USA > Indiana > Decatur County > History of Decatur County, Indiana: its people, industries and institutions > Part 98
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Of the children born to Richard and Luvicia (Stark) Wright, four are
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deceased. The living children are Sarah L., who married Theodore McGee, of Iowa ; Caleb S., of Decatur county ; R. T. W., of Colorado Springs, Colo- rado; Minnie A., who married Mr. Myers, and Loda W., of Westport. The deceased children were Frances Catherine, Charles W., William W. and Rutlı A.
Following his marriage Mr. Myers settled on a farm near Horace and has succeeded very well as a farmer; but, better than his success in business, is the honor and respect which he enjoys in the community in which he lives. Although a stanch Democrat, politically, he has always been an independent thinker and to some extent votes independently.
To John T. and Minnie (Wright) Myers have been born four children, one of whom, Lula M., died in infancy. The living children are Charles, born in 1876, who lives in Connersville, Indiana: Frank, 1878, who lives in Clay township, this county, and Forrest M., 1889, who lives at home with his parents.
Mr. and Mrs. Myers are members of the Liberty Baptist church and their children have been reared in that faith, the family being eminently respected in that community.
JOHN HUNTER.
The respect which should be accorded to the brave sons of the North, who left their homes and the peaceful pursuits of civil life to give their ser- vices and their lives, if need be, to preserve the integrity of the Union, is due the memory of the late John Hunter, of Clay township, this county, who at the time of his death, owned a farin of one hundred and twenty-two acres of excellent land on the Greensburg pike.
The late John Hunter was born on May 2. 1842, the son of Lewis and Maria ( Martin) Hunter, natives of Indiana. When a young man he came to this county and became a successful farmer.
During the early period of the Civil War, when the Thirty-seventh Regi- ment Indiana Volunteer Infantry was being recruited, John Hunter joined Company H, of that regiment, and served altogether three years and forty days. He was a brave and efficient soldier and returned home with honors for his valiant service. In the severe engagement at Dug Gap, Georgia, he was wounded and was laid up three months.
At the close of the war, Mr. Hunter came back to Decatur county and
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was married on August 16, 1866, to Mahala Davis, a daughter of Mathias and Elizabeth (Miers) Davis, natives of Decatur county and members of old and prominent families. To this union were born eight children, namely : Mrs. Annie Hunter, deceased; Lewis M., of Montana; George W., deceased ; Mathias D., who lives on a farm five miles east of Greensburg, in this county ; John F., of Colorado; William R., deceased ; Albert E. E., of Clay township. this county, and Everett R., also of Clay township, this county. On July 27, 1908, Everett R. Hunter was united in marriage to Minnie Ramer, of Shelby county, this state, daughter of Joseph and Etna ( Risk) Ramer, the former a native of Ripley county, Indiana, and the latter a native of Decatur county, who are now living on a farm in Clay township, this county, and to this union has been born one child, a son, John L. B., born on September 8, 1909.
Mrs. Mahala Hunter died on December 8, 1891, and on May 2, 1893, Mr. Hunter married, secondly, Kittie Miers, a daughter of T. J. and Oliva (King) Miers, the latter of whom was the daughter of John G. and Sarah (Ewing) King, well known in this county. John G. King was a prosperous farmer and, at one time in his life owned several hundred acres of land. His family were early settlers in Decatur county and became permanently estab- lished in the agricultural life of this section and in the affections of the people. To this second marriage there were born four children, as follow: Mary J., born on March 28, 1894; Joseph Dewey, May 25, 1898; Roberta E., Novem- her 8, 1899, and Edith Irene, July 12, 1901. The Hunter family is considered one of the well-to-do and prominent families in this county. The IIunter farm is one of the richest in Decatur county and is composed mostly of level black soil of great fertility.
Mrs. Hunter was educated in the common schools of Decatur county and in the teachers' training school at St. Paul, Indiana, which was in charge of L. D. Braden at that period. After finishing her education, Mrs. Hunter taught school for one year before she was married. She is a woman of most genial presence, kind and loving, broad-minded and liberal in her views; a typical woman of this century.
The late John Hunter was always a Republican, taking a great interest in the welfare of his party, yet he was somewhat independent in his voting, more of a patriot than a partisan. He was a charter member of the Knights of Pythias lodge at Burney and a member of the Grand Army of the Republic at Greensburg. He passed away on September 25, 1910, at the age of sixty- eight years. full of honors in the community where his life had been spent. John Hunter was a progressive citizen in the broader sense of the word and his loss was keenly felt and widely mourned by the people of the township in which his influence had so long been exerted for good.
