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 50
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Politically, since attaining his majority, Mr. Moore has been a stanch supporter of the policies of the republican party, in the interests of which he has been a faithful worker. In 1906 he was elected county commis- sioner of White County, and his services in that office were of such a sat- isfactory character that he received the re-election in 1910. He was one of the promoters and organizers of the State Bank of Monon, and since its inception has served as a member of its board of directors.
On November 11, 1896, Mr. Moore was married in Greencastle, In- diana, to Miss Daisy Harvey, the daughter of Thomas and Margaret (Hendricks) Harvey, of Putnam County, Indiana. Mrs. Moore was born April 15, 1878, and is the seventh in a family of ten children, two sons and eight daughters and nine are living, all residents of Indiana. Mr. Harvey is a native of Kentucky and has been an agriculturist. He was educated in the common schools and is now a resident of Putnam County,
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He is a democrat and he and his wife are members of the Universalist Church. Mrs. Harvey is also a native of Kentucky.
Mrs. Moore was reared and educated in her native county, and she has been a faithful wife and affectionate mother having always been her husband's counselor and adviser in business relations and has nobly done her part in the establishment of the home and the rearing of her sons. Her brother, Thomas Harvey, has been a teacher eighteen years in Put- nam County, having received his education in the Monon High School and the normal school of Danville, Indiana. Mrs. Moore's sister Kate is a teacher in the Russellville public school and her husband, Clemeth Malen, is the superintendent of same school, and he is also an attorney, having been admitted to the Indiana bar. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Moore has been blessed by the birth of two children : Paul W. who grad- uated from the grammar school at the age of thirteen and is now in his second year in the Monon High School; and Wade H. who is a member of the class of 1916 in the public school. Mr. and Mrs. Moore are mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in the work of which both have been active, and in the congregation of which they have numerous friends.
JAMES K. SHEETS. A life of unassuming worth and admirable achievement was that of the late James K. Sheets, who was a represen- tative of an honored pioneer family of Indiana and who maintained his home in White County from 1876 until his death, which was of tragic order, as he was killed by a falling tree on his homestead farm, on the 28th of February, 1883. He not only stood for productive usefulness in the practical activities of a workaday world but also manifested his abiding patriotism and loyalty by serving as a valiant soldier of the Union in the Civil war. His course was guided and governed by the highest principles of integrity and his name is held in lasting honor in White County, though his life came to an untimely end ere he had com- pleted a decade of residence in the county. His widow and two younger sons still reside on the fine homestead farm of eighty acres, in Monon Township, and in addition to this place the sons have extended their farming operations on to adjoining land, which they rent.
Mr. Sheets was a native of what is now the State of West Virginia, though the same continued an integral part of the Old Dominion State of Virginia for nearly a quarter of a century after his birth. He was born in one of the Virginia counties now included in West Virginia, on the 15th of October, 1837, and was a son of Samuel and Katie (Snyder) Sheets, both natives of one of the European countries, probably Ger- many, their marriage having been solemnized in their native land. Upon
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coming to America they established their residence in West Virginia, but in the '40s they immigrated thence to Indiana and became pioneer set- tlers in Clinton County, where they passed the remainder of their lives. Of their children only three are now living,-John, Andrew and Rebecca.
