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 23
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and has been interested in local affairs, is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, but has no fraternal orders. His home is seven miles west and a quarter mile south of Chalmers, and he gets his mail over Rural Route No. 13 out of that village.
MARSHALL S. PERSONETT. When the leaders in enterprise as farmers in Jackson Township are under consideration, the name of Marshall S. Personett is one of more than ordinary significance and among the first to be mentioned. Mr. Personett has his fine rural home in section 13 of Jackson Township, and for many years has measured up to the general standards and oftentimes has shown himself in advance of his neighbors in his farm management, and is well known all over the county as a citizen. Mr. Personett is now one of the county commissioners of White County.
His birth occurred on the same section where he has his home on October 28, 1860. His parents were Benjamin Franklin and Caroline (Steele) Personett, the former of a French family. Both parents were born in America, were married in Indiana, and in 1856 moved from Henry County to White County, Indiana, locating in Jackson township. Their first home was near Burnetts Creek, after which they bought land in Cass County, and after living there about thirty-five years moved out . to White County. The father died here November 26, 1913, and is buried at Burnetts Creek, while the mother passed away September 13, 1895. Benjamin F. Personett was a democrat in politics but was not a radical man in any sense of the term, and was especially devoted to the interests of his home and friends. He was a pioneer in many senses of the term, and lived a life that was a credit to the community. He was active in the Christian Church, and part of the time was an official. There were six children : Flora, wife of Charles Warrick; Charles, who died at the age of fourteen ; Marshall S .; Myron; Clinton; and Oscar. Myron Per- sonett is a resident of Atwood, Illinois, where he is engaged in farming. He married Miss Ella Warrick, and they have five children. Clinton Personett, who resides in Oregon, is a contractor and builder. He mar- ried Stella Warrick, and they have six children. Oscar Personett resides near Logansport, Indiana, and is an agriculturist. He married Miss Etta Morris, and they have five children.
Marshall S. Personett as a boy attended for a time an old log school- house, and completed his education in a school that was kept in a frame building. This schooling was supplemented by practical training on the farm, and he lived at home until ready to start out in life for himself after his marriage. On February 7, 1888, Mr. Personett married Miss Roselle Bishop. Mrs. Personett is a native of White County, born May
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15, 1861, the only child of David and Rebecca (Meek) Bishop. The father was a native of Kentucky, was educated in the primitive schools of his day, served as a soldier in the Forty-sixth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, was wounded at the battle of Sabine Cross Roads, and died at Lexington, Kentucky, from the effects of that wound. The mother was a native of Jennings County, Indiana, and was reared there until sixteen years of age, when she came to White County, and here their marriage occurred. They lie buried in the Burnettsville Cemetery. Mrs. Per- sonett was reared and educated in White County, and here she and her husband were married and started on life's journey together. They began their married life without means, but with the passing years have worked and accumulated and are now numbered among substantial farm- ing people of Jackson Township. Mrs. Personett is a member of the Christian Church and of the Ladies' Aid Society. Mr. and Mrs. Per- sonett have four children: Minnie, wife of George F. Hatton, of Plain- field; Roy, who married Maud Sheets and lives at Burnettsville; Ray, who married Grace Berry of Cass County; and Blanche, who married Clarence Meeker of Cass County.
Mr. Personett's fine farm comprises two hundred sixty acres, all of it under cultivation except fifteen acres of woodland. His business has been general crop raising and stock farming, and while he makes no pretensions as a breeder of blooded stock, he has seldom failed in any year to make a reasonable profit off of his labors. He is president of the Horse Thief Detective Association, and for a number of years has been active in democratic politics. In the fall of 1912 he was elected a mem- ber of the Board of County Commissioners, and his administration well justified his reelection in 1914. Mr. Personett is affiliated with the Blue Lodge of Masons, No. 663, at Burnettsville, and also with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Lodge No. 740, of the same place, and is a mem- ber of the Rebekahs. Mrs. Personett is a member of the Christian Church.
ISAAC M. DAVIS. With the death of Isaac M. Davis on November 23, 1911, there passed from White County citizenship one of the highly respected men and one of the older residents of the county. For upwards of seventy years he was identified with the farming and civic interests of this part of Indiana, was a man of genial disposition and thorough integrity of character. Always a hard worker, he prospered in material circumstances, and left an honored name to those that follow after him.
