USA > Indiana > Newton County > A standard history of Jasper and Newton counties, Indiana : an authentic narrative of the past, with an extended survey of modern developments in the progress of town and country, Volume II > Part 40
USA > Indiana > Jasper County > A standard history of Jasper and Newton counties, Indiana : an authentic narrative of the past, with an extended survey of modern developments in the progress of town and country, Volume II > Part 40
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42
759
JASPER AND NEWTON COUNTIES
whom are still living : Ilarold, Opal and Edith. On May 28, 1893, Mr. Bridgeman married Miss Elvira Bailey. Her people originally came from England, and her father was a native of Baltimore, Maryland. From the East he came to Indiana, locating in Fountain County, where he resided nine years. Then lived a short time in Illinois, and from there came to Newton County, Indiana. He now makes his home with his son and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Bridgeman, and is now past ninety-six years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Bridgeman are the parents of two children : Leta and Laura.
Mr. Bridgeman, after his first marriage, bought cighty acres of land in section 15 of Beaver Township, and as success attended him in a progressive scale he bought more land until he now has about 440 acres under his control and management. He has been one of the most progressive and successful farmers of Newton County for a period of two score years. Improvements of the most sub- stantial character have been put on the land under his control, and one of the best homes and one of the finest barns in the county now adorn his home place. His beautiful residence was erected about twenty-eight years ago. Mr. Bridgeman is an active republi- can and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
SANFORD F. MILLIGAN. The real development of Newton County has come largely in recent years. Its fertile lands lay practically unused for, a generation or more after the first settle- ments were planted, and after the resources became better known it is not strange that some of the prosperous farmers of other states, many of them from the West, were attracted to this beautiful region of Indiana. One of these men who came into Newton County recently and now controls a large amount of fine farming land in Beaver Township is Sanford F. Milligan, whose active years were largely spent in the State of Kansas.
Mr. Milligan is a native of Indiana, born in Butler County, Octo- ber 27, 1850. His parents were James and Eliza (Hamilton) Milligan. His father was born in Ireland and the original paternal ancestry came from Ireland. In 1860 James Milligan moved to Warren County, Indiana, and was a successful farmer throughout his active career.
The fifth in a family of nine children, eight of whom are still living, Sanford F. Milligan grew up on his father's farm, learned the lessons as taught in the district schools, and by experience and training was well fitted for the independent career which he began at the age of twenty-one. For a time he rented land, and on July 22, 1877, in Warren County, he married Miss Mary E. Brier. Mrs. Milligan has proved a very capable helper and sharer in his life's work, and by working together they have found prosperity.
After his marriage Mr. Milligan lived a time in Benton County, Indiana, then removed to Kansas. He bought a farm close to Oswego in that state, and that was his home for nineteen years.
760
JASPER AND NEWTON COUNTIES
While in Kansas he acquired about 500 acres of rich land. From Oswego le removed to Crawford County, Indiana, bought 120 acres there, and made his home on land that belonged to Mrs. Milligan's mother. January 20, 1896, Mr. Milligan returned to Indiana and since then has lived in Newton County. His wife had inherited eighty acres of land, and Mr. Milligan bought this eighty acres, and he has since gradually extended his holdings until he is now proprietor of one of the best country estates in Beaver Township. Mr. and Mrs. Milligan are the parents of eight children : V. Pearl, Robert E., Clifford E., Pauline, James L., A. Clayton, Leone and Emma L. Mr Milligan is a democrat, and strongly advocates those principles.
JAMES P. ROGERS. For fully thirty years James P. Rogers has filled an important niche in the agricultural activities of Newton County, and his farm and home in Beaver Township attest his thorough knowledge of the agricultural industry and his qualities as a homemaker and citizen.
He represents a family that was established in this section of Northwestern Indiana in very early days. Mr. Rogers is a native of White County, Indiana, where he was born January 2, 1856, a son of Luke and Harriet (Dobbins) Rogers. Both parents were natives of Virginia and were of F. F. V. stock. Luke Rogers arrived in White County, Indiana, in 1835, located on a farm near Wolcott, and was busied with its management and care until the outbreak of the Civil war. In 1861 he was one of the first to volunteer his services in defense of the Union. Enlisting in Com- pany K of the Twentieth Indiana Infantry, a regiment that was recruited at Lafayette, he soon went east with his comrades and joined the army of the Potomac. He saw some of the hardest fighting in that great theater of the war, and among other engage- ments he was at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Antietam, Gettys- burg, not to mention a great many of the lesser named battles of that period. After the close of his career as a soldier he returned to White County and lived there quietly engaged in agriculture until his death. He was a stanch republican, and for ten years filled the important office of trustee of Princeton Township.
