USA > Indiana > Boone County > History of Boone County, Indiana : With biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of old families, Volume II > Part 21
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"'I want to mention a few acts of bravery performed by Mr. Swope. Early in 1862. at the battle of Mill Springs, his first baptism in battle, I dis- covered that he had the peculiar qualities for a good soldier. At Tullahoma, Tennessee, in June, 1862. Joe, with one or two other members of his com- pany, distinguished himself, in the heat of battle, by giving me some valuable information as to a flank movement of the enemy. Also at Perryville, Ken- tucky. 1863, while my company was making a night attack, he, in company with his comrades, performed a deed which gave the brigade commander
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very valuable information as to the position of the enemy. At Chickamauga Joe behaved himself most gallantly, and on Sunday, the twentieth, he per- formed services that were scarcely equaled in the annals of war. He was detailed, with Wiley Howard, to assist the wounded to the surgeons in the rear, and so well did they do that duty that all the wounded of my company were saved and got back to Chattanooga, and notwithstanding the fact that the army was much broken and scattered and many changes made in the lines, he came off the field that night with the remnant of his company. At Kenesaw Mountain he distinguished himself by standing out in a storm of shot and shell and greatly encouraged his comrades who were feeling blue. At Utah Creek, to the right of Atlanta, when we had charged up close to the Confederate works, and were short of ammunition, and it looked to be just as hazardous to go backward as forward, there came an order to send a man after ammunition. Well, the orderly sergeant raised up and said to the boys that he did not feel like detailing a man to go to death, and asked if any volunteer would go. After a brief pause, Joe informed him that he would go, and go he did, although his comrade that was helping him was knocked senseless by a shell in front of him, Joe returned to the company with the box of cartridges.' "
CHARLES W. SCOTT.
Charles W. Scott, ex-clerk of Boone county circuit court, Indiana, and an enterprising merchant of Lebanon, is of Scotch-Irish descent, and was born in Bellefontaine, Ohio, January 25, 1847, and was about five years of age when brought by his parents to Lebanon, Boone county, Indiana, where he attended the public schools until he reached the age of seventeen years, when, filled with patriotic ardor. he enlisted to assist in the preservation of the integrity of his beloved country in Company F, One Hundred and Thirty- fifth Indiana Volunteer Infantry for one hundred days, under Capt. R. A. Williamson. He was seized with chronic diarrhea, however, and for a time was confined in the hospital at Nashville, Tennessee, but served out the full time of his enlistment, nevertheless, and on his return home enlisted April I, 1865, in Company G, One Hundred and Fifty-fourth Indiana Infantry for
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one year. He was assigned to duty in the Shenandoah valley but was again attacked by his old disorder and was confined in the Federal hospital at Stephenson, Virginia, and then again at Cumberland, Maryland, and was sent thence to the general hospital at Claryville, Maryland, whence he went to Wheeling, West Virginia, where he was discharged under general orders in the fall of 1865. He returned home a constitutional wreck and for several months was unable to attend to business and even to this day his health is in a shattered condition. When he had sufficiently recuperated, he joined his father in the mercantile business, but in 1875 sold out his interest and engaged for one year in the jewelry trade, when he again sold out. For four years afterward he clerked for Wilson & Baker, merchants of Lebanon and then for five years was in the grocery business on the north side. In the fall of 1890, he was elected on the Democratic ticket, clerk of the Boone county cir- cuit court, and being a very popular man, received a very large majority and succeeded a Republican in the office.
Mr. Scott was married June 30, 1871, at Lima, Ohio, to Miss Lizzie Kiplinger, daughter of William S. and Mary (Thatcher) Kiplinger. This lady's father was a contractor and builder and constructed many of the best edifices in Lima. Four children have been born to the union of Mr. and Mrs. Scott and were named John William, Mary Lula, Wallace A. and May Queen, all of whom were born in Lebanon, Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Scott are members of the Methodist church and their daily walk through life shows the sincerity of their religious faith. Mr. Scott served his second term as commander of Rich Mountain Post, No. 42, Grand Army of the Republic, and has held all the chairs in Ben Adhem Lodge, No. 472, Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows; was also a member of the grand lodge and grand senior warden of the grand encampment of the same order; he is a member of the Independent Order of Red Men, Winnebago Tribe, No. 36, and has filled all the offices in his tribe; likewise is a member of the grand council. As a Knight of Pythias, he is a member of Lebanon Lodge, No. 45, and is, moreover, past chancellor of this order and a member of the grand lodge. Mr. Scott is now a resident of Warsaw, Indiana, where he has been living for several years.
