USA > Indiana > Decatur County > History of Decatur County, Indiana: its people, industries and institutions > Part 110
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Edgar Eddelman was united in marriage on December 22, 1907, with Christina Margaret Geiling, who was born on October 25, 1877, in Jennings county, Indiana, a daughter of George Geiling. Mr. and Mrs. Edgar Eddel- man are the parents of four children, namely: Alice Blanche, born on Jan- uary 27, 1909 : Daniel Amos, July 1, 1910; George Albert, February 12, 1912; Thomas Edgar, December 9, 1913.
JOHN E. ROBBINS.
When any man serves himself in a fair and honorable manner he serves his community, but there are certain types of citizens who, in addition to serving themselves well, perform an especial service to their community. At the present moment there is a movement being inaugurated by the govern- ment to increase the efficiency of the farmer, not only in the improvement of soil and soil products, but in scientific improvement of animal breeding and animal industry. It is a notable fact that this interest has been largely initiated through the pioneer efforts of individual stock raisers and breeders. who, while their prime object might have been individual profit, nevertheless have rendered a notable service, not alone to themselves and to their imme- diate community, but to the country as a whole. Indiana has, by no means, stood in the background in this movement, and among the Indiana breeders there have been few of more prominence than John E. Robbins, of Decatur ·county.
John E. Robbins was born in Sand Creek township, Decatur county, on October 6, 1861, on the farm on which he still resides. This farm, con- sisting of a three-hundred-fifteen-acre tract of improved land, has descended
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to its present owner from his grandfather, William Robbins, who settled on this land in 1823, and who, at that time, built a log cabin on what is now the site of the palatial farm residence of John E. Robbins.
John E. Robbins is the son of James G. Robbins, who was born on June 10, 1829, in a log cabin which stood where John E. Robbins now lives. For further history of James G. Robbins see history of Robbins family under J. B. Kitchin sketch, elsewhere in this volume. The mother of John Robbins was Elmira H. Stout, who was the daughter of Joab Stout, and who was born in September, 1832. Her lineage can be traced to the early history of America.
Richard Stout landed at New Amsterdam in 1618. His wife, progeny of Von Princess, with her first husband was shipwrecked off Sandy Hook and captured by Indians, the children and husband were killed and the wife was held. but later ransomed, afterwards marrying Richard Stout. They had six children: Jonathan, John, Richard, James Peter, Daniel Benjamin, Mary Sarah and Alice. Jonathan Stout was the founder of Hopewell, New Jersey, and his son, Joab Stout, was the father of Joab Stout, who was the father of Elmira H. (Stout) Robbins.
Joab Stout served throughout the Revolutionary War and was present at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. He married Rhoda Howell at close of the war and settled at Fort Pitt, Pennsylvania, in 1778. Later, with a party of emigrants, he made what was then, on account of Indian hostilities, a very dangerous trip down the Ohio river and landed near the present site of Louisville, Kentucky. Later he went to Lexington and then to Bracken county on the Licking river, where he remained for a number of years, and then moved to near Cincinnati, where he lived for a short time, and in 1812 he moved to Franklin county, Indiana, where he died on February 28, 1883.
To Joab and Rhoda Stout were born the following children : Jonathan, who married Nancy Thompson in Kentucky; Rachel, who married William Cummins : Mary, who was the wife of Andrew Shirk; Elizabeth, who was the wife of Samuel Shirk; Abner, who married Malinda Tyner: Joab, who mar- ried Amanda Rariden, and after her death Rebecca Wynkoop; David, who married Rhoda Wiles; Margaret, who died in infancy ; Rebecca, who was the wife of Sammiel Goudie: Ira, who married Eliza McNutt: Sarah, who was the wife of Paul Holliday : Aaron, who married a Mrs. McKinney, and Anna, who was the wife of William Waldroff.
Joab Stout. the sixth child of this large family, was born on January 15, 1802, in Bracken county, Kentucky, and died at Letts Center, Indiana, on
(71)
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November 11, 1877. He, like his own father, was the father of a large family. He was twice married and his first wife was the mother of the following children : Milton S., who died on June 8, 1830; Jonathan R., who died in September, 1835: Rhoda E.,; Elmira H., who was the mother of the subject of this sketch, and Mary E., who died on September 24, 1876. The following children were born under his second marriage: Joab H., deceased ; Sarah .A., who died on January 10, 1872; John W., who lives in Greensburg; Isaac N., who died on April 8. 1871: Rachel J., deceased; Mrs. Helen Eubank, who lives in Greensburg; Mrs. Frances R. Templeton, who lives in Greensburg and who is now a widow : Clara E., who died on January 4, 1863.
