Centennial History of Grant County Indiana, Part 38

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

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The name omitted from the above list of children was John Wilson, the oldest of the five. He was born in the Back Creek Meetings in Ran- dolph county, North Carolina, in 1784. He grew up there on his father's farm, and was married in early manhood to Mary Winslow. She was born in the same section of Indiana, about thirteen years after her husband. Her father, Henry Winslow, later moved to Grant county with his family, that migration taking place late in the decade of the twenties, so that the family was among the earliest in this county. The Winslows bought government land and made a fine farm in Fair- mount township, where Mr. Winslow died at a good old age. The Winslow family were prominent members of the Quaker church. John Wilson and his wife after their marriage and after the birth of all their children in Randolph county, set out from their native state in April, 1837, to find a home in the fine old country of Indiana. Their journey was accomplished somewhat in state, and it is evident that the circum- stances of the Wilsons from a material point of view were more pros- perous than those of a great many who settled in Grant county at that early date. A large wagon drawn by four horses carried many of the household possessions and the male members of the family. Behind came a carriage, with the wife and younger children. They journeyed on day after day along the roads, camping out at night and on Sun- days, and were several weeks in performing this interesting trip. On reaching Grant county, John Wilson and family located on Section six of Fairmount township. The land had never been broken with the plow, and there were few evidences of the work and industry of civilized man anywhere on the three hundred and sixty acres. With the aid of

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the sons, this land rapidly was cleared and brought under cultivation, and all members of the household lived happily there until 1856, when John Wilson and wife moved into the town of Fairmount, where his death occurred in June, 1864, lacking only a day of being eighty years of age. His wife afterwards made her home with a son, Milton, in Center township, and died there about 1870 at the age of seventy-two. Both were among the early members of the Back Creek Friends Church in Fairmount township, though they were not among the organizers of that community, and took a very prominent part in its affairs.

The children of John Wilson and wife are noted as follows: 1. Jesse E., who died in Fairmount township in 1883 at the age of sixty-seven years, was a farmer, a member of the Back Creek Church, and a charter member of the Fairmount Meeting, married and had a large family of children. 2. Nathan, who died in Fairmount in 1880 at the age of sixty-two, was an early member of the Fairmount Quaker Meeting, and had a family of twelve children. 3. Cyrus died in middle life at the age of forty-five in November, 1864. His home was in Liberty town- ship. He married and his three children are all now deceased. 4. Henry, who died at the age of forty-four in June, 1863, lived in Fairmount township, and had four children. 5. Nancy, who died in April, 1913, at the very advanced age of eighty-nine years, married Elam Doherty, who died a number of years ago. They left three sons and one daugh- ter. 6. Micajah, who died on his farm in Fairmount township, July 1, 1906, at the age of eighty-one married a Miss Neal, also deceased, and there were no children. 7. Elizabeth, better known as Betsy, married William Cox, and a full history of the Cox family will be found under the name of Nathan D. Cox elsewhere in this work. 8. Eliza, who died in 1856, in middle life, was the wife of Eli Neal, who is deceased, and two of their sons are living. 9. John Milton, who was a farmer all his life, spent his last days in Wabash, where he died in 1895, leaving a family of four sons still living. 10. Lindsay, who died May 20, 1906, at the age of seventy-three years and five months, married a Miss Davis, who left five children living. 11. The eleventh in the family is Samuel C. Wilson, and now the only survivor. 12. Abigail was an infant when the family came to Grant county, and died here at the age of nine years.

Samuel C. Wilson was born in the Back Creek Meeting of Randolph county, North Carolina, October 14, 1834. Since he was only two and a half years of age when the family accomplished its memorable journey to Grant county, he naturally remembers nothing of the incidents of that event. On the old farm in Fairmount township, he spent his early days, had a fair amount of schooling, and after his marriage operated a part of his father's estate. In 1864 he moved to section sixteen in Fairmount township, which has now been his home for nearly half a century. There he bought one hundred and three acres of partly im- proved land, and in 1884 built the fine old homestead which since has sheltered him and his children. From the standpoint of building, it is all very comfortable, and in the best of repairs, and there is not a foot of waste land on the entire farm, a fact which shows his thrifty enter- prise in handling the soil. His crops are hay, oats, wheat and corn, also considerable potatoes, and steadily throughout the years his prosperity has been growing so that he has been able to make liberal provisions for himself and his family.

