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 42
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Alexander Little was born in County Armagh, Ireland. He remained in Baltimore and Philadelphia until 1834, in which year he immi- grated to the newly-developed region of Indiana, where he pre-empted 160 acres of government land in Clinton township, Cass county. This land has continued in the family possession to the present time, and is now part of the home of James W. Little, who has spent his life in agricultural pursuits.
John A. Little was reared on the old home place, and his early educational training was secured in the district schools. Subsequently, he took a high school course in Logansport, from which he was grad- uated in May, 1889, with all the honors of his class, and during the winters of 1889 and 1890 followed the vocation of educator, teaching the Fox Den school in Jefferson township. In the fall of 1890 Dr. Little entered Wabash College, to further his education, and was grad- uated therefrom in 1894, with the degree of Bachelor of Sciences. Later, in 1902, this same institution, for his subsequent efficient work,
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conferred upon him the honorary degree of Master of Arts. Dr. Little took up the study of medicine in 1895, when he became a student in Rush Medical College, where he graduated in May, 1898, as president of his class in that noted institution. He immediately entered upon the practice of his profession in Logansport, and now has a large and representative clientele, which has gradually been obtained through the recognition of his high abilities. Regarded as a master of his pro- fession, he has not been content with the knowledge which his early study gave him, but has kept his eyes open to the progress of the science and has adopted every improvement that the years have brought. He has specialized in preventive measures, antiseptics, and similar branches, in which he is known as an authority. He confines himself exclusively to his practice, and has taken none other than a good citizen's interest in public matters, belongs only to the medical organizations, and has not mixed in politics.
On June 4, 1902, Dr. Little was married to Miss Blanche Mitchell, of Pasadena, California, and they have had four children, namely : Hen- rietta, Robert, Mary and Ruth. Dr. and Mrs. Little are members of the First Presbyterian church of Logansport, and are well known in social circles of the city.
WILLIAM A. KLEPINGER. Among the pioneer families of Cass county whose members have contributed materially to the growth and develop- ment of the agricultural importance of this section, none is better known that that of Klepinger, the history of which has been commensurate with that of Clinton township during the past eighty years. A representative of this old and honored family is found in William A. Klepinger, farmer and stock raiser, whose entire life has been spent here, and who now occupies a foremost position among the successful agriculturists of his part of the county. Mr. Klepinger was born on a farm in the southwest part of Clinton township, January 4, 1858, and is a son of Michael P. and Eleanor (Lesh) Klepinger.
Henry and Mary (Miller) Klepinger, the grandparents of William A. Klepinger, were born in Pennsylvania, and came to Cass county in 1833, entering land from the government in Clinton township, where they located in the woods, built a little log cabin, and there spent the rest of their lives in developing a home for their family. They were the parents of ten children, of whom six are still living: Michael P., James, William, Eliza, Susan and Elizabeth. Michael P. Klepinger was one year old when he accompanied his parents to Cass county,.having been born near Dayton, Ohio, May 27, 1832. His youth was spent in assisting his father to clear the farm from the wilderness, and in Sep- tember, 1852, he was married to Miss Eleanor Lesh, they settling down to work on the old homestead, where they continued operations until their retirement from active life in 1909. Since that year they have lived at Burrows, Carroll county, Indiana, where they have a comfort- able home and numerous warm friends. Six children were born to them, of whom five are still living: Eliza J., who married John P. Friend ; William A .; Caroline, who married W. F. West; George, who married Bessie Crockett, and Dennis, who married Sadie Ebbets. The members of the family are connected with the Christian church, in the work of which Mr. Klepinger was active for a number of years.
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William A. Klepinger was reared on the old homestead place in Clinton township, and received his education in the district schools, this being supplemented by attendance in the public schools of Burrows. At the age of twenty-two years he began to give his entire time to farming and stock raising, continuing on rented property until he was thirty- four years of age and industriously saving his earnings with the end ever in view of becoming the owner of a property of his own. On May 20, 1893, Mr. Klepinger was married to Miss Minnie Shafer, who was born in Clinton township, and educated in the district schools. Mrs. Klepinger lost her parents in young womanhood, and from their estate received thirty acres of Clinton township land, which formed the nuclens for the present handsome Klepinger farm of 202 acres adjoining Clymers. This property is in a high state of cultivation, Mr. Klepinger being an efficient farmer, with a thorough knowledge of soil and climatic conditions, and various modern improvements have been made, including a substantial residence and other buildings. In addition to his farming operations, Mr. Klepinger has always operated a threshing machine ont- fit, and has invested in 160 acres of land in the Saskatchewan country, Canada.
