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 73
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Moses W. Lanning, whose name stands at the head of this biography, was married, January 1. 1880, to Miss Almeda Letitia Wright, a daughter of William G. and Talitha J. (Buckles) Wright, who was born in Blackford county February 16, 1860. Her father, William G. Wright, came from Virginia to Indiana as a boy and worked on the farm until he was married, in Delaware county, to Miss Talitha J. Buckles, and lived on a farm in Blackford county until her death in 1880. Afterward he married
Clarinda Shields, of Jay county, to which county he then removed and is there living to this day, aged seventy years.
Elder John Buckles, grandfather of Mrs. Lanning, was born in Marietta, Ohio, De- cember 21, 1812, and was married, August 18, 1833, to Mary Northcutt, who was born in Miami county, Ohio, August 7. 1815. She died in Delaware county, Indiana, in March, 1887, Elder Buckles dy- ing in September, 1898, aged eighty-seven years. He was a great-grandson of Robert Buckles, whose father was a wealthy land- lord in England and who had a family of twelve sons. Robert Buckles came to Amer- ica in 1685, being then seventeen years of age.
In 1841 Elder Buckles located in Dela- ware county, Indiana, and was one of the earliest settlers of Miles township. In many ways he was a most remarkable man. At fourteen years he united with the Baptist church and in 1841 he united with the Mis- sissinawa Old School Regular Baptist church. In 1845 he was licensed to preach and in 1846 he was ordained pastor of the last named church, remaining its pastor nearly all the remainder of his life. He traveled extensively as a preacher, crossing the Alleghany mountains twice and preach- ing in six of the states, but never received a salary from any church. His family has been on American soil for the last two hun- dred and fifty years, took part in the Revo- lutionary war, in the war of 1812-15, and in the war of the Rebellion, and they have al- ways been true to their country and also to their church.
One of the sons of Elder Buckles is also a distinguished minister of the Baptist church, viz: Rev. William N. Buckles, who was born in Miami county, Ohio, near Cass-
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town, September 14, 1838, and in 1841 was taken to the extreme northeast corner of Delaware county, Indiana, his parents locat- ing near Dunkirk. The parents of Elder John Buckles located in Ohio in the latter part of the eighteenth century, and were thus among the early pioneers of that state. David Buckles, father of Jolm, died at the age of eighty-seven, and his wife at the age of seventy-five. John died in his eighty- sixth year. Mary Northcutt was a daugh- ter of Willis and Eleanor ( Wilson) North- cutt, the foriner of whom came from North Carolina and the latter from Kentucky. He attained the age of seventy-five, she that of eighty-seven. Her mother, whose maiden name was Wilson, died at the age of ninety- seven. From Robert Buckles, who came to America as stated above in 1685, the line of regular descent is as follows to Rev. William N. Buckles : Robert's eldest son was James, whose son was James, whose son was John, whose son was David, whose son was John, and his son William N. To what has been already said of Elder John Buckles it may be added that in 1842 he sold dressed pork in Muncie at one and a half cents per pound, and he also tanned leather with which to make shoes for his family. He began with two hundred acres of land, and cultivated one hundred and twenty acres, all of which was cleared and improved by himself and his son, William N. He was an ordained minister of the Baptist church for fifty years, and was a member thereof for seventy-four years. His work in the different states in which he preached was carried on mainly on horseback. He was a general minister, or- ganized many churches, stood high as a church disciplinarian, never swore an oath, never drank liquor, never saw two men fight, never was sued for debt, and never sued but
one man himself. While he was wholly self- educated, he was considered one of the ablest ministers in the church. During his youth he taught school eighteen terms. In his dis- position he was not combative, was not con- tentious, being a mild-mannered man, be- leving in the kind of religion that is experi- mental and practical. His own life was an example to all, and was thus all the more in- fluential than if it had been merely theoret- ical. He organized the Baptist church at Hartford City, and preached therefor as long as it remained a church, except for eighteen months, when he was pastor of the Mississin- awa church, near Dunkirk. Politics he per- sistently and consistently eschewed, confin- ing himself to the religious life. Of his family nine reached mature years and mar- ried, and all but one were living at the time of his death. There were five sons and four daughters, of whom William N. and John F. reside in Blackford county.
