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 8
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To Mr. and Mrs. Hendricks one child has been born-Morris G. His birth occurred July 5, 1886. He received grade and high school training, and later attended both Indiana University and Purdue University. He was mar- ried to Georgia Thompson on April 17, 1912, a girl born in Illinois on De- cember 24, 1886.
Our subject declares allegiance to the Democratic party, but does not scek public office. His interest in his farm and family has prevented him from joining any fraternal organizations.
HOWARD HARSHMAN.
This might well be called the age of successful young men, for it is no doubt true that men succeed carlier in their life work now than in past gen- erations. It is not uncommon now to find men retired at middle age, whereas his father and grandfather were compelled to work on to the end unless the infirmities of old age compelled them to cease. The biographer does not presume to offer an explanation. One of the well known citizens of Clinton county who has achieved a definite degree of success at an carly age is Howard Harshman, the present able and popular county recorder, a man who has ambition not only to succeed in life but at the same time to confer some degree of good on his home community.
Mr. Harshman was born in Perry township, Clinton county, May 17, 1870. He is a son of Martin V. and Ann Eliza (Henderson) Harshman, (28)
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one of our well known and substantial old families, mention of whom is made on other pages of this work.
Howard Harshman was revid on the home farm and educated in the common schools. He began life for himself as a farmer, which he continued until 1898, when he engaged in the monument business with Howard A. Cann in Frankfort until 1907. They built up a large and successful business with the city and county. In 19os he was elected recorder of Clinton county and he served his first term with such credit and general satisfaction that he was re-elected in the fall of 1912 and is now serving his second term in a manner that reflects much credit upon himself and to the praise of his con- stituents, proving to be one of the b -t all-around officials the county has ever had, honesty, fidelity and promptis - as well as unfailing courtesy are his watchwords.
Mr. Harshman was married February 19, 1893, to Ada O. Hackerd, who was born November 7, 1873, in Madison township, Clinton county, and there she grew to womanhood and was educated. She is a daughter of Joseph and Sarah F. Hackerd, a highly respected family of Madison township. To our subject and wife three children have been born: Joseph MI., George A. and Flora E.
Politically, Mr. Harshman is a Democrat and has been active in the work of his party. He is a member of the United Brethren church, and he is one of the prominent lodge men of the county, belonging to the Masonic Order, Council and Chapter, the Knights of Pythias, in which lodge he is master of finance. He is also a member of the Improved Order of Red Men.
MARTIN VAN BUREN HARSHMAN.
The great task of clearing the land of its timber in the early years can scarcely be realized by the people of today. Not a crop could be sown nor an orchard tree planted until the large forest trees had been cut down and removed with a team of horses or with fire. Even then the stumps were a great hindrance and it is doubtful if so much as half crop could be raised until they had been pulled up or burned out. The amount of hard labor required to remove the dense forest growth in Clinton county seemed never to end, and all members of the family were required to assist early and late and at all seasons of the year. Martin VanBuren Harshman, now living retired in Frankfort, and his father before him had their share of this work, and they did it well, as may be surmised in looking over the old Harshman homestead. They came of a race that never quailed before obstacles and
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hardships, never swerved aside from tasks, no matter how arduous or dan- gerous, if they believed it their duty to perform them, so it is no wonder that they succeeded and became leading citizens in Clinton county. for such men are those on when the sunshine of fortune delights to shine and who are the true builders of empires.