The remote ancestors of Charles W. Scott came to America in the colonial days and settled in Pennsylvania. His grandfather, Samuel Scott, moved in his young days to Licking county, Ohio. He had married in
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Pennsylvania, Sarah Moore, who bore him five children: Elizabeth J., Joseph, John M., James M. and Sarah C. The third child in the above family, John M., was born in Licking county, Ohio, in 1824, and married in Hardin, Ohio, April 19, 1846. Mary A. Blue, daughter of Barnabas and Mary ( Hilliard) Blue, the result of which union was seven children, viz: Charles W .. whose name opens this sketch; Edward I ..; Flora G .: Amanda; Harry B., who died at the age of fourteen years; Hattie, and Lizzie, who died in infancy. Of this family the three first named were born in Ohio and the re- maining four in Lebanon, Indiana. His great grandfather, Joseph Scott, was born in Ireland, coming to this country when a young man. His great
grandmother. - (Curry) Scott, was born in Scotland and also came to America in an early day and settled with her parents in Pennsylvania, near her to-be future husband. His grandfather, Samuel Scott, moved in his younger days to Licking county, Ohio, having previously been married to Sarah Moore in Pennsylvania. His grandfather, Barnabas Blue, was born near Harper's Ferry, Virginia, and moved when a boy with his father to Miami county, Ohio, and settled near the present city of Piqua. Mary ( Hilliard) Blue was born and reared in and near Cincinnati, Ohio, until fifteen years of age, when her father moved to what is the city of Piqua. Ohio, but at that time the present thriving city consisted of one log cabin which was occupied by a French family.
James M. Scott was apprenticed when fifteen years of age to Mr. Knapp, of Bellefontaine, Ohio, to learn the tailoring trade, his father's con- tract with Mr. Knapp being that he was to serve until twenty-one years of age and then he was to receive one good suit of jeans clothes and a Bible. After passing four or five years in Logan and Shelby counties, Ohio, he came to Lebanon, Indiana, in 1852 and opened a dry goods store, which he con- ducted for many years and became one of the best known business men of Boone county. Between 1854 and 1856 he was postmaster of the city, an office he filled to the entire satisfaction of the public. He took a leading part in the building of the Missionary Baptist church in the city, his wife being an ardent member of this denomination. In politics he was a Jacksonian Deniocrat, but was a stanch supporter of the Union cause during the late Civil war, giving his only son old enough to enlist, Charles W., to the service of the Union cause. Mr. Scott was always active in the promotion of the best interests of the city of Lebanon and erected some of its finest business
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blocks, among them, in company with G. W. Baird, the marble front on the corner of Lebanon and Main streets. He took an active interest in educa- tional matters and in everything else that led to the public welfare. The business firms with which he was connected were Scott & Mclaughlin, Scott & Baird, Scott & Daily and Scott & Son. His death took place August 31, 1877, but his widow survived until August 2. 1887 and in their demise Leb- anon sustained a severe loss.
WILLIAM WALLACE MILLIKAN.
There could be no more comprehensive history written of a community or even of a state and its people, than that which deals with the life work of those, who, by their own endeavor and indomitable energy, have placed themselves where they well deserve the title of "progressive," and in this sketch will be found the record of one who has outstripped the less active plodders on the highway of life, one who has not been subdued by the many obstacles and failures that come to every one, but who has made them step- ping stones to higher things and at the same time that Mr. Millikan was winning his way to the front in business affairs he was gaining a reputation for uprightness and honor. He is one of the most widely known harness dealers in this section of the state, still maintaining a shop which his father established at Thorntown three-quarters of a century ago, and although he is well past his allotted three score and ten years he is actively and success- fully engaged in the work that has claimed his attention since boyhood. He is one of the worthy native sons of Boone county, in fact, is perhaps the old- est native-born citizen in the vicinity of Thorntown. Having had the sagacity to foresee the great future of this locality, he wisely decided to spend his life on his native soil. rather than seek uncertain fortune else- where, and he has thus been identified with the growth of the same and has played well his part in its development along all lines.
