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 43
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
In October, 1871, Mr. Carson and wife removed to White County and located upon a space of eighty acres five miles west of Brookston in Prairie Township. For many successive years he cropped and improved that land and its present valuable condition is largely due to the industry he bestowed upon it in his active years. In 1896 he turned over its management to his son, who has since capably directed its resources and in that year moved in to the Town of Brookston, where he now enjoys a well earned freedom from the pressing cares of life. As a farmer he raised the usual crops and gave particular attention to graded stock.
905
HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY
In politics Mr. Carson is a Lincoln republican, having cast his first vote for the great emancipator while in the army. He gave a good service to his locality by twelve years as justice of the peace, and is now in his third term as a member of the county council of White County. He and his wife are active members of the Baptist Church and he keeps up associations with old army comrades by membership in Champion Hill Post No. 171, G. A. R., at Brookston.
ISAAC N. MATTHEWS. There are many points in the individual career of Isaac N. Matthews that deserve record in this history of White County. He represents one of the oldest families to be established in the southern part of the county, and more than eighty years have elapsed since the family home was moved to the country bordering upon the Wabash Valley. He is one of the few veterans of the Civil war who has survived the assaults of time and is still living to enjoy the respect and esteem of a generation that has reaped untold benefits from the sac- rificing devotion of their patriotic forefathers. In the half century since the war he has been a capable farmer and a public spirited citizen, has reared and .liberally provided for a large family of children who lived to do him honor, and can now enjoy in peace and comfort the attractive surroundings and conveniences of his home, located three miles northeast of Brookston.
His grandparents were Ezekiel and Letitia (Meredith) Matthews, the former a native of Ireland and the latter of Scotland. These grand- parents came to America and settled in Western Pennsylvania, where John Matthews, father of Isaac N., was born on May 19, 1808, in Allegheny County. After reaching manhood he moved to Pike County, Ohio, and in 1833 married Rheuamy Chenoweth, a daughter of Arthur Chenoweth, who was of English stock. Immediately after their mar- riage John Matthews and wife came West to the new country of North- western Indiana, and located in Tippecanoe County, arriving there in the fall of 1833. From Tippecanoe they moved over into White County in 1845, and John Matthews bought land direct from the Government, consisting of forty acres, in section 2 of Prairie Township. Two years later he entered eighty acres more in section 35 of Big Creek Township. This fine old pioneer was prospered in his undertakings as a farmer and at the time of his death owned a total of 360 acres, divided into three tracts. A brief record of his eight children is as follows: Arthur, now deceased; Elizabeth, who is the wife of James K. Price and lives in Brookston; Thomas M., deceased; Isaac N .; Ezekiel, who married Clara Wallace and lives in Lafayette; Letitia J., deceased; Nancy E., who is
906
HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY
the wife of Robert Taylor and lives in Chalmers; and Emmarillis A., deceased.
Isaac N. Matthews was born in Larramie Township of Tippecanoe County December 26, 1841. About four years later he was brought to White County and his recollections of the people in Southern White County cover almost seventy years. He attended some of the early schools conducted in Prairie Township and came to manhood just about the time the Civil war was at its height. On July 25, 1863, he responded to the call for more troops and enlisted in Company E of the 116th Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He was in Burnside's command for some time and his service was in the states of Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina and Georgia. On March 1, 1864, he was given his honorable discharge at Lafayette. Thereafter for a period of nearly half a cen- tury he has followed an uninterrupted career as a practical farmer, and is now living in comfort and plenty on his farm of 911% acres in Prairie Township. He has always been known as a man of generous inclinations, and has acted on the principle that others were as honest as himself, a trait which has caused him a number of losses at different times.
