USA > Indiana > Wells County > Biographical memoirs of Wells County, Indiana : embracing a comprehensive compendium of local biography, memoirs of representative men and women of the county whose works of merit have made their names imperishable, and special articles by Hugh Dougherty [et al.] > Part 18
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street, Bluffton, where she has a beautiful home.
Mrs. Gehrett is a lady of culture and re- finement and is held in high esteem by the entire population of Harrison township as well as Bluffton.
R. A. KILANDER.
R. A. Kilander was born in Jackson township, Wells county, Indiana, and is a son of Perry and Elizabeth (Martin) Kilander, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of the state of Ohio. His parents were married in Ohio, where. they settled and engaged in farming for a few years. In a very early day they removed to Jackson township, Wells county, Indiana, where the wife, Mary E., died March 14, 1901, and where the father is yet living on the old home place, at the venerable age of eighty years. Perry Kilander is the father of twelve children, ten of whom are living : Margaret, Maria, Elizabeth, deceased, Cal- vin, deceased, William, Mottrey, Olive, R. A., the subject, Rebecca, Jacob, Emma and John.
Mr. Kilander attended the district schools in Jackson township, Wells county, until the age of eighteen years. He then went to school in Bluffton, Indiana, for two terms, one in the normal and the other in the city schools, while under the super- intendency of Colonel McCleary. He then secured license to teach, but never had much desire to enter that profession. He re- mained at home with his parents until he was twenty-one years old, at which time he was married, on March 25, 1882, to Emily McIntyre, who was born in West Virginia,
R. A, KILANDER VIEW.
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April 12, 1862. She was the daughter of William and Mary (Fearnow) McIntyre, both natives of Virginia, who later settled in Jackson township, Wells county, Indiana, on the farm where the subject now lives, remaining there until they died. William McIntyre's death occurred on December 2, 1900, and that of his wife December II, 1890. William was the father of four chil- dren, two of whom are yet alive: Zelpha, born September 17, 1839, died May 26, 1842; Mary, born December II, 1840, died May 28, 1842; Richard, born August 27, 1842, and Emily, born April 12, 1862. After his marriage R. A. Kilander moved onto his father-in-law's farm and, farming on shares, he remained there until the death of both of his wife's parents, since which time he has had full control of the old Mc- Intyre farm. Mr. Kilander, together with his father-in-law, had previously purchased a one-half interest in the old McIntyre farm, which up to that time belonged to Harrison McIntyre, a brother of William. Some time previous to his death William had disposed of his interest in the farm to his children, reserving a life-time lease. Mr. Kilander and wife now have three hundred and sixty and a half acres of fine land, one hundred and twenty acres of which is in Chester township. He has twenty-four producing oil wells on his farms and others are being drilled.
In March, 1900, Mr. Kilander complet- ed the finest house in Wells county and one of the finest in the state, which cost about eight thousand dollars, the work on which he himself superintended. He had plans drawn, but no architect oversaw the build- ing. He had the finishing lumber which was used in the construction of the building
laid away seasoning for twelve years. It is finished in different costly woods, showing the natural grain, and the house is heated and lighted by gas. It is constructed of brick and stone, with mansard roof. The furnishings of the house are costly and in elegant taste and the home is a credit to the state. Mr. Kilander is a breeder of both Chester White and Poland China hogs and a general class of cattle. He prefers, however, the shorthorn breed when he can obtain them. He farms, or at least oversees the farming of, the greater part of his lands.
Mr. Kilander is the father of eight chil- dren, seven of whom are living : Charles E., born December 20, 1882, married Nannie E. Alexander and lives at home with his father ; Mary A., born March 9, 1884; William, born February 24, 1886; Carrie A., born September 10. 1889, died September 9, 1890; Lulu M., born June 30, 1891 ; Lela A., born April 23, 1895 ; Robb M., born Sep- tember 21, 1899, and Catherine L., born August 23, 1901. The subject has always been a Democrat, although he was not reared in that political faith. He has been trustee of Jackson township for five years, the three preceding terms having been held by Re- publicans who had been elected by both Re- publicans and Populists. This fact proves his personal popularity among his neighbors. The subject is also superintendent of sev- enteen miles of gravel roads in this county, the appointment to which position is made by the county commissioners.