Mr. Harshman was born in Clinton county. Indiana, October 6, 1837. Ile is a son of Henry and Mary M. ( Fogle ) Harshman. Henry Harshman was born in Virginia in 1797, and from there removed to Ohio with his parents when a boy, the family finally coming on to Clinton county, Indiana, in 1829, thus being among the earliest settlers, finding here little more than a wilderness through : hich yet roamed red men and wild beasts in abund- ance. They located on eighty acres in what is now Madison township. On this they erected a log cabin and cleared the land, and here the elder IIarsh- man farmed until his death, in 1843. He took an interest in public affairs, served as constable for a time, and politically he was a Democrat. He was a Dunkard in his religious faith. He and Mary M. Fogle were married in 1818. She was born in Greene county, Ohio, February 3, 1800, and her death occurred on May 25, 1875. To Henry Harshman and wife ten chil- dren were born, of whom Martin VanBuren, of this sketch, is the only sur- vivor. He grew to manhood in a manner similar to other children of pio- neers, and he found plenty of hard work as soon as he was old enough to go to the field. He received a limited education in the old-time schools. He remained on the home place until he was twenty-four years of age, when he began life for himself, later farming in Perry township until 1875, then moved on a farm in Washington township, where he remained until 1885, then went to Kansas and farmed there until 1887. Returning from the Sunflower state he located in Madison township. Clinton county, and also farmed in Perry township. He subsequently established a store at Fickle station, which he conducted for eighteen months. then removed to Danville, Hendricks county, where he conducted a boarding house for two years. Then for nearly five years he traveled for a firm in Keokuk, Iowa. Retiring from active life in 1901 he came to Frankfort, where he has a pleasant home, and here he has since resided quietly. He is now seventy-six years old, and is one of the oldest native-born citizens in Clinton county. He talks most in- terestingly of the changes which he has noted taken place here since he was a boy.
Politically, he is a Democrat, but has never been a public man, pre- ferring to devote his attention to his business and his home.
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Mr. Harshman was married on Nevember 28, 1861, to Anna E. Hen- derson, and of this union five children were born, one which died in in- fancy : Manson O. lives in Kansas: Harriet V., the wife of Joseph .A. Mc- Bride, of Washington township, Clinton county; Howard, of Frank fort, the present recorder of the county ; Clara S. is the wife of lloward A. Cam, of Frankfort.
The death of Mrs. Harshman occurred on April 4, 1875, and in August, 1876, our subject married Mary Jane McBride, whose death occurred in 1887. In May, 1888, he married a third time, choosing Malinda Stover, whose death occurred in 1892. On July 4. 1901, Mr. Harshman married hi- last wife, Mr Rebecca R. Ma Hoggs.
MELVILLE BEVENDGE WHITE.
In the respect that is accorded to men who have fought their own way to success through unfavorable environment we find an unconscious tribute to the intrinsic worth of a character which not only endure the test, but gains new strength through the discipline. The gentleman to whom the biographer now calls the reader's attention was not favored by inherited wealth or the asssitance of influential friends, but in spite of this, by perse- verance, industry and wise economy, he has attained a comfortable station in life, making his influence felt for good in his community of Clinton county, where he is well known by reason of his honorable career and because of the fact that he is numbered among those patriotic sons of the North who as- sisted in saving the Union's integrity in the dark days of the sixties.
Melville B. White was born December 9, 1844, in Bloomingrave, In- diana, and was the son of Alexander and Nancy (Templeton) White. Alex- ander White was born also in Bloomingrave on July 11, 1816, and he was the son of William and Nancy (Skinner) White.
Alexander White spent practically all of his life in farming, and was very successful in the pursuit of the same. At the time of his death, on August 3, 1905, he possessed one hundred and sixty acres of excellent land in Franklin county. Ile married Nancy Templeton, who was born in Frank- lin county in 1816, and who died in Wisconsin, where she and her husband had gone in the spring of 1860 in hopes of benefiting her licaltlı.
William White was born in Delaware in the latter part of the eighteenth century and came to Indiana before the year 1800, being one of the very
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first white men to penetrate the forests of this locality and brave the hard- ships therein. Most of his life was spent in the voration of farming and he experienced the ustri life of the pioneer of the day.
Melville White received a good common school education in the county of his birth. He spent the early years of his life on his father's farm and was yet a boy in his teens when the first gun was fired in the Civil war. He en- listed in Company C. Thirteenth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and was at- tached to the Army of the Potomac, under General Grant. He participated in all of the more important engagements of the Army of the Potomac. In September, 1865. he was given an honorable discharge, at the time holding the rank of corp ale f his con gen. After the case of his military carcer, Mr. White began farming in Franklin county, which he continued for a couple of years, then conducted a dry goods business at Bloomingrave, In- diana. until 1872. He then came to Clinton county, still following the same business, and settled first in Rossville, where he stayed until I901. He came to Frankfort in that year, and accepted a very lucrative position as cashier of the Central Union Telephone Company, and here he has been since that year.
