USA > Indiana > Decatur County > History of Decatur County, Indiana: its people, industries and institutions > Part 51
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John L. Bracken received his elementary education in the Greensburg schools. After finishing the high-school course in the schools of his home town, he entered upon a supplementary course at DePauw University, Green- castle, Indiana, and was later graduated from Kenyon College. Thus equipped he entered upon the practice of law at Greensburg, where from that time to the day of his death he occupied a most prominent and honored place in the affairs of the city and county. After practicing for a period of sixteen years, Mr. Bracken's health became impaired and he retired from practice for a time, removing to a farin of forty acres which he had bought, one and one-half miles northeast of Greensburg, on which he remained until his close communion with nature had restored him to his wonted vigor, after which he resumed his residence and practice in Greensburg, the rest of his life being spent there. As a practitioner at the bar of the Decatur Circuit Court, Mr. Bracken was successful beyond the most of his fellow attorneys, and for years was regarded as the leader of the bar in this county. He had an (35)
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unusual grasp upon the intricacies of his exacting profession, and the value of his services as a counsellor in this community, never can be properly estimated. In the early period of his practice, he served as prosecuting attorney for Decatur county, his services to the public in that responsible capacity, receiving the recognition of all. During President Cleveland's administration, Mr. Bracken served as deputy revenue collector for this revenue district, under his brother William Holsworth Bracken, who was the district collcetor under that administration.
Mr. Bracken long was recognized as one of the leaders in the Demo- cratie party in this section of Indiana, and his personal services ever were at the command of the managers of the party in the state. He had served his party as a delegate to state and national conventions and his sagacious coun- sels often proved of value in the deliberations of the party leaders. His death was, therefore, regarded as a distinct loss in political circles through- out the state, his absence creating a real vacancy in the councils of his party, while his engaging personality had so endeared him to all classes in this county, that his passing was regarded as a distinct loss to the entire com- munity.
On December 18, 1877, John Locke Bracken was united in marriage to Mary F. Christy, who was born at Greensburg, Indiana, December 10, 1852, the daugliter of William T. and Susan ( Israel) Christy, natives, respectively, of Kentucky and Pennsylvania.
William T. Christy was born on September 6, 1829, and died on January 25, 1905. He came to this county from Kentucky as a young man and located at Greensburg, opening there a merchant-tailoring establishment, and for many years was recognized as one of the leading merchants in the city. For years he had practically all the trade of the growing city and became very successful in business. He was not only a man of fine business qualifications, but was a public-spirited citizen of the highest grade, his influence in the community ever being exerted for the best. His widow, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1834, of Dutch extraction, still is living, pleasantly and comfortably situated in the delightful home on West Waslı- ington street, in the city of Greensburg, where she enjoys the most respect- ful regard of her large circle of friends. Mr. and Mrs. Christy were the parents of two children, daughters, Mary C., widow of Mr. Bracken, and Elizabeth Anna, who married the Rev. F. S. Tincher, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church at Battle Creek, Michigan, to which union were born two children, Mary I. and Coyle C., the latter of whom lives in Minne- apolis, Minnesota. Mary I. Christy married Roscoe Martin, of Moores
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Hill, Indiana, a son of the Rev. Dr. John H. Martin, president emeritus of Moores Hill College, and Josephine ( Hansell) Martin, to which union there was born one child, a daughter, Dorothy Irene, on February II, 1905.
To John Locke and Mary C. (Christy) Bracken were born two children, William Christy, who died at the age of six years, and Locke, born on August 18, 1888, who married Clara MeNaught and was manager of the Ward manufacturing establishment, at Decatur, Indiana, after which, in July, 1915, he accepted a position as teller in the Greensburg National Bank. Mr. Bracken was an earnest member of the Methodist church, as is his widow, and was an active worker in the affairs of the congregation to which he was attached and the son was brought up in the same faith.
Mrs. Bracken takes an active interest in the social and club life of Greensburg, and her activities thierein have been largely influential for good. She holds membership in the leading musical and literary clubs of the city, and is a member of the influential Department Club. She is devoted to the memory of her late husband, and the whole community shares with her the sense of loss at his passing. Such lives as his enrich the world with their presence. Gracefully and graciously they mingle with their fellows, leaving examples well worthy of imitation by the generations following. The real life of John Locke Bracken abides with us as a perfume of undying fragrance.
WILL J. CRISLER.
