USA > Indiana > Decatur County > History of Decatur County, Indiana: its people, industries and institutions > Part 74
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Dr. Thomas B. Gullefer was married in 1873 to Louise Hedrick, who was born in Gallatin county, Kentucky, in 1851. daughter of John and Charlotte Hedrick, to which union two children were born, Grace and Bessie. Grace is the wife of Mr. Osborn and Bessie married Jolm Hor- nung, Jr., a grain merchant of Greensburg. Mrs. Gullifer passed away on July 5. 1915.
Doctor Gullefer is a Republican in politics and has served as coroner of Decatur county for eleven years; six years as secretary of the county board of health, and four years as secretary of the city board of health. He also served as United States pension examiner for one year, and is the present medical examiner for the government civil service in the fourth con- gressional district. He is a member of the Indiana Institute of Homeopathy.
John E. Osborn made his first start in Democratic politics immediately after reaching his majority and has taken a keen interest in political affairs ever since. As member of the Democratic state central committee from the
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sixth congressional district from January, 1908. to January, 1912, his wise and judicious management of Democratic affairs was largely responsible for the election of many Democrats to office. When Finley Gray was elected to Congress in 1912, he was the first Democrat to go to Congress from this district for twenty-five years. Mr. Osborn deserves no little share of the credit for bringing about the election of this Democratic congressman.
Mrs. Osborn is an active member of the Christian church of Greens- burg. Mr. and Mrs. Osborn are prominent in the various activities of the community which go toward making it a better and happier place in which to live. Their influence is always cast in behalf of all humanitarian and benevolent projects and in this way they have earned the commendation of all those with whom they come into contact.
GEORGE W. BOLING.
During a period of nearly a century, various members of the Boling family have been prominent in the agricultural, industrial, commercial and political life of Decatur and adjoining counties. The family was founded in this section of Indiana by Benjamin Boling, an interesting pioneer citi- zen of this region. William Boling, the fatlier of George W., and the son of Benjamin Boling, owned a farm just over the line from Decatur county in Franklin county, and spent all of his life on this farm. It is now owned by Albert Boling, a brother of George W., and the present county treasurer.
George W. Boling, who is best known in Decatur county for his inter- est in the St. Paul Hardware Company, of St. Paul, Indiana, was born on September 14, 1873, in Franklin county, Indiana. His parents were Will- iam and Hannah ( Humphrey ) Boling, the former of whom was born in 1828 and who died in October, 1899. Hannah Humphrey was the second wife of William Boling and now lives in Adams in this county. His first wife was a Miss Sloan, who bore her husband one child, Josephine. now (leceased. By the second marriage there were twelve children, of whom two, Mrs. Alice Wheeler, the eldest, and Jasper, the fifth born, are deceased, the former dying in February, 1914, at her home in Laurel, Indiana. The living children are, Mrs. Martha Jane Carr, who lives at Frankfort: Mary. who makes her home with George Logan in Clay township, and is his housekeeper; Albert, who is the present treasurer of Decatur county; Mrs. Ada Wright, who is the wife of Wilbur Wright, of Adams, Indiana; George
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W., who is the subject of this sketch; Walter T., who is in the feed and grain business and operates a mill at St. Paul; Clyde; Elmer; Owen, and Edna, all of whom are in Indianapolis.
Although a member of a large family, George W. Boling was not denied the very best educational advantages and, after completing the com- mon school course of Decatur county, was a student at the Danville Normal school and the Indianapolis Business University. He was employed by various firms in Indianapolis after graduating from the business college, particularly the William B. Burford Printing Company, the Erie Railroad and the American Express Company. In 1901 he came to St. Paul, Indiana. and for two years operated the William Nading elevator. In 1903 Mr. Boling entered the hardware business under the firm name of Leffler & Boling at St. Paul. This arrangement continued until in October, 1903, when the firm became Mobley & Boling. This firm continued until 1905, when Elmer Upjohn purchased Mr. Mobley's interest when the St. Paul Hardware Company was organized. In 1908 C. F. Thompson purchased the interest of Mr. Upjohn and he is now a member of the firm. The company has a storeroom, thirty by eighty feet, and a wareroom adjacent in a brick block. They also have a garage in the Red Men's building, forty by forty feet, which is used as a storage room for automobiles. The com- pany handles general hardware, agricultural implements, the Johnson line of implements, Oliver plows and other standard lines, cream separators, Fehring buggies, manufactured at Columbus, Indiana, standard makes of wagons, guns and ammunition, stoves, kerosene and gasoline. The com- pany is also the local agent for the Studebaker Automobile Company, and the agent in Shelby, Rush and Decatur counties for the Hercules car. Inci- dentally, they handle automobile supplies and automobile tires. They sell gas and gasoline engines, washing machines, install furnaces, water sys- tems and plumbing. The company is well equipped to fit up a residence in a most modern way, so far as heating and water systems are concerned.
