USA > Indiana > Rush County > Centennial history of Rush County, Indiana, Volume II > Part 56
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Wilma Bowen and has two children, Catherine Lucile and Frances Louise, and Nellie S., who married Elsa Hilligoss and has two children Lavon Estelle and Harold Eugene.
DR. C. E. MORRIS, V. S., a leading farmer and professional man of Anderson township, this county, is a member of one of the pioneer families of Rush county. Doctor Morris was born in Anderson town- ship on October 6, 1868, a son of George and Caroline (Stiers) Morris, and a grandson of Chapman Morris, who came here from Pennsylvania and afterward followed farming. The father of Doctor Morris was born in Rush county, followed the plasterer's trade all his life and spent his last years in Orange township. The mother of Doctor Morris was born in Ohio. Of their nine children the following survive: C. E .; Robert, who lives in Ohio; and Leona, who is the wife of Frank Levi, of Rushville. C. E. Morris attended school in Orange town- ship, then worked on farms throughout the neighborhood up to the time of his marriage, following which he operated rented land in Anderson township for a time, occasionally having from 200 to 300 acres under rental at one time. Later he bought the first fifty-five acres of his present valuable farm and now owns 160 acres, his activi- ties being divided between his farm industries and his professional engagements. In 1900 he entered the Indiana Veterinary College, from which two years later he received his degree of Veterinary Surgeon, and since then has built up a large practice in the county. Doctor Morris married Nettie Frakes, a daughter of David Frakes, and they have three children, Elbert H., Flossie and Mabel, all of whom have domestic circles of their own not far distant. Elbert H. Morris mar- ried Lulu Richey and has two children, Elvin and Charles; Flossie Morris married Herschel Botterhoff, and Mabel Morris married Clifford Richey. Doctor Morris is a member of Milroy lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, and belongs also to the Odd Fellows at Milroy, having passed the chairs in the latter lodge. He has never been par- ticularly active in politics but in his convictions is a Democrat.
BERTON T. OSBORN, one of the farmers of Rushville township who is making a success of his work and is also earning the place in his community to which his abilities entitle him, was born in Rushville township on June 18, 1881, son of Lucian B. and Harvina (Gruell) Osborn, farming people of that township. Berton T. Osborn was educated in Shelby county, Indiana, and after he left school returned home and was engaged in farming with his father, remaining with him until his marriage. At that time he began renting his present farm of ninety-five acres, the original Osborn homestead, from his uncle Theodore Osborn. Since moving on this farm he has carried on general farming and stockraising, and produces about 175 head of hogs annually. On October 30, 1904, Berton T. Osborn was married to Lavon Hilligoss, who died on June 9, 1909, having borne her hus- band one child, Lowell. She is buried in East Hill cemetery at Rush- ville. Mr. Osborn was married secondly on December 17, 1914, to Myrtle Smith, daughter of Zack and Mary J. (Linville) Smith, natives
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of Decatur county, Indiana, but old residents of Rushville township where Mrs. Osborn was born and educated. Mr. and Mrs. Smith had four children, Jess, Louise, Fred and Myrtle. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Osborn: John R., who is attending the Webb school in Rushville township, and Thomas B. Mr. Osborn is affiliated with Rushville lodge, No. 1307, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. A Methodist, he maintains membership with the con- gregation of that denomination at Rushville. A stanch Republican Mr. Osborn gives a conscientious and effective support to the candi- dates of his party, but has not cared to come before the public for office, his time and attention being fully occupied with his agricul- tural pursuits.
HARVEY M. ARNOLD, a well-known and progressive young farmer of Union township, living on rural mail route No. 1 out of Falmouth, is a native of the state of Arkansas, but has been a resident of Indiana and Rush county since he was a boy. He was born on February 7, 1888, son of John and Alice (Clifford) Arnold. Reared in Union township, Harvey M. Arnold received his schooling in the local schools and as a boy was well trained in the ways of the farm. He remained on the home farm until his marriage at the age of twenty- threc, when he rented a farm of 150 acres in Noble township and began farming on his own account. About three years later he moved to the farm on which he is now living and has since resided there, now renting a tract of 103 acres, on which he is engaged in general farming and live stock raising, his operations in the latter line including a couple of car loads of graded hogs a year. Mr. Arnold carries on his agricultural operations in up-to-date fashion and has an excellent equipment for productive effort. On December 24, 1912, Harvey M. Arnold was united in marriage to Grace McClure, who was born in this county, daughter of Samuel and Lena (McCrory) McClure, and to this union one child has been born, a son, Harvey Mauzy Arnold. Mr. and Mrs. Arnold have a pleasant home and take an interested part in the general social activities of the community in which they reside. They are members of the Ben Davis Christian Church and in their political affiliation are Republicans.
