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 41
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
William French, who was one of the sons born to the second mar- riage, had a sister, Sarah Ripley, who was born June 25, 1825, married William Ripley and now lives at Brookston, Indiana, at the advanced age of ninety years. William French married Mary Susan Ash on March 12, 1861. His married life endured a little more than six years until his death March 27, 1867. William French and his brother Moses French and his brother-in-law William Ripley came to White County, Indiana, in March, 1856. He settled in the northeast part of Prairie Township on a farm, and became known as a law abiding, hard work- ing man. He commanded respect from all who knew him, and his death at an early age was a loss to the county. The three children of William French and wife were: Charles J., James F. and William. All three of these sons were reared at Brookston, where they received their schooling.
Charles J. French was born February 5, 1862. He followed farming in Prairie Township until the age of twenty-one, and then went out to West Union, Iowa, where he was married and engaged in business. He wedded Emma Adell Archer and their two children were William A. and May. Subsequently he moved to Piru City, California, and for several
887
HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY
years was in general merchandising. Returning to Indiana, he organ- ized at Brookston a stock company for conducting a canning factory at Prairie Grove, Arkansas, and while actively identified with that business died there.
James F. French, who is the only surviving son, was born on the home farm in Prairie Township February 7, 1864, was brought to Brookston when four years of age, and grew up and obtained his educa- tion in the local public schools. His life was spent as a farmer until 1888, at which date he and his brother William bought a hardware store, and subsequently expanded their stock to include furniture. This was his principal business enterprise until 1910, when Mr. French sold the store to A. L. Backenridge & Son. While looking after this mercan- tile concern, the brothers also operated their farm and became actively identified with the canning industry. James F. French was married March 26, 1907, to Anna Hildebrandt. Mr. French is a member of the Masonic fraternity and is a republican in politics.
William French, the youngest of the three sons, was born August 18, 1866, and was accidentally killed in a gasoline explosion on August 16, 1911. He spent all his life in Prairie Township, and from early manhood was closely associated with his brother James in business affairs. He was essentially a business man, keen, capable and appar- 'ently possessed of a special genius for business undertakings. William French married Miss Ruth Burget. He died when life was at its best for him.
GEORGE A. RAINIER. Among the families whose claim to long resi- dence in White County are based upon settlement before the Civil war, one of those with an additional record of honest worth and value to that community is that of Rainier, in the vicinity of Brookston. The first of them to come to this vicinity was John F. Rainier, whose former home was in Randolph County, Indiana, and who first located on a farm near Ash Grove close to the White County line, and lived there two years before coming into White County proper.
John F. Rainier was a fine type of the early settler. Born in New Jersey December 23, 1823, he was a son of Stacey Rainier. The family originally came out of France, as indicated by the name, but for gen- erations they have been American born. Stacey Rainier was a farmer by occupation and married Elizabeth Ford, by whom he had a family of six children. Stacey Rainier himself came to White County as early as 1859, and he and his wife spent the rest of their days here. Four of their sons served the Union in the Civil war, and one of them, Joseph, was sergeant in the Tenth Indiana Battery and gave up his life while
888
HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY
in the service. In religious belief both Stacey Rainier and his wife were strong believers in spiritualism. He was a great lover of live stock and while many of his neighbors kept their animals poor and ill fed, his horses were always fat and sleek. His life here as elsewhere was such as to command the respect of all who knew him.
John F. Rainier came West from New Jersey when a young man, first locating in Randolph County, where he married Verinda Neal. In 1858 they located in Tippecanoe County just across the White County line. About two years later, in 1866, they transferred their home to White County and bought 157 acres in Prairie Township west of Brookston. That was the home of John F. Rainier for a number of years. He finally left the farm to the operation of his son and moved to Brookston to engage in the grocery business. Failing health caused his retirement from an active career, and after that he lived somewhat quietly until his death on August 23, 1888. In religion John F. Rainier was a Universalist and in politics a democrat. He served as assessor of Prairie Township and as a member of the school board of Brookston. . It was characteristic of the man that he took others to be what he was himself-honest and obliging. This trait of character often brought him trouble and financial loss. His death bereaved the community of a man it could ill afford to lose. His wife was born in Wayne County, Indi- ana, October 2, 1830, and died August 4, 1898. The three sons of their marriage are John S., Oscar K. and George A., all of whom are living in Indiana, and two in White County.
