USA > Indiana > Hendricks County > History of Hendricks County, Indiana, her people, industries and institutions > Part 71
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the Free and Accepted Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias.
Mr. Sanders is now in the prime of life and usefulness and has many years of active service before him and the work which he has done in the past speaks well for the future. His native ability, business success, high character and sterling integrity have won for him the esteem and confidence of all who know him.
WILSON D. BARNES.
It is with pleasure the biographer presents the following sketch, that of a plain honest man of affairs, who by correct methods and a strict regard for the interests of his patrons has made his influence felt in Hazelwood and won for himself distinctive prestige in the business circles of that community. Of sterling German ancestry, Mr. Barnes is a man whose integrity and strength of character commands the respect of his contemporaries and who leaves the impress of his individuality upon the community honored by his residence.
Wilson D. Barnes was born in 1852 near Stilesville, Hendricks county, Indiana, the son of Stephen A. Barnes and Lydia Ann Long. his wife. Stephen A. was born in Pennsylvania in 1805, a son of William Barnes, who with his wife emigrated to America about the year 1800. He located in Pennsylvania and there passed the remainder of his life, his death occurring while his son Stephen A. was still a youth. Later on, Stephen A. Barnes and his mother came westward into Indiana and located in Miami county. They remained there a short time, when both came into Hendricks county, where he secured a tract of government land about one mile south of Stilesville and there he lived the balance of his life, farming the tract of land he had secured in a wild state, but which he had with much labor converted into a well- cultivated farm. In the early days he was a bricklayer and helped build the first brick flues which were erected in the then growing town of Indian- apolis. The first chimneys had been simply primitive affairs of mud and sticks. Lydia Ann (Long) Barnes, mother of the immediate subject of this sketch, was born in Ohio probably about 1810 and came to Indiana with her parents while she was still a girl, the family locating near Stilesville. Her death occurred when the subject of this sketch was, but seven years old, in August, 1859. Stephen A., the subject's father, lived for many years there- after, his death occurring August 27, 1883. After the death of his first wife,
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Stephen A. Barnes married the second time, his bride being Mary Ann Davis, whose death occurred several years after he passed away.
Wilson D. Barnes grew up on the homestead near Stilesville, and re- mained with his father until eighteen years old, when for a few years he worked out as a farm hand. On January 11, 1877, he was united in marriage with Elizabeth D. Richardson, who was born near Hazelwood, this county, a daughter of William B. and Mary (Hurd) Richardson, the former of whom was a native of North Carolina and a son of Daniel and Dorcas Hurd. When William B. was a young man, he came to Indiana with his parents. They made the long journey in a wagon, William B. walking about half the dis- tance. They settled near Hazelwood at an early date. Mary Hurd, mother of Mrs. Barnes, was born in Kentucky, a daughter of Joshua Hurd, who came to Indiana, settling in Montgomery county, when she was but a small child. William B. Richardson and wife passed the remainder of their lives on the farm near Hazelwood. where he carried on general farming and in addition did considerable trading and selling of live stock. He was one of the influential men of the community and a good citizen in every respect, having served three years in the Union cause during the dark days of the sixties. He was a man highly esteemed and respected and because of the unbounded confidence which friends and neighbors reposed in him, he was often ap- pointed guardian for minors and acted as administrator in settling up the business of many an estate.
For two years after his marriage, subject carried on farming near Hazel- wood, and then, in the spring of 1880. he engaged in the mercantile business at Hazelwood. In this business he continued for about ten years, when he disposed of his interest and purchased a farm south of Hazelwood. This farm contains seventy-five acres, which he still owns. After about nine years spent on the farm, he again engaged in business in Hazelwood and since that time. with the exception of two years, he has been so engaged.
