USA > Indiana > Union County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume II > Part 35
USA > Indiana > Fayette County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume II > Part 35
USA > Indiana > Franklin County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume II > Part 35
USA > Indiana > Wayne County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume II > Part 35
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John A. Applegate was born in Highland county, Ohio, May 23. 1818. He was the son of William and Ruth (Brown) Applegate, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Pennsylvania. The father, William, was born August 14, 1792, and he was the son of John Applegate, who was born Jan- uary 2, 1764. Ruth Applegate, the mother of John A., died March 11, 1834. John Applegate came to Indiana with his parents when four years of age, in 1822. His father, William, was a farmer, who bought land, improved it and remained upon it until his death. His children were Lavinia, Louisa, John A. (our subject's husband), Maria, Milton, Fremont, William, Sarah, Abigail and Maria. By a second marriage his children were Mary, James, Rebecca, Richard and Isaac Newton.
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John A. Applegate was reared to honest toil on the farm, received a good education and taught school a number of years. October 18, 1842, he married, lived one year at Scipio, and then came to this location, settling on a farm, where he spent his life. He was very active in the development of the county, including the Mount Carmel school, which sustained a high rep- utation. He also was instrumental in the erection of the Mount Carmel Presbyterian church, of which he was an active member. Grange hall also was partly built by his efforts, at the same place, as well as being foremost in the management of the Mount Carmel Cemetery Association. In Grange work he was ever active; he was its master of the pomona and the chap- lain of the Indiana State Grange for many years. He was an elder of the Mount Carmel Presbyterian church for a long period. He was a resident of Franklin county from 1823 to the date of his death, September 8, 1898, when he had reached his eightieth year. He ranked high as a farmer and was a man of honor and high standard of integrity, having the respect of all within the radius of his acquaintance. He was a loving husband and an indulgent father. His final taking-off was very sudden: his previous wish had been that he might pass away without suffering, and he died while at the table, without a struggle! Thus passed away one of the useful and prominent citizens of the county. His wife was the daughter of Joseph and Temperance (Golden) Wilson, both of New Jersey and of English descent. The family came to Indiana in 1830 and settled in Whitewater township, purchasing land, with some log buildings thereon, but scarcely any other improvement. He followed farm life throughout his days. His children were: Mary, our subject; Jane, who died single; Sarah, yet unmarried; Elizabeth, who als.) died unmarried; George; and James, who died in California.
Mr. and Mrs. John A. Applegate were parents of two children: Eliza- beth, yet single; and Joseph, who died unmarried. Mrs. Applegate and her daughter are members of the Presbyterian church. These surviving inem- bers of a highly respected pioneer family have merited and possess the respect and admiration of the whole community. The good influence of the lives of the families sketched in this memoir will be felt by succeeding generations.
MRS. MELINDA (HURST) MCGREW.
Among the inhabitants of Washington township, Wayne county, none are better known or more thoroughly esteemed than this lady, who is famil- iarly and affectionately called "Aunt Melinda" by a large proportion of the people of the community in which the greater part of her life has been spent. Well preserved in body and mind, and surrounded with numerous luxuries and comforts, many of which she owes to her own foresight and excellent business judgment, she looks back over a long and varied experi-
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ence, and has but few regrets. Hers has been an exceedingly busy and useful life, and at all times she has nobly endeavored to do her full duty toward her neighbors and friends, as well as toward those of her own household.
