USA > Indiana > Gibson County > History of Gibson County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions > Part 75
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G. B. Bingham received his education in the public schools of Patoka,
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and then engaged in the grain business and farming in partnership with his brother, the subject looking after the grain business. He has been eminently successful in this enterprise, and for many years has been numbered among the progressive and enterprising business men of Patoka. He retains his farming interests, which he has found to be a profitable investment, and gives his personal attention to every detail of his business affairs, being wide awake and following up-to-date methods in the conduct of his business.
In February, 1907, Mr. Bingham married Ada McClure, the daughter of the late A. D. McClure, of Patoka, and to them has been born one child, Mary Agnes. Politically, Mr. Binghanı has been a life-long Republican, and has served as a member of the Patoka town council. He takes an intelligent in- terest in all affairs looking to the welfare of the community, giving his sup- port to those measures which tend to elevate and improve local conditions. His chief characteristics are keenness of perception, tireless energy, honesty of purpose and motive and every-day common sense, which have enabled him not only to advance his own interest, but also largely to contribute to the moral and material advancement of the community.
GEORGE M. WATT.
It is the progressive, wide-awake man of affairs who makes the real history of a community and his influence as a potential factor of the body politic is difficult to estimate. The examples such men furnish of patient purpose and steadfast integrity strongly illustrate what is in the power of each to accomplish, and there is always a full measure of satisfaction in adverting even in a casual way to their achievements in advancing the inter- ests of their fellownien and in giving strength and solidity to the institutions which make so much for the prosperity of a community. Such a man is the worthy subject of this sketch, and as such it is proper that a review of his career be accorded a place among the representative citizens of the city and county in which he resides.
George M. Watt, proprietor of one of the largest mercantile houses of Oakland City, and one of the sterling citizens of this community, was born on June 22, 1859, near Xenia, Greene county, Ohio. His parents were Hugh and Margaret (Murray) Watt, the father a native of Erie county, Penn- sylvania, the latter of Glasgow, Scotland. Hugh Watt followed farming and
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brick making, being successful in these dual occupations, and in 1864 came to Gibson county, Indiana, where he located on a farm south of Oakland City, on which he lived until his death, which occurred in the fall of 1880, at the age of seventy-four years. A man of sterling qualities of character, he enjoyed to a marked degree the confidence of the community, and was a prominent and influential member of the United Presbyterian church. His widow survived him many years, dying in 1901, at the age of sixty-four years. She had come to America with her parents when but eleven years of age, locating in Greene county, Ohio. To Hugh and Margaret Watt were born seven children, namely: R. G., of Princeton, Indiana ; Laura. deceased. who was the wife of Oliver Hammonds, of Petersburg, Indiana ; Mattie, deceased: George; Stella, the wife of James Tomlin, superintendent of the Evansville public schools: Lydia, the wife of J. M. Black, a music teacher in Spokane. Washington ; and W. R. of Washington, Indiana.
George M. Watt attended the schools of Gibson county, being but four years of age when his parents removed to that county from Ohio. He re- mained with his parents, assisting with the. work of the farm until he was twenty-one years of age, when he and his brother bought a farm near Oak- land City, where he lived during the following sixteen years, giving his un -. divided attention to its operation. He then entered into partnership in the undertaking business with Porter Lamb, which lasted for eight years, and in 1910 he formed a partnership with J. N. Jackson and engaged in the hard- ware and agricultural implement business, which still demands his attention. They carry a complete line of shelf and heavy hardware, as well as a full line of agricultural implements and enjoy a full share of the public's patronage.
Politically, Mr. Watt is a Republican, and has served two terms as a member of the city council. During this period he was an earnest supporter of the movement and largely responsible for the securing of the water works in Oakland City, though this was accomplished in the face of hard opposi- tion. Religiously, he is a member of the Presbyterian church, to which he gives earnest support. He has been prosperous in his business affairs, and besides the mercantile interests in this city he is the owner of a good farm in Columbia township.
