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 28
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Amos Gehrett did not receive very lib- eral educational advantages in his youth, but attended the public schools whenever it was possible for him to do so and at length became fairly proficient in the common
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branches. As soon as he was old enough he commenced working for his father on the Ohio farm and remained under the pa- rental roof until he was twenty-two years old, receiving for his labor his board, cloth- ing, etc. About 1844 he came to Wells county, Indiana, and settled on eighty acres of land comprising part of the farm which he still occupies, his father having entered · the land some time previously. His ma- terial resources at this time were quite lim- ited, possessing very little besides a cow and a horse. He made his own bedstead and such other furniture as was absolutely necessary with which. to engage in house- keeping. However he was not at all dis- couraged, but, filled with ambition and en- ergy, he at once went to work to create for himself a home. He at first erected a small log cabin, sixteen by eighteen feet in size, and the same season planted five acres of ground to corn. He worked for others whenever he could find work to do in order to obtain money and was also employed in the construction of the first railroad sur- veyed through the county. Meantime his spare time was steadily occupied in the task of clearing his land, which was eventually · accomplished, and then, as rapidly as oppor- tunity offered and he had the means, he purchased other tracts. His first additional purchase was one hundred and sixty acres of timber land. He and his son cleared a part of this tract and he then disposed of it and bought another tract of one hundred and sixty acres which he gave to his son, Henry. Subsequently he bought one hun- dred and sixty acres of the John Warner estate and also eighty acres of the Jacob Warner estate and forty acres belonging to his son, Henry. He is now the owner of three hundred and twenty acres in one body
and also another tract of forty acres, all be- ing considered fine farming land. With the exception of eight hundred dollars which he received from his father's estate, all his property has been acquired as the result of his own industry and unremitting toil. He has carried on a general line of farming, and has also been engaged largely in the raising and selling of live stock, which has been, under his able management, a profit- able source of income. He breeds a general line of cattle, but gives special attention to Poland China hogs. He has been an inde- fatigable worker during all the years of his residence in this county, and his labor has been commensurately rewarded. He has, by a course of right living and strict attention to the ethics of life, won the warm esteem and high regard of his numerous ac- quaintances and few men in his locality have a larger circle of friends than he.
In 1844 Mr. Gehrett was united in mar- riage with Miss Sarah Hufford, the daugh- ter of Daniel and Sarah Hufford, natives of Berks county, Pennsylvania. She was born in 1823, also in Berks county, and was brought by her parents to Fairfield county, Ohio, where she formed an acquaintance with the subject, an acquaintance which re- sulted in their marriage. They became the parents of one child, Henry S., who died on the 3rd of March, 1894, aged forty-sev- en years, seven months and five days. He married Elizabeth Keller and to their union were born three children, as follows: Sar- ah Alice died June 9, 1892; Hugh L. died March 17, 1894; Amos died March 16, 1873. The subject has now no children or grandchildren living.
Religiously the subject and his wife have been for a number of years earnest and faithful members of the German Baptist
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church. Politically Mr. Gehrett is affili- ated with the Democratic party and votes that ticket on national elections, though in local elections he votes for the best man for the office, irrespective of party lines. He has never been an aspir- ant for office, though soon after he came to Wells county he served for three years in the position of trustee and has also served two terms as supervisor. All movements having for their object the advancement of the public welfare have always received his cordial endorsement and his influence has been potent for good in the community. A volume purporting to contain a record of the lives of the representative citizens of the county would be incomplete were there fail- ure to mention Mr. Gehrett.
C. B. FUNK.
The native Hoosier is as proud of the commonwealth of his birth as any man on earth. He has many and very substantial reasons for being so. It is a productive state; it is inhabited by progressive people ; it has kept pace with its neighbors in the matter of material advancement; politically it is the most liberal state in the Union, never being chained to the triumphal car of either political party; its climate is healthful; its air is salubrious, and the op- portunities for individual advancement in Indiana are at least equal to those of any other. The only person who need not be ambitious to be a native Hoosier is the one who can lay claim to that distinguished honor as his birth-right.
