USA > Indiana > Hendricks County > History of Hendricks County, Indiana, her people, industries and institutions > Part 62
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123, at Danville. On different occasions he has represented his local lodge in grand lodge.
Thus far Mr. McClelland's life has been one of strenuous activity and by reason of the success with which it has been attended, his friends are justified in predicting for him a still greater sphere of usefulness and effi- ciency. As a citizen of Hendricks county for many years he stood high in the esteem of his fellow men. Whether as a merchant or as a public official, his influence was always public-spirited and progressive, and at all times he was found willing to lend his aid and influence in behalf of enterprises for the material benefit and advancement of his city and county, and for the intellectual, social and moral good of the people. He is a man of social tendencies, kind, obliging, unassuming and straightforward and honorable in all the relations of life, and is universally respected and popular among his large circle of friends and acquaintances.
CHARLES RELANDER.
There are few natives of far-away Sweden in Indiana and still fewer in Hendricks county, but the few who have come to our state have been among our best citizens. No country of the old world has sent to us better and more substantial people than Sweden and fortunate, indeed, is the com- munity that can boast of Swedish descendants. They are always loyal to their adopted country and are a valuable asset to the locality in which they settle.
Charles Relander, the son of Nels and Lottie (Ericson) Relander, was born in Grenna, Sweden, in 1843, and lived there till eighteen years of age, then went to Stockholm, the capital of the country. He received a good prac- tical education in the public schools of Grenna and early in life started to learn the bricklayer's trade. At the age of twenty-four he came to America to seek his fortune and made his first stop at Chicago. In 1869 he came to Danville, Hendricks county, Indiana, landing in the town for the first time on June 17th. He at once began work on the Big Four railroad, which was then being built through the county, and for the next twenty-eight years continued in the employ of this company. For twenty-one years of this time he was section boss and during that time saved his money so that he was enabled to buy an eighty-acre farm in Center township, this county. In 1897 he retired from the service of the Big Four and went onto his farm
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where he has since remained. Since taking up farming he has added another eighty acres to his farm and now owns one hundred and sixty acres in Cen- ter township. He has been a success as a farmer and stock raiser, despite his long years at another occupation. He has shown his ability by adapting himself to a new occupation without having had any previous experience in it, and in the course of a few years being recognized as one of the leading farmers of his township.
Mr. Relander was married in 1870 to Mary Elizabeth Curtis, the daugh- ter of Peter and Sarah (Kirkendall) Curtis. The grandfather of Mrs. Relander was Peter Curtis, who was born in 1763 in Virginia and served for five years in the Revolutionary War. He was at the battle at Guilford Court House in North Carolina in 1781, and was later married at that place. He and his young bride then settled in Kentucky and there, in Garrard county, Peter. Jr .. the father of Mrs. Relander, was born on February 14, 1808. Peter, Jr., grew up in Kentucky and on Christmas Day, 1827, was married to Sarah Kirkendall, the daughter of Richard and Betsy (Reed) Kirkendall, She was born in Garrard county, Kentucky, September 18, 1811. Her father was of Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry and her mother of Irish parentage. In 1829 Peter Curtis and wife came to Indiana and settled near Crawfords- ville, shortly after moving into the town, where Mr. Curtis followed the trade of a blacksmith for several years. About the year 1840 he moved to Hendricks county and bought the Scearce farm, half a mile west of Danville. The family lived here for a number of years and then moved into Danville where the father and mother spent the remainder of their days, he passing away in 1890 and his wife in 1892. During the Civil War they had charge of the Hendricks county poor farm, which at that time was south of the present location. Mr. Curtis was a strong Republican and was also a great student of Masonry. To Peter Curtis and wife were born twelve chil- dren, four daughters and eight sons, two of the sons dying in childhood. The other six sons served in the Civil War, one of them, Ambrose, dying in the service. Mary Elizabeth Curtis, the wife of Mr. Relander, was born on the Scearce farm, on December 21, 1851.
Mr. and Mrs. Relander are the parents of five children, Charlotte, Pearl, Fred, Frank and Edward .. Charlotte is a graduate of the Central Normal College at Danville, class of 1895, and has taught continuously since that time. She taught three years in the district schools and since then in the Danville schools. She is a very successful teacher, a wide reader, has an excellent library of her own and is an entertaining conversationalist.
