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 4
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E. R. Leach, of this biography, was only nine years of age when he came to Sullivan county. Here he obtained his common-school education and clerked for his father while yet in his teens. When he had reached his twenty-first year, with two brothers, J. S. and G. W., he engaged in the livery business in Sullivan, continuing about two years. He then returned to the farm, which he conducted about three years. His next business was that of the grain, stock and implement business, which he carried on under the firm name of E. & E. R. Leach, operating this until 1886, when he went west, remaining in Nebraska until 1896 and being engaged in farming in that state. Upon his return to the east, he was employed as a clerk for G. W. Borders, being appointed, in the fall of 1897, superintendent of the county asylum, which position he resigned after four years' faithful service. He was then appointed superintendent of the Orphans' Home, at Greencastle. He remained there four years, when he resigned and moved back to Sullivan. In April, 1907, he pur- chased the business of the firm of Whitman & Asdel, who operated in grain and feed. This business was run by Mr. Leach and his nephew, Clell Leach, until September, 1907, when G. F. Botts bought an interest in the business.
Mr. Leach was married March 12, 1889, to Mary J. Turman, who was born in Turman township, Sullivan county, a daughter of Charles and Nancy E. (Johnson) Turman, both of whom were natives of Sulli- van county. Charles Turman is dead, but his wife resides at Graysville, Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Leach are the parents of two children: Glenn
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Emma, born January 21, 1890, single, and a graduate of the Sullivan High School with the class of 1908; Ruth Hazel, born November 28, 1893. Mrs. Leach is a consistent member of the Christian church. Polit- ically, Mr. Leach affiliates with the Democratic party.
WALTER F. WOOD, the present prosecuting attorney for Sullivan county, was born June 27, 1878, at Pleasantville, Indiana, son of Jesse A. and Elizabeth (Jones) Wood. The father was born in Greene county, Indiana, January 8, 1845, and now resides in Sullivan. The mother was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, October 20, 1851, and is still living. Mr. Wood's paternal grandfather, Lacy Wood, was a native of Tennes- see, and was born in 1808, dying in 1875, at Pleasantville, Indiana. About 1835, he came to Indiana, settling in Greene county, but moved to near Pleasantville in 1846. He was of English and Irish extraction. Grand- father Jones was of Dutch lineage, but born in Pennsylvania, going to Louisiana in the forties. He was killed while serving in the Confederate army.
Jesse A. Wood (father) has always followed agricultural pursuits, in which he has been materially prospered. Politically he is a stanch defender of Republican ideas. He served in the Civil war, from 1864 to 1865-from April to April inclusive-as a private soldier. Both he and his wife are members of the Baptist church.
Walter F. Wood was reared in the free and independent atmosphere of the farm, and attended the district schools, remaining at home until about nineteen years of age. He had the desire to become a lawyer, and read law at home a year, and then entered the office of Chaney & McNabb, with whom he read more completely. Subsequently he was a student in the offices of Buff & Stratton, and also with C. D. Hunt. When twenty-one years of age, he was admitted to the bar, and when twenty-three opened at office for the practice of his profession, which he is still occupying, having practiced alone, with the exception of one year, when he was associated with William B. Edmonds. Politically, he is a progressive Republican, and was elected by this party, in November, 1906, as prosecuting attorney, receiving a majority of 362 votes, and taking the office January 1, 1908, for the term of two years.
Mr. Wood is a member of the Odd Fellows Order and the Modern Woodmen of America. January 26, 1905, he was married to Miss Agnes McGuire, daughter of Rev. U. M. McGuire, who is now pastor of the Baptist church at Washington, Indiana. Mrs. Wood was born January 8, 1882, and graduated from the high school with the class of 1902. By this union two daughters were born to bless the home: Elizabeth and Margaret.
PAUL LYON REID, the enterprising grocer and breeder of fine blooded Shetland ponies, residing at Sullivan, Indiana, was born January 28, 1873, in Sullivan county, Indiana, and is the son of James Thomas and Susan
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY
(Lyon) Reid. The father was born in this county, and died about 1900, while the mother was a native of Owen county, Indiana, and now resides at Sullivan. The father was a miller and merchant, operating the Sulli- van Roller Mills for a number of years, and he was also a grocer. He served in the Eighty-fifth Indiana regiment during the Civil war period for the term of three years. Politically, he was a firm defender of Repub- lican principles in party politics. He belonged to the Masonic order, being a member of the blue lodge, F. & A. M. He and his wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Five children were born to them, as follows: William, deceased; Maude, wife of H. K. Ross, of Sullivan; Paul Lyon, of this memoir; Lola, widow of C. D. Taylor, residing in Sullivan : Ruth, deceased.
