Centennial History of Grant County Indiana, Part 63

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

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ISRAEL S. BENBOW. This well known citizen of Grant county lives eight miles south of Marion, on the Liberty and Green township pike, near Oak Ridge, where he is the owner of a well-cultivated tract of land. Mr. Benbow has long been identified with the agricultural interests of this section, and has also been active in public life, serving as a member of the board of county commissioners of Grant county for three years. He was born on a farm in Monroe township, Grant county, Indiana, July 8, 1868, and is a son of Thomas and Hannah E. (Jenkins) Benbow.

Thomas Benbow was also born in Grant county, Indiana, June 11, 1836, and was a son of Evan Benbow, the latter being a son of John Benbow, who came to Grant county, Indiana, as early as 1833 from Guilford county, North Carolina, and settled on a farm in Mill town- ship, among the pioneers. Thomas Benbow adopted the vocation of farming in his youth, and was so engaged in Monroe township at the time of the outbreak of the Civil War. With other young men of his community he enlisted for service in the Union army, becoming a private in the Fifty-eighth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until the close of hostilities. When peace was declared between the North and the South, Mr. Benbow resumed his farming operations, and for a long period continued to be engaged therein in Monroe township, but is now living retired from active life, having a comfortable home at Gas City. He was married in 1858 to Hannah E. Jenkins who survives him. She was born in Monroe township, Grant county, Indiana, a daughter of Israel Jenkins, a pioneer of Grant county, Indiana. Israel S. is the eldest of their children.

Israel S. Benbow received his education in the district schools of Monroe township, which he attended during three months each winter, . the rest of the year being spent in assisting his father and brothers in the work of the homestead. It was but natural that he should adopt farming as a vocation, and at the time of his marriage he located on his present farm, a handsome property which he has developed to a . high state of cultivation. Mr. Benbow is the owner of eighty-two acres in Liberty township and eighty acres in section 13, Center town-

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ship, all of this property having been acquired through the medium of his own efforts. He carries on general farming and has also been successful in the raising of stock, and is recognized as one of the progressive, intelligent men of this part of the county.

On February 28, 1893, Mr. Benbow was united in marriage with Miss Belle Nelson, the daughter of James R. Nelson, and a member of an old and honored Grant county family. Mr. and Mrs. Benbow have had no children. They are consistent members of the New Light Christian church, and have been liberal in their support of its move- ments. For many years Mr. Benbow has been stalwart in his support of the principles and candidates of the Republican party, and has served his fellow-townsmen as county commissioner of Grant county, a position to which he was elected in 1907 and held for three years, and as justice of the peace in Monroe township, before he was married, a capacity in which he acted two years. In both of these offices he displayed ability and a conscientious regard for the duties of public service, winning the confidence of his townsmen, a confidence that he has been able to retain to the present time.

FRANCIS H. WIMPY. The late Francis H. Wimpy was a man of many excellent and admirable qualities, and his untimely passing at the early age of thirty-seven years was a decided loss to that community in which he made his home, and where he was highly esteemed and regarded of all who knew him. He came of an old Southern family, and he was born on his father's farm, to eighty acres of which he succeeded on the death of his father, the date of his birth being August 4, 1870. He died at his home in Mill township on February 25, 1907, leaving a widow and one daughter to mourn his loss.

Francis Wimpy was the son of Robert and Sarah (Hocket) Wimpy. The father was a native son of Georgia, and his parents were of an old Georgia family, still well known in that state. They passed their entire lives there, their son Robert being the first of that immediate branch of the Wimpy family to migrate to the north. Robert Wimpy was a young man when he first came to Indiana, and soon after he settled in Grant county he met and married Sarah Hocket, the marriage taking place in Mill township. She was a native of Ohio, born in Clinton county, and was the daughter of John and Mary (Noradack) Hocket, both of Ohio. They came to Indiana before the Civil war broke out, and here in the wilds of Grant county they purchased land that was destined to be changed into a fruitful farm under their tireless efforts. They improved a tract of one hundred and sixty acres, bringing it to a fine state of subjection, and there they passed their remaining days. They were full of years when they died, he being at the age of eighty-four and she having passed her eighty-second milestone. They were life long members of the Friends church, and were fine and sturdy specimens of American citizenship all their days. They had two sons and two daugh- ters. One son, Barkley Hocket, still lives, and is a resident of Gypsum, Colorado.

