USA > Indiana > Fayette County > History of Fayette County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions > Part 111
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WILLARD ROBINSON.
Willard Robinson, one of Harrison township's well-known and sub- stantial farmers and trustee of that township, was born in that township and has lived there all his life. He was born on December 23, 1872, son of Erastus and Frances (Smith) Robinson, both natives of Indiana, the former born in this county and the latter in the neighboring county of Rush, and the latter of whom is still living at her home in Harrison township, the place where her husband was born and where he spent all his life.
Erastus Robinson was born on a pioneer farm in Harrison township, this county, April 8, 1841, son of Lewis and Mehitable ( Ellis) Robinson, natives of New York state and pioneers of this county, where their last days were spent. Lewis Robinson was born on June 10, 1791, near Trumans-
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burg, between Seneca Lake and Cayuga Lake, in New York, and there grew to manhood. On May 20, 1821, he married Mehitable Ellis, who was born in that same neighborhood on November 21, 1800, and in 1823 came West to what then were regarded as the "wilds" of Indiana and settled in Fayette county, where he established his home. Upon coming to this part of the country, Lewis Robinson came by flatboat down the Susquehanna and Ohio rivers to North Bend, Ohio, where for a time he worked for Gen. ' Tilliam Henry Harrison, afterward governor of Indiana and President of the United States, presently coming on up into Indiana and locating on a homestead farm in the vicinity of the Yankeetown school in Harrison township, this county, where he spent the rest of his life, his death occurring in May, 1844. His widow survived him a little more than thirty years, her death occurring on July 14, 1874. Lewis Robinson was a shoemaker and a farmer. He and his wife were earnest members of the Baptist church, he having been for years a deacon in the church, and their children were reared in that faith. There were seven of these children, of whom Erastus Robinson was the last- born, the others being as follows: Mary, who married Lorenzo Carver; Elias, who was born on April 9, 1825, and who died in Madison county, this state; Rachel M., who married Daniel T. Taylor; Minerva, who married Jonathan Ward; Martilla, who married Lemuel Leffingwell, and Eunice, who married Hiram Hiltibidle.
Reared on the home farm in Harrison township, Erastus Robinson spent all his life there. He was not yet three years of age when his father died and after the other children had grown up and moved away he remained on the farm with his mother and later came into possession of the farm, where he continued his farming operations until his death. He was a man of high character and of much native ability and served as administrator or executor of a number of estates lying in the locality of his home. In 1863 Erastus Robinson married Frances E. Smith, who was born at Raleigh, in Rush county, this state, May 30, 1840, a daughter of Eli and Minerva (McCann) Smith, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of this state. Eli Smith was but a child when his parents, John and Margaret (Groves) Smith came from Kentucky to Indiana, locating in the Fairview neighborhood in this county, and there he grew to manhood. He married Minerva McCann, who was born and reared at Raleigh, over in Rush county, a daughter of William and Minerva ( Monger) McCann, and made his home at Raleigh until the death of his wife in 1843, when he moved to Little Rock, Arkansas, where he lived until the California gold craze broke out in 1849. He joined a party headed for the gold fields of California and never again was heard from by
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his family. His daughter, Frances, grew up in the home of her paternal grandparents at Little Rock and in 1860 came back to Indiana on a visit to kinsfolk. Here she met Erastus Robinson and remained here, marrying him in 1863, as noted above. Mr. Robinson died at his home in Harrison township in March, 1906. He was a member of the Baptist church, as is his widow, and their children were reared in that faith. There were six of these chil- dren, of whom the subject of this sketch was the fourth in order of birth, the others being as follow: Eli, who died in 1898, leaving a widow and two children, who live near the old Robinson homestead; Emma E., who mar- ried Herbert Taylor and lives in that same neighborhood ; Lessie Belle, who died when twenty-two months of age; Lewis, of Connersville, and Donovan S., who is farming near the old homestead place, and owns part of the old place.
