USA > Indiana > Decatur County > History of Decatur County, Indiana: its people, industries and institutions > Part 106
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Mr. Donnell received his education in the Greensburg high school and in the Agricultural-Mechanical College at Ashland. the old home of Henry Clay, near Lexington, Kentucky. In 1888 Edwin Dobyns Donnell was united in marriage to Ollie Rogers, who was born in Switzerland county. Indiana, daughter of Edward H. and Mary Jane ( Shull) Rogers, both of whom were born near Vevay, Switzerland county, the former of English and the latter of German descent. During her early childhood the parents of Ollie Rogers moved to Greensburg and it was in that city Mr. Donnell's wife was reared and there she received her education. Edward H. Rogers traveled for the Standard Oil Company for a period of thirty years or more and died at Hope, Indiana, in 1909.
To Edwin D. and Ollie ( Rogers) Donnell one child has been born, a son, Clifton E., who was born at Greeley, Colorado. in 1892. He was gradu- ated from the Manual Training high school at Indianapolis and is a member of the 1916 class of the Indiana Dental College.
Mr. and Mrs. Donnell are members of the Christian church and take an active interest in church work. Mr. Donnell is a member of the Masonic lodge at Irvington, his home being located in that beautiful suburb of Indi- anapolis, and is a member of Keystone chapter, of the same order. He also is a member of the Knights of Pythias, retaining his membership in lodge No. 148 of that order at Greensburg. He is a member of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Indiana Democratic Club. He is exceed- ingly popular among his associates and enjoys the highest confidence and esteem of state-house circles.
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GEORGE W. MOOR.
One of the large commercial enterprises of Sand Creek township, Decatur county, Indiana, is the mercantile firm of Moor & Crise, located at Letts, Indiana, and capitalized at twenty-five thousand dollars. This firin had its beginning about twenty-five years ago, when George W. Moor engaged in the hardware business at Letts. This firm now operates a grain elevator and has a large retail trade in seeds and flour. It also operates a lumber and coal yard and sells all kinds of building material, lumber, cement, lime, plaster, tile and stone to the people of Jackson, Sand Creek and Clay townships.
George W. Moor, the senior member of the firm of Moor & Crise, was born, December 31, 1853. in Decatur county, Indiana, on a farm, the son of William Oliver and Margaret J. ( Forbes) Moor, the former of whom was born in Franklin county, Indiana, September 23, 1825, and who was killed by a fall from a horse, in Sand Creek township, June 27, 1885. The latter also was born in this state. William Oliver Moor was a son of Edwin, a native of New York, who when a boy of nine years was brought to Ohio by his father, Ezra Moor, who, after living for a time near Cincinnati, removed to Franklin county, and later entered a tract of land in Jackson township, the farm where M. B. Taylor now lives. Here he cleared the land and lived until his death. As nearly as it can be ascertained he must have come to Jackson township during the early forties. William Oliver Moor, who was a carp- enter by trade, followed this occupation in Jackson and Sand Creek townships and farmed to some extent. He died at the home of his son. George W., the subject of this sketch. His wife, who before her marriage was Margaret J. Forbes, died in 1872. They were the parents of seven children. as follow : John E. lives in Iowa : George W. is the subject of this sketch; Riley F. lives in Kansas; William L. lives in Washington; James M. lives in Mason City, Iowa : Mrs. Ina L. Birch lives in Seattle, and Mary E. is deceased.
Educated in the common schools of Decatur county and in the Harts- ville school. George W. Moor was for fifteen years a teacher in Jackson, Sand Creek and Adams townships. Five years of this period were spent as a teacher in Harris City. During the last five years of Mr. Moor's experi- ence as a teacher he was also engaged in farming, and later he devoted himself exclusively to farming for five years in Sand Creek township. From 1891 to 1895 he was engaged in the hardware business, and this business was the beginning of his present large enterprise. In 1895 he also engaged in the grain business and in 1910 he took Mr. Crise as a partner in the firm. They
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have a large and profitable trade in this part of Decatur county, and one which has been builded upon careful business methods and a careful regard of the wants and needs of their patrons. The success is due in no small measure to the cordial relations that Mr. Moor has sustained towards the public.