ROSCOE LINVILLE, a well known farmer of Richland town- ship, was born in that township on the 5th day of March, 1884, and he is the son of John and Luella (Barber) Linville. His paternal grand- father was Morgan Linville, who in an early day came to Rush county from Bath county, Kentucky, entering land here and remaining here during the rest of his life. He lived to be 86 and his wife lived to be 89 years of age. John Linville was born and reared in Rush county and his wife was a native of Franklin county, Indiana. Mr. Linville was reared and educated in the common schools, the old Freeman school house being the scene of his educational efforts. After leaving school he turned his efforts to farming, operating rented land for a time. After the death of his parents, he bought the interests of the other heirs in the home farm, comprising 115 acres in Richland
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township, and has since been engaged in the cultivation of that land, following general farming and stock raising. He is now 59 years of age and his wife 57. To John Linville and wife were born seven children, six of whom are living, namely: Roscoe, Katherine, Ger- trude, Wilbur, Alma and Mae. Roscoe Linville attended the Freeman school house and after the completion of his studies he worked with his father on the home farm until he was twenty-one years of age, when he was married. Thereafter for about a year he was employed as a farm hand, after which for two years he operated rented land. He then bought 1231/2 acres of land, comprising the nucleus of his present fine farm, which has been increased to 278 acres. Much of the grain is fed on the farm, Mr. Linville feeding from 200 to 400 hogs annually. He is thoroughly up-to-date in his methods and main- tains the farm at the highest standard of excellence, so that he is looked upon as one of the enterprising and wide-awake farmers of Richland township. Fifty acres of this land has been cleared by Mr. Linville, much of the grubbing and burning having been done by himself. On this farm is an ever-flowing spring that furnishes such a wholesome supply of water for stock that in ten years there has not been a case of hog cholera on the farm, nor has Mr. Linville been com- pelled to immunize his hogs, plenty of shade and clean water giving his hogs protection. In 1905 Mr. Linville was married to Cora Lewis, the daughter of Frank and Mae Lewis, and to this union three children have been born, Louise (deceased), Elmer and Marcia. Politically, Mr. Linville gives his support to the Republican party, while he and his wife arc active and carnest members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
FRED W. LIGHTFOOT, president of the Falmouth Bank at Falmouth, and also well known as a farmer and stockraiser in Rush county, and in various ways identified with interests of importance, was born in Washington township, this county, June 16, 1875, son and only child of Alfred C. and Flora (McCrady) Lightfoot. Alfred C. Lightfoot was born in 1824, in Pendleton county, Kentucky, and was six years old when he accompanied his parents, William B. and Eliza- beth Lightfoot, to Indiana. William B. Lightfoot entered eighty acres of Government land in Washington township, Rush county, journeying to Indianapolis on horseback in order to make the entry. He did not long survive pioneer hardships, dying before he had com- pleted the erection of his log cabin. He and his wife Elizabeth had two children, Alfred C. and Lucinda, the latter of whom died unmarried at the age of twenty-seven years. Alfred C. Lightfoot and his mother remained on the pioneer farm which they both endeavored to develop. In order to eke out a living during the early years, Grandmother Light- foot worked also at tailoring. She was a brave, strong, resourceful woman and survived until 1874. In the year of her death, Alfred C. Lightfoot married Flora MeCrady, who was born in Franklin county, Indiana, and they spent the rest of their lives on the homestead, the acreage of which was by that time greatly increased. When his
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HISTORY OF RUSH COUNTY
school days were over, Fred W. Lightfoot gave his father assistance on the home farm, and after the death of his father, in 1894, assumed full charge although only nineteen years old at the time. He not only successfully operated the estate of 320 acres but has made additions which have brought up his acreage to 470, a large part of which is devoted to stock, Mr. Lightfoot feeding 100 head of cattle and 800 head of hogs yearly. He has not confined himself to agricultural pur- suits, however, as for some years he has been well known in the bank- ing field, and is also a prominent factor in Democratic political circles in the county. On January 26, 1897, Mr. Lightfoot married Margaret Smith, of Union township, this county, and they have two children : Frank G., who is taking a course in electrical engineering at Purdue University ; and Doris June, who is a student in the high school at Raleigh. Mr. Lightfoot is a thirty-second degree and York Rite Mason and Shriner and also is a member of the Elks lodge at Rushville and the Odd Fellows lodge at Falmouth.
