USA > Indiana > Carroll County > History of Carroll County Indiana, its people, industries and institutions > Part 50
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William Knettle was united in marriage, December 26, 1894. to Naomi Smoyer, daughter of Frederick Smoyer. She was born in Carrollton town- ship, Carroll county, and received a good education at the public schools of the district. This union has been blessed with one child, Frederick, born August 25, 1903, and is now in the sixth grade at school.
Mr. and Mrs. Knettle are kind. affable people, and have the pleasure of a warm place in the estimation of all who know them.
GEORGE W. SHIRAR.
The greatness of a community or state depends not so much on the machinery of government or institutions, as upon the sterling qualities of individual citizens and their capacity for unselfish efforts and devotion to good work. The venerable George W. Shirar who reached the ripe old age of ninety years on October 15, 1915, and who may be regarded as one of the pioneers of Carroll county, Indiana, during his long life has stood steadfastly for the right and has remained an invincible foe of the wrong. He is now a retired farmer living on route No. 2 out of Bringhurst, Indiana, and now owns a farm of fifty-four acres in Burlington township.
Mr. Shirar was born in Adams township, Muskingum county. Ohio, on October 15, 1825, and is the son of David and Lydia (Gormer) Shirar,
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both of whom are natives of the Keystone state. David Shirar came to Ohio when a lad of twelve years and after his marriage in the Buckeye state emigrated on November 19, 1846, to Carroll county, where he spent the rest of his life. Nine children were born to David and Lydia (Gormer) Shirar, of whom Levi married Salind Albaugh; Thomas married Sarah Plank; Elizabeth married Israel Plank; George W. is the subject of this sketch; Peter married Sarah Lowman; Mary J. married John Q. Cline, and they live in Carroll county; Charles married Lucinda Barnard; Lewis gave up his life in defense of his country during the Civil War; Rebecca A. married Eli Shaffer.
Twenty years old when he emigrated to Carroll county on October 15, 1845, George W. Shirar lived in Carroll county until the next spring, when he returned to Ohio to assist his father on the farm. After his father had held the sale, the household goods were loaded on a wagon and the trip overland from Ohio to Indiana was made by wagon. The family arrived in Carroll county on November 19, 1846, when George W. Shirar was twenty-one years old. He remained at home with his father, having taken a contract to drain the land at forty-five cents per rod, subsequently cultivating the home place, until the spring of 1847, after which for some time he worked for a neighboring farmer. Later, he bought forty acres of land and cleared and improved it.
On March 21, 1850, George W. Shirar was married to Susanna Craig, a native of the Old Dominion state, born on September 4, 1829, who at the age of ten years came with her parents to Carroll county, where she grew up to womanhood. Some time after his marriage, Mr. Shirar traded his forty acres of land for eighty acres which his father had owned. He now has fifty-four acres.
Mr. and Mrs. George W. Shirar have had ten children, six of whom are now living, as follow: George F., Lydia, Israel, Mary J., Charles A., and Eli S. All of the children have been married. George W. is a well- known farmer.
Mr. Shirar has been a member of the Lutheran church all his life, hav- ing joined the church in Ohio. In 1848 he transferred his membership to Camden, Indiana, and has been active in church work and has been a liberal supporter of religious enterprises all his life. He has served as an elder in the church and is today one of its oldest members. His wife also became a member of the same church on February 23, 1852, under Rev. McReynolds. Formerly he was a member of the Grange. Mr. Shirar
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voted for Abraham Lincoln in 1860, and has voted the Republican ticket ever since. He is devotedly attached to the party of Lincoln and to its platforms and candidates.
GEORGE WAGONER.
To write the personal record of men who have raised themselves from humble circumstances to positions of trust in a community, is no ordinary pleasure. Self-made men, men who have achieved success by reason of their personal qualities and who have left the impress of their individuality upon the business development of their home community, perform an inval- uable service and unwittingly, perhaps, build monuments more enduring than marble obelisks or granite shafts. Such a man is George Wagoner, a retired farmer of Flora, Indiana, who removed to the town in October, 1912, and now lives on East Columbia street. Mr. Wagoner was born in Carrollton township, Carroll county, Indiana, on February 19, 1846, and is the son of Martin and Rosam (Martin) Wagoner, the former of whom was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. Martin Wagoner was the father of twelve children, five sons of whom were living in 1915. The fam- ily originally consisted of six daughters and six sons. Of the living chil- dren, Isaac N. is a farmer in Carroll county; Henry C. is a resident of Flora; George is the subject of this sketch; David M. is a farmer in Car- roll county, and William F. resides in Flora.