William N. remained on the farm until he attained his majority, receiving his edu- cation in the old log school-house. In 1862 he became a teacher, his license being granted by Abraham Jutmore, an old attorney of Hartford City, and his first school being in Licking township. Of the seven terms of school taught by him all were in Jackson township but the first, and four were in the home school-house, the Crumley Cross- ing school. During this same time he was engaged in the clearing of his farm, which lies two miles south of Trenton, and con- tains eighty acres, for which he paid eight hundred dollars, and to which he moved in 1864. This farm he cleared and cultivated and made it his home until 1889. It is now owned by John J. Hill.
In 1889 he bought his present farm, one- half mile south of Mill Grove, and contain-
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ing fifty-one and a half acres, which was originally a swamp, but which had been cleared and ditched, and which lies on the bank of Licking creek. Mr. Buckles has taken out the stumps and has set : ut a fine orchard and erected good buildings. He has his farm in an excellent state of cultiva- tion, in fine condition for growing grain, which he feeds to stock.
In 1873 he united with the same church to which his father belonged, and in 1876 was ordained minister by the presbytery. He began as pastor and as an evangelical minister, operating in Indiana, Illinois, Ne- braska, Missouri, Kentucky and Ohio, his plan being to follow so far as practicable apostolic methods, and he was often away from home four weeks at a time. He is dif- ferent from his father in this -- that he pre- fers evangelical work, while his father pre- ferred a regular pastorate. But he has filled pastorates in Blackford, Jay and Delaware counties. He enjoys the discussion of Bib- lical and doctrinal questions, but generally in private, by the fireside. However, he sometimes preaches doctrinal sermons, in which case his sermons bristle with strong arguments. For several years Mr. Buckles has been quite active as a worker in the Democratic party, which he is always ready to uphold and defend. In 1865 he served as township trustee, and in 1878 he began a three-year term as county commissioner. As such officer he always favored public im- provements, one of those improvements being the building of the county jail. His asso- ciates were Harrison Moon, Uriah Dick, William Schmidt and Isaac Ricketts. The pioneer county pikes were also built at that time, and in all ways practicable Mr. Buckles favored the improvement of the county.
Mr. Buckles was married, August 30,
1860, to Miss Margaret M. Shrack, who was born on the present site of Dunkirk. They have had five children, as follows : Aaron Elmer, who began to teach at the age of twenty, and is now a teache at Mill Grove, having completed his eighteenth term, all in Jackson township, and in the winter of 1899- 1900 ten of the teachers of Jackson town- ship were former pupils of his; Letitia Josephine, who has been a school teacher; Allie Adelia, who died at twenty-seven ; Ke- turah, who died in infancy: Eva: Ruth, a teacher; Gertrude, who died at the age of seven; Nellie and Bessie, school girls, living at home.
Moses W. Lanning, upon beginning life on his own account. purchased a farm in Jackson township, upon which he lived four years. Then, in 1885, in company with George W. Ludy, he established a tile manu- factory, which he has continued to conduct up to the present time. This has been and is an extensive business, the annual value of the output of the factory being about three thousand dollars. The most prosperous times for this institution were about 1890. The company employs from four to six men and has an excellent reputation. Mr. Lan- ning is president of the Mill Grove Natural Gas Company, which was organized about twelve years ago, with Mr. Lanning as one of the original stockholders, but he has been president only two years. One well is lo- cated in the tile yard, the company having about nine miles of pipe with one hundred and seventy consumers, and it is paying fair dividends. Mr. Lanning still owns his farm, has erected upon it a good house and barn, both of them comfortable and conven- ient, and in both farm and improvements takes a pardonable pride.
Politically Mr. Lanning is a Democrat,
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but is in no sense an office seeker, preferring to devote himself to his private business, which requires all his attention. His family consists of two daughters, both of them at home: Lefa Alma and Hattie Jessamine, the latter of whom is making a specialty of instrumental music. One son, named Jo- seph, died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Lan- ning have practically adopted a nephew of hers, William Harold Hubbard, since he was three days old, at which time his mother died. ' They are both members of the Mis- sissinawa (Predestinarian) Baptist church, on Green street, in Delaware county, west of Dunkirk. Mr. Lanning is a deacon of the church, in the work of which he takes an active interest, and he has been licensed as a public speaker. Mr. Lanning is one of the most enterprising and public-spirited men of his county, and enjoys the confidence and esteem of all who know him.
