USA > Indiana > Brown County > Counties of Morgan, Monroe, and Brown, Indiana. Historical and biographical > Part 30
USA > Indiana > Monroe County > Counties of Morgan, Monroe, and Brown, Indiana. Historical and biographical > Part 30
USA > Indiana > Morgan County > Counties of Morgan, Monroe, and Brown, Indiana. Historical and biographical > Part 30
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the United States Army before the term of his office expired. At this writing (November, 1883), Dr. Reagan is enjoying a lucrative practice; is a prominent member of both County and State Medical Societies; be- longs to the Masonic order, and to the Methodist Episcopal Church; has been for the past nine years member of the Mooresville High School Board; is a Republican in politics, an upright gentleman, and rightfully holds the esteem and confidence of the community in which his life has so far been spent.
THOMAS A. RICHARDSON was born in Hendricks County, Ind., September 8, 1837. His parents, James and Rachel (Little) Richardson, natives of Virginia, came to Mooresville when Thomas A. was an infant, and here the father died in 1882, at the age of seventy-eight years. Up to fifteen years of age, our subject lived in town, and the next five years he spent upon the farm. His education was limited to such as could be had at the public schools, and having learned the tinner's trade at Mooresville, he, in 1861, went to Wabash, Ind., at which place and at Indianapolis he worked as tinsmith for the next six years. October 5, 1865, he was married at Mooresville, to Miss Hawk, daughter of Dr. Charles Hawk, and has had born to him three children - an infant (de- ceased) not named, Gracie and Florence. Mr. Richardson is one of the Stewards of the Methodist Church; Treasurer of the " Morgan " Lodge, No. 211, I. O. O. F., and " Guide " of "Vesty " Lodge, No. 997, K. of H. In the spring of 1880, he was elected Trustee of Brown Township, and re-elected thereto in the spring of 1882. In the fall of the year last named, he was defeated in his candidacy for Clerk of the Circuit Court. In politics, he is a Democrat, and his preferment in a township largely Republican at once indicates his popularity and his fitness for the office to which he has been twice called. In the spring of 1868, in partner- ship with J. H. Rusie, he embarked in the stove and tin business at Mooresville, and here he has since remained and has been successful. He is a self-made man, and the result is an upright and honorable mer- chant, conscientious alike in his dealings and his public trusts.
DR. CLARK ROBBINS is the son of Alford and Isabel (Griggs) Robbins, who were natives of Ohio, and of Irish extraction. They came into Indiana about a half a century ago, and settled in Morgan County, where on July 10, 1836, their second son, the subject of this sketch, was born. Clark alternated the duties of farm life with attendance at the public schools. He lost his father when but fourteen years of age, and since that time has "paddled his own canoe." At the age of nineteen, he began the study of medicine in the office of Dr. Hutchinson at Moores- ville, and in the winter of 1856-57 took a full course of lectures at Ann Arbor (Mich.) University. The following winter, he spent profitably at the Cincinnati (Ohio) Medical College, and in August, 1858, began the
At the end of two years, he re- practice of medicine at Monrovia, Ind.
moved to Brooklyn, Ind., where for the ensuing sixteen years he pur- sued his profession with flattering success. The superior school advan- tages of Martinsville took him to that town in the spring of 1876, and from Martinsville he removed to Mooresville in the fall of 1880. Here he has since plied his profession with credit to himself and to the satis- faction of his patrons. September 29, 1859, he was married in Monro- via to Eliza J., daughter of John K. Wilhite, and has had born to him one child-John A. Mrs. Robbins having died, the Doctor was married, December 10, 1863, at Centreton, Ind., to Melissa Hardwick, by whom
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he has had born to him three children -- Ella, Minnie and Schuyler. He and family are all members of the Methodist Protestant Church, the Doctor in fact being one of its most substantial pillars. He is class leader, Financial Steward, and Superintendent of the Sabbath school. For twenty-three years, he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, but in February, 1881, joined the above body and has since been an earnest worker. The only political office the Doctor ever aspired to was that of Trustee of Clay Township, and this office he held for ten consecutive years. Dr. Robbins was by education, early training and many years' practice, identified with the " allopathic system," but a few years since he chose to adopt a more liberal course, so he cut loose from " creeds and ethics," and now practices under the best authorities of the allopathic, eclectic and homoeopathic schools.
