USA > Indiana > Delaware County > A twentieth century history of Delaware County, Indiana, Volume II > Part 30
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The marriage of Mr. Rector was celebrated on the 4th of April, 1872, Miss Elizabeth Hedrick becoming his wife. She was born in Liberty township, Delaware county, Indiana, December 23, 1852, the daughter of Cyrus and Elizabeth (Richey) Hedrick. Cyrus Hedrick was born in Pendleton county, Virginia, January 26, 1820, and died November 18, 1907. In 1836 he came with his parents, Phillip and Nancy (Shreeve) Hedrick, to Indiana, the journey having been made overland with teams and wagon, and en route they stopped in Ohio for some time. Continuing their journey they finally arrived in Delaware county and located on the Mississinawa river.
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Cyrus was then sixteen years of age, and he lived with his parents until his marriage. Erecting him a little log cabin in the wilderness of Liberty township, he brought his bride to his new home, where they lived and labored for many years, and in time the little cabin home gave place to a more pleasant and commodious frame residence. They were married in Delaware county November 25, 1841, and became the parents of ten chil- dren, five now living, namely: Nancy A., the wife of Louis Goontz; Malinda E., the widow of Thomas J. Hudson; Elizabeth, who became the wife of Mr. Rector ; Julia E., the widow of Dr. Seth Allen ; and Matilda M., the widow of J. A. Hudson. Mr. Hedrick yet resides on his old homestead farm three miles east of Muncie, but the wife and mother, who was born in Morgan county, Ohio, September 2, 1824, died August 30, 1897, aged seventy-three years, eleven months and twenty-eight days.
Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Rector: Vora D., who died at the age of nineteen years; Cyrus A., who married Charline Prutz- man, and they are the parents of Elizabeth Rector, born November II. 1907; Frank E .; Laura, who died in infancy; Maggie M., the wife of Robert B. Broyle; and Ivy F., who died at the age of eight years. Frank E. Rector married Lola C. Childs March 14, 1900. She was born in Dela- ware county, Indiana, May 8, 1880, and died April 23, 1907, after becoming the mother of one son, Chester C., who is of the fifth generation of the . Rector family in Delaware county. Mr. Rector is a life-long member of the United Brethren church, and for twenty years served as a minister, and has also filled most of the offices in his church.
WILLIAM T. DOWNING. Since he came to Delaware county as a boy of eight years William T. Downing has been a witness of very important changes in this vicinity, and throughout his entire business career he has been identified with its agricultural pursuits. He was born in Logan county, Ohio, September 21, 1845, a son of James and Maria (Rector) Downing, both of whom were also born in the Buckeye state, the father in 1819. In 1853, with his wife and children, he made the overland journey to Indiana with team and wagon, locating in Perry township, Delaware county, where he secured government land from a warrant issued in Pauling county, Ohio. Perry township was at that time a dense wilder- ness, and the family took up their abode in a little log cabin which stood on their land. Later they resided in Henry county, Indiana, for a number of years, and then took up their abode on a farm south of Muncie, where Mr. Downing spent the remainder of his life as a farmer and died in August, 1859, when but thirty-nine years of age. Mrs. Downing died in 1846, when her sons, William T. and his twin brother, Israel J., were but eleven months old. Israel J. Downing died at the age of twenty-five years. For his second wife Mr. Downing married Mrs. Hannah ( Murphy) Coats, who was born in 1818, and of their five children three are now living- Henry, Benjamin and Arthur.
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When he had reached his eighteenth year William T. Downing, the subject of this review, became a soldier in the Civil war, enlisting in Company G, Seventh Regiment of the One Hundred and Nineteenth Indiana Cavalry. He enlisted at Indianapolis, Indiana, August 25, 1863, and was discharged on the 16th of March, 1866, having been mustered out of the service at Austin, Texas. During that time he participated in the battles of Okolona, Guntown, Grand Gulf, Egypt and Oxford, Mississippi ; Big Blue, Missouri; Mine Creek, Kansas; Raleigh, Tennessee ; Port Gibson and Verona, Mississippi; Boliver, Tennessee; Hurricane Creek, Inde- pendence and Osage River, Missouri; Bastrop, Louisiana, and La Navoo, Mississippi. After the close of hostilities Mr. Downing returned to Dela- ware county and to his farm labors, purchasing soon afterward, in 1869, his present homestead in Harrison township. From a wild and heavily timbered tract he has transformed it into a beautiful and well cultivated farm, and in 1902 he built the pleasant residence which now adorns the homestead.
