USA > Indiana > Gibson County > History of Gibson County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions > Part 68
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Elijah Lincoln was born in September, 1832, the son of Leonard and Nancy (Dick) Lincoln. The father, who was a first cousin of the immortal Abraham Lincoln, was born in Kentucky and was married in the Buckeye state, where he spent the remainder of his days, he dying when the subject was a boy. Elijah Lincoln lived in Zanesville, Ohio, until he was sixteen years old, when he joined his brother Robert, who had been in Illinois for five years. Two years later his brother John located with them and in two more years the mother also removed to Illinois, the family being located in Licken town- ship, Crawford county.
After learning the cooper's trade, Mr. Lincoln made a trip to New Orleans and on his return settled in Gibson county, Indiana, where he farmed for several years and worked at his trade at intervals, continuing this until the Pike's Peak gold excitement in 1859, when he went west. One summer was spent on Chicago Bar, about sixty miles from Denver, a bare subsistence being all that the gold hunters could gain in that district. Mr. Lincoln then engaged in teaming, hauling hay and other goods. He would purchase hay at ten dollars a load, and after hauling it into the mountains was enabled to sell it for one hundred dollars a load. He followed this lucrative business for about three years, but, being desirous of joining the army, he returned to Gibson county, and in August, 1862, enlisted in Company B, Fifty-eighth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Colonel Emery and Captain
ELIJAH L. LINCOLN.
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Smith. He was mustered in at Princeton and joined his regiment at Indi- anapolis, where he was stationed five weeks. From the Hoosier capital they were sent to Louisville and then to Bardstown, Kentucky, where they joined General Wood's command and proceeded with it to Nashville and then to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where they were engaged in some severe fighting. Their next move was to Chattanooga, where they pursued General Bragg up over Missionary Ridge, trying to cut him off. General Bragg, however, after passing Missionary Ridge, was reinforced by General Longstreet and a hot fight ensued, during which Mr. Lincoln was shot in the left foot. General Thomas holding the Confederates in check, the subject's command was en- abled to retire to Chattanooga. Mr. Lincoln's regiment, with fifteen hundred wounded men, was taken to Nashville in a freight train, where he remained in a hospital for fifteen days. At the expiration of this time he was granted a furlough for thirty days, which he spent at home, returning at the end of that time to his regiment, which had been in winter quarters. In a short time the regiment was returned to Indiana, where it remained until April, when it was again called into active service, the next engagement being at Buzzard Roost. Mr. Lincoln was then detailed to join a few men who had been left in Chattanooga in charge of supplies and equipments which could not be carried at the time. These supplies were taken in charge and in June Mr. Lincoln and his companions caught up with their command at Big Shanty. From this place they proceeded to Atlanta and joined General Sher- man in his famous "march to the sea." The regiment assisted in driving the Confederates out of Savannah, after which they occupied that place for sev- eral weeks, and then marched sixty miles to Sister's Ferry, and from there went to Goldsboro, where they remained a short time, from there being dis- patched to head off General Johnson s army, which had not yet surrendered. While laying a bridge across the river they received the first news of the assassination of President Lincoln. Orders were received here for the troops to proceed to Washington, via Richmond, Virginia, where they took part in the Grand Review.
The subject was honorably discharged at Indianapolis, having been mustered out in a livery stable in Washington. From that city he returned to his home at Fort Branch, where he took up farming. In 1857 Mr. Lincoln was married to Harriet Conner, daughter of Alexander Conner, one of the pioneer settlers of the Hoosier state. His wife passed away in 1874. having been the mother of eight children, namely: Leonard. Alonzo, Daniel and.
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Warren are deceased; Abram is now living in Horton, Texas, where he has been successful and is the owner of much property; Rosie is living at home; Louisa is also residing in Horton, Texas; Clara is in St. Louis.
Mr. Lincoln, in his long and eventful career, has always endeavored to keep the Lincoln name clean and respected, and has inculcated this worthy desire in his children. The position of respect and honor which he has at- tained in the community honored by his residence proves that he has suc- ceeded in this worthy ambition. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic at Fort Branch. He has always been a Republican, though he was first an old-line Whig. He is the last of his line of the Lincoln family.
