USA > Indiana > Gibson County > History of Gibson County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions > Part 49
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John Riley Ervin, one of the older citizens of Gibson county, who has always enjoyed the high regard of all, was born March 13, 1834, one mile southwest of Princeton, a son of Robert and Martha (Stormont) Ervin, the latter being an aunt of Col. Gil R. Stormont. Robert Ervin was a native of Ireland and was brought to this country by his parents in 1804, when a little child of but three years. He is a son of Charles and Jane Ervin, and upon reaching America they located in Chester district, South Carolina, where they lived until 1831. Charles died in South Carolina, and in the year above men- tioned the mother, with her four children, Ellen, Isabelle, Robert and Nancy, came to Gibson county. Robert, father of the immediate subject of this sketch, had married Miss Stormont in South Carolina before coming to Indi- ana. After arriving in Gibson county he obtained one hundred and sixty acres of wild land in Patoka township, heavily timbered with almost every- thing native to this section, and proceeded to make a home. He later pur- chased one hundred and sixty additional acres. The first house they had was a small cabin in the clearing and was made of poles. In this they lived until a frame house was completed in 1832. He had been a merchant in South Carolina, but always followed the vocation of farming after coming to Indi-
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ana. His death occurred in 1847 and that of his wife in 1861. Originally he was a Whig in politics, and when the Republican party came into existence his sympathies went that way. Mr. and Mrs. Robert Ervin were consistent members of the Presbyterian church and in that faith they reared their family of six children, namely: Margaret, deceased wife of John E. Little, who lived south of Princeton: James Madden, deceased, who was a prosperous farmer and married Margaret Mumford; John R., the immediate subject of this sketch; Jane Catherine, deceased wife of Calvin Woods, of Patoka township; Robert Harshaw, who was in Company A, Eighteenth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, took sick and died at Chattanooga, Tennes- see : Nancy Ellen, wife of George W. Shopbell, of Princeton, and Martha Amanda, deceased.
John Riley Ervin had but a limited schooling in his youth, owing to the limited circumstances of his parents and the meager opportunities at best, and as a boy he worked hard, being kept at home to help clear the farm. He remained at home with his mother to the age of twenty-six years and on January 20, 1859, was united in marriage to Sarah A. Finney, born near Princeton on what is known as the Hester farm. She is a daughter of John K. and Lorena (Morgan) Finney, she a native of Indiana and he of Ken- tucky. The parents of John K. Finney were James and Jane ( Makemson) ' Finney, natives of Virginia. They had gone into Kentucky at an early day and on into Gibson county, Indiana, in 1814, locating just south of Princeton, where they passed the remainder of their lives. John K. Finney lived on his father's old place until he retired in 1884, when he moved to Princeton and died at the age of seventy-two. His wife lived to be seventy-three years of age. They are the parents of several children, namely : Nancy J., deceased wife of Milton Munford, who is still living in Princeton; James Henry, who is a carpenter in Los Angeles, California ; Minerva, the wife of George Shull, of Fort Branch, Indiana ; Charles, deceased: John S., living in Bellville, Illi- nois; Martha E., wife of Robert McClerkin, of Los Angeles, California; Isabelle, who died at the age of nineteen, and Robert, who resides in Nash- ville, Tennessee. Mrs. John R. Ervin was the second child of her parents in the order of birth.
After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Ervin made their home on a part of the father's old place, making all of the improvements on it. Here a splendid barn, forty-four by ninety feet, burned on April 31, 1905. and was rebuilt the same year. In September, 1893. Mr. Ervin retired from the active operation of his farm and located at No. 214 East Pinkney street, Princeton,
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where they have since resided. Mr. and Mrs. Ervin are well known through- out the county and are highly esteemed by all. Their home bears an air of hospitality enjoyed by many. Both are members of the United Presbyterian church and Mr. Ervin is a Republican. While he has always taken an active interest in politics, he has never aspired to office. He is a man well preserved for his age and is blessed with a remarkable memory. Mary Alice, oldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ervin, is the wife of Henry Lewis Binkley, of Princeton, and to them has been born one daughter, Hazel. Robert, a son, farms Mr. Ervin's land, and he and his wife ( formerly Anna Spore) are the parents of four children, Glenn, Gladys, Edith and Ruth. The third child is Charles Elmer, a successful dentist, located at Sixth and Main streets, Terre Haute, Indiana, for the past twenty years. He married Agnes McMinn and to their union have been born two children, Arthur and Mildred. All of Mr. Ervin's children have received excellent educations. Throughout his life Mr. Ervin has aimed for the best in whatever he has undertaken and thus he has been able to accomplish much and well deserves his peaceful old age, happy in the knowledge of past accomplishments, his home a center for his family of younger generations. Such lives and homes are the "salt of the earth" and their benign influence is carried far and wide.