In 1876 George W. Moor was married to Mary Ferris, daughter of Andrew Ferris of Marion township, who is the brother of J. W. Ferris of the same township. Mrs. Moor was born, September 23, 1851. To Mr. and Mrs. George W. Moor have been born five children, Forrest G., Jessie, Stella. Raymond and Carol. Of these children, Forrest G., of Warren, Ohio, is a mechanical engineer and superintendent of the Chicago and Cleveland Car Roofing Company. He married Louise Cooper, and they have three children, Dorothy, Gladys and Eleanor. Jessie is the wife of Grover W. Crise, Mr. Moor's partner. They have four children, Mary, David, Amy and Roger. Stella lives at homes and is a teacher in the Letts high school. She was graduated from DePauw University with the class of 1911. Ray- mond F., of Warren, Ohio, was associated with his brother, and is now working with his father. He married Zora Purvis. Carol W., a book- keeper for his father's firm is a graduate of the Letts high school.
In politics, George W. Moor has always been an ardent Republican. Mr. and Mrs. Moor and family are all members of the Methodist Episcopal church. They are well known throughout Sand Creek, Jackson and Clay townships and are highly respected residents of this community.
JAMES M. WOOD, M. D.
Among the prominent physicians of Greensburg, Indiana, who have been well educated for the medical profession is Dr. James M. Wood, who has been practicing in this city since 1897, a period of eighteen years. In this period he has not only built up a large and extensive practice in Greensburg and Decatur county, but he has also firmly established himself as one of the leading citizens of the city and county and is today a man well known not only in professional circles, but in religious and fraternal circles as well.
James M. Wood was born on October 5, 1860, on a farm six miles south of Greensburg in Marion township, Decatur county, Indiana, the son of Lorenzo D. and Elizabeth ( Martin) Wood, natives of North Carolina and Decatur county, respectively.
Lorenzo D. Wood was born in Kentucky in 1812, and was left father-
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less while very young. With his mother, his uncle Asa and other children, he came to Decatur county in the early twenties. The uncle obtained a farm which is still in possession of the Wood family. Lorenzo D., who entered one hundred and twenty acres of government land and later purchased forty acres, cleared the land and built a log cabin where James M. Wood, the sub- jeet of this sketch, was born. The father died of tuberculosis, developing from a cold which he caught while working on a straw stack. James M. Wood's mother, who before her marriage was Elizabeth Martin, was born on November 26, 1819, and died on November 26, 1900. She was the daugh- ter of John and Polly ( Meredith ) Martin, the latter of whom was the daugh- ter of William Meredith, one of the pioneers of Decatur county. John Martin, a Kentuckian by birth, settled in Decatur county in 1815 and lived to be a very old man. Lorenzo D). Wood, the father of James M., died in 1863.
Reared on the farm and educated in the country schools of Decatur county, James M. Wood obtained his professional education in the medical department of the University of Tennessee at Nashville, being graduated with the class of 1888. In the meantime, he had taught school for five years to earn money with which he might attend medical college. During this period he was located on the old home farm with his mother near Gaynorsville. After graduating from the medical department of the University of Tennessee, Doctor Wood was located for ten years on the home farm with his mother. Shortly after being graduated from the University of Tennessee, he attended the Chicago Polyclinic College, taking a post graduate course and in 1897 he was a student at the Miami Medical College at Cincinnati. On December 1, 1897, Doctor Wood moved to Greensburg, Indiana.
Doctor Wood is a member of the Decatur County, the Indiana State and the American Medical Association. He is the owner of a farm of one hun- dred and four acres two and one-half miles southeast of Greensburg, which is devoted to general farming and which he personally oversees. It is one of the best farms to be found in Decatur county. Doctor Wood has his residence at 418 North Broadway.
In November, 1897, James M. Wood was married to Laura M. Fiscus, the daughter of George W. and Catherine Fiscus, natives of Decatur and Franklin counties, respectively. Mrs. Wood was born October 29, 1865 and died November 27, 1913, leaving one child, Eura, aged eleven years. Her deatlı came as a distinct shock to her husband and to the community at large by whom she was greatly admired. A woman of noble instincts, considerate, loving and tender in the home, her loss is keenly felt.
Dr. James M. Wood is a member of the Baptist church and, as far as it is
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consistent with the practice of his profession, is a regular attendant at religious services. He is independent politically, supporting principles which he deems to be expedient and sound politically and economically, rather than party emblems. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias.
