USA > Indiana > Blackford County > Biographical memoirs of Blackford County, Ind. : to which is appended a comprehensive compendium of national biography embellished with portraits of many well known residents of Blackford County, Indiana > Part 70
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set out his orchard among the stumps and brush, and he has always followed the plan of being forehanded with his work. IIe ha: replaced the old timber ditches with tile underdrains, having laid about six hundred rods of tile and he now has sixty-five acres under cultivation. Corn and clover are his principal crops, the former of which he regularly feeds to his hogs, which he has made his main dependence. But he has also bred up shorthorn cattle and has been somewhat interested in high-class horses. His farm is improved with superior build- ings and he is comfortably situated in life
He and his wife have the following children : Alice A., wife of Charles Hiles, of Jackson township; Ora V., wife of John Green, of Dunkirk, she being a well educated young woman and especially proficien: in music; and Arthur D., who lives upon and manages the old homestead. He is now twenty-two years of age, has grown up on the farm, with the life upon which he is perfectly content, and is wholly devoted to the farm, taking the greatest interest and pride in everything connected therewith. His ambition. is to excel in all that he under- takes.
Mrs. Bales has always been a most de- voted wife and mother, doing her share of the labor and bearing her share of the burdens of life cheerfully and happily, thus. increasing the prosperity and happiness of all. She is the only daughter of her par- ents. Mr. Bales in political affiliations is a Democrat, has always attended his party conventions and has always been alive to party work. · For seven years he was presi- dent of a local gas company, which operates two wells, but while his farm is in the gas belt no well has as yet been developed thereon.
WILLIAM C. EDWARDS.
It is a great pleasure to present a bio- graphical sketch of a representative and in- fluential citizen, a self-made man, one whose efforts have always tended to benefit the community in which he lives as well as his own individual and family concerns. A resident of Blackford county since his six- teenth year, his brain and muscle have for more than thirty years been constantly.em- ployed in those labors which promote the interests of all. Such a man is William C. Edwards, who was born in Delaware county, Indiana, September 22, 1849, and his entire life has been passed in this im- mediate section of the state. He is a son of Absalom and Susannah (Wilson) Ed- wards, the former of whom was a native of North Carolina land, who as a boy was brought to Indiana by his parents, Ebenezer and Susan (Hamilton) Edwards. The par- ents of Ebenezer Edwards were James and Phillis (Jester) Edwards, of Green county, North Carolina, who lived and died in their native state.
Upon arriving in Indiana the Edwards family first settled in Wayne county, but later entered government land in Union township, Delaware county, where Absalom resided until in answer to his country's call he offered his services to the government, only, however, soon afterward to become a sacrifice to the sacred cause of liberty. His death, which occurred at Indianapolis, was the result of one of the most dread scourges of army life, the measles, and at his death he had not quite reached middle life, being only forty-two years of age. Filled with the ambition of making ample provision for the wife and five small children that naturally looked to him for support and kindly care,
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yet he was carried away while they were yet nearly destitute of the necessaries of life, and it was after months of delay that the widowed mother was granted the small pittance by the government of eight dollars per month pension. Yet small as it was, added to what her own efforts could sup- ply, it enabled her to respond to the deep seated motherly affection and desire to keep her children with her, instead of seeing them scattered among strangers and thus having family ties broken and each ultimately tak- ing care of himself. Previous to his enter- ing the army Mr. Edwards had secured a tract of one hundred and ten acres of land in Blackford county, though he had not had time to make any substantial improvements thereon. Determined to make this land her home, the widow had erected a small log house and stable, the latter of which is still in a fair state of preservation. William C. was her eldest child and being a young man of ambition, like his father, he took the lead in the work of clearing up and improving the farm and soon had sufficient land in cul- tivation to make a comfortable living for the family. The mother, who worked with tireless energy, with the assistance of her children, was enabled to place about forty acres in good farming condition, and also erected a new house to take the place of the little log house which for some years at first had been her home. Having done thus much it soon became apparent that her life work was ended. The struggle of years had so worn upon her strength that on August 20, 1880, a congestive chill brought to a close the career of the most self-sacrificing woman who had ever lived within the boundaries of Blackford county. When she had succeeded in getting her family affairs and farm into such a condition that she could have lived
an casier life the burdens she had borne and the labor she had performed for the benefit of her children had so worn upon her that physical endurance had reached a limit and the approach of the dread messenger could not be postponed. And when it is stated that she was only fifty-seven years of age, this is all that is necessary to show the kind of life she had led and the nature of the sacrifices she had made. But she lived long enough to see her family comfortably estab- lished in life. All except Benjamin F., who died at the age of fifteen. and Susan E., the youngest daughter, who was still at home, were married and settled near the old home- stead. No one can understand what it meant to her to carry out her cherished desire to keep her children with or near her and to give them the advantages of home training and a mother's influence. With a fixed pur- pose ever in view,she worked and strove until she was at length able to realize something of the satisfaction that comes to those whose lives are devoted to a single and noble re- solve, and who live to see their plans crowned with success. She sleeps in yonder church yard, the most sacred spot on earth to those to whom she consecrated her life.
