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 24
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Mr. Gaskill owns a valuable estate of two hundred and sixty acres in Jackson township, where he is engaged in general farming and stock raising, making a specialty of the raising of Southdown and Shropshire sheep and of mules. His farm is richly underlaid with coal. He is a member of the order of Odd Fellows, lodge No. 603, at Hymera.
SAMUEL R. COLE, one of the leading farmers and stock raisers of Jackson township, was born in Bloomfield, Indiana, August 23, 1845, a son of John and Rachael ( Bradford) Cole, natives respectively of Ken- tucky and Virginia. John Cole came with his parents to Indiana in the early twenties and located near Bloomington, and his mother died there, her husband surviving her until about 1858 and dying at the home of his son. In an early day John Cole located in Bloomfield, Indiana, and for many years he served as a deputy in the court house there. In 1858 he joined a party from Indiana bound for the gold fields of California, and spent about two years in that state and in the overland journeys there and back, and on his return to Bloomfield he engaged in farming.
In November of 1861 John Cole and his son Samuel enlisted in Com- pany D. Fifty-ninth Regiment of Indiana Infantry, for service in the Civil war, and the father served about eight months, while the son con- tinued as a soldier for three years and seven months, both participating
in the battles of Island No. 10, Benton and Corinth, while the son con- tinued on through the battles of Vicksburg, Chattanooga, and Atlanta, serving on the Mississippi most of the time until they moved on to Atlanta. The father was for a time confined in the general hospital at Corinth, and was discharged early in 1862. The son was mustered out at Indianapolis at the close of the war.
After his return from the war John Cole continued farming until 1868, and going then to Nebraska spent the following year in that state, while after his return to Indiana he embarked in the mercantile business at Lyons, remaining there until his death on the Ist of May, 1870. His wife died in about 1879 in Jackson township.
Samuel R. Cole was a young man of twenty when lie returned from the war, and from that time until 1873 he farmed on rented land in Greene county. In that year he came to Sullivan county and rented a farm in Jackson township, and about 1879 he added thirty-four acres to the forty acres which belonged to his wife and where they now reside, but he has since sold a part of this tract until the farm now contains but
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sixty-nine acres. He follows general farming and stock raising, and has been very successful in his operations.
In November of 1860 Mr. Cole married Mary Harrah, who was also born in Bloomfield, a daughter of James and Kissie Harrah, both now deceased, as is also the daughter, who was born in 1845 and died in February, 1873. On the 17th of June, 1875, Mr. Cole wedded Teresa Snowden, who was born in Ireland January 27, 1841, a daughter of Orr and Nancy (Martin) Snowden, who came to the United States in 1841 and located in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. The father preceded the family to this country a short time and engaged in general work, and later he became a miner. In 1853 he came to Sullivan county, Indiana, and bought canal land in Jackson township, where he died in 1879, a week after the death of Mr. Cole's mother. His wife died on the 26th of January, 1889. Mr. Cole gives his political support to the Republican party, and is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Grand Army of the Republic. Both he and his wife are members of the Presby- terian church at Jackson Hill, and he is one of its elders.
CHARLES C. SCHLICHTER, a general farmer, residing in Gill town- ship, Sullivan county, Indiana, is numbered among the citizens who are making good progress in the pursuit of agriculture within this section of the state. He is a native of Dresden, Muskingum county, Ohio, born December 25, 1839, a son of Jacob F. and Susan (Miller) Schlichter, both of whom were natives of Germany. The father was born in 1807 and came to America in 1826. He lived in New York a short time, being employed in a paint and soap factory, where he was seriously injured by falling into a paint vat. He was united in marriage in New York and moved to Dresden, Ohio, where he purchased a farm on the Muskingum river and there resided until 1841. He then bought a farm in Pike county, where he lived about twelve years, and then removed to Perry county, remaining but a short time, when he retraced his steps to Pike county, where he bought the farm on which he died about 1855, his wife having passed away in 1841. The grandfather of Charles G. was mayor of the city in which he lived in Germany for many years. At one time he sent his son, Jacob F., five thousand dollars in gold as a gift. From the fore- going and other information it appears that the Schlichter family were from among the better classes of the great German empire.
