USA > Indiana > Wayne County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 35
USA > Indiana > Franklin County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 35
USA > Indiana > Union County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 35
USA > Indiana > Fayette County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 35
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In his political standing Mr. Ballard is a stalwart Republican. Socially he is identified with Webb Lodge, No. 24, Free and Accepted Masons; King Solomon's Chapter, No. 4. Royal Arch Masons; and Richmond Commandery, No. 8, Knights Templar. In October, 1866, Mr. Ballard wedded the lady of his choice, then Miss Nannie Snyder, of Eaton, Ohio. Their only child, Fannie, a beautiful and attractive girl, died in 1888, at the age of twenty years. Mrs. Ballard devotes much of her time to benevolent work, and is a great favorite in social and literary circles of Richmond.
PROFESSOR B. B. CUSTER.
Few men have a wider acquaintanceship and few have provided more . happy hours to their fellow men than has Professor Custer, now a resident of Centerville, Indiana. His almost innumerable friends and pupils, now living in every state in the union and in distant lands, remember him most kindly, and will trace his life history with deep interest.
John T. Custer, the father of this worthy gentleman, was a cousin of the renowned General Custer, whose intrepid daring and impetuosity of action led to his untimely and greatly lamented death at the hands of the Indians in the west many years ago. The present spelling of the family name has been in use only since 1821, at which time it was changed from its original form of Kooster by a Kentucky relative of our subject. As the name implies, the Custers are of German extraction, though they have been established in this country for a long period. John T. Custer was born in Paris, Kentucky, and his wife, whose maiden name was Eliza A. Berry, was a native of Con- nersville, Indiana. The father, who was a tailor by trade, died in 1873, when in his seventy-fourth year, and the mother departed this life in 1856, at the age of forty-three years. Of their ten children but three are now living-our subject, Elizabeth Ann, wife of John McKendall, and Mahala Ann, wife of John W. Bell.
The birth of Professor Custer took place in Connersville, May 7, 1825, and thus he may justly lay claim to the distinction of being one of the oldest, if not the oldest, surviving member of his especial profession in the country. From his boyhood he was noted for his ambition to rise above his humble station, and for the talents which he displayed at an early age. He was passionately fond of music, and frequently was found, a rapt and enthusiastic
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listener, outside some building in which musical entertainments were being given. At one time, when thus occupied, J. C. Moon, a teacher of music, noticing the lad, asked him why he remained outside, and upon being informed of the fact that the limited means of the child alone prevented him from having instructions in his favorite art, the elder made arrangements to give him lessons, in return for the building of fires and other small duties. The natural timidity of the boy, however, hindered him at that period from obtaining much benefit. By sawing wood, and in various ways, he earned money at odd times, when not needed by his father, and having purchased a banjo, he learned to play it by ear so well that he thereafter was in great demand at social gatherings and entertainments. Finding the need of sys- tematic knowledge of music, the youth took a few lessons of Professor Jerry Gill, of Eaton, Ohio, and continued to devote the greater share of his time to the mastery of the violin and other stringed instruments. The justly celebrated violin which has been in his possession for many years fell into his hands in a peculiar manner. When he had acquired proficiency on the ยท banjo, as stated above, he determined to learn to play the violin, and one day, seeing such an instrument in a pawn-shop, he rested not until he was the proud owner of it. The fifteen dollars necessary to procure it were earned by the sawing of wood, and it was no small sum to the ambitious boy whose surprise and delight may be imagined when he found that he had won a treasure indeed. This rare old violin, which came from the hand of a master in the craft, is two hundred and thirty-five years old and cost the original owner six hundred dollars. Even more sweet and pure in tone than when first made, it bears the inscription " A Cremone Dominique. Didelot." The Professor and his treasured violin have furnished music for many notable gatherings, among others, at a club reception giving at Bloomington, Illinois, in 1859, to Abraham Lincoln. From 1865 to 1875 he was engaged in giving dancing and violin lessons at Cambridge City, Anderson and Muncie, Indi- ana, and from the year las tmentioned until 1898 he was similarly occupied at Richmond, this state. He has instructed sixty-five thousand, four hundred and forty-three pupils in Indiana alone, and has won renown as a composer of music besides. In 1889 he compiled what is entitled " Fifty Years in the Ball-room,"-a large selection of his own dance music, as taught and used by him with the more than seventy-five thousand pupils he has instructed in the past. Genial and cheerful in manner and disposition, he has always been a general favorite, and wherever he has gone care and trouble have been dissipated. For almost half a century he has been a member of the Masonic order, as he joined the Cambridge City Lodge, No. 5, F. & A. M., in 1859.
