USA > Indiana > Delaware County > A portrait and biographical record of Delaware county, 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 69
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munity, in the substantial growth of which he has taken such an active part. On coming to this county, Mr. Griesheimer found his pur- chase in a very primitive condition, the coun- try being covered with a dense forest growth and game of all kind being very plentiful. He has labored hard to accumulate a competency, which he is now enjoying in his declining years, having retired from active life. Mr. Griesh- eimer was married in his native country to Elizabeth Knecht, also born in the province of Hesse Darmstadt, June 12, 1807, and to their union have been born the following children, namely: Catherine, wife of John Wiggerly; John, deceased; Elizabeth, deceased; Mary, wife of Jacob Hofherr; Wilhelmena, widow of John Raible; Christina, deceased; Margaret, wife of John Bishop; Eva, wife of Marion E. Jones; Sarah, wife of John Zeigler.
Mr. and Mrs. Griesheimer are members of the Reformed Lutheran church, and are known far and wide as devout christian people. Their greatest pleasure now is taken in the Scriptures, and they can daily be seen read- ing the old Bible which has been in their family for five generations. This worthy old couple celebrated the anniversary of their golden wedding in 1880, which occasion was one of great joy to them, there being present over 100 invited guests. Mrs. Griesheimer is a remarkably well preserved woman for her years, and is still able to attend to a large share of the household duties, reads without the aid of glasses and is noted for her wonder- ful memory.
The long years which these worthy people have passed in each other's society have only served to cement closer the bonds with which they are united, and as hand in hand they go onward toward the twilight and the journey's end they present a pleasing picture, which all their friends unite in wishing may never fade.
Thirty-seven years ago, Mrs. Raible was
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JOHN W. HARMAN.
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MRS. LAVINA HARMAN.
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united in marriage to John Raible, who died in 1871. He was a tailor by occupation. Mrs. Raible lived in Indianapolis from 1861 to 1889, since which time she has been living at the old homestead, taking care of her aged parents. Mrs. Raible has two children: Frank and Lizzie Goodall.
A LBERT GWINN, a prominent busi- ness man of Mount Pleasant township, Delaware county, Ind., is one who has made his own way in the world in the face of adverse circumstances. Albert Gwinn was born in Hancock county, Ind., September 27, 1855, a son of Samuel and Jane E. (Conger) Gwinn, of Scotch and German extraction. They were married in Ohio and reared a family of four children, as follows: Royal, Albert, Fannie and Charles. The father died a bout 1860, but he mother is still living and finds a pleasant home with her daughter in Hancock county. Mr. Gwinn was a whig in his political views; and followed the trade of saddler as an occupation.
The subject of this biography was but eight years of age when he was left to care for himself. He had no education worthy of mention, and until he was twenty-five years of age could scarcely read or write. However, he took advantage of later opportunities for improving himself, and is now a well informed man, apparently as well able to successfully conduct his business affairs as if he had had much better opportunities than fell to his lot. He early became a general laborer, and in searching for honest work traveled through almost every state in the Union, finally locating at Acton, Ind., where he learned the barber trade under Thomas Gardener, and there he worked for one year, but in 1877 came to Yorktown, where he has since remained and has carried
on a very successful trade. He now has a very comfortable home and a fine business in this growing village. He married, in Hancock county, Ind., October 27, 1878, Miss Frances Hiday, who was born in Hancock county, Ind, in 1861, to which union one son has been born, Charley, July 27, 1880. Mr. Gwinn is an example of what honest effort combined with perseverance and economy will produce. He is now respected and looked upon as one of the good citizens of the place, even if his beginning was humble and dis- couraging. All the more credit is due him for his own brave efforts, and his example may well be imitated by those whose youthful environments are not of an encouraging nature.
J OHN W. HARMAN .- Prominent among the widely known and popular citizens of Mount Pleasant township, Delaware county, Ind., is the gentleman whose name introduces this biographical sketch. Mr. Harman is a native of Maryland, where his birth occurred September 1, 1829, being the son of John and Elizabeth Harman, natives of the same state, the father of Ger- man descent, born in 1805, and the mother of French-English descent, born January 1, 1797. To the marriage of John and Elizabeth Har- man two children were born: Elizabeth Ann, whose birth occurred on the 20th day of June, 1827, and John W. The father of John W. dying, the mother, after seven years of widow- hood, married David Orsborn, a native of Madison county, Ohio.
