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 25
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The Hickman family have been identified with White County since the early '50s, and William Hickman was born in the south part of Liberty Township September 30, 1857. His parents were Bluford and Elizabeth (Nichols) Hickman. His parents were married in this county, and all of their nine children are still living. His father was a substan- tial farmer and stock raiser and died in 1893, being buried in the Hughes Cemetery. The mother is still living. Bluford Hickman was a demo- crat in politics, and a member of the New Dunkard Church. In his time he endured many of the vicissitudes that were inseparable from pioneering, and besides his material position left to his descendants an honored name.
After such education as could be obtained in the local schools, Wil- liam Hickman started out at the age of sixteen to use his energies and talents to the best advantage consistent with his opportunities. Farm- ing has always been his regular vocation, and after many years of well directed effort he now finds himself the possessor of a good acreage and also town property. He is a democrat in politics, and he and his family affiliate with the Christian Church.
The most important event in his early career was his marriage on June 6, 1885, to Miss Margaret Jarringer, a daughter of John and Jane (Travis) Jarringer. The father was born in Delaware County, Indiana, in 1838. In 1875 he came to White County, Indiana, locating in Liberty Township, where he died in 1906 at the age of sixty-eight years. He owned a farm each in Howard and White counties. Both he and his wife were members of the Christian Church, and he affiliated with the republican party. Mrs. Jarringer was born in Franklin County, Ohio, October 24, 1840, and came to Indiana with her sister, Elizabeth Williams, when but eight years of age. She is still a resident of Liberty Township. Mrs. Hickman was born in Howard County, Indiana, July Vol. II-15
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8, 1868, and was but a child of seven years when she came to White County, which has continued her home since that time. She is a lady of great energy and executive ability, and has been a constant aid to her husband in business and home affairs. They started their married life with but twenty-two acres of land, on which was a small mortgage, and they are now the owners of 404 acres in Liberty Township, besides town property, and they reside in the Village of Buffalo, one-half mile from one of their farms and 112 miles from the other. Seven of their nine children are also alive. For thirty years now Mr. and Mrs. Hickman have shared the struggles and successes of their career, and have a fine family of children to do them honor. These children are named: Wal- ter; Gustavus, deceased; May and Fay, twins, both deceased; Amy, wife of Frank Richardson of Logansport; and James. Walter Hickman resides on his parents' estate, is a member of the Christian Church, is a democrat politically, and affiliates with the Fraternal Order of Red Men at Monticello. He married Eva Siddle, and they have two children, William E., Jr., and Geneva V. Amy G. became the wife of Frank Richardson, of Logansport, employed by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and they have a daughter, Helen Marguerite. Mrs. Richard- son graduated from the common schools at the early age of thirteen, and she is a member of the Church of God. James Hickman follows farm- ing. He is a democrat politically, affiliates with the Fraternal Order of Red Men and is a member of the New Light Church.
REV. J. H. LINDHORST. A man of earnest convictions, strong char- acter, and deep consecration, Rev. J. H. Lindhorst, pastor of the Ger- man Lutheran Church at Reynolds, is devoted, heart and soul, to the work of the Christian ministry. Born in Hanover, Germany, March 21, 1872, he immigrated to the United States in 1887, and was here fitted for the ministry. Coming to Reynolds in 1894, he assumed charge of his present church in August of that year, and since been a zealous worker in the cause of religion. He is an effective and pleasant speaker, both in the pulpit and out of it, and is a firm friend and wise counsellor to all who go to him for advice and consolation.
The church was organized in 1861, and the church building, erected some years later, cost approximately, $2,000. Reverend Meisner was its first pastor. He was succeeded by Rev. H. Schlesselmann and later Rev. J. H. Bethke assumed its charge. He remained as its pastor until his death, sixteen years later. He was succeeded, in 1894, by Reverend Lindhorst, who has successfully conducted the affairs of the church since. It is now in a most flourishing condition, having about 275 communicant members, while its voting contingent numbers ninety-
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five. The church buildings have been changed to some extent under the management of its present pastor, and in 1911 a new parochial school building, costing $3,000 was erected, the increased number of pupils attending the school demanding more commodious quarters.
