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 47
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William Wesley Wible obtained his education in the Sullivan county district schools and was early taught the management of a farm. He continued to work for his father until twenty-three years of age and then started out for himself on his father's land. By persistency and good management he has secured for himself a fine farm home. His land consists of one hundred and four acres from out the old homestead, which
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has never been out of the family since first entered as government land by his father. At this date (1908) this farm is leased out, and Mr. Wible resides with his son Charles. Politically he is a supporter of the general principles of the Democratic party.
He was married January 15, 1867, to Adeline Davis, born in Turman township November 23, 1841, and she died November 14, 1873. She was the daughter of Parmenas and Louisa (Harris) Davis. Four children were born of this union: Olive, wife of J. J. Bragdon (see his sketch) ; Charles L., residing in Turman township, married Viola R. Thornberry, born in Turman township, and they have a son and daughter, Paul E. and Mary M .: Frank, residing in Sullivan, married Lulu Connor and has two children, Guy and Grace ; and Julia A., who died in infancy.
Concerning the grandfather, Adam Wible, it should be added that he was born in Germany. He came to America aged fourteen years, and was one of the pioneers of Washington county, Indiana, where he improved a farm and there lived and died. He died in 1832. He was twice married and the father of nineteen children. His second wife, the grandmother of the subject, was before marriage Van Cleave. She died in 1836. The grandfather William Grigsby was a native of Virginia and was an early settler of Orange county, Indiana. His wife was before marriage Anna Cornwell, also a native of Virginia, and both died in Orange county. Parmenas Davis was a native of South Carolina and a son of Jesse Davis, also a native of South Carolina and one of the first settlers of Turman township, where he improved a farm and upon which he lived and died. Parmenas Davis was a miller by trade.
JAMES RILEY JOSEPH, who has always been engaged in farming and is now a resident of Turman township, Sullivan county, Indiana, is num- bered among those who went forth during the Civil war period from Indiana in support of the Union cause. He was born September 11, 1836, in Turman township, about three miles east of Graysville. He is a son of Isaac Adkins and Margaret (Hooten) Joseph. The father was born at Laurel Hill, Virginia, in 1798, a son of Uriah and Rosanna (Adkins) Joseph, who emigrated to Breckenridge county, Kentucky, in 1800, and in the autumn of 1815 went to Sullivan county, territory of Indiana, enter- ing a quarter section of land in Gill township, where he spent the remain- der of his days. His first wife died in Kentucky, in which state he again married. Isaac A. Joseph remained in Gill township until about 1830, during this year entering eighty acres of land, where his son James R. now resides. " The father cleared his land and always followed farming for his livelihood. He continued here until his death, October 8, 1857. Politically he voted the Democratic ticket, and both he and his faithful wife were exemplary members of the Church of Christ. Mr. and Mrs. Joseph were married about 1828. She was born in Overton county, Tennessee, September 22, 1812, a daughter of Joseph and Tabitha (Graham) Hooten. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Isaac A. Joseph were : Louisa Jane, widow of John Hammond, who resides in Sullivan ; Harriet
JAMES R. JOSEPH
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N., widow of Hiram Scott, of Gill township; James R., of this sketch ; Sarah, wife of Barzil Tague, of Turman township; Eliza L., widow of Uriah Akers, of Gill township ; Dennis F., deceased ; and William Taylor, deceased. The mother died in Sullivan county July 5, 1889.
Reared on a farm, James R. Joseph obtained his early education in the district schools. He was never of a roaming disposition, but remained on the old home farm. He was married May 20, 1858, to Sarah Wood, born in Turman township April 7, 1837, a daughter of Henry Wood and wife, Nancy ( Bryant) Wood, both now deceased. Mrs. Sarah Joseph died in 1871. She was the mother of the following children: Ambrose, deceased, who married Elizabeth Sin Clair and had two children, Guy Joseph, who died in infancy, and Rex, who married Josephine Drake and has one child-Donald; Eliza Ann, deceased; Oscar, who went west at the age of twenty ; Lucetta, wife of George B. Muncie, residing in Sulli- van, and they have two sons and one daughter-Florence E., Clarence H. and Floyd H. For his second wife Mr. Joseph married, September 15, 1875, Nancy Moran, born in Orange county, Indiana, April 23, 1844, a daughter of Andrew and Mary (Eastridg) Moran. This wife died April 10, 1907. Four children were born of this union : Edgar N., who married Grace Wear and has one daughter, Ethel G., who lives with her grand- father ; Clara Ethel, deceased; Laura, wife of Bert Ferree, residing at Shelburn, and they have three children-James, Eva and Oscar; and Roscoe H., unmarried, at home. Mr. Joseph is a member of the Christian church.
