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 23
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Shortly after coming with his parents to Sullivan county Josiah Worth married, but continued to live on his father's farm until he enlisted for the war, entering the Eighty-fifth Indiana Regiment in 1862, and his death occurred at Lexington from sickness contracted in the army. His widow continued on the senior Mr. Worth's farm for about two years longer, and then bought twenty acres where she now lives, but has added to this little tract from time to time until she now owns sixty-two
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acres, and here she expects to spend the remainder of her life. She bore the maiden name of Mary Tennis, and was born in Columbiana county, Ohio, October 9, 1835, a daughter of John and Nancy (Rose) Tennis, both of whom were also born in that county. In 1853 they came to Sulli- van county and located on the farm on which Mrs. Worth now resides, and at that time the farm was densely covered with timber. The father at once ยท began clearing and preparing his land for cultivation, and he died on the old homestead there in June of 1873, his widow surviving until the 6th of November, 1888. Four children were born to the union of Mr. and Mrs. Worth, namely : James, who married Martha Nicholson, a native of Sullivan county, and they reside on the old home farm with his mother. Their ten children are: Mollie, deceased ; Effie May, wife of Herton Griffith, of Jackson township; Anna Elizabeth, wife of Earl Griffith, of Clay county ; Emma Viola, with her parents ; Melissa Elvie, at home; James Harrison, Charles Joseph and Herbert Alfred, also at home ; and two who died in infancy. John, the second child of Mr. and Mrs. Worth, is deceased ; Elizabeth is the wife of Joseph Gordon, of Clay county, and their four children are James Sylvester, Herbert Alfred, Ethel and Stella. Anna, deceased, was the wife of John B. Nicholson, of Jack- son township, and their two children are Mary Josephine and Charles Edward.
James Worth, the eldest of the children, has always remained with his mother, looking after her estate as well as his own. In 1874 he bought eighteen acres of land in Jackson township, but he has since added forty acres more to this tract, and is engaged in general farming and stock raising. He is a Republican politically, and a member of the Masonic order in Hymera and of the Christian church. The politics of Mr. Worth, the father, were also Republican, and he too was a valued and earnest church member.
JAMES W. BROWN .- In an account of the events which form the history of Sullivan county the name of this family appears frequently on its pages. Samuel Brown, the paternal great-grandfather of James W., was a native of Scotland, but during his early life he came to the United States and in time became a resident of Ohio, where with the assistance of his son Samuel he opened a farm.
Samuel, the son, was also a native of Scotland, and coming with his father to America eventually became a resident of Washington county, Indiana, but after a residence there of about sixteen or eighteen years he came to Sullivan county and died here in 1859. He became very prom- inent in the public life of this community, and at one time represented Sullivan county in the legislature. His politics were Democratic until the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, when he joined the Republicans. Samuel Brown married Nancy Duff, of Irish descent, and they became the parents of five children : Stephen, John K., Mary, James and William, all now deceased.
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John K. Brown was born in Washington county, Indiana, in 1819, and he was but a lad of eleven when he came with his parents to Sullivan county and was reared and educated here. He entered land here in 1854, and became the owner of an estate of three hundred acres, being a life- long and successful farmer. After the Civil war he joined the Republican party, and both he and his wife were members of the old-school Presby- terian church. He married Mary McClary, who was born in Tennessee, and came with her parents to Terre Haute, Indiana. Her father, John McClary, was a native of Virginia. Seven children were born to John K. and Mary Brown, as follows: Margaret E., deceased; Samuel U., of Farmersburg ; John C., of Jackson township; Mary J. Burton, whose home is in Farmersburg; Nancy E. Ford, also of that place ; James W., the sub- ject of this review ; and William H., of Jackson township. Mr. Brown, the father, died in 1895, but his widow yet survives and is living with her son James. She was born on the 16th of April, 1829.
James W. Brown remained at home with his parents until his mar- riage, and his father then gave him one hundred and fifty-four acres, the nucleus of his present homestead, which lies four and a half miles east of Farmersburg and contains one hundred and sixty-six acres. Mr. Brown is both a grain and stock farmer, and in 1905 he erected a feed mill and threshing machine. He is also a director and the treasurer of the Delora Oil and Gas Company, and is a prominent factor in the business life of Sullivan county.
