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 70
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James P. Mounsey attended the public
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schools of his native township until he was twenty-one years of age, when he entered the employ of his father on the farm at eigh- teen dollars per month. In this way he worked for two years, when his father pre- sented him with a tract of eighty acres of land, the same upon which he now resides. It was wild, heavily wooded and unim- proved, without fences, ditches or buildings of any kind, and for the next few years he applied himself to clearing this land, prose- cuting the work with energy.
On April 19, 1878, Mr. Mounsey was united in marriage to Miss Sarah A. McNatt, a native of Guernsey county, Ohio, daughter of Joseph and Mary A. (Hutchison) Mc- Natt. She accompanied her parents as a child, from Ohio to Wells county. After marriage he settled on the farm owned by his brother, Elijah, and remained there three years. He then bought an old, hewed-log house and moved it to his own farm. In this he lived until 1895, when he erected his present handsome, substantial dwelling of nine rooms, all well finished and beautifully furnished. Three years previous he built a fine, commodious barn, forty by seventy feet. He is now the owner of two hundred and twenty acres of fine land, one hundred and sixty of which comprise the home place. On a tract of sixty acres, near Keystone, he has two producing oil wells, from which he realizes a fair income.
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To Mr. and Mrs. Mounsey seven children have been born, of whom five are now living. They are Lilia, wife of George Helams, of Huntington county, parents of one child ; Inez ; Lula B., wife of C. A. Payne, of Ches- ter township, parents of one child, Ruth; Floyd, deceased ; Charles C., Claude L. and Victor V. are at home, and Mabel A. died
at the age of two years. The family. attend the Christian church, of which the parents are members and active workers in the cause. He has served as trustee of the church and has been deacon for fifteen years. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Liberty Center. In politics he is a Democrat, but in local affairs is liberal enough to vote for the man. He has always been an industrious worker, provident and thrifty. It is a source of much gratification to him that at his time of life he finds himself in possession of enough of this world's goods to insure him and all whom he loves against every contingency of want and privation. He is a good citizen, whose ability and worth are well appreciated by his neighbors.
SILAS POLING.
This gentleman, who has been a resi- dent of Wells county, Indiana, since 1866, was born in Jackson township, Perry county, Ohio, April 7, 1823. His father, Martin Poling, was a native of Pennsyl- vania, born October 18, 1781, and was a son of William Poling. He grew to man- hood and was married in Pennsylvania, choosing for his bride Hester Reaver, also a native of the Keystone state and born April 7, 1786. Martin Poling removed from Pennsylvania to Perry county, Ohio, while he was in the vigor of his younger manhood and for some few years employed himself in farming in the woods. After having developed a farm of no mean pro- portions he sold out his property and re- moved to Hocking county, in the same state, purchased an eighty-acre tract, also
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woodland, and wrought out another farm, which was his home until his death, which occurred January 18, 1855. Mrs. Hester Poling survived until June 14, 1867, when she was summoned to join her husband in the unknown land, taking her departure from the home of her son, Silas. The chil- dren born to Martin and Hester (Reaver) Poling numbered fourteen, of whom three only are now living. These children were born in the following order: Jacob, Rich- ard, Katherine, Pollie, Elizabeth, Elijah, Silas, Isaiah, Jefferson, Anna, three whose names cannot be recalled or who died in infancy unnamed, and Matilda. Of the survivors of this family of fourteen Eliza is the widow of John Confare,-of Wells county ; Silas, whose name opens this rec- ord, and Matilda, wife of Peter Prough, who has his home in Missouri.
Silas Poling grew to manhood in Hocking county, Ohio, and lived with his father on the home place until he attained his majority. At the early age of thirteen, however, Silas began working out for the neighboring families, but finally turned over the proceeds of his labor to his father. Upon attaining mature years, he was mar- ried, December 10, 1843, to Miss Mar- garet Goss, a native of Hocking county, Ohio, and a daughter of Henry and Hes- ter Goss, the former of German and the latter of English descent. Mrs. Margaret (Goss) Poling, however, was called to rest June 26, 1875, having borne her husband ten children, namely: Zelda, who was born April 18, 1845, is now the widow of John Edgar and the mother of six children: John, Edgar, Alice, Atkinson, Minnie and Ruth; Almeda, born May 13, 1847, is the wife of Harvey Irick and has two children,
Effie and Pearl; Hester, born December 10, 1849, is the widow of Nathan Lewis and the mother of seven children, Ollie, Francis, Zetta, Frank, Mollie, Gertie and Bertha ; Emily, born March 6, 1852, is the wife of Thomas Clampit and has two chil- dren, William and Eldora; Jefferson, born July 7, 1854, married Sarah Stenson, who has borne him three children, Effie, Earn- est and Charley; Amos, born April 25, 1856, married Sarah Evans, who has be- come the mother of four children, Har- riet, Mabel, Emmett and Ora; Mary M. died at three years of age; George D. died aged four years; Athalinda, born May 7, 1863, is the widow of Oliver Lewis and has one child, Blanche; Anna E., born Febru- ary 3, 1866, is married to Jacob Shafer.
