USA > Indiana > Decatur County > History of Decatur County, Indiana: its people, industries and institutions > Part 56
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on the old homestead, and so far as a son is able to follow in the footsteps of a worthy father, John Andra is doing this.
For almost a half century the late Sutherland McCoy was one of the leaders of the Democratic party of Decatur county. His judgment as an organization man was admitted to be of a superior order, and, possessed as he was of a genial and cordial manner, he was able to rely for his strength upon his own personality. Between 1882 and 1886 he served as county com- missioner of Decatur county, filling the same office his father had so well filled before him. Religiously, the McCoys are devout members of the Springhill Presbyterian church. The late Sutherland McCoy, who was a member of the Clarksburg Masonic lodge, took a great interest in the wel- fare of this order.
CHARLES WILLIAM WOODWARD.
The Citizen's National Bank, of Greensburg, Indiana, which was organ- ized as a private bank in 1866, is the oldest financial institution in the city of Greensburg. The bank having been organized by David Lovett, Levi P. Lathrop and Samuel Christy, on October 9, 1871. it was created a national bank with David Lovett as its first president, and Samuel Christy as its first cashier. These positions were later held by the Hon. Will Cumback and Louis E. Lathrop, now of Indianapolis, who filled all the offices in the insti- tution, which at present are filled by James B. Lathrop, as president ; S. P. Minear, of the Minear Dry Goods Company, vice-president, and Charles W. Woodward as cashier. The directors include Messrs. James B. Lathrop, S. P. Minear, John W. Lovett, Louis E. Lathrop, John H. Christian, C. W. Woodward and F. D. Bird.
Charles W. Woodward, who has been connected with the Citizens National Bank since 1879, a period of thirty-six years, was appointed assist- ant cashier on January 14, 1890, and cashier on January 8, 1901, and since then the career of Mr. Woodward has been identified with this bank, a period including practically his entire active life. This bank has a capital of one hundred thousand dollars, average deposits of three hundred thousand dol- lars and surplus and undivided profits of fifty thousand dollars. Mr. Wood- ward not only has been connected with the Citizens National Bank for thirty-six years, but he has lived in Greensburg all his life, with the exception of his youth, which was spent at Adams, Decatur county, Indiana.
Charles W. Woodward was born on July 18, 1854, at Greensburg,
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Indiana, the son of Isaac L. and Christe Ann (Jackson) Woodward, the former of whom was born in Kentucky on June 3, 1830, and who died on November 1, 1914, and the latter of whom was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, the daughter of William Jackson, a pioneer citizen of Decatur county, and a native of Virginia. Isaac L. was a son of Charles Woodward, who settled on a farm west of Greensburg in 1832, eventually became a druggist and merchant at Adams, in this county, afterwards becoming a gardener before he retired from active life, when he removed to Greensburg, Indiana. He was a veteran of the Civil War, having served in Company G, Seventy-sixth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, for thirty days. He was a Repub- lican in politics, and was identified with the Baptist church. His wife, who is now deceased, was a daughter of a pioneer farmer, who came from his native state of Virginia to Cincinnati in an early day, later coming to Deca- tur county, where he was a farmer in the pioncer days. He died in Greens- burg after a long and useful life.
Charles William Woodward was reared at Adams, the eldest of a family of ten children, three who died in infancy, the others, who live at Greensburg, Indiana, being Frank, a drayman; Mrs. George W. Magee, the wife of a dry goods merchant ; Mrs. F. R. Christman, whose husband is a merchant ; Ion L., a merchant; Mrs. James Porter, who lives on a farm three miles from that place, and Mrs. D. A. West, the wife of a merchant.
Charles W. Woodward received his education in the schools of Adanis, and was one of the first bookeepers for the Greensburg Woolen Mills, hav- ing worked for Arthur Hutchinson for two years. Later he became a clerk for John Emmert, and a bookkeeper in a grain elevator for two and one-half years, after which he also spent six months working in a grocery store. Entering the Citizens National Bank as a bookkeeper on May 26, 1879, his rise to the position of assistant cashier in 1890, and to that of cashier in 1901, has already been related.
Mr. Woodward was married on May 12, 1880, to Candas Coy, who was a native of Greensburg, and a daughter of Matthew Coy, a pioneer resident of Greensburg, now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Woodward are the parents of one son, Arthur Coy, born on August 18, 1890, is now a student at Cornell University, of Ithaca, New York. He is a graduate of the Greensburg high school, and also of DePauw University. At Cornell he is taking an engineer course. Arthur C. Woodward was married to Hazel Avres, of Greencastle, Indiana, and they are now living in Ithaca.