Though he had only about three months' actual schooling, Charles C. Schlichter, who is now sixty-nine years of age, by persistent study, has become a well informed man. The greater part of his study was while serving in the army. When seventeen years of age he was bound to a farmer in Ohio and remained with him until about twenty years of age, when he went to Portsmouth, Ohio, where he was employed at a hundred and fifty dollars a year, working in a nursery most of the time. A part of his time he assisted his employer in a shoe store. Mr. Schlichter remained here until the Civil war broke out, when he enlisted as a member
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FAMILY GROUP OF CHARLES C. SCHLICHTER
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY
of Company C, Fifty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, serving four years, five months and twenty-five days. He enlisted November 16, 1861, and was discharged February 1, 1864. He then re-enlisted in the same regi- ment, January 1, 1865, and was honorably discharged April 25, 1866. During his exceedingly long service in the army of his country, he partici- pated in ten battles and was wounded in his right hand and also in the right shin. He acted as commissary sergeant a year and a half, but was not promoted. He was engaged in the following battles: Pittsburg Land- ing, Tennessee, April 6 and 7, 1862; Siege of Corinth, Mississippi, May, 1862; in 1863 at Port Gibson, May 1, Champion Hills, May 16, Siege of Vicksburg, June and July, Jackson, July 12 to 15, all in Mississippi, and Carrion Crow Bayou, Louisiana, November 23; during 1864, at Sabine Cross Roads, April 8, Monett's Ferry, April 23, and Snaggs' Point, May 5, these three battles being in Louisiana.
After his return from the war he went back to Portsmouth, Ohio, and was employed in a rolling-mill about one year, after which he went to Des Moines, Iowa, and on to Dallas county of the same state, and there had charge of a farm belonging to a doctor, a resident of Des Moines. This place contained an even thousand acres of land, and here he remained for two years ; then returned to Portsmouth, Ohio, where he was employed with a large coal company for the next two years. The succeeding year he was in a rolling-mill, which business failed on account of a panic in money matters. Mr. Schlichter then purchased a dairy, which he operated five years, having two hundred and seventy-two cus- tomers. His health failing, he bought a farm of one hundred and forty acres, situated seven miles distant, and there he remained for eleven years. He traded this place for four houses in Portsmouth, but later dis- posed of all his property in Ohio, and came to Gill township, Sullivan county, Indiana, his present home. His daughter had already come here two years before. He settled here at the time of the Mckinley flood. Mr. Schlichter purchased one hundred and ten acres of land, upon which he resided until recently, when he sold his place for $8,175 and now lives retired. When he came to this section he bought good corn at fifteen cents a bushel. He did general farming and raised some swine, his large experience peculiarly fitting him for intelligent work as an agriculturist of the up-to-date type.
It is not the lot of all men, indeed of few, to escape through so long a term of years without being duped or caused to part with a part of their hard earned money, and Mr. Schlichter did not escape. He engaged in the coal business in Ohio, in partnership with a man named Draper. They had $2,500 in the bank and about two months later his partner drew the same out and gambled it all away. Politically Mr. Schlichter is an avowed Republican. While a resident of Ohio, he served as trustee for eight years and was also on the school board in that state. At one time he held membership with the Odd Fellows order and held various official positions in his lodge, but has not been connected with the fraternity for several years.
Vol. II-13
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While on a furlough he was happily united in marriage, June 15, 1864, to Mary Elizabeth Hauck, who was born in Meigs county, Ohio, March 25, 1840, a daughter of Charles J. and Mary A. (Holstetter) Hauck. The father was a native of Germany, as was the mother, who was born March 15, 1810; Charles Hauck was born about the same time as his wife and he came to America in 1831, going to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he mastered the trade of shoemaking, serving three years. He married and remained there five years, and then moved to Chester, Ohio, where he followed his trade and purchased a small farm. There he made his home for many years, but later removed to a farm of one hun- dred and eighty acres, which he bought within a few miles of Pomeroy. Here he spent the balance of his days, dying in 1877, while his wife sur- vived twelve years longer. Mr. and Mrs. Schlichter are the parents of the following children: Mary Anna, wife of William D. Prose, residing near her parents and the mother of six children; Valentine George, mar- ried Almira Andrea and they live on his father's farm and have six children; Caroline Susan, wife of Alexander Prose, who lives near the parents' farm, and they have three children.