George Wagoner spent his boyhood days on the home farm, attending the district schools of the neighborhood. Generally speaking, he worked on the farm during the summer and attended the schools during the winter, until about eighteen years old. He remained at home until reaching his majority.
When he was twenty-one years old, Mr. Wagoner took the lease of twenty acres of land to clear for four crops. This proved to be a very profitable experiment and afterwards he and his brother Henry took another lease of Mr. Barber of twenty acres, which Mr. Wagoner subsequently purchased. With Henry he bought eighty acres of land, and afterwards traded his interest in the home place for forty acres of this tract. He acquired further land and he now owns a magnificent farm of one hundred and sixty-five acres and one which is highly productive, and also has prop- erty in Flora.
On October 4, 1873, George Wagoner was married to Sarah E. Cook.
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who was born in Carroll county, in 1853, and whose father was Hezekiah Cook. Mrs. Wagoner was reared in the same neighborhood as her husband and they knew each other from childhood.
To Mr. and Mrs. Wagoner have been born four children, namely : Edward D., who is a physician and surgeon at Burrows, Indiana; Stella M. is a graduate of the Wheeling schools and the wife of K. R. Flora, and the mother of five children; Roscoe married Roxie Barnard and lives in Mon- roe township; Edith M. is unmarried and lives at home with her parents.
Mr. and Mrs. George Wagoner are members of the Presbyterian church. Mr. Wagoner is one of the trustees and is an active member and one of the most liberal supporters of the church. Politically, he belongs to the Prohibition party, being an implacable foe of the liquor traffic and an ardent believer in temperance.
JAMES L. SHUEY.
In these days of competition and business strife, it is only the "hustler" who wins out, and it is to this class belongs the subject of this sketch. Although still in the prime of life, James L. Shuey has so ably managed his agricultural interests that he is enabled to reap the fruits of his labors at an age far earlier than that of the average farmer. Making up his mind at the beginning of his career to make "short work of a bad bargain," he not only took advantage of every opportunity for advancement, but he saw to it that opportunities were standing two rows deep, waiting to be pre- sented.
James L. Shuey, farmer, Rockfield, Rock Creek township, Carroll county, was born on August 15, 1868, in Champaign county, Illinois, and is a son of Daniel and Jerusha (Ply) Shuey. His father died when he was but four years old. He was reared in Carroll county, Indiana, attended the public schools at Rockfield, and when he arrived at manhood's estate, he was absolutely without funds, but his makeup had the ring of the true metal, and he is now enabled to wave the flag of victory in the face of adversity, owning a fine tract of one hundred and three acres of land, all in a splendid state of cultivation.
Mr. Shuey gives his support to the Republican party, in which he has been active for many years, while religiously, he is a member of the Chris- tion church at Rockfield, where he serves as one of the deacons. Frater- nally, he is a member of Rockfield Lodge No. 301, Independent Order of
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Odd Fellows, of which he is past grand, and the encampment past chief patriarch. He was elected trustee of his township in 1914, and is still serv- ing in that capacity, taking a deep interest in the advancement of his com- munity.
Daniel Shuey, father of James L., was born in Wabash county, Indi- ana, and his wife, Jerusha (Ply) Shuey, was born in the same state. They moved at an early date to Champaign county, Illinois, but returned to Wabash county, and at a later date, moved to Carroll county. His death occurred in Illinois.
James L. Shuey was united in marriage to Ella Smith, daughter of Ephraim Smith. She was born in Carroll county, receiving her education at the public schools. This union has been blessed with three children, Ethel, who was united in marriage with Bert Hayes, and lives in Washing- ton township, Cass county, Indiana; Myrtle is a high school student, and Irma.
Mr. Shuey is held in high esteem as a desirable citizen in the commun- ity in which he resides. His pleasant home is located a quarter of a mile north of Rockfield, Indiana.
GEORGE SMALL.
