USA > Indiana > Miami County > Biographical and genealogical history of Cass, Miami, Howard and Tipton counties, Indiana > Part 30
USA > Indiana > Howard County > Biographical and genealogical history of Cass, Miami, Howard and Tipton counties, Indiana > Part 30
USA > Indiana > Cass County > Biographical and genealogical history of Cass, Miami, Howard and Tipton counties, Indiana > Part 30
USA > Indiana > Tipton County > Biographical and genealogical history of Cass, Miami, Howard and Tipton counties, Indiana > Part 30
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In March, 1888, he and his sons, Ira and Will, organized the Kokomo Furniture Manufacturing Company, and in their operations they supply deal- ers in all parts of the United States, especially in the line of kitchen furni- ture. They recently filled an order for Paris, France. Commencing on a very small scale, they have reached such a capacity as to require the employ- ment of twelve to fifteen hands, using the latest and most improved mra- chinery. During the war Mr. Sellers erected a barracks in Kokomo, with a capacity for accommodating fifteen hundred men.
By way of reminiscence we should add that Mr. Sellers remembers the counties of Cass, Miami and Howard from their early settlement, and can recall many amusing experiences with the Indians. In fact, he may be called a pioneer of four counties, namely, Preble county, Ohio, and Cass and Miami and Howard counties, Indiana; and besides he is strictly an "old settler " of Howard county. If you want to know a genial, whole-souled man, you can find such a gentleman by making the acquaintance of " Uncle Sellers." He has been an energetic and hard-working man; but his constitu- tion, both mental and physical, is such that he endures an enormous amount of exertion, exhibits a high degree of vitality, and at the same time preserves a youthful appearance, so that very few persons would guess that his age had reached the term of seventy-four years. He is cordial, full of humor and fond of good jokes. He can read either with or without spectacles.
In his political views he is a Democrat, and in religion both he and his wife are members of the Christian church. Their home is at 241 North Washington street.
The parents of our subject, John and Nancy (Sellers) Sellers, were natives of Bourbon county, Kentucky, and had seven children, but of all these only the subject of this sketch is now living. The father, a farmer by vocation, moved to Preble county, Ohio, with his parents and several other families, during an early period in the settlement of that part of Ohio. In
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1829 John Sellers moved to Logansport, Indiana, and lived in that vicinity until the spring of 1835, when he moved into Miami county, locating upon Eel river, near Chili, where he purchased a farm and brought up his chil- dren. He was captain of a militia company in Cass county. He and his wife and two sons and a daughter changed their residence to Kosciusko county, where he at length died, aged about sixty-six years; his wife died eleven years previously. Both were members of the Christian church.
Joseph Sellers, the paternal grandfather of our subject, was a native of Kentucky, of Scotch descent, a soldier in the war of 1812, brought up four sons and five daughters, was a Christian (or " Disciple ") minister and a lit- erary man of wide influence.
William Sellers, the maternal grandfather of Alfred P., was also a native of Kentucky, a farmer and a resident of Indiana many years, reared a large number of children, and at an advanced age died in Wabash county.
Mr. Alfred P. Sellers, the subject of this sketch, was married on the 8th day of November, 1849, to Miss Mary Jane Cole, a daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Ritzenberger) Cole. In the family of our subject are four sons and five daughters, namely: Elizabeth, who married Mr. A. Mote, a hardware merchant in Kokomo and has three children living, - Lee, Frank and George Roscoe; Lewis C., a clerk in a Kokomo grocery, who married Miss Lida Banta and has two children living .- Clarence and James A .; John F., who married Miss Maggie Hayworth, and is a commercial traveler; George Ira, who married Miss Rebecca Ellen Kellar and has six children, -Lena, Ida, Wilford, Mary, Charles and George; Addie Flora became the wife of Isaac H. Kellar; Will P. married Miss Jane Brown; Mattie became the wife of John W. Dawson, of Kokomo, and has one child, named Esther; Mary Alice became Mrs. Charles A. Cooper and has one child, named William A .; and Cora B. married William Cline.
