USA > Indiana > Decatur County > History of Decatur County, Indiana: its people, industries and institutions > Part 97
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After their marriage, John P. Elliott and his wife returned to Decatur county and settled in Clay township, where the former engaged in the saw- mill business on Clifty creek. He combined farming and the milling business until the outbreak of the Civil War, at which time he enlisted at the first call of President Lincoln for volunteers. He became a member of the Seventh Indiana Regiment Volunteer Infantry and, as color bearer of the regiment, served two years, being discharged for disability. At the time lie was some- what past the prime of life. He was a brave and capable soldier and intensely patriotic. He came from a family of soldiers, his grandfather, McClure Elliott, having been a soldier in the War of 1812. John P. Elliott served in some of the bloodiest and fiercest battles of the Civil War, among which was the battle of Antietam and the Wilderness campaign. He was a stanch Republican and true to the principles of the great Lincoln. After the war, he came back, to Decatur county and died here about 1900, the last years of his life being spent in Greensburg. He was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. A successful farmer and business man, he owned at the time of his death, eight or nine hundred acres of fine land.
Of his five children, Harry, Mary, Martha, Theodore and James, all are living save the last named. Harry lives at Westport, Mary at Greens- burg, Martha at Greensburg and Theodore is the subject of this sketch.
After living at home on the farm with his parents until he had reached his majority, Theodore Elliott was married to Ida Barger, daughter of Will- iam and Mary Ellen ( Lowry) Barger, the latter of whom is a descendant ot Captain Lowry, one of the oldest and most prominent of Decatur county set- tlers, having come here from Kentucky. To this union one child was born, Glenn, who lives on the old farm near Burney. Mrs. Ida Elliott died on December 4, 1886. Fifteen years later Mr. Elliott married, secondly, Sarah Steelman, daughter of James S. and Anna (Peggs) Steelman, prominent resi-
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dents of Clay township, this county, both now dead, the former of whom was born in Union county, Indiana, and the latter in Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Elliott are members of the Methodist church at Burney, active in all neigh- borhood good works, and are held in the highest esteem throughout the com- munity in which they live.
Mr. Elliott, who now is living retired from the active work of the farm, is a progressive citizen, liberal and broad-minded in his views. He is a Republican and intensely loyal to the party of his father and the party of Abraham Lincoln. Having enjoyed during his youth more than the ordinary advantages for obtaining an education, having attended Hartsville College, he is well informed and up-to-date, one of the most substantial citizens in that section of Decatur county.
JAMES L. POWNER.
The career of the late James L. Powner was one marked by earnest and indefatigable application ; not only to his vocation as a farmer, but to the general affairs of life. He was a soldier in the Civil War, where his fidelity was of the highest type and the kind which won for him the confidence and esteem of his superior officers and which later. in the peaceful pursuits of life, won for him the unbounded respect of the public generally. His death on October 23. 1888, was mourned throughout this county, for he was a good man, true to all the relations of life.
Born in Franklin county, Indiana, in 1837. the late James L. Powner came to Decatur county when a young man and here he lived until the out- break of the Civil War. when he enlisted in the Seventh Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Colonel Welsh. He served two years in this regiment and was then discharged on account of disability. After recup- erating at home for six months, he re-enlisted in the One Hundred and Thirty-seventh Regiment. Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and served until the end of the war. being mnstered out as a sergeant, with a record of brave and efficient soldier. James L. Powner had an intense love for his country and his flag and fought in some of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War, among which were the battles of the Wilderness and Antietam. Intensely interested in the politics of his country, Mr. Powner later was always on the firing line of the Republican party, to which he was attached throughout his life.
On September 12, 1865, James L. Powner was married to Abigail
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Gibson, a daughter of Stewart and Mary (Bell) Gibson, natives of Penn- sylvania. Mrs. Powner, who was born in 1845, in Lawrence county, Penn- sylvania, fifty miles from Philadelphia, now lives on a beautiful farm of one hundred and seventy-six acres in this county, three miles southeast of Burney, on the Liberty church road, and two miles west of Liberty church.
