USA > Indiana > Blackford County > Blackford and Grant Counties : Indiana a chronicle of their past and present with family lineage and personal memoirs > Part 64
USA > Indiana > Grant County > Blackford and Grant Counties : Indiana a chronicle of their past and present with family lineage and personal memoirs > Part 64
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The parents of Mr. Brinker were both born in the Fatherland, and emigrated as children to the United States, being reared and educated in Indianapolis, Indiana, where they became acquainted and were mar- ried. Subsequently they came to Washington township and here pur- chased a large tract of land, a part of which forms the farm on which was born Grant county's distinguished son, Col. George W. Steele. An industrious and thrifty citizen, Mr. Brinker accumulated a handsome property, and at the time of his death left his family in very comfortable circumstances. Although a busy man, with large interests, he ever had the welfare of his community at heart, and also did not fail to remember his moral duty, being a faithful member of the German Lutheran Church. He and his estimable wife were the parents of eight children, and of these Robert was the youngest.
Robert Brinker received his education in the city schools, and was reared to habits of honesty and industry, early learning the value of thrift and economy. As a result, at the time of his marriage, he was able to settle upon a property of his own, and at this time he is the owner of a tract of 110 acres, located within sight of the city of Marion, in Center township, a property that has been brought to a high state of cul- tivation through well-directed effort and able management. Mr. Brinker has devoted his activities to general farming and stock raising, along both of which lines he has been more than ordinarily successful, and he is justly considered one of the substantial men of his locality.
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In November, 1907, Mr. Brinker was united in marriage with Miss Bessie Dibble, also a native of Grant county. They have had three chil- dren, sons, who died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Brinker are faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal church, which they attend at Marion. In political matters Mr. Brinker has always been affiliated with the Democratic party, but has never cared for public office and has only taken that interest in public matters that is shown by any citizen who has the welfare of his community at heart. He occupies a beautiful country home, surrounded by a wide lawn, and fitted with all the com- forts and conveniences of modern farm life.
WILLIAM E. MASON. One of the fine farms in Grant county is the property of William E. Mason, of Mill township, comprising one hun- dred and eighty three acres of rich and valuable land in section 12 and known as "The Glencoe Farm." The owner is accounted one of the most progressive and practical agriculturists of his township; he uses the latest improved machinery in the cultivation of his property ; studies the best methods for producing the various cereals adapted to the cli- mate; practices rotation of crops; devotes a great deal of attention to the raising of all kinds of thoroughbred livestock ; and, above all, brings to his work that unflagging industry which seldom fails of accomplish- ment. It is this factor that has brought him a full measure of success and gained him a place among the well-to-do farmers of his community.
Mr. Mason is a worthy representative of one of the pioneer families of the state, the name having been interwoven with the development and advancement here through several generations. The family in the United States originated in the Pennsylvania Dutch section of the Key- stone state, but John Mason, the paternal grandfather of William E. Mason, was born in Virginia, and the grandmother, Miss Crull, was probably a native of Kentucky, in which state the family lived for sev- eral years and where Michael Mason, the father of William E. Mason, was born October 15, 1827. Shortly after this event the family came to Wayne county, Indiana, entering land and improving a farm, which was subsequently sold when the Masons moved to Miami county. There they located on a property that was partly improved, and John Mason con- tinued to be engaged in agricultural pursuits and working at the cooper's trade, of which he was a master, until the time of his death, at the age of eighty-four years, the grandmother passing away at about the same age several years later. They were faithful members of the old Dunkard church, and were the parents of the following children: Samuel, David, Jacob, John, Jr., Michael, William, Daniel, George, Elizabeth, Mary Mag- dalena, Hannah, Katharine Sarah, and Lucinda. All grew to man and womanhood, all married, and George and Daniel are still living.