DAVID VANCE.
David Vance, one of the most prominent and successful farmers of Blackford county, is descended from excellent Virginia par- ents, named, respectively, William and Sarah (Heaton) Vance. William Vance was a potter by trade, having a pottery at Morgan- town, Virginia, from which place he was ac- customed to float his wares down the river to various river towns in search of a market, sometimes reaching as far down the Ohio as Cincinnati, selling out his stock and flatboats and walking back. He was married in Indi- ana, became a farmer in Marion county, and died when about the age of sixty-two. His wife died while still younger than this.
David Vance was the second of eight
children, of whom six are still living in vari- ous parts of the country, one of them, Will- iam, living in Marion county. Up to his fourteenth year our subject lived upon the farm, acquiring such education as the coun- try schools afforded. and from that age up- ward he has been self-supporting, showing the quality of the metal of which he is made. Having learned with his grandfather, Eben- czer Heaton, the trade of a carpenter, includ- ing the wheelwright trade and that of a cab- inetmaker, he afterward worked at these sev- eral trades for himself, continuing thus en- gaged until the breaking out of the war, which changed the plans of so many Ameri- can youths.
In July, 1861, he enlisted as a member of Company E, Thirty-ninth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and saw his fighting during the second day of the great battle of Shiloh, which was fought April 6 and 7, 1862. In this battle he was wounded in his right foot, his big toe on this foot having ever since caused him constant pain. After the battle of Stone River the Thirty-ninth Regiment was re-organized as the Eighth Indiana Cav- alry and was attached to General Kilpatrick's division, and participated in the great At- lanta and Savannah campaigns of General Sherman, and was in the last battle of Averysboro, South Carolina, Mr. Vance being present with his command and taking part in all its actions. At Stone river he was taken prisoner and held by a body of Texan rangers, together with John Garrity, now of Hartford City, for a few minutes, but being led soon after their capture in front of Sheridan's men the rangers tried to escape, but were all killed, and Mr. Vance was thus enabled to return to his own regi- ment, having a musket again in his hands in less than half an hour after his capture.
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While in the service he was wounded five times, but as all were flesh wounds he was never long detained thereby from the ranks. being constantly with his command. On one occasion he was one of a squad of scouts that entered the rebel lines and captured sev- eral prisoners, among them being the famous Major Rhett, who fired the first gun at Fort Sumter, April 14, 1861. He was also en- gaged in numerous scouting expeditions, and served until July, 1865, just eight days less than four years, having been at home but twice, once when sick with the measles and once on veteran furlough, when his regiment was in Georgia. Mr. Vance is now a pen- sioner, and though he has never united with the Grand Army of the Republic, yet he at- tends all of the reunions of his regiment, and greatly enjoys meeting his old comrades in arms.
After returning from the war he worked at his trade until he removed to his present farm, with the exception of the first year, which he spent at home. He located on his present farm in 1874, his father having en- tered three tracts, each of eighty acres, none of which, however, was improved. One of these eighty-acre tracts was given him by his father, and to the improvement of his farm and to the making of a living therefrom he has since devoted his energies. He has now one hundred acres under cultivation and has made excellent improvements, including buildings and underdrains, which he at first constructed of timber, the timber having more recently been superseded by good tile drains of the proper size. His farm is now well adapted to both hay and grain.
Mr. Vance was married, July 22, 1877, in Blackford county, to Miss Jennie Barr, fuller reference to whom is made in the biograph- ical sketch of Charles Barr, to which the
reader is respectfully referred. She was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, and was about ten years old when brought to this county. Mr. and Mrs. Vance have no children. Mr. Vance is a stanch Republican in his politi- cal views, but has never sought or desired office and is not a campaigner. Mrs. Vance is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church at Mill Grove, her parents having been prominent members of the same church before her, and her father having been con- sidered one of the pillars thereof. Mr. Vance is a member in good standing of the Odd Fellows lodge at Hartford City, and takes great interest in its fraternal features. The Fort Wayne Gas Company has three wells on his farm, one of which has been in opera- tion several years and is one of the best be- longing to the company. Mr. Vance's farm buildings are large and commodious, espec- ially his house, and these buildings were all erected by himself. Few if any of the cit- izens of Blackford county stand higher in the estimation of their fellow-men than does the subject of this sketch, and it is a great pleas- ure to make his biography a part of this volume.