Mr. Wilson was first married in Liberty township of Grant county on April 22, 1857. His marriage was in the Quaker church and accord- ing to the attractive Quaker ceremony. His bride was Miss Rachael Overman, who was born in Center township of this county in March, 1842, and who died in October, 1865, without children. On January 10,

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1867, in Rush county, Indiana, Mr. Wilson married Elizabeth Jessup, who was born near Carthage in Rush county, October 11, 1842. She died at her home in Fairmount township, on the fourth of June, 1913. She was a birthright Quaker, and from 1867 until her death, a period of forty-five years, was one of the active members of the Back Creek Meetings. The children of Mr. Wilson and wife were: 1. Lindsay, born March 9, 1870, was educated in the district schools and at the Fair- mount Academy, and has been one of the sturdy farmers of this section for a number of years. In 1911 he became a member of the board of directors of the Fairmount Academy, and as a staunch Republican is also a present member of the County Council. In December, 1894, he married in Fairmount township, Miss Essie Griffin Davis, a daughter of Attorney Foster Davis. Mr. and Mrs. Lindsay Wilson have two chil- dren: Dofinda Elizabeth, born in August, 1895, and who graduated a member of a class of forty-four in 1913 and is now at home; Hubert D., born July 31, 1897, a senior in the Fairmount Academy. 2. Jessup, born November 21, 1872, was educated in the Academy, has never mar. ried, and is now his father's active manager on the home farm. 3. Thomas, born in 1874, died in 1880. Mr. Wilson and his sons are staunch Repub- licans, and throughout his life he has been a member of the Back Creek Quaker Church. For over twenty-five years he has served on the con- trolling board of the church, also an elder and a clerk in the monthly meeting for a long time. His long and honorable business career and prominence in church and civic affairs were worthily honored in 1890 with his election to the state legislature in which he served one term.

JOSEPH NEWBY. A fine citizen, who knew farming, who was always ready to bear his share of responsibilities in the community, was the late Joseph Newby, who died at his home in Fairmount township on section sixteen, June 15, 1913. Mr. Newby has spent practically all his life in Grant county, and belonged to one of the earliest families. Joseph Newby was born at the old Newby homestead in Fairmount township on August 21, 1857. He was fifty-six years of age at his death, and just at the climax of his powers and usefulness. His parents were Thomas W. and Sarah (Hill) Newby, both of whom were natives of Randolph county, North Carolina. They were children when their respective parents and families left North Carolina, and came north to Indiana. It was a typical emigration, one made with teams and wagon, and between their departure and their arrival in Indiana many days of travel intervened, and there were many incidents to break the monotony of such a journey. Both families arrived in Grant county towards the close of the decade of the twenties, previous to the organization of Grant county, so that they are very properly classed among the pioneers and founders of civilization in this section of the state. Both the Newbys and the Hills got their first land from the government, and improved homesteads in Fairmount township, were early members of the Quaker church, and lived long and industrious lives. Thomas W. Newby grew up amid pioneer scenes, attended one of the old-fashioned log school houses, such as are described in the general history of this work, and always followed farming. About sixty-five years ago he and his wife were married, and they started out to make their fortune on a farm. There they lived until death closed their quiet and useful careers, he dying at the age of seventy-nine, and she when eighty-six years of age. All the qualities of good citizenship and upright, moral and Christian people belonged to Thomas W. Newby and wife. They had six children in their family.

Joseph Newby, who was next to the youngest in the family and the

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youngest son, received his education in public schools that were consid- erably advanced above the character of those which his father had attended. After his marriage he settled on eighty acres of land, given him by his father, and thus had a substantial start towards success. He had as his companion a woman who was industrious, thrifty, and very attentive to the household and to the moral training of her children, and under such conditions they steadily prospered. During the thirty years of their residence on the farm in section sixteen of Fairmount township, the eighty original acres grew to one hundred and twenty, and the entire place was well improved in buildings and cultivation. It is an attractive rural estate, and through the shade and fruit trees may be seen the front of the comfortable white house, while an evidence of farming thrift is the good red barn standing near by.

