History of Hamilton County Indiana, her people, industries and institutions, Part 77

Author: John F. Haines
Publication date: 1915
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1051

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ment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and Sylvanus wanted to go to the front, but was refused on account of his age. In February, 1865, he went to Indi- anapolis to see his father, but failed to get in touch with him. He returned to Noblesville and there saw a recruiting officer just boarding a train with a company of newly enlisted men. He told the officer he was eighteen years of age and asked to be enrolled, and although he was only a little past four- teen, though large for his age, the recruiting official allowed him to enlist. He was in the Shenandoah valley when Lee surrendered in April, 1865, and recalls vividly the wild jubilation of the soldiers when they heard the news. He was taken sick with typhoid fever soon after the close of the war and was nursed back to health by his father in the mountains of Maryland. Upon being told that he soon would receive his discharge, he cried for joy, and came home as soon as possible.

Sylvanus Moore, the son of William T. and Annie (Cook) Moore, was born in Washington township, Hamilton county, Indiana, November 27, 1850. His father was born in eastern Tennessee in 1828, and at the age of three years, was brought to Union county, Indiana, by his parents, John and Louisa (Kokerham) Moore. John Moore and wife were born in east Tennessee in the valley of the Holston river, and were married there. Will- iam T. was their first child. In 1831 John Moore and his wife and little son made the long overland trip from eastern Tennessee to Union county, Indi- ana, the wife riding the one horse and carrying the small son, and the father, John, walking by the side of the horse. They camped by the way on their long journey through the wilderness and depended largely for their sub- sistence on game which was shot en route. When John Moore and his family arrived in Union county, Indiana, they had only three dollars in money. Soon afterward they came to Hamilton county, and entered land in the northeastern part of Washington township, the same farm now being occu- pied by T. J. Lindley. At that time Indians were numerous in Hamilton county and wild animals of all kinds freely roamed the dense forests. After living for some years upon this farm, which he had entered, John Moore sold it for eleven hundred dollars in silver to Aaron Lindley. He then went two miles west and entered one hundred and sixty acres where Jasper Moore, the son of John, is now living, and there remained the rest of his life. John Moore was an uneducated man, but a powerful worker, a money-maker and a man of rare good sense and judgment.

William T. Moore, the father of Sylvanus, grew up amidst pioneer sur- roundings. He often heard the panther's blood-curdling scream in his boy- hood days. He married Anna Cook, who was the daughter of Wright and

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Annie Cook, natives of South Carolina, and early settlers in Hamilton county. Wright Cook owned one hundred and sixty acres of land south of West- field at the time of the marriage of William T. Moore and Anna Cook. After their marriage William T. Moore and wife for a time rented the T. J. Lindley farm, living for some time in a log cabin, and here Sylvanus, their eldest child, was born. Afterwards William T. Moore bought a farm on the line between Adams and Washington townships, a mile north of Horton, and here on his ninety-three acres, he lived and died. He was a Methodist preacher for several years, and an earnest worker in the church. He died May 30, 1895, being found dead in his bed one morning. His wife had pre- ceded him to the grave two or three years. Four sons and one daughter were born to William T. Moore and wife: Sylvanus, first born; Elwood, who is now living on the old home farm; Elzena, a twin sister of Elwood, who died in childhood: John H., who married Jane Edwards; and William A., who married Susan Edwards. John H. and William A. are also twins, and married twin sisters. It is said that when either brother is sick, the other always is ill at the same time and in the same way. The two brothers live on the old home farm.

Sylvanus Moore received a good common school education in the schools of his home county, and at the tender age of fourteen, enlisted and saw service for about six months in the Civil War during the spring of 1865, as has already been indicated. He was married one month and nineteen days before his nineteenth birthday to Mary J. Perry, the daughter of Wyatt and Nancy (Lee) Perry. Mrs. Moore died, leaving three children, Bernie Beecher, Emerson and Nellie Grant. Bernie B. married Annie Hodson, and has six children. He is now the rural mail carrier at Cicero, having held this position for the past ten years. Emerson lives on his own farm of eighty acres in Monroe county, Indiana, near Ellettsville. He married Annie Hin- shaw, and has three children. Nellie G. is the wife of Charles Fouch, of Sheridan, and has three children.

