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 76
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Mr. Chandler was married, June 13, 1880, to Clara Ann Rowe, whose birth oc- curred in Hartford City on the 25th of Feb-
ruary. 1856. She is the daughter of Henry P. and Emma (Bruce) Rowe, and has borne her husband the following children : Edith, Jay, Jennie R., Ruth, William and Mary, all of whom are living at this time ( 1900).
G. W. HOLDCROFT.
G. W. Holderoft, of Jackson township. was born in Switzerland county, Indiana, on the Ohio river, April 5. 1822. His parents were John and Rachel (Newkirk) Hold- croft. the former of whom served in the war of 1812-15), in the American army, in Ohio and Indiana, and was at Fort Wayne and Fort Meigs. His period of service extended all through the war, a portion of the time in the infantry and later in the cavalry, called the dragoons. His father, Richard Hold- croft, came from Pennsylvania, having lived there on a portion of the grant made to Will- iamı Penn.
G. W. Holdcroft married in Switzerland county and early in life learned the cooper's trade, at which he continued to labor for thirty years, beginning when thirteen years old to learn the trade and working for wages from the time he was fifteen years old, his wages going to support his mother. Ile did not set himself up in business, preferring to work as a journeyman. Having lived in Brown county eleven and a half years he then, in 1874, started for Kansas, but while en route the grasshoppers began their rava- ges in that state and when near Springfield, Illinois, he determined to return to Indiana, and in October of that year located on lt late farm, which contained one hundred and twenty acres, all covered with woods; how-
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ever the most valuable timber had been cut away. For the one hundred and twenty acres he paid one thousand five hundred dollars, immediately erected a round-log house and set himself to work to improve and pay for the farm. After two years' labor, having succeeded in fencing the farm and paying half what he originally owned, he offered it back to the person of whom he had purchased for the purpose of securing his money in re- turn; but the seller refused to accept the proposition. Mrs. Holdcroft was quite ill and he was very nuich discouraged with the prospect, and desired nothing so much as to get away from the farm. He had reached the point where he was willing to give up all he had, even to surrendering the farm for the notes held against him; but his son in- sisted on his remaining. As nothing else could be done he set to work to ditch his land, or rather the twenty-two acres he had cleared, and after this he raised a crop, the first he had raised. Previously his time ap- peared to have been wasted except so far as he had made a living for his family ; but now the tide began to change. The third year after ditching the twenty-two acres he raised a fair crop of wheat-thirty bushels to the acre-and that season he planted fifteen acres of corn. Since then he has never failed to raise a crop. His first ditch was constructed of slabs and he carried out this plan of ditch- ing as fast as he cleared his land. These ditches were so substantial that they lasted until within a few years of the present time, when some eight or ten of them were re- placed with tile. At length he had eighty- two acres in an excellent state of cultivation all cleared and tiled, and he has also erected fine farm buildings including a large and commodious barn, which together with his other improvements give him every needed
advantage for successfully carrying on diver- sified agriculture. After twenty-five years spent in this way he decided to sell his farm if possible, and at length sold it for forty dol- lars per acre, and with a portion of the money received purchased a small place near the old homestead at Mill Grove, which had a vil- lage residence attached to it, and in this resi- dence he is now living. Having assisted several of his children in unequal amounts he now, having sold his farm, gave to each the difference between what he had given them and two hundred dollars, so that all might share equally from his bounty.
Franklin Holderoft. of Jackson town- ship, whose postoffice address is Mill Grove. was born in Switzerland county, Indiana, October 29, 1856. He was a son of George W. and Mary A. ( Bills) Holdcroft, the bi- ography of the former of whom is presented above. Franklin Holdcroft was eighteen years of age the day after his father and family reached Blackford county, in 1874. and remained at home until he was twenty- four years of age. He purchased his first farm of seventy-eight acres, going into debt therefor to the amount of one thousand three hundred dollars, in 1885. At the present time he has it all under cultivation, including fifty acres which he himself has cleared. He has it all well tiled and drained, every field being reached by these drains and being in most excellent condition. His farm is de- voted to the raising of oats, clover and live stock, and to the feeding of many hogs. Upon this farm he has erected a large and convenient barn, and all his improvements are of the modern kind.