Mr. Klepinger is a quiet, unassuming man, and has not interested himself actively in public matters, although he votes the Democratic ticket, and supports all movements which he believes will make for good government. Through straightforward dealing and an earnest desire to assist his fellow-men in their struggle toward success, he has gained many warm friends and no man stands higher in the respect and esteem of his fellow-men. Mr. and Mrs. Klepinger have two children: Ruth, eighteen years of age, and Josephine, sixteen years old, both at home, who have been given excellent educational advantages and fitted for whatever positions they may be called upon to fill in life.
GEORGE W. SEAWRIGHT, who is one of the more prominent agricul- tural men of Jefferson township, was born in the same community where he now lives, on September 19, 1855, and here has passed his life np to the present time. He is the son of William and Emaline (Van Atta) Seawright.
William Seawright came from Pennsylvania in the thirties, in com- pany with his parents, and they settled in Jefferson township in the early pioneer days and identified themselves with the primitive life that ob- tained in that early day. They built a grist mill at Crooked Creek and this mill was operated by the grandfather of the subject for a goodly term of years, with profit to himself and great convenience to his neigh- bors. Emaline Van Atta, the wife of William Seawright, came to In- diana from New Jersey, her native state, settling with her parents in Jefferson township, when she was yet a young girl. She was here reared, and here she married her husband, who died in 1877, leaving her with three children to mourn his departure. Of the three, George Wil- liam, the subject, was the eldest; Louis is a resident of Jefferson town- ship, and Harry is prominent in the railroad mail service.
George William Seawright was educated in the common schools and alternated his studies with work on the home farm. He remained on the home place until he attained his majority, when he launched ont inde-
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pendently, giving his energies to farming, in which pursuit he had been well trained, and in which he has since realized a wholesome and agree- able success. He is now the owner of two hundred and eighty-six acres of splendid farm land in Jefferson township, which he operates according to the most approved modern methods, and which yields him a comfort- able income from season to season. Two hundred acres of this tract is bottom land.
On November 23, 1892, Mr. Seawright was united in marriage with Miss Carrie C. Fitzer, the daughter of John Fitzer, of Clinton township. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Seawright: Ada, a grad- uate of Logansport high school and Winona Normal, and now teaching in Jefferson township; Fred, still in the high school, and Charles, who is attending the district schools as yet.
Mr. Seawright is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, Lodge No. 417, Logansport, Indiana, and he is politically aligned with the Republican party, in whose activities he takes an intelligent in- terest as a citizen. Mr. Seawright is a member of an old and highly esteemed family in this community, and he has merited and continued to share in the regard which his name has ever claimed in Cass county.
THEODORE F. PIERCE, who is engaged in agricultural operations in section 20, Jefferson township, is not a native of Indiana, but has lived here since his fourth year, and the entire period of his activity has been passed here. He belongs to that class of men who have been the archi- tects of their own fortunes, his success being a direct result of a life of industry, energy and honorable dealing. Mr. Pierce was born in Rich- land county, Ohio, February 27, 1856, and is a son of Aaron K. and Margaret (Harsh) Pierce. His father, a native of Richland county, Ohio, married there Margaret Harsh, who was born in Pennsylvania, and they came to Indiana in 1860. Locating in Fulton county, near the town of Fulton, Mrs. Pierce spent the remainder of her life on a farm, while her husband died in Richland county.