To Mr. and Mrs. Barnes have been born five children, two of whom have passed away. These are Arthur D., who died when about twenty months old, and Lillie D .. who lived to be eighteen years old, her death occurring in 1904. Those living are Minnie, who is the wife of R. D. Stone, the proprietor of the telephone system at Clayton. Myrtle E. remains at home and Conrad W., who was born in 1887, married Emma Turner, of Indianapolis, and is in partnership with his father in the store at Hazelwood. Both Mr. and Mrs. Barnes are members of the Missionary Baptist church, being devoted and con- sistent members of the same. For most of the last twenty years Mr. Barnes
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has served the society as church treasurer. The success attained by Mr. Barnes in his business affairs has been greatly owing to his steady persistence, stern integrity and excellent judgment, qualities which have also won for hitn the confidence and esteem of the public to a marked degree. Personally, he is a man of quiet and unassuming disposition. though genial and friendly in his relations with others, and he has for many years enjoyed a wide acquaintance and large prestige throughout Hendricks county.
CHARLES E. SHIELDS.
Hendricks county, Indiana, is known as one of the best counties of the state and, as the reputation of a locality is but a reflection of the quality of its citizenship, it goes without saying that this county numbers among its citizens many men who in one way or another have given of their time or ability to further such enterprises as make for the advancement of any com- munity in its moral, educational or material life. Such a citizen is Charles E. Shields, who by reason of unusual ability and enterprise has taken his place among the foremost citizens of the county, and while primarily con- sidering the interests of himself and those dearest to him, has at the same time accomplished much for the public good.
Charles E. Shields, present trustee of Liberty township, Hendricks county, was born on July 28, 1872, near Lake Valley, Morgan county, this state, the son of David and Frances (Pruitt) Shields, both of whom also were born in the same county. David shields was a son of David Shields, Sr., who was born and raised in North Carolina, coming to this state some time after his marriage, bringing with them two or three children. They accomplished the journey from their native state in the early days, coming overland in a wagon, passing through the state of Kentucky. They located in Morgan county, where they passed the remainder of their lives on the farm which they had secured.
David Shields, Jr., grew up in Morgan county, receiving what educa- tion the early schools of the day afforded and employing his time in agri- cultural labors. He was a veteran of the Civil War and died in 1881, when the subject of this sketch was but nine years old, his wife having died three years previous. After the death of his father, the subject was taken into the home of his uncle, Harrison Shields, near Eminence, Morgan county, and there remained until he was fifteen years of age. At that time he came
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to friends in Liberty township, this county, and attended Central Normal College at Danville, while also engaged in farm work. However, this was not the chosen vocation of his life, and about 1898 he formed a partner- ship with E. V. Milhon and together they engaged in the mercantile busi- ness at Hazlewood, which partnership remained in force about three and one-half years. Prior to the dissolution of that partnership, these two gen- tlemen had organized and constructed what is known as the Hazelwood Telephone System, and in 1902 Mr. Shields disposed of his interest in the mercantile business to Mr. Milhon and purchased Mr. Milhon's interest in the telephone company. Also, in connection with their mercantile business, the two partners had operated a private bank, and at their dissolution Mr. Shields' interests in this went to Mr. Milhon, the subject desiring to devote his entire time to the operation of the telephone business. This business he retained until January 1, 1912, by which time it had assumed consider- able proportions and had proven of untold value to the community.
Mr. Shields has always been a strong adherent of the Republican party and always took an active interest in local affairs pertaining to same. In 1908 he was elected township trustee and by reason of the legislative change made in the length of term of office of township trustees, he holds his seat until January 1, 1915. Mr. Shields' fraternal affiliations are with the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Improved Order of Red Men, and in the workings of these orders he takes a com- mendable interest.
