USA > Indiana > Greene County > Biographical memoirs of Greene County, Ind. : with reminiscences of pioneer days, Volume I > Part 21
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The Summit Coal and Mining Company is one of the largest and most important enterprises of the kind in the Indiana coal region, giving employment to a large num-
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ber of men throughout the year and doing business of continually growing magnitude, the daily output amount- ing to something in excess of twelve hundred tons. In ad- dition to his connection with this important industry, Mr. Neal is identified with various other business and indus- trial enterprises, having a large interest in the United States Powder Company, at Coal Mount, which has been incorporated with one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars capital, holds the office of president, besides being a stockholder in the Bloomfield Investment Company, with a capital of ten thousand dollars; is vice president of the Henderson Lumber Company, of White Cliff, Ar- kansas, an enterprise of large proportions, owning twelve thousand acres of finely timbered land, of which the sub- ject holds the sixth interest, the capital representing ten thousand dollars. Besides the interests alluded to Mr. , Neal has had something to do in promoting various other movements and enterprises and takes an active part in everything calculated to benefit his city and county and minister to the welfare of the people. He holds stock in nearly every local enterprise of a business character, pur- chasing in 1907 a large interest in the Bloomfield State Bank, of which he was elected president and C. E. Davis as vice president and W. M. Haig cashier. The growth of this institution in popular favor and its solidity as a safe place of deposit is largely attributable to the sound judgment and superior executive ability of these three enterprising and in every respect liable business men.
Mr. Neal's domestic life dates from 1892, on July 17th of which year was solemnized his marriage with Stella McCloud, whose birth occurred December 15, 1876, in Delaware county, Ohio, being the daughter of William
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A. and Margaret (Martin) McCloud, natives of Ohio, the father being superintendent of mines in the coal re- gions of that state. Mr. and Mrs. Neal have four chil- dren, namely : Corinne Hazel, Henry Elsworth, Fred- crick Mahlon, and Thelma Ione, all living and affording abundant promise of future usefulness.
In his political views Mr. Neal is a pronounced Re- publican, manifesting an active interest in party affairs, and by reason of large experience and mature judgment, his counsel and advice have been of great service in the making of platforms and the formulating of policies. He has never sought office, however, being first of all a busi- ness man and making everything else subservient to his multiform interests as such. He is a Mason of high stand- ing and a zealous worker in both blue lodge and chapter, and is also identified with the Pythian brotherhood and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. His re- ligious faith is represented by the creed of the Cumber- land Presbyterian church, to which body his wife and family also belong, and his prominence in social circles is indicated by the position he holds at president of the Bloomfield Social Club, one of the finest organizations of the kind in the state, owning its own home and enjoying a flourishing growth almost unprecedented.
Thus in a cursory manner have been set before the reader the leading facts and salient characteristics in the life of a man whose interest in all that concerns the prog- ress and prosperity of Greene county is unabating, and whose influence has ever been exerted in behalf of the right as he sees and understands it. "He stands four- square to every wind that blows," an upright, progressive, manly man, and those who have known him since his
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advent into the arena of public affairs are numbered among his cherished and devoted friends while he com- mands unequivocal esteem in the community at large.
GEORGE MARTIN SPARKS.
When the grandfather of George M. Sparks, who was Hardy Sparks, a native of North Carolina, came to Monroe county, Indiana, he found plenty of good gov- ernment land to choose a one hundred and sixty-acre tract from upon which to make his home, and being of sturdy stock he soon had the land cleared and a comfort- able dwelling erected on it, where he lived and died, raising a large family and becoming well known even in those days when the country was sparsely settled. Henry Sparks was the subject's father. He, too, was a native of North Carolina, and came to Indiana in an early day and got government land, having come to Monroe county with his parents when he was a boy. He had little oppor- tunity to attend school. He showed his sterling qualities by working for some time for Pete Carmichael for the sum of four dollars per month. He bought a horse for thirty dollars and worked for it at the rate of the wages mentioned until it was paid for. He married Sallie Hol- der, a native of North Carolina, and settled in Indian Creek township, Monroe county, Indiana, where he cleared a farm and made a home. Later he sold his farm and bought another tract, making his holdings five hun- dred and twenty acres near the Greene county line. He made his home the latter part of his life in Stanford, In-
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diana, where he died October 10, 1905. His widow is living in Stanford. He was a Democrat and a member of the Baptist church. He became popular throughout the county. He had five children, namely: Thomas, who was a teacher and a merchant at Stanford, Indiana, now. a farmer and stock raiser in Beech Creek township; John, a farmer in Nodaway county, Missouri; Martha, who died at the age of twenty-eight years; George M., sub- ject of this sketch ; Solomon E., who is living near Stan- ford, Indiana.
