History of Gibson County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions, Part 45

Author: Stormont, Gil R
Publication date: 1914
Publisher: Indianapolis : B.F.Bowen
Number of Pages: 1284

USA > Indiana > Gibson County > History of Gibson County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions > Part 45

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James WV. Lewis attended the public schools of Princeton until the age of fifteen. At that time the Civil war broke out and, notwithstanding his tender years, he was so fired with patriotism and so anxious to take up arms that his father sent him from home, hoping the novelty of his surroundings in the boarding school he had selected at Fergusonville, New York, would cool his ardor to a degree suitable to his years. This had the desired effect for a time, but after one year East, he returned home and, in spite of parental objection, he entered the ranks of the boys in blue, enlisting in Company C, Fifty-eighth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and saw eighteen months of service. He was with Sherman when the Union forces were working their way to Atlanta, driving the Confederates before them, and made one of the number in that memorable march to the sea; thence back up through the Carolinas and on to Washington. He was in the Grand Review in Washington, in May, 1865, when President Lincoln viewed the returning troops and when great crowds of cheering spectators lined the streets. After the war was ended and he had received his honorable discharge, he returned to Princeton, where he has since resided.

On November 4, 1869, Mr. Lewis was married to Anna L. Johnston, daughter of Newton H. and Rachael Johnston. the ceremony occurring in the old Lagow House in which he was born, Mr. Johnston having some time previously purchased this hostelry from Andrew Lewis. Mr. Johnson was a native of Meadville, Pennsylvania, who had come west to Evansville, .In- diana, and from there to Princeton.

Three children have been born to James W. and .Anna L. ( Johnston)

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Lewis, the oldest being Alice M., wife of J. O. Sevedge, who makes her home with her father; James F., who resides in Princeton and who took as his wife Lilly Redmon; and the youngest, Harold W., also of Princeton, who married Delia Milburn, and they have one child, sole grandchild of the family.

James W. Lewis is a worthy son of his father and has filled positions of trust. For four years he served as deputy sheriff and for ten years was claim agent and special man for the Southern Railroad. He has now re- tired from public interests, devoting himself to the management of his farm- ing interests, comprising two hundred and forty acres in Center township, Gibson county, and other properties elsewhere, all of which attest his sound business judgment and integrity.

Mr. Lewis holds no fraternal affiliations other than the honored Grand Army of the Republic, and, as might be expected, politically is a staunch Re- publican of the old school. Such families as that of which Mr. Lewis is a member stand for the highest and best in any community, advocates of all that makes life most worth living, incentives and examples to those of less favored parentage and early training.

PHILIP M. ANDERSON.

The gentleman whose life history the biographer here takes under re- view is one of those strong, sturdy characters who has contributed largely to the welfare of the community where he lives, being a man of more than ordinary sagacity and foresight, and as a citizen, public spirited and pro- gressive in all that the term implies. He is a native of the Hoosier state, having been born at Madison, Jefferson county, on April 7, 1832. He is the son of Wilson and Ann ( Monroe) Anderson, both of whom were natives of the state of Kentucky, born near Lexington. When yet children they were both brought to Gibson county, Indiana, by their parents, where they grew to maturity. To their union were born ten children. Three died in infancy and Mary, Nancy and Serilda died after reaching years of maturity. Cynthia is still living in Terre Haute, Indiana, at the advanced age of ninety-five years ; James lives in Vincennes, Indiana; John resides at Oakland City, Indi- ana, and Philip, the immediate subject of this sketch, has for some years past made his home in Princeton. He is the oldest son and the fifth child in the

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family. Wilson Anderson, the father, in his young manhood secured a tract of wild land, and then began the laborious task of clearing it and getting it under cultivation. In this he was ably assisted by his faithful wife and together they endured the hardships and grinding toil, the lot of the pioneers, winning a home and subsistence from the reluctant soil, and there their large family was reared. All his life was passed on a farm. Eventually he dis- posed of his interests in Jefferson county and removed to Gibson county, where he died at the age of ninety-four years, well known and respected by all. He was a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church and a staunch Democrat. He took an active interest in politics, although he never aspired to any office.

