USA > Indiana > Union County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume II > Part 21
USA > Indiana > Fayette County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume II > Part 21
USA > Indiana > Franklin County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume II > Part 21
USA > Indiana > Wayne County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume II > Part 21
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The paternal ancestors of Linville Ferguson emigrated from Scotland to the United States in the early part of the last century, first settling in Virginia, whence some of the family went to Wilkes county, North Carolina. There Micajah, the father of our subject, was born, in 1783, he being a son of Thomas Ferguson. The marriage of Micajah and Frances Isbell, whose birth had occurred in the same county July 2, 1791, was solemnized at the home of her parents, Thomas and Discretion (Howard) Isbell, on the 25th of September, 1808. Three of their children, Matilda, Horton and Lin- ville, were born in Wilkes county; Thomas Isbell, whose English fore- fathers had first resided in Virginia upon their arrival in this country and later went to North Carolina, served for five years in the colonial army during the Revolution, enlisting when but eighteen years of age. He and his relatives were Primitive Baptists, and were opposed, politically, to the Fergusons, who were stanch defenders of the principles of Thomas Jefferson
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Linville Ferguson
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and Andrew Jackson. The latter family were ardent supporters of the old- school Baptist denomination.
In the spring of 1816 Micajah Ferguson and family came to Wayne county and located upon a tract of land which he purchased. This place, situated three miles south of Milton, was unimproved save that it had a cabin and a small patch of ground cleared. With determination and com- mendable zeal the father started upon the difficult task of clearing away the forest of poplar and walnut trees, and in time was rewarded by fine, fertile fields, where excellent crops of grain were raised. Cincinnati was the chief market for years, and after the Whitewater canal was constructed in 1837 the farmers prospered much more than before, as they were enabled to transport their crops cheaper and more expeditiously. £ During the first few years the hardy pioneers often were obliged to subsist upon wild turkey and hominy for several weeks, as their supply of flour and meal would run out. Game was very plentiful, and the Indians had not yet departed for western reservations. Mr. Ferguson raised live stock, and, driving them to Cincin- nati, received good prices for them. At various times he entered tracts of land in different localities, some of this property now being within the cor- porate limits of Indianapolis. After a long and useful life, replete with deeds that challenged the praise of every one, he retired, and passed a few years with his son Linville, dying in 1866, at the ripe age of eighty-three years. His wife, who had been a true helpmate through all the privations and hardships which fell to their lot in the frontier in an early day, was sum- moned to her reward, October 23, 1871.
Only three of the children born to this worthy couple are now living. The oldest, Matilda, became the wife of Joel Hiatt; Horton married Martha Hunt; Linville was the third in order of birth; Salena first married C. Saxton and later Joseph Colwell; Savannah married I. B. Loder; Livingston wedded Elizabeth Gilland and subsequently Ursula F. Carver; Finley, now of Kansas, married Laura Elwell and Anna Armstead; Sanford, born May 29, 1828, died February 25, 1833; Kilby, a minister of the Christian church in Alabama, married M. J. Sinks; Jane, born March 13, 1833, died December 8, 1841; and Olive, born May 31, 1835, died February 28, 1854.
Linville Ferguson, born in North Carolina, August 17, 1815, was but six months old when he was brought to this county. As there were no schools in the country at that early day he had no educational opportunities, and indeed the first consideration was work, and that of the hardest kind. Early and late he and his father and brothers toiled at the task of clearing the forest-covered homestead, and in later years at the cultivation of the soil. He used nearly three thousand rods of tiling in building tile drainage. His father was a wheelwright, and the lad learned to use the tools and finally 45
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became an excellent carpenter, many houses and other buildings at Milton and in the vicinity being erected by him in his young manhood. In 1838 he was married and located upon a quarter-section of land which his father gave him. This property, situated in Fayette county, was heavily timbered, but the first year the young man cleared about ten acres, on which he raised a good crop of corn. This was the beginning of his prosperity, as gradually the forests sank beneath his ax and fertile fields were opened to the sunlight. Later he bought more land until he owns and has cleared four hun- dred and sixty acres altogether, making also other improvements of value. At one time he owned fifteen hundred acres, but to each of his chil- «dren he gave land and sufficient money to enable him to make a fair start in independent life.