George A. Rainier was born in Randolph County May 20, 1853, and was only a child when brought by his parents to White County, where he has spent practically all his life. His youth brought him into touch with the hard work of the farm in that generation, and his education was acquired by attending the district schools and the public schools of Brookston and also the old Brookston Academy. When only fifteen years of age he was a valuable helper to his father in the store at Brooks- ton, but subsequently returned to farming and made that his vocation for about three years. Returning to Brookston, he became a partner of his father, and was thus occupied until the latter retired from business. For the next quarter of a century Mr. Rainier was active as a general merchant, and through his trade relations became widely known about this section of the state. In the meantime he had invested his surplus in land from time to time, and is now one of the large owners of country property, having 325 acres, 125 of which are in Round Grove and the rest in Prairie Township.
George A. Rainier was married January 4, 1877, to Miss Emma S. Krinnieng, who was born in White County, Indiana, December 14, 1855,
889
HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY
a daughter of August and Rosanna (Quade) Krinnieng. 'Mr. and Mrs. Rainier have a son, Alfred P., who was born February 20, 1879, and is now in the successful practice of medicine at Remington, Indiana. He is a graduate of the Brookston High School, spent two years in the Rush Medical College at Chicago, and took his degree in medicine from the ยท Physicians & Surgeons College of St. Louis. George A. Rainier is a democrat, a member of the Masonic fraternity, and he and his wife and son are members of the Universalist Church.
ANDREW AND SHERMAN COCHRAN. Through a period of more than sixty years the activities and influence of the Cochran family have been such as to justify a page of record in the history of White County. The social life and business affairs of the little Village of Brookston were the stage on which the late Andrew Cochran played an important part for many years, and one of his sons is still active in business affairs there.
Andrew Cochran came to White County in the fall of 1854, locating near Brookston, where he began work at his trade as a carpenter. He was born near Madison, Indiana, November 2, 1822, a son of Andrew Cochran, who was of Scotch ancestry. Andrew, Sr., was a native of Kentucky, where his parents had located in the days of Daniel Boone. From Kentucky he moved over the frontier into Indiana when it was a wilderness infested with Indians and wild game. Andrew, Sr., made himself a factor in the early days of Indiana, when it was emerging from the conditions of a territorial existence into the, dignity of state- hood. Andrew, Sr., married Elizabeth Wood, and they spent the rest of their lives in Southern Indiana. There were eleven children in the family, and the son Andrew, Jr., was only fourteen years of age when left an orphan and with an important part to bear in assisting to pro- vide a living for the household.
His early life was spent in Madison, where he served an apprentice- ship at the trade of carpenter. He was four times married. His first wife left him with two children, one of them now living. His second wife was Miss Michel French, a daughter of Asa French and a sister of the late William French, who was also an early settler in Prairie Town- ship of White County, and concerning whom record appears on other pages. Michel French by her marriage to Mr. Cochran became the mother of three children, two of whom are living. There are no chil- dren by the last two wives of Andrew Cochran.
