USA > Indiana > Decatur County > History of Decatur County, Indiana: its people, industries and institutions > Part 118
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To Mr. and Mrs. Henry Blankman have been born nine children, as follow : Bernard, Edward, Frank, August, William, John, Theodore, Jose- phine and Clara. Of these children, Bernard, who was educated in the pub- lic schools of Decatur county, taught school for twelve years, and in the fall of 1914 was elected surveyor of Decatur county. He married Mary Harde- beck, and they have four children, Cyril, Paul, Alvin and Lama. Edward lives in the state of Minnesota. Frank, also a farmer in the state of Minne- sota, married Carrie Knight, of Cincinnati, and they have six children,
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Frank, Edward, Jacob, Henry, Marie and Robert. August and William also are farmers in Minnesota. John and Theodore live at home. Mrs. Jose- phine Ruhl lives in Marion township, and Mrs. Clara Vaske lives in Minne- sota, and has one child, Angela, named for her grandmother, Mrs. Mary Angela (Lucken) Blankman.
Although Henry Blankman has always been an enthusiastic and ardent Democrat, he has never been an office seeker. The only position of official trust he has ever held, being a local office. He served for four years as a member of the township advisory board. The Blankman family are all members of St. Mary's Catholic church. Mr. Blankman is one of the sub- stantial contributors to the support of this church.
Henry Blankman, who has lived in this part of Decatur county for a period of thirty-six years, is well known to the people. He is regarded as one of the best citizens and one of its most skillful farmers, and one of its most genial and companionable men, a man of sturdy and fixed determina- tion, who is self-made in every particular. Here in Marion township the Blankman family enjoy the confidence and esteem of all who know them.
SIMEON H. KENNEDY.
It is not a matter of accident that Decatur county has a body of farmers equal in enterprise, unexcelled in methods, and surpassing in pro- duction farmers of most any other county in the state of Indiana. In the first place this county was settled by men of strong determination and re- markable ability, men who even in the pioneer times surpassed most other pioneer communities in methods and results. Moreover the land is naturally fertile, which is itself a strong inducement to intensive cultivation of the soil, and development to the highest point of every agricultural possibility. Therefore, Decatur county has always excelled as an agricultural section. Of the many splendid farmers of the present generation in Decatur county, who belong to pioneer stock of this region and who have made a worthy success of their vocation, may be mentioned Simeon H. Kennedy, who owns two hundred and twenty acres of land in Marion township.
Simeon H. Kennedy was born on August 3. 1867, in Greensburg, the son of James and Charlotte ( Jones) Kennedy, the former of whom was born on October 12, 1837, and died on March 25, 1910, and the latter of whom was born on October 29, 1844, and is still living in Johnson City with
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her son, Dr. Wilbur T. She is a daughter of Simpson and Jane (Remy) Jones, the Remys and Joneses having been early settlers of Bartholomew county.
The grandfather of Simeon H. Kennedy was Samuel Kennedy, who emigrated to Franklin county, Indiana, about 1835, and to Decatur county, Indiana, about 1847, settling ten miles west of Greensburg in Clay town- ship. Born in August, 1809. at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, he died on March 13, 1890. His first wife, Margaret, who was born in 1808, and died May 28, 1852, was the mother of the following children: John, born on Jan- uary 15, 1833, died October 3, 1855; William, January 19, 1834, died July 24. 1913; George, April 3, 1836, in Indiana, died April 28, 1865: James, the father of Simeon H., October 12, 1837, died, March 25, 1910; Samuel, June 15, 1840, died, October 30, 1855; Mrs. Nancy Braden, 1842; Sarah, June, 1844, died, September 18, 1849. Samuel Kennedy's second wife was Sarah A. Kennedy, who bore him four children, namely: C. B., who was born on May 2, 1854, and died, November 22, 1898; an infant son, on De- cember 20, 1855, and died January 11, 1856; Mrs. Mary Eward and Anna, who was born in 1862.
James Kennedy, who had lived at home with his father until the break- ing out of the Civil War, enlisted as a Union soldier in Company H, Fiftieth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Cavalry, in 1862, and was commissioned a second lieutenant. After his return home he was married, January 21, 1864, to Charlotte Jones, who bore him five children. Of these children, Carrie E. married Charles Evans, and they reside in Greensburg. Mr. Evans was one of the first rural mail carriers in Decatur county, and was born in October, 1864. Simeon H. is the subject of this sketch; Lewis W., who was born in 1870, died in 1890 ; Samuel E. died in infancy ; Dr. Wilbur T., who was born in 1877, is a practicing physician at Johnson City, Tennessee.
