History of Franklin County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions, Part 114

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

USA > Indiana > Franklin County > History of Franklin County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions > Part 114

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$32,365.96

To each heir

4,623.70

(Signed) GEORGE S. GOLDEN, Executor. (73)

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George S. Golden was born February 4, 1845, and when old enough to work only went to school three months in the winter. One Christmas the boys wanted the teacher, Rufus Rupe, to treat, but he said "No." The boys said, "'We will see," so they tied him to a bench. There was a creek near by and when we were carrying him down to the creek, he said, "I will treat if you don't duck me." So he treated. Father had a sugar-camp and I liked to help him in the camp, especially when he "sugared off" a kit of sugar. Father raised flax and after curing it would break it and spin it and make his own ropes. Mother, after the wool was carded, would spin it into yarn and knit our yarn socks. In the fifties wild pigeons were very plentiful. One spring there were lots of them and father said he would like to try a shot. We gave him a double-barreled shot gun and he went to the nearby woods and fired one barrel. He then went to pick up what he had killed and found that he had gotten six, but we laughed at him because he did not fire the other barrel. In the spring of 1862 I hired out until harvest at thirteen dollars a month. During harvest I cradled and bound wheat at one dollar a day and went with a threshing machine at one dollar a day. While we were thresh- ing, word came that John Morgan, the rebel raider, was coming to Indiana and was going to cross the Ohio river at North Bend. The word went out to arm and meet John. We took our shot guns and squirrel rifles and went in rigs and two-horse wagons to North Bend, where we formed a line of battle along the railroad grade by the river. We stayed there all night and the next day until noon, but John did not come. We returned home and instead of hard tack were well supplied with chicken, bread, pie and cake.

In December, 1862, I helped my brother, Isaac, move to Johnson county, Indiana. We made two trips, first with cattle and hogs and second with an ox-team and wagons. It took us three and one-half days to make the trip. One day about noon in Shelby county, a farmer some distance from the road came down to the road, wanting to know where we were moving. I told him to Johnson county. He then asked where I was moving from and I told him from Franklin county. He said I had a good long move with an ox-team and said for me to unhitch my oxen and come up and have dinner with him and feed my oxen. I gladly accepted the invitation and had beans, corn bread and pork. I wanted to pay something for the accommodation, but he would take nothing .. We do not find many people like that at the present time. This was on the twenty-second of December, 1862, and the roads were dry and dusty and the wheat was green.

In the spring of 1863 I hired to a farmer in Marion county, near Acton, at sixteen dollars a month till harvest, cradling and binding wheat at one dollar and a half per day. That summer I joined the state militia or home

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guards. We met once a month to drill and had the old army gun with a bayonet. The last of July word came that John Morgan, the rebel, with his command was coming to Indiana again. We were ordered to report at Indianapolis. We got on the train Sunday afternoon and went to Sunman Station on the Big Four railroad, went one mile south of Sunman Station and formed a line of battle and stayed all night until seven in the morning. We did not have any food with us so we were ordered back to Sunman, where we boarded the train and went to Lawrenceburg and got breakfast. While we were at Lawrence, Morgan came and crossed the railroad at Sun- man, piling some old ties on the railroad track and setting fire to them. We came to Sunman but they had all left, going to Harrison, Ohio, so we went back to Lawrenceburg. That night we went out north to Elizabethtown and formed a line of battle, as it was reported that Morgan had been routed and was coming back to Lawrenceburg. During the night the Yankees got to shooting among themselves and four or five were killed and several wounded before the mistake was discovered. Morgan went on into Ohio and we came back to Indianapolis. I was a Franklin county boy and served twenty-two months in the War of the Rebellion. On September 18, 1863, I enlisted at Indianapolis as a recruit for three years or during the war in Company F, Forty-fifth Regiment Indiana Cavalry. This regiment furnished its own horses and I took a young horse from Indiana. The government paid us each thirteen dollars a month and twelve dollars a month additional for our horses, making a total of twenty-five dollars a month.

I got a furlough until September 28 and was married September 23 to Mary J. Hamlin, who came over to the United States with her parents and family from England when she was six years old. They were six weeks coming over in a sail vessel.

