Centennial History of Grant County Indiana, Part 16

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

USA > Indiana > Grant County > Centennial History of Grant County Indiana > Part 16

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W. C. NOTTINGHAM AND WIFE

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Wilson T. Leach, a farmer in Madison county, and they have one son. Nancy Ann, who died in 1907, was the wife of John Duncan, of Fair- mount, and of her three sons and two daughters all are now dead except one son.

Daniel B. Johnson was born in Fairmount township December 15, 1857. His education was that afforded by the public schools, and his active career has been entirely spent as a farmer. His present estate on section two comprises forty acres, and has the first class improvements which are so characteristic of the better Grant county farms. His crops are those staple to Grant county, and all his grain is fed to stock raised on the place. A good red barn and a comfortable house are features which indicate the progressive character of the proprietor.

Mr. Johnson was married in Fairmount township in 1879, to Miss Mellicent Hiatt, who was born in Fairmount township, February 7, 1858. Reared and educated in this locality, since her marriage she has proved an excellent helpmate and has done much to forward the material prosperity of the family, at the same time devoting herself with motherly care and intelligence to the rearing of her children. Her parents were Elias and Hannah (Hunt) Hiatt, natives of Henry county, Indiana, where they were married. Elias Hiatt came to Grant county in the early forties and entered government land two miles south of Fair- mount, where his first home was a log cabin, later replaced with the good frame house, and still later with a brick home. The last residence was completed about fifteen years ago. Although feeble, Elias Hiatt is still living at the age of eighty-five. . His wife is now seventy-four years of age, and is hale and hearty. They are members of the German Baptist or Dunkard church.

Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are the parents of the following children : Dessie E. is the wife of Brook Roberts, of Fairmount, a retired farmer, who is the owner of one hundred acres in Madison county. Oliver N. died at the age of three years. Willard C. is a graduate of the Indian- apolis Veterinary College, and is now practicing at Summitville. in Madison county ; he married Myrtle Jones, and has a son Wilford. Estella lives at home and is unmarried. Hannah died unmarried at the age of twenty-two. Walter lives at home, and is just entering upon a vigorous young manhood.

WARREN CLARK NOTTINGHAM. Now living retired in Jefferson town- ship at Matthews, on that portion known as "Old Town," Warren Clark Nottingham has had a long and active career as a farmer and business man, and is now serving as deputy township assessor.

His grandfather, James Nottingham, was born in Pennsylvania. and came of good old English stock, the family originally having had its seat in Nottingham, England, for many years, hence the name which followed the family. James Nottingham was born in 1811, and when six years of age his parents moved out to Indiana, and located about 1817 near the present city of Muncie. James Nottingham grew up at Muncie, learned the trade of cabinet maker, and was four times married. His first wife, a Miss Russell, was born near Muncie, Indiana, about 1812, and died there in the prime of life. She left two sons and two daughters, namely: Chaplain; Julia Ann, who became the wife of Simon Clark; one daughter that died, aged twelve years; and a son. Owen P. James Nottingham for his second wife married a Miss Carmine, who was born in Delaware county, Indiana, and who died when still a young woman, leaving one son, Thomas, who died after being twice married, leaving children by both wives. James Nottingham, for his third wife, married a Delaware county girl, whose name is now

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forgotten, and she survived only a brief while. The fourth wife was Mrs. Sarah Litler, whose maiden name was Heal. She was the mother of five children by a former marriage. James Nottingham, after marry- ing his fourth wife, moved to Grant county on a farm in Jefferson township. Some years later he sold the sixty acres he owned in Jeffer- son township and bought a house and land near Jonesboro, in Mill township. There James Nottingham died in 1885, being survived by his wife a few years.

She was about seventy years of age when her death occurred. There were four children by the last union, namely: David, who is married and has children and lives in Lansing, Michigan; Caroline, who died after her marriage to Frank Stout, and left one child; Catherine, the widow of a Mr. O'Connor, living at Indianapolis; and Leota, wife of Earl Jay of Gas City, Indiana, and the mother of three daughters. James Nottingham and all his wives were active members of the Meth- odist Episcopal church, and in politics he was a Republican. During the war he served an office similar to that of provost marshal, and his duties were principally connected with the making of the draft and the serving of notice upon those whose services were thus selected for the army.

