USA > Indiana > Blackford County > Blackford and Grant Counties : Indiana a chronicle of their past and present with family lineage and personal memoirs > Part 10
USA > Indiana > Grant County > Blackford and Grant Counties : Indiana a chronicle of their past and present with family lineage and personal memoirs > Part 10
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In his farm operations Mr. Little pursues the modern and scientific method of rotation of crops, and is what might be called a mixed farmer, using his land to raise crops and feeding all the products to the stock on the place, thus preserving and increasing the fertility of the soil. His place in section five of Jefferson township comprises one hundred and sixty acres of land, and practically all of it is well improved and very little land goes to waste under the management of Mr. Little. The fruit orchards are one of the attractive features of the Little farm and his stock are of the very best grades.
Santford Little was born in Fairmount township, in Grant county, July 18, 1877, a son of Joel and Sarepta (McCormick) Little. Both parents were born in Indiana, the father born in Randolph county and mother in Grant county, and they are of the old pioneer stock in Grant county. More will be found concerning the ancestry and earlier genera- tion of the family in this county on other pages of this history. Joel Little after his marriage lived on a farm in Fairmount township, where his wife died in 1887 at the age of thirty-four, and he passed away in Au- gust, 1897, being then fifty years of age. The Little family are Quakers in religion. Santford Little grew up in his native township, was educated only in the common schools, and since youth has applied himself to farm- ing. Practically all his inventions have grown out of his close observa- tion of the needs of practical devices about a farm, and he is deserving of great credit for his ability in perfecting machines and improvements which supply a want perhaps long appreciated by other farmers, none of whom have had the practical ability to fill the vacancy.
Mr. Little was married in Madison county, Indiana, to Mary G. Thurston, who was born and educated in that county, a daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Welsh) Thurston. Her parents were prominent and successful farmers and owned five hundred acres of well improved land in Madison county. Both are now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Little are the parents of two children : Lawrence W., born September 22, 1901, died February 15, 1904; Hazel M., born March 23, 1903, is a student in the Matthews public schools. Mr. Little and wife attend the Baptist church and in politics he is a Republican voter.
EARL MORRIS. An honorable record of lives worthily lived, of duties and obligations well performed is that of the Morris family, in whose younger generation is Earl Morris, present town clerk and treasurer of Fairmount. Few Grant county families go back further in American residence and, like so many other substantial people of this section, the early stock was Carolina Quakers, the religion of simplicity being still a marked family trait.
The Morris family, of English stock, came to America during the early colonial days, perhaps two hundred years ago, locating in North Carolina, and being represented in that old commonwealth for a number of generations. Adequate data is not at hand concerning the first genera- tion, and the first of the family concerning whom there is definite infor- mation was Thomas, who was born in North Carolina, was a Quaker, and farmer, and spent all his days in his native state. He married Sarah Musgrove, also of a Quaker family, and she probably died in Randolph county. They had a large family of ten children, four sons and six daughters.
Aaron Morris, son of Thomas, was the second in the family and was born in Randolph county, North Carolina, January 4, 1791. He died in May, 1832, in Indiana. He married Nancy Thomas, who was born October 27, 1800, in North Carolina, and died March 2, 1832, in Wayne county, Indiana. They both sleep their last sleep side by side in the
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cemetery at Fountain City. They were among the early founders of the Quaker church in Indiana, were upright, god-fearing, and thrifty people. They were probably married in North Carolina, and it appears that they became residents of Indiana, about 1818, locating at Fountain City, in Wayne county. In the family of Aaron Morris and wife were five chil- dren, mentioned as follows: William was born in 1820, married Margaret Jones, and they left one son and two daughters; John T., was the grand- father of Mr. Earl Morris, and is mentioned at greater length in suc- ceeding paragraphs; Anna, died in Indiana; Jesse married and at his death in Michigan left a family, and the last twenty-seven years of his life were spent in blindness. Hannah was the second wife of Axium Elliott, and died at the age of twenty-four, being buried in Marion, I. O. O. F. cemetery, without children.
