USA > Indiana > Cass County > History of Cass County Indiana : From its earliest settlement to the present time with biographical sketches and reference to biographies previously compiled, Volume II > Part 17
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William Dritt was reared on the home farm, and upon his father's death fell heir to the old home place, where he has since carried on the work of the farm. He was married on February 16, 1888, to Miss Ella Cornell.
Mrs. Dritt is a native of Miami county, Indiana, born February 28, 1869, and the eldest of two daughters born to Jeremiah and Maria (Moose) Cornell : Mrs. Dritt and her sister Clara, wife of Albert Chandler, a decorator, of Peru, Indiana. Mr. Cornell was a native of Indiana, and was an agriculturist. He was educated only in the common schools, was a soldier in the Civil war and received his honorable discharge. Both he and his wife were members of the Presbyterian church. Mrs. Cornell was also a native of Indiana, and her parents were natives of New York. Mrs. Dritt was educated in the com- mon schools. She is a lady of excellent judgment and has well performed her part in the building up the home and in the rearing of her children. She is a member of the Presbyterian church, also an honored member of the Progressive Club in Logansport, a club devoted to literature, art and music.
The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Dritt: Ethel
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S. received her diploma from the public schools in 1904 and graduated from the Logansport high school in 1909, and she has taken musical instructions. She wedded Elmer Young, resident of Logansport, and a salesman. Florence P. received her diploma from the public schools in 1906, and then attended the Lincoln Seminary of Logansport, and has also taken music. She married J. Jay McCormick, a resident of Logansport, and he is engaged in the elevator business. Harry J. received his diploma from the public schools in 1908, and was a member of the graduating class in Logansport high school in 1913. He is associated with his father on the farm. Madge grad- uated from the public schools in 1908, and the Logansport high school at the early age of seventeen in the class of 1912. She is a vocalist of more than ordinary merit. It is noticed in this sketch that Mr. and Mrs. Dritt have given their children the best of advan- tages in acquiring good educations, fitting them for the higher walks of life. The homestead of the Dritts is known as "Glen Dale Farm," and their many friends will always find a cordial welcome there. The farm comprises one hundred and sixty acres, and many of its present day improvements in the way of buildings, etc., may be credited to the present occupant of the place.
Mr. Dritt is one of the leaders of thought and opinion in his com- munity, and attends the Presbyterian church, his life has been one entirely consistent with his profession of faith. He is a Republican, and has pronounced political views, though he is not more active in the field of politics than good citizenship demands of him. He and his family maintain a high place in the esteem and regard of their many friends in and about Noble township, where they are known for their many excellent traits of heart and mind, and where they are regarded as the best of neighbors.
WILLIAM PURCELL POWELL, deceased, was born on February 25, 1828, in Ohio, the son of Benjamin and Sarah (Carroll) Powell. He came with his parents from Jefferson county, Ohio, the place of his birth, to Indiana, in 1835, and they located in Cass county, settling on a wild tract of land in Harrison township, of which they hoped to make a farm for themselves. Here they builded a cabin home and set about clearing up the wilderness and improving the place as best they might. They were pioneers in the truest sense, and the first election ever held in his community was held in the old Powell home.
Here was William Purcell Powell reared, and here in early life he married Harriet Smith, who died without issue. His second wife was Mrs. Delilah Isabell Gressinger, a daughter of James and Mary Ann (Carrier) Spacey, and the widow of Adam Gressinger. Mr. Powell was one of the old fashioned men who held as one of the tenets of his faith that honesty was one of the cardinal virtues-a belief still in good repute to some extent, but not held so commonly perhaps as in those early times. He was extremely temperate in his habits, and this, no doubt, led to his retaining his mental faculties unimpaired to the end of his days. He was a Democrat in politics, always keenly alive to the progress of the times, but never sought public office. He was a Universalist in his religious belief and during his later years derived
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much simple and wholesome pleasure from the study of the Scriptures. He was a man of much courage and unlimited faith in the future, an example of which is given in the fact that he began his married life with a cash capital of fifty cents. His first home was no sooner com- pleted than it was destroyed by fire, but it was characteristic of the man that adversity of that order was insufficient to keep him down. He at once rebuilt his home, and with the passing of time, he prospered, not by waiting on fortune, but by the hardest kind of work, economy and the application of excellent business judgment in his every-day affairs. A noteworthy trait in him was his sturdy honesty and his high general character. He was a kindly man in his disposition, temperate in all things, charitable and generous in his benefactions for the public good. He died as he lived, an honored and respected citizen, death coming to him on October 5, 1876.
