USA > Indiana > Fayette County > History of Fayette County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions > Part 99
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FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
"Sometime before the Revolutionary War, three Roman Catholic, Irish gentlemen-brothers-sons of John Conner, of Dublin, Ireland, came to this country. Their names were Thomas, James and Richard Conner. When the "O" which was formerly a prefix to their name, was left off, is not exactly known, but supposedly at that time. They had between them con- siderable wealth. One of them settled in Virginia; another, in New Eng- land, where some of his descendants are now living, while the other brother, Richard, with whom we have to do, preferred Pennsylvania. With a generosity and a loose way of keeping accounts, both characteristic of a young man and an impulsive Irishman, his share of the many thousand pounds was soon spent and he doubtless was compelled to take up fur trad- ing with the Indians. He established himself at Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh, where he subsequently sojourned for a short time, in 1770 con- sisted of twenty cabins, inhabited by Indian fur traders. The garrison of Fort Pitt consisted of two companies of Irish regulars. Now we can easily see that Richard Conner, an Irishman, married to a French woman, who thoroughly understood the Indians, would be amongst the first to go over the mountains to the trading post at Pittsburgh, where many of his own countrymen were. From this place he pushed on and established a trading post at what became Conner's Town, Ohio, in what is now Coshocton county. At the time of that settlement, 1770, previous to the Revolution, there was no Northwest Territory. There were only indefinable possessions, ceded by the French, and Pennsylvania could claim this region until a later survey robbed her of it."
JOHN B. McFARLAN.
When the future historian of Connersville and of Fayette county comes to summarize the various individual factors that have contributed so largely to the industrial and commercial development of the city and county, it undoubtedly will be found that the name of the late John B. McFarlan will be found very near the head of that list. From the time of taking up his residence in Connersville in 1856 to the time of his death in 1909, John B. McFarlan was a tireless promoter of the interests of his home town and it is undoubted that his energy and public spirit did very much toward gaining for Connersville the advantageous industrial eminence it now occupies among the sisterhood of cities in the proud old Hoosier commonwealth. Elsewhere in this volume there is set out at considerable length something of the his-
J. B. McFARLAN, SR.
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FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
tory of the McFarlan family in this county, together with interesting details of a genealogical character relating to that family, and these it will not be necessary here to repeat; but the biographer would be remiss in the dis- charge of his obligation of duty and respect to the memory of those stal- wart men of a past or now passing generation who did so much for the early development of this community if he did not here present a brief memorial sketch of the pioneer manufacturer whose name forms the caption of this particular narrative.
John B. McFarlan was a native of the great city of London, but had been a resident of this country since the days of his childhood and was there- fore as much American and as proud of the institutions of this country as "one native and to the manner born." He was about eight years of age when his parents, James and Ann (Beecraft) McFarlan, left England with their family and came to this country, settling in Hamilton county, Ohio, in the immediate vicinity of the city of Cincinnati. James McFarlan, who was a native of Scotland, was a silk manufacturer in London, but upon coming to this country bought a farm in the vicinity of Cincinnati, land now included in the corporate limits of that city, and there established his home and spent his last days, his death occurring there when he was fifty- eight years of age. His widow, who survived him many years, lived to be nearly ninety years of age. Of their considerable family of children, the following lived to maturity : James, Thomas, Robert, Edward, Ann, Martha, Elizabeth, Mary and the subject of this memorial sketch.
Reared on the home farm in the neighborhood of Cincinnati, John B. McFarlan completed his schooling there and when about seventeen years of age entered the factory of the old firm of George C. Miller & Sons at Cin- cinnati and was there thoroughly grounded in the trade of carriage black- smithing. Upon completing his apprenticeship he opened a small carriage shop of his own in the village of Cheviot, afterward and now known as Westwood, a suburb of Cincinnati, and while there married. Not long afterward, about 1850, he moved up by canal to Cambridge City, this state, and there established a more extensive shop for the manufacture of car- riages and did so well there that he presently began looking about for a more advantageous location, and in 1856 moved down to Connersville and there bought the carriage factory that had been established in that city by Ware & Veatch. That business Mr. McFarlan gradually expanded until his fac- tory became one of the most extensive in the country and the product of the same became known far and wide for their excellence of construction.
