USA > Indiana > Hancock County > History of Hancock County, Indiana, from its earliest settlement by the "pale face," in 1818, down to 1882 > Part 25
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CHAPTER XXIII.
BIOGRAPHIES AND PERSONAL SKETCHES.
JOSEPH FORT,
a native of the " Ancient Dominion," was born in 1814. He came with his parents to Henry county. When about fifteen years of age, he moved Prior Brown to Brown township. In 1840 he was married to Miss Mary, daughter of Moses McCray. In 1846 Mr. Fort united with the Concord Baptist Church. He afterward became a member of the Nameless Creek Christian Church, of which he was an honored member until his death. Mr. F. from the green woods made a good farm, well improved, erected good buildings, with a brick house, lived an hon- orable, industrious life, and honestly accumulated consid- erable property. Few men were more esteemed than was Mr. Fort by those who knew him best. His widow, a noble Christian lady, still lives on the old farm, enjoying the fruits of their labor. Mr. F., politically, was a Repub- lican, never aspiring to office. He was content with quiet rural duties in private life. For the last six years of his life he was a constant sufferer, but bore his affliction with patience and resignation, till he was finally taken to his long home, March 22, 1880, and his mortal remains were depos- ited in the Simmons cemetery in Jackson township, where loving hands have erected to his memory a stately monu- ment.
WILLIAM J. SPARKS
was born March 11, 1853, in Morgan county, Indiana, where he received a common school education, attending school for a time at Mooresville. His father being a miller, young Sparks run the engine in his native county for sev- eral years, prior to 1872; thence to Henry county, and
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HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
worked for a time in the Commercial Mills on Blue River. of which mills his father was the proprietor; thence to Greenfield, where he engaged in the sewing machine trade till 1879, when he was elected clerk of the city of Green- field, which position he finally resigned to become a candidate for mayor, to which office he was elected by a handsome majority. This position he still fills. Mayor Sparks is a young man, unmarried, a Republican, a mem- ber of the Christian Church, and is superintendent of the Sunday School connected therewith. He is fully identified with the interest of the city, and is putting forth his best efforts to bring it up to his ideal of a model municipality.
ANDREW T. HART.
senior member of the mercantile firm of Hart & Thayer, of this city, a native of the "Ancient Dominion," was born July 7, 1811. His father, a son of Erin, was a soldier under General St. Clair at the time of his mem- orable defeat, near the head-waters of the Wabash, in 1791. Andrew T. Hart, while a boy, endured the pri- vations of pioneer life in his native State. At the age of eleven he removed from the home of his earlier youth to Centerville, Wayne county, where he attended such public and private schools as the country then afforded, and acquired a common English education. His opportunities. however, were limited, and the success that has attended his career has been mainly the result of his own exertions. and it may be properly said that he is the architect of his own fortune. At the age of eighteen, he was apprenticed as a saddler with his brother, James B. Hart, of Liberty. Indiana, which trade he faithfully followed for three years. or until 1833, when he removed to Greenfield, where he has since resided. He at once opened a grocery store, in which business he continued for two years ; then as a clerk for Nicholas & McCarty for one year, followed by a mercantile partnership with Nathan Crawford for two years, when he purchased Crawford's interest, and has
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CHARLES DOWNING.
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HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
continued in the same business ever since, alone and oth- erwise. Mr. H. has filled a number of positions of public trust, and always with honor. In 1839 he was appointed agent of Indiana for the distribution of surplus revenue. He was the first treasurer elected in Hancock county, the prior treasurers being appointed by the commissioners. This was in 1841. In 1843 he was re-elected, and served for six consecutive years. In 1869 he was commissioned by Salmon P. Chase as U. S. assistant assessor for this county. Mr. H. has been prominently connected with almost all public enterprises in the county during his residence therein. In 1878 he was President of the Hancock Agricultural Society. He become a Mason in 1859, and an Odd Fel- low in 1865. In religion he is of orthodox faith .. In politics he was first a Whig, and since a Republican. Ilis first vote was cast for Henry Clay. He has been twice married. First, to Miss Louisa Forelander, in June, 1835, who lived but two years. In November, 1838, he was married to Miss Gabriella Sebastian, daughter of William and Elizabeth Sebastian. Mr. Hart has had five children. William E. was a soldier in the 18th Indiana Volunteers, and served for three years. After his discharge he joined and served in Capt. A. K. Branham's company of State troops in the pursuit of John Morgan, in his celebrated raid in Indiana and Ohio, and was killed in that unfortu- nate disaster at Lawrenceburg, Indiana, in 1863. Mr. H. is a man much respected and highly esteemed by all who know him. He is of genial nature, kind and hospitable, steadfast in his friendship, and upright in his dealings, and by his good qualities of head and heart has endeared himself to every citizen of the county.
