USA > Indiana > Hendricks County > History of Hendricks County, Indiana, her people, industries and institutions > Part 51
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83
The most modern methods of work are sought and used in all depart- ments of Mr. Lowe's work, supplementing his own energy and practical foresight by the use of modern tools and machinery. He is interested in the breeding of live stock, which he considers an essential feature on the suc- cessful, modern farm. He is a consistent Republican voter and has taken an active part in politics, while his influence is felt in all movements touch- ing the general welfare of the community. Strictly honest, clean cut and decisive in his dealings, he enjoys the fullest confidence of his associates. The Methodist church at Lizton, of which he and his wife are active members, has shown its faith in his integrity by electing him trustee and treasurer of its board of finance. Altogether he stands for what is highest and best in the life of the modern agriculturist.
JOHN A. LEAK.
Few farmers in the locality of which this history treats seem to understand better the way in which to manage Indiana soil in order to get the largest returns from it than John A. Leak, of Union township, a man who has succeeded because he has given his exclusive attention to his in- dividual affairs, studied carefully the relation of soil to crops, climate and all the phases relating to improved farming.
John A. Leak was born January 28, 1858, in the township where he has lived his whole life. He is the son of Landrum and Sarah (Leach) Leak, both his father and his mother being natives of Kentucky. Landrum Leak
527
IIENDRICKS COUNTY, INDIANA.
was born in 1818 and came to this county with his parents, James and Elizabeth Leak, in 1835, when he was seventeen years of age. He grew to manhood under pioneer conditions and became a successful farmer in the township. He was twice married, his first marriage being to Evaline Martin, and the second marriage to Sarah Leach. There was one son borul to the first marriage, James M., who died in 1888. To the second marriage were born four children: Mrs. Evaline Jeger, of New Mexico; William L., of Anderson, Indiana; John A., whose history is herein delineated, and George B., a twin brother of John A., who died about 1902. Landrum Leak died in 1890 on a farm in Union township.
John A. Leak received such education as was afforded by his home school in Union township and the two years before his marriage in 1885 he spent in Tennessee. Upon his marriage, Mr. Leak moved to Johnson county near Greenwood, where he farmed for six years; he then went to Kokomo and entered the grocery business and followed this for the next four years, after which he moved back to Hendricks county and settled on the old homestead farm which he rented for two years. He then bought twenty- seven acres one mile south of his present farm, and lived on it three years, when he bought sixty acres where he now lives and later added another forty acres, a total acreage now of one hundred acres. Mr. Leak has been sufficiently progressive to keep abreast of the latest developments in agri- cultural methods and has won a full measure of prosperity in his present location. He has not only been an important factor in the agricultural life of his community, but he has also been interested in the Citizens Bank at Lizton, in which he is a stockholder and director at the present time.
Mr. Leak was married February 25, 1885, to Nevada Leak, the daughter of James M. and Mary (Dickey) .Leak. The biography of James M. Leak, given elsewhere in this volume, gives the ancestry of that branch of the Leak family to which Mrs. John A. Leak belongs. Mr. and Mrs. John A. Leak have two very promising sons living; one son, Warren, died in infancy, the other two sons being Roy and Glenn. Both of the boys graduated from the Lizton high school and later spent two terms in the Central Normal College of Danville. After they began to teach, they spent one year in the State Normal School at Terre Haute in order to qualify themselves for better work in the school room. Roy is now teaching at Stilesville, this county, and Glenn teaches in Marion county, near University Heights.
In his fraternal relations, Mr. Leak is a member of the Knights of Pythias at Lizton, while politically he has long been identified with the
528
HENDRICKS COUNTY, INDIANA.
Democratic party, but has never been a candidate for any public office, pre- ferring to devote his attention to his agricultural interests. He has a fine residence, which he has recently remodeled and improved in many ways, a large barn, good outbuildings and various other improvements which render his farm a very attractive place. Mr. Leak is a self-made man in every respect and has been a hard worker all of his life. He is a pleasant man to meet, congenial in all of his relations with his fellow men and has always make it a point to identify himself with all worthy public measures.
WILLIAM HENRY APPLEBAY.
