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 69

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 69

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

- -

able struggle for financial supremacy. She is a most exemplary Christian lady, who wields an active influence for good in the community. In her girlhood she was a member of the Presbyterian church, the re- ligious home of her family ; but on coming to Indiana she united with the Methodist Episcopal church, in which her husband was a communicant, thus establishing the ques- tion of unity in religious sentiment as well as in things secular. She and her husband are members of the Rebekah degree in Odd Fellowship and Mrs. Curless is prominently identified with the various social and benevo- lent societies within the pale of the church. She is a lady of high social standing, and accomplishments. Her family genealogy is as follows : She is a daughter of Noah and Elizabeth (Boyce) Hite. Her father was born in Virginia, and when a mere child. accompanied his widowed mother and one sister to Ohio. There he grew to manhood, married Miss Elizabeth Boyce and became the father of twelve children. He died in Ohio. His father,-i. e. the paternal grand- father of Mrs. Curless,-was of German an- cestry. He was a soldier from Virginia in the war of 1812, served until the close of the war, and died on his way home, a most sad and pathetic ending of an honorable career. After his death his widow and two children removed to Ohio, as before mentioned. The mother of Mrs. Curless is a native of New Jersey, born in April, 1816, and is now liv- ing. Her parents removed to Ohio when she was a child, and there she married at the age of eighteen. The names of her chil- dren follow : Harvey, Mary Jane, Arminda, John, Cassius, Ada, Kossuth, Julius, Mi- nerva. Rebecca died in childhood. Ida and Samuel. Mary J. died the wife of Nelson

539

BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS.

Huggins; Arminda, the wife of Obediah Daly, is dead; Minerva became the wife ot George Kress. She is also deceased, and Julius is dead. The others are variously located and engaged in life's struggles on their own occount.

The venerable mother, who has long since entered upon "borrowed time," having lived out the "three score and ten years" allotted to man, is spending her last years in peace and comfort among her children. Her presence is a source of pleasure to all, for it awakens thoughts of by-gone days when father and mother, brothers and sisters were one happy family in the Buckeye home of the long ago. The recital of home reminis- cances of the youthful days, while bringing a tinge of sadness, and sometimes remorse, seems to be a necessary adjunct to our later lives and we would not avoid them if we could. In the preparation of a volume dedi- cated to the life history of the prominent families of Grant county, this extended re- view of Mr. and Mrs. Curless is not out of place.

WILLIAM H. BRAGG.

William H. Bragg, of Pleasant town- ship, Grant county, Indiana, was born seven miles from Winchester, Randolph county, Indiana, November II, 1849, and is the son of Harrison B. and Mahala (Green) Bragg. The noted Confederate general, Braxton Bragg, was a second cou- sin of Harrison Bragg, descending from John Bragg, of Maryland, who migrated to Tennessee when Harrison was a child, and before he had attained his majority they removed to Indiana. Harrison settled

on the farm now occupied by his son, build- ing a house on the site of the present one. He died at the age of fifty, leaving a widow and five children, of whom she is still a resident of Franklin township. She was the daughter of Sloan Green, a Revolution- ary soldier, who died at Jonesboro at the great age of one hundred and ten years. Harrison Bragg was one of a family of sixteen children, all of whom reached ma- turity, there not being a death in the fam- ily for upwards of a quarter of a century. And what is more remarkable, now, is that no doctor was ever employed in the family. At the death of Harrison Bragg his chil- dren were Peter, Mahlon, Irene, Tena, Elihu, William H. and Mary, and of these seven are living in the year 1900.

The boyhood of William H. Bragg was passed on the farm, and in his twenty-first year he was married to Miss Matilda Burge, sister of William Burge, and who was then a young lady of eighteen, living with her brother William. At the settle- ment of the Bragg estate William purchased about fifty acres, to which he has since add- ed until he now owns seventy-five acres of the one hundred and twenty that com- prised his father's farm. The residence built by his father was destroyed and the present one was erected by him in 1896. February 10, 1898, he was called upon to surrender his claims to the companionship of an estimable wife to a higher Power who took her hence, leaving a loving hus- band and orphaned children to mourn her loss. The children are: Harvey, who mar- ried Minnie Williams, and has carried on the farm during the past two years; Adel- bert, whose wife is Ella Miller and who is in the employ of the street railway com+

540

BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS.

pany at Marion; Melvin and Elven are twins of sixteen years; Nekoda is eleven, Uda May seven and Mary aged six.

