USA > Indiana > Greene County > Biographical memoirs of Greene County, Ind. : with reminiscences of pioneer days, Volume III > Part 29
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29
Disposing of his mercantile establishment in 1879 Mr. Routt spent the ensuing five years in efforts to re- gain his former robust health, but the seeds of disease being freely implanted rendered unavailing all that med- ical skill and kind attention could do. On the 27th day
1306
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
of February, 1884, the life of this noble man, and useful, high-minded citizen went out amid the sorrowing of an entire community in which for so many years his influ- ence was felt for good, and throughout which, esteemed by many as a close personal friend and by all as a liberal benefactor.
Mr. Routt was married, January 27. 1848, to Esther J. Ferguson, who was born September 15, 1824, in Shel- byville, Kentucky, the daughter of William and Susan (Graves) Ferguson. The father of Mrs. Routt was for many years a successful farmer in southern Indiana in connection with which he also did quite an extensive trade in boating grain, pork, etc., on White and other rivers, shipping to New Orleans and intermediate points. It was while thus engaged that he fell victim to the cholera plague, dying at the town of Peola, on the Ohio river, after a brief but virulent attack of the dreaded disease, Mrs. Routt being about ten years old at the time of his demise. Mr. Ferguson was a man of considerable local prominence, and much more than ordinarily successful in the matter of worldly wealth, having accumulated a handsome estate, besides becoming one of the Whig lead- ers of the county in which he lived. He and his good wife were pious and consistent members of the Baptist church and spared no pains to implant the principles of religion and morality in the minds of their children, all of whom profited by the wholesome instruction they re- ceived.
The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Routt was blessed with four children, the oldest of whom, Mary .. is the widow of the late Dr. S. C. Cravens, of Bloomfield, and
1307
GREENE COUNTY, INDIANA.
the mother of Dr. William R. Cravens, one of the lead- ing physicians and surgeons of Greene county, whose sketch appears elsewhere in these pages. Fannie, the second daughter, married James S. Clark and at the present time lives in Louisville, Kentucky; George W., and Lulu, the two younger, being deceased.
In his political faith Mr. Routt was a Republican, and while ever interested in the leading issues of the times he never sought office or public honors, though amply qualified by nature and experience to fill any position within the gift of his fellow men. He held for some time the office of county commissioner, besides positions of minor importance, but his tastes and inclination always led him to the more quiet walks of life, where he found his chief source of delight as well as his greatest sphere of usefulness. When young he became identified with the Presbyterian church and his life was ever in harmony with the faith he professed, being true to the high ideal as laid down in the Holy Scriptures and exemplified in all of his relations with his fellow men. In matters of business he was eminently successful, though exceedingly prudent, and all of his dealings were characterized by the strict adherence to honor and integrity that mark the man who scorns to commit the smallest indiscretion and who always endeavors to keep his good name above re- proach. In the accumulation of the handsome estate which he left, consisting of three farms containing four hundred and sixty acres and a beautiful home of twelve acres in the suburbs of Bloomfield, he was ably assisted by his good wife, who ever proved a true helpmeet, no small part of the comfortable competence attributable to
1308
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
her judicious counsel, well balanced judgment and hearty co-operation in all the laudable undertakings in which his success was so signal and pronounced. For many years he was an active and influential member of the Masonic fraternity, having been one of the most regular attend- ants of the lodge to which he belonged and sincerely de- voted to the beautiful and sublime principles of the order. which he held secondary only to his church relations. He was honored from time to time with official positions in the Bloomfield lodge, directed its affairs ably and satis- factorily and his death left a vacancy among the brother- hood in this city which is still considered in the nature of a personal loss. To epitomize the life and character of Mr .- Routt wthin the limits assigned to a work of the character of this volume is impossible. The stalwart proportions of his living presence were realized in the void made by his lamented death. But less than most men intellectually and morally his equal does he need the voice of eulogy or fulsome panegyrie for his works do follow him. He was an honored citizen of Bloomfield and Greene county, doing much in a quiet way to con- serve their respective interests, and among his fellow men no one has been more intrinsically esteemed or hon- ored. He held a prominent place in both public and pri- vate life and probably the community had never been called upon to mourn a more respected, highly-regarded citizen. A devoted husband, a loving father, a public- spirited, patriotic man of affairs, keen and sagacious in business, he is eminently entitled to especial mention among the representative citizens of his day and genera- tion, and in his death there was removed one, who, in a
1309
GREENE COUNTY. INDIAN.L.
large measure, had honored his race and who will long be remembered for the good accomplished through his efforts.
