History of Franklin County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions, Part 104

Author: Reifel, August J
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Indianapolis, Ind. : B.F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 1648

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never returned from the war; Dixon, deceased; and Mary Jane, who lives in Ohio. The Haining family were members of the Church of England.

James Haining, Jr., was reared to manhood and educated in England. When he was twenty years of age he left his native land and landed in New York city in July, 1861, but went to Freemansburg, Pennsylvania, where he worked in a foundry for a time. In 1865 he went to work for the Allegheny River railroad and in the year following came to Indiana and worked on the New York Central railroad which was then building a line from Connersville, Indiana, to Cincinnati, Ohio. A few years later he settled in Franklin county and after his marriage, rented a farm until about 1900. In that year he bought his present farm of one hundred and sixty-four acres on which he has placed many improvements. He raises excellent crops of grain and gives particular attention to the raising of Ohio Improved Chester White hogs.

Mr. Haining was married August 22, 1871, to Mrs. Jane Robison, nee Hiatt, the daughter of Elmer Hiatt, who used to operate the old mill at Meta- mora, in this county. Mr. and Mrs. Haining had one son, Ira, who married Sophia Miller, the daughter of Paul Miller, of New Trenton, Indiana. Ira has two children, Edna and William. Mrs. Haining died October 3, 1907.

Fraternally, Mr. Haining is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons. In politics, he gives his support to the Democratic party, but belongs to that large class of men who do not care to mingle actively in political affairs. Since coming to this county. Mr. Haining has so conducted his affairs as to win the esteem of all with whom he has been associated.

FRANK E. WILHELM.

Among the farmers of Franklin county, who do much to uphold the fair record of the county as one of Indiana's foremost center of agriculture, is Frank E. Wilhelm, who by maintaining his own farm in the best manner of which he is capable, contributes materially to the maintenance of the pros- perity and agricultural reputation of the community in which he lives and of whose citizenry he is a splendid representative.

Frank Wilhelm was born in Hamilton county, Ohio, on February 22. 1884, the son of Jolin and Regina ( Andress) Wilhelm, who were the parents of nine other children, as follow : Sophronia married John Metzler and lives in Franklin county ; Peter, who lives in Brookville township, married Johan- nah Stinger : Ferdinand, who married Frances Lang, lives in Springfield town- ship ; John is single and lives in Illinois ; Elizabeth married Joseph Stinger and

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resides in Franklin county ; Joseph, who lives in Hamilton county, Ohio, mar- ried Maggie Metzler ; Edward is still single; Mary, who married Peter Metz- ler, died in 1907: Anna married Joseph Wilhelm and lives in Shandon, Ohio. The mother of these children was born August 14, 1843, and died June 26, 1898.

John Wilhelm was born in Germany in 1834, and died August 29, 1902. John and his brother Jacob came to America about 1848 and landed at New York. They came directly to St. Leon county and secured property at St. Leon. John sold out and went to Harrison, Ohio, and from there he came to Franklin county in 1884, where he bought the one hundred and forty- two acres on which Frank Wilhelm now lives. John spent the remainder of his life on this farm and was a faithful member of the Catholic church, actively concerned in the good works of the neighborhood.

Educated in the common schools, Mr. Wilhelm early began the tillage of the soil, working on the farm on which he now lives, and on which he has lived since he was six months old. In 1907 he bought this place, which com- prises one hundred and forty-two acres, the greater part of which is in an excellent state of cultivation, Mr. Wilhelm being accounted one of the most energetic and progressive farmers in his neighborhood.

On June 12, 1912, Mr. Wilhelm married Anna Hiltz, who was born April 14, 1882, the daughter of Joseph and Margaret (Kuntz) Hiltz, to which union were born two children, Leo Edward, born April 3. 1913, and Robert John, born May 3, 1914. Joseph Hiltz, the father of Mrs. Wilhelm, was a farmer of Dover, Dearborn county, Indiana, who gave his patriotic services to the nation in the Civil War, serving in the Eighty-third Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry. Mr. Hiltz was a member of the Catholic church.

Mr. Wilhelm is an active member of the Catholic church at Cedar Grove; and lives according to the best dictates of his conscience and the teachings of his religious faith, he and Mrs. Wilhelm giving unselfishly of their time and means to the promotion of all the good works of the parish.

JACOB HARRIS MASTERS.