Willard Robinson grew to manhood on the old home place, where his father spent all his life, and received his schooling in the public schools in that neighborhood. From boyhood he was a valued assistant in the labors of improving and developing the home farm and remained there until his marriage in 1894, when he bought the old Hawkins Hackleman homestead farm of one hundred and thirty acres in the northwest quarter of section 14 of Harrison township, just west of Connersville, and there made his home for six years, at the end of which time. in the spring of 1903, he sold the place and bought the farm just west of the Hackleman place, a very well-improved place of sixty-eight acres, where he since has made his home and where he and his wife are quite pleasantly situated. Mr. Robinson is a Republican and from the days of his boyhood has taken an active interest in party affairs, giving close attention to local politics. In the fall of 1914 he was elected trustee of Harrison township and is now serving the public in that important capacity. He and his wife are members of the Christian church and take a proper interest in the various beneficences of the same, as well as in the general social activities of the community in which they live, helpful in pro- noting all agencies designed to advance the common welfare.
On December 25, 1894. Willard Robinson was united in marriage to Adelia Hackleman, who was born on the old Hackleman homestead, now the Thiebaud farm, above referred to, a daughter of Hawkins and Sallie (Wolfe) Hackleman, members of old families in this county, the former of whom died on October 10, 1894, and the latter, July 12, 1904. The Hacklemans of Fayette county are descended from Michael Hackleman, who was born in Germany about 1720 and who emigrated to America when seventeen years of age, being bound to a Maryland or Pennsylvania farmer
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for three years to pay his passage. He finally cleared twenty-six acres of timber land and thus squared his account. In the spring of 1751 Michael Hackleman married Mary Sailors and settled on a farm overlooking the Sus- quehanna river, near the line separating Pennsylvania from Maryland. He died in the Abbeville district of South Carolina in 1808, leaving five children, one of whom, Jacob Hackleman, on September 20, 1773, married Mary Osborne, who was born in Maryland, a daughter of Thomas Osborne. Soon after his marriage Jacob Hackleman moved to Lincoln county, North Caro- lina, where he was living during the Revolutionary War period. He served as a soldier of the patriot army during that war until he was so badly wounded in the arm that he could no longer serve and he then hired John Grant to serve the remainder of his term of enlistment. In 1784 Jacob Hackleman moved with his family to the Abbeville district of South Caro- lina, where he remained about twenty years, at the end of which time, in 1804, he moved to Boone county, Kentucky, settling on the river opposite North Bend, Ohio. Two or three years later he came over into Indiana Terri- tory and settled on the White Water, three miles above Harrison, where he remained fixe years, at the end of which time he came on up into Fayette county and located in the southeast quarter of section II in Harrison town- ship, where he remained until 1821, when he moved to Rush county, where he died on January 16, 1829.
Jacob Hackleman had a large family, among his sons being Isaac Hackle- man, born on March 26, 1780, who, July 2, 1801, married Elizabeth Hawkins, who was born on May 22, 1783. Immediately after his marriage Isaac Hackleman and his wife came out to Indiana Territory and located in Dear- born county, about two and one-half miles from Harrison, and it was there that Hawkins Hackleman was born on January 6, 1810. Five years later, in 1815. Isaac Hackleman and his family moved on up the White Water valley and located on a farm in Harrison township, this county, near the present village of Harrisburg, thus having been among the very earliest settlers in that part of Fayette county, and it was there that Hawkins Hackleman grew to man- hood. There Isaac Hackleman and his wife spent the rest of their lives, the latter dying on July 3, 1835, and the former surviving until December 10, 1844. Hawkins Hackleman early took an active part in local affairs in the pioneer neighborhood in which he was reared. His first schooling was obtained in a primitive log school house that had oiled paper instead of glass for window panes, and he recalled the time when the present important city of Connersville consisted of a block house and a small cluster of log cabins in the woods. During his young manhood, as was customary in those days, he
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attended the "musters" three times a year and he belonged to the "Flat Foot Company." From the time he was seventeen years of age he usually made four or five trips to Cincinnati each fall. driving hogs, receiving for such service twenty-five cents a day. During the summer of 1828, he then being eighteen years of age, he worked two months at making shoes, at a wage of six dol- lars a month. On December 29. 1831, Hawkins Hackleman married Sallie A. Wolfe, who was born near Georgetown, in Scott county, Kentucky, November 14, 1814, a daughter of David Wolfe and wife, who came up into Indiana in 1824; and'settled in this county. Unassisted, Hawkins Hackleman made his own wedding shoes and his bride made her own wedding dress, a frock of white. Their wedding was conducted in true pioneer fashion, with the subsequent "infare," to which they rode horseback. In 1832 Hawkins Hackleman engaged in mercantile business in Rush county, but presently abandoned that business and returned to Fayette county, where, from 1837 to the time of his death, he made his home in the southeastern part of Har- rison township, a substantial and influential citizen of that community, his influence ever being exerted in behalf of public improvement and all good agencies.