On November 26, 1891, Mr. Watt was married to Flora J. Crawford. who was born in Columbia township, Gibson county, Indiana, the daughter of John B. and Amanda Crawford, and to this union have been born two chil- dren, John M., now thirteen years of age, who is now attending school, and Ethel. who died at the age of one year. Mr. Watt has performed well his
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duty in all the relations of life, and while advancing his own interests, has not been unmindful of the general welfare of his fellow citizens. Thus he rightly deserves a place in the history of his locality.
THOMAS J. BOREN.
That the plenitude of satiety is seldom attained in the affairs of life is to be considered a most beneficial deprivation, for where ambition is satisfied and every ultimate end realized, if such be possible, apathy must follow. Effort would cease, accomplishment be prostrate, and creative talent waste its energies in inactivity. The men who have pushed forward the wheels of progress have been those to whom satisfaction lies ever in the future, who have labored continuously, always finding in each transitional stage, an in- centive for further effort. Mr. Boren is one whose well directed efforts have gained for him a position of desirable prominence in the agricultural circles of Gibson county, and his energy and enterprise have been crowned by a gratifying degree of success.
Thomas J. Boren is a native of Gibson county who has lived all his life within its bounds, and was born on August 23, 1849, near Antioch, in the southern part of Montgomery township, where he now resides. He is a son of Samuel and Zerelda (Marvel) Boren, Samuel Boren's birth-place being the same as that of his son. He was born in 1825, the son of John Doss and Jemima Boren, who were among the very earliest pioneers of the county, coming here when this whole county was almost virgin wilderness. They entered government land, which is now the old Boren homestead and on which the immediate subject of this sketch resides. There John Doss Boren and wife finished their days, and there their son Samuel grew to manhood, married Zereida Marvel and there made his home on the same tract. Zerelda Marvel was also a native of Gibson county, born in what is now the west end of Union township, the daughter of Painter and Lydia Marvel. Samuel Boren and wife were the parents of seven children, two of whom died in infancy and another son, John Doss, died at the age of twenty-one years. The remaining four are still living, namely: Thomas J., the subject of this sketch : Mrs. Phena Johnson, of Gibson county; Mrs. Manesa Wasson, of Cynthiana, and Mrs. Lydia Redman of the same place. Mrs. Samuel Boren was a devoted member of the Cumberland Presbyterian church and reared
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her family in strict accordance with the tenets of that faith. The Boren family has been prominent in the history of the county from earliest days. John Doss Boren was a man of wealth and influence and at one time the heaviest tax-payer in Montgomery township.
Thomas J. Boren grew to manhood on the same land obtained by his grandfather from the government and when about twenty years old he made his first business venture by purchasing a tract of about fifteen acres located near his home and having on it a neat little house and barn. He remained at home until in 1872, and at the age of twenty-three was united in marriage to Eliza Welborn, a sister of Judge O. M. Welborn, of Princeton. She was born in the vicinity of her present home. For two or more years after their marriage, Thomas J. Boren and wife lived on the place he had first purchased and in 1875 they moved to the old Welborn homestead, where they have since resided. It is a most beautiful country home with a large, park-like yard. dotted with great forest trees and beautiful shrubs, and a most hospitable home to enter ..
Mr. Boren has always employed the most modern methods in his agri- cultural work and is thoroughly up-to-date in all he does. In addition to his general farming, he gives particular attention to registered Hereford stock and Poland China hogs. At one time he had quite a large herd of cattle, but now keeps only a few of the very best. For one year, 1898, Mr. Boren was on the road selling Deering farm implements. He was county superintendent of rock roads for four years, 1907 to 1911, and has given his time to other public services from time to time.
Mr. and Mrs. Boren have a family of three children. Ella May, who is the wife of Walter Bixby, lives in Evansville, Indiana, and has one son, Walter Thomas. Frank, who lives in Owensville, is in the insurance busi- ness and is also deputy state oil inspector. His wife was Minnie Pruitt and they have two small daughters, Alice and Martha. C. Fred Boren is located at Owensville, and for years has been superintendent of Montgomery town- ship schools; he also deals in live stock. His wife was Belle Summers and they have one son, Charles Frederick. Mr. Boren comes of a robust and long-lived family. His mother's grandmother Marvel died at his father's home during the Civil war at the age of one hundred and four years, and was able to read without glasses, her faculties being unimpaired, and she had sufficient strength to walk quite a distance.