JOHN FEAR.
John Fear, a retired farmer living with his daughter one and one-half miles west of Letts in Sand Creek township, was born ninety-two years ago in Harrison county. Kentucky. Twelve years after his birth he was brought to Clay township. Decatur county, Indiana, by his parents. He has lived ever since in this county. Today he is one of the few remaining pioneers of the county and has seen the county developed from a primeval forest, its log cabins, its log rollings, its spelling bees. all the hardships incident to pioneer life, to its present proud position as one of the pre-eminent agricultural sec- tions of this country. Life is vastly different today from what it was a century ago when there were no roads, few houses and few neighbors. Today the county is thickly populated with progressive and prosperous citizens, who enjoy most of the comforts available to people in the cities. The venerable John Fear has had a part in this wonderful transformation and all of it he has personally witnessed.
John Fear was born in Harrison county, Kentucky, on September 3, 1823, the son of William H. and Delilah ( Lantern) Fear, the former of whom was a native of Virginia, but who emigrated to Kentucky with his mother when a young man and settled in Harrison county, Kentucky, where he was married. It was there that six of the seven children were born. In 1835 William H. Fear emigrated to Clay township, Decatur county, Indiana, and settled on a farm, where he lived for three years. This farm was owned by Abel Todd. Subsequently, he entered land of his own, and as soon as the trees were deadened, he built himself a log cabin in the wilderness and moved to his own domain. The farm entered by William H. Fear lies in the south- ern part of Clay township, and is now owned by Elmer Woodruff. Here John Fear started his life in this county, grew to manhood and performed the tasks which fell to the lot of the average pioneer boy.
John Fear was married, when twenty-nine years old, to Harriett Will- iams, a daughter of Samuel Williams. Samuel Williams was born in Vir- ginia, and came to Decatur county when a young man. Mr. and Mrs. John
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Fear started life on a farm in Jackson township, Decatur county, and after renting land for some three years, Mr. Fear purchased forty acres and added to this tract from time to time until he owned a hundred and seventy-four acres. Mrs. Fear died on August 19, 1911. Since that time, Jolin Fear has made his home with his daughter. He and his wife had eight children, of whom only three are living, as follow: Mrs. Julia (Fear) Holmes lives in Sand Creek township; Edmund lives near Hartsville, in Jackson township; and William Samuel lives four and one-half miles west of Letts in Jackson township.
Mr. Fear is a Democrat and is not afraid to express his political thought and sentiments. He is a member of the Baptist church.
John Fear has been a good citizen, a man who has always taken a worthy interest in the happiness and comforts of his neighbors and one who has performed well all the duties of life, both public and private. He has helped to clear the forests, drain the swamps and establish a comfortable home in the wilderness. Today he is held in high regard by a host of people in Sand Creek township who have known him for many years.
ABRAM F. VENNER.
To begin life on the farm with no capital except health, strength and determination, and to win success by industrious service, patience and frugal living entitles a man to the respect of his neighbors, and to distinct rank among successful men. This, in brief, is the history of the career of Abram F. Venner. proprietor of "Midway Farm," who owns a rich body of land. consisting of a hundred and twenty acres in Jackson township, Decatur county, Indiana. Not only does he have land which is naturally productive, but he has increased its fertility by scientific drainage, and by clearing a heavily-wooded tract of thirty-five acres. This farm as it stands now, well fenced and well ditched, with an equipment consisting of a comfortable house, two barns, a granary, wagon shed, tool house, garage, hen houses, and hog houses, has no superior, from the standpoint of earning capacity, in Decatur county.
Tracing back the ancestry of Abram F. Venner we find that he is a great- grandson of a German emigrant, who came to this country about a century ago to establish for his family and himself a home in the new world. In view of the thrift and frugal habits of the German people it is no wonder
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Abram F. Venner has carved out for himself the career of a successful man. Abram F. Venner was born on February 10, 1847, in Harrison county, Indi- ana, the son of John Adams and Jane ( Wiseman) Venner, natives of Penn- sylvania, and Kentucky, respectively, the former was the son of Jacob Ven- ner, who was in turn the son of the founder of the Venner family in America. After removing from Harrison county to Hartsville to educate his son, John Adams Venner returned to Harrison county, where he died. His younger sons were all educated in Hartsville College. His children in the order of their birth were Elizabeth, Rosann, Malinda, Mary Catherine, John, Daniel, George, William and Abram F.
