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 20
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Born in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, Adam Exline became one of the very early settlers of Coshocton county, Ohio, locating there in 1818. Purchasing a tract of wild land in Washington township, he erected a log house, which was the dwelling place for his family until 1844, his older children being born in the cabin. With his wife and six children he came in that year to Indiana, making the removal with teams, and bringing all of his worldly goods. Settling in Wright township, Greene county, he bought a tract of timbered land, and at once built a log house, splitting the boards to cover the roof, and making a split puncheon floor. There were then no railways in the state, and Terre Haute, thirty-five miles away, was the nearest market and milling point. While he was busy clearing the land his wife, with true domestic thrift, was equally as busy carding, spinning and weaving the material with which she clothed her family. On the homestead which they improved both he and his wife spent their remaining years, his death occurring at the age of seventy- two years, and hers at the age of eighty-two years. Her maiden name was Jane Saucerman. She was born in Belmont county, Ohio, a daughter of George and Catherine Saucerman, the former of whom spent his last years in that county, while his widow, Mrs. Saucerman, came to Indiana after his death and died in Greene county.
One of a family of nine children, George A. Exline was fifteen years old when he came with his parents to Greene county, Indiana. Beginning the battle of life for himself in 1851, he came to Sullivan county, and here found employment on a farm, working for two years for eight dollars a month, afterwards farming on shares until his mar- riage. Money came slowly, but surely, and as he was prudent in his savings and wise in his expenditures, he accumulated a sufficient sum within a few years to buy a strip of canal land, paying two dollars and fifty cents an acre, and later buying another tract at five dollars per acre.
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Both tracts are now included in his home farm in Cass township. At the time of his marriage Mr. Exline built a three-room house, and then began the improvement of a farm. In August, 1862, responding to his country's call, he enlisted in Company H, Eighty-fifth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and was with his regiment until the close of the war, being at the front until February, 1865, when he was disabled, and did not join his regiment until after the war was closed. He took an active part in many important engagements, including the battle of Thompsons Sta- tion, Dalton, Resaca, the siege and capture of Atlanta, where he witnessed the surrender of that city by the mayor, and the battle of Nashville, one of the most strenuous of the entire conflict. Being honorably discharged with his regiment in June, 1865, Mr. Exline returned home. During his absence his house had been burned. He immediately built another, and in 1883 erected the spacious brick dwelling now occupied by the family .. He has been very successful in his agricultural labors, accumulating a competency, and now, although he has assisted his children to establish homes of their own, he has nearly two hundred acres of finely improved land in his valuable and attractive farm.
On February 25, 1858, Mr. Exline married Nancy J. Crager. She was born in Hamilton township, Sullivan county, Indiana, where her parents, Thomas J. and Barbara Crager, were pioneer settlers. Five children have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Exline, namely: Mar- shall, Samuel Winfield, Thomas C., Isabelle, John L., and Stella T. Marshall married Katie Bryant, and they have two children, Orval and Harold. Samuel W. married Dora McClellan, and they have six chil- dren, Russell, Lillie, Eunice, Edith, Mabel Clare and Lloyd L. Thomas C. married May Buck, and they have five children, Fay E., Fern, Cora, Hazel and Mary. Isabelle, wife of George French, has one child, George A. Religiously Mr. and Mrs. Exline are consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Politically Mr. Exline has always sup- ported the principles of the Democratic party. Socially he was a member of Fletcher Freeman Post, G. A. R., which was located in Cass, Indiana.
WILLIAM ZAAYER .- Numbered among the industrious and prosper- ous agriculturists of Sullivan county is William Zaayer, who is actively engaged in his pleasant and independent calling in Cass township, having the management of the parental homestead, which is one of the best and most desirable pieces of property in the neighborhood. A native of Sul- livan county, he was born in Haddon township, where his father, Rufus Zaayer, was a pioneer settler. He is the descendant of a soldier of the Revolutionary war, and comes of German ancestry, his great-grandfather, Thomas Zaayer, having emigrated from Germany, his native land, to America in colonial days, afterwards serving under General Washington in the great struggle for American independence. He subsequently lived for a while in Pennsylvania, but from there moved to Ohio, where he spent the remainder of his eighty-one years of earthly life, residing in
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either Fairfield or Pickaway counties. He reared two sons and one daughter. The daughter married a Mr. Dumm; his son Jacob never left Pennsylvania ; his son Joseph was the grandfather of William.