George W. Boling is connected with the St. Paul Building and Loan Association in the capacity of secretary. This company has its offices in Mr. Boling's store and was organized in 1886. It has done more to build up St. Paul than any other concern in the township, particularly in enabling laborers and quarrymen to erect homes in this community.
In May, 1901, George W. Boling was married to Nona B. Burner, the daughter of William Burner of Greensburg. To this union has been born three children, Mildred Louise, Vivian Avalon and Clara Virginia.
Mr. and Mrs. Boling and family are members of the Methodist Epis-
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copal church. Fraternally, Mr. Boling is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is identified with the Republican party, but has never held office.
JAMES N. BUSH.
James N. Bush, a veteran of the Civil War and formerly a stone quarry superintendent and bridge builder of Adams township, was born in 1842 in Owen county, Kentucky, and is the son of Pleasant and Drusilla (Smoot) Bush, both of whom were natives of Kentucky. Their parents came from Virginia to Kentucky. The Smoot family came originally came from Scotland.
Pleasant Bush was the son of Joseph and the Bush family came orig- inally from England, and Joseph Bush's wife, who before her marriage was a Miss Duncan, was of German extraction. Pleasant Bush, himself, was born, lived and died in Kentucky.
In 1869 James N. Bush came to Decatur county with his wife, to whom he had been married in 1866, in Kentucky. They had one child at the time. Catherine (Smoot) Bush, the wife of James N., was born in Kentucky and was the daughter of George Smoot, a native of that state. Born in 1842, she died in Decatur county in 1908. They had a family of six children, three of whom are still living at St. Paul, William, who is a blacksmith; A. M., who is a restaurant keeper, and C. L., who is a partner with A. M. They have erected many fine buildings in this part of the county, including a fine concrete business building in St. Paul.
When Mr. Bush came to Decatur county he began cutting stone. He followed this trade for about a year, when he was employed by W. W. Lowe, for whom he worked for twenty-one years as superintendent of stone quarries. He afterward leased and operated for himself a stone quarry and, in the meantime, was engaged in bridge building.
In 1863 Mr. Bush enlisted in Company E, Thirtieth Regiment, Ken- tucky Volunteer Infantry, which was mounted and commanded by Colonel Alexandria. This regiment was attached to the army of General Stone- man. Mr. Bush saw hard service and was detailed to scout work mostly, his regiment having operated chiefly in Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. He served until the close of the war, being mustered out of service on April 18, 1865. On one occasion his division engaged the army of General
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Breckenridge at Saltville and was badly defeated; in fact, almost anni- hilated. However. they returned to Saltville with four thousand men and there engaged General Breckenridge and defeated him. Saltville was an important point, since it was the source of salt for the Confederate army. The Union army destroyed the salt works and the available supply of salt. Mr. Bush had many thrilling escapades in scout duties. He was possessed of wonderful zest and courage which served him well on many occasions. He was a brave and resourceful soldier and is today very proud of his military record, which he has every right to be.
For many years James N. Bush has been badly afflicted with rheuma- tism, but nevertheless is a man of cheerful disposition. In his life he has inade considerable money and had a comfortable competence laid by to last him the remainder of his life. On account of sickness and death in his family his fortune is somewhat depleted. After the death of his wife he divided his property among his children and went to live with his son, a business man of St. Paul.
Mr. Bush is a man of strong convictions, which have always been a good guide for his actions. Reared in one of the strongest rebel counties of Kentucky, where all of his neighbors and practically all of his relatives joined the Confederate army, Mr. Bush himself believed in the cause of the Union and chose to support the stars and stripes. He believed that slavery was wrong and human freedom was right, and cast his lot accord- ingly. No citizen is more highly respected in Decatur county than the ven- erable James N. Bush.
JOHN R. KANOUSE.
