USA > Indiana > Greene County > Biographical memoirs of Greene County, Ind. : with reminiscences of pioneer days, Volume II > Part 20
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733
GREENE COUNTY, INDIANA.
JOHN DAVID ALLEN.
This subject is a progressive farmer, veterinarian and minister of the Gospel, living in Greene county, where he was born October 25, 1841. His father was Hugh Allen and his mother Sarah (Owen) Allen, who enjoyed the distinction of being the first female white child born in Greene county. This was on October 23, 1822. She died August 19, 1887. Hugh Allen was born in Tazewell county, Virginia, September 1, 1818. He came to Indiana from his native state in 1836 and died in 1856. Grandfather Owen was a native of North Car- olina, who brought his family to Greene county, Indiana, about 1814, where he remained until his death in 1852, having devoted his life to farming. The Allen family had no less distinguished ancestors than Ethan Allen, of Revolutionary days. Grandfather Allen died on the farm now owned by the subject of this sketch.
John D. Allen attended subscription schools in his native county when a boy. Being the only son, and his father having died when John was only fifteen years old, he was compelled to take charge of the home place, therefore he had but little opportunity to get an educa- tion. His mother remained a widow until she died in 1887. The subject has spent his entire life on the farm where he was born. This farm of two hundred and eight acres was jointly purchased by the subject's father and grandfather. The subject's farm is only a part of the original, which he assisted to clear and improve. The farm now owned by John D. Allen and wife consists of eighty acres, which is regarded by his neighbors' as be-
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ing the best producing eighty acres of land in Highland township. It would sell for the sum of ten thousand dollars any time. It is second bottom land. Mr. Allen's method of keeping the land in good productive condition is by following crops of corn with clover and oats-in short, he is a believer in diversified farming. The land is now producing fully as much per acre as when it was first cleared. He feeds nearly all the corn raised on the place to hogs, which he prepares for market. He raises pure-blood Durham cattle and Norman as well as regis- tered traveling horses. At the present time ( 1908) he has a Norman filly three years old for which he can get two hundred and, fifty dollars.
The house where the subject now lives, which was built in 1868, is in first-class repair from cellar to gar- ret. The farm is enclosed and cross-fenced with woven and barbed wire fences. All outbuildings are convenient and in good repair.
Mr. Allen was married in 1866 to Margaret M. Dixon. (A record of the Dixon family is to be found elsewhere in this volume.) Nine children have been born to the subject and wife, namely: Ethan, who lives in the state of Washington, is a graduate of the Worthing- ton high school, possessing a three years' license as teacher when he left Greene county for Kansas in 1888. where he attended a normal school, receiving there a three years' license as teacher. He spent the year of 1889 in California in the larger cities. Then he went by sea from San Francisco to Seattle, Washington, where he spent a few months. He secured a three years' license to teach in that state. He taught there for thirty-three
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GREENE COUNTY, INDIANA.
months out of a period of three years. He is a suc- cessful hunter of large game, being a high-grade marks- man, having brought down ducks, bears and mountain lions. He was superintendent of schools in San Juan coun- ty, Washington, for seven years. He is now farming pre- paratory to opening up a large fruit farm. He has a wife and two children. Sarah Elizabeth, the second child of Mr. and Mrs. John D. Allen, is the wife of Winfield Van Devanter, a farmer of Greene county, to whom six children have been born; Miranda is the wife of Henry D. Watta, living in Oklahoma; the fourth child of the subject died in infancy; John E., living in the state of Washington, is married and has one child; Hugh, living in Owen county, Indiana, is married and has one child ; Margaret D., the wife of Henry Smith, of Worthington. has one child; Josephine is living at home; Clayon is training for a locomotive engineer.
Mr. and Mrs. Allen are active members of the Christian church. Mr. Allen has been an ordained min- ister of the Christian church for thirteen years. His wife has always taken an active part in church affairs. Mr. Allen is a member of the Grand Army of the Re- public, having had a short war record. He was a mem- ber of Company H, Seventy-first Regiment, Indiana Vol- unteer Infantry, which was changed to the Sixth Indiana Cavalry. He was in the battle at Richmond, Kentucky. in 1862. He was honorably discharged May 1, 1863, on account of an injury received while in line of duty. He has never recovered from the injury. The subject is a Republican in political belief and was township road supervisor for twenty-six years.
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WILLIAM DRAYTON RITTER.
