USA > Indiana > Fayette County > History of Fayette County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions > Part 85
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114
JAMES FRANKLIN COOK.
James Franklin Cook, one of Jennings township's best-known and most substantial farmers and the proprietor of a fine farm three miles east of Con- nersville, is a native son of Fayette county and has lived here all his life. He was born on a pioneer farm in the southern part of Waterloo township, February 21, 1857, son of Wilson T. and Caroline (Bobmeyer) Cook, the former a native Hoosier and the latter a native of the neighboring state of Ohio, who lived there all her lite, except the last four years, which were spent in California, where she died, but was buried here.
Wilson T. Cook was born on a farm in Marion county, this state, in 1828, a son of William and Mary (Baldwin) Cook, who came to Indiana from Pennsylvania about the year 1826 and settled on land now covered by the city of Indianapolis, where they remained until 1830, when they moved over into Fayette county and located on a farm in Waterloo township; where they spent the rest of their lives, honored and influential pioneer residents of that part of the county. Their son, Wilson T. Cook, who was about two years of age when his parents moved from Marion county to this county, grew to manhood on that pioneer farm and after his marriage continued to make his home there until about 1896, when he moved to another farm in Jennings township and there spent his last days, his death occurring in November, 1904. His widow survived him a little more than four years, her death occurring on December 22, 1908. She was born in Pennsylvania and was married in Butler county, Ohio, when she was nineteen years of age. Wilson T. Cook and wife were the parents of nine children, two of whom
875
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
died in infancy and all the rest of whom are still living, those besides the subject of this sketch being William D., Oscar Perry, Mrs. Ella Leona Green, Mrs. Lizzie Clara Reeder, Mrs. Hannah Soloma Rehart and Charles Ells- worth Cook.
James F. Cook grew to manhood on the parental farm in Waterloo township, the place settled by his grandfather in 1830, and remained there, a valued assistant to his father and brothers in the lahors of developing and improving the home place, until after his marriage in 1880, he then being twenty-three years of age. After his marriage he and his wife spent a year on a farm in Harrison township and then moved to Mrs. Cook's father's farm, about a half mile east of their present home, in Jennings township and there remained about six years, at the end of which time they moved to their present place of one hundred and thirty acres in that same township and have ever since resided there. When Mr. Cook took. possession of his present place there was a small house on the place and a little old barn, the farm presenting quite a different appearance to its present well-kept state, and he at once began the series of improvements which now gives the place the appearance of being one of the best-improved farms in that neighborhood. In 1913 Mr. Cook erected a handsome new and modern dwelling and he and his wife are very comfortably situated. Mr. Cook is a progressive Repub- lican in his political views and in 1914, over his protest, was made the nominee of the Progressive party for treasurer of Fayette county.
On October 1, 1880. James F. Cook was united in marriage to Frances C. Walker, who was born in Jennings township, this county, on a farm one- half mile east of her present home. daughter of John and Mary ( Berry) Walker, both natives of this state, the former born in this county and the latter in the neighboring county of Union. John Walker was born on a pioneer farm just east of Mr. Cook's farm, in Jennings township, in 1828, son of William and Fannie Walker, prominent among the early settlers of Jennings township. William Walker, who was born in Virginia, came to Indiana in the early days of the settlement of this part of the state and set- tled in this county, establishing his home in Jennings township at a point not far from the present home of Mr. Cook. He was an energetic and enter- prising pioneer and became the owner of two thousand three hundred acres of land in this county. John Walker, his son, farmed all his life in Jennings township, where he was the owner of about two hundred and twenty acres of land. He married Mary Berry, who was born near Dunlapsville, over in Union county, a daughter of David and Elizabeth Berry, pioneers of that
876
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
section. John Walker died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Cook, in Jennings township, on February 18, 1913, and his widow is now making her home in Brownsville, over in Union county.
To Mr. and Mrs. Cook one child has been born, a son, Clyde Adrian, who died when twenty-one months of age. Mrs. Cook is a member of the Baptist church and Mr. Cook is a member of the Christian church. He is a member of the local lodge of the Improved Order of Red Men and in the affairs of that organization takes a warm interest.