It was on the White County farm that James P. Rogers spent his youth and early manhood, and he was at home until he was twenty-five. In the meantime he had taken advantages of such opportunities as were given by the local schools, and on reaching his majority was well able to face the world alone and carve out an independent career.
On March 27, 1881, Mr. Rogers married Miss M. J. Archibald. For nearly thirty years they traveled life's highway together and in that time their children grew up and they had reached a point in their progress where their environment was one of comfort and honor. In 1910 Mrs. Rogers passed away, and since then Mr.
761
JASPER AND NEWTON COUNTIES
Rogers has continued to live on the old homestead. He is the father of two children: Laura B., who was born April 9, 1882, and Letta B., born December 17, 1887.
After his marriage Mr. Rogers started out as a renter. He followed that plan of farming for twenty years, and prosperity rewarded his well directed efforts. He inherited the eighty-acre farm in section 31 of Beaver Township, where he had lived since 1886, and which is still his home. Mr. Rogers is a man of great public spirit and the people of Beaver Township know him for that quality and for his wholesome attitude toward all public affairs. He is an active member of the Knights of Pythias and is a stanch republican.
Mr. Rogers is a devout member of the Church of Disciples of Christ of Antioch, a landmark of this part of Indiana, and he has been very active in promoting and upbuilding the Sabbath school. His estate is known as "Walnut Lawn."
JOHN W. SMART. A resident of Newton County since he was four years of age, John W. Smart has long been one of the most successful farmers of Beaver Township. His life has been one of industry, high ideals, honorable integrity and straightforward citi- zenship. He has made the best of his opportunities and no one in Beaver Township stands higher in the respect and esteem of his fellow men.
Mr. Smart was born in Kosciusko County, Indiana, March 16, 1849, a son of Jolin and Lucinda (Clark) Smart. Both parents were natives of the State of Ohio. John Smart moved to Indiana and was an early settler in Kosciusko County, and he had the distinc- tion of putting up the first weatherboarded house in the entire county. He was a practical farmer, a man inured to hard work, and did much in a practical way to lay the foundation of modern civilization in two counties of Indiana. During the thirteen years he spent in Kosciusko County he cleared up a big tract of land, and he then removed to Newton County and again undertook the heavy task of the pioneer. His home in Newton County was east of Brook, where he farmed for a couple of years, and then sold out and moved to Morocco, buying a farm west of that town.
As already stated John W. Smart was four years of age when his parents came to Newton County. His father had been twice married. His first wife had two children, of whom one, Adonijah, a soldier in the Civil war, was killed at the Battle of Chickamauga, while the other, Isaac Smart, is engaged in the lumber business at Kentland, Indiana. His second wife was Miss Lucinda Clark, and of the twelve children of that marriage nine are living.
John W. Smart grew up in Newton County, attended the local schools and proved useful and competent at every task to which he was assigned. He married Miss Melissa Goddard. Seven children
762
JASPER AND NEWTON COUNTIES
have been born to them, and the five now living are: R. Godfrey, William Glenwood, Sarah May, Ora and Flossie.
After his marriage Mr. Smart engaged in the hardware business in Morocco with William Kennedy under the firm name of Smart & Kennedy. That was a firm that continued with mutual profit for three years. On leaving the hardware business Mr. Smart turned to farming, buying 255 acres in section 16 of Beaver Township. Since then he has lived there, has prospered in all departments of farming, and has reared a fine family of sons and daughters. He located on the farm in 1880, and that has been his home for more than thirty-five years. Mr. Smart is an ardent prohibitionist and an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, as are also his wife and children.