On September 24, 1909, death bereaved Mr. Matthews of his devoted wife and the companion of many years. She is buried in the Knights of Pythias Cemetery at Chalmers. Her maiden name was Margaret K. Lister, a daughter of James W. and Rhoda (Mowbray) Lister of Carroll County. Her memory is now enshrined in the hearts of her husband, her children and grandchildren and the many loyal friends she had in Southern White County. There were nine children: Elizabeth J. is the wife of Newton J. Schooler, living in Prairie Township, and of their five children, May Sharpe and Pauline Nichols, are married, the fourth, Hazel, is deceased, and the third and fifth are William and Virgil. John H., who is a farmer in Big Creek Township, married Dora Thomp- son, and their two children are Cecil Pearl and Opal. Rhoda R., the third of the children, is now deceased. Mary E. married D. E. Noland, who is a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church and lives at Coates- ville, Indiana, and the names of their four children are Lowell, Neva, Margaret and Florence. Nancy L. is the wife of John F. Hankins, and they live with her father, their three children being William M., Leona L. and Lillian P. Lynn E., who lives at Maza, North Dakota, married Minnie Gibson and has two children, Cecil and Paul. Schuyler A. lives at Maza, North Dakota. Roy N., who lives at Garske, North Dakota, married Cora Sites and has a child named Kenneth N. George W., whose home is in Plymouth, Indiana, married Laura Schneider, and their one child is Howard.
-
907
HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY
While always a republican, Mr. Matthews has been content to do his civic duty by being a good neighbor and a friend to all progressive movements, without participation in office seeking. He is a member of the Christian Church at Spring Creek, and revives memories of the war by his association with Champion Hill Post No. 171 of the Grand Army of the Republic at Brookston.
GEORGE F. BAKER. Prominent among the agriculturists of White County who through years of industry and labor have attained a com- petence and at the same time have acquired and have the respect and confidence of their fellow citizens is George F. Baker, now in possession of a good, substantial home, together with other valuable property in the Town of Wolcott, where he has lived for the past twenty-five years.
He has spent most of his life in White County, coming with his parents in 1860, when they took up their residence there. He has seen the growth and development of this section of Indiana, and has con- tributed his share to the end that the portion he has had to deal with should be made better for his having had charge of it, and in many other ways in his community has made himself a not unimportant factor in the changes he has witnessed for the better.
Mr. Baker was born on the 8th day of October, 1852, and was, there- fore, in his eighth year when his parents moved to White County, where he grew up on the farm, attending the meagre terms of the com- mon schools of that early day, which he put to such good use that when he arrived at manhood he was employed as teacher of the common schools for the period of twenty-two years, teaching in White County, only, and within Princeton, West Point and Round Grove townships. He was principal of the town schools of Wolcott, for three years.
As a farmer Mr. Baker has the cultivation and ownership of over 500 acres in the above named townships, but has for a number of years been engaged in the real estate business in Wolcott. He is a prosperous and high minded citizen.
On December 28th, 1881, he married Martha E. Stanford, daughter of William E. and Elizabeth A. (Swartz) Stanford. Three children have been born to their union: George F., on February 17, 1883; Walter E., October 14, 1884; and Homer S., July 1, 1889.
Mr. and Mrs. Baker have given each of their sons a college education.
George spent one year in Normal at Marion, two years at DePauw University, two short terms at the University of Indiana and then four years at Purdue University. The son Homer is a graduate of Purdue University, while Walter is a graduate of the Scientific Department of Marion Normal College.
908
HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY
Mr. Baker is affiliated with the Masonic lodge at Wolcott, and the Kentland Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, at Kentland. He, with his wife and son, Homer, are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Wolcott. The community has, at different times, sought his services for public offices, and he served five years as clerk and treasurer, and two years as treasurer, of the Town of Wolcott.
Being a man of positive nature, he has always taken the side of right and morality whenever a question has been submitted to the public voice for decision. In politics, Mr. Baker is a republican.
CHARLES WILLIAM VINYARD. The responsibilities of ownership and operation of a large landed acreage in White County did not come to Charles W. Vinyard by gift or inheritance, nor by chance and luck. It is all the product of his vigorous mind and body, his thorough going honesty, and few men in the county have evolved a more substantial success from humble beginnings in little less than poverty.
In years Mr. Vinyard is still in his prime, and yet already has a competency which would enable him to comfortably retire from the chief burdens of his business. His home is 31% miles southeast of Seafield, and his daily mail deliveries are made on Rural Route No. 11 out of Reynolds. In sections 2 and 3 of West Point Township Mr. Vinyard has his homestead of 220 acres, and he also owns 140 acres in sections 34 and 35 in Princeton Township. These constitute him a land owner to the extent of 360 acres, and it is practically all under cultivation, well tiled, improved with buildings and other facilities, and would represent in cash value a comfortable little fortune.
