USA > Indiana > Clinton County > History of Clinton County, Indiana : With historical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families, Volume II > Part 2
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On March 27, 1828, Mr. Barner, then but eighteen years of age, found that he must leave the parental roof in order to make a start in the world. In those days the young men left home with a traveling bag and a few dollars in their pockets, given to them by their father. It is to be imagined that thus Mr. Barner left his home in Pikeville, Tenn. He traveled on foot, coursed
Johan Burner
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his way along dusty roads, broke through almost impenetrable forests, and swam rivers until finally he reached the town of Bloomington, Ind. There, during the winter of 1828-9, he found employment at his trade of cabinet- making. In the spring months of 1829, he went to Indianapolis, and in No- vember of the same year walked away from Indianapolis to Logansport, passing through the territory of this (Clinton) county. There were then but two houses from Eagle Creek to Logansport-Kirk's and Edward's. He borrowed a hatchet at an Indian camp on Sugar Creek and cut the first tree across the creek where the Michigan road line had been surveyed. The winter of 1829-30 he spent at Logansport with the Whites and Indians, re- turning to Indianapolis in March, 1830, when he set up a shop on the site of the present Claypool hotel. In the spring of 1832, he loaded. his househokl goods in an ox wagon and left for this county. The ox wagon upset in Eagle Creek and broke an axle at Mud Creek. He made a new one out of a rail. Then one ox played out, leaving the wagon in the mud, and he walked eight miles, borrowed a horse collar, put it on the odd ox and reached the prairie country. Here he borrowed, out of the plow, another ox and arrived in Frankfort on Friday evening, May 19, 1832, making the trip in five days.
Mr. Barner's settled career might be said to have dated from the time of his arrival in Frankfort, a town then "containing about twelve families and forty inhabitants, near an Indian camp." This was just before the beginning of the Black Hawk war, and the settlers were apprehensive of the Indians. Mr. Barner makes the sarcastic statement, in a memoir left by him, that many of the farmers "forted."
Mr. Barner was appointed postmaster in 1834, and diligently served in that capacity until 1849, and then resigned only to take up the duties of clerk of the Clinton circuit court, an office to which he was elected in 1843, and which he held until 1859. After his retirement from the latter office, he was admitted to the Clinton county bar, and remained a member of it until his death on March 31, 1892, in Frankfort.
On February 27, 1831, John Barner married Mary E. Darnell. They lived in Indianapolis until the following spring, when, as Mr. Barner relates in his memoir, "my wife, little boy and I, reached Frankfort by ox team." To them were born five children: John H., David P., Mrs. Mary E. Hill, Mrs. Judith B. Sample and Mrs. India S. Ghere. John H. Barner died April 22, 1885, just about a year after his mother, who died June 21, 1884.
During his life Mr. Barner was the secretary of the Clinton County Old Settlers' Association, an organization which he helped to form. For forty years he was also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
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In speaking of Mr. Barner's church life, we come to the most salient and controlling element in his life. Beginning with the day when he left his mother back in Tennessee and promised her to lead a Christian life, he has clung to his faith. In May, 1831, he joined the Methodist Episcopal church. Old Wesley chapel in Indianapolis was the scene of his first labors in re- ligious life, and he served both as teacher and officer in the Sunday school in that church. In February, 1841, he assisted in organizing the first Sun- day school in Frankfort, and from then on he was either a teacher or officer in the school. For eighteen years he held the position of superintend- ent, for nearly sixty years he was a member of the official board of the church, and at the time of his death he was president of the board of trustees. He not only gave his church personal aid during his life, but assisted in every other way that he possibly could, and many enterprises have been suc- cessful under his guidance. This devout spirit extended into the daily routine of his family life. Among the quaint and beautiful customs of his home was the holding of a special prayer service before any member of the family departed upon a journey.
Mr. Barner's reminiscences are intensely interesting, especially of the early pioneer days when he traveled overland searching for a home. These have been published in a small volume, together with remarks made by leading citizens of Clinton county, and resolutions passed by different.organi- zations of which he was a member. Lack of space prevents extensive quoting from this booklet, and we regret that all can not be set down verbatim. Particularly to the point are the addresses made by Dr. Town, Rev. Thomas Meredith, Perry W. Gard, Joseph Claybaugh, Henry Y. Morrison, James V. Kent and Sam Vanton.
