USA > Indiana > Daviess County > History of Daviess County, Indiana : Its people, industries and institutions > Part 37
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Henry Dillard, a tanner by trade, was the father of John W., and was reared in Kentucky. He came to Indiana about 1868 and located in Jack- son county and engaged in farming. He served as a teamster in the Civil War. He died in 1869 and his wife died on February 18, 1913, at the age of seventy-six years. She was a member of the Christian church.
John W. Dillard, the subject of this sketch, spent his boyhood days in Jackson county, Indiana, and came to Daviess county in 1871. He resided in Washington, where he attended the public schools and grew to manhood. After reaching maturity, he engaged in various business pur-
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suits. He first clerked for one year for John C. McCafferty and then took the position of superintendent of Oak Grove cemetery, which he held for ten years. He then owned and operated a monumental business in Wash- ington for fourteen years in partnership with F. W. Kelle. He then entered the real estate, insurance and loan business, which he has followed since that time.
On June 15, 1876, he was married to Miranda E. Weddell, the daugh- ter of Gabriel L. and Rebecca A. (Hall) Weddell. Two children have been born to this union, Dyanthia, who died in infancy, and Vassall Edgar, born on March 14, 1878. He is a teacher of vocal and instrumental music and is director of music in the Washington high school. He married Estella Talbott and they have two children, Amadeus Byron and John Warren.
Mrs. Dillard was born in Jackson county, Indiana. Her parents were natives of Virginia and Tennessee, respectively, and were early settlers in Jackson county. Her father, who was born in 1812, studied to be a lawyer, but on account of throat trouble gave up that profession and started farm- ing. He was the owner of two large farms in Jackson county. He and his wife moved to Texas and settled in Belle county, where they lived the remainder of their lives. Gabriel L. Weddell was twice married and, by his first marriage, had three children, Jasper, Columbus and Lavina. By his second marriage there were twelve children, Hamilton, who was killed in the Civil War; Mary; Willis; Ella; Maria; Dora; Mirand E .; Warren; Sherman ; Sheridan ; Benjamin and Newton. He and his wife were mem- bers of the Christian church. She died at the age of sixty-one and he died a few years later at the age of eighty.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Dillard were David Weddell and wife, natives of Virginia and pioneers in Jackson county, Indiana, where they were farmers. He was in the War of 1812 and died at an old age. They were the parents of seven children, Gabriel; Claybourn; John A., who was a Christian minister; Nancy, Sarah, Martha and Stephen. The maternal grandparents of Mrs. Dillard were natives of Tennessee and pio- neers in Jackson county, Indiana. They were the parents of five children, Rebecca A., Captain Willis, who was a soldier in the Civil War; Dyanthia, Dovie and William, who died in the Civil War.
Mr. and Mrs. Dillard are members of the Christian church. Mr. Dil- lard served as an elder for a number of years, as a deacon and as superin- tendent of the Sunday school. Fraternally, he is a member of Liverpool Lodge No. 110, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; of the encampment ;
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of the Pythagorean Lodge No. 118, Knights of Pythias; of the Modern Woodmen of America, and of the Tribe of Ben-Hur. He is a Democrat and is now serving as councilman-at-large. Mr. Dillard is well known and highly respected by a large number of friends and acquaintances in Wash- ington and throughout Daviess county.
MARTIN LUTHER BONHAM.
The character of a community is determined in a large measure by the lives of a comparatively few of its members. If its moral and intel- lectual status be good, if, in a social way, it is a pleasant place to reside, if its reputation as to the integrity of its citizens has extended into other localities, it will be found that the standard set by the leading men has been high and their influence such as to mold the characters and shape the lives of those with whom they mingle. In placing the late Martin Luther Bonham among the foremost men of his day and generation, only simple justice is done to the memory of this worthy man. Although quiet and unassuming in manner and with no ambition for public position or leadership, he con- tributed much to the civic, material and moral advancement of his com- munity. For many years he was a successful undertaker and funeral director in the city of Washington and Daviess county. His admirable qualities of head and heart and his straightforward, upright course won for him the esteem and confidence of the circle in which he moved and, although he is now sleeping the sleep of the just, his influence still lives and his memory is greatly revered.
The late Martin Luther Bonham was born on March 4, 1827, at Logan, in Dearborn county, Indiana. He was the son of Zedekiah and Amelia (Cullom) Bonham, the former a native of Tennessee and the latter of Ohio. Both were pioneers in Decatur county, Indiana, where he was a farmer, a justice of the peace and a man of considerable influence. His wife died here well advanced in years. He died later at a very advanced age. They had three sons and three daughters, Mrs. Rhoda Thompson, Mrs. Maria Keen, Martin Luther, Washington, Allen and Mrs. White.
