USA > Indiana > Decatur County > History of Decatur County, Indiana: its people, industries and institutions > Part 66
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Millard A. Hudson has never married. His sister Alice supervises the home and they are now living in happiness and comfort on the farm. Mr. Hudson is a fine type of citizen, and has made good in the face of adversity, as men who start with nothing and who, by their industry, economy and
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good management, gather up fortunes, deserve far more credit than those who are favored with inheritance or other aid. Millard A. Hudson deserves the very highest credit for his accomplishments and his achievements. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Greensburg, is a strong Prohibitionist and attends the Christian church at Greensburg.
ISAAC W. WHITE.
Isaac W. White, a retired citizen and property owner who has lived in Greensburg for more than half a century, is one of the highly respected citizens of Decatur county. A veteran of the Civil War, he performed valiant service in behalf of the American Union. While he was successful in busi- ness, he perhaps did not accumulate as much property as some other men.
Isaac W. White, who was born in Delaware county in 1842, is the son of John D. and Louisa ( Earls) White, the former of whom was a native of Dearborn county, born in April, 1818, and the son of John White, a native of Virginia, whose father was born in Ireland, and who came to America some time before the American Revolution. John D. White was a prosperous farmer of Delaware county, to which he moved in about 1867. and where he lived until his death in 1895. He accumulated considerable property and was a respected citizen. He was identified with the Demo- cratic party but. being a strong Union man. voted for Abraham Lincoln. After the war, however, he returned to his former party allegiance, and remained loyal until his death. He was a member of the Baptist church and a liberal-minded man. His wife, who before her marriage was Louisa Earls, was born in Kentucky, the daughter of a shipbuilder, who lived at Falmouth, thirty miles above Cincinnati. He died of cholera at his home in 1832. The Earls were an old and prominent family of Kentucky, probably of English origin. It is said of Grandmother White that she molded bullets while the men shot the Indians.
In May, 1862, Isaac W. White joined the Fifty-fourth Regiment, In- diana Volunteer Infantry, and served three months. After his discharge. he joined the Fifty-fourth again and, after a year's service, joined the One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Regiment. Indiana Volunteer Infantry, recruited at Greensburg and commanded by Colonel Gavin. He served until the end of the war and after his discharge, came home and worked in a grocery
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store for one year, after which he began working at his trade as a painter and interior decorator and enjoyed an extensive patronage.
In August, 1865, Isaac W. White was united in marriage to Martha Ann Lloyd, daughter of Creath Lloyd, to which union one child was born, who died in infancy. Mrs. White died on September 8, 1866, and Mr. White married, secondly, Mary Johnson, daughter of Charles Johnson, a native of Kentucky and a highly-respected citizen of this county, to which union three children were born, namely : Laura B., wife of William Kiener, of Paducah, Kentucky ; Charles, a well-known resident of Greensburg, this county, and Lulu, who died young. The mother of these children died in 1875 and on January 22, 1878, Mr. White was united in marriage to Nannie J. Lloyd, a cousin of his first wife and the daughter of Carter and Nancy ( Cooper ) Lloyd, natives of North Carolina, to which union eight children were born, as follow: John D., who lives at Connersville, Indiana; Jesse C., also of Connersville: Nellie, who married Albert Lacy, of Greensburg, this county ; Isaac W., who is a soldier in the United States regular army, now stationed at Tientsin, China; Albert F., who lives at Greensburg; Mary, who married James Ray, of Greensburg ; Thomas, deceased, and one who died in infancy.
Mr. White is a well-respected citizen of Decatur county. He is a pro- gressive, broad-minded citizen and a member of the Grand Army of the Republic.
JAMES N. AANNIS.
Among the veterans of the Civil War and retired citizens now living in Greensburg, Indiana, is the venerable James N. Annis, who was born in Grant county, Kentucky, in 1844, the son of Charles and Permelia ( Kidwell ) Annis, the former of whom was a native of Virginia, born near Culpeper. lle was a son of William Annis, also a native of Virginia and the Annis family were among the first settlers of that state, coming of English stock. Permelia Kidwell was a native of Kentucky and a daughter of Leonard and Ann ( Stafford) Kidwell, both of whom were born and reared in North Carolina. They also were probably of English origin and were an old family in the state of North Carolina.