The second marriage of Mr. Moore was to Mrs. Nora ( Wells) Roberts, the widow of Elwood Roberts. She was a daughter of John Wells, and died May 3, 1914. There were two children born to Mr. Moore's second mar- riage, Halsie A. and Russell Dewey. Halsie is the wife of Fred Stanbrough, and lives in Carmel, and they have one son. Russell D. is fifteen years of age and lives with his father.

After his first marriage Mr. Moore, determined to have a home of his own, bought seventy acres of timbered land mostly on credit. He has made an excellent farm of his seventy acres, on which he has been living continu- . ously since he first acquired it. He has been a member of the Methodist

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Episcopal church since he was seventeen years old and for many years has frequently filled the pulpit. He has married about thirty couples and has the satisfaction of knowing that no couple he has ever married has ever been divorced.

Politically, Mr. Moore is a stanch Republican and actively participates in the local councils of his party. He has been a candidate for the Legis- lature three times, being defeated by a narrow margin each time. Mr. Moore has always stood for the best welfare of his township and county, and is highly respected in his community.

SETH JACOB HINSHAW.

The Hinshaw family in Hamilton county, Indiana, represents part of the great migration from the state of North Carolina to this state before and during the Civil War. In the latter part of the eighteenth century a large number of the Quakers from Pennsylvania went to North Carolina to locate, but by the time of the Civil War, the greater portion of these had left the state and settled in free territory in the North. There are several counties in Indiana in which more than half of the early settlers were composed of emigrants from North Carolina. Hamilton county was fortunate in re- ceiving a large number of these worthy people, and among them the Hin- shaw family has taken an important part in the development of the county, the name being permanently linked with the history of the same.

Seth J. Hinshaw, the son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Barker) Hinshaw, was born July 28, 1862, in Randolph county, North Carolina. The interest- ing biography of his father is presented elsewhere in this volume.

Seth J. Hinshaw was a babe in arms when his father was drafted into the Confederate army, and was about four years of age when his mother brought him and his six-year-old brother from North Carolina to Indiana, his father having previously been sent by friends in Philadelphia, where he had been detained as a prisoner of war, to this state. Seth grew to manhood on his father's farm about two and one-half miles southeast of Sheridan, and was graduated from the Sheridan high school in 1891. He had attended Savoy College in Texas for about two years and. having taken the college course there with the intention of teaching, taught during the winter of 1886-7 before entering college. He had not quite completed his high school course before attending college and after leaving there, returned to Indiana

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and finished up his high school course at Sheridan in 1891. However, be- fore completing his high school course, he had taught in the Indian school in the Chickasaw nation, twenty miles north of Tishimingo, in the present state of Oklahoma.

Immediately after his graduation from the high school Mr. Hinshaw married and moved to a farm.across the road west from where he is now living and remained there four years. He then moved to his present home and has lived on this farm since 1895. For the first eight years after his marriage he taught school during the winter time and devoted his summers to his farm work. He was principal of the Lamong school for seven years. He spent his first year after his marriage teaching in the public schools of Noblesville.

When he was first married, Mr. Hinshaw had one hundred and thirty- five dollars. He rented land and started in on his own resources, teaching in the winter and farming during the summer seasons. Finally, after eight years of teaching he bought one hundred and sixty acres of land four miles north of Sheridan, going heavily in debt for the same. He sold this farm within a year and bought a farm of eighty acres in Boone county, two miles west of Lamong. He later bought eighty acres one and one-half miles northwest of Lamong. This was in the year 1904, and he held this farm until 1913, when he sold it. In the meantime he and his brother, Lewis E., had bought a farm of eighty acres near the Antioch Church, in Boone county, but he disposed of his interests in this farm shortly afterwards. The farm on which Mr. Hinshaw is now living comprises two hundred and ten acres and in addition to this he owns forty lots in the town of Sheridan. As a young man he got his start by becoming a stockholder in the Building and Loan Association at Sheridan. When the Hamilton Trust Company was organized at Noblesville he was a charter member and director and later be- came vice-president of the company, holding that position for two years. He is now a stockholder in the First National Bank of Sheridan.