The Vinyard family has long been well known in White County. Charles William Vinyard was born in Prairie Township, October 15, 1863, a son of William and Elizabeth Robison Vinyard. His father came to White County about 1853 and first settled east of what is now Brookston. He was a farmer and stock raiser, but died quite early in life, in 1866. At that time he possessed about 120 acres of land. His widow survived him a great many years, and passed away in 1907. Both are now at rest in the cemetery at Brookston. William Vinyard was a democrat in politics, but belonged to no church and no fraternal orders. The nine children of himself and wife were: Adelia, deceased; Jane, who was burned to death at the age of twelve years; George, now living in Brookston; Eliza, deceased; Thomas; Joseph, who was murdered in Oklahoma; Charles W .; John, who is marshal at Brookston; and Adolphus.
For several years of his boyhood Charles W. Vinyard lived in Madison County, Indiana, and began attending school there. He returned to
ยท
Ann. J, Baker
Charles F. Baker
,
909
HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY
White County at the age of eight, and seven years later, when only fifteen, took up the burdens of practical life alone. Then followed a number of years of experience and small wages as a worker for others. With increasing years he gained increasing confidence in himself and finally invested his modest capital in sixty acres of land south of Sea- field. From that nucleus his prosperity has had a steady growth and new investments from time to time have brought his land holdings up to the condition above described. In 1895 he located on his present farm, and now superintends many acres of crops and a large number of graded live stock.
Mr. Vinyard has served as overseer of road construction in his part of the county, and in politics is a democrat. On October 23, 1889, he married Miss Mary Jane Crockett, a daughter of George and Elizabeth (Kinmore) Crockett. The Kinmore family came to White County in 1850 and Mrs. Vinyard's mother died here and is now at rest in the West Point Cemetery. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Vinyard were born six children: Adam, Alma, Araminta, Adelia Beryl, and two that died in infancy unnamed. The children are being well educated, and Mr. and Mrs. Vinyard are both people of the highest worth and have a most hospitable home.
CHARLES F. BAKER. The pioneers of a county or state were those who laid firmly the foundation of the structural civilization which their descendants and others in the present generation enjoy. The late Charles F. Baker, of Wolcott, was one of the most worthy and typical men of this class, and did much to open the way of civilization in White County.
He was a native of Ellicott Mills, a suburb of the City of Baltimore, Maryland, and was born March 29, 1822. He was a son of Jacob and Charlotte (Dove) Baker. There were eleven children in the family, six sons and five daughters, and the only two now living are Margaret, widow of Samuel Hillery of Licking County, Ohio, and Lavina, widow of Elza Dush, of Ohio.
When about seven years of age the late Charles F. Baker left his native State of Maryland with his parents, and they accomplished an overland trip to Licking County, Ohio. This journey was one which he always recalled and it was made in true pioneer style. They had a wagon drawn by teams, while many of the party walked alongside or behind the slow moving horses, and at night they stopped by the way- side and slept in the wagons or under the open stars. They cooked their meals along the road, and the route to Ohio led them across mountains, over streams, through high and low land, and they had to endure the vicissitudes of all kinds of weather and many inconveniences. Arriving
910
HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY
in Licking County they settled on a grant of 160 acres of land that had been given to Jacob Baker. In the year 1915 this land is still owned by members of the Baker family.
The late Charles F. Baker was educated in the primitive schools of the pioneer type, kept up by subscription from the patronizing families. These schools in Licking County he attended as opportunity offered, and he then started out to make his own way in the world. At Newark, Ohio, he married Miss Ann Gill in 1847. She was a native of York- shire, England, and was about six years of age when she crossed the Atlantic with her parents to the United States. It required three months to make the voyage by the old fashioned sailing vessel, though the same trip can now be made in five days.