John T. Morris, grandfather, was born at Fountain City, Indiana, November 22, 1821. When he was eleven years old he lost his father by death, and as both parents died about the same time, in Grant county, Indiana, the children were scattered and taken into other homes to be reared. John T. went to Grant county, and was bound out to Silas Overmau, working on the farm as a bound boy until he had completed his apprenticeship at the age of twenty-one. He was then ready to make his independent start, having received for all his labor only his board and clothes, and had a few dollars and a pair of overalls as extra clothing when he started for himself. In 1846, four years after he had reached his majority, on the twenty-second day of April, he married Rebecca Jay, who was born in Indiana, September 15, 1827, and who died August 29, 1868, in Illinois. John T. Morris lived on a farm in Grant county for a number of years, later moved to Illinois, spent some time in the far northwest in the state of Oregon, afterwards returned to Indiana, and lived first in Rush county, and later at Newcastle, in Henry county. He still lives at Newcastle, being a remarkably well preserved old gentleman, who has never been obliged to wear glasses and has his hearing almost perfect. He is an intelligent reader, and has had many exceptional experiences during a long career. He has been a life long member of the Quaker church, and in politics, has always voted for the prohibition cause. During his residence in Rush county he married for his second wife Sarah Ann Gray, a native of Indiana, who died in Rush county. For his third wife he married Mrs. Emily (Macey) Winslow, who is now past seventy-six years of age. There were no children by the second and third marriages, but those by his first wife were as follows: 1. Thomas Elwood, born February 9, 1847, now a resi- dent of Florida, and by his first marriage had children Charles L. Clark- son D., and William. By his second wife he was the father of Myrtle, Earl, Esther, and Harry, all of whom are living but Esther. 2. Aaron, born January 25, 1849, died June 29, 1876, unmarried. 3. Mary Eliza, born March 17, 1852, died in August, 1887, in Grant county, Indiana. She married Christopher Porter, also deceased. They had four children : Anna, John, Lizzie, and Florence, all of whom are deceased. 4. Bryon, born July 7, 1854, married Elizabeth Hodson, and is a dentist at Portland, Oregon. Their children are Willis, Chester, and Lewis. 5. Luther Lee was born June 6, 1857, and is mentioned in the following paragraphs. 6. Eli O. was born December 21, 1859, and died unmarried July 1, 1876. 7. Emma was born March 28, 1863, and died January 17, 1878. 8. Daniel, born August 20, 1865, with present whereabouts unknown, but if he is living he is probably in Alaska.
Luther Lee Morris was born in Indiana, spent most of his early life and received his education in Rush county, and grew up on a farm. After he became of age he located in Grant county, took up farming, and
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was also engaged in tile manufacturing. For some time he resided at Marion, and was a street paving contractor for a time. Later he engaged in the wood and fuel business, and about twenty years ago moved to Fairmount. He is now street commissioner of the town of Fairmount. In politics he is a Republican.
Mr. Luther L. Morris was twice married. His first wife was Ida Leapley, who was born in Marion, and who died in that city in the prime of life. Her one son was William Clifford Morris, now a farmer west of Marion, who married Fay Stephens, and has one son, Harry Luther. The second marriage of Mr. Morris was to Melissa Draper of Marion. She was born in Grant county on a farm, May 5, 1863, and is still living. Her parents died when she was a child, and she was reared in the home of her grandfather, Hezikiah Nelson. She is the mother of Earl, and Otto. The latter was born January 14, 1890, a graduate of the Fairmount public schools and the Fairmount Academy, now living at home with his father and mother, and working as a lineman for the local telephone company.
Earl Morris was born at Marion, June 13, 1886. His early life until he was eight years old was passed within the limits of his native city and he began attending school there. Later he was a student in the Fair- mount public schools, and graduated from the graded school in 1901, and from the Fairmount Academy in the German Scientific and Teach- er's Courses. His first regular position in life was as a teacher, and he followed that vocation actively for seven years. Three years of this time were spent as principal at Fowlerton public school. In the fall of 1911 Mr. Morris was elected town clerk and treasurer of Fairmount, and has given a most proficient administration of the duties of his office. He is a Republican in politics, and fraternally is affiliated with Fairmount Lodge No. 635, F. & A. M., having formerly been a secre- tary of the lodge. Mr. Morris is unmarried.
