USA > Indiana > Sullivan County > A history of Sullivan County, Indiana, closing of the first century's history of the county, and showing the growth of its people, institutions, industries and wealth, Volume II > Part 11
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Mrs. Sherman was left motherless when she was quite young, and for over twenty years in her early life she taught school in Sullivan county. On the 22d of September, 1895, she gave her hand in marriage to Thomas K. Sherman, who was born seven miles west of Sullivan, on the 26th day of September, 1829, and died on the 30th of September, 1903. During the latter part of his life he was engaged in the mercantile business, and was very highly respected by all who knew him. He was an earnest Christian worker, and was an elder in his church, at one time the only one holding the office in the church. One of the most cherished posses- sions in the home of Mrs. Sherman is an old family Bible which has been handed down from generation to generation in the De Baun family and is now in the possession of Samuel De Baun. At his death it descends to the next oldest living relative. The Bible is a Holland edition, for its first possessor lived in that country, and it is supposed to be several hun- dred years old, by some said to be six hundred years old, and it has been in America for over three hundred years. Mrs. Sherman is a member of the Christian church, and is an earnest and efficient worker in the cause of Christianity.
SAMUEL C. SMOCK, who is farming in Curry township, traces his descent to his great-grandfather on the paternal side, Barnett Smock. whose son, Henry Smock, Sr., and his wife, Anna De Baun, were born in Kentucky and there followed agricultural pursuits. Among their chil- dren was Henry Smock, Jr., who was born in Kentucky. June 5. 1806. and before his marriage he came to Sullivan county, Indiana, with his parents, and located in Curry township, where they entered land from the government. He continued as a farmer throughout his entire life and
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owned at the time of his death one hundred and ten acres of land. From the Whigs he transferred his political allegiance to the Republican party at the time of the organization of that division, and was a faithful and earnest member of the Christian church. In his early life he married Elizabeth Carruthers, who was born in Kentucky, August 18, 1807, and died on the 4th of February, 1888, in Sullivan county, surviving her hus- band but three years, for his death occurred on the 30th of April, 1885. He was of Holland descent. In their family were nine children, namely : Nancy J. Nelson, who was born June 11, 1832, and died January 31, 1887; Francis M., born February 1, 1835, died May 22, 1872; William H., born July 27, 1837, went out during the Civil war as a recruit, but did not reach his regiment, and his death occurred on the 10th of April, 1865; Sarah A. Pittman, born November 1, 1841, died June 15, 1891 ; James B. and John A., twins, born October 29, 1840, died in infancy; Mary A., born December 1, 1839, died in infancy; Samuel C., whose name intro- duces this review ; and Abraham, born August 26, 1846, died February 26, 1905.
On the IIth of August, 1862, Samuel C. Smock enlisted with Com- pany H, Eighty-fifth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and served as a private until the 12th of June, 1865, in the meantime participating in many of the hard fought battles of the war, including those of Resaca, New Hope Church, Thomson Station, Culp's Farm and Peach Tree Creek. After the war had ended he returned to his home, and after his marriage he rented his father's farm, thus continuing until the death of his father, when he rented fifty-three acres and now owns an estate of ninety-one acres three-quarters of a mile southwest of Farmersburg.
Mr. Smock married, February 1, 1871, Elizabeth Collins, who was born in Hancock county, Indiana, May 28, 1852, a daughter of William and Elizabeth (Snyder) Collins, both now deceased. The six children of Mr. and Mrs. Smock are: Ida E. Heck, born November 20, 1871, resides in Jackson township, Sullivan county ; Maggy and Mary, twins, born October 5, 1874, but the former died in infancy and the latter is the wife of Ben Gaskins, of Farmersburg ; Clella, born July 19, 1878, is the wife of William V. Allen, and is living in Terre Haute; Dora Criss, born June 13, 1881, resides in Farmersburg ;. and Roy, born December 19, 1885, is teaching school. Mr. Smock votes with the Republican party, and fraternally is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; Lodge No. 622, at Farmersburg, in which he has filled all the offices and has represented the order as a delegate to the Grand Lodge. Both he and his wife are members of the Christian church.
