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 19
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 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56
On February 13, 1899, Mr. Paschen married Miss Fredie Bernfieldt, daughter of Fritz and Henrietta (Dahlenburger) Bernfieldt. Mrs.
RESIDENCE OF MR. AND MRS. WILLIAM II. PASCHIEN, UNION TOWNSHIP "THE MAPLE KNOLL FARM"
685
HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY
Paschen was born in White County, Indiana, July 14, 1876, and was the fourth born of her parents' five children, two sons and three daughters, and three of the number are yet living: Dora, wife of Fred Hermon, a farmer of White County, and they have eight children; Mary, wife of Herman Schroder, a merchant at Wheeler, Indiana, and they have three children ; and Mrs. Paschen was the next born. The parents were born in Mecklenburg, Germany, and came to the United States in 1870, and are now residents of Monticello. The father was a stone mason by trade, and both he and his wife were members of the German Lutheran Church. Mrs. Paschen was educated in the graded schools at Monticello, and is a cordial, genial lady who has stood by her husband's side during the years of their happy wedded life. Mr. and Mrs. Paschen have four chil- dren living, as follows: Leslie H., who received his diploma from the graded schools and is now a student in the Monticello High School, and he also pursued a course in the German schools; Henrietta M. received her diploma from the grade schools and is now attending the German school at Reynolds; Esther E., is a member of the third grade; and Clara Ruth is the baby of the household.
ยท Mr. Paschen since reaching his majority has affiliated with the demo- cratic party and is a man of influence in its councils. In November, 1914, the people of Union Township elected him their trustee and he is now giving a most creditable administration of its affairs. The family wor- ships in the German Lutheran Church at Reynolds.
As has been shown in the review of the life of Mr. Paschen, he began his active career in very humble circumstances. His first wage as a farm hand was $15 a month, but by industry, economy and good management, today, in 1915, he is to be found in excellent financial standing and is one of the useful men of his township. At the time of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Paschen their cash capital consisted of $700 and a horse and buggy, and the first land he purchased was a forty-acre tract lying in Big Creek Township, he having paid part cash and borrowed the remain- der. He sold this land in 1906 and purchased 751/2 acres in Union Town- ship, a part of his present homestead, and in 1910 he bought 100 more, making a beautiful and valuable farm of 1751/5 acres, and lying within 134 miles of the city limits of Monticello and known as "The Maple Knoll Farm." He has greatly remodeled his buildings, and with the aid of his estimable wife has succeeded in advancing far on the road to prosperity.
THOMAS B. GINN. On the roll of pioneer settlers, Union soldiers and industrious farmers and good citizens the Ginn family has a spe- cially high rank. Thomas B. Ginn has lived in White County almost
686
HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY
as long as any other resident, and after his record as a soldier took up the vocation of agriculture, which he followed until retiring to Idaville, where he now lives.
His father, Robert Ginn, a son of Thomas and Anna (Neel) Ginn, was born in the State of Kentucky, February 3, 1811, of Scotch-Irish stock. Thomas Ginn had come across the Alleghany Mountains early in the nineteenth century to Ohio, married there, moved to Kentucky, and thence back to Ohio, and died at Xenia in the latter state in 1863. Robert Ginn was married in Ohio to Elizabeth McClelland, daughter of Captain McClelland, who was an officer in the War of 1812. Some years after his marriage Robert Ginn removed to White County, Indiana, in 1849, and for many years was one of the successful farmers. Though his residence began in 1849, his first relations with White County were as a land prospector in 1832, when he came to this section and entered 200 acres of land from the Government. Thus the name of the Ginn family appears in the list of first entrants of property. At that time the Indians had hardly relinquished their enjoyment of the forests and prairies of White County, and even when he permanently settled here seventeen years later he found the country new and did his share towards its development. He first located in Jackson Township about two miles northeast of the present Town of Idaville. He died at Ida- ville, September 13, 1894, when eighty-three years of age. He was a man of strong and vigorous physique, and though he lived to a great age was seldom sick. During the Civil war, too old for service himself, he gave a valuable service in securing volunteers, and in arousing enthusiasm among younger men. His career was one of good reputa- tion and characterized by many deeds that contributed to the welfare of the locality. For many years he had regularly voted with the whig party, and in 1856 became allied with the republicans and steadfastly supported that organization until his death. He was an active member of the United Presbyterian Church, and for many years was an elder in that denomination. He and his wife had eight children, and four of them are still living.
