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 110

Author:
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: Chicago: Bowen
Number of Pages: 1000

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 110

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The second marriage of Joseph Ratliff took place in 1883, to Mrs. Sarah Thomas, whose maiden name was Arnold, and who is a daughter of Nathan and Sarah Arnold and a native of Miami county; she is the mother of two children by her first husband, but she has borne none to Mr. Ratliff.

In politics, Joseph Ratliff has been active as a Republican for many years, has been

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elected trustee of Fairmount township three terms at different periods, and his tenth year in office has just passed.

Joseph Ratliff, wife and children, are members of the Society of Friends, in which he has been an elder for twenty years and is now one of the trustees. It may be well to add. that the Ratliff family are of English origin, and the Pearsons, as represented by Mrs. Ratliff, are of Welsh extraction.

REV. WILLIAM HENRY SHORT BAR- THOLOMEW.

William Henry Short Bartholomew, fa- miliarly called by old and young as "Uncle Billie," is living in retirement at Fairmount and is numbered among the most worthy and highly esteemed pioneers of Grant coun- ty. He is a native of England, born in Bideford, Devonshire, January 25, 1825. When seven years old he was bound out to a farmer, with whom he resided untl at- taining his majority and was instructed in the work of an agriculturist. After attaining his majority he continued to work on the same farm one year for thirty dollars, and, as his work was satisfactory, the following year his wages were doubled. While work- ing on this farm he made the acquaintance of Miss Ann Call, who was employed at the same place, and in April, 1849, they were united in marriage. After marriage the young couple obtained employment on an adjoning farm, Mr. Bartholomew re- ceiving fourteen pence per day (equivalent to one dollar and seventy-five cents per week). After working here two years they removed to Bideford, where he worked in a livery barn for three years at two dollars and twenty-five cents per week.

In 1853 Mr. Bartholomew left his fam- ily in England and sailed for America, and landed in Quebec, but soon made his way to L'pper Canada, and from thence to Toledo, Ohio. When he arrived at Toledo his money was exhausted and wages for such work as he could obtain were very meager, and he could not make money enough to proceed farther. In this extremity he sent a telegram to his brother-in-law, who re- sided at Connersville, Indiana, asking him for a small loan, and he soon received ten dollars, which enabled him to continue his journey by wagon, then the only means of transportation, to Connersville, Indiana. There he worked one year at seventeen dol- lars per month, and from his earnings man- aged to save eighty dollars. This he sent to his beloved wife and their only child in Eng- land, and soon they were on their way to the United States. They landed at Castle Garden, New York, and thence by railroad came to Indiana.

When this family was again united they settled in a log cabin and experienced many of the hardships due to pioneer life. Mr. Bartholomew worked at ditching in Fayette and Rush counties, and this occupation kept him away from home during the week, and here Mrs. Bartholomew experienced many severe trials ; but she was strong, willing and not afraid of work, as her early life had pre- pared her for these trials. She was born in Devonshire, England, and attended school until she was eight years of age, when she was bound out and for eleven years she was practically a slave to a hard master. She did manual labor, milking twelve cows each . day, washing potatoes for pigs and other laborious work about the farm, and after marriage her husband rented cows and she

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delivered the milk in town, a mile distant, carrying one hundred and fifty pounds of milk at one time by the aid of a yoke. When she came to America she had to live in a log house, which was not chinked, and, as she expresses it, "a dog could jump through most anywhere," and here she passed the time along with her child from Monday morning until Saturday night, their only company being toads and skippers, as her nearest neighbors were more than half a mile distant.

In 1860 this couple came to Grant coun- ty and located on eighty acres of good land situated seven miles west of Fairmount, where they built a log cabin without chim- ney or window-glass. The stable was built of rails and was ten feet square. Here they toiled to establish a comfortable home, and after seven years of laborious work spent in clearing and grubbing the land and other- wise improving it, they decided to rent the farm and move to Fairmount, where for seven years Mr. Bartholomew was a lum- ber merchant.

