USA > Indiana > Grant County > Biographical memoirs of Grant County, Indiana : to which is appended a comprehensive compendium of national biography with portraits of many national characters and well-known residents of Grant County, Indiana. > Part 101
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three tons of lettuce at a time. A season comprises five crops, making an annual out- put from ten to fifteen tons of the choicest esculent to be imagined. While the local consumption has steadily kept pace with the production, the neighboring towns of Gas City, Jonesboro and Fairmount contribute greatly to the market.
The present plant and outfit are esti- mated to be worth about forty-five hundred dollars, the property being greatly improved with a comfortable residence, which is also the work of the proprietor's own hands, and in every way the thrift and substantial char- acter of the business and the owner are displayed. He is at present enlarging his dwelling, which he intends to greatly im- prove.
Feeling all through life the defect of school advantages, Mr. Sloderbeck has en- deavored to so place his own children that they would not be handicapped as was he in their business and social life. Arthur is a student in the Marion Business College, Jesse is in the public school, while Earl is but a boy of five years. Harry was called from them when but passing from baby- hood.
No more progressive and substantial citizen can be found in Marion than this gentleman, his many excellent qualities of head and heart being recognized in all walks of life. He is a respected and honored mem- ber of the Masonic craft, wherein he holds high standing, as he does in whatever So- ciety he is found.
ALVAA H. UNTHANK.
Alva H. Unthank. D. D. S., has his of- fice in the Glass block, Marion, and is num- bered among the rising young men of the
city. His parents. Alfred and Elma Un- thank, are natives of Indiana and lived on a farm in Wayne county until 1882, when they settled at Middletown, where they now reside.
Alva H. Unthank was born in Wayne county April 10, 1875, and passed his early boyhood upon the farm. When but a lad the family removed to Middletown and he was there prepared to enter college. He was graduated from the Dental Institute of In- dianapolis in the fall of 1896 and at once entered upon the practice of his profession. In 1898 he located at Marion, where he is meeting with marked success. In politics he is a Republican, and is a member of the Zita Psi-Phi, a D. D. S. college fraternity.
DANIEL WISE.
Daniel Wise. of Upland. Grant county, Indiana, is a descendant of one of the oldest and most highly respected families in the county, and is himself a young man whose sterling worth has made him many friends among all classes. No man in Grant county is more widely known and respected than his father. Jacob Wise, whose biography is given on another page, or his grandfather, Daniel, whose long career of usefulness was cut short but a few years since. The grand- father took an active part in the great drama of life which was enacted in the wilderness of Indiana in her early days, and it is to such indomitable natures that the state owes the evolution which has taken place within her borders during the last half century.
Jacob Wise is known as a straightfor- ward, upright man and is one of the most prosperous farmers in this community. Ed- ucated in the frontier schools he continued to make his mind the storehouse of val-
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table information and is to-day a man of broad and varied knowledge. It was his privilege to care for his parents during their later years and it was a duty discharged with pleasure. His wife was Elizabeth Ma- rine, to whom he was married March 13, 1856, and by whom he had nine children, eight of whom are living, viz. : Samuel, a farmer and also a mechanic of ability ; Mary Jane, now Mrs. Jesse Stanley; Solomon ; Frank, who lives at home; Lydia, Mrs. George Himelich ; Elmer, a farmer of Mon- roe township; and Alice. The sons are all engaged in farming and the daughters have married farmers and with one exception all live in Jefferson township. Too much can- not be said in praise of Jacob Wise and wife or the large family which they brought up to be an honor and credit to them. The mother was born in Wayne county, Indiana, January 15, 1836, and was one of a family of thirteen children. Two brothers, Jona- than and Daniel, both of whom are farm- ers, and two sisters, Mrs. Wise and Sallie, wife of H. Kizer, of Anderson, Indiana, sur- vive. The maternal grandparents are Asa and Lydia (Huff) Marine, esteemed resi- dents of this township. Jacob Wise engaged in the pursuits of agriculture and has ac- cumulated a most desirable property of two hundred acres in this township, which is im- proved with modern residence and outbuild- ings. They are members of the Christian church, and in politics Mr. Wise has always supported the Democratic ticket. The pa- ternal grandparents of Daniel Wise lived to a ripe old age, the grandfather dying April 8. 1895, at the age of ninety years, and his wife, Catherine (Bickel) Wise, in her eighty-eighth year, on May 6, 1897.