James Ritter. the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a native of North Carolina and a true type of the sterling pioneer. He married Violet Burcham, of that state, and they raised twelve children, Elizabeth, Violet, Polly. Moses, John, Isabelle, Sallie, Nancy, Laza- rus, James and Lewis. Moses Ritter, father of the sub- ject, married Achsah O'Neil, of Newberry district, South Carolina. They lived in Surrey county, North Carolina. But tiring of his native community, Moses Ritter came to Washington county, Indiana, on foot and alone in 1817, where he remained four years, and in 1821 moved to Greene county, Indiana, where he procured a large tract of land. Being a carpenter and wagon maker, he fol- lowed his trade together with farming. He was given various commissions in the state by Governor Jennings. and was a justice of the peace. In politics he was a Whig and later a Republican. Coming to Bloomfield in 1827 he entered government land, south of the city, and also worked at his trade. He was a Quaker and later a Methodist. He died in 1870, and his wife died in 1873. Moses Ritter's mother came to Indiana in 1823 and lived with her son Lewis, seventeen miles from Indianapolis, until her death. Lazarus lived and died in Greene county, Indiana : John lived in the same county, where he owned and conducted a mill, later going to Texas; Lewis lives near Indianapolis : Elizabeth lived and died in the north- ern part of Greene county ; Isabella lived and died in Jas- per county, Illinois; Rosanna lived and died in Hendricks county, Illinois; Sallie lived in the same county; Violet
WILLIAM DRAYTON RITTER.
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GREENE COUNTY, INDIANA.
lived and died in Greene county ; Nancy and Polly lived and died in Morgan county, Indiana. Five children were born to Moses Ritter and wife, most of whom are still living. They are: Mary, who was the wife of William Mason ; she lived and died in Richland township, Greene county, Indiana; Annie, wife of George Grismore, lives in Bloomfield, Indiana; William D., subject; Eliza, the wife of William W. Gainey, retired merchant and post- master of Bloomfield; Emma is the widow of Henry Hill, who was an attorney of Bloomfield, where she still lives.
William Drayton Ritter was born at Newberry, Greene county, Indiana, April 7, 1827, and although his early schooling was meagre, he gained a good education by close application, and taught many successful schools. He finally attended Depauw University, where he made a splendid record for two years, beginning in 1846. Since then he has held school offices for eleven years and con- tinued teaching. He lived with his parents until 1859. In October of that year he married Caroline Tebbutt, widow of Robert Tebbutt and a daughter of James and Ellen (Fricker) Sawford, of Hampton, Middle- sex county, England, where they lived and died. He was a blacksmith and for some time postmaster. Mrs. Saw- ford's brother, Henry, came to America in 1870, and was killed by accident in Chicago, Illinois, in 1903. Mrs. Ritter's first husband came to America in 1856, living in Bloomfield. Mr. Sawford died in 1857. In 1859 she and William Drayton Ritter were married, and they have six children .. They are, Claude, who for the past fourteen years has been employed in Chicago, in the postoffice, and he is also interested in the street railway
47
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business. He married Louise Rickart and they have two children, Ruth and Drayton ; their second son, Grant, also lives in Chicago, being engaged with a manufactur- ing concern. He married Anna Johnson and they have two children, Herbert and Bernice. Ella lives at home ; she has been a teacher and dress maker. Emma married Adam Bormuth, a tailor of Bloomfield, Indiana. They have two children, Gerald and Dale. Annie is the wife of David Soames, of Terre Haute, Indiana. They have one son, Merrell. William married Catherine Axe. He is in the dairy and farming business. They have three children, Morris, Mary and Paul.
William Drayton Ritter lived in Bloomfield for six years after he married. In 1865 he moved to where he now lives and bought two hundred acres of land, which was only partly improved, but he made many changes on it and soon had a fine farm as a result of his industry and sound business principles. He has many head of fine Jersey cattle and other blooded stock in which he takes a great interest, especially his horses, being a splendid judge of all kinds of live stock. He has always been in- terested in the development of the county. He was a Whig and is now a Republican. He is an active worker in the Methodist church, of which he has long been a member. He has been retired from active business for several years. The subject is known as a historical writer and was named after the Drayton family of South Carolina. Mr. Ritter has always stood high in the esteem of the people of Greene county, owing to the fact that he has maintained a high standard of integrity and has been faithful in the performance of his duty in every respect. both in private and public life.