Michael Mason was an infant when brought to Indiana by his parents, and here he was reared to the cooper's trade by his father. He also made and mended shoes for his family, and his wife spun and wove cloth that dressed the family, also spun wool from the sheep raised on the farm to be made into blankets. Michael Mason was also a good farmer, and as a young man he came to Grant county and settled on a farm in Mill township, the place being now owned and occupied by William E. Mason. Subsequently he moved to a farm in Franklin township, there remain- ing until 1879, when he returned to the Mill township property on which he had first settled, and there his death occurred on the 18th of October, 1880. His wife survived him until the 12th of August, 1907. During the Civil war Michael Mason enlisted in Company C, Twelfth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and as a private participated in a number of engagements, but after about a year of service was taken ill and was finally honorably discharged on account of disability.
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HOME OF MR. AND MRS. WILLIAM E. MASON, MILL TOWNSHIP
MR. AND MRS. W. E. MASON
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Mr. Mason was married in Mill township to Miss Anna Coleman, who was born in Belmont county, Ohio, July 1, 1827, and came to Grant county with her parents in 1829. When Thomas Coleman, her father, came here he established one of the first six families in the county, travel- ing a tedious route over the roads from Ohio until he struck Granville, Indiana, on the Mississinewa river. There he sold his wagon and loaded what goods he had, with others that he had purchased, onto a flatboat and came down that river until he reached the site of his future home, on the banks of the stream in Mill township. The country was almost in its virgin state, wild and forbidding, with numerous savage Indians and many wild animals, and when he had settled in his little log hut Mr. Coleman kept his fierce dog underneath the structure to warn him of the approach of red men or the beasts of the forest. His nearest market, Granville, lay in a direction that was inaccessible for his wagon, and in order to take his grain to that point it was necessary for him to send his son ahead leading the team of horses, one in front of the other, to break the path for him along the old Indian trail, each journey being fraught with the utmost danger. Sturdily this brave pioneer worked, each year making some improvements to his land and equipment, and gradually he saw the land around him develop into one of the garden spots of the state. His original tract of one hundred and five acres, in section 12, was put under cultivation, and he then entered forty acres more, and as the years passed continued to buy more property until he became one of the most substantial men of his community. This farm is now the homestead of William E. Mason. He also rose high in public esteem and served some time as a county commissioner and in other offices of public trust and responsibility. His death occurred May 1, 1871, when he was seventy-three years of age. His first wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary Bates, died some years before, when fifty-four years of age, and he married for his second wife a Mrs. Carter. Mrs. Mason, the mother of William E. Mason, was one of six children by the first union, all of whom are deceased except one, Mrs. Mary Heal, of Mill township.
To Michael and Anna (Coleman) Mason there were born the follow- ing children : Daniel, who died at the age of two years; Mary E., who died when twenty-one years of age; John, who died in the spring of 1913, having had seven children, of whom five are living; James, who died at the age of twenty-four years, unmarried ; Mahala, who died when two years old; Samantha Florence, the wife of James H. Kirkpatrick, of Fairmount township; Ida, widow of Leander Parks, and she resides in Jonesboro, the mother of three sons and one daughter; and George, who died when an infant. Michael Mason was one of the sturdy figures of his day and well merited the high esteem in which he was universally held. His long life was one of usefulness, and he will long be remem- bered among the honored men who did so much to advance the interests of his section.
William E. Mason was born in Franklin township, Grant county, Indiana, March 17, 1862, and in that vicinity grew to young manhood and secured his educational training in the public schools. At the age of seventeen years he came to the farm which he now owns, with his parents, who had formerly lived thereon but who had spent some twenty years or more in Franklin township. Mr. Mason has continued to make this property his home, and at this time is the owner of the one hundred and forty-five acres, which was entered by his grandfather Coleman. He has since added thirty-seven and one-half acres more to this farm making him 183 acres in all. This is one of the best farms in Mill township, and has been made so by Mr. Mason's industry, perseverance
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and well applied effort. His large white house, red barn, seventy-ton silo and substantial outbuildings are surrounded by well tilled fields, and in the pasture land are found great numbers of Short Horn cattle and Shropshire sheep, sleek, well-fed and contented. Another specialty may be found in Mr. Mason's Poland China swine, some of the best in the township. The equipment on this homestead is of the most modern manufacture, and the general air of prosperity which hovers over the entire property bespeaks the presence of thrift, progressiveness and excellent management.
