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 49
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In 1905 Mr. Burrows married Miss Katherine E. Novinger, the daughter of John H. and Adeline (Storer) Novinger. Mrs. Burrows was one of the three daughters of her parents, the others being Lura and Della, the latter of whom married Joseph Kroeger. One child has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Burrows, Thelma May, who died in infancy.
CHARLES F. THOMAS. Galveston, in Cass county, Indiana, has known the business activities of Charles F. Thomas and others of his family since 1865, and the years that have passed have witnessed his progress in merchandise and other lines in a most pleasing degree. He
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was born in Afton, Minnesota, on February 2, 1856, and is the son of Meredith H. and Harriet A. (Knowlton) Thomas. The mother was the daughter of Artemas B. Knowlton, and the father a son of H. L. Thomas. Meredith Thomas came to Indiana with his father's family in 1850. He was a leader in church circles and was treasurer of the local Baptist church for ten years and clerk of the church for a similar period. He served two years in the city council and was in many other ways active in the best interests of the place. He was engaged in the mercantile busi- ness in Logansport, Indiana, from 1850 to 1854, after which he returned to Minnesota, and came to Cass county again in 1865 when he engaged in the general merchandise business with his brother-in-law, M. B. Knowlton. This partnership endured for a few years, after which the father of the subject continued alone until 1875. The senior Thomas also established the grain elevator in Galveston, and continued in its operation until 1895, when he established the bank at this place, con- tinuing to be identified with it up to the time of his death, which took place in 1899.
Charles F. Thomas received his early education in the schools of Galveston, and during the years when his father was occupied in the merchandise business in this place, he assisted him in the work of the establishment, there learning much in the way of operating and man- aging such a business which he put to good use in later years on his own responsibility. He at one time, with his brother, operated a gen- eral merchandise store in Galveston, but by mutual consent they dis- solved partnership, and he started a store across the street from his brother. This he conducted until the place was destroyed by fire, since which time he has been engaged in the real estate business, in which he is conducting a nice business at the present writing.
In 1880 Mr. Thomas was married to Miss Laura L. Armstrong, the daughter of Charles Laban and Elizabeth (Lease) Armstrong, and they have six children, namely: Harry B., who is married to Maude Sharp; Nellie B., the wife of Charles Stewart; Sarah, married to Elbert E. Day ; Bernard C., who married Mamie Cooper; Meredith H., single ; Daniel H., also single.
Mr. Thomas is a member of the Baptist church, in which he is active and prominent, as well as others of his family, and a progressive Repub- lican in his politics. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen, and is active and interested in the work of the societies, as well as in all work pertaining to the general welfare.
WILLIAM B. LAKE. It has been well said that history treats of those men who have been foremost in the political and military activities of a nation, while biography goes further, and deals with the individuals who have devoted their lives to the tilling of the soil and the quiet growth and development of the nation along those lines. This being the fact, it is most fitting and proper that a man like William B. Lake, who is the subject of this necessarily brief review, and one of the well known farmers of the county, should find place within the pages of this work.
William B. Lake was born on the 13th of November, 1842, and is the son of Isaac and Laura (Viny) Lake. The father came from New Jersey in young manhood, settling in Marion county, this state, later
"GLENDALE FARM," RESIDENCE OF MR. AND MRS. NOAH SULLIVAN
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settling in Carroll county, where he passed away in 1871. He was the father of nine children, of which number William B. was the sixth born.
William B. Lake was born in Carroll county, on the old homestead of his father, and in the common schools of that community he received his early education. In 1879 he came to Cass county, here acquiring his present farm, and he has continued to live in the vicinity of Galveston through the ensuing years. In 1867, on the 3d day of October, he married Lydia Jane Wright, the daughter of Isaac and Susanna (Cline) Wright, and six children have been born to them, three of whom are deceased. The others are Laura B., who married Val Cunningham, and has three children-Ellis, Everett and Otis; Lenora, married to Walter Robinson, has two children-Truman and Raymond; and Clarence, who married Dora Tilley, has three children-Russell, deceased, Glenn and Elsie Imogene. The first, third and fourth born of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Lake are dead, they being Estella, Luella and Clara.
