USA > Indiana > Decatur County > History of Decatur County, Indiana: its people, industries and institutions > Part 73
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steel," and it properly may be said that no man in this part of the state has firmer or more devoted friends than he. Mr. Miers' grand father, Thomas Miers, was one of the early settlers of Decatur county and for three genera- tions members of the Miers family have been prominent in the affairs of this county, their influence ever having been exerted in behalf of the welfare of the whole community. A brother of Mr. Miers, the Hon. Robert W. Miers, of Bloomington, this state, represented this district in Congress for eight years and in all ways the family has stood for good government and decent living : being faithful and true in all the relations of life.
Morgan L. Miers was born in the year 1855 on the farm on which he now lives, one and one-half miles south of the pleasant village of Burney, in Clay township, Decatur county, Indiana, the son of Thomas S. and Mahala ( Braden ) Miers, both members of pioneer families in that section of the county. Thomas S. Miers came to this county when about seven years of age with his parents, his father. Thomas Miers, emigrating from Ohio at an early day in the settlement of this county and entering from the gov- ernment a tract of land in the Burney neighborhood, in Clay township, where the rest of his life was spent, his death occurring not many years after he came to this county. Thomas S. Miers was reared in the pioneer home in Clay township and upon succeeding to the ownership of the farm prospered largely, gradually increasing his holdings until he became the pos- sessor of more than six hundred acres of fine land, the larger part of which he had brought under an excellent state of cultivation. Though laboring under the many and manifest disadvantages of his day and generation, . Thomas S. Miers displayed much executive ability and a keen business fore- sight, becoming one of the foremost factors in the development of that part of the county in which he lived. He was a farmer of unusual skill and his farm became very profitable to him, his chief source of revenue being derived from feeding hogs, he finding that the value of the extensive crops of corn that he raised was thus largely enhanced. Thomas S. Miers was a member of the Episcopal church, a Democrat and a member of the Ma- sonic lodge at Milford. He was active in the good works of his community, influential in local politics and interested in the affairs of his lodge. Of a singularly optimistic nature, he radiated cheer wherever he went and was exceedingly popular throughout that part of the county. Ever ready to help others, he never forgot a kindness directed toward himself and it is said of him that he would go as far as anyone to accommodate a friend.
Thomas S. Miers married Mahala Braden, a member of one of the pio- neer families of the county, and to this union there were born seven children,
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namely: Mary, who married Isaac Sefton, of Greensburg, this county; Robert W., of Bloomington, Indiana, former member of Congress from this district, now judge of the Monroe county circuit court; Mrs. Emma Gilmore, deceased; Morgan L., the immediate subject of this sketch; Wil- lard A., a well-known farmer of the Burney neighborhood, who owns three hundred and twenty acres of choice land in Clay township, is a well-known breeder of fine horses, having some time ago sold one of his trotters. "Little Snapp," for twenty-five hundred dollars; Nevada, wife of William A. Minor, of Clay township, and Maggie B., who married Frank Stapp and lives at Hope, Indiana.
Morgan L. Miers was reared on the home farm in Clay township, receiving his elementary education in the local schools, which he supple- mented by a course of four years at Indiana University and was graduated from the law department of that excellent institution. . Upon completing his education he devoted his time to the development of the growing farm interests of his father, giving his particular attention to the raising of live stock, soon becoming known as one of the heaviest shippers in the state. Recognizing the growing value of land in the neighborhood of the home acres he gradually bought land as he prospered and now owns fourteen hundred and sixty acres of choice land, all of which lies in Clay town- ship. Much of this land, purchased for fifty dollars an acre, is now well worth one hundred and twenty-five dollars an acre, and Mr. Miers maintains that if he had had the acunfen to have extended his purchases during ยท the days of cheap land thereabout he now would be a millionaire. However, he is a man of remarkably optimistic nature, as was his father before him, and he is not worrying because of this lack of foresight years ago. In fact, he makes it a point never to worry, his genial temperament placing him above the petty worries that sometimes afflict less optimistic individuals. Though giving his chief attention to his great estate, Mr. Miers has found time to extend his activities in other directions and is interested in numerous enterprises in this and adjoining counties. Since the opening of the Third National Bank of Greensburg, thirty-four years ago, Mr. Miers has been a director in that sound old financial institution and for the past two years has been president of the same; a position of prominence in the financial circles of southern Indiana exceeded by few therein. His sound judgment regarding values and thorough acquaintance with commercial and indus- trial conditions in this part of the state give to his opinions in connection with investments a weight of well nigh dominant force hereabouts and few financiers in southern Indiana have a higher standing in banking circles than
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he; his enterprising spirit being sufficiently well balanced by a native con- servatism to give to his decisions that unerring quality which business men in this section have learned to appreciate and value so highly in consulta- tions regarding investments.