At his marriage Silas Poling located on a farm in Hocking county, Ohio, where he lived until the fall of 1864, when he came to Indiana and rented land in Hunt- ington county, on which he lived until 1866 and then purchased the tract of one hun- dred and thirty acres in Wells county, on which he still lives. This land was in a swamp in the woods and covered with water that would reach his neck had he at- tempted to wade through its depths. Mr. Poling, however, hewed down some tim- ber, built a cabin and furnished it with a split-log or puncheon floor, with which he was contented until he had time to get to Warren and secure some planking. For the reason that he was unable to drain his land unassisted, he went three miles to Huntington county and worked for Israel Black on a farm now owned by John Huff- man, and also for several years worked for the farmers until his own land could be drained. To show the condition of the
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country at this time, it may be related that when Wilbie Barton came to survey the first ditch through Mr. Poling's place he was compelled to roll up his trousers as high as he possibly could. Mr. Poling now has his farm as well drained as any tract in the township, having tiled into the pub- lic ditch. The farm comprises seventy acres, of which Mr. Poling owns fifty and Mrs. Poling twenty.
After the death of his first wife, Silas Poling married, June 26, 1875, Lucinda Petty, widow of Joseph Petty and daugh- ter of John and Elizabeth Stiveson, the former of whom was born in Pennsylvania and the latter in Hocking county, Ohio, and in the latter county were married and there passed the remainder of life. John Stiveson and wife had a family of twelve children, namely: Catherine, deceased; Emanuel, deceased; Zoel, Lemuel, Susan. Sarah, deceased; Elizabeth, Mary, Lu- cinda, Johnnie, Eliza, deceased. To a sec- ond marriage there were two children, namely: Dessie, who had her nativity March 23, 1864; Mary A., born Septem- ber 18, 1866, and married to William Had- den ; Josephine, born July 25, 1868, is mar- ried to A. T. Merriman and has three chil- dren, Jeston, Dawn and Floyd. Joseph Petty was called away June 20, 1868, or about seven years prior to the second mar- riage of his widow. To the second mar- riage of Silas Poling have been born two children, viz: Halleck, September 21, 1880, and married to Jennie Mounsey, but makes his home with his father, and Cur- tis Eugene.
Silas Poling still maintains supervision over his farm, on which he has six oil wells which produce a handsome income. He
and wife are members of the Mount Zion United Brethren church, of which Mr. Poling has been a class leader for forty years and also Sunday school superintend- ent. He has been a Republican in politics ever since the organization of the party and cast his first presidential vote for John C. Fremont. Mr. Poling signified his patriotism, April 1, 1864, by volunteering in the Union volunteer infantry and serv- ing ninety days against the rebel general Early. He was then honorably discharg- ed, having fought in West Virginia and Maryland with Company H, One Hun- dred and Fifty-first Ohio Volunteers. He is one of the honored residents of Wells county, and his straightforward and useful" life fully entitles him to all the respect which is shown him.
ALFRED T. MERRIMAN.
The gentleman whose name introduces this review enjoys worthy prestige as a successful farmer and stock raiser and as a neighbor and citizen is held in the high- est esteem by the people of the township in which he lives. Mr. Merriman is the scion of an old Maryland family whose his- tory in this country antedates the Revolu- tionary period. His great-grandfather, William Merriman, was born in Maryland about the year 1756 and there married Elizabeth Gooin, whose ancestors were also among the earliest settlers of that colony. From Maryland William Mer- riman moved his family to Union county, Pennsylvania, thence, about 1850, mi- grated to Wayne county, Ohio, where he
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WELLS COUNTY, INDIANA.