ISAAC W. ROOKER was born in Blount County, Tenn., November 25, 1806, and came to Indiana in 1818, with his parents, who settled in Wayne County. From Wayne the family removed into Morgan County in 1822, and located upon land entered from the United States Govern- ment in Brown Township, and here the father and mother, William and Nancy (Saffell) Rooker, spent the remainder of their lives. They were natives of England and Old Virginia respectively, and lived to a very old age, being each about eighty-four years when they departed this life. They were married in Virginia, and lived together as man and wife about sixty-five years, rearing a family of eleven children, five sons and six daughters, of which number Isaac W. was tenth. He was reared as a farmer, and had the benefit of about nine months' schooling in Brown Township, but seems, however, to have improved his opportunities for learning, for he was employed several months at teaching the young children in his neighborhood. April 6, 1826, Mr. Rooker was married in Morgan County to Polly Ballard, a native of Ohio, by whom he had born to him nine children-Elizabeth J., Nancy A. (deceased), Rachael E. (deceased), Mary Ann, Calvin F., Rufus R. (deceased), John W., William A. (deceased), and Catharine L. William A. died in the United States Army, and the mother of these children died October 8, 1883, at the age of about seventy-six years. Mr. and Mrs. R. both became mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church when young, and Mrs. R. lived and died as a Christian should. His property, aside from a small in- heritance from the estate of his father, has been acquired by his own in- dustry, and like most of the pioneers of a new country, he learned lessons of hardship and privation, and has eaten of the bread earned by the sweat of the brow. He has always been of a somewhat retiring disposition, and to attend strictly to his own business and allow other people to do the same, has been the rule of his actions through life. His declining years are being spent peacefully upon his old homestead, where his wants are administered to by his daughter and her husband, who live with him, and who spare no efforts to make his old age comfortable and happy.
CAPT. SAMUEL M. ROOKER, citizen of Mooresville, Ind., is the third son of Jesse S. and Candace L. (Conduitt) Rooker, natives of Ten- nessee, and descendants from the German and the French, respectively. He was born at Mooresville May 22, 1824. He was trained to farm life, and educated at the public schools. His parents came into Morgan County in the year 1816, and here spent the remainder of their years, his father dying in 1843, at the age of forty-nine years, and his mother ten years earlier, at the age of thirty-eight. He was married, February
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24,1844, to Nancy McNeff, by whom he had born to him six children-Mary Candace (deceased), Marion Howard (deceased), Kansas, Adalide, Otto E. and Mattie B. August 13, 1862, he entered the service of the United States as Captain of Company E, Twelfth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and five months thereafter was compelled to resign on account of phys- ical disability. Though out, but a short time, he saw considerable real service, having participated in the battle of Richmond, Ky., and any number of skirmishes. Returning from the war, he engaged in the mer- cantile business at Mooresville, from which he retired in about a year, and built the Magnolia Mills, and conducted them twelve or thirteen years. He has bought and sold over 4,500 acres of valuable lands in Brown Township; dealt extensively in grain, and been an active business man generally. The panic of 1875-76 cost him over $20,000, and in Novem- ber, 1881, his residence in Mooresville was completely destroyed by fire. So, with all, Capt. Rooker has had his share of the ups and downs of life, and still rides the waves. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church; high up in the order of Odd Fellows; a Democrat in politics; a farmer by occupation, and takes life easy in his new splendid residence, into which he has just moved.
WILLIAM ASBURY ROOKER (deceased) was born in Wayne County, Ind., January 6, 1819, and died at Mooresville, Ind., August 16, 1849. He was the second son of Jesse S. and Candace L. (Conduitt) Rooker, and had one brother and six sisters younger than himself. At the age of about twelve years, he entered a dry goods house as clerk, and remained nine or ten years. On December 26, 1839, he was married to Susan Rusie, daughter of Michael and Catharine (House) Rusie, of Mooresville, and had born to him four children-Thomas B. D., Candace C., Mary C. and Wallace A. (deceased). Soon after the death of his father, which occurred in 1843, our subject purchased the old homestead, consist- ing of about 200 acres, the title to which descended to his widow, who yet owns and manages it with the skill of an adept. His early education was limited to such as the neighborhood schools of the day afforded, but lived to be a self-taught and self-made man, and at the time of his death was a superior scholar. In 1837, he was elected Treasurer of Morgan County, and was the incumbent of that office when he died. He was a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and a Master Mason, under and by the rites and ceremonies of which order he was buried. In poli- tics, he was a Democrat, but his election to the office of Treasurer of Mor- gan County was due not alone to his rank and standing in that party, but to his true worth and merit as a good citizen as well. His widow was left with four small children, whom she has reared and cared for as only a Christian mother could. Wallace A. died at the age of twenty-three years. Thomas resides at home with his mother, and the two daughters, married, and with families of their own, live in the immediate neighbor- hood.