Politically, Mr. Hinshaw has been a stanch Republican, and for many years has been a member of the county council, where he has made an ex- cellent record in every respect.

Mr. Hinshaw was married March 18, 1891, to Clara E. Hiatt, who was born in Washington township, this county, near Westfield, and is the daugh- ter of Isom and Asenath ( Tomlinson) Hiatt. Her mother was a native of Indiana and her father a native of Ohio. Mr. Hiatt was a life-long farmer and spent his entire life on the farm, where his death occurred in 1896.

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Mrs. Hinshaw's mother died in 1909. Both were members of the Friends church.

Mr. Hinshaw and his wife are active workers in the Friends church and Mr. Hinshaw has been a trustee of the church at Lamong ever since it was built and for many years has been chairman of the finance committee. For twelve years he was recording clerk of the Westfield Quarterly Meet- ing, which has a membership of twelve to fifteen hundred. He is a man of progressive ideas, active in business, public spirited and earnest in all church and benevolent enterprises. He and his wife look on the bright side of life and take occasional trips to Florida, Texas and other places in the United States. Mr. Hinshaw freely gives the credit for much of his success to his wife, and by her earnest works she has proved that she is fully entitled to the credit for much of the success which has attended his efforts. He has attained to his present enviable state of prosperity by honorable and upright means and no man in his community is held in higher esteem than is he.

ISRAEL H. DAVIS.

A man of the past generation in Hamilton county, Indiana, who is well remembered is Israel H. Davis. Mr. Davis was a man of pure and noble character, and one of those heroes concerning whose sacrifices little is ever heard. For more than twenty-five years he was engaged to the woman whom he finally married, but out of consideration for his afflicted brother and his aged mother, he and his bethrothed postponed their marriage from year to year. He was a man whom to know was to love and no more highly respected citizen ever lived in Hamilton county.

Israel H. Davis was born in Ohio on May 15, 1825, and died at his beautiful country home in Wayne township, Hamilton county, Indiana, May 15, 1899. He grew to manhood in Ohio on his father's farm and early in life learned the wagon-maker's trade. While still a young man his father died, and his mother, Mrs. Rachel Davis, and a brother, Asa, left Ohio and settled in Howard county, Indiana. For many years the widow and her two sons lived on a farm near Kokomo, where Israel farmed and also worked at his trade. For about seventeen years Israel Davis traveled over the country with his brother. Asa, who suffered from a severe mental trouble. which necessitated his being given constant care. During these many years the brothers were in seventeen different states. About 1892 Mr. Davis returned to Howard county and resumed farming.

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MR. AND MRS. ISRAEL H. DAVIS.

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Mr. Davis was married on August 25, 1892, at the age of sixty-seven, to Abigail Fenner, who was born eight miles east of Indianapolis, the daugh- ter of David and Ruth Ann (Murphy) Fenner. She spent all of her life where she was born up until the time of her marriage .. Her mother died eighteen months before she was married, and after her mother's death Mr. and Mrs. Davis remained with her father for about two years. Mr. Fenner was a blacksmith by trade and died in 1894. In June, 1894, Israel H. Davis bought a farm in the western part of Wayne township, Hamilton county, Indiana, and lived on it until the time of his death in 1899. This farm of two hundred and four acres is one of the finest farms in the county, the barn alone costing seven thousand dollars. Mr. Davis did not actively engage in farming, but rented out his fields and gave the place his careful supervision. Since the death of her husband, Mrs. Davis has continued to reside in their beautiful home. It was the request of her husband that she remain on the farm if she could do so conveniently and with satisfaction to herself. She is well known as a good business manager and to the people of her com- munity is affectionately known as "Aunt Abbie" Davis. She is a woman of strong intellect and character, and is loved by everyone who knows her.

Mr. Davis took a deep interest in all church work and in his own denom- ination, the Baptist church, he was an untiring and unselfish laborer. He was a man against whom no one ever could say a word, and by his honorable and upright life he left a name untarnished before the world.

The mother of Mrs. Davis, Mrs. Ruth Ann (Murphy) Fenner, was born in Green county, Ohio, and her father was a native of Pennsylvania. The Fenners moved to Indiana about 1840 and lived and died on their farm in Marion county, which they bought upon locating in this state.