Some fourteen years before his death the late James Kennedy removed to Lafayette, Indiana, where he died. At the time of his death he had been a member of the Masonic lodge a little more than fifty years. He joined the Improved Order of Red Men during the early seventies, and about that time became a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. At the time of his death he was a member of Milford Lodge No. 94, Free and Accepted Masons. In the winter of 1850 he joined the Methodist Episcopal church at Center Grove, and after removing to Lafayette affiliated with the Trinity church of that city.
Simeon H. Kennedy who started to school in Decatur county, Indiana, was brought by his parents to Marion township, in 1872, and here educated.
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In 1885 at the age of eighteen he rented his father's farm and now owns the farın. He has added to this original tract from time to time until he now owns two hundred and twenty acres of very fine farming land, raising on an average fifty acres of corn, and twenty acres of wheat. He also has seven acres of alfalfa, and raises a large number of hogs and cattle every year.
On July 2, 1890, Simeon H. Kennedy was married to Clara Talbot, who was born in Greensburg, March 28, 1865, and who was the daughter of Henry Howard and Anna ( Leffler) Talbot.
Mrs. Kennedy died on January 5. 1909, after having reared two daugh- ters: Mabel, who was born on April 19, 1891, married Harry Bainbridge. and they reside one mile west of Greensburg, and have one child, Robert Kennedy, born on March 26, 1915; and Helen, who lives at home with her father, was born on December 31. 1893.
A Republican in politics, the only office Mr. Kennedy has ever held was that of one of the members of the township advisory board of Marion town- ship. Nevertheless, he is a man whose counsel is sought in political matters, and who is influential in his neighborhood. Having joined the Methodist Episcopal church when he was a young man, he has been a loyal and devout member of this church all his life. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Greensburg.
During his long and useful life Simeon H. Kennedy has been a worthy citizen of this county, and has enjoyed an honorable career as a farmer and citizen, respected by the people of Marion township, where he is widely known. With earnest and sincere purpose he sought always to live worthily, and do his duty each day as it seemed to him it ought to be done.
EDWARD KESSING.
The man who creates or amasses wealth may be considered an asset to a community, but he who finds pleasure in identifying himself with the affairs of men and movements which make for human betterment leaves an impress that becomes an inspiration to those who follow, and his business successes come to be looked upon as a secondary matter. The educated gentleman is a power in any community, for he is actuated by high ideals. Although somewhat handicapped by ill health, the life of the subject of the present article has been eminently successful, for his activities have not been limited to his personal affairs, and he has always stood for the things that are right and just and wholesome.
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Edward Kessing is statistician for the Bureau of Commerce in Greens- burg, Indiana, and Democratic county chairman. He was born on March 13, 1854, in Franklin county, Indiana, being the son of Herman H. and Elizabeth (Schroeder) Kessing. The father of Mr. Kessing was a native of Germany, being born there in 1823. He came to America in 1839, and became one of the first hatters in Cincinnati, where he learned the business. Previous to his marriage he had worked on the construction of the Ohio & Erie canal. It is interesting to know in this connection that it was while working on the canal that he learned to speak the English language. In 1851 he bought a farm in Franklin county, and operated it for several years. then removed to Decatur county, and purchased another farm at St. Mau- rice. This was in 1858. Besides superintending farm work, he had charge of a store from this date until the time of his death. in 1878. He was a member of the Ohio National Guards at Cincinnati at the time of the Mex- ican War. The mother of Mr. Kessing was a sister of J. H. Schroeder, the oldest resident of this county, and who is now living at Enochsburg. Mrs. Kessing was born in Germany in 1824. She is now a resident of Greens- burg, but her former home was in Cincinnati, the city to which she came with her parents when she was twelve years of age.
There were seven children born to Mr. and Mrs. Kessing, the eldest being Henry, who died in Greensburg in 1882. He was ordained a priest in 1868, afterwards preaching in Bloomington. Bedford and Gosport, and ten years after his ordination he went to Greensburg, where he was in charge of a parish at the time of his death. The other children were: Charles B .. a dry goods merchant in Cincinnati; Agnes, wife of Joseph H. Maroney, of Pueblo, Colorado; Edward, the subject of this sketch: Mollie, who lives in Greensburg with her mother; Clem, a lithographer, of Cincinnati; and Frank, who is associated with the Citizens Artificial Gas Company.
