USA > Indiana > Delaware County > A twentieth century history of Delaware County, Indiana, Volume II > Part 36
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Dr. Arnold received his literary training in the National Normal Uni- versity at Lebanon, Ohio, in which he graduated with the degrees of B. S. and B. E. with the class of 1899. He then matriculated in the Illinois Medical College at Chicago, where he completed the course and graduated with the class of 1903. Soon after this he came to Shideler, Indiana, where he has ever since been engaged in the practice of his chosen profession, and to keep abreast with the many new discoveries which are constantly being made in the science he has become a member of the Delaware County Med- ical Association.
Dr. Arnold married, October 21, 1902, Lillian E. Reasnor, who was born in Blackford county, Indiana, and her death occurred on the 14th of June, 1906. She was the daughter of John and Mahala (Jones) Reasnor, both also natives of the county of Blackford. The father, who was born in 1846, and now living on the old homestead on which he was born, became one of the most prominent farmers of Blackford county. He is a member of the Presbyterian church. The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Reasnor : Alta, William, Nell, Fred, Earl, Homer and Benjamin, the last two being twins. To Dr. and Mrs. Arnold were born two sons, John L. and Charles. The doctor is a member of the Brethren church, and in political matters he casts his ballot in favor of the men and measures of the Demo- cratic party.
ISAAC H. SHIDELER. The name of Shideler is a familiar one to resi- dents of the northern half of Delaware county, Indiana, and the beautiful town of Shideler owes its name to William Shideler, the father of the sub- ject of this sketch, who was a storekeeper for the Fort Wayne and Louis-
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ville Railroad in the northern part of Hamilton township. The town was founded about 1871.
William Shideler was born in Miami county, Ohio, May 8, 1812, and came to Delaware county for the first time in 1834. Two years later he re- turned to Indiana with his family and entered eighty acres of timber land in the government land office. By energy and thrift he accumulated four hundred acres of fine farming land in that section and was known throughout the county as a man of honor and integrity. He served as trustee of his township for three terms, and was president and superintendent of the Stude- baker turnpike from 1867 until his death, which occurred on November 13, 1872.
William Shideler's wife was a Miss Sarah Little in her maiden days. She was born in Pennsylvania May 12, 1812, and passed to her reward Oc- tober 28, 1887. Mr. and Mrs. Shideler were married in Miami county, Ohio, in December, 1834, and became the parents of thirteen children. Three of these died in infancy, while the remainder lived to become the heads of families. Five of these are now living, viz., Isaac H., Henry H., Jolin S., Margaret E., wife of B. K. Burt, and Thomas. Both parents are sleeping their last sleep in the little graveyard at Granville. They were members of the Christian church at Granville, which society they helped to organize. Later Mr. Shideler assisted in the organization of the Eden Christian church near Shideler.
Isaac H. Shideler was born on his father's farm in Hamilton township, July 7, 1839, and helped to clear the timber from the land and place it in con- dition for cultivation. When he reached his majority he struck out for him- self, and his first purchase of land was an eighty-acre tract on which was a stall log cabin. This was replaced later by a more commodious structure of hewed logs, in which our subject and his family resided until 1867, when he constructed a neat and comfortable frame house. This was the family home until 1896, when Mr. Shideler purchased a beautiful residence in the town of Shideler, where he has since lived, retired from active business.
On September 27, 1862, Mr. Shideler was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Lewis, who was born in Union township, October 9, 1843, and was a daughter of William Lewis, a pioneer settler in that section of the state. Mr. Lewis was born in Virginia, June 4, 1805, and died October 20, 1865. His wife, Dora (Hedrick) Lewis, also a native of Virginia, was born February 25, 1808, and died March 9, 1865. Of their thirteen children four are living : Julia Ann, Mary E., Mrs. Shideler and William H.
Mr. and Mrs. Shideler are the parents of three children: Lydia A., Louis and Lee Roy, all of whom are married and reside near their parents. Our subject and his wife became members of the Christian church at Gran- ville in 1862, and in 1881 became members by letter of the Eden church near Shideler, where they have since been active workers. Mr. Shideler is a deacon of his church, and in his political affiliations is a Democrat.
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Mrs. James Williamson.
James Williamson.