JOSIAH WINSLOW. The Winslow family was the second to settle in Fairmount township. The time of their coming was two years before the organization of Grant county, and as substantial North Carolina Quakers they did much to influence other families of their faith and general social character to locate in the same community. Josiah Winslow is of the third generation in Grant county, is a native of Fair- mount township, and his active career was spent here and in other nearby sections of the state. His home is now in Fairmount, where he lives retired after a long and successful career in farming. Mrs. Wins- low, his wife, is a highly intellectual woman, and for many years has been identified with official affairs in the Quaker church, being one of the preachers in that society.
The Winslow family for a number of generations during the eight- eenth century lived in Randolph county, North Carolina. It was estab- lished in America when three brothers landed from the Mayflower at Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620. One of these brothers has become a familiar name to all American school children as a governor of the old Massachusetts Bay Colony. One of them went south and became the founder of the family in the Carolinas, and from that line has come the present Grant county family.
Joseph Winslow, grandfather of Josiah, was born in Randolph county, North Carolina, at Back Creek Meeting, about 1780. He was there married to Penina Charles, likewise of an old family and both were strict adherents of the Fox Quaker sect. After all their children had been born, they loaded their possessions into wagons and with teams of horses crossed the Blue Ridge Mountain, journeyed day after
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day through the valleys and prairies and woods to the west of the Alleghanies, and finally arrived in Fairmount township of Grant county, though the country had no such names at that time, in November, 1829. As previously stated, Joseph Winslow was the second settler in Fair- mount township. His selection of land was made on the west side of a little stream which he called Back Creek, thus transplanting a familiar name from North Carolina. His first shelter was a log house, con- structed entirely without iron or steel, wooden pins and the familiar "tongue and groove" being employed to join the timbers. Later a two-story double hewed log house was erected and there the family lived for a good many years. During 1855-56 Henry Winslow, our subject's father, built a commodious frame house, and there Joseph Winslow lived until his death in September of either 1858 or 1859. He was at that time about eighty years of age. The homestead of one hundred and sixty acres which he had entered from the government, and which his labors had transformed from a wilderness to an improved farm has since passed out of his immediate family, and is now occupied by Ancil Winslow, of the same name, but no immediate relative. Joseph Win- slow played a very conspicuous part in early affairs in his community. His leadership was effective in the organization of the first Quaker meeting, the first church services were held in his house. This society has now for many years been the Back Creek Friends church, in which both he and his wife were prominent. The wife of Joseph Winslow died many years before him. They had a family of five sons and three daughters, namely: John, Seth, Matthew, Daniel, Sarah (Sallie), Caro- line, and Nancy, all of whom were married and had children, and lived and died in Indiana with the exception of Matthew whose death occurred in Iowa; Henry, who was the youngest and the father of Josiah.
Henry Winslow was born in Randolph county. North Carolina, September 11, 1813, and died in Rush county, Indiana, in October, 1887. He was sixteen years old when the family moved to Grant county, and the old homestead in Fairmount township was the scene of his industrious activities until after the death of his mother, and he eventually became owner of the place. He lived there until 1864, and then took his family to Rush county where he bought eighty-four acres of land. That was his home until his death, and his characteristics as a hard worker, a good neighbor and as one who advocated and practiced the laurel virtues, he always had an influential part in his community. In politics he was a Republican until 1884, and then joined the Prohi- bition party and voted for Governor St. John of Kansas, who was nominee for president on that party ticket. Before the Civil war he had been an equally strong prohibitionist, and his home was one of the stations on the underground railway. He himself had many times kept a black slave concealed about his premises during the day and had car- ried him by night to the next station. Henry Winslow was married in Rush county to Miss Anna Binford, who was born in Randolph county, North Carolina, in 1816. She died at the old Winslow home- stead in Fairmount township in September, 1863. Both she and her husband were active in the Quaker church. Her father, Micajah Bin- ford, of an old North Carolina Quaker family of English stock, died in Rush county, Indiana, when nearly ninety years of age. The ten chil- dren of Henry Winslow and wife are named as follows: Micajah B. died in Kansas in the prime of his life, leaving a family of children. Levi is married and a farmer in Mill township, of Grant county. Emily married Barker Hockett and died in Colorado, leaving a number of children. Jonathan is now a retired farmer in Leavenworth county, Kansas, and has a family. Ruth died the wife of Enos Hill, by whom Vol. II-5
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she left three living children. Sarah died at the age of two years. Joseph and Josiah were twins, and the former is now a preacher in the Friends church in the state of Oklahoma, and has a family of children by his wife. who died twelve years ago. William died unmarried at the age of twenty-one. Mary was the wife of James Baker, and at her death left five children.