Thomas Holder, a native of North Carolina, was the subject's grandfather, who married in his native state and moved to Indiana, settling in Monroe county, where he took up government land. In 1861 he went to Wood- ford county, Illinois, where he and his wife lived and died, being survived by six children, namely: Sally, Francis, John, Katie, Mary and Betsy.
George M. Sparks attended the schools in his neigh- borhood and managed the home place until he was twenty-one years old, when he went to McLain county, Illinois, where he worked a farm which his father had purchased. He remained there for eight years and then returned to his native county and bought one hundred and seventy-eight acres in Richland township, known as the George Bennett place, which he has greatly improved. He raised all kinds of grain and hay and pays a great deal of attention to stock raising. He married Cornelia A. Matthews, of Noble county, Ohio, September 29, 1879. She was the daughter of Charles and Nancy ( Hid- dleston) Matthews, the former a native of West Virginia and the latter a native of Ohio. Mr. Matthews went to Noble county, Ohio, and farmed there until his death in
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January, 1859. His wife died in March, 1858. They had two children-James died when young; Cornelia A., wife of the subject of this sketch, was left an orphan when three years old and was then raised by her grand- parents, Joseph and Nancy Matthews. They settled near Stanford, where they died.
George M. Sparks and wife had four children, namely: Charles died June 14, 1904, at the age of twenty-four years. He married Bertha Wright and they had three children, Raymond, Olive and Glen. He was a farmer and mail carrier; Myrtle is their second child. She married Samuel Cullison, a miner at Jasonville, In- diana. They have one child, Garnet; William, the third child, married August 24, 1907. His wife was Lulu Wade, of Koleen, Indiana, the daughter of Bunyon and Frances (Clements) Wade; William Sparks works the home place for his father; Nellie, the fourth child, lives at home.
Mr. Sparks is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, the camp at Park, Indiana, and a member of the Odd Fellows Lodge at Mineral City, Indiana; also the Red Men's Lodge at Bloomfield, Indiana. His wife is a member of the Royal Neighbors. She is also a member of the Church of God.
JOSEPH ROBERT OCKERMAN.
Joseph R. Ockerman, one of the leading agricul- turists and stockmen of Richland township, Greene county, Indiana, is an example of what thrift coupled
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with energy and resourcefulness can accomplish, no mat- ter what obstacles may intervene. He was born in Bar- tholomew county, Indiana, March 26, 1849. His early schooling was neglected of necessity and he spent his time working on the old homestead until he was twenty- one years old. He then worked in Worthington, Indi- . ana, for Ephraim Brighton in a furniture factory as a finisher until 1875, when he located in Richland town- ship, Greene county, Indiana, where he lived until 1880 on his grandfather's old place. Then he bought seventy- nine acres where he now lives, later purchasing adjoin- ing land as his fortune increased, until he now owns a fine farm of two hundred and sixty-nine acres, all well improved, having an excellent orchard and numerous buildings on it. He married Martha E. Brigliton, Octo- ber 28, 1874. Since 1881 he has lived on his present farm engaged in general farming and raising Hereford cattle, Poland China hogs, Percheron horses and sheep. He is a Republican.
He has six children, namely: Omar, carpenter and contractor at Kelso, Washington; Nell, who married Wesley Chipman and lives in Richland township. They have three children, Clara Eva; Glenmer and Murrell ; Clarence, a teacher of mathematics and history at Col- fax, Washington; Edward, of Kelso, Washington : Khiva F. and Donald O., both at home.
The subject's wife was a native of Wayne county, Ohio. She is the daughter of Levi and Catherine (Ste- phens) Brighton. Mr. Brighton came to Greene county, Indiana, where he taught school several years, and later engaged in farming. He died in 1856 and was the first
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to be buried in Tulip cemetery at Tulip, Indiana. His widow is living in Franklin, Kansas. They had three children-Laura, Martha and Levi. Mrs. Brighton mar- ried John Bullock, a native of Indiana. He had one child, Celestas, who lives in. Grant county, Kansas. Her third husband was Isaac Gordon. They had six children, namely: Carl, George, Viola, Daisy, two died in in- fancy.
