USA > Indiana > Decatur County > History of Decatur County, Indiana: its people, industries and institutions > Part 104
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119
Of the ten children born to George and Anna ( Hill) Taylor, seven are still living. Isaac died in 1905, Mrs. Elizabeth Robbins died in 1885, and Mrs. Jane Samuels died in 1890. The living children are as follow: Albert G., the subject of this sketch; Mrs. Anne Bayles, of Carroll county, Indiana; Frank, of Greensburg, this county ; Mrs. Alice Myers, of Sand Creek town- ship, this county; John Anderson; Merritt, of Jackson township, and Belle, who makes her home with her brother, Albert G.
After attending school in Sand Creek township, and living at home with his parents until twenty-three years of age, Albert G. Taylor rented a farm in Sand Creek township, having previously engaged in farm work for hire in that neighborhood. From his savings Mr. Taylor was able eventually to buy one hundred and forty-two acres in Sand Creek township and later to add forty acres to this original tract, making one hundred and eighty-two acres in
1062
DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
all. There he lived until 1903, in which year he sold that farm and removed to AAdams township, purchasing his present farm of two hundred acres.
In 1869 Albert G. Taylor was married to Rachel Stout, who was born in Franklin county, this state, in 1849, the daughter of the Rev. Joab Stout, a pioneer Baptist minister, who came to Decatur county from Franklin county when Rachel was an infant. The marriage proved a very happy one, and Mr. Taylor and his wife lived together. true and devoted companions, until Mrs. Taylor's death, December 26, 1910. To them six children were born, namely : Alpha H., who became a teacher in the Decatur county schools at the age of seventeen, later taking a course at Franklin Cellege, going thence to the Indiana State Normal School at Terre Haute, from which she was graduated, and is now a teacher in the public schools of Gary, Indiana. Mrs. Myrta Myers, of Connersville, Indiana, who has one child, Dorothy ; Mrs. Luna Burton, of Atlanta, Georgia, who has one child, Wynne: May, who lives at home with her father; Mrs. Edith West, of Indianapolis, who has two chil- dren, Albert and Robert, and Luther, who lives at home and is engaged in farming.
Mr. Taylor is a member of the Baptist church, as was Mrs. Taylor before her death, and their children were reared in that faith. Mr. Taylor has lived to rear a large family of children, all of whom are leading honorable, useful and successful lives and has the gratification of knowing that his own career in this respect has been successful. He has the further satisfaction of know- ing that he enjoys the confidence and esteem of his neighbors and fellow citizens, all of whom hold him in the highest regard.
LAFAYETTE ROBERTSON.
In these latter days farming has become a vocation for highly trained and educated minds and the haphazard processes of former generations must be given up if men are to succeed in this generation. Many far-seeing farmers have anticipated this modern development in agriculture and themselves have adopted and followed improved methods and scientific processes for many years. Lafayette Robertson, a well-known farmer of Adams township, is a man who not only understands the business of farming as a business, but who practices farming as a business and who has managed to make it pay him handsome returns.
Lafayette Robertson was born in Decatur county. Indiana, on March 15,
1063
DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
1852, the son of Oliver Perry and Nancy ( Edrington) Robertson, the former of whom was born in 1825 and died in 1907, and the latter born in 1831 and died in June, 1852. Oliver Perry Robertson, a native of Decatur county, was the son of John and Ruth (Ridlen) Robertson, the foriner a native of West Virginia, who settled in this county in 1823. Mrs. Nancy ( Edrington) Robertson was the daughter of Hiram and Rhoda Edrington, natives of Kentucky and pioneer settlers in Adams township, this county, where they cleared the land for their farm, built a log house and later erected a large brick house, now owned by E. Shelhorn.
When Lafayette Robertson was only four years old, his father moved to the old Robertson homestead, which is in sight of Lafayette Robertson's present home. The late Oliver P. Robertson lived to rear a large family of children and to become quite well-to-do, owning, at the time of his death, one hundred and sixty acres of land. By his first marriage two children were born, Louisa L. (deceased) and Lafayette, the subject of this sketch. After the death of his first wife, Oliver P. Robertson married, secondly, Mary Ann Davis, who died in 1909. To this second union eight children were born, namely: Warren, who lives on a farm west of Adams; John; Frank, who lives in Adams township, south of his brother Warren's residence: William W., who lives three-quarters of a mile west of the old Edrington home ; Charles T., of Marion county, Indiana ; Edward, who resides with Warren ; Ruth, who lives in Adams township, and Mrs. Lydia Shelhorn, who lives in the old Edrington home. Lafayette Robertson lived at home until seventeen years of age and then worked as a farm hand for six years. After his mar- riage. he lived on the old homestead for two or three years and then rented and moved to the Nelson Jewett farm, which he bought several years later and has lived there for thirty-seven years.
