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 86
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John Thomas Friermood entered the public schools of his native county and pro- ceeded with due diligence to master prob- lems there presented to his notice. This was supplemented by three terms in the Quaker school at AAmboy, Indiana, bringing him to his twenty-first year, when he abandoned the school-room for the broader duties of life and took up the occupation of farming, to which he had already given much of his time and attention. His farming operations have been confined to Sims township, where he has a nice farm of fifty-eight acres. This is rich, productive land, and is well improved with large, roomy buildings and a comfort- able, convenient residence. He has engaged
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in general farming and has also raised a large number of hogs each year, finding in this line a certain source of revenue.
On October 25, 1877, was solemnized the marriage of John Thomas Friermood and Miss Eliza A. Curless. She is a lady of many excellent qualities and is well suited to be the helpmeet of her husband. She was born March' 19, 1856, to Bayard and Eliza A. (Hull) Curless, whose history is given under the biography of A. E. Curless, which will be found on another page of this work. Nine children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Friermood, namely: Asher B., born September 3, 1878, and died March 26, 1899; Rosa A., born February 27, 1880; Clarence, born May 3, 1882 ; Nellie Florence, born April 25, 1884; Catherine, born March 30, 1886, and died August 5, of the same year ; Edwin, born July 8, 1888, died August 24, 1889 ; Benjamin H., born June 24, 1889; Carl, born March 15, 1894, died August 19, 1895 : and Guy T., born May 20, 1895.
Mr. Friermood possesses an earnest Christian nature and has been affiliated with the Methodist Protestant church of Swayzee for a number of years, having served as trustee for four years and being re-elected to the same office in 1900. He also held the important position of chorister and added greatly to the interest and pleasure of the services by the judgment and ability with which he handled the music. Few positions require more tact and wisdom than bring- ing together and keeping in harmony a body of singers, but this our subject has accom- plished with the most commendable suc- cess, and has also been actice in other ways to help the cause of religion, contribut- ing liberally of both time and means to that end.
Mr. Friermood is an honored member of Swayzee Lodge, No. 5447, Modern Woodmen of America. He is known and esteemed by a large circle of friends, who testify to their regard and high opinion of his integrity. In politics he is a Republican.
JOSEPHUS GOWIN.
Josephus Gowin, of Sims township, Grant county, son of William B. and Eliza- beth (Weaver) Gowin, was born in Ripley county, Indiana, March 25, 1857. The par- ents reared a family of five children, viz. : Sarah F., Stephen M., Christina, Josephus and Elmira. When he was six years old his parents moved to Howard county, where he attended the public schools until he was fourteen years old. At this age he accom- panied his parents to Grant county and here he continued his school work until eighteen. He then engaged in farming and has since made that his vocation. Mr. Gowin was supervisor of Sims township for one term.
Mr. Gowin is a prominent member of the I. O. O. F., holding membership in Swayzee Lodge, No. 625, in which he has passed the principal official stations. Mr. and Mrs. Gowin own a farm of one hun- dred and twenty-three acres in a high state of cultivation and have twenty acres of fine timber and pasture land. Mr. Gowin is interested in general farming and stock-rais- ing. For some years past he has owned and operated a threshing machine, which is a source of considerable annual revenue. He has been a hard-working man all his life, and never made a dollar except through manual labor. He never engaged in speculation in any form, and sustains the well-earned title
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of an honest and industrious citizen and exemplary Christian gentleman. Mr. Gowin is an active working Democrat in his po- litical views and is recognized as a leader in local politics. He has been an active mem- ber of the Christian church for many years, and has served in numerous official posi- tions, among which may be mentioned that of elder.
Josephus Gowin was married on the 25th of December, 1879, to Miss Maryetta Pence. She was a daughter of David and Anna (Smith) Pence, early settlers of Grant coun- ty, where their lives were spent. David Pence died December 7, 1896, aged eighty- three years; Mrs. Pence died March 16, 1890, aged seventy years.
Mr. and Mrs. Gowin have but one child, Jesse C., who was born March 28, 1884, and is now a student in the public schools, at- tend from the paternal home.