HENRY ROSSIER, a native of Canton Vaud, Switzerland, was born December 11, 1839, and came to America in the spring of 1862. He was well educated in the French language, and before he was nineteen years of age had mastered the trade of watch-maker. His parents, Jacques and Margaret (Tetaz) Rossier, had five sons and five daughters, and of the ten children our subject was next to the youngest, and the only one who ever came to America. From 1862 to 1867, Henry alternated between New York, Indianapolis and Terre Haute, the first three years at his trade, and
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the last two in the grocery business. January 20, 1865, he was married in Terre Haute to Emily Drotz, who has borne him five children-William, Katie, Emil, Charles and Walter (deceased). By persistent effort and the application of a naturally superior mind, Mr. Rossier has possessed him- self of a good English education, and is at this writing (December, 1883) one of the Trustees of the Mooresville High School. He was brought up in the Presbyterian faith, but is now a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He belongs to the J. O. O. F., A. F. & A. M. and K. of H. at Mooresville, where he has been engaged in the jewelry business since the year 1867.
JOHN H. RUSIE, born in Prince William County, Va., December 22, 1834; came here with his parents, Michael and Catharine (House) Rusie, natives of Germany, who settled at Mooresville in 1836, and here spent the remainder of their years. In his youth, our subject learned the tinner's trade, and received a fair English education. In 1855. he engaged in the hardware and tin business, and followed it for five years; sold out, and for the next two years managed the business for his successors. In Sep- tember, 1857, he married Mary J. Olleman, daughter of James Olleman, of Mooresville, and has had born to him three children-Arameda, James H. and Frederick. August 17, 1862, Mr. Rusie entered the service of the United States as Fourth Duty Sergeant of Company E, Twelfth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and served to the close of the war, when he was honor- ably discharged, having in the meantime been promoted to the rank of First Lieutenant. He took an active part in the battles of Richmond, Ky .; Jackson, Miss .; Missionary Ridge, Atlanta, Gridersville, and Savannah, Ga .; Columbia, S. C .; Bentonville, N. C., and in Sherman's celebrated campaign from Atlanta to the sea. He returned to Moores- ville in 1865, and again embarked in the stove and tin business, to which was subsequently added hardware. In the spring of 1882, he sold out to his partner, Mr. T. A. Richardson, and engaged at once in his present business-of furniture and undertaking. He is a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church; a prominent Mason and Odd Fellow, and in politics an uncompromising, first-class Democrat.
ROBERT R. SCOTT was born in Franklin County, Ind., July 16, 1833, and lived in the State of Wisconsin from 1842 to 1853, since which time he has made Brown Township, Morgan County, his home. The first seventeen years of his life were spent upon a farm, since when he has been in mercantile business as much as twenty-five years. August 13, 1862, he enrolled in Company E, Twelfth Indiana Volunteers, and served three years. He was promoted to Orderly Sergeant almost im- mediately upon his entering the service, and was next raised in order to the rank of Second Lieutenant, First Lieutenant, and in June, 1863, to that of Captain of the company. He was with his command in all the deadly battles through which it passed, and the history of Indiana's soldiery is augmented no little by the brilliant achievements of the " gal- lant Twelfth." Capt. Scott retired from the mercantile business in 1883, and has since been upon his farm recuperating his health, which had been somewhat depleted by long confinement at indoor labor. He entered the directory of the Mooresville Bank in 1880, and was elected its Vice President the year following. In addition to his Mooresville property, he owns five fine farms in Morgan County. All his property has been ac- quired since the late war by his own industry, and in a strictly legitimate way. January, 1866, he was married to Mary Hadley, who died in August,
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1869, and in June, 1872, he married Louisa H. Harvey, who has borne him five children-Mary, Carie, Jennie, Robert H. and Sallie. Capt. Scott is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, belongs to the Masonic Order, is a Republican in politics, and is a citizen of whom Mooresville may well be proud.