On April 7. 1875. Lafayette Robertson was married to Emma Jewett, who was born on July 31, 1855. in a brick house on the same farm where she is now living, the daughter of Nelson and Ruth ( Hayes) Jewett, the former of whom was born in 1820 in Hamilton county, Ohio, the son of David Jewett and who died on September 28, 1882, and the latter of whom was the daughter of Jacob Hayes, an early settler of Jackson township, who was born in 1824 and who died on September 29, 1887. Mrs. Robertson is the third in order of birth of the children born to her parents, the others being as follow: Mrs. Julia Hill, deceased: Mrs. Elizabeth McCoy, who died on January 22. 1915; Mrs. Fannie White, of Greensburg; Mrs. Clara White, also of Greensburg, and several who died in infancy.
To Lafayette and Emma (Jewett) Robertson have been born three
1064
DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
children, one of whom died in infancy, those living being Mrs. Myrta Ander- son, of Adams township, this county, and Mrs. Nellie Mullikin, who lives in Ridgeville, Indiana, and has one child, Robert Stanley.
At one time Mr. Robertson served a term as a member of the county council. Politically, he is now identified with the Progressive party. He is a man well known throughout Adams township and today is regarded as a leader in the agricultural affairs of this township, a man of gracious personal- ity, who has mastered the vocation in which he is engaged and whose efforts. have met with a most satisfactory and gratifying degree of success.
WILLIAM S. KETCHUM.
William S. Ketchum was born in 1834 in Hamilton county, Ohio, the son of Benjamin and Rhoda ( Beem) Ketchum, the former of whom was a native of New York and who came to Ohio, where his son, William S., the subject of this sketch, grew to manhood.
At the age of twenty-two years William S. Ketchum married Elizabeth Bevington, a native of Miami county. Ohio, to which union six children were born, four of whom are still living, namely : Benjamin K., of Grant county, Indiana : William E., of Decatur county, a farmer and preacher living near Mt. Pleasant; Mrs. Arminta Knaar, the wife of Adam Knaar, of Greens- burg, and Isom Ketchum, of Indianapolis. The mother of these children died in the early seventies and William S. Ketchum, in 1879, married, secondly, Mary M. Williams, the daughter of Peter and Eliza ( Palmer) Williams, the latter of whom was the daughter of David and Annie (Hammond) Palmer, natives of New York state. Annie (Hammond) Palmer came with her par- ents from England, where she was born in 1794. When eighteen years old she was married to David Palmer, who shortly afterwards became a soldier in the War of 1812, serving as a member of the troop of light horse artillery recruited in New York state. Annie (Hammond) Palmer was ninety-four years old when she passed away in Dearborn county, Indiana, in 1888, to which county she and her husband had come from their home in New York state, and where her husband died in 1853. They were the parents of ten children, of whom Eliza ( Palmer) Williams, the mother of Mary M. (Will- iams) Ketchum, was the third child. Eliza (Palmer) Williams was born in Dearborn county. Indiana, in 1819, shortly after the removal of the family to this state. She grew to womanhood there and in 1842 married Peter
1065
DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
Williams, a native of Kentucky, and one of the descendants of Roger Will- iams. Peter Williams died in Dearborn county, Indiana, about 1844. His widow married John Fawcett, a native of Ohio, about the year 1853, and they spent the rest of their lives in Dearborn county, she having been one of the oldest citizens of that county at the time of her death.
William S. Ketchum saw service in the Union army during the Civil War as a soldier in Company G, One Hundred and Tenth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Inantry, serving under Colonel Kiefer. This regiment was attached to the army of General Grant and was present at eighteen decisive and severe battles, of which the battles of the Wilderness, Mission Ridge, Gettysburg and Winchester were among the most famous. In 1862, in front of Peters- burg, on the skirmish line, Mr. Ketchum was shot through the lungs and after that was confined in the hospital for six months. When he recovered the war was over and he came to Decatur county, where for years he was successfully engaged in farming, and is now living retired at his pleasant home in Greens- burg.
Mr. Ketchum is a Democrat of the Andrew Jackson variety. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic at Greensburg, and of the Baptist church. He is known as a good man, a patriotic citizen and as one who has been a brave and efficient soldier. Naturally, he is highly respected by the people of this county, who hold him in high esteem.