Among the well-known citizens of a past generation of Decatur county. Indiana, Will J. Crisler, for many years a teacher in the schools of Decatur county and later a stone dealer, occupied a prominent niche in the educational and business life of this county. Mr. Crisler belonged to a very old family in America and he was a man who worthily upheld the tradition of a noble family name.
A veteran of the Civil War, the late Will J. Crisler was born on October 7, 1840, and died on January 22, 1905. He was the son of James S. and Margaret (Arnold) Crisler, natives of Kentucky and early settlers in Shelby county, Indiana. James S. Crisler was born on February 18. 1817, and died on January 12, 1900. His wife, who, before her marriage, was Margaret Arnold, was born on April 11, 1826, and died on February 24, 1881. James S. Crisler was the son of Lewis, who was a son of Leonard. who was the son of Fawatt Crisler. The latter married Rosina Gaar, the
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daughter of Andreas Gaar, born in 1685. Andreas Gaar was the son of John Gaar, who was born in 1657, and who died in 1738. Andreas Gaar and his family of five, with three hundred others, came from Bavaria to America in 1732 in a sailing vessel.
Reared in Shelby county, Indiana, and educated in the schools of St. Paul, Will J. Crisler began teaching after the close of the Civil War and, for twenty years, was a teacher in this section of the state.
On October 20, 1861, he enlisted in Company E, Thirty-seventh Regi- ment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and was mustered out of service, October 27. 1864, after serving in many battles and minor engagements. After the war, he taught school in Shelby and Decatur counties and in 1887 engaged in the stone business at Greensburg. He located in Greensburg in 1887. Later he operated a quarry at Westport, Indiana, and retired in 1898.
On May 15, 1873, Will J. Crisler was married to Eliza J. Stagg, who was born on January 26, 1852, in Switzerland county, Indiana, and who is the daughter of Philip D. and Sarah A. (Anderson) Stagg, natives of Indiana, he of Ripley county and she of Switzerland county, both of whom came to Decatur county in 1859. After two years in Greensburg, they moved to a farm, and in 1906, leased the farm and spent the remainder of their lives in Mrs. Crisler's home.
Philip Doddridge Stagg was one of eight children. His ancestors came to America during Queen Anne's reign, settling near Hackensack and Tren- ton, New Jersey. The name Stagg is of Norman-French origin and was originally spelled LeStagg. In the rolls of Parliament appear the names of John LeStagg and Dorthea LeStagg. It is derived from animal traits or characteristics, such as pride, swiftness, speed and shyness of the stag. The motto on the Stagg coat-of-arms is "En Dieu est ma fiance," "In God is my trust." The royal mantle of crimson velvet and the Crusader's cross between the stag's horns on the coat-of-arms plainly show the royal lineage. After settling in England, branches of the family went to Holland, from which place they came to America. Philip D. Stagg was an artist of rare genius and skill and many paintings testify his artistic ability. He was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Methodist Episcopal church. Philip D. Stagg was the son of James Dunn Stagg, who was the son of Daniel Stagg, who was the son of Capt. James Stagg, who was the son of Cornelius, who was the son of John Stagg and the latter was a son of Thomas. The first mention of Thomas Stagg's name was in 1632, when he immigrated from England to Holland. He was one of the Dis- senters of those times and, after living in Holland for some time, came to
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America. Thirteen descendants of Thomas Stagg are shown to have fought in the Revolutionary War. James Dunn Stagg, the father of Philip D., was born on January 27, 1796. Capt. James Stagg, the father of Daniel and the grandfather of James Dunn, was born on September 18, 1737, and died on May 4, 1825. Major John Stagg, a cousin of Capt. James Stagg, was private secretary to General Washington at Valley Forge. Capt. James Stagg owned a large plantation in Mercer county. Kentucky. He com- manded a company in a New Jersey regiment during the Revolutionary War. Mrs. Crisler's father, Philip D. Stagg, who was born on September I, 1827, died on December 15, 1908, and her mother. Sarah A. ( Anderson) Stagg, was born on March 2. 1833, and died on December 6, 1913. She was the daughter of John G. and Matilda Berkeley (Adams) Anderson, the latter of whom was a lineal descendant of John Quincy Adams, on her paternal side and of Lord Berkeley on her maternal side.
Philip D. and Sarah A. Stagg had eight children, five of whom are living. James A., of Greensburg, married Mary A. Fisher on June 29, 1875; Harvey D., of Indianapolis, married Gertrude M. Greer on September 7, 1905; Mrs. (Ida) J. N. Hodgin, of Richmond, Indiana: Mrs. Anna, wife of J. H. McGill. of Joplin, Missouri : Mrs. Crisler : Edith, who died on Novem- ber 4, 1867. at the age of four; George, who died on March 24, 1904, and Albert. who died on November 12. 1905.
