USA > Indiana > Decatur County > History of Decatur County, Indiana: its people, industries and institutions > Part 103
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ORLANDO LEE.
One of the enterprising farmers of Adams township, this county, well known for his efficient publie service in the office of county commissioner, where he served for six years. is Orlando Lee, who lives in the northeast corner of that township. Although he owns forty acres of land, he was formerly engaged in operating three hundrd acres of rented land. His claim to distinction in this county is based not only on his record as a successful farmer, but in the fall of 1904 he was elected to the office of county commis- sioner by the largest majority ever given a candidate for that office, being elected on the Republican ticket. His repeated re-elections afforded the most tangible evidence that could be eited of his efficient service and the universal satisfaction which he gave in that office.
Orlando Lee was born on August 30, 1850, in Tipton county. Indiana. the son of Randolph and Eliza ( Summerville) Lee, who came to Decatur county on September 26. 1863, Orlando being then thirteen years of age. Randolph Lee, who was born in Kentucky in 1824. came to Decatur county first in 1842 and here learned the wheelwright's trade from the late Samuel Hood. He was married in 1846 and two years later moved to Tipton county and fifteen years later returned to Decatur county. In 1877 he moved to the state of Kansas, where he spent the rest of his life. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and was a Scottish Rite Mason of the thirty- second degree. His wife was the daughter of Joseph Summerville, a pioneer settler of Fugit township, this county. To them were born ten children, namely : Philander, deceased: Orlando, the subject of this sketeh: Amanda, who died in Rush county on March 22, 1875: Joseph, who lives at Pawhuska. Oklahoma: Mrs. Mary Barlow, who lives at Stillwater, Oklahoma: Ira, who lives at New Albany, Kansas: Mrs. Margaret Ridgeway, who resides in Koweda. Oklahoma: John, deceased; William, who lives at Ramona, Okla- homa, and Randolph, Jr .. deceased.
In 1867, when the Lee family moved to Rush county, Indiana, they were accompanied by their son. Orlando, the subject of this sketch, who lived there until 1892, in which year he purchased his farm in Decatur county, giving one thousand dollars for the traet. At the time he went heavily in debt for the land but has since been able to pay for the farm and has lately refused one hundred and twenty-five dollars an acre. Mr. Lee has a beautiful country home, of which he has every reason to be proud. In 1914 he raised ninety- six acres of wheat and seventy-two acres of corn. On January 12, 1915, at a sale, he sold sixty head of hogs and seven head of horses. In late years
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he has been engaged in the sale of fertilizer throughout Decatur county, as a representative of the Reed Phosphate Company, and has been very successful, selling large quantities of fertilizer in this county.
On September 30, 1875, Orlando Lee was married to Katie Hardesty, who was born on March 18, 1849, near St. Omer, in Adams township, the daughter of George Hardesty. Mr. and Mrs. Lee are members of the Milroy Christian church and for years have been considered among the leaders in all good works in that community, being held in the highest regard by all who know them.
In the community in which he lives, Mr. Lee is known as one of those mien whose word is as good as his bond and who maintains a friendly and sympathetic interest in the welfare of his neighbors, a cordial and intimate relationship with his fellow citizens and a patriotic, optimistic attitude toward the government of which he is a part. He is a good citizen, who stands first and foremost for law and order and one who believes that good government is the result of electing to office men, who are not only right in intentions and possessed of honorable purposes, but men who likewise understand the needs of those whom they would serve.
ISRAEL D. JEWETT.
The gentleman whose name appears above is widely known as one of the honored old residents of Decatur county. For nearly three-quarters of a century he has been identified with this community, while, since attaining mature years, he has been a valued factor in the development of the county, being prominently identified with the various interests of his locality. His well-directed energies in the practical affairs of life, his capable management of his own business interests and his sound judgment have demonstrated what may be accomplished by a man of energy and ambition, who, persevering often in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles, has proved that he is the possessor of those innate qualities necessary to bring success, if properly directed.
