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 37
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Dr. Neff is identified with the following orders: The Masonic Lodge, No. 373; Odd Fellows order, Lodge No. 763; and the Modern Wood- men, Camp No. 11256, all three lodges being located at Fairbanks. He is secretary of the county board of health, and is a member of the Sulli- van County Medical Society, the Indiana State Medical Society, and the Æsculapian Society of Illinois.
He was united in marriage, November 25, 1894, to Viola L. Lindley, born in Crawford county, Indiana, March 28, 1870, a daughter of Samuel and Harriet (Hollenback) Lindley. The father was born in Crawford county, Illinois, and the mother in Clarke county, Illinois. The children of this union were: Frances L., born August 27, 1895; James S., born November 1, 1900; and John D., born August 22, 1905.
ELI WILLIAM LEMON DIX, of Fairbanks township, Sullivan county, was born in the township in which he now resides, September 1, 1848, a son of Eli and Mariam (Bundy) Dix. The father was a native of Guilford county, North Carolina, born in 1813, and the mother was born in Randolph county, North Carolina, in 1813. The grandparents were Joshua and Ann (Jessup) Dix, of North Carolina, and Moses Bundy and Elizabeth Pittman, widow of Mr. Bundy. The grandfather Dix went to Fairbanks township and entered land, consisting of a timber tract, in 1819. The grandfather Bundy went to Washington township, locating in Salem in 1824. He was a large land owner in that section of the county, but not long after his settlement he died.
Eli and Mariam Dix married and settled in Fairbanks township in 1832, in section 36. He lived in a log-house until 1860, and in this rude habitation was born the subject of this memoir. This house gave way for the first brick residence in the township, and was of such a character that it is still among the best within the township. The father died August 19, 1877, and the mother, March 10, 1884. This worthy couple were the parents of eight children who reached maturity, Eli W. L. being the fifth in order of their birth. He remained at home until a few months before he was married, which date was October 5, 1873, to Jose- phine Osborn, born in Hamilton township, a daughter of William and Martha (Hill) Osborn, natives of Kentucky. The paternal grandparents were John Osborn and wife, of Kentucky. After his marriage Mr. Dix remained with his father until the following January and then removed to a forty acre farm given him by his father. There they resided in a log- house until 1878, when they erected a two-room frame building, to which they built an addition in 1890, making a nine-room residence of the whole. Subsequently Mr. Dix added forty acres of land to his original farm. He now owns seventy-eight and a fraction acres, all in Turman township, and eighty acres in Fairbanks township. He has always resided in sec- tions 35 and 36, and his present home is in section 36. Mr. Dix has a finely improved place, is surrounded with all the comforts of life, and is indeed an independent agriculturist. He has never followed other than
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agricultural pursuits, and in this with his stock-raising he has materially succeeded. He had but limited common school privileges, only attending R. Garvin's Commercial College for eight weeks, yet with his primary education and what he has added to his store of knowledge by careful reading and observation he has come to be a well-posted farmer. In church relations it may be said that he and Mrs. Dix are consistent mem- bers of the Christian church, of which organization he was a trustee three years. Politically he affiliates with the Democratic party, and served four years as notary public under Governor Durbin.
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Dix are as follows: Lowell A., born May 27, 1875, now of Shelburn, Indiana ; Bethuel A., born August 23, 1876, of Hymera, Indiana ; James E., born November 17, 1877, of Shelburn, Indiana; Melissa J., born April 17, 1879, now Mrs. George Liston, of Hamilton township; Martha A., born October 18, 1880, now Mrs. Noah Parr, of Turman township; Eli Harper, born November 5, 1881, of Curry township; Porter J., born November 25, 1884, at home ; and Lura Bell, born March 28, 1887, at home. Lowell A. married Vernie Harbaugh and has two children, Esther and Kennett W. Bethuel married Emily Graves ; James E. married Fanny Fisher and has two children. Eli J. and Arthur. He also has a son by a former marriage, named Ray Eugene, who now lives with his grandparents. Melissa married George Liston, and Martha A. married Noah Parr. Eli married Martha Bushell and has two children, Eli M. and Bryan. Besides their own children, Mr. and Mrs. Dix reared M. G. Boles from the age of twelve years to twenty- one, and also Homer Bush, an orphan, from the age of eleven years.
