USA > Indiana > Decatur County > History of Decatur County, Indiana: its people, industries and institutions > Part 72
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When Jacob Emmert came to Clarksburg he first purchased sixty-five acres of land for which he went into debt. Later he purchased one hun- dred and forty acres for credit and subsequently eighty acres additional. He now has one of the most fertile farms in Decatur county, and by crop rotation and intelligent farming he has developed the land to a very high state of productivity. Practically all of the land was very much run down at the time he purchased it. The previous owners had grown great quan- tities of corn year after year and had robbed the land of its fertility. By farming the land systematically and rotating his erops, Mr. Emmert has had a splendid success. He followed a three-year rotation plan until the wheat grew so tall that it was necessary to raise corn two years in succes- sion. Land which had grown thirty-five to forty bushels of corn to the acre, and yieldled fifteen bushels of wheat to the acre, under Mr. Emmert's care and management now produces from sixty to eighty bushels of corn to the acre and from twenty to thirty bushels of wheat. At the present time he has two hundred and sixty-four acres of land which is operated for the most part by his son, John Leslie. The farm is equipped and well supplied with all necessary outbuildings. In 1913 he fed sixty-nine head of cattle and two hundred head of hogs. He also sold fifty-four head of mules in the home market and sold his cattle in Buffalo, New York. At the present time he has forty-four head of cattle, sixteen head of young mules and one hundred and fifty head of hogs. Mr. Emmert's neighbors, who have fol- lowed his methods in farming, have all prospered, and many owe much of their success to the example he has set in this community.
On November 27, 1861. Jacob Emmert was married in Greensburg to Catherine Hauk, the daughter of William and Margaret Hauk. Born on October 3. 1841. Mrs. Emmert passed away in 1901, leaving a family of six children, five of whom are living. , Of these children, Carrie is the wife of Luther D. Hamilton and was born on October 12, 1862: Clinton Buell, who is now engaged in operating the Emmert mill, was born on July 14, 1864, and on May 17, 1893, he was married to Allie Patterson; they have one child, James Allen, who is a student at the Sweetwater military school; Mrs. Sylvia Senior, April 12, 1867, has one child, Merlin ; Ellison, March 8, 1869, died on December 17, 1888; John Leslie, April 30, 1871, was mar- ried on November 27, 1895, to Ada Thornton Dobyns, and they have one child, Mabel, and Ruby Leona, September 18, 1886, lives at home and is keeping house for her father.
Jacob Emmert has been a life-long Republican. Four years, from 1888 to 1892, he served as trustee of Fugit township. A member of the
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Presbyterian church, he has filled all the offices in the local congregation. Fraternally he is a member of Clarksburg Lodge No. 124. Free and Accepted Masons. He became a Mason at Fairland in Shelby county, fifty-three years ago, transferring his membership from Fairland to Greensburg and from thence to Clarksburg. For ten years he served as treasurer of the Clarksburg lodge.
Decatur county has few citizens who have been more industrious and more enterprising than the venerable Jacob Emmert. His acquaintance extends not only throughout Decatur county, but he is well known in all of the adjoining counties, and occupies an enviable place in the hearts of his neighbors and fellow townsmen. While he has lived an industrious and honest man, he has in many ways contributed to the happiness and comfort of the people with whom he has come in contact and is honored by them today as a kind and generous friend.
WILLIAM M. ANGLE.
In Fugit township, Decatur county, Indiana, where the venerable Will- iam Angle has lived for nearly sixty years, or since he was sixteen years old, he is known far and wide for his unaided and heroic struggle for per- sonal success. It is natural that he should be well known in this township on account of his long residence, but he is especially well known on account of the large measure of success which fortune has visited on his efforts. Every one who is at all familiar with history knows that money is far easier to obtain now than it was a half century ago. Most every one knows further, that not one young man in fifty has a thousand dollars which he himself earned and saved at the time of reaching his majority. Yet, the ven- erable William Angle, who attained his majority early in 1861, had by that time saved out of his own earnings fifteen hundred dollars, which he had given to his father. No one is able to say that William M. Angle has neglected his personal or immediate duties in his race for a fortune. Before his career as a farmer and financier had really begun he not only made a handsome gift of his earnings to his father, but he had cared for him in his declining years, when he was compelled to lean upon the stronger shoulders of his son, and, at his death, had paid all of the bills incurred during his last and fatal illness. More than anything else, this noble act proved what manner of man William M. Angle is. It shows that the successes of his
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career were founded upon a just and fair realization of his nearest and dearest duties. It is no wonder, therefore, that he occupies a position among his neighbors and fellow citizens as a man who has worthily dis- charged his obligations in all the responsible relations of life.
