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 48
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As a farmer Mr. Potter concerns himself with the general crops and with graded live stock. He is as well known and popular in social and civic circles as he is successful as a farmer and business man. He is a democrat, and has long been active in the Methodist Church, serving as deacon, trustee and steward. Fraternally he is affiliated with Lodge No. 66, F. & A. M., at Brookston, and is a also a thirty-second degree Scot- tish Rite Mason, with affiliations with the Consistory and Shrine at In- dianapolis. He belongs to the Odd Fellows Lodge in Brookston and also the Knights of Pythias, and Mrs. Potter is a member of Chapter No. 170 of the Eastern Star and the Pythian Sisters, and she is also a member of the Rebekahs, both she and her husband being charter members of these orders. Besides their pretty town residence Mr. and Mrs. Potter are the owners of a handsome estate southwest of Brookston known as the "Sycamore Leaf-Grand Prairie Grain Farm."
DONALD M. KELLEY, M. D. The scope of a physician's influence is almost unlimited, and it is not unusual to find a long established and successful doctor one of a community's leaders in a business and civic way. Such is the position which Doctor Kelley has enjoyed at Brookston for many years. He began practice there nearly thirty-five years ago, with hardly enough money to pay a month's office rent. He has handled a large practice with special ability and conscientious care, so that he is one of the oldest and most highly esteemed medical men of White County, 'and at the same time has been one of the progressive factors in the com-
Donald Tr Forcey mal
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munity at Brookston, owns large tracts of farming land and has iden- tified himself with every movement for the upbuilding of that locality.
Of Scotch-Irish descent, Doctor Kelley was born in Tompkins County, New York, March 12, 1855, a son of Dennis and Sarah Kelley. His father is still living in his eighty-seventh year in Tompkins County, New York. The grandfather was John Kelley, an ancestor whose service in the Revolutionary army has conferred distinction upon all his descend- ants. For his help in winning independence for the American colonies he was given a grant of 160 acres of land near Locke, New York, but on investigation never located the warrant since the land seemed prac- tically worthless.
Doctor Kelley was well educated during his youth, attending the common schools of his native state and a preparatory school at North Lansing, New York, and finally entered the medical department of the University of Michigan, where he was graduated M. D. in 1881. In September of the same year he moved to Brookston, Indiana, and has lived in that one community ever since. When he arrived he had a ten dollar bill in his pocket and it required a great deal of determination and self-confidence in order to pass through the initial stages of gaining a practice. Since then he has become one of the very successful men, and at the present time owns over 1,000 acres of land, practically all of it in Prairie Township. He has also one of the finest homes in Brooks- ton. Doctor Kelley was one of the founders of the Brookston Canning Factory.
Since 1886 he has been a member of Anchor Lodge of the Knights of Pythias at Brookston Anchor Castle Hall, No. 289, is a member of Lafayette Lodge, No. 123, F. & A. M., and has affiliations with the Scot- tish Rite Consistory at Indianapolis, and the Temple of the Mystic Shrine in that city. He is a member of the White County Medical Society, and stands very high in medical circles. In politics he is a republican, but has never sought any political honors.
In October, 1886, Doctor Kelley married Miss Mina Allen, daughter of John and Nancy Allen, who were early settlers in White County. She died in April, 1891, and in February, 1896, he married Harriet D. Finch. Doctor and Mrs. Kelley have one son, Herbert, a member of the eighth grade of the public school.
ERNEST C. KELLENBURGER. A family with a large relationship and with a record of great usefulness in Honey Creek Township is that of Kellenburger, which was established in White County about half a cen- tury ago. Members of three successive generations have lived here dur- ing that time. Ernest C. Kellenburger is a representative of the third
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generation, and has a substantial farm four miles north and a half mile east of Reynolds.
Luther Kellenburger, the grandfather, was of German family, and married Margaret Kellenburger. They lived for a time near Chillicothe, Ohio, and a short time before or during the war came to White County. Luther Kellenberger was a substantial farmer, a Methodist, and a demo- crat. He and his wife were parents of ten children.
