USA > Indiana > Fayette County > History of Fayette County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions > Part 82
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On December 19, 1881, Nicholas F. Bowen was united in marriage to Sarah C. Wright, who was born in Orange township, this county, daughter of the Rev. William and Lucinda (Simmons) Wright and a cousin of Orville and Wilbur Wright, the inventors of the aeroplane. Her parents also were natives of this county, members of pioneer families, their respective parents having been among the early settlers of the county. The Rev. William Wright, a minister of the United Brethren church and a substantial farmer of Orange township, spent all his life in that township. He died years ago of typhoid fever and his widow married Anson Moore, who died some years ago. She is still living on her farm two miles south of Orange. Mr. and Mrs. Bowen are members of the Christian church and he is a charter mem- ber of the Orange lodge of the Improved Order of Red Men.
Ralph W. Bowen has always lived near Orange. He and his father are farming together, he making his home on the farm, while his father lives in Orange. On February 9, 1909, Ralph W. Bowen was united in marriage to Grace E. Smith, who was born on a farm northeast of Orange, near the Gray-Robinson school house, a daughter of Oscar and Hulda (Jones) Smith, the former of whom died when his daughter Grace was five years of age and the latter when the daughter was ten years of age. Thus bereft of her par- ents in the days of her childhood, Grace Smith was reared in the household of her mother's sister, Mrs. Edward M. Martin, northeast of Orange. Her
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mother was a daughter of Thomas and Anna (Trusler) Jones and a cousin of William and Thomas Jones, biographical sketches of whom, presented elsewhere in this volume, give further details of the family's history. Oscar Smith was born in Ohio and his wife was born in Orange township, this county. Mr. and Mrs. R. W. Bowen have two daughters, Mabel and Hazel. They are members of the Christian church at Orange and Mr. Bowen is a member of the local lodge of the Improved Order of Red Men at that place.
WILLIAM CALLISON BROWN.
William Callison Brown, a toolmaker in the plant of the Connersville Blower Company at Connersville, is a member of one of the old families in Connersville, his grandfather, William Brown, having settled there in 1836, coming over from Brownsville, in Union county, and establishing a tannery in Connersville, which he operated the rest of his life, his death occurring in 1856. Further mention of this pioneer, one of the leaders in the early industrial life of Connersville, is set out elsewhere in this volume. One of his sons, William Brown, married Paulina Callison and shortly afterward moved to Wichita, Kansas, where his wife died, leaving two sons, the subject of this sketch and his younger brother, Ezra B. Brown, who is also living at Connersville and further mention of whom is made elsewhere in this volume. William Callison Brown was born in Connersville February 19, 1874, and moved to La Porte, Indiana, then to Wichita, Kansas, in a period of six years. After the death of his mother his father brought him and his younger brother to Connersville and left the two boys in charge of their paternal grandmother, the widow of William Brown. The father then returned West, where he presently married again and later moved to the state of Oregon, where he is now living, a resident of the town of Ten Mile.
For about a year after he was brought to Connersville, William C. Brown continued to make his home with his grandmother and he then went to live with his father's sister, Harriet, and her husband, Eber Bateman, and by them was reared to manhood, the relations existing between them being as close as could exist between parents and son. Eber Bateman was a native of New Jersey, born on November 2, 1815. When he was a child his par- ents moved to Ohio and settled at the mouth of the Miami river, just below the city of Cincinnati, where he grew to manhood. His father kept a tavern and operated a ferry across the river at that point. Eber Bateman early
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became engaged in the flat-boat trade between Cincinnati and New Orleans and was for some time quite successfully engaged in that traffic, making a specialty of transporting salt meat down the river. When the White Water canal was completed in the latter forties he came up on the first canal boat that made the trip through to Connersville and there he stopped, determining to go into business there. He embarked in the general merchandise business at Connersville and was thus engaged until after the close of the Civil War. While thus engaged he brought to Connersville the first oil lamps ever seen in that place, two of them, and five gallons of coal oil. About 1867 Eber Bateman bought the farm now owned by the Reipberger brothers, in the northwestern part of Jackson township, this county, and there established his home and began farming, remaining there the rest of his life. He became the owner of one hundred and ninety acres of land and was regarded as a very substantial citizen.