In politics, Mr. White is a Progressive, and in 1909 was elected as councilman from the third ward of Frankfort, and in this capacity has given very efficient service. Fraternally, Mr. White is a member of the Benevo- lent Protective Order of Elks, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Im- proved Order of Red Men, and the Grand Army of the Republic. Ile is a Methodist in religion and has always been a liberal supporter of the church.
In June, 1874. Mr. White was married to Emma C. McClure, of Brookville, Indiana, she having been born there May 20, 1847. Two chil- dren have been born of this union : Oakley M., of Indianapolis, and Lula R., at home.
JOSEPH WILBUR PENCE.
The history of Clinton county would be incomplete without appropriate mention of the life and character of Joseph Wilbur Pence, the present effi- cient deputy sheriff of Clinton county and one of the most popular men ever appointed to this responsible position. Mr. Pence is a native of Clinton county and a descendant of a long line of sturdy ancestry, many of whose sterling characteristics he inherits, as is indicated by the honorable and use- ful life he has lived and the influence for law and order he has ever exerted.
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His grandfather, John Pence, who was born in Rockingham county, Vir- ginia. December 31, 1800, of German parentage, married in his native state and at the age of twenty-seven, with three brothers, came to Clinton county, Indiana, and cutered 320 acres of land on which the city of Frankfort now stands. 1Ie was a typical pioneer of the time in which he lived, strong, vigor- ous and courageous and not only took an active part in the development of the country, but became a leading factor in the organization of the county of which he was elected the first treasurer. He was a man of high standing and generous impulses, a leader among the early settlers of his cominnnity and one of the prominent Democrats of his day and generation in the county of Clinton. On April 11, 1824, he married Miss Judith Aughe, who was born April 11, 1806, in Rockingham county, Virginia, but later removed with her parents to Warren county, Ohio, where the nuptials indicated were duly solemnized.
John and Judith Pence became the parents of eleven sturdy children and lived long and useful lives, the former dying July 31, 1882, the latter pre- ceding him to the unseen world on January 2d of the year 1874.
Thomas Coke Pence, one of the eleven children of the above couple and father of the subject of this review, was born in Frankfort, Indiana, on February 17, 1846. He married December 16, 1869, Miss Floretta Gaskill, whose parents were among the prominent pioneers of Clinton county, and departed this life May 14, 1876, in the prime of manhood, being only thirty years of age when summoned to the "silent land." Ile, too, was a Democrat and an influential factor in his party, and like his father took an active part in public affairs. His wife, a most estimable lady, whose memory is cher- ished as a priceless heritage by her descendants, died January 2, 1874, at her home in Frankfort.
Joseph Wilbur Pence was born July 26, 1870, in the above city and has spent the greater part of his life in Clinton county with the. varied interests of which he has been for a number of years actively identified. His educa- tional discipline included the usual public school course and when a young man he entered the railway service, but at the end of eight years resigned his position to engage in the express business at Frankfort, Indiana, where he remained for a period of three months, an efficient and faithful employe of both the Adams and American Express Companies. At the expiration of the time indicated he went to Jeffersonville, Indiana, where he was an employe in the state reformatory for a period of five months. He then engaged with the American Laundry Company of Frankfort and continued
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with the same until january 1, 1913. when he was appointed deputy sheriff of Clinton county, which honorable and responsible position he has since most acceptably fille .1.
Mr. Pence ha- supported the principles of the Democratic party ever since attaining his majority, and is very popular, not only among his political associates, but with the people irrespective of party ties. He is a gentleman of pleasing address, easily approachable, affable and courteous in manner and in the full vigor of life. He manifests an abiding interest in all matters of local importance and is a useful and influential citizen as well as a fearless and popular public servant. Fraternally, he is identified with the B. P. O. E., the Mas me, K. of P., and Ben Hur, and socially is hell in high esteem by all.
GEORGE B. MCCLELLAN KNAPP.