The venerable William M. Angle, retired farmer of Fugit township, Decatur county, Indiana, is a native of Laurel, Kentucky, having been born seventy-five years ago in February, 1840. His parents, William and Eby (Sutherlin) Angle, were both natives of southern states, the former of Tennessee and the latter of Kentucky. Believing that they would find greater opportunities in the newer land north of them, they emigrated in 1856 to Indiana and settled east of Clarksburg, where they lived until their deaths. Several of their fourteen children died in infancy, leaving only eight who accompanied them to Indiana. Of these eight children, William, the subject of this sketch, and his sister, Priscilla, of Fairmount, Indiana, are now the only ones living.
In the first three years of the last half of the nineteenth century, agri- cultural conditions did not compare with conditions today, especially from the standpoint of getting quick returns for one's labor. Nevertheless, Will- iam Angle, who began life on his own account when twenty years of age, rented land in Decatur county, and saved most of the money left after the expenses of farming were paid. During this period of his life he found it a pleasant task to care for his aged father and in giving his father fifteen hundred dollars which he earned before he was twenty-one years old.
In 1870, when he was thirty years old, Mr. Angle purchased his first tract of land, paying one thousand dollars in cash and agreeing to pay twenty-eight hundred dollars additional as fast as he was able to make and save the money. In eight years he was able completely to relinquish the debt. so that by 1878 he was well started on the road to fortune. In Feb- ruary, 1909, he purchased a ninety-five-acre farm in Rush county, paying nine thousand dollars in cash for this land. His home farm in Fugit town- ship consists of fifty-three acres, so that he owns altogether one hundred and forty-nine acres in Decatur and Rush counties. Aside from this land, which is conservatively estimated to be worth fifteen thousand dollars, Mr. Angle owns five thousand dollars' worth of stocks and bonds, which are gilt-edge in every respect and which pay him handsome dividends and inter- est. It is fair to say that he is today worth not less than twenty thousand dollars, every cent of which he has made himself, and saved out of his own personal earnings. This is a splendid record and one of which he has every (48)
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reason to be proud. In fact, his neighbors in Fugit township and the people- with whom he has come in contact during life are likewise proud of him and his achievements.
On March 17, 1875, when he was thirty-five years old, William Angle was married to Mary Ann Evans, who was born on December 9, 1845, and who is five years his junior. Mrs. Angle is a native of Franklin county and the daughter of James Evans, who married Lydia Weston. They also were natives of Franklin county, and the son and daughter of old families of this section of the state. Mr. and Mrs. Angle have no children.
It could hardly be expected that William Angle, in view of his large success as a farmer and financier, and in view of his busy life, has ever been able to devote very much time to political affairs. However, he is a Republican in politics, but contents himself with voting the ticket of his party and leaving such matters as organization and the management of campaigns to others. Mr. and Mrs. Angle have long been members of the Presbyterian church, and are devout in this faith.
THOMAS N. SHAW.
Retirement from business does not necessarily indicate an inactive life. It often means that the mind released from strenuous business cares can turn its attention to other matters equally worth while, and often more important to the public good than the amassing of wealth. To be a repre- sentative farmer among other successful farmers, a man must possess many forceful traits of character, and the fact that he begins life as the son of a wealthy landowner does not, as in the present case, detract one iota from the credit due him as a financier. In these days of sharp competition, it is quite as difficult to retain a fortune as to. make it, and therefore, while Thomas N. Shaw may be considered more than ordinarily fortunate, it would seem, nevertheless, that commendation is due. Nor has he been unmindful of the needs of others. Thomas N. Shaw, retired farmer of Westport, was born on January 6, 1855, in Jackson township.