Mrs. Powner's father, Steward Gibson, was the son of James David Gibson, a native of Ireland, who came to America some time during the American Revolution and settled in Pennsylvania, where he spent the remain- der of his life. He was a prosperous farmer and at his death left his children a comfortable fortune. Of the five children born to James David Gibson and wife, Steward Gibson, the father of Mrs. Powner, was the eldest. He was married in Pennsylvania to Mary Bell, who was the daughter of Jere- miah Bell, a colonel in the Revolutionary army. The Bells were of English descent and an intensely patriotic family. Col. Jeremiah Bell was a man of more than average ability. Until his buildings were burned by the British and his property confiscated by the king's army, he was the richest man in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. On the vast estate in Pennsylvania still stands the old colonial mansion, in good repair, kept just as it was during the War for Independence. Col. Jeremiah Bell served throughout the war and after its close, returned to his home and family, spending the rest of his life in Lancaster county. He married a Miss Mccullough, a member of one of the old and prominent families of Pennsylvania, to which union there were born but two children, of whom Mary, the mother of Mrs. Powner was the younger. Steward Gibson and Mary Bell were married about 1835 and lived in Pennsylvania until about 1850, when they came to Decatur county, Indiana. Their five children were born in Pennsylvania, and when Mrs. Powner was five years old the family came to this county. Upon their arrival in Decatur county they settled in Clay township, where their descendants now form a numerous connection. For his time, Steward Gibson was fairly prosperous and was a farmer and stock buyer, widely and favorably known throughout this county. In later life he moved to Oregon and lived with his eldest daughter, his death occurring in that state in 1900.
The five children born to Steward and Mary ( Bell) Gibson are as follow: Mrs. Jane Courtney, of Spokane, Washington; James David, of California : John Stewart, deceased, who lived in Kansas ; Abigail, the widow of Mr. Powner, of this county, and Reuben, of Iowa.
To James L. and Abigail (Gibson) Powner was born but one son, Elmer Margin, born on August 28, 1866, a bachelor. who lives with his mother on the home farm. Elmer M. Powner is a Republican, as was his
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father before him, and is a substantial citizen. Although a broad-minded and progressive citizen like his father, he is a man of quiet and unassuming manners, a great student of the literature of the day and a progressive and keen thinker. Mrs. Powner is a woman of far more than average ability. When she was left a widow, the farm which she now owns was heavily mort- gaged and she was without experience in the world of business. Most ser- iously handicapped for the want of experience, she grappled bravely with the problems of life as they confronted her and by virtue of her keen intelligence, she mastered these problems. She is today known as one of the substantial business women of Decatur county. Aside from her business ability, she is , a woman of striking personality, loved and respected by a legion of friends in Clay township. Mrs. Powner is now contemplating a trip to Pennsylvania to visit the old colonial homestead of her grandfather. Col. Jeremiah Bell, of Revolutionary fame.
COL. BENJAMIN COREY SHAW.
A generation ago the late Col. Benjamin Corey Shaw was one of Indiana's most distinguished and best-known citizens. Descended from an old English family and the son of the first white child born in the fort at Cincinnati, Ohio; a colonel in the Civil War and treasurer of state in Indiana, Colonel Shaw had indeed a distinguished record and one of which his descendants now living in Decatur county well may be proud. He was a man of wonderful ability, both native and acquired, a natural leader of men.
Benjamin Corey Shaw was born near Oxford, Ohio, February 3, 1830, the son of James and Sarah (Stearns) Shaw, the former of whom was a native of England, who came to America when a mere lad. The latter was born in the old fort which stood on the site of the present city of Cincinnati, at that time no more than a trading post on the outpost of civilization. Sarah Stearns was probably the first white child born in Cincinnati, her mother having taken refuge in the fort after her husband had been murdered by the Indians. After his marriage, James Shaw settled on a farm near Oxford, Ohio, and there he reared his family of eight children, of whom Benjamin Corey was probably the fifth. The father died when this son was about fifteen or sixteen years old and the widowed mother, after bringing the family to Decatur county, married Isaac Wolverton, a prominent resident of this county.
When about eighteen years old Benjamin C. Shaw left his mother's home
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and went to Greensburg, where he learned the carriage builder's trade, in which he was engaged until the breaking out of the Civil War. At the first call for troops he joined the Seventh Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and was presently sent back home with a commission to organize another regiment. In obedience to this commission he organized the Sixty-eighth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, of which he was colonel commanding until the battle of Winchester, in which engagement he was so severely wounded that it was necessary to send him home on account of disabilities. He later returned to the front, but his injuries had been too severe to permit , further service, and he presently resigned his command.