Daniel Wise was born in Jefferson town-
ship January 8, 1865, and has grown to man's estate amidst the friends of a life- time. Educated in the public schools, he ac- quired a good practical knowledge which has been of vast use to him in his business rela- tions. He remained at home until he was twenty-six years of age, when he was mar- ried and moved onto eighty acres of land which was his by inheritance. This con- stitutes part of their present homestead, to which they have added until the present acreage is one hundred and fifteen. They are frugal and industrious in their habits, living within their means and endeavoring to prepare for the future against the in- evitable "rainy day."
Mr. Wise was united in marriage Oc- tober 27, 1891, to Miss Ella Milholland, and four children have been the fruits of this union. Two are left to scatter sunshine in the home of their parents, Alva, a bright little boy whose record in school is excel- lent, and Waldo, the baby. Mrs. Wise was born in Jennings county, Indiana, January 9. 1872, and is a daughter of Thomas and Catherine (Hemlick ) Milholland. Of the nine children in this family seven are liv- ing. Mrs. Wise has resided in Grant coun- ty since a child of eight years and here re- ceived her educational training. Her fa- ther was born in this state November 2, 1844, and was a soldier in the Civil war, taking part in many battles and serving for upwards of three years. He is a Republican in his political convictions. Her mother was born October 26, 1847, and is a native of Decatur county. Both are well and favor- ably known in this county, where they still reside. Mrs. Wise is a lady of charming manners and the most cordial hospitality is extended to the casual visitor as well as to
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invited guest. She and Mr. Wise as well are members of the Christian church and gave material aid in its construction. They are of benevolent natures and the worthy never ask assistance from them in vain. They have the respect and good wishes of all and count their friends by hundreds.
Mr. Wise is a Democrat, but has not dabbled in politics, preferring to give his energies to his farming and to keeping up the standard of fine horses, cattle, sheep and hogs with which his place is stocked. While he is a practical business man he is also a progressive one and does not believe in fol- lowing old ways when he finds smoother traveling in the new.
RICHARD BREWER.
Richard Brewer, of Van Buren, Grant county, Indiana, was born in Belmont, coun- ty, Ohio, January 22, 1826, and at the age of seventeen came with his parents to Han- cock county, Indiana. His father was John Brewer and his mother Delilah Burdett, both of whom were natives of the old state of Maryland, where they were married, remov- ing soon thereafter to Ohio. They were among the earlier residents of Hancock county, where they made a comfortable home, reared a respected family and earned a high standing as honorable and upright citizens, passing to the "bourne from whence none return" after reaching the age of three- score years.
Richard Brewer is a man whose whole life has been devoted to the cultivation of the soil, few men having been more active or successful in bringing the wilderness
condition into a state of fertility and pro- ductiveness, having cleared one and a part of a second farm in Hancock county, be- sides the great amount of similar effort since coming to this section. In 1870 he secured the present home farm, then consisting of one hundred acres of slightly improved land, having a hewed-log house and barn, but with no ditching or other effort at drainage. Here he has passed the last thirty years, during which time he has made extensive and important contribution to the wealth of the community. His estate is located in a section of the township that lies so level that until a systematic plan of ditching was installed much of the effort at making a farm was practically wasted, but as soon as suit- able open outlets could be secured he began to lay the old-style timber ditches, which he extended through the tract, replacing this primitive system with the more modern methods of drain-tile as soon as it was pos- sible, now having upwards of five hundred rods of this kind of drainage in operation. By constant attention to the conduct of his farm he has been able not only to make a desirable home having convenient and com- modious house and barn, but he has also re- ceived such reward for the effort bestowed that a handsome competence gives him an easy and comfortable living for the re- mainder of a well-spent life.
In addition to the income from the ag- ricultural feature of the farm Mr. Brewer has a satisfactory return in royalty from the operation of six oil wells, some of them be- ing among the earliest that were sunk in this field, having been developed ten years since.
Mr. Brewer was united in marriage at the age of twenty-four to Miss Martha Ro- land, but from whom he was called to part !