It is the duty of the younger generation to follow the example set by this old pioneer, to revere the memory of such men as John Barner, and to teach the same to their children so that the good wrought by a clean, religious life will go on forever. The manner of this teaching has been set down by Mr. Barner, who wrote: "Remember you are under parental authority. Study and obey the laws of health; be industrious; use economy ; be truthful; read your Bibles; treasure up the truths and wisdom, and practice the precepts; be charitable ; use no strong drinks or tobacco; abstain from all species of gaming, and sluun every appearance of evil, that you may be worthy representatives of the pioneers."
It was Mr. Barner's boast that he had seen the development of Frank- fort through its every stage of growth from the time of its beginning as a backwoods village.
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OLIVER GARD, M. D.
No profession wins greater respect and admiration from the people than that of the medical man. He is a servant of the public and a willing one. He must bear with him the confidences of many people. A father or mother entrusts to his care their dearest treasure-their child, and he is the one who stands between life and death. To say that he must be deft, skillful and learned in his profession is not saying all ; he must also possess that assurance and confidence that is communicable, for therein lies half the battle. The sub- ject of our sketch is not now engaged in the medical profession, but for so many years was he identified with the leading and best physicians of Frank- fort, Ind., that his name will ever be the emblem of fair, tactful and successful administration.
Oliver Gard was born on January 12, 1842, in Switzerland county, Ind., the son of Jesse and Amanda (McHenry) Gard. Jesse Gard was born in IHamilton county, Ohio, March 8, 1811, being the son of William and Sarah (Woodruff) Gard, who traveled from the Buckeye state to the Hoosier state many years ago, and settled in Switzerland county. William Gard, son of Jeremiah and Experience Gard, was born June 8, 1788, in Fayette county, Pa. He held the position of one of the leading men of Switzerland county in the early days and represented hier in the first Legislature ever held in Indiana. He died April 14, 1827. He is remembered by his successful work in agri- culture and the worthy descendants that have graced his name. He married in Ohio, and became the father of two children: Jesse, deceased, and Eliza- beth, of Switzerland county. After the death of his first wife, Mr. Gard married her sister who bore him three children: William P., of Kansas; Julia and Saralı J., all deceased.
Jesse Gard, son of the above and father of our subject, remained with his parents until the death of his father and then he was forced to assume largely the parental duties. In early manhood he married Amanda Mc- Henry, a young girl from Hamilton county, O. She was born January 18, 1814, and lived to bring ten children to her husband: Perry W., de- ceased; Mrs. Charlotte McKowen, of Frankfort; James, deceased; Oliver, Sarah, deceased; Mrs. Cynthia Dronberger, of Terre Haute; Mrs. Eliza Conoway, of Union county, Ind .; M. H., of Texas; and Edward E., a Wis- consin farmer.
Dr. Oliver Gard moved when seven years of age with his parents to Clinton county. Here, amidst the rugged duties of the farm, he spent his
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early years. In the common schools he acquired a rudimentary education, and later, when seventeen years of age, he entered an academy at New Lon- den, where he studied industriously until the war of the Rebellion broke out. In September, 1861, Mr. Gard enlisted in Company HI, Third Indiana Cav- alry, in which he served until honorably discharged for physical inability in April, 1864. Mr. Gard saw heavy service in the field, participating in the battles of Shiloh, Chickamauga, Jonesboro, and Perryville, and also served loyally for a time as hospital steward. On leaving the army Mr. Gard re- turned to Clinton county and formed a partnership with his brother Perry, carrying on an extensive mercantile and grain trade in the town of Middle- fork.
In 1866, Mr. Gard began the study of medicine with Dr. M. L. Martin, of Middlefork, under whose direction he continued a couple of years, making rapid progress in the meantime. He entered Rush Medical College, Chicago, in 1867, and completed the course there on February 3. 1869. Ile located in Middlefork with his preceptor and continued a most successful practice there until March, 1882, when he moved to the city of Frankfort, where he was likewise successful. In 1884, he was nominated by the Republican party to represent them in the state legislature, and while he ran far ahead of his ticket, he was defeated by the small majority of forty-five votes. In 1886 he was elected to serve as clerk of the circuit court, being the first Republican ever elected to that office in the county. In 1890, he was re-elected to the same position, serving until November 1, 1895. Dr. Gard has acted as president of the Clinton County Medical society and also belongs to the State Medical society of Indiana. In the educational world the doctor has always taken the greatest interest. As township trustee and member of the Frank- fort school board, he has always stood for improvement nad progress. In later years, Dr. Gard discontinued his practice of medicine and entered the undertaking profession. Now he enjoys the reputation of being the leading undertaker and embalmer in Frankfort. Ind.