CHARLES DOWNING.
was born in New York City, August 7, 1857, came to Hancock county February 28, 1867, made his home with the late lamented William S. Wood, attended the public schools, receieved a fair English education and, being an
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BIOGRAPHIIES AND PERSONAL SKETCHES.
excellent scribe, was, on the 4th day of November, 1874, appointed Deputy Clerk of the Hancock Circuit Court, by Ephraim Marsh, Clerk, which position he holds to this day. October 8, 1879, at Bradford Junction, Ohio, he was married to Miss Angie B., only daughter of Arthur P. and Emily H. Williams, formerly of this city. Mr. D. is a member of the Christian Church, and has always contributed liberally to the support thereof. He is also an honored member of the I. O. O. F. Mr. D. is a young man of rare business tact and talent, and just upon the threshold of many rare possibilities.
LEE O. HARRIS.
Leo O. Harris was born in Chester county, Pennsyl- vania, January 30, 1839. While yet quite young, his parents removed to Washington county, in the western part of Pennsylvania, where his early youth was passed. Here he was given the advantages of first the common school and then an academic course of study.
He came to Hancock county, Indiana, in 1858, and taught his first school in Fountaintown, in the edge of Shelby county.
In the fall of 1859 he went to Illinois, and taught in what was then Coles (now Douglass) county. Returning to Indiana, he again began teaching in Hancock county, and has been more or less identified with her schools ever since, except for the five years succeeding 1874, during which time he was principal of the school at Lewisville, Indiana.
Mr. Harris is well known throughout the State as a journalist and poet, having been for a number of years a contributor to most of the leading papers of the State. He is also the author of a book, The Man Who Tramps, published in 1878.
The first of January, ISSO, Mr. Harris, in connection with Aaron Pope, then County Superintendent, began the publication of The Home and School Visitor, of which
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HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
paper he is still the editor. In the spring of ISSI he took editorial charge of The Greenfield Republican, and con- tinued with that paper until January, 1882, when, The Home and School Visitor demanding his entire attention, he withdrew from the Republican.
Mr. Harris has been identified with the school interests of Hancock county for twenty-two years, and has in that
PROF. LEE
HARRIS
C
time taught more schools than any man now living in the county, yet all this teaching, with the exceptions before mentioned, has been done in Greenfield and within a radius of five miles of that city.
DR. NOBLE P. HOWARD,
senior member of the medical firm of this city of Howard, Martin & Howard, was born in Warren county, Ohio, September 11, 1822. His father was one of the first set- tlers of Cincinnati, and during the war of 1812 was a soldier in the American army. In 1836, while the subject of this sketch was a mere boy, he came with his mother and settled in Indiana, where he received an English edu- cation at Brookville, Franklin county. In 1840 he began the study of medicine with the eminent doctor, H. G.
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BIOGRAPHIES AND PERSONAL SKETCHES.
Sexton, of Rushville, Indiana, where he read for three- years. In 1843 he moved to this city, and began the prac- tice of medicine and surgery. In 1877 he was Vice-Presi- dent of the Indiana State Medical Society. He has served as President of the Union Medical Society of Hancock and Henry counties, and also as President of the Hancock Medical Society. He holds diplomas from the Indiana Medical College, and from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, both of Indianapolis, and is also a member of the American Medical Society. In 1862 he was commis- sioned as assistant surgeon in the 12th regiment of Indiana volunteers. and served during its term of enlistment. For about eight years he was deputy collector of internal reve- nue. Ile has ever manifested a public spirit, and has- taken stock in most of the gravel roads centering in Green- field. Since 1856 he has been an honored member of the Odd Fellows, and has filled all the offices of the subor -. dinate lodge and encampment. In 1851 he was elected Most Worthy Grand Patriarch of the Grand Encampment of the State of Indiana. He is a member of the M. E. Church, was a Whig in the days of that party, and an earnest Union man during the civil war. In 1856 he was a candidate on the Republican ticket for representative, but the county being Democratic, he was defeated by the Hon. Thomas D. Walpole. He was a Republican until the nomination of Horace Greeley, since which time he has acted with the Democratic party. He was married April 23, 1844, to Miss Cinderilla J. Gooding, daughter of Asa and Matilda Gooding, and a sister of Judge D. S .. Gen. O. P. and Ilon. H. C. Gooding. Dr. Howard is a genial gentleman, and a man of firm convictions and uncompro- mising integrity, and stands well both in his profession and as a man.