On the 30th of October, 1894, he was married to Mary M. Caton, who was born in Owen county, Indiana, February 29, 1876, a daughter of Hugh B. and Toliver (Candace) Caton, both of whom were also born in Owen county. They subsequently came to Sullivan county and located at Hymera, where Mr. Caton followed the blacksmith's trade. His wife died in 1904, and in 1907 he went to Texas, where he now follows farming and blacksmithing. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Brown : John B., born January 25, 1896; Roy S., March 2, 1897 ; Nellie M., April 16, 1899; and Daisy M., October 28, 1903. The three eldest children are attending school. Mr. Brown gives his political allegience to the Repub- lican party. As a member of the well known Bartlett Quartet he toured Indiana and Illinois for four years and won fame and prominence in musical circles. Both he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church.
HARRISON BARNHART .- The business life of Sullivan county finds a worthy representative in Harrison Barnhart, who has been an agriculturist throughout his industrial career, and during the past four years he has also conducted a wholesale butcher business and enjoys a large and remuner- ative trade. During the past seven years he has also bought and shipped stock quite extensively. When he started out in life for himself after his marriage he owned a little tract of five acres where he now lives, and his present estate consists of eighty-seven acres of rich and fertile land.
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Mr. Barnhart is a representative of one of the oldest families of Sul- livan county. His father, Chauncey C. Barnhart, who was born in Penn- sylvania January 29, 1824, came with his mother, his father having pre- viously died, to this county during his early manhood, and they bought forty acres of land in Jackson township, but in 1874 they sold that land and went to Champaign county, Illinois, where they farmed on rented land until Mr. Barnhart was too old to carry on active work for himself. He then bought property in Tolono, where he yet resides. His mother, Lydia Barnhart, lived to the age of ninety-three years. Harrison Barn- hart is the only child by his father's second marriage, he having been four times married, and his second wife bore the maiden name of Charlotte Halberstadt. She was born in Jackson township about 1834, and died when her only son and child was a babe of fourteen months. She was a daughter of Harrison and Elizabeth (Manwarring) Halberstadt, who were farming people.
After the death of his mother Harrison Barnhart lived with his maternal grandparents until he was twenty-three years of age, when he was married to Hannah Peterson, who was born in Curry township, Sul- livan county, March 27, 1863, a daughter of John and Deliah Peterson, the former of whom is now deceased and the latter is living in Jackson township. Mr. and Mrs. Barnhart have become the parents of five chil- dren : Lillian, who was born July 10, 1882, is the wife of Lou McCrock- lin and lives in Curry township; Flora, born October 29, 1883, has com- pleted the course in the public schools; Arthur, born May 20, 1884, is working with his father; Edna, born April 10, 1899, is in school; and Odetta, born October 29, 1904. Mr. Barnhart is a Republican in his political affiliations. Mrs. Barnhart is a member of the Methodist church.
GEORGE GORDON, many years of whose life were spent in Sullivan county and who has but lately passed to his final reward, was born in Pennsylvania July 26, 1821, a son of James Gordon. George Gordon learned blacksmithing in his early life, and coming to Indiana about IS57 he located in Clay county and followed his trade until feeble health caused him to abandon it and then he farmed in a small way until his busy and useful life was ended, dying on the 4th of August, 1906. His politics were Democratic, and he served his community many years as a constable. His religious affiliations were with the Methodist church.
In October of 1875 Mr. Gordon was united in marriage to Miss Rebecca McCray, and this was his third marriage. The only child of his first union is deceased, and by the second marriage he had the follow- ing children : Joseph, whose home is in Clay county : Jane Agnes, now Mrs. Joseph Copeland; James A., of Clay county ; Wilfred, Frank and Charles, all deceased; John A., whose home is in Clay county ; George Thomas, of Linton, Indiana ; and William L., a farmer near Hymera. Mrs. Gordon, his third wife, is a daughter of Daniel and Sarah (McKay)
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McCray, who were born in Ireland and emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1834, two years before the birth of their daughter Rebecca. The father farmed in Beaver county, that state, until his death in May, 1864, and some years afterward his family came to Greene county, Indiana, and bought the farm on which the widow spent the remainder of her life, dying about 1873. Mrs. Gordon is now living in Sullivan county.