JAMES J. PIRTLE, who has been industriously engaged in operating an extensive truck garden in Gill township, Sullivan county, Indiana, since 1903, was born on the farm upon which he now resides, July 19, 1833. He is the son of Abel and Mary (Ferree) Pirtle, both of whom were natives of Kentucky. The father, born April 4, 1800, came to Indiana at an early age and entered land in Sullivan county, the tract being the same where the son now lives. The mother was born January 17, 1807. This worthy couple were united in marriage in Sullivan county and lived on the farm mentioned until the father's death, January 25, 1862, the mother surviving until March 20, 1874. Of the eight children born to Abel and Mary (Ferree) Pirtle, only four are now living : James J .; Ferree, living at Lyons, Greene county, Indiana, who was a soldier in an Indiana regiment at the time of the Civil war; Ann, wife of Hugh Duffy, of Sullivan county, who was a native of Ireland and is now de- ceased ; and Nancy J., wife of James W. Monroe, a native of Ohio, and they are now living on a portion of the tract entered by Abel Pirtle.
James J. Pirtle had but a very limited opportunity for gaining an education. He attended a little log school house, in which the only windows were openings made by sawing out sections of the logs, and the seats upon which the pupils sat were made of puncheon, as was the floor.
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A huge fireplace furnished the heat, and many times the smoke also. It was perhaps not unlike the one pictured by Eggleston in his "Hoosier Schoolmaster." James J. Pirtle continued to reside at home until he was twenty-four years of age, and did his share toward cultivating, and improving the old homestead. About the commencement of the war of the rebellion he bought forty acres of land, which was a part of the old homestead. To this he added another "forty," but subsequently disposed of it. Since 1903 he has been engaged in conducting a modern truck farm, for the various products of which he finds a ready sale in the markets of Sullivan and Carlisle. Mr. Pirtle has been an industrious worker and is known for his integrity and kindness. He may justly be said to be a self-made man, having gained what he possesses by the dint of his own industry and frugal management. He has been somewhat unfortunate, in that his family has been afflicted by much illness, which has caused a large expense and the loss of his wife, she being an invalid twenty years, and almost totally helpless for fourteen years. This trouble somewhat thwarted his plans. At the time of the Civil war Mr. Pirtle united with the Chris- tian church, but at this time is not identified with any religious body. In politics he is a Democrat, and is an honored member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
On August 27, 1857, Mr. Pirtle was united in marriage to Elizabeth Boatman, who was a native of Sullivan county, born in 1840, and who died April 24, 1906. She was the daughter of Jefferson and Margaret, known as "Peggy," Boatman, who came from Kentucky the same time as the Pirtles. The Pirtles made their way up the Ohio river on an old- fashioned push-boat to the mouth of the Wabash, then up that stream to Busseron creek, and up the creek to a point known as Shakertown. Mr. Pirtle now has in his possession an old kettle used on this boat by the family as they slowly wended their way upstream from Kentucky. They located in the eastern part of Sullivan county, where they spent the remainder of their lives. Both parents of Mrs. Pirtle have been dead many years, her mother dying four years to the day ( March 20) later than her husband's mother. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. James J. Pirtle are as follows: a son, who died in infancy; William Jefferson, deceased; A. Marley, residing at Terre Haute, a carpenter by trade ; Margaret, wife of J. A. McCammon, residing in Hamilton township, Sullivan county ; R. F., a prominent farmer : Friend L., a carpenter and farmer living in Cass township; Mollie, wife of John A. McCammon, a farmer of Gill township, Sullivan county, living near her father's place ; Lora M., unmarried, residing with her father; and James N., with his father on the home farm.
EDWARD W. BRYAN, who owned an excellent farm, well improved by his own hands, even to the making of fences, in Gill township, Sullivan county, was born November 17, 1873, near Burlingame, Osage county, Kansas, a son of Josiah and Mary E. Bryan, whose family sketch appears elsewhere in this work. The father went to Kansas from Ohio in 1869
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and followed farming for five years, he having purchased school land there to the amount of eighty acres. Subsequently he disposed of the Kansas land and returned to Ohio, remained in Fayette county until he moved to Indiana and located in Sullivan county, where he died in the autumn of 1901.