On September 30, 1864, Mr. Joseph proved his patriotism by enlisting as a member of Company F, Fifty-seventh Indiana Infantry Regiment, serving until October 9, 1865. He entered as a private and was dis- charged a corporal. He participated in an engagement, November 29, 1864, at Spring Hill, Tennessee, which lasted about three hours. The following day they fought at Franklin, Tennessee, going from there to Nashville, where on the 15th and 16th of December, 1864, the last big battle of the Civil war was fought. Fortunately he never received a wound or became seriously ill during his army life. He receives, in common with his comrades, a small pension from the government. For his livelihood Mr. Joseph has always followed farming, and he now owns sixty acres of land under a good state of cultivation. Politically he is a supporter of the Democratic party and has served as a trustee of Turman township, and also as assessor three terms, as well as county commissioner one term. He has held the important office of justice of the peace for seven years, thus proving his efficiency as a public official and his popu- larity among his fellow countrymen.
JESSE S. DAUGHERTY, an agriculturist of Gill township, Sullivan county, was born on the farm upon which he now resides July 18, 1870, a son of Alexander and Rachel (Creager) Daugherty. The father was a native of Boone county, Indiana, born October 12, 1833. He was a carpenter by trade, though he followed farming during the latter part of
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his life. He began life unaided by others, and taught school when young in Sullivan county, and also worked at his trade a part of each year. He continued this mode of work until some time after his marriage, and then moved to a farm and became a successful agriculturist. He con- tinued to till the soil until the spring of 1877, when he removed to Merom, but still operated his farm until his death, May 18, 1879. The good wife still resides in Merom and expects to spend the remainder of her days there. In 1907 she made a trip to California, but en route no country to her seemed as good in which to live as her old home in Indiana. She was born at Merom August 3, 1837. During the Civil war the husband, Alexander Daugherty, served in the Union army under General Thomas, in an Indiana regiment, the date of his enlistment being in 1863. Their children were as follows: Belle, deceased; John W., residing in Merom, engaged in the hardware trade; Ellen, deceased; Maggie C., wife of W. R. Colvin, living in California, at Riverside; and Jesse S., of this memoir.
Jesse S. Daugherty received his education at the public schools of Merom and remained at home on the farm with his widowed mother until he was twenty-six years of age. He rented his mother's land and farmed and taught school for about six years. After quitting school teaching he continued to rent until 1904, when he purchased forty-one acres of land adjoining the old homestead. This farm he continues to operate as a general grain and stock place. He depends largely upon the cereals for the revenue from his farm, raising only such stock as is needful for his own immediate use.
Mr. and Mrs. Daugherty are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Merom Station, and politically he is a stanch defender of Re- publican party principles, though he has never aspired to hold public office. In his fraternal choice he has become an active member of the Odd Fellows, Masons, Eastern Star, Rebekah and Ben Hur lodges, all of which are worthy societies.
Concerning the domestic relations of Mr. Daugherty it should be said in this connection that he married, April 14, 1896, Miss Cora Thomp- son, born in Gill township, Sullivan county, Indiana, March 25, 1872, a daughter of Alexander and Esther (Morgan) Thompson. The mother was born in Gill township January 29, 1838. The father was born in Ireland, and came to this country when a small boy. He grew to man- hood and became a prominent farmer in this township, having worked his own way through many difficulties out into success. He died in March, 1882. The children born to bless the home circle of Mr. and Mrs. Daugherty are as follows : Harold Alexander, born September 17, 1898; George Stanley, born March 14, 1901 ; Jesse Claud, born August 26, 1903 ; and Neva Lenoahr, born December 14, 1906.