Educated in the public schools of Harrison county, and in Hartsville College, where he lacked six months of graduation on account of illness, Abram F. Venner taught school for three years at Lanesville, Bogart Springs and Middletown. Well informed and well trained in methodical and careful thinking, Abram F. Venner has applied to the problems of agriculture the . logical and consistent reasoning which he acquired during his school days.
It was at Hartsville College that Mr. Venner met his future wife. Abram F. Venner was married, August 12, 1869, to Louisa Belle Rhoher. After their marriage they came at once to their farm, and here they have lived for forty-six years. Mrs. Venner was born, October, 1851, and is the daugh- ter of Simeon and Sarah (Collier) Rhoher. the former of Pennsylvania ancestry, and the latter of Kentucky. Simeon Rhoher moved from Ohio to Indiana. The Rholiers were early settlers in Jackson township, most of them taking government claims and clearing the land for cultivation. Simeon Rholier's father, John Rhoher, owned one thousand acres of land. He him- self owned three hundred acres.
To Mr. and Mrs. Abram F. Venner have been born two children, Jessie (deceased) and Corda De Ella. On March 3, 1887, Corda De Ella married John Warren Smith, who lives with Mr. and Mrs. Venner, and who cultivates eighty acres of land in addition to the Venner farm.
John Warren Smith was born in Harrison county, Kentucky, February 4, 1861, and came to Decatur county, Indiana, in the fall of 1885. He was a school teacher in Kentucky and Indiana several years. Mr. Smith has been one of the leading farmers. Mr. Venner and Mr. Smith have made a specialty of Hereford cattle. Duroc Jersey hogs, Shropshire sheep and Ply- mouth Rock chickens.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith have one child, Bessie Venner, who married Harold Brown Ogden, of Forest Hill, April 7, 1915.
Harold Brown Ogden was born on October 12, 1885. He is a graduate
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of Hanover College, Indiana, and took post-graduate work in science at Woods Hole, Massachusetts, and Purdue University, Indiana. Mr. Ogden was professor of science for two years at Park College, Parkville, Missouri. He is now farming in Jackson township, this county.
Mr. Venner's career has been too busy to permit him to take any con- siderable interest in politics, but he is identified with the Republican party. Mr. and Mrs. Venner and family are members of the United Brethren church at Mt. Pleasant.
JOHN G. GARTIN.
For years known as one of the most extensive breeders of pure-bred stock, both cattle and hogs, in the middle states; the breeder of a bull, the famous "Monitor," which took first prizes at the state fairs at Columbus, Ohio; Indianapolis, Indiana; St. Louis, Missouri: Springfield, Illinois, and at the great cattle show at Madison Square Garden, in New York City, and later and at present known far and wide as the "baby-beef" man, John G. Gartin, a singularly successful farmer of Clay township, this county, needs no introduction to Decatur county readers of this book, but in the interests of history and that future generations may be informed regarding the activi- ties of the Gartin family in this county for the past three or four generations, it is fitting that a genealogical sketch of Mr. Gartin be presented at this point in this volume of biography.
John G. Gartin was born in Clay township, Decatur county, Indiana, just one mile west of where the town of Burney now is situated, on June 14. 1865, the son of Felix and Dorcas ( Pavy) Gartin, both of whom also were born in this county, members of pioneer families, the latter of whom was the daughter of John T. and Nancy Pavy, also natives of Clay township, who were born not far from where the family now lives. For details regarding the genealogy of the Pavy family the reader is referred to the memorial sketch relating to the late John T. Pavy, presented elsewhere in this volume.
Felix Gartin was the son of Griffith and Mary (Fear) Gartin, the former of whom was a native of Kentucky, who came to Decatur county in the year 1823. Mary Fear was the daughter of William H. Fear, a Virgin- ian, who came to this county with his parents in the year 1825. Both the Gartins and the Fears became prominent in the pioneer affairs of the county, clearing fine farms from the forest wilderness and becoming recognized as
JOHN G. GARTIN.