The subject's father was David Ockerman, a native of the state of New York. He came west and worked on a plantation in Kentucky and later conducted a wood yard near Cincinnati on General Harrison's farm. Then he went to Jackson county, Indiana, and cleared some wild land in 1854. Then he came to Richland township, Greene county, Indiana, where he got two hundred and sixty-two acres of land, partly improved, where he lived until his death in 1880. He married Almira Coppin, of Cincinnati, Ohio. His wife died in 1888. They were members of the Christian church. He was a Democrat. They had eleven children, namely: William, living in . Washington, Indiana, was captain in the Thirty-ninth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, during the Civil war; Clarinda, who married John Awalt, living in Iowa ; Eveline, deceased, married Ephraim Brighton; Andrew, deceased ; John, a farmer at Morrisville, Missouri ; Fran- cis, deceased; George, living at Seymour, Indiana (he was in the Indiana cavalry) ; Joseph R., the subject ; Char- lotte, who married Ezra Chaney, now dead ; she is living in Richland township, Greene county, Indiana; David, a farmer, lives in the same neighborhood of the former; Ella, who first married Edward Stewart, later marrying John Miley, of Pike county, Indiana.
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Robert Coppin, the subject's grandfather, was a na- tive of England. He was five years old when he came to New York. He went to Cincinnati and was among the early settlers there, later to Bartholomew county, In- diana; then to Greene county, Indiana, in 1859. He was a cooper by trade. He had five children, Joseph, William, Almira, Charlotte and Henry.
ORIS BUCHNER RICHESON.
On January 4, 1845, there was born in Hendricks county, Indiana, Oris B. Richeson, who is now living in retirement at Bloomfield, Indiana. His parents, Daniel and Tersia (Perigo) Richeson, were both natives of the Keystone state (Pennsylvania). They were among that sturdy class of pioneers who left their homes and friends in the East to build up a new commonwealth in the Mid- dle West, coming to Indiana at an early day, being still young themselves.
Daniel Richeson settled first in Hendricks county, but later removed to Greene county, making his home upon a farm in Jackson township, where he lived until 1868. He then removed to Kansas, where he passed to rest in November, 1876. His wife returned to Greenc county and there completed her days, her decease occur- ring in 1896. Both of these people were devout mem- bers of the Christian church.
They were the parents of nine children, whose names are herewith appended in the order of their birth: Wil-
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liam L., now a farmer, living in Illinois; Margaret died October 17, 1849; Mary E., wife of William Holms, liv- ing now in Kansas; Ann, called to rest in 1868; Miles, an ex-Union soldier, having served through the war as first lieutenant of Company F of the Forty-third Regiment of the Indiana Volunteer Infantry, answered to the last call in 1876, while living in Kansas. Next follows Oris, our subject. Then we have John L., who is now farming in Missouri. Robert H. departed this life while residing in Kansas, March 8, 1881; Sarah died in East St. Louis, May 2, 1883.
Oris was brought up on his father's farm and re- ceived his education in the primitive schools of the time. The walk to school covered a distance of four or five miles, but this was not considered a hardship in those days. At noons the boys would obtain additional exer- cise by cutting firewood from the surrounding forest to be used in the big fireplace in warming the log building. The usual puncheon floors and seats were not considered hardsome, and the birch twigs on the wall behind the master's desk were features of the interior decorations that often arrested the attention of the laggard student and stimulated him to renewed efforts along the path of knowledge.
On March 4, 1864, Mr. Richeson enlisted in Com- pany F of the Forty-third Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and continued in the service until the close of the war. After being mustered in at Indianapolis he was sent on duty to New Orleans and made this trip by means of the railroad and river boats. Later he was transferred to Little Rock, Arkansas, where he served on guard duty
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until ordered to Camp Nelson, Kentucky. Here he had charge of the fort guards, and in the spring of 1865 was ordered back to Indianapolis, and was made guard over the prisoners at Camp Morton. Here he remained until discharged from the service, and then went to farming in Greene county. He continued on his farm in Jackson township until he removed to his present residence on the outskirts of Bloomfield.
