USA > Indiana > Fayette County > History of Fayette County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions > Part 97
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
John L. Manlove, father of Mrs. Mason, was born on the farm on
989
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
which he still lives, October 23, 1846, son of William and Margaret (Munger ) Manlove, prominent residents of that part of the county and further refer- ence to whom is made elsewhere in this volume, both having been members of pioneer families in the northern part of the county. Mr. Manlove has always been a farmer on the place where he now lives. In 1876 he married Mary E. Scott, who also was born in Posey township, daughter of John and Margaret (Weaver) Scott, also members of pioneer families. She died in 1910. To that union seven children were born, those besides Mrs. Mason, the second in order of birth, being as follow: Omer S., now living in Cam- bridge City, who married Nellie Jones and has two children, Martha Ellen and Irving; Lola, wife of Rich Miles, a farmer living near Raleigh, in the neighboring county of Rush; William G., who is with his father on the home farm, where he operates a saw-mill; Eunice, who is now living at Benton- ville, widow of Emery Curtis; Arthur T., living on part of his father's farm, who married Ina Hussey and has one child, a son, Russell, and Park M., now living at Milton, over the line in Wayne county, who married Gertrude Baker and has two children, Horace and Mary Olive.
CHARLES W. MASON.
Charles W. Mason, member of the board of commissioners of Fayette county and a well-known merchant of Bentonville, is a native son of Fay- ette county, born on a farm just southeast of Bentonville, and has lived in that neighborhood all his life. He was born on May 21, 1882, son of John S. and Alice (Morris) Mason, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Iowa, and the former of whom is still living on his fine farm three- fourths of a mile southeast of Bentonville, where he has lived since the days of his young manhood, his father having settled there in the latter seventies.
John S. Mason was born in Butler county, Ohio, July 16, 1851, son of James and Ann (Sheppard) Mason, natives of New Jersey, who were married in that state and then moved to Ohio, locating in Butler county, where they remained until 1865, in which year they came up into Indiana and settled in this county, James Mason buying the northwest quarter of section 36 in Harrison township, four miles north of Connersville on the west side of the Connersville and Milton pike. There the mother died, after which, in the latter seventies, James Mason sold that place and bought five
990
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
hundred and sixty-three acres, a half-mile strip running east from Benton- ville, in Posey township, along the south side of the road, and there James Mason spent the remainder of his life, building up a very fine farm prop- erty, two hundred and fifty-one acres of which his son, John S. Mason, now owns, having made his home there for many years. James Mason and wife were the parents of four children, of whom John S. was the last-born, the other being as follow: Hannah, who married Miles Thompson and is now deceased; Catherine, wife of Cornelius Murphy, of Cincinnati, and Henry, who died about five years ago. Since coming into possession of his portion of the home farm John S. Mason has built a new house, remodeled the barn and has done a lot of fencing, draining and clearing, having now one of the best-improved farms in that part of the county. He was about twenty years of age when he moved to that place with his father and upon his marriage, established his home there. His wife died on July 2, 1896. She was born in Iowa, a daughter of Frank and Elizabeth (Harvey) Morris, the former a native of Delaware and the latter of Ohio, who left Butler county, in the latter state, not long before the birth of their daughter, Alice, and for several years made their home in Iowa, returning thence to Ohio, where they remained until about 1875, when they came to Indiana and located at Dublin, where they were living when their daughter Alice mar- ried Mr. Mason. Later Mr. and Mrs. Morris came to this county and for a time made their home at Bentonville, later moving to Hartford City, where the former died. Mrs. Morris spent her last days at Kalamazoo, Michigan. To John S. Mason and wife two children were born, the subject of this sketch having a sister, Bessie, wife of Harry Weaver, a banker at Ben- tonville.
Charles W. Mason was reared on the home farm, receiving his schooling in the schools at Bentonville, and continued farming until in the spring of 1912, when he and Frank D. Hackleman formed a partnership and engaged in the mercantile business at Bentonville, dealers in general hardware and farm implements. That enterprise has proved a pronounced success, the firm having built up an excellent trade throughout that part of the county, their store being stocked with a completeness of detail that would do credit to a town much larger than Bentonville. Mr. Mason has also been inter- ested in the First National Bank of Dublin for the past four years and is a member of the board of directors of the same. He is a Republican and has ever given his close and interested attention to local civic affairs. On Novem- ber 7, 1916, he was elected member of the board of county commissioners
991
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
from his district and entered upon the duties of that important office on January 1, 1917.
