USA > Indiana > Union County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume II > Part 43
USA > Indiana > Fayette County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume II > Part 43
USA > Indiana > Franklin County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume II > Part 43
USA > Indiana > Wayne County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume II > Part 43
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62
William Sparks and wife became the parents of ten children, eight sons and two daughters, all of whom have passed away except Hiram, the sub- ject of this sketch, and his brother Stephen, who resides in Missouri. The 57
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names of the ten in order of birth were as follows: Zachariah, Joshua, Jane, John, Mary, Stephen, Mathew, William, Joseph and Hirain. All except Mathew and Joseph reached mature age and reared families, and John and William are well known Baptist ministers.
Hiram Sparks was born on the old homestead of his parents, in Fayette county, Indiana, October 2, 1821, being the youngest of the family. As he grew up his boyhood days were passed in assisting in the clearing and culti- vation of the farm, and he has been a resident of Fayette county all his life, with the exception of a period of fifteen years when he and his wife were resi- dents of Kansas.
February 17, 1842, Hiram Sparks married Miss Elizabeth Stoops, a daughter of John and Eady (Martin) Stoops. Mrs. Sparks was born in Brookville, Indiana, October 27, 1823, and is a granddaughter of David Stoops, one of the pioneers of Franklin county.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Sparks are consistent members of the Baptist church, and politically he harmonizes with the Republican party.
JOHN BURKHART.
Captain John Burkhart, ex-soldier of the rebellion and superintendent of the Brookville water-works, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, April 29, 1837, and is a son of Robert and Magdalena (Leis) Burkhart. Robert Burkhart came to this country from Baden, Germany, and first located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1833. He engaged in work at his trade,-edge-tool making. In 1835 he went to Cincinnati, where he engaged in a general blacksmithing business. He made many of the tools for the Little Miami Railroad. This was the first railroad to enter Cincinnati and he had a con- tract to make a large number of picks when his career was cut short by death, in 1842, at the age of thirty-two years. His wife died thirteen years later, at the age of forty-eight years. One daughter and three sons com- posed this family, each of the sons doing duty in the civil war. Robert, the eldest, was in a Missouri regiment, under Generals Lyon and Sigel, and later, in 1863 and 1864, in the Army of the Cumberland; John is our sub- ject; Caroline, the only daughter; and Joseph, who served three years in the Sixth Ohio Regiment.
Captain John Burkhart attended the public schools of Cincinnati, and when fourteen years of age was placed in the bell and brass foundry of George W. Coffin & Company to learn the trade of brass-moulding and pattern-making, going to school in the winter. After three years, on account of impaired health, he was forced to quit the brass works. At the age of seventeen he left school and for two years and a half was engaged in various branches of starch-making in the St. Bernard and Lockland, Ohio, starch
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factories. In the latter part of 1856 he accepted a situation in R. G. Smith's machine shop, Fay's building, Cincinnati, Ohio. In July, 1858, Joseph Cooper and Washington McLean purchased the Whitewater canal and now offered Captain Burkhart a more remunerative position, in connection with canal work. Accordingly he came to Brookville, and took charge of a steam dredging machine and when not engaged with the dredge assisted in the repairing of locks, aqueducts, dams, etc.
April 23, 1861, he dropped civil pursuits and enlisted in Captain John Burton's company, later known as Company C, Thirteenth Indiana Volun- teers. However, before Burton's company was assigned to any regiment, Captain Burkhart, with a number of others, withdrew from Burton and joined the Sixteenth Regiment of Indiana Volunteers, under Colonel P. A. Hackle- man (the late General Hackleman, killed in the battle of Iuka, Mississippi), at Richmond, Indiana. The regiment was called into service for one year, and was part of General Banks' column in the Shenandoah valley and before Washington, taking part in all marches and actions of that column from July, 1861, to May 15, 1862, when the regiment was discharged at Washington city, and Captain Burkhart returned home and took up his work where he had dropped it, on the Whitewater canal. July 15, 1862, he enlisted in Company C, Sixty-eighth Regiment of Indiana Volunteers, at Laurel, Indi- ana; assisted in recruiting the company; was made sergeant and later pro- moted to first sergeant, and then to second lieutenant. He was taken prisoner at Munfordville, Kentucky, but was paroled and exchanged and was then granted thirteen days' furlough. A few days were spent in Indianapolis, after which he moved to Louisville, Kentucky, thence, via Cumberland river, to Nashville, arriving there the day after the battle of Stone river. From January 1, 1863, to March, he did garrison duty at Nashville and then pro- ceeded to Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Here he marched in a foraging expedi - tion with Colonel Hall and was engaged in an eleven days' raid against Mor- gan, in which the latter was routed. His regiment belonged to Reynolds' division, Fourteenth Army Corps, under General George H. Thomas, and they were engaged in a three-days skirmish about Hoover's Gap and finally formed in battle, thereafter making rapid marches and driving the enemy before them through Manchester and from their stronghold, Tullahoma, and across Elk river to the foot of the mountains bordering the Tennessee river.