FRANCIS R. WALLACE has for many years been prominently identified with the agricultural life of Sullivan county, owning a valuable and well improved farm in Curry township, but he was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, January 28, 1826, a son of William and Mary (Reeder) Wallace. The mother was born in England, and coming to the United
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States with her parents, William and Mary Reeder, they located in Phila- delphia, Pennsylvania, but the father only lived about a year after coming to this country. His life occupation was farming. William Wallace was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, and died in Jackson township, Sullivan county, Indiana. He was a millwright as well as farmer, and coming to Hamilton township of this county in 1840, he entered land here at that time and assisted in building the first jail in Sullivan and also the first horse mill in Sullivan county. This mill was located just east of the town of Sullivan, and he also built several other mills here, thus assisting materially in the early development of this community. Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Wallace, namely: Harriette and Maria, who are deceased ; Louisa, who has never married and resides in Curryville ; Sarah M. and Henry, who have also passed away; Francis R., who is mentioned later ; and Edwin, Charles and Mary Jane, deceased.
After the death of his father, Francis R. Wallace entered eighty acres of land and also rented an additional twenty-five acres and continued actively identified with the agricultural interests of Curry township until his retirement a few years ago, his children now conducting his farm of two hundred acres. .
The marriage of Mr. Wallace was celebrated on the 28th of April, 1864, when Anna Grant became his wife. She is a daughter of Peter Grant, formerly from Scotland. Peter Grant was an educated man and taught in Logan, Ohio, and in Sullivan, Indiana, in both high and com- mon schools. He was educated at Edinburgh, Scotland, and he came to the United States when a young man, having spent a number of weeks in crossing the Atlantic ocean. Mr. and Mrs. Wallace have five living children and all are at home, namely: William H., Anna M., Francis Marion, Caroline and Ada. The family are members of the Presbyterian church, and the children are especially active in the work of that denomi- nation.
LUTHER PATTEN, who is numbered among the prominent farmers of Curry township, was born in Fairbanks township of Sullivan county, October 28, 1866, a son of Milton and a grandson of Miles and Elizabeth (Bundy) Patten, who were prominent early residents of Fairbanks town- ship. Miles Patten was a life-long tiller of the soil, and he came from Ohio to this section of Indiana in an early day in its history.
Milton Patten, their son, was born in Fairbanks township, January 15, 1843, and after attaining to years of maturity on his father's farm and receiving a common school education in the schools of the neighbor- hood he, in the spring of 1866, bought twenty acres of land and farmed it for three years. Selling the land then he bought forty acres near by, but after ten years on that place sold the land and bought the one hundred and sixty acres in Curry township which he yet owns and lives upon. He married Anna Dilley, but she died in March of 1880, leaving four children : Luther, who is mentioned later; Della Taylor, a resident of Curry township; Ora E., who married Hud Hill and lives in Shelburn;
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and Annie Drake, of Fairbanks township. The father was a second time married, wedding Mrs. Lucy ( Clark) Hopewell, a daughter of Hamilton and Nancy (All) Clark, who were born in Kentucky. By her first mar- riage to Sedley M. Hopewell, Mrs. Patten had two children, Sedley M. and Arthur, the latter residing in Farmersburg. Mr. Hopewell was a native son of Sullivan county and one of its life-long farmers, his death occurring here in May of 1880. Mrs. Patten was born September 16, 1848, and both she and her husband are members of the Christian church, and he is a Democrat in politics.
Luther Patten remained at home until his marriage, February 19, 1888, to his step-sister, Nancy Hopewell, who was born November 5, 1869, to Sedley and Lucy Hopewell, and during the first year following their marriage the young couple lived at home. During the two subse- quent years they farmed on rented land in Curry township, and Mr. Patten then built on forty acres which belonged to his wife, and that was their home for twelve years. In 1904 they sold their forty-acre tract and bought their present homestead of one hundred acres, located three miles southwest of Farmersburg, and the estate now contains one hundred and twenty-six acres. Mr. Patten carries on both general farming and stock raising.
The three children born of this union are: Ira M., born May 27, 1890, is attending the high school at Farmersburg; Ruth, born February 9, 1897, is a pupil in the public schools ; and Esther, born March 14, 1903. Mr. Patten is a Democrat in his political views, and the family are mem- bers of the Church of Christ, in which he is serving as a trustee.