On February 22, 1905, Charles W. Mason was united in marriage to Claudie Fern Miller, who was born on a farm two miles west and a mile south of Bentonville, in Posey township, a daughter of George and Martha (Cregar) Miller, the former of whom farmed in that neighborhood all his life. In a sketch relating to Frank D. Hackelman, Mr. Mason's partner, presented elsewhere in this volume, there are additional details relating to the Miller family in this county, Mr. Hackleman's wife's mother having been a sister of Mrs. Mason's father, George Miller. In December, 1881, George Miller married Martha Cregar, who was born near Cedar Grove, in the neighboring county of Franklin, a daughter of Samuel and Malinda ( Brac- keney) Cregar, both of whom were born in that same county. Samuel Cre- gar farmed all his life near Cedar Grove and both he and his wife died in 1902. George Miller died in 1903 and after his death his widow and chil- dren moved to Bentonville, where Mrs. Miller now makes her home with her daughter, Mrs. Mason. George Miller and wife were the parents of three daughters, Bessie (deceased), Mrs. Mason, and Grace E., wife of Thomas McKee. Mr. and Mrs. Mason are members of the Christian church at Bentonville and Mrs. Miller has been a member of that church for more than thirty years. The Masons have a pleasant home and take a proper inter- est in the general social activities of their home town, helpful in promoting all movements having to do with the advancement of the common welfare.
CLARENCE G. CARR.
Clarence G. Carr, the well-known public auctioneer at Glenwood and proprietor of the livery barn there, was born on a farm in Rush county, about two and one-half miles northwest of Glenwood, October 18, 1880, son of Guy B. and Jessie F. (Bussell) Carr, the former of whom was born in Ohio and the latter in Indiana, who are now living at Glenwood.
Guy B. Carr was born in Butler county, Ohio, November 10, 1855, a son of Guy A. and Elizabeth (Blue) Carr, the former a native of the state of New York and the latter of Virginia, born in that portion of the Old Dominion now comprised in West Virginia. When fifteen years of age Guy B. Carr came to Indiana with an elder brother and located with him in Rush county. There he worked at farm labor until his marriage in 1878, he then
992
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
being twenty-two years of age, after which he began farming for himself on rented land in Rush county. Six or eight years later he came over into Fay- ette county and bought a forty-acre farm northwest of Glenwood, in Fair- view township, and there lived for about eighteen years, meanwhile increas- ing his holdings by the purchase of an adjoining tract of thirty acres. In 1892 he bought a place of one hundred and forty-eight acres on Williams creek, in the eastern part of Fairview township, and in 1903 he sold his original farm and moved to this latter farm, where he made his home until his retirement from the active labors of the farm in. 1913 and removal to Glenwood, where he and his wife are now living. Mr. Carr has long given his close attention to public affairs and served for five years during the nineties as assessor of Fairview township.
On January 17, 1878, Guy B. Carr was united in marriage to Jessie F. Bussell, who was born on a farm about five miles northwest of Glenwood, in Rush county, a daughter of James and Elizabeth Jane ( McMillan) Bussell, old settlers and well-known residents of that part of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Carr are earnest members of the Christian church and their children also are members of the church and, as well as their parents, are active workers in the same. There are four of these children, of whom the sub- ject of this sketch was the second in order of birth, the others being as fol- low: Otis, a draughtsman in the office of the Atlas Engine Works at Indi- anapolis, who married Maude Simpson and has two children, Virgil and Edith; Ethel, who married Edwin McGraw, of Milton, and has three chil- dren, Minnie, Robert and Ernest, and Minnie, wife of Scott Powell, a farmer, of Harrison township.
