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. II > Part 13
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engaged industriously therein until his retirement, in 1902, since which time he has resided at his home at Monticello. He still, however, retains 168 acres, the old homestead place in section 26. Mrs. Holladay died February 16, 1914, at Monticello, and was buried at Brookston.
Mr. Holladay still retains an interest in his old army comrades, and is a popular comrade of Post No. 51, Monticello, Grand Army of the Republic, of which he has served for five years as commander, while his fraternal connection is with Chalmers Lodge of the Knights of Pythias. A stalwart democrat, he has been active as a worker in the ranks of his party, and has served as township supervisor and as a member of the county council of White County. During his long resi- dence in White County he has formed a wide acquaintance, and a life of probity and straightforward dealing has gained many well-wishers and admirers for him. Mr. Holladay has two of the old parchment deeds executed under the hand and seal of President James K. Polk, dated May 10, 1848, which are valuable heirlooms.
Charles A. Holladay, son of John and Charlotta (Marquam) Hol- laday, was born in Prairie Township, White County, Indiana, November 14, 1850, and received his education in the township schools, which he attended during the short winter terms, the rest of the year being passed in the work of the homestead. He early had heavy responsibilities thrust upon him, for he was but fourteen years of age when the other male members of the family went to the front as soldiers, and the lad was called upon to take care of the family. He grew up to farming pursuits, and early chose the pursuits of the soil as his life's vocation. On May 26, 1875, Mr. Holladay was married to Sarah Jane Martin, daughter of Robert and Martha A. (Sortor) Martin, who came to White County, Indiana, from Ohio, died here, and are buried at Brookston. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Holladay : Ernest G., a grad- uate of Purdue University, and now a resident of Nashville, Tennessee ; Fannie A., who was killed in a runaway accident, in 1882; Bessie Lucile, who died in 1886; and Mary Emma, who resides with her parents, and who is a graduate of the University of Indiana.
After engaging in farming and stock raising for many years, Mr. Holladay rented his 200-acre farm, and in 1896 retired from farming. He still is the owner of this property, however, which he rents, and is also the owner of 150 acres in Pulaski County, Indiana. He resided at Chalmers for nine years, then spent three years at Bloomington, Indiana, and finally came to Monticello, where he now makes his home.
A republican in his political views, Mr. Holladay spent six years as trustee of Big Creek Township, and at the present time is a member of the White County Council and of the county board of charity. His
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public service has been made notable by conscientious faithfulness in the discharge of duty and constant zeal in looking after the best inter- ests of the people. His fraternal connections include membership in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias, and he and the members of his family are identified with the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Holladay has been an eye-witness to the great changes that have taken place during a long period of years, from the days when he drove to church with the family in an ox-team to the present day of automobiles. He has contributed his full share to the development of his part of the county, and his honorable life, both public and private, entitles him fully to the esteem and respect in which he is universally held.
REV. WILLIAM MCCORKLE. For nearly half a century a resident of White County, Rev. William McCorkle came to this locality after a service in the Union army during the Civil war, and the later years of his life have been spent as a leader in the militant church, a cause to which he has given as faithful service as performed while fighting the battles of freedom in the South.
William McCorkle was born in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, February 19, 1844, a son of William and Elizabeth (Faults) McCorkle. His parents spent all their lives in Pennsylvania. In 1862 William McCorkle enlisted in Company F of the Fourth Pennsylvania Cavalry, and his regiment was a part of the Army of the Potomac. He was in many battles, scouting and skirmishing campaigns, and at the end of the war he received his honorable discharge at Pittsburgh in 1865. As a boy, while attending school, he had acquired the trade of blacksmith, and on coming west to White County in October, 1865, found employ- ment at his trade in Monticello. In 1867 Mr. McCorkle went west to Missouri, but returned to White County in the fall of 1872 and located at the Village of Idaville. That was his home for nearly thirty years, and during that time he followed his trade and was otherwise identified with the industrious and high-minded citizenship of that community. He removed to Monticello in March, 1902, and has since lived in the county seat.
Many years ago Mr. McCorkle took up the study of theology, and for the past sixteen years has been a minister in the Baptist Church. He was formerly connected with the New Dunkard Church of God at Idaville. On November 15, 1866, Mr. McCorkle married Miss Margaret D. Howie, daughter of James and Jane (Malcolm) Howie. Their one daughter, Jennie, is the wife' of Hamilton E. McCulley. Rev. Mr. McCorkle in politics combines the doctrines and principles of the old
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republican party as represented by Lincoln, but has strong leanings towards the prohibition cause. He is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is a member of Tippecanoe Post No. 51 of the Grand Army of the Republic.
