USA > Indiana > Decatur County > History of Decatur County, Indiana: its people, industries and institutions > Part 95
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maker and cooper. To this couple were born seven children, Frank W., Regina, Henry, George, Albert, Frederick and Lizzie. Frank W. is a farmer in Marion township. Regina died when six years of age. George was born on July 16, 1876. He and his brother, Henry, have been in charge of the home farm about twelve years. Albert and Frederick are dead. Lizzie married a Mr. Fonseth, of Marion township, and died on May 30, 1912.
William Draping's father was born in Germany and at the age of four- teen came to America, landing at New Orleans, going to Cincinnati. He learned both the cooper and tailor trades, and once operated a tailor shop in Cincinnati, in partnership with his brother, August. In 1861, he moved to Ripley county, Indiana, and on March 26, 1868, came to Decatur county and went to farming. His wife was Mary Anna Trisler.
In March, 1904, Henry Draping was united in marriage to Clara Oetjen, of Napoleon, Indiana, who was born on October 12, 1882, in. Napoleon, a daughter of Henry and Mary ( Brandt ) Oetjen, natives of Hanover, Germany and Napoleon, respectively. The former, a tailor by trade, who came to America at the age of fourteen years, died in 1895. To Henry and Clara (Octjen) Draping have been born four children, namely: Alvena, born on April 6, 1905: Walter, December 15, 1907; Elmer, January 16, 1911, and Herbert, February 9, 1913.
Mr. and Mrs. Draping are members of the Lutheran church and their children are being reared in that faith. Mr. Draping is a Democrat and takes a good citizen's part in the political affairs of the county, and is one of the best-known men in that part of the county. He served as one of the. jurymen in the celebrated Beogle murder trial.
ALEXANDER HILLIS.
It cannot be urged too strongly upon those who read the biographies of those who have passed on, the importance of securing from the older mem- bers of the present generation, as well as from the few still left of the pre- ceding generation, their store of ancestral knowledge, before death comes to claim his own, after which much interesting and valuable data inevitably will remain a sealed book. Persons who take pride in their ancestral records ought not to permit present opportunities to be neglected, and the lessons on genealogy presented in this volume ought not to be overlooked.
The late Alexander Hillis, a one time well-known farmer of Marion
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township, this county, was born on August 2, 1831. a son of John and Ann (Hazelrigg) Hillis. He died on June 15, 1910, at the old Hillis home, south of Greensburg, where he owned one hundred and twenty acres of land. He was an industrious, energetic man, and a kind husband and father.
John Hillis was a native of Kentucky. His wife, Ann, who was born on May 23, 18II, was a daughter of Alese and Kitty Hazelrigg. The Hillis family came to Decatur county in 1830, in which year John Hillis entered a tract of land, where the Hillis home now stands. He was a very intelligent and able man and traded and bought until he had a fine farm of over four hundred acres, becoming a wealthy man in an honest, straightforward way. John and Ann Hillis were the parents of eight children, namely: Alexander, the subject of this sketch: Martha Ann, now deceased, who married Mar- cellus Wright; Sarah Catherine, born on February 2, 1837, now deceased, who married William Carper ; Mrs. Margaret Jane Foley, a widow, living at Greensburg, this county ; William Wallace, born on January 27, 1840, who died at the age of ten years; Sophronia, born in 1848, died at the age of nineteen years: Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Christy, now deceased, born on March 15, 1845, and Mrs. Nancy Miranda Cobb, January 18. 1848.
Alexander Hillis was married to Elizabeth Mccullough, who was born on February 22, 1832, in Ripley county, a daughter of William and Drusilla (Morgan) Mccullough, of Kentucky. Drusilla Morgan was born at Mor- gan's Station. Kentucky, a daughter of John Morgan, founder of Morgan's Station. The Mcculloughs came to Decatur county in 1833 and later in that year settled in Ripley county, where William McCullough opened a country store. He spent the rest of his life there and was buried at Cross Plains.
To Alexander and Elizabeth (Mccullough) Hillis were born the fol- lowing children: Morgan A., born in 1854. was accidentally killed in 1898; John W., February 12, 1858, died on August 19, 1884; Frank O., April 20, 1866, who lives in Milroy, where he operates a machine shop, married Flora Doles and has three children, Loren, Elizabeth and Thomas; Lizzie, Novem- ber 27, 1866, is now deceased : Clara, a skilled music teacher, who was edu- cated in the Conservatory of Music at Indianapolis, has large classes at Milroy and Westport, and Hetty, who lives at home.