Philip M. Anderson, when young, had only the limited opportunity for education possible to the children of the rural districts at that time. He at- tended the subscription schools of his neighborhood, receiving sound ele- mentary training, largely supplemented by reading and study in later years. He remained at home with his father until twenty-one years of age.

Mr. Anderson was first married in February, 1857, to Mary Beavers, a native of Virginia, daughter of John Beavers, also of Virginia, who had come to Jefferson county, Indiana, at an early date, where he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives. He was a farmer. Two children were born to Philip and Mary ( Beavers) Anderson: Martha Ann, who married John Harlan, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and who has three children, William, Monroe and Walter; and Minnie E., wife of David E. Smith, a carpenter of Prince- ton. To them were born three children: Fred, living in Princeton; Minnie, stenographer with the Southern Railroad Company at Princeton, and a child who died in infancy. Mary Beavers Anderson died in 1866.

In 1867 Mr. Anderson was married to Martha J. Mills, of Princeton, her father being a native of Maine. She died in the spring of 1899. Mr. Anderson's third wife was Julia Zimmerman, daughter of John Zimmerman, of Gibson county.

In 1858, the year after his first marriage, Mr. . Anderson came to Gibson county, Indiana. He was a cooper by trade when a young man and later took up carpentery, at which he worked for several, years. His wife inherited a farm in Washington township, Gibson county, on which he lived for eight years, when he removed to Princeton and has retired from active life.

Mr. Anderson is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. He was at the front eighteen months during the Civil War. A member of Com- pany E, Forty-second Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, he was sent with

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his command to Evansville, later to Henderson, Kentucky, and on to Nash- ville and into Alabama under command of General Buell. He was neither sick nor wounded while in service.

Mr. Anderson's religious sympathies are with the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he has been a member for many years. In all the affairs of life Mr. Anderson has proved himself an honorable and upright man, well posted on the affairs of his day and thoroughly worthy of the high esteem in which he is held by his many warm friends in Gibson county.

LUCIUS C. EMBREE.

No compendium such as the province of this work defines in its essential limitations will serve to offer a fit testimonial to the life and accomplishments of Lucius C. Embree, who for a long lapse of years has been one of the best known legal lights in southern Indiana-a man notable for the breadth of his wisdom, his indomitable perseverance, his strong individuality, and yet one whose entire life has not one esoteric phase, being able to bear the closest scrutiny. His entire accomplishment but represents the result of the fit utilization of the innate talent which is his, and the directing of those efforts along lines where mature judgment and rare discrimination have led the way. There is in Mr. Embree a weight of character, a native sagacity, a far-seeing judgment and a fidelity of purpose that has commanded the respect of all, and today he stands in the very front rank of his profession in Indiana. Mr. Embree has had the advantage of being the son of a man of affairs, also a lawyer by profession, an officer of rank in the Civil war and a leading man in his community all his life.

Lucius C. Embree is the son of James Thomas and Mary Magdalene (Landis) Embree, a native of Staunton, Virginia, and was born September. 8, 1853, in Princeton, Gibson county, Indiana. The family is identified with the earliest history of Gibson county, and throughout its generations have been among the foremost citizens. Joshua Embree, great-grandfather of the immediate subject of this sketch, came to Gibson county from Lincoln county, Kentucky, in 1811. He was a farmer and died the first year of his residence in Gibson county. His will was the first ever probated in this county.

Elisha Embree, grandfather of Lucius C. Embree, was also born in Lin- coln county, Kentucky, and came to Indiana with his father in 1811. He, too, was an agriculturist and also a lawyer. He was judge in the circuit

LUCIUS C. EMBREE,

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court of Gibson county from 1835 to 1845. His wife was Eleanor Robb, daughter of David Robb, a prominent pioneer of Gibson county, a member of the constitutional convention and also of the state Senate. They reared a family of four children : James T .: David F., who became a prominent lawyer in Princeton and died in 1877: Maria Louisa and Milton P. The family was brought up in the tenets of the Methodist Episcopal church, and for many years Elisha Embree was superintendent of the Sunday school of his church. He was prominent in the politics of Gibson county in his day, and in 1847 defeated Robert Dale Owen for Congress. He received the Whig nomination for governor of the state of Indiana in 1849 on declining to run again for Congress, but was defeated owing to the district being against him politically. At the outbreak of the Civil war he took a keen interest in the various questions of the day and greatly regretted his ad- vanced age, which prohibited him from active service. During the time he was a member of Congress, he made the acquaintance of Abraham Lincoln. and together with him, Elihu B. Washburn and others, lived at the same boarding house. Upon his retirement from the bench in 1845 he discontinued the practice of law until in 1852. at which time he and his son. James T. (father of Lucius C. Embree), opened up offices together and in this con- nection they continued until his death in 1862. His was an honorable and upright life, greatly dignifying and uplifting the community at large.