In the year 1863 on September 29, we bade good-bye to wives, friends and Indiana and started for Washington, D. C., to join the army of the Potomac. We got to our regiment on October 17 and on the 19th had a small fight at Throughfare Gap, Virginia, and on November 8 we had a fight, driving the rebels back near Culpepper, Virginia. I was detailed on duty from December 4 till January 22, 1864, on loading commissary for the army and helping to guard it, the army being in winter quarters near Cul- pepper. On February 28, 1864, we started on what was called General Kil- patrick's raid. At one o'clock at night we crossed the Rapidan river at Eli's ford. Four thousand cavalry got to the railroad at Beaver Station and cut the telegraph wires and burned bridges. We were now in the rear of Gen- eral Lee's army, going to Richmond, Virginia. We got on the inside turn of the breastworks and the second line fired on us. Night came and we fell

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back. That night about eleven o'clock, the rebel cavalry attacked us and we lined up and marched toward Yorktown. On the third we got back to the Union picket line at York river, having burned railroad bridges and torn up some of the railroad tracks. This was the main road from Richmond to Lee's army. We arrived at Culpepper on March 18, having been gone twenty-one days. On March 24 General Grant arrived at Culpepper to take command of the army of the Potomac. We soon got orders to practice target-shooting twice a week. We left our camp at Culpepper April 19, advancing and driving the Johnnies before us. On May 5 at Mine Run we had a fight. I received a flesh wound in my right arm from a musket ball and was laid off from duty four weeks.

On June I we had a fight at Hanover Court House and burned railroad bridges and on June 13 we had a fight in which five of my company were wounded. James Gorman, my messmate, was wounded and only lived two hours. On the sixteenth we arrived at Charles City Landing and the next day we. crossed over James river on a pontoon bridge. This was a portion of the cavalry command under command of General Wilson. We started for the Danville railroad, captured one train of supplies for General Lee and destroyed it, cut the telegraph wires, tore up the railroad track and burned bridges. We were ten days and nights in the rear of General Lee's army before we got back to the Union lines. We had some fighting to do, as the rebel cavalry was after us and kept us moving day and night. On July 28 the boys that first went for three years were getting ready to go home, as their time was out. The recruits were reorganized in two com- panies and detailed as General Custer's body guard. We then had to sell our horses to the government, though we still kept them. On the twenty- ninth we bade the boys goodby. We marched a few miles and some went on picket duty and it was rumored that we would go to Maryland or Shen- andoah Valley.

On August 8 we took the transport at City Point for Livingston, by way of Chesapeake Bay, and up the Potomac river and arrived on the even- ing of the ninth or twelfth, our division having marching orders. I was taken ill and had to be sent to the hospital. The division marched for Shen- andoah Valley while I was at the hospital. On September 30, being some better, though not yet well enough for duty, I was given a furlough for thirty days. I started for Indianapolis and arrived at home on the third day. There I was taken down with typhoid fever and was very ill for five weeks. I got better and started back to my regiment in the Shenandoah Valley, arriving at Harper's Ferry on December 5, and going into camp on

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December 13 on Maryland Heights. The snow was five inches deep and we had to scrape it away and make our beds on the ground, with our feet to the fire. I slept well and next morning started for Winchester, finding our regiment three miles southwest of that place. The next day the command marched up the valley and had a little fight, in which we took some prisoners. We came back near Winchester and went into winter quarters. General Sheridan said: "Boys, only take the top rails of the' fences." That is the way we did, the time being spent in camp guard, picket duty, inspection, getting wood and caring for our horses. On January 6 two deserters who belonged to the Third New Jersey Cavalry, were shot, the cavalry command being formed up to witness the execution.

