USA > Indiana > Vigo County > Terre Haute > Greater Terre Haute and Vigo County : closing the first century's history of city and county, showing the growth of their people, industries and wealth > Part 37
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John F. Nelson, Sr., the fourth born, was a native son of Honey Creek township, and he remained with his father until his marriage, at the age of twenty-one years, when he began life for himself by renting a farm. He was soon able to purchase a little tract of twenty acres, and as time advanced and his financial resources increased he added to the boundaries of his farm until at his death he was the owner of two hundred and eighty acres. In addition to cultivating and improving his land he also conducted a grocery store in Prairieton from 1889 until his death, January 15, 1901, and the establishment is now under the management of his son-in-law. Mr. Nelson was a Democrat politically, and for twelve years he served as a justice of the peace in Prairieton and for four years as its constable. . His wife, nee Melvina Frakes, was born in Prairie Creek township, and died January 22, 1890. They became the parents of five children : Charles, born in 1861 ; Sadie A., in 1863; Molly, in 1864, deceased ; John F., in 1867, and Mattie, in 1869.
John F. Nelson, the fourth child, was born in Prairieton township. Vigo county, April 18, 1867, and he, too, remained at home until his marriage, at the age of twenty-one years. From that time until 1900 he rented one of his father's farms, and the little tract of forty acres then became his own by inheritance. He has followed garden farming and sells his produce at wholesale. In the fall of 1903, representing the Democratic party, he was elected to the office of assessor, his term of office to expire in the present year of 1908. His fraternal relations con- nect him with the Modern Woodmen of America, Camp No. 5624, in Prairieton.
Mr. Nelson married Edna Frasier on Christmas day of 1889. She was born in Parke county, December 28, 1870, and was thirteen years old when she came to Vigo county. She was educated in the common schools. Her father, John Frasier, was born in North Carolina, but dur- ing his boyhood days came to Parke county, Indiana, where in time he became an extensive farmer and stock raiser. In his family were six children : Molly, Annie, Nina, Ella, Edna and a son who died in infancy. Mr. Frasier died September 4, 1906, and Mrs. Frasier March 1, 1877.
Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Nelson: Ethel and Clarence, and two who died in infancy. The daughter received her educa-
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tion in the schools of Prairieton and has a musical education, and the son is now pursuing his studies in the fifth grade in school. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson and their daughter are members of the United Brethren church at Prairieton. Mrs. Nelson is a Royal Neighbor, belonging to Harrison Camp, No. 2513, at Prairieton. Mr. Nelson has in his library an old Bible published in 1816, and he also has two valuable silver coins, one, a Mexican, dated 1830, and the other a quarter, dated 1820.
HERMAN H. INFANGE .- After a long identification with the business interests of Terre Haute, Herman H. Infange is now living retired on his farm home of one hundred and thirty acres just outside of Prairieton. He was born in what is now Prussia, Germany, September 17, 1839, a son of John Henry and Elizabeth (Determan) Infange, who spent their entire lives in their native land. John H. Infange was the proprietor of a tailorshop, but his death occurred when his son Herman was a boy of twelve. He is the youngest of their ten children and the only one now living. Two of the family came to America, Herman and his sister Margaret. She married Rudolph Wittlefelt in Cincinnati, and both are now deceased.
Herman H. Infange was only a lad of fourteen when alone and unacquainted with no one on board he took passage on a ship from Bremen to the United States. The ship was eleven weeks in making the voyage, and just before anchoring at Baltimore smallpox became epidemic among the passengers and the ship was quarantined for two weeks. From Baltimore the little lad went direct to Cincinnati, Ohio, where from 1854 to 1860 he was employed in the bedstead factory of E. Mudge. Coming to Terre Haute in October of 1860 he spent six years in a furniture factory here, and then, in partnership with a brother-in-law, Rudolph Staukwisch, he embarked in the brick business, but after one year he sold his interest to his partner and came to Prairieton to conduct a store for another brother-in-law, L. W. Pahmeyer. After two years he bought a half interest in the business, and they conducted two stores, dry goods and groceries, Mr. Infange having charge of the grocery store. At the end of three years he sold his interest, but later bought it back again and conducted the store until 1904, when he sold to his two sons, Harry and Otto, and retired from the active cares of a business life. In 1904 he removed to his farm home just outside of Prairieton, where he owns one hundred and thirty acres. For nine years he has held the office of post- master of that town, and he is a Republican politically. His fraternal relations are with the Masonic Lodge, No. 168, at Prairieton.