The first marriage of the Professor was celebrated in 1851, his bride
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being Miss Sallie Sampson, a daughter of Joseph Sampson, of Cincinnati. Five children were born to this estimable couple, namely: Emma, who is deceased; Clara, wife of F. C. Baker, of California; Dora, wife of John St. Clair, of Portland, Oregon; Frank, who died February 7, 1899, in St. Louis, Missouri; and Flenner, of Chicago. The wife and mother departed this life in 1868, and in 1874 Mr. Custer married Mary, daughter of Lucius Tuttle, of Centerville.
RICHMOND MOORMAN.
This honored citizen of Richmond, Indiana, is one of the sturdy pioneers of this county and state, where in his early manhood he cleared and improved several farms, thus aiding materially in the development and prog- ress of this commonwealth. He has ever been found loyal to the cause of right and truth, his influence being used for the good and well-being of those associated with him in any way.
Richmond Moorman is a son of Tarlton and Hannah (Way) Moorman, both of whom were natives of North Carolina. He was born in Randolph county, that state, on the 12th day of the 9th month, of 1817, and was but three days old when his mother died. In March, 1822, the family removed to Randolph county, Indiana, locating on land about four miles west of Win- chester. Our subject lived with his paternal grandmother for a period, attending a subscription school in the meantime. Then, returning to the paternal roof, he worked on the farm and went to subscription schools dur- ing three months of the year, for a number of years. He also learned the carpenter's trade under the instruction of his uncle, Jesse Moorman, and worked at that line of business at intervals. Soon after his marriage, in 1839, he purchased a tract of land in Randolph county, and, having made a small clearing in the dense forest with which it was encumbered, he erected a log cabin and barn. During the following twenty years he worked industriously, from morning until night, clearing and cultivating the farm, which at the end of the period was a valuable country home. In 1859 he located upon a farm about three miles northeast of Fountain City, in this county, and at the expiration of three years' time he bought a homestead of one hundred and eighty-three acres in the same locality. This property he improved and cultivated for a score of years, then retiring from active labor, with the feel- ing that he had earned a rest, as indeed he had, after nearly half a century of the hardest kind of toil. Taking up his residence in Fountain City, he con- tinued to dwell there until after the death of his loved wife. Since 1894 he has lived in Richmond, where several of his children reside. He still owns a number of valuable farms, one in Franklin township, comprising one hun- dred and sixty acres; one situated northeast of Fountain City, containing one
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hundred and thirty acres; another, north of the same town, having one hundred and eighty acres within its boundaries, and besides these, he is the possessor of a homestead in Jay county, Indiana, and owns property in Foun- tain City. This land represents, in part, the results of Mr. Moorman's active, economical, thrifty business life. For years he was a stockraiser, dealing extensively in cattle and hogs, and in this manner he made considerable money.
A birthright member of the Friends' church, Mr. Moorman continued an active and zealous member until the division on the slavery question, when, possessing the courage of his convictions, and believing that he was in the right, he openly avowed his opinions, and, with many others prominent in the society, he was proscribed. When the issue was past and the matter had been forever settled on the battlefields of the south, Mr. Moorman was taken back into the fold, and has continued a loyal worker in the church, contribu- ting liberally and supporting various religious and benevolent movements, having as objects the amelioration of human suffering and the elevation of the race. Prior to the civil war he was a Democrat, then an Abolitionist and Republican, and of late years he has been independent, voting for the man that he deemed best qualified for a given position.
In the third month of 1839 the marriage of Mr. Moorman and Mary Morris was solemnized. She was a daughter of Jehosophat and Sarah (Hill) Morris, of Dublin, Wayne county. Of the eight children born to our subject and wife the following named are residents of Richmond: Harriet, Sarah, Peninnah, Nancy and Mary Alice, while Levi is a farmer in the vicinity of the town. James, the eldest son, is superintendent of an orphans' home near Winchester, Indiana, and Joel, the youngest son, is a successful contractor and builder of Irvington, this state. Sarah, the second daughter, has been a clerk in the Richmond postoffice for many years, and is very popular with the public. The devoted wife and mother was summoned to her reward November 22, 1893, when she was in her seventy-sixth year. To their chil- dren Mr. and Mrs. Moorman leave a priceless heritage-the record of well spent, useful lives.