JAMES S. BOLINGER, the owner of one of the finest estates in Curry township, has been identified with the agricultural interests of Sullivan county throughout his entire business career, and is one of its most promi- nent farmers and stock raisers. He was born in Mason county, Ken- tucky, July 9, 1854, a son of William H. and Victoria (Close) Bolinger, and a grandson of William H., Sr., and Susan Bolinger. The senior Mr. Bolinger was the proprietor of one of the first glass factories of Mays- ville, Kentucky. Both he and his wife were born in Germany, coming to this country after their marriage, and after disposing of his glass fac- tory he became the owner of a cigar factory, but disposing of this also, he moved to a farm in Mason county and lived there until his death, both he and his wife spending the later years of their lives in the home of their son William.
William H. Bolinger, Jr., was born in Mason county, Kentucky, July 24, 1821, and died April 13, 1906. He remained with his parents until his marriage and then began farming in Mason county, operating the old family homestead, and after the death of his parents he bought the farm of one hundred and thirty acres. In March of 1865 he moved to Hamil- ton township, Sullivan county, Indiana, purchasing what was then known
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as the William McGrew farm of one hundred and seventy-two acres. In 1903 he left this place, and thereafter lived a retired life among his chil- dren until his death, dying on the 13th of April, 1906, on the farm on which his son James now resides. He was a member of both the Odd Fellows and Masonic orders, and was a Republican in his political affilia- tions. He helped to organize the Shelburn Baptist church and became one of its most active and helpful members, serving the congregation in the capacities of deacon and trustee until his good and useful life was ended in death. His wife was also a member of that church. She was born in France, in 1825, and when eight years of age came with her father, Charles Close, and his family to the United States, locating in Maysville, Kentucky, where he became the keeper of the toll gate. The daughter, Mrs. Bolinger, died on the 24th of October, 1889, after becoming the mother of eight children: Carrie, who was born March 20, 1845, mar- ried William O. White, and, after his death, Samuel Carruthers, and she died October 6, 1900; John H., born May 31, 1847, married Elizabeth Siner, and lives in Curry township; Charles B., born September 8, 1849, married, first, Barbara Sparks, and, after her death, Mary A. Dix, and his home is in Shelburn; William T., born March 14, 1852, married Arpy Curry and lives in Hamilton township; James S., the subject of this review ; Annety, born September 30, 1856, married Grace All and lives in Terre Haute; Frederick J., born January 14, 1859, married Anna Osborn and lives in Curry township; and Edward S., born February 8, 1866, died August 3, 1883.
The early youth of James S. Bolinger was spent on the farm and in school, and after his marriage he lived on a rented farm in Curry town- ship for one year, and then, in 1882, moved to his present homestead, which he rented during the first four years and then purchased. The homestead contains one hundred and sixty acres of rich and fertile land, well improved and cultivated, and he devotes much of his attention to the raising of stock, breeding principally the registered O. I. C. hogs.
The marriage of Mr. Bolinger occurred on the 3d of February, 1881, to Mary A. Chesnut, born in Curry township, October 16, 1858, a daugh- ter of James E. and Lidia A. (Douglas) Chesnut, the father born in Kentucky, April 7, 1833, and the mother in Curry township, April 28, 1833, and both are now living on a farm in Wilson county, Kansas. James E. Chesnut is a son of James E., Sr., and Nancy (Burton) Chesnut, North Carolinians by birth, and they were farming people. The four children born to Mr. and Mrs. Bolinger are: William D., born November 30, 1881, married Clennie Jennings and lives in Farmersburg ; James E., born December 12, 1886, married Emma Able and resides on his father's farm; Herman, born October 27, 1889, is attending school; and Hazel, born May 8, 1897, is also in school. The Republican party receives Mr. Bolinger's stanch support and co-operation, and he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Lodge No. 420, at Shelburn, in which he has filled all the offices and served as a delegate to the Grand Lodge, and also belongs to the Encampment. Both Mr. and Mrs. Bolinger and one son are members of the Baptist church at Shelburn.
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ANDREW THOMSON .- The Thomson family is one of the oldest in Sullivan county, and was founded here by the grandparents of Andrew, Enoch and Lucy (Clark) Thomson, in 1816, the former a native of the state of New York. On arriving in Sullivan county they located in Fair- banks township and entered land there. This was about the time of the admission of the state to the Union, and Enoch Thomson became promi- nent in the public life of his community, following farming throughout his entire life for a livelihood, and for those early days he was also quite extensively engaged in the raising of stock.
