USA > Indiana > Daviess County > History of Daviess County, Indiana : Its people, industries and institutions > Part 43
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After the death of Mrs. Emma Smiley, Mr. Smiley was married a second time to Dove Satterfield, of Plainville. Her maiden name was Dove Trueblood, she being the daughter of Mark Trueblood. No children have
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been born to this second marriage. Mrs. Smiley is a graduate of the Terre Haute Normal School and taught school for fifteen years in Loogootee, Franklin and Elwood.
Mr. Smiley owns one hundred and twenty acres of land in Van Buren township and is a general farmer. He devotes considerable attention, how- ever, to stock raising.
Mr. and Mrs. Smiley are members of the Methodist church. Mr. Smiley is a Democrat in politics and served one term of six years, from 1908 to 1914, as trustee of Van Buren township.
ADOLPHUS G. WILLIAMS.
To write the personal record of men who have raised themselves from humble circumstances to a position of trust and responsibility in a com- munity is no ordinary pleasure. Self-made men who have achieved success by reason of their personal qualities, and who have left the impress of their individuality upon the business and agricultural development of their home, neighborhood and township, and who affect for good the institutions of their community, unwittingly perhaps, built monuments more enduring than marble obelisk or granite shaft. To such it is unquestionably proper to say that Adolphus G. Williams belongs.
Adolphus G. Williams was born on March 25, 1850, in Franklin county, Indiana. He is the son of Solomon Williams and his second wife, who was Hannah Vanmeter, the latter of whom is a daughter of a well- known farmer living in Michigan. By this second marriage of Solomon Williams seven children were born, Adolphus G., John (deceased), Clar- ence Lee, Charles, Eugene, Augusta Bradfoot and Ada Palmer. Of these children, John married twice, the first time to Callie Johnson, who died; the second time he married Callie Giddings; Clarence Lee lives in Terre Haute ; he married Anna Courtney; Charles lives in Missouri; he married Anna Hollingsworth and after her death was married to Janie Alford; Eugene lives in Indianapolis; he married Pearlie Barmore.
Solomon Williams's first wife was a Miss Clemens. By this marriage six children were born, Isabella, Louisa, Henrietta, Missouri and Sarah Ann. Solomon Williams was educated in the common schools and was a man of wide political influence in Daviess county, having served in many important offices. He was county recorder of Daviess county for a period of four
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years, and assessor of Bogard township. He was identified with the Repub- lican party during his entire life. He moved to Daviess county in 1861, and settled in Steele township, where he owned one hundred and sixty acres, but after a time moved to Washington township, where he owned one hundred and ten acres. Here he remained the rest of his life and died in 1888.
Adolphus G. Williams, the subject of this sketch, was educated in the public schools of Daviess county, and with the exception of three years, during which he was in the mercantile business at Epsom, he has been a farmer all his life. Mr. Williams owns one hundred and forty acres in Bogard township, and is engaged in farming at the present time. He has made a rather unusual success of his chosen vocation.
Mr. Williams has been twice married. He was first married, in 1876, to Mary Sheppard, but no children were born to this marriage. Subse- quently he was married, in 1882, to Anza M. Cummings, born on July 24, 1861, and a daughter of Malachi and Elizabeth A. (Robinson) Cummings. By this second union eight children were born, Walter, Maud, Richard, Bert, Bertha, Joseph, Edna and Alma. Of these children, Walter married Lula Williams, who, however, was not a relative; they live in Linton, Indi- ana; Maud married Austin Osmon; they live in Bogard township; Richard married Josephine Clossman; Bert married Lucy Templin and they live in Indianapolis. The remainder of the children are single and live at home.