Mrs. Robinson taught school about eight years before her marriage and she and her husband are members of the Labyrinth Club; she is also a mem- ber of the Sesame Club and a charter and associate member of the Review Club.
FRED W. FISHER.
Fred W. Fisher, one of Connersville's best-known and most progressive merchants and the proprietor of an up-to-date and well-stocked grocery store on Summit avenue in that city and another grocery store in the village of Harrisburg, is a native of the old Buckeye state, but has been a resident of this state since the days of his young manhood and of Fayette county since 1901. He was born in the city of Hamilton, Ohio, August 27. 1867, son of John and Mary (Young ) Fisher, natives of the kingdom of Bavaria, who had come to this country with their respective parents during the days of their infancy, both families locating at Hamilton, Ohio, where they grew up and were married and where they spent the remainder of their lives. John Fisher was a shoemaker.
Reared at Hamilton, Fred W. Fisher received his schooling in the schools of that city and there learned the trade of molder. When eighteen
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years of age, in 1885, he came to Indiana and located at Richmond, where he began working at his trade and there a few years later was married. He continued working as a molder at Richmond until 1901, when he moved to Connersville, where he began working in the factory of the P. H. & F. M. Roots Company and was thus engaged for four years, at the end of which time, in 1905, he moved to Harrisburg and there engaged in the grocery business. In October, 1913, Mr. Fisher bought a grocery store at 310 Sum- init avenue, in the city of Connersville, and has since conducted the same, as well as his store at Harrisburg, and has been quite successful in business. Upon taking over the store at Connersville Mr. Fisher moved to that city with his family and has since made that place his home. he and his family being very pleasantly situated.
In 1887, at Richmond, Fred W. Fisher was united in marriage to Mary Mason, who was born and reared in that city, a daughter of John and Ger- trude (Heinzleman) Mason, the former a native of Scotland and the latter of Germany. John Mason was engaged in the bakery business at Richmond, as was his father before him, and there he spent his last days. His widow later made her home with Mr. and Mrs. Fisher and spent her last days at their home in Harrisburg. To Fred W. and Mary ( Mason) Fisher seven children have been born, namely: Theodore, who died at the age of two years and six months, and Carl, Ralph, Reginald, Roland, Gertrude and Mary. Carl Fisher married Hazel Berkheiser and lives at 310 Summit ave- nue, Connersville. Fred W. Fisher is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and takes a warm interest in the affairs of that popular organization. He is an energetic business man and gives his earnest atten- tion to all movements designed to advance the general material welfare of his home city.
OMER DONIKER.
Omer Doniker, one of Posey township's well-known and substantial farmers and the proprietor of a fine farm where he now lives, two miles south of Bentonville, besides other land in the county, was born in Posey township and has lived there all his life. He was born on October 4, 1869, son of Martin and Levona (Shipley) Doniker, both of whom spent their last days in Posey township.
Martin Doniker was born in Germany on January 9, 1815, and lived there until he was about twenty-three years of age, when, following the
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expiration of his term of military service, he came to this country and located at Cincinnati, where he found work at his trade as a tailor, later coming up into Indiana and locating at Connersville. There he worked as a tailor until his marriage, after which he moved onto the Templeton Beeson farm, two and one-half miles west of Bentonville, where he farmed until after the death of his wife about 1873. he being left with three small children, whom he was compelled to place in the hands of kind neighbors for rearing. After the death of his wife Mr. Doniker remained on the Beeson farm, in the employ of Mr. Beeson, and was thus engaged until after his children had grown up and established homes for themselves, when he began making his home alternately with the children and thus spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring at the home of his son, Omer, the subject of this sketch, on January 16, 1902. His wife, who was born Levona Shipley, daughter of Adam Shipley, was born on a farm in the northwestern part of Posey township, this county, and was twice married, by her first husband, S. W. Hendricks, having had two children, namely: Mrs. Phoebe Vare, widow of Ora Vare, who is now making her home with her daughter, Mrs. Bright, at Indianapolis, and Sanford Hendricks, who lives in Berrien county, Michigan. By her marriage to Mr. Doniker she was the mother of three children, those besides the subject of this sketch being Jennie, who married Benjamin Copeland and now lives on a farm four miles north of Conners- ville, and Anna, who married Alonzo Wallace and after his death married his cousin, Linville Wallace, and lives at Milton, over the line in Wayne county.