J. E. HERTSELL still retains and operates the fine old place that his grandfather 'came into possession of when he first came to Cass county, Indiana, more than half a century ago, although he no longer makes his home on the place, having a fine home of his own acquired in Clay township, where he carries on the business of farming on an extensive scale, and along the most approved modern methods.
Born in Miami township, Cass county, on October 21, 1885, J. E. Hertsell is the son of Jesse and Jennie (Bird) Hertsell. The father was the son of another, Jesse Hertsell, and the mother was the daughter of one Eli Bird, people of English descent. The family located in Miami township when Jesse Hertsell was a youth, and he passed his life on the farm his father purchased, and upon his death, which occurred in February, 1912, the old home came into the possession of the son.
J. E. Hertsell received such education as the schools of Miami town- ship afforded, and early in life began to devote himself to the work of the farm. He has been successful in his operations along these lines and has acquired a fine place of his own in recent years, located in Clay township, and there he makes his home. In 1909 Mr. Hertsell married Ruth Mannen, the daughter of Henry Mannen, and two children have been born to them: Reta, who died when six months old in 1910, and Helen Esther, who is now fifteen months old.
M. Hertsell and his wife are members of the Baptist church, and take an active share in the works of that body, while Mr. Hertsell has membership in the Knights of Pythias. They occupy a secure place in the esteem of their many acquaintances in Clay township, as well as in Miami township, and enjoy the friendship of many who know them for their many excellent qualities of character.
JESSE MARTIN. For many years the citizen whose name heads this short review was one of the leading agriculturists of Washington town- ship, and his entire career was one of industry, integrity and honorable dealing. Although not a native of Cass county, he came to this section at an early date, and his activities were such as to gain him the respect and esteem of his fellow-citizens, not alone in business matters, but in the political arena and in the work of the church. Mr. Martin was born May 4, 1834, in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, a son of Peter and
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Rebecca (Long) Martin. He died February 11, 1909, and his wife died September 8, 1908.
Peter Martin, on first coming to Cass county, purchased land on section 27, Washington township, but in 1848 removed to section 22, where the rest of his life was spent. He and his wife were the parents of eight children, all born in Pennsylvania and reared in Cass county, as follows: Francis, Simon, Jesse, Herman, Caroline, Catherine, Manassas and Matilda. All are now deceased.
Jesse Martin commenced his education in the public schools of his native state, where he resided until he was fourteen years of age, and after coming to Indiana, completed his schooling in a private institu- tion of Logansport. For several years thereafter, he devoted his at- tention to teaching school during the winter months, while he farmed in summers, but eventually gave up the educator's profession in order to give his entire time to farming and stock raising, in which he be- came very successful. He took a keen interest in the affairs of his community, was well and favorably known among the leading business men of his township, and for upwards of half a century was identified with the work of the Presbyterian church, in which he acted as elder. He had a family of eight children, of whom seven are living: Emeline, deceased, who was the wife of John Wendling; Edwin F., who married Edna Crane, and had five children; Stanley, deceased; Esther, Joseph, Rachel and Jesse; Roland, who married Lina Schwalm, and had six chil- dren-Earl, Ethel, Ennice, Helen, Ruby and Lois; Albert, who married Julietta McCreary; Irvin, who married Emma Foreman; John P .; Manassas, who married Laura Schwalm, and has one son-Roy; and Frank, single, who lives on the old homestead of 120 acres.
John P. Martin, son of Jesse Martin, was born on the old home- stead farm, October 18, 1868, and received his education in the public schools of Cass county, in the meantime assisting his father in the work of the home farm from the time that he was old enough to grasp the plow handles. At the age of twenty years, he began farming on his own account, purchasing eighty acres of land from his father, on which he has made numerous improvements, including modern, substantial buildings. He has always been a leader in Republican politics, and for a time lived in Indianapolis while serving as a member of the clerical force of the state senate. Like his father, he has been a member of the Presbyterian church. During his long career in Cass county he has ever possessed the respect and confidence of his fellow citizens, and in a work of this kind deserves honorable mention.
