USA > Indiana > Boone County > History of Boone County, Indiana : With biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of old families, Volume II > Part 37
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Dr. Williams is a member of the county, state and national medical associations, also the Mississippi Valley Medical Association and the Clinical
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Congress of Surgeons of North America, an organization where merit counts. He has been president of the Boone County Medical Association, and for the past three years has been councilor of the ninth district of the Indiana State Medical Association. He is frequently on the program of the meetings of the State Medical Association, also often called upon to read papers before various county medical societies.
Dr. Williams was married March 31, 1891, to Cora C. Morgan, a daugh- ter of Edwin and Amy Morgan, of Hamilton county, where Mrs. Williams grew to womanhood and was educated. To our subject and wife one child was born, that died in infancy. Dr. and Mrs. Williams are members of the Christian church, and stand high in the best circles of Lebanon. The Doctor is deserving of a great deal of credit for what he has accomplished, for he is a self-made man, having won his own way up from an humble beginning. He is owner of valuable farming lands and has stock in several financial institutions and is one of our substantial citizens.
JACOB PERKINS.
To attain a worthy citizenship by a life that is always honored and re- spected even from childhood deserves more than mere mention. It is no easy task to resist the many temptations of youth and plant a character in the minds and hearts of associates that will remain an unstained figure for all time. One may take his place in public life through a sheer vigorous stroke of public policy, and even remain in the hearts of friends and neighbors, but to take the same position by dint of the practice of an upright life and without a craving for exaltation and popularity, is worthy of the highest praise and commendation. The late Jacob Perkins, one of the sturdy pioneer business men of Lebanon, who was well known throughout Boone county for many years, was a man respected and honored, not because of the vigorous training of any special talents, but because of his daily life, which was above criticism. Strong and forceful in his relations with his fellow men, he not only made his presence felt, but also gained the good will of both his associates and the general public, ever retaining his reputation among men for integrity and high character, no matter how trying the circumstances, and never losing
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that dignity which is the true birthright of the model gentleman. Conse- quently Mr. Perkins' influence for good in the upbuilding of Lebanon and vicinity was of no little factor, and it still continues, although the material man has been engulfed in "the inevitable hour," which awaits all that is mortal, and he will long be sadly missed from the various circles in which he moved.
Mr. Perkins was born in Rush county, Indiana, December 22, 1816. He was a son of Jehu and Elizabeth Perkins, and he grew to manhood and re- ceived his education in his native community. In 1838 the family came to Boone county and settled in the woods, clearing and developing a farm by industry and perseverance. Our subject began life as a farmer, which he continued until 1853 when he moved to Lebanon and opened a tavern, which he operated about ten years, his hotel being popular with the traveling public. He then resumed farming, which he followed the rest of his life.
Jacob Perkins was married about 1832 to Eliza McIlwaine, who was born August 1, 1816, who proved a worthy helpmeet in every respect and shared the trials of pioneer life and here aided to rear their family and passed to her reward several years prior to her husband's death.
Jacob Perkins was first a Whig, later a Douglas Democrat in politics. He belonged to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Sons of Temperance and was a member of the Baptist church. The death of Mr. Perkins occurred in 1881.
What was said in the opening paragraph of this article was equally ap- plicable to Jacob Anderson Bechtell, also now deceased. He was born at Bellbrake, Ohio, April 9, 1834, and was a son of William and Nancy (Daugherty) Bechtell. He grew to manhood in his native community and there received such educational advantages as the pioneer schools afforded, and in 1855 he came to Boone county and followed cabinet making, in which he was an expert workman, until his death. He also engaged in undertaking. being the first undertaker in Lebanon. In this enterprise he was assisted by his wife, who proved to be very efficient. He designed and made his first hearse. He was successful as a business man and owned considerable valu- able property at his death, which occurred February 28, 1895. Politically, he was a Republican. He belonged to the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, and in religious matters was a Methodist.
Mr. Bechtell was married December 16, 1858, to Evaline A. Perkins.
