Centennial History of Grant County Indiana, Part 110

Author: Rolland Lewis Whitson
Publication date: 1914
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1034

USA > Indiana > Grant County > Centennial History of Grant County Indiana > Part 110

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WILLIAM L. DUCKWALL. One of the most active and successful among the farming men and live stock dealers of Van Buren in Grant county, may be mentioned William L. Duckwall, who operates a fine farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Section 31. He was for a number of years prior to his farming activities, successfully engaged in the mercan- tile business, but in 1904 sold his interests therein and has since devoted himself exclusively to a rural existence, which he finds more attractive and quite as absorbing.

Born on August 28, 1863 on a Van Buren township farm, William L. Duckwall is the son of Joseph F. Duckwall, who was born in 1834, and who still resides on his farm with his son, L. C. Duckwall. He was born in Highland county, Ohio, and is the son of John Duckwall, a native Virginian, who came to Grant county in 1838, when Joseph Duck- wall was four years old. Here the elder Duckwall was reared from childhood, and here he has passed his life and reared his own family, consisting of three sons and a daughter-William L., of this review; John L., a farmer and stockman; L. C. Duckwall, a farmer; and Mary the wife of John W. Cloud of Van Buren.

When John Duckwall, the paternal grandfather of the subject, came to Indiana and to Van Buren township, it was a wilderness, pure and simple. Here he entered one hundred and sixty acres of land, and after clearing up a small place, sufficient to build a cabin upon, the family moved on the new place and there continued to reside.

Joseph Duckwall has passed his days on the farm his father settled, and many are the changes that he has seen in the face of the landscape of the long years of development.

William L. Duckwall attended No. 2 District School and divided his time between his studies and the care of the farm at home, in which his father gave him expert training. In 1877, when he was twenty-four years old, he came to Van Buren and here he engaged in the mercantile business with James E. Riley until 1904. They together erected a fine brick building and opera house, into a part of which they moved in March, 1902, and there carried on a thriving mercantile business. The building is one of the fine ones of the place, said to be the most sub- stantial and metropolitan in aspect in the community. In 1904 Mr. Duckwall sold his interest in the business to his partner, since which time he has been engaged in buying and shipping live stock and in farming, to a certain extent. Hogs, cattle and sheep in large numbers are handled annually by Mr. Duckwall and he is said to be one of the heaviest shippers in the community.

In 1885 Mr. Duckwall was married to Miss Clara Smith, a daughter of Henry Smith, of Van Buren township, and they have one child,- Guy, born in 1889, and who is now married to Miss Cecilia Gift, of Jonesboro. One child was born to Guy Duckwall and his wife, whom they have named Mary Jane.

MRS. LUVENIA E. HARRIS. Two very prominent and interesting families are united in the above name of Mrs. Harris, who since the death of her husband, Elam T. Harris has kept her residence chiefly on the old homestead in Franklin township. Mrs. Harris' maiden name was Jones, and she is of that branch of the family which furnish so many prominent personalities in both early and' modern Jonesboro and Mill township annals.

Elam T. Harris, who died at the family homestead in Franklin, May 19, 1905, after a long illness, was the oldest son of John and Sarah (Thornberg-Osborn) Harris. The grandfather was Thomas Harris, and there is a large relationship in the original Harris family. John Harris Vol. II-47

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and his family were among the largest landholders and most influential farmers in Grant county. All the sons cooperated with their father, and for years there was no division of property among them. The entire life of Elam T. Harris was spent in one community. His widow now lives where they both lived together for more than forty years. Two of their children were born in Mill township and two in Franklin.

Concerning the children of John and Sarah Harris, the following is a brief record : Elam T. Harris; George S. Harris, who married Margaret Ann Cretsalow ; Benadah C. Harris, who married Eliza Winslow; Mary Harris, who married T. Baldwin; Davis W. Harris, who married Eva Unthank; Nancy Jane Harris, who became the wife of David Winslow; Sarah Rosetta Harris, who married J. W. Hardin.