John E. Robbins was educated in the common schools and the high school of Greensburg. His land possessions came chiefly as his share from his father's estate. He has improved this land until today it is one of the most up-to-date farms in Indiana. Since 1882 Mr. Robbins, with his father and brother as partners, has been doing extensive breeding of improved Shorthorn cattle, and at the present time he has a herd of over ninety head of the best examples of this breed to be found in America. The firm has recently imported a number of very fine cattle from Scotland. Some of these are of almost priceless value because of their breeding.
The partnership was established, and is still carried on under the firm name of J. G. Robbins & Sons, breeders. This firm has shown in competition with state and national breeders every year except one ( 1898) at national, state and county shows, and has never failed to carry off their proportion of the prizes offered. The reason of their failure to show in 1808 was because they sold their show herd for that year. but the buyers of the herd exhibited it at the Trans-Mississippi Exposition, where it won every premium offered in its class. At the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893 John E. Robins & Sons, breeders, won the beef-herd championship with five head of cattle and won the diploma for breeding the most winners in the Shorthorn class at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis in 1903. This firm has won numerous championships at International Stock Shows at Chicago, and the American Royal Shows at Kansas City. They won all prizes offered in two shows at Madison Square Garden, New York City, and they won numerous prizes at the Lewis and Clark Exposition at Portland, Oregon. In addition to these they have won prizes at the following state fairs: Minnesota, Mon- tana, Kentucky, Virginia and at Toronto, Canada.
John E. Robbins has come to be known as one of the best expert judges of cattle in this country, and among some of the organizations which have sought his service in this capacity are the New York state fair, the Ohio state
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fair, the Wisconsin state fair, the Minnesota state fair, the Kentucky state fair, and the Memphis tri-state fair. He was expert judge at seven different international shows in Chicago, at Portland, Oregon, and Ft. Worth, Texas, besides at a great number of county fairs and local shows. Will S. Robbins, the brother in the firm, has, also, in many states, served as an expert judge.
While John E. Robbins has been much engrossed in productive and industrial activities he has not failed to know and fill his obligations as a citizen, politically, socially and religiously. He always has been a stanch Republican in politics. His grandfather was a Whig. Mr. and Mrs. Rob- bins are members of the Liberty Baptist church, of which Reverend Joab Stout was pastor for many years, There is an association of the Stout family and for many years this association has been holding annual reunions. Miss Geneva Robbins is secretary of this association and for the last three years these meetings have been held at the Liberty Baptist church and were attended by scores of the descendants of the Robbins family.
Too much praise cannot be given earlier settlers, who have through their individual efforts sought scientifically to increase and improve live stock production. Oftentimes this has seemed almost a hopeless and thankless task. When one has the full understanding of just what such an undertaking means and figlits on to accomplish his purpose, it matters little whether lie succeeds from a financial standpoint or not, he has been a benefactor to humanity, and such service, when it brings both the compensation to the individual and the benefits to the community, is indeed a double blessing.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN DENHAM.
It is extraordinary in this country to find a man who is almost a septua- genarian capable of performing any considerable amount of work. It is even more unusual to find a man at this advanced age who is capable of doing manual work, yet Benjamin Franklin Denham, a farmer and stock- man of Jackson township, Decatur county, Indiana, was found plowing in the field when sought for the facts of his personal life. It is a strong testimonial to the rugged stock from which he is sprung that he is still able to engage in exacting toil at this age. His career has been a most active one and his body is still strong and his mind alert. Mr. Denham is a noble-minded, public- spirited citizen of this great county.
