USA > Indiana > Union County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume II > Part 26
USA > Indiana > Fayette County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume II > Part 26
USA > Indiana > Franklin County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume II > Part 26
USA > Indiana > Wayne County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume II > Part 26
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Ringgold, Rocky Face Ridge, Lookout mountain, Missionary Ridge, Dalton, Resaca, New Hope church, Kenesaw mountain and siege of Atlanta. Brave and faithful, he was always to be depended upon to do his whole duty, no matter what the circumstances, and as a private citizen he has been no less zealous in the support of the government and all that makes it great. He married Elizabeth Crane, and for some years was a resident of Henry county, Indiana, but has since dwelt in Cambridge City, where he is held in high regard. He had three children, but his daughters, May and Gertrude, are deceased. The wife and mother is a native of Hamilton county, Ohio.
Walter Waddell was born in Henry county, Indiana, August 2, 1866, and obtained his education in the schools of Cambridge City. He com- menced learning the blacksmith trade subsequently to leaving his studies, and followed it successfully, in the capacity of an employe, until 1897. Hav- ing, by diligence and economy, accumulated some capital, he invested it in a business of his own, buying out the firm of Lein & Swiggett, clothiers, of Cambridge City. He has since managed the business skillfully, and keeps the most extensive and best assortment of goods and styles of any clothing house in this locality.
Mr. Waddell is a man of enterprise and public spirit, and though in no sense a politician he is faithful in the discharge of his duties of citizenship, his preference being the platform and nominees of the Republican party. Socially he is a member of Wayne Lodge, No. 17, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and belongs to Homer Encampment, No. 11. On the 18th of March, 1892, he married Mary M. Crook, daughter of M. T. and Mar- garet (Bolles) Crook, of this city.
ALEXANDER P. COOK.
Owning and occupying a nice farm of one hundred acres, located three miles east of Liberty, Union county, Indiana, we find the subject of this sketch, Alexander P. Cook, a native "Hoosier." Mr. Cook was born in Union county, March 14, 1847, son of Jesse and Lydia B. (Sanford) Cook. Mrs. Lydia B. Cook was born on Nantucket island, daughter of Edward and Hepzibath Sanford, and died when her son, Alexander P., was only six years old. She had two other children: Eveline, wife of William Barnard, is now a resident of Gage county, Nebraska; and Eugene, who died in infancy. Jesse Cook, the father of our subject, died January 30, 1899, aged eighty-one years. In early life he learned the carpenter trade, at which he worked for many years, chiefly in Union county.
Alexander P. Cook was reared in his native county and was yet in his 'teens at the time the civil war broke out. At the age of sixteen he enlisted as a member of Company D, Ninth Indiana Cavalry, under Colonel Jackson.
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His service was chiefly in Tennessee, in the Army of the Cumberland. After the battle at Nashville he was ordered to New Orleans, but was soon returned to Vicksburg, where he remained until mustered out. He was honorably discharged, under general order, in June, 1865, after two years of service. Throughout his service he was constantly with his command on duty, with the exception of a few weeks when he was in the hospital at Nashville.
After his return from the army Mr. Cook engaged in farm work and he has been farming ever since. He settled on his present farm in 1884, a nice tract of land, one hundred acres in extent, three miles east of Liberty, upon which he has made some substantial improvements, and where he is carrying on diversified farming. Among his stock are found some fine thorough- bred cattle.
Mr. Cook was married December 22, 1870, to Miss Clara Stanton, daughter of Franklin and Semira (Swain) Stanton. Her father lives on a farm adjoining theirs. Mr. and Mrs. Cook have no children.
Politically Mr. Cook is what may be termed an independent. He makes a practice of casting his vote for the man rather than for the party.
JESSE P. ELLIOTT.
