USA > Indiana > Clark County > Baird's history of Clark County, Indiana > Part 51
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ALLEN A. GILTNER.
Allen A. Giltner, of Bethlehem township, Clark county, needs no intro- duction to the people of the township in which he was born and reared and among whom he has lived, and very little to the people of Clark county in general. He is now in the seventy-fifth year of his existence and his record as a farmer is one to be proud of. He came of a sturdy race of farmers, agri- culturists in Kentucky and Tennessee, and he brought from them all their tenacity of purpose and all their shrewdness and natural ability in grappling with land problems. Allen Giltner, living in semi-retirement under the roof that sheltered his father and mother before him, has the satisfaction of feeling that his present state of security has been obtained at the price of his own self-sacrificing efforts and in spite of obstacles that would dishearten one less courageous.
The subject of our sketch was born on the farm on which he now lives in ·Bethlehem township, section No. I, north range 10 east, on the 6th of Febru- ary. 1833, and was the son of Daniel and Elnora (Cummings) Giltner. Daniel Giltner was a native-born Kentuckian, the Giltner family coming from Pennsylvania to Kentucky, where Daniel Giltner was born in the January of 1802. Mrs. Giltner's family, the Cummings, came from Tennessee, and her mother and father married in Clark county and lived on the land which now belongs to our subject. Mrs. Daniel Giltner was born in 1820. She and her husband reared six children, four of whom are now living, in 1909. They are: Allen A., Nathan, Sarilda (deceased), Thomas, Huldah and Stephen.
Allen A. Giltner was reared upon the farm on which he now resides and on arrival at the proper age he helped to clear and improve the family farm. His education was rather limited as there were no free schools, but he, however, managed to obtain a fair school education and studied algebra. He re- mained upon the farm until his twenty-first year with his parents, and at that time began to farm his share of the land. He married Margaret J. Mat- thews in May, 1857. Mrs. Giltner was born about September 28, 1836, and was a native of the township. She bore her husband one child that died in infancy. Mrs. Giltner died on the 2d of August, 1884. As their only child died in infancy they adopted Myra M. Conn, who is now the housekeeper and careful attendant of the subject of our sketch. Allen A. Giltner rented land for some time after his marriage and later bought the old homestead of one hundred and sixty acres which is worth sixty dollars an acre. He has been very prosperous ; in recent years he has rented his land. He is a Republican and has been somewhat active in politics. He -rved as Assessor of the town- ship for sixteen years. He is a man of well ordered life and religious con- victions, and, though he is not connected with any church, he favors the Pres- byterian belief.
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ALBERT R. MILES.
Albert R. Miles is a prosperous farmer and an influential citizen of Beth- lehem township, Clark county, where he is known as a raiser of stock and a farmer who has made the most of the possibilities of his large farm. He comes of German stock, his father having come from the Fatherland in his young days to the United States like hundreds of other German youths eager to be- come rich and opulent in this western land. On his mother's side our sub- ject is of French extraction, and, as he combines within him German and French ancestry, he inherits many of the welcome traits of both races. Albert R. Miles has reared a sturdy and intellectual family and in the person of his wife he has a life companion of even temperament and affability.
The subject of our sketch was born in Jefferson county, Indiana, on the 22d of November, 1855, and was the son of John R. and Rebecca F. (Cough- lin) Miles. John R. Miles was born in Germany in 1822, and left his native land ostensibly to avoid service in the German army and came to America. He came up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers and landed in Cincinnati, Ohio, and later came to Jefferson county, Indiana, where he lived until his death. He was a blacksmith by trade and later in life became a prosperous farmer. Re- becca F. Coughlin was born in Louisville, Jefferson county, Georgia, on the 13th of November, 1833. Mrs. John R. Miles bore her husband ten children, seven of whom are now living in 1909. Mary is the wife of C. H. Jones, of Kentucky; Henry is deceased, having been killed by a train in California; Albert R. is the subject of our sketch ; Louisa is the wife of Andrew MaNaugh, of Jefferson county, Indiana; Fred W. Miles is in Kansas and is unmarried ; Lana is the wife of N. D. Rankins, of Jefferson county, Indiana; Herman and Iva are deceased; L. B. Miles lives in Kansas, and C. H. Miles lives in Clark county, Indiana.