For some five years he was engaged in the timber trade, supplying railroad ties in Blackford and Randolph counties. It was during this period that he bought his farm,
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the valuable timber having been cut off, and only the smaller trees and underbrush remained.
Mr. Holdcroft was married, December 29. 1889, to Miss Emma Ford, a daughter of Andrew J. Ford, of Jackson township, in which township she was born, reared and ed- ucated in the common schools. Mr. and Mrs. Holdcroft have the following children : Ernest, Mabel, Wayne, Russell and Guy. Mr. Holdcroft is a Republican in politics and has been at different times a delegate to con- versions of his party. He is a member of Wabasso Tribe, Improved Order of Red Men, at Mill Grove, and while a member of no church yet he is everywhere regarded as an upright and honest citizen, and enjoys the full confidence of all his neighbors and friends.
Andrew J. Ford, of Jackson township, whose postoffice address is Mill Grove, and who is the father of Mrs. Holdcroft, was born in Highland county, Ohio, July 27, 1838. In 1852, when he was fourteen years of age, he came to Indiana, locating in Del- aware county. He is a son of William and Nancy (Stewart) Ford, he being a native of Virginia and she of Pike county, Ohio. An- drew J. remained at home in Delaware coun- ty, Indiana, until he was twenty-six years of age and worked on the home farm and on other farms, making ditches, splitting rails, cutting cord wood and performing other similar labor. His present farm he pur- chased while it was still in a wild state of nature, paying therefor four hundred and fifty dollars, there being in it forty acres. The valuable timber had to a considerable extent been cleared off the farm, but no ir- provements had been made. Mr. Ford erected a round-log house, locating on the farm about 1876, and living in the old log
house until he erected that in which he now lives. Devoting his time and attention al- most exclusively to his farm he has it now all in cultivation and well tiled and drained, and it is now one of the most valuable small farms in the vicinity.
Mr. Ford was married, in Jackson town- ship, in 1866, to Miss Jane Clore. a daughter of Charles Wesley and Frances (Snyder) Clore. She was born in Fayette county, Ohio, and when about six years old was brought to Blackford county, Indiana, her parents settling in the eastern part of Jack- son township, Mr. Clove becoming one of the most widely known and highly honored cit- izens in the county. So strong was he by nature and so steady in his habits that he lived to the great age of eighty-one, dying January 11, 1883. His widow survived him about one year and died at about the same age. Of their family of twelve children, eight are still living, those in Blackford county being John, George, Albert, Jane and Louisa, wife of Benjamin Currant, of Jay county, Indiana; those living in Iowa being Elizabeth Ann, Sanford and Lucy, and those that have died being Charles, who was killed in the battle of Chickamauga, on the twenti- eth anniversary of his birth; one that died in infancy ; Henry, who died instantly of heart disease, in Paulding county, when fifty years of age, and Mary, wife of B. Rawson, who died when she was about thirty years old.
Andrew J. Ford's parents lived in Black- ford county, his father dying there in his seventy-third year, and his mother is still living with him, well preserved, and one of the venerable ladies of the township, in her eighty-ninth year. He and his mother are now the only remaining members of the family in Blackford county. Mr. Ford is a Democrat of the old school, the principles
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of that party having been born and bred into his very nature, so that he might with - out doing violence to language or truth be denominated a "dyed-in-the-wool Demo- crat." Mr. Ford and his wife have two chil- dren : Emma, the wife of Franklin Hold- croft, whose biographical sketch is presented above, and John, living at Mill Grove, whose wife was Emma Thorpe. John Ford and his wife have the following children: Walter, Carl and Earl.
GEORGE H. THOMPSON.
