USA > Indiana > Rush County > Centennial history of Rush County, Indiana, Volume II > Part 60
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this sketch having two brothers, Oscar and Burton. Reared on the home farm in Union township, Justus Rees received his schooling in the neighborhood schools and from the days of his boyhood was well trained in the ways of the farm. After his marriage he started farm- ing "on his own" and was for two years thus engaged as a renter, renting a part of his father's farm. He then bought the eighty-acre farm on which he is now living and has since resided there, he and his family having a very comfortable home on rural mail route No. 7 out of Rushville. Since purchasing this place Mr. Rees has made numerous improvements on it and has a well equipped farm plant. Mr. Rees has been twice married. His first wife, who was Agnes Stevens, died leaving him one child, a son, Russell Rees. He then married Bertha Shortridge, daughter of Sanford and Ida Shortridge, and to this union two children have been born, Myron D. and Ellen Louise. Mr. and Mrs. Rees are members of the Plum Creek Christian Church and are Republicans. Mr. Rees is a member of the local lodges of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Red Men at Falmouth and has for years given interested attention to the affairs of these organizations.
BEALE BROS., general contractors in plumbing, heating, sheet metal and tin work, with a well established plant at Rushville and doing business all over this part of the state, have long been regarded as one of the substantial industrial firms in Rush county. The broth- ers, John S. Beale and Fred R. Beale, doing business under the firm style of Beale Bros., are natives of Rush county and members of one of the old families here, the Beales having been represented in this county since pioneer days. They are the sons of William and Eliza- beth (Souder) Beale, both of whom were born in this county, mem- bers of pioneer families in Jackson township. William Beale, an honored veteran of the Civil war, former county treasurer of Rush county and at the time of his death a well known clothing merchant of Rushville, was reared in this county and was living here when the Civil war broke out. He enlisted for service in behalf of the Union, cause and went to the front as a member of D Company, Sixty-eighth regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry. At the battle of Chickamauga he was severely wounded and was taken a prisoner by the enemy, on the first day of that battle, September 19, 1863. Nine days later, however, he was exchanged at Nashville and soon after was mustered out, with the rank of first lieutenant. He engaged for many years thereafter in business in Rushville. Mr. Beale was a Republican and ever took an active part in the civic affairs of the county. As noted above, he had served as treasurer of the county. He also served for a time as trustee of Rushville township and was in other ways inter- ested in public affairs. He and his wife were the parents of eleven children, five of whom are still living, John S., Jennie, Minnie, Harry, Fred R. and Myra. John S. Beale, the second of these children and the founder of the firm of Beale Bros., was born at Carthage, this county, and early became engaged in plumbing and tinning, a trade
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which he presently made a business, becoming a contractor on his own account. In 1892 he founded the establishment which is now being conducted under the name of Beale Bros., the name which it has borne since in the fall of 1915 when Fred R. Beale was taken into partnership by his brother. Fred R. Beale was born at Rushville in 1876. Upon completing the course in the high school there he began working at the tailor's trade and was thus engaged when the Spanish- American war broke out, in 1898. He enlisted for service and was attached to H Company, One Hundred and Sixty-first regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, going to Cuba with that command and serving until it was mustered out on May 31, 1899, the war then being at an end. Mr. Beale enlisted as a private and when mustered out was drill sergeant of his company. Upon his return from the army Fred R. Beale became engaged working in his brother's plumbing estab- lishment and so continued until the partnership between the brothers was formed in the fall of 1915. Fred R. Beale is a Knight Templar Mason and a member of the local lodge of the Knights of Pythias, in which latter he has served as chancellor commander. He married Bessie Schmidt and has three children, May Elizabeth, Frances and Bonnie Jean.
