USA > Indiana > Hendricks County > History of Hendricks County, Indiana, her people, industries and institutions > Part 40
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who is now living with her father. Mrs. Seaman has one daughter, Olive Emma.
Mr. Smith takes an active interest in politics and is a Democrat of the Bryan-Wilson stamp, believing thoroughly in the motto of having the people rule. He attended the Denver convention in 1908, and also the inaugura- tion of President Wilson, in March, 1913. His party has tried to prevail upon him to accept office, at different times, but he has always refused. He is well posted on all public questions of the day and has a knowledge of all the important issues, which makes him a very entertaining conversationalist. He is one of the most influential factors in the councils of his party in his section of the county, and his opinion is always sought during the cam- paigns. Fraternally, he is a member of the Knights of Pythias, and at present is master of exchequer of Plainfield Lodge No. 50. He is also a member of Uniform Rank No. 33, of Plainfield. He has been active in the Knights of Pythias work for many years and helped to build the present castle hall in his home town. Mr. Smith is one of the most progressive civic workers in the town and helped to get the present town incorporated and was one of the men who led the fight for water works and electric lights, side- walks and other improvements. During his whole life in Plainfield he has tried to make the town a better place to live in and how well he has suc- ceeded is very apparent to the casual visitor. Such men as Mr. Smith are a blessing to the community in which they live, and the study of the career of such a man should be of help to the young men who are to become the future citizens of Plainfield and the surrounding community. Mr. Smith is a genial man in his relations with his fellow citizens, and because of his high character has won the esteem of a large circle of friends and acquain- tances which he has scattered thoroughout the county.
WILLIAM W. SAWYER.
It is proper to judge of the success of a man's life by the estimation in which he is held by his fellow citizens. They see him at his work, in his family circle, in church, hear his views on public questions, observe the operation of his code of morals, witness how he conducts himself in all the relations of society and civilization and are, therefore, competent to judge of his merits and demerits. After a long course of years of such daily observation, it would be out of the question for his neighbors not to know
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of his worth, for, as has been said, "actions speak louder than words." In this connection it is not too much to say that the immediate subject of this sketch has passed a life of all unusual honor, that he has been industrious and has the confidence of all who have the pleasure of his acquaintance.
William W. Sawyer, a life-long farmer, now living in comfortable re- tirement in Clayton, Hendricks countty, Indiana, was born on October 23, 1846, near Hazelwood, this county, the son of John and Nancy (Martin) Sawyer. John Sawyer was a native of Randolph county, North Carolina, born in 1794, and died in this county in 1869 at the age of seventy-five years. He received his early education in the schools of his native state, coming to Indiana soon after his marriage. He first settled in Marion county and entered land from the government in different places in the state, and some time in the thirties he came to this county, where he passed the remain- der of his life. He was twice married. By his first wife he became the father of six children, namely: Iredel, Eli, Irena, Nathan, Elizabeth and John, Jr., all of whom have passed from this life. His second wife was Nancy Martin, also a native of North Carolina and the daughter of John B. and Jane (Cravens) Martin. She died in the winter of 1892, on January 2Ist, at the age of seventy-seven years. She was the mother of eight chil- dren, but one of whom besides the subject is living, Araminta. Those de- ceased are Eliza, Mary, Rhoda, Theodore, James C., and Daniel C., who died at the front during the Civil War. John Sawyer followed the vocation of farming all his life and was an honored man in the community. After the Republican party came into existence he was a strong advocate of its princi- ples, but never took an active part in the administration of its affairs. He was a faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal church and a man of in- fluence in his locality.
