USA > Indiana > Fayette County > History of Fayette County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions > Part 98
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affairs of his community. His wife was a devoted member of the Baptist church. She died on September 9, 1853, and Edmund K. Munger sur- vived until June 10, 1872. They were the parents of twelve children, all now deceased.
Lazarus Munger, son of Edmund K. and Mary (Cole) Munger, was born on the old home farm in Posey township on September 11, 1831, and there grew to manhood; after the death of his parents he continued to make his home there, he and his brother, Edmund, having in 1863 bought one bundred and twenty-one acres of the homestead, and there he spent the rest of his life, one of the most substantial farmers and stockmen in that part of the county. Edmund Munger did not marry and made his home with his brother Lazarus, who was married in the fall of 1866. The two brothers engaged extensively in the live-stock business together until in August, 1882, when Lazarus Munger bought his brother's interest in the farm and the latter thereafter engaged in the building and loan business in Indianapolis and Cambridge City. Lazarus Munger not only continued in the live-stock busi- ness, but gradually added to his farm holdings until he became the owner of five hundred and eighteen acres of excellent land, all of which he brought under cultivation. He was an active Republican and though often impor- tuned to become a candidate for one or another of the important offices in the county, ever declined and the only public service he accepted was the office of assessor of his home township, in which capacity he acted for some time. On September 10, 1866, Lazarus Munger was united in marriage to Savannah Ferguson, who was born in this county on February 8, 1843, a daughter of Linville and Elizabeth M. (Loder) Ferguson, the former of whom was born in North Carolina and the latter in this county and who were prominent residents of Posey township. To that union three children were born, Lorena M., Warren H. and Helen E. Lazarus Munger died at his home in Posey township on May 27, 1909, and his widow survived him a little less than three years, her death occurring on May 7, 1912.
Warren H. Munger has always lived on the farm where he was born. Upon completing the course in the public schools at Bentonville he took a course in the high school at Rushville and then entered Earlham College, from which he was graduated with the class of 1901 with the degree of Bachelor of Science. He then spent a year in the University of Michigan, taking a special course in mechanical and electrical engineering and upon leaving college returned home and has ever since been there engaged in gen- eral farming and stock raising. Mr. Munger is the owner of one hundred
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and sixty-one acres of fine land there and has charge of a quarter of a section of land lying just across the road from his own farm, belonging to his sister, Mrs. Helen E. Davis, who is living near Clinton, Michigan, and is doing very well, his general farming being profitably augmented by the attention he has for sonie years been giving to the raising of cattle and hogs for the market.
During his college days at Earlham, Warren H. Munger became acquainted with Elizabeth Hanson, of New London, this state, also a mem- ber of the student body, but of a class two years later than that to which Mr. Munger belonged, and on April 2, 1911, the two were married. Elizabeth Hanson was born at New London, about fourteen miles west of Kokomo, in Howard county, this state, a daughter of Thomas Elwood and Lydia M. (Williams) Hanson, both of whom were born in Belmont county, Ohio, and who later moved to Indiana, where their last days were spent. Thomas Elwood Hanson was born in 1828, a son of Borden and Rachel (Cox) Han- son, natives of North Carolina, who were married in that state. Borden Hanson was a son of George and Susanna (Scrooven) Hanson, the former of whom was a soldier of the War of the Revolution and the latter a nurse during that struggle. While serving as a soldier George Hanson was seri- ously wounded and in the hospital he was tenderly nursed by Susanna Scrooven, a Quakeress, the acquaintance thus formed ripening into love and later marriage, George Hanson becoming a Quaker in order that he might marry his nurse. After their marriage Borden Hanson and his wife left North Carolina and settled in Belmont county, Ohio, whence presently they moved over into Indiana and settled near Economy, in Wayne county, Thomas E. Borden then being five years of age. There Borden Hanson died in 1847 and shortly afterward his widow and her children went to Howard county, where she spent her last days. Thomas E. Hanson was a young man when he accompanied his widowed mother to Howard county, the family there entering upon possession of a tract of government land the mother had bought. After the death of his mother, Thomas E. Hanson bought the interests of the other heirs in that farm and there continued farm- ing the rest of his life, the owner of an excellent farm of one hundred and twenty acres. As a boy he had learned the carpenter trade and during the time he worked at that trade he built a number of houses at Germantown and Milton and in the surrounding country. He was active in church and school work and was particularly interested in the work of the Friends Academy at New London. He died on January 15, 1906.