WILLIAM M. SMITH, superintendent of the Sullivan County Infirm- ary, is a native of Jefferson township, this county, born August 21, 1851, a son of George H. and Mary Ann (Isabell) Smith. His father was
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born in Virginia in 1816, and died March 8, 1897, in Jefferson township, Sullivan county, Indiana. The mother was born in Indiana in, 1822. George H. Smith, the father, came to Indiana when a young man and was married here. He always followed farm life for his livelihood. Politically he voted the Democratic ticket, and both he and his wife were consistent members of the Christian church. Ten children blessed their union : Thomas W., now of Hamilton township; Abigail, now of Missouri ; America, of Hamilton township; Nancy, deceased; Catherine, deceased ; William M., of this memoir ; Benjamin O., of Jefferson town- ship; John Wesley, of Jefferson township; a son who died in infancy, and Francis E., residing in Sullivan.
William M. Smith was reared on his parents' farm and remained there until twenty-two years of age, when he commenced farming for himself in Jefferson township. He continued for ten years and then moved to Cass township, where he lived two years, while the next seven- teen years were spent in Gill township on a farm. It was in 1903 that he came to the Sullivan County Infirmary, of which he has been super- intendent ever since. He has proven the proper man in the place he was selected to fill. The buildings have under his management all been painted, barns erected and fences made in a substantial manner. The farm owned by the county had not been on a paying basis until it was taken in charge by Mr. Smith. The unfortunate inmates of the place are all well satisfied at the treatment they receive at his hands.
Like every good and loyal citizen of this republic, Mr. Smith has his own views regarding political parties and the principles they stand for, and he casts his vote with the Democratic party. As to his domestic relations it may be stated that he has been twice married, first, September 30, 1873. to Sarah Randolph, born in Missouri April 5. 1851, and she died April 17, 1878. There were two children born of this union: Isaac Marion, born July 25, 1875, and residing in Greene county, Indiana, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He married on the 24th of August, 1903, Amanda Boyles, who died leaving one child, Alberta, who died aged fifteen months. O. O., born April 7, 1878, died June 29, 1878.
For his second wife Mr. Smith married, on August 21, 1879, Lucy E. Cooper, a native of Missouri, born December 1, 1857. Her parents came to Indiana in 1859 and settled in Cass township, Sullivan county. Her father was Samuel Cooper and his wife was Sarah Patton before her marriage. She is still living and in Clay county, Illinois. He died in 1887. Mrs. Smith's maternal grandparents owned large tracts of lumber- land, mountain table lands, where they lived many years and where the grandfather died. The family were Unionists during the war, and her grandmother, leaving the estate in care of an agent, brought her family to Sullivan county, Indiana, where she spent the rest of her days. She died in her one hundred and second year. Her son William served in the Union army, and Joseph was a minister in the Christian church. Mrs. Smith was educated in the public schools of Cass and Jefferson town- ships. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have had four children: Maude Alice is
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deceased. Ezra, born December 30, 1883, resides at Elsinore, California, where he is a professor in the schools. He was educated at the college in Merom, Indiana. He married, March 1, 1903, Rhuil Arbaugh, and has two children, Edith and Garland W. He belongs to the Christian church. George B., born January 6, 1886, lives in Blair, Greer county, Oklahoma, where he is clerking in a store. He wedded, February 19, 1904, Elsie Isabell, and has two children, Cecil and Laota M., and, like his brother, is a member of the Christian church. Ethel is deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are members of the Christian church.
Of Mrs. Smith's parentage it may be stated in this connection that she is one of ten children in her parents' family. Her father died when she was aged but ten years, just at a time when a girl most needs the care and good advice of a loving father. Her mother then married Jacob B. Miller, who served in the Civil war and died late in the nineties. Mrs. Smith's grandmother, Polly ( Robertson) Patton, was born in March, 1794, and died June 21, 1895, in Cass township, Sullivan county. She was born in Tennessee, where her husband, William Patton, owned a very large plantation on the Cumberland mountains. At the time of the Rebellion they were driven off and came to Indiana. The children born to Mrs. Smith's parents were as follows: Mary, deceased ; William Thomas, a resident of Illinois; James F., of Clay county, Illinois ; Lucy E., Mrs. Smith; Martha J., deceased and a twin sister of Mrs. Smith ; David C., residing in Clay county, Illinois ; Elvira, deceased ; Andrew J., deceased ; Huldah J., a half sister, living in Clay county, Illinois ; and two who died in infancy. Pearl Alice Cooper, a daughter of David Cooper, was born September 4, 1896. Her mother died when she was a few days old and she was taken home by Mr. and Mrs. Smith and has known no other home.