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who was born July 4, 1838, a daughter of Jacob and Eliza (McIlwaine) Perkins, early settlers of Boone county. To Mr. and Mrs. Bechtell the fol- lowing children were born: Frank, whose birth occurred May 31, 1860. died in 1900; Nettie, born July 20, 1862, is the widow of John Welch: Nellie, born November 15, 1867, is at home; Lettie, born January 27, 1872, is the wife of Len Titus of Lebanon; Katie, born September 20, 1874, is the wife of C. Norwood, of Indianapolis: William W., born August 2. 1865, died December 18, 1910: Fred, born July 16, 1880, lives in Springfield, Illinois.
DR. A. F. NELSON.
The most elaborate history is perforce a merciless abridgment, the histo- rian being obliged to select his facts and materials from manifold details and to marshal them in concise and logical order. This applies to specific as well as generic history, and in the former category is included the interesting and important department of biography. In every life of honor and usefulness there is no dearth of interesting situations and incidents, and in summing up such a career as that of Dr. A. F. Nelson, skilled and widely known veterinary physician, the writer must need touch only on the more salient facts, giving the keynote of the character and eliminating all that is superfluous to the continuity of the narrative. The gentleman whose name appears above has led an active and useful life. not entirely void of the exciting, but the more prominent have been so identified with the useful and practical that it is to them almost entirely that the writer refers in the following paragraphs.
Dr. Nelson was born March 15, 1869, in Boone county, Indiana. He is a son of Thomas J. and America Alice ( Leak) Nelson. The father was born in Jackson township, this county, in 1838, and here he has devoted his life to farming and is still residing. His wife, who was a native of Hendricks county, Indiana, died when our subject was ten years old, he being the eldest of four children; the other three were named Odelia A., Ondis A. and Amanda Eldora.
John H. Nelson, the paternal grandfather, was born in Bracken county, Kentucky, which at that time was the home of Indians, who were then besieging the white settlers, and a brother of John H. Nelson was killed and scalped at the age of thirteen years, after the siege had been apparently
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raised. John H. and his brother Whitson finally left the "dark and bloody ground country" and came to Indiana, locating, first, near Greencastle, later removing to Boone county, locating in Jackson township, but Whitson estab- lished his permanent home in Marion county. Thus the Nelsons were among the early settlers in this locality and the name has been a familiar one for three-quarters of a century throughout this section of the state. To John H. and Mary Nelson four sons were born, namely: Jesse, Andrew, Thomas and John, also five daughters, Mrs. Elizabeth Heath, Mrs. Bathsheba David- son, Mrs. Nancy Chavers, Mrs. Patsy Coombs, and Mrs. Julia Wall. Only three of this family survive at this writing, Thomas J., father of our subject ; Mrs. Heath and Mrs. Chavers. John H. Nelson was a prominent man in this locality in the early days, and he at one time was representative from Boone county to the state legislature one term. He rode to the state capital on horseback, accompanied by G. W. Gibson, at that time a noted Indiana politician.
Thomas J. Nelson and America Alice Leak were married in June, 1868. and to them four children were born, namely: Amos F., subject of this sketch; Odelia A., now the widow of George H. Scott; Ondis A. was next in order; and Amanda Eldora, now Mrs. George Keaney. The death of the mother of the above named children occurred in December, 1879, and the father never remarried. His children were reared in different families. Amos F. went to live with his grandfather Lawrence Leak, with whom he remained until the latter's death. Shortly afterward he began working out and attending the public schools during the winter. He had a stanch friend in George K. Isley with whom our subject made his home during school days.
A. F. Nelson was married to Lenora E. Patterson, in March, 1888. She is a daughter of John B. and Hannah E. (Spohr) Patterson. These parents were from Montgomery county, Indiana, and are still living on a farm in Boone county, where they have ever been highly respected. To our subject and wife one child has been born, Elsie Fern Nelson, whose birth occurred June 9, 1889, and who was called from earthly scenes on October 27, 1896.