WILLIAM HENRY LOUDENBACK.
William Henry Loudenback, a well-known and substantial farmer of the Alquina neighborhood, was born in that vicinity and has lived there all his life. He was born on October 11. 1844, son of Isaac and Charlotte (Han) Loudenback, both natives of this same section and members of pioneer families.
Isaac Loudenback was born on a pioneer farm just south of the present village of Alquina on March 12, 1817, son of Philip Loudenback and wife, who came here from Virginia and entered land from the government, estab- lishing their home there and spending the remainder of their lives in the Alquina neighborhood, useful and influential pioneers of that section. On that pioneer farm Isaac Loudenback spent all his life, a life-long farmer. He was an active Democrat and took an earnest part in the political affairs of that part of the county. Isaac Loudenback was thrice married. His first wife, Charlotte Han, was a daughter of Isaac and Abigail (Martin) Han, the latter a native of New Jersey, who came here in an early day. Isaac Han was a driver on the tow-path of the old canal and died of cholera during one of the' epidemics of that dread disease which visited this section in the forties. To Isaac and Charlotte (Han) Loudenhack were born nine children, of whom the subject of this sketch, the only son, was the second in order of birth, the others being as follow: Mrs. Sarah Ferguson, Mrs. Eliza Melotte, Mary, who died when eight years of age; Maria, who also died in childhood; Martha, who likewise died in her youth; Mrs. Laura Hanna : Alice, wife of Reeder Riggs, and Ada, wife of Edward Newland. The mother of these children died in October, 1864, and Isaac Loudenback later married her sister, Mrs. Martha Hope, which union was without issue. After the death of Mrs. Martha Loudenback, Mr. Loudenback married Eliza-
877
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
beth Brown, who survived him some years and which union also was without issue.
William H. Loudenback grew to manhood on the old home farm where he was born and there remained until his marriage in 1871, when he estab- lished his home on land he had previously bought from his father at the south edge of Alquina and has ever since resided there. He now owns one hundred and fourteen acres of well-improved land and is accounted one of the substantial farmers of that community.
On February 16, 1871. William H. Loudenback was united in marriage to Catherine Cerene McClure, who was born near Eaton, over in Preble county, Ohio, daughter of John and Catherine (Slonaker) McClure, natives of Maryland, who later became residents of this county, locating at Alquina about 1866. To Mr. and Mrs. Loudenback have been born five children, two of whom died in infancy, the others being Alfred Smith Loudenback, who died when twenty-five years of age: Catherine Cerene, who married Perry Lester Lambert, to which union a child was born, who was killed by the acci- dental discharge of a gun on December 26, 1914, and Charlotte Frances, who married Charles Crist and has one child, a son, William Alva. Mr. and Mrs. Loudenback are members of the Methodist church. He is a mem- ber of the Knights of Pythias and of the Improved Order of Red Men and his wife belongs to the women's auxiliaries of these orders, the Pythian Sisters and the Pocohontas degree.
FRANKLIN PIERCE MONTGOMERY.
Franklin Pierce Montgomery, one of Fayette county's well-known and substantial farmers, proprietor of a fine farm in Jennings township, former trustee of that township and present superintendent of highways for Fayette county, is a native son of Indiana and has lived in this state all his life. He was born in the town of Bourbon, in Marshall county, this state, January 5, 1859, son of William Armstrong and Hulda J. ( Monger ) Montgomery, both natives of Fayette county, the former of whom died while serving as a soldier of the Union during the Civil War and the latter of whom spent her last days in Waterloo township, this county.