Mr. Hillis was a devoted and consistent member of the Christian church, as is his widow, and their children were reared in that faith, growing up to be useful members of the community. Mr. Hillis was a Republican and ever gave his attention to all matters of good government. He was a good citizen and a generous neighbor, being held in the highest regard throughout the community in which he so long had made his home, and was sincerely mourned by many at his passing.
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JEPHTHA LAYTON.
The late Jeplitha Layton, of Marion township, was well known during his life time in Decatur county ; first, because he lived in this county all of his life, or practically so, and second, because, for many years, he was engaged in operating a saw-mill at Slabtown, in Marion township, where he did an extent- sive business in lumber and from which he furnished a great deal of the lum- ber for the building of Greensburg Moreover, he became an expert judge of timber and, as a result of his extensive dealings, became quite wealthy, accumulating a great deal of land and other property. He was a man who devoted himself closely to his own personal business and whose relations with the public were based upon the most rigid code of honorable and upright dealings.
Jephtha Layton was born in Kentucky on July 25, 1823, and died near Madison, Indiana, on August 1, 1891. He was the son of John and Mary Layton, natives of Kentucky, the former of whom was of English parentage. About 1830 Jolin Layton came to Decatur county and here settled on a farm south of Greensburg, which is now owned by Green B. Barnes. At that time Jephtha Layton was only seven years old. He continued to live at home with his parents, assisting his father in the work on the farm, until his mar- riage in 1852 to Susan McLaughlin, who was born on October 20, 1827, and who, left an orphan at a tender age, was reared by friends of her parents' family. She died on August 7, 1890, a little less than one year before the death of her husband, the subject of this sketch.
In 1855 Jephtha Layton formed a partnership with his brother, James, and they established the old Layton mill at Slabtown, on the Greensburg & Layton's Mill turnpike, where they did an extensive business in hard lumber and especially in the manufacture of shingles, the mill being a lumber station for a large expanse of territory. After the death of his father, in 1891, Frank Layton took up the work of this mill and is still continuing its opera- tion. In 1880 Jephtha Layton erected a large brick house, manufacturing his own brick, on the farm. Jephtha and James Layton built this house. John and Cyrus Layton were associated with their brothers for some time, but they died soon after the venture was started. In 1870 Jephtha and James Layton dissolved partnership.
To Jephtha and Susan (Mclaughlin) Layton were born six children, namely : Avarilla, who married Obadiah Martin, of Marion township, lives on part of the old farm and has two children, Zola, a teacher in the public
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schools of Marion township, and Ottis, a farmer; Nancy Ann, who died at the age of sixteen years; Mary, who is at home; Frank, who is a farmer, well-driller and saw-mill operator of Marion township; John, who died in the West, and Florence, who also is at home. Florence and Mary own one hundred acres of land, which their brother, Frank, for the most part culti- vates, but part of the land is rented out to others.
As above stated, Jephtha Layton died ,in 1891. Five years later his brother, James, with whom he had been associated for many years in busi- ness, died in the large frame house which he had built in Slabtown, in 1896. Jephtha and James Layton were among the younger children of a large family born to John and Mary Layton. The others were: Mrs. Emily Fletcher, Allen, John and Mrs. Mary Downey (twins), Mrs. Harriett Mc- connell, Mrs. Matilda Ransted. Mrs. Betsy Bonderant, John and Cyrus.
As men who did real constructive work in the material development and `npbuilding of Decatur county, it would be difficult to find anyone who would pass the Layton brothers. It might be said with some truth that, had they not operated a saw-mill in that part of the county, some one else would have done so. Nevertheless, the fact remains that they possessed the foresight to erect a mill and that their estimates of the commercial possibilities of such an enterprise were pre-eminently correct. The Layton family will go down in the history of this county as one which contributed very largely to its material advancement.
JAMES CLINE.