Theodore F. Pierce commenced his education in the district schools of Fulton county, and at the age of thirteen years went to live with an uncle in Boone county, Missouri, whence he traveled by wagon. There he completed his studies during the winter months, and in the summers worked on his uncle's farm, thus continuing for six years. By 1874, through hard and industrious labor, he had accumulated enough to start on his own account, and, accordingly, returned to Indiana by wagon, accompanied by his mother and brother, and located in Jefferson township, Cass county, on a tract of land on section 19. There he resided for nine years, following which he purchased a farm north of Lake Cicott consisting of 110 acres. Seven years later he disposed of this property and bought the land which he now owns, 174 acres located in sections 19 and 20. For some years, Mr. Pierce carried on diversified farming, but at this time he is devoting the greater part of his attention to buying, feeding and shipping livestock of all kinds. Mr. Pierce is known as an excellent business man, and has identified himself with various enterprises. He is now a stockholder and director of the Burnettsville State Bank, which was organized in 1907, with a capital of $30,000, and the following officers: William Thomas, presi-
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dent ; Ernest Thomas, vice-president; J. C. Duffy, cashier; and Fred Duffy, assistant cashier. In his political views, he is a Democrat, and for eight years has been a member of the township advisory board. With his family, Mr. Pierce attends the Burnettsville Baptist church, where he is a deacon, trustee, and for eighteen years superintendent of the Sunday school. Upright and reliable in all his dealings, he has gained and maintained numerous friendships, and is recognized as a moral influence in his home neighborhood.
Mr. Pierce was married in 1879 to Miss Junatta Martin, daughter of William Martin, and to this union there have been born two children : Russell D., a graduate of the Burnettsville high school; and Matina, who is attending that institution. A man of wide and varied interests, Mr. Pierce's time has been pretty fully occupied, but not so much so that he has not found time to assist in every movement calling for the betterment of his community and its people.
ROBERT A. STUART. Stability of character and purpose and a high order of citizenship are traits which are found with a pleasing degree of frequency in the men who give their lives to the pursuit of the treasures of the soil-a fact which may be accounted for by reason of their close and continued touch with Mother Nature in their every-day life. Whatever may be the possible solution, the fact yet remains, and in Robert A. Stuart. all his life a resident of Cass county and a farmer, a splendid example is found of the open-minded and open-handed man who has lived his life in the quiet places and toiled ont in the open during the greater part of his days.
Born in Boone township. Cass county, on March 3, 1858, Mr. Stuart is the son of R. F. and Susan ( Atkins) Stuart. The father was a native of Mississippi who came to New Albany, Indiana, in about the year 1831. He was a cooper by trade. There he married and settled down to farm life. some five years later coming to Cass county. He located in Boone township, there remaining until 1864, when he migrated to Jef- ferson township, and there he passed the remainder of his life. He was the father of nine children, seven of that number being alive at this writ- ing. Both parents died in Jefferson township.
Robert A. Stuart was reared in Jefferson township and here received his schooling. In due course of time, he married and settled on a farm in this township, and success has attended his efforts all along the line. In section 28 of this township he owns a fertile farm of one hundred and sixty acres, which has yielded most abundantly under his encouraging hand. He has maintained the most friendly relations with Prosperity and is regarded today as one of the independent farming men of the township.
In 1896 Mr. Stuart married Miss Bertha D. Eltzroth, the daughter of Obidiah Fltzroth. and to subject and wife four children have been born. The eldest, Cloyd. is sixteen years old: Ralph and Rov. twins. are nine years of age, and the youngest born of the four is Maude, now four years old.
The family are members of the Presbyterian church, and they take an active part in its various departments of service, and Mr. Stuart is a Republican. He is a man who has acquired much of learning that
May 7
Lestililer MO.
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never came through schools or books. A student of human nature, he finds something interesting in every chance acquaintance, and it is safe to say that this habit of observation has been of no small benefit to him in his regular business life. He is an interesting conversationalist, and has read much and observed more .. He is known for a man of honor and integrity, whose word is as sacred as his bond, and his position in his community is one which eloquently bespeaks his many worthy qualities. A man of kindly disposition and modest and unassuming demeanor, he has the most amazing capacity for attending to his own affairs, but is always ready to lend a willing ear to the man who is beset with difficul- ties, and a helping hand to tide him over the rough places. His friends in Jefferson township are only limited by his acquaintance, and he is one of the most valued citizens of his community.