William Wallace Millikan was born in Thorntown, this county, August 21, 1839. He is a son of Allen and Elizabeth (Gapen) Millikan. The father was a native of North Carolina, from which state he came with his parents, Jonathan Millikan and wife to Indiana in an early day, the parents
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locating in Parke county, where they spent the rest of their lives. The maternal grandparents, Zachariah Gapen and wife, were among the earliest settlers of Thorntown, he having come here from Tennessee where he was born. After he located here he conducted a tannery.
The parents of the subject of this sketch were married in Thorntown and here the father established a harness shop in 1838 and here he followed harness and saddle-making until 1863, when his son was admitted into part- nership. The business was a success from the first and it continued to grow with advancing years, patrons coming from all over this section of the state. He remained actively engaged until his death April 13, 1880. He was a skilled workman and an honest and industrious man. The last ten years of his life, however, were spent looking after his farm in Sugar Creek township. After his death his son purchased his interest in the harness business.
William W. Millikan grew up in the harness and saddlery business, having begun working in his father's shop when a boy, attending the common schools in his native town during the winter months. This is the only busi- ness of its kind in Thorntown. Our subject has added to the harness and saddlery department, trunks, bags, suit-cases, satchels, buggies, etc., having one of the largest, most modernly appointed and important establishments of its kind in this part of the state and a large and lucrative trade is carried on over a wide arid ever-growing territory. there continuing a great demand for his products owing to their superiority in quality and workmanship and honesty and promptness in supplying the market.
Mr. Millikan was married November 19, 1868 to Sarah Brown, who was born at LaFayette, Indiana. She was educated in the common schools. She is a daughter of George and Margaret (Swail) Brown, the former a native of northern Ireland and the mother of Scotland. The following chil- dren have been born to our subject and wife: John, who lives in Indian- apolis ; Mrs. Jessie Negley of Susitna, Alaska, where her husband is engaged in merchandising and is the postmaster; Raymond is a traveling salesman and retains Thorntown as his home; Ralph is engaged in business with- his father : William died in infancy.
Politically, Mr. Millikan is a Progressive and while he has never been especially active as a politician, has exerted considerable influence in local public affairs. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church. Fraternally, he belongs to the Masonic order, including the various degrees
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1tp to and including that of the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, Murat Temple, Indianapolis. He has attained the thirty-second de- gree in this time honored order. His son, Raymond, is also a member of the Shrine in Masonry and is a Knights Templar in the same order and a Scottish Rite. Another son, John, is also a member of the Masonic lodge at Thorntown and Scottish Rite and Shrine at Indianapolis.
DOMINICK A. ENDRES.
One of the thrifty, careful German farmers of Boone county is Dominick A. Endres, of Center township, who is now living in retirement. He is a man who believed in doing his work well and never permitting the grass to grow under his feet. He was not only a very careful tiller of the soil, but also understood stock raising, looking carefully not only to the selection of live stock but to the feeding. watering, salting, stabling and the best time of mar- keting. It is true that the best farmers study the market quotations of stock in the principal cities, and by so doing very often receive the reward of their watchfulness in a much more satisfactory price for their products as well as those of the stock yards. Our subject managed thus not only to get good grades of live stock, but also to get the best prices, and he. therefore, has established a very comfortable home and has a good farm, which was so well managed that abundant harvests were reaped from year to year as a result of his vigilance and good management. But anyone with energy should succeed at farming in Boone county, for here nature has generously bestowed her attractions of climate, soil and scenery to please and gratify man while earning his bread by the "sweat of his brow." Being thus munifi- cently endowed, this locality offers superior inducements to the farmer. and bids him enter her domain and avail himself of her resources.