FREDERICK SHEETS, merchant, farmer and stock grower, was born in Prince William County, Va., February 24, 1823. His parents, George and Margaret (House) Sheets, were natives of Germany, and came to America in 1814 or 1815, and in 1836 took up their abode at Mooresville, and here spent the remainder of their days, the former dying in 1877 at the age of ninety-one years, and the latter in the year of 1847 at the age of fifty-seven years. Our subject learned the carpenter's trade with his father, and followed it about eight years. He was first married, at Mooresville, to Charlotte, daughter of Dr. Charles Hawk, and has had born to him six children -Laura Alice (deceased), William O., Kate Alma, Harry O., Hattie L. and Mertie. The mother of these children having died, Mr. Sheets was married, October 20, 1879, to Caroline Peoples, his present wife. In 1851, the firm of F. Sheets & Bro. was organized at Mooresville, and has since existed. They do a large mercantile business, and carry on four extensive farms in Morgan and Hendricks Counties. Aside from the firm property, F. Sheets owns some half dozen pieces of town property, among them the finest residence in Mooresville. He is a member of the Republican County Central Committee, belongs to the Masonic order, and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. His property has all been acquired by his individual effort and enterprise.
DANIEL SHEETS, a native of Prince William County, Va., and younger brother of Frederick Sheets, was born June 18, 1825, and came with his parents into Morgan County in 1836. He remained with his parents until he was about twenty-two years of age. His early life was spent upon the farm, and at the neighborhood schools he acquired a fair English education. Since 1851, he has been an active partner in the firm of F. Sheets & Bro. He was one of the organizers, and for two years Director of the Farmers' Bank, Mooresville. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and Treasurer of the Mooresville Lodge of A. F. & A. M. He is an enterprising bachelor, a good business man, an upright citizen and a Republican.
REV. HUGH STACKHOUSE, present resident minister of the Methodist Protestant Church, Mooresville, Ind., was born in Breckinridge County, Ky., November 9, 1837. His parents, William and Jane (McNab) Stackhouse, natives of England and of North Carolina respectively, came to Indiana in the year 1841, settled in Orange County, and there ended their days. They had eleven children-eight sons and three daughters-and six of the sons and one of the daughters were older than the subject of this sketch. Up to eighteen years of age, Hugh Stackhouse lived upon a farm, and from his father (who was a superior scholar), and through a pretty regular attendance at the public schools, he received a good English education. About this time, he began his theological studies, and in the year 1859 was received into conference at Morristown, Ind., and two years thereafter regularly ordained Elder of the church. After being received into conference in 1859, he was at once assigned to Richland Circuit, which embraced twelve places for preaching, and held this charge three years. The year following he occupied the Monroe Circuit; and on April 29, 1863, he was married at Solsberry, Ind., to
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Nancy Jane, daughter of William and Mary Hannum, of Ohio, and has had born to him four children-Urbine, Charles H. (deceased), Arthur and Cora May. Since entering the ministry, the Rev. Mr. Stackhouse has been kept constantly on duty, and during the time has held some of the most important charges in the United States. He is a thorough theologian, and ranks high among the many eloquent ministers of the Methodist Protestant Church. In addition to his pastoral duties, he is the occasional correspondent for several Church periodicals, and holds the position regularly of Corresponding Elder for the Methodist Recorder. He has represented his conference in four General Conferences and two General Conventions; is a Royal Arch Mason, a Republican in politics and a stanch advocate of the cause of temperance.
ELI J. SUMNER was born in Highland County, Ohio, May 28, 1812. His parents, Absalom and Priscilla (Jackson) Sumner, were natives of Surrey County, N. C., and of Welsh and Scotch extraction respectively. Eli J. Sumner received a respectable common school and academic edu- cation, and subsequently became a teacher in Union Seminary, in his native county. In the fall of 1830, he visited Mooresville for the first time, spent a few weeks in prospecting, and then returned to Highland County, where, June 13, 1833, he married Anna E. Boxley, daughter of George Boxley, of Spottsylvania County, Va. May 5, 1834, Mr. Sum- ner's wife died. In the fall of the same year, he came on horseback to Mooresville, and the following winter taught in the Moon Schoolhouse, near by. January 21, 1836, he was married in Morgan County to Jane E., daughter of Joshua Carter, and at once settled on a tract of land pre- sented to him by his father, about six miles west of Mooresville. In the fall of 1849, he purchased a large flouring and saw mill near the village, and operated it until the spring of 1853, when he removed to Sharpsville, Tipton County, and engaged in the manufacturing and shipping of lum- ber for a few months, and then returned to his farm near Mooresville, where he remained until 1865 (in the meanwhile carrying on a lumber trade in the Wabash Valley), when he moved to Wabash. In the spring of 1868, he moved to Indianapolis, and in the fall of 1869 returned to Mooresville. By his second wife he became father of seven children, all born in Morgan County-Thomas C., William C., Caswell B., James O., Anna E., Hannah C. and Nancy E .; of these, the eldest two only are living. Mr. Sumner has been identified with several religious denomi- nations, but is now, with his wife, a consistent Methodist. In politics, he is a Republican, and he has always been an active worker in the cause of temperance.
