USA > Indiana > Henry County > Hazzard's history of Henry county, Indiana, 1822-1906, Volume I > Part 42
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hardware business at Muncie, Indiana ; George W., who is now in charge of his father's farm near New Castle; Mary Elizabeth, wife of Ralph Wagner, dealer in hardware, Knightstown; Robert Bertie, accidentally killed at the age of fourteen, and Lulu, the youngest of the family, who died when only six months old. Mr. Gordon has one grandson and three granddaughters. The grandson is the child of George W. Gordon and is named Thaddeus Harrison Gordon, after his grand- father. November 22, 1896, Mr. Gordon was married to his present wife, Mrs. Catharine Peters, widow of the late William Peters, and daughter of Samuel and Catharine (Shuman) Fitz. Her parents died when she was a child, six years old, and she was adopted by Dr. Joel Pennington, of Milton, Wayne County, Indiana. This second marriage is without issue.
Mr. and Mrs. Gordon are both active members of the Christian Church, in which he holds the office of trustee. He is a Republican in politics but has never sought public office. He always makes it a point, however, to support any of his old soldier comrades who are seeking public preferment. He is a member of the 36th Indiana Volunteer Regimental Association; Sol Meredith Post, No. 55, Grand Army of the Republic, Richmond; and a member of the Henry County Association of Veterans of the Civil War. Fraternally, he is a Knight Templar and a Scottish Rite or Thirty Second Degree Mason. He has attended two national conclaves of the Knights Templar and two national encampments of the Grand Army of the Republic.
Thaddeus H. Gordon may be said to have been uniformly successful in all of his undertakings. He seems intuitively to have escaped the pitfalls and snares which beset the path of the man of business. He forms a judgment quickly and is undoubtedly a man of great foresight, notably industrious and possessed of indomitable will.
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HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WILLIAM CARTWRIGHT HALL.
PRIVATE, COMPANY A, 36TH INFANTRY REGIMENT, INDIANA VOLUNTEERS ; TEACHER AND FARMER.
The Society of Friends, commonly called Quakers, has always been numerous and influential in Eastern Indiana. The influx of settlers of that faith from the older States was due in large measure to their aversion to the institution of slavery, which caused many to abandon their old homes and seek the new lands of the West. This movement was especially marked among the Friends of North Carolina and the ever rising tide of emigration from that State, during the first quarter of the last century, peopled Eastern Indiana with a sturdy, God-fearing, liberty-loving population, the impress of whose influence is still visible throughout the eastern counties of the State and in none more than in Henry County. The ancestry of the subject of this sketch is drawn from this stock, and much of the honesty, virtue, prudence and resolution of his character may be traced to his Quaker forebears.
The grandparents of William Cartwright Hall were John and Sarah (Parker) Hall, natives of North Carolina, who moved to Indiana about the year 1818 and settled in Boston Township, Wayne County, but twelve years later moved to Henry County and settled in Dudley Township. The grandfather was of English and the grandmother of English-Irish descent. Both were members of the Society of Friends. John Hall entered a considerable tract of land in Dudley Township which he improved and on which himself and wife spent their remaining days. To them were born five sons and two daughters, namely : Phineas, Robert, Moses, Sarah, Martha, John and Joseph.
Phineas, the oldest child and father of the subject of this sketch, was born in North Carolina, September 24, 1814. and came to Indiana with his parents at the time of their settlement here as above stated. At an early age he was obliged to work hard in order to contribute to the family means, but bright of mind and early developing a taste for study, by indefatigable effort, he secured a substantial education, and in early manhood became a successful teacher. He followed this profession for a number of years and was regarded as one of the most advanced and efficient instructors in the schools of Eastern Indiana. He was a progressive man of unusual mental and bodily activity and so impressed the community with his abilities that he was soon called to a wider field. For more than twenty consecutive years, he acted as trustee of Dudley Township, without opposition, and during his incumbency of that office, he did much to promote education and erected more and better school houses than any other trustee in Henry County. He was a birthright member of the Society of Friends and during his busy life practiced the teachings and followed the precepts of that body. He was a leader of the anti-slavery forces in the county, active in public affairs and prominent in the church. Politically, he was a Whig, until that historic party ceased to exist, after which he became a strong and radical Republican. During his lifetime, he was the head of the political, social and religious life of his community and wielded as great influence for good as any man who ever lived in the southern part of Henry County. On March 7, 1839, Phineas Hall was united in marriage with
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Mary (Cartwright) Hall, the ceremony being performed by James Miner, Justice of the Peace, and to their union were born six children, namely : William Cartwright Hall, the subject of this sketch; Robert Hall, married to Eva Ellen Butler, October 28, 1875, by the Reverend Thomas Rogers; Amanda J. Hall, married to William C. Crawford, September 14, 1876, by Elder D. H. Gary; John M. Hall, married to Lutetia Shidler, March 17, 1870, by John M. Swafford, Justice of the Peace; Charles W. Hall, married to Clara E. Ward, daughter of Sylvanus and Lydia Ward, November 14, 1875, by John M. Swafford. Justice of the Peace; Franklin E. Hall, married to Rosetta M. Ballard, September 9, 1891, by the Reverend John G. Colter.