Eber Bateman's wife, Harriet Brown, aunt of the subject of this sketch, was born near Brownsville, in the neighboring county of Union, February II, 1833, daughter of William and Eliza (Bolton) Brown, and was but a child when her parents moved to Connersville in 1836, her father there engag- ing in the tanning business. She died on December 14, 1902, and her hus- band survived her but a few months, his death occurring on May 23, 1903. He was an earnest Mason and was past master of the local lodge. Eber Bate- man and wife were the parents of six children, namely: William H., who is now living with his daughter, Mrs. Sherry, in the southeastern part of Connersville township; Elizabeth B., wife of Albert H. Robinson, of Con- nersville; Albert E., now living at Dallas, Texas; Harriet, of Indianapolis; Lewis E., also of Indianapolis, and Mary L., wife of Charles Grubb, of Indi- anapolis.
William C. Brown remained on the Bateman farm until he was twenty- three years and then decided to quit farming and take up mechanics. He entered the plant of the Connersville Blower Company as an apprentice and ever since has remained with that concern. He rapidly mastered the details of his craft giving particular attention to the tool-making depart- ment and for some time has been engaged in the plant as an expert tool maker. Not long after taking up his residence in Connersville, Mr. Brown married and he and his wife have a pleasant home at 1339 Indiana avenue. He is a Mason and a member of the local lodge of the Knights of Pythias and both he and his wife are members of the Order of the Eastern Star. Mr. Brown is a member of the Order of the Eastern Star. Mr. Brown is a mem-
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ber of the Episcopal church and Mrs. Brown is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
On November 3, 1898, William C. Brown was united in marriage to Bertha L. Davis, who was born at Newcastle, this state, a daughter of Vin- cent R. and Louisa (Shepherd) Davis, the former of whom was born in that same town and the latter of whom was born and reared on a farm near there. Vincent R. Davis was a son of William and Elira (Madison) Davis, who came to this state from North Carolina and settled on a farm which is now included within the city limits of Newcastle. On that farm Vincent R. Davis spent all his life, a farmer. He died on February 12, 1912. His wife, who was born on a nearby farm, was a daughter of Samuel and Delilah (Hague- wood) Shepherd, the former of whom also was born near Newcastle, a son of Allan Shepherd and wife. Delilah Haguewood was born in North Caro- lina and was but a child when her parents came to this state, settling at New- castle at a time when that place consisted of but one store, a tavern and three dwelling houses. Samuel Shepherd spent all his life as a farmer in the New- castle neighborhood and there his daughter, Louisa, lived until her marriage to Mr. Davis. Since the death of her husband, Mrs. Davis has been spending most of the time at Newcastle, where her daughter, Bertha L., resided until her marriage to Mr. Brown. To Mr. and Mrs. Brown were born two chil- dren, both of whom died in infancy.
IRVIN E. BOOHER, M. D.
Dr. Irvin E. Booher, of Connersville, one of the most widely known medical practitioners in Fayette county, is a native son of Indiana and has lived in this state all his life. He was born in the village of Red Key, in Jay county, March II, 1883, son of Henry and Mary J. Booher, the former of whom at that time was engaged in the mercantile business at Red Key, but who is now living at Kendallville, this state.
Graduated from the high school at Red Key in 1900, Irvin E. Booher for a short time thereafter taught school in his home county and then entered the normal school at Marion. After a course of two years in that institution he resumed teaching and was thus engaged in Randolph county and at Red Key until 1909, when he entered the Medical College of the University of Louisville, from which institution he was graduated, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine, in 1913. Upon receiving his diploma Doctor Booher
IRVIN E. BOOHER, M. D.