The history of Mrs. McGrew's parents is particularly interesting, as some idea may be gained of what the pioneers of civilization in this state had to endure, and how, in spite of all obstacles, they came off victors, leaving a rich inheritance to their posterity, -an inheritance of not only material possessions but of precept and example well worthy of their consideration. Dickson Hurst, the father of Mrs. McGrew, was born in Maryland, March 24, 1793, and married a lady of the same state, Melissa Scott, whose birth occurred February 17, 1796. Soon after their marriage, which ceremony was celebrated February 15, 1814, the young couple set out for the west, where they hoped to establish a home. They were almost entirely without ineans, but had brave and determined hearts, and, secure in the loving com- panionship of each other, felt that they should be able to endure whatever ill fortune might betide them. The bride's father gave her a horse, and mounted upon this, with all of their combined possessions in the pack-saddle on the animal, the husband and wife set out upon their long journey over mountains and through dense forests until they arrived in Warren county, Ohio. There he worked at farming and clearing land or whatever he could find to do whereby he might earn an honest livelihood for his family. His children were all born in Ohio, and in 1820 the family removed to Wayne county, Indiana, where he entered one hundred and twenty acres of land. Ere long he had cleared a small patch of ground and put up a log cabin, and once more the struggle commenced. Hard work and exposure in all kinds of weather crippled him with rheumatism and rendered him a great sufferer, but he never relaxed his earnest purpose, and, in spite of all, he carried out his plans and gradually amassed a competence. His faithful wife was a true helpmate, doing everything in her power to aid and cheer him, and with her own hands she spun and wove the flax and wool which he raised upon the farm, then fashioning all of the clothing needed by her household. The father early turned his attention to the raising of hogs and cattle, of which he bought large numbers and drove them to Cincinnati, where he obtained good prices for them. From time to time he made careful investments, particularly in farm lands, and for years he ranked with the leading prop- erty-owners of this county, some of his lands being situated in the west. At length the humble log cabin gave place to a commodious brick house, and other luxuries and comforts of life were enjoyed by him and his estimable wife during their latter years.
No man in the county had a better record of uprightness and fairness in all his dealings, and his kindness and benevolence toward the poor and
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deserving was not the least of his virtues. Though not a church member, he led a life above reproach, and his friends were legion. Broad-minded and independent in his views upon every question, he diverged from the path which his relatives had long pursued, politically, and gave his allegiancerto the Whig party. His parents, Bennett and Mary (Marshall) Hurst, came from Maryland to pass their old age in the cosy home which he prepared for them, and as long as they lived he rendered dutiful care and attention to their needs. His elder brother, Benedict, settled in Ohio; William and Ben- nett went to the west, the latter living in Illinois for some time, and finally dying in Iowa. The three sisters were Mrs. Ellen Rockefeller, Mrs. Polly Eaton and Mrs. Sarah Cox. Dickson Hurst was called to his reward June 14, 1858. His wife, who was a devoted member of the Methodist church, died April 22, 1862. Their eldest child, Lucinda, born February 20, 1816, first married Joseph Hankins, and later Henry Sweet; Mary A., the second child, born April 1, 1817, became the wife of William A. Rifner; William, born April 4, 1818, was one of twins, the other dying in infancy; Melinda was the next of the family; Alfred and a twin who died when young were born January 28, 1820.
Mrs. Melinda McGrew, the only survivor of her parents' family, was born March 24, 1819, in Warren county, Ohio, and from her earliest recol- lections has been identified with this section of Indiana. When grown to womanhood she married Charles N. McGrew, the wedding ceremony being performed in 1844. His father, William McGrew, was one of the frontier settlers on Green's Fork, Indiana, coming here from Kentucky in 1814. He improved a farm and reared a large family, and was held in the highest respect by all who knew him. He and his loved wife, both members of the Christian church, died with the cholera, while in Iowa on a visit. Their children were named as follows: Lewis; Isabel, wife of C. Myers; John, who went to Iowa, as also did the eldest son; Mary, wife of John Scott; Rachel, wife of B. Scott; Charles N .; Elizabeth, wife of B. Witmer; Melinda, wife of J. Fertig; Letitia, wife of J. Morris; James B., of Dublin, Indiana; Hannah, wife of J. Ewing; and Lindsay, of Milton, Indiana.
Charles N. McGrew, who was born in Ohio, January 9, 1817, energetic- ally devoted himself to the cultivation and improvement of the farmn upon which he and his young wife settled, the place being a present to her from her father. Only a small portion had been cleared, and they commenced house- keeping in the log cabin of the period. Years rolled by, and such changes had been instituted that one would not have known the farm as the same. A substantial house replaced the cabin, fine fields of grain were raised where forests and dense underbrush had formerly stood, and everything bore the marks of a systematic, thoroughgoing farmer's care. Late in life he
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unfortunately engaged somewhat in speculating upon the board of trade, and lost heavily, but in the main he was successful in his undertakings. The genuine regard felt for him as a citizen, friend and neighbor, was shown by the fact that he, though a stanch Republican, was elected in a Democratic district to the office of township trustee, in which capacity he served credit- ably for some fifteen or twenty years. Hospitable and social in disposition, he readily won friends, and few men were more welcome in every home in his section of the county. An honored member of the Odd Fellows and Masonic orders, in the latter having taken the Royal Arch and Knights Templar degrees, his acquaintance was the more extended and his ideals and field of usefulness the broader. Death claimed him February 10, 1877, when he had just passed the sixtieth anniversary of his birth. The funeral services, held at Doddridge chapel, were attended by a very large concourse of friends and lifelong associates, and he was tenderly placed to rest in the cemetery near.