Owen P. Nottingham, father of Warren C., was born October 18, 1833, at the present city of Muncie, which at that time was known as Munsytown. His early life was spent in Muncie, and when a boy he began learning the trade of harness maker. One of his youthful duties was. the driving of a hack for passengers and mail between Muncie and Marion, a distance of thirty miles. The roads were unspeakably bad, and the low, swampy places were what were known as Corduroy, being built of logs laid close together at right angles to the main line of travel. He carried with him a convenient rail to pry his wagon out of the worst holes. A four-horse team pulled his wagon over this distance. This travel between Muncie and Marion made him famil- iar with Grant county, and in early manhood he settled in Jefferson township. In that township on February 24, 1853, he married Mary A. Couch, who was born in Darke county, Ohio, June 1, 1832. When she was four years of age, her grandfather, Sam'l Todd, brought the family to Jefferson township, locating there in 1836. Other children in the family were Samuel and Tamma. Jefferson township was prac- tically an unbroken wilderness when the Todd family located there, and Sam'l Todd entered some land on Todd creek, where he had his homestead and where the family grew up and remained until starting out in life for themselves.

After his marriage Owen P. Nottingham bought a farm in Jefferson township and continued to cultivate his land there until the beginning of the Civil war. He then enlisted in the Fifty-fourth Indiana Regi- ment, and in the rank of corporal and later as a teamster, contributed his faithful services to the preservation of the Union. During the Siege of Vicksburg he drove an ammunition wagon and had many nar- row escapes, losing three mules while driving his wagon under the storm of shot and shell in some of the most exposed parts of the fields. His service as a soldier continued for about eighteen months, and at his honorable discharge he returned home and sold the forty acres which he had previously bought and then acquired what is known as the Todd farm of one hundred acres. In 1865 Mr. Nottingham sold . out his land in Grant county and moved out to Southeastern Kansas, to the Cherokee Nation of Indians, in what is now Cherokee county, Kansas. There he took up a claim of land and occupied it until 1868. In that year his residence was moved to Cedar county, Missouri, where

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he bought one hundred and sixty acres. In 1870 he sold out his western property and returned to Grant county, and finally located on a farm in Jefferson township where he lived until his death on January 26, 1906. His wife died in Grant county, October 10, 1883. He was mar- ried a second time, Miss Hannah Simons becoming his second wife. She still lives on the old homestead, and though without children of her own, adopted a son, Fred, when he was a small child, and Fred is now married and lives with his foster mother.

Owen P. Nottingham by his first wife had ten children, mentioned as follows: Warren C .; Rufus C., who has been twice married, and has children by each wife, and lives on a farm in Jefferson township; James S., who lives on a farm in Spencer county, Indiana, is married and has one daughter; Ellen T., wife of Aaron Kearstead, a farmer of Jonesboro, and the father of eight children; Athalia O., who lives in Clark county, and has a family by her late husband, Fremont Heal, who was killed by a gas explosion; the sixth child died in infancy; Benjamin S., a farmer in Blackford county, Indiana, and has a large family of children; Sarah E., and Julia, twins, the former a widow living in Jonesboro, with four children, and the latter the wife of Daniel Farr, living in Illinois; and William D., a veterinary surgeon at Fowlerton, Indiana, and the father of a family.

Warren Clark Nottingham was born in Jefferson township of Grant county, November 20, 1853. His early life was spent in his native township, and while assisting in the labor of the home farm he also had the advantages of the home school. After reaching his majority he bought some land, and at the present time, as a result of years of suc- cessful management and industry, owns one hundred and twenty acres of farm land in Jefferson township. It is improved with a comfortable dwelling house, and a large red barn and other outbuilding testify to the thrift and management of the estate. For the past seven years Mr. Nottingham has given little active attention to the management of his farm and has lived in Matthews, or that part of it called Old Town.

In 1874 Mr. Nottingham was first married in Jefferson township to Miss Ruth A. Brown, who was born in Jefferson township, August 7, 1851. Her death occurred at the old home farm, June 2, 1905. Her children were: Mary Bernice, wife of John Gadbury, a farmer in Licking township of Blackford county, Indiana, and their five children are Ernest, Ross, Floyd, Gale and Harold. Harmon J., the second child of Mr. and Mrs. Nottingham, is on his father's farm and by his marriage to Rosiphene Walker, has the following children: Cecil A., Lester E., Ethel M., and Clair. Clella, the third of the family, is the wife of Wilson Leach, a farmer in Jefferson township. Their chil- dren are: Crystal, Ruth, deceased; Bernice and Mozelle. Besides these three children still living, Preston died in infancy, and Guy and Glenn, twins, also died in childhood.