Paul L. Reid attended DePauw University, at Greencastle, Indiana, for two years, after which he returned home and was employed by the Electric Light Company (of which his father was at that time super- intendent) for five years. He was associated with his father in the mill- ing and grocery business up to 1900, when he engaged in the grocery trade on his own account, continuing until the present time. He carries a full line of staple and fancy groceries and has an excellent trade, both within and without the city. Politically, like his father, he is a Republican. He is a Mason, being a member of both the blue lodge and chapter at Sulli- van; he is also connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks.
June 29, 1894, he was united in marriage to Josephine Ensminger, born in Sullivan county, Indiana, October 12, 1874, daughter of Joseph and Jennie (Benefield) Ensminger. Mrs. Reid was educated at the public schools of her native county. The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Reid: Mildred, born February 21, 1896; James T., born May 8, 1897; Ruth, born September 5, 1899.
Besides the busy cares of his grocery business, Mr. Reid conducts another industry-a Shetland pony farm. He carries in stock all the time from thirty to forty head of fine Shetland ponies. His pony farm contains one hundred and thirty-four acres and is known as the "Walnut Grove Shetland Farm." He owns one exceptionally beautiful as well as valuable sire of a spotted color. The animals from this farm are shipped to every part of the country. This unique and profitable business has been carried on by Mr. Reid for six years and more.
WINFIELD SCOTT WOLFE, who is numbered among the enterprising retail merchants of Sullivan, and the proprietor of one of the hardware stores of the city, was born February 6, 1880, in Sullivan county, Indiana, on a farm, and is the son of John W. and Mary O. (Sproatt) Wolfe. The father is also a native of Sullivan county, born there January 16, 1848. The mother, a native of Knox county, together with her husband, is now leading a quiet and somewhat retired life at Sullivan. The father was a farmer in Sullivan county up to 1881, when he went to the town of Sullivan and there engaged in the clothing trade, continuing until
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY
May, 1906, when he sold to Glidden & Douthitt, the style of the firm at that time being J. W. Wolfe & Son. Since then, he has led a retired life. Politically, he is a Democrat. In his religious faith, both he and his wife are of the Christian church. He belongs to the Odd Fellows order and is ever alive to the best interests of his community.
The son, Winfield S., of this notice, was reared in Sullivan. He was graduated from the Sullivan high school with the class of 1900, and then entered into business with his father, having put in his spare hours at the store before this time. He continued with the business until his father sold in 1906, when Winfield S., with Charles Riggs, purchased a hardware stock, which they dealt in until 1907, when he bought out his partner, and now conducts the store alone. He carries a full and com- plete line of shelf and heavy hardware, with stoves and buggies, together with a few farm implements.
In his political views he is a Democrat and holds that the doctrine of that party best suits the masses of American citizens. He is connected with the Odd Fellows and Elks orders. Mr. Wolfe was married, in 1901, to Roxa Willard, who was born in Gill township, Sullivan county, Indiana, and died March 17, 1907. She was educated in this county and was the daughter of Rufus O. and Mary (Owens) Willard. Her parents are now residing in Gill township: She left one son and one daughter: Willard W. and Mildred Louise. Mr. Wolfe is a member of the Christian church, as was his wife in her lifetime.
Mr. Wolfe's sisters are Teresa, born August 9, 1883, is unmarried, and at home; she was graduated with the class of 1902, and attended the Conservatory of Music, taking both the vocal and instrumental courses ; Edna, born August 3, 1886, is a' graduate of the high school of Sullivan, with the class of 1905; is unmarried and at home.
WALTER GIBSON SCOTT, hardware dealer of Sullivan, a son of Thomas Leeman and Nancy M. (Cotterell) Scott, was born May 30, 1868, at New Hope, Ohio. The father was a native of Cincinnati and of Scotch descent. The mother was also born in Ohio, and they came to Indiana in the early seventies, locating at a point in Morgan county, where the father died. Thomas Leeman Scott, was a practicing physician and sur- geon. He graduated at Cincinnati, Ohio, at one of the medical colleges. Politically, Dr. Scott was an uncompromising Republican, and served in the Civil war as a lieutenant. He belonged to the order of Knights of Honor. He had three children: Walter G., of this memoir ; John Thomas, residing in Indianapolis, where he is practicing medicine; Albert David, residing in Sullivan county.