EPHRAIM MARSII.
present Clerk of the Hancock Circuit Court, was born in Brown township, this county. June 2, 1845. He is a son of Jonas and Catharine Marsh, honest, respectable people,
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HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
in good standing in the community. By industry and close application to his studies, Ephraim soon acquired a fair English education at the public schools of the county. and at the age of twenty entered Asbury University at Greencastle, Indiana, where he graduated with honors in 1870. During his collegiate course he spent one year at Washington City as clerk in the Third Auditor's office of the Treasury Department, receiving his appointment through the recommendation of ex-Governor Hendricks and Judge D. S. Gooding. After serving for a time as deputy clerk of the Circuit Court under Henry A. Swope, during which time he applied himself assiduously to the study of law, he was, in the autumn of 1874, elected Clerk of the Circuit Court, and re-elected in 1878. Mr. Marsh, on February 29, 1872, joined the Knights of Pythias ; in 1873. the Free and Accepted Masons ; in 1874, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; in 1878, the Ancient Order of Workingmen. He has been Master in the Masonic and Past Chancellor in the Pythias. He is also a thirty-second Indiana Consistory, S. P. R., and a member of Keystone Chapter of the Masons of Indianapolis and Raper Com- mandery. He was married February 5, 1875, to Miss Matilda J. Brewer, of Franklin county, an estimable lady of great merit and financial means, the fruits of which union is one child, Ella, a favorite of all who know her. and in the public school, which she is now attending.
Mr. M. is a steadfast Democrat, a fine conversationalist. and a courteous gentleman. As an officer he has been attentive and efficient, and has won the confidence of his constituents. Mr. M. is still a young man, and is looking forward to the legal profession after the expiration of his office, and is bending his energies in that direction.
NELSON BRADLEY,
President of the Greenfield Banking Company, was born in Clermont county, Ohio, May 19, 1822. His father was an Englishman, and served in the American army in the
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BIOGRAPHIES AND PERSONAL SKETCHES.
war of 1812. Mr. Bradley's opportunities for an education were limited, his time being chiefly employed in helping his father on the farm, and his schooling was restricted to a few months' attendance at the log school-houses of his neighborhood. Mr. B. in early life manifested a taste for and aptness in business pursuits, and while yet a boy made frequent visits to the markets at Cincinnati with produce purchased at the farm-houses in the various settlements. In 1852 he visited Indiana, and purchased a small tract of land on the newly-constructed Bellefontaine railroad, at the site of the present town of McCordsville. In Septem- ber he located there and opened a store. In 1863 he was elected Treasurer of Hancock county, which position he held for two consecutive terms. In 1866 he moved to Greenfield, and engaged in the grocery business, at which he continued till 1871, when, with other gentlemen, he established the Greenfield Banking Company, of which he is still president. He is also a partner in the Hancock Flouring Mills, and a stockholder in nearly all the gravel roads centering in Greenfield. Mr. B. has contributed liberally towards the erection of churches and other public buildings, and has ever manifested a liberal public-spirited disposition. He has been an honored member of the Free and Accepted Masons since 1845, at which time he joined the order in Georgetown, Ohio. He took the Chapter degrees in Felicity, Ohio, in 1848, and the Council and Scottish Rite degrees at Indianapolis at a later date. He assisted in organizing Oakland Lodge, No. 140, and McCordsville Chapter, No. 44, of which he was the first High Priest. He is now a member of Hancock Lodge, No. 101, of which he has been treasurer and trustee for a number of years. He has been a liberal, consistent inem- ber of the M. E. Church since 1845, and is now and has been for many years superintendent of the large and pros- perous Sunday-school in connection therewith. He was first a Whig, but, since the organization of the party, an enthusiastic Republican. He was married September 29, 1844, to Elizabeth Gray, a noble, Christian woman, who
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HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
has been his faithful companion, shared his joys and aided in his prosperity for nearly forty years. Mr. B. is of a genial disposition, enjoys a good joke and a hearty laugh. and has a host of warm friends.
