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 70
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Mr. Drook first married in Richland township, in 1845, Miss Nancy Taylor, who was born in Indiana and is a daughter of William R. and Mary ( Hopps ) Taylor, na- tives of Kentucky; William R. Taylor was the first settler in Richland township, was an Indian trader, and built his cabin where Fink's machine shop now stands and where he set out his orchard. His death occurred at the home of Mr. Drook in 1870, his wife having passed away many years before.
To Jacob F. and Nancy ( Taylor ) Drook were born the following children: Mary Ann, deceased ; James M., of whom a full sketch is given on another page; David, Jacob; Ellis, of Mier ; John, of Somerset, In- diana ; Samuel, of Mier ; Salomie, now Mrs. Ward, of Sweetser; and Cynthia Davis, of the same place.
Mrs. Nancy (Taylor) Drook passed away in the seventies, and Mr. Drook next maried in Richland township, Rosetta Trook, a native of Virginia, and to this union have been born four children, viz. : Mrs. Minnie Estella Holcomb, of Somerset, Wabash county ; Daniel: Jason Willson, and Mrs. Daisy King, also residents of Wabash county.
In politics, J. F. Drook has always been independent of party ties and has voted for the candidate best qualified. in his opinion, to perform the duties of the office to be filled. He has been public spirited in all things, use- ful and progressive, and has established a
name that will be spoken of with pride by his descendants and the people of Richland township for generations yet to come.
JAMES M. DROOK.
James M. Drook, proprietor of a saw-mill at Mier. Richland township, Grant county, Indiana, is a native of this township, and is an ex-soldier of the Civil war. He was born February 28, 1849, and is a son of Jacob F. and Nancy ( Taylor) Drook.
Jacob F. Drook was born in Union county, Indiana, November 28, 1824, and was a son of John and Martha ( Forcher ) Drook, also natives of Union county, who came to Richland township, Grant county, in 1840 and entered a tract of land from the government, developed a farm from the wil- derness and here passed the remainder of his life. Jacob F. Drook also came here the same year in which his father. John, came, also entered government land, and walked to the land office at Fort Wayne to secure the neces- sary papers. Jacob F. Drook was a single young man when he came to Richland town- ship. He here first married Nancy Taylor, who was born in Ohio, and was a daughter of William and Mary Taylor, who were among the first settlers of Richland town- ship, if not the first. as William Taylor made a treaty for his land with the Indians. To Jacob F. and Nancy ( Taylor) Drook were born the following children, viz .: James M., the subject of this sketch: Mrs. Salomie Ward, of Sweetser: John L., of Somer- set ; Mrs. Cynthia Davis, of Sweetser; D. P. and Jacob, of Mier ; and Samuel, of Sweetser. The mother of this family was
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called away in the seventies and later Jacob F. Drook married Rosetta Trook, and to this union have been born four children, namely : Mrs. Minie Holcomb, of Wabash county ; Jason, at home ; Mrs. Dora King, of Richland, and Daniel at home with his father also in Richland township, Grant county. In politics, Jacob F. Drook is a Republican.
James M. Drook received his education in his native township of Richland, where his early life was passed in farming and later in the lumber trade, and he now owns and operates a mill at Mier. In November, 1863, Mr. Drook enlisted, in Richland township, in Company G, One Hundred and Thirtieth I. V. I., for three years, or for a less period of time should the war sooner close, was sworn into the United States service at Ko- komo, Indiana, was assigned to the army of the Cumberland, under command of Gen. Sherman, and drove team in the campaign through Georgia and the Carolinas, took an active part in the battles of Nashville, Ten- nessee, and Kingston, North Carolina, and was honorably discharged at Indianapolis, Indiana, in June, 1865, about two months after the close of the war.
After his return home, Mr. Drook re- sumed the lumber business and in 1868 married Miss Mary Buroker, a native of Ohio and a daughter of Joseph Buroker. To this union were born two children, Isaac and Joseph. Mrs. Mary ( Buroker) Drook was called away in 1870, and Mr. Drook next married, in Richland township, in 1874, Miss Susannah Werst, a native of Darke county, Ohio, and a daughter of Andrew and Mary Werst, who came to Grant county, Indiana, in 1851 or 1852, where Mrs. Werst died in 1892, and whence Mr. Werst re- moved to Wabash county. To the union of
J. M. Drook and Susannah Werst has been born three children, Merritt Earl, Estella Pearl, Oren Glen.
In politics Mr. Drook is a Republican, which party he actively aids on all occasions, and which has elected him to the office of constable. Mr. Drook is doing a thriving business and is industrious as well as pub- lic spirited, and these good qualities have gained for him the esteem of the entire pop- lation of Mier.
