USA > Indiana > Greene County > Biographical memoirs of Greene County, Ind. : with reminiscences of pioneer days, Volume II > Part 4
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According to well authenticated genealogical his-
F. C. Oven
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tory, this founder of the American branch of the Owen family came to this country as a soldier in the army of Lord Cornwallis during the war of the Revolution, but shortly after his arrival deserted his command, refusing to fight a struggling people, the justice of whose cause appealed to him with peculiar and irresistible force. This act precluding the possibility of his return to England, he subsequently settled in Surry county, North Carolina, where he married, secured a tract of land, and in due time became a well-to-do planter and public-spirited citizen whose influence tended greatly to the material develop- ment and moral advancement of the community in which he located. Beyond the fact of his having established a home in North Carolina and reared a family, but little is known of the life of this soldier and patriot save that, as already indicated, he was a man of high character and sterling worth. Among his immediate descendants was a son by the name of John H., a native of the Old North state, who married Susan Elrod and in 1817 migrated to Indiana and settled near the town of Paoli, thence, after a brief residence, moved to Greene county, of which he was an early pioneer. Entering land, John Owens cleared and developed a form which continued in possession of the family until within a comparatively recent date, being owned at this time by the heirs of Simon Bland, who mar- ried the widow of Armstead Owen and purchased the place of the latter's children.
The family of John H. and Susan Owen consisted of four children, one of whom, a son by the name of John G., whose birth occurred on the eighth day of Au- gust, 1818, was the first white child born within the
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present limits of Greene county. John G. Owens was reared amid the rugged scenes of the pioneer period and at the age of twenty-seven married his cousin, Margaret Mock, locating on the farm now owned by his son, John D., where he lived a number of years in the peaceful pur- suit of agriculture. He was a man of mark in the com- munity, served as township trustee and county commis- sioner and was long an active and influential member of the Baptist church. The following are the names of the children born to this estimable couple: Roxanna, whose birth occurred in 1846, married George W. Lovall and died a few years ago; Emily, born in the year 1849, de- parted this life in childhood; Susan E., born in 1855, also deceased, was the wife of Cyrus Knox: John D., born in 1858, is a farmer living on the family homestead ; Stephen, born in 1861, is deceased: Thomas C., of this review, who first saw the light of day in the year 1852: and Margaret, who was born in 1864 and died in 1908.
Thomas C. Owen was reared on the home farm and received a practical education in the public schools. At the proper age he began life for himself as a tiller of the soil, which, in connection with the raising of live stock, occupied his attention until 1890. when he moved to Bloomfield to take charge of the auditor's office, to which he had been elected in the fall of that year. At the expiration of his official term he changed his residence to Worthington and became identified with the Commer- cial Bank of that place, in which capacity he continued during the ensuing three years, meeting with encouraging success the meantime and earning honorable repute as an able financier and capable business man. Mr. Owen
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severed his connection with the bank in 1897 and since that time has given his attention to his large agricultural and live stock interests, owning a fine farm of three hun- dred and eighty acres of fertile and highly improved land, the greater part under cultivation and admirably adapted to the purposes to which it is devoted. He still resides in Worthington, where he owns a beautiful, mod- ern home, but personally manages the farm, which, un- der his direction, has become one of the best and most de- sirable country places in Greene county. As farmer, offi- cial and business man, Mr. Owen's career has ever been characterized by mature judgment, wisely directed en- ergies and kindly regard for the rights and privileges of others and with spotless integrity and an honored name, he occupies today a conspicuous and influential position among his fellow citizens, enjoying in full measure the confidence of all with whom he has relations, business and otherwise.
Mr. Owen was married November 10, 1875, to Miss Josephine Stalcup, daughter of George B. and Mary (Buckner) Stalcup, of Greene county, and has a family of five children, namely: Maude, a teacher in the Worth- ington high school, born in 1877; Mary, wife of Carl G. Smith, born in 1880; Corwin S., born in the year 1885; Grace, born in 1886, and John G., who was born in 1889.
Mr. Owen is one of the influential Republicans of Greene county and a leader in his party. The Presbyte- ian church represents his religious creed, to which denom- ination his family also belong.
