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 84
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Jacob Richards was but nine years old when he came to this locality and his life since has been passed in this community. The school house which he attended was a log one, 18x20 feet in size. The fireplace was four and one-half feet in length, a huge log being rolled into its capacious opening for a back log, while the clapboard roof was held in place by heavy poles. It is a question
whether such a covering would have kept its place during some of our recent winds, but the heavy forests probably acted as a "windbreak" to a great extent. The only light was admitted through greased paper pasted over the opening where a log had been removed, and that produced by the blaz- ing logs. Instead of the modern school (lesk and seat, seats only were provided and they were made of slabs, with wooden pins driven in each end to answer for legs. Broad boards were fastened to the walls in a sim- ilar manner and answered for a desk upon which to write with the goose-quill pen. School lasted about three months each year and was kept up by subscription.
At the age of sixteen Jacob began to work for wages. His first work was a con- tract for grubbing three acres of land near the Mississinewa river. Although he was a diligent worker the wages received were small and he had been able to save but little at the time of his marriage. The young couple began life on their present estate when it was in its primitive state and the cutlook was not bright, but they had started in to win and hard work and self-denial had no terrors for them. Years of toil and per- severing labor at last was rewarded, and from their humble start they have accumulat- ed little by little until at one time they owned three hundred and forty acres of land. Ex- cepting the homestead of one hundred and eighty acres, they have given the balance of the property to their children for homes.
The lady who has been so faithful a helper of Mr. Richards all these years was Miss Susan Gillespie, to whom he was uni- ted by the silken bond of matrimony on March 23, 1848. She was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, January 25, 1827, and came
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with her parents to Grant county when she was about ten years of age. She attended the same school in which her husband was educated. Five of the eight children born to them are still living, namely : James H., a· mechanic. He is married and has one child; Catherine, wife of John F. Jones, an agriculturist, is also the mother of one child ; J. G. W., is a farmer of this township; Hester S., wife of John Leach, a farmer of Fairmount township; Isabel, deceased, mar- ried Luther Harrison; and Lucy Ann, wife of John W. Patterson. She resides on the homestead and has two bright little boys, Harry and Lloyd Charles. She is a mem- ber of the Primitive Baptist church. Mr. Patterson is a native of Howard county, this state, and is a Democrat in politics. Mr. Richards is also a Democrat and his first vote was given to Franklin Pierce. In 1868 he was elected trustee of the township and was continued in the office for seven years and one-half. He was a capable official and one who had the best interest of his township at heart. On March 23, 1898, Mr. and Mrs. Richards celebrated their golden wedding in their pleasant and commodious home, and many friends embraced the opportunity to offer their felicitations to the amiable couple who had reached the golden milestone in their journey together, and who had been thrice blessed by scattering kind deeds and cheerful words in the pathway of others less fortunate than they. They are a hale, hearty couple, who are remarkably well pre- served, and to see Mr. Richards one would not take him to be over fifty-five or sixty years of age at most.
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Mr. Richards is known as a God-fearing man and one who has labored for many years in the Master's vineyard and has
wrought an incalculable amount of good. He became associated with the Baptist de- nomination, although his parents and many of his brothers and sisters were members of the Methodist church. The society to which he belongs was organized in 1834 or 1835, and among the leading spirits were John Richards and William McCormick. For a number of years they had no church and held their meetings at the homes of various members. About the year 1850 they built their first meeting house-a frame building-and in 1887 the present brick structure was built. Its size is 42×62 feet and it is entirely free from debt, a state of affairs quite as commendable in a church organization as in a private individual. For the past twenty-seven years it has been the privilege of Mr. Richards to minister to the spiritual wants of the flock. The member- ship is about eighty-six and is in a flourish- ing condition. The Baptist Association holds its annual meeting each year in Au- gust, meeting in the present year. 1900, in Trask, where much good attended their de- liberations. Mr. Richards is a forceful speaker and never fails to impress his audi- ence with his logic as he lets fall gems of truth culled from the Divine book which has been an inspiration in all time and in all ages. His style is simple and eloquent, tending rather to convince his hearers by their reason rather than through their emo- tions, so that the more dispassioned thought bestowed on the subject the more sure and rational their conversation.
