A portrait and biographical record of Boone, Clinton and Hendricks Counties, Ind. : containing biographical sketches of many prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all of the presidents of the United States, and biographies of the governors of Indiana, Part 34

Author:
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : A.W. Bowen & Co.
Number of Pages: 1080

USA > Indiana > Boone County > A portrait and biographical record of Boone, Clinton and Hendricks Counties, Ind. : containing biographical sketches of many prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all of the presidents of the United States, and biographies of the governors of Indiana > Part 34
USA > Indiana > Clinton County > A portrait and biographical record of Boone, Clinton and Hendricks Counties, Ind. : containing biographical sketches of many prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all of the presidents of the United States, and biographies of the governors of Indiana > Part 34
USA > Indiana > Hendricks County > A portrait and biographical record of Boone, Clinton and Hendricks Counties, Ind. : containing biographical sketches of many prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all of the presidents of the United States, and biographies of the governors of Indiana > Part 34

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As already stated, Mr. Isenhour is one of the leading farmers and stock raisers of Worth township, and his home farm, consisting of 123} acres, is highly improved and supplied with all the adjuncts necessary to render rural life agreeable. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and with his wife belongs to the reg- ular Baptist church, at Mounts Run.

I RENEUS ISENHOUR, of Perry town- ship, Boone county, Ind., was born in Cocke county, Tenn., April 11, 1842, a son of Coonrad and Eva (Ot- tinger) Isenhour. Coonrad was born in North Carolina in 1818 and was a son of Martin and Catherine (Null) Isenhour, also natives of North Carolina, of German descent, and the parents of ten children, viz: Betsey, George, John, Coonrad, Moses, Noah, David, Lena, Simeon and Catherine. The father, Martin, lived to be ninety-three years old, and his wife to be eighty. Both were members of the Lutheran church. Coonrad was about eight years old when taken to Tennessee by his par- ents, where he was reared and was married, and where he died in 1854, the father of eleven children, viz: Martin, who died of fever while serving in the Fourth Tennessee infantry, at the age of twenty-eight; Jacob, Ireneus, Paul, Francis, Sarah, Harriet, Fronie, Alice, Til- man and Rachel. The mother still resides on

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OF BOONE COUNTY.

the old homestead of 300 acres in Tennessee, at the age of seventy-six, and is a Lutheran, as was her husband. Coonrad was a republican, and prior to the formation of that party was a know-nothing. He was a strong Union man, and was robbed of over $7,000 worth of prop- erty during the late war by the rebels, who also captured himself, and were about to hang him for the reason that his sons had joined the Union forces, but he was saved by the intervention of friends, of whom he had a great number. There were nine of his chil- dren living a't the time of his death, to each of whom he gave $1,200, and to his widow he bequeathed his 300-acre farm and $500 in cash. He was a man of considerable consequence in his time, as well as of versatility; was commis- sioner three different times, practiced dentistry and phlebotomy for his neighbors, was an elder in his church, and a liberal contributor to its support, as well as to the aid of every deserving enterprise.

Ireneus Isenhour remained on his father's farm until twenty years old, when he married, in Cocke county, Tenn., January 1, 1862, Miss Caroline Easterly, who was born in that county June 11, 1841, a daughter of Philip and Elizabeth (Nease) Easterly. In Novem- ber of the same year Mr. Isenhour, in com- pany with his brother Jacob, enlisted in the Eighth Tennessee (Union) infantry, then at Camp Nelson, was sworn in as a recruiting officer, returned home and enlisted 110 men, whom he took to camp; he then returned to Cocke county, in company with another re- cruiting officer, James Kinser, and secured 140 more men. He remained with his regiment until September, 1863, as a recruiting officer, and then joined the Third Tennessee mounted infantry as a private and was elected first cor- poral; was afterward with the Eighth Tennes- see, taking part in all of the marches and en- gagements of both until the close of the winter

of 1863, when he was mustered out of service and returned to his own county, but was in hiding in a cave near his own home for six months to avoid capture. Eventually escap- ing. he joined the Third Tennessee infantry and was on active duty until mustered out, November 22, 1864, at Knoxville. He then farmed in Cooke county, Tenn., until the fall of 1865, when he came to Boone county, Ind., and located in Worth township, where he worked by the day two years, then bought forty acres in Center township and remained there one year; then came to Perry township and bought a saw-mill which he ran three months; then engaged in stave making in Worth township one year; then bought fifty acres east of Whitestown; sold out two years later and lived on rented land for a year; then built a mansion in Whitestown and re- mained there eighteen months, dealing in staves; then passed a year on a farm, and then bought sixty acres where he now lives, to which he added twenty acres, all now well drained and otherwise improved. To Mr. and Mrs. Isenhour have been born nine children, viz : Emma, wife of James Fletcher: Mary, wife of F. Scott; Calvin; Ellen, married to Charles Burgess; Laura, now Mrs. A. Jones; Minerva, Melvin, Della and Almeda. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and are greatly respected. Mr. Isenhour is township prosecu- tor of Worth township, and the G. A. R. claim him as a member. He never has ap- plied for a pension.