Israel D. Jewett was born in Adams township, this county, on March 15, 1842, and has lived continuously in that township. The brick house in which he now lives was built by his father and the place is numbered among the best old homesteads of that part of the county. The father of Israel D. Jewett, Hiram D. Jewett, was born on January 17, 1822, and died on March
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25, 1890, and his wife, Malinda (Israel) Jewett, was born on May 7, 1823, and died on October 22, 1880. She was the daughter of Thomas and Christ- iana (Deem) Israel, the former of whom died on August 17, 1858, and the latter on May 25, 1834. The paternal grandparents of Israel D. Jewett were David and Elizabeth (Crosby) Jewett, natives of New Jersey, where David Jewett died on April 30, 1860. The Jewetts were among the first settlers of Adams township, this county, locating near the present site of Downeyville, where he built a stone house and acquired a large tract of land. He built the old Picayune mills and in the early days was a distiller of whisky and also operated a tannery. He built the first saw-mill on Flat Rock river and also the first grist-mill. He served as justice of the peace, or "squire," for many years and was widely known for his honesty and high sense of justice. He was, as stated above, a pioneer in his community and a leader in all move- ments for the advancement of the welfare of the locality in which he lived.
Hiram D. Jewett was reared and married in Adams township and for a time operated a farm on Flat Rock, later settling on the farm now owned by the subject of this sketch. For a number of years he operated a general store at St. Omer, which he sold and with the proceeds bought a tract of land which he gradually enlarged, until his real estate holdings amounted to three hundred and ninety-six acres. Hiram D. Jewett was prominent in the com- munity and for years served efficiently as trustee of Adams township.
Israel D. Jewett was educated in the schools of St. Omer and, upon reaching manhood, opened a general store at Adams, which he operated for two years. He then engaged in the mercantile business at St. Omer, which occupied his attention from 1872 to 1888, after which, for four years, he was engaged in business at Williamstown. He then moved to Greensburg, where he bought property, erected a comfortable home and remained for fif- teen years, at the end of which time he moved to the home farm and has remained there ever since. He has now practically retired from active busi- ness, although he maintains an active supervision of the three hundred and ninety-six acres comprising his estate, from which he derives a very comfort- able income.
Mr. Jewett has always allied himself with the Republican party and has been stanch in his espousal of its principles. He formerly was a member of the Masonic order and has, in his life, demonstrated the nobility of its teach- ings. Though practically retired from active life. Mr. Jewett retains a warm interest in the welfare of the community with which his entire life has been identified and has done much for its advancement and progress. He is the owner of the Jewett Telephone Company, which has proved to be one of the
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best public-utility corporations in this section of the state and, in other ways, has demonstrated that he is a man of sound business principles, progressive ideas and untiring energy.
On March 22, 1870, Israel D. Jewett was married, at Indianapolis, to Samantha J. Mann, who was born in Brown county, Ohio, on March 14, 1848, the daughter of John W. and Sarah (Dye) Mann, natives of Ohio, who died in Brown county, Ohio, and Vicksburg, Mississippi, respectively, the latter on December 31, 1883. Upon the death of her father, when she was quite young, Samantha Mann was cared for by an uncle in Rush county, Indiana ; her mother going to one of the southern states, where she afterwards remarried. Mrs. Jewett has neither father, mother, sister nor brother. She received her education in the public schools and taught school in Decatur and Shelby counties, beginning this vocation before she was eight years of age: She later attended Franklin College and received a well-rounded education. She is a woman of splendid attainments and is held in the highest regard by all who know her. To Israel D. and Samantha J. (Mann) Jewett have been born the following children: Ora H., born on September 17, 1871, who lives in Indianapolis, married Jennie Thomson and has three children, Rob- ert, Marie and Caryl, the latter deceased ; Ettie M., October 31, 1872, died on April 5, 1909 : and Earl D.
Earl D. Jewett was born on March 31, 1880, and received his education in the public schools. Following his graduation from the Greensburg high school, in furtherance of his desire to make the practice of medicine his life work, he matriculated in the Indiana Medical Colloge at Indianapolis and subsequently became a student in the Illinois Medical College at Chicago, from which latttr institution he was graduated in 1904. He then went West. locating in Grant's Pass, Oregon, where he practiced his profession for one year and six months, at the end of which time he returned to Indiana and for three years was located at Richland and Milroy, later moving to St. Paul, this county, where he has ever since continued in the practice of his profession. Well trained and keeping abreast of the times in his profession, Doctor Jewett has met with well-deserved success and is now numbered among the successful and prominent physicians of this community. Doctor Jewett is a member of the Decatur County Medical Society and takes a deep interest in its proceedings. In addition to his professional interests, Doctor Jewett is engaged in the operation of the Jewett Telephone Company, which was estab- lished by his father in 1894 and which has been under the doctor's manage- ment since 1909. The lines are connected with a number of other exchanges so that the subscribers receive the best of service and are connected with all'
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points in Rush and Decatur counties. Doctor Jewett is a member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles and is physician for that order in Decatur county.