Mr. Shaw's father, whose name also was Thomas, was brought up by his grandfather, for his own father died when the younger Thomas was an infant. The latter, who was Thomas N. Shaw's paternal grandfather, was born on December 3. 1789, and his wife, Sarah Shaw, was born on October 5. 1792. Their children were as follow: Elizabeth C., born on July 15,
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1814; John, February 23, 1816; Sarah, December 1, 1817, and others, including Thomas, the father of Thomas N. The birth of the latter occurred on July 3, 1821, and he passed away in 1905. He was a native of Franklin county, going to Decatur county when only a young boy. In early man- hood, he married Margaret Ann Wilson, who was a native of Indiana, and died in November, 1904. Thomas Shaw, Sr., was the owner of a splendid farm in Jackson township, consisting of three hundred and eighty acres, and of one hundred and eighty acres in Sand Creek township, and was one of the large landowners of the entire county. Thomas N. Shaw had two brothers and two sisters, as follow: John S., who lives in Greensburg; Martha E. Swope, of Fowler, Indiana; Samuel S., deceased, was a farmer, and Mary E. Mclnwain, also dead. Thomas N. Shaw, Jr., was the young- est of his family.
His boyhood home was at the northeast corner of the home section of Jackson township, while his own farm is in the southwest corner of the same section. In July, 1875, he was united in marriage to Louisa, daugh- ter of Eli and Catherine Risley Bake, a wealthy landowner of Decatur county. Besides Mrs. Shaw, their other children are, Lewis S., Amanda J., Clarissa, Cordelia, Olive P., Lorinda, Martha A., William HI., Pearl, wife of Dr. Will E. Thomas, of Clarksburg, who became the parents of two children, Richard Shaw and Mary Louise.
Upon their marriage, the father of Mr. Shaw presented him with one thousand dollars, and his wife received a similar amount from her parents, and with this they purchased the land upon which they lived until 1912. The original tract consisted of ninety acres to which they later added sev- enty acres, which farm is so well equipped in every way that it easily attracts the attention of travelers, and is considered one of the finest in the county. It now contains a splendid house, which they built in 1884, although when the young people first moved in, they occupied a one-room log cabin. It was necessary to go in debt, but that encumbrance has long ago been paid off. A large, two-story brick house replaces the primitive log cabin, and a spacious barn is modern in every respect. In 1912, the owner added to its attractiveness as well as to its intrinsic value by enclosing the grounds, within four hundred rods, with wire fencing. braced by substantial stone posts. In this year, also, the family removed to Westport, desiring this progressive little town as a place of residence.
Mr. Shaw has always been interested in the affairs of the Republican party of which he has been a life-long member. He and his wife and
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daughter have a great many friends, and theirs is considered one of the important and hospitable home of the community.
Relieved from active participation in the arduous labors of farm work, Mr. and Mrs. Shaw can enjoy a leisure deserved by reason of their years of service to their family, and it is hoped by their many friends that many more years will be spared to them, years that may be fruitful in both pleas- ure and achievement.
DANIEL JEFFERSON BALLARD, M. D.
For many years a practicing physician in the pleasant village of St. Paul, Decatur county, an honored veteran of the Civil War, active in church and lodge circles and a leader in the fast diminishing ranks of the Grand Army of the Republic in this part of the state, there are few men in this county who have a wider acquaintance or better friends than the venerable Doctor Ballard, whose name the reader notes above. Of fine old pioneer stock, Doctor Ballard ever has sought to maintain the best traditions of his sterling ancestry, and has been for many years regarded as a leader in that section of the county in which he has lived since boyhood. Doctor Ballard's wife, who is a daughter of the oldest man in Adams township, also is of stalwart pioneer stock and has been a most efficient factor in the develop- ment of the best interests of her home town. For many years she has been a registered pharmacist and has assisted her husband in the operation of a drug store at St. Panl. Previous to taking up pharmacy, Mrs. Ballard had been a school teacher, and in that capacity her influence was such as to leave a lasting impression upon the cultural life of her home vicinity.
Daniel Jefferson Ballard, M. 1)., was born on a farm in Orange town- ship, Rush county, Indiana, not far over the line from Decatur county, on October 8, 1841, the son of Madison and Sarah Ann ( Tevis) Ballard, the former of whom was born on March 13, 1814, and died on March 15. 1888, and the latter of whom was born on February 25, 1822, and died on January 18, 1883.
Madison Ballard was born in Virginia, the son of Elijah Ballard, born in 1777, who came to Indiana in 1825, settling in Rush county, where he spent the remainder of his life. Madison Ballard became a well-known and influential farmer in Rush county, where he made his home until 1877. in which year he moved to St. Paul, this county, where his last days were spent. By his marriage to Sarah Ann Tevis six children were born, Daniel
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J., the subject of this sketch; Mrs. Catherine Raynes, who lives in Illinois; John Durbin, who lives in Shelbyville, this state, and Mary Elizabeth, Saralı Helen and Mellender, the last three nanied of whom are deceased.