No man in Jennings township, Fayette county, Indiana, is more widely known or more highly esteemed than Jesse P. Elliott, a representative of one of the pioneer families of Fayette county. He was born in Bracken county, Kentucky, August 19, 1826, and comes of Virginia ancestry. His father, John Elliott, was born in Culpeper county, Virginia, January 10, 1800; and his grandparents, Elijah and Elizabeth (Figins) Elliott, were both natives of the Old Dominion. £ In 1802 the Elliott family moved to Kentucky and
settled in Bracken county. Elijah Elliott was a soldier in the war of 1812, and was a member of Major Croghan's little band that so heroically and suc- cessfully defended Fort Stephenson against a largely superior force of the enemy. He afterward fell beneath the tomahawk of the Indians, on the river Raisin, in Canada. Before going to the war he leased his slaves for a term of years, and because of Mr. Elliott's sudden death the lessee violated the terms of the contract by continuing to hold the slaves in bondage after the lease had expired, His son, John Elliott, finally procured their release. John Elliott was married, in Kentucky, to Rachael Piginan, daughter of Jesse and Lurany (Newland) Pigman. Mrs. Elliott was born July 2, 1805. In 1833, accompanied by his wife and their three children, John Elliott emi- grated to Indiana and settled in Union county. They left Kentucky in order to establish their home in a free land and to give to their children the advan- tages that were denied them in the slave states of the south. They were
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poor in this world's goods. A team and a few household utensils were all they possessed when they arrived in Indiana, but by hard work and good management on the part of himself and wife they succeeded in acquiring enough property to make them comfortable. Mr. Elliott was a man of great ingenuity, and with the aid of a few very imperfect tools made many articles of household furniture that were a great convenience to the pioneer settlers of his locality. Their settlement was near the mouth of Elyes creek, in Union county, where the family lived about five years. Subsequently they became residents of Jennings township, Fayette county. Their home was on the line of the "underground railroad " in slavery days and their assistance was often given to the escaping slaves. Mrs. Elliott was a deeply pious woman and greatly sympathized with the oppressed race. While Mr. Elliott was a southern Democrat in his political views, he at least tacitly assented to his wife's more radical views on the slavery question. He was a strong Union man during the war of the Rebellion, and the fact that he was a native of a slave state never lessened his devotion to the Union. He and his wife became the parents of eleven children, viz .: Jesse P., Charles W ... Elijah, Elizabeth, James M., John, Lurany, Sarah, an infant that died unnamed, Mary Jane, and Adam, -the first three being natives of Kentucky and the others of Indiana. The mother of this family died February 27, 1870; the father married again, but died not long afterward, his death occur- ring September 13, 1873. The most of the family have passed away. Only three remain in Fayette county-Elijah, James and Jesse P.
Jesse P. Elliott was about seven years old when he came with his father's family to Fayette county, Indiana, and here he grew to manhood, having limited advantages for obtaining an education. Early, however, he realized the value of knowledge, and much of the time he could spare from manual labor was devoted to the reading and study of such books as he could obtain. Many an hour did he spend in study by the aid of a torch light, made from hickory and poplar bark, candles and oil being too great a luxury for the family to afford. He early had a taste for the law and gained a fair knowledge of legal matters, and though he was never admitted to the bar he has pleaded many cases.
March 9, 1847, he married Nancy Hulgan, a daughter of Robert Hulgan. Her birth occurred in 1819 in Columbia, Tennessee, but became an orphan early in life, and was reared at Shelbyville, Tennessee. The fruits of their union were four children, one of whom, Mary, is deceased. Those living are John, Rachel Ann and Nancy J. This wife and mother having died in 1853, Mr. Elliott married a second time, January 7, 1855, the lady of his choice being Margaret Darby, who was born in Butler county, Ohio, in 1844, and she with Daniel Darby came to Fayette county, Indiana,
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at an early day. She bore him seven children, namely: Mary E., Jessie, Catherine, Fannie B., Emma, Frances A. and Charles.
In recent years Mr. Elliott has had great sorrow in his life, five deaths occurring in his family within a period of about two years! April 16, 1898, his wife passed away. A short time before her death a daughter died and soon after the death of the mother two other daughters died, and also one granddaughter.
Mr. Elliott may be termed a self-made man. He started in life with- out means, and with no financial assistance from any one, he worked out his own success. Long ago he acquired a competency, and now in his later years he is surrounded with comfort and plenty. Integrity and fair dealing have characterized all his actions, and no man in the county stands higher in the estimation of his fellow citizens than does Jesse P. Elliott. He has served his township in various official capacities, including those of township trustee and justice of the peace, having been elected by the Republican vote. Fraternally he maintains membership in good standing in the Masonic and Odd Fellows orders. He has done much toward public improvements, and has been very prominent in agricultural affairs.
