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 80
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Thomas D. McVicker absorbed probab- ly more knowledge than the average youth of his time, during his attendance at the district school. He remained under the parental roof until he reached his majority when he started out single handed and alone to take up the battle of life. He was en- dowed with perseverence and energy which were his sole stock in trade. He first en- gaged in farming but found it was too much for his health so he entered into partner- ship with his brother, Dennis, in the mer- cantile business at Upland. This was con- tinued about a year when the partnership was dissolved and Mr. McVicker spent some time in travel. During this trip he visited the old McVicker homestead in Virginia, viewing the scenes which had been familiar
to his parents in their childhood. Return- ing to Indiana he once more took up the pur- suit of agriculture, and also engaged in buy- ing and selling stock. In this venture he has been unusually successful and has ac- cumulated one hundred and sixty acres of fine farm land which is ornamented with a good residence and all modern improv- ments.
He chose as his companion through life Miss Mary A. Merritt, to whom he was united September 9. 1880, and by whom he had four sons and three daughters. Six are living, namely : Ernest, who is associated in business with his father and is a student in Taylor University, being especially gifted in mathematics; Ethel, who completed the studies of the common school and entered Taylor University, taking the literary and scientific course, also the normal course. She is a practical stenographer and was short- hand teacher in the University until she re- linguished her work to superintend the house. keeping for her father. She is also educated in both instrumental and vocal music. Earl graduates with the class of 1901; Everet ; Anna ; and Paul, who is the young- est of the family.
Mrs. McVicker was a native of Grant county and was born January 29. 1856. She was a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Sage) Merritt, both of whom were natives of Ohio and of English origin. Finishing the course of common and high school she took up the profession of teaching, and for nine years was one of the most efficient in- structors in this and Knox counties. She was a lady of intelligence and refinement with a strong personality which dominated those under her guidance to put forth their best efforts. On December 1, 1896, bade
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farewell to earthly ties and entered into the life immortal. A monument of granite marks her resting place in Matthews ceme. tery. The married life of Mr. and Mrs. McVicker began on the homestead Mr. Mc- Vicker still occupies, and the improvements were added little by little until they had a comfortable home. In 1894 a calamity be- fell them in the loss, by fire, of house and other buildings. These were replaced with modern structures and to-day the McVicker home is one of the most desirable in the vicinity.
Mr. McVicker is a Democrat and cast his first vote for Horace Greeley, but does not stop to consider a candidate's politics in local elections and has not entered the field for political preferment. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, to which his wife was also united, and is an upright, honorable citizen in every walk of life. He was a generous patron of Taylor University, which was but one of many recipients of his generosity.
ISAAC RICHARDS.
to Ohio, locating in Guernsey county, which was his home for several years. He came by wagon to Grant county, Indiana, in 1835 locating in Jefferson township where he entered two hundred and forty acres of land from the government. Tim- ber was everywhere and a little cabin for the family was built from the logs cut front the land. He was hard working and a good manager so that he accumulated some five hundred and sixty acres of land during his life. He was of a deeply religious nature and for upwards of forty years did duty as minister to the Baptist society in that township, making his journeys from point to point on horseback, long before the little chapel was erected. among the trees. He died March 28. 1863, leaving a large fam- ily who have grown up under his precepts and teachings to honorable, useful citizens. He was married in Ohio to Miss Effie Roberts, a native of Guernsey county, born April 25. 1809, and died January 2, 1848. She was the mother of nine children, besides Isaac, seven of whom are living, viz. : Henry, a resident of Oklahoma: L. G., a farmer of this township; Abraham B., also a prominent farmer here; Daniel, a hus- bandman of Delaware county; Martha J .. wife of Philip Miller, of Randolph county ; Jacob, a practical farmer who is represented on another page of this work; Henry and Daniel Abraham were soldiers in the Rebel- lion, the former taking part in the border warfare of Kansas.