R. A. Kilander is a representative of the energetic, go-ahead class of farmers of the state, a product of the farm life and the admirable system of our country and city schools. He is a citizen in whom any lo- cality might take pride. The capacity and
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aptitude for public affairs which he possesses and his own personal popularity, with the confidence of his neighbors and party friends in his integrity and executive ability, has al- ready enabled him to serve them in a public capacity, and the same conditions will no doubt in the future call him to other and higher trusts in the public service.
Mr. and Mrs. Kilander have an old fashioned spinning wheel and reel of "ye old days" of their mothers. They have some of the old family records of the McIntyre and Fearnow families which dates to 1815 and 1817, these beautiful records being exe- cuted with pen and ink. The great-grand- father of Mrs. Kilander has left his record also from Scotch-Irish ancestry, and dates back to 1754 and 1773. Mrs. Kilander has some of her grandmother's dishes, over a century old, and also double combs.
W. A. DONALDSON.
Among all branches of history, there is none more instructive or more eagerly sought after than that which truthfully de- lineates the rise and progress of the state, county or community in which the reader lives. There is pleasure as well as profit to every intelligent mind in contemplating the struggles of the early settlers in every portion of the great west ; how they encoun- tered and successfully overcame every species of trial, hardship and danger to which men in that stirring period were sub- jected. £ But these things strike us more forcibly and fill our minds with more imme- diate interest when confined to our own lo- cality where we can yet occasionally meet
with some of the silver haired actors in those early scenes, men whose bravery in encountering the manifold troubles and mis- fortunes incident to frontier times has borne an important part towards making Indiana what it now is and whose acts, in connection with hundreds of others in the first settling of our vast domain, have com- pelled the world to acknowledge the Amer- icans an invincible people. The early set- tlement of Wells county was marked by as much heroism and daring as characterized the frontier history of any other section of the state. Her pioneers were men of invin- cible courage, undaunted by no obstacle, and the results of their self-sacrificing labors are today seen in the wonderful achievements they wrought in laying the foundation upon which their successors have builded wisely and well. The great majority of these vet- terans of the early day long since finished their work and are now sleeping the peace- ful sleep which knows no waking on this side of the mystic stream of death. To meet and converse with the few living rep- resentatives of the pioneer period, those who came here as children or as very young men and women and are now fast approach- ing or have passed the allotted three score years and ten, stooped with age, venerable patriarchs mostly and their white haired companions and helpmeets, is one of the peculiar experiences and pleasing tasks which falls to the lot of the writers of these pages. To gather up the raveled and now mostly broken threads of the strange but simple stories of their lives, to catch the fleeting facts of their histories and hand them on to posterity, might well be the am- bitious labor of any man's life.
Among the oldest surviving pioneers of
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Wells county is the well known gentleman whose name furnishes the heading of this review. W. A. Donaldson came to Indiana nearly fifty-three years ago and from that time to the present his life has been very closely identified with the growth and devel- opment of Wells county. In his veins is mingled the blood of a long line of sturdy Scotch and Irish ancestors and he appears to have inherited many of the sterling char- acteristics which have made those nationali- ties noted among the people of the earth. From the most reliable information obtain- able the first representatives of the Donald- son family to visit the United States was one Isaac Donaldson, who left the shores of his native Scotland early in the colonial per- iod and found a home in eastern Pennsyl- vania when that part of the Keystone state was a wilderness infested by wild beasts and the scarcely less wild but more bloodthirsty red men. He became the father of three daughters and one son, the latter, James by name, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch. Not long after locating in Penn- sylvania the French and Indian war broke out and in the long and arduous struggle which followed the elder Donaldson took a brave and active part. Joining a company of volunteers he participated in a number of bloody battles in one of which he lost his life, leaving his children to the care of his widow by whom they were reared to years of maturity.