In 1906 Dr. Earl D. Jewett was united in marriage to Maude Yeager, a daughter of Samuel Yeager, of Blue Ridge, Shelby county, and to this union have been born two children, Justine Ione and Emma Fern.
EZRA L. PLEAK.
Among the well-known farmers of a past generation in Decatur county, Indiana, was Ezra Larkin Pleak, who, prior to the time of his death, Febru- ary 13. 1913, owned three hundred and eighty acres of farming land in this county. Of him it may be said that he began life in humble circumstances, but slowly and gradually worked his way up to a position of prominence among the farmers of this township. Ezra Larkin Pleak had the good for- tune to select for his wife, not only a good woman, but one of superior busi- ness ability, and one who proved of great assistance to him in their strug- gles for success. He died on his farm in Jackson township within ten feet of where he was born.
Ezra Larkin Pleak, until his death a successful farmer of Jackson town- ship, was born, October 24, 1844, the son of Llewellyn and Emily ( Menifee ) Pleak, the former of whom died in 1850 and the latter of whom, born, April 18, 1818, in Scott county, Kentucky, was the daughter of Larkin and Charity Menifee, who removed from Kentucky to Indiana in 1832 and settled in Decatur county. Emily E. Menifee was married to Llewellyn Pleak, Novem- ber 5, 1840, and after her husband's death, in 1853, married William Cure. At her death, March 3, 1902, she had two sons living: Ezra Larkin, the subject of this sketch, and Joseph Cure, who died in April, 1915. A sister, Barthena Pleak, the wife of Thomas J. Clark, was born, June 6, 1842, and died July 8, 1900.
The Pleak family in Decatur county had its origin in this country through Johann Pleak, a Hollander, who came to America in the middle of the eighteenth century and settled in Kentucky, in the neighborhood of Cas- tletons Fort, now Mt. Sterling, where he married a Miss Wade, a sister of General Wade, of Revolutionary fame, and to them was born a son, Fielden Blickenstorfer Pleak. In 1818 Fielden Blickenstorfer Pleak married Sabina Virt, a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and of Dutch descent, who was six months old when her parents emigrated to Bryants Station, Kentucky,
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MR. AND MRS. EZRA L. PLEAK.
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and where she lived at the time of her marriage. Following their marriage, Mr. and Mrs, Fielden Pleak moved across the Ohio river, settling at Cress- plains, Jefferson county, Indiana, where they remained only a short time. On March II, 1822, they came to Decatur county, entering a farm in Washing- ton township: this farm is still in possession of the Pleak family.
Johann Pleak, whose mother was a Blickenstorfer, born in Holland, April 15, 1826, came with his two brothers and a sister to America, landing at Jamestown. Joseph, one of the brothers, went to North Carolina and was never heard of again. The sister was married in Pennsylvania to a man by the name of Throgmorton, and reared a large family. Johann presently settled in Kentucky, where he purchased a tract of land. He became a well- known scout in this pioneer state in the neighborhood of Castletons Fort, and had many interesting experiences with the Indians, who were very much afraid of him. He was married to the sister of General Wade at Castletons Fort. They had three sons and three daughters. One son was slain by the Indians; the other two were Dawson and Fielden, heretofore referred to.
The first shelter which Fielden Pleak set up in Decatur county after his removal here was a brush lean-to, covered with branches of trees and blankets, which served as a home until a log cabin could be erected. After being in Decatur county a short time, Fielden returned to Kentucky to bring back his furniture. Upon his return he found that his wife during his absence had sawed logs and erected the first four courses of a log cabin, and here the fam- ily was reared. Fielden Blickenstorfer Pleak, who was born, December 24, 1792, died, December 29, 1835. His wife, Sabina Virt, died December 24, 1875. They were married, June 9. 1814, and had a family of thirteen chil- dren, of whom Llewellyn, the father of Ezra Larkin, was the second born. The names of the children in the order of birth were as follows: Louisa, who married Charles Miller ; Llewellyn, Joseph Dawson, John Isaac, George G. WV. B., Catherine, Joseph D., Eletvan, America, Susannah, Norcus Baron Steuben, Isaac Henry Fielden and Louis.
Ezra Larkin Pleak, the son of Llewellyn Pleak and the grandson of Fielden Pleak, and the great-grandson of Johann Pleak, the founder of the Pleak family in America, was an orphan at the age of five, and was reared by his uncle, Steuben B.