NATHANIEL HITCH.
The biographies of enterprising men, especially of good men, are in- structive as guides and incentives to others. The examples they furnish of patient purpose and steadfast integrity strongly illustrate what is in the power of each to accomplish. Some men belong to no exclusive class in life; ap- parently insurmountable obstacles have in many instances awakened their dormant faculties and served as a stimulus to carry them to ultimate renown. The instances of success in the face of adverse fate would seem almost to justify the conclusion that self-reliance, with a half chance, can accomplish any reasonable object. The gentleman whose life history is herewith out- lined is a man who has lived to good purpose and achieved a splendid suc- cess. By a straightforward and commendable course he has made his way to a respectable position in the world, winning the hearty admiration of the people of his community and earning the reputation of being an enterprising, progressive man of affairs which the public has not been slow to rcognize and appreciate.
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Nathaniel Hitch was born one mile north of Patoka, Gibson county, Indi- ana, October 29, 1842, the son of Edward W. and Mary ( McMullen) Hitch, he a native of Delaware and she of Kentucky. The Hitch family was of English stock, and Edward W. was a son of Sovern Hitch, of England, who came early to America and located in Bridgeville, near Wilmington, Dela- ware, where he was the owner and proprietor of the "Bull's Eye," a famous tavern, which he conducted until his death. To him were born the following children : Henry lived in Bridgeville, Delaware: Edward W., the subject's father; Zachariah was an early settler and farmer near Patoka, Gibson county ; Mary lived near Bowling Green. Kentucky.
Edward W. Hitch, the subject's father, secured a very meager education in the crude schools of his boyhood days, being an orphan, and at the age of twenty he struck out toward the west to make his own way. Coming first to Cincinnati, he purchased a boat and went down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to Natchez, Mississippi, where he secured a job cutting cord wood. Later, obtaining a flat boat, the subject's father traveled far up and down the river selling wood, and in time acquired another boat, making trips as far down the Mississippi as New Orleans. After engaging in this business for some time he sold out, and as he was returning north on a steamboat he was taken down with yellow fever, but managed to survive that terrible scourge. .On his recovery he came to Gibson county and obtained a piece of wild land one mile north of Patoka, where he set about making a home, clearing the land, erecting a cabin and planting crops. Here he lived the remainder of liis life, devoting his time to agriculture and stock raising, becoming a man of prominence in his community. He died in his eighty-fourth year, while his wife passed away at the age of eighty-six. In early life he was an old-line Whig, but later became a Democrat. He and his wife were members of the Cumberland Presbyterian church. To them were born the following chil- dren : Nathaniel; William Henry, a farmer at Princeton; Mary is the widow of William G. Cunningham and lives at Patoka; Vincent, a farmer and log- ger at Patoka; Millie lives at Patoka; Nicholas B. is a farmer at Wheatland. Indiana; Emma J. was the wife of Jolin Trippert and both are deceased; Edward is a retired farmer living at Princeton.
The early education of Nathaniel Hitch was acquired in a primitive pay school. He lived at home until he reached his twentieth year, and then traveled in many parts of the South and West. He taught school in Missouri for a while and was engaged in different businesses. The subject was twice married, first to Louisa Collins, of Missouri, and to this union was born one child, William E., who is a druggist in Wheatland, Indiana, and who married
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Florence Key. The subject's first wife died in Patoka. His second mar- riage was to Ellen (Robb) Steelman, of White River township, Gibson county, the daughter of David Robb, one of the prominent pioneers of this county. To this union were born seven children, namely: Lluella married George G. Curtner, of Lafayette, Indiana; Chauncy, a graduate of Purdue University, is a druggist at Lafayette, Indiana; Forest C. is in the barber business at Chattanooga, Tennessee; Clarence lives in Lafayette, Indiana, and is a traveling salesman; Othniel is also a traveling salesman of Lafayette, Indiana; Purvis is a plumber at Evansville, Indiana; Paul, who is attending school, is living at home. He attended Culver Military Academy in 1911.