On March 1, 1866, Mr. Richeson was married to Martha E. Dugger, daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Floyd) Dugger, the former a native of Greene county and the latter of Tennessee. They were devout people, members of the Christian church, and finished their days in this locality, the mother having survived until 1903. Nine children were born to them, consisting of Sarah, widow of J. L. Oliphant, of Bloomfield; Hetta Jane. widow of Amber Meredith, of Sullivan county ; Francis M., an ex-Union soldier, now residing in Bloomfield; Martha E., wife of our subject; Nancy E., wife of John T. Lamb, of Bloomfield; Susan E. and Mary E. twins, both deceased ; William R., of Sullivan county, and Thad- deus, now residing in Bloomfield. The survivors of the large family are valued additions to the worthy and in- dustrious citizenship of our state.
Mr. and Mrs. Richeson have followed in the foot- steps of their ancestors in surrounding themselves with a generous family, consisting also of nine children. The first three of these, Viola Ann, Albert T. and Robert H., are now deceased. Cora, wife of Charles Luster, lives in Taylor township; Abbie N., wife of Harry Custer, has her home in Illinois; Myrtle, wife of Franklin Levett,
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lives in Bloomfield; Bogard married in Sullivan county ; Gambet, who married Maud McKee, also lives in Bloom- field; Logan D. married Rose Sparks and is now making his home at Bloomfield.
Mr. and Mrs. Richeson are members of the Chris- tian church. Mr. Richeson is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and affiliates with the Republican party, and he daily demonstrates his integrity to the country through an upright and honest method of dealing with his fellow man.
DAVID NEWTON MILLER.
David Newton Miller's ancestors were of the hardy pioneer stock that played their part in the "winning of the West." His grandfather, John Miller, was a native of Lebanon county, Pennsylvania, who married Elinore Imboden, of his own community, and came to Greene county, Indiana, where they got partially improved land in Richland township. The old log houses on the place when they went there soon gave way to better buildings. He farmed and run a blacksmith shop there. He was active in church work and helped build, in 1856, the building of the Church of God in that vicinity, in which he was an elder and trustee. He married a second time, his last wife being Mrs. Elizabeth Hubble, who died April 15, 1902. His first wife died in 1865. He died in 1901. He had the following children by his first wife: Henry, John, David, Mariah, Catherine, Caroline, Leah and Mary.
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The subject's father, John Miller, was born in Leb- anon county, Pennsylvania. He lived in Wayne county, Ohio, and then came with his parents to Greene county, Indiana. He married Sarah R. Miller, of the former county. She was the daughter of Rev. Samuel and Han- nah ( Phillips) Miller, both natives of Pennsylvania, who came to Greene county about 1851 and located in High- land township, where he preached in the Church of God and farmed, also taught school. He was very useful and was highly esteemed throughout the county. He died in 1872, followed to the silent land by his wife in 1877. They had eight children, namely : Susanna, who married Henry Miller, of Richland township; Sarah R., the sub- ject's mother; Eliza, who married Floyd Allen; Anna, who married Oscar Allen; Mary, who married William Buzzard; Margaret, who married C. P. Molden ; Eliza- beth, who married Lafe Jessup; William H., who first married Ellen Knox, then married Ann Adams. They live on the old home place in Highland township.
John Miller, the subject's father, stayed at home and helped clear the farm and married soon after they set- tled in Greene county, buying land in Richland town- ship, which he cleared, later trading this farm for four hundred and forty-five acres in the same community. By hard work he made the farm pay well and was able to buy property in Bloomfield. He served as commissioner of Greene county, Indiana, and was active as a Repub- lican. He was a trustee and an elder in the Church of God. He and his wife raised nine children, having thir- teen in all, namely : David N., the subject of this sketch ; William P., a farmer near Greencastle, Indiana; Han-
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nah E., who married Henry Switz, is now dead; Tabitha, deceased, who married Jacob Gray ; Mary Bell, who mar- ried John B. Lebitt, of Lyons, Indiana; Susan, who mar- ried Grant Edwards, of Richland township; Daisy, de- ceased, who was the wife of William Ritter; Ethel, who married Allen Workman, of Richland township; Oliver, who is a merchant and real estate dealer in Worthington, Indiana.
