USA > Indiana > Wayne County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 3
USA > Indiana > Franklin County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 3
USA > Indiana > Union County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 3
USA > Indiana > Fayette County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 3
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Of the children of Samuel W. and Martha (Curry) Trusler five grew to. maturity, and of these we offer the following epitomized record: Nelson, who was born in Franklin county, Indiana, May 13, 1822, died at Indian- apolis, in 1878, aged fifty-six years. He was one of the representative mem- bers of the bar of the state and wielded a wide influence in political affairs. He served for three years in the war of the Rebellion, having held commis- sion as colonel of the Eighty-fourth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He had held distinguished public preferment, having served as secretary of state and. being the incumbent as attorney general of Indiana at the time of his death.
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He was engaged in the practice of his profession at Connersville for a num- ber of years, after which he removed to the capital city of the state, where his death occurred. The next of the family is Mrs. Mary J. Barnard, widow of William D. Barnard, of Indianapolis. She was born November 9, 1827. Gilbert, who was born in Franklin county, on the 21st of July, 1830, died in Indianapolis. He was a lawyer by profession, and was engaged in practice at Connersville. At the time of the war of Rebellion he effected the organiza- tion of the Thirty-sixth Regiment of Indiana Volunteers, with which he went to the front as captain, being promoted major before the expiration of his term of service. He served as mayor of Connersville, was county clerk for two terms and was Fayette county's representative in the state legislature. Thomas J. Trusler was born February 11, 1838. Like his brothers, he was a member of the bar of the state, having been engaged in the practice of his- profession in Connersville and Liberty for a number of years, after which he located in Indianapolis. He served as deputy secretary of state under his brother Nelson and also under Hon. W. W. Curry.
Of the children who grew to maturity the subject of this review, Milton Trusler, was the second eldest, and his career, like that of his brothers, has conferred dignity and honor upon the state. He was five years of age at the- time his parents took up their abode on the farm in Jackson township, and at the old homestead he was reared under the sturdy and invigorating discip- line of farm life. It is interesting to revert to the fact that he never wavered in his allegiance to the great basic art of agriculture during the long years of his active business life. It is still more worthy of note that for sixty-five years he lived on the old family homestead, which is still owned by him and from which he removed only when prompted to seek retirement from the active labors protracted over many years and crowned with merited success. Mr. Trusler received his educational training in the common schools, com- pleting a course of study in the high school at Liberty. He assumed the personal responsibilities of practical business life by engaging in the line of enterprise to which he has been reared from his boyhood days. His original farm comprised sixty-five acres, but he has added to it from time to time, as- prosperity attended his industrious and well directed efforts, until he now owns a finely cultivated place of three hundred and twenty acres, well im- proved with substantial buildings and figuring as one of the most valuable farms in this section of a great agricultural state.
On the 17th of April, 1894, Mr. Trusler removed from his farm to East Connersville, where, in a pleasant home, he is enjoying the rewards of a life of honest and successful endeavor, well deserving that otium cum dignitate which is his portion as the shadows of his life begin to lengthen into the grateful twilight. On the 9th of March, 1848, was solemnized the marriage
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of Mr. Trusler to Miss Isabelle Thompson, a native of Fayette county, and to them were born four sons and four. daughters, concerning whom we incor- porate the following data: M. Anna became the wife of Daniel Brumfield, a farmer of this county; Laura J., the widow of James M. Backhouse, resides in Connersville; Samuel F. is a farmer of this county; M. Henry, also a farmer of this county; Sidney E. is engaged in mercantile pursuits in Anderson, Indiana; Nina C. is the wife of J. B. Rose, of Miami county, this state; Ira T. is a resident of Connersville; and Juanita is the widow of William A. Stewart, of Connersville.