In 1866 Mr. Hitch returned to Gibson county for a brief period, and then traveled through the West for some time. Returning in 1879, he pur- chased land near Patoka and engaged in farming and stock raising. He dealt extensively in land in that vicinity and in White River township, and still owns land in the latter townhsip. In 1910 he removed to Princeton and located at his present home at No. 903 North Main street, where he is now residing in honorable retirement.
Mr. Hitch is a well-read and well-posted man and is highly respected in his community. Always taking an active interest in politics, he is allied with the Progressive party. In matters of religious belief, he has been a member of the Methodist church for many years.
ISAAC A. LOCKWOOD.
The biographies of the representative men of a county bring to light many hidden treasures of mind, character and courage, well calculated to arouse the pride of their family and of the community, and it is a source of regret that the people are not more familiar with the personal history of such men, in the ranks of whom may be found tillers of the soil, mechanics, teachers, as well as lawyers, physicians, bankers and members of other voca- tions and professions. The subject of this sketch is distinctively one of the leading citizens of Gibson county, and as such has made his influence felt among his fellow men and earned a name for enterprise, integrity and honor . that entitles him to worthy notice in a work of the nature of this volume.
Isaac A. Lockwood was born June 19, 1842, near Fort Branch, Gibson county, Indiana, the son of Stephen and Phoebe Tucker, who were born, reared and married in New York City. The subject's parents, together with
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ISAAC A. LOCKWOOD.
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two families named Parrett and Evans, came west at an early date, and first located at the place where Evansville, Indiana, now stands. The latter part of their journey was made by means of flat boats on the river. At the time they arrived at their stopping place there was but one cabin standing on the site of the present city of seventy thousand population. Stephen Lock- wood secured eighty acres of land in what is now the main business section of the city, where he put up a log cabin and established a home, later conducting a store. About this time the state was /completed from Evansville to Vincennes, and the subject's father sold his land and store and removed to Gibson county, locating near Fort Branch, on Pigeon creek. Here he erected a home and a water-power saw-mill, and about 1834 entered a large tract of land, on which he cut the first timber used in Princeton. He died in 1847 and his wife passed away in 1875. He was a very active and successful business man and made a great deal of money in the buying and selling of horses, purchasing the animals in the north and taking them on flat boats to New Orleans, where there was always a ready market at good prices. It is re- lated that on his last trip down the river he was the loser of a considerable sum through accepting depreciated currency for his horses. On his return he stopped at Nashville, Tennessee, for a night, and on seeking to settle his bill for lodging was informed by the hotel man that his money was almost worthless, its face value having dropped then to twenty-five cents on the dollar. Stephen Lockwood died of winter fever while yet in the prime of life. He and his wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal church. To them were born the following children: Phoebe was born in New York City and died at the age of sixteen; James T., who was also born in New York City, was a prominent and wealthy farmer in Gibson county; Susan, deceased, was born in Indiana and married Thomas Dickson; John, who was a farmer at Fort Branch, died in 1911; Martha, who died in 1909, was the wife of Nemaw Picou, who went into the Confederate army and never re- turned: Sarah, deceased, was the wife of Nehemiah Garrison; Isaac A .; Phoebe Ann, deceased, married Frank Sherman and they lived in Codatt, Wisconsin.
