Centennial History of Grant County Indiana, Part 68

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

USA > Indiana > Grant County > Centennial History of Grant County Indiana > Part 68

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

ELLIS TRENT STOUT, M. D. A successful physician of Upland since 1907, Dr. Stout in that year graduated from the medical department of Purdue University, and has since enjoyed a growing and prosperous general practice as a physician and surgeon. His work covers an exten- sive territory about Upland, and he also does most of the professional services for the various insurance companies at Upland. He is a mem- ber of the County and State Medical Societies. and the American Medi- cal Association.

Born in Upland, December 3, 1883, Ellis Trent Stout graduated from the local high school in 1901, and with a view to entering the

Digitized by Google

1119

HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY

medical profession continued his preparatory work in the Indiana State University for a while. He was also reading medicine under his father, and thus entered the final stages of his work at Purdue University well equipped, and began practice well fortified by practical experience and training.

Dr. Stout is of the second generation in his family identified with the medical profession in Grant county. His father, Dr. O. L. Stout, who for upwards of thirty years was engaged in practice at Uplands is now living retired at Dodson, Montana. He was born in 1854, studied medicine under Dr. Corey at Van Buren, Indiana, and sub- sequently graduated from the Kentucky school of medicine at Louis- ville, in the class of 1881. The first year was spent at Markel and in 1882 he located in Upland. When he left two or three years ago for the West, he had the distinction of being the oldest practicing physician in this section of Grant county. Dr. Stout is a son of John Stout, who was born in Ohio, and a grandson of George Stout, who was born in North Carolina, and was of the old Quaker stock., George Stout became an early farmer in Ohio, and in 1848 moved to Grant county from Darke county, and was one of the early settlers. He located on a farm in Monroe township and there he and his wife spent their last years, dying when at a good old age. They worshipped in the United Brethren Church. John Stout son of George was a boy in his teens when the family came from Darke county, Ohio, and grew to manhood in Grant county. John Stout and wife spent their last years at Upland, where they died, he being seventy-four and she sixty-nine years of age. Of their six sons, all are living but one, and all are now past fifty years of age. Dr. O. L. Stout and wife are active members of the Methodist faith. In politics he was a Republican until 1912, and then became a Progressive.

Dr. Ellis T. Stout was married in Upland in 1903 to Miss Martha Brogneaux, who was born in Belgium, and at the age of nine was brought to the United States by her parents, Pierre and Marie Brog- neaux, who located at Muncie, Indiana, where she completed her educa- tion. Dr. Stout and wife had two daughters: Frances M., nine years of age, and in the grade school, and Emily G., aged six. Dr. Stout is affiliated with the Masonic order and Knights of Pythias, and belongs to the College fraternity of Phi Beta Chi at Purdue. He is also a mem- ber of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks at Hartford city.

ROBERT CORDER. A life of the highest respectability, worth as a busi- ness man and citizen, was that of the late Robert Corder, who for nearly half a century lived at Jonesboro. While not conspicuous in public affairs, he was prosperous, was a kindly neighbor, did all that could be expected by his community, was devoted to his home and left the priceless legacy of an honored name.

Robert Corder was an Englishman, born at Widford Hall, at Ipswich, in Essex county, England, August 22, 1823, and died at his home in Jonesboro, August 4, 1898, when nearly seventy-six years of age. He was of good old English stock and his parents, Thomas and Mary Corder, were both birthright Quakers, and spent all their lives in Es- sex County. The father died in middle life, and was followed in a few years by the mother.

Robert Corder grew up and was trained to a mercantile career, be- ing employed in drygoods establishments in England. When twenty- six years of age, and still unmarried, he emigrated to the United States, and from New York came on west to Grant county. His first occupa- tion in this county was as teacher, but subsequently he got into the general mercantile business at Jonesboro, and thereafter for nearly

Digitized by Google

1120

HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY

forty years his store was one of the centers of trade, and eventually became a landmark in the business district and always represented the strict integrity and square dealing of its proprietor. A few years be- fore his death he retired from business. Mr. Corder was a Democrat in politics, was always active and public-spirited when Jonesboro as a community was concerned, and was a man who outside his business was closely devoted to his home and family.

