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 8
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Thomas Orlando Ellis was reared and educated at Carlisle, Indiana. He learned the brickmason's trade, with his uncle, in Mobile, Alabama. After remaining there about seven years, Mr. Ellis came back to Carlisle and purchased a farm which he worked, being also employed at his trade. He still lives on his farm, about three-fourths of a mile from Carlisle. He owns two farms of about four hundred acres. He is a supporter of . the principles of pure Democracy, and is a member of Lodge No. 3,
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A. F. & A. M., at Carlisle. He married Eliza Sproatt, who was born within a quarter of a mile of where she now lives, on September 4, 1838. She was educated in the place of her nativity. Her parents were John and Eliza (Minich) Sproatt; her father was born on Shaker Prairie, Knox county, Indiana, March 1, 1810, and died November 17, 1884. He was always engaged in farming in Sullivan county. Eliza (Minich) Sproatt was born in Haddon township, July 26, 1819, and near this place she spent her entire life, dying February 8, 1906. Her father was of English descent, and her mother of Dutch ancestry. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Orlando Ellis were the parents of two children : Claude A., born November 17, 1868, and Mirtie, born May 23, 1876. Mirtie was educated in Carlisle and married William A. Deiss. They now reside on a farm near Carlisle, Indiana.
Claude A. Ellis, was reared on his father's farm and attended the district schools about Carlisle. When sixteen years old, he went to Florida and there began firing on the J., T. & K. W. Railroad. He con- tinued there several months and then returned to Carlisle and began running a stationary engine, which work he followed for about five years. His next business was conducting a livery barn, with Rush M. Cammeron, under the firm name of Cammeron & Ellis, which partnership existed one year. Mr. Ellis then formed a partnership with T. S. Risinger, under the firm name of Risinger & Ellis, which firm conducted a hardware, furni- ture and undertaking business. This is the only firm doing such business in Carlisle. Politically, Mr. Ellis is a Democrat and for some time has served as president of the Carlisle school board. He is affiliated with the Masonic order, being a member of Carlisle Lodge No. 3, F. & A. M., Chapter No. 81, Council and Commandery No. 54, at Sullivan. He is also a member of Odd Fellows Lodge No. 50, belongs to the Encampment No. 139 of Carlisle, and has been through the chairs and to the grand lodge. He is also an honored member of Ben Hur Court, and Modern Woodmen of America, Camp No. 3332, both of Carlisle. The firm to which Mr. Ellis belongs, has placed on the market their celebrated cabinet case, above mentioned and during the last year has gained a wide reputa- tion for this excellent invention, the patents of which they own.
Mr. Ellis was united in marriage August 6, 1890, to Lillian A. Wiggs, born in Carlisle, Indiana, on the lot where now stands the People's Bank of Carlisle. She died September 22, 1904, leaving three children, as follows: Eloise, now attending the high school and will graduate with the class of 1909 ; Orlando, attending high school, will probably graduate in 1910; Stanley, in school. The mother of these children, was a devout Christian and a member of the Christian church.
DAVID FREDERICK SHAKE, D. V. S .- Doctor Shake, the skillful veterinary surgeon of Carlisle, Indiana, is a native of Warren county, Iowa, born August 18, 1863, and he came to Indiana in April, 1868. He is the son of Christopher Columbus and Lucy J. (Bowen) Shake. The
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father was born in Haddon township, Sullivan county, Indiana, May 16, 1836, and died February 16, 1889, in Jefferson township, Sullivan county, where he had resided only a few months. All but eight years of his life when he resided in Iowa were spent in Sullivan county, Indiana. He was of Irish and German descent. His father, Christopher Columbus Shake, Sr., was born about 1800 in Kentucky, where his wife was also born about 1801. In 1820 he came to Sullivan county, Indiana, and raised one crop in Haddon township, during which season he bached it in a log cabin, built by himself. After this crop was harvested he returned to Kentucky and was married and soon returned to the place where he had farmed one season, and there spent the remainder of his days. He entered about five hundred acres of land and there reared a family of five sons and four daughters. He and his wife were among the charter members of the Prairie Baptist church. In politics he was a Democrat. Grandfather William Bowen and wife Mary (Spencer) Bowen, were born near Lexington, Kentucky, where they were united in marriage. In 1820 they effected settlement in Sullivan county, Indiana, near the Knox county line. He was a farmer throughout his life and politically he was a Democrat. He had seven children, and in their church connection, both he and his wife were members of the Baptist church above re- ferred to.