James T. Embree, father of Lucius C. Embree, was born and raised in Gibson county. He was a graduate of Asbury College, now DePauw Uni- versity, and also of the law department of the Indiana State University at Bloomington. He began the practice of law in Princeton in 1852 and con- tinued same until the commencement of the Civil war, when he went to the front as major of the Fifty-eighth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and served until compelled to resign on account of ill health. His interest in the cause, however, did not diminish and he gave valuable assistance in raising troops. This service brought him into contact with Oliver P. Morton. then governor of the state, with whom he formed a close personal friendship. as well as with Miles Fletcher, a state officer at that time. Another friendship in which he took much pleasure was that of Hon. Daniel Vorhees and. in spite of the wide divergence of political opinions, they remained warm friends until separated by death. His marriage to Miss Landis occurred in 1852. the year he began the practice of law. To them were born four children : Lucius Conwell: Jessie Fremont. who died at the age of five, July 30. 1861 : Samuel Landis, who died January 24. 1903: and Elisha Robb, whose death occurred

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February 21, 1898. Mrs. Embree died on July 21, 1863, and for his second wife Mr. Embree chose Louisa Catherine Lockhart, by whom he had one daughter, who is now Mrs. Eleanor Houts, of San Francisco, California. Mr. Embree's death occurred August 3, 1867. He was a worthy son of his excellent father and at all times gave his influence to whatever cause advanced the public welfare of his community.

Lucius C. Embree received his elementary education in the public schools of Princeton, graduating from the high school. He then attended Earlham College, at Richmond, Indiana, for a short time, later spending some time in study at Asbury College at Greencastle, Indiana, and then matriculated in the law school of the University of Virginia. On August 10, 1877, he began the practice of law in Princeton together with James E. Mccullough, now assistant attorney-general of the state of Indiana. After this partnership was severed, he practiced alone for a number of years, later entering into partnership with Martin W. Fields, which partnership con- tinued for one year. He had later associated with him Willis P. Howe, now deceased, and also Luther Benson. Since 1907 he has practiced together with his son Morton and they maintain an interesting partnership. However, the greater amount of his time in his profession has been spent alone. By friends he has been induced to serve on the school board, which service has been appreciated by all.

On December 29, 1880, Mr. Embree joined in wedlock with Luella Casey, daughter of William J. and Charlotte M. Casey, of Patoka, Indiana. Four children have been born to them: James Casey, who is a civil engineer, associated with the Canadian & Northern Pacific railroad in British Columbia ; Morton Casey, attorney and partner of his father; Louise and Clotilde, who remain at home. Mr. Embree is a member of the time-honored order of Free and Accepted Masons. All his life he has endorsed the principles of the Republican party and stands as an advocate of purity in politics as well as in all other relations of life.

There is particular interest attached to the study of the life history of such a man as the subject of this sketch, not only for the clean record he himself presents, but it is highly gratifying to trace a family history back through the years and find in each life reviewed an enviable record, to know that each in his day stood for the highest type of manhood and did all in his power to advance the interests of those about him less favorably situated than himself. Any locality derives its reputation from that of its representative citizens and for many generations Gibson county has been thus indebted to the various members of the family of Embree.

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ANDREW JACKSON MILLER.

Dependent very largely upon his own resources from his early youth, the man whose name heads this paragraph has attained no insignificant suc- cess, and though he may have, like most men of affairs, encountered obstacles and met with reverses, he has pressed steadily forward, ever willing to work for the end he had in view. His tenacity and fortitude are due, no doubt, in a large measure, to the worthy traits inherited from his sterling ancestors, whose high ideals and correct principles he has ever sought to perpetuate in all the relations of life.

