USA > Indiana > White County > A standard history of White County Indiana : an authentic narrative of the past, with an extended survey of modern developments in the progress of town and county, Vol. I > Part 53
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JACOB MARKLE
Among the early settlers of White County was Jacob Markle, who was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1803 and died at Monti- cello in November, 1880. After spending most of his life in Tippecanoe and Jasper counties, Indiana, he removed to White County about the close of the Civil war and built the woolen factory which formerly stood on the east side of the river opposite Monticello, but this enterprise was beyond his means, the result was financial ruin, his friends forsook him and his life was closed in comparative poverty.
WILLIAM P. MARSHALL
William P. Marshall died suddenly in Monticello, Monday evening, April 5, 1914. He was born in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, Novem- ber 2, 1834, and on August 17, 1865, was married to Florence Rose Brown of Monticello, who is still living. A son, Charles Marshall, of Indianapolis, was born to their union. He left a good soldier record, being a member of the One Hundredth Pennsylvania and the Ninth Indiana regiments. He was a skilled painter and decorator by trade, but for the last years of his life was a justice of the peace in Monticello.
EDWARD MCCLOUD
Edward McCloud, an old time resident of Cass Township, died at the home of his son Sidney, Tuesday, July 17, 1900. He was born in Franklin County, Ohio, February 4, 1829, came to Indiana in 1850, and on August 21, 1851, married Emeline Wiley, by whom he had nine chil- dren, six of whom survived him. On January 3, 1864, he enlisted in the Sixty-third Regiment Indiana Volunteers and at the close of the war returned home. He was intensely religious, a good citizen and a brave
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soldier. His funeral services were held at the White Oak Church and his remains were interred in the Buffalo Cemetery.
MARITTA MCCLOUD-PARCELS
Maritta McCloud-Parcels was born in LaRue, Marion County, Ohio, November 9, 1826, and died at Monticello, June 9, 1912. She was a sister of Edward McCloud and grew to womanhood in the place of her birth. On February 25, 1847, she was married to William H. Parcels, who died in Monticello, May 19, 1886. In 1850 they moved to Pulaski County, Indiana, and six years later came to Monticello and located on the prem- ises where both died. In early life she joined the Methodist Episcopal Church and continued faithful until her death. She was also the last sur- viving charter member of the Rebekah Lodge of Monticello. Rev. J. E. McCloud, her nephew, assisted Rev. H. L. Kindig in the funeral services and her body was laid to rest in the Monticello Cemetery.
SOLOMON MCCOLLOCH
Solomon McColloch, the pioneer of Prairie Township, died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Clara Lilly, at Pleasant Ridge, Ohio, in April, 1912, aged ninety-four years and four days. He was born near Bellefontaine, Ohio, March 29, 1818, both his parents being Scotch. He had two brothers and three sisters. His father, Solomon McColloch, Sr., moved from Ohio to White County with a family of five children in 1832, being one of the earliest settlers of Prairie Township and the first election inspector appointed after the organization of the township. Solomon McColloch, Jr., was married three times and of the twelve chil- dren born to him by these unions three only survive. For many years Mr. McColloch farmed the Bartley place on the southeast border of Monticello, and it was here that his older children reached manhood and womanhood. The deceased was buried at Pleasant Ridge, Ohio.
WILLIAM W. MCCOLLOCH
William W. McColloch, a soldier who lost a leg in the service of his country, was county recorder eight years and postmaster at Monticello at the time of his death. For almost forty years Mr. McColloch was one of the most familiar figures on the streets of Monticello, with a wide ac- quaintance all over the county. He was a son of Solomon and Elizabeth McColloch and was born on a farm near Brookston, September 14, 1842. He enlisted in Company K, Twentieth Indiana Infantry, July 22, 1861; was wounded in the seven days' fight before Richmond June 25, 1862, taken prisoner and had his left leg amputated by rebel surgeons. Was confined for a time in Libby Prison. While attending school at the Battleground Academy he was elected county recorder in 1866 and entered upon his official duties in July, 1867, serving eight years. He then became a member of the abstracting firm of McColloch & Bushnell
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and was appointed postmaster in Monticello in January, 1898, re-ap- pointed in 1892, having served a little more than five years at the time of his death, March 8, 1903. October 5, 1871, he was married to Martha M. Huff, daughter of Judge Samuel Huff, who survived him a little more than five years, dying April 20, 1908. They had no children.