Mr. Gowin is entitled to great credit for his achievements in life. His possessions are wholly the result of his own and his wife's unaided efforts, beginning at the foot of the financial ladder and ascending round by round until they have reached a position of affluence and independence. The do- mestic lives of himself and wife have been free from discord, and they have toiled to- gether, happy in each other's society, intent upon acquiring a competence wherewith to smoothe their paths down through the de- clining years of life.
CHARLES W. REED.
Charles W. Reed, editor and proprietor of the Upland Monitor, is a gentleman of prominence and influence in Grant county,
whose research into all the leading topics of the day does not permit him to fall be- hind the march of ideas. He was born in Jewett, Ohio, November 17, 1868, and is one of three sons and five daughters born to Benjamin and Catherine (Shuss) Reed. The father and seven of the children are living. The father was born in Ohio on March 5. 1821, received a common-school education and engaged in manufacturing and agricultural pursuits. His parents were of Pennsylvania-Dutch extraction and trans- mitted to him many of the sturdy character- istics of the race. He is an honored resident of Jewett and an earnest member of the Lutheran church, as was his wife. She was a native of Ohio and sank to sleep in 1899, in her sixty-eighth year. Mr. Reed is a stanch Democrat and an able advocate of the principles of that party.
Charles W. Reed attended the graded schools and then engaged in teaching in the town schools of Harrison county, Ohio. He exchanged the occupation of teaching for that of weigh-master at the mines and later became salesman in the lumber yard. In 1891 he accepted a position as salesman in a mercantile house in Upland, where he re- mained until he entered the field of journal- ism in 1894. Since taking hold of this work he has secured a considerable amount of job printing, which he does for a nominal price, building up a good patronage in this line, which is no small item. Believing in the trite saying "happiness perfected is happi- ness shared," he has shared the pleasures which fell to his lot with Miss Louie B. Pope, to whom he was united in marriage March 31. 1893. She is a native of the state of Ohio and there received her primary education, later attending the schools of this
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state. Her parents are William G. and Ann ( Culberson) Pope, residents of Eaton, where the father is engaged in business. Per- sonally, Mr. Reed is a Democrat, has always supported that party and has been chosen ar various times as delegate to conventions. He is a member of Lodge No. 352, Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, also of the Junior Order of United American Me- chanics, Jefferson Council, No. 13. He has passed all the chairs in the local council and is now councilor of the Indiana state coun- cil. Mr. and Mrs. Reed occupy a prom- inent position in society, but it is in the home surrounded by their three bright little chil- dren, Chester N., Revella R. and Delight, that the best side of their characters are to be seen.
It is true that the newspapers of the nation wield a mighty power in shaping the policy of the masses and moulding popular opinion, and it applies equally to the great city dailies or the smaller weekly edition which goes to the home of the farming com- munity and is hailed as a friend. The Up- land Monitor is a paper of modest preten- tons, but is nevertheless an important factor in the life of Grant county ; was established June 8, 1892, by J. P. Richards, who con- ducted it about two years when he disposed of it to S. R. Peoples, who in turn sold it to C. W. Reed. Mr. Reed took charge of the paper in 1894, assuming the owner- ship as well as taking charge of the edi- torials, and has placed the paper on a sound basis with a constantly increasing circula- tion. It is run as an independent and is impartial in its opinions, seeking neither fear nor favor. It is one of the most cleanly sheets published, giving accurate observa- tions of the times, relating all events truly
and describing men correctly in a natural flow of compact and forceful language. Success, the touchstone of all human under- takings, has attended his footsteps and guided his pen with tact and judgment, making him bold in the cause of truth and scathing in the denunciation of wrong.
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THOMAS W. WILLIAMS.
Thomas W. Williams is a typical repre- sentative of the ideal business man, and his personal interests have grown and prospered under his careful management until to-day he is a rich man. Obliged to bear the buf- tetting of the world from childhood, he has icarned to rely on self and has acquired an ability to read human nature and pass judg- ment on the knotty problems of life that is surpassed by few. He has invested his cap- ital wisely and is interested in various busi- ness interests in Upland and vicinity, among which are his saw-mill, farm and large hard- ware and implement store. He was born in Darke county, Ohio, May 27, 1860, and is the eldest of a family of three children born to Lewis C. and Judah A. (Batten) Williams, but two of whom survive, the sub- ject of this biography and his sister Isolina, who is the wife of Edwin Jacobs, a sta- tionary engineer of Marion.