Among the old and highly respected farmers of Hendricks county there is no one who stands higher in the esteem of his fellow citizens than the gal- lant old veteran whose name forms the caption of this sketch. His three- score and ten years have been spent within the limits of this county with the exception of the two years when he served his country so nobly at the front. For the past fifty years he has been actively engaged in agricultural pursuits in this county and the years of his residence here have but served to strengthen the feeling of admiration on the part of his fellow men, owing to the honor- able life he has led and the worthy example he has set the younger genera- tion.
William Henry Applebay, one of the youngest soldiers who enlisted from this county for service in the Civil War, was born in Center town- ship, Hendricks county, Indiana, December 2, 1844. His parents were William and Sebith (Sears) Applebay, the father being a native of Lincoln county, Kentucky, born in 1815, and his mother a native of Clark county, Kentucky, born in 1818. The grandparents of William Henry Applebay were Philip and Mary (Walker) Applebay, who reared a large family of ten children. After the death of his first wife Philip Applebay married Susan Dancer and to this second marriage were born seven children. Will- iam Applebay, father of the subject of this sketch, came to Hendricks county, Indiana, in 1839, locating in Danville, where he remained for the succeeding eighteen years. He then moved to Franklin township, this county, where he re- mained until his death, which occurred on May 11, 1863. To Mr. and Mrs. William Applebay were born twelve children: Wesley, who married Sarah Fisher, and they were the parents of three children; Mary, who married Will- iam H. McCloud, and they are both deceased, and to this marriage were born
WILLIAM H. APPLEBAY
529
HENDRICKS COUNTY, INDIANA.
nine children; Maria died unmarried; William H., the immediate subject of this sketch; Mariah, Milton, Susan, David and Nancy, twins, Martha, Amanda and Isabelle. Nancy, Martha and William H. are unmarried and living today.
When the Civil War broke out William H. Applebay wanted to enlist at once, but on account of his age the local recruiting officer would not take him in. As soon as he reached the age of eighteen he enlisted in Company E, Seventy-eighth Regiment, under Captain A. J. Lee, and served two months. Later he enlisted in Company B, of the Fifty-ninth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, under Captain J. M. Lee, and was immediately transferred to General Sherman's Twentieth Corps in eastern Kentucky. He was in the eastern part of Tennessee and in March, 1864, started with General Sherman on his memorable march to the sea. He was in all the battles from Resaca, in the northwestern corner of Georgia, through Dalton, Atlanta to Savannah, which was reached on the 25th of December, 1864. He was in the rear and around Atlanta during the months of June and July of that summer. In the spring of 1865 his company was attached to the brigade which went north with Sherman to South Carolina and North Carolina, and he was headed for Greensboro to the surrender of General Johnson to General Sherman in April, 1865, at Greensboro, North Carolina. He served one year and a half in a creditable manner, after which he was mus- tered out at the close of the service and returned to his home in Hendricks county, Indiana.
When Mr. Applebay enlisted in the army his mother was a widow with a large family of small children. He was their main support, for they were poor and owned no land. He fixed up an old log cabin for them to live in during .his absence, but while he was in the service the owners of the cabin put the mother and children out of their little home. However, she bravely struggled to keep the family together, spinning and weaving and making their clothing and doing a man's work as far as was necessary. She was a woman of strong character and reared her children to honorable and respect- ed manhood and womanhood.
For the past half century Mr. Applebay and his two sisters have lived in Franklin township. None of them has ever married, their affection for each other being such that they have always led a very happy existence in their home life together. Here on his farm Mr. Applebay has lived the simple, plain and unostentatious life of a farmer, doing all that came in
(34)
530
HENDRICKS COUNTY, INDIANA.
his way in the best possible manner. Year in and year out he has taken liis part in the community's affairs, has been a factor in local politics, al- though he has never held any office aside from that of district central com- mitteeman. He has always been a factor in the church at Stilesville. In fraternal affairs he has been a Mason for forty years and is one of the best informed men on Masonry in the county. He has passed through all the chairs of the lodge from tyler to worshipful master. It is needless to say that he is a loyal and enthusiastic member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and the Greencastle Post has no more loyal member than Mr. Applebay. He is one of those genial, whole-souled men who always meets every one with a smile. It is his habit to always see the silver lining of the darkest clouds, and his optimistic nature has made him a general favorite with all in the community where he has spent his threescore and ten years. It will not be many years before he will answer the last roll call and when his hearty voice is no more heard in the streets there will have been gone one friend who figured largely in the daily life of this locality. His whole life has been characterized by honesty, truthfulness and all those qualities which mark him as a true citizen ..
