USA > Indiana > Delaware County > A twentieth century history of Delaware County, Indiana, Volume II > Part 33
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY
Twenty-first Regiment of the Ninth Indiana Cavalry, enlisting for three years or during the war. During his military career he participated in the battles of Pulaski, Tennessee. September 10 and 28, 1864; Wilson's Pike, December 1, 1864; Granny White Pike, December 16, 1864; Nashville, Tennessee, December 15, 1864: Franklin, Tennessee, December 17, 1864; Little Harper on the night of December 17, 1864, and also in many skir- mishes. His brave and loyal service as a defender of the Union now en- titles him to membership in Lookout Post, No. 140, G. A. R., of Gaston, and he is a stanch Republican in his political affiliations.
On the 22d of October, 1868, Mr. Benadum married Miss Alice Conner, who was born in Harrison township and who after a happy married life of eleven years was called to the home beyond in 1879. Of her three children only two are now living, Hattie, the wife of James Barker, and Stella, the wife of David Flora. On the 20th of June, 1880, Mr. Benadum wedded Miss Cora E. Milhollin, who was born in Shelby county, Ohio, June 22, 1861, a daughter of Edward J. and Jennie E. ( Holmes) Milhollin. Six chil- dren have been born of this union: Jennie, the wife of Marion Drumm; Susan, who became the wife of Arthur Brown; Minnie, the wife of Ralph Cecil ; Clarence E., Allen and Walter. Mr. Milhollin, the father of Mrs. Benadum, was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, March 19, 1830, and after entering upon his business life he spent some time in farming and contract- ing in Sidney of his native state. In 1876 he came from Ohio to Indiana and located in Muncie, where he became a contractor on the Lake Erie & West- ern Railroad. On the 2d of May, 1864, he enlisted for service in the Civil war, becoming a member of Company G, One Hundred and Thirty-second Ohio Volunteer Regiment, with which he served until his discharge Sep- tember 10, 1864. After returning from the army he began contracting in ditches, thus continuing until his return to Ohio, and after a sojourn in that state of five years he came again to Indiana. In Shelby county, Ohio, he married Jennie E. Holmes, who was born in Fairfield county of that state December 14, 1834, and her death occurred on the roth of June, 1881. Mr. Milhollin survived his wife until the 6th of July, 1899. They became the parents of ten children, five sons and five daughters, and the four now living are Thomas, Cora E., Minnie, the wife of William Case, and Samuel, who married Pearl Fry. Mr. Milhollin, the father, was a member of the United Brethren church, while his wife was a life-long member of the Methodist denomination, and in his political affiliations he was a Jackson Democrat. Both Mr. and Mrs. Benadum are members of prominent pioneer families of Delaware county, and worthily they bear the name of an honorable ancestry.
EMMITT MULLIN was born in Henry county, Indiana, November 30, 1849, a son of John S. and Margaret ( Emmitt) Mullin. John S. Mullin was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, June 3, 1797, and departed this life at the home of his daughter, Mrs. M. M. Vestal, in Newcastle, Henry county, Indiana, July 12, 1887, aged ninety years, one month and
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nine days. He moved from Pennsylvania to Hamilton county, Ohio, with his parents in the year of 1811, at the age of fifteen, where he continued his home until the year of 1823. In that year he was joined in marriage to Hulda Struble, and they had four children, one son and three daughters. From Ohio he removed to Indiana in the year of 1830, and on the 29th of March.of that year entered eighty acres of land east of Newcastle and moved onto it on the 29th of the following April. On the 3d of November following his wife died, leaving him with four children and in a wilderness home. He was again married February 14, 1833, to Margaret Emmitt, who was born in Ohio and died October 5, 1885. Of their ten children, six sons and four daughters, two sons and one daughter preceded him to the home beyond, and five are now living: Jane, the widow of M. M. Vestal ; David, who married Laura Williams; Annie, the wife of Charles Ball ; Emmitt, the subject of this review ; and Ruamy, the wife of John W. Abbott.
Mr. Mullin continued his home on the farm entered in 1830 until he went to live with his son James in the city, October 7, 1885, and just one year later he went to the home of his daughter, Mrs. Vestal. As a husband and father he was kind and tender, and those who were the objects of his care in their infancy and youth will ever cherish the memory of a kind father. As a citizen he was honest in all his dealings and generous as a neighbor. He never formally connected himself with any church but was a great reader of the Bible and accepted it as a revelation from God. He assisted in erecting the first courthouse in Henry county, and he also burned the brick with which to erect his residence, this superseding the old log house erected in the wilderness. Henry county numbered him among her most honored pioneer residents. He was a Jefferson Democrat politically.