R AYMOND C. TAYLOR, of Logansport, Indiana, has been identified with this city for more than three decades, has enjoyed a prosperous business career here and is now living retired. The record of his life, as gleaned by the publishers of this work, is as follows:
Raymond C. Taylor was born in Cayuga county, New York, September 6, 1834, and is a representative of a family long resident in America. His
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father, Smith Taylor, was a native of Balston Springs, Connecticut, born about 1785, and from that place, about the close of the last century, accom- panied his parents to New York state, settling there when land was worth only a pittance, -seventy-five cents an acre. There Captain Noah Taylor, the father of Smith Taylor, acquired a large tract of land and was one of the prominent early farmers of eastern New York. He was a patriot during the Revolutionary war, and rendered valiant service as a captain in the American army.
Smith Taylor was both a mechanic and a farmer, and it was on his New York farm that his sons were reared and, by hard work in the field, brought to a realization of the seriousness of life. He married Miss Sylvia Barnes, a daughter of Captain Thomas Barnes, who marched with the Conti- nental armies and contributed his mite to the eradication of British misrule in the colonies. Thus it is seen that both the paternal and maternal grand- fathers of our subject were Revolutionary soldiers.
Raymond C. Taylor is the youngest of eight children and in his youth, beginning with his twelfth year, was employed more or less in driving stock, and in this way he was led into the butcher business, which he learned under . the instructions of his brother-in-law, William Faatz. From the age of eighteen to twenty-six he was engaged chiefly in farming, working at his trade only during the winter seasons. He came to Logansport January 13, 1864, and established himself in the meat business at the corner of Broad- way and Sixth streets, and some years later removed to 501 Broadway, where he continued a prosperous business. His business career on this street covered a period of thirty-four years, during which time he acquired a competency sufficient to maintain his household in his declining years, and since January 1I, 1897, he has been retired. Some fifteen years ago he purchased a farm in Clay township, Cass county, which he has handsomely improved, and to which he now devotes much of his time.
Politically the Taylors have been adherents to the Democratic faith. Smith Taylor declared for the doctrines and principles as set forth by Jack- son, and was a strict party man; but while Raymond C. Taylor avows allegiance to the political faith of his ancestors, he votes for the person rather than the party, holding that the character of the candidate for public office is of more consideration than the platform set forth by some political convention.
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Mr. Taylor has been twice married. In 1853 he wedded Miss Florilla M. Miner, daughter of Elizer Miner, and the surviving children of their union are Flora M. and Jay D. The latter married Miss Lorain Ridinger and has a son, Raymond C. Mr. Taylor's second marriage was consummated Jan- uary 24, 1865, when he took for his companion Florilla A., daughter of William and Lucretia (Pierce) Doty. The Dotys were among the first set- tlers of New England and were conspicuous as patriots in the Revolutionary war, Mrs. Taylor's great-grandfather being General Washington's drum- major. Mrs. Taylor's first husband was T. Doty Taylor, a brother of her present husband.
In Masonic circles Mr. Taylor has long had standing. He was made a Mason in 1868 and affiliates with the following organizations: Orient Lodge, No. 272; Logan Chapter, No. 2; Logan Council, No. 1I, and St. John Commandery, No. 246, and both he and Mrs. Taylor are members of the Order of the Eastern Star, Chapter No. 58. Their daughter, Flora M., who is still at the parental home, is also a member of the Eastern Star.
D EXTER C. BENNETT .- Among the younger representatives of the business interests of Kokomo, none have attained a more distinguished position than Dexter C. Bennett, who is now manager of Bennett's Saw & Machine Works. He is descended from Scotch and German ancestry and has inherited some of the best characteristics of the two peoples, having the reliability and perseverance of the former, together with the adaptability and untiring energy of the latter.
His grandfather, George Bennett, was a native of New Jersey, and at an early day emigrated to Lewisburg, Indiana, where he operated a sawmill. He was twice married and had seventeen children. His death occurred in Walton, this state, when he had attained the age of sixty years. Henry Shafer, the maternal grandfather of our subject, was a native of Ohio and of German descent. He followed farming and became one of the pioneer set- tlers of Cass county, Indiana, locating twelve miles from Logansport, where he died at an advanced age. He had a family of seven or eight children.
