USA > Indiana > Decatur County > History of Decatur County, Indiana: its people, industries and institutions > Part 114
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To Merritt H. and Jeannette (Gilchrist) Robbins were born six chil- dren, as follow : Alpha B., who married Caleb Wright, a well-known farmer of Clay township, this county ; Laura L., who married Walter B. Planke and lives in Washington township; Charles Clay, the immediate subject of this sketch; Greeley G., of Greensburg, a rural mail carrier; William W., who died on June 1, 1914, at the home of his brother, Charles C., at the age of forty-seven years, and Erie Etna, the wife of Bird Sefton, of Washington township, this county.
On February 28, 1888, Charles Clay Robbins was united in mar- riage to Effie M. Styers, who was born on the old Styers homestead, near Greensburg, this county, on April 6, 1868, the daughter of William G. and Dorinda F. (Wright) Styers, the former of whom is now deceased. Fur- ther details of the genealogy of this couple may be found in the biographical sketch of William G. Styers, presented elsewhere in this volume.
To Charles C. and Effie M. (Styers) Robbins have been born six chil- dren, namely: Harry H., born on November 29, 1889; Walter W., who lives on the John W. Ferris farm, in Marion township, this county, was born on July 6, 1891, married Grace Ferris and has three children, Gerald, Roy R. and Wilma ; Marie, February 1, 1898, is in high school; Corinne C., December 25, 1900, also in school; Millard M., October 30, 1902, and Lowell, July 18, 1905, who died on March 4, 1907.
Mr. and Mrs. Robbins are members of the Liberty Baptist church, as are all the members of their family, and long have been prominent in the affairs of that church, as well as being included among the leaders in the various good works of the community in which they live. Mr. Robbins is a Republican and takes a warm interest in political affairs, though not an office seeker or a particularly active political worker, preferring to give the full measure of his time to his farm and to his home. Harry Robbins
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is a member of the Masonic fraternity and is deeply interested in the affairs of that ancient fraternal order. No family in Decatur county is held in higher repute than the Robbinses and their home is one of the most popular places of social gatherings in the part of the county in which it is situated.
HAMLIN ANDERSON.
Situated on a hill, the handsome farm residence of Hamlin Anderson, in Clay township, this county, commands a fine view of the country there- about. This residence, painted an attractive yellow, with its broad veranda lending a particularly home-like air to the place, is regarded as one of the pleasantest and most hospitable farm homes in the county, and is the center of much cordial hospitality, Mr. and Mrs. Anderson being fond of their friends and their friends likewise fond of them. Corresponding with the general well-kept appearance of the house, the big bank barn, painted in slate color, and the outlying farm buildings all are in excellent condition, speaking well for Mr. Anderson's orderliness and accurate attention to detail. Though somewhat past what generally is regarded as the meridian of life, Mr. Anderson retains a youthful appearance and manner that belie the date of his birth, and takes the liveliest interest in affairs. He is an excellent conversationalist and a good companion. A keen, intelligent, enterprising man, he has made a success of his affairs, and is rated among the wealthy men of Decatur county. He has traveled widely and is well informed. For three years he lived in Los Angeles, California, and for a time was engaged in the automobile business in Indianapolis, but now con- fines his attention wholly to his extensive farming interests, finding Decatur county the most desirable spot on earth, his pleasant home being to him all that he desires.
Hamlin Anderson was born on the farm on which he still lives August 29, 1853, son of William and Mary (Stanley) Anderson, the former of whom was born in 1811 and died in 1891; the latter born in 1832, died in 1908. William Anderson was born of poor parents in a log cabin in the pine woods of New Jersey, and in his youth was compelled to work hard. He was one of eleven children born to his parents, four boys and seven girls. By the utmost diligence and frugality, he had saved four hundred dollars by the time he had reached his majority, at which time he started for Indiana, arriving in Decatur county in 1831, having driven through in a
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one-horse wagon, the long trip having been made alone. For several years after his arrival in this county, William Anderson worked for various farm- ers in the Milford section, receiving eight and one-third dollars the month. He then bought eighty acres of timber land south of Milford and chopped out a home in the wilderness, later selling this and buying another eighty- acre tract, a part of the present Anderson home acres. On the hill where stands the present handsome residence, William Anderson built a log cabin and entered seriously upon the life of a farmer. He prospered, as his indus- try and zeal entitled him to prosper, and presently became one of the large landowners in the county, his holdings comprising no less than eight hun- dred acres of fine land in the Milford neighborhood. Though he could not read or write, William Anderson was a clear thinker and had a good mind. He was an able manager and an excellent financier, proving himself to be one of the most important factors in the development of the vicinity in which he made his home. At the time of his death, besides his- large land holdings, he possessed fifteen thousand dollars in cash, an excellent example of what energy and enterprise may accomplish in the face of obstacles that would seem well nigh insuperable to one of a less direct mind. William Anderson also possessed the entire confidence of the whole community and was held in the highest esteem throughout that part of the county, his death being much mourned thereabout. Mr. Anderson was an earnest member of the Methodist church and his children were reared in that faith. He was a Republican and his keen, discriminating mind gave to his political opin- ions much weight with the managers of the party in this county.