Sarah (Hocket) Wimpy died on August 13, 1875, when her infant son, Francis H. Wimpy of this review, was nine days old. She was born in 1832, and when she married Mr. Wimpy in Mill township, they began life on the old Hocket farm. They had just built a new home on the place when she died, and the house is now occupied by the widow of her son, Francis.

After the death of his first wife, Robert Wimpy married a Miss Rush, who is still living. She has a residence in South Carolina, and

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she is past seventy years of age. When Mr. Wimpy died on May 15, 1899, they were residing at Winchester, Indiana, and after his death she went to South Carolina, as has been stated. Mr. Wimpy and both his wives were members of the Jonesboro Friends church, and he was a Republican in his politics. He was a soldier of the Confederacy in the Civil war, but so strong were his convictions in favor of the north that he deserted at Gettysburg and came north, thereafter giving his undivided sympathy and support to the Union cause.

By his second marriage Mr. Wimpy became the father of three chil- dren,-Mida, Clayton and William. The two first named are still liv- ing, and both are single. Two sons were born of his first marriage. Asa N., the first born, is now connected with the Marion National Bank, and is married to Millie, a daughter of Noah Small.

Francis H. Wimpy, the second born son, was reared to farm life on the old home place, and in young manhood he came into possession of eighty acres of the homestead upon the passing of his father. Here his widow now resides, with their daughter. Mr. Wimpy was married in Mill township on December 4, 1889, to Miss Corintha B. Clark, who was born in Jefferson township, Grant county, Indiana, on March 26, 1870. She was reared and educated in Mill township and since the death of her late husband she has operated the farm most successfully. She is what is generally known as a "hustler," and her farm is second to none in condition and improvements. Mrs. Wimpy is the daughter of Simon B. and Julia (Nottingham) Clark. The father was born in Pennsylvania, on June 22, 1832, and he was five years old when his family came to Indiana and settled in Fairmount township, Grant county. Here the father of Simon Clark, James Clark, died on May 14, 1878, at a fine old age. His wife was Sarah Simons, who died some fourteen years after her husband, when she was ninety-three years of age. They were stanch old Methodist people and reared a large family, among which Simon B., father of Mrs. Wimpy, was the youngest but one. His wife, Julia Nottingham, was born at Muncie, Indiana, on July 3, 1835, and died in Grant county on May 30, 1888. She, too, was a Methodist. They had ten children, two of which died in infancy, and the remaining eight are still living, all but one being married and having children. One of Mrs. Wimpy's brothers, John E. Clark, is assistant postmaster at Marion.

To Francis H. Wimpy and his wife one daughter was born,-Ursula Wimpy, whose natal day is November 11, 1896. She was educated at the Deer Creek School, and is now living at home with her mother. Mrs. Wimpy is a member of the Methodist church, but her daughter is affiliated with the church of the Friends as a member. They are among the most highly esteemed people of the township, and are much admired for the sturdy and independent qualities that have marked their careers, especially since the death of the husband and father.

LORA A. PRICKETT. The business enterprise of Gas City has no stronger nor better managed institution than the Custer Lumber Com- pany, of which Lora A. Prickett is the active head. He is one of the progressive younger business men of that community.

Mr. Prickett, who represents one of the old families of Grant county, was born in Pleasant township, near Japala, September 5, 1874. His boyhood was spent on his father's homstead, and his education was sup- plied by the public schools and the Marion Business College of Marion. In 1896 he was taken in as a clerk and general all-around man with The Humphreys Lumber Company of Marion. He readily adapted himself to the business, and in 1900 was sent to Gas City to manage the branch

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office of the company. The business has a long record, having been established in Marion thirty-five years ago by D. Humphreys and Com- pany. The original firm was at 14th and Washington streets, Marion, Indiana, and at the junction of Main Street and the Pennsylvania Rail- way tracks, Gas City, a site peculiarly appropriate for shipping facil- ities and the general convenience of the trade.

