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 37
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In 1898 he was elected one of the county commissioners, his colleagues at the present being Isaac Carter, of Liberty township, and Paris A. Hoover, of Marion. As a commis- sioner to attend to the public business of the county, Mr. Williams has the fullest confi dence of the people, all feeling that the ex- penditures will be kept within reach and that there is no danger of jobbery so long as he stands at the helm. While he stands for advanced ideas, believing that Grant county should not take a back seat with any county in the state, he demands that all contracts be carried out to the letter, and that every
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dollar be economically invested. Having well tested experience in the making and using of the public pikes, he understands all the details of their building, and in no other matter involving the expenditure of the county funds is expert knowledge so needed. The pike system is being extended as fast as is consistent with the conditions of the times, keeping pace, as nearly as possible with the growing demand, every citizen now realizing the great benefits conferred upon a community by having the best roads within reach of the possibilities.
Mr. Williams is a popular man with those who appreciate good fellowship, and holds fraternal relations with the Odd Fellows fra- ternity, being a charter member of Landess- ville Lodge, in which body he has passed the chairs and served as the representative to the grand lodge. He is, also, a frater of Ma- rion Encampment, in which he is considered one of the royal good fellows. Few men in the county have more or truer friends thati John T. Williams, whose well-established rep- utation marks him as one of the leading men of the county.
JOHN EMBREE.
John Embree, a prosperous farmer of Center township, Grant county, Indiana, was born near Pleasant Hill, in Miami county, Ohio, April 2, 1823, and is a son of Jesse and grandson of Jacob Embree. Both the father and grandfather were natives of Ten- nessee and moved to Ohio in 1804 or 1805, where they entered two hundred and eighty acres of government land in Miami county. Jacob Embree followed the occupation of husbandry and was a devout member of the
Quaker church, his death in his sixty-third year being a great loss to that society.
Jesse Embree had located in Miami coun- ty with his father and followed the vocation of farming. There he was married to Miss Mary Jones, by whom he had one child, the subject of this biography. During the year 1836 he came to Grant county and settled on the farm now occupied by Jesse Nelson. In the month of May he bought one hundred and sixty acres of land in section 12, of which he took possession in the fall, remain- ing there until his death in 1881. There were but a few acres cleared off and a little log cabin was the only improvement on the premises at that time, but this was all changed as the years passed, the forest dis- appeared and in its place was seen the wav- ing fields of grain, while the log hut was sup- plemented by a neat frame, and the entire place took on the appearance of improve- ment and civilization. Mr. Embree conduct- ed a saw mill here for many years and much of the timber from his farm passed through this mill and was converted into lumber, be- ing then placed on the market. He will be remembered by many of the older residents as a man of strict integrity, industrious and painstaking in his work, and upright and honorable in his dealings with his fellow men.
John Embree was a lad of thirteen when his father took up his residence in Grant county, and, being an only child, remained at home with his parents until death removed that parent to the home above. His edu- cation was obtained from the old log school which was sustained by subscription, the school being a mile fom his home and the journey each day made on foot. This walk was often taken during storm and cold suf-
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ficient to strike terror to the heart, but frost- ed ears and fingers were not allowed to stand in the way of development in those days, be it land or intellect, and our farmer boys took advantage of the opportunities that offered and have become the bright, intelligent cit- izens of to-day.
Mr. Embree has been twice united il matrimony, his first wife being Miss Ilan- nah Swift, who died without issue. In 1849 he led to the altar Miss Sophia Yount, who bore him six children : Jessie deceased ; thee children who died in infancy; Silas; and Mollie, deceased.
Mr. Embree has devoted his time and attention to general farming and to the suc- cessful operation of his saw mill, and has shown himself to be a man of superior busi- ness ability, his property speaking for his executive ability. In politics he is a Repub- lican but has never been an aspirant for po- litical preferment, as his private business occupies all his time. He has three hun- dred acres of fine land in this township, all cleared and improved under his supervision and among the most valuable in the county.
Looking back over the long vista of years passed in this county, he can see many wonderful changes and recalls the time when Marion was a struggling little hamlet whose population was made up of probably twenty families.
