USA > Indiana > Fayette County > History of Fayette County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions > Part 75
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The Hon. Woodson W. Thrasher was for many years one of Fayette county's most prominent citizens, having served as a member of the board of county commissioners, as representative in the Legislature from this district and in other positions of public trust. He was born in Pendleton county, Kentucky, February 4, 1812, son of John and Elizabeth (Rush) Thrasher, natives of Kentucky and of English and Irish extraction. John Thrasher was a son of Josiah Thrasher, a native of Maryland, and the latter was a son of John Thrasher, one of three brothers who emigrated from England to the American colonies during the progress of the Revolutionary War and settled in Maryland. John Thrasher, the immigrant, served as a soldier of the patriot army during the struggle of the colonies to throw off the yoke
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of British rule and afterward moved to Kentucky, then a county of Virginia, and there spent the remainder of his life. He married Elizabeth Hooker, of Maryland, and was the father of a large family, Josiah being his eldest son. Josiah Thrasher was reared in Pendleton county, Kentucky, and there married Nancy Bonar, who bore him four children, John, Josiah, Sarah and Stephen. About 1830 the elder Josiah Thrasher came to Indiana with his family and settled on the eastern edge of Rush county, where his wife died shortly afterward and where he spent the remainder of his life, surviving her several years. John Thrasher also was reared in Pendleton county, Kentucky, and there married Elizabeth Rush, daughter of Peter and Mary Rush, who bore him ten children, Woodson W., Mary, Nancy, William, Josiah, Maria, Lucinda, Caroline, Joseph and an infant, who died unnamed. In 1824 John Thrasher came to Indiana with his family and settled in Rush county, near the eastern border of the county, where he established his home. His wife died there in 1855. He subsequently married Mary Copeland and continued to live on his farm until his death in 1876, for fifty years having been regarded as one of the leading citizens of that part of the country.
Woodson W. Thrasher was twelve years of age when he came to Indiana with his parents in 1824 and he grew to manhood on the pioneer farm in Rush county, remaining there until his marriage in 1831, when he settled on a farm just over the county line from his father's place, in Fair- view township, this county, where he established his home and where he spent the remainder of his life, becoming one of the extensive landowners and most substantial farmers in that part of the county. For years he was extensively engaged in the raising of pure-bred live stock and in that con- nection did much to improve the strain of live stock in this part of the state. In educational and religious matters he also took an active part, and was one of the leading promoters of the old Fairview Academy and one of the most liberal supporters of the Christian church nearby, of which for many years he was an elder. His eight children were given the benefits of college, all graduating from some higher institution of learning. One became a physi- cian in Cincinnati, another a professor of mathematics in Butler College at Indianapolis and another a graduate student of law. Mr. Thrasher's father was a Whig and in his early life he also was identified with that party, his first vote having been cast for Henry Clay. Upon the organization of the Republican party he became an ardent advocate of its principles and remained a stanch supporter of the same the rest of his life. He was early elected a member of the board of county commissioners from his district and in 1867 was elected representative from this district to the lower house of
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the Indiana General Assembly. During his service in the Legislature Mr. Thrasher became one of the conspicuous figures in that body, was chairman of the committee on roads and highways and served as a member of the com- mittee appointed to report on conditions at the old southern Indiana prison at Jeffersonville. He declined to accept the majority report of that commit- tee and in conjunction with another of his colleagues drew up a minority report, which was adopted by the Legislature. He was largely instrumental in securing the passage of the ditch law, enacted during that session and was also connected with the promotion of much other valuable legislation. Wood- son W. Thrasher died at his home in Fairview township on January 31, 1888, and his widow survived him about five years, her death occurring in 1893. She was born in Bourbon county, Kentucky, February 14, 1811, the daughter of Philip and Barabara (Smelser ) Daubenspeck, of German descent, and had come to Indiana with her parents about the time the Thrashers came up here, the Daubenspecks also settling in the eastern part of Rush county, where the family still is prominently represented. To the union of Woodson W. Thrasher and Barbara Daubenspeck eight children were born, of whom the subject of this memorial sketch was the third in order of birth, and all of whom grew to maturity, the others being William M., Elizabeth, Marion, Harriet, Sarah, Allen B. and Olive.