On the 8th of March, 1859, Mr. Infange married Anna Staukwisch, 5I
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born near the birthplace of her husband in Germany, December 22, 1838, and she came to America with her parents, Frederick and Elizabeth (Rother) Staukwisch, in 1853. The father, who was a butcher, died in Cincinnati, and the mother died in Terre Haute. These children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Infange, namely : William, who died in infancy ; Wil- liam, the second of the name, who was born March 20, 1861, and is now married and is a plumber in Terre Haute ; John ; Harry, who is married and is the proprietor of a store in Prairieton ; Elizabethi was the wife of Charles Bentley, also of Prairieton, now deceased; Anna and Herman, both deceased; Frederick, a plumber in Terre Haute; Otto, the proprietor of a store in Prairieton, and Inez, deceased. The daughter, Elizabeth, is a graduate of the high school, and William, Harry and Otto were all students at the Commercial College of Terre Haute. Mr. and Mrs. In- fange attend the services of the Methodist church in Prairieton, but their religious views are in harmony with the teachings of the Lutheran de- nomination.
WILLIAM F. ALTEKRUSE is a member of a prominent old German- American family of Terre Haute, and was born in this city June 13, 1861, to Ernest Fred and Louise (Harding) .Altekruse, both of whom were born in Germany. Ernest F. Altekruse, born October 3, 1824, came to America alone when about seventeen years old. He had two brothers living here, and he remained with one of them in Ohio for a short time and then came to Terre Haute, where he labored at different occupa- tions until he became connected with the old Wabash distillery of this city, serving as their yeast maker for about thirty-one years. He then bought a farm of one hundred and forty acres in Linton township, Vigo county, but after the death of his wife, five years later, he sold the land and lived on the Hullman farm in Honey Creek township until he re- tired from active labor. At the time of his death, in June, 1902, he was living with his children. He was a Democrat politically and both he and his wife were members of the German Reformed church of Terre Haute. Their marriage was celebrated in this city and was blessed by the birth of eleven children, namely: Mary, deceased, and the second and third born died in infancy; Louise, the wife of James Coordies, of Terre Haute; Caroline, who has never married and also resides in this city ; Fred, deceased; William F., the subject of this review; Henry, a farmer in Honey Creek township; Ernest, a carpenter in Terre Haute ; John, also a carpenter here, and Elizabeth, deceased.
William F. Altekruse attained to his sixteenth ycar in Terre Haute, receiving his education in its public schools, and his father then moving to Linton township, William worked with him on the farm for nine years. He then began farming for himself on rented land in Honey
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Creek township, but after five years there was able to purchase a little tract of sixty acres in Prairieton township, section 36, where he does general farming, and also operates other land in connection with his own. In the fall of 1904 he was elected to the office of township trustee, assum- ing the duties of the position January I, 1905, and his term of office will expire January 1, 1909. He is a member of the fraternal order of Odd Fellows, No. 825, at Prairieton.
Mr. Altekruse married, November 30, 1887, Martha E. Smith, who was born in Clark county, Indiana, September 18, 1863, where her father, Joseph T. Smith, was for many years a well known farmer, but he is now living in Prairieton township, Vigo county. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Altekruse: Bertha, born May 24, 1888; Minnie, Feb- ruary 27, 1890; Oscar, August 5, 1892, and Theodore, born July 15, 1898, died April 28, 1899. The wife and mother is also deceased, dying December 26, 1906. She was a devout member of the United Brethren church, as is also Mr. Altekruse.