During this campaign, lasting seventeen days, it rained almost continu- ously. While in bivouac on Elk river they received the news of the victory at Gettysburg and surrender of Vicksburg. They then moved to Decherd Station, thence across the mountains, over University Heights, camping there four days. They then proceeded through Sweden's Cove to Jasper, situated near the Tennessee river; crossed the river in dug-outs at Shell
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Mound, where a fruitless attempt was made to save a large viaduct at White- side that had been fired by the rebels. They crossed the Raccoon mount- ains at the tri-state line and entered the Trenton (Georgia) valley, remaining four days in that valley. They then moved around the sand ridge into Look- out valley; hurried across Lookout mountain, at Stephen's Gap, in the night to support General Negley's division; were on the skirmish line for two days following at Pond Springs; on the night of September 18 marched all night, moving from Pond Springs to near Gordon's Mills, and engaged in the battle of Chickamauga September 19 and 20. On the afternoon of the 20th their gallant colonel, Edward A. King, then acting brigade commander, was killed. They withdrew in the night in the direction of Chattanooga, later retired into the city, built fortifications and did picket duty until the 18th of November, and that night took a desirable piece of timber and advanced the picket lines, the enemy retiring without firing a shot.
When the call for troops came in December, 1864, our subject raised a company, Company F, One Hundred and Forty-sixth Indiana Volunteers, under Colonel Merritt C. Welsh. This regiment went to the front the fol- lowing March, doing duty in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, where they remained until after the close of the war, and were finally discharged August 31, 1865. Captain Burkhart served three years and thirty days, and was ready for duty every hour of this time. He had the good fortune of receiving no wounds or being otherwise disabled.
After the war Captain Burkhart engaged in contracting and building. He designed and built many residences in Brookville and vicinity, had part of the contract for remodeling the court-house, and furnished the plans for the system of water-works in operation since 1891, of which he has been superintendent since its completion. He also furnished the plans for the rebuilding of the Laurel dam of the Brookville & Metamora Hydraulic Com- pany. In 1884 he removed the old brick house which was the birthplace of General Lew Wallace, and replaced the same with a modern residence.
In November, 1862, John Burkhart and Mary Grossman were united in matrimony. Her parents were Simon and Catharine Grossman. The chil- dren born to this couple were: Catharine, wife of E. C. Butler; William, who married Lillian Bradburn; Mary, who married Willick Wilson; Edward C. and Magdalena.
EUPHRATES 1. CHANCE.
Success is determined by one's ability to recognize opportunity and to pursue this with a resolute and unflagging energy. It results from continued labor, and the man who thus accomplishes his purpose usually becomes an important factor in the business circles of the community with which he is connected. Mr. Chance, a well-known merchant of Alpine, has, through
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such means, attained a leading place among the representative business men of Fayette county, and his well-spent and honorable life commands the respect of all who know him.
He was born in Dearborn county, Indiana, March 19, 1847, a son of Hiram and Eliza (Thompson) Chance. The grandfather, John Chance, a soldier of the war of 1812, moved from Pennsylvania to Hamilton county, Ohio, in 1817, and four years later took up his residence in Dearborn county, Indiana, where he spent the remainder of his life. He was a prosperous and success- ful farmer throughout life, an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church and an old-line Whig in politics. He married a Miss Glass, and to them were born twelve children: Thomas, Robert, Jessie, Lucinda, Catharine, Hiram, John, Perry, Lucetta, Mary, Elizabeth and Jackson.
