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 55
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AMBROSE T. BROWN. A certain quality of vigorous enterprise seems characteristic of this branch of the Brown family, and all of the name who have been identified with White County have been distinguished for an ability to rise above the level of early circumstances, to acquire and direct large farming and stock raising interests, and to make them- selves influential and forceful factors in the community. Ambrose T. Brown came to this county a little more than twenty years ago and could very properly have been called a poor man. He is now one of the principal farmers and stock buyers of the Monon community.
A native of Illinois, he was born in Ford County, June 30, 1869, a son of John and Catherine (Hunt) Brown. An older son of the same family is Hon. John G. Brown, who has gained a high position in White County both through his business as a farmer and in public affairs. When Ambrose T. Brown was four years of age his father died, and he was one of eight children left to the care of their widowed mother. Undoubtedly this fine Christian mother should receive a large share of credit for the success which has followed the careers of her children. Her teaching left an impress for good on them which has always re- mained a dominant influence in their lives. As soon as reaching the requisite age Ambrose T. Brown attended the district schools in Illinois, and also performed his share of the household duties. At the age of twelve he was formally started upon his self-supporting career in the. employ of a neighboring farmer, at very small monthly wages. He continued to live with this farmer, Theodore Morris, in Vermilion county, Illinois, for a period of seven years, and his wages were gradually ad- vanced until his stipend amounted to $22 per month. At the age of
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nineteen, with his accumulated experience and demonstrated industry, he started out on his own account, renting land from his former em- ployer. In that way he continued for the next five years and accumu- lated a very modest capital.
Mr. Brown arrived in White County, Indiana, in the spring of 1893. His brother John G. had come in the previous fall. With another brother Brasier H., he bought the Robert Little farm, five and one-half miles northeast of Monon. That was his home for three years, at the end of which time he sold his interests and bought the land west of Monon on which his brother John G. had first lived on coming to White County. Still later Mr. Brown moved to the Curtis farm, east of Monon, which consisted of nearly 1,000 acres and which he operated for seven years on the shares. During that time he was one of the largest stock raisers in White County. In 1908 Mr. Brown moved to his present home, and there has devoted his attention primarily to farm- ing, stock raising and buying and the dairying industry. His estate now comprises about 400 acres of valuable land. Few men, starting with nothing, have so much to show for their efforts at the end of twenty or twenty-five years.
On February 27, 1895, Mr. Brown married Margaret E. Olentine, daughter of Richard and Mary (Applegate) Olentine, who were sub- stantial farming people of Vermilion County, Illinois. When Richard Olentine died near Monon February 4, 1912, at the age of seventy-seven, his was the first death to break a family circle of eight children and more than a score of grandchildren. Mr. Olentine and wife had lived together fifty-two years. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Brown were born five children : Ruth, Ora B., Curtis M., Kenneth P. and Donald L. Mr. and Mrs. Brown take great pride in their home and endeavor to give their children the best of advantages in preparation for lives of usefulness. Mr. Brown and wife are members of the Methodist Epis- copal Church, and they enjoy a large social acquaintance in the Monon district.
OSCAR WATSON. Not only is consistency conserved but there is spe- cial satisfaction involved in being able to present in this publication individual record concerning so appreciable a quota of the representative agriculturists of White County, and to such recognition Mr. Watson is specially entitled, as he is known and honored as one of the sterling citizens and progressive farmers of Monon Township, where his well improved homestead of 140 acres is situated in section 20, the entire area of the farm being available for effective cultivation.