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after she had become the mother of five children. In March, 1871, he was joined to Mrs. Elizabeth Smith, a lady of rare qual- ities of head and heart, and whose maiden name was Cranfield. The fruits of the for- mer union were Clarinda, the wife of Sam- uel H. Beck, of whom further mention will be found in another part of this volume. John Brewer resides in Van Buren, as does Samuel. Matilda is the wife of Joseph W. Dillon, of Marion, and the youngest became the wife of George Cauthron and died at the age of forty-two in the past year. Twins by the second marriage died while still in infancy, the only survivor of the three chil- dren being Aaron, a young man of high standing in the community and who is now operating the home farm in connection with his father.
Richard Brewer is a Democrat in his political relations, and while he makes no pretention at being a political worker he is said to be a man of decided and clear views on the great questions that most nearly af- fect the prosperity and perpetuity of the na- tion, believing in the strengthening of the fundamental principles of the government and a close adherence to the sound teachings of the recognized fathers of the constitution. The strange gods of latter day commercial- ism he regards as the great danger to the nation's existence, believing the develop- ment of the individual's opportunities, the extension of personal liberty and the educa- tion of all the youth to be the great means of the salvation of free institutions.
The keen observation, seconded by the careful reading of the productions of able minds, has given him a well-digested knowl- edge of the motives that move men, and while he has never evinced a disposition to
detract from all that has for its object the advancement of the human race he fully realizes that an immense amount of effort is poorly directed, and that great miscon- ception exists in the minds of those who take upon themselves the task of the reforma- tion of the world.
ELI PARKS.
Eli Parks is a leading agriculturist of the Upland, Indiana, community, and has been a resident of Grant county for sixty- five years. He was born June 15, 1831, in Preble county, Ohio, and is the second in a family of eleven children born to Silas and Sarah (Frame) Parks. His grandfa- ther, Samuel Parks, was a soldier in the war of 1812 and took part in the battle of Fort Wayne.
Silas Parks was born in the state of Kentucky October 7, 1805, and died in this state in 1857. He had been brought up on a farm and followed that occupation during his life, but for many years was engaged in the Christian ministry, where his eloquent appeals in the cause of right and his mag- netic influence resulted in incalculable bless- ing. He was married in his native state to Miss Sarah Frame, and reared four sons and seven daughters, eight of whom still reside in Indiana. He moved north with his family, settling in Preble county, Ohio. The vehicle which conveyed him to his new home was a wooden wagon, the wheels be- ing sawed from the ends of large logs, and the team which drew the wagon was oxen. Fifteen miles was considered a good day's journey by an ox team, and moving in those
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days meant slow, tedious work. He re- mained in Ohio until the fall of 1835, when he came to Grant county, reaching here on October 5, and at once entered a tract of sixty-five acres of land from the govern- ment. The life and surroundings of the Parks family were similar to that of the early settler throughout the state. He cut the first tree from the place, followed that by constructing a cabin for the comfort of his family and then set about clearing off timber and preparing for the cultivation of crops. The house was made of hewed logs, with puncheon floor, and a clapboard roof held in place by heavy poles. The chimney was constructed of mud and sticks. Silas Parks was an old-line Whig and had the courage of his convictions.
Eli Parks was but a lad of four years when his parents located in this county and he has watched the growth of population and cultivation of fields of waving grain on ground once thickly covered with forest or marsh. He recalls the time when deer and wolves roamed at will in the vicinity and bands of Indians would pass his father's cabin on their tramps across the country. Whether the Indian was entitled to his home among the forests of Indiana did not trouble the minds of the frontiersman. He wanted the land for his own home and for cultiva- tion, and the red man must give way be- fore advancing civilization and he has been driven farther and farther toward the west, the circle gradually closing around him un- til but a very small territory is his allotted portion to-day, and it is only a matter of time when our swiftly increasing popula- tion will spread out and swallow up that portion as well.
Mr. Parks remembers Marion when she |
could boast of but one store, which was kept by a man named Bedrall, and a grocery whose proprietor was one Samuel McClure. The iron horse did not traverse the state with his mighty rumble and roar of power, and the modern use of electricity was un- known. Primitive implements of home man- ufacture, many of them, were in use in those primitive days, and our subject cut his grain with a sickle. When the cradle was invented it was thought a great advance had been made, and that was used many years before the first mower made its appearance. Now Mr. Parks uses a modern binder which re- sembles the first reaper about as much as the cradle resembles the old sickle.