Hiram Chance, father of our subject, was born in Hamilton county, Ohio, March 5, 1819, and was taken by his parents to Dearborn county, Indiana, in 1821, where he grew to manhood and has since made his home. A good farmer and stock-raiser, he has met with excellent success in his life work, but is now practically living retired, though he still supervises his farm. For many years he has been an earnest member of the Methodist church, and in political sentiment is a strong Republican, and was formerly a Whig. In 1842 he married Miss Eliza Thompson, who was born in Dearborn county, in 1822. Her parents, Dorus and Sarah (King) Thompson, came to this state from New York in 1816 and took up their residence in Dearborn county, where they remained until death, her father being an extensive and success- ful farmer of his community. Our subject is the second in order of birth in a family of six children, the others being Virgil E., a merchant of Philomath, Indiana; Eldorado, a farmer of Dearborn county; Leander V., a merchant of Bentonville, Indiana; Effie N., at home; and Sarah, who died in infancy.
E. I. Chance passed his boyhood and youth upón the home farm and after attending the common schools of that locality for a time he became a student in Moor's Hill College, acquiring there a good English education, which has well fitted him for life's responsible duties. At the age of nine- teen he commenced teaching school and for twelve consecutive years suc- cessfully followed that profession. The following year he served as deputy postmaster and agent for the Adams Express Company at Lawrenceburg. In 1880, with his brother, Leander V., he came to Alpine and purchased a stock of goods of J. D. Newhouse, since which time he has successfully engaged in general merchandising, having built up a large and profitable business. He is also serving as postmaster, as agent for the American Express Company and for the Big Four Railroad at that place, making a large amount of business for one man to handle; but his duties have always been most promptly and satisfactorily discharged.
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Politically, Mr. Chance is a very ardent Republican and takes a lively interest in all campaigns. He has served as trustee of Columbia township; and on the death of S. E. Thomas, May 26, 1895, he was appointed to fill his unexpired term as county commissioner, to which office he was elected in 1896 and re-elected in 1898, being the present incumbent. He has proved a good official, being faithful and intelligent, and has been a prominent and influential delegate to the county and district conventions of his party. He is a man of excellent business and executive ability, whose sound judgment, unflagging enterprise aud capable management have brought to him a well- merited success. He is an elder of the Christian church, and belongs to Lawrence Lodge, No. 74, I. O. O. F. On the 25th of October, 1892, Mr. Chance married Miss Belle R. Rood, of Fayette county, who presides with gracious dignity over his home.
GEORGE W. SHAFER.
As early as 1812 Daniel Shafer, the grandfather of the gentleman whose name heads this article, settled in Franklin county, and for eighty-six years he and his descendants have dwelt in Springfield township. Daniel Shafer was a native of Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, and in early manhood he determined to seek his fortune in what was then the western frontier. In 1809 he went to Butler county, Ohio, where he was married the following year, and two years later he and his young wife set out for Indiana. Locat- ing in the wilds of Bath township, they remained there but a few months and then permanently settled in Springfield township. Entering land, the father improved a farm in the forest, reared his children, and then passed to his reward. He was a typical pioneer, industrious and upright, and an active worker in the Methodist church. His eldest son, Daniel, died unmarried; Henry died in Indianapolis; James is a farmer of this township; John is our subject's father; and the only daughter was Mrs. Sally Shera, now deceased.
John Shafer, who was born in Butler county, Ohio, April 20, 1811, remained under the parental roof until he reached his majority. In 1832 he learned the cooper's trade, which he followed for sixteen years with success. In 1835 he wedded Mary Clendenning, who was born March 14, 1815, in Franklin county, Indiana. Her father, John Clendenning, settled near Mount Carmel, and later removed to another farm, where he passed the rest of his years. He was a consistent member of the Methodist church, and, using the fanciful thought of the imaginative Orientals, it might be said that he was caught up to heaven in a chariot of fire, as his death was occasioned by a stroke of lightning. He had five children, namely: Mrs. Rebecca Jenkins, Mrs. Margaret Winn, Mrs. Rachel Dowell, Mrs. Mary Shafer and Mrs. Lucinda Coulter. John Shafer commenced the battle of life with limited
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means, buying a small tract of land, and, as he could afford it, invested in additional property. At length his homestead comprised two hundred and seventy-eight acres, improved with a commodious brick house, substantial barn and other buildings. His residence was finely situated and was but one mile west of the town of Springfield. He was a genuine philanthropist, and the poor and needy never applied to him in vain. His name and record are such as his posterity may be proud of, and his friends were legion. He entered the silent land May 5, 1884, and was survived nearly a decade by his widow, who departed this life December 18, 1893, a loved member of the Methodist church.