Edward Kessing was fortunate in that he received a more thorough education many of the boys living in the same community, for he took the classical course at St. Xaviers College at Cincinnati, after attending the common schools at St. Maurice.
Mr. Kessing's first business experience came as a storekeeper. for in the town in which he then lived he had charge of a store until his twenty- first year. In the fall of 1875 he took up the duties of the county recorder's office, having been elected to that position, serving for a term of four years. Then he engaged in the dry goods business, continuing until his health failed. at the end of twelve years. Again he entered upon public office, when, in 1892, he became deputy county auditor, a position he held for four years.
(76)
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In 1896 he engaged in the life insurance business, continuing until his fed- eral appointment as statistician for the Bureau of Commerce of the sixth district, which includes five counties. This appointment came on March I, 1915.
Mrs. Kessing was formerly Rose Moffett of Edinburg, and her mar- riage to Mr. Kessing took place on June 1, 1886. She is the daughter of Michael and Rose Moffett. Mr. and Mrs. Kessing are the parents of five chil- dren, namely : Charles Edward, the eldest, who died at the age of twenty-four in 19II, was an expect inspector of veneers, and was employed by Thomp- son & Moffett Company of Cincinnati; Oliver Owen, after graduating from the high school of Greensburg was appointed to the Naval Academy at Annapolis, from which institution he was graduated in June, 1914, and is now an ensign officer on the cruiser "Maryland," although only twenty- four years old, he has traveled all over the world; Robert Leo, a graduate of the Greensburg high school, has been traveling for the Central Union Telephone Company, which has its headquarters at Indianapolis, he has been employed by them for five years, and is now twenty-one years of age; Moffett, aged nineteen, and Margaret, aged seventeen years, both are liv- ing at home, having completed the course of study prescribed for gradua- tion from the high school of Greensburg.
Mr. Kessing has been since young manhood a prominent figure at the state and national conventions of the Democratic party, for he is known in the politics of the state of Indiana. The Democratic county ticket was elected while he was county chairman, an office which he held for two years. He has been a devout Catholic all of his life, and besides being a member of the organization of Knights of Columbus, he has belonged to the com- mandery of the Knights of St. John. In this organization he served as commander until he was elected colonel of the regiment. In 1890, he was honored by being elected supreme commander of the United States and Canada, at the meeting in Pittsburgh. After serving with credit to himself and the organization for a term, he was placed on the retired list with a "badge of honor" for excellent service.
If it is true that the greatness of a community or state depends not so much upon the nature of its government nor its institutions, as upon the character of its citizenship, then the man whose career we have outlined briefly has lionored the city and state in which he lives by a life of per- sonal integrity, as well as by public service in which the general good has always been the predominating and actuating motive. His has been a high order of citizenship.
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AARON LOGAN.
The name of Aaron Logan stands out conspicuously among the resi- dents of Decattir county as that of a successful farmer and a valuable citizen. All of his undertakings have been actuated by noble motives and high resolves and characterized by breadth of wisdom and strong individual- ity. His success represents only the result of utilizing his native talents. At the present time he owns a productive farm of two hundred and fourteen acres, three-quarters of a mile west of Greensburg.
Aaron Logan was born in 1841 on the old Logan homestead about one mile from Greensburg, and is the son of Samuel and Susannah (Howard) Logan, the former of whom was born in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, in 1795. and came to Decatur county with Colonel Ireland and Colonel Henderson and entered land one inile from Greensburg, now known as the Logan farm. Susannah (Howard) was born on Paddy's run, in Ohio, in 1805. Samuel Logan first came to Decattir county and entered land and then returned to Pennsylvania. On his way back to Indiana from Pennsylvania, he stopped in Ohio and was married, and then came on to Indiana with his young bride. Here they lived the remainder of their lives, he dying in 1879. They were members of the Presbyterian church and he was a life-long Democrat, a man of strong character and high-minded conviction. Accustomed to hunt bears in the region around Greensburg, Samttel Logan and Colonel Hender- son killed a bear on the spot where the Greensburg waterworks are now situ- ated. He and his wife started in life very poor, but Samuel Logan was a money maker. He accumulated a considerable fortune. On his way across the Alleghany mountains from Pennsylvania, having started with a wagon and one horse, he traded with various people along the way until upon his arrival he owned four horses.