Mr. Watson takes pride in claiming Indiana as the place of his nativ-
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ity and was born in Clinton County, on the 22d of March, 1864, a son of William A. and Susanna (Manus) Watson. The lineage of the Wat- son family traces back to staunch German origin and representatives of the name came to the United States several generations ago. William R. Watson, grandfather of him whose name initiates this article, was a resident of the historic old State of Virginia until his removal to Indiana, where he became a pioneer settler in Clinton County, where he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives. In Clinton County William A. Watson was reared to manhood under the strenuous discipline of the pioneer farm, and his educational advantages were those afforded in the somewhat primitive schools of the locality and period. In that county was solemnized his marriage to Miss Susanna Manus and they became the parents of five children, all of whom are living, Oscar, of this sketch, being the eldest of the number and the names of the others being here entered in respective order of birth: Harriet Olive, Mary Agnes, Minnie Ivy, and Sina. The devoted wife and mother was sum- moned to the life eternal in July, 1907, and her remains were laid to rest in a cemetery in Tipton County. William A. Watson is still a resi- dent of that county, has devoted virtually his entire active life to the basic industry of agriculture and is a man whose sterling qualities have ever given him secure place in popular esteem. He achieved prosperity through his operations as a farmer and stock-grower and, now venerable in years, he is living virtually retired. He is a stalwart advocate of the cause of the republican party and as a loyal and broad-minded citizen has ever taken a proper interest in public affairs, especially those of a local order. It was his to accord valiant service as a soldier of the Union in the Civil war, in which he was a member of the Tenth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and his continued interest in his old comrades is shown by his affiliation with the Grand Army of the Republic.
Oscar Watson has made advancement and gained definite prosperity through his own ability and well ordered efforts, and such are the men who are not alone worthy but appreciative of success with a due conception of the stewardship that success involves, so that he is natur- ally imbued with a spirit of liberality and is essentially loyal and pro- gressive in his civic relations. He was reared to adult age on the old homestead farm of his father in Clinton County, and in the meanwhile availed himself of the advantages of the public schools. At the age of twenty-two years he initiated his independent career as a farmer in that county, and during the long intervening period he has maintained his appreciative allegiance to the fundamental industries of agriculture and stock-growing, through the medium of which he has won success worthy of the name and proved himself one of the world's productive
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workers, the while he has not permitted himself to become self-centered but has given his co-operation in the furtherance of movements and measures projected for the general good of the community. Though farming has been his definite vocation, Mr. Watson has shown much energy and resourcefulness in other lines of enterprise, as he was en- gaged in the hardware business in the Village of Monon and for a period of about fifteen years was actively concerned with real estate operations, in which line he developed a substantial and important business.
Mr. Watson continued his residence in Tipton County until 1894, in which year he came to White County and established his residence in the thriving little City of Monon, where he was engaged in the hard- ware business about five years, as previously stated, and then turned his attention to the real estate business, in connection with which he has handled a large amount of farm and town realty in this section of the state. He purchased his present homestead farm in 1905, and the best voucher for the effectiveness of the work he has accomplished in the improving of the property is that offered by the statement that while he purchased the land at the rate of $37.50 an acre it is now valued at fully $150 an acre. At one time he was the owner of 400 acres and his entire landed estate at the present time aggregates 300 acres, all in White County.
A stalwart in the camp of the republican party, Mr. Watson has taken a lively interest and active part in public affairs of a local order, and he served six years as a member of the Advisory Board of Monon Town- ship. He is not formally identified with any religious organization but gives liberal support to the Baptist Church, of which his wife is a zealous member.
On the 2d of May, 1886, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Watson to Miss Martha Cline, daughter of George and Mary (Ellis) Cline, of Tipton County, and the four children of this union are : Minnie Maude, Claude D., Carl W. and Roscoe. The only daughter is now the wife of Albert G. Hornbeck. The Village of Monon continues to be the post- office address of Mr. Watson, with the best of rural delivery service.
GEORGE R. RISHLING. Well may this publication enter memorial tribute to the honored citizen who left so worthy an impress upon the civic and industrial history of White County as did the late George Robert Rishling. He was a native son of the county and a representa- tive of one of its sterling pioneer families, where his parents established their home in the late '30s and where they passed the rest of their lives, his father having been one of the sturdy pioneers who aided in the early development of the agricultural resources of this section of the state and having reclaimed much of his farm from the forest wilds.