Thirty-three years ago Morgan L. Miers was united in marriage to Gail Hamilton, of Clay township, this county, daughter of G. M. and Mary Susan (Logan) Hamilton, members of pioneer families in Decatur county, the latter of whom was a daughter of John Logan, and to this union two children were born, a son and a daughter. Roy, now twenty-three years of age, and Mary, now aged sixteen, the latter of whom is attending school in Boston, Massachusetts. Mrs. Miers met her death in an automobile accident on Oc- tober 20, 1914, a tragedy which plunged the entire community into mourning, for she was a woman of exceptional strength of character and for years a leader in good works in the vicinity in which her gentle influence so long had been exerted in all good ways.
Mr. Miers is a member of the Methodist church and he and his son, Roy Miers, are members of the Masonic fraternity. Mr. Miers is a Demo- crat and takes an earnest interest in the political affairs of the county, state and nation, though he never has been included in the office-seeking class, his extensive personal interests being sufficient to engage his undivided atten- tion. He is a constant exponent of good government and all measures look- ing to the advancement of the public welfare find in him an ardent champion. Energetic and public spirited, Mr. Miers is a powerful factor in general affairs hereabout and no man in the county is held in higher esteem.
GEORGE M. MEEK.
Of the private soldiers who belonged to the Seventh Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, recruited during the latter months of 1861, no one living or dead had a more valiant record in the service of his country than the venerable George M. Meek, a well-known farmer of Fugit township. Having enlisted on September 13, 1861, in Company G, which was for two years commanded by his brother, Capt. John Meek, and under him Lieut. Orville Thomson, he served altogether three years. In the battle of the Wilderness he was wounded by a shot through the right breast, a wound which has bothered him all of his life. Few soldiers participated in a greater number of severe battles than George M. Meek, who fought at
1
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Greenbrier, Winchester, Port Republic, the second battle of Bull Run, Antietam, Gettysburg, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Slaughter Mountain, Virginia, and in the Wilderness campaign. After serving in every battle in which his company and regiment was engaged, he was mustered out of the service on September 20, 1864, full of honors yet weighted with the terrible burden of military service and disabled by the ghastly wound he had received in the Wilderness.
The venerable George M. Meek, who was only eighteen years old at the time of his enlistment, was born on May 3, 1842, three miles northeast of Greensburg, the son of Adam R. and Nancy ( Logan ) Meek. Adam R. Meek, a native of Kentucky, was the son of Thomas Meek, and came to Decatur county in 1825, just after the settlement was beginning in this section. He was twice married. Among his eighteen children were Tay- lor, of Greensburg: John, of Kansas; Mrs. Jerusha Patton, of California; Mrs. Mollie Donnell, of Missouri; Samuel; Mrs. Minerva Bonner; Tirza MIclllvane :; Mrs. Rebecca Henry; William N., deceased ; Thomas; Mrs. Laura Kincaid, deceased, and Josiah, deceased.
After becoming one of the largest landowners in Decatur county, Adam R. Meek divided his land among his children, presenting each child with eighty acres in fee simple.
George M. Meek, who now owns three hundred and thirty acres of land in Fugit township, settled, after his marriage, on the eighty-acre farm given to him by his father. After his marriage, he purchased the old Logan or Patton farm and in 1887 built his present farm home. A few years ago he also built a home for his son.
On November 26, 1883, Mr. Meek was married to Charlotte Miller, who was born on November 28, 1860, at Clarksburg, and who is the daugh- ter of Louis C. and Elizabeth ( Barneman) Miller, natives of Ohio and Germany, respectively. They were married in Ohio and moved from that state to Decatur county in 1857. MIr. and Mrs. George MI. Meek have had three children, the youngest of whom died in infancy. The two living children are Thomas, a well-known farmer of this county, who married Daisy Carroll, and Mrs. Fredericka Smith, who lives near Williamstown on a farm and who has one child, Carmen.