Charles Annis was brought by his parents from Virginia to Kentucky when he was about eight years old, where he grew to manhood and was married, living and dying in that state, in which he became a farmer and a stonemason. He was a Whig until 1856. when the Republican party was
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organized, and then became identified with this party, remaining loyal to it until his death in 1879. He and his wife had thirteen children, of whom J. N., the subject of this sketch, was the eighth and the only one now living.
The venerable J. N. Annis grew to manhood in Kentucky and when the Civil War broke out, enlisted in Company G, Eighteenth Regiment, Ken- tucky Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Col. W. A. Warner, in which company and regiment he served until the close of the war. This regiment, which saw very hard service, was attached to the Army of the Cumberland under Generals Thomas and Rosencrans. The first battle in which it par- ticipated was at Richmond, Kentucky, on August 30, 1862. They then went to Fort Donelson but arrived too late for serious service in that battle. From Fort Donelson the regiment went to Carthage, Tennessee, and thence to Murfreesboro and Hoover's Gap, Tennessee, and were then engaged in various skirmishes with Bragg's army. Through Tennessee the army marched to Georgia and engaged in the battle of Chickamauga, after which the regi- ment fell back to Chattanooga and there they were besieged by General Bragg's army and almost starved out. Subsequently, the battle of Mission Ridge was fought and this, indeed, was a fierce engagement. Shortly after- ward, the regiment was attached to Sherman's army and marched with him from Atlanta to the sea. At the battle of Chickamauga, during a hill in the fighting, Mr. Annis and two or three of his comrades were standing in line when a rebel sharpshooter stepped from behind a tree and fired at a distance of about four hundred yards. The bullet plowed up the dirt at Mr. Annis' feet. Instantly the sharpshooter was killed. Late in the war. Mr. Annis was taken sick with the measles and confined in the hospital only eight days. On April 4, 1865, he was mustered out of service at Goldsboro, North Carolina, when he proceeded to Washington, where he was paid off and discharged on April 14, 1865. the same day on which President Lincoln was assassinated.
After the close of the Civil War, Mr. Annis returned to his Kentucky home and about a year later, on March 8, 1866, he was married to Nancy J. Powell, the daughter of James and Cynthia ( Barnhill) Powell, and began life on the farm. He was engaged in farming in Kentucky until 1875. when he and his family came to Decatur county, Indiana, settling on a farm in Jackson township, where they lived for about fifteen years and then moved to a farm in Washington township, where they lived for two years. Subsequently, they lived in Clay township for five years. In 1897 they moved to Greensburg, where the family is still living.
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Mr. and Mrs. Annis are the parents of two children, Mrs. Mary Ketner, of Bartholomew county, and Chiarles, of Lafayette.
Mr. Annis identifies himself with the "Joe Cannon" Republicans. He is a patriotic citizen and greatly interested in political affairs, has always been prominent in the councils of his party and is on the firing line in most of its campaigns. Mr. and Mrs. Annis are members of the Christian church. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, the Royal Arch Masons, the Union Veterans' League and other societies. He is a highly respected citizen of this city and a man who is well known throughout Decatur county. Honorable and upright in all of the relations of life, he is highly respected.
DANIEL DAVIS.
Greensburg, Indiana, has the distinction of counting as one of her citizens the oldest living veteran of the Civil War in Indiana. This vener- able patriot and citizen is Daniel Davis, who is now living retired in this city, and who is now ninety years old. Born in 1825 in Hamilton county, Ohio, the venerable Daniel Davis is a son of Evan and Margaret Davis, the former of whom was a native of Wales and who came to America when a young man and settled in Cincinnati, Ohio. Later he came to Decatur county and settled on a farm. He was one of the first tanners in Decatur county and died in 1828.
Daniel Davis began early in life to hustle for himself and from a very early age was compelled to depend upon his own efforts and his own resources. He was bound to a man by the name of Clark in Ripley county and, when twenty-one years old, did not have a single dollar. He began life for himself by working out on a farm for sixteen dollars a month in Ripley county.
On May 25, 1850, Mr. Davis was married to Matilda Jennings, a daughter of John Jennings, a native of England, who settled in Ripley county. Mrs. Davis was born in 1826 and died in August in 1900. Mr. and Mrs. Davis had two children, Edward L., and William H., a clerk in the postoffice, both of Greensburg.