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To the union of Mr. and Mrs. McGrew eight children were born, three of the number dying in infancy. Miranda, who married A. Dailey, died February 27, 1863, at the age of eighteen years, and left one son, Charles A., who was reared by his grandmother; Mary died at the age of five years; Marcus died March 23, 1863; Alfred died at the age of six years; Ida is the wife of Albert Wilson. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson, who have one son, are now living with Mrs. McGrew on the old homestead. He comes from one of the pioneer families of this county and was reared in this township. Both he and his wife, as well as Mrs. McGrew, are active members of the Doddridge chapel of the Methodist church. Charles A. Dailey, who is engaged in farming, is married and has seven children. He is operating a farm which Mrs. McGrew purchased some years ago, and does credit to her judicious training. She has proved herself to be an excellent financier and has man- aged her quite extensive investments and business interests with marked ability.
WILLIAM ROCKWELL.
The subject of this article was born in Jennings county, Indiana, fifty years ago, but has been a resident of Brookville, Franklin county, for a num- ber of years, seventeen of which have been spent as sexton of the Maple Grove cemetery. His father, Benjamin Rockwell, was of Irish extraction, the mother, Jane Lines, being German. Their children were William, John, Richard (deceased) and Margaret. After the death of his wife, Benjamin Rockwell married Martha Cooksey, widow of Zachariah Cooksey, whom he placed at the head of his household. The children by this marriage were, Sarah, wife of John Brown, of Brookville; Elizabeth, wife of James Spradling,
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of Kokomo, this state; Thomas and Lily, wife of Herschel Majors, of Mount Carmel, this county. The father died in 1889, at the age of seventy-eight years.
After the death of his mother, which occurred when he was a lad of ten years, William Rockwell was bound out. He soon left the people to whom he was bound and worked by the month for different farmers. He continued working by the month until his marriage to Mary Cooksey on April 19, 1870. He continued to farm but now leased ground and cultivated it for himself. In 1882 the Independent Order of Odd Fellows platted Maple Grove cem- etery and placed the care of it in the hands of Mr. Rockwell. June 10, 1883, the first grave was dug to receive the body of Angelina S. Cummings; now the ground is well dotted over with monuments and is the resting place of many who were at one time representatives of the best families of Brookville and Whitewater valley. This " silent city of the dead " has been the recipi- ent of Mr. Rockwell's constant attention, and the skill and taste displayed by him in the arrangement and choice of decorations and improvements has contributed to make it one of the most beautiful spots in the city and a source of pride to the order to whom it owes its existence. So great was his suc- cess in caring for this property that the trustees of the Brookville cemetery importuned him to take that ground also in charge, with the result that it is now, more than ever, a place of beauty and quiet where the well trimmed lots and neat walks and borders afford quiet satisfaction to the visitor or friends of those sleeping within. Many new features have been added on both grounds, and it has been the aim of the sexton to make them at least the equal of any cemeteries of their size.
Our subject was married to Miss Mary Cooksey, a daughter of Zachariah and Martha (Utsier) Cooksey, who was one of five children, three of whom are living, viz .: Tabitha, wife of Wesley Brooks; Mary, Mrs. Rockwell; and William. A large number of children have been born at the home of our subject and wife: John, born October 11, 1870, died January 28, 1872; William, born July 21, 1872, died October 2, 1873; Charles, born October 10, 1873; Maggie, May 14, 1875; Sarah N., born April 9, 1877, died Octo- ber 7, 1879; Louis, born March 6, 1879; Minnie, September 9, 1880; Edna, May 24, 1883, died September 3, 1888; Thomas Hendricks, born February 26, 1885; Elmer Howard, December 29, 1886; Albert Foster, February 5, 1892; Wilbur, born April 19, 1893, died October II, of the same year; Ruth, born June 13, 1895, died in infancy; and Ruby Fay, born January 6, 1896.