The parents of our subject are Elwood and Sarah (Shafer) Bennett, the former born in New Jersey, while the latter was born on her father's farm in
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Cass county. For many years Elwood Bennett owned and operated a saw- mill. He came to Indiana about 1853, locating in Lewisburg, Cass county, to which place his father's family removed. He resided there for some years and then took up his residence in Walton, where his father died, after which he assumed the management of the sawmill, which he conducted until 1870. He then turned his attention to the lumber business, which he con- ducted until 1880, when he disposed of his interests in Walton and came to Kokomo, where he established a little saw-hammering shop. When the de- velopment of the natural-gas resources of this section was begun, he added plumbing and gas fitting to his business. In 1893 he leased what was known as the Star Machine Works, remodeled the plant, and changed the firm name to the Bennett Saw & Machine Works Company, associating with him his son, Dexter C., as the manager. In connection with the operation of this plant the elder Bennett also continues the saw-hammering and plumb- ing business, established soon after his arrival in Kokomo. The principal manufacture of the company is wind straw-stackers, known as " Bennett's Uncle Tom's Farmers' Friend Straw Stacker," which is without doubt the most perfect wind straw-stacker for threshing in the market; the stacker is attached to the threshing machine and the chute is so constructed and oper- ated that it discharges the straw with equal force at any point within a full circle. The Bennett Saw & Machine Company also manufacture engines, boilers, sawmills and general mill supplies, such as rubber and leather belt- ing, endless thresher belts, pulleys, hangers, shaftings, oil cups, hard-oil brass goods of every description, etc. Employment is furnished to from six to twelve men and the business is a profitable one, being wisely conducted, carefully managed and operated along the line of the most honorable business principles.
Elwood Bennett is a prominent and influential citizen of Kokomo, and for about eight years has represented the third ward in the city council. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and reside at No. 164 West Taylor street. They became the parents of five sons and one daughter, and those now living are Dexter C., George H., James E., Albert E. and Hazel.
Dexter C. Bennett was reared in Cass county until seven years of age, and since that time has lived in Kokomo, where he acquired his education in the public schools, supplemented by a commercial course in the Kokomo
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Business College. He learned the machinist's trade, mastering the business in every detail and becoming a proficient workman. He has since followed that pursuit and now occupies the responsible position of manager of one of the leading industrial concerns of Kokomo. He is a very progressive, ener- getic and active young business man, and though only twenty-five years of age takes rank with many of twice his years.
On the 27th of November, 1895, Mr. Bennett married Miss Grace Pan- abaker, daughter of Samuel and Minerva (Puterbaugh) Panabaker, pioneer residents of Cass county. They reside at No. 151 North Main street, and in social circles they occupy a very enviable position. Mr. Bennett gives his political support to the Republican party.
W ILLIAM H. HOLLAND .- Among those who, long connected with the county, were always foremost in the support of movements and meas- ures for the public good was William H. Holland, a man whom to know was to respect and honor. He was born on a farm in Union county, Indi- ana, May 11, 1818, and was reared on that place, it proving his training ground for the labors of life. In 1845 he came to Cass county, locating in Deer Creek township on the farm now owned by Mrs. Gish. It was all wild land, undisturbed from the condition in which it was left by the hand of nature. There he erected a log cabin and began to clear the place prepara- tory to planting crops. His labors were energetically prosecuted until the greater part of the farm, three miles west of the farm where he died, was under a good state of cultivation. He also made substantial modern improve- ments on the farm and continued his residence there until 1855, when he removed to the farm which was his place of abode until his labors of life were ended. He made all the improvements on this place and successfully carried on general farming and stock-raising. At his death he was the owner of four hundred acres of valuable land, all of which had been acquired through his own efforts. He was a busy man and never knew a time when he had nothing to do. He kept everything about his farm in good repair, raised good crops and in his dealings with his fellow men was well known for his reliability and trustworthiness.
On the 16th of February, 1841, Mr. Holland married Miss Mary A.
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Murphy, and their union was blessed with seven children: Charles L., who- was a corporal in Company H, Thirty-fourth Indiana Infantry, and died in. 1862 from disease contracted in the service; Martha J., wife of James Hiller,. of Galveston; Alice, who resides on the old homestead; Caroline, deceased? wife of L. F. Murphy; Joshua, deceased, and two who died in infancy.