DANIEL KEEFER # of Wooster, Ohio, married Charlotte Englebright of England. In 1855 or 1854 they moved to White County, where they bought the farm now known as the Warden farm, east of Monticello. Here they lived until they died. Mr. Keefer was a reserved gentleman. Mrs. Keefer was a woman of unusual temperament. She was good looking, fond of dress and had some little talent for art. She kept her household accounts in a book with large margins, and in these mar- gins were her designs and drawing. She was loyal and loving, but could also be haughty, yet all who remember her do so with delight and admiration. I have heard more than one old lady in Monticello say that, as a girl, it was her ambition to grow old like Mrs. Keefer. She never grew too old to be interested in her personal appearance and to take care in the details of her dress. This was no common thing in her day and surroundings.
Two children survive the marriage of Daniel and Charlotte Keefer: Lucyndia, living in Ohio; and Daniel, living in Attica, Indiana.
WILLIAM BEAVER KEEFER, * one of the early settlers of White County, was a son of Daniel and Charlotte (Englebright) Keefer. He married Sarah Anne, daughter of Joseph and Mary (Harley) Mouer. They lived near Wooster, Ohio, where their oldest daughter Lucy was born. In 1852 they came with the Mouer family to White County and settled in Monticello, where Mr. Keefer began his career as a merchant tailor and real estate dealer. At one time he owned and lived on the farm now known as the Roberts farm, and it was he who planted the original apple orchard east of the dam.
Mr. Keefer was a self-educated man. He was fond of learning, and at his death had a well-selected library. Mr. and Mrs. Keefer were members of the Christian Church in Ohio, and later Mr. Keefer became a member of the Christian Church in Monticello. They were known for their honest kindness. Their children are: Lucy, who married Dr. Frank Dale, both now deceased, and it is said by all who knew her that Mrs. Dale was the sweetest singer and the most beautiful woman Monti- cello has ever had; Mary Charlotte, who married James Michael Gard-
* By Miss Gardner, librarian of the Monticello Library
.
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ner, now living in Camden, Indiana; Elizabeth Jane, who married Wil- liam Ziegler of Attica, Indiana; James and Ida, both deceased; and William D., living in Alaska.
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JOSEPH MOWER,* whose family name was formerly spelled Maurer, came from Pennsylvania. He married Mary Harley of Ohio. In 1852 they came from near Wabash, Indiana, to White County and bought the farm now owned by Spencer Carson. Their children were: Levi, Elizabeth, Jesse, Sarah Anne, John, Rudolph, Joseph, Daniel and Wil- liam. The only living member of this family is Joseph, now living in East Monticello.
Joseph Mower of East Monticello married Elizabeth Burgner of Ohio. They bought the farm known as the Pike Creek farm and built the present house on that place. With the exception of a few years they lived there until they moved to East Monticello. Their children are: Blanche, widow of William Couger, living near Pike Creek; Charley, living in Monticello; Frank, living in Monticello; Lucy, who married Mr. Witham; and Walter, deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Mower live a quiet life and are devoted to their religion. They are members of the Chris- tian Church at Monticello.
DANIEL BESHOAR. A scion of a family whose name has been worthily linked with the annals of White County for half a century, Mr. Beshoar has here maintained his home since the days of his early youth and has been successfully concerned with farming and stock-growing, with busi- ness interests in the City of Monticello, and with civic affairs. He is now engaged as a buyer and shipper of stock and is a valued member of the City Council of Monticello-a citizen of sterling character and one who has impregnable place in popular confidence and esteem.
Though his entire adult life has been passed in White County, Mr. Beshoar reverts to the old Keystone State as the place of his nativity. He was born at Lewistown, Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, on the 29th of January, 1850, and is a son of Daniel and Mary (Smith) Beshoar, the former of whom was born in Juniata County, Pennsylvania, on the 15th of June, 1805, and the latter of whom was born in Snyder County, that state, on the 12th of January, 1831, their marriage having been solemnized in Mifflin County, on the 12th of January, 1849. The father was of French and the mother of Irish lineage and both families were early founded in Pennsylvania. Of the nine children the subject of this review is the firstborn; Adaline, who was born October 15, 1851, died
* By Miss Gardner, librarian of the Monticello Library.