entered six hundred and forty acres of land which he subsequently divided among his eight children. He became a prominent farmer and leading citizen and departed this life a number of years ago in the county of Wayne. Among the children of William and Elizabeth Merriman was a son by the name of Elijah, whose birth oc- curred in Maryland in the year 1788. He married Mary McCoy, who was born in 1792 in the same state, and in 1816 moved to Wayne county, Ohio, where his father had settled the previous year. This couple reared sons and daughters, one of the for- mer being James. Merriman, whose birth occurred in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, on the 23d of December, 1814. When two years old James was taken by his parents to Wayne county, Ohio, and it was there that he grew to manhood amid the hard work and stirring scenes of pioneer times. On the 6th of April, 1837, he was joined in wedlock to Miss Anna Tracy, daughter of George and Leah Tracy, early settlers of Wayne county, Mrs. Merriman having been born there on the 8th day of Febru- ary, 1818. One year prior to his marriage James Merriman entered eighty acres of land in Huntington county, Indiana, but for some reason he never moved to this place, returning to his home in Ohio im- mediately after making the purchase. In October, 1839, he moved his family, con- sisting of a wife and one child, to Wells county, entering one hundred and sixty acres in section 20, in what is now Liberty township, there being no township organ- ization at that date. The country at the time was a dense wilderness, uncheered by the slightest presence of civilization, and for several years following the pioneer
family experienced their full share of the vicissitudes and hardships incident to life in the backwoods. Mr. Merriman built a log cabin which answered the purposes for which intended until a more comfortable dwelling took its place and in due time clear- ed a fine farm, which became one of the best cultivated and most valuable places in the township of Liberty. He continued to reside on this farm until about 1889, when he became an inmate of the house- hold of his son, the subject of this sketch, where his death occurred on the 27th of February, 1896. Mrs. Merriman preceded her husband to the grave, departing this life May 15, 1889. They were the par- ents of eleven children, namely: Saman- tha, widow of Ruel Wright; Mahala, de- ceased wife of George McElhaney ; Bruce, a resident of Smith county, Kansas ; John, a farmer of Liberty township, Wells county ; Tracy, who also lives in the town- ship of Liberty; Anna, widow of Asberry Luce; Dallas, who lives in Huntington county ; Mary L., deceased, was the wife of William Heckman; Joseph H., a farmer of Wells county; George O., of Pulaski county, and Alfred T. James Merriman was for many years prominent in the pub- lic affairs of Wells county and in his im- mediate neighborhood was to a large ex- tent a leader among his follow citizens. He served three years as magistrate, was always an active worker in the Democratic party and contributed much to its success in an early day. Mrs. Merriman was a devout Christian, having been a member of the Disciples church from early woman- hood.
Alfred T. Merriman was born on the old homestead in Liberty township, De-
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cember 20, 1865. From the age of six to his seventeenth year he attended winter seasons the district schools near which he lived, spending the other months assisting his father with the labors of the farm. In his eighteenth year he entered a normal school at Bluffton and after attending one term was sufficiently advanced in his stud- ies to pass successfully the required ex- amination for a teacher's license. During the next five years he divided his time be- tween teaching and attending school and from the expiration of that period until 1894 devoted the greater part of his atten- tion to teaching. With the exception of one term, Mr. Merriman's educational work was confined to Liberty township and his retention year after year in the same district speaks louder than words in praise of his efficiency and success as an instructor. While engaged in teaching he spent his vacations at home helping with the farm work until 1894, when he abandoned the educational field for the purpose of engaging in agricultural pur- suits upon his own responsibility. In 1892 Mr. Merriman purchased the farm of eighty acres on which he now lives, going in debt to the amount of two thousand dollars, the greater part of which he has since paid, besides buying forty-eight acres of the home place, making the sum total of his real estate at this time one hundred and twenty-eight acres, all but sixteen being in cultivation. He has made many improvements on his farm and is justly considered one of the most enterprising agriculturists of the county, as well as one of its representative men.
Mr. Merriman was married December 31, 1888, to Miss Josephine Petty, who
was born in Hocking county, Ohio, on the 25th of July, 1868, the daughter of Joseph and Lucinda Petty, and their home has been brightened by the advent of three children : Justin, born June 6, 1891, Don G., born September 3, 1893, and Floyd V., who first saw the light of day on the 18th of December, 1896. In his political views Mr. Merriman is a Democrat, but in local affairs he pays little heed to party claims, voting for the man best qualified for office. In matters religious he subscribes to the belief of the Methodist Protestant church and for a number of years has been one of the pillars of the congregation worshiping at Liberty Center. In 1899 he was elected secretary of the quarterly conference, which position he still holds, and since the year 1894 he has been the efficient super- intendent of the Liberty Center Sunday school. He is also superintendent of the Lib- erty township Sunday school convention and as such has been instrumental in promot- ing the work in this part of the county. Like her husband, Mrs. Merriman is a Sunday school worker. Socially both are popular with a large circle of friends and their wholesome moral influence has add- ed much to the high standing of the com- munity in which they reside. It is to such people that the body politic is indebted for its moral tone and stability and the hope of every good citizen is that men and women of this type may ever increase in number.