Those who survived her were William C., the subject of this sketch; David H., who married Mary E. Scott, bought a por- tion of the homestead, and whose own life was suddenly brought to an end April 20, 1881. In company with his little son he was felling a tree, when it lodged, and in attempting to extricate it from its posi- tion he was in some way caught by the fall- ing trunk and instantly killed; his widow and three children remain, Clarence, Millie and Clara; Sarah J., wife of Henry Toll. lives near Eaton; and Susan E. is Mrs. A1. Curry, residing at Mill Grove.
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William C. Edwards remained with his mother until reaching his majority, when he began working away from home, and for eight years worked for others in various lines of labor, sometimes in a saw-mill, sometimes at railroading, or as a farm hand. Having by strict economy saved up a neat little sum of money, he determined to marry, and on September 8, 1877, was united in wedlock to Miss Mary E. Pore, a daughter of Thom- as Pore, of Delaware county, in which coun- ty she was born. William C. received a small part of the home farm as his interest and subsequent to his mother's death pur . chased two other shares of what then con- stituted the homestead. His youngest sister attaining her majority, she retained the homestead, and he purchased thirty acres adjoining, thus creating his present home and erected suitable buildings, so that he now has one of the best and most convenient farms in the vicinity. It contains seventy- one acres of land, of which about sixty are in an excellent state of cultivation, and all is well drained by natural outlets and by a judicious use of underdraining, tiling being largely used, which adds materially to its value and insures a golden return for the labor expended upon it. It is located close to the William pike, four miles south of Hart- ford City, and in a very productive section of country ; with its well arranged farm build- ings and many other conveniences it is in reality one of the most desirable farms in the neighborhood. Devoting his entire at- tention to his farm and exercising mature judgment in its management and the intel- ligence that has characterized him at every period of his life, Mr. Edwards is not only a most successful farmer but a man of stand- ing and influence in his community, and he is recognized as a most progressive and suc-
cessful man in every walk of life. Lying as it does in the gas region, this farm has two wells upon it, which are operated by the Fort Wayne Gas Company, they being con- sidered among the most productive wells in the circuit of this company.
Mr. and Mrs. Edwards are the parents of five children that still survive, viz. : Min- nie A., a student at Marion College; Nellie I., Roscoe A., Zona A. and Ralph C., all at home. Carrie May died in childhood. While never an aspirant for public place and while never offensive in his partisanship, Mr. Ed- wards acts with the present Mckinley ad- ministration, believing the principles repre- sented thereby most conducive to the pros- perity and honor of the country, both at home and abroad. While not directly af- filiated with churches or societies, yet he recognizes their value and influence for good, but he prefers to devote his personal atten- tion to his family and his home, giving his children the best educational advantages within his reach and the best advice his head and heart dictate. Carrying with him the respect due to.the unpretentious yet sin- cere life that he has led, the circle of his friends is constantly widening, and their ap- preciation of those substantial qualities of his character which tend to make for better civilization and a happier condition of things on earth is of more value to him than any- thing else in the world.
HARVEY BOWEN.