For several years Mr. Bragg has served the church of God as a minister, and since the death of his wife he has been more closely identified with the work of the Mas- ter by having gone east to Moundsville, West Virginia, where the office of the church organ, the Trumpet, is located. His relation to the work of the society is that of a volunteer paying his own expenses and not preaching for the living there may be in the work, but for the duty that he feels to the Great Ruler, whose teachings he endeavors to not only practice but to teach, that others may see the true way and become attached to the true church. Being of a deeply religious nature, his life has been regulated by the words of the great Teacher, and the personal sense of oneness with God has ever been empha- sized, as his own efforts have tended to a closer affinity to the Fountain of Truth.

MICHAEL W. KENNEDY.

The business interests of Grant county would not be properly represented without more than a passing notice of the Jalapa mills or what were formerly better known as Conner's mills, of which Michael W. Kennedy, of Pleasant township, Grant county, is proprietor.

Mr. Kennedy is a native of Ohio, was born in Brown county February 10, 1845, and is the son of Moses H. and Mary (Shroufe) Kennedy. Moses HI. Kennedy was an early settler of Marion, and a man

held in honorable estimation by all with whom he came in contact. He was a mill- wright by occupation, having erected, among others, the Thompson saw-mill, sit- uated on the Huntington pike; also, in company with Mr. David Hite, he owned the McFeeley mills at Marion, and built many others which are still standing as monuments of his untiring industry. He departed this life when at the home of his son Michael, who resided then at Arca- num, Darke county, Ohio, having reached the age of fifty-five, surviving his beloved wife, who preceded him to the better land several months previously, while at her home at Gas City, where they had lived during the latter years of their lives.

Michael W. Kennedy chose his father's vocation as his own, remaining with him until, at the age of twenty-one, he wedded Miss Mary L. Houck, one of Marion's highly esteemed young ladies and a sister of William J. Houck. Mr. Kennedy is one of the most thoroughly competent millers in the county, having a life-long experience in that calling, and being perfectly familiar with all its departments. He operated sev- eral mills in the state at various points on the Pan-Handle Railroad, owning one at Dunkirk for three years. Later he was millwright at the Crystal rice mills at Ma- rion. Mr. Kennedy is now proprietor of the Jalapa mills, which are situated on the Mississinewa, near Jalapa. He purchased the above plant in 1894 of Charley Jones, who was the successor of Mart Conner's heirs. The mill was first erected by a man by the name of Jacobs, Mart himself ope- rating it until his death. Then it passed from one party to another, until finally it was purchased by Jones, who had posses-

54I

BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS.

sion of it for about one year, when it was secured by its present proprietor. When he bought it it was in a very dilapidated condition, having none of the modern im- provements. He determined upon a reno- vation, and in the year 1899 overhauled it, installing an entire outfit of new machin- ery of the latest pattern, consisting of new turbine wheels, corn crushers, grinders, etc. A great deal of time and money was ex- pended in this remodeling, but it was not ill spent, as he now has the gratification of daily seeing from forty to fifty barrels of the favorite brand, "Gilt Edge," supplied to his many customers. In 1901 Mr. Ken- nedy intends adopting the new method, which is the manufacturing of flour by the roller process and conducting it in what is known as the short system, as the water supply is excellent, being sufficiently strong to operate several mills. Mr. Kennedy's brother, S. B., assisted him for about one year; then wishing to engage in business for himself, he purchased a saw-mill near by, using the same water power as his bro- ther. These two are now doing a very extensive and lucrative business, and are widely known to be men of untiring indus- try and strict integrity.