JAMES M. PROPS.
James M. Props, a prosperous and prom- inent farmer of Richland township, Grant county, Indiana, was born in Pleasant town- ship, Grant county, June 18, 1843, and is a son of John Albert and Louisa Props. The father was a native of Virginia, was a black- smith by trade, came to Marion, Indiana, inf 1838, and settled on the well-known Mather farm in: Pleasant township; the mother was born in Madison county, Indiana, and was a daughter of Zachariah James, a well-known pioneer of Madison county. The mother died in 1846, in Pleasant township, and the father in Clay county ; their four children were born in the following order: John Albert, who enlisted in Delaware county, Indiana, in the Sixty-ninth I. V. I., and died in Men- phis, Tennessee, in 1862; William Henry, who also enlisted in the Sixty-ninth I. V. I., and now resides in Delaware county, In- diana ; James M., whose name opens this paragraph, and whose military record will be given further on, and Theodore, who en- listed in the Twenty-third Missouri infantry, served three years and died in that state- this being certainly a fine military record for so small a family.
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The enlistment of James M. Props took place in 1864 in the Twenty-fifth I. V. I., for one year; he was sworn in at Indian- apolis, was assigned to the command of Gen. WV. T. Sherman, and took part in the en- gagement at Madison, Georgia ; he was also in the battles at South Edisto, Savannah, Georgia, and Cheraw, South Carolina, and participated in the grand review after the close of the war at Washington, D. C., and was honorably discharged at Indianapolis, Indiana, in June, 1865, when he returned to his home and resumed farming.
Mr. Props, owing to the early death of his mother and the departure of his father for Clay county, was reared to his vocation of farming by Joseph Cravens, of Pleasant township, with whom he lived in Pleasant and Richland townships until 1892, except- ing the time he passed in the army. October 8, 1863, he married in Pleasant township Elizabeth Harter, who was born in Darke county, Ohio, and is a daughter of Solomon and Celina (Baldwin) Harter, natives of Pennsylvania and Ohio, respectively, but who died in Pleasant township, Grant coun- ty, Indiana. To Mr. and Mrs. Props have been born six children, in the following order : Lemuel, a resident of Pleasant town- ship; Mrs. Luella Smith, of Sweetser ; Celia, at home; Mrs. Leora Veach, of Richland township; Joseph, of Marion ; and Harley, of Mier.
For years after marriage, as has been intimated, Mr. Props continued to manage the Cravens property, as it was not until 1892 that he settled on his own pleasant farm in Richland township, which farm he has improved and made equal to any in the vicinity, and has here followed general farm- ing ever since, his "long experience placing
him among the foremost agriculturists of the township.
In politics Mr. Props is a Democrat, and while quite active in the interests of his party has never manifested any desire for office, although he is one of the most popular of men and one of the most respected of citizens.
JOSEPH CRAVENS.
Joseph Cravens is one of the most ven- erated, as he is certainly the best known. of the honored citizens of Richland township, Grant county, Indiana, of which he is one of the earliest pioneers ; he was born in Wayne county, Indiana, May 18, 1820, a son of Jo- seph and Sarah (Tuttle) Cravens, the for- mer a native of Virginia and the latter of Pennsylvania.
Joseph Cravens, the father, moved from Virginia to Pennsylvania while still a young man; was married in Greene county, that state, and thence emigrated to Highland county, Ohio, where he followed his vocation of farmer for some years, and then, in 1820, came to Indiana and entered land in Wayne county, which he improved and resided upon until 1836, when he came to Grant county. bought land in Pleasant township, and had begun improving it when his death occurred in 1838; that of his wife took place in 1846, and the remains of both lie interred on the original Pleasant township homestead. This venerable couple had born to them twelve children of whom six still survive, namely : Joseph, the subect proper of this sketch; James, a resident of Iowa ; Milton, in Rich- land township. Grant county, Indiana : A. B. is in the state of Washington; Levi has his
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home in Pleasant township, Grant county, Indiana, and Mrs. Martha Ward resides in Liberty township, same county.