Dr. Shake's father always followed farming and stock raising. He was a Democrat and a member of the Grange lodge. He and his wife were the parents of ten children: William C., residing in Clearmont, Illi- nois, whose general occupation is that of a farmer, but has been deputy sheriff for four years in Richland county, Illinois ; Charles A., a resident and farmer of Jefferson township, Sullivan county, Indiana ; Spencer J., residing in Fort Branch, Indiana, now the pastor of the Methodist Epis- copal church of that place ; John L., residing at Pleasantville, Indiana, a farmer and thresher; Dr. David F., of this biographical notice ; Ulysses Grant, a resident of Clearmont, Illinois, a farmer ; Mary, deceased wife of W. M. Howard; Elijah, who died in childhood; Cora, died aged nineteen years ; Claude T., residing at Sullivan, Indiana, a carpenter by trade, and the mother lives with him.
Dr. Shake was reared in Haddon township, Sullivan county, Indiana, his father removing there when the son was about four years. In 1900 the doctor sold out his farm interests and entered the Indiana Veterinary College, at Indianapolis, graduating from that institution in April, 1902, when he immediately opened an office for the practice of his profession in Carlisle, Indiana. He is still practicing and with highly satisfactory results. He holds consultations along the line of the E. & T. H. Railroad, in his locality. Politically, he is a supporter of the Demo- cratic party and has been a member of the town council four years, and has still two years more to serve. He is president of the town board, having been such since January 1, 1906. He is a member of Carlisle Lodge No. 3, A. F. & A. M., and also belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America. He was united in marriage November 30, 1887, to Eliza Hooper, who was born in Haddon township, Sullivan county, Indiana,
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November 23, 1868. She is the daughter of Pinckney and Nancy (Corbin) Hooper and received her education in the district schools of her native township. Her father was born in Knox county, Indiana, and her mother in Sullivan county, and both are now deceased. Her father was a life-long farmer. Dr. Shake and wife are the parents of four children, as follows: Lillie Belle, born April 10, 1890, unmarried and at home ; Pinckney C., born November 7, 1897: Pleasant Harold, born May 28, 1902; Charles Maxwell, born July 7, 1905. The doctor and his wife, are members of the Indian Prairie Baptist church.
THOMAS S. RISINGER, who is a member of the enterprising firm of Risinger & Ellis, merchants and manufacturers in Carlisle, Indiana, is a native of Wynder township, Knox county, Indiana, born November 19, 1858, son of Charles W. and Martha B. (Snapp) Risinger. The father was born in Jeffersonville, Kentucky, January 13, 1822, and died January 8, 1873, in Knox county, Indiana. The Risingers are of German extraction. Daniel Risinger, the grandfather, also a native of Kentucky, born at the same place as was his son, married Sarah Miers, a native of Kentucky. They were united in marriage in that state and very early in life took up a quarter section of land. He was a farmer and operated a water-power sawmill and tread-wheel. Daniel and wife reared seven daughters and one son. In their religious profession they were Metho- dists.
Charles W. Risinger remained a resident of Wynder township after his father moved to Knox county, Indiana, and was a farmer and en- gaged in the sawmill business with his father. When they first moved to Knox county, they operated a pottery and made crocks and jugs, as well as other vessels made from clay. Charles W. Risinger was a soldier in the war with Mexico, and politically affiliated with the Democratic party. His wife, Martha (Snapp) Risinger, was born in Sullivan county, Indiana, March 14, 1836, in Haddon township. She grew to womanhood in her native township, and was there educated, teaching school a year. Her parents were Abraham and Martha (Baird) Snapp. Her father, born in Kentucky in 1793, was of English descent, while her mother was of Irish extraction. They were married in Knox county, Indiana. Abraham Snapp was a miller by trade and ran a gristmill and sawmill combined, at Scottville, Haddon township. He served as colonel in the war of 1812. He was thrice married, and reared a family of eleven children. He died in Haddon township in 1847, his wife dying many years previous.
The children born to Charles W. Risinger and wife were: Aurelia, wife of Herman Vaughn, a bookkeeper for Risinger & Ellis ; Thomas S .; John, deceased ; Catherine, wife of Frank Minich, residing in the township in which Carlisle is situated; Leonard, deceased; Frank, residing in Evansville, Indiana.