JACOB RICHARDS.
Jacob Richards, a substantial and prom- inent member of the agricultural element of Grant county, Indiana, is too well known
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to the residents of this community to need an introduction to them and is entitled an eminent place among the representative men of the county. He was born January 8, 1843, on the old homestead upon which he still resides, and is a son of John and Effie (Roberts) Richards, who will be remem. : bered by the older residents as a most worthy couple who were among the early settlers of Jefferson township and whose Christian in- fluence exerted a mighty power for good among their neighbors.
John Richards, whose memoirs will be found more completely written up in the sketch of A. B. Richards, was born in the state of Pennsylvania, March 3, 1809, came west to Guernsey county, Ohio, where he was united in marriage with Miss Effie Roberts, who was born in that locality April 25, 1809. He came to this state in 1835 and entered two hundred and thirty-three acres of land from the government, the old parchment deeds which he received being among the valued possessions of our subject. 1 They are four in number and bear the dates, one September 2, 1834, two of November 7, 1835, under the signature of President An- drew Jackson and the fourth is dated Sep- tember 20, 1839, and is in the autograph of President Martin Van Buren. He was one of the organizers of the Baptist society and for years was the beloved pastor of the flock. He was very successful in his busi- ness and owned five hundred and sixty acres of land at the time of his death. His wife died January 2, 1848, and he some fifteen years later, on March 28, 1863. Seven children survive them and two are with them in the better world. Those living are Henry, L. G., Abraham B., Daniel, Martha J. (Mrs. Phillip Miller), Jacob and Isaac.
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Jacob Richards has been a life-long resident of the locality in which he still makes his home and few men have gained the con- ficience and respect of their neighbors in a greater degree than has he. With honesty and industry for his motto he has devoted his time and attention to the pursuits of huis- bandry and has achieved the success he so well merits. He received a common-school education in the log school-house, the term of school lasting about three months in win- ter and being kept up at public expense. The house was a small one- 14x18 feet in dimen- sions, but plenty large enough to accommo- date all the children who wished to take ad- vantage of the opportunity to secure an edu- cation. Luxury, or even the comforts of life were unknown in those days, and the chil- dren felt it no hardship to be compelled to sit on slab seats which were minus backs, and upheld by wooden pegs in lieu of legs. The writing lessons were practiced with goose-quill pens on a rude desk which was made by a wide board which rested on wooden pins driven into the wall. The roof was of clapboard, but the fireplace had given way to the stove, which was quite an innovation.
There was much timber during the early years of Mr. Richards, and he well remem- bers when the deer stalked unconcernedly through the fields. He has borne his share of the toil incident to clearing and develop- ing this land, and at the age of twenty-one had very little capital with which to start in life. He inherited about thirty-two acres of the old homestead to which he took his bi idle, Miss Maggie C. Lay, to whom he was united January 5, 1865. She was a daugh- ter of John Lay and was born in Grant county, January 29, 1848, dying September
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20, 1893. Six children were born to them, five of whom survive her, namely: John W., a prosperous farmer who married Miss Ora Fergus, and resides in this township; Charles W., a rising young attorney of In- dianapolis. He was a student one term in the State Normal at Terre Haute, and the two following terms were spent in teaching in his home district, when he entered De Pauw University and took the literary course. He then read law and later entered the Indi- ! anapolis Law School in 1898, graduating from that institution in 1900, when he formed a partnership with Lewis Newberger of that city for the prosecution of his chosen profession; Thomas L., who is associated with his father in farming and stock raising is one of the practical young men who are progressive and so successful in their under- takings. He is a stanch Democrat and cast his first vote in support of William Jennings Bryan. He is a member of Lodge No. 383. Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and also of the Daughters of Rebekah Lodge. No. 447. December 8. 1894, he was united in matrimony with Miss Anna Secrest. Sarah S. Richard has received a common- school education and been instructed in music, resides with her parents. She is a member of the Rebekahs: and Oscar, who is a student.
