USA > Indiana > Decatur County > History of Decatur County, Indiana: its people, industries and institutions > Part 85
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Mr. Mulford's family consists of his wife, Cora, one daughter, Harriet Thelma, and three sons, David Sherman, Irvin Gaylord and Glen Emmert. all of whom were born in Greensburg, as was also little Alma Alleen, who met so sudden a death.
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THOMAS EDGAR HAMILTON.
A great movement cannot be built on one little ship-the "Mayflower." It takes a lot of ships and a big lot of people to make a commonwealth. A pyramid cannot be built on its apex, nor a great nation on one ship. Ply- mouth and Salem and Boston: Providence, Hartford and New Haven ; Manhattan. Philadelphia, Baltimore, Jamestown, Raleigh, Charleston and Savannah are the bright and shining stars of the Pilgrim immigration to America: and the Brotherhood of Separationists, of Puritans, of Dutch burgomasters, of Roman Catholic freemen, of Philadelphia Quakers, of Virginia planters, of Carolina descendants of Locke and of Georgia Hugue- nots illustrate the fact that one type of motive makes the world akin. The above typical lovers of freedom whose crowning act was the wresting from the home government of independence for the thirteen original colonies have many descendants in this county, families of Revolutionary descent being naturally very common in a district whose early settlement followed so soon after the westward movement of many soldiers of the Revolution. Few of these families have a wider connection in this county or a more distinguished descent than the Hamilton family, to which the gentleman whose name is noted above is attached, and it is a pleasure for the biographer to set out here something of Thomas Edgar Hamilton's career in the county in which he was born and in which his whole life has been spent.
Thomas Edgar Hamilton, a well-known farmer of Washington town- ship. this county, whose well-tilled farm adjoins the city of Greensburg on the north, was born in Clinton township, this county. April 19, 1853, but has lived on his present farm, in the fine brick mansion built by his father in 1864. for fifty years. This substantial old mansion was constructed of brick, and the fine old trees which surround the house and the ivy-covered driveways leading thereto speak volumes for the loving care which is bestowed upon it by its present occupants. Mr. Hamilton is a son of Thomas George and Eliza Jane (Lewis) Hamilton, the former of whom was born in Nicholas county, Kentucky, in 1819, and died at his home in this county of March 13. 1870, and the latter of whom was a daughter of Dr. M. Lewis, a pioneer physician of this county, who came here in the year 1823 and helped to lay out the town of Greensburg. Thomas G. Hamilton's brothers, William W. and Samuel R., also were residents of this county. Another brother, Cincinnatus, remained in Kentucky.
Thomas George Hamilton was a son of Col. William Hamilton, who drilled a company for service in the War of 1812. Col. William Hamilton,
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who married Polly Bernau, was born in 1792 and died in 1878; was born, spent his whole life and died on the ancestral home in Kentucky. He was a son of Thomas Hamilton, a native of Virginia and a pioneer settler in Ken- tucky. Thomas Hamilton was a son of William Hamilton, another of whose sons, William Hamilton, Jr., lost his life while battling for independence during the Revolutionary War. Thomas G. Hamilton came to Decatur county in 1845 and after a short residence in Greensburg, where he made his home with a brother who had preceded him to this state, he bought a farm of one hundred and sixty acres south of town, where he resided two years, at the end of which time he bought a farm of three hundred and seventy-six acres in Clinton township, on which he resided until 1865. in which year he bought the farm adjoining the town of Greensburg on the north now owned and occupied by his son, Thomas E. This farm is well improved and very productive. being one of the choicest farms in Decatur county. One section of this land, one hundred and sixty acres, originally was owned by William Kingstone, a grant to him from the government in 1814, in recognition of his services in the French and Indian wars. He sold the section for four hun- dred dollars, being, no doubt, well satisfied with what probably was considered a "bargain" in those days. Needless to say. that one hundred and sixty acres of land has increased in value fifty-fold since the day William Kingstone pocketed his four hundred dollars.