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Pearl is the wife of Claude C. Rivers and lives in Yorba Linda, California. Fred is a farmer at Exeter, California. He married Lessie Pearcy and she died in February, 1912, leaving two sons, Pearcy and Clifford. Frank died in 1894, at the age of eleven . Edward is an electrician and lives at Lebanon, Indiana. He married Flossie Dinsmore and has one daughter, Geraldine.
Mr. Relander is a stanch Republican and takes an active interest in local politics. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and he and his wife have long been faithful members of the Christian church at Danville, to which they contribute liberally of their means. Mr. Relander is a man who has made everything he has today, and now in the evening of life can look back over a career which has been well spent in every way.
WILLIAM T. HIGGINS.
One of the oldest and best known families in Hendricks county is the Higgins family, six generations of whom have lived in this county. David Higgins, the first of the family to come to Indiana, was born in Mercer county, Kentucky, in 1795. His wife, Helen Mudd, was a native of Mary- land, whose parents had moved to Kentucky from their native state. Soon after their marriage, David Higgins and his young wife set out for Indi- ana, and in the spring of 1821 they stopped for a short time in Lawrence county. Later they moved on north and located about four miles south of Greencastle. In 1831 they came to Hendricks county and settled the southeast quarter section 33, in Marion township, this land having been entered in 1828 by Thomas, the brother of David. On this farm David Higgins spent the rest of his life, dying in 1851, his wife surviving him several years. He proved to be a successful farmer and at the time of his death owned fifteen hundred acres of land in the county.
Michael Higgins, the father of William T., was born in Putnam county, August 5, 1823, and spent his boyhood days on his father David's farm. He was married on October 7, 1847, to Elizabeth Plaster, the daughter of William Plaster, an early settler of Middle township, this county. Mrs. Michael Higgins was born September 30, 1822. To Mr. and Mrs. Michael Higgins were born six children, William T., David A., Mrs. Mary Jane Wilson, Mrs. Cassandra Hunt, Charles E. and May. Mrs. Michael Higgins died August 15, 1883. He was the largest land owner in Marion township at one time, having eight hundred and eighty acres of valuable land in this
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township. Michael Higgins was a truly remarkable man and his ability was recognized by every one. He served his township as trustee and his county as treasurer, filling both offices to the entire satisfaction of his fellow citi- zens. He was a hard worker, a good manager, diligent, thrifty and per- sistent in carrying out his plans. He was of unusually upright character, strictly moral and took an active stand for righteousness and the better- ment of humanity. He and his wife were members of the Christian church and lived up to the teachings of the church as near as they pos. ibly could. He died in April, 1903, a man who was loved by everyone with whom he came in contact.
William T. Higgins, the son of Michael Higgins and wife, was born October 2, 1848, in the township where he has spent his whole life. He lived at home until his marriage to Mary Underwood on January 23, 1877. She is a sister of Obed Underwood, a sketch of whom, elsewhere in this volume, gives the family history of the Underwood family. William began farming for himself about two miles northeast of New Winchester on a farm of his own. About two years after his marriage he moved to his present farm in the northwest part of Marion township. He has been very successful, as is shown by his present farm of five hundred and sixty acres, of which four hundred acres are cultivable. He was formerly a heavy dealer in live stock, but has confined his energies to the raising of grain in the last few years. He has made many improvements on his place and has a very comfortable and attractive home.
Mr. and Mrs. Higgins have three children: Oscar, born in 1878, who graduated in the New Winchester high school, and later married Olive Oakley, the daughter of James and Ellen (Ader) Oakley. James Oakley, born and reared in Putnam county, was the son of Lafayette and Mildred (Harris) Oakley. Mildred Harris was born in Kentucky and came to Put- nam county in early childhood with her parents. Her mother's maiden name was Neeves. Lafayette Oakley also came from Kentucky in childhood and settled with his parents in Putnam county. Ellen Ader was born and reared in Putnam county and was the daughter of Adam and Margaret (Chatham) Ader. After Oscar Higgins, the eldest son of William T., was married he farmed in Putnam county for one year and then moved to his present home on his father's farm. Oscar and wife have two children, Edna Merle, and Virgil Wayne, who died recently.