A native of Berks county, Pennsylvania, Joseph Zaayer migrated to Ohio when young, settling in Pickaway county. He had previously learned the tailor's trade, but after his marriage he located on a tract of timbered land given him by his father in Adams township, that county, and thereafter devoted his energies to clearing and improving a home- stead. In common with the other pioneers of the place, he raised flax, kept sheep, and labored with earnest toil to clear the land and cultivate the soil, while his good wife, skilled in the domestic arts, carded, spun and wove the homespun in which she clothed the family. He erected a comfortable set of log buildings, and was there a resident until his death, at the age of sixty-eight years. He married Maria Dunkle, a native of Berks county, Pennsylvania, whose father was born on the ocean while his parents were on their way from Germany to this country. She survived her husband, dying on the home farm in Adams township, Ohio, at the age of eighty-one years. She reared thirteen children, as follows: Levi, Colton, William, Leah, John, Seth, Samuel, Rufus, Ben- jamin, Joseph, Enos, Mary and Daniel.
Rufus Zaayer was born April 15, 1830, in Adams township, Picka- way county, Ohio, and was there bred and educated, attending the prim- itive schools of his day, and assisting in the pioneer labor of clearing a homestead. At the age of seventeen years he went to live with Solomon Teagarden in Adams township, and for five years assisted him in the care of the farm, receiving for his labor a share of the crops. Ambitious then to become a land owner he came in the fall of 1854 to Indiana, making the removal with teams, and entered a tract of canal land in Gill township, Sullivan county, and also bought a five-acre tract, upon which was a log house and an orchard. The land was partly timber and partly prairie, and he at once began its improvement, residing there four years. Exchanging it then for a farm in the same township, he remained there two years, and then traded that property for a farm in Hamilton township. Ten years later he sold out there and bought the farm which he now owns and occupies. It contains one hundred and twenty acres of rich land, and is advantageously located about three and one-half miles east of the village of Sullivan. The land is well cultivated and improved, and has a substantial set of buildings, well adapted for the use of an up-to-date farmer.
On August 23, 1854, Rufus Zaayer married Mary Alspach, who was born January 5, 1837, in Bloom township, Fairfield county, Ohio, which was likewise the birthplace of her father, Daniel Alspach. Her grandfather, John Alspach, was born in Pennsylvania, of German par- entage, and was a pioneer of Fairfield county, Ohio, where he spent his declining years. A life-long resident of Ohio, Daniel Alspach there married Leah Hummel, who was born in Pennsylvania, of German ancestors, and they became the parents of nine children, namely: Mary, Caroline, John. Julia, Ann, Eliza, Sophia, Nancy, Carol and Margaret.
"IDLEWILD," COUNTRY RESIDENCE OF MR. AND MRS. STEPHEN R. BROWN
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Of the union of Rufus and Mary ( Alspach) Zaayer, seven children have been born, five of whom have passed to the higher life, Benjamin having died at the age of seventeen years; Leah Maria at the age of thirty years; John at the age of fourteen years; Daniel at the age of thirty-four years ; and Emma when but fourteen years old. Allen Zaayer, the youngest child, married Hallie Richie, and they have two children, Claude Mathers and Herbert. William Zaayer, the second son and third child in succession of birth, has been a life-long resident of Sullivan county and remains at home, the solace, comfort and mainstay of his parents. Having charge of the home farm, he is carrying on general farming and stock-raising after the most approved modern methods, and in his work is meeting with genuine success.
STEPHEN R. BROWN, one of the representative farmers of Jackson township, is numbered among its native sons, born May 9, 1862, a son of Stephen and Ann (Johnson) Brown and a grandson of Samuel and Nancy Brown. The grandparents were born in Ireland, where they were farming people, and coming to America they located first in Pennsyl- vania, from whence they later moved to Davis county, Indiana, and later to Sullivan county, where they spent the remainder of their lives.