Edward W. Bryan attended the public schools of Stanton, Ohio, and took a commercial course at Valparaiso. He remained with his parents until eighteen years of age, and then commenced the activities of life for himself. He prepared for teaching by attending school at Lebanon, Ohio. At the age of twenty years he commenced teaching school near Stanton, Ohio. He taught two winters near that city, and the next two, near Sabina, Ohio. He then attended the schools of Valparaiso for about four months, graduating there, and then went to Chicago and secured a posi- tion with William Wrigley, Jr.'s, chewing gum house as their bookkeeper. There he continued for two years, and then returned to his parents' home in the autumn. The next spring he went to Indiana with his parents and remained with them until his marriage. He then moved to his farm in Gill township, where he was a general farmer and stockman. He owned seventy acres of land, all of which he improved himself. His farm home was one which made him one of the independent agriculturists of Sulli- van county. But on account of ill health he sold his farm and property in Sullivan county and with his family moved to Denver, Colorado, in August, 1908. where he is now engaged in the real estate business. He is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which denomi- nation he served as trustee for three years. He was also president of the Epworth League two years while residing in Ohio. In his political views, Mr. Bryan, like his forefather, is a Republican.
He was happily married January 22, 1902, to Eva L. Hver, a native of Ohio, born April 7, 1880, a daughter of John and Phoebe (Isgrig) Hyer. Her father was a native of Ohio, and the mother of Missouri. They are still living near Washington Court House, that state. The father is a carpenter and contractor. The date of the mother's birth was March, 1850, and of the father's, January, 1845. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Bryan are: Viola, born January 15, 1903, and Arthur L., born March 13, 1904.
Of Mrs. Bryan's parents' children it may be said that there were two in the family : Jesse, a resident of Washington Court House, Ohio, a school teacher and also a contractor and carpenter. He has taught school since twenty-one years of age. The other child is Eva L., the wife of Mr. Bryan.
EDWARD J. COLLINS represents a family who have been honored resi- dents of Sullivan county since 1837. The present representative of the name is an extensive farmer and stock-raiser of Jefferson township, and, both on account of his own worthy career and because of the excellent record of his family, commands the esteem of all who know him. Although he has spent the greater part of his life in this county, he was
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born in Louisville, Kentucky, November 6, 1835. He is a son of William Collins, who was born May 30, 1799, in Somerset county, Maryland, and died July 6, 1886, in Haddon township, this county.
The early life of William Collins was marked by some unusual and interesting experiences. From his home in Maryland at the age of nine- teen he set out for the west, down the Ohio valley to Gallatin county, Kentucky. He began working for a tobacco-raiser, but because he insisted on crushing the tobacco worms with his foot instead of killing them with his hands, his employer discharged him, and he found himself penniless and without opportunity. Procuring an old skiff, he set off down the Ohio. The kindness of an old black slave in giving him a hand- kerchief and a dime to help him on his journey was afterwards remem- bered when Mr. Collins, in more prosperous circumstances, met his bene- factor and repaid him with five dollars to help the old darkey purchase his freedom. The skiff became unseaworthy after a short distance had been covered, and two men rescued young Collins from the current of the river and landed him in Louisville. From the only acquaintance he had in this city he obtained employment as a hod carrier, and then became an appren- tice at the brick-layer's trade. As a brick-layer he became so skillful that it was declared he could lay brick as fast as a hen could pick up corn. When he settled in Sullivan county in 1837 he entered fifty acres of government land near Carlisle and continued to follow his vocation for a number of years. In addition to the entered land he had bought two hundred acres, and lived on this farm until his death.
The ascertained history of the Collins family on the father's side goes back to the parents of William Collins, who were James O. and Sarah E. (McGraw) Collins, the former a native of England and the latter of Scotland. James O. Collins was a sailor and lost his life by being drowned in Chesapeake bay while William was only a boy. The wife of William Collins was Mary Ann (Hoke) Collins. Her grandfather, Andrew Hoke, was born in Germany in 1740, and died in Kentucky in 1800, while his wife, Barbara Hoke, was born in Germany in 1734 and died in Kentucky, March 19, 1814. Adam Hoke, their son, was born in Germany in 1760, and died August 7, 1832, and his wife Catherine ( Hof- feils) Hoke, was born in Germany in 1764, and died November 30, 1818. Both these maternal grandparents of Edward J. Collins died in Kentucky.