Thomas G. Hamilton married Eliza Jane Lewis, born in 1828, died in 1872, to which union were born three sons, William Lewis, who lives at Indianapolis; Thomas Edgar, the immediate subject of this sketch, and John Livingston. a well-known farmer of this county. In connection with his extensive farming operations, Thomas G. Hamilton was the pioneer dealer in mules in this county, buying and selling large numbers of these patient animals. He was a Democrat and was prominent in the political affairs of the county, being one of the best-known and most influential men of this section in his day. He and his wife were devoted members of the Presby- terian church and their sons were reared in that faith.
Thomas E. Hamilton was reared on the paternal farm and received his education in the district schools and the Greensburg high school. He early devoted himself to farming and now has one hundred and fifty-two acres and also owns a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Clinton township, this county. Mr. Hamilton is an intelligent. useful citizen, "honest to the core," as his neighbors delight to phrase it, and is doing most excellent service on behalf of the public in the responsible position of a member of the county council, to which office he was elected in 1914 and in which he is
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doing his duty honestly, conscientiously and with an eye single to the public good. He is an able executor and has been administrator and trustee for several large estates in this county, a form of service in which he gave the utmost satisfaction, and has done and is doing his full duty. as he sees it, as a faithful, efficient and capable man of affairs.
On November 20, 1879, Thomas E. Hamilton was united in marriage to Ida May Wooden. daughter of the late Dr. John L. Wooden, a one-time well-known physician of Greensburg, whose genealogy is set out elsewhere in this volume in the biographical sketch relating to her brother, Ehner E. Wooden, a retired merchant of Greensburg, and to this union one child was born, a daughter, Florence M .. who is living at home.
Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton and their daughter are members of the Presby- terian church and are devoted to the good works of the community in which their lives have been spent in faithful and loving service. Mr. Hamilton is a Democrat and is prominent in the councils of his party in this county, his sound judgment and keen executive ability giving to his counsels much weight in the deliberations of the party managers. He is a good citizen, one whom all his fellow citizens delight to honor.
EDWARD W. DAVIS.
Visible for miles in every direction, the new residence of Edward WV. Davis stands as a veritable landmark in the northwestern part of Clay town- ship, this county. Mr. Davis' recently completed home, which was erected at a cost of something more than seven thousand dollars, is one of the most complete and thoroughly-appointed farm houses in Decatur county, fitting evidence of the enterprise and good taste of the owners. Mr. and Mrs. Davis are very popular in the community in which they live and their new home promises to be the center of much cordial hospitality. The Davis home is a modern nine-room house erected on a pleasant eminence on the Davis farm of more than three hundred acres in Clay township, from which a view of all that picturesque region for miles about is obtainable ; one of the most desir- able sites in the county. The house is piped for gas, both for lighting and heating. the gas being secured from a high-pressure well on the Davis farm, and is equipped with a complete water system, with hot and cold running water throughout ; nothing having been neglected in making up the plans for this house to secure the greatest degree of comfort and convenience for the
EDWARD W. DAVIS AND FAMILY.
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occupants thereof. Mr. Davis has two dwellings on his farm, part of which farm lies in Decatur county and part in Shelby county, and during the time of the erection of the new house he and his family lived in the house just over the line in the latter county. The Davis farm is one of the most fertile thereabout and is well provided with all the necessary improvements in accord- ance with the latest dictates of agricultural science and, under the thorough- going system of farming adopted by Mr. Davis, has proved very productive. In addition to his general farming, Mr. Davis is an extensive breeder of live stock, having shipped as much as twenty-seven hundred dollars' worth of hogs and eight hundred dollars' worth of cattle in a year. Besides his farm of three hundred and twelve acres surrounding his home. Mr. Davis is the owner of a fine farm of two hundred and eighty acres in Daviess county, this state, making his land holdings five hundred and ninety-two acres in all.
Edward W. Davis was born on a farm in Adams township, Decatur county, Indiana, on March 28, 1876, the son of James and Sarah E. (Braden) Davis, the former of whom was a native of Ireland and the latter of this county, daughter of Jack Braden, a Kentuckian, one of the best-known pio- neer residents of Clay township; the man who built the first blacksmith shop in the town of Greensburg, a reference to whom may be found on several pages of this volume of biography, particularly in the biographical sketch relating to Charles Templeton, whose wife is a sister of Mr. Davis. James Davis was twenty years of age when he left Ireland to make his fortune in the land of the free across the Atlantic. Upon arriving in this country he proceeded to Cincinnati and for some time was engaged in freighting between Cincinnati and Brookville, this state. He presently located in Decatur county and became very wealthy, owning at one time as much as three thousand acres of land. No man in the county was better known than he. He had more than a local fame as a trader and was an exceedingly energetic and enterprising person.