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in 1866; Emma, who was born October 7, 1853, died on the 18th of the same month; James was born October 16, 1854; Margaret, May 3, 1857; and Hiram, June 19, 1859; Albert was born September 30, 1861, and died April 2, 1873; Alice was born December 16, 1864; and William on the 11th of February, 1866, the foregoing list indicating that five of the children are still living. The father was first married on the 20th of March, 1828, and Rev. David Shallenberger then performed the nuptial ceremony which made Miss Susanna Rothrock his wife. She passed to the life eternal December 18, 1847, and of the ten children of this union only two are living-Mrs. Sarah Musser, of McVeytown, Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, and Mrs. Asenath Snyder, who resides at Trinidad, Col- orado.
In his native state Daniel Beshoar, Sr., received excellent educational advantages, as gauged by the standards of the locality and period, and as an able linguist familiar with both the French and German as well as the English languages, he was frequently called upon to serve as an interpreter in court proceedings in Pennsylvania. He continued his residence in the Keystone State until March 16, 1865, when he removed with his family to White County, Indiana, and located on a farm one and one-half miles north of Monticello, where his death occurred on the 27th of October of the same year. He was originally a whig and later a republican in politics and as a man of well-fortified opinions con- cerning governmental affairs he took a lively interest in public matters and in all that pertained to the community welfare. Mrs. Mary (Smith) Beshoar survived her husband by forty years and was summoned to the life eternal on the 12th of October, 1905, at the age of seventy-four years, both having been earnest members of the Old Brethren Church and the remains of both being laid to rest in the cemetery at Burnetts- ville, White County.
Daniel Beshoar II, the immediate subject of this sketch, acquired his early education in the excellent schools of his native state and was nearly sixteen years of age at the time of the family removal to White County, Indiana. At the age of eighteen years he initiated his inde- pendent career as a farmer in this county; shortly prior to this he had assumed marital responsibilities, since, on the 12th of November, 1867, was solemnized his marriage to Miss Catherine A. Young, a daughter of Jacob and Amanda (Conroud) Young, who immigrated to Indiana from their native State of Pennsylvania in 1866 and who first settled in Carroll County, whence they came to White County two years later; they located on a farm near the Village of Norway and later removed to Lake Cicot, Cass County, where Mr. Young died on the 19th of March, 1876, his widow long surviving him and passing the closing years of
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her life in the City of Gary, this state, where her death occurred on the 22d of November, 1913, aged eighty-two years, six months and twenty- seven days. Mr. and Mrs. Beshoar became the parents of three children : Gertrude, who is the wife of Robert Spencer, of this county; Milton, who died at the age of five weeks; and Ella, who is the wife of Ora Hamill, their home being in the City of Monticello.
Mrs. Beshoar is a lady who commands the respect and friendship of all who know her. Socially she is a member of the Eastern Star No. 165 of Monticello. When she and her husband were married and began the journey of life their cash capital would not exceed $25, and in the years' labor and economy they have acquired a nice competence, besides rearing and educating their children for honored places in their respective homes. Mrs. Beshoar has stayed by her husband's side all these years, aiding him in the building up of their peaceful and happy home life, and their home is one of cordiality and good cheer to their many friends who may enter its hospitable portals.
Mr. Beshoar continued his operations as one of the progressive and substantial agriculturists and stockgrowers of Jackson Township until December, 1887, when he removed with his family to Monticello, where he and his wife have since maintained their residence and where they have an attractive home that is known for its hospitality. For a period of eleven years Mr. Beshoar was successfully engaged in the meat-market business in Monticello, and since that time he has been active as a stock buyer. He has been under all circumstances and conditions a stalwart supporter of the cause of the Republican party and has taken an active' part in public affairs of a local order. He served two terms as city marshal and is at the present time a member of the city council, a position of which he has been the loyal and efficient incumbent since 1914. He is affiliated with the local organizations of the Masonic fra- ternity, including the Order of the Eastern Star, and also with the Knights of Pythias. A man whose course has been guided and governed by the highest principles of integrity and who has marked the passing years with worthy achievement, he has a wide circle of friends in the county that has long been his home.
JOHN B. WRIGHT. There is an old proverb to the effect that a cradle is not a safe place for reliable prophecy concerning the future career and destiny of its occupant. This is paramount to saying that the place and circumstances of origin are of less importance than the factors which an individual brings into his own life at a later time than birth. The president of the' Bank of Idaville, and one of the leading farmers and most influential citizens of that section of White County, was born
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August 6, 1847, in a hewed log cabin that stood two miles north and half a mile east of Idaville. He came into the world with circumstances no better and no worse than those surrounding the birth of many men of his time, but in his own life has accomplished that which gives him a deserved position of leadership.