Mr. Boren's fraternal affiliation is with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks at Princeton and the Tribe of Ben-Hur at Owensville. Re-
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ligiously, both he and his wife are members of the General Baptist church and give earnest support to that society, both with time and means. Mr. Boren is one of those solid men of brains and substance, so essential to the material growth and prosperity of a community, and his influence has been willingly extended in behalf of every deserving enterprise that has for its object the advancement or welfare of his fellow-citizens. His estimable qualities of head and heart and the straight-forward, upright course of his daily life have won for him the esteem and confidence of the circles in which he has moved, and has given him a reputation for integrity and correct con- duct such as should be coveted by every man.
BARTLETT BENNETT HOLLIS.
It can not be other than gratifying to note that within the pages of this compilation will be found mention of many prominent and successful citizens of the county who have here passed their entire lives and who stand repre- sentatives of the sturdy pioneer element which instituted the Herculean task of reclaiming this section of the state from the wilderness, carrying the work valiantly forward and leaving it to their sons and daughters to rear the superstructure upon the foundations thus firmly laid. Those who have been the builders and founders of Gibson county are the ones who chiefly find place in this work, and in this number mention should not be omitted of the personal career of the gentleman whose name appears at the head of this article.
Bartlett Bennett Hollis was born April 7, 1843, two and a half miles south of Princeton, Gibson county, Indiana, the son of Othniel Hollis, of near Milton, Guilford county, North Carolina. Othniel Hollis was born in 1808 and was a son of Jesse and Frances (Brown) Hollis, also natives of North Carolina, the mother being a sister of Brazel Brown, who kept the first hotel in Princeton.
Jesse Hollis and family came to Gibson county. in 1825, in company with Hudson Brown, and lived the first year after their arrival in the Hoosier state on the Jonathan Young farm. They secured heavily timbered land two and one-half miles south of Princeton on the state road, and made their home here for the rest of their days. Jesse Hollis died in 1848 and his wife in 1853. They were the parents of the following children: Priscilla mar-
BARTLETT B. HOLLIS.
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ried Samuel Hogue; Ella was twice married, first to a Mr. Estus and then to Hosey Holcomb; Mary is deceased; Othniel, the subject's father.
Othniel Hollis enjoyed a very limited schooling and on his marriage went to Evansville, Indiana, and engaged in the hotel business for two years, at the end of which period, his father dying, he returned to the old home place and bought out the other heirs, continuing to reside there for about thirty years, when he sold the property and moved to Princeton, where he died February 14, 1894, his wife having passed away in 1876. He was a mem- ber of the Regular Baptist church, a Whig, and later a Republican, and was well known and highly respected in his neighborhood. He married Micha Stewart, of Mason county, Kentucky, a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Trekel) Stewart, natives of Virginia. Micha Stewart's parents removed from the Old Dominion to Maryland and later to Kentucky, in 1820 coming to Gibson county, and settling southeast of Haubstadt, where they secured land and made their home. They were the parents of ten children, namely : Charles, Greenbury, Warner, Luther, Stephen, John, George, Kerrila, who married William Thornton. Rachael, who married James Knowles, and Micha, the subject's mother.
Othniel and Micha Hollis were the parents of the following children : Frances married Robert J. Alexander and is now deceased; John is retired and living at Princeton; Sarah Ann died young; Ellen is the widow of Capt. J. R. Ashmead, of Terre Haute, Indiana; Bartlett B .; Cornella is living with the subject; Louisa died of typhoid fever in 1862; an infant daughter.