WILLIAM CARTWRIGHT HALL.
William Cartwright Hall was born June 29, 1840, and died December 27, 1899. His remains are buried in Hopewell Cemetery, Dudley Township. He was reared on his father's farm in a splendid agricultural neighborhood and became a thorough and practical farmer at an early age. He was educated at Beech Grove and Hopewell schools, both excellent educational institutions, in Dudley Town- ship, and afterwards attended Antioch College, Ohio, then under the management of the great educator, Horace Mann. He also passed several terms at Michigan University, Ann Arbor. In the interims of study, he assisted his father on the farm. Upon the completion of his education, he took up the profession of teaching and continued to teach until the outbreak of the Civil War.
The Halls were a patriotic family and William C. and his brother, Robert, could not resist the call to arms. Notwithstanding the position of their father as a leading member of the Society of Friends and the fact that they had been all their lives surrounded by the influences of that excellent society, which was con- scientiously opposed to war, they were among the first to enlist in company A. 36th Indiana Infantry, which company was recruited by the late Captain William D. Wiles, at Lewisville, in August, 1861. William C. Hall was mustered into the service of the United States as a private, September 16, 1861, and participated in the marches, skirmishes and battles of his regiment until June 30. 1862, when he was honorably discharged because of disability. In the Winter of 1861-2, the regiment had camped at Camp Wickliffe, Kentucky, and the privations and exposure of that unusually rigorous season had undermined his health, necessitating his discharge.
After his return home from the army, he resumed the profession of teaching which he followed until 1875. His total experience as a teacher covered seventeen terms in the schools of Lewisville, the Black Swamp, west of New Lisbon, New Lisbon and Salem, all in Franklin and Dudley Townships.
On December 31, 1868, he was married to Eliza Jane Hawley, the ceremony being performed by the Reverend Thomas Rogers. She was born September 21, 1846, and was the daughter of Eli and Mary Ann Hawley, early settlers in the southern part of Dudley Township and who were among the best known and most progressive farmers of that locality. To this union were born four sons, one of whom, Guy Roy, died at the age of seven years. The other and remaining children are, Llewellyn P., Lee Faye and Hawley. The surviving children are all well known and influential citizens. Llewellyn P. Hall was married to Ophelia
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I. Kirkham, September 20, 1893, the ceremony being performed by the Reverend T. H. Hench, pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Connersville, Indiana, and he now lives with his family on the old Phineas Hall homestead, a delightful place in Dudley Township. Hawley Hall was married to Linnie M. Nugen, November 25, 1903, the ceremony being performed by the Reverend D. Van Dyke, and they reside at their home immediately north of Lewisville. They have one son, William Nugen Hall, born October 24, 1904. Lee Faye is unmarried and abides with his mother.
At the time of his marriage, William Cartwright Hall owned one hundred and sixty acres of land north of and within sight of Lewisville. To this he added from time to time until he was the owner of five hundred and fifty acres of the finest and most productive land in the county. The farm is a model one, well equipped in every respect, and occupying a conspicuous site within its limits, is the magnificent home of his estimable widow, Eliza Jane (Hawley) Hall. Since the death of her beloved husband, Mrs. Hall has had practically the sole management and control of the estate and has admirably met the many trying demands of the trust. Amid the multitudinous duties of her life, however, Mrs. Hall has not neglected the social features but still maintains the traditional hospitality of her home.