CHARLES I. STOTELMYER, M. D.
Among the younger members of the Wayne county medical profession is this gentleman, who has been a practitioner of Hagerstown scarcely seven years, yet has won a high place in the estimation of all who know him. Before he entered upon his professional career he thoroughly equipped himself in every possible manner, both in theory and practice, studying under the best tutors and sparing neither time nor expense.
As his surname indicates, the Doctor is of German ancestry, but his forefathers have dwelt in Maryland for many generations. His father, Fred- erick Stotelmyer, is still living in that state, but his mother, whose maiden name was Louisa Schildknecht, passed away in 1898. His paternal grand- mother, Hannah (Recher) Stotelmyer, died in 1895, at the age of ninety-nine years. Their nine sons and a daughter are all living, except Marion, who died in 1876, aged fourteen, and William, who died in the spring of 1898. With the exception of our subject and his brother Rufus, who resides in Brazil, Indiana, all the surviving children are still citizens of Maryland. One brother, Harlan, is a professor of music, and another, Lemuel, is a minister in the Lutheran church.
The birth of Dr. Charles Irving Stotelmyer took place in Frederick county, Maryland, September 7, 1859. In his boyhood he attended the pub- lic schools, and later completed his literary education in the state norinal school, subsequently engaging in teaching. In 1889 he matriculated in the
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School of Medicine of the University of Maryland, at Baltimore, and was graduated in a class of eighty-five members, on the 14th of April, 1892. This celebrated institution is one of the oldest in the United States, having been founded in 1807, and from its halls have gone forth some of the mnost eminent physicians and surgeons of this country. Its graduates in medicine between 1812 and 1890 inclusive, numbered upward of forty-one hundred, and at the present time about five thousand physicians have claimed it as their alma mater. After our subject had finished his course there he attended clinics at the Johns Hopkins University, and the same year, 1892, he came to Hagers- town, where he has built up a large and remunerative practice ainong the leading families of the place.
On Christmas day, 1882, Dr. Stotelmyer married Miss Ellen S. Hayes, who died in January, 1886, leaving a little son and daughter, -Ona and Otho, who live with their grandparents, in Maryland. The lady who now bears the name of our subject was formerly Miss Sarah A. Brown, a daugh- ter of Samuel and Margaret (Foutz) Brown, of Wayne county. Her maternal grandparents, Jesse and Sarah Foutz, who were among the pioneers of Wayne county, each lived to be about ninety years of age, Mr. Foutz dying in 1892 and his wife passing away in 1898. Mrs. Stotelmyer possesses an excellent education, and is fitted both by nature and training to grace any position she might be called upon to occupy.
AUSTIN B. CLAYPOOL.
The name of Claypool has long been prominent in Indiana, and none has been better and more favorably known in the Whitewater valley. Austin Bingley Claypool, whose name forms the caption of this article, was born in Connersville, Indiana, December 1, 1823. His parents were Newton and Mary (Kerns) Claypool. His father, Newton Claypool, and his brother, Solomon Claypool, were sons of Abraham Claypool, a native of Hardy county, Virginia, who went early to Ohio and settled in Ross county, whence in 1816 Newton and Solomon came to Indiana. The two brothers kept the trading post at Connersville. In 1818 Newton went back to his old home in Ross county, Ohio, and was married January 8, that year, to Mary Kerns, a daughter of Benjamin and Sarah Kerns and the first white child born in Ross county (1798). Kerns had come from Philadelphia and located nine miles from Chillicothe. He was the first to drive cattle across the mountains from Ohio to Philadelphia.