'JOHN B. HAWKINS .- An intelligent and thriving agriculturist of Sullivan county, John B. Hawkins owns and occupies a valuable farming property in Cass township and is there numbered among the valued and trustworthy citizens of the place, fulfilling his duties and obligations as such with fidelity. A son of Tarlton Hawkins, he was born February 22, 1852, in Hamilton township, Sullivan county. Abraham Hawkins, the grandfather of John B., was of Scottish birth. Emigrating to this coun- try, he located first in Alabama, and subsequently, not so very long after his marriage with Sarah Dowall, he came across the country to Indiana, settling in Lawrence county in pioneer times. He bought extensive tracts of land, and for many years carried on general farming and stock- raising on a large scale, living there until his death.
Born in Lawrence county, Indiana, Tarlton Hawkins was reared to agricultural pursuits, and later became a farmer from choice. Locating in Sullivan county in 1845, he bought a tract of land lying about five miles northeast of Sullivan, and at once took possession of the log house that stood in a clearing that had previously been made. He made good improvements on the land and resided there a number of years. Moving
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then to Sullivan, he built up a substantial business as a dealer in grain and agricultural implements, remaining there for some time. When ready to give up active business, he returned to the farm, and there lived retired until his death, November 15, 1895. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary M. Bailey, was born in Lawrence county, Indiana, and died in Sullivan county in 1897. Her father, Elder John Bailey, was born in Kentucky, but came to Indiana when young and was a pioneer preacher of the Christian church in Lawrence county. About 1845 he settled in Sullivan county, taking up land about four miles north of Sullivan, and in addition to farming continued his ministerial labors, preaching at Sullivan, Middletown, Palmer's Prairie Church, and in other places. Both he and his wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Henry, spent their last days on the home farm. Tarlton Hawkins and his wife reared ten children, namely : George R., Sarah E., Clementine, John B .. , Isabelle, Achsah, Florence, Mary, Ward and Mae.
John B. Hawkins was brought up on the home farm, and under the wise instruction of his father early became familiar with the various branches of agriculture, remaining beneath the parental roof until attain- ing his majority. Going to Texas in 1873, he spent a year in Grayson county, but not liking the place, returned to Indiana and resumed work on his father's farm. Coming to Cass township in 1888, Mr. Hawkins bought the farm on which he now resides, and has since been busily employed in its improvement. These are of an excellent character, the frame buildings which he has erected being substantial and conveniently arranged, the orchard containing a variety of fruit trees, and the land being in a fine state of cultivation. Here he is carrying on general farm- ing and stock-raising with unquestioned success.
On December 31, 1871, Mr. Hawkins married Sarah A. Brodie, who was born February 25, 1856, in Cass township, a daughter of William Allen Brodie. Her grandfather, Samuel Brodie, born November 20, 1790, was a pioneer of Sullivan county. He located first on Shaker Prairie, but afterwards entered government land in sections six and thirty-one of Cass township, and a portion of his original purchase is now owned by his grandchildren. Improving a good homestead, he resided on it until his death, January 12, 1852. He married Ann Curry, who was born December 24, 1781, and died July 12, 1864. A native of Sullivan county, Indiana, William Allen Brodie was born September 30, 1811, in Haddon township, and was there reared to a farmer's life. Start- ing out for himself, he settled on a tract of timbered land in section six, Cass township, and lived first in a log cabin. Successful in his opera- tions, he cleared much land, erected a good set of frame buildings, and from time to time added by purchase to his real estate, at the time of his death, September 29, 1892, being the owner of more than three hundred acres. He married Mary J. Maxwell, who was born on Curry's Prairie October 4, 1827. Her father, Levi Maxwell, was born near Richmond, Indiana, September 23, 1809, and was one of the early settlers of Sullivan county. Buying land, he improved a homestead on which he spent the remainder of his life, passing away June 11, 1897. He married Nancy
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Carruthers, who was born March 24, 1805, and died February 12, 1834. The wife of William Allen Brodie survived him, dying December 14, 1895. Of the children born of their union, seven grew to years of maturity, namely: Sarah A., Abram McClellan, Kate Emma, Lydia Elizabeth, Mary Ellen, Viola Frances and William Allen. Mr. and Mrs. Hawkins reared four children, namely : William T., Roy A., Frank B. and Harry. William T. married Sophia Williams, and they have one child, Mildred. Roy A., who was accidentally killed at the age of twenty-six years, married Mattie Semmers, and at his death left two children, Elmer and Edna. Frank B. married Eva Keene, and they are the parents of four children, Zella, Ray, Noah and Clara. Harry married Mamie Bledsoe, and they have two children, Elzie and Desire. Mr. and Mrs. Hawkins are held in high esteem throughout the community in which they reside, and are consistent members of the Christian church.