Thomas B. Ginn, the first of the family, was born in Greene County, Ohio, April 18, 1837, and was about twelve years of age when he accom- panied his parents to White County. The first school he attended in White County was kept in a hewed loghouse on Aaron Price's place. The first teacher in that primitive temple of learning was Silas Jack. The teacher could carry the scholars only as far as the "simple rule of three," which was the high mark of his own arithmetical attainments. Nevertheless Mr. Ginn acquired the rudiments of a fair education, and
687
HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY
has always been a close observer of men and has kept in close touch with events and affairs.
He remained on the home farm with his father until a few months after the outbreak of the Civil war. He then enlisted in Company A of the Forty-sixth Indiana Infantry at Logansport, under Capt. John H. Gould, and was mustered into service October 5, 1861. The regiment first went to Louisville and then to Ludlow Hill, then to Bardstown, thence proceeded to the Ohio River, and at Carroll, Illinois, embarked on boats that took them into the center of the fighting districts along the Mississippi. He participated in all the battles and skirmishes and marches that this famous regiment experienced, and was constant and faithful in his duties as a soldier until mustered out at Indianapolis, December 5, 1864, after more than three years of military experience.
Mr. Ginn went back to the farm after leaving the army, and remained at home four years. He was then married, on March 12, 1868, to Mar- tha Stewart, who died within about a year, and her only child also passed away. On December 12, 1872, Mr. Ginn married Mary Smith, of Carroll County. James Smith, her father, was one of the pioneers of Carroll County. The two children of Mr. and Mrs. Ginn are Charles Gilbert and William Howard, both now living in Carroll County.
Mr. Ginn is affiliated with the Grand Army post at Monticello, and has steadily supported the republican party since casting his first presi- dential vote for Abraham Lincoln in 1860. For four years he served as justice of the peace. His active work as a farmer continued until 1901. in which year he retired and moved to Idaville, where he owns a comfortable home and other property.
JOHN ALBERT CARSON. For a number of years John A. Carson was one of the active merchants of Idaville, but since 1901 has looked after his interests as a farmer in Jackson Township. He is a member of the township advisory board, and in many ways has made himself a useful factor in the community in which the greater part of his life has been passed.
The Carsons belong to that substantial Scotch-Irish stock that was such a prominent factor in the settlement and development of the American country, particularly in the mountainous districts of the states from Pennsylvania to the Carolinas. The grandfather was David Carson, who formerly lived in Blount County, Tennessee, and from there came north to Indiana as a pioneer, and pre-empted land in Car- roll County. He was a substantial farmer, a democrat in politics, and a member of the Presbyterian Church. David Carson married Rosanna
688
HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY
McCully. Their seven children, all now deceased, were: David Riley ; John McCully; Eliza, who married John D. Scroggs; William C., who married Sarah Montgomery; Elizabeth, who married Lawson Steel; Rosa, who married William Delzell; and James A., who married Mary Oliver.
John McCully Carson, father of John A., spent his early life in Carroll County and later located in White County. He married Eliza- beth Barnes, who was born June 19, 1826. Her parents were Thomas and Phoebe Barnes, who came from Greene County, Ohio, and became early settlers in White County. There is a numerous kinship of the Barnes family still found in White County. John McCully Carson and wife had eight children, as follows: Adeline, who lives at Idaville, married Joseph Henderson, a captain in the Civil war and who served the whole time. He was wounded in hip and shoulder. Her three children are Minnie, Elizabeth and John Marshall. Thomas W., who lives in Lafayette, Indiana, married Ella Birchby, and has a child, Bernice. James Adams, who lives at Idaville, married Jennie Arnott, and their one child is Frances A. Ellen E., now living at Lafayette, Indiana, is the widow of Jacob Waldsmith, and her six children are Cecilia, Oscar, Earl, Mabel, May and James. Finley C., who lives in Tipton, Indiana, married Jennie Hutchinson, and has one child, Joy H. Perry E., who lives in Peoria, Illinois, married Ella Murray, and their five children are named Leslie, Elsie, Donald, Lowell and David. Clara F., of Idaville, married Milton Friday, and their children are Leland, Irene and Ruth. John Albert is the eighth and the youngest of the family. The parents were members of the United Presbyterian Church, and John M. Carson was very active in church affairs and served as elder for several years, and was also a leader of the church singing. He was a soldier in the Civil war and received his honorable discharge. In every community where he lived he stood well, was a man of upright actions and principles, and though of a reserved disposition had many close' friends. He was quite successful in his work as a farmer, pro- vided well for his family, and was in comfortable circumstances at the time of his death. Up to the great political upheaval during the '50s he was a democrat, but joined the new republican party in 1856. His children have heard him relate many interesting experiences of early times in both Carroll and White counties. Indians often visited the home, and though usually peaceful, frightened the children. In early days he and his wife attended church by riding horseback.