On February I General Sheridan reviewed the cavalry and on February 27 we had orders to saddle up, ready to march up the valley. On March 2 there was a fight at Waynesboro with the rebel General Early and we drove them from their breastworks, capturing twelve hundred prisoners, six pieces of artillery, some battle flags and Early's wagon train. The next day we started on a march and got to the James river, one hundred and eight miles from Richmond, Virginia. We came to the Richmond & Gordonsville Railroad at Frederick Hall and tore up part of it. On March 15 we were in the battle of Ashland Station. The rebel infantry met us there and fought us awhile and then fell back toward Fredericksburg. On the nineteenth we arrived at White House Landing, on the twenty-sixth came to the James river and crossed over on a pontoon bridge and on the thirty-first fought in the battle of Dinwiddy Court House. On April I we fought in the battle of Five Forks, in which General Custer charged with the Third Brigade, drove the enemy back and captured some artillery. On the third we captured one battle flag, three pieces of artillery and four hundred prisoners. On the sixth General Custer charged with the Third Division and captured the rebel wagon train, over two hundred prisoners, fourteen pieces of artillery, twenty- nine battle flags and a large number of wagons and mules. On the eighth of April General Custer charged a rebel camp at Appomattox Station, cap- tured three trains of cars, four locomotives, thirty pieces of artillery, a num- ber of wagons and some prisoners. On the morning of April 9 fighting commenced early, but it soon stopped, for General Lee sent a white flag, which meant he surrendered the army of Virginia to General Grant at Ap- pomattox Court House. It was a grand sight to see the rebel army stack their guns and there was great rejoicing among the Boys in Blue. A picket line was established to keep the rebels and Yankees from getting together. I here append General Custer's address to his division :

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Appomattox Court House, Virginia, April 9, 1865.

With profound gratitude toward the God of battles, by whose blessings our enemies have been humbled and our arms rendered triumphant, your commanding general avails himself of this, his first, opportunity to express to you his admiration of the heroic manner in which you have passed through the series of battles which today resulted in the surrender of the enemy's entire army. The record established by your indomitable courage is unpar- alleled in the annals of war and your prowess has won for you even the respect and admiration of your enemies. During the past six months, al- though in most instances confronted by superior numbers, you have cap- tured from the enemy in open battle one hundred and eleven pieces of field artillery, sixty-five battle flags and upwards of ten thousand prisoners of war, including seven general officers within the past ten days and included in the above you have captured forty-six pieces of field artillery and thirty- seven battle flags. You have never lost a gun, never lost a color and have never been defeated, and, notwithstanding the numerous engagements in which you have borne a prominent part, including those memorable battles of the Shenandoah, you have captured every piece of artillery which the enemy has dared to open upon you. The near approach of peace renders it improbable that you will again be called upon to undergo the fatigues of the toilsome march or the exposure of the battlefield, but should the assistance of keen blades wielded by your sturdy arms be required to hasten the coming of that glorious peace for which we have been so long contending, the general commanding is confident that in the future, as in the past, every demand will meet with a hearty and willing response.

Let us hope that our work is done and that, blessed with the comforts of peace, we may be permitted to enjoy the pleasures of home and friends. For our comrades who have fallen, let us ever cherish a grateful remem- brance; to the wounded and to those who languish in southern prisons, let our heartfelt sympathy be tendered and now, speaking for myself alone, when the war is ended and the task of the historian begins, when those deeds of daring which have rendered the name and fame of the Third Cavalry Division imperishable are inscribed upon the bright pages of our country's history, I only ask that my name may be written as that of the commander of the Third Cavalry Division.

(Signed)

GEORGE A. CUSTER, Brevet Major-General Commanding.

On April 17th the army commenced to march to Washington, by the way of Petersburg and Richmond. On May 10 we marched through Richmond,

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the capital of the Southern Confederacy, and saw Libby prison and Castle Thunder. We arrived at Washington on May 16 and on the twenty-third had a review of the Army of the Potomac. We marched down Capitol ave- nue sixteen abreast and it was a grand sight. General Sherman's army was reviewed the next day. On June 10 we left Washington on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad for Louisville, Kentucky, via Parkersburg, West Virginia, and from there to Louisville by boats, arriving there on the fifteenth. We went into camp and remained there waiting to be discharged. On July 10 we went to Indianapolis. On August 7 we signed our pay rolls and I re- ceived my discharge on August 9. I am now a citizen of Indiana, a Franklin county boy, twenty-three months in the army in the war of 1861 to 1865, in Third Cavalry Division, commanded by General George A. Custer.

The last of August, 1865, I and my wife went to housekeeping near Acton, Marion county, Indiana. . We bought flour at twelve dollars a barrel ; pork at ten cents a pound, live weight ; molasses at seventy-five cents a gal- lon ; butter at twenty-five cents a pound and coffee at thirty-five cents a pound. I sowed my first field of wheat in the fall of 1865, sold some of the wheat at three dollars a bushel and in 1866 bought my wife a calico dress, for which I paid twenty-five cents a yard.