William Armstrong Montgomery was born just three miles east of Con- nersville, son of William and Rebecca (Sutton) Montgomery, the former of whom was born in Butler county, Ohio, a son of James Montgomery, who
878
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
came to this country from Ireland. William Montgomery early settled on the farm now known as the Isaac Jobe place, northeast of Connersville, and there lived until old age. His wife, Rebecca Sutton, was of Pennsylvania- Dutch parentage. William A. Montgomery grew to manhood in this county and married Hulda J. Monger, who was born in Waterloo township, this county, a daughter of Lewis and Mary A. (Reeder) Monger, the former of whom was a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of whom, of Scotch- Irish descent, came from a Quaker settlement in Ohio. After his marriage William A. Montgomery moved to Bourbon, in Marshall county, Indiana, and was living there when the Civil War broke out. In August, 1861, he enlisted in the One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Regiment, Indiana Volun- teer Infantry, and in January, 1862, in the twenty-ninth year of his age, died in camp, of typhoid fever. he then having the rank of a corporal. He left a widow and three small children. Another child had died previous to his death. The Widow Montgomery returned to this county with her children and located at Springersville and there made her home until her children were grown. She later married Jesse S. Henry and her last days were spent in Waterloo township, her death occurring on March 9, 1911. She was a member of the Christian church and her children were reared in that faith.
Franklin P. Montgomery was but a child when his widowed mother returned from Bourbon to this county and he grew up at Springersville, early beginning to work on his own account. For about ten years he was successfully engaged as a traveling salesman and the money thus earned was presently, in 1881, the year after his marriage, applied to the purchase of a farm of about seventy acres in the immediate vicinity of Springersville. A year later, however, he sold that place to advantage and bought a farm of eighty-two acres, the place where he now lives, south of Springersville, and ever since has made his home there, with the exception of a year or two spent at Lyonsville. Mr. Montgomery has done well in his farming operations and has gradually enlarged his land holdings until now he is the owner of a fine farm of two hundred and ninety acres, which is well improved and well equipped for the carrying on of modern farming. Mr. Montgomery is an ardent Democrat and has for years given his close attention to local political affairs. For five years he served as supervisor of roads in his road district, for five years served the people of Jennings township as township trustee, and since January 1, 1916, has been serving as county highway superintendent.
On February 26, 1880, Franklin P. Montgomery was united in mar- riage to Rosella Fiant, who was born in Waterloo township, this county,
879
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
daughter of John and Hannah ( Fiddler) Fiant and a sister of Daniel Fiant, further reference to whom is made elsewhere in this volume in a biographical sketch relating to Oliver T. Fiant, a nephew of Mrs. Montgomery, and to this union three children have been born. William Ray, who is farming on his father's farm and who married Edith Maze, a daughter of Charles Maze, of Union county, and has one child, a son, Gail Maze Montgomery : Inez, who is at home with her parents, and J. Glenn, who died when twenty-one months of age. Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery are members of the Christian church and take a warm interest in the affairs of the same, as well as in all local good works.
HON. RAYMOND SMILEY SPRINGER.
Hon. Raymond Smiley Springer, judge of the thirty-seventh Indiana judicial circuit and a member of the bar of Fayette county since his gradua- tion from the Indiana Law School in 1904, was born on a farm near Dun- reith, in the neighboring county of Henry, April 26, 1882, son of Lorenzo D. and Josephine (Smiley) Springer, both natives of Fayette county and representatives of pioneer families in this county.
Reared on a farm, Raymond S. Springer completed his elementary schooling in the schools of the village of Fairview and was graduated from the high school at that place. He then entered Earlham College and after a course there entered Butler College and from that institution went to the Indiana Law School at Indianapolis, from which he was graduated, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, in 1904. Upon receiving his degree he was at once admitted to the bar and on November 15th of that same year engaged in the practice of his profession, in partnership with Allen Wiles, at Con- nersville, and that mutually agreeable connection continued until his retire- ment from practice upon assuming the bench on October 27, 1916.
Judge Springer is the youngest judge in the state of Indiana. Previous to his election to the office of judge of this circuit he had had valuable experi- ence in the prosecutor's office and as a trial lawyer in a number of the most important cases tried in this and adjoining circuits during the period of his practice. During two years, 1907-09, he served as deputy prosecutor for the thirty-seventh judicial circuit and served as county attorney during the period 1908-15. In the fall of 1914, as the nominee of the Republican party, he was elected judge of this judicial circuit, defeating Judge George L. Gray for re-election, and, as noted above, mounted the bench on October 27, 1916.
880
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
Judge Springer is a member of the Indiana Bar Association, a member of the Connersville Commercial Club and is past master of the Masonic lodge at Connersville, one of the oldest lodges of that ancient order in Indiana. On September 18, 1904, he was united in marriage to Nancy M. Emmons, of Rush county, and both he and his wife are members of the Methodist church.
