USA > Indiana > Wayne County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 27
USA > Indiana > Franklin County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 27
USA > Indiana > Union County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 27
USA > Indiana > Fayette County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 27
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Judge Burnside spent the days of his boyhood and youth in the state of his nativity, and when eighteen years of age came with the family to Union county, where his remaining days were passed. In this then wild and unset- tled region he labored to establish a home, and as the years passed exerted a
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wide influence on the public life, thought and action of this locality. He was the founder of the town of Liberty, which stands as a monument to his enter- prising spirit. He served as associate judge of the circuit court and filled the office of county clerk for the long period of twenty-eight years, retiring in 1858. No confidence reposed in him was ever betrayed and his fidelity to to the public trust in the discharge of his official duties was most marked. He gave his political support to the Whig party until its dissolution, when he joined the ranks of the new Republican party, being one of its zealous advo- cates until his death. He exerted a wide influence in all county affairs, was very popular and highly respected. No man identified with this section of the state during the early period of its development was held in higher esti- mation.
Judge Burnside was twice married. He first wedded Pamelia Brown, and in December, 1843, he married Jane Dill, a daughter of Joseph Dill, a native of Warren county, Ohio. The children of the first marriage were Henry M., who followed farming at Laurel, Franklin county, and afterward resided in Indianapolis, but died in Shelby county, Indiana, at the age of fifty-eight years; Benjamin F., a mechanic, who under contract furnished horses and mules to the Army of the Tennessee during the civil war, and died in Indianapolis, at the age of fifty-five; and General Burnside, the fam- ous general in command of the northern forces during the great struggle between the north and the south. The second son was a Democrat in poli- tics, but the others were all stalwart advocates of Republican principles. The only son of the second marriage of Judge Burnside is Thomas C. Burn- side, a well known resident of Union county, whose sketch appears next. The father died March 28, 1859, and his second wife, long surviving him, passed away April 13, 1891, at the age of eighty-two years. For a half cen- tury Judge Burnside lived and labored to goodly ends among the people of Union county, and left the impress of his individuality upon the public life, the substantial growth and material development of the region. He was a man of true nobility of character, and his death was most deeply deplored by those to whom had come the fullest appreciation of his nature.
WALTER S. RATLIFF.
Walter Stevens Ratliff was born on April 24, 1860, on a farm three miles west of Richmond, Indiana, being the third son of Joseph C. and Mary F. Ratliff. Showing an early inclination for learning, he was sent to school, which was held in an old school-house on the old National Road, where he passed through the first reader before he was four years old. At the age of twelve, at the last day of school, he gave on the black-board a public exhi- bition of free-hand drawing, from memory, of the continent of Europe. He
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·continued there until February, 1873, when his father moved to a farm just northwest of Richmond, where he resided until he was married. There being no girl in the family he " wore the apron " around the house, and fre- quently lost a half day of school helping his mother to do the washing. Being a great reader, he spent three years in reading the Holy Bible, com- pleting the same at the age of thirteen. The graded school at Sevastopol near by furnished a good opportunity for study, which was attended until the spring of 1878. At the age of seventeen he secured the prize offered for the best penman at a public writing-school, among many competitors. In Sep- tember, 1879, he resolved to enter a larger institution and secure a more thorough, practical education, such as was given at Purdue University, at Lafayette, Indiana. He entered the college on the 10th of that month and spent four years of hard study, graduating, with two diplomas and with the honors of his class, on June 7, 1883. While there he had the distinguished honor of being the second student, the other being a young lady, who had ever in the history of the university completed two distinct courses of study in four consecutive years and graduated in the same. During the junior and senior years he assisted the professors by teaching in the preparatory depart- ment of the university. Considerable manual labor was done on the campus of the college grounds and on the farm while a student, and many of the arbor-vitae hedges, fruit and ornamental trees now standing bear evidence of his work, and over one-half of the necessary expenses incurred in securing his education were made in this way.