THOMAS MCCOLLUM
Thomas McCollum was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, June 20, 1803, and was married February 28, 1823. In 1836 he moved to Coshocton County, Ohio, where he lived until 1872, when he located on a farm four miles northwest of Monticello. In the spring of 1878 his wife died, and on August 13, 1880, he, too, passed away. He was the father of fourteen children, most of whom are dead. One son, Mr. James H. McCollum, a retired business man of Monticello, and now past eighty years old, is living in Monticello, which has been his home since 1854.
DAVID MCCONAHAY
David McConahay, of Jackson Township, who always enjoyed the name of "Buckwheat Dave," from his singing the old-fashioned notes, was born in Bourbon County, Kentucky, January 5, 1817, and came with his parents to White County in the fall of 1833, but after a short stay moved to Rush County, where he lived for two years and came back, locating in Big Creek Township. He taught the first school held in what later became Liberty Township. On October 15, 1840, he mar- ried Miss Sarah Crose, who was born in Indiana, August 15, 1825, and this union was blessed with seven children. In 1848 he located in Jackson Township. He was ordained a preacher in the Christian Church in 1853, and for many years followed that calling. A democrat in politics, he served as county assessor in 1849-50, and for two terms served as township trustee, in all of which offices he left an unblemished record. His wife died in March, 1900, and he passed away at Idaville, December 30, 1890.
RANSON MCCONAHAY
In Bourbon County, Kentucky, was born, November 30, 1803, to David and Jane (Ranson) Mcconahay, a son, who, with his family, was destined to play an active part in the early history of White County. Ranson Mcconahay received a good practical education, later he taught school, learned the blacksmith and shoemaker's trade, and for a time engaged in farming. On March 26, 1829, he married Mary Thompson, in Campbell County, Kentucky, and in the same year located in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, where he farmed for three years, when he came to what is now White County, locating about twelve miles south of what is now Monticello. For twelve years he farmed and taught school, when he moved to Liberty Township, and upon the death, on January 7, 1846, of William Sill, he was appointed to the office of clerk,
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auditor and recorder of White County, the office held by Mr. Sill at his death. He was the second incumbent of this office, and at the expiration of his term by appointment he was elected clerk and served two terms, the last term closing in 1858, when he was succeeded by his son, Orlando. He then engaged in mercantile business in Monticello, Burnettsville, Norway and also Pulaski County. About the year 1867 he quit the active life, and on April 22, 1868, died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Haworth, in Pulaski County. His remains are buried in the Star City Cemetery. His first wife died in Monticello, September 19, 1849. She was the mother of Orlando, deceased, and James A., yet living in Kansas. On December 17, 1850, he married his second wife, Mrs. Elizabeth (Haworth) Sturgeon, by whom he had two children, Ranson C. and John W. His son, Orlando Mcconahay, served for two terms as clerk of White County, being the third person to hold that office, quitting it in 1867. From this brief sketch the reader will readily see that Ranson Mcconahay filled a prominent part in our early history. For twenty years he, with his son Orlando, filled the responsible position of clerk of the county, and filled it well.
DAVID MCCUAIG
Locating in Monticello at a comparatively early date and engaging in the hotel business Mr. McCuaig was closely identified with the town's material and social advancement throughout a long and busy life. He was possessed of a well balanced mind and natural force of character which made his counsel and advice valuable both in public and private matters. He was born in Greenock, Scotland, September 17, 1836, and came with his parents to America in 1846, stopping first in Washington County, Ohio. He came to Monticello in 1856, and on November 20, 1860, was married to Jane Clingen, who is still living. In June, 1866, they began the hotel business in a little one-story building on lot 42, at the southeast corner of Main and Washington streets. To this they added as the years went by until it grew to a large and commodious hostelry, known as "The McCuaig House," for many years the town's leading hotel. In 1901 they sold the lot and the site of the old hotel is now occupied by the splendid Odd Fellows' Block erected the same year. Mr. McCuaig died March 11, 1902.
AMOR S. MCELHOE
Amor S. McElhoe was born in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, Decem- ber 5, 1817, died at his home north of Monticello October 12, 1905, aged nearly eighty-eight years. He was a son of Samuel McElhoe, a revolu- tionary soldier, who served under Washington and who told of losing his shoes on the night the troops crossed the Delaware to surprise the Hessians. His grandsons, Robert and William McElhoe, still living near Monticello, remember well how their father and mother used to have to aid this revolutionary grandfather in dressing himself. Thus are
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those remote times of that stirring period linked directly with the present. Amor S. McElhoe's family located in Monticello in 1848, coming from Pennsylvania overland and by the Wabash and Erie Canal. He was a blacksmith and claimed to have made the first steel mouldboard plow in White County. He was married in 1842 to Mary D. Burns, who died in December, 1896. He left surviving four children, Mrs. Joseph Adams, of Rensselaer, Mrs. George Henderson, of Wolcott, and Robert and Wil- liam McElhoe, north of Monticello.