To Mr. and Mrs. Will J. Crisler have been born two children, Winona and Walter WV. Winona, born on February 27. 1874. married, June 1I, 1902, George Deiwert, of Greensburg, who was born in Shelby county, Indiana, in 1870, and has three children living. Philip Sebra. Eliza Adeline, Albert Emer- son, and one, William Walter, died at the age of two and one-half years, on September 30, 1905; Walter W., born on June 3. 1882, conducts a cigar store in Greensburg. He served four years in the United States navy, three years of which were spent in the Philippines, and. by special act of Congress, received an active-service medal. He married Minnie L. Crews, of North Carolina, on July 12. 1909.
The late Will J. Crisler was a Republican and a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal church, as is also his widow. He was a member of Pap Thomas Post No. 5. Grand Army of the Republic, the Free and Accepted Masons and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he served as noble grand. He was past commander of the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic and regimental secretary of the Union Veteran Legion. Mrs. Crisler is a member of the Order of the Eastern Star No. 147, and the Daughters of the American Revolution. She is a prominent worker in
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the Woman's Relief Corps and has held many offices in this organization, among which are junior vice-president, senior vice-president, president of the department of Indiana, department press correspondent for seven years and also department patriotic instructor for eight years and national patriotic instructor for two years, which is one of the most important offices in this organization. She is secretary and past matron of Lois Chapter No. 147, Order of the Eastern Star; treasurer and past president of Pap Thomas Woman's Relief Corps No. 113 ; secretary of the Thirty-seventh Indiana Regi- mental Association, and a member of the county board of charities and cor- rection.
LEN J. EMMERT.
Four miles southeast of Greensburg, Indiana, on the old state road, is the old Cobb farm, entered from the government by the grandfather of Jasper Cobb, one of the farms settled in Decatur county and one which remained in the Cobb family until 1906, when it passed into the hands of E. G. Schultz, of whom Len J. Emmert purchased it in March, 1913. In pioneer times, a mill, a tavern and a still house were operated on this farm and, because there was always plenty of water to be found on the farm, it was a camping place for the Indians. Its many springs furnished abundant water for the whole countryside. During the last two years, the old Cobb farm has been owned and operated by Len J. Emmert, one of the foremost farmers and stockmen of the county, an extensive breeder of Duroc-Jersey hogs, cattle, horses and calves. Its present owner, who has had a varied experience in business, since he engaged in farming, has applied the same business methods to the farm which he employed in the shop and the store.
Len J. Emmert was born on May II, 1871, in Greensburg, the son of native-born German parents, John B. and Catherine (Seitz) Emmert, the former of whom was born in Mannheim, Germany, and who came to America with nothing in his possession except good health, a strong heart and a willing hand. After coming to Greensburg, in 1866, John B. Emmert built and operated the Garland mills until his death. Previously he had lived in Lawrenceburg for thirteen years. Not only was he a successful business man, but he was an influential and prominent citizen, public spirited, progressive and industrious. Catherine Seitz was born in Alsace-Lorraine and came to America with her parents in 1838. After living for some time in Hamilton, Ohio, the family moved to Dearborn county and later he became a well-known farmer in this county. John B. Emmert died in 1882 and his wife in 1909.
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Educated in the public schools of Greensburg, in 1888, Len J. Emmert went to Cincinnati, where he was employed for nine years in the home steam laundry. Upon returning home, he engaged in business for a short time in the employ of Minear & Company. For a short time, he was also engaged in the dry goods business at Anderson and for six years dealt in horses and stock. Eventually, he was able to buy his present farm, which is located on the old state road, four miles southeast of Decatur county's county seat. He has been very successful in raising hogs for the market and ordinarily has from twenty to twenty-five brood sows and from sixty to one hundred stockers and feeders. The old Cobb farm is well adapted to the raising of hogs, because of the great quantity of flowing water. They are believed to be immune from cholera. In 1914 Mr. Emmert raised one hundred and thirty head of hogs. He generally fattens them until they weigh two hun- dred pounds and then sells them. Lately he has been keeping eighteen or twenty head of cattle, the same number of calves and from sixteen to twenty head of horses. Mr. Emmert is very fond of horses and has been able to make substantial profits buying and selling them. Today he is recognized as one of the most prosperous farmers of the county and one who, perhaps more than any other, has the operations of the farm reduced to a business basis.