Mr. Richards' present wife was formerly Miss Allie Beuoy, to whom he was married December 20, 1896. She was born in Delaware county. November 26, 1859, and is a daughter of Rand and Eliza ( McVickers ) Benoy. Their family is composed of one son and two daughters and they have been so fortunate as not to have been visited by the grim destroyer death. Mrs. Richards received a common-school education and is
the only member of the family residing in Jefferson township, her parents still residing in Delaware county, of which locality her father is a native. The name is of French origin.
Mr. Richards has been a hard working man and has accumulated a neat property of one hundred and fifteen acres, which he has improved and has converted into a com- fortable home. He has always been a Democrat. In religion Mr. and Mrs. Rich- ards are members of the Harmony Baptist church and contributed in a liberal manner to the erection of the present church edifice. They are always ready to extend a helping hand to those in distress and well sustain the reputation of the honorable name they bear.
ABRAHAM B. RICHARDS.
Just one hundred years ago the territor- ial government of Indiana was formed and sixteen years later she was admitted into the Union as a state. Since that time her pro- gress has been so rapid that it has been hard to keep pace with the improvements that have placed her among the foremost states which go to make up one grand whole; but as history is the link which binds us to our ancestors we will take a brief glance at some of the existing conditions in Indiana during the second quarter of the present century as compared with the present.
The country was a wilderness, by far the greater portion of it covered by a thick forest, only one-eighth of the entire surface being a rolling prairie. A few hardy pio- neers had colonized at a very few points within its borders but the wild beast and still more savage red men roamed unmo-
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lested across its broad acres, and it required an iron will and undaunted heart to brave its depths and plant a home within its soli- tude. Hardships and privations were the price of citizenship, and how dearly those sturdy ancestors paid for the beautiful coun- try which is ours to-day, the present gen- eration will never be able to realize; only those who have felt and suffered the wants and trials of those early days can conceive. Among those who sought a home among the wilds was the immediate progenitors of Abraham B. Richards, namely: John and Effie (Roberts) Richards, who came to Grant county in 1836, where in the follow- ing year, on November 11, Abraham B. was born.
John Richards was born in Pennsylvania, March 3, 1809, and at the age of eighteen came west with his parents to Guernsey county, Ohio, where he resided several years. In this state he met and led to the marriage altar Miss Effie Roberts, who was born in Guernsey county, April 25, 1809, and was a woman of noble Christian character. In the fall of 1835, with his little family, he started in a wagon for Grant county, Indi- ana, across marshes and swales and through forest and brush, many times having to stop and cut his way through. Arriving in what is now Jefferson township, he entered two hundred and forty acres of land from the government, the parchment deed, under the signature of President Van Buren, being still in the possession of the Richards fam- ily. Their first home was 18x20 feet, made of round logs, the clapboard roof held in place by weight poles, while a fireplace made of mud and sticks furnished heat for warmtli and cooking. All kinds of ferocious ani- mals peculiar to that section roamed at will
around the little cabin, among them wolves, black bear and panther, while deer and wild turkey also abounded and ofttimes furnished a tempting meal. John Richards was a farmer by occupation and instinct and was a very successful man, and also one of in- telligence, having added to a meager school- ing a varied fund of useful knowledge gained by observation and years of com- prehensive reading. At the time of his death he had accumulated five hundred and sixty acres of land and was among the most prom- inent men of this section. He was one of the leading factors in the organization of the Baptist church in this township and com : piled the constitution of the society, which was composed at that time of such men as John Richards, William McCormack, John Dunn, Thomas Bueoy, William Leach, and Benjamin Furnish. The society was or . ganized about 1843, and the first church was a frame structure, the lumber for which was sawed on the Richards farm in the old mill or Hoosier creek. The creek was so named by the Indians and the mill was the first one built in Jefferson township. This edifice was erected in 1849, but for many years meetings had been held at the homes of the different members, John Richards minister- ing to the spiritual wants of the community and making his trips on horseback for a period of thirty years. In 1887, a neat brick building replaced the little frame church and the congregation, numbering some eighty-six souls, is said to be the most flourishing in Grant county.
