USA > Indiana > Decatur County > History of Decatur County, Indiana: its people, industries and institutions > Part 76
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119
John T. Cuskaden grew to manhood in Shelby county, and was mar- ried in 1880 to Orpha Wright, a daughter of John Wright, who was an emigrant from Derbyshire, England. Her mother, Annie Ridlen, was a native of Shelby county. After Mr. Cuskaden was married he and his wife lived on a farm in Shelby county until about sixteen years ago, when he removed to St. Paul. Mr. Cuskaden taught school for twenty-two years. He has always taken an active interest in politics and is allied with the Democratic party, a stanch and true adherent of this party. He was appointed postmaster of St. Paul on August 1, 1914.
791
DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
1
Mr. and Mrs. Cuskaden have had two children, Charity Ann, who was born on August 30, 1881, and who married Charles F. Mitchell, of Shelby county, has four children, Mildred M., Allen Wright, John William and Malcom F., and Ora Wright, on October 26, 1887, married Dora E. Rob- erts, of Shelby county, and they have one child, Clarice Winifred.
There is no doubt that Mr. Cuskaden, who has always been prominent in public affairs in Shelby and Decatur counties, owes much of his success to the splendid equipment he was permitted to obtain in the common schools of Shelby county and later in the National Normal School at Lebanon, Ohio. It was at the latter school he prepared for teaching. It was there that he developed his native capacity for learning and became a student of history and politics. John T. Cuskaden is a good man and a good citizen.
LONDA WRIGHT.
Londa Wright, one of the prominent farmers and citizens of Sand Creek township, Decatur county, Indiana, now living one and one-half miles north of Westport, was born on the old Richard Wright homestead in Clay township, near the Liberty church, and is a son of Richard and Livica (Stark) Wright, the latter of whom was a daughter of Caleb and Anna (Boone) Wright. The genealogy and family history of the Wright and Stark families may be found in the biographical sketch of Caleb Stark Wright, contained elsewhere in this volume. Richard and Luvica (Stark) Wright had a number of children, of whom Londa was the youngest.
Born on the old Wright homestead in 1864, Londa Wright lived at home until he reached the age of twenty years, at which time his father died. He supplemented the education he received in the common schools of his home township in Decatur county by some fifty weeks spent at the Northern Indiana Normal School at Valparaiso. From the time he was twenty years old until he was twenty-three, Mr. Wright was engaged in teaching school.
In 1888 Londa Wright was married to Minnie May Smiley, a daughter of Harvey and Serilda ( Robbins) Smiley, who was born on May 17, 1870. in Sand Creek township. Decatur county, Indiana. Her father was a native of Franklin county. Indiana, and when a lad came to Decatur county, where he became a prosperous farmer. He was a son of William Smiley, whose family history is contained elsewhere in this volume.
After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Wright began life together on a
792
DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
farm of one hundred and eight acres, one and one-half miles north of Hor- ace, in Sand Creek township. His present farm, which comprises two hun- dred and seventeen acres of fine land, is known as the old Robert Armstrong farm and is one of the best to be found in Sand Creek township.
Mr. and Mrs. Wright are the parents of five children, Arthur, born on April 5, 1890: Robert C., December 13, 1891 ; Lois Victoria, December II, 1894, and Marshall and Margaret, twins, April 26, 1906.
A Democrat in politics, Mr. Wright is progressive in his political ideas and principles, and is in no sense a hide-bound partisan. Both he and his good wife are members of the Baptist church at Westport. For- merly he was a member of the Knights of Pythias lodge at Greensburg. and during his membership there, passed through all the chairs, but some time ago dimitted on account of his inability to attend lodge meetings.
JOSEPH CORY.
In the history of the agricultural life of Decatur county, Joseph Cory. the proprietor of "Sulphur Springs Farm" of one hundred and sixty-eight acres, four miles from Greensburg on the Vandalia pike, occupies a conspicu- ous place. During almost a half century he has been one of the repre- sentative farmers of Decatur county, progressive, enterprising and perse- vering. Such qualities always bring a satisfactory reward. While Mr. Cory has benefited himself and the community in a material way, he has also been an influential factor in the educational, political and moral life of Wash- ington township.