Abram Kellenburger, the second son, was born near Chillicothe, Ohio, May 7, 1844, and had about reached manhood when he came with his father to White County. He was married on May 9, 1864, to Mary Truax, a daughter of William and Abigail (Benn) Truax, who were natives of New York State and came to White County, locating four miles south of Monticello. Abram Kellenburger and wife had four children : Milton, now deceased; George A., of Honey Creek Township, who by his marriage to Anna Miller has two children, Pearl and Ruth; Joseph F .; and Ernest C. Abram Kellenburger spent his life as a farmer and car- penter, and though a democrat was not an office seeker. He was a mem- ber of the German Brethren, better known as Dunkards, and was a reg- ular attendant at church services and was one of the trustees. He got along well with his neighbors, and was a thrifty and honorable man. He owned about forty acres of land.
Joseph F. Kellenburger was born in Union Township on section 18, December 9, 1869. On January 28, 1894, he married Miss Flora Veatch, a daughter of James and Sarah E. (Dearinger) Veatch of Honey Creek Township. Her father was a native of Kentucky, and Veatch is an Irish name, though with an admixture of German stock. Joseph F. Kellen- burger and wife have two children : Laura C. and Flossie G., both living at home.
Joseph F. Kellenburger began farming on his own responsibility as soon as married, spent two years in Preston Township, and then came to his present place in Honey Creek Township. He has taken quite an active part in public affairs as a democrat and for five years was super- visor of his township and was also elected a member of the township advisory board. He has frequently been a delegate to county conven- tions. He is a trustee and deacon in the Brethren Church, having filled the former office about four years, and having acted as deacon for six years or more. He is a stockholder in the Reynolds Bank and also in the Reynolds Creamery, and lends his influence to everything for local improvement. He has a fine farm of 204 acres, situated six miles northwest of Monticello and six miles northeast of Reynolds. It is well improved with buildings and its management indicates that he is one of the leaders in agricultural enterprise in his section of White County.
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Ernest C. Kellenburger, the youngest of his father's family, is a resident on the old Kellenburger homestead, which has been in the family name for thirty-eight years. He has likewise prospered in his efforts, and is usually found where progressive and public spirited men gather together to consider and act for the welfare of their locality. He is a democrat, and has been a delegate to county democratic conventions.
Ernest C. Kellenburger was married June 4, 1902, to Miss Viola Sickler, daughter of O. E. and Emma Sickler, who have lived in White County for the past forty years. Mr. and Mrs. Kellenburger have one child, Estelle G.
JOHN H. JOHNSON. Vigor and progressiveness have significantly marked the career of this representative business man of the fine Vil- lage of Brookston, where he has maintained his residence since 1896 and where he controls a substantial and prosperous enterprise in the handling of boots, shoes and men's furnishing goods, his well appointed establishment being at all times equipped with the best of stock and the business having its stable basis on fair and honorable dealings and effect- ive service. Mr. Johnson is essentially a business man and though he takes a loyal interest in all that touches the well being of the community, he has had neither time nor inclination for political activities or for the tenure of publie office. In a general way he has proclivities that measureably cause him to be designated a democrat in politics, but he prefers to be known as one independent of partisan dictates and free to support measures and candidates meeting the approval of his judgment.
Mr. Johnson takes loyal satisfaction in claiming the fine old Hoosier State as the place of his nativity and he is a scion of old and sterling families of this state. IIe was born on the homestead farm of his father in Jefferson Township, Carroll County, Indiana, on the 26th of October, 1859, and is a son of James Harvey Johnson and Nancy A. (Davidson) Johnson, both likewise natives of this state, the Davidson family having been founded in Carroll County in the pioneer days. James Harvey Johnson was born December 31, 1825, and his wife was a few years his junior, her death having occurred on the 11th of November, 1889, and he having been more than eighty years of age when he was summoned to' the life eternal, on the 5th of March, 1907, the remains of both resting side by side in the Pleasant Run Cemetery in Carroll County, where Mr. Johnson had been a prosperous farmer, though too generous and liberal to accumulate a fortune. He was a man who "kept himself unspotted from the world," his course was guided on a high plane of integrity and honor and he ever commanded the confidence and high regard of his fel- low men, both he and his wife having been most zealous members of
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branch of the Presbyterian Church commonly referred to as Seceders. Of the eight children the eldest is Mary A., who maintains her home at Washington, Iowa; Robert P., whose wife bore the maiden name of Sarah Love, is a representative farmer in the old home township in Car- roll County ; Margaret H. remained unmarried till her death; James C. is deceased; Joseph M., who married Miss Sarah Marvin, resides in the historic old City of Vincennes, Indiana; John H., of this review, was the next in order of birth; Russell L. married Miss Edith Reed and they reside in the City of Omaha, Nebraska; and Nancy J., who became the wife of Hiram Rice, is deceased.