In 1900 Mr. Prickett joined Joseph L. Custer, a member of the Hum- .phreys Lumber Company, and together they took over the Gas City end of the business as a separate concern, and carried on a partnership ar- rangement under the name of the Custer Lumber Company. In 1905 the company was incorporated with a capital stock of twelve thousand dollars and with the following officers: Joseph L. Custer, president; R. J. Custer, vice president; and L. A. Prickett, secretary-treasurer and manager. In 1907 Joseph L. Custer died and the subsequent changes in the personnel of the company brought about its following officers and directors: Mrs. L. A. Prickett, president; T. A. Prickett, vice presi- dent; and Lora A. Prickett, secretary-treasurer and general manager. The company is a close corporation, owned and managed by the Prickett family, and Mr. Prickett is the largest holder of stock and practically proprietor and active head of the flourishing concern. They do a big business as dealers in all kinds of building material, and in their mills manufacture an extensive line of interior finishings. From four to five skilled workmen are constantly employed in the milling department, besides those who look out for the office details and the general work of the lumber yard. The advertising motto of this concern is: "Good wood goods," and it has been the ambition of the proprietors and it can be said of them that they have succeeded in fulfilling to the very letter the standard kept up in this motto. Although their business is of a local character, they send out frequently carload lots to outside points.

Concerning the Prickett family the genealogical record places it in Grant county at the very early times, and they were certainly here before the Indians had left the country. Mr. Prickett is the grandson of William Prickett, whose residence when first known was in the state of Ohio. He was married in Pennsylvania to Catherine Rice. While William Prickett and wife were living in Ohio on a farm, their son, who became later the Rev. Thomas Prickett, and the father of the Gas City business man, was born November 1st, 1826. A few years later, when Thomas was still a child, the Pricketts left Ohio, and settled in Grant county, in the wilderness of Pleasant township. William Prickett was thus one of the hardy pioneers, and was assisted in his strenuous efforts to make a home by his loyal wife and his youthful son, Thomas. They cleared up the land, and in time had improved a good farm near Jalapa. There William Prickett and his wife died when old people, and held in the highest respect by all the community. They were among the leading members of the First Methodist religious organiza- tion in Pleasant township.

Rev. Thomas Prickett was reared on a farm, followed farming as his regular vocation and the means of support for his family, and with that combined his work as a local preacher in the Methodist church. He was a useful citizen in every walk, is still well remembered in his sec- tion of the county. Late in life he returned to Sweetser, where his death occurred in 1897. He was for many years a Democrat, but some- time before his death became a staunch Prohibitionist, and was a man who voted his principles. He was twice married, and his first wife was Miss Susanah Alexander. She died in the prime of life leaving three children. She was one of the active workers in the Methodist church,

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and assisted her husband in religious affairs. Rev. Thomas Prickett married for his second wife Miss Nancy White. Mrs. Prickett, who is now seventy-nine years of age, still in possession of all her faculties and a highly respected woman, lives on west Third Street in Marion, and all her active career has been as a worker and prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal church. She is a native of Randolph county, Indiana, having been born at an early time in that county's history. She came to womanhood in Grant county, and has lived here long enough to have witnessed nearly all the improvements which have been made by white men. She became the mother of five sons and five daugh- ters, and Lora A. Prickett was next to the youngest in her family.