Mr. Endres was born in Germany in the year 1851. He is a son of Dominick and Kunegunda (Baunach) Endres, both natives of Germany, where they grew to maturity and were married and there resided until 1866. The father was born in 1820 and the mother in 1823. The father learned the cabinet maker's trade when a boy, which he followed in the Fatherland until emigrating with his family to the United States in 1866, when he located
DOMINICK A. ENDRES AND FAMILY
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in Illinois on a farm on which he and his wife spent the rest of their lives, both being long since deceased. Their family consisted of five children, all born in Germany, namely: Dominick A., of this sketch; Frank is married and is farming in Kansas; Willibald is married and lives in Kankakee, Illi- nois, where he is working at the machinist's trade; Fred has remained single and is engaged in the contracting business in Illinois; Mrs. Kunegunda K. Dimmig lives in Iowa and is the wife of a retired farmer.
The subject of this review spent his early boyhood in Germany, being fifteen years of age when he removed with the rest of the family to America. He received his education in the public schools, and worked on the home farm in Illinois for a number of years, coming from that state to Indiana in 1908 and locating in Washington township, Boone county, purchasing three hundred acres of land, known as the Anthony Beck farm, which he operated about three years, then bought seventy-seven acres more just across the road and adjoining his place. Here he farmed on an extensive scale and prospered until 1912, when, having accumulated a handsome competency, he retired from active work and moved to Lebanon, purchasing the Henrietta Fall home, locating a mile north of the city, just outside of the corporation line and here he has since resided, merely overseeing his farm in a general way. He has greatly improved his place by tiling, fencing and erecting buildings.
Mr. Endres was married in 1882 to Maria Sendlebach, who was born in Germany and there reared and educated. She had been the childhood sweetheart of Mr. Endres and she made the long trip from her native land in 1882 to Chatsworth, Illinois, where they were married upon her arrival, our subject being located at that place at that time. They had been born in the same community, were reared as neighbors and were schoolmates. The date of her birth was August 24, 1857.
To our subject and wife eight children have been born, namely: William is married and is renting the seventy-seven acres of his father's farm, which land the road separates from the larger place; Joseph is married and rents the home place of three hundred acres; Theodore is single and is working for his brother Joseph; Philip is single and lives at home with his parents and attends high school in Lebanon; Mary is single and lives at home; Elizabeth married William R. Stewart and lives in Lebanon; Rosa is the youngest and is also a member of the family circle; one child died in early life.
Politically, Mr. Endres is a Democrat, and he and his family are
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Roman Catholics in their religious affiliations and are faithful to the mother church. This is one of Boone county's worthiest and most highly respected families.
FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS WITHAM.
That life is the most useful and desirable that results in the greatest good to the greatest number, and, although all do not reach the heights to which they aspire, yet in some measure each can win success and make life a bless- ing to his fellow men. It is not necessary for one to occupy eminent public positions to do so, for in the humbler walks of life there remains much good to be accomplished and many opportunities for the exercise of talents and influence, that in some way will touch the lives of those with whom we come in contact making theni better and brighter. In the list of Boone county's useful, helpful, successful and honored citizens, Flavius Josephus Witham, has for a period of forty-five years occupied a prominent place and during that long period he has been of much assistance in promoting the general wel- fare of his locality and his individual efforts have been crowned with pro- nounced results, so that he is deserving of our esteem in view of the fact that he is a good citizen, a gallant veteran of the Union army, and a fine type of the self-made man, having forged his way to the front from an early environment none too auspicious. In his record there is much that is com- mendable and his career forcibly illustrates what a life of energy can ac- complish when plans are wisely laid and actions are governed by right prin- ciples, noble aims, and high ideals. His actions have ever been the result of conscientious thought, and when once convinced that he is right, no suggestion of policy or personal profit can swerve him from the course he has decided upon. He has the reputation of doing his full duty in all the relations of life, and he is thus entitled to the high respect which is universally accorded him.
Mr. Witham, one of the most progressive and scientific agriculturists this section of Indiana has ever known, was born in Warren county, Ohio, August 17, 1843. He is a son of William and Mercy (Eaton) Witham, the father a native of the same county and state as our subject, but the mother was born in New Jersey. William Witham was born January 11, 1801, and died in Ohio, November 14, 1865; his wife was born May 6, 1803, and died April 30.