Mr. Hall was a member of the order of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and had taken all of the degrees up to and including that of Royal Arch Mason. He was also a member of Harmon Rayl Post, No. 365, Grand Army of the Republic, Spiceland, Indiana. In politics he was a steadfast Republican and took an interest in public affairs both local and national. He was not identified with any church or religious denomination but the universal testimony is that he was an earnest Christian, obedient to the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." He was widely known for his benevolence, for his help to the needy and for his sympathy for the distressed.
He was earnest, sincere and industrious-too industrious for his physical strength and endurance. He had a heartfelt love for his family and for his neigh- bors and friends. He was possessed of unflinching integrity and in his dealings with his fellow men, no one could have been more honorable. No stain of dis- honesty or overreaching darkens his life record. He had an abounding and com- manding interest in whatever he desired to accomplish, whether for his personal advancement, the welfare of those about him or for the promotion of the public weal.
At the funeral five members of the Grand Army of the Republic acted as pall bearers, while numbers of the Masonic fraternity were present to attest their sorrow and sympathy for the loss of a brother. No member of either order wore uniform or insignia to distinguish him from other friends of the deceased. The funeral sermon was preached by the venerable Francis W. Thomas of the Society of Friends and was such a discourse as would be expected from the lips of one speaking of the life, character and death of a beloved friend. The funeral was largely attended by the best and most influential people of Henry, Rush and Wayne counties.
The silent dead no longer answers to the roll call but his soldier comrades in testimony of their love and respect for the departed. placed the name of the
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widow of William Cartwright Hall upon the roll of the 36th Indiana Regimental Association, as an honorary member, at the annual reunion of the regiment held in New Castle, September 16, 1903.
ROBERT HALL.
Robert Hall, a younger brother of William C., was a soldier of the Civil War as briefly stated above. He enlisted at the same time as his brother in Company A, 36th Indiana Infantry, and was mustered into the service of the United States, as a private, September 16, 1861. He was a brave and faithful soldier and par- ticipated in all the marches, skirmishes and battles of his regiment, until mustered out September 21, 1864. He was wounded at the battle of Chickamauga, Georgia, September 19, 1863, and his many soldierly qualities were acknowledged by his appointment as a corporal of his company.
WILLIAM C. CRAWFORD.
William C. Crawford, who married Amanda J. Hall, the only sister of William C., was also a soldier of the Civil War. He enlisted in Company I, 69th Indiana Infantry, and was mustered into the service of the United States as a private, August 19, 1862. He was discharged January 13, 1863, because of wounds received in the disastrous battle of Richmond, Kentucky, August 30. 1862. He again enlisted in Company H, 140th Indiana Infantry, and was mus- tered into the service of the United States as Musician, September 23, 1864. He participated in the marches, skirmishes and battles of this regiment until the close of the war and was mustered out with the regiment, June 14, 1865.
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF JAMES IVEN NEWBY.
CORPORAL, COMPANY D, 36TH INFANTRY REGIMENT, INDIANA VOLUNTEERS ; AND FARMER.
The Newby family came, originally, from Randolph County, North Carolina, the head of the family, Thomas Newby, emigrating with his wife and children to Henry County, Indiana, in the Spring of 1827, and settling on Blue River, four miles southwest of New Castle, where he entered the following described lands :
August 21, 1827, the west half of the southwest quarter ; March 7, 1829, the west half of the southeast quarter, and February 19, 1830, the east half of the southeast quarter; the whole embracing two hundred and forty acres and all situated in township seventeen north, range ten east.
Thomas Newby, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in North Carolina, February 5, 1794; died November 10, 1863. The mother, Sarah (Brookshire) Newby, was born in the same State, November 6, 1798; died January 13, 1879. Both of these old pioneers are buried in the cemetery at Greensboro, Henry County, Indiana. They were married in North Carolina about the year 1817. and had five children born to them in that State, namely : Larkin : Abner ; Jane, afterwards Mrs. Joseph Englerth, now deceased; William B., and Alfred. After their removal to Indiana, the family was increased by the birth of five other children, namely: Joshua; Charity Ann, afterwards Mrs. Elias Modlin, now deceased ; John W .; James I., and Zimri S.