Benjamin Franklin Denham was born on January 24, 1846, in Cler-
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mont county, Ohio, the son of Benjamin, Sr., and Mary Ann ( Patchell) Denham, the former of whom was born in 1806 and died in 1880, and the latter died in 1858. The father, who came from Scotch-Irish stock, was a native of New York and immigrated to Ohio. He was a Baptist preacher, miller and millwright. He preached, however, for the love of the work and operated a mill as his real business in life. Coming to Decatur county in 1848, he erected the Harwood inill on Sand creek and for two years, in con- junction with his brother. Daniel, operated this mill. They taught the owner of the mill how to run it. In 1850 Benjamin Denham, Sr., built a mill two miles north on Sand creek, which was operated by water and there he was engaged in sawing lumber and grinding grain for several years. Subse- quently, he became the sole owner of the mill and operated it for twenty-five years. In the meantime, he preached in the local churches of the county. Finally he traded the mill and thirty-three and one-third acres of land for one hundred and sixty acres of land in Kansas, but later traded this land. For some time he was engaged in preaching at Alert and then operated a mill at Forest Hill for two years, when he returned to Sand Creek township and operated the Harwood mill, finally buying it and operating it until his death.
Benjamin and Mary Ann ( Patchell) Denham were the parents of eight children, the five eldest of whom, Elizabeth, Sarah. Maria, Jemima and Delilah, are deceased. The others are as follow : James B. lives in Missouri; Benjamin Franklin is the subject of this sketch, and John Edward lives in Missouri. After the death of his first wife, the father married a Mrs. (Deweese) Miller, who bore him three children, two of whom died in infancy. Mrs. Hattie Allen, of Greensburg, is the only living child of this marriage.
Educational opportunities were somewhat limited during the boyhood and youth of Benjamin F. Denham and he had comparatively little schooling. For some time he attended the Sharp's school near Letts, Pinhook and the Rodney school in Sand Creek township. In the meantime, he partially learned the miller's trade and helped to conduct the saw-mill.
Leaving the mill near Adams in 1863, he enlisted in Company H, Thirty-seventh Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and served a period of twenty-three months in the Union army. He was recruited for the Thirty- seventh but was transferred to the Eighty-eighth and then to the Thirty- eighth Regiment, which was a consolidation of the Thirty-seventli and Eighty-eighth. Among the severe engagements in which he was engaged during the Civil War, were the battles of Lookout Mountain, Mission Ridge, Kenesaw Mountain, Peachtree Creek, Pumpkin Vine. Big Shanty, Resaca,
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and Marietta. He was also engaged in the Atlanta campaign and was in the great battle fought twenty-five miles south of Atlanta just before the surrender of the Confederates at Atlanta. He was in the march with Sher- man from Atlanta to the sea and participated in the battle fought five miles from Savannah. He was also in the battles of Columbia, South Carolina; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Jonesboro, North Carolina. From Jonesboro he was sent to Richmond, Virginia, after Lee's surrender and, after having participated in the Grand Review at Washington, was sent to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and from there to Louisville, Kentucky, from which place he expected to go to Texas. He was mustered out at Louisville, paid off and discharged at Indianapolis. Being very sick, he rested at home for six weeks and then began working as a farin hand near Greensburg.
For some time Mr. Denham worked for Reverend Tisdale and Mr. Gil- man. Later he worked as a hay baler for Attorney Platt Wicks. Having learned the blacksmith's trade, he worked at this trade at Old Gaynorsville for two years. During the twenty-two years succeeding this, he operated a shop at Newburg and, by saving his money, was able to purchase eighty acres of land, a part of the farm he now owns. He and his good wife saved every cent that it was possible to save and were finally able to buy one hundred acres of land adjoining the original eighty. Eight years later they were able to buy one hundred and twenty acres more. They now have three sets of buildings on this land. Mr. Denham erected a large barn in 1909 to replace one which burned.
On November 30, 1870, Benjamin Franklin Denham was married to Mary E. Petree, who was born near Sardinia on August 31, 1845, the daugh- ter of David and Jane (Landphair) Petree, the former of whom was a native of Franklin county, Indiana, and the latter a native of Butler county, Ohio. David Petree was the son of Adam Petree, an early pioneer of Jackson township, who was probably born in Franklin county. David Petree died in 1855. Jane ( Landphair ) Petree died at her home in 1912. Mrs. Denham, before her marriage, was a milliner at Forest Hill. For ten years Mrs. Den- ham operated the store at Newburg, assisting her husband in every way pos- sible. Much credit for their joint success is due to her able assistance. Mrs. Denham's parents had gone to housekeeping on the farm, which came to be known as the old homestead and which is now a part of the Denham farm. in a house which is still standing.