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FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
Not only did Mr. McFarlan become one of the leaders in the industrial life of the city he had chosen as his permanent home, but he was equally active in the general business affairs of the city and from the very beginning of his residence there his boundless energies were exerted in behalf of the city's development. Upon the discovery of natural gas hereabout he immediately discerned the incalculable advantage this form of fuel would prove to the city and became one of the chief organizers of the Connersville Natural Gas Company, and was elected president of the same. He also was one of the organizers and a member of the board of directors of the Indiana Furniture Company (now the Krell Piano Company), was president of the McFarlan Building Company and upon the organization of the Connersville Blower Company was elected president of the same and served in that capacity until his death. For several years also he was president of the Fayette Banking Company, organized in 1892, and since then merged with the First National Bank of Connersville, and in other ways gave of his time and his energies to the development of his home town; so that, when death called him on August 15, 1909, he then being nearly eighty-seven years of age, this com- munity felt that it had suffered the loss of one of its greatest benefactors.
MURL DONALD CUMMINS.
Murl Donald Cummins, a well-known and substantial farmer of Posey township and owner of a fine farm of one hundred and six acres on the south- ern edge of that township, just over the line from the place on which he was born and where his father is still living in the northern part of Fairview township, was born on the farm last indicated and has lived in the northern part of this county all his life save for a short period spent in farming over in Rush county. He was born on September 5, 1885, son of Noah and Ella (Swift) Cummins, well-known residents of Fairview township and a biographical sketch of the former of whom, presented elsewhere in this volume, carries the interesting history of the Cummins family in this county.
Reared on the paternal farm in Fairview township, Murl D. Cummins received his schooling in the schools of that neighborhood and remained at home until after his marriage, when, in 1903, he began farming on his own account, spending one season on the farm which he now owns, across the line from his old home. He then lived for three years on the farm just west of his father's place and then went to the "Jot" Caldwell farm two and
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FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
one-half miles west of Falmouth, over in Rush county, and a year later moved to a farm five and one-half miles northwest of Falmouth, where he lived for a couple of years, at the end of which time, in the spring of 1911, he bought his present well-improved farm of one hundred and six acres and has since made his home there, he and his family being very comfortably and very pleasantly situated.
On December 24, 1902, Murl D. Cummins was united in marriage to Rhoda Suter, who was born in Owen county, Kentucky, a daughter of John and Mary (Morrow) Suter, both of whom were born and reared in that same county and who still reside there, Mr. Suter being a well-to-do farmer. Mr. Cummins was making a visit to his kinsfolk in Kentucky when he met the girl who later became his wife. To this union four children have been born, Juanita, Murl Garnet, Donald and Webb. Mrs. Cummins is a mem- ber of the Baptist church and Mr. Cummins is a member of the Methodist church. They take a proper part in the general social activities of the com- munity in which they live and are helpful factors in the advancement of all worthy causes thereabout.
JOHN L. BYRNE.
John L. Byrne, farmer and landowner of Waterloo township, this county, and for years manager of the Joseph M. Sutcliffe estate in that township, is a native of the neighboring state of Ohio, but has been a resident of Indiana since the days of his childhood and has lived in the house in which he is now living, the old Sutcliffe home, in Waterloo township, for the past fifty-four years. He was born in Butler county, Ohio, not far from the city of Hamilton, February 2, 1856, a son of Patrick and Mary (McCardle) Byrne, who later came to Indiana and located at Brownsville, in Union county.
Patrick Byrne was born in Ireland and there grew to manhood, coming then to the United States and proceeding on out into Ohio, where he married Mary McCardle, American born, who had grown up in the vicinity of Hamilton. When the subject of this sketch was about four years of age, Patrick Byrne and his family moved to Indiana and located at Brownsville, in Union county, where Patrick Byrne died a year later, leaving his widow with four small children, one of whom still was a babe in arms. These children, with the exception of the baby, were taken care of in the households of kind-hearted neighbors and John L. Byrne was taken into the household
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FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
of Joseph M. Sutcliffe, a substantial farmer and landowner of Waterloo township, this county.