As a farmer Mr. Meek feeds a large amount of live stock, and it is principally from live stock that he has made his greatest profits in farming. During his twenty-nine years of experience in the business of farming he has made a close and careful study of its methods, and few men living in Decatur county today are better informed regarding its various phases than
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he. Mr. Meek understands first the cultivation of the soil; he recognizes the importance of good seed and the preparation of a good seed bed. More- over, he believes in frequent and careful cultivation. He is not a man who sells a great deal of grain, practically everything raised on the farm in the way of grains or cereals being fed to the stock.
The venerable George M. Meek comes from a distinguished family and one which has been intimately identified with the history of the county since pioneer tinies. If nothing more, his valiant service as a soldier in our great Civil War would be sufficient to entitle him to rank as one of the foremost citizens. But as a careful, enterprising, thrifty farmer, he is quite as much a hero of peace as he was a hero of war.
JOHN H. LOGAN.
John H. Logan, a successful farmer and breeder of Fugit township, who passed away in Oklahoma, where he had gone to recover his health, on March 28, 1908, was one of the best-known citizens living in this part of Decatur county.
The son of Joseph A. and Mary Jane (Straney) Logan, John H. Logan was born on November 8, 1849, on the farm where he spent the most of his life. He was the son of Joseph A. Logan, as heretofore noted, who was born on January 9, 1821, and who married Mary Jane Straney, a native of Kentucky. Joseph A. was the son of Martin Logan, a pioneer in Fugit township, and a native of Kentucky. He married Nancy Martin and died in 1888. Joseph A. Logan entered the land where Ezra Kirby now lives in 1821. His father filed the papers for this farm, which afterward passed into the possession of his son, Hugh, and is now owned by Ezra Kirby. Mrs. Mary Jane (Straney) Logan, who was born on May 12, 1824, was the daughter of Jane Brown, who was born on December 27, 1748, and who had also two other children, John Brown Straney, born on November 9, 1825, and Sarah Agnes Straney ( Mayne), August 20, 1827.
Joseph A. Logan was only nine months old when his father removed from Kentucky to Decatur county, Indiana, and settled on the old hone- stead, where the widow of his son. John H., now lives. He and his wife had eight children. Of these children, Nancy Martin was born on March 9, 1844, married a Mr. May, now deceased; Mrs. Mary Ann Cook, Octo- ber 14, 1845; Mrs. Margaret (Findley) Manlove, August 13, 1847; John
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H., is the subject of this sketch; Leander, February 9, 1853, deceased; Will- iam R., August 20, 1855, deceased; Nathan McDill Logan, September 27, 1857, and lives in Fugit township, Luna Ames, October 23, 1865, died on January 3, 1891.
After his marriage the late John H. Logan and his wife purchased the old homestead, consisting of one hundred and nineteen acres, and later bought sixty-six acres more, making in all one hundred and eighty-five acres. Upon this farm they erected a splendid modern home in 1900, and from time to time excellent outbuildings. He was a large stock raiser and feeder, and made a specialty of road horses with which he was very suc- cessful. In 1908 Mr. Logan went to Oklahoma for the purpose of regain- ing his health, which was fast failing, and died six years afterward. At the time of his death he not only left to his widow and heirs the farm in Fugit township, but also a farm where he lived at the time of his death of one hundred and fifty acres southwest of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. An energetic and honorable citizen, a good business man and farmer, he was also a splendid type of the man who practices the Christianity which he professes. If John H. Logan had any enemies at the time of his death, he did not know about it, since he lived according to the Golden Rule, and never had trouble with anybody. A Republican in politics, he was a loyal and devoted member of the Springhill United Presbyterian church.
On October 10, 1888, the late John H. Logan had been married to Jennie Carson, who was born on September 26, 1865, in Tipton county, Indiana, and who is the daughter of John and Helen (Picken) Carson, natives of Brown county, Ohio, and Scotland, respectively. The former was the son of Irish parents, and died in Tipton county in 1884. His wife died later in Indianapolis.
Mr. and Mrs. John H. Logan had four children. Of these children, Harry Carson, born on June 22, 1890, was educated in the Clarksburg high school, and after leaving high school, spent two years in a military school in Tennessee: Ruth, December 11, 1891, is a student at the Bradley Insti- tute at Peoria, Illinois, having taught school for two years; Jessie, Decem- ber 22. 1893. was a student in the Bradley Institute until her graduation in 1915, and William, April 2, 1902, is attending the Clarksburg school.