WILLIAM H. SHARP. The career of William H. Sharp, one of the foremost of Washington township's representative agriculturists, il- lustrates strikingly the opportunities that are open to young men of foresight, good judgment and business ability, for solely through the medium of his own efforts and good business talents he has steadily advanced until he is now one of the most substantial of his community's citizens. Since early manhood he has engaged in buying, cultivating and selling farming land, and his operations have carried him all over Cass county, where he is known as a man of the highest integrity. At this time he is operating a tract of sixty acres, located on the Kokomo
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4.
road, about five miles from Logansport. Mr. Sharp was born August 3, 1860, in Pickaway county, Ohio, and is a son of Samuel M. and Isabel (Bailey) Sharp.
Samuel M. Sharp was born in Columbus, Ohio, November 11, 1837. The family is of Scotch-Irish extraction, and was founded in the United States by Abraham Sharp, the great-grandfather of William H. Sharp, a native of Erin and a carpenter and millwright by trade. On first coming to America, Abraham Sharp settled in Maryland, and while working at his trade there made a tool chest, which many years later was in the possession of J. S. P. Marshall, a resident of Missouri, who was also in possession of many interesting facts regarding this old and honored family. Mr. Sharp became one of the pioneers of Franklin county, Ohio, and at a point three and one-half miles southeast of Columbus cleared a tract of land and made a comfortable frontier home. In that county he married a Miss Howard, who lived to the remark- able old age of one hundred and two years, eleven months and seven days, passing away in Illinois where Mr. Sharp had entered a quarter section of land, on the present site of the city of Peoria. The chil- dren of this union were: William, the grandfather of William H .; Elizabeth, who was married in Ohio to John Reader; George, who married Susan Cramer; Nancy ; Rachel, who married Andrew Shanklin; and Nathaniel, who married Mary Gregg.
William Sharp was born May 12, 1806, and was married to Miss Mary Teegardin, who was born July 17, 1812, in Pickaway county, Ohio, a daughter of John and Mary (Brobst) Teegardin, and she died March 21, 1880. The first two persons of the name of Teegardin to come to this country were George Teegardin, the father of John, Bar- bara, Anna (Graul), Aaron and Mary, the grandmother of William H. Sharp; and William, the father of Peter, Abraham and others. George and William Teegardin came to Ohio in 1811, settling on land near Ashville which their father, Aaron, from Westmoreland county, Penn- sylvania, had entered; the latter, two years later, located there with his sons. His children were George, William, Jacob, Daniel, a daugh- ter who married Mr. Lauffer, Solomon, and Ann, who first married a man named Kanouse and afterwards a man named Fippen. George married a Miss Brobst, daughter of Jacob Brobst. The Teegardins have been generally members of the Lutheran church. John Teegardin be- came a pioneer farmer in Pickaway county, Ohio, and during the War of 1812 fought valiantly in the ranks of the American army.
William Sharp, after his marriage, settled on a farm in his native county, and was successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits there until his death, which occurred in the prime of his life, at the age of thirty-seven years, June 30, 1845. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and was a man whose many excellent traits of char- acter won the confidence and respect of all' with whom he was in any way associated. His children were Nancy, Peter, Samuel, Samuel M., Aaron T. and Margaret.
Samuel M. Sharp, father of William H. Sharp, was given but meagre educational advantages in his youth, as his father died when he was eight years of age, and he was compelled to early begin his battle with life. He was reared by his mother and guardian, the latter his uncle,
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Aaron Teegardin, a farmer of Pickaway county, in whose household he remained until he was twenty years of age. He was married in Pickaway county to Miss Isabel Bailey, who was born in Madison town- ship, that county, daughter of Reason W. and Annie ( Hoymen) Bailey, and granddaughter of William and Phoebe (Wells) Bailey. Her father, a native of Maryland, and a carpenter by trade (although he spent the greater part of his life in agrienltural pursuits) moved from Maryland to Ohio and subsequently to Indiana, locating in Clay township, Miami connty, where he died in 1873, at the age of seventy-two years. He was an industrious man, honest and upright in every way, and was a worthy member of the Lutheran church. His children were as follows: Eliza A., Mary, Mahala, Isabel, Jama, Solomon L., Joseph L., Louis B., Phoebe and Ellis.
