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 24
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United States. Upon landing in this coun- try he came at once to Vera Cruz, Wells county, but shortly after his arrival he was taken sick and all his savings were soon used up in the payment of doctor's bills. Upon recovering his health he purchased a farm, consisting mostly of timber land, and at once went to work to clear the land and put the soil in a condition for cultivation. By persistent and indefatigable industry he brought the tract to a high state of excel- lence and in time possessed one of the choice farms of Wells county. He remained upon this place until 1902, when he removed to Bluffton and has since made his home there with his daughter.
In 1847 Mr. Shaffter was united in mar- riage with Miss Marianne Boivin, whose death occurred in 1880. To them were born twelve children, of whom six are still living. There are also twenty-one grand- children and nine great-grandchildren. Mr. Shaffter is a member of the Reformed church. In politics he is a stanch Republi- can, and in his younger days took a very active and prominent part in local politics.
In many respects the career of Mr. Schaffter is peculiarly instructive and commendable. It is a complete triumph over apparently insurmountable obstacles by a young man with almost no means at his command but a determination to make the best of his opportunities, and how well he has succeeded in this laudable endeavor is demonstrated by the fact that he has accu- mulated in material things enough to make him independent for the rest of his days. He is one of the most popular men of his community, genial, companionable, ever ready to do a favor or make a sacrifice whereby his fellow men may be benefited of the country profited.
GEORGE W. COTTON.
In calling to mind the dealer in live stock, most persons will picture him as a hard- riding, hard-drinking, hard-swearing in- dividual, genial and kind enough in his way, but rough of language and uncouth of man- ners. Whether or not it is the life they lead in driving over the country, purchasing stock, driving them to the station to be shipped and keeping up a night-and-day vigilance upon them while in transit, that gives them the distinguishing traits of char- acter referred to, it would be difficult to as- sert. Certain it is, however, that the great majority of those who actively engage in purchasing, driving and shipping live stock to the commercial centers of the country would never be called upon to impart in- structions in good breeding to the pupils of a young ladies' seminary. In this as in all other things there are some very notable exceptions. One of these is George W. Cotton, a resident of Bluffton, Wells county, Indiana, the subject of this sketch. His career amply shows that a man may be truthful, honest and moral in any respect- ive calling; in other words, that to be pos- sessed of the virtues mentioned, including abstinence, it is not necessary to become a theological student or a minister of the gospel.
The Cotton family was one of the first families to locate in Wells county. It is now more than sixty-two years since Samuel G. Cotton and his good wife Dianah, who were natives of Holmes county, Ohio, decided to make their home in that locality. After investing in a number of tracts of land in Rock Creek township, he finally pur- chased the farm which has since been known as the Cotton farm and by the labor
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of his hands and the sweat of his brow, made it what it now is, one of the best im- proved and most productive pieces of land in the county. Here he lived until the latter part of his life, when he moved to Bluff- ton, where his wife died in 1895. His death occurred in Chicago May 21, 1902. He was widely known and because of his many ex- cellent qualities he possessed the esteem and regard of all who knew him. The county is largely indebted to him for its early devel- opment.
Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Cotton, father and mother of George W. Cotton, were the parents of five sons and one daughter. George W., the subject hereof, was born August 1, 1851, and was the youngest child of the family. He was educated in the common schools of Rock Creek town- ship, later in the graded schools of Bluff- ton, eventually going to Marion, where edu- cational facilities were supposed to be bet- ter. Outside of the time occupied in his studies, he worked upon his father's farm until he attained his majority, when he en- gaged in business for himself, buying and selling live stock. He was, indeed is yet, what is termed in these latter days "a hust- ler," and the competitor who gathered in more animals than he did during the course of a year had to get up earlier in the morn- ing, move faster during business hours and prolong his labors later at night than the average stock buyer is in the habit of doing. His negotiations are conducted calmly, coolly and generally satisfactorily. He al- ways pays the highest price permitted by the conditions of the market and during the long and active life has paid to the farmers of Wells and adjoining counties hundreds of thousands of dollars. At different times he
was associated in business with his broth- ers, Cyrus and Frank, but for the last fif- teen years he has been alone. That he has been most successful is amply attested by the volume of business he has done. His shipments are made to Chicago, Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Buffalo and other points. His long experience both as to the markets and the stock, have brought to him a penetra- tion and judgment that seems almost infall- ible.