JACOB HINSHAW.

The career of Jacob Hinshaw, one of the most highly respected citizens of Hamilton county, Indiana, is very interesting. Born and reared in North Carolina, of Quaker parentage, he had all that abhorrence of slavery which characterized the people of that denomination. The war coming on he was conscripted in the Confederate army and forced to serve until the battle of Gettysburg, when he was captured and then severed his connection with the Confederate army. Inasmuch as Mr. Hinshaw has given a rhymed version of his life the historian will content himself with briefly summarizing here the main facts of his life.

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Jacob Hinshaw was born April 22, 1834, in Randolph county, North Carolina, the son of Stephen and Hannah (Davis) Hinshaw. Jacob Hin- shaw was first married, in Randolph county, North Carolina, to Elizabeth Barker, born September 23, 1836, the daughter of Seth and Margaret (Cox) Barker. His first wife died September 23, 1882, and on February 12, 1884, Mr. Hinshaw married Huldah Barker, a sister of his first wife.

To the first marriage of Jacob Hinshaw were born nine children : Elihu B., born October 23, 1860; Seth J., born July 28, 1862; Hannah Maria, born July 11, 1865; Stephen A., born October 7, 1868; Mary Elizabeth, born September 5, 1870; Lewis, born September 17, 1873; Anna M., born May 9, 1875; Rufus V., born February 4, 1877, and Irvin Stanley, born August 19, 1879.

The following is a brief summary of the careers of these nine children, given in the order of their birth : Elihu B., who is a minister in the Friends church, went to Hiawassee College, in Tennessee, and after his graduation from that institution, taught for two years in the state of Tennessee, after which he went to Texas and continued teaching. From Texas he went to Indian Territory and taught the Indians in the government school for some time, becoming a superintendent of one of the Indian reservation schools in that state. For nineteen years he taught without missing a day. He is now superintendent of the agricultural school at Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, in the Haskell Institute. He is also engaged in a number of business opera- tions and has prospered exceedingly. He was married the day of his gradua- tion from college to Mollie Honeycutt. Seth J., the second child of Jacob Hinshaw and wife, is represented elsewhere in this volume. Hanna Maria lives in Monroe county, Indiana, and is the widow of T. Q. Heatherington, deceased. She has two children, John Z. and Florence. Stephen A. mar- ried Elizabeth Worley and lives in Sheridan, Indiana. He is in the hard- ware business and has one daughter, Mary. Mary Elizabeth is the wife of Willis Cobb, and lives in Boone county, Indiana. She has two children, Grace and Leland. Lewis E., who lives two and one-half miles south of Sheridan, married Nora Chance, and has three children, Marie, Lowell and Myron. Anna M. is the wife of Emmerson Moore, and lives in Monroe county, Indiana. She has four children, Norris, Alvin. Emil, Jacob and Edna. Rufus V. married Estella Moore, and has two children, Vernon and Marguerite. Rufus lives in Muncie, Indiana. He taught school for several years and is now in the life insurance business. Irvin Stanley, the ninth and youngest child of Jacob Hinshaw and his first wife, married Grace Phillips, and lives in Oklahoma. He is teaching in the high school of his

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home city, having received an excellent education in Earlham College, Rich- mond, Indiana, from which institution he was graduated. He has three chil- dren, Irene, Pauline and Elihu.

There was one child, Flora E., born to the second marriage of Jacob Hinshaw. Flora was born March 27, 1885, and is now the wife of Harry Kincaid, and lives at Sheridan. She has a daughter, Maxine.

Mr. Hinshaw and his wife are both loyal members of the Friends church. He is now a man past eighty years of age and is able to read with- out glasses. He is a man of upright character and kindly disposition, and he and his good wife ever have exerted a benevolent influence in the com- munity where they have spent so many years. His influence always has been for better things and no more highly respected man is living in Hamil- ton county today than Mr. Hinshaw.

The following brief summary of the career of Mr. Hinshaw was written by himself on March 3, 1909, and presents in an interesting way the main facts of his life.

A sketch of my life I will endeavor to pen, For the pleasure of my children, numbering ten. I will write in the form of rhyme If blessed with sense and proper time.