After the war Colonel Shaw returned to Greensburg and resumed work at his trade, but remained in business there only a short time, in 1866 remov- ing to Indianapolis, where he engaged in carriage and wagon building and created an extensive industry there. Eventually, he drifted into politics and in 1876 was elected treasurer of the state of Indiana, being re-elected in 1878. He was always in the thick of the political fight and for years was one of the foremost counselors of the Democratic party in Indiana, for several terms serving as a member of the Democratic state central committee. He was a member of the Masonic order and a Knight Templar and also was adjutant-general of the Loyal Legion and a member of the Grand Army of the Republic.
About 1882 Col. Benjamin C. Shaw moved to Toledo, Ohio, where he was engaged as superintendent for the Milburn wagon works. Later he took a position at Racine, Wisconsin, as manager of the plant at that place and became finally superintendent of the great Studebaker plant at South Bend. Upon leaving South Bend he returned to Indianapolis and shortly afterward was appointed chief of the registry department of the postoffice there, a posi- tion he held for eight years, or until his death, which occurred on April 10. 1901, at his home in Indianapolis.
On March 24, 1850, Benjamin Corey Shaw was married to Elizabeth A. Coy, the daughter of William and Sarah ( Robinson) Coy, the former of whom was a native of Kentucky, who came to this section of Indiana very carly in the settlement of the same and made a home in the wilderness, clear- ing the dense timber for that purpose. To this union were born eleven chil- dren, of which remarkable family only two, Miss Fannie and Mrs. Edna Shaw Byers, the wife of George W. Byers, are now living. The deceased children were Sarah Jane, Henry Clay, Mrs. Molly Shaw (Weller) Shaffer, of Indianapolis, Martha, Emma, Oliver Perry Morton, Ida, Etta and Eddie.
Miss Fannie Shaw, one of the living children born to Colonel Shaw and
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wife, was born in Greensburg in 1861, and when only four years old was taken by her parents to Indianapolis, to which place they removed at that time. She was educated in St. John's Academy and after her graduation returned home and remained with and cared for her father and mother as long as they lived. She is now living with her sister, Mrs. George Byers, to whom she has always been closely attached by the keenest ties of sisterly affection. Mrs. Byers was born on October 17, 1873.
This remarkable family has brought honor and distinction to Decatur county and to the state of Indiana; in fact, honors which the two living descendants appreciate highly. Colonel Shaw was more than a distinguished citizen ; he was a kind and loving father and his memory is cherished with the utmost devotion by his daughters.
JAMES M. BYERS.
James M. Byers, a prosperous farmer living two miles east of Burney, in Clay township, in this county, who owns two hundred and forty-five acres of gently undulating land, is one of the most useful citizens living in Decatur county. Highly spoken of by his neighbors, he has a host of friends in the county and is still active in farm work at the age of seventy years.
James M. Byers was born in Rush county, this state, in 1845, the son of James R. and Sarah (Carr) Byers, both natives of Kentucky, who came to Indiana about 1840, settling on a farm in Rush county, where they became prosperous citizens and well respected in the community. In 1857 they moved to Decatur county, locating on the farm now owned by their son, J. M. Byers, the subject of this sketch. James R. Byers was the son of John Byers, of Scotch-Irish descent, who came with a number of sturdy families to America and became an influential pioneer citizen of Kentucky. James R. Byers accumulated a great deal of valuable land in this county. His wife, Sarah Carr, who was born in Kentucky in 1817, was the daughter of George Carr, also an early settler in this county.
James M. Byers lived at home with his parents as long as they lived and has never married. At their death, he succeeded to the home farm, which he has operated ever since. Though an ardent Republican, he has never tried for political office, but has always been active in the campaigns of his party, and his influence is always counted on the right side of every public question. Friends are lavish in their praise of his character, his industry and his wise
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and prudent management. He has a fertile farm and is comfortable and happy, enjoying the confidence and esteem of many friends. Any commun- ity or any county may well be proud of such a man as J. M. Byers.
WILLIAM A. LAWSON.
The late William A. Lawson, at the time of his death, in 1904, was a prosperous farmer living five miles west of Greensburg and owned at the time of his death three hundred acres of land. During practically all of his life, he was a resident of what is known in this section as the Lawson neighbor- hood, and was one of the most highly respected citizens of the community.