Responding to the call of the West, the lure of the farther boundaries, James Small, a grandson of James Small, who was a soldier of the Ameri- can Revolution, left his ancestral home in Jackson, Washington county, New York, in 1832, and walking ever westward, over mountain and valley and plain, came to Carroll county and here he found what his eyes had been seeking-a land very promising and good to look upon. Entering his claim to two hundred and twenty acres of the fine hard-timber land in section I, at the northern edge of Adams township. in this county, he turned his face to the east and walked back to his home in New York state, taking a good report of what he had found back in Indiana. Seeking a companion to share the good fortune which he confidently believed awaited him in the West, the next spring, on March 19, 1833, James Small was united in mar- riage to Sarah Nelson, a daughter of Simon and Lucy (Stockwell) Nelson, and a cousin of Samuel Nelson, justice of the New York supreme court, and on May I they left New York, proceeding by lake and canal to Peru, Indiana, at that time the head of canal navigation, where they bought a small boat and putting their furniture into it sailed down the Wabash to a
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point about two and one-half miles south of the farm which had been entered the year before and presently had their home established in Adams township. Their first home was a log cabin, but when gradually the rough edges of pioneer living had been smoothed somewhat, this humble home gave way to a more pretentious and commodious dwelling, built throughout of finished walnut, the lumber for which was sawed from the giant walnut trees with which the homestead tract abounded; and that house is standing today, its timbers as firm as on the day they were laid. There James Small and his wife spent the rest of their lives and the home they erected with such scrupulous care is still in the family, being occupied today by George Small, their eldest child and only son, the subject of this biographical sketch, who celebrated with his good wife, the sixtieth anniversary of his marriage on November 22, 1915.
When James Small settled in Adams township there were no roads in that region and the few inhabitants marked their ways by making gashes on the trees-"'blazing" their way. Lurking in the depths of those magnifi- cent forests, the big gray wolves were plentiful. Out of this deep forest of walnut and hickory, beech and maple and giant oak, James Small cut his farm, burning the timber which, if available now, would be worth a fortune. This pioneer found hardships and difficulties which, to the present genera- tion no doubt would seem insuperable, but strong arms and a stout heart prevailed and a place was made for the coming generations. James Small was among the foremost and most honored pioneers of that section. He brought to the forest wilderness practical Yankee knowledge and experience which his widely separated neighbors soon learned to rely on, and it is undoubted that his influence in that community did very much toward bring- ing about proper conditions of social and economic life in the formative period of the now prosperous and established farming region. He and the woman who was ever at his side, a true pioneer helpmate, long have lain in the Idaville cemetery, resting well after the stern labors which their hands found to do. and the fourth generation of their descendants in that com- munity finds conditions of living immeasurably easier for their having striven-"blazing the way."
James Small was born in Jackson, Washington county, New York, on March 19, 1805, the eldest of the six children of George and Janet ( Lourie) Small. both natives of that same county. George Small, born on March 3, 1782, was the second son of James and Ann ( Beveridge) Small, both na- tives of Scotland, who came to America in 1774, settling in Cambridge, Washington county, New York, where they were later married. James
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Small was born in County Perth in 1749, son of William and Anne (Stew- art) Small, and Ann Beveridge was born in Strathmiglo, Fifeshire, in 1755, daughter of George and Janet (Lourie) Beveridge. Her brother, Andrew Beveridge, was the grandfather of Gen. John Lourie Beveridge, former gov- ernor of the state of Illinois, and a cousin of the great-grandfather of former United States Senator Albert J. Beveridge, of Indiana. James Small served in the patriot army during the Revolutionary War as a member of Colonel Van Woert's Regiment ( Sixteenth Albany County ) New York Militia. He died on August 13, 1827, and his widow died on June 10, 1830.
James Small, the Carroll county pioneer, grandson of the patriot sol- dier, whose name he bore, was united in marriage on October 19, 1826, in Argyle, Washington county, New York, to Mary Livingston Robertson, daughter of Gilbert and Elizabeth (Dow) Robertson, and to this union one child was born, a son, Gilbert, born on February 7, 1828, whose mother died eight days later. Reared by his maternal grandparents, Gilbert Small was educated for the ministry and in 1849 was graduated from Union Col- lege. After preaching for a time in the East, the Rev. Gilbert Small became pastor of the United Presbyterian church at North Liberty. Ohio. remain- ing there two years, during which time he was united in marriage, Febru- ary 24, 1857, to Helen A. Munroe, who died on April 23, 1858, leaving a daughter, Mary Livingston, who died in her twentieth year. In 1858 Rev. Gilbert Small became pastor of the United Presbyterian church at Indian- apolis, and on November 3, of that same year, married, secondly, Frances A. Garrett, to which union four children were born, namely: Dr. Harry E., who married Anna Lisk and who died at Detroit, Michigan, on May 9, 1913, leaving one daughter. Cecile Livingston; William R. and Albert G. (twins). of Indianapolis, the former of whom married Ella L. Childs and has one son, Gilbert, and the latter of whom married Mary O. Allen and has two children, Donald G. and Vivien A., the latter of whom married Henry Holt, Jr., and has a daughter, Eleanor V., and Stella R., who married John A. MacArthur, of Albany, New York, and has two children, William R. and Frances G.