The late John R. Kanouse was a well-known merchant and farmer of St. Paul, Adams township, Decatur county, Indiana. He was a man of large mental mold and of prodigious physical energy, one who by careful application to his personal business built up a large patronage in this com- munity and who held, at the time of his death, the respect and confidence of the host of friends he had made during his life.
The late John R. Kanouse was born in 1844 in Clay township, Decatur county, Indiana, the son of George and Isabelle (Sumpter) Kanouse, the latter of whom was the daughter of John and Elizabeth Sumpter, natives of Iowa, and relatives of General Sumpter of Civil War fame. George Kanouse himself was a soldier in the Civil War. In 1871 John R. Kanouse was
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married to Courtney McCoy, a daughter of Isaiah and Mary (Short) McCoy, the former of whom was a native of Virginia, born in 1815, and who died in 1909. After coming to Decatur county with his parents, William and Nancy (Waple) McCoy, when seven years of age, he settled with them on a farm in Adams township. William McCoy was a miller on Clifty creek and a soldier in the War of 1812. He died in Kentucky. Isaiali McCoy was a Decatur county farmer and a very successful business man, who started. in life with nothing and who by his shrewdness, industry and good management accumulated considerable property. He owned several hundred acres of land at the time of his death. A Republican in politics, he was a man of strong convictions as well as of good moral character. He died in 1909, leaving a family of seven children. John, Benjamin and Mrs. Nancy Lawhead are deceased; Mrs. Eliza Garrett is the wife of Lewis Garrett, of Adams township; Mrs. Julia Bright is the wife of John Bright, of Adams township; Courtney married Mr. Kanouse, and Mrs. Arminda Boicourt is the wife of George Boicourt, who lives near Letts in Sand Creek township.
Mrs. Courtney Kanouse was born in 1850 in Adams township and educated in the common schools of Decatur county. She grew to woman- hood at home and there lived until her marriage in 1871. She is a woman of keen business judgment, well able to care successfully for the business with which she was left at the time of her husband's death. She is a mem- ber of the Christian church at St. Paul, of the Order of the Eastern Star and the Rebekahs.
After their marriage in 1871, Mr. and Mrs. John R. Kanouse started in life at St. Omer in Decatur county, where he was engaged in the mer- cantile business. He was very successful there, but after two years, in 1880, he and his wife removed to St. Paul, where he engaged in the mer- cantile business and in which he continued until two years before his death.
An unusually successful business man, the late John R. Kanouse owned, at the time of his death, not only the large store in St. Paul, but three hun- dred acres of land as well.
Mr. and Mrs. John R. Kanouse had eight children, seven of whom are now living, as follow: Roy K. is a merchant in Greensburg; Mrs. Daisy Bewley lives in California; George is in the automobile business in Indian- apolis; Mrs. Rose Hill, wife of Oscar Jay, prosecuting attorney of Elkhart, Indiana; Mrs. Nellie Hill is the wife of James Hill, of Westport; Mrs. Edna Wolf is the wife of Carl Wolf, of St. Paul; Frank lives at home.
No duty, public or private, was neglected by the late John R. Kanouse.
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A man of deep religious convictions, he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Fraternally, he was identified with the Masonic frater- nity and the Knights of Pythias. He was also a Red Man. His acquaint- ances and friends were not confined to Decatur county. He had a host of friends in Shelby county as well. His beloved widow is a woman of refine- ment and of splendid Christian character. She has a beautiful home in St. Paul, where, with her son and his wife, she is living.
JOHN T. PAVY.