April 27, 1875, Mr. Cotton was married to Miss Josephine McDonald, who is a na- tive of Noble county, Indiana. To them have been born eight children: Bessie, the first born, is the wife of Hamer Mc- Kinney; Marshall S .; Ralph C .; Franklin F. ; Hazel D., and Ruby ; two are dead. Mr. Cotton was a Republican and always voted with that party until 1884, when he trans- ferred his allegiance to the Prohibition party, with which he has since steadily voted. He has on two separate occasions occupied a place upon the county ticket of the Prohibition party, once for sheriff and at another time for representative, but in Wells county they seldom elect to office any other kind of people than Democrats. Pro- hibitionists are especially obnoxious to them, hence it is unnecessary to say that he was defeated each time. He and wife are members of the Baptist church of Bluffton, are zealous in all charitable and Christian work and give of their substance quite lib- erally to every worthy cause. While a moral, upright Christian man, Mr. Cotton is not a long-visaged, canting, pretending personage. He is warm-hearted, merry and jovial, a man whose friendship you would be induced to court and whose loyalty you would never question in any emergency.
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WELLS COUNTY, INDIANA.
LEVI HUFFMAN.
Among the enterprising men of affairs whose life and character are familiar to nearly every citizen of Wells county, the name of Levi Huffman stands out clear and sharp. Distinctly a progressive man and as such deeply interested in everything pertain- ing to the material advancement of the county, and the promotion of its industrial growth, he fills no insignificant place in pub- lic esteem, but on the contrary enjoys much more than local repute in the various voca- tions with which he is identified. Mr. Huff- man is a native of Wells county and the son of Henry and Catharine (Baker) Huffman, the father born in Clark county, Ohio, and the mother in the state of Pennsylvania. The father of Henry was Adam Huffman, one of the earliest settlers of Clark county ; Mrs. Huffman was the daughter of Adam Baker, a representative of one of the oldest families in the part of Pennsylvania where he lived.
In 1840 Henry Huffman came to Wells county, Indiana, and entered the land in Jackson township now owned by the sub- ject and at once began the preliminary work of clearing a farm. Up to that time the land was as nature created it and the first thing necessary was some kind of a habitation for the family. In a short time a log cabin of the conventional type was erected and it served the purpose for which intended until replaced in 1867 by a frame, one of the first buildings of the kind in the township of Jackson. When Mr. Huffman took posses- sion of his place the woods were so dense that a person going fifteen rods from the house was in danger of getting lost. To clear away such growth and prepare the
ground for tillage required an immense amount of hard labor, but by patient endur- ance the forest gradually disappeared before the woodman's sturdy strokes until in the course of time nearly all of the ninety and a half acres was in a fine state of cultivation. Later Mr. Huffman added to his original purchase until his place included one hun- dred and seventy acres of as fertile soil as the county could boast, and the farm is now considered one of the most valuable pieces of land in this part of the state. He made many substantial improvements and soon took high rank with the leading agriculturists of his township.
Mr. Huffman died on this place in the fall of 1883, just four weeks and three days after the departure of his faithful com- panion. This was his second wife, his first having died a number of years previously, after bearing him four children, Jacob, Catherine, Sallie and Peter, all living at the present time. The maiden name of the first wife was Elizabeth Eversole. By the sec- ond marriage, to which reference is made in a preceding paragraph, Mr. Huffman was the father of ten children, whose names are as follows : Frederick, George, Henry, Lydia, John, Samuel, Levi, Eliza, Eva and Mary, all but the last named living. The death of but one in a family of fourteen children after they had grown to the years of maturity is perhaps unparalleled in the history of any other family in the state. It is evidence of a strong and vigorous ances- try, supplemented by correct habits of liv- ing on the part of the descendants, all of the children being fine specimens of physical manhood and womanhood.
The birth of Levi Huffman occurred October 20, 1850, on the farm which he now
MRS. LEVI HUFFMAN.
LEVI HUFFMAN.
