USA > Indiana > Gibson County > History of Gibson County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions > Part 67
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in prohibition. It was because of principle. If we vote we become a part of the government and a part of the governing body. We claim to be a part of the nation, as we were born here, but we do not become a part of the gov- ernment until we exercise the right to vote and hold office. Consequently, we are Dissenters. RILEY STORMONT.
THOMAS ALFRED MANGRUM.
Among the farmers of Gibson county, Indiana, who believe in follow- ing twentieth century methods is Thomas Alfred Mangrum, of Union town- ship, his family on both sides dating back to the pioneer days of the county and state, and has always been known for right living and industrial habits, for education and morality, and for all that contributes to the welfare of the commonwealth. Such people are always welcome in any community, for they are empire builders and as such have pushed the frontier of civilization ever westward and onward, leaving the green, wide-spreading wilderness and the far-stretching plains populous with contented people and beautiful green fields. The Mangrum, Emerson and Montgomery families are among the oldest and best respected people of this county. They have figured largely in its development, and their many descendants have contributed to the ma- terial advancement of the community. Their neighbors and acquaintances all respect them, and the young generation who is to come will listen with reverence to the story of the lives of such people as these. They have always been the advocates of wholesome living and cleanliness in politics as well, and have always stood for the highest and best interests of the community in which they have lived. The subject of this sketch has always exerted a strong influence for good in his locality, being a man of upright principles and de- sirous of seeing the advancement of his community along moral, educational and material lines. He is a man of high moral character, unimpeachable integrity, persistent industry and excellent business judgment, and through- out the locality where he has lived all his life he occupies an enviable position among his fellow men, among whom he is universally esteemed for his many good qualities. The study of such a life cannot but be of help to the young people who are now growing into maturity in this county.
Thomas Alfred Mangrum spent his boyhood days on the home farm, following the career which falls to the lot of the average country youth. He was married on March 23, 1884, to Anna L. Emerson, of Johnson township, this county. She was the daughter of James Logan and Nancy (Mounts)
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Emerson. Mr. Emerson was born in 1817, and his wife February 21, 1821, and they were united in marriage November 7, 1839, and reared their family on a farm about five miles south of Owensville in Johnson township. Mr. Emerson was one of the best farmers in the county, and was recognized as one of the leading citizens. The public schools never had a more loyal sup- porter than he, and his children received the best education which the county could give. Several of them became teachers in after life. Mr. Emerson's grandmother was a sister to General Logan, of Revolutionary fame. Mr. Emerson was public-spirited and always ready to assist young men to make a start in life. He often loaned them money without security and depended upon their honor and integrity to repay them. It is doubtful whether his confidence was ever betrayed. He had an interesting way of giving money to his children. When each of them reached the age of twenty-one he gave them one thousand dollars and took their note for the same. Mr. and Mrs. Emerson reared a large family of children, three of whom died in infancy. Mrs. Mangrum, the wife of the subject of this sketch, was the eleventh child. Mrs. Emerson came of one of the pioneer families of the state. Her father, Garrett Mounts, was a man of great physical strength, and was noted for his many sterling qualities of character, being one of the prominent citizens of the county. He married Patsy Montgomery, daughter of Joseph Mont- gomery, Sr., December 14, 1819.
Mr. and Mrs. T. A. Mangrum were the parents of three children, Cloyd, who is married and living on a farm in Montgomery township; Ida, who married George C. May, of Salt Lake City, Utah, and Ola, who is still living under the parental roof. Mr. Mangrum continued to live on his father's farm for some time after his marriage, and when his father retired from active work on the farm and moved to Owensville he rented the farm for four years. He proved to be a very successful farmer and was enabled to purchase a farm of his own. In 1891 he moved. southwest of Owensville, Indiana, and in 1894 to his present farm, the Bailey Williams place. The last one hundred acres which he bought commanded the highest price which was ever paid for land in this county, and he considers that the land was well worth the one hundred and sixty dollars per acre which he paid for it. His principal crop is corn, which he feeds to hogs, and he makes a specialty of raising the Hampshire breed of swine, considering them the best that can be raised for the market. He does not deal exclusively in hogs, but also raises horses and cattle for the market. His present farm comprises about three hundred acres, all in a good state of cultivation.