For nine years Rev. Gilbert Small was engaged in the gospel ministry at Indianapolis, at the end of which time, in the fall of 1867, he moved to Idaville, a pleasant village just north of the Carroll county line, in White county. near which place his father had located years before, and where was then the largest numerically organized congregation of United Presby- terians in the state of Indiana. For thirteen years he served as pastor of that church and then, securing dismission from the United Presbyterian
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communion, transferred his connection to the Presbyterian church and for years supplied vacancies in pulpits not too remote from his home in Ida- ville, three of these charges having been those at Burrows, Rockfield and Rockcreek, in this county. His wife died on April 27, 1887, and on May 23, 1888, he married Mrs. Emma Buchanan Sanderson, who survives him, his death having occurred at his home in Idaville on July 20, 1904.
As set out in a previous paragraph, James Small married, secondly, Sarah Nelson, his constant helpmate during their years of residence in this county, and to this union three children were born, as follow: George, born on June 2, 1834; Mary Ann, January 25, 1836, and Janet, March 12, 1839. James Small died on April 15, 1864, and his widow survived him many years, her death not occurring until May 10, 1886.
George Small, the immediate subject of this sketch, was reared on the home farm and has lived there all his life, being one of the best-known and most substantial residents of the northern part of the county. He received his elementary education in the neighborhood school near his home, finish- ing at the old Burnettsville Academy, and on November 22, 1855, was united in marriage to Mary Eldridge, who was born in Shelby county, Ohio, on May 7, 1836, daughter of Elijah and Elizabeth (Gibson) Eldridge, both natives of that county, who were the parents of seven children, namely :' Prudence, long since deceased, who married Thomas Beard, upon whose death she married, secondly, Thomas Barnes, one of the best known and most influential men of his day in the Idaville neighborhood; James, de- ceased; Levi, deceased; Mary, who married Mr. Small; Margaret, deceased, who had married George I. Barnes; Isabelle, deceased, and John, a former well-known resident of the Burnettsville neighborhood, who was killed in a farm accident thirteen years or more ago.
To George and Mary (Eldridge) Small ten children have been born, as follow : Sarah Margaret, born on July 27, 1857, married John O. Camp- bell, of Lafayette, Indiana, and now lives at East St. Louis, Illinois; Janet A., December 24, 1858, who died on May 14, 1884; James, January 5, 1861, a prominent merchant of Idaville, married Nancy Barnes; Mary Belle, September 22, 1862, who died on March 29, 1876; Fannie A., September 1, 1864. living at Idaville, widow of Benjamin F. Ginn, who was killed in a railway accident on January 18, 1905, has three living children, Bertha, wife of A. T. Sink, of Detroit, Michigan; Merle, wife of Ray Hinshaw, of Monticello, Indiana, and Francis, who lives at Burnettsville: Ida F .. Octo- ber 29, 1866, married Charles Johnsonbaugh, who operates the Small farm, and has two living children. Jennie Merle and Goldie Faye: Elizabeth. Feb-
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ruary 27, 1869, married Frank Graham, a well-known farmer of the Bur- nettsville neighborhood, and has five living children, Ralph, George, Virdin, John and Leona; John N., February 25, 1872, associated with his brother, James, in business at Idaville, married Margaret Davidson and has one son, William Dwight; George T., January 12. 1877, who died on April 5, 1914, and Edwin, September 3, 1878, who died on December 31, 1878.
