USA > Indiana > Cass County > History of Cass County, Indiana : From the earliest time to the present > Part 55
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95
JAMES S. WILSON. Prominent among the self-made men of northern Indiana is James S. Wilson, who was born at Elizabeth- town, Alleghany Co., Penn., October 9, 1823. His parents, An- drew and Elizabeth (Schooley) Wilson, were natives, respectively, of Pennsylvania and England. Mr. Wilson attended the common schools until twelve years of age, and then began life for himself as salesman in a drug store, in which capacity he continued about three years. During that time he acquired a practical business education
588
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY.
and cultivated habits of industry and application, which have served him well through life. On quitting the drug business he began the study of medicine, but abandoned it after a short time and en- gaged as steward on a packet, which business he followed from 1840 until 1845. He came to Logansport in 1845, as master of a boat on the Wabash & Erie Canal, freighting principally between this city and Toledo. He abandoned the canal in 1850, and became clerk for William Beach & Co., in the Forest Mills, and seven years later, in partnership with George Cecil, took charge of the mills, which he operated successfully until 1883. In that year he assumed entire control of the business and continues the same with gratifying success. Mr. Wilson has probably manu- factured more flour and handled more grain than any other man in Indiana, and during his long residence in Logansport his business record has never been impeached. He began life, if not in the field of adversity, at least unaided and dependent wholly upon self-effort. His capital consisted of a full share of brain power, energy and an inbred determination to succeed among men. Possessing a strong appreciation of the value of integrity and justice and well defined purity of purpose, it has won for him an enviable distinction in busi- ness circles. Mr. Wilson is a Republican in politics, and has been an active member of the I. O. O. F. He was married, May 21, 1844, to Miss Delilah Creeling, of Akron, Ohio, by whom he has two chil- dren, viz .: Indiana, wife of Robert Conolly, and Virginia, wife of G. W. Stevens.
WILLIAM T. WILSON, attorney at law and eldest son of Thomas H. Wilson, was born in the city of Logansport in 1854. He received his rudimentary education in the city schools, and at the early age of sixteen entered Princeton College, New Jersey, from which institution he graduated. He began the study of law in 1875 under the late Hon. D. D. Pratt; was admitted to the bar the same year, and at once entered upon the active prac- tice of his profession, which he has since successfully continued. He is now a member of the well known law firm of Dykeman, Taber & Wilson, which does an extensive business thoughout the counties of northern Indiana. Mr. Wilson has made a creditable record as a lawyer and stands high among his professional brethren of the Cass County bar. He has been called to fill several positions of trust, in all of which he has shown marked wisdom and administra- tive ability of a high order. He is a Republican in politics and a member of the Presbyterian Church. In 1880 he was united in marriage with Miss Martha L. McCarty, a daughter of Joseph C. McCarty, of Logansport.
MAURICE WINFIELD. Judge Winfield was born in Ulster County, N. Y., January 27, 1841, and is a son of Zenas and Mary (Terwilliger ) Winfield. Mr. Winfield received his early education
589
CITY OF LOGANSPORT.
in the common schools, from which, at the age of fourteen, he was promoted to the academic grade. He entered the academy at Montgomery, Orange Co., N. Y., where close application enabled him to complete his preparatory course in little less than a year. He then became a student in Princeton College, New Jersey, in the fall of 1860. The college course required four years, but in con- sequence of bad health he was obliged to discontinue his studies twelve months, and thus lengthen the time of his attendance one year. He graduated with the class of 1865, being specially noted for his proficiency in Greek, in which subject he received the prize. In the following April he removed to Logansport, where he was engaged for one year as one of the teachers in the Logansport Pres- byterian Academy. While thus employed he occupied all his lei- sure in preparing himself for the profession of the law, reciting to Judge H. P. Biddle, under whom he studied. Having completed his preparatory course, Mr. Winfield commenced the practice of his profession in Logansport in 1867. Since that time, by close ap- plication to business and commendable studiousness, he has gradu- ally surmounted the obstacles in the course of every professional man, and has won for himself a reputation as a successful practi- tioner. In 1882 he was elected to the circuit bench, assumed the duties of the judgeship two years later, and is the present incum- bent of the office. Politically his inclinations are Democratic, but he prefers the triumph of principle to the dominance of party, and re- fuses to accept the role of politician. On the 7th of May, 1868, he married Miss Jennie M. Johnson, daughter of the late Israel John- son and sister of William H. Johnson, a leading business man of Logansport. In personal character Mr. Winfield occupies a high position among his fellow-citizens, and has a strong hold on their confidence and respect. He is regarded as an honorable and worthy citizen and safe counselor.