James Cline, one of the prominent leaders in the councils of the Demo- cratic party in Decatur county, and the present assessor of the county, is a well-known farmer of Marion township, born on March 1, 1864, in that township, and the son of Francis and Catherine (McCormack) Cline, both natives of Ireland. the former of whom was born in 1816, and died in 1891, and the latter of whom was born on September 8, 1823, and died on May 7, 1915, past the age of ninety-one, the oldest woman in Decatur county. She came to America from her native country when a girl with relatives, and was married in New York City to Francis Cline. Her husband, a native of Ire- land, came alone to America when a lad and after working in New York City for a time moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, from which place he emigrated during the fifties to Decatur county, purchasing a farm of forty acres in Marion township.
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DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
Although James Cline was born in a pioneer log cabin, his father subse- quently built another house, and it was there that he was reared. Fishing and hunting were good in those days, and the life of a country lad offered more wholesome if not greater diversion than it does today. James Cline was one of three children born to his parents. The other two, who were elder, were Mrs. Katie Smith, of Napoleon, Ripley county, whose husband is cashier of the Napoleon bank, and Anna, a member of the Sisters of Charity, who died in 1909.
Educated in the common schools of Marion township, and in the normal at New Marion, James Cline taught school for twenty-two years and six months, beginning at the age of twenty-two years, and performing all of this service in Marion township. In the meantime he purchased a farm in Marion township, and, after improving it, sold it in 1898 and removed to Greens- burg, where he began the study of law. Finding the law distasteful, he returned to the farm in 1900, having purchased his present farm of eighty acres at Slabtown, in Marion township. This farm was badly run down, but Mr. Cline has since erected a fine house and other buildings and has the farm well fenced and well drained. It is regarded as one of the best country homes on the Michigan road, and is located six miles southeast of Greens- burg, and six miles from Napoleon.
Interested in politics from the time of his boyhood, Mr. Cline served on the Democratic county central committee and as township committeeman for Marion township. He has also attended several Democratic state con- ventions, and is well acquainted with the Democratic leaders in the state of Indiana. In the fall of 1914, having received the nomination for county assessor, he was triumphantly elected to a four-year term, and is now serving in this office.
On April 27, 1893, James Cline was married to Margaret Foley, who was born in Salt Creek township in June, 1865, daughter of Michael Foley, and who died on February 20, 1898. To this union three children were born, one of whom died in infancy. The two living children are Mary, who is her father's housekeeper, and Anna, who was graduated from the Academy of the Immaculate Conception at Oldenburg, Indiana, on June 17, 1915, hav- ing completed a four-years' course.
A member of the Greensburg Catholic church, James Cline is also a charter member of the Knights of Columbus at Greensburg, and has been prominent in that organization since the Greensburg lodge was instituted. The deep and active interest which Mr. Cline has always taken in the councils of the Democratic party in Decatur county has not prevented him from look-
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ing carefully after the interests of his home, his family and his farm. With- out any qualifications or modifications, it must be conceded that he has per- formed every duty which devolves upon a citizen of this great country. Loyal to his home, his neighborhood, his county and to his state, he has a host of friends, men who are attached to him by the warmest ties of personal rela- tion, and who hold him in the highest regard.
JOSEPH MOENKEDICK.
Like many others of Ohio's sons and daughters who have adopted Indi- ana as their permanent home. the gentleman whose name forms the caption of this sketch has been loyal to the home of his adoption, and well may he feel satisfied with his success in producing on his farm in this county the best that nature wills. His splendid acres, his fine family of children, and his remunerative crops, all contribute toward making him a satisfied man. Mr. Moenkedick has won the respect and confidence of the citizens of Marion township, and has trained his children along the same lines.
Joseph Moenkedick was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, on July 11, 1859, a son of Henry and Catharine Moenkedick. Henry Moenkedick was born in Germany in 1818, and came to America in 1857, settling in Decatur county, where he bought a farm in 1865. He lived in a log cabin, which is still standing, and where his son Joseph, the subject of this sketch, spent his child- hood. Henry Moenkedick, in old age, moved to Millhousen, where his last days were spent, his death occurring in 1890. By his first wife, he had two children, Mrs. Theresa Herbert, of Ripley county, Indiana, and Joseph. Henry Moenkedick's second wife was a widow, Mrs. Moller, to which union there was no issue.
At the age of fourteen years Joseph Moenkedick started in to earn his living, receiving at first but five dollars a month, which wage gradually was increased until he was receiving twenty dollars a month, and eventually he earned enough to pay one thousand six hundred dollars down on a farm costing him three thousand two hundred dollars, the balance to be paid in eight years. He now has a well-improved farm, on which he has spent about nine thousand dollars in improvements. Mr. Moenkedick's farm covers one hundred and twenty acres of very productive, level land, located a quarter of a mile from the pike road, on which he has a substantial brick dwelling. He raises from fifteen to eighteen head of cattle and from twenty-five to forty hogs annually.
