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 39
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While Leonard S. Briggs was thus widely known as a successful and progressive business man, he won equal honor as a faithful and efficient member of the city council, and he was at one time the Republican can- didate for the mayoralty. But although earnest in manner and expression and firm and clear in his advocacy of views which he believed to be right, he was instinctively of a retiring disposition and was not a successful politician. A man of many friends, he was best liked by those who knew him best. Prominent in Masonry, he became a Knight Templar, and was also a member of the Consistory and the Mystic Shrine. He attended St. Stephen's Episcopal church and generously contributed to many good works done in the name of charity and religion. From whatever point of view is considered the character of the deceased, its traits of greatest prominence appear to be fidelity to the trusts committed to him, earnest- ness of purpose in the improvement of his personal talents, broad and balanced judgment and a never-failing conscience in the application of the methods of life, and finally a Christian liberality or charity in weigh- ing the motives and acts of his fellows.
Pleasantly situated in his domestic life, Mr. Briggs found his great- est solace and happiness at his own fireside. On the 24th of August, 1857, he wedded Miss Anna M. Shineberger, daughter of Nicholas Shineberger. There were six children by the marriage, of whom only two lived beyond early childhood-William J., who died July 8, 1894, and Mary A., now the wife of Buena Vista Marshall, an attorney of the Terre Haute bar. On the 18th of January, 1891, Mr. Briggs was again married, his second union being with Miss Anna B. Douglas, a native of Terre Haute, daugh- ter of John W. and Isabella (Johnston) Douglas.
JOHN W. DOUGLAS was born in Lebanon county, Pennsylvania, De- cember 8, 1818, and died at Terre Haute on the 27th of February, 1903. while his wife, Isabella Johnston, whose birth occurred in Ireland June 22, 1822, passed away in that city on the Ioth of December, 1885. They came to Terre Haute on the 13th of December, 1849, making their way from Pittsburg down the Ohio and up the Wabash river. Mr. Douglas was one of the pioneer carriage builders of the place, but after conduct- ing his shop for a number of years turned his attention to merchandis- ing and subsequently carried on farming. Again he changed his occu- pation to the milliner business, and was so engaged at the, time of his death. He was an unassuming, reliable. straightforward and honorable citizen, the father of the following six children, who lived to adult age: Mrs. Mary S. Miller, widow of James S. Miller : Virginia, wife of Jack- son Reece : Margaret : J. Frank, a resident of Birmingham, Alabama ; Anna, now Mrs. Leonard S. Briggs; and Josephine.
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY stor, Lenox and Tilden Foundat ons 1909
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Thompson
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WILLIAM J. BRIGGS, a son of Mr. and Mrs. Leonard S. Briggs, was born July 1, 1862, at Alton, Illinois, and died July 8, 1894. Educated in the public schools of Terre Haute, in 1878 he became a bookkeeper in his father's lumber business, and in 1890 was admitted to a partnership. This relation continued until his death, which removed a young man of high standing and brighter promise. He was well advanced in the fraternities, being a Knight Templar Mason and a member of the Uniform Rank, Knights of Pythias. He also belonged to the McKeen Cadets. Like his father, he enjoyed the unqualified honor of those who could appreciate unassuming but substantial manhood. His wife, to whom he was mar- ried on the 8th of November, 1892, was Miss Grace Bannister, who sur- vives him, and, with relatives and numerous close friends, deeply mourns his comparatively early death.
JOSEPH THOMPSON is one of Prairie Creek township's most active business men, prominently identified with its farming and milling inter- ests, and his home is in Middletown. For twenty-six years he has been actively connected with industrial life, first operating a saw mill for eight years, during a similar period bought and sold stock, shipping principally to Indianapolis, and since 1897 has been the proprietor of a flouring mill.
Mr. Thompson was born in Sullivan county, Indiana, May 19, 1849, a son of Joseph, Sr., and Nancy H. (Yeager) Thompson. For many years Joseph Thompson, Sr., was prominent in the business life of Sullivan county, following agricultural pursuits, and his death occurred January 22, 1849, four months before the birth of his son and namesake. Mrs. Thompson, born in 1815, survived her husband many years and died in May, 1900. She was but four years old when her parents came to Terre Haute, and she could recall to mind when that now populous city was a little hamlet of four or five houses. After her husband's death she carried on their little farm of eighty acres and made a home for her children, nine in number, namely: Clarissa, deceased; James, who married Julia Cuppy and resides in Sullivan county; Eliza, the wife of John P. Harris, a retired farmer in Nebraska; Henrietta, the wife of Stephen R. Johnson, a farmer in Sullivan county; William, who mar- ried Eliza Mckinney and resides in Kansas; Nancy and Mary, both deceased ; Martha A., the wife of James H. Harris, of Nebraska, and Joseph, the subject of this review.