On July 9. 1899, Mr. Shields was united in marriage with Sylvia Burch, who was born near Bloomington, Monroe county, this state, a daughter of William H. and Susie (Sparks) Burch, both of whom were born and reared in the same county and were throughout their lives very active in promot- ing the interests of the Baptist church. Mr. Burch's vocation was that of farming, as was also that of his father, Charles Burch, who with his wife, Jane, came from their native state of North Carolina and settled in Mon- roe county in the early thirties and there he passed the remainder of his life, his death occurring December 23, 1905. His widow still resides in Bloomington, at an advanced age. Susie Sparks Burch, mother of Mrs. Shields, was a daughter of William and Nancy Sparks, who also came from North Carolina, making the long journey overland in a wagon. They ar- rived in Monroe county about 1835. where they spent their remaining days. Mrs. Shields received her elementary education in the district schools of Monroe county, later attending high school in Bloomington and the Central
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Normal College at Danville, from which latter institution she obtained her certificate qualifying her to teach school and for six years she followed this profession, teaching four years in Monroe county and two in Hendricks county. To Mr. and Mrs. Shields have been born three children, the eldest being Joy June, who was born in June, 1900, and died in December, 1906. The two remaining are Myrth and Jewel.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Shields are active members of the Church of Christ and have been largely instrumental in bringing about the excellent condi- tions existing in the local body at Hazelwood. Mr. Shields and two other members purchased and donated the site for the new church building, which was completed and dedicated to its high calling on October 30, 1910. The church society was organized in March, 1909, and since the time of its or- ganization Mr. Shields has served as trustee and elder, being active in bring- ing about the speedy erection of the church edifice, which is a handsome structure, costing between nine and ten thousand dollars. Prior to the com- pletion of this structure, the society held its meetings in Red Men's hall. Mrs. Shields is not behind her husband in good works, for since the or- ganization of the Ladies' Aid Society, in connection with the church, she has been very active in the work falling within its scope, and was the first president of the local organization, which has the reputation of being one of the most proficient and finely organized societies in the state. She is deeply interested in the National Mother Congress. Mr. and Mrs. Shields are among the very best people of the community, both being full of inter- est in the lives of others and sincerely desirous of accomplishing all the good possible for their community. In view of Mr. Shields' public activi- ties, it is especially fitting that a biographical sketch of his career be incorpo- rated in a work of the scope intended in the present volume.
FRANCIS M. HARRISON.
It was once remarked by a celebrated moralist and biographer that "there has scarcely passed a life of which a judicious and faithful narrative would not have been useful " Believing in the truth of this opinion, expressed by one of the greatest and best of men, the writer of this review takes pleasure in presenting a few facts in the career of a gentleman who, by industry, perse- verance, temperance and integrity, has worked himself from an humble station
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to a successful place in life and won an honorable position among the well known and highly esteemed men of the locality in which he resides.
Francis Marion Harrison, the son of Benjamin and Rachael ( Hendricks) Harrison, was born in Eel River township, Hendricks county, March 11, 1873. Benjamin Harrison was a native of Boone county and reared to manhood and married in that county. His father was a cooper at Lafayette and followed that trade until his death. Benjamin Harrison came to Hendricks county about 1870 and operated a saw-mill northeast of North Salem for a number of years. He sold his mill and then ran one in Boone county for a number of years. He then returned to Hendricks county, Union township, and oper- ated a saw-mill at Montclair until his death at that place in 1881. The wife of Benjamin Harrison was also a native of Boone county and is still living at Brownsburg. After the death of her husband in 1881, she married Joshua Tharp, a farmer and banker at Brownsburg. Benjamin Harrison and wife were the parents of eight children : George, deceased; Frank, deceased ; John, deceased : Ora ; William; Oliver, deceased; Francis Marion and Edgar.
Francis M. Harrison was reared to manhood in Hendricks county and has lived north of Danville since he was fifteen years of age. He began oper- ating his present farm in 1910, having formerly operated a farm of eighty- three acres in Marion township for ten years. He sold his Marion township farm and bought his present farm of ninety acres in Center township. He carries on general farming and also raises considerable live stock for the market. He is a man with excellent ideas concerning agriculture and takes an interest in farming institutes and all other organizations that are of benefit to the farmer.
Mr. Harrison was married in August, 1895, to Hattie May Thomas, the daughter of Lewis and Louisa (Talbott) Thomas. Lewis Thomas was a native of Fayette county, Indiana, and came with his parents to this county when he was ten years of age. His father, Erasmus Thomas, was born in Fayette county November 13, 1821, and moved to Hendricks county in 1864. Erasmus Thomas was the first auditor of Tipton county, Indiana, and helped to lay out the present town of Tipton. He held the office of auditor for one year, then refused to hold it any longer because of the meager salary which was attached to the office. He never held any offices in Hendricks county, but farmed and served as a regular Baptist preacher for over forty years, preaching in the Danville church for a long time. He died in 1897 on the homestead farm. His son, Lewis, the father of Mrs. Harrison, was reared to manhood in this county and qualified for the Regular Baptist ministry. He
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is still active as a Baptist minister at Ashley, Ohio, where he has been for the past thirty years. Mrs. Lewis Thomas is a native of Center township, this county, and died February 7, 1877, on the old homestead farm, four and one- half miles north of Danville. Mr. and Mrs. Harrison are the parents of four children, all of whom are still under the parental roof, Benjamin, Mildred, Aria and Mary.