GEORGE W. SHUPERD.
George W. Shuperd, a retired citizen of Adams township, this county, the son of a veteran of the Civil War, and himself a soldier of that great war, was one of the color bearers on the morning that General Johnston surren- dered to General Sherman, one of the concluding events of the great Civil War.
George W. Shuperd was born in 1841, in Adams township, Decatur county, Indiana, the son of John and Elizabeth (Wood) Shuperd, the former of whom was a native of Pennsylvania, who came to Decatur county about 1823 from Pennsylvania, the family being of Pennsylvania-Dutch origin. Elizabeth Wood was a native of Virginia, a daughter of James Wood, a member of one of the old families of Virginia, of English origin. John Shuperd and Elizabethi Wood were married in Decatur county, and to that union twelve children were born, of whom George W. was the fourth in order
IO66
DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
.of birth. John Shuperd, a well-known cooper of this county, was sixty years of age when the Civil War broke out, but despite his years, enlisted in the Eighth Indiana Cavalry, under Colonel Jones, and served over two years, being discharged for disability. He was a brave and efficient soldier and a man of much strength of character, a useful factor in his community. He died in 1899.
George M. Shuperd was reared to the life of the farm and in 1861 married Emily Byrum, daughter of James and Nellie ( Davis) Byrum, the former of whom was a native of North Carolina, of English ancestry. Mem- bers of the family were early settlers in Virginia. James Byrum was mar- ried in Kentucky, and soon after his marriage came to Decatur county, where he entered land in Adams township, and become a prosperous and successful farmer. He and his wife reared twelve children, of whom Emily, born in Decatur county in 18.43, was the youngest.
One year after his marriage, in 1862, George W. Shuperd enlisted in the Thirty-ninth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and Eighth Cavalry, recruited in Indiana, and served until the close of the war. He was with ·General Sherman on his famous march to the sea, and was one of the color bearers when General Johnston surrendered to General Sherman, which event practically marked the close of the war. Mr. Shuperd saw strenuous service in this, the greatest of his country's wars. Ile is authority for the statement that during one of General Kilpatrick's campaigns "for twenty-one days the saddle was not taken from his horse and when it was removed the hair and hide came with it. ' Mr. Shuperd retains a vivid recollection of the stirring scenes through which he passed during the war. His regiment, which went into the war eleven hundred strong, was mustered out with only two hundred and fifty soldiers remaining. After the surrender of Johnston, Mr. Shuperd was detailed to break up the bands of guerrillas, the remnants of the armies of Morgan, Forrest and Wheeler which had disintergrated into roving and pillaging bands. He came home from the army in August, 1865, and began farming, which he followed for about ten years, at the end of which time he entered the butcher business, in which he was quite successful.
To George W. and Emily ( Byrum) Shuperd three children have been born, two of whom, namely : Oliver, born on January 19, 1862, who died on March 30, 1873; Sarlinda, born in June, 1866, died when fourteen months old; John, born in 1872, who lives in Adams township, married Jane Waits, who died on May 5, 1903. Mr. and Mrs. Shuperd have also reared three grandchildren, Dolly Ray, Pearl May and Carlos Melvern Shuperd.
1067
DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
George W. Shuperd has been a life-long Republican and is proud of the fact. He is a man of remarkably strong body and mind. Mr. and Mrs. Shuperd are members of the Christian church and enjoy the highest regard of their many friends.
ROBERT ANDERSON.
The venerable Robert Anderson, of Clay township, this county, is another of those distinguished sons of '61 to '65, who, at the call of his country for the preservation of the Union, abandoned the peaceful pursuits of life and went out on the field of battle to yield up his life, if necessary, in behalf of the cause of freedom.
Robert Anderson was born in Butler county, Ohio, on October 26, 1838, son of Robert and Elizabeth (Frazier) Anderson, the former of whom was a native of Pennsylvania, who migrated to Butler county, Ohio, in pioneer times and settled there on a farm. He was a Democrat in politics and a sub- stantial citizen of the county, well known and highly respected throughout that section.
In August, 1862, Robert Anderson, Jr., enlisted in Company C. Ninety- third Regiment, Rosseau's Brigade, Third Division, Fourth Army Corps, as a private. At the battle of Missionary Ridge he was wounded in the shoulder and was confined to the hospital until the spring of 1864, when he again joined his command. In the summer of 1864. still unable, on account of his severe wounds, to resume active service he guarded cattle below Chattanooga. and drove them to Big Shanty, where he turned them over to the Fourth Army Corps and then returned to his regiment. He remained with the regi- ment until June 15, 1865, when he received an honorable discharge and returned home.