WENDELL MILLER, deceased, was one of the old settlers of Logans- port, having come to this city from Pennsylvania in 1862. He was born in Altoona, that state, on November 21, 1840, and was there reared and instructed in the trade of blacksmithing, which he followed for some years in Pittsburg. After coming to Logansport he followed his trade for a time, and held important positions at the old Knowlton & Dolan foundry and in other industrial concerns of the city. Illness compelled him to relinquish his work in the seventies, and he then moved to a farm in Washington township, where he passed his remaining days, death claiming him on April 22, 1908.
Always an industrious and thrifty soul, Wendell Miller was able to accumulate a goodly share of this world's goods. He was able to provide liberally for his family, which was a large one, and he was known to be one of the honorable and upright men of his community. Neighborly and kindly disposed toward all, he enjoyed to the utmost the respect and esteem of a large circle of friends and acquaintances. He was particularly abstemions, never being addicted to the use of liquor or tobacco in any form, and his conversation was of the cleanest and most wholesome order at all times, profanity of any kind being entirely foreign to his nature or habits.
On October 15, 1868, Mr. Miller was united in marriage with Miss Caroline Grunsmeyer, and to them twelve children were born, of which goodly number ten were reared to years of maturity. Those yet living are : Dr. G. D., to whom a sketch is devoted in other pages of this work ; Edward H., Frank C., William A., Nora N. and Cora B., twins; Mrs. Mary Minneman, of Jefferson township, and Mrs. Joseph Lehman, of Dayton, Ohio. Mrs. Miller, who yet survives her husband, is living on the old home place in Washington township.
DR. GEORGE D. MILLER. Of the parentage of George.D. Miller, M. D., further details need not be given here than to say that he is the son of Wendell and Caroline (Grunsmeyer) Miller, one time residents of Penn- sylvania, later of Indiana, the father being now deceased. Concerning that worthy gentleman a sketch is dedicated on other pages of this work, which render further statements unnecessary at this point.
1
Dr. George D. Miller was born in Logansport, Indiana, on August 7, 1873, and was reared on the old home farm. He attended the district
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schools as a boy, and in 1893-4-5 he was busily engaged in taking prep- aratory course in the Manual Training High School of St. Louis, Mis- souri. In the fall of 1896 he matriculated at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, in Indianapolis, from which he was duly graduated on April 4, 1901, receiving his medical degree at that time. Dr. Miller began the active practice of his profession in Logansport, on April 24, 1901, and he has ever since continued to exercise his professional skill and ability in the town of his nativity, where he has gained and retained the respect of the medical fraternity and of the people alike. Dr. Miller has been secretary of the Cass County Medical Society since 1902, and is also a member of the Indiana State Medical Society and the American Medical Association.
Dr. Miller is a Democrat and has served four years as coroner of Cass county, from 1906 to 1910 inclusive, an office in which he acquitted him- self with credit. He is identified with numerous fraternal organizations, prominent among which is the Masonic order. He has attained member- ship in various bodies of that order, including the Knights Templar, the Scottish Rite, and the Mystic Shrine.
On September 5, 1897, Dr. Miller was united in marriage with Maggie M. Robinson. They have adopted a daughter, Dorothy J., but have no other children.
WILLIAM J. GIBSON. Among the old and honored residents of Jeffer- son township none is held in higher esteem than William J. Gibson, former township trustee, veteran of the Civil war, and able farmer and stockman. A brave defender of his flag, performing the duties of life whether in war or peace, he has been a factor in the growth and develop- ment of Cass county as a center of education, morality and good citizen- ship. Mr. Gibson was born July 22, 1841, in White county, Indiana, and is a son of R. P. and Saralı (Tam) Gibson. The former was born in Tennessee and the latter in Pennsylvania, and both came in youth to White county, Indiana, where they spent the remainder of their lives on a farm in Jackson township.
William J. Gibson was reared on the home farm in Jackson town- ship, and as a youth entered the district schools, which he was attending at the outbreak of the Civil war. He enlisted from Deer Creek township, Cass county, in 1864, in Company B, One Hundred and Forty-second Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and served for nearly a year, or until the closing of the war, when he returned to Cass county, was mus- tered out of the service, and given his honorable discharge. On the close of his military career, Mr. Gibson resumed farming on the home place, and was so engaged up to the time of his marriage, March 29, 1866, to Miss Mary E. Fry, who was born near Dayton, Ohio, September 5, 1842, daughter of Ephraim Fry. Mr. Fry was born in Maryland and his wife in Virginia, and were married in Ohio, from which state they came to Indiana in 1842, locating in Carroll county. Subsequently they moved to Cass county, and there both died.