Mr. Scott received his education in Indiana and at the age of twelve years set out in the conflict of life for himself by working on a farm. When eighteen years of age he commenced to farm for himself, continu- ing two seasons in Ohio, and then came to Elnora, Indiana, where he learned the art, or profession, of telegraphy, operating for the Evansville
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY
& Terre Haute Railroad Company for the next nine years. He then returned to farm life for two years, coming to Sullivan in 1904. Here he embarked in the hardware business, coupling with it house furnishing goods, wagons, buggies and pipe-fittings. He is in company with his brother, A. D. Scott. They also conduct a sale stable, catering to the local trade and the coal mines. Mr. Scott is president of the Business Men's Association of Sullivan; he belongs to the Knights of Pythias order, and has advanced in Masonry to the thirty-second degree. In politics, he is a Republican. He was united in marriage, in 1905, to Nettie Bond, born in Worden, Illinois. One child has come to bless and brighten their home-Myrle Wyatt Scott, born April 12, 1906. The parents are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
JAMES M. SINCLAIR, one of the proprietors of the popular "Index Store" of Sullivan, is a native of Sullivan county, Indiana, born Decem- ber 31, 1871, in Hamilton township. He is the son of Samuel and Sarah (Willis) Sinclair, the former born in Indiana, and the latter in Kentucky, February 29, 1832. The mother is still living with her son, James M. The father died about 1881. Politically, he was a stanch Democrat, and both he and his wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Eight children blessed their marriage union, as follows: William M., residing at Coffeeville, Kansas; Mary A., wife of Andy Mason, of Sulli- van; Thomas H., of Sullivan; Elizabeth, wife of Malon Gustin, of Sulli- van; Edward, residing in Hamilton township; Eliza, wife of Reason Lovelace, residing at Duggar ; Flora; James M., of this notice.
Reared midst the scenes and labors coincident to the farmer's life, James M. Sinclair remained at home until about twenty years, when he went to Sullivan and commenced clerking for a Mr. Boyd, who conducted the first Racket store established in the place. After working there two years, he was employed at other places up to 1898, at which date he estab- lished a business for himself. At first, he began with a stock of goods in what was known as the Racket store, having an endless variety of small, cheap articles. In the course of time, as his trade demanded it, he added more goods, until he now heads the firm of Sinclair & Co., which firm deals in a wholesale and retail way in furniture, stoves, tinware, queens- ware, glassware and five and ten cent counter articles-the latter being their specialty. This store is situated in the Odd Fellows building at Sullivan. By strict attention to duty, a large and prosperous business has grown up and the trade which at first was on a small scale has become one of goodly proportions. In his political views, Mr. Sinclair is a Demo- crat. In 1898 he served as clerk and treasurer of the town of Sullivan. He is identified with the Odd Fellows order, including the Encampment degree. Himself and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which body he is one of the trustees.
January 8, 1896, Mr. Sinclair was married to Fannie E. Orndorff, born in Knox county, Indiana, April 10, 1879, daughter of Wallace and
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY
Laura (Knotts) Orndorff. The father died in Knox county when Mrs. Sinclair was in her infancy. Her mother later married her first husband's brother, Andrew J. Sinclair, and they now reside south of Sullivan, in Hamilton township. Mrs. Sinclair received her education in Sullivan county. The children born of her marriage to Mr. Sinclair are: Frances L., born August 10, 1897, and Zola I., born April 14, 1900.
