History of Decatur County, Indiana: its people, industries and institutions, Part 50

Author: Harding, Lewis Albert, 1880- [from old catalog] ed
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Indianapolis, B. F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 1378

USA > Indiana > Decatur County > History of Decatur County, Indiana: its people, industries and institutions > Part 50

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John E. Robbins was born March 29, 1864, on the old Robbins home-

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stead, three-quarters of a mile south of Greensburg. Here, in a beautiful country home, surrounded with all of the opportunities which the father of wonderful ability could give to his son, he grew to manhood. The house in which he was born and in which he lived during the early years of his life, was supplanted by a magnificent brick house, erected by the father in 1868. Since he was twenty years old, he has been well-known in this state as a breeder. His business, of this character, has grown from year to year until, in 1914, he raised five hundred head of Hampshire hogs, and it was only in 1911 that he began breeding Hampshires. He sells fancy sows and boars all over the country and has exhibited his choice animals at state fair in Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa and the international live stock expositions. He has carried away a majority of the prizes and ribbons at each exhibit. A list of prizes he has won on his most famous animals would far exceed the available limits of this biographical review. Nevertheless, at his auction sale held on January 8, 1914, the "Saltone Stock Farm" established a new record. Sixty-nine Hampshire hogs sold for eight thousand seven hundred dollars, a previously unheard-of average price of one hundred and twenty-six dollars a head. "Lady Over" brought five hun- dred and twenty-five dollars; "Saltone II.," five hundred and ten dollars; "Vesta," four hundred and fifteen dollars, and "Bessie Burk," four hundred and five dollars. Ten hogs sold at an average of three hundred and thirty dollars, twenty hogs sold at an average of two hundred and forty-five dol- lars, and forty at an average of one hundred and seventy-one dollars. Mr. Robbins attributes a part of his success with Hampshire hogs to the liberal use of Saltone, a medicated salt, which he himself manufactures. At the international live stock exposition at Chicago in 1913, his herd of Hampshire hogs won two grand championships, and three championships, the prizes including, however, not only the prizes won at international live stock exposi- tion, but also at the Iowa, Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois state fairs of the same year. In 1915 he sold one hog for one thousand and twenty-five dol- lars. Formerly a noted importer of Jersey cattle, Mr. Robbins made many trips to Jersey Isle, and, during his career, imported many thoroughbred Jersey cattle. Beginning in 1896, for fourteen years he bred and sold Jer- seys and was the only man in the United States who ever bred, raised and sold a Jersey bull which brought the enormous price of ten thousand dol- lars. This excellent animal, " Silverine Coomassie," was sold to Dr. C. E. Still in the spring of 1905.

Of the Saltone enterprise, it may be said that it is manufactured by the John E. Robbins Company, which was organized on December 1, 19II.

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It is especially designed to destroy worms in live stock and to tone up animals physically. The formula was discovered in an enterprise launched by Mr. Robbins under the trade-mark name, "Saltone." This enterprise has been very successful, and, in normal times, the company employs about forty people and the sales in 1914 amounted to more than eighty thousand dollars.

With all of these enterprises to look after, it is not hard to conclude that John E. Robbins is a very busy man. He owns two hundred and seventy-five aeres of land, and it is upon this farm, situated near Greens- burg, that his extensive business operations are carried on. Personally, he is an intelligent and progressive citizen and an independent thinker and voter. although nominally he is identified with the Republican party. Fraternally, he is a member of the Masonic lodge; the Murat Temple; nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Indianapolis; the Knights of Pythias, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Fraternal Order of Eagles.

Mr. Robbins has been twice married, the first time, December 24, 1884, to Lou Elder, the daughter of James Elder. She died on February 2, 1885, only a short time after their marriage. Mr. Robbins was married again, December 1I, 1912, to Elizabeth C. Ehrhard, the daughter of Adam Ehr- hard, of Greensburg. To this second marriage has been born one son, John Everman, who was born February 4, 1915.