ALLEN W. LEWIS.
A year before the celebrated battle of Tippecanoe, and two years or so prior to the outbreak of the second war between the people of this country and England, a little party might have been seen crossing the Ohio river, on their way to found a new home on the western frontier. The date of this event in their long and extremely difficult journey was remembered, as it was the first anniversary of the birth of the youngest member of the travelers, Allen W. Lewis, who had been born in Randolph county, North Carolina, June 14, 1800. The summer of 1810 was spent by his family in Cincinnati,
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Ohio, and in the autumn of that year they proceeded to Wayne county, Indiana, and became the first settlers of what is now known as Green town- ship.
The Lewis family is of Welsh-English extraction, and as the old tradi- tions have it, was founded in the United States during the colonial days by several brothers, one of whom settled in North Carolina, and from him the subject of this narrative descended. He was the youngest of twelve chil- dren born to John and Sarah (Roukman) Lewis. One of the elder sons, Richard, who was married and had several children, accompanied the parents when they came to this township, the two families locating near each other. An unbroken forest covered this section, and Indians and wild beasts were numerous. During the fearful wars waged between the red men and the white settlers about the time of the war of 1812, when Tecumseh and his brother, called the Prophet, tried in vain to turn the tide of the Anglo-Saxon civiliza - tion which threatened their rights, the Lewis family seemed peculiarly exempt from molestation. They had always treated the Indians kindly and received similar treatment in return. Indeed, some of the red men who lived in the neighborhood of John Lewis went to him and requested him to wear a broad-brimmed hat, which, they said, would insure him protection from their race, and it is needless to say that he lost no time in agreeing to do as they advised.
The land upon which he located, and where he ultimately developed an excellent farm, is still in possession of his descendants, as is the original deed thereto, as issued by the government and signed by President James Madison, under date of May 27, 1816. The land is thus described: " The northeast quarter of section 7, township 17, range 14 east of the second principal meridian." Another government deed to land owned by John Lewis is thus described: "The southwest quarter of section 8, township 17, range 14 east of the second principal meridian." This deed is dated February 21, 1817, and bears the signature of Madison, who was still president at that time. After he had accomplished more than the ordinary man, twice told, John Lewis was summoned to his reward, at the old homestead which had been his abiding place for many long years. His death occurred on the 4th of May, 1848, and that of his wife had taken place but a few months before, September 20, 1847.
The old homestead which he had ably assisted in clearing and improving was inherited by Allen W. Lewis, who remembered no other home. He tenderly cared for his parents during their declining years, performing his entire duty toward them, as he always did to every one who, in any wise, looked to him for help or protection. He was domestic in his tastes, and he had no greater pleasure than to make his home beautiful or to improve his
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property in some manner. Generous and hospitable to a fault, he loved to entertain friends and neighbors, and the poor and needy found him kind and sympathetic. In all of his business dealings, his course in life was remark- ably upright and just, and no one had reason to complain of him in this respect. Blessed with a liberal vein of humor, he looked upon the bright and happy side of things, and brought cheer wherever he went. Loved and sincerely mourned by the entire community, he entered the silent land Feb- ruary 13, 1895.
The marriage of Allen W. Lewis and Miss Lucy T. Hollingsworth was solemnized May 23, 1839. She was born in Union district, South Carolina, January 31, 1817, a daughter of Aquilla and Tamer (Kenworthy) Hol- lingsworth. The father died when she was about eleven years old, and in 1829 she came to Wayne county with her mother. Two sons and six daugh- ters were born to Allen W. Lewis and his estimable wife: John died in infancy and Frances H. when about five years of age; Nancy married Larkin T. Bond; Naomi is the wife of Benjamin Beverlin; Rebecca is Mrs. John Milton Harris; Sarah is the next in order of birth; William A. married Ella C. Edwards; and Luzena Medora is the wife of William H. Jones. The aged mother is passing her declining days on the old homestead, which was bequeathed to herself and daughter Sarah by Mr. Lewis, and everything that affection can suggest is done for her by her children, and especially by Miss Sarah, who is devoting herself, with filial tenderness, to the duty, which she esteems a pleasure, of caring for her beloved companion.