Since the death of her husband Mrs. Routt has re- sided in Bloomfield, where, in a beautiful cottage, sur- rounded by everything that can minister to her ease and comfort, in the midst of warm-hearted friends who are devoted to her interests and who seem to vie with each other in doing her honor, she is calmly passing the even- ing of a long and well-spent life in a retrospect of which there is little or nothing to regret, and the future of which is bright and promising, with an undying hope. With her sweet face and crown of silvery hair, her beautiful character and many amiable qualities of mind and heart, she forms a pleasing picture of happy, contented old age. which her many friends hope may long continue to bless and make better all with whom she comes in contact.
JOHN WILLIAM NEWSOM.
To such men as Mr. Newsom we turn with particu- lar satisfaction as offering in their life histories justifica- tion for works of this nature. Not that their lives have been such as to gain them wide reputation or the admir- ing plaudits of men, but that they have been true to every relation of life, have shown such attributes of char- acter as entitle them to the regard of all, and have been useful in their sphere of action.
John W. Newsom was born at Point Commerce,
1310
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
Greene county, Indiana, August 23, 1851, the son of Andrew J. and Amy ( Clark) Newsom, natives of North Carolina, Grandfather James Byron Newsom having moved from that state to this about 1831, when the sub- ject's father, Andrew J., was about seven years old, set- tling in Greene county. Here he engaged in farming. rearing thirteen children, he and his wife, Celia, both dying here. James Byron Newsom was of Scotch descent. Grandfather Thomas Clark was also from North Caro- lina and settled in Greene county, Indiana, where he entered government land on which he spent the remainder of his life, dying at the age of seventy-three, having been survived a few years by his widow. Ira and Thomas Clark and Alvis Newsom, uncles of the subject, were soldiers in the Union army-Ira in the Thirteenth In- diana Battery, Thomas in the Fifty-ninth Regiment and Alvis in the Ninety-seventh Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, having all been honorably discharged.
The subject's father. Andrew J. Newsom attended school only three months and did not learn to read and write until after he married, when, however, he became an expert in figures. After spending his youth on his father's farm in Greene county, he bought a mill which he conducted until he purchased a farm in his native county and carried on general farming and stock raising, at one time being a large land owner, but met with finan- cial reverses in 1873, handling pork. He died in 1884 at the age of sixty years, his widow dying several years later at the age of seventy-four years. They were both church members and they raised eight children, six of whom are now living.
13II
GREENE COUNTY, INDIANA.
John W. Newsom, the subject of this sketch, worked on the old home place and attended school until 1872. when he purchased a farm in his native county, which he successfully managed until he purchased his present fine farm in 1879. It was all timbered land at that time and consisted of four hundred acres, three hundred of which he has cleared and put in cultivation, the land now producing more per acre than when he first cleared it, as a result of his skillful management. The subject's prin- cipal work is in raising stock cattle and preparing hogs for the market. He formerly fed cattle, but now sells them off the grass, feeding all the corn he raises to his hogs, most of the farm being now in blue grass. At one time the subject owned seven hundred acres of land, but he disposed of three hundred acres some time ago. He has always shown rare judgment in agriculture and stock raising, but being particularly fortunate in handling cattle and hogs.
Mr. Newsom was united in marriage to Josephine Reynolds in 1875, his wife being the daughter of Isom and Margaret Reynolds, her father having been a native of North Carolina and her mother of Kentucky. They came to Owen county, Indiana, where they farmed and spent their lives and where the subject's wife was born.