C. B. Funk, the subject of this article, is a native of the Hoosier state. He was born in Chester township, Wabash county,
Indiana, on the 26th day of January, 1857. He is the son of Samuel D. Funk and wife, Catherine (Burk) Funk, the latter a native of Ohio. The grandparents of the subject were natives of Germany; they were pros- perous and thrifty, and coming to Amer- ica at an early period, possessed of consid- erable money, they located in Huntington county, where a tract of nine hundred and sixty acres of land was purchased, out of which they carved enough land for each of their sons and daughters to make a good farm. Here his son, Samuel, the father of C. B. Funk, was married to Catherine Burk, daughter of Abraham Burk, and took up his abode upon the land granted him by his father. Finding a piece of land located in Wabash and Whitley counties quite to his fancy, he took occasion to dispose of his place in Huntington county, purchased the Wabash county land and moved his family thereto. A part of the tract extended over into Whitley county, but the house, barn and outbuildings were located in Wabash county. . This was the birth place of C. B. Funk, and on this place Samuel Funk re- sided until his death, which occurred Janu- ary 2, 1892. His good wife, Catherine, is still living; she owns the old home place, but does not live upon it, preferring to make her home with her children.
Samuel and Catherine Funk were the parents of ten children. . Only one of the in- teresting group has passed into eternity, Delila, who died when four years of age. The others are J. B., Sarah A., George M., Oliver W., Mary J., C. B., Elizabeth, Elen- ora and Ora. J. B., Oliver and Elenora are still residents of Wabash county, the latter the wife of H. T. Tillman ; Sarah is the wife of James Roadarmey and lives in Illinois ; George and Elizabeth live in Kosciusko
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county, the latter the wife of G. M. Rice; · Mary is the wife of Rev. Samuels, of Eaton, Ohio, and Ora is Mrs. Warren Robbins, of Kosciusko county.
C. B. Funk grew to manhood in Wa- bash county and attended the public schools until he was twenty years of age. So well did he improve his time that after passing a very creditable examination he was granted a license to teach. That calling, however, was not wholly to his taste. One term suf- ficed to convince him that imparting knowl- edge to the youths of the land was a calling in which others might excel. He ceased to have any ambition whatever for the acqui- sition of fame in that direction, as farming and stock raising were more to his taste. For seven years he assiduously devoted him- self to this labor, renting the old home place on the shares, thereby greatly improving his financial condition.
On August 28, 1881, C. B. Funk was united in marriage to Catherine Swank, a native of Wabash county, Indiana, having been born there March 17, 1861. She is the daughter of John and Fannie Swank, both natives of Ohio, but early settlers of Wa- bash county, Indiana. Fannie died in 1872, but John is still living, residing in California. They are the parents of ten children, all of whom are living. Sarah is Mrs. William Heeler : Susan is Mrs. Mike Snydeman ; Em- ma is Mrs. Mahlon Harmon : Mariah is Mrs. S. W. Heeter; these and their brother James all reside in Wabash county; Zacharia and Ambrose live in Miami county; Dayton lives in Huntington county : Catherine is Mrs. C. B. Funk and Frances is Mrs. Mort Kenard, of Kosciusko county. All are worthy citizens, highly respected in the var- ious communities in which they reside.
. Four years after his marriage C. B. Funk moved to Adams county, Indiana, where he purchased eighty acres of land. chiefly on credit. It was nearly all cleared and fairly well improved. After twelve years of unremitting toil and commendable economy he found himself wholly out of debt, with a farm so splendidly productive and under such thorough cultivation as to excite the envy of many of his less indus- trious neighbors. The receipts from the products of this place alone were sufficient, not only to pay for the land, but to leave its owner with a comfortable bank account. In addition to his labors on the farm he de- voted much of his time, during the season, to threshing and to the manufacture of lum- ber and shingles. In 1898 he disposed of this land and secured a farm of one hun- dred and twenty-one acres in Nottingham township, Wells county, on which he now lives. Of this tract one hundred and five acres are cleared and under cultivation. He is still interested in threshing, owning one of the best threshing rigs to be found in that section of the state. At this time he is discharging the duties of trustee of the es- tate of his father over in Wabash county. He is also an extensive breeder of shorthorn cattle, Poland China hogs and Shropshire sheep.
Mr. and Mrs. Funk are the parents of three children, two of whom are living : Artie B. was born February 15, 1886, died October 23, 1886; Flossie M. was born February 5, 1887, resides with her parents and has finished the regular course in the district schools of Nottingham township; Losier was born August 30, 1897.