Jacob Baker, father of Charles F. Baker, was a son of Ephraim Baker, of Baltimore, Maryland, while Ephraim Baker was a son of Meshack Baker, who was the son of Jacob Baker. The last mentioned Jacob Baker and his wife died from camp fever during the Revolution- ary war. The father of Charles F. Baker was born August 2, 1797, and served as a soldier in the War of 1812.
To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Charles F. Baker were born twelve children, seven sons and five daughters, and seven of them are still living. Mary, widow of Henry C. Shoop, and a resident of Monticello. Charlotte, wife of S. A. Plummer, and they reside on a farm in Cass County, Indiana. George F. lives in Wolcott, Indiana. Charles W., who married Mary Gearhart, lives in Monticello. Frank U. is a resident of Monticello. Fannie S. is the wife of Henry Downing of West Point Township. Burdell B., the banker at Monticello, is represented on other pages of this publication.
It was on March 16, 1860, that Charles F. Baker and his wife ar- rived in White County, settling in West Point Township, and as renters they located on a part of the Samuel Snider estate. In 1875 Charles F. Baker bought 320 acres of land in Round Grove Township, and he still owned part of that at the time of his death. He was known as a methodical and careful farmer and the keynote to his life was honesty and integrity. In politics he was a Jeffersonian democrat, though he supported the great Lincoln during the Civil war. His re- ligious principles were those of the Methodist faith. He died March 7, 1893, and was laid to rest in the West Point Cemetery. His wife, who, as already mentioned, was born in Yorkshire, England; and received her education in the common schools, was reared in the faith of the Episcopal or Church of England, but in later years she was a Methodist. Her death occurred June 8, 1891, and she is also at rest in the West Point Cemetery. Mr. and Mrs. Baker were people who deserved and received
911
HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY
and enjoyed the full confidence and respect of all who knew them. While they spent most of their lives in Ohio and in White County, Indiana, they lived for a short time during the year 1855 in the City of Chicago.
BURDELL B. BAKER. The men of finance and commercial affairs al- ways play a great and important part in the true history and records of a county, state or nation. Mr. Baker, as a financier, teacher and landowner, is so well known that he needs no special introduction to the citizens of White County and its contiguous territory.
He is a native of the good old Hoosier State, which has contributed to the nation some of its most eminent statesmen, orators, poets and scholars. His birth occurred October 5, 1868, near the pretty little town of Wolcott in White County, a son of Charles F. and Ann (Gill) Baker. His parents are among the highly respected citizens of White County, and reference to them is made on other pages. Mr. Baker finished his school education in his native county and was the first graduate of the public schools in Round Grove Township with the class of 1887. He also attended the city schools of Monticello, and later graduated in the business and scientific courses at the Valparaiso University at Valpa- raiso, Indiana. He spent eight years altogether in the teachers' profes- sion, partly in Porter County and partly in White County. He was principal of the Reynolds schools two years, and principal of the Chal- mers School one year.
While he was at work in the Chalmers schools he was elected county recorder of White County in 1894, and served two terms, from July 7, 1895, to July 7, 1903. In 1903 he organized the Monticello Abstract Company, taking in the abstract books of Hon. E. B. Sellers, Reynolds & Sills, Million & Palmer, and George F. Marvin. Mr. Baker became general manager and held that position until 1908. He is himself a man of large possessions in land both in White and adjoining counties. In 1911 Mr. Baker organized The Farmers State Bank of Monticello, and was elected its first president. He resigned that office to take the duties of cashier, a position involving much heavier responsibilities. He still remains as cashier of one of the strongest banks in White County. He is an active friend of the public schools and was a member of the board of education of Monticello. Mr. Baker is the owner of over a thousand acres of land in White and adjoining counties, where his wife likewise has some important possessions of the same class.
Mr. and Mrs. Baker have one of the ideally happy homes of White County. On February 5, 1896, he married Miss Ella Wolverton, and they have one son, Burdell W. This son is now a student in the first year of the high school at Monticello, and has shown himself unusually
912
HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY
bright and progressive in his studies. He takes much interest in his father's business, and has the latter's tastes and inclinations in business affairs.