Joseph Thompson remained at home with his mother until his mar- riage and afterward for three years she lived with him, her death oc- curring at his home, although in the meantime she had lived with her other children. In 1878, three years after his marriage, he located on
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his farm of fifty-five acres in Linton township, and he lived there until his removal to Middletown in 1898. His farm now contains two hun- dred acres, and since 1897 he has operated a flouring mill in connection with his general farming, selling his product principally at wholesale. He is also active in the public life of his community, voting with the Democratic party, and is a member of Lodge No. 476 and the encamp- ment of Odd Fellows. He has filled all the offices in his lodge in Middletown and has three times been a representative to the grand lodge at Indianapolis.
On the IIth of February, 1875, Mr. Thompson was united in marriage to Susan E. Gaskin, who was born May I, 1854, a daughter of Stephen and Luella Gaskin. Their seven children are Oliver R., who died at the age of thirteen months; Clement H., born March 3, 1878, married Early Ring and lives in Middletown; Lula E., born April 19, 1880, is the wife of Joseph Bailey, of Linton township; John C., born August 12, 1882; Nola N., born August 5, 1884, and Trillie Lester, born April 15, 1891, are all at home, and one, the third born, died in infancy.
HARVEY S. EVANS .- The Evans family was established in Vigo county before the period of the Civil war, and during all these years they have been prominently identified with its agricultural interests, but Harvey S. Evans has laid aside the active work of the farm and is now living practically retired. He has taken active interest in the public and political life of his community, voting with the Republican party, and he is now serving in the office of township trustee. During six years he was the township's assessor, for two years was a member of its advisory board, for fifteen successive years was its supervisor, and he has served as the administrator for at least five estates and as the guar- dian for three orphan children.
Born in York, Illinois, September 24, 1854, Harvey S. Evans is a son of Silas and Eliza (Wilfond) Evans, both of German descent and both were born in Crawford county, Illinois, the father in 1832 and the mother in 1835. They were farming people, and in 1861 they located on a farm in Prairie Creek township, Vigo county, Indiana, where they spent the remainder of their lives, the father dying on the 19th of December, 1875, and the mother in 1866. Silas Evans three times of- fered his service to his country's cause during the Civil war, but each time was rejected on account of ill health. He was both a Whig and Republican politically, and both he and his wife were members of the United Brethren church. In their family were six children: Harvey
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MRS. HENRY L. FLESHER
HENRY L. FLESHER
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S., of this review ; John, deceased ; Mahala, the wife of John M. Pollitt, of Honey Creek township; Sarah Ellen, deceased; Mary, the wife of Jesse Muskgrave, and William, deceased. Mr. Evans married for his second wife Elizabeth Ring, and their five children were: Silas, of Linton township, Vigo county ; William, of Indianapolis; Minnie, the wife of George Liston, of Linton township; Davie, who married Joe Adams and resides in Linton township, and Mattie, of Terre Haute.
Harvey S. Evans spent the first eighteen years of his life on his parents' farm, and he was then married and rented twenty-five acres of land in Prairie Creek township. After fifteen years as a renter he bought one acre of land, later purchased fifty-four acres more, and he now has an estate of one hundred and fifteen acres besides a lot in Middletown.
On the 5th of April, 1872, Mr. Evans married Margaret A. Johnson, who was born in Vigo county, Indiana, February 7, 1853, a daughter of Daniel and Betsy Ann Johnson, both of whom also claimed Vigo as the county of their nativity. The father was a farmer and mechanic, and both he and his wife are now dead. Mr. and Mrs. Evans have had four children, but only two, Elmer E. and Zenis K., are now living, the other two dying in infancy. Elmer was born January 6, 1873, and is now a resident of Middletown. He married Carrie Laybold. Zenis married Blanche Hanaly, now deceased, and is a resident of Terre Haute. Mr. Evans is an active member of the Odd Fellows order at Middletown, Vigo Lodge, No. 476, in which he has filled all of its offices and is also a member of its auxiliary, Rebekah Lodge, No. 204. He has also filled all the offices with the exception of vice chancellor and worthy advisor in the Modern Woodmen of America, Lodge No. 5565, at Middletown. Both he and his wife are members of the United Brethren church.