Lewis C. Williams was born in Clinton county, Ohio, during the year 1838, and fol- lowed the occupation of farming. He at- tended the primitive schools of his time and there received his primary education, which was augmented by his own personal efforts at home. In 1835 his parents moved to Darke county, settling in Washington town- ship, where they purchased land when the
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country was almost a wilderness. This was his home until his death. He entered the war as a member of Company G, One Hun- dlred and Fifty-second Ohio Regiment, First Corps, and was transferred to the Army of the Potomac, serving but a short time when he sickened and died in 1864. He was a member of the Home Guards, Twenty-eighth Ohio, and a brave and fearless defended of his country's honor. He was married in 1859 to Miss Judah .A. Batten, a native of the Old Dominion, Virginia, where she remained until a maiden of twelve years. when she came to Darke county, Ohio. She is now a resident of Blackford county, In- diana, and in her sixty-first year. She is a womanly woman and a consistent Chris- tian.
Thomas W. Williams was but little more than a boy when he lost his father, and at the tender age of eleven entered the great army of wage-earners. But nature is a wise mother and recompenses her children for the trials they endure. It is not the plant nur- tured in the greenhouse and carefully shield- ed from every breath of cool air that becomes the strong, hardy plant, able to withstand the ravages of wind and rain and fulfilling its mission by giving to the world an abund- ance of bloom and fruitage, or scattering on the air its soft fragrance, and neither do we find the child who is shielded from every contact with the world grow into the strong. self-reliant man. It is one of the essentials of this life that if we would make the best of it we must learn to be independent of others, and this is never so well understood as when necessity compels a contact with the unfeeling world and we are obliged to fight for our very existence. Then, indeed, if we survive the ordeal, are our natures strength-
ened and made rugged, as it is the obstacles that we overcome that becomes our future strength. It was in a school of this char- acter that Mr. Williams took his first les- sons. Deprived by death of his natural pro- tector and guardian, the little boy started out at the age of eleven years to earn his living, the first wages he received being fifty cents a week, which was paid in flour. At the age of fourteen he came to Grant county, and being a bright and ambitious youth he set about obtaining an education, working for board and clothes that he might attend school. He was a diligent pupil and soon learned that the ability of acquiring knowl- edge was not locked in the school-room and that the most comprehensive and useful knowledge came to those who mastered the subject in hand, whether under the directions of the schoolmaster or in the privacy of the home. Applying himself with ardor to his task he acquired a surprisingly large amount of useful information, and is to-day one of the best posted men on all questions of im- portance.
Thomas W. Williams continued as a farm laborer until 1879. when he exchanged the field of his labors to the stave factory at Marion, remaining one year, when he went to the southwest part of this state and en- gaged in work in the various branches of the lumber business. The time spent here proved of great value to him in later years, as it gave him an insight into the business which years of outside study could not have clone. In 1882 he turned his attention to agriculture, giving to it his entire time for six years and retaining all his interest and enthusiasm in the work to the present time.
In 1888 he purchased a lumber mill just east of his farm, which he successfully con-
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«lucted until 1897, when he had the misfor- tune to lose it by fire. The same year he transferred his operations to Upland, where he is doing a constantly increasing business, employing sixteen men and running a forty- horse engine. He handles all grades of hard- wood lumber and small piece stuff, shipping his goods to all parts of the country.
The year following that in which he lo- cated in Upland, 1898, Mr. Williams pur- chased the hardware stock of Mr. Teeter, taking into the business with him a partner in the person of John D. Bell, with whom he is still associated. They have the largest hardware establishment in this part of the county and carry a complete line of shelf and heavy hardware, as well as a full stock of agricultural implements and vehicles. They have built up an extensive trade and especially do an enormous business in ma- chinery, putting out many threshers, mowers and reapers, as well as wagons and buggies. In the hardware business alone the sales amount to about twenty thousand dollars annually, while in the lumber business it reaches some fifteen thousand. He is sole owner of the mill and also owns a farm of one hundred and fifty acres in Monroe town- ship, which is one of the most attractive spots in Grant county. He has been hon- orable and upright in all his dealings and has gained the entire confidence of the pub- lic, whose faith in his integrity is based on their intimate knowledge of the man.