In May, 1861. the venerable Daniel Davis enlisted in the Sixteenth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Col. P. A. Hackle- man and Major Wolf. Attached to the Army of Western Virginia, he served until 1863, when he was discharged for disabilities and came home.
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Shortly after the end of the Civil War. in 1867, Mr. Davis moved to Greensburg,. Indiana, and engaged in the dairy business. A Republican in politics, he cast his first vote for John C. Fremont in 1856, and for many years was on the firing line of the political campaigns of this county. He has always been a drummer and has the oldest drum in the state of Indiana. He is a member of the Baptist church, the Grand Army of the Republic and of the Masonic lodge at Greensburg. He owns land in Florida, near Jacksonville, but has never looked after the land personally. He is still a man of vigorous mental poise and well preserved for his years. For thirty years he has supplied the people of Decatur county with all kinds of plants and is well and familiarly known as "Uncle Dan."
JASON B. HUGHES.
The late Jason B. Hughes, who represented the second generation of the Hughes family in America and who was a resident of Decatur county for more than a half century, was a Welshman by birth. His father, John Hughes, who was born on March 15, 1795, in Aberystwith, Cardiganshire, South Wales, sailed from Carnarvon, North Wales, in 1817, to Baltimore, from which place he came to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and assisted in build- ing the first bridge over the Monongahela river. After a time John Hughes came on to Cincinnati and located on a farm near Miamitown, where he was married to Anna Jane Sefton in February. 1826. Six years later he came on to Decatur county, settling in Washington township, where he spent the remainder of his life.
Jason B. Hughes, who is now deceased, was a native-born citizen of this great county, having been born on the old Hughes homestead on April 2, 1844, which homestead had been established by his father, at McCoy Sta- tion, in Washington township, and here Jason B. Hughes lived from the time of his birth until his death, March 4. 1902.
John Hughes, the father of Jason B., who lived a modest, quiet life far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife, was a pioneer in this section. having died at the age of ninety-three years, August 25, 1888. He was always possessed of a keen and intelligent mind and was known as a great reader, a man who maintained his faculties and energies in a high state of efficiency up to the time of his death. His early life had been filled with interesting experiences, which he liked very much to relate during his declin-
JASON B. HUGHES.
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ing years. In the meantime, he had become very prosperous, owning three hundred and twenty acres of land, most of which he had cleared with his own hands. Noted for his kindly, charitable disposition, he is remembered today with pleasant feelings by those who knew him. He was a man who always inquired after his neighbors' welfare and assisted them in every pos- sible way to get on in the world.
Of the seven children born to John and Anna Hughes, Jason B. was the youngest. The others were William, David, Sarah, Oscar, Thomas and Franklin. Oscar left two sons at the time of his death, Thomas and Chal- mer. Thomas also left two sons, Frank and John.
Jason B. Hughes received his education in Decatur county. He received a portion of the old homestead farm, comprising eighty acres, at the time of his father's death, and, before his own death, increased this farm to one hundred and seventy-two acres. He was known far and wide as the inventor of the American Corn Shuck Compressor, an invention and device which enjoyed a phenomenal success.
The late Jason B. Hughes was married on December 25, 1878. to Lou E. Stewart, who was born in Jefferson county, Indiana, on January 16, 1855, the daughter of John W. and Keziah (Mccullough) Stewart. Her mother was a widow, who had one child by a former marriage to James Mc- Laughlin, Maria, and who, by her second marriage, had one daughter. Mrs. Hughes. Her husband, John W. Stewart, was also twice married, and by his first marriage there were eleven children. He died in 1860. The widow and daughter moved to Hartsville, where Mrs. Hughes was graduated from the Hartsville College. After her graduation, she and her mother moved to Greensburg, where the latter died, February 1, 1900, at the age of eighty- one years. Mrs. Hughes and her sister are members of the Christian church. Maria Mclaughlin married Robert Mitchell, who died on December 15, 1892.
All the children of the venerable John Hughes, a pioneer of Decatur county, are now deceased. Among his grandchildren are Mrs. Lon Innis, a farmer, of Milroy, Indiana : Wilbur McCoy was postmaster for many years of Guthrie, Oklahoma ; Frank McCoy, an attorney at Omaha, Nebraska, and the children of Sarah McCoy.