Mr. Kennedy's family consists of three children, viz .: Lula, who is the wife of Frank P. Davis, of Grant county ; Opal, a young lady still in her 'teens; and Frankie S., a school boy. Mr. Kennedy's political sympathies are with the Democratic party, of which he has always been a stanch sup- porter, ever using his influence in advanc- ing the principles which he advocates. He is an active member of the Masonic fra- ternity, and always cherishes and sustains all efforts for the support and propagation

of the same. He is also identified with the I. O. O. F., having served in all the offices in the subordinate lodge and having the honor accorded him of being selected as its representative to the grand lodge. He has also been equally conspicuous in, the work of the encampment. He is of fine personal appearance, is a pleasant conversationalist, and has a host of warm friends.

JOHN W. ROGERS (DECEASED).

Among those esteemed pioneers of Grant county who did so much toward its development and whose influence in many respects survives them, but who have al- ready passed to their reward, was the late John W. Rogers, of Pleasant township. For nearly half a century has the communi- ty in which he lived been greatly benefited by his having been a citizen therein. Mr. Rogers was born in Hunterdon county, New Jersey, November 20, 1819, and was the eldest son of Aaron and Abigail ( Ros- sel) Rogers, both of whom were natives of the same state, his birth occurring January 6, 1798. He died at the age of fifty-five, from the effects of the bite of a dog, in Warren county, Ohio, where they had re- moved in 1835. The mother, who was born in August, 1797, died in 1844. John W. remained with his parents until his marriage, on the 26th of January, 1841, to Miss Sarah Gillespie, whose birth oc- curred in Warren county October 4, 1816. The young couple immediately began the duties of domestic life on a small farm in Warren county, removing the following year to Montgomery county, and two years later

542

BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS.

to Preble county. Having made some progress and deciding to better his condi- tion by efforts in a newer country, they removed, in the spring of 1852, to Grant county, Indiana, locating upon what re- mained his home. Here he improved, by the closest attention to his own affairs, by the exercising of strict economy and put- ting forth that energy which characterized him, one of the valuable farms of this sec- tion of the state. The general improve- ments of the farm were crowned with com- modious and convenient buildings, which added materially to the attractiveness of the home. However, the residence in which he had spent so many happy years was de- stroyed some ten years since by a fire, in which he nearly lost his life. This was re- placed by the present house, in which his latter years were passed, and where he died August 4, 1900. His estimable compan- ion, with whom he had lived most amica- bly for upwards of fifty-five years, preced- .ed him to the great hereafter some four years, her death occurring July 29, 1896. The family of this revered couple were seven children, of whom three only have reached maturity. They are William Hen- ry, who owns part of the old homestead; Martha Josephine and George Washington, of Richland township. Of these, the one who administered to the wants of the par- ents in their latter years and who resides upon the old homestead, receiving part of it as her reward, is Martha Josephine. She had remained during her early woman- hood with her parents and until wedded. at the age of twenty-nine years, to Will- iam Line, a native of the county. When the call came for troops to quell the Re- bellion her young husband answered freely,

enlisting in the Twelfth Indiana regiment, being assigned to Company I, which was mustered into service May 15, 1861. The regiment was placed in General Banks' Army of the Shenandoah, and was retained in that section until mustered out May 5, 1862. Having thus devoted one year to his country's service, he returned to the quieter pursuits of his usual vocation, only, however, to again respond when the darker days endangered the safety of the republic, this time being assigned, as a recruit, to Company K, Thirty-fourth regiment. The hardships endured seriously undermined his health, never fully recuperating his orig- inal vigor. March 12, 1888, he passed from friends, to test the land of shadows. Never applying for a pension himself, it was, however, granted to his widow.

Soon after the loss of her husband Mrs. Line, with her children, John Shipley, George William, Telitha and Sarah, re- turned to the parental roof, thenceforth de- voting her life to the care of children and parents.