Robert Corder first married Elizabeth Winslow, a daughter of Seth Winslow, a family which has an extended history, going back a num- ber of generations in this country. She died in the prime of life and left four children : Mollie, who lives in Marion; Thomas, Sallie and Harry, all of whom married and had families, but are now deceased. For his second wife Mr. Corder married Sarah Van Horn, who died leaving two children, both of whom are deceased. Mr. Corder's widow, who now lives at Jonesboro, was before her marriage Louisa Beals. She was born October 20, 1839, in Greene county, Tennessee, eight miles from the home of President Andrew Johnson. Her parents were Abner and Cerena (Peirce) Beals, who were natives of Tennessee, and Quakers in religion. Her father, who died during the Civil war, was a farmer, but also was successful as a shoe maker and a manufacturer of linseed oil. After his death, the widow and her children moved north to Grant county, and she died at Jonesboro when sixty-four years of age. Mrs. Corder is a member of the Presbyterian church as was her husband. She occupies the comfortable home which her hus- band provided, and is living in comfort and plenty, and in the enjoy- ment of a large circle of friends.

GEORGE W. HANMORE. The people of Mill township during the past years have felt that the affairs of the town and especially of the schools were never entrusted to better hands than the man- agement of the present trustee, George W. Hanmore. Mr. Han- more is a well known young business man and represents a family which has been identified with Grant county since about the middle of the last century. His ancestry on the paternal line is Irish. His grand- father Martin Hanmore, Sr., was born in Roscommon county, Ireland, and was of old stock and Catholic in religion. Martin, Sr., was a tiller of the soil, and in his home country married Mary Roan. Several of their children were born in Ireland, and they then started for America in 1856, landing in New Orleans, and from that city coming up the Mississippi River to the Middle States. Martin Hanmore, like a great many of his compatriots, found his first employment on a railroad. In a year or so he arrived in Grant county and settled on land in the Mis- sissinewa Valley in Mill township. There Martin Hanmore, Sr., and wife, lived and died. His death occurred when he was about fifty years of age, while his wife survived a long time and was past eighty years of age at her death. They were faithful Catholics in religion, and wor- shiped in that faith until the close of their lives.

Of their children was Martin Hanmore, Jr., who was born in Ire- land, October 16, 1845, and who was about ten years old when he crossed the ocean with his parents. He had two brothers: Thomas, now de- ceased, married and left two daughters, both of whom are married; and Dr. John J. "Hanmore, who is now serving as coroner in Champaign county, Ohio, is married and has a son, who is also married. There were also two sisters: Mary, wife of Robert Brushwiller, of Detroit, and with a son and daughter living, and Jane E., wife of J. E. Parker, of Chicago, and Mrs. Parker by a former marriage has one daughter. Martin Hanmore, Jr., grew up in Grant county, and since reaching his majority has been steadily engaged as a farmer. Recently he re- tired and now lives comfortably in Jonesboro. The people of this

Digitized by Google

1121

HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY

county have long esteemed him as one of the substantial representa- tive citizens, and a man whose substantial qualities have made him a valued factor in local life. In Mill township, Martin Hanmore, Jr., married Sarah A. Entsminger, of one of the old families in this section. She was born in Mill township, November 3, 1846, and her entire life has been spent here. She and her husband for many years have been active members of the Presbysterian church, Martin Hanmore, Jr., hav- ing left the faith of his father. In politics Martin Hanmore is a Demo- crat, and has voted and worked for the good of his party. Mrs. Han- more comes of a family which was for many years prominent in Vir- ginia, and has lived in Grant county since 1830. She is a granddaugh- ter of John and a daughter of David Entsminger, both of whom were natives of Virginia, and came more than eighty years ago to Mill town- ship in Grant county. As tillers of the soil and owners of considerable amounts of land, the Entsmingers identified themselves substantially with the pioneer Grant county, and the name has been esteemed and honored in this vicinity ever since. Grandfather John Entsminger was quite old when he died, and David was near middle life. John Ents- minger married Sarah Knick, of Virginia, who died in Grant county when quite old. David Entsminger married Melvina Adamson, of Grant county, Indiana. The Entsmingers had been Presbyterians in religion for a number of generations. John Entsminger was a charter member of the First Presbyterian church in Mill township. David Entsminger and wife had the following children: Levi, John, Matilda, David, and Mrs. Martin Hanmore.