John H. Johnson was reared to the sturdy discipline of the farm and is indebted to the public schools of his native county for his early educa- tion. As a youth he learned the trade of jeweler, at Delphi, the judicial center of his home county, and later he gained excellent experience through his service first in a drug store and later in clothing and shoe stores. He continued his residence in Carroll County until 1896, when he came to White County and established his permanent home at Brooks- ton. Here he purchased the retail shoe and men's furnishing store and business of Isaac Dryfus, and through his progressive policies he has greatly augmented the scope of the enterprise, with the result that he has secure vantage-ground as one of the representative merchants of this part of the county, with a large and appreciative patronage. Further evidence of the success of Mr. Johnson is indicated by his being a stock- holder in the State Savings & Trust Company of Indianapolis, this being one of the solid and ably managed financial institutions of Indiana's fair capital city. Mr. Johnson gives punctilious attention to the management of his business, finds his chief solace and pleasure in the associations of his ideal home and has identified himself with no fraternal organizations, both he and his wife holding membership in the United Presbyterian Church of Brookston.
In the year 1899 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Johnson to Miss Leone D. Cartwright, of Delphi, and both are popular factors in the representative social activities of their home village; they have no children.
GEORGE GAY. In that picturesque and fertile section of White County that lies in Prairie Township, one of the valuable and attractive farm homes is that of George Gay. His land is not far from the Valley of the Tippecanoe, and his home is about seven miles southeast of Brooks- ton and seven miles west of Delphi. Mr. Gay has the honor of represent- ing one of White County's very earliest families. His grandfather located here more than eighty years ago when all the region north and
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west of the Wabash was a veritable wilderness, and only some twenty years after General Harrison's army had broken the strength of the Indians in the battle at Tippecanoe.
His ancestry contains several interesting characters. His great-grand- father Gay was born in England, and probably came to the American colonies at the time of the French and Indian war since he served as a teamster in General Braddock's ill-fated army which was defeated in 1754 during its campaign against the French and Indians in Western Pennsylvania. This ancestor himself escaped the calamity which befell so many of the English and Colonial troops and lived to be a hundred three years of age, dying in Pickaway County, Ohio. William Gay. the grandfather of George Gay, was born in Ohio and came to Tippe- canoe County, Indiana, in 1831. His first home was in the locality known as Shawnee Mound, but in 1833 he moved to a tract of raw land in Prairie Township of White County, having entered that land in 1832. In that vicinity he acquired about 800 acres and his sons entered 240 acres more, a small part of their possessions extending over into Carroll County. William Gay was one of the influential men of his time, though he lived only a few years after coming to White County. He was not a man of rugged physical health like so many of the pioneers, and had a greater courage than strength. He died October 12, 1840, and was buried in the Pretty Prairie Cemetery in Tippecanoe County, Indiana. He married Mary Ann Hayes, who was born in Pennsylvania. All their eight children, now deceased, were named: James, Elizabeth Fewell, William, Nancy Page, Mary Ann Shigley, John, Isabella Yerger and Joseph.
James Gay was born in Pickaway County, Ohio, in 1806, and had already arrived at man's estate and was able to bear his share of respon- sibilities connected with the establishment of the family home in White County during the early '30s. He died October 3, 1876, and is buried in the Pretty Prairie Cemetery. All his life was spent as a farmer, and in politics he was first identified with the whig party and after. 1856 was a stanch republican. For several years he served as an associate judge in White County under the old system of judiciary. He was a great lover of home and his family and friends, and while he belonged to no church he believed that a man could be a Christian out of church as well as in, and was straightforward and upright in all his dealings and would never permit profanity. At the time of his death he owned 320 acres of land. He was married in 1851 to Keziah Martin, a daughter of Alexander and Margaret Martin of Prairie Township. Alexander Martin was a son of Simon Martin, who came to America as one of the mercenary Hessian troops hired by Great Britain to fight the colonists
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in the war for independence. As he was bound by no special ties of loyalty to the British, he became so impressed with the spirit of the American colonists and liked the country so well that he left the flag under which he was fighting and became a loyal American, spending the rest of his career in Virginia. Both Alexander Martin and his wife were natives of the latter state. The three children of James Gay and wife were: Elda, who died in infancy; John, Jr., who died in 1888, married Eva Shigley, but had no children; and George.