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Mr. Rishling was born in Lee Township, Indiana, on the 16th of August, 1842, and died at his homestead farm, in Monon Township, on the 25th of June, 1885. He was reared under the conditions that ob- tained in the pioneer days and early gained fellowship with honest toil and endeavor, in connection with the work of his father's farm, the while he did not neglect the somewhat primitive advantages afforded in the common schools of the period, his having been the privilege of at- tending one of the old-time log schoolhouses, the equipment of which was necessarily of rude order but the facilities of which enabled him to lay the solid foundation for the broader education which he later acquired under the direction of that wisest of all head-masters, expe- rience. He was a son of Frederick and Emeline (Overton) Rishling, and in the paternal line was of staunch German ancestry.
Mr. Rishling continued to be associated with the work of the home farm during the period of his vigorous youth and in the meanwhile he not only waxed strong in mind and physique but also found his ambition quickened with desire for independent achievement. His en- tire active career was devoted to the- basic industries of agriculture and stock growing and he developed one of the excellent farms of Monon Township, the same comprising 160 acres and being now one of the valuable places of the county. Mr. Rishling was not self-centered but was ever ready to do his part in the furtherance of those measures that tended to advance the general welfare of the community, and his sterling attributes of character gained and retained him the respect and confi- dence of his fellow men. Though he never sought political office he accorded a staunch allegiance to the republican party, and he was a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which his widow has been an earnest adherent for many years.
On the 13th of November, 1862, when he was twenty years of age, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Rishling to Miss Jennie R. Culp, who likewise was born and reared in Jasper County, where she had con- tinued to maintain her home until her marriage and then coming to White County where her circle of friends is coincident with that of her acquaintances. She is a daughter of George and Mary (Burton) Culp, who were natives of the historic old State of Virginia and who came to White County in the early pioneer days when Indians were still much in evidence in this section of Indiana. Her father reclaimed a farm from the wilderness and both he and his wife were honored pioneer citizens of the county at the time of their death. Mr. and Mrs. Culp became the parents of ten children, of whom only three are living, Wal- ter, John and Mrs. Rishling. Mrs. Rishling remained on the homestead farm after the death of her husband and showed much business ability
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in its management, in which she had the effective assistance of her sons .until they established homes of their own. In 1907 she left the farm and established her home in the pleasant little City of Monon, where she has an attractive residence property, the while she continued to retain possession of the farm, which she rents to a desirable tenant, the place being endeared to her by the gracious associations and memories of past years. With her still remain her two youngest children. Mr. and Mrs. Rishling became the parents of six children, all of whom are living except one, their names and respective dates of birth being here recorded : Benjamin F., August 16, 1864; John W., October 23, 1868; Lillie M., September 1, 1870; Albert P., March 3, 1873; Joseph Edward, who was born December 31, 1875, and whose death occurred November 13, 1880; and Rose E., who was born March 29, 1878.
JAMES K. WILSON. The Wilson family still has in its possession the patent to a tract of land on section 22 in what is now Monon Township, the instrument bearing the signature of Andrew Jackson, who was Presi- dent of the United States when the Wilsons first came to White County. Few families have lived here for a longer time, and none with a better reputation for usefulness and honor as citizens and individuals. An immense amount of work and improvement has been accomplished in White County during the last eighty years, and it is only giving honor where honor is due to mention so far as possible the names of those early comers who shared most of the dangers and privations connected with life in a new country.
The founder of the family out on the frontier of Northwest Indiana was William Wilson, who came from Perry County, Ohio, to White County, Indiana, during the early '30s. It is said that he preceded the rest of his family on horseback as a prospector, and finally settled upon a location in what is now Monon Township. There he entered in Oc- tober. 1834, a tract of land on section 22 which ultimately became the original Wilson home in White County. That land, now a handsome farm, is only a short distance east of the present site of Monon Village. William Wilson brought his wife to this new home. Her maiden name was Mary Yost. They built a log cabin, and that was one of the early homes that stood in Monon Township, while all the surrounding land was in the same condition it had been for centuries. William Wilson and wife were the parents of six sons and one daughter. Only one of them is still living, John Y. of Frankfort, Indiana. William Wilson died more than half a century ago.
