returned to farming and in the winter of 1878 he cut cordwood, but in March of that year engaged with the firm of Crawford & McCrimmon to learn the trade of a moulder. Hle was with that company for three years, after which he engaged with the Big Four Railroad Company on bridge work, continuing in that service for about six months. He next removed to Mattoon, Illinois, where he worked at his trade for about three months, when he again came to Clay county, Indiana, and assisted his father in his farming operations. In 1884 he was married, after which he worked on the farm with his father for one year. Leaving the old homestead, he then engaged with the Vandalia Railroad Company as switchman, having in the mean- time lost a part of his foot by accident. Subsequently he was employed as a coal miner and in 1885 he again entered the employ of Crawford & McCrimmon, with whom he continued until 1891. In that year he was elected city marshal of Brazil and served for three years and four months. He was then re-elected for a four years' term, having won the nomina- tion over five contestants in the field. During his third candidacy, how- ever, he was defeated and on retiring from office he resumed his old position with the firm of Crawford & McCrimmon. After working with them for thirteen months he was engaged by the Vandalia Railroad Com- pany as a detective and has served in that capacity continuously since the Ist of October. 1899.
Mr. Lauderback was married April 27, 1884. to Miss Harriet Stewart, who was born in Brazil, November 6, 1863, and was a daughter
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of John and Lucrena ( Hall) Stewart. Her father, who was born in Hamilton, Ohio, October 15, 1826, is now living in Brazil, while the mother was born in New Jersey, July 29, 1826, and died in 1898. They were married in Brazil, Indiana, and unto them were born three daugh- ters and four sons, while six of the family are yet living: Sarah, now the wife of Joseph Young; William; Charles; Minerva; Robert; and Mrs. Lauderback. The father was a plasterer and wagonmaker in his younger days. He came to Brazil with his widowed mother and her children at a very early period in the history of the city and at one time they owned much of the land upon which the city has since been built. He and his brother, Robert Stewart, now living in Brazil, gave to Clay . county the ground whereon the courthouse and other county buildings now stand. Mr. Stewart was the first city treasurer of Brazil and he and his brother Robert were engaged in business together here for about forty years as dealers in real estate and as proprietors of a grocery and meat market. They were among the honored and worthy pioneer settlers of this' locality and in their undertakings prospered, so that some time ago they retired from active business life. Mr. Stewart is a member of Brazil Lodge, No. 264, A. F. & A. M., and of the Knights and Ladies of Honor, and his political allegiance is given to the Republican party.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Lauderback have been born six children, namely : Sadie, who died at the age of fifteen years; Nettie, the wife of Earl Wolf; Frank H .; Levi A .; Joseph; and Althea. The family is well known in Brazil and the members of the household occupy an enviable position in the social circles in which they move. Mr. Lauderback be- longs to Centennial Lodge, No. 541, A. F. & A. M., and to the Modern Woodmen Camp, No. 3418. In politics he has always been a stalwart Republican and his allegiance to the party is based upon a firm belief in its principles and purposes.
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HENRY H. BROWN .- The Brown family, of which Henry H. Brown is a representative, is an old and prominent one in Clay county, Indiana, for its members have been identified with the business and public life of this district throughout a long period. Henry H. Brown is a native son of the county, his birth having occurred on a farm in Dick Johnson township, March 17, 1873. His parents, Frutney and Nancy E. (Oard) Brown, are still living, now making their home in Brazil. The father was born in Kentucky but in early life made his way to Clay county, Indiana, and was married in Dick Johnson township to Miss Nancy E. Oard, whose birth occurred in that township. He is engaged in farming and also drills for coal. He is a public-spirited citizen, being deeply inter- ested in every movement that tends toward the advancement and upbuild- ing of his community. His political allegiance is given to the Democracy, on which ticket he was elected to the office of county treasurer, in which position he served for one term, or two years. He is a Mason, belonging to Brazil Lodge, No. 264. His family numbered two children, but the subject of this sketch is now the only surviving member.
Henry H. Brown was reared on the home farm, early becoming familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the farmer boy, while his education was pursued in the district schools to the age of seventeen vears. At that time he engaged in teaching school, following the pro- fession for two years, subsequent to which time, ambitious to acquire a thorough business knowledge, he pursued a course in the business college
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