Isaac Richards, a well-known and influ- ential farmer and stock-raiser of Jefferson township, Grant county, Indiana, is a man of prominence and is a scion of one of the old pioneer families of this township. His father, John Richards, was a native of Penn- sylvania, born March 3, 1809, and reared to young manhood in his native state. He re- Isaac Richards is the youngest member of his father's family, was born May 11. 1845, in this county where he has grown to manhood and has won the respect of all. His early education was obtained in the ceived but a limited schooling, but became a man of wide range of learning from the habit he acquired of omniverous reading and his ability to retain what he had read. When he was about eighteen his parents moved | little log school-house with its wide fireplace
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and tiny panes of glass which were in- serted in the opening made by leaving out one of the logs from the end of the building. The stiff, uncomfortable seats were made of slabs from the saw-mill, supported by wooden pegs, while the desk upon which they wrote was similar in construction, being a wide board resting on pins which were driven into the walls. The school term was of three months' duration only. He was reared to the work of the farm, employing his time during childhood in the occupations incidental to his environments and in later years made it the vocation of his life.
On June 11, 1871, Mr. Richards took as his life's partner Miss Rebecca A. Lyon, and their wedded life was begun on thirty- three acres of the old homestead. To-day they have one hundred and fifteen acres of fine land, well improved, but this has not been accomplished without labor on their part and also the usual share of ill fortune. To the business of general farming he has added that of stock-raising and has found it to be a source of considerable profit, to say nothing of the benefit it has been to his land. In 1886 they erected one of the largest and best bank barns in the county, but eight years later it was their misfortune to have this magnificent building struck by lightning and burned to the ground. They have a neat, comfortable home where they entertain their many friends in true hospit- able manner. Three of the four children born to them are yet living and it has been their pleasure to provide them with liberal educations. The eldest child, Effie, is the wife of Harry Wright, of Matthews, and the mother of two bright children, Verde Leroy, and Opal D. Lewis Edmund Richards, the only son, is a young man of
superior attainments and is fitting him- self for a profressional life. Receiving his diploma from the common schools in 1893 he entered Fairmount Academy and at the end of two terms had received a teacher's certificate. Deeming the experience necessary or at least advantageous, he taught school three terms in his home township and showed marked ability for that line of work. ·As it was not his intention to devote his time to this work but to prepare for the pro- fession, he entered Taylor University for two terms and then became a student in De Pauw University where he is taking a full classical and scientific course. Alma, the youngest daughter, is the wife of Charles Mullhollen, a prosperous farmer of this township. Mrs. Millhollen is the mother of one baby boy, deceased.
Mrs. Richards was born in Guernsey county, Ohio, January 23, 1845, and was one of ten children born to James and Nancy (Slater) Lyon. Six are living, viz. : Noah, a retired citizen of Matthews; Harriett J., the widow of Washington Wharton, resides in Hand county, Dakota; David T., is a farmer of Mulhall, Oklahoma; Luther is a farmer of Washington county, Kansas; Re · becca A., wife of our subject; and Mary, wife of E. Sexton. The Lyon family were among the pioneers of this township, as Mrs. Richards was but a child of four years when her parents located here. Here she grew to womanhood, attended the old log - cabin school and met Isaac Richards with whom she was united in marriage almost three decades ago. She is a woman of noble character and an earnest Christian, a mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, or as it is known, the Olive Branch church, ac Cumberland. Mr. Richards is a member of
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1
the Harmony Baptist church, in which he received his religious training in childhood and in which his father ministered for many years. Mr. and Mrs. Richards are esti- mable people and among the most respected and influential in the county. He is a Democrat.
OSCAR W. FERGUS.
Oscar W. Fergus is one of the wide- awake, hustling young men of Upland, Grant county, Indiana, who are fast forging their way to the front and among the most potent factors in the upbuilding of a com- munity. It took the old frontiersman to be- gin the march of civilization when the coun- try was wild and uninhabited by white men . their rugged strength and brave hearts were needed to endure the hardships and priva- tions through which it was necessary to pass in order to gain a foothold in the new coun- try, and nobly was their part performed. But now it needs new faculties and modern methods to push on the work thus begun and carry it on to completion. Men are in demand who are strong in upholding cor- rect principles and fearless in discharging their duties. Such a man is he whose name heads this biography.