Harvey Bowen (deceased), late of Jack- son township, was born on the farm on which his life was mainly passed and where his family still reside. He was a prominent farmer and was well known for many miles
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around. He was born September 6, 1850. and was a son of William and Rebecca (Evans) Bowen, both of whom came orig- inally from Pennsylvania and were married in Ohio, having been taken from the former to the latter state when young. After their marriage they settled in Henry county, In: diana, and in 1847 removed to Blackford county, locating on the farm at present owned by the family and upon which they continued to live until their death, the for- mer dying in April, 1885, when he was sev- enty-nine years of age, and the latter in 1887, at the age of sixty-eight. They were the parents of eleven children, five of whom lived to mature years. Those living in 1900 were as follows: Amanda, who married Bimah Richardson and lives in Iowa; Sally, who married Amos Baker, of Marion, Indi- ana; John, residing in Hartford City, and the only one living in Blackford county ; and Minerva, wife of Arthur Bird, of Jay county, Indiana. Those that have died were named as follows: Adeline, who married Wesley Peyton and died in middle life; Fenton, who died at the age of sixteen ; and Harvey, the subject of this sketch.
William Bowen, in 1849, erected the house in which the family still reside, it being the first good house in the vicinity. His son, Harvey, spent his boyhood days on the farm until nineteen years of age, except that at fifteen years of age he spent some time in Illinois with his sister, Adeline. After his marriage, which occurred January 4, '1872, to Miss Mary A. Bird, a daugh- ter of Daniel and Sarah (Current) Bird and a sister of Arthur Bird, he took charge of the farm and also took care of his father until the latter's death, soon after which he left the farm and for some five years was engaged in trading and in various mercan-
tile enterprises. He lived at Dunkirk during this period, but retained his interest in the farm and secured the interests of the other heirs. At the end of the five years he re- turned to the farm and from that time de- voted his time and attention thereto. He had already placed it in a good state of cul- tivation and had pretty thoroughly under- laid it with tile. In former years he raised considerable stock, but in the later years of his life confined himself mainly to the grow- ing of grain and limiting his energies to the management and improvement of his farm, about one-half of which he himself cleared. He died October 10, 1899, after an illness of but two weeks, and from the time of his own retirement from active life his sons have conducted his property interests. Po- litically he was a Republican and served as township supervisor, always being active in the support of his party and its principles. He was a member of the Kingsley Methodist Episcopal church and at the time of his death had been class leader three years. He had also served as trustee of the church and as superintendent of the Sunday school. He was always a theoretical and practical temperance man, was retiring in his disposi- tion and seldom engaged in argument, being perfectly willing that others should entertain their own peculiar views.
Harvey Bowen and his wife were the parents of the following children: Glen, who married Martha Snyder, a daughter of David O. Snyder, and who is farming near Mill Grove; Earl, a student at Dunkirk high school of the class of 1900; he had the misfortune to lose his arm while hunt- ing, accidentally shooting it off above the elbow; Russel, who is now operating the homestead farm; Orilla, a school girl; and Roy.
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One of the pleasant peculiarities of Mr. Bowen's disposition was that he always took a deep interest in the happiness and welfare of the young, which interest was manifested in a thousand ways. He taught a class of young people up to the time of his death, and often said he wished he could remain young and be one of them. Young people greatly enjoyed going to his home, for he was of a lively disposition and gave many pleasant entertainments especially for them. Like his father before him, he kept "open house," and it was the center from which in the earlier days the Methodist preachers started out on their many riis- sions of peace and good will to the inhab- itants of the surrounding country. Few men, if any, in this part of the state had more true and warmhearted and admiring friends, for he was always genial and pleas- ant and interested in their welfare and was always ready to lend a helping hand.
. AMOS J. D. BAKER.
Amos J. D. Baker, who lives on section 32, Jackson township, one and a half miles north of Dunkirk, and who is a most suc- cessful farmer and teacher, was born on the quarter-section on which he now lives Sep- tember 21, 1862. He is a son of Zachariah J. and Priscilla (McPherrin) Baker, the former of whom was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, July 10, 1829, and was a son of David and Mary W. (Zimmer- man) Baker, both of German ancestry. David's grandfather was born on the ocean on the passage to America, and his parents were among the first German families to settle at Reading, Pennsylvania. Amos J.