His father was Stephen P. Wright, one of the most noteworthy of the early settlers of White County. Born in Kentucky, at the age of three years he lost his mother, and his father then settled in Putnam County, Indiana, later removed to the Wabash River in Carroll County, and while there the father died. Stephen P. Wright, who came to manhood in Carroll County, as an orphan boy had many privations and hardships. At the age of eighteen, without ever having had the advan- tages of schools, he learned the trade of wheelwright, and also worked at cabinet making. Many black walnut coffins, at $1 per foot, many chairs and spinning wheels and other wooden utensils of that day were made by him. He grew up in Carroll County and in that vicinity married Elizabeth Wood, by whom he became the father of three chil- dren. The wife and all these children died, and he subsequently mar- ried Elizabeth Billingsley. She was the mother of five children, of whom four are still living. In the latter part of 1845 Stephen P. Wright brought his family to what is now Jackson Township in White County, and buying forty acres, started to make a home, earning the means of support largely through work at his trade. His death occurred April 14, 1880, and his wife passed away in October, 1875. Though his early life had been one of many privations, he possessed the substantial virtues of the pioneer, was an excellent neighbor, and bore a reputation of square, upright conduct.
John B. Wright grew up on the old home place and after the age of nine lived on the farm which he still occupies. His youthful days were passed in farm work, with attendance at the neighboring district schools. He also for a time attended the Burnettsville Academy, and made such use of his opportunities that he was qualified as a teacher and spent thirteen terms in teaching winter schools. Since 1880 Mr. Wright has devoted the greater part of his time to farming. At first he owned only a small tract of land, and carried on his operations both on that and on rented land, and gradually invested his surplus capital until he is now the owner of about 242 acres. In 1909 Mr. Wright became presi- dent of the Bank of Idaville, and has given his business judgment and individual resources to that institution for the past six years.
Mr. Wright is a republican, and has done much for the benefit of his community. From August, 1890, to August, 1895, he was township trustee, and in 1908 completed another term of four years in the same
THE CATALPA GRAIN AND STOCK FARM RESIDENCE OF MR. AND MRS. JEWELL F. WARD
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office. Both he and his wife are members of the Reformed Presbyterian Church.
While struggling to effect a position for himself as a teacher, Mr. Wright was married October 26, 1871, to Isabel Bailey, daughter of Thomas and Agnes (Morrison) Bailey. Thomas Bailey was born near Belfast, Ireland, and came with his people to Canada at the age of fifteen. . In Canada he grew to manhood and married Agnes Morrison, who was born in Scotland. In 1850 he brought his family to the United States and located on a farm in Carroll County, Indiana. There were three Bailey children, and of these Isabel, the wife of Mr. Wright, was. born in Canada, July 16, 1846. Mr. and Mrs. Wright are the parents of seven children: Stephen Calvin, who for a time was financial agent of the Reformed Church Presbyterian School of Cedarville, Ohio, and is now an instructor in that institution; Agnes Luella; Glensen Gale; Mary Elsie, wife of Elliott Crowell; Oda May, deceased, who married Harvey Downs; Laura Belle, who was educated in the Monticello High School and the State Normal at Terre Haute, Indiana, and graduated from the Reformed Presbyterian College at Cedarville, Ohio, was the principal of the Idaville Public Schools and on June 16, 1915, wedded Prof. Frederick D. Francis, who was the superintendent of the Idaville schools. One daughter, Fanny Edna, died when about fourteen years of age.
JEWELL F. WARD. For fully half a century Mr. Ward has lived in White County, has met and accepted hazard of chance and circumstance, has steadily strengthened a reputation for integrity and unimpeachable conduct, and along with a fair degree of well won prosperity he has acquired those inestimable riches of character and honor.
Though nearly all his life has been spent in this county, he was born in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, May 7, 1864, a son of William and Elizabeth (Blickenstaff) Ward. His parents were also natives of this state, and were married here. Their three children were Jewell, Joseph and Ella May. It was in 1865 that the family removed from Tippecanoe to White County and located in Big Creek Township. There the wife and mother died in 1869. Later William Ward married Martha Wilson and both are now living at Reynolds. The active career of William Ward was spent as a farmer and stock raiser.
