USA > Indiana > Gibson County > History of Gibson County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions > Part 84
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James Thomas was twice married, and to the first marriage were born two children, Franklin and Helen. Franklin was a gunsmith and lived at Washington, Indiana, where he died in 1862, single. He willed ten thousand dollars to the Cumberland Presbyterian church. He made lots of guns and was a celebrated workman. The daughter. Helen, died at Sparta, Illinois, several years ago.
To James and Cynthea Thomas were born seven children, namely : Henry died in 1874: Mary, who married Henry Geisky. is now deceased ; David is making his home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania : William is deceased : Susannah married Harry Pigman and lives in Cincinnati, Ohio; the subject ; Dellia married Frank Kightly and lives in White River township. Gibson county.
The subject spent his boyhood days in Princeton, where he attended the
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district schools, after completing which he took up the task of learning the blacksmithing trade in the shop of Thomas Ewing and Henry Geisky. Upon completing his apprenticeship, he went to Louisville, Kentucky, where he worked at his trade for three years, learning the construction of engines and general machine work. Returning to Princeton, in 1882, he saw an opening for his talents in the town of Hazleton, and there he started in business on his own account. He has steadily increased his business, now handling farm implements of all kinds and having a machine shop in connection, where all varieties of repair work are done.
In November, 1878, Theodore Fleming Thomas was united in marriage with Berminnia Shreves, of Decker Station, Knox county, Indiana, daughter of John W. Shreves, a native of Scotland. To this union have been born nine children, namely : Oliver Morton resides in St. Louis and is superin- tendent of the Western Union Telegraph office there; Fay E. married Cleve- land Morgan, of Atlanta, Georgia, where they reside; John F. is connected with his father's business; Louis R. is train dispatcher for the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton railroad at Indianapolis; Leslie A. is now in Evansville, Indiana, and is assistant foreman of the Vulcan Plow Company; Franklin L. is employed by the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad Company as assist- ant agent and operator at Hazleton, Indiana; Blanche, May and Dale are still under the paternal roof.
Fraternally, Mr. Thomas is a member of the blue lodge of the Masonic fraternity, while in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows he has been through all the chairs and has been honored by selection a number of times as delegate to the grand lodge. He is a member of the city council, of which body he has served as president. Politically, he was a stanch Democrat, while in his religious belief, he was a loyal member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON DE PRIEST.
The office of biography is not to give voice to a man's modest estimate of himself and his accomplishments, but rather to leave upon the record the verdict establishing his character by the consensus of opinion on the part of his friends and neighbors. The life of the honorable subject of this review has been such as to elicit just praise from those who know him best, owing to the fact that he has always been loyal to trusts imposed upon him and has
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been upright in his dealings with his fellow men, at the same time lending his support to the advancement of any cause looking to the welfare of the com- munity at large.
William Henry Harrison De Priest was born August 20, 1841, in Gibson county, Indiana, the son of George W. De Priest, a native of Bowling Green, Kentucky, and Julia ( Foster) DePriest, who was born near Fort Branch, Gibson county. The grandparents of the subject on the paternal side were William and Nancy DePriest, who came from the state of Mississippi over one hundred years ago and settled in Bowling Green, Kentucky, later removing to Gibson county, where they entered government land near Fort Branch. Here they spent the remainder of their days engaged in farming. The subject's father assisted on the home farm and after the death of his parents he took charge of the estate and energetically applied himself to the development of the land. As an example of his energy, it is cited that he taught school for a period of six months in 1840 in order to get money to pay a man for getting out logs, he doing the building himself. This house is still standing and is occupied by his widow, who was his third wife. The father only lived to be forty-five years of age. He was very successful in life, start- ing with but forty acres given him by his father, and at the time of his death being the owner of a farm of five hundred acres, he having cleared over two hundred acres. He was a man of great energy, and was a strong Democrat, the subject having been named after William Henry Harrison. He was well informed, a ready debater, and was urged many times by his friends to run for Congress, but could never be persuaded to do so.