Albert R. Miles was reared on the farm in Jefferson county and helped his parents in the farm duties. At the proper age he entered the district school and got a good common school education. At the age of twenty-two years he started out for himself. He worked for some time by the month in a peach orchard and made seventy-five cents and a dollar a day. At the time of his marriage he had saved three hundred dollars. This event occurred in 1881, when he espoused Ellen Giltner, a daughter of Enoch and Malinda ( Hutsel) Giltner. Mrs. Miles was educated in the county schools and obtained a sound common school training. She and her husband have had three children born to them. They are: E. J. Miles, born January 9, 1886, who graduated from the common schools, No. 3, of Bethlehem township and from the Borden College, after which he entered the State University at Bloomington, graduat- ing at that institution with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He then studied at Swathmore College, Pennsylvania, where he obtained the degree of Master of
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Arts. He is now entered at the Chicago University, and this is his first year at that institution. Irvin R. Miles, the third child, was born on March 31, 1897; Earl S., second child, born July 29, 1888, is a graduate of the common schools.
The subject of our sketch owns five hundred and fourteen acres of choice land in Bethlehem township situated on the banks of the picturesque Ohio river about twenty miles below Madison. He and his wife and family are members of the Christian church at Painville, Jefferson county, Indiana. Albert R. is a member of the Pythian Lodge No. 13, at Jeffersonville, Indiana. In politics he is a Democrat. When the State Bank at New Washington was organized in 1908, our subject, who subscribed for a substantial amount of stock in the undertaking, was chosen to be a member of its first directorate, and is still director in the bank.
STEPHEN H. GILTNER.
Stephen H. Giltner, of Bethlehem township, Clark county, is a substantial farmer, and a member of the Giltner family, whose name has been entwined with the history of Bethlehem township and the county for many years. He owns one of the best stocked and most highly cultivated farms in the town- ship, brought to its present high state of efficiency through his painstaking efforts. His farm embraces one hundred and ninety-eight acres in all. In everyday life Stephen H. Giltner is a simple and unassuming member of the community, who is content to labor as best he may for the interests of himself and his family.
He was born in the township in which he still lives, on the 19th of Decem- ber, 1853, and was the son of Enoch and Malinda ( Hutsel) Giltner. Enoch Gilt- ner was born in Kentucky in 1822, and came in 1826 with his parents to Bethle- hem township, where they settled in the vicinity of Otto, and where he was reared. Abraham Giltner, our subject's grandfather, bought the farm that is now owned by the Henry Giltner heirs. He married in Kentucky, in which state he afterwards died. His son, Enoch was raised in Bethlehem township, and received a common school education. In after years he married Malinda Hut- sel and their entire life was spent in Bethlehem township. Enoch Giltner was a devout and active member of the Christian church, and was an elder in the local congregation of that faith for many years. He was a Republican in politics and an industrious and wealthy farmer who, at one time owned two hundred and forty acres. He reared a family of eleven children ; the living members, all of whom but two reside in Clark county, are : Jacob, Stephen H., subject of this review; Ellen, John, Alvin and Stella. Enoch Giltner died
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in Bethlehem township in 1899, in February of that year, and his wife in July, 1905.
Stephen H. Giltner was reared in the neighborhood in which he lives, and attended the district school in early life during the winter months and ob- tained a fair common school education, considering the school facilities of that the time. He remained at home until his twenty-second year, at which time he went to Illinois and worked for two years as a farm hand, after which he returned to his native township. On the Ist of March, 1882, he married Anna E. Taff, a native of Clark county. She was born on the 13th of Jan- uary, 1859, and was the daughter of J. S. Taff, who was by profession a school teacher. Mrs. Giltner attended the district school and passed through the Normal Training School at New Washington, and became a teacher. Their marriage brought Stephen and Mrs. Giltner two children, one of whom died in infancy, and the other, Frank L., born February 25, 1888, a graduate of the New Albany high school, is a teacher in the township.
The Giltners are members of the Christian church of Bethel, Stephen H. being an elder in the same, as well as a liberal supporter. In politics Mr. Gilt- ner is a Republican, but he has always kept himself from active participation in political matters, contenting himself with giving his vote and his sympathies to the party of his choice.