The lady who presides over his house- hold was Miss Nancy J. Atkinson, to whom he was joined in the golden chains of mat- rimony on December 31, 1881, and by whom he has had four children. Those living are Von C., a youth of unusual brightness in school work. Graduating from the common
school in June, 1899, he was a student one year in the Upland high school and is en- tered on a commercial course in Taylor Uni- versity in accordance with his natural in- clination ; Austin is a student in the fifth grade : and Byron is in the fourth. Remem- bering the sad lack of opportunity in his own life, Mr. Williams is giving his sons every facility to acquire an advanced edu- cation, and they are taking hold of the ad- vantages in a manner that cannot but be gratifying in every respect.
Mrs. Williams was born May 27, 1858, to David and Elizabeth (Lewis) Atkinson, and with her brother, Cephus L., a farmer of this township, constitutes the family. Her father was born January 19, 1825, in Clin- ton county, Ohio, and died February 27, 1868. He was a tiller of the soil and came to Grant county about 1849 or '50. Mrs. Williams now has in her possession a deed executed by President Van Buren in 1840 for a quarter-section of land which was en- tered by her grandfather, Cephas Atkinson. This deed is well preserved and the land, which has never passed out of the hands of the Atkinson family, has part of it descended to our subject and forms part of their es- tate.
Mr. Williams also has an arithmetic which was copied by his grandfather. Austin Williams, with a gcose-quill pen in 1830, and i, very legible and easily read. Austin Will- iams is living at present at the advanced age of eighty-nine years and his wife is eighty-three. There is also a school register used by his brother John, locating the school in Darke county, Ohio, written in a plain hand and both are well preserved. The writing of seventy years ago compares very favorably with the sprawling characters
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found to-day and are much easier to de- cipher.
Mr. Williams is a Prohibitionist and be- lieves that the slaves of rum can only be freed from bondage by the abolition of the traffic. He is a steward and class-leader in the Methodist church and trustee of Tay- lor University. He has contributed towards the erection of eight churches and is of lib- eral disposition, especially favoring boys who have to do for themselves. He is a member of Jefferson Council, No. 13, Junior Order United American Mechanics. Mrs. Williams is treasurer of the local W. C. T. U., and an active member of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society.
DAVIS McVICKER.
Davis McVicker, of Upland, Indiana, represents one of the oldest families of the state and is also a type of Indiana's intel- ligent and progressive farmers. His grand- parents came to this spot. then an almost uninhabited wilderness, during the morning of their lives, and here, in the "forest prime- val," amidst hardships and suffering, laid the foundation upon which has been built our present sterling principles of government and prosperity. History is the link which connects us with the past, and only by study- ing the lives and surroundings of our ances- tors do we become cognizant of, or realize, the events which have led up to our great- ness as a state and a nation. Had they en- countered no hardships in this, their new home, and heat and food been provided ready to their hand so that no effort was needed on their part, they would have de-
generated into a listless, aimless sort of be- ing without enterprise or ambition, but such conditions did not exist. Food abounded and so did the materials for their physical comfort, but exertion on their part was nec- essary to obtain them, and they became stronger and more self-reliant with every obstacle surmounted, and developed in in- tellect and strength as the land developed under their touch. The parents of Mr. Mc- Vicker are David and Anna (Dean) Mc- Vicker. David McVicker was born in Guernsey county, Ohio, March 25, 1820, and came to this county with his widowed mother when he was a lad of fourteen. He was a farmer by occupation and accumulated some two hundred acres of land in Jefferson township, to which he brought his young wife and upon which she still resides with her son. Davis. Anna Dean was born in Hampshire county, Virginia, February 23, 1822, and is a daughter of Thomas and Eliz- abeth (Davis) Dean. The father was born in Virginia in 1795, and the mother in Maryland in the same year. He was a school teacher and later an agriculturist, moving north during 1829, and to this state in 1836. Here the daughter, whose biog- raphy is presented elsewhere, met and mar- ried David McVicker and assisted him in improving and caring for the home which he had in readiness for her. She gave birth to six children, four of whom are living and enjoy the honor and esteem of everyone. They are Dennis, Thomas D., Davis and Jennie. They all live in this immediate lo- cality, the sons following agricultural pur- suits, while the daughter was fitted for a teacher and for many years was one of the most efficient and painstaking instructors in the county. She makes her home with
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her mother and brother. . The father was a Democrat in politics, and with his wife was a consistent member of the Methodist church. He passed away in 1883, on July IO, leaving to his children the heritage of an honorable life.