Mr. Newby was married in Delaware county, Indiana, on September 30, 1879, to Miss Laura L. Foster. She was born in Davy county, North Carolina, December 25, 1857, and was ten years of age when her mother brought her to Madison county, Indiana. She was the daughter of Henderson W. Foster, who, though opposed to Secession, was forced to join the Southern army, and in consequence of ill health died a few months after his enlistment at the age of thirty years. Henderson W. Foster married Louise Ribelin, who was born in Davy county, North Carolina, of German parentage. Left a widow with two small children, she joined a party of Friends going north and in 1867 arrived in Indiana. She later married Josiah Winter, and they finally located on a farm in Fairmount township of Grant county. There Mr. Winter died at the age of seventy-nine. In his religious views he was a Dunkard. His widow, who died July 24, 1896, when about sixty-nine years of age, passed away at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Newby. She also in later life affiliated with the Dunkard Church. By her first marriage there were two children, one of them Mrs. Newby, and the other Louisa, the wife of Leroy Horner, of Mill township in Grant county. By his former marriage Mr. Winter had two sons and five daughters, the only one of whom now living is Mrs. Christianna Hiat of Madison county, Indiana.

Mr. and Mrs. Newby became the parents of the following children : 1. Harmon T., born March 11, 1882, was educated in the common schools and a business college, and is now in the employ of the Santa Fe Railroad Company at Las Vegas, New Mexico. He married Miss Lillian Withers. They have no children. 2. Arthur W., born November 17, 1884, was educated in the Fairmount Academy and the Marion Busi- ness College, and is now managing the home estate for his mother. 3. John F., born October 5, 1887, is a farmer in the township of Jeffer- son, and married Ethel B. Corn, a daughter of Joseph Corn. They have two children, Grace M., and Ernest A. 4. Mary L., born August 25, 1891, received a good education, attending Fairmount Academy, and is now the wife of James A. Corn, living in Fairmount township. Their children are Laura M., Jason I., and Evert Earl. During his career as a citizen, the late Mr. Newby voted the Republican ticket regularly, and his son has taken up the same political faith. Mrs. Newby is a mem- ber of the Methodist Protestant church.

HILL BROTHERS. Vigorous enterprise has been the keynote in the successful establishment of Hill Brothers at Fairmount, where they carry on a butchering and meat refrigeration and market business which is one of the best managed plants of its kind to be found anywhere out- side of the largest cities. To furnish people with good food products has always been an honorable vocation, but in recent years it has come to be seen that such a service is one of the most important that man can ren-

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der to his fellow men. That is the sole business of Hill Brothers, and they deserve the greatest credit for the manner in which they are per- forming it. The firm comprises James T. Hill and S. Brooks Hill. Some mention of their individual careers and their families will be of interest in this history of Grant county and are briefly sketched in the following paragraphs.

The parents were Israel and Sarah J. (Sharpe) Hill, both natives of Pennsylvania. The Hill family is of English and German origin, while the Sharpes are of German and French extraction. Israel Hill and wife were married in Fulton county, and spent their lives there as farmers, the father being a member of the Primitive Baptist faith, while his wife was of the Christian denomination. Israel Hill died at the age of seventy-three and his wife followed him at the age of seventy-six. Their children are mentioned as follows: Louisiana is the wife of Jack Hixson, a farmer in Miami county, Ohio. Their three sons are Ira, Charles and Walter. Howard is a merchant at War- fordsburg, Pennsylvania, and married Norah Runyon, and their chil- . dren are Cora and Verna.

James T. Hill, the senior member of the firm of Hill Brothers, and third in order of birth in the family, was born in Pennsylvania, in 1868, received an education in the public schools about in the same man- ner as his brother, and starting out to make his own way, learned the butcher's trade at the National Soldiers Home in Dayton, Ohio. While at Dayton, he was married, and then established an enterprise as a breeder and raiser of fine hogs, of the improved Duroc Jersey strain. He did a good business in that line, raising from three hundred to four hundred every year. After eight years in that work he moved to Fair- mount City, in 1904, and became associated with his brother in the meat market business. These two have since combined their energy and experience in building up a flourishing enterprise. James T. Hill was first married at Dayton, Ohio, to Miss Fannie Heckman, of Montgomery county, that state. She was born, reared and educated in the vicinity of Dayton, and died five years after her marriage. The three children left at her death were Anna, Harry and Hallie, all of whom are now in the Fairmount public school. Mr. James T. Hill for his second wife married Miss Eva Bell Butts. She was a native of Montgomery county, where they were married. They are the parents of William B. and Mary G.