On the 24th of March, 1870, Mr. Downing married Miss Eliza Jane Brown. She was born in Clinton county, Ohio, November 6, 1847, the daughter of Joseph S. and Mary Jane Brown, natives, respectively, of Pennsylvania and Virginia. The father was born on the 20th of March, 1819, and died March 7, 1905, and the mothier, born August 20, 1809, died February 9, 1801. They were married on the 8th of September, 1841. Mr. and Mrs. Downing have three children-Mary, Charles and Ethel. The eldest daughter is the wife of Nathan Dunn. The political affiliations of Mr. Downing are with the Republican party, being a stanch supporter of its principles, and he has membership relations with the Grand Army Post of Gaston.
MAHLON CRAMPTON is one of the honored pioneers who aided in laying the foundation on which to erect the superstructure of Delaware county's present prosperity and progress. Through the period of early develop- ment he was an important factor in the improvement and advancement of this section of the state, becoming identified with its interests when a young man of twenty-seven years. It was in the year of 1854 that he came to Indiana and cast his lot with the early residents of Harrison township, Delaware county, locating on the farm on which he now resides and on which had been erected a little log cabin. Into this cabin home he installed his family and they began life here in true pioneer style. All was then new and wild, but Mr. Crampton has lived to see his land cleared from the timber and placed under an excellent state of cultivation, and to him belongs the credit of having built the first ditch in this locality. He also took an active part in the building of the roads of Delaware county, assisting in building seven turnpikes in all, and many other equally as important public matters owe their origin to Mahlon Crampton. In 1870 his little cabin home
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was replaced by a commodious and pleasant frame residence, and here he is now spending the evening of his long and useful life.
Mr. Crampton was born in Ashland county, Ohio, March 2, 1827, a son of Joel and Elenor (Ross) Crampton. The father was born in New Haven, Connecticut, November 20, 1802, and when a little lad of seven years, in 1809, he went with his parents to Ohio and there spent the remainder of his life, although his death occurred in Delaware county, Indiana, August 27, 1882. His entire business career was devoted to farming and stock raising, driving his stock to the Sandusky, Cincinnati and Toledo markets, and he became well and prominently known throughout the entire state of Ohio. His political affiliations were with the Whig party. In Ashland county, Ohio, Joel Crampton married Elenor Ross, born in Jefferson county, that state, March 14, 1808, and she died in Warren county, Ohio, September 20, 1861. Their marriage was celebrated on the 13th of April, 1826, and they became the parents of six children, three of whom are now living: Mahlon, the subject of this review; Charles C., born in Ashland county, Ohio, October 9, 1838, married Mrs. Mary A. Benadum, nee Lincecum, and she is now deceased; and Hiram, who was born in Warren county, Ohio, May 23, 1842, married Rosa Lyons.
When but a boy of nine years Mahlon Crampton entered upon a clerk- ship in a store in Richland county, Ohio, and from his Ohio home he journeyed to Indiana in 1854. Two years previously, on the 2d of Sep- tember, 1852, he had married Miss Ruth Jane Crane, who was born in Warren county, Ohio, April 3, 1829, the daughter of Abner and Hulda (Robinson) Crane, both of whom were born in New Jersey, the former May 16, 1773, and died April 3, 1848, and the latter September 26, 1775, died on the 8th of December, 1835. They were married in Warren county, Ohio, and became the parents of nine children, five sons and four daughters, all of whom lived to years of maturity, but all are now deceased with the exception of Mrs. Crampton. Mr. Crane was numbered among the early Ohio pioneers and business men, he having conducted a cooper shop, and was also interested in the making of brick, pottery and crockery. He was a member of the New Light church and was a Jefferson Democrat politically. Of the seven children born to Mr. and Mrs. Crampton five are now living : Ira E., who married L. Beuoy ; Leroy R., who married Annie Smith, now deceased; Hulda E., the wife of John O. Lewelen; Isaac W., who married Nellie Thornburg; and Alfred S., who married Alta Reasnor. During the past fifty years Mr. Crampton has held membership relations with the Meth- odist Episcopal church, and for many years has served as its trustee. As early as 1840 his father served as superintendent of a Sunday-school of that denomination in Ohio, and both the father and son taught classes in that school. Mr. Crampton has ever been deeply interested in any movement or measure tending to elevate or advance the interests of humanity, and his upright life commands universal respect.