Mr. Rockwell became a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows in 1887, and has filled all the chairs in the order, representing the order at the grand lodge in 1889 and at the grand encampment in 1890.
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SAMUEL N. HAMILTON, M. D.
For seventeen years the name of Samuel Newell Hamilton has been found upon the roll of Connersville's professional men, and the medical fra- ternity in this section of the state has no abler representative. Earnest study, close application, an analytical mind and a sincere interest in his pro- fession are the concomitants which have led to his honorable success.
Dr. Hamilton was born near Fayetteville, Indiana, November 23, 1845, and is a representative of two of the oldest families of the state. On the paternal side he is descended from a line prominent in Scottish history. His great-grandfather, Alexander Hamilton, was a native of Scotland, and in that land followed weaving. Soon after the establishment of American independ- ence he came to this country, locating in eastern Pennsylvania. He remained there but a short time, however, going to South Carolina, where he lived for about thirty years. He then removed with his family to Ohio, and spent his last days near Oxford, that state. In this country he carried on agricultural pursuits. He was a man of earnest purpose, plain manner and of unqualified reliability, and in religious belief was a Scotch-Presbyterian, or Covenanter. Samuel Hamilton, the grandfather of the Doctor, was born in Pennsylvania, in 1789, and when a small boy went with his parents to the south. He also accompanied them to Ohio and there married a Miss Cowgill, of Kentucky. In 1844 he came to Fayette county, Indiana, and made his home near Fay- etteville until his death, which occurred in 1856. By occupation he was a tiller of the soil; he served in the war of 1812, and like his father was a Pres- byterian in religious faith.
Elijah Hamilton, the Doctor's father, was born in Preble county, Ohio, September 13, 1820, and followed farming, and served his country in the civil war. He married Mary J. Smith, and to theni were born two children, Everet C., who died in 1861, at the age of thirteen years; and the Doctor. The mother died in Fayetteville, in 1892, aged sixty-nine years. She was a daughter of Jacob Smith, whose father, Caleb Smith, was of sturdy New England stock, and came to Fayette county, in 1807, nine years before the state was admitted to the Union. In 1817, he entered a tract of land seven miles south of Connersville, now known as the Hick Halstead farm, upon which he spent his last days, his remains being there interred. He was a valiant soldier in the Revolution, and throughout his life carried on agri- cultural pursuits. Jacob Smith, the grandfather, married Margaret Ronald, whose ancestral line can be traced back to the ancient clan Ronald. She was also a sister of Whitelaw Reid's mother.
Dr. Hamilton spent his boyhood days under the parental roof and in April, 1863, when not yet eighteen years of age, enlisted as a private in Com-
A. N. Hamilton
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pany L, Third Indiana Cavalry, serving until the close of the war. He was mustered out July 20, 1865, at Lexington, North Carolina, and was finally discharged in August following. He was present when John Morgan sur- rendered to the federal forces near Gallipolis, Ohio; he saw service in Ken- tucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, South and North Carolina and Vir- ginia, and in March, 1863, while an orderly at the headquarters of the Twenty-third Army Corps, he carried the dispatch from Bull's Gap, Ten- nessee, to General Manson, countermanding the movement on Bristol. The country was overrun by guerrillas, and the mission was a hazardous one, but he reached the conimand near Jonesboro and received the warm thanks of General Manson, by whom he was kindly remembered for many years after the war. Dr. Hamilton was with his regiment on the campaign through Georgia and was on the memorable raid around Atlanta made by the Third Cavalry Division under General Kilpatrick. On the afternoon of the second day of this raid, near Bear Creek station, below Jonesboro on the Macon Railroad, he with a companion by the name of Jeffries, of the same company, captured a train load of commissary supplies belonging to the Confederate army. under General Hood, and turned them over to Colonel Kline, com- mander of the brigade. Dr. Hamilton also went on the celebrated "march to the sea " and the Carolina campaign with General Sherman, and was ever a loyal and valiant soldier, making for himself a most creditable military record.