Mr. Ferguson was one of the first men actively engaged in the stock business in this county, and for forty years he continued in this line of enter- prise, succeeding when many of his neighbors utterly failed. For twenty-five years he handled nothing but the finest export cattle. He was very system- atic, and each year in March turned his cattle into his fine large blue-grass pastures, keeping them there and feeding them corn in quantities until August, when he would drive them to the city markets and obtain high prices. The remainder of the year the pasture was vacated, and the next spring there ·would be another fine crop of grass. Then for a long time he was associ- ated with some other business men in the packing of pork at Connersville. In 1870 he helped to organize the Cambridge City National Bank, which was capitalized at one hundred thousand dollars. He was one of the large stockholders, and for twenty-three years was connected with the flourishing institution, fifteen years of this period being its president. Though he inves- ted in numerous concerns he usually succeeded financially, the most notable exception being when he lost heavily in the Milton drill factory, of which he was a director.
In his political standing Mr. Ferguson is a Democrat. He served as one of the trustees of his township for ten years under the old appointive system, and then acted for a similar terin of years after the office was made an elective one. During this time he was instrumental in the building of all . of the school-houses of Posey township. But higher honors and responsi- ibilities awaited him, and, being elected to the position of county commis- ·sioner, he served as such for three years, to the satisfaction of all concerned. 'Then he was hiis party's candidate for representative several times, being defeated by the preponderance of the opposite party.
The lady chosen to be his companion and helpmate through life bore the maiden name of Elizabeth Loder. She is a daughter of John and Isabel (Ringland) Loder, pioneers of Fayette county, Indiana. Her father was
Elizabeth Ferguson
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born in Essex county, New Jersey, August 10, 1780, and in 1797 went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he worked as a cooper, and later he went to the inouth of the Big Miami river, and two years subsequently became a property- owner in Hamilton, Ohio. September 25, 1806, he married Isabel Ringland, who was of Irish descent, born May 31, 1785. Three of their children were born near Hamilton .- James, Harriet Christy and Mary J. In 1815 they sold out and removing to this section, then called Indiana territory, invested in land in Fayette county. Here he worked at his trade and cleared and cultivated his farm, ultimately becoming well-to-do. While in Ohio he voted for members of the first constitutional convention, and after coming to this state he voted for men who framed our first constitution. He was a life-long Democrat and an earnest worker for the party. He died at the residence of our subject, in 1863, and five years later, June 23, 1868, his wife passed to her reward, and both are resting in the Bentonville cemetery. Mrs. Fergu- son is next to the youngest of their five children, and with her sisters- Sarah A., wife of T. Beeson, and Amanda E., wife of G. Wright-was born in Fayette county. Her sister, Harriet C., became the wife of James McCul- lom, and Mary J. is Mrs. H. Shortridge.
The five children born to our subject and wife are as follows: Oliver, a business man of Milton; Savanna, wife of Lazarus Monger, a farmer: Elmer, who died at the age of twelve years; Emma, wife of O. Thornburg, a farmer and stock-dealer; and Charley, who is now carrying on the old homestead, apparently having inherited his father's talent as an agriculturist and financier. In 1883 Linville Ferguson purchased an eight-acre plat of ground, finely located and having a commanding view of Milton and the surrounding coun- try, and here he has erected a commodious home, where he and his loved wife are passing their declining years supplied with the competence to which past years of toil richly entitle them. They are greatly loved and respected by all who know them, and it is safe to say that few are more widely known throughout this region, or have more sincere friends.
JOHN CRAWFORD.
John Crawford was born August 11, 1841, on the farm upon which he now resides, and is a son of Alex and Eliza (Case) Crawford. Alex Craw- ford was a native of Scotland, but came to Ohio and located at Harrison, where he was engaged in running a still. Later, in 1834, he came to Frank- lin county, Indiana, and bought a farm of two hundred and twenty-eight acres, the present homestead of our subject. He was generous and liberal, contributing with a free hand both to the poor and to the church. At an early age he became identified with the Presbyterian church, in Scotland, but after coming here was at such distance from any society of that denomina-
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tion that he was unable to attend service as he would have liked. He died in 1881, and his death was considered a loss to the entire community. His wife, Eliza (Case) Crawford, was a native of New Jersey. She lived to the age of seventy years, and died in 1871. Her family were people of means, and for several generations had been prominently known throughout New Jersey.