JAMES FRANK ALUMBAUGH .- The vice president of the First Na- tional Bank of Carlisle, Indiana, and a man prominent in the business circles of his town and county, is James F. Alumbaugh, who was born September 10, 1857, in Haddon township, Sullivan county, Indiana, a son of Tilford and Paulina J. (Gobin) Alumbaugh. The father, who was of German descent, always followed farming in Haddon township, until about 1890, when he retired to Carlisle. He was a highly success- ful farmer and stock-raiser, at one time owning three hundred acres of most excellent Indiana land. Tilford Alumbaugh was born April I, 1834, in Gill township, Sullivan county, and died March 22, 1900, aged sixty-five years, eleven months and twenty-one days. He was one of seven brothers, two perhaps being younger than he, but he was the last to pass away. The death of both parents within a short time of each other left him an orphan about the age of five years. He lived with his uncle, Morris Roberts, until eleven years old and was then bound out to Milner E. Nash, who died in February, shortly before young Alumbaugh was twenty-one. He remained with the widow during the following sum- mer. In the autumn of 1855 Mr. Alumbaugh went to James M. Gobin's place. This was a turning point in his life, for about one year afterward, on September II, 1856, he was married to Paulina J. Gobin, daughter of James M. To this union were born three children: Libbie G., James F. and William H., the last named dying in infancy. This left only a brother and a sister. The daughter was the late sister Cauble, of precious mem- ory. The son, James F., one of the leading business men of Carlisle, is the only one now surviving. Uncle "Tip," as Tilford Alumbaugh was called, commenced life with nothing, but by industry and integrity, by economy and good management, he long since secured a competency for himself and his family. He loved his family and served them by self- sacrifice. He obeyed the gospel and became a member of the Providence Christian church in the early sixties. He and his wife were baptized at the same time by Uncle Joe Wolfe, who had also issued their marriage license and solemnized their marriage. Tilford Alumbaugh was a char- ter member of the Carlisle Christian church, which met first in the old Seminary, then in a rented hall, and finally in the house now occupied by the church. In the building of this house, in 1866, he took a leading part, being a member of the building committee, and contributing largely both of time and money. For many years he served the congregation as elder. In church work, as in everything, he was candid, energetic and decisive. In his death the family lost an exemplary father and husband, the church
APrank Clumbaugh.
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY
one of its most valued members, and the community a benefactor. "Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord, from henceforth; yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and their works do follow them." A large audience attended the funeral, which took place in the Christian church, Sunday, March 25, at 10:00 A. M., interment being at Engle cemetery. The services were conducted by the pastor, Rev. T. A. Cox.
The mother of James F. Alumbaugh was also a native of Haddon township, born near Carlisle, Indiana, January 5, 1826, the daughter of James M. and Levicy (Booker) Gobin. James M. Gobin was born in Kentucky and his wife in Indiana, and both died in Haddon township, Sullivan county. He was a farmer and also a stock-raiser. In the early sixties Mrs. Alumbaugh became a Christian, uniting with the Providence Christian church, near Paxton, and with her husband she was a charter member of the Christian church at Carlisle. Through all the early strug- gles and successes of this church, she helped to carry the burdens and rejoice in the victories, and in her last moments the church was her chief source of care. No excuse for, absence from the services of the church was satisfactory to her except sickness. She was ready to give of her means as well as her time and personal services toward the support of the teaching of the gospel. Her home was the home of the preacher as long as she was physically able to take care of the house. For months she had not been in vigorous health and for some weeks was quite feeble, but would not give her consent to leave her own home until stricken with paralysis, January 13, when she was removed to the home of her son, James Frank, where she died January 30, 1903. Retiring and mod- est almost to timidity, she was not a talking Christian but a working Christian. The early years of her married life, when she began with little, as well as in the later years of financial success, she was a true helpmate to her husband, by whose side she stood for more than forty- three years, was a true mother, a good neighbor, a faithful friend and an earnest though quiet Christian.
James F. Alumbaugh was reared to farm labor, receiving his educa- tion in the district schools. He engaged in the livery business when twenty-three years old, locating at Carlisle for one year, where he oper- ated the business until he sold it, to engage in the hardware trade, in company with J. N. Roberts, under the firm name of Roberts & Alum- baugh. They also conducted a lumber and grain business at the depot and carried a large stock of farm implements and vehicles. This co-part- nership existed until January I, 1905, when it was dissolved by mutual consent. The hardware business is now conducted by Mr. Alumbaugh's son, under the name of J. F. Alumbaugh & Co. Since January 1, 1905, when Mr. Alumbaugh retired from the hardware business, he has super- intended his farm in Haddon township, a two hundred acre tract known as the old Alumbaugh homestead. He is also president of the Carlisle Construction Company, formed for the purpose of constructing gravel and stone walks and roads, and is vice president and one of the original organizers of the First National Bank of Carlisle, a solid financial insti-
Vol. II-3
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY
tution. Like his father, James F. Alumbaugh affiliates with the Demo- cratic party. He is a member of the county council and served two terms on the town council. He takes much interest in educational matters, hav- ing served nine years on the Carlisle school board with much credit to himself and to the entire satisfaction of the district. He belongs to Carlisle Lodge, No. 3, F. & A. M., standing high in the Masonic fra- ternity.