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JOHN A. MIRES.
It is interesting to note the growth and development of the county from the beginning, to follow its lines of progress and especially the vocational bent of its citizens in the work of advancing the material interest of the com- munity. John A. Mires, a well-known farmer of Clay township, this county, and the proprietor of a beautiful and fertile farm of one hundred and twenty acres on the Columbus & Greensburg pike, six miles from Greensburg, is one of the strong and sturdy citizens of Decatur county, who has especially helped to promote the agricultural development of the county ; who is an up-to-date farmer and business man, a public-spirited citizen and progressive in all of the relations of life.
John A. Mires was born in Clay township, Decatur county, Indiana, in 1867, the son of Thomas J. and Sarilda (King) Mires, both natives of Decatur county, the former of whom was the son of AAnderson and Euphemia (Braden) Mires, Euphemia Braden having been one of the daughters of Jackson Braden, a prominent pioneer of this county. Thomas J. Mires early in life purchased the Abe Ewing farm near the Ewington postoffice on the Columbus & Greensburg pike, and there spent the rest of his life. his death occurring when he was about fifty-eight years of age. He was a successful farmer and had a host of friends. About 1865 Thomas J. Mires was mar- ried to Sarilda King, and to this union six children were born of whom John .A., the subject of this sketch, was the eldest.
After living at home until he had reached his majority John A. Mires was married, in 1888, to Fannie Pavy, daughter of Ralph P. and Nancy (Davis) Pavy, the former of whom was the son of John and Mary ( Stewart) Pavy. John Pavy was born near Vevay. in Switzerland county, this state, and was a brother of Jefferson Pavy, the father of the Pavy sisters, further reference to whom is made elsewhere in this volume. Born in Vevay, Indiana, on July 25, 1824. Ralph P. Pavy came to Decatur county in 1837 and settled in Clay township on the farm where he spent the rest of his life. his father also dying there. Ralph P. Pavy was a man of literary talent. though handicapped by mneager educational advantages. He had a powerful mind, the influence of which was felt in Decatur and surrounding counties. A teacher by profession, he taught his first school in Clay township in 1844. when twenty-five years old, and was intimately acquainted with Edward Eggleston. He was deeply interested in civic affairs and served as county assessor of Decatur county. His father, John Pavy, was a skillful carpenter,
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who built the house which is still standing on the farm owned by John A. Mires, the farm still being known as the old Pavy farm. This house was built in 1839 and is one of the oldest houses standing in Decatur county. John Pavy also was a Baptist preacher and was said to have been the most highly educated minister of his day in this section. Though farming was his occupation, he preached on Sundays at Greensburg ; a pure labor of love, for he received no pay for his services.
In 1846 Ralph P. Pavy was married to Nancy Davis, who was born in Kentucky in 1827 and who died in March, 1915. at the age of eighty-eight years. She was a daughter of James and Martha ( Smothers) Davis. James Davis was a prominent farmer of Frankfort county, Kentucky, a member of the Baptist church and a man of strong religious convictions, who went to Jennings county, Indiana, and settled on a farm where he spent the rest of his life, rearing a family of eleven children, of whom all are now dead save Mrs. Elizabeth Brett, widow of Thomas Brett, of Bartsville, Bartholomew county, this state. To Ralph P. and Nancy ( Davis) Pavy were born the following children: Jane, who married John Burney; W. S., who married Eliza McCintic: Lucy, who married John Umpshire; Mary, who married Commodore James, and Fannie, who married John A. Mires.
Always interested in politics, the late Ralph P. Pavy cast his first vote for General Scott, the Whig candidate for President, in 1848. In 1856 he became a Republican and was a patriotic supporter of the Union army during the Civil War. He was a member of the Christian church at Milford and when he died his funeral was the largest ever witnessed in Decatur county up to that time.
Mrs. John A. Mires was born on November 11. 1866, in Clay township and was educated in the common schools of that township and at Hartsville College, where she studied music. After her graduation, she taught music in Decatur county for five years or until her marriage in 1889 to Mr. Mires. Mr. and Mrs. Mires have had one son, Ralph, who was born on September 15. 1892. He married Alpha Hancock and the young couple live with Mr. and Mrs. Mires. After their marriage. John A. Mires and wife started life on the old Pavy farm, which they still own and where they still live. From 1903 until her death, Mrs. Mires's mother lived with them.