After the death of her first husband the subject's mother was left with but limited means, in consequence of which, although she did all that lay within her power for her chil- dren, John received but meager advantages of obtaining an education. In the year 1833, in
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company with his mother and her father, he went to Madison county, Ohio, where he lived five years, thence moving near Indianap- olis, Ind., which was his stopping place for a limited period; when they moved to the coun- ty of Tipton, where he resided for about one year. The family next moved to a point known as "Broad Riffle," about three miles from the city of Indianapolis, where they lived until 1842, when they again returned to their former home in Tipton county, Ind. After two years they again changed their home, locating in the township of Salem, Del- aware county, Ind., thence in March, 1847, moved to the county of Madison, but finally returned to Salem township in March of the ensuing year.
John W. Harman began work for himself by hiring out to one Francis P. James, for nine dol- lars a month, being employed during the summer on a farm, and in the following fall he labored in a brick yard. During the winter that suc- ceeded, he did "chores" for his step-father and went to school, worked a month in the spring for Jason Hudson for ten dollars, and during a part of the same season was employed by Francis Pugsley, who paid him for his serv- ices, thirteen dollars a month, the latter price being considered very high for common labor in those days. Later, he worked for various other parties, doing any labor that would bring him an honest dollar, and in the winter of 1849, attended school, paying for his board, by doing "chores" and other odd jobs.
His accumulations, up to the time noted, amounted to fifty dollars, and in the spring, he engaged to work on a farm for Peter Smeltser for eight months for the stipulated sum of ninety-two dollars. He cut wood at Conners- ville during a part of 1850, and in 1851 got out on a contract, in sixteen days, 500 railroad ties, for which he received forty dollars, and during the following winter, his time was occu-
pied in cutting cord wood. Mr. Harman pur- chased his first piece of land in the year 1850, in Bartholomew county, paying therefor the sum of $350, but did not move to it. During the harvest seasons of 1851 and 1852, he was engaged in cutting grain, his eight days' labor in the latter year amounting to thirty-two acres. When this work was finished, he re- turned to his home in Delaware county, carry- ing his grain cradle and clothing, a distance of fifty miles.
Mr. Harman was married September 2, 1852, to Lavina Van Matre, daughter of James M. and Mary Van Matre, after which ·he rented the place where he now lives, con- tinuing on the same, as a tenant, for a period of about four years. He exchanged his land in Bartholmew county for 120 acres in Mount Pleasant township, paying a difference of $400. making the latter cost him $750 in all. He stayed upon the new farm until July, 1861, clearing, in the meantime, forty-five acres, and then moved back to where he now lives, owning a share of the present home place at that time. He then began buying portions of the farm until, finally, he became possessor of the entire fine property. In June, 1865, he purchased eighty acres, paying for the same $2,000, and in June, 1869, sold 100 acres of his land to Pollard S. Hancock for $3,600. His present handsome residence was begun in 1869 and completed the same year. When a mere boy, Mr. Harman resolved that, before he was forty, he would own forty or eighty acres of land and a residence, and he carried out his purpose, for before arriving at that age he had a comfortable home and much more than the number of acres noted. He bought eighty-nine acres in 1869, and his next pur- chase consisted of twenty-two acres, for which he paid the sum of $770. In 1879 he bought eighty acres for $3,500, and later made pur- chases for his children to the amount of
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$10.000. In 1885 he purchased forty acres, paying for the same $400; in 1889, bought another forty acre lot for $2,600, and the same year, exchanged forty acres of his Mount Pleasant land for 200 acres valued at $13,900. At this time Mr. Harman is the owner of 590 acres of valuable land, being one of the largest holders of real estate in the county of Delaware.
Mr. Harman is a republican in politics, and with his wife belongs to the Methodist Protestant church. Mrs. Harman is a daugh- ter of James M. and Mary (Jones) VanMatre and was born in Henry county, Ind., March 31, 1832. Her father was born in Clarke county, Ohio, May 10, 1810, and the mother's birth occurred in Fayette county, Ind., August 17, 1813. James M. VanMatre came to Delaware county, Ind., when sixteen years of age, became the possessor of a good farm and died in 1844, leaving a widow and a large family. Mrs. VanMatre died, regretted by all who knew her, in the year 1863.