During his boyhood days Emmitt Mullin worked with his father on the farm, laboring in the fields during the summer months and attending school in the winters. Thus he continued until 1885, when he purchased the farm where he now lives and continued his agricultural labors until his removal to Muncie to embark in the grocery business. This was in 1897, and for about seven months he continued that business with his son Arthur. In 1905 he became interested in the dairy business, and has but recently closed out his business as a dairyman.
On the Ist of October, 1871, Mr. Mullin was united in marriage to Sarah Bicknell, who was born in Newcastle, Henry county, Indiana, Oc- tober 10, 1851, the daughter of Darling and Frances ( Anderson) Bicknell, both of whom were born in North Carolina, the father on the 19th of March, 1817, and the mother in July, 1812. They were married in Newcastle, Indi- ana, and of their eight children all are now deceased with the exception of Mrs. Mullin, the youngest of the family. Mr. Bicknell, the father, came with his parents, Randolph and Mary Bicknell, to Indiana in 1822, when five years of age, the family home being established three miles south of New- castle, where the little lad grew to years of maturity and engaged in the mercantile business. In 1876 he sold his interests in Newcastle and went
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to Nashville, Tennessee, there resuming his mercantile business, and he died there at the age of eighty-eight years. Mrs. Bicknell died February 21, 1900. He was a member of Newcastle Lodge, I. O. O. F., a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and was a Jefferson Democrat politically.
Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Mullin-John A. and Floyd. The elder is engaged in the meat business in Muncie, and he mar- ried Ophia Chalfant. Mrs. Mullin is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and her husband of the United Brethren, and he is a stanch Repub- lican in his political views.
FRANCIS H. BENADUM. When Francis H. Benadum passed away on the 15th of July, 1902, one more name was added to the list of honored dead of Delaware county. He was a member of one of the county's oldest and most prominent families, but his birth occurred in Fairfield county, Ohio, April 26, 1844, a son of Allen and Susannah Benadum. He remained at home with his parents until eighteen years of age, and then with all the ardor of youth he offered his services to his country's cause in her Civil war, enlisting for three months, and at the close of that period he veteranized on the 9th of March, 1864, for three years or during the war as a member of Company F, First Regiment of Indiana Volunteers, heavy artillery, and was discharged at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, January 5, 1866, for his term of enlistment had expired and the war had closed. Coming thence to Muncie, Indiana, Mr. Benadum engaged in the teaming business, but later selling his interests in that occupation he embarked in the restaurant busi- ness and continued as the proprietor of an eating house for six years. At the close of that period he removed to a farm of fifty-three and a third acres in Harrison township, on which he erected a valuable residence, and there spent the remainder of his life. He was honored and revered in the county in which he so long made his home, and in his death the community mourned the loss of one of its best known citizens. In political matters he voted with the Republican party.
On the 29th of April, 1866, Mr. Benadum was united in marriage to Ellen Sullivan, the ceremony being performed by the Rev. Irvin in Muncie. She was born in County Kerry, Ireland, August 10, 1846, a daughter of Michael and Ellen (Moriarity) Sullivan, both of whom also claimed that county as the place of their nativity. The father died in 1849, when his daughter was but three years of age, and in 1854, when she was but a little maiden of eight years, her mother was called to the home beyond, dying in Muncie, Indiana. She came to the United States in a sailing ship in 1850, and, landing in New York city, she spent a short time in the metropolis, and then continued her journey to Newport, Rhode Island. There, strange as it may seem, she again married a Michael Sullivan, and of their two children only one, a son, John, is now living. Mr. Sullivan, the father, lost his life in a railroad accident in Indiana. By her first marriage Mrs. Sulli- van became the mother of two children also, Mary, the deceased wife of
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Michael Quinland, and he is now living in Indianapolis, Indiana, and Ellen, who became the wife of Mr. Benadum. She made the voyage to the United States by sailing ship in 1851, when but five years of age, in company with a cousin. Four weeks were spent on the ocean, and after landing in the harbor of New York they went to Newport to join her mother. With her mother and stepfather Mrs. Benadum came to Muncie, Indiana. She there gave her hand in marriage to Mr. Benadum, and they became the parents of three children : Minnie, who died at the age of twenty-two years; Charles E .; and Don H., who married Mary Johnson.