Upon settling in Fairmount Mr. and Mrs. Bartholomew were constant attendants at the Wesleyan Methodist church, and "Uncle Billie" was chosen class-leader. He was loved by all, and being a man of more than ordinary ability, after serving eight years as class-leader he was licensed to preach the gospel. Two years later he was ordained, and during the following nineteen years he preached the gospel of Jesus Christ every Sunday in or about Fairmount, and his earnest, honest manner was the means of causing many people to forsake evil and choose the right.

Mr. and Mrs. Bartholomew have one son, Ephraim, now a resident of Miami

county. Few people at Fairmount are bet- ter known or more highly respected than this venerable couple, and old and young always how with respect when they meet "Uncle Billie" or "Aunt Ann."

ISAAC LANGLEY.

Isaac Langley, one of the oldest and most experienced farmers of Sims town- ship, Grant county, Indiana, was born Sep, tember 28, 1829, in Harrison county, Ken- tucky, and is a son of Abraham and Ann (Scott) Langley; but before proceeding with an account of the life of Mr. Langley himself a brief account of his immediate predecessors will be given.

The paternal grandfather of Isaac Lang- ley was a native of Virginia, was a teamsten and died in the mountains of his native state of cholera. To his marriage with Rachael Barns there were born two children : Abra- ham, father of Isaac, and Margaret, wha became Mrs. John Snodgrass, of southern Indiana. To the marriage of Abraham and Ann Scott were born twelve children, of whom two died in infancy. Those who reached riper years were named Alfred, Ann (Mrs. William Gardner), Lemuel E., Perry, Louisa (Mrs. James Kerrick), Isaac, Elizabeth ( who died when twelve years old), Thomas J., Margaret (Mrs. Christopher Price) and Enoch.

Isaac Langley's mother had two brothers in the war of 1812-James, who died of frost bite, and Giles, who survived, married and had born to him two sons, viz. : Robert and Wisman. Robert Scott, maternal grand- father of Isaac Langley, came to America

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from Ireland in a very early day, here mar- ried and settled in Harrison county, Ken- tucky, and it was on land entered by him in that state that Isaac was born.

Isaac Langley, the subject proper of this biographical sketch, attended the public schools of Harrison county, Kentucky, until twenty-one years of age, and then learned the cooper's trade, at which he worked in conjunction with farming until 1853, when he sold his farm and went to Mahaska county, Iowa, where he worked at the some- what complex trades of blacksmithing and wagon-making in connection with farming for three years. In 1856 he removed to Clarke county, Iowa, bought farming land, built himself a house in Hopeville, and for about three years carried on a farm and also worked at carpentering.

August 28, 1856, Mr. Langley married Miss Mary Palmer, who was called away November 2, of the same year, and July 7, 1858, Mr Langley married, for his second helpmate, Miss Almira Overton, daughter of William and Mary Overton. To this second marriage nine children have come to grace the Langley home, viz .: Ella, born September 2, 1859, and married December 8, 1889, to Frank Hoppenrath, who died July 3, 1892, the father of one child, Gretna, born January 17, 1892; Mary, born August 8, 1863, was married to Joseph Rees and had two children, John Burr, born Novem- ber 20, 1880, and Charles Omer, born Au- gust 24, 1882, Mrs. Rees's death occurring September 11, 1894; Nancy, born August 8, 1863; Henry Clay, born March 28, 1865, married Anna Kilgore, and became the fa- ther of three children, Irene. Ion and Gladys; Addie, born March 27, 1867; Brazilla M., born September 19, 1870; Varda Walter,

born October 31, 1872; Emma, born June 20, 1875; and Blenna Pearl, born February 4, 1882. Mrs. Almira ( Overton) Langley, the mother of this interesting family. passed away September 8, 1894, deeply mourned by her disconsolate husband and children by all who knew her.