Jewell F. Ward grew up in White County, attended the local schools, and when still a young man started out to make his own way in the world, relying upon his own industry and integrity to advance him to a creditable position. Some years ago he located in Liberty Township, and now has one of the fine farms in that locality, comprising 240 acres
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in section 26. He has carried forward a large amount of improvement, has built house and barn, and has a great deal to show for his earlier years of industry and self denial.
At the age of twenty-four, on Christmas Day of 1888, Mr. Ward married Bertha Krintz, a daughter of Michael Krintz. Mr. and Mrs. Ward in addition to accumulating a substantial degree of material pros- perity also deserve a great deal of credit for having brought into the world and trained to the principles of truth and honesty a large family of children. Many of these children are now in the world for them- selves, while the others are still around the hearth and threshold. Their names are : Lewis William, Joseph Raymond, Viola Ethel, Lila Gladys, Nina Ruth, Gertrude, Francis Dale, Clark, Haven, Ellen, Nellie, Morris, Doris, and Byron. The families are members of the Baptist Church at Sitka. Their home is on Rural Route No. 4 out of Monticello. Liberty Township people have come to know and esteem Mr. Ward and recognize in him a citizen whose influence and activities mean much to the com- munity. The pretty estate of Mr. and Mrs. Ward is known as the Catalpa Grain and Stock Farm.
WILLIAM H. DOWNS. When the Downs family came into White County in 1852 they found conditions such as can now be scarcely imag- ined. Though the first settlers had arrived some twenty years before, the foundations of development had only been laid and the real task of the pioneer was still before the people. As good citizens the Downs family has furnished their quota to the progress and prosperity of this section of the state. William H. Downs, who was a child when the family came to White County, is an honored veteran of the Civil war, and is now living quietly retired at Idaville after a successful career as a farmer.
Samuel Downs, his father, was born in Ross County, Ohio, December 13, 1811, and died at Monticello, March 15, 1884. He was a son of William Downs and of Scotch-Irish ancestry. Some years after his marriage he left Ohio, and in 1845 settled in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, and after seven years of residence there moved into White County in 1852, locating two and a half miles north of Monticello. He developed a tract of land in that vicinity, and was active as a farmer for about thirty years. In religion he was a Methodist, had no secret order affilia- tions, and up to the early '50s voted regularly with the whig party, after which he was a strong supporter of the republican organization. He was known as a money maker, but at the same time was very liberal, and was as generous as he was hard working. He owned about 120 acres at the time of his death. Samuel Downs married Anna Hiens, of Pennsyl-
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vania Dutch descent. They were married in Ross County, Ohio, October 25, 1832, and she died in Monticello, April 15, 1891. Of their nine children three died in infancy, and William H. is the only survivor and the eighth in order of birth.
William H. Downs was born in Ross County, Ohio, June 25, 1843, and was nine years of age when he came with his parents through Tip- pecanoe County into White County. His education had already begun in the common schools, and was continued in White County in the inter- vals of his labors on the farm. He was nearing his eighteenth birthday when the war broke out, and a little more than a year later, on August 2, 1862, he enlisted at Logansport in the Union army. His company was organized at South Bend, and became Company G in the Seventy- third Indiana Infantry under Capt. Joseph H. Westlake. The company was mustered in August 16, 1862, at South Bend, went south to Louis- ville, where they drew arms and rations, then proceeded to Lexington and were ordered to Richmond, Kentucky, but arrived too late for the battle there in the fall of 1862. His command then returned to Louis- ville, and was assigned to Buell's army and marched on to Nashville. He then went to Murfreesboro and engaged in the great battle of Stone River. From Murfreesboro he was detailed about the first of April in 1863 to take part in Colonel Straight's raid. This organization consisted of about four regiments of infantry, poorly mounted on almost unbroken mules. The object of the expedition was to capture Confederate arms and munitions factory at Rome, Georgia. The raiders were captured by the Confederate army when four or five miles from Rome, but about four days before that Mr. Downs on account of illness had been sent back first to Eastport, Mississippi, and then to Nashville, and accordingly escaped the fate of his comrades. He remained in Nashville until the privates and non-commissioned officers of his regiment were exchanged and returned to Nashville. The commissioned officers were sent to Libby Prison, and some of them subsequently escaped through the famous tunnel. The regiment rendezvoused at Nashville in October, 1863, and was reorganized. From that time forward the command served chiefly on guard duty along the Tennessee River. Mr. Downs was mustered out at Nashville on July 1, 1865, after nearly three years of active service. During the closing months of the war he participated in the battles of Decatur and Athens, Alabama, and many other com- munities.
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