Mary Ann Small, eldest daughter of James and Sarah (Nelson) Small, was united in marriage on April 2, 1855, to Hugh B. Knickerbocker, a native of New York state, who at that time was a teacher in the old Bur- nettsville Academy, and to this union two children were born, Janet, who married Newton Townsley, a well-known farmer of Adams township, and John H. When the Civil War broke out. Hugh B. Knickerbocker returned to his old home in New York and aided in the enlistment of the Forty- third Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry, and was made captain of Company D, of that regiment, at the head of which he served valorously until he was killed in the battle of Chancellorsville on May 3, 1863. His widow died at her home, in Adams township, on August 30, 1880. Janet Small, her sister, was well known as a teacher in the Burnettsville schools in the early part of her life. She remained a spinster and died at her home, a portion of the old homestead, on August 13, 1910.
George Small has lived all his life on the farm on which he was born and owns one hundred and two acres of as choice land as there is in Car- roll county, the same being his portion of the tract entered by his father in 1832, and which has been brought to a high state of cultivation. About fifteen years ago Mr. Small retired from the active management of the farm, since which time it has been operated by his son-in-law, Charles Johnsonbaugh, who lives in a house nearby the old home. Mr. and Mrs. Small are among the most highly esteemed residents of that part of Carroll county, ever having been active in all good works thereabout.
James Small, the pioneer, and his wife were among the leaders in the old Seceder church at Cedarville and their children were reared in accord- ance with the rigid tenets of that faith, but in 1858, upon the union of the . Associate and Associate Reform churches, a merger was effected between the Seceder church at Cedarville and the United Presbyterian church at Idaville and the Small family ever since has been connected with the latter church and for more than forty years George Small has served the congre- gation at Idaville as a deacon, being held in the highest respect by all asso- ciated with that locally influential organization.
Despite the weight of their years, both Mr. and Mrs. Small retain a
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large measure of their former physical vigor and continue to take a deep interest in local affairs. From the date of the organization of the Repub- lican party to the formation of the Progressive party in 1912, Mr. Small had been an ardent Republican, but since then has been inclined to cast the weight of his political allegiance in behalf of the Progressives. He is a good citizen and an excellent neighbor, being regarded as one of the most substantial men in that part of the county in which his whole life has been spent. He has lived to see amazing changes in the methods of farm life and has contributed his share to the world's work, having ever played well the part of a useful man.
ROBERT KIRKPATRICK.
Robert Kirkpatrick is one of the few men who got their start in life through their pay for services rendered during the Civil War. With such a liberal working fund in those sturdy pioneer days, a man considered him- self favored beyond the average, as indeed he was, and while his labors were not lessened, his mind was not burdened with worry for his imme- diate future, as were many of the early settlers, who had only the clothing they wore.
Robert Kirkpatrick, farmer, who lives on route No. 1, Flora, Indiana, was born May 22, 1836, in Carrollton township, one and a half miles south of where he now resides, and is a son of Benjamin and Hannah ( McCain) Kirkpatrick. He grew to manhood on the old home farm, which he helped to clear and improve. When the Civil War broke out, Mr. Kirkpatrick enlisted in the Twenty-fourth Indiana Battery, September 20, 1862, and was mustered out August 3, 1865. He was with Sherman from 1863 to 1864, and later with Thomas, and never had a scratch. He was duty ser- geant, and led the battery on the fields. After he was mustered out, he returned to Carroll county, took unto himself a wife, resumed agricultural pursuits, and became very prosperous, owning at one time almost five hun- dred acres of land. With the five hundred dollars saved up during his service in the army, he purchased real estate, which he later sold to good advantage, and with his mature insight into business matters, he rapidly became wealthy, and has put valuable improvements on his present home place, where he has lived a great many years.
On account of his advancing age he has divided most of his property among his children and is now living retired. Mr. Kirkpatrick also receives
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a good pension. He has always voted the Democratic ticket, but has never been greatly interested in politics, the one office which he has held, being that of township supervisor. Religiously, he is a member of the Cumber- land Presbyterian church of Wheeling, Indiana.
Benjamin Kirkpatrick, father of Robert, was born in Pennsylvania, and came to Butler county, Ohio, where he was united in marriage to Han- nah McCain. They came to Carroll county in 1832 and settled on the farm where our subject was born. Here they entered eighty acres of timber land, and after clearing a little spot, built a log cabin. Mr. Kirkpatrick was the first settler in the township, and never left his home place to remain any length of time, until he was taken away to his final resting place. At the time of his death, he owned two hundred acres of land in all. Politi- cally, he was always a stanch Democrat. Ten children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Kirkpatrick, only two of whom are living in 1915-Anna, who became the wife of Alonzo Bone, and lives in Young America, and Robert.
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