At the age of twenty-one Mr. Parks be- gan farming on his own account. his farm consisting of forty acres of timber to which an axe had not been touched. Industry and perseverance were brought to bear on the little plot of ground and in a short time it was in shape and ready for the bride who has since been his helpmate. They resided here until 1871, when they disposed of the place and purchased eighty acres in Mills township. This was their home until an unfortunate investment in merchandise in- volved him in financial disaster and he hon- orably gave up homestead and everything to discharge the obligations against him. Saving what was left from the ruins, he came to Jefferson township and made a new start in life. Forty acres was again pur- chased in the timber and the old work of clearing and improving began again. With the assistance of his sons a home was soon beautified and improved and a new lease taken in the battle of life.
On February 2. 1854. Eli Parks and Lorinda Bole were united as man and wife,
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and for almost half a century have smoothed the rough places in each other's pathway. Five children blessed their union and the darkest hours in their life were those in which two of these children were laid to rest. Three have been spared to comfort and bless the last days of this worthy couple. Wesley S., the eldest son, is married and re- sides in Gas City, where he follows his trade of carpenter and joiner. William is the barber of Upland, and his steady, in- dustrious habits have won him a wide circle of friends and crowned his labors with suc- cess. Emma is the wife of Lewis Pace, a farmer of this township. She has a fam- ily of eight children. Mr. and Mrs. Parks have spared no pains to give each of their children a good common-school education and to bring them up a credit to the lives they would be called upon to adorn. They have formed many warm friendships and are among the best residents of the county. Kind and benevolent by nature, they delight in doing good and many kind deeds may be traced to their door. They are members of the Jefferson Christian church and gave with liberal hands towards the construction of the present church structure.
Mr. Parks was formerly a Whig, but has affiliated for many years with the Repub- lican party. He has not been a participator in campaign work, as the petty emoluments did not appeal to his nature and his private interests occupied his time.
It will not be amiss in a work of this character to give a brief glance at the lady who has done so much towards furthering the best interests of the county and becom- ing somewhat acquainted with her ancestors. She was born in Athens county, Ohio, July 20, 1834, and grew into womanhood in her
native state. Her parents were William and Lorinda ( Rood) Bole, the former a native of the state of Pennsylvania and a descend- ant of the old German stock whose thrift and energy furnished the impetus which has carried to state to its present flourish- ing condition. Twelve children were born to them and all grew to adult years. Five are yet living, their homes being in Ohio and Indiana. William Bole spent many years with his daughter, Mrs. Parks, and it was here he died when in his eighty-seventh year. He had been a farmer all his life and was a good, Christian man who was a con- sistent member of the Christian church. He was an old-line Whig and later a Repub- lican. One of his brothers fought in the war of 1812. Mrs. Bole was born in the Empire state and remained there until after her marriage. She also made her home with her daughter and lived to the good old age of eighty-eight years. She was a devout woman and a devoted mother, whose early training and discipline were of great value to her children.
MARTIN FLANAGAN (DECEASED).
Martin Flanagan, a native of county Mayo, Ireland, was born in 1814. During the early portion of his life he worked as a laborer and in 1850 came to America and located in Cincinnati. The year following Miss Celia Marley came from the same county, or one adjoining, in Ireland, and they were married in July, 1852. She was a daughter of John and Cartharine (Quinn) Marley and was born in 1824.
Mr. and Mrs. Flanagan became the par- ents of the following named children, viz. :
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Maria, born November 4, 1853, married John Phillips in 1879 and became the mother of five children-Porter B., Stella B., John G., Rex and Fred M .- she die:l May I, 1899; John H., born March 9, 1856; Cath- arine, who married Charles Cunningham, of Oregon, and has two children, Celia and Charles; Sarah A., who married Joseph Baker and had one child, Ovid M .; Mrs. Baker died May 5, 1886; Frances Bell, born in 1870, and three others that died in in- fancy. Martin Flanagan was a stock-dealer in Cincinnati, Ohio, in partnership with an- other man which he carried on for a num- ber of years; finally his interests drifted into the hands of his partner.