George W. Hanmore is one of the three living children. His brother, David E. Hanmore, died after his marriage and had one child, also de- ceased. Rosetta Hanmore is the wife of Albert L. Parks, a farmer in Mill township; their children are Ora O. and Delight, both of whom are married. John M. Hanmore is a resident in Mill township, follows farm- ing, and by his marriage to Ione Scrambling has one son, Keith.

George W. Hanmore grew up in Mill township, where he was born February 25, 1880. His education was given by the local schools, be- ing a graduate of the Gas City high school in the class of 1900, and later taking a course in the Marion Business College. He studied embalming, of which he is a graduate, and for several years practiced in Mill town- ship but is now retired from that profession, and handles a general line of insurance. He has done a prosperous business in all the under- takings to which he has devoted his attention.

In November, 1908, Mr. Hanmore was elected township trustee, and is the first Democrat elected to that office in the history of Mill town- ship. His proficiency and careful administration have well justified his choice. Mr. Hanmore was married in this county to Miss Ethel Fern Friedline, who was born in Geneva, Indiana, in 1888, was edu- cated in this county. They are the parents of one child, George W. Jr., born September 30, 1911. Mr. and Mrs. Hanmore are interested in religious matters, his church being the Presbyterian and hers the Meth- odist. He has for a number of years been one of the local leaders in the Democratic party.

JEROME SHAFFER. A firm in Upland that since its establishment in 1910 has acquired a prosperous place in the large business in its special lines is that of Miles & Shaffer, contractors and builders. They have successfully undertaken and carried out many contracts in both public and private construction work, and are both men of the highest stand- ing, well entitled to the confidence shown them by the community. They became associated as a firm in March 1910. Mr. Shaffer has been best known through the years of his active life as a manufacturer of tile and brick, a business which he has followed at Upland and in

Digitized by Google

1122

HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY

Monroe township, until recently, having spent about eighteen years in that business.

Jerome Shaffer was born in Highland county, Ohio, May 24, 1864. His home was in that locality and his education acquired through attendance at the local schools until' he was nineteen, and since then he has lived in Monroe township of Grant county, up to 1901 when he moved to Upland. His parents were Henry and Lydia (Sprinkle) Shaffer, both of whom were born in Highland county, Ohio, and came of Pennsylvania German stock. Grandfather Adam Shaffer was born in Germany, came to America and settled on a farm in Pennsylvania, and in that state married a Miss Roush. At a very early day they left Pennsylvania, and settled on a tract of government land, in High- land county, Ohio. Their settlement there occurred in the decade of the twenties, and so early were they on the scene that it was necessary to blaze a trail four miles through the woods in order to reach their destination. They had all the experiences of pioneers, lived in a log cabin for several years, and by the thrift and industry which are char- acteristic of the better class of Germans got ahead in the world, and lived as substantial units of the community.

Adam Shaffer died in Highland county at the age of eighty-nine. Both he and his wife were among the early Lutheran people in that vicinity and helped organize the church. Henry Shaffer and wife in 1880 left Highland county, and moved out to Kansas, but conditions in that state were so unfavorable that they soon returned to their old home, and lived out their lives in Highland county, where he died at the age of eighty-nine and she when eighty-three years of age. Long years seem to be a characteristic of the Shaffer stock. Both parents were faithful members of the German Lutheran church, and the politi- cal faith of the household has been generally Democratic.

Jerome Shaffer was the seventh in a family of ten sons and two daughters, all of whom grew up and ten of them married and had children of their own. Nine of these are still living. A daughter, Mrs. Gilbert Rhodes lives in Van Buren township, and a son Samuel in Monroe township, while all the others are in Highland county, Ohio.

Jerome Shaffer is a man of a great deal of business push and enter- prise, and as a farmer, manufacturer, and contractor has made more than an ordinary success in life. He owns considerable property, and has an attractive residence on east Washington street in Upland.

In this village he was married in 1897 to Miss Cora L. Horner. She was born in Upland, and is a graduate of the local schools. Her par- ents were Calvin, and Phoebe (Wright) Horner, the former a native of Ohio, and the latter of Monroe township in Grant county. They were married in the latter township, and still live on their old farm there, which has been their home since they became man and wife. Mrs. Horner is a member of the Quaker faith. The two children of Mr. and Mrs. Shaffer are: Ralph, born July 9, 1901, and now in the seventh grade of the public school, and Earl, born July 1, 1909. Mr. Shaffer was reared in the faith of the Lutheran church, while his wife is a member of the Methodist denomination. He is a Democrat in politics, and fraternally is affiliated with Lodge No. 352 and Encampment No. 13 of the Odd Fellows at Upland.