George H. Thompson, one of the most successful farmers of Jackson township, whose resident is in Hartford City, was born on the homestead settled by his ancestors, April 28, 1849. He is a son of Mathew and Jane (Huffman) Thompson, full reference to whom is made in the biographical sketch of William Thompson, elsewhere published in this work. The boyhood of George H. Thompson was passed on his father's farm, on which he performed such labor as was suited to his years, and while yet young attended the district schools about three months in the year, thus acquiring the rudi- ments of a good common-school education and laying the foundation for the develop- ment of a sound mind in a sound body, the latter being surely secured by outdoor la- bor, too infrequently appreciated at the pres- ent day. For reasons that will be fully un- derstood by the reader Mr. Thompson re- mained at home until he was thirty years of age. His father assisted him in securing eighty acres of land, which was almost wholly in its primitive condition of forest and wild wood, and while still at home he began the improvement of this farm by clear- ing a small portion, realizing quite hand-
somely from the timber thus cut away by selling it in the form of sawed timber. At the age of twenty-five he married Miss Becky Bargdil, who died about six months afterward; but while she was living Mr. Thompson built a house on his farm and ex- pected soon to remove thereto, when the death of his wife occurred. He was mar- ried the second time, September 19, 1878, to Miss Mary Ann Ellingham, a daughter of Charles and Hannah (Scotten) E:lingham, of Bluffton. Wells county, Indiana, who was born in Wells county April 8, 1850. Mr. and Mrs. Ellingham were both natives of England, but were brought to the United States by their respective parents while they were still children, the parents of each set- tling in Ohio. They were married in Hunt- ington county, Indiana, soon after which event they settled in Wells county, where they became prosperous and respected citi- zens. living on a farm until their deaths, which occurred at Bluffton. Miss Elling- ham. like her husband, acquired a good, sound common-school education and is a woman of intelligence and excellent prin- ciples.
When Mr. Thompson's second marriage took place he had, as stated above, made a small clearing and erected a house in which to live, but the farm as a whole was yet al- most wholly in a state of nature. Both he and his wife took hold of the work before them-to make a good home for themselves and family, and hard work it was for both. Mr. Thompson. being a far-seeing man, had ample teams and stock on his farm, and in the work of clearing and improving the farm made a good showing each year, as well as a good living for his family. Later he added eighty more acres to his land, so that now he has one hundred and sixty acres,
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of which one hundred and forty acres are in an excellent state of cultivation and well underdrained with upward of eight miles of tile, some of it of unusually large size and extending to every field. This farm he has devoted largely to the raising of stock, the number kept being limited to its capacity to support them. Ile keeps about thirty head of steers, feeding this number each year, and to his stock he feeds his grain, selling it in the form of animal flesh, in- stead of as raw material, which is now con- sidered by the most enlightened and pr c- tical farmers as a great and unnecessary waste. This farm is well adapted to the raising of cattle and hogs, and thus used is a profitable piece of property. One of its greatest conveniences is its gas well, which has been in operation for eleven years, and which supplies him with fuel. During later years Mr. Thompson has lived during the winter season in Hartford City.
The family of Mr. and Mrs. Thompson consists of a daughter. Olive, attending school in Hartford City. Politically Mr. Thompson is a Republican, having cast his first presidential vote for General Grant in 1872, but he has never sought or desired office or preferment along political lines. He and his wife are both members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Hartford City and are highly esteemed by all their friends and acquaintances as excellent menti- bers of the community in which they live. Mr. Thompson is an unusually strong tem- perance man and believes in the principles of the Prohibition party, but has so far acted mainly with the Republican party. He is a good citizen, a good man and believes in all movements and enterprises calculated to ad- vance the material and moral interests of mankind,
ELISHA COOK LANDON.
Elisha Cook Landon, one of the most useful and highly honored citizens of Black- ford county, now serving his fourth term as the administrator of justice of Jackson town- ship, was born in Fairfield, Franklin coun- ty. Indiana, May 5. 1846. For nearly half a century has this most highly respected and estimable family been considered among the substantial citizens of the county. Elisha Cook Landon is a son of Daniel Landon, who was born in Butler county, Ohio, and was a son of Elisha Landon, who was of that sturdy Scotch-Irish race that has fur- nished so many estimable and patriotic citi- zens to this country; it is not known for certain whether he was born in Scotland or Ireland. He was also one of the gallant number of men born in foreign lands who fought for their adopted country during the last war with Great Britain, and he in a thousand other ways testified his true al- legiance to the country of his adoption. As to his original settlement in Ohio but little is known, e. cept that he became one of the most useful and sturdy citizens of that state. Upon arriving at manhood's estate Daniel Landon chose for his life companion a lady of most excellent family, who became a use- ful helpmeet for a man of his temperament and disposition. She was Matilda Powell, a daughter of James Powell. of Butler coun- ty. a native of the state of Maryland, who with his family removed to Indiana when Matilda was nine years of. age. This es- timable and venerable lady still survives and lives on the old homestead, where for nearly half a century her life was devoted to her husband and family. Now in her eighty- eighth ycar she still retains, with but little diminution, the vigorous activity of both
1
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1. ly and mind that characterized her more youthful days, and which contributed so much to the great esteem in which she al- ways has been and is still held by all who have had or have now the pleasure of her acquaintance.