Dr. Gard has been twice married, the first time in 1864 to Martha Bun- nell, of Howard county, the daughter of Ezra and Susan Bunnell, of which union three children were born: Minnie, wife of Prof. Lewis Rettger, of the State Normal school, Terre Haute; Mrs. Lennie Haynes, of Evansville, and Mrs. Nina Pullen, of Union county. The mother of these children was called by death on March 4, 1871, and on May 14, 1873, Dr. Gard married his present wife, India J. Merrick, born March 10, 1850, the daughter of John and Nancy (Tyner) Merrick. Six children have been born to her : Grace
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(deceased ), Rush (deceased), Helen, Russell and two that died in infancy. Mrs. Gard is a member of the Methodist church in Frankfort, and shares equally with her husband in the esteem of the people.
In religion, the doctor is a Methodist and was a lay delegate to the gen- eral conference held in Omaha, Nebraska, 1892, and for many years after- ward was the efficient superintendent of the Sunday school at Frankfort. The doctor has a beautiful home in the city of Frankfort, and a great deal of valuable land out in the county. He is classed, financially, as one of the most substantial citizens of Frankfort.
Doctor Gard belongs to Clinton Lodge No. 54. in the Masonic frater- nity, in which he has passed all the chairs, and he also belongs to the council chapter and commandery, in all of which he has held the highest official posi- tions. He is also a thirty-third degree Mason, having been elevated to same by his work in the order. He is an active member in Stone River Post No. 65, Grand Army of the Republic, and past post commander ; he has belonged to the Improved Order of Red Men and Knights of Pythias, also to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Throughout his life he has been a strict advocate of temperance.
Doctor Card served two terms in the State senate in 1901 and 1903. He was elected mayor of Frankfort November 4, 1913.
WILLIAM P. SIDWELL.
There could be no more comprehensive history written of a city or a county, or even of a state and its people, than that which deals with the life work of those who, by their own endeavor and indomitable energy, have placed themselves where they well deserve the title of "progressive," and in this sketch will be found the record of one who has outstripped the less active and less able plodders on the highway of life, one who has not been subdued by the many obstacles and failures that come to everyone, but who has made them stepping stones to higher things and at the same time that he was win- ning for himself prestige in the business and financial affairs of life.
William P. Sidwell was born in Rockville, Parke county, Ind., January 31. 1857, and was the son of Levi and Margaret .\. ( Rice) Sidwell. Levi was born in Chillicothe, Ohio, March 25, 1813, and his wife, our sub- ject's mother, was born on March 17, 1833, at Waveland, Ind. Levi was a son of Levi, Sr., who was born in 1770 in Pennsylvania. He was a son of
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Needham Sidwell, who was a native of England, and came to the state of Virginia during the colonial days. Later he left the Old Dominion for Mary- land. and again left Maryland to move to Ohio. By occupation he was a lawyer and enjoyed the reputation of being one of the best pioneer attorneys the country afforded. He died in the year of 1799.
Levi Sidwell. Jr. received a fairly good common school education in his youth, and after leaving school he embarked in the dry goods trade. About the year 1840 he moved to Rockville, Ind., and conducted the same business, which he continued for the long period of forty years. Mr. Sidwell was a member of the Indiana Constitutional Convention of 1851. Ile retired from active business life in 1880, and died in Indianapolis six years ago. During his life Mr. Sidwell was a very prominent worker in the Presbyteran church. Before the war he was a Democrat, but at the beginning of that struggle he turned to the side of the Republicans.
Levi Sidwell, Jr. was married on May 8, 1855, to Margaret A. Rice, a daughter of Isaac and Narcissa Montague (Allan) Rice. The Rices were direct descendants of the famous Scotch church reformer, John Knox. The founders of the American branch of the Rice family originally came to Penn- sylvania, and the great-great-grandfather of our subject founded Rice's Fort long before the first gun was fired in the American Revolution. This fort was often used as a refuge by the pioneers and their families against the hostile Indian tribes. The fort was located in Washington county. in the state of Pennsylvania. Members of the Rice family also served with distinction in the Revolutionary war. After the close of that struggle the family traveled overland to Kentucky, taking several weeks to get there and undergoing many hardships while on the journey. The family reached a position of honor and trust in that state.