DANIEL O'KEEFE, a well-known farmer and landowner of Union township, this county, is a native son of the old Buckeye state but has been a resident of Rush county for forty-five years and thus naturally enough has long felt himself "perfectly at home" here. He was born on a farm in Brown county, Ohio, April 9, 1850, son of John and Johanna O'Keefe, both natives of Ireland, the latter of whom emigrated to this country with her parents in 1832 and the former in 1840, whose last days were spent in Ohio. John O'Keefe came to America in the days of his young manhood with just enough money to bring him across and upon his arrival here proceeded to Cincinnati, where he remained for about seven years, at the end of which time he moved to Brown county, Ohio, where he bought a farm of 122 acres and established his home. Some time later he sold that farm and bought a farm in Clinton county, same state, and on this latter farm spent the remainder of his life. He and his wife were the parents of two children, the subject of this sketch having a sister, Nellie. Daniel O'Keefe was reared on the farm in Ohio and received a limited schooling there, his total attendance at school not exceeding ninety days. He continued farming as a young man and in 1876 came to Indiana and located in Rush county, working here as a farm hand for sixteen years, or until his marriage, after which he rented a farm and established a home of his own. Mr. O'Keefe continued as a renter for fourteen years, at the end of which time he bought the farm of 114 acres on which he is now living in Union township and has since made his home there, he and his family being quite pleasantly situated. The farm is on rural mail route No. 7 out of Rushville and is well improved. It was in 1883 that Daniel O'Keefe was united in marriage to Mrs. Sarah J. (Newkirk) Benson, who was born in this county, daughter of Danicl B. and Polly New- kirk. By her first marriage Mrs. O'Keefe has three sons, Albert, Herbert and Daniel Benson, the latter of whom married Maud Mason. Albert Benson married Ethel Clifton and has four children, Lenna,
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Byron, Weldon and Marlin Edward. Herbert Benson married Minnie Wilson and has seven children, Pearl, Lotus, Lovica, Leora, Eugene, Harley and Edward Lee.
LEROY LINES, a lifelong farmer and stockman, whose thor- ough knowledge of agricultural matters is generally acknowledged in Anderson township, this county, is a native of this county, born in Noble township on May 8, 1862. His parents were Aaron Noble and Jane (MeIlwain) Lines, natives of Rush county, who were married here. Eight children were born to them and the following are living : Charles, of Missoula, Mont .; Ada, wife of Omer Mull, of Homer, Ind .; Sarah, wife of Irvin Carr, of Elwood, Ind .; Mollie, wife of Bert Hester, of Rochester, Minn .; and Leroy. Aaron Noble Lines followed farming in Walker township, this county, until 1884, when he moved to the vicinity of Elwood, Ind., later retired to Elwood and there he died. Leroy Lines was young when his parents settled on a farm in Walker township and in that section he attended school and grew to man- hood, making choice of farming as his vocation. Until his marriage Mr. Lines assisted his father on the home place, afterward rented land and operated it for six years, that farm being the Jefferson Bowles farm in Anderson township. By that time he was ready to make an investment and bought fifty-seven acres which he improved and cultivated, in the meanwhile gradually adding to his holdings until he now owns 213 acres, all adjoining. He farms 123 acres of this land himself and gives considerable attention to stock, hogs mainly, buying feeders and feeding out about 225 head yearly. Mr. Lines is a prac- tical business man and understands how to make farming a profitable industry. In 1884 he married Maude Farlow, daughter of Joseph Farlow and granddaughter of Jefferson Bowles, and they have two children : Joseph, who resides at home; and June, who married Claude Spilman and has two children, Betty Jane and Claude, Jr. Mr. Lines and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Milroy, of which he is one of the members of the board of trustees. As a good citizen he takes interest in public matters and casts his vote with the Democratic party.