Mrs. Owen's people, like those of her husband, were among the earliest white settlers of Greene county. Isaac
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Staleup moved to this part of the state from North Car- olina in 1817. His wife bore him twenty-two children, among the number being a son, Isaac, who was born in 1786 in North Carolina, came to Greene county two years after his father's arrival and died here in 1872. George B. Stalcup, oldest son of James, also a native of North Carolina, became a resident of Greene county in 1834. He married Mary Buckner, whose birth occurred in the Old North state in 1813, and who accompanied her parents to Greene county when a child. She became the mother of fourteen children, of whom Mrs. T. C. Owen and a sister, Mary C. Bucher, are the only survivors.
ISRAEL WILKIE.
In the person of the subject of this review, Israel Wilkie, we have another striking example of a noble patriot and commendable citizen. He was born in Greene county, May 12, 1840, and was the son of William and Sally ( Buckner) Wilkie, both natives of North Caro- lina, who came in an early day to Greene county with their parents, who were among the first of the early settlers.
Israel's grandfather married Keziah Pickard and they established a claim to government land. Later they removed to Iowa, where Mr. Wilkie died. The family consisted of William, father of our subject : George W., Mary, Nancy, Edward and John.
William Buckner, maternal grandfather of our sub-
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ject, also took up government land in Greene county and rounded out his days there as a farmer, seven children being born to him, consisting of Harlin, Anderson, Johnf William, Sally, Jennie and Polly.
William Wilkie, a successful farmer, was a member of the Old School Baptist church. He was the father of ten children, as follows: Charles, a farmer, died in 1907; Zeno was a soldier and died after the war; Emily, wife of P. Monk, both deceased ; Mary Jane, wife of Benjamin Turley, deceased; Israel, our subject; Keziah, wife of Isaac Workman, of Bloomfield, Indiana : Louisa, married to John Workman, died at Bloomfield; John, deceased. was a member of Company E, Fifty-ninth Regular Indi- ana Volunteer Infantry; William, a farmer in Greene county ; Margaret, deceased, was first married to Andrew Cowen and after his decease to John Jensen, of Fair Play township.
Israel Wilkie had but a meager education, since the opportunities of the times were quite limited. He re- mained at home on the farm until twenty-one years of age. On November 23, 1865, he was married to Jo- hanna Workman, daughter of John and Lucy (Shields) Workman, of Richland township, Greene county. Her parents came from Virginia and settled on a farm near Bloomfield.
Israel and wife are the parents of one daughter, Nora Josephine, who became the wife of David F. Bland, a retired farmer and stock dealer of Bloomfield. She is the mother of three children, Nina Ava, John A. and Rachael Gaynell.
On August 10, 1862, Israel Wilkie enlisted in Com-
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pany H. Seventy-first Indiana Volunteer Infantry, at Tu- lip. Indiana, and soon saw active service in Kentucky, being taken prisoner twice. An attack of typhoid fever confined him to his bed for nine weeks, but in December of 1862 he returned to his regiment and was put on guard duty. He fell into the hands of Morgan, the raider. but was later paroled and then sent back to Indianapolis. He returned to camp in 1863 and was mustered into the cav- alry. He was in the engagements at Richmond and Mel- rose Hill, Kentucky, and while doing scout duty was wounded while near Hazel Green. a bullet from the guerilla rifles having passed through his right jaw. tear- ing out seven teeth and passing out through the neck. No hospital being nearer than fifty miles, he was taken to a private house ten miles from camp and later re- moved to MIt. Sterling. After a short time he was sent home on a thirty days' furlough and then came to the City Hospital at Indianapolis.
Later he was transferred to the veteran reserve corps. continuing in that capacity until the close of the war, being mustered out June 30, 1865. He reached home on July 4th, receiving a most hearty greeting of welcome upon his arrival. But the exposures and hard- ships incident to the war left in their trail the wreck- ages of health undermined, and Mr. Wilkie found him- self a victim of heart disease and rheumatism, the rav- ages of which deprived him of active work for many years. In the course of time he took up farming. Iocat- ing in Highland township. Greene county. continuing there until November 6. 1892, at which time he retired. He arranged for a small tract of land at Bloomfield and here he has since made his home.