The grandfather of our subject came, with a part of the family. in the early '2os to Indiana, settling in Waveland, Montgomery county. The mother of our subject graduated from the Waveland Academy, and after her gradua- tion was employed as a teacher for some time. Four children were born to her : William P., Nancy C., wife of C. N. Stevenson of Indianapolis ; Mon- tague Rice, of Victoria, British Columbia, and Chauncey, who died at the age of twelve years.
William P. Sidwell obtained an excellent education in his youth, and graduated from the Rockville high school in 1877. He entered a bank in Rockville then as a bookkeeper, and stayed there one and a half years, then moved to Frankfort, Ind., and took a similar position in the First National
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Bank, serving faithfully in that capacity for six years. Ile was promoted to the position of teller and he held this place for seven years. Ilis next step was to the position of assistant cashier and in 1893 he was elected cashier.
Besides liis banking interests Mr. Sidwell has found time and oppor- tunity to enter upon almost every finnacial scheme that has been advanced in Clinton county. Ile was the organizer of the Frankfort Loan and Trust Company in 1901, and has been secretary and treasurer of the same from the beginning. Also he helped organize the Heating Company and the Ice and Cold Storage Company. He is now secretary and treasurer of the Heating Company. He aided in putting in the first electric plant, which is now the city plant. He was a prime mover in the Frankfort Industrial Association and was a director of the same. He was one of the original stockholders of the old Natural Gas Company, aiding the business of the company for four- teen years.
Fraternally, Mr. Sidwell is a third degree Mason. In religious matters he is a Presbyterian and is an elder of the church. He is also treasurer of the Home Mission Committee of the Crawfordsville Presbytery. In politics, Mr. Sidwell follows the lead of the Republican party.
Mr. Sidwell married Caroline Charline Campbell, who was born in Win- chester, Indiana, the daughter of John A. and Sarah A. (Hamilton) Camp- bell. the former a Presbyterian minister. Her people are of pure Scotch descent, and were among the best known of Scotland's families. Three chil- dren have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Sidwell: Chauncey and Keith, who died in infancy, and Paul, a twin of Keith's, who is a professor of English in Purdue University.
LAWRENCE W. HARVEY.
A hundred years ago sanitation and hygiene were not recognized as necessary elements of civilization. One reason was that the communities were not so crowded, people lived over wide areas, and unsanitary conditions had little chance to become existent. As the years passed, however, com- munities became more crowded, people were compelled to live in close prox- imity, and hence there were ushered in various means of maintaining perfect cleanliness. Cities became congested and the problem became truly serious. The science of plumbing grew to be an important profession and today the plumber is in constant demand, for upon his skill rests the elimination of
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waste. Mr. Ilarvey has kept abreast of the times in all that pertains to his profession, and lic is now ranked as one of the best mechanics in Frankfort.
Lawrence W. Harvey was born at Rensselaer, Ind .. January 14, 1885, and was the son of Charles and Catherine (Caster) Harvey. Charles Harvey was born in Lafayette, Ind., in 1852 and is still living in the town of Rensse- laer. His wife also born in Lafayette, in 1860, is still living.
Our subject attended the common schools of his home county, and then entered the high school. After leaving there he began learning the plumber's trade, and in 1903 he finished the same and began work as a qualified plumber. For six years he worked for the Frankfort Heating Company, and then went into business for himself. Some examples of his very efficient worl are to be seen in the Princess theater, Bankable Cigar Factory, Shartles store, Thrashers store, Hertz Dry Goods Company, M. B. Thrashier residence, Himmelwrights residence, four residences for Chris Arnkins, Ideal theater, William Pilsar residence, P. Armantrout's residence, and the home of Ben Pilser. Mr. Harvey now has his place of business on West Washington street, and carries a full line of plumbing and heating supplies.
On April 8, 1909, Mr. Harvey was married to Tollis A. Preble, of Frankfort. She was born in Delphos, O .. November 6, 1889. No children have been born of this union.
Fraternally, Mr. Harvey is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and politically is a Republican.
JOSEPH COMBS.