The Giltner family live in the comfortable farm house on their farm, where friends and acquaintances are ever assured of a warm welcome and genuine hospitality.
FRANK X. KERN.
Frank X. Kern, now of Indianapolis, Indiana, and a former merchant of Jeffersonville, this state, also of the former city, was born at Wurtemburg, Germany, December 3, 1850, a descendant of a prominent and honored old family of that province, where he remained under the parental roof in his youth, and where he received a good elementary education in his native lan- guage, remaining there until 1864, when he formed a small colony and sailed for the United States, leaving the old homestead and parents and friends be- hind to seek a home and live from under monarchial rule. He arrived at Louisville, Kentucky, the same year, where he commenced the struggle of life on his own account. He soon adopted the American ideas and grew to man- hood, enjoying the free privilege of an American ! wv, taking an interest in all that pertained to state and national affairs, an he has ever since been proud of his American home, his adopted country, to, which he has ever been loyal, and he has never since visited his Fatherland. His parents have since passed to their reward. His father, a well-to-do man, engaged in the manu-
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facturing of chinaware, having been in business for many years, and he was well known and highly respected by all. The original Kern family were Catholics in their religious belief, but the younger generations left that faith and became Presbyterians, Methodists and other denominational adherents.
When Frank X. Kern arrived in Louisville, he was fourteen years old, and he first worked in a confectionary, where he had a splendid opportunity for picking up American ideas. Later he began the barber business, learning the trade thoroughly, becoming a proficient artist in this line, and he remained in Louisville until 1869, when he went to Jeffersonville and continued his business, soon building up a large practice. During that time he was patron- ized by many distinguished men, one particular customer being Hon. John Reed, Sr., who was a prominent lawyer for thirty years, and one of the lead- ing men of the state. Mr. Kern continued his business at Jeffersonville in a most successful manner until 1882, when he engaged in the retail grocery business, building up a liberal patronage, continued until 1896, when he took a partner and embarked in the wholesale grocery business, which was con- tinued successfully for a period of two years, when he sold out and in the same year came to Indianapolis and again engaged in the retail grocery busi- ness in which he continued a few years.
When Mr. Kern came to Jeffersonville in 1869, he found a thrifty little town, which had just begun to develop, and being able to see the great future possibilities of the place, he joined the ranks of progressive citizens and helped push all enterprises. In politics he chose the principles of Democracy, of which he has ever since been a strong supporter, and while in Jeffersonville he was a conspicuous figure in all local organizations. He was elected and very ably served two terms as City Councilman, and later he was a candidate before the nominating convention for City Treasurer. He was regarded by the leaders of the party as a strong supporter and good campaigner. Through his political activity and business enterprises he became well known through- out Clark county, where his integrity and honor are above reproach.
Mr. Kern was married at Jeffersonville in 1873 to Louisa Pfau. She was born in the same province in Germany that Mr. Kern came from. She came to America with her brothers and sisters. Her parents died in the Fatherland. Her father was connected with lumbering and logging. He was well known in his community and highly respected there. Mrs. Kern's brothers and sisters are: George, William, Caroline, who married in this country, her husband being Herman Gallrein. These three children all re- side in Jeffersonville. Louisa, the fourth child, is the wife of our subject : Christian lives in Chicago, where Lewis also resies; Jacob is a resident of Louisville, Kentucky.
To Mr. and Mrs. Frank X. Kern five interesting children have been born, namely : John A. is in the money-lending business in Louisville ; Otto P. is a
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bookkeeper in the Union National Bank, in Indianapolis; Louisa, now Mrs. Malcomb C. Porter. Mr. Porter is in the real estate business in Indianapolis ; Clara married Lester Van Cleve, of the Indianapolis Star; Lillian is still a member of the family circle.
Mr. Kern has given all his children a liberal education and they are all fairly well situated in reference to this world's affairs.
WILLIAM H. BARRATT.
William H. Barratt, of Charlestown township, Clark county, is a native- born resident of the township in which he lives. He has been known all through his long life as an honest and industrious farmer. He passed through the Civil war and who, though wounded in the conflict, still lives in the ripe- ness of his years.
