USA > Indiana > Fayette County > History of Fayette County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions > Part 92
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FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
EDGAR DWIGHT JOHNSTON.
Edgar Dwight Johnston, president and general manager of the P. H. & F. M. Roots Company at Connersville, president of the Connersville Hydrau- lic Company, president of the Hydro-Electric Light and Power Company and a member of the board of directors of the First National Bank of Con- nersville, is a native of the neighboring state of Ohio, but has been a resident of Connersville since 1885 and has thus been a witness to and a participant in the wonderful development that has marked the industrial and commer- cial life of that city within the past thirty years. He was born at Cedar- ville, in Greene county, Ohio, October 11, 1861, son of David and Eliza (Bogle) Johnston, natives of that same state, both now deceased, whose last days were spent in the city of Tacoma, Washington.
David Johnston was born on a farm in Adams county, Ohio, son of David Johnston and wife, pioneers of that county, the latter of whom died in Ohio and the former in the state of Iowa, who were the parents of several children, among whom were Robert, David and Sallie. The younger David Johnston became engaged in the wool trade and also was interested in the pork-packing business. He later became engaged in the piano busi- ness in Cincinnati and from that city moved to Tacoma, Washington, where he engaged in business in the same line and where he spent the rest of his life, his death occurring in 1913, at seventy-seven years of age. His wife had preceded him to the grave about seven years, her death having occurred in Tacoma in 1906, at seventy-three years of age. She was a daughter of James Bogle and wife, who were early settlers in the Spring- field neighborhood, in Clark county, Ohio, and who were the parents of eight children, those besides Mrs. Johnston having been Retta, Jennie, Elmira, Cora, Mattie, Joseph and James. David Johnston and his wife were reared in the old Covenanter or Reformed Presbyterian church, but later became members of the Presbyterian church, in which for years the former was an elder, and their children were reared in that faith. There were six of these children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the third in order of birth, the others being as follow: James Stewart, deceased; Howard Agnew, of Chicago, Illinois; Mary Elizabeth, wife of James Simon, of Chatham, Ontario; Jennie Retta, wife of E. W. McKenna, of New York City, and David Walter, of Chicago.
Edgar Dwight Johnston spent his childhood in Cedarville, Ohio, and there received his early schooling, continuing his studies in the public schools
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at Portsmouth and later taking up the study of music and voice culture at Cincinnati. Upon completing his studies in that connection he was made a teacher of piano and voice in the College of Music at Cincinnati and con- tinued thus engaged there until 1885, when, after his marriage, he became connected with the P. H. & F. M. Roots Company at Connersville and moved to this city, where he has made his home ever since. This company was incorporated in 1887, with a capital stock of one hundred thousand dollars, and has since been engaged in the manufacture of positive-pressure blowers, gas exhausters and pumps. The company employs about two hun- dred and fifty men and its products are sold in all parts of the world. In 1889 Mr. Johnston was elected vice-president and general manager of the company and in 1898 was elected president of the same, a position he ever since has occupied. He is also president of the Connersville Hydraulic Com- pany, president of the Hydraulic-Electric Light and Power Company of that city and a member of the board of directors of the First National Bank of Connersville. Mr. Johnston is a Republican, but has not been a seeker after public office.
On October 8, 1885, Edgar D. Johnston was united in marriage to Jane Lewis Roots, who was born in Connersville on October 17, 1864, daugh- ter of Francis Marion and Esther E. (Pumphrey) Roots, the former a native of the state of Vermont and the latter of Virginia, both now deceased, who were for many years regarded as among the most substantial and influen- tial residents of Connersville. The Roots came over into Indiana from Oxford, Ohio, who settled at Connersville, where, in 1859, Francis M. Roots and his brother, P. H. Roots, founded the P. H. & F. M. Roots Company for the purpose of operating a woolen-mill. During the Civil War period this company filled extensive contracts for woolen goods for the manufac- ture of the uniforms of the Union soldiers and, after the war, continued to extend their operations, the company gradually expanding into its present prosperous proportions. Francis M. Roots and his wife spent their last days in Connersville, where their family was reared. They were the parents of six children, those besides Mrs. Johnston being Albert, Daniel T., Esther, Sylvia and Hal. To Mr. and Mrs. Johnston three children have been born, Francis, Esther Elizabeth and Sylvia Yale. Francis Johnston, who was attending New York University, was drowned while home on a vacation, he then being twenty years of age, and his body never was recovered. Esther E. Johnston, who was graduated from Tudor Hall at Indianapolis and later spent a year at Mrs. Somers' finishing school for young women at Wash- ington, D. C., married Earl G. Meeks, of Muncie, this state, and has one
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child, a daughter, Sylvia Jane. Sylvia Yale Johnston also was graduated from Tudor Hall and was later graduated from the finishing school for young women at Briarcliff, New York. She married Logan G. Thompson, of Cincinnati, and has one child, a son, Dwight Johnston. Mr. and Mrs. Johnston are members of the Presbyterian church at Connersville, in the various 'beneficences of which they have for years taken an active interest, and Mr. Johnston is a member of the session of the same.