Stephen Brown, a son of Samuel and Nancy Brown, was born in Pennsylvania, about 1819, and was but a child when he came with his parents to Davis county, and some time in the thirties he came with them to Sullivan county. He was married in Jackson township in 1856 to Ann Johnson, who was born near Jamestown, Ohio, March II, 1832, a daughter of George and Epharatia Johnson, both now deceased, and they too were farming people. Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Brown, and the first two, George W. and Samuel B., were twins, the former now living in Mandan, North Dakota, and the latter in Youngs- town, Ohio; William E. resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota; Stephen is mentioned later; Charles died in infancy ; Nancy A. died at the age of sixteen years; and Mary E. Wilcox resides in Bricelyn, Minnesota. Stephen Brown, the father, was a lifelong agriculturist, and at one time owned an estate of three hundred and thirty-five acres, being both a grain and stock farmer. In politics he voted with both the Whigs and Republicans, and both he and his wife were earnest members of the Presbyterian church.
Stephen R. Brown assisted his father with the farm work until the summer before his marriage, when he began farming for himself. He wedded, November 29, 1885, Anna A. Wambaugh, who was born on the 20th of December, 1864, a daughter of Ebenezer and Rosena Wam- baugh, the former of whom was born in 1830 and died April 20, 1896, while the latter was born in 1828 and died April 10, 1896. Both were natives of Germany, the father coming from Prussia and the mother from Baden before their marriage, and from Ohio they moved to Greens- burg, Indiana, and later, about 1873, came to Jackson township, Sullivan
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county, where they spent the remainder of their lives. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Brown was blessed by the birth of five children. The eldest, Herbert A., born July 5, 1887, received a common school education with one term in Brown's Business College, and he is now in the regular army and stationed at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. He enlisted on the 18th of March, 1908. William E., born February 13, 1888, completed the common school course and a one year's high school training, and is now working at the mine. Ernest R., born October 7, 1889, passed from the common schools to the high school, where he studied for two years, and was for one year a student at the normal college at Danville, Indiana. He is now teaching his first school. Leslie R., born August 1, 1892, has completed the common school course and is now assisting his father on the farm. Mildred A., born May 6, 1897, is attending the common school.
Just after his marriage Mr. Brown bought the forty acres of land on which his home is now located, and his farm contains one hundred and twenty-seven acres of land, while in addition to this he also farms the three hundred and thirty-five acres belonging to his mother. He raises both grain and stock, and has been very successful in his chosen field of endeavor. He is a stockholder in the Citizens' State Bank of Farmersburg, and is a Republican in his political affiliations. Both he and his wife are members of the United Brethren church.
DAVID M. BEDWELL .- Distinguished not only for the honored pioneer ancestry from which he is sprung, but for his services as a volunteer soldier during the late Civil war, and as an excellent representative of the successful agriculturists of Cass township, David M. Bedwell is eminently deserving of special mention in this work. A native of Sulli- van county, Indiana, he was born February 24, 1845, a son of Robert Bedwell, and a grandson of Thomas Bedwell, both Indiana pioneers. Born, bred and married in Kentucky, Thomas Bedwell came from there to Indiana in early days, settling in Jefferson township, Sullivan county, where both he and his wife, whose maiden name was Polly Holston. spent their remaining years.
One of a family of seven children, Robert Bedwell was born in Kentucky, and was a small child when he came with his parents across the country to Sullivan county, oftentimes finding the way by means of blazed trees. Growing to manhood, he entered government land in Jef- ferson township, and having cleared an opening in the dense timber built the log cabin in which his son David was born, riving by hand the boards that covered the roof. There were then neither railways nor canals, and Vincennes was the nearest market and milling point. For a number of years thereafter deer, wolves, panthers and other wild beasts roamed at will in this vicinity and the energetic women of the household were accustomed to card, spin and weave and make all the clothing worn by the members thereof. After clearing a portion of the land he sold out and removed to Cass township, purchasing the land now
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owned and occupied by his son David M. A few acres of the land had been cleared and a log cabin, with a frame addition, containing one room, had been erected. Continuing his agricultural labors, he resided here until his death, September 3, 1878, in his seventy-third year. He married Rebecca Pitts, who was born in Virginia, and came to Indiana with her parents, Macey and Barbara Pitts, pioneer settlers of Sullivan county. She survived her husband, passing away September 25, 1892, in the eighty-fourth year of her age. Of the fourteen children born of their union, thirteen grew to years of maturity, namely: Elizabeth, Sarah, James, Polly Ann, George, Thomas, Rebecca, Robert, David M., Stephen, Alexander, John W. and Eliza.