Thomas S. Risinger was reared to farm life and educated in the
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public schools. After his marriage, he purchased a sixty-one acre farm in Haddon township, just over the Knox county line, and there resided until he moved to Carlisle to engage in business. In March, 1892, he sold out and went to Carlisle, uniting with his brother Frank, under the firm name of Risinger Brothers, undertakers and dealers in hardware and furniture. Thomas S. learned the art of embalming and the undertaker's business of Tutwiler & Sons, Indianapolis, Indiana, and is now a licensed embalmer. He is a member of the Funeral Directors' Association of In- diana, and is now the only undertaker in Carlisle. After a partnership of one year, the Risinger Brothers dissolved, Thomas S. buying his brother out, and continuing for one year alone. In the month of February, 1894, C. A. Ellis (see his sketch in this work), was taken in as a partner, since which time the firm has gone under the title of Risinger & Ellis. This firm is extensively engaged in the manufacture of the patented Hygienic Cabinet, which article is having such a large sale at this date. Politically, Mr. Risinger is a supporter of the Democratic party and has been a member of the town board. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Lodge No. 50, belonging to the Encampment degree of that fraternity. No. 139. He has filled all chairs in this lodge, and been to the grand lodge of the state. He is also connected with the Modern Woodmen of America, at Carlisle. Besides his many other business cares, Mr. Risinger is one of the directors of the Carlisle Building and Loan Association.
Mr. Risinger was united in marriage October 14, 1884, to Miss Judah Belle Hooper, born in Haddon township and educated in the district schools of the same. She is the daughter of Pinckney C. and Nancy (Corbin) Hooper. (See sketch of Dr. D. F. Shake). Mr. and Mrs. Risinger are the parents of two children: Edna, born July 8, 1886, un- married and at home and Aurelia, born January 1, 1890, unmarried and will graduate with the class of 1909, from the Carlisle high school. Mr. Risinger and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and Mr. Risinger is a trustee of the parsonage. He has served as trustee of the church at Bethlehem for several years, but has recently given it up to others.
ABRAHAM G. Cox, D. V. S .- A skillful representative of the vet- erinary profession, who enjoys a large practice at Carlisle and surrounding territory, is Dr. Abraham G. Cox, who was born August 10, 1858, in Haddon township, Sullivan county, Indiana, east from the town of Carlisle. He is the son of Jacob and Mary (Hamilton) Cox. His father was born in Madison county, Indiana, and died in Jasper county, Illinois, aged about thirty-five. The mother was born and died in Jasper county, Illinois. Grandfather John Cox was a native of England and by occupa- tion was a farmer. The maternal grandfather was a native of Scotland, and his wife was Elizabeth Schmidt, born in Germany. They were also farmers.
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The parents of Dr. Cox moved to Jasper county, Illinois, in 1860, and there he lived until fourteen years of age, when he came back to Haddon township and worked on a farm. In 1881, he was employed in a drug store at Houston, Missouri, after which he began the study of medicine, entering the College at Charleston, Illinois, in 1886. He remained in that school two years, going then to Toronto, Canada, where he took a one year's course. He began practice, April 13, 1890, at Car- lisle, Indiana, continuing until the autumn of 1897, when he entered the Indiana Veterinary College, from which he was graduated with the class of 1898 and at once returned to Carlisle, and has been practicing here ever since. In 1906 Dr. Cox erected a modern veterinary hospital and formu- lated what is so widely known as "Dr. Cox's Barb-wire Liniment," and "Painless Blister," the same being made by P. L. Hoover & Bros. The doctor is a member of the Indiana Veterinary Association and is an up-to- date and highly skillful veterinary. He belongs to Carlisle Lodge No. 3, F. & A. M., and the Modern Woodmen of America. He is a stock- holder in the First National Bank of Carlisle.
Dr. Cox was married July 6, 1891, to Mary Trimble, born in Haddon township, Sullivan county, Indiana, February 19, 1869, and educated in the same locality. She is the daughter of William and Jane Trimble. Her father was born in Sullivan county, Indiana, and her mother in Ohio, and both are still living in Haddon township. He is among the most extensive farmers within the township. Mr. and Mrs. Cox have had two children : Earl, who died in infancy, and Corda, born November 11, 1895- Mrs. Cox is a member of the Church of Christ.
JAMES MCCONNELL, who is a well known grain and lumber dealer of Carlisle, Indiana, was born July 17, 1871, in Haddon township, Sullivan county, Indiana, son of Baily and Jennie (McDowell) McConnell. Baily McConnell was born in Haddon township, and his wife in Ohio, in Columbiana county, at Mooretown, April 29, 1852. She was a daughter of Dr. James McDowell, who came to Carlisle when she was a young girl. He began the practice of medicine at Pleasantville, Jefferson town- ship. Andrew McConnell, the father of Baily McConnell, also came to the county at a very early day.