Mrs. Adolphus G. Williams, as heretofore stated, was a daughter of Malachi and Elizabeth A. (Robinson) Cummings, the former a native of Jackson county, and the latter a native of Brown county, having been born near Nashville. Malachi Cummings moved to a farm within one mile of Odon, consisting of two hundred acres. In addition to being a farmer, he was also a preacher in the Christian church, and was active in politics, hav- ing held many local offices. Malachi Cummings was twice married. Mrs. Williams is a daughter by his second wife. The other children by the sec- ond wife were Robert, John, Susan, William, Levi and Joseph. Mr. Cum- mings' first wife was Polly Brown, who bore him two children, Evaline, who lives at Odon, Indiana, married John Sears, and Jane, the latter of whom is deceased. Malachi Cummings was the son of David Cummings, who was born in 1756 and who died in 1840. He was a native of Virginia, and moved to Tennessee in 1808. He married Sarah Keithly, and their children were as follow: John K., Joseph, Malachi, Eliza, Tabitha, Mary, Rosanna, Catherine, Rebecca and Jemimah .. David Cummings moved to Law- rence county in 1815, and was elected county commissioner in 1816. He was one of the first commissioners of this county. He died at the age of eighty-four years. The land which he owned near Bedford he entered from
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the government. David Cummings was the son of Joseph Cummings, a soldier in the Revolutionary army, who was present at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown.
Adolphus G. Williams, although a man well advanced in years, is a man who has earned for himself, by honorable and exacting toil, a substan- tial competence in life. He enjoys the esteem of the people in his com- munity, and is entirely worthy of the confidence which his neighbors have placed in him.
He votes the Republican ticket and is a member of the Christian church.
CECIL S. SMITH.
Perseverance and sterling worth are almost sure to win conspicuous recognition in any locality and in any vocation. Cecil S. Smith, one of the most successful teachers in Daviess county, Indiana, although a very young man, is already recognized as a promising leader in the educational affairs of this section of the state. Mr. Smith has worked hard for success and his present attainments are only the natural results of his well-applied efforts. He had the advantage, however, in the beginning, of having been endowed with an unusually alert mind, and this he has used to the very best advan- tage. He possesses the talent and character to carry him upward in educa- tional work. A young man of strong fiber and vigorous mentality, it may be said truly that he has already achieved a signal success, whatever his future accomplishments.
Cecil S. Smith was born on September 23, 1894, in Sullivan county, Indiana. He is the son of John V. and Catherine (Sproatt) Smith, the latter of whom is the second wife of John V. Smith, a native of Sullivan county, Indiana, whose present wife is a native of New Russellville, Illi- nois, the daughter of Reason R. Sproatt, a well-known farmer of Knox county, and one of the leading members of the Christian church in that county.
James Smith was the grandfather of Cecil Smith. He was a native of Clark county, and settled in Sullivan county, where he became an influ- ential farmer and a leader in the Baptist church of Greene county. He and his wife had nine children, William S., John V., Martha, Margaret, Eliza, James, Nancy B., Ida I. and Louis M.
John V. Smith, the second son of his parents, and the father of the subject of this sketch, attended Franklin College when a young man and
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also took a normal course at various places. He taught thirteen years in the public schools of Sullivan and Knox counties and made a splendid record in this vocation. He was first married to Laura E. Miller and by this union three children were born: Leon V., Laura Fay and Blanche, all of whom are now deceased. The children of John V. Smith by his second marriage are: Cecil S., Mary J., and Ralph E. Mr. Smith is a member of the Baptist church, and an active member of the Socialist party. John V. Smith's second wife was the widow of George Eastridge, of Knox county, and to this union one child was born, Redmond R. He is located in Chicago, Illinois, as a telegraph operator for New York Central lines, Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad Company. He is a graduate of Oaktown high school and took a course in telegraphy at Valparaiso. Fraternally, he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In 1911, he moved from Knox to Daviess county, and purchased eighty acres of land in Van Buren township, where he is now engaged in farming. He is a man of more than average attainment and well informed regarding all political and economic issues. His son, Cecil S., has inherited many of the intellectual qualities of the father.
Cecil S. Smith was graduated from the. Odon high school in 1912, and has been teaching school since that time. During the summers of 1913-14, he was a student of the Danville Normal School at Danville, Indiana, where he was further equipping himself for his vocation as a teacher. He is now teaching in Van Buren township, district No. 7, and is popular among the patrons and pupils of this district. It is the young men of the present gen- eration upon whom depend the future progress and prosperity of our coun- try and no young man in Daviess county has a more promising career or is more certain to bear his share of the responsibility than is Cecil S. Smith.