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WELLS COUNTY, INDIANA.
owns and occupies. He inherited a strong constitution and by faithful outdoor exercise early developed a vigor of body which en- abled him while still a youth to perform a man' labor at all kinds of farm work. In the winter time he attended the public schools of Jackson township until his twentieth year, spending the other seasons as his father's assistant in carrying on the farm. He commenced life for himself by working a part of the home place on the shares, in ad- dition to which he also rented land of his neighbors and in this way succeeded within a few years in getting a very good start in the world. He continued to live under the parental roof until his marriage, which was solemnized on the 3Ist of December, 1874, with Miss Martha Coolman, daughter of William and Mary A. (McKee) Coolman, natives of Ohio, and early settlers of Hunt- ington county, Indiana. Soon after taking to himself a wife Mr. Huffman moved into a little old log house on a forty-acre tract of land which his father subsequently pur- chased and during the seven years following he lived on this place and prospered in his labors. At the expiration of that time he took charge of the home farm for the pur- pose of looking after his father, who by rea- son of old age and infirmities incident there- to was no longer able to manage the place or attend to his business affairs. With fil- ial devotion and affection most commend- able, the subject continued to care for his parents as long as they lived and after their death he sold a piece of land in Blackford county which he had purchased the mean- time and bought the old family homestead. Since taking possession in 1883 Mr. Huff- man has made the farm one of the finest in the township and, as already stated, he soon became one of the most enterprising
farmers and stockraisers in the county of Wells. Among the many valuable improve- ments which he has made are a large and commodious barn, erected in 1884, and the fine modern residence, built five years later, besides the other buildings which every first class farm contains. At the present time Mr. Huffman owns four hundred acres of . land, all lying in the Indiana oil fields, and on this are forty-seven producing wells which yield him the handsome income of seven hundred dollars per month. From this source alone he has become a wealthy man, the returns from his agricultural and live stock interests also adding very mater- ially to the large fortune now in his posses- sion. Mr. Huffman is a careful and conser- vative business man and has made many judicious investments, all of which return him a liberal margin. He owns a half inter- est in a large business block in the town of Warren and a number of dwellings and other property in Montpelier, and looks for- ward to making still greater investments in country and city real estate. He is now chiefly engaged in looking after his large business interests, but devotes a considera- ble portion of his time to the breeding and raising of fine live stock, in which indus- try he has a wide and growing rep- utation. Mr. Huffman pays especial atten- tion to shorthorn cattle, of which he keeps on hand a herd of from twenty-five to thirty-five, all first-class animals, many of them representing hundreds of dol- lars in value; he has also met with most encouraging success raising Poland China and Duroc breeds of hogs, supplying many of his neighbors and others with this valuable stock, besides marketing a large number every year, thus materially increas- ing his income.
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WELLS COUNTY, INDIANA.
With all his success as a farmer and busi- ness man, Mr. Huffman is quiet and unas- suming in demeanor, having no desire to boast of his achievements, realizing that worldly wealth does not constitute truest riches. In the best sense of the term he is a Christian and as such looks upon material possession only as a means of accomplish- ing good among his fellow men. A number of years ago he united with the German Baptist church and began that religious life which has since characterized him and he is now one of the most active workers in the congregation with which he worships. His wife is also a member of the same com- munion and in many ways has demonstrated her faith in good works among those with whom she mingles. Mr. and Mrs. Huffman have been kind and charitable to the worthy poor and no legitimate enterprise for the moral advancement of the community has ever appealed for their assistance in vain. They are highly esteemed by the people of their neighborhood and those who know them best are the most profuse in their praise. Mr. Huffman reads much and has decided opinions on the leading questions of the day. He has been a pronounced Demo- crat all his life and takes an active interest in local and general politics, never missing an election, unless unavoidably detained, nor hesitating to express his opinions upon the questions at issue.
The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Huffman has been blessed with two children, the older of whom is Ardella, now the wife of Watson Hayward, who lives on the subject's farm in Huntington county ; Josephine A., the younger, married Daniel Roscoe Hardman and lives with her parents, her husband hav- ing charge of the home farm. Mr. Huffman
has in his possession an old parchment deed, dated August 5, 1837, and bearing the sig- nature of President Martin Van Buren.
ISAAC MASON THARP.
This enterprising farmer and ex-soldier of the Civil war, and a United Brethren clergyman, was born March I, 1846, in Wells county, Indiana, on the farm now oc- cupied by Amos Tharp.