Isaac A. Lockwood received hut little education in the subscription school, early in life heing compelled to do a man's part in the work on the home place, helping his mother to keep the family together after the death of his father. On June 12, 1862. the subject enlisted in Company B. Fifty- eighth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, at Princeton, and, after being outfitted
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and drilled at Indianapolis, the company joined its regiment at Bardstown, Kentucky, and was attached to the Army of the Cumberland, taking part in all the engagements in which that army corps was engaged. On September 19. 1863. Mr. Lockwood was wounded during the battle of Chickamauga, being shot through the lungs and ribs, and in his injured condition he was captured by the Confederates, being kept prisoner for fourteen days under the worst possible circumstances. The prisoners' beds were piles of stone covered with brush and they were fed on the ground wheat and cockle so well remembered by those who were unfortunate enough to have been "guests" of the South. Later Mr. Lockwood was exchanged and sent to the Union lines under a flag of truce. He was first taken to Chattanooga and housed in an old brick warehouse, and no beds or bedding being provided, the subject, yet suffering terribly from his wound, was compelled to lie on the damp floor, and he recalls that when he awoke in the morning he could hardly move. He was in the hospital at Chattanooga for fifty days and was then taken with many other wounded soldiers to a point across the river from Bridge- port, Alabama, where they laid out in the woods for five days, then being loaded into box cars. Five weary days were consumed in reaching Mur- freesboro, where. the train was stopped to take off the dead and those not expected to live, Mr. Lockwood being in the latter class and not far from the former. For thirty days the subject remained at Murfreesboro, and then was able to take advantage of a thirty days' furlough and return home, reaching home on Christmas eve. However, his troubles were not at an end, for three days later he was taken down with small-pox and was confined to his bed for forty days. On his recovery he reported to Camp Chase, Ohio, was exchanged and joined the army again, being thereafter in the great Atlanta campaign with Sherman on his "march to the sea." A participant in the Grand Review at Washington, D. C., the subject received an honorable discharge June 12, 1865, at Indianapolis, and returned to his home.
On March 13. 1866, Mr. Lockwood was united in marriage to Sue M. Foreman, of Baltimore, Maryland, the daughter of J. T. Foreman. Mrs. Lockwood's father, in 1859, traded two steamboats and all the other prop- erty he possessed for three thousand acres of land near Tallahassee. Ten- nessee, which he had never seen, some of it settled by squatters. Here he built a fine home and made many improvements, and continued to live until in 1863. after the battle of Stone's River, he and his family left the estate and came to Gibson county, Indiana. Mr. Foreman was a strong sympathizer with the Union cause, and he never went back to claim the land, nor have
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any of his heirs. The family secured a large tract of land near Fort Branch called the Sol Revis farm and here they passed the rest of their days, the father of Mrs. Lockwood dying on this place, as did also his wife. The subject's wife died January 27, 1889, after bearing to Mr. Lockwood the following children: Phoebe Josephine died in infancy; Anna Luella mar- ried Stephen Thomas and they live northwest of Greencastle, Indiana; Ste- phen W. and Francis E. died in infancy ; Maud is conducting manicuring and hair dressing parlors at Princeton; lilla is the wife of Joseph Kern, of Princeton; William Rodgers is in the butcher business at Evansville, In- diana; Allen died in infancy.
Following his marriage, Mr. Lockwood engaged in farming near Fort Branch, continuing there until 1871, and after spending a year in Patoka removed to Evansville, where for eighteen years he followed the, vocation of carpenter and contractor. In 1890 he came to Princeton and helped build the Southern railroad shops. For the last eight years he has had the Gibson county agency for the medicines and soaps of T. M. Sayman, of St. Louis, and has built up a very remunerative business in this line.
Mr. Lockwood is a remarkably well preserved man for his age, is active and keeps fully posted on current events, his up-to-date and progressive ideas and methods having made him a man whose advice is often sought by his many friends. He is a member of Archer Post, Grand Army of the Re- public, at Princeton, and belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church.
BENJAMIN KEITH ASHCRAFT.
It is not an easy task to describe adequately a man who has led an emi- nently active and busy life and who has attained a position of relative dis- tinction in the community in which his interests were allied. But biography finds its most perfect justification nevertheless, in the tracing and recording of such a life history. It is, then, with a full appreciation of all that is de- manded and of the painstaking scrutiny that must be accorded each statement. and yet with a feeling of satisfaction, that the writer essays the task of touching briefly upon the details of such a record as was that of the gentle- man whose name heads this paragraph, who, though long since passed over that "dark river," yet still lives in the memories of his fellow men as one who lived well his life.