Mr. L. A. Prickett was married in Grant county to Miss Anna Sharon, who was born in Franklin township in the suburbs of Marion, in 1877. With a public school education, she entered upon life's duties well pre- pared and has proved not only a good home maker, but a good business woman. Her parents were James and Nancy (Lytle) Sharon. Her parents were natives of Grant county, and spent most of their time in Franklin township, though some years ago they took up their residence in Sweetser, where Mr. Sharon died in 1902. Mrs. Sharon makes her home in that village, and is now seventy-nine years of age. Both were old-time Methodists, and honest upright people, a certain definite moral influence in their community, where they were always esteemed for their sterling worth. Mr. Prickett and wife are the parents of three children : Martha Helen Gwendoline, aged eleven years and now attend- ing the public schools of Gas City; Richard Carlton, aged five years; and Mary Adelaide, eighteen months old at this writing. Mr. Prickett has just completed a fine new bungalow home in the best residential section of East Main Street, and there he and his family are prepared to enjoy the best comforts of domestic existence. They are active mem- bers of the First Methodist Church, Mr. Prickett being an official in the society, and he is well known in fraternal affairs, having passed the different chairs of the Masonic Lodge, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, having represented the last two in the Grand Lodge, and is also affiliated with the Improved Order of Red Men. In politics he is a Democrat.

ASHTON HORNER. Among the large class of substantial, progressive farmers and stockraisers who make their home in Grant county, none are more deserving of mention because of their contributions to the development of their community than Ashton Horner, the owner of a well developed tract of land in Mill township. Mr. Horner has the added distinction of belonging to an old and honored family of Grant county. His grandfather, John Horner, was a native of the Keystone state, and after his marriage to a Pennsylvania girl moved to Preble county, Ohio, and in 1840 made removal to Grant county, Indiana. Mr. Horner was a farmer by vocation and for many years carried on opera- tions on his Mill township property, the farm upon which stood the old pottery at Gas City. But he also devoted his attention to preaching the Gospel as a Primitive Baptist minister. He experienced the various hardships and privations of the pioneer preacher, being forced to cover great spaces of country on horse-back, and gave his services freely where needed without thinking of remuneration. Of the children of this sturdy and God-fearing pioneer, John, Jr., the father of Ashton Horner, was born in Preble county, Ohio, in 1826. He was still a lad when he accom- panied his parents to Grant county, and here he grew to manhood as a pioneer youth, dividing his time between the hard, unremitting work of clearing the home farm from the heavy timber, and securing such

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educational advantages as were offered during the short winter terms in the primitive subscription schools, held for the most part in log cabins. When he was ready to establish a home 'of his own, he was married to Miss Clarissa McCormick, of Fairmount township, a daugh- ter of Robert McCormick, a pioneer of that township and at one time one of the largest landholders in this part of the county, having two and one-half sections in his several farms, the greater part of this land being located adjacent to the Muncie turnpike in Mill township.

After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. John Horner settled in Mill township, and there both became the owners of eighty-acre farms. Mr. Horner met an accidental death, being killed October 8, 1870, by the fall of a tree, and the mother subsequently contracted a second marriage, being united with George Horner. They spent the remainder of their lives in Mill township, and there the mother passed away in 1903, at the age of seventy-two years, the husband having passed away some time before.

Ashton Horner was born March 16, 1860, in Fairmount township, was here reared and educated, and learned the various things essential for the successful farmer to know. In 1908 he purchased his present farm, a tract of seventy acres lying in section 10, Mill township. Here he has made many improvements which have increased not alone the homestead's beauty, but its value as well. He has two drilled wells, two red barns, of substantial character and modern design, and a large white residence, fitted with the latest comforts and conveniences. His other buildings, for the shelter of his grain, implements and stock, are commodious, sanitary and well-lighted, and, taken all in all, this set of farm buildings compares favorably with any in the township. While general farming has occupied the greater part of his time and attention, he has also met with a full measure of success in raising stock, and at this time is making a specialty of Short Horn and Jersey cattle, and Duroc and Poland-China hogs. Among his associates, Mr. Horner is known as a man of the utmost integrity, whose word is synonymous with honorable dealing.

Mr. Horner was married at Upland, Indiana, to Miss Maggie Burns, who was born September 22, 1858, in the city of Toledo, Ohio, and came to Grant county as a baby, following which she ved at Matthews, Indiana, continuously until the time of her marriage. She is a daugh- ter of John and Mary (McConnell) Burns, natives of Ireland, who came to the United States as young people and were married in New York. They were residents of Toledo, Ohio, for some time after their marriage, but ultimately came to Grant county, and spent the remainder of their lives at Matthews, the father dying there in 1893, at the age of sixty years, and the mother dying in 1911, when eighty years old. Mr. and Mrs. Horner are the parents of the following children : Maude V., who was educated in the public and high schools and now resides with her parents; Nellie May, a member of the graduating class of the Jones- boro High school, 1915, also living with her parents; and Eva, who died as a child of eighteen months, the result of an accident. Mr. and Mrs. Horner are members of the Presbyterian church and have been active in supporting its various movements. In political matters Mr. Horner is a Republican, but he has not cared for the activities of public life.