The opportunity afforded John Crawford for obtaining an education was limited, consisting of a few weeks' attendance, during the winter, in the dis- trict school, at best but a very primitive institution. His services were needed in assisting his father with the farm work, and in this he was an apt pupil. He continued to work for his father until he was twenty-two years of age. and displayed marked ability in the management of a farm. He then rented the farm, on shares, until his father's death, when he came into possession of the homestead.
Mr. Crawford was married November 16, 1875, to Miss Mary A. Lemon, a daughter of Richard and Eliza (Mckeown) Lemon. Richard Lemon was of German descent, and settled in Franklin county about 1827. He was possessed of a liberal education and was a leading citizen, active in public affairs and justice of the peace for several years. His death occurred on September 21, 1889. His wife, Eliza (Mckeown) Lemon, came to America from her native country, Ireland, when she was six years old. To Richard Lemon and wife were born six children,-Hester, wife of Orlando Allen; Mary A., wife of Mr. Crawford; William, deceased, who married May Field; Lizzie, wife of Robert Blacker, who was drowned at Scipio, after which she married Frank Field; Ella, wife of Albert Mead; and John. An uncle of Mrs. Crawford, William Lemon, resides at Cincinnati, Ohio. Her grandmother, Sophia Post, died September 21, 1897, at the age of one hundred and two years. Not only did she attain a remarkable age, but she also retained her faculties. Mrs. Crawford is an earnest member of the Presbyterian church and has reared her family in that faith. The children are: Nettie S., born July 30, 1876; Alexander, born October 14, 1877; Clement, born January II, 1880; Blanche, born February 19, 1882; Lydia, born November 26, 1884: Robert, born April 2, 1887; and Edith, born September 24, 1889.
HYATT L. FROST.
It is not difficult to conjecture what manner of man is Mr. Frost. In a republican country where merit must win, we can tell much of his life. Wealth may secure a start but it cannot maintain one in a position where brains and executive ability are required. Mr. Frost did not have wealth to aid him in the beginning of his business career. His reliance has been placed in the more substantial qualities of perseverance, untiring enterprise, resolute
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purpose and commendable zeal, and withal his actions have been guided by an honesty of purpose that none have questioned. He is a true type of western progress and enterprise. His intellectual energy, professional integrity, prudent business methods and reliable sagacity have all combined to make him one of the ablest attorneys and business men of Connersville.
A native of Fayette county, he was born in Harrisburg, June 28, 1860, a son of Eli and Melsena (Kerschner) Frost. His paternal grandparents, James and Sophia (Kelly) Frost, natives of Putnam county, New York, came to Indiana, in 1836, and took up their residence near Harrisburg, Fayette county, where the former followed the occupation of farming until called from this life the same year. His wife survived him many years, dying in 1866. In their family were nine children, four sons and five daughters. The father of our subject was born in Putnam county, New York, in 1831, and in 1839 he accompanied his parents on their removal to this state and was reared on the farm near Harrisburg. During his youth he learned the wagonmaker's trade at Connersville of a Mr. Dale, and for ten years he followed that line of work. Since then he has devoted his energies to agricultural pursuits. His wife died July 26, 1886, at the age of fifty-six years. To them were born six children, -three sons and three daughters.