He was born in Charlestown township on the 27th of February, 1840, the son of George and Anna (Hultz) Barratt. George Barratt came from England with his wife, who was also a native of that country. He and his wife landed in New York and he began his career in the United States as a farmer. He finally came from New York to Indiana, and on a farm in Charlestown township he lived the remainder of his life. George Barratt and his wife were the parents of eleven children, six of whom are living at the present time.
William H. Barratt was reared upon the farm in Charlestown township, where in summer time he helped his parents, and attended school in winter. He remained under the parental roof until 1862, at which time he enlisted in Company I, Eighty-first Indiana Volunteers, remaining with his regiment until 1865 or the close of the war. His company was on the field at the battle of Perryville, Kentucky, but did not figure in the engagement. At Stone River. however, members of this company were active participants and again at At- lanta. Georgia. His regiment then returned to Nashville, Tennessee, where they engaged and dispersed the enemy. In one engagement Mr. Barratt was wounded on the second day of the fight, and had to be taken from the field. and was accordingly unable to join his regiment until their return to Nashville, Tennessee. He was discharged in June, 1865. and received a pension. Upon his discharge he returned home to Clark county and remained with his parents for two years. In 1868 he married Sarah Ann Weir, who was born in Wash- ington county, Indiana, on the 6th of December, 1847. She was the daughter of David Weir, who was a farmer. To William H. Barray and his wife were born the following children: John S., born December 14. 1869: Charles O., born April 15, 1871 ; Rosa, on April 18, 1874 ; William, on January 3, 1878;
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Cora, on October 16, 1883, and Dora, November 13, 1887. Dora graduated from the common schools of Clark county in the year 1904.
Mr. Barratt, his wife and the members of his family are all members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Otisco. Politically William H. Barratt is a Republican and although a sincere admirer of his party, he has never been very active in local political affairs. He is a popular member of the Grand Army of the Republic, Post No. 402, at Henryville, Indiana. His farm con- sists of ninety-two acres and is in grant No. 93, Charlestown township. He has lived on this farm since his marriage, and it owes its present prosperous condition to his efforts.
SAMUEL D. SULLIVAN.
Samuel D. Sullivan, of Charlestown township, Clark county, is the owner of one hundred and nine acres of land, and a farmer whose reputation is of the highest. During the period of his life in Charlestown township he has achieved a high standing as a citizen. He was born in Scott county, In- diana, on the 4th of February, 1861, being the son of William C. and Mary (Bridgewater) Sullivan. Grandfather Dennis Sullivan was a native of Mary- land, who emigrated to Trimble county, Kentucky. He sojourned for a few years in Indiana and later returned to Kentucky, where he died at the advanced age of eighty years. His son, our subject's father, William C. Sullivan, was born in Kentucky, and on coming to Indiana, was bound to Elisha English, of Scott county, with whom he remained until his eighteenth year. From that time until his marriage he hired out by the month with neighboring farmers in Scott county. After his marriage he went to Missouri, traveling overland in a wagon, and sometime afterwards returned to Indiana. In 1871 he came to Clark county, where he settled and remained until his death. He and his wife reared a large family of fourteen children, of whom eight boys and one girl grew to maturity.
Samuel D. Sullivan was reared on the parental farm and attended the district school, receiving a common school education. At the age of twenty- one years he started out for himself as a carpenter and a farm worker. His marriage to Eveline Campbell, daughter of Richard and Priscilla (Barratt) Campbell, took place on December 21, 1892. Mrs. Sullivan was born in Charlestown township on grants Nos. 192 and 193, where she now lives, on October 26, 1869. She was educated in the district school and obtained a fair education. Samuel D. Sullivan and his wife have had two children, Elsie, born November 24, 1893, and Rubie, born May 23, 1899. All the family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Otisco, of which our subject is one of the trustees.
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In politics Mr. Sullivan is an unswerving Republican, although he has never taken a hand in local politics preferring to lead a private life. His farm embraces the old homestead of Mrs. Sullivan's parents, and their land, which amounted to sixty-two acres. The farm land is as good as any in the town- ship, and is valued at about forty dollars an acre. Under the supervision and painstaking efforts the land has been brought to the highest point of perfection.
CHARLES P. MELOY, M. D.