OSCAR O. BOXELL. Occupying a position of prominence among the . leading agriculturists of Harrison township is Oscar O. Boxell, a man of energetic determination and excellent business qualifications, who readily puts his best efforts into everything he undertakes. He was born October 21, 1872, in Michigan, Indiana, a son of the late Rev. George W. Boxell. He is descended from an honored pioneer family, being the grandson of Joseph Boxell, who came from Virginia to Indiana in 1836, locating in Van Buren township, Grant county, where he was the fourth householder, there having previously been but three log cabins erected in that vicinity.
Born in Virginia January 16, 1833, George W. Boxell was but three years old when he was brought across the country to this state. Although bred in the wilderness, he had a natural aptitude for books, and took ad- vantage of every opportunity offered for adding to his knowledge. He as- sisted his parents in the tedious work of clearing a homestead from the forests, which at that time were inhabited by Indians, bears, wolves, and wild beasts of every description. As a youth he became interested in re- ligion, and at the age of nineteen years entered the ministry of the Methodist Protestant church. Beginning his duties as an itinerant, he traveled over long stretches of territory, making his way through the wilderness from place to place by the means of blazed trees, the modes of traveling in those days being in strange contrast to those now employed. In this capacity he led a busy and useful life for nearly a quarter of a century, by his ministry giving comfort and good cheer to hundreds of people, and extending and advancing the Master's cause. Receiving a call from the First Methodist Protestant church of Indianapolis in 1876, Rev. Mr. Boxell remained there four years, and then went to Muncie, where he held a pastorate eight years. Going then to Elwood, he remained there until 1892, when he accepted a call to Anderson. In 1896, his health failing, he retired from the ministry, locating in Harrison township, on the farm which he had purchased in 1859. Turning his attention to outdoor pursuits, Mr. Boxell carried on general farming to some extent, and although not able to preach regularly was often called upon to conduct funeral services, in the course of his life preaching more than seventeen hundred funeral sermons. In politics he was a Jeffer- son and Jackson Democrat, and served one term as trustee of Harrison town- ship. He died December 5, 1905, loved and respected by all.
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Rev. George Boxell was twice married. He married first January 16, 1858, Rhoda Mckeever, who was born near Marion, Grant county, Indiana, in 1836, and died January 10, 1880, in Muncie. She bore him six children, of whom Oscar O., the special subject of this sketch, is the only one living. He married second, July 26, 1882, Emma Thompson, who was born Oc- tober 18, 1862, and is now living in Muncie. They had but one child, Estella L., now the wife of Carl Rees.
Brought up on the home farm, Oscar O. Boxell was given excellent edu- cational advantages, and when ready to embark upon an active career ac- cepted a position with the Prudential Life Insurance Company, with which . he was associated until 1905, for four years being superintendent of the office at Muncie, and also having charge of other branch offices of that com- pany. Locating in 1905 on the old homestead, Mr. Boxell at once erected the fine, modernly equipped and furnished home that he now occupies, and has since devoted his energies to agriculture. He makes a specialty of stock raising, keeping Duroc hogs, and a good grade of horses and cows. On the 15th of October, 1907, he lost his barn by fire, and is now erecting a new barn thirty by sixty feet and covered with sheet steel.
On May 13, 1893, Mr. Boxell married Bessie Hoffman, who was born in Salem township, this county, May 9, 1875. a daughter of William C. and Mary (Lambert) Hoffman, of whom a brief sketch may be found elsewhere in this volume. Three children have come to bless this union, namely : Wilbur B., who died in infancy; Lois E. and George W. Politically Mr. Boxell supports the principles of the Democratic party by voice and vote. Religiously he belongs to the Methodist Protestant church, of which his wife is also a member. Fraternally he is a member of Welcome Lodge, No. 37. K. of P., of Muncie.
