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 54
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February 19, 1870, Mr. Carrysot was
united in marriage to Miss Samantha Febu- ary, a native of France, born in that country June 15, 1848. Her parents were Isadore and Jeannette (Burnett) Febuary, both na- tives of France. Samantha was only one year old when her parents brought her to America. They settled in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, where the father, Isadore, en- gaged in farming. Later they moved to Holmes county, where Isadore was killed by the falling of some timbers at a barn rais- ing, in 1858. He left a widow and three children, viz: Mary, widow of Alexander Pierson; Henry, a resident of Pennsylvania, and Samantha, wife of the subject. Left almost at the verge of destitution, the chil- dren were obliged to seek employment wherever they could get it. At the age of fourteen Samantha began working out by the week and continued doing so up to the time of her marriage. Her mother died in May, 1880.
In the fall of 1875, Mr. Carrysot went to Kansas and purchased a quarter section of land, and in the following spring moved his family out, and took up his abode in a vacant house near by. He broke the entire quarter section and put it in cultivation, but never settled on it. In the meantime, he had bought a claim from a man by the name of David, near his other farm. This prop- erty had little improvements upon it and a fairly good house, and here he moved his family. His wife was not contented in the land of sunflowers and gentle zephyrs, so he moved to Indiana, located at Fort Wayne and engaged in the wholesale meat business. He liked this business no better than selling groceries and remained with it no longer. By a little diplomatic dickering and a number of shrewd deals he succeeded
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in getting rid of his Kansas possessions and in return therefor became the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of choice Wells county land, the same upon which he now resides. At the time of making his removal to Kansas he was accompanied by his wife's mother and brother. His step-father died in Williams county, Ohio, in 1878, and he then went there to settle up the estate, and after closing matters there, he returned to Kansas, bringing his mother with him. She died in that state, April 3, 1880.
When Adolphus Carrysot moved to his present farm, those living in the vicinity pre- dicted that he would starve to death on it. Those people evidently did not know the manner of man they were talking about. He had been in the woods before and served an apprenticeship in getting rid of swamps. He applied himself assiduously to clearing, ditching and fencing and so far from starv- ing has he been that his finanical condition has been growing better every day since. He now has one hundred and forty acres cleared and in a fine state of cultivation. In 1888 he built a bank barn thirty-eight by sixty-four feet, which cost him nineteen hundred dollars, and in the spring of 1901 he erected a farm residence of nine rooms at a cost of seventeen hundred dollars. The money that went into these structures simply represents the industry, economy and thrift of Adolphus Carrysot and his faithful wife, Samantha.
To Mr. and Mrs. Carrysot five children have been born, viz: Mary A., born Feb- ruary 20, 1871, is the wife of Israel Raver ; they reside in Rock Creek township and are the parents of four children, Vivian B., Leona V., Martha L., and an infant son, unnamed. Sarah died at the age of five
weeks; Lena I., born May 28, 1879, is the wife of James W. Dowty, a resident of Lancaster township, and they are the par- ents of two children, June M. and Paul Adam Adolphus; Henry L., born Septem- ber 18, 1881, has a splendid business educa- tion and is now employed as bookkeeper and stenographer with a firm in Seattle, Wash. He married Iva E. Crook in Sep- tember, 1902; Edith L., born February 14, 1892.
During the "good roads era" in Indiana, when the bottomless mud roads of the state were in the process of conversion into fine turnpikes, in partnership with James Cros- by, Sr., Adolphus Carrysot secured a num- ber of gravel road contracts. They built portions of the following gravel roads : the Lee Davis road in Union township, the My- ers road in Harrison township and the Gar- rett road in Nottingham township, and Mr. Carrysot was superintendent of construc- tion of the "Bush" gravel road. In every public enterprise he has always been a lead- er and through his push, energy and tenaci- ty many worthy improvements have been forced to completion that otherwise might have failed.
During all the life of the Republican party Adolphus Carrysot has been a firm believer in that political faith. In 1898 he was a candidate on the Republican county ticket for county commissioner. He has served as a delegate in many of the Repub- lican county and state conventions and in 1900 was census taker for Lancaster town- ship. For eight years he represented his township in the county central committee. Beginning life humbly at the foot of the lad- der of success, he has, by a course of manly and persistent endeavor, mounted to the
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top and now he can review his past record with the consciousness of having done his very best under all circumstances. He be- gan active life in the right manner and to this fact and the gifts of head and heart of which he is possessed, he and his wife owe the splendid success they have attained.
