USA > Indiana > Decatur County > History of Decatur County, Indiana: its people, industries and institutions > Part 94
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In October, 1909, Albert Link was married to Lela May Templeton, daughter of John F. and Elizabeth (Pavy) Templeton, the former of whom was born in Franklin county, Indiana, in 1856, and who is the brother of Nelson M. Templeton, whose biographical sketch, presented elsewhere in this volume, gives the history of the Templeton family. Mr. Templeton lived on the farm for twenty years and today is considered an able and wealthy farmer. In 1915 he enjoyed a trip to the Pacific coast, attending the Panama- Pacific exposition. Mrs. John F. Templeton's family history is presented in the biographical sketch of her father on another page of this volume. Mrs. Albert Link was born on the Templeton homestead, the only child born to her parents. She and her husband have two children, John Henry and Mary Elizabeth.
Albert Link has a herd of twenty-seven thoroughbred Shorthorn cattle, including twenty-two cows, a source of considerable profit. The Link home is situated some distance from the main road and is surrounded by a large lawn, shaded by two rows of fine ever green trees. The approach to the house and lawn consists of a beautiful graveled driveway, leading from the Columbus and Greensburg pike. Large maple and locust trees furnish addi- tional shade and the house is flanked by an orchard on the west. The land, which is level, consists of a rich loam.
Intelligent and keen, Albert Link is one of the leading young farmers
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of Clay township. Mr. and Mrs. Link are members of the Baptist church. He is identified with the Republican party and the Loyal Order of Moose. Mr. Templeton is also is a Republican and he and his wife are also members of the Baptist church.
JOSEPH S. MINOR.
Joseph S. Minor, farmer and railroad man, enjoys the distinction of owning and living in perhaps the finest residence in Burney, which is second only to Greensburg in importance as a city of this county. Mr. Minor owns a farm of one hundred acres, part of which lies at the north edge of Burney, and consists of the very best land to be found in Clay township.
Joseph S. Minor was born at Hartsville, in Bartholomew county, Indiana, in 1873, and is the son of Jolin and Mary E. (Burney) Minor, the latter of whom was a native of Decatur county, whose father and mother also were natives of this county. Jolin Minor was a native of New Jersey, who came to Bartholomew county when a young man and settled on a farm near Hartsville. After his marriage to Mary E. Burney, they began life on the farm. At the age of forty years John Minor passed away suddenly, leaving a widow and a family of eight children, of whom Joseph S., the subject of this sketch, was next to the youngest. At the time of his death, John Minor left one hundred and twenty acres of land, rather heavily mortgaged. Mrs. Minor traded this tract in Bartholomew county for one hundred and twenty acres where the town of Burney now stands. This was a master stroke, netting Mrs. Minor a large profit. She was a woman of great business ability and native shrewdness, who not only kept what her husband left, but paid off the indebtedness. As her children became of age she bought and paid for the inherited interest of each of the eight children.
After trading for the Clay township farm, Mrs. Mary E. Minor was married, in 1880, to Harrison Davis, and at his death, about eighteen years later, she also purchased the interest of his heirs, who numbered five. She was a member of the Baptist church. Educated in the common schools of Decatur county, Indiana, by extensive home study she kept herself well informed on current topics, and was a subscriber to the best newspapers, periodicals and farm papers. She always displayed an intelligent interest in politics and was able to discuss political affairs as few women of this county. Mrs. Minor died in 1913, at the advanced age of seventy years, retaining her
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wonderful mental faculties to the last. She was the mother of eight children, namely : James, who lives in the West; Mrs. Jennie Hansell, deceased ; Milton, who lives in Burney, this county ; Mrs. Minerva Cummins, a resident of Hartsville : William B., who lives south of Burney ; Taylor, a resident of Richmond, Indiana; Joseph S., the subject of this sketch, and Esta, who died when a child.
At the age of nineteen years Joseph S. Minor left home to study tele- graphy and railroad work. For a year he was clerk in a general store in Burney. At the age of twenty-one he was married to Fannie Pumphrey, daughter of William Pumphrey, Sr., whose family history is contained else- where in this volume. For twenty years Mr. Minor has been the railroad agent at Burney.