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was appointed an interne in the Louisville City Hospital and served in that capacity, receiving some very valuable practical experience, until the fall of that same year, when he opened an office for the practice of his profession at Connersville and has ever since been engaged in practice in that city. Upon locating at Connersville, Doctor Booher took up the practice of the retiring Dr. H. M. Lamberson and has done very well, having built up an extensive practice in the city and surrounding country. Doctor Booher keeps fully abreast of the modern advances in his profession and is a member of the American Medical Association, the Indiana State Medical Association, the Mississippi Valley Medical Society and the Miami Valley Medical Society. in the deliberations of all of which bodies he takes an active interest.
In 1903 Dr. Irvin E. Booher was united in marriage to Ida S. Wise and to this union one child has been born, a daughter, Lucille. Doctor Booher is a Royal Arch Mason and is also a member of the local lodges of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, of the Improved Order of Red Men, of the Knights of Pythias and of the Loyal Order of Moose, and in the affairs of all these organizations takes a warm interest.
MELANCTHON RUSSELL LITTLE.
The late Melancthon Russell Little, for many years one of the best- known farmers of Orange township, was born in that township and lived there all his life, becoming there the owner of an excellent farm on which his family still resides. He was born on a pioneer farm in the northern part of the township on December 17, 1845, a son of John and Frances ( Russell) Little, the former a native of the state of South Carolina and the latter, of Ohio, whose last days were spent in Orange township.
John Little was about eighteen years of age when he came from South Carolina to Indiana with his parents, Thomas Little and wife, the family locating in Fayette county. Thomas Little entered a tract of "Congress land," the southeast quarter of section 2 of Orange township, and there estab- lished his home, developing an excellent farm in the then wilderness. There John Little farmed all his life. His wife, Frances Russell, was born in Ohio, probably in Preble county, and was but a child when her parents, Alexander Russell and wife, came over into Indiana and entered a tract of land from the government in the southern part of Fairview township, this county, estab-
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lishing there their home at a time when wolves and other "varmints" still were numerous in the forests hereabouts. When the project for building the White Water canal was being. developed, Alexander Russell took the con- tract for digging that portion of the canal from Connersville to Brookville and during the work of construction had from five hundred to six hundred men in his employ. Some time after the completion of that contract he moved to Illinois and there spent the remainder of his life.
Melancthon R. Little grew up on the home farm in Orange township and received his schooling in the neighborhood schools. He early learned the trade of carpenter and for a while in the days of his young manhood fol- lowed that trade in Illinois, but the most of his life was spent in farming in Orange township, where he became the owner of a snug farm of eighty acres in the northeast part of that township, the place on which he spent his last days and where his family is still living. Mr. Little gave special attention to fruit growing, had an excellent orchard and also raised an abundance of strawberries and other small fruit. Mr. Little was an earnest member of the United Presbyterian church, as are his widow and children, and at the time of his death was a member of the session of the local church, having served as an elder for seven or eight years. His death occurred at his home on February 14, 1915, he then being in the seventieth year of his age.
In December, 1878, Melancthon R. Little was united in marriage to Mary J. Miller, who survives him and who is still making her home on the home farm in Orange township. Mrs. Little also is a native of the Hoosier state, born in the neighboring county of Rush, a daughter of James and Maria (Louden) Miller, the former a native of the state of Kentucky and the latter, of Ireland. James Miller was born in Shelby county, Kentucky, and was about eight years of age when his parents, John and Mary (Boyd) Miller, came to Indiana and settled in the Richland neighborhood, John Miller spend- ing the remainder of his life in Rush county. In that county James Miller grew to manhood and there he married Maria Louden, who was but a child when she came to this country from Ireland with her parents, James and Jane Louden, who for a time after their arrival in the United States made their home in Pennsylvania and then came to Indiana, settling in Orange town- ship, this county, and later moving to Fairview township, where they spent their last days, both living to ripe old age. James Miller was a buggy-maker in the days when the wood work on buggies was all turned out by hand and for some time was employed in the Applegate factory over in Rush county.
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Later he took up farming and spent the rest of his life as a farmer, his death occurring in 1913. His wife had long preceded him to the grave, her death having occurred in 1879. They were members of the United Presbyterian church and were active in local good works.