ROBERT MCWILLIAMS
Robert Mc Williams, son of David and Martha Hamilton Mc Williams, was born in Knox County, Ohio, October 1, 1819, and died on his farm near Idaville in 1892. In 1840 he came on a canal boat from Dayton, Ohio, to Logansport to visit Robert Ginn, on which occasion he bought a farm northeast of Idaville, but returned to Ohio and pursued his trade of wagonmaker for fourteen years, when he came back to Jackson Township, lived for a year on the Stringtown Road, and in 1855 located on the farm which he owned until his death. He was married three times, first to Emily Jones on July 1, 1847, who died June 4, 1848. They had one son which died in infancy. On December 26, 1850, he married Mary Jane Jacoby, and to this union was born seven children, Emily, wife of Daniel S. McCall; John, who died at the age of twelve; Martha, who married David Hess; Peter, who died in his youth; David, a farmer in Illinois; Henry and Robert, Jr., of California. His second wife died January 17, 1870, and on September 5, 1871, he married Eliza- beth McCall, who died childless, about 1898. Mr. McWilliams was a republican, but no office-seeker. In 1874 he was the republican can- didate for trustee of Jackson Township, being defeated by one vote in that democratic stronghold. About the year 1868 he united with the United Presbyterian Church at Idaville, of which he was an active mem- ber until his death. He was a man of deep and positive religious con- victions and active in upholding all that was for the good of the com- munity in which he lived.
DR. JOHN W. MEDARIS
Dr. John W. Medaris, who died in Brookston, September 21, 1911, wanting one month of being ninety-seven years old, was one of the most honored of our old settlers. At his death he was doubtless the oldest Mason in the State of Indiana, having been a member of that institution since 1846. He was born in Clearmont, Ohio, October 22, 1814, was educated in Ohio and married Miss Martha Perry in Cincinnati, Ohio, who died in 1856, and in 1858 he married Elizabeth S. Pate, of Lawrence- burg, Indiana, who, with two children, Wilbur and Alta, survived him. His only child by his first marriage, Mrs. W. B. Cochran, of Danville, Illinois, died in October, 1911. In 1859 Doctor Medaris located in Brooks- ton, and thereafter was intimately identified with the welfare of its people.
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FRANCIS M. MILLION
Francis M. Million, son of Ephraim Million, was born in Jackson Township, June 19, 1841, and died in Burnettsville, November 29, 1911. His father was killed by a runaway team in 1847. On October 4, 1860, Mr. Million was married to Katie E. Hoagland, who survived him with their three children. His entire life was spent in and around Burnetts- ville, where he was well known and respected.
RANDOLPH J. MILLION
A well-known member of the White County bar, and son of Francis M. and Kate E. Million, was born in Jackson Township, September 7, 1867, and died at his home in Monticello, September 8, 1911. He grad- uated from the law department of the University of Michigan in 1889 and the following year was admitted to practice at the White County bar. On August 29, 1891, he married Miss Zulu Hanna, of Burnetts- ville, and to them were born. eight children, six of whom, with the mother, were left to mourn their loss. Soon after coming to Monticello he united with the Christian Church, in which he held a membership at the time of his death. He was buried in Riverview Cemetery.
REV. ROBERT M. MILLION
Rev. Robert M. Million, who served for many years as an active min- ister of the Church of God (New Dunkards) at Burnettsville, died at his home in that place in May, 1912. He was a native of the county, born January 22, 1839, and spent his entire life in the vicinity of Idaville and Burnettsville. In June, 1862, he was married to Marie J. Alkire and in October, 1868, they both united with the Church of God, in which two years later he was ordained to the ministry. Besides his wife, the deceased left two sons and a daughter.
GEORGE H. MITCHELL
The late George H. Mitchell, who claimed to be the first native white child in Jackson Township, was born December 5, 1835, and a few years afterwards the family settled on the first farm north of the present Town of Idaville. His father, William W. Mitchell, was a Kentuckian who moved to Madison County, Ohio, where he married Miss Maria Phoebus. After the birth of a son in 1828 the family located in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, ten miles north of Lafayette, and two daughters were born in that locality before the family settled in Jackson Township during 1834. Most of Mr. Mitchell's life was spent on the old farm, except the Civil war period, which he spent in active service, but in 1890 he moved to Idaville, where he died in 1913.