Of the six children born to Benjamin F. and Mary E. Denham, Frank, the eldest, who was born on May 9, 1872, is deceased. He died in 1903. The other five children, all of whom are living, are as follow: Charles, born
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in 1874, who is farming the home place, married Elizabeth Eddleman and has two children, Margaret and Robert; Fred H., 1876, who lives in North Dakota, married Fannie Talkington and has two children, Eveline and Bernice : Enrie, 1878, who is the wife of Clave Bennis and has two children, twins, Edna May and Mary June ; Dora and Tracy O., both of whom are at home.
Mr. Denham was a Republican until the formation of the Progressive party in 1912, when he identified himself with this party. He voted for the first candidate for president which the Republican party elected, Abrahan Lincoln. For fifteen years Mr. Denham served as a school trustee in Forest Hill or Newburg. He is a member of the Presbyterian church and has been an elder at Sardinia for the past ten years.
As a veteran of the Civil War, as a successful farmer and stockman, Benjamin FF. Denham can look back upon his career with consummate satis- faction. The owner of three hundred acres of good land in Jackson town- ship, he has lived on the farm since 1890. His success as a farmer is due principally to his extensive interest in live stock. Ordinarily, he sells one hundred head of hogs every year and a carload of cattle. Mr. Denham found the road to success and found the road unaided and alone except for the help which he received from his good wife. Today he is an honored and esteemed citizen of Jackson township, a man who enjoys the confidence of his fellows.
ALEXANDER BENTLEY.
The casual traveler in Jackson township, this county, is attracted to the fine appearance of "Maple Grove Farm," one of the best kept and most attractive places in that part of Decatur county. Alexander Bentley, the owner of "Maple Grove Farm" and one of the most progressive and prosper- ous farmers in his section, is the first man in that township to inseribe upon his mail box the name of his farm ; his example in that respect having proved so worthy of emulation that now it is a rarity to find a mail box that is not so adorned. Mr. Bentley has a beautiful farm to which he gives the most devoted care. The fact that this has been the place of his residence for sixty-seven years, ever since he was two years of age, and that, with this exception he has spent his whole life thus far upon the home acres gives to his ownership a sentimental interest which incites him constantly to greater endeavors to make of the farm an ideal place of its kind. He has a fine
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home, his house being of good size, and his barns and outbuildings, all of which are painted white to match the house, are kept in a fine state of repair. This cluster of white buildings sitting amidst a beautiful grove of maple trees, from which latter the farm takes its name, presents an exceedingly attractive appearance and speaks loudly for the good taste and careful man- agement of Mr. Bentley and his family.
Alexander Bentley was born in Butler county, Ohio, on March 17, 1844, the son of William and Sarah M. ( Howe) Bentley, the former of whom was a native of New York state and the latter of whom was a native of Butler county, Ohio. William Bentley was born on March 22, 1795, and upon reaching manhood's estate left New York and immigrated to Ohio, locating in Butler county where he married Sarah M. Howe, who was born in that county on June 8, 1804, the daughter of William and Sarah Howe, the latter of whom lived to be ninety-seven years of age, her death occurring at Col- lege Corners, Ohio.
William Bentley and his family moved from Ohio to this county in February, 1847, settling in Jackson township and locating ont a tract of land in the deep timber, on what is now known as the Tyner farm, where James Pavey lives. He built a house of hewed logs on that part of the farm which is now occupied by his son and there he spent the rest of his days, his death occurring on May 18, 1853. His widow long survived him, her death not occurring until April 22, 1881. William Bentley and his wife were excellent citizens and their influence was very helpful in the early days of Jackson township. They were among the founders of the old Dry Fork Baptist church and helped to build that church. Mr. Bentley was an ardent Whig and took an active part in the political affairs of the county.
To William and Sarah M. ( Howe) Bentley were born eleven children, namely: Adolphus G. (deceased), born on March 10, 1822; Ebenezer H. (deceased ), October 16, 1824; Alvin (deceased), November 18, 1826, was a veteran of the Union army in the Civil War and died in Illinois; Hazel, January 19, 1828, died at the age of two years; Gideon H., May 4, 1830, died at Adams, this county, on February 8, 1915; Calvin H., May 16, 1832, a veteran of the Civil War, went to Putnam county, Missouri, thence to the state of Washington, where he died; Mrs. Louisa H. Brunton, January 4. 1835, lives in Delaware county, this state; Mrs. Sarah H. Linch (deceased ), February 1, 1837, the mother of Mrs. Louisa M. Cory ; Mrs. Anna T. Moore (deceased), December 2, 1838; Alexander, the immediate subject of this sketch, and Eleatha H. (deceased), July 4, 1846.