PERRY SPENCER. Now living virtually retired in the fine little City of Monticello, the judicial center of his native county, Mr. Spencer is a scion of one of the honored pioneer families of White County, where his parents established their residence more than eighty years ago, and his gracious wife is a representative of a family that was founded within the borders of this county at an even earlier date. Both the Spencer and the Roberts families played a large part in the initial stages of civic and material development and progress in White County, reclaiming farms from the virgin forest, enduring the vicissitudes that fell to the lot of the loyal pioneers and laying the firm foundations on which their descend- ants have reared to superstructure of latter-day prosperity and progress. The members of the Spencer family in White county have been coll- spicuous as landholders and successful agriculturists, have stood expo- nent of the highest personal integrity and marked business ability and have exemplified the best ideals of useful and productive citizenship. . Perry Spencer has full upheld the honors of the name which he bears and is today the owner of one of the largest and best improved landed estates in White County, the greater part of this valuable property having been accumulated through his own ability and well directed efforts.
Perry Spencer was born at the old homestead of his father, in Union Township, this county, on the 16th of August, 1841, and is a son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Barnett) Spencer, the former of whom was born in Maryland and the latter in Ohio, their marriage having been sol- emnized in the old Buckeye State, whence they came to White County, Indiana, in 1832. Thomas Spencer was a tanner by trade but after es- tablishing his home in White County his splendid energies found play primarily in agricultural operations. He obtained a tract of wild land, there established his home in a log house of the primitive type common to the pioneer days, and then set to himself the herculean task of felling the forest trees and reclaiming his land to cultivation. Indomitable energy and perseverance, coupled with mature business judgment, en- abled him to achieve large and worthy success and incidentally to do much in furtherance of the social and industrial development and up- building of the county. At the time of his death, which occurred No- vember 23, 1870, he was the owner of about 800 acres of land, devoted to diversified agriculture and to the raising of live stock. His devoted
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wife, who had been his faithful and valued helpmeet, was summoned to the life eternal in November, 1869, and the remains of both. were laid to rest in the county that had long represented their home and on the list of whose sterling pioneers their names merit enduring place. Of their eight children, Perry Spencer, of this review, is the only survivor. Thomas Spencer was a man of strong individuality and well fortified convictions, was a loyal supporter of the cause of the democratic party, and was a loyal citizen who commanded the unqualified esteem of the community in which he maintained his home for nearly two score years.
Perry Spencer was reared to the sturdy discipline of the home farm and acquired his early education in the common schools of the pioneer era in the history of White County. His independent career as a farmer was initiated when he was twenty-three years of age and about the same time he had the wisdom to fortify himself still further by tak- ing unto himself a wife, the bride of his youth having continued his earn- est coadjutor and devoted companion during the long intervening years. Mr. Spencer had all of ambition and determination when he started to make his own way toward the goal of worthy success and independence, but he had the good judgment to make his advancement by such stages as were consistent with his financial means and personal powers, so that his progress was made along safe and conservative lines and with slight element of risk or uncertainty. His ultimate achievement is represented in a fine landed estate of about 1,000 acres of land, all within the borders of White County, and he has stood as one of the most progressive and substantial exponents of agricultural and live-stock industry in this favored section of the state. He continued to give his active super- vision to his extensive farm operations until about the year 1909, when his advancing years and adequate financial resources justified him in retiring from the active labors that had long engrossed his attention, and he removed with his wife to Monticello, where they own and occupy an attractive residence and find themselves in the most congenial environ- ment, surrounded by friends who are tried and true and compassed by those familiar scenes that are pregnant in gracious memories of the past:
Mr. Spencer has at all times been loyal and public-spirited as a citi- zen and has shown lively interest in local affairs. He has retained un- wavering allegiance to the democratic party, has found many oppor- tunities to do good in his community and has served two terms as a mem- ber of the board of county commissioners, an office in which he was a staunch advocate of progressive policies and yet of consistent economy in the administration of county affairs. While not a member of any
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religious or fraternal organization, Mr. Spencer has shown a charitable and generous spirit and has seldom refused liberal support to worthy causes.