Being the eldest of the family and it being necessary for him to aid in the work of the farm during the days of his youth, Daniel J. Ballard received little schooling in his boyhood, his attendance being limited to about three months in a year during the winter seasons. He was not twenty years of age when the Civil War broke out, but on September 18, 1861, he enlisted in Company E, Thirty-seventh Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, for service in that great struggle between the states. In 1862 he was transferred to the First Battalion, Pioneer Brigade of Engineers, in which service he was engaged for two years, and was discharged with his regiment on October 26, 1864. Though engaged in some of the fiercest battles of the war, Doctor Ballard never was wounded, though on numerous occasions bullets passed through his clothing. Among the notable battles in which he participated may be mentioned Stone's River, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Peachtree Creek, Atlanta and Jonesboro. Doctor Ballard was discharged with the rank of corporal.
At the close of the war Doctor Ballard determined to pursue the studies which he had been compelled to neglect in his boyhood, and he attended school at St. Paul and at Shelbyville, after which for a few years he taught school in St. Paul, beginning as primary teacher and ending as principal. Thus fortified, he took up the study of medicine and, after a period of pre- paratory reading, entered the Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery, from which institution he was graduated in February, 1876. He immedi- ately entered upon the practice of his profession in the village of St. Paul and for forty years has been thus engaged, during the past twenty-one years of which time he also operated a drug store in the village.
On September 18, 1867, Doctor Ballard was united in marriage to Anna E. French, who was born in Liberty township, Shelby county, this state, on February 15, 1846, daughter of Joseph R. French, a native of that county, who was born in 1825, the son of Daniel French, who settled in Shelby county in 1820. Joseph R. French enjoys the distinction of being the oldest citizen of Adams township, this county. Since 1856 he has resided in the village of St. Paul, having always lived in the neighborhood, with the exception of four years spent at Moores Hill, when his son was attending the college at that point. Mr. French was a saddler during his active year, and in his old age turned his attention to the cultivation of
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raspberry slips and other hothouse plants, but is now retired. Mr. French's wife was Catherine Zeigler, a member of a pioneer family of this part of the state, who was born in 1824 and died in November, 1902. To their union five children were born, namely: Anna E., who married Doctor Ballard; Mrs. Sarah Elizabeth Plymate, who lives at Acton, this state; Mrs. Amy Celeste Derbyshire, of St. Petersburg, Florida: Harriet Jane, who died in girlhood, and William Henry Harrison.
Anna E. French began teaching school when she was thirteen years of age and taught until she was twenty years of age, at which time, follow- ing her marriage to Doctor Ballard, she took up the study of chemistry, with particular reference to pharmacy, and for twenty years has been a registered pharmacist, being an invaluable aid to her husband in the opera- tion of the drug store at St. Paul.
To Dr. Daniel J. and Anna E. (French) Ballard three children have been born, only one of whom is living, namely: Harry W., an artist, who resides in St. Paul, married Fannie Floyd and they have one child, a son. Jack Floyd; Daniel Arthur, who died on April 10. 1879, at the age of two years and five months, and Joseph Clarence, who died in a St. Louis hos- pital on, March 2, 1902, at the age of twenty-three years, three months and twenty-seven days. Joseph C. Ballard was graduated from Purdue Uni- versity and at the time of his death was engaged as a chemist in a steel plant at St. Louis.
Doctor and Mrs. Ballard are members of the Methodist church and are active in the good works of the community in which they so long have labored. Doctor Ballard was a Republican until the year 1912, in which year he transferred his political allegiance to the Progressive party. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellow's and the Knights of Pythias lodges at St. Paul and a leader in the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic. Formerly he took an active part in the affairs of the medical associations to which he was attached, but of late years is gradually relaxing some of his aforetime activities. He was a member of the Decatur County Medical Association and the Indiana State Medical Association, in the affairs of both of which societies he took an earnest interest. Mrs. Bal- lard also formerly was active in the work of the Pythian Sisters and of the Daughters of Rebekah, having filled all the chairs in the local lodges of those orders and served as delegate to the grand lodges of the same. Doctor and Mrs. Ballard, by reason of their useful lives in and about St. Paul, are held in the highest esteem thereabouts, being regarded with the greatest respect by the entire community.