Thomas Newby was, all his life, a farmer, and gave a great deal of attention to the raising of fine stock, principally horses and cattle. He was a devoted member of the Friends' Church and very faithful in his attendance at the regular meetings of that denomination. Politically he was first a Whig, then a Free Soiler or Abolitionist, and afterwards an active Republican, warmly supporting the Republican ticket when the immortal Lincoln was first a candidate for President.
JAMES IVEN NEWBY.
James Iven Newby, the subject of this sketch, was born on his father's farm, January 6, 1835. He grew to manhood on the farm and assisted in clearing the land and bringing it to its present high state of cultivation. He obtained his education in the ordinary way, within the walls of the then ordinary country school house. Before he was quite of age, he was united in marriage with Delphia D. Pearson (born February 24, 1838), daughter of Joseph and Sarah (Draper) Pearson, November 19, 1854. After marriage, Mr. Newby and his young wife moved to the neighborhood of Clear Springs Church, on Duck Creek, where he had previously purchased eighty acres of land and where he continued to abide until the breaking out of the war for the preservation of the Union, when he assisted in recruiting what afterwards became Company D, 36th Indiana Infantry.
He enlisted in the company himself and was mustered into the service of the United States, as a private, at Richmond, Indiana, September 16, 1861, and accompanied the regiment into Kentucky, where at Camp Wickliffe, in the Winter of 1861-2, his health failed and he was finally stricken down with typhoid fever.
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In February, 1862, when the regiment started south, he was left behind, and with others of the sick and disabled, was transferred to Nelson's Furnace, near New Haven, Kentucky. From that point he was furloughed home and did not rejoin the regiment until June, 1862, at Iuka, Mississippi. He was from that time never again absent from his regiment for a single day, during the period of his service. He participated in all the battles and skirmishes of the command, except the battle of Shiloh, and throughout his enlistment had the regard and esteem of his superior officers, who at an early opportunity advanced him to the grade of Corporal. His term of enlistment having expired, he was mustered out of the service, September 21, 1864, and soon after rejoined his wife, who had made her home with her parents during his absence in the army.
Prior to Mr. Newby's entry into the army, two children had been born of his marriage, yet realizing the burdens she would have to assume and also realizing that she might never see her husband again, such was her patriotism, that his wife was entirely willing for him to do his part in the great Civil War. It is noteworthy that two of his brothers, also of Company D, namely, William B. and John W., left their families under similar circumstances and went into the service.
Corporal James I. Newby, upon his return home from the army, at once resumed the cultivation of his farm, a business he has continued with favorable results down to the present time. His farm has been increased by purchase and otherwise until it measures two hundred and twenty acres. It is a beautiful tract of land, highly cultivated and well improved. During his farming, he has also pursued as a side occupation, the buying of live stock and shipping the same to the Cincinnati, Pittsburg and other markets.
To the marriage of James I. and Delphia D. (Pearson) Newby have been born the following children : Sarah Louise, born August 22, 1855; died August 13, 1881; Mary Ella, born December 10, 1856, married December 28, 1875, to John M. Phelps, member of a well known Harrison Township family; Irving J., born March 13, 1862, died October 18, 1864; Joseph A., born March 19, 1869; and Etta Rebecca, born November 16, 1872. Mary Ella (Newby) Phelps and her husband have two children, Clinton J., born May 5, 1876, who was married March 30, 1898, to Elsie C. (born July 27, 1876), daughter of Laban W. and Fannie C. Needham, of Chicago, Illinois ; the second child is Anna Delphia, born February 3, 1895. Joseph Abner was married August 7, 1888, to Flora, daughter of Jonathan and Mary Jane Ricks, well known in Harrison Township. They have two children, Edith I., born May 3, 1889, and Ruth Edna, born December 2. 1901. Joseph A. Newby is a resident of New Castle, Henry County, where he is engaged in the automobile, bicycle and novelty goods trade, giving especial atten- tion to the sale of bicycles and automobiles. Etta Rebecca is the wife of John T. Oliphant. They were married July 7. 1891, and they have one child, a daughter, named Lolus, very bright and interesting, born December 12, 1893. Mr. Oliphant is the president of the Vincennes (Indiana) Bridge Company. and the family resides in that old city, the one-time capital of Indiana Territory.
The Newbys were a very patriotic family as is attested by the fact that three of the brothers as already stated, entered the army during the Civil War, namely : William B., John W. and James I. They were all members of Company D, 36th Indiana Infantry, and the military record of each is fully set forth in the preceding chapter of this History.