BENJAMIN F. MCMANAMAN. The MeManaman homestead on section fifteen of Green township is a pleasant, comfortable place, a grateful retreat for the declining years of life, and there among the trees and meadows, and fertile fields, B. F. McManaman and his good wife are enjoying the quiet and contentment which are the best fruits of long and worthily spent years.

Digitized by Google

MRS. B. F. McMANAMAN

B. F. McMANAMAN

Digitized by

Google

Digitized by

Google

1123

HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY

Benjamin F. McManaman is a native of Indiana, born in Harrison township of Dearborn county, September 4, 1841, a son of William and Isabelle (Lynn) McManaman. The father was born in Pennsylvania, in 1808, and was of Scotch descent. His wife was a native of Franklin county, Indiana. William McManaman moved from Pennsylvania to Franklin county, Indiana, where he was married and he and his wife later went to Dearborn county, which was their home until death. They were the parents of eight children, five of whom are living in 1913, namely : James, of Dearborn county; George W., a farmer of Green township of Grant county; Benjamin F., John F., of Dearborn county; Martha J., wife of William J. Waltz, of Harrison, Ohio.

On a farm in Dearborn county, Benjamin F. McManaman passed his boyhood and youth, and when not employed in the work of the home attended the local schools until he was eighteen years old. He then took up farming as a regular occupation, and continued to live at home until he was past twenty-nine years of age. On December 1, 1870, he mar- ried Miss Frances A. Scofield, who was born in Franklin county, Indiana, January 16, 1848, a daughter of William and Mary Ann (Marshall) Scofield. Her father was born in England, and came to the United States when eight years old. The mother was born near Fairfax Court- house in Virginia. There were eight children, six girls and two boys, in the Scofield family, and Mrs. McManaman is now the only one living. They were named Juliette, William, Margaret, Henriette, Edward (who was a soldier during the Rebellion and was killed in the last battle Sher- man's men fought), Nancy, Frances A., and Mary J. Mrs. McManaman was reared in Franklin county Indiana, and attended the public schools, and was well equipped for a useful part in life. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. McManaman lived in Dearborn county, later in Franklin county, for one year, and in 1881 moved to Grant county, locating in Green township on the farm which is still their home. Their first shelter and residence in that township was a little log cabin that stood on the land which has long since been replaced by a comfortable and modern residence. Their farm is four and a half miles south of Swayzee, on the Grindle extension pike. Mr. and Mrs. McManaman have one son, Eddie, born September 13, 1871. He attended the common schools and for his first wife married Mettie Nicholson, of Liberty township. After her death he married Lizzie Smart, of Adams county, Ohio. There is one son by this second marriage, Marshall, aged thirteen, he having recently completed his course in the common schools of Green township. Mr. and Mrs. McManaman also raised a girl, Nellie Helms, who resided with them from the time she was five years of age until her marriage. She is now the wife of Roscoe Bryant and they have three daughters, Zelma, Wilma and Olive. Mr. Thrailkill, a neighboring farmer, lived with Mr. and Mrs. McManaman for twenty years, and Clinton Barfin, a nephew of Mrs. McManaman, has lived with them for the last eight years. Many young men have lived a year or two with them and been married from their home.

Mr. McManaman is a Democrat in politics, but has never been active in party affairs. At his homestead he and his wife own three hundred and twenty-two and a half acres of fine land, and have all the comforts and facilities of a modern Indiana farmer. He has now retired from the heavy work of agriculture and lives at ease, allowing others to bear the burden which he carried for so many years.