A representative of this old and well known family of White County was the late James K. Wilson, a highly honored citizen, whose death on
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February 18, 1907, was the result of a railroad accident at Monon. He was the fourth of the children of his parents and was born September . 18, 1844. As a boy his time was passed to some extent in attending the neighboring school and in helping to grub, clear, plant and harvest after the manner and customs of that time. On his youthful mind were early impressed two cardinal principles-industry and honesty. These were the cornerstones of his character, and they won him the esteem of all who came to know him. He also possessed a superior order of practical intelligence, and became one of the foremost men of his day in Monon Township. In politics he was a democrat, but never showed any desire to hold public office. While called upon to serve in minor official posi- tions he was naturally modest and accepted such posts only from a sense of duty. Charitable in his views and acts he demanded universal respect by reason of his many sterling qualities of mind and heart. He in- variably aided all benevolent and worthy objects when called upon. Probably he was the best known as a superior farmer. He took great pride in the management of his land and other interests, and at the time of his death had accumulated 347 acres, comprising some of the best land in Monon Township.
On January 20, 1870, Mr. Wilson married Mary E. Ward, daughter of Samuel M. Ward, a prominent old timer of White County whose history is recorded on other pages. Since the death of her honored husband Mrs. Wilson has lived in Monon. She is the mother of two children : Cora, wife of William H. Hancock of Monon; and Nona, who is the wife of Dr. J. A. Kent of Mulberry, Indiana, and they have two children named Lily E. and J. W. Kent, these being the grandchildren of Mrs. Wilson. In the death of James J. Wilson Monon Township was bereaved of one of its finest citizens, and everywhere the event was de- plored and looked upon as the untimely passing of one whose life had been extremely useful to many not only in his own family but in the community in general.
HENRY GRAHAM. The farming community of Monon Township rec- ognizes a worthy representative in Henry Graham, who is carrying on farming and stock raising operations on a highly cultivated tract of 180 acres. He exercises considerable influence in the community and is looked upon as one of its most reliable men, his industrious, temperate and frugal habits having gained for him a competence which will enable him to pass his declining years in peace and comfort.
Mr. Graham is in every respect a self-made man. He is a native of Ohio, born on a farm in Paulding County, October 13, 1853, a son of Reuben and Emma (Hazen) Graham. When he was an infant his
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mother died and he was taken to rear by his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Hazen. When the Civil war came on his father enlisted as a private in an Ohio Volunteer Infantry regiment, and died in the service of the flag for which he fought, passing away in an army hospital. Thus Henry Graham was orphaned when still a lad. He was brought to Indiana in 1858 by his grandparents, who settled in Starke County when it was still a new country, and after some five or six years there went to Pul- aski County, where the youth found employment as a farm hand. He followed the same vocation later in Benton County, Indiana, and La- Salle County, Illinois, and about the year 1876 came to White County, Indiana, where he still continued to engage in the same vocation. Dur- ing all this time he had been carefully saving his means with the end in view of one day becoming the proprietor of a farm of his own, and this ambition was realized in 1902 when he bought his present property, a tract of 180 acres in Monon Township. This he has brought to a high state of cultivation and is devoting it to diversified farming, in which he has met with well-deserved success. He has erected commodious and substantial buildings for the shelter of his stock, grain and implements, and also has a large and comfortable home, with all modern conveniences. Mr. Graham is a republican in politics, but not a politician, having been too busily engaged in his own affairs to seek public preferment. He has, however, always performed fully and well the duties of citizenship.