To Mr. and Mrs. Gibson there were born eleven children, nine of whom are living, and except the oldest child all are married, and all living in Cass county. Mrs. Gibson is a member of the new Dunkard church at Lockport, Indiana. Mr. Gibson is a Democrat in his political
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views, and from 1869 to 1873 was trustee of Jefferson township, his service lasting four years and two months. He is regarded as one of the wheel-horses of his party in this section, and has numerous influen- tial friends in political life. Mr. Gibson, by reason of his services during the Civil war, receives a pension from the government. Ever since his marriage he has been engaged in agricultural pursuits on his present property, where he has accumulated 280 acres, a part of which is in Jefferson township, Cass county, and a part in Jackson township, White county. His land is well cultivated, his improvements of a modern character and his residence, barn and outbuildings are substan- tially built and in good repair, and the whole appearance of the property gives evidence of the presence of thrift, industry and able management. In addition to general farming, he has carried on stock raising, and his ventures have been uniformly successful because they have been directed along well-defined lines and pushed with energy and perseverance. Mr. Gibson takes a keen interest in all matters that affect his community, and as a consequence is known as a good and public-spirited citizen.
WILLIAM BANTA. In writing of the agricultural men of Cass county who have made distinctive progress in their particular line of industry, it is peculiarly fitting that mention be made of William Banta, one of the well-to-do farmers of Jefferson township, now retired from the activities of farm life. A veteran of the Civil war, in which he fought with characteristic fervor and gallantry, Mr. Banta may well be said to have done well his part on the stage of life thus far. He has con- tributed in no small measure to the growth and development of his na- tive township along industrial lines, and has assumed his full share of the civic burdens in the community. He is undeniably entitled to his well-earned rest and recreation in his present capacity of retired farmer.
Born in Jefferson township, Mr. Banta has been one who realized that far off hills were not always greenest, and he has remained in his native town and township, content to realize upon the opportunities that dis- trict offered him. He was born on the farm which he owns today on New Year's Day, 1846, and is the son of Beauford and Elizabeth (McNay) Banta. He was the youngest of the children of his parents, and he re- mained on the old home place long after the other members had gone out into the world to make homes of their own and take up the burdens of independent life. The common schools of his native community afforded him such book learning as he received, and his schooling was terminated at the age of eighteen by his enlistment in Company K, of the Ninth Indiana Volunteers. He was in General Howard's army and was with Sherman at Atlanta. At Lovejoy station he was wounded for the second time, but recovered and rejoined his regiment both times. He was dis- charged in Texas on September 28, 1865, at the close of the war, where- upon he returned to his Indiana home again and took up the more quiet activities of farm life.
In the course of time he began farming on his own responsibility, and his labors were from the beginning rewarded with a reasonable de- gree of success. Years of sturdy effort in his own fields have brought him a place of independence and importance in his community and he is known today for one of the financially independent men of his section. Vol. II-21
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He is the owner of farm land in Cass county aggregating three hundred and fifty-three acres, in two farms, with other holdings in and about the county, so that his retirement from active business came as the nat- ural result of his well-spent labors.
On March 28, 1872, Mr. Banta married Maggie D. Zinn, the daughter of John Zinn, a native Pennsylvanian who came to Indiana in 1854. He settled in Carroll county and there passed the remainder of his life. Mrs. Banta was born in Butler county, Ohio, on September 8, 1847, and was reared in Carroll county. Mr. and Mrs. Banta have two sons : Charles and Ira E. The first named was born on May 13, 1873. He has been married and widowed, and is now engaged in running the old farm which was his birthplace and the birthplace of his father as well. Ira E., the second son, was born on May 20, 1881. He has been married, but like his brother, he is also a widower. He lives on a farm in Clay township, and is successfully engaged in carrying on the work for which lie is so well fitted by nature and training.
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