JOHN B. WINTERS, boot and shoe dealer, and one of Logans- port's representative business men, is a native of Preble County, Ohio, and is the third son of John S. and Prudence Winters, natives, respectively, of Ohio and Virginia. Subject's paternal grandfather, Thomas Winters, was a native of Vermont, and left that State shortly after the war of Independence, immigrating to Ohio, and settling in Darke County. He subsequently moved to Preble County, and died in the town of Lexington about the year 1848. John S. Winters was born in Darke County, Ohio, in the year 1812, and resided in his native State until 1850. In the latter year he moved to Wabash, Ind., and five years later he located in Miami County in of which he was a resident until his removal to Cass County in 1860. He was for a number of years engaged in the saw- milling business in Cass and Miami Counties, and early in life identified himself with the Christian Church, for which he preached
590
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY.
until within a short time of his death, April 8, 1883. He was mar- ried, in Preble County, Ohio, in 1832, to Miss Prudence Harris, daughter of Nathaniel and Sarah (Gipson) Harris, by whom he had the following children, viz .: Eli (deceased), Isaac S., Maria, John B., Marvin, Theophilus R., Sophia (deceased), Francisco (de- ceased ) and Ella. Mrs. Winters departed this life July 6, 1866. John B. Winters was born January 5, 1842, and accompanied his parents to Indiana in 1851. He passed the years of his youth and early man- hood in the counties of Wabash and Miami; received a good prac- tical education in the common schools, and later attended the high school of Logansport several terms, coming to Cass County in 1860. He entered the army in 1863, enlisting in Company E, One Hun- dred and Eighteenth Indiana Infantry, and served with the same until honorably discharged in March, 1864. In January, 1865, he re-enlisted as second lieutenant of Company F, One Hundred and Fifty-first Indiana; was subsequently promoted first lieutenant, and remained with his regiment until the close of the war. On leaving the army he returned to Cass County and engaged in the carpenter's trade, which he carried on until 1876, teaching school at intervals in the meantime. In the latter year he came to Logansport and engaged as salesman in a boot and shoe store, and in January, 1879, purchased the stock, and has since conducted a very successful busi- ness, his store on Broadway being one of the best known mercantile houses in the city. Mr. Winters is a man of great personal popu- larity, eminently sociable, and in every respect a courteous gentle- man. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity, the G. A. R., and is an active member of the Christian Church, in which he has held various official positions. He takes considerable interest in politics, voting the Republican ticket, but has never been an aspirant for of- ficial honors. On the 18th of November, 1866, was solemnized his marriage with Miss Lydia H. Davidson, daughter of John and Sarah Davidson, of Fulton County, Ind. Mr. and Mrs. Winters have had five children, whose names are as follows, to wit: Carrie L., Harry (deceased), Gertrude, Wilbur and Harris.
HON. WILLIAMSON WRIGHT, is a native of Lancaster, Fairfield Co., Ohio, at which place he was born in May, 1814, the son of Rev. John Wright and Jane ( Weekley) Wright, both natives of the State of Pennsylvania, the former of Cumberland and the latter of Westmoreland County, in that State, and of Scotch- Irish blood. His early educational advantages were good. Hav- ing taken the necessary preparatory course, he entered Miami Uni- versity at Oxford, Ohio, and graduated at the age of eighteen years, immediately thereafter commencing the study of law in the office of William W. Irvin, at one time judge of the supreme court of Ohio, finishing his course with Henry Stansberry, afterward Attorney-Gen- eral of the United States, at Lancaster, his native town. In 1835
591
CITY OF LOGANSPORT.