Joseph Cory was born in Clay township. Decatur county, Indiana, on December 26, 1845, a son of James and Martha ( Dorton) Cory, the former of whom was born in 1817, coming to Decatur county about 1844, at which time he purchased the farm now owned by George Logan, where all of his children, except the eldest, were born and grew to manhood and womanhood. Mrs. Martha ( Dorton ) Cory, who was born in 1822, and whose parents came from New Jersey to Union county, Indiana, where their children were born, died in June, 1899. James Cory owned two hundred and forty acres of fine land in Decatur county, and was a Republican in politics. He was a successful farmer and a stockman of ability and promise. Mrs. Martha Cory's brother and sisters were John, Matthew, Ann and Belle.
James Cory was a son of Joseph and Nancy (Baker) Cory, the former
MR. AND MRS. JOSEPH CORY.
793
DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
of whom, born in New Jersey, in December, 1788, came to Ohio on horse- back in young manhood. The Cory family is of Scottish and English origin. Nancy ( Baker) Cory was a daughter of Daniel and Hannah ( Westfield) Baker. the latter of whom was a daughter of Joseph and Mary ( Halsey) Westfield. Daniel Baker was one of eight children born to Nathaniel and Abigail (Hendricks) Baker. Nathaniel Baker was born in Scotland in 1716, and came to America in 1735. He died on January 17. 1786, in his seven- tieth year, and his wife died on October 3, 1775, in her fifty-sixth year.
At the age of twenty-one years, Daniel Baker, who had enlisted as a soldier in the Revolutionary War, attracted the attention of Gen. George Washington, and served on his personal staff. It was Daniel Baker who piloted General Washington through the British lines to a silversmith for the purpose of having the general's field-glasses repaired. Daniel and Hannah (Halsey) Baker were the parents of nine children, Rhoda, Mary, Jacob, Joseph, Patrick, Philip, Elizabeth, Hannah and Nancy. In 1814 Daniel Baker and wife, with their children, came west to Ohio, where his death occurred in 1830, and there was inscribed upon his tombstone the fol- lowing words: "A companion of Washington."
To James and Martha ( Dorton ) Cory six children were born, those besides the subject of this sketch being: Ephraim, who is a resident of Missouri; Henry, living in Iowa; Mrs. Sarah Carter, widow of Elijah Carter, living at Alexandria, Indiana; James, a resident of Clay township. living south of Burney, and Mrs. Belle Pleak, wife of Charles Pleak, living in lowa.
Joseph Cory lived at home on his father's farm until his marriage on November 14, 1871, to Leanora Deem, the daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Riner) Deem. Thomas Deem was born in Ohio in 1796, and came with his family from Ohio to this county, about 1831, locating on the farm where Joseph Cory now lives, where he died in 1853. His family remained there until about 1865, when they removed to Adams, where Mrs. Deem, widow of Thomas, died in 1895. Of their ten children five are still living, namely : Mrs. Catherine Daily, the widow of .A. G. Daily, living in Greensburg at the age of eighty-five years: John W. Deem, of Greensburg, is eighty-four years of age; Mrs. Elizabeth Whitlow, wife of John Whitlow, a resident of Topeka, Kansas, eighty-one years of age; Oliver Deem, seventy-four years of age, a resident of Greensburg, and Mrs. Joseph Cory, the wife of the subject of this review. The deceased children of Thomas Deem and wife were Mrs. Eliza Anne Steward, who was the wife of Barney Steward, both of whom are now deceased: Lemuel, deceased: William
794
DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
Henry, who died while in the service of his country during the Civil War; Thomas Henry, also a soldier of the Civil War, who died while in the ser- vice. and Mrs. Mary Anna Heaton, widow of Thomas Heaton, who died on March 6, 1915. The mother of these children, who, before her mar- riage, was Sarah Riner, was born, on October 20, 1809, in Virginia, and removed with her parents to Butler county, Ohio, in 1846. She was mar- ried to Thomas Deem in 1825, and they removed to Decatur county in 1833.
To Joseph and Leanora ( Deem) Cory two children have been born, Walter B., deceased, and Irma, who married John M. Douglas, a native of this county, who is farming the old home place for Mr. Cory.
"Sulphur Springs Farm" in Washington township, consists of a fine quality of soil, which is gently undulating, and there general farming and stock raising are carried on. The farm is beautifully situated and the buildings are kept in a first-class state of repair. Hogs, corn and clover are the chief products of the farm, and Joseph Cory has always been rated as a successful farmer and business man.
The part which Joseph Cory has played in the agricultural development of Decatur county, Indiana, cannot be overestimated, but he has been 110 less prominent as a farmer than as a business man and citizen, and today, surrounded with all the material comforts of life, he enjoys the respect of his neighbors and the esteem of everyone with whom he has ever come in contact.
WILLIAM H. MOBLEY.