In February after his marriage Newton Claypool returned with his young wife to Connersville, where he opened a hotel with such accommodations as were available. Granted the use of John Conner's pioneer sawmill for the night time, he sawed lumber of nights, and as soon as he could do so erected
1
Austin Blelay pool,
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near the site of the present skating rink a hotel building, in one room of which he kept a store. This building he occupied seventeen years. Solomon Claypool, his brother, settled on a farm across the river from Connersville, and died there at the age of fifty-eight years. He never married. He said, when Newton brought his young wife to Connersville, that a man could not support a wife in that new country, and he would withdraw from their mutual interests and farm by himself. This over-careful man was a success in his own way. He acquired six hundred acres of fine farm land and considerable property in Connersville, but he was forced to admit that Newton could get on in the world and take good care of his wife, too. Newton Claypool became the first treasurer of Fayette county, and represented Fayette and Union counties in the state legislature for nine consecutive terms, serving in both houses. He espoused the Whig cause effectively, for while he was not an orator he was a good planner, worker and organizer, and was a power in local politics. A close student of the Bible and great admirer of St. Paul, to whose words and deeds he often referred, he was a man of even habits and respected for his strict integrity and earnest purpose. He became a large land-holder, and in 1836 moved in the house now occupied by his son, Aus- tin B. He was a successful business man, and made a success of raising and dealing in hogs, driving them to the Cincinnati market. In 1851 he moved into Connersville and retired from active affairs. He was interested in every extensive improvement of his time and locality. He helped to build the turnpike road from Connersville to Milton about 1850; was a stockholder in companies which built other roads out of Connersville, and was an organizer of the old state bank at Connersville. He died May 14, 1866, aged seventy- one years, eleven months and twenty-four days, and was buried in the fam- ily lot at Connersville. His wife died August 16, 1864, aged sixty-six years, two months and thirteen days.
The children of Newton and Mary (Kerns) Claypool were as follows: Sarah Ann, who died aged nineteen; Austin Bingley, the immediate subject of this sketch; Benjamin Franklin, who was a prominent attorney and busi- ness man; Elizabeth, who died in infancy; Abraham Jefferson, who was a prominent merchant of Connersville and later a banker of Muncie; Edward Fay, who became a banker in connection with the Connersville branch of the State Bank of Indiana, with which his father and his brothers, Benjamin F. and Austin B., were also connected; Mary Francenia and Maria, who died in infancy; and Newton LaFayette, the youngest of the family, died aged seven years.
Austin Bingley Claypool was born and reared in Connersville and given the best education the common schools afforded in that day. He was the 48
P
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oldest of the children, and consequently he was not given the best of educa- tional advantages. May 20, 1846, he married Hannah Ann Petty, a daughter of Williams Petty and Elizabeth (John) Petty. Williams Petty came to Indiana in 1817, ran the distillery for John Conner, the founder of Conners- ville, and became a large land-holder, and settling in Wayne county he resided there many years, and was one of the most successful traders of the Whitewater valley. Mr. and Mrs. Claypool resided on a farm in Fayette county until 1850, when he removed to Wayne county, where he farmed up to 1861, when he returned to Connersville, and resided there till 1863, being connected with the State Bank as its acting president. The banking busi- ness being too confining and not conducive to his good health, he quit it in 1863 and removed to his farm near Bentonville, and resided there following agriculture until 1865, when he returned to Connersville, and took up his residence on his father's old homestead near Connersville, and here he has continued to reside, meanwhile looking after his extensive real-estate and other business interests.
Throughout his life Mr. Claypool has taken a deep interest in public affairs. No important public improvement or measure tending to benefit Connersville and Fayette county has arisen and found him not at the front. His support as a leader has always been given to each and every grand im- provement. He is a man of decided views and is fearless in expressing them, and his judgment on matters of moment is regarded as sound, and often sought. Maplewood, now a component part of Connersville, is a beautiful suburb of perhaps a population of fifteen hundred, and most of it is situated on a part of his father's old homestead which Mr. Claypool has owned since 1865. The town of Maplewood was platted by Mr. Claypool, and he may be appropriately and truthfully styled the founder of the place. Here he erected a church building and parsonage in 1884 and gave it to the public. There was organized a Methodist church in the same year, and upon the dedication of the church Mr. and Mrs. Claypool became members of the ·congregation and have since worshipped here.
To Mr. and Mrs. Claypool were born eight children, four of whom died in infancy and the remaining four, Virginia, Marcus, Elizabeth and Frank, .are still living.
Virginia married and is the widow of Henry C. Meredith, son of General Meredith, who commanded the gallant " Iron Brigade " in the civil war. At her husband's death Mrs. Virginia Meredith had left to her an extensive stock farm and other business interests, which she has successfully managed. She has given much attention to agriculture, has often lectured on the sub- ject, and at present (1899) she is superintendent of the girls' department of
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the School of Agriculture at St. Anthony's Park, Minnesota. She was a member of the board of lady managers of the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago, and did valuable and acceptable service on that board.