Joseph S. Minor is a Progressive in politics and is one of the substantial citizens of Clay township. He is recognized as a man who is alert to every possibility of making money and aside from his railroad work and agricul- tural interests owns a considerable amount of gilt-edge stocks. Practically everything he has today he has made himself, though no doubt he inherited his mother's keen business ability. Mrs. Minor is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church. She and her husband believe in getting all out of life that is possible. They have an automobile and enjoy practically all of the luxuries and conveniences available to people of this section.
JOSIAH WARREN ROBERTSON.
Josiah Warren Robertson, a general farmer and stockman of Adams township, this county, belongs to an old family of Decatur county, his father having come here about 1829, during his day and generation having become one of the most prosperous farmers in this section of Indiana. It is a matter of no small peronal pride to have lived all of one's life in the township and county of one's birth. Men, who are so fortunate as to have enjoyed a large success in the community of their birth, are entitled to the respect and confi- dence of their neighbors and this is a distinction which Josiah Warren Rob- ertson enjoys in a high degree.
Born on April 29, 1854, in Adams township, Josiah Warren Robertson was reared in that township. The old homestead is within sight of his present home and is located on the adjoining farm. His parents, Oliver P. and Mary A. (Davis) Robertson, were early settlers in Adams township, the
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former having been born in Lawrenceburg, Dearborn county, Indiana, on August 1, 1825, the son of John and Ruth ( Ridlen) Robertson, natives of Maryland and early settlers in Dearborn county. After coming to Adams township in 1829, the family became very prosperous, and there, for nearly a century, the Robertson family has been rcognized as one of the leading fac- tors in the agricultural life of the community. Mary A. Davis, the second wife of Oliver P. Robertson, was born on June 15. 1833, the daughter of John W. and Sarah (Forsythe) Davis. natives of New Jersey, who came to Decatur county about 1830, settling in Adams township. Mrs. Mary A. Robertson died on May 25, 1907. She was the mother of seven children, all of whom are living, namely: Josiah W., the subject of this sketch; J. Frank and Will, both of whom live in Adams township; Charles, who lives at Acton, in Marion county, this state; Edward, who lives in Adams township; Lydia, who is the wife of Elmer Shelhorn, and Ruth, who is housekeeper for her two brothers, Josiah W. and Edward.
Oliver P. Robertson was first married to Nancy Edrington, who was born in 1831 and who died in June, 1852. She was the daughter of Hiram and Rhoda Edrington, natives of Kentucky and pioneer settlers in Adams township. After coming to this township. they cleared the land, built a log house and later erected a large brick house, now owned by E. Shellhorn. Oliver P. and Nancy Robertson had two children, Louisa L., who is deceased, and Lafayette, a farmer of Adams township, this county. At the time of his death, in 1907, Oliver P. Robertson owned one hundred and sixty acres of land, which is now known as the old Robertson homestead and which is owned jointly by his daughters, Lydia and Ruth. Josiah W. Robertson has lived in his present home since 1901, moving to this farm from the old home place.
Mr. Robertson is a Progressive in politics, but has never taken an active interest in political matters. He is a man of generous and humane impulses and is popular in his neighborhood because of his many good works, his cordial relations with the citizens of his home township and his upright, honorable dealings with the public. He lives in a large brick house situated on his farm of three hundred and six acres and is engaged in general farming and stock raising. He is one of the most extensive stockmen of this town- ship, his annual output of the farm being two carloads of hogs and two carloads of cattle. Mr. Robertson is accustomed to buy live stock for feed- ing purposes in the city market and, after they are fed out on the farm, are sold to the packing houses in the city.
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REV. JAMES WESLEY TURNER, A. M., D. D.
Not too often can be repeated the life story of one who has lived so honorable and useful a life and attained to such notable distinction as has the gentleman whose name appears at the head of this sketch; one of the most successful and distinguished ministers of the Methodist Episcopal church in the state of Indiana. His character has been one of signal exaltation and purity of purpose. Well disciplined in mind, maintaining a vantage point from which life has presented itself in correct proportion ; guided and guarded by the most inviolable principles of integrity and honor, such a man could not prove other than a force for good in whatever relation of life he may have been placed. His character is the positive expression of a strong nature and his strength is as the number of his days. His career has been a long, busy and useful one, and his name is honored by all who have had occasion to come in contact with him on life's pathway. Doctor Turner has dignified and honored his profession by his able and self-abnegating services through long years of earnest and indefatigable effort in a noble cause. His life has been one of concentration to his calling and well does he merit a place of honor in this history touching upon the lives and deeds of those who have given the best of their power and talent for the aiding and betterment of their kind in this county.