Mr. Alumbaugh was married June 11, 1884, to Nora May Markee, who was born in Carlisle June II, 1866, daughter of Isaac Newton and Mary Ann (Ferree) Markee. (See sketch of the Ferree family, else- ยท where in this work, with sketch of Edley W. Rogers.) Isaac Newton Markee was born in Tippecanoe, Harrison county, Ohio, February 7, 1832. He was married May 29, 1856, to Mary Ann Ferree Pirtle, of Carlisle, Indiana, by Capt. Wilbur Van Fossen. To this union were born five children : William Allen, Sarah Ellen, Nora D., Maud Winifred and a daughter who died in infancy. Mr. Markee was a shoemaker by trade and a man of good business tact and had the confidence of all who knew him. His father, James Markee, was born in 1795 and is buried in the town cemetery of Robinson, Illinois. The mother, Rhoda Johnson Nevitt, was born in Ohio in January, 1801. Isaac Newton Markee died in Car- lisle, Indiana, September 6, 1883, of paralysis of the bowels, having been an invalid for many years. Mrs. Alumbaugh was educated at Carlisle, Indiana, and taught school for a season. One son was born to Mr. Alumbaugh and wife, Harry Tilford, born March 21, 1885. He was educated at Carlisle and at the naval academy at Culver, Indiana, and the Illinois University, after which he returned home. He married Abbie Ross Harris, a native of Richmond, Indiana, where she was reared and educated, and they have two sons: James Winston and Harris Tilford. Mr. and Mrs. James F. Alumbaugh are members of the Christian church. Mrs. Alumbaugh is especially interested in church work, having served eight years as president of the C. W. B. M., three years as junior super- intendent of the C. E., a teacher in the Sunday school for twenty-five years, and has always taken an active part in all public charities. At present she is vice president of the National Benevolent Association for Homeless Children, and has done much good for that cause. She is much beloved by children and appreciates greatly the friendship of a child.
The following obituary is taken from the Carlisle (Indiana) News of February 28, 1907 :
IN MEMORIAM.
Mary Ann (Ferree) Markee was the daughter of Philip Copeland Ferree and Margaret (Trimble) Ferree. She was born near Paxton, Indiana, at the home of her grandparents, Joel Ferree and Mary (Leeth) Ferree, who were pioneer settlers of this township. The Ferrees are of French Huguenot ancestry, and she bore the name of her great-great- great-grandmother, Madame Mary Ferree, who, with her children, fled
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY
from France after the edict of Nantes, came to America with William Penn and founded the first Huguenot colony in Pennsylvania in 1708.
The greater part of Mrs. Markee's life was spent in this community. She received such education as the times afforded, which was meager. At the age of seven she was motherless, and e'er she was sixteen she was bereft of stepmother, father and grandparents. As the eldest of the little flock she bravely took the mother's place until she was incapaci- tated by illness, when the care of the little brothers was assumed by an uncle and she and her only sister, Sarah Ellen, found homes with maternal relatives.
At the age of twenty she was married to William Linder Pirtle, son of Jacob and Lydia Pirtle, a young man of sterling qualities. He was a tanner, in partnership with Isaac Shannon, the home and tanyard occupy- ing a block on Harrison street. In 1852, she united with the Methodist church. She and her husband were immersed in Busseron creek, near Ledgerwood's Mill, by Rev. J. W. Julian. Her marriage was a happy one, but the young husband contracted quick consumption from over- work and exposure, and in August, 1853, she was left a widow with a young child, Margaret Olly (Mrs. Walstine Rogers), who survives her, the other daughter, Laura Jane, having died in infancy.
The widow was married, May 29, 1856, to Isaac Newton Markee, son of James M. and Rhoda Markee, of Palestine, Illinois. The cere- mony was performed at her home by Squire Van Fossen, and the fiftieth anniversary of the event was quietly' celebrated in Chicago last May. Of this union five children were born, four of whom survive her: Will- iam Allen Markee, of Chicago; Sarah Ellen (Mrs. Frank Buckley), of Monett, Missouri; Nora May (Mrs. Frank Alumbaugh), of Carlisle, Indiana; Maud Winifred (Mrs. George R. Miles), of Chicago. The second child, a daughter, died in infancy.
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