At the close of Cleveland's last administration. Mr. Mires purchased his farm, going in debt for the entire tract, and it is now clear of all encum- brances. John A. Mires is a man of pleasing manners and well respected by all who know him. He is a progressive farmer and has a fertile and highly- productive farm, which he is operating with much success, specializing in the
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raising of hogs and mules. He is a Republican, but more a patriot than a partisan. A man of strong convictions, his party must be right to win his support. Mr. and Mrs. Mires are members of the Christian church at Mil- ford and are held in the highest esteem throughout that section of the county in which their influence has been for years so strongly exerted in behalf of all goods things.
JONATHAN L. ALLEY.
Jonathan L. Alley, a farmer living four and one-half miles southeast of Burney, in Clay township, this county, was born in 1865, the son of Samuel B. and Nancy (Selby) Alley, the former of whom was born in Franklin county, this state, on January 6, 1819, the son of Cyrus and Charity (Nelson.) Alley, the latter of whom was the daughter of Daniel Nelson, whose brother, Thomas Nelson, Jr., was one of the signers of the Declaration of Indepen- dence.
Cyrus Alley was born in Virginia in 1792, the son of Samuel Alley, whose wife, a Hollander, was one of a shipload of Dutch girls sent over from Holland, whose passage was paid for by their prospective husbands, one hundred pounds of tobacco being the fare for such passenger. Samuel Alley was a native of England, a member of an aristocratic family and one of the early settlers of Virginia. Cyrus Alley migrated with his family from Virginia to the spot where Cincinnati, Ohio, is now situated and after remain- ing there for a short time pushed on to Franklin county, this state. Later he came to Decatur county, bringing with him his family, and his father, Samuel, who received the first deed in Clay township. Cyrus Alley arrived in Decatur county about 1828 and entered land in Clay township, where his descendants live to this day. He was a prosperous farmer and a broad- minded man and reared a large family of children, of whom Samuel B. was one of the youngest.
When Samuel B. Alley was about twenty-two years old he was married to Nancy Selby, who was the daughter of Joshua and Lydia (Townsend) Selby, the latter of whom was born in 1824 in Harrison county, Kentucky. Joshua Selby was a native of England, who came to America when a young man, settled in Virginia and later migrated to Kentucky, where he married and reared his family. He was a minister in the New Light church and a large slave-holder, who, after going over to the Christian church, became con- vinced that slavery was not consistent with religion, and one Sunday morn-
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ing after holding a meeting of prayer, freed his slaves. This action was so strongly condemned by the people of his community that he left Kentucky and came with his family to Decatur county, where he became a strong factor in the life of the newer community. He and his wife reared a large family, Nancy, the mother of J. L. Alley, being one of the youngest of these children. She was married to Samuel B. Alley in Decatur county. They settled on a farm in Clay township and became prosperous. Samuel B. Alley was a mein- ber of the Christian church and a man of resolute and fearless character as well as of generous disposition and was widely known in this county, his home being famous for its hospitality, a popular stopping place for stock buyers and travelers. He died in September, 1892, his wife having preceded him to the grave about eight years before, her death having occurred in February, 1884.
To Samuel B. and Nancy ( Selby) Alley were born seven children, as follow: Mary E., who married Newton Hanks, now deceased ; Mrs. Charity Henderson, who lives in Oklahoma; Hiram O., of Oklahoma City : Joshua S., of Shelby county, Indiana; Mrs. Elizabeth Wasson, of Burney, this county ; Mrs. Ida M. Howard, wife of James Howard, who lives on a part of the old Samuel B. Alley homestead, and Jonathan L., the subject of this sketch.
Born on the old Alley homestead on September 27, 1865, Jonathan L. Alley grew to manhood on the Clay township farm and was educated in the common schools of that neighborhood. When he was twenty-two years old he was married to Lucy Ewing. a daughter of Joshua Ewing, one of the triplets born to Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Ewing, pioneers of this section, whose family history is to be found elsewhere in this volume, and to this union four children have been born, namely: Samuel B., Jr., who died on July 12, 1889; Alice E .. who died on February 6, 1893; Hester Allie, wife of Dr. E. A. Porter. of Burney. and Gail S., at home.