Mr. Lake has lived a life of usefulness in the state and nation, and as a soldier in the Forty-sixth Indiana Infantry did his full share to preserve the integrity of the Union in the years of 1861-65. He gave gallant service in the Army of the Potomac and in General Sherman's army, and saw much of the most strenuous fighting of the whole con- flict. When the war was ended, he turned his attention to the farm once more, and has continued in that industry without interruption since that memorable time. He is known for one of the sturdy and stable citizens of his community, bearing a most excellent reputation wherever he is known, and with his wife is a member of the Baptist church of Galveston. They have been residents of Cass county for thirty-three years.
NOAH SULLIVAN, the present trustee of Adams township is one of the respected and substantial men of Cass county, who have spent their lives in farming, and who," in addition to acquiring a good stock of the substantial things of life, and in providing well for their families, have also given public service to the community in which they reside, and have borne well the responsibility of citizenship.
Noah Sullivan was born on the twenty-fifth of February, 1854, in Miami county, this state. His parents were Phillip and Rosanna (Long) Sullivan. He was reared in Miami county, where he attended the schools, and at an early age took up the practical work of farming, which he has followed practically all of his life. On the sixteenth of August, 1878, he married Miss Melissa Parks. Her father was Joseph Parks, a resident of Miami county. The six children of Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan are as follows: Milo, Grover, Mary, Ruth, Nellie, and Enid.
Mr. Sullivan and his family came to Cass county in 1900 from Miami county, and bought eighty acres of his present homestead in Adams township, and near the Twelve-Mile postoffice. Since the first purchase he has added twenty acres to his estate, and it is on this little home- stead of twenty acres that he makes his present home. His son, Milo, lives on and is active manager of the eighty-acre farm. Michael married Miss Cora Black, and they are the parents of one child, Mabel, age five years. The family are members of the United Brethren church, and in politics Mr. Sullivan is a Democrat. As a man who had given many Vol. 1 -- 24
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years of his life to farming, and who had always borne a high reputa- tion for integrity in the community, he was honored by his fellow citizens in Adams township with the office of trustee, the duties of which he has been efficiently performing since his election.
EMERSON KITCHEL. Cass county is rich in her farming industry and in her innumerable sturdy and stanch young men who are devoting their energies to the tilling of the soil and to the development and continued cultivation of one of the most fertile spots upon the globe. Not the least of these men is Emerson Kitchel, the owner of a fine little farm of recent acquiring, and the manager of another which is the property of his father. Emerson Kitchel was born in 1871 in Deer Creek township, on the old Kitchel homestead, and is the son of Daniel and Ellen (Babb) Kitchel. The father came from Union county, Indiana, in his young manhood, and practically all his life has been devoted to farming activities: He is a veteran of the Civil war, having fought in the Eighth Indiana Infantry. He reared a family of ten children, as follows: Emerson, Lauana, Jacob, Harriet, Alvin, Nellie, Everett, Edgar, Charles and Nettie. This family were schooled in Young America, Cass county, and all attended the schools of Terre Haute. Everett is a student of Purdue University, and Charles and Nettie attended college in Marion. Five of the children taught school in Cass county, and gave excellent service in an educational way while they were thus employed.
Emerson Kitchel worked on the home farm between school periods and finished in the Young America high school. He later taught school and saved enough money from his earnings to buy his present farm, which he has been most successful in operating. General farming and stock raising claim his attention, and in addition to his own place he rents the farm of his father near Walton, which he operates in con- junction with his own place.
Mr. Kitchel bears a most excellent reputation in the community and enjoys the high regard of all who know him. He is a member of the Sons of Veterans, and he and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
On March 15, 1900, Mr. Kitchel married Miss Nellie Bell, the daugh- ter of James and Susan (Knock) Bell, and she was a teacher in Galves- ton for twelve years. Mr. Bell came to Cass county with his parents, and there has continued to make his home to the present time, although he is now retired from active business and is leading a quiet life of rural content at his home in Galveston. Mr. and Mrs. Bell had three children, those in addition to Mrs. Kitchel being Elizabeth, now Mrs. Davis, and Harvey, who lives in Galveston. Mr. and Mrs. Kitchel have four children-Mary, Pauline, Frances and Edwin. The three first named are attending school in Galveston.