ROBERT C. IRWIN.
We are often told that the child is father to the man. At first thought the as-
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sertion seems an absurdity, but when we consider how the inclination of the youth foreshadows the disposition and trend of mind which the man afterwards displays, we are reconciled more to the truth of the statement. From early childhood Robert C. Irwin, of Liberty township, had a pas- sion for trees and for grafting and budding them. He had watched the operation of grafting until he felt perfectly familiar with every detail and at the first oppor- tunity that offered concluded to try his hand. His mother had a nice patch of gooseberry bushes and these he proposed to convert into fine fruit trees by the trim- ming process. When the operations of the young horticulturist were discovered the wrath of his parent was intense. The use of the maternal slipper was called into requisition and he was made to feel that the path of the true scientist in horticul- ture was, as in other matters, not uncom- monly strewn with thorns. His gooseberry bushes have not yet become bearing fruit trees, but the early inclinations of the child have made the man one of the most success- ful fruit raisers in Wells county.
Robert C. Irwin was born May 18, 1855, in Salamonie township, Hunting- ton county, Indiana, his parents being Cornelius and Elizabeth (Swaim) Irwin. The father was a native of North Caro- lina, born May 21, 1827. At the age of eighteen he accompanied his uncle, Rob- ert Irwin, on foot, from North Carolina to Huntington county. Sargeant Clark, a relative, had preceded them and it was through his representations that the ardu- ous trip was made. For years afterward Cornelius worked by the month for farm- ers. He was married, when about twenty-
four years of age, to Elizabeth Swaim, also a native of North Carolina, and a daughter of Simeon and Nancy Swaim, who were natives of North Carolina, as they were also early settlers of Indiana. Soon after his marriage Cornelius Irwin bought forty acres of Salamonie township land, all in the woods, going in debt for the greater part of the purchase price. He sold it in a short time at a profit and purchased sixty-five acres in the same township, the same constituting a part of the farm upon which he now resides, at the age of seventy-five years, one of his daughters, Nancy, being his housekeeper. His wife died in May, 1897. To Cornelius and Elizabeth Irwin seven children were born, viz: Eunice, wife of William H. Helm; Nancy; Samuel, killed by a falling tree; Robert C .; Ruth, who married David F. Payne, and is now deceased; William, a resident of Huntington county, Indiana, and Elizabeth, who died in infancy.
A good common school education was accorded Robert C. Irwin as he grew to manhood in his native township. At the age of eighteen his labor on the farm was considered more valuable than anything further he might learn at school and he was put to work, at which he remained for his father until he was twenty-five years old. Occasionally he was permitted to rent a field and plant, cultivate and gather a crop of corn. He also occasion- ally worked by the day for neighboring farmers, and when he was twenty-four years old he rented a field from his father and planted it in corn, but it required two- thirds of the crop of corn to pay the rent.
April 7, 1881, Mr. Irwin was united in marriage to Miss Mary Kyle, a native of
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Philadelphia, born July 5, 1857, a daugh- ter of Samuel and Phoebe (Black) Kyle. Samuel Kyle died at the age of twenty- four, when his little daughter was but two years old, and five years later the child was left an orphan, indeed, by the death of her mother. She was taken by her aunt, Mrs. Belle Irwin, and reared in that family un- til she was fifteen, when she began work- ing out by the week. She remained four years in one place, at the home of Dr. Hupp in Warren, and as an evidence· of the virtue of thrift and economy which she possesses in a marked degree, it is cited that at the time of her marriage she had saved out of her wages the sum of fifty dollars, notwithstanding much of the time her wages were only seventy-five cents a week. At the time of their marriage the subject and his wife possessed but one horse, but they soon procured another one and were not long in establishing them- selves comfortably at housekeeping, rent- ing for three years. In 1884 they pur- chased forty acres from John J. Preble, incurring an indebtedness of fifteen hun- dred dollars to be paid in four annual pay- ments, each being paid before it was due. On their little farm they had thirty acres cleared, a house that was neither sightly nor commodious and a barn that was built of poles. When he started on this place Mr. Irwin gratified to the fullest ex- tent his taste for the cultivation of fruit. His knowledge of grafting and budding he exercised without any fear of interfer- ence on the part of an angry parent. The re- sult is that he has today a most superb little fruit farm of sixty acres, the fruit from which yields him a very satisfactory income. He has about five acres set to
fruit, with about seven hundred bearing trees of every variety, pears and plums being the principal line, the small fruits affording a full share of the orchard's in- come. In 1897 Mr. Irwin erected an at- tractive new home, well finished and sub- stantially furnished, and three years later he added a large, substantial barn. The owners are in easy, comfortable circum- stances and enjoy the sweets of prosperity in the knowledge of having accomplished it all by their own labor, good manage- ment and thrift. For four years he has bred the Ohio Improved Chester White hogs, and keeps a general line of cattle and sheep, the returns from his stock ad- ding materially to his income.