A. L. STANDIFORD.
There is no positive rule for achieving success and yet, in the life of a successful man, there are always lessons which might well be followed. The man who gains prosperity is he who can see and utilize the opportunities which come in his way. The essential conditions of human life are ever the same. The surroundings of individuals differ but slightly, and when one man passes another on the highway of life to reach the goal of prosperity before others who perhaps started out before him, it is because he has the
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power to use advantages which probably fall within the purview of the whole human race. Among the prominent citizens and successful business men of Steele township, is A. L. Standiford, a well-known merchant of Plainville. The qualities of keen discrimination, sound judgment and execu- tive ability enter very largely into his makeup, and have been contributive elements to the material success which has come to him.
Mr. Standiford was born on September 30, 1871, in Clark county, Indiana. He is the son of Cornelius Standiford, a native of Floyd county, this state, who in turn was the son of Nathan Standiford, a native of Kentucky.
Nathan Standiford was a school teacher and farmer in Floyd county, and a local Methodist preacher. He and his wife had six children, James, Eliza, Aquilla, Martha, Tabitha and Cornelius.
Cornelius Standiford, the youngest child born to his parents and the- father of the subject of this sketch, was educated in the common schools of Floyd county, where he was a successful farmer before moving to Daviess county, where, in 1871, he was married to Martha Swim, who died in 1879, at the age of thirty-five years, he had died, previously, in 1875, at the age of thirty-nine years. Cornelius Standiford belonged to the Methodist church, and was always active in the work of that church and the Sunday school .. Of the eight children born to Cornelius and Martha (Swim) Standiford, only three are living, James, Martha and Aquilla L. The deceased children are Nathan, Elizabeth, Katurah, William C., Eliza. Cornelius Standiford 1 was a soldier in the Civil War, where he served three years in the Fifty- third Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry. During a severe engagement he received a painful wound in the right hand, a bullet having passed through four of his fingers. Aquilla L. Standiford was educated in the public schools of Indiana, and for several years was a successful farmer, but finally gave up this vocation for other things.
Mr. Standiford was married to Demia Mallet, the daughter of W. W. and Phoebe (Byrer) Mallet, the former a well-known farmer of Bogard township, where he lived after his marriage, and worked by the day until 1893, when he went into the mercantile business at Epsom. He was in business for about six years, and then returned to a farm near that place. The following year he moved to Houston, Texas, and remained there for about four months, after which he returned to Epsom, and finally to Plain- ville, in 1910, when he opened a general supply store. In addition to his general business, Mr. Standiford also owns eighty acres of land in Steele. township, which is well improved.
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To Aquilla L. and Demia (Mallet) Standiford six children have been born, Pearl, Ruth, Mamie, Omer, Bessie and Eugene. All of these chil- dren are unmarried and live at home.
Mr. Standiford is identified with the Democratic party, and has been honored by the people of Bogard township on two occasions, having been elected assessor in 1910, and trustee of the township in 1904. He was in office, therefore, during the period of eight consecutive years, from 1900 to 1908. Mr. Standiford is a member of the Christian church. Fraternally, he is a member of the Knights of Pythias.
CHARLES GREEN SEFRIT.
Charles Green Sefrit, of Washington, general manager of the Gazette and Herald Company and editor of the newspapers printed by the company, the Washington Herald (daily) and the Washington Gazette (weekly), was born in Barr township, Daviess county, Indiana, in a log house that stood on the bank of Prairie creek, February 18, 1860. His father was Moses L. B. Sefrit, who died in 1892, and his mother was Eleanor McDonald, whose death occurred two years later. Both the Sefrits and the McDonalds belong to the earlier of the pioneer families of Daviess county. George Sefrit, the first of the name in Daviess county and the great-grandfather of the sub- ject of this sketch, came with his children from Pennsylvania and settled in Daviess county. George Sefrit's parents were natives of Holland. In the time of the American Revolution his father was assassinated by a Tory. George Sefrit lived to be one hundred years old, and even at this great age his death was an unnatural one, for it resulted from injuries received in a fall. George Sefrit's funeral sermon was preached by the Rev. John Poucher, then a young Methodist preacher riding his first circuit; now an aged man, but yet in the service of the church, at this time stationed at Salem, Washington county, Indiana.
George Sefrit's son Charles was the father of Moses L. B. Sefrit. Charles G. Sefrit was named for his grandfather Sefrit and his mother's brother, Capt. Green McDonald, a Union veteran, who served the full term ·of the Civil War. Mr. Sefrit's maternal grandfather was Francis McDon- ald, who married Asenath Allen. The Allens were among the first of the white citiens of Daviess county, as were the Everetts, from which family came Mr. Sefrit's grandmother on his father's side, Elizabeth Everett, who
CHARLES G. SEFRIT.
