USA > Indiana > Rush County > Centennial history of Rush County, Indiana, Volume II > Part 54
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Thomas is a Freemason, also a member of the local lodges of the Knights of Pythias and the Improved Order of Red Men and he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. On March 4, 1891, Ernest B. Thomas was united in marriage to Glen Wheeler, of Dearborn county, this state, and to this union two children have been born, Ruth and Dorothy, the former of whom died in infancy. Dorothy Thomas was married on November 10, 1918, to Glen R. Tucker, of Greencastle, Ind., and has a son, William Thomas, born on January 26, 1920.
JAMES B. HALL, who is numbered among the successful agri- culturists and stock men of Richland township, this county, whose efforts and influence have contributed to the material upbuilding and general prosperity of their respective communities, was born in Deca- tur county, Indiana, on September 10, 1884, and is the son of Harlan and Margaret (Green) Hall, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Decatur county. While still a small child, Harlan Hall was brought by his parents to Decatur county, where he grew to man- hood and received his educational training in the public schools. He was a veteran of the Civil war and his lifelong vocation was farming, in which he was successful, and he bore a reputation as a progressive and loyal citizen of his community. To him and his wife were born seven children, of which number five are now living, namely: Frank E., Nellie G., Katie, Eugene and James B. James B. Hall received his education in the common schools of his native county, after which he worked on the home farm, later being employed in that vicinity as a farm hand. In 1902 Mr. Hall came to Rush county and was here employed at farm work up to the time of his marriage. He then rented a farm of about seventy acres, to the operation of which he devoted himself, and has continued as a renter to the present time. He is now operating 160 acres of land and has made a splendid success of his work, being numbered among the industrious and enterprising agriculturists of his community. He carries on general farming opera- tions, and also gives some attention to the feeding of live stock, handling annually from one to two carloads of cattle, besides some hogs. In 1908 Mr. Hall was married to Ethel Green, a daughter of George and Mary Green, and this union has been blessed in the birth of three children, Hugh S., Betty Jane and Mary Macel. Mr. Hall and his family are members of the United Presbyterian church at Rushville, to which they give generous support. Mr. Hall is always found in the forefront in support of every movement for the advance- ment of the general welfare of the community and, because of his industry and character, he stands deservedly high in popular esteem.
JESSE W. PETERS, one of the best known farmers in Rush county and a substantial landowner of Union township, where he makes his home, has for years been particularly attentive to the local movements having to do with the promotion of the interests of the agriculturists of this county as well as of the general agricultural interests of the country and has something more than a local reputa-
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tion along that line. When the farmers of Union township organized a local branch of the Farmers' Federation Mr. Peters was elected president of the organization and when the farmers of Rush county combined their township organizations into a central county organiza- tion he was made the treasurer of the new organization, and in both his official and private capacity has never neglected an opportunity to advance the cause thus so efficiently represented hereabout. Mr. Peters is a member of one of the old families of Rush county and has ever had the basic interests of the county and of its people close to his heart. He was born at Ging Station in Union township on March 8, 1874, son of Alfred R. and Freelove (Gifford) Peters, the latter of whom was born in the neighboring county of Fayette, a mem- ber of one of the pioneer families of that county, and is still living, now making her home at Rushville where she was resided for about twenty years past. Alfred R. Peters, who died at his home in Rush- ville nearly fifteen years ago, was widely known' throughout the northern part of the county where the greater part of his life was spent. He was born on a farm in the immediate vicinity of the village of Carthage and was a son of John and Elizabeth Peters, the latter of whom was born in Kentucky but had been a resident of Rush county since the days of her girlhood. John Peters was born in Orange township, this county, a member of one of the real pioneer families of that section of the county, and became a substantial farmer. He spent all his life in Rush county and was an influential citizen in his generation. Alfred R. Peters learned the carpenter trade in his young manhood and followed that occupation until he opened a store at Ging Station, building his store room himself, and was for years engaged in the general mercantile business there. In 1881 he sold his store and bought the farm on which his son Jesse is now living and farmed