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JAMES WILLIAMSON, one of the oldest citizens of Delaware county, in which he has spent more than seventy-three years of his long and useful life, was born in Portsmouth, Sciota county, Ohio, June 14, 1828. His parents were Peter and Rosanna (Shafer ) Williamson, and his paternal grandfather was Joseph Williamson, who removed from his native state of New Jersey to the Sciota Valley, Ohio, at a very early date. He was a farmer by occu- pation, and was among the sturdy pioneers of the Buckeye state, where he died at an advanced age. The maternal grandfather of Mr. Williamson, Adam Shafer, was a native of Germany and came to America in 1819. He was accompanied by his wife, Sabina, three sons and five daughters, all of whom were natives of Wurtemberg. They began the voyage in December, 1819, and landed in Baltimore in February, 1820, having been so long on the journey that Mr. Shafer was compelled to spend all of his means. So upon arriving in this country he was compelled to bind out three of his oldest · daughters in order to pay their passage, which amounted to eighty dollars each. The remainder of the family proceeded immediately by wagon to Brownsville, Pennsylvania, and thence by flat boat to Portsmouth, Ohio, where the wife and mother died in 1821, only a short time after reaching their destination. After a little over three years had elapsed George Shafer went to Baltimore, walking the entire distance, to bring his sisters to their western home. Two of them returned with him, but the oldest remained longer and at last joined the family. In later years the father came to Dela- ware county, Indiana, and located in Hamilton township, where he died in 1870, aged ninety-five years.
Peter Williamson was born in New Jersey in 1802, and with his parents removed to Sciota county, Ohio, where in 1827 he married Rosanna Shafer, who was born in Germany in 1805. From Sciota county they came to Dela- ware county, Indiana, in 1834, and established their home in section 25, Ham- ilton township, where he bought lands and built a log cabin home, at once beginning the arduous labor of clearing and developing his farm. Some Indians were yet here at the time. He was a sturdy character, a successful farmer and in politics was a Democrat. His death occurred at the age of fifty-seven years, while his wife, who was a life-long member of the Metho- dist church, survived him several years and died at the age of seventy-seven. They had a large family of children, as follows: Adam, of whom mention is made elsewhere in this history; Sabina, the widow of Alexander Dunn, of Union township; Lovisa, deceased; Stephen, a resident farmer of Illinois; Joseph, also a farmer in Illinois ; and Mary, Martha, Albert, Sarah and Mar- garet, who are deceased.
James Williamson was but six years of age when his parents removed to Delaware county, and he has ever since made his home within its borders. The eldest of his parents' children, he aided in the early toils of developing the farm and raising the crops, receiving only the educational advantages obtainable in the old-time log school houses. He has devoted his time and energies through life to farming, and few if any of Delaware county's
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pioneers have witnessed more trying times and performed more hard work than he. He has been very successful in his business affairs. When he started in life for himself as a young married man his father gave him an uncleared and undeveloped tract of land of fifty-three acres, and this he cleared and placed under a high state of cultivation, applying himself under difficult circumstances so diligently and with such success that he was able to add to his acreage and at one time was the owner of three hundred and twenty acres of fine land, which he has since divided among his children. As was his father, he is a Democrat in his political affiliations, and both he and his wife have been faithful members of the Methodist church for many years.
On December 5, 1850, Mr. Williamson married Hannah Shafer, who was born in Ohio, October 24, 1830, and they became the parents of the fol- lowing children: John M., Stephen Wesley and Lewis M., all prosperous farmers of Hamilton township, and the only daughter is Mary C., the wife of William Young, a hardware merchant of Muncie. Mr. Williamson has one of the old deeds executed by President Van Buren, dated March 20, 1837. This is the twelfth deed found in Delaware county.
ADAM WILLIAMSON. Among those who are honored and revered as pioneers of Delaware county none has borne a more active part in the devel- opment of its resources than Adam Williamson, an honored resident of Ham- ilton township. He has been a witness of the vast changes which have been brought to pass in this region, and in many ways he has proved himself an enterprising and public-spirited citizen, ever anxious to promote the good of the majority and to maintain all institutions which have made our country what it is today.