William Anderson was twice married. By his union with Jane Fowler three children were born: John H., deceased; Mrs. Mary Parker, widow of a former well-known Adams township farmer, and William, Jr., deceased, a former prominent farmer of this county. Upon the death of his first wife, William Anderson married, secondly, Mrs. Mary (Stanley) Whiseman, widow of Warren Whiseman, and to this union two children were born, Mrs. Etta Russell, of Greensburg. this county, and Hamlin, the immediate subject of this sketch. By her first marriage the second Mrs. Anderson was the mother of one child, a daughter, Mrs. Sarah Armstrong, who lives at Kewanna, Indiana.
Hamlin Anderson was reared on the paternal farm, receiving his edi- cation in the district schools of that neighborhood. Inheriting much of his father's directness of manner and energy of both mind and body, he has made proper use of his opportunities and is looked upon as one of the lead- ing men in the part of the county in which he resides. His father willed him
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one hundred and sixty acres of the home farm, to which he gradually added until he became the possessor of five hundred and thirty acres, which he later reduced to the present compact farm of four hundred and thirty acres, one of the best and most scientifically cultivated places in that part of the county. In 1894 Mr. Anderson erected his present fine farm house, one of the best in the county. This house is of thoroughly modern construction, equipped with a fine water system and is heated and lighted with natural gas, Mr. Anderson having an inexhaustible gas well on his place. The big bank barn, fifty by seventy feet, is equipped with all proper appliances for the most economic operation of a well-managed farm plant, and is supple- mented by a massive silo. The farm is admirably fenced and otherwise kept up to the top notch of efficiency.
Hamlin Anderson has been twice married. In 1874 he was united in marriage to Myra Belle Trimble, daughter of John Trimble, to which union one child was born. a daughter, Mandie, who died at the age of seven years. In August, 1883, Mr. Anderson married, secondly, Ida M. Washburn, daughter of Dr. R. R. Washburn, of Waldron, Shelby county, this state, and to this union one child was born, a son, Raymond, who died in infancy.
Mr. and Mrs. Anderson are members of the Methodist church, and are earnest workers in the congregation of that church, as well as being (levoted to the general good works of the community. They are highly esteemed among their large circle of friends and are potent factors in the social life of their vicinity. Mr. Anderson is a member of Greensburg Lodge No. 36, Free and Accepted Masons. and takes an active interest in the affairs of that lodge.
JACOB BLACK.
A distinguished veteran of the Civil War, a prominent stockman and farmer of Sand Creek township. Decatur county, for over sixty years, Jacob Black is one of the best-known citizens of Decatur county. Of all his life work, perhaps his record as a loyal and valiant soldier in our country's greatest war will endure longest. He was an enlisted soldier in one of the first regiments organized in this state for the defense of the Union in the early months of 1861, and after serving his enlistment of thirty days, enlisted the second time in Company C, One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, for one hundred days, being dis-
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charged September 2, 1864. Subsequently, he enlisted for the third time, in Company H, Thirteenth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and served one year, being discharged September 5, 1865, at Goldsboro, North Carolina. During his long service he was engaged in many severe skir- mishes and battles. At the time of the breaking out of the Civil War and at the time of his first enlistment he was scarcely seventeen years old.