On September 17, 1856, at Jonesboro, Elam T. Harris married Luve- nia Elizabeth Jones, a daughter of Daniel H. and Amelia Jones. (See chapter on Mill Township). The children of Elam T. Harris and wife are mentioned as follows: Ernest Clifford; Ora Byron, who married Myrtle Gibson, and has two children, Blanchard and Russell; Charles Rollin, who by his marriage to Ida Hinton, had two children, Lowell Rollin and Mary Marguerite; Nellie V. became the wife of W. O. Fen- stemaker, and her children are Lawrence E., Charles A., and Grace Amelia Fenstemaker, all her immediate family living in the community. In the division of property Mrs. Harris retains the homestead, and she remains at home or spends the time among her children as suits her best, also making frequent visits at the old home in Ohio. She had always saved "Rolinda" clippings from newspapers and she was glad there was to be a "Rolinda History." While she survives her husband, she is also the last of her own family, her brothers were J. Branson Jones; Dr. Charles R. Jones, who married Amanada Walling, and Ade- laide Dolman; Byron H. Jones, who married Rosetta McClure; and Newton Jones,-all of whom were at one time well known citizens of Grant county. The ancestry on both sides of the family comes of Quaker stock, and "Aunt Millie" Jones, the mother of Mrs. Harris had not changed her family name when she married, although she came from Georgia, and her husband from North Carolina, and they met in Ohio. Like other Quaker families in the south, the institution of slavery was most unpleasant to them and when the Northwest territory was opened for settlement, they came into Ohio, and later into Indiana.

While the Harris family has always been identified with Franklin, the Jones family was prominent in Mill, and Mrs. Harris feels proud of the wide streets in Jonesboro, due to the forethought of her father who made the plat of the town. "Brant" Jones was a Jonesboro carriage maker, and he dealt in carriages and buggies as soon as they came into popularity. Dr. "Rol" Jones was one of the best posted men who ever lived in the community. Byron H. Jones was the first citizen in Grant county to open a bank account with Jason Willson, the pioneer Grant county banker. "Aunt Millie" Jones lived on the corner of Maine and Sixth Street in Jonesboro, and everybody knew her. She was a typical Quaker woman and outlived her husband so long that many who knew her had never known him at all. Mrs. Harris is like her mother, and she is one of the few Grant county women who connect the present with the past. The future will not change her, and such women always have an influence in the community.

NELSON L. SHOCKEY. Pleasant township with its fine farms and improvements of all kinds is economically and socially one of the most attractive subdivisions of Grant county. The people in that locality are especially proud of their schools, and they are agreed that the local

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MR. AND MRS. GEORGE B. DOOLEY AND DAUGHTER

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HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY

school system was never in better administrative hands, than under the present trustee, Nelson L. Shockey, who has been in office since the . beginning of 1909. Mr. Shockey is a substantial farmer, and is in love with his job. Long application of energy and intelligence in the manage- ment of the soil has made him prosperous in a material way, and he likewise stands high in the esteem of his fellow citizens.

Born in Pleasant township, five miles northwest of Marion on May 31, 1864, Nelson L. Shockey was a son of Daniel and Eliza J. (Berry) Shockey. His father, a native of Virginia, immigrated to Indiana, and located in Grant county, in 1850. The grandfather was Daniel Shockey, who was the founder of the family in Grant county, the father, Daniel, Jr., being about eight years old when his home was established in this county. Grandfather Shockey was a wagon maker by trade, and fol- lowed that vocation after coming to Grant county, his shop being located within the present limits of the city of Marion, in Center township. Afterwards he moved to a farm in Franklin township, where he lived until his death. Daniel Shockey was reared and.educated in the common schools of Grant county, but like many boys of pioneer settlers had only limited advantages. He was married in this county, and is still a resident of Pleasant township. He and his wife had a family of whom four are still living, namely : Nelson L .; Ollie, deceased; Marie, wife of John Scott of Liberty township; Abbie, wife of Burr Weaver of Pleasant township; Mandas C., who is single and lives at home with his father.

