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 19
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township, Wells county, Indiana, by the Democratic party in the fall of 1892 and be- gan the active work of the office in the spring of 1894, retaining the office six years. He is now a member of the advisory board of his township; has always affiliated with the Democratic party, works some during campaigns and has represented his party as a delegate in various political conventions. J. W. Bock was born amid the excitement that attended the opening days of the Civil war, and is the son of a veteran, one of the grand army to which, as the passing years shed the glamour which dignifies and glori- fies historic events, rising generations will feel under greater and more lasting obliga- tions. He is of that class of ambitious Americans whose aspirations in youth in- spired him with the desire to identify him- self with the boundless opportunities of the wide spreading prairie lands of the west, and after making two trips to that country, worked one season and another farmed on his own account; he returned to his home. in Indiana with filial solicitude, to aid in taking care of his father, who had met with an accident previously, and of the family who needed his assistance. Thus he was prevented from realizing his ambitions ful- ly, perhaps, but he has the consciousness of having performed his duty, which he has ever done in all the relations of life as a citizen, neighbor and friend.
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S. J. BATSON.
Samuel J. Batson, who was born Octo- ber 17, 1830, in Henry county, Indiana, is a son of Nathaniel Batson, born in Ohio,
February 24, 1808. He was a son of Samuel Batson, a native of New Jersey and of Welsh descent. The maternal parent of the subject and wife of Nathaniel Batson was Nancy (Ralston) Batson, born in the state of Kentucky, January 9, 1812. She was the daughter of James Ralston and came with her parents to Wayne county, Indiana. She grew to womanhood in Henry county, Indiana, where she met and married Nathaniel Batson, who had come to Henry county with his parents when he was fifteen years old, about the year 1823.
Nathaniel Batson, after his marriage, settled in Henry county and engaged in farming there until the spring of 1837, when they removed to Wells county, Indi- ana, and there entered four hundred and sixty-two acres of land in section II, Jack- son township. This land was in the woods, the nearest neighbor being distant one mile and the next nearest two miles away. Nathaniel and Nancy Batson spent the re- mainder of their lives in Wells county, where they both died, Nathaniel in 1878 and Nancy in 1881. They were the parents of twelve children: Samuel J., the subject ; Lavina, deceased; Esther, deceased; Na- thaniel died in infancy; Andrew Jackson died in infancy ; William died in Oklahoma; Mary, deceased; Martin, now a resident of Bluffton, Indiana; Eliza Jane, the wife of Henry Roush, now living near Mt. Zion, Indiana ; Sarah. deceased; John, and Nancy, the wife of Andrew Gephart.
The subject was schooled in the sub- scription schools in Jackson township, the present admirable common school system not having been developed at that time in the locality. The sessions of the school where the subject attended were held in an
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MR. AND MRS. SAMUEL BATSON.
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old log cabin with. greased paper for window lights, slab seats and puncheon flooring. Samuel attended his last term of school when he was about nineteen years of age. He then remained at home with his father until his marriage. He was married Jan- uary 15, 1852, to Catherine Huffman, born December II, 1832. Her parents, Henry and Elizabeth (Eversole) Huffman, were natives of Clark county, Ohio, but settled later in Jackson township, Wells county, Indiana. Elizabeth died in Ohio and Henry in Wells county, Indiana. Henry was twice married, his second wife being Catherine Baker. To his first union four children were born, all of whom are yet living: Jacob, a resident of Huntington county, Indiana; Catherine, the wife of the subject; Sarah, the wife of Isaac Jones, and Peter, a resident of Ohio. To his second union ten children were born: Frederick, Mary S., deceased, George, Samuel, Evelyn, Levi, John, Lydia, Eliza and Henry. After his marriage the subject settled on the farm and in the same house in which he now lives; he and his father hewed out the logs of which it is built. The house has had three roofs since it was built, the father shaving the shingles for the first, and the subject those for the second roofing, but he had to buy the ma- terial for the third and last covering, which is still in good condition.