Mr. Richards was a Jeffersonian Demo- crat, and was respected and esteemed alike by rich and poor. His life was filled with kind deeds, and when, on March 28, 1863, he passed into the great beyond, a pall of
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gloom settled over the community which was to know him no more forever. His wife had made the journey to the better land on January 2, 1848, and he was laid to rest beside her in Harmony cemetery where budding trees and a newly awakened earth proclaimed to the world a glorious resur- rection. Seven sons and two daughters were born of them, seven of whom are liv- ing, namely: Henry, who was engaged in the border warfare in Kansas during the Civil war is now a resident of Oklahoma ; I. G., a prominent agriculturist of this town- ship, to whom is devoted a separate article : Abraham B .; Daniel, a farmer of Delaware county, who fought in the Rebellion; Mar- tha J., wife of Phillip Miller, a farmer of Randolph county ; Jacob, an influential farm- er of this township, who is elsewhere repre- sented in this work; and Isaac, also a farmer of this township, whose biography it is our privilege to give.
Abraham B. Richards was born and reared in Grant county, and assisted in the later development of the land. He was ac- customed to the use of the sickle and cut his forty bundles per day and also swung the old cradle from early dawn until the close of day, verily earning his bread by the sweat of his brow. The schools of his childhood were primitive in character and bis education was necessarily limited. Both he and his wife attended the log school house whose dimension of 16x20 would look very tiny for a school of to-day. The chim- ney of mud and sticks with the wide fire- piace furnished the heat for the children who were seated on slab benches, supported on wooden pins and without any rest for the backs. The desk for the older scholars was a wide board which rested on pins driven
into the side of the building and here the writing lessons were laboriously gone through with, the goose quill pens being made and kept in order by the school master. Nir. Richards grew up on the farm and has always given his attention to farming and stock-raising. When he started out for himself it was on eighty acres which is included in his present home. It was nec- cssary to go in debt to get this land and but fifteen acres of it had been cleared of its dense timber, while the only available ma- terial with which to erect the first home was the logs which grew on the land. Economy and frugality with unceasing industry formed the rule adopted and carried out by Mr. and Mrs. Richards and it was not long ere they could see the results in increasing crops and larger savings. This was in- vested in more land until they now have one hundred and sixty acres, all in good culti- vation and well improved with comfortable house and suitable barns and other outbuild- ings which go to mark the first class farmer. The timber has given place to highly culti- vated lands or waving meadows while the marshy places have been reclaimed by some- thing like thirty-five hundred rods of tile until they are as productive as the best and all are enclosed in good strong fences which speak of thrift and care. He is one of the largest stock raisers in this vicinity and al- ways has a large drove of stock to show his superior methods in feeding, etc.
Mr. Richards was married August 16, 1858, to Miss Martha A. Bueny, by whom he has had ten children, eight of whom are liv- ing, viz .: Angie, wife of Sylvester Dunn, a farmer of Delaware county. She supple- mented a common-school education with a course in Fairmount Academy ; George W.
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married Miss Mollie Dickerson and resides with his parents. He is a farmer who has considerable mechanical genius; J. P. re- ceived his primary education in the public schools, took two terms in the Danville Nor- mal, then two terms in the State Normal at Terre Haute, finishing with a scientific course in Taylor University. He then en- gaged in teaching and has established a splendid record in that profession, being now the principal of the Upland schools; Henry is a resident of Menona county, Iowa; Anna, wife of A. J. Nelson, a sawyer of Upland ; Laura, wife of Charles Kirk, a salesman of Marion; Olive, who is a good scholar and also a musician; and Dora, the youngest of the family, who is a student.
Mrs. Richards was born June 2, 1842, and is a daughter of John and Sarah A. (Lee) Bueoy. There were three sons and three daughters in the family, four of whom are yet living, the brothers being residents of Iowa.
John Bueoy was born in Guernsey coun- ty, Ohio, in 1812, while his father was fight- ing in the war. He was a pioneer of Dela- ware county, where he entered government land, walking clear to Fort Wayne for that purpose. His death occurred in 1865.
Mr. Richards is a Democrat and has al- ways advocated the principles of that party. He and Mrs. Richards are zealous members of Harmony Baptist church, in which he holds the office of trustee, and they are among the leading citizens of Grant county.
REV. FRANCIS SMITH.