Clarence G. Carr grew to manhood on the farm, receiving his schooling in the graded school at Fairview and lived at home until his marriage when twenty years of age, after which he began farming on his own account, farming the place on Williams creek owned by his father, and two years Jater moved to the old Bussell farm in Rush county, where he made his home for two years, at the end of which time he moved to the Kirkpatrick farm near Ging's Station, where he lived for about two years. He then spent another year on the Bussell place and then for five years made his home on the Stout farm near Ging's Station, and a year on the Kinder farm farther east. He then, in October, 1913, moved to Glenwood, where he ever since has made his home. It was in the spring of 1913 that Mr. Carr began his career as an auctioneer by taking a course in the Jones School of Auctioneer- ing at Chicago, and he since then has been quite successful as an auctioneer
993
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
and crier of public sales, his services being in demand both in this county and in the neighboring county of Rush. In the fall of 1913, upon taking up his residence in Glenwood, Mr. Carr built a commodious livery barn there and in the following December started in business in the general livery line. The following summer he added automobile livery to his establishment and has since done a general garage business in connection with his horse-livery business. Since November 13, 1916, he has held the contract as rural mail carrier on route No. 28 out of Glenwood. In the fall of 1914 Mr. Carr built a handsome house just south of the interurban track, on the eastern side of the county line, in Glenwood, and is therefore still counted a resident of Fayette county. During his residence in Rush county he served for two years as assessor of Union township and he also has served as a member of the town board in Glenwood, but takes no particularly active part in poli- tics. He and his wife are members of the Christian church and also take an interested part in the general social activities of their home town.
On March 6, 1901, Clarence G. Carr was united in marriage to Lulu McClure, who was born in the village of Fairview, this county, a daughter of George and Leuticia (Caldwell) McClure, both of whom also were born in this county, the former at Fairview and the latter in Harrison township. George McClure was born at Fairview on September 3, 1838, a son of John and Amanda McClure, and there lived until his marriage on October 9, 1861, to Leuticia Caldwell, who was born on the old Caldwell homestead in the northeastern part of Harrison township, the place now owned and occupied by her brother, Daniel Caldwell, a sketch of whom, presented elsewhere in this volume, gives details of the history of the Caldwell family in this county. After his marriage Mr. McClure lived for a time on the Caldwell farm and then moved to Rush county, where he followed farming for years, later returning to Fairview and for ten or twelve years thereafter making his home in the old Fairview Academy building, which he bought and recon- structed for a home, and in 1905 moved to Connersville, where he spent his last days, his death occurring there on May 21, 1909, since which time his widow has been making her home with her children. To George McClure and wife were born seven children, namely: Mary Amanda, wife of George Desborough, of Connersville; Julia Belle, wife of O. Morton Moffitt, of Indi- anapolis; Alice, who married Garrett Gray, of Connersville, and died in the fall of 1895; Samuel J., of Falmouth, Rush county : Florence A., wife of William Elwood, of Connersville; William, also of Connersville, and Lulu, wife of Mr. Carr. George McClure was an active member of the Independent
(63)
994
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
Order of Odd Fellows and was an earnest member of the Christian church, as is his widow. To Mr. and Mrs. Carr four children have been born, namely : Russell Guy, born on February 21, 1903; Roscoe Von, October 28, 1904; Hazel Florence and Harold Floyd (twins), September 19, 191I, the last-named of whom died on December 15, 191I.
FRANK CUMMINS.
Frank Cummins, one of the best-known farmers and horsemen of Fayette county and the proprietor of a well-improved farm of eighty acres just west of the village of Bentonville, on which place he makes his home, is a native son of Fayette county and has lived here all his life. He was born on a farm in Posey township on September 2, 1859, son of John D. and Catherine (Williams) Cummins, prominent residents of that community and further reference to whom is made elsewhere in this volume.
Until his marriage in the fall of 1880 Frank Cummins made his home on the farm on which he was born and after his marriage he began farming a place of forty acres two miles west of Bentonville, where he lived until 1901, when he moved to his present farm of eighty acres one-half mile west of Bentonville, where he has since made his home and where he is very comfortably situated, he and his wife having a very pleasant home there. For about twenty years and up to about four years ago Mr. Cum- inins had given much attention to the raising of fast horses and training them for the track. Some of these horses he raced personally and for years was one of the best-known horsemen in this circuit. Nine of the horse raised by Mr. Cummins he himself raced. Among these was "Angie W.", with a mark of 2:1114, pacing, and 2:1614 trotting. Another of these horses was "Redbird," with a mark of 2:1814. Both of these ani- mals, however, actually worked faster for Mr. Cummins than the official mark given them, "Angie W." having done a mile in 2:0614 and "Red- bird" in 2:1014. "Prince Patchen," another of Mr. Cummins's horses and a colt from "Redbird," had a record of 2:1814 and actually worked a mile in 2:111/4. "Angie W." also was a "Redbird" colt. For some years past Mr. Cummins has been living practically retired from the more active labors of the farm and is now taking things somewhat easier than during his earlier years of practical farming and horse raising.