A. B. Tharp, father of Isaac M. Tharp, was a native of Virginia and was born June 12, 1820. His parents died in Virginia when he was but a lad, his father, mother and only brother dying within one week of each other, leaving A. B. alone in the world at the age of nine years. He was brought by a Mr. Shaw to Ohio, where he was taken in charge by a distant relative and reared to manhood in Darke county. When he had attained his majority he came to Indiana and about 1841 or 1842 married Miss Irena Ricketts, a daughter of Mrs. Hannah Rick- etts, and at once entered forty acres of the land now owned by his son, A. S. Tharp. This land he paid for by day labor at the rate of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, cleared it up, built a log cabin, and also assisted in clearing off the brush to make way for the construction of the present Warren and Hartford gravel road. This was in the pioneer days, when market towns were far apart, and on one occasion he was obliged to travel eighty-two miles on horse- back to secure a sack of corn meal, and was glad to get it even at that great dis- advantage. Both A. B. and Irena Tharp passed the remainder of life on this farm,
REV. ISAAC M. THARP.
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WELLS COUNTY, INDIANA.
A. B. dying January 27, 1871, and Irena March 21, 1889.
To the marriage of A. B. and Irena Tharp were born the large family of four- teen children, as follows: Elizabeth J., who died in infancy; William H., who enlisted in the Forty-seventh Indiana Volunteer In- fantry in 1861 and died of lung fever while in the service; Hannah M., widow of Samuel M. Click; I. M., the subject proper of this biographical record; John W., a me- chanic of Jackson township; Mary C., wife of J. W. Bachelor, of Bluffton; R. R., now residing in Sidney, Colorado; Jonas G., of Jackson township, Wells county, Indiana ; Berthina, deceased, wife of James Ruble; Lucy S., now Mrs. J. Lambert, of New Albany, Indiana; Sarah F., deceased; Ezra, deceased; Amos S., on the old homestead, and M. M., on a farm of his own in Jackson township.
Isaac M. Tharp received his primary education in district school No. 4, of Jackson township, which he attended until eighteen years of age, when, on his birth- day, he was mustered into the service as a member of Company A, Forty-seventh In- diana Volunteer Infantry, in which he en- listed in February, 1864, under Col. John A. Mclaughlin and Capt. E. Y. Sturges, of Bluffton. Mr. Tharp served in the ex- pedition up the Red river from start to finish, was in fourteen different engage- ments in all, including the sieges of Fort Blakely, Alabama, and Spanish Fort, in the same state, in the rear of Mobile, where he was under fire fourteen days, and had to mine or dig all the way before getting with- in speaking distance and in forcing the enemy to succumb. Mr. Tharp caught a severe cold, caused by wet clothes, but was
in the hospital only four days and three nights during his entire term of service, but during these four days suffered from an ex- cruciating earache, and still feels the effects of the attack, being somewhat dull of hear- ing. He was honorably mustered out No- vember 23, 1865, about six months after the war had closed.
On his return from the war, Mr. Tharp engaged in carpenter work with his father. January 14, 1869, he married Miss Mary A. Runkle, who was born August 22, 1843, in Perry county, Ohio, a daughter of Jere- miah and Anna (Leonard) Runkle, the for- mer a native of Ohio and the latter of France. Mr. and Mrs. Runkle were mar- ried in Perry county, Ohio, and soon after- wards settled in Wells county, Indiana, and had born to them eleven children, viz : Mary A., now Mrs. I. M. Tharp; Alpheus, de- ceased; Charles, a mechanic in Jackson township; Maggie, wife of Samuel Griffith ; Frances, married to Commodore Alexander ; Matthew, a resident of Dundee, Indiana ; Peter, in Jersey City, New Jersey ; Ella, de- ceased; Clara, wife of Henry Blake, of Hartford City, Indiana; Alma, married to William Rhoads, of Santa Fe, Ohio; Albert, deceased. Of this family of eleven children there is a difference of twenty-two years between the birth of the eldest and that of the youngest, both of whom were born on the same day of the month.