After graduation he resided with his father, following farming and the breeding of Jersey cattle. On November 12, 1885, he married Metta E., daughter of Stephen and Louisa Comer, and removed to a farm two miles west of Richmond, where he still resides. One child has blessed their union, Verlin Comer Ratliff, who was born March 14, 1895. At present he is engaged in breeding Jersey cattle and in dairying. He performed a series of experiments on his farm in connection with the university, as, sowing wheat with and without the use of commercial fertilizers; determining the merits of different brands of the same, on one particular variety of wheat; and noting the ravages of the Hessian fly on wheat with different times of sowing. A member of the State Farmers' Institute workers, he has given a number of papers at various institutes throughout the state, and he has furnished con- tributions to many of our local papers and magazines. He was vice-president one year of the Indiana Horticultural Society; a delegate two years to the Indiana State Board of Agriculture; has been secretary of the Wayne County Agricultural and Horticultural Society for ten consecutive years; is and has been for five years the Recorder of the Indiana yearly meeting of the Relig- ious Society of Friends, being an active member of this church; was super-
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intendent of the Purdue University Young Men's Christian Association dur- ing his senior year; is an administrator of estates and guardian of minor chil- dren; a director of the Wayne Farmers' Insurance Company for 1897; fur- nishes statistics to the United States Department of Agriculture, and semi- annual reports to the Division of Ornithology of the Biological Survey of Indiana; for a number of years he was a volunteer in the service of the state weather bureau for this district, and the official observer at Lafayette, Indiana, at the volunteer weather station, from 1880 to 1883.
He is a stockholder, director and assistant superintendent of the old National Road, and with his father was selected by the company to make the final sale of the same to the county commissioners, which occurred on June 20, 1895.
Fraternally he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America; of the Tribe of Ben Hur of Indiana; of J. N. S. Council of the Royal Arcanum of Massachusetts; the worthy patron for two years of Loyal Chapter, No. 49, Order of the Eastern Star; is a past master of Richmond, Indiana, Lodge No. 196, F. & A. M., having spent six years in the chairs of the lodge; a member of King Solomon's Chapter, No. 4, Royal Arch Masons; of Richmond (Indiana) Commandery, No. 8, Knights Templar; and of the Indiana Con- sistory of Scottish-rite Masons, having taken the thirty-second degree on March 30, 1899. Mr. Ratliff is a total abstainer from the use of intoxicants, drugs, tobacco and other narcotics.
SAMUEL H. BALLINGER.
In 1898 one of the oldest merchants of Liberty in years of active busi- ness transactions, Samuel H. Ballinger, retired to private life and to the enjoyment of the rest which he has certainly earned during his thirty-one years of commercial enterprise. To his public-spirit and desire for local advancement can be attributed much of the prosperity which this town to-day enjoys. For thirty years he has been a member of the Masonic fraternity and for years he has been one of the pillars in the Methodist Episcopal church, serving in various official capacities, such as steward, trustee, etc.
A son of Isaac and Orinda C. Ballinger, Samuel H. was born on the old homestead belonging to his parents, April 16, 1845. He passed his youthful days on the farm, supplementing his elementary work in the local schools by a year's attendance at Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio. He continued to dwell on the farm until he was twenty-two years of age, and now, after a long interval of business life, he has returned with renewed interest to the peaceful occupations of the agriculturist, and takes great pride in the finely improved homestead which he owns and which became his property in 1879. It comprises four hundred acres, all in one body, and, in addition to raising
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the usual line of crops common to this region, he feeds cattle and live stock, and is making a financial success of the whole.