JAMES S. RIGGS.
One of the oldest families in Fayette county is the Riggs family, which was established here in territorial days by Samuel Riggs and his wife Eliza- beth, who came over here from Ohio eight years before Fayette county was organized as a civic unit and settled on a tract of land in what later came to be organized as Jennings township, where they established their home and where they spent the rest of their lives. They were the parents of twelve children and their descendants in the fourth generation today form a numer- ous family throughout this part of the state.
Samuel Riggs was born in Maryland on July 13, 1786, a son of James and Mary (Johnson) Riggs, who also were born in Maryland, representatives of old colonial families, and who later moved to Washington county, Ohio, where Samuel grew to manhood and where he married, on September 18. 1810, Elizabeth Ross, daughter of Andrew and Mary Ross. The next year, in 1811, Samuel Riggs walked over into the then Territory of Indiana, "spy- ing out the land," and found here in the upper valley of the White Water what he had been seeking, a land very fair and good to look upon. He entered a quarter of a section of land in the woods four or five miles east of the point where John Conner had established his trading post on the river, and there, near the middle of what later came to be organized as Jennings township, decided to establish his home. He returned to' Ohio for his wife and the two came out here into the wilderness. They transported their household goods by flatboat down the river to Cincinnati and from that point began the toilsome journey by wagon through the woods up the old White Water trail to their new home in the wilderness. Upon their arrival there they put up a log cabin and began the laborious task of creating a habitable home amid conditions that would have appalled all but the stoutest hearts. Samuel Riggs was an energetic and industrious man and from the very beginning of his operations in this county prospered. He became the owner of two hundred and twenty-one acres of land in Jennings township and was
JAMES S. RIGGN.
881
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
also the owner of four hundred and eighty acres in Howard county. Samuel Riggs died at his home in Jennings township on March 31, 1875. His wife, who was born on April 5, 1795, had preceded him to the grave less than a year, her death having occurred on June 19, 1874. She was an earnest mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church and she and her husband exerted a potent influence for good in the formative period of the now prosperous farming community in which they had settled in pioneer days. They were the parents of twelve children, Denton, John, Mary, Ruth, Stephen, James S., Andrew, S. H., Kinsey, Rossie, Jane and Nancy.
James S. Riggs was born on that pioneer farm in 1821, the sixth child and fourth son of his parents, and was there reared amid real pioneer condi- tions, receiving his schooling at the home fireside and in the primitive school that early was established in that neighborhood, and from boyhood was an able assistant to his father in the labors of developing and improving the home farm, and after his marriage in 1845 began farming on his own account. He possessed a natural talent for business, had keen executive ability and prospered in his affairs, becoming a very successful farmer and was long accounted one of the most substantial and influential men in his community. His farm in Jennings township, containing ninety acres, was well improved and profitably cultivated and his live stock were of the best. He also owned two hundred acres in Effingham county, Illinois, and one hundred and sixty acres in Howard county, Indiana. In church affairs Mr. Riggs also took an active and influential part. He and his wife were devoted members of the Christian church and were among the organizers of the church of that denom- ination in Connersville. Mr. Riggs helped to reconstruct a school house in his neighborhood and fit it for church services and would drive into Con- nersville for the preacher and bring him to that point in Jennings township for services and then take him back to Connersville. That pioneer church in Jennings township was, in a way, the forerunner of the church at Springers- ville. James Riggs died quite suddenly in May, 1869, and his widow sur- vived him many years, her death occurring in Connersville on February 17, 1902.