At the death of her beloved husband, Mrs. John H. Logan was left well provided for, and out of their combined earnings and savings she may enjoy all the comforts of life, and the conveniences which her beloved hus- band meant her to have. His memory is revered not only by the widow and children he left here, but by the host of friends he gained during a long and active life in this county.
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WALTER T. BOLING.
Among the enterprising business men of St. Paul, Decatur county, Indiana, may be mentioned Walter T. Boling, the proprietor of a feed and grain business at that place. Born in 1887, in Franklin county, Indiana, he is the son of William and Hannah ( Humphrey ) Boling, the former of whom was born in 1828 and died in 1899. Hannah Humphrey was the second wife of William Boling, 'the first wife having been a Miss Sloan, who bore him one child, Josephine, now deceased. By his second marriage there were twelve children, of whom Alice, the eldest and Jasper, the fifth born, are deceased. Mrs. Alice Wheeler died in February, 1914, at her honie in Laurel. The living children are, Mrs. Martha Jane Carr, of Frankfort; Mary, who is the housekeeper for George, Logan, of Clay town- ship; Albert, who is the treasurer of Decatur county; Mrs. Ada Wright, the wife of Wilbur Wright, of Adams; George W., who is engaged in the hardware business in St. Paul; W. T., the subject of this sketch; Clyde, Elmer, Owen and Edna, all of whom reside in Indianapolis.
Walter T. Boling, after spending his boyhood days on the farm, and receiving his education in the common schools of the county, left home at the age of seventeen and afterward worked on a farm in Decatur county until 1901, when he came to St. Paul and was employed in the grain ele- vator of William Nading, for whom he worked for six years. At the end of this period, he purchased an interest in the St. Paul Hardware Com- pany, where he remained for three years. Later he sold out and purchased his present business in which he has been engaged ever since. Mr. Boling handles and sells many thousands of bushels of corn each year as well as all kinds of feed and flour. He has been successful in business and now owns the mill and building. At the present time he is building a strictly modern up-to-date home in St. Paul and is spending in the neighborhood of two thousand dollars in its construction.
In October, 1904, Mr. Boling was married to Gertrude M. Wynkoop, of Sand Creek township, the daughter of Isaac Newton and Mary Eliza- beth (McGee) Wynkoop, the former of whom was born on February 24. 1850, in Franklin county, Indiana, the son of James and Barbara ( Her- rick ) Wynkoop, and the latter born on April 8, 1854, in Sand Creek town- ship, two and one-half miles from her present home, the daughter of Ralph and Sarah (Jones) McGee, the former of whom was born on January 8. 1827, and the latter born on April 12, 1832. Ralph McGee died on June 20, 1909, and his wife on February 3, 1906. Ralph McGee was the son
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of John McGee, a native of Ireland, who came to Butler county, Ohio, in 1810, and who was a soldier in the War of 1812. He married Jane Cas- sell. Mrs. Boling's paternal grandparents, James and Barbara ( Herrick) Wynkoop, were natives of Pennsylvania, the former having been born on July 19, 1817, died on February 27, 1893, and the latter born on January 23. 1817, died on November 30, 1903.
Having started in life with five cents in money, it cannot be denied that Mr. Boling has made a wonderful success in his business. He has suc- ceeded by dint of great nerve and a philosophy all his own. He is a well- known citizen in the county and is highly respected wherever known.
He is a stanch Democrat and for many years served as precinct com- mitteeman. Fraternally, he is a member of the Knights of Pythias Lodge No. 148, at Greensburg, and has been a member since he was twenty-one years old. Mrs. Boling is a member of the Baptist church, while Mr. Bol- ing is a member of the Presbyterian church.
JOHN E. OSBORN.
The legal profession has claimed many of the brighest minds of Decatur county and from the beginning of the county's history in 1822 the bar of the county has included men of high standing. From the bar of this county men have gone out to become congressmen, members of the highest courts of the state and lieutenant-governors. In whatever position they have found themselves they have acquitted themselves with credit. One of the younger members of the Decatur county bar is John E. Osborn, the senior member of the firm of Osborn & Hamilton. Without those advantages which so many of the younger lawyers of today have, he has arisen to a high place in his community through the sheer force of his personality and enjoys the utmost confidence of both bench and bar in this section of the state.