D. C. BARNETT, M. D. One of the oldest and best known physicians of southern Cass county, Dr. Barnett has practiced his profession for upwards of half a century, and has rendered an aggregate of service to humanity which could not be described in any fitting manner repre- sented as it deserves. Dr. Barnett represents one of the old families of
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Cass county, and is himself one of the oldest living native born resi- dents.
D. C. Barnett was born in Georgetown, Cass county, February 14, 1839, a son of Joshua and Jane ( Voorhees) Barnett. Joshua Barnett came to Indiana from Ohio, and was one of the pioneer settlers in Cass county, having located here before the wilderness was cleared up, and he himself contributed no unimportant share to the labors of the pioneers.
Dr. Barnett received his early education in Howard county, and in the city of Kokomo. He read medicine at New London in Howard county, and first began practice at Young America, in Cass county. When he was twenty-three years of age he went into the army as a member of Company D of the Eighty-ninth Indiana Infantry, under Captain John E. Williams of Kokomo. He was at. the front for two years, and was wounded in the battle at Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, and at the engagement of Sabine Crossroads he was captured and kept a prisoner of war for sixty-five days. Then being paroled he came home in July, 1864, and was mustered out of service in December following.
Dr. Barnett was married in 1861 to Miss Virginia Stewart, a daugh- ter of Edward and Elizabeth (Williamson) Stewart. The six children born of their marriage are as follows: Mrs. Carrie Duncan, who is the mother of six children; Frank, who married Margaret Vance, and who has seven children; Lola, who is married and has one child named Olive; Harry, who married Nora Garr, and has two children named Pauline and Rosaline; Fred, who married Elizabeth Williams, and has four children named Thelma, Earl, Vera and Areline; Edward, who married Dora Alexander and has two children. The doctor is affiliated with the Grand Army post, and his wife is a member of the Methodist church.
CHARLES S. SARIG is one of the prominent and prosperous young farmers of Cass county, of which he has been a resident for a number of years. He was born in 1856 in Berks county, Pennsylvania, and is the son of Daniel and Katherin (Sassaman) Sarig, of German ancestry. The parents were born in Berks county, and was there reared, being one of the prominent citizens of the district, in which he was widely known as a prosperous farmer. He reared a family of eight children, named as follows: Charles, of this review; Ellen; Sarah; Emma; Salena ; Ellis; Wilson; and Albert. The father died in 1909, and the mother is still a resident of the old Pennsylvania home in Berks county.
As a boy, Charles Sarig attended the public schools and did his full share of the work of the farm, in connection with his school work. He learned the carpenter's trade in his native community, and when he was in early manhood left his country home and came to Indiana. He had an uncle living in Kokomo, and he settled there, for two years giv- ing his time to carpentering. He later turned his attention to farming, and acquired a fruitful farm of eighty-six acres in Jackson township, about three and a half miles from Galveston. Here he has continued to farm in the most approved fashion, and is rapidly coming to be known as one of the successful farming men of the county.
On February 24, 1887, Mr. Sarig married Miss Adie Bell Winters,
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and they have three children: J. D., Harry E. and Minnie B. The eldest son is married to Lela Timmons, and they live in Walton, Indiana.
Mr. Sarig affiliates with the Democratic party and is a member of the advisory board of the township.
JAMES A. HENRY. Long years of active and successful farming in Cass county have won for James A. Henry a reputation for efficiency, skill and far-sightedness in his work that extends throughout the length and breadth of the county and established him in all fixity in the ranks of the leading agricultural men of the district. He has demonstrated most unequivocally his prowess as a tiller of the soil, and his achieve- ments in the stock-raising industry have been no less praiseworthy. Diversified farming finds its ultimate success in Cass county, and none has done more to establish the fame of the county along those lines than has Mr. Henry. As the owner and manager of a fine farm of some two hundred acres near Galveston, his name stands for much that is praiseworthy in agricultural circles, and it is eminently fitting that some mention, however brief it must be, shall be made of him and his accomplishments in a work of the nature of which this publication partakes.