Clay, the second child of William T. and wife, dicd at the age of thir- teen and the youngest son, Earl Glendon, is still at home. The wife and
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mother died in April. 1893. Politically, Mr. Higgins is a Democrat, though he has never aspired to public office. Religiously, the members of his family affiliate with the Christian church.
JOHN R. GARNER.
All callings, whether humble or exalted, may be productive of some measure of success, if enterprise and industry, coupled with a well-directed purpose, form the motive force of the person directing the same, and in no case is this fact more apparent than in agricultural pursuits. It is a well authenticated fact that success comes as the result of legitimate and well applied energy, unflagging determination and perseverance as well as the above enumerated qualities. When a course of action is once decided upon, these attributes are essential. Success is never known to smile upon the idler or dreamer and she never courts the loafer, only those who have diligently sought her favor being crowned with her blessings.
John R. Garner was born in Brown township, Hendricks county, In- diana, on December 14, 1861, about one and one-half miles northwest of his present home, being a son of Solomon B. and Deborah (Lyons) Garner, both natives of Bath county, Kentucky. They had been married several years before they brought their family to the Hoosier state. After coming here they settled on the farm where the immediate subject of this sketch was born. This farm comprised some two hundred acres, being land which Solomon Garner had entered from the government and on which he passed the remainder of his life, his death occurring in 1861. His wife died on the same place in 1880. There were nine children in their family, but one other besides the subject living today.
John R. Garner passed his youth and early manhood under the care of the parental roof, remaining there until first married, on December 17, 1871, to Sarah A. Jones, daughter of Benjamin and Nancy (Dodson) Jones, both of whom were from the state of Kentucky, and who took up their abode in Brown township, Hendricks county, upon coming to Indiana. Sarah A. Jones, first wife of the subject, died on November 17, 1888, leav- ing two children, the eldest being Viola, who is the wife of Robert Davis, of Rossville, Illinois, where they live at the present time. They are the parents of a family of nine children, namely: Ruth, Lucretia, Mary, Esther,
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Ralph, Agnes, Edith, Randle and Arthur. The second child of Mr. Garner by his first wife is a son, Arthur, who chose as his wife Della Johnson, daughter of Martin and Norah Johnson, of Hendricks county. They make their home in Middle township, Hendricks county, and the parents of three children, Russell, Crystal and Catherine.
After his first marriage, John R. Garner took up his residence on a tract of forty acres, being part of the land originally entered from the gov- ernment by his father, and there they lived for eighteen years. In 1890 he took as his second wife Sarah A. Jones, daughter of Uriah and Frances (Kenneday) Jones. Uriah Jones was the son of Benjamin and Nancy (Moore) Jones, who were of Kentucky nativity. The parents of Frances (Kenneday) Jones were also from that state. Mr. Garner's wives were of the same name, the first wife being a half aunt of the present Mrs. Garner. After his second marriage, Mr. Garner built his present home, where they have since resided. There is one child, Ethel, by the second marriage, who remains at home.
Mr. Garner recalls with interest the methods of farming which were in vogue in his younger days, when he plowed with a yoke of oxen. He also has used the reap hook for harvesting grain, before the days of reapers or any of the farm machinery now thought necessary by the smallest and poorest of agriculturists. He also recalls with pleasure the days of sugar- water gathering time and the work of the sugar camp, which became quite a social affair for the neighborhood and was eagerly looked forward to from year to year. Then, too, the sugar so made was the entire supply of the pioneer families for the ensuing year. Mr. Garner has always confined his efforts to the vocation of farming and has seen this labor grow from one of the most arduous of occupations, with its attendant comparatively small remuneration, to an up-to-date business, wherein machinery of all kinds is employed as well as modern and scientific methods and the farmer has be- come the most independent man in any line of business.
Mr. Garner's religious affiliation is with the Baptist church, of which his wife and daughter are also members, and the entire family contribute of time and means to furthering the cause of that church society. By a straightforward and commendable course, Mr. Garner has made his way to a respected position among his associates, winning the hearty admiration of the people of his neighborhood as a broad-minded and upright citizen whose line of conduct has ever been above reproach.
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WILLIAM M. ROSE.