EDWARD LUCINE SHULL.
The oldest druggist and pharmacist of Montpelier and proprietor of the leading drug store there, has been a resident of Blackford county ever since his birth, which occurred on the 4th day of April, 1848. His parents were William and Sarah A. ( Putt- man) Shull, the father for many years a well-known and successful druggist of Mont- pelier and also one of the city's most repu- table physicians.
Edward L. Shull received his primary
Edward h. Shull
Electa A- Shull
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education in one of the old subscription schools common in Blackford county in the early days, and subsequently obtained a knowledge of the more advanced branches of learning in Liber College, Jay county, which he attended one term. The meantime he completed the public school course, and at the age of eighteen years entered his fa- ther's drug store in Montpelier, where in due time he became familiar with every de -. tail of the trade, also mastering the intrica- cies of pharmacy. He continued with his father some years and then succeeded to the business, which he has since conducted with success and financial profit, being, as stated above, the oldest pharmacist in point of active service at this time in the city.
Mr. Shull was married, January 7, 1872, to Miss Electa A. Ellsworth, daughter of Nathan and Sabra (Shinn) Ellsworth, a union to which the following family have been born: Jessie L., whose birth occur- red January 16, 1876, and who is now the wife of Edward K. Martin, of Montpelier ; Guy E., born September 2, 1882, and an in- fant that died unnamed. Mr. Shull's ex- perience as a business man embraces a series of continued successes, and by close atten- tion, directed and controlled by a sound judgment, he has built up a large and lucra- tive trade, the result of which is the com- fortable competence he now commands.
He carries a fir ine of drugs, sundries and goods of like character usually found in first-class establishments, and as a com- pounder of medicines long since established a reputation which for knowledge and skill is second to that of no other pharmacist in Montpelier or Blackford county.
Personally Mr. Shull is a person of com- manding and agreeable presence, genial in manner, popular with the people of his city, 35
and commanding in an unusual degree the confidence and esteem of the public. While possessing superior qualifications which would enable him to succeed in any under- taking, it may modestly be said that not a little of his success is due to his social na- ture, which never fails to win and retain warm personal friendships. His enviable standing in the community has been hon- estly earned, and the people of Montpelier are proud of him as a business man and citi- ze11. With the exception of five years, when they lived in Kansas City, Springfield, Mis- souri, and Little Rock, Arkansas, where he was engaged in different pursuits, Mr. Shull and wife have spent their entire married life in this county.
JAMES GILLILAND BAIRD.
To the state of Pennsylvania, as well as to Virginia, are many of the western states indebted for their excellent citizens, those states having sent out numerous enterprising pioneers. James G. Baird, of Jackson town- ship, whose postoffice is Hartford City, and who was born near Adams county, Ohio, March 9, 1821, is a descendant of a family of this description, his parents having been Joshua and Susan (Gibson) Baird, both of whom were from Washington county, Penn- sylvania, and both of whom were taken in childhood by their respective parents to Ohio. Joshua Baird was a son of James and Eliza- beth ( Robinson) Baird. Susan Gibson was a daughter of Thomas and Sarah Gibson, and she married Joshua Baird in Adams county, Ohio, in which county they lived the rest of their lives. Mr. Baird served a short time at Sandusky as a soldier in the Ameri-
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can army during the war of 1812-15. Th .. children of this couple were four in number, James being now the only survivor and the only one who ever lived in Indiana.