Joseph Cravens, whose name opens this biographical review, was educated in the old log school-house in vogue in his childhood days in Wayne county, Indiana, and was but sixteen years of age when he came to Grant county with his parents, and was here reared on the Pleasant township farm until twenty- six years of age, when he engaged in farm- ing on his own account in the same township. Here, also, at the same age, in 1846, he mar- ried Sarah J. Janes, who was born in Madi- son county, Indiana, and was a daughter of Zachariah and Susannah Janes, natives of Virginia and pioneers of Madison county, In- diana who died respectively in Missouri and Indiana.
Mrs. Sarah J. Cravens passed away De- cember 18, 1898, in the faith of the Metho- dist Episcopal church, of which church Mr. Cravens has also been for many years a consistent member.
No children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Cravens, but in the kindness of their hearts they reared from childhood to manhood a nephew, James M. Props, of whom a sketcil is given on another page, and to which the attention of the reader is respectfully directed.
As far back as 1843, Mr. Cravens as. sisted in surveying the line cutting off Wa- bash county from Grant county, and is to- day the oldest living settler of the latter. He improved the farm of four hundred acres on a part of which he still resides, but has generously divided the original tract, re- taining for his own use but one hundred and fifty-four acres, all of which is thor- oughly cultivated. In politics Mr. Cravens
is a Democrat, but has never exhibited any special desire for holding office, although he has had many opportunities for doing so during his long and useful life, as he is, and always has been, one of the most popular residents of the township and county, and certainly not one is more highly respected.
ELMER BAKER.
One of the numerous young men of Grant county, who have taken a place of im= portance in the community in which they live, is Elmer Baker, who is the owner of a desirable farm in Van Buren township and which is made more than ordinary valuable by the oil development that has already taken place, the product even now bringing a handsome return. Mr. Baker was born but a couple miles from the present home, in Washington township, on the 16th of March, 1872; and is the son of Andrew and Mary (Tinkel) Baker, he being one of the sub- stantial and respected citizens of the commu- nity.
Andrew Baker was born in Knox coun- ty, Ohio, January 4, 1845, his parents be- ing John and Magdalene (Grove) Baker, both natives of Pennsylvania. When An- drew was seven years of age the family re- moved to Indiana, settling one mile to the southeast of Landessville, in Van Buren township. The permanent home of the par- ents remained at this place till the father's death in 1885, at the age of seventy-five. The mother is still living and making her home with a daughter-Mary-the wife of William Pulley, of Washington township. She has attained the advanced age of eighty-
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seven, and retains her faculties to a remark- able degree. She has seen her children reach maturity and become settled in life, taking an honored place among the citizens of the county. Three sons and the one daughter are living at the opening of the twentieth century. Andrew Baker was espoused soon after reaching manhood's years, to Miss Mary Ann Tinkle, the daughter of Henry Tinkel, and who was born in Washington township. Some eight years thereafter, he secured the present farm lying just to the south of the village of Landessville, and for which he went some seven hundred dollars in debt. The entire tract he has himself placed in cultivation, now having one of the neatest and best improved farms of the vicinity. Be ing content to devote his attentions to the operation of the farm, he has been enabled to tion of the farm, he has been enabled to bring it to a high state of cultivation, great labor having been necessary to make it as well drained with tile as it is, coupled with the other necessary improvements in the way of buildings, orchards, etc. Of five sons and three daughters born to this estimable couple, all but one-Clara Almeda, who died at three years-survive, being Elmer, Lu- ther, Frank, Willias, Fred, Sarah Ellen and Mary Catherine.
The boyhood of Elmer Baker was all passed on the homestead; and, after at- taining his majority he was employed on various farms till his marriage, on the 16th oi February, 1895, to Miss Mary L. Moss, daughter of Aaron and Mary Moss. Her mother died while she was yet a child, and her youth was passed in Huntington, Wa- bash and Grant counties, being a child of eight upon coming to this immediate section of the county. She is remembered as a bril-
1
liant young lady, whose presence was counted upon to add interest to all social gatherings of the neighborhood, and whose hand was eagerly sought by her many ad- mirers, though Elmer Baker was the most favored, winning her when she had but slightly passed her eighteenth year. Two children have been born to this marriage- Walter and Harry. For the succeeding four years after marriage, Mr. Baker operated his father-in-law's farm in Howard county, coming at the end of that time to the present farm in Van Buren township. Here he has a well-located tract of land, formerly known as the Henry Shinholtz farm. The tract is well tiled and fairly well improved in other re- spects, few farms, passing under the obser- vation of the writer, yielding more abundant crops of corn and other cereals. Mr. Baker assumed a heavy indebtedness at the time of purchase ; but it is now evident no mistake was made in so doing, as the yield of oil . alone, during the past few months, insures an early elimination of the debt. besides the opportunity of making extensive improve- ments that are now contemplated.