Dr. A. F. Nelson entered Chicago Veterinary College in the fall of 1899. later entered the Indiana Veterinary College in Indianapolis, from which he was graduated April 1, 1901, and in the fall of that year he re-entered Chi- cago Veterinary College, and was graduated from there in April, 1902. He
(61)
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successfully passed the civil service examination for veterinary inspector in the Bureau of Animal Industry, in June, 1902, and was appointed to this position on October Ist following. He gave eminent satisfaction in every respect, proving to be one of the most able and faithful men in the service, but after a year and a half of this work he resigned and located at Lebanon, Indiana, where he has since maintained an office and is enjoying a lucrative and constantly growing business, and he now ranks as one of the leading veterinarians in the state. For the past five years he has filled the chairs of clinical medicine and meat inspection at the Indiana Veterinary College in a manner that has reflected much credit upon his ability and to the eminent satisfaction of all concerned. For the past two years he has been secretary of the Indiana Veterinary Medical Association, and was appointed state veterinarian by Gov. Samuel M. Ralston, March 25, 1913. He has dis- charged the duties of this important office in a manner that has proven the wisdom of the governor in his selection.
Politically, Dr. Nelson has been loyal to the Democratic party since reaching his majority. However he has never been an office seeker, but he was elected a member of the city council of Lebanon, and served from January 1, 1910, to March 25, 1913, during which time he did much for the general improvement of the city, especially the second ward, which he represented.
Dr. Nelson is an assiduous student and keeps fully abreast of the times in all that pertains to his work. He is an obliging, unassuming and com- panionable gentleman whom it is a pleasure to meet.
MARTIN LEWIS.
It would be interesting to make a list of the old settlers of Boone county and to note what a large percentage of them came originally from North Carolina. Certainly no state in the South has done so much for us, having sent her best blood into the wilderness of the Hoosier state to clear it up and make room for advancing civilization. That they have done their work well goes without saying, and to be convinced of this one has only to take a cursory glance over the fertile, well developed farms of the county, and at our splen- did public buildings, for, while laboring for their own advancement, they
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have also helped the public enterprises in a general way. One of these hon- ored and venerable citizens, hailing from the Tar state, is Martin Lewis, a veteran of the great war of a half century ago and a man who can furnish much valuable and interesting information on the changes that have taken place in the land during the past three-quarters of a century, which, as all know, embraces the principal epoch, not only in the affairs of America, but of the world as well. This splendid old patriarch of Israel has passed his four score years, and yet, having lived such a wholesome and industrious life, clean and honorable in every respect, he finds himself enjoying tolerable health and now as the twilight shadows gather softly abou' him he finds him- self in the midst of plenty as a result of his earlier years of strenuous effort. and he can look backward with no qualms of conscience and forward with no fear.
Mr. Lewis was born in Stokes county, North Carolina, in 1821. He is a son of Daniel Lewis, whose father was a native of Germany. The mother of our subject was Frances Myers before her marriage, and she too, was a native of Stokes county, North Carolina. The great grandfather was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and was killed by an Indian spy, who wore a hog skin, thus being mistaken for a hog. Great-grandfather Myers was also a German. Daniel Lewis brought his family to Indiana overland, the journey requiring six weeks, and here he started life in a log cabin, like the rest of the pioneers, including Jacob Myers, who came at that period also. The former developed a farm of one hundred and fifty acres. His family consisted of nine children, namely: Mrs. Martha Anderson, Elizabeth is deceased; Nancy lives in Oklahoma; Martha lives near Royalton in Union township; John W. lives in Indianapolis; William died in that city; Mamie; Felix died when seventy-eight years old; and Martin of this review. The father of the above named children died at the age of seventy-seven years, and the mother died when eighty years old.
Martin Lewis was reared amid pioneer surroundings and he helped clear and develop the home farm, split rails and did such other hard work as fell to his lot. He received a meager education in the old time subscription schools, taught in log houses, with puncheon floor, open fire-place and greased paper for window panes. He was married in 1860 to Serena Causel, who has proved to be a faithful helpmeet for over a half century. She was born in
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Union county, Indiana, in 1841. Her people were early settlers in the above named county and there she grew to womanhood and received the usual edu- cation of those early days. Her father, S. Causel, was a native of Kentucky.
Mr. Lewis has lived a very active life and from being frugal and indus- trious has laid by a competence. In the fall of 1864 he enlisted in Company A, which formed a part of Colonel Gregory's regiment, and saw active service in Georgia and Tennessee, being mustered out at Nashville at the close of the war. He returned home and lived on a farm near Zionsville, but has lived a retired life for years. enjoying his old-time friends and the coming and going of his children. It is a well known fact that the latch string at his place hangs on the outside and genuine old-time hospitality is enjoyed within.