NATHAN A. MCCREERY is a member of one of Delaware county's promi- nent pioneer families and is a native son of its township of Harrison, his natal day being the 25th of September, 1859, and his parents Thomas and Catherine ( Brown) McCreery. His boyhood days were spent in assisting his father to clear the homestead farm from a wilderness, working in the fields during the summer months and pursuing his educational training in the district schools in the winters. Thus his time was employed until he reached his twenty-first year, when he began farming for himself on a part of the old home farm, receiving eighty acres of timber land from his father. With his young wife he took up his abode in a little log cabin which stood upon the place, and he began the arduous task of clearing his land and plac- ing it under cultivation. This little cabin home continued to shelter them for eleven years, when it was burned and they lost their all in the fire. The pleasant and commodious dwelling which now adorns the homestead was soon built, and with the passing years Mr. McCreery has succeeded in clear- ing his land with the exception of ten acres, and his fields are under an
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excellent state of cultivation. He follows general farming and stock rais- ing.
On the 27th of December, 1883, Mr. McCreery married Nettie V. Trout. She was born in Washington township, Delaware county, Indiana, July 29, 1864, the daughter of Hannibal and Barbara (Wharton) Trout, both natives of Licking county, Ohio, the father born January 24, 1830, and the mother April 17, 1834. They were married on the 4th of April, 1853, and became the parents of eleven children, six now living: Leroy S., who is married; Derilus, who married Martha Miller ; William L., who married Emily McCreery ; Nettie V., the wife of Nathan A. McCreery; Lois A .; and Frank O. Mr. Trout, the father, came to Indiana in 1851 and secured a farm of heavily timbered land in Harrison township, of which he cleared about forty acres, and later removed to Washington township and there purchased ninety acres of land. After residing there for about five or six years he sold the land and in 1891 came to Gaston, his present home. He is a Democrat in his political affiliations and has served as a road super- visor. Mrs. Trout died on the 30th of May, 1907. Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. McCreery: William C., Delrey, Effie F., Ina C., Edna E. and George Washington. The eldest son, William C. McCreery, married Elsie Rector, the daughter of James A. Rector, and they have one daughter, Thelma Fern. The fifth child in order of birth, Edna E., died in infancy. Mr. McCreery votes with the Republican party, and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, as is also his wife and their two daughters, Effie and Ina.
ALEXANDER HIATT. A representative agriculturist of Harrison town- ship, Alexander Hiatt has met with excellent results in his farming opera- tions, his fine and well appointed estate giving substantial evidence of the good care and skill with which it is managed. A native of Indiana, he was born August 25, 1857, in Henry county, which was likewise the birthplace of his father, the late Solomon Hiatt.
A son of John and Charity Hiatt, Solomon Hiatt was born December 20, 1833. In his boyhood days he assisted in the pioneer labor of clearing and improving a homestead from the wilderness, and as a young man en- gaged in farming on his own account. Soon after choosing his life com- panion he bought land in Delaware county, and from that time until his death, which occurred July 17, 1906, he carried on general farming ably and successfully. He was influential in public affairs, and for eight years served as a justice of the peace. In his earlier years he was a Whig, but in 1856 he cast his presidential vote for John C. Fremont, and from that time was identified with the Republican party. For thirty-nine years he was a Mason, belonging to the lodge in Alexandria. On November 10, 1856, he married Elizabeth McCollester, who was born in Delaware county, October. 13, 1839, and died on the home farm July 31, 1906, surviving him but two short weeks. She was a woman of many virtues, and one whose daily life
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was in harmony with the Master's teachings, as a member of the Christian church, with which she united at the age of seventeen years, being true to the faith which she professed. Of the eleven children born of their marriage, four daughters have passed to the higher life, and five sons and two daugh- ters are now living. She had, also, at the time of her death twenty-eight grandchildren living, and four great-grandchildren.
Brought up on the home farm, Alexander Hiatt, in common with his brothers and sisters, attended the district school winters, and during the days of his youth and young manhood was practically educated in the work of general husbandry. At that time the toils of the field were arduous and almost endless, the labor-saving machinery of today being unknown, and to successfully manage a farm required incessant industry, energetic perse- verance and good judgment. Proving himself possessed of all these re- quirements, Mr. Hiatt chose farming as his occupation, and, with the ex- ception of four years spent in the glass factory of Ball Brothers, manufac- turers of fruit jars, has been employed in agricultural pursuits. From the thrifty appearance of his farm it is evident that he takes pride in his busi- ness, his land being finely improved, and amply supplied with all the acces- sories of a first-class estate.