Marcus Claypool is a successful farmer and stock-raiser, of Muncie, Indiana, raising fine horses and Jersey cattle, and is well known among stock- raisers. He is a member of the State Board of Agriculture, and of the Sanitary Live Stock Commission of Indiana, and its acting president.
Elizabeth Claypool married Morrell J. Earl, of Lafayette, Indiana, who died in less than a year after the marriage, and his widow now resides with her parents.
Frank Claypool is the publisher of the Muncie Morning News. He was recently sent to Porto Rico by the United States Government on a mission connected with the United States postal service.
LEVI S. DILLING.
Levi S. Dilling, of Jefferson township, Wayne county, is the eldest child of Henry Dilling, and was born at his father's homestead, February 15, 1854. He attended the schools of the district in his boyhood and later was a student in the high school at Hagerstown. In 1873 he began teaching and was a successful educator for fifteen years. He taught his first school in Henry county but a short distance from his home, but the remainder of his educational work was in Wayne county, and during the course of his career as a teacher he had charge of seven different schools.
Mr. Dilling was married, in 1885, to Miss Mary Ellen Widows, a daugh- ter of Lemuel Widows, and their union has been blessed with three children, a son and two daughters: Ivan W., who was born August 28, 1888; May Anna, born May 2, 1891; and Bertha R., born February 2, 1895. It is a remarkable fact that the only son of Mr. and Mrs. Dilling is the only great- grandson of Jacob Dilling who bears the name of Dilling, although the great-grandchildren are very numerous.
Mr. Dilling owns and occupies one-half of the quarter-section of land that his grandfather, Jacob Dilling, purchased more than sixty years ago. He is one of the representative men of his town and county, and has ever been deeply interested in the educational and religious advancement of the community in which he lives. He is a minister of the German Baptist Brethren church, of which his people are members, and is the present sec- retary of the church and of the Cemetery Association. He is also president of the Hagerstown Creamery Company, and is in all respects a most worthy citizen. Mr. Dilling was one of the original organizers of the German Bap- tist Tri-county Mutual Protective Association. His brother Daniel is secre- tary and treasurer of the board of directors, which was organized October
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24, 1895, began issuing policies January 1, 1896, and now (July 10, 1899) has about one million, two hundred thousand dollars in policies.
It may be interesting in this connection to note something of the family from which he springs. His father, Henry Dilling, who resides on section 28, Jefferson township, Wayne county, is a representative of one of the pioneer families of this part of the state. His father, Jacob Dilling, was born in what is now Blair county, but was formerly a part of Huntington county, Pennsylvania, April 14, 1797, and was a son of Casper Dilling, who was a native of Germany and was one of the Hessian soldiers employed by England for service in the Revolutionary war. When he arrived in this country, however, the war was ended, and he resolved to make his home in America, settling in Pennsylvania. He reared a large number of children and was probably the progenitor of the different branches of the family in America that bear the name of Dilling. Jacob Dilling was the only son of the family who emigrated to Indiana, although a daughter, Elizabeth, wife of Mathew Shields, settled in Henry county, this state, and left a family of children. Jacob Dilling was reared in his native county, there married' Susannah Hoover, and in the spring of 1833 came to Indiana. He made his way to Wayne county, settling on section 28, Jefferson township. on land now owned by his grandson, Levi S. Dilling. The place was then partially improved and upon the homestead farm he and his wife spent their remain- ing days. His death occurred May 28, 1860, and the wife and mother passed away on the 21st of October of the same year. He was one of the well- known pioneers of Wayne county, and was prominently connected with its development and progress. His first purchase of land consisted of a quarter section, to which he later added fifty acres adjoining. Not long after his arrival in the county he also had a linseed-oil mill and successfully engaged in its operation, the enterprise proving a profitable one. With the assistance of his sons he carried on the business for many years and invested the profits of his mills in land until he became the possessor of about twelve hundred
acres. The mill was located on Bear creek, and he erected and operated a sawmill on the same stream. He was a man of great energy and force of character and was intimately associated with the material progress and growth of the township and county. He and his wife were members of the German Baptist Brethren church and he assisted in building the first house of worship for that denomination in Wayne county.
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