ILLIAM S. JETT, a prominent farmer and stock raiser of Sugar Creek township, Boone county, Ind., of which he is a native, was born December 15, 1852. The Jett family, so far as known, were from Kentucky, in which state

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the subject's grandfather, Stephen Jett, was born and reared. Stephen Jett married, in his native state, Nancy Gipson, a Kentucky lady who, after her husband's death, came to Boone county about the year 1827 and with her son located not far from the place now occu- pied by the subject of this sketch. Preston Jett, father of William S., was born February 6, 1827, in Kentucky, and brought, when quite young, to Boone county, Ind., grew to man- hood on a farm and remained with his mother until her death, which occurred in the year 1870. He married, in Boone county, Mary C. Jessie, who was born November 27, 1829, the daughter of Samuel and Catherine (Porter) Jessie, natives of Virginia and early pioneers of the county of Boone. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Jessie were born eleven children-John, Mary, Martha, Sarah, Jane, Francis, Elizabeth, David, Nancy, Eveline and Esteline. Four children were born to the marriage of Preston and Mary C. Jett- William S , Margaret A. (deceased), Isaac N., and Samuel.

William S. Jett remained with his parents, assisting with the labors of the farm until at- taining his majority, when he purchased a place within a short distance of the old home and engaged in the pursuit of agriculture upon his own responsibility. His life has been one of great activity, and his success in his chosen calling has been commensurate with the in- dustry and energy displayed by him since his early youth. He married, March 6, 1873, Hannah M. Blacker, who was born in Clinton county, Ind., October 20, 1853, the daughter of Green and Isabelle (Hinton) Blacker, to which union six children have been , born, namely -- Norvell, Curtis L., Nina M., Florence, William E. and Ossie. Mr. Jett owns a fine farm of 209 acres, adorned with good improve- ments, and he is classed among the substantial citizens of Sugar Creek township. His

political belief is in harmony with the demo- cratic party and he is an active worker in the Odd Fellows' fraternity, belonging to both subordinate lodge and encampment. He and wife are members of the Methodist Protestant church, in which they are both highly esteem- ed for their good works. Mrs. Jett, mother of our subject, lives with her two younger sons on the home farm, and she is now sixty-six years of age, hale and hearty, and her hospitable ways have endeared her to the hearts of a host of friends.

J AMES W. JAMES, one of the respect- ed farmers of Center township, Boone county, Ind., comes from Scotch, German and Irish ancestry, is a native of the county in which he still resides, and was born November 1, 1845. His paternal grandfather moved from Virginia to Nicholas county, Ky., when quite young, and his maternal great-grandfather, Jackson Scott, came from Germany and settled in Virginia. The latter served seven years in the war of the Revolution under Washington, afterward located in Kentucky, and there died at the advanced age of 110 years. The maternal grandfather, John Scott, was a native of Kentucky and quite a prominent farmer of Montgomery county, in that state. John J. James, father of James W., our subject, was born in Nicholas county, Ky., moved thence to Putnam county, Ind, then to Boone county, and then, in 1830, to Pulaski county, Ind. At that time the country was filled with Indians and great droves of deer and wild turkeys; being a pioneer, he assisted in the organization of Boone. His death took place March 29, 1856. David James, brother of John J., was one of the early preachers of Boone county, and but seventeen years of age when he began his ministerial work; another brother, Elder Stafford, is still living.

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OF BOONE COUNTY.