Identified as he is with one of the leading financial institutions of Greensburg and Decatur county, Mr. Woodward is, of course, well known
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to the people of this county. As a banker he has had no small part in its growth and prosperity, and it may be truly said that as cashier of this institution he enjoys the confidence not only of the board of directors and officers, but also of the patrons of the bank, with whom he is exceedingly popular.
SHERMAN B. HITT, M. D.
Devoted to the noble work which his profession implies, the late Sherman B. Hitt, M. D., of Greensburg, by faithful and indefatigable service not only earned the due reward of his efforts in a material way, but proved himself eminently worthy to practice his great profession. He was a man of abiding sympathy, and his earnest zeal in behalf of his fellow men made him a popular resident of Decatur county. His understanding of the science of medicine was regarded by his patients, by his fellows in the medical pro- fession as broad and comprehensive, and he earned for himself a distin- guished place among the physicians of Decatur county.
The late Dr. Sherman B. Hitt, who was born on January 15, 1854. in Louisville, Kentucky, and who died, September 25, 1911, in Greensburg, was the son of Dr. Jolin Y. Hitt, himself a well-known physician in two states. Dr. Sherman B. Hitt's mother was, before her marriage, Martha Ann Logan and was the daughter of Samuel Logan, one of the earliest of the pioneers of Decatur county, who came here with Thomas Ireland, whose life work is referred to repeatedly in this volume.
John Y. Hitt was born in Sullivan, Illinois, and was the son of Joel and Sarah Hitt, the former of whom, a farmer by occupation, was born on November 7. 1798, and who lived and died in the state of Kentucky, where he was a large landowner and slaveholder. His family is of English origin. Joel Hitt was one of a family of ten children, there being seven sons and three daughters. He was married in 1817. After practicing his profession for a number of years at Sullivan, Illinois, the late Dr. John Y. Hitt came to Greensburg to live about 1901, and died there on April 14, 1914. He and his wife, Martha Anne (Logan) Hitt had two children, Joel and Dr. Sherman B.
Sherman B. Hitt was educated for his profession at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he spent four years at one of the post-graduate institu- tions of Berlin, Germany. After practicing his profession for five years in Cincinnati, Ohio, he came to Greensburg, Indiana, and here he built up a large
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and profitable practice and was highly esteemed and widely honored not only by his fellows in the medical profession, but by the public generally.
Dr. Sherman B. Hitt was married, May 9, 1895, to Mary S. Smith, a daughter of John H. and Mary Jane ( Parant) Smith, the foriner of whom was a native of Jefferson county, Indiana, and one of a large family. Beginning life on a farm he became a successful farmer and owned a large tract of land in Decatur county. During the latter years of his life he lived in Columbus, Indiana, and died in that city. Mrs. Mary (Smith) Hitt was educated in the common and high schools of Decatur county and at Notre Dame University, located near South Bend, Indiana. She is a woman not only of wide information and of rare native intelligence, but a woman of refined and cultured habit, one who is popular in the social life of this city. As the result of her marriage to the late Sherman B. Hitt, one daughter, Gladys, was born on May 9. 1896, in Greensburg. Miss Hitt was educated in the common schools of Decatur county, and later pursued her academic work at Moores Hill College. Finally she entered the conservatory of music at Cincinnati and was a student there for three years, during which she com- pleted the regular four years' course in vocal and instrumental music. Miss Hitt is a young woman of prominence in musical and social circles in the city of Greensburg.
Although the work of the late Dr. Sherman B. Hitt is finished, his influence goes on not only in the life of the members of his family, but also in the larger community where his work was done, since he was a man in whom the public placed implicit trust and confidence.
LAFAYETTE FORD.