Dr. Charles P. Meloy, physician and surgeon, of Otisco, Clark county, Indiana, is but forty-eight years of age and a comparatively young man in the medical profession yet he has succeeded in building for himself a large and lucrative practice at Otisco. He is a man who is well equipped for his life work, having had the advantage of an education and training in medicine of the highest order. He is a college and university graduate and to his profession, apart from his training, he has brought inherent natural ability of a more than average depth. In public life he has not been inactive and he is a figure of some prominence in all township and county gatherings of a civic nature. He was born on the 27th of September, 1860, in Charlestown township, Clark county, the son of John Q. and Cynthia (Campbell) Meloy. The Campbells, his mother's family, were prosperous pioneers in Clark county.
Dr. Charles P. Meloy was the third member of a family of nine children, three boys and six girls. At the age of six years he became a resident of Charlestown, and here he entered upon his school studies. His teachers were Kate Mitchell and Marion Leiter. Having completed his school course at Charlestown, he entered Hanover College in 1876, where he spent two years, leaving there in 1878. In 1879 he took a sophomore course at Depauw Uni- versity, and entered the office of Dr. James E. Oldham in 1879, and there commenced the study of medicine. After one year with his preceptor he en- tered the Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati for one term, 1880 to 1881. He then went into the grocery business to obtain money to pursue his medical studies and he later went west and finally completed his medical course at the Louisville Medical College. In 1896-97 he began the practice of medicine and moved to Otisco, where he has practiced ever since.
Doctor Meloy is well versed in fraternal work and believes in fraternal organization as a potent agency for good in the community. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythian lodges at Charlestown. He is a past grandmaster in the Independent Order of Cold Fellows. He also belongs to the Modern Woodmen, and was the first iscad consul at its inception in 1903, and carries insurance in the organization.
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Being a Republican he has served as chairman and secretary of the Re- publican Central Committee, and has been a candidate for Sheriff and Joint- Senatorship. As a Republican he is a man to be reckoned with in the political life of the party in Clark county.
Doctor Meloy married Anna Seward and three children have been born to them. Cora M., born November 24, 1897; Martin R., born September 27. 1900, and Fay, who was born June 17, 1906.
Doctor Meloy is a lover of outdoor sports and pastimes, and a good horse- man ; he is the possessor of two good horses.
SARGENT W. EVANS.
Sargent W. Evans is an old and respected native-born citizen of Otisco, Clark county: He comes of a Welsh family that settled in North Carolina in 1806 in the personage of his grandfather and grandmother Evans. He owes his present wealth and social position solely to his own individual efforts.
The citizen of Otisco, of whom we speak, was born in the town of which he is a resident on the 11th of October, 1843, and was the son of Absalom and Mary (Gunter) Evans. Samuel Evans. grandfather of our subject, married and brought his young wife from Wales, Britain, to North Carolina in 1806. They were not well supplied with worldly goods, and Samuel lived the remainder of his life in North Carolina. After his death his wife and family came to Clark county, Indiana, and settled in Charlestown in 1831. Mrs. Samuel Evans afterwards died in the neighborhood of what is now Otisco. To Grandfather Evans and his wife were born the following family : Sargent, Solomon, Ab- salom, Robert, Rachael, Elizabeth and Mary.
Absalom Evans was single when he came to Clark county. Here he mar- ried Mary Gunter, who was born in Kanawha county, West Virginia, and who came with her father, William Gunter, when a child and settled in Charlestown township. . Absalom Evans was a farmer and reared eleven children. They were : John, Sarah E., Eliza E., Sargent W., Mary E., Martha A., James C., Zerilda C., Perlina, Hannah H. and Alice E. There are but four living in 1909, all of whom live in Otisco.
Sargent W. Evans was reared on his father's farm on which when old enough he helped, occasionally going to school. His father died when he was but fourteen years old, and though he was not yet eighteen at the outbreak of the Civil war, he enlisted in Company B, Eighty-first Indiana Re; iment, under Captain A. J. Howard, of Jeffersonville, Indiana. He received his baptism of fire at the engagement at Perryville, Kentucky, on the 8th of ( tober, 1862. and remained in the vicinity of the Cumberland district until May. 1863, when he was discharged, owing to disability. He returned home, where he remained
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