James K. Sheets was reared and educated in Clinton County, this state, where he early became familiar with the conditions and influences of the pioneer era and where he continued to be identified actively with agricultural pursuits until the call of higher duty came with the out- break of the Civil war. On the 30th of August, 1862, he tendered his services in defense of the Union, by enlisting as a private in Company K, Seventy-second Indiana Volunteer Infantry, with which command he continued in active service at the front until the close of the war. He participated in many engagements, including a number of important battles, and made an excellent record as a faithful and gallant soldier. After receiving his honorable discharge Mr. Sheets, as a youthful veteran of a great internecine conflict, returned to the parental home in Clinton County. Shortly afterward was there solemnized his marriage to Miss Elizabeth Burns, whose death occurred within a brief period thereafter. On the 24th of February, 1873, Mr. Sheets wedded Miss Lisetta Landis, who was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, May 19, 1850, and who is a daughter of Sam'l and Katie (Felthuf) Landis, honored pio- neers of Clinton County. Mrs. Sheets still survives her husband, as previously intimated in this context, and concerning their children the following brief data are incorporated :
Rosa K., who was born December 15, 1873, is the wife of Hugh De- Vault; Dora Belle, who was born July 24, 1875, is the wife of John De Vault; Samuel Hiram, who was born December 4, 1877, and the maiden name of whose wife was Edith Said, upheld the military prestige of the family name by his service as a soldier in the Spanish-American war, for which he enlisted, at Monticello, this county, as a member of Company I, One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana Volunteer Infantry ; James Harvey, who was born September 30, 1879, and Charles Williams, who was born September 25, 1881, remain with their widowed mother on the old homestead and are numbered among the progressive agriculturists and stockgrowers of their native county, their enterprising spirit having been shown in their renting and cultivating tracts of land adjacent to the homestead place; the sixth child was born June 27, 1883, and died on the 24th of the following September.
The subject of this memoir continued his operations as a farmer in Clinton County until the spring of 1876, when he came with his family to White County and established his residence on the farm of eighty acres now occupied by his widow and two younger sons. He became one
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of the substantial agriculturists and stock-growers of the county and as a man of sterling character and much ability he was influential in public affairs in his home community, his inviolable place in popular esteen having been shown in his being called upon to serve in the office of super- visor of Monon Township. His tragic death was deeply deplored in the community but his name and memory are honored by all who knew him, the while his sons have effectively continued the enterprising labors which he instituted and as loyal and steadfast citizens have honored the name which they bear.
Mr. Sheets was inflexible in his support of the principles for which the republican party has ever stood sponsor in a basic way and was a consistent and zealous member of the Baptist Church, in which he had served as an official prior to his removal to White County, his widow likewise being an earnest member of this religious denomination and being a woman whose gracious personality has endeared her to those who have come within the sphere of her influence. She assumed heavy responsibilities upon the death of her honored husband, and the loving care she gave to her fatherless children finds its reward in the deep filial solicitude which they accord to her.
CHRISTIAN HOREN. Noteworthy among the early settlers of White County was the late Christian Horen, who came here about the middle of the nineteenth century, and for many years thereafter was one of the foremost in advancing the business and agricultural prosperity of his adopted town. He was born, June 24, 1822, in County Kerry, Ireland, about a mile and a half from the beautiful Lakes of Killarney, being a son of Patrick and Nora (Prindiville) Horen, life-long residents of the Emerald Isle.
Brought up and educated in his native land, Christian Horen resolved as a young man to see America, which was looked upon by many as the emigrant's El Dorado, and to make it his future home if he found that it sustained its inviting reputation. Boarding a sailing vessel, therefore, in 1849, he crossed the ocean, landing in Boston, where he spent a year, from there going to Ohio, where he was a railroad contractor for a time, working on the Cincinnati and Marietta line. About 1853 he came to White County, Indiana, and during the ensuing four years ran a grocery store at Reynolds. Mr. Horen then bought 120 acres of land in section 26, and while improving it formed a contract with Governor Willard to build several ditches in the county. He acquired considerable property, becoming owner of land in other places, including 120 acres in Sheldon, Illinois. He met with much success in his undertakings, in addition to general farming being interested in raising graded stock. Mr. Horen
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earnestly supported the principles of the democratic party by voice and vote, and for two years served as township trustee. A Roman Cath- olic in religion, he was prominent in church work, helping to build the one he attended, and having the distinction of bringing to White County Father Clarke, the first priest to visit this part of the state, going to Lafayette to secure his services.
Mr. Horen married, December 5, 1861, Bridget Dunphy, daughter of Walter and Mary Dunphy, who spent their entire lives in Ireland. Eight children blessed their marriage, as follows: Patrick F .; John C., deceased; William; Mary; Jeremiah L .; Ella, deceased; Katherine, who married James Higgins, of Wolcott, and died in early womanhood, leav- ing one child, Helen C., born January 15, 1913; and Margaret, wife of Anton Altman, of Bemidji, Minnesota. Mr. Horen was very generous and charitable, and noted far and wide for his hospitality, in his home rendering assistance to the needy, and many a weary traveler. His widow survives him, and now makes her home with her son Jerry.