William A. Lawson was born in Virginia in the year 1837, the son of James and Jane (Jones) Lawson, natives of that state, who came to Decatur county over a half century ago, and settled on what is now known as the Harrison Davis farm. They were prosperous citizens in their day and gen- eration and accumulated considerable property. There on that farm William A. Lawson grew to manhood and received the rudiments of an education.
In 1857, at the age of twenty years, William A. Lawson was married to Permelia Braden, the daughter of Jackson P. and Nancy (LeMasters) Bra- den, the former a native of Kentucky, of Irish descent, who came to Decatur county about 1823, settling in Clay township, where he rented land. now owned by his descendants. At the time of his death, in 1857, Jackson Braden was the owner of fourteen hundred and eighty acres of land in Clay township. He was a prominent Democrat in his day and generation and a member of the Methodist church, assisting materially in the work of erecting the church at Milford. Mrs. Lawson, who was born on the old Braden homestead in 1839, is a splendid type of the hearty womanhood of pioneer times in Indiana.
To Jackson P. and Nancy (LeMasters) Braden were born the following children : Euphemia, now deceased, who married Anderson Miers; Elizabeth, deceased. who was the wife of Evan Miers : Jane, deceased, who was the wife of Dr. J. L. Wooden, also deceased ; Rebecca, deceased. who was the wife of John L. Miers: William, deceased ; Marietta, the wife of Judge Roberts, of Colorado; Seth, deceased; James L., deceased; Sarah E., now deceased, who married James Davis; Permelia, the widow of Mr. Lawson; Mahala, who married Samuel H. Ewing; Seth, deceased, and a daughter who died in in- fancy.
After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Lawson settled on a farm near the
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old Lawson homestead, near where Mrs. Lawson's father also had entered land, and in a region known as the Braden neighborhood, and there they made their home. To their union eleven children were born, namely: Seth, a farmer, who lives in Swinton, Missouri; Mrs. Jennie L. Gallentin, of Elreno, Oklahoma ; Cora, who died in infancy; Mrs. Sarah Henderson, who died on February 11, 1895; Josephine, who lives with her mother; Mary, who married Carl Johnson of Clay township; Samuel, a farmer of Clay township, this county; Herschel, a farmer, of Swinton, Missouri; Cloe, who married Clarence Johnson, of Clay township, Decatur county, and two others who died in infancy.
The late William A. Lawson was a prominent man during his day and generation. He and his wife did much to help lift the standard of citizenship in this county and to make this section the prosperous and successful agricul- tural community that it is today. William A. Lawson was a Democrat, a stanch believer in the principles of his party and an ardent worker in behalf of the party's success. Mrs. Lawson is a member of the Christian church at Milford, as was her late husband, and is a good Christian woman, a decided influence for good in the community where she has lived so long, and enjoys the respect and esteem of all who know her.
ALLEN JEWELL.
Among the prosperous farmers living near Burney, in Decatur county, the venerable Allen Jewell, a veteran of the Civil War, is one of the most eminently respected of men, a substantial citizen who owns one hundred and sixty acres of fertile land in that community.
Allen Jewell was born in this county on February 25, 1844, the son of Horace and Elizabeth (Buchanan) Jewell, the former of whom was born in Kentucky in 1808, a son of Allen Jewell, a native of Kentucky, and one of the pioneers in that state. In 1832 Horace Jewell came to Indiana from Ken- tucky, locating in this county, and here spent the rest of his life. He was a strong factor in the early development of this county, having been a leader in many of the movements which resulted in extensive public improvements. Throughout his life he was identified with the Whig party and was a member of the United Brethren church. He was an honest and well-respected citizen and an ancestor of whom his descendants may be justly proud. He died in 1873. Elizabeth Buchanan, to whom he was married in 1838, bore him eight
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children, as follow : Eliza Jane, who married Thomas Townsend; Luduska. who married William Pumphry, of Decatur county; Melconia, who married James Lawson : Allen, the subject of this sketch; James C., who lives in Bartholomew county; Elijah J., who lives in Arkansas: Mary Emily, who married Cyrus Pumphrey, of Bartholomew county, and Noah, deceased.