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William H Lee
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WILLIAM H. LEE. Delaware county has many prosperous and honor- able farmers who have reached their high stations through able individual effort, and prominent among the number is William H. Lee, residing on section 36, Harrison township. Coming to this locality nearly forty years ago, when a large proportion of the land was still virgin, he became an im- portant factor in developing its rich agricultural resources, and by his energy and thrift improved a good farm. A son of Daniel Lee, he was born Janu- ary 20, 1834, in Rush county, Indiana. He is of English ancestry, his great- grandfather, Nathan Lee, having been born in Virginia of English parents. His grandfather, Hilliary Lee, a native of Virginia, had five uncles in the Revolutionary army of patriots.
. A son of Hilliary Lee, Daniel Lee was born in 1810 in North Carolina, and died in Monroe township, Madison county, Indiana, in 1877. He came to Rush county, this state, in 1832, making the overland journey with the typical pioneer teams. The country in which he located was then but sparsely settled, the wilderness being the home of deer, bears, wolves and other wild beasts. In 1836, after a four years' residence in this locality, he removed to Monroe township, Madison county. Entering one hundred and twenty acres of government land, he built for himself and family a log house, and after many years of incessant toil and skill evolved a good farm from the forest, and there spent the remaining days of his life. He was a man of strong personality, and a Jeffersonian Democrat in politics. His first wife was Mary Garner, who was born in North Carolina and died in Indiana in August, 1847. Five children were born of this union, the follow- ing three of whom survive: William H., the subject of this sketch; Isaac and Thomas. By his second marriage, with Nancy Cunningham, he also had five children, of whom Richard M. is the only survivor.
William H. Lee assisted his father in his pioneer work of clearing and improving a homestead, remaining in Monroe township until the spring of 1871. Coming then to Delaware county, Mr. Lee bought his present farm, lying in section 36, Harrison township, and at once set to work vigorously to improve it. He labored most diligently to add to its improvements and appointments, and in 1880 erected a good frame house. Subsequently he turned over to his son, John D. Lee, with whom he is now living, the entire management and control of the estate, and the younger Lee, a man of fine ability, has greatly added to the value and attractiveness of the homestead, one of his improvements being the modern barn built in 1902.
William H. Lee has been married three times. His first wife, to whom he was married February 27, 1858, was Elizabeth Ann Broyles, who was born in Delaware county, Indiana, June 3, 1836, and died February 22, 1859, leaving one child, Mary C., who is now the wife of O. H. P. Goble. Mr. . Lee's second marriage was to Carolina Lutz, on the 14th of November, 1861; she was born February 14, 1842, and died October 26, 1865, leaving one child, George W. Lee. He reached maturity, married, became a police officer, and on December 8, 1899, was shot and killed by postoffice robbers, 15
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the tragedy occurring in Alexandria. He left a wife and four children. On March 19, 1867, Mr. Lee married for his third wife Mrs. Sarah (Jones) Hinchman, who was born July 28, 1829, and died February 14, 1900. She was a daughter of John D. Jones, born in Darke county, Ohio, and in 1829 came with her parents to Indiana; locating in Delaware county, where they spent the remainder of their lives. To Mr. and Mrs. Hinchman was born one daughter. Mary J., October 17, 1854. By his third wife he had one child. John D. Lee, born August 13, 1870. Politically our subject is a Democrat, and has been a steadfast member of the Methodist Episcopal church since 1852.
John D. Lee and wife are now the owners of the two hundred and twenty acres contained in the home farm, having bought out all who were interested in the same, and he is carrying on general operations and stock- raising on an extensive scale. On December 26, 1894, he married Nora A. Stanley, a native of Henry county, Indiana, born March 17, 1871. Her father, Philip Stanley, was born in Jefferson township, Henry county, Sep- tember 20, 1842, and there resides on the farm entered from the govern- ment by his father. He married Elmira Thornburg, born in Delaware county, May 13, 1850, and of their union were born nine children, of whom eight are living, Mrs. John D. Lee being the second child of the family. Mr. and Mrs. Jolin D. Lee have three children, namely : J. Frank, William Rea and George H. Fraternally he is a member of Gilman Lodge No. 745, In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows. He is justly proud of his substantial and honorable ancestors, and among the family relics which he most highly prizes is the old Longfellow clock, which is nearly a century old-a memorial of his mother's family, and which was originally hauled from Ohio in one of the old Virginia wagons.