Isaac M. Davis was born at Bunker Hill, Ohio, November 6, 1827, a son of John and Mary E. (Newland) Davis. He was of Scotch-English extraction. His father was a native of Virginia, was married there, and
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in 1835 came to Indiana, spending a short time in White County two miles from Monticello, and then removing to the vicinity of Brookston, trading two horses and a wagon for forty acres of land. He lived there as a farmer and stock raiser, and died at Brookston in 1882. He was four times married, and by his first wife was the father of ten children. He was a Methodist, held the office of steward in the church for a num- ber of years, and though a republican never sought office.
Isaac M. Davis grew up in the country districts of Ohio and Western Indiana, had a common school education at a time when the public school system was hardly organized, and at the age of twenty-one started out for himself. He was a farmer in Prairie and later in Princeton townships, and laid the foundation of his prosperity in raising field crops and feeding livestock.
The late Mr. Davis was a republican, served as assessor, and for a number of years a member of the school board. In 1889, having retired from his farm, he moved into Monticello, but for several years followed bridge contracting. He was a Blue Lodge Mason, and was a steward in the Methodist Church for years.
In 1849 he married Sarah Mahan, and by that union there are four children : John, Hester Ann, Mary Ann, and George, the last named deceased. On January 10, 1858, Mr. Davis married Judah Ann Frank- lin, daughter of George and Anna Mary (Patterson) Franklin. Mrs. Davis is still living in Monticello, and her people came to Indiana from Michigan in 1838, settling near the old battleground in Tippecanoe County, subsequently removed to White County, but at death they were laid to rest in Tippecanoe County. There were ten children in the Franklin family, five of whom are living today. Mrs. Davis is the mother of nine children: William, deceased; James King; Luther, deceased ; Alexander, deceased; Griffith, deceased; Ella J., wife of M. McPhee; Edward; Lettie, wife of Henry Roller; and Harry B. In commemorating the death of Isaac M. Davis we quote an excerpt from one of the local publications :
"He was one of the oldest settlers in White county, where he has had a continuous residence for 75 years. He united with the Methodist church at the age of 14 years, and at the age of 21 he received an ex- horter's license and for 25 years did considerable preaching. He was a familiar figure at Old Settlers' Meetings and at their last annual reunion here received a gold-headed cane as the oldest settler on the grounds.
"He had been in failing health for the past six years, most of the time confined to his home but able to care for himself. Two weeks ago last Sunday his 83rd birthday anniversary was celebrated by his chil- Vol. II-14
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dren bringing well filled baskets and spreading a dinner at his home. On Saturday evening, November 19th, he was stricken with paralysis, remaining unconscious until he passed peacefully away at 6:30 on the morning of the 23rd. His funeral took place from the M. E. church Friday afternoon in the presence of a large concourse of relatives and friends. The service was conducted by Rev. J. B. Rutter, and the funeral discourse was delivered by his former pastor Rev. A. T. Briggs, Sup't of the Hammond District. Interment was made in the Monticello cemetery."
MILTON K. REIFF. One mile west of Burnettsville is the beautiful Fair View Stock Farm of Milton K. Reiff. The Reiff family arrived in Burnettsville by train in August, 1870, and thus for forty-five years have been closely identified with the agricultural, civic and general community life of White County. Milton K. Reiff was then a small boy, and his own career has been in keeping with the substantial traditions of the family in a business way, and he has added much to the dignified associations of the name. His grandfather, Christian Reiff, was a Penn- sylvania man who made no little reputation as an inventor. He was the inventor of a clover huller, which for years was regarded as one of the best machines of its kind. He also patented a combined grain thresher and clover huller. For many years he was at the head of the C. H. Reiff Manufacturing Company in Pennsylvania. He removed from Pennsylvania to Tennessee and thence to Cass County, Indiana. He lived in White County a few years, but died at Flora in Carroll County when about eighty years of age. Christian Reiff married Elizabeth Titlow, and both were natives of Pennsylvania.