On the 12th of November, 1863, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Spencer to Miss Susan Roberts, who likewise was born and reared in White County and who is a daughter of John and Martha (Dyer) Rob- erts, her parents having become pioneer settlers of this county, where they established their home in the year 1831 and where they passed the remainder of their long and useful lives, secure in the unqualified esteem of all who knew them.
John Roberts was born July 16, 1804, and his death occurred De- cember 7, 1872; his wife was born November 2, 1810, and she long sur- vived her husband, her age at the time of her death having been eighty- five years. Mr. and Mrs. Roberts were born and reared in the State of Ohio, were members of early pioneer families of that commonwealth, and there their marriage was solemnized on the 27th of December, 1827. In the following year they came to Indiana and established their resi- dence in Tippecanoe County, where they remained until 1831, when they came to White County and settled on 160 acres of Government land three and one-half miles southwest of the present site of Monticello, the county seat. There was no Monticello in existence at that time, and in her venerable years Mrs. Roberts, appreciative of the urban attractions of the fine little city of the present, often called attention to the fact. that she could well remember when the first building was erected on the site of Monticello and when this section was a virtual wilderness, with Indians and wild game much in evidence. In 1866 Mr. and Mrs. Rob- erts removed from their farm to Monticello, and for several years after the death of her husband she kept house alone in her comfortable village residence. She passed her later years in the homes of her children, and died at the home of her son, Robert D., who was then serving as county commissioner of White County. Of the eight children of John and Martha (Dyer) Roberts the eldest was Thomas, who was born December 30, 1828, and who met an accidental death, by shooting, on the 9th of July, 1861, he having been killed by the Indians near Sioux City, Iowa, and they stole his horse; William, who was born April 17, 1832, died at Winfield, Kansas; John and James, twins, were born July 29, 1834, and both died in the year 1837, the former on the 28th and the latter on the 31st of October; Robert D., was born January 21, 1837, and his wife, whose maiden name was Susan Scouden, passed away December 23, 1910, and of their nine children-two sons and seven daughters-one son and three daughters are deceased: Maria Louisa, who was born March 31, 1839, is the wife of William Frazer, of Delphi,
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Carroll County ; Susan, wife of the subject of this review, was the next in order of birth, the date of her nativity having been November 6, 1841; and Edwin Ruthven, who was born January 23, 1843, died young.
Mr. and Mrs. Spencer have one son, Robert, who was born June 5, 1868, and who resides upon and operates the old homestead farm on which he was born, in Union Township. He married Miss Gertrude Beshoar, daughter of Daniel Beshoar, and their only child is Ralph, who was born on the 24th of February, 1904.
JOHN CONWELL. A citizen who has many interesting associations with early times in White County, John Conwell has for fully half a century lived on one farm in Liberty Township. His is one of the old and honored names in that part of the county and his career of industry and honesty has been rewarded not only by a satisfactory allowance of the world's goods, but also the esteem and respect of his fellows. Mr. Conwell is one of White County's citizens who distinctly recall the con- struction of the first railroad through the county. That was back in 1850, when he was a boy of nineteen, and his recollection is emphasized by the fact that for a good many weeks he was employed in getting out ties for the railroad tracks, being paid fifty cents per day and his board for the labor.
Of Scotch-Irish stock, John Conwell was born in Hardin County, Ohio, August 8, 1831, a son of William and Mary (Fultz) Conwell. His father was a native of Virginia and his mother of Ohio, and the family came to White County, Indiana, in October, 1835. There are very few families still found in White County whose continuous residence goes back to the early part of the decade of the '30s.
The youngest in a family of nine children, John Conwell grew up in the pioneer environment of the White County of seventy years ago. He attended some of the old time district schools, and has always been a farmer by occupation. It was on April 13, 1865, that he took possession of his present farm in section 9 of Liberty Township. That home is now endeared to him by the recollections and associations of half a century. He is the owner of 200 acres of land, situated five miles north of Monti- cello, and about 175 acres of that are classified as plow land. At the time of this writing Mr. Conwell is constructing a comfortable new home which is only one of the many improvements he has placed on the land since he took possession.