John P. Thrasher grew up on the home farm at Fairview and after completing the course in the old Fairview Academy entered the Cincinnati Law School, from which he was graduated in due time, and in 1859 opened an office for the practice of his profession at Kokomo, this state, and was thus engaged there at the time of the breaking out of the Civil War. He enlisted in Captain Hanna's company of the Sixteenth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and served for nearly two years as a soldier of the Union, the most of this time being attached to the quartermaster's depart- ment, with headquarters in Maryland. It was during the progress of the war, September 1I, 1862, that Mr. Thrasher was married, at Cincinnati, to Rebecca L. Walker, of that city. At that time Cincinnati was being threatened by a raid under Gen. Kirby Smith and a rigid guard had been thrown around the city, no one being permitted to enter or depart save under the strictest military regulations and Mr. Thrasher was compelled to give bond in the sum of three thousand dollars before being permitted to enter the city to claim his bride. Instead of resuming his law practice at Kokomo, upon completing his military service, Mr. Thrasher established his home on the old Thrasher homestead in Fairview township, this county, after his marriage and there spent the remainder of his life successfully engaged in
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farming. He was a member of the Christian church and, fraternally, was affiliated with the Masonic order, in the affairs of which he took a warm interest. John P. Thrasher died on March 9, 1906, and his widow is still living at Fairview. She was born at Cincinnati, a daughter of Robert and Elizabeth (Beasley) Walker, natives of England, both born in the city of Man- chester. Robert Walker was left an orphan in childhood and his future wife's brother was appointed his guardian. The Beasleys came to America and proceeded on out to Indiana, settling on a farm near Brookville, in Frank- lin county, where they later were joined by young Walker. After their marriage Robert Walker and his wife went to Iowa, but presently returned to Indiana and not long afterward located in Cincinnati, where Mr. Walker became proprietor of a dyeing establishment and where he spent the remainder of his life. To John P. Thrasher and wife two children were born, George W., who married Mrs. Margaret DePoute and now lives in Los Angeles, California, where he is engaged in the railway service, and Ada, who mar- ried Miles H. Daubenspeck, now farming the old Thrasher farm, and has one child, a son, Walker.
Miles H. Daubenspeck was born near Glenwood, over the line in Rush county, October 2, 1871, a son of Harvey and Margaret (Hinchman) Dat- benspeck, the former of whom was born in Bourbon county, Kentucky, and the latter, in Rush county, this state. Harvey Daubenspeck was born on April 5, 1825, and was not yet three years of age when his parents, Jacob and Elizabeth (Mock) Daubenspeck, left their home in Bourbon county, Ken- tucky, September 12, 1827, and came up here into the then "wilds" of Indiana, settling on a farm just west of Glenwood, in Rush county, where they established their home and where Harvey Daubenspeck has ever since lived, being now in his ninety-second year and a continuous resident of that one farm for a period of nearly ninety years. His wife, who died on April 3, 1915, was born in Rush county, daughter of John and Margaret (Nichols) Hinchman, who came from Virginia to Indiana in pioneer times and entered a tract of "Congress land" about two miles southwest of Fairview, in Rush county. Jacob Daubenspeck, grandfather of Miles H. Daubenspeck, was born in Bourbon county, Kentucky, December 9, 1797, son of Philip and Barbara (Smelser) Daubenspeck, of German descent and early settlers in Kentucky. Jacob Daubenspeck was not able to obtain the advantage of a formal schooling in his boyhood days, yet he was an ardent student and early learned to read and write and acquired an excellent working knowledge of arithmetic. He was a great lover of books and after his marriage got together quite a library, his children never being without plenty of reading
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matter. It was on November 3, 1822, that Jacob Daubenspeck married Elizabeth Mock and on September 12, 1827, he settled with his family on section 24 of Union township, Rush county, close to the former camp of the old Indian chief, Ben Davis. Later in life he moved to near Raleigh, where his last days were spent. Upon coming up into this country he was a rather wild and profane man, but not long afterward he determined to alter his ways and to that end joined the church and became one of the leaders in church and other good works in the community, few persons thereabout being more influential in bringing about a proper social order in the pioneer com- munity than he. For nineteen years Jacob Daubenspeck was engaged in the hog trade and in the pork-packing business, in association with W. N. Thomas & Company, of Cincinnati, and was an extensive dealer in live stock. It is still said of Jacob Daubenspeck that he never drank whiskey nor used tobacco and that he would not talk disparagingly of his neighbors nor permit others to do so and that he invariably was as polite in his home conversation with his wife and children as when out "in company." His son, the venerable Harvey Daubenspeck, inherited many of the same strong characteristics and is also a lover of hooks, a great reader, and keeps closely informed on cur- rent events. Harvey Daubenspeck and his wife celebrated the sixty-fifth anniversary of their marriage on November 9, 1912, he then being eighty-five years of age and she, eighty-two. The latter was the only daughter in a family of thirteen children born to John Hinchman, Jr., and wife. It was on November 24, 1897, that Miles H. Daubenspeck married Ada Thrasher. For ten years after their marriage they lived in Rush county and then moved to the farm at Fairview, where they now live with Mrs. Daubenspeck's mother. Mr. and Mrs. Daubenspeck are members of the Christian church and the former is an active member of the Masonic fraternity.