Thomas E. Hanson was four times married. His first two wives died
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young and his third wife, Lydia M. Williams, was born near Barnsville, in Belmont county, Ohio, daughter of Ezra and Jane (Eaton) Williams, both of whom were born in that same vicinity, the former of English ancestry, the Williamses having moved by way of Pennsylvania into Ohio, and the latter a daughter of Ahijah and Jane (Campbell) Eaton, of Highland (Scotch) parentage. About 1856 Ezra Williams and his wife moved from Ohio to Indiana and settled in the Quaker settlement near New London in Howard county, where they spent the remainder of their lives. Ezra Will- iams was a birthright Quaker and his wife changed her faith from that of the Methodist to that of the Friends in order that their union might be har- monious on the question of religion. Her father, Ahijah Eaton, served for four years as a soldier of the Union during the Civil War, attached to the Army of the Potomac and he had a son, James Eaton, who served in the artillery in the Army of the Cumberland, under Grant and Sherman. Lydia M. (Williams) Hanson died in 1878, when her daughter, Elizabeth, was but a child, and Thomas E. Hanson later married his deceased wife's sister, Emma, who died in the spring of 1903. Thomas E. Hanson's maternal grandmother, Rachel (Stubbs) Cox, mother of his mother, Rachel, was of French Huguenot ancestry, her forbears having fled from France during the days of the persecution and settled in Ireland, where they became attached to the Society of Friends; members of the family later coming to this country and remaining devoted Friends to the present generation. The Hansons have been traced back through their Danish ancestry to the days of the Vik- ings, the family having come to this country during Colonial days by way of England.
Elizabeth Hanson received her early schooling in the schools of New London and upon completing the course in the high school there entered Earl- ham College, from the science departments of which she was graduated in 1903. She then entered the training school for nurses in connection with the Deaconess Hospital at Indianapolis, with a view to becoming a pro- fessional nurse, but after three years of such training her health began to suffer and she left three months before the date of her expected graduation. She shortly afterward married Mr. Munger and did not return to Indian- apolis to finish her course. Mr. and Mrs. Munger have a very pleasant home and take an interested and useful part in the general social activities of the community in which they live, helpful factors in the promotion of all agencies having to do with the advancement of the general welfare of the community at large.
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DESCENDANTS OF JOHN CONNER.
In the historical section of this volume a chapter is devoted to the life and the works of John Conner, the founder of the city of Connersville and one of the most romantic and strikingly interesting figures in all the history of the great Hoosier state, and there is therefore no occasion for a review of the career of that fine old pioneer in this brief sketch relating to his descend- ants ; but there are a few points that might properly be touched on as a means to furnishing a sidelight on some of the inherited characteristics of these descendants, for it is undeniable that many of the traits that marked the character of the pioneer have come on down through the period, more than a century, that has elapsed since he began his labors in Indiana and are now discernible in the third and fourth generations of those who so proudly bear his name.