William W. Sawyer passed the years of his early youth on the home- stead, in this county, and at the opening of hostilities, at the beginning of the Civil War, fired with love for his country, he enlisted in August, 1862, for three years in Company G, Ninety-ninth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He served in the Army of the Tennessee under General Sherman and also, under the leadership of that great man, he made the famous march to the sea. He was captured en route at Statesboro, Georgia, on December 4, 1864, and sent to the rebel prison, at Florence, South Carolina. At the time of his capture he was detailed as a mounted scout and as such was taken by the enemy. On March 1, 1865, he was paroled and remained as a paroled prisoner until the close of the war, when he was mustered out of
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service and received his honorable discharge, at Camp Chase, Ohio, on June 18, 1865. On August 13, 1864, during the siege of Atlanta, he was wound- ed in the leg and received an injury in the head at the battle of Jonesboro, on September 1, 1864. However, he did not go to a hospital with either of these injuries. After the close of the war, Mr. Sawyer returned to his native county, where he engaged in farming, which line of work he fol- lowed all his active life, living in the vicinity of Hazelwood, Liberty town- ship, this county. He has been highly successful and has owned land in both Hendricks and Morgan counties. In 1913 he disposed of his farming in- terests and, with his family, moved to Clayton, there to spend his remaining days in well deserved rest from the active duties of life.
On April 16, 1867, Mr. Sawyer was united in marriage with Martha York, a daughter of Nathan and Rebecca ( Folgeman) York, born on Decem- ber 9, 1849. Nathan York was a native of North Carolina and came to this state, and perhaps this county, with his parents when but a young man. His father, Barney York, entered land from the government, in Liberty township, and there it was that Nathan York grew to manhood. He was born in North Carolina, in 1820, and died on his farm, in this county, on August 30, 1896, at the age of seventy-six years. In this county he met and married Rebecca Fogleman, also a native of North Carolina, who had come with her parents to this state, making the journey overland in a cart. They settled first in Morgan county. When her grandfather, Barney York, arrived in this county he found himself possessed of but ten cents, not considering his most valuable assets in the way of unlimited energy and ambition. He succeeded so well in his efforts that he became possessed of considerable land and at his death left forty acres to each of his children. Rebecca (Fogleman) York, who was born in 1833. died in this county in 1884. She was the mother of twelve children, three of whom have passed away, being Francis Marion. Laura and Oscar. Those remaining besides Martha, wife of the immediate subject of this sketch, are: Amanda (Mrs. Richardson), Asbury, Sylvester, Lucinda Ella (Mrs. Kwitt), Mary Alice (Mrs. Rhodes), Louisa (Mrs. Brantlinger), Dayton and Myrtle.
Mr. and Mrs. Sawyer are the parents of twelve children, as follows: Jerome T., born in 1868, died in 1872; Ida Belle, born in 1870; Dayton M., born in 1872; Minta A., born in 1874 and died the same year; Walter, born in 1875; Arlington, born in 1878 and died in 1881 ; Charles, born in 1881 and died the same year ; Mary Myrtle, born in 1882 and died in 1897; Oscar, born in 1885 and died the same year; Vonnie O., born in 1886 and died in 1888;
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Arthur, born in 1888, and Viola, born in 1891. Ida Belle, the eldest daughter, became the wife of Robert M. Kwitt, a farmer living close to Hazelwood, this county. They are the parents of six children, one of whom, Edward, died in infancy. The ones remaining are Mattie, Mamie, Mary, Dewey and Fernando. Mattie, their eldest daughter, is the wife of John McDade and resides in Clayton. She is the mother of four children, Dessie, Sylvan, Jewel and Hobart. Mamie, second daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert M. Kwitt, is the wife of Walter Rushton, a farmer living in Putnam county. She also is the mother of four children, Lawrence, Ethel, Dorothy and Walter Glenn. Mary, the third daughter, is the wife of Edgar York and resides in Irvington, Indianapolis. They have two children, Mary Etta and John Robert.