Jacob Black, farmer and stockman of Sand Creek township, Decatur county, Indiana, who owns a well-improved farm of one hundred acres, was born on April 17, 1844, in Franklin county, Indiana, the son of David and Susan ( Heimlich) Black, the former of whom was born on December 3, 1809, in Virginia, and the latter born on July 13, 1816. They were married on December 29, 1834, in Franklin county, where David Black's parents had settled in 1820. Nineteen years after their marriage, David and Susan Black, in 1853, came to Sand Creek township, Decatur county. Of their seven children, five are deceased. The living children are Jacob, the sub- ject of this sketch, and John C., of Letts. The deceased children are: An- drew, who was born on November 29, 1835; Mrs. Elizabeth Smith; Nancy Thompson; Margaret Helen Eubanks, and Catherine, died young.
During the declining years of David Black's life, his son, Jacob, cared for him, and at his death, which occurred in March, 1865, came into pos- session of the home place. He has lived nearly all of his life on the farm he now occupies, having moved to the house in which he lives in the spring of 1854, sixty-one years ago. Mr. Black has been a horse breeder for forty years, and formerly handled great numbers of French and German coach horses. He also bred trotting horses and owned at one time "Jay Bird" and "Wilkes," two well-known horses. At the present time, however, he is breeding draft horses, Belgian and Percherons, and at the present time has six head, including three pure-bred and registered stallions. For many years he was a well-known exhibitor at county and state fairs and won many prizes on his imported stallions and mares.
It is difficult to estimate what the pioneer breeders of the state have accomplished in the way of improving the breed of horses on the farm. Horses may not be so important to the success of the farmer as they for- merly were, because of the advance of farm machinery, driven by power, yet the time is far remote when farmers will not be interested in good horses and when they will not be regarded as important assets on the farm. . Is a pioneer breeder in Decatur county, Jacob Black has performed an invaluable service, not only to the farmers in this county, but to the farmers of this state, since he personally, during his long and useful life, has furnished a
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strong incentive to the men with whom he has come in contact to breed better horses.
On September 1, 1881, Jacob Black was married to Mary A. Parker, the daughter of John J. Parker. Mrs. Black was born on December 3, 1850. Jacob and Mary A. Black are the parents of two children: Harry Cecil, who was born on November 26, 1882, and who was married on August 31, 1904, to Vella May Simmons, of Sand Creek township, and has one child, Helen Louise; and Clarence Wayne, born on March 18, 1890, who is engaged in farming on their own farm with his brother. Both young men are successful farmers and have taken up the useful work so long carried on by their worthy and honorable father.
Jacob Black is a Republican, but he has never been a candidate for office and has never aspired to office. As a result of his long and arduous labors, he has won for himself a competence in life and is now situated so that he may enjoy his declining years in comfort and happiness. Mr. Black has many friends in this section of the state.
MYRON C. JENKINS.
The Jenkins family was founded in America by one of the sturdy Pilgrim fathers, who came over to the rock-bound New England shore in the "Mayflower." Myron C. Jenkins, a well-known lawyer of Greensburg, Indiana, a man who has filled one of the principal offices within the gift of the people of Decatur county with credit to himself and to the people of the county who elected him, is a representative of the second generation of the family in Decatur county. His father, who had been a printer and a lawyer, settled on a farm near New Point in the early sixties. As a profes- sion the law is not new to this generation of the Jenkins family, his father having practiced for many years in the state of Ohio.
Myron C. Jenkins, who was born on February 10, 1859, in Cincinnati, Ohio, is the son of Alfred C. and Lydia A. (Rigsbe) Jenkins. The former was of New England descent, and the son of Alfred Jenkins, a native of Massachusetts, and an early settler in Ohio, and the latter was a native of Union county, Indiana, and the daughter of William Rigsbe, a native of Chatham county, North Carolina. William Rigsbe, who was an early set- tler in Indiana, drove through from North Carolina to Indiana with his wife, in a one-horse wagon. An ardent member of the Quaker church, he
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left the southern home on account of slavery, after having been married to a Miss Clark. After farming for some years in Union county, he removed to Decatur county, where he purchased a large tract of land. Alfred Jen- kins, Sr., of Massachusetts, was married early in life to a Miss Snow.