After his marriage Samuel M. Sharp settled on a farm in Pickaway county, and made that place his home until 1873, when he moved to Miami county, Indiana, arriving there on the 4th of March. He began life without any capital whatever, but by industry and good judgment, and with the assistance of his loyal and loving wife, he. acenminlated a competency. On locating in Miami county, he pur- chased 100 acres of land, to the value of which he added greatly by honest, well-directed toil. Both Mr. Sharp and his wife were actively identified with the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, aided ma- terially in the erection of the first house of worship in their neighbor- hood and were always prominent in church work, Mr. Sharp being class leader in the local church of his vicinity. His political inclinations made him a Democrat, and fraternally he was connected with the Masons. The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Sharp : Mary M., William H., Eliza M., Jennie D., Annie M., Maggie M., George L., Myrtle A., Leon C., Edmund G., Ruby N., and two who died in infancy.
William H. Sharp was abont twelve years of age when he accompa- nied the family from Ohio to Miami county, Indiana, and during his entire school period he assisted his father in the work of the farm. In young manhood, his first real business venture was the clearing of a heavily timbered tract of 100 acres of land, the timber from which he sold, thus making for himself a considerable capital with which to start operations. At the age of twenty-one years he went to Wabash county and worked on a farm for three years, at the end of which time he first came to Cass county, here spending the next five years. Ile next pur- chased a team and began farming on shares on a tract of sixty acres, but after a short time returned to Miami county. There he was engaged in cultivating a rented farm for a short period, but eventually came back to Cass connty and bonght ninety acres of land, which he farmed for eight years, finally selling that to purchase his present property. Mr. Sharp has been uniformly successful in all of his business ventures, because of the exercise of shrewdness and excellent business acumen. He is an able judge of land values, is known as an efficient farmer, and among all who have had business dealings with him is held in the highest respect.
On March 3, 1892, Mr. Sharp was married to Miss Carrie W. Bu- chanan, daughter of James and Mary (Buchanan) Buchanan. They Vol. 11-9
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have no children. Fraternally, Mr. Sharp is connected with the Masons, Tipton Lodge No. 33, and he and Mrs. Sharp are attendants of the Lutheran church. He has Democratic proclivities, and, while not a politician in the generally accepted meaning of the term, has served efficiently as a member of the election board. The pretty homestead of Mr. and Mrs. Sharp is known as "The Cedars."
JOHN L. WARNER. Cass county is largely agricultural but its thriv- ing towns, its numerous industrial enterprises, its schools and its churches prove that a vigorous life underlies every activity, although here, as in every section of the world, dependence is necessarily placed on the products of the land and the labor of those who develop it. No matter how men may toil or how much they may achieve in any direc- tion, they must be fed, and it is the farmer, in the background, who turns the wheels, who fights the battles, and who provides for the sur- vival typified in "the passing of the torch." Happily there are in Cass county contented owners of land who intelligently and willingly ยท carry on the peaceful pursuits of agriculture and, although they do not seek such a term of approbation, are, nevertheless, benefactors of man- kind. They are often men of wide information on many subjects, usually are men qualified for offices of public service, for the proper cultiva- tion of the soil and a realization of its utmost yield require knowledge on many subjects. Among the representative citizens of Cass county who have devoted their energies to the tilling of the soil, none are held in higher esteem than John L. Warner, of Clay township, a man who has impressed himself upon the community not only as an agriculturist but as a public-spirited citizen whose services in official office have aided materially in his locality's effort towards good government.
Mr. Warner was born January 22, 1867, in Clay township, Cass county, Indiana, and is a son of Fielding G. and Florence (Maurice) Warner, and a grandson of David Warner. His father was of French and Welsh descent and was born at Dayton, Ohio, November 4, 1837, and died December 27, 1907, in Clay township, while his mother, who was born in France and came to this country when she was nine years of age, still survives and makes her home with Mr. Warner's brother, Samuel, who lives on the farm adjoining that of John L. Warner. Mr. Warner's parents had six children, as follows: David, who died when aged one year; Alice, who married Will Smith and died when thirty- four years of age; Emma, who was eight years old at the time of her death ; Florence, who died at the age of six years ; John L .; and Samuel, who married Blanche Powell, and has one child : Florence, who was born December 3, 1907.