John Albert Carson, who was the youngest of his father's children, was born near Idaville in Jackson Township of White County, Novem- ber 23, 1867. When he was twelve years of age his father retired from
689
HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY
the farm and moved to the town. He thus acquired his education partly in the town schools, and afterwards took a business course in a college at Burlington, Iowa. For three years he was employed in Doctor McAllister's drug store at Idaville, and then spent two years in a wholesale drug house at Burlington, Iowa. Returning to Idaville, he bought the drug business formerly owned by Doctor McAllister in 1889, and continued actively in business until 1901. After selling his store he moved to his present farm three miles west of Idaville.
On November 23, 1892, at Idaville, Mr. Carson married Wilda M. Glasgow, daughter of Samuel P. and Elizabeth Jane (Stipp) Glasgow. Their home has been blessed with the birth of six children: Verna I., now deceased; Merle G .; John I .; Harold G., who died in infancy ; Preston G. and Dale D., all of whom are living at home and most of whom have been educated in the Idaville schools. Mrs. Carson was born in White County, Indiana, February 15, 1873, and was one of a family of four children born to Samuel Preston and Elizabeth Jane (Stipp) Glasgow, and she is one of twins, but her twin brother is now deceased. Her sister Maggie is the wife of Thomas Melvin, a resident of Jackson Township. James S. Glasgow is a resident of Jay County, Indiana, and a farmer. He was first married to Miss Jennie Burnett, and he married for his second wife Miss Maggie Hogg. Mr. Glasgow, the father, was born in Ohio. He is now a retired farmer and a resident of Idaville, this state. He was a soldier in the Civil war, is a repub- lican politically, and a member of the United Presbyterian Church. Mrs. Glasgow is a native of Shelby County, Ohio, and both she and her daughter, Mrs. Carson, are also members of that church. The attractive estate of Mr. and Mrs. Carson is known as the Silver Leaf Stock Farm. The land is well fenced and drained and raises the best of corn, and Mr. Carson makes a specialty of the raising of hogs. The farm comprises 175 acres of land.
Mr. Carson is a strong republican in his party affiliations and has been a delegate to a number of county and congressional conventions. Since the last election he has been a member of the township advisory board. Like his father, he is active in the United Presbyterian Church and is now its choir leader. He has no affiliations with secret fraterni- ties.
JOHN FRY. It was thirty-five years ago that John Fry and wife identified themselves with the agricultural community of Cass Town- ship, and at that time they were possessed of only a small share of the prosperity which they now enjoy. Few families have more to show for
690
HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY
thirty-five years of continued efforts, and their homestead, situated in section 7, comprises 300 acres of well cultivated lands.
John Fry was born in Boone Township of Cass County, Indiana, July 29, 1854, a son of Caleb and Mary (Hamilton) Fry. His father was a native of Pennsylvania and his mother of Ohio, and they are of German and Irish extraction. They were married in Cass County, Indiana, and of their nine children six are still living. Caleb Fry moved to Cass County, Indiana, many years before the war, about 1845, and for the greater part of his life was a farmer and stock raiser. In the early days he was noted for his splendid physique and marvelous physical activity, and there was no one in his section of the country could excel him as a ditch digger. He possessed other virtues cor- responding with his big frame, and altogether was a man of usefulness in all the relations of his long life. He died in 1908, and his widow passed away about six years later. They are now at rest in the Mount Pleasant Cemetery. Caleb Fry was a lifelong democrat and served as township supervisor.