739
GREENE COUNTY, INDIANA.
CHARLES FRANKLIN JESSUP.
One of the striking facts in connection with the growth of the American republic is the harmonious blend- ing of people of various nationalities and rank in life into one united whole, forming a product which is at once unique and unlike any to be found among the na- tions of the earth. Mingled with this civilization is a generous measure of those who were not only people of rank, but of high ideals and broad culture.
Mere reference to the class that preceded our Revo- lutionary heroes is sufficient to illustrate the view here advanced. Among others that left their foreign abodes to make their home in America were the ancestors of Frank Jessup, the subject of our biography, who was born March 11, 1855, in this county. His father, Verlin Jessup, was a native of North Carolina, and was a de- scendant from an ancestry whose patriotism and merit are a just basis of pride on the part of all his descendants.
The genealogy may be traced to Queen Anne, when Judge Jessup handed down many decisions that are extant.
In America we find the records before 1641 showing a John Jessup, as a landed proprietor at Westfield, Con- necticut. He, with others, founded the town of Stan- ford, and later moved to Southampton, New York.
Before 1649 Edward Jessup was settled in New England. Another of the family was Joseph Jessup, an intimate friend of William Penn. It was on the farm of another of these worthy ancestors, Thomas Jessup by name, who settled in North Carolina in 1722, that the
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BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
great battle of Guilford Court House, with General Greene in command of the patriots and Lord Cornwallis directing the movements of the British. Jonathan Jes- sup, son of Thomas Jessup, was at that time ten years old and assisted in taking care of the wounded that were brought to the Jessup home.
Ebenezer Jessup was a sergeant in the American army of the Revolution, and left his wife and family in the care of an old slave, "Governor Tom," who, when danger threatened, loaded the family into the wagon and with the ox team retired until all signs of hostility had disappeared.
General Scott said of Sidney Jessup, a veteran of the War of 1812, "He deserves everything that conspic- nous skill and gallantry can win from a grateful coun- try." In the Seminole war he was regarded as a super- human being by the Indians, and was called the "Double- Eyed" on account of the glasses he wore.
Caleb Jessup, grandfather of our subject, was born in North Carolina, November 20, 1778, and came to In- diana in 1818, ending his days in Greene county, Sep- tember 26, 1843. He was three times married and be- came the father of seventeen children. His first wife was Nancy Clark, and after her death her sister. Mary Clark, became Mr. Jessup's second wife and was the mother of Verlin Jessup, father of our subject.
Verlin was born in North Carolina, June 25, 1814. and died at Worthington, Indiana, October 24. 1878. He was married on June 24, 1841, to Charlotte Owen, of Point Conner, Greene county. She was born Jan- uary 6, 1823, and died February 18, 1899. She was the mother of eleven children, all of whom reached maturity.
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GREENE COUNTY, INDIANA.
Our subject, Frank, received his early education in the public schools of Greene county, and remained at home on the farm until twenty-two years of age. Then he went to farming for himself, and later purchased the tract upon which his present residence stands. He has put on high-grade improvements and has succeeded in obtaining first-class yields from the land. He now gets a better quality of crops and a greater yield to the acre than in former years, thus demonstrating his skill as a student of agriculture. On January 26, 1878, he was married to Alice Wilson, daughter of John Wilson, and to this union were born three children-Burton, Novem- ber 5, 1879; Maude B., April 17, 1881 ; Josie, March 5, 1882. Burton saw active service in the Spanish-Ameri- can war. Mr. Jessup is a member of the Order of Red Men and affiliates with the Methodist Episcopal church. Many of the members of the same family, consisting of brothers, uncles and cousins, took conspicuous part in the Civil war. This family, as is thus shown, deserves a grateful remembrance on the part of posterity on ac- count of unselfishness and effective devotion to the na- tion's cause.
FRANK WILSON.
One of the substantial farmers of Greene county, In- diana is this subject, living one and one-half miles east of Worthington, and who was born in Ross county, Ohio, January 10, 1860, the son of John and Eliza (Ridg-
.