LEONARD MARSHALL, an agriculturist of Jackson township, Sullivan county, was born in Washington county, Indiana, December 22, 1832, a son of Ambrose and Cynthia (Roby) Marshall, natives respectively of Kentucky and Washington county, Indiana. The father was a soldier in the war of 1812, and in an early day in its history he came to Indiana and took up his abode in Washington county, where he followed farming and to some extent coopering until his death, both he and his wife dying in that county. Their religious views were in harmony with the principles of the United Brethren church.
When he reached the age of twenty-one years Leonard Marshall left his boyhood's home and moved to a farm which he purchased in Wash- ington county, residing there until about 1868. He had previously bought eighty acres of land where he now lives, buying it about 1860, and in 1872 he located thereon, but at that time the tract was covered with timber. He cleared the land and added to its boundaries until he now has about one hundred and forty acres, all in one body but lying in three townships, Cass, Hamilton and Jackson, and he also owns the coal which underlies this tract.
Mr. Marshall married, April 1, 1853, Lucy Jane Montgomery, who was born in Virginia on the 25th of July, 1835, but when she was but eight years of age her parents moved from that state to Missouri, crossing the Mississippi river on foot on the ice. After a residence of eight months in Missouri the father died, and the mother with her family then moved to Washington county, Indiana. Her family consisted of nine children, two sons then living in Washington county, and she resided with one of these sons a short time, but her residence in that county covered a period
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of ten years. She died at the home of Mr. Marshall in 1866. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Marshall, namely: William Franklin, a farmer near Chappel Church in Cass township; Henry A., deceased ; John W., who has charge of the home farm and resides with his parents ; and George D., who resides in Cass township and is farming a part of his father's farm. Mr. Marshall is a Democrat in politics, and fraternally is a member of the Masonic order.
ALBERT J. ZINK, one of the leading business men and farmers of Hymera, was born and has spent his entire life in Sullivan, his birth occurring in Jackson township on the 27th of October, 1855, a son of Michael and Clarissa (Hubanks) Zink, natives respectively of Washing- ton county, Indiana, and of Maysville, Kentucky. The father, who was a life-long farmer, came to Jackson township with his father when only thirteen years old, and at the time of his death in 1888 he owned a beau- tiful estate of two hundred and eighty acres, the accumulation of his own personal efforts and industry. The mother died in the year of 1892.
Albert J. Zink received his educational training in the district schools of Jackson township, and at the age of twenty he began his life work as a renter, renting of his father and also conducting his estate until the latter's death. His first purchase of land was a tract of forty acres in 1882, and by adding to this from time to time he became the owner of one hundred and twenty acres, but in 1908 he sold this farm to the coal company and a short time afterward bought eighty acres which he now conducts. He also owns a fine business block in the town of Hymera, and is connected with the leading.general store and meat market there, in which they carry a seven thousand dollar stock. Some years ago Mr. Zink made a specialty of the raising of wheat, and is now also quite extensively engaged in small farming and hay growing, which he uses as feed for his horses. His interests are extensive and varied, and his efforts are being substantially rewarded.
The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Zink occurred in March of 1876, and she bore the maiden name of Mary B. Hughes and was born in Virginia, as also her parents, Henry M. and Harriett (Thayer) Hughes. . They came to Sullivan county during the war and located near Shelburn, where he followed blacksmithing for many years, but later bought and operated a farm for a few years, and then selling his land here returned to Vir- ginia. But in a few years he came again to Sullivan county, where he died at Hymera in 1898 and the mother one year later. The daughter received her education in the schools of Shelburn. Seven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Zink, namely : Clara, the wife of J. J. Branson, of Hymera ; Blanch, deceased; Maud, the wife of J. L. Pipher, also of Hymera : and Herbert, Herschel, Cora Castella and Gladys, at home. Mr. Zink is a Democrat in politics, and is a member of the Methodist church.