Born September 13, 1871, Jeremiah L. Horen received good educa- tional advantages as a boy, and at the age of nineteen years started in life for himself, going to Nebraska, where he worked at the mechanic's trade for a number of years. Returning to White County in August, 1914, he has since cared for his mother, who has been a widow for more than a score of years, Mr. Horen having passed to the life beyond on September 10, 1893.
HENRY CLINTON THOMPSON. The present township trustee of Mo- non Township, Henry C. Thompson is one of the successful men of White County, measured both by what he has accomplished and by what obstacles he has had to encounter in his career. He started out as a railroad man, but an accident unfitted him for further service in that vocation, and he then turned to the law and is now one of the rising younger members of the White County bar.
Henry Clinton Thompson is a native of Kentucky, born in Pendle- ton County August 9, 1879. He is one of nine children, six of whom are still living, born to Thomas B. and Hannah M. (Wood) Thompson, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Pennsylvania. In 1881 the family removed to a farm in Pulaski County, Indiana, and in 1884 came to Monon, where the parents are still living.
Henry C. Thompson during his early youth lived partly on a farm and partly in town, but came to manhood in Monon. After a public school education, he was for about eight years a farm worker and then entered the train service of the Monon Railway Company. Not long afterwards he met with an accident which caused the loss of his right
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arm. This injury unfitted him for any continued activity either on the farm or in railway service, and with undaunted courage and after calmly taking stock of his abilities and tendencies, he decided to under- take the study of law. He continued as a law student about four years and on examination was admitted to the bar in 1911. He has since been regularly established in the practice of his profession at Monon.
In the meantime Mr. Thompson has been actively identified with public affairs in his section of White County. His political work is done as a republican and he cast his maiden presidential vote for Mc- Kinley. For four years he served as justice of the peace, was town clerk and treasurer five years, and resigned that office in order to take up his present duties as township trustee of Monon Township, an office to which he was elected in 1914. He is now giving a careful considera- tion to the school and other matters entrusted to him in an official capac- ity. Mr. Thompson is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Monon, Lodge No. 524 and the Knights of the Maccabees, Monon Tent No. 78. He was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Miller, daugh- ter of Grandville W. and Ann E. Miller. To this union have been born three children : Henrietta A., who graduated from the common schools and is now a junior in the Monon High School and has also taken musi- cal instructions ; Lyman A. is a member of the class of 1916 of the public schools, finishing the eighth grade; Fred E. is in the sixth grade of the public schools.
Mrs. Thompson is a lady who holds a high place in the esteem and respect of her many friends in Monon and in the township. She is a member of the Presbyterian Church and is president of the Ladies Aid Society. Her home and her children are her pride.
WILLIAM H. RINKER. Worthy of special mention in a work of this character is the late William H. Rinker, a life-long farmer of White County, who was born, March 6, 1834, in Big Creek Township, and died, in Reynolds, October 24, 1894. His parents came to Indiana from Vir- ginia in the early '30s, locating in White County. Taking up a tract of land that was still in its original wildness, they improved a homestead, and here spent their remaining days, he dying in 1869, and being buried in the Bunnell Cemetery, where her body was also laid to rest at her death.
Educated in the pioneer schools of his day, William H. Rinker ac- quired a good knowledge of agriculture while assisting his father in clearing and improving a homestead. Choosing for himself the independ- ent occupation to which he was reared, he began to be self-supporting at an early age, and by dint of persevering industry accumulated consid-
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erable property, becoming owner of eighty acres of land, which he man- aged successfully until the spring of 1893. Retiring then from active pursuits, he removed to Reynolds, where he spent his last days free from business cares. He was a republican in politics, and an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, to which his wife also belonged. He married, in August, 1861, Esther Bunnell, a daughter of Nathaniel and Sarah Bunnell, and she died March 17, 1907. Six children were born of their marriage, as follows: Martin L .; Andrew; Mathilda, now Mrs. Smith; a child that died young; Nathan; and William H.