Lafayette Ford, a retired railroad man and well-known citizen of Greensburg, was born on February 1, 1841, on a farm in Washington town- ship, the son of Johnson and Eliza ( Waters) Ford, natives of Kentucky, the former of whom was born in 1818, and died 1906, and the latter of whom was born in 1819, and died in 1851. She was the daughter of William Waters, a native of Kentucky and an early settler who became wealthy, owning a large tract of land in this section and large herds of live stock. Johnson Ford was a son of Bailey Ford, who was born and reared in North Carolina, and who became a follower of Daniel Boone, a pioneer in the state of Kentucky. He moved to Decatur county from Kentucky in the early
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thirties, purchasing a farm in Washington township, two miles east of Greensburg. Johnson Ford settled on a farm, immediately after his mar- riage, known as the Waters farm, and after the Waters estate was settled up, he removed to Hendricks county. He died suddenly on the streets of Indianapolis. Of his eight children, four are now deceased, Alfred died in the service of his country during the Civil War; James died in Nebraska ; the third born, was Mrs. Mary Smith; Mrs. Malinda McKee died near Brownsburg : Arnold lives at Miami, Indiana; William lives in Detroit, Michigan ; Mrs. Ida Smith lives in Brownsburg, Indiana, and Lafayette is the subject of this sketch.
Mr. Ford is a veteran of the Civil War. having enlisted on President Lincoln's first call for volunteers on April 14, 1861. He served in Company F, Seventh Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, for three months and was engaged in the first battle on Cheat river, where the first rebel general was killed. Upon his second enlistment, September 9, 1861, he became a soldier in Company E, Thirty-seventh Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and served for three years. During this period he served under Capt. M. C. Conett, and Col. George W. Hazard, a brutal officer who was cashiered, and thereafter was succeeded by Colonel Gazely, who was also cashiered. He was succeeded by Colonel Hull, who was wounded, and who was succeeded by Colonel Ward, now an attorney at Versailles. The principal engagements in which Mr. Ford served were the battles of Stone's River, Chickamauga, siege of Atlanta, and many skirmishes and minor battles. He was mustered out of service, October 4, 1864.
After the war, Mr. Ford returned home to Decatur county, and farmed · in Washington township for one year, and then farmed near Peru, Indiana. for about seven years. Subsequently, he engaged in railroading as express messenger and baggage man on the Wabash railroad for thirty-five years. In 1912, he retired, and in October of that year removed to Greensburg, where he has since been living.
In 1868, Mr. Ford was first married to Louisiana Isabelle Johnson, of Decatur county, the daughter of William P. Johnson, an early settler of the county, who bore him one child, Dr. Walter D. Ford. a well-known physician of Detroit, Michigan, who married Clara M. Dean. Mr. Ford lived in Detroit during his long service on the railroad.
On October 17, 1912, Mr. Ford was again married to Mrs. Elizabeth Ann (Guest) Perry, of Decatur county, who was born on November 14, 1843. in Clay township, and is the daughter of John and Elizabeth (Branson)
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Guest, natives of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, respectively, who first set- tled in Ohio, and from Ohio came to Indiana in the late thirties.
John and Elizabethı (Branson) Guest have nine children : Thomas, born on March IS, 1827; Hannah, January 5, 1829, and died on June 14, 1869; David, March 28, 1831, and died on October 23, 1855; Stephen, June 6, 1833, died on July 26, 1847; Sarah, August 24, 1835, married Dr. Wooden; Mary, May 17, 1838, died on October 12, 1852; Moses, November 16, 1840, died on August 24, 1853; Elizabeth A., November 14, 1843, is the present wife of Mr. Ford; Louisa J., October 27. 1846.
Elizabeth (Branson) Guest, the wife of John Guest and the mother of the above named children, was a daughter of David and Sarah (Antrim) Branson. The Antrim family was a very famous family, not only in this country, but abroad. The first of the Antrims to settle in this country was Jolın Antrim, who received a large grant of land from the English king. James, the direct ancestor of Mrs. Ford, and a brother of John, purchased land from him. The family was originally of Irish extraction, and prob- ably belonged to the landed gentry class of County Antrim, Ireland. They, as well as the Bransons, were Quakers. A genealogical history of the family has been issued by people at Burlington, New Jersey. An old Friends church built in the blockhouse at High street, Burlington, was the house of wor- ship of the Antrims of that city. James Antrim, a brother of John Antrim, heretofore referred to, came to America from England, and settled in Mans- field township, New Jersey, some time between 1678 and 1680. His son, James, had a son, James, whose daughter, Sarah, was born on October 7, 1764, and who died, July 23, 1821. She married David Branson, hereto- fore referred to.
Mrs. Lafayette Ford was first married to Walliam S. Perry, who was born in Decatur county, 1834, and who died, April 10, 191I.