Joseph T. Reiff, father of Milton K., was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, September 18, 1832, the third in a family of ten children born to Christian and Elizabeth (Titlow) Reiff. J. T. Reiff assisted his father at farming and manufacturing until 1861, and then conducted a tannery at McVeytown, Pennsylvania, for eighteen months. He then returned to his father's factory near Harleton, Pennsylvania, and kept the accounts until 1868. After that he conducted a tannery at Harleton until about 1867, and in that year accompanied his father to Tennessee. Three years later he came to White County, and in the following spring bought a farm of 120 acres, to which he later added eighty acres, and was one of the successful farmers and business men in White County. He died at Burnettsville September 20, 1899, having lived retired in that village for five years. His fortune was estimated at about $15,000, and he also suffered severe reverses by the loss of two carloads of leather on account of the War of the Rebellion. His widow is still living, making
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her home with her son Milton. Joseph T. Reiff was a republican, a man of quiet and unostentatious demeanor, was active in church and was a deacon therein at the time of his death. J. T. Reiff was married May 3, 1859, to Miss Elizabeth Kleckner, a daughter of David and Esther (Wingard) Kleckner. She was born in Pennsylvania October 18, 1834. Of the six children born to their union three grew to maturity : Milton K .; Lillie J., who married Frank Fisher ; and Mary Emma, who married Philip Amick. J. T. Reiff and wife were members of what was known as the Conservative Branch of the German Baptist Church, now known as the Brethren Church, and he was chosen a deacon in that organiza- tion in 1874.
Milton K. Reiff was born at McVeytown, Pennsylvania, June 15, 1860, and was about ten years of age when he arrived at Burnettsville in White County. On the 24th of February, 1885, he married the daugh- ter of one of White County's substantial families, Emma J. Godlove, a daughter of Perry Godlove, a record of which family will be found on other pages. To their union were born five children, two of whom died in infancy and the other three are: Maude, now teaching school near Goshen, Indiana ; Minnie M., living at home; and Russell G., attending school at Burnettsville.
Milton K. Reiff grew up on a farm, and in the intervals of farm labor and other work acquired a substantial education, at first from the com- mon schools of Burnettsville and later by normal work at Monticello. For one year he was a teacher, but farming has been his real vocation in life. Since April 1, 1871, he has lived continuously on his present farm (the old family home), near Burnettsville. His principal busi- ness has been stock raising and the breeding up of thoroughbred animals is not only a business but a hobby with Mr. Reiff. He handles Polled- Durham cattle and Chester White hogs, and usually raises enough feed on his land to supply his own stock. His farm comprises about 300 acres, and is widely known under the title of the Fair View Stock Farm.
Mr. Reiff has numerous other worthy relations with White County. As a republican he served as township trustee of Jackson Township from 1900 to 1905, and in 1914 was the republican candidate for the office of county commissioner, but was defeated with other party candidates. Since 1899 he has been a deacon in the Brethren Church, and his wife and all the children are members of the same denomination. Mr. Reiff is a stockholder in the State Bank of Burnettsville, and is president and a member of the board of directors of the Burnettsville Elevator Company.
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ELAM SCROGGS. Prominent among the energetic and hardy young lads who actively assisted in developing and advancing the agricultural resources of White County was Elam Scroggs, who came to this section of Indiana soon after entering his 'teens, and though but a boy per- formed his full share of the labor required to redeem a farm from its primeval wildness. A son of David and Margaret (Delzell) Scroggs, who migrated from North Carolina to Blount County, Tennessee, he was born July 15, 1822, on the parental homestead.
When he was fourteen years of age, his parents made an overland trip to Indiana, locating in White County, not far from Idaville, where they entered 120 acres of land, from which they improved a homestead. David Scroggs was a natural mechanic, and for several years followed the blacksmith's trade to some extent. Beginning life on his own account, Elam Scroggs chose the pleasant and profitable occupation to which he was reared, and as a general farmer met with well-deserved success, becoming owner of a finely improved estate, on which he resided until his death, February 27, 1873.