Seven children have been born to the subject and wife, as follows: Buera Blanche died at the age of twenty-two years; Everett E. is married and living on a farm of his own in Greene county ; Stella B. is the wife of Lewis Moore, of Greene county, and the mother of two children ; John Q. is married and living in Chicago, where he is employed as salesman, and he has one child :
1312
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
Elexis Wayne is doing clerical work in Indianapolis ; Reed McKinley is living at home and working on his father's farm: Elsie L. is the wife of Otis Turley and lives in Linton.
Mr. Newsom is a Republican in his political beliefs and is widely and favorably known throughout the county, enjoying the esteem and respect of a great circle of friends.
LEVI MOSS PRICE.
This venerable and honorable citizen of Greene county well deserves definite recognition in a work of the province assigned to the one in hand. The history of the county and his biography are very much one and the same thing and for much of its growth and prosperity it is in- debted to him. He has been one of its enterprising labor- ers and wise counselors. A western man in the broad sense of the term he has realized the needs of the people and with clear brain and strong hand has supplied the demand generously and unsparingly. Few men of the county are as widely and favorably known, none stand higher in the esteem of his acquaintances; for to him is accorded unqualified confidence and regard in the local- ity which has so long been honored by his citizenship.
Levi M. Price is one of the oldest of Greene county's native sons, over seventy-two years having elapsed since he first saw the light of day in the humble cabin home which his father established in the wilderness of what is now Stockton township. His parents, Aquilla and Hul-
1313
GREENE COUNTY, INDIANA
(lah ( Wright) Price, natives, respectively. of Kentucky and Tennessee, were among the first settlers to locate within the present bounds of Greene county, and Levi M .. whose birth occurred on April 16th of the year 1836. was reared amid the rugged duties and stern vicissitudes of a comparatively new and undeveloped country. He is the eighth in a family of nine children, the majority of whom grew to maturity, their names being as follows: Josiah, Eusebia, Wesley, John, Cornelius, Fenlon, Benjamin and Sarah. The Prices have been representative in the west- ern part of Greene county for more than three quarters of a century, but at the present time ( 1908) Levi M. and his brother Benjamin are the only survivors of the once large and happy circle that gathered around the domestic hearthstone, the parents and all but two of the cleceased children being buried in the family cemetery at Linton. Benjamin Price, who was born in this county seventy-four years ago, has been actively and prominently identified with the varied interests of the community, be- ing a man of high standing and wide influence, in whom the characteristics of his family have been reproduced to a marked degree.
The sons assisted their father in clearing up and improving a large and valuable farm, which, in the course of time, passed from their possession into the hands of strangers, by whom it is now held. Young Levi con- tributed his share to the removal of the forest growth and the cultivation of the soil, and grew up to the full stature of well developed manhood with a true conception of the dignity of labor and while yet a mere boy began laying his plans for the future. Such educational advantages as 83
1314
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
the county afforded were his, but at the best they were meager and limtied, being confined to a few months' at- tendance each winter at the little log school house, whose floor was composed of puncheons and split planks, the windows greased paper in lieu of glass, while a mam- moth fire-place, which occupied the greater part of one end of the building, afforded the means of making the in- terior comfortable during the bitterly cold days of winter.
For some years after settling in the new country the elder Price was obliged to haul wheat from Stockton township to Louisville, Kentucky, a distance considerably in excess of a hundred miles, where he obtained the mu- nificent sum of thirty-seven cents per bushel and deemed himself exceedingly fortunate if the price always reached that figure. The nearest market for live stock was Vin- cennes, forty miles away, and thither he and his sons drove such cattle and hogs as he had for sale, content with such prices as the buyers saw fit to offer. Every- body lived in the conventional log cabins of the period. neighbors were few and far between, but the mutual de- pendence of the settlers upon each other gave rise to a community of interests which brought about a state of friendship and good feeling never since exceeded. The labor involved in making homes under such conditions was not unequally divided between the sexes. While men built the cabins, cleared away the forests, cultivated the soil, harvested the crops, etc., the good wife and mother found her duties no less numerous and arduous. In addition to the preparing and cooking of the food, milking cows, making their own soap, etc., they washed. picked and carded the wool, spun the thread and wove
1315
GREENE COUNTY, INDIANA.
the coarse cloth of which much of their wearing apparel was made; sometimes flax was intermixed with the wool. the combination making a strong and durable fabric which stood the wear and tear of rough usage for many years.