MARSHALL HINCHMAN, JR.
Marshall Hinchman, Jr., a well-known Fairview township farmer, was born on a farm in Union township, in the adjoining county of Rush, and has lived in that vicinity all his life. He was born on November 10, 1875, son of John Harvey and Amanda ( Moffett) Hinchman, the former of whom was also born in Union township, Rush county, and the latter in Fairview town- ship, this county, and the latter of whom is still living, making her home in Howard county, this state, which has been her place of residence for the past eighteen or twenty years.
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John Harvey Hinchman was a son of John and Margaret Hinchman, Virginians, who came out to this part of Indiana many years ago and set- tled on a tract of "Congress land" in Union township, Rush county, about a mile and a half west of the place where their grandson, the subject of this sketch now lives. There John H. Hinchman was born and reared and there he remained, continuously engaged in farming, until about 1899, when he moved to Howard county, where his death occurred on March 8, 1914, and where his widow is still living. She was born, Amanda Moffett, in Fair- view township, this county, daughter of Andrew and Rachel (Rees) Moffett, the former of whom, one of the pioneers of Fayette county, came here with his parents from Pennsylvania back in the days of the early settlement of this region.
Marshall Hinchman, Jr., grew up on the paternal farm in Rush county and about thirteen years ago began farming on his own account on a tract of rented land in the neighborhood of his old home in Union township, along the line of Fayette county. In 1913 he bought the farm on which he now lives, in Fairview township, this county, two and one-half miles north of Glenwood, and there has since made his home, he and his family being very pleasantly situated there. Mr. Hinchman has a well-improved farm of fifty- seven acres and is doing quite well in his farming operations. He is a Republican and gives close attention to local political affairs, but has not been a seeker after office.
On March 10, 1896, Marshall Hinchman, Jr., was united in marriage to Sarah Carr, who was born in Warren county, Ohio, daughter of John and Melinda (Hanna) Carr, and who lived in that county until she was four- teen years of age, when she came to this county to make her home with her aunt, Mrs. Green Thompson, and was living there when she married Mr. Hinchman. John Carr was born in Butler county, Ohio, August 23, 1849, son of Guy A. and Elizabeth ( Blue) Carr, the former a native of Pennsyl- vania and the latter of New Jersey, and after his marriage made his home in Warren county, Ohio, until his wife died about twenty-five years ago. He is now making his home with Mr. and Mrs. Hinchman. His wife, Melinda Hanna, was born at Westchester, in Butler county, Ohio, a daughter of Richard and Rebecca (Tanner) Hanna, the former of whom lost his life while serving as a soldier of the Union during the Civil War. For many years John Carr has been a plasterer and contractor and continues to follow that vocation.
Mr. and Mrs. Hinchman have three children, Frank, Don and Josephine. They are members of the Christian church, as is their eldest son, and take
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an earnest interest in church work. Frank Hinchman was graduated from the Fairview township high school in 1916 and then took a course in the Normal School at Muncie. He is now teaching in the Moffett school in Fairview township.