he came to and settled in Logansport, where he was admitted to practice on the 10th of August of the same year, and is, conse- quently, the oldest attorney at this bar, though he has not practiced for thirty-five years. Because of what he deemed the uncertainty of the law, growing out of the removal, by statute, of many of the common law principles, he became disgusted, and eventually aban- doned the practice. In the meantime, however, he had embarked in politics, and in 1840 was elected State senator from the district composed of the counties of Cass, Miami and Fulton, and served a term of three years. While a member of that body, he was chair- man of the committee on revision of the statutes. In 1849 he was nominated by the Whigs of the Ninth Congressional District, for Congress, but was defeated by Dr. Fitch. In 1852 he abandoned politics, and feeling that the people of the county would be greatly benefited if a railroad were located through it, he set about working up the project of such a thoroughfare, laboring diligently to get the prospective road from Chicago to Cincinnati-now known as the Pan Handle-located through Logansport, and Cass County. In this he was eventually successful, since it is known that he was largely instrumental in the construction of the road. As president of the company in 1853, he performed an arduous task in working up the necessary interest, and when this road transferred its stock to the Cincinnati, Logansport & Chicago-which was done in order to get the road extended on to Cincinnati, and was known as the New Castle & Richmond extension of this road-he was vice- president and superintendent. Mr. Wright was united in mar- riage to Miss Eliza Searing, a daughter of John S. Searing, cashier of the old Bank of Madison, and afterward of the Madi- son Branch of the State Bank of Indiana, also a niece of the late Gov. Samuel Bigger. To them three children were born, only one of whom is now living, John M., who read law with the present member of Congress from the Pittsburgh District, Pennsylvania, and afterward went to Chicago, where he was burned out in the great fire of 1871. Subsequently, he was a clerk in the office of the sixth auditor of the United States Treasury, where he remained from 1873, until March, 1885, when he resigned his position. His first wife died in 1847, and he was again married, to Miss Kate W. Swift, a daughter of Dr. Swift, of Alleghany City, Penn., by whom seven children have been born to him. Of these five are now living: Katie, Lizzie G., Swift, Lutie and Ettie. Mary, the eldest, died many years since; and Elisha was killed by a horse, on the 10th of November, 1885, in the twenty-first year of his age. When Mr. Wright came to this county he had not money enough to buy his breakfast-only 123 cents. Now, as the result of his persevering energy and thrift, he is the owner of 1,889 acres of land in Cass County and 300 in Fulton County, Ind. And,
22
592
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY.
although well advanced in years, since the death of his youngest son he still manages the affairs of his large landed estate. Politi- cally he is a stanch Republican. Religiously he and his family are members of the First Presbyterian Church of this city.
REV. C. P. WRIGHT (deceased. ) Rev. Charles Perry Wright was born near Xenia, Greene Co., Ohio, July 5, 1826, and was the son of Merritt and Nancy (Owen) Wright; parents natives of Vir- ginia. Mr. Wright's ancestors were Methodists from the time of the earliest organization of that church in Virginia. His father was a farmer, and his youth was consequently passed in the labors of the paternal farm and on his own place until he entered the min- istry. His educational advantages were such only as were given by the instructions of an intelligent, pious mother, by the common schools of the time, by studions habits, and a bright and consecrated intellect. He was converted in January, 1840, in his fourteenth year, and immediately united with the Methodist Episcopal Church. He became a regular attendant upon all the means of Grace, and his life-long faithfulness in the Master's service early became manifest. As he grew older, he became convinced that it was his duty to preach, and in 1852 he entered the ministry, and was received on trial the following year, having, in the meantime, served as a sup- ply on the Pendleton Circuit. In 1856 he was ordained a deacon by Bishop Baker, and an elder by Bishop Ames in 1858. His fields of labor were the following, viz .: Pendleton, Greensburg, Union City, Hagerstown, Whitewater, Lanesville, North Street, at Indianapolis, Bluffton, Winchester, Muncie Circuit, Lima, Mishawaka and Elkhart. In 1872 he was appointed pastor of the Market Street Church, Logansport, and later had charge of the Wheatland congregation, his work between the two societies, and subsequently as conference tract agent, covering a period of twelve years, while a resident of the city. Mr. Wright was an able and effective minister of the Word for thirty-two years, and during that long period of service accomplished an incalculable amount of good in leading hundreds of souls to the higher life. He was greatly esteemed by all the citizens of Logansport, and in this city alone officiated at nearly 500 funerals and almost as many marriages. He died in Logansport April 29, 1884. aged fifty-nine years, nine months and twenty-four days. His marriage with Miss Fannie Gerhart was solemnized on December 25, 1854. Mrs. Wright is a native of Philadelphia, Penn., and daughter of Abraham and Barbara (Weber) Gerhart, the father born in Berks County, January 8, 1793, and the mother in Lancaster County, February 15, 1818. Mr. and Mrs. Gerhart came to Logansport in 1872, and resided here until their respective deaths, which occurred as follows: Mrs. Ger- hart on July 6, 1880, and Mr. Gerhart on June 2, 1882. They were most estimable Christian people, and had lived together as man and wife for a period of over sixty-two years.