Religiously Mr. and Mrs. Funk do not belong to the same denomination. He is a
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member of the Evangelical church, while she belongs to the Christian church. This, however, does not interfere in the least with the Christian zeal or work of either. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Lyn Grove and of the encamp- ment at Bluffton, and both are members of the Rebekahs at Liberty Mills. He is a life- long Republican in national and state af- fairs, but in local matters believes in sup- porting the man whom he considers most worthy and capable. A's a man, a citizen, a husband and father, the story of the life of C. B. Funk 'conclusively proves that he is and has been all that he should be in each and all of these capacities.
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MRS. FRANCES CLARK.
Mrs. Frances Clark died at the resi- dence of her son, Matthew J. Clark, in Peachville, Butler county, Pennsylvania, on Monday, the 13th of June, 1887. She was a daughter of Ignatius and Frances (McKiernan) O'Ferrall, was born at Mar- tinsburg, Berkeley county, Virginia (now West Virginia), on the 14th of October, 1793, and had therefore passed her ninety- third birthday. Her parents were Irish, and she had inherited in a remarkable degree the nobler traits of the Irish character. She was the widow of Major Matthew J. Clark, who died at Morgantown, West Virginia, in 1859, eighty-three years of age, more than four-score years. Born back in the last century ! What an ocean of events ! What a sea of trials, troubles and tribula- tions she had passed over during her long life voyage! She had heard the patriots
of the Revolution, when still comparatively young men, tell of Valley Forge, Quebec, the Cowpens and Yorktown. She had seen a brother, with the ardor of youthful patri- otism glowing in his countenance, march to North Point to meet "the British in- vader," and had listened to the cannon's roar in our second war for independence. She had heard the returning tramp of the victorious veterans from the plains of Mex- ico, and then had seen our land involved in internecine strife and bathed in the com- mingled blood of brothers; had furnished sons for the maintenance of the Union, and then lived to rejoice over a re-united country-one flag and one people-and a restoration of fraternal feelings between the sections. She had witnessed the column of states run up from fifteen to thirty-eight, and the increase of our population from four millions to sixty millions, and infant weakness raised to giant power. She had lived in the day's of Washington and had mourned with a nation over his death. She had stood at the graves of her parents, three brothers and a sister, or had wiped away the teardrops as news of the departure of one after another reached her, until she re- mained as the only survivor of her family. Children had been born to her and grand- children had delighted her heart, and her days had been so lengthened as to be blessed with great-grandchildren. In all the rela- tions of life, as wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, friend, she was the per- fect woman. Possessed of remarkable strength of character, equable temperament, amiable disposition and fine judgment, she impressed herself upon all with whom she was brought in contact and in the family circle her influence and example shed their
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benign rays and made useful citizens of her sons and exemplary women of her daugh- ters. Being of a bright, cheerful nature, her presence ever brought sunshine into the gloomy vaults of a heart depressed, and so self-sacrificing was she that she thought not of her own comfort, if she could bring ease to the suffering, rest to the weary or hap- piness to the distressed. But she is gone, full of years, leaving behind her many to call her blessed, many to revere her memory.
Three sons and one daughter and many kindred, among these two nephews (Gen. John W. O'Ferrall, of Mississippi, and Judge Chas. T. O'Ferrall, member of con- gress from the Shenandoah valley, Vir- ginia), survive her. Should there be sad- ness over her departure?
Ye are not sad to see the gathered grain, Nor where their mellow fruit the orchards cast, Nor when the yellow woods let fall the ripened mast.
Should there be weeping over her grave? When her life's labors are done, and she has passed serenely to her final- rest, and
The soft memory of virtues yet
Lingers like twilight hours, when the bright sun is set.
No; but let those whose hearts are so deeply touched by the recollection of the now stilled voice that was ever as sweet music to their ears, and by the sight of the now vacant old arm-chair, and those in dis- tant parts who loved her, be enabled to say with true Christian resignation, "The will of the Lord be done."
And we are glad she has lived thus long,
And glad that she has gone to her reward; Nor can we deem that Nature did her wrong, Softly to disengage the vital cord.
BUNYON J. WELLS.