WILLIAM WINFIELD SCOTT.
Though it has been many years since he left his boyhood home in this county to seek success in other lines and in other fields, William Winfield Scott, a well-known and successful druggist of Indianapolis, has never lost his love for the old home and the familiar scenes of his native county and among the works of art hanging on the walls of the library of his beautiful home in the capital city there are several paintings by the late R. B. Gruelle, depicting scenes in Fayette county. Among these is a painting of the old brick house in Orange township where Mr. Scott was reared, together with the noble grounds surrounding the same, and a view of that neighborhood looking far east to the blue hills beyond the White Water, and a scene near the point where Mr. Scott taught school in this county in the days of his young manhood. Not only are the scenes of Fayette county dear to the memory of Mr. Scott, but the history of the county in which his venerated father, Judge John Scott, labored so long and so usefully is precious to him and it is therefore but fitting and proper that there should here be presented something in a biographical way concerning this former resident of Fayette county, even though his active residence here ceased long ago.
William Winfield Scott was born on a pioneer farm in Orange township, this county, February 7, 1852, son of Judge John and Sarah Snodgrass (Carter) Scott, the former of whom was a native of the state of Pennsyl- vania and the latter of Wytheville, Virginia, born on July 25, 1820, a daugh- ter of Enos and Ann (Snodgrass) Carter, substantial and influential pioneers of Orange township. Enos Carter was born in Franklin county, Virginia, November 14, 1792, and at Wytheville, in that state, about 1819, married Ann Snodgrass, who was born in Botertout county, that state, on April 4, 1796. After three of their children were born, they came to Indiana and settled in Fayette county, locating at first south of Columbia, near the mouth
WILLIAM W. SCOTT.
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of Garrison creek, about 1823, where they remained until 1825 or 1826, when they moved farther up the creek and settled on land previously entered by their brother-in-law, John Cooley, in 1822, the same being the west half of the southwest quarter of section 1, township 13, range II east, now owned by John R. Gray, which they bought in 1828. On August 25, 1831, Enos Carter entered the east half of the northwest quarter of section I and in the follow- ing year built on the same a hewed-log house. He was a carpenter by trade and he afterward weatherboarded the house and made other improvements to the same, that pioneer structure standing to this day and still habitable. Enos Carter died in May, 1874. His wife had preceded him to the grave nearly twenty years, her death having occurred on June 11, 1856. They were the parents of eight children, five sons and three daughters, all of whom are now deceased.