The Osborn family is of English ancestry and were early settlers in the state of New Jersey. It was in that state that Albert I. Osborn, the father of John E., was born on February 3, 1831. Albert I. Osborn was only four years of age when he came with his father, John Osborn, to Dearborn county, Indiana, later locating in Decatur county. In this county he grew to manhood, married, reared his family, and is still living. He is now in his eighty-fifth year and makes his home at Newpoint.
John E. Osborn, the youngest child of his parents, was born on August
Johnl & Osformal
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25, 1872, near Newpoint, Decatur county. Indiana. Reared on the farm and educated in the public schools at Newpoint. Rossburg and Mechanicsburg, he reached man's estate without any other than a solid common-school edu- cation. He remained on the farm until he was nineteen years of age, and desiring to become something else than a farmer, he began the study of law by himself. So rapidly did he master the rudiments of the legal profession that he was admitted to the bar in May, 1897. However, he had previously been appointed deputy county auditor, receiving the appointment at the age of nineteen, and had served as deputy auditor under his brother-in-law, John J. Puttman, from December 7, 1891, to March, 1896.
The professional career of Mr. Osborn was begun in partnership with Elmer E. Roland, but six months later he resigned from the firm to become the partner of Hugh Wickens, the present circuit judge. After the election of Mr. Wickens as judge of the ninth judicial circuit, Mr. Osborn was in partnership with Lewis A. Harding, the firm being known as Osborn & Harding from November, 1910, to January 1, 1912. On the latter date Frank Hamilton became a member of the firm, which was then changed to the firm of Osborn, Hamilton & Harding. This partnership continued until November. 1912, when Mr. Harding was elected prosecutor of this judicial district and withdrew from the firm. Since that time Mr. Osborn has been associated with Mr. Hamilton.
John E. Osborn has now been practicing before the bar of this county for nearly twenty years and has had many important cases in the county, district and state courts. His practice has constantly increased and he has had the management of many interesting cases. So successful has he been that in his several firm changes he has been able to take with him the personal business which he had acquired as a member of these respective firms. The career of Mr. Osborn has not altogether been confined to his legal business. He has branched out in industrial and commercial enterprises with the same degree of success which has marked his progress in his chosen field of law. He is a stockholder and a director of the American Cooperage Company of Helena, Arkansas; the Columbia Cooperage Company of Mc- Gehee, Arkansas; the Arkansas Cooperage Company of Jennie, Arkansas, and is a partner with John T. Meek in a plantation in Concordia Parish. Louisiana, near Natchez. He and Mr. Meek own forty-four hundred acres of land on which they raise rice, cotton and considerable live stock. They also have a saw-mill on the plantation.
On July 17, 1900, Jolin E. Osborn was married to Grace Gullefer, the (49)
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daughter of Dr. Thomas B. and Louise ( Hederick) Gullefer, to which union one son has been born. Wendell G., born on October 23, 1905.
Mrs. Osborn's father, Dr. T. B. Gullefer, was born eight miles from Indianapolis, Indiana, on March 12, 1851, a son of Stephen Gullefer, also a native of Marion county, Indiana, who died on his farm in that county in 1901. Stephen Gullefer was a son of Aaron Gullefer, a native of Wayne county, Indiana, an early settler of Marion county, where he acquired a farin of six hundred and forty acres. The wife of Stephen Gullefer was Emily Bowers, born in Salem, Indiana, in 1824, who died in July, 1853. Dr. T. B. Gullefer is the only child born to this union now living. After the death of his first wife Stephen Gullefer married a second time and had six children by his second marriage, three of whom are dead, those living being Jolin N., who owns the home farm; Eliza A., who resides with her brother Jolin, and Judson, a resident of Indianapolis.
After receiving a common-school education in the schools of Marion county. Doctor Gullefer spent one year in Butler College and then became a student of DePauw University for three years. After leaving college he taught school in the rural districts for six years. In 1879 he entered the medical college at Indianapolis and was graduated with the class of 1881. later taking a post-graduate course in the Chicago Homeopathic College, from which he was graduated in 1891. Doctor Gullefer practiced in Plain- field, Indiana, for five years; in North Vernon, Indiana, for two years, and has been in continuous practice in Greensburg, this county, for the past twenty-five years.
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