John L. Byrne was not yet six years of age when his father died and when he was taken into the Sutcliffe home and there he grew to manhood, a valued aid in the labors of improving and developing the place. After the death of Mr. Sutcliffe in 1882 he continued to make his home there, remain- ing with Mrs. Sutcliffe and looking after the operation of the farm, and after his marriage in 1885 established his home there, where he ever since has resided, a continuous resident of that place and living in the same house for a period of fifty-four years. In addition to looking after the Sutcliffe farm in the interest of the heirs to the same, Mr. Byrne also owns a farm of his own in that neighborhood and is looked upon as one of the substantial citi- zens of that community.
As noted above, it was in 1885 that John L. Byrne was united in mar- riage to Alice N. Holland, who was born in Waterloo township, a daughter of William A. and Mary A. Holland and a sister of James F. Holland, a biographical sketch of whom is set out elsewhere in this volume, and to this union three children were born, two of whom died in infancy. The surviv- ing child, a daughter, Edith, married Basil Bell, a farmer living in that same neighborhood, and has one child, a son, John Howard. Mrs. Alice Byrne died in January, 1915. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, as is Mr. Byrne, and was ever devoted to good works. Mr. Byrne is a good farmer, progressive in his methods, and has done well in his operations.
LEVI N. GREEN.
Levi N. Green, one of the best-known and most substantial farmers of Waterloo township, this county, is a native Hoosier, born in the neigh- boring county of Wayne, but has been a resident of Fayette county since the days of his childhood and has thus been a witness to and a participant in the development of this county during the past half century and more. He was born on May 1, 1854, son of William and Martha (Cross) Green, natives of Maryland, who became residents of Indiana in the days of their childhood and whose last days were spent in this county.
William Green was born near the city of Baltimore and was about ten years of age, when, in the early thirties, his parents came out to Indiana and established their home on a farm near Milton, in Wayne county. There
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FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
William Green grew to manhood, that period of his life between the ages of sixteen and twenty-three being spent as a teamster and drover to and from Cincinnati, in which he developed quite a business. Old settlers still living are authority for the statement that William Green walked from Cincinnati to his home in Wayne county, returning from a drover's trip, in one day, which still stands as the record for pedestrianism in the pioneer annals of this part of the state. William Green married Martha Cross, who also was born in Delaware, a daughter of Levi Cross and wife, the latter of whom was a Davis, who moved from Delaware to Ohio and thence to Indiana, and some years later, about 1858, came over into Fayette county and established his home in Waterloo township, later becoming an extensive landowner in that part of the county. His death occurred in 1893. He and his wife were the parents of six children, three sons and three daughters, two of whom are deceased, namely: Mrs. Samantha Crawford, who was born in 1850 and who died when she was about twenty-five years of age, and Susanna, who died in 1902. The surviving children, besides the subject of this sketch, are George, William and Anna, who live in Connersville.
Levi N. Green was but four or five years of age when his parents moved from Wayne county to Fayette county and he grew to manhood in Waterloo township, where he ever since has lived, a life-long farmer. He has interests in eight hundred acres of land and is regarded as one of the most substantial farmers in that part of the county. He has a well-improved place, with a good ·house and a fine, large barn and he and his wife have ever taken an earnest part in the general social activities of the neighbor- hood, helpful in advancing all worthy causes. Mrs. Green is a woman of education and refinement and the Green home has ever been noted for its hospitality and good cheer.
On December 30, 1886, Levi N. Green was united in marriage to Christina Spencer, who was born at Oxford, Ohio, daughter of Franklin and Catherine (McArthur) Spencer, both born in that same city, the former of whom, an architect and builder, moved from Ohio to Indiana and later to Louisiana, where he died in March, 1907, and where his widow is still living. She is the daughter of the Rev. John D. McArthur, a Presbyterian clergyman, a former professor of Greek and Hebrew in Miami University, at Oxford and who for some time served as president of that institution. Mr. and Mrs. Green have seven children living, namely: Roy Levi, who was graduated from Purdue University and who is now in the employ of the state, as a traveling inspector of stock feed and fertilizers; Albert Spencer, who also was graduated from Purdue and is now teaching school at Hender-
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FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
son, Kentucky, married Neva Coleman, of Sale Creek, in Hamilton county, Tennessee, and has one child, a daughter, Geneva; Otta, who was graduated from the University of Wisconsin and is now teaching school at Quincy, Illinois ; Marcia Hazel, who is at home; Howard Franklin, Isabel Samantha and Lawrence Lincoln, also at home. Mrs. Green and her daughters, Otta and Marcia, are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and the family has ever been devoted to local good works.