In conclusion we will glance at the more salient points in the public or official life of Mr. Trusler. In his political proclivities he was originally a supporter of the Whig party, from which he withdrew to place his allegiance with the new and stronger candidate for public favor, the Republican party, of whose principles and policies he has ever since been a zealous advocate. He has wielded a marked influence in the political affairs of this section, and has served in various township offices. In 1872 he was the incumbent as trustee of Jackson township, a position which he resigned upon being elected to represent his county in the legislature, in which he served as a member of the lower house during the sessions of 1872, 1873, 1874 and 1875. His per- sonal popularity and the appreciation of his value as a representative in the legislative councils of the state were manifested soon after his retirement from the lower house, since he became the successful candidate of his party for the state senate, in which he served during the sessions of 1876 and 1877. In the councils of his party and as a legislator he showed himself to be a man of strong intellectuality, broad and exact knowledge and mature and prac- tical judgment. His influence was at all times cast on the side which looked to the conservation of public interests; his views were marked by distinctive wisdom, and the confidence in his personal integrity and ability was unwaver- ing. In 1892 Mr. Trusler was the Republican candidate for the office of secretary of state, in which connection he made a very thorough canvass dur- ing the incidental campaign, but he naturally met defeat at the polls, since that year marked one of the most memorable general land-slides in the his- tory of the Republican party. His strength in the state was shown, how- ever, in the fact that he ran two thousand votes ahead of his ticket. He has a large acquaintanceship throughout the state and has a strong hold upon the respect and confidence of the farming class, with whose interests he has naturally had a most pronounced sympathy. He was for seven years master of the state Grange, in which connection he did active and effective work in every section of the state, striving at all times to spur farmers onward to the point of making agriculture and its allied industries occupy the dignified posi- tion which is intrinsically due. He has done much to elevate the standard
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of husbandry in Indiana, and no man is more honored among the agricultural classes.
Mr. Trusler was enrolling officer for Fayette county during the war of the Rebellion and was unflagging in his zeal for the Union cause. Frater- nally he is prominently identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, being one of the charter members of Everton Lodge, with which he has been connected for more than half a century, and in which he has filled all the chairs, besides representing the lodge a number of times in the grand lodge of the state.
As one of the venerable citizens of Fayette county, and as one whose life has been one of signal usefulness and honor, the publishers of this work realize that even more distinct representation in this connection would not do justice to this well known scion of one of the pioneer families of Indiana, a state which has been honored and enriched by his example.
LAZARUS MUNGER.
The ancestors of Lazarus Munger, a representative citizen of Posey town- ship, Fayette county, as far back as their history can be traced in the annals of America, are noted for the sterling traits of character that mark the valuable citizen of this great republic. At all times they have been ready to uphold righteous and just laws, to promote the welfare of the land of their nativity, and, if needful, to lay down their lives on the altar of her liberty and main- tenance. The majority of the Mungers have led the quiet, independent lives of agriculturists, though a few marked exceptions to this rule have occurred.
One of the very early pioneers of Ohio was General Edward Munger, the grandfather of our subject. He was born in Connecticut, September 30, 1763, and after his marriage, on the 5th of December, 1785, to Eunice Kel- logg, a native of the same state, born August 13, 1767, he resided in the town of Washington, Connecticut, for a few years. Then, removing to Rut- land county, Vermont, they dwelt there until the spring of 1798, when they located in Belpre, Washington county, Ohio. A short time subsequently they permanently settled on land purchased by the General in Montgomery county, Ohio, and there he cleared and made a good farm prior to his death, which took place April 14, 1850. He was a man of great enterprise and strong individuality, looked up to and consulted as one having authority. During the war of 1812 he raised and trained a regiment in the defense of the young republic, and for this invaluable service was commissioned briga- dier general, being superceded in this position by the celebrated General Hull. Nor did his public services end here, as he was elected and won new honors in the Ohio state legislature, and in local offices. General Munger and his wife, Eunice, were of Puritan ancestry, their forefathers being num-