John E. Robbins is a son of John E., Sr., and Naney ( Hunter) Rob- bins. The genealogy of the Robbins family begins with Bethiah Vickery, who was born on December 1, 1760, and who married William Robbins. To them were born three children : Albe, Charity and Benjamin. William Rob- bins was killed in the Revolutionary War, soon after enlisting, and his widow married a second William Robbins in Guilford county, North Caro- lina. To this couple were born nine children : Marmaduke and Jacob, born on May 15, 1783: Elizabeth, born on February 5. 1788; Polly, born on April 9, 1791 ; Nathaniel, born on April 5, 1793; John, born on February 8, 1795; William, born on August 6, 1797; Dosha, born on May 20, 1804. William Robbins, the second husband of Mrs. Robbins, was born on October 21, 1761, in Randolph county, North Carolina. In October, 1777, when six- teen years of age, he enlisted in the Revolutionary army, serving until 1781 under Capt. Joseph Clark and Colonel Dugan and Col. Anthony Sharp. He left Virginia for Henry county, Kentucky, and, in 1821, came to Decatur county, settling nine and one-half miles south of Greensburg. Here he made a home among the timbered hills. Trees were cleared away and a new log house of one room was ereeted with a shed, in which was built a room for carpet weaving and many kinds of cloth. In September 11, 1834, Will-

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iam Robbins passed away and was buried at Mt. Pleasant cemetery. The third William Robbins, heretofore referred to in the children born to the second William Robbins and Bethiah Vivery, was born in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. He was taken by his parents to Henry county, Kentucky, and accompanied them to Indiana, when the family came in 1821. At this time he was twenty-four years of age. He selected the site for a home for him- self about one and one-half miles north of his father's home, but the next year returned to Kentucky and was married to Eleanor Anderson, of that state.

Upon returning to his new home with his bride, and during the same year, three sisters and two brothers, John and Nathaniel, settled in the same vicinity. A short time later other relatives of the Robbins family came to the same township. The Robbins family became prominent both as to num- ber and influence in the early affairs of this section. Nathaniel Robbins was the first justice of the peace in Sand Creek township. William and Eleanor Robbins lived on the farm originally selected as their home, during the remainder of their lives. They had four children : Sarilda, born in October, 1823, who married William Styers: John E., born on February 20, 1825, who married Nancy O. Hunter; James G., born on June 10, 1827, who mar- ried Elmira Stout, and Merrit H., born in 1829, who married Jeannette Gilchrist. William Robbins died on February 3, 1868, and his wife died four years later.

John E. Robbins, Sr., was born on his father's farm near Greensburg. February 20, 1825. and was married on November 7, 1844, to Nancy Hunter, the daughter of Nathaniel and Elizabeth Hunter. After their marriage, the young couple went to housekeeping on a farin of forty acres given them by Mr. Robbins' father. After living on this farm until February 15, 1848, they purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land one mile south of Greensburg, where they made their home until their death. To this pur- chase, however, they added large tracts of land until they owned three thousand acres in Decatur county and twenty-four hundred acres in Bartholo- mew county, besides personal property of great value.

In 1882, John E. Robbins helped to organize the Third National Bank of Greensburg, and became a director and its president, in which capacity he served until his death. Under his direction and management, the Third National Bank grew to be one of the most substantial and successful insti- tutions in the country. Mr. Robbins passed away on July 22. 1896. His wife, who had shared all of his interests and labors, a most willing and

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efficient helpmate, continued to live on the farm until her long and useful life closed, May 2, 1905. John E. and Nancy Robbins had fourteen children, of whom the names of twelve are herewith given : Elizabeth Ellen, deceased ; Charlotte Adeline, deceased; Sarilda Ruth, who married H. F. Smiley ; Minerva Jane, who became the wife of Archie Gilchrist; Nancy Elmira, who married J. B. Kitchen; Sarah Jeanette, deceased: William Hunter, who married Cora Sefton; Clara Alinda, who is the wife of Frank B. Kitchin ; Olive Ida, who married Robert McCoy; John Everman, who mar- ried Louisa Elder: Frank Roscoe, who married Katie Sefton, and Eliza Angeline, who became the wife of Will Q. Elder.

John Everman, given in the above list of children as having married Louisa Elder, is the John E. Robbins of this sketch. Mr. Robbins is at the present time at the very zenith of his usefulness, but it must not be assumed that he is at the zenith of his power and prosperity. As a matter of fact, he is hardly fifty-one years old today, and it is well known among men who have studied personal careers that great fortunes are generally acquired after the age of fifty. The people of Decatur county have every reason in the world to be proud of the career of Jolin E. Robbins, and there is every reason to believe that they are proud of what he has accomplished ; proud of the fame and name he has given to this section; gratified that the exceptional oppor- tunities of which he has taken advantage, lie here at their threshold.