Andrew Jackson Miller was born May 28, 1834, in Jackson county, In- diana, son of Isaac and Ann (Settle) Miller, she a native of Nelson county, Kentucky. The father was born in Jackson county, Indiana, in 1803, and was a son of Abraham Miller, who was born in Pennsylvania, and whose father was Peter Miller, who took part in the Boston Tea Party, famous in the early history of the colonies. When quite a young man, Abraham Miller left his home in Pennsylvania and journeyed to Kentucky, where he met and married Peggy Miller and together they came to Jackson county, Indiana. being numbered among its early pioneers. They obtained government land which they cleared and on which they lived the remainder of their lives. Abraham Miller was at Fort Vallonia during the Pigeon Roost massacre, being at that fort for two years, and was also in the battle of Tippecanoe. To him and his wife were born nine children: Frederick, Thomas, Isaac ( father of the immediate subject of this sketch). Perry, Washington, Jack- son, Lucinda, Kate and Ermilla.

Isaac Miller passed his entire life in Jackson county, Indiana. When a boy he had no opportunity whatever for acquiring education and when quite young began work on a farm and continued this vocation through life. On September 19. 1830, he and Ann Settle were united in wedlock and to them were born five children, namely: Susan Mary, deceased; Andrew Jackson, subject of this sketch; Margaret and Harriet (twins). Harriet died in 1856 and Margaret, widow of Isaac Durham, resides in Daviess county, Indiana : Susan, the youngest child, is the widow of William Critchfield and lives in Jackson county. Isaac Miller and wife were faithful members of the Bap- tist church. Mr. Miller affiliated with no political party, but always voted independently, his choice being the man and his principles rather than any party platform. His death occurred in December, 1874, and his wife passed from life January 31, 1879.

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Andrew Jackson Miller when a boy had only limited opportunity for schooling and remained on the home place until eighteen years of age. On February 14, 1858, he was united in marriage to Elenore Daily Applegate, who was born in Jackson county February 21, 1832, the daughter of Philip D. and Elizabeth ( Burge) Applegate. He was born June 17, 1809, and she was born August 12, 1801. Their marriage was solemnized December 25, 1828. She was a native of Jackson county, while he was born in Charles- ton, Clark county, Indiana. He was a famous hunter in his community and when a boy of nine years, with an old-fashioned flint lock gun, he killed two deer with one shot. When a young man he went to Jackson county, In- diana, where he obtained government land and settled down to the life of a farmer. His home was near that of William Cody, known to the world as "Buffalo Bill," and they often hunted together. Later on he sold dry goods throughout the county and also owned a drug store at Vallonia, Indiana. He died September 5, 1899, having been a widower for a number of years. His wife died in March, 1864. He was a descendant of one of the six Apple- gate brothers who crossed to the new world in the "Mayflower" and later settled in Philadelphia. Philip D. Applegate and wife were the parents of seven children, as follows: Margaret, born October 29, 1829, married Robert Kelly, of Jackson county, Indiana. Elenore D., born February 21, 1832. . Hezekiah, born May 19, 1834, who was killed during the Civil war. At the battle of Kenesaw Mountain, while carrying water to the sick and wounded on the battlefield, he was picked off by a sharp-shooter. He was a member of Company B, Twenty-second Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infan- try, and was a corporal at the time of his death. The fourth child was Char- lotte, born November 9, 1836, who married Joseph Brown, and when widowed later became the wife of Frederick Rush. She died November 9. 1875. John B. was born January 8, 1839. He was in the Tenth Indiana Cavalry and after the close of the war he went to. Gandy, Nebraska, where he purchased a farm. Polly Ann was born June 19, 1841, and died March 12, 1873, the wife of John Stephens. Elizabeth was born January 19. 1844. and died March 16, 1863.