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1879. They were married in Ohio on April 24, 1823, the Eaton family having removed to the Buckeye state when our subject's mother was young in years. The paternal grandfather, Robert Witham and his brother, Norris, came from the state of Maine and located in Warren county, Ohio, about the year 1779, being thus among the early pioneers of that state. They were both young men, but courageously braved the dangers of Indians, wild beasts and a wilderness, and developed farms, married and reared their families in the new country west of the Alleghanies, which was at that period little known to- the people of the New England states. These brothers did much to forward the march of civilization on the frontier, were honest, hard working and suc- cessful citizens, and there they both died, grandfather Witham reaching the advanced age of eighty-seven years.
William Witham, father of our subject, devoted his life successfully to general farming in Warren county, Ohio, and his family consisted of the following children, nine in number: Sarah, born March II, 1824, married Henry I. Bennett, were early pioneers of Boone county, Indiana, and are both now deceased ; William H., born August 19, 1825, married Maria Scofield, who is living in Hamilton county, Ohio, he being deceased ; Mary A., born December 27, 1827, married James F. Downing, were early settlers of Boone county, and are both now deceased; Rebecca, born August 6, 1830, married John Morgan, spent most of their lives in Ohio, but lived several years in Lebanon, Indiana, and are now both deceased; Robert, born October 15, 1832, went west in 1853 with the gold seekers of that period and nothing has ever been heard of him since, although he is believed to be alive and still in the far west ; Sylvester, born February II, 1835, a soldier in the Civil war, serving in the cavalry known in history as "Merrill's Horse," and was killed by a sharpshooter, August 6, 1862; Ennis, born October 17, 1836, came to Boone county with the subject of this sketch, his brother, in 1869, became owner of three hundred and sixty acres of fine land in Clinton township, was a highly honored citizen, remained single and died here in November, 1911; Martha E., born October 27, 1838, died February 16, 1851 ; Flavius Josephus, of this. review is the youngest of the family and is the only one now living, unless Robert is still alive.
Flavius J. Witham grew up on the home farm in Ohio and there did his share of the work when a boy. He was compelled to work his way through school and is a self-educated man for the most part, and has remained a wide
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reader and close observer all his life, being thus an exceptionally well informed man. He remained at home until his marriage, with the exception of his service in the army, the date of his wedding being August 31. 1865, and his bride was known in her maidenhood as Mary L. Duvall, who was born Decem- ber 25, 1846, in Ohio, and is a daughter of Jacob L. and Nancy E. (Jackson) Duvall, natives of Ohio and Maryland, respectively, but were married in the former state, where they spent their lives engaged in farming and there died. honored and respected by their neighbors and friends. They were the parents of twelve children, nine of whom are still living, all still residents of Ohio except John A. Duvall, of Clinton township. Boone county: Jacob, who lives near Ft. Wayne; Mrs. Martha Bennett, who makes her home with the subject of this sketch, and Mrs. Mary L. Witham.
Mr. Witham moved to Boone county, Indiana, in the fall of 1869, and purchased seventy-nine acres, partly cleared, and on this he built a small shack. improved the land and six years later, in 1877, built a splendid brick residence in which he still lives. He ditched his land and he and his brother, Ennis. having purchased timbered land adjoining, assisted him in clearing and de- veloping it, sold and worked up the timber in various ways and they both prospered with advancing years. Our subject, by the exercise of good judg- ment, wise foresight and hy close application and good management, became one of the most successful and prominent farmers in the county. He added to his original holdings from time to time until he is now owner of two hun- dred and twenty acres, all in Clinton township, which he has placed under a high state of cultivation and improvement, making it one of the choice farms of the county and on it is to be seen numerous commodious and convenient outbuildings, in fact, everything about the place denotes thrift, good manage- ment and prosperity. Formerly he was an extensive hog raiser and still feeds considerable live stock for the market. Having accumulated a handsome competency and old age coming on, although he is yet hale and active, he merely oversees his large farming interests, having some time ago practically retired from business life. He keeps most of his land rented. He is a heavy stockholder in the Lexington Life Insurance Company of Lebanon, also has large investments in the Building and Loan Company of Lebanon. He was one of the first stockholders of the Rural Loan Association of Boone county, was also a stockholder of the old First National Bank of Kirklin, Clinton county, Indiana.
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