USA > Indiana > Daviess County > History of Daviess County, Indiana : Its people, industries and institutions > Part 66
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JOHN W. WEAVER.
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Among the fine farm homes in Elmore township, Daviess county, Indiana, there is one which rarely fails to attract the admiring attention of the casual passerby. This is the home of the gentleman whose name intro- duces this interesting biographical narrative, one of the best-known and most popular men in the northern part of the county. Mr. Weaver not only has made a most gratifying success of his extensive farming operations, but his work as an auctioneer at stock sales and crier at farm sales, has made his a familiar figure among the people of that entire section, and it is needless to say that he is popular wherever he goes. So well known is he, in fact, and so much a part of the public life of his time has he become in that section, that no history of Daviess county, and particularly in that section of the
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county in which he resides, would be a proper reflection of the times without due mention of Mr. Weaver and the part he is taking in the development of the county's best interests. The biographer finds pleasure, therefore, in ask- ing the reader's attention to the following brief and modest biographical sketch :
John W. Weaver was born in Elmore township, Daviess county, Indiana, on July 6, 1880, the son of David and Lovina (Haynes) Weaver, the former of whom was born in Madison township, this county, on September 20, 1842, died on September 8, 1908, and the latter of whom was born in Orange county, Indiana, on November 3, 1853, and is still living, an honored mem- ber of the household of her son, John W., on the homestead farm in Elmore township.
David Weaver was the son of Jacob and Charlotta (Kinneman). Weaver, the former of whom was born near Adamsburg, in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, died in Madison township, Daviess county, in the year 1890, in which township he for many years was one of the most conspicuous figures. In the year 1829, Jacob Weaver migrated from Pennsylvania to Kentucky, locating in Fayette county, in the latter state, where he remained until the year 1841, in which year he moved with his family to Daviess county, locating in Madison township, where he resumed his trade of blacksmith, being a very highly skilled craftsman in that line. He bought a farm in Madison township, which his sons operated while he was engaged in the blacksmith shop, until his retirement was rendered compulsory by blindness overtaking him, and the last fourteen years of his life was spent in dark- ness. Grandfather Weaver was a man of strong personality and his coun- sels and advice among his neighbors exerted a large influence in his time.
To Jacob and Charlotta (Kinneman) Weaver were born nine children : William, Jacob, Peter, Abraham, David, Daniel, Susannah, Charlotta and Phoebe. These children were brought up in the rigid faith of the Lutheran church and the sons followed in the political footsteps of their father, all being Democrats and men of influence in the affairs of their community.
David Weaver was reared on the paternal farm in Madison township and received such early education as he was able to acquire in the subscription schools of his time, in that township, his educational facilities, however, being of the meagerst sort. As a young man, he learned the trade of car- penter and followed this much of his life in connection with his work on the farm. He owned and operated a farm of one hundred and eighty-six acres in Elmore township, the same on which his son, John W. now lives. The original tract he bought there was but eighty acres, but as his affairs.
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prospered he enlarged his holdings until, at the time of his death, he pos- sessed the considerable farm above mentioned, all of which was in an excel- lent state of cultivation. David Weaver was united in marriage to Lovina Haynes, a native of Orange county, Indiana, a member of one of the old families of that section of the state, and to this union there were born but two children, John W., the immediate subject of this sketch, and Elva, the latter of whom was born on July 15, 1885, and died on September 12, 1901. David Weaver was an active worker in the Mission Baptist church, and was a Democrat who took an active part in the political affairs of that com -. munity.
Reared on the farm, John W. Weaver received his schooling in what was then known as the Mud Pike school in Elmore township. At the age of eighteen, he started farming in partnership with his father, and has been a farmer all his life, living continuously on the place on which he was born, and which he greatly improved, in 1911, by the erection of his present very comfortable and pleasant home. He adds to this general farming, stock raising on a fairly extensive scale and has had considerable success in this latter line. Mr. Weaver early developed into an unusually successful auc- tioneer and his services in that direction are in much demand, not only in his own part of the county, but elsewhere in this section of the state, and he cries farm and stock sales for miles and miles in every direction thereabout, being one of the most popular auctioneers in the county.