On March 6, 1907, Mr. Nottingham married for his second wife, Mrs. Sidney C. Brown, widow of John L. Brown. Her maiden name was Haines, and she was born in Monroe township of Grant county, November 13, 1858, and was reared and educated in this county, and first married in Jefferson township. Her husband, Mr. Brown, was a resident here for many years and a farmer, his life coming to an end on May 11, 1904. The Brown children were: Emory L., and Virgil H., both well educated and living at home, and three children that died in childhood. Mrs. Nottingham is the daugh- ter of Nathan and Sarah (Imes) Haines. Nathan Haines was born in Ohio. October 25, 1813, and died in Kansas in 1886. Nathan Haines was a son of Ebenezer, who was born in 1799 and died in 1850, and he

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in turn was a son of Joseph Haines, born either in Virginia or Penn- sylvania. A brother of Joseph was Vincent, who was poisoned during the Revolutionary war by drinking water, into which some Hessian soldier had poured poison. Joseph Haines spent his life as a Virginia planter and farmer, having located in that colony in 1770. Ebenezer Haines came west on reaching manhood, and in 1803 settled in Colum- biana county, Ohio, living and prospering there until the close of his years. Nathan Haines was three times married and had children by each wife. His last wife, whose maiden name was Sarah Imes, was the mother of Mrs. Nottingham. Nathan Haines spent his last years in Cloud county, Kansas, where he died at the age of seventy-two. His widow afterwards returned to Grant county, Indiana, and died there at the age of sixty-six. They were active members of the Chris- tian church, and four of their seven children are still living. Mr. and Mrs. Nottingham are working members of the Methodist Episcopal church and Mr. Nottingham is a vigorous exponent of the Democratic doctrines in politics. He is now serving his fifth year as deputy assessor of Jefferson township.

JESSE C. HOLLOWAY. Representing a young generation of a family which has been identified with Grant county for many years, Jesse C. Holloway has for fourteen years successfully raised the product of the soil on his farm in section twenty-six of Fairmount township. His farm contains one hundred and twenty acres, nearly all of which is in a high state of cultivation. Farming with Mr. Holloway is a prac- tical business matter, and his methods are such as to insure the con- tinuous fertility and value of his estate. He never raises more than two successive crops of corn on the same ground. His rotation changes his land from clover to corn, then to oats, then to wheat, and then back to clover. His home has been on this land since 1899, and his improve- ments in buildings are of the very best.

Mr. Holloway has lived in Grant county all his life, and was born in Monroe township, January 23. 1876. The family history has been told on other pages and will be briefly summarized at this place. Three brothers of the name left England during the colonial days, and one of them located in North Carolina. Of Quaker stock, the family in subsequent generations have always been devoted to that church. First to be mentioned among the descendants of the first settler is Abner Holloway, who married Elizabeth Stanley, and they both lived and died in North Carolina, where they were farmers and upright people. They were the parents of four children. Of these Jesse was born about 1805, and in his home state he married Eleanor Hinshaw, who was born in North Carolina in 1810. After their marriage they settled on a farm, where the wife gained great reputation throughout a large com- munity as a midwife and doctor. Their home was later moved to Ohio. Jesse and Eleanor Holloway were the parents of nine children. Second among these was Abner, who was born December 6, 1830, in Clinton county, Ohio. When he was a child the family moved to Fairmount township in Grant county. Here in the Friends church and with the Quaker ceremony, on May 15, 1854, Abner Holloway married Sarah Rich, who was born in Hamilton county, Ohio, October 7, 1837, and was a child when she came to Grant county. The history of the Rich family is told on other pages of this Grant county history. Abner Holloway and wife began their careers in Monroe township, and in 1882 moved to Fairmount township. Abner died April 1, 1903, and his widow is still living. They were the parents of twelve children, of whom Jesse C. was the eighth.