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bered among the early colonists of New England. The eldest child of this worthy couple, Warren, born in. Washington, Connecticut, February 28, 1787, returned to his native state about 1811 for the purpose of studying law, and subsequently was state's attorney of Miami county, Ohio, besides holding other important local offices. He continued to practice law until 1840, when he retired to his farm, where he resided until his death, in 1877. Truman, born January 19, 1789, came to Indiana in 1821, bought and improved land, which he afterward sold, then removing to the vicinity of Petersburg, Illinois. He bought a farm there, and in 1876 retired from the active duties of life to pass his remaining days in Prairie City, where he died. Edmund K. was the next in order of birth. Minerva, born in Vermont, November 5, 1792, married Judge Amos Ervin, of Ohio, and died April 26, 1874. Reuben born in Vermont, October 30, 1794, died in Ohio. Elisur and Festus, died in infancy. Eunice, born in Montgomery county, Ohio, February 10, 1801, married William McCann, of Ohio, who purchased land in Posey township, this county, and sold the property after making some improvements. He then turned his attention to brick-making, and later car- ried on a farm which he bought in Rush county, this state. There his wife died, in 1841, and after marrying again he went to Iowa, where his last days were passed. Sarah, born in Ohio, March 15, 1803, died September 12, 1883. She became the wife of Elam Ervin, an Ohio farmer, born Novem- ber 17, 1801. At an early period they went to Rush county, this state, where he died when but forty years of age. Festus E., born April 11, 1805, was a farmer, and died in Dayton, Ohio. He reared six children, and three of his sons, Timothy, Lyman and Alvin, were soldiers in the Union army, the first two being members of the Forty-fourth Ohio Regiment band. They enlisted in 1861, and were so unfortunate as to be taken prisoners and Tim- othy was confined in the famous Libby warehouse, while Lyman languished and suffered for seventeen months in the dreadful pens of Andersonville. In spite of all their hardships the three brothers lived to return home and to resume their accustomed occupations at the close of the war. Milton, born October 5, 1807, was a farmer, and died near Piqua, Miami county, Ohio, in 1874. One of his sons, William, entered the service of the Union during the civil war, and what his fate was his parents never learned. Isaac N., born August 12, 1812, and now living retired in Piqua, Ohio, not only conducted a farm but was a successful teacher of music for a long time.
Edmund K. Munger, who was born in Rutland county, Vermont, Sep- tember 13, 1790, remained with his parents in Ohio until his marriage, in 1812, to Mary Cole, a native of Botetourt county, Virginia, born October 15, 1794. The same year the young man volunteered his services to his country, but the quota was complete and he was not needed. Settling in Montgomery
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county, Ohio, he was industriously occupied in the cultivation of a farm until the spring of 1821, when he bought the two-hundred-acre farm on which the subject of this sketch now resides. In the fall of the same year the fam- ily removed to their new home here, and for many years the humble log cabin which the father erected served them as a home. In time the land was reduced to cultivation and in 1835 the brick house in which our subject lives was built. The double-room cabin in which they first dwelt was looked upon as almost palatial by their neighbors, and many happy hours were spent in the hospitable abode. The brick house, likewise, was one of the first erected of that material in the county, and travelers and those in search of a home and location were directed to this place, where, as it was known far and near, liberal and hearty hospitality was ever to be found. Politically, Edmund K. Munger was a Whig and Republican. Reared in the tenets of the Presby- terian church by parents who were extremely strict, he never became identi- fied with any church, though his life was above reproach and his actions were consistent with the teachings of Christianity. He lived to a good old age, dying June 10, 1872. His faithful wife, who was a member of the Baptist church, died September 9, 1853. She went with her parents, Samuel and Catherine (Bryan) Cole, from Virginia to Montgomery county early in this century. The father, who was a wagon-maker by trade, came to this locality in 1826 and settled upon a small tract of land north of Bentonville, where he plied his calling and cultivated his farm. Late in life he and his wife lived with their children, he dying January 1, 1849, and she September 7, 1844. Both were active members of the Christian church. Their children were: John, Philip, Jacob, Andrew, M. B., William, Elizabeth (now Mrs. T. Munger) and Mary.
Eunice, the eldest child of Edmund and Mary Munger, was born in Ohio, February 24, 1814, and she never married. She was a member of the Bap- tist church and died, happy in her faith, February 5, 1884. Norman, the eldest son, born August 28, 1815, was a representative farmer of Wayne county, where his death took place April 30, 1885. Margaret, born June 12, 1817, married William Manlove, who was the first white child born in Posey township, his birth having taken place in 1815. Truman, born December . 14, 1818, lived on farms in Henry and Rush counties, dying at his home in the last mentioned county, January 17, 1857. Elizabeth, born May 4, 1821, married Samuel S. Ewing, of Ohio. He was a carpenter by trade and engaged in surveying and farming in Wabash county, Indiana. Samuel, born March 6, 1824, learned the carpenter's trade, and after his marriage settled on an Illinois farm, where he remained until his death, August 18, 1896. He was a leader in the Christian church and Sunday-school, and was highly esteemed by all who knew him. Martha, born April 6, 1827, became the
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wife of M. B. Vandegrift, a blacksmith, and died March 6, 1880, leaving three children. Mary, born April 30, 1829, and now a resident of Anderson, Indiana, married William T. Hensley, of Fayette county. Lazarus and Edmund are the next of the family. Louisa, the youngest, born May 31, 1836, died June 1, 1843.
