USA > Indiana > Hendricks County > History of Hendricks County, Indiana, together with sketches of its cities, villages and towns, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens > Part 26
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was attending the female collegiate seminary, then in charge of Mrs. Larabie, wife of Prof. William C. Larabie. Miss Sherfy and Mr. Hanna graduated from the same rostrum in June, 1850, and May, 1851, they were married. Mrs. Hauna was a woman of liberal education and superior intellect, and in the fullest sense of the word a true wife. As a Christian she was loved by her neigh- bors and idolized by her husband. She was the mother of seven children, one who died in infancy. She died in the spring of 1870, leaving her husband three sons and three daughters. Mr. Hanna remained a widower two years then married Mrs. Emma Pothorff, of Greencastle. They have now another son and daughter, eight in all. His children are devoted to him, and it seems a labor of love for him to work in their interest. His eldest child, a daughter, Lillie, graduated at the University two years ago. Mr. Hanna was, therefore, the first graduate of the institution that furnished a danghter for graduation. His second daughter and two of his sons are now attending the same University. He believes in giving girls eqnal chance with boys in the advantage of edneation, and, therefore, insisted that the University open its doors to both, which was finally done. The result has proven that the " honors " may be won by the so-called weaker sex if they are given an equal opportunity. Mr. Hanna's great success in his profession has demonstrated that he is a man of much more than ordinary natural ability, starting out a poor boy comparatively, without friends or money, working his way through college and attaining an enviable and high position both as a civil and erim- inal lawyer. It is certainly a great incentive to other poor yonng men to go and do likewise. Mr. Hanna's record shows that he has descended from an ancestry that had rendered service during the Revolution. His great-grandfather was a native of South Carolina and was there engaged during the entire struggle for American independence in behalf of liberty and the stars and stripes. He had a large family of sons. . Mr. Hanna's grandfather, John Hanna, was one of the elder brothers. The late General Robert Hanna, the younger, and several more of the family removed to Brookville, Franklin County, early in the history of Indiana Ter- ritory. General Robert Hanna was a member of the convention that framed the first Constitution of the State in 1816. The father of the subject of this sketch was a mere boy at the time they first came to Indiana. They removed to Marion County in 1826. The grandfather settled on a farm near where the poor house now
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stands in Wayne Township; his brother Joseph, a short distance front him on the Crawfordsville State road. James Parks Hanna, father of John, lived with his uncle, General Hanna, up to the time of his marriage with Miss Lydia Heward, of New Jersey. Four years ago Mr. Hanna removed the remains of his father and mother to Greencastle cemetery, where they will probably remain until that day when the graves and the sea will be called on to give up their dead. Mr. Hanna's record is one worthy of emula- tion, and should be inscribed in the pages of history.
In person he is abont five feet eight inches in height, with a heavy, square frame, though not inclined to corpulency, dark hair, eyes and complexion, and seems to be in the full strength and vigor of manhood, plain and unassuming in manner. A stranger upon entering our court could at once single him out as one of the leading spirits of the Indianapolis bar.
In 1884 Mr. Hanna was nominated by the Republican conven- tion for Representative in Congress from the capital city district, and was elected at the State election in October, defeating the Hon. Franklin Landers, the incumbent, and one of the most popu- lar men in the district, 1,398 votes.
"Nothing is difficult beneath the sky, Man only fails because he fails to try."
Alva W. Hornaday is a native of Hendricks County, Ind., born in Washington Township, Oct. 8, 1845, the eldest son of Isaiah and Elvira Hornaday, his father a native of Ohio and his mother of North Carolina. They were married in Hendricks County, and settled in Washington Township, and then they moved to Brownsburgh, Lincoln Township, in 1875, where they now reside. Alva Hornaday was reared a farmer, attending the com- mon schools of his district. He remained with his parents till his marriage, and then bought what is known as the old William Townsend farm, which contains 136 acres of choice land. His residence is a neat one-story frame building, and his farm buildings are among the best in the township. Mr. Hornaday is a thrifty and one of the representative agriculturists and stock-raisers of the county. He was married in 1875 to Ella E. Cox, daughter of James H. and Lillus Cox. They have one child-Elvira Belle Hornaday. Mr. and Mrs. Hornaday are members of the Chris- tian church.