Josiah Winslow was born on his father's homestead in Fairmount township, September 13, 1849. All the children were born there. The first fifteen years of his life were spent in Grant county, and his educa- tion was received chiefly in the old Back Creek schoolhouse. Later he attended school for a time at the Walnut Ridge school in Rush county. His career as a farmer has been spent in Rush county, in Blackford county, and in Grant county. In May, 1912, Mr. Winslow retired from active pursuits, and moved to Fairmount.
His first wife, whom he married in Marion county was Mary Pruitt, who was born there in 1848. Her death occurred in 1876 in Grant county, and her one son, William, died at the age of four years. For his second wife Mr. Winslow married Mrs. Abigail Bogue, whose maiden name was Cox, a daughter of William Cox, of the Cox family so promi- nent in Grant county, and whose histories are given elsewhere in these pages. Mrs. Winslow was born in Fairmount township, October 24, 1847. By her marriage to Jonathan Bogue she had seven children, named as follows: William S. Bogue, who lives in Marion, where he is a carpenter, married Anna Thackery, and has two children, Edwin and Milton and by a former marriage also has two children, Banna Mandola and Howard; Eli G. Bogue died in early childhood; Lentine is the wife of Willard Allen of Marion, and has one son, Harry; John L. lives in Los Angeles, California, and by his marriage to Zelma Haves has two children, Neva and Olive; Laurel C., whose home is in Marion, married Hazel Hackelman, and has a daughter Margaret E., and by a former marriage has a son, Laurel R .; Otto G. is a miner at Kirby, Ore- gon, and spent six years as a soldier, serving in the Spanish American "ar; Milton C. is unmarried and is chef in a hotel at Berkeley, Cali- fornia ; J. Burl operates a diamond drill in mines at Monmouth, Cal- ifornia.
Mr. and Mrs. Winslow and family are members of the Friends Church, and as already stated, Mrs. Winslow has been for twenty-five years a minister of the faith. Mr. Winslow was for many years an elder, and in politics is a Prohibitionist.
ZIMRI C. OSBORN. The Osborn farm in section three of Fairmount township is one of the old estates of Grant county, and has been the home of Zimri C. Osborn for nearly forty years. He comes of a family which has been identified with eastern Indiana, since pioneer days and is himself a Grant county native, whose memory goes back to the years before the first railroads were constructed in this locality. It has been his privilege to witness a remarkable development of all the modern facilities of life and industry, and in his home community his part has been that of an industrious, honorable, and intelligent citizen.
The Osborn family back in North Carolina, lived either in Ran- dolph or Guilford county. His grandfather Peter Osborn was born in one of those counties, owned some land and did farming on a small scale, but his regular occupation was that of skilled mechanic and wheel- wright. His life was prolonged to old age, and he passed away in his native county and state. His brother Charles Osborn was one of the most famous Quaker preachers in the early part of the nineteenth cen- tury, and extended mention of his career is printed in many books and can be found in standard collections of early American biographies.
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Peter Osborn married a North Carolina girl, and they had a number of children.