Isaac Langley came to Grant county, Indiana, in December, 1864, and first lo- cated at Normal, south of Slach, where he resided for three years only. In 1868 he moved to a point north of Swayzee, where he cultivated a fine farm for seven years, and then removed to his present farm on the southern line of Sims township, and every detail in the cultivation of this place shows the supervision of the skillful and ex- perienced agriculturist. Mr. Langley has shown himself to be the friend of every measure designed to promote the welfare of his fellow citizens and advance the pros- perity of his township, county and country, and has never at all been niggardly in aid- ing financially the carrying out of such measures. He has through his personal merits gained hundreds of sincere friends and has deservedly won their unfeigned es .. teem. In religion Mr. Langley affiliates with no church, and in politics he is inde- pendent.

HON. JOHN RATLIFF.

Hon. John Ratliff, surveyor and farmer, and one of the representative men of Marion and Grant county, Indiana, was born near Richmond. Wayne county, Indiana, March 1, 1822, and descended from one of the oldest so-called "Quaker" families in America, to which allusion will be made more fully at the conclusion of the remarks to be here applied

John Ratliff

Sarah Ratliff

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to John Ratliff and his immediate anteced- ents.

Joseph Ratliff, father of John Ratliff, was a native of North Carolina, and was a mere lad when brought to Wayne county, Indiana, by his father, Cornelius, who was also a na- tive of the old North state. Joseph was edu- cated in the schools of Wayne county, and was himself a teacher, as well as farmer, in that county until the winter of 1834, when he came to Grant county, and entered gov- ernment land, four miles south of Marion, in what is now Mill township. Joseph was an orthodox member of the Society of Friends, was an active Whig in politics, and as a farmer was quite successful, as he owned about three hundred and fifty acres of good land at the time of his death, which occurred when he was but forty years of age.

Sarah Shugart, wife of Joseph Ratliff and mother of John, was a daughter of George and Mary (Charles) Shugart, was born in North Carolina, and when young came to Indiana with her parents, who settled ten miles north of Richmond, Wayne county. She became the mother of four children by Joseph, her husband, viz .: Millicent, who was married to Jesse Small and died at the age of sixty years; John, whose name opens this sketch; Cornelius, who was a farmer and school teacher in Grant county, was a profound scholar, was a Republican in politics, and was the candidate of his party for county auditor at the time of his death, which was caused by a kick from a horse; Mary was married to Solomon Hubbard, and died when forty-five years of age. After the death of Joseph Ratliff, Sarah (Shugart) Ratliff married David Harris, of Wayne 53

county, and in that county her death oc- curred.

John Ratliff passed his life on the home farm in Wayne county, until twelve years of age. His education was begun in the common schools, and supplemented with one winter's attendance at a LaGrange school, and then by six or seven years study in the Quaker high school at Richmond in the summer season, and at Franklin College for two years. During the winters he taught district and subscription schools in Jones- boro, Grant county, and in Deer Creek, and also in Wayne and Randolph counties. Hav- ing been well grounded in algebra and geometry while at school in 1848, John Rat- liff began surveying with Ephraim Smith, county surveyor of Grant county, but about a year later Mr. Smith resigned his office and John Ratliff was appointed county sur- veyor for three years by the board of county commissioners, and re-appointed for one year.

In 1849, John Ratliff purchased a tract of timber land six miles southwest of Marion, erected a cabin upon land previously en- tered by his father adjacent and when not surveying devoted his time to clearing off his land and developing a farm from the wilderness, and on this farm he lived until 1871. The earlier part of his life on this farm, as hinted above, was spent in odd jobs at surveying ditches, turnpikes, etc., - constituting the character of the work in which he was employed in this line.