HENRY LOGAN FLESHER, an agriculturist in Prairieton township, was born in Clark county, Illinois, July 12, 1867, a son of Benjamin F. and Caroline (Hall) Flesher. In 1869, when Henry was but two years of age, the family home was established in Prairie Creek township, Vigo county, Indiana, where Benjamin F. Flesher conducted a ferry and farmed, owning the estate of six hundred acres where his widow now resides. In their family were thirteen children, but the three eldest, Coakic, Charles and Rosa, are deceased; Frank is a traveling salesman for the Indianapolis Dry Goods Company ; Henry Logan is the subject of this review; Cora is deceased; James has but recently become the proprietor of a barber shop in Robinson, Illinois, the finest shop in the state outside of Chicago; Effie B. Figg lives in Prairieton township ;
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Chauncey W. is with his mother; Edith Paddock is also a resident of Prairieton; Paul M., and the two youngest died in infancy.
Henry L. Flesher in early life displayed an ingenious spirit, having built several engines when but a lad of fourteen years, and while in school his master mind planned many of the most notable inventions of recent date, but he was never financially able to carry out his ideas. In his inventive mind was fostered the plan of wireless telegraphy, and he was one of the first to devise the water fan for pumping water out of the coverdam, while another of his ideas was the pneumatic tire. At the age of twenty-four he married and moved to his present farm, then known as the Coffman place, renting fifty acres and purchasing a similar amount. He is a grain farmer. The Republican party receives his co-operation and support, and he has fraternal relations with the fraternal orders of Modern Woodmen of America, of Prairieton, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Vigo Lodge, No. 476.
On the 4th of March, 1890, Mr. Flesher married Mary C. Laybold, who was born in Terre Haute, February 6, 1869, a daughter of Fred and Katy (Olzworth) Laybold. Their seven children are: Katy C., born April 15, 1891; Mabel, November 19, 1892; Oran, October 25, 1894; Edna, September 24, 1895; Helen, December 24, 1897; Ralph, October 30, 1900, and Ray, April 16, 1904.
THOMAS L. TRUEBLOOD was born in Prairie Creek township, Vigo county, August 19, 1851, and is a son of one of the earliest pioneers of the community. Benoni Trueblood, his father, was brought to Prairie Creek township from North Carolina by his parents when he was a boy of seven, and he lived with his father until his marriage and assisted in clearing and cultivating the new farm during the summer months and attended school in winters. After his marriage the young couple began life together on his farm of forty acres in Prairie Creek township, and from time to time he added to his little homestead until he became the owner of three hundred and sixty acres. In 1880 he left his farm here and going to Kansas followed gardening there until 1890. From the Sunflower state he went to Neosho, Missouri, spending three years there and then returning to this township, but his death occurred soon after his return. From the Whigs Mr. Trueblood transferred his political alle- giance to the Republican party at its organization, and during one term served his county as a commissioner. He married, in his early manhood, Lucinda Beauchamp, who was born in Spencer county, Kentucky, Octo- ber 4, 1823, and died on the 14th of March, 1874. Mr. Trueblood was also born in October of 1823, in North Carolina, and his death occurred on the 10th of May, 1897. They became the parents of nine children,
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as follows: Sarah, the wife of Milton Piety, of Prairie Creek township; Thomas L., mentioned herewith; Martha, wife of John Devol, of Middletown; Benoni Clay, who married Retta Craig, and their home is west of Middletown; Katherine, the wife of Ellis Ferguson, of Terre Haute : Ransom, who served as a private in the Forty-third Regiment of Volunteers during the Civil war, and died in the army ; Ophelia, who wedded Homer Morgan and had four children, Lora and Lula being the only ones living ; and Columbus and Martin, who are deceased.
Thomas L. Trueblood remained with his parents until removing to a home of his own after his first marriage, renting during the first three years, and he then moved to Middletown and conducted a general mer- cantile store there for seven years. At that time his store was destroyed by fire, and abandoning the mercantile business he returned to farming and rented for five or six years. He then bought a tract of twenty-seven acres, sold this and purchased a farm of about twenty-eight acres in Vigo county, the homestead now containing one hundred and seventy- five acres of rich and well cultivated land in the property of his wife- her grandfather's land. He follows general farming, and aside from this is a contractor for gravel roads.