The youth of the subject of this review, passed under such experiences as those referred to not only made a deep and lasting impression upon his mind but had much to do toward developing the spirit of self-reliance and sturdy. manly independence by which his life has ever been characterized. As already indicated, he grew to manhood strong in body and determined in his pur- poses to make the most of such opportunities as presented themselves.
In due time he turned his attention to the ancient and honorable vocation of agriculture, which he prose- cuted with such energy and well directed judgment that he finally became not only one of the leading farmers of his township, but also took high rank as an enterprising and influential citizen. When the dark cloud of war overspread the national horizon his patriotic fervor was aroused to responsive action, and in August, 1862, he enlisted in Company E, Fifty-ninth Indiana Infantry, in which he served until the close of the rebellion, first in the department of the Mississippi under General Grant and subsequently under General Sherman in the Tennes- see, Georgia and Carolina campaigns.
Mr. Price participated in all the campaigns and bat- tles in which his command was engaged, taking part in the siege and reduction of Vicksburg, the numerous ac- tions at and in the vicinity of Atlanta, after which he ac-
1316
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
companied his regiment on the celebrated march to the sea, thence up through the Carolinas and Virginia to the national capital, where he took part in the grand review which marked the terminus of the greatest struggle in the annals of warfare.
Returning home at the expiration of his term of service Mr. Price resumed farming and stock raising. and as already stated, soon forged to the front as one of the leading agriculturists of Greene county, which rep- utation he has ever since sustained. At this time he owns a beautiful estate of four hundred acres of highly improved land, the greater part underlaid with an inex- haustible quantity of the finest coal to be found in the Indiana fields, thus affording a source of wealth prac- tically incalculable. He resided on this farm until Octo- ber. 1906, when he removed to a beautiful and commo- dious modern home in Linton, since which time he has managed his agricultural and live stock interests from the latter place: he also operated a coal shaft on his farm from which were produced large quantities of the high grade coal for which this section of the state is noted, this enterprise proving remarkably successful and adding very much, materially, to the liberal income of which he is the recipient, though about 1897 he leased his mining property on royalty basis, since which time the coal mined has paid approximately $200 per acre. Of recent years his farm has been largely devoted to grazing and in addition to the breeding and raising of cattle he also buys and ships quite extensively, at this time being one of the largest and most successful stock men in this part of the state.
1317
GREENE COUNTY, INDIANA.
Mr. Price, on October 27, 1857, was united in mar- riage with Margaret J. Hail, daughter of Martin and Phoebe Hail, parents native of Virginia and Kentucky respectively, and among the early pioneers of Greene county, their arrival antedating by some years that of the Price family. Mr. and Mrs. Hail had nine children, of whom five are living at the present time, viz .: Char- lotte. Lavica Ann. Margaret Jane, Nathan Talbott and Arminda Maria, all married, three residing in Indiana. one in Illinois and one in the state of Kansas.
Mr. and Mrs. Price have one son and three daugh- ters living, and one daughter and two sons deceased. Elizabeth M. and Arlington died at the age of three years : Hattie Eusebia is the wife of Dr. E. T. Sherwood. of Linton : Jennie Lind married Peter Schlott, a resident of Linton, as is also C. T. Sherwood, the present post- master, whom Pearl, the next daughter, married : Cossia. now deceased, was the wife of Walter Wills, of Linton, and the son, I. O. Price, who is noticed at more length elsewhere in these columns.