Bartlett Bennett Hollis, the subject of this review, secured a very limited education in the schools of his early days, he attending the Orr school. On August 12, 1862, Mr. Hollis enlisted in Company .1, Eightieth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, at Princeton, and after being outfitted and drilled for a brief period at Indianapolis, the company was sent to Covington, Ken- tueky, and assigned to the Twenty-third Army Corps. The first captain of this company was named Simmonson and the second to take that position was Charles Brownlee, while the regiment in the course of the war was com- manded by four different colonels, Denby, Brooks, Culbertson and Owen. After spending a short period in the hospital at Louisville on account of sick- ness, the subject joined his regiment at Crab Orchard, and on May 14, 1864. at the battle of Resaca, he was shot through the left shoulder, the bullet pass- ing through his left lung and coming out under the shoulder blade. He was in the hospitals at Chattanooga, Nashville. Louisville and Evansville, and
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was honorably discharged from his country's service February 14, 1865. Mrs. Hollis had three brothers in the Union army, namely: Irvin was in Company F, Thirty-second Indiana Volunteer Infantry; Francis M. was a member of Company F, Thirty-third Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and Wil- liam fought in the ranks of the One Hundred and Forty-ninth Indiana Volun- teer Infantry.
On June 4, 1872, Mr. Hollis was united in the holy bonds of matrimony with Sarah Jane Polk, of Patoka township, Gibson county, the daughter of Clayborn and Rachael (Shoptaugh) Polk, who came from Hardin county, Kentucky, to this county in 1844, where the father engaged in farming and flour milling and became a prominent man. The parents of Mrs. Hollis had twelve children and those who reached maturity were: Irvin C. is living in Sanford, Florida; Isabelle is the widow of Robert Kendle, of Princeton, Indi- ana, and is mentioned more fully in another portion of this volume; Francis M. was a mill man in the South and West and died in Kansas; William A., who died in 1905, was a mill man at Fort Branch and had also engaged in the tile and mill business near Madisonville, Kentucky; Caleb Clark lives in Valparaiso, Indiana; Sarah Jane, Mrs. Hollis.
To Mr. and Mrs. Hollis have been born the following children: Heber Ernest is a miller at Emerson's mill at Vincennes, Indiana. He started to learn the milling business at the age of sixteen. He married Melissa Dame; Othniel (better known as "Ott") is a farmer and stock man at Patoka and married Forna Brown; Francis Allen married Effie Martin and is farming in Patoka township; Bartlett H. died at the age of five months; John Stewart married Jessie Binkley and is a farmer in Patoka township; Rachael is the wife of Herbert Thompson, an oil driller at Bartelsville, Oklahoma; Walter is farming at home ; Charles Edwin married Maude Blum and is farming in Patoka township; Clarence V. is at home.
After his marriage Mr. Hollis lived on the Judge Robinson place for about a year, then at different places in Patoka township and in 1891 located on the present farm in Patoka township, the old Polk place, where he now has eighty acres of fine land, besides owning the eighty acres where his son resides. A general farming and stock raising business is carried on and a first-class modern agricultural plant developed.
Believing in the principles set forth in the platform of the Socialist party, Mr. Hollis has allied himself with this party. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic.
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ELI J. ROBB.
The true measure of individual success is determined by what one has accomplished. An enumeration of those men of a past generation who were successful in their life work and at the same time left the impress of their strong personalities upon the community, men who won honor and recogni- tion for themselves, and at the same time conferred honor on the locality in which they resided, would be incomplete were there failure to make specific mention of the gentleman whose name initiates this paragraph, for although Eli J. Robb has long been sleeping the sleep of the just, his influence still pervades the lives of those who were so fortunate as to enjoy his acquaint- ance His name is deeply engraved on the pages of Gibson county's history, for his life was a busy one, and he never allowed anything to interfere with his Christian obligations or the faithful performance of his church duties. His entire Christian life was a steady effort for the worth of the Christian doctrine, the purity and grandeur of Christian principle and the beauty and sublimity of Christian character. Pure, constant and noble was the spiritual flame that burned in and illumined the mortal tenement of the subject of this memoir, and to the superficial observer can come but small appreciation of his intrinsic spirituality, his faith being fortified by the deepest study, and the Christian verities were with him the matters of most concern among the changes and chances of this mortal life.