EDWIN H. MCPHEETERS, one of the honored soldier citizens and agriculturists of Prairieton township, Vigo county, was born in Wash- ington county, of this state, April 28, 1843, a son of John M. and Rebecca (Pering) McPheeters, farming people. The father, born in Kentucky, September 8, 1808, died in May of 1864, but his wife, who was born April 4, 1810, long survived him and died in April, 1883. She was born in England and came to this country at the age of twenty with her mother, they locating near Livonia, in Washington county, Indiana. She had taught school in the mother country, and continued the occupa- tion in her new home. Mr. McPheeters was an agriculturist and fol- lowed that occupation throughout his entire business career, owning, at his death, one hundred and sixty acres of land. During the Civil war he served as a member of the Home Guards, was a Whig and Republican in politics and was a member of the Presbyterian church. In the family of Mr. and Mrs. McPheeters were eight children, namely: Emily, who was born January 9, 1834, and died when young ; Theophilus, born June 26, 1837, resides in Crawfordsville, Indiana, and he, too, was a soldier in the Civil war, enlisting in 1864 and serving until the close of the struggle as a private in the Forty-ninth Indiana Regiment; Louisa, born December 31, 1840, is the wife of George Clem, of Honey Creck town- ship; Edwin H., of this sketch; Emma, born December 22, 1845. died in 1863; Amelia, born May 23, 1848, resides in Santa Barbara, California, unmarried ; Margaret, born September 13, 1850, married James Jones and resides in Los Angeles, California, and Mary, born November 6, 1863. is the wife of Frank McPhecters, of Palo Alta, that state.
Edwin H. McPheeters remained at home until his enlistment for
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the Civil war, joining on the 27th of June, 1863, Company C. One Hun- dred and Seventeenth Indiana Infantry, and he served as a private until his discharge in 1864. In that time he participated in the battles of Bean Station. Bolles Gap, Tennessee : Wildcat, Kentucky, and Knox- ville, Tennessee, and in compensation for his services as a soldier he now receives a pension of fourteen dollars a month. He also maintains rela- ยท tions with his comrades of the blue by his membership in Blynn Post, No. 239. Grand Army of the Republic, at Prairieton, of which he served as commander during the first year of its organization.
On returning home from the war Mr. McPheeters resumed his studies in the Stratton Commercial College at Indianapolis, and from there returned to his mother's farm in Washington county and remained there until 1876. Going thence to Clay county, Illinois, he rented land for one year, during the following three years farmed on rented land in Honey Creek township, Vigo county, and in 1881 came to Prairieton town- ship and to the farm he now owns and occupies, an estate of one hundred acres.
Mr. McPheeters married, October 5, 1869, Mary Austin, who was born July 6, 1840, in Garrard county, Kentucky, a daughter of Walter and Martha (Kennedy) Austin. They have had three children: Harry, born August 4, 1870, married Lula Morgan and conducts a garden farm in Prairieton township; Walter, born June 1, 1874, died August 21, 1875, and Lida K., born February 29, 1880, married John Perkins and resides in Honey Creek township. Mr. McPheeters is a Republican, and both he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church, he being one of the elders of the congregation.
WILLIAM COLE MAYS is one of the pioneer farmers and soldier citizens of Prairieton township. He was born in Amherst county, Vir- ginia, July 22, 1839, a son of Richard Anderson and Sarah C. (Bowles) Mays, both of whom were also natives of the Old Dominion state of Virginia. Richard A. Mays, who was of Scotch-Irish descent, died in Virginia in 1861, and left to survive him a widow and eight children, namely : Mary, Madison, James W. and Minerva, all deceased ; Martha, the widow of S. H. Watts, and she resides with her brother William ; Joshua and Sarah, deceased, and William C., whose name introduces this review.
In 1867 the widowed mother came with four children, two sons and two daughters, to Prairieton, Indiana. William C. Mays was one of the little party, and with his two brothers he bought three hundred and twenty acres in Prairieton township, and he yet owns one hundred and ten acres of the original half section. He has made his home here during all these many years and agriculture has been his life's vocation.
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On the Ist of April, 1861, he became a soldier in the Civil war, entering Company B of Virginia Light Artillery, and was discharged at Lynch- burg, Virginia, in the fall of 1865. His first engagement was at the famous Bull Run, after which he participated in the battles of Tar River, North Carolina, the Wilderness, Virginia, and Seven Pines, where he received a gunshot wound through the left leg, between the knee and the ankle, and this wound still troubles him at times. His next engagement was Gettysburg, where a piece of shell hit him in the left side and in the leg previously wounded. This was his last and hardest fought battle. True to his love for the southland, Mr. Mays served as a Confederate soldier, proving a gallant defender of its cause. His father had served his country during the War of 1812.
Mr. Mays married, in 1878, Emeline Hayworth, born in Prairieton township, Vigo county, to Samuel and Mary (Meyers) Hayworth, na- tives respectively of Indiana and Pennsylvania. Four children have been born of this union, three of whom are living and one deceased, namely : Edgar, Marshall and Ethel, all at home, and Grover, who died in infancy. The children received their educational training in the schools of Prairieton township, and Edgar also attended three terms in Westfield College of Edgar county, and the Commercial College in Terre Haute. With his brother Marshall he now has charge of the home farm. Mr. Mays supports the Democratic party, and both he and his wife are mem- bers of the United Brethren church.