James McConnell, of this notice, was reared on the farm and edu- cated in the public schools, after which he attended DePauw College at Greencastle, Indiana, for four years. He then turned his attention to agriculture and still owns his well-tilled farm, although he has never lived on the place, having resided in town ever since his marriage. He owns a creamery and a herd of seventy-five registered Jersey cattle, and oper- ates a strictly sanitary milk business. In the spring of 1905 he purchased the lumber and grain business of J. N. Roberts, and now has the only lumber yard of the place. He also carries a full line of clay products. In connection with his extensive lumber trade, he runs a planing mill.
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Both his lumber and creamery interests are models of uniformity and correctness. He keeps an exact account of every pound of butter pro- duced from each cow he owns. It is said that his system is not equaled within Indiana.
Politically, Mr. McConnell affiliates with the Republican party. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to Carlisle Lodge No. 3, F. & A. M .; Council, Chapter, and Royal Arch Masons of Sullivan; also belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America at Carlisle. He was married in 1896, to Eloise Akin, by whom three children were born: Bernice, Bailey, and Wall. The reader is referred to the sketch of Edgar W. Akin for the ancestry of Eloise ( Akin) McConnell.
CLARENCE F. BURTON .- The business career of Clarence F. Burton, which has been attended by a large and well merited degree of success, was begun when he was but sixteen years of age as a clerk in a store at Silverwood, Indiana. After ten months spent in that capacity he became a student in the normal at Covington, Indiana, and after a six months'. course there returned to the store in Silverwood and clerked there for two and a half years. During the year and a half following this period he was the proprietor of a restaurant at Covington, and then returning again to his home town of Silverwood was for three years associated with D. P. Williams in the grocery business and was the postmaster of that town. Selling his interests there, he went to Clinton and spent a short time in the dry goods store of Randolph Brothers, and in July of 1904 he came to Shelburn and became a partner of I. C. Dalrymple in a mercantile store. In 1908 he purchased Mr. Dalrymple's interest and has since been alone in the business. He is one of the leading merchants of the city and enjoys a large and lucrative trade.
Mr. Burton was born at Silverwood, in Fountain county, Indiana, December 1I, 1871, a son of William E. and Sarah J. (Lunger) Burton. The father died when his son Clarence was but three years of age, and the mother, who was born near Linden, Indiana, about 1840, afterward. married Peter Reynolds and is living on the home farm in Fountain county. There were three children by the first marriage: Thomas, who is a miner at Clinton, Indiana, and Flora Williams, of Silverwood.
Clarence F. Burton, one of the three, attended the public schools of. Silverwood until he was sixteen years of age, and then, as above stated, entered upon his successful mercantile career. On the 6th of March, 1901, he was married to Margaret Randolph, who was born in Silver- wood in 1880, a daughter of Henry C. and Clara Randolph, who are farming people residing near Silverwood. The two children of this union are Carroll F. and Lucile, born respectively on the 27th of July, 1902, and on the 24th of September, 1904. Mr. Burton is a member of the Knights of Pythias order, Lodge No. 98, at Silverwood, and he gives a stanch support to Republican principles.
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SOLOMON DEEBLE .- Superintendent and general manager of the Car- lisle (Ind.) Coal and Clay Company, Solomon Deeble is a native of Monmouthshire, Wales, where he was born June 14, 1854, son of James and Margaret (Ashton) Deeble. The father was born in Cornwall, England, and the mother in the north of Wales. They came to America in 1864, locating in Dover, New Jersey, where they remained one year, then went to Pittston, Pennsylvania. In 1869 their son Solomon, of this sketch, came to this country and joined his parents in Pittston. Here the father died. He was a miner and usually followed that business for a livelihood.