John Fry spent his early life in Cass County, attended the district schools, and had the ordinary experiences of a farm boy. A short time after reaching his majority he was married on September 10, 1876, to Miss Evelyn Bingaman, a daughter of Christopher C. and Mina (Kest- ler) Bingaman. Mr. and Mrs. Fry have now worked together for nearly forty years. In that time nine children have come into their home: George, deceased ; Mina, deceased; Earl; Lewis, deceased; Edward; Mil- ton ; May; Vernal; and Grace. Earl Fry was educated in the Indiana State School for the Deaf and Dumb, where he remained ten years and graduated, and is now with his parents. Lewis, deceased, married Annie Hinshaw, and they had a son, Ivan H., now ten years of age. The widow afterward married S. K. Liter, of Ohio. Edward is a farmer in Alberta, Canada. He married Miss Gertie Benjamin, and they have had five children, three daughters and two sons, Vera, Dale, Bertha, Lavern and Francis. Mr. Edward Fry is a democrat and a member of the Church of God and of the fraternal order of Odd Fel- lows. Milton completed the work of the common schools and spent one year in the high school at Monticello. He married Miss Rilla Boller, and they have three children, Reva, Louise and Edith Grace. Mr. and Mrs. Fry reside on a farm in Cass Township, and are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. May received her diploma from the common schools, and then entered the Monticello High School and graduated with the class of 1913. For two years she has successfully taught school in White County, and she is also proficient in both instru- mental and vocal music. She resides with her parents and is a member
691
HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY
of the Methodist Church. Vernal completed the common school course and spent one year in the Monticello High School. He is now in Colo- rado for his health. Grace has finished the common school course and has studied instrumental music. She is the youngest of the children. Mr. and Mrs. Fry have given all their children good, practical educa- tions, and have well fitted them for life's duties. Mrs. Fry is a native of Cass County, Indiana, born April 29, 1857. She has been a resident of White County for thirty-five years, and has performed well her part in the training of her children. She is a member of the Church of God. Both her parents are deceased and lie buried in the Kline Ceme- tery in Cass County. The father was a native of Carroll County, Vir- ginia, and was a farmer. The mother was born in Cass County, and was a member of the Church of God.
In November, 1880, Mr. and Mrs. Fry arrived in White County and located on sixty acres which is included in their present larger home- stead. They have made all the improvements, and now have all the land under cultivation, employed for general farming and stock raising purposes. The farm is well tiled, and its present value represents sev- eral times the figures at which it could have been sold twenty-five or thirty years ago. Mr. Fry has also been active locally, and for five years served as township trustee. In politics he is a democrat.
JOHN H. BAKER. A citizen of Cass Township who has given a good account of himself during his long career as a farmer in that locality is John H. Baker, whose fine farm of 120 acres in section 17 stands out as a conspicuous landmark on account of its generally attractive situa- tion and its many marks of enterprise and improvement. Mr. Baker grew up in a farming community, and has made agriculture a life study, and has brought to it the same qualities and energy which would have enabled him to succeed in any other vocation.
John H. Baker is a native of Missouri, born at Boonville, July 14, 1857, a son of John Vance and Elizabeth (Barker) Baker. The Bakers were German people and the great-grandparents of Mr. Baker were born in the old country, and came to the United States and located in Pennsylvania. The family lived in a number of different states, in Vir- ginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio and Indiana. John V. and Elizabeth Baker were the parents of four children: Anson H., of Washington,; one that died in infancy; Orange S., of Rensselaer, Indiana ; and John H.
