USA > Indiana > Hancock County > History of Hancock County, Indiana, from its earliest settlement by the "pale face," in 1818, down to 1882 > Part 31
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ROBERT BINFORD.
an extensive farmer and stock-raiser, now of Rush county. but for more than fifty years a citizen of Blue-River town- ship, and consequently one of the first settlers thereof, is a native of North Carolina. Northampton county, born July 2. 1813. In 1826, at the age of thirteen, he came with his parents and other Binford families to the new free State of Indiana, and settled in the green woods of what is now Blue-River township, but then Madison county, in the " New Purchase."
The Binfords had once been well off, and owned large plantations and numerous slaves, but becoming convinced that the trafficing in human souls was a sin against Heaven, and that slavery and the bondage of either blacks or whites
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was contrary to the principies of our free institutions. which in spirit declare that all men are born free and equal. with certain inalienable rights, among which are life. liberty and the pursuit of happiness, they voluntarily freed them, one and all, and endeavored to reinstate them in their primitive moral rights by dividing with them what property they had helped to accumulate. Selling their lands at a sacrifice, they determined to seek a home in a free State, free from the blighting influences of human slavery, and hence sought an asylum in Hancock county. where they could begin life's battles anew.
March 30, 1837, the subject of this sketch was married to Martha, daughter of John Hill, one of the prominent pioneers of Rush county. A little cabin was soon erected in the green woods, and the two, made one, set about in earnest to make an honest living by the sweat of the brow. Although Mr. B. had plenty of land for a biginner, having received one hundred and sixty acres by his wife and a similar amount from his parents, yet there was not an acre cleared. and he was really poor, too poor to buy a second horse. hence had to tend the first crop with a single team. His first crop consisted of two and a half acres of corn. which was worth twelve and a half cents a bushel, but he had none to sell. His first wheat crop was on the same two and a half acres, but it was " sick wheat." so called by the early settlers, because it made them sick to eat it in any manner whatever, even in limited quantities, hence it was worthless, and he received nothing for it. His first hogs were sold at a dollar per hundred, which brought him eighty-seven dollars, the most money he had ever had. Farm hands were worth seven to eight dollars per month ; calico, forty cents per yard : coffee and tea too expensive to buy, hence used rye and other substitutes.
By great industry and rigid economy Mr. B. has suc- ceeded in accumulating considerable property. He has given most of his children, nine in number, a college education and eighty acres of land each, and has done much for educational and charitable institutions, and
ROBERT BINFORD.
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always contributed liberally of his means for the support of the church.
In politics Mr. B. is a Republican : in church relations an orthodox Friend or Quaker. Naturally timid. modest and unassuming, he avoids publicity, never aspiring to office, preferring the quiet walks of life. Though one of the early settlers of the county, of unblemished character. one of the heavy tax-payers, a charitable, Christian gen- tleman, and a good citizen, nevertheless he would never have consented to the notice herein. and this entire sketch and the accompanying portrait are wholly without his knowledge or consent.
JACOB SLIFER
was born in Elos, Germany, on the 13th day of October, 1811. His father and family embarked on a ship for AAmerica in 1817. After sailing one week, a severe storm came up and drove the vessel, a total wreck, into the Eng- lish Channel. The captain of the unfortunate ship was ruined, and the father of Mr. Slifer lost the amount which he had paid for their passage, and being in limited cir- cumstances. his two oldest children were sold to pay their fare. After seventeen weeks at sea they landed in Amer- ica, where young Slifer attended school for a short time. was then bound to a farmer until eighteen years of age, after which he worked at the shoe-maker's trade for three vears, clerked in a store in Philadelphia for twelve months. and came to Hancock county in 1834 : was married to Miss Jane Lewis and settled in the wilds of this county in very limited circumstances, where he endured the privations of pioneer life. He has served two terms as County Com- missioner. and is now bountifully supplied with this world's goods.