When the wife of the subject was a girl she was an adept in the accomplishments of weaving, spinning, etc., which were com- mon housewifely occupations in those days, when they made all their own clothing. She yet retains a spinning wheel which belonged to an aunt. The subject cleared up the land on which he now lives. As he says, he had to "dig it out." He is the father of nine
children, seven of whom are yet living : Nathaniel, born August 9, 1853, married Mary Wyley September 28, 1882, and is the father of three boys, Firman, an oil pumper, Aubreye and Oris : Sarah, the second child, was born August 1, 1855, and is now the wife of Henry Swaim : she was first married to William Smithson, to which union five children were born, William E., Franklin, Lloyd, Clinton and Edith; to her second marriage two children have been born, Alva and Orval Swaim; the third child of the subject, Henry, was born December 27, 1857, married Sarah J. Sills, and they are the parents of three children, Dessa, Letha and Mary T. ; the fifth child, Nancy C., was born February 26, 1862, is the wife of Henry King and has one son, Frank; Mary E. was born July 8, 1860, and is the wife of A. J. Faust, a resident of Nottingham township, Wells county, and has three chil- dren, Ada May, Clara B. and Catharine; Ella M., born July 6, 1864, is the wife of Homer Knott, of Hartford City, Indiana, and they have two children, Winona and Inez; Elnora, born July 21, 1867, was the wife of John Click, but died August 10, 1893, leaving one child, Orta; Laura A., born April 3, 1874, wife of Lawson J. Beavans, has four children, Leha, Fay, Jesse and James H .; Clara Belle, born October 3. 1876, died August 28, 1891.
Mr. Batson has been a general stock farmer. He is in the oil field and has on his farm six producing wells, making seven inches (tank measure) a day, which yields him a profit of fifteen or twenty dollars per month. He has devoted his whole life to farming, occasionally helping to run a threshing machine in the fall of the year. Mr. Batson now owns forty acres of land
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on which he lives. He and his wife are both connected with the Campbellite (or Christian) church, of which they are con- sistent members. Politically the subject has always acted and voted with the Democratic party. He is of a class which is rapidly passing away and has witnessed all the stages of development of his locality from a comparative wilderness to its present highly improved and well cultivated condi- tion. He has seen the evolution in temples of learning from the log cabin with pun- cheon floors and greased paper window lights, and subscription schools, to the pala- tial buildings now devoted to the uses of the common schools of the country, and in all the multitudinous and laborious changes that have transformed the face of nature he has well borne his part. In the course of nature it will not be many years until the last of these hardy pioneers will be gathered to their fathers. While it is scarcely possible for the present generation to realize what they have passed, the greatest compliment they can pay to their memory is to emulate their example.
I. K. CLARK.
I. K. Clark was born in Maryland or Virginia about the year 1839. His father, Matthew J. Clark, was a native of Virginia and his mother, Fannie O'Terrel, of the state of Maryland, and were married and settled in Virginia in an early day. Mat- thew in his earlier days was a merchant or store keeper, but the latter part of his life he spent in the vocation of farming in. the state of Virginia. He remained in that state until his death, his wife dying in But- ler county, Pennsylvania. He was twice
married and had by his first wife five chil- dren, John G., William, Elizabeth, Cath- erine and James, all of whom are deceased. By his second marriage he was also the father of five children, three of whom are still alive: Frances, deceased, was the wife of Thomas Jacobs; Matthew J., Jr., is now a resident of Marietta, Ohio; M. G. was a resident of Washington, Pennsylvania, but now of Warren, Indiana; I. K., the subject, and Clemit, deceased. During the Civil war the southern army entered and ransacked Matthew Clark's house, destroying every- thing, including records, etc., he being ab- sent at the time as a soldier in the Federal army.