James W. James was reared on his father's farm and educated in the common schools of Boone county. At the youthful age of seven- teen he enlisted, July 27, 1863, in company G, One Hundred and Sixteenth regiment Indiana infantry, and did guard duty at Dearborn, Ind., thence went to Detroit, then to Cleveland, Ohio, Nicholasville, Ky., and then made a long, dry and hot march of 150 miles to Granville, Tenn .; then made a march of seventeen days to Cumberland Gap-the worst experience he had during the war-many of his comrades dying from starvation and fatigue; the next march was a double-quick through mud and water to Walker's Ford, four miles distant, where they lay on their arms at night in their wet clothes. Numerous skirmishes were had about this time. After another march of 125 miles to Nicholasville, Ky., and having been laid up with yellow jaundice for a time, Mr. James was honorably discharged at La Fayette, March 1, 1864. He next en- listed May 2, 1864, and was placed on guard duty for three months at Bridgeport, Ala., and discharged September 22, 1864; his next enlistment, February 14, 1865, was in the One Hundred and Fiftieth regiment, and he saw service at Harper's Ferry, Va., and Stephen- son's Station; was taken sick with catarrh, neuralgia, liver and kidney disorders and gen- eral debility; was sent to Cumberland, Md., and confined to hospital sixteen days, and was finally discharged at Wheeling, Va., June 7, 1865, by general order No. 77, being con- sidered unfit for further duty, and returned to his home in Boone county.

December 31, 1865, Mr. James married Miss Lizzie Robinson. He then bought forty- eight acres of his present farm, which he has highly improved with substantial buildings and first-class drainage. Mr. and Mrs. James are both devout members of the Methodist Episco- pal church and are liberal in their contribu-

tions to its support. He votes with the repub- licans and is a member of the G. A. R., Rich Mountain post, No. 42. In addition to his in- come from his farm, Mr. James is in receipt of a pension from the government he assisted to preserve, this pension now netting him $14 per month. He stands deservedly high in the estimation of the neighbors among whom he has resided so many years, who delight in do- ing him honor as a soldier and a citizen. To Mr. and Mrs. James have been born nine chil- dren, viz: William O., Mary J., Charles E., Belle, Henry H., Emma, Claudia, Minta E., and Carter S.

EORGE H. JOHNSON .- Prominent among the successful farmers and stock raisers of Boone county, Ind., is George H. Johnson, who for many years has been one of the representative citi- zens of the township of Harrison. Mr. John- son's ancestors belonged to that large and eminently respectable class of Scotch-Irish emigrants that sought homes on American soil in an early day and stamped their character so permanently in many communities of the east- ern and central states, and whose descendants are to-day among the most substantial and law- abiding citizens of the republic. From the most reliable information obtainable it appears that members of the Johnson family settled many years ago in Kentucky, in which state George H. Johnson, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born and reared. Ceorge H. Johnson, Sr., married Mary Walter, daugh- ter of George Walter, and became a resident of Boone county, Ind., as early as the year 1829, locating in Jackson township, when the few scattered settlements were as niches in the surrounding forest. In the organization of Boone county he was a prominent factor, and he became a leading man of the community

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which he was instrumental in founding, and also did much for the moral well-being of the new country, having been an active member of the Baptist church, several congregations of which he assisted in constituting. Politi- cally he was a democrat of the old school, and it is a fact worthy of note that his descend- ants have all taken considerable interest in matters political. Mr. Johnson was twice married, his second wife being Mrs. Mary Chenoweth. Patrick Johnson, son of the pre- ceding and father of the subject of this men- tion, was born in Knox county, Ky., March 12, 1818, and accompanied his parents to Boone county, Ind., when twelve years of age. He was reared a farmer, and in Septem- ber, 1842, was united in marriage to Hannah Clements, daughter of John C. and Nancy (Highland) Clements, early settlers of Jackson township, and became the father of the fol- lowing children: George H., Mary A., James F., John C., Albert N., Martin L., Nancy E., Martha C., William P., Wilson T., Herbert, Florence and Willard P., all living and heads of families.

George H. Johnson, whose name appears at the head of this mention, is a native of Boone county, Ind,, and dates his birth from the twenty-ninth day of June, 1844. He passed his youthful days amid the routine of farm labor, and in the old-fashioned log school- house received the rudiments of an English education, which, supplemented by subsequent years of close and intelligent observation and ob- servation and business contact with his fellow- citizens, has made him a broad-minded and well informed man. He early chose agricul- ture for his life work, and after his marriage, which was solemnized on the twenty-second day of October, 1867, with Nancy J. Martin, daughter of Elias and Mary E. Martin, began housekeeping in a little log cabin on his first farm, consisting at that time of forty acres

only, a small part of which was under cultiva- tion, the remainder being a dense woods and quagmire. With the energy characteristic of the man, Mr. Johnson at once went to work, and in due season reclaimed his land, added to his orginal purchase from time to time, un- til now he is the fortunate possessor of one of the best improved farms in his township. His place is supplied with all the modern con- veniences of agriculture, and, in addition to general farming, he gives considerable atten- tion to stock raising. which has yielded very satisfactory returns financially.