Omer Doniker was but four years of age when his mother died and he was taken in charge by Mrs. Hester Florea, who lived in the southwestern part of Posey township and who died when he was seven or eight years of age. Two of her sons, Thomas and Albert Florea, remained on the farm and Omer Doniker remained with them and continued making his home on that farm, later working for Dr. J. M. Patterson, whose wife, a niece of Mr. Florea, became the owner of the place and thus continued until he was nineteen years of age, when he began "working out" for others. After his marriage in 1892 Mr. Doniker began farming for himself on the old Leven Ferguson farm in the southeastern part of Posey township, now the Frank Florea farm. A year later he moved to the Carver farm that had belonged to his wife's father and lived there until 1907, when he moved to the farm on which he is now residing, two miles south of Bentonville, and there has made his home ever since. In addition to the well-improved farm of ninety acres on which he makes his home Mr. Doniker also is the owner of one
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hundred and forty acres of the old Carver farm and is doing very well in his farming operations. In his political faith he is a Republican and takes a proper interest in the general civic affairs of the community, but has not been a seeker after public office.
Mr. Doniker has been twice married. On February 24, 1892, he was united in marriage to Myrtle E. Caldwell, who was born on a farm in section 30 of Posey township, a daughter of Enoch and Sarah Jane (Scott) Cald- well, the former of whom was born on a pioneer farm in the northwestern part of Harrison township, a son of Joseph and Salena (Ferguson) Cald- well, pioneers of that community and further and fitting reference to whom is made elsewhere in this volume. Enoch Caldwell grew up on the old Cald- well farm where Scott Caldwell now lives, and after his marriage bought the farm now owned by Cleve Caldwell in the northwestern part of Harrison township .. From that place he moved to what is now known as the Carver farm on the southern edge of Posey township, a place of one hundred and forty-six acres, where his daughters, Myrtle and Sylvia, were born. From that place he moved to the Train Caldwell farm, two miles south of Benton- ville. this giving him the ownership of three farms. In 1880 he moved back to his first farm and he and his brothers, Horace and Alexander, and their father there conducted a dairy farm. Enoch Caldwell there spent the re- mainder of his life, his death occurring there in March, 1885. His widow survived him just ten years, her death also occurring on that farm. In his earlier manhood Enoch Caldwell was one of the best-known school teachers in Fayette county. He later served as a justice of the peace in and for his home township and as assessor of the same and in many ways did well his part in behalf of the community in which he spent all his life. He and his wife were the parents of five children and the family were earnest members of the Christian church. These children were Cora. Sylvia, Myrtle, Alice and Scott. . Cora Caldwell, now deceased, was the wife of L. K. Tingley. Alice Caldwell is the wife of Fred M. Hackleman. Scott Caldwell lives on the old home farm. Myrtle Caldwell, first wife of Omer Doniker. died on December 18, 1905, and on September 17, 1907, her widowed sister, Sylvia, married Mr. Doniker. By his first marriage Mr. Doniker is the father of three children, Russell Harold, Lester E. and Ruth Levona, all of whom are at home. Mr. Doniker and his family belong to the Christian church and he is a member of Lodge No. 84 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Mrs. Sylvia Doniker was first married on September 16, 1896, to Well- ington Beeson, who was born near Beeson's Station, over the line in Wayne county, a son of Mark and Ellen ( Harvey) Beeson, both of whom were born
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in that same neighborhood. The Beeson family, one of the oldest in this part of the state, finds further and fitting mention elsewhere in this volume, the family having been prominently represented in this community since pioneer days. Wellington Beeson grew up on the old Beeson home place and lived there until his marriage to Sylvia Caldwell, after which he moved to a farm one mile south of the present home of the Donikers and there he spent the rest of his life, his death occurring there on November 5, 1899. He left a widow and two daughters, Eva and Fern. His widow and daugh- ters continued living on that farm until her marriage to Mr. Doniker. She still owns the farm of one hundred and seventy-five acres. The Donikers have a very pleasant home and take an interested part in the general social activities of their home community, helpful in all good causes.