J OHN HARMAN, JR., is one of the representative farmers of Mount Pleas- ant township, in which he was born on the 21st day of January, 1862, the son of John and Lavina Harman, a sketch of whom appears above. Mr. Harman has spent the greater part of his life in the county of his nativity, received a practical English education in the common schools, which he attended during his minority, and at the age of twenty- one was employed by his father on the home farm, where he remained until 1883. On March 8, of that year, he was united in mar- riage with Miss Emma E. Stewart, daughter of John and Mary Stewart, both parents na- tives of Indiana. The father was born April 15, 1840, and the mother on the 8th day of
February, 1848. John Stewart was one of the pioneers of Delaware county, became a very successful man financially, followed farming for his occupation, and is now living a retired life. Shortly after his marriage, Mr. Harman moved to his present home in Mount Pleasant township, where he has since resided and where he operates very successfully a very beautiful and productive farm. He is indus- trious, energetic and progressive in all those terms imply, and has brought to his life work the intelligence acquired by years of close ob- servation and careful study of the science of agriculture. Mr. and Mrs. Harman are the parents of two children, namely: Charles Har- rison and Marion Martin; the latter was born October 5, 1892, and departed this life Decem- ber 4, of the same year.
A NTON C. HEFEL, civil engineer of Muncie, is a native of Austria, born on the 8th day of April, 1844, in the town of Feldkirk, province of Vorarl- berg. He attended the common schools of his native town during his youthful years, later pursued his studies for four years in a normal school, and afterward became a student of the university of Munchen, Bavaria, in which well- known institution he completed the prescribed course, having graduated in 1864. Mr. Hefel early turned his attention to mechanics, and for some time after leaving the university was employed as a builder of water works in vari- ous parts of Bavaria, notably at Augsberg, where for two years he acted as superintendent of construction. In 1866, when twenty-three of age, he came to the United States, locating at Cincinnati, Ohio, where he engaged as draughtsman for the water works of that city, in which capacity he continued for a period of six years, and afterward served as engineer and
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assistant superintendent for the same company until his removal to Vandalia, Ill., in 1877. In the latter city he was made engineer in chief of the Kaskaskia Bottom Drainage district. his official duties consisting of making surveys and esti- mates for dredging, draining, and reclaiming a large tract of land, twenty-five by forty-five miles in area. He was thus engaged from 1877 to 1886, during which period he whs twice elected surveyor of Fayette county, Ill., enter- ing the contest both times as a candidate on the people's ticket.
In 1886 Mr. Hefel accepted a position with the American Water Works and Guarantee company, of Pittsburg, Pa., as superintendent of construction, and engineer in building water works and plants at New Philadelphia, Ohio; Huntington, W. Va .; Cheboygan, Wis .; Meridian, Miss .; and Wichita, Kan., continu- ing in that capacity for two years, during which time his headquarters were at Muncie, Ind.
In 1888 he made surveys and drawings for two maps of the city of Muncie, the first of which, known as Hefel's natural gas map, showing gas wells, gas lines, additions, etc., was copyrighted and printed in colored litho- graph. Both maps were extensively sold and are still commended for their accuracy, as well as for the neatness and skill displayed in the workmanship.
In July, 1891, Mr. Hefel entered the employ of the Western Improvement com- pany, of Rochester, N. Y., to lay out and prepare drawings for the town of West Mun- cie, which, in due time, were made and placed on record. The plat of West Muncie dis- plays superior ability on the part of the engi- neer, the beautiful artificial lake and other improvements which have given the place much more than a local celebrity, being the original design of Mr. Hefel. Mr. Hefel is a skillful engineer, thoroughly familiar with every
detail of the profession to which he has de- voted his life, and the responsible positions which he has been called to fill, from time to time, testify of confidence in which his abili- ties are held by the large companies and cor- porations with which he has been identified. In 1868, in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, Mr. Hefel and Miss Magdalena Good, a native of Germany, were united in marriage-a union severed by the death of Mrs. Hefel in 1881, after bearing two children, Carrie and Ermine. Mr. Hefel married his present wife, whose maiden name was Kate Boeckley, in 1881, a union blessed with the birth of one child, a daughter, Hattie.