TED C. KING, a well-known farmer of Richland township, who has risen through energy, persistence and sound judgment to a posi- tion of comfort and influence in his community, was born on the farm where he now lives on September 18, 1881, and is the son of Zenas and Hester E. (Kelso) King, the former a native of Rush county and the latter of Dearborn county, Indiana. Zenas King grew to manhood and received his education in Richland township, and even- tually was married there. He was reared to the life of a farmer and followed that vocation during all his active life, his death occurring when he was forty-six years of age. He was a member of one of the pioneer families of this locality, his father, Charles H. King, having come to this county from Franklin county, Indiana, in an early day and also followed farming here during the remainder of his life. To Zenas and Hester King were born three children, of whom the subject of this review is the only survivor. Ted C. King attended the com. mon schools of Posey township, Franklin county, to which locality his mother had moved after the death of her husband. After leaving the school at Andersonville, Mr. King applied himself to the operation of his mother's farm, where he remained until 1909, when he moved to the farm where he now lives in Richland township, comprising 150 acres. He has made a number of important and substantial improve- ments on this place, including a commodious, convenient and attrac- tive house. Altogether, Mr. King's farm compares favorably with any other farm in this section of the country. He carries on general farming and stock raising and feeds from 250 to 300 head of hogs annually. Mr. King was married to Maggie Stamm, the daughter of John and Alice Stamm, and they have become the parents of five children, William, Alice, Doris, Mary and Catherine. Mr. and Mrs.
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King are members of the Christian church at Andersonville and in politics Mr. King is a stanch supporter of the Republican party. Genial and obliging in disposition, he has made many warm and loyal friends, who esteem him for his genuine worth.
JACOB R. BROWN. The qualities of adaptability, persistence, common sense and good judgment have prevailed in the energetic career of Jacob R. Brown, winning for him recognition and position in the agricultural element of Anderson township. Mr. Brown, who is familiarly known as Jake R. Brown, was born in Walker township, Rush county, February 25, 1882, a son of J. A. and Carrie C. (Lowden) Brown. His parents, who have been farming people all their lives in Rush county, have five children : Leslie B., Lola, Pearl, Mary and Jacob R. Jacob R. Brown received his education in the public schools of Walker and Richland townships, in which commu- nities he was reared, and on leaving school engaged in farming at home. At the time of his marriage, he rented a farm in Richland township, and remained there as a renter for five years, then moving to the farm of Ira Somerville, in Anderson township, where he remained about five years. In 1916 he returned to the farm of his parents in Anderson township, where he is renting 200 acres and operating the property for general farming and stock raising. He carries on his activities according to the latest approved methods, and is industrious, energetic and practical in his work and aims. During the past eighteen years he has operated a threshing outfit in Rush! county and has thus become widely known to the agriculturists of this section of the state, by whom he is accounted a man of the highest business integrity. Mr. Brown feeds out about 200 to 240 hogs per year, and in this department, as in others of his work, has been highly successful. In 1907 Mr. Brown was united in marriage with Jessie Palmer, daughter of William and Carrie Palmer, and to this union there have been born three children, Wilma, Thelma and Wendel. Mr. and Mrs. Brown and their children are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Milroy. In politics Mr. Brown's allegiance is given to the Republican party, and as a fraternalist he belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias, at Milroy, in both of which lodges he has "passed through the chairs."