GEORGE S. LITTELL.

When a neighbor, himself a successful business man, says of another, "He is the greatest worker I ever saw," it is safe to assume that the latter is a success financially, and a citizen looked up to as a leader, whether the locality in which he lives is a town or city. There is a sort of energy that is invincible, an ambition that knows no defeat, and when these characteristics are combined with a genial nature, we usually find a man well known and well liked, a power among his fellow men and a citizen worthy of honor and, esteem. When such a man comes of a line of ancestry living in the same neighborhood for many years. he has an added prestige, for he and his family become a vital part of the community whose well-being is a matter of their personal concern. Such has been the relationship of George S. Littell and his ancestors to Decatur county, that its history could not be written without prominent mention of them. And today, Mr. Littell and his father in their

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beautiful home are important factors in the commercial and social life of their community.

George S. Littell was born at Mt. Pleasant, Ohio, on June 1, 1854. His father, Benjamin Littell, who still lives with his son, George, is hale and hearty at ninety-five, and retains much of his former vigor and interest in life. His mother, who was before her marriage, Jane Van Sant, was the daughter of Reuben Van Sant, former county treasurer of Hamilton county, Ohio. The grandfather of George Littell was also named Benjamin, who passed away during the cholera epidemic, leaving a widow and four children. Benjamin. Elizabeth, Sarah Ann and Clara. Of Benjamin, the father of Mr. Littell. we shall have more to say later on in the present article. for he. too, has an interesting life history. His wife, who was born in 1822, lived until 1907, and died at the age of seventy-eight. Their children were, Alan- son, a merchant of Greensburg: William T., a bricklayer and mason living in Indianapolis; Frank, deceased ; Mrs. Adelia McCoy, a widow who is now caring for the home of our subject and his aged father; George S., in whom our present interest centers; Eliza, wife of Phil Weymar, of Greensburg ; Samuel V. and James S., merchants of the same city: Mrs. C. D. Tillson. also a resident of Greensburg, and Curtis R., who lives in Washington state. The husband of Mrs. McCoy, mentioned above, was city councilman eight years, and has one son, Frank, who is deputy postmaster of Greensburg.

Benjamin Littell, the father of George, first came to Greensburg in 1863 to manufacture brick for Augusta Lathrop, so it was on easy matter for the son not only to be interested in that line of work but to pick up a practical education in brickmaking. George was two years old when his father moved from Mt. Pleasant, Ohio, to Ripley county, Indiana, and eight years afterward they came to Greensburg. When George began working in the brick plant of his father, it was on the land which became the first fair- ground of the county as well as the location of the first gas well ever drilled in the county. Here father and son continued working together until 1882, when the latter went in business for himself, making and selling brick until 1905. At that time his place of business was on East North street. While located here, he made brick for the Union Traction station, the Big Four livery stable, the home of Robert Watson, the Worthan Block, the east half of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Home (first building), the resi- dence of Charles Zoller and Arthur Hutchinson, the enginehouse and round- house and the DeArmond hotel. For the construction of the latter building, he not only made and molded every brick, but also delivered them himself.

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It was at the time that he was engaged in this strenuous work that the remark was made by Mr. DeArmond that George was the greatest worker he ever saw.

Besides being an expert in the manufacture of brick, Mr. Littell has been and is now a successful real estate dealer and live stock merchant. It has been said of him that "there is nothing in that line that he will not trade for." It seems that he is too ambitious to be contented with raising and selling live stock. He must own and place on the race-track famous horses, such, for instance, as "Exchange Boy," the renowned horse which he bred and raised. It is said of this wonderful creature that "considering the num- ber of races in which he started, he holds the best record of any horse in the world today." He started in seventy-two races, and was behind the money but six times, making a record of 2:1714 on a half-mile track. Mr. Littell was also the owner of "Bunyp," the horse with no hair, which was exhibited with great success in all the large cities in the country, and was considered the greatest freak horse in the world.

Having an active temperament, there seems to be a strain of adventure in Mr. Littell which gives him many and various interests. For example, he at one time was owner and manager of a "carnival" which consisted of several amusement features, including a merry-go-round, a Ferris wheel, miniature railroads, etc. At the first street fair ever held in Greensburg, he won the first ribbon for saddle-horse and rider over the competition of the best riders of Kentucky.