GEORGE HEINEMANN.
George Heinemann arrived in Connersville in the fall of 1850 and soon became one of the business men of the village. At a point corre- sponding with the present street east of the Big Four freight depot (the canal landing-place covered the latter site) he opened a general store, in partnership with Paul Grosse. In the early spring of 1854 the partnership was dissolved, and he bought the old Sample Inn, southwest corner of Fifth street and Eastern avenue, where he opened up a grocery business for himself. He made some improvements on the building immediately and about a dozen years later greatly enlarged it by adding to its length. His business place proved to be a permanent asset in the Connersville busi- ness world, for it has remained in action continuously since that date. At George Heinemann's death in November, 1885, the business was taken over by his son Charles, who still conducts it, making a record of sixty-one years uninterrupted business at a given location.
George Heinemann was born at Dingelstaedt, Germany, October 9, 1817. On the 25th of August, 1845, he married Sophie Schwerdt of the same place. Two children were born at their old home-Elnora, who became Mrs. Joseph Fischer in this country, and Frances, who died in Connersville about 1853.
The coming of Mrs. Heinemann to the new home set up by her husband in Connersville, contains a traveling experience somewhat unique. From her inland village, in central Germany, about an hour's ride by wagon, she brought her with two small daughters and the usual baggage of emigrants of those days, to the river Weser. This river is navigable for small boats, by which means she reached Bremen. At Bremen she took sail for the port of New Orleans. From there she took a river boat to Cincinnati, and at Cincinnati used the canal boat to get to Connersville. As she left home on August 25, 1852, and reached Connersville on Thanksgiving Day, the unusual water voyage, central Germany to southeastern Indiana, covered a period of more than ninety days. Mrs. Sophie Heinemann died at the old home in Connersville on July 29, 1906.
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GEORGE HEINEMANN.
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Of George Heinemann's family, born in Connersville, four daughters died in infancy. Those growing to maturity are as follow: Elnora, being six years old when arriving here in 1852, married Joseph Fischer, of Day- ton, Ohio, in 1867. Elnora Fischer died in New York City on October 4, 1902, leaving two sons and two daughters.
Mary Heinemann, born on December 30, 1853, became a member of the religious order of the Sisters of Providence in 1880 and died at their home, St. Mary of the Woods, September 16, 1903.
Theodore P. Heinemann, born on March 5, 1856, first associated him- self with his father's business, and later originated one of Connersville's most unique industries-the triple sign, an advertising novelty used the world over between the years of 1888 to 1908-and still later giving his attention exclusively to the real-estate holdings he possesses. He married Emma Woods on October 4, 1888.
Charles F. L. Heinemann was born on December 22, 1862, and after some years of experience in other retail stores of Connersville, took over the grocery business of his father in October, 1885; and with such eminent success, that he has created an envious reputation, reaching out into a mul- titude of directions among the oldest families-the old corner being one of the familiar landmarks to which they all gravitate-as well as to com- parative newcomers, who quickly find a most valuable asset of his every transaction to be sterling worth.
J. L. Heinemann, the youngest of the family, was born, as were all of the others named, at the home adjoining the old business corner, May 17, 1865. Of an active nature, his boyhood and youth and young man- hood were connected with many of Connersville's doings, but in a business way he finally settled his efforts to the creation of the Connersville Mirror Works about 1894 which has grown to be one of the community's special industries, covering most of the field wherein plate glass finds uses, and which is his individual property.
On January 8, 1903, J. L. Heinemann married Mary McLaughlin, of this city, and their children are: Teresa, William, George, and Elizabeth.
Aside from the association the members of this family have constantly maintained with the business activities of the neighborhood, there has been also a perceptible effort on their part to influence on all possible occasions every department of human endeavor looking towards the better things of life. In art, literature and the practical workings of religion, several pages of Connersville's story would be shortened indeed except for their partici- pation in the events which enter into its telling.
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THOMAS FITZGERALD.