JONATHAN SMITH
was born in Preston county, West Virginia, August 29. 1818, and moved to Hancock county, Indiana, during the winter of 1836-7. Was married to Mary T. Watson De- cember 17, 1840, who died December 4, 1841. His second marriage was to Susannah Lakin, October 16, 1845. who has been an invalid for the past twenty-six years. Mr. S. has raised four children (all boys), all of whom are still living, the oldest being thirty-five years of age. Mr. Smith's religious views are strictly old school Baptist. He established a store at what is now known as Willow Branch in 1853, and a post-office at the same place in 1854. He continued in this occupation about twenty years. Also, at the same time Mr. S. continued in farming. which was his former occupation. Mr. S. was a staunch Democrat, an industrious man, and served one term as county commis- sioner. See his portrait on another page.
JAMES JUDKINS,
a native of Virginia, began his earthly pilgrimage in 1803. Was married to Elizabeth Wales in North Carolina, Sep- tember 1, 1825, and emigrated to Newport, Wayne county, Indiana, in 1826. Moved to Hancock county in 1833, and entered land about one mile west of Eden. Among his neighbors at that time were Robert Walker, Jas. and Jehu Denney, Jacob and William Amick, and Enoch Olvey. Others soon followed. Here he experienced the hardships and privations of pioneer life. Fruits were then almost unknown : corn was $1 per bushel, and other eata- bles proportionately high. In 1836 he moved to the Pier- son farm and mill on Sugar Creek, five or six miles north-west of Greenfield, which mill he run for about four
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BIOGRAPHIES AND PERSONAL SKETCHES.
vears, and did much of the grinding and sawing for the citizens of *Greenfield. The old mill pond was then sup- plied with fine fish, the catching of which afforded royal sport for some of the early settlers of Greenfield, among whom were Cornwell and Joshua Meek, Nathan Crawford, Ferdinand Keiffer, the Piersons and others. In 1840 he sold the mill, purchased an adjoining farm, and worked thereon for two years ; then back to the Pierson farm and mill again, which he rented for six years, Pierson having died in the meantime. In 1848 he returned to his adjoining farm, where he remained till his death, December 24, 1874. Mr. J. was the father of eight children, his widow and three of whom survive him, Dr. E. I., Miss Irene and the widow, of this city, and James M., of Iowa. Mr. J. was a devoted member of Hancock Lodge, No. 101, F. A. M. His mortal remains now slumber in the Sugar Creek cemetery, near his old home.
HON. MORGAN CHANDLER,
cashier of the Greenfield Banking Company, of this city. was born on a farm in Owen county, Kentucky, September 30, 1827. His grandfather was a soldier in the revolution. His early opportunities for education were exceedingly limited, so that at the age of twenty-one he could neither read nor write his own name. He now, however, resolved to educate himself, and within eighteen months was teach- ing school in his own county. This occupation he followed for fifteen months. In 1851 he came to Hancock county, Indiana, and engaged in teaching. In 1854 he engaged as clerk in the store of G. G. Tague at $10 per month. April 22, 1855, he was married to Miss Nancy M. Gal- breath, formerly of Kentucky. In the fall of the same year he was elected Sheriff of this county. After the expi- ration of his term of office, he engaged in farming until 1861 , when he was elected Clerk of the Hancock Circuit Court.
*This was the first mill in Center township. See page 145.
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HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
which office he held for four years. The summer of 1867- 68 he spent in the Western States and Territories, and the winters of the same years in Washington City. In 1869- 70 he was engaged in the store of Walker & Edwards. In IS71 he, with four other gentlemen, established the Green- field Banking Company, of which he is cashier. Refer- ring back to his earlier history, we may remark that at the age of fifteen he united with the Baptist Church, and still leans in that direction. At the age of twenty-two he was chosen Lieutenant-Colonel of the State troops of his native county. Mr. C. has been a life-long Democrat, an advo- cate of improvements, and has always taken a lively interest in agricultural pursuits, being President of the District Fair Association, composed of the counties of Rush, Henry and Hancock. Mr. C. is kind and hospita- ble, and has thereby made an extensive acquaintance. He is also a good judge of human nature, and has rare business tact and talent, which eminently fit him for his present position. In the fall of ISSo he represented his adopted county in the lower house of the Legislature.
CAPT. I. A. CURRY
was born in Center township, Hancock county, Indiana. July 16, 1835. At the age of sixteen his father died, leav- ing his mother with several small children. Mr. Curry being the oldest, much of the care of the family conse- quently fell upon his shoulders. He grumbled not, how- ever, but performed his duties well. His opportunities for education were limited, but he made the most of them. In December, 1857, he was married to Miss Mary Thomas, with whom he is still happily living. In August, 1862, he enlisted as a private in Company B, 99th Indiana Regi- ment, and was soon promoted to Ist Sergeant, which position he held till January, 1863, when he was again promoted, this time to 2nd Lieutenant, and in March, 1864, to Ist Lieutenant, and finally, in April, 1865, he was mustered in as Captain. His regiment followed Gen. Sherman in his
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BIOGRAPHIES AND PERSONAL SKETCHES.
memorable march through Georgia to the sea. Mr. C., through these tedious years of soldier life, was ever recog- nized as a faithful soldier and dutiful officer. In the fall of 1880 he was elected Treasurer of Hancock county, which position he is still filling.