Nelson L. Shockey when about eight years of age accompanied his parents to Starke county, Indiana, where he received most of his common schooling in the district schools. At the age of sixteen he returned to Pleasant township in Grant county, and grew up and at the beginning of his career married Eliza J. Thompson, a daughter of Nelson Thomp- son of Franklin township. He was born and reared in that township, gaining a fair education in the local schools. When Mr. and Mrs. Shockey were married they had no capital, and for the first four years farmed as renters. By their vigorous efforts they gradually got ahead in the world, and were able to buy forty acres of land in Franklin township. Mr. Shockey moved to that place, put up some buildings, improved the land, and finally sold and on February 22, 1904, bought the one hundred and sixty acres where he now lives. Ten days after his removal to his new farm, his house and practically all his house- hold goods were destroyed by fire. This severe blow to his financial prospects, did not allow him to be overtaken by discouragement, and he soon rebuilt and has now one of the most attractive and comfortable rural dwellings in the township. Mr. Shockey has been prosperous, and besides his farm is a director in the Farmers State Bank of Sweetser. They are the parents of twelve children, eleven of whom are living at this time, five of them are graduates of the common schools, one is mar- ried, and all have been carefully reared and trained for lives of use- fulness and honor. Mr. Shockey is affiliated with Sweetser Lodge No. 431, I. O. O. F., of which he is a past grand, and member of the State Grand Lodge. In politics a Democrat, he was elected a trustee of Pleasant township and took office in January, 1909. He has a number of excellent schools buildings under his supervision, and has done much to improve the educational facilities of the township during his admin- istration.

GEORGE B. DOOLEY. The beginning of many a successful career dates from marriage when the burden of responsibilities brings out the best there is in a man. When about twenty-two years old, George B. Dooley married a competent young woman, two years his junior,

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and they started to make their way as renters. Ambitious and indus- · trious, they soon outgrew their early economic conditions, and while rearing and educating their children, they also kept advancing in material prosperity. Mr. Dooley is proprietor of a fine " Marshfield Farm" in Pleasant township, and his place in the community life is further evidenced by his capable services for several years as town- ship trustee.

Mr. Dooley was born in Franklin township of Grant county, Novem- ber 13, 1865, a son of David R. and Elizabeth (Rhea) Dooley. The parents were both natives of Preble county, Ohio. The father when a young man came to Grant county, but after a brief while went back to his home vicinity, where he was married, and then brought his young wife to Grant county, locating on a farm on the Delphi pike four miles west of Marion. He remained a resident of Franklin township the rest of his days. The father was a quiet, unassuming citizen, prospered as a farmer, and he and his wife were both active members of the Christian church. They were the parents of six children, and three are now liv- ing, namely : Rachael, wife of David M. Miller of Franklin township; James A., who married Mary Thompson, and lives in Marion; and George B. The other three children, Mary Ann, Julia and Joseph Aldine, all lived to be grown.

George B. Dooley was reared on the old farm in Franklin town- ship, attended the district schools during his youth, but his schooling was derived almost entirely from attendance during the winter months, since his services were required at home on the farm during the open seasons of the year. He remained at home until he was twenty-one years of age, and on November 23, 1887, married Mary Julian. She was born in Pleasant township in 1867 and grew up in that locality, getting her education in the local schools. She is a daugher of Louis and Sarah Elizabeth (Seghner) Julian. After they were married they rented some land, and in a few years were well on their way to independence. At the present time Mr. Dooley owns one hundred acres of first class land in section 8 of Pleasant township. They are the parents of one daughter, Mabel L., a graduate of the district schools. The family belong to the Methodist Episcopal church at Japala, Mr. Dooley being one of the trustees of the church, and superintendent of the Sunday school. He is in politics a Democrat, and has served as a member of the township advisory board, and from 1905 to 1909 gave a very capable administration of the schools in his capacity as town- ship trustee.

OWEN E. DIBBLE. In the career of the late Owen E. Dibble, of Washington township, who passed away December 15, 1911, there is found something to encourage the youth of today who, without friends or fortune, is trying to gain a position of independence among the sub- stantial men of his community. Left an orphan at the age of four years, Mr. Dibble's boyhood and youth were spent in hard, unremitting and unremunerative toil, and in the years that followed he was con- stantly handicapped by illness and discouragements, but through it all he displayed perseverance and persistence, and enjoyed life in its fullest, taking great pleasure in laboring for those he loved. He left his family in independent circumstances and in possession of the heritage of an honored name. A sketch of his life should prove of interest to those who are admirers of self-made manhood.