SAMUEL A. CONNELLY. On February 1, 1907, Samuel A. Connelly was confirmed in his previous appointment as postmaster at Upland, and has served continuously at this writing nearly seven years, being now in his second term. His reappointment to the office came on

Digitized by Google

1124

HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY

February 6, 1911, and his present term expires in February, 1915. The Upland postoffice is a high-class office, and besides the postmaster the business is conducted by an assistant, who is Mrs. Connelly, one clerk, and two rural carriers. The rural routes cover fifty-four miles of country highways surrounding Upland. The annual volume of business at the Upland office, amounts to about thirty-eight hundred dollars. Mr. Connelly's service has been highly satisfactory to all patrons of the office. He has used his energy and influence to extend the service in every .possible manner and has been the incumbent dur- ing a period when more important changes have been inaugurated in the postal service than in any similar period of history. Owing to the cosmopolitan population at Upland, Mr. Connelly writes foreign money orders to nearly every European nation. Previous to his appointment as postmaster Mr. Connelly was for five years and a half a rural carrier, over route number twenty-six from the Upland Station, and thus his record in the government mail service has been continuous for twelve years. Samuel A. Connelly was born in Jefferson township, of Grant county, January 26, 1862. He is one of the older of the family of chil- dren born to John W. and Rebecca J. (Clevenger) Connelly. John W. Connelly was born at Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1825, and died in Grant county in 1893. Grandfather Rev. John Connelly was a minister of the Methodist faith, from 1808 to the early twenties was elder pre- siding over a large district including portions of Virginia, West Vir- ginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. Soon after leaving that work, he emigrated west and settled in Wayne county, Indiana, among the pio- neers, where he lived to the venerable age of fourscore. John W. Con- nelly was a small child when the family settled in Wayne county, grew up there, was well educated for his time, and spent about thirty years of his life in the work of the school room. He came to Grant county in 1857, and is well remembered by many of the older residents who were his pupils. Along with teaching he combined the vocation of farming, and in 1871 bought in Monroe township, a tract of land, which has since been known as the Connelly homestead .. John W. Connelly married Rebecca Clevinger, of an old and prominent family of Virginia, and Wayne county, and she was born in 1834 and died in 1909. More detailed information concerning the earlier generations of this family will be found in the article concerning Harry T. Con- nelly on other pages of the history. John W. Connelly and wife had eight children, namely: John, who lives on the old farm in Grant county ; Bell, who married Noah Johnson, and died in 1890, leaving three children, Alva, Elva and Bertha; Samuel, now postmaster of Upland; Mary, who died in infancy; Joseph who is an oil man in Oklahoma, and is married but has no children; Dora, wife of J. P. Richard, a resident of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and their children are Hugo and Homer; Flora, who died at the age of twenty-two years, and Harry T., who is cashier of the Upland State Bank.

Samuel A. Connelly was reared and educated in Grant county, which has been his home through practically his entire life. After a few early experiences in different lines of work he engaged in the livery business, and finally was employed as one of the early rural mail car- riers in Grant county, and has thus followed practically one line of public service for a dozen years. Mr. Connelly is a man of progressive spirit, and contributes liberally of his time and means to the advance- ment of everything that will improve local conditions. He is an active Republican.

Mr. Connelly was married in Grant county to Eva Horner, who was reared and educated in Jefferson township, a daughter of Joseph C.

Digitized by Google

1125

HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY

and Anna (Pugh) Horner, both now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Con- nelly have two children, Dorie H., who graduated from the Upland high school in 1908, and is now serving as clerk under her father in · the post office, and Harry Legler, aged twenty-two, who was educated in the grammer and high schools of Upland and is now in the life insurance business in that village. Mr. and Mrs. Connelly are both Methodists, and take an active part in fraternal affairs. Mr. Connelly belongs to the Arcana Lodge, No. 427, of the Masonic Order, while Mrs. Connelly belongs to the Eastern Star at Hartford City, and is a past official in the Rebecca Lodge, No. 342, at Upland. Mr. Con- nelly belongs to the Encampment degree of Odd Fellowship in Upland, and is past chancellor commander of the Knights of Pythias Lodge, his wife being past chief of the Pythian Sisters, No. 311. Both of his sons are members of the Masons.

JOHN KEARNS. Mill township has some splendid farms, but for its acreage, probably none is better in quality and more skillfully man- aged, than that of John Kearns in section one of the township. Its one hundred and thirty-two acres are all highly cultivated, and Mr. Kearns is one of those progressive farmers, who understand the profit to be derived from so-called mixed farming, so that he feeds practically all his grain and forage crops to stock on the place. His livestock are also of a more than average grade, and he has found it profitable and good business to keep the best of cattle and hogs and horses and his perma- nent improvement are likewise of a high order. He has a large and comfortable white frame house, and a good barn.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Centennial History of Grant County Indiana, Part 68

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

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