In 1868 we moved to Franklin county, Indiana, to my father's home farm. There was a good sugar-camp on the place and we would make maple molasses almost every spring, for which we would get from one dollar and twenty-five cents to two dollars a gallon. We then cut our wheat with self rake, but about 1878 the first wire-binder came into the township and was used on the farm of John Mecum, people coming for miles to see it work. About a year or so later twine-binders came and are here yet.

We used to get our mail only twice a week and had to go from one to three miles to get it, but now it is brought to our homes by the rural delivery every day except Sundays and holidays. We used to go horseback or on foot, as we did not have any buggies, but now buggies are something of the past, as automobiles are taking their place.

In 1881 I bought the home place at sixty-eight and one-half dollars per acre at the sale and cleared up forty acres of the timber land. In 1886 we moved to the Shirk home place of two hundred and forty acres in Spring- field township, two miles east of Whitcomb, and lived there twenty-two years. During the panic of 1907 I sold wheat at forty-five cents a bushel, bought corn at fifteen cents a bushel and sold hogs for three dollars and sixty-five cents per hundred pounds. In 1902 I sold the home farm in Whitewater township at fifty dollars an acre and bought one hundred and eight acres in Springfield township at thirty dollars an acre, on which there

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were no buildings. In 1903 I bought one hundred and five acres at fifty-six dollars an acre, joining the one hundred and eight acres.

My wife and I reared a family of seven children, three boys and four girls, Mary E., George Otto, Harry U., Nancy L., William H., Cozeta B. and Edna M. Mary E. was married May 16, 1887, to George H. McNutt, and they have two children. They reside in Indianapolis, Indiana. George Otto was married March 4, 1891, to Lizzie May Isaac. They lived in Fay- ette county, Indiana, where he died in December, 1912, leaving a wife and four children, one of whom is married. Harry U. was married in August, rSS4, and now lives in Springfield township on a farm of two hundred and ten acres. He has one daughter. Nancy L. was married in November, 1895, to Clifford Miles and they are living on the Miles homestead in Spring- field township. They have two children. They bought one hundred and five acres joining the homestead on the north. In 1907 I bought the William Meyers farm of one hundred and fifty-four acres, five miles northeast of Brookville, for which I paid thirteen thousand dollars and upon which I moved in the spring of 1908. The three other children, William H., Cozeta B. and Edna M., are still unmarried and I make my home with them on the farm which I bought last. In September, 1911, my wife died and in Febru- ary, 1913, I divided my property among the children, each receiving five thousand dollars in money and lands.

I am a retired veteran farmer and on February 4, 1915, was seventy years old. On January 2. 1915, I was unanimously elected commander of Hackleman Post No. 64, Grand Army of the Republic, at Brookville, In- diana.

Respectfully yours,

(Signed)

GEORGE S. GOLDEN,

Comrade of Company F, Forty-fifth Regiment, Third Cavalry Division.

Brookville, Indiana, R. R. No. 3.

FRED J. SAUTER.

There are many citizens living in Franklin county, Indiana, who are descendants of German parents. Among them, Fred J. Sauter, of Brook- ville, is a sterling example. His father came to this country from Germany before the Civil War and served in an Indiana regiment during that terrible struggle. Mr. Sauter began to learn the baker's trade when a mere youth and followed that business for thirteen years, leaving it on account of his health. He then started in the business of buying and shipping of poultry

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and has built up a large trade, buying and selling not only poultry but also cattle, hogs, etc. He is an enterprising and successful man of affairs and has handled his business in such a way as to yield him a comfortable income and at the same time place him high in the estimation of those with whom he deals.

Fred J. Sauter, the son of Jacob and Louisa ( Rodenbeck) Sauter, was born at Youngs, Brookville township, Franklin county. Indiana, March II, 1879. His parents had four children, Fred J., who is the oldest of the fam- ily : Jacob, who is a graduate of Indiana University and now superintendent of the Sioux City, Iowa, schools; Harry, who died at the age of fifteen ; and Frank, who died in infancy.

