USA > Indiana > Rush County > Centennial history of Rush County, Indiana, Volume II > Part 39
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HISTORY OF RUSH COUNTY
HENRY W. SCHRADER, ex-assessor of Rush county, now liv- ing practically retired at Rushville, one of the best known men in the county, was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, March 11, 1853, a son of William and Eleanora (Detmersing) Schrader, who were born near Hamburg, Germany, were reared and married there, and in 1848 came to the United States. During the rest of his life William Schrader fellowed the trade of hatmaker in the city of Cincinnati. Seven children made up his family and four of these are living, William, Henry W., Sophia and Bertha. Henry W. Schrader had excellent public school training at Cincinnati, then learned the trade of watchmaker and jeweler, which he followed for four years after coming to Indiana and locating at Rushville. A desire to see the Western country led him then to go to California and while there he rented land in Sonoma county and followed farming for three years. In 1879 he returned to Rush county and bought a farm of sixty-two acres in Jackson township, which he operated until 1919, when he rented the property to his son and retired to Rushville. He had been a general farmer, giving some attention to stock, and turned off about fifty head of hogs a year. On September 8, 1874, Mr. Schrader married Emma Ross, who died on January 24, 1917, her burial being in East Hill cemetery. She was a native of Rush county, a daughter of J. M. and Elizabeth (Smelser) Ross. Her father was once a man of political prominence, serving in the state legislature, and he owned 1,000 acres of land in Union township, Rush county. Two of the Ross children still live, Josephine and Emerson. Three children were born to Mr. Schrader's first marriage: Ross, a farmer in Rush county, who married Cecelia Barrett, and has one child, Isabella; William, an electrician living in Chicago, who is married and has a son, William; and Abigail, who is the wife of Frank G. Reeves, a farmer in Noble township, this county. On November 24, 1919, Mr. Schrader married Mrs. Flora (Newhouse) Abernathy, who by her first marriage had one child, a daughter, Irene C., now a student in the Rushville high school. Mr. Schrader is a member of the Presbyterian church at Rushville, while his wife is a member of the Baptist church. A Republican in politics, on that party ticket he was elected, in 1914, to the office of county assessor and served until 1919. Mr. Schrader is a member of Franklin Lodge, No. 35, Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, at Rushville, and Bernice Encamp- ment, No. 12.
S. L. RYON, assessor of Noble township, formerly an active farmer of that township and now living in New Salem, was born in Franklin county, Indiana, on July 8, 1854, and is the son of James A. and Hannah J. (Miller) Ryon, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Ohio. The father was brought to Indiana in his child- hood by his parents, who located in Franklin county, where he was educated and grew to manhood. He took up the vocation of farming and in 1853 was married, after which he moved to Rush county, locating in Richland township. There he farmed for awhile as a
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HISTORY OF RUSH COUNTY
renter, but eventually he bought eighty acres of land, which he oper- ated until his removal to Hamilton county, Indiana, where he remained for several years. He then returned to Rush county and here spent his last days. Of the five children born to him and his wife, but two are now living, the subject of this review and a sister, Margaret. S. L. Ryon attended the schools of Franklin and Rush counties and then, up to the time of his marriage, he assisted in the farm work of the home place. After his marriage he rented land and for about twenty-two years was engaged in the operation of rented land, renting from 100 to 260 acres. In 1908 he bought eighty acres of land in Boone county, Indiana, which he operated for about four years, and then sold that and, returning to Ruslı county, bought eighty acres of land in Noble township, which he farmed for four years and then sold. He has also owned other prop- erty since then, but no longer gives his personal attention to the operation of his farms. Mr. Ryon was married to Luella E. Watson, the daughter of David Watson. Fraternally, he is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Improved Order of Red Men. Politically, he is a stanch supporter of the Republican party and is the present assessor of Noble township.