Judge John Scott, as noted above, was a native of the old Keystone state, born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, April 5, 1799, a son of Robert and Martha Jane (Mitchell) Scott, the former of whom was a son of William Scott, of Scotch-Irish blood. Another son of William Scott was Moses Scott, who held a commission as a captain under General Harrison during the War of 1812. In 1804 Robert Scott moved from Pennsylvania to Adams county, Ohio, and settled at the mouth of Brush creek, where he died in the winter of 1811-12. He was born about 1770, probably in Pennsylvania ; perhaps in Virginia. His widow, Martha Jane Mitchell Scott, survived him many years, her death occurring near Warren, Indiana, August 27, 1852. She was born on June 12, 1772, and was married about 1794. In the fall of 1820, when the lands of the "New Purchase" were thrown open to settle- ment, Moses Scott, son of Robert and brother of John, came over into Indi- ana and on October 19, at the land office in Brookville, entered a tract of land in what is now the extreme northeast corner of Orange township, this county, acting in that transaction both for himself and his brother John, and the brother's almost immediately thereafter entered upon possession of their pioneer tract in the wilderness and prepared the same for habitation. John Scott built a story-and-a-half log house near the center of the south half of the northeast quarter of section 36, in the northeast corner of Orange town- ship, and then returned down the valley trail for his family, which meanwhile had been spending the scason on General Harrison's farm at North Bend, he having previously moved them down the river from Adams county, Ohio, on a flatboat made by himself without aid of tools other than an ax and an auger, and in 1822 established his home in this county, his mother, brothers
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and sister accompanying him. One of John Scott's first acts after effecting a sufficient clearing on his place was to plant an orchard and set out a garden. At that time wolves still were plentiful thereabout and the howling of the "varmints" in the spice bush surrounding that humble pioneer home made the nights hideous.
John Scott was an active, energetic and progressive pioneer and it was not long before he had his home well established and was on his way to ultimate success. From the very beginning of his residence in this county he took an active part in local civic affairs, served for several terms as trustee of Orange township, for several terms as justice of the peace in and for that township and from 1847 to 1852 was associate judge of Fayette county. Judge Scott's influence in the pioneer community ever was exerted in behalf of the good and not only in his magisterial capacity, but in his capacity as a citizen he was for many years a potent force in all good works in this county. It is said of him that perhaps there never was another man in this county who was so often chosen to administer the affairs of decedent's estates as was Judge Scott and he also served on innumerable occasions as an arbiter in dis- putes between neighbors, thus averting many a lawsuit. A notable instance of the high regard in which his services in this connection were held by his neighbors was in the case of a neighbor who for forty years had disagreed with the Judge over the location of a line fence, but he was chosen by the. children of this neighbor as administrator of his estate. For many years Judge Scott served as a member of the board of directors of the Fayette County Agricultural Society and in that capacity and in other ways did much to promote the betterment of rural and general industrial conditions in this county. About fifteen years after he had built his log cabin in the wilder- ness he erected a substantial two-story brick house, made from bricks burned on the place, and in that fine old house he spent the remainder of his days, his death occurring at Rushville, suddenly, December 2, 1871, he then being- seventy-two years of age.
Judge John Scott was twice married. In 1831 he was united in mar- riage to Julia Orr, who was born in Kentucky in 1811, a daughter of John and Susan (Luke) Orr, who came to this county from Kentucky in pioneer days, and to that union four children were born. Julia Orr Scott died at her home in Orange township on January 3, 1846, and on March 30, 1847, Judge Scott married Sarah Snodgrass Carter, who was born in this county on July 20, 1820, daughter of Enos and Ann (Snodgrass) Carter, mention of whom has been made above, and to that union seven children were born. Mrs. Sarah S. Scott survived her husband many years, her death occurring at her
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home in Indianapolis on July 17, 1896. She was an earnest member of the Christian church and was ever devoted to good works, a strong and helpful influence in the social life of the community in which she lived during her many years of residence in this county. Of the eleven children of Judge John Scott, but two now survive, the subject of this sketch and his younger brother, John Mitchell Scott, who also is engaged in the drug business in Indianapolis and a biographical sketch of whom is presented elsewhere in this volume.