JOSEPH M. SUTCLIFFE.
It was in 1828 that the Sutcliffe family came into the then "wilds" of Fayette county and founded a home in Waterloo township, a home which is still in the possession of the family. The founder of this branch of the Sutcliffe family in Indiana was a Methodist clergyman, the Rev. John Sut- cliffe, who, strangely enough, left his native England as a "stowaway" upon his departure for America. That was in 1812. Upon his arrival in this country he located in Kentucky, but in 1828 left that state with his family and came to Indiana, locating in Fayette county, where he spent the remainder of his life, one of the most substantial and influential pioneer residents of the northeastern part of the county.
The Rev. John Sutcliffe was born in England, where he received an excellent education and where he became a minister of the Methodist church. He was trained as a reedmaker, a member of the guild which had in charge the making of the reeds for the old looms of that period, and members of which guild, in order to protect the weaving industry, were forbidden by the British government from leaving that country. John Sutcliffe, however, determined to get out of the country and to go to the United States, where he was sure better opportunities awaited craftsmen. He had a friend who was the captain of a vessel sailing to America and to this captain he con- fided his design. The captain told him if he could stow himself away on board so securely as to evade the government inspection of the vessel before sailing, after the point of final inspection had been passed all would be well, that he then should have the unmolested privileges of the vessel. In order to get on board the vessel John Sutcliffe insinuated himself into the gang of stevedores who were loading the vessel and presently was thus able to stow himself away securely in the hold, where he remained until after final inspection of the vessel had been made, when he revealed himself to the cap-
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FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
tain and the balance of the voyage was made in comfort. He had taken the precaution to pack his reed-making tools, upon the exportation of which the government also had an interdiction, in a firkin of butter, which he had openly shipped aboard the vessel on which he stowed himself away, and thus safely smuggled his valued tools out of the country for use in the new home he thought to set up in the New World. Upon his arrival in this country he proceeded to Kentucky and located in Fayette county, in the neighborhood of Lexington. There he presently was joined by his wife, Mary, to whom, upon his arrival here, he had at once imparted the news of his safe arrival, and the new home was set up in Kentucky, where he began working at his trade and where he also soon gained more than a local reputation as a min- ister of the Methodist church. In 1828 the Rev. John Sutcliffe and family left Kentucky and came to Indiana, settling in Waterloo township, this county, where he and his wife spent their last days, his death occurring in 1843, he then being about sixty years of age. His wife had preceded him to the grave some years previously. They were the parents of ten children, of whom Joseph M. Sutcliffe was the youngest son and the ninth in order of birth.
Joseph M. Sutcliffe was born in Fayette county, Kentucky, in 1821, and was about seven years of age when he came to this county with his parents, the family settling in Waterloo township, where he spent the rest of his life, becoming one of the most influential residents of that part of the county. He received an excellent education for that period and ever took an active part in public affairs, serving for years as a member of the board of county com- missioners. After his marriage in 1842 he established his home in Water- loo township and became a well-to-do farmer. For more than forty years he was a faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal church and he and his wife were ever active in local good works. On his home farm in Water- loo township, Joseph M. Sutcliffe died in 1882. His widow survived him for about nine years, her death occurring in 1891. She was born, Cynthia Ann Robinson, in Fayette county, daughter of Matthew and Eleanor Robin- son, the former of whom was born in Morgantown, Virginia, in 1781, and who, in 1841, came with his family to Indiana and settled in Waterloo town- ship, this county, where he spent the rest of his life. He was one of the founders of Robinson Chapel Methodist Episcopal church. His death occurred not long after he came to this county and his widow survived him until 1864, she being eighty-four years of age at the time of her death. Mrs. Sutcliffe was a woman of refinement and was a zealous worker in the Methodist Episcopal church.