C. O. PATTON, whose whole life has been passed in Rush and Decatur counties, and who beginning as a renter, has progressed by the exercise of industry, perseverance, economy and integrity to the ownership of a highly productive farm and the position of a sub- stantial, influential and useful member of the community, was born in Decatur county, Indiana in 1867, a son of Samuel R. and Mary E. (Hnmes) Patton. Samuel R. Patton was brought to Rush county as a child and here grew to sturdy young manhood. When the Civil war broke out, he enlisted in the One Hundred and Thirty-seventh regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, with which command he served for three years and participated in a number of important and hard-fought battles. Returning safely from the war, he located in Decatur county and for about a year conducted a general store at Greensburg. After that he located on a farm near Spring Hill, in
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the same county, which he had purchased from his father, and con- tinued to operate that land until 1879, when he sold out and came to Rush county, locating on a farm of 280 acres one mile south of Richland in Richland township. Mr. Patton was a man of education, a graduate of Richland Academy, and was called upon frequently to serve his fellow citizens in offices of responsibility and trust. For two terms he served as trustee of Richland township and for two terms served as a member of the board of county commissioners. When he died his community lost a citizen who had done much for its general advancement. Samuel R. Patton married Mary E. Humes, who was born in Hamilton county, Ohio, and they became the parents of seven children, of whom five are living : Harry B., John E., Walter E., C. O. and Elma. C. O. Patton was given his educational training in the public schools of Richland township and as a young man began farming as a renter. After about seven years of renting he purchased a part of the property on which he has been located since 1887, and as the years have passed has added from time to time until he now has 840 acres in Rush and Decatur counties, in addition to which he rents about 160 acres. Mr. Patton cleared and ditched this land himself and has made all the improvements thereon. As a cattle raiser he has a herd of about 300 head, and raises about 1,000 hogs annually. He has been a trader since 1893 and his operations have been attended with success. Mr. Patton married Etta Crawford, daughter of Presley and Rosamond Crawford, and to this union there was born one child, a daughter, Faye. After the death of his first wife Mr. Patton married Jessie VanOsdol, daughter of George W. VanOsdol. Mr. Patton is a member of the Masonic lodge at Milroy and is a Republican.
ALBERT BRANAM, one of the prosperous farmers of Rushville township, belongs to one of the substantial families of Rush county. He was born in Walker township on February 21, 1866, son of Mathew and Parlina Jane (Hodge) Branam. Mathew Branam was born in Ireland and his wife was born in Rush county. When he was sixteen years old Mathew Branam came to the United States alone, and locat- ing in Rush county, here followed an agricultural life for many years. He and his wife had six children, of whom the following are living : James W., Sarah A., Albert and Alfred E. Albert Branam com- pleted his schooling in the school at Homer and then began making himself useful on the homestead, remaining at home until his mar- riage, after which he moved to the farm of eighty acres where he now lives, renting it from his father until the death of the latter when he bought the property from the other heirs. On this farm Mr. Branam has erected suitable buildings with the exception of the barn, which he repaired, and he now has one of the nicest farm properties in his township. On September 25, 1889, Mr. Branam was married to Ruby Plummer, who was born in Illinois but was reared and educated in Rush county. She had the misfortune to lose her parents when she was three years old and was taken by her uncle Arthur Gates, and reared. Mr. and Mrs. Branam have two children : Letta, who married
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George Lowden, a farmer of Walker township, and Nellie, who is unmarried and lives at home. Mr. Branam belongs to Rushville lodge, No. 35, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. The Presbyterian church of Rushville holds his membership and serves him as a medium for the expression of his religious faith. In politics he is a Democrat. A hard-working and thrifty man he has concentrated his efforts upon the development and improvement of his farm and the results prove that he has shown judgment and excellent management.