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SINGLETON MARSHALL has spent many years of his long and useful career in Sullivan county, prominently identified with its business interests. He was born in Washington county, Indiana, June 1, 1828, a son of Ambrose and Cynthia (Robie) Marshall. The mother was reared from a mere child near Albany, Indiana, and she was of Scotch-Irish descent. Ambrose Marshall, a native of Kentucky, was of English descent, and came with his parents to Indiana when about ten years of age, the family locating in Washington county, where his father was a blacksmith and an exceptionally fine workman in his line. Ambrose Marshall followed farming all his life, and both he and his father died in Washington county.
Singleton Marshall continued to reside with his parents until he was twenty-one, and during the following three years worked for his father. After his marriage he bought a farm in Washington county, but after six years sold the land and then rented land for three years. Purchasing then one hundred and sixty acres near where he now lives, he lived there until about 1890, when he went west in search of a better location, but finding nothing which surpassed the land of this section of Indiana he returned and lived on a rented farm for a short time. He then purchased a tract of land near Hymera, but afterward on account of ill health he went to Arkansas and bought two hundred and forty-seven acres in that state, two hundred acres of which he yet owns. He spent the winters there for several years, and he now makes his home with a daughter-in- law in Jackson township.
In August, 1850, Mr. Marshall was united in marriage to Mary Ann Allen, whose parents were farming people in Washington county, Indiana, and both are now deceased, the mother, Christena (Lee) Allen, dying in 1883. Eleven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Marshall, namely : Robert Cornelius, deceased; Martha Carolina, also deceased ; Alfred Franklin, a physician of Jasonville, Indiana; Mary Jane, the wife of William Lucas, of Denver, Colorado : Emma, wife of Douglas Marshall, of Jackson township; Julian, a farmer of Hamilton township: Laura, the wife of John Nead, of Hymera ; Onie, wife of Charles Rusher, of Jackson township: Oliver, who was killed by a train at Hymera in 1901 ; Eva, who died at the age of twenty years ; and Edward, also deceased. Mr. Mar- shall is independent in his political affiliations, and he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
FRANCIS MARION DOROTHY .- Among the early day business men of Indiana was numbered Francis M. Dorothy, who during many years of his active life was identified with the mercantile business. He was born in Vigo county, this state, August 24, 1834, a son of Harrison and Lucinda (Sweeney) Dorothy, who were natives of Kentucky and of Irish descent. In his youth the son Francis located in the village of Old York in Clark county, Illinois, where he worked as a mechanic until 1852, and for some time afterward was a mercantile salesman there. In the fall of 1881 he
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enlisted as a Civil war soldier, becoming a member of Company F, Fifth Illinois Cavalry, entering the ranks as a lieutenant. He took part in sev- eral hard-fought skirmishes, and on one occasion was wounded in the left knee, the ball remaining imbedded in the wound until his death. Returning home after his discharge from the army he was engaged in business in Robison for four years, from that time until the summer of 1879 was identified with the business interests of Bellair, Illinois, and moving thence to Clay City, Indiana, he was a prominent and successful merchant there until his death on the 12th of December, 1888. He was a member of the time honored order of Masons, and an earnest and active Republican.
On the 18th of December, 1871, Mr. Dorothy was united in marriage to Miss Notolean Peters, who was born in Queen Ann county, Maryland, December 30, 1841, a daughter of John Wesley and Martha ( Wallace) Peters, of English descent and natives respectively of Maryland and Dela- ware. They were farming people, and both are now deceased. When their daughter Notolean was fourteen years of age she came to Park county, Illinois, to live with an uncle, who was a miller, and she was a member of his home from 1856 until her marriage. After the death of her husband she continued the business and remained in Clay City until 1896, when she sold the store and came to Hymera to engage in the mer- cantile business here: She was the proprietor of one of the town's leading mercantile establishments, carrying a stock valued at three thousand dol- lars, and met with the success she so well merited. Mrs. Dorothy is the mother of four children: Francis Otto, the first born, married Ethel Beckett, by whom he had one child, Hester, and he died on the 30th of September, 1901. Charles is a miner and resides at home, as does also the younger son, Dick, who had charge of the store. May is the wife of Charles Zenor and resides in Hymera. . They have two children, Donald and Dorothy.