JOHN H. WHITE
was born in Preble county, Ohio, December 3, 1824. His father was a soldier in the war of 1812. His early educa-
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tion was received in the common schools of his native county, during the winter terms, when he could not be profitably employed on the farm. He came to Shelby county, Indiana, in 1843 ; served an apprenticeship as tan- ner and currier in Franklin county. At the close of his apprenticeship, he began teaching school in connection with farming, which he has followed ever since. In 1853 he moved to Center township, Hancock county, where he now resides. In 1860 he was elected Township Trustee. In 1864 he represented the county in the lower house of the Legislature. In 1866 he was re-elected. He has been President of the Hancock Agricultural Society. He was formerly a Whig, but has been a Democrat since 1854. In 1862 he became a member of the Christian Church. He was married December 23, 1845, to Miss Sarah Potts, of Franklin county. He is the father of nine children, all of whom are useful members of society.
JAMES L. MASON
dates his nativity April 3, 1834, Union county, Indiana, where he received a primary education in the common schools. At the age of fourteen he entered Farmer's Col- lege, near Cincinnati. Here he pursued his studies for a time, but finally went to Bloomington, Indiana, and became a student in the State University. Returning to Browns- ville, his native town, he taught school for two terms, and acted in the capacity of county surveyor at the same time. He studied law with Hon. John S. Reid, of Connersville, Indiana, for a short period, and then returned to Bloom- ington, and studied for one term in the law department. He subsequently taught school in Wayne county and Greenfield, after which he read law with the Hon. Thomas D. Walpole, of this place, and soon entered upon the active practice of his chosen profession.
In 1862 he was elected Joint Representative for Han- cock and Shelby counties to the State Legislature. In 1864 he was elected State Senator. In 1862 he was mar- 30
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ried to Miss Emma R. Millikan, who lived but six weeks thereafter. In 1867 he was married to Miss Rebecca Julian,* daughter of Judge Jacob B. Julian, of Indian- apolis, who died October 22, 1877.
Mr. Mason joined the Masonic fraternity in 1853. He is a steadfast Democrat, the owner of two thousand acres of land, and one of the wealthiest men in the county.
HAMILTON J. DUNBAR.
a native of Hancock county, was born September 13, 1846. His parents were Jonathan and Mary Dunbar, who were respectively of Scotch and Irish descent. The early life of young Dunbar was characterized by love of amusement and fondness for athletic sports. He availed himself of the educational advantages of the Greenfield schools in his youth ; but his ambition reaching beyond these, he entered Asbury University at Greencastle, where he graduated with high and special honors in the class of 1866, and im- mediately thereafter began the practice and study of law in this city. March 31, 1868, he was married to Miss Florence M. Jones, of Greencastle. Mr. D. died Sep- tember 5, 1876, leaving to mourn him a widow and one child, in whose hearts he is enshrined, not only as a prom- inent lawyer and polished debater, but as an affectionate husband and kind father.
Ilis wife, a niece of the Hon. D. W. Voorhees, has since returned to her native town, where she now resides.
As an evidence of the high esteem in which Mr. D. was held by the legal fraternity of the State, we quote briefly from the resolutions of the Marion county bar on his demise.
"It is seldom that one so young as he had won so extended a practice at the bar, and yet more seldom that one so young had won so deep a hold upon the hearts of those about him, and
* Miss Julian was a relative of the Hon. George W. Julian, who was once a citizen and practicing attorney of Greenfield.
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wielded such an influence in the community in which he lived. As a bar, we will remember his talents and success with pride. and seek to emulate his many virtues. In his early death we see but another illustration of the sad results of over labor, of the straining beyond their utmost tension the nerves of the practicing lawyer."
CHARLES E. BARRETT.
a practicing attorney of Sullivan. Indiana. but formerly of this county, was born in Indianapolis, November 28, 1858.
CHARLES E. BARRETT.
His opportunities for a literary education were limited, but making the most of them, and being apt and of a practical business turn of mind, he has, while employed in the vari- ous departments of mercantile life, acquired a good, prac- tical business education. Mr. B. began the study of law
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at odd times, and looked forward to it as a profession as early as at the age of sixteen, and on quitting the store he entered the law office of Messrs. New & Poulson, and took a course of reading, after which he bought out Mr. Poulson and formed a partnership with Mr. James A. New, one of the leading attorneys of the city. Here he enjoyed a lucrative practice for three years. During all this time he was also a hard student. This we say from personal knowledge as to two years of the time, being a student in the office. Mr. B. was admitted to the bar of the Han- cock Circuit Court December 31, 1879, being the first op- portunity after having arrived at his majority and becoming admissible.