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kept up the family record for longevity by living to her ninety-sixth year. Francis McDonald, Mr. Sefrit's grandfather on his mother's side, came with his father, whose name also was Francis, from Kentucky in 1815. Francis McDonald I, however, was born in Scotland. He started with his parents for the United States when he was twelve years old, but all the other mem- bers of his family perished on shipboard from a pestilence that broke out when the vessel was on the high seas and caused the death of nearly all the passengers and part of the crew.
Charles G. Sefrit was married in 1880, his wife being Sarah Mulholland, daughter of Capt. Samuel H. Mulholland, a Union veteran, captain of Com- pany I, Sixty-fifth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and Ellen Kid- well. Mr. and Mrs. Sefrit have four daughters : Mrs. Ethel Hyatt, wife of Harry V. Hyatt, of Chicago; Mrs. Nell Graham, wife of Joseph B. Graham, of Evansville; Mrs. Claire Scoble, wife of Roy Scoble, of Washington, and Miss Ruth Sefrit. They have four granddaughters, Elinor, Virginia and Sara Elizabeth Graham and Sara Emily Hyatt, and one grandson, Joe Gra- ham, Jr.
Mr. Sefrit enjoys the unusual distinction of having had a personal acquaintance with six generations of his own family-his great-grandfather Sefrit, who died when Charles G. Sefrit was seven years old; his grand- father Sefrit; his father ; his own brothers and sisters; his own children, and his grandchildren, the eldest of whom at this writing is seven years old. Mr. Sefrit has one brother living, Frank I. Sefrit, manager of the American Reveille, published at Bellingham, in the state of Washington. His parents are dead, but two of his father's sisters and three of his mother's sisters are living, all of them far along in years.
Charles G. Sefrit has been in the newspaper business nearly all his life. He began as a reporter on the old Washington Gazette, when he was eigh- teen years old, and, except for brief intervals, has been associated with that paper since that time. He has been closely connected with Indiana politics, and was writing political editorials before he reached his majority, but never has held a public office, save for a period when he was the financial agent of the Southern Indiana Hospital for the Insane at Evansville, which situa- tion he relinquished in 1904 to return to Washington and become the man- ager of the Herald. A year later the Herald and the Gazette were consoli- dated, with Mr. Sefrit as the managing editor.
Mr. Sefrit has done some newspaper work outside of Washington. For a time in 1908 he was engaged as the special representative of the Cincinnati
(30)
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Enquirer, supplying that paper with letters from the Southern states in the- preliminaries of the presidential campaign of that year. He also has had much service with the Indiana Republican state committee; was a member of the Republican state executive committee in 1906 and chairman of that. committee in 1910. He is one of the best known of the newspaper men of Indiana.
BENJAMIN H. RITTER.
The life of a professional man seldom exhibits any of those striking incidents that seize upon public opinion and attract attention to themselves. His character is generally made up of those qualities elicited by the exer- cise of the peculiar duties of his vocation or the particular profession to which he belongs. When a young man has so impressed his individuality upon his fellow men as to gain their confidence and, through that confidence, has been able to advance to the front ranks of his profession, he becomes at once a conspicuous figure in the locality where he works and where his labors are performed. Benjamin H. Ritter is a well-known young man of Bogard township, Daviess county, Indiana, who has made remarkable prog- ress as a teacher and who expects shortly to turn his attention to law, in which he may be expected to experience a like success. His friends predict that he will forge to the front in this responsible and exacting vocation and earn for himself an honorable reputation as a leader in the legal fraternity of any community where he chooses to practice.
Benjamin H. Ritter was born on July 3, 1888, in Bogard township, Daviess county, Indiana. He is the son of W. H. and Jennie (Bugher) Ritter, the former of whom is a native of Bogard township and the latter the daughter of Asa and Elizabeth (Myres) Bugher, pioneer farmers in Bogard township and prominent members of the Methodist Episcopal church and of the Grange. Asa Bugher was a soldier in the Civil War and, dur- ing his service in the Union army, was shot through the arm. This wound disabled him for some time and finally resulted in total paralysis.