Reuben Thomson, his son, also became prominently identified with the stock interests of Sullivan county, and owned about four hundred acres of land in Fairbanks township. That township was his birthplace, on the 5th of September, 1827, and the scene of his death, on the 24th of December, 1907. His politics were Democratic, and he was very promi- nent in the public life of his community, and he and his wife were mem- bers of the Baptist church. She bore the maiden name of Emily McKin- ney, and was born in Fairbanks township in 1827, and is now living there with a daughter, aged eighty-three years. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Thomson was blessed by the birth of nine children, of whom six are now living : John, who married Jane Frakes and resides in Curry township; Rachael Trueblood, whose home is in Fairbanks township; Ezra, who married Nancy Lloyd, and their home is in Jackson township; Amanda Able, residing in Turman township; Price, of Fairbanks township; and Andrew.
The last named, Andrew Thomson, was born in Fairbanks township, Sullivan county, Indiana, October 14, 1865, and he remained at home and worked on the farm until his marriage, which occurred on the 24th of July, 1886, to Myra Pittman, who was born on the 9th of March, 1866, also in Fairbanks township, a daughter of David and Sarah Pittman, both now deceased. The young couple spent the first four years of their married life on her father's farm, but in 1890 Mr. Thomson bought the farm where he now lives, three and a half miles west of Farmersburg, in Curry township. The homestead contains two hundred and thirty acres of rich and fertile land, and in addition he also owns property in Farmers- burg. During the past two years he has lived retired from an active busi- ness life, and in 1905 he and his wife went to Arizona in search of renewed health, returning in 1907, and he has been here ever since, but on the 17th of January, 1908, the wife died, leaving her husband and three small children, namely: Audie, born April 9, 1893; Clare, born December 29, 1896; and Velsie, born December 10, 1902. She was buried at the Drake cemetery at Fairbanks. She was a prominent and worthy member of the Baptist church, as is also Mr. Thomson, who is prominent in the public, social and business life of his township and is a Democrat politically.
ALBERT M. LANE .- Curry township numbers among its prominent farmers and stock raisers Albert M. Lane, who was born in Washington county, Indiana, November 5, 1854, a son of Charles and Christena (Lee)
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Lane, born respectively in Kentucky, in February, 1817, and in Barringer county, North Carolina, in 1812. Charles Lane was a son of Joel Lane, who was born in Kentucky, but moved with his parents to Washington county, Indiana, when twelve years of age, and in 1865 he came to Curry township, and, purchasing eighty acres of land, spent the remainder of his life here. Christena Lane was a daughter of James Lee, who was of English birth, and came from North Carolina to Washington county, Indiana, in 1815, and spent the remainder of his life there. He was a slave owner in North Carolina, but sold his negroes before coming to Indiana, where he was the owner of estate of four hundred acres at the time of his death. Charles Lane was a farmer throughout his lifetime, owning an estate of forty acres in Curry township at the time of his death, which occurred in July of 1892, his wife surviving him until March of 1902.
Albert M. Lane was their only child, and he remained at home with his parents until his marriage, when he bought eighty acres in Gill town- ship. After six years there he sold that land and bought his present home- stead farm of sixty acres, and he also owns twenty acres two miles east of Shelburn, where he has conducted a saw mill since 1902.
Mr. Lane married, November 13, 1881, Jennie Curtis, who was born in Hamilton township of Sullivan county, February 15, 1864, a daughter of James R. and Olive J. Curtis, who are living in Gill township, and she is a granddaughter of Gideon and Elizabeth Curtis, natives respectively of Maryland and North Carolina, and of William and Lucy Mooney, who are living in Lafayette, Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Lane have two children, Leola, born October 8, 1886, and Elma, born November 5, 1892. The wife and mother is a member of the Christian church. Mr. Lane gives his political support to the Republican party.