Isaac M. Tharp at his marriage settled on forty acres of land, now owned by Mrs. Compton. He had saved five hundred dol- lars while in the army and this money had been handled by his father, who made the investment and had the land deeded to the son. Isaac M. cleared up thirty acres, which he placed under cultivation, but his inclina-
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tion was more toward carpenter work than toward farm work, so he sold his farm in March, 1876, went to Hartsville, Bartholo- mew county, Indiana, entered the college at that place, and was graduated three years later in theology. He then became a mem- ber of the White River conference in 1877, but it was not until 1879 that he entered upon active ministerial work. The first year of his ministry was in Clifty circuit and the second year in Fall creek circuit, about fifty miles from his home. One Friday after- noon he left his home to keep an appoint- ment the following Sunday, and when with- in a half mile of his destination his horse ran away, throwing Mr. Tharp from his cart. This disaster occurred September 5, 1880, and in the fall of that year Mr. Tharp had one leg broken and the ankle joint in the other leg dislocated. On the 21st day of the same month the broken leg was ampu- tated and on October 13 a second amputa- tion was found to be necessary. These operations confined him to his bed for four months and it was thought by the physician last in attendance that death would be the result, but Mr. Tharp eventually recovered.
Mr. Tharp next spent two years in Honey Creek circuit and then came to Sala- monie circuit in Wells county and here pass- ed two years, when he was elected presid- ing elder of Marion district for the same length of time; he was next on the Indian- apolis district for two years and then on the Dublin district for one year. He then went to the Williamsburg circuit of Wayne county, was next in the Salamonie circuit and was then re-elected presiding elder, in the meantime having officiated in the In- dianapolis and Dublin districts. He then was assigned to the Fairmount circuit, and later to the Hartford circuit, from which he
retired to his farm in 1898, but still preaches about twice each month.
Mr. Tharp's farm comprises forty acres, but this he rents out, as he has five very fair oil wells on his premises, the product of which, in forty-one months, sold for thirty- one thousand three hundred dollars and are now yielding him about seventy-five dollars per month.
Rev. Tharp seems to have been a victim to accidental occurrences. Once while on his way from Honey Creek circuit to Sala- monie circuit his horse, at nine o'clock at night, took fright, backed off a bridge and fell a distance of fifteen feet, but provident- ially the rider escaped injury. Beside the serious injuries alluded to, Rev. Tharp has been in two railroad accidents, was on a steamboat when it sank, and on another when its boiler exploded, has fallen from several houses and once, when a boy, fell- thirty feet from the limb of a hickory tree, but in every case was miracuously and ap- paiently providentially saved for the useful life in the Master's vineyard which he has since led.
To the marriage of Rev. Tharp have been born six children, viz: Charles, de- ceased; W. M., a pumper, who married Sallie Ritchie; Aurie A., wife of Charles Compton, a farmer of Jackson township, to whom she has borne five children, Clarence, Clinton, Effie, Josie, deceased, and Sylvia Bertha, deceased; Milton W., a pumper, married Minnie Williams, who has borne him three children, Vance, Treva and Audrey ; the sixth child, Lizzie I., was the wife of Harvey Kline, but she is now de- ceased.
In politics the Rev. Mr. Tharp has al- ways been of Republican proclivities, but has never been very aggressive.
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PERRY KILANDER.
Perry Kilander was born June 10, 1823, in Brown county, Ohio. He was a son of Jacob Kilander, a native of Pennsyl- vania, whose ancestors were originally from Holland, and Polly Dillman Kilander, a native of the state of Kentucky. After their marriage they settled in Kentucky, later going to Brown county, Ohio, and from there they removed to Jackson town- ship, Wells county, Indiana, where they remained until death. Jacob was the father of seven children, the subject being the only one now living, at the age of eighty years. David, Dillman, Sarah, Sina and Calvin are all deceased. The subject attended school in Brown county, Ohio, on days which were too bad to work .. He began working for himself when he was about twenty-one years of age, remaining with his father and work- ing out, etc. At the age of twenty-three, on March 17, 1846, he was married to Sar- ah Jane Martin, born in Brown county, Ohio, in November, 1821, a daughter of George and Mary (Myers) Martin. After his marriage the subject began farming in Brown county, Ohio, remaining there five years, when he removed to Wells county, Indiana, and purchased two hundred and eighty acres of unimproved land which he and a farm hand cleared up and improved. He afterward divided his land among his children, reserving eighty acres for himself. He has devoted his entire life to the inter- ests of farming. His faithful wife and helpmeet died March 14, 1901. He is the father of twelve children, ten of whom are yet living : Polly M., born January 17, 1847, is the wife of Canada Griffith and they have three living children; the second
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