Mr. Hiatt married, October 4, 1883, Sarah A. DeLong, who was born March 16, 1865, in Washington township, Delaware county, a daughter of the late Chauncey DeLong. Mr. DeLong was born February 1, 1831, in Ohio. As a young man he came to Indiana, located in Delaware county, where he took up land in pioneer days, and from that time until his death, December 14, 1879, was engaged in tilling the soil. He was a man of much worth, a patriotic and loyal citizen, and during the Civil war served as a soldier, valiantly performing his duty in camp and field. His second wife, whose maiden name was Sarah Ann Hayden, was born in this county Janu- ary 18, 1837, and here spent her life, passing away January 1, 1880. She bore him five children, four of whom are living, namely: Sarah A., wife of Mr. Hiatt; Minnie, Ollie and George. By his first wife, Margaret Hiatt, who was born in Ohio and died in Indiana, Mr. DeLong had five children also, and of these four survive, as follows: Orson, Frances, Samantha and John. Mr. and Mrs. Hiatt are the parents of four children, namely : Minnie, wife of Thornton E. Hadden ; Charles F., Flossie V. and Reba M. Politi- cally Mr. Hiatt is a stanch Republican and fraternally he was a charter mem- ber of Muncie Tribe, No. 144, I. O. R. M., and now belongs to Caux Tribe, No. 123, I. O. R. M., of Gaston.
JAMES A. RECTOR. Prominent among the substantial, practical and progressive agriculturists of Harrison township is James A. Rector, who by his own efforts has become owner of one of the most desirable farming estates to be found in this section of the country. A native of Delaware county, he was born in Perry township, March 6, 1852, a son of Arthur and
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Mary (Cary) Rector. Further parental and ancestral history may be found elsewhere in this work, in connection with the sketch of Arthur Rector.
As a boy, while working with his father, James A. Rector became fa- miliar with all the hard labor connected with the clearing and improving of heavily timbered land. At this he worked during the summer seasons, while in winter he attended the district school, the longest term that he ever regu- larly attended having been one of four months. When twenty-two years old he began the battle of life for himself, taking charge of thirty acres of his father's farm. He planted two acres of potatoes, devoting the remainder to corn, and one-third of all he raised belonged to him, while his father had two-thirds. His father gave him a colt, and he bought another, and the following year he carried on forty acres of land. In 1875 Mr. Rector bought forty acres of his present farm, moved into the log cabin that stood upon it, and continued his agricultural labors. In 1880 he added to his original tract by the purchase of twenty acres of land, and in 1882 bought an additional twenty acres, his purchases showing the good success with which he had met as a tiller of the soil. In 1902 he erected the fine house which he now occupies, this with the other substantial improvements which he has made upon the place rendering it one of the most valuable and attractive of any in Harrison township.
Mr. Rector married, December 30, 1873, Cordelia J. Cary, who was born in Perry township, Delaware county, October 29, 1855. Her father, John W. Cary, came to Delaware county from Ohio, where he was born, in early manhood, being a pioneer settler of this section of the state. He cleared a farm from the wilderness, and also worked at his trade of a stone- mason and manufactured brick to some extent. He was a man of versatile talents, possessing great mechanical ability, and while working at his trade took contracts and erected many buildings in this county, including among others several school houses and also the church at Philadelphia, Hancock county. He was a man of sterling integrity, a member of the United Brethren church from his boyhood, and in politics was a Republican. He married Elizabeth Hutchins, who was born in Delaware county. Eight children were born to them, seven of whom are living, namely: Cordelia, J., wife of Mr. Rector ; John, who married Stella Rector ; Charles, who mar- ried Alta Chalfant; Franklin, who married Sarah Backsley; Cory, wife of George Benadum; Samuel, who married Ola McCreery; and Hester, wife of Walter Bryan. Neither Mr. or Mrs. Cary are living, he having passed to the life beyond in October, 1888, aged fifty-two years, and Mrs. Cary, who survived him, having died August 3, 1898, aged sixty-two years. Of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Rector ten children have been born, namely: Ida F., wife of Edmund Rowlett; Edna P., wife of John T. Clark; Dorsy C., who married Edith Vanmeter; Curtis V., who married Bessie Jenning ; Dott E., wife of William McCreery; Opal B .; Chad; Bertha B., who died at the age of twelve years; Glennie, who died at the age of six years; and Virgal, who died at the age of four years. In hearty sympathy with every
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