Mr. George Gay, whose interesting ancestry has thus been briefly outlined, was born January 20, 1857, in section 32, range 3 of Prairie Township, and has spent all his life in that one community. He grew up and acquired a common school education and adopted farming as his vocation.
Mr. Gay married Docia Sterrett, a daughter of Joseph and Orlena Sterrett, who were early settlers in Tippecanoe County. Mr. and Mrs. Gay have two children, both living at home, named George, Jr., and Flossie. Though an active republican in his political belief, Mr. Gay has never been a politician in any sense and has no regular church membership. He takes much part in the Masonic order and is affiliated with Brookston Lodge No. 66, F. & A. M., and with the Royal Arch Chapter and the Knights Templar Commandery at Delphi. He also belongs to Anchor Lodge of the Knights of Pythias at Brookston.
EDGAR M. FERGUSON. Such a citizen as Edgar M. Ferguson of Prairie Township, is a credit to any community. Few men make better use of their opportunities. About thirty years ago he was one among a thousand, distinguished only by a willingness to work hard and to get his advancement on merit. He has since earned a prosperity such as few men in the county possess, and is one of the largest land holders in the vicinity of Brookston. His personal life has alike been above reproach, and his principles of clean living and his high standards of moral conduct have counted for a great deal in his community. The people of his home township could not have made a better choice in electing him to the position of township trustee, to which he is now giving his attention.
His grandfather was Thomas Ferguson, a son of William Ferguson of Pennsylvania, and of Scotch-Irish descent. Thomas Ferguson early in life settled in the State of Illinois, but in 1854 came to White County and settled in Union Township. He lived in this county until his death in 1866. His body was laid to rest in the Bunnell Cemetery, southeast of Reynolds. In politics he was identified with the whig party until its dissolution, and afterwards was a republican, while his church was
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the Methodist. Thomas Ferguson, it is interesting to record, married Dauphalia Hood, who was a sister of the famous General Hood, one of the conspicuous leaders in the Confederate army during the Civil war. The eight children of Thomas Ferguson and wife were: Francis R., father of Edgar M .; Mary; Howell; John; Edgar M., who is now the only survivor of this generation and at a good old age i's living quietly at his home in Monticello; Edmond M .; Ellen; and Jane.
Francis R. Ferguson was born in Illinois, January 26, 1837, grew to manhood in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, and after a long and active career as a farmer died in White County, June 17, 1899, and is buried in the Odd Fellows Cemetery at Brookston. He was a republican and a Methodist. He married Mary Dewberry, daughter of Jesse Dewberry of Prairie Township. She was born August 9, 1839, and died September 2, 1901.
A son of these parents, Edgar M. Ferguson was born April 20, 1862, in the Prairie Church neighborhood of Tippecanoe Township, Tippe- canoe County. In the spring of 1863 his parents removed to White County and located just west of Badger Grove in Prairie Township, but six years later went over into Carroll County, where Mr. Ferguson grew to manhood and obtained what the common schools had to offer in the way of education. When he was a young man of about twenty-three, in 1885, the road of destiny led him to the home of John Russell, for whom he worked as a farm hand one year. During this time his acquaintance with Clara E. Russell, a daughter of John and Rachel Russell, ripened into an affection which was sealed by their marriage on January 31, 1886. Mrs. Ferguson's parents were among the early settlers and prominent people of White County. Her brother, John M. Russell, served as a commissioner of White County some years ago. Chief among the blessings which have come to them during their thirty years of married companionship Mr. and Mrs. Ferguson place their ten chil- dren : Edgar M., Jr., who now lives in Nez Perce, Idaho, and married Amice White; Francis R .; Clara B .; John W., deceased; Mary R., secre- tary of township schools in institute work; Ida, deceased; Minnie R .; Charles I .; John H .; and Alta. All the younger children are still living at home.