To Melancthon R. and Mary J. ( Miller) Little were born four chil- dren, namely: Ida May, Ralph M. and Leslie I .. , who are living on the home farm with their mother, and Maggie B., who married Monroe Brooks, of Glenwood, and has two children, James Doran and Viola Imogene. The Littles have a pleasant home in Orange township and have ever given their earnest attention to the general social activities of the community in which they live.
AMON YOUNG.
Amon Young, trustee of Orange township and one of the most substan- tial farmers of that township, proprietor of an excellent farm about a mile southeast of the village of Orange, was born in that township and has lived there all his life. He was born on a farm about one and one-half miles north- east of his present home on May 23, 1865, son of Alfred and Margaret (Serns) Young, the former of whom also was born in this county and the latter in the state of Ohio, both of whom spent their last days in this county.
Alfred Young was born on a pioneer farm south of Everton, in Jackson township, and there grew to manhood. He married Margaret Serns, who was born in Oxford, Ohio, daughter of John Serns and wife, who spent their last days in Oxford, and for a short time after his marriage was engaged in farming in Franklin county, this state. He then prospected a bit in Rush county with a view to buying a farm there, but decided that he wanted none of that land, holding that in the main it was too low and swampy and there- fore came back into Fayette county and established his home on high ground in Orange township in order to avoid the ague that then was a scourge throughout this part of the country. It was before the days of the Civil War that Alfred Young settled on his Orange township farm and there he spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring on February 6, 1878. His widow survived him for about fourteen years, her death occurring in 1892. They were members of the Christian church and active in church work. To them seven children were born, of whom but three are living at present, the subject of this sketch being the youngest of these.
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Amon Young was but thirteen years of age when his father died and he remained on the home farm with his mother, assisting in the labors of the same, and farmed there until the death of his mother; having rented the farm and begun farming for himself after his marriage in 1885. After the death of his mother he bought the home place and continued to make his home there until 1906, when he sold that farm and bought the farm on which he since has made his home, one mile southeast of Orange. Mr: Young has an excellent farm of one hundred and sixty acres and in addition to his gen- eral farming gives considerable attention to the raising of a good grade of live stock. In the fall of 1914 Mr. Young was elected trustee of Orange township, entering upon the duties of that office on January 1, 1915, and is now serving as trustee of the township, giving his earnest attention to his official duties.
On August 31, 1885, Amon Young was united in marriage to Josephine Morris, who was born near La Clede. Illinois, a daughter of White B. and Mary Jane ( Payne) Morris, both of whom were born in Indiana, a short distance west of Rushville, and who had moved to. Illinois a short time after their marriage. The object of White B. Morris's removal to Illinois was to get land cheap, but his venture proved to be a financial disappointment and about 1875 he returned to Indiana with his family and located in Union town- ship, Rush county, where he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives. For a time during his residence in Illinois, Mr. Morris was engaged in the mercantile business, but after locating in Rush county resumed farming and was thus engaged the rest of his life. Mrs. Young was about eight years of age when her parents returned to Indiana from Illinois and she grew up on the home farm in Rush county, where she was living at the time of her marriage to Mr. Young. To that union three children have been born, sons all, namely : Morris, who married Grace Huff, of Liberty, this state, and is now living in Orange; Russell, who was graduated from the agricultural department of Purdue University and is engaged in farming in Orange town- ship, and Corey, who is engaged in farming in association with his father. Russell Young married Josie Creek and has one child, a son, Ralph Eugene. Corey Young married Italy Creek and has one child, La Verne. Amon Young is a member of the Christian church and his wife is a member of the Baptist church. They have a pleasant home in the Orange neighborhood and have ever given their earnest attention to the general good works of the community.
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WILLIAM BROWN.