William Gordon married, on the 13th of September, 1900, Nina Badders, who was born in Jackson township on the 12th of October, 1872, a daughter of Samuel F. and Mary (Snowden) Badders, natives respect- ively of Pennsylvania and of Ireland. They are now living in Jackson township, Sullivan county, where the father during his active business life conducted his farm of nearly four hundred acres. Mr. and Mrs. Gordon have four children,-Ralph, Gladys, Walter and Claud. Mr. Gordon has fraternal relations with the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows. He was formerly a miner, but during the past few years has car- ried on the work of the eighty acre farm on which the family now reside, although he expects soon to return to his former occupation of mining.
SOLOMON WYMAN, who is farming in Jackson township, was born in Owen county, this state, March 20, 1857, the fifth of the seven children born to Jacob and Sarah (Saddler) Wyman, natives respectively of Ger- many and of Tuscarawas county, Ohio. The mother is still living, her home being near Sullivan, and she has now reached the advanced age of eighty-four years, her birth occurring in 1824. Jacob Wyman, who was born in 1821, was twenty-one years of age when he came to the United States, and after working in a carriage factory in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, for two or three years, he went to Ohio and followed the same trade there. He was married and lived there until about 1854, when he came to Owen county, and three years later to Sullivan county, where he bought a farm where Jackson Hill is now located. He built a shop on his farm and continued the manufacture of wagons and general repair work until 1873, when he sold his shop and went to Hamilton township, still following his trade until about five years before his death, which occurred on the 17th of September, 1905. He was a Lutheran in his religious views, and his wife was a Dunkard.
In his boyhood days Solomon Wyman attended school in the old log houses then in use in Jackson and Hamilton townships, and he began farming for himself when twenty years of age, remaining on his father's farm for five years, after which he married and moved to another part of the home estate, until finally in 1884 he came to his present homestead, which has been the birthplace of all of his children. He owns eighty acres of land, where he expects to return in the near future, for he has been living for a short time at Jackson Hill. He is a miner as well as a farmer and stock raiser, mining during the winter months when not busy on his farm. He is a member of the United Mine Workers of America,
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and is a Democrat politically. During four years he served as the assessor of Hamilton township, having been elected to the office in 1882. His religious views are in harmony with the teachings of the Missionary Bap- tist church, and his wife is a member of that denomination.
On the 21st of July, 1883, Mr. Wyman was married to Miss Mary L. Wright, who was born in Coshocton county, Ohio, April 16, 1862, a daughter of William and Mary (Gordon) Wright, who came from their native state of Ohio to Coles county, Illinois, and thence four years later in 1869 to Sullivan county, Indiana, and located on Farmers prairie in Hamilton township. After a residence there of twenty years they moved to Posey county in this state, where the father died two years later, and the mother now resides with a daughter in East St. Louis, Illinois, aged seventy-four years. Mr. and Mrs. Wyman have had seven children, but the first born died in infancy ; Pearl is the wife of Oscar Keen, of Jackson township, and their three children are Paul, Harold and Lester; and William R., Bertha, Clarence, Leota, Mary and Ruby, who are at home with their parents.
JOHN TENNIS .- The life work of John Tennis was crowned with a well merited degree of success, and in Sullivan county, where he so long lived and labored, he endeared himself to many friends, and his memory is cherished by those who knew him. Born in northern Pennsylvania on the 28th of April, 1842, he was a son of John J. and Nancy Ann ( Rose) Tennis, who were also from that state and were married there. Coming to Sullivan county in their early life they located on a densely wooded farm in Jackson township, buying canal land, and here the father toiled early and late until his death about 1876 to bring his farm under cultiva- tion. After a few years the mother sold the farm, and thereafter made her home with her children until her death in 1893.
John Tennis, their son, attended the Badder school in Jackson town- ship in his boyhood, and when he had attained the age of seventeen he began working as a farm hand in Jackson township, but after his mar- riage, at the age of twenty-one, he lived on his father-in-law's farm until his death, December 17, 1899. Some years before his demise her father had deeded this farm to Mrs. Tennis, and since her husband's death she has carried forward the work of the old homestead with the aid of her sons, and is one of the brave and honored pioneer women of the county.