In Clay township, Decatur county, Indiana, one mile east of Harts- ville and about five miles southwest of Burney on the Columbus and Greens- burg pike, lives William H. Mobley, a distinguished citizen, farmer and mi11le dealer, who it may be truthfully said, had he been born and reared under the shadow of and influence of Wall street, would certainly have become one of America's foremost captains of industry and millionaires. A comparatively young man but a man who is today known in all of the leading mule markets of the world, he could, if he decided to convert his per- sonal property into cash and liquidate whatever indebtedness he has, have, besides his twelve hundred and eighty-five acres of rich farming land in Decatur county, at least twenty thousand dollars in cash. He is one of the largest horse and mule dealers in the Middle West and buys from all parts of the United States and ships to all of the leading markets of this
795
DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
country, mules worth at least a half million dollars every year. Although he has expended great muscular and physical energy in his work, he has made his brain do most of the work and this is one of the secrets of his large success.
A man who is not yet forty-five years old and who has never had a single dollar given to him, his wealth today probably amounts to over two hundred thousand dollars. In 1894 he bought forty acres of land and in 1901 he had accumulated four hundred and ten acres which had cost him fifty-five dollars an acre and upon which he had a loan of twenty thousand dollars. Since then he has bought and sold several farms and has now twelve hundred and eighty-five acres.
William H. Mobley, who was born in 1871, is the son of John Henry and Mary Ann (Burk) Mobley, natives of Pennsylvania and of Scotch- Irish descent and who came to Indiana about 1842 and settled in Bartliolo- mew county on a farm. His father was a successful farmer and business man and died in 1897 at the age of seventy-five years. He was a strong Republican in politics and leader in the councils of his party during his life. Mrs. Mary Ann Mobley was the daughter of Hunter Burk, who married a Miss Hunter, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania. Mrs. Mobley lives in Bartholomew county with her youngest son. She and her husband had a family of ten children, Lyman, who lives in Kansas; Mrs. Emma Wilson, of Bartholomew county; Randolph M., who is a resident of North Dakota: Theodore, who lives in Bartholomew county; Mrs. Margaret Wright, who lives in California: Mrs. Ella Loose, who died in Iowa; Loren, who died in infancy; Arthur, who died in infancy; William H., the subject of this sketch, and James Hunter, who resides in Bartholomew county.
Large successes generally have small beginnings. It was so with the career of William H. Mobley. Beginning in a small way, his rise to for- tune has become a matter of remarkable interest to the people of this county. The home farm and outbuildings are well kept and present a pleasing home appearance, nevertheless, an air of large and important business. The sale barn is eighty by one hundred and thirty-two feet and the cattle barn, fifty by eighty feet. Mr. Mobley holds auction sales attended by buyers from all parts of the country. The size of the buildings on his home farm and the business-like appearance of the establishment, suggest the auction barns of the large cities. Besides the two large barns on the farm, there is also a blacksmith shop and a garage. The owner of this great business enterprise has been offered one hundred and fifty dollars an acre for his home farm,
796
DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
comprising four hundred and fifteen acres, and, according to the tax dupli- cates of Decatur county, is the highest-priced land to be found in the county. Mr. Mobley thinks real estate, and especially farm real estate, is the best investment in the world. The annual sales of the Mobley farm amount to between thirty and forty thousand dollars for every sale and at least one sale amounted to sixty-one thousand dollars. William H. Mobley buys one carload or ten carloads of mules in as many minutes and makes a thousand or two dollars quite as quickly. The expenses of his business are enormous for an enterprise of this kind. Ordinarily his telephone rent amounts to fifty dollars a month and he pays high wages to all of his employees. One man worked for him for ten years and received sixty dollars a month dur- ing the entire time. There are six tenant houses on the farm and the tenants rent land for one-third of the annual production. Men regularly employed on the farm, however, live at Hartsville. On September 25, 1914, the date of Mr. Mobley's annual sale, five hundred mules were sold. He has from one hundred to one hundred and fifty head of mules on hand at all times of the year and raises about two hundred head of cattle every year.
As a matter of fact, the large capacity for business with which Will- iam H. Mobley is endowed is not surprising when it is remembered that his deceased father was a large speculator, having the same active instinct regarding business.
In 1903 Mr. Mobley was married to Grace Pearl Myers, of Decatur county, the daughter of George M. and Mary Alice ( Taylor) Myers, the former of whom lives one mile east of Forest Hill on a farm of one lun- (red acres, and who is a son of William Myers. Mary Alice Taylor was the daughter of George and Hannah ( Wise ) Taylor. To Mr. and Mrs. Mobley have been born two children, Mary Florine, in 1904, and Franklin Wayne, in 1908.