After his return home the Doctor completed his academic education at Morning Sun, Ohio, and in 1869 began the study of medicine, first attending lectures, in the winter of 1872-3, in the Indiana Medical College, and prac- ticing from Dr. Bobb's free dispensary. From the Indiana Medical College he graduated in 1875, and in 1876 went to Texas, making his home on the Colorado river twenty miles above Austin, where he practiced among the people of the mountains. Later he was associated in business with Dr. R. D. Haire, a skillful surgeon, at Schell City, Missouri, and in the spring of 1877 he came to Fayette county and located at Everton, where he remained until June 3, 1882, when he came to Connersville and formed a partnership with Dr. V. H. Gregg, but since 1887 the Doctor has been alone in the prac- tice of his profession. He has met with creditable success, has well equipped offices, and though engaged in general practice he makes a specialty of sur- gery, and for fourteen years has been one of the surgeons of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad. His success as a surgeon is due to his minute and accurate acquaintance with anatomy, combined with efficient power of diagnosis, a cool head, steady nerve and strong mechanical genius. He is a member of the county, district and state medical societies, the American Medical Association and the International Association of Railway Surgeons. 53
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He is, and has been for a number of years, a member of the United States Pension Examining Board. He is examining surgeon for the United States for the Philippine war, and he is also the present county health officer.
On the 22d of March, 1877, Dr. Hamilton was united in marriage to Miss Mary Elizabeth Haire, and to them have been born three children: Eugene Everett, who is now a student in Purdue University; Arthur Mazzini, deceased; and Amita Josephine.
Mrs. Hamilton is a daughter of Samuel Hulbert and Eliza Jane (Le Master) Haire. She is a native of Missouri, and her parents were of old Virginia families. Her grandfather, Hulbert Haire, was a soldier under General Harrison, and participated in the battle of Tippecanoe. Mrs. Hamilton is well known in literary and social circles, being one of the found- ers of the A. D. O. U. Ladies' Literary Club, of which she is now the presi- dent. The Doctor is a valued member of the Union Veteran Legion and the Grand Army of the Republic, and of the Columbia Club of Indianapolis. He is the possessor of a very fine general as well as medical library, filled with many choice volumes, including many of a philosophic nature. He keeps abreast with all the questions of the day, is familiar with the works of the most advanced thinkers, and believes that every physician should study Darwin, Spencer and Huxley for a larger grasp and broader realization of the truths of life. He holds to the monistic school of philosophy, and does not go beyond the things of time and sense in his search after truth. He is a man of studious habits and scholarly tastes, of strong intellectuality and broad, general information, and in his profession he has attained an enviable position of distinction.
GEORGE W. ALVEY.
For more than a quarter of a century George W. Alvey was the leading blacksmith of Franklin county, Indiana, having his shop in Union, where he received work from the farmers for miles around, but more recently he has turned his attention to agricultural pursuits and has retired to a farm in Brookville township. He was born in the state of Maryland, in 1839, his parents being Philip and Luezella (Southern) Alvey, both natives of that .state.
Philip Alvey and his wife came to Franklin county sixty years ago and entered land in Brookville township, near the settlement of Union. He was an industrious, hard-working man, not without ambition, but he never gained at the expense of another's loss. He died in 1874, at the age of sixty-five years, and his wife passed away six years later, at the age of sixty-three. They had a family of eight children, namely: Charles, deceased; Samuel, deceased, William, deceased; George W., our subject; Julia Ann,
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widow of Daniel Green, of Madison county, this state; Mary, wife of Matthew Hamilton, of the same county; and two others, who died in early childhood.
George W. Alvey remained on the farm at home until he reached his nineteenth year, when he learned the trade of blacksmith, and he carried on the trade in Union, this county, for over twenty-five years. He understood the work thoroughly and received the patronage of a large number who would bring their work for miles in order that he might do it for them. The
work in a blacksmith shop is necessarily very wearing on the one who follows it continuously, so Mr. Alvey thought it advisable to retire from the business and choose some occupation that would be more conducive to health. Accordingly, in 1893, he rented a farm in Brookville township, and has since devoted his time to raising crops, demonstrating in a practical manner that the training of his early youth was not in vain, as his farm is a model of neatness and his farm produce of superior quality and quantity. In politics Mr. Alvey is a Republican.
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