On September 6, 1903, John W. Weaver was united in marriage to Ger- trude Hackler, who was born on July 27, 1885, the daughter of George and Sarah B. (Groves) Hackler, of Elmore township, this county, and to this happy union five children have been born, as follow: Alvin, on June 1, 1904; Imo, January 10, 1906; Willis, December 12, 1908; John D., August 28, 1910, and George. April 23, 1914, a lively set of youngsters who are the delight of their devoted parents' lives and the light of their happy home.
Mr. and Mrs. Weaver are members of the United Brethren church and are bringing up their children in that faith. Mr. Weaver, as were his father and grandfather before him, is a Democrat, and his wide acquaintance throughout the county gives to his connection with that party a peculiar value which the campaign managers in his part of the county are not slow to recognize. He is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and a mem- ber of the Tribe of Ben-Hur, in the affairs of both of which fraternal orders he takes a warm interest. He likewise takes a good citizen's part in all mat- ters of public concern and is generally recognized in his community as one
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of the leaders of public thought and action. He is a man of large personality, serene temperament and evenly-balanced, well-rounded character, who is liked by all who know him. No one in Daviess county takes a warmer inter- est in the county's welfare than he and in his home community he is con- tinually to be found "boosting" wherever he goes. It is such citizens as Mr. Weaver that make so strongly for good government and right living and he gives ungrudgingly of his time and talents in promoting all good causes.
GEORGE F. TODD.
No history of Daviess county, and particularly no review of the life of that section of the county comprised in the Elnora neighborhood, in Elmore township, would be complete without proper mention of the Todd family, and of, the hale old gentleman whose name appears as the caption of this interest- ing biographical narrative. Of the true pioneer breed, George F. Todd is one of the interesting survivals which so definitely connect the generation of pioneers in this section with the present generation, and the biographer takes much pleasure in here presenting a brief review of the salient points in his interesting career. No one in his part of the county is better known or more universally popular than Mr. Todd, and it is proper that this sketch should appear in this work in order that the future historian of this section who may turn to these pages for data relating to the present period in the development of Daviess county, may find preserved there information relating to this pioneer family that ought not to be lost in the annals of this quiet neighborhood.
George F. Todd was born in Monroe county, Indiana, on June 7, 1845, the son of John and Elizabeth (Hayes) Todd, the former of whom was born in Bourbon county, Kentucky, and the latter of whom was born in Watauga, North Carolina, on October 15, 1800, and who died in the year 1904, at the age of one hundred and four. John Todd came to Indiana from Kentucky when a young man and settled in Monroe county, where he became one of the best-known and most prominent men in his section. There he met the woman who became his wife, and the two reared their family there, spending all their lives in Monroe county, with the exception of about two years, during which they lived in Missouri, to which state they had moved in 1840. Returning to Monroe county, following their western
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experience, they again engaged in farming, and, at the time of his death, John Todd was possessed of two hundred and forty acres of land, the larger part of which was in an excellent state of cultivation. He lived to be eighty- six years of age, his health practically unimpaired to within a short time of his death. He was a strong, vigorous man, active and alert, and, at eighty, was able to go to the woods and pick off a squirrel with his trusty old squirrel rifle with as true an aim as in his younger days. He was a man of large influence in his neighborhood and his memory is not forgotten there to this day. Elizabeth (Hayes) Todd, wife of John Todd, who survived him many years, was a remarkable woman and no one in that part of the state was bet- ter known or better liked than was she. Elizabeth Hayes, who was a native of North Carolina, was bereft of her mother by death when she was ten years of age, after which she migrated with her father to Tennessee, a lit- tle later coming to Indiana, and settling in Monroe county. At that time, the part of the county in which the Hayes family located, was a wilderness, very few white persons having penetrated to that section, and there the future wife of John Todd grew to a vigorous womanhood. When the Monon railway penetrated that part of the state and a station was located near the old Todd home, the station was named Todd, in honor of the little woman who had lived there so many years. Mrs. Todd remained in excel- lent health until a short time before her death, at the remarkable age of one hundred and four, often being seen riding horse-back over the hills of Monroe county after she had passed her centenary mark. Longevity seemed to be characteristic of her family, her brother, David Hayes, who was a well-known resident of Bloomington, this state, living to be one hundred and two.