Mr. Price has always been a stanch and uncom- promising Republican, but has never held office nor sought public preferment. He and his wife have been life-long members of the Methodist Episcopal church, be- ing deeply interested in all lines of religious and benevo- lent work. under the auspices of the local organization with which they are identified, and liberal contributors to the support of the Gospel at home and abroad.
Mr. and Mrs. Price have made it their custom to spend the winters of the past eleven or twelve years in Florida enjoying a well-earned respite from the worries
1318
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
of home life and the vigors of northern winters. For more than fifty years they have traveled the pathway of life hand in hand in that congeniality of temperament so essential to happy married life.
Their splendid home in Linton is the mecca of hospitality and congeniality. After a lifetime spent amid the scenes of new country and its development. in close contact with hard and vigorous labors, they are now en- joying the fruits of their early industry and frugality and are rated among the wealthy people of the community. They are the friends of humanity and everybody loves them.
JOHN F. SLINKARD.
The spirit of modern business demands big men ; men who represent the highest instinct of business de- velopment ; men whose shoulders have been broadened by the weight of business responsibility; men whose minds have been mellowed by business experience.
Among the many men in southern Indiana whose executive talents and business sagacity have gained for them distinction, stands John F. Slinkard, of Bloomfield, long recognized as a leader in every movement demand- ing organization and individual initiative. A man of broad intellectual attainments, indomitable energy and the highest character, he is a man of commanding influ- ence in his community. In every position of life he typi- fies the highest citizenship. The success he has attained is the result of wisely directed energy, prudent industry
1319
GREENE COUNTY, INDIANA.
and conscientious endeavor. Progressive and public-spir- ited in all matters pertaining to the public welfare, he takes an active interest in the advancement of his county. and readily lends his time and influence to aid in the material prosperity of his community.
Mr. Slinkard was born in Cass township, Greene county, Indiana, November 16, 1849. the son of Andrew B. and Sarah (O'Neil) Slinkard, likewise natives of Greene county. His grandparents on both sides were natives of North and South Carolina, the maiden name of his grandmother being Anna Chanler. Andrew B. Slinkard, his father, was engaged in the mercantile busi- ness at Newberry for a period of fifteen years, although he spent the major part of his life on a farm. He was twice married. John F. Slinkard was born of the first union, as were two other children, of which the subject of this sketch is one and A. P. Slinkard is another. Mary A., the third child, is deceased. The farther became well-to-do before his death, and is re- membered as a good citizen and kindly neighbor. He was active in church work, having been a member of the Lutheran church. Both he and his wife died while living on the farm.
John F. Slinkard was reared on the parental farm and attended the common schools in his native commun- ity. This education was supplemented with a course in a commercial college at Vincennes, Indiana, from which institution he graduated in 1867. The next ten years was spent in his father's store at Newberry, and here he learned the rudiments of business. In the year 1878 he was elected clerk of Greene county on the Democratic
1320
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
ticket, and served a term of four years, performing los official duties with signal ability and honor to his con- stituents. He declined a nomination for a second term and returned to his farm in Cass township, where he remained until March, 1900, when he removed to Bloom- field and where he has since resided.
Mr. Slinkard, in 1900, was one of the organizers and directors of the Home Telephone Company. of which he became general manager. He was the moving spirit of this company, and much of its success was due to his sound judgment and tireless energy. In 1905 he organized the Union Jack Company, a corporation en- gaged in the manufacture and sale of a patented lifting jack which has an international sale. Mr. Slinkard is president of this company, which is on a strong financial basis and does an extensive business,
Mr. Slinkard was married to Caroline Williamson. of Washington township. Greene county, Indiana. Jan- mary 1. 1873, who bore him six children, four of whom are living. These are Oscar P. Slinkard, of Bloomfield. general manager of the Home Telephone Company : Harry K. Slinkard, of Linton, an electrician with great experience and ability : Cyrus L. Slinkard, of Bloomfield, a coal operator, and Miss Nellie M. Slinkard, also of Bloomfield. This wife died in September. 1879, and on December 9. 1903 he was married to Anna Deist, a native of Nashville, Brown county, Indiana, who is a graduate of the State Normal School of Terre Haute, and for some years before her marriage was a very successful and well known teacher in the public schools at Elwood, Indiana.