. Asa Hunt is a native of Highland County, Ohio, born May 5, 1807, the fifth of seven children of Asa and Sarah (Gifford) Hunt.
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In his youth he assisted his father on the farm, and later worked three years in a carding and woolen mill. When he was twenty . years of age his father died; and the management of the farm de- volved on him till the estate was settled by his elder brothers. He was married when twenty-three years of age, to Lydia Ste- phens, of Highland County. After his marriage he settled in Clinton County, Ohio, and twelve years later moved to Hancock County. In 1851 he moved to Hamilton County, Ind., where he lived twelve years, and thence to Indianapolis. He lived in Indianapo- lis five years and a half, and in 1870 exchanged his property there for property in Plainfield, where he has since lived. He owns one of the finest houses in Plainfield, built by Mack Shideler, lo- cated on Long Mound, one of the pleasantest sites in the township. To Mr. and Mrs. Hunt have been born six children-Mary A., Levi S., Cyrus A., Gideon, Eunice and Jesse L. They are mein- bers of the society of Friends. In politics he is a Republican.
Judge Alexander Little was one of the first settlers of Hendricks County. His parents, Thomas and Mary (Campbell) Little, came to the United States about 1770 and located in Virginia, removing later to Mercer County, Ky. Their family consisted of eight children-Molly, Nancy, Sally, John, Peggy, Jane, Thomas and Alexander. The mother died March 25, 180S, and the father Dec. 5, 1814. Alexander Little married Rachel, daughter of William and Ann Robinson, and to them were born twelve children-Anna, born Aug. 27, 1801, married Robert MeKuight; Polly, born Jan. 20, 1803, married James Green; Patsy, born Oct. 30, 1804; Betsy, born May 4, 1806, married John Canary; John, born April 12, 1808, married Nancy Rawlings, who died and he afterward mar- ried Jane Beasley; Samuel, born April 26, 1810, married Rebecca Green; Rachel, born June 24, 1812, married James Richardson; William, born March 5, 1814, married Sarah Downard, who died and he subsequently married Mary Lee; Rebecca, born April 29, 1816, married three times-first, Josiah L. Wines; second, Jacob Welch, and third, Aaron Wilhite; Joseph, boru Feb. 22, 1818, was killed when a young man by being thrown from a horse; Robert, born Dec. 23, 1819, married Mildred Thompson, and after her death Maria Worth; Sarah, born Oct. 22, 1823, married Joseph Simpson, who died and she then married John Wilhite. In an early day Judge Little and his family moved to Washington County, Ind., and in 1830 came to Hendricks County. While in Washington County he was a Lieutenant and then Major in the
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first militia organization of the State. He held several offices of trust; was Associate Judge, and served several terms in the Ter- ritorial Legislature. . After coming to Hendricks County he served one term of three years in the State Senate. He died July 26, 1849. His wife died Sept. 7, 1851.
Samuel Little is a native of Mercer County, Ky., born April 26, 1810. The day of his birth his father, Judge A. Little, started for Washington County, Ind., where he entered a tract of land. He eleared a small piece, planted it to corn and returned to Kentucky for his family, moving to Washington County the following June. In 1830 he moved to Hendricks County and settled in Liberty Township. Samuel Little was married in Washington County, to Rebecca Green, and in February, 1830, moved to Hendricks County and settled in Liberty Township, on the farm now owned by his son Thomas. To his original entry of eighty aeres he added till he owned 400 acres of valuable land. He has been one of the most successful stock-raisers of the county, having some of the finest grades of cattle and hogs. In 1SS+ he left the farm and moved to Plainfield, where he has a pleasant home. His wife died in 18S3. They had a family of eleven children; four died in in- fahey, and one, Joseph, after reaching maturity. The living are -Sarah, wife of Edward Crawford; Elizabeth, wife of Daniel Cox; Mary A., wife of Benjamin Edwardson; Robert and Thomas. Dec. 14, 1883, Mr. Little married Margaret A. MeKnight, widow of Alexander MeKnight, by whom she had eight children; four are living, two died in infancy, and two in adult age. Mr. Little has been a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian church fifty years, and has served as Elder several years. His first wife was a member of the same denomination. His present wife is a member of the Old Presbyterian church. IIe has been President of the Plainfield and Cartersburg gravel road twenty years, and is one of the stock- holders and Directors of the First National Bank of Danville.