John W. Rogers was one of the most highly respected citizens, few who have ever lived in the community having wider acquaintance or more loyal friends. He was one of the original members of the Methodist Protestant church at Jalapa, having assisted in organizing the society at the old country school house. For many years he was the principal supporter of the church, standing most loyally and faith- fully by it in every emergency, when oth- ers seemed to have lost their moorings or had become distracted by other influences. His religion was his life, and being thor- oughly grounded in his knowledge of the Bible, ever made it his constant rule and

543

BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS.

guide. Never faltering in his service of the Master, he was ever ready to speak a word for His cause, and found enjoyment when in friendly discussion of points based upon religious belief. His influence in the church was far-reaching, his presence and counsel being felt in the annual conference. Retaining his faculties, both physical and mental, he persistently continued in the su- pervision of his business interests. The day before his death he had attended to some details about his orchard. Realizing what the final outcome would be, when stricken in his last illness, he was not in the least disturbed, but awaited the final summons with that resignation and forti- tude that had been characteristic of his en- tire life. When the cold touch of the angel of death was felt and the full sense of the situation dawned upon him, and that he soon would be again united to her with whom so many happy years were passed, standing in peace before his Maker, the careworn features lighted as if touched with a ray from heaven, and with shouts of joy he lay down the burden of this life and entered into that final rest, prepared for the saints.

WILLIAM BURGE.

The gentleman whose name introduces this review, William Burge, is one of the most successful and widely known farmers of Pleasant township, Grant county, Indi- ana, and a member of the firm of the Burge & Lake Milling Company. He was born on the 8th of July, 1840, in Licking coun- ty, Ohio, his parents being William and Catherine (Houser) Burge, natives re- spectively of Ohio and Virginia. His mo-

ther had been left an orphan at the age of four years, having been brought to Ohio by her mother's parents, who reared her.

William Burge was also born in Lick- ing county, Ohio, lived there until thirty- five years old, when he removed with his family to Iowa; a year later he moved to Wayne county, Indiana, later came to Grant county, and still later moved to Cass coun- ty, where he died at the age of fifty-four years, having cleared up a large tract of land with the aid of his sons.

Of the family of six sons and five daugh- ters, four are living at the present time. One of the latter, Matilda, became the wife of William Bragg, and died in 1890, hav- ing reached middle life.

William Burge, from a small boy, knew the hard work incident to the making of a new farm, and soon began to work out for others. He became interested in the opera- tion of a saw-mill and threshing machines, following this line of business for some years. He has the credit of operating the first steam thresher in Cass county in 1864. He found the manufacture of lumber a pay- ing industry at that time, clearing upwards of two thousand dollars in one year from the proceeds of the mill. There was a great deal of black walnut timber through the state in earlier days, and there being a good market for it, he found that line of the lumber business most profitable. Hav- ing made a start by trading in land and dealing in timber, he secured the tract of land embraced in his present farm, in 1867, paying forty dollars per acre, which was a big price, the land being in poor condition, with brush fences and trees standing all over the part that pretended to be farmed. He had but gotten nicely started in the im-

544

BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS.

provements that he had contemplated, such whose wife, Addie Carey, died, leaving a daughter, Helen; Aaron, the youngest, is a prosperous practitioner of the healing art, having an increasing and successful prac- as building, fencing, clearing, draining, etc., when his calculations were broken into by the death of his wife. He had been mar- - tice, though he assists in operating one of his father's farms. He was educated in the Ohio Medical College and practiced for a time at Marion previous to the combina- tion of farming with the practice. Beside these, another, a nephew of Mr. Burge, Ollie Thomas, came into the family at the age of seven and remained until attaining manhood's years. A more extended sketch of Mr. Thomas will be read elsewhere in this volume.

ried, at the age of twenty-eight, to Miss Elizabeth Moss, of Cass county, but her untimely death, on the 27th of February, 1872, leaving his with three children, the youngest but a babe of five days, placed him in a precarious condition. While he was most unfortunate in the loss of his companion and helpmate, he was, on the other hand, equally as fortunate in having as the friend and companion of his wife in her last sickness the assistance and coun- sel of a lady in whom many of the greatest virtues found in a housewife and business manager existed to a remarkable degree -- Miss Delila Bragg. This lady, realizing the demands of the children, took them to her own heart and in a short time became a second mother to them; and, what is most remarkable and unusual, has remained in the family through all these years, hav- ing the same care and oversight of the fam- ily needs as if she were indeed the mother of the children. She is the daughter of Henry Bragg, the retired contractor of Ma- rion, and was born in Grant county. Hav- ing been a companion of Mrs. Bragg, a year before her death it was her request that she remain, and such arrangements were planned as would give her all the lati- tude for the conduct of private enterprises as she might see fit to engage in. Being an excellent butter maker, she has accumu- lated a handsome competence from the pro- ceeds of her cows.