In all that goes to make up the high- minded, honorable citizen, Mr. Johnson is not lacking, and it is safe to assert that no man in the community in which he resides com- mands in a more marked degree the esteem and confidence of the public than he. In politics a democrat, he has never sought nor desired official preferment at the hands of his fellow- citizens, and as a member of the Baptist church, with which he has been identified since 1879, his life has been a commendable example of the pure teachings of that faith. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Johnson : William P., died at the age of seven years, December 10, 1876, and Carrie E., married Jordan Sutphin, lives at this time in Boone county. The grandparents of Mrs. Johnson were Benjamin and Elizabeth Mar- tin, who resided for many years in Shelby county, Ky., where their respective deaths oc- curred. Her parents, Elias and Mary Martin, also residents of the same county and state, came to Boone county, Ind., a number of years ago, and here the mother still resides, the father having departed this life on the twelfth day of March, 1856. Their children are as follows : Nancy J., Elizabeth M., Henry A., E. M., deceased. Elias Martin was a devoted member of the Baptist church, a democrat in his political faith, and is remem-

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bered as a man of high sense of honor and sterling integrity by all who knew him.

J ACOB JONES is one of the represent- ative farmers of Eagle township, Boone county, Ind., and a man widely and favorably known. His native state is Ohio and his birth occurred in Morgan county on the eighteenth day of October, 1814. His father, Jacob Jones, was born October 18, 1794, in Pennsylvania, where he grew to manhood and where he married Elizabeth Calvert, a de- scendant of an old German family of the Key- stone state, by whom eight children were born to him, the subject of this sketch being the third in the order of birth. From Pennsyl- vania Jacob Jones and family emigrated to Morgan county, Ohio, where he remained until 1834, in the spring of which year he came to Boone county, Ind., and purchased real estate in Union township, where he made his home until about 1852. In that year he emigrated westward to the far-off state of Oregon, where the remaining years of his life were spent. Jacob Jones, Sr., was four times married and reared twenty-three children, a number of whom became well known citizens of Indiana and other states.

The immediate subject of this biography passed the years of youth and early manhood in his native state, where he received his edu- cational training in the common schools, and in the spring of 1834, accompanied his parents to Boone county, Ind., of which he has since been a well known and honored resident. He early chose agriculture for his life work, to which useful calling he has since devoted his energies, and is now the possessor of a tract of land in Eagle township consisting of 347 acres, nearly all of which is well improved and highly cultivated. Mr. Jones was married in Hamil- ton county, Ind., November 13, 1842, to Susan

P. Miller, daughter of Louis and Polly (Mickey) Miller, to which union five children have been born, namely: Mary J., wife of Wm. Hutton, residing in Union township; James N., who married Anna E. Hutton, a farmer of the town- ship of Union; Lizzie, wife of Albert Pitts, living in Eagle township; John, deceased; and an infant that died unnamed. Mrs. Jones was born in North Carolina February 8, 1822, and came with her parents to Boone county in 1833, and has been a resident of the same for a period of over sixty-one years. After his marriage Mr. Jones settled on his father's old farm, where he lived until the spring of 1852, at which time he purchased land of his own in Union township, cultivating the same until his removal to the township of Eagle, where he now resides. Mr. Jones is a prominent citi- zen, has lived a life of great industry, and now, when the frosts of age are coming on, he finds himself fortunately situated with a comfortable competency of this world's goods. His life has been one of great activity, and the man- ner in which he has met and overcome its many obstacles is sufficient proof that he has, in a great degree, solved the problem of success.

J OHN C. JOHNSON was born in Boone county, Ind., October 8, 1849, and is a son of Patrick and Hannah (Clements) Johnson. Patrick Johnson was born in Knox county, Ky., March 12, 1818, and Hannah Johnson was born in the same state in September, 1824. They were married in Boone county, Ind., September 15, 1842, bought forty acres of land in Jefferson town- ship, and entered eighty acres additional. They became the parents of thirteen children, born in the following order: George H., Mary A. (wife of J. Johnson), James F., John C., Albert N., Morton L., Nancy E. (wife of Charles Burke), Martha C. (wife of W. Cassi-

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day), William P., Wilson T., Patrick, Florence. (wife of S. Davis), and Herbert M. The par- ents now reside in Hendricks county, where the father owns a farm of 180 acres. In reli- gion he is a Baptist, and in politics is a stanch prohibitionist.