One of the oldest pioneers of Franklin county. Indiana, is Jacob Harris Masters, who has been a resident of this county for the past eighty years. Mr. Masters has been one of the most valuable citizens in the community where he has lived so many years. He is a man of unusual intelligence and whatever he has undertaken he has always carried forward to successful

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completion. He has taught school, preached the Gospel, farmed, operated a blacksmith shop and carriage factory and engaged in the buying and shipping of grain and live stock.

Jacob H. Masters, the son of John and Susan (Harris) Masters, was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, near Williamstown, March 31, 1830. His father was born in the same county July 9, 1805 and died January 21, 1891. His mother also was a native of the same county and was born Febru- ary 27, 1807 and died April 1, 1887. The family name was formerly spelled "Meister" which is German for Master and when the family came from Germany to this country the spelling of the name was changed to Masters.

John Masters, the father of Jacob H., was reared at Williamstown, Lan- caster county, Pennsylvania, and as a boy learned the blacksmith's trade in his father's shop. He became an expert edged-tool maker and in 1835 came to Franklin county, Indiana, and settled in Fairfield, where his father had located two years previously. He bought a farm two miles from Fairfield of one hundred and sixty acres and later added to it until he had one of the best farms in the county. He also conducted a blacksmith shop on his farm and since he was the only man in the community who could make edged tools he had all of the work he could do. Mr. Masters was a Whig, but later, when the Republican party was formed, he joined the latter and remained a stanch Republican the remainder of his life. He was an active worker in the Methodist Episcopal church and a trustee of that denomination. He was a man of great physical strength, tall and erect and weighed over two hundred pounds. John Masters and wife were the parents of eight children : Mary, deceased, who was the wife of Roderick R. Spencer; Jacob H., of Brookville: John, deceased, who was a farmer near Rossville, Indiana ; Jane, deceased, who was the wife of John Cheney, a farmer of Clinton county. Indiana; Thomas Watson, a farmer, now living in Rossville, Indiana; Will- iam, a farmer living near Everton. Fayette county, Indiana; Samuel B., a retired blacksmith living in Brookville; and Levi K., who is living on the old homestead in Franklin county.

The paternal grandparents of Jacob H. Masters were Christopher and Mary Masters, Christopher being born on the ocean while his parents were coming from Germany to this country. Christopher's father was the first member of the family to come to America and he located in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, about 1760. M Har of 5.12

Christopher Masters was a blacksmith and made gun barrels for the Revolutionary-soldiers. In 1833 he moved to Fairfield, Franklin county, Indiana. He bought a flour mill and continued to reside in

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Fairfield until his death. During the War of 1812 he took a government contract for making gun barrels and made considerable money while in the employ of the government. When he was sixty years of age he married a second time. Christopher and Mary Masters were the parents of a large family of children : Jacob, John, Aaron, William, Samuel, Mary, Elizabeth, Hannah and three who died in infancy. Of these children, John, the second born, was the father of Jacob Harris Masters, with whom this narrative deals.

Jacob H. Masters was only five years of age when his parents came to Franklin county. He received only a limited education, due to the fact that the schools were very poor during his boyhood days. He early learned the blacksmith's trade and from the time he was able to wield the hammer he worked with his father at the forge. He became an expert in making edged tools and followed the blacksmithing for several years. After his marriage he located on a farm in Fayette county, north of Connersville, but lived there only two years. He then returned to Franklin county and taught school during the winter season and farmed for his father during the summer time. Later he went to Waterloo, Indiana, and operated a blacksmith shop in that town for two years. In 1862 he returned to Franklin county, opening a blacksmith shop in Brookville, where he soon built up a large trade. In 1870 he built a store building at the corner of Eighth and Main streets and began the manufacture of carriages. About 1888 he engaged in the grain business and has bought and sold grain since that time. He also has bought and sold live stock and since June 1, 1904, when he formed a partnership with his son, Charles L., he has added a general feed and grain business to his other lines of activity. He also sells cement, lime and other building materials. For the first few years Mr. Masters was in the grain business he was in partner- ship with J. W. Hutchinson and handled lumber as well as grain.