The Baker family came to White County in 1870, locating in section 15 of Cass Township. John V. Baker bought forty acres from John Thompson and forty acres from another party and was proprietor of Vol. II-12
692
HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY
that eighty acres when he died. He and his wife were Baptists and both interested in church affairs. In politics he was a republican, and did the part of a good citizen without mingling in party activities to any great extent. His death occurred October 6, 1886, and his wife passed away August 15, 1912:
John H. Baker, during the forty-five years of his residence in Cass Township, has witnessed many improvements and changes, and has not been an idle spectator of these improvements, but has himself put his shoulder to the wheel and helped to give several turns to the chariot of progress. He was thirteen years old when he came to White County, and had already been attending the public schools for several years. His education was completed in Cass Township, and as soon as old enough he used his strength in performing the duties of the farm. At the age of twenty-seven Mr. Baker started out for himself, and on November 9, 1880, married Miss Alice M. Teeter. To their marriage were born four children: Ora A., Charles F., Edna Blanche, and George Ray. Ora A. is a resident of Indianapolis. He was formerly a farmer, but is now employed in that city. He married Miss Leora A. Valentine, and they have one child, Robert Leslie. Mr. Baker is a graduate of the Marion Business College and affiliates with the repub- lican party. Charles F. resides in Freesoil, Michigan, where he has a garage and is doing well. He is also a graduate of the Marion Busi- ness College. He married Miss Jessie Evans, and they have two chil- dren, Alice Geneva and Henry Lee. Mr. C. F. Baker is a republican and a member of the Odd Fellows fraternity and the Church of God, while his wife is a Methodist. Edna Blanche became the wife of Alonzo Foust, and has a little daughter, Evelyn, now in school. Mrs. Foust is a member of the Church of God and of the Ladies' Aid Society, and her home is with her parents. George Ray, who is at home, received a common and high school education, and is a member of the fraternal order of Odd Fellows. Mr. and Mrs. Baker also took into their home a little girl, Gladys Willetta, when nine years of age, and reared and educated her as their own. She married John Maples, of Lafayette, Indiana, an electrician. They have two children, Arthur Elmer and Edward Melvin. Mrs. Maples is a member of the Church of God. Mrs. Baker was born in Montgomery County, Indiana, Octo- ber 31, 1859, a daughter of William J. and Martha A. (Quick) Teeter, in whose family were five children, and all the children and the parents are living. The children are residents of Indiana with the exception of Abigail J., who is with her parents in Canton, Mississippi, and George Teeter, a farmer in Meade, Oklahoma. Mr. Teeter was an agriculturist, and was one of the first "Star Routers" of the mail serv-
693
HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY
ice. He affiliates with the republican party, and was a soldier in the Civil war, a member of the Sixty-first Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and was badly wounded at the battle of Resaca, Georgia, under the command of General Sherman. He afterward rejoined his regiment, and was in the Grand Review at Washington, District of Columbia, at the close of hostilities. He was born in Indiana, as was also his wife. Mrs. Baker was a little child of two years when brought to White County. She received a good education and became a teacher. Her sister, Abigail, was also a teacher for a number of years. Mrs. Baker takes great inter- est in her church work, being a member of the Church of God, of which she is serving as clerk at Headlee, and is president of the Ladies' Aid Society. The conference of this church convenes at Headlee, August 31, 1915, and Mrs. Baker's subject before the conference is "Just Limita- tions to the Subordination of Sisters in the Church." She performs her full duty at all times in the furtherance of church work.
Mr. Baker is a republican and in church affairs is a member of the Church of God. His business is that of general farming and stock rais- ing, and he has well deserved his prosperity.
ANDREW A. HARRISON. The Harrison family have been prominently identified with White County for half a century. As a family they have been identified with the agricultural activities of Cass Township, have been known for their progressive work in the country districts, have stood as advocates for good roads and other improvements, have been excellent neighbors and friends of church, school and morality, though as a whole they have seldom accepted the medium of public office in order to render service to the community. One exception to the rule is found in Francis M. Harrison, who served as township trustee from 1905 to 1909, and also filled a vacancy as county supervisor.
The founder of the family in White County was the late Robert T. Harrison, who moved from Greene County, Ohio, to Cass Township in the spring of 1865, and located in section 5, near the Village of Headlee. Robert T. Harrison was born in the State of Kentucky, March 6, 1816. went from there to Ohio when seven years of age and spent all his active career as a farmer. His first wife was a Miss Atkins. She died without children and he was married in Ohio to Elizabeth Bryan. By this union there were six children: Scott, who lives in Monticello and married Clara Boze ; Martha A., who lives in Monticello, is the wife of William Fisher ; Andrew A .; Francis M., who is a prosperous farmer in Liberty Township, where he owns eighty acres of land, and by his marriage in 1897 to Laura Benjamin has four children-Silas Ray, Cecil E., Mary
694
HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY
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.