RS. NANCY HANCOCK .- Recent biographers are not unmindful of the fact that as much credit is due the wives and mothers of the pres- ent generation for the moral and material ad- vancement of our great western country as to the fathers and sons. In the following sketch is a brief mention of the leading events in the career of one of the pioneer mothers of Dela- ware county, whose whole life has been the grand simple poem of rugged, toilsome duty, faithfully and uncomplainingly done. Mrs. Nancy Hancock, whose maiden name was An- trim, is a native of Clinton county, Ohio, where her birth occurred on the 18th day of August, 1820. Her father, Robert Antrim, was born in Virginia, March 12, 1787, and came to Delaware county, Ind., as early as 1833. lo- cating in what is now Mount Pleasant town- ship, where he purchased and improved eighty acres of land. He married Justina Leeka, who was born in the same year as her husband, of German parentage. Mr. Antrim was a successful man, and during his residence in Delaware county succeeded in accumulating a
MRS. NANCY HANCOCK.
J. W. HENSLEY.
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handsome competence, including a farm of 120 acres, upon which his death occurred in the year 1869.
Mrs. Hancock resided with her parents until the time of her first marriage, which was solemnized in April, 1838, with Solomon Mc- Laughlin, a native of Kentucky, where he was born September 10, 1810. To this union were born the following children: John W., de- ceased; Lewis Clark, married to Nancy Stout, and residing in Muncie; Sarah Ellen, wife of Martin Shoemaker, and Justina, wife of Law- rence Doyle Mr. Mclaughlin died in 1854, and four years later his widow was united in marriage to Edward Curtis, also a native of Kentucky, who came to Delaware county when a young man. Mr. Curtis was by occu- pation a farmer, and followed his chosen calling until his death, which occurred in 1863. To the second marriage one child was born, namely: Levi Marion Curtis. In 1880, Mrs. Curtis was again married, choosing for a hus- band, John Hancock, a native of Ohio, and a respectable farmer of Mount Pleasant town- ship. On the 14th of March, 1885, she was left a widow the third time, her husband dying at that date. Mrs. Hancock has been a resi- dent of Delaware county for a period of over sixty years, during which time she has wit- nessed a great many remarkable changes both in the country and the people. For over a half century she has been a consistent mem- ber of the Methodist church, and finds great comfort and consolation in her religious experience. Mrs. Hancock's maternal grand -. father was an Englishman and served in the British army in the war of the Revolution. He was taken prisoner soon after landing on American soil, and held captive during the war, at the close of which he was released and given the privilege of returning to his native country or of remaining in the United States. He chose the latter, became a naturalized cit-
izen, and for many years was a resident of Virginia and later of Ohio, in which state his death occurred.
J AMES W. HENSLEY, one of the lead- ing farmers and stock raisers of Mount Pleasant township, is a native of Indi- ana, born in Rush county, on the 7th day of December, 1829, the son of William and Sarah (Peterson) Hensley. William W. Hensley was a native of Kentucky, but early emigrated to Indiana, settling in Rushville, near which place he was, for a few years, en- gaged in farming, and later moved to the county of Delaware, and engaged in the milling busi- ness near Muncie, but disposed of his interest within a short time, and, moving a few miles east of the county seat, bought land and en- gaged in the pursuit of agriculture. After till- ing the soil for a period of three years, he re- moved to Muncie, and for some time thereafter was employed in a grist mill, which occupation he followed until purchasing a tract of land northwest of Yorktown, where he again en- gaged in farming, and where he passed the residue of his days.
James W. Hensley remained with his pa- rents until attaining his majority, and since his seventh year has been a resident of Delaware county, being at this time one of the oldest and best known citizens of the same. He was reared to agricultural work and has followed it exclusively. His first purchase of real estate consisted of forty acres in the township of Sa- lem, then two years later bought forty acres more in Mount Pleasant township, and subse- quently he bought a tract of eighty acres on Eel river, which he retained a few years, disposing of it and purchasing the west part of his pres- ent farm in Mount Pleasant township. To the latter he has made additions from time to time
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until he is now one of the largest land holders of Mount Pleasant, owning at one time 380 acres, forty acres of which he recently gave to his daughter, leaving his present farm of 340 acres, upon which are some of the most valua- ble improvements in the community in which he resides. In addition to his lands he owns good property in Yorktown.