NEWTON I. GRUELL, numbered among the enterprising young farmers of Richland township, is, in his work, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, the love of the soil being ingrained in his nature. He was born in Richland township on February 13, 1886, son of Charles M. Grucll, and grandson of Isaac Gruell. The family was founded in Rush county by the great- grandfather, Atica Gruell, who, with his wife Rachel, came here and in 1836 opened a tannery at Rushville. Isaac Gruell, his son, was a farmer and veterinary. IJe married Sarah Young, who, like him, was born near Waterloo, Ind., and they had eleven children, of whom seven still survive. Charles M. Gruell is now a farmer of Noble township, but has operated farming properties in Richland and Union townships, and is well-known throughout Rush county. On August 24, 1882, Charles M. Gruell was married to Catherine D. Smith, a native of Noble township. The maternal grandparents of Newton I. Gruell were Thomas N. and Charlotte (Thompson) Smith, natives of Noble township, who later became farming people of Union township, and owners of 600 acres of land. Charles M. Gruell and his wife became the parents of the following ehildren : Ilattie, Newton I., Clem, Lottie, Josephine (deccased), Alice and Harvina. Newton I. Grucll attended the Clifty school in Richland township until old enough to begin farming with his father, with whom he remained until his marriage. At that time he rented 160 acres of land in Richland township, where he has continued ever since. For eight years he has been operating 260 acres of rented land and feeds abont 130 head of hogs a year. Mr. Gruell was mar- ried on June 3, 1908, to Una Spillman, daughter of George Spill- man, and has two children, Lowell and Ilarold. Mr. and Mrs.
NEWTON I. GRUELL
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HISTORY OF RUSH COUNTY
Gruell are members of the Methodist Protestant church at New Salem, and Mr. Gruell is one of the church trustees. He is a Repub- lican and takes a good citizen's interest in civic affairs.
SAMUEL L. NEWSOM, a well-known citizen of Carthage, who long took an active part in its commercial life, now living retired from active affairs, but maintaining a lively interest in the life of his community, was born at Carthage on February 15, 1869, a son of Allen W. and Anna M. (White) Newsom, natives of Rush county. His father, who was identified with mercantile affairs during the greater part of a long, active and successful career, is now living in retirement at an advanced age. He has been married twice. His first wife, the mother of Samuel L. Newsom, died in February, 1878, and in 1883 he married Ellen Pusy. Of his six children, four by his first wife and two by his second, five are still living: Winona, Samuel L., Cora B., Floyd R. and Howard A. Samuel L. Newsom was graduated from the Carthage high school in 1886. He then spent one year at Earlham College and a year at West Point. Returning to Carthage in 1891, he began working for his father and continued to be employed thus until 1899, when he bought out the elder man. During the next twenty years he continued to conduct the establish- ment in a highly successful manner, and when he sold out, in 1919, it was to retire upon a well-earned competence. He occupies one of the modern residences of Carthage, where he has every comfort and convenience. Mr. Newsom has always been a great booster for his home city and has left no opportunity pass to extol its beauties and advantages, or to support any measure that would add to its advance- ment or welfare. He is a member of Rush Lodge, No. 580, Free and Accepted Masons, of Carthage, and in political affairs maintains an independent stand. With his family, he belongs to the Carthage Meeting of Friends. On November 30, 1893, Mr. Newsom married Annie W. Henley, who was born at Carthage and attended the public schools of that place and Earlham College. She is a daughter of Thomas W. and Hannah (Williams) Henley, the former a native of North Carolina and the latter of Ohio. Mrs. Newsom's parents were agricultural people and the parents of seven children, of whom five are living : R. Edgar, Abbie J., Eunice, William J. and Annie H. Mr. and Mrs. Newsom have one daughter, Katherine, born on September 22, 1894. She was educated in the Carthage graded and high schools and Western College, Oxford, Ohio, and also attended Oberlin Col- lege. She married Henry B. Henley, a successful young business man of Terre Haute, Ind., where he is engaged as a wholesale florist.