Mr. Littell is still engaged in the real estate business, and beside hand- ling property for others, has a great deal of his own to look after. He owns ninety acres on the outskirts of Greensburg, near his own magnificent residence, and valuable land on Main street, including the site and building of a three-story brick block. Moreover, he is the owner of fifty houses in Greensburg, some large, some small, and of four hundred and fifty acres of land in Decatur county, and eight hundred acres in Nebraska.

Mr. Littell is a Republican, and was at one time chairman of the county central committee. His interest in politics has been genuine, and his influence among politicians is that of a leader. He is a member in good standing of the Odd Fellows lodge.

Being a business associate of his father, the lives of these two men have been very closely bound together, and it is almost impossible to write of one without frequent reference to the other. In all of the activities of the younger Littell, he has had the interest and co-operation of his father,

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who was an active business man for many years in Greensburg, and is now the oldest citizen of Decatur county. He was born on December 24, 1820, in Cincinnati, where he lived until early manhood. The Littell home was on Fifth street. His father, a brickmaker, was a native of Vermont, so it seems that the brickmaking industry in this family extended through three generations. After moving to Mt. Pleasant, nine miles from Cincinnati, they made this home until 1856, when they again changed their place of abode, this time going to Ripley county, Indiana, where the elder Littell engaged in farming until 1863, and then returned to brickmaking, his first contract being to supply brick for the building at the southwest corner of public square, known as "crook's corner." He also manufactured the brick for the Moss House, now the DeArmond, and Annex hotel, of which Mr. Minear is the proprietor. Remaining in the brick business until 1890, he then retired, and has made his home with his son. He is now in his ninety-fifth year, but is physically sound and mentally alert although he has been totally blind for the past six years.

Much of the success of this family has been due to the fact that they were hard-working and had good business ability. Benjamin Littell used to work early and late, and taught his children the value of a good day's work. He has always been a genial, lovable man, and in spite of his strenu- ous life, has taken the time to be kind. It was said of him that he could do more work than two or three men, and had the happy faculty of being able to teach others how to work. As an employer. he was wise and kind, knew how to handle men, and while peaceable in his nature, when occasion demanded it, he could defend his rights with physical emphasis if necessary. In other words, he was a fighter who never gave up when once he had been aroused. He may be regarded as a typical pioneer, for he came to Indiana in the state's infancy.

A lasting testimony to the thoroughness and honesty with which the Littells did their work, is found in the fact that many of the handsome and substantial structures standing in Greensburg today are made of the material manufactured by them, the bricks made by them being molded by hand.

Even at his advanced age, Mr. Littell retains much of his vigorous personality, and is a constant source of happiness to his son and daughter, who are tenderly caring for him during his declining years. During his many years of residence in this county, it is not surprising that he has made hosts of warm friends, having both the faculty of making new friends while retaining the old. While his educational advantages were not what they are today, he has a brilliant mind and a retentive memory. He is an interesting

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conversationalist, and is versatile both in mind and in achievement. As a business man, his remarkable memory was an important asset. The home of the Littells is one of the landmarks of Greensburg, for no expense has been spared to make it both comfortable and beautiful.

With such an energetic father and grandfather, we do not wonder that the mental inheritance of George Littell has been along business lines as well as in matters of politics and social affiliations as exemplified in lodge and fraternal organizations. To say that such a career has been useful is not sufficient, for the history of counties and states are proof of the fact that their growth and settlement would have been retarded, if not absolutely impossible, but for the zeal, the perseverance and the energy of such men as we have here described. Their lives have gone into the making of Decatur county, and it may be said of the younger man, especially, that he knew how to take advantage of every opportunity, and to mold it into reality, thus not only to increase his own fortune, but that of the comnitin- ity as well.

HARRY BOYD.

Harry Boyd, secretary of the Union Trust Company, of Greensburg, Indiana, who has risen in life to his present position of prominence in the financial circles of Decatur county, was born on October 18, 1861, in Jen- nings county, Indiana, the son of William and Jane (Dickerson) Boyd, the former of whom was of Irish parentage, and who was born in Dearborn county, Indiana. His wife, a native of Jennings county, was of German descent. They settled in Jennings county, Indiana, after their marriage, and in 1865 Mrs. Boyd died. After her death, William Boyd was mar- ried, secondly, to Mary Marryman. By his first marriage, William Boyd had seven children, only one of whom, Harry, is now living. He was a Democrat in politics and for some time filled the office of assessor.