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BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
way) Wilson, the former a native of Guernsey county, Ohio, where he was born August 31, 1824. He did not start to school until he was fourteen years old, then he attended subscription schools for a few months during the winter of two or three years. He worked on the old farm until he was twenty-one years old, when he began learning the carpenter's trade, which he followed for eight or ten years. He bought a water saw-mill and after running that for some time, purchased a steam saw- mill in 1860 at Farmersville, Ohio, which he continued to operate until 1884. In 1870 he moved his mill to Greene county, Indiana. The following year he bought the first steam threshing machine to be operated in this . county and operated that in connection with his saw-mill up to 1891, when he bought the farm which his son, Frank Wilson, the subject of this sketch, now owns, and which he managed for some time. About thirty-five acres of this land has been cleared since he purchased the farm, which consists of one hundred and four and one- half acres. It lies about two miles east of Worthington. is in first-class repair and in good productive condition, and a splendid residence has been built on it by Frank Wilson. Most of the fencing is smooth wire. He is dis- carding the barbed wire as fast as possible. Mr. Wilson turned his farm over to his son, our subject, in 1886, and moved to Worthington. He purchased a corn grinder and the power to run it, and furnished the power for op- erating a planing mill, which he run for two years. He sold this property and bought another threshing machine. which he continued to run until 1902, when he turned it over to Frank, his son, subject of this sketch, and re-
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GREENE COUNTY, INDIAN.A.
tired. He lived in Worthington until he died in 1905 at the age of eighty-two years. He and his wife had three children, two of whom are now living, one dying in infancy. Both John Wilson and his wife were mem- bers of the Methodist church. The latter is still living in her seventy-fourth year ( 1908). Grandfather Wilson entered land in Guernsey county, Ohio, spending most of his life there, and in Noble county, Ohio, where he died at the age of ninety-six years. His life and that of his wife were remarkable in that they both lived to such an extreme old age and both died when ninety-six.
The youngest brother of the mother of the subject was a soldier in an Ohio cavalry regiment in the Civil war, having enlisted when only fifteen years old. All of the family are now dead but one.
Frank Wilson, the subject of this sketch, attended school first in Ohio, in six different districts, all but one in the country. One term was spent at Chillicothe, Ohio. After this he came to Indiana and attended school in six different districts, all public schools. During this time he was working with his father while not in school, com- mencing work in the saw-mill when ten years old and continued in the saw-mill, threshing and farming busi- ness with his father as long as the latter was in active life. since which time he has managed his own farm without any outside business.
Frank Wilson was first married in 1886 to Sarah Cowen, a native of Greene county, and the daughter of Ephraim and Eliza (Tuttle) Cowen, of Kentucky. Two children have been born to this union. Harry died in in- fancy and Grace died when five years of age. The sub-
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BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
ject's first wife died in 1897. In 1898 Mr. Wilson mar- ried Laura Dyer, a native of Owen county, Indiana. She is the daughter of Albert and Sarah (Snyder) Dyer. One child has been born to this union, Blanche. Mr. Dyer, father of Mrs. Wilson, was a soldier in the Civil war in the Seventy-first Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He remained in service until the war closed. His fa- ther and his only brother were also in the war.
Mr. Wilson is a member of the Masonic fraternity, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Rebecca En- campment and Red Men. He is a Democrat. Both he and his wife are church members, the former of the Church of God and the latter of the Baptist church. They are both considered excellent neighbors and have a host of friends throughout their neighborhood.
HENRY C. HILL.
Among the men closely connected with the growing interests of Greene county was the one whose name heads this review. He was born December 13, 1834, and was the son of John and Jane (Johnson) Hill, the former a native of North Carolina and the latter of Virginia. They came to Greene county in quite an early day and began life as farmers.
John Hill was a man that inspired confidence and was prevailed upon at one time to take the office of county treasurer, which appointment he accepted and filled with singular success and satisfaction. He passed to rest in 1872, and his wife was called hence in 1874.
b. b. Hill
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GREENE COUNTY, INDIANA.
They were devout Christian people, and were loyal supporters of the Baptist church. Their family consist- ed of the following children : Peter, of Sanborn, Knox county, Indiana ; Henry C., our subject ; Lewis A., of Cal- ifornia ; John Wesley, of Sanborn, Knox county; John- son, of Greene county, and Sallie, deceased.
Henry C. was reared on the farm, receiving the usual common school education, and later attended the private school at New Lebanon, Indiana. He afterwards (1859) graduated from the law department of the State University at Bloomington. Following this he came to Bloomfield and entered into partnership with Mr. Wil- liam Mack. When Mr. Mack later removed to Terre Haute Mr. Hill continued the business for himself and practiced until his death, May 4, 1865.