John C. Johnson remained on the home farm until twenty-four years of age, when he married and located on the forty-acre farm on which he now lives. The date of his wedding was March 24, 1874, and the name of his bride was Martha E. Bray; she was born in Hendricks county, Ind., November 24, 1852, daughter of Alfred and Margaret Bray, who were respectively born in Ohio and North Car- olina. John C. and wife became the parents of seven children, as follows: Alfred W. (de- ceased), Martin E. (deceased), Florida E., Effie L., Mystel B., an infant that died un- named, and Ethel J. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are respected members of the Baptist church, and in politics he is a democrat. He is also an active member of the Horse Thief Detective association, a society that is of greatbene fit to horse owners throughout the country. Per- ry township contains no more useful citizen than Mr. Johnson.

PILLIAM ALLEN JONES .- Boone county is noted for the number of well-to-do citizens who be- gan life here, after serving their country as soldiers, with small means, and, by practicing the virtues of industry and thrift, have become prosperous farmers. William A. Jones is an excellent example of this fact. He descends from John C. Jones, a hardy pioneer of Kentucky, who was his grandfather, and settled at an early period in Fleming county in that state, where he married a Miss Swaim, became the father of three sons-James, John and Isaac, and three daughters, Hannah,

Mary and Celie. Mr. Jones moved to Marion county, Ind., about the year 1828, settled eight miles northwest of Indianapolis, built a grist- mill on Big Eagle creek, and lived there until the end of the Black Hawk war, in 1834, when he moved with his family to Marshall county, where he was one of the original pio- neers among the Pottawattomie Indians, seven miles north of Plymouth. He was a mechanic and worked at various trades, lived to the great age of eighty years and died in Marshall county. James Jones, the father of William Allen Jones, was born in Kentucky in 1811 and came with his father, when young, to Marion county, Ind. He learned the cab- inet maker's trade with one Andrew Reed in Franklin, Ind., in the year 1833, and was a soldier in the Black Hawk war. He mar- ried, December 25, 1834, Lydia, daughter of Allen and Sallie Brock, and soon afterward moved to Marshall county. To Mr. and Mrs. Jones were born two children-James M., born April 20, 1836, and William A., March 22, 1838, both born in Marshall county. Mr. Jones died at the comparatively early age of twenty-seven years, in November, 1838. He was a man of excellent character, industrious and respected. Lydia Jones, at the death of her husband, returned to the home of her father, Allen Brock, in Boone county, where she lived with her two children until she was married, January 27, 1841, to John Lowe, with whom she lived happily until her death, July 17, 1885. Lydia Brock was born May 9, 1811, in Grainger county, Tenn., near Tazewell, and came to Indiana with her par- ents, who located in Putnam county, on the Walnut fork of the Eel river, where they re- sided until about 1830, when they removed to Boone county and settled about six miles east of Lebanon. Allen and Sallie Brock, her par- ents, reared a family of ten children-five sons and five daughters, viz : Jayhus, Nancy,

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OF BOONE COUNTY.

Liddy, Allen, Sallie A., Rhoda, Hiram, Prior, Louisa, and Campbell, all of whom married and reared respected families. John Lowe was born March 4, 1813, was brought to Indiana in November, 1816, while the state was yet a territory, and came to Boone in 1826, four years before the county was organized.

William A. Jones received the education of the district school and during the winter of 1860-61 attended Crawfordsville college. In August, 1862, he enlisted at Indianapolis, as a musician of the brass band, Thirty-ninth Ind- iana volunteer infantry. After a spell of pneumonia of about six weeks' duration, Mr. Jones was ordered, with his company, to report to the regiment at Camp Nevin, Ky., and Mr. Jones stayed with the company until January, 1863, when he was discharged at Mumfords- ville, Ky., by general order, regimental bands having been discontinued. . After the war Mr. Jones came to Boone county and engaged in the saw-mill business, which he followed suc- cessfully for years. In 1865 he engaged, in company with Jacob H. Laughner, under the firm name of Laughner & Jones, in Marion county, Ind., and continued three years. In 1870 he moved to Boone county and settled on his present farm of 148 acres. This land was covered with splendid timber of many varieties, and Mr. Jones put up a saw-mill on it, which he operated for two years, the hugh trees of oak, walnut, ash, popular and elm, making the best of timber. Mr. Jones gradually cleared up his farm, to which he turned his entire attention, and now has one of the best in Boone county, which he has improved and drained well, and on which he has erected good buildings. On November 22, 1865, he married, in Boone county, Allie C., daughter of William and Mary (Hamilton) Hunter. Mr. Hunter was a silversmith in Indianapolis and was from an old Kentucky family, who were of Pennsylvania-Dutch stock, first set-

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Author: Publication date: 1895 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : A.W. Bowen & Co. Number of Pages: 1080

Author:
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : A.W. Bowen & Co.
Number of Pages: 1080