Mr. Mangrum is a loyal and earnest member of the General Baptist
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church, while his wife is affiliated with the Christian church, and are liberal contributors to the support of their respective churches and take an active part in all the various departments of church work. Politically he is a Pro- gressive, though in local elections he always votes for the best men for office, regardless of politics. Mr. Mangrum has a fine country residence and good barns and outbuildings. His farm is one of the best fenced and improved farms of the county. He is a man of liberal, progressive and up-to-date views on all questions of the day, and is a firm believer in education, church work and in all movements which go to make a better community. In order that his children might have the advantage of a trip to the west, he and his family made a trip of nearly two years, 1904 and 1905, to the West, spending this time in California and other Western states, visiting all places of interest beyond the Rocky mountains. Mr. Mangrum is one of those men who has lived his life to good purpose and achieved a much greater degree of success than falls to the lot of the ordinary individual. By a straightforward and commendable course, he has made his way to a respectable position in the world, winning the esteem and hearty approbation of his fellow citizens and earning the reputation of an enterprising man of affairs which the public has not been slow to recognize and appreciate.
FRANCIS M. WELBORN.
The prosperity and substantial welfare of a community are in a large measure due to the enterprise and wise foresight of its business men. It is the progressive, wide-awake men of affairs that make the real history of a community, and their influence in shaping and directing its varied interests is difficult to estimate. The well known gentleman of whom the biographer writes in this connection has long ranked among the leading business men of Gibson county, and it is to such enterprising spirits as he that the locality is indebted for its recent substantial growth and for the high position it occupies as a center of industrial activity and progress.
Francis M. Welborn, the son of Samuel P. and Mary ( Wa ters) Wel- born, was born December 30, 1839, two and one-half miles west of Owens- ville. His father. Samuel P. Welborn, was born in Guilford county, North Carolina, the son of Moses Welborn, who moved to Indiana in an early day and settled near Mt. Vernon, in Posey county, on what was then called Dry fork of Big creek, and here he lived the life of the early pioneer farmer and
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here his death occurred caused by cholera when that disease was raging throughout the state in the early fifties. Samuel P. Welborn spent his boyhood days on the farm near Mt. Vernon, and when he was nearly grown came to Montgomery township, this county, and worked on a farm for Risey Waters. While working for Mr. Waters, he became acquainted with his daughter, Mary, and in due course of time they were married, and they continued to reside on her father's farm until his death. In addition to his occupation as a farmer, Mr. Welborn and his two brothers ·operated a sawmill for several years. Samuel Welborn was a man of more than ordinary ability and his sterling worth as a citizen was recognized by the Democratic party, of which he was a faithful constituent, by being nominated for the office of county treasurer, to which office he was elected by a big majority and served four years in this capacity before the Civil war.
Francis M. Welborn grew up on his father's farm. In 1860 he went into partnership with his father and two others in the pork packing business and in this enterprise was very successful. In the fall of 1861 he came to Owensville and entered into partnership with Leroy Martin in a general store. He continued in this partnership until 1864, when he sold out his interest and entered into a partnership with James Montgomery in general merchandising. This firm continued in this business for about four years, when Mr. Mont- gomery sold his interest to Harmon & Summers, the firm name being after- ward known as Welborn & Summers Company. This partnership continued for many years and they gradually built up a large and lucrative business in the community. After some years Mr. Welborn engaged in business with his wife's father, John W. Robb, and they continued in joint partnership until 1894, when Francis M. Welborn sold his share in the business to his son, George R. and retired from active participation in the conduct of the com- pany. However, the old habits of industry could not be thrown off at once and he puts in full time at the store, just as he has done for the past forty years when he was an active partner.