JAMES H. CONNER, one of Curry township's farmers and stock raisers, was born in Hamilton township, Sullivan county, Indiana, April 21, 1873, a son of Isaac and Mahala (Severns) Conner. Immediately after their marriage they came from Ohio to Sullivan county, Indiana, locating one mile northwest of the town of Sullivan, where the husband and father entered eighty acres of land in the dense woods. After a time he traded that farm for the place where his widow now resides, owning two hundred and seventy-eight acres in that farm and two hundred and eighty acres in another tract, all in Hamilton township. He was one of the most pros- perous agriculturists of the community, and his was one of the best stock farms in the county. He was well known and honored in the community in which he so long made his home, a stanch Democrat and an active political worker, and he died at his home in Hamilton township June 25, 1902, being laid to rest in Wall's cemetery. He was born in Holmes county, Ohio, in 1833, and his wife was born in Coshocton county, Ohio, and, as above stated, is now living at her home northwest of Sullivan. She is an earnest and faithful member of the Christian church, as was
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also her husband, and he assisted in the erection of many of the houses of worship in this community. They raised a large family of ten children, as follows: Frank, who married Martha Barnes and resides in Sullivan ; Eva and Emma, twins, but the latter died at the age of thirty years, while the former married John Wilson and is living in Turman township; Samuel, who married Stella Marts and is living in Hamilton township; Flora, the wife of John Woodward, of Hamilton township; Stewart, who is with his mother; Lou, wife of Frank Wible, of Sullivan; James H., who is mentioned later; Gertrude, the wife of J. H. Parks, of Sulli- van; and Myrtle, who became the wife of Ben Mattix and is living in Hamilton township.
James H. Conner remained at home and worked with his father until his marriage, and after that event he continued to farm the old homestead for four years, when he went to Terre Haute and for two years was employed on public works there. Returning at the close of that period to his mother's farm, he lived there for one year and then located on a farm four miles northwest of Sullivan, and from there in 1907 he came to his present homestead one and a half miles northeast of Shelburn, which he purchased at that time. The farm contains eighty-two acres of excellent and well improved land, and Mr. Conner is engaged in both grain and stock farming.
On the Ist of November, 1896, he was married to Maud Dailey, a native of Paxton, Indiana, born January 9, 1880, a daughter of John and Martha (Arnett) Dailey, and a granddaughter of John Dailey and E. W. and Martha ( Purcell) Arnett. Mrs. Conner's great-grandmother, Nellie Purcell, was born and reared in Sullivan county, and is now the oldest living representative of five generations of her family, and her home is in Paxton. E. W. Arnett survives his wife and is living on a farm north of that city. Mr. and Mrs. Conner have two children, Isaac Leland and Leo D., born respectively March 25, 1898, and June 26, 1901, and both are attending school. Mr. and Mrs. Conner hold to the religion of the Christian church, and he is a stanch supporter of Democratic principles.
ELI C. BOLES, an agriculturist of Curry township, Sullivan county, was born in Hamilton township of this county December 16, 1845, and is a member of one of the county's oldest families. His paternal grandfather, Edmond Boles, Sr., was a native of Virginia, but soon after his marriage he came to Sullivan county and became enrolled among its earliest pio- neers. He was a farmer throughout his entire business career, and died on the land which he entered here.
Edmond Boles, Jr., his son and namesake, was born in Gill town- ship, Sullivan county, Indiana, about 1832, and was reared to the life of an agriculturist here. After his marriage he rented land for about a year and then bought a farm of forty acres in Turman township, but selling that tract he became the owner of another farm of one hundred and sixty acres in the same township. In August of 1862 he enlisted with the
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Seventy-first Indiana Regiment, Company I, as a private, for service in the Civil war, and he continued as a brave and loyal soldier until his honorable discharge in June of 1865, in the meantime having been cap- tured at Muldraugh Hill, Kentucky. Among the battles in which he par- ticipated were those of Atlanta and Nashville, and following the close of his war period he returned to his farm in Sullivan county and continued to reside there until his death in 1899. He was a stanch Republican politically and an earnest member of the Christian church. His wife, nee Jemima Bundy, was born in North Carolina, but came to Indiana with her parents when she was a child. In their family were seven children : Eli C., who is mentioned later ; William R., a resident of Cass township, Sullivan county ; Myra F., the wife of a Mr. Swift, and they reside on the home farm in Turman township; Caleb, whose home is in Texas ; Commodore, also of Turman township; Lew. W., who resides in Sullivan ; and Jennie Whitman, also of Sullivan. .
Eli C. Boles, remained on the home farm with his parents until his marriage, and then establishing a home of his own he rented for two years, or until he bought eighty acres of land in Turman township, which was his home for twelve years. He then became the owner of one hundred and twenty acres on the county line, but after two years he traded the land for one hundred and twenty acres where he now lives, two and a half miles northeast of Shelburn, in Curry township. He is a stanch supporter of the Republican party, and is active in both the business and public life of his community.
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