The late Martin Luther Bonham was reared in Dearborn county, In- diana, where he lived until eighteen years of age, when the family moved to Harrison, Ohio, where he learned the cabinetmaker trade. Afterward he engaged in the undertaking and furniture business at Harrison for eighteen
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years. In 1863, Mr. Bonham removed to Washington, Daviess county, In- diana, where he entered the employ of John Mattingly for a time. He soon formed a partnership with Mr. Mattingly and, just prior to his death, became his successor. Mr. Bonham conducted the business alone for a time and then associated with him Mr. Joseph Gill, which partnership continued as Bon- ham & Gill for a number of years. In 1891, Mr. Bonham's sons, Z. A. and C. O., purchased Mr. Gill's interest, when the firm became M. L. Bonham's Sons, and this firm continues at the present time.
Martin Luther Bonham was married to Selana Lincoln in Harrison, Hamilton county, Ohio. They had four children, George H., now a resi- dent of Wyoming and a man who has traveled extensively over the world; Mary L., deceased, who was the wife of John Krets; Zedekiah A. and Clif- ford O. Mr. Bonham died in Washington, this state, December 20, 1898, at the age of seventy-one years and nine months. His wife died some years previously, in Harrison, Ohio. After her death, he was married again to Mrs. Sarah Sours, but no children were born to this last union. Martin L. Bonham was a strong Republican. His first wife, Selana Lincoln, was born in Harrison, Ohio, and was a third cousin to Abraham Lincoln. Her par- ents were Henry and Mary Lincoln, natives of Maryland, and pioneers in Hamilton county, Ohio. They were the parents of four children, Mrs. Siren Bowlbey, Mrs. Mary Cruikshank, Mrs. Jane Johnson and Mrs. Selana Bonham. Zedekiah and Clifford Bonham were the successors of their father in the undertaking business which is still operated under the old firm name of M. L. Bonham's Sons.
Zedekiah Bonham married Marguerite McDaniel, who died leaving one child, Martin Luther. After her death, Mr. Bonham married again to Lucretia Wood.
Clifford O. Bonham married Martha J. Carnahan and they have had five children. The first two were twin boys, who died in infancy; the next two were twin girls, Fanny May and Frankie Maud, and the fifth child was Alma Inez, who was born eleven years after the birth of the last twins. Fanny May married Earl Hair and lives in Cincinnati. They have three children, Dorris, John Clifford and Marguerite, twins. Frankie Maud married Edward Clore and lives in Washington, Indiana; Alma Inez is a school teacher.
Zedekiah Bonham and his family are members of the Presbyterian church and Clifford O. Bonham and his family are members of the Methodist church. Clifford O. and Zedekiah were both born in Ohio and reared in
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Washington, Indiana, where they attended the public schools and received their education.
The paternal grandfather of Mrs. Clifford O. Bonham was Robert Carnahan and her maternal grandparents were George and Anna (Morgan) Macklin.
Clifford O. Bonham is a Republican in politics and served three terms in succession as coroner of Daviess county. The Bonham family has been connected with the history of Daviess county for many years and they have been equal to every duty, public and private. The family is highly respected in Daviess county, where two enterprising sons are carrying on successfully the work of a worthy and highly respected father.
JOHN WICHMAN.
One of the most enterprising of our younger generation of farmers in Daviess county, who has believed, from the outset of his career, that the wisdom of yesterday is sometimes the folly of today and that, while the methods of our grandfathers in tilling the soil, were all right in their day, yet in the twentieth century, we are compelled to adopt new methods and farm along different lines, in view of the fact that conditions of climate, soil, grains, etc., have changed since the days of the pioneer. John Wichman has been a close observer of modern methods and is a student, at all times, of whatever pertains to his chosen life-work. He has, therefore, met with encouraging success all along the line and, judging from his past record, he will undoubtedly achieve much in the future years and take his place among the leading farmers of Daviess county, noted for its fine farms and progressive farmers.