Owen E. Dibble was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, in 1856, a son of Charles Dibble, a native of England, who belonged to the nobility. His early educational advantages were somewhat limited, as at the age of

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nine years he was put out to work in a sawmill, at fifteen dollars a month, and these wages went to his sister and family for a number of years. Mr. Dibble's father had at one time been in comfortable circumstances, but the estate, left in the hands of an incompetent administrator, dwin- dled greatly, and Owen's share when he reached manhood was but $475. In the meantime, he had dispalyed his ambition by accepting every opportunity to secure an education, and in 1875 was persuaded by his teacher, W. W. McCleery, to come to Grant county. Bringing just enough money to pay his fare, he came to Washington township, and for a time worked in the sawmill of John Dunn and later with M. Thompson. On receiving his inheritance he invested it in a forty-acre farm, but in 1884 sold this and moved to a property in Pleasant township. Subsequently, he came to the farm in Washington township, on the Huntington pike, and here the remainder of his life was spent. In January, 1895, Mr. Dibble rebuilt and improved the farm house, which is now a twelve-room residence, with concrete porch and hot and cold water, surrounded by a well-kept lawn and numerous fruit trees. He erected other buildings, including a fine new barn, and through his industry made this one of the valuable properties of the township. His crops in 1912 included 2,000 bushels of corn, 1,500 bushels of oats and twenty-five tons of hay, raised on 101 acres of land. He had ten head of cattle, eight horses and 100 hogs, and was known as a good judge of livestock. Mr. Dibble won success under the most dis- couraging circumstances. One year after his marriage, he was injured while clearing his land from timber, a log rolling upon him and injuring him internally, so that he was a semi-invalid during the remainder of his life. He did not allow his suffering, however, to keep him from his farm work, and was ever an energetic, progressive man, keeping fully abreast of his neighbors and alert to all the advancements of his voca- tion. His death finally resulted from stomach trouble, directly traced to his injury. Just when he was ready to retire with a well-won com- petence, after years of the most exacting and self-sacrificing labor, he was taken away, but he had his reward in the knowledge that he left his widow and children with their future comfort assured. In politics, he supported the principles and candidates of the Republican party, and his fraternal connection was with Marion Lodge of Odd Fellows.

On September 9, 1879, Mr. Dibble was married to Miss Mary E. Bradford, daughter of William R. and Elizabeth (Gaines) Bradford, both of whom are deceased. William R. Bradford was born December 18, 1825, and died July 7, 1895, and his wife was born December 18, 1826, and died November 14, 1911. They were married July 26, 1848, and were the parents of the following children : Catherine R., Oliver N., Mary E., William P., Margaret A., and Henry L.

Mr. and Mrs. Dibble were the parents of four children: Bessie E., who married Mr. Robert Brinker and resides on the Bradford pike, in Washington township; H. Orville, who married Miss Ethel Lowry; Clara A., residing with her mother; and Mary Elizabeth, a graduate of Marion College, who completed her education at Muncie. Mrs. Dibble still survives her husband and is one of the well-known and highly respected women of her community, she shared with her husband the burdens as well as the joys of life, and to her must be given much of the credit for the comforts they now enjoy. Her Christian influence extends beyond the limits of their own home, she being ever ready to lend a helping hand to those who are in need. Her son, H. Orville Dibble, now has the management of the farm.

This article would not be complete without speaking of the religious life of Mr. Dibble and his family. While looking after the material

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things of life he did not neglect his religious obligations and it was this that meant most to him. He was naturally a man of pure motives and clean life, and believed with all his soul in the development of personal religious experience. He was converted at an early age and consecrated himself to the Master's service. His life was a benediction to his children, and all of them are following the example he set before them. The entire family are active members of the First M. E. Church of Marion, where Mr. Dibble was a beloved and faithful member.

ELMER J. CREVISTON. Grant county has reason to be proud of its many fine rural homes, some of which are the envy of the wealthier city residents. A place which combines the comforts of the city with the charms of the country is the Creviston homestead, located on the Wash- ington and Van Buren Pike in Washington township, on the farm extend- ing over portions of sections ten and eleven. This is the home of Elmer J. Creviston, who is proprietor of the farm, and a former business man in Marion but now a practical and successful farmer, who has sur- rounded himself with all the comforts of real living. He has two hun- dred and forty acres in the farm, all of it improved, except forty acres, and engages chiefly in grain farming. He raises about eight hundred bushels of wheat and about two thousand bushels of corn every year, has a small orchard planted two years ago, and keeps considerable stock. The Creviston residence is a nine room house built by his father in 1900. There are three drilled wells in the immediate vicinity, and the house is supplied with that modern equipment of waterpipe, so that running water is as familiar a feature of this home as in a city residence. In the basement is a plant for acetylene gas, supplying lights to all parts of the house. There are also three natural gas wells situated on the farm. The father of Mr. Creviston put up both barns during his lifetime, and there are other facilities in keeping with those already mentioned.