William Collins and his wife were loyal Presbyterians, he being an elder in the church, and he was also known for his pronounced advocacy of the Democratic party. They were both well remembered by the older residents of Haddon township. They had a large family, nine children, as follows: Sarah E., born February 26, 1825, died January, 1888 ; James O., born February 21, 1826, died June, 1898; William H., born November 15, 1827, died December 28, 1833 ; Columbus W., born November 3, 1833, died July 10, 1835; Julia C., born October 7, 1829, now living with her brother Edward J. ; Mercer D., born March 5, 1832, died March 17, 1880 ; Edward J. ; Alfred B., born September II, 1837, died December 18, 1855 ; Mary L., born October 6, 1839, a resident of Haddon township and the wife of A. J. Brentlinger. The mother of this family died May 25, 1865.
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Edward J. Collins, during his young manhood and after he had attended the public schools, learned his father's trade as brick-layer and was regularly engaged in that occupation four years. From 1866 to 1870 he and his father farmed together, and from the latter year until 1891 he engaged in farming on the homestead, part of the time as lessee. In 1891 he traded his old place of two hundred acres for the one hundred and sixty acres four miles southwest of Pleasantville which are his present homestead. Being a man whom years have not aged, Mr. Collins still gives active superintendence to his farm, and with stock-raising and grain-growing is known as one of the leading farmers of the township. He has filled all the official chairs of the Odd Fellows Lodge No. 50 at Carlisle, and has been a delegate to the grand lodge. He is a Democrat, and he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church, in which he has served as an elder.
By his marriage on January 5, 1864, to Mary Jenkins, Mr. Collins united with one of the old and well known families of Sullivan county. Mrs. Collins, who died April 4, 1905, was born at Carlisle April 9, 1840, and was a daughter of John and Mary Jenkins. The Jenkins family are elsewhere mentioned in this history. The six children of Mr. and Mrs. Collins are named as follows: Roland A., who married November 15, 1893, Miss Minnie Ungerer, and she died November 12, 1899; William J., mentioned below ; John G., born February 26, 1868, who is one of the successful teachers of Sullivan county : Cora B., born March 17, 1870, who lives at home ; Mercer D., born May 8, 1882, who helps conduct the home farm; and Charles T., who died at the age of three months.
The late Dr. William J. Collins, who was second in age of the above children, was a rising young physician and a popular citizen of Geneva, Indiana, at the time he was accidentally killed by a train, December 3, 1905. He was born July 15, 1866. He was a graduate of the Terre Haute Norma! School with the class of 1900 and was engaged in teaching until he took up the study of medicine. After his graduation from the Illinois Medical College in 1904 he began practice at Geneva. He was an honored member of the Masonic lodge at Carlisle and a member of the Presbyterian church at that place.
WILLIAM T. SPENCER, JR., who is counted among the worthy and enterprising citizens of Pleasantville. Indiana, is a native of Greene county, born in Stafford township, September 29, 1864, a son of James and Sarah (Padgett) Spencer. His father was a native of Virginia, born October 22. 1841. The mother was born in Haddon township, Sullivan county, November 15, 1844. James Spencer came to Indiana with his parents when vet a small boy. The family located near the vil- lage, on a farm which at that time was government land and all thickly covered with timber. The log house which he built stood until about 1906. The grandfather continued to live on that place until his death, which occurred in 1895, at the age of ninety-five years. During the latter part of his life he was greatly crippled in his lower limbs by reason
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of rheumatism. His wife died many years before her husband and he lived with Mrs. Howard, who occupied a part of the old place.
James Spencer, the father, left home when about eighteen years of age, working as a farm hand until after his marriage, wlien he bought the farm in Sullivan county on which he now lives, having been a constant resident for over forty years. He also owns ten acres in the village of Pleasantville, but prefers to remain on the old homestead, which has been so dear to him for two score and more years. His farm is among the choicest in this part of the state. It consists of two hundred and twenty- five acres, seventy-five of which are situated within Greene county and the remainder in Sullivan. Both he and his good wife still enjoy excellent health for persons of their age.