Mr. Williamson is the second child of Peter and Rosanna (Shafer) Wil- liamson, and was born in Sciota county, Ohio, December 3, 1829. In the biographical sketch of his older brother, James Williamson, will be found reference to the ancestral history. When he was but five years of age Adam Williamson was brought by his parents to Delaware county, and this has ever since been his home and the scene of his operations. Reared amid the scenes of pioneer days, he assisted his father in clearing the farm from its primeval condition, and in the meantime he received a limited educational training in the neighborhood schools, which he attended about three months during the year. He remained in the parental home until his marriage, April 12, 1853. to Miss Sarah Moore, the daughter of Lewis and Patience (Truitt) Moore, and they became the parents of the following children: William Albert, Flora Belle, Mary Theresa, Hattie, Emma and Effie, all of whom are living and are married. The wife and mother died on the 6th of November, 1880, and on the 8th of March, 1882, Mr. Williamson married his present wife, Mrs. Nancy J. Hurtt, born in Delaware township, August 15, 1847, the daughter of Daniel and Eleanor (Jones) Pittenger. There were nine children in the Pittenger family, and there are six living. Mrs. Wil-
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liamson was reared and educated in Delaware township. By her mar- riage to Thomas M. Hurtt two daughters were born. Cora is the wife of John Norris, of Muncie, Indiana, a contractor and builder, and they have two children, Reba and Carroll. Mae is the wife of Arthur Crampton, a teacher in the city schools of Muncie. The father of these chil- dren died August 25, 1873.
In 1853, on the 14th of April, Mr. Williamson took up his abode on his present farm, which is a valuable tract of one hundred and sixty acres. He cleared his original purchase of eighty acres from its primitive state, work- ing early and late in the task of clearing the forest-covered homestead and in later years at the cultivation of the soil, and here he and his wife are spending the remainder of their long and useful lives. They are members of the Grace Methodist Episcopal church in Hamilton township. Mr. Wil- liamson has membership relations with the Order of Odd Fellows.
MILTON HAMILTON. In a very early day in the history of Delaware county, in 1830, Stephen Hamilton, who was born near Morgantown, in West Virginia, wended his way to this county and established his home on a farm in section 35, Center township. Since that early period the name has been inseparably connected with the history of this section of the state, and the memory of Stephen Hamilton is honored and revered with others of the brave pioneers of Delaware county. After a time he left his first purchase and bought land just west in section 35, where the remainder of his long and useful life was spent.
Stephen Hamilton became the father of Henry Hamilton, who also won a name and place among the prominent business men and leading citizens of Delaware county. He was born in West Virginia in 1820, just ten years before the removal of his father to this community, and his death occurred on the farm now owned and occupied by his son Milton in 1884. He married a native daughter of Henry county, Indiana, Mary J. Coe, born in 1830, and they became the parents of four sons: Milton ; Millard Filmore, a resident of Idaho; William Henry, familiarly known as Harry, who died at the age of thirty-four, and Carl E., who makes his home in the state of Washington. Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton were married in Henry county, Illinois, and after residing there for a short time they returned to the old Hamilton homestead in Delaware county, Indiana, and fifteen years later they took up their abode on the farm now owned by their son Milton. The husband and father de- voted his business career to agricultural pursuits and stock-raising, and he won success in the callings. His political affiliations were with the Repub- lican party.
Milton Hamilton was born in Center township, Delaware county, Janu- ary 3, 1853, and within its borders he grew to years of maturity and con- tinued his residence until the age of twenty. Becoming imbued with the western fever, he spent twelve years in the states of California and Wash-
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ington, where he was engaged in mining and farming. He homesteaded and preempted land in Washington, and did well in a business way in the west, but in 1884 returned to his old home here. When his father's estate was set- tled he secured the homestead farm, and liis estate comprises four hundred acres of rich and well cultivated land. A pleasant and attractive residence adorns the homestead, and many other substantial improvements add to its value.
Mr. Hamilton married, in 1885, Hattie C. McArdle, of the state of Washington, and their three living children are Hazel, Louise and Mary. Mr. Hamilton holds membership relations with the fraternal order of Elks and endorses the principles of the Republican party.
THOMAS J. MANSFIELD, M. D., one among the most successful and favorably known physicians of Delaware county and residing at Royerton, has been a member of the medical profession in the county since he grad- uated from college. He is also a native son of Delaware county, born on his father's farm in Hamilton township, April 24, 1862, a son of Riley and Delilah (Johnson) Mansfield. The father was a son of Charles Mansfield and was a native of Greene county, Ohio, and the father also claimed Ohio as the commonwealth of his nativity, later becoming a pioneer of Delaware county. Charles Mansfield was a farmer by occupation, was prominent in politics, serving at one time in the state legislature as a representative from Delaware county, and his death occurred in the city of Muncie when he had reached the age of seventy-six years. Of his six children, three sons and three daughters, all are now deceased. Riley Mansfield was three times married, the mother of the Doctor being his second wife, and they had three children, while by the first marriage there were born four children, the third marriage being without issue. He, too, was a farmer and lived for many years in Hamilton township, where he was prominently and favorably known. He was a Republican in his political views and was a member of the Christian church.