Mr. Trueblood married, first, October 8, 1871, Cynthia Thomas, who died in 1903, leaving two children, Sophia and Claudia, the former the wife of Vincent Yeager and the latter the wife of Arthur Bryant, and both reside in Prairie Creek township. On September 1, 1904, Mr. Trueblood married Mrs. Eunice (Thomas) Kester, who was born Oc- tober 12, 1840, a daughter of Elijah and Sarah (Pound) Thomas. She had three children by her former marriage, but only one daughter is now living. Eunice F., the wife of James Ring, living in Middletown. Mr. Trueblood is a member of the Masonic fraternity, Prairie Creek Lodge. No. 579, and also of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Lodge No. 476, at Prairie Creek. He is a member of the encampment of the order and has filled all the offices in his local lodge and has served as a delegate to the grand lodge. He is a Republican politically. Mr. Trueblood is a member of the Christian church and Mrs. Trueblood is a member of the Baptist church, located in Middletown, Indiana.
HERSCHEL HALL .- During many years Herschel Hall has been prominent in the public and business life of this section of Vigo county, and he is a native son of Clark county, Indiana, born May 17, 1851, a son of Edwin D. and Indiana (Tingley) Hall. The father is deceased. but the mother is yet living and a resident of Darwin township, Illinois, be- ing now seventy-seven years old. Edwin Hall was born in New York, but when a young man came to Indiana and a short time afterward went to Dar-
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win, Illinois, where he taught school for twenty years or until the opening of the Civil war. He joined the One Hundred and Thirtieth Illinois Regi- ment, Company K, in August, 1862, and served as a private about one year, his death occurring a short time after his return from the conflict. He was a son of Elijah and Eunice (Stevens) Hall, born respectively in Portland county, Vermont, June 17, 1784, and in New Hampshire, August 25, 1784. In their family were ten children, as follows: Oliver S., born August 19, 1807, deceased; Mary A. Hall, born August 23, 1807, taught school in Honey Creek township, Vigo county, seventy-seven years ago, among her pupils having been numbered Mrs. Francis Mor- gan, of this township, and she is now living in the state of Washington ; William F., born August 12, 18II, deceased ; Edward P., born March 17, 1814, deceased; Amanda M., born February 23, 1816, deceased ; Edwin D., the father of Herschel Hall, of this review : Harrison B., born February 5, 1820, deceased : Cynthia, born February 13, 1822, de- ceased ; Melvina, born June 2, 1825, deceased, and Roseletta, born April 13, 1831. Five children were born to Edwin D. and Indiana (Tingley) Hall, as follows: Herschel, whose name introduces this review ; Me- lissa, deceased ; Ida MI., the wife of William Anderson, of Indianapolis ; Eunice A., wife of Milton Craig, deceased, of Marshall, Illinois, and Louisa, who married Isaac N. Hall, and their home is in Oklahoma.
Herschel Hall remained at home with his mother until he was twenty-two years of age, when he was married and went to Darwin, Illi- nois. After clerking in a store there two years he resumed his former occupation of farming, and in 1884 came to Prairie Creek township and has farmed here ever since. He carries on general farming on rented land, but he owns forty acres in Clark county, Illinois. During his resi- dence in that state he served for three terms as assessor, and in 1900 and again in 1904 he was elected to that office in Prairie Creek town- ship, Vigo county. His political allegiance is with the Republican party. Mr. Hall received the nomination of township trustee in the spring of 1908, and he is a gentleman whose integrity and honor, as well as efficiency, is well known and will fill the office with credit to himself and the township.
On the 14th of October, 1873, Mr. Hall was united in marriage to Victoria T. Hall, who was born in Virginia, July 2, 1854, a daughter of Solomon and Delilah (Hughes) Hall. The children of this union are as follows: Ada, born October 3, 1874, died October 21, 1875; Edwin, born April 7, 1879, is teaching school; Garfield, born August 29, 1880, married Edna Collins and lives in Terre Haute; Ruby, born February 12, 1883, is the wife of James A. Barnett, of Attica, Indiana; Florence, born October 10, 1886, is at home : Flora died August 21, 1887; Minnie N.,
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M. M. Piely
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born April 27, 1889, lives in Terre Haute; the eighth child died in in- fancy, and Tillie Ann, the youngest, was born April 9, 1894. Two of the children attended the State Normal at Terre Haute, and Garfield was a student in the art school at Indianapolis one term and now enjoys the reputation of being one of the best artists with the brush in Terre Haute. Herschel Hall was a member of the fraternal order of Odd Fellows.