Mr. Ferguson, as already indicated, started life with neither influence nor with money supplied from home, and has never inherited a cent. He is a self-made man in the best sense of the word, and is now the owner of 520 acres of land, which in improvements and general acreage value can be measured with the best to be found in White County. The year before his marriage was spent in the employ of Mr. Russell, and he then started to farm for himself. A year later he invested all the
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capital he had in seventy acres in Prairie Township near Pine Grove. Hard work combined with aspirations for success have kept him con- tinually prospering. After four years he sold his seventy-acre farm and bought 190 acres south of Brookston, and in 1896 bought 230 acres three miles east of the town, and he now lives in that part of Prairie Township.
As a man who has been diligent at his own business and has had a wide experience, he has enjoyed the confidence of the community and has filled several local offices and has proved a valuable worker in any scheme of general improvement. In politics he is a republican, and for eight years held the office of township supervisor. In 1912 he was a candidate for county commissioner from the first district. In January, 1915, he assumed the duties of township trustee. For four years, from 1900 to 1904, he held a commission as notary public. During his eight years of service as township supervisor he built and turned over to the county about eight miles of gravel road, more than all the other super- visors in the county constructed during the same period. He took the leading part in petitioning for the construction of the Thompson Road from Brookston toward Badger. About thirteen years ago Mr. Fergu- son led the temperance fight in Prairie Township. He and his wife are active members of the Baptist Church, and for 101% years he was superintendent of the Sunday School. In his fight for temperance and moral issues in his locality, he is himself a worthy exemplar of his principles. It is said that Mr. Ferguson has never drunk even a cup of coffee, has never chewed nor smoked tobacco, and never spent a cent in a saloon. He is a man of clean and wholesome personality, positive in his convictions yet kindly and charitable in his relations with others, and is the type of citizen best deserving the honors of public position.
JOHN MCCABE. Those individuals who have given of their energy. skill, ambitious vigor and enthusiasm in the building up of a community are benefactors of humanity, and their names cannot be held in too high esteem. The qualities of such citizenship have been possessed in an eminent degree by members of the MeCabe family, who have lived in White County for more than forty years. Mr. John McCabe is one of the successful business men, farmers, and public spirited citizens in the Chalmers community. It is a fact of historical interest that when the McCabes first came to White County they bought 240 acres, now in- cluded in the site occupied by the Village of West Chalmers.
The McCabe family is of Scotch-Irish origin. Ezra McCabe, father of John McCabe, was born in Ohio, and married Adelia Dillon, a sister of John Dillon of Ohio. Mrs. McCabe died at Momence, Illinois, and
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was buried in Spring Creek Cemetery in White County. She was born, reared and educated in Ohio, and was almost ninety years of age at the time of her death. Of their ten children John was the fifth, and all the others are now deceased except his brother Theodore, who lives in Tippecanoe County. Ezra MeCabe died March 14, 1888, after a long and honored career of seventy-seven years. He spent his life as a farmer, and did well by himself and his neighbors.
John McCabe was born near Adelphi, Ohio, January 20, 1843, and came to Tippecanoe County, Indiana, with his father about 1852. He grew to manhood there, and for fully half a century has been engaged in farming and in the buying and shipping of live stock. He early manifested that quality of patriotism which was willing to sacrifice all for the advantage of a united country, and in February, 1865, enlisted in Company A of the One Hundred and Fiftieth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He remained in the service during the closing months of the great rebellion, and was given his honorable discharge in August, 1865. Since 1874 his home has been in White County, at which time he located in Big Creek Township. He has developed a large business as a stock buyer and has also at different times cultivated a large amount of White County land. Mr. McCabe now owns forty acres of valuable farming land three miles northeast of Brookston, and has some town property in the latter village. His activity in public affairs has been particularly identified with the prohibition movement and party. In 1914 his name appeared on the county ticket as prohibition candidate for the office of county treasurer. At one time Mr. McCabe served as marshal at Lowell, Indiana. He and a part of his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, others being members of the Christian Church.
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