Henry Osborn, father of Zimri C. was born in North Carolina, May 9, 1804, grew up in his native county, acquired a large part of his father's genius for mechanics, and while never following the trade regularly was able to make anything that could be fashioned with carpenter's tools. Practically all his household furniture was manu- factured by his own hands. He married, in North Carolina, Miss Mary Parson, who was born in that vicinity, and died in Grant county, Indiana. Her mother was a member of an old-school Baptist church. Mary Osborn was born about 1810, and was the second wife of Henry Osborn. His first wife was a Miss Wheeler, who died a few years after their marriage, leaving a son, Alveron. By the second marriage Henry Osborn and wife had one son, Jonathan, born in North Carolina. Then, with his wife and two sons, he started north, and one horse drew the wagon across the Blue Ridge Mountains and over the long distance in- tervening between North Carolina and Indiana. After a journey of some five or six weeks, they landed in Fairmount township, of Grant county, finding a location between Glacier Lake and the Mississinewa River. There he lived on the old McCormick land, and also entered forty acres of government land. Later, by trading and purchase, he acquired property near the village of Fairmount, where he and his wife spent the rest of their days. Henry Osborn died in 1886, at the age of eighty-two, and his wife survived and passed away when seventy- eight. Their church was the Methodist, and for some years he had been a class leader. They were honored and substantial people, always held in high respect in their community. Henry Osborn is remembered as a skilled Nimrod, and the old gun with which he had killed many deer, wild turkey, and other game, is now owned as a prized heirloom by his son Zimri. In politics he was most of his life a Democrat. The children of Henry Osborn were as follows: Alveron, mentioned as the child of his first marriage, enlisted as a Union soldier, and died of ill- ness while in Kentucky, leaving a wife and children. Jonathan, the first child of the second marriage, was born in North Carolina, was married four times, and had children by two of his wives; he died at the age of sixty-two. Emeline became the wife of William G. Lewis, prominent among the old settlers of Grant county and equally noted as a hunter, a class leader and preacher in the Methodist church, having assisted in the organization of the church in Fairmount township, and as a farmer. William G. Lewis died about five years ago, while his widow is still living. Louisa J., first married James G. Payne, and is now Mrs. Charles Thom of Fairmount township, and is the mother of a number of children. Emma and John both died in childhood. William whose home is in Missouri has children by his first wife. The seventh child is Zimri C. Rachael died in the prime of life after her marriage to Milton Brewer, leaving no children.
Zimri C. Osborn was born in Fairmount township, March 2, 1845. His early training was received in this locality and his education was acquired by the somewhat primitive country schools of that day. All his life has been spent in Fairmount township, and farming with him has been a business pursued both profitably and pleasantly. In 1875 he bought the land in his home farm, amounting to one hundred and ten acres, lying in section two and section thirty-four, his residence being on section two. The improvements are of the best class, including a good eight-room house and a large barn, and one of the features about the place which distinguishes it from many of its neighbors is a large orchard, where he raises quantities of apples, peaches, plums, cherries,
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etc. His general crops are oats, wheat and corn, and he feeds most of them to his own stock.
Mr. Osborn was first married in Fairmount township to Miss Nancy Leach, daughter of John Leach. She was born in this section of Grant county, May 17, 1849, and died at her home, May 24, 1893. She be- longed to the Methodist Protestant church. Her children were as fol- lows: John, a farmer in Rush county, Indiana, who married Clara Dugan, and they have one son, Luther. William, who lives on a farm in Fairmount township, married Lela Davis, and they had one son, Clyde, now deceased. Emeline, died at the age of three months. Louisa is the wife of Ellsworth Smith, a farmer, and their three children are Claude, Rosa, and Evert. Jane, is the wife of John Ayers, of Rush county, Indiana, a farmer, and they have as children, Maybell, Edna, and Irene. Cooper is a farmer in Whitley county, Indiana, and by his marriage to Ida Cash has four children, Arthur, Roy, Jesse, and Edna. Edmond whose home is in Fairmount township, married Nora Kirk- patrick and has a son Charles. Rachael, who lives with her father is the widow of Frank Monohan, and her two children are Ovid and Gladys.
The present wife of Mr. Osborn was a Georgian girl, Miss Martha Blair. They were married December 9, 1897. Mrs. Osborn was born in Georgia, in 1852, was reared and educated there, and her parents were Huston and Eliza (Yarber) Blair. Her father was born in Tennessee in 1831, and died in Georgia, in 1910, while her mother was born in South Carolina in 1823, and died in 1885. They were members of the Missionary Baptist church, in which Mr. Blair was a deacon. Mr. and Mrs. Osborn are both very prominent members and workers in the Methodist Protestant church of Fairmount township. Mr. Osborn has been a class leader, exhorter, and is the oldest member of the society in this locality, having taken much part in the organization and the upbuilding of the church for many years. In politics he is a Prohibi- tionist.
JOHN W. JONES. About twenty-five years ago, after he had grown up in Grant county, had a practical experience on a farm, and had by hard work and close economy acquired a little capital, John W. Jones bought the land contained in his present homestead on section thirty of Jefferson township. Mr. Jones is a prosperous man, owns a fine farm, runs it in a business-like way, and is not only a man of independence and standing on his own ground, but anywhere in that community is looked upon with the esteem and respect which are paid to a citizen whose relations with the community have always been on a high plane of honor and integrity.
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