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CYRUS D. HARWOOD.
Cyrus D. Harwood, for fourteen years secretary and treasurer of the St. Paul Gas Company, was born on May 20, 1860, in Dearborn county, Indiana, the son of Ebenezer and Caroline (Sumpter ) Harwood, the former of whom was a native of Dearborn county. He and his wife were suc- cessful farmers in that county.
Cyrus D. Harwood, who died on August 15, 1913, came to Decatur county when a small lad, probably five or six years old. They settled in Shelby county for a short time and then moved to Adams township, Deca- tur county, settling near St. Omer.
In 1863 Ebenezer Harwood enlisted in the Union army and served until June 27, 1864, when he died at Knoxville, Tennessee. He was a brave and efficient soldier, and was one among the thousands of patriotic citizens who gave up their lives in the cause of human freedom. At his death he left a wife and five children, the names of four of whom are herewith given, Mrs. Susan Pope, of Milford; Mrs. Mary Wilson, of Milford; Thomas, of Illinois; James of Bloomfield, Missouri; and Cyrus D., the sub- ject of this sketch.
The late Cyrus D. Harwood grew to manhood at St. Omer and when about fifteen years of age his mother married again, after which time Cyrus D. went to Illinois, where he took a position with a mining company, which he held for several years. He became postmaster at Bartly, Illinois, and for some three or four years was engaged in the mercantile business at that town.
About 1887 Mr. Harwood, after a trip west made in order to regain his health, came back to Decatur county and was married to Julia Short. March 29, 1888, a daughter of Joseph and Nancy (Gulley) Short, the former of whom was born on Flatrock river, Adams township, Decatur county, Indiana, and where he lived until his death on February 26, 191I. Nancy (Gulley) Short was born in .Shelby county and came to Decatur county when a child and lived here all of her life, where her father was a farmer. Her father and mother died within three weeks of each other, the mother on February 5, 1911, and the father on February 26, 1911. Her father was a Republican and a member of the Baptist church. During the Civil War he was a corporal in Company D. Seventy-sixth Regiment, Indi- ana Volunteer Infantry, a patriotic citizen and a man popular in the neigh- borhood where he lived.
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After his marriage Cyrus D. Harwood entered business at St. Omer, but a short time after that they moved to St. Paul, where he engaged in business. During a period of about fourteen years he was secretary and treasurer of the St. Paul Gas Company. He was also a notary public and a man of unusual ability, possessed of a genial disposition, and had many friends in this county. He took a great interest in public improvements. and especially in the improvement of his own town, where Mrs. Harwood, his widow, lives at her home with her adopted daughter. Zelman, who is now a student in high school. Mrs. Harwood, who is a strong believer in education, is trying to give her adopted daughter the very best educational advantages. Mrs. Harwood taught school for six year previous to her mar- riage and is a cultured and refined woman. She has a wide circle of friends in Adams township.
MORGAN L. MIERS.
Emerson, in his great essay on Character, recalls the indignation of an eloquent Methodist at the kind admonition of a Doctor of Divinity-"My friend, a man can neither be praised nor insulted," and, indeed, in this age when the superlative is shrieking throughout the land, it would seem that even the common acceptance of the term praise had outworn its wonted use, for everything whose praises the promoters are shouting from the house- tops is either the greatest this or the greatest that that ever was. What with "the puff direct and the puff collateral and the puff oblique" of the old time magnified by the megaphonic methods of the modern advertiser. praise-if, despite the eloquent Methodist whom Emerson cites, praise be possible-has overshot itself. When everything has become alike superlative, there are no superlatives and the promoter's adjectives are regarded askance by those whose ears are assaulted by the tumult of his cries. However, there is such a thing as proper and due praise, the modest meed that merit claims, and it surely is not ill-timed or unfitting that on such a page as this a few words be said in passing regarding the life and the personality of Morgan L. Miers, one of the most influential men in Decatur county, the owner of four- teen hundred acres of land in Clay township and president of the Third National Bank at Greensburg, than whom no man in the county is more widely known or regarded with higher favor by his neighbors. Mr. Miers is a man of quiet, unassuming manner, of genial disposition and a philosophic turn of mind; qualities which bind his friends to him as "with hoops of
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