Dayton, eldest living son of the subject, married Annie Duncan and lives at Hazelwood, this county. They are the parents of seven children, two of whom, Dovey and Claire, have passed away. The others are Maude, Hubert, Sylvia, Doris and Lowell. Sylvia is the wife of Archie Johnson and lives near Hall, in Morgan county. She has one child. Walter, another son of the subject, married Grace Lewis and lives at Martinsville, Indiana. They are the parents of six living children and have lost a babe which died in infancy. Their children are Archie, Martha, William, Howard, Merrill and Lloyd. Arthur, youngest son of the subject, resides in the capital city and is connected with the Indianapolis Life Insurance Company, with offices in the Board of Trade building. Viola, the youngest daughter, became the wife of Guy Boyd, a farmer of Franklin township, this county. She is the mother of one child, Rita Virginia.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Sawyer are consistent members of the Missionary Baptist church at Clayton, and have reared their family in strict accordance with the tenets of that faith. The family is one of the most highly esteemed in the community, and the home radiates kindliness and good cheer even to the passing stranger. Mr. Sawyer's fraternal affiliation is with the time-honored body of Free and Accepted Masons, holding his membership in blue lodge No. 463, at Clayton, in the workings of which he is keenly interested. Po- litically, he is a Democrat and has ever had an active interest in local politics. Mr. Sawyer is a most agreeable man to meet, of pleasing personality and kindly address. These are merely the outward indications of a heart in tune with the world and with broad sympathies for his fellow men. He is a man well informed on current events of the day, both at home and abroad, and takes keen delight in promoting any cause having, at its ultimate object,
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the uplift of mankind in any way whatsoever. Mr. Sawyer has the un- qualified admiration and esteem of all who know him, which is a fitting tribute of which he is eminently worthy. To live for years in one com- munity and steadily rise in public estimation indicates that the recipient of th's gratifying regard has so lived as to be truly worthy of it. It means a life. the principles of which have been the highest along all lines; it means helpfulness and charity in the broadest sense for friends and neighbors.
REV. ROBERT NATHAN HARVEY.
No estimate of the immense amount of good that comes from a long, acive and useful life like that of Rev. Robert Nathan Harvey, the well krown minister of Clayton, Hendricks county, Indiana, can be made, for it is far-reaching in its effects and will continue through coming generations, 1xe the "light that shines more and more unto the perfect day." Few iives lave been so unselfish, so pregnated with good deeds and so controlled by in insatiable desire to be kind and beneficial to his fellow men, but, notwith- standing the unbounded influence he wields in moulding public opinion and of the high tributes of praise freely accorded him by a vast horde of admir- ers wherever he is known, he is entirely unassuming and unpretentious, con- tent in the thought that he is continuously putting forth his best efforts in following the footsteps of the lowly Nazarene.
Rev. Robert Nathan Harvey, a retired minister of the Baptist church, was born in Wayne county, Indiana, April 26, 1831, and is now living in quiet retirement at Clayton, Hendricks county, this state. His parents were Robert and Abigail (Sumner) Harvey, the father a native of North Caro- lina, where his birth occurred July 12, 1789, and his mother was born in Virginia, July 4. 1791. They were married August 25, 1814, and soon after their marriage they came west and settled on Noland's fork, in Wayne county, Indiana, where they lived until September, 1836, when they moved to Hendricks county. They came in wagons and drove their live stock with them. They located a half mile north of Pecksburg, where they bought three hundred and twenty acres of land from Jehu Hadley, only a few acres of which had been cleared. There they reared a family of seven daughters and three sons. The mother spun the flax and carded the wool to make the clothes for the family and was regarded as one of the experts in this line. In 1856, at the third annual fair of Hendricks county, she won the first and
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second premiums on linsey, which was woven by herself. The oldest son, Jonathan S., studied law and practiced for years in LaPorte county, Indiana, going then to Danville, where he was elected to the Legislature. He was a member of both the House of Representatives and the Senate and several years before the war was elected treasurer of state on the Whig ticket. At the time he made his race for this office, one of his political opponents aid of him that "God never made an honester man than he." Robert Harvej, Sr., farmed all his life on the farm where he first settled in 1836, his death oc- curring in 1871, his wife surviving him one year.
Rev. Robert Nathan Harvey grew up on his father's home farm and early in life learned the blacksmith's trade at Danville, after which he ercted a blacksmith shop at Clayton before the town was laid out. He was at Cay- ton when the town was platted and laid out and bought a town lot, and sqne time afterward traded his town lot for furniture to go to housekeeping wth.