To Mr. and Mrs. Irwin but one child has been born, viz: Seth H., born Janu- ary 6, 1882, a student in the Liberty Cen- ter high school.
In religion Mr. and Mrs. Irwin are members of the Salem Methodist Episco- pal church. He has served a number of times as superintendent of the Sabbath school and was a class leader for a length of time. He is a member of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows lodge at Warren, and of the encampment at Bluff- ton, at which place he is a member of the Maccabees. He and his wife also belong to the lodge of Rebekahs at Bluffton. In politics he is a Republican and has always been an active worker in the ranks of that party. He never essayed to run for office but once, that being for assessor, and no candidate ever accepted defeat with better grace. He is a man of wide acquaintance and is universally admired and respected because of his many excellent personal qualities and characteristics.
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WELLS COUNTY, INDIANA.
WILLIAM C. ARNOLD.
William C. Arnold was born February 15, 1853, in Vera Cruz, Wells county, Indi- ana, and is a son of August and Augusta (Jan) Arnold, who were natives of Saxony, Germany, where they were married and whence they came to America in 1846. The father, who was a tailor, followed his trade for a short time in Ohio, as he did also for five years at Vera Cruz, Indiana. In 1853 he traded for forty acres of woodland in Adams county, paying a small difference in cash, and there he passed the remainder of his life, dying in April, 1865, leaving a widow (who died in 1899) with seven chil- dren, viz: Frank, a farmer in Adams coun- ty; Malinda, widow of Christopher Ash- baucher ; Charles, a resident of Wells county ; William C; Sarah, wife of Robert Case, of Adams county ; Louis, a resident also of Wells county, and Ella, who was married to George F. Markley, but is now deceased.
W. C. Arnold attended the public schools until he was seventeen years of age, but, his oldest brother being in the army, the care of the family fell chiefly on him and his brother Charles. At the age.mentioned he began to work in the saw-mill of Hull & Blackstone, in Harrison township, and for four years performed his duty faithfully and to the sat- isfaction of his employers. He was next em- ployed by Charles Cole in a saw-mill in Lib- erty township, holding the position nine- teen years. He purchased property in Lib- erty Center in 1881 and built for himself a neat dwelling. In 1886 he purchased thirty acres, besides which he owns a valuable tract adjoining the village. February 15, 1901, Mr. Arnold bought the half interest of A. B. Tinkle in the hardware store in Liberty Cen-
ter, since when he has been associated with James W. Jackson in a lucrative trade in a general stock of assorted hardware.
October 13, 1876, Mr. Arnold was mar- ried to Miss Isabella Higman, a native of Wells county, born June 23, 1858, a daugh- ter of Clem and Martha Higman, natives of Virginia but both now deceased, the mother having passed the closing years of life at the home of Mr. Arnold. Mr. and Mrs. Arnold have two children : Martha, who is married to George Russell, a farmer of Wells county, and has two children, Gerold and Ruth Irene ; and Louis. Mr. and Mrs. Arnold are members of the Baptist church, of which he is trustee and to the support of which they freely contribute. He is also a member of the Odd Fellows lodge at Liberty Center, of which he has served as treasurer during his entire membership, and he is likewise a mem- ber of the encampment at Bluffton. He is a life-long Democrat. For five years he served as assessor of Liberty township, and was then elected trustee, a position he also held for five years. During his incumbency of this office the school-houses at Liberty Center and Poneto were erected, and these schools, being graded, are considered among the best in the county. In every position he has performed his duty conscientiously and with credit to himself as well as to the satis- faction of all.
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