Born in Jefferson township. Grant county, Indiana, January 25. 1862. Oscar W. Fergus has grown up and is known as a man of industrious habits and sterling worth, and the many friends who have watched his progres from boyhod to youth and from youth to manhood are well pleased with his record. He is a son of Warren and Nancy ( Hormer ) Fergus and a grandson of Sawyer B. and Julia ( McFad-
den ) Fergus. His great-grandfather on the paternal side, was a soldier in the Revolu- tionary war and traced his antecedents to Scotland. The family was founded in Amer- ica by two brothers who came from the Bristish Isles and settled in the early Col- onial days.
Sawyer Fergus, the grandfather, re- ceived but a limited schooling, but he was a persistent reader and close observer and succeeded in gaining a degree of information on all general subjects that placed him far above the ordinary in matters of intelligence. He was born near Richmond, Virginia, in 1801, and lived to the age of sixty-two years, dying in 1863. He began the strug- gle with fortune when a lad and was but eleven years of age when the war of 1812 broke out, and he was compelled to haul loads even at that tender age. Men were scarce and boys had to supply the deficiency. He was a riverman for many years and worked on a flatboat on the Mississippi river. Later he settled down to agriculture, a life he enjoyed in the extreme. He left his na- tive state on horseback and located in Mont- gomery county, Ohio, at a time when emi- gration was just pouring into that state. In 1832 he came to Indiana and secured a grant of forty acres of land from the gov- ernment under Jackson. This was located in Jefferson township and was added to until the acreage was increased to one hun- (red and fifty. At that time Jefferson township was not laid out or named, and the only white men in the limits were Mr. Fer- gus, Joseph Reasoner and Jesse Adamson. There was no lack of red men, however and numbers of them used to camp on the adjoining land on the banks of the Missis- sinewa river, but caused no trouble to their
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white neighbor. Deer, wild turkey and bear were common sights and one day Warren, the father of our subject, with his brother Edwin and two sisters, gave chase to a bear running it quite a distance. In the evening it was treed and killed on the land now owned by Frederick Slater. Excitement was not lacking in those days and it was of a nature that, if experienced by the present generation, would make their blood run cold.
Grandfather Fergus chose as his com- panion through life Miss Julia McFadden, and a large family of boys and girls grew up around them. Four have joined the an- gelic hosts and eight are located at different parts of the Union, viz: Clinton, who is a farmer of Bussey, Marion county, Iowa; Warren, the father of subject; Harriet, the wife of Isaac Sleith, a blacksmith of Hart- ford City, Indiana: Rachel, wife of M. Rea- soner, a retired farmer of the same city; Sarah J., a resident of Montgomery county ; Ohio; Margaret, also a resident of Mont- gomery county; Ambrose, a farmer of the same locality; and James, a farmer of Delaware county, this state. Sawyer Fergus was an old line Whig until the advent of the Republican party, when he joined forces with them and was a strong abolitionist. He and his wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal church and passed away on the farm they had con- verted into a home.
Warren Fergus was born in the log houss erected by his father in the township, his introduction to the world taking place on September 21, 1837. This has been hig home for upwards of sixty-three years and today he has a strong, robust frame and vig- orous constitution that would shame many a man of forty years. His early education
was obtained in the old log school-house with its puncheon floor, slab seats, clapboard roof'and mud and stick chimney. The fire- place below extended across one end of the room and was built of boulders and clay, while the necessary light was admitted through greased paper pasted on rude frames placed in the aperture made by leaving a log from one end of the building. A man was always to be found in the schoolroom as master and it was supposed to be necessary to have strength and dexterity in wielding the birch in order to quell any unruliness on the part of the obstreperous youth. It was the custom among the big boys in this school to make the teacher stand treat even if he stayed out a week.