William H. Mobley has made good because he has given strict atten- tion to his business. His striking personality has been no small factor in his success. He believes in taking chances and, moreover, he believes in taking big chances. To begin with, he is a man of highly progressive ideas. His mind is always at work. Although he received a good common school education and additional training in Hartsville College, there is nothing in his educational experience which would account for his magnificent success in life. While talking to you he leaves the impression of a man who knows what he wants and how to get it. He has always been a heavy borrower of money and is a stockholder in the Burney State Bank and a director of the Hope State Bank. He is a firm believer in his home county and believes in
797
DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
investing in land in this county rather than in other states. Everything that Mr. Mobley buys, he buys at home. if it is at all possible to do so.
Although a Republican, he is interested in politics only as a citizen, and would not have the best office within the gift of the people if it were offered him. Any community is indeed fortunate to have as one of its citizens a man of the temper and ability of William H. Mobley, who is widely and favorably known.
CLARENCE E. GREELEY.
The Greeley Stone Company of St. Paul, Indiana, is one of the large and flourishing enterprises of Decatur county and one in which the people of this county have every reason to take great pride. This enterprise is the conception of a father and two sons, the latter being Clarence E. and R. E. Greeley, both of whom have been residents of St. Paul since the beginning of the industry in 1908.
In the first place, the Greeley Stone Company, which was incorporated in 1908. with a capital stock of fifteen thousand dollars, is the largest plant of its kind in Decatur county, employing twenty-five men and producing twelve hundred carloads annually of stone for road building and concrete work. The plant is located on sixteen acres of land on the bank of Flat- rock and has a capacity of one thousand tons per day. The stone is exca- vated to a depth of thirty feet and elevated for grinding. The crusher which is of the Gates design, breaks the stone into different sizes and delivers the product into waiting cars on a special track owned by the com- pany. The plant is operated by a one-hundred-and-fifty-horse-power engine, which derives its power from two hundred-and fifty-horse-power boilers. Besides crushing all sizes of stones for road purposes, the company crushes and pulverizes limestone dust for fertilizer. This dust is obtained by screening and is a by-product of which about one carload daily is produced. By chemical analysis it shows about ninety-four per cent. calcium carbide and magnesia, and is valuable for fertilizer and is extensively used in this section. The pay roll of the company is from eight hundred to one thou- sand dollars per month and in 1914 amounted to nearly sixteen thousand dollars.
The geniuses who are behind this industry, actively, are Clarence E. Greeley, secretary and treasurer, and R. E. Greeley, general manager. Albert Greeley, of Muncie, Indiana. the father of Clarence E. and R. E., is the vice-president of the company. Clarence E. Greeley is a native of
798
DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
Warren county, Ohio, being born on the Little Miami river in 1879, the- son of Albert and Tena Greeley, both of whom were born in Ohio. Albert Greeley was engaged in the saw-mill and flour-milling business at Foster Crossing, Ohio, until the beginning of the gas boom in Delaware county, Indiana, when he moved to this state. After moving to Muncie, Indiana, he engaged in the lumber business, in which he has been very successful. He is now rated as one of the substantial business men of Delaware county. In 1908 the Greeley Stone Company was incorporated and another industry added to the interest of the Greeley family. Albert Greeley was president of the Indiana Lumber Dealers' Association and is, at the present time, one of the directors of the Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Indiana.
Born in Warren county, Ohio, Clarence Greeley was educated in the public schools of Muncie, Indiana. When twenty-four years of age, he engaged in the lumber business at Selma, a small town east of Muncie, and there he was very successful. From Selma, he inoved to Illinois, where he was also engaged in the lumber business. He sold out in 1908 at the time of the organization of the Greeley Stone Company.
Clarence E. Greeley was married to Louise Bantly Kirk, a native of Muncie, Indiana, and the daughter of John and Bertha Kirk, also natives of Muncie. Mr. and Mrs. Greeley have one daughter, Helen, who was born in 1903.
R. E. Greeley, who is the general manager of the Greeley Stone Com- pany, was born in Ohio in 1881 and was educated at Muncie, Indiana, and at Culver Military School. Before the organization of the Greeley Stone Company, he was also engaged in the lumber business. In 1901 H. E. Greeley was married to Velma Keltner, a daughter of Dr. F. M. and Rebecca Keltner, of Muncie. Mr. and Mrs. Greeley have four children, Mildred, thirteen years old; Robert, ten years old; Francis, seven years old, and Virginia, six years old.