When crops grow in rotation and proper tillage methods are followed, they will suffer less from dry weather than when they are grown continually. This has been demonstrated in the season of 1913 on the farm of George B. McClellan Knapp, of Washington township. Clinton county, who evidently understands well the various secrets of proper crop rotation and soil fertiliza- tion. Crop rotation is usually of more importance than the method of tillage used in this respect, although both are important. We should never lose sight of the fact that the soil must be well supplied with organic matter. Humus is absolutely necessary to the soil to make plant food available.
Mr. Knapp, who is a commissioner of Clinton county, an office which he most creditably fills, and who is proprietor and owner of "Jersey Stock Farm," and a well known dealer of pure bred Jersey cattle, is a representa- tive of one of the fine old pioneer families of this locality. He was born on the old homestead here December 10, 1864. He is a son of Horace G. Knapp, who was born in New Jersey, the son of Daniel Knapp, also a native of that state. The mother of our subject was Martha E. ( Mattix) Knapp, a native of Tippecanoe county, Indiana, a daughter of Giles Mattix.
Horace G. Knapp located on the farm just north of that owned by our subject in an early day and became one of the successful farmers of the com- munity. There he lived many years. His family consisted of seven chil- dren : Giles D., Mary F., Samuel O., Elizabeth II., George B. MeClellan, our subject ; and Aaron.
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The father was an extensive dealer in live stock and was a good and useful man.
The subject of this sketch was reared on the home farm and he worked there when a boy. He received a good public school education. Upon reaching manhood he married Virginia P. Heavilon, a daughter of Joseph P. Heavilon, a sketch of whom appears on another page of this work.
Our subject has one of the best farms in the township. On it stan.1 an attractive ten-roomed residence and a good set of outbuildings. He has a large barn, forty-eight by eight feet. Ile handles a great deal of live stock from year to year and no small port of his income is derived from this source. To our sul ject and wife the- ren Iru. Men born: Martha Jose- phine, Helen, Ralph Il., Virginia and Joseph Il., the last named dying when eighteen months old.
Politically, Mr. Knapp is a Republican. He was elected county com- missioner in 1910 and is discharging the duties of the office in a manner that reflects much credit upon himself and to the eminent satisfaction of all concerned.
JAMES A. STEPHENSON.
Among the best known and most progressive of our younger genera- tion of farmers is James A. Stephenson of Owen township, a man who has had the privilege of spending his life on the old homestead. We say privilege advisedly, for the biographer is of the opinion that all who have been per- mitted to live under the roof that heard their earliest cry estecm it a rare privilege, for there is a certain "charm which hallows us there," that we never find under any other roof, althoughi perchance better and more pretentious the environment in general. He has been glad to remain at home and has kept the house well repaired and the place well tilled and improved, so that it is today as valuable and productive as ever before since it was reclaimed from the virgin forest.
Mr. Stephenson was born in Owen township, Clinton county, on the farm where he now lives, as before intimated. He is a son of William and Emeline (Brown) Stephenson, a highly respected early family, a complete sketch of whom appears on another page of this work, hence need not be reported here.
James A. Stephenson grew up on the home farm, where he worked hard when a boy during the summer months, and in the winte time he attended
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the rural schools in his district, receiving a very practical education. On Feb- ruary 20, 1901, he was married to Pearl Erb, who was born in Rossville, Ind., December 5, 1870. She is a daughter of Jomm and Ida ( Gehres) Erb, the latter being a native of Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, and the former of Wabashı county, Indiana.
They grew up, were educated in the old-time schools and were married here. John Erb died December 5, 1907, and Mrs. Erb still lives at Rossville. Mrs. Stephenson grew to womanhood and was educated in the common schools at Rossville, and graduated from the high school at Rossville with the class of 1898. Our sulfeet and wife have had but one child, Russell J. Stephenson, born Octo' : 30, 1909.
Mr. Stephenson has always farmed and raised livestock of a general breed and he has met with a large measure of success with advancing years. He is a scientific farmer, having attended Miami University, at Oxford, O., taking a general course, which has made him of an investigating turn of mind, a elose observer and a student of nature and science. He owns eighty acres of the old home place, where he lives, and he farms three hundred and forty- seven acres, all in one body.