On February 6, 1897, Len J. Emmert was married to Lou Goddard, who was born on October 18. 1874, and who is the daughter of William and Mary (Mckinney) Goddard, the former of whom was born in 1820 in Kentucky, was married to Mary Mckinney on December 6, 1866, and died in 1897. Mary McKinney was born in 1832 in Washington county, the daughter of John and Margaret (Van Cleave) Mckinney, natives of Ken- tucky and early settlers in Washington county. They moved, in 1837. to Decatur county from Washington county, settling in Washington town- ship. The late William Goddard was the son of Thomas Goddard, a native of Kentucky, whose parents came originally from Virginia. Mrs. Emmert is one of five children born to her parents, the others being Samuel, an auto salesman of Boston, Massachusetts : William R., who lives on the home farm: Margaret, who is at home, and Bertha.
To Mr. and Mrs. Len J. Emmert have been born three children, Louis, April 13, 1898, and is a student in the third year of the Greensburg high school : Mildred, December 26, 1901, and Mary Catherine, October 16, 1904.
In politics. Len J. Emmert is active and influential in the councils of the Democratic party. Mr. and Mrs. Emmert and family are members of the Presbyterian church of Greensburg and are regular attendants of the services.
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They are liberal contributors to the support of this church. Fraternally, he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Greensburg.
As a farmer and stockman, it is doubtful if Mr. Emmert has any superior in Decatur county. He is interested in worthy public movements, which has made him a valuable citizen in the community where he lives, while his genial and cordial relations with the public have made him decidedly popular. The Emmert family are popular socially in Greensburg and vicinity.
DAVID M. BLACKAMORE.
No business is of more importance economically to the farmers of this country than the elevator and warehouse business, to which is sold the most important products of the farm. Within recent years there has been a wide- spread agitation not only against the railroads which carry the farmers' grain to distant markets, but in many instances, against the local elevator. Criticism or censure has centered in two distinct allegations, first, that the farmers were not provided with sufficient facilities to market their grain, and second, that a combination existed among the elevator men to beat down prices and control the visible supply of the leading cereals which come from the farmn. Perhaps some of the criticism has been justified, but one of the troubles of the grain business has been that the men engaged in it were incapable of grasping the farmer's point of view, or of appreciating his demands for a free market. When David M. Blackamore purchased the McCoy elevator in 1911, he brought to the business here in Greensburg the farmer's point of view, as well as an equal appreciation of the elevator operator's viewpoint. During the past five seasons the business of this elevator has grown enormously. and the increase is due, no doubt, to the fact that Mr. Blackamore pays for the farmers' product a price that is equal or greater than the price paid anywhere in Decatur county. Popular as he is with the patrons of his business, larger and larger increases may be expected in the future.
David M. Blackamore, now a well-known business man of Greensburg. but formerly a farmer of the county, was born on August 30, 1874, one mile west of Greensburg, the son of David F. and Lucetta ( Sayler) Blacka- more, the former of whom was born on April 6, 1823, at Shelbyville, Ken- tucky. and who died on October 27, 1885, and the latter of whom was born on November 15, 1838, in Ripley county, Indiana. Mrs. Lucetta Blacka-
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more is still living, and makes her home with her son, David M., the subject of this review. She is a daughter of Lewis Sayler, an early settler of Ripley county. David F. Blackamore was a son of John O. Blackamore, a pioneer of Decatur county, who settled here in 1838, one mile west of Greensburg. on the farm where David M. was born. He was a sturdy, vigorous man when in his prime, a man of great mental power, strong convictions and determined will. He was very successful as a pioneer farmer in this county, and at the time of his death was rated as being worth twenty thousand dollars, all of which he had personally hewed out of the wilder- ness. David F. Blackamore, his son, lived on the farm settled by the father until February, 1875. when he removed to Clay township, and purchased a farm in that vicinity. This was known as the Joel Bennett farm, which he sold in the spring of 1880 to Ralph McGee. Subsequently, he purchased the Joseph Graham farm of two hundred and forty acres in Fugit township, and lived on this farm the remainder of his life.
David F. and Lucetta (Sayler) Blackamore were the parents of five children, two of whom, Will. the eldest, and Eliza, the third in order of birth, are deceased. The latter died at the age of eight years. The living children are James F., John O. and David M. James F. lives southeast of Greensburg, on what is known as the White farm. John O. lives north of Kingston, on a farm.