The subject of this review was the oldest of a family of four children. He lived on the home farm until 1875, when, owing to poor health, he sold out and came to Hazleton, where he engaged in general merchandising. His business prospering, he added a grain elevator, which burned down about 1883. and about two years later his store was also destroyed by fire. Going to Princeton, he was engaged in clerking for five years, after which he returned to Hazleton and engaged in the grain business. Five years was spent in this line, he then going into the drug business with his brother at Hazleton. After the brothers organized a mill, Mr. DePriest again returned to the farm of his brother, where he acted as superintendent until 1898. when he was ap- pointed postmaster at Hazleton. He has given such universal satisfaction both to the postal authorities and the general public that he has been ap- pointed to the same position at the end of each four-year term. His genial manner has won for him a host of friends and acquaintances, among whom
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he is familiarly known as "Uncle Billy." In connection with his duties as postmaster, he has a nice assortment of stationery, pencils, postcards, etc., and enjoys a good patronage. He has had more than his share of the ups and downs of life, but every reverse has found him bobbing serenely up ready for another battle, never disposed to quarrel with his fate.
Fraternally, the subject is a meniber of the Masonic fraternity, Hazle- ton, being affiliated with the blue lodge, and he is also an active worker in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian church at Hazleton, Indiana.
THEODORE W. CRAWFORD.
Specific mention is made of many of the worthy citizens of Gibson county within the pages of this book, citizens who have figured in the growth and development of this favored locality, and whose interests are identified with its every phase of progress, each contributing in his sphere of action to the well-being of the community in which he resides and to the advancement of its moral and legitimate growth. Among this number is Theodore W. Crawford, one of the leading farmers of Montgomery township, Gibson county, Indiana.
Theodore W. Crawford is a native of this county, having been born at Oakland City August 28, 1861, the son of James Lawrence and Annie (Townsend) Crawford. James Lawrence Crawford was born at Owens- ville, the son of Holly and Delia (Dimick) Crawford. Holly Crawford was a native of the state of New York and in 1816, when a young man, he jour- neyed westward to Indiana, arriving at Vincennes about the time the Indians were bought out and driven further westward. He remained but a short time, returning to New York, but in 1818 came back to this state to stay. Before returning to Indiana he went to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he joined several families coming out to Indiana. These were the Dimicks, the Runnels and the Townsends. They built a flat boat, which was launched on the Ohio river at Pittsburgh and conveyed themselves and their possessions to . their new home The Dimicks settled at Princeton, and there are now cab- inet makers of the name who are descendants of these pioneers. Holly Craw- ford also came to Princeton, and at that time it was only a little village, struggling to assume metropolitan airs. Holly Crawford was a carpenter
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and his labor helped to form many of the homes built in early days. He also helped to build the old mill on the creek south of the town square. He later moved to Owensville and lastly to Oakland City, where he came to possess some five or six hundred acres of land. This he farmed, or that portion which was cleared, and here he died. James Lawrence Crawford was about sixteen years old when his father took up his residence at Oakland City, and he lived the remainder of his life on the land which has father had owned, following in the footsteps of his worthy father. Holly Crawford had for many years been justice of the peace and a man much admired and respected. James Lawrence was comparatively young when he became an elder in the Cumberland Presbyterian church, and gave many years to that service, doing all in his power to further that society's interests. He took as his wife Anne M. Townsend, born about three miles north of Princeton, a daughter of Dean Townsend, whose father came from Pittsburgh with Holly Crawford. She still lives on the old Crawford hometsead near Oakland City.
Theodore W. Crawford grew up on the old home place, attending the country schools and later the high school at Oakland City, from which he was graduated. In 1884 he united in marriage with Mary E. Jones, sister of John W. Jones and daughter of Franklin Jones, deceased, sketches of whose lives appear elsewhere in this volume. For about five years after his marriage Mr. Crawford continued to reside in Oakland City, and at that time purchased a farm about three miles southwest of Owensville, where he now resides and where he owns in all some two hundred acres of fine farm land. Mr. and Mrs. Crawford are the parents of five children, namely: Eva, Frank L .; Opha, who is the wife of Lowell Mauck, and lives within two miles of her father's home: Minnie J. and Delia, who graduated from the Owensville high school in the spring of 1914. All of the family except Opha are at home. Minnie, however, is at present attending State Normal School at Terre Haute, Indiana.