ELI H. ROSS.
The history of the Hoosier state dates from December 11, 1816. It is the record of the steady growth of a community planted in the wilderness in the last century and reaching its magnitude of today without other aids than those of continued industry. Each county has its share in the story, and every county can lay claim to some incident or transaction which goes to make up the history of the commonwealth. After all, the history of a state is but a record of the doings of its people, among whom the pioneers and their sturdy descendants occupy places of no secondary importance. The story of the plain, common people who constitute the moral bone and sinew of the state should ever attract the attention and prove of interest to all true lovers of their kind. In the life story of the subject of this sketch there are no striking chapters or startling incidents, but it is merely the record of a life true to its highest ideals and fraught with much that should stimulate the youth just starting in the world as an independent factor.
Eli H. Ross, the son of Alexander and Bethiah (Hurain) Ross, was born March 13, 1848, on the farm in Washington township where he is now residing. Alexander Ross was born near Redstone, Pennsylvania, in 1807,
531
HENDRICKS COUNTY, INDIANA.
and came with his parents to Warren county, Ohio, in 1808. After remain- ing there a short time, they moved to Hendricks county, Indiana, in 1832, where Alexander Ross bought a farm from Benjamin Abbott Hurain, who had entered same from the government several years before. The wife of Alexander Ross was born August 22, 1809, in Warren county, Ohio, and died June 1, 1884. Alexander Ross, who died in 1858, was a farmer and was an earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal church. His father, John Ross, was in the War of 1812, and his father, Alexander Ross, great- grandfather of the subject, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. John Ross had fourteen grandsons in the Union army during the Civil War. He was a resident of Hendricks county and a farmer by vocation.
Eli Ross received his common school education in the schools of Wash- ington township and early in life began to work upon his father's farm. That he was an apt student under his father's tutelage is shown by the fact that he is today one of the most progressive farmers of the township. He was married in 1889 to Linna C. Barker, the daughter of Robert and Dorcas Barker, of Hendricks county. Mrs. Ross was born in this county November 23, 1852. Mr. and Mrs. Ross are both consistent and faithful members of the Wesley Methodist Episcopal church at Avon. Mr. Ross is a member of the Republican party, and has always been more or less interested in political affairs. His party nominated him for township assessor and he was elected, holding the office for four years. He was constable and is at present on the advisory board of the township.
JOHN W. FIGG.
Whether the elements of success in life are innate attributes of the individual or whether they are quickened by a process of circumstantial de- velopment, it is impossible to clearly determine. Yet the study of a success- ful life, whatever the field of endeavor, is none the less interesting and profitable by reason of the existence of this same uncertainty. So much in excess of those of successes are the records of failures or semi-failures, that one is constrained to attempt an analysis in either case and to determine the measure of causation in an approximate way. But in studying the life his- tory of the well known resident and popular citizen of Amo, whose name forms the caption of this sketch, we find many qualities in his makeup that always gain definite success in any career if properly directed, as his has
532
HENDRICKS COUNTY, INDIANA.
evidently been done, which has resulted in a life of good to others as well as in a comfortable competence to himself.
John W. Figg, the proper and efficient superintendent of the Plainfield schools, was born in Putnam county, Indiana, December 13, 1859. His parents were Robert P. and Abigal (Layton) Figg. His father was born in Kentucky in 1837 and came to Indiana with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Francis (Asbury) Figg, in 1848 and settled in Putnam county. His mother came from Pennsylvania with her parents to Ohio and later the family settled in Putnam county, this state, where she met Robert Figg. When the Civil War opened, Robert Figg enlisted, in December. 1861, in the Sixty- second Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and died in March, 1862, at the age of twenty-four, leaving his widow and three small children. John WV. Figg, the leading subject of this sketch, was only three years of age at the time. The other two children were Elizabeth, who died at the age of twenty-two, leaving her husband, Joseph Warren, and one son, and Rebecca Olive, who married Myron Stanley. She died at the age of twenty-one, leaving one daughter, Elizabeth.