In early life Daniel Landon became pro- ficient as a wheelwright and soon after his marriage removed to Indiana, locating in the thriving city of Fairfield, where for many years he conducted a profitable business in the manufacture of wagons and carriages. Being industrious and economical, he ac- cumulated means sufficient to enable him to purchase about three hundred acres of land. of which the present homestead is a part. Forty-eight years ago this portion of Indi- ana was for the most part in its primitive condition of wild woods, which were inhab- ited as they had been for centuries by wild beasts and still wilder men. But few roads had been opened and those that were fol- lowed the circuitous routes alng the sum- mits of the ridges in order to avoid the in- numerable swamps that then occupied much of the valleys and low lands. Mr. Landon's own land was covered with a heavy growth of forest trees, and a small log house was the only evidence that a white man had ever set his foot upon the soil. This little log house became the home of the family and so remained until Mr. Landon erected the well-remembered brick residence, in which the family lived for many years and in which the most openhanded hospitality was ex- tended during the forty-five years remain- ing to the life of the honored head of the family, which was terminated by death in April. 1889, he having attained the ripe age of eighty-two. This ancient landmark has since then been replaced by a pleasant frame dwelling, in which his venerable widow, at-
tended by her daughter, Fannie R., is pass- ing the evening of her days in contempla- tion of the many pleasant reminiscences of her life, which has been so fruitful in good works and charitable deeds, and in the en- joyment of the company of hosts of admir- ing friends.
In company with Andrew Armstrong, Mr. Landon fitted up a saw-mill at Tren- ton, the machinery for which he had hauled from Fort Wayne, to which mill he gave a considerable share of his personal atten- tio .: for ten or twelve years. He also cleared and cultivated a valuable farm, to which, with the ambition of his youth, he gave per- sonal attention to every detail of improve- ment, including fencing and draining. Po- litically he was imbued with the sturdy spirit of the old time Jackson Democracy and was not long in attaining a just importance in all the councils of his party, which re- pentedly honored him by entrusting to his charge the public business of the township. He served often as trustee and as such was ever active in the advocacy of all those es- sential public improvements of which his keen and sound judgment approved and which he fully realized were calculated to advance the best interests of the community. He also served as county commissioner and while a member of that board most of the far reaching improvements were inaugurated that have so far been made. While his per- sonal views were in accord with the prin- ciples of the Jacksonian Democracy, yet his expression of them was so kindly and con- siderate of the feelings of others that he seldom, if ever, gave offense, and many of his most ardent friends and supporters were supporters of the opposite political party. They all felt such confidence in his personal probity and honor that no doubt ever ex-
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isted in their minds that the county's inter- ests would be well served so long and so far as his voice was influential in their manage- ment. His liberal views led him to the ac- ceptance of the Universalist faith in religion and he held his membership in the Univer- salist church at Bluffton. According to others the same right of independent thought and judgment that he claimed for himself, he looked beyond the professions of men and formed his estimate of them by the conduct of their lives as displayed in their daily walk. When the final summons came and when, holding the love and esteem of all who had known him, his life passed away, there went out an expression from almost every home in the county of Blackford that an irrepar- able loss had fallen upon the community of his adoption, and it is in his honor that in this work on an enduring page is preserved this unworthy tribute to his memory. It is not possible to rightly estimate the value of such lives as his to the world, but none will now attempt to deny them the honor due for their efforts toward a better and a higher civilization.
The family of Daniel Landon consisted of twelve children, those living at the close of the nineteenth century being as follows: Joseph, a prominent real Late owner and capitalist of Kansas City, Missouri ; Fanny R., a widow residing with her mother ; Lewis, the leading physician of this section of Blackford county; Sarah, wife of Jolm Porter, of Irvington, Indiana ; Ella, wife of William A. Daily, the popular assessor of Blackford county ; and Elisha Cook Landon, . whose name stands at the head of this mem- oir. John Whitcomb Landon gave his life to his country's cause, dying at Estill Springs, Tennessee, at the age of twenty- one, while serving in Company K, Eighty-
fourth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. Eliza- beth died in young womanhood and Addie and the. .. others died in childhood.