----
593
ADAMS TOWNSHIP.
CHAPTER VIII.
ADAMS TOWNSHIP-ITS LOCATION AND GENERAL FEATURES-EARLY SET- TLEMENT-LAND ENTRIES-TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION-INDUSTRIES- VILLAGES, CHURCHES-BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
A DAMS TOWNSHIP occupies the northeast corner of Cass County and embraces an area of about thirty square miles, with the following boundaries: Fulton County on the north, Miami County on the east, Eel River on the south, and the townships of Clay and Bethlehem on the west. It is irregular in outline, being about eight miles from the northern to the extreme southern part, five miles from the eastern to the western boundary and lies in Congressional Townships 27 and 28 north, Range 3 east. The sur- face of the country is gently undulating, except in the northwestern part, and the general altitude well adapted to agriculture and stock- raising. Twelve Mile Creek is the largest and most important water-course. It is formed by two branches, East and West Twelve Mile, the former flowing through the eastern part of the township and uniting with the latter about one mile from Eel River, into which the creek empties.
The face of the country was originally covered with dense forests of the finest timber, black walnut, poplar, maple and oak predomi -* nating. Much of this was ruthlessly destroyed by the early settlers in clearing their farms, but there still remains sufficient for all practical purposes for years to come. The northern part of the township is comparatively level and contains some marshy land, the most of which has been reclaimed by a successful system of drain- age. The land adjacent to Eel River is characterized by a black sandy soil of great depth and fertility, while the soil of the more broken portions contains less sand, but is equally rich in plant food. The northwestern part of the township, known as the " range," con- tains a light soil and is not so well adapted to general farming as the eastern and southern portions.
Adams has always sustained the reputation of a good agricult- ural district, and among her citizens are many of the best farmers of the county. Productions of every kind indigenous to this lati-
594
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY.
tude are certain of rapid growth, and large returns, as is attested by the vast wealth that has been drawn from the soil during the last half century-a wealth that has covered the country with beautiful homes and transformed the once unbroken wilderness into a very garden of plenty. The general appearance of a majority of the farms indicates a spirit of thrift and prosperity on the part of the citizens, which speak well for their enterprise. Good residences, large barns and other evidences of comfort exist, all of which go to show that the inhabitants of Adams are blessed with an unusual degree of happiness and contentment.
Early Settlement .- The early history of Adams is similar in most respects to that of other townships, especially in the facts that are matters of record. The pioneers who first sought homes amid the dense forests of this part of the county were not adventurers, but plain matter-of-fact men, who were lured to the new country by the advantages it offered in the way of cheap lands, which could be ob- tained at that time for the Government price of $2 per acre. To make a home in the woods was an undertaking attended with difficulties and hardships of which we can form but a faint concep- tion. The wild condition of the country, the absence of roads, mills, etc., and the long distances to be traversed to the nearest market places, together with the general poverty of the settlements, and the immense amount of hard labor and drudgery required in order to obtain a livelihood during the first few years, were obstacles well calculated to shake the determination of the most energetic and brave-hearted of the pioneers. Theirs was, indeed, a task at- tended with many dangers, and the years of constant struggle, and the motives which animated and nerved them are deserving of all praise. Prior to the year 1828, the country embraced within the present limits of Adams Township was the undisputed possession of the Indians, and save an occasional daring hunter, lured by a love of adventure, knew not the presence of white men. About that time or perhaps a little later, a man by the name of Jackson Conner vis- ited the township, and established a trading post near Eel River, on the farm now owned by the heirs of John Hoover. Mr. Conner's occupation for several years was exclusively that of traffic and many of the red men who patronized his establishment were sorrowfully compelled to admit his superior shrewdness as a trader. He carried on a successful business with the Indians until their removal from
595
ADAMS TOWNSHIP.