Mr. Holland was once elected county commissioner of Cass county but. resigned before the expiration of his term. He gave his political support to. the Republican party and kept well informed on the issues of the day, but preferred the quiet of the home to the duties of the office-holder. He held. membership in the Masonic lodge of Galveston, and was highly esteemed. by his brethren of the order. His death occurred April 23, 1898, at the ripe old age of eighty years, and his remains were laid to rest in the family cemetery in Deer Creek township, near the Center church. Thus passed away a worthy citizen, an honored pioneer, a faithful friend and a devoted. husband and father.
A USTIN HERRELL .- Among the pioneers of Deer Creek township, Miami county, Indiana, is found the gentleman whose name initiates. this sketch, Austin Herrell. Mr. Herrell was the first to occupy the office of township trustee in this township, he assisted in the erection of the first school-house in the township, and in many ways he was prominently identi- fied with the early history of this part of the county. This interest he has maintained throughout the years that have intervened between that time and the present. A sketch of his life is therefore of interest here.
Austin Herrell was born near New Castle, Kentucky, August 15, 1825, son of William and Rachel (Wiley) Herrell. William Herrell was the son of John and Amelia (Deacons) Herrell, and John Herrell was a native of Ten- nessee, a descendant of English ancestors who settled in Tennessee previous to the Revolution. The family was represented in that war. John Herrell married in Tennessee Miss Amelia Deacons, and the fruits of their union were Richard, James, William, Deacons, Absalom, Joseph, Isaac, John, Rachel, Polly, Malinda and Orrie. The Deacons owned a large tract of land on the Chuckie river in Tennessee and were prosperous farmers. About 1812, John Herrell moved to Kentucky and settled in Shelby county and
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subsequently he removed to Henry county, that state, where he improved a farm and where he passed the rest of his life and died.
William Herrell, the father of Austin, was born in Tennessee, on the Chuckie river, and went to Kentucky about the time he was grown. In Kentucky he married Rachel Wiley, a native of that state and a daughter of Benjamin and Rachel (Collett) Wiley. The Wileys were among the early pioneers of Kentucky. Betsey Collett, the mother of Mrs. Rachel Wiley, had remarkable business ability for a woman of her day. She had a large tract of land surveyed, paid the taxes on it and thus acquired several thousand acres. William Herrell, after his marriage, settled in Henry county, Kentucky, about six miles from New Castle, on part of the Betsey Collett land, where he cleared up a farm and made a good home, the land being very fertile. He moved to Indiana in 1833 and located in Johnson county, and here again he cleared a tract of land and made a comfortable home, which he subsequently repeated in Ripley county. His next and last move was to Miami, Miami county, where he bought a small piece of land and where he passed the rest of his days and died. He was twice married. The children of his first wife, Rachel Wiley, were John, Wiley, Isaac, Henry, Austin and Eliza. The mother of these children died in 1828, and some time later he wedded, near New Castle, Kentucky, Elizabeth Hensley, a native of that state and a daughter of Benjamin Hensley. The children by this union were Richard, William, James, Calvin, Absalom and Mildred. Mr. Herrell lived to the venerable age of eighty-three years. Throughout his life he was industrious, honorable and upright. He was a devoted member of the Baptist church, to which his family also belongs. Politically, he was in early life a Jacksonian Democrat, but identified himself with the Repub- lican party at its organization and continued to give it his support. Three of his sons-William, Absalom and Calvin-were in the Union army, in the . Ninth Indiana Cavalry, and two of them, William and Absalom, were wounded.
Austin Herrell, the subject of this sketch, was deprived of his mother's love and care when he was three years old. His boyhood days were spent in attending the district schools, held in log cabin school-houses, and when he was eight years old he came with his father and family to Indiana. In 1842, at the age of seventeen, he came to Miami county, and from that time until he was twenty-one worked for his brothers, Wiley and Isaac, who had set-
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tled in Richland township some time before. About the time he reached his majority he married, and in 1846 he pre-empted eighty acres of land in Deer Creek township. On this land he built a log cabin and in it began his mar- ried life in pioneer style. Honest toil and good management filled the days and years that followed and in due time his land was cleared and brought under cultivation. As prosperity attended his efforts he purchased other land and at one time his holdings comprised four hundred acres, cleared and well improved, constituting one of the finest farms in the locality. He has disposed of a part of his land, however, and now retains only two hundred and sixty acres.