Elmer J. Creviston was born in 1866, on a farm just half a mile east of his present home. His father, E. W. Creviston, who now resides on North Washington street in Marion, was born in Ohio, in 1839, and when an infant one year of age was brought to Grant county, by his father, Daniel Creviston, who was one of the pioneers of the county. Daniel Creviston entered one hundred and forty-nine acres of land from the government, and an interesting fact of the family record is that this land was never transferred from its original ownership until the grandfather's 'estate was divided in 1909. Daniel Creviston died in 1888, and his wife survived until 1909, to a very great age. E. W. Creviston, the father, first occupied a farm a half a mile east of the present home place and moved to the latter in 1866. He was a substantial farmer and good citi- zen, and showed his patriotism during the Civil war by enlisting in the Thirty-Fourth Indiana Infantry. The maiden name of his wife was Margaret Coulbertson. Their two children were Alma Lugan, who resides south of Landersville; and Elmer J.

Elmer J. Creviston spent his youth in Washington township, and when old enough to go to school he became one of the scholars in what was known as number one school house of this township. His first experi- ence in farming was on one hundred acres of land belonging to his father and lying south of the present place. He remained there from 1889 to 1892, and then moved to Marion, and engaged in business affairs. He was in the livery business for three years, in 1895 spent six months again in farming, and in the latter part of the same year established a restau- rant business, which he conducted until 1897. He was then from 1897 to 1905 in the grocery business, and in the latter year came to the present estate of which he is practically the proprietor.

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Mr. Creviston was married in 1890 to Miss Myrtle Ballard, daughter of Dr. J. R. Ballard, a native of Ohio. They have one son, Daniel, aged nineteen years. The politics of Mr. Creviston is Progressive, and he and his family worship in the United Brethren Church.

WILLIAM R. BROCK. When William R. Brock took upon himself the responsibility of a family he knew much of farming by hard and prac- tical experience, but had hardly a dollar of capital. He is now regarded as one of the most thrifty and substantial residents of Pleasant township, owns a good home, makes his farm pay regular dividends, and has pro- vided liberally for his growing children, who will start in life much better equipped than he was. These accomplishments are assuredly a fair measure of success, and Mr. Brock's retrospect on life is a satis- fying one.

William R. Brock, whose homestead is in Pleasant township, was born in Waltz township of Wabash county, June 3, 1862, a son of Ephraim Brock and Elizabeth (Leazenby) Brock. His father was a native of Greene county, Indiana, moved to Wabash county, where he learned and followed the carpenter trade and erected many barns and other buildings in that section. In Wabash county he married, and continued to follow contracting there for some years. In politics his father was a Republican, and he and his wife were active members of the Baptist church. Of his eight children, four are still living: William R., Joseph of Pleasant township, Jesse of Washington township, and Welman of Beaver county, Oklahoma.

William R. Brock was reared in Wabash county, and at the age of eighteen came to Grant county. His early preparation for life was like that of many boys of his time confined to the advantages afforded to the district schools. He first married Olive Lawson, who died at the birth of their first child. On February 4, 1891, he married Emma Shields, a daughter of James Shields and a sister of Mr. Preston Shields. They have six children: James G., a graduate of the common schools at LaFontaine, the high school at the same place, the Marion Normal Col- lege, and now a student in the Indiana State University, having pre- viously taught three terms of school; Allen, who has completed the common school course and has taken two years in high school; Mary, who is now a student in the high school; Edna, Richard and Margaret, all of whom are school children. The family are members of the Meth- odist Episcopal church at Jalapa. Mr. Brock affiliates with the Knights of Pythias Lodge at Marion, and the Benevolent Crew of Neptune. In politics he is a Republican and was twice a candidate for the nomination for the office of sheriff. His home place comprises seventy-seven acres of land, and occupies a part of the old Indian battle ground and is known as the Battleground Farm.

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Centennial History of Grant County Indiana, Part 110

Author: Rolland Lewis Whitson Publication date: 1914 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1034

Author: Rolland Lewis Whitson
Publication date: 1914
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1034