MARION GARTON.
This young agriculturist and stock rais- er and one of the most enterprising resi- dents of Lancaster township, Wells county, Indiana, was born November 22, 1860, on the farm his grandfather. Jonathan Garton, had entered many years ago in this town- ship and which is now owned by the widow Bowman.
Marion Garton is a son of Henry J. and Anna Maria Garton. He was reared on the farm alluded to above until sixteen years of age, when he began clerking in a general store in Pugney, Indiana, where he passed some time, gaining a fair insight into mer- cantile affairs. He there married, December II, 1878, Miss Nancy M. Wilkin, a daugh- ter of William and Mary (Trenary) Wil- kin, and a native of Lancaster township, born September 19, 1860. After marriage, Marion Garton and his bride went to live with his father, for whom they kept house and assisted in farming the place for about five years, after which he engaged in the manufacture of tile for about ten years. Later he for three years employed himself in farming in conjunction with tilemaking, having in the meanwhile, in 1883, taken pos- session of the farm on which he now makes his home. The farm comprises eighty acres,
sixty acres of which he has cleared and well ditched and on which he has erected a substantial barn and other necessary out- buildings for the accommodation of his stock and other purposes. Mr. Garton de- votes the greater part of his attention to the breeding of thoroughbred shorthorn cattle, Shropshire sheep and Chester White hogs, and is ready at all times to furnish buyers with thoroughbred breeding stock. To keep his graded animals well up to the mark, Mr. Garton purchased in 1902, a cow and calf for two hundred and twenty-five dol- lars and a bull for one hundred and fifteen dollars, and with these it is his hope to keep his graded animals in good supply and fully up to the mark .:
To Mr. and Mrs. Marion Garton have been born five children, in the following or- der : Chloe M., May 2, 1880; Emma D., January 26, 1882 ; Hiram F., July 19, 1884; Hazel A., April 25, 1891, and Anna Fay, August 8, 1894.
.Fraternally Mr. Garton is a member of the Knights of Pythias lodge at Tocsin, In- diana, and politically he is a Democrat of the most stalwart kind. He has served as delegate from his district to various con- ventions of his party and in 1899 was his party's candidate for sheriff of Wells county, but with the rest of the ticket was defeated by a small majority. He has also served as a grand juryman.
Mr. Garton, it will have been perceived from the foregoing, has always been an ac- tive man of business, ready to turn his hand to anything that promised to bring him sat- isfactory returns, and as a rule he has been very successful in all his undertakings. If he has not altogether made all he possesses, he has at least made good use of everything
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that has come into his hands and increased it in value. He has led a strictly upright life and has won the esteem of all who know him. He is honored not only for his industry and practical business methods, but for his many personal merits and in this general esteem his wife and children have a full share. In the social circles of Lan- caster township the Garton, family stand deservedly high, the name is duly respected wherever known, and no men of Mr .. Gar- ton's years can claim a higher standing among their fellow citizens.
DAVID CROSS HUFFMAN, M. D.
This already eminent, but still rising physician and surgeon of Craigville, Wells county, Indiana, was born in Clark county, Ohio, October 29, 1855. His father, Jacob Huffman, Jr., was also a native of Clark county, Ohio, and was born in Mad River township in 1830, and died in 1877, of apo- plexy. The grandfather of the Doctor, Ja- cob Huffman, Sr., was born in Lancaster, county, Pennsylvania, a son of Henry Huff- man, and emigrated to Ohio in 1800, before the then territory was admitted to the Union as a state, later receiving a grant of two hundred and twenty-five acres of land, the title deed to which was signed by President Thomas Jefferson. Jacob Huffman, Jr., , married Sarah Tennant, who was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, in 1833, and now resides in Springfield, Ohio, and who bore her husband the following named children: Mrs. Emily H. Beavis, of De- troit, Michigan; Dr. David C .; Jacob, de- ceased; Charles, a merchant in Dayton,
Ohio; Mrs. Martha Van Bird and Mrs. Laura Stickney, both of Springfield.
Dr. David C. Huffman acquired his lit- erary education in the grammar and high schools of Springfield, and in 1876 entered Miami Medical College at Cincinnati, from which he was graduated in 1876. For the fol- lowing seven years he was actively employed in the practice of his profession in Spring- field, winning a high position among his fellow practitioners of that city, and conse- quently a fair remuneration for his service. He then came to Indiana and located at Mount Zion, Wells county, whence he moved in 1894 to Craigville, where he has since been busily engaged with his numer- ous patients and where he stands at the head and front of his profession.