Mr. Herrell has been twice married. His first wife was before marriage Miss Elizabeth Hicks, her parents being Isaac Hicks and wife, née Beard; there were no children by this marriage. His second wife was formerly Miss Mattie Julian, and she is now deceased. Her father, Jesse Julian, was a native of Ohio and moved to Indiana about 1846, settling in the woods in Miami county, where he entered eighty acres of land and became one of the well-known pioneers of his locality. Some ten years ago he moved to Okla- koma, where he is still living. Mr. Herrell by his second wife had four chil- dren, Frank, Lulu, Clyde and Belle. This wife and mother died some sixteen years ago. She was a devoted Christian and a member of the Baptist church, and of this church Mr. Herrell also has long been a member and a liberal supporter.
He is broad and generous in his views and has contributed freely to the support of all the churches in his neighborhood. Politically he is a Repub- lican and was one of the organizers of the Republican party in his township; in fact, he helped to organize the township itself. He attended the first meeting held in the township, and at that meeting was elected township trustee, which office he held for seven years. He assisted in the building of the first school-house in the township, the money for the same being raised by subscription, and the house, a hewed-log structure, was built on his farm. During his early life here he was for a time interested in general merchan- dising in Miami, and he was the second man to build a " store " in the town. The first warehouse here was built by him in 1860. For twenty years he did a warehouse business. A man of sterling integrity, honorable and upright in all his dealings, he has during his more than half a century of life here won a host of friends.
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A BRAHAM SHIDELER .- Throughout his life span Abraham Shideler has resided upon the farm which is now his home, and to-day he is accounted one of the substantial and enterprising agriculturists of Clinton township, Cass county. His natal day was July 22, 1835, and he is a son of George and Elizabeth (Neff) Shideler. The father was born in Washing- ton county, Pennsylvania, in 1793, and emigrating westward took up his residence in Preble county, Ohio, whence he came to Cass county in 1832, casting in his lot with the pioneers of Clinton township. He shared in the experiences and hardships of frontier life, aided in the transformation of the wild land into a productive tract and ever bore his part in the work of pub- lic progress and improvement. He had visited the county four years previ- ously, in 1828, and purchased the farm upon which he later located, and which is now the home of our subject. With unabating energy he continued to place this land under the plow, and as the years passed made it a valua- ble property. He took no active part in politics or public interests, aside from the faithful performance of his duties of citizenship, and in his life he exemplified his belief that man was placed in this world to do good. In accordance with his religious faith, -that of the Dunkard church, -he believed it wrong to bring legal proceedings against a fellow man, and he lived peaceably with his neighbors and all with whom he came in contact. . His death occurred, in the home of his son Abraham, in 1875, and his wife passed away in 1881. She was six years his junior, and in consequence both died at the same age. Mrs. Shideler was a native of Washington county, Virginia, and was a daughter of Jacob Neff, a farmer of that state. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Shideler were as follows: Lavina, deceased wife of Martin Miller; Mary, deceased wife of Thomas Dillard; Catherine, deceased wife of Jacob Neff; Naomi, wife of Adam Yost, of Clinton town- ship, Cass county; Jonathan; Jacob, deceased; Elizabeth, wife of Zachariah Cragun, of Clinton township; Abraham and Isaac, twins, the latter a retired merchant and prominent citizen of Logansport.
Abraham Shideler has spent sixty-two years upon the old family home- stead which his father entered from the government in pioneer days. He was early trained to habits of industry and economy and drilled in the labors of the farm, beginning work in the fields as soon as old enough to handle the plow. His education was acquired in a log school-house, such as were com- mon in those days, and in the school of experience has he also learned many
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valuable lessons, which have enabled him to conduct a successful business. He has made farming his life work, and the well-tilled fields on the Shideler property indicate his energy and careful supervision, while the excellent improvements in the way of buildings stand as monuments to his thrift and enterprise.
On the 14th of April, 1859, Mr. Shideler was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth, daughter of John and Barbara (Libenguth) Mummey, the former a representative of a Pennsylvania family of German origin. The children of our subject and his wife are: Amelia, wife of Herman Homburg, of Clinton township, Cass county; Elmer G., who died at the age of twenty- four years and five months; and Asa J., who resides on the old homestead and who married, November 25, 1896, Florence Tyner, by whom he has a son, William Abraham.
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