Our subject spent his boyhood and youth at Harrisburg, and the educa- tion he acquired in the common schools was supplemented by a short course in a normal school. At the country school he was a hard student and very apt, being always near the head of his class, though the youngest. For his age, however, he was very tall. He is now six feet and one inch high and weighs two hundred pounds. Practically he obtained all his school education in the country schools of Harrison township, Fayette county. Before the age of sixteen he commenced teaching and followed that occupation for four years, his schools being given him without his solicitation, and during this time he continued his studies so that he might be better fitted for a professional life. In the upper grade of the Bentonville school, his last charge, he com- pleted the term before he was twenty years old. At the age of twenty he took up the study of law in the office of L. W. & G. C. Florea, of Conners- ville, and was admitted to the bar in 1881, at the first term of court after attaining his majority. Since then he has successfully engaged in practice at Connersville, being in partnership for about ten years with Reuben Connor, . under the firm name of Connor & Frost. He is now a member of one of the strongest and most popular law firms of the city, -that of McKee, Little & Frost. He is an earnest advocate and a painstaking, careful office lawyer, with many important interests entrusted to him. Financially as well as pro- fessionally Mr. Frost has met with success through his well directed efforts, and is now the owner of two good farms near Connersville; is a director and
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attorney of the Fayette Savings & Loan Association; is a stockholder of the Connersville Buggy Company, and a director of the Connersville Blower Company, of which he was one of the organizers and has been a director since 1893.
On the 10th of June, 1882, Mr. Frost married Miss Dora Berkhiser, of Fayette county, by whom he has one daughter, Jessie M. Socially he affiliates with the Masonic order and with Connersville Lodge, No. 379. B. P. O. E., and politically is identified with the Republican party. He served as mayor of the city from September, 1894, to September, 1898, and the reins of city government were never in more capable hands, for he is a progressive man, pre-eminently public-spirited; and all that pertains to the public welfare receives his hearty endorsement. In manner he is genial and courteous, and his friends are numerous throughout the county.
EDWARD H. ERK.
Among the younger representative business men of Richmond is Edward H. Erk, the secretary and treasurer of the Westcott Carriage Company. He was born in Wayne county, Indiana, December 14, 1865, and has spent his entire life within its borders, so that his record is inseparably connected with its history. His parents, Henry H. and Cathrine (Tyling) Erk, were natives of Amsterdam, Holland. The father left the place of his birth in 1848 and crossed the Atlantic to New York city, where he remained until 1855, when he took up his abode in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1859 he came to Wayne county and was first engaged in the marble business, after which he devoted his energies to the conduct of a grocery. He married Miss Tyling, who had come to America when six years old with her parents. They died in Cincin- nati two years later of cholera. They had three daughters, one of them being Louise, now the wife of Harmon Mohring, of Cincinnati. Unto Henry H. and Cathrine Erk were born seven children: Henry, a resident of Rich- mond; Elizabeth, wife of John Sieck, also of Richmond; Charles H., a resident of the same city; Edward H .; Matilda, wife of Otto Shuman; Rudolph A. and Thomas, of Richmond.
Edward H. Erk acquired his preliminary education in the public schools of Richmond and supplemented it by a course in the Richmond Business College, thereby being well fitted for the practical duties of life. On attain- ing his majority he accepted a position as a clerk in the hardware store of John Rollings, with whom he remained for two and a half years, when he became his father's assistant in the grocery. Soon afterward, however, he returned to the hardware trade as an employe of Creamer & Clements, of Richmond, with which firm he continued for five years, when he went upon the road as traveling salesman for the Van Camp Hardware & Iron Company,
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of Indianapolis, Indiana, and after five and a half years purchased an interest in the Creamer & Scott Manufacturing Company, manufacturers of carriages, at Milton, Indiana. Two years later the plant was removed to Richmond, and the business has since developed into one of the most important indus- tries of the city. The firm continued business under the corporate name of the Creamer-Scott Company until 1897, when a reorganization was effected and the name changed to the Westcott Carriage Company. Of the new company Mr. Erk was made secretary and treasurer. He is an enterprising young business man, whose diligence and ability have won him continued advancement, and from a clerkship he has risen to a prominent position in industrial circles in Richmond.
On the 20th of May, 1890, Mr. Erk was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Jacob D. and Hannah (Smith) Buss, natives of Mon- roe county, Pennsylvania. On leaving the Keystone state they removed to the village of Rawson, Ohio, where Mrs. Erk was born. The mother died in 1880, at the age of forty-two years, leaving four children: Loa, wife of Lewis Runkle; John Smith; Ella, wife of Oscar E. Palmer; and Elizabeth, the honored wife of our subject. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Erk have been born three children: Leota Mosella, born September 20, 1892; Henry Dewitt, born June 1, 1895; and Oscar Eugene, born March 3, 1898. Long residence in Richmond has made Mr. Erk well known to its citizens, and the fact that some of his stanchest friends are numbered among those who have known him from boyhood indicates an upright life.