David N. Miller was born November 23, 1854, in Richland township. He went to the home schools and lived at home until he married Florence R. Maddox, Feb- ruary 28, 1878. She is a native of Monroe county, Indi- ana, and the daughter of Thomas and Louisa G. Mad- dox, who came to Greene county in 1870 and located in Richland township, where he died. His widow survives. The subject and wife have five children, namely: Nel- lie V., who married Ivan Stalcup. She died June 27, 1902. They had three children, George Dewey, Nona and Grace; Charles V. is a farmer in Fair Play town- ship; Edna V. married on March 4, 1900, William Huff- man. They have two children, Mary and Ilene. Frank is single and lives with the subject of this sketch. Rex is also at home. After marrying Mr. Miller bought a farm in Richland township, later buying where he now lives. It is his grandfather Miller's place and comprises one hundred and eighty-three acres, one hundred and twenty-five of which are in cultivation. He raises all kinds of grains and much stock. He was proprietor of a store at Elmore, Indiana, for one year. He is an active Republican in politics. He is an elder and trustee in the Church of God and his friends are many throughout the county where he lives.
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SAMUEL COLEMAN CRAVENS, M. D.
The distinction accorded the late Dr. Samuel Cole- man Cravens, of Bloomfield, of being for many years the leading physician and surgeon of Greene county and one of the most eminent men of his profession in the state of Indiana will not be controverted by those familiar with his life and character. Throughout his own and adjoin- ing counties his name and fame were household words. Achieving success in his chosen calling such as few at- tain, and holding worthy prestige among the leaders throughout the medical world, it was not by his profes- sion alone that he made his influence felt among his fellow men and won such a large and warm place in the affec- tion and esteem of those with whom he mingled. Possess- ing a large heart and broad and generous impulses, he was distinctively a lover of his kind, and during the course of a long and eminently useful career his chief de- light was in ministering to the relief of others, alleviating their suffering by professional skill and relieving their distress by contributions from the ample material means with which his efforts had been so richly blessed. He was a true philanthropist, in the strict sense of the term, one of nature's noblemen, whom to know was to esteem and honor, and it is with a sense of his high standing in his chosen field of endeavor and his sterling attributes of manhood and citizenship that this tribute to his worth is herewith presented.
Dr. Samuel Coleman Cravens was born January 3, 1839, in Jefferson county, Indiana, the son of John C. and Nancy (Minneaugh) Cravens, who were natives of
Sbbravens
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Pennsylvania and Virginia, respectively, and of Irish and English ancestry, respectively. In such schools as his native county afforded the doctor received his preliminary educational discipline, after which he turned his attention to teaching. He taught for some time in the public schools of Daviess county and in 1861 came to the county of Greene, where he was similarly employed for portions of several years, devoting his vacations and other spare time to the study of medicine, for which he early manifested a decided taste, his preceptor being Dr. J. N. Conley, under whose direction he continued until entering Rush Medical College, Chicago, in 1863.
After one year in that institution Dr. Cravens began the practice of his profession with his preceptor, but feel- ing the need of more thorough preparation for his life work, he subsequently returned to Rush Medical College, where he was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine in the year 1866, later receiving the same de- gree from Long Island Hospital, New York, where he finished his course the following year. From 1870 until 1881 the doctor bullt up an extensive and lucrative prac- tice at Bloomfield and throughout Greene county and in the meantime took high rank among the leading men of his profession in this part of the state, his skill as a physi- cian and surgeon causing demands for his services at places remote from the field to which his ability and ener- gies were especially employed. With a laudable ambi- tion to still further increase his professional knowledge and efficiency, he took a post-graduate course at Rush in 1880, from which time until his death, about thirteen years later, he easily stood at the head of his profession in
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Greene county, besides, as already indicated, achieving marked prestige among the scholarly and successful med- ical men of his native state.
In the midst of his arduous professional duties Dr. Cravens found time to devote to various other lines of activity and to study and promote the intellectual inter- ests and moral advancement of the city of his residence. A friend of education, he ever manifested a lively regard for the public schools, and with sturdy faith and profound convictions in matters religious, he did much to foster and strengthen the church organizations of the city, espe- cially the Presbyterian church, which held his creed, and to the upbuilding of which he contributed liberally of his means and influence. Few men of Greene county have been held in as high esteem as Dr. Cravens, and none have exceeded him in strenuous efforts for the public good or in liberal contributions to laudable enterprises of a benevolent and philanthropic character, to say nothing of the many noble benefactions and private charities, which, emanating from a heart in close sympathy with the poor and distressed, were given without stint, and in such manner as to produce the greatest amount of good. Financially he was successful beyond the majority in his calling and might easily have been a wealthy man had the promptings of his generous nature been less ardent, or his eyes and ears closed to human suffering. Profession- ally he belonged to the various local and state medical associations, in all of which his opinions carried weight and influence, and during the administration of President Cleveland he was a member of the pension board, this being the only public position he ever held.
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