John W. Figg was reared by his grandfather, Francis Asbury Figg, in Putnam county, and was given a good common school education. As a lad he showed promise of future ability along educational lines, and his grandfather sent him to the Central Normal College at Danville and after that he taught eight years in Putnam county. Then, in order to better pre- pare himself for teaching, he entered the State Normal School at Terre Haute in 1895 and graduated in 1901. Later he went back and took post- graduate work there. In 1894 he was elected county surveyor of this county, and was re-elected in 1896, but resigned in April, 1898, to take additional work in the State Normal School. In August, 1898, he was elected county superintendent of schools and served in that capacity for three years. In May, 1912, he was selected superintendent of the Plainfield schools and has served in that capacity ever since. As a public school superintendent he has been a success, having all of those qualities which a successful superintendent should have. Under his management the schools have increased their en- rollment, broadened their curriculum and become an increasingly important factor in the life of the community.
Professor Figg was married in 1883 to Isabell Allee, and after her death, in 1894, he married Osie Stuart, on June 3, 1896. Mr. and Mrs. Zeno Stuart, the parents of Professor Figg's second wife, had seven chil- dren, four of whom are still living.
Mr. and Mrs. Figg are consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal
533
HENDRICKS COUNTY, INDIANA.
church of Amo, and as a Christian man Professor Figg has wielded a potent influence in this community, while as a public-spirited citizen he has given his earnest support to all movements for the advancement of the general welfare. He possesses a rare equanimity of temper and kindness of heart, which has won for him the sincere regard of all who know him. His mind is rich with the fruits of a life of reading and observation; in fact, he has believed thoroughly and absolutely in doing well whatever he has under- taken. He has at all times enjoyed the confidence of all those with whom he has associated.
CHARLES ROARK.
Improvement and progress may well be said to form the keynote of the character of Charles Roark, a well known and influential farmer and present trustee of Washington township, and he has not only been interested in the work of advancing his individual affairs, but his influence is felt in upbuilding the community. He has been an industrious man all his life, striving to keep abreast the times in every respect, and as a result every inile post of the years he has passed has found him further advanced, more prosperous, and with an increased number of friends.
Charles Roark, the present trustee of Washington township, was born in 1868 in the country where he has always resided. His ancestry is Irish, his grandparents having been born in Ireland, and coming to this country early in the nineteenth century. They first settled in Pennsylvania and later in Butler county, Ohio, from whence they came to Franklin county, Indiana. Caleb and Emily Roark, the parents of Charles, were born and married in Franklin county, Indiana, and came to this county shortly after their mar- riage, where they reared a family of four children: Fletcher, who is married and a street car motorman in Indianapolis; Jones, who is married and a farmer in Washington township, this county; Charles, single, who is at present the trustee of Washington township; Mary, who is single, and is now keeping house for her brother Charles on the old home place.
Charles Roark received his education in the district schools of his neighborhood and early in life began to work upon his father's farm. For four years he has been farming the Roark homestead place and has improved the farm in many places, putting in ditches, building fences and improving the outbuildings He is regarded as one of the professional farmers of the township and a man of wideawake and progressive ideas. An indication
534
HENDRICKS COUNTY, INDIANA.
of the esteem and regard with which he is held by his fellow citizens is shown by the fact that he was elected trustee of his home township, an office which he has been filling to the entire satisfaction of all of the citizens of the township, irrespective of party affiliations. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias lodge at Plainfield, and also a member of the Salem church in his home township. Politically, he is a Democrat. He has hosts of warm friends throughout the township and, because of his reputation for honesty and integrity, he is esteemed by everyone with whom he is associated. As township trustee he has had management of the schools of the township and has been very much interested in securing the best teachers possible and keeping the schools up to the highest state of efficiency. He has also been interested in road building and is taking an advanced step in getting the roads of his township in good condition. It is safe to say that the township has never had a more proper or proficient official than Mr. Roark.
FREDERICK V. BEELER.