Edward W. Davis received his education in the local district school and has always lived in the neighborhood of his present home. Following his marriage in 1903, he moved onto his present farm, remodeling a three-room house, which then stood on the place, into a nice residence and in this he lived until his present fine new home was completed. Inheriting much of the energy and enterprise of his father, Mr. Davis has been quite successful in his farming operations and is looked upon as one of the substantial men of the county.
On January 3. 1903, Edward W. Davis was united in marriage to Ella (56)
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Lawson, who was born in Kentucky on June 10, 1879, daughter of Thomas and Mary Ann (Ross) Lawson, both of whom died in Kentucky. Ella Lawson came to this county on a visit to the family of her brother, Frank Lawson, and here she met Mr. Davis, their marriage following not long after. To this union one child has been born, a son, James Edward, born on October 18, 1903.
Mr. and Mrs. Davis are members of the United Brethren church and are devoted to the good works of the community in which they live, being looked upon as among the leaders in all movements for the advancement of the common good. Mr. Davis is a Democrat and takes a warm interest in local political affairs, though not an active political worker. However, he is inter- ested in good government and aids in every proper way the promotion of the same.
JOHN HENRY SCHROEDER.
The student interested in the history of Decatur county does not have to carry his investigations far into its annals before learning that John Henry Schroeder has long been one of its most active citizens, in both its mercantile and agricultural interests, and that his labors have been a potent force in advancing the interests of this locality. Mr. Schroeder has lived a useful and honorable life, a life characterized by perseverance and well- defined purpose and he has established a character as a man who measures up to the type of the good American citizen. To him there also belongs the distinction of being the oldest resident of Decatur county.
John Henry Schroeder, who lives on a farm adjoining the town of Enochsburg, Salt Creek township, was born in Germany, November 19, 1822, the son of Frank and Mary Elizabeth Schroeder, who came to America two years after their son had located here. When John H. Schroeder was about fourteen years of age, in 1836, enthused by the wonderful stories of the great possibilities in the United States for a young man of ambition and energy, he came to this country, locating first at Cincinnati, where he engaged in common labor. He also worked in a store for five years. In 1841 he went to Louisville, Kentucky, where, for five years, he was employed in a store, and in 1846 went to Missouri, and clerked in a store at Lottsport. Two years later he returned to Louisville and after a residence there of one year came to Decatur county in 1849, locating in Enochsburg, where he established a store, which he operated with considerable success for about
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eight years. It was at a period antedating the advent of railroads in this section of the state and it was necessary to bring huis stock of goods from Cincinnati. On one occasion when he was sending a wagon load of dressed hogs to the Cincinnati market and while crossing a stream near Harrison, the ice broke and the valuable team of horses which he was driving was drowned. When he discontinued his store at Enochsburg, Mr. Schroeder located on the farm where he now lives and which comprises two hundred and seven acres of valuable land. He has resided there for about forty years and has worked a wonderful transformation in the condition of the place. At the time he moved upon it there were no improvements of any kind and it was necessary for him to cut timber in order to erect his build- ings. He since then has done strenuous labor, but despite his hard luck he is now, at the advanced age of ninety-three years, remarkably well preserved, both physically and mentally. He has always taken a keen interest in local affairs and has lent his aid to the advancement of all worthy propositions and to the raising of the standard of living. While living in Enochsburg he served two years as trustee of the township, and one term as appraiser and was in other ways prominent in the affairs of his neighborhood. During the Mexican War, Mr. Schroeder assisted in organizing a company for service and also helped to organize a military company during the Civil War.