Lazarus Munger was born September 11, 1831, in Posey township, on the old homestead which he now owns. In the district schools he obtained a fair education, and under his father's instruction he acquired practical knowledge of farming when a mere boy. After the death of the parents, Lazarus and Edmund and three sisters lived together and carried on the work of the farm. Then, when two of the sisters married and the third died, our subject chose a wife. His brother remains unmarried, and has always been associated with him in business. Having accumulated a little capital they invested it, in 1863, in one hundred and twenty-one acres of the homestead, and in August, 1882, our subject bought the other's share. Edmund Mun- ger, who is an energetic business man, has been interested in various things besides farming, and has acted as agent for different concerns, among them being the Union National Building & Loan Association, of Indianapolis, and the Wayne International Building & Loan Association, of Cambridge City. For both of these companies he has transacted a large amount of business, and still represents them. His capital he invests in good securities of various kinds, and his integrity and square dealing are undoubted. He has always made his home and headquarters at his birth-place, being a valued member of our subject's household. For several years he has devoted much attention to the buying of shorthorn cattle and Poland-China hogs, frequently going into neighboring states in search of especially fine specimens. Lazarus Mun- ger, likewise, is interested in high-grade live stock, and always keeps large herds of shorthorns and Poland-China hogs. He has added to his original purchase of land until he now owns five hundred and eighteen acres, all of which is under fine cultivation. His prosperity is well deserved, and is the direct result of application, sound judgment and perseverance in a line of action when once determined upon. He has upheld the Republican princi- ples, and, though he has attended conventions in the county and state and has endeavored to advance the interests of the party, he never has been pre- vailed upon to accept a public office of importance, and though often urged to become a candidate for the legislature has persistently refused. He has served his own township as assessor, with credit to himself and friends, but has no desire for public office.
On the 10th of September, 1866, the marriage of Lazarus Munger and Miss Savanna Ferguson was solemnized. She is a daughter of Linville and Elizabeth (Loder) Ferguson, whose history appears elsewhere in this work.
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She was born February 8, 1843, and is one of five brothers and sisters, the others being, Oliver, now a resident of Milton; Elmer, who died at the age of twelve years; Mrs. Emma Thornburg; and Charley, who owns and carries on the old homestead which belonged to his father. The latter, who was one of the most successful stock dealers of this section of Indiana, himself cleared about five hundred acres of land, and divided fifteen hundred acres among his children. He was very prominent in every way, acting in public offices, and for twenty-three years was connected with the Cambridge City National Bank, being its president for fifteen years.
The union of Mr. and Mrs. Munger was blessed with two daughters and one son, namely: Lorena M., born March 5, 1869, and now the wife of Philip F. Weaver, a farmer; Warren H., born February 20, 1878; and Helen E., born October 1, 1879. The younger daughter and the son are students in Earlham College, and are receiving excellent training for the serious duties of life.
DAVID W. DENNIS, A. B., A. M., Ph. D.
For twenty-five years the name of Professor. David Worth Dennis has been inseparably interwoven with the history of the educational interests of Richmond. His broad intelligence, scholarly attainments and his full appre- ciation of the value of knowledge as a preparation for life's responsibilities make him one of the ablest educators who have promoted the interests of Earlham College and advanced the intellectual status of his adopted city. The ever broadening influence of his work is, of course, incalculable, for when was ever a measurement for the psychic forces of nature invented ? His labors are permeated by broad humanitarian principles which render them not merely a means for gaining pecuniary returns, but a source of assistance to his fellow men, whereby he advances the scheme of our human existence,-the constant uplifting and betterment of the race.