David MI. Blackamore lived on the old home farm in Fugit township until the spring of 1900, having sold the farm in the fall of 1899, to H. Springmier. In the meantime he had become the owner of one hundred acres of the old farm. Later, in 1900, he purchased one hundred acres of land, one mile west and one mile south of the original farm, known as the old John I. Throp farm. He improved this place and held it until 1910, when he sold out and removed to Greensburg, engaging in the grain busi- ness. He now owns one hundred and sixty acres, the old Grant farm, in Adams township, located three and one-half miles from the Greensburg court house, which farm he purchased in August, 1914. He is operating this farm from his home in Greensburg.
On March 15, 1911, Mr. Blackamore took over the elevator and grain business of R. A. McCoy. This plant has a capacity of twenty-five thousand bushels of wheat and six thousand bushels of corn, and its proprietor handles on an average thirty thousand bushels of wheat and twenty thousand bushels of corn annually. He also buys straw and hay, and has a wholesale and retail business in these commodities. He buys and sells farming seeds, oats, timothy, 'clover, alfalfa, corn and retails coal and feed. Four men are
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employed at the mill. Feed is ground for local consumption, but Mr. Blacka- more is not able to grind enough for the local market, and purchases great quantities in other markets. He now has one of the best-equipped plants in Decatur county.
On June 17, 1896, David M. Blackamore was married to Harriet Eliza- beth Butler, the daughter of John Butler, of Richland township, Rush county. Indiana. Of the five children born to this union, three, all of whom are sons, are still living, Merwin Adelbert, Loren Jewel and Delmar Butler, all of whom are students in the local schools. Two children died in infancy.
For many years Mr. Blackamore has been prominent in Republican politics in Decatur county. In 1912 he was the Republican candidate for representative in the Indiana General Assembly, and was defeated by sixty- two votes, at a time when the defection caused by the Progressive party was a very severe handicap. He made a splendid race in the face of great odds, holding the normal Republican vote and receiving many Democratic votes. He cut down the Progressive vote by thirty-two and received three hundred and seventy-eight Democratic votes in the county, from five to fifteen votes in every precinct.
Mr. Blackamore and family are earnest and faithful members of the Presbyterian church, of which they are regular attendants and to the sup- port of which they are liberal contributors. Fraternally, Mr. Blackamore is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and the Knights of Pythias.
JOHN F. RUSSELL.
One of the most thriving and extensive industries of Decatur county is the Garland Milling Company of Greensburg, of which John F. Russell, a prominent and influential citizen of the fourth congressional district, is presi- dent and general manager. His long connection with one of Greensburg's leading industries, his prominence in the official life of Greensburg and Decatur county, his long service as one of the leaders of the Democratic party in Greensburg and Decatur county, have combined to make him one of the best known men of this section of the state. Like so many of the pros- perous and successful business men of the present generation, he has been the architect of his own fortunes. It is no small step from a delivery wagon which he drove at the beginning of his career, to managerial position and the presidency of a large milling company, one which has a trade in all of the
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principal countries of the globe, yet these two positions describe the progress of John F. Russell during an active working period of about twenty-five years.
Born on February 14, 1870, at Lawrenceburg, Dearborn county, Indiana, and the son of Richard C. and Catherine ( Mccullough) Russell, John F. Russell has enjoyed a phenomenal rise in life. His father, a native of Ireland, came to America when two years of age, in 1847, and after locating in Cincinnati, was married, in 1869, and became superintendent of telegraph construction for the Big Four railway. Eventually, he moved to Greensburg in 1879, and had charge of the building of the Michigan division of the Big Four, and the time of his death was an official of this railroad. He was born in 1845, and died in 1894, the son of John F. Russell, Sr. Mrs. Catherine ( Mccullough) Russell is the daughter of John Mccullough, a native of Scotland, who married Margaret King, and who, after their mar- riage, settled in Galveston, Texas, where the mother of John F. Russell was born. The Mccullough family removed to Cincinnati in 1852, where Mrs. Russell's father engaged in business as a wholesale commission mer- chant. After the death of her husband, in 1894, she married the second time to Thomas Hartman, who is deceased, and she now resides in Greens- burg, Indiana. Of the eight children born to Richard C. and Catherine (Mccullough) Russell, John F. was the eldest ; Katie is deceased: Elsie is the wife of Dan S. Perry, the cashier of the Greensburg National Bank ; Clara is deceased; Richard E. is a clerk in the traffic department of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroad at Chicago; Clem is employed by the American Express Company at Chicago: Marie is the wife of Stanton Guthrie, an extensive news dealer, and Lillian lives at home.
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