The children, whose training and edu- cation have had the best possible care, are : Mary, the wife of Eddie Stevens; Alfred.

As soon as Mr. Burge had gotten his farm fairly well improved he began to in- vest in more land, being the owner at present of three hundred and fifty acres of the most desirable section of the county, his estates lying a little northeast of the thriv- ing village of Sweetser. His land is con- veniently divided into four farms, each be- ing well improved, the home place especially being one of the most valuable and desira- ble farms in the county. He has cleared something like one hundred and sixty acres himself. the great storm of the memorable 4th of July destroying timber that necessi- tated its removal. Pipe creek extends through the tract, making an available out- let for the many lines of drain-tile-more than five thousand rods-that have been laid, bringing the entire place into an ex- cellent state of cultivation. All that has had for its object the betterment of the country has found in this gentleman a hearty sup- porter, his influence in making and further- ing the building of gravel roads resulting in the extension of several miles of this much desirable and necessary improvement.

545

BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS.

: Churches and schools have received encour- agement and financial support from him, his effort and interest ever being to make a more advanced condition of the country. Besides the operation of his farm, which has been under his personal supervision constantly, and upon which large numbers of the high grade stock are kept, he has taken part in the promotion of the ship- ping facilities of the community, having a warehouse in the village through which the greater part of the grain shipped from the neighborhood has passed. The name of Mr. Burge is probably more extensively known through his connection with the milling in- terests at Marion, having been for twelve years connected with the Burge-Lake Mill- ing Company. His associates in this enter- prise have been James Mark and Clint Lake, their relations having ever been of the most cordial and mutual character. The first mill, an old frame structure, was burned after they had owned it about four years, when the present one was erected at a cost of twelve thousand dollars. Mr. Burge has also taken an active part in the develop- ment of the gas industry, owning shares in the old Mississinewa Company at Ma- rion and the Friermood and the Williamson Companies at Sweetser.

His political relations are with the Pro- hibition party, in the organization of which he takes an active and influential part, though he was formerly a Democrat of the pronounced type. He having membership in the Methodist church at Sweetser, served it in the capacity of class-leader for a time. With freedom from hobbies, he is a gen- tleman of agreeable and pleasing address, having many of the essential qualities of the well-rounded gentleman.

JACOB F. DROOK.

Jacob F. Drook, one of the oldest of the surviving settlers of R'ichland township, Grant county, Indiana, with his farm and residence on section No. 4, was born in Union county, Indiana, November 28, 1824, a son of John and Salonice (Fosher ) Drook, the former of whom was born in Virginia in 1778 and was a son of Nicholas and Susan- nah Drook, natives of Germany and early settlers in Virginia; the maternal grand- father, Daniel Fosher, was also a native of Germany, and died in Union county, In- diana.

John Drook, father of Jacob F., came from Virginia to Indiana about the year 1816, entered land in Union county, farmed there until 1842, and then came to Richland township, Grant county, and when the gov- ernment lands were placed upon the market entered one hundred and sixty acres in sec- tion No. 22, hewed out a home from the wil- cierness, and here died in 1868, when nearly ninety years of age, his wife having died here some years previously. Their children were ten in number, viz .: Mrs. Mary Ann Brumfiel, of Wabash county; Daniel, of Union county; Mrs. Merilla Taylor, who died in Nebraska in 1898; Jacob, whose name opens this sketch; Mrs. Susannah An- derson, of Wabash county ; William, of Ne- braska; Alfred, of Richland township, Grant county ; Mrs. Cynthia Fisher, of Converse ; Mrs. Martha Warnburg, of Minnesota; and James Monroe, of North Marion, Indiana.

Jacob F. Drook was reared among the pioneers of Union county, Indiana, until eighteen years of age, when he came to Rich- land township, Grant county, and when the public lands came into market in 1845, en-

546

BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS.

tered an eighty-acre timber claim, which he improved and then sold, and purchased an improved farm of one hundred and eighty acres, on which he was engaged in farming and stock-raising until within the past few years, when he withdrew from the activities of life.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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 69

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

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