Mr. Mason was married in Fairmount township to Miss Rebecca A. Marine, who was born in Jefferson township, Grant county, Indiana, December 10, 1868, a daughter of Nathan and Rebecca (Nelson) Marine, the former deceased and the latter now a resident of Gas City, Indiana. A complete review of this family will be found in the sketch of Daniel Marine, an uncle of Mrs. Mason, in another part of this work. The following children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Mason: Earl J., connected with the Canton Glass Company at Marion, was educated in the Indiana Business College and is single; Flossie M., the wife of George Ice, of Jennings county, Indiana, and the mother of one child, Velma; Ethel May, who graduated August 13, 1913, from the Normal Institute at Muncie, Indiana, is now a teacher of elocution in the same school, with a very promising outlook; Chester and Charles, living at home with their parents, and both now in the third year of the high school at Gas City, Indiana; and Alice, the first born, who died when but one week old. Mr. and Mrs. Mason are consistent members of the Methodist Protestant church, in the faith of which they have reared their children. Mr. Mason is a Democrat. His business methods are ever honorable and straightforward, and his close application, perseverance and unabating energy have enabled him to work his way steadily up- ward, and onward to a position of affluence and high esteem. His home is his castle, and he is never so happy as when surrounded by his family. In his comfortable residence he has numerous relics of pioneer days, and among the most interesting and valued of these are the rifles which belonged to his great-grandfather and grandfather, the latter of which in the days of its usefulness killed probably one hundred deer in Grant county, a meat that in the early day largely provided the family with food. He also has his great-grandfather Coleman's Bible, bearing dates that were written in the year 1786, which he highly prizes.
ELMER E. HEAL. One of the oldest families in this section of Indiana is that of Heal, which was established in Delaware county before the close of the decade of the twenties. It has numerous representatives in both Delaware and Grant county, and where ever known the name has been associated with industry, with intelligent citizenship, and with influences working for progress in morals and religion. Mr. Elmer E. Heal is one of the prosperous farmers in the southeastern corner of Mill township, his homestead being in section one. Mr. Heal has been hon- ored with official place in the community, and is one of the best known residents of his township.
Mr. Heal refers in a somewhat humorous way to the founding of his family in this country. Many years ago, it seems, not long after the Revolutionary war there landed on the coast of Maine at Bath, David Ileal. He was probably not blessed with a great amount of worldly goods, or the wisdom of a Solomon but if the multiplicity of offspring be taken as a basis of judgment, he ranked second only to Father Adam as the father of the human race. It appears he came from Cheshire, England, on one of the slow-going sail vessels of the
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time, and must have been many weeks on the way. He was a laboring man and found employment in felling trees in the great forest that then existed in Maine and in running logs down the Kennebeck River. He probably spent all the rest of his life in the Pine Tree State, but lack of information prevents a further account of his activities.
Of his numerous progeny was William Heal, born in Maine, October 29, 1791. When a small boy he was bound out to a man named Fletcher, and served his master faithfully until he was twenty-one years of age. He enlisted in the army and served during the war of 1812. He then shouldered his ax and started through the wilderness to what is now Guernsey county, Ohio. There as a log cabin pioneer he entered land and started to establish a home of his own. His settlement there was evidently in the early part of 1814, and Ohio had been a state only about ten years. In Muskingum county, Ohio, December 24, 1818, he married Olive Carter. The record states that she was born in Maine, October 18, 1799, but just at what time she came to Ohio is not known. William Heal possessed all the spirit of the frontiersman, and the western fever had not abated in his breast when in 1829, with his wife and a small family, and with all their worldly possessions piled onto a wagon, he came to Delaware county, Indiana, and settled in Washington town- ship. There he began the fight with the wilderness again, and got a tract of land direct from the government. His efforts were rewarded by establishing a good home and rearing a fine family, who with their descendants became prominent agriculturists throughout this section of the state. William Heal died at the home which his ax had hewed from the wilderness on April 16, 1847. His wife passed away at the same place December 19, 1844. They were people whose lives could not help but benefit any community in which they lived. They were early Metho- dists, and took a prominent part in the founding of Olive Branch Methodist church in Jefferson township of Grant county, that church being named in honor of Mrs. Olive Heal. It was their support and efforts in a material and spiritual way that did much to make a success of the society, and their home was always open to ministers of the faith, and to all strangers as well as to friends, their latch strings always hung on the outside. William Heal was a Whig of the Henry Clay type. Of the children of William Heal and wife, James M., father of Elmer was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, not far from Zanesville, July 20, 1828.