JOHN W. TINGLE.
A most exemplary citizen and honored hero of the late war of the Rebel- lion is John W. Tingle, of Richmond, Wayne county, Indiana. During his army career he was wounded and imprisoned, and suffered much from priva- tions and exposure, yet was always found faithful to the duties imposed upon him, and won the confidence and high regard of his comrades and superior officers. In his business life and social relations he has ever manifested the same justice, integrity and reliability, and none know him save to wish him well.
His grandfather, James Tingle, was a native of Delaware, and in that state he married Leah Lockwood. With his family, including the father of the subject of this article, he came as far west as Preble county, Ohio, in 1828, and settled on a farm near Eaton. In addition to managing his home- stead, he worked at the trade of shoemaking for his neighbors. He died in that county in 1848, at the age of eighty-four years. .
The parents of John W. were Samuel L. and Clarissa (Williams) Tingle. The father was born in Delaware and accompanied the family to Ohio. He was a carpenter and builder by trade, and worked at that calling in Eaton
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and vicinity from the time he was twenty-one years old until his death in 1869, when he was in his sixty-second year. Considering the place and period he was quite successful, and many buildings yet stand in evidence of his skill. By his first marriage he had four children, John W., Anna M., of . Richmond, and William E. and Fannie, deceased. In 1851 Mr. Tingle married Rachel M. Dopp, a native of Pennsylvania, and she is still living at her old home in Eaton. To this union two children were born, Charles S., of Colorado, and Mary S., of Eaton.
The birth of John W. Tingle occurred in Eaton, Ohio, October 31, 1838, and in 1855 he was graduated from the high school of that town. With his father he learned the carpenter's trade, and completed his knowledge in Dayton, Ohio. On the 16th of June, 1862, he enlisted in Company G, Ninety-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, at Eaton, and served until October 29, 1864, when he was honorably discharged, at Cincinnati, Onio, on account of a gunshot wound in the left knee, said injury having been received at the famous battle of Chickamauga. He was sergeant of his company, and on January 1, 1863, at the battle of Stone river, he was taken captive by the Confederates, who incarcerated him in Libby prison. Very fortunately for him he remained in that dreaded place but sixteen days, then being exchanged. On account of his wound he was sent to General Willett's headquarters, and later was given his discharge.
Returning to his birthplace, Mr. Tingle was superintendent of the county infirmary for two years, and in 1868 came to Richmond, where he has since dwelt. For a few years he was occupied in contracting and build- ing and succeeded in his undertakings. Subsequently he served on the police force several years, and in April, 1888, he was elected trustee of Wayne township. In that capacity he acted for seven years and four months, retiring in 1895, to be succeeded by George Bishop, the present incumbent. He has always maintained great interest in the success of the Republican party, and during the past ten years or more has frequently been delegated to attend district, county and state conventions of the party.
Twice he has been commander of Solomon Meredith Post, No. 55, G. A. R., and has been junior and senior vice-commander of the state of Indiana, and for years has attended all the state and national conventions. Besides, he belongs to the Patriotic Order Sons of America. In the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows he stands very high, having belonged to Rich- mond Lodge, No. 254, for twenty-seven years, to the grand lodge of the state for seventeen years, and to the grand encampment nine years. Many times he has represented his lodge in the grand lodge of the state at Indian- apolis, and he is a member of Oriental Encampment, No. 28.
In 1898, Mr. Tingle and Perry T. Williams became associated in busi-
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ness, designing and dealing in artistic monuments. Their office is at the corner of Fifth and Main streets, and while Mr. Tingle has charge there and attends to the accounts, Mr. Williams attends to outside sales and does the designing. They are building up a good business and deserve to succeed in their new enterprise.
The marriage of John W. Tingle and Miss Mary Early was celebrated in West Alexandria, Ohio, in 1860. They have four children, namely: Charles R., who is assistant trustee of this township; Frank E., a machinist of Connersville; Samuel L., of Richmond; and Mrs. Estella Ault, also of this place. Mr. and Mrs. Tingle are members of the Fifth Street Methodist Episcopal church, the former being a trustee in the congregation.