DR. ELAM I. JUDKINS,
a resident physician of this city, and second son of the late James Judkins, was born in Wayne county, Indiana,
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in 1830. He remained with his father, working on a farm and in a mill, till he attained his majority. His opportuni- ties for education being limited, his thirst for knowledge led him to Greenfield in January, 1852, where he attended school for a time, then at Shelbyville for one year. He afterwards engaged in teaching and manual labor until the autumn of 1854, when he went into the drug trade and study of medicine. In the spring of 1865, after having attended a course of lectures in the Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati, he began the practice, and has since been actively and successfully engaged in his chosen profession. Dr. J. is a graduate of the Indiana Medical College and of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Indiana. He has
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HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
been an active insurance agent since 1863, and perhaps is the oldest agent in the county. He has been a member of and zealously devoted to the order of Masons since 1853. In May, 1857, he was married in Rensselaer, Jasper county, Indiana, to Miss Emma L. Martin, daughter of the late Dr. William H. Martin, formerly of Rushville, and at one time Secretary of the Board of Examiners of the Indiana Medical Institute. (See page 110.) In February, 1880, Mrs. J. died, leaving no children. The only child born unto them died in 1863, at the age of five years. In 1862, the doctor was appointed enrolling and draft com- missioner, by Gov. Morton, for this county. In 1868-69, Dr. J. served as President of the Board of Town Trustees, and to him is mainly due the credit of originating and ne- gotiating the bonds for the erection of the public school building, which is a credit to our city. He also served four years as treasurer of the town. In 1881 Dr. J. was appointed by the Commissioner of Pensions as a U. S. Examining Surgeon for this vicinity, which position he still holds. The Doctor's mother and sister are living with him at the old home, where he set up to himself in 1857. The Doctor is an unswerving Republican. inclines to the Presbyterian faith, and is an enterprising, public- spirited man.
HON. WILLIAM R. HOUGHI,
senior member of the law firm of Hough & Cook, of the city of Greenfield, was born at Williamsburgh, Wayne county, in this State, October 9, 1833. He is the oldest son of Alfred and Anna Hough, whose parents were among the pioneers of that county. His paternal ancestors were among the early settlers of Pennsylvania, having emigrated from England and located in that State in 1683. At the age of eight years, the subject of our sketch removed with his parents from his native village to Hagerstown, in the same county, and in the fall of 1842 from Hagerstown to Northern Indiana, locating at Middlebury, Elkhart county.
JAMES A. NEW.
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HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
In this village Mr. Hough grew to manhood, receiving such educational advantages as were afforded by the pub- lic schools, the Middlebury Seminary, and a supplemental course of study at the LaGrange Collegiate Institute, of LaGrange county. During his twentieth and twenty- second years he taught school in the last named county. In the fall of 1856, having determined to enter the legal profession, he located in Greenfield, and began the study of the law in the office of Capt. Reuben A. Riley, one of the leading lawyers of the county. He made rapid pro- gress with his studies, and was soon admitted to thé bar, and began practice as partner of his preceptor. While prosecuting his legal studies he was twice appointed by the commissioners of this county to the office of school exam- iner, and for two successive years performed the duties thereof. In 1860 he was elected district attorney for the district composed of the counties of Hancock, Madison, Henry, Rush and Decatur, and for two years prosecuted the pleas of the State to the satisfaction of the law-abiding people of the district.
In 1862 Mr. Hough was married to Miss Tillie C. McDowell, a native of Scotland, and settled down to the earnest pursuit of his profession, and for ten or twelve years did an immense amount of professional labor, both in his office and at the bar, where he was recognized as an able advocate and a tenacious, strong opponent. In the year 1872 he was nominated and elected State Senator for the district composed of Hancock and Henry counties, which position he filled for four years, serving during two regular and two special sessions in the Legislature. As a legislator, Mr. H. was recognized as an able debater, and as a man of acknowledged executive ability, evidenced by the large amount of work which he performed as a mem- ber of several of the most important committees.
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