John Wichman was born on June 28, 1871, in Decatur county, Indiana. He is the son of Anton and Elizabeth (Kuhlman) Wichman. His father who was born in Germany, about 1836, and came to America after receiv- ing his early education in his native country; his mother is also a native of Germany. Anton Wichman and wife lived in Decatur county, Indiana, where they were farmers for a time. Subsequently, they moved to Daviess county, Indiana, and located in Steele township, where he owned eighty acres of land. They lived here until his death. He was a member of the Catholic church. Anton and Elizabeth Wichman were the parents of nine children, Anton, Jr., Mary, Catherine, John, Joseph, Rosie, Angela, Eliza-
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beth and Henry. Of these children, Anton, Jr., who owns about three hun- dred acres of land in this township, married Catherine Arlinghouse; Mary married Otto Luken and lives in Cincinnati ; Catherine, Rosie and Angela are unmarried; Joseph, deceased, married Elizabeth Englehart; Elizabeth mar- ried Aloysius Sum and lives in this county; Henry married Mary Young and owns one hundred and sixty acres of land in Steele township.
John Wichman is unmarried. He received only a common-school edu- cation, but has improved his opportunities by home study and has become a well-informed man. He is a man highly respected in the township where he lives for his enterprising habits and good common sense. Mr. Wichman lives with his mother and unmarried sisters on the home farm in Steele township. He owns two hundred acres of land in Steele township which he rents. The Wichman family are all members of the Catholic church.
John Wichman is a man who is not hasty in making up his mind re- garding a proposition, but when his mind is once made up, he is fairly inflexible. His conservatism and the care which he takes to decide a proposi- tion have been responsible largely for his splendid success as a farmer. Mr. Wichman is not only well known in Steele township, but he is a man hon- ored and admired for his frugal habits and his good business management. In every respect, he deserves to rank as a representative citizen of this sec- tion of Daviess county and is, therefore, entitled to representation in a volume of this character.
JAMES WITSMAN.
The twentieth century farmer knows very little of the disadvantages which surrounded the pioneer farmer of this state. No longer is the farmer compelled to rise early in the morning and continue his labors into the even- ing. The farmer of today can do as much work in a half day as his father could, fifty years ago, in a whole day. The free mail delivery leaves the daily paper on his doorstep each morning. His telephone puts him into communication with his neighbors, while the interurban cars and automobiles enable him to participate in all of the features of city life. The present generation of farmers has no forests to clear, few swamps to drain, while hundreds of inventions, designed to lighten the labors of the farmer, have been put into their hands. The flail of our fathers has given way to the threshing machine of today and even the old-fashioned corn-cutter is laid on the shelf and the corn is now cut by machinery. The old-fashioned
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shucking-peg has given way to the modern corn-husker and, surrounded by such conditions, the farmer of today can have all the advantages of the citizens in the cities with few of their disadvantages. One of the modern farmers of Daviess county, is James Witsman, of Steele township.
James Witsman, who lives near Plainville, Indiana, on a splendid farm, was born on February 24, 1852, in Lawrence county, Indiana. He is the son of Oliver and Walter Ann (Evans) Witsman, the former a native of Lawrence county, Indiana, and the latter the daughter of a sergeant in the Revolutionary army. Oliver Witsman died while young or when he was about thirty-four years of age. He belonged to the Christian church and was active in its affairs. He was a splendid singer, a good talker and an efficient school teacher. He also followed farming in Lawrence county, Indiana, four miles west of Bedford. where he owned one hundred and sixty acres of land. He moved to Fayetteville, Indiana, and entered the mercan- tile business in 1857, after which he soon died. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity. Oliver and Walter Ann Witsman had five children, Sarah Jane, Clara, James M., Owen Homer and Morris Trimble. Of these children, Sarah, who married Z. T. Williams, lives in Lawrence county ; Clara died in infancy; Owen Homer, who married Anna Pierce, died in 1889, and Morris Trimble, who married a daughter of William Henshaw, lives in Williams, Indiana, where he is a rural mail carrier.
James Witsman was educated in the common-schools and has been a farmer all of his life. Mr. Witsman was married to Rachel McCormick, who was born on October 1, 1856, and died on November 10, 1910. She was the daughter of Andrew and Elizabeth (Hastings) McCormick, the former of whom, at one time, owned a farm of three hundred and sixty acres, near Plainville. He was a man of strong religious convictions and an influential figure in the life of the community where he lived.
After the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Witsman, they began housekeep- ing on the farm where Mr. Witsman now lives. They had six children, Goldie, born on October 13, 1885; Walter Lyle, November 30, 1887; Will- iam H., July 5, 1890; James Oliver, April 15, 1893; Sadie Pearl, April 26, 1896, and Lewis Norvell, May 30, 1898. The last is now a student in the high school. All of these children are living and all are still unmarried.