ISAAC B. MOORE
Isaac B. Moore was born in Morgan County, Ohio, January 30, 1827; came to White County in 1845; was married to Miss Margaret A.
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VanNice September, 1858; died at his home just west of Monticello, June 9, 1901. He was a graduate of Hanover College and of McCormick Theological Seminary. A number of years of his life were devoted to the ministry in the Presbyterian Church, but failing health caused him to drop this work and engage in farming.
THOMAS B. MOORE
Liberty Township has had few more honored citizens than Thomas B. Moore, who was born in Morgan County, Ohio, August 9, 1824, and at the age of twenty-eight moved to the farm in Liberty Township, where he spent the rest of his life. He was married September 20, 1849, to Louisa W. Paul, who died in July, 1892. He was afterward married to Mrs. Sarah Tucker. He was the father of Mrs. Lilly Renwick and Prof. Benjamin F. Moore, one of the leading educators of the state and at present superintendent of the city schools of Muncie, Indiana. His life was one of industry and sacrifice and he became one of the county's most prosperous farmers. At the age of fifteen he joined the Methodist Episcopal Church and remained steadfast in his faith during life. His death occurred at his home near Buffalo, October 8, 1895.
JOHN W. NETHERCUTT
John W. Nethercutt, a pioneer of Jackson Township, died in Burnetts- ville, Thursday, December 18, 1913. He was born in Eaton, Darke County, Ohio, November 29, 1830, and came to Indiana with his parents when he was but a mere infant, locating on a farm southeast of Burnetts- ville. He spent his entire life in that locality, being outside the state but once, making a visit to Chenoa, Illinois, when what is now the Pan Handle Railroad, was completed. On April 30, 1857, he married Lydia C. Smith and to them was born ten children, six of whom and also the wife preceded him to the unknown. Those children who survived him were Alfred H., William E., Clifford H., and Arch O. At the time of his death he was Burnettsville's oldest business man and for many years had been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
NOBLE NORDYKE
Noble Nordyke, who came to White County in 1846, was born in North Carolina, February 11, 1832, and died at Wolcott, August 15, 1912. He was reared a Friend but his latter days were spent as a member of the Advent Church. In 1852, he married Mary E. Vinson and they lived together forty-six years, until her death April 12, 1898. In December, 1898, he was married to Mrs. Eliza Carpenter of North Liberty, Indiana, who, with three children by his first marriage survived him.
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WILLIAM ORR
William Orr was born in Greene County, Pennsylvania, May 25, 1814, where in early life he learned the printer's trade. In 1835 he located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and the following year moved to Lafayette, where he worked at his trade until 1847 when he located on a farm about three miles northwest of Monticello, where he lived until his death on August 20, 1891. A man of strong personality and generous to a fault he was beloved by all who knew him and his untimely death (by being struck by a railroad train) brought sorrow to a wide circle of friends.
ALFRED R. ORTON
Alfred R. Orton, for the last seventy years a resident of Monticello, was born in Perry County, Ohio, November 5, 1833, and at the age of twelve came to Monticello with his mother, his father having died in 1844. Mr. Orton's parents were of English stock, his father, John B. Orton, being a native of Vermont, where he was born early in the last century. His mother was a native of Pennsylvania and died in the Orton home at Monticello in the summer of 1879. Mr. Orton, after a course in Wabash College, did some surveying in the West, then for over twenty years was in the mercantile business in Monticello and in 1882 was elected surveyor of the county, being the only candidate elected on the republican ticket. On December 27, 1859, at Bedford, Indiana, he married Miss Addie C. Parker, who is yet living, and to them have been born three children : a daughter Ora, who for almost twenty years has been a teacher in the public schools of Monticello ; a son, Julius Orton, a minister in the Presbyterian Church, and a daughter Emma, deceased. Mr. Orton is one of the most prominent members of the Presbyterian Church in White County and, with his family, is highly respected in Monticello.
JULIUS W. PAUL
Julius W. Paul, ex-treasurer of White County and at the time of his death cashier in the Farmers Bank in Monticello. He was born on his father's farm near Guernsey in White County, December 8, 1862. His father died November 20, 1873, and five years later his mother removed to Monticello. He taught school for four years, then served four years as deputy under his uncle, County Treasurer Robert R. Breckenridge, and also four years as deputy under County Treasurer H. A. B. Moor- hous. He was elected treasurer in 1892, but was defeated for re-election in 1894. He died November 20, 1898, leaving a widow and one son.