On March 27, 1884, Mr. Graham was married to Miss Jennie Davis- son, daughter of Josiah and Ann Maria (Hoffman) Davisson, the former a farmer near Chalmers, White County, Indiana. Mrs. Graham is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. To this union there have been born three children : William LeRoy, an agriculturist, who was educated in the common schools and is a Knight of Pythias; Anna Ma- bel, who became the wife of Roy D. Fisher and died August 26, 1909, was graduated from the high school and was a teacher in the county ; and Robert Ira, an agriculturist, who was educated in the common schools; he wedded Miss Edna Elizabeth Sandberg, October 20, 1915. Mrs. Robert I. Graham is a native of White County, where she was born December 29, 1858, and is the second in a family of seven children, two sons and five daughters, of whom five are living, residents of Indiana. Both of her parents were natives of Ohio. She was educated in the common schools and before her marriage was a teacher in Big Creek Township. The pretty estate of Mr. and Mrs. Graham is known as "The Clover Leaf Farm."
MARTIN LUTHER RICE. Many of the most successful churchmen of modern times are quite as much distinguished for their executive ability
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as for their eloquence in the pulpit. Practical enterprise is certainly one of the qualities which gives Rev. Mr. Rice his high standing in the community of Monon in addition to his faithful and efficient work as a minister of the Presbyterian group of churches at Monon, Bedford and Buffalo. Though not one of the old inhabitants of White County, Rev. Mr. Rice has proved himself a valuable factor in local citizenship and a man possessed of many unusual qualities of leadership.
A native of Kentucky, he was born on a farm in McCracken County near Paducah on October 16, 1874. He was one of a family of nine children, eight of whom are still living, whose parents are Louis Samuel and Penelope (Orr) Rice. His father was born in Kentucky and his mother in Tennessee, and both are now deceased. Louis S. Rice was likewise a minister of the Presbyterian Church, and after a long and faithful career passed to his reward December 25, 1909.
M. L. Rice grew up in Kentucky, and had the usual inconveniences of a minister's son to contend with in securing a liberal education and sufficient preparation for his chosen life work. He attended the public schools, also the Cumberland Presbyterian Academy at Auburn in Logan County, Kentucky, and for three years was a seminary student at Cum- berland University at Lebanon, Tennessee, and took his last year of seminary work at Louisville, Kentucky. In the meantime, in 1895, he was licensed as a local preacher and filled many pulpits and supplies in order to defray his expenses through the theological seminary. Dur- ing these years of training he did ministerial work for six years in Western Kentucky, and followed the usual custom of many theological students, eking out his meager income by farm labor. His first regular charge as a minister paid a salary of only $40 a year, and he had to furnish his own conveyance besides. During his last year in the semi- nary at Louisville he was given charge of a group of seven churches known as the Elizabeth group, at Elizabeth, Harrison County, Indiana, and made his home at that place, going back and forth to Louisville to attend school. For a year and a half Rev. Mr. Rice was located at New Washington, Indiana, and there had charge of a group of churches, and from there in December, 1910, came to Monon to take charge of the several churches under his supervision here.
Mr. Rice had not been long in Monon before he made his influence felt as a practical business man. In the fall of 1911 he became asso- ciated with J. R. Irons, who had leased the Monon Tile Works, and in the following spring they took this lease jointly. June 29, 1912, they bought at receiver's sale all the property of the Monon Cement Tile Company. In the February preceding this event Mr. Rice bought the four lots on which the factory is now located. They proceeded with
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much energy to overhaul the entire plant and added a lot of new machinery, and in two or three years business has improved so that it is almost impossible for the plant to keep up with the orders. On Feb- ruary 13, 1914, fire destroyed the entire equipment, but in a remarkably short time the business was again in operation. Besides the output of tile and other clay products, the firm also handles cement posts, wire fencing, coal, fertilizers, etc. In addition to his business interests at Monon Mr. Rice owns seventy-three acres of farm land in Kentucky.
On May 1, 1901, he married Miss Eva Shannon of Kentucky. They have a happy household of six children, named Ruby Lois, Leroy Liv- ingston, Mary Elsie, Bouton Alexander, Lucile and Martin Luther.
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