In 1867 Jolin Ratliff was elected to the state legislature on the Republican ticket, and so efficiently did he fill the office that he was re-nominated and triumphantly re- elected in 1869. In 1870 he was elected county auditor, removed to Marion, served

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as auditor four years and at the expira- tion of his term was re-nominated for the same office-but at this election there were three candidates in the field and he was de- feated by the grange element. In 1875 he returned to his farm and resumed farming and surveying. In 1887 he again came to Marion, erected two dwellings, and Marion has since been his home.

John Ratliff married, December 20, 1848, in Grant county, Indiana, Sarah Pearson, daughter of Levi and Huldla (Thomas) Pearson, who were natives of Henry county, Indiana. Sarah Pearson was a child of about one year of age when she lost her mother, and was about five wears old when her father died. At the age of fifteen, she came to Grant county and lived with her maternal uncle, Jesse Thomas, until her marriage.

To John and Sarah Ratliff have been born seven 'children, of whom one died in infancy; Joseph is a carpenter and farmer and a local preacher at Lyons, Kansas ; Levi, also for a time a local preacher, is a repre- sentative farmer in Grant county, Ind., is an able author, writing chiefly on sanitary subjects, is an active politician and in 1896 made several political speeches throughout the country ; Nela H., is a farmer and horse fancier, and in politics is a Prohibitionist ; Harvey now residing on the old homestead. is quite gifted as an orator and is a frequent speaker at the Friends' meetings, being a member of the Society; Charles is deceased. but further mention is made of him in the sketch of his widow, Emma L. Ratliff, to be found elsewhere in this work: John W. resides in Marion.

John Ratliff for more than forty years has been active in politics, having first been

a Free-soiler, then a Republican, and since 1884 has been a Prohibitionist. For four years he was a prominent and useful mem- ber of the board of agriculture. As a busi- ness man, he has been remarkably prosper- ous in his peculiar lines, and at one time owned eight hundred acres of land in one body, but bought piecemeal, but this prop- erty he has divided up, or parceled out, among his children retaining but two hun- dred acres for himself, as a sheep farm ; he also owned one hundred and sixty acres of farm land in Kansas, which has been deeded to his son Joseph. The value of the land and money donated to his children approximate $59.000. His town property in Marion and Fairmount is valued at about $8,000. He was reared in the faith of the Society of Friends, and has ever lived in strict accordance with the precepts of that respected sect.

The Radcliff, Radcliffe or Ratliff family, as the name has been variously spelled, originated in England and members of the family were known in shires of York, Lan- caster, and in the northeastern parts of Al- bion's isle. The family became members of the Society of Friends at the very incipiency of its formation, and the persecution which they suffered for conscience sake. even reach- ing martydom, would at this day shock the sensibilities of the most hardened bigot in existence ; but it was not in England alone that this cruel persecution was indulged, for it was practiced in the colonial days of America. But it does not come within the scope of this article to give the details of the sufferings of the individual members of this family and other Friends-they are matters of historical record that long since appeared in volumes still extant.

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James and Mary Radcliffe, it would ap- pear, came from England to America near the close of the seventeenth century, bring- ing with them five children, viz. : Richard, born April 8, 1676; Edward, born August 14, 1678; Rachel, born February 16, 1682; Rebecca, born November 11, 1684 and James born in 1686 or 1687. The family settled in Bucks county, Pennsylania, where many of their descendants still reside. A quota- tion from a manuscript written April 29, 1877, by Daniel Hough, of Indianapolis, In- diana, will throw considerable light upon the history of the Ratliff family of Indiana :