Obtaining a practical education in the old log schoolhouse, with its home-made furniture, David M. Bedwell began as a boy to assist his father on the farm, continuing thus employed until ready to establish a home of his own. Beginning then to farm for himself, he rented land and was busily employed in its cultivation until the early part of 1864. In February of that year he enlisted in Company C, Fifty-ninth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and went south with his regiment, being with his comrades in Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama. Being taken ill at Huntsville, Alabama, he was taken first to the hospital at Nashville, Tennessee, and after his discharge from that institution was granted a furlough of thirty days. Going then to Indianapolis to join his regiment, he was sent to New York city, thence by boat to Morehead City, North Carolina, and from there to Raleigh, North Carolina, where he joined his command. Marching then with the "boys" to Washington, he took part in the Grand Review, and was subsequently honorably discharged with his regiment. Returning home Mr. Bedwell resumed his agricul- tural labors, and on the death of his father succeeded to the ownership of the parental homestead, a part of which he had previously purchased. Here he has since carried on general farming with ability and success, and his added improvements have been of the best.
Mr. Bedwell married in October, 1863, Emma Shepherd, who was born in Sullivan county, Indiana, a daughter of Eli and Lucy Shepherd, pioneers of Hamilton township. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Bedwell, namely: Carl, Burt, Ollie and Freddie. Carl married Alice Birch, and they have three children, Willie, Gladys and Jesse. Burt married Sarah Borders, and they are the parents of four children, Evert, Nora, Hazel and Theresa. Ollie, wife of Joseph Vaughn, has three children, Clarence, Alta and Harold. Politically Mr. Bedwell is a stanch supporter of the principles of the Republican party, and religiously both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
MARTIN M. POPE .- Recognized as one of the most intelligent men and thoroughgoing farmers of Sullivan county, Martin M. Pope, of Cass township, is successfully engaged in tilling the soil on as com- fortable and well-kept a homestead as can be found in this part of the
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state. During his long and busy life he has pursued the even tenor of his way as an honest man and a good citizen, being engaged in either mercantile or agricultural pursuits, and is now reaping the reward of his many years of persistent toil. A native of Indiana, he was born October 9, 1838, in Morrill township, Shelby county, a son of Henry L. Pope. His grandfather, Samuel Pope, a native of Virginia, followed the march of civilization westward, settling first as a pioneer in Ohio, and a few years later coming from there to Indiana and locating near Indianapolis, where he passed his remaining years.
Born in Ohio, Henry L. Pope came with his parents to Indiana. He lived for a number of years with, or near, his parents, but after his second marriage he located in Shelby county, where he lived until 1867. He subsequently spent a few years in Sullivan county, and then moved to Greene county, where he resided until his death, at the age of eighty- three years. The maiden name of his second wife, mother of Martin M., was Charity Martin. She was born, it is thought, in Shelby county, Indiana, where her father, George Martin, a native of North Carolina, was a pioneer settler. He was a basket maker and a farmer, and spent his last years in Edgar county, Illinois. He married a Miss Hoop. Of the union of Henry L. and Charity (Martin) Pope, eight children were born, namely: William, Martin M., Isabelle, Sarah, Mary, Aaron, Phebe and John. The mother of these children died at the age of fifty-six years.
Brought up in pioneer days Martin M. Pope learned to read and write in the old log schoolhouse, sitting on a slab seat which had wooden pegs for legs, while a slab placed against one side of the cabin served the children for a writing desk. The room was lighted with just the amount of light that could push its way through a strip of greased paper in an opening where one log was left out, and was heated by a fire built of logs in the huge fireplace. He was about nine years old when he made his first visit to Indianapolis, going there with his father to take a load of poultry. It was then quite a flourishing town, with less than ten thousand inhabitants, and but two railroads. Beginning life for himself at the age of twenty-two years, Mr. Pope rented a farm in Shelby county, taking at first a lease for four years. Coming to Sullivan county in 1866. he rented land for a few years, after which he bought a farm in Cass township. Subsequently selling that property, Mr. Pope was for fourteen years engaged in mercantile business in the village of Cass, having a substantial trade in general merchandise. In 1887 he bought the farm which he now owns and occupies, it having formerly belonged to his father-in-law, Greene L. Vernon, and has since been here profitably employed in agricultural pursuits.