Mr. Witsman owns one hundred and eighty-five acres of land at the edge of Plainville, where he is engaged in farming and stock raising. He handles a high grade of live stock and has been very successful in the stock business.
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All of the members of the Witsman family are identified with the Chris- tian church and active in both the church and the Sunday school. They are all living upon Mr. Witsman's farm near Plainville. No family in Plain- ville is more highly respected than that of James Witsman.
CHARLES A. LITTELL.
It is the farmner who makes it possible for men in other occupations to live. Farming was the original occupation of man, and it is the only busi- ness which could exist independently of the others. Indeed every other occupation is dependent upon the farmer. The products of the farm have made our railroads what they are today, and the great bulk of manufactur- ing is made necessary because of the farmer's needs. The people of the city could not live a week without the farmer's products. He holds not only the purse strings of the nation, but even the very life itself of the people. For this reason, the farmer has, in reality, the most important business of all. Daviess county has fine farms and as good farmers as can be found anywhere in the state. And among the good farmers of this section, is Charles A. Littell, of Steele township.
Mr. Littell was born on July 7, 1870, in Clark county, Indiana. He is the son of John G. and Hannah (Burns) Littell. His father was born on October 9, 1830, in that county, and his mother was born on May 3, 1836, and died on January 12, 1907. She was the daughter of Michael and Francis (Robinson) Burns. Michael Burns was a farmer of Clark county, Indiana, and an influential member of the Christian church. John G. Littell, the father of Charles A., was the son of Josiah T. Littell, who was born in Pennsylvania on May 21, 1794, and ·who died in 1863. Josiah T. Littell was the son of Absalom Littell, born on September 12, 1751, in Pennsyl- vania, and who served seven years in the Continental army under Col. John Washington. After the war he was paid off in the Continental currency, and with it paid five hundred dollars for a cow and two hundred and fifty for a snuff box. It is a tradition that Absaloni's father ran off from France because he did not believe in St. Bartholomew Day. Absalom Littell, the great-grandfather of Charles A. Littell, married Mary Norris, and they had seven children as follow: Amos, born on November 12, 1784; Abraham, July 25, 1786; Absalom, Jr., July 23, 1788; John T., June 16, 1790; Ann, July 12, 1792; Josiah T., May 21, 1794, and Margaret, January 23, 1797.
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Absalom Littell moved from Pennsylvania to Clark county, Indiana, in 1797, and there remained until his death. He entered one hundred and ninety acres of land in Clark county.
Josiah T. Littell, the grandfather of Charles A., married Elizabeth Gilmore, who was born on January 27, 1801. They had ten children, Absalom, born on December 25, 1823; Mary J., March 7, 1825; Lucinda K., September 16, 1826; John Gilmore, October 9, 1830; Matilda; Anna M., April 10, 1832; William F., March 4, 1834; Josiah T., February 27, 1838; Margaret R., April 2, 1840, and Indiana, March 23, 1844. Josiah T. Littell was a farmer in Clark county, Indiana. He was a soldier in the War of 1812, and also a member of the state militia. He was a member of the Christian church, and identified with the Whig party. He owned one hun- dred and ninety acres of land in Clark county.
John Gilmore Littell, the father of Charles A., came to Daviess county in 1870, and owned two hundred acres of land at one time, but later in life, sold it and lived retired in Plainville, Indiana. He served in Company B, Twenty-seventh Indiana Volunteer Infantry, during the Civil War, and was a sergeant. He was a member of the Christian church. John G. and Hannah (Burns) Littell has five children, as follow: W. O., born January 18, 1855; Thomas E., born January 2, 1858; Ella A., born December 9, 1859; George C., born November 24, 1867, and Charles A., born July 7, 1870.
Charles A. Littell was educated in the common schools and at the age of thirteen learned the harness maker's trade. At one time he had a hard- ware store in Plainville, Indiana, but quit that business in 1906. After quitting the hardware business, he located on his present farm, in February, 1906. The farm consists of eighty acres and is located in Steele township. Mr. Littell is engaged in general farming.