Alexander Bentley has lived on the home place since the days of his
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infancy. Upon the death of his father he bought out the interest of the other heirs in the original eighty acres and cared for his mother until her death. Later he bought eighty acres on the southwest, which he sold some years ago, and in the fall of 1914 bought an adjoining tract of one hundred and two acres, upon which some improvements had been made. In 1875, Mr. Bentley erected the handsome residence which he is now occupying, which he since has remodeled from time to time until he now has one of the best and most modern farm houses in the county, in which he is passing the evening of his life in peace and calm content.
On October 1. 1872, Alexander Bentley was united in marriage to Mary Miles, who was born in Franklin county. this state, June 3. 1848, the daughter of Joseph and Eliza Ann (Barrickman) Miles. Joseph Miles, born in 1809, died in 1884, was a native of Virginia who moved with his parents from that state to Ohio, in 1818; upon the death of his father he moved, with his widowed mother, to Franklin county, this state, where the remainder of his life was spent. Eliza Ann Barrickman, who was born in the Templeton creek neighborhood, in Franklin county, May 16, 1813, and died near Springfield, in the same county, December 15. 1893. She was a daughter of Jacob and Jane Barrickman, who immigrated to Indiana Territory in 1807, locating on what is now known as the Peck farm in Franklin county, where they lived until 1810, in which year they moved to the Templeton creek neighborhood, where they became substantial farmers, influential in the early affairs of that community. They were the parents of four sons and seven daughters. An aunt of Mrs. Bentley, Keturah Barrickman, was the daughter-in-law of Rob- ert Templeton, who, on October 16. 1804, entered the northwest quarter of section 28 in Brookville township, Franklin county, this state. His son, James, married Keturah Barrickman. The children of Joseph and Eliza Ann (Barrickman) Miles were: William, who died in November. 1893: John, a prominent farmer of Franklin county: Mrs. Jennie Barbour, who lives at Letts. this county ; Ann, deceased; Mary, who married Mr. Bentley : Hattie and Hettie (twins), deceased; Mrs. Kate Clarkson, of Tippecanoe county, this state; James, who lives at Liberty, Indiana, and Mrs. Margaret Lynch (deceased), who lived in Union county, this state.
To Alexander and Mary (Miles) Bentley four children have been born, namely : Estella, born on September 7, 1873, married John Sanders, of Jack- son township, this county, and has two children, Noble and Mary; James Clifford, June 11, 1876, lives on the home place with his parents ; an infant, April 9. 1879, died on June 16, 1879; Joseph Earl, February 13, 1885, a
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farmer living near Letts Corner, married Nellie, daughter of George Boicourt, and has one child, Elvin.
MFr. and Mrs. Bentley are members of the Union Presbyterian church in Jackson township and their children were reared in the faith of that church. Mr. Bentley is a Republican and always has given an intelligent attention to political affairs in this county, though never having been included in the office-seeking class. Ile and his wife are deeply interested in the good works of the community of which they so long have been an influential part and they enjoy the unqualified confidence and esteem of their neighbors, being held in the very highest regard by all who know them. Their pleasant home is the center of much genial hospitality and they are very popular in that part of the county.
SAMUEL DAVID FULTON.
The struggle which some of the earlier settlers had to exert for exist- ence was such a hard battle that the wonder seems not that so many of these received but a meager education but that they received any at all. Difficulties thrown in the path of Samuel David Fulton appear almost insur- mountable, because, in addition to the natural struggle, he was the only son and youngest child in a family of seven, who were left fatherless in the time of need. In the case of Samuel David Fulton the question is brought up as to whether these difficulties and the determination to rise above them did not prove a blessing rather than a hindrance, for the history of his life shows that he became a well-rounded, well-balanced man and a worthy, useful and exemplary citizen.
Samuel David Fulton was born on July 26, 1848, in Jackson township, Decatur county, on the farm on which he now resides. He was the son of William Fulton, who was born in Kentucky in 1807 and died in Decatur county in 1853, and of Susanna Ratcliffe, the daughter of Samuel Rat- cliffe. Susanna Ratcliffe was also a native of Kentucky and was born in 1809 and died in 1881.
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