Martin L. Rinker, son of William H. Rinker was born November 13, 1863, at Wheeler Station, in the old log cabin that stood on the home farm. Obtaining his elementary education in the district schools, he coni- pleted his early studies in the public schools of Reynolds. He likewise acquired a thorough knowledge of agriculture while working with. his father, his early experiences being of practical benefit to him in after years. Finding farming both congenial and profitable, Mr. Rinker has continued in the occupation to which he was bred, and is now engaged in stock-raising and general farming, being advantageously located in Honey Creek Township, on section 34, township 27, range 4, west.
Martin L. Rinker married, April 5, 1893, Clara L. Rohner, a daugh- ter of Andrew and Sophia Rohner. She passed to the life beyond Jan- uary 28, 1908, her body being laid to rest in the Bunnell Cemetery. Four children were born of their union, namely: Bernice R., born July 5, 1894; Flora E., born December 26, 1895; Ethel M., born January 24, 1897; and Clara L., who was born December 21, 1898, and died July 31, 1900. Politically Mr. Rinker is a stanch republican, and for ten years was road supervisor, at the present writing, in 1915, being county commissioner. Fraternally he is a member of Lodge No. 454, Knights of Pythias. His daughters are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
WILLIAM L. MCDONALD, an old settler of Monon Township, who died May 14, 1899, was of Pennsylvania nativity, born in Juniata County, December 28, 1821. He was a farmer by vocation, which he followed in his native state, and in connection therewith, for a few years, was engaged in canal boating. He married Rebecca Foltz, and from Juniata County, he and his family, with some two score other families of the same locality emigrated to the West in 1852, coming down from Toledo, Ohio, on the Erie Canal and disembarking at Delphi, Indiana. From the lat- ter point, in March, 1861, Mr. McDonald came with his family to White County, Indiana, and bought 120 acres of land in Monon Township from Byron Cowdrey, at $25 per acre. There was at that time a frame house on the property and this was then one of the first frame houses between
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Wolcott and Monon. Here Mr. and Mrs. McDonald passed the remain- der of their days, cultivating the soil and improving their farm. While Mr. McDonald was a man of but ordinary education, he was possessed of an unusual degree of practical sound sense, and through his good judgment, foresight and acumen, together with his constant industry, he had accumulated 240 acres of land at the time of his death. Perhaps his most marked characteristic was his sturdy honesty in all of life's transactions. For many years he held the office of supervisor of his town- ship, but he was in no sense a politician or office seeker, although always a sturdy supporter of the policies of the democratic party. William L. and Rebecca McDonald were the parents of eight children : Anna; Amanda J., who married James Long and resides at Terre Haute, In- diana; John; Mary Elizabeth, who married John Phebus; Martha, who married Amos Rogers; William B .; George F. and Sarah.
John McDonald, the oldest son of the pioneer William L. McDonald, was born in Carroll County, Indiana, May 10, 1855. He was brought to White County, Indiana, by his parents as a lad of six years, and here has continued to make his home ever since. As a boy he helped in the development of the home farm, and spent much of his time in herding cattle, and for thirty-five years, during the winter seasons, he devoted his activities to the buying of cattle hides and game. Of late his atten- tion has been devoted to farming, and his present well-cultivated property consists of 240 acres. Mr. McDonald was married April 9, 1890, to Miss Katie C. Tucker, daughter of Wesley and Maria (Lamb) Tucker, farm- ing people of Monon Township. The Tuckers originally came from France, locating first in Ohio, going thence to Illinois and finally settling in Indiana. Both Mr. and Mrs. Tucker are now deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. McDonald there have been born four children : Elmer, who died in infancy ; John Evert, Amos Perry and Clarence Lee.