In the fall of 1881 the firm of New & Barrett was by mutual consent dissolved, and Mr. B. removed to Sullivan, supplied himself with an excellent library, and put out his shingle. He shortly, however, formed a co-partnership with Senator Briggs, and is now consequently the junior member of the law firm of Briggs & Barrett. The cut accompanying this will be recognized and acknowledged by those acquainted with him as a good portrait.
Mr. B. is a Democrat in politics, and, though a member of no church, leans toward the Methodists.
MATILDA GOODING,
a daughter of Lemuel Hunt and wife of Asa Gooding, was born in Nicholas county, in the State of Kentucky, and was married to Asa Gooding on the 31st day of August, 1822. They removed to Rush county, in the State of Indiana, in the fall of 1826, where they settled in the green woods, after building a log cabin in which to reside, Asa Gooding having entered forty acres of land at the price of $1 25 per acre. They were both industrious and happy. In 1836 they removed to Greenfield, Hancock county, and for a time kept hotel. Asa Gooding died in 1842, leaving surviving him Matilda Gooding, his widow, who, though absent for a few years at Greencastle, Indiana, for the
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purpose of educating some of her children, still resides in the same dwelling-house, long known as the Gooding Corner. She is the mother of seven surviving children, five sons and two daughters, to-wit: David S., Lemuel W., Oliver P., Henry C., and William II. and Elvira M. Gooding and Cindrella J. Howard, wife of Dr. Noble P. Howard, Sen. For one of her age she is in fair health, reasonably comfortable and happy, with a con- sciousness of having been a good wife and mother and useful in her day and generation, respected by all who know her and loved and honored by her relatives and friends. She is patiently and contentedly awaiting the Master's call.
ERNST H. FAUT
was born October 30, 1835, in the county of Buckeburg and Duchy of Schaumburg-Lippe, Germany. His father was a Prussian subject, and named after Frederick Wil- helm the Third. Being a blacksmith by trade, all the boys had to work in the shop as soon as they could take hold of the bellows-pole, as it is well known in Germany that all the children have to attend school from the age of seven to fourteen.
In the year 1848 the revolution broke out in that coun- try, and the people clamored for liberty, and thought everything oppressive, even the compulsory school system. His father had the idea that his son Ernst would be of more benefit to him in the blacksmith shop than in the school- room. An application was gotten up to the highest school authority for his release, which had to be approved by the subordinates before it was presented to the supreme author- ity. This approval read as follows : " His knowledge will do, and his father needs him badly." This application was presented, and in a few days after granted. The cause of this was that the official authorities of the Government were scared about the revolution in the country at this time, and they were willing to grant almost anything at that
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critical moment, but Ernst was cheated out of his proper schooling. From that time he had to work in the black- smith shop with his father. Several of the neighbors who had emigrated to this country wrote letters home to their friends, relating the great advantages of this country over their native home for poor and laboring people. This impressed him favorably, and he solicited his father to give him the privilege and means to come to America, but his father hesitated on account of his age. Finally, after a few years of continued solicitation, he consented, and on April 29, 1854, at the age of eighteen years, he left the parental roof, and embarked at Bremen on a sailing vessel, as ocean steamers were rare at that time. After a voyage of sixty-six days he arrived in New York city on August 4th. Having an uncle living in New Palestine whom he had never seen, his attention 'was directed that way, and he concluded to pay him a visit. Here he arrived August 14th, and got employment at his trade, and he remained there until April: 1856, when he went to Indianapolis, and, finding no work at his trade, he took a job as a hod-carrier. Soon after this he succeeded in finding employment at his regular business.
In the fall of 1857 he made a set of horse-shoes for the State Fair, on which he took the first premium. In Novem- ber he returned to New Palestine, and formed a partnership with his cousin, Ernst W. Faut. They carried on the blacksmithing business for several years.
In the spring of 1860 he was married to Miss Mary E. Eickman, the fruits of which union are eight sprightly children, two boys and six girls, who are all living.