Davis McVicker is the worthy son of honorable parents and a shrewd man of af- fairs, whose cultivated leisure has broadened his life and given to him a keener percep- tion of its beauties and possibilities than is enjoyed by the average business man. His primary training was received in the public schools of this, his native county, where he was born October 14, 1851, andl his spare time was given to farm work. He had a predilection for stock-raising and agricult- ure and gave his whole heart to the work. He owns one hundred and forty-one acres of land in this township and is also largely interested in real estate in Upland. He is extensively engaged in raising stock, pastur- ing large numbers of them yearly and get- ting them in prime condition for the mar- kets. Few better judges of cattle can be found than our subject and it is a matter of pride with him to keep only the best animals on his farm. In politics he supports the Democratic party in national issues, but in local elections the best man gets his vote regarless of party. Like his father he is of benevolent disposition and contributes with liberal hand to all worthy causes. In private life he is affable and genial, count- ing his friends by the score, and in commer- cial circles his integrity and judgment are without question.
Mr. McVicker has traveled extensively throughout the United States and has gleaned much knowledge as well as pleas- ure from his journeyings. The incidents
and interesting data gathered by him have been indelibly stamped on his retentive mem- ory and have become a part of himself, and from this exhaustless source he produces graphic and able pictures for the entertain- ment and edification of his friends. In 1885 he visited California, going by way of the Southern Pacific route, and visiting Kansas and the Indian Territory on the way. He crossed the dreary Mojova desert through miles of barren waste, unrelieved by vegeta- tion, and reached the fertile slopes of the Pacifie, which formed a vivid contrast to the country just left behind. California may well be termed the "garden spot of the world," for no place is fruit and flower so prolific as in this ideal spot. Los Angeles, where the greater part of his time was spent, was constantly offering new wonders for his amazement and admiration. Returning by the famous Needles' route, he witnessed the grandest and most gorgeous scenes with which nature delights in chaming the eyes of her children. Unlike many sight-seers, he did not think it necessary to cross the ocean in order to find the beautiful in nature, and his trips have all been within the borders of his native land. A few years ago he visited the east, taking in the principal points of interest on the way. At Washington few objects of importance escaped his notice, and while there he had the pleasure of attending a reception given by Mrs. Cleveland, the beautiful young wife of the president. The Smithsonian Institute afforded him both pleasure and satisfaction, pleasure at the ex- tensive collection which had been gathered together and satisfaction in learning that his own state and Ohio had contributed most to the collections relating to the stone age. He also visited the tomb of Washington at
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Mt. Vernon and was particularly struck by the neat and attractive surroundings. He also visited the old home of the McVickers in. Virginia and traversed the beautiful and romantic valley of the Shenandoah. At New York City he visited the Board of Trade and witnessed the wild scramble which took place there. He walked across the great Brooklyn bridge and gazed on the vast pan- orama which opened to his view and also visited the great dock-yards and witnessed the unloading of cargo after cargo from the ships.
MRS. DAVID McVICKER.
Mrs. David McVicker is the sole repre- sentative of one of the pioneer families of Grant county, Indiana, who were among the most prominent and widely known residents of their time, and is a lady of culture and refinement who has spent more than three- score years of her life in her present home. She was born in Hampshire county, Vir- ginia. February 23, 1822, to Thomas and Elizabeth (Davis) Dean. Thomas Dean was also a native of Virginia, born in 1795, and had acquired a good education. He had spent many years of his life as a teacher, turning his spare time to account by farm- ing during the summer months. About 1820) he moved to Coshocton county, Ohio, which was his home for seven years. He then mounted on horseback and made his way to Grant county, Indiana, where he en- tered one hundred and eight acres of land un- dler the administration of President Martin Van Buren. Every energy was now exerted to clear off the timber, plant a crop, erect a small house and get it in shape for the
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