Among the many severe and bloody battles in which Robert Anderson was engaged were those of Stone River, Chickamauga, Mission Ridge, Frank- lin, Nashville, New Hope church, and various engagements of the Atlantic campaign. After the battle of New Hope Church he was taken ill and was sent to the hospital camp at Chattanooga. Mr. Anderson had two brothers in the war, both serving in the same regiment with him. They were cap- tured by the enemy and compelled to endure the horrors of both Libby prison and Andersonville.
On September 24, 1868, Robert Anderson was married to Elizabeth Ferguson, daughter of Samuel and Nancy (Nicholson) Ferguson, of Decatur
IO68
DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
county. To this happy union were born the following children: Alvin E., of Shelby county ; Henry R., of Greensburg : Albert F., of Adams township; Mrs. Orpha Altizer and Mrs. Daisy Wright, of Greensburg.
Upon the close of the war Robert Anderson, who then was without funds, worked at various occupations until about 1875, when he purchased sixty acres of land south of Greensburg. After owning the sixty acres about three years, he sold it and purchased one hundred and twenty acres in Adams and Clay townships, going in debt for the same to the extent of five thousand dollars, and after ten or twelve years of diligent effort was able to remove this indebtedness. Today he is regarded as a solid and substantial citizen of Decatur county, intensely patriotic in his devotion to his country and the flag : a man of good business ability and strong moral fiber.
Though always a Republican in politics, Mr. Anderson is more a patriot than a partisan. His first vote was cast for Abraham Lincoln and he has never wavered in his allegiance to the party of the great emancipator. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic at Greensburg and of the Methodist church, with which church Mrs. Anderson also is connected. Mr. Anderson has been living a retired life for about fourteen years and is com- fortably situated and able to enjoy life, he and his wife enjoying the utmost respect and esteem of their many friends.
ISAAC D. WAITS.
It is doubtful whether there is living in Decatur county today any man more patriotically devoted to the cause of human freedom and the cause of his glorious country than the venerable Isaac D. Waits, a veteran of the Civil War, who gave four of the best years of his life to the service of his country and its flag.
Isaac D. Waits, who was born on October S. 1840, was twenty-one years old on the day he enlisted as a soldier in the Union army for service during the Civil War, October 8, 1861. He joined Company E. Fiftieth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, which was veteranized on March 2. 1864, and consolidated with the veterans of the Fifty-second Regiment. Indiana Volunteer Infantry, attached to the army of General Thomas, in middle Tennessee. After departing from Louisville, Kentucky, Mr. Waits' first engagement was at Bowling Green, Kentucky, where the regiment had its first fight. After this he was stationed at Nashville, Tennessee, for one
1069
DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
year and was engaged there in fighting Morgan's guerillas. In the invasion of western Tennesse the army saw a great deal of hard fighting, especially in the pursuit of General Forrest, who was defeated on the Tennessee river. Being taken ill about this time, Mr. Waits was confined in the hospital at Memphis during the winter of 1863, and in the spring rejoined his regiment at Little Rock, Arkansas. On account of the delay occasioned by failure to get transportation, he ran away from the hospital and found his way by boat and otherwise to Little Rock. The winters of 1863 and 1864 were spent at Lewisburg, Arkansas. During the famous cold New Year's day of 1864 he nearly froze to deatlı, having been on guard duty uninterruptedly for forty-eight hours. In February, 1864, on the regiment's return to Little Rock, began the Camden campaign, which lasted for forty-two days, during which time there was continual fighting. During this campaign occurred the battle of Saline river, which lasted seven hours, one of the fiercest and hard- est-fought battles of the war. For more than seven hours, on account of the incessant din of battle, Mr. Waits was unable to distinguish the crack of his own gun, and could discern its fire only by the "kick." In that campaign eight thousand Union soldiers defeated forty-four thousand Confederate troops under General Smith.
After Mr. Waits' re-enlistment in the Fifty-second, that regiment was engaged by General Smith at Mobile, Alabama, an engagement which lasted thirteen days. During the progress of this battle Lee's surrender was announced and Lincoln was killed. When the army received word of Lin- colni's assassination it sent one hundred shells into the rebel fort. On tlie first day of the fight Mr. Waits was wounded by a spent six-pound solid shot, which struck his gun, and which also paralyzed his right leg. He was unable to use this leg for seven weeks, and, although he was sent to the hospital, his spirit was so aroused after the death of Lincoln that he limped away from the hospital and rejoined his regiment, using his gun for a crutchi. Afterwards he marched sixty miles on crutches. At the Tom Bigby river the regiment was discharged. December 19, 1865, and came home by the way of Atlanta and Chattanooga. After two weeks in camp at Indianapolis tlie soldiers were paid off and discharged.