On February 8, 1849. Mr. Schroeder was married to Elizabeth Tuka, who was born in Germany on September 8, 1828, and who passed away in March, 1894. She came to America, locating in Louisville when fourteen years of age and her marriage to Mr. Schroeder occurred at Enochsburg. To Mr. and Mrs. Schroeder were born the following children: Henry H., Henry, deceased; Everhard Henry, October 9, 1852, who died in 1905; John G., November 17, 1854, who lives three miles south of Greensburg and who is married and has four sons. John. Edward, Frank and Gregory; John Ambrosius, deceased ; Herman Henry, October 24, 1858, was married, July 13, 1897, to Rosa Sandrock; Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Northorst, of New Albany, is the mother of three children, Joseph, Rosa and Henry; Louisa Zizilia, December, 1862; Mrs. Annie Frances Thea, of Posey county, who has seven children, Rosa, Elizabeth, Joseph, Clara, Frances, Julia and Anthony; Rosa Clara Wessels died in Louisville, Kentucky, on November 23, 1899, at the age of thirty-two years, leaving four children, Lizzie, Bennie, Edward and Rosa. John Henry Schroeder also has four great-grandchil- dren, namely : Joseph and Leonard. sons of his grandson, John: and Rich- ard and Paul, sons of Joseph Morthorst.
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Mr. Schroeder has been a life-long adherent of the principles of the Democratic party, having cast his first Presidential vote for Henry Clay and has voted for every Democratic presidential candidate since. His religious affiliation is with the Enochsburg Catholic church, of which he is a liberal supporter.
As the oldest resident of Decatur county, J. H. Schroeder has seen his county develop from a sparsely settled community to its present prosperous condition, and has performed a very important part in helping to bring about the advanced standing of the locality. Though now in the evening of life, he is still hale and hearty and enjoys life with the zest of a far younger man. His long residence in this section has given him a great number of friends, by whom he is held in the highest esteem for his many commendable traits of character.
OMER T. MANLIEF.
Ripley county, Indiana, has furnished many of the present generation of enterprising farmers in Decatur county. It is not difficult to explain why many of the more ambitious young farmers of Ripley county have come to Decatur, the principal reason being, according to all loyal Decatur county folk, that the soil in Decatur county is far superior to that in Ripley county. Of the many native-born sons of Ripley county, who have sought a home and fortune in Decatur county, Omer T. Manlief, of Marion township, who came here more than forty years ago, may be mentioned.
Omer T. Manlief, who owns one hundred and sixty acres of well- improved land . in Marion township. Decatur county, was born on July 17, 1849, in Ripley county, Indiana, the son of Benjamin and Catherine ( Ruble) Manlief. of German descent, both of whom died in Ripley county.
After coming to Decatur county in 1873, at the age of twenty-four, Omer F. Manlief purchased eighty acres of land at ten dollars an acre, paying cash for the tract. At this time the land was covered with timber. Immediately after purchasing this tract, he built a log house of two rooms in which he and his family lived for twenty years, or until they built their present home. During the first year or two after coming to Decatur county, Mr. Manlief rented cleared land, which he cultivated and worked at odd times and at night to clear his own land. In 1910 he purchased eighty acres of land situated across the road from his original tract, paying for the same twenty-four hundred dollars. He ordinarily has about forty acres of
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corn and about the same amount of wheat. He now has a good home with well-kept and well-painted buildings and with many fruit and shade trees, which add greatly to the attractiveness of the place.
In 1872 Omer T. Manlief was married to Mary Elizabeth Suter, of Dearborn county, who was born on January 13, 1852, the daughter of Joseph and Sarah Ann Suter. To this union three children have been born. all of whom are married and now have children of their own: Mrs. Edna Leo Lena Surface, of Westport, who has five children, Omer, Ollie, Anna. Erra and Birdie; Clyde, a farmer of Jennings county, who married Mary Shumach and has one daughter, Martha; and Carl, who farms at home, married Stella Rathburn and has two children. Woodrow Lowson and Ruth.
Mr. Manlief is a Democrat but has never been active in politics, pre- ferring to devote his time and his energy to his own personal and private business. The Manlief family are all members of the Baptist church and Mr. Manlief is a liberal contributor to the support of this faith.
By prodigious industry, most economical living and careful manage- ment, Omer T. Manlief has accumulated a snug fortune in farm property and is recognized today as one of the foremost citizens of Marion township. He well deserves the confidence of the public because he has won that confidence by his own personal efforts.
JOHN R. COLLINS.