ROBERT W. COX, who died at his home in Rushville in the spring of 1907 and who for many years had been one of the most active and influential figures in the commercial life of that city, was born in Rushville and had resided there all his life. He was born on March 13, 1850, son of Robert Stewart and Susan (Beaver) Cox, both members of pioneer families in this connty and whose last days were spent here. Robert Stewart Cox, who in his generation was one of the vital influences for good hereabout, was a son of Daniel and Mary (Stewart) Cox and was for years engaged in the practice of law at Rushville. He was born on June 1, 1802, in Monongahela county, Virginia, and came to the new state of Indiana with his par- ents in March, 1822, his father having previously entered a tract of
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land in Rush county at the Government land office at Brookville. For a brief time he was engaged in the mercantile business at the little village of Fayetteville (now Orange), but finding that his talents were in other directions, he removed to Connersville to study medicine under the preceptorship of Dr. Philip Mason, one of Indiana's best known early physicians. It was while living at that place that he came under the influence of Hon. Caleb B. Smith, afterward secretary of the Interior under President Lincoln, and was induced to abandon the study of medicine and read law. A partnership was formed under the title of Smith & Cox and Mr. Cox moved to Rushville to establish an office for the firm in the growing county of Rush. This partner- ship continued until Smith was elected to the United States Senate, when a new combination was formed with P. A. Hackleman. Mr. Cox, in common with the lawyers of the day, took an active interest in politics and was an ardent Whig. He was the representative in the state legislature from Rush county in 1844. As a lawyer, he was said by Doctor Arnold in his "Sketches" to have been "sound and prac- tical" and to have devoted his time to the practice of probate law in which line his special talents could be best used to an advantage. Mr. Cox was highly educated for his day and generation and was interested in literary pursuits. For this reason he was made librarian of the first public library in Rushville and the old records of the association disclose the fact that the very best in literature was offered to the citizens of the community. Reared at Rushville, Robert W. Cox received has early schooling there and was one of the three members of the first graduating class of the Rushville high school. He supplemented this schooling by a course in the pharmacy school of the university of Michigan at Ann Arbor and thus equipped for the practice of phar- macy returned to Rushville and formed a partnership with his choice companion and chum, Finley B. Pugh, and became engaged in the drug business. This partnership continued for some years, at the end of which time Mr. Cox bought Mr. Pugh's interest in the store and was thereafter, until his retirement in 1898, engaged in business alone. Following his retirement from business Mr. Cox gave his chief atten- tion to the work of Freemasonry, to which he long had been devotedly attached, and in that connection rendered a very real service in behalf of the Masonic bodies with which he was connected, these including not only the blue lodge, the chapter, the council and the commandery at Rushville, but the Grand Lodge of the state of Indiana. Mr. Cox did much to promote the cause of Freemasonry throughout this sec- tion of the state and his memory is cherished in Masonic circles in Indiana. He died on April 6, 1907, and his widow is still living at Rushville. On June 27, 1877, Robert W. Cox was united in marriage to Ally M. Poe, who was born in Mason county, Kentucky, daughter of Thomas and Martha (McNeel) Poc, and to that union were born three children, two sons and a daughter, namely : Ralph S. Cox, now a resident of Barthsville, Okla., which city he is serving as commissioner of finance; Miles S. Cox, treasurer of the Peoples Loan and Trust
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Company, of Rushville, and Mrs. Marjorie Gottman, of Rushville. Miles S. Cox, like his father before him, is an active member of the local Masonic bodies, in the affairs of which he takes a warm interest, and is also affiliated with the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, Valley of Indianapolis. He has for several terms served as treasurer of the grand lodge of the Improved Order of Red Men in the state of Indiana. Mr. Cox was graduated from the Rushville high school in 1905 and later attended DePauw University at Greencastle. He became con- nected with the Peoples National Bank in 1907 and this connection existed until 1915 at which time he was elected treasurer of the Peoples Loan and Trust Company.
W. RILEY COLTER, a representative citizen of Richland town- ship and owner of a splendid farm there, was born in Franklin county, Indiana, on the 11th day of May, 1878, and he is the son of Joseph and Sarah A. (George) Colter, the former also a native of Franklin county and the latter of Preble county, Ohio. Joseph Colter grew to manhood in his native county, was married there, and engaged in farming there until 1885, when he came to Rush county and bought a farm two miles east of Richland, to the operation of which he devoted his energies up to within a short time of his death, when he moved to Milroy, where he spent his last days. He was the owner of 160 acres of land and occupied a prominent place in the community, having served one term as trustee of Richland township. To him and his wife were born two children, W. Riley and Harry. The subject of this sketch was reared under the parental roof and secured a good, practical education in the common schools of Richland township. On leaving school he turned his attention to farming, first in association with his father, and later with his brother Harry for several years. He then engaged in farming independently on eighty acres of land which he had bought and which he has since increased to 235 acres. Mr. Colter has made many permanent and substantial improvements on the place. He carries on general farming operations and also gives some attention to live stock, feeding from 400 to 600 head of hogs an- nually and from twenty-five to fifty head of cattle. Mr. Colter was married to Anna Lenora Richey, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. C. Richey, and they have one child, Charles Edwin. Mrs. Colter is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Milroy. Mr. Colter is a Republican and takes a keen interest in public affairs, especially as pertaining to his home county, and his support can always be counted upon in behalf of all movements for the general welfare.