MRS. MARY PAUL
Mrs. Mary Paul was a native of White County and one of the oldest continuous residents. She was the daughter of John Reynolds and was born on the George A. Spencer farm, southwest of Monticello, May 18,
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1838, being one of the first white children born in Big Creek Township. She died at her home in Monticello, April 16, 1915. She was married to Benjamin D. Paul, September 8, 1859. He died November 20, 1873, and soon thereafter she removed to Monticello, where she lived the remainder of her life. Three children born to them, Julius W., Mary B., after- wards Mrs. Bert Kingsbury, and Louis B., all preceded her in death. She is survived by two grandsons, Paul Kingsbury of Bloomington and Benjamin Paul of Hammond, Indiana.
BENJAMIN D. PETTIT
Benjamin D. Pettit was born in Miami County, Ohio, June 30, 1822, and on November 29, 1849, was married to Miss Patsy Morris, and in 1853 removed to Marion County, Ohio, where he lived for thirteen years, after which he migrated to White County, where he resided until his death, which occurred on April 28, 1879, on his farm near Brookston. Of him it was said that he was "a good citizen, a noble man, a kind husband and father and a patron of suffering humanity."
NATHAN C. PETTIT
.
Nathan C. Pettit, a pioneer merchant of Monticello, was born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, in October, 1831, and on October 16, 1851, was married to Martha Scott, who survived him for about ten years. He was one of the oldest members of the local lodge of Odd Fellows and in 1888 united with the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he retained his membership until his death, which took place in Monticello on May 28, 1895. Mr. Pettit was the father of five children, only two of whom are living. He was one of Monticello's prosperous business men and at his death was planning to enlarge his business.
REUBEN R. PETTIT
Mr. Pettit was at one time one of the best known men in White County. He was born in Burlington County, New Jersey, November 18, 1826, and was married there on April 2, 1848, and came to White County in 1849, locating at Burnettsville. He later resided at Reynolds for a number of years, where he became prominent in local Masonic circles, subsequently transferring his membership to Wolcott and then to Rem- ington. He died at the latter place October 30, 1897.
MRS. MATILDA PIERCE
Mrs. Matilda Pierce died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. J. H. Shultz, in Logansport, January 12, 1901, at the age of seventy-three years. She was the widow of Lucius Pierce and for many years resided with her husband and family at the old Pierce home on the sand ridge on what is now North Dewey Street; the little old brick house being still
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occupied as a residence. She was a daughter of George Armstrong Spencer, one of White County's earliest settlers.
JOSEPH POGUE
Joseph Pogue, eldest son of William and Sarah Pogue, was born in Shelby County, Ohio, November 20, 1829, and died at the home of Ertie J. Rogers, in Monticello, on March 27, 1914. He came from his Ohio home to Indiana, on horseback, in 1854 and on January 1, 1856, married Rachel Layman, who died in 1865, and later two of their four children were taken by death. On May 5, 1867, he married Leah Jami- son who died June 15, 1888, and on December 3, 1890, he was married to Ellen M. Thompson and to this marriage was born one child. When forty years old he joined the Methodist Episcopal Church of which he remained a consistent member until his death. He had resided in White County for more than fifty years.
JOHN PRICE
John Price, fourth son of Peter and Asenath Price, born at the Price home just west of Monticello, February 14, 1836, died at the same place January 2, 1896. He was married in 1867 to Miss Nancy Ellis, who, with their only child, died 1874 and both were buried in the same grave. He was successively sergeant, second and first lieutenant of Company K, Twentieth Indiana Infantry. His merit as a soldier was attested in a fitting tribute prepared by his captain, John C. Brown.
JOSEPH PRICE
Joseph Price died at his home in Carroll County, just southeast of Monticello, September 8, 1898. He was a son of Peter Price, one of the first settlers in the vicinity of Monticello, where he grew to manhood. His widow, Mrs. Maria Price, and three children, Ben Price, Jr., Mrs. George Biederwolf and Mrs. Charles W. Davis, are now residents of Monticello. At the time of his death, Mr. Price was in his sixty-ninth year.
WILLIAM L. RAMEY
One of the prominent farmers of the eastern part of Prairie Town- ship, William L. Ramey was born in Jefferson County, Kentucky, Janu- ary 19, 1834. Located in White County in 1846. He was married to Clarinda Smith, April 2, 1857. He died December 26, 1907, leaving a widow and eight children-five boys and three girls-all of adult age.
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