JOHN A. FRIES.
John A. Fries, the well known brick-manufacturer of Brookville, Frank- lin county, Indiana, is a son of Anthony and Margaret (Miller) Fries, and was born in this city thirty-one years ago. Anthony Fries was a native of Austria and emigrated to this country when a lad of sixteen years. With the pluck which characterized his after life he came to the new country alone. He first stopped in the Meeker neighborhood and learned the cooper trade. He was with Hamilton Meeker several years and then went to Cincinnati, afterward going on to Hamilton, Ohio, where he started a shop of his own, manufacturing barrels and kegs for the Dodtsworth Distilling Company. Later he moved to Wolf's creek and started a stave factory in company with Stephen Egbert, soon, however, buying the latter's interest in the concern and moving the plant to Brookville and locating on the site occupied by the brick works. In connection with the stave works he conducted a general merchandise establishment for a short time, but this was discontinued and the stave factory was sold to a Mr. Fisher. This was in 1878, and he next engaged in the manufacture of brick on a small scale. His first brick were
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niade by hand, and six years later he bought his first machine, which was run by horse power. Three years later the demand for his brick had increased to such an extent that it was found expedient to add a steam plant. Additions and improvements were made from time to time until the plant reached its present capacity of about two and one-half millions per year. The plant at Connersville was established in 1892, and has an output of two and one-half million brick per year. In addition to this enterprise, Mr. Fries some years ago drilled eight gas wells, the first in the state of Indiana, and sup - plied Brookville and vicinity with gas. His ventures in business were not always attended with success, yet in spite of that fact he was a prosperous man. He was a leader in politics, a strong Democrat, and was elected county treasurer, but refused to serve. He was a member of St. Michael's Cath- olic church, in which he held the office of trustee. He was large-hearted and liberal, -much too liberal for his own good, and if a neighbor was in need of financial aid Mr. Fries was never asked in vain. While a resident of Hamilton he was united in marriage with Miss Margaret Miller, who came to that locality with her brother George from Germany when she was nineteen years of age. The brother died at Jeffersonville, Ohio. The union of this estimable couple resulted in the birth of the following children: Barbara, wife of John Seiwert, of Cincinnati; Elizabeth, widow of Peter Seiwert, of the same city; Anthony, Jr., also of Cincinnati; George M., of Connersville, this state; John A., our subject; and Joseph and Anna, of Brookville. George M. Fries has charge of the works at Connersville, where both brick and tile are manufactured.
John A. Fries received his education in the parochial schools and learned every detail of his father's business, so that he was able to take the principal management of it in 1891, and was successor to his father at the latter's death in 1892. This is one of the leading industries of Franklin county and gives employment to a number of men. Like his esteemed father, our sub- ject is a Democrat in his political convictions, and a member of St. Peter's Benevolent Society. His energy and executive ability have placed him among our foremost business men, while his genial and kindly bearings make him no less a favorite in society.
STEPHEN S. STRATTAN, JR.
One of the representative young business men of Richmond is Stephen S. Strattan, Jr., who was born in this city in 1868, and is a son of Stephen S. Strattan, Sr. In the public schools of the city he acquired his preliminary education, which was supplemented by a course in DePauw University, in which institution he was graduated in the class of 1891. This course, together with the business training received under his father, well fitted him
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for the practical and responsible duties of life. From 1884 until 1888 he filled the position of deputy county treasurer under his father, and in 1892, after the completion of his collegiate course, he became associated with the firm of Gaar, Scott & Company, as paymaster. His close application and fidelity to duty won him advancement and he is now a director and sec- retary of the maminoth concern. He is also a director of the Second National Bank of Richmond, and possesses all the essential qualifications of the suc- cessful business man, placing his reliance in indefatigable energy, persever- ance and careful management.
In May, 1892, Mr. Strattan was united in marriage to Miss Ruby Gaar, a daughter of Abram Gaar, deceased; and for her father their only child is named. They are both widely known in the city where their entire lives have been passed, and have the warm regard of a very large circle of friends.
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