there until about 1902 when he retired from the farm and moved to Rushville where his last days were spent, his death occurring there in 1907. Alfred R. Peters at the time of his death was the owner of 320 acres of land besides other property, and had long been regarded as one of the substantial citizens of the county. As noted above, his widow is still living at Rushville. They were the parents of two children, sons both, the subject of this sketch and Walter W. Peters. Jesse W. Peters was reared in this county and supplemented the schooling he received in the local schools by a course in the agri- cultural college of Purdue University, seeking there a further grasp on the problems of agriculture which he had noted arising about him not only on his father's farm but on the farms of his neighbors. Thus equipped for agriculture along somewhat more scientific lines than were commonly regarded in those days, that being in the days before the advantages of the agricultural schools were as generally recognized as they are today, he returned to the home farm and was associated with his father in the operation of the home place until his marriage at the age of twenty-one when he established his home on his father's other farm north of Ging where he remained until he moved to the
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HISTORY OF RUSH COUNTY
place on which he is now living in Union township and where he and his family are very comfortably situated. Mr. Peters owns 100 acres in that tract but is farming also an adjacent tract of sixty acres belong- ing to his mother in order to give him such scope as he deems desir- able for the operations he is carrying on. As may be taken for granted Mr. Peters is conducting his operations along up-to-date lines and has what perhaps may be regarded as a model farm though he may be too modest in his estimate to say this of it himself. His theories of farm- ing are both practical and "scientific" and his interest in the general extension of agricultural interests has been such as to advance him to positions of influence in the locally organized bodies seeking that end, as has been set out in the introduction to this brief biographical sketch. In 1895, Jesse W. Peters was united in married to Elsie Gordon, who was born in the neighboring county of Fayette, and to this union six children have been born, George, Mary, Herschel, Dale, Alice and David (deceased). Both George and Hershel Peters served their country during the period of America's participation in the recent World war, the former in the navy and the latter in the motor truck corps, and are now assisting their father in the operations of the home farm. Mary Peters married William Meyer and has two chil- dren, Walter Jesse and Martha May. Mr. Peters and his family are Republicans and take an earnest interest in local political affairs. Mr. and Mrs. Peters are members of the Ben Davis Christian Church and Mr. Peters is now clerk of the congregation and has also served as treasurer and as deacon. Mrs. Peters's parents, Milton and Mary (Smiley) Gordon, were both born in Fayette county, members of old families there. Milton Gordon was a son of David and Emily (Tyner) Gordon, the latter of whom was born in the neighboring county of Franklin, a member of one of the real pioneer families there. David Gordon was born in North Carolina and became a resident of Indiana in 1822, the rest of his life being spent in Fayette county. Milton Gordon was married in Fayette county and remained there until 1881 when he came with his family to Rush county and located in Union township, where he became the owner of an excellent farm of 126 acres and where he remained until 1918. His wife died in Decem- ber, 1907. He and his wife had two children, Mrs. Peters having a brother, Wilbert R. Gordon, now residing at Indianapolis.
JOHN B. MORRIS, a well-known hardware dealer at Rushville and recognized as one of the leading merchants of that place, is a native son of the old Buckeye state but has no canse for regretting the decision which some years ago made him a resident of the Hoosier state. He was born in Allen county, Ohio, son of George and Sarah V. (Cunningham) Morris, and was reared in that county, receiving his schooling in the schools of his home county. It was in 1906 that Mr. Morris came to Indiana and located at Rushville. Upon coming here he became engaged in the hardware business on North Main street. He sold that store in 1911 and located at the site now occupied by him and has ever since been thus engaged, in this time having
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HISTORY OF RUSH COUNTY
built up by progressive methods quite a prosperous business. He carries a full line of general hardware and accessories pertaining to such a stock and is doing well. Mr. Morris has ever taken a good citizen's interest in local governmental matters. He is a member of the local lodge of the Knights of Pythias and takes a proper interest in the affairs of that order. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church. Mrs. Morris also was born in Allen county, Ohio, and her name before her marriage was Lulu Bernet. Mr. and Mrs. Morris have two children, Richard B. and Eloise, both of whom are now (1921) attending school.