S. Brooks Hill was born in the foothills of the Alleghany mountains in Fulton county, Pennsylvania, April 22, 1873. His early training and home influence were on a farm and he belonged to a thrifty Penn- sylvania family. He grew up and was educated in the common schools and first qualified himself for a career as a teacher. When a boy he got his education by walking night and morning two and a half miles to a district school. Later he went to the county normal, and then spent three years as a teacher.

S. Brooks Hill, after he gave up his occupation as a school teacher, having about that time reached his majority, moved out to Dayton, Ohio, and spent four years in the meat and grocery business. That was the foundation of his experience which enabled him to start out on his own account when he came to Fairmount in January, 1898. Here he first took the management of a local telephone company, and spent seven years in that work. In 1904, he established a meat market, and after a few months bought out his partner, and was then joined by his brother. The Hill Brothers enterprise is much above the average scope of a local meat market. They not only have a well equipped shop for disposing of their meat on the block, but maintain a slaughter house, and have a

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complete refrigerating plant for the preserving and curing of all their products. Electricity is the power which operates the entire plant. A large part of the business is the preparation of the meat consumed by nearly all the farmers in this section of Grant county, and their equip- ment has been especially designed to meet the demands of this class of trade. By careful management and efficient service they have built up a very profitable business ..

Mr. S. Brooks Hill was married in Mercer county, Ohio, to Miss Caro- line Johnsman, who was born in Mercer county on a farm, received a public school education, and has been a most helpful companion to her husband. Their children are: Thelma, now eleven years of age and attending the city schools; and Clemons Lamont, who is five years of age.

Milton B. Hill, the youngest of the Hill Brothers, was born in Fulton county, Pennsylvania, October 4, 1876. He married Bertha Lake, and they have two children, Vivian and Kittie. Mr. Hill resides on the old home farm in Fulton county, Pennsylvania.

ELIHU J. OREN. A resident of Monroe township for more than seventy years, and one of the best known and most successful farmers and citizens of that locality, Elihu J. Oren is a product of pioneer envir- onment and of the old-fashioned log school house, of the kind that has passed down into history along with the stage-coach and the hoop-skirt. The school days, even in that rough and primitive institution were lim- ited, and much of his education was obtained at his father's knee, and by such schooling as he was able to give himself in the opportunity of leisure. In spite of its many deficiencies, however, this old-fashioned training had a way of bringing out sober, industrious, God-fearing men, such as Elihu J. Oren himself, the kind of men who have proved the backbone and mainstay of our nation, and have reared up a steady new generation of able men and women for the honor of the country.

Elihu J. Oren was born February 20, 1835, in Green county, Ohio, a son of Jesse and Elizabeth (Evans) Oren, the father a native of Ten- nessee, and the mother of southern Indiana. Col. Robert M. Evans, an uncle of Eliabeth Evans, platted and laid out the site of Evansville, Indiana. Elizabeth Evans was born in Davis county, Indiana. Jesse Oren, the father, was born December 12, 1806, and died September 13, 1874. His father, John Oren, moved to Clinton county, Ohio, in 1818, and his people were Quakers. Jesse Oren was reared in Clinton county, Ohio, and on September 12, 1830, married Elizabeth Evans, who was born June 6, 1808, the daughter of John and Elizabeth Evans. Her death occurred May 8, 1863. Jesse Oren and wife moved to Grant county with their family and reached Monroe township, November 12, 1841. They had to cut a road from the Charles Atkinson place to the site of the eighty acres which the father had bought in the midst of the woods. Not an acre of the land was cleared and the first home of the family in this county was a rough cabin built of round logs, and with scarcely any furniture or creature comforts. Jesse Oren bought eighty acres, but soon afterwards a period of invalidism seized him and his son Elihu assumed the obligations for payment of this new land. The nine children in the family of the parents were: John E., deceased ; Mrs. Margaret Skinner, deceased; Elihu J .; Mrs. Elizabeth Atkinson, de- ceased; Mrs. Rebecca S. Hunnicutt, deceased; Sarah Jane Benedict; Rachael Kirkpatrick, and Esther Foy, all three deceased; and Henry G. of Blackford county. The father of these children was an excellent scholar for his time, and in default of the poor schools that existed in this section of Indiana, he did much of the work of instruction among his growing children.