MILTON H. PIETY is the owner of a fine farming estate of three hundred and twenty acres in Prairie Creek township. This has been his home since starting out in life for himself, his first purchase of land con- sisting of one hundred and thirty acres, and farming has been his voca- tion through life, although for five years he was also engaged in a mer- cantile business in Middletown.
Mr. Piety was born in Prairie Creek township, Vigo county, June 14, 1849, a son of James D. and Lurinda L. (Thomas) Piety, natives respectively of Kentucky and Ohio. It was as early as 1826 that the father located on what is now known as the old Piety farm in Prairie Creek township, and here he spent the remainder of his life as a farmer and stock man. At one time he owned fourteen hundred acres, but aft- erward sold all save three hundred and twenty acres and invested in the Terre Haute & Richmond Railroad, now the Vandalia Railroad, pur- chasing stock when the railroad was first laid out. He was both a Whig and a Republican politically. Unto James D. and Lurinda L. (Thomas) Piety were born nine children: Ellen, who has been twice married, being now the wife of L. V. List, and resides in Terre Haute; Emily, deceased; Louisa, the wife of A. W. Milegan, of Texas; Nancy, the wife of W. R. Morgan, of Prairie Creek township; Margaret, deceased ; Milton H., of this review; Chauncey R., deceased ; Samuel, who mar- ried Mary R. DeBaun, a daughter of ex-Commissioner John DeBaun, and is a minister in Wabash county, Indiana, and Sarah T., the wife of B. T. DeBaun, of Terre Haute. Mr. James D. Piety was twice married, his first wife having been Eleanor Harnett, of Kentucky, by whom he had eight children.
On the 6th of October, 1870, Milton H. Piety married Sarah E. Trueblood, born March 24, 1849. Her father, Benoni Trueblood, born in North Carolina, October 22, 1819, came to Vigo county when a boy of seven, and lived here during the remainder of his life with the exception of six years spent in Kansas. During one term he served the county as a commissioner, and was a Whig and Republican politically. He died May II, 1898, surviving his wife for many years, her death occurring March 14, 1874. She bore the maiden name of Lucinda Beauchamp and was born October 4, 1823. There were twelve children in their
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family, as follows: Ranson, who served about six months with the Forty-third Indiana Regiment during the Civil war and was then called upon to lay down his life on the altar of his country ; Ophelia and Colum- bus, also deceased; Sarah E., the wife of Mr. Piety; Lafayette, who married for his second wife Eunice Kester and is farming in Prairie Creek township; Martha, who has also been twice married and is now the wife of J. W. DeVol, of Prairie Creek township; Benoni, who wedded Retta Craig; Katy L., the wife of Ellis Ferguson, of Terre Haute; Rosa and Oliver P., deceased; Homer, who married Ida Elliott and resides in Indianapolis, and Carl C., deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Piety have three children: The first born, Ozro T., is a general merchant in and the postmaster of Middletown. He was born January 19, 1873, and married Alma Turner ; Agnes, born March 23, 1879, married Walter A. Williams, and they reside in Prairie Creek township, and Ernest R., born July 6, 1886, resides on the home farm; he married Margaret D. Miles. Milton H. Piety votes with the Republican party, and in fraternal circles he has membership in the Masonic Lodge, No. 598, of Middle- town, in which he has filled all the offices and has received the third degree. He is also a member of the Odd Fellows fraternity, Lodge No. 476, in Middletown, in which he has also served in all the offices. Both he and his wife are members of their auxiliaries, the Rebekahs and Eastern Star, and both are members of the Christian church.
REUBEN H. LEAVITT, M. D., who in the practice of medicine in Terre Haute has gained recognition as one of the ablest of the younger members of the profession here, was born upon a farm in Riley township, Vigo county, March 9. 1877. his parents being Reuben Harmon and Zerilda (Slade) Leavitt. The father died when the son was but seven years of age and he was left an orphan by the death of his mother when a little more than ten years of age. He was largely reared, however, in Vigo county and after attending the village schools of Riley continued his studies as a high school student of Terre Haute. Later he attended the Indiana State University, and although he was not graduated he acquired a liberal literary education there prior to entering the Indiana Medical College at Indianapolis. His preparation for his profession was completed by graduation in April. 1902, and he immediately afterward located for practice in Terre Haute, where he has since remained. As he has given evidence of his skill and ability through his faithful per- formance of his daily duties and the excellent results which have attended his labors, his patronage has increased and has now reached gratifying proportions. He is a member of the Vigo County Medical Society, the Indiana State Medical Society, the Esculapian Medical Society of the
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