The late Jason B. Hughes was not only a fine type of the intelligent, industrious and self-made citizen, but he was a man of strong religious instincts, and throughout his life a devout member of the Presbyterian church. He never took much part in politics, but always cast his vote for the Republican candidate and in behalf of Republican principles. At the time of his death he left, besides his family, a host of friends in Decatur county to mourn his loss.
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OLIVER C. ELDER.
Oliver C. Elder, a retired farmer of Greensburg, Indiana, is a veteran of the Civil War and one who has an exceptionally splendid military record, even though he is very modest in accepting this record, a man still sturdy and strong for his age. On the first day of the battle of the Wilderness, while serving as orderly sergeant, he took the place of the lieutenant in command. All of the commissioned officers of his company, having been killed, he retained command of the company until just before the battle of Petersburg. One of four brothers who served in the cause of the Union during the Civil War, he is the grandson on his paternal side of a soldier in the Revolutionary War. His brother, James, was captured and held as a Confederate prisoner in Andersonville, Florence, Salisbury and Charleston for a period of nine months.
Oliver C. Elder, who is one of the highly respected older citizens of this county and a native of Washington township, was born on November 27, 1843, one mile south and two miles east of Greensburg, the son of William M. and Sarah S. (Sellers) Elder, natives of Kentucky, who moved to Decatur county in 1826, shortly after it was open for settlement. Born in January, 1802, William MI. Elder entered one hundred and sixty acres of land in Decatur county, after coming here in 1826 and later purchased an eighty- acre tract from his brother. He had four brothers, Matthew, James, Andrew and Robert. Leaving the farm in 1863. he moved to Greensburg because four of his sons were engaged in the service of their country in the Civil War and he had no assistance with which to operate the farm. Of his ten chil- dren, three died in infancy and seven lived to maturity. Five of these seven children, Mrs. Mary C. Vawter, Mrs. America Gray, Mrs. Sarah Taylor, George and Henry are now deceased, and the living children are Oliver and James Marshall. The last four served in the Civil War. James Marshall resides at Highland Center. Iowa. The mother of these children having died in May, 1855, the father was married again to Eliza Ford and by this second marriage had two children, Mrs. Serena Hamilton, of Iowa, and Mrs. Zerura Griffey, of Indianapolis. The father died on April 8, 1875.
After living at home with his parents until the breaking out of the Civil War, when he was eighteen years old, Oliver C. Elder enlisted on August 25, 1861. in Company E, Seventh Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, under Col. E. B. Dumont and Capt. Ira Grover, serving until Sep-
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tember 20, 1864. He was in the principal battles of 1861-62 in western Virginia and Shenandoah Valley and the Army of the Potomac during 1863-64.
After the war, Mr. Elder returned home and engaged in farming until 1903, when he moved to Greensburg. Beginning with two tracts of land, comprising two hundred and forty acres and one hundred and fifty-four acres, Mr. Elder now owns two hundred and thirty acres in one tract and sixty acres in another.
On January 28, 1868, four years after his return home from the army. Mr. Elder was married to Sophronia Cobb, the daughter of Dyer Cobb and a granddaughter of Joshua Cobb, one of the very first pioneers in Washing- ton township, Decatur county, Joshua Cobb having settled in Decatur county in the fall of 1820 on the old Michigan trail, married Almira Tremain, of New York state.
Of the five children born to Mr. and Mrs. Elder, two are deceased. The three living children are, Orris Clifford, who lives on the home farin; Mrs. Edna Meek, the wife of Edmund L. Meek, of Clinton township, and Jessie A., who lives at home.
Mr. Elder is a Republican. He and his wife and family are members of the Christian church. He is a member of Pap Thomas Post, Grand Army of the Republic, and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
SAM V. LITTELL.
One of the established institutions of Greensburg, Indiana, which has become famous throughout Decatur and adjoining counties, is the lunch room and grocery conducted by Samuel V. Littell. The fame of this historic old bakery, lunch room and grocery rests partly upon a famous pie. which was invented and baked here for a long time. The lunch room com- prises from eight to ten tables, and on gala days from fifteen hundred to two thousand people take their meals there. There is scarcely a man living in Greensburg or Decatur county who does not recall some interesting experience or incident connected with the Sam Littell grocery and lunch roon. Thirty years ago the famous "Washington" pie was first made. This pie consisted of meat, bread, cakes, fruit, spices and New Orleans molasses, and was baked in huge pans. During the last few years, however, pie baking has been discontinued, the volume of the business having become so great
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that it was necessary to either discontinue pie baking or enlarge the quarters of the store.