After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Alley settled on a farm near the Noroo school and accumulated considerable property. But a chain of unfor- tunate circumstances befell then and with fires, droughts and the panic of 1893 they suffered considerable financial loss. In connection with his general farming, Mr. Alley engages extensively in stock raising, in which he has had much success, making a specialty of Duroc-Jersey hogs, also maintaining quite a herd of dairy cattle.
Like his ancestors, J. L. Alley is a Democrat in politics. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, the Masonic fraternity and the Knights of Pythias, and was master of the Milford lodge for three years. His father
(64)
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also a Mason. While Mr. Alley does not own land, he is what might be called a large farmer, and is one of those men who may be depended upon to regain his fortune. He is well known and well liked in the community in which he resides and is held in high esteem.
LAWRENCE O. BLACKMORE.
The late Lawrence O. Blackmore, scion of an old American family, was born in Shelby county, Kentucky, in 1818, the son of Owen W. and Eliza (Fulton) Blackmore, and the eldest of a family of six children. In 1835 Owen Blackmore and his family came to Decatur county and settled on a farm in Washington township, now owned by W. E. Jackson, where they lived for several years, later moving to another farin which they purchased. A man of strong and generous characteristics, Owen Blackmore was highly respected. He was a Republican and a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He died in 1885.
Lawrence O. Blackmore was born in Kentucky in 1818, and in 1840 was married to Elizabeth Finley, who died in 1842. In 1844 he married, secondly, Nancy Jane Houston, to which union was born one son, James Blackmore. Mr. Blackmore's second wife died in 1846, and in 1848 he married Frances W. Wallace, a daughter of John and Jane (Quigley) Wallace, the former of whom was a native of Maryland, the scion of an old and wealthy family of that state, who came to this county with his family from Rockridge county, Virginia, in 1837. To this third marriage seven children were born, namely : Mrs. Eliza Jane Smiley, the widow of George W. Smiley; Lawrence O., of Clay township, this county: Sarah H .; Samuel Edgar, of Shelby county ; Elisha W., deceased ; Lenora Anne, who died in infancy, and Mrs. Frances Olive Crawford, the wife of Doctor Crawford, of Milford. Of these children Miss Sarah H. Blackmore owns ninety-six acres of gently undulating farm land and lives in the old ancestral home of the Blackmores, called "The Pines." She was born on August 20, 1852.
Lawrence O. Blackmore was one of the substantial citizens of Decatur county and was highly respected. One of his strong characteristics was his generosity. He reared a large family, but was always helping others who were less fortunate than himself. He was a Republican in politics and a member of the Methodist church. He was a man of strong convictions and of great culture and wide information, possessing a great love for his family.
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He died on September 18, 1893, and his passing was widely and sincerely mourned. He was a man who always saw the higher side of life and his daughter. Sarah Blackmore, accounts for his sturdy traits of character as having been inherited from his father's family, and for his refinement and culture as having been inherited from his mother's family.
Of Owen WV. Blackmore, it may be said that he was born in Maryland or Virginia in 1793. His father's Christian name is not known, but his mother's maiden name was Mary Wilson. She was a daughter of John Wilson, a native of Maryland, of English origin, members of a wealthy and distinguished family that owned a great deal of land where Washington, D. C., now stands. John Wilson was a Federalist in politics and a man of large mold, both mentally and physically. He was one of the patriots of his time, strong in his convictions and a natural leader of men. He owned a palatial home and a vast estate in Maryland. It is said that he owned so many slaves that he did not knok all of them. He was the father of a large family, of whom Mary Wilson, the grandmother of Miss Blackmore was one.
About 1816 Owen W. Blackmore was married in Kentucky to Eliza Fulton, daughter of David and Nancy (Rankin) Fulton, who was born in 1798 and died in 1847, at the age of forty-eight. Her father, David Fulton, was born in 1771. The Fultons were an old and aristocratic southern family, distinguished in many lines of endeavor in which they engaged. Nancy (Rankin) Fulton, the great-grandfather of Miss Sarah Blackmore, was born in 1776, the year made historic by the declaration of American Independence. Her grave and that of her husband are enclosed by a stone wall in a field on the old Fulton farm in Shelby county, Kentucky, the only graves on the farm, the substantial old wall being a monument to the noble character of the deceased as well as a mark of the love of their descendants, who have too much reverence for the graves of their venerated ancestors to erect a more pretentious monument.
When Owen W. Blackmore was a mere lad his father died and his mother married a second time, which act so enraged her father and her brothers-in-law, that they kidnapped the lad and took him to Kentucky, where he grew to manhood.