James A. Henry was born on the 11th of December, 1842, in Carroll county, in Burlington, Indiana, and is the son of William and Jane (Guinn) Henry. The father came from Pennsylvania, of the vicinity of Harrisburg, in his early manhood and settled in Indiana. He was reared to the trade of a cabinet maker, although born on a Pennsylvania farm, and when he came to Indiana he forsook the cabinet maker's art and turned his attention to farm life, for which he possessed a natural fondness, and in which he had received a judicious training in his boyhood at home. He amply demonstrated the wisdom of his choice, gaining a prominent place in farming circles, and ending his days in the occupation of a farmer. He and his wife reared three children : Samuel A., Malinda Jane, and James A. Henry, whose name initiates this brief review.
James A. Henry settled in Cass county in his young manhood, and here he acquired a tract of farming land, settling down in a home of his own after his marriage with Miss Jane H. Millman. Eleven children were born to them, ten living, named as follows: Elisha, Alma, Lily, Maud, Ruth, Myra, Bernice, William R., Paul J., and Clinton B., all of whom are today living lives of usefulness in the various communities in which they have settled with the coming of years of maturity and responsibility.
Mr. Henry, naturally enough, has in his time experienced certain of the hardships of the agricultural man, but he has, in the main, prospered agreeably, and is today regarded as one of the well estab- lished and wholly successful men of his community. He is still active and prominent in the farming industry, diversified agriculture and stock raising claiming his interests.
Fraternally Mr. Henry has membership in the Masonic order and in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the churchly relations of him and his family are with the Baptist church of Galveston.
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JOHN F. STANLEY. Another of the sons of pioneers who have given their lives to the upbuilding and development of Cass county, is John F. Stanley, a resident of this community from his birth, and the son of a man who was born in Galveston, his father having pioneered to these parts in the days before county lines existed, and when farming was at its earliest state of development. The old Stanley farm is one that stands for much in the way of growth and development in this commu- nity today, three generations of its men having derived their sustenance from its broad acres and built it up to its present state of agricultural perfection. John F. Stanley, whose name introduces this sketch, all too brief to do justice to the family, was born on the old Stanley farm, on November 16, 1879, and he is a son of William F. and Sarah ( Emery) Stanley, the former of whom was also born in Galveston, Indiana.
John F. Stanley received his education in the schools of Galveston, and early turned his attention to practical farming, with the intention and expectation of giving his life to that work, in which he had been thoroughly grounded by his father, a successful and well known farmer of the community. Mr. Stanley is now the owner of a fine farm of about two hundred acres, his place being one of the most productive among the better farms of Jackson township.
Mr. Stanley has shown himself to have profited well by the training he received in his youth, and he has supplemented that training by actual experience gained from his own activities, so that he is today reckoned among the most capable farming men of the township.
Mr. Stanley, it may be said here, is the sixth child of his parents, and the youngest as well, the others being: Jesse; Emma; George, a resident of Galveston; Pearl, a well known and successful school school teacher, and Dolly.
On Christmas day, in 1903, Mr. Stanley was united in marriage with Eva Stafford, and they have had three children. William H., the first born, is dead, as is also Burl F., who died at the tender age of two years ; Wilber Floyd, the youngest of the trio, remains to brighten the home of his parents. Mrs. Stanley is a daughter of Henry Stafford, a native and resident of Lincoln, in Cass county. The Stanley family are mem- bers of the Baptist church of Galveston, and participate actively in the good works of that body. They are people who enjoy the genuine friend- ship of a host of good people in their community, and none are better deserving of that regard than are they.