JOHN C. BENNING, an experienced farmer of Orange town- ship, this county, was born in Franklin county, Indiana, November 8, 1857, a son of Charles and Katherine (Brinkman) Benning. His par- ents were born in Germany but from childhood lived in the United States and were married at Oldenburg, Ind. They had a family of eight children, three of whom are living : John C .; Charles, of Milroy, this county, and Josephine, of Cincinnati, Ohio. The father was a farmer in Franklin county. John C. Benning had school privileges in Franklin county until he was thirteen years old, at which age he started out as a farm hand and worked as such until he was twenty- eight years of age. Then he married and began farming on his own account, renting the farm on which he lives from his mother-in-law for nine years and then buying it. He has prospered as a general farmer and raises a car load of hogs yearly. On September 11, 1884, John C. Benning married Lina Harcourt, daughter of Nathan and Lucinda (Camerer) Harcourt. At one time the father of Mrs. Ben- ning owned 375 acres of land in Rush county. Mr. and Mrs. Benning have two sons: Clifford, a traveling salesman for a grocery house at Connersville, Ind., who married Carrie Branson; and Roscoe, now in the grocery business at St. Paul, Ind., who married Mary Marshall. Mr. Benning has always voted with the Democratic party. He and wife are members of the Big Flat Rock Christian Church.
PERRY GOSNELL, a progressive farmer and stock raiser of Orange township, this county, now living retired at Shelbyville, Ind., was born in Jasper county, Illinois, January 6, 1860. His parents were Washington and Malissa (Sanger) Gosnell, both of whom were born in Kentucky. They had sixteen children and of these the follow- ing are living : Washington, David, George, Henry and Perry. The father was a school teacher and after moving to Illinois was a farmer there for many vears. Perry Gosnell attended school in Madison county, Indiana, after which he worked as a farm hand for fifteen years, then rented 160 acres of land in Orange township, this county, for two years, and following this for two years more worked as a farm hand. After his marriage in 1884 Mr. Gosnell rented land again in Orange township, a tract of 160 acres, where he remained for twenty- two years, in the meanwhile buying and selling several other farms. He never lived on those farms although he operated them and his investments turned out well. In 1900 he bought seventy-two acres
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of his present estate in Orange township, to which he subsequently added 198 acres, of which total he has sold fifty acres. His farm of 250 acres all lies within one square with the exception of a tract of fifty acres which is located in another part of Orange township. On November 11, 1920, Mr. Gosnell retired from the farm and moved to Shelbyville, where he owns a modern dwelling at 503 Elm street. He still retains supervisory charge of the farm and carries on general farming and feeds a large amount of stock, about 150 head of hogs and a car load of cattle annually. There are not many places in Rush county so substantially improved as this farm. Mr. Gosnell has put up a complete set of new buildings, including an attractive residence, two barns and all necessary ontbuildings, has done a large amount of tiling and has two silos. He uses modern methods in carrying on his work and owns a Titan tractor. On January 10, 1884, Perry Gosnell married Jeanette Stewart, who was born in Orange township, this county, daughter of Joseph and Agnes (Meek) Stewart, both born in Decatur county, Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Stewart had seven children and three besides Mrs. Gosnell are living, Robert, Nannie and Guy. Mr. and Mrs. Gosnell have two sons: Harry, a farmer in Orange town- ship, who married Gertrude Malcolm and has four children, Helen, Melvin, Robert and Floyd; and Ralph, who is the farmer on the homestead. He married Ida Brown and they have one child, Lowell. Mr. Gosnell is a Republican. He is a member of the Odd Fellows lodge at Blue Ridge.