Jacob Sauter, the father of Fred J., was born in Germany in 1845, and died in Franklin county, Indiana, in 1885. He came to America from Ger- many when he was nineteen years of age and settled in Franklin county, Indiana. He served in the Sixty-seventh Regiment. Indiana Volunteer In- fantry, during the Civil War and spent three years at the front. He was married three times, the mother of Fred J. being the third wife. There is one child living by the first marriage, Catherine, the wife of Mr. Winslow, of Mill Grove, Indiana. Jacob Sauter had a farm on Blue creek, in this county, and also followed the carpenter trade in addition to farming. The paternal grandparents of Fred J. Sauter lived and died in Germany. His maternal grandparents were born in Germany and came to the United States in 1871. They located in Franklin county and lived here the remainder of their days.

Fred J. Sauter attended the district schools of his home neighborhood and when still a small boy came to Brookville and made his home with Fred Baker. He attended the Brookville public schools until he was four- teen and then left school to learn the baker's trade with W. W. Pippin, of Brookville. He remained in the bakery for thirteen years and had charge of the same for the last six years that he was connected with it. In 1904 he left the bakery on account of his health and started in to buy poultry throughout the county. He started in on a small scale, driving over the county in a wagon, but his business has grown by leaps and bounds under his successful management. He now has an auto wagon and does more business in this line than any other man in the county. He has branched out and now not only buys poultry but also calves, cattle and hogs in addition to eggs and butter. He is well deserving of the success which has come to him, since it is a direct result of his own initiative.

Mr. Sauter was married February 4, 1904, to Regia Pearl Sheppard,

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who was born near Des Moines, Iowa, a daughter of George and Ella Shep- pard, both of whom are deceased. Her father was a mechanical engineer and built the paper mill in Brookville in 1898.

Mr. Sauter is a Republican and he and his wife are members of the Lutheran church of Brookville. In 1912 Mr. Sauter remodeled his home on north Franklin avenue and now has a handsome residence, where he and his wife entertain their many friends.

LOUIS WITTKAMPER.

Among the genial-natured and successful farmers of Butler township, Franklin county, Indiana, is Louis Wittkamper, who is also a successful thresherman. Mr. Wittkamper was born July 26, 1874, in Butler township, on the farm where he now lives.

Louis Wittkamper is the son of Frederick and Anna ( Wittkamper) Wittkamper, the former born in Prussia, February 12, 1820, and the latter the daughter of John Wittkamper, but no relative of her husband's people. Frederick Wittkamper was educated in Germany in the common schools and worked as a carpenter in Cincinnati, Ohio, after coming to this country. Later in life he became a farmer and owned one hundred and eighty acres in Butler township, near the Ripley county line, the same farm upon which his son, Louis, now lives.

Frederick Wittkamper and wife were the parents of three children, Henry, Frederick, Jr., and Louis. Of these children, Henry lives on and owns eighty-five acres in Ripley county just across the road from Louis. He married Anna Brinkman, the daughter of William Brinkman, and they have one daughter, Clara. who married George Pohlar. Mr. and Mrs. Pohlar have two children, Stella and Evelyne. Frederick, Jr., the second child, lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he is in the wool and tailor-trimming business. He married Louisa Galle and they have two children, Frederick and Luella.

John Henry Wittkamper, the paternal grandfather of Louis, was a native of Germany and married there before coming to America. He first lived in Cincinnati and worked there as a day laborer. A few years later he came to Butler township, Franklin county, near St. Marys, where he bought forty acres of land. He was a member of the Lutheran church.

Louis Wittkamper, the youngest child of his parents and the subject of

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this sketch, was educated in the common schools. He was married to Lucy Abplanalp, a Swiss girl, who died. Mr. Wittkamper married, secondly, Sophia Reddert, the daughter of Henry Reddert, a farmer of Ripley county, Indiana. To Mr. Wittkamper, by his second marriage, six children have been born, Theodore, Dorothy, Frederick, Howard, Lewis and Harold.

Mr. Wittkamper owns one hundred and sixty acres of land and is en- gaged in general farming. He also operates a threshing equipment and has been very successful in this business. He and his family are members of the Lutheran church. Politically, Mr. Wittkamper is a Republican. The Wittkamper family is held in high esteem in the community where they live, and Mr. Wittkamper is extremely popular among his friends and acquaint- ances.

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History of Franklin County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions, Part 114

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