Mr. Flanagan came with his family from Cincinnati to Grant county, Indiana, in 1859, and located in Mill township and rented until 1876, when he came to Fairmount township, having bought forty acres three years before, and purchased ninety-one and a half acres of farm land. He led an active life until his death in 1900. Mr. Flanagan was a man who made a great many friends, was strictly honest and by perseverance and indefatigable industry rose step by step to a position of honor and influence. He was a loving husband and father and always a welcome guest among his many acquaint- ances. John and Catharine (Quinn) Mar- ley were the parents of six children : John II., Thomas, Mary, Michael, Celia and Luke.
Mrs. Flanagan's grandfather's name was John Marley and he married Catharine Leonard. In politics Mr. Flanagan was al- ways a Democrat.
John H. Flanagan, son of Martin and Celia ( Marley) was married February 3. 1894, to Jennie, daughter of James and Susan (Cosgrove) Monahan and has three
children : Sarah Marie, born February 17, 1896; Pauline and Celestine, twins, born May 10, 1898. Her father was a soldier of the Civil war. Mr. Flanagan is a popular citizen, a Democrat in politics and has been active in political affairs of his town. He purchased and now owns forty acres of land in Fairmount township and has always been very popular.
.SIMON B. CLARK.
Simon B. Clark, a prominent agricult- urist of Fairmount township, Grant county, Indiana, was born in Bradford county, Penn- sylvania, January 23, 1832, and is a son of James and Sarah (Simon) Clark. His grandfather was a soldier in the Revolu- tionary war and was of German descent, the great-grandfather having come to this coun- try from Germany. The maternal great- grandfather was from Ireland, the family settling in Virginia, in which state the mother of Simon B. Clark was born. James Clark was born February 10, 1794, and his wife was some years younger, having been born March 26, 1800. They were united in marriage July 3. 1822, and in 1837 came to Grant county, locating in Fairmount township, where the father died May 14, 1878. There were ten children born to them, namely: An infant, deceased ; Polly ; Gabrielle, Mrs. Havens, of Fowlerton; Re- becca : Ursula ; an infant, deceased ; Wealthy Ann, of Kansas; Caroline; Cynthia ; Simon; and James, of Fairmount.
When Simon Clark was six years old his father moved to Ohio, and one year later settled in Fairmount township, Indiana. As the land in this township had all been
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entered, the father purchased thirty-five acres of partially improved land, which is now owned by Simon B.'s sister, who has added to it until she now has two hundred * and twenty acres of land, most of which is under cultivation, this being recently di- vided.
Mr. Clark received his education in the subscription schools which were held in the old log school-house out of which a log had been cut and a greased paper inserted to do duty for a window. Reaching his twenty- second year, he was joined in matrimony on February 4, 1854, to Miss Julia Ann Nottingham, daughter of James Notting- ham. A large family of children blessed their union, namely: An infant who passed away in babyhood; Ursula, who was born February 17, 1857, and on February 5, 1879, became the wife of Leslie Lemon, by whom she has one daughter, Relda V., a bright, winsome child, who was born April 25, 1880. The parents of Mr. Lemon are John and Nancy Ann (Corson) Lemon ; Floranna, the third child born to the Clark home, claims as her natal day February 13, 1859. She married Arthur Jay and is the mother of two children, Carl, born August 17, 1883, and Lelia Iona, born in 1886; Malissa Adalaide was born February 26, 1862, and married Charles Buffington, by whom she has five children, Grace, Chester, Thomas, June and Gladys; John Ellsworth was born September 26, 1864, and is the present efficient and popular treasurer of Marion; Sarah Olive was born March 26, 1866, and passed away February 14, 1867; Rebecca Joanna, born December 4, 1867, was twice married-first to L. Andrews, by whom she has two children, Georgia and Leslie, and afterward to John DeLong, of
Fairmount, which marriage also resulted in the birth of two children, Julia and Arthur O .; Corintha Blondella was born March 26, 1870, and became the wife of Francis Wimpy and the mother of one child, Ursula ; Edward Charles and Etta Caroline were twins, born February 9, 1872. Edward mar- ried Dora Fisherbuck and has three chil- dren, Gale, Raymond and Eva Belle, and re- sides two and a half miles east of Gas City; and Etta C. married Perry Wood, of Jones- boro, and became the mother of one child, Lacy Fern.
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