Though reared by the Indians, as set out in the chapter above men- tioned, and perhaps more intimately familiar with the habits, customs and speech of the aboriginals than any white man, except his brother William, living in the then Territory of Indiana, John Conner was an aristocrat by blood and inheritance, possessed largely the money-making instinct and was a natural adventurer, his life from boyhood, when he was carried into the wilderness by his savage captors after the Wyoming Valley massacre, until the close of his interesting career being filled with stirring and romantic adventures. He was an instinctive and close student and in addition to acquiring a speaking knowledge of twenty-two aboriginal dialects, acquired a mastery of English and a speaking and reading acquaintance with French; and the choice library which he gradually accumulated in his pioneer home on the banks of the White Water was a continual source of wonder to his Indian friends and little less a source of wonder to those of his white com- panions of an early day who had put books behind them, for the time, when they left the East. His choice collection of silverware, plates and goblets for table service, which he had made in Boston, sending thither for that pur- pose many pounds of silver trinkets he had picked up in his trading with the Indians, indicated also a refinement of taste not often exhibited out here on the then frontier of civilization. Added to this collection was a magnificent punchbowl that had come from England, brought by the Winships, and that had descended to his wife, Lavina Winship. On his tour of the United States in his old age, General LaFayette visited John Conner and was regaled by a draught from this ancient punchbowl.
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Concerning the services to the state performed by John Conner, it is not necessary here to go into detail, for all that has been dealt with at length elsewhere. As the right-hand man of General Harrison on more than one occasion and as the warm friend of the great Indian leader, Tecumseh, his services as an intermediary in the negotiations between the government and the aboriginals were of a notable character. As a member of the Senate in the first Territorial Legislature he also rendered conspicuous service and in other ways was a prime factor in the great work of establishing a social order out here in the then wilderness. At the battle of Tippecanoe he was an aide to General Harrison. When Colonel Campbell was preparing to go to battle against the Indians on the Mississinewa, Governor Harrison advised him that when he wanted information regarding routes and details of the campaign he should seek Conner, and the latter acted as the guide to the expedition to the Mississinewa. Knowing of the friendship Conner bore toward the Indians, some of Campbell's soldiers feared the guide might lead the expedition into ambush. Campbell therefore ordered one of his men to ride near Conner and if the latter displayed the least sign of treachery to shoot him. One of Conner's friends in the troop informed the scout of this action, but the latter gave no outward indication of concern. Coming to a ford with which he formerly had been familiar, Conner urged his horse into the stream, but when the animal began floundering in deep water he discovered that the ford had been washed out since he had been that way. Conner's guard, believing that the guide was leading the troop into a dan- gerous channel, raised his gun to shoot, but Conner raised his hand and com- manded him to wait, explaining the situation, and presently was able to pick out a safe ford for the passage of the troop. This quality of coolness in the time of danger may be illustrated by another incident in the life of the pioneer. One day he was in the woods with his gun and sat upon a fallen tree for a moment of rest, his gun pointing upward between his knees. An unwonted change in the form of the shadows at his feet warned Conner that a catamount was in the branches of the tree above him. Knowing that an impulsive motion on his part would precipitate the spring of the dangerous creature, Conner silently, cautiously and almost imperceptibly moved his gun until he knew, by the location of the shadow, that the catamount was in range of the same and then he pressed the trigger, bringing the animal crashing down dead at his feet.
John Conner prospered in his pioneer ventures and became one of the wealthiest men of his time in Indiana. He was courtly in manner and speech and conformed to the polite formalities and the proper exercise of the social
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amenities of life when the occasion demanded. His excellent taste in such matters prompted him in the selection of his clothes and there is a well- defined tradition that he was generally recognized as one of the best-dressed men in Indiana in his time. The warm affection that existed between him and his brother, William Conner, is a matter of pleasant tradition in his family to this day. He and his brother were closely connected in extensive business affairs and it is related that there never was the necessity for even "the scratch of a pen" between them as the guaranty for the mutual fairness of these relations. On the occasions that William would come to visit John or John would go to visit William, it is related that the brothers would sit all night in earnest and enjoyable conversation. At times, as in the case of most brothers, they would be in disagreement, for both were men of decided opinions and strong convictions, but these "quarrels" never amounted to open rupture and after their verbal set-tos the best of feeling soon would be restored. When John Conner died his son, William Winship Conner, was but a child and nis will directed that his brother, William, look after the boy. This dying request was religiously regarded by the brother, who directed the rearing of the youth and saw him through Hanover College and to a position in affairs wherein he could look after the extensive interests that had come to him through his father.