He thus farms on a large scale and he raises large numbers of cattle which he feeds for the market. He also buys and feeds hogs. No small por- tion of his annual income is derived from his judicious handling of livestock.
Mr. Stephenson is a Republican in political matters, and fraternally he belongs to the Masonic Order and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, both at Rossville.
SPAHR-MORRISON ABSTRACT CO.
Naturally a county rich in real estate values as Clinton county would also require of those engaged in the preparation of titles to its real estate a high standard of proficiency and a thorough knowledge of the business in which they are engaged. Not a little of the intrinsic value of land depends on the accuracy and clearness used in setting out the history of its title, and for this careful and painstaking labor people have learned to seek the most experienced, capable and competent men. The firm of which we write in this sketch has won such a place in the estimation of the county and adjoin- ing communities, and there is not a land owner or a farmer who would hesitate to place explicit confidence in the service rendered by this firm, the Spahr-Morrison Abstract Company.
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The Spahr- Morrison Abstract Company was organized September 24, 1907, and is the successor to the late Union Title, Guaranty and Loan Com- pany, which was organized November 1, 1902. The business of the com pany consists in the drawing of accurate abstracts of land titles in Clinton county, and the lending of money on farm and city property. When real estate is purchased, the buyer naturally should want to know the exact con- dition of the title, whether or not it is good and merchantable, and if not, the full nature of its defects. To inform the buyer of the exact condition of the property's title as the same appears in the public records of the county is the business of the Spal- Morrison Abstract Company
The members of this company are experts in their profession, and the abstracts furnished by them can be relied on implicity. The company pos- sesses a library of realty records unsurpassed in any county in the state and equaled by very few. Their record is complete so far as land titles in Clinton county are concerned. They can show you the name of every entryman and the respective owners of every tract or lot of land in the county, from the date of entry down to the present time. If your tract of land is fractional, they have a copy of the original survey showing the number of acres it contains. They have in their office a copy of every will probated in Clinton county. They have a copy of every dedication and plat of every city and town in the county. Their records show the name of the mortgagor, the mortgagee, the amount of money borrowed, rate of interest and time when due of every unreleased mortgage in the county. Their records, comprising the abstract hooks formerly compiled by the firms of John L. Young, Gard & Sheridan, William S. Sims, and the Morrison AAbstract Company, all of whom sold their respective books to the late Union Title, Guaranty & Loan Company, constitute the original and only complete record system of the county. The members of the Spahr-Morrison Abstract Company are among the best known title men of the state; both are members of the Indiana Title Association and the American Association of Title Men.
Samuel A. Morrison, treasurer of the company, was born and reared in the city of Frankfort. He is a graduate of the local common and high schools. Hle is a son of James W. Morrison, in whose office he received the foundation for his education in the abstract of title profession.
George M. Spalır, president and sceretary of the company, was born and reared in Marion county, Indiana, but has been a resident of Clinton county since May 24, 1897. During the past sixteen years he has been engaged in his present profession. He was among the first to change the manner and
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style of making abstracts from the brief and inaccurate chain of title method formerly adopted by the older member of the abstract profession to the present high standard of the work, which is an exact copy of every essential detail of the instrument alestracted, as now turned out in abstracts made by this company.
HARRY BOYD VAN EATON.
It is a well authenticated fact ilri success comes not as the caprice of chance, but as the legitmat result at of applied energy, unflagging deter- mination and perseverance in a course of action once decided upon by the individual. Only those who diligently seek the goddess Fortuna find her- she never smiles upon the idler or dreamer. Harry Boyd Van Eaton, a man well known in Boone and Clinton counties, now the popular and efficient city treasurer of Frankfort, clearly understood this fact carly in life, so he did not seek an; royal road to success, but sought to direct his feet along the well-beaten paths of those who had won in the battle of life along legitimate lines. IIe had their careers in mind when casting about for a proper field of endeavor, and in tracing his life history it is plainly seen that the success which he has enjoyed was won by commendable qualities, and it is also his personal worth which has gained for him the good standing among his fellow citizens in this locality.
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