Mrs. Tennis bore the maiden name of Diana Worth, and was mar- ried on the IIth of October, 1863. Her parents, James and Elizabeth (Romig) Worth, were born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, but in 1858 they came to Sullivan county, Indiana, and located on a farm in Cass township, where their deaths subsequently occurred. Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Tennis, namely : James William, deceased ; Charles Martin, who is a farmer in South Dakota; Mary Elizabeth, deceased; Jacob Henry, who resides with his mother and has charge of the home farm; John Harrison, a farmer in Greene county; Martha Ann, wife of W. O.
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Mattox, a miner in Jackson township; Ida Jane, wife of John J. Brewer, who is farming in northwestern Canada ; Alfred Alonzo, who is also with his mother ; and Roscoe Scott, who is with his sister, Mrs. Mattox. The oldest son of the family is a member of the fraternal order of Woodmen, while the youngest is a member of the Miners' Union. Mr. Tennis, the father, voted with the Democracy, and he was a true and earnest adherent of the Methodist church.
ANDREW JACKSON STEELE is a man who can lay many claims to prominence in Sullivan county. He is a member of one of its oldest and most prominent pioneer families, and to him and his brother- in-law, William A. Lambright, is given the credit of the discovery of coal in this vicinity, which has added much to the wealth of the county. In lieu of this discovery they were given the option on several hundred acres of land, but much time elapsed before a road could be built to the land.
During many years Mr. Steele has been engaged in general farming and stock raising in Jackson township. When he reached the age of twenty-two he left his parents' home and rented land in Ohio until he came to Indiana, where during a couple of winters he was engaged in coal mining and also did contract work for a company engaged in bridge and road building. After coming to Sullivan county he bought twenty- five acres, the nucleus of his present estate, which contains one hundred and twenty acres, and in addition his wife also owns a small farm near by. He is a shareholder in the Hymera State Bank at Hymera. In 1896 he was a candidate for the office of representative to the state legislature, and throughout the years of his maturity he has been prominent in public affairs, voting independently. He is a member of the United Mine Workers, and was a Knight of Labor.
The Steele family came originally from Scotland, which was the birthplace of James Steele, the great-grandfather of Andrew J., and he was a younger brother of Lord Steele of that country. During the colonial period he came to America and located in Virginia. His son Basil, the grandfather of Andrew, was born in North Carolina June 26, 1775, but from there moved to Virginia and later to Ohio, where he died on July 3, 1857. His wife, nee Rachael Sparling, was born June 30, 1777, in Vir- ginia, and her death occurred in Ohio December 30, 1874, aged ninety- seven years and six months. Among their children was David Steele, who was a farmer and stock raiser throughout his entire business career, and his death occurred in 1900, surviving his wife, Elizabeth Vermilion, for some years.
Andrew J. Steele, a son of David and Elizabeth (Vermilion) Steele, was born in Harrison county, Ohio, September 1, 1847, and received his education in district school No. 4 of Washington township, that county. On the 13th of November, 1869, he was united in marriage to Eliza Jane Lambright, a daughter of Henry and Mary Jane (Shivers) Lambright,
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both of whom were born in Ohio, near Urichville. The paternal family were early resident there, and the old home farm which belonged to her grandfather is still in the Lambright name and the heirs are endeavoring to hand the estate from one generation to another. Her parents came to Sullivan county, Indiana, in 1883, locating in Cass township, where both spent the remainder of their lives. Ten children have been born to . Mr. and Mrs. Steele, namely: Ernest O., who is married and resides on a farm near Hymera ; Claudius Wilbert, at home; Nina Florence, the wife of Harry Badder, of Arkansas; Mary Elizabeth, deceased ; Joseph Victor, of Illinois; Henry David, deceased; Oliver, at home; Ella Frances, the wife of Porter Campbell, of Jasonville; and Lutie May and Ona Eva, both at home. Mr. Steele is independent in his political affiliations. Mr. and Mrs. Steele have in their possession two of the old parchment deeds -one executed under the hand and seal of President John Tyler and bears the date of Aug. 1, 1844, and the other by President Martin Van Buren and dated Aug. 1, 1839. These deeds are valuable souvenirs in old Sullivan county.