The story of John Conner's marriage to an Indian girl before he had attained his majority and of the birth by that marriage of two sons and of the death of the young Indian wife in 1812, is told in the chapter particularly relating to Mr. Conner, presented elsewhere in this volume, and needs only to be alluded to here. By his marriage to Lavina Winship, daughter of pioneer parents, the Winship family at that time having been residerits of the Cedar Grove neighborhood, he was the father of two sons, William Winship Conner and Henry Ives Conner, and a daughter, the latter of whom died in her childhood. Lavina Winship Conner is referred to in contemporary accounts as a woman of lovely character and of many graces of person and mind, a fitting helpmeet for the man between whom and herself there came to be the most perfect understanding and the closest affection, and who proved to be a valuable factor in the work of setting up something more than a mere semblance of a social order in the formative period of the village that later grew into the thriving manufacturing city, the Connersville of today. The younger of the two sons mentioned above, Henry Ives Conner, died in his early manhood, right at the opening of what seemed to be a most promising career. He early took up the study of the law and upon being admitted to practice formed a partnership with James M. Ray and was
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engaged in the practice of his profession when he died suddenly. Con- temporary accounts refer to the young man thus suddenly removed from the scenes of earthly activity, as having possessed a brilliant intellect, farseeing and of a ripeness of judgment that his elders in practice might have envied. Forty years before the outbreak of the Civil War he was recorded as having given utterance to the belief that the institution of slavery was a crime against manhood and against nature that only could be atoned for by war and blood- shed and that the nation some day would pay dearly and in bitterness of spirit for permitting the maintenance of the institution.
William Winship Conner was born at Connersville in 1820 and was but six years of age when his father died. As noted above, he was looked after by his paternal uncle. William Conner, who later made his home at Nobles- ville, and by his uncle was sent to Hanover College. In the meantime the considerable estate that had been left by his father had been carefully con- served and upon the young man's return from college he turned his active attention to the direction of his extensive business affairs. He had much of his father's directness of manner and keen executive ability and his affairs prospered from the very beginning. At the age of twenty-four years lie was elected to represent his district in the state Senate and was a member of that body when the counties of Boone and Tipton were organized. He was a singularly light-hearted and genial young man and his early campaigns were marked by a spontaneity of expression and a gladsomeness of manner that made him friends all over the district, while his course in the Senate, in which he served, by succeeding re-elections, for ten years or more, made him friends among the most substantial persons in all parts of the then rapidly developing state. His youthful optimistic and sunny disposition gave him an appearance of youth that his early-matured mind strongly contradicted and led to some amusing confusion among his constituents. On one of his early campaigns he approached an elector, a stranger, and without introducing him- self asked what were the chances of securing the voter's support in his race for the Senate. "My mind is made up," answered the voter. "I am going to vote for W. W. Conner, and, even if I wasn't, I wouldn't vote for a fellow as young as you." Though of the opposing political faith, William Winship Conner was appointed adjutant-general of the state if necessary under the administration of Governor Hendricks, his warm personal friend. Upon the organization of the Republican party Mr. Conner threw himself heart and soul into the new political movement and from the beginning was one of the leaders of the same in this state. He was a delegate to the historic con- vention of that party at Chicago that nominated Abraham Lincoln for the
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Presidency in 1860. Under protest he accepted the instructions of the state convention that the Indiana delegation should cast its vote on the first ballot for Seward, but after that, he insisted, Indiana should stand "like a wall" for Lincoln-and it did.