Francis M. Welborn was married to Lenora A. Robb, the daughter of John W. Robb. Mrs. Welborn was born and reared at Stewartsville, Posey county, this state, where her father also was born, and where he followed the occupation of a farmer and was also a merchant at Stewartsville. Mr. Robb's parents came to this state at a very early date, and some of his people were among the first settlers in Gibson county, near Hazleton. To Mr. and Mrs. Welborn has been born one son, George R., who is represented elsewhere in this work.
Francis M. Welborn is a well preserved man and in good health at the
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age of seventy-four, and is still able to put in a full day's work in the store. He attributes this to his frugal way of living during all his life. Through a long and busy life, full of honor and success, he has always been actuated by the highest motives. His has been a life of honest and persistent endeavor, such as always brings a true appreciation of the real value of human exist- ence, a condition that must be prolific of good results in all the relations of life. He can look back over a life well spent in the service of his fellow men.
VIRGIL R. CARTER, M. D.
The most elaborate history is necessarily a merciless abridgment, the historian being compelled to select his facts and materials from manifold de- tails. In every life of honor and usefulness there is no dearth of incident, and yet in summing up the career of any man the writer must needs touch only the more salient points, giving the keynote of the character but elimi- nating all that is superfluous. Within the pages of this work will be found mention of many prominent and influential citizens whose lives have been practically passed in Gibson county and who are representatives of sturdy pioneer families. Among this class is the subject of this sketch, who occupies a prominent place in the ranks of the representative men of his community.
Virgil R. Carter, M. D., was born January 17, 1863, in Johnson town- ship, Gibson county, Indiana, the son of John W. and Martha (Emerson) Carter. The subject's mother, who was a native of Gibson county, is now living with the Doctor and is enjoying good health. The father, John W., was born in Posey county, Indiana, in 1841, and died in November, 1895, at the age of fifty-five years.
The paternal grandfather of the subject was named Rane Carter, who married in Kentucky and brought his family to Indiana at an early date, settling in Posey county, where he remained the rest of his days, dying in his seventy-ninth year, his entire life having been spent in the pursuit of farm- ing. To Rane Carter and wife were born twelve children, only one of whom died in infancy, the remaining eleven living to ripe old ages, there being a period of sixty years without a death, and when the subject's father died there were ten of his brothers and sisters still living, the youngest being fifty- two years of age. The eldest brother, James B. Carter, died in August, 1913, at the age of eighty-seven, the average age of this remarkably long-lived family being eighty years.
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John W. Carter, the subject's father, enlisted in Company F, Eightieth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, in 1862, and served until the close of the war, being wounded at the battle of Resaca. He was a comrade of John Mangrum, a review of whose war record is given elsewhere in this work. In this sanguinary conflict for the preservation of the Union the family took a part that is worthy of more than passing note. Enlisted in the Union army were the subject's father, his brothers, James P., Benjamin, Samuel, John W. and Rane, besides two brothers-in-law and nephews innumerable. All lived through the war, though one of the brothers, Benjamin, received a wound in the service from the effects of which he died after returning home. A fam- ily record of five sons in the army is exceptional, and it is also interesting to note that the husbands of two of the daughters were also in the conflict. One of the daughters, Mrs. Eliza McConnell, made a long and dangerous trip to the front to visit her husband, who was seriously ill, and was successful in reaching him and bringing him home, where he soon afterward died. The oldest son of this daughter was also a soldier and died or was killed in the service. On the death of her husband, Franklin McConnell, his widow, Eliza, was left with the care of six children.
On the close of the Civil war the subject's father returned to Johnson township, Gibson county, his wife having remained with her father while he was in the army. They soon after located in Union township, where they remained during their more active days, removing to Princeton in 1892. On his removal to the latter place he was elected township trustee and was effi- ciently discharging the duties of that office at the time of his death.