On August 16, 1866, the late Ezra Pleak was married to Lucinda Bruce, who was born, November 10, 1849. in Jackson township, the daughter of Hiram and Mary Ann ( Nevitt) Bruce, the former of whom was born, Jan- uary 10, 1825, in Dearborn county, Indiana, and who died, April 28, 1900,
(67)
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and the latter of whom was born, December 16, 1831, and who now lives in Westport. Hiram Bruce was the son of Stephen Bruce, who married a Miss Rivers, and who was the captain on a steamboat. Stephen came to Ripley county in 1828. Hiram Bruce was employed on a steamboat on the Ohio river and married Mary Ann Nevitt, January 1, 1849. After their marriage they removed to Decatur county, Indiana, in the spring of 1850, erecting a log cabin and clearing a farm. The children were compelled to blaze their way to school through the wilderness. In 1853 the parents built a frame house. Subsequently, they owned two hundred and forty acres of land, which they inherited from David Nevitt, Mrs. Pleak's maternal grandfather. Hiram and Mary Ann ( Nevitt) Bruce had ten children, of whom four are deceased. The names of the children in the order of birth are as follows: Mrs. Lucinda Pleak, Mrs. Mary Gartin, Mrs. Alice Gartin, Mrs. Belle Lemasters, Mrs. Lizzie Lemasters, deceased; Mrs. Ida Gwynn, deceased : Charles, deceased ; John, who lives with Mrs. Pleak ; Hiram, who was killed in a railroad wreck near Cleveland, Ohio, and George, of North Vernon.
Mr. and Mrs. Pleak began their married life with sixty acres of land, which he inherited. Later, they purchased sixty acres from his sister. It was bare land without any improvements except an old log cabin in a bad state of repair. They were compelled to clear the land. Ponds stood on the place and it was necessary to install elaborate drainage. Later they were able to. build a good home on high ground, and prospered. Of the three hundred and eighty acres which Mr. and Mrs. Pleak owned at the time of his death, eighty acres of it belonged to Mrs. Pleak in her own right, which she acquired as the result of raising chickens in a period of three years. She now owns the whole farm, having purchased the interest of the heirs, and has since sold sixty acres, and she now has three hundred and twenty acres in her own right. Mrs. Pleak and her brother operate one hundred and twenty acres, and her sons operate the other land. Some of the many buildings on the farm have been built by Mrs. Pleak since her husband's death.
To Mr. and Mrs. Ezra Larkin Pleak were born six children, one of whom is deceased : Mary Louisa, who was born, September 13, 1867. and died, July 27, 1894, was the wife of John H. Spear, to whom she was married, May 23, 1886, and who at the time of her death left one son, Oda; Dr. Ezra H., who was born, May 30, 1869, and lives at Evansville, and who has been mar- ried three times, his first wife being a Miss Anthers, has four children, Carl E., Freda M., Thelma N. and Mary L., who have been partly reared by their grandmother ; Orda E., who was born, March 12, 1871, and lives at Letts, married Nevada Evans and they have eight children, Asa D., Mary Leone,
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Wayne F., Alfonso Lee, Bernice I., Ardra, Dale and Gerald; Steuben D., who was born, January 1, 1873, married Marie Vanosdal, August 19, 1911; Charles F., who was born on December 9, 1874, and who lives in Jackson township, was married, August 15, 1897, to Daisy D. Borden, and they are the parents of eight children, Vera F., Cecil F., Gladys M., Iola B., Norma Louisa, Naomi L., Orion E. and Helen Leota: Walter E., who was born, March 1, 1877, married Gertrude Dunden, April 8, 1903, and they have two children, Maurice D. and Ruth Isabel, living in Jackson township, near Sar- cinia.
The late Ezra Larkin Pleak was a member of Mt. Aerie Baptist church, as is also his wife. He was a Republican in politics and recorded his first vote for Lincoln. A skillful and enterprising farmer, an efficient and up- right citizen, a kind husband and loving father, the late Ezra Larkin Pleak was widely mourned by the people of Jackson township, where he had many friends. Although his work is ended here, his influence goes on to mold for good the lives of his children and the lives of those with whom he came in contact during life.
LORIN A. JEWETT.