Mr. Baker is thoroughly alive to the bene- fits of the community in which he is rapidly becoming an important factor, and is not the man to pull against the progress of the home: but on the other hand, indicates the keenest interest in all that has for its ob- ject the general advancement and develop- ment. Having ever felt a deep concern in the public affairs of the country, his read- ing and observation led him to the ranks of the Democratic party, in which he is con- sidered an unflagging and influential member.
Full of the enthusiasm that comes to him who has realized the attainment of his ends,
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at an age when few men have felt them- selves independent, he is just the kind of a man to be of great benefit to his community.
BENNET B. COLEMAN.
Bennet B. Coleman, a prominent and highly respected citizen of Jonesboro, Grant county, Indiana, is a native of North Caro- lina, was born in Wayne county, that state. December 11, 1827, and is a son of Elias and Salle ( Peelle) Coleman.
Elias Coleman, father of Bennet B., was born in North Carolina, in 1798. He was a man of slight build but of great energy, and was successful in all his undertakings. When he with his family came from North Carolina he had only ten dollars in his pocket but in 1818 he entered eighty acres of gov- ernment land in Randolph county, Indiana, but did not move on to it until 1828. He was what might well be called a self-made and self-educated man ; though his education was very limited he was always well posted on the topics of the day and was a kind and lovable husband and indulgent father and his death was a severe shock to those who were left to mourn his loss. He was a devout Christian and a strong member of the Society of Friends, in which for many years he was an ardent worker. He lived to the advanced age of ninety-two years.
To Mr. and Mrs. Elias Coleman were born six children, named in the order of birth as follows: Edith, deceased; Harriet, deceased ; Nathan, deceased; Bennet B., whose name opens this sketch and of whom further mention will be given; Jesse, de- ceased, and Mary, who is also deceased ; our
subject being the only one now living. The mother of this family passed away in Jones- boro, Indiana.
Bennet B. Coleman came with his father and mother from North Carolina in 1828, they selecting for their new home a farm in Randolph county, Indiana, where they re- mained but a short time, when they removed to Newport, Indiana, where our subject spent his boyhood days. In 1848 the family again moved, locating in Jonesboro, Grant county, where the father engaged in a general store, having as his partner Joshua Small, in which store Bennet B. clerked for two years, at the end of which the father sold his interest in the store and purchased a farm of one hun- dred and twenty acres where he and his son, Bennet B., were engaged in farming for sev - eral years.
In 1862 Bennet B. Coleman purchased a farm of sixty acres where he now lives and which is now within the city limits of Jones- boro. Mr. Coleman followed farming the greater part of his life or until his retire- ment from active business.
Bennet B. Coleman has been thrice mar- ried, his first marriage taking place in 1849 when he was joined in happy wedlock with Miss Sarah Shugart, a daughter of John Shugart. To this union were born four children, viz. : Emily C., who is now the wife of Dr. Whitson, residing in Jonesboro, In- (liana and William H., a farmer in Mill township; two are deceased, Lillian and Isadore. The mother of these children passed away in 1861.
In 1862 Mr. Coleman was again married, selecting as his bride Miss Anna Wilson, who bore her husband one child, Ida B., who is the wife of William M. Weddington. This wife met with a sad death, being killed while
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in the barn lot by an enraged bull. Mr. Coleman married as his third wife Mrs. Annie Martin, nec Hortsock, August I, 1883. She was born in Hendricks county, Indiana, February 16, 1843, a daughter of Ephraim and Julia A. (Claypool) Hart- sock. She had two children, both deceased.
Bennet B. Coleman is an active member of the Presbyterian church and has been a member of the Masonic order for forty years. In politics he is a stalwart Republican, in which party he has been a faithful worker for many years.
Mrs. Coleman is a member of the Uni- versalist church and a member of Easteru Star.
NATHAN J. LEISURE.