Mr. Harrison is a member of the Republican party, but has never taken any further part in politics than to cast his vote for his candidate at the regular election. However, he takes a deep interest in the main questions of the day and keeps himself well informed as to the progress of events of the nation by reading the newspapers and magazines. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias at Danville. He and his wife are faithful members of the Regular Baptist church. Mr. Harrison is a man who has always been interested in the various public-spirited enterprises of his community and only lends his assist- ance to such as he deemed worthy. He is congenial by nature and has a personality which attracts friends, whom he easily retains because of his fine qualities of character.
WILLIAM W. QUINN.
William W. Quinn, of Cartersburg, Hendricks county, now living in comfortable retirement after many years of unceasing activity in connec- tion with agricultural pursuits, is one of the best known citizens of the county. His well directed efforts in the practical affairs of life, his capable management of his business interests and his sound judgment have brought to him prosperity and his life demonstrates what may be accomplished by any man of energy and ambition who is not afraid to work and has the per- severance to continue his labors in the face of any disaster or discourage- ment that may arise. In all the relations of life Mr. Quinn has commanded the confidence and respect of those with whom he has been brought into contact and a biographical history of this locality would not be complete without a record of his career.
William W. Quinn was born on April 1, 1837, in Union county, In- diana, the son of John and Sarah (Bright) Quinn, both of whom were born and reared in Fleming county, Kentucky. They were married there prior to coming to this state about 1820. They located in Union county imme- diately upon coming to Indiana, and there passed the remainder of their lives. John Quinn was a life-long farmer and when he first took up his
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residence in Union county it was then not much more than a wilderness. One man filled all the county offices. John Quinn's death occurred when the subject of this sketch was a lad of but fourteen years. He left a family of thirteen children, the youngest being the subject, who is now the only surviving member of the family.
The subject passed his boyhood on the home farm in Union county, obtaining such education as the early subscription schools of the time af- forded and receiving early instruction in the secrets of successful farming from his father, who was quite skilled in his chosen vocation. Mr. Quinn has been twice married. On March 8, 1877, Mr. Quinn for the second time stood before the alter of Hymen, his bride being Nancy L. Clevenger, of Wayne county, this state, a daughter of Samuel and Ruth (Sparh) Clev- enger, the former a well-known farmer of Abbington township, Wayne county, where he resided for many years. Immediately after marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Quinn established their home in Jackson township, Decatur county, this state, where he engaged in farming for ten years. Then in 1887 they came to this county, arriving at Cartersburg on March 3d of that year. In this county Mr. Quinn purchased a fine farm of two hundred and sixteen acres a short distance northwest of Cartersburg and there he resided until March 12, 1902, when he moved into Cartersburg, and on December 2, 1902, he moved into his present home, which he had erected. Mr. Quinn also owns two hundred and ten acres of farm lands in Marion county, this state; in all, his holdings now amount to considerably over four hundred acres. In addition to general farming, Mr. Quinn pays particular attention to the raising and selling of live stock, and in this branch of his business espe- cially he has made an unqualified success. All this has been brought about through his untiring energy and ambition, coupled with unusual executive ability and the fact that he has ever sought to keep abreast of the times in his chosen work.
To Mr. and Mrs. Quinn was born one son, Harlan Everett, who first saw the light of day on September 29. 1888. He married Maude Holder- man and is the father of two sons, William Lee and James Harry. Everett now has charge of affairs on the farm which the subject left upon taking up his residence in Cartersburg.