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Mr. Jesse C. Holloway was six years of age when his parents moved to Fairmount township, where he grew up and was educated in the local schools. His early environment was a farm and when he started out in life for himself he settled upon that vocation and has made a success of it. In the house where he now lives, Mr. Holloway was married in 1898 to Miss Lillie M. Corn, who was born in Jonesboro, July 25, 1878. Her parents are John G. and Rebecca (Ice) Corn, who are still living. They were born in Indiana and were married in Madison county, where they had their home for many years, later moving to Fairmount town- ship in this county. Mr. Corn has combined the vocation of carpenter with farming and also runs a threshing outfit during each harvest sea- son. Mr. and Mrs. Holloway are the parents of five children : R. Ger- trude, born July 17, 1899, and now attending school; Dwight C., born September 4, 1901, and in school at Fowlerton ; John H., born February 19, 1904, also in school; Hazel E., born May 18, 1908; and S. Pauline, born March 8, 1912. In politics Mr. Holloway is a Prohibitionist and he and his wife worship in the Methodist Protestant Church.

ALPHEUS HAMLIN SHIELDS. The Shields family has lived in Grant county for fifty years. Its members have as a rule been practical farm- ers, men of energy and thrift, good managers, and agreeable and useful in all their relations with the community. Mr. Alpheus H. Shields has for more than thirty years been succeeding as a farmer in Fairmount township, his home being in section thirty-two on the rural route No. 21 out of Fairmount.

His grandparents were George and Ann Shields, both natives of Virginia, and probably of old families in that old commonwealth. From Virginia after their marriage they moved to Clinton county, Ohio, where they spent the remainder of their days. Grandfather Shields was probably only a few years past middle age when he died, but his wife survived until she was ninety years of age. They were members of the Methodist church. In their family were one son and four daugh- ters, all the latter growing up, marrying and having families of their own.

John M. Shields, the only son was born January 24, 1819, was reared on a farm, and in Clinton county, Ohio, on May 16, 1844, mar- ried Martha Connell. She was born in the state of Pennsylvania, April 10, 1818, a daughter of Hiram and Nancy Connell, all of whom came to Clinton county. The Connell family belonged to the Friends Church. The Rev. Mr. Baker of the Methodist faith, married John M. Shields and wife. Both the Shields and the Connell families it should be noted, were of Scotch-Irish stock. All the children, three sons and one daughter, of John M. Shields and wife were born in Clinton county. Later, in 1862, they moved to Indiana, where the father bought two hundred and ninety-two acres in section five of Fairmount township. After improving his land, and gaining a comfortable competence for himself during his declining years, besides providing well for his chil- dren, he and his wife about 1872, moved to a farm near Fairmount city, and there both spent their last years. The mother died September 20, 1888. Their church was the Methodist, though later they joined the Friends church and it was in that faith that both passed away. John M. Shields was a Republican in politics. The children of John M. Shields and wife were: Louisa, who married Joseph Pool, a farmer of Fairmount township, and their children are John and Nettie; George, who now lives in Fairmount city, married Ida Persnet, and has three children, Ethel, Charles and Frank. The third is Alpheus H. Shields;

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William, whose home is now in the state of California, married Lydia. Cox, and their children are Trenton, Edward and Everett.

Alpheus Hamlin Shields was born in Clinton county, Ohio, May 28, 1852. Since he was ten years of age his home has been within two miles of Fairmount city. His education was acquired partly in the schools of Ohio, and partly in Fairmount township, and since he reached his majority his energies have been closely devoted to farming. At the present time he is the owner of a place of seventy acres of fine land in section thirty-one, and besides that operates fifty acres in another tract. Farming is a successful business in the case of Mr. Shields, and as a grower of the staple crops, there has seldom been a year when he has not added at least a little to his prosperity. He and his wife reside in a very comfortable home, and there are good barns and improvements all about the place.

His first marriage occurred in Fairmount township on Christmas Day of 1880, when Mattie E. Neal became his wife. She was born in Grant county, February 15, 1863, and died at their home in September, 1893. Her parents were Eli and Sophia (Lamb) Neal, who came to Grant county from Ohio, and were married in this county. They were farmers, members of the Friends Church and Wesleyan Methodist faith respectively, and their home was in Fairmount township until death. To the marriage of Mr. Shields and Miss Neal were born four children: Estella S. is the wife of Otto Harris, a farmer in Delaware county, and they have one daughter, Lillian; Thad J. is unmarried and lives at home; Claude W., died in childhood; Edith J. is the wife of Claude Kitterman, their home being in Blackford county, on a farm, and their one child is Dorothy B.