Mr. Masters was married March 19, 1856, to Maria Louisa Smith, who was born in Brookville township, Franklin county, Indiana, December II, 1830, and who died December 15, 1909. She was a daughter of David and Margaret (Crooks) Smith, natives of Ohio and early settlers in Franklin county, Indiana. To Mr. and Mrs. Masters were born five children: Mary J., the wife of George Cain, a farmer, living in Connersville, Indiana; Dr. John L., an eye, ear and nose specialist of Indianapolis, Indiana ; Charles L., who is in partnership with his father in Brookville; Rose, the wife of A. N. Logan, the present assessor of Franklin county; and Frank S., a hardware merchant in Brookville.

Mr. Masters has been a lifelong Republican and always has taken an

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intelligent interest in civic affairs. He is a member of the Methodist Episco- pal church and has been an active worker in the church for many years. He formerly was a trustee of the church and performed acceptable service as a local preacher during his younger years. Mr, Masters is one of the sterling old pioneers of the county and it is very fitting that these chief events in his career be reviewed in the history of his county.

BEN A. DIRKHISING.

In all that considerable settlement of prosperous and progressive Ger- man farmers gathered about St. Peters, in Highland township, Franklin county, there are few names of Teutonic origin better known than that of Dirkhising. In the Fatherland this name was spelled Dierkhuessing, and the first generations of that name in America continued the Germanic form of orthography. The later generations, however, decided to Anglicise the name in conformity to the usage of their neighbors not of the German descent and the subject of this sketch and his children uniformly adopt the form of the name noted in the caption of this interesting biographical review of the development of the family of Dierkhuessing in this part of America, a family whose impress has been placed upon the St. Peters neighborhood in a very definite and beneficent fashion, the influence of the Dierkhuessings in this community ever having been exerted in behalf of all good works.

Bernard Dirkhising (Dierkhuessing) was born on the farm in High- land township on which he still resides and on which he has lived all his life, October 29, 1845, the son of Joseph and Katherine (Sonnenberg) Dierk- huessing, both natives of Germany, the father having been born in Damne and the mother in Chibbenburg. Both came to America in their youth and located in Cincinnati. Ohio, where they were married. After a two years' residence in the Queen City of the Ohio river, they decided to take up farm- ing and in seeking a location were attracted to Franklin county. They bought a farm of fifty-two acres in Highland township and set about the difficult task of clearing the same for cultivation. They built a little log cabin on the site of the present commodious Dirkhising residence, the stone part of which latter covers the exact spot on which the cabin of the pioneers stood. To this small farm the pioneer couple added until they had eighty acres, which tract has been enlarged by their son Bernard until there is now a highly cultivated farm of one hundred and sixty-five acres. Joseph Dierkhuessing and his

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wife, Katherine, spent their final days on the farm which the labor of their hands had wrested from the forest wilderness and their bodies lie in St. Peters cemetery.

Bernard Dirkhising, their son, was educated in St. Peters parochial school and was trained by his father in the ways of prudent farming. Upon the death of his parents he inherited the farm upon which he has always lived and has made it profitable. In 1871 Bernard was married to Agnes Ronne- baum, who was born in Butler township, Franklin county, daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Bargerding) Ronnebaum, both natives of Damne, Germany, who came to this country in their youth and were united in marriage in Cin- cinnati, Ohio.

Mrs. Dirkhising's paternal grandfather, Herman Ronnebaum, came to America in 1833 and located first in Cincinnati. After a few years' resi- dence there he moved to Franklin county, Indiana, with his wife Mary and bought a farm in Butler township, where they spent the remainder of their lives. This farm was within a mile of St. Marys and at the time of their settlement the country was wholly new thereabout, it being necessary to clear the tract of its forest growth in order to secure a tillable area. Their son. Henry, the father of Mrs. Dirkhising, was eighteen years of age at the time his parents emigrated to America and he grew to manhood's estate on the Butler township farm, where he lived the rest of his life, being one of the best known farmers of that prosperous community.

Mr. and Mrs. Dirkhising are earnest parishioners of St. Peters Cath- olic church, in the parish school of which their children received their educa- tion and to which all are strongly attached. Following are the names of the children : Joseph, Marie Katherine, Rosa Maria, Frank Bennett, Marie Hel- lena, Bernard Andres, John Wilhelm and Andres (deceased).

Bernard Andres Dirkhising, more familiarly known in the neighbor- hood in which he was born and in which he has grown to useful and influen- tial manhood as Ben A. Dirkhising, was born August 26, 1884, son of Bernard and Agnes ( Ronnebaum) Dirkhising. He was educated at St. Peters parochial school and remained on the home farm until he went to Butler town- ship in 1912, where he rented a farm and is prospering.