It is often asserted that the superiority of the average American over the individual of any other nation is due to the fact that the native of this country has the blood of many nationalities circulating in his veins and that his bent of mind and tendency of disposition is dominated by the best ele- ments of each nationality entering into his composition. The theory is probably cor- rect ; at least, Americans like to plume them- selves upon its verity. In that case Bunyon J. Wells, the subject of this sketch, comes by his good qualities very naturally. Eng- lish, Irish and Dutch are so beautifully mingled and tangled up in his composition that goodness must necessarily be his pre- vailing characteristic, and it is. He is a resident of Nottingham township, Wells county, Indiana. The date of his birth is April 5, 1835, in Guernsey county, Ohio.
The parents of Bunyon J. Wells were John and Sarah (Tedrick) Wells. John was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, of English parentage. There he grew to manhood and learned the trade of a tanner. The family moved to Guernsey county when he was a young man, and there he found ample employment at his trade of tanning, was prosperous and got married. His wife was Miss Sarah Tedrick, daughter of Jacob and Sarah Tedrick. She was of Irish and he of Dutch descent. After mar- riage they went to housekeeping in Guern- sey county and it was there all their children were born. About 1839 the family moved to Blackford county, Indiana, and settled on the land now owned by Sarber & Scott, which was then all in the woods. He pre- pared the timber to build a cabin and had
B. J. WELLS.
MRS. B. J. WELLS.
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to walk three and a half miles to the near- est neighbors to get them to come and help raise it. For a number of years he worked on his farm, but toward the latter part of his life he again devoted himself to the busi- ness of tanning leather. He continued to reside upon his land up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1879; his wife had then been dead about three years. Among the assets of his estate were three hundred and twenty acres of land. To John and Sarah (Tedrick) Wells six children were born, viz: James M., a resident of Mont- pelier ; Martha, now deceased, was the wife of William Clevenger; Elizabeth, now de- ceased, was the wife of George Dawson; Sarah is the wife of Albert Dawson, a resi- dent of near Petoskey, Michigan ; Bunyon J., the subject of this sketch ; Jacob, deceased.
To the public schools of Blackford county and Liber College, near Portland, B. J. Wells is indebted for his education. The public schools he attended until he was twenty years of age and then attended the college during three terms. For a time he devoted himself to teaching in Chester town- ship, Wells county. Though doing much work on the farm from boyhood, he received no compensation whatever from his father, outside of his necessities, until he was twenty-one years of age, from which time he received wages the same as a hired hand. On March 31, 1859, Bunyon J. Wells was united in marriage to Miss Sarah J. Daw- son, who was born in Champaign county, Ohio, February 2, 1837, the daughter of John and Prudence (Travis) Dawson.
John Dawson was a native of Hartford county, Maryland, and a son of Thomas and Margaret Dawson. Thomas came from his native country, Ireland, to Maryland when he was only fifteen years of age. There
he married and there his son John was born. 'The most of the life of Thomas Dawson was devoted to farming. John grew to manhood in Maryland and became a manu- facturer of boots and shoes. When war with England was declared, in 1812, he vol- unteered in a Maryland regiment, serving all through the conflict, and when peace was declared he came home, with health badly impaired. By the advice of his physicians he traveled on horse back through Pennsyl- vania and into Ohio. There he met, in 1817, Jane Travis, married her and settled down to manufacturing boots and shoes in Guern- sey county, Ohio. For about eleven years he worked at this business and was fairly prosperous. In 1828 his wife died, leaving him children, viz: Rebecca, born Aug- ust 2, 1818, died at the age of eleven years; Elizabeth, born November 6, 1822, deceased; George, born November 25, 1824, now a resident of Union City ; Albert, born December 27, 1826, resides in Petoskey, Michigan. In 1830 John Dawson married Prudence Travis, a sister of his former wife. To them three children were born, the old- est in 1833, died in infancy; the second died aged eighteen months; Margaret, in 1835; Sarah J., the youngest of the fam- ily, was born February 2, 1837, and is the wife of Bunyon J. Wells, the subject of his sketch. In 1838 John Dawson moved his family to Wells county, Indiana, and settled on the farm in Nottingham township, where Lewis Abshire now lives. He secured four hundred acres of land, all in the woods. In winter he worked at the boot and shoe busi- ness, sometimes at home, sometimes in Camden, while in summer he attended to his farm. Here he remained until his death, which occurred March 12, 1877.