Politically, Mr. Crawford is a stanch supporter of the Republican party. He is not a seeker after office for himself, but wields a definite influence in the party campaigns. Fraternally, he is a member of the time-honored order of Freemasonry, in which he has taken all of the York Rite work except the Knight Templar degree. Religiously, he is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian church and gives this society his liberal support. Mr. Crawford is a man of large views and broad sympathies, and no movement for the ad- vancement of his community has ever solicited his aid in vain, for he believes in progress all along the line of material effort and his interests are always
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in harmony with the highest and best interests of his fellow citizens. Genial and unassuming in manner, he has a host of friends throughout Gibson county.
WILLIAM H. THORNE.
The success of men in business or any vocation depends upon character as well as upon knowledge, it being a self-evident proposition that honesty is the best policy. Business demands confidence and where that is lacking busi- ness ends. In every community some men are known for their upright lives, strong common sense and moral worth rather than for their wealth of political standing. Their neighbors and acquaintances respect them, the younger gen- erations heed their examples, and when they "wrap the drapery of their couches about them and lie down to pleasant dreams" posterity listens with reverence to the story of their quiet and useful lives. Among such men of a past generation in Indiana was the late William H. Thorne, who was not only a progressive man of affairs, successful in material pursuits, but a man of modest and unassuming demeanor, well educated, a fine type of the reliable, self-made American, a friend to the poor, charitable to the faults of his neighbors and who always stood ready to unite with them in every good work and active in the support of laudable public enterprises. He was a man who in every respect merited the high esteem in which he was universally held, for he was a man of public spirit, intellectual attainments and exemplary character.
William H. Thorne was born in Culpeper county, Virginia, April 26, 1823, the son of Thomas Thorne. He was married in 1842 to Jemima Cain, also of Virginia. He died in 1902, his wife having passed away a few months before.
The Thornes were a prominent family in Virginia. At the outbreak of the Civil war William H. Thorne was engaged in farming, his estate being located in Wirt county, West Virginia, a tract that had been cleared and im- proved by the subject, and here were born eight children. At the commence- ment of the Civil war their sympathies were with the South, although they were opposed to slavery.
At the close of the war the family removed to Indiana, arriving on March II, 1865, and locating at Hazelton, Gibson county, where the subject acquired three hundred acres of land adjoining the town, a portion of which has become town property known as Thorne's addition, on which he erected
THORN HILL, RESIDENCE OF MRS. MARTHA CROWE, HAZELTON.
NYOHJ.
Mr. and Mrs. William Thorne
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the residence at present occupied by his daughters and known as Thorne Hill. The subject of this review served twelve years as justice of the peace at Hazelton and was a man highly respected and honored, he being a gentleman of the old Southern school.
To the subject and wife were born eight children, namely: Lunsford was a member of Company E, Thirty-sixth Virginia Regiment, Brecken- ridge's division, Early's corps; he was captured by the Federals, but was pardoned and eventually he joined his family and came to Indiana; Zadock, deceased; Mary Margaret married Dr. M. M. Morgan, and both are now de- ceased; William Wirt, deceased; Theodore T. is a successful merchant in Hazelton; Esther Jane; Martha A., now Mrs. Crowe, resides on Thorne Hill; Lillie Belle. Esther Jane, mentioned above, is the widow of W. S. Kelley, who was a prominent attorney of Chicago. They made their home in Oklahoma, where Mrs. Kelley has considerable property. Her son, Wayne Scott Kelley, is the author of a number of popular stories, he writing under the nom de plume of "Six Shot Shortie." Lillie Belle married Marcellus Howard Decker and is living on part of the old home place. They have four children : Marcellus Overton, the owner of the ferry across White river; Cayula Belle, who has been teaching in the Hazelton schools for the last seven years; Alphonso and Alberta are twins. Alphonso is at home and Alberta. who married Fred B. McNiece, is living near Hazelton.
Mrs. Crowe and her sister, Mrs. Kelley, who occupy the residence. "Thorne Hill," are great lovers of books, are broad-minded in their views and are ladies of exceeding culture.
HENRY P. PHILLIPS.