He was carried as a baby in arms by his mother and father to Delaware county where he grew up a healthy and intelligent boy, and was able to take his share in the clearing and improving of the farm. As a young man he acquired the trade of carpenter, and became a skillful workman and operated independently as a contractor, erecting a great many homes and farm buildings in Grant county. Some of these struc- tures are still standing, a monument to his efforts. All his life he lived on a farm, the chief management of which, however, developed upon his wife and sons. That old homestead was in Mill township, and he died there April 19, 1886. On April 25, 1855, James M. Heal married Mary Coleman, who is still hale and hearty, and at a good old age resides with her son Elmer E. most of the time. She is well informed on all current views and is intellectually and physically active. She was born in Mill township, a daughter of Thomas and Mary Coleman who were among the first settlers on the Mississinewa River in that township, where they lived until death. They were the parents of nine children : John C .; Mary Olive; Thomas J .; Elmer E .; Frank L .; William L .; Annie C .; James E .; and infant daughter. The Coleman family is described elsewhere in this volume, in the sketch of William E. Mason. Mrs. James M. Heal is a very active member of the Methio-
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dist church, and her husband, though a constant attendant, never made a confession of faith. He was one of the sturdiest Republicans in Grant county, and nothing could ever alter his devotion to the grand old party. This brings the family history down to Mr. Elmer E. Heal. He was born on the old farm in Jefferson township where the family sojourned for sometime, February 6, 1862. His book training was mixed with hard work on the farm, and the fact that he now possesses a well trained mind and is accounted an unusually intelligent citizen, is per- haps due chiefly to his study at home and hard thinking on many subjects outside the immediate sphere of his activity. Early in life he qualified as an educator, and for fifteen years devoted his time to teaching during the winter, while he farmed in summer. He made for himself an excellent reputation as a teacher of the young, and a great many of his old pupils still remember his guidance gratefully. Mr. Heal has a first class small farm of forty-three acres, and by his success has shown that a man with a small farm can reap an excellent living and put away money for his declining years on a farm of this size. His place is located in the southeast corner of Mill township, which has long been noted for the extreme richness of its soil.
His practical knowledge of affairs and his qualifications in the simpler legal forms made him the choice of the people for the office of justice of the peace for some years. Mr. Heal is a decided Republican, but has no aspirations to be considered a politician. His present farm has been his place of residence for the past twenty-four years, and in that time he has taken a part in all the community activities. He is especially well known in fraternal circles, being a prominent member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Jonesboro, and has represented his lodge in the Grand Lodge, and also belongs to the Encampment Degree. He is a past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias at Gas City and belongs to the Loyal Order of Moose at Marion.
In Mill township on December 24, 1883, Mr. Heal married Miss Clara Moreland, who was born in this township in 1866, and has always made it her home. Her parents were E. J. and Levenia (Winans) More- land, both of whom were born in Miami county, Ohio, and early came to Grant county, and were married in Mill township. Mr. Moreland died April 2, 1910, having been born February 8, 1831, and his wife, who was born September 12, 1840, passed away June 22, 1913. The Moreland family have always been Methodists, and Mr. Moreland was a staunch Republican. Mrs. Heal had a brother, Marquis A., who died December 7, 1911, and for many years was connected as agent and messenger with the Big Four Railway Company, and afterwards was a real estate man ; he was married but had no children. The four children of Mr. and Mrs. Heal are: Glenny Maude, who died in childhood; Flossie May, David E. and William Donald. Flossie May was educated in the grade and high schools, is the wife of Jesse C. Knopp of Elwood, and has two children Clara A. and Chester E. David E. and William Donald are both bright young boys and attending the public schools. Mr. and Mrs. Heal and family worship in the Methodist church.