George W. Shafer, whose birth occurred February 23, 1850, on the old homestead where he still resides, was the seventh of the nine children born to his parents. His eldest sister is Mrs. Margaret Tryon; the next is Mrs. Mary E. Dearmond; and the youngest is Sarah J., wife of A. J. Scott; Daniel S., the eldest brother, now residing in Kokomo, Indiana, is a hero.of the civil war, was for five months a prisoner in the hands of the Confeder- ates, and still carries a bullet in the upper part of his thigh, as an unpleasant reminder of his army life; James F., who also volunteered in the defense of the Union, died during his service, of typhoid fever; Henry J., another brother, served for two years and received an honorable discharge on account of impaired health; he died in 1898 and left a wife and two children to mourn his loss; John P., the fourth of the family, departed this life in 1884, and left a wife and two children; Charles M., the youngest, died at the age of twelve years.
From his youth George W. Shafer has been familiar with agriculture and stock-raising. He has remained on the old homestead, of which he owns one hundred and four acres, he having purchased this amount of land, including the farm buildings, of the other heirs to the parental estate. For ten years subsequent to his marriage, in 1881, he lived in a tenant house on this farm, but since 1891 he has dwelt in the more pretentious and commo- dious house which his father erected. He was a loving, dutiful son, and was especially careful and thoughtful of his aged mother during her last years. He is a progressive farmer and good business man, and is making a success of his undertakings, as he richly deserves. Following in the footsteps of his patriotic father, he takes active interest in public affairs, discharging his full duty as a citizen. For three generations the family has been loyal to the Whig and Republican parties, and during the civil war they surely did their share, not only furnishing three brave soldier boys to fight, suffer and die, if need were, for the Union, but aided in securing recruits and supplies for the federal army.
The wife of George W. Shafer was formerly Miss Mary Kinney, born in
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Butler county, Ohio, April 11, 1863, the third child of Martin and Margaret Kinney, both of whom were natives of Ireland, and Catholics in religious faith. They were married in Cincinnati and settled in Butler county, Ohio, where they are still living, engaged in agriculture. Their other children are: Mrs. Margaret Webber, Mrs. Ann Dawson; Kate, Mrs. Thomas Lennon; and Dean and Thomas, who are unmarried and yet at home. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Shafer has been blessed with two daughters: Pearl, born August 9, 1882, and Winnie, June 22, 1888.
Mr. and Mrs. Shafer are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, he being a trustee. He is a member of the Odd Fellows society, has filled all the offices of the home lodge and has attended the grand lodge of the state.
GEORGE W. RANCK.
In the death of the honored subject of this tribute, Brownsville and Union county lost one of their best citizens, -a man sincere, upright and conscientious in word and deed. His life was a busy and successful one, - not, however, given up to self-aggrandizement, but ever dominated by the noble desire to aid and uplift his fellow men. A complete record of the good deeds which he performed, of the kindly sympathy which he invariably exercised toward others, could not be compiled, for he was modest and un- ostentatious in all his acts, and few, save those most concerned, knew of his numerous charities and nobleness of purpose.
The father of the subject of this memoir was George Geitner Ranck, who was a worthy representative of an honored old Virginia family which was connected with many of the prominent families of the Old Dominion by ties of relationship. For his wife George G. Ranck chose Miss Susanna Manchester, a native of England, and unto them was born George Washing- ton Ranck, on the 28th of December, 1842. The family were then residents of Wayne county, Indiana, their home being upon a farm not far from the county line of Fayette county. The senior Ranck was a progressive and suc- cessful business man and a practical agriculturist, and he trained his boy in the various affairs which would be of use to him in later life. His labors completed, he received the summons to lay aside his earthly burdens, his death taking place some sixteen years ago.
The boyhood of George W. Ranck passed quietly on the old homestead in Wayne county. After he had mastered the elements of an education as taught in the district schools of the period he attended Miami University, at Oxford, Ohio, for a few terms, but was not able to finish the course. He engaged in teaching and made a great success in that line of endeavor, many of his pupils still remembering him with pleasant thoughts of the days which they spent together in the school-room. At last his father pursuaded him
Geo & Panele
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to return home and to assume the management of the place, which he did, faithfully caring for the farm and looking tenderly after the welfare of his parents until the death of the father, in 1883.