ERBAN B. VICKREY, a well known farmer, stockman and land- owner of Union township, residing on rural mail route No. 1 out of Falmouth, is a member of one of the pioneer families of Rush county and has lived in this county all his life with the exception of a few years during the period of his early childhood when his family resided in Tipton county. He was born on a farm in Washington township on April 6, 1870, son of George and Mary (McCann) Vickrey, the latter of whom was born in the neighboring county of Henry. George Vickrey was born in Washington township, this county, son of Martin Vickrey, who had come to Indiana from Virginia and had settled in that township in pioneer days. Reared in Washington township, George Vickrey continued farming there after his marriage, remaining there until about 1873 when he moved with his family to Tipton county, where he remained until the death of his wife in 1877, after which he moved to Lewisville, but not long afterward went to Wabash county where he became engaged in farming in association with his brother. His last days were spent in Marion, Ind. where he died in 1899. To him and his wife were born three children, of whom two are living, Erban B. Viekrey having a sister, Lydia, wife of Charles Hughes. Erban B. Vickrey was but seven years of age when his mother died and he was reared in the home of his aunt at Raleigh, this county, receiving his schooling in the schools of that village. As a young man he went to Fort Wayne, Ind., and was there employed for about eighteen months, at the end of which time he returned to
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Rush county and was here engaged as a farm hand until his marriage about three years later when he rented a farm and began farming "on his own." A few years later he started farming on his wife's place of forty acres and established his home on the same. As his affairs prospered Mr. Vickrey added to this holding until now he is the owner of an excellent farm of 307 acres in Union and Washington townships. In addition to his general farming Mr. Vickrey has given considerable attention to the raising of live stock and during the past year fed out about 300 head of hogs. In 1891 Erban B. Vickrey was united in marriage to Amanda Kirkpatrick, daughter of Samuel and Charlotte (Carson) Kirkpatrick, and to this union three sons have been born, Lowell, Virgil and Floyd, the first named of whom married Sallie Logan and has one child, Loren Logan Vickrey. Virgil Vickrey married Leona Mull and has one child, Mull Warren Vickrey. The Vickreys are members of the Fairview Christian Church and Mr. Vickrey is a member of the board of trustees of the same and an elder of the church. In his political affiliation he is a Democrat. Fra- ternally, he is affiliated with the local lodge of the Masons at Falmouth.
CHARLES BOYS, one of the prosperous farmers of Rushville township, has earned the respect and confidence of his fellow citizens, and the reputation of being an excellent agriculturist. He was born in Anderson township, this county, April 27, 1873, son of John Gilbert and Elizabeth A. (Innis) Boys, natives of Jasper county, and Ander- son, Ind. John G. Boys was a farmer and for thirteen years was a rural mail carrier, but is now retired. He and his wife had two children, Charles Boys having a sister, Mrs. Nettie M. Powell. Grow- ing up in Rushville township, Charles Boys attended district school No. 8, and after he left school began making himself useful on the farm. After several years devoted to agricultural pursuits he moved to Rushville and for fourteen years worked at the Innis-Pearce furni- ture factory. In 1920 he returned to the farm, which he bought after the death of his mother, and is still operating it, a well cultivated tract of eighty acres, doing general farming and raising about 100 head of hogs annually. On January 31, 1905, Charles Boys was married to Florence Pierson, daughter of Lorenzo B. and Mary Pierson. Mrs. Boys was born in West Virginia, but was reared and educated in Noble township, this county. Mr. and Mrs. Boys have one daughter, Mildred. They are members of the United Presbyterian church at Rushville. Mr. Boys is a Republican. In everything he has undertaken he has displayed a willingness to give of the best that is in him and is inter- ested in general community activities.
GEORGE E. CAMERON, one of the leading citizens and repre- sentative farmers of southeastern Rush county, is a native of Frank- lin county, Indiana, where he was born on December 7, 1880. His parents, W. A. and Rachel (McCready) Cameron, were also born in Franklin county. When but a small child, W. A. Cameron accom- panied the family on their removal to Harrison, Ohio, where he grew to