James Donaldson grew to manhood in Pennsylvania and there married Martha Reynolds, whose people were also among the early pioneers of that state. To this mar- riage were born sons and daughters, among whom was Robert Donaldson, the father of the subject. The family achieved much
more than local prominence in that several of the brothers of Robert became noted in different walks of life, among their descend- ants being a minister of distinction, success- ful architects, well-to-do farmers and others who rose to leading public positions in their own and other states. Robert Donaldson was reared to agricultural pursuits, but early in life turned his attention to carpen- try and in due time became a skillful and successful builder. In 1850 he left West- moreland county, Pennsylvania, where he had previously lived, and came to Wells county. Indiana, settling in the deep woods of what is now the township of Lancaster, where he purchased land and began the task of its improvement. After erecting a small cabin of the most primitive pattern he addressed himself to the formidable work of clearing a farm, which in due sea- son was accomplished. After the death of his first wife he moved to Ossian, where some time later he took a second companion, and after her death he migrated to Iowa, of which state he was also a pioneer. Mr. Donaldson spent the remainder of his days in Iowa, dying there a number of years ago respected by all who knew him. Reared according to the strict teaching of the Pres- byterian church, he became a prominent member of that body and lived a life consis- tent with his religious profession. Gifted in music, he devoted his splendid talents to the worship of God and wherever he lived invariably led the singing in the churches with which he worshipped. He was a good man, just in all his dealings, kept himself unspotted from the world, and left to his descendants a character above reproach and a reputation for probity and godliness which they prize as a priceless heritage.
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Robert Donaldson was the father of five children, namely: James, Catherine, Wil- liam A., Jane and Samuel.
William A. Donaldson, of this review, was a son by his father's first wife, who bore the maiden name of Ann Felton. He was born in Westmoreland county, Penn- sylvania, on the 19th of August, 1833, and at the age of sixteen accompanied his par- ents to Indiana, growing to mature years in the county of Wells. Before leaving the home of his childhood he attended at in- tervals such schools as the community af- forded, but after coming to the new home in the wilderness his assistance ,was required in clearing and developing the farm, con- sequently there was little time at his dis- posal to devote to educational discipline. He grew up strong of limb and lithe of body and while still a youth in his teens had become so inured to vigorous exercise with the axe and other implements as to be able to do a man's work at all kinds of manual labor.
Mr. Donaldson remained with his par- ents until 1855, on August 9 of which year he was united in marriage to Miss Eliza Karns and began farming upon his own responsibility. Mrs. Donaldson is the daughter of Michael and Lucinda (Mann) Karns and was born in Ohio in the year 1834. She was brought to Wells county as early as 1842 and grew to young woman- hood near Ossian, later moving to Bluffton. She was educated in the common schools and for one term prior to her marriage taught in the Bluffton school, earning the reputation of a capable and popular teacher.
Mr. and Mrs. Donaldson set up their first domestic establishment on the Donald- son homestead and nothing occurred to dis-
turb or mar the serenity of their lives until the approaching clouds of the great Civil war. When the struggle began, Mr. Don- aldson, with true patriotic fervor, laid aside the implements of husbandry and tendered his services to his country. Enlisting at Wabash on the 22nd day of August, 1862, in Company G, One Hundred and First In- diana Infantry, he proceeded to Indianapo- lis, thence to the front, his regiment joining the force under Rosecrans in time to take part in the celebrated pursuit of Bragg through Tennessee and Kentucky. His first engagement of any note was the bloody battle at Perryville, where his command faced the enemy in the thickest of the fight, after which, by reason of sickness brought on by exposure and overexertion he was sent to the hospital for treatment. So com- pletely broken down was he that five months elapsed before he was able to rejoin his com- mand and no sooner had he done so than he was discharged as being entirely unfit for active service. Returning home in March, 1863, Mr. Donaldson resumed farming, cheered by the delusive hope that a few months spent thus would so improve his health as to enable him again to join his regiment and assist in crushing the rebel- lion. To his great disappointment his ail- ment did not yield easily to treatment and he was obliged to forego the pleasure of participating in the final overthrow of the cause of the Confederacy. He has never entirely recovered from the disability con- tracted while in the service and still suffers therefrom, although able to look after his farm and manage successfully his various business interests.
Mr. Donaldson continued agricultural pursuits with most gratifying result until
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October, 1897, meantime purchasing the old family homestead of one hundred and twen- ty acres, of which he made one of the best farms in the county of Wells. As a farmer he easily ranked with the most enterprising and successful in the township of Lancaster, bringing his place to a high state of tillage and carrying on his labors by the most ap- proved methods of modern agriculture. By reason of advancing age and increasing infirmities he finally concluded to abandon active labor and spend the rest of his life in the enjoyment of the well earned fruits of many years of honest toil; accordingly in the year 1897, he turned his place over to the care of others, purchased a comfortable home in Bluffton and since that time has been living in honorable retirement.