D., the subject of this sketch, is the sixth in descent from the original settler at Read- ing, who, as was his wife, was of the Lu- theran faith. David was a prominent mem- ber of the militia in Pennsylvania, residing in Butler county, that state, removing to Indiana in 1860 and locating on the quarter- section now owned by the subject of this sketch, which he made his home for many years, and which he rescued from its prim- itive wild condition. He died in 1873, at the age of seventy, having been born in 1803. His widow survived him seven years, dying in 1880, at the age of seventy-two. Their children were nine in number, all coming to Indiana with their parents, and six of the nine still survive. These six are as fol- lows: Amos H., who served three years in the war of the Rebellion and now lives at Marion, Indiana ; William J., of Jay county, Indiana ; Jonathan S., of Dunkirk; Prussia J. M., also of Dunkirk; Mary W., wife of Henry S. Shirk, of Delaware county ; Aman- da J., widow of Benjamin Kelly and now living at Dundee; the three that died were named Zachariah J .; Josiah A., who died when sixty-five; and Catherine A., who married John Clouse and died when about forty years of age.
Zachariah J. Baker, in 1864, enlisted in Company B. Fifty-ninth Regiment Indiana Volunteers, in company with a few others of his town, their intention being to join Gen- eral Sherman at Atlanta, Georgia, but upon their reaching Nashville they learned that Sherman had already started on his march through that state to the sea and hence they had to return north, going via Washing- ton, D. C., and Beaufort, South Carolina, marching thence into the interior to unite with the victorious army of Sherman. They afterward marched with this army to Wash-
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ington, where they participated in the grand review.
Zachariah J. Baker and Priscilla Mc- Pherrin were married in Butler county, Pennsylvania, and removed to Indiana with his father. When they reached this county there were three or four houses in Dunkirk, together with a store, a postoffice, school house and blacksmith shop. He assisted his father to improve the farm and in time purchased forty acres, which he exchanged for the old homestead in 1876, upon which he resided the remainder of his life, his death occurring in 1896. He had about seventy acres in cultivation and laid tile to the amount of one thousand dollars worth and was one of the first to petition for the Lick Creek ditch, which started on his farm and which has caused so much litigation. He was always heartily in favor of all pub- lic improvements, and while a Republican was not offensively so, although he always voted the straight ticket. He and his wife were members of the Kingsley Methodist · Episcopal church, taking an active interest in church, taking an active interest in the the church and the work it had to do. He erected the residence now standing on the farm in 1886, and in all ways he was indus- trious, honest and energetic, working for the best interests of the public as well as of his own family. His widow still survives, living at the old home, retaining her interest in the local gas company, for which he sub- scribed some years previous to his death.
Zachariah J. and Priscilla Baker were the parents of the following children : William A. D., of Jackson township; Florence E. J., wife of Roscoe Dodd, of Winchester, Indiana; Mary E., wife of J. S. Painter, of Butler county, Pennsylvania ; Amos J. D., the subject of this sketch; Ida F. W., wife
of Charles L. Addington, of Jay county. Indiana; Charley W. L., living near Red Key, Jay county.
Amos J. D. Baker passed his boyhood in much the same way as do other boys on the farm, except perhaps that he was rather . more fond of learning and was therefore more inclined to take an interest in educa- tional affairs. He attended school at the Eastern Indiana Normal School at Port- land, Indiana, also the normal department of DePauw University at Greencastle, Indi- ana, and afterward at Valparaiso, taking a teacher's course. When twenty years of age he began to teach, taught winters and attended school five years. He has taught seventeen terms, all in Blackford and Jay counties, six years of which were in the home school and four in the Beaver Hill district in Jay county. Since he began ne has not missed teaching a single year. Many of his pupils are now teaching school, some are lawyers, some are preachers, some doc- tors and others are in other intellectual work. He has always impressed upon his pupils the necessity of aspiring to higher things, and in order to better qualify himself for the important work in which he has been for so long a time engaged he has attended all the teachers' societies, institutes and other gatherings which are calculated to improve the teaching force of the country. Mr. Baker believes in compulsory education and is most heartily in earnest in regard to all educational matters. With enthusiasm he has pursued high school studies, such as lan- guages, mathematics and history, and is es- pecially interested in the latter two branches of learning. The school trustees, having a high opinion of his ability as a teacher, have often placed him in charge of the most dif- ficult schools to govern and he has always
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succeeded and been faithful to the duties placed in his charge.