He not only gained success professionally, but took an active part in promoting the best interests of the com- munity of which he formed a part. He was a member of the Methodist church, being a steward in the local or- ganization at the time of his death, and an interested worker in the Sunday school. He was also school ex- aminer for Greene county for one term.
On June 25. 1861, he was married to Emma Rit- ter, who is still living in Bloomfield, where she was born and raised and has always resided.
JOHN OSCAR CALVERT.
John Oscar Calvert, a farmer of Highland town- ship, was born in Kentucky, January 5. 1837, where he attended subscription schools when a boy and worked on
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BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
his father's farm until he enlisted in the army, April 9. 1865, and was mustered out August 4th the same year, after which he returned to farming. He married in 1855 Levina Bryan, daughter of John L. and Mary A. (Tur- ley) Bryan, natives of Kentucky. Levina was born in Greene county, Indiana, September 15, 1837. Mr. and Mrs. Calvert had the following children: Alice, who died in infancy : Philander, who also died young : Clara I., deceased, wife of Jerry Bender: Robert L., a farmer in Highland township, to whom were born two children ; Allie, wife of Wyatt Miller, a farmer in Highland town- ship, to whom one child has been born; Tilman A., a farmer in Highland township, who has four children : Mary J., deceased : John B .. a farmer in Highland town- ship, to whom was born two children : Della, wife of Wil- liam Crites, a farmer in Greene county, to whom has been born five children.
The parents of the subject were Robert W. and Celia A. ( Russell) Calvert, the latter a native of Mary- land. The Calvert family was originally from Virginia. Grandfather Calvert went from that state to Kentucky and worked as a tailor, dying there when seventy years old and leaving four sons and three daughters, all living to maturity. He was a Baptist and a Democrat.
Robert W. Calvert was born in Culpeper county, Virginia, and attended subscription schools in Kentucky. He was a farmer : also owned and managed a saw-mill, which was operated by waterpower. He left Kentucky in 1842 and settled in Highland township, Greene coun- ty. Indiana, where he bought a farm consisting of one hundred acres, which was added to from time to time
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GREENE COUNTY, INDIANA.
until he had six hundred acres, partly improved. Later he had most of it cleared. When he first bought the place the buildings on it were log and the fences were rail. He married Celia A. Russell and they raised a family of four boys and three girls, all but one boy and one girl reaching maturity. The subject of this sketch was the second in order of birth. Robert W. Calvert died in 1857 and his wife died a few years later. The former was a Democrat. The latter was a member of the Methodist church.
Two brothers, Constantine Calvert and William O. Calvert, were also soldiers in the Civil war. Mr. and Mrs. Calvert are members of the Baptist church. He is a Democrat and served five years as trustee of Highland township. Robert L., his son, is now a trustee of High- land township.
JOHN WHITE CISNEY.
At this point we enter a brief record concerning an- other of the representative farmers of Greene county. Interest is attached to the resume of his career from the fact that he is a pioneer of the section where he now lives, having maintained his residence in this county for a combined period of nearly half a century, which fact implies that he located here as one of the advance guard of progress and material advancement.
John W. Cisney was born in Guernsey county, Ohio, November 19, 1841, the son of Stephen and Elizabeth (Gibbons) Cisney. His grandfather Gibbons was a na-
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tive of Pennsylvania, who moved to Ohio, working as a farmer, a blacksmith and later as a manufacturer of wagons. He was a poor boy and was "bound out." Later, borrowing money from his parents, he entered eighty acres of land, riding on horseback fifty miles to pay the money back ; but his mother reloaned the money to him and he forthwith entered another eighty, and finally became well fixed financially, having had some of the sterling traits of his Pennsylvania ancestors, who were of Dutch descent, being known as people of thrift. Both grandfather Gibbons and his wife were active mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal church. They were the parents of five children. The former died in Iowa, where he was on a visit.
The subject's father, Stephen Cisney, was born Sep- temiber II, 1811, and remained in Ohio until 1855. where he attended the common schools, which were of a very primitive sort in his day. Having learned the tinner's trade, he followed this while he remained in his native state. Coming to Indiana in 1855 he settled on one hun- dred and sixty acres of partly improved land in Greene county, for which he paid one thousand dollars. He cleared and improved this farm and lived there in com- fort the rest of his life, dying in August, 1867, at the age of fifty-six years, leaving a widow and six children, the mother dying in 1877, at sixty years of age. Both she and her husband were known to be active members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
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