Andrew Cochran moved from Madison to White County in 1854, and as a worker at his trade assisted in building the Monon Railroad. Nearly all his active career was spent as a carpenter, though in the '70s he established a furniture and undertaking business at Brookston. His
890
HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY
wife, however, assumed most of the responsibilities connected with the management of this business, while he continued working as a carpenter contractor. Many of the buildings throughout White County erected by him are still standing and visible witnesses of his industry. Andrew Cochran died September 28, 1901. He was in many ways a remarkable man. Brought up under the strict tenets of the Presbyterian Church of the older day, he never wholly departed from its teachings. Temper- ate in his habits and thoroughly honest, he assumed the same virtue in others, and this not infrequently interfered with his own business pros- perity. Hard working and industrious, he often became the victim of the unscrupulous, but with all this no cause was advocated for the bet- terment of the community but what he was a liberal contributor thereto. When the Civil war threatened the disruption of the Union he enlisted as first lieutenant in Company F of the Ninety-ninth Indiana Volunteer Infantry and was mustered in October 7, 1862. He was commissioned captain of his company on November 8, 1864, and was mustered out at Washington, District of Columbia, June 5, 1865. As an individual he had an important part in the preservation of the Union, and his military career gained him the commendation of his superior officers and will de- servedly be a matter of pride to all his descendants. He was a republi- can in politics, and for many years was identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Of his children now living, one, William A., is a physician at Danville, Illinois, while another son, Clyde C., is a con- ductor on the Monon Railroad and lives at Lafayette. The only one now living in White County is Sherman.
Sherman Cochran was born in Brookston, Indiana, April 22, 1867, grew up in that community, attended the local schools, and has seldom been out of White County for an extended period of time. Since 1904 he has been actively identified with merchandising. Mr. Cochran is independent in politics and usually votes for the man and for principles rather than for the party. He takes an active interest in the Knights of Pythias, Castle Hall Lodge, No. 289, both the subordinate and the uniformed rank of the order at Delphi, Company No. 86, and in the latter holds the rank of lieutenant. On June 28, 1891, Sherman Cochran married Miss Emma J. Currie. They have one son, Vaughn K.
LEVEN TUCKER. Among the early settlers of White County one whose name should be mentioned with the respect and honor due his early coming and his successful activities and position in the community is the late Leven Tucker. His home for many years was in Big Creek Township, and he saw that community grow and develop from a raw, uncultivated prairie to a rich and fertile agricultural district. His
891
HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY
life was devoted to the cultivation of the soil and the raising of its products and his industries and well directed efforts led him to a most gratifying success.
Leven Tucker was born in the State of Delaware, January 12, 1823, In 1840 he removed with the family to Cass County, Indiana, gained his education there in the early schools, and in 1848, when still a young man, arrived in White County, where the remaining years of his life were passed. His entire career was devoted to agricultural pursuits, a field in which he was very successful. At the time of his death he owned a tract of six hundred acres, all in good state of cultivation and with improvements of the most modern character. This was a strange condi- tion compared with the land when he first came to the county. Then all was wild, the prairie raw, the few houses principally of logs, and game of all kinds was to be found in the woods and in the prairies.
The late Leven Tucker was a man of more than ordinary promi- nence and influence in his community, enjoyed a long and active life, and was eighty-four years of age when he passed away with the honor and respect of all who knew him January 25, 1907. In politics he was a republican, but in his early days had voted the whig ticket.
He was married in White County November 9, 1849, about a year after he came to this section, to Miss Jane Wolverton, a daughter of Philip and Mary (Pritchett) Wolverton. After their marriage they lived in a log house for several years, and in that humble home several if not all of their children were born. With increasing prosperity they changed the log house for a more comfortable and more commodious structure, and while the parents themselves had acquired their early training in some of the old fashioned log schoolhouses of primitive facil- ities, they sent their own children to better schools, though some of the older ones attended one of the log houses in which school was kept up to thirty or forty years ago in White County.