CLEVE E. WILLIS.
Hard and laborious work was the lot of the subject of this sketch dur- ing his youth and early manhood, but his fidelity to duty has won for him the respect and confidence of those with whom he has been thrown in contact, and by patient continuance in well doing he has gradually risen from an humble station to his present standing as a progressive young farmer of Gib- son county. He has worked his way from a modest beginning up to a posi- tion of considerable prominence by his efforts, which have been practically unaided, a fact which renders him the more worthy of the praise that is freely accorded him by his fellow citizens.
Cleve E. Willis, the son of Joseph M. and Winnie ( Rumble) Willis, was born in Pike county, Indiana, March 29, 1885. His father was also a native of Pike county, as was his mother, where they still reside. Joseph Willis was a farmer and has always followed agricultural pursuits. He now has eighty-eight acres of good farming land in Pike county. Mr. and Mrs. Willis were the parents of five children, Sarah, who became the wife of James Rum- ble, of Patoka township; Mrs. Flora Jenkins, deceased; Mrs. Mary Blake, who resides in Pike county; Cleve E .; Mrs. Alice Stewart, also of Pike county.
Cleve E. Willis received a good practical, common school education in his home schools and attended the Oakland City College for two years. At the end of his common school course he held the attendance record of Pike county. After he finished his two years' course at Oakland City College he secured a license to teach school, but decided to follow agriculture as a voca-
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tion instead of the teaching profession. He worked on his father's farm until his marriage in 1908.
Mr. Willis was married to Mellie Blythe, the daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Clifford) Blythe, March 31, 1908. Samuel Blythe was born in Gib- son county, Indiana, near Owensville, and his wife was a native of Pike county, this state. Mr. and Mrs. Blythe now live in Columbia township, on the farm which his father, Craig Blythe, purchased at a time when it was a primitive wilderness. A part of that farm is now within the corporation lim- its of Oakland City. Mr. and Mrs. Blythe are the parents of two children, Mrs. Millie Blythe, and Mrs. Eunice Walker, who is now living in Indianapo- lis, where Mr. Walker is engaged in the drug business. Mr. and Mrs. Cleve Willis are the parents of one son, Joe Blythe, born September 18, 1910. Mr. Willis is now living on the farm near Oakland City known as the Bowen- Cheney farm, and has been managing it for the past three years. He car- ries on a general system of diversified farming and makes a specialty of stock feeding and shipping of hogs and cattle, in which he has been very successful. His ability as a farmer is shown by the fact that he has been elected to office in the Farmers' Educational and Co-operative Union of America. He was president of this organization for one year and has been secretary and treas- urer for the Pike County Union for the past five years. This is an organiza- tion which seeks to promote agricultural interests and affairs pertaining to the life of the farmer. Mr. Willis has pursued a system of rotation of crops so as to retain the fertility of the soil and his land is as productive as any in the county where he resides. No farm in the county is looked after with greater care. He takes an active interest in all public affairs and has per- formed his full part as a public-spirited citizen.
Mr. Willis has cast his vote.at all times for the candidates of the Demo- cratic party and takes a prominent part in the local organizations of his party. He has never asked for any political preferment at the hands of his party, be- ing content to devote all his energies to his agricultural interests. He and his wife are members of the Baptist church of Oakland City and are liberal contributors to the support of that denomination. Mrs. Willis is a graduate of the Oakland City high school and taught school in Gibson county for two years. She also attended the Oakland City College for some time in order to the better equip herself for the teaching profession. Mr. Willis is thor- oughly up-to-date in all his operations and keeps in close touch with the most advanced ideas relative to farming and stock raising and gives his undivided attention to the work in hand, so that he has justly earned the enviable repu- tation which he enjoys.
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GIBSON COUNTY, INDIANA.
HERSCHEL LOGAN BASS, M. D.