I. K. Clark obtained his schooling in the state of Virginia by attending the subscrip- tion schools. He attended his last term of school when he was about twelve years old and when he was thirteen years of age he began to do and care for himself by work- ing by the month. He continued to work in this way until his marriage, April 1I, 1880, to Minerva Russell, a daughter of Robert and Elizabeth (Lyon) Russell, the father a native of Pennsylvania and his wife of Ohio. Mrs. Clark came to Wells county with her parents in an early day (about 1843). Neither of her parents are now liv- ing, both having died in Wells county. The subject came to Delaware county, Indiana, about 1867, having a sister residing there. He began working by the month and was there for about two years. His sister, who had a tract of wild land in Liberty township, Wells county, made a proposition to him for the clearing of this land, which he accepted and came to Wells county and began work- ing by the day, and at odd spells on this clearing. After a few years he purchased
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forty acres of land of a Mr. Smith, which he also cleared up. He then purchased an additional forty, which he cleared, thus pos- sessing an improved farm of eighty acres in one body. He then purchased forty acres more, which he partially cleared, having then a hundred and twenty acres of fine land in Liberty township, Wells county, se- cured by the labor of his own hands. He continued his work, boarding at different times with John J. Kingon, James Davis, George White and Thomas Jacobs. Hav- ing gone in debt on his land, in order to make better wages he spent the harvest and corn-husking seasons in Delaware county, carrying his wheat cradle on his shoulder from Wells county to his field of labor, where he received twenty-five cents extra on the day's labor. At one time on his way across the country he had to stop over night. Telling his host he was looking for work, the farmer kept him over night with- out charge, but not wishing to impose upon the hospitality of his entertainer, the subject shouldered his cradle and proceeded break- fastless on his way. After traveling a couple of miles he came upon an old man and a boy who were just beginning to reap a field of ten acres of wheat. Entering the field, the subject inquired of the owner if he wanted a hand to help harvest his wheat. Being answered in the affirmative, a bargain was struck for putting the field of wheat in the swath for the sum of ten dollars. So anx- ious was the subject to complete his task that without mentioning the subject of breakfast, he set down his carpet sack and begun work, awaiting the regular noon hour for something to eat. He continued his work until the field of wheat was in the swath, received his pay and pursued his
way. This incident is a striking example of the habits of industry, economy and sturdy independence that have character- ized his whole life. He found more work in the same settlement, and remained through the harvest, threshing and corn cutting seasons as well, and finally when cold weather came on he employed himself in "grubbing" and did not leave Delaware county until he had earned one hundred and fifty dollars, which he applied in payment on purchase of his first forty acres of land. At one time Mr. Clark asked a Mr. Smith what he would take for a certain forty-acre tract of land, and he replied seven hundred dollars. How much down, was the next in- quiry of the subject, who was desirous of adding to his vested 'possessions. "Oh," was the reply, "enough to pay the delin- quent taxes, about fifteen dollars, and the balance on the 15th of the following De- cember." Having fifteen dollars due him for a month's work for a man in Delaware county, the subject was thus able to make the first payment and accepted Smith's prop- osition, the deeds being drawn by Mr. Daily and the first payment of fifteen dollars duly paid in hand. Mr. Clark then went to Delaware county and borrowed the re- mainder of the money necessary to complete the purchase at ten per cent. and when the stipulated 15th of December came around he met his obligation by the payment of the balance of the purchase price, six hundred and eighty-five dollars. This transaction shows the comparative values put on land at that time with the present, and it also shows the tenacity of purpose and prompt and sagacious action of the subject in secur- ing that most valuable of assets in a new and growing county, well located and pro-
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ductive real estate. In 1880 Mr. Clark married and settled on the farm where he now lives in Jackson township and has been here ever since. He has devoted his entire life to the vocation of farming and allied interests. He has been a general stock farmer, breeding and handling hogs, cattle and sheep. In the line of hogs, he prefers the Chester White and Poland China va- rieties, while in cattle and sheep, the short- horn and Shropshires respectively engage his fancy. He started in life without a dollar and is now the owner of three hun- dred and thirty-two acres of farm land and also two city lots in Muncie, Indiana. There are seventeen productive oil wells on his land, which at one time yielded him a profit of one hundred dollars a month.
Mr. Clark raised an orphan child from about eighteen months of age, who is now twenty-one years of age and a member of his family. Her name is Alice Carman, a bright young lady, and Mr. and Mrs. Clark think as much of her as their own child.
Politically the subject affiliates with the Republican party. The father of Mrs. Clark, Robert Russell, was born January 25, 1803, and died April 15, 1875, and her maternal parent, Elizabeth Russell, was born August 24, 1802, and died in September, 1882. The subject is an exemplar of the possibilities of our form of government, in which, however unfavorable may be the environments sur- rounding the actor in the labors of life, a determined purpose, with success the goal, coupled with habits of industry and thrift, is sure in the end to lead to compe- tency and public esteem.