1321
GREENE COUNTY, INDIANA.
The subject's fraternal obligations are with the Elks and his religious faith is cast with the Lutheran church. of which he is a member. Mrs. Slinkard is a member of the Presbyterian church.
Mr. Slinkard is a progressive Democrat and his advice is often sought in the councils of his party. He is a loyal and enthusiastic worker, standing always for the best in public life and an avowed enemy to duplicity and dishonesty in all its forms.
JOHN A. TEMPLETON.
The stanch integrity and marked pragmatic ability of the Scotch type are almost proverbial, and these at- tributes are manifest in the character of this well known and representative citizen of Greene county, where he is numbered among the successful business men of Lin- ton, in which section of the county he has long been a superintendent of mines and an extensive property owner. Mr. Templeton was born in the famous old district of Ayershire, Scotland, June 28, 1860, the son of Robert and Mary (Alexander) Templeton, both natives of the land of Bobbie Burns. The father was a miner who came with his family to America in 1881, and after a three months' stay returned to his native heath, leaving the subject behind, who, in 1885, sent for his parents, and they established their home at Cordonia, Clay county, afterwards moving to Harmony. where the subject's father was killed in Watson's No. I shaft, February 10.
1322
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
1886. The mother returned to Scotland the same year and joined her husband in the land of eternal rest on December 10, 1899. They were the parents of nine chil- dren, of whom the subject was the second in the order of birth. One brother and one sister live in America, Robert being weighman at the mine in which the subject is superintendent, and the sister, Mrs. Nesbitt, resides in New York City. Three brothers and one sister are living in the old country.
John A. Templeton applied himself assiduously to his studies while attending school in his native country and received a very serviceable and practical education, considering the time he was in school, having begun min- ing when scarcely ten years old, which profession he has made his life work, mastering all its details until he is perhaps one of the best informed and thoroughly expe- rienced mine superintendents in the county, spending the past twenty-six years in this line of work, having been in his present position, superintendent of the Coal Bluff Mining Company, for the past twelve years, which is cer- tainly a criterion that he is a man of indispensable value to that concern, his employers all this time having been the J. Smith-Talley Company, of Terre Haute. As super- intendent of his company's holdings, Mr. Templeton has under his jurisdiction about five hundred men, whom he handles with the greatest satisfaction to all concerned. He has been very successful in his life work, now own- ing considerable stock in the Templeton or Ferin mines. He is also superintendent for the Wabash mine at West Terre Haute : also owns stock in the Linton Rolling Mill. Ten years ago he built a large and handsome dwelling in
1323
GREENE COUNTY, INDIANA.
Linton, where he has resided for the past eighteen years. He is a thoroughly practical, painstaking and honest busi- ness man, having the sagacity to do the right thing at the right time and wrench success out of apparent impossi- bility.
Our subject was united in marriage with Siloam J. Penna, daughter of Philip and Elizabeth Penna, and a sister of P. P. Penna, secretary and treasurer of the Bitu- minous Coal Operators' Association of Indiana. Mrs. Templeton was born in Cornwall, England and came to America with her parents in 1882. Mr. and Mrs. Tem- pleton have a family of seven children, named as fol- lows: Robert A., Charles N., Cecil Edwin, Mary Eliza- beth, Ethel Lillian, Philip H. and Flora Isabel.
Fraternally Mr. Templeton is a member of the Lin- ton lodge, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. In political views he is a pronounced Prohibitionist and has always been a radical advocate of the principles of tem- perance and sobriety. It is such characteristics as these which he has manifested throughout his active business career, social and home life that has won the esteem and admiration of all who have come to know Mr. Temple- ton, and he and his family are among the most favorably known citizens of Linton.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.