the country, and then turned his attention to farming, making some of the earliest improvements in this direction in the township. He was a man of much native shrewdness, a true type of the pioneer Indian trader, and during the early days of the country acquired the reputation of being an inordinate lover of money. He died a num- ber of years ago, and, at his own request, was "buried above ground," his coffin being enclosed in a large box, filled with tar, which for several weeks rested in the woods, with no covering but a rude rail pen. It was afterward inclosed in a stone vault, which is still pointed out as an object of interest. The next white man to seek a home in the wilds of Adams appears to have been one Samuel Lowman, who came as early as 1830, and made a settlement in Section 28, Town 28 north, Range 3 east. Choosing for his loca- tion the land afterward owned by Daniel Dillman.
The year 1831 witnessed the arrival of "Logan " Thomas, who settled in Section 29; James McPherson, who made an improve- ment on the Tighlman Woodhouse farm, and John Kelley, who located the Thomas Dalzell farm in Section 29. These were all men of local prominence, and did much in a quiet way toward de- velopment of their respective communities. Another early settler whose arrival antedates the year 1833, was Minor Alley, who settled on the Gransinger farm. Philip Woodhouse came about the same time, or perhaps a year later, and selected for his home the land which his descendants still own. Isaac Young became a resident as early as 1833, as did also Richard Ferguson, Henry Daggy, John Gille- land and Nathaniel Nichols. Of this number, Mr. Furguson only is living, being the oldest resident of the township at the present time, and one of its most esteemed citizens. Among those who came early in the thirties were Joel Black, Thomas Dalzell, Thomas Kinear and Nathan Jones, all of whom made permanent improve- ments, and became identified with the growth and development of the township.
About the year 1834 or 1835, George Lowman settled in the west part of the township, and made some improvements in Section 19, where Stephen Euritt now lives. He is remembered as an ec- centric character, whose chief aim seemed to be the construction of a "perpetual motion," at which he kept, almost, perpetually work- ing. An early settlement was made in the northern part of the town- ship by a Mr. Enyart and his sons, Benjamin, David and Silas, all of whom earned the reputation of substantial citizens.
596
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY.
Prominent among the arrivals of 1835 was Thomas Skinner, who came from Darke County, Ohio, and settled where his son, Richard Skinner, now lives in Section 15. He was a man of char- acter and influence in the early settlement, and to him is the town- ship largely indebted for its moral and religious development. He raised a large family, three members of which, Thomas, Richard and John, are still residents of the township. Nathan Skinner, brother of the preceding, came the same time, and is still liv- ing on his home place in Section 19. The Leffel family, consisting of Jacob, Arthur, William, John and Anthony, came inan early day and settled in the southern part of the township. Other early comers were James Reed, who located near the Skinner settlement; Taswell Richardson, who made a home near Eel River, in the south- east corner of the township: Henry McHenry, in the Enyart neigh- borhood; William Spray, near the Dillman farm; Seborn Dudgeon, near Twelve-Mile Village; Noble Plummer, near the Fulton County line, and B. Chestnut, in the vicinity of Conner's original settle- ment. Daniel Dilhnan moved to the township in 1840, and was a prominent resident of the same until his death in 1880; Daniel Conrad came about the same time, and purchased a farm in Section 18, where he lived until his removal to Logansport, a number of years later; Ephraim Lowman came prior to 1840, as did a number of others, whose names have been forgotten.
Land Entries .-- The first entry of land in Adams Township was made in the year 1831 by Samuel Hall, who obtained a patent for. the east half of the southeast quarter of Section 29, Township 28 north, Range 3 east. The following year entries were made by Nathaniel Williams in Section 32; John Cox, Section 29; Samuel Leffel, Sections 20 and 28; Samuel Lowman, in Section 25; James McPherson, Section 20; Isaac Young and Samuel Mckinney, in Section 21, and Franklin Douglass, in Section 22. During the years 1833 and 1834 the following persons purchased land from the Government, to wit: Abraham Garst, Section 27; D. H. Morris, Section 27; William Stapleton, Section 22; William Halston, Sec- tion 28; Miles Thomas, Section 29; Nathaniel Williams, Section 29: John Daggy, John Gililland and E. Gililland, in Section 30. During the year 1835 entries were made in various parts of the township by Silas Enyart, William Reed, James McClung, John Davidson. Adam Custer, William Conrad, D. H. Conrad, William
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.