After his marriage, in 1885, Mr. Ranck removed to the farin which is now carried on by his widow. This property was known as the George Coffman farm, and its one hundred and ten acres are among the best and most fertile in this region. The house is finely situated on a bluff overlooking the Whitewater valley, and everything about the homestead is modern and kept in a thrifty manner. Mr. Ranck was occupied in general farming, and also bought and sold grain and seeds, and developed a business which, had he lived, would have attained large proportions. In addition to his home farm, he owned a tract of rich bottom land in the valley, and had money invested in other enterprises. A man fond of good stock, he kept a high grade of horses and cattle. His father selected him as one of the administrators of his estate, and he conscientiously adjusted all the affairs pertaining to the settlement of the same.
Mr. Ranck was a man of sound judgment and was not radical in his views on all the great questions of the times. In his political belief he was a Democrat. Religiously he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and was an earnest advocate of the temperance cause.
On the 17th of September, 1885, Mr. Ranck married Miss Amelia Lou- isa House, a daughter of Charles F. and Anna Mary (Hyde) House. The latter were both natives of Germany, and became residents of the United States about 1856. Mr. Ranck was born in Cincinnati, and in 1861 came to Brownsville, since which time she has made her home in this immediate locality, where she is held in very high esteem by all. Her father lived to attain an advanced age, dying in Liberty, in January, 1894, and the mother is now with her youngest son, Dr. Q. R. House, of Sellersburg, Indiana.
It was a great pleasure to enter into conversation with George N. Ranck, for he was an interesting speaker and had a great fund of wisdom and humor at command. He had visited about all the notable places of interest in the United States, for he delighted to travel. He spent some time at the Chi- cago Columbian Exposition, and in October, 1897, he and his wife attended the Nashville (Tennessee) Exposition. Returning home, he was soon stricken with typhoid fever, and after six weeks' illness passed into the silent land, November 22, 1897, mourned by a large circle of friends.
JAMES S. BAKER.
This well known and highly esteemed citizen of Milton, Indiana, who now conducts a livery, feed and sale stable at that place, is a native of this state, born in Fayette county, December 25, 1837, was reared on a farm
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and educated in the common schools and the Industrial College, of Rich- mond, Indiana. His parents, John and Mary (Hanna) Baker, were born, reared and married iu Bourbon county, Kentucky. The paternal grand-par- ents of our subject were Abraham and Mahala (Fifer) Baker. The grand- father was born near Ellicott's Mills, Maryland, a son of Jacob Baker, a native of Germany, and from there removed to Kentucky. He was a stone- mason and farmer, most of the family being tillers of the soil. In 1824 he came to Fayette county, Indiana, and located at what is now known as the
Baker settlement. In political sentiment he was a Whig. His children were David; John, father of our subject; Nancy, wife of J. Grove; Harrison; Eliza, wife of J. Lewis; Ellen, wife of D. Groves; and Daniel. All lived to a ripe old age but are now deceased. The father was over ninety years of age at the time of his death.
Soon after his marriage, John Baker, the father of our subject, came with the other inembers of his father's family, to Fayette county, Indiana, in 1824, making the journey with a four-horse team and cutting his own road through the forest for many miles. Land had previously been entered on two sections about two miles east of Falmouth, and there all the members of the Baker family improved good farms, on which they reared their respect- ive families. Our subject's father was a successful farmer and stock-raiser; was first a Whig and later a Republican in politics; and was called upon to fill some township offices. Although not a member of any religious denom- ination, he was a strictly moral man and gave his support to churches. His wife, who died December 2, 1857, was a consistent member of the Method- ist church. His death occurred April 16, 1891. Her father, Joseph Hanna, was born in the north of Ireland, was a strong Protestant, and on his emi- gration to America settled in Kentucky, where he engaged in farming until called from this life. Both he and his wife were earnest members of the Methodist church. In their family were ten children, namely: Jane, who died unmarried; James, a resident of Rush county, Indiana; Mrs. Thomas Wright; Mary, mother of our subject; Mrs. Margaret Thomas, David, Isaiah, William, Mrs. Nancy Carter and Mrs. Elizabeth Johnson.
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