Mrs. Baker is a native of White County and was born July 10, 1877, a daughter of George W. and Nancy J. (Reynolds) Wolverton. There were four children in the Wolverton family, but the only two now living are Mrs. Baker and her brother Guy R., who completed his education in the common schools and attended Purdue University and is now an agriculturist in Big Creek Township. George W. Wolverton, the father. is a native of White County, and has long been one of the leading citi- zens and farmers of Big Creek Township. His wife is also a native of this county.
Mrs. Baker received her education in the White County public schools and was a student at St. Mary's College at South Bend, where in addi- tion to the regular course she received musical training. She has many of the qualities of the ideal home maker and has lent grace and dignity to the attractive Baker residence situated near the western limits of the City of Monticello. Her friends speak of her very pleasing person- ality and gracious presence and at all times she has proved herself ready and valuable in counsel and advice to Mr. Baker. It is a model home and its doors have always been open to a large circle of warm and true friends.
As a politician Mr. Baker was a republican, but in 1912 he advocated the principles of the progressive party and was its candidate for the office of state treasurer. He was appointed trustee of the Tuberculosis Hospital at Rockville, Indiana, by Governor Marshall. The first presi- dential vote he cast was for Benjamin Harrison. Fraternally he is one of the honored members of different orders, including the following : Castle Hall Lodge No. 178, Knights of Pythias, at Chalmers, Indiana ; Conawaugh Tribe No. 518 of the Improved Order of Red Men at Mon- ticello; Lodge No. 1549 of the Loyal Order of Moose at Monticello; Lodge No. 143, B. P. O. E. at Lafayette. Mrs. Baker is a member of the Presbyterian Church and Mr. Baker has always been ready to supply the church and various philanthropic causes with a generous share of his means. The beautiful home of Mr. and Mrs. Baker, lying just at the western limits of the city, surrounded by the natural trees of the forest, is known as Moose Grove. The occupants of this hime are people who know how to enjoy life, and having that knowledge, act upon it not only for their own advantage but for the pleasure of their many friends.
JOHN C. DOWNEY. It is a matter of statistical and authoritative record that no state in the Union can claim precedence of Indiana in
John C. Downey.
4%
Daisy M. Downey.
3.21
913
HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY
the high standard maintained in the service and work of the public schools, and this prestige has been gained and maintained by the cir- cumspection shown in the selection of teachers of the best obtainable talent. One of the prominent and influential representatives of the peda- gogic profession in White County and one who is giving the best years of his life to the all important vocation of which he is an able and honored representative, is Professor John Calvin Downey, the efficient superin- tendent of the high school at Chalmers. Further interest attaches to his career by reason of the fact that he is a native son of White County and has himself profited by the advantages of the public schools of the county in which he now holds distinct precedence as an educator and as a school executive of marked discrimination and enthusiasm.
Professor Downey was born on the homestead farm of his father, in Liberty Township, White County, Indiana, June 2, 1876. He is the youngest of six children born to James and Mary (Cowger) Downey, concerning whom specific mention is made on other pages of this work, so that further review of the family history is not demanded in the present connection.
Under the sturdy and invigorating discipline of the home farm and the initiative instructions obtained in the public schools Professor Downey waxed strong in mental and physical vigor and found his ambi- tion quickened for the achievement of higher intellectual discipline. After completing the curriculum of the graded schools he entered the high school at Monticello, the county seat, and was graduated from the same as a member of the class of 1896. Thereafter he attended Indiana University, at Bloomington, and also completed an effective course of study in the Indiana State Normal School at Terre Haute. His scholas- tic ambition was not yet satiated, however, for he took a course in King's School of Oratory, in the City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1907, and later has further advanced himself in academic lines by attending Purdue University of Lafayette, Indiana.
Professor Downey's novitiate as a representative of the pedagogic profession was served when he became teacher in the Saylor School, in Monon Township, where he continued his endeavors during two terms and made a record that augured well for his future success and advance- ment in the exacting profession which he has signally dignified and hon- ored. After the completion of his work in the district mentioned, he taught one term in the Helfrich School, in the same township, after which he became an instructor in the Union Brick School, in Union Township, where he served two terms as principal. For two years thereafter he held the position of principal of the school in the Village of Buffalo, and the
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.