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FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
To Joseph M. and Cynthia Ann (Robinson) Sutcliffe four children were born, two of whom died in infancy, the survivors being Dr. John A. Sutcliffe, a surgeon, of Indianapolis, and Emma, who is still living on the old home place in Waterloo township, widow of Isaac J. Doddridge. It was in June, 1877, that Emma Sutcliffe was united in marriage to Isaac J. Doddridge, who was born in the neighboring county of Wayne, where he grew to manhood. After his marriage he located in Waterloo township, on the place where Mrs. Doddridge lives now. He was a life-long farmer and became the owner of a farm of eighty acres. His death occurred in 1909 and since then Mrs. Doddridge has continued to make her home on the farm where she now lives and where she has lived since she was four years of age. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, as was her hus- band.
JAMES LUDLOW.
James Ludlow, one of Fayette county's best-known farmers, proprietor of a fine farm in the southwestern part of Harrison township and an hon- ored veteran of the Civil War, was born in this county and has lived here all his life. He was born in Harrison township on August 8, 1840, a son of Samuel B. and Hannah (Campbell) Ludlow, natives of Cayuga county, New York, who were married in that county and in 1819 came out here to the then "wilds" of Indiana and settled in Rush county. There Samuel B. Ludlow entered a tract of land from the government, but a short time later moved over into Fayette county and bought a farm in the southeast quarter of section 9 of Harrison township, where he made his home until 1856, when he bought another farm in the northwest quarter of section 8 of that same township and on that latter place spent his last days, his death occur- ring in 1891, he then being nearly eighty-two years of age., His widow survived him for some years, she being nearly ninety years of age at the time of her death. They were the parents of twelve children, six sons and six daughters, all of whom grew to maturity, but all of whom are now deceased save the subject of this biographical sketch and his sister, Anna, wife of Welborn Caldwell.
James Ludlow grew to manhood in Harrison township and remained with his parents, a valued aid in the labors of the home farm until August, 1861, when he enlisted as a private in Company H, Thirty-sixth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and went to the front with that command, serv-
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FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
ing his full term of three years. The Thirty-sixth Indiana was attached to the Army of the Cumberland and Mr. Ludlow saw some of the most vigorous action of the war, including the battle of Stone's River, the battle of Chicka- mauga, the battle of Chattanooga and other engagements in which his regi- ment participated, and was in the one hundred-days campaign from Chatta- nooga to Atlanta, participating in the siege of the latter city. While there his term of enlistment expired and he received his honorable discharge. Dur- ing his three years of arduous service Mr. Ludlow received but one wound and that a minor wound at the battle of Chickamauga. Of the company of one hundred men who went out with Company H when the Thirty-sixth Indiana started for the front, Mr. Ludlow and Stephen White, of Everton, are the only members now living in Fayette county. Mr. Ludlow is an active member of the Grand Army of the Republic and has ever taken an earnest interest in the affairs of his local post and in those of the Department of Indiana in general.
Upon the completion of his military service James Ludlow returned to the home farm in this county and there remained, continuing to help his father in the work of the farm, until his marriage in 1875, when he started farming for himself on land he rented from his father, in section 9 of Harri- son township, where he remained until 1886, when he moved to his present place in section 18, in the southwestern part of Harrison township, where he ever since has lived. On that place, in 1887, he erected a new house, which has since been his place of residence and where he and his wife are very comfortably situated.
Mr. Ludlow has been twice married. In January, 1875, he was united in marriage to Lucy Wymore, who was born in Montgomery county, Ken- tucky, a daughter of David and Cynthia (Willoughby ) Wymore, who moved from Kentucky to Indiana in the winter of 1864-65 and settled in Harrison township, this county, but later moved to Iowa. Mrs. Lucy Ludlow died in 1901, without issue, and in March, 1906, Mr. Ludlow married Mrs. Angelina (Noel) John, who was born near Georgetown, Kentucky, a daughter of James and Sarah ( Bailey ) Noel, both natives of Kentucky. Angelina Noel came to Indiana when sixteen years of age, with the family of George Stewart, settling in Connersville, and lived with the Stewarts there for nine years, or until her marriage to Wesley John, who was born in this county and was reared on a farm a mile west of Connersville, a son of Greenup and Janet (Hines) John, members of old families here, Greenup John's father, Jonathan John, having come here during the early days of the settlement of this part of the state and entering a tract of land from the government
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