To the marriage of Leven Tucker and wife were born six children: William, who was born in Big Creek township April 26, 1851, and mar- ried Carrie (Bailey) Carvin; Mary Frances, who is deceased; Sarah Elizabeth, who married R. A. Clark; Etna Elzora, who married F. M. Havens; and two that died in infancy. William Tucker, the oldest son of Leven Tucker, is a farmer in Big Creek Township, where he was born and reared, and still occupies a portion of the old homestead left him by his father. His wife is a native of Delaware County, Indiana, where she was born August 3, 1879, being the second in a family of four children, two sons and two daughters, whose parents were Charles L. and Viola E. (Ensworth) Bailey. Mrs. Tucker's sister and two brothers are : Nellie, wife of M. F. Chalfant, of Detroit, Michigan; Clinton, who
-
892
HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY
is an iron worker by trade, lives in Madison, Illinois, and married Mollie Myers; and Wade, who lives retired in Muncie, Indiana. Mr. Bailey, the father of these children, was born in Indiana, educated himself for the law and was admitted to the Indiana bar, was a republican in politics, and died in 1895. The mother of Mrs. Tucker was born in Parke County, Indiana, was educated in the common and high schools, and is now living at Muncie, Indiana. Both she and her husband were members of the New Light Church. Mrs. Tucker was educated in the common schools and city schools. She is a member of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. and Mrs. Tucker reside in a pretty cottage in Chalmers, and are citizens who command the respect of all.
SAMUEL WILSON. An unusually successful career was that of the late Samuel Wilson, who though a resident of White County only about twenty years, made that a time of great accomplishment, and as a farmer and stock raiser stood second to none in his generation.
Born near Darbyville, Ohio, in 1849, the late Samuel Wilson had in his veins a mixture of Scotch, Irish, English, Dutch, Welsh and Ger- man blood. He was reared and educated in Ohio, and arrived within the limits of White County on March 4, 1888. For thirteen years he showed his capabilities as a farmer and stock raiser in the management of a thousand acres of land, which he rented. As a stock man he paid particular attention to the Shorthorn and Polled-Angus breed. In 1899 Mr. Wilson bought eighty acres of land and a year later secured the two hundred forty acres adjoining in West Point Township, thus giving him the large farm of three hundred twenty acres.
While living in Ohio in 1873, Samuel Wilson married Mathilda Hill. Their six children were: Fred Thomas; Randall A .; Julia E., wife of Elton Burget ; Robert, now deceased; Samuel E .; and Agnes L. The late Mr. Wilson was a democrat in politics and held several minor offices, though they came to him without his asking. He was a member of the Baptist Church and died in that faith April 11, 1909, and is now at rest in West Point Cemetery. His widow is living in Chalmers.
GEORGE W. CHAMBERLAIN. Four generations of the Chamberlain family have found representation in White County, and this mere state- ment in itself bears significance, for it indicates conclusively that the family name has been associated with the history of the county since the early pioneer days. Further than this, those who have borne the name have in each successive generation stood exponent of the best type of citizenship and have given to the world assurance of sterling integrity and worthy achievement. He to whom this memoir is dedicated was a
1
J.W. Chamberlain
,
893
HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY
scion of the second generation of the family in White County and was a lad of about seven years when, in 1843, his parents established their home in what is now West Point Township, this county, where his father became one of the organizers of this township, even as he was one of the strong and loyal pioneers who here instituted a reclamation of a productive farm from the virtual wilderness. George W. Chamberlain was a man of staunch rectitude, broad mental grasp and much construc- tive ability, his having been a large and benignant influence in connec- tion with the civic and industrial progress and prosperity of White County, where his memory is held in enduring honor now that he has passed from the stage of life's mortal endeavors, his death having oc- curred on the 5th of October, 1913, and his remains being laid to rest in the West Point Cemetery.
George W. Chamberlain was born in Carroll County, Indiana, on the 12th of September, 1836, and was a son of Aaron and Elizabeth (Thatcher) Chamberlain. His father was a native of Pennsylvania and was there reared to adult age under conditions and influences that admir- ably fitted him for his subsequent activities as one of the sturdy pioneers of the fine old Hoosier State, where he initiated the reclamation and cultivation of lands that are worth nearly fifty times as much as was paid for the property in the pioneer era. Aaron Chamberlain was born in the year 1805, and was in the very prime of his strong and resourceful manhood when he came from the old Keystone State to cast in his lot with the pioneers of Indiana. He came with his family to White County in the year 1843, and obtained a tract of wild land now included in West Point Township. He was actively associated in the organization of the township and with all community affairs of public order, with secure place in the confidence and good will of all who knew him. With characteristic energy and discrimination he set to himself the herculean task of reclaiming his embryonic farm, but he lived only six years after establishing his home in White County, where he died, at his pioneer homestead, in 1849, shortly prior to his fiftieth birthday anniversary. His wife survived him by a number of years, and the names of both merit high place on the roll of the honored pioneers of White County. They became the parents of ten children, namely : Joseph, Henry, Henri- etta, Daniel, George W., Emeline, Caroline, Mary, John and Aaron. All of the children are now deceased except Henry, who is a well known resident of Big Creek Township, this county.