William W. Conner married Amanda Coggswell, who was born in Can- ada, and who was but two years of age when her parents, Francis B. and Sallie (Thorn) Coggswell, came to Indiana and located at Noblesville, where F. B. Coggswell was for years engaged in the mercantile business. Both Mr. Conner and his wife spent their last days in Noblesville. . Of the children born to this parentage six lived to maturity, namely: John C., Lavina, Sarah, Addie, Mary E. and William Winship, second, the latter of whom is a veter- inary surgeon, now living at Farmland, this state; married and has two chil- dren, Jesse and Ruth. The other son, John C. Conner, possessed many of his father's energetic traits. He went to Texas at twenty-three years of age, as captain in the regular army, but resigned that position, to take an active part in the reconstruction of that state. He was twice elected to Congress from that state and the nomination for the third term was given him by acclamation, but, on account of ill health, he was compelled to decline. He died, December 10, 1875, at the age of thirty-one. Lavina Conner married Richard Conner, son of William Conner, and spent her married life in Indi- anapolis. where she died, leaving one son, Charles E. Conner. Addie Conner inarried Charles F. Woerner, who as a partner of Colonel Straight, was one of the most successful manufacturers in Indiana. He was also state labor commissioner under Governors Hanly and Marshall. She is living at Indi- anapolis. She has four children, William Conner, Frances, wife of John F. Engelke; Freda L. and Mrs. Carolyn Woerner Smith, widow of Charles T. Smith, of Greenfield, Indiana. Mary E. Conner married Wesley Bond, who is now deceased. She formerly lived in Kansas City, but is now living in Indianapolis. She has two daughters, Mrs. Gertrude Anderson and Ruth Bond.
Sarah Conner married James R. Christian, of Noblesville, former clerk of the court of Hamilton county and who was a well-to-do stock farmer. To that union was born one son, John Conner Christian, who early developed a remarkable business ability and at the age of twenty-one was directing a business that had attracted the attention of millionaires. At the age of seventeen he went to Texas, where his half-brothers were interested in the oil business and set himself to the task of becoming thoroughly familiar with the business relating to the oil industry then developing so rapidly in that state. By the time he was twenty-one years of age he had a growing busi-
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ness of his own and was known as a skillful and successful promoter of enterprises bearing upon the oil industry when death overtook him, stopping what promised to be a very successful career, in March, 1914. He married Flora McCarty, of Noblesville. He left no children.
Mrs. Sarah Conner Christian now lives at Indianapolis with her sister, Mrs. Woerner. She is not idle, nor could she be. She was educated at the old Baptist Institute that stood on the site of the present Shortridge higli school in Indianapolis and early developed an unusual mental capacity, which found its outflow along various useful lines, particularly in public work. As a young woman she was for some time engaged as society editress of the Noblesville Enterprise and early developed a clear, terse style of writing that has given her more than local reputation as a writer. From her youth inter- ested in matters relating to the early history of Indiana, with particular refer- ence to the part her grandfather, John Conner, took in making that history, she has collected much interesting material concerning the man who founded Connersville and the historian gratefully acknowledges here the obligation he owes to Mrs. Christian for interesting data supplied in that connection. Mrs. Christian is widely known in Indiana club circles and is constantly being engaged to write club papers for women whose talents have not been devel- oped along those lines; these papers being read before some of the leading clubs in Indianapolis and elsewhere throughout the state. Mrs. Christian's comprehensive research in pioneer history and her ability to narrate the story of pioneer days in an informative and entertaining manner are well known throughout the state and she frequently is called upon to address public gatherings, old settlers meetings, flag raisings, meetings of the Woman's Relief Corps, or to address the city council in behalf of worthy movements, her addresses not infrequently being published in full by the city newspapers. At a celebration of the Fourth of July on one occasion when there were four- teen thousand persons present, Mrs. Christian's address held the great multi- tude in rapt attention. Her ability in this direction seems to have been an inheritance from her father, the Hon. William Winship Conner, son of the Hon. John Conner, of whom it is related that his extemporaneous speeches in the Senate or on the hustings were delivered with such ease and fluency that he hardly could speak rapidly enough to keep pace with the ideas that teemed for utterance.
Reverting to the ancestral history of the Conner family, the following quotation is from Reverend Stimpson, whose informant was William Conner, of Hamilton county, Indiana, and who was the son of Richard Conner, here referred to:
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