William T. Spencer received his education at the Jackson school house in Greene county. He remained faithful to every known trust about the old homestead of his father's until he was twenty-three years of age, when his father deeded him twenty-eight acres of land and to this he soon added as much more, which last tract he purchased himself. Here he began general farm operations and worked energetically for eighteen years, then bought a five-acre tract in the village and also five town lots, building him the fine five-room house in which he now resides. He owned and made improvements on other town lots which he sold in the spring of 1907. His farm is handled by a trusty tenant, while he himself is engaged as a hardware salesman for Mr. Bough. He con- ducted the operations of a coal mine on his own farm for seven years, supplying the local trade. Later he sold the coal rights on his land to the Little Giant Coal Company. He also took up the option on sixteen hundred acres of coal land for the same company, and for this he was liberally paid.
Mr. Spencer was married September 28, 1887, to Miss Anna McCart, a daughter of James and Amanda ( Warner) McCart. She was born in this township October 9, 1862. Her parents were natives of Greene county, and her father died when she was nine years of age, and her mother two years earlier. She was cared for by her grandmother a few years, and then lived with an uncle in Haddon township until her marriage. By this union one child was born: Everett, on July 12, 1889, and he is yet at home. Mr. Spencer is connected with the Knights of Pythias order, Castle Hall Lodge No. 358, and his wife with the Rathbone Sisters. In his political choice he favors the platforms of the Republican party, but has never had a liking for local positions, hence is not an office holder. Mr. and Mrs. William Spencer have one of the old parchment deeds executed by President Andrew Jackson, which is one of the valuable relics in their home.
WILLIAM MILLER, a successful farmer of Jefferson township, Sullivan county, and a veteran of the Civil war, was born March 30, 1842, in Lawrence county, Indiana, a son of Martin and Edith ( Packwood) Miller. The paternal grandparents were Jacob Miller and wife Mary, whose name
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before marriage was Borders. Jacob Miller was a native of Tennessee, and in 1828 went to Kentucky and resided there until 1822. He then moved to Clark county, Indiana. In 1834, thinking to better his circum- stances, he removed to Lawrence county, and in 1841 to Sullivan county. He located in Hamilton township, where he was among the hardy pioneers. His land comprised the tract where the old fair ground was later situated, and there he lived and labored until his death. Among his children was a son named Martin, who became the father of William, and who was born in 1816 in eastern Tennessee, and died in Lawrence county, Indiana, in 1906. He continued at home with his parents until they moved to Lawrence county and he lived in that county during the remainder of his life. At one time he owned nine hundred acres of land and was an extensive farmer and stock raiser. Formerly he was an old-line Whig, but when the Republican party was organized he supported the principles for which that party was formed. Both he and his wife were devoted and consistent members of the Christian church. His wife was born in 1813, in Virginia, and died about 1888. Their children were as follows: William, of this narrative; Michael, residing in Lawrence county, Indiana, who married Sarah J. Smith; Adam, who died in his youth ; Mary Ellen, deceased ; Aaron, a resident of Lawrence county, who married Mary Ann Lee, now deceased; Sarah A., deceased ; Elizabeth, residing in Lawrence county, married William G. Todd; and a child that died in infancy.
William Miller, who was the eldest of his parents' children, obtained a good common school education in Lawrence county. He continued to reside under the paternal roof until he caught the spirit of true patriotism and in the month of July, 1861, enlisted in Company A, Twenty-fourth Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment, in which command he served one vear. He returned and after one year re-enlisted, in July, 1863, as a member of Company H of the One Hundred and Seventeenth Indiana Infantry, with which regiment he remained six months. He participated in the famous battle of Shiloh during his first enlistment, and during his last enlistment was in the battle of Bean Station. After his honorable discharge from the United States service he returned to Lawrence county, Indiana, and commenced operations for himself, by clearing and improv- ing an eighty-acre tract within the forest country. This place in 1876 he sold and purchased fifty-two acres where he still resides, the same being a well improved farm within the limits of Jefferson township, where he carries on farming with much thrift and a corresponding success. Mr. Miller is an enthusiastic supporter of the Republican party, and has served efficiently as township trustee and was elected assessor of his township in 1904, his term of office expiring January 1, 1909. He is an honored member of McClung Grand Army Post at Pleasantville, Indiana.
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