The ancestors of the Combs family in America were emigrants from Holland, and they settled in Monmouth county, New Jersey, some time prior to the Revoluntionary war. The oldest member of the family known was John Combs, who was the great-great grandfather of the subject of this sketch. He was a soldier in the war for Independence, and served as captain in Foreman's regiment of Continental troops, from March 20, 1777, till the date of his death, on September 2, 1779. One of his sons was John Combs, born in New Jersey, July 8, 1770, and on February 25, 1793, married Elizabeth Bowne. This man with his family, at an early date, settled in Butler county, Ohio, on a farm near Hamilton, where he died, September 5, 1829. One of his sons, also named John, was born November 20, 1798. He was married to Jane Brown, and located on a farm three miles northwest
HON. JOSEPH COMBS
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of Hamilton, Butler county, Ohio, where he spent all of his life. He practiced strict economy, became a man of considerable wealth, and was a very devout United Presbyterian, and with his wife and family were regular attendants at the church of that denomination in Hamilton. I! lied there on his farm in April, 1871, at the age of seventy-three years. Nathan B. Combs, the father of Joseph Combs, was the youngest son of the last named John Combs, and was born in Butler county, Ohio, April 16, 1831, and up to the twenty-second year of his age his life was passed on his father's farm near Hamilton in that county. He had two older brothers, one James B. Combs, who, later settled in Washington, Ia., and William B. Combs, who made his home on a farm one mile southeast of Mulberry, in this county. John E. Combs and William B. Comls are sons of this member of the family, and now live near Mulberry, Clinton county, Indiana.
Nathan B. Combs first visited this county in the year of 1853, and be- came acquainted with Mary Margaret Wright, to whom he was afterward married. She was the daughter of James W. Wright and Sarah ( Bald- ridge) Wright, and then lived with her mother on a farm in what was then known as the Twelve Mile Prairie (now a part of Jackson township), and about one mile west of the Prairie Center church, in Clinton county.
In August, 1856, Nathan B. Combs and wife and family settled on a quarter section of land in the northwest corner of Washington township, about three miles east of Mulberry, in Clinton county, Indiana, where he and his wife spent the remainder of their days. The entire farm was then covered with as thickly grown and fine a body of timber as could be found in Indiana, consisting of oak, walnut, poplar, sugar maple, beech, ash, hickory and many other varieties. Many of the white oak, black walnut and yellow poplar were of gigantic size. Only a few acres of the timber had been deadened, and no clearing was done, and so before he could erect a house he had to cut and roll the logs and pile the brush, so as to make room for a building. This was quickly done and a log cabin for the family speedily erected, then a log stable and barn put up to shelter his horses and stock. Next a small pa ch of ground was cleared and sowed to fall wheat, other timber was deadened, ground for corn in the spring was cleared, and thus in true, pioneer style he made a home for himself and family in the western wilderness. For nearly twenty years his nearest market was at Lafayette, Ind., seventeen miles away, where all of his crops and produce had to be hauled, and part of the way over bad roads. To make the trip in one day he had to get up about three o'clock a. m., feed his horses, get breakfast,
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so as to be able to start before daylight. Always having to face a west wind, when the weather was cold, he often walked beside the wagon the entire distance to keep from freezing. This was his regular occupation two or three days out of each week all winter long, in order to get all of his crops to market. Spring and fall were always spent in clearing, ditching and fencing new ground for crops. On account of the dense growth of heavy timber this was a terrible task. The finest walnut, white oak and poplar was con- sidered fit for nothing but to be split into rails for building fences. Trees that would now be worth hundreds of dollars were worked up in this way. Field after field were thus cleared, fenced and sowed to grain, which yiekled marvelous crops of wheat, corn, oats, clover, potatoes, etc.
And so the life of Nathan B. Combs, like that of the other pioneers, was a hard one, but his work was well done. He and his wife did their part in making the "wilderness blossom as the rose," and preparing this county for the enjoyment of the generations yet unborn. They accumulated consider- able property, and left a fine well improved farm of three hundred and fifty acres as a monument to their toil. Mr. Combs was a man of the strictest integrity, honest and honorable in all of his dealings. He was a firm be- liever in and supporter of the Universalist faith, though not a member of any church, and was a member of the lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, first at Jefferson, and then at Frankfort. In physical appearance he was not tall, but very large, weighing nearly three hundred pounds. He died in February, 1897. His wife, Margaret Combs, died in August, 1893.
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