To the subject's parents were born three children: Virgil R., the subject of this sketch. is the oldest; Albert L. died January 18. 1890, in his twenty- third year; Laura was married to George E. Daugherty, of Princeton, and died February 20, 1898, in Mexico, where she had been taken in an attempt to restore her failing health. The father of the subject was incapacitated physically for some years owing to a wound which he received in the Civil war.
Virgil R. Carter's elementary education was received in the district schools, supplemented by a course in the high school at Owensville, he then entering on a scientific course in the Union Christian College at Merom, In- diana, from which he was graduated in 1887. After teaching school for a brief period, the subject, deciding on the practice of medicine for his life work, entered the Eclectic Medical Institute at Cincinnati, graduating in June, 1890, and immediately engaging in the practice of his profession in Cynthi- ana, Posey county, and later at Toledo, Illinois.
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In 1898, after the death of the Doctor's father, he returned to Gibson county, and, retiring from the active work of medicine, located on the farm, to the cultivation of which he has since devoted his energies. Large crops of corn and the best of registered live stock have been the chief products of his splendid agricultural plant, on which he has a fine modern residence and the best of farm buildings. For some time after his father's death, the Doctor had twenty aunts and uncles living, all blood relatives.
Doctor Carter was thrice married, first to Turia Buff, daughter of Dr. B. F. Buff, of Illinois, in 1890, she dying about a year after the marriage. In November, 1895, the subject was united in matrimony to Mrs. Clara Lo- gan, of Toledo, Illinois, who died in 1897. The Doctor's present wife was Mattie Eaton, of Crawford county, Indiana. The subject's four children are named Lowell L., John W., James and Glen.
Doctor Carter has been honored by election to a number of important township offices and has served as county assessor four years. In 1910 he was president of the Farmers' Institute, which he promoted, and the first corn school contest among the farmers' boys was instigated by him.
Fraternally, the Doctor belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows and the Tribe of Ben-Hur, while he and his wife are members of the General Baptist church. His mother is a member of the Christian church. Politically, the Doctor's faith is, like that of his father, in harmony with the platforms of the Republican party.
JAMES H. ARMSTRONG.
Agriculture has always been an honorable vocation and at the present time the agricultural output of the United States is more than equivalent to the total output of all the factories of the country put together. There is one thing in the life of a farmer which distinguishes it from any other occupation, and that is his ability to exist independently of every other vocation. The merchant, the banker, the manufacturer, all depend absolutely on the farmer's crops. A famine throughout this country would bankrupt the strongest merchant, wreck the largest bank and close the most extensive factory. Busi- ness men can see their business collapse within a week, but nothing short of an earthquake can ruin the farmer. Land is as it always has been-the most favorable financial investment. Panic may sweep the manufacturer out of business over night, but the farmer can survive when every other industry
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falls. Therefore, the farmer is the backbone of the nation and he who makes two blades of grass grow where but one formerly grew, is performing the most useful mission of man. Gibson county farmers are as good as can be found anywhere in the world, and their history is largely the history of the material advancement of the county. Among Gibson county's excellent farmers, there is none more deserving of recognition in this day of biography than is the gentleman whose name appears at the head of this sketch.