There is no positive rule for achieving success, and yet in the life of the successful man there are always many lessons which might well be followed. The man who gains prosperity is he who can see and utilize the opportunities that come in his path. The essential conditions of human life are ever the same, the surroundings of individuals differing but slightly, and when one man passes another on the highway of life to reach the goal of prosperity before others who perhaps started out before him, it is because he has the power to use advantages which probably encompass the whole human race.
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Today among the prominent citizens and successful business men of Hazleton, Gibson county, Indiana, stands Henry P. Phillips. The qualities of keen dis- crimination, sound judgment and executive ability enter very largely into his make-up and have been contributing elements to the material success which has come to him.
Henry P. Phillips was born near Union, Pike county, Indiana, October 23, 1864, the son of John G. and Mary J. (Sullivan) Phillips, both natives of Gibson county, he of Washington township, and she of near Hazleton. The father of John Phillips was also named John. John Phillips, Sr., was of Irish stock and after coming to America he settled in North Carolina and after living there for a short time, removed to Tennessee. But a brief period was spent in that state, the grandfather's family soon removing to Indiana and locating in Gibson county. Here they spent the rest of their days, the grandfather reaching the age of seventy. The father of the subject of this review continued the work of cultivating the home place until his death oc- curred April 29, 1868.
To John G. and Mary J. Phillips were born the following children : William Franklyn died at the age of fifteen years ; Nannie is the wife of J. P. L. Weems, an attorney at Vincennes, Indiana ; the subject, and a child that died in infancy. The mother, after the death of the father, was married to Fred Gowen and lives at Giro, Indiana.
The subject of this sketch spent his boyhood days in Washington town- ship in the northern part of the county. On September 16, 1892, he was married to Zora Brice, of Hazleton, Indiana the daughter of William Brice, a pioneer of Gibson county. To this union have been born eight children, namely: Ruth, who is a teacher in White River township; Grace, living at home, is a music teacher ; Mary, Cecil, Edith, Maurice and Brice are in school ; Frank died in infancy.
After the subject's marriage he was engaged in the operation of a port- able saw mill for some years, but the timber in the community becoming scarcer each year, he decided to locate permanently in Hazleton, where he es- tablished his present business in 1902. Here a large local business has been built up, he handling a large amount of Southern pine, most of his other grades of lumber also coming from the South. In addition to his large lumber busi- ness, he also handles cement, plaster and building materials. Mr. Phillips has conducted his business on a plane that has won for him a respected place in the commercial world, and has gained for him an enviable position among the public-spirited and progressive citizens of Gibson county. His residence, at
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the corner of Brown and Second streets, adjoining his lumber yard, is all that a modern home should be, and a spirit of genuine hospitality pervades it at all times.
Mr. Phillips efficiently served his township as trustee for the four years from 1905 until 1909. Fraternally, he is a past master in the Masonic blue lodge, while he has passed through all the chairs in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
JAMES S. MOWRY.
One of the conspicuous names on the list of Gibson county agriculturists is James S. Mowry, a gentleman of high standing, to whom has not been denied a full measure of success. Long recognized as a factor of importance in connection with the farming and stock raising industries here, he has been prominently identified with the material growth and prosperity of this part of the state, his life having been closely interwoven with the history of the county where he has been content to live and follow his chosen vocation for nearly three-quarters of a century.
James S. Mowry was born September 10, 1839, in Montgomery town- ship, Gibson county, the son of Jacob and Margaret ( Summers) Mowry, the father being born in 1778 in Shenandoah county, Virginia, the mother being also a native of the Old Dominion.
Jacob Mowry, father of the subject, came to Indiana with his parents in pioneer days, they first locating in Harrison county, and later removed to Gib- son county. settling in Montgomery township, where land was purchased and a home place established. Here subject's father spent his entire life. He died in 1850, and the subject's mother passed to her reward in 1844. Jacob Mowry was twice married and to the first union were born five children. By his second marriage eight children were born, namely : George, now deceased, a farmer in Gibson county : Delila, also deceased, the wife of Nelson Johnson : Polly, deceased, married James Sargent; Margaret first married William King and then John Alsop, and she is now deceased: Robert died in Illinois ; Anna, deceased, the wife of Thomas Newcomb; Ella, deceased: the subject. Jacob Mowry, the subject's father, was an expert millwright and in politics gave his support to the Democratic party.