Isaac D. Waits is the son of William and Catherine Ann ( Hicks) Waits, the former of whom was born in Harrison county, Kentucky, in 1798, the son of John Waits, a native of Maryland, who migrated to Kentucky during the pioneer days and became a prosperous farmer of Harrison county. that state, where he reared a large family, of whom William Waits was the eldest child. The latter grew to manhood in Kentucky and in 1822 came to
1070
DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
Indiana, locating in Rush county, where he entered one hundred and sixty acres of land. About 1816 he was married in Kentucky and to that union there were born six children before the family came to Indiana in 1822. Seven more children were born after their arrival in this state, making thirteen altogether, of whom Isaac D. was the last born. Catherine Ann Hicks was the daughter of Joshua and Ann ( Chambers) Hicks, both natives of Ireland, who came to America some time before the American Revolu- tion. Joshua Hicks, a molder by trade, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and was detailed to mold cannon balls, serving valiantly throughout the War of Independence. A young man when he came to America, he was not married until after the beginning of the Revolution, when he was thirty years old, his wife. Ann Chambers, being fifteen years old at the time. They lived together as man and wife for eighty-five years, their deaths occurring within a few hours of each other. and their remains were buried in the same grave. They were the parents of seventeen children, of whom Catherine Ann ( Hicks) Waits, the mother of Isaac D. Waits. was the last born. Joshua Ilicks also served as a soldier in the War of 1812. doing duty in the same capacity as in the Revolutionary War, as a molder of cannon balls. His eldest son. Isaac, then about eighteen years old, was a helper.
After the discharge of Isaac D. Waits from the Union army he returned home to Rush county. Indiana, to which section his father had moved in 1856, and on February 23, 1866, was married to Mrs. Elizabeth Akers, the widow of John F. Akers, a soldier of the Civil War, a member of Company H, Second Indiana Cavalry, who was taken prisoner at the battle of Barnell Station, Georgia, and died in Andersonville prison in September, 1864. Mrs. Waits is a daughter of William and Margaret ( Chowley) Gibson, who were natives of Ohio county, Indiana, of Pennsylvania stock. Mr. and Mrs. Waits began life together on a farm in Ohio county, where two of their chil- dren were born. In February, 1870, they came to Decatur county, settling in Adams township, where they lived for two years, at the end of which time they removed to Clinton county, Indiana, where they remained for two years, after which they returned to Adams township. this county. After living on a farm there for a short time they moved to the village of Adams, where they have lived ever since.
To Isaac D. and Elizabeth (Gibson) Waits six children have been born. as follow: Minnie J., who is the wife of Clay Aldridge, of Greensburg: Cora, who is the wife of William E. Laws, of Adams township; Eddie L., whose home is at Adams, but who is at present at Lexington, Kentucky ;
.
1071
DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
Jane F., the deceased wife of John Shupherd : Frank, who died at the age of eleven years, and Pearl M., who died at the age of four.
Despite the weight of their years, Mr. and Mrs. Waits are in good health and spirits and retain the liveliest interest in current affairs. A Repub- lican in politics, Mr. Waits is stanch and true to the party of Lincoln. He is a member of the Grand Ariny of the Republic, and Mrs. Waits belongs to the Ladies' Relief Corps. Both are earnest members of the Methodist Episcopal church and are held in the highest esteem by their many friends in this county.
JOHN C. BLACK.
John C. Black, a diligent and prosperous farmer of Sand Creek town- ship. Decatur county. Indiana, who owns ninety-five acres of land and a beautiful home, was born, October 25, 1855, in Sand Creek township, the son of David Black, who was born in 1807 and who died in 1884 at the age of seventy-three years, six months and sixteen days. David was a native of Augusta county, Virginia, and when a young man rode horseback from Vir- ginia to Franklin county, Indiana, settling near the Marion county line, where he was married to Susan Heimlich, a native of Franklin county. In April, 1855, they moved to Sand Creek township and settled on the old Kepper farm near Letts Corner. They died at Letts. They had seven children, three eldest of whom, Andrew, Elizabeth and Nancy, and the youngest, Rachel. are deceased. The children living are Jacob, Helen and John C., the subject of this sketch.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.