FREDRICK BARTHOLOMEW. Every year that passes adds addi- tional prestige and distinction to the honored survivors of the great war of the rebellion. Comparatively few of the men who fought for the preservation of the Union in the dark days of the '6os are still living. More than any class of men they deserve the esteem and respect of the present generation. One of the honored veterans of Newton County is Fredrick Bartholomew, who volunteered from this section of Indiana when a youth, and followed the flag as a faithful and courageous soldier until the wounds of battle compelled him to leave the ranks. Since then for a period of half a century or more he has followed farming, and is still living on his fine homestead in Beaver Township.
Mr. Bartholomew is an Englishman by birth and was born in that country June 17, 1842. His father, John B. Bartholomew, came to America in 1850, bringing his son Frederick, but leaving other members of the family behind. He located at Westfield in Chautauqua County, New York, where his family afterwards joined him, and where he lived for four years. In 1854 the family came to Tippecanoe County, Indiana, were there one year, and then removed to Jasper County. John B. Bartholomew rented land about five years, and made his first purchase of forty-three acres near the Jackson Township line. That was his home, and he engaged in the quiet and peaceful vocations of agriculture until his death. He was a member of the Christian Church.
Fredrick Bartholomew was the youngest of ten children. He was eight years of age when brought to America and has lived in Jasper and Newton counties for over fifty years. He attended local schools and his independence of character was early manifested, since at the age of seventeen he left home and hired out to work for William Conly. He contracted to work by the year and was paid a very small wage, $1oo for nine months' labor.
He was not yet nineteen years of age when the war broke out. Leaving his employment he enlisted in Company G of the Ninth Indiana Volunteer Infantry for a term of three years. His regi-
763
JASPER AND NEWTON COUNTIES
inent was first sent to West Virginia and afterwards was sent to Nashville with the army of the Cumberland to join the splendid fighting armies of Grant in the Tennessee campaign. Mr. Bar- tholomew took part in that tremendous battle of Shiloh or Pitts- burg Landing, and was severely wounded there. He afterwards rejoined his command, and on the last day of 1862 occurred the battle of Murfreesboro or Stone River. There again he sustained a wound, and that permanently disabled him for further service, so that he was never able to fill out his term of enlistment. He was in hospital at different places, then sent to the front on detail duty and was there till enlistment expired, and was finally discharged with a squad of six of his comrades at Louisville, Kentucky.
After leaving the army Mr. Bartholomew returned home and took up the work of farming which has so long been his mainstay and at which he has been unusually successful.
On March 19, 1865, Mr. Bartholomew married Miss Mary Archibald. She died fourteen months after their marriage. On January 13, 1867, he married Miss Margaret L. Murphey. Mrs. Bartholomew is now deceased, and she left an adopted son who is still with Mr. Bartholomew on the farm. Mrs. Bartholomew was an active church member and belonged to the Ladies' Aid Society.
Mr. Bartholomew lives on his fine farm in Beaver Township near the Jackson Township line. His place consists of forty acres and for many years it has responded to his capable management and care. Mr. Bartholomew is widely known over Newton County, both as a citizen and as an old soldier, and he well deserves the peace and quiet which his early years of sacrifice and toil have provided.
JOIN C. SARVER. With the lengthening perceptive of years more and more honor is paid to the old soldiers who fought for the preservation of the Union during the dark days of the '6os. One of these veterans still surviving and honored through that service and his long local activity as a citizen of Newton County is John C. Sarver of Morocco. For upwards of half a century he gave his active career to farming in this county, and is now living retired in his comfortable city home.
Born in Marion County, Indiana, February 5, 1842, a son of John Sarver, he was left an orphan at the age of three years. He soon afterwards found a home in Newton County with Mr. John * Padgett, who was one of the early settlers of this part of Indiana. It was in the home of his foster father that he spent his childhood and early youth, growing up on a farm and becoming practiced in its duties, and his education was that supplied by the local schools of sixty or seventy years ago.