James Mowry's chances for obtaining an education were very meager, his only schooling being one short three-months term. At the age of seven years he was bound out to Joseph Wasson for a year and a half, after which
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he lived with Abram Mauck. Sr., until he reached his fifteenth year, when, Mr. Mauck dying, he took up his abode with a cousin, Joseph Summers. Remain- ing with Mr. Summers for four years, the subject struck out for himself and engaged in farm work for about a year, when, the Civil war breaking out, he enlisted in the army, his service beginning August 6, 1861, as a member of Company F, Thirty-third Indiana Volunteer Infantry. After being recruited to full war strength in Princeton, the company left for Indianapolis, where the regiment was organized and outfitted, and in a short time sent to Lex- ington. Kentucky, where they took part in the battle of Wild Cat. From this point the command to which Mr. Mowry was attached was dispatched to Tennessee, and at Thompson's Station, Tennessee, Mr. Mowry was captured and sent to Libby prison for thirty-nine days. However, he was fortunate in being among the early exchanges, and was taken to City Point and from there to Annapolis, Maryland, by boat. Here he was granted a ten days' furlough and returned to Indianapolis and then home for a brief visit. At the expiration of his leave of absence, Mr. Mowry, in June, 1863, rejoined his comrades at Franklin, Tennessee, and was engaged in the Atlanta cam- paign, receiving an honorable discharge from his country's service at Atlanta, Georgia, in September, 1864. While in the army Mr. Mowry contracted rheumatismn, from which he has since suffered a great deal.
The subject of this review has been twice married. His first marriage occurred May 28, 1863, to Ophelia Hanks, daughter of James S. and Rose (McMullen) Hanks, who came to Gibson county, Indiana, in 1810, and located in Patoka township, one and one-half miles southwest of Princeton. The parents of subject's wife are now deceased, and she died March 9, 1905. Mr. Mowry's first union was blessed by the birth of four children: Sarah D., deceased; Oscar F., a farmer in Patoka township, who married Anna Dakin ; William, a printer in Princeton, who married Isabelle Able; Ross, who died in his twelfth year.
In November, 1907, the subject was united in marriage to Maria L. Kendel, the widow of James M. Kendel, a farmer of Patoka township, who died in 1868. By her first marriage Mrs. Kendel had two children: Perry A. is a farmer in Morris county, Kansas, and married Emma Chastine; Cather- ine Elizabeth married Ulysses Collins, of Chicago, Illinois.
Subject's second wife was a daughter of Frederick and Elizabeth (Cal- vin) Brown. Her father. Frederick Brown, was born in 1787 in Pennsyl- vania, and her mother was a native of Kentucky. He first located in Greene county, Tennessee, after leaving his home state, later removing to Harrison
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county. Indiana, in 1811, and then to Gibson county, about 1840, settling in Patoka township, where he followed agricultural pursuits until his death. He first married Sarah Kohl, of Tennessee, and to this union were born seven children : David, Mary Ann, Daniel, John. Elizabeth, Abraham and Kate. By her father's second marriage Mrs. Mowry was the only child.
At the close of the Civil war James S. Mowry located in Patoka town- ship, southwest of Princeton, and purchased land, which he farmed for some years. He removed to Princeton in 1909, and then located at his present place, known as "Taft Town," a short distance northeast of the city, where he bought a small place and has since resided. For many years Mr. Mowry worked at the carpenter's trade, and later was in the grocery business in Princeton for six years.
Mrs Mowry's grandfather. George Brown, was a soldier in the Ameri- can Revolution, serving in the Colonial army for eight years. Her mother was first married to William Cochran, a Gibson county farmer, and they were the parents of eight children : Joseph H., James W., Nancy, Mary Ann, Jane, Cynthia, William and Melinda. Mrs. Mowry was born December 18, 1842.
James S. Mowry belongs to Post No. 28, Grand Army of the Republic, at Princeton, and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, while his wife belongs to the General Baptist church.
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