Qn the 27th of January, 1876, Mr. Ballinger married Miss Lucy Sullivan, daughter of W. W. Sullivan. They became the parents of three children, the eldest of whom, Ora W., died at the age of two years and ten months; Robert Lincoln, lately engaged in the clothing business in San Antonio, Texas; and Mettie, a musician and artist of marked ability, now living at home, who has. been engaged in the millinery business for some years and is considered an expert trimmer. Mrs. Ballinger and daughter are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Mr. Ballinger has never been an aspirant to office, but in a spirit of banter a Republican friend one day said to him that he intended to run as a: candidate for the position of trustee of the township. Mr. Ballinger jokingly replied, "Why, you cannot be elected; I can beat you;" and when the other answerd, "I'll bet a dollar you can't," both took up the matter in semi- seriousness and announced themselves as candidates. The result of the primary election was that Mr. Ballinger was victorious and was elected by the people. He is now serving his fifth year in the office. He has nine schools under his supervision, hires teachers and buys the fuel and supplies for the schools, and also must look after the poor, the roads and general matters effecting the public more or less directly. While he is allowed wide latitude in these matters and has the handling of large sums of money every year, it is but justice to him to state that no complaint has ever been made against his management and that not the slightest doubt as to his fidelity and integrity has ever been expressed. By his long and honorable business career he is known to be above suspicion, and the good of his fellows has ever been- his sincerest interest. Perhaps no better illustration of Mr. Ballinger's busi- ness ability can be given than his record in office as township trustee. When he first assumed this office the township was four thousand dollars in debt. During his incumbency the township has been placed out of debt and has money in its treasury, while the tax levy of the present year is a lower one. than it has had for forty years. Besides this, Mr. Ballinger has built four new brick school-houses in the township. One of them, a double (graded) school-house, is a model structure, pronounced one of the finest buildings of its kind in the state. He has also superintended the building of more bridges and culverts and done more work on the roads of the township than was. done in years before his accession to office.
Mr. Ballinger has done much earnest and efficient service in church work. He has been both steward and trustee of the Liberty Methodist Episcopal church for the past fifteen years. He was the treasurer of the board of trustees during the erection of the beautiful new Methodist church, 15
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collected all the moneys as well as paid them out, and as one of the board had much to do with planning the structure; and it is not too much to say that the success of its erection in a prominent degree is due to him. Mrs. Ballinger is an earnest Christian and a hearty partaker in the activities of the church, and has been for years a valued teacher in its Sunday-school.
Mr. Ballinger has had a long career as a merchant and leading business man of Liberty. In 1867 he became a partner with his father-in-law, W. W. Sullivan, in the grocery trade. This firm had a large patronage and was the leading house in this line in all this region. In 1869 Thomas C. Ballin- ger was admitted to the firm upon the retirement of Mr. Sullivan. The brothers continued together in trade for five years, when T. C. Ballinger purchased his brother's interest. During our subject's connection with this house the firm handled seventy-five thousand dollars' worth of goods annu- ally. After closing his grocery business, Mr. Ballinger and J. P. Kennedy engaged in the dry-goods trade in Liberty, and this partnership was termi- nated at the end of six months by Mr. Ballinger becoming sole proprietor. Conducting a prospering business in this line for five years, his health failed, and he sold out to S. W. Creed. Purchasing the homestead farm of his parents, he made his home thereon with the expectation that the outdoor life incident to conducting a farm would restore his health. This expectation was realized, and for five years he was busily engaged in agriculture. With restored health the desire for mercantile activity returned, and he now pur- chased from Mr. Creed the dry-goods business he had formerly conducted. Thenceforth until his retirement from trade in 1898 he was prominent among the merchants of the county. With the exception of three years, when his brother Bennett was connected with him, and two years when his son was a partner, he was the sole proprietor of the business.
PROFESSOR JOHN ELWOOD BUNDY.
This gentleman, known as the "artist of Earlham Place," in Rich- mond, possesses talent which has placed his name high among the portrait and landscape painters of this state. Nor is his fame confined to this sec- tion, as in the east his works have received special honor and favorable crit- icism, and many of the most celebrated of his paintings are owned by pri- vate individuals and public institutions in New England. That genius is inborn and not acquired is an axiom which finds fresh exemplification in his ·case, as almost in his babyhood he sought to express his artistic ideas with pencil and chalk, and perseveringly he pursued his way with one fixed ambi- tion and goal ever before him, undaunted by the obstacles which he encoun- tered.
The parents of Mr. Bundy were John and Mary (Moore) Bundy, both
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natives of Guilford county, North Carolina. Some years after their mar- riage, in 1858, they removed to a farm in Morgan county, Indiana, and there they spent the remainder of their lives, the father dying in 1891 and the mother in 1893.