Dr. Huffman was united in marriage at Yellow Springs, Ohio, January 20, 1882, with Miss Anna Landaker, a daughter of Gideon Landaker and Hester (Stratton) Landaker, the former a merchant from Virginia and an ex-soldier, and the latter from College Hill, Cincinnati, Ohio. The union of the Doctor and his wife has been graced with three children, namely: Wor- den D., born April 20, 1887; Pansy, born January 2, 1889, and Gideon, born Novem- ber 5, 1890. Mrs. Huffman is a member of the United Brethren church, in the good work of which she takes an energetic and deeply interested part and to the mainte- nance of which both she and husband freely contribute financially. In politics the Doc- tor is a Democrat. Of the medical frater- nities the Doctor is a member of the Clark County (Ohio) Medical Society, of which he is secretary, and also a member of the board of censors while practicing in Spring- field; he is also a member of the Wells
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County (Indiana) Medical Society, and to both of these associations he has contributed many valuable papers on professional sub- jects. The Doctor has a very pleasant home in Craigville and in social circles he and wife fill a conspicuous position. They are especially esteemed for their many personal excellencies and deserve all the respect that is paid them
HENRY J. GARTON.
One of the prominent farmers of Lan- caster township, Wells county, Indiana, is Henry J. Garton, who was born in New Jer- sey, January 28, 1835, a son of Jonathan and Elizabeth (Souders) Garton, also natives of New Jersey and of Irish and Dutch de- scent. Jonathan and Elizabeth (Souders) Garton were married in New Jersey, and there made their home until 1837, when they removed to Franklin county, Indiana, and rented land for about five years, after which they came to Wells county, Indiana. He had come here the previous year and en- tered one hundred and sixty acres of gov- ernment land in Lancaster township, from which he developed an excellent farm on which he and his wife died some years ago, in the Universalist faith. They were the parents of eight children, namely : Cather- ine, who died at the age of twelve years; Eliza, deceased wife of Lemuel Paynter ; Louis, a resident of Lancaster township; Lydia, deceased wife of James Dailey ; Oliver P., deceased; Andrew J., deceased; Henry J., to whose interests this sketch is principally devoted, and a daughter that died in infancy. Jonathan Garton, the father of
the above named children, was judge of the common pleas court for four or five years, and also served for several years as county commissioner, and likewise for a long time as justice of the peace.
Henry J. Garton was but seven years of age when his parents settled in Lancaster township, Wells county. Here he attended school until twenty-one years of age and later supplemented the education thus ac- quired by study at home during the winters for some considerable time. At the age of nineteen he had begun to work for himself, and at the same time made an agreement with his father, under which there was fifty dollars a year to be turned over to that gen- tleman as long as this agreement remained mutually satisfactory. Under such circum- stances, Henry J. worked out at farm work by the day, or month, for three years or longer, and then rented the homestead, pay- ing for its use and occupancy one-half the products annually. This arrangement held good until 1864, but in the meantime, in 1861, Henry J. had purchased eighty acres of the farm on which he now lives, but bought it on credit; yet he worked at clear- ing it up during the winter months, and in 1864 had earned sufficient means from his labors on his father's place to pay for his own property. In 1865, Henry J. Garton moved upon his own place, eight acres of which he had cleared off. He at once erect- ed his present dwelling and put up a shanty for his horses and cattle and the same year he built his first frame barn; subsequently he put up another barn, and has since kept adding to his improvements until at the pres- ent time he has as neat and tidy a place as there is in Lancaster township. Of his own eighty-acre tract, secured by purchase, Mr.
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Garton has cleared seventy-five acres and has placed it under cultivation and thoroughly ditched it. He also owns eighty acres of the old home place, seventy acres 'of which have been cleared, and thus has a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, all in one compact body.