Mr. Embree is a zealous member of the Christian church and is highly esteemed as an honorable, upright gentleman.
JOSEPH F. CARMICHAEL.
Joseph F. Carmichael, recorder of Grant county, is a native of Hope, Bartholomew county, Indiana, where he first saw the light
of day November 23, 1858. He is a son of Joseph F. and Rebecca (Elrod) Car- michael, a grandson of Richard and Sarah (Westmoreland) Carmichael, and a great- grandson of William Carmichael, who came to the United States from Scotland before the Revolutionary war. Richard and his wife were both natives of North Carolina, where they were planters, the former dying at the age of sixty-one and his wife at the age of seventy-four.
Joseph F. Carmichael, senior, was also born in North Carolina, where he learned the carpenter's trade, at which he worked until about 1849, when he was united in marriage with Miss Rebecca Elrod, and soon after moved to Indiana. They settled at Hope, where he worked at his trade and did contract work until the breaking out of the Civil war. Although reared in the hotbed of Democracy, his sympathies were with the North and he unhesitatingly offered his ser- vices to the support of the Union. His regiment was sent to the seat of hostilities, where he participated in many engagements until he received a wound from a sharp- shooter which disabled him. He was lying down in a steamboat in which they had tak- en passage on the Mississippi river in the vicinity of Memphis, when a ball struck him, entering the shoulder and passing the entire length of the body, coming out at the hip. Ile was taken to St. Louis and placed in a hospital, where he remained several weeks, and as soon as he was able to travel returned home. After he had recovered sufficiently to get around he became engaged in a dispute with some of the citizens of Hope over the issues of the day, and was shot and killed. He was a young man at the time of his death, only thirty-six years
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old. While he was fighting for the Union two of his brothers were soldiers in the Confederate army. He was the father of seven children, one of whom died in in- fancy, the others are still living.
Mrs. Carmichael was born in North Carolina, where she lived until her marriage. She was a daughter of Solomon Elrod and was reared in the faith of the Methodist church, of which she was a member. Her death occurred in Hope in 1897, at the age of sixty-six years.
Being left fatherless when a lad, it de- volved upon Mr. Carmichael to make his own way in the world, and the success he has achieved is but a reflection of the life and energy he has put in his work. At the age of nine years he started out as a wage earner, going to Decatur county, this state, where he secured employment by the month on a farm. Later he came to Grant county and worked as a farm hand for three or four years, in the meantime attending the public schools during the winter months for a short time each year. Being studious and ambitious to acquire an education, he applied himself diligently to his studies and managed to prepare himself for teaching. His first work as teacher was in the district school in what is now Elwood, Indiana .. He became quite a proficient instructor, and taught during thirteen winter terms in Grant, Shelby and Madison counties, also attend- ing the National Normal school at Lebanon for three summers. He embraced each op- portunity that offered for self-advancement and when not engaged in school work se- cured employment in the county offices here for four or five summers, helping in the Clerk's, Recorder's and Treasurer's offices.
About this time he was offered the posi- 18
tion of bookkeeper in the First National Bank of this city, abandoned pedagogy and devoted all his time to his clerical duties. Soon after he entered the abstract office of Thom & Company, acquiring an interest in the business and remaining connected with them until 1896, when the Republicans nomi- nated him for the office of County Record- er. The fact of his receiving this nomina- tion shows the popularity he enjoys in the county, where he has been an active worker in the ranks, and his election to the office but emphasizes the fact. He took his seat the following August, and has given entire satisfaction to even the most critical by the efficient manner in which he has discharged the duties imposed upon him. He possesses exceptional capacity and a thorough knowl- edge of his business, and the probity of his official acts are above suspicion. In all his dealings he has been honest, upright and honorable to a fault.
He was joined in marriage with Miss Emma McCrory, of Shelby county, by whom he has had two children, Merwyn H. and Sylvia. He and Mrs. Carmichael are members of the Newlight church, of which he is a trustee, and for several years he has been superintendent of the Sunday-school. He is a member of Grant Lodge, No. 103, Knights of Pythias, of Marion, and also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, holding the offices of secretary and treasurer in the board of trustees.