WALTER T. VANDAMENT, M. D., a well-known member of the medical profession in Rush county, now practicing at Carthage, was born in Union township, this county, April 17, 1887, a son of Joseph S. and Laura R. (Newkirk) Vandament, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Indiana. Joseph S. Vandament was a young man when he came to Rush county and he has passed his life in agricultural pursuits, principally in Union township, where
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HISTORY OF RUSH COUNTY
he is the owner of a farm of 115 acres. Of the five children of this parentage, three are living, Doctor Vandament having two sisters, Mary and Mildred. Walter T. Vandament received his education in the public schools of Union township, following which he spent one year at Butler College, Indianapolis, and two years at the Ohio Med- ical College, Cincinnati. His training for his profession was com- pleted by two years at the medical school of Indiana State University, from which he was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1912. In that year he went to Kennard, in Henry county, Indiana, where he established himself in practice, and during the six years that he was a resident of that place built up a remunerative and repre- sentative practice. The demands of the World war, however, inter- rupted his career at this time, and on January 20, 1918, he enlisted in the United States Medical Corps, with which organization he served two years and seven months, with the rank of first lieutenant. During fourteen months of this time Doctor Vandament served in France, with an evacuation hospital, but an injury caused his return to the United States, where he arrived on May .29, 1919. He was then appointed flight surgeon at Gerstner Field, Lake Charles, La., where he served until July 10, 1920, going then to Atlanta, Ga., where he received his honorable discharge on August 10, 1920. After completing his military service, Doctor Vandament located at Car- thage, where he has since successfully engaged in the practice of his profession. He has shown himself a skilled practitioner and a capable and steady-handed surgeon, while a cheerful personality is not the least part of his equipment for a profession for which he is admirably fitted. He belongs to several organizations of his profes- sion and has the esteem and respect of his fellow practioners. On July 16, 1910, in New Mexico, Doctor Vandament married Gretta P. Kirkpatrick, who is a daughter of Thomas and Sarah Kirkpatrick. Mrs. Vandament was born in the state of Nebraska and is a graduate of the Kearney Normal School of that state. Doctor and Mrs. Vanda- ment have one child, Laura Geneva, born June 12, 1911, who is now attending school at Carthage. Doctor and Mrs. Vandament are mem- bers of the Plum Creek Christian Church. As a fraternalist, the Doctor belongs to Phoenix Lodge, No. 62, Free and Accepted Masons. at Rushville, Falmouth Lodge, No. 568, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and Tanpah Tribe, No. 102, Improved Order of Red Men, Rushville.
JOHN S. DAVIS, for many years a substantial citizen and successful general farmer in Rush county, was born in Anderson township, this county, January 10, 1870, one of a family of seven children born to Samnel H. and Mary E. (Henry) Davis, the other survivors being James H., Robert S., Eliazbeth, Nancy M. and Charles T. His father spent his entire active life as a farmer in Rush county and at one time owned 525 acres in Anderson township. John S. Davis attended the Stewart school in district No. 4, Rich- land township, and the high school at Richland, after which he
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assisted his father on the home farm until he was twenty-three years old. At that time he began farming on his own account, renting 116 acres from his father, and two years later inherited sixty acres of this tract and then bought the remainder. For twenty years after this he devoted himself to the improvement and cultivation of his farm, through good management and careful methods making his undertakings profitable. At the end of that time he traded that property for another consisting of 170 acres situated in Rushville township, which he still owns. Here he carries on general farming and gives considerable attention also to raising hogs, marketing about 200 head yearly. Since moving from the farm Mr. Davis resides at No. 134 West Seventh street, Rushville. On March 23, 1893, Mr. Davis married Lola M. Patterson, who was born in Rush county, second child of Darius and Mary I. (Hite) Patterson, farming people in Richland township. Mr. and Mrs. Davis have one daughter, Paul- ine La Verne, who was born on March 10, 1899. After attending the public schools in Richland township and in Anderson township, and after being graduated from the high school at Rushville, Miss Davis spent one year as a student in the state university at Bloomington, and later attended the normal university at Muncie, Ind. Mr. Davis is a member of the United Presbyterian church at Rushville, while his wife and daughter are members of the Christian church. He is a Republican and takes a good citizen's interest in public affairs.