Though short in stock of education,

Which was difficult to obtain ; accommodation

Being poor in my infantile state, Compared to the wonderful chances of late, But will endeavor to pen it so it will be understood, Trusting the reader it may do some good.

I was born fourth month, twenty-second, 1834, Resided with my parents to the age of twenty-four. I then with Elizabeth Barker did join In wedlock on the twelfth of tenth month, 1859. In Marlboro meeting house, in Randolph county, In the good old state of North Carolina.

We settled on a farm near Hemps mill Where we resided and labored with a will, For the purpose of making a livelihood, And hoping by living to do some good.

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But lo! in the space of two short years, Rumors of war saluted our ears; Which we thought one of the greatest evils, Conceived and carried on in the spirit of devils.

The war in time did really come, Taking many men from family and home. I being the age that then was called, Was conscripted to the army in order installed, As a soldier for the support of slavery and secession, Which was contrary to my religious profession.

On refusing military orders and laws to obey, Was kept as war prisoner day after day. For eight long, long months in the prime of life, Was kept from home, children and wife, Often moved from place to place, In order for the pretended enemy to face.

When orders were given Pennsylvania to invade, I was taken along with Lee's crusade. In Gettysburg battle meeting with defeat, In darkness of night was forced to retreat; Failing in purpose with a heavy loss, Was forced the Potomac to recross.

I being captured and sent to Delaware, There lay fifteen days as a prisoner of war; Fell sick and discouraged; as to clothes had not a change, But did not wish a soldier's exchange. Was released through kind friends' persuasion, And to Philadelphia was given free transportation.

Recovering health and being liberated, I soon afterward to Indiana emigrated. I arrived at Westfield in eighth month, 1863, Hamilton county, Indiana, safe and free. Amongst friends and relatives I had seen before. But being separated from family and home felt sore.

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I hired to farmers to plow and chop wood, And contented myself as best I could. For over two years I thus spent my life, Away from home, from children and wife. In twelfth month, 1864, it being winter tide, Wife and children came where I then did abide, Very much wearied on account of delay, Caused by military laws on the way.

We then rented two years, bought a farm, Which had no buildings, not even a barn, To shelter from winter's cold, or summer's heat; We worked with a will to raise something to eat. For fifteen years we thus spent life, When sickness then befell my wife.

On ninth month twenty-third, her forty-sixth birthday, 1882, Dear wife Elizabeth bid this world adieu; Leaving her family whom she did much love, Ascended to sweet home in Heaven above, Where I trust we may unite with her again, At the close of our lives and there remain.

Having to part with companion so true and grand, Seemed almost more than human could stand. But such is life ; and to my work must return, With much sorrow, and how my heart did burn.

Toiling on then with a heavy load of care, Which seemed to be my allotted share; On the twelfth of second month of the year 1884, Huldah Barker and I embarked life's shore, She proving to be a helpmate very true, Reviving my courage and helping me pursue.

We toiled on then at the same old home, Until for others' interest and welfare I become. By my son, Seth, at this time taking a wife, We felt it a duty to help them to start in life.

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So with our three younger children small,

Moved to the town of Horton, thus leaving all. The old home farm and two sons in their care, And in the products of farm to share.

Thus time has fled from then until now,

Which finds us scarcely knowing how,

To plan any further, as our youngest is about Leaving us (a home for herself to look out) ;

We being old, feeble and lame, Though will not any one really blame;

We trust there will be some way,

Provided for us while here we stay.

CARLETON H. TOMLINSON, M. D.

Professional success is based upon merit. Frequently in commercial life one may come into possession of a lucrative business through inheritance or gift, but in what are known as the learned professions advancement is gained only through painstaking and long-continued effort. Prestige in the healing art is the outcome of strong mentality, close application, thorough mastery of its great underlying principles and the ability to apply theory to practice in the treatment of the ailments of mankind. Good intellectual training, thorough professional knowledge and the possession and utilization of the qualities and attributes essential to success have made the subject of this re- view eminent in his chosen calling and he stands today among the scholarly and enterprising physicians in a county noted for the high order of its medical talent.

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History of Hamilton County Indiana, her people, industries and institutions, Part 77

Author: John F. Haines Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1051

Author: John F. Haines
Publication date: 1915
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1051