Mr. Baker was married, October 8, 1892, to Miss Rilla M. Addington, having simply exchanged sisters with his brother-in-law. She was born in Wayne county, Indiana, and educated in Ridgeville, Indiana, and at the time of her marriage was residing at Pennville. Mr. and Mrs. Baker have the following children : Chloe Agnes and Harry Leland. Mr. Baker is a Republican in poli- tics and has attended several of the conven- tions of his party. With the exception of four years when he resided in Jay county he has always lived on the old homestead, having purchased the interests of the other heirs. He adheres to the Methodist Epis- copal church and is a member of Dunkirk Lodge, No. 306, I. O. O. F., having passed all the chairs, being now past noble grand. He is also a member of the encampment and of the Rebekah degree. Few men of his age have been more active in good works or are more universally esteemed.
ROBERT B. BLANKENBAKER.
Robert B. Blankenbaker, a prominent farmer of Jackson township, whose post- office address is Dunkirk, was born in Madi- son county, Virginia, November 22, 1838, and was the third of four children born to Henry and Frances Blankenbaker, of whom fuller mention is made in connection with the biographical sketches of A. K. Wayman and Abraham Blankenbaker, both to be found elsewhere in this work. When the subject of this sketch was about six years of age his mother married A. K. Wayman, and he remained with his mother and step-
father until he attained his majority, being brought, however, to Indiana when he was thirteen years of age, and from that time he aided in the clearing up of the farm, most of the work connected with which devolved upon him and his brother, Abraham. How- ever, he learned the shoemaker's trade with his stepfather and worked at it for him one year, for which he received one hundred dollars. During this year, which was one of the busiest periods of his life, the price of boots and shoes was so high that Mr. Wayman realized considerable profit from his labor. . After this year thus spent in mak- ing shoes and boots he worked one year on the farm, and then purchased a farm of his own. He had received one hundred and twenty-five dollars from his father's estate in Virginia, and had himself saved enough to bring the aggregate up to three hundred dollars, and this he invested in the farm, for which he agreed to pay five hundred dol- lars, thereby going two hundred dollars in debt. He immediately set himself to work to clear and to improve his land and to make a good farm and home for himself and fam- ily. His first house, built by himself, lasted him as a home until 1887, when his present house was built. . For some years after es- tablishing himself on this farm he worked at his trade of shoemaker during the winter season, thus having an advantage over those farmers who had no trade.
Mr. Blankenbaker had some little experi- ence during the war of the Rebellion, enlist- ing in 1864, in Company D, Twenty-third Indiana Volunteers, and succeeding in reach- ing the regiment at Goldsboro, North Caro- lina. He had made an effort to reach the regiment at Atlanta, after the fall of that rebel stronghold, but upon reaching Dalton, Georgia, he found that Sherman had start-
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ed on his march to the sea, so he returned to Nashville, and went by the way of Balti- more, Washington, D. C., to Moorehead, North Carolina, reaching Sherman as has been stated, at Goldsboro. After partici- pating in the battle at Kingston, North Caro- lina, he came to Washington with Sherman, and was finally sent to Louisville, Kentucky, where he was discharged, July 29, 1865, having been in active service ten months.
Returning to the farm, he was married October 29, 1867, to Miss Martha Cordelia Batten, of Darke county, who was born in Madison county, Virginia, and who was brought to Ohio when four years of age, at the same time that Mr. Blankenbaker was brought from the same state and from the same vicinity of Virginia. Since the war he has for the most part devoted himself to the farm, from which he at one time sold forty acres, but as he afterward added eighty-five acres, he now has an excellent farm of one hundred and twenty-five acres, of which one hundred acres are in a high state of cultivation and splendidly drained. At first there were low, wet spots of land in different places on his farm, which, while in this condition, were of no value what- ever; but since the underdraining has been completed they have become dry and the best portions of his farm, because of the exceeding richness of the soil. While his farm is capable of producing almost every variety of crop, yet Mr. Blankenbaker de- votes it principally to grain, feeding most of it on the farm every year, thus deriving greater profit than if he sold it off as raw material.
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