No resident of Adams township, this county, is better known in the township, or in this section of the state, since Mr. Jewett's acquaintance extends through several counties. than the subject of this sketch. He belongs to an old and highly respected family in this section, his grandfather having been one of the pioneer settlers in Adams township, having entered, upon his arrival here in 1823 from New York state, three thousand acres of land in that part of the county, much of which is still held by the Jewett family. Mr. Jewett is the township trustee and a well-known merchant of St. Paul, this county, senior member of the firm of L. A. Jewett & Son.
Lorin A. Jewett was born on October 28, 1861, on a farm three miles north of Adams, the son of Orin C. and Phoebe (Smith) Jewett, the former of whom was born in 1829, and who died in 1907, and the latter of whom was born on July 29, 1829. Orin C. Jewett was born on the farm entered by his father, David Jewett, and the two-story stone house still standing on the land was built by the latter. Orin C. Jewett built a house a quarter of a mile distant from the stone house of his father. The Jewett family, which was established in this section by David Jewett, who died in 1861, is one of the leading families in Decatur county. The founder of the family in this section
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DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
was an Englishman who married a German woman. Their son, Orin C. Jewett, spent all his life, with the exception of six months, on the old home- stead farm in Adams township, and at the time of his death was the owner of four hundred and thirteen acres, having begun with two hundred and forty acres. David Jewett erected a grist-mill at Downeyville, on the Little Flat Rock river, and or many years operated that mill, the pioneers coming from a distance of twenty miles to have their grain ground. Lorin A. Jewett was one of six children born to his parents. the others being as follow: Charles and Frank D., who live in Greensburg with their mother and who operate the home farm; Effie, the wife of J. T. Kercheval, a farmer living in Wash- ington township, two miles east of Greensburg ; Mrs. Mary Farlow, of Greens- burg, and Mrs. Bertha Bentley, whose husband is a farmer of this county.
Reared on the farm and educated in the public schools of Adams town- ship. Lorin A. Jewett taught school for twenty years in Decatur county. For three years he was a student at Hartsville College, and for two years was in attendance at the Central Indiana Normal School at Danville, Indiana. In college he prepared himself for teaching and bookkeeping. In the fall of 1906 he engaged in business at St. Paul, in a large brick building, and has been thus engaged since that time. He has a large stock of merchandise and has built up an excellent trade. His store is arranged on the department plan, and is admirably managed. Mr. Jewett has an extensive trade, not only in Adams township, this county, but over the line in Shelby and Rush coun- ties, his store being one of the most popular thereabout.
On December 25. 1887, Lorin A. Jewett was married at Danville, Indiana, to Sallie Green, daughter of Henry Green, of Danville, and to this union has been born one son, Kenneth L., born on December 6, 1888, who is engaged in business with his father, as the junior member of the firm of L. A. Jewett & Son.
Lorin A. Jewett was elected township trustee of Adams township on the Democratic ticket in the fall of 1914. For five years he has served as secre- tary of the St. Paul Building and Loan Association. The Jewett family are all earnest and faithful members of the Christian church. Fraternally, Mr. Jewett is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, the Knights of Pythias, the Improved Order of Red Men, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Fraternal Order of Eagles, in all of which organizations he takes an active interest. He holds membership with the Knights of Pythias lodge at Greensburg, with the Red Men and Odd Fellows at St. Paul, with the Eagles at Greensburg, and with the Masonic fraternity at Waldron.
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A successful merchant and a well-known citizen, L. A. Jewett deserves to rank as one of the representative citizens of Decatur county, a man of generous impulses, of splendid business ability and of pleasing personal parts.
ALBERT G. TAYLOR.
Albert G. Taylor, a well-known farmer of Adams township, this county, who owns a highly-profitable farm of two hundred acres in that township, belongs to a family which was established in Sand Creek township, Decatur county, in 1842, when that township was practically a wilderness. Although Mr. Taylor is neither one of the largest farmers nor the largest stockmen of this county, he has made a very gratifying success of his two-hundred-acre tract and has an annual output of about two hundred head of hogs and some forty or fifty head of cattle.
Born on March 10, 1847, Albert G. Taylor, who has lived in Adams township for the past twelve years, is a native of Sand Creek township, Decatur county, the son of George and Anna (Hill) Taylor, who are natives of Pennsylvania, born and reared in that state. After their marriage they came west in 1842 and settled in Sand Creek township. this county, where they purchased three hundred acres of timber land, built a log cabin and made ready to clear and develop their farin. In this they were very successful, and presently came to be regarded as among the well-to-do residents of that com- munity. George Taylor died at the age of seventy-five years and his wife died at the age of sixty-five.
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