In the year 1836, William Brown started his tannery in Connersville. Upon moving there from Brownsville, over in Union county, he put up a log house as a place of residence at what is now the south side of the west end of Second street, just east of where the Brown house now stands, at the foot of Western avenue. For years after William Brown settled there, present Western avenue was called Tanner street and it ended at Third street, the Brown property extending out to Third street. Ten years after settling there William Brown supplanted his log house by a substantial and com- modions brick house, just west of the log house, and that second house is still serving as a residence for the Browns in the fourth generation. In that old house there are preserved numerous relics of pioneer days, household articles used in the days of William Brown, such as an old grease lamp, with double burners, candle moulds, candle snuffers, a spinning wheel and linen spreads and other articles of domestic use woven by Mrs. Brown.
William Brown was born at Lexington, Kentucky, April 15, 1810, and was but a child when his parents came up into Indiana Territory and settled in the section then known as the walnut levels in what later came to be organ- ized as Wayne county. Not long after settling there both his parents died from the effects of that strange malady so bitterly remembered by the pioneers as "milk sickness," which claimed many victims throughout this region in the early days of the settlement of the state. Thus orphaned in his early youth, young Brown was reared by Mr. Wiggins, of Richmond, a Quaker and a tanner, who later established a tannery in the near vicinity of Browns- ville, in Union county, and put his son and William Brown in charge of the same. Young Wiggins did not like the work and presently returned to Richmond, leaving Brown in sole charge of the place. In 1832 William Brown married at Brownsville and continued operating the tannery there until 1836, when he moved his tannery to Connersville, which place even then was giving promise of becoming the industrial center for this part of the state. He established his tannery in a frame building he erected on what is now known as Grand avenne, just above First street, and some time later supplanted that structure by a brick building, which is still standing there. facing toward the canal and now used for storage purposes. William Brown built up a good business as a tanner and continued in business there the rest of his life, his death occurring on May 21, 1856. He was one of the most active business men in the rapidly developing town and did much to promote
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the general interests of the same. When the volunteer fire department was organized, he took an active part in the movement and was one of the most energetic members of the department. Fire calls then were answered by organized volunteers and the fire-fighting apparatus was a hand engine affec- tionately called "Pluto," whose infrequent ontings invariably were accom- panied by scenes of much local excitement.
In 1832, at Brownsville, William Brown was united in marriage to Eliza Bolton, who was born at Abingdon, Washington county, Virginia, April 16, 18II, a daughter of James and Jane (Carr) Bolton, the former of whom was of English birth and the latter of whom had a German mother. While Eliza Bolton was still a little girl James Bolton and his family came to Indi- ana, driving across country in a big wagon and settled on land in the neigh- borhood of Brownsville, in Union county. There James Bolton entered a tract of four hundred acres of land and established his home, becoming one of the most influential and substantial pioneers of that section. On that pioneer farm Eliza Bolton grew to womanhood and there she lived until her marriage to William Brown. She survived her husband for more than forty years, .her death occurring at her home in Connersville on January 26, 1899, she then being in the eighty-eighth year of her age. To William and Eliza (Bolton) Brown were born eleven children, Harriet, Jane, Eunice, Eliza, Evin Linville, Ezra William, Horace Milton, Mary Elizabeth, Caroline, Frank and one, the seventh in order of birth, who died in infancy. Jane, Eliza and Frank Brown died in their youth. Eunice died in 1870 and Mary Elizabeth died in 1872. Harriet Brown married Eber Bateman and died leaving three sons and three daughters. Evin Linville Brown moved to Missouri, where he married and where he spent the remainder of his life, dying without issue. Horace Milton Brown died unmarried. Caroline Brown married Edward A. Secrist, who moved from Seneca Falls, New York, to Connersville and established a shoe shop opposite the court house, on the north side of Court street. He died in 1904, leaving no children. His widow now lives in the old Brown home in which she was born.
James Bolton, previously referred to, experienced some difficulty in getting seed for the first few years. One year seed wheat was so scarce, he was offered sixty dollars for one bushel. The first year he laid up one cucum- ber for seed: an old hen came along and ate the seed: she was immediately killed and the seed recovered. James P'. Bolton, Jr., wnt to Detroit with a Mr. McCarty, of Connersville, to help the making of a treaty with the Indians.
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Edward H. Secrist served in the Civil War with a New York cavalry regi- ment. He was confined in Andersonville prison for nine months.
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