Rev. Francis Smith enjoys the distinction of being the oldest living pioneer of Sims township, Grant county, Indiana. Since
August, 1847, he has been a continuous resident of the township, and though others were before him, they have passed away or removed.
Mr. Smith was born in Clinton county, Ohio, December 19, 1821. He is a son of Francis and Massie (Jones) Smith. On the 20th of October, 1842, he was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Kennedy, daughter of Andrew and Sarah (Seggs) Kennedy. She was born February 28, 1826. Both Mr. and Mrs. Smith are descended from Revolutionary ancestors. Shorten Smith, paternal grandfather of Rev. Fran- cis, came from England with his parents, who located in Virginia temporarily, after- ward removed to Clinton county, Ohio, but again returned to Virginia. Shorten Smith served all through the Revolutionary war in the Continental army. The maternal grandfather of Rev. Francis, David Jones, was a Revolutionary hero, and served from the beginning to the end of the struggle. He was also an Englishman by birth, and located in Virginia, where he died. Mrs. Smith's paternal great-grandfather, Rich- ard Scrugg, was a Frenchman by birth. He located near Augusta, Georgia, and en- tered the patriot army during the struggle for national independence. He married a Scotch-Irish girl who was shipped to Amer- ica with a ship load of other females who became wives of the bachelor colonists. His- tory states that these young women were sold for the cost of their transportation across the ocean, but it is not known whether Scrugg obtained his wife in this way or by the ordinary process of courtship. It is true, however, that she became isolated from her people and never heard of them after her marriage. Mrs. Smith's father was a sol-
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dier in the war of 1812, and was at Detroit at the surrender of that important strong- hold. His brother, Samuel Smith, was also a soldier in that war.
Mr. Smith's mother's brother, Levaon Jones, was a soldier in the second war with England, and on receiving his discharge remained in the south where he married a French woman and eventually became estranged from his people, who have not heard of either him or his posterity in many years. Both of these venerable pioneers represent large families who have for gener- ations past been thoroughly identified with American history and institutions.
The identity of the numerous "Smith" family has become a by-play and a source of much innocent pleasantry, and one need only consult the directory of any populous town to learn that the accusations are well founded, but for the bit of traditional history, this family would be no execption, since the intermediate record is vague and indefinite. Still enough is certainly known to place them in line with the heroes of the Revolution and the early colonization period of the country. . Assuredly they could have no greater distinction, or more honorable connection.
In a general way the early lives of Mr. and Mrs. Smith were similar. They were reared in the pioneer days, and educated in the log school-house of the early part of the last century. In their day the schools were supported by subscription of those who profited by their existence. The school was "kept" three months during the winter, when the large boys and girls could best be spared from the incessant labors on the fron- tier farm. The school curriculum included the elements of the three R's, but it was be-
neath the dignity of the boys to study gram- mar. Only girls needed a knowledge of their "mother tongue." But "readin', 'ritin', and 'rithmetic" were essential to the well being of all.
The school-houses were constructed in accordance with the prevailing customs of the country. Usually they were built of round logs with clap-board roof and pun- cheon floors. A huge fire-place across one end with a roaring fire within, roasted these near it, but those seated farthest away com- plained in a different direction. The "mas- ter" usually "boarded around" and on the occasion of his coming, the "spare bed" was put in readiness, and the household was put on its good behavior, for the "master" was coming. The cabins of these days were lighted with candles or the rich pine knot, and many a pioneer scholar has mastered the intricacies of the "Double Rule of Three" by the light of the hearth fire.
But to the old pioneer these were the happiest days of his existence. And why not? The memory of his boyhood days when father, mother, brothers and sisters were congregated around the family altar in happy contentment, is surely a sweet and holy remembrance. The lives of the people were simple and their wants few. The farm and the forest supplied their temporal needs, for the provident mothers were schooled in the art of self-reliance and ready expedient. Most of them could take the wool from the sheep's back, card, spin and weave it into cloth and manufacture the family clothing, without the aid of dress makers or sewing machines. They could plant a patch of flax and when it had ma- tured pull it. "hackle" it. spin and weave it into goods from which they made the "fam-
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