Patriotic and loyal to his country, soon after the outbreak of the Civil war, though he was only a boy, he sought an opportunity to enter the army. At the age of eighteen, on August 16, 1862, he enlisted in Company E of the Ninety-ninth Indiana Volunteer In-
764
JASPER AND NEWTON COUNTIES
fantry. This regiment was recruited at South Bend, and was then sent south to Louisville, Kentucky. From there they went to Mem- phis under General Grant and started down the Mississippi, but before reaching Vicksburg were cut off by the Confederates. After that city fell the regiment went down the Yazoo River and was sub- scquently under the command of General Sherman. Mr. Sarver was with Sherman in the magnificent campaign toward Atlanta, and in one of the battles of that campaign received a severe gunshot wound in the thigh. Ile was then sent to a hospital, where he remained until convalescent, and then was at home until his wound had com- pletely healed. Rejoining his regiment, he had the distinction of taking part in the famous march to the sea, went up through the Carolinas, where he and his comrades were on guard duty, and from there proceeded to Maryland and thence to Washington, where the regiment took part in the Grand Review.
Receiving his honorable discharge after this creditable record as a soldier, Mr. Sarver returned home to Newton County. Here he resumed farming as a hired hand for a short time, and in that way gradually got started in the career which brought him so much prosperity.
On June 15, 1867, in Beaver Township, Mr. Sarver married Miss Cynthia J. Williams, a daughter of George and Mary (Ash) Williams. Her people came from l'ennsylvania, and Mrs. Sarver is one of a family of nine children. Of the five children born to Mr. and Mrs. Sarver the only one still living is George C. Sarver, who was born in 1868, and was reared and educated in Newton County, including a high school course at Morocco, and some years ago he went west and is now a prosperous farmer and rancher having a section of land in Montana. George married Miss Nora Cole, and has three children : William, Myrtle and Charlie.
From the time of his marriage until 1904 Mr. John C. Sarver was actively engaged in farming, and in that year he removed to Morocco. He still owns a valuable piece of land in Beaver Town- ship, but is only concerned now with the management of this farm and his various other financial interests.
He keeps up his old associations with army comrades by mem- bership in the Grand Army Post at Morocco, Indiana, and is also affiliated with Morocco Lodge No. 372, Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons, and was master of his lodge for ten years. Politically he is a democrat and a number of times has been called to serve in places of public trust. He was supervisor of his township a number of years and for eight years was constable in Morocco. He is a Newton County citizen who stands justly high in the estimation of his many friends and acquaintances.
WILLIAM D. MARTIN. During his residence in Newton County many interests have engaged the attention of William D. Martin. He is prominent as a banker, merchant, farmer, and people who
765
JASPER AND NEWTON COUNTIES
have known him longest have the most reason to trust him implicitly. He has followed a straightforward course through life, and his career has been of benefit to many others beside himself.
One of the oldest native sons of Newton County, he was born there August 28, 1853. llis parents were Joseph C. and Carlotta (Camblin) Martin. His father, who was a native of Kentucky, moved from that state in 1848 to Lafayette, Indiana, and in the course of the same year arrived in Newton County, Indiana. New- ton County was then a wilderness, practically unbroken, constituting a vast range of swamps and heavy timber and a few stretches of open prairie land. Physically and morally he was well fitted for the heavy task that confronted the pioncer. He acquired 160 acres of Government land in Washington Township, and spent most of his active career in its development and cultivation. He finally moved to the State of Kansas, where he died. His widow survived him and passed away in Newton County in 1915, aged ninety-two years. The father was a faithful Methodist for fifty years, and those that come after him may well take pride in his honorable character.
Second in a family of six children, five of whom are still living, William D. Martin grew up on his father's farm in Washington Township, and after completing his education in the local schools remained at home as a capable assistant in the management of the farm until he was twenty-five years old.
On April 6. 1879, Mr. Martin married Miss Mary D. Law. To their marriage were born four children, and the three now living are Joseph A., John D. and Alma L. The daughter Alma is a graduate of the high school and of the domestic science department of the University of Chicago.
After his marriage Mr. Martin spent fifteen years managing the farm of his father-in-law, and he then turned his attention to the grain business at Morocco in partnership with Mr. Law. That firm continued with mutual profit and interest for four years. Mr. Martin then resumed farming actively, and from Indiana moved to the territory of New Mexico, and was identified with that far dis- trict of the Southwest for three years. Since returning to Newton County he has looked after his varied business affairs. He is now president of the Morocco Citizens Bank, owns a half interest in the retail hardware business conducted under the name of Martin Bros. and still continues to derive profit and satisfaction from the man- agement of some of Newton County's choice farm lands. His home and his valuable farms of 512 acres are located one and five miles west of Morocco.