To a great extent the prosperity of the agricultural sections of our country is due to the honest industry, the sturdy persistence, the unswerving perseverance and the wise economy which so prominently characterize the farming element of the Hoosier state. Among this class may be mentioned William M. Rose, who, by reason of years of indefatigable labor and honest effort, has not only acquired a well merited material prosperity, but has also richly earned the highest esteem of all with whom he is associated, as is shown by the fact that he has been entrusted with important official positions, the duties of which he has most faithfully and ably discharged, thus eminently meriting the high esteem in which he is universally held.
William M. Rose, a prosperous farmer of Eel River township, was born November 23, 1859, in Putnam county, near the Hendricks county line. His parents were Lewis M. and Margaret (Kelley) Rose. Lewis M. Rose was the son of Lewis A. Rose and wife, who were natives of Kentucky and lived in the vicinity of Bowling Green. Lewis M. Rose married Margaret Kelley, the daughter of William and Malinda (West) Kelley. William Kelley was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and came here as a young man, entering one hundred and sixty acres of government land near New Win- chester. However, he did not farm, but became the pioneer merchant of New Winchester, where he died early in life. Melinda West, the wife of Mr. Kelley, was born in Kentucky and came here with her parents and located near New Winchester, where she grew to womanhood and on Febru- ary 22, 1855, married Lewis M. Rose. After his marriage Lewis M. Rose moved to near New Maysville, where he lived until the breaking out of the Civil War. In August, 1862, he enlisted in Company B. Ninety-ninth Regi- ment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and died while in the service in the follow- ing January. For several years after his death, his widow remained on the farm near New Maysville, and later married James Hayes, and moved to his farm in the northiwestern part of Marion township, in this county, where she still resides. Lewis M. Rose and wife were the parents of three children, one of whom died in infancy, the other two being William M., and Mrs. Alice Dooley, of Danville.
William M. Rose grew up on his stepfather's farm and after completing the course in the common schools in his neighborhood, he then attended the normal school at Ladoga for two terms. After his marriage, he began farm- ing in Marion township near his mother and there remained until 1905. He
MR. AND MRS. WILLIAM M. ROSE
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already owned a farm when he was married and in 1905 sold this and bought one hundred and ninety-three and a half acres about a mile northeast of North Salem, where he still lives. On his new farm he has built a fine residence, good barns and improved the place in every way. As a farmer he ranks among the first in the township and divides his attention between the raising of grain and the production of live stock.
Mr. Rose was married on August 21, 1884, to Amanda Bowen, who was born in Putnam county, Indiana, December 9, 1860, the daughter of James and Nancy (Higgins) Bowen. Nancy Higgins was born in this township, her parents coming to this county from Mercer county, Kentucky, in 1821. James Bowen was reared in Putnam county, Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Rose are the parents of three children, all of whom are at home, Ethel C., Edith Lottie and Edward Maurice.
Mr. Rose and his family are all members of the Christian church and to this denomination render faithful and zealous support. Mr. Rose has been an honorable, upright, industrious and temperate man all of his life, and has performed well his part in the body politic. No one questions his standing as one of those citizens who always stand for the best welfare of the com- monwealth.
MURAT W. HOPKINS.
This biographical sketch has to do with Murat W. Hopkins, who has for a number of years been recognized as one of the successful lawyers of Indianapolis. As a citizen he is public spirited and enterprising ; as a friend and neighbor, he combines the qualities of head and heart that have won confidence and respect; as an attorney, he is easily the equal of his pro- fessional brethren at the Marion county bar.
Murat W. Hopkins, now one of the leading attorneys of Indianapolis, and formerly a resident of Hendricks county, Indiana. was born in Brown township, this county, on October 20, 1857, the son of William and Ruah (Harding) Hopkins, his father being a native of Maryland and his mother of Kentucky. William Hopkins was a farmer all of his life, coming to Hen- dricks county, Indiana, about 1840, and locating in Brown township, where he followed the occupation of a farmer until his death, which occurred in 1891. William Hopkins was one of the prominent citizens of the county in that early day, and for many years served as trustee of his township. He
(41)
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also held many other appointments of trust and frequently served as adminis- trator or guardian. Mrs. William Hopkins died in 1907. They were the parents of six children. Mrs. Sarah Lawhead, of Newburgh, New York; Erastus, of Marienthal, Kansas; Wyatt, deceased; Liston, of Salem, Oregon; Everett, who lives on the old home place two and one-half miles north of Brownsburg, and Murat W., the immediate subject of this review.