CHARLES BARNHART .- From the age of twenty-four years to the present time Charles Barnhart has been prominently identified with the business interests of Sullivan county. At that age he started to work for himself, but for some years following this he conducted his father's farm, and then buying out the heirs to the home estate resided thereon until the year of 1887. Selling the land then he bought another farm of ninety- two acres where the village of Hymera now stands, but he has since sold this entire tract in town lots with the exception of one and a half acres. During about six years of this time he was engaged in the furniture busi- ness, was also in the livery business for about four years, and during the past twenty-one years he has been the proprietor of a well known and popular hotel. He has thus contributed much to the public life and interests of Hymera and vicinity, and the community numbers him among her foremost business men and citizens.
Mr. Barnhart was born in Owen county, Indiana, February 28, 1851.
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and is of German parentage. His father, Henry Barnhart, came to America when about twenty-two years of age and located in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, where he was employed on public works for some years and then bought a farm in that county. After a residence there of several years, however, he sold the land and moved to Owen county, Indiana, where he bought a farm and resided there until selling the land in 1885 he came to Jackson township, Sullivan county, buying a farm a half a mile south of Hymera. He resided on this homestead until his death in the year of 1877, when he had reached the age of sixty-eight years. His wife. Margaret, was born near his old home in Germany, and coming to America about the same time they were married in Ohio. The wife died about ten years after the death of her husband, aged seventy-seven years. The two children of Mr. and Mrs. Barnhart are Bert, a pharmacist, and engaged in the drug business in Indianapolis, and Ralph, who is with his parents and attending school. Mr. Barnhart is a member of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Methodist church, and in poli- tics he upholds the principles of the Democratic party. The original spelling of this name was Barnhardt, but it has since been changed to its present form.
JOHN A. SPEAR .- The life's labors of John A. Spear were ended on the 17th of August, 1899, when death took from Sullivan county one of its truest and best citizens. He was born in Coshocton county, Ohio. April 9, 1835, and starting in life for himself at about the age of eighteen he continued to work for his father for one year, and after his marriage his father deeded him forty acres of land in Owen county, in the Spear settlement. During the period of the Civil war he served as a private in Company A, Fifty-ninth Indiana Volunteer Infantry for three and a half years, and he was in service for six months before being mustered in. During the most of the time of his army service he was a teamster on an ammunition wagon. Previous to entering the army Mr. Spear had sold the land which his father had given him and on which he had farmed for six years; and after returning from the war he bought a tract of eighty acres near Hymera, and there he lived and labored until his busy and useful life was ended.
Mr. Spear was a son of David Spear, who was a native of Virginia, as was also his wife, Jane Vance, and very early in its history he moved to Ohio and enrolled his name among its pioneers. He continued to farm in that state until his removal to Owen county, Indiana, in about 1850, where he bought a farm and resided until his death in about 1890. His wife survived him for eight years, dying in 1898. He was a Repub- lican politically, but never desired the honors of office.
On the 14th of September, 1856, Mr. Spear married Lydia A. Criss, who was born in Columbiana county, Ohio, near New Lisbon, November 6. 1835, a daughter of Isaac D. and Susana (France) Criss, both of whom were also born in Ohio, the mother in Old Philadelphia and the
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father in Carl county. He was a farmer, and coming to Owen county, Indiana, near Spencer, about 1843, he entered a homestead there and continued his residence thereon until his death in 1878. The mother survived until 1890. They were members of the Baptist church, and were highly respected in the community in which they so long resided. Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Spear, namely: James Isaac, who died at the age of eight years and four months; Sulesta, the wife of O. H. Gagan of Hymera ; Louisa, who married Perry Bear and resides in Knox county, Indiana; David V., a miner and farmer in Hymera ; Oliver M., a prospector and miner in Colorao; Anna, the widow of Perry Botts and who resides with her mother; Jennie F., the wife of I. N. Botts, of Hymera ; William H., who died at the age of thirty-three years, in 1906; and Levi Hale, who died in infancy.
Mrs. Spear continued to reside on the homestead farm until about two years after the death of her husband, when at the request of her son she moved to the village of Hymera and now resides in one of its most spacious homes. She yet owns the old farm property. Since the age of fourteen years she has been an earnest and consistent member of the Christian church, and her husband was also affiliated with that denomination.
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