James Wesley Turner was born in Dearborn county, Indiana, on August II, 1857. the son of Rev. Isaac and Alice (Kenyon) Turner, to whom but two children were born, the other having been Alice, the wife of Rev. M. A. Farr, who died at Shelbyville, this state. Rev. Isaac Turner was born in England in 1830, and was educated in his native country. Studying for the ministry, he became identified with the Wesleyan Methodist church, in which he attained considerable prominence as a preacher. In 1854 he came to America and located in Dearborn county, where he continued his ministerial labors. He preached throughout southern Indiana, his circuit being a very large one, embracing the territory from Brookville to Napoleon. In that early day traveling facilities were very poor in this section of the state, and Isaac Turner made most of his journeys on horseback. He lived for many years at Smyrna, this county, where he presided over a large circuit, but in later years located in North Madison, where his death occurred in 1905. As one of the pioneer preachers of his section of the state he exerted a large and beneficent influence on the side of morality and higher living. and his name is revered by many who knew him in his active years. His wife, Alice Kenyon, also a native of England, was a member of the Kenyon family noted
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for its scholarly attainments. Her father, James Kenyon, was a man of much learning and served for many years as a tutor in families of the nobility.
James Wesley Turner received his elementary education in the common schools, and then became a student in Moore's Hill College, where he received the degree of Master of Arts in 1880. Subsequently, in 1905, his alma mater conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. Rev. J. W. Turner. entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church in 1877, his first charge being that of the Arlington circuit, which he filled for a short time. Entering then upon the regular itinerary, he was first appointed to the Milroy circuit, later serving one year at Laurel, three years at Irvington, a suburb of Indianapolis, three years at Edinburg, four years at Madison, and then was transferred to the Trinity church at Louisville, Kentucky, where he remained five years. From Louisville he went to the Trinity church at Evansville, Indiana, and four years later was appointed presiding elder of the Evansville district, in which position he served with eminent ability and success for five years. During the following two years he accepted nominal appointments and at the end of that period accepted the pastorate of Rush- ville church, where he remained for two years. Because of failing health, Reverend Turner felt the necessity of withdrawing from active labors for a time, and, locating in Clinton township, this county, he is living there with his family on a farm of two hundred and sixty-seven acres, comprising their present estate. There Mr. Turner built a splendid house, beautifully located on a hill commanding a magnificent view of the surrounding country, and there he is spending his days in quiet enjoyment of the fine library which he owns, valued at about nine thousand dollars and considered one of the best private collections of books in the state of Indiana. A special room was built in the house for the care of these books. Mr. Turner's farm comprises a magnificent tract of land which is in a high state of cultivation and which is operated by his sons, Harry D. and James W., Jr. The place is well improved and is numbered among the most productive farms in the locality.
Doctor Turner has been a life-long Republican and has given earnest heed to the welfare of his community in the casting of his ballot. Fra- ternally, he is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, belonging to the commandery of the Knights Templar at Evansville. A well-educated man, broad-minded and liberal in his thought and attitude toward the great ques- tions of the day, Mr. Turner has long been recognized as a man of superior qualifications and attainments and for a number of years has been a popular lecturer, among his lectures being the following: "Three Indices of the
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Infinite," "True Intelligence and its Practical Manifestations," "Wasted Forces," and "Philosophy and Christianity."