NATHAN J. SILLS .- Among the business men of prominence in Jack- son township is numbered Nathan J. Sills, who follows both farming and mining. He is also numbered among the native sons of Jackson town- ship, born on the 26th of February, 1864, to David and Elizabeth ( Bo- gard) Sills, both of whom claimed Kentucky as the commonwealth of their nativity. They came with their parents in an early day to Indiana, the Bogards locating in Vigo county and the Sills in Jackson township, Sullivan county. After attaining to mature years David Sills began farming for himself, and continued in the occupation until stricken with paralysis in about 1874, his death occurring four years later in 1878. The last four years of his life were spent on the farm on which his son Nathan now lives. His widow is now residing near Lewis in this township, having reached the advanced age of eighty-six years.
The educational training of Nathan J. Sills was received in school No. I of Jackson township, and when but fifteen years of age he was obliged to begin the battle of life for himself, for his father was an invalid and much of the support of the family fell upon his young shoul- ders. He remained at home until he was twenty-one, after which he rented a farm in Clay county for one season, and then returning to the home farm worked in the mine as well as superintending the work of the farm. In 1892 he bought thirty-seven and a half acres of the old home place, to which he later added twenty acres adjoining, and he still continues to work in the mine and look after his farming interests.
On the 26th of March, 1885, Mr. Sills was united in marriage to Miss Ella Willie, who was born in Owen county, Indiana, June 20, 1864, a daughter of John E. and Magdalena Everhart Willie, the father a native of Germany and the mother of Switzerland, and both are now deceased. They came to Sullivan county, Indiana, about 1868, where the
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father's death occurred in 1900 and the mother's many years previously, in 1887. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Sills, namely : Winnie Myrtle, the wife of Frank Fulfard, a miner at Bicknell, Knox county, and they have two children, Alsie Lucile and Carl Francis ; George Francis, who is with his parents ; Flora Ethel, the wife of Harry Keenan, a miner and electrician at Jackson Hill; and Ernest Burton, deceased. Oscar Willie, a son of Mrs. Sills by a former marriage, also resides in this home. Mr. Sills is a member of the United Mine Workers of America, and both he and his wife are members of the Baptist church.
JAMES B. GASKILL, who is farming in Jackson township, was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, June 1, 1841, a son of Andrew and Susanna (Lacey) Gaskill, natives respectively of England and of Carroll county, Ohio. The father came to America about 1836, first locating in New Comerstown, Ohio, where he taught school for several years, and was there married in 1839. After a residence there of fourteen years he sold his possessions intending to come to Indiana, having a public sale for his stock, etc., but on the evening of that day, which was a rainy one, he became suddenly ill and died nine days later. His widow remained on the place for one year longer, and then joining a party of emigrants bound for Indiana made the overland journey to this state, first stopping in Greene county. She was accompanied on the trip by her six children. of whom James B. was the eldest, and in Greene county she bought a farm for twelve hundred dollars and a team and wagon, which left her a surplus in money of only one hundred dollars. But thirty days after the purchase she was informed that the place was mortgaged for five hun- dred dollars, and to add to the misfortune one of her horses and a cow died. She was compelled to leave the place in 1856, and coming to Sulli- van rented a house and worked for others in order to support her family. After one year she moved to the O. M. Patton place in Jackson township, which continued as her home until 1861.
About this time James B. Gaskill went to work for Samuel Badders and took his mother with him, receiving twenty cents a day in wages, and he remained there for seven years. During the following year he farmed rented land in Cass township, and as he then married, his mother moved to the Miller place in the same township, but six years after Mr. Gaskill's marriage his wife died and his mother then returned and was with him for three years. For several years thereafter his home was at Jackson Hill, and there his mother died about 1888.
Mr. Gaskill has been four times married, wedding first Polly Ann Hart, by whom he had three children: Alice, the deceased wife of Tom Murratta ; Etta, deceased, became the wife of James Johnson, of Jackson township; and John, also deceased, was an engineer at the mines. He married secondly Margaret Stanley, who died eleven months later, leaving one son, Edward M., who is married and resides on a farm adjoining
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his father's home. Mary Jane Neal, a widow, became his third wife, and they had nine children, namely: William, of Jackson township; Sylvia, the wife of Galen Burritt, a carpenter at Gilmore; Elmer, deceased ; Flora and Stella, both at home; Delphia, Charley and Oscar, all deceased ; and Eva, at home. In 1899 Mr. Gaskill wedded Martha Setty, a widow, and their two children are Gladys and Madge, but the younger is deceased. Gladys resides with her mother at Gilmore.
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