When John Dawson settled in Wells
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county, Indiana, his nearest neighbor lived four miles away. In her girlhood, Mrs. Wells says, Indians were quite numerous in Wells county, and wolves and bears were also plentiful. One of the Dawson boys shot and killed an old bear and captured three cubs and one of the latter was brought up about the house as a pet. Deer were so plentiful it was not uncommon to see as many as fifteen in one herd and it is told by the Dawsons that they shot deer from the top of their cabin. At that time the state road was the only road and it was merely a trail blazed through the woods. The low ground was then so wet and marshy that they did not pretend to use it. Only the high ground was cultivated.
After marriage Bunyon J. Wells rented his father's farm for four years. The fifth year he moved to the one-hundred-and- twenty-acre farm where he now lives. Their home was an old log cabin, through the cracks of which, Mrs. Wells says, you could fling a cat. From this place, in November, 1864, he entered the Federal service, join- ing Company K, Fifty-third Indiana Vol- unteers. He went to the front almost im- mediately after enlistment, was "marching through Georgia" with Sherman in the spring of 1865, was stationed at Dalton and remained there until April, when they joined the forces at Alexandria in time to take part in the grand review at Washington City. He was discharged in July, 1865. In his absence Mrs. Wells looked after the stock, managed the farm and took care of his in- terests generally.
After returning from the service in the fall of 1865 Bunyon J. Wells moved his family to his father's farm, went to work at tanning and continued in that business un-
til 1870, when he returned to his farm. Of the one hundred and twenty acres of which his farm is comprised, only thirty acres yet remained uncleared. The other ninety acres are well cleared, fenced, ditched and are splendidly cultivated. All of the improve- ments are substantial and lasting. On the place are six oil wells that at one time were "gushers," but are now giving out about twelve barrels a day.
Since 1870, a period of thirty-two years, Bunyon J. Wells has devoted his entire time to his farm. He raises crops of grain, hay, vegetables and fruit, breeds and feeds cattle and Poland China hogs. He has made his business of farming quite profitable. His youngest son, John W. Wells, owns the lease of the six oil wells on the place and also manages the farm. He is prudent, energetic and economical. While the flow from the wells was big he was engaged in pumping, saved his money and when the opportunity offered purchased the lease. He also owns forty acres of land purchased with money accumulated in this way.
To Mr. and Mrs. Bunyon J. Wells have been born five children, viz: Albertus V., born January 28, 1860; Geneva, born April 4. 1865, is the wife of John C. S. Burritt, and they are the parents of two children, Dwight and Beatrice, and reside on Mrs. Burritt's parents' farm ; Prudence E., born November 12, 1867, married Frank Neus- baumer, a farmer, a resident of Bluffton, and have two children, Goldie and Leah; Carrie, born October 14, 1871, died November 4, 1888; John W., born May 11, 1874, married Mollie Nutter, and they have two children, Amy and Eugene.
In politics Bunyon J. Wells is a Republi- can, but not an office seeker or an office hold-
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er. The only public position he ever held was that of constable for two years. Never- theless few campaigns come round in which he does not take an active part in the inter- est of his party. The only order to which he belongs is that of Lew Daily Post No. 33, G. A. R., at Bluffton. All through his long and useful life of nearly three score and ten years he has acted his part well by his family, his county, his state and his na- tion. To be right is his ambition, to do right is his creed.
Mr. and Mrs. Wells have in their pos- session an old parchment deed which was executed November 7, 1840, and bears the signature of President Martin Van Buren.
JAMES LOCKWOOD.
People of philanthropic tendencies, en- gaged in the work of ameliorating the con- dition of the working man, have long known that their labors would be much easier if they could induce laboring people to leave the cities and take up their abode in rural districts. In the cities few labor- ing people rise above a monotonous exist- ence of living, as it is expressed, "from hand to mouth." In the country it is vastly different. There are few of the most suc- cessful farmers of any agricultural section who did not begin their active life working on the farm for other people. Had they started in a shop, factory, or other work in town, they might not even own the home they live in and they would be confronted with a dependent old age, instead of having ample means to gratify every want. The subject of this sketch. James E. Lockwood,
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