On July 29, 1880, Rev. James Wesley Turner was united in marriage to Lizzie Woodfill, who was born in Greensburg, the daughter of William S. and Sarah (Talbott) Woodfill, who were for years among the most prom- inent residents and influential citizens of Decatur county, Mrs. Turner's Grandmother Hendricks having been given the privilege of naming the town of Greenburg. W. S. Woodfill was born in Owen county, Kentucky, Novem- ber 16, 1825, the son of Gabriel and Eleanor ( Pullam) Woodfill, of Welsh and English extraction, respectively. The Woodfill family was established in Pennsylvania in early colonial days. Rev. Gabriel Woodfill, the great-grand- father of William S., emigrated from Pennsylvania to Kentucky in an early day in the settlement of the latter state, locating in Shelby county, thence moving to Jefferson county, Indiana, where he spent the remainder of his life. He was a minister of the Gospel, a pioneer in the Methodism of Ken- tucky and Indiana, and a man of large influence. His son, Andrew, the grandfather of William S. Woodfill, was born in Pennsylvania, but spent most of his life in the neighborhood of Madison, Indiana. He married a Mitchell, and to that union were born twelve children, among whom was Gabriel, the father of William S. William S. Woodfill was educated in the schools of Greensburg, and in 1825 became a partner with his father in a general store at Greensburg. In January, 1863, the father retired from active business, and William took into the firm two brothers, John and James, the business being conducted under the firmn name of Woodfill Brothers. Various changes later were made in the copartnership, and the firm was conducted under various names, but always by a member of the family, being now under the individual management of W. W. Woodfill. In 1875 William S. Wood- fill organized the Greensburg Gas and Electric Company, of which he was president at the time of his death. He also owned various commercial and industrial interests and four valuable farms in this county. He was a faithful Methodist in his religion, and an earnest Republican in his political views, while his fraternal membership was with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. To him and his wife were born four children, namely: Lizzie, wife of the subject of this sketch; William Wirt, a Greensburg merchant ; Harry Talbot, superintendent of the Greensburg gas and electric plant, and Web. The mother of these children died on October 31, 1898.
To Rev. J. W. and Lizzie (Woodfill) Turner have been born the fol- lowing children: Rollin A., an attorney in Greensburg: Sarah, wife of Lewis Uhl, a pottery manufacturer in Huntingburg, Indiana, and who has
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three children, Alice, Robert and Hannah; Lieut. William W., U. S. N., a graduate of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, now a professor of electricity in the academy ; Harry D. and James W., successful farmers; Rachel K., a graduate of the Greensburg high school of the class of 1915, and Web W., who is attending the Sandusky centralized school.
HENRY MOZINGO.
Perhaps the best-known citizen of Clinton township, this county, is Henry Mozingo, who for many years has been one of the leading corn grow- ers in the state of Indiana, and who in the township of his residence has been prominent politically, having been elected as trustee on the Progressive ticket in the fall of 1914. Mr. Mozingo, by careful attention to the details of farming, has reduced it almost to an exact science and has gained prom- inence as a corn grower and stockman. He is accustomed to sell annually about three hundred bushels of seed corn, though in 1915 he sold five hundred bushels, for which he received two dollars and a half a bushel. In these times, when fifty bushels to the acre is an exceptional yield in this state, Mr. Mozingo's success is apparent by contrast ; since he grows more than ninety bushels to the acre on a part of his land, and last year had one hundred and twenty acres of corn which averaged seventy-five bushels to the acre. He makes a specialty of Reed's yellow Dent, and Johnson county white corn, having taken many prizes on the product of his farm. He took the fourth and sixth prizes in the state corn show; fourth prize on ten ears of yellow corn, and sixth on one ear of yellow. He also took sixth prize on ten ears of white in the same show. At the Clarksburg corn show he took four first prizes, and his son, Arthur, took second on ten ears of white, and on a single ear, ten ears mixed, and second sweepstakes. Mr. Mozingo himself won the sweepstakes at Clarksburg and at the Greensburg corn show. Arthur won sweepstakes and a silver cup, winning a trip to Purdue University in 1912 as a result of his splendid showing in the corn show. Mr. Mozingo's daughter, Grace, is a noted breeder of White Wyandottes, keeping about one hundred and fifty pure-bred chickens, and when she exhibited at Greensburg won first, second and third on cockerels; first and second on pullets ; first, second and third on hens, and first on pens.