H. J. Garton was united in marriage January 5, 1860, with Miss Anna M. Trul- lender, who was born in Lancaster town- ship, this county, October 2, 1842, and was a daughter of Hiram and Ruth Trullender, who came from New Jersey and settled here in an early day. Mrs. Anna M. Garton was a most, amiable lady and a true helpmate to her husband, but was called hence July 31, 1878, having borne her husband six children : Marion, Ida, Adella, Robert, Lu- cinda and Frank. Of these children Marion married Nancy Wilkins, who has borne him five children; Chloe, Emma, Hiram, Hazel and Fay. The father of these chil- dren, Marion Garton, lives on and cultivates the southern eighty acres of the old home- stead. Ida, the second child, Della, the third child, and Robert, the fourth child of Henry J. Garton and wife, as mentioned above, are all deceased; Lucinda, the fifth child, is the wife of Harvey Diehl, of Marion, Indiana; Frank, the sixth child, is married to Margaret Wasson, who has borne him three children : Haldie, Harry and Donald, and all make their home on the old home place.
H. J. Garton is a Universalist in religion and in politics he is a Democrat. Socially he stands very high in the community, as he descends from one of the oldest families in the county, and his own personal merits have won for him an esteem which is seldom ac- corded spontaneously to any citizen.
JOEL FRY.
In the daily laborious struggle for an honorable competence and a solid career on the part of a business or professional man there is little to attract the casual reader in search of a sensational chapter; but to a mind thoroughly awake to the reality and meaning of human existence there are no- ble and imperishable lessons in the career of an individual who, without other means than a clear head, strong arm and true heart, directed and controlled by correct principles and unerring judgment, conquers adver- sity and, toiling on, finally wins, not only pecuniary independence but, what is far greater and higher, the deserved respect and confidence of those with whom his ac- tive years have been passed.
Back in the early 'fifties there came to this country a sturdy Frenchman, Albert Fry by name, who was convinced of the possibili- ties and opportunities awaiting the man of ambition, pluck and energy, in this land of freedom. He located in Wayne county, Ohio, and about 1856 was united in mar- riage with Susan Ashbaucher, the daughter of Peter Ashbaucher, a prominent farmer of Wayne county and a native of Switzerland. To this union there was born, on the 3Ist of March, 1858, a son, Joel, the immediate subject of this sketch. While the latter was yet a babe, the war of the Rebellion was precipitated and Albert Fry was among the first of the brave volunteers from his county to offer their services, and lives if need be, that the integrity of the national government might be maintained. In 1864, after several years of active and arduous service, he was granted a furlough and started for home, but, like many others, was
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stricken with sickness and died before reach- ing his loved ones.
Shortly after her husband's death Mrs. Fry and her son came to Indiana, locating in Adams county where, in 1869, Mrs. Fry was married to John Yost. Joel Fry re- mained with his mother until attaining man- hood, in the meantime attending the district schools of the neighborhood and acquiring a fair education. Until he was eighteen years of age he worked on his step-father's farm and acquired a thorough knowledge of agriculture. At the age mentioned he started out to earn his own living, possess- ing no capital other than a determination to succeed and an energy and capability for work which was bound to result in his favor. For a year he struggled, doing any work he could find to do, turning his back upon noth- ing that promised him an opportunity to earn an honest dollar. By strenuous - en- deavor and rigid economy he was at length enabled to purchase a threshing machine in partnership with his uncle, Albert Yeager, and continued in the operation of this ma- chine until he was twenty-one years of age, when he sold his interest in the business to his partner. The following year he moved to Wells county and purchased a portable saw-mill and followed the lumber business for two years with a fair degree of profit. He had acquired a good working knowledge of business methods and had won for him- self a reputation for honesty and fair deal- ing which assisted him materially in his fu- ture operations. Feeling that the pursuit of agriculture offered the most independent life and the surest returns, if properly man- aged, he, in the fall of 1882, purchased the farm in section 31, Lancaster township, upon which he now resides. This farm
comprises one hundred and five acres and has been developed and improved by the subject until it now ranks with the best farms of the township. Mr. Fry continued to operate the saw-mill in connection with his farm until the spring of 1902, when he ceased the operation of the former and has since devoted his entire attention to his farm. He bestows great care upon his fields and by closely studying the adaptability of the soil to the different crops has brought his place up to its highest producing capaci- ty, never failing to realize abundant returns for the time and labor devoted to his chosen calling.
On the 22d of February, 1880, Mr. Fry was united in marriage with Miss Sarah Stauffer, the daughter of Christian Stauffer, of Adams county. This union has been a most congenial one and Mrs. Fry has in many ways proven herself a helpmate in the truest sense of the word. They are the parents of six children, briefly mentioned as follows: Della Belle, born April 7, 1881 ; Arley Hiram, born December 26, 1882; Meadie, born April 4, 1887; Ada Pearl, born February 18, 1890; Homer Franklin, born August 4, 1893, and Walter Edward, born March 23, 1899. Mr. and Mrs. Fry are endeavoring to give their children good educations and rear them in such a manner as will result in the highest standard of man- hood and womanhood.