Self-made and self-educated, Harry Boyd, the subject of this sketch, was finally able to prepare himself for the schoolroom and taught for four years, becoming finally the bookkeeper for Mr. Mitchell at Letts Corner. After holding this position for six months, he taught school at Letts Corner for a part of one term and then returned to Mr. Mitchell's employ. Subse- quently, he became a partner with W. T. and J. G. Adams, merchants at Letts Corner, and then, in partnership with Mr. Mitchell, opened the first hardware store at Letts. After a time, he traded his interest for a farm and

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was engaged in farming for four years. Not finding the farm everything that he had hoped it to be, Mr. Boyd and Mr. Adams purchased the Moore store and continued in partnership for some time, when Mr. Boyd came to Greensburg, as secretary of the Union Trust Company.

In 1888 Harry Boyd was married to Carrie I. Mitchell, the daughter of Oliver S. and Mary E. Mitchell, the former of whom, a farmer and merchant, was a native of Decatur county. He died in 1897 and his wife died in 1894. To Mr. and Mrs. Harry Boyd has been born one child, Jessie Gail, who was born on January 31, 1895.

Fraternally, Mr. Boyd is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Free and Accepted Masons. As secretary of the Union Trust Company, he has had a considerable part in the growth and prosperity during recent years of this institution. Mr. Boyd is popular with the officers and directors of the company and also with the patrons, the officers of which at the present time are: President, J. H. Christian ; vice-president, Lewis Zoller, and secretary and treasurer, Harry Boyd.

JOHN LOCKE BRACKEN.

In the golden sayings of Epictetus there is no nobler utterance than this: "What wouldst thou be found doing when overtaken by Death? If I might choose, I would be found doing some deed of true humanity, of wide import, beneficent and noble. But if I may not be found engaged in aught so lofty, let me hope at least for this-what none may hinder, what is surely in my power-that I may be found raising up in myself that which had fallen ; learning to deal more wisely with the things of sense; working out my own tranquility, and thus rendering that which is due to every relation of life.

"If Death surprise me thus employed, it is enough if I can stretch forth my hands to God and say, 'The faculties which I received at Thy hands for apprehending this Thine administration, I have not neglected. As far as in me lay, I have done Thee no dishonor. Behold how I have used the senses, the primary conceptions which Thou gavest me. Have I ever laid anything to Thy charge? Have I ever murmured at aught that came to pass, or wished it otherwise? Have I in anything transgressed the relations of life? For that Thou didst beget me, I thank Thee for that Thou hast given: for the time during which I have used the things that were Thine, it suffices me.

Far by I & Wilhems & Des NY

John L. Brachen

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Take them back and place them wherever Thou wilt. They were all Thine and Thou gavest them me.'-If a man depart thus minded, is it not enough? What life is fairer or more noble, what end happier than his?"

The above beautiful thought is suggested to the biographer by a review of the life of the late John Locke Bracken, noted attorney and one time leader of the bar of the Decatur Circuit Court, of Greensburg, Indiana. It is but fitting that in a work of this character, carrying a historical and biographical review of the times in this county, the following brief memorial should be preserved.

John Locke Bracken was born at Milroy, Rush county, Indiana, Feb- ruary 21, 1849, the son of Dr. William and Patience (Bracken) Bracken. Dr. William Bracken was a well-known medical practitioner at Milroy, who moved to Greensburg in 1863, practising there for many years, during which time he became one of the most noted physicians in this part of the state, being held in the highest esteem throughout this whole region. He was spared to the community in which, for so many years, his skill was so beneficially exerted, until he had reached the great age of ninety-one years, having maintained his practice with full vigor of his superb powers unimpaired until he was eighty years of age, at which time he retired from the active practice of his profession, his influence in the community, there- after, being confined to the no less useful position of counsellor and friend, many still living in and about Greensburg having cause for grateful remem- brance that Doctor Bracken lived and labored hereabout.

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History of Decatur County, Indiana: its people, industries and institutions, Part 50

Author: Harding, Lewis Albert, 1880- [from old catalog] ed Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Indianapolis, B. F. Bowen Number of Pages: 1378

Author: Harding, Lewis Albert, 1880- [from old catalog] ed
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Indianapolis, B. F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 1378