A Republican in politics, the venerable Lafayette Ford is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and a member of Zion Lodge No. I, Free and Accepted Masons, of Detroit, Michigan. His career has been long and honorable, and he is glad to spend his last days in the county of his birth. where his early friendships were formed, and where lived many people whom he dearly loved. In some respects Mr. Ford's life has appeared to be a charmed one. During his valiant service as a soldier in the Civil War, he received seven bullet holes in his clothing, but was never wounded. In fact, these entire seven narrow escapes were all incidents of the battle of Stone's River. Moreover, he took part in the one hundred and four days of con-
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tinuous fighting from Chattanooga to Atlanta, and here he also escaped. Mr. and Mrs. Ford are splendid people, intelligent, well informed, sociable and hospitable. Both are well preserved and enjoy the best of health.
ROLLIN A. TURNER.
Rollin A. Turner, a member of the law firm of Treemain & Turner, and a graduate of the Harvard law school in 1907. is the son of a pioneer Meth- odist minister of this section of Indiana, and himself one of the brilliant young men of the fourth congressional district.
Mr. Turner has been well prepared for the practice of law. Aside from graduating from the public schools of Greensburg and from the Greensburg high school in 1900, he pursued for four years an academic course at DePauw University, Greencastle, Indiana, and received the degree of Bachelor of Arts from this institution. After graduating from DePauw in 1904 he entered Harvard University in the fall of that year, and for three years was a student of the law department, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1907. Hundreds of young men enter the Harvard law school every year, but comparatively few of them remain to graduate, on account of the very high standard of the institution. It is impossible for the derelict or the stupid, or for the brilliant young man who refuses or declines to study, to get a diploma from this institution, and it is a mark of distinction to any young man that he holds a diploma from the Harvard law school, for prac- tically half of the freshman class is dropped at the end of the first semester, because of failure to maintain the standard of studentship required by this institution.
The firm of Treemain & Turner within a comparatively brief period has built up an extensive practice, not only in Decatur county, but in the courts of other counties adjoining Decatur, and in the state and federal courts as well. Rollin A. Turner is not only a profound student of the law, well learned in legal principles and well informed in present day jurisprudence, but he is what is commonly called a successful practitioner in court, and his success has been builded upon careful and painstaking study of the minutest details involved in every case presented to him. He never goes into the court · room unprepared, and his habits in this particular are not difficult to explain. Careful and methodical work was required of him during the time he was a student of the law.
Rollin A. Turner was born, July 26, 1881, at Laurel in Franklin county.
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Indiana, the son of the Rev. J. W. and Lizzie ( Woodfill) Turner, the former of whom was a native of Indiana, and the latter of whom was a daughter of William S. Woodfill, one of the pioneer citizens and business men of Decatur county. Of Rollin Turner's ancestry it may be said, that the Rev. J. W. Turner was a son of Rev. Isaac Turner, one of the pioneer Methodist ministers of southeastern Indiana, and himself a native of England, whose wife was Alice Turner, and who came to America in 1854. The Rev. J. W. Turner, who now resides on a farm in Decatur county, spent thirty years in the ministry of the Methodist church, retiring in 1905, and locating on his present farm. He was born, August 11. 1857, in Dearborn county, Indiana, and was graduated from Moores Hill College with the class of 1878, receiv- ing. later, the degree of Master of Arts and Doctor of Divinity. He was married in 1880 to Lizzie Woodfill. During his career as a minister, he was located at the Trinity church, of Madison, Indiana, the Irvington church, at Indianapolis, the Trinity church at Louisville, the Trinity church at Evans- ville, and, finally, was presiding elder of the Evansville district, and pastor of St. Paul's church at Rushville when he retired.