JAMES WILLIAM BATTERTON.
There is no class of men of whom the biographer likes to write about more than the old soldier or the pioneer and when he finds a subject who is both he feels that he cannot say too much of such a character, for it took bravery, fortitude, and many of the best elements that go to make a man to induce the youth to leave the old home and go to the seat of conflict and risk his life for his country's sake. Indeed, it took but little less courage for him to brave the wilderness, where lurked many an unseen foe and still more obstacles and hardships awaiting to be subdued before his humble home could rise and he could get established in a way that would insure his happi- ness and freedom from want through the years to come. It is doubtful if the young men of today, we of the second generation at least, would leave the pleasures of advanced civilization and go out to fight Indians, kill the snakes, cut down the giant forest trees, drain the swamps and do a thousand and one things that this worthy band had to do.
Mr. Batterton was born June 11, 1832, near Richmond, Madison county. Kentucky. He is a son of Gabriel and Mary (Karr) Batterton, both natives of the Blue Grass state also, the date of the father's birth being March 4. 1803, and that of the mother, March 2, 1808. They grew to maturity in their native locality and there were married, and continued to reside until 1832, when they removed with our subject, then an infant, to Shelby county,
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Indiana, arriving there on October 10th. There the parents established their home in the wilderness, cleared and developed a farm and endured the hard- ships incident to pioneer life, and there they remained until 1848 when they removed to Tipton county, where they spent the rest of their lives on a farm, the death of the father occurring about 1873 and the mother passed away about three years later. They were the parents of five children, only one of whom, James W., of this sketch, who was the third in order of birth is still living: the two eldest children were Mrs. Elizabeth Fisher and Jeremiah ; and the two youngest were Martha and Priscilla.
James WV. Batterton grew to manhood amid pioneer environments and he worked hard when a boy assisting his father with the general work of clearing and raising crops. He received a meager education in the old time log school house in his neighborhood in Shelby county. On July 28, 1862, he enlisted in Company B. Seventy-fifth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, under Captain Montgomery. He first went to Indianapolis, thence to Louisville, and he later saw much hard service, including the great battles of Chicka- manga, Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain and those of the memorable Atlanta campaign. He was in the Fourteenth Army Corps under General George M. Thomas, later was with Sherman in his march to the sea. His left arm was badly injured by a cannon ball, and he was sent to the hospital at Nashville, Tennessee, where his wife came and nursed him and saved his life. After his release from the hospital he was unfit for further service and was honorably discharged, May 21, 1865. He proved to be a faithful and gallant soldier, according to his comrades.
After his military career Mr. Batterton located in Clinton county, Indi- ana and turned his attention to farming, where he remained until his removal to Owen county, where he engaged in the mercantile business until 1882, when he came to Boone county, locating in Lebanon on the lot where he still resides, the said lot being sixty-two by one hundred and twenty-three feet, and on it now stands two good houses, one of which is kept rented, the other cozy and well kept dwelling is the home of our subject. After locating in this city he turned his attention to carpentering, which he followed for many years, becoming a very skilled workman, but he is now living retired.
Mr. Batterton was married June 14, 1853, to Lucinda Cooper, in Tipton county. She was born June 9. 1834, in Rush county. Indiana, and is a daugh-
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ter of John and Jane (King) Cooper. She grew to womanhood in her native community and received a common school education.
Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Batterton, namely: Jere- miah, born April 16, 1854; Mary J., born November 25, 1855; Emma A., born August 29, 1858, is deceased ; Charles S., born January 23, 1861, is de- ceased ; and Jessie M., born February 4, 1871.
Politically, Mr. Batterton is a Progressive. He belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic post at Lebanon, and fraternally is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Religiously, he belongs to the Baptist church, in which he has been a deacon for forty years, and he assisted in building the new church edifice in Lebanon, in fact, has long been one of the pillars in this church.
JAMES MONROE NICELY.