The present age is essentially utilitarian and the life of every successful man carries a lesson which, told in contemporary narrative, is productive of much good in shaping the destiny of others. There is, therefore, a due meas- ure of satisfaction in presenting, even in brief resume, the life and achieve- ments of such men, and in preparing the following history of the well-known and successful physician whose name appears at the head of this sketch, it is with the hope that it may prove not only interesting and instructive, but also serve as an incentive to those who contemplate making the medical profes- sion their life work, for it shows how a man, not especially favored by in- herited wealth, may forge to the front and not only succeed in the material things of life, but also be of inestimable service to his fellow men.
Herschel Logan Bass, M. D., the present efficient coroner of Gibson county, was born June 4. 1883, in Lane township, Warrick county, Indiana, the son of Gaines H. and Rhoda (Mckinney) Bass, both natives of the Hoosier state. The progenitors of the Bass family were three brothers, who came to America from England, two of them locating in North Carolina and the other in the state of Maine. Doctor Bass's family descended from those who settled in North Carolina.
The subject's father, who spent his life following agricultural pursuits, is now retired. after a long and honorable career of usefulness to his fellow men, he having served in the offices of township trustee and county assessor, and has always been recognized as a representative man in his community.
Of a family of seven children, five sons and two daughters, the subject of this review was the eldest. His elementary education was received in the common schools, after which he entered the State Normal School and pre- pared himself for teaching, a profession which he followed for four years. Being desirous of taking up the medical profession as a life work, he aban- doned his pedagogical work and entered the Louisville Medical College, from which he was graduated on June 30, 1909, two years of his time in college having been spent in hospital practice. Having thus laid a splendid founda- tion for his future calling,-he came to Fort Branch, hung out his shingle, and in a comparatively short time had built up a large and lucrative practice. He is essentially progressive and modern in his methods, realizing that the edu- cation of a physician is never at an end, and by constant reading from the leading medical journals and study of the complex problems of medicine at first hand, he is keeping himself abreast of the times in his profession.
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In December, 1909, Doctor Bass was united in matrimony to Lena John- son, daughter of F. M. Johnson, of Illinois. Mr. Johnson is one of the lead- ing and representative men of his community and the subject's wife is a most charming and cultivated lady. A beautiful residence and up-to-date offices have been erected by Doctor Bass, and his home is the social center for his many friends, the genial natures of the subject and his wife being demon- strated in the true spirit of hospitality which radiates from their home. To Doctor Bass and wife has been born one child, Herschel L.
In 1910 the subject of this review was elected coroner of Gibson county, and so efficiently did he discharge the duties of that responsible position that he was re-elected in 1912, and is at present capably filling that office. The Doctor is a member of the Gibson County Medical Association, the Indiana State Medical Association and the Ohio Valley Medical Association, while, fraternally, he is affiliated with the Free and Accepted Masons, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Improved Order of Red Men and the Modern Woodmen of America, of which latter order he is medical examiner.
JOHN WESLEY HARMON.
The character of a community is determined largely by the lives of a comparatively few of its members. If its moral and intellectual status be good, if in a social way it is a pleasant place in which to reside, if its reputa- tion for the integrity of its citizens has extended to other localities, it will be found that the standards set by the leading men have been high and their in- fluence such as to mold their characters and shape the lives of those with whom they mingle. In placing the subject of this sketch in the front rank of such men, justice is rendered a biographical fact universally recognized throughout Gibson county by those at all familiar with his history. Although a quiet and unassuming man, with no ambition for public position or leader- ship, he has contributed much to the material advancement of the community, while his admirable qualities of head and heart and the straightforward, upright course of his daily life have tended greatly to the moral standing of the circles in which he moves and gives him a reputation for integrity and correct conduct such as few achieve.