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among the substantial families of that section of the county in which they settled. Griffith Gartin was a man of fine executive ability, energetic and enterprising, and was very successful, being the owner of seven hundred or eight hundred acres of land at the time of his death. He was a thorough- going business man and became one of Decatur county's most successful dealers in live stock, his specialty being mules and cattle, his eight sons taking charge of his extensive farming interests. Ile was an ardent Whig and exerted considerable influence over the political destinies of the county. He and his wife were devoted adherents of the Baptist church and their children were reared in that faith, the family becoming a strong moral influence throughout that whole section of the county. Griffith Gartin is recalled by those of his contemporaries who are still living as a man of noble character- istics, generous to a fault and ever ready to lend a helping hand to those less comfortably circumstanced than himself. He died at the comparatively early age of forty-nine years, just in the prime of his life and in the midst of his greatest activities and was sincerely mourned throughout that whole region.
To Griffith and Mary (Fear) Gartin were born nine children, namely : Felix, father of the immediate subject of this sketch, who died on January 24, 1902; Edmund, who married Alice Bruce, of Sand Creek township, this county, and lives at Marion, Indiana : Rev. C. M. (deceased). a one-time well-known minister of the Baptist church: William H., who lives at Spann- burg. Texas: Mrs. Nancy Ann Hanna-Cristler, who lives in the state of Pennsylvania: Nugent, who lives at Columbus, Ohio: Z. T. (deceased) ; W. H., a well-known farmer of Clay township, this county, and Griffith, of Muncie, Indiana, one of the most widely-known auctioneers in that part of the state.
Felix Gartin received a careful training on the home farm, as did all of Griffith Gartin's sons: he was educated at Hartsville College and early pre- pared to take an active part in the affairs of the community. When the call to arms came at the outbreak of the Civil War he enlisted for service in behalf of the Union cause and was attached to the Eleventh Regiment. Indiana Volunteer Infantry, a part of General Sherman's army, known to fame as "the bloody Eleventh." He served through the historic siege of Vicksburg and on July 12, 1863, during the memorable battle at Jackson, Mississippi, received a severe wound, from which he never fully recovered, suffering from the after effects of the same all the rest of his life. The disability due to this wound became so pronounced that in November. 1863,
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he was discharged from the service, returning home shortly thereafter, and was unable to re-enlist.
In August. 1864, Felix Gartin was united in marriage to Dorcas Pavy, a member of an old and prominent family in this county, and to this union the following children were born : John G., the subject of this sketch ; Nancy Ann. wife of John E. Robbins, of Sand Creek township; James W., of Rushville, Indiana: Tillie, deceased.
Felix Gartin was a man of high ideals and in his neighborhood ever was recognized as a man whose "word was as good as his bond." He and his good wife were leaders in the social and religious life of the community in which they lived and ever exerted a wholesome influence upon the lives of those about them. They were members of the Baptist church and were among the leaders in the local congregation, being active in all good works, and were held in the highest regard throughout that whole section. Felix Gartin was a charter member of the lodge of the Knights of Pythias at Burney, and ever took an earnest interest in the affairs of that popular fraternal organiza- tion. Ite was an extensive feeder and shipper of live stock, his specialty being Shorthorn cattle and Poland China hogs, the firm of F. Gartin & Sons, shippers, being well known in live stock circles throughout Indiana and neighboring states. He had hosts of firm friends throughout the county and all through this part of the state and his death, in 1902, was widely mourned. His widow, who was a most excellent woman, died on March 10, 1915.
John G. Gartin was reared on the old home farm and was educated in the common schools of this county, this schooling being supplemented by a course at Hartsville College and a course at Franklin College. His health failing before his studies were completed, he was unable to graduate, much to his regret, and upon returning home became an active assistant in his father's extensive farming and shipping operations. The breeding of pure- bred hogs became his specialty, Poland Chinas being his choice of this form of stock. A little later he began in earnest the breeding of Shorthorn cattle and while thus engaged bred the champion herd leader, "Monitor," the vic- tories of which famous bull in the way of prizes in the great stock shows of the country are detailed in a preceding paragraph of this narrative. Mr. Gartin became an unusually successful cattle breeder and for four years served as secretary of the Shorthorn Breeders' Association and for two years was honored by the election to the presidency of that organization. He also gave considerable attention to the breeding of pure-bred horses, both speed and draft, but years ago discontinued that line of the stock business. In 1893
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