Nathan J. Leisure, an eminent financier and agriculturist of Green township, Grant county, Indiana, and a son of George W. and Lucinda (Myers) Leisure, was born in Kush county, Indiana, February 18, 1841, and received his education in the old sub- scription and free schools. At the age of eighteen he engaged in farming, in which he continued until October 27, 1861, when he enlisted in Company HI, Fifty-second Indi- ana Volunteers and was actively engaged with his company for one year. In the summer of 1863 James B. Jones as first lieutenant, James H. Frazer as captain, and Mr. Leisure as second lieutenant, raised a company when Lincoln made a call for three hundred thousand men, and later for two hundred thousand, was mustered in as Com- pany M, Ninth Indiana Cavalry, and partici- pated in the battles of Alabama and Tennes- see. On September 25, 1864, they were or-
dered to Pulaska and down the railroad to Sulphur Trestle, eighty-six feet in height, to re-enforce troops where they were engaged in a fierce battle, six hundred being captured and killed by Gen. M. D. Forrest. Mr. Leisure was wounded in the right leg below the knee by a shot but luckily no bones were broken, and on account of his wound he was not sent to prison. Later the regiment was in the great Nash- ville fight with Hocd, Hood's army com- ing far enough to get very near Nashville, where he fortified himself and stayed until December 15, 1864. Mr. Leisure's regi- ment next made a charge on Franklin. Ten- nessee, losing six out of twelve officers. This fight kept up for fifteen days and nights and they never ate or slept only as they caught it on the wing, nor were the horses unsaddled unless to repair something. Later they were left to skirmish around, and soon orders were received to lay that valley in destruction, and Sheridan destroyed every- thing.
Later a vast army went in camp at Gra- velly Springs, on December 26, where they stayed until February, when seventy-five boat loads started down the river to Mobile, Alabama ; and when they got to New Or- leans they got orders to turn their horses over to others and camped there on the Jack- son battle grounds for a time and then took boats to Vicksburg and remounted ; a part of the regiment was left at Port Gibson, a part at Rodney, Mississippi, a part at Jack- son and a part at Lexington, Kentucky. They were to look after Confederate cotton. Nir. Leisure acted as superintendent of one hundred plantations, working negroes to raise provisions also, he making the rounds once a week to each plantation. He stayed
Leisure
et
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there until the summer of 1865 and when orders came for the Ninth to be mustered out, they went to Indianapolis by way of Rodney, taking boat to Cairo, Illinois, where they took the train September 16, 1865. Mr. Leisure then came home and stayed in Rush county for two weeks and then came to Green town- ship, Grant county, Indiana, and settled on eighty acres of land he had purchased during the war. He came on horse back, arriving October 1, 1865, and has never been away from this farm one week at a time since.
Mr. Leisure has accumulated one thou- sand, one hundred and twenty acres of land, seven hundred and twenty acres in Green township, two hundred and forty in Tipton county, and one hundred and sixty in Madi- son county, and has three properties in El- wood, Madison county, one being worth three thousand dollars and two one thousand four hundred dollars each. Recently he has purchased thirty-five acres in Tipton county, and forty in Grant county. He is the presi- dent of the First National Bank of Elwood, and president of the Farmers Banking Com- pany, of Swayzee, Indiana, of which he was sole owner excepting one hundred dollars at one time, and then took in two others as stockholders of one thousand dollars each, and they are still directors of this institution. Mr. Leisure also has one thousand dollars stock in the tile mill at Curtisville, Indiana.
Mr. Leisure was township trustee for two terms about 1870. He is a member of the Christian church, has been elder for a good many years. To the newly organized church near his home Mr. Leisure contributes most liberally. On September 23, 1866, Mr. Leisure was married to Sarah Jane, daughter of Mordecai and Nancy (Gruell) Moore, by whom he has had ten children: George 34
W .; Mordecai, deceased; Samantha Jose- phine, deceased; Benjamin F .; Joseph O .; William Omer ; Burt ; Gertrude, Orange, and John C., who died when seven years old.
Mrs. Leisure died July 21, 1895, and Mr. Leisure married, June 7, 1898, Margaret (Boone) Carl.
George W. Leisure, father of Nathan J., was born in Staunton, Virginia, whence he went in an early day to Garrett county, Ken . tucky, then came to Rush county, Indiana, and entered land for himself and his father, where they lived until their deaths. Mr. Leisure's youngest brother now owns the land his father entered for his grandfather.
George W., father of Nathan J. Leisure, was very active in drilling men before and during the Civil war, but he being old at the time did not enter into service. Nathan Leisure, grandfather of Nathan J., married Sarah Lewis, and had nine children : James; Joseph ; William ; George W .; Henry ; an in- fant deceased ; Cass Ann ; Mary and Rachael.
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