JOSIAHI FERGUSON. A fine representative of the native-born citizens of Delaware county and a well-known farmer of Harrison township, Josiah Ferguson is an upright, honorable man, and one who ever uses his influence to promote the best interests of town and county. Coming from excellent Virginian ancestry, he was born November 9, 1865, in Harrison township, a son of Josiah Ferguson, Sr.
A native of Virginia, Josiah Ferguson was born January 16, 1816, in Southampton county, and died in Harrison township, Indiana, October 30, 1891. Left an orphan when a boy, he left his native state, going first to Ohio, where he worked as a tiller of the soil for several years. In 1848, following the trail of the pioneer, he came to Harrison township, and having bought ninety-six acres of heavily timbered land, moved on to it with his wife and children, spending his first summer in a rail pen. The following year he erected a log cabin, and in common with the other pioneers of this section endured all the privations and hardships of frontier life. He sub- sequently built a house of hewed logs and made many improvements of value on his place. He lived to see the country hereabout well settled and
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himself the owner of a fine farm of two hundred and eighty acres, the greater part of which he had in a good state of cultivation. A man of keen intelligence and good business ability, he was active in the management of local affairs, and served for many years as supervisor. He was a Whig in politics during his earlier years, but was afterwards identified with the Democrats. He was especially interested in everything pertaining to agri- culture, and belonged to the local Grange. He married Susan Oliver, who was born in Northampton county, North Carolina, January 9, 1823, and died December 25, 1904, in Harrison township. She bore him sixteen chil- dren, of whom six are living, namely : Lucinda, wife of Henry Hazelbaker ; Ruth, widow of the late L. A. Miller ; Mary, wife of R. M. Miller ; Silas D., married Rosetta Hazelbaker; Josiah, Jr., the subject of this sketch; and Joshua, who married Tillie Wiggins.
Until sixteen years of age Josiah Ferguson worked on the farm sum- mers with his father, attending the district school during the winter terms. From that time until his marriage he remained beneath the parental roof- tree, assisting in the management of the home farm. On the death of his father he purchased the interest of some of the heirs, and has since carried on the homestead property with great success. He is a skilled and practical agriculturist. and in his farming operations has met with most gratifying results, his land yielding extensive crops of hay, corn and oats, the cereals most common to this region. He is a man of much enterprise, and since 1894 has run a threshing machine in connection with his farm labors, being kept busily employed during the threshing season. He has acquired other property of value and is one of the stockholders in the Gaston Tile Com- pany. Politically he is a sound Democrat.
On December 3, 1890, Mr. Ferguson married Ida E. Carpenter, who was born October 12, 1872, near Summitville, Indiana, a daughter of the late William F. Carpenter. A native of Indiana, Mr. Carpenter was born in Decatur county January 17, 1835, and died on his farm in Harrison town- ship November 27, 1904. Losing his father by death when he was but a youth, he joined Colonel Walker's expedition and with it went to South America, where he spent five or six years, three years of the time being' confined as a prisoner. Returning home in 1850 in destitute circumstances, he was fortunate enough on arriving in New York city to fall in with a friendly old gentleman who fitted him out with suitable clothing and paid his railroad fare from there to Indiana. He labored diligently after his re- turn. invested his money in timber land in Jennings county, buying eighty acres, and for six years manufactured staves by hand. Removing then to Union county, he carried on farming for two or more years, and then pur- chased forty acres of heavily wooded land in Madison county. In the small log cabin standing upon the place when he bought it he lived for three years, when he replaced it with a good frame house, which he and his family occu- pied for three years. Disposing then of that property, Mr. Carpenter came to Delaware county, and in Harrison township bought eighty acres of land,
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on which was a log cabin. Taking possession of it, he lived in it until 1892, when he built a substantial frame house, in which he spent the remainder of his life. He was a Whig in politics until the formation of the Republican party, when he became a supporter of its principles, and in 1860 east his presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln. He was a man of strong religious convictions, and for a quarter of a century belonged to the Christian church. On October 18, 1860, Mr. Carpenter married Annie Himeliek, who was born October 14, 1842, in Jennings county, Indiana, and was there bred and edu- cated. Seven children were born to them, namely: Mary E., who married John Trice, died when but twenty-two years old; Morton F., married Laura C. Ocker ; Sarah A., married first John McLaughlin, and after his death became the wife of Frank Bryant; Joseph H .; Ida E., wife of Mr. Fergu- son ; John W., married Laura Randolph ; and Ora, married Velma E. Need- ler. Mr. and Mrs. Ferguson have a fine family of seven children, namely : Ormal J. W., Archie F., Sylvia S. H., Elva R. H., Lola R., Joshua P. and Lillian F.