Probably the cardinal principle of his life has been to do unto others as he would be done by, and it is said that he has never assumed an obligation he could not perform, and has never had a suit for debt. In politics he is a democrat of the old style, and though never a seeker for
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official honors he served capably in the office of township supervisor for twelve years.
Mr. Conwell married for his first wife Nancy J. Bowen. The three living children of this union are: John, who married Sarah McCaulley ; George, who married Catherine McCaulley ; and Mrs. Mary Denton. His second wife, Mrs. Mary Ann Luse, died five months after their marriage. He afterwards married Ella Luse, a daughter of William Luse, who was one of the early settlers in White County. To this marriage were born five children: Emma, wife of A. F. Conrod; Amanda, now de- ceased; Alice C., wife of Ed Troeger; Asa, who married Maude Hughes, and they now live with his father; and William, deceased.
JOHN L. SPINN. For nearly half a century the splendid thrift and enterprise of the German settlers have been manifested in the rural com- munity about Reynolds by members of the Spinn family. John L. Spinn is a progressive young agriculturist and the owner of a fine farm two miles northwest of Reynolds, comprising 131 acres. Its improvements at once classify him as a leader in agricultural affairs. He is a son of the original settler, who came here from Germany half a century ago and gave the honorable start to the family destiny in this part of the world.
The emigrant was Henry Spinn, late of White County, who was born in Mecklenburg, Germany, November 10, 1831. He married Sophia Wag- ner, and in 1865 set out for the New World, spending sixteen weeks en route on the ocean. On reaching Reynolds, Henry Spinn found employ- ment with the railroad and continued at that hard labor five years. Both he and his wife exercised the closest economy, and with the savings of the railroad work he was finally able to buy eighty acres of land. After that he was a substantial farmer until he retired in 1894. The last fifteen years of his life he spent chiefly in the Village of Reynolds, but after the death of his wife on June 27, 1905, he returned to the country and lived with his son John until about a year before his own death, which occurred July 14, 1909. Henry Spinn was a democrat from the time he qualified as an American citizen, but was no office seeker. He was a member of the German Lutheran Church and contributed liberally to its support. Though he began life in America on a plane with many newly arrived foreigners, at the time of his death he was the owner of about 350 acres of the fine farm lands of White County, and also had some property in town. He was helpful to his neighbors, and was inter- ested in those movements that meant better living for the community. He was laid to rest at the German Cemetery in Reynolds. Of the ten children born to Henry and Sophia (Wagner) Spinn, five died in in-
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fancy, and the others are mentioned briefly as follows: Fred, who mar- ried Amelia Milling and lives in Honey Creek Township, has three chil- dren; William, who lives in Honey Creek Township, married Ida Selmer, and has three children; John L .; Matilda, the wife of Otto Levering, living at Lafayette, and the mother of one child; Anna married William Buss and lives in Honey Creek and has two children.
John L. Spinn was born in Honey Creek Township June 24, 1875. He grew up on a farm and as a preparation for life combined the training of farm work with the advantages of the local schools. Mr. Spinn mar- ried Sophia Milling, daughter of John and Wilhelmina Milling of Kankakee County, Illinois. To their union have been born four children, Lulu M., Della W., Lillian E. and Mabel F., all living at home.
Mr. John L. Spinn has devoted his active career to farming, and his industry now shows forth many substantial results. He is a democrat, though without pretensions for office, and is content to do his public work in the quiet role of a private citizen. He and his family are members of the German Lutheran faith.
WILLIAM M. Buss. By his capable superintendence of his fine farm of 180 acres in section 22 of Honey Creek Township and by the integrity and energy which characterize all his public relations, William M. Buss is well on the way toward realizing those things which are considered most worth while by ambitious men, an honorable success in business with satisfying material rewards, the esteem of his fellow men, and a public spirited share in the social and civic life of the community.