Charles A. Littell was married on October 2, 1895, to Lillian Tomey, born on March 12, 1877, in Daviess county, Indiana, and the daughter of William P. and Mary E. (Hastings) Tomey, the former of whom was born on May 4, 1851, in Daviess county, and who died in August, 1905, and the latter of whom was born in Daviess county on May- 22, 1857, and who is now living in Plainville. William P. Tomey was the son of John J. Tomey, who was born on November 29, 1824, and who died on December 27, 1877. He married Edith Roach. John J. Tomey was a shoemaker by trade and a farmer. He owned sixty acres of land. The children of John J. and Edith (Roach) Tomey were as follow: William P., born on May 4, 1851; Dollie L., March 12, 1854; Martha, April 25, 1857; Ida K., May 25,
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1860; Joseph A., May 20, 1863; Mary E., December 13, 1866, and Mar- garet M., March 6, 1870. John J. Tomey was the son of Armistead Tomey and Dollie (Myers) Tomey, who had nine children, John J., Caroline, Elias P., William A., Elizabeth, Mary J., Martin, Martha and Frederick B. William P. Tomey, the father of Mrs. Littell, was a farmer and school teacher. He was educated at the Central Normal College at Danville, and lived in Daviess county during his entire life. He owned one hundred and fifty acres of land in Bogard township. He and his wife had five children, Oscar, born on April 5, 1875; Lillian, March 12, 1877; Ortho, October 21, 1879; Della, August 19, 1881, and Alma, June 27, 1884.
To Charles A. and Lillian A. (Tomey) Littell four children have been born, Verna Irene, on October 4, 1901; Mary Almira, January 13, 19II; Edith, March 29, 1898, died on August 17, 1900, and a son who died in infancy.
Mr and Mrs. Littell are members of the Christian church. Mr. Littell is a member of the Prohibition party, and a strong and ardent believer in temperance. The family are highly respected residents of Steele township, and are well known in this section of Daviess county.
JOSEPH EDWARDS.
A review of the life of the honored and lamented Joseph Edwards must of necessity be brief and general in its character; for to enter fully into the interesting details of his career, touching the struggles of his early manhood and successes of later days, would far transcend the limits of this article. He held a large place in the ranks of the enterprising and public-spirited men of his day and generation, and the luster of his deeds and the memories which attach to his name and character form no inconsiderable chapter in the history of the community where he did his work and achieved his suc- cess. Sufficient it is, we believe, to prove him entitled to the honorable posi- tion he long occupied among the brave and energetic self-made men of Indiana, who, by enterprise and unswerving integrity, forged to the front, despite all opposition, and won for the grand old Hoosier commonwealth a place second to none other in the bright constellation comprising the union of American states. That he did his part nobly and well cannot be gainsaid, and though dead, he yet speaks in the works which he accomplished and in
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the many kindly deeds and wholesome influences which, not only his friends, but the community as well, prize as a grateful heritage.
The late Joseph Edwards was born on November 25, 1840, in Daviess county, Indiana, where he also died on March 29, 1883, in Daviess county. He was the son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Dunkin) Edwards, the former a native of Kentucky, and the latter of Pike county, Indiana. Thomas Ed- wards lived in Daviess county, where he was a farmer, and an influential member of the Baptist church.
Joseph Edwards was educated in the common schools and was a farmer throughout his life. He owned one hundred and twenty acres of land. On February 7, 1867, he was married to Ava Byrer, who was born, March 4, 1846, and who is the daughter of Gottlieb and Matilda (Killgore) Byrer, the former of whom was a native of Pennsylvania, and who died in Septem- ber, 1897, at the age of ninety-two, and the latter a native of Lawrence county, Indiana, died on April 28, 1882, at the age of sixty-four. Gottlieb Byrer was a farmer and also a merchant at Raglesville, Indiana, where he purchased the store of John Ragle, which was the first in that town. Gottlieb and Matilda (Killgore) Byrer had twelve children, William and Emily are deceased; Ava is the widow of the late Joseph Edwards; Demma, Phoebe and Henry are living; Noah and Hiram are deceased; Uretta is living, and John, Eliza and an infant, are deceased. Gottlieb Byrer was a member of the Universalist church. He was a son of Casper Byrer, a native of Ger- many, a member of the Unitarian church, who came to America and settled in the state of Pennsylvania. He had three sons, Frederick, John and Gottlieb. Matilda Killgore, Gottlieb Byrer's wife, was a daughter of Hiram Killgore, who was born in South Carolina, and who later moved to Indiana, settling on a farm in Lawrence county. Subsequently, he moved to Daviess county, Indiana, and settled in Van Buren township. He was a pioneer farmer. He married Nancy Grant, who was born in South Carolina, a daughter of William Grant, a southern plantation owner, and a soldier in the Revolutionary War. Hiram and Nancy (Grant) Killgore had ten children, Ina, Keturah, Pollie, Matilda, Reuben, Rollen, Perry, Eva, Sallie and® Malinda. Hiram Killgore was a son of Charles Killgore, who also fought in the Revolutionary army.
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