John Wesley Harmon, one of the most progressive business men of this county, was born January 18, 1840. His parents were Laxton and Elizabeth Ann (Simpson) Harmon. Laxton Harmon was a native of Virginia, whose
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father, John Simpson, was a native of North Carolina. The father of the subject came to Gibson county in 1811, and at the time of the battle of Tip- pecanoe, on November 7, 1811, he was on guard duty in old Fort Knox at Vincennes. He was not in the fight, but assisted during all the troubles inci- dent to the Indian uprising in guarding the fort in the fall of 1811. His death occurred in November, 1842, having lived all of his life as a farmer in this county. He did his share towards clearing up the land, draining the swamps and making the roads through the pathless forests, and at his death he had cieared and put under cultivation forty acres of land which was practically worthless at the time he entered it. Laxton Harmon, the father of the subject of this sketch, died shortly after the birth of John W. Mrs. Elizabeth Ann Harmon was the daughter of John Simpson, Sr., a native of Gibson county. She died in 1851, when John W. was about eleven years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Laxton Harmon were the parents of three children, Lewis, de- ceased, Melinda, deceased, and the subject of this sketch. Lewis lived and died in this county, having followed the occupation of a farmer there all his life. He was never married. Melinda was the wife of Garr&dMount, and died in the spring of 1865. Mr. and Mrs. Mount were the parents of four children, Mrs. Elizabeth Wilhite, deceased; Mrs. Mary Pegram, deceased ; Mrs. Alice McCrary and Julius.
John W. Harmon was reared on the farm west of Owensville in the Maumee river bottoms and followed the occupation of a farmer until 1870, when he formed a partnership with F. M. Welborn and engaged in general merchandising in Owensville, which pursuit he continued for two years under the firm name of Welborn & Harmon, after which time he sold out his interest in 1873 to Richey Sumner, but remained in the store as a clerk. After clerking for about eighteen months, he re-entered the business under the firm name of Welborn, Harmon & Company. Some time later he sold his in- terest to James Robinson, who purchased the stock for his son. The firm name was then changed to Pruitt, Robinson & Company. Pruitt later bought out the interests of Robinson and the firm name became Pruitt Brothers. Joseph Pruitt, the elder member of the firm, died in July, 1880, and in the spring of 1881 Mr. Harmon took the interest of Joseph Pruitt and the firm was reorganized under the name of Harmon & Pruitt. In the fall of 1888 Mr. Harmon traded his interests to Samuel Scott for a half interest in the Owensville Milling Company, the new firm being known as the Harmon & Wallace Company. He still retains his interest in the mill. Mr. Harmon is also one of the largest land owners of the county, having over twelve hun-
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dred acres of good land, three hundred and fifty of which lie in the Wabash township bottoms. The rest of his land is located in Union and Montgomery townships. Mr. Harmon also has large real estate holdings in Owensville. consisting of business rooms, residence property and a large number of city lots.
Mr. Harmon was married September 29, 1872, to Julia A. Pruitt, the daughter of William and Elizabeth (Spain) Pruitt, both of whom were natives of this county. These parents both died in Evansville. One child, Harvey, was born to this union, who is represented elsewhere in this volume. Mrs. Julia Harmon died December 4, 1876. On December 12, 1878, Mr. Harmon was married to Nancy Elizabeth Musick, daughter of Herrod and Mary E. (Warrick) Musick. Herrod Musick was a native of Ohio and came to Logan county, Illinois, where his death occurred several years ago. Mrs. Musick was a native of Gibson county, and has been dead many years. To Mr. Harmon's second marriage was born one child, a daughter, Grace, who is the wife of Rufus H. Barnet, the present postmaster of Owensville. They have three children, Robert, Warren and Marriam.
Mr. Harmon has for a half century been one of the most prominent business men of the county. He is distinctly a man of affairs, sound of judg- ment, with keen discernment, and far-seeing in everything he has undertaken. and every enterprise to which he has addressed himself has resulted in liberal material reward. His extensive business interests are the legitimate fruitage of consecutive effort, directed and controlled not only by good judgment, but also by correct moral principles. Personally, he is congenial, quiet and un- assuming in disposition, and in all the relations of life he has so conducted himself that his friends are in number as his acquaintances.