GEORGE SMITH, a well-known farmer of Noble township, who is specializing on breeding thoroughbred Big Type Spotted Poland China hogs, was born on his present farm, June 23, 1883, son of John and Amelia (Stoten) Smith, both of whom were born in this county. John Smith was reared in Rush county, where he was educated, and where he began farming on the farm now owned by his son, which had formerly belonged to his own father, grandfather of George Smith. John Smith died in 1904, having survived his wife by four
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years. They had five children, but George Smith is the only survivor of the family. George Smith was educated in Union township and when he left school he returned to the homestead and began farming with his father, with whom he remained, and when he died, he inher- ited one-third of the 120-acre farm and later bought the remainder. Here he is carrying on general farming and stockraising and feeds out about 100 head of hogs annually. On October 22, 1905, George Smith married Alta Morris, who was born in Noble township, a daughter of Edgar and Irma Morris, and they have one child, Lau- rence Maynard. Mr. Smith is a member of Little Flat Rock Christian Church. In politics he is a Republican. Hard-working and energetic Mr. Smith is making a success of his calling. While he has not gone into public affairs, he takes an intelligent interest in local matters, and is recognized as one of the good citizens of Noble township, with which his family has been connected for so many years.
DELBERT W. EAKINS, one of Union township's well-known and progressive young farmers and landowners, proprietor of an excellent farm of just under 300 acres on rural mail route No. 7 out of Rushville, was born in Rush county and has lived here all his life. He was born on a farm in Washington township on November 29, 1881, son of Peter Nelson and Elizabeth Alice (Kirkpatrick) Eakins, the latter of whom also was born in that same township, a member of one of the pioneer families there, and who is now living at Rushville. The late Peter Nelson Eakins was born in Adams county, Ohio, and was sixteen years of age when he came to Indiana and located in Rush county. He worked here as a farm hand in Washington township until his marriage there to Elizabeth Alice Kirkpatrick, after which he began farming on his own account, renting a farm in Union town- ship. A year later he bought a tract of forty acres in Washington township adjoining a "forty" his wife had inherited there and on that place made his home for some years, at the end of which time he sold there and bought a farm of 299 acres in Union township, the place now owned by his son Delbert, and on that place spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring in 1908. Mr. Eakins was a good farmer and an excellent judge of land values and as his affairs prospered he added to his holding until he became the owner of 425 acres, all in Union township, and was accounted one of the substantial men of that community. His widow, who survives him, is now living at Rushville, where she has a pleasant home at 818 North Willow street. Peter Nelson Eakins and wife were the parents of six children, those besides the subject of this sketch being Pearl, Alva, Cora, Ethel and Samuel. Reared on the farm, Delbert W. Eakins was early trained to the ways of farming and has continued to follow that vocation with considerable success. He received his schooling in the local schools of his home neighborhood and continued farming with his father until his marriage when twenty years of age when he rented a portion of his father's lands and began farming on his own account, continuing as a renter until after his father's death when he
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and his mother, in the adjustment of the estate, bought the interests of the other heirs in the home tract of 299 acres and he continued farming there in association with his mother's interest for three years, at the end of which time he bought his mother's interest in the place and has continued to make his home there, his mother retiring to the city. Since coming into possession of this place Mr. Eakins has con- tinued to improve it and now has an admirable farm plant, one of the best equipped in the neighborhood. In addition to his general farming he feeds out from 150 to 175 head of hogs annually and is doing well. In his political views Mr. Eakins is an "independent" Democrat. It was in the year 1901 that Delbert W. Eakins was united in marriage to Bertha Arnold, who was born in Illinois, a daughter of John and Alice (Clifford) Arnold, and to this union seven children have been born, Howard, Esther, Walter, Alice, Cora, Russell and Ralph. The Eakins have a very pleasant home and have ever taken a becoming interest in the community's general social activities, taking their part in all movements designed to promote the common good thereabout.