It is signally consonant that in this work be incorporated at least a brief resume of the life and labors of James Monroe Nicely, who has long ranked with the leading agriculturists and influential citizens of Boone county, where he has spent practically all of his industrious, useful and honorable life, being a connecting link between the present and the pioneer period in which he spent his childhood and of which he has many interesting reminiscences. Through his public-spirit and loyal efforts the village of Jamestown and sur- rounding locality have reaped lasting benefits. He is a man of exceptional foresight and is progressive in his business ideas, a man of forceful individu- ality and marked initiative power, he has been well equipped for the larger duties of life and for leadership in his community, while his probity of char- acter and his genial personality, obliging nature and every-day common sense have won and retained a very wide circle of friends.
Mr. Nicely was born on February 3, 1849, and is a son of Abram and Ann ( Sanderson) Nicely, the former a native of Tennessee and the latter of Indiana. Abram Nicely was left an orphan in early life and when young he left his native county and came to Boone county, Indiana, making his home with Isaac Shelly, with whom he remained a number of years, obtaining a limited education in the common schools the meanwhile. He and Ann San- derson were married in Wayne county, this state, and resided there a few
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years, removing to Boone county in 1852, and here bought one hundred and sixty acres in Jackson township, where they lived in true pioneer style in a log house. This land Abram Nicely cleared and developed into a good farm and in due course of time his log cabin was replaced by a substantial and com- modious residence, built in 1862-3 and which is still standing and in excellent repair. He was a man of industry and good judgment and he prospered through his close application and good management until he became owner of one of the finest farms in the township, consisting of four hundred and eighty acres, and here he spent the rest of his life, his death occurring July 16, 1893, his wife having preceded him to the grave in April, 1890. They were the par- ents of three children, namely : John S., who died when nineteen years of age; James Monroe of this sketch; and Margaret who married William Hostetter, who is deceased, and Mrs. Hostetter now lives in Lebanon, Indiana.
James M. Nicely grew to manhood on the home farm where he worked hard when a boy, remaining with his parents until he was twenty-six years of age. He secured a good education in the district schools and the Lebanon high school. In 1874 he married Mrs. Phronissa Hostetter, a native of Mont- gomery county, Indiana. Her death occurred in 1882. She was the mother of five children, namely ; Roy S., born December 2, 1876, married Carrie Em- mert, a native of Boone county ; they lived on the old homestead in the house built by his grandfather in the early sixties; Wayne M., born in 1878, is a Methodist minister, having charge of a church at this writing at Darlington, Indiana : he married Myrtle Porter, May 2, 1906, a native of Boone county ; Wayne M. Nicely received his early education at Jamestown and studied for the ministry at DePauw University, Greencastle, Indiana, and was graduated from that institution in 1903. Not long thereafter he was ordained and was given charge of a church at Veedersburg, this state, where he preached one year, then was sent to Culver, Indiana, where he had charge of a church for three years, then preached at Newport, Vermilion county, this state, two years, and at Flackville, Indiana, for three years, and he came to Darlington in 1913 where he has since remained. He has given eminent satisfaction in all his charges, being an excellent worker in the church as well as a splendid preacher. He and his wife have one child, Wayne Paul Nicely, who was born February 12, 1907. Glen H. Nicely, the third child of James M. Nicely and wife, died in early life ; two daughters also died in infancy, unnamed.
James M. Nicely remained on the farm with his father one year after
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his marriage, then moved into the old log cabin on the homestead in 1876, which was on the place when his father purchased it and it is still standing. Our subject was successful from the first as a farmer for himself and he sub- esquently purchased eighty acres of good land across the road from the old homestead, in Section 34, Jackson township. This land had considerable timber on it but he cleared it and soon had it under cultivation. About 1880 he erected a fine residence and has since lived on his present place. He inherited much of his father's sagacity as a man of affairs as well as his energy and good taste, and he has prospered as has few of his contempor- aries in the same vocation. He is now owner of some of the most productive and valuable farming lands in Boone county. He has two hundred and forty acres. all in Section 34, and also the old homestead consisting of an equal number of acres. He carries on general farming and stock raising on an ex- tensive scale and is a man of progressive ideas in reference not only to agri- culture but in public affairs as well, and he is in every way deserving of the large success that has come to him through his industry and honest dealings and also of the high esteem in which he is universally held.
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