John L. Warner attended the district schools of Clay township and is a graduate of Hall's Business College in Logansport, Indiana. He was reared to agricultural pursuits, in which he has been engaged all of his life. His present farm, a tract of one hundred and seventy-two acres, is one of the finest in this part of the county, and during the twenty years he has resided here he has brought his land to a high state of culti- vation. New and modern structures have been erected by Mr. Warner, and his entire property testifies eloquently to his able management and
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"SUMMIT LODGE, " RESIDENCE OF MR. AND MRS. JOIIN L. WARNER
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good judgment. Progressive in all matters, in 1912 he allied himself with the so-called Bull Moose party, and at the present time is efficiently serving as a member of the county council. He has also served as trus- tee of Clay township and has always brought to his official services the same conscientious devotion to duty that has made him so successful in his business affairs. His brother, Samuel Warner, is the present as- sessor of Bethlehem township. With his family, Mr. Warner attends the Christian church.
On December 20, 1888, Mr. Warner was married to Miss Minnie Alma Shilling. One child was born to this union: Florence Ruth, who died at the age of five months.
Mrs. Warner is a native of Clay township, Cass county, and was born May 12, 1865, a daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Maurer) Shilling, and her parents were natives of Ohio, of German lineage, and both are deceased.
Mrs. Warner was educated in the common schools and the city schools of Logansport. She is a member of the Bethel Methodist Epis- copal church and a member of the Ladies' Aid Society in the Spring Creek Christian church.
Mr. Warner is a member and deacon in the Spring Creek Christian church. They are people who enjoy life in their beautiful country seat, known as "Summit Lodge," and they have a five-passenger Hupmobile touring car. They are citizens who stand high in the social world of Cass county.
ADELBERT L. HOOVER. The name of Hoover has long been promi- nently associated with the agricultural history of Cass county, where for years members of the family have contributed materially to the growth and development of what is now one of the most prosperous sections of Indiana. They have also enrolled among those who have promoted movements for the advancement of education, morality and good citizenship, fairly earning the right to be classed with their com- munity's representative men. Adelbert L. Hoover, a well-known mem- ber of this old and honored family, is maintaining the high standard set by his forebears, and is one of the agriculturists of Washington town- ship who take a pride in developing their land through the use of modern methods and appliances. He was born August 22, 1871, in Richland county, Wisconsin, and is a son of Thomas and Laura ( Yates) Hoover, the former of whom brought the family to Cass county more than a quarter of a century ago and is still living on his farm. There were four children in the family: Mrs. Mary Berryman, William, Jacob and Adelbert L.
The early education of Adelbert L. Hoover was secured in the public schools of Wisconsin, and his tuition was completed in the institutions of Cass county, whence he had come when he was about fifteen years of age. During his early youth, in his struggles to secure a property of his own, he met with the usual difficulties that har the path of a youth who without capital or influential friends is seeking a competence and independent position, but each experience added to his fund of knowl- edge and prepared him to better face the next obstacle. Industry and perseverance finally triumphed, and at this time he is the owner of a
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handsome property of 100 acres, which produces large crops, and on which he has made many valuable improvements. He devotes his whole time to general farming and stock raising, in both of which lines he has met with uniform success, and among his neighbors and associates he is known as a good, practical farmer and an exeellent judge of live stoek.
On May 2, 1901, Mr. Hoover was united in marriage in Cass county with Miss Margaret Alma Martin, daughter of Herman and Margaret (Blozier) Martin of this county. They have had no children. Mrs. Hoover is a member of the Union Presbyterian church of Washington township and has taken an active part in work of a religious and charitable nature. Fraternally, Mr. Hoover is popular with the members of the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, No. 314 of Wallen, while his political connection is with the Democratic party, in the activities of which he has taken a leading part in his section, although he has never cared for nor sought publie office. Mr. Hoover's life has been a busy and a useful one, his business methods have ever been unmarred by stain or blemish, and at all times he has been true to the obligations and duties that have rested upon him. As a man who has the best interests of his community at heart he enjoys widespread esteem, and his acquaintance is large and his friendships numerous. Mr. and Mrs. Hoover's homestead is known as "Cottage House" and is one of the pretty properties of the county.
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