GEORGE ALVIN MODLIN.
Among the more progressive of the younger representative men of Grant county is George A. Modlin, the present popular and efficient county auditor, than whom no
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citizen bears more universally the respect of all. He is a native of the county, hav- ing been born six miles south of Marion, in Liberty township, on the 16th of April, 1863. His parents were William and Jane ( Ben- bow) Modlin. The Modlin family have not taken an active part in the making of this section of Indiana but were equally promi- nent in the history of Randolph county, North Carolina, where it is found as early as the opening of the eighteenth century, the ancestors having come from England soon after the original settlement in that region. The first of the family known in America was John Modlin, a man of influence and high standing in the "Pine Tree" state. His son George and family,-his wife being for- merly Sarah Peale,-had started for the west when Indiana was yet a territory, but which was a state of eleven days old, on their reaching it. They first settled near Richmond, in Wayne county, removing later to Henry county; and here he was buried at Clear Spring, a few miles west of New- castle, in the old Friends' cemetery.
Their son Dillon, the grandfather of George A., born in the old Carolina home May 12, 1813, accompanied the parents to this state and was married in Henry county to Elizabeth Draper. Hle settled in Grant county about 1830, his final and permanent home being in Franklin township, where he died on June 22, 1897, aged eighty-four years, one month and ten days. He had sur- vived his companion upwards of thirty years -her death occurring September 16, 1865. He was a man of strong personality, possess. ing, to a degree, those excellent qualities. the exercise of which did so much to ad- vance the growth and development of the material prosperity of the section in which
i he lived, as well as to contribute to the moral and intellectual life of the county. He was ever a moderate farmer being content with the modest competence that comes to him whose ambition is to be of benefit to all with whom he holds friendly relations.
Those of the children who survived their father were: Elias, of Blackford county ; Mary, wife of Enos Benbow, of Henry coun- ty ; George W., a well known painter of Ma- rion, and one of the old soldiers of the Re- bellion, having served in the Eighty-ninth Regiment for three years; Nathan P., who was also a soldier, resides in Franklin ; Susannah, who is the wife of David McCoy, of Henry county; Sarah, now Mrs. Manuel Sharp, of Franklin, and Hiram C., a con- tractor of Marion. Those dead are Willian and Jesse; the last named also served his country faithfully, becoming later a success- fu! farmer and thresher in Franklin town- ship and dying February 28, 1899, aged fifty-five years; and Lydia, who had not passed the years of childhood. William was ried at the age of twenty-two to Jane Ben- bow, daughter of Aaron and Catherine Elliott ) Benbow. Mrs. Catherine ( Elliott) Benbow was the daughter of Isaac and Ra- chael Elliott ; Isaac Elliott, Sr., entered the farm which is now occupied by the National Military Home for Disabled Volunteer Sol- diers as early as 1830. Her grandfather, John Benbow, had in 1829 entered the land where Jonesboro now stands, and was one of the strong men of the early days of the county's history. The Benbow family is Welsh in its origin, being traced to Mont- gomeryshire. Wales, whence Charles Ben . bow and his brother. Gershon, when boys, ran away, boarding a ship bound for the new world. On reaching Philadelphia they
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were both sold by the captain for payment of the passage money. The purchaser of Charles was a planter of North Carolina named Carver, who, taking a liking to him, gave him his daughter in marriage, some years later. He was born December 20, 1704, and a certified copy of his will, dated January 25, 1774, now in the hands of George A., shows him to have been a mail of considerable estate. Little is known of the position of the family during the Revolu- tionary period, though it is certain they were stanch in their adherance and support of the Colonists.
Benjamin, the son of Charles, was the father of John, who married Charity Men- denhall, and about 1812 came to Indiana, the final and permanent home being in Mill township, Grant county, where he died at alı advanced age. His son Aaron was born where now stands Cincinnati, while the fam- ily were enroute to Indiana. He became a blacksmith, following that trade at Marion and Jonesboro, being well and favorably re -- membered. He died at the age of sixty- three.