HARRY A. MCMILLIN, president of the Farmers' Federation of Union township, proprietor of a fine farm in that township and generally recognized as one of the most progressive and substantial young farmers and stockmen in this section of the state, is a native son of Rush county and has lived here all his life. He was born on a farm in Union township, in the immediate vicinity of the place on which he is now living, August 2, 1884, son of Francis Marion and Olive (Wikoff) MeMillin, both of whom were born in that same town- ship, members of pioneer families there, and whose lives were spent here. Francis Marion MeMillin was a son of Thomas Morrison and Delilah (Hinchman) MeMillin, the latter of whom was a daughter of Joseph Hinchman, one of the real pioneers of Rush county. Thomas Morrison MeMillin was a good farmer in his generation and was a man of influence in the community in which for so long his home was estab- lished. Francis Marion McMillin was reared on the home farm in Union township and completed his local schooling in the old Spiceland Academy, supplementing this course by a course in commercial train- ing at the Eastman Business College at Poughkeepsie, New York. After his marriage he became engaged in farming on his own account, renting a tract of land suitable to his needs in Union township, and continued farming until his tragic and untimely death in 1894, his death being due to a runaway accident. Francis M. McMillin and wife were the parents of six children, of whom but three survive, the subject of this sketch and his sisters, Clara D., who married Louis C. Lambert, and Frances Marian, who married Claude M. Job. The deceased children were Nellie, Florence and Elmer. Harry A. MeMillin was but ten years of age when his father met his tragic end and he was reared thereafter at Rushville, being graduated from the high school there in 1902, before he was eighteen years of age. Upon leaving school he turned his attention to commercial pursuits and
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presently became engaged in the abstract, real estate and loan busi- ness at Rushville, at the same time taking direction of his grand- mother's farming interests, and was thus engaged, making his home at Rushville, until in 1912 when he moved onto the farm on which he is now living in Union township and has since made his home there, devoting his whole attention to farming and live stock. Mr. McMillin has 122 acres but is farming 360 acres, his own farm not being suffi- cient for the rather extensive scope of his farming and live stock operations. Since taking over this farm he has cleared up more than 200 acres and has developed the place in admirable fashion. He has long given particular attention to the breeding of purebred Poland China hogs and feeds out about 400 head a year. Upon taking over the farm Mr. McMillin entered upon a system of modern improvement and has a strictly up-to-date farm plant, the same including what is regarded as the finest residence in Union township, and he and his family are very pleasantly situated. Mr. MeMillin's enterprising and progressive methods have attracted the attention of farmers generally hereabout and his interest in the proper solution of agricultural problems has caused him to take a leading part in the deliberations and activities of the Rush County Farmers' Federation and he is now (1921) serving as president of the Union township unit of this strong and influential organization. Mr. McMillin and his wife are Repub- licans. Fraternally, he is affiliated with the local lodge of the Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks at Rushville. In 1908 Harry A. MeMillin was united in marriage to Nellie Kennedy, who also was born in this county, daughter of E. L. and Martha (Freeman) Ken - nedy, and to this union four children have been born, Frances Mil- dred, born in 1909; Richard Emmett, 1911; Marjorie Mae, 1917, and William Robert, 1921. The MeMillins have a very pleasant home on rural mail route No. 7 out of Rushville and take an interested part in the general social activities of the community in which they reside.
DONALD V. KISER, a well-known and progressive young farmer of Union township, was born in that township on March 14, 1893, son of C. E. and Correna (Newhouse) Kiser, who are still living in that township and further reference to whom is made elsewhere in this volume of biography of the old families of Rush county, together with additional details regarding the Kiser family in Rush county, to which the reader is referred in this connection. Reared on the home farm, Donald V. Kiser received his schooling in the Ging schools, taking the four years of high school, and from the days of his boyhood was well trained in the ways of farming, a vocation to which he has since devoted himself. He married in his twentieth year and following his marriage established his home on the farm on which he is still living and which he now owns. After living there a year as a renter he acquired the ownership of the place and since coming into possession has made numerous substantial improvements to the same. In addition to his general farming Mr. Kiser is giving considerable attention to the raising of live stock, with particular reference to hogs,
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