From the attainment of his majority Mr. Fry has been actively identified with the Democratic party and has always taken a keen interest in the advancement of his par- ty's interests. In the fall of 1900 he was nominated for the office of township trustee and at the ensuing election was successful at the polls and is now serving in this re-
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sponsible position. He is giving to the du- ties of this office the same careful attention to details as characterized his conduct of his own affairs and the wise discrimination and sound judgment evinced by him have al- ready won for him the hearty commendation of all people, regardless of party. Frater- nally Mr. Fry is a member of the Knights of Pythias, having joined the order in the fall of 1902, in Bluffton Lodge No. 92. In 1897 the subject united with the First Re- formed church of Bluffton and has since been a faithful and devoted member of that congregation. He gives liberally of his means to all worthy objects and all move- ments having for their object the betterment of his fellow men receive his earnest sup- port. He is a man of quiet, gentlemanly de- meanor, highly esteemed by his neighbors and fellow citizens of the community and no one occupies a more conspicuous place in the minds and hearts of the people by whom he is known. His private character is above criticism and he has always aimed to keep his name and reputation unspotted. His has been an earnest life, fraught with much that tends to benefit his kind and his career in the humble sphere of private citizenship, as well as in public position, has added to the character and stability of the community in which he lives.
A. S. ABBOTT.
To be successful it is necessary that the person be adapted to the calling in which he engages. There are some people' possessed of sufficient versatility to be seemingly suc- cessful in all they undertake, but the average man must be fitted for his calling. Some
people flounder around half their lives, shifting from one vocation to another, be- fore they discover what they are fitted for ; others strike, seemingly by accident, the business best suited to them, while still others almost intuitively take up the work in which they are destined to excell. A successful merchant might be a rank fail- ure as a mechanic, and instances where good mechanics are spoiled to make poor poli- ticians are numerous in nearly every com- munity. When Alfred Sherman Abbott, the subject of this sketch, quit his grand- father's home in Shelby county, Ohio, and came to Craigville, Wells county, Indiana, to engage in the general mercantile business with his father he struck a calling for which he is well fitted, as his experience of the past twelve years has disclosed.
Alfred S. Abbott was born in Shelby county, Ohio, February 28, 1865. When he was seven years old his father, Daniel W. Abbott, who was a United Brethren minis- ter, was given a circuit in Jay county, Indi- ana, and thither the family was moved. In the district schools of Indiana young Ab- bott laid the foundation for a good, liberal education. Having taken the regular course there, he attended the high school at Ada, Ohio, acquiring a very thorough knowledge of all the branches there taught. On com- pleting his school course he for a time traveled about Ohio, seemingly undecided what would be best for him to engage in. In the summer of 1886 he turned up at the old home in Shelby county, Ohio, where his grandfather still lived, and was prevailed upon by the old gentleman to take up work on the farm. He was industrious and provi- dent, his crops and stock thrived and har- vests were abundant.
April 15, 1888, he was united in mar-
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riage to Miss Laura C. Rhoads, of Rock- ford. She was a lady of good education and many accomplishments, a teacher in the public schools of Mercer county. He con- tinued cultivating his grandfather's farm until the fall of 1890, when he was invited by his father to come to Craigville and en- gage with him in the mercantile business, as clerk and assistant, and, with some mis- givings, he accepted the invitation. The move proved to be a wise one. Rev. Ab- bott was postmaster under the Harrison ad- ministration, and most of the labor of the office devolved upon the subject. His ex- perience in the store and in the postoffice he found most beneficial, being a sort of com- mercial education in itself. Under the ad- ministration of President Mckinley, in 1898, Alfred S. Abbott was appointed post- master, and in 1900 he purchased the store of his father and since then has conducted it alone. Under the present administration he has been reappointed postmaster, and his conduct of the office has given very general satisfaction. The business of the store con- tinues steadily to increase, trade being drawn from a large area of territory each successive year. Business is conducted in a prudent, systematic manner that cannot but win the favor of patrons, and prosperity is the inevitable result. Few young men be- ginning in the mercantile line without ex- perience, as A. S. Abbott did, have been as eminently successful as he has.
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