FRANCIS MARION BROWN, well known as the thoroughgoing farmer who owns a half section of excellent farming land in Turman township, Sullivan county, was born June 2, 1839, in Clark county, Indiana, a son of Nathan and Sarah Stockton ( Brenton) Brown. Of Swedish descent, the father was born in Indiana, and the mother, a native of Clark county, was of English and Scotch lineage mixed with some Irish blood. They were united in marriage in Clark county, Indiana, and there resided about thirty-five years. The father was a wagon-maker, carrying on a manufactory near New Washington. He continued at this industry about ten years, and frequently one sees some of his superior make of wagons still in use in Clark and surrounding counties. From Clark county the family moved to Shelby county, Indiana, where the father was engaged in general merchandising for a term of years ending in 1857, when he moved to Sullivan county, locating in Gill township, where he purchased four hundred acres of land from James H. O'Boyle. This land he continued to cultivate the remainder of his life, adding to the same until he had six hundred and seventy acres at his death. He had farms both in Clark and Shelby counties. Politically he was an old-type Jacksonian Democrat. Both he and his good wife were members of the Christian church. Seven children blessed their marriage union: Francis Marion, of this memoir; Harriett A., single and living in Gill township on the homestead ; William H., deceased; James M., of Carlisle, Indiana ; John R., deceased ; Sarah E., deceased ; and one who died in infancy.
Francis M. Brown remained at home until he was about thirty years of age, when he went to Montana and engaged in placer mining for four years, and then returning to Sullivan county, located in Turman town- ship, in which section he has resided ever since excepting a few years of residence in Sullivan. He now possesses an excellent farm of three hundred and twenty acres of land, upon which he carries on farming in an up-to-date and profitable manner. Political parties have ever had their devotees, and in this case the Populist party best suits Mr. Brown.
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He married, February 17, 1870, Sarah E. Shields, who was born in Turman township in 1840, and died in 1884, without issue. For his second wife he married, April 2, 1885, Mary E. (Mckinney) Cuppy, born in Sullivan county, Indiana, June 14, 1854, a daughter of Isaac H. Mckinney, an elder in the Presbyterian church at Sullivan for about forty years. By this marriage union was born Isaac E., on February 28, 1887, who is unmarried and at home. He was educated in the high school at Graysville and Ripon College, at Ripon, Wisconsin, in which edu- cational institution he took a literary course. Mrs. Brown by her first marriage had two children, both daughters: Chloe Alice is the wife of Orren H. Burke, a resident of Turman township, who was educated in music at Merom, Indiana ; and Maggie Mae, who died in infancy. Mr. Brown and his present wife are members of the Presbyterian church and are exemplary Christians.
Concerning the ancestry of Mr. Brown let it be stated that the grand- father, William Brown, was a native of Scotland, who came to the United States while yet in his teens, going to St. Augustine, Florida, where he was a merchant and pursued it profitably. Later he moved to Indiana, and his last residence was at Brown's Landing, on the Ohio river in Clark county. On the maternal side the grandfather was William Brenton, who was of English descent, and beyond doubt was born in that kingdom. He came to Indiana before the territory was admitted to the union of states and located in Clark county, four miles north of Charles- town. He always farmed for a living after old enough to follow a plow. He produced what was long known as the Brenton corn, which is still raised by his grandson, Mr. Brown. It is a white variety of corn and its history can be traced back at least one hundred years. It was brought from Kentucky prior to the admission of Indiana to the Union.
JOHN LOCKARD .- For more than forty years John Lockard has been actively identified with the agricultural growth and prosperity of Cass township, and as a general farmer has met with excellent success, the skill, ability and good judgment which he has exercised in his work being evident in his well-tilled and richly-producing lands. A son of William Lockard, he was born in Jefferson county, Ohio, September 25, 1831. His grandfather Lockard was a life-long resident of Ireland, dying there while yet in the prime of life. His widow, accompanied by her two daughters, Rebecca and Annie, and by her son William, subsequently emi- grated to America and settled with her little family in Athens county, Ohio, where she spent her remaining days.
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