JAMES S. McWILLIAMS. In a community where farming has reached a point where it is conducted along scientific lines and is the principal business of the residents, interest must inevitably attach itself to the activities and accomplishments of any one of the devotees of that enterprise. James S. McWilliams, who is especially prominent among the farming men of Jackson township, is one who is especially worthy of mention in this historical and biographical work. His fine farm of two hundred and forty acres is one of the show places of the community and manifests in the most telling manner the character and calibre of the man. Mr. Mc Williams was born in 1844 in Decatur county, Indiana, and is the son of Robert and Sarah (Graves) McWilliams. They were natives of Bartholemew county, Kentucky, and came to Galveston,
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Indiana, in the early fifties, where they made their home during the remainder of their lives. They were the parents of two children- James, of this review, and Mary, who is now deceased.
When he was a young lad James S. Mc Williams came from his native community with his parents and settled on the farm that is today the property of the subject. Mr. Mc Williams attended the common schools of the community, there gathering the rudiments of an education, to which he has supplemented in an admirable manner with the passing years through reading and observation, so that his education compares favorably with that of men who had greater advantages in youth. He remained at home until he was twenty-two, then started ont for him- self, and he has been successful and prosperous in all his undertakings. Mr. Mc Williams was not lacking in a thorough training in the agricul- tural business, for his father was a man who farmed intensively and did not slight the education of his son in the lessons that he had learned through years of experience. In 1869 Mr. Mc Williams married Martha Logan and they have reared three children, named as follows: Minnie, the wife of Robert Hyatt, who is the mother of one child-Russell Hyatt; Mary E., who is the wife of William R. Hyatt, and they have one son, Clarence C .; and George E., who married Grace Hoover, and is the father of two children-Everett H. and Marie Helen.
In due time Mr. Mc Williams succeeded to the old home place, and here he has since enjoyed a high degree of prosperity and a generous measure of content and happiness. He is undeniably one of the well established men of the township, in a material way as well as in the sincere esteem of his fellow men. They are members of the Baptist church, and his fraternal relations are with the Masonic order, of which he has long been a member. The entire family is one that has earned and retained the high regard and confidence of all with whom its individ- ual members have come into contact, and in their respective homes and communities are securely established in the hearts and minds of their fellows.
EDMAN A. LEFFEL. Instances are not lacking in Cass county of men who, born to the soil, have spent some years in other pursuits only to find the call of the land too strong to resist and have therefore returned to the occupation of their forefathers. In this category stands Edman A. Leffel, of Bethlehem township, who for the past seventeen years has lived on his present property, a well-cultivated tract of 190 acres, which he has brought to a high state of cultivation, and which has been in the possession of the Leffel family for many years. He was born in the town of Bethlehem, Cass county, Indiana, April 27, 1863, and is a son of Arthur and Nancy (Tilton) Leffel.
The educational training of Mr. Leffel was secured in the public schools of Bethlehem, following which he went to Logansport, and for some years was engaged in various occupations, but eventually in 1896 returned to the homestead in Bethlehem township, where he has since carried on general farming. He has made numerous improvements on this property, has a handsome, modern residence situated on Twelve- Mile Rural Free Delivery Route No. 21, and is considered one of his community's enterprising and progressive citizens, and one who is at
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"THE PINES," RESIDENCE OF EDMAN A. LEFFEL
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. all times ready to adopt new ideas and methods. He believes in the use of modern machinery in his work, has a thorough knowledge of the rudiments of his vocation, and is an acknowledged judge of livestock. Essentially a farmer, he has never cared to enter public life, but has been content to follow the peaceful occupation of tilling the soil, but can be depended upon to support all measures that promote good government or make for the betterment of his community.
On October 13, 1886, Mr. Leffel was united in marriage with Miss Mollie Krider, and they had four children, namely: Teresa and Roy, mentioned below; Zola, who died at the age of fourteen months; and Floyd, who died when thirteen months of age. The daughter, Teresa, is the wife of Russell Conrad and resides in Bethlehem township, where he is an agriculturist. Mrs. Conrad received her diploma from the public schools in the class of 1898 and spent one year in the Twelve- Mile high school. She attended musical institutions in Logansport and has taught instrumental music for two years. She is a member of the Bethlehem M. E. church and a member of the Ladies' Aid Society. The son, Roy, has completed the public school course in the class of 1913, and is at home with his father.
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