On the old Blackmore farm in Clay township, Decatur county, now owned by Miss Sarah Blackmore, is a spot made historic by the "Hoosier School Master." Before the robbery recounted in that story, the robbers met at a place on Miss Blackmore's farm and she has seen the poplar fence rail which the robbers whittled while they were waiting. Miss Blackmore's
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mother relates an interesting incident of Revolutionary days, a tradition handed down by her father. During the Revolution, John Wallace, then a little boy, was sent by his mother to town to buy a teakettle and to pay for this kettle he was given five hundred dollars in Continental money. John Wal- lace, the grandfather of Miss Blackmore, was a soldier in the War of 1812. and Owen W. Blackmore, her grandfather, was also a soldier in this war.
The Blackmores, the Fultons and the Wallaces, ancestors of Miss Sarah Blackmore, have been prominent in the life of this country and have added distinction and honor to Decatur county, in which many of the members of this family and of their descendants have figured so conspicuously.
ESTILL A. GIBSON.
Very few young men living in Clay township. this county, are so well known as Estill A. Gibson, for many years a capable and successful teacher of Decatur county, who is now engaged in the mercantile business at Horace.
Estill A. Gibson was born in Grant county, Kentucky, on September 16. 1885, the son of William and Mary ( Dunn) Gibson, natives of Grant county, Kentucky, the former of whom was born there about 1857, and who came to Decatur county in 1905, purchasing a farm near Burney, where he now lives in a pleasant, modern home. William Gibson is the son of William Gibson, Sr., a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, who in his early life removed to Kentucky and became an intimate companion of Davy Crockett, with whom he experienced many thrilling adventures in different parts of the country. William Gibson, Sr., accompanied Davy Crockett on his famous western trip and made many exploring expeditions with him. He was a Democrat in politics and a man of great natural ability, being especially well informed on Biblical literature and kindred topics. Although a great reader he had had few educational advantages. Born in 1810, he died in 1896. leaving five children, of whom William Gibson is the eldest. The latter was born in Kenton county, Kentucky, in 1857 and, like his father, endured the hardships of pioneer life. He had not the advantages of a liberal education, but was a natural lover of reading and educated himself largely by home study, pos- sessing today a wide knowledge of historical literature, having read a great deal of "Ridpath's History of the World." As was his father, William Gib- son is a Democrat and has always been interested in politics. He is a mem-
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ber of the Baptist church, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and active both in the church and the lodge. In 1884 he was married to Mary Dunn, who was born in 1859, the daughter of James Harry and Caroline ( Barker ) Dunn, natives of Kentucky, members of old and well-established families in Harrison county, that state, the Barkers being a very prosperous family, in whose veins flowed a strong strain of the blue blood for which the state of Kentucky is famous, and to this union five children have been born, namely : Estill H .. the subject of this sketch ; Ernest, who lives in Minnesota ; Caroline, the wife of Clyde Layton, of Decatur county : Cora, who died in 1897, and Floyd, who is at home.
Beginning life for himself at a very early age, Estill A. Gibson has attained a practical and broad education by dint of hard work and in the face of many discouragements. He received the rudiments of an education in the common schools of Grant county, Kentucky, later attended the Williamstown high school and, since coming to Indiana, the Marion Normal School. He began teaching in 1903 in Kentucky and after his first term attended the University of Kentucky at Lexington. After teaching another year in Ken- tucky he came to Decatur county with his parents in 1906, and began teaching in Decatur county in the winter, attending normal schools in the summer. After teaching for nine consecutive years he abandoned the profession and entered the mercantile business at Burney. After being thus engaged for a short time, he sold his store at Burney and moved to Horace, where he is now engaged in business and is doing very well.
In 1908 Estill A. Gibson was married to Stella E. Porter, the daughter of Mathias R. and Mary S. ( Sturgis) Porter. Mathias R. Porter was born in Decatur county in 1848. At the beginning of the Civil War he enlisted in the Seventieth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, in which he served for three years, being a participant in numerous sever engagements. He finally was severely wounded and was brought home. Mrs. Gibson was one of sev- eral children born to her parents. Her sister. Georgia, married Orlando Robinson, of Horace. She herself was born on July 16, 1884, in Clay town- ship and was educated in the common schools of Decatur county and at the State Normal School at Terre Haute. When seventeen years old she, too, began teaching, and taught for nine terms. To Mr. and Mrs. Gibson one child has been born, a son, Rupert Porter Gibson, who was born in 1912.
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