BOLAN R. WHITE, a resident farmer of Prairieton township, was born in Wayne county, Kentucky, December 25, 1859, a son of Francis M. and Eliza E. (Owens) White, natives respectively of Florida and Kentucky. When he was a young man Francis M. White located in Kentucky, and was there married and became the owner of sixty acres of land. Eight children were born to him and his wife in their Kentucky home, namely: Mary, born March 12, 1848, died in 1875; James M., born April 5, 1852, died in 1903; Albert S., born March 27, 1855, is unmarried and a resident of Wayne county, Kentucky; Linas, born April 10, 1857, first married a member of the Ogle family, who died leaving three children, and he then wedded Bell Cain; Bolan R., of whom mention is made later; Rowen, born November 13, 1863, is un- married and resides in Terre Haute: Louis A., born May 27, 1866, married Margaret Nichols, and they are resident farmers of Harrison township, and George W., born December 21, 1870, died in Kentucky.
Bolan R. White when but fifteen years of age began working for wages on different farms, and coming to Vigo county, Indiana, in 1879, he was subsequently married here and for ten years following farmed on rented land in Prairieton township. At the close of this period he pur-
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chased a little tract of seventy acres, and since that time he has added forty acres to his original purchase, making him the .owner of a pleasant and valuable farmstead.
Mr. White married, February 10, 1886, Sarah Elizabeth Ogle, born September 4, 1854, and they have three children: Jacob Ogle, born March 4, 1889, has completed his educational training in the Prairieton schools and is with his parents ; Jessie Eliza, born September 1, 1891, and Margaret Agnes, born August 29, 1893, is a student in the Prairieton schools. Mr. and Mrs. White have also raised three of his brother's children, namely: Mabel Pearl, who, after graduating from the Prairie- ton schools, entered the State Normal, and afterward taught for six years. She is now the wife of Harry Donhan; Iva Blanch also grad- uated from the same school and after teaching for four years married Frank McIntyre. Mary Elizabeth is now teaching her first term of school. They entered the home of their uncle after the death of their father, when they were from two months to four years of age, and they were tenderly cared for and splendidly educated by Mr. and Mrs. White. Mrs. White is a daughter of Dr. J. W. and Eliza J. (Ferguson) Ogle, prominent and well known residents of Vigo county and a review of whose lives will be found in the sketch of Mrs. Farmer, a sister of Mrs. White. Mr. White is an active political worker, voting with the Demo- cratic party.
CHARLES K. CONWAY is descended from two of the honored early pioneer families of Vigo county, and is a son of James R. Conway, who is well remembered as one of the early business men here, spending the most of his active business life as a miller, but he retired from active pursuits in 1882 and died on the 26th of August, 1894. He held mem- bership relations with the Masonic Lodge, No. 178, at Prairieton, and he and his family were Baptists in their religious faith. James R. Conway was born in Kentucky, November 8, 1836, and was a son of William R. and Mary Ann (Russell) Conway, both of whom were of Scotch descent, and he was the younger of their two children, the only daughter being Polly. Mr. Conway, the father, was a millwright throughout his active years.
James R. Conway married Eliza J. Lee, born in Prairie Creek town- ship, Vigo county, November 14, 1836, and her death occurred on the 5th of September, 1894. She was a daughter of James and Mary Ann (Kercheval) Lee, prominent among the early residents of Vigo county. The father was born in Butler county, Ohio, October 13, 1802, and died October 31, 1877, while the mother was born in the same place, Decem- ber 13, 1804, and died on the 4th of July, 1883. They came to Vigo county during a very early epoch in its history, and Mr. Lee, a Baptist
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
Yours Fully I. P. month
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minister, helped to blaze the state road from Vincennes to Terre Haute, the same being now known as the Vincennes and Terre Haute road. Their family numbered ten children: Martin K., Benjamin, Polly, John, Nancy, Elizabeth, Ruth, Eliza J., Priscilla and James B. Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Conway, namely: William T., born Sep- tember 17, 1860, in Vigo county, married Mary A. Conner ; Mary A., born January 18. 1862, died November 26, 1881 : Charles H., the subject of this review; Eliza E., born October 31, 1868, married Charles A. Cox and resides in Terre Haute, and Idell, born June 2, 1873, is the wife of Frederick Holmes, of Terre Haute.