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On April 19, 1893. Joseph Moenkedick was united in marriage to Anna May Hessler, who was born on August 26. 1866, at Millhousen, this county, a daughter of Adam J. and Katharine (Stahl) Hessler, to which union the following children have been born: Theresa, Louis, Catharine, Henry, Will- iam and Joseph, all of whom are at home save Catherine, who is living in Greensburg. Mrs. Moenkedick's father, Adam J. Hessler, was born in 1840, and died in March. 1903. He was a native of Millhousen, a son of John Hessler, and his wife was a native of Germany. Adam J. Hessler was a farmer all his life. His father. John Hessler. a native of Germany, was the first shoemaker in Millhousen. Mr. and Mrs. Moenkedick are members of St. Mary's Catholic church at Greensburg and their children have been reared in that faith. Mr. Moenkedick is a Republican and is warmly interested in the county's political affairs, being an earnest supporter of all measures designed to advance the public welfare.
WILLARD A. MIERS.
Few men living in Decatur county are better known than Willard A. Miers, a prominent farmer and stockman, living a quarter of a mile south of Burney, in Clay township, on a farm consisting of two hundred and fifty- seven acres of level land and of first-class soil. He is known to the world of harness horsemen as the man who bred and trained "Little Snapp," which at three years old held the world's record for geldings.
Willard A. Miers was born on the old homestead, which he now owns, in 1858, the son of Thomas S. and Mahala (Braden) Miers. Thomas S. Miers was born in Ohio, and came to Decatur county when seven or eight years old with his father, Thomas Miers, who was one of the early settlers of Decatur county, and who died a short time after settling in Clay town- ship. Thomas S. Miers was one of the most successful farmers of Decatur county, having accumulated at the time of his death six hundred acres of land. Most of his money he made out of hogs and corn.
Willard A. Miers started life for himself when about twenty-one years old. He has been a very successful farmer and stockman, and especially suc- cessful with horses and mules. He bred and trained "Little Snapp," which at three years old held the world's record for geldings of that age and con- tinued to hold the record for three successive years. Mr. Miers has bred and raised several other horses, which while not holding world's records, never- theless have distinguished themselves for speed. He is still actively engaged
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DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
in operating his farm and is still as enthusiastic as a youngster in regard to his horses. He trains and educates his own animals. He has now a four- year-old filly in whose veins runs the blood of Allen Winters, and Allen Winters won the fifty-thousand-dollar Derby, which to horse lovers is the big event of the grand circuit. He is a true lover of the sport of kings and never intends to give it up, declaring the chances for him are too good to quit. He is one of the well-to-do farmiers of Decatur county, but his heart is in and with his horses.
Mr. Miers laso handles jacks, mules, cattle and hogs. He has been handling jacks ever since he started in business, and all of his animals were bred and raised by himself. His two oldest jacks are two of the best-boned and largest animals in the middle West. His fes are one-third greater thanl the average fee, yet, despite this, he enjoys a large patronage. He also has six jennets and breeds and sells these animals for the market. He raises three or four jacks every year, and these animals bring on an average from twelve hundred to fifteen hundred dollars per head. It can readily be seen that some of the profits of the farm come from the jacks, jennets and mules. Jennets irdinarily bring fron five hundred to eight hundred dollars. Not every man who has engaged in this business has made a success of it, but Mr. Miers is one of those men who has succeeded in a large mesaure. He employs two men the year round and several additional men during the busy season.
In 1895 Willard A. Miers was married to Lilly Johnson, the daughter of John and Sally (Jones) Johnson, members of an old family in Decatur county, now living retired at Burney, Indiana. To this union three children have been born, Braden Johnson, Bessie and Alice Nevada. Mr. and Mrs. Miers are members of the Methodist church at Burney and their children have been reared in that faith. The Miers home is situated in Burney on twenty acres of land at the south edge of town. The stock farm and race track are situated about a quarter of a mile south of town. Mr. Miers is devoted to his business and personally attends to all the details of managing every department of the farm.