Mr. Scroggs married Hannah Beard, who was born December 19, 1827, a daughter of Thomas and Sarah Beard, and of their union eight children were born, as follows: Nancy, deceased; Margaret, now Mrs. Watkins; Mrs. Mary E. Roby; Arminda; Mrs. Amanda McCall; Rosa ; Mrs. Martha Patten; and David T. Mr. Scroggs was a democrat in politics, and always took an intelligent interest in public matters. He was a member of the United Presbyterian Church at Idaville, and on account of his church affiliation never joined any fraternal order. Mrs. Scroggs, a woman of superior business ability, acquired what in her day was a liberal education, and was held in high esteem throughout the community.
David T. Scroggs, the youngest member of the parental household, was born February 26, 1865. He, too, received excellent educational advantages, and as a young man taught school successfully for three terms. He now follows farming and stock-raising, having eighty acres of well-cultivated land, to the care of which he is devoting his time and attention. He is independent in politics, voting according to the dictates of his conscience, regardless of party restrictions. He is not affiliated with any secret organization.
WILLIAM E. MYERS. A courageous soldier in the dark days of the rebellion, a man who has fought the good fight in all the occupations and relations of a busy career, and honored alike in his home and among his neighbors, Mr. Myers is one of the oldest citizens of Burnettsville. His home has been in that village for half a century, and of that group
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of citizens who were of adult age when he came there he is now the last survivor.
His family has lived in White County since 1859, in which year his parents, Michael and Eleia (Lemmon) Myers came from Guernsey County, Ohio. His grandfather, Frederick Myers, was a native of Germany, and on coming to America made his home near Cincinnati. At one time he owned about 500 acres of land now included in that city and its suburbs. Michael Myers was one of the youngest in his father's family, and spent most of his youth in the home of a man named Wilson near Piqua, Ohio. He was a carpenter and millwright by trade and after his marriage he bought ten acres of land where Putnam, Ohio, was later built, now included in the City of Zanesville. After selling that place he moved to Guernsey County near Cambridge, and in 1859 brought his family to White County, locating in Princeton Township, about two miles southeast of where the Village of Wolcott now stands. His death occurred in this county June 8, 1863. Up to 1856 he had been a whig voter, and afterwards was a republican. He and his wife were members of the Methodist Church. They had six children : Noble, who died in 1833 when an infant; William E .; Asa L., who was born in 1844 and now lives at Bluffton, Indiana; Nancy Sarah, who was born in 1847, and is now deceased ; Frank C., born in 1851 and now lives at Warren, Indiana; and Adda, who was born in 1853 and died in infancy.
William E. Myers was born in Ohio December 18, 1841. He had not yet reached his majority when the war broke out and he responded to the call for troops to put down the rebellion. He enlisted at Wolcott December 12, 1861, and a little later was mustered in at Logansport in Company G of the Forty-sixth Indiana Infantry, his captain being R. W. Sill. When in the army, a spell of measles had left him with weak lungs and it was on account of this disability that he received an honorable discharge from the regiment on April 8, 1862. He came home and in a few weeks had recovered sufficiently so that he again proffered his services to the Union. He enlisted at Wolcott and on being sent to Indianapolis was assigned to duty in Company G of the Sixty-third Indiana Infantry, under Captain Holloway. His second enlistment was on August 10, 1862. He continued with the army until receiving his honorable discharge at Greensboro, North Carolina, June 21, 1865, hav- ing fought until the Confederacy had completely crumbled. He saw a great deal of hard fighting while with the Sixty-third. He was engaged in guard duty chiefly up to the fall of 1863, when it marched from Covington to Knoxville, Tennessee, and then participated in the engage- ments of Strawberry Plains, Salt Creek, and in the fighting around
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Chattanooga. He was a participant in the almost continuous fighting for 100 days during Sherman's advance from Chattanooga to Atlanta, including the battles around and the siege of Atlanta. After the fall of that stronghold of Confederacy he returned with Scofield's army in pursuit of Hood, and took part in both the bloody battles of Franklin and Nashville during the closing weeks of 1864. His command then followed the shattered forces of Hood to Mussell Shoals on the Tennes- see River, subsequently went up the Ohio River on boats to Cincinnati, was transferred east of the mountains to Alexandria, Virginia, later to Fort Fisher, on to Wilmington, North Carolina, thence up Cape Fear River to Goldsboro, from there to Raleigh, and was at Greensboro when Johnston surrendered his army to Sherman.