BENJAMIN F. DICKEY. One of the big farmers of Grant county, a far-sighted business man, the accumulator of a generous prosperity, Benjamin F. Dickey about forty years ago, after his marriage, began his career as a renter. He has lived the quiet, plain life of a farmer, and

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Mr.& Mrs Benjamin F. Diekey yours truly

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in his character the love of land, of peace and industry, have been cardinal virtues. His success, which has been of a large and worthy nature has been won as the result of his own well directed efforts, and he has proved himself an efficient farmer, and a valuable citizen. Mr. Dickey is owner and proprietor of what is known as The Maples Farm, in section thirty- three of Liberty township, situated one mile south and four miles west of Fairmount, on the rural delivery route No. 21.

Benjamin F. Dickey was born in Fayette county, Indiana, March 14, 1841, a son of William and Jane (Miller) Dickey. William Dickey was a son of Hugh and Margaret (Spence) Dickey. The father of Hugh Dickey was reared and married in the north of Ireland, from which country he set out on a sailing vessel about the time of the Revolutionary war for America. During the voyage the ship was foundered, and all the women and children were taken off by the crew in the life boats. As the boat in which his family .were placed was pulling away from the vessel, the father in his anxiety and despair leaped into the water, and seized the edge of the boat, and hung on until the captain struck off his hands with a sabre, cutting him loose, so that he was lost. The family were saved and came on to the United States, locating first in Pennsyl- vania, and afterwards moving to Kentucky, locating in Scott county near Georgetown. From there Hugh Dickey moved to Batavia, Ohio, and finally to Fayette county, Indiana, where he was one of the pioneer set- tlers and lived until his death. William Dickey, father of Benjamin F., was born in 1797 in Kentucky, moved from there to Ohio, and accom- panied the family to Fayette county, Indiana, where he grew to manhood and was married. His wife, Jane Miller, was a daughter of John Miller, who was born near Marion courthouse, on the little Pedee river in South Carolina. From that state he immigrated with his family to Tennessee, where he lived a year, then moved to Georgetown, in Scott county, Kentucky, where he was a farmer for about twelve years, and about 1816 located in Fayette county, Indiana, which was his home until his death. William Dickey and wife moved to Grant county, Indiana, in 1870, and there spent the rest of their ives. In their family were eight children. four sons and four daughters, and two are now living. The brother of Benjamin F. is John M., a retired farmer in Fairmount. William S. Dickey, another of the sons was killed while serving in the navy near Charleston, S. C., during the Civil war. All the others grew up and had families of their own.

Mr. Benjamin F. Dickey was reared on a farm in Fayette county, Indiana, and lived at home until he was twenty-nine years of age. As a boy he had the advantage of the district schools during the winter, and was trained to the vigorous pursuits of the farm in the summer seasons. His school days were finished when he was about eighteen, and at the age of twenty-one he rented his father's farm and it was conducted under his successful management until he was twenty-nine years of age. He accompanied his parents to Grant county in 1870, but soon returned to Fayette county.

In the latter county on October 11, 1871, occurred his marriage to Miss Cecelia Tingley, who was born and reared in Fayette county, received her education in the local schools. Her father, Dr. U. B. Tingley was for many years a practicing physician in Harrisburg of Fayette county. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Dickey located on the farm, which is now a portion of their fine country establishment. Buying forty acres of land, Mr. Dickey with the aid of his wife set himself energetically to its cultivation and improvement, gradually extended his buildings, fences and area of cultivated land, and at the same time added to his acreage from time to time, until his home place now com-

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Centennial History of Grant County Indiana, Part 63

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

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