Charles K. Conway remained with his father until the latter's death, assisting him in his mill, and after his marriage he came to the farm, which has ever since been his home. He is a grain farmer exclusively, conducting his own place of forty acres and also one hundred and sixty acres of rented land. From 1900 to 1904 he served his township as assessor, elected by the largest majority ever given to any candidate in Prairieton township.
Mr. Conway married, May 6, 1888, Theresa Ohmart, who was born May 18, 1860, a daughter of John and Mary E. (Scott) Ohmart. The father was of German descent, and was born in Ohio, January 29, 1839, and died May 12, 1894. The mother was born March 3, 1840, and died July 7, 1866. Their only son, George T., was born March 24, 1864, and died February 11, 1866. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Conway: Dora A., born October 21, 1889; Minnie J., April 21, 1891 ; James C., June 26, 1894, and Mary E., August 11, 1901. The two oldest are now attending the Prairieton school. Mr. Conway gives his political allegiance to the Democratic party. In the Masonic order he has attained to the third degree and has filled all the offices save one in Prairieton Lodge, No. 178. He is also a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, Prairieton Camp, No. 5624, in which he has been the venerable council for seven successive years.
DR. JONATHAN P. WORRELL, of Terre Haute, physician, ophthalmol- ogist and otologist, is a Pennsylvanian, born in Chester county in 1844, and a representative of an old Quaker family. He is a, son of Lewis L. and Rebecca (Pyle) Worrell. His ancestors on the paternal side came to America in 1684, while representatives of the maternal ancestry (the Sharpless family) landed at Chester, Pennsylvania, as early as 1682.
Dr. Worrell received his early education in the public schools, and afterward attended a private academy at West Chester. Subsequently he taught school until the fall of 1862, when he entered the army, becoming a member of the One Hundred and Seventy-fifth Regiment of Pennsyl- vania Infantry. He remained in the service until September of the fol-
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lowing year, when he was discharged with broken health, which disquali- fied him for further service during the war.
Resuming teaching, he accepted a position as assistant in Clearfield Academy, Clearfield, Pennsylvania. While there, under the direction of Dr. R. V. Wilson, a distinguished physician of that place, he began the study of medicine, and in 1864 entered the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania, from which he graduated in the spring of 1867. The following year was spent in post-graduate work at the uni -. versity, and as resident physician of Charity Hospital. In 1869 he ac- cepted the position of resident physician in the Pennsylvania Inebriate Asylum. This institution, under the immediate charge of Dr. Joseph Par- rish, a man distinguished in philanthropic as well as in scientific circles, was a pioneer in the treatment of inebriety as a disease. After a year he gave up his position to enter upon the general practice of his profession at Media, the county seat of Delaware county, Pennsylvania.
Yielding at last to a desire to locate in the West, he made, in 1872, a visit to friends in Terre Haute. He was so much impressed by the advantages of the city, due to its central location, its proximity to large coal fields and its transportation facilities, together with its agreeable so- cial features, that he determined to make this his future home. From that time on his fondness for the city of his choice has never weakened, nor his confidence in its future faltered, and he now sees in the prosperity of Terre Haute the fulfillment of his hopes and expectations.
His first patient in Terre Haute was Dr. E. V. Ball, whom he at- tended during his last illness. Dr. Ball was the oldest and for many years the leading physician of Terre Haute and vicinity, and numbered among his patients many of the old and prominent families of the place. To Dr. Ball's influence and that of many of his former patrons Dr. Worrell owed his immediate entrance upon a lucrative practice. His success was fur- ther promoted by the influence of Col. Thomas Dowling, then recently ap- pointed county commissioner, and who became the dominating figure of the board. At this particular time many abuses existed in connection with the provision for the care of the sick poor, and in the management of the county poor house. A recent scandal had compelled the resignation of the county physician and his disappearance from the city. These things ap- pealed with special force to Colonel Dowling, who determined upon bring- ing about a reformation. At his instance Dr. Worrell was appointed county physician, then a more lucrative position than at present. The first thing demanding attention was the county poor house, at that time in a deplorable state without proper provision for the separation of the sexes or for the proper care of the sick and insane. With the work of reorgani-
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