Solomon Deeble lived in Pittston, Pennsylvania, for thirty-six years, being a mine superintendent for several years at that place. He began the occupation of a coal miner in Wales, when but seven years of age, acting as a trapper, which part of the mining work he performed for three years and then started in as a driver boy, continuing in such role in the mines of his native land, until he was fifteen years old. He then came to Pittston, Pennsylvania, where he commenced as a driver-boy. Two years were spent at that branch of the work, after which he started in as a real laborer and mined one year, when he had mastered the situation. in the coal mining business sufficiently to enable him to work as a regular miner, which he did for twelve years. His next position was that o1 driver boss, at which he worked two years, then as fire boss one year, when he commenced as pit boss. This was in 1891 and he continued ir. that service for ten years, being employed by the Avoca Coal Company at Avoca, Pennsylvania. Resigning he was made superintendent of the Traders Coal Company (although still holding his residence at Avoca ) and held this position for five years. In 1897 he was appointed post- master of Avoca, Pennsylvania, and served in that capacity until 1904, being superintendent of the mines at the same time. In 1904 he resigned the postmastership, as well as his positions in the mines, and in March, 1905, went to Carlisle, Indiana. There he established the Carlisle Coal and Clay Company. He began the sinking of a shaft in the month of April and has been superintendent and manager of the company ever since. The shaft was sunk to the depth of two hundred and forty feet, and work begun on vein number six, March 19, 1906. After having worked the mines to a daily output of two hundred and fifty tons, they observed the roof was weak and the mine was abandoned. They then went down to a distance of three hundred and fourteen feet, and began working number five in October, 1907. This vein of coal is five feet in thickness, and of an extra good grade; the roofing is said to be of an excellent quality, too. The daily output of this mine is two hundred and fifty tons and the coal produced is sold throughout Indiana and also in Chicago. This mine is provided with an escape shaft down to number four vein, at a depth of four hundred and ninety-five feet, it being the deepest shaft within the entire state of Indiana, while the vein of pure coal is five feet in thickness. The president of this mine is John William- son, of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania ; J. C. Wiegand, of the same place, is
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secretary and treasurer; Solomon Deeble, manager, and Thomas J. Deeble, is salesman.
Solomon Deeble was united in marriage to Ruth Davis May 22, 1874. She was born in Wales, in the same locality as her husband. This union has been blessed by seven children : Thomas, died in infancy ; Anna, wife of Joseph McPherson of Carlisle, Indiana; Thomas J., married Fannie Mae Pearce, of Carlisle, in 1904 and now has two children-Emma Ruth and Jessie Lois; Birdella, wife of William L. Evans, residing in Carlisle ; Viola, wife of William T. Pratt, and has two children-Ruth Deeble and William Thomas, Jr., residing in St. Albans, Vermont; William F., married Grace Wilson and has one daughter-Viola Dean; Roy Edgar, married Miss Geneva Hammond and is still at home.
Politically, Solomon Deeble affiliates with the Republican party and in fraternal societies, he is connected with the following : Masons, Blue lodge, chapter, commandery and Shriners; Odd Fellows; Ancient Order of United Workmen; Foresters ; and Knights of Pythias. He was a member of the school board at Avoca, Pennsylvania, for nine years. Mr. Deeble received no schooling in his youth but is a self-educated man and he and his wife both being self-educated appreciate a good practical education and gave their children a high school and college course. Four residences on the Sullivan road between Carlisle and the mines were erected by Mr. Deeble.
GEORGE W. PIRTLE, M. D .- Dr. George W. Pirtle, a practicing physician at Carlisle, Indiana, is a native of Haddon township, Sullivan county, Indiana, and was born two miles north of Carlisle, November 17, 1868, son of James W. and Mary A. (Cron) Pirtle. The father was also born in Haddon township in August, 1837, and died December 31, 1904. The mother was born in Knox county, Indiana, and died in Carlisle in the spring of 1906. The Pirtles are of an English family who came from England in 1635, two brothers settling in Virginia and from them this branch of the family have all descended. The grandfather, Alfred Pirtle, was born in Sullivan county, and his father, George Pirtle, the doctor's great-grandfather, was born in Kentucky, coming to Sullivan county among the pioneer settlers of this part of Indiana. James W. Pirtle, father of George W., was a farmer and also operated a saw-mill. Politically, he was a Democrat. His children were as follows: Dr. George W .; Charles, a resident of Hamilton township, Sullivan county ; Jacob, who resides on the old Pirtle homestead and Edward, a resident of Paxton, Indiana. The doctor's mother was twice married, first to James Stipe, who died in the Civil war, at Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Dr. Pirtle was educated in the common schools of his native country and then entered the Lake Forest University, Lake Forest, Illinois. Subsequently, he graduated from that most excellent educational institu- tion, Rush Medical College of Chicago, with the class of 1890. In the spring of that year he began active practice of medicine at Carlisle, Indiana, where he has not missed a day's practice since he first opened
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