ANDREW D. HAWLEY, M. D.
Half a century of self-denying labor in the service of suffering humanity, -this, in brief, is the summing-up of the life of this beloved and venerable physician of College Corner, Union county. But who can fully comprehend what it means, and how many of the present generation, especially, realize what it meant to be a pioneer physician, riding, here and there, far and near, in all kinds of weather, without regard to self, -to his own health or wishes, -his sole thought being for others ? In these days of splendid pikes and well kept roads, who recalls the dreadful, muddy pitfalls and pathways that served the pioneers as highways? Yet, surely, no one has more occasion to remember them than the " doctor of the old school," who, on his patient, plod- ding horse, traversed them on many a dark, starless, stormy night, courage- ously bearing comfort and cheer to the distant patient.
Dr. Hawley was born in Warren county, Ohio, July 23, 1823, a son of Joel and Mary (Dill) Hawley. The father was a native of Connecticut, and was an early settler in Ohio, where he was married, his wife having removed to that state from New York, her birthplace. In 1837 the family removed to Clermont county, Ohio, and our subject continued to live at home until he arrived at his majority. In 1844 he took up the study of medicine with his brother, Dr. Albert Hawley, of Preble county, Ohio, and in 1847 pursued a course of lectures in the Ohio Medical College, at Cincinnati, being graduated in the class of 1848. When he had completed his college course, he had but twelve dollars, and little knew how he could make a start in his chosen work. He bravely set out on the search for a good point at which to locate, and, having traveled on horseback as far as Braffetsville, he stopped for the night, and it so happened that he found his first patient there. He concluded to stay for a short time, and it was fully two years ere he finally withdrew from the large patronage which had grown up in that vicinity.
In 1851 he came to College Corner, having purchased the practice of
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the late Dr. Huston, a lifelong and highly esteemed practitioner here, who was about to retire. At that time there were three other doctors here, and sometimes there have been six or seven here since, but none of them have stayed more than ten years, and Dr. Hawley has been the one permanent, reliable, ever ready family physician. The cholera epidemic of 1849 severely taxed the young man, for he had more than double duty. He was then eight miles from Eaton, where his brother and uncle were practicing, and when both of them were laid low with the dread disease he not only attended.them, but took care of their patients. For one whole week he had no sleep what- ever, and was in the saddle much of the time, riding from one patient to the next one, and keeping three horses, for less would have been unequal to the tasks imposed upon them. Within half an hour after being smitten with the cholera the patients would be in almost deathly collapse, and often, when the Doctor had succeeded in placing them on the road to recovery, the news of the death of a relative or dear one would undo his work and so unnerve them that death would finally triumph. The village of New Boston, a place of about one hundred persons, was completely wiped out by the pestilence. During the civil war the Doctor not only aided materially in the raising of funds for keeping the quota of this county filled, but gave his services free to many of the families of soldiers who were away fighting for the country.
Nearly thirty years ago Drs. Hawley, Trimley (of Brownsville). Morris (of Liberty), Porter, Sanders and Hill (of Oxford) met in the little office of our subject and organized the Ohio District Medical Association, which has since grown to wonderful proportions, and now numbers over one hundred members, of whom no one is more honored than Dr. Hawley, who has retained his connection with it all these years. He is a Republican, and was an old-line Whig, but has never cared to take a very active part in politics. Though reared under Methodist influences, he joined the United Presbyterian church, about 1851, and has since been a valued member.
The marriage of Dr. Hawley and Miss Phoebe A. Webster was solem- nized in 1851, in Richmond, Indiana. Mrs. Hawley, whose birth occurred in Pennsylvania, is still living, and has been a most faithful helpmate to her husband. Two of their four manly, noble sons have entered the silent land. Marcellus M., the eldest born, a farmer of this county, died when in his twenty-ninth year. Laurence, a traveling salesman, died of tuberculosis, at the age of twenty-five years. Charles Franklin is engaged in farming in Preble county, Ohio; and William H., a graduate of the Indiana University, at Bloomington, and of the Miami Medical College, in Cincinnati, has suc- ceeded his father in practice, and is making a great success of his chosen pro- fession. With regard to his sons our subject displayed great wisdom, for when they were growing to maturity he bought some farm land and had
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