The birth of John Elwood Bundy took place in Guilford county, North Carolina, May 1, 1853, and until he was twenty-four years of age he con- tinued to reside with his parents, assisting in the labors of the old homestead. His education was such as the district schools afforded, supplemented by private study and reading. When he was but eight years of age his draw- ings of familiar scenes, animals and persons possessed such merit as to receive the favorable comment of his neighbors, and he determined that art should be his life work. As the years rolled swiftly by he continued to sit at the feet of mother nature, studying her in all her varied moods, and thus lay- ing the best possible foundations for his future career. At length he went to Indianapolis, where he received instruction from B. S. Hayes, then consid- ered the most successful portrait painter in the state, and, subsequently, the young man studied in New York city and was allowed the privilege of copy- ing at the Metropolitan Museum.
In 1877 Professor Bundy commenced teaching art at Martinsville, Mor- gan county, and for the next ten years devoted himself to his chosen voca- tion, doing some fine work in the meantime. Then, coming to Earlham College, he took charge of the art department, with which he was connected for eight years. In 1895 he resigned, in order to devote himself more thor- oughly to painting, and because the demands upon his time had become too exacting. Since then he has not been able to fill the orders which he has received for landscape and portrait paintings. One of his best-known efforts, entitled "Early Spring," a canvas forty by sixty inches in dimensions, now hangs on the walls in Earlham College, as does also a fine portrait of Professor Morgan, painted from life. That gentleman was connected with the college for many years and was thoroughly interested in the success of the institution. In the library at West Falmouth, Massachusetts, the visitor will observe two beautiful and lifelike paintings, one "An Autumn Scene on the Whitewater," the other "A June Morning," the latter showing a flock of sheep in the foreground. The critics have specially favored these produc- tions from the brush of Mr. Bundy, though many others of his works seem deserving of equal praise.
In 1875 he married Miss Mary A. Maslett, of Morgan county, Indiana. Their elder son, Arthur L., has apparently inherited somewhat of his father's genius, and is an art photographer, taking views of landscapes, buildings and interiors of houses, as well as doing a general photographic business. Walter E., the younger son, is a student in the local high school.
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JESSE J. KENWORTHY.
Jesse J. Kenworthy, deceased, was for many years a leading business man and prominent citizen, whom to know was to esteem him. He was born near West Elkton, Ohio, on the 10th of February, 1827, and was a son of William and Alice (Ballard) Kenworthy. The parents were natives of North Carolina, whence they removed to Ohio at an early day, locating near West Elkton. They were earnest Christian people of the highest respecta- bility and the father was for many years an elder in the Friends' church. The mother died in her Ohio home during the early boyhood of our subject, and he was reared to early manhood on his father's farm, where he became familiar with all the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist.
Soon after attaining his majority he came to Richmond and was identi- fied with the interests of the city up to the time of his death. He first embarked in the tanning business in connection with his father, and carried on operations in that line with good success for a number of years. Subse- quently, in partnership with his father, he engaged in the manufacture of flour under the firm name of Kenworthy & Company, and was thus associa- ted with the industrial affairs of Richmond until almost the close of his life. A few years, however, before his demise he sold his milling interests, and was making arrangements to carry on the manufacture of linseed oil in connection with his brothers-in-law, Isaac P., William R. and Joseph R. Evans, when he was taken ill. Prosperity attended his efforts in the world of trade; he never indulged in speculation but followed the legitimate channels of business, and by the exercise of industry, sound judgment, energy and perseverance he won a handsome competency, of which he was well deserving. His repu- tation was unassailable in all trade transactions, and his word was as good as his bond. He enjoyed the confidence of all with whom his business dealings brought him in contact and he was regarded as one of the representative business men of Richmond.
In 1851 Mr. Kenworthy was united in marriage to Miss Mary P. Evans, a sister of Isaac P. Evans, now deceased, and they became the parents of four children, namely: Thomas Evans, who is a clerk in the freight office of the Panhandle Railroad at Logansport, Indiana; Alice, who is living in Richmond with her mother; Lydia, wife of George Nichols, of Clyde, Ohio; and Margaret J., wife of Clayburn S. Jones, of Logansport, Indiana, where he occupies a clerical position in the office of the general superintendent of the Panhandle Railroad Company.