EDWARD ADKINS, one of the well known farmers of Ripley township and accounted one of the substantial men of the Carthage community, was born on June 1, 1864, in Decatur county, Indiana, a son of John D. and Catherine (Fisher) Adkins, natives of that county, where they were educated and where they passed their lives in the pursuits of agriculture. They were the parents of five chil- dren, of whom two survive, Mr. Adkins having a sister, Mrs. May Barger, of Walker township, this county. Edward Adkins was given ordinary educational advantages in the district schools of Decatur county and after being associated for a time with his father, took a trip to Kansas, where he remained two years. Returning to Deca- tur county, he engaged in farming as a renter, taking care of his mother and sister in the meantime, his father having died, but after four years turned his attention to the drilling of gas wells, although he still continued his operations as a farmer in Decatur county for about one year after taking up the new line. From Decatur county he moved to Carthage, in this county, and rented about 1,000 acres of land in Ripley township, this land being divided into several farms, which he continued to operate for about twelve years. During this time he had four gas well rigs in action and bought and sold stock of all kinds to a large extent. At the present time Mr. Adkins owns 197 acres of excellent land in Ripley township, on which he has the larg- est sugar camp in the state of Indiana, comprising about 2,500 trees. He buys and feeds off many hogs annually, and is an extensive raiser of swine, usually growing about 300 to 400 each year, in addition to
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twenty-five head of cattle. His extensive operations are carried on in a progressive, energetic way and he has built up a sound reputa- tion in his community. On August 23, 1893, Mr. Adkins married Minnie W. Walker, who was born in Rushville township, this county, and was educated at district school No. 9. She is a daughter of Thomas J. and Harriet (Fleener) Walker, natives of Rush county. Mr. Walker, a lifelong farmer, was the owner of forty-six acres of land in Rushville township. Mr. and Mrs. Walker were the parents of two children, Edgar and Minnie W. After Mr. Walker's death, Mrs. Walker married J. J. Anderson, and is a resident of Edinburg, Johnson county, Indiana. Mrs. Adkins is a member of the Presby- terian church of Rushville, and she and Mr. Adkins are members of Rebekah Lodge, No. 453, Carthage. Mr. Adkins also holds member- ship in Carthage Lodge, No. 255, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; Greensburg Lodge 148, Knights of Pythias and Rushville Lodge, No. 3548, Modern Woodmen of America, In his political views he is a Democrat.
GEORGE WALTER BRODIE, widely known as one of the active and successful agriculturists of Rush county, and proprietor of an excellent farm in Richland township, was born in Franklin county, Indiana, on the twenty-fifth day of August, 1870, and is the son of Peter and Sarah (Hoarth) Brodie, the former a native of Scotland and the latter of Cincinnati, Ohio. Peter Brodie came to the United States when about sixteen years of age, accompany- ing his parents on the long and tiresome ocean trip of nine weeks. They located near Cincinnati, Ohio, where the lad turned his atten- tion to farm work, at which he was employed until his removal to Franklin county, Indiana, where for a time he operated rented land as a tenant. After his marriage he removed to Decatur county, lo- cating in Clarksburg, where he lived during the remainder of his life. To him and his wife were born eleven children, seven of whom are now living, namely : William, John, Mattie, George Walter, Mary, Bert and Chester. George Walter Brodie secured his educa- tion in the public schools of Decatur county and after the comple- tion of his studies he was employed as a farm hand until 1896, when he began to farm on his own account, renting land in Richland township, which has been the scene of his operations ever since, and he is now one of the best known and most highly esteemed farmers in that locality. He is now renting and operating 205 acres of land and also is the owner of 253 acres of fine land in Richland township and Fayette county, his own land being rented out. Mr. Brodie has always given his attention to general farming and stock raising, feeding and sending to market about seventy-five hogs a vear. He is enterprising and progressive in his tendency and his farm gives evidence of his industrious and practical habits. In 1892 Mr. Brodie was married to Nancy Elizabeth Brickler, the daughter of George and Sarah (Lewis) Brickler. To this union have been born four children, as follows: Ada, who became the wife of Chester
GEORGE WALTER BRODIE AND WIFE
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Bergen and they have five children, Robert, Earl, Lowell, Walter and Lewis Edwin; Ralph; Carrie, who became the wife of Law- rence Richards and is the mother of one child, Paul; Paul, who was married to Margaret Bohannon and has one child, Charles Donald. Mr. Brodie gives his support to the Republican party, though not an aspirant for public office. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in the subordinate lodge of which he has passed through the chairs. He and his family are actively identi- fied with the Christian church, of which he has served as deacon. Mr. Brodie is a man of genial disposition and kindly impulses and is well liked by all with whom he has been associated. He is public spirited and gives his support to every movement for the public welfare.