Dr. Mansfield was reared as a farmer lad, attending the country schools during his early boyhood days, and later he taught for two terms. Still later he matriculated in the Central Normal College at Danville, Indiana, where he pursued a preparatory course in medicine, and then received a course of lectures in Barns' Medical College, St. Louis, after which he entered the American Medical College of Cincinnati, graduating therefrom in 1890. Immediately after his graduation Dr. Mansfield located at Roy- erton and entered the ranks of the medical profession, while in 1905 he pursued a post-graduate course in the Post-Graduate Medical School of Chicago. He is a member of the County and State Medical Societies and of the American Medical Association, and is a Republican in politics.
Dr. Mansfield married, in 1890, Miss Mary E. Knox, a daughter of John Knox, a prominent resident of Delaware county, and three sons have been born to Dr. and Mrs. Mansfield.
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ALEXANDER SNIDER was born in Miami county, Ohio, on a farm, January 6, 1826, a son of Joseph and Catherine (Studebaker) Snider. Mr. Snider, Sr., was born in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, but moved to Ohio as an orphan boy of eighteen years. He was there married to one of the commonwealthi's native daughters, Catherine Studebaker,. and soon after their marriage they moved to Miami county, Ohio, where they made their home until the fall of 1834. Selling their farm of eighty acres there, they came to Indiana and established their home in Union township, Delaware county, where the husband and father entered eighty acres of land and also bought a tract of forty acres. His home was located on the entry tract, and there he lived and labored for many years, dying at the age of sixty- eight years. His wife survived him for eight years, and in their family were twelve children, one of whom died in infancy and one when nine years of age, and the remainder grew to years of maturity, although only three are now living-Alexander, John and Abraham.
Alexander Snider was a little lad between eight and nine years of age when his parents came to Delaware county, and thus the scenes of its pioneer epoch as well as those of its subsequent development are familiar to him, while at the same time he has performed his full share in the won- derful transformation which has been wrought here. His advantages for obtaining an education during his younger years were extremely limited, but he has improved the advantages of reading and observation in later years and has become a well informed man. When he had reached the age of twenty-two years, January 15, 1849, he married Nancy J. Shary, who was born in Rush county, Indiana, August 30, 1828, a daughter of Solomon and Rachel (Breezly) Shary, who claimed Ohio as the commonwealth of their nativity. The first home of Mr. and Mrs. Snider was a little log cabin on his father's farm, but after a time they moved to a farm northeast of Eaton. Shortly afterward they sold that place and in 1851 took up their abode on a farm in Hamilton township, their present homestead.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Snider have been born two children: John A., a prominent and well known farmer in Hamilton township; and Rachel, the wife of Jacob Rarick, of Union township. Mr. Snider cast his first presi- dential vote for John C. Fremont, and has since supported the principles of the Republican party. He is a prominent and worthy member of the German Baptist church.
WILLIAM CAMPBELL. Among the prominent agriculturists of Hamil- ton township, Delaware county, is numbered William Campbell, whose name is also familiar to its residents in connection with its educational interests. In 1896 he began the work of consolidation of the schools of Hamilton township, and Professor John M. Bloss has perfected the work so effectively begun by Mr. Campbell. He has always been a stanch Republican in his political affiliations, and in 1889 he was made its representative in the office of trustee, to which he was returned in 1895, and thus he served for two
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terms in that important office with an interruption of one term in the interim.