On August 22, 1911, Ben A. Dirkhising was united in marriage with Miss Ida Steinhauser, who was born in Ripley county, December 7, 1883, the daughter of Andrew and Elizabeth (Brose) Steinhauser, and to this union two children have been born, Raymond and Rosenna, who are the delight of the lives of their devoted parents. Mrs. Dirkhising's father, Andrew Stein- hauser, was a native of Germany who came to this country years ago and be-

FRANKLIN COUNTY, INDIANA. 106I

came a prosperous farmer in Ripley county, where he spent the rest of his life. His widow, who was born in Franklin county, is still living in Ripley county.

Mr. and Mrs. Dirkhising are devoted members of St. Mary's Catholic church and are active in promoting the interests of that prosperous parish, being accounted among the most useful and influential members of the younger set of their neighborhood.

WILLIAM W. HOFFMAN.

Mingled with the regret that ever must mark the destruction of the great hard-wood forests that once were the pride and glory of Indiana's fertile domain, there ever must be particularly poignant regret anent the passing of the old-time "sugar camp." To those whose youth was made glad in spring- time days by the coming of the maple sap, which soon was to be turned into such a delectable delicacy for the table, mention of an Indiana "sugar camp" ever must bring up a host of delightful recollections. To these it will come as a cheering note that not all the sugar camps in Indiana have been abandoned, their sweet-veined trees devoted to baser ends than those which our pioneer ancestors regarded as the only proper end of a sugar maple. One of the largest of these remaining sugar groves is on the well-appointed farm of the gentleman whose name heads this biographical sketch and it is no uncommon thing for Mr. Hoffman to "boil down" as much as three hundred gallons of the delicious syrup in the proper season.

The boiling of maple "'lasses," however, is but an incident in the busy life of William W. Hoffman, who is engaged profitably in general farming on his well-appointed farm in Posey township, Franklin county, a place known familiarly throughout the county as the old Daley Adams farm, and this par- ticular branch of the labor of Mr. Hoffman is mentioned in a work of this character simply in order that the sugar camps for which Indiana formerly was so noted properly may be held up to remembrance for the benefit of the coming generations of Hoosiers.

William W. Hoffman was born in 1868 on a farm in Salt Creek town- ship. Franklin county, the son of Uriah and Mary A. (Ricketts) Hoffman, both of whom were natives of Franklin county. Mr. Hoffman's paternal grandfather. Daniel Hoffman, was a native of Pennsylvania. He went to near Camden, Ohio, and there he married Sarah George and about the year

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1838 they came to Indiana, locating in Franklin county. He entered a tract of land under government grant in Salt Creek township, to which he later added until at the time of his death he had a farm of two hundred and forty acres. At the time of Daniel Hoffman's coming to Franklin county the sec- tion he entered was a virgin forest and the task of clearing the same was a herculean one, though one familiar to the pioneers of that period. Daniel Hoffman was a tailor by trade and his neighbors gladly welcomed his coming to that section, his skillful work with the needle being much in demand. In fact most of his time was occupied in making clothes for his neighbors, the work of the farm being turned over to his sons.

Mr. Hoffman's maternal grandfather, Jacob Ricketts, was born near Maysville, Kentucky, a son of John Ricketts, who had entered land in Salt Creek township in the early thirties. Jacob Ricketts remained in Kentucky until after he had learned the shoe-inaker's trade, after which he came to Franklin county, Indiana, and was united in marriage with Miss Anna Abbott, a native of this county, who was born in 1816, near Ebenezer, the daughter of Joseph Jackson and Mary (Osborn) Abbott, the former of whom was a soldier in the War of 1812, who came to this county at the conclusion of that war and wa's married here. Jacob Ricketts located first on Salt Creek and later in Metamora, where he died when Mr. Hoffman's mother was about two years of age. His wife survived him many years, her death occurring at the Hoffman home in Salt Creek township.

Uriah Hoffman, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Salt Creek township in the year 1840 and received such education as the schools of that place and period afforded. He was trained to practical farming by his father and remained a farmer all his life. Upon the division of the home place he retained for himself and wife a tract of seventy-five acres and it was here that in the fall of 1894 he died. Mr. Hoffman and his wife were mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal church and occupied a prominent position in the social and religious life of their community. Mr. Hoffman's practical ways recommended themselves to his neighbors and he had done good service to his township as supervisor of public roads. In 1902 his widow married James C. Ailes and lived on his farm till his death in 1908. She then lived on her own farm till 1913, since when she has lived in Laurel.