GLEN E. FOSTER, assistant cashier of the Peoples National Bank of Rushville and widely known in commercial circles through- out this section of the state, is a native of the old Buckeye state, but has been a resident of Indiana and of Rush county since the days of his boyhood. He was born at Reiley in Butler county, Ohio, January 31, 1890, and is a son of Robert L. and Mary J. (Welliver) Foster, who are now living on their farm in the vicinity of Greensburg, this state, and the latter of whom also was born in Butler county, a mem- ber of one of the old families there. Her father was the proprietor of a wagon factory and in his day supplied the greater part of the local demand in his vicinity for wagons. Robert L. Foster, who has for years been widely known throughout this section of the state, as a buyer of horses, was born in Ripley county, this state, a member of one of the pioneer families of that county, and early became engaged in farming, a vocation he has followed all' his life, in addition to which he has been an extensive dealer in horses, buying for the out- side markets. For some years he was a resident of Anderson town- ship, this county, proprietor of a farm in the Milroy neighborhood, but presently bought a farm in the vicinity of Greensburg, in the neighboring county of Decatur, and has since made his home there, very comfortably situated. He and his wife have three sons, Glen E. Foster having two brothers, Park E. Foster, unmarried, who is farming in Decatur county and who during the time of America's participation in the World war had eleven months of overseas service as a corporal in the railroad artillery, and Russell H. Foster, also a Decatur county farmer, who married Mildred Christ, of Adams, that county. Glen E. Foster received his primary schooling at College . Corner, Ohio, and when his parents came to Rush county he entered the Milroy schools and was graduated from the high school there with the class of 1908. He then spent a year at Winona normal school and upon his return became engaged as a clerk in a general store at Milroy, a position he held for three years, at the end of which time he took a course in the normal school at Marion, Ind., and for the following term was engaged as teacher in district school No. 1 in Anderson township. He was engaged for the succeeding
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term and had served two months of this second engagement when, in 1913, the Peoples National Bank of Rushville tendered him a position as bookkeeper in the bank. Resigning his school he accepted this posi- tion and two years later became a teller in the bank, a position he continued to fill until his promotion on December 1, 1917, to the office of assistant cashier, which office he continues to fill, one of the best known young bankers in this part of Indiana. On June 10, 1914, Glen E. Foster was united in marriage to Marie Brown, who was born in this county, daughter of Harvey F. and Carrie C. (Paulus) Brown, members of old families in Rush county and further mention of whom is made elsewhere in this work, and to this union one child has been born, a son, Charles Brown Foster, born on Febru- ary 20, 1915. Mr. and Mrs. Foster are members of the Christian church at Rushville and during 1919-20 Mr. Foster was secretary of the board of trustees of the same. He is a Scottish Rite Mason and also is a noble of the Ancient Arabic Order, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, affiliated with Murat Temple at Indianapolis, and is a mem- ber of the local chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star and of the local lodges of the Red Men and the Tall Cedars of Lebanon at Rush- ville. Mr. and Mrs. Foster have a pleasant home at 1001 North Main street and have ever taken an interested part in the general social activities of their home town.
FIRMAN B. TARPLEE, recognized as one of the leading young farmers of Richland township, was born in Decatur county, Indiana, on September 25, 1890, and is a son of John T. and Mollie (McDaniel) Tarplee. Both of these parents also are natives of Indiana. the father having been born in Decatur county and the mother in Franklin county. John T. Tarplee was reared to manhood in his native county, receiving a good practical public school education. After his mar- riage he gave his attention to farming pursuits for a time, but event- ually engaged in the hardware business at Clarksburg, continuing in that line for twenty-one years. He then sold his business and located on the farm which is now the home of the subject of this sketch, and there he made his home until his retirement from active life, in 1917, when he moved to Clarksburg, where he now resides. He is the owner of 160 acres of excellent farm land. To him and his wife have been born six children, Lillie, Chessie, Myrtle, Looney, Susan and Firman B. Firman B. Tarplee attended the school of Clarksburg, including two years in the high school, and then entered his father's store, where he remained until 1915, when he turned his attention to farming. The following year he started working on his father's farm and in 1917 he rented the place and has continued to operate it since. The place, which comprises 160 acres, is well equipped in every respect, and has been maintained at the highest standard of excellence. Mr. Tarplee is practical and up-to-date in his ideas and is gaining an enviable reputation as a progressive and successful agriculturist. Mr. Tarplee puts about forty acres out to corn and a like acreage to small grain, and also gives considerable attention to
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