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William Modlin, the father of George A .. became a substantial farmer of Franklin: township, the latter twenty-five years of his life being passed in Franklin, where he died August 8, 1897. He was born in Grani county, October 16, 1839, his boyhood days being spent amid the scenes of pioneer life, receiving only those advantages afforded by the most primitive schools. His widow, who shared all the vicissitudes of his own life, survives him, her home being with her son George, in Marion. The five children born to them were: George A., the subject of our sketch; Willis O., a farmer of Jef- ferson township; Lillian M., wife of Mehl
T. Pilcher, of Marion; Linnie Myrtle, wife of Elmer McMullan, professor in the Normal College of Marion, and Edgar C., of Kan- sas.
The boyhood days of George were passed on the farm, he early acquiring the desire for thorough education. After attendance at the common schools, he took a three years' course in the State Normal School at Terre Haute, paying his way by the income derived from teaching. He, not wishing to make teaching a life work, decided to prepare more thoroughly for business life by taking training in Eastman's Business College at Poughkeepsie, New York, which he did with the class of 1889.
In April, 1890, he entered the office of William Feighner, county clerk, as deputy, remaining there until July, 1891. His ap- titude for the details of office work became apparent to all, and at the accession of George A. Osborne, as auditor, he was given the responsible position of deputy, contin- uing as such for four years. He was asked to retain the position by John Wilson, upon his assuming the office and so remained during his entire incumbency. In 1898, his worth was given a more emphatic recog- mition by the party, who named him as the choice for the position of auditor, his elec- tion following with most satisfactory re. sults.
The family have been faithful in its ad- heernce to and support of the Republican party, his grandfather being one of the stanch Whigs of half a century since, work- ing in the interest of William H. Harrison, and the father being one of the radical Lin- coln men of 1860. George has been accorded an influential place in the latter party organ- ization, having charge of the formation of
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"Lincoln Leagues" in 1896; and every phase of party work finding him one whose coun- sel and influence are ready for the success of the party principles. While not a stump speaker, his work has redounded to the strengthening of party lines, the power of his efforts showing in the solidifying and expanding the ranks of the organization.
As an efficient and obliging official, he has made many warm personal friends whose interest in him is not lessened by the acci- dent of disagreement in political views.
George .A. Modlin was married June 25, 1892, to Miss Lucy D. Willcuts, whose pa- rents, Clarkson and Hannah ( Druckemiller ) Willcuts are among the most respected citi- zens of the county. Two children are the fruits of the union, viz. : Lois G. and Wal- ter W.
Outside of his official relation, his life is principally devoted to the home and fam- ily, although he is a respected member of Mississinewa Lodge, No. 96, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, as well as being asso- siated with Grant Lodge, No. 103, Knights of Pythias. Mr. Modlin and his family worship with the Society of Friends.
Mr. Modlin is of a pleasing and genial personality, drawing to him, without attempt to do so, the better class of citizens, regard- less of political, fraternal or social consider- ations. Few men in Grant county have wider acquaintance and certainly none have warmer or more loyal friends.
ALEXANDER BELL THOMPSON.
To a few men the present excellent con- ditition of the schools of Grant county is due. not the least of whom is the present efficient
school superintendent of the county-Alex- auder Bell Thompson-of Marion. He was born at the popular resident suburb of Cin- cinnati-College Hill-September 10, 1873; and is the son of Thomas and Catherine (Bell) Thompson of Monroe township, Grant county, and of whom fuller mention will be found on another page of this vol- ume.
Carlyle tells us that Archibald Thompson was a soldier under Cromwell in the first great struggle for human liberty, and that he received large grants of land in county Down, Ireland, for his services. His body lies at the scene of the greatest battles fought for the commonwealth on Irish soil-Conleg Mountain. The family have existed there ever since though the estates have been largely dissipated by improvident descend- ai:ts.
Thomas Thompson was born in Belfast, Ireland, June, 1823, and there Catherine Bell became his wife. His father, Robert Thompson, attained some local reputation as a poet. Her father was James Bell, of Bel- fast, and who settling in Ireland had become a well-to-do farmer, she being a distant rel - ative of Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone.