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Mr. Wilkie has an abiding faith in the efficacy of the Gospel for the betterment of mankind, and has cast his religious influence with the people of the Baptist faith. He has been an active promoter also of the Grand Army of the Republic, having personally assisted in widening the field of its activity and usefulness. Thus through his wide experiences, altruistic motives and per- sonal integrity he has won a most worthy place in the hearts of a host of warm and appreciative friends.
JOSEPH DOUGLASS LEAVITT.
Joseph Douglass Leavitt was born December 3, 1845, at Flemingsburg, Fleming county, Kentucky. His father was Christopher Leavitt, of Onondaga county, New York. His mother, who came from the same county, was Eliza Douglass. After their marriage they sought the then known West, coming first to Ohio and later to Ken- tucky, where, under a patent right to build cisterns, he plied his business until 1855. when he moved to Jefferson county, Indiana, where he engaged in farming until 1860, and then came to Beech Creek township, Greene county, Indiana, where he remained for eight years. In 1868 he moved to Bloomfield, where he was appointed postmaster by President U. S. Grant.
Christopher Leavitt was a Presbyterian religiously and a Republican in politics. His father was the Rev. Joseph Leavitt, of New York state. He married a sec- ond time to Fannie Rose, who still survives him and is
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living in Arkansas. Christopher Leavitt had five chil- dren by his first wife. George B., now living in Georgia, was a merchant in Bloomfield. He fought in the Civil war, joining Company B. Eighty-second Indiana Volun- teer Infantry; Ellen, who died in 1872: Joseph D., the subject of our sketch : Oliver C., a dairyman, now living in North Indianapolis, and Carrie, who married Martin T. Templeton. By his second wife there were born to him three children-Jennie, who became the wife of Jo- seph Cattern, a druggist in Van Buren, Arkansas: Julia L., who went as a missionary to Osaka, Japan, in 1881. under the auspices of the Cumberland Presbyterians, and after several years returned, and then went back to Tho- keoda, Japan, under the management of the Presbyterian church ; Laura, who married Rev. W. Dyer, of the Meth- odist Episcopal church, and now lives in Arkansas.
Joseph D .. the subject of this sketch, had a limited education, obtained in the old-fashioned log school house. On November 15. 1864, he enlisted in the Civil war at Terre Haute, in Company B. Fifty-seventh Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and was first sent to Pulaski, Ten- nessee. At Spring Hill. November 29, 1864. he encoun- tered his first skirmish, and on the day following at Franklin was in his first hard-fought battle. his regiment losing forty-five per cent. in this engagement. On De- cember 15 and 16. 1864. he was in the two days' battle at Nashville, and followed Hood on to Huntsville, Ala- bama. Here the army went into winter quarters until March, 1865. Marching orders were once more given, and Knoxville and Greensburg were on their route. At the latter place they heard of Lee's surrender, but our
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subject's regiment was hustled down to Texas as a tem- porary guard during the closing scenes of the war. He was discharged at Victoria, Texas, in November, 1865, after a short but vigorous campaign. While receiving no wounds, he had several close calls, having had holes shot through his clothes. In June, 1865, he was appointed and detailed as an orderly under General Elliott and Gen- eral Conrad, and served with distinction in this capacity until the close of the war.
On his return home he labored as a hand on a farm and in saw-mills until 1868. He then went into a plan- ing mill at Bloomfield, where he labored until 1891, when he purchased a farm of twenty-three acres just north of Bloomfield, where he now lives.
Mr. Leavitt was married September 10, 1871, to Julia Wilkie, daughter of Charles and Elizabeth Wilkie. His wife's ancestors came from North Carolina in an early day, settling in Highland township. The mother died in 1892, the father living until February, 1907. They had six children : Julia, the wife of our subject ; Jenetta, wife of C. Covert, of Tulsa, Oklahoma ; Leroy, living north of Bloomfield and engaged in farming, and is bailiff; Edmond, who died at the age of twenty-one years; Ida, wife of Daniel B. Long, marshal of Bloom- field; Sadie, who married Rush Harris, of Linton, In- diana.
To Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Leavitt were born four children: Frank L., who married Myrtle Richardson and lives in North Bloomfield, to whom were born three sons, Albert Linley, Cobert and Joseph A .; Gertrude, wife of Joseph A. Fawcett, living in Bloomfield, and who
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has one daughter, Julia : Nina, wife of Charles Laughlin, a rural mail carrier, who is a baker by trade, and during the Spanish war was in the heavy artillery service. They have one son, Luverne; Herbert D., the youngest child, is a first-year student in the high school.