During recent years much has been written and said regarding intensive farming in this country. The apparent inexhaustibility of the soil of this favored land for generations caused the tillers of the soil to display an almost disdainful laxity in the matter of the proper upkeep of the same, with the very natural result that in time many once valuable farms became worth- less, by reason of being worn out. and were abandoned. Then came the demand for scientific fertilization and intensive farming : agriculturists all over the land began to wake up to the importance of keeping the soil alive, and the result has been the raising of crops that would have been deemed impos- sible by the pioneers. even in the days of the soil's virgin fertility. Much has been done along this line in Decatur county, though it must be admitted that there still remains very much yet to be done. There is one farmer. however, who has cultivated his land to such advantage that he has become recognized among his neighbors as the most successful farmer in the county ;
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a measure of praise which he by no means courts, but which is ungrudgingly given him by those who have noted with much interest the results of his labors. Though the possessor of but a small acreage, his place consisting of eighty acres in all, John R. Collins, of Salt Creek township, is widely known as the man who raises the bumper crops in this county and his methods have attracted much attention, the spirit of emulation thus created undoubtedly having resulted in the elevation of the standards of farming throughout the whole county. As an example of the intensive methods adopted by Mr. Collins, it may be mentioned that at one time he spent one thousand dollars for tile with which to drain a tract of forty acres. Those who may have looked askance at such an apparently extravagant expenditure altered their opinion when this tract was found to be producing seventy-five bushels of corn to the acre. As this was written this tract was bearing a luxuriant stand of wheat which promised to break all local records for yield. In 1912 Mr. Collins sold seed corn for two dollars a bushel to his admiring neighbors and he has raised as high as eighty bushels of corn to the acre. The title of most successful farmer in Decatur county, therefore, very properly may be applied to him, notwithstanding his modest disclaimer of any such dis- tinction.
John R. Collins was born in Jennings county, this state, near the town of Brewersville, on July 29, 1857, the son of John Roberts Parsons and Nancy Jane ( Roszel!) Collins, the former of whom was born in 1823 and died on July 29, 1911, and the latter of whom was born on June 2, 1832, and died on July 13. 1895. John Roberts Parsons Collins was a native of Scot- land and, with a sister, was brought to this country when quite young by his inother. The father was to follow his family to this country on a vessel sailing later, but never again was heard from and it was supposed that he was lost at sea. Mr. Collins's mother died shortly after coming to America and lier son and daughter were reared by their maternal grandparents, who some years before had come to this country, locating at Oxford, Ohio. There J. R. P. Collins lived until he was fifteen years of age, at which time he moved to Jennings county, this state. He had been apprenticed to the car- penter trade and upon locating in Jennings county he worked at this trade until the year 1862, in which year he came to Decatur county, locating in Salt Creek township, buying the farm on which his son. John R., now lives. On this place he built a log cabin and lived there until 1865, moving in that year to Pennington. where he farmed and worked at his trade the rest of his life. His death occurred in a hospital at Madison.
Nancy Jane( Roszell) Collins was born in Greensburg, this county,
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daughter of John Roszell, the first blacksmith in the town of Greensburg. Jolın Roszell was a native of Kentucky, whose father lived to be one hun- dred years old He came to this county about the year 1822 and built the first blacksmith shop in the then hamiet of Greensburg. Upon arriving here he turned his wagonbed upside down, erecting around the same a barricade of brush, thus creating his first shelter in Decatur county. He married a Miss Brockman, cleared a tract of land for a home and became one of the best- known pioneer settlers of the county.
To John Roberts Parsons and Nancy Jane ( Roszell) Collins were born nine children, namely: Ida, born on August II, 1855, married W. R. Copper, of New Pennington, this county, and died in March, 1905; John R., the immediate subject of this sketch; James R., who served five years in the United States army, then became a conductor on the San Francisco street railway, serving in such a capacity for fourteen years, and has not been heard of since the San Francisco earthquake, in 1906; Anna B., principal of one of the ward schools at Indianapolis; Carvel H., of Eaton, Blackford county, Indiana ; Minnie, of Indianapolis, a teacher in the schools of Elwood, this state; Albert, a successful contractor and builder in the Isle of Pines, off the coast of Cuba, and Grace, who married Edward Hatfield, of Indianapolis,' and has three children.
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