William M. Buss is a native of Honey Creek Township, where he was born November 16, 1871, a son of Charles and Dorothy (Schultz) Buss. His parents were both born in Hamburg, Germany, and came to the United States in 1865. At that time they were still single and were married after reaching White County. To their union were born six children : Charles; Minnie, who is deceased and is buried in the Bunnell Cemetery ; Augusta ; William; Herman; and Louis, who is deceased and buried in the Lutheran Cemetery. The father of these children made his mark as a farmer and stock raiser and before his death had accumu- lated 180 acres of land and had brought it up to the best standards of improvement. He was a self-made man in the best sense of the term and had come to America without money and friends and with nothing to start him to success except a pair of willing hands and a courageous temper in the face of all problems and difficulties. He was thoroughly honorable and enjoyed the highest respect of the entire community, where he died March 4. 1914. His widow is now living with her son Charles. The father is buried in the Lutheran Cemetery. He served for a time as
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supervisor of his home township, was a member of the German Lutheran Church in Reynolds, and in politics a democrat.
William M. Buss was reared in White County, attended the public schools and lived at home with his father up to the age of twenty-five. At that time he started out to meet the difficulties of life on his own account and having learned the carpenter's trade followed it for five years, but since then has given most of his attention to farming and stock raising. He is now the manager of the old homestead of 180 acres, and also owns two acres and three lots in the Village of Reynolds.
On April 28, 1898, Mr. Buss married Miss Annie Spinn, a daughter of Henry and Sophia (Schultz) Spinn. The first child born to their marriage died in infancy. Martha, born April 16, 1901, is a bright and intelligent girl and has made good progress through the public schools. The youngest child is Vernita, born September 30, 1913. Mr. Buss is a democrat in politics and for two years has been township supervisor in Honey Creek. He is a member of the German Lutheran Church.
REUBEN EDDY. Both in point of years, and in point of residence, Reuben Eddy is one of the oldest citizens of Honey Creek Township. His useful life has been prolonged more than a decade beyond the psalm- ist's span of three score and ten, and few men are better justified in en- joying the fruits of a well spent past than Mr. Eddy, who for a num- ber of years has been retired from the active responsibilities of farming. His home is in Section 26 of Honey Creek Township, and for nearly fifty years he has been identified with White County.
Reuben Eddy was born in Wayne County, Ohio, October 3, 1833, while Andrew Jackson was still President of the United States. His parents were Myron R. and Sally (Bell) Eddy, he being one of their eleven children, two of whom are still living. The father of this large family died in Elkhart County, Indiana, and the mother in Noble County.
Reuben Eddy grew up on a farm, attended the primitive country schools which existed during the '40s and '50s, and such has been the length of his life that he has been a witness of practically all the de- velopment that has transformed the western country from the days of the slow-going stage coach and canal boat to the modern time of electric transportation and flying machines. At the age of twenty-one he started out for himself, and soon bought an old horsepower threshing machine, and operated that outfit during the annual season in addition to his farming.
Mr. Eddy came to White County in 1869, and has lived in Honey Creek Township practically ever since. During the first year of his
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residence in the county he taught school, and has also done a large amount of carpentry work in the county, being skilled in the use of tools and with a genius for mechanics. In the course of time he acquired his well improved farm of eighty acres, and did general farming and stock raising until he retired about fifteen years ago, leaving the chief responsibilities of the homestead to his sons. In politics he has voted with the republican party practically since its organization, but has never had aspirations to fill any local office.
On February 11, 1865, Mr. Eddy married Miss Sophronia O. Warner, a daughter of Louis and Lodemia M. (Wicks) Warner. Of the nine children born to their marriage the first died in infancy, and the others are named briefly as follows: Robert M .; Harry C .; Daisy D., wife of Will Atkinson of Chicago; Wade I., deceased; Claude T., deceased ; Myron R .; Bessie B., wife of LeRoy Piatt of Reynolds; and Ruby D., wife of Henry Prill. The mother of these children died November 21, 1904, after having been a faithful companion to her husband and a de- voted mother to her children through a period of nearly forty years. Mr. Eddy is affiliated with the Masonic Lodge No. 276 at Kendalville, Indiana.
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