Mr. Pope married in 1860, Mary Matilda Vernon, who was born in Morrill township, Shelby county, Indiana, a daughter of Greene L. and Delitia (Vernon) Vernon. A native of North Carolina, Greene L. Ver- non came from there to Indiana with teams, bringing with him his wife and two children. Entering government land in Morrill township, he first erected a log cabin, and then began the improvement of a farm, subsequently residing there until 1867, when he bought a farm in Cass
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township, and here lived until his death the following year, passing away in 1868.
Mr. and Mrs. Pope are the parents of seven children, namely : Sarah E., Janie, Cordelia, Aaron, John, Minnie and Etta. Sarah E., wife of Frank Usery, has three children, Ferd, Eva P. and Ruth. Janie married William Miller, and died in 1892, leaving two children, Bert and Gertie. Cordelia, wife of W. Sanders Pigg, has six children, Herbert, Bessie, Raymond, Arval, Iva and Noal. Aaron married Florence Keene, and they have seven children, Bert, Zella, Sylvia, Clarence, Roy, Tony and Cleo. Minnie, wife of Hosea Steele, has two children, Vernie and Frances. Politically Mr. Pope is an active member of the Democratic party, and has filled various offices of trust and responsibility with ability and fidelity. While living in Shelby county he was poor superintendent and has served as assessor in Cass township. He has been deputy assessor three terms, was justice of the peace for eleven years, and for three years was a county commissioner. Religiously both Mr. and Mrs. Pope are worthy members of the Methodist Protestant church.
JOHN LAMMEY .- Many of the more prosperous and respected citi- zens of Sullivan county are of foreign birth, and in their native land acquired those habits of industry, thrift and frugality that have been such important factors in winning them wealth and good fortune in this country. Prominent among this number is John Lammey, who has retired from agricultural pursuits, and is now residing at his pleasant home in the village of Dugger, devoting his time to horticulture and agriculture, finding fully as much pleasure as profit in his congenial work. A son of John Lammey, Sr., he was born September 25, 1834, in county Tyrone, province of Ulster, Ireland, coming on the paternal side of French Huguenot ancestry. His grandparents, William and Ellen (Gal- lagher) Lammey, were life-long residents of the Emerald Isle.
John Lammey, Sr., a farmer by occupation, came to America about the time of the Civil war, and for awhile lived in Philadelphia. Subse- quently purchasing a farm near Richmond, Virginia, he was there a resident until his death, at the venerable age of eight-nine years. He married Martha McNeil, who was born in county Tyrone, Ireland, of Scotch ancestors, being a daughter of John and Eliza McNeil, who spent their entire lives in Ireland. She died in Philadelphia. Of her children, five grew to maturity. Eliza went to Australia to live, and the others came to America. Ann is living in Philadelphia; Martha and William have passed to the life beyond; and John is the special subject of this sketch.
Bred and educated in his native county, John Lammey began as a boy to learn something of the various branches of agriculture, remain- ing with his parents until his marriage. He afterwards lived on rented land until 1860. In March of that year, hoping in this land of fair promise to better his financial condition, he came to the United States,
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and for two years lived in Philadelphia, and then located in Coshocton county, Ohio. In August, 1863, Mr. Lammey, loyal to the land of his adoption, enlisted in Company F, Second Ohio Heavy Artillery, went south with his regiment, and remained with it in all of its hard marches, campaigns and battles, and with his comrades was honorably discharged from the service in August, 1865. Returning to Ohio, Mr. Lammey bought land near Mohawk village, and was there employed in tilling the soil until 1874. Coming then to Indiana, he settled in Sullivan county, for three years renting land. In the meantime, Mr. Lammey purchased a tract of wild, uncultivated land lying in sections twenty-three and twenty-four, Cass township, and in the log house which he erected he and his family lived for many years, and it is still standing. Clearing and improving the land, he subsequently built a good frame barn, and was there successfully employed in agricultural pursuits until 1904. Rent- ing the farm at that time, he has since made his home in Dugger, pleas- antly passing his time in caring for his fruit trees, flowers and bees, mak- ing a special study of these, and finding enjoyment in their cultivation.
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