Mr. Harvey was married September 26, 1852, to Sarah Ann Shirly, who was born at Gosport, Indiana, October 20, 1833, the daughter of Wil- iam and Mary (Worrell) Shirley. Her father and mother were bon reared in Kentucky and married there. Her father followed the trade of tailor until late in life. When Mrs. Harvey was seven years of age hei parents moved to Belleville, in this county, where her father gave up his trade as a tailor and engaged in farming near Clayton. After his children grew up he went into the dry goods business at Pecksburg, and was engaged in. that line of business until his death. After Mr. and Mrs. Harvey were married they lived on the farm and he farmed and operated a blacksmith shop, which occupations he continued to follow for the next twelve years, at which time he bought forty acres of land near the village of Pecksburg and on this farm lived until December 28, 1912, at which time his house and all its contents were destroyed by fire, causing a loss of three thousand dollars, with only an insurance of eight hundred dollars. At that time he bought his present home in Clayton.
Mr. Harvey joined the Baptist church at Clayton in 1861, at a time when the church at Amo was being organized. He and eight others became the charter members of this church in 1866 at Amo, and now there are only three of the charter members of this church left, Mr. Harvey and his wife and Melissa Justus. On July 29, 1869, Mr. Harvey was ordained to the ministry of the Baptist church and was stationed at New Bethel, Putnam county, Indiana. From that time for the next thirty-five years he was never without a charge and during his entire pastorate was in charge of four-
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teen of the twenty-one churches in the White Lick Association, spending eleven years as pastor of the Lawrence Baptist church and eight years at Brookfield. For twenty-three consecutive years he was moderator of the White Lick Baptist Association and for three years was moderator of the Indianapolis Baptist Association.
Reverend and Mrs. Harvey have been the parents of three children, the youngest, Frank Lincoln, dying at the age of eight months, the other two children being George A., of Clayton, and Dr. W. D. Harvey, who is presi- dent of the Indianapolis Regalia Company. Doctor Harvey was a success- ful physician before he went into his present business, and is equally suc- cessful in his new profession. Doctor Harvey married Cecelia Hadley, who died leaving one child, and he afterwards married Lydia Theal. George Harvey, the oldest son of Rev. R. N. and Mrs. Harvey, was for many years a dealer in threshing machines and engines at St. Louis, Missouri. He now lives in Clayton and has a fine farm two and one-half miles southwest of that town. He was married in 1875 to Lucy M. West, the daughter of Columbus and Tabitha (Staley) West. Columbus West was born one mile south of Pecksburg, this county, and was the son of Abraham and Sina (Hadley) West. Tabitha Staley was born in Morgan county, Indiana, the daughter of Eli and Mary (Tripps) Staley, who came to Morgan county, Indiana, from North Carolina in pioneer times. George Harvey and wife have one child, Herbert S., born in 1877, who married Fannie Harkrider, and they have one son, Raymond.
Mr. and Mrs. Harvey have been married over sixty-three years. All the friends of their youth have passed away and gone. He is the last one of the family living. During the course of his life of nearly four score years in this state there has never been raised the breath of suspicion against his name. He has taken a prominent part in public life during his whole career and has been county commissioner and for years was justice of the peace of Clay township. No case which he tried was ever appealed, showing that he used good judgment in his decisions. He married hundreds and hundreds of couples and only five of them were ever divorced. On his eighty-second birthday he was remembered by people from all over the United States, and one hundred and sixty-three cards of congratulation from his church mem- bers, showing the high esteem and affection in which he is regarded by his many friends. It is interesting to note that in all of the churches in which he has officiated there has never been any quarrel in the church, a fact which speaks well for his tact and good judgment in handling his congregations.
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Rev. R. N. Harvey has always been interested as a public citizen in politics and cast his first vote in 1852 for Scott, and has never missed voting for a Republican candidate for President since that time and only missed two elections in the township. He attends all primaries and local conventions and, all in all, he is a man who has devoted his high talent to worthy purpose and when he "wraps the drapery of his couch about him and lies down to pleasant dreams," the community will have lost one of its best loved characters.
JESSE S. OGDEN.