The Jenkins family had removed from Ohio to Mt. Carmel, Franklin county, Indiana, when the father of Myron C. Jenkins was a mere child. Here Alfred C. Jenkins was reared. He became a printer by trade, having learned the trade with the Clarksons, who were the proprietors of the Brookville American at the time. Subsequently, he moved to Cincinnati, where he became a typesetter on the old Cincinnati Gazette. Supporting his family by setting type, he was able to attend the Cincinnati Law College, and was graduated from that institution while he was setting type on the Gasette and delivering papers in the evening after working all day. Removing to Decatur county, Indiana, during the early sixties, he located near New Point on a farm owned by his father-in-law, William Rigsbe, and here he built a house and barn. After living upon the farmer for a number of years, he moved back to Ohio and practiced law in Hamilton county and at Har- rison, where he died.
To Alfred C. and Lydia A. Jenkins were born four sons, Horace W., Myron C., and two who died in infancy.
Educated in the public schools of Ohio and Indiana, Myron C. Jenkins was graduated from the National Normal School at Lebanon, Ohio, and from the Cincinnati Law School with the class of 1884. In this class was Judge O'Hara and many other distinguished men. Mr. Jenkins began the practice of law in Decatur county after spending one year on the farm, and then obtained desk room in the office of Doctor Jerman at New Point. He was accustomed to remain in Greensburg during the session of court, and subsequently was appointed deputy prosecuting attorney for Rush and Decatur counties, a position which he held for two years. After the expira- tion of his term of office he removed to Greensburg, and except for eight years, the period between 1904 and 1912, when he was clerk of the Decatur circuit court, he has ever since been engaged in the practice at Greensburg. He enjoys a large and lucrative practice in the circuit, district, state and federal courts, and owns a splendid law library, which is kept in his office in the old First National Bank building of Greensburg.
Myron C. Jenkins was married on September 6, 1898, to Nellie Adams. 1 native of Decatur county, and the daughter of Roll G. Adams, the son of an early Indiana settler and a pioneer in Franklin county. Roll G. Adams was born, in Fairfield, Franklin county, and was the son of Washburn
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Adams. To Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins four children, Lydia Alice, Wendell Crocker, Dorothy and Miriam G. have been born. All are living at home.
Mr. Jenkins has always been identified with the Republican party. The Jenkins family are members of the Christian church of Greensburg, and Mr. Jenkins is a member of the Knights of Pythias. Aside from the cares of his professional practice, the chief interests of Myron C. Jenkins are his home and his family. His law practice has grown from year to year, and he is today numbered among the successful attorneys of Decatur county, an honor of no mean importance.
CHARLES P. MILLER.
Having spent all his life thus far on the farm on which he was born. in Adams township, this county. Charles P. Miller. one of the prosperous and progressive farmers of Decatur county, is in a position to make fitting con- trasts with conditions existing thereabout at the time of his earliest recol- lection and the conditions now prevailing in that favored section of the county. Mr. Miller has a beautiful home, a fine old brick mansion built by his father back in 1862, which has been modernized in numerous ways to bring it up to the latter-day standards until it now is one of the best farm houses in Decatur county. Fitting accompaniment to this is his big red bank barn, fifty by one hundred by thirty-two feet to the square. with other commodious farm buildings to match. Mr. Miller is an extensive landowner in the county. At one time he was the owner of eleven hundred and seventy-eight acres. four hundred and fifty acres of which comprised the home farm: three hun- dred and twenty acres in Washington and Adams townships; two hundred and forty-eight acres in Clinton township and one hundred and sixty acres in Clay township. Much of this land he since has disposed of to his sons, re- ducing his holdings to the home farm of four hundred and fifty acres and one hundred and sixty acres in Washington township. In addition to his large general farming operations, Mr. Miller formerly was engaged in the breeding of Shorthorn cattle, but of late years has given little attention to that phase of farming. having on his farm now only about one hundred hogs. sixty head of cattle and sixteen or eighteen horses.
Charles P. Miller was born on the farm on which he still lives, in Adams township, Decatur county. Indiana, October 6, 1853. the son of Charles and Louisa (Pleak) Miller, the former of whom was born on May 9, 1814, and
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died on March 15, 1888, and the latter of whom was born on January 15, 1816, and died on June 8, 1907.