William W. Hoffman was educated in the district schools of Salt Creek township and began farming "on his own hook" as a renter on a farm in Laurel township. In 1901 he bought the old Daley Adams farm of one hun- dred eighty-seven and one-half acres in Posey township, where he still lives and in the management of which he has made a distinct success. He has put

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up silos and otherwise greatly improved the farm and makes a specialty of the breeding of Polled Angus cattle. In 1908 he increased his activities by the purchase of a ninety-acre farm in Fayette county, Indiana.

On March 22, 1891, Mr. Hoffman was united in marriage with Miss Harriet Emsweller, who was born near Buena Vista, Posey township, Frank- lin county, daughter of William and Elizabeth (Ailes) Emsweller, both natives of Posey township. Mrs. Hoffman's paternal grandfather, Joseph Emsweller was a carpenter. He was born in Pennsylvania where he married Harriet Stutwell, whom he brought as a bride to Indiana, locating in Posey township. There she died after rearing her family and he then returned to his former home near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where he died.

On "the distaff side" Mrs. Hoffman's ancestors also came from Penn- sylvania, her maternal grandfather, Amos Ailes having married, in the Key- stone state, Miss Olive Weston, whom he brought as a bride to Indiana, where they entered a farm in Posey township, Franklin county, on which they con- tinued to live all their lives. Mrs. Hoffman's father, William Emsweller, is still living and maintains active management of his farm near Everton, Fay- ette county. He is a practical farmer and has served his township in the capacity of supervisor of public roads.

Five children have been born to grace the happy and contented home of Mr. and Mrs. Hoffman, as follows, George D., Edith L., Curtis Raymond, William Clifford and Clarence Arnold, all of whom are living and all of whom, together with their parents, are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in the various activities of which they are ever ready to take an active part, doing all unselfishly everything that is necessary to aid in the general community interest.

CLINTON E. RUSSELL.

That our forefathers were not laboring for themselves alone, but that they wrought for posterity as well, is very evident to later generations as the difficulties and dangers which our pioneer ancestors endured that future generations might live in prosperity and peace are reviewed. Clinton E. Russell, one of the best known farmers of Whitewater township, Franklin county, fully realizes the trials that were undergone and endeavors in his own life and works to be worthy of his inheritance.

Born in Whitewater township, on March 19. 1873, Mr. Russell is the son of William F. and Cornelia Ann (Liming) Russell, the former of whom was

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born in Springfield township, Franklin county, March 10, 1837, and died June 28, 1909, while the latter was the daughter of Enoch and Catharine Lim- ing. Clinton E. Russell is one of a family of seven children, the others being Edward, born September II, 1871, died November 10, 1872; Eva Isabell, born August 12, 1874; Albert, born July 30, 1876, died April 22, 1878; Cora J., born April 8, 1878, died May 14, 1878; Pearl May, born August 28, 1879, and Dora Anna, born August 17, 1881. Of these children Eva Isabell, who is single, and Dora, who married John B. McCracken, are living with Clinton E. Russell, who is unmarried.

The paternal grandfather of Mr. Russell was John Russell, who was born in Brookville township, February 1, 1805. John Russell's father, who lived in Tennessee, died in 1804, and his wife, with her son David, came to Brookville township, where John was born. John Russell was a farmer and operated a small distillery. When gold was discovered in California, John Russell started for the new Eldorado and never returned, it being rumored that he died on the way in Kansas. His wife, who remained at home, died in 1885.

John Russell married Martha Seal, who was born February 24, 1813, to which union the following children were born: Mary Ann, born January 19, 1830; James Harrison, born October 29, 1832; David, born November 9, 1835; William, born March 10, 1837; Ruth Elizabeth, born September 4, 1839: John Seal, born February II, 1842: Anna Jane, born April 12, 1844; George W., born September 18, 1846; Martha Isabelle, born March 8, 1849; Joseph, born May 15, 1851.

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History of Franklin County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions, Part 104

Author: Reifel, August J Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Indianapolis, Ind. : B.F. Bowen Number of Pages: 1648

Author: Reifel, August J
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Indianapolis, Ind. : B.F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 1648