GEORGE P. THOMPSON, a farmer of Brown Township, was born in Chatham County, N. C., September 5, 1814, and came to Indiana in 1833. After spending a few months in Morgan County, he returned to his native State, but before the end of 1834 he was back in Morgan County, where he has since lived. His life has been spent upon a farm, and his schooling acquired at the Friends' School, White Lick. Decem- ber 18, 1836, he was married in Brown Township to Millie, a daughter of George A. Schoffner, a native of North Carolina, who came into Mor- gan County in 1826, and was one of the four men drowned in 1829 while attempting to cross White Lick Creek in a canoe. Mr. Thompson has had born to him eleven children-Louisa (dead), Margaret, Mary A., Asbury, Sylvester, Anson, Spencer, Malinda (dead), Sarah, Fremont and Samuel. Mr. Thompson's parents, Samuel and Sarah (Womble) Thomp-
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son, were natives of North Carolina. The Thompsons came originally from England, and the two old people emigrated into Indiana in 1869 and located in Hamilton County, where the mother died in 1881 at the age of eighty-four years. The father, however, died in North Carolina, whence he had returned in 1872, at the age of ninety-five years. Our subject owns a fine farm of 100 acres, upon which he resides; is a stock- holder in the M. & M. Gravel Road Company, and was for fifteen years one of the Directors of said company. His property has been acquired by the united industry of himself and wife. They are both consistent members of the Christian Church, and have been for more than a quarter of a century.
JAMES O. THOMPSON is the son of Jonatban H. and Elizabeth E. (Latta) Thompson, who were born and married in North Carolina, and there, in the county of Orange, on August 11, 1839, the subject of this sketch first saw the light of day. The family came to Indiana in the year 1845, and for the next two years lived about four miles west of Mooresville, when they removed to Tipton County, where a change of county lines subsequently placed them in Howard County, and here they lived up to the year 1867. Returning thence to Morgan County, they lived again two years upon their old homestead, when they removed to Mooresville, and the firm of J. H. Thompson & Son, dry goods mer- chants, first became known to the business world. The father, Jonathan H., was a highly respected and enterprising citizen of both the town and county. He died February 5, 1884, aged sixty-seven years. Prior to 1869, J. O. Thompson lived upon a farm, and his education was the best possible to his circumstances and surroundings. December 20, 1866, he was married, in Howard County, Ind., to Gulic E., daughter of Jonathan Lee, Esq., and by her had born to him five children -William L., two infants not named, Gulic and Ella, the four last all dying in in- fancy. The mother of these children having died, our subject was mar- ried, May 14, 1874, at Irvington, Ind., to Melissa R. Ritter, who has borne him three children-Ralph R., Harry H., and Clyde C. (deceased in infancy). Mr. and Mrs. Thompson are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he is an Odd Fellow and a Knight of Honor. He was elected Trustee of Brown Township in 1876, and held the office two terms. As a business man, he is enterprising and successful, and as a politician, an active Republican.
JOHN HARBISON THORNBURGH is the second son of Benjamin and Susan (Monical) Thornburgh, and was born in Washington County, Ind., November 4, 1821. He was reared upon the farm, and acquired the rudiments of an English education at the neighborhood schools. At the age of twenty-two years, he left the parental roof, and for the next four years taught school during the winter months and farmed during the summer. He was married, December 24, 1846, in Mooresville, to Eliza Gray, widow of Dr. Gray (deceased) and daughter of Reason Rea- gan (also deceased). Their first born, Thomas, died in infancy, and his daughters are Elizabeth (wife of A. W. Conduitt), Alice L. (widow of Dr. Wharton), and Susie (wife of O. E. Rooker). At the age of forty years, our subject gave up farming, and for fifteen years followed merchandising in Mooresville, and in the spring of 1881 engaged in general insurance, real estate and money brokerage, which he has since followed. He has been thrice Trustee of Brown Township, and Deputy Revenue Collector for Morgan County under Grant's administra-
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