The boyhood of James G. Baird was spent upon his father's farm, but as his father died when he was ten years of age, he thencefor- ward remained with his mother until he was twenty-five, when he married, August 9, 1846, Miss Clarissa Leadon, of Adams coun- ty. The next year he drove with team and wagon to Indiana in company with his fa- ther-in-law, who also located in Blackford county, Mr. Leedon having previously lived in this county and entered land in Licking township. But his wife dying here, he re- turned to Ohio, married again and then re- turned to Blackford county, settled on the farm he had selected and remained upon it until late in life, when he removed to Hart- ford City, where he died at the age of seven- ty-six. His name was William Leedon, and he had moved from Adams county, Ohio, to Blackford county, Indiana, about 1841. He is well remembered for his energy and enter- terprise, having owned a large farm which he managed in a businesslike manner. His daughter, Elizabeth, married John Sommer- ville, of Hartford City, and is a half sister of Mrs. Baird.
James G. Baird, coming here, as stated above, in 1847, soon determined to remain and purchased his present tract of land, eighty acres, at two dol- lars and fifty cents per acre. At that time he had about one hundred dollars in cash, and in consequence was compelled to go somewhat in debt. Upon this eighty-acre tract not a tree had been cut and it was all in its primitive state of wildness and beauty. He made a small clearing and erected a little log cabin, which served as a home for himself
and family for a number of years. There were then but few people living in this vicin- ity, only one small clearing having been made in a direct line toward Trenton for eight miles. But little of this kind of work had ben done in the direction of Hartford City and there was nothing but solid woods to the southeast for miles. But Mr. Baird was near the Fort Wayne trail, and so in communica- tion with the outside world. His first work was to clear his farin, which he set himself resolutely to do, and after raising one crop he was never in want, and made steady progress toward comfort and independence. His first house mentioned above was of round logs, clapboarded up and had a puncheon floor, and was in other respects similar to the first houses of most of the pioneers. This lasted him until 1861, when it was supplanted by a larger and better one, more in keeping with his surrounding's and on a plane with those of his more progressive neighbors. He was so industrious and economical that he soon had his farm paid for, and being ambi- tious to acquire more of this world's goods, he purchased other tracts of land, paying three dollars and fifty cents per acre for un- improved land of practically no value, but looking into the future he saw that value would come to it in due course of time. For some land of this kind he paid as high as sixteen dollars per acre, and at length was the owner of one hundred and sixty- seven acres, some of which he sold off so that at the present time he has only one hundred and thirteen acres, of which one hundred acres are in cultivation. More than forty acres of swamp land Mr. Baird has reclaimed by drainage, at first putting in wooden drains, which have been replaced with tile, his plan being to put in more or less tile drains each year. Now the farm is in excellent condi-
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tion, the swamp lands, formerly of no value, being now the best on his farn., producing readily one hundred bushels of corn to the acre. Mr. Baird has always been alive to the value of improvements, both private and public, perceiving that farm lands are made more valuable in this way, and that the ma- terial progress of the country depends at least to a considerable extent on the betterment of the roads and in the building up of various industrious establishments, for these create a market for farm products which are more easily gotten to market over improved roads.
Mr. Baird proved his faith in railroads by becoming a stockholder in the first built in this part of the country several years be- fore its construction. He sold six shares of the Pan Handle Railway Company's stock at thirty cents on the dollar and a free pass to Union City, while many of the other stock- holders never received a penny for their stock. Early in his farming operations Mr. Baird hauled wheat to Wabash and Hagers- town, distance of forty-five miles, receiving seventy-five cents per bushel, sometimes, however, not receiving more than thirty cents. In those carly days salt was worth five dollars per barrel. Mr. Baird has de- voted his farm for the most part to the rais- ing of grain and stock feeding considerable quantities of cattle and hogs and being noted far and wide for the quality of the stock that he feeds. l'is present commodious and con- venient hous ... he erected in 1883.
Politically Mr. Baird is a Democrat and has served as county commissioner, but on account of ill health he was compelled to re- sign in 1891. His associates during his term of service were Winslow Miles and John W. Clore. Mr. and Mrs. Baird have had the following children : Catherine, wife
of Isaac Black, of Hartford City ; William, of Jewell county: Kansas; Henry, of Lead- ville, Colorado; Alice, who died in her twentieth year ; Susan, who died at five years of age: John, of Leadville, Colorado; Jasper, who is operating the home farm, and America, wife of Patrick Carmichael, of Delaware county, Indiana.
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