William B. McDonald, son of William L. and Rebecca McDonald, was born in Carroll County, Indiana, April 19, 1859. As a boy his time, after he had reached sufficient years, was passed in grubbing, making rails, planting, reaping and similar work, and his early recollections of his boyhood include the herding of cattle on the open prairie when vast tracts were open to pasturage. As a youth, by working out among the neighboring farmers, he earned enough money to purchase a gun, and when this was secured he earned the leisure to devote to hunting by working far into the night on other days. As game was abundant and his skill developed rapidly, he killed many pheasant, prairie chicken, snipe, quail and other fowl which added to the family larder and gained him pocket money, while he was also able to obtain a good price for the mink and muskrat skins which he secured. Mr. McDonald was married
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January 12, 1897, to Miss Ella S. Owens, the daughter of John T. and Clara J. (Woosley) Owens, at that time farming people of Jasper County, Indiana, but now residents of Monon. Mr. and Mrs. McDonald have one daughter : Nellie May. The mature life of Mr. McDonald has been passed in agricultural pursuits, and at this time he is the owner of 160 acres of well-cultivated land, devoted to diversified farming. In political matters he is a democrat.
John T. Owens, father of Mrs. William B. McDonald, was born May 28, 1848, in Jasper County, Indiana, near the western border line of Monon Township, of White County. His parents were Jacob and Eliza- beth (Bishop) Owens. Jacob Owens was one of the early settlers of Jas- per County, Indiana, and passed through all the experiences and hard- ships incident to the life of the pioneer, and moved from this state to Kansas, but after a few years returned to Indiana, and then moved to Oklahoma, where he is now living at a very advanced age. John T. Owens, who until his retirement was engaged in agricultural pursuits in Indiana, married Clara J. Woosley, and they became the parents of seven children, namely : Ella S., who is the wife of William B. McDonald ; James Albert; Abram Hoy ; Thomas Ray ; Lillie May, who is the wife of Artie Haskins; Charles C .; and Valera Jane, who is the wife of Emmet Haskins.
ALBERT C. SLUYTER. Actively identified with the development and advancement of the agricultural interests of White County, Albert C. Sluyter is a worthy representative of those courageous pioneers who set- tled in Liberty Township in the days of its infancy, and subsequently spent the very best years of their lives in redeeming from its primitive wildness a portion of this beautiful country. A grandson of Jonathan W. Sluyter, the pioneer ancestor, he was born, September 1, 1878, on the farm where he now resides, and on which the birth of his father, the late Abram Sneathan Sluyter, occurred on November 24, 1842. Of Scotch- Irish descent, Jonathan W. Sluyter was born, January 17, 1796. In 1836 he came with his bride to White County in search of a permanent loca- tion. Settling in Liberty Township, he bought eighty acres of land in section 15, buying it from Mercer Brown, who entered it from the Gov- ernment, and having cleared a part of it, he and his wife there spent their remaining days.
Abram Sneathan Sluyter was brought up in pioneer days, obtaining his education in the typical log schoolhouse, and during his youth and early manhood assisted in redeeming the parental homestead from its original wildness. He continued as an agriculturist throughout the greater part of his life, spending one year, however, as a general mer-
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chant in Buffalo. On April 5, 1863, he married Sarah Emeline Morral, who was likewise of Scotch-Irish ancestry, and to them four children were born, as follows: Annette May, born January 14, 1864, died in infancy; William S., born March 21, 1865; John S., born October 4, 1869; and Albert C., of this brief sketch. Neither of the parents are now living, the death of the father having occurred January 9, 1913, and that of the mother on March 3, 1915. Both are buried in the Buf- falo Cemetery.
Succeeding to the free and independent occupation of his immediate ancestors, Albert C. Sluyter began life on his own account soon after attaining his majority, and has since carried on farming and stock rais- ing under most favorable conditions, in all of his undertakings meeting with acknowledged success.
On January 30, 1900, Mr. Sluyter was united in marriage with Cad- die E. Freeman, a daughter of William and Belle (Reinhardt) Freeman, and they are the parents of two children, namely: Arthur M., born December 27, 1900; and Wilbur R., born September 23, 1902. Mr. Sluy- ter is a stanch adherent of the republican party, and both he and his wife are members of the Christian Church.
MORGAN CRAFT. The distinction of being the oldest business man and merchant of Monon is now possessed by Morgan Craft, who through his store has given a continuous service to the people of that community for more than thirty years. His career as a merchant began outside the county, and since locating at Monon he has witnessed and been iden- tified with practically every phase of improvement and development in that town.
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