Mr. and Mrs. Donaldson have been blessed with eight children, the oldest of whom, William W., died in infancy ; Lucy, whose birth occurred on the IIth of April, 1858, died in the year 1880; Frank, born July 1, 1860, married Bessie Ward and is engaged in business in the state of Iowa; Luella, the next in order of birth, died when an infant : Samuel, born June 20, 1867, was one of the county's successful teachers and departed this life in November, 1887; Car- rie, born August 14, 1869, is the wife of Alexander Brickley and lives in Lancaster township on the old homestead; Jennie was born June 3, 1873, and died in January, 1899 ; she was a graduate of the Ossian high school, a popular teacher and a young lady of refinement and varied culture; Lewis, born August 29, 1875, is now substituting on a rural mail route with a promise of a regular route to be established soon. Mŕ. Donaldson spared no pains in providing his children with the best educational advan-
tages obtainable and they in turn profited by his efforts in their behalf. He has always been a friend of whatever tended to benefit the community, materially, intellectually and socially, and in matters religious. like his ancestors before him, he has adhered strictly to the Presbyterian creed, holding the responsible position of ruling elder in the congregation to which he now belongs. While an ardent Republican and earnest in the expression of his opinions, he has never been an active partisan, much less an aspir- ant for public distinction or official honors. Fraternally he is a member of Lew Dailey Post No. 33, G. A. R., and is now holding the office of junior vice commander in that organization, his wife being an active work- er in the Woman's Relief Corps. Mr. and Mrs. Donaldson are among the old and highly respected citizens of Wells county, and have seen the county developed from a primitive condition to its present advanced state of prosperity and civilization. In nu- inerous ways they have contributed to the many remarkable changes that have taken place within the last half century and now in the evening of life, after having borne the burden and heat of the day, they are passing toward the twilight and the journey's end, loved and revered by their children and hon- ored by a large circle of friends, all of whom wish the venerable couple many more years in which to bless the world with their pres- ence.
J. W. BOCK.
J. W. Bock was born May 19, 1861, near Sulphur Springs, Henry county, Indi- ana. He is a son of C. C. M. Bock, a na-
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tive of Henry county, who was a son of Michael and Margaret Bock. C. C. M. Bock married Eliza E. Benbow, of Henry county, a daughter of Adam and Abigail Benbow, both natives of North Carolina. Eliza died April 8, 1898, in Jackson township, Wells county, Indiana, and C. C. M. Bock is now a resident of Marion, Indiana. He is the father of eleven children, of whom five are living : Jacob M., born November 16, 1859, is now a contractor in Sulphur Springs, Henry county, Indiana; J. W., born May 19, 1861 ; Willie F., born January 28, 1863, died March 7, 1863; David A., born Janu- ary 29, 1864, now a resident of Wells county ; Lena A., born September 9, 1866, the wife of James Dove, of Warren, Indi- ana; Morris N., born September II, 1869, died October 7, 1875, and Sarah A. and Margaret A., twins, born June 8, 1872; Sarah A. died August 30, 1872, and Margaret died March 16, 1874; Carl, born July 5, 1874, a resident of Jack- son township, Wells county, Indiana ; Ralph was born January 2, 1877, and died March 10, 1880; Chrisella, born September 7, 1881, married H. C. Ry- bolt, now a resident of Warren, Indiana. C. C. M. Bock was a soldier of the Civil war. He was discharged one year after his enlistment on account of disability, but later re-enlisted for three years and was in' serv- ice until the close of the war.