Samuel and Susannah ( Howard) Logan had nine children, of whom James. John, Mrs. Martha Anne Hitt, Mrs. Jane Deen and Mrs. Rachel Hobbs are deceased: the latter was the wife of Alvin I. Hobbs, of Dennis, lowa. Mrs. Mary Hamilton, the wife of Morgan Hamilton, is also deceased. Those living are Samuel Logan, Jr., who lives at Letts, in Clay township; Aaron, the subject of this sketch; and Frank, of Topeka, Kansas.
Aaron Logan began life for himself after having reached his majority, and for about three years was engaged in cultivating the old home place. After this he purchased ninety-two acres of land out of what was known as the old Hillis farm, which is now owned by William Hatche. Later, how'- ever. Mr. Logan sold that farm and purchased the land where he now lives.
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He has always made a good living for himself and family and has always enjoyed the best things of life. In fact, there are few people living in Wash- ington township who enjoy life more than Aaron Logan. He says that he gets more enjoyment out of what he can buy with a dollar than in keeping the dollar itself and for its own sake.
Aaron Logan was married to Susannah Simmons, who lived near Greensburg, the daughter of Edward and Polly (Howard) Simmons, both natives of Ohio, and of Scotch-Irish descent. Mr. and Mrs. Logan have had two children: Walter Scott Logan, deceased; Sherman, whose wife is deceased, and who by her had one child, Clyde L., born in 1901, lives with his father.
The Logan family have been Democrats for the most part for several generations, and Aaron Logan is no exception to the rule. He is in fact a loyal and faithful Democrat, interested in the welfare of his party. Mr. Logan is well known in Washington township, and has always enjoyed the confidence of his neighbors and fellow citizens.
SCOTT F. CRIST.
There is nothing which stimulates a man to a worthy life more than the recollection of the strength of character, industry and wisdom of his forbears. In this respect Scott F. Crist, a prosperous farmer living on eighty acres, three and one-half miles northwest of Burney and two and one-half miles southwest of Milford, is favored far beyond the average since he is descended from men who have been leaders in Decatur county and who have performed well all of the duties of life, public and private. A heritage of such memory as it pertains to the lives of one's ancestors is of more value than a heritage of material wealth.
Scott F. Crist was the son of Abram and Catherine (Templeton) Crist. His father, born near Brookville, in Franklin county, in 1832, was the son of John and Polly (Deboise) Crist, the former of whom was a native of Ireland and who came to America when he was seventeen years old, with his parents, settling first on the east fork of White river in Franklin county, some time between 1820 and 1825. Eventually, John Crist entered land in Franklin county. The trip from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was made in a flatboat. John Crist became a successful farmer and made a large amount of money. He was a man of stern disposition and of firm convictions, who,
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nevertheless, was well and favorably known as a substantial citizen. He died about 1850 after rearing a family of five children, of whom Abram Crist was the fourth. Abram Crist, who was born in 1832, grew to man- hood on his father's farm in Franklin county and in 1854 was married to Catherine Templeton, who was the daughter of David and Jane ( Barrick- man) Templeton, the latter's parents being natives of Kentucky and the own- ers of a great deal of land where the city of Covington, Kentucky, now stands. David Templeton and Jane Barrickman were married in Kentucky and came to Franklin county, Indiana, in the winter, bringing with them all of their belongings on a sled. Entering land on Templeton creek, named for David Templeton, they lived there until the latter's death in 1863, and after his death his widow made her home with her children in Franklin and Decatur counties. She died in Adams in 1889. David Templeton was a successful business man and a fine Christian character.
After the marriage of Abram Crist and Catherine Templeton, they pur- chased a farm in Franklin county, which was sold in a short time and in 1860 they came to Decatur county, Indiana, and purchased two hundred and fifty-five acres of land in Adams township, where they lived the remainder of their lives. He was a very successful farmer and business man and well known in Decatur county. He was a Republican and a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal church. Personally, Abram Crist was a human dynamo, who seemed never to tire. He had a host of friends at the time of his death in 1873.