William W. Scott was reared on the paternal farm in Orange township and as a lad was a valuable assistant in the labors of improving and develop- ing the same. He supplemented the schooling received in the local schools by a course in the Northwestern Normal School at Lebanon, Ohio, and from 1870 to 1875 was engaged during the winters in teaching school in this county, teaching one term at the Samuel Little school and four terms in dis- trict No. 3, in the southwestern part of Connersville township. In the mean- time he had been studying medicine with a view to devoting his life to the medical profession, but in the spring of 1875 became diverted from that course by a proposition from his medical preceptor, Dr. James W. Barnes, to engage with the latter in the drug business at Oxford, in Benton county, this state, and he formed a partnership with Doctor Barnes and went to Oxford, where he opened a drug store. In September of that same year Mr. Scott dissolved his partnership with Doctor Barnes and moved to the neighboring village of Otterbein, in the extreme southeastern corner of Benton county, and there formed a partnership with John A. Savage and with the latter was engaged in the drug business at Otterbein for about two years, at the end of which time he gave up the business there and moved to Indianapolis, where he ever since has made his home. When Mr. Scott went to Otterbein that place was just finding its place on the map, the village consisting of but a few houses, two stores and a grain elevator. During his residence there he served as postmaster of the place. In the fall of 1877 Mr. Scott took up his residence in Indianapolis. He had been married during the summer of the previous year and upon moving to Indianapolis established his home there and has ever since made that city his place of residence, for about forty years con- tinuously engaged in the drug business, and is thus recognized as one of the veteran druggists of the capital city. Mr. Scott is a far-sighted business man and about ten years ago, recognizing in advance the wonderful strides the city was making toward the north, moved his drug store to its present site at College avenue and Maple Road boulevard and the success which has met him there affords ample evidence of the excellence of his judgment in mak- ing the change of location.
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On August 16, 1876, William W. Scott was united in marriage to Ida Gray, who was born in Indianapolis, daughter of Robert Patton and Lucinda W. (Clark) Gray, he a member of a pioneer family in the northeastern part of Orange township, this county, and she born in Maine. These parents had moved back to Fayette county from Indianapolis when their daughter, Ida, was fourteen years of age. Robert Patton Gray was for some years engaged in the milling business in Indianapolis in association with his brother-in-law, John Carlisle, and later moved to Xenia, Ohio, where, from 1858 to 1861, he was the owner and publisher of the Xenia News, during which ownership he employed as editor his cousin, Whitelaw Reid, afterward owner and editor of the New York Tribune, who died while serving this country in the capacity of ambassador to England. Mr. Reid was succeeded in Mr. Gray's employ by Coates Kinney, who was a noted writer and poet. From the days of her childhood Mrs. Scott has taken much interest in music. After a course in music in the conservatory at Xenia she was employed as a teacher of music in Geneva College and was later engaged in operatic and other musical work in New York City. During her long residence in Indianapolis she ever has taken an active part in club work and in the work of promoting various modern reform movements and has been particularly active in her efforts in behalf of woman's suffrage. Mr. and Mrs. Scott have a delightful home in College avenue, Indianapolis, and have ever given proper attention to the general social activities of their home town, helpful in good works.
AZARIAH T. BECKETT.
Azariah T. Beckett, one of Jackson township's well-known farmers, was born in the upper part of that township, in the immediate vicinity of the place on which he now lives, and has lived there all his life. He was born in a log house on the old Beckett homestead, January 31, 1852, youngest son of Azariah T. and Emily (Ross) Beckett, who were for years among the best-known residents of that section of the county and whose last days were spent there.
The senior Azariah T. Beckett also was born in Jackson township, December 16, 1816, the year in which Indiana was admitted to statehood, and he lived to see this section develop from a wilderness to a highly- developed land. He was a son of William T. and Dosia (Thorn) Beckett, natives of Pennsylvania, who came to Indiana Territory in 1814 and set-
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tled in this county, becoming early recognized as among the most substan- tial and influential pioneers of the northeastern part of Jackson township. William T. Beckett's father was a native of Ireland and had been educated in his native land for the priesthood. Coming to America, he settled in Pennsylvania, where he abandoned his plan of becoming a clergyman, mar- ried there and later moved to Butler county, Ohio, settling in the neighbor- hood of Hamilton, where he spent the remainder of his life. It was from that neighborhood that William T. Beckett and his wife moved up here into the then "wilds" of Indiana and established their home in Fayette county. Upon coming to this county William T. Beckett entered a tract of three hundred and twenty acres of "Congress land," later increasing his holdings, but afterward lost the greater part of his property through unfortunate investments. During the old "muster" days he was captain of the local militia and took an active part in public affairs. He served for years as justice of the peace in and for his home township and in other ways con- tributed to the public service. The log house in which he established his home in 1814 is still standing on the old homestead, now owned by his grandson, William E. Beckett, on the eastern edge of Jackson township. It was in that log house that Captain, or "Squire," Beckett used to hold court on the rare occasion that some local misdemeanant would be called before the bar of the court. The jury on such occasions would be sent to the upper room in the little cabin and would not be permitted to come down until a verdict had been reached. Happily, there was not much trouble or litigation in that neighborhood, for it was in the midst of a Quaker settlement and peace was the watchword of the settlers thereabout. There formerly stood just west of the Beckett homestead a Quaker meeting house, erected about 1816, but which has for many years existed only in the memory of a few old settlers, who still recall its appearance; the only present physi- cal evidence of the former location of the little meeting house being the little pioneer graveyard amid the trees on the nearby hill.