Allen Jewell was a lad of seventeen years when the Civil War broke out and he joined the Seventh Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Colonel Welsh. On the first day of the battle of the Wilderness, May 5, 1864, he was taken prisoner and was confined in the Confederate prison pen at Andersonville for ten months. Upon being exchanged he was discharged on March 25, 1865. The war terminating shortly thereafter, he returned to Decatur county. During his services as a Union soldier he participated in the battles of Winchester, Virginia, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Antietam, Gettysburg. Greensborough and South Mountain, his active service terminat- ing at the battle of the Wilderness, where he was captured.
In 1867 Allen Jewell was united in marriage to Fannie Pumphrey, daughter of Eli and Elizabeth ( Knight) Pumphrey, prominent residents of this county, and to this union one son was born. J. E. Jewell, born in 1869, a bachelor, who has always remained on the home farm with his father, the two being in partnership in operating the farm. Mrs. Jewell died in 1898.
Mr. Jewell and his son, J. E., are both ardent Republicans, always having been stanch and true to the party of Lincoln, and Allen Jewell is a member of the Baptist church. J. E. Jewell is a member of the Masonic lodge at Mil- ford. While intensely patriotic and loyal in his political affiliations and beliefs, Allen Jewell has never sought office. He and his son have a com- fortable, happy home, when old-fashioned hospitality may be found in abund- ance. Their present fine home, one mile east of the pleasant village of Bur- ney, was erected in 1898, the commodious barn, forty by forty-four feet. having been built in the same year, the other improvements on the farm being in keeping with the substantial character of the two central buildings. The house is a comfortable and convenient nine-room dwelling, of modern con- struction, with hot-water heating plant, one of the pleasantest homes there- about. Allen Jewell started without a dollar, but he and his wife, by good management and industry, accumulated the snug fortune of which they were possessed at the time of Mrs. Jewell's death, and which Mr. Jewell still prudently conserves, a fortune honorably won, the fruit of honest toil. Allen Jewell is one of the best citizens of Decatur county ; broad-minded, liberal and a clear thinker. Patriotic in his devotion to his country and a Christian man in every respect, he is held in the highest regard throughout the whole county
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JOHN T. MYERS.
One of the well-recognized functions of a publication such as this is.is to recognize those citizens who represent most ably the various vocations and the various spheres of human endeavor. In this connection the life and works of John T. Myers, a well-known farmer of Clay township, this county, should be mentioned, he being the owner of a productive farm of fifty-six and three-quarters acres, a part of the old Richard Wright homestead.
John T. Wright was born on the Myers homestead, in Clay township, this county, in 1851, the son of William H. and Elizabeth (AAnnis) Myers, the former of whom was born in Kentucky, a son of George Myers, also a native of that state, who came to Decatur county in pioneer times. Frank Myers, the father of George Myers, was a soldier in the Revolutionary army, who moved to Kentucky at an early day in the settlement of that state.
William H. Myers, who died in 1906, was a successful farmer and owned about three hundred acres of land in this county. He was a Democrat in politics, a member of the Liberty Baptist church, and was highly respected in his community. Of the nine children born to William H. and Elizabeth Myers, four, William M., Mrs. Alice Sanders, Mrs. Elsie Sharp and Monroe M., are deceased. The living children are James A., George M., John T., Mrs. Ida May Johnson, of Indianapolis and Merritt Elwood, of Oklahoma.
Reared on a farm in this county, John T. Myers was married in 1875 to Minnie Wright, daughter of Richard and Luvicia (Stark) Wright, the former of whom was a native of Rockbridge county, Virginia, who came to this county in pioneer times. He settled in Clay township on a farm that his father had entered from the government, the same being the one now owned by John T. Myers. A successful farmer, he spent the rest of his days in Clay township and his word was known to be as good as his bond. He was a member of the Democratic party and was elected trustee of Clay town- ship. Religiously, he was identified with the Baptist church, having been one of the founders of the church at Liberty; in fact, having given the ground upon which the church was built, and was also one of the trustees of that church and a deacon. His wife was a daughter of Caleb S. and Anne (Boone) Stark, the latter of whom was one of the characteristic women of her generation, of a strong and fearless character, a cousin of Col. Daniel Boone, of Kentucky. Luvicia Wright was a woman widely known for her charitable disposition, who was always ready to lend a helping hand to the needy. She also was a member of the pioneer Baptist church.
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