Scott F. Crist grew up on the farm in Decatur county and in 1885 was married to Martha Vanansdall, the daughter of Joseph and Annie ( Ferguson) Vanausdall, the former of whom was a native of Butler county, Ohio, and the latter of Franklin county, Ohio. They came to Decatur county about forty-one years ago and settled on the farm in Adams township, known as the Oliver Deem farm.
Mr. and Mrs. Crist have had one son, Raymond, who was born on Octo- ber 8, 1886, and who was married to Dora Mercer, the daughter of Archibald and Mary Elizabeth Mercer. The Mercers are natives of Baltimore, Maryland.
Mr. and Mrs. Crist, after their marriage, started in life with nothing and Mr. Crist rented land for several years. Finally, he was able to piir- chase and pay five hundred dollars cash on eighty acres of land, on which he and his wife now live. They have a beautiful home which cost approximately four thousand dollars and which has most of the modern conveniences.
A man of progressive ideas and deeply interested in his country's wel-
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fare, Scott F. Crist is a Republican in politics. He is intensely patriotic and has a host of friends in this county. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Milford.
LOUIS O. TRAVIS.
A career marked by earnest and indefatigable application was that of the late Louis O. Travis, who during his life was a successful farmer in Decatur county. His life was an open book and at his death he enjoyed the confidence and esteem of hundreds of people living in this county who knew him for his worth as a man and a citizen.
Louis O. Travis was born in 1869 in Decatur county, Indiana, near Mechanicsburg, on his father's farm, the son of James and Elizabeth (Steward) Travis, the former of whom was born in Kentucky in 1831, and who came to Decatur county in pioneer days and settled on a farm near Oldenburg in Franklin county. He owned eighty acres of land which he sold later in life, buying a farm near New Point, which he still owns. James Travis is now retired and living with his daughter, Mrs. Curtis Wright, of Greensburg, Indiana. He has been a successful farmer and business man and is well known and respected. A life-long Democrat, he has taken a keen interest in the politics of this county, state and country. He is a member of the Baptist church. His wife, who before her marriage was Elizabeth Stew- art, was born in Franklin county on January 4, 1829, near Brookville. She died on June 27, 1906, in Franklin county.
James and Elizabeth ( Stewart) Travis were the parents of six children, as follow: Wilbur, of Rushville; John, of Greensburg; George, of Bates- ville : Henry T., a farmer of near Mechanicsburg: Louis, the subject of this sketch; and Mrs. Hettie Travis Wright, the wife of Curtis Wright, of Greensburg. There were also three children by a previous marriage, namely : William, of Decatur county ; Mrs. "Sis" Travis Taylor, the wife of Richard Taylor, of Greensburg; and Mrs. Travis Hawkins, the wife of B. Hawkins, of Kansas.
Louis O. Travis, when he was three years old, was brought from Frank- lin to Decatur county, Indiana, and grew to manhood in this county. He was educated in the schools of Decatur county, and in 1897 was married to Annie Baker, the daughter of John and Annie Baker. The father of Mrs. Travis was a native of Germany who after his marriage came with his wife
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and two small children to America. They arrived here about 1865 and after living for a short time in Cincinnati, where he was engaged in the mercan- tile business they came, in 1875, to Decatur county, Indiana, and settled on a farm near New Pennington. He was a successful business man and well respected citizen. A Republican in politics, he was prominent in the councils of his party. He and his wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal church, the church which stood on the corner of his farm. He died in 1892, and his wife in 1898.
After his marriage Louis O. Travis rented a farm in Adams township, where he and his wife lived for five years, when they purchased a hundred and sixty acres of land. There they lived about one year, and after selling the farm came to Washington township and purchased a small farm in the suburbs of Greensburg. It was a beautiful home, ideally located, and here Mrs. Travis and her only son, Virgil Louis Travis, born on May 6, 1903, live. Mrs. Travis is a woman of most pleasing disposition and respected by the people in the community where she lives.
HARRY W. BALLARD.
It is well proved by the variety of human experiences that success is the immediate result of native ability, well-applied energy and perseverance. Idlers and dreamers have their place in the world and no large success comes unless it comes after one has dreamed dreams and seen visions. In the long run, however, only those men who diligently seek the favor of success are crowned with its blessings. The large success which Harry W. Ballard, a well-known artist of Decatur county has enjoyed has come to him partially 110 doubt as the result of his native ability, but largely because he set about early in life to work out his own destiny.
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