Thomas Fitzgerald, one of the best-known and most substantial farmers of Fairview township, this county, is a native of the Buckeye state, but has lived in Indiana since he was fourteen years of age. He was born on a farm in Stark county, Ohio, November 19, 1858, son of John and Hanoria (Shea) Fitzgerald, natives of Ireland, whose last days were spent in Jennings county, this state.
John Fitzgerald was born in County Cork and when a young man left Ireland and came to the United States, locating in Stark county, Ohio, where about two years later he married Hanoria Shea, also a native of County Cork, who had come to this country from Ireland about two years before her marriage. After his marriage John Fitzgerald remained in Stark county until 1872, in which year he moved to Indiana with his family and settled on a farm in Jennings county, where he followed farming the rest of his life, his death occurring in 1893. His widow survived him until 1911. They were the parents of eight children, of whom five are still living. Two of the children died in infancy and another, Mrs. Mary Cox, died about 1899. Besides the subject of this sketch those living are Timothy, of Indianapolis; William, of North Vernon, and John and Cornelius, who are farming near Butlerville, in Jennings county, this state.
Thomas Fitzgerald was the third son of his parents and was about fourteen years of age when the family moved from Ohio to Indiana and settled in Jennings county. There he completed his schooling and as a young man worked at farm labor in that county, in Bartholomew county and in Fayette county. While working in this county he became acquainted with a young woman who lived just over the line in Rush county and in 1887 he married her. After his marriage he rented a farm in Union town- ship, Rush county, and there made his home for ten years. When he was moving onto that farm neighbors tried to tell him that he would find his landlord a hard man to get along with and that he would not stay on the place a year. On the contrary, he found his landlord most agreeable and conditions so much to his liking that he remained on the place until 1897 and might have remained longer had not he met with the misfortune of being burned out of house and home on October 15 of that year, with an almost total destruction of his household effects. When the fire broke out a strenuous effort was made to remove the household goods from the burning building, but the piano became jammed in the doorway and thus barred
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the way of further salvage, very few of the household effects being saved. After the fire Mr. Fitzgerald moved over into this county and occupied the farm which he now owns in Fairview township, a well-improved and profit- ably cultivated place of one hundred and fifty-one and one-third acres, and there he has made his home ever since. In 1907, about ten years after mov- ing there Mr. Fitzgerald and his family again were burned out, their farm house being destroyed by fire. Following this second misfortune Mr. Fitzgerald built his present substantial house and there he and his family are now very comfortably situated. Mr. Fitzgerald is a Democrat and takes due interest in local political affairs, but has not been a seeker after public office. He is a member of the local lodge of the Improved Order of Red Men and takes a warm interest in the affairs of that organization.
On January 19, 1887, Thomas Fitzgerald was united in marriage to Kittie Belle Wright, who was born on a farm near the eastern line of Rush county, across the line from Fairview, and to this union three children have been born, namely: Hanoria, who married Edward Keller, of Connersville, and has two children, sons, Francis and Marion; Mary Helen, who married Joseph Theobald, a farmer of the Strawns Station neighborhood and has two sons, Joseph and Maynard, and John Thomas, who married Bertha Johnson and has remained on the home farm, farming with his father.
Mrs. Fitzgerald is a member of one of the old families in this part of the state, her parents, Thomas M. and Matilda C. (Groves) Wright, having been prominent residents of the Fairview neighborhood, where their last days were spent. Thomas M. Wright was a Kentuckian, born near Millers- burg, in Bourbon county, June 22, 1833, and there grew to manhood. When a young man he came up into Indiana on a visit to the Bakers, kinsfolk of his, who lived then, as now, in the northeastern part of Fairview township, this county, and there he met Matilda C. Groves, a member of one of the pioneer families of that neighborhood, and from that time on she was "the only girl in the world for him." They were married on November 30, 1859, and established their home on a farm at the west edge of Fairview, where Mrs. Fitzgerald was born, the old Donovan Groves homestead, where Matilda C. Groves also was born, a daughter of Donovan and Eleanor (Baker) Groves, pioneers of that section and further mention of whom is made elsewhere in this volume. In addition to his general farming Thomas M. Wright also was widely known as a buyer and shipper of live stock and became one of the well-to-do citizens of that part of the county. He was for years a justice of the peace in and for his home township and he and his wife were members
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