On January 23, 1845, James Riggs was united in marriage to Susan Monger, of Jennings township, who was born near Lebanon, Ohio, February 15, 1824, a daughter of John and Huldah (Davis) Monger, the former of whom was born in Virginia on January 30, 1799, and the latter, in Ohio, June 9, 1800, a daughter of Jonathan Davis and wife, the former of whom, a native of New Jersey, was a soldier in the patriot army during the Revolu-
(56)
882
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
tionary War. Some time after the settlement began to grow up around old Ft. Washington and the then straggling village 'of Cincinnati began to develop, Jonathan Davis came down the river with his family and his goods and settled there, building a log cabin with a huge fireplace, from which extended a great brick chimney. One night the Indians attacked his cabin. He concealed his wife and children in the loft of the cabin and then he hid himself in the chimney in such a way as to be concealed from the view of anyone entering the cabin, yet giving him a view of all that might go on. Presently the savage redskins broke into the cabin and were greeted by a shot from the doughty old soldier in the fireplace. Time after time he shot, the Indians being unable to reach him, and after awhile the marauders took their departure, dragging their dead after them, and the rest of the night danced the hideous war dance about the cabin. Upon the coming of the Mongers to this county, Jonathan Davis accompanied his daughter, Mrs. Monger, and his last days were spent in her home in Jennings township. He died on October 26, 1845, at Brookville, and is buried in the cemetery at Springersville, one of the two Revolutionary soldiers buried in this county.
It was probably in 1825 that John Monger and his wife came to Fayette county from Lebanon, Ohio, for Miss Rosella. Riggs, their granddaughter, now living at Connersville, has their tax receipts bearing dates from 1826 to 1846. John Monger was the son of George and Frances Monger, who settled here in 1833; they had nine children. They lived and died here in Fayette county. John Monger and wife located on a farm just south of Lyonsville, in Jennings township, the tract they selected for a home being covered with forest trees, a previous occupant of that quarter section having done nothing toward clearing the same save clearing a spot for a door yard and erecting thereon a small log cabin. There John Monger and his wife established their home and there they spent the remainder of their lives, active and influential members of that pioneer community and helpful in all good works thereabout until the day of their death. Not long after settling there John Monger built a substantial brick house of unusually thick walls and in that house, which was destroyed by fire in April, 1912, there had lived five generations of the family, beginning with Jonathan Davis, the Revolu- tionary soldier; his daughter, Mrs. Hulda (Davis) Monger; her daughter, Mrs. Susan (Monger) Riggs, the latter's son, Francis M. Riggs, who was born there, and Lola Rosella Riggs, daughter of Francis M. Riggs, also was born there. John Monger not only was a good farmer, but he was an active man of affairs and during his life held numerous offices of public trust. Miss
883
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
Riggs, of Connersville, has many heirlooms of the family, including a chest which contains voluminous records of the business transactions of the Mon- ger family, showing that they were subscribers to magazines and cultural periodicals and enjoyed a life of education and refinement such as the present generation may not have thought probable of the generation represented by the pioneers. John Monger died on March 8, 1839. He was a son of George and Frances Monger and he had a sister who was stolen by the Indians when she was a little girl, grew up with the tribe and married a sav- age chief. After her marriage she found her way back to the home of her parents and for a time resumed her place in their home, but presently began to long for the freedom of the life of the tribe to which she had been accus- tomed from childhood and returned to her chief and the tribe in which she had been reared and with that tribe spent her last days. John Monger's widow survived him less than five years, her death occurring on December 7, 1844. She was a devout member of the Christian church and her chil- dren were reared in that faith. There were seven of these children, six of whom grew to maturity, Jonathan D., Susan, who married Mr. Riggs; Mary A., Hester, Sidney E. and Sarah F.
To James S. and Susan (Monger) Riggs eight children were born, of whom' two died before the death of their father, those remaining with the widowed mother at the time of his death having been as follow: Asbury Samuel, who died in Connersville, leaving a family of orphaned children, his wife having died a year previous to his death: Jonathan M., who died in Jennings township; Francis M., who is living on a farm near the old home place in Jennings township; Reeder James, who is living in Connersville ; Oliver S., also a resident of Connersville, and Sarah Rosella, who also makes her home in Connersville. After the death of James S. Riggs in 1869, his widow remained on the farm until the boys grew up and left home and then she and her daughter, Rosella, remained there until in November, 1891, when they moved to Connersville and built a house in Virginia avenue, just above Seventeenth street, that part of the city then being practically open fields, that residence section having developed since then. There the mother and the daughter lived together until the death of the former on February 17, 1902, and Miss Riggs continues to make her home there. Besides owning that home she is the owner of ninety acres of the old Monger quarter section south of Lyonsville.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.