Mr. and Mrs. Clark have in their posses- sion several valuable and curious relics of former days. Among them is a copper tea
kettle, in a good state of preservation, which is over three centuries old. They also have an old bread toaster, a century old, a pair of snuffers, a pair of andirons, and a double coverlet woven by the grandmother of Mrs. Clark. Another quaint article of furniture in their home is an old "grandfather's," or Longfellew, clock, seven feet tall and eighty-five years old, and which still keeps accurate time.
GEORGE W. KIMBLE,
The gentleman whose brief biography is herewith presented has achieved success in various walks of civil life and at a criti- cal period in our national history, when the ship of state was almost stranded upon the rugged rock of disunion, proved his loyalty to his country by following the flag into the southland. The Kimble family had its origin in Holland, but for three or four gen- erations has been represented in various parts of the United States. From the most authentic sources, it appears that the progen- itor of the American branch settled in New Jersey in an early day, in which state at a subsequent period was born the grandfather of the subject of this sketch. Some time after his marriage this ancestor moved to Ohio, where he died in Perry county a num- ber of years ago. Among his children was a son by the name of Uzal Kimble, who grew to maturity in the above county and there married Rachel McDaniel. Of this union were born four children, namely : Isa- bel, wife of John Harris; George W., of this review ; Margaret, now Mrs. Thomas Shull, and William E., who married Rachel Brown, of Darke county, Ohio.
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ยท Uzal Kimble remained in his native state until 1850, when he disposed of his in- terests there and changed his residence to Wells county, Indiana, purchasing a farm in the township of Nottingham where he spent the remainder of his days. When a young man he united with the Christian church and later became an acceptable min- ister of that body, though seldom sustaining regular pastoral relations. He was a man of sincere convictions, an earnest and de- vout Christian and exercised a wholesome influence in the community by his upright conduct and correct deportment, as well as by the exercise of his public duties as an able preacher of the word.
George W. Kimble, the direct subject of this article, was born on the 14th day of August, 1845, in Athens county, Ohio, and until his seventeenth year assisted his father with the varied duties of the farm. His edu- cational training was acquired in a little log school house near the home of his child- hood and at the age of seventeen he left the farm for the purpose of learning the trade of blacksmithing. In due time he became an efficient mechanic, but shortly after be- ginning the work for himself President Lincoln issued his call for volunteers to as- sist in crushing the great Rebellion. Like thousands of other loyal sons of the north, young Kimble tendered his services to the government, enlisting in Company G, One Hundred and Thirty-eighth Indiana In- fantry, with which he shared the vicissitudes of war from 1864 until his regiment was mustered out of service. After his discharge he resumed blacksmithing in Wells county and continued working at the trade at va- rious places until 1881, meanwhile devoting all of his leisure time to the study of law,
for which he early manifested a very de- cided preference. The better to prepare him, self for the practice of the profession, he entered, the above year, the law department of the Northern Indiana Normal University at Valparaiso, where he prosecuted his legal studies for a period of two years, graduating in 1883 with the degree of LL. B. The same year in which he completed his course at the above institution, Mr. Kimble opened an office in Bluffton, where he has since been actively engaged in the practice, giving es- pecial attention to collections. He is well versed in the underlying principles of juris- prudence, has earned the reputation of a sound and discreet counsellor and occupies a prominent position among his professional brethren of the Bluffton bar. Politically Mr. Kimble is one of the leading Republicans of Wells county and is always ready to do his share in promoting the success of his party in local, state and national elections. He was for three years justice of the peace in the township of Nottingham, aside from which he has held no official position nor has any ambition to gratify in that direc- tion. Fraternally he belongs to Lodge No. I45, F. & A. M., and to his credit be it said that he has tried to square his life in har- mony with the sublime principles of that order.