Politically, Mr. Harmon has always been a Democrat, but has never taken an active interest in the deliberations of his party. although when he was a young man not far past his majority he was township assessor for two terms. He has been a life-long member of the Regular Baptist church, and for many years has been a trustee of that denomination. He has always lent his influence and support to everything in the matter of the advancement and welfare of his town and community, and his charitable work has been the means of alleviating much suffering in his locality. He is always ready to share his substance with the poor and needy, and by a straightforward and commendable course he has made his way to a highly respected position in the world. His career presents a notable example of those noble qualities of mind and character which overcome obstacles and win success, and his example is eminently worthy of imitation.
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GIBSON COUNTY, INDIANA.
W. F. MORRIS, M. D.
Gibson county, Indiana, has reason to take pride in the personnel of her corps of medical men from the earliest days in her history to the present time, and on the roll of honored names that indicates the services of distin- guished citizens in this field of endeavor there is reason in reverting with gratification to that of Dr. W. F. Morris, of Fort Branch, who has attained eminence in his chosen calling and stands high among the scholarly and en- terprising physicians in a community that has long been distinguished for the excellence of its medical talent. He realized early that there is a purpose in life and that there is no honor not founded on worth and no respect not founded on accomplishment. His life and labors have been eminently worthy because they have contributed to a proper understanding of life and its prob- lems.
W. F. Morris, M. D., was born September 14, 1875, in Barton town- ship, Gibson county, Indiana, the son of John T. and Mary E. (Miller) Morris, the father a native of the same township, he having been born and passed his entire life on the home place where the subject first saw the light of day. John T. Morris was a son of John T. and Mary ( Marshall ) Morris, who were born and grew to maturity in England, leaving that country in 1832 and coming to Evansville, Indiana, where they were married. From there they removed to Vanderburg county, and in 1838 again sought a new location, this time settling in Barton township, Gibson county, where they, with the other sturdy pioneers of those days, engaged in the struggle to sub- due the almost unbroken wilderness and build a home. John T. Morris, Sr., was an efficient surveyor and his services were in great demand by his neigh- bors in locating their lands. He was a well informed man and was a valuable addition to the community, his advice often being sought on matters of busi- ness. It is said that one of his many accomplishments was "fiddling," and his presence was demanded at the social gatherings of those days, where the music from his bow helped to make the sturdy pioneers forget their hard- ships and struggles. He and his wife were members of the Episcopal church. To this worthy couple were born six children, as follows: John T., the subject's father; Richard, Lewis, Phillip and Sidney are deceased; Robert is engaged in farming on the home place. The subject's father secured what education he could in the early schools of the county, and his father dying when he was but twelve years old, the care of his mother was taken up by
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him, and she lived with him until her death in 1898. John T. Morris, Jr., en- gaged in farming for thirty-five years. He was a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church, while, politically, he was a supporter of the Re- publican party. He was united in marriage to Mary E. Miller, daughter of David Miller, of Virginia, who was an early settler in Pike county, Indiana, and . later removed to Missouri. To this union were born nine children, namely : George Thomas, who is a farmer in Warrick county, Indiana, mar- ried Mary E. Heldt. He is also interested in engineering and in the dairy business ; John T .. a physician, who is the subject of a review in another part of this work; Robert Benjamin is a farmer in Warrick county, and among other investments he is interested in a telephone company. He was married first to a Miss DePriest and his second wife was a Miss Smith; Charles died at the age of four years; Mattie died at the age of two and a half years; William F .; James died at the age of four; David, deceased; Edison, a farm- er of Elberfield, Warrick county, married Augusta Ebrecht; Mary Eva married William C. May, a farmer at Mackey, Indiana.
The subject of this review attended the common schools of Barton township, supplementing this with a course in a business college in Indianapo- lis. Deciding on the practice of medicine as his life work, he took up the study of that noble profession under the tutelage of Dr. Jolin Ballard, which he continued until 1906, when he entered the Jefferson College of Medicine in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, graduating from this well-known institution in 1900. While pursuing his medical studies in the Philadelphia college he also took up the surgical branch under the direction of Dr. W. W. Keen, Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, one of the most noted surgeons of the world, his most wonderful accomplishments having been along the line of brain surgery. Receiving his diploma in both branches at the same time, Doctor Morris returned to his native state and took up the practice of his profession at Fort Branch, where he has been very successful and has built =
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