Mr. Myers reached his mother's home in White County July 4, 1865. After his father died his mother had moved to Burnettsville, and her death occurred in that village November 8, 1866. Prior to entering the army Mr. Myers, in addition to gaining his education in the common schools, had served an apprenticeship in Guernsey County, Ohio, at the blacksmith's trade under John Swan. He also worked for a Mr. Newman at Wolcott, and while there welded the first piece of iron in the village. On returning from the army he established a blacksmith shop at Burnettsville, and that was the steady and dignified vocation which followed continuously up to his retirement in December, 1912. Few men continue one employment for so many years as Mr. Myers, who was a blacksmith fully fifty-three years. Since his retirement he has enjoyed the comforts of his good home in Burnettsville. He owns three acres of land around his house and barn, and has everything he needs for the evening years of life.
On March 1, 1867, Mr. Myers married Mary A. Robbins, a daughter of Jesse and Mary Robbins, who came to White County as early settlers in 1855. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Myers were born six children. Addie L., the oldest, lives at Burnettsville with her husband, Frank McCully, and of her eight children four are still living. The next chil- dren, Gertrude B. and Jesse C. and Louis B., all died in infancy. Mary E., the widow of Wilson Coble, by who she has one living child, resides with her father at Burnettsville and is the chief comfort of his old age. Adoka L., the sixth child, is the wife of Edward Caley and they have their home in Burnettsville and are the parents of three children.
Mr. Myers is one of the honored old soldiers of White County and is a member of the Grand Army Post at Monticello. He belonged to a regiment which sustained heavy losses during the war, and when his regiment was discharged there were only thirty-three men to the com- pany. While an out and out republican, Mr. Myers has never cared for
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the honors of office. He and his wife are members of the Methodist ยท Church, and he has been a liberal contributor to church and other causes. His daughter Mary is a member of the Order of Rebekahs. At one time Mr. Myers served as a member of the school board and on the town council, and he has always been a citizen whose character and con- duct have commanded respect and confidence.
GEORGE T. TOWNSLEY. Occupying a well kept and well improved estate in Jackson Township, George T. Townsley has shown marked ability in the management of his agricultural interests, and has won an honored position among the practical and progressive farmers of White County. A son of the late Cyrus Townsley, he was born August 29, 1864, in Green County, Ohio. His Grandfather Townsley emigrated from Ireland to this country, and after his marriage with a fair German maiden located in Ohio.
Cyrus Townsley was born and reared in Ohio, and as a boy became familiar with the various branches of agriculture. Coming with his family to White County, Indiana, in the fall of 1865, he bought land in Jackson Township, south of Burnettsville, and was there engaged in farming and stock growing until about 1868, and then moved to the farm now occupied by his son, George T. Townsley, where he lived until 1893, moving then to Idaville and January 29, 1908, he died on the home place. He was a republican in politics, taking much interest in local affairs, and in religion was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He married first, in Ohio, Sophia Allen, who died May 1, 1871, in Jackson Township, on the home farm, leaving five children as follows: Corena, Josephine, George T., Margaret and Martha. He married second, Margaret Neal, who bore him one son, Newton Towns- ley. She survived him, and at her death, March 29, 1914, her body was laid beside his and that of his first wife in the cemetery at Idaville.
About a year old when brought by his parents to White County, George T. Townsley here acquired a practical common school education and an excellent knowledge of general agriculture. Beginning life on his own account in 1889, he profited by his father's example and experi- ence, and possessing sound sense, good judgment, and an energetic nature, he has been quite successful in the work to which he has given his time and attention since early youth. In 1893 Mr. Townsley moved to the farm of 165 acres which he now occupies, located on section 27, Jackson Township, and has since continued the improvements previously inaugurated, his father having erected the house and barns. The greater part of this land is under culture, and everything about the premises is indicative of the care and supervision of an excellent manager.
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Mr. Townsley married November 23, 1893, Alice McCully, daughter .
of William and Catherine (Heiny) McCully, and into their household five children were born, namely: Harley, Val Allen, Beatrice, one deceased, and Josephine. Mrs. Townsley's father died in 1885, but her mother is still living, residing in Idaville. Politically Mr. Townsley supports the principles of the republican party in national issues, but in local affairs he votes for the best men and measures, regardless of party restrictions.
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