JOHN ARNOLD, a well-known and substantial farmer of Union township, is a member of one of the real pioneer families of Rush county and is the third of his name to occupy the farm on which he is now living, the place having been "entered" by his grandfather, John Arnold, and later and in turn occupied by his father, the late Dr. John Arnold, and as Mr. Arnold has named one of his sons John there is a probability that the name will not be lost to succeeding generations. Though not a native of Rush county Mr. Arnold always has felt "at home" here for it was here that the Arnolds got their start when the pioneer John Arnold, who was born in England, grandfather of the present owner of the tract, secured original possession from the Government on October 20, 1820, the year before Rush county became recognized as a separate civic unit in the group of counties then forming in the growing list of such counties in the commonwealth of Indiana. There were three entries of this land made at the land office at Brookville on the day of the opening of the sale and one of these three was the entry of Mr. Arnold's grand- father. John Arnold was born in the city of Connersville, connty seat of the neighboring connty of Fayette, May 30, 1846, son of Dr. John Arnold, who later became occupant of the farm above referred to and on which he was born, a son of the pioneer John Arnold. The junior John Arnold was reared on that farm, receiving his early schooling in the neighborhood schools and this he supplemented by a year's attendance at the old Richland Academy and by a year at Hanover College at Hanover. He married when twenty-two years of age and a year later went to Iowa with the view to settling in that state, but not finding things as he had expected he returned to Rush county and after farming here for several years went to Cumberland county, Illinois, where he bought a farm and remained for six years, at the end of which time he sold his holdings there and went to Ar- kansas where for seven years he was engaged in the fruit business and in general farming. But seven years of Arkansas proved enough and he disposed of his interests there and returned to Rush county and settled down on the old home place in Union township, which he now owns and on which he has made his home since his return here. Mr. Arnold has an excellent farm of 160 acres. well improved and profitably cultivated. He and his family are Republicans and all are members of the Christian church. The Arnolds have a very pleasant home on rural mail route No. 2 out of Rushville ("Arnold's Home," pictured elsewhere in this work) and have ever taken an
DR. JOHN ARNOLD
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interested and hospitable part in the community's general social activities, doing their part in helping to advance movements designed to promote the common good hereabout. On November 24, 1868, John Arnold was united in marriage to Alice Amanda Clifford, daughter of William and Elizabeth (Lindsay) Clifford, and to this union eight children have been born, Charles Abner, Sarah, Richard, John C., Josephine A., William, Bertha A. and Harvey M., all of whom are married save Richard and John C., who are at home carry- ing on the operations of the farm in their father's behalf. Charles A. Arnold married Luella Mauzy and has three children, Richard, Edward and Alice. Sarah Arnold married Cortez C. Waller and has four children, Leona, Flora, Theodore and Eva. Leona Waller married William Ottinger and has one child, a daughter, Margaret A., and Flora Waller married Dennie Ramsey and has had four chil- dren, Lucy, Helen, Louis and Harry (deceased), these two unions of their grandchildren giving Mr. and Mrs. Arnold five great-grand- children. Josephine Arnold married John Mauzy and has one child, a son, Clifford. William Arnold married Mila Caldwell and has two children, John and Margaret. Bertha Arnold married Delbert W. Eakins and has seven children, Howard, Esther, Walter, Alice, Cora, Russell and Ralph. Harvey M. Arnold married Grace MeClure and has one child, a son, Harvey, Jr., As set out in the historical section of this work "Arnold's Home" is the site of the old Delaware Indian village, of which Chief Mahoning ("Ben Davis") was the ruler, and when the pioneer John Arnold entered that tract there were still fifteen Indian tepees on the place.
JOSEPH S. VANDAMENT, a well known retired farmer of Union township and formerly and for years well known throughout the county as a professional nurse, is a native of the Buckeye state, but has been a resident of Rush county since he was twenty-five years of age and thus has for many years felt himself a real component part of the life of his community. Mr. Vandament was born at George- town, Ohio, July 14, 1852, son of the Rev. John C. and Deliverance (Busby) Vandament, both of whom were born in that same county, members of pioneer families there. During the early years of his young manhood the Rev. John C. Vandament was engaged in teaching school and he then entered the gospel ministry as a clergyman in the Methodist Episcopal church. At the time of the "split" in the Methodist church during the Civil war period he became connected with the Christian Union and continued in the ministry of that com- munion the rest of his life, his last days being spent in Brown county, Ohio. He and his wife had seven children, four of whom are still living, the subject of this sketch having a brother, Louis, and two sisters, Lurinda and Mae. Reared in Brown county, Ohio, Joseph S. Vandament received his schooling there and early took up farming as a vocation. He spent several years "prospecting" in the West, working as a farm hand in Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota, and then returned to Ohio where he remained until 1877 when he came to
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