Mr. Campbell was born in Greene township, Randolph county, Indiana, July 28, 1846, a son of John and Rebecca J. (Gibson) Campbell. Mr. Campbell, Sr., was born in Nashville, Tennessee, May 10, 1810, and his death occurred in Greene township, Randolph county, September 26, 1863. His name was enrolled among the early pioneers of that county, he having taken up his abode within its borders in 1838, removing thither from Greene county, Ohio, where the family home had been established when he was five years of age, in 1815. He was a son of Samuel and Elizabeth (English) Campbell, the former born near Dublin, Ireland, and the latter in Edin- burgh, Scotland. They were married in Ireland, and in the following week started on the voyage to the United States. Their first home was in Charleston, South Carolina, they having landed at that point, where they remained for five years, and from there removed to Nashville, Tennessee, remaining there seventeen years, and their deaths subsequently occurred in Greene county, Ohio. Mrs. John Campbell was born near Charleston, South Carolina, but during her early womanhood she moved with her parents to Greene county, Ohio, the family home being established near Cedarville, where she and her husband met and married, and resided there two years. She was born on the 16th of January, 1816, and died Sep- tember 23, 1875, in Randolph county, as did her husband in 1863. In their family were seven children, four daughters older and two sons younger than William Campbell, the subject of this review.
On the old home farm in Greene township, Randolph county, William Campbell grew to manhood's estate, in the meantime pursuing his educa- tional training in the neighborhood schools. When he was a lad of sixteen years his father died, and he thereafter remained with his mother in charge of the farm until he was twenty-two, he being her eldest son. He was then married, October 8, 1868, to Eliza C. St. John, who was born in Greene county, Ohio, November 23, 1851, and they have had three children : Ida Elnora, deceased ; Frances May, the wife of Henry Bell, of Hamilton township ; and Nella Forest.
After his marriage Mr. Campbell took up his abode on a farm in Greene township, Randolph county, Indiana, where he made his home for nine years, and at the close of that period moved to Dunkirk, Jay county, Indiana. Soon afterward he sold his farm and bought his present home- stead in Hamilton township, where he has resided since 1877. His estate consists of one hundred and sixty acres of rich and well cultivated farming land. His possessions, however, are the result of his own industry and excellent business ability, for he began the battle of life for himself without means and has been the architect of his own fortunes. Although reared in the Presbyterian faith, to which denomination his parents belonged, he is a worthy and valued member of the Methodist Episcopal church, to which Mrs. Campbell also belongs. Both enjoy a wide circle of acquaintances
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and are widely and favorably known, their host of friends esteeming them highly for their genuine worth.
SAMUEL POLAND. Samuel Poland, a prominent farmer and stock- raiser of Hamilton township, where he is the owner of a valuable estate of eighty acres, was born on his father's farm in Liberty township, Delaware county, Indiana, November 15, 1858, a son of Nicholas and Martha J. (Dickover) Poland. He was reared, however, on a farm in Delaware township, to which his father had removed when he was but a babe of two years, and when he had reached the age of seventeen the family came to Hamilton township. His entire life save the one year spent in Blackford county, Indiana, has been spent within the confines of Delaware county, and his long identification with its business interests has won for him prominence and influence.
Remaining at home until the age of twenty, Mr. Poland then worked by the month for other farmers for a few years or until the establishment of a home of his own by his marriage on the 25th of April, 1880, to Florence A. Smith, a daughter of George and Eliza (Carnathan) Smith. Her father was born in Center county, Pennsylvania, August 16, 1827, and is now making his home with his daughter Florence. He arrived in this county during an early period in its epoch, becoming identified with the farming interests of Liberty township, but he later transferred his residence and his operations to Hamilton township. Mrs. Smith was born in Clarion county, Pennsylvania, in February, 1838, and died on the IIth of July, 1894. In their family were the following children: William T., of Detroit, Michigan; George Albert, a resident of Mississippi; Florence, the wife of Mr. Poland; Michael Harvey, of Arkansas; Ida, who died at the age of nine years; Anna, who died aged fourteen ; James E., of Royerton; Viola, the wife of Alvin Moody, of Harrison township, Delaware county ; Milton, a prominent agriculturist of Liberty township; May, the wife of Harvey Campbell, of Randolph county, Indiana ; Orville, of Illinois; and Benjamin Franklin, a resident of Washington, D. C. Mr. Smith, the father, followed farming during the greater part of his active business life. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Poland have been born eight children: Bertha M., William Ralph, Albert Earl, Carl S. and George Raymond (twins), Harry Edgar, Fred- erick Arthur, and Ernest Cecil. Mr. Poland is a member of the fraternal order of the Knights of Pythias, Castle Hall Lodge, No. 37, of Muncie, Indiana, and gives his support and cooperation to the Democratic party. Both he and his wife are members of the United Brethren church.
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