Of the mother of Rollin Turner, who, before her marriage to Rev. J. W. Turner, was Lizzie Woodfill, it may be said that she is the daughter of Will- iam S. and Sarah A. (Talbot ) Woodfill, the latter of whom was the daughter of H. H. Talbot, the first clerk of Decatur county. William S. and Sarah (Talbot) Woodfill had four children, Elizabeth, who married the Rev. Mr. Turner, was the eldest. The others are, William Wirt, of Greensburg ; Harry Talbot, who is superintendent of the Greensburg gas and electric plant. and Web Woodfill, secretary and treasurer of the Greensburg Gas and Elec- tric Company. William S. Woodfill passed away, July 25, 1899, and his wife, the mother of Mrs. J. W. Turner, died, October 31, 1898. The former was born in Owen county, Kentucky. November 16, 1825, and was the son of Gabriel and Eleanor ( Pullam) Woodfill, of Welsh and English extraction, the Woodfill family having been established in Pennsylvania in early colonial days. The Rev. Gabriel Woodfill, the great-grandfather of William S. Woodfill, emigrated from Pennsylvania to Kentucky, and moved from Shelby county, Kentucky, to Jefferson county, Indiana, where he spent the remainder of his life. He was a minister in the Methodist church in Kentucky and Indiana, and a man of large influence in the pioneer communities. Andrew Woodfill, the son of Rev. Gabriel Woodfill. and the grandfather of William S. Woodfill, was born in Pennsylvania, and spent most of his life at Madison, Indiana, where he entered government land, and where he was married to a Miss Mitchell. He and his wife had twelve children, eight of whom lived to maturity. Gabriel Woodfill, one of the sons of Andrew Woodfill, and the
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father of William S. Woodfill, was born in Shelby county, Kentucky, in 1800, and though he emigrated from Kentucky to Indiana with his parents, he later returned to Kentucky and there was a farmer and tavern keeper. He came to Greensburg, Indiana. November 16, 1830, and here during his life took a prominent part in the financial and commercial life of Decatur county, subse- quently establishing a general mercantile store, which has been under the management of the Woodfill family for almost a century. Gabriel Wood- fill's first wife was Eleanor Pullam, who bore him three children, Andrew, William S., the father of Mrs. J. W. Turner, and Mary, who married Henry Christian. Upon the death of his first wife, Gabriel Woodfill married Eliza- beth Van Pelt, daughter of Joseph Van Pelt, and there were three children by this second union, James MI .. John, deceased, and Catherine, the wife of Rev. James Crawford. The store with which William S. Woodfill became associated in 1825, after his death was operated under the name of W. S. Woodfill's son, and is now under the individual management of W. WV. Woodfill.
The Rev. J. W. and Mrs. Elizabeth ( Woodfill) Turner have had seven children : Rollin A., the subject of this sketch, is the eldest: Sarah married Louis C. Uhl, of Huntingburg : Lient. William W. Turner, of the United States navy, is stationed at Annapolis, Maryland ; Harry D., James W., Jr., Rachel and Welwirt live on the home farm.
Rollin A. Turner was married. June 1, 1910, to Lillian Hill, of Greens- burg, the daughter of W. J. and Lillian Hill, old residents of Greensburg. The former, a native of Ireland, is a traveling salesman for Young, Smythe, Field & Company, of Philadelphia, and has resided in Greensburg for the past thirty-five years. He is a well-to-do and substantial citizen, who has extensive property interests in real estate and business blocks in this city.
In 1914. Rollin A. Turner was nominated by the fourth district con- vention as the Republican candidate for congress in this district. Although he made a most vigorous fight, the fourth district is strongly Democratic, and Mr. Turner was defeated, but he is, today, one of the leaders of the Repub- lican party in the fourth district, and is one of the counsellors of the party in state politics. Mr. Turner is a member of the Centenary Methodist Epis- copal church, of Greensburg, while Mrs. Turner is a member of St. Mary's Catholic church. Fraternally, he is a member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias and the Fraternal Order of Eagles. At college. Mr. Turner was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon Greek letter fraternity, as well as other Greek letter societies, local in their mem- bership.
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JOSEPH PATTERSON.
Of the many retired farmers living in Greensburg, Indiana, who have been successful in their life's vocation, mention must be made of Joseph Patterson, a native of County Antrim, Ireland, who was born on July 12, 1839, the son of Roger and Mary Jane ( Hall ) Patterson.
Roger Patterson, after immigrating to America, in 1845, to find a home for his family, located in Clinton township, Decatur county, Indiana, where he rented land for a short time, and, in 1847, the family, consisting of a wife and two sons, John and Joseph, joined the husband and father. Roger Pat- terson died when he was thirty-seven years old, in 1855, leaving a wife and two children, who, at that time, were living in Clinton township. John was killed in the second battle of Bull Run. The mother, who was married again to Michael Ryan, had three children by the second marriage, Mrs. Sallie Meek, William and Mrs. Katie Lanham, all of whom are living at Greensburg, Indiana. The mother of these children died at an advanced age.
During the Civil War, liogs sold for a considerable period for ten dol- lars a hundredweight, and it was during this time that the venerable Joseph Patterson purchased his farm of one hundred and sixty acres. He raised a great many hogs, and, being successful with them, was soon able to pay for his land. Beginning with nothing, he took advantage of the opportunities offered and soon made good, prior to which time he had rented and for several years in Clinton township. His farm is now well improved and very valuable. In 1905 Mr. Patterson moved to Greensburg.
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