"During the summer of 1768 there was quite an emigration of the Houghs, Knights and others from Bucks county to North Carolina. It is fair to think that their kins- men, the Ratliffs, were of the number- accordingly I find in the History of Wayne county, page 355, the following: Cornel- ius Ratliff, Sr., was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, about the year 1755. He was the son of Joseph Ratliff, whose ancestors came over from England with the Quaker emigrants to Pennsylvania. He removed when young with his father to North Caro- lina (if they went in 1768, he was thirteen ). He there married the widow Elizabeth Charles in November, 1810, came to White Water and settled on a farm where his son Cornelius now resides and which he had purchased in 1808. (?) He was a member of the Society of Friends. He had eight children, all born in North Carolina. All lived to the age of majority and were mar- ried as follows: Mary, in North Carolino, to Robert, son of John Smith, both deceased ; Elizabeth to Nathan Overman, who settled near Centerville; Gulielma to Andrew Hoover and resides in Clinton county ; Jo-

seph to Mary Shugart, of New Garden, and lied near Marion, Grant county. ( If I re- member right this was the first Quaker marriage at New Garden) ; Sarah to John Shugart of New Garden; Millcent, first to Benjamin Alberton, second to Thomas New- man, both deceased ; Cornelius to Mary Kin- ley; Abigail to Joshua Albertson and died in Clay township, where he still resides (1872). It is an old name in England; you will find on examining the Parliament Rolls that Thomas de Redcliff was a mem- ber of that body. I find accounts of the Radcliffs owning estates in England back to the time of Edward I."

In Hon. John Ratliff we find a worthy representative of a worthy ancestry, a pa- triot, an intelligent man of affairs, and a gentleman of the old school, and it is with pleasure that this biographical review is ac- corded a place in these pages devoted to Grant county's representative citizens.

WILLIAM HENRY MORRISH.

William Henry Morrish, for several years a prominent agriculturist of Fair- mount, Grant county, Indiana, was born in Devonshire, England, April 17, 1853. His parents were John and Catherine (Cole) Morrish, and his grandfather was Philip Morrish. His grandfather had a large fam- ily of children, and ten comprised his father's family, only five of whom are now living, namely: Eliza, Fannie, Maria, James and William H.

Mr. Morrish spent his youth in his na+ tive land, attending school until his tenth year, when he left home and began working

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on a farm. He continued at this work until his twentieth year, when he set sail from his native country for America, and landed in Quebec, Canada. He first located in Thorndale province, but soon afterward came to Indiana and settled in Fairmount township, Grant county, where he secured employment from Nixon Winslow, for whom he worked many years. A longing to seê old scenes and faces induced him to return to the home of his youth, and there he carried on gardening for a time. March 12, 1883, he was joined in wedlock with Miss Elizabeth Tucker, a daughter of Ed- ward and Eliza ( Ward) Tucker, and one month later set out once more for America. This time he landed at Halifax and at once came to Fairmount, where he settled on a tract of eighty acres, and has since been known as one of the foremost and progres- sive farmers of the township. He gives his entire attention to his work of general farm- ing and has been wonderfully successful.

Mrs. Morrish was born May 19, 1854, and has borne her husband four children, all sons, viz. : John Edward, who was borne February 4, 1884; Archer James, born De- cember 11, 1887; Charles William, born March 13, 1889; and Ralph, born January 15, 1892. The ceremony which united Mr. and Mrs. Morrish as husband and wife was solemnized in the city of London. They both have a birthright in the Church of England and are people who would be a credit to any community.

THOMAS LITTLE.

Thomas Little, one of the most promi- nent citizensof Fairmount township, Grant county, Indiana, and a veteran of the Re-

bellion, was born December 9, 1842, in Ran- dolph county, North Carolina, the second child of John and Rachel ( Modlin) Little. His brother, Alexander, is a gas-fitter of Fairmount and a soldier of the Civil war.

John Little was born in Randolph coun- ty, North Carolina, in January, 1814, and died in November, 1853. He received but a meager education and devoted his time to farming in his native state for many years, and finally came with his wife and five chil- dren to Randolph county, this state, in a one-horse wagon. After remaining there one year he came to Fairmount, where, one month later, he was called to his lasting rest, He was a man of strong religious proclivi- ties and a strict adherent of the Wesleyan Methodist church. Firm and decisive in all his convictions, his integrity admitted of no question, and he was held in high esteem by all who knew him. Formerly a Whig, he afterward advocated abolition and was one of the strongest opposers of slavery to be found in this locality. His wife was bor.i in Wayne county, North Carolina, in No- vember, 1818, and died January 20. 1898 She was a kind, Christian gentlewoman, who favored the doctrine of the Friends, and whose memory will ever be treasured in the hearts of her children.