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WILLIAM B. NEWBY.
William B. Newby was born April 13, 1824, and was wedded November 22, 1849, to Rachel, daughter of Josiah and Catharine Draper, who was born April 22, 1831, and died May 23, 1903. William B. Newby, her husband, died October 15, 1901. Both are buried in the Friends' Cemetery at Spiceland, Indiana. They were the parents of the following children : Adolphus A .; Alpheus O., deceased ; Sarah Catharine, afterwards Mrs. Lewis Baker, now deceased; Ida Jane, now Mrs. Samuel P. Hiatt, of Knightstown; Mary Louise, deceased ; Eli J. ; and Esse, afterwards Mrs. Thomas Copeland, now deceased. William B. Newby was a private in Company D, 36th Indiana Infantry, and was mustered into the service of the United States, September 16, 1861. He was discharged on account of disability, November 28, 1862.
JOHN W. NEWBY.
John W. Newby was born April II, 1833, and was married December 27, 1855, to Nancy J. Polk, daughter of Robert H. and Hannah Polk, both old and highly respected citizens of Greensboro Township. She was born June 2, 1835. and died April 27, 1905, and is buried in Glencove Cemetery, Knightstown. They were blessed with two children: Mary A., now Mrs. Aranda Lytle, of New Castle ; and Lulu S., now Mrs. Thomas J. Overman, residing five miles northwest of Knightstown. John W. Newby was a Corporal in Company D, 36th Indiana Infantry, and was mustered into the service of the United States, September 16, 1861, and discharged on account of disability, March 5, 1862.
ANCESTRY OF MRS. JAMES I. NEWBY.
Joseph Pearson, the father of Mrs. James I. Newby, was born in Wayne County, Indiana, November 7, 1816. He was the tenth child of Nathan and Huldah (Lamb) Pearson, who emigrated from Randolph County, North Carolina, a little prior to the birth of Joseph. When he was six years of age, the family moved from near Richmond, Wayne County, to a piece of leased land, a short clistance west of Cambridge City, where they resided four years. Having ac- cumulated a little capital and added the same to the proceeds of the sale of the lease, Nathan entered eighty acres of land on Duck Creek, three miles northwest of New Castle, where he built a log cabin, which became the first home he ever owned. It was here that Joseph began life in reality. An incident of his life here, while burning brush in the "deadening," was the accidental burning of the first hat he ever owned. His father had no money with which to purchase another, so, to provide himself with a new hat, he dug ginseng and trapped muskrat and mink for their skins, which he traded to Isaac Bedsaul, New Castle's first merchant, for a "black fur hat with a green band around it."
Joseph continued with his father, helping to clear the land, planting. cultivating, and "trapping in the Fall to help along," until October 20, 1836, when he was married to Sarah Draper, daughter of Jesse and Delphia Draper, of Grant County, Indiana, to which county he soon afterwards moved, settling two and a half miles east of Marion, on eighty acres, which his father had entered. On this place "six acres had been deadened." He built a log cabin and a log barn.
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The cabin had a puncheon floor, a door with wooden hinges and a "stick and clay chimney." Joseph and his young wife continued to live on this land until after making the second crop, when he "swapped" places with his brother, Zimri Pear- son, and moved back to the "old homestead in Henry County," in 1838.
To Joseph and Sarah (Draper) Pearson were born two daughters, Delphia D., now the wife of James I. Newby, the subject of the above sketch, and Catharine. who died in infancy. Joseph Pearson was for many years a prominent Henry County farmer. From about 1849, he gave a great deal of attention to the breeding of shorthorn cattle and frequently exhibited his stock at the county fairs. He was one of the very first to show a herd of cattle at the New Castle fairs, at a time when those societies had not reached their present perfection in industrial exhibits.
Joseph Pearson was thrice married, 'first, as above stated, to Sarah Draper, who died January 3, 1852; second, to Rebecca Ratliff, daughter of Richard and Caroline Ratliff, who died February 7, 1892; third, to Lydia Palmer, February 22, 1893 .; she was a daughter of Elias and Lydia Newby, and the widow of the late Pearson Palmer. They lived together in "peace and harmony" until his death, March 7. 1903, aged eighty six years and four months.
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