SAMUEL F. McNETT was born in Logan county, Ohio, November 9. 1845, a son of Abram and Julia Ann (Downs) MeNett, both of whom also claimed the Buckeye state of Ohio as the place of their nativity. The father, who was born in Greene county June 10, 1819, died on the Ist of April, 1899, and the mother, born in Champlain county in 1823, passed away in death on the 25th of August, 1867. They were married in January, 1844. and became the parents of nine children, but of this large number only two are now living, Samuel F. and Rose. The daughter, the youngest of the family, married George Bland, and after his death she became the wife of J. P. Wilson. Mr. MeNett, the father, removed from his native county of Greene to Logan county, Ohio, when but seven years of age, and there he spent the remainder of his life engaged in agricultural pursuits. He was a member of the New Light Christian church, and his political affiliations were with the Whig party. He was a man highly respected by all who knew him.
Until reaching the age of twenty-one years Mr. MeNett remained in the parental home, and he afterward taught school for eight years during the winter months and farmed in the summers. In October, 1873, he came to Indiana and established his home on the Wheeling pike, where Stockport now stands, and his first winter here was spent in teaching school in Washı- ington township. He continued his residence on his farm here until the spring of 1877, when he exchanged the land for the farm where he now lives in Harrison township, seetion 6, and in 1899 he built the pleasant and attractive residence which now adorns the homestead. He is farming one hundred and seven acres of as fine land as lies within the borders of Harri- son township, and in addition to his general agricultural pursuits he is also extensively engaged in stock-raising, breeding Percheron and coach horses,
Mary A manuti
Samuel FMC. Nett
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Shorthorn and Jersey cattle and Poland-China hogs, having attained a high degree of success in both branches of his business.
On the 25th of December, 1873, was celebated the marriage of Mr. McNett and Mary A. Shawver. She was born in Logan county, Ohio, De- cember 24, 1853, the daughter of Daniel and Hannah (Foust) Shawver. The father, who was born in Carroll county, Ohio, April 9, 1827, accom- panied his parents on their removal to Logan county, that state, when twelve years old. He was the eighth son in order of birth of a family of thirteen children, and he received his educational training in the district schools of Harrison township, Logan county. He was confirmed in the Lutheran church at Bellefontaine, Ohio, on the 25th of October, 1845, thus becoming a member of the church of Christ when eighteen years of age. He was held in universal esteem by all who knew him, and he at all times mani- fested the most noble traits of manhood, passing to his final reward on the IIth of May, 1902. Mrs. Shawver, who is now living on the old homestead in Logan county, Ohio, was born in Portage county of that state June 7, 1834. They were married on the 27th of January, 1853, and became the parents of nine children : Mary A. the wife of Mr. McNett; Malinda, the widow of John Hemphill; George L., who married for his third wife Mary Worth ; John W., who died in infancy ; Lucinda M., the widow of Sylvester Morris; Rebecca E., the wife of Frank Cockrell; David E., who married Effie Piper; Dora; and Mattie E., the wife of David King. Nine children have also been born to Mr. and Mrs. McNett : Augusta E., the wife of Walter Bennett ; Ida L. M., the wife of John Ray; Daniel A., who married Anna Cluff, and resides in Dayton, Ohio; Ira J. E.,, who died at the age of four- teen years, eleven months and eighteen days; Pearl I., who died at the age of three years and three months ; Guy T .; Ralph S .; Esta Hannah; and Dor- othy I. Mr. McNett exercises his right of franchise in support of the prin- ciples of the Democratic party, and he is a member of the Methodist Epis- copal church.
WILLIAM CLINTON THOMAS. Prosperously engaged in the free and independent occupation upon which the stability and prosperity of our country so largely rest is William Clinton Thomas, a well-known and suc- cessful agriculturist of Harrison township, Delaware county. A son of the late Charles S. Thomas, he was born August 24, 1862, in Hancock county, Indiana. He comes of Welsh ancestry, his grandfather, Rease Thomas, having been born in Wales, while his wife, whose maiden name was Sarah A. Thomas, was born in Pennsylvania.
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