James H. Armstrong, the son of William S. and Emily (Smith) Arm- strong, was born March 31, 1858, four miles northeast of Owensville. His father was a native of Vanderburg county, this state, his birth having oc- curred there on May 1, 1824. His wife was a native of Gibson county, and was born November 24, 1827. William Armstrong was a farmer all his life and reared a large family of children to spheres of influence. He continued to reside in Vanderburg county until after his marriage, in 1846, when he came to Gibson county and purchased one hundred and ninety acres of land, part of which is now owned by his son, James H. He combined the raising of live stock with his general farming and was uniformly successful in all his financial dealings. He was an active Democrat, but never sought public office, although he served as township trustee for several terms before the present constitution went into effect in 1852. Before that date each town- ship in his county had three trustees, a system which went out of use upon the adoption of the present constitution. He and his wife were both loyal and earnest members of the Regular Baptist church of Owensville, and he held the office of deacon in the church, taking a very active part in all of the various departments of church work. He was always a hard worker, and attended to his business with such application that he was able to give his large family all of the advantages which were obtainable. Mr. and Mrs. William Armstrong were the parents of a large family, five of whom are still living: Willis, a farmer of this county; Warrick, also a farmer of the county ; one who died in infancy; John, who lives in Kansas; Morgan, de- ceased; James H., the immediate subject of this sketch; Mary, deceased in 1888, and Pinkney, a farmer of Gibson county. William Armstrong died on July 24, 1877, and his widow survived him many years, her death oc- curring on January 2, 1901.
James H. Armstrong, the subject of this sketch, was married on July 6, 1879, to Lela G. Bingham, daughter of Garner and Jane ( Roberts) Bingham. Her father was a native of this county and followed the occupation of a farmer during his lifetime. Mrs. Bingham was also a native of this county
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and died in 1876, her husband surviving her until 1901. Mr. and Mrs. Arm- strong were the parents of ten children, Charles, who died at the age of thir- teen months ; Mary, the wife of John S. Cushman, a farmer of Posey county, this state, has one child, Grace; Harvey, who married Florence Brumfield, operates a farm in Montgomery township, and has two children, Roy and Margerite May ; Lemuel G., who married Nettie Spore, is a farmer in Patoka township, this county, and had one son, Gerald, who is dead; William Edgar, the twin brother of Lemuel G., who lives at home and helps his father, James H., on the farm; Elva, the wife of Orville Spore, who died on August 12, 1913; John, who married Edith Woods, is a farmer of this township; Flora and Ruth are still at home; Herschell died at the early age of six months.
James H. Armstrong enjoyed all the pleasures and disadvantages of the average boy on the farm. He attended the district schools in the winter seasons and performed such work as falls to the lot of the ordinary country boy. After graduating from the common schools he completed the course in the Owensville high school, from which he graduated with honor to him- self, and started out on his active career at the age of twenty-one years, when he married and bought some land in the township where he still lives. By the exercise of good business judgment and economical habits of life he added to his holdings from time to time until he is now the owner of two hundred and fifty acres of as good land as can be found in the county. He combines stock raising with his general farming and has been more than ordinarily successful in all of his financial transactions. He keeps well in- formed on all of the new methods in farming and keeps his farm well sup- plied with the most modern implements for the carrying on of agriculture. His reputation for honesty and square dealing has won for him the esteem of all with whom he comes in contact.
Although he has always been a Democrat, Mr. Armstrong has never taken an active part in the deliberations of his party. However, the citizens of his township thrust upon him the office of township assessor, which he continued to hold for some time. Fraternally, he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. Personally, Mr. Armstrong is one of the most genial and good natured men in the community. He is companionable, charitable to his neighbors' faults and always looks on the bright side of life. With him optimism is a religion and his smile radiates sunshine in every direction. His wife is a loyal and earnest member of the Cumberland Presbyterian church, and is wholly devoted to home and domestic duties, doing during all the best
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years of her life the lowly but sacred work which comes within her sphere. Through all the long years she has worked with her husband and children, and in her gentle, tender and loving way merits no small share in her hus- band's success.
ELIJAH L. LINCOLN.
It is by no means an easy task to describe within the limits of this review a man who has led an active and eminently useful life and by his own exer- tions reached a position of honor and respect in the community. But biog- raphy finds justification, nevertheless, in the tracing and recording of such a life history, as the public claims a certain property interest in the career of every individual and the time invariably arrives when it becomes advisable to give the right publicity. It is, then, with a certain degree of satisfaction that the chronicler essays the task of touching briefly upon such a record as has been that of the subject who now comes under this review.
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