GABRIEL GINN POWELL.
Gabriel Ginn Powell, one of the best-known and most substantial farm- ers of Fayette county and the proprietor of a fine farm of two hundred and forty acres, the old Powell homestead in the northeast corner of Fairview township, rural mail route No. 15 ont of Bentonville, was born on that farm and has lived there all his life. He was born on August 13, 1848, a son of Isaac and Mary Viola (Ginn) Powell, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of this county, whose last days were spent on the farm on which their son, the subject of this sketch. is now living.
Isaac Powell was born in Nicholas county, Kentucky, in 1810, and was about fifteen years of age when his parents Zenas and Charity ( Baker) Powell came up into Indiana with their family in 1825 and settled in this county, where their last days were spent. Zenas Powell was a well-to-do farmer of the Carlisle neighborhood in Kentucky, but when the settlement up here in this part of Indiana began to expand so promisingly in the early twenties he determined to put in his lot with that of the settlers here and in 1825 he and his wife and all of their children save their eldest son, Nathan, came here seeking a permanent location. Zenas Powell entered the south- east quarter of section 34 in Harrison township, a little more than a mile northeast of Harrisburg, and there established his home in the then wilder- ness. Not long afterward his wife, Charity, died and he married again and for a time thereafter lived at Milton, but presently moved to a farm two miles west of his old home and there he spent his last days, his death occurring
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on April 27, 1857. His son, Zenas Powell, Jr., bought the interests of the others heirs in the place and there he farmed the rest of his life. Zenas Powell, Jr., was born near Carlisle, Kentucky, October 12, 1805, and was twenty years of age when he came to this county with his parents. Here he married Lydia Caldwell, who was born on the farm now owned by Scott Caldwell, northwest of Harrisburg, the southwest quarter of section 34, ad- joining the old Powell home, a daughter of Joseph and Miriam (Chadwick) Caldwell, the former of whom, a native of Maryland, was one of the earliest settlers in this county, having been one of the occupants of the old blockhouse back in the days when the Indians were troublesome. Miriam Chadwick was born in North Carolina and also was among the early arrivals in Fayette county, her parents having come here in pioneer days. Zenas Powell, Jr., died on September 17, 1883, and his widow survived him until January 23, 1899. They were the parents of nine children, namely: Lewis F., long since deceased; Mary Jane, who married Horace H. Elwell and is now deceased; Emmaline, who married I. Zeller and is now deceased; Charity, also deceased, who was the second wife of I. Zeller; Eliza, who died when two years of age; Malinda, who died unmarried: James, who died in child- hood; Margaret, who is still living on the old home farm, and Sarah Cath- crine, wife of L. L. Broadus, of Connersville.
When twenty years of age. about five years after his arrival in this county, Isaac Powell married Elizabeth Dale, who was born on a pioneer farm one mile west and one mile north of Harrisburg. a daughter of Alex- ander Dale and wife, pioneers of Fayette county, who later moved to Wabash county, and to that union seven children were born, namely: Squire, who went to Philadelphia and married there, but came home with consumption and here died; Harriet, who married Hugh A. Dickey and now lives in Grant county, this state: Enos, who moved to Wabash county and died in the city of Wabash; Nancy, who married James Ross, of Wabash county, and died there; Alfred, who died in childhood; William Joseph, and another who died in infancy. The mother of these children died in 1846 and in 1847 Isaac Powell married Mary Viola Ginn, who was born in 1821 on a pioneer farm in the Nulltown neighborhood in Columbia township, this county, a daughter of Gabriel and Hannah (Wood) Ginn. early settlers in that community, who had come up here from Kentucky. Hannah Wood was born near Havre de Grace, Maryland, and was but four years of age when her parents moved to Kentucky, where she grew to womanhood and where she married Gabriel Ginn, later coming up into Indiana and settling in this county. About 1836 Gabriel Ginn moved from the Nulltown settle-
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