J. W. Bock attended the district school in Jefferson township, Henry county, Indi- ana. until he was fourteen years old. He then entered the New Castle graded school, which he attended for two years, finishing his school life at the age of sixteen years. He then went with his parents, by wagon, to Cloud county, Kansas, starting Septem-
ber 15, 1877, and arriving at their destina- tion November 19, stopping on the way for three weeks, two of which were spent in St. Joseph, Missouri. J. W. remained in Kan- sas until December 23, 1879, his parents in the meantime having moved to St. Joseph, Missouri. He was unable to go with them at the time of their removal on account of having a job of work on hand at the time for which he was to receive a hundred dol- lars for eight months' work. He considered this a good job, so remained and finished it, saving the money which he received for it. After his arrival at St. Joseph he re- turned with his parents to Henry county, In- diana. He remained in Henry county for two years, but was not satisfied, wishing to return to Kansas. In order to induce his parents to return to that state he went there again in 1882 and put out a crop of corn, also cultivating his uncle's corn in order to get the use of the team to attend to his own. Failing to induce his parents to come to him, he sold his corn crop, nine acres for sixty dollars, receiving twenty-five dollars of this amount at the time of sale. and taking a mortgage on the buyer's three cows for the balance. Two days before he left the state the hot winds came and in two days more time the corn was burned up. He arrived at the home of his parents in Henry county, Indiana, again, in the fall of 1882. His father, having met with a serious accident while the family was living at St. Joseph, Missouri, was afterward more or less un- able to perform any labor. This being the case, after his return from Kansas with his parents in 1880, it fell to the lot of the sub- ject to help care for his father's family. He began working on the railroad, doing sec- tion work, but after three months, his health
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failing, he had to give up that kind of labor. After his return from Kansas, in November, 1882, he met with an accident and was not able to walk without the aid of crutches until the following March. He was un- able to do much work during the following summer and spent his time until the next spring as an apprentice in a harness shop at Sulphur Springs, Indiana. He then spent the spring and summer of 1884 working on a farm near Point Isabel, Grant county, Indiana. September 16, 1884, he came to Wells county, Indiana, and began working by the month for Oliver Jones and James Cloud. In the following year, July 8, 1885, he was married to Sarilda Hudson, a daugh- ter of Sarah Hudson, who had been reared by John Jones, the father of Oliver P. Jones and Elizabeth Cloud. After John's death his property was inherited by Oliver Jones and James Cloud, the husband of Elizabeth. These two families had lived together and with them Sarah Hudson and her daughter Sarilda also lived until the latter grew to womanhood and married the subject of this sketch. After his marriage Mr. Bock and wife lived in the same house with the fam- ilies of Oliver B. Jones and James Cloud, making three families under the same roof. He worked by the month for three years and then began to receive a share of the crops for his labor, continuing in this way until the spring of 1901, when Oliver Jones and Elizabeth Cloud removed to Warren, In- diana, James Cloud having died on April 19, 1900. Since that time Mr. Bock has had full control of the farm of three hun- dred and sixty acres of land and gives his special attention to Mr. Jones' family.
The families of Jones and Cloud were among the first settlers of Jackson town- ship, Wells county, Indiana. This land was
purchased by John Jones and at his death it passed into the hands of his son Oliver, the title yet remaining vested in their names. Their doors were always open to the poor and they never turned a stranger away who sought either food or shelter. Among the most remarkable instances of the interest which they took in the welfare of the poor and unfortunate was in the taking of or- phan children into their homes, caring for and rearing them until they were able to provide for themselves. The number of those whom they thus fostered, educated and cared for was about sixteen and they all learned to look upon them as kind and gen- erous benefactors. They treated these waifs as kindly as if they had been their own chil- dren and those who survive remember them as tenderly as if they had been their own par- ents. The subject has been on the same farm for seventeen years; he is a general stock farmer, preferring shorthorn cattle, but breeds good stock of all classes. He is the father of four children: Leona May, born May 30, 1886, is at home with her par- ents; Milton T., born August II, 1888; Ward V., born November 6, 1893: Eliza E., born May 16, 1897. Both he and wife are members of the Christian church, with which they became connected December 17, 1886. He was chosen an elder in July, 1889, and served in that capacity until the dis- banding of the congregation on account of the dangerous condition of the church. The building was sold and the congregation in- tended to build another, but have not yet done so. The organization went down in 1894, after Mr. Bock had served eight years as an elder. He is also a member of Lodge No. 684, I. O. O. F., of Mt. Zion, Indiana, and No. 167, Encampment, of Warren, In- diana. He was elected assessor of Jackson
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