The biographies of enterprising men, especially of good men, are in- structive as guides and incentives to others. The examples they furnish of patient purpose and steadfast integrity strongly illustrate what is in the power of each to accomplish. Some men belong to no exclusive class in life, apparently insurmountable obstacles have in many instances awakened their dormant faculties and served as a stimulus to carry them to ultimate success, if not renown. The instances of success in the face of adverse fate would seem almost to justify the conclusion that self-reliance, with a half chance, can accomplish any object. The life of Frederick V. Beeler, well-known and successful merchant of Friendswood, Hendricks county, is an example in point, for by his individual efforts and close adherence to his every duty, he has overcome the obstacles encountered on the highway of life and is now very comfortably fixed regarding this world's affairs and has at the same time won a reputation for right living among his fellow men.
Frederick V. Beeler, one of the most highly respected merchants and business men of Friendswood, was born in Morgan county, Indiana, Novem- ber 25, 1851. He is one of nineteen children born to Jonas Vestal. and Elizabeth (Copenhaver) Beeler, and one of the sixteen who grew to matur- ity. Jonas Beeler was also a native of Morgan county and some years after his marriage he moved to Marion county, where he bought a farm and lived
535
HENDRICKS COUNTY, INDIANA.
most of the remainder of his life, dying in 1904. The mother of Frederick V. was born in Ohio, her parents coming from Pennsylvania. She died in 1902.
Frederick V. Beeler was educated in the common schools of Morgan and Marion counties, and early in life was put on his own resources. The success which he now enjoys has been the result of constant effort and un- remitting diligence. At the age of nineteen he left home and until he was twenty-five years of age worked at odd jobs, most of the time doing farm work of some kind. When he was twenty-five years of age he started in the huckster business, and for the next thirty-seven years he operated a huckster wagon in connection with a store at Friendswood. His personality and general reputation for honesty and integrity has always given him the confidence of his fellow citizens and he has occupied many public and private positions of honor and trust. He was agent for the Vandalia railroad at Friendswood for fourteen years, and has been agent for the Terre Haute, Indianapolis & Eastern Traction Company for the past five years. He was postmaster for eight years, serving during Cleveland's administrations. In fact in everything in which he has engaged he has been signally successful, and his every action has denoted the man who inspires confidence because of his uprightness and frankness in dealing with his fellow men. He has a general store at Friendswood, in which he carries a large and selective stock of up-to-date goods such as are found in stores of this kind, and has a very extensive and lucrative trade in the town and surrounding country. He also has holdings in real estate in the town and county, and is now rec- ognized, after many years of toil, as one of the successful men of the com- munity.
Frederick Beeler was married December 7, 1873, to Ella Jewell, the daughter of Basil and Mary (Wier) Jewell. Her father was a farmer of Sullivan county and a lieutenant in the Civil War. To Mr. and Mrs. Beeler have been born three children: Arthur, born September 11, 1875, who has been married twice, his first wife being Sadie Mull, and his second wife Lulu Rush. There was one daughter, Louisa, born to the first marriage. Arthur is a contractor in Irvington; Charles J., born November 1, 1876, is now with his father in his store at Friendswood. He married Elizabeth Van Cleve; Orpha, born April 6, 1879, who married O. K. Osborn, a drug- gist of Martinsville; they have one son, Frederick V. Osborn, who is named after his mother's father.
Mr. Beeler is a stanch Democrat, and has always been interested in politics, taking an active part in both local and state campaigns. He has
536
HENDRICKS COUNTY, INDIANA.
been well rewarded for his services to the party by being appointed post- master of Friendswood under both of Cleveland's administrations, and the service which he rendered to his fellow citizens showed that he was well worthy of the position. He is a valued member of the Free and Accepted Masons of West Newton, and also of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, Morgan Lodge No. 211, Mooresville. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and have been regular attendants for more than thirty years. Mr. Beeler has always been very much interested in church affairs and is now a class leader in his church. He is a worthy representative of that type of self-made man who have been important fac- tors in every community of our commonwealth. During his long and indus- trious career, he has not only gained the confidence of his fellow citizens, but as a man of force of character he has gained the respect and admiration of all of those with whom he has come in contact.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.