Mr. Kenworthy died August 29, 1864, and the community thereby lost one of its valued citizens, the church a consistent member, his neighbors a faithful friend and his family a devoted husband and father; but he left to his
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children not only a comfortable property, but also the priceless heritage of a good name. In his political associations he was a Whig, but never sought or desired public office. He was long an earnest and zealous member of the Friends' church, was prompt in attendance on all its services, was liberal in his contributions to its support, and above all exemplified its teachings in his daily life. He served as a teacher in the Sunday-school, and was a very able instructor. In all life's relations he was true and faithful to duty and the trust reposed in him, and thereby won the unqualified confidence and respect of his fellow men. His widow still survives him, and now resides in her pleasant home in Spring Grove, a pretty little suburb of Rich- mond. She, too, is a faithful member of the church and a most estimable lady who enjoys the warm regard of a large circle of friends and acquaint- ances.
HENRY MOORMAN.
In the best development of Wayne county, Henry Moorman bore an important part. He was identified with the agricultural interests of this section of the state front pioneer days, and while promoting the material welfare of the community also gave an active and liberal support to those measures with tended to advance its intellectual and moral status. His life was filled with good deeds and kindly thoughts, and all who knew him entertained for him the highest regard, by reason of his upright, honorable life. Over the record of his career there falls no shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil. To his daughter, his only descendant, he left not only a handsome property but that good name which is rather to be chosen than great riches, and his example is one well worthy of emulation by his many friends.
Mr. Moorman was born in Richmond county, North Carolina, July 7, 1813, a son of Tarlton and Hannah (Way) Moorman, the former a native of North Carolina and the latter of South Carolina. In 1816 Tarlton Moorman came on a prospecting tour to the west and purchased land in Randolph county, Indiana, then an almost unbroken wilderness, and in 1822 he removed with his family to the new possession. Thus it was that Henry Moorman became identified with the pioneer development of the state. He was then only nine years of age. His mother had died in the south and his father had married again. The second wife died July 12, 1865, and the father then lived with the children until his death, which occurred December 30, 1875, when he was almost ninety-three years of age. On the death of his father Tarlton Moorman had received one hundred and fifty dollars, and at his death was worth forty thousand dollars, which figures give some indication of the active, useful life he lived.
He had three brothers: Thomas, born in 1790, died in 1841; and James
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and Jesse, twins, born in Richmond county, North Carolina, June 26, 189 5. Their father died when they were six years old. In 1822 James Moorman came to Wayne county, Indiana, and was prominently identified with the agri- cultural interests of this locality for many years. In 1860 he established the Winchester Bank, and was also the owner of considerable city property in Winchester and Union City. He also accumulated much farming property and at his death, which occurred in 1888, he left to his nephew, Henry Moor- man, seventeen hundred and eighteen acres of valuable land, besides realty in Winchester and Union City, the entire amount valued at about thirty-three thousand dollars.
Although surrounded by all the comforts of life in his last years, in early life Henry Moorman experienced many of the hardships and difficulties inci- dent to the establishment of a home on the frontier. He aided in the devel- opment of his father's farm until seventeen years of age, when he left home and learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed for a number of years. After securing a farm of his own, he conducted a carpenter's shop there, and made cradles, window sash, doors, coffins and grain cradles. Through great industry and economy he was enabled to gain a good start in life, and worked his way upward to a position of affluence.
On the 17th of March, 1836, at Dunkirk, Randolph county, Indiana, Mr. Moorman was united in marriage to Miss Ann Diggs, daughter of William and Fanny (Crews) Diggs, who came from Anson county, North Carolina, to Indiana in 1822, settling in Randolph county. After his marriage Mr. Moor- man took up his residence on a tract of land which he entered from the gov- ernment, near where the Poplar Run meeting-house now stands. This was covered with timber, but he at once began to clear away the trees and in course of time transformed the raw tract into richly cultivated fields, the waving grain giving evidence of abundant harvests. There he made his home until 1869, when he purchased one hundred and eighteen acres of ara- ble land in New Garden township, Wayne county. This tract was improved with a substantial residence and other good farm buildings, and to the further development of his land Mr. Moorman devoted his energies until after his wife's death, which occurred February 18, 1872. He continued to reside upon that farm until March 31, 1884, when he purchased property in Foun- tain City, where he made his home until his death. There were four chil- dren in the family, but the eldest died in infancy; Susanna died at the age of two and a half years, and Caroline died about two years prior to her father's death; so that Rebecca, wife of Joseph Brown, is the only one now living.
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