The boyhood of Elisha C. Landon was passed upon the farm, he receiving such ed- ucation as the neighborhood schools afforded. Having a commendable ambition for the duties of a professional life, he turned his attention to the study of medicine and when properly qualified he entered on its practice at Poneto, Indiana, where he practiced with success for about four years. Then he aban- doned the profession and returned to the old homestead, assuming its management in conjunction with his father. Since then he has continued to operate the farm and has materially increased the extent of cultivated land and also the productive capacity of the farm, having laid more than one thousand rods of tile draining, and having in many in- stances reclaimed what had been low, wet parcels of land, which are now the most val- uable parts of the farm. The evidences of his mature judgment and high intelligence are everywhere visible and he has now the satisfaction of knowing that few, if any, of the farms in the county excel his in the value of their soil or products.
The general fitness and common sense of Mr. Landon have been so well appre- ciated by his fellow citizens that they have repeatedly chosen him to the important and influential office of justice of the peace. He was first elected to this position in 1888 and has since been constantly in office by re- election, and is now serving his fourth term. That no mistake has been made in his selec- tion to this office is proven by the fact that in not a single instance has a decision of his been reversed in a superior court, evidencing the greatest care in the examination of the statutes, in the weighing of evidence and in
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the exercise of common sense and the sense of right and justice. While a Democrat in party allegiance, he is generally found sit- ting in the party councils, and his sound judgment is universally recognized by the other leaders of his party.
Mr. Landon was married, February 27, 1867. to Miss Lydia Anderson, daughter of John K. and Sarah Anderson, who was born in Ohio and who was brought to Indiana while an infant, her parents settling in Black- ford county. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Landon consists of three children, viz. : Lewis G., a farmer in St. Francis county. Arkansas; Fanny, wife of Edward Barnes, of Jay county, Indiana; and Sarah, wife of Edward Turk, of Montpelier, Indiana. Few, if any, of the citizens of Blackford county are more highly esteemed than is the sub- ject of this sketch.
HENRY HOWLAND.
Henry Howland, a prominent farmer of Jackson township, whose postoffice is Rider- town, was born in Clinton county, Ohio, May 10, 1842. He is a son of Eber and Marcha (Sabin) Howland, the former of whom was a native of the same county, and was a son of Benjamin and Elizabeth How- land, both of whom were of Anglo-Saxon origin and pioneers in the settlement of Ohio. Clinton county was the old home of the fam- ily. Marcha Sabin belonged to the old Sabin family of Connecticut. Previous to his marriage to Miss Sabin Eber Howland entered land in Shelby county upon which he made considerable improvements, and to which he removed when Henry Howland, the subject of this sketch, was about six
years old. Soon afterward he removed to Indiana, where he died.
When Henry Howland was fifteen years old he returned to Clinton county, Ohio, where, on January 1, 1862, he enlisted in Company I, Forty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in which he served his country in the southern and western states. As a men- ber of the Army of the Tennessee he lay in the trenches in the rear of Vicksburg, dur- ing General Grant's siege of that rebel stronghold, for forty-one days, and was there at the time of the surrender, after which he went to New Orleans and to Matagorda, where the soldiers lived in forts built of sand and in holes in the sand on account of wind. Afterward Mr. Howland was sent on the Red river campaign, and was captured at Sabine Cross Roads by General "Dick" Taylor, remaining a prisoner at Tyler. Texas, until he was exchanged, about eight and a half months later. About two hun- dred Union soldiers were captured at Sa- bine Cross Roads, the battle being very se- vere, and in the prison, which was a stock- ade without shelter, there were about eight thousand prisoners. There wa great deal of sickness in the camp, the ratives dealt it to the prisoners being but one-half a pin of meal per day; the result was that many of them had the scurvy and some lost their eye- sight. The treatment by the guards was very cruel, though that accorded them by the soldiers whom they fought under Gen- eral Taylor was quite the reverse. The bat- tle of Sabine Cross Roads was fought by a few Federal soldiers against a very large force of Confederates, the latter of whom appreciated the bravery of the men they finally conquered.
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