In the fall of 1850 the partnership with his cousin was dissolved, and he continued the business at the old stand.
In the winter of 1861 and 1862, Mr. Lysander Sparks, then Auditor of this county, appointed him Assessor for Sugar-Creek township. In the fall of 1852 he was elected to the same position for two years. In the spring of 1866 he was electe.l Township Trustee, and was subsequently re-elected for six consecutive terms, as the elections were
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then held annually. In the fall of 1872 he was elected Treasurer of Hancock county, which position he held for two consecutive terms.
After the expiration of his term as Treasurer he formed a partnership with his brother Charles in the manufacture of carriages, buggies, wagons, &c. Their establishment is doing an extensive, thriving business, and gives employ- ment to a large number of hands. Mr. F. is one of the most enterprising citizens of the country, sociable, hospita- ble and generous.
GENERAL OLIVER PAUL GOODING.
Oliver Paul Gooding was born the 29th day of January, 1835, in the village of Moscow, Rush county, Indiana. In 1837 he moved with his parents to Greenfield, Hancock county, Indiana. At the age of eighteen, he entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, where he graduated in 1858. He was attached to the Fourth United States Infantry as Brevet Second Lieu- tenant, serving as such at Fort Columbus, New York Harbor. The 5th day of February, 1859, he was pro- moted to a Second Lieutenancy in the Tenth United States Infantry, and joined that regiment at Fort Bridges, Utah Territory, in August of that year, and served on the expe- dition against the Mormons in 1859 and 1860. In 1861 he was ordered to the defense of Washington, D. C., and served in the war for the suppression of the great rebellion from 1861 till 1865.
During the war he held several important commands, among which was the Thirty-first Massachusetts Volun- teers (converted into the Sixth Massachusetts Cavalry). which regiment he led as the advanced guard of the Union army at the capture of New Orleans, the first day of May. 1862. On the Teche campaign and the Port Hudson campaign, in 1863, he commanded the third brigade of the third division, nineteenth army corps. In the battle of Fort Bisland, or battle of the Teche, as it is sometimes
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called, he commanded the Union forces on the north bank of Bayou Teche, and captured an outwork of the enemy and some prisoners. The loss of life in his command was heavier and its success greater than that of all the rest of the army, the brunt of the battle falling on his command. The battle was stopped by darkness, and the enemy aban- doned his works and retreated during the night, and was pursued in the morning. At Port Hudson, General Good- ing gallantly led his brigade in the terrible and bloody assaults made on the enemy's works on the 27th day of May, 1863, and the 14th day of June, 1863. His brigade suffered heavily. On the Red River campaign, in 1864, he commanded the Fifth Brigade, Cavalry Division, De- partment of the Gulf, and at the end of that campaign was assigned to the command of the division. In com- mand of the Union troops at Campti, on the north bank of Red River, the 4th day of April, 1864, General Gooding, in a hotly contested cavalry action, defeated the enemy under General Siddell. At the battle of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, in command of his brigade, the 9th day of April, 1864, General Gooding gallantly fought and held the enemy in check till the Union army came into position, his hat being shot off his head, the bullet grazing his scalp.
At the battle of Kane River Crossing he commanded the advanced cavalry, and was highly complimented on the field by Major-General William H. Emory, command- ing Nineteenth Army Corps, for the able manner in which he handled his command and developed the enemy's posi- tion. On the retreat of the Union army, he was con- stantly under fire with his brigade, covering either the flank or rear of the army. While serving in the volunteer service, his promotion in the regular army went on to the rank of Captain, the 27th day of June, 1862, which regu- lar rank he resigned on entering civil life in 1865. Enter- ing the war as a Second Lieutenant of Regulars, by his own merits he rose to the rank of Major-General by brevet of United States Volunteers, which last rank was conferred on him the 13th day of March, 1865, for, as his commission
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recites : "Gallant conduct in the assaults on the enemy's works at Port Hudson, Louisiana, in 1863, and gallant and distinguished conduct throughout the Red River cam- paign, in 1864."