George W. Chamberlain was a child at the time of the family removal from Carroll County to Tippecanoe County, in which latter county the family home was maintained several years, near Battleground. In 1843, as already noted in a preceding paragraph, removal was made to White
894
HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY
County and a home was established in West Point Township, which had not yet been set off as a separate subdivision of the county. Here young George was reared to manhood under the invigorating discipline of the pioneer farm, and he early began to contribute his quota to its work, the while he made good use of the advantages afforded in the early schools of the community and laid adequate foundation upon which to rear the superstructure of broad knowledge and mature judgment that denoted the man of later years. He became one of the extensive land- holders and representative agriculturists of the county that was his home for the long period of seventy years, and at the time of his death he was the owner of a valuable landed estate of 1,120 acres in White County, where few men could claim more extended possessions in evidence of worthy material success and prosperity. He stood representative of the best in the community life and fully merited the unqualified esteem in which he was uniformly held. Somewhat conservative in his opinions, he was firm in his convictions and combined with an abundant physical vigor an equal staunchness in upholding what he believed to be right, whether in politics, religion or general morality. He was independent and fearless, seldom required advice from others, though he was a valued counsellor to others. He gave close attention to his business activities as one of the foremost agriculturists and stockgrowers of White County, and from his honorable and well directed endeavors he achieved large and worthy success.
Well fortified in his views concerning governmental and economic policies, he accorded allegiance to the democratic party, though he had no predilection for the activities of so called practical politics. He never sought public office, but his civic loyalty was such that he did not refuse his service when called to local positions of trust, including those of township supervisor and township assessor. He was affiliated with the lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Chalmers and was an earnest member of the Universalist Church.
On the 15th of March, 1860, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Chamberlain to Miss Eliza Robinson, who likewise was born and reared in Indiana, as a member of a sterling pioneer family of this favored commonwealth. Of the nine children of this union Eva, Mary and Caro- line are deceased; Rosa Ann is the wife of Eldon Bostick and they reside in Honey Creek Township; John W. is individually mentioned on other pages of this publication; Josephine is the wife of William Shu- maker, of Big Creek Township; Lee and Robert are prosperous agri- culturists in West Point Township; and Sarah is the wife of Arthur Crockett, of Denver, Colorado. Mrs. Chamberlain died in June, 1884. She was a Methodist in belief.
895
HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY
JOHN W. CHAMBERLAIN. A scion in the third generation of a family whose name has been one of special prominence and influence in con- nection with the social and material development and upbuilding of White County, John W. Chamberlain has made himself a worthy suc- cessor to his honored father, both as a loyal and progressive citizen and as one of the substantial exponents of the great basic industries of agriculture and stock-growing in his native county, where he is recog- nized as one of the leading citizens of West Point township. On other pages of this work is entered a memorial tribute to his father, the late George W. Chamberlain, and thus a further review of the family history is not demanded in the present connection.
On the old homestead farm of the family, in section 12, range 5 West, of West Point Township, John W. Chamberlain was born on the 10th of November, 1867, and virtually all of the intervening years have found him a resident within the borders of his native township, where he well upheld the prestige of a name that has been honored in the annals of the county from the early pioneer era to the present time. The conditions and influences of the home farm compassed the period of his boyhood and youth and in this connection he early learned the valuable lessons of practical industry and came to proper appreciation of the dignity and value of honest toil and endeavor. He received excellent educational advantages and put his scholastic attainments to practical test by two terms of service in the pedagogic profession, as teacher in the Lake View School, in Big Creek Township.
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.