Sam V. Littell, well-known restaurant keeper and grocer of Greensburg. was born in Ripley county in 1859, the son of Benjamin and Jane M. ( Van- zandt ) Littell. At the age of two years he was brought to Greensburg, Indiana ), by his parents, where he grew up and was educated in the com- mon and high schools.
At the end of his school days in 1876, Mr. Littell began clerking in the grocery store of which he is now the owner and which was then owned by his brother, B. F. Littell. Here he served his apprenticeship, lasting about eight years, and learned the business. Later he purchased a half interest in the business with another brother, William T. Littell. This arrangement continued for four years, when he sold out and entered the partnership with another brother. James S. Littell. This partnership con- tinued six years and was discontinued when Sam took over the entire business. It is now occupied exclusively by Sam V. Littell. He has been in business for himself for about twenty years, and has been very successful. His volume of business is equal or superior to that of any other grocery or lunch room in Decatur county. In point of years, he probably has been engaged in this business as long as any other man in Indiana. He entered the store, of which he is now the proprietor and sole owner, when sixteen years of age, and with the exception of eight months, when he was in the hospital, has never been out of this store.
In years gone by the Littell grocery and lunch room has fed as high as two thousand people in a single day. Mr. Littell likes the business, and especially the lunch room. In the past he has probably fed more people than all the hotels and lunch rooms of Greensburg combined.
In September, 1887. Sam V. Littell was married to Lida Howard, a daughter of Jesse and Mary ( Ewing) Howard, the latter of whom was the daughter of Patrick Ewing, the founder of the famous Ewing family in this county, whose life and works are recounted elsewhere in this volume, and who has many descendants living in Decatur county today. Mr. and Mrs. Littell have had two children, Mary, who was born in 1888, and Howard, in 1892.
Sam V. Littell has always been identified with the Republican party and has always taken a commendable interest in politics, especially as a good citizen. Fraternally, he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
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It will be many long years before the life and career of Sam V. Littell will be forgotten by the people of Greensburg and Decatur county. Here in this city his place of business is one of the most famous and he has always enjoyed a large patronage and a profitable and successful trade because he knows the business and the wants and needs of the public. He has been honest and fair in all the relations of life, and no man living in this county is more popular than he.
REUBEN SMALLEY.
In the city of Greensburg, Indiana, lives a distinguished citizen and veteran of the Civil War, who today carries a medal of honor for distin- guished services in several battles, which was presented to him by an act of Congress during Cleveland's administration. This valiant and brave soldier, a veteran of our greatest war, is Reuben Smalley, who was born in 1839 in Steuben county, New York, the son of Elias and Rozelphia (Hawkins) Smalley.
Reuben Smalley was but about twenty-three years of age when, on August 15, 1862, he joined Company F, Eighty-third Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and leaving his wife and two small children, answered his country's call for volunteers. After drilling for six weeks at Lawrence- burg, Indiana, this regiment joined Grant's army at Cairo, Illinois, and here boarded a steamboat and proceeded to Memphis, Tennessee. From Memphis they went to Azoo swamp in Mississippi, where they attacked the Confederate forces, having later taken eight thousand prisoners at Arkansas Pass. Immediately after this the Fifteenth Army Corps built the Butler canal. In the following spring they took part in the Vicksburg campaign. This fortress they surrounded on May 19, 1863, and it was in this siege that Mr. Smalley first distinguished himself. The siege of Vicksburg lasted from May 19, until July 4, and on May 22, Grant called for volunteers to lead the way into Vicksburg, where Mr. Smalley was promoted for gallantry. Mr. Smalley was one of the one hundred and fifty to volunteer. At Fort Pennington, he distinguished himself for bravery and wears the badge of honor for services in that battle, a medal of which he is very proud.
After the surrender of Vicksburg, the army started to march to Jackson, Mississippi, and met General Joe Johnson's army at Black River, Mississippi, which they defeated and followed him into Jackson, where they defeated him again. Later they came back to Memphis, Tennessee, and from there
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