No family in the western part of Decatur county has exerted a more widely marked influence for good throughout that section than has the Pavy family, which has been active in the good works of the Milford and the Burney neighborhoods for the past four or five generations and is one of the most substantial and well-established families in this part of the state. The late John T. Pavy, whose death at his home in Burney on March 21, 1914, was widely mourned throughout the section of the county in which he so long had been one of the leaders in the religions and social life thereabout, was an able, upright and influential citizen; a man who created a distinct impress upon the life of his time in the com- munity in which for years he had gone about doing good, and it is but fitting and proper that in a history of the county covering the period of his activities here, there should be presented a modest sketch of his useful career, together with some of the salient points relating to his interesting family. Though a quiet, unassuming man, John T. Pavy ever was fore- most in the good works of his neighborhood and none therein was held in higher esteem and respect than he. Generous and kind-hearted, he ever was willing to lend a helping hand and many there are in the part of the county to which his labors were devoted who have cause to cherish his memory with feelings of gratitude and warmest admiration. A devout Christian, he imparted to all his relations with his fellow men a spirit of sincerity that left no doubt regarding the noble and disinterested inotives that animated his course of action. In his daily walk and conversation, John T. Pavy was frank and direct, open and aboveboard; and all men knew where he stood on questions affecting the general welfare. Being one of the most substantial farmers in the western part of Decatur county. he very naturally and by proper right took his place among the leaders of
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thought and sentiment thereabout and his judgment on local issues or on questions of right and policy exerted a fine and enduring influence upon the neighborhood. He and his wife were members of the Baptist church and their children were reared in that faith, the family being among the most active workers in the various beneficences of the church. He was an ardent Republican, though not of the office-seeking class, and his sound judgment and keen knowledge of affairs gave to his political opinions no light weight with the managers of the party in this county. He was an ideal husband and father, his invariable and unswerving devotion to his family having been beautiful to sec, and his death created a vacancy in the family circle which time does not fill, his widow and children being devoted to his memory, cherishing the same as a priceless legacy, for he left a stainless name; the record of a blameless life, than which there can be no more fitting phrase used in eulogy.
John T. Pavy was born on a farm in Clay township, Decatur county, Indiana, a short distance west of the village of Burney, in the year 1848, a son of J. J. and Nancy (Deem) Pavy, both members of pioneer families in this county, further details of the genealogy of this family being pre- sented elsewhere in this volume, these families having been prominent and influential in the days of the county's early settlement. Reared on the home farm, receiving the most careful training in the rudiments of agri- culture, a vocation to which he was destined to devote his life, John T. Pavy attended Hartsville College for a time and completed his education at Franklin College. He entered upon his life as a farmer with charac- teristic energy, giving to the details of the farm a studious attention which was productive of results and he became quite successful, leaving a valuable estate at the time of his death.
On March 28, 1878, at Milford, Decatur county, Indiana, John T. Pavy was united in marriage to Anna Jackson, who was born on a farm in Clay township, this county, daughter of William T. and Margaret ( Miers) Jackson, the former of whom was the son of William D. and Amelia ( Hill- man) Jackson, who settled in this county in 1840. William D. Jackson was a Virginian and his wife was a native of Maryland. Shortly after their marriage they located in Cincinnati, where William D. Jackson became a prosperous real estate dealer. In 1840 they came to Decatur county, set- tling on a quarter-section of land in Fugit township, removing thence, in 1847. to Clay township, where they lived until 1853, in which year they moved to a farm two and one-half miles west of the town of Greensburg, where they spent the rest of their lives. An interesting story of the life
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of this pioneer family is presented elsewhere in this volume in the bio- graphical sketch relating to William E. Jackson, a brother of Mrs. Pavy.
William T. Jackson was about eighteen years of age when his parents moved from Cincinnati to this county. He married Margaret Miers, daugh- ter of Thomas Miers, one of the most substantial of the pioneer farmers of Decatur county, and to this union were born eight children, namely: Anna, the widow of Mr. Pavy: James, deceased; Edwin, a well-known farmer of Clay township, this county; Benjamin J., deceased; Adelaide, who married Henry Barnes; William E., a prominent farmer of Washington township. this county, who married Alta Moore; Charles J., who died in infancy, and Harry, who lives in Colorado. William T. Jackson died at the age of sixty years and his wife died at the age of sixty-eight.
Anna (Jackson ) Pavy was born in a log cabin on what is now known as the Miers farm in Clay township, then owned by her father, previously by her grandfather. She was educated in the schools at Milford, this county, and at the old academy at Danville, Indiana, her father having been for a time engaged in the dry goods business at Danville. Upon her marriage, in 1878, to Mr. Pavy she entered seriously upon the life of farming and was an earnest and devoted helpmeet of her husband. When she was married she was a member of the Methodist church, but changed her church affiliation to the Baptist in order to conform her faith to that of her hus- band, he having been reared in the Baptist faith, and for years they were among the most active and influential members of the congregation to which they were attached. A woman of broad mind and sterling character. Mrs. Pavy has always been an influence for good in the Burney neighborhood and her home in the pleasant village of Burney is a center from which radiate only the blandest and most salutary promptings.