In the year 1870 Mr. Kimble was hap- pily married to Miss Lydia M. Goodin, daughter of Rev. Smith Goodin, formerly superintendent of the Wells county public schools. Mrs. Kimble was born in Ohio, but came to Indiana when young and grew to mature years in the county in which she was married. She received an excellent education, was a lady of varied culture and for a number of years enjoyed the reputa-
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tion of being one of the most capable and popular teachers in the county of Wells. She taught in the schools of Bluffton for six years and was engaged in educational work up to the time of her marriage. After a happy wedded life of twenty-two years duration, Mr. Kimble's home was in- vaded by the angel of death who, on the 30th day of March, 1892, summoned the faithful and loving wife to her final rest. She was a devoted Christian, a member of the Baptist church and died in the faith which had afforded her so much consolation and solace during her life.
As a citizen Mr. Kimble stands high in the esteem of the people of his city and all cheerfully concede his right to be called one of Wells county's representative men. Quiet and unassuming in manner and easily ap- proachable, he belongs to that large and emi- nently respectable class of people that make their presence felt by actions rather than by words, and in every relation of life his con- duct has been characteristic of the intelli- gent, enterprising man of affairs and true gentleman.
PETER BRICKLEY.
The subject of this sketch is among the oldest living settlers of Wells county, his residence of over a half a century covering the most important period in the history of this part of the state. He is a native of Ohio and the son of George and Belinda (Wolfe- call) Brickley, both parents born in Penn- sylvania and descendants of old pioneer families of that commonwealth. In an early day George Brickley moved to Ohio, where he lived a number of years, subsequently
selling his possessions there and migrating to Wells county, Indiana, where he pur- chased a partially improved farm which he made his home for a considerable period. This place is situated in the township of Rock Creek and is now one of the oldest and best farms in that section of the coun- try. Late in life Mr. Brickley changed his residence to a farm a short distance south of Markle and it was there that he spent the remainder of his days, dying at a good old age, honored and respected by the people of his own and other communities. He is remembered as a man of enterprise and un- tiring energy, progressive in his ideas and successful in the accumulation of land and other property. Of his family of eleven children the following are still living in the county of Wells: Peter, Alfred, Lewis, Nancy Jane, Ogden and Laura.
Peter is the second in order of birth and first saw the light of day at Lordstown, Ohio, August 1, 1832. He was reared in his native state, received such educational discipline as the indifferent subscription schools of those times could impart and, while still a mere lad, was obliged to assist his father with the varied labors of the farm. He was early taught lessons of industry and economy and grew to manhood strong and healthy in body and with a fixed purpose of making the most of such opportunities as came his way. He remained on the home place until his twenty-second year and then began life's struggle for himself, choosing the time honored vocation of an agriculturist as the pursuit most suited to his tastes and inclinations. Mr. Brickley lived in Ohio un- til 1851, after which he removed to Wells county with his parents, August 24, 1854, Mr. Brickley married Mary Ann Smith, of
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Rock Creek township. At this time he was given a farm of sixty acres by his father which he afterwards sold and with the pro- ceeds purchased a farm in Lancaster town- ship. Addressing himself to the task of im- proving his land, he was rewarded in due time with a finely developed farm, to which additions were made at intervals when fa- vorable opportunities presented themselves.
Mr. Brickley's career in Wells county was signally successful from the beginning. He continued to increase his holdings until his real estate amounted to three hundred and twenty-five acres, all admirably situ- ated for agricultural purposes, and with the passing years and corresponding growth of the county these lands advanced in value un- til they now represent a fortune of no small magnitude. As a farmer he was enterpris- ing in all the term implies and soon earned the reputation of one of the county's most successful and progressive agriculturists. In addition to tilling the soil he added much to his capital by buying and shipping live stock, also made considerable money raising cattle of his own, a business in which his success was most encouraging. He has al- ways been a far-sighted business man and everything in which he engages seems to prosper. After acquiring a sufficiency of this world's goods to make him independ- ent, Mr. Brickley, in 1896, left the farm and moved to Bluffton where he has since lived in honorable retirement. Blessed with an abundance of everything calculated to min- ister to his material comfort, he is now pass- ing his declining years in the midst of friends and companions cheered by the thought that his competence was accumu- lated by honorable means and that his friendships were won by conduct above re- proach.
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