On August 6, 1894, at Summitville, in Madison county, Mr. Shields married Mrs. Elizabeth Atkinson, whose maiden name was Painter. She was born on the old Painter homestead in Madison county, February 19, 1868, and was reared and educated there. Her parents were Silas P. and Dorcas C. (Heritage) Painter. Her father, born in Henry county, Indiana, is still living on the old homestead in Madison county with his son, and will be seventy-eight years of age on December 4, 1913. Mrs. Shields' mother was born in Preble county, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Painter began life in Madison county near Summitville, where by their united industries they acquired a fine home of one hundred and sixty acres, on which all the children were reared. Mrs. Painter died January 3, 1906, at the age of sixty-eight. The Painter family were members of the Missionary Baptist church. Silas P. Painter was a son of George W. and Keziah (Perry) Painter, who were among the pioneer settlers of Madi- son county, where they died. Mrs. Shields by her first marriage to Robert H. Atkinson, who was born in Decatur county, Indiana, and died April 16, 1891, had the following children: Lottie V., who died at the age of three years; J. P. Lester, who married Hazel Lamb, lives in Sum- mitville, and has no children; Bertie M., who lives at the Shields home. Mr. and Mrs. Shields have the following children of their own: Alva, who died in infancy ; Ina L., born June 6, 1908; and Silas H., born Sep- tember 14, 1911. The religious affiliation of Mr. and Mrs. Shields is with the Baptist church, while in politics he is a regular Republican voter.

JAMES A. HUBERT. Those interested in the pioneer relics of Grant county will not find them all, nor the most interesting, in the collection of the Grant County Historical Association. The students of the past in seeking out the curious would make no more profitable journey than to the homestead of James A. Hubert in Fairmount township. Mr. Hubert has himself lived in Grant county for sixty years, and has for many

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AND DAUGHTER

MR. AND MRS. JAMES A. HUBERT

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years carefully guarded and cherished the old Clark homestead, built by his Grandfather Clark in the pioneer days, and it is on the land originally comprising the Clark farm that Mr. Hubert has lived for a long period of years. Within the old home, standing in the same yard on which Mr. Hubert's modern residence is located, are to be found many choice and rare mementoes of the past, and about the old home center many associations not only of a family nature, but also significant of the past in this county. In the following paragraphs space is given to a brief sketch of the Hubert family, and also of the Clark generation, and to as much of the activities of these people as can properly be compressed within the limits of one short chapter of family history.

First to be mentioned in this article is the late Rev. John Hubert, one of the finest characters of the old times in Grant county. Some interesting material concerning the life of this noble minister and patriot is contained in a eulogy delivered by Rev. W. T. Arnold at the funeral of Rev. Hubert, and what follows is largely an abstract from that oration. John Hubert was born at Cambridge, Guernsey, Ohio, March 30, 1825. His father and mother came to this country from France and settled on a farm in Ohio, and both died when the son was young, so that little is known of their history. When John Hubert was three years old he lost his father, and the boy was then bound out to learn the hatter's trade. He continued at this trade until the Mexican war broke out, when he responded to the call of duty and served one year. After returning he located at Sweetser, in Grant county, taking a tract of land that was given him by the government. He built a small cabin on this land, which was not only used for living purpose, but was also used to hold church services in, the people coming from miles around to attend the services. It was in that cabin that he was converted under the preaching of Brother Bradshaw, and was the only person on that charge converted in that year. He had been reared in the Presbyterian faith, but hence- forth was devoted to the service of the Methodist denomination. Later he was licensed to exhort and later as a local preacher. He became very effective in this work, and held many revivals in which scores of souls were converted. He loved to preach and sing the old-time songs. He was instrumental in building two churches near and in Sweetser, a town which was located on his farm. He donated the ground for these churches, and gave liberally of his money toward their erection. After leaving Sweetser he moved to the farm where he resided until his death. For the second time during his life he felt the call of duty to go to the Civil war and enlisted in Company C of the Fifty-fourth Indiana Regi- ment. While in the war he was wounded through the foot by a gun shot in the battle of Vicksburg. He served fifteen months in this un- pleasant struggle.

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Centennial History of Grant County Indiana, Part 16

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

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