Mr. Fergus learned the trade of a car- penter and joiner and then became a skilled workman in cabinet making at which he spent many years. He has traveled over a great part of the Union and is satisfied that no place can compare with Indiana. He was in Iowa at the breaking out of the Re- bellion and enlisted in Company F., Twen- ty-third Iowa Volunteers at Clarinda, Page county, on August 9, 1862. They were under Captain Charles D. George and Col- onel Dewey and were sent from Des Moines, by way of Keokuk, thence to St. Louis under General Davidson, and later in the trans- Mississippi and Gulf Division. On May 1, 1863, the battle of Port Gibson, Missis- sippi, was fought and here he had a narrow escape from the rebel bullet. While the bat- tle was fiercest in the afternoon a charge from the enemy's sharpshooter passed so close to his head that he could feel the breeze occasioned by its hasty passage. He was singularly fortunate in that he was never wounded or an inmate of the hospital. His
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was the first regiment to cross the Missis- sippi thirty-five miles below Grand Gulf and the bombardment which lasted the whole forenoon made a lasting impression on his mind. He was at the siege of Vicksburg and for forty-seven days those brave soldiers stuck to their post while the shot and shell of the enemy was falling around them and their lives in constant jeopardy. Mr. Fergus was within five rods of the enemy's lines and distinctly remembers the oak tree be- neath which General Grant stood when the rebel general, Pemberton, delivered over his sword and capitulated. He was under the command of General Banks at New Orleans, crossed the Gulf of Mexico to Matagorda Bay, Texas, and engaged in the siege of the fort. They then recrossed the Gulf and ascended the Red River during the Banks expedition and broke the blockade which was placed above and below them. Their next move was to head off General Price at the head of White river, but no engagement followed. Down the Mississippi to New Orleans they crossed over and occupied Spanish Fort, thence to Fort Blakly which also surrendered, and it was here they heard of the surrender of General Lee. They were then sent to Mobile Point, to Galves- ton, Texas, to Columbus and were finally mustered out July 28, 1865. The return home was made on box cars and transports and it was with extreme satisfaction that he conned the garb of the civilian.
One of the many events which came un- der Mr. Fergus' observation during the war was the death of one of his comrades named Cummings. He was standing within two or three steps of Mr. Fergus when he was struck by three balls, any one of which would have been sufficient to kill him.
He married Miss Nancy Horner on Sep- tember 20, 1860, and five sons and three daughters, all of whom are living, have been a blessing to their home. Ida, the eldest, is the wife of George E. Hale, a farmer of Del- aware county, this state; Oscar is the sub- ject of this biography; Elnora and Emery, twins, the former the wife of W. R. Rich- ards, the later a resident of Santa Barbara, California, where he is a skillful cabinet maker; Lois Alta, is the wife of Lemmon Richards, of Delaware county ; Orville, re- siding in Santa Barbara, a carpenter and joiner; Edwin L., also a carpenter and joiner who lives at home; Clyde H., who is a farmer. Mrs. Fergus is a native of Darke county, Ohio, having been born in that state in 1837. She was a teacher in Grant county before her marriage and is a woman of lovely character.
Together for forty years Mr. and Mrs. Fergus have traveled the pathway of life, meeting discouragements with perseverance and pluck, and accumulating a competence which will enable them to enjoy in comfort and plenty the purple shadows as they lengthen in the west. They have a pleas- ant home of one hundred and sixty-eight acres, all under cultivation and well im- proved. They are members of the Cumber- land Presbyterian church and enjoy the con- fidence and esteem of the many who know them. Mr. Fergus is a Republican and has represented his party in the county conven- tions. He is a member of B. R. Dunn Post, No. 440, G. A. R., - Lodge, No. 383, Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Encampment No. 125 at Cumberland, Indiana, and has passed through all the chairs with credit to himself and pleasure to the order.
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Oscar W. Fergus is a mechanic by nature and by occupation, although' he owns and cultivates a fine farm of eighty acres in Jefferson township which he purchased soon after his marriage. The first year he rented land and then bought his present home. His reputation as a mechanic is such that he is kept busy with work and has an extended and remunerative patronage. He was united in the holy bonds of matrimony with Miss Leota Marine on March 16, 1886. Two sons and two daughters have been added to their family circle, namely : Nevada A., a bright young girl just budding into lovely woman- hood. She is a student of the public school and will graduate with the class of 1901. She has talent as a musician as well, and has been given the advantage of musi- cal instruction; Floyd E., a student of the third grade; and Elsie F. and Grant W., the baby six months old. Mrs. Fergus is a daughter of Jonathan Marine and was born in the township in which she now resides, August 9, 1866, and as Miss Marine was known far and wide. He is of a pleasant, agreeable nature that wins friends among the classes of people, and what is more im- portant, retains them. She and Mr. Fergus are friends of education and will do any- thing in reason to advance the public school system. He is a Republican and has sup- ported the national ticket since he gave his first vote to Benjamin Harrison. He was made a Mason in Arcana Lodge, No. 427 of Upland, and takes an active interest in the deliberations of that body.