Professor Dennis is a native of Dalton township, Wayne county, and is a son of Nathan and Evelina (Worth) Dennis. Both on the paternal and maternal sides his ancestors were from Nantucket, but his grandparents removed to North Carolina, locating in Guilford county, where the father of our subject was born in 1815, the mother in 1813. The latter was a sister of Governor Jonathan Worth, of North Carolina, whose grandson, Ensign Worth Bagley, was the first man who lost his life in the Spanish-American war. Nathan and Evelina (Worth) Dennis were married in Wayne county. Indiana, and spent the remainder of their days in Dalton township, where the father successfully carried on agricultural pursuits. He was one of the leading men of the locality, was the promoter of many local enterprises, and was an active and consistent member of the Society of Friends; he was for 2
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more than twenty-five years clerk of West River preparative meeting of ministers and elders. He was twice married, his first union being with Mary Lamar, by whom he had four children, namely: William, who died in early manhood, in 1871; Osborn, a minister of the Friends' church in Randolph county, Indiana; Edwin, of Wabash, Indiana; and Mrs. Mary Ebrite, a resident of Muncie, Indiana. After the death of his first wife Mr. Dennis married Evelina Worth, and their only child is Professor D. W. Dennis. The father died in 1872 and the mother in 1887.
Until sixteen years of age Professor Dennis remained on his father's farm in Dalton township, Wayne county, attending the common schools and those conducted under the auspices of the church to which his people belonged, his father being one of five men who contributed to extend the term of the public schools longer than the public funds would permit, and thus gave his and other children the advantage of better educational facilities. When only seventeen years of age David W. Dennis began teaching school, which pro- fession he followed for three years, when he further continued his own edu- cation by study in Earlham College. He was graduated in that institution when twenty-four years of age, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and since that time he has taught almost continuously in the Richmond high school and Earlham College, with the exception of one year, 1889-90, which he :spent with his family in Europe. He remained for fourteen months, during ·which time he visited Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, England and Scotland. During six months of that time he was a student in the universi- ties of Bonn and Edinburgh, pursuing a course of embryology in the latter, of biology in the former. The degree of Master of Arts was conferred upon him by Earlham College in 1878 and that of Doctor of Philosophy by Syra- cuse University in 1886. For fifteen years he has occupied the chair of biol- ogy in Earlham College, and is regarded as one of the most successful and · capable professors ever connected with the faculty of that institution. After chis graduation he spent two years in Earlham College, then four years as a teacher in the high school at Richmond, and two years as president of Wil- imington College. He then spent a year in rest and study, after which he 'resumed his pedagogic labors as a teacher in the Bloomingdale Academy, where he remained two years. He then returned to Earlham College, where his labors have been continuous, with the exception of the period passed in Europe. Some one has said "Travel is the source of all true wisdom," and certainly in the year spent abroad Professor Dennis gained a broad fund of knowledge which will enrich his life and its labors for all time. To a mind of great discernment and a nature of broad and acute sympathies, the world is continually offering valuble lessons, and he availed himself of the opportunity to improve, bringing with him from the Old World strong impressions and
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vivid and pleasant memories which are constantly coloring and enriching his views of life.
In addition to the work of the class-room, Professor Dennis lectures frequently on various general educational topics. His services in this regard are in frequent demand for teachers' institutes, and he often illustrates his lectures with stereopticon views. He is also well known in educational circles by reason of his able articles on pedagogic and scientific subjects, - articles that frequently appear in the leading journals of the country. Not the least important branch of his work is in connection with the different clubs of Richmond organized for intellectual improvement. He has long been vice-president of the Tuesday Club, is a member of the Tourists' Club and of the University Extension Center. He delivers many addresses in connection with the work of these organizations, and has been chairman of the program committee of the Tourists' Club. He takes a broad-minded interest in the political situation of the country, and gives his support to the men and measures of the Republican party, but has never sought nor desired political preferment. He took a deep interest in the money question during the last campaign, is a stanch advocate of the "gold standard," and believes most thoroughly in the territorial expansion of our government. Of the Friends' meeting he is an active lay member and delivers many addresses before the society, on moral questions, but is not connected with the ministry.
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