Mr. Cummins has been twice married. On September 30, 1880, he
995
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
was united in marriage to Flora Ayers, who was born on a farm about a half mile east of the old Cummins homestead in Posey township, a daugh- ter of Levi and Susan (Jennings) Ayers, and who died .in 1893, leaving one child, a daughter, Hazel, who married George Bridgeman, now living near Lewisville, in the neighboring county of Henry, and has one child. a daugh- ter, Wilma. Some years later while racing "Redbird" in Ohio Mr. Cum- mins met there Dora Focht, who was born in Union township, Auglaize county, that state, and on March 23, 1898, the two were united in marriage. Mrs. Cummins is a daughter of Daniel and Maria (Justice) Focht, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Ohio, whose last days were spent on the farm in Auglaize county, Ohio, on which Mrs. Focht had lived for sixty years. Daniel Focht was born in Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, and was reared to farming, a vocation he followed all his life. When a young man he moved over into Ohio and there married Maria Justice, who was born in Union township, Auglaize county, and in that county he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives, the former dying in 1896 and the latter, in August, 1913.
DAVID BAKER.
David Baker, one of Fayette county's best-known retired farmers and . a substantial old citizen of Fairview township is a native son of that town- ship, born on the farm on which he is now living, two miles east of Fal- mouth, and has lived there all his life. He was born on February 14, 1845, son of John and Mary (Hanna) Baker, both of whom were born in Bourbon county, Kentucky, who became pioneers of Fayette county and here spent their last days, substantial and influential pioneers of the Falmouth neigh- borhood.
John Baker was born on a farm in the near vicinity of Paris, in Bourbon county, Kentucky, February 14, 1803. son of Abraham and Elizabeth Baker, the former of whom was born on July 7, 1764, and who were married on March 18. 1800, making their home in Bourbon county, Kentucky, where eight children were born to them, of whom John was the second in order of hirth, the others being as follow: David, born on August 1I, 1801 ; Har- rison, April 3, 1805; Mahala, March 3, 1807; Nancy, February 1, 1809; Ellen and Eliza (twins), July 2, 1811, and Daniel, June 22, 1814. In the fall of 1824 Abraham Baker, seeking land for his sons, came up into Indiana
996
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
and settled in Fayette county, giving each of his sons a farm in the north- eastern part of Fairview township. He bought three eighty-acre tracts, the place where David Baker now lives, and across the road from that place, where now the Fitzgerald farm is, he bought a quarter section. On this latter tract he established his home, and there his younger son, Daniel, remained with him until his death, the other sons, John and David, occupying the nearby "eighties," Harrison selling out and moved to Wabash county, where he died. The above three sons spent the rest of their lives on the farms which they opened and cleared back in the twenties. Elizabeth Baker, wife of Abraham, died on October 5, 1826, about two years after settling here in the then wilderness and Abraham Baker survived until Janu- ary 17, 1842.
In the fall of 1826 John Baker, second son of Abraham, went back to his old home in Kentucky and there on December 12, 1826, was united in marriage to Mary Hanna, who was born in that same community in Bourbon county on October 30, 1801. The following spring he returned to Indiana with his bride and settled on the farm two miles east of Falmouth, which he had begun to clear in 182.4 and where he had put up a log cabin for the reception of his bride, and there he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives, earnest and industrious pioneers of that community. As he prospered he increased his original holdings there to one hundred and twenty acres and later bought an adjoining tract of one hundred and forty acres on the north. On that pioneer farm Mary (better known as "Polly") Baker died on December 2, 1858, and John Baker, her husband, survived her many years, his death occurring in April, 1892, he then being in the eighty-ninth year of his age. He and his wife were the parents of eight children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the last-born, the others being as follow: Eliza- beth, now deceased, who was twice married, her first husband having been William Dickey and the second, Dave Weimer; Harrison and Eliza Jane (twins), the latter of whom died when eight years of age and the former of whom died in April, 1892; James, who lives in Milton: Sallie Ann, who married Guy Jackson and is now deceased; Harriet, who married John Stuckey and lives in Grant county, and Mary Jane, of Falmouth, widow of Tillman Van Buskirk. David Baker still has the spinning wheel used by his mother, "Polly" Baker, and the saddle bags which his grandfather and his father brought with them from Kentucky. He also has the old family Bible, a venerable volume bound in sheepskin and printed in New York in 1814, in which is carefully set out the record of births and deaths and marriages in the family of Abraham and Elizabeth Baker and of John and "Polly" Baker.