Murat W. Hopkins was born and reared on his father's farm, receiving his elementary education in the district schools of his home township. He taught in the public schools of this county and then attended the State Nor- mal School at Terre Haute, after which he entered the State University of Iowa City, where he received his degree of Bachelor of Law in 1881. The following year he began the practice of law at Danville, and continued there until 1891 when he went to Indianapolis, at which city he has built up a successful practice in general work and specializing in legal work relating to corporations. He has been a constant student of the law and during his practice of nearly twenty-five years in the Capitol City he has enjoyed a suc- cessful practice and now occupies an influential position among the lawyers of that city. He is a member of the Indianapolis Bar Association, the Indiana Bar Association and the American Bar Association.
Mr. Hopkins was married on April 20, 1882, to Allie L. Montgomery, of Mattoon, Illinois, who was formerly a resident of Brownsburg, Hen- dricks county, and was a daughter of Tyra and Caroline (Lockhart) Montgomery. Her grandfather was Thomas Lockhart, a pioneer Christian preacher of Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Hopkins have two daughters, Kate Elliott, the wife of Wendall Coval, of Indianapolis, and Caroline Ruah. the wife of Donald Gordon, of Metamora, Indiana.
Mr. Hopkins has been affiliated with the Democratic party since he reached voting age and has always taken an active interest in the affairs of his party. However, he has not felt inclined to enter into the struggle for any official position, being content to devote his time and energy to his interesting and successful legal practice. He is a member of the Indiana Democratic Club at Indianapolis, and he is also a member of the Art Asso- ciation of that city. Fraternally, he belongs to the Free and Accepted Masons, is a Scottish-Rite Mason, and belongs to the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine and the Knights of Pythias.
Mr. Hopkins, in his public and private life, is regarded as a man of high integrity, with kindly impulses for his fellow citizens and always ready to help those who are deserving of assistance. His love of good books has caused him to accumulate a goodly sized private library, in which can be
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found many old. rare, interesting and valuable volumes. In his law library is to be found one of the very few complete sets now in existence of the session laws of Indiana enacted by the General Assembly since the formation of the state. There will also be found in his law library original volumes of the Indiana territorial laws, enacted before the state was organized.
CALVIN T. HAULK.
In the agricultural circles of Hendricks county, Indiana, a county noted for the degree of success attained and the high standing of its citizens fol- lowing that vocation, there is no one more deserving of favorable comment than he whose name is found at the head of this paragraph. He is descend- ed from some of the earlier families of the county, men and women who endured all the privations and sufferings of the early pioneers. The at- tributes of their stalwart characters still find expression in their sons and daughter: of today and the energy, perseverance and enterprise which Cal- vin T. Haulk has exhibited in carrying his plans to successful execution mark him worthy of the ancestors who did so much to impress upon this locality in its early days the principles of correct living and advanced ideas.
Calvin T. Haulk was born on December 28, 1870, in eastern Tennessee, the son of Andrew and Seda Emeline (Ottinger ) Haulk, both of whom were natives of the same state, the former having been born in Greene county and the latter in Cook county, the daughter of Thomas and Lavina (Ottin- ger) Ottinger. Thomas was born in Virginia and Lavina in Pennsylvania and, despite the similarity of name, there was no relationship existing between the two families. Andrew Haulk, father of the immediate subject, was born on January 1, 1847, and was the son of William Haulk, also a native of Greene county, Tennessee. All his life Andrew was engaged in farming in his native county and died there on August 3, 1872, leaving his widow and three small children, namely: Calvin (the subject), Wade and Malvina. Early in her widowhood, Mrs. Andrew Haulk brought her three children to the home of her brother, Wylie Ottinger, who lived near Whitestown, Boone county, this state, and in February, 1883, she again united in marriage, this time becoming the wife of Jacob Neese, also a native of Cooke county, Ten- nessee, and a son of Abraham and Mollie (Blazer) Neese. When Jacob Neese was twelve years old, his parents left their native state and came to Boone county, where they passed the remainder of their lives. They left Tennessee
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