Mr. Quinn's fraternal affiliation is with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, being a member of the local lodge at Danville. Politically, he is independent. Mrs. Quinn is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Quinn is a man of positive temperament, strong in his convictions, and
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when once having thought out a course of action, he is determined in its execution. With these stronger characteristics, he is genial and friendly and is highly esteemed by friends and neighbors who know him for his sterling worth and unvarying uprightness of character.
ALBERT JOHNSON.
Hendricks county, Indiana, enjoys an enviable reputation because of the high order of her citizenship and none of her citizens occupy a more favorable position in the estimation of his fellows than the gentleman whose name appears at the head of this sketch. The son of an unusually strong and progressive man, to whom the early development of this county is highly indebted, Albert Johnson is himself numbered among the leading citizens of his native county. His continued residence here has but strength- ened his hold on the hearts of the people with whom he has been associated and no one today enjoys a larger circle of friends and acquaintances, who esteem him because of his sterling qualities of character and his business ability. He is, therefore, eminently entitled to representation in a work of this character.
Albert Johnson was born on September 19, 1843, about one and one- half miles northwest of Bridgeport and near the eastern line of Hendricks county, being the son of Jeremiah and Susanna (Johnson) Johnson. Jere- miah Johnson was a son of Aholiab and Hannah Johnson, and was born at Killingly, Windham county, Connecticut, on August 23, 1792, and when three or four years old removed with his parents to Stafford, in Tolland county, Connecticut. With the exception of about three years passed at the home of his mother's father, Jeremiah Bacon, at Middletown, Connecticut, he continued to live with his father and work at farming and getting such education as the opportunities of that day afforded him. He taught several schools in the winter time before he was twenty-one years of age. In 1813, during the war with Great Britain, he served as a volunteer in the state mi- litia of Connecticut for about seventy days, being placed on duty to guard the fort at New London and vicinity, for which service he, long afterwards, obtained a bounty of land from the government. After the close of his military service, he went as far south as Washington, D. C., seeking his fortune, and for a short time was employed in the reconstruction of the capitol building, it having been burned by the British. However, he soon
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tired of this class of labor and, believing there was in store for him an easier way of gaining a livelihood, he journeyed to Baltimore, where he shipped on a private armed sloop bound for a cruise. He took an immediate dislike to that sort of life and was discharged at one of the West Indian islands called Virgin Gorda, from whence he returned to his father's home in Staf- ford. There for one term he taught the district school, numbering not less than one hundred pupils, and early in the spring of 1815 he started with a small trunk, containing a few articles of wearing apparel and about fifty dollars in money, leaving the balance of his savings placed on interest. He was bound for the great new West and travelled by stage to Philadelphia. There he placed his trunk on one of the large wagons constantly passing be- tween Philadelphia and Pittsburgh and betook himself on foot to the latter place. There he fell in company with another Eastern man of like ambition as himself, and the two constructed a flat boat which they loaded with coal and floated down the Ohio river to Cincinnati, where boat and cargo were both sold for whatever they would bring. From Cincinnati he soon went to a German village about twenty miles northwest of that city and there he was soon engaged in teaching the Germans the English language and such other rudiments of education as circumstances permitted. There he con- tinued until such time as the authorities of the new state of Indiana fixed the place for the site of the new state capitol, the present Indianapolis. He soon learned of the fact and, seeing for himself an opportunity in connection with that circumstance, he hired a couple of men, each having a four-horse team, and loaded them with provisions and such other articles as were nec- essary in a new settlement. Leaving his German friends, he started through the then unbroken forest for the future city, fording streams and cutting the way through the woods, guided only by a small compass. After much time and endeavor and enduring many hardships, he at length reached the place of his destination. Here he detained the two teamsters until they, together with such assistance as those already there could afford, had built for him a log cabin, being the third house in the new capitol of Indiana. His first dining table was the head of a flour barrel, his first plate a clean maple chip and his first bedstead was framed into the corner of his cabin. He at once opened up and began disposing of his stock of provisions, pow- der, lead, etc., and became one of the earliest promoters of the place. When the first brick court house was built ( which was also used as a state house for several years) he took the contract for the brick work and, in company with John Johnson (one of whose daughters afterward became his wife),
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