Mr. Leavitt has been a member of the Presbyterian church since 1869, and has been an elder in that church since 1880. He has also served as Sunday school super- intendent for a number of years. Mrs. Leavitt is also a member of the Presbyterian church, having united there- with at the age of twelve years.
JOHN D. COMBS.
John D. Combs, one of the most progressive farm- ers of Richland township, Greene county. Indiana, owes his success to a life of hard work. Having been born in Center township, this county. December 28, 1862, he was educated in the home schools and taught school for several years, living at home until he was twenty-three years old. In the fall of 1883 he located on the place where he now lives in Richland township. Greene county, a part of his farm now consisting of two hundred and ten acres, one hundred and sixty of which are in culti- vation, was owned by his father. He has greatly im- proved the place until it is one of the best in the neigh- borhood, raising mostly corn and hay, and he keeps a large number of fine cattle. hogs and horses. Formerly working a great deal at the carpenter's trade, he has built
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a fine house on his farm. Although a stanch Democrat, he has never aspired to office. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias Lodge at Newark, Indiana ; also a member of the Masonic Lodge at Bloomfield. He mar- ried Amanda Dailey, a native of Ohio, on June 22, 1883. They had two children, namely: Bonny D. and Ray- mond L., both living at home.
The subject is the son of John J. and Elizabeth (Stone) Combs, the former a native of North Carolina and the latter of Indiana. He came west with his par- ents when six years of age to Monroe county, Indiana. They had seven children, namely: Brantley, deceased, a teacher and a graduate of Valparaiso (Indiana). Univer- sity, also a stock raiser and farmer; Pleasant, who mar- ried Irene Oliphant, was a farmer and stock raiser, now cashier in a bank at Farmersburg, Indiana ; Eckley, who married Arminte Hunt, is a farmer on the old home- stead in Center township; Amanda, deceased, was the wife of Dr. O. F. Gray, of Spencer, Indiana ; Sadie is the wife of James Shanner, of Page, Holt county, Nebraska ; Meck married Joseph Evans, of Beech Creek township. Greene county. John J. Combs was educated in the common schools and taught several terms of school; also in early life he was a carpenter. He was a justice of the peace for twelve years and also practiced law and did a great deal of public work. He owned a large tract of land at one time in Center township, a fine farmi of one thousand and fifty-six acres. He was well known and highly esteemed, and died February 14. 1891, after reaching the age of fifty-nine years. His widow survives and is living with a daughter in Beech Creek township. in the old neighborhood.
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Charles Combs was the subject's grandfather, who got a farm of unimproved land in Monroe county, In- (liana, where he lived and died. To him and his wife were born the following children: Aaron, Bird, John, Pleasant and Silas. His maternal grandfather was Enoch Stone, a native of Virginia. Coming to Indiana, he set- tled in Greene county, conducting a tavern, store, grist mill and a farm where they both died. Following are the names of their children: John, a farmer and car- penter in Center township: Elijah, a carpenter and farm- er : Joseph, a teacher, farmer and stock raiser ; Elizabeth. mother of the subject of this sketch: Martha married George Bird, of Center township: Malisse married Frank East. an attorney, of Lincoln, Nebraska: Minerva mar- ried Sam Rutledge, of Center township; Sarah married Simon White and resides in Nebraska.
The subject's wife is the daughter of Robert and Maranda (Kane) Dailey, who came from Ohio to Greene county, Indiana, and settled in Highland township in 1865, where they bought a good farm and are both still living there. They had ten children, four of whom are dead. Those living are: Thursa, widow of Frank Ham- ilton : Winfield, living in Center township, Greene county ; Augusta, who married John Tribby, of Jasonville, In- diana : William, a farmer in Richland township, Greene county ; Jennie, who married Henry Hamilton, of Worth- ington, Indiana.
JOHN WESLEY GRAY, M. D.
Eminent in his profession and of high standing as a citizen, the name of this distinguished physician and sur-
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geon is a familiar sound in nearly every household in Bloomfield, where he has practiced the healing art for forty consecutive years, which, with the seven years of active service prior to his removal to the city, makes him, in point of continuous residence, the oldest as well as the best known and most successful medical man in Greene county. Few physicians in the state have had as long and honorable record and none enjoys more distinctive prestige among their professional brethren or stand high- er in the esteem and confidence of the public.