The grandfather of Benjamin H. Ritter was Jacob Ritter, a farmer, whose parents were early settlers in Indiana. He married Elizabeth Schnei- der and became the father of four children, Jennie, Mary, W. H. and James. Jacob Ritter was also a soldier in the Civil War and was killed in the serv- ice in a powder explosion in the state of Kentucky.
W. H. Ritter, the father of Benjamin H., has always been a farmer.
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His opportunities for an education during his youth were limited, but he has improved his time by home study and is very actvie in the local affairs of Bogard township. He was instrumental in bringing about the consolida- tion of the Bogard township schools in Epsom and the erection of the large school building at that place. Mr. Ritter is an influential member of the Methodist Episcopal church, as are his wife and children, five of whom have been born to them: Benjamin H., Walter J., Minnie, Clay and Roscoe. All of these children are single, except Walter J., who married Versie Mal- lett and they have three children, Ola, Olive and an infant daughter.
Benjamin H. Ritter was educated in the common schools of Bogard township and later graduated from the Northern Indiana Normal Univer- sity, at Valparaiso. He has taught school for eight years, the last four of which he has been a teacher in the high school, one year of which was spent at Center, Indiana. Prior to that time he taught in the common schools of Bogard township. The last three years he has been engaged as principal of the high school at Epsom, in Bogard township.
Benjamin H. Ritter is a brilliant young man and a successful teacher. He is popular in Bogard township among all the people, and especially among the students and patrons of the Epsom high school. He has never married. Fraternally, he is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and is a young man who thoroughly merits the confidence which has been reposed in him by the people of his community. He is industrious, genial in nature and demo- cratic in his manner. In the future, Mr. Ritter expects to turn his atten- tion to law and in this connection it is only fair to say that a large measure of success awaits him.
ALBERT BUZAN.
Albert Buzan is a prosperous farmer, widely known in Bogard town- ship, and is one of the honored citizens of Daviess county, where he is living after a life of strenuous activities in farming. His well-directed efforts in the practical affairs of life, his capable management of business interests and his sound judgment, have brought to him more than an ordi- nary measure of prosperity. His life demonstrates what may be accom- plished by a man of energy and ambition, a man who is not afraid to work and who has the perseverance to continue his labors in the face of disaster and discouragements. In all the relations of life Mr. Buzan has commanded
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the confidence and respect of those with whom he has been brought in con- tact. A biographical history of this locality would not be complete without a record of his career.
Albert Buzan was born on February 16, 1852, in Barr township. Daviess county, Indiana. He is the son of John W. and Sarah ( Perkins Buran. the first wife of John W., who himself was a native of Barr town- ship. Daviess county, born on August 6. 1831. Sarah Perkins was born on February 16, 1832, in Barr township. Daviess county. She was the daugh- ter of Alfred and Rebecca ( Ellis) Perkins, the former of whom was a native of Kentucky. John W. Buzan was the son of William and Elizabeth (W'aller) Buzan, the former a native of Kentucky, who came to Indiana early in its history and entered one hundred and sixty acres of land in Van Buren township in Daviess county. He was a well-known hunter and Indian fighter, and one time during his life swore vengeance against the Indians. The children of William and Elizabeth Buzan were: George. Martha, William and John I.
John W. Buzan was educated in the common schools of Daviess county. was a well-known farmer and owned in excess of one hundred acres in Daviess county. He was a devoted member of the Christian church. He served three years in the Union army during the Civil War. While in the service he became speechless. He was a sharpshooter attached to Sher- man's army in his march to the sea, belonging to Company I. Sixty-fifth Regiment. Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and serving directly under Captain Childs and under Capt. Sammel Munholland. John W. and Sarah Buzan had seven children. Albert. Maria, Lafayette, William, Nettie. John W. and Manha F. All of these children, except Albert and Martha F .. are deceased. Martha F. lives near St. Louis Crossing. Bartholomew county, Indiana.
Albert Buran was educated in the common schools and throughout his life has been a farmer. He lived in Washington township. Daviess commiy. zetil thirteen years ago. In 1902 he purchased a farm of one hundred acres in Bogard township and has lived upon this farm since that date. Mr. Bucan is a man who is willing to take his share of public and civic respon- sibility. He is well and favorably known in Bogard township.
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