Both Clarence E. and R. E. Greeley have been active in politics since coming to Decatur county. They are ardent and active Republicans as is their father also. R. E. was a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks at Muncie. but has since transferred his membership to the Greensburg lodge, and R. E. Greeley is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons.
Here in Decatur county, the Greeley brothers have come to be recog- nized as among its most aggressive and capable young business men. The industry which they helped to establish and which they manage, has brought thousands of dollars to this county and the people here are highly pleased with their great success.
799
DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
JOHN W. BURNEY.
The carcers of men who have been successful are instructive as guides and incentives to those who are just beginning life. The examples which successful men furnish, patient purpose and consecutive endeavor, strongly illustrate what each and every man may accomplish. John Burney, a model citizen of Clay township, Decatur county, Indiana, is a man whose life is a conspicuous example of industry, courage as a citizen, wise and frugal living, cordial relations with the public generally. As a farmer he has enjoyed a large measure of success. He owns two large tracts of land, one a farm of two hundred acres, two miles northwest of Burney, and another of two hundred and eight acres, three and one-half miles southwest of town on the Columbus and Greensburg pike. The latter is known as the Graham farm.
John W. Burney was born on the old Burney homestead now owned by Edward Jackson, son-in-law of S. M. Burney, in 1849. He is the son of S. M. and Sarah (Pumphrey) Burney, old citizens of this county. S. M. Burney was born in 1814 in North Carolina, and came to Decatur county with his parents in pioneer times when Clay township was nothing but a howling wilderness. The family settled on the farm that Edward Jackson now owns, and which is known as the old Burney farm. The parents of S. M. Burney spent the remainder of their lives in Milford, the mother having died at the home of hier son, S. M. He was a very successful farmer and owned several hundred acres of land in this county. He gave five hun- dred dollars to the town of Burney when it was founded and purchased stock in the railroad when it was built. Burney was named for him. A progres- sive, broad-minded man, his word was as good as his bond. A public- spirited citizen, he donated several hundred dollars to the building of the Methodist church at Milford and at Burney. He was a stanch Democrat and true to his party. While he never asked for office, he always held at heart the welfare of his party and country. He left the impress of his char- acter and influence upon the life of this community, and died full of honors as only a private citizen who has done well his duty can die. He passed away in 1901 at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Edward Jackson. The Pumphreys are an old family in this section.
John W. Burney began life for himself when about twenty-five years old. He had a small start from his father, but has accumulated most of his land and property by his own efforts.
In 1875 Mr. Burney was married to Mary Sharp, daughter of James
800
DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
Sharp, a native of Decatur county, and an old and well-established family in Sand Creek township. The Sharps were early settlers here, and promin- ent in the social and agricultural life of the county.
Eleven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. John W. Burney, of whom Samuel, Annie, Opal and Orlif are deceased ; Lula, Clara, Arthur. Clifford, Bertha, Mattie and Ethel. Arthur lives in Adams; Bertha is the wife of Charles Gilliland, of Hope; Mattie married Clarence Thompson, of Burney : Ethel lives at home: Clifford married Blanche Horner. Although Mr. Burney is a stanch and true Democrat. he is, nevertheless, a progressive thinker, and is somewhat independent in his political thought and action. In 1890 he was elected trustee of Clay township, and gave a most efficient and satisfactory administration. He is a man well respected in this com- munity and well known. Fraternally, Mr. Burney is a member of the Knights of Pythias lodge at Burney. He is a charter member of this organization.
Mr. Burney's success as a farmer he attributes to raising corn and hogs, because from these he has derived his greatest profits.
ALBERT BOLING.
The ancestral history of the Boling family in Decatur county goes back to the time when Benjamin Boling, a native of Virginia and the scion of a very old family of the Old Dominion, emigrated to Decatur county in 1818, four years before the city of Greensburg was laid out, and here homestead a farm of eighty acres, now owned by Albert Boling, the present treasurer of Decatur county. The Boling family have been promi- nent property owners in Decatur county for at least three generations and they have also been prominent in the civic and political life of this section. No case can be cited where they have ever failed to discharge worthily the sacred trusts imposed upon them by their neighbors and fellow citizens. Albert Boling has conscientiously and faithfully performed the duties of treasurer of Decatur county, and the efficiency and honesty with which he has managed this office were rewarded in 1914 by his election to a second term1.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.