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ELIHU J. OREN

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Elihu J. Oren for a few terms attended the number eight school in Monroe township, and supplied the other deficiencies of his training with the wisdom of his father, and by close observation and practical experience. He lived with his father until the latter's death, and con- tributed his labor to the support of the family and the care of his invalid father. He then came into possession of the home place of eighty acres and bought other land as he was able until at the present time he is the owner of two hundred acres, with eighty acres in section 20, eighty acres in section 28, and he and his son have a place of eighty acres in section 32, all in Monroe township. The homestead is in section 28. Mrs. Oren also owns fifteen acres in Blackford county. The crops for 1912 on the Oren estate aggregated two thousand bushels of corn, twelve hundred bushels of oats, twenty tons of hay. He fed and wintered fifty-two hogs, and a considerable bunch of cattle. Each year about seventy hogs are sent to market from Oren farm, and the other herds of stock include about a carload of cattle every year, some twenty sheep and eleven horses for the work of the farm. Mr. Oren has a very comfortable homestead and it is one of the oldest houses in this section of the county, having been built under his supervision in 1861, more than half a century ago. All the lumber for the dwelling was hand-dressed, its walls and framing were put together very strong, and there are few houses of modern con- struction which would stand so long as this one. The dwelling is situ- ated on an eminence, and both house and barns are painted a dark green. The barn was finished in October, 1876.

Mr. Oren was married March 6, 1871, to Miss Mary Townsend, a daughter of James F. Townsend. Two of their children died in infancy, and they have reared ten, named as follows: Jason, of Gas City; Otto, of Carroll county, Missouri; Jasper, at home in Monroe township ; Mrs. Bertha Atkinson of Monroe township; James E., a dairyman of Center township; Bruce C., a blacksmith at Upland in Jefferson township; Fletcher H., of Upland; Warren, at home; Stella Atkinson, of Gas City ; Charles, at home.

In the community life of Monroe township Mr. Oren has long been an important factor. He is a Democrat and has taken active and influ- ential part in party councils. In 1872 he was chosen to the office of township trustee, and by reelection served for eight years consecutively. In 1884 he was again a successful candidate for the same office, and served for four years, making twelve years in all. He has frequently attended state and congressional conventions as a delegate, and was a delegate to the last congressional convention in the campaign of 1912. Religiously he supports the Universalist faith. Fraternally he is very prominent in several organizations. He became a member of the Masonic lodge at Jonesboro in 1860, and now affiliates with the Arcana Lodge F. & A. M., of Upland, of which he is a charter member and was the first Master. He belongs to the Chapter and the Council at Hartford City. He affiliates with Shidler Lodge No. 352, I. O. O. F. at Upland, and is also a member of the Encampment. He belongs to the Hartford City Lodge No. 625 of the B. P. O. E. Mr. Oren was the first master and a charter member of the Arcana lodge of Masons then at Arcana, now lo- cated at Upland. He has represented the Masonic order in the Grand Lodge frequently. He has filled all the chairs in the Odd Fellows subordinate lodge and also the encampment, and has represented both divisions in state meetings. He served as a delegate to the state meeting of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks at Anderson, Ind., in 1912, and also at Lafayette in 1913, representing Hartford City Lodge, No. 625.

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HENRY A. HANLEY. A number of years ago prosperity came to Henry A. Hanley, and entirely through his own efforts and through the medium of progressive agriculture and stock raising. Mr. Hanley, when a child lost his father, as a result of exposure and disease, during service in the Union army. That caused him to be thrown upon his own resources at an early age, and while his education was neglected he grew up familiar with hard work from a tender age, and has earned his own support from a time when most modern children are in the lower grades of grammar school. Mr. Hanley had the perseverance and the ambition to succeed, and long since arrived at a place where his success has been subject of commendation by his neighbors.

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Centennial History of Grant County Indiana, Part 38

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

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