After a residence of some twenty years in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he was employed in the Spring Grove Cemetery, the father of Alexander Thompson removed to Grant county, Indiana, and has since made this his home.
After taking advantage of the country schools, young Alexander entered the State Normal School at Terre Haute where he re- ceived the necessary preparation for teach- ing, though he did not complete the full course. lle taught four years in the schools
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of Monroe township and was then selected as superintendent of the Upland schools. Having full appreciation of the needs of the town he started the high school, giving it such impetus that being followed up by his successors, resulted in making that one of the best high schools in the county. Having the enthusiasm necessary to carry forward educational plans, he was chosen as county superintendent, in 1897, and was re appointed two years later for four years, the term having been changed in the mean- time.
Marked progress has been made in the conduct of the schools during the term that Mr. Thompson has filled the office, the num -. ber of high schools being increased, there now being thirteen in the county, those of Swayzee, VanBuren, Roseburg, Matthews. Landessville and North Marion being added within the last three years and Matthews in 1900. Two hundred and seventy-four teach- ers, most of whom has had normal train ing, are employed in the schools, and all are keenly alive to the county's needs, putting forth every effort to bring and keep the schools to a high standard. The day of the indifferent or unqualified teacher is past, all now being thoroughly imbued with the spirit of progress and displaying that enthusiasm that insures the continuance of the present in- terest on the part of pupils and patrons. The township alumni association leading into the county association has done much tc encourage the teachers and pupils to im- prove and excel in their work. More than fifteen hundred of the county's brightest sut- dents have already graduated from the com- mon schools and it is gratifying to all interested to know that the percentage is con- stantly on the increase, there having been
one hundred and seventy-five in 1900. as against ninety three years before.
No mistake was made when the choice fell upon Mr. Thompson, as his whole soul and keenest interest is centered in the work. every nerve being strung to carry out the plans which will do so much to further the cause of a better and broader citizenship throughout the country. He is ever present at the township graduations and by word and precept renders substantial encourage- ment to all.
The graduation exercises are looked for- ward to as the most interesting day of the year in each neighborhood, the general exer- cises at the county seat, when the represen- tatives from all the townships are brought to- gether, being characterized by the display of geater enthusiasm and profound interest than any other event of the year. This is truly a commencement that means a great deal to those who are fortunate enough to be able to participate, the value of the effort and rivalry being more apparent than in the city schools.
The reading circle, by bringing teachers together, and making each feel that he is one of a great profession, tends to foster a spirit cf self-reliance that is seldom seen in those whose work isolates them; and for its many advantages it receives the undivided support and encouragement of the superintendent. Indiana may be criticized in many places for its lagging in the rear, but the school system and its application in Grant county is not one of the places. The writer has seen the workings of the systems of other states, es- pecially in the east, and after the observation of the work done and the interest manifested, in this county, certainly feels like extending congratulations to the citizens for the results
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already attained and for the incumbency of the office of superintendent by so enthusiastic and well qualified an educator.
Mr. Thompson married, January 13. 1900, Miss Myrtle Knee, an accomplished teacher of the Swayzee schools, and who was educated in the Marion Normal College. She was born June 6, 1878, and is a daughter of Jacob and Mary (Crumrine ) Knee, residents of Wabash county, Indiana. £ One child graces this union, viz. : Myrtle Delight, born November 26, 1900.
Mr. Thompson is an Odd Fellow and a Knight of Pythias, as well as being identi- fied with the Presbyterian church ; but all of these are subordinate to the grand subject of the better education of the masses, believ- in:g that therein lies the strength and perpe- tuity of the free institutions of our country.
GEORGE WILLIAM COON.
George W. Coon represents one of the oldest of the pioneer families of Washing- ton township, Grant county, Indiana, being himself born within one mile of his present residence on the Bradford pike, a short dis- tance east of the city limits. His birth oc. curred on the 8th of January, 1844. his parents being Jacob and Melinda ( Wall) Coon, both of whom were natives of Bote- tourt county, Virginia, where they were also married.
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