Mr. Hensley was married on the 4th day of November, 1857, to Miss Susan Humbert, daughter of Elias and Rosa Humbert, both of which parents were natives of Indiana, the father being one of the earliest pioneers of Delaware county. To this marriage twelve children were born, six of whom are living, namely: Samuel, who resides on the home place; William, married to Amanda Fullhart; Abel Sanford, married to Jennie Priest; Jacob, married to Maggie Snodgrass; Sarah, wife of Maynard Childs; and Lewis, who still remains with his father on the home place.
Mrs. Hensley was a kind and dutiful mother, a faithful wife, and departed this life on the 15th day of November, 1890. She was a member of the Methodist church, and her remains were laid to rest in the Hawk cemetery. Mr. Hensley married his present wife, Nancy McNairy, a native of Delaware county, on the 9th day of July, 1891. Polically, Mr. Hensley is a democrat, and his wife belongs to the Separate Baptist church, in which they are. both active workers.
ILLIAM W. HENSLEY, JR., is one of the progressive farmers of the township of Mount Pleasant, and a son of William W. and Sarah (Peter- son) Hensley, a notice of whom appears in connection with the biography of James Hensley. William W. Hensley, Jr., was born in Rush county, Ind., February 11, 1835, and
from early boyhood has been a resident of the county of Delaware, which he has seen devel- oped from a comparatively wild state to its present advanced position among its sister counties of the state. He passed the years of his youth and early manhood upon the farm, where he learned those lessons of industry and economy which have brought their reward to him in after life, and has made agriculture and stock raising his principle business. He re- ceived his educational training in such schools as the country afforded, and by close observa- tion and a life of great business activity, has become, in many respects, an intelligent and well informed man. Until his twenty-first year, he remained with his parents on the home place, after which he found employment as a farm hand and followed this for a period of ten years, or until his marriage, in 1865. Carefully husbanding his means, he was en- abled to make a judicious investment in real estate about 1862, at which time he became the possessor of 100 acres of land in Mount Pleasant township, a part of his present home farm. To his original purchase he has since added, and at the present time owns 160 acres, the greater part of which is well improved and under a high state of cultivation. Mr. Hen- sley has exercised the best of judgment as a farmer, and his life has been characterized by great industry and economy, the reward of which has been success in all that term im- plies. Beginning life's battle with but a lim- ited supply of this world's goods, he has, with the aid of his industrious companion, been enabled to acquire a comfortable com- petence and is now classed with substantial and well-to-do farmers and stock raisers of the community which has been his home for so many years.
Mr. Hensley's marriage was solemnized in 1865 Elizabeth Dragoo, daughter of Abner and Martha (Perkins) Ratcliff, natives,
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respectively, of North Carolina and Ohio- the father of German and the mother of Eng- lish descent. Abner Ratcliff became a resi- dent of Indiana as early as 1835, and pre- empted 120 acres of land in Delaware county, upon which were made some of the first im- provements in Mount Pleasant township. He became a very prominent citizen and success- ful farmer, and died in August, 1864. His wife preceded him to the grave, departing this life in 1861. They were both highly respected members of the Society of Friends, and are held in grateful remembrance by their descend- ants, who are classed among the best citizens of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Hensley are the parents of the following children: George, married to Mary Gilbert; Jonas, married to Clara Paul; David, William, and Charles, the last three of whom are still at home with their parents. Mr. Hensley is a member of the Christian church, and in politics he supports the principles of the democratic party.
0 ANIEL P. HOWELL .- Prominent farmer and stock raiser of Mount Pleasant township, is a native of Miami county, Ohio, and dates his birth from June 5, 1820. His father, John Howell, was born in Virginia, December 10, 1783, and remained there until 1829, at which time he removed to Ohio, locating in Darke county, where he became widely and favorably known; having served as sheriff of that county for a period of six years. Subsequently he moved to Delaware county, Ind., settling near Muncie, and purchasing an eighty acre tract of land, upon which but few, if any, improve- ments had been made, the country at that time being an almost unbroken wilderness. After a residence here of ten years he dispos- ed of his land, and moved to the county of
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