Thomas Little was a child of some eleve ! years when his parents became residents ci Grant county, and received his early edu- cational training in his native state. The first school-house was a frame building 16 x20 feet, with a frame foundation, heated by two fireplaces, one at each end of the building, between which the master sat. The seats rested on wooden legs, were mi- nus backs, and made from trees which were split in two. The desk for the older pupils

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was a long board supported against the side of the wall by wooden pins, and the pen was fashioned from the goose-quill. The reader for all scholars was the New Testament. At the age of fourteen he left home to be- conte a laborer in the great army of wage earners, receiving for his services the sum of seven dollars per month. He began at the bottom rung of the ladder leading to prosperity and climbed perseveringly, step by step, until he reached the present honora- ble eminence, and has obtained the good will and esteem of all who know him. The forty-seven years passed in this vicinity have been spent in a most worthy manner, and his conduct has been such as to win commendation and has been above reproach.

In response to a call for arms, Mr. Little enlisted in Company H, Eighty-fourth In- diana Regiment, at Winchester, under Cap tain G. U. Carter and Colonel Tressler, join- ing August 9, 1862, and first going into camp at Camp Wayne, Richmond, this state. They were sent to Covington, Ken- tucky, to engage the enemy under General Bragg as he was about to move the Rebel forces to Cincinnati. This expedition was commanded by General Lew E. Wallace, Thence to Gallipolis, Ohio, to intercept the Johnnies in the Kanawha valley, and after following them south of the Big Sandy our subject was taken sick and was carried to Nashville, Tennessee, where, on April 23, he received his discharge and came bacl; home. On August 8, 1863, he had suffi- ciently recovered to re-enlist and joined Company B, Seventh Indiana Cavalry, un- der Colonel J. P. C. Shanks, and was sent into camp at Indianapolis. On December I they were sent to Columbus, Kentucky, and later took part in several important en-

gagements, the first near Jackson, Ten- nessee. Then followed the battles at Oko- lona, Mississippi and Guntown, where Gen- eral Sturges suffered defeat, and Verona, after which they retired to Egypt Station. Here Mr. Little was detailed to carry am- munition to a point which necessitated crossing between the Rebel lines under cross fire, where the bullets whistled around him, making very unpleasant music, and the chances for reaching his destination were exceedingly slim. But like a brave and obedient soldier he started on his perilous trip and was permitted to run the gauntlet unharmed. He was in very close quarters also during the battle of Okolona, when a Rebel standing about thirty feet distant filled Mr. Little's clothing full of buckshot, but, happily, did not strike the body. Fol. lowing several days skirmishing at Oxford, Missisippi, came the battle which was bit- terly contested, and which will never be forgotten by Mr. Little, as it was indelibly stamped on his mind by a thrilling experi- ence and narrow escape from instant death. A companion, G. W. Smith, of the home company, was knocked senseless at the side of Mr. Little by the bursting of a Rebel shell, and the impression, even among those scenes of horror, was a terrible one. They next had an engagement at Raleigh, and here he inflicted a wound on himself by the premature discharge of his gun, the ball scraping the ankle bone and inducing ne- crosis, from which he suffered greatly. He took an active part in the engagement at Bolivar, and has suffered all the privations of a soldier, remaining in the saddle for three days at a time when rations were very scarce indeed. His regiment was stationed in the vicinity of Memphis for a time, and

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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 110

Author: Publication date: 1901 Publisher: Chicago: Bowen Number of Pages: 1000

Author:
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: Chicago: Bowen
Number of Pages: 1000