997
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
John Baker and his wife were earnest members of the Methodist church, as were the former's parents, and took an active interest in church affairs in the early days of the community in which they settled, religious services fre- quently being held in their home in the days before the settlement had an established house of worship, and their children were reared in that faith.
David Baker has always lived on the farm where he was born and has always followed farming, becoming the owner of a fine farm of one hun- dred and fifty-eight acres with a nice country home on it. That farm he sold two years ago, but he continues to make his home there, living with his brother-in-law, who bought the place, and is quite content to spend the rest of his life on the place on which he was born and which he has helped to develop from pioneer times.
On May 8. 1901, David Baker was united in marriage to Dora Iva Pierce, who was born in the neighboring county of Franklin, a daughter of Cornelius and Isabel (Chance) Pierce, who years ago moved from Franklin county to New York City, where the father became a member of the metro- politan police force and where he died. After his death his widow and chil- dren returned to Franklin county and presently moved thence to the neigh- borhood of Morristown, in Shelby county. There the Widow Pierce mar- ried again and presently moved back to New York. Her daughter, Dora Iva, remained in Shelby county until her marriage to Mr. Baker. She died at her home in Fairview township in the fall of 1908. She was a member of the Christian church.
WARREN HARRIS MUNGER.
Warren Harris Munger, one of the best-known and most progressive farmers of Posey township and the proprietor of a fine farm of something more than a quarter of a section of land about a mile and a half southeast of Bentonville, was born on that farm and has lived there all his life. He was born on February 20, 1878, son of Lazarus and Savannah (Ferguson) Munger, prominent residents of that community, whose last days were spent there and further mention of whom is made elsewhere in this volume of history and biography.
The Mungers have been prominently represented in this part of Indi- ana for generations, ever since the grandfather of the subject of this sketch came here from Ohio in 1821 and settled in this county, establishing a fine home in Posey township. This pioneer was Edmund K. Munger, who was
998
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
born in Rutland county, Vermont, September 13, 1790, third in order of birth of the twelve children born to Gen. Edmund and Eunice (Kellogg) Munger, natives of Connecticut, the former born on September 30, 1763, and the latter, August 13, 1767, who were married on December 5, 1785, and after a few years of residence at Washington, Connecticut, went to Rutland county, Vermont, where they resided until the spring of 1798, when they moved to Belpre, Ohio, and a year later moved thence to Montgomery county, that same state, becoming thus among the earliest residents of the Dayton neighborhood, where they spent the remainder of their lives, General Munger dying there on April 14, 1850, and his widow surviving until January 8, 1868, she then being one hundred years and five months of age. The Mun- gers are of old Colonial stock, the first of the name to come to this country having been Nicholas Munger, a descendant of the sea kings of the Baltic, born in 1623, who left a son, John, born in 1660, whose son, Ebenezer, born in 1693, had a son, Reuben, who was the father of General Munger. Settling in the Dayton neighborhood as early as 1799, General Munger early became one of the foremost factors in the early life of that settlement and when the War of 1812 broke out he raised a command and was commissioned brigadier- general, but was later superseded by General Hull, who led his troops to dis- aster at Detroit. General Munger served for some time as a member of the Ohio Legislature and in other ways did well his part as a citizen and as a man of affairs. He and his wife were Presbyterians and their children were reared in that faith.
Edmund K. Munger was eight or nine years of age when his parents moved from Vermont to Ohio and he grew to manhood in Montgomery county, in the latter state, remaining there until his marriage on December 17, 1812, to Mary Cole, who was born in Virginia on October 15, 1794, a daughter of Samuel and Catherine (Byron) Cole, who were among the early settlers of Montgomery county, Ohio. Upon the breaking out of the War of 1812- Edmund K. Munger received a brevet appointment, but his active services were not required in that brief struggle. He remained in Ohio until 1821, when he came to Indiana and bought two hundred acres of land in section 19 of Posey township, this county, where he established his home and where he and his wife 'spent the remainder of their lives. Upon settling on that farm he put up a log cabin, which served as the place of family residence until 1835, when he erected a substantial brick house, which is still standing and in use. Originally a Whig, Mr. Munger became a Republican at the time of the organization of that party in 1856 and was active in the political
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.