To John and Elizabeth (Hayes) Todd were born eight children, as fol- low: David, who married Eliza Ramsey; Catherine, who married Hezekiah Norman; Eliza, deceased, who married George Helton; Elijah, deceased, who married Mary Anna Sisco; Isaac, who married Eliza Bates; George F., the immediate subject of this sketch; Emily, who married Andrew Piercy, and Alice, who married John Mitchell. The Todds reared their large family in the faith of the Methodist church, in the local beneficences of which they were very active, and were among the leaders in the good works of that com- munity. John Todd was a Democrat and was influential in the councils of that party in his section, his sons following his example in the expressions of their political allegiance.
George F. Todd received his education in the local schools of his neigh- borhood, and, as a young man, started farming in Monroe county, remaining
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there until the year 1871, when he moved into Greene county, where he remained one year, living in the vicinity of Gandys Bluff, where Doctor Gandy fell from the bluff and was partly eaten by hogs. He then came into Daviess county and located in Elmore township, where he ever since has made his home, and where he prospered in his farming operations. He owns an excellent farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Elmore township, besides an equal tract of land in Monroe county, the latter being a part of the old Todd home farm. Mr. Todd has been an extensive breeder of live stock, his Percherons and jacks and jennets being widely known throughout this part of the county. He also has been an extensive shipper of stock and has found no small profit in the pursuit of this phase of farming.
In the year 1867, George F. Todd was united in marriage with Amanda E. Sisco, the daughter of Perry and Mary Sisco, of Monroe county, and to this union two children were born : Sheridan, on November II, 1871, was married on November 22, 1893, to Mary Malone, who was born on March 17, 1877, and to whom was born one child, a daughter, Helen, born on February 1, 1904; and Nora O., December 2, 1881, married a Mr. Gold- stone, and lives in New York. The mother of these children died in 1883, since which time Mr. Todd has lived alone on his farm east of Elnora.
Since the year 1868, Mr. Todd has been a Mason, his membership being in the lodge at Newberry, and he takes a warm interest in the affairs of that ancient ritualistic order. He became a Mason at Tunnelton, in June, 1869. As was his father before him, Mr. Todd is an ardent Democrat and takes a good citizen's part in the local campaigns of that party, being much inter- ested in all matters relating to good government. Mr. Todd is a fine, hale and hearty old gentleman, who enjoys the fullest confidence and respect of his neighbors throughout that whole section of the county. Coming of a sturdy stock, he retains the vigor of younger days and takes the liveliest interest in current affairs, keeping fully abreast of the times in all things. As a boy he learned to love the great out-door life, and ascribes much of his present vigor to his life of activity in the open. His father was a great deer hunter, and, as a lad, Mr. Todd learned all the tricks of deer stalking and has many interesting stories to tell of the sport of the early days in this section of the state. His father, at one time, was compelled to defend him- self against the desperate charge of a wounded buck, his clothes being torn to shreds by the antlers of the enraged animal before he finally succeeded in cutting the buck's throat. When he was a boy he hunted with his father, and shouldering a pack, would follow the deer in the snow until they came to the crossing, when his father would shoot them.
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SILAS M. KETCHEM.