DAVID SHANNON PENCE.
The subject of this review is a repre- sentative of one of the pioneer families of Grant county, Indiana. He was born in
Sims township May 3, 1858. His parents, David and Anna (Smith) Pence, settled here among the early pioneers of the coun- ty, and ended their lives in Sims township.
David Shannon Pence was educated in the public schools of his native township and at the age of seventeen began his life as a tiller of the soil. For many years he fol- lowed the plow, and progressed in the ac- cumulation of property until he is now the owner of a fine farm of one hundred and seventy-seven acres in a high state of culti- vation, with good buildings and modern im- provements.
In 1898 Mr. Pence decided to discon- tinue active work on the farm and moved to Swayzee, with a view to living a retired life. But so many years spent in active labor rendered his idleness irksome, and he purchased a corn threshing machine and clover huller which he operates in season, spending the balance of the time in super- intending his estate. Mr. Pence has always taken an active interest in public affairs, and has been recognized as a local leader in the councils of Democracy. From 1888 to 1896 he served as justice of the peace in Sims township. In religious views he is independent, a "Free Thinker," to be more explicit. Perhaps no man in the township is better known and certainly none more highly respected.
Mr. Pence was united in marriage Sep- tember 23, 1882, with Mrs. Susan E., daugh- ter of George W. and Mary (Green) Miller. She was born November 27, 1863. These were the parents of six children, of whom Mrs. Pence was the fourth in order of birth. The names are as follows: James H., who clied at the age of two years : Giles J. ; Ben- jamin S. died in infancy ; Susan E., Ruth R.
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and William H. Ruth is the wife of Chester Myers. Mother Miller died July 16, 1900; the father is still living. George W. Miller was a native of Kentucky, and his wife was born in Ohio. The Miller family is de- scended from German stock, established in Pennsylvania by the paternal grandfather of Mrs. Pence. Later he removed to Ken- tucky. He married Susan Pollard. Mr. and Mrs. Pence have two daughters, Misses Frances S. and Florence E., the former was born September 12, 1886, and the latter on the 23rd of May, 1888.
This estimable family occupies high so- cial standing in the community where they have spent their entire lives. Their united efforts have been crowned with success, and their comfortable possessions are the results of industry and frugality during their pro- ductive years in life's struggles for financial supremacy. A biographical record of Grant county would certainly be incomplete with- out a record of so worthy a subject as Mr. David S. Pence.
JAMES BABB.
James Babb, a prominent citizen of Herbst, Indiana, was born in Clinton county, Chio, July 22, 1849. When a babe of seven weeks old, his parents came to Grant county and located on a farm in Franklin township, where they lived for many years, but finally removed to Herbst, in Sims township, where they died. For full genealogy see sketch of Enoch Babb in this volume.
James Babb was educated in the public schools of Herbst. He began active labors
of his own account at the age of sixteen years, being first employed in running a stationary engine. He has always taken an interest in mechanics and machinery. At the age of twenty-one he entered the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company as a locomotive fireman, in which capacity four years were spent. While in direct line of promotion and daily expecting his appoint- ment as an engineer, the great railroad strike of 1874 paralyzed business and resulted in the discharge of many employes of the com- pany. Mr. Babb was one of the unfortun- ates, and he returned to his home town and there engaged in the manufacture of drain- age tile, a business he followed successfully for four years. Recently he has not been engaged in any regular business but is liv- ing a semi-retired life, owning a farm of one hundred acres in Sims township. He has been prominent and active in political affairs and is a recognized leader in the coun- cils of the local Democracy. Though not an office-seeker (in fact he is averse to holding public positions). yet he consented to allow his name to go before the people as a candidate for township trustee, an office to which he was elected.
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