In the fall of 1865, he located in Washington, D. C., and resumed the study of the law, which he had com- menced in the regular army before the war. He was admitted to the bar of the District of Columbia, the 4th day of January, 1866, and practiced law there till 1869, having in the meantime taken a trip to California, when he returned to his old home at Greenfield, Indiana, where he lived in retirement till February, 1874, when he located in St. Louis, Missouri, in the practice of the law. In 1881 he was appointed General Attorney of the Insurance De- partment of Missouri. General Gooding is the author of the new national anthem, America, the chorus of which is : " Wave on, wave on! The old flag forever!"
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOHN H. BINFORD.
According to the records in the old family Bible, I am the fourth son, second living, of Robert and Martha Bin- ford, now of Rush county, but formerly of Blue-River township, this county, where I was born, April 13, 1844, and am consequently in my thirty-eighth year.
The first impressions made on my mind of which I have any recollection were of a serious nature, occasioned by the death of my grandfather, John Hill, in 1847, while I was yet not three years old. I remember the circum- stance distinctly, the scene at the funeral and how sad my parents were.
At five my mother began to teach me to spell, read and write. The first writing consisted in making "straight marks," followed by patient practicing on the " pot-hooks." At six I entered school, and continued therein for about six months in the year till I was large enough to plow and do light work on the farm, after which I had school privileges for a short term in the winter only until the fall of 1862,
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when I entered Earlham College at Richmond, Indiana, for a five-months term.
The following winter of 1863 and 1864 I taught my first school at Hopewell, Blue-River towship, a four months' term of eighty-seven days, for $100, or $25 a month, and boarded myself. The school was large and the classes advanced ; history, physiology, philosophy, algebra, rhet- oric and a few other extra branches being studied, hence my time was fully yet pleasantly employed. I have taught about forty terms since then in graded and ungraded
FORD
PROF.
BINI
schools, in normals and colleges, in this and other States ; but never did I teach another term around the memory of which there clusters dearer and more vivid recollections. Among my students that winter were boys and girls that have since become useful men and women, and are now filling positions of trust and profit with credit to themselves and honor to their instructor.
After teaching a few terms in the district schools and attending school in the meantime at home, at Walnut Ridge and Spiceland, I finally entered the National Normal School in Ohio for two years, but, owing to declining health, quit school, went South, and was for two years principal of the Third-Ward graded, schools of Little
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Rock, Arkansas. While here, during the first year, I had the honor of aiding in organizing the first County and State Teachers' Association of the State, acted as secre- tary of the same, and was sent as a delegate to the National Teachers' Association at Trenton, New Jersey, and also the State Teachers' Association at Ithica, New York, both of which I had the pleasure of attending. In going and returning I visited Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, Niagara Falls, Saratoga and Ballston Springs, New York City, Philadelphia and numerous other points of interest. Returning to Little Rock, I entered upon my second year's superintendency at $1333 per month, and also engaged in merchandising, but, not being able to give the latter busi- ness my personal attention, I abandoned it after less than a year's useful experience.
Being now fully recovered in health, I determined on completing my prospective normal course, and therefore declined further employment, though earnestly solicited, at $1,500 a year or $83 per day for time employed.
In 1871 I had the honor of graduating from said Ohio Normal, and among my classmates and co-graduates in this school were HI. B. Brown, now Principal of Valpa- raiso Normal, F. P. Adams, Principal of the Central Normal at Danville, and Prof. John Burke, of Covington, Kentucky.
The following year, while Principal of the New Garden High School, I was elected by the township trustees, on the first Monday in June, as County Superintendent of my native county under the new school law providing for County Superintendent, Institutes. &c., and abolishing the office of County Examiner. I at once gave bond. took charge of the office, and on the close of my school entered upon the active duties of my new field of labor. This position I filled as best I could for two years, without fear or favor, endeavoring to raise the standard of education, and by every available means to make our teachers and schools more efficient and effectual and the instruction more practical and profitable.
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August 26, 1874, while County Superintendent, I was appointed by J. C. Denny, Attorney General, as his assistant in and for this county, under the act of March 10, 1873.
In the summer of 1875 I organized and with the aid of competent assistants held and conducted in the Greenfield Graded School building " The Hancock County Normal," the first normal school ever held in the county.
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