Benjamin Keith Ashcraft was born in Grayson county, Kentucky. His
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great-grandfather, Jeremiah Ashcraft, removed in an early day from Penn- sylvania to Kentucky and located in Grayson county, where he purchased land for his three sons, Jacob, John and Daniel. After thus giving them a start in life, the great-grandfather of the subject started back to the Keystone state, but on the way was attacked and killed by Indians.
Daniel Ashcraft was the grandfather of the subject. He was a soldier in the border wars during the Indian troubles and was twice wounded, his wife also being wounded once. He was born March 13, 1768, and died June 5, 1842. He married Sarah Dye October 18, 1793. She was born March 21, 1775, and died September 17, 1845.
One of the sons of Daniel Ashcraft was Jediah, the father of the sub- ject. Jediah was born December 12, 1794. He married Ann Wilson, of Grayson county, Kentucky, February 10, 1820, she having been born October 19, 1797. They were the parents of four sons and five daughters and were early setlers in Gibson county. Their children were: Elizabeth, who mar- ried a Mr. Lamb; Emily is the wife of Lewis Laws; Benjamin Keith; James and Joseph. who settled in Illinois; Eliza, deceased, never married; Thomas located in Illinois; one daughter died in infancy.
Although the subject received a very limited education, he had become. by constant reading and observation, quite a scholarly man, his remarkable memory being a great help to him in his readings. Early in life he went with his parents to Richland county, Illinois, and settled ten miles southeast of Olney, where he worked out for several years. On August 21, 1860, Mr. Ashcraft was married to Tirzah M. Stewart, of White River township, Gib- son county, Indiana, a daughter of Rev. Samuel A. and Lucinda (Howe) Stewart. Rev. Samuel A. Stewart was born in Virginia, and after living in Grayson county, Kentucky, for a period, came to this county and settled in White River township, entering virgin land from the government. In addi- tion to cultivating his land, which comprised one hundred acres, he was a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church. His death occurred on the home place, while his wife died in Princeton. Perhaps the most dominant and notable characteristic of Mrs. Ashcraft's father was his fidelity to truth and honor. He invariably sought the things that were "honest and of good re- port." In the training of his children no precepts were so constantly or so urgently insisted upon as those which concern sound and worthy character. He taught that honor and truthfulness were of such commanding worth that self interests should never under any circumstances set them aside. These principles were the standards by which he estimated men and to which he
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religiously held himself. Whatever else he might do or fail to do, he meant to be in all his actions right before his Creator and his fellow men. His life was an inspiration to all who knew him, and his memory remains to his friends and surviving children as a blessed benediction of a noble and upright character. While advancing his individual interests, he never lost sight of his obligations to the community in general, and during his mature life he held a hgh place in the confidence and esteem of all who knew him.
To the parents of Mrs. Ashcraft were born eleven children: Elizabeth, deceased, was the wife of Andrew Milburn; William S. is deceased; Thomas, who was a farmer in White River township, married Susan Hudelson and both are now deceased; Robert died young; Tirzah. the subject's wife; John Wesley, deceased, was a farmer and a soldier in the Civil war. He married Emma Lawrence, who is now living in White River township; Mary J., the widow of Frank Taylor, a Civil war veteran, lives in Princeton; Nathaniel Floyd, who was also in the army, married Addie Lennox; Sarah Ellen, Rachael and Lucien died young.
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Ashcraft lived in Richland county, Illinois, for ten years, and then came to Gibson county, Indiana, and located on the old Stewart homestead in White River township, taking care of Mrs. Stewart in her old age. After her death they continued on the home place until their removal to Princeton, where the subject died on March 17, 1897.
While never seeking public office, Mr. Ashcraft was interested in the success of the Democratic party, while his religious affiliation was with the Methodist Episcopal church. His widow, who was born June 20, 1833, is an estimable lady and is very well known in Princeton and Gibson county. She is very well preserved for her age and is a pleasing woman to converse with. She has done a great deal of hair art work and some painting, her habit being to always be busy.
LUTHER BENSON.
The gentleman whose name appears at the head of this biographical review needs no introduction to the people of Gibson county, since his entire life has been spent here, a life devoted not only to the fostering of his own interests, but also to the welfare of the community at large. An honorable representative of one of the esteemed families of his community and a gentle- man of high character and worthy ambitions, he has filled no small place in the public view, as the important official positions he has held bear witness.
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