SAMUEL F. BEDWELL. Representing one of the old and substantial families of eastern Indiana, Samuel F. Bedwell has spent practically all his life in Grant county, and as a carpenter, lumber mill man and in general business affairs has gained a substantial degree of prosperity at Upland.
Samuel F. Bedwell is of English ancestry, and his grandfather, Samuel Bedwell, was born March 6, 1796, in one of the eastern states. His vocation was farming, and early in the last century he came west
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and located in Henry county, Indiana. In Henry county he married a Miss Stanley, who was born January 20, 1794. They began their married life in Henry county, and some years later moved into Delaware county, where he did well as a farmer and was also honored by his fellow citizens in the office of township trustee. Still later he and his wife moved to Marion, Indiana, where both died, he on the 26th of December, 1863, and she on December 21 of the same year. They were both supporters of the Methodist church, and assisted in the establishment and main- tenance of several churches of that society in the locality where they live. His politics was of the Whig order until the organization of the Republican party. Samuel Bedwell and wife had the following family of children : Perlina, born March 20, 1819, married William Havens, lived and died in Marion, and left a family of children; James, born November 20, 1820, died in California and left a son William; Sarah, born October 5, 1822, died in 1840, as the result of a lightning stroke in Delaware county; Allen, born October 12, 1824, spent most of his life in Wisconsin and Michigan and had a family; Aaron, the father of the Upland business man, is mentioned in a following paragraph; and Hannah W., born March 30, 1832, died at the home of her brother Aaron at the age of thirty-eight years.
Aaron Bedwell, who was born in Henry county, Indiana, June 13, 1830, grew up there and early in the '50s married Nancy Buck. She was born May 31, 1829, in Marion county of this state. About ten years after their marriage they moved to the city of Marion, in 1865, and there Aaron Bedwell continued his business as a cooper and plasterer with success until his retirement. He died while living with his son in Upland, on May 8, 1875. His widow survived, and she lives in Marion with her daughter, Mrs. Josephine Rhodehamel, still active in mind and body. Her religious faith is in the New Light Christian church, while her husband belonged to the Methodist faith, and in politics was first a Whig and later a Republican. The children of Aaron Bedwell and wife are given record as follows: Sarah E., born February 20, 1854, is the wife of Rev. Samuel Ballenger, a Quaker minister at Upland ; William A., born February 17, 1856, is a bachelor and lives in Upland, his business being that of an oil well driller; Charles M., born April 7, 1858, is also engaged in drilling oil wells, and he lives at Upland; Samuel F., is next in line among the children ; Adolphus, born October 7, 1863, lives in Marion; Josephine, born March 20, 1867, is the wife of Esta A. Rhodehamel, of Marion; and Matilda, born May 13, 1869, is the wife of James Moore, of Upland.
Samuel F. Bedwell, who was born October 20, 1861, was fourteen years of age when he lost his father, and from that time was dependent upon his own resources and activities, and has earned practically every dollar of his present substantial prosperity. Early in life, after getting a fair education in the public schools, he learned the trade of a carpenter and of general wood-working, and for the past sixteen years has been connected with the lumber mill and the house furnishing and supply business in Upland, of which for the past four years he has been superin- tendent and general manager. His general success as a business man is well represented by his relationship with this firm, and also by his attractive and substantial eight-room residence, which he built at the corner of North Lucas and Washington streets in 1894. He has also been active in local political affairs, and for the past two years has served as a member of the Upland town board, representing the Fifth ward. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias.
At Upland on July 6, 1889, he married Miss Adah A. Huffman, who was born in Monroe township of Grant county February 27, 1868. Vol. II-28
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Her home has been in Upland since she was two years old. Her parents were Samuel and Mary (Bollinger) Huffman, her father a native of Ohio and her mother of Indiana. After their marriage in Jefferson township of this county they lived in Monroe township until 1870, and then located in Upland, where her father was in business until his retirement. On November 13, 1913, he celebrated his seventy-sixth birth- day. His wife passed away May 24, 1897. She was born in Grant county May 10, 1844, and belonged to an old family of Quakers, to which faith her husband also belonged.
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