Charles Miller was born in western Virginia, the son of George Miller,. who brought his family to Decatur county, Indiana, in 1827. George Miller made his home in what was then the forest wilderness of Adams township, where he lived until 1857, in which year he sold out and moved to lowa, again becoming a pioneer, and in that state he died. His wife, who was a Miss Elizabeth Swope before her marriage, bore to him sixteen children, thirteen of whom lived to maturity and married, the numerous progeny of this union making now a large family. These thirteen children were as follow : Jacob. Michael, John. Mrs. Mary Riffe, Mrs. Catherine Johnson, Mrs. Nancy Will- iams, Mrs. Anna Jones, George W., Mrs. Elizabeth Spraker, Charles, Mrs. Martha Spraker, Mrs. Sarah Dunn and Joseph.
Charles Miller for a time lived on a part of the Nathan Hunter farm in Washington township, but when his father moved to Iowa he sold that tract and bought the tract where his son, Charles P., now lives, and there spent the rest of his life. Charles Miller became one of Decatur county's progressive farmers, owning about five hundred and twenty acres of land at the time of his death. He was an ardent Whig and took an active interest in the early political life of the county. Upon the formation of the Republican party he became affiliated with that party and ever thereafter espoused its principles. He was an earnest Methodist and his children were reared in that faith.
On June 2, 1835, Charles Miller was united in marriage to Louisa Pleak, daughter of Narcus Baron Steuben Isaac Henry Fielden Lonis and Sabina (Virt) Pleak, natives of Kentucky and pioneer settlers of Decatur county. a family which has been largely represented in the affairs of this county since the year 1821. Further interesting details of the genealogy of the Pleak family may be found in the biographical sketch relating to Strauther Van Pleak, presented elsewhere in this volume. To this union were born ten children, all of whom are now deceased save Charles P. Miller, namely : Michael, Elizabeth, Sabina, America, George, Joseph, Ira, Narcus Baron Steuben Isaac Henry Fielden Louis, Charles P., and one who died in in- fancy.
Charles P. Miller, being the only survivor of his father's family, suc- ceeded to the home acres and not only kept the same up in the most admirable manner, but largely increased the original acreage, becoming one of the large landowners in this part of the state. as set out in the introductory paragraph of this narrative. As he advanced in years and his children started out to do for themselves, he gradually reduced his land holdings by disposing of tracts
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to his children, until now he retains but the four hundred and fifty acres sur- rounding the home place and one hundred and sixty acres in Washington township, all of which is in an excellent state of cultivation.
On October 31, 1878, Charles P. Miller was united in marriage to Mar- garet Eudora Graham, who was born in this county on November 27, 1856, and died on February 23, 1915, daughter of Joseph and Almira (Donnell) Graham, both of whom were natives of this county. Joseph Graham was the son of Joseph Graham, a native of Kentucky, who came to Decatur county in 1823, settling in Fugit township, where he was known as one of the most prominent pioneers of that section.
To Charles P. and Margaret Eudora (Graham) Miller were born five children : Louisa Katherine, born August 10, 1879, who, on December I, 1904, inarried Elbert Earl Meek and lives in Fugit township; Joseph Gra- ham, December 19, 1880, married Wilhelmina Jacob on November 15, 1905, at Watseka, Illinois, and lives in Washington township, this county; Leoni- das Melville, April 11, 1883, married Elizabeth Link on November 21, 1907, and lives in Clinton township; Margaret Eudora, June 5, 1885. married James Barton Mclaughlin on February 14, 1912, and lives in Washington township, and Charles Ira, February 14, 1888, who is managing the home farm for his father.
Mr. Miller is a member of the Methodist church and an active worker in the same, being earnest in good works; a man who is held in the very highest esteem throughout the neighborhood in which he is so well known. He is a Mason, but having spent his life five miles from the lodge and being a lover of home he has not been an active member though he admires very much the teachings of the order.
WILBUR BOONE WRIGHT.
Wilbur Boone Wright, a successful and well-known gas well contractor of Adams, Decatur county, Indiana, is the scion of one of the oldest families of this section. During practically all of his life he has been identified with the business life, not only of this county and state but of many other states and is quite as well known in the gas fields of Texas and Illinois as he is here in Indiana. His residence in Decatur county, however, has served to increase the admiration of his fellowmen since he has led an honorable life in every particular. It is no idle statement to say that he is indeed worthy of the confidence and respect of his fellows.
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