It is eminently fitting to judge of the success of a man's life by the es- timation in which he is held by his fellow citizens. They see him at his work, in his family circle, in church, hear his views on public questions, observe the operation of his code of morals, witness how he conducts himself in all the relations of society and civilization, and are therefore competent to judge of his merits and demerits. After a long course of years of such daily observation it would be out of the question for his neighbors not to know of his worth, for it has been truly said that "actions speak louder than words." It is safe to say that no man in Hendricks county wielded so much influence for a man of his age as did the late Jesse S. Ogden, who died in that county in 1877, at the early age of thirty-seven years. He was a man among men and "the elements so mixed in him that the whole world might stand up and say, This was a man."
Jesse S. Ogden, the son of Mr. and Mrs. John Ogden, was born in West Virginia, near Winchester, in 1839, and died February 10, 1877, just at the time when he was at the height of his success and popularity. The Ogden family trace their lineage back to colonial times and the members of his family occupied many places of trust and responsibility in the history of early Virginia. John Odgen and his family came to Indiana and settled in Hendricks county early in its history. Jesse S. Ogden was educated in the public schools of Danville, the Danville Academy and the Northwestern Law School at Indianapolis. His education was interrupted by the opening of the Civil War and he laid aside his books for the musket and answered the call of Governor Morton for troops. He enlisted in Company H, Seventh Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and served until he was wounded at the battle of Winchester, Virginia. After he was mustered out of the service
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on account of disability he returned to Hendricks county, Indiana, where he continued to reside until his death. He completed his legal education in Indianapolis and then formed a partnership with Judge John V. Hadley. Immediately after the close of the war he was elected recorder of Hendricks county and later prosecuting attorney of his home county. He was always interested in the principles of the Republican party and was honored by being elected to the House of Representatives in 1874. He had a brilliant career before him and would undoubtedly have occupied a much higher place in the political and official life of Indiana had he not died at such an early age. He was a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, and in his church affiliations was identified with the Methodist Episcopal church. His widow is still living and makes her home with her son, Rev. Horace G. Ogden, at Jamestown, New York.
Jesse S. Ogden was married to Mary A. Carter, of Danville, and to this union were born three children, Rev. Horace G., D. D., of Jamestown, New York, who is now pastor of the first Methodist Episcopal church of that place ; Mrs. Adella L. Duvall, of Delaware, Ohio, who has won renown as a soprano singer, and James M., a successful lawyer of Indianapolis.
That Jesse S. Ogden was a remarkable man in more ways than one, is indicated in the striking document which he wrote a short time before his death. When he was told that he did not have much longer to live, he ac- cepted the inevitable decree like a martyr, and, looking calmly into the face of death, he composed a creed for the guidance of his little children, whom he was about to leave. In all the range of literature and in all the annals of philanthropy there may not be found a more comprehensive summary or a stronger code of morals than he composed under such strange conditions, and it is safe to say that this document, teeming with a father's love, has fulfilled the mission for which the fond father wrote it. In view of the exquisite beauty of language and the lofty purity of thought which are em- bodied in this remarkable document, and believing that future generations may profit by the words, it is reproduced here just as it was given to his children on January 18, 1877, less than one month before his death. "My Dear Children :
"If I were to undertake to tell you how much I love you and how so- licitous I am for your welfare and happiness in this life and in the life to come, you could not understand me, for you are too young to comprehend it. It was my sincere wish to live long enough to superintend your educa-
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tion and see you fairly started on the perilous journey of life. This coveted pleasure will be denied me. You will never know what it is to have a father to assist and guide you. You will be compelled to struggle unaided and alone, against the many vicissitudes and hardships of this life without light or coun- sel from me. I can not leave you any great patrimony and even if I could it might prove to you a curse rather than a blessing. Since I leave you nothing more substantial, I thought it prudent to cull out of my own limited wisdom and experience some plain and simple maxims which, if practiced, I am sure will make you estimable citizens of society and prepare you for that eternity whose shadow ever encompasses your footsteps.
"First of all, revere God and keep his commandments.
"Unite with some church whose tenets accord nearest with your con- science, and attend faithfully to your religious duties.
"Avoid all pomp and bigotry in religion. All true religion is embodied in one word-Charity : charity that embraces God with one arm and all hu- manity with the other. All else is counterfeit.
"Now let me call your attention more particularly to some plain rules of conduct in your relations to society, and for your own personal guidance.
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