Fraternally Mr. Martin is affiliated with Morocco Lodge No. 372, Free and Accepted Masons, with the Royal Arch Chapter, with the Modern Woodmen of America, is a democrat in politics, and he and his family are active members of the Baptist Church. For two years he discharged the important responsibility connected with the office of trustee of Beaver Township.
766
JASPER AND NEWTON COUNTIES
CHARLES E. HoSIER. There is not a business man in the Town of Morocco whose attainments and character are deserving of higher respect than those of Charles E. Hosier, who is a native son of Newton County, has identified himself successfully with the work of farming and commercial lines at Morocco, and has been an active figure in the public life of his home city and the county.
Born in Newton County, April 26, 1875, he is the son of Jacob llosier, now a highly respected retired resident of Brook. Jacob Hosier was born in Ohio, moved from that state to Jay County, Indiana, and later to Newton County, this state. Jacob Hosier made a success as a farmer in Beaver Township of this county, and lived there until his retirement.
It was on the old homestead in Newton County that Charles E. Hosier spent the first twenty-one years of his life. In the meantime he attended the common schools, made the best use of his opportuni- ties, and acquiring industrious habits has not found it a difficult matter to advance himself and his personal fortunes in the world.
On September 8, 1896, in Beaver Township, Mr. Hosier married Miss Alice A. Smith. To their union have been born three children. The two now living are : Thelma E., born March 6, 1897; and Donald E., born February 6, 1906.
Mrs. Hosier has always been an active factor in the home life and in assisting her husband in his business affairs. After their marriage he engaged in farming on his father's place for two years, and then moved to the farm of Mrs. Hosier's mother. He remained there five years, and since then has been identified with the business community of Morocco. For two years he was in the butcher busi- ness, and in the fall of 1911 became proprietor of a restaurant, which he has made the medium of a splendid service to its large patronage, and has made it one of the popular institutions of the towns.
In politics Mr. Hosier is a republican, and a man of extended influence in his party and in civic affairs in general. For two years he was a member of the school board, for another two years was supervisor of roads, and in 1914 was in the political race for clerk of the Circuit Court. The party has also named him as a candi- date for the same office in 1916, and at this writing his candidacy is subject to the judgment of the people at the polls in November. Mr. Hosier is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias at Morocco, and the Modern Woodmen of America, Camp No. 6494, at Morocco.
ARNET G. PURDY. One of the younger citizens of Newton County who have risen in the estimation of their fellow men and by ability and character have reached an enviable position in the com- munity is Arnet G. Purdy, a successful farmer and business man and now serving as president of the Morocco Town Board.
767
JASPER AND NEWTON COUNTIES
Mr. Purdy was born March 2, 1883, a son of Isaac T. and Phebe (Davis) Purdy. His father was born in Kentucky. His grand- father Zachariah I. Purdy was also a native of Kentucky, and a man whose career was especially notable because of the fact lie lived to be one hundred six years of age. In the early days he removed to Warren County. Indiana, but after some time returned to Kentucky, but he died in Marion, Indiana. His children, including Isaac T., came from Kentucky to Indiana, and Isaac located in Newton County. In this county he located on eighty acres of land which he bought on the Sand Ridge, and was one of the carly settlers in that district. The land he paid $io for he afterward sold for $20. After selling his farm on Sand Ridge he moved to Morocco and was engaged in the meat business there, having established a shop thirty- one years ago. The grandfather, Z. J. Purdy was one of the honored veterans of the Civil war in Newton County. He served three years with an Indiana Regiment, and his record as a soldier was as capable as in business affairs. The father of Arnet was widely known for his public spirit as well as for the energy with which he prosecuted his various business undertakings. At the time of his death his estate comprised about 400 acres of land in Iroquois County, Ilinois. Isaac Purdy was an active democrat, and in that brand of politics A. G. Purdy has remained.
A. G. Purdy was the oldest in a family of five children. He grew up in Newton County, received a training in the public schools, and has been chiefly identified with stock farming and business. On July 25, 1908, he married Miss Ida MI. Dickey, who was a resident of Oklahoma. Six children have been born to their union : Marvel, Blanche, Alice, Florence, Floyd and Thomas. Mr. Purdy has served as president of the Morocco Town Board for more than three years.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.