Dr. John Wesley Gray is a native of Lawrence coun- ty, Indiana, born in the town of Springville on the 28th day of November, 1839. His grandfather, John Gray, a North Carolinian by birth and one of the earliest set- tlers of Lawrence county, was a typical pioneer of the period in which he lived, coming to Indiana Territory while the feet of the red men still pressed the soil, cut a road through the wilderness from Blue River to the Springville settlement and in due time became one of the successful farmers and leading citizens of that locality. He lived to be over a hundred years old and departed this life at Springville in 1852. His father, also John Gray, was a Revolutionary soldier and lost his life in the battle at Cowpens. The family was of Scotch origin, and of the nine sons of the Revolutionary patriot, eight set- tled in the Southern states, the Doctor's grandfather be- ing the only one that came to Indiana.
Ephraim Gray, the doctor's father, was a native of Lawrence county, a farmer by occupation, and a man of sterling worth. Phœbe Scott, who became his wife, hailed from the same part of the state and bore her hus-
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band a family of nine children, of whom five are living, namely : Dr. John W., of this review ; Mrs. Mary Short, of Tampa, Florida ; Simeon Gray, M. D., who practices his profession at Worthington, Indiana; Jacob, a retired farmer residing in Linton; Ephraim, whose present whereabouts are unknown, and Mrs. Maggie Moffett, whose home is in the city of Vincennes. The father of these children spent the greater part of his life in his native county, but about five or six years prior to his death, which occurred at the age of fifty, removed to Kansas, where he spent the remainder of his days. Mrs. Gray survived her husband a number of years, departing this life at the home of her daughter in Bloomfield at the ripe old age of seventy-six.
Dr. Gray received his preliminary education in the public schools and later attended the State University. where he prosecuted his studies with the object in view of preparing himself for a professional career. Having decided to make the medical profession his life work, he first attended the University of Michigan, the training thus received being afterwards supplemented by a full course in the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia. from which institution he was graduated with the degree of M. D. in 1864. Actuated by a laudable ambition still further to increase his professional knowledge. he sub- sequently entered Bellevue Medical College, New York. and after completing the prescribed course in 1867 re- sumed the practice which he had previously commenced in Greene county, and in due time built up the large and lucrative patronage which. during the past forty-seven years, has in no wise diminished, winning, as already in-
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dicated, wide repute as a skillful physician and surgeon and a conspicuous place among the distinguished medical men of the state.
Dr. Gray is an influential member of the Greene County Medical Society, which he has served in various official capacities and in the deliberations of which he has long taken a leading part. He is also actively identified with the State, District, National and Wabash Valley Medical Societies, being president of the District Society at this time. He has frequently read carefully prepared papers before these various organizations, his thorough and critical knowledge, wide experience and uniform suc- cess commanding the respect of his associates and giving weight and influence to all of his utterances.
While making his profession the prime considera- tion, Dr. Gray has not been unmindful of his indebted- ness to the public, and it has ever been his aim to dis- charge the duties of citizenship in a manner befitting a loyal American and true son of the Hoosier state. From 1885 to 1888 he was in the United States Indian service, medical department, aside from which he has held no public office, never having aspired to honors at the hands of his fellow citizens, although a Democrat in politics and active in the support of his party. Fraternally he is a Royal Arch Mason, and religiously subscribes to the Methodist faith, holding at this time the office of trustee of the church at Bloomfield, to which he belongs.
Dr. Gray was married in the year of 1860 to Eliz- abeth Gainey, daughter of John P. Gainey, of Springville, Indiana, nine children resulting from the union, seven of whom are living, namely: John P., a farmer in Greene
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county : E. E., a practicing physician ; Edmund B., em- ployed by the Standard Oil Company in Pennsylvania ; Mrs. Kittie Brooks resides in Kansas : Carrie, who lives with her father and manages the home: William and Fred, both under the parental roof, the former an agri- culturist, the latter a harness maker. Mrs. Gray, an ex- emplary wife and mother and a woman of high ideals and beautiful Christian character, died in the month of December, 1903. Dr. Gray has been United States pen- sion examiner for this county during the past three years.
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