After their marriage, in 1858, Andrew Jackson Miller and wife settled down to farming in Jackson county. He also was a keeper of bees and dis- posed of a considerable amount of honey. He bought the patterns of the Langstroth bee hives and made and sold them quite extensively for a time. During the war he was in poor health and was drafted for service, but upon examination he was rejected and sent home in sixty days. In 1870 he re-

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moved his family to Gibson county, where he has since resided, farming in different parts of the county. To this couple were born seven children. namely : William Otto, a farmer living at Princeton, whose wife was Mary Hall, and to whom have been born three children. Walter, Elenore and Martha; Leander Everett, who died October 9. 1892, at the age of thirty- two years. He was a switchman on a railroad; Fidelia, wife of James H. Guthrie, hardware merchant of Princeton; Elizabeth, wife of I. F. Kell, a contractor, of Princeton, and who is the mother of six children, Ralph, Alexander, Andrew, Paul. Cornelia and Gertrude. Ann, wife of Robert McCree, a farmer of Patoka township; Ivy Elenore, who has always re- sided at home, and John Andrew, a conductor on the Rock Island railway. whose home is at Goodland, Kansas. He married Belle Williams and they are the parents of two children, Jackson and Virginia.

Politically, Mr. Miller gives his support to the Republican party, al- though in no sense has he ever been a seeker after office. His religious affiliation is with the Christian church, to which he gives a liberal support On February 14, 1908, Mr. and Mrs. Miller celebrated the fiftieth anni- versary of their marriage and she lived but a short time after that, her death occurring on August 25th of the same year. Mr. Miller has led an industrious and well regulated life, thereby gaining the respect and ad- miration of his fellow citizens and is most worthy of representation in a bio- graphical work of the scope intended in the present one. Genial and unas- suming in his relations with his fellow men, he has won and retains the con- fidence and good will of all with whom he comes in contact.

FRANCIS M. THOMPSON.

The Thompson family trace their genealogy back through to the tribe of Benjamin, which was one of the tribes of the children of Israel. From Norway they emigrated to Ireland about 1056, and later to Scotland, where they became a well known family. John, Charles and Richard, three members of a large family, and the only ones of which we have a record, were born in Dublin, Ireland, a few years before the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1780. Richard had military training and entered the English army as a general. His previous training helped him to get the high appointment.

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John ran away from home on account of his father refusing to let him marry and went to England while too young to join the army, but on account of his brother, Richard, being general, he was taken into the service. He and his brother served through the Napoleonic wars and shortly afterward John re- turned to his home in Dublin. Richard came to America a few years before the Revolutionary war came to an end. John and Charles came a few years later and all three brothers served in the war of the Revolution. Richard was under Gen. George Washington, but he never met John and Charles, who also served during the latter part of this great struggle. During the war John and Charles became separated and never saw each other again. The great- great-grandfathers of Francis M. Thompson and his wife both died about eight years after the close of the war of the Revolution and were buried in the national cemetery in Dayton, Ohio. His son, John, of whom the Thomp- son family in Gibson county are descendants, was of Scotch-Irish descent. He raised a large family of children, one of which was John Thompson, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch. He was born in Virginia Decem- ber 19, 1804, and died April 16, 1850. He was a great hunter in his younger days and was a fine marksman. He was presented with a silver-mounted rifle at one time by the governor of Virginia for killing an Indian chief who had caused a great deal of trouble among the white settlers, killing a number of them. He settled first in Virginia near where Richmond now stands. Later he emigrated to Kentucky, settling near Elizabethtown, in Hardin county. He was married to Sarah Garner, February 16, 1825. After his wife's death he lived with his son, John, until his death. John Thompson moved from Kentucky to Illinois, and settled near where Rochester now · stands, and lived there a few years, when he moved to Indiana and settled near Crowleyville, this county. Here he lived until January 1, 1847, when they lost nearly everything they had by the high water, known as the January freshet of 1847, and they moved back to Elizabethtown, Kentucky, where his death occurred April 14, 1850. After his death his widow and her children moved to the vicinity of Owensville, this county, where they lived until her death, which occurred February 17, 1886.

Francis M. Thompson, Sr., the son of John Thompson and wife, and father of the subject of this sketch, was born August 28, 1843, near Crowley- ville, Indiana, and lived there with his parents until the spring of 1847, when they moved to Elizabethtown, Kentucky, where his boyhood days were spent until he was about sixteen years of age, when the family moved back to the

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History of Gibson County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions, Part 45

Author: Stormont, Gil R Publication date: 1914 Publisher: Indianapolis : B.F.Bowen Number of Pages: 1284

Author: Stormont, Gil R
Publication date: 1914
Publisher: Indianapolis : B.F.Bowen
Number of Pages: 1284