To John T. and Anna (Jackson) Pavy were born two children, a son and a daughter. Harry, who was born in 1882, is operating a part of the home farm, and Lena, who married Ewing Arnold, lives on the William F. Smiley farm, one and one-half miles south of Greensburg. Beside his wife and children, John T. Pavy left several brothers and sisters to mourn his death, to his parents having been born the following children: Susan, who lives on the old Pavy farm south of Burney: Elizabeth; Dorcas, who married Felix Gartin, a prominent live stock dealer of this county, died in 1915: Matilda, who lives on the home farm: John T .. deceased. the subject of this sketeh; James, a farmer of the Forest Hill neighborhood ; Rev. William A., pastor of the Baptist church at Waldron; Nannie, who
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married Daniel Harker; Mary J., who married John Templeton, and Mi- nerva, who was born blind and who is living at the old home. Minerva Pavy was educated in the Indiana school for the blind at Indianapolis and became a proficient musician, being not only a fine singer, but an accom- plished pianist, having supplemented her course in the state school by a finishing course in the Indianapolis Conservatory of Music. She is a. woman of much charm and grace of manner and of a highly cultivated mind. Despite the affliction which has shut her out from a sight of all the beauties and the wonders of the world, she is possessed of a charmingly cheerful disposition and is a great favorite with her many friends.
OTTO F. DIETRICH.
Among the prosperous and well-established enterprises of Burney, Clay township, Decatur county, Indiana, is the saw-mill. owned and operated by Otto F. Dietrich, which was established in 1902 with an invested capital of three thousand dollars. This mill has a capacity of eight thousand feet daily and Mr. Dietrich, while he does some commercial custom work, is largely engaged in cutting and sawing his own timber. He buys timber in large tracts, has the logs cut and saws them in his own mill. He employs the minimum of six hands and sometimes as many as twenty. The mill consists of the very latest equipment.
Otto F. Dietrich was born on April 8, 1876, in Germany, and is the son of Ferdinand and Marie (Weber) Dietrich. On May 9, 1888, Otto F. Dietrich, at the age of twelve years, arrived in America with an aunt, Pauline Dietrich. For some time he resided with an uncle, Charles Dietrich, in Tipton county. Although he had received a liberal education in Ger- many, he attended school for four years after coming to America and mastered the English language. For five years he worked as a farm hand in Tipton county, Indiana. In 1893 his parents and brothers and sisters came to Bartholomew county, Indiana, and began farming one and one- half miles west of St. Louis. They purchased a farm near Hartsville and there the father died in 1895. . After his death. the mother and sisters moved to Cincinnati, where the mother purchased a home.
Mr. Dietrich, however, remained in this state and engaged in farming and in saw-mill business. He took charge of the old mill at Burney and in 1905 tore out all of the old machinery and installed new. Mr. Dietrich
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rents land extensively on which he raises crops to feed the horses which he uses in the mill and for hauling logs to the mill.
On October 8, 1902, Mr. Dietrich was married to Lillie Aton, who was born on a farm, one and one-half miles southwest of Hope in Bar- tholomew county. They have had two children, Frank, who died at the age of nine years in the fall of 1913 of diphtheria, and Paul, who is now six years old.
Mr. Dietrich is a Democrat and he and his wife are members of the Lutheran church. Fraternally, he is a member of the Loyal Order of Moose. Formerly, he was a member of the Knights of Pythias.
ANTHONY B. MULROY.
Anthony B. Mulroy, a substantial citizen and business man of Decatur county, Indiana, and a resident of St. Paul, was born in 1859, in this town, the son of Richard and Bridget ( Barrett ) Mulroy, the former of whom was a native of County Mayo, Ireland, born in 1825.
On the day that Richard Mulroy was twenty-two years old, he took passage on a sailing boat, "Star of the North," for America, landing in New York city after an eventful voyage in 1847. When the ship on which he came to America was three days out of port, a terrific storm was encount- ered and the experiences of all on board was something to be remembered during their entire lives. For three days the ship was completely lost, and at times those on board almost gave up hope of ever seeing land. However, the "Star of the North" was a good, seafaring boat and successfully with- stood the severe storm. When Richard Mulroy landed in New York city, he was without funds or friends. Starting out in life in the new world, he obtained employment on a farm in New York state, and after working a year there removed to Pennsylvania, where he remained for three years. He made three unsuccessful attempts to enlist as a soldier in the Mexican War.
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