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manhood and received his education. On attaining his majority Mr. Cameron returned to Franklin county, Indiana, where his marriage occurred, and then applied himself to farming. About 1897 he came to Rush county, locating in Richland township where he bought 240 acres of land. He gave his attention indefatigably to the operation of this land up to the time of his retirement, in 1912, when he went to New Salem to reside. He was also the owner of eighty acres of land in Franklin county and followed farming pursuits all the active years of his life. To him and his wife were born six children, of whom the only ones now living are the subject of this sketch and a sister, Bessie. George E. Cameron is indebted to the common schools of Franklin county and after completing his studies he went to work on his father's farm, where he remained until his marriage, when he rented eighty acres of land from his father, which he now operates. This land is eligibly situated and is well improved and here Mr. Cam- eron carries on general farming operations, in which he has met with a gratifying success. Mr. Cameron married Jessie Beaver, the daugh- ter of Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Beaver, and they have two children, Floyd and Walter Dean. Politically, Mr. Cameron gives his support to the Republican party.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN GARY, a member of the bar of the Rush Circuit Court, senior member of the law firm of Gary & Bo- hannon; former superintendent of schools of Rush county and a practising attorney, with offices at Rushville, since 1907, is a native son of Rush county, and is a member of one of the county's pioneer families. IIe was born in a log cabin on a farm in Posey township on March 7, 1868, son of the Rev. Thomas B. and Phoebe J. (Ball) Gary, the latter of whom was born in this county on April 11, 1837, daugliter of Jonathan and Asenath (Moore) Ball, who had come to this county with their family from Pennsylvania in the fall of 1836. The Balls are an old Colonial family, the first of the name of the Rush county line having been Col. Joseph Ball, who was one of seven brothers who settled on the east bank of the Rappahannock river, in Lancaster county, Virginia, in the early part of the seven- teenth century. Joseph Ball had five sons and one daughter. One of these sons, Joseph Ball, born in 1698, had four sons and two daughters, one of which sons, Zopher Ball, born in 1724, was a soldier of the Revolution. Zopher Ball had six sons, one of whom, Caleb Ball, born at Frederick, Va., in 1755, also was a soldier of the Revolution and likewise served as a soldier of the War of 1812. At Cumberland, Va., Caleb Ball married Phoebe Walton, who was born at Frederick, Va., in 1766, a kinswoman of George Walton, colonial governor of Georgia and one of the signers of the Declara- tion of Independence. To this union were born eight children, Amos, Jonathan, Caleb, Henry, William, Asenath, Sarah and Mercy. The mother of these children died at the home of her son, Jonathan Ball, in this county in the '40s. Jonathan Ball, second in
A. L. GARY
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HISTORY OF RUSH COUNTY
order of birth of the eight children born to Caleb and Phoebe (Walton) Ball, was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, January 2, 1797, and on February 24, 1820, married Asenath Moore, who was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, December 2, 1802. In the fall of 1836 Jonathan Ball, with his wife and seven children, came to Indiana, driving through with an ox team and a "Democrat" wagon, and arrived at Rushville after about four weeks of travel. They spent the greater part of the following winter in and near Rushville, where Jonathan Ball, who had learned the tailor's trade when a boy, was able to support his family with his needle. He later purchased a farm on Little Blue river, in Posey township, and by his industry, clearing the forest by day and working at his trade at night, gained further holdings to which he gradually added until he became the owner of more than 1,000 acres of Rush county land. Jonathan Ball died on May 13, 1867, and his widow survived until April 22, 1897, she then being in the ninety-fifth year of her age. To Jonathan and Asenath (Moore) Ball were born ten children (three having been born after their arrival in Rush county), namely : Samuel M., Henry, Demosthenes, William G., Mary Moore, Cyrus W., Caleb A., Phoebe Jane, Sarah E. and Emily E., all of whom grew to maturity save Sarah E., and as most of these in turn had children of their own, the Ball con- nection hereabout in the present generation is a no inconsiderable one. Phoebe Jane Ball, eighth child and second daughter of Jona- than and Asenath (Moore) Ball, was born in this county on April 11, 1837, and on September 7, 1858, was united in marriage to the Rev. Thomas B. Gary, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church, a circuit rider, who had charges throughout Wayne, Fayette and Rush counties. The Rev. Thomas B. Gary was born in Erie county, New York, January 15, 1835, and when four years of age came to Indiana with his parents, the family coming down the Ohio with their belongings in a flat boat and settling in the Bennington neigli- borhood, back of Vevay, in Switzerland county. After his mar- riage Mr. Gary continued his itinerary for some time and then, in 1865, settled on a farm in Rush county and for twenty years there- after continued his ministerial labors (in addition to the operation of his farm), filling appointments as "supply" in pulpits not too remote from his established home in this county. He and his wife were the parents of nine children, all of whom are living save Thomas Philip, the sixth in order of birth, who died in infancy, the others besides the subject of this sketch (the fifth in order of birth) being Edward Thompson, Halleck Wood, Samuel Ball, Rhoda Moore, Olive Coralinn, Myra Jane and Mary Emily, all of whom are married. Abraham Lincoln Gary was reared on the home farm in Posey township and received his early schooling in the neighboring district school, "Frog Pond," in Posey township, and in the graded school at Carthage. This he supplemented by a course in the
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