Henry Mozingo was born on a farm four miles south of Greensburg on December 25, 1871, the son of James and Lydia (Caseldine) Mozingo,
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natives of Decatur county, the former of whom was born in 1841, and died in May, 1913, and the latter of whom was born in 1853. James Mozingo was the son of Henry Mozingo, a native of Kentucky, who walked from Kentucky to Indiana in 1832 and entered land in Marion township, this county, where he built a log cabin. Later he returned to his native state and bought back with him his mother and the family. His mother lived to be one hundred and four years old. The older Henry Mozingo, who was born in 1809, died in 1888. He was a great admirer of Abraham Lincoln, and an ardent member of the Republican party. His wife, Elizabeth Mozingo, died in 1905. Of their twelve children, only five are living, Mrs. Mary Riley and Mrs. Eliza Clemons, of Greensburg; Mrs. Nancy Tremain, of Columbia, Missouri; Mrs. Belle Marlow, of Missouri, and Mrs. Edna Beagle, of near Westport, this county.
James Mozingo, the father of Henry Mozingo, resided for a long time on the farm entered by his father, but in 1888 purchased a farm in Marion township, on which he spent the rest of his life. He was a progressive Republican in politics and was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. All of the nine children born to James and Lydia (Caseldine) Mozingo are living. In the order of their birth they are as follow: Henry, the subject of this sketch; Mrs. Minnie Skinner, who lives near the Mt. Pleasant church; Mrs. Carrie Tumilty, who lives near Greensburg; Ed, who lives near Mt. Pleasant; Everett and May (twins), both of whom live on the home place: Mrs. Nona Cheek, who lives at Harris City; Mrs. Bessie Stoneking, of Osgood, and Clarence, who lives at home. May and Everett, twins. Mrs. James Mozingo is still living at her home on the old farm.
Educated in the Hazelrigg district school, where he received only a limited education, Henry Mozingo was able to supplement the education he received at that time by assistance from his good wife, now deceased, who was a teacher for five years in Jennings and Decatur counties. On February 28, 1900, Henry Mozingo was married to Ada Holcomb, a well-known teacher in the public schools of Decatur county, who was bornon a farm four miles east of Westport, the daughter of D. W. and Mary Halcomb, old resi- dents of Decatur county. To that union six children were born, Grace, Arthur, Vernon, Ernest, Frank and Helen. The mother of these children died on December 20, 1914.
A Progressive in politics, and an ardent admirer of Colonel Roosevelt and former Senator Beveridge, Mr. Mozingo was elected township trustee .on the Progressive ticket in the fall of 1914, succeeding Ed Meek to that
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office. Fraternally, he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, the Free and Accepted Masons, and the Knights of Pythias and has filled all of the chairs in the Odd Fellows lodge. Mr. Mozingo is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, as was his wife, and their children have been reared in that faith.
Not the least of Henry Mozingo's achievements is the breeding of fine hogs, cattle, horses and mules on his farm of three hundred and seventy-five acres in Clinton township. While his fame as a farmer may be attributed to his success with corn, ordinarily he keeps one hundred head of cattle, and more than that many hogs on the farm. He also has at the present time eighty-two head of horses and mules, and always keeps from fifty to seventy- five head. The extensive scale upon which Mr. Mozingo carries on farming in this county clearly entitles him to foremost rank as a scientific farmer.
HENRY A. DRAPING.
Henry AA. Draping, now a well-known and prominent farmer of Marion township, this county, was born on December 21, 1873, in that township in a log and frame house built by his father a few years before, a son of William and Mary (Tresler) Draping, and he and his brother George are operating two hundred acres of land in Marion township, doing general farming. Their land is fairly level and well-tiled. The place has been improved with a comfortable white house of seven rooms, a good barn forty-eight by seventy feet, tool and carriage sheds, etc. They feed about forty head of hogs annually. In addition to his farming interests, Henry Draping also has oper- ated a threshing-machine, in season, for the past twenty-two years and a corn-shredder for the past sixteen years. His brother, George Draping, also operates a saw-mill and does commercial sawing, his three sons assisting him in that work.
William Draping, father of the subject of this sketch, was born on June 3. 1838, and died on April 20, 1911. His wife, Mary Tresler, was born on January 28, 1849, and died on March 26, 1902. William Draping was born in Germany and came to America about 1865, settling in Marion town- ship, this county, where he eventually bought the place now owned by his sons. At the time of purchase, the place was all in woods, and with the assistance of his sons, it was soon put in a tillable condition. Before mar- riage. Mr. Draping worked at various points, following the trades of stave-
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