In 1920, only a few years hence, will come the three-hundredth year since the Pilgrim Fathers sailed into Provincetown harbor and later planted their feet on Plymouth Rock. This will be a great event in the history of America and the world, and for the descendants of those who were in the ship "May- flower," the leader, or in some other ship that came to the shores of the New World with loads of Pilgrim men and women from across the seas between 1620 and 1700. Bancroft declares rightly that "the emigration of the fathers (and mothers) of these twelve commonwealths, with the planting of the principles upon which they rested, was the most momentous event of the seventeenth century. The elements of our country, as she exists today, were already there." In Daviess county there is a no inconsiderable strain of the old Pilgrim breed and among those of that honorable descent here, few families are better known than that of the Ketchems, a brief biography of one of the worthy present-day representatives of which is herewith pre- sented.
Silas M. Ketchem was born in Elmore township, Daviess county, Indiana, on May 19, 1864, the son of Joseph and Charity (Ledgerwood) Ketchem, the former of whom was born in the same township and county, the son of Silas and Mary (Courtney) Ketchem, the latter of whom was born in Greene county, the daughter of David Ledgerwood, a pioneer of that section of the state.
Silas Ketchem was a native of South Carolina, the son of Joseph Ketcham, who also was born in South Carolina, of Pilgrim stock, migrated to Tennessee in the early years of the last century and there married Mary Courtney and, about the year 1830, came to Indiana, selecting Daviess county as a place of residence, and located in Elmore township, early becom- ing one of the most substantial citizens of this section of the state. He was a man of unusual personality, strong and vigorous, kindly and courteous in demeanor and possessed of extraordinary executive ability, which he exer- cised so successfully that at the time of his death he was the owner of more than one thousand acres of land in Greene and Daviess counties.
To the union of Silas and Mary (Courtney) Ketchem there were ten children : Marsltall, Jane, Joseph, William, Stephen, Caroline, Jacob, James, Nancy and Solomon, the numerous progeny of whom forms today a very important element in the social and industrial life of this section.
Of these children, Joseph, who was born in Elmore township; Daviess
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county, on November 18, 1828, became one of the leading citizens of his township, having been a farmer in a large way to the time of his death, October 15, 1896. He lived in Elmore township all his life, with the exception of a year or two during which he made his home in Greene county. He was a man of large influence in his community and did very much toward bringing about proper conditions in the social and economic life of that portion of the county. At the time of his death he owned three hundred and thirty acres of land, two hundred acres of which lay in Greene county, the rest in Elmore township, this county.
Joseph Ketchem married Charity Ledgerwood, who was born in Greene county, on February 26, 1830, a member of a pioneer family of that county, and to this union there were born seven children, as follow: David J., on September 3, 1854, died on March 15, 1890; Elizabeth, August 14, 1857, died on August 7, 1876; Mary J., May 3, 1859, died on July 31, 1876; Annetta, December 29, 1862, died on June 24, 1863 ; Silas M., subject of this sketch ; George M., August 5, 1867, married Nettie Vories and lives in Elnora ; Stephen E., July 6, 1870, died on July 24, 1876. Joseph Ketchem was a Democrat and took an active part in the political affairs of the county, his counsels receiving much consideration in the deliberations of the party managers in this county. He reared his family in the faith of the Mission Baptist church, and also took a warm interest in all movements for the betterment of conditions in his community, and was much mourned when his death occurred on October 15, 1896. His wife died on January 18, 1890.
Silas M. Ketchem was educated in the district schools of his home town- ship and has lived in Elmore township all his life. He has a fine farm of one hundred and nine acres and is very well circumstanced, his farm show- ing every evidence of thrift and industry on his part. He is what properly may be called a modern farmer, being content with none but the best and most approved methods in tilling his farm, and, as a consequence, has made a success of his business. He gives considerable attention to stock raising, and also has been quite successful in his venture in that phase of farming. Being a member of one of the oldest and most prominent families in his neighborhood, Mr. Ketchem has a well-established position in the com- munity, and is recognized as among the leaders among the men of affairs thereabout, his interest in all matters relating to the betterment of social and civic conditions in his home township being well known.