It was on that pioneer farm that the elder Azariah T. Beckett grew to manhood. He received but a limited education, the school facilities of those days having been hardly organized to any formal extent, and he early began doing for himself, presently becoming engaged in the teaming line between Connersville and Cincinnati. He later and for some years was interested in a packing-house at Connersville and while thus engaged probably bought more hogs throughout this section of the country than any other man doing business here at that time. Following his trips to Cincinnati with flour and produce, it was nothing uncommon for him to drive back at night, with-
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out delay, in order that the "wild-cat" currency he would receive for his merchandise would not depreciate too greatly before he could pay it out. He presently began investing in farm lands and became the owner of a fine farm of five hundred acres in Jackson township, besides three hundred and fifty acres of land he gave to his children. It was in 1838 that he married Emily Ross, who was born on July 17, 1814, and to that union eight chil- dren were born, five of whom grew to maturity, but of whom but two are now living, William Edwin Beckett, who is living on the old Beckett home- stead, and the subject of this sketch. The mother of these children died on October 28, 1881, and the father survived for many years, his death occurring on October 28, 1904. He had long taken an active part in public affairs and for years was accounted one of the leaders of the Republican party in his part of the county. He was twice appointed county commis- sioner, to fill vacancies on the board, and was afterward elected for four terms as a member of the board, thus having filled that important office for fourteen years. He also held numerous minor offices. He was an earnest member of the Masonic fraternity and was the first person initiated by the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Everton after the institution of that lodge.
The junior Azariah T. Beckett was about a year old when his father moved from the old homestead to another nearby farm and there erected the house in which the subject of this sketch is now living and where, with the exception of a few years, he has lived all his life. That house, despite the fact that it has weathered the storms of more than sixty winters, is still in excellent condition and Mr. Beckett and his family are very comfortably situated there. Mr. Beckett completed the course in the local school before he was seventeen years of age and then entered Earlham College, where he remained two years, at the end of which time he returned to the home farm and has since continued to make that his place of residence, with the exception of two or three years, and has been successfully engaged in general farming and stock raising. He formerly owned one hundred and eighty- six and six-tenths acres, but has recently sold part of this farm to his son, Erwin, who is managing the place.
Mr. Beckett has been twice married. On his twenty-fourth birthday he was united in marriage to Eleanor Taylor, who was born in the eastern part of Jackson township, this county, daughter of Richard Taylor and wife, and who was left an orphan at a tender age and was reared by her maternal grandfather, Thomas E. Curry, an old resident of Jackson town- ship. To that union two children were born, daughters, Lina, who mar- ried Cort Heim and lives at St. Bernard, Ohio, and Esta, who married Ray-
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mond Beckett, also of St. Bernard, Ohio, and has two sons, Edward and Charles. The mother of these two daughters died in 1879, when the last- born was but an infant, and in 1883 Mr. Beckett married Cora Murphy, who was born at Everton, this county, a daughter of William and Jane Murphy, and to that union four children were born, namely: Horace, who died when about three years of age; Emily, who died at the age of two years; Erwin, who is farming the home place, and Catherine, also at home. Erwin Beckett married Sarah Davis, who was born at Alquina, this county, daughter of Leander Lee and Elizabeth (Volland) Davis, the former of whom also was born at Alquina and the latter in Ohio. Mrs. Cora Beckett died on October, 1909, and Mr. Beckett is now making his home with his son and the latter's wife, on the old home place. Mr. Beckett is a member of the Universalist church. Fraternally, he is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, with the Knights of Pythias and with the Improved Order of Red Men and in the affairs of these several organizations has for years taken a warm interest.
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