The late Eli J. Robb, the son of Eli and Nancy ( Davis) Robb, was born in Montgomery township, Gibson county, Indiana, in May, 1830. His father, Eli Robb, was born August 7, 1797, the son of Thomas and Lydia ( Waller) Robb. Thomas Robb was born August 10, 1769, and his wife was born February 21, 1777. Thomas Robb, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, came to this county with his family in a very early day, and settled in Montgomery township, on the farm now owned by Presley Robh. Here Eli, the father of Eli J., was reared, and upon his marriage to Nancy Davis he entered government land at Griffin. in Posey county. Later he moved to what is now known as the William Shelton farm in Montgomery township. this county, and on this farm the subject of this sketch first saw the light of day. Shortly before the birth of Eli J. Robb, his father died, and three years afterward his mother married Samuel Montgomery. They lived near Cynthiana and reared a large family of children. On reaching his majority, Eli J. Robb was married, October 8, 1851, to Zerelda Finch, a native of Vanderburg county, Indiana. She was a daughter of G. W. and Delilah
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(Graves) Finch. Her father was a native of Kentucky and her mother of Virginia. G. W. Finch was one of the most prominent men in the south- western part of Indiana. He was a very active Mason and in the early days of Indiana he helped in the organization of a number of lodges in this section and it is believed that he had the honor of helping to organize the first Ma- sonic lodge in Indianapolis. He had a Masonic apron that was given his father by George Washington's wife, a white satin apron stamped by Martha Washington with the Masonic emblems. It was given him with the request that it go to the first of his sons who should become a Mason. This son was Senator G. WV. Finch, and he left it to his oldest son, who was a Mason, and thus it has been handed down until it is now owned by G. W. Finch, Jr., of Carmi, Illinois. Senator Finch came to Indiana when Evansville was a mere village and was offered the town site for a little gold watch which he owned, but refused to make the deal. He was an active Democrat all his life and the great political debates which were the rage during his days were often held at his home. He served two terms as state senator from Vanderburg county. Among his friends was the late Robert Dale Owen, who was for several years a representative in Congress.
After his marriage Eli J. Robb and wife made their home on his farm in section 36, Montgomery township. Their marriage was blessed with two children, Hattie E., and Sarah Ann, who died at the early age of six months. On this farm Mr. and Mrs. Robb remained the rest of their days with the exception of three years, when they lived in Lincoln, Illinois, in order to give their only daughter, Hattie E., an education at Lincoln Uni- versity, a Cumberland Presbyterian college. However, their daughter's health failed on account of her close application to her studies and they re- turned to their farm in this county, where they continued to reside until their death, Mrs. Robb's death occurring July 7, 1891, her husband surviving her twenty years, passing away on January 5, 19II.
Mr. Robb was an ardent Prohibitionist and attended the state conven- tions of his party for many years as a delegate. His counsels were sought by the leaders of that party, and he always occupied a very prominent place in the state and county conventions. Mr. Robb was noted throughout this locality for his generous hospitality, and his doors were always open to the poor and needy. Very frequently there were several orphan children being cared for in his home, or some unfortunate being aided by him, and no man ever lived in Gibson county who was more popular or well beloved by all classes than Eli J. Robb. Although not affiliated with any church as a mem-
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ber, yet he was a regular attendant of church services and every church near him received some financial aid from him. It is said of him that not even a tramp was ever turned hungry from his door. It is not what we give, but what we share that renders our gifts valuable.
Hattie Elizabeth, the only daughter of Eli J. Robb, taught school two terms in Gibson county after leaving Lincoln University. While in Illinois, she became acquainted with her first husband, Professor P. L. Deardorff, a native of that state. They were married September 9, 1874, and until his death he followed the occupation of a teacher. He was superintendent of schools one year at Mechanicsburg, Illinois, two years at Graysville, that state, one year at Fort Branch, Gibson county, Indiana, and the last year of his life was superintendent of the city schools at Mattoon, Illinois. At the time of his examination for a teacher's certificate in Illinois, he passed the best examina- tion which had ever been passed up to that time in Coles county, Illinois. He was a genuine scholar, a Latin student of great ability, and was also very active in church and Sunday school work and always strictly followed his motto, "Onward and Upward." Shortly after their marriage his health gave way and he went to Colorado to recuperate. On his return from Colorado to Illinois he stopped at Abilene, Kansas, at the home of Senator Burton, whose wife was a member of the Robb family, and here his death occurred July 27, 1879. Professor Deardorff was a very conscientious worker and while teach- ing he studied medicine, intending to follow that profession later on.
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