On October 1, 1899, Silas M. Ketchem was united in marriage to Emma Miles. who was born on September 29, 1877, the daughter of Patrick and Nancy (Burch) Miles, old residents of Martin county, and to this union
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five children have been born, as follow : Joseph C., on April 30, 1901 ; Velma M., August 20, 1902; Mabel May, January 26, 1904; Frederick S., June 27, 1906, and Ruth E., January 31, 1908, bright and lively youngsters who make merry the home of their devoted parents.
Mr. Ketchem is a member of the Baptist church and Mrs. Ketchem is a member of the Methodist church, both being active in the affairs of the congregations to which they are respectively attached. Mr. Ketchem gives his political allegiance to the Democratic party and takes a proper interest in the campaigns of that party in local elections. He and Mrs. Ketchem are active in the social affairs of their neighborhood and are deservedly popu- lar in their large circle of acquaintances.
JOHN EADS.
All progress is continuous; one generation merely gathering the ripe fruit of the labors of its predecessors, each succeeding generation building on the foundation laid by others. Every man is a quotation from all his ancestors. "Rely upon it," declared the great William E. Gladstone, "that the man who does not worthily estimate his own dead forefathers, will him- self do very little to add credit or do honor to his country." America has a goodly heritage, which we should endeavor to hand on with value unim- paired to those who shall come after us. Only as we realize our own high duty and responsibility, shall we be able to bequeath to posterity the noble inheritance we, ourselves, have received. There are many old families in Daviess county who cherish most sacredly the traditions which have come down from honorable forbears and who are doing their utmost to hand these traditions on, unsullied by any act of theirs. Among the families which have helped to add luster to the good name of this favored commonwealth, few are better known than that of the gentleman whose name is noted above, the Eads family having been active in the affairs of this county for four generations and have created a stock here which promises to be one of the most persistent and progressive in the community. As a guide to the future historian who may find help in this volume in his work of compiling a story which shall be a fair reflection of the present time, the biographer finds much pleasure in presenting here something of the history of the family of John Eads in this section of the state.
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John Eads, one of the most progressive and popular farmers of Elmore township, was born in Washington township, Daviess county, Indiana, on February II, 1859, the son of John H. and Charity (Wykoff) Eads, the former of whom was born in Dearborn county on February 21, 1821, and the latter born in October, 1820, John H. having been the son of Elijah Eads, one of the pioneers of this portion of the state, who migrated from New Jersey in the early part of the last century, locating first in Dearborn county, this state, later coming to Daviess county when his son, John H., was a small boy. Here Elijah Eads bought the place known as the Storms farm, adding to the same until he had a tract of three hundred and twenty acres, on which he resided for about a quarter of a century, making for himself a distinctive place in the community, having been known as one of the most influential and useful men of his period in this section. He was among the foremost and most honored pioneers of that region. He brought to the then wilder- ness knowledge and experience which his widely separated neighbors soon learned to rely upon, and it is undoubted that his influence in that community did very much toward bringing about proper conditions of social and econo- mic life in the formative period of the now prosperous and established farm- ing region. He and the woman who was ever at his side, a true pioneer helpmeet, long have been gathered to their fathers, resting well after the stern labors which their hands found to do, and the fifth generation of their descendants in that community finds conditions of living immeasurably easier for their having striven-"blazing the ways."
This pioneer was but a type. Particular reference is made to him here, not as an invidious distinction, but that the present generation may be cas- ually reminded of these honored forefathers of the commonwealth. There were many like him in that community in his day and generation. Of necessity this must have been so-the stalwart men who leveled the forests- and the readers of this volume, will find much of informative interest in these pages as they thoughtfully peruse this valuable collection of family reminiscences, something of the lives of that now long-gone pioneer breed, narrated by those who have not permitted the information wholly to be lost.
Late in life, Elijah Eads moved into the town of Washington, being content to retire from the arduous duties of the farm and there he spent the last few years of his life, his passing causing sincere mourning among a very wide circle of acquaintances. His son, John H., father of the subject of this sketch, was reared on the paternal farm, and, upon reaching man- hood, started farming for himself in Washington township, in what is known
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