Mr. Miers is a Democrat, although not greatly interested in politics. For many years he has been a member of the Masonic lodge at Milford. He is possessed naturally of a genial disposition, which has been no small factor in his large success. Ten years of his life were spent in Greensburg, and Mr. Miers is quite as well known there as he is in Clay township. There is an old saying that every man has his own trade. The truth of this saying is generally accepted, and, assuming that it is correct, no one will doubt that Willard A. Miers has found the business of life not only that which he likes best, but the one in which he could have been most successful.
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WATSON BOSTIC.
A 'veteran of the Civil War, who enlisted in the service of his country when a lad of seventeen years, enduring many hardships and privations, Watson Bostic, a successful farmer of Clay township, this county, and for twenty years the local representative of the Continental Fire Insurance Com- pany of New York, was born in 1847, the son of Mathias and Elizabeth (Jones) Bostic, the former of whom was a native of Ohio, and the latter of Maryland. Mathias Bostic was an early settler of Dearborn county, Indi- ana, one of four brothers, who, with their sister, came from Ohio to this state. The Bostics were also identified with the early history and settlement and development of Decatur county, having come here from Dearborn county in October, 1860. Mathias Bostic died about 1858 in Dearborn county, and after his death his widow married a man of the name of Fowler, and they came to Decatur county in 1860. Mr. Bostic's mother died near Milford. By her first marriage she had three children; Watson, the subject of this sketch; Richmond B., who died in 1891, and Mrs. Serinda Elliott, who is deceased.
At the outbreak of the Civil War Watson Bostic was a lad of only fifteen or sixteen. In the winter of 1863 and 1864 he joined the One Hun- dred and Twenty-third Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, which was organized in Greensburg, and served until the end of the war, attached to the Twenty-third Corps of the Army of the Cumberland. Mr. Bostic fought at the battles of Nashville and Franklin. At Nashville, he was stricken down with measles and disabled for service, losing the use of his voice and suffer- ing other disabilities from which he has never wholly recovered. He was discharged from the service in June, 1865. At the end of the war Mr. Bostic came back to Decatur county, and worked on a farm for some time. Subse- quently he emigrated to Adams county, Illinois, and after being there for a year or two returned to Decatur county.
On August 27, 1868, Watson Bostic was married to Debby Reeves, who was born on May 7, 1850, the daughter of N. G. and Jane Reeves, the former of whom came to Indiana from Ohio, and the latter of whom came here from North Carolina. To this union four children were born, namely : Jennie, who married T. C. Goff, of Greensburg, now living at Milford, and has two sons, Lloyd Gallentine and Artie, who live with their grandfather; Rillie, who married M. B. Chambers, a well-known farmer, living on the Vernon road in Clay township and has four children, Watson, Flossie, Hilda and ·Cecile Anna ; Charles Ora, who died in 1890, and Mrs. Nora Barnes, widow
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of George Barnes, now lives at home with her father. The mother of these children died on September 15, 1914.
Mrs. Watson Bostic's mother was the daughter of William Craig, a weaver of coverlids, who lived in this county. The Bostic family has in its possession a coverlid woven in 1844, and in perfect condition. They also have a pair of tongs made by Mrs. Bostic's great-great-grandfather, who was a blacksmith by trade.
In 1884 Mr. Bostic purchased ninety-six acres of land and has added to this tract until he now owns two hundred and fifty acres, situated two miles from Milford and two miles from Burney on the Vernon road and in a very fertile section of Clay township. He has always been an industrious farmer and a hard worker. In 1904 he purchased the tract upon which he now lives, and more land in 1910 and now owns, in all, two hundred and fifty acres. The soil originally grew sugar trees, poplars and walnut. Mr. Bostic has made every dollar he has by his own hard work. A good deal of his money has been made by raising and feeding hogs.
In the community where he lives Watson Bostic is known as a dyed-in- the-wool-Republican. He has always been greatly interested in politics and is regarded as one of the leaders of his party in Clay township, having been on the firing line in most of the campaigns. He is a man of liberal views, conscientious and sincere, who inspires confidence in his fellows. For nearly forty years he has been a member of the Masonic lodge at Milford and is a member of the Greensburg post of the Grand Army of the Republic. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and Mr. Bostic has always taken a prominent part in local religious work. In fairly good health, he is of an optimistic turn of mind and is considered one of the substantial citizens of Decatur county.
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