William C. Mills, a prominent old settler of Hendricks County, was born in Wayne County, Ind., at the present site of Economy, May 8, 1816, the second son in the family of eight children of Henry and Hannah (Woodward) Mills, natives of North Carolina, the father born in March, 1780, and the mother Sept. 5, 1790. They moved from their native State to East Tennessee, and thence in 1814 to Indiana. They located near Richmond, and then moved to Economy, where they lived two years, but not liking Wayne County, returned to Tennessee; subsequently moved again
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HISTORY OF HENDRICKS COUNTY.
to Wayne County, where they lived till 1829, when they came to Hendricks County and settled on eighty acres of land on the farm now owned by Aaron Mills. The father died in 1833, in Morgan County, Ill., and the mother in 1862, near the same place. Five of their children are still living. Henry Mills was a valnable man in the new settlement. He was a natural mechanic, and handy with all kinds of tools. He was a good penman, and was often called upon to write deeds, contraets, wills, etc. He was a great reader and was well informed on all subjects of general interest. William C. Mills was about thirteen years of age when his parents moved to this county. He received a good education for the early day, but the greater part of his time was spent in assisting on the farm. He remained with his mother till his marriage, and then settled on a traet ofland in the woods, on the Lick Fork, where he lived eight years. After clearing and improving his land, he sold it, and subsequently made several elianges, and in the fall of 1855 bought the farm of Joseph Moffett, to which he moved in 1856. He owns about 800 acres of land, about 400 acres under cultivation and the rest good pasture land. Mr. Mills has made a specialty of stock-raising, which he has made a snecessful and luerative busi- ness. He isa shrewd business man, an upright, honest citizen, and merits the snecess he has achieved. Mr. Mills was married in 1839 to Rebecca Hadley, a native of Randolph County, N. C., born April 3, 1820, daughter of John B. and Elizabeth Hadley, of Morgan County, Ind. They have had a family of ten children, six of whom are living-John H., Charles H., Amos H., Mary E., wife of Wayne Maey, Oliver H., and Aaron H. Mr. and Mrs. Mills are birthright members of the society of Friends.
Isaiah Sivage is a native of North Carolina, born near Eliza- beth City, Sept. 18, 1826, a son of John and Ann Sivage, natives of the same State. When he was sixteen years of age he left his native State and came to Indiana, stopping the first winter in Richmond. He then removed to Hancock County, and in 1846 to Hendricks County, and found employment on a farm near Bridge- port. He was married in 1848 to Axie Hudson, and settled on Mill Creek, six miles southwest of Danville, in the woods, where he cleared and improved a farm. In the spring of 1860 he sold his farm and bought another of 140 acres, three and a half miles sonth of Plainfield, where he lived twenty-four years, and in 18S+ rented his farm and moved to Plainfield, where he now has a livery and sale stable, and is also engaged in buying and shipping horses.
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His wife died in 1856, leaving two children, both of whom died soon after. In 1860 he married Sarah Hadley, who died in 1864, leaving two children-Indiana and William E. Jan. 31, 1866, he married Eunice Lindley, daughter of Thomas and Mary Lindley. of Parke County, Ind. Mr. Sivage and his family are members of the society of Friends.
Ebenezer Tomlinson is a native of Hendricks County, Ind., born May 26, 1826, the fifth son of James C. and Nancy A. (Doan) Tomlinson, natives of Guilford County, N. C., the father born in 1799 and the mother in 1800. In 1819 James C. Tomlinson and . his wife moved to Hendricks County and settled about five miles sonth of Plainfield, in the woods, and made for themselves a lione where they have lived about sixty-six years. They reared a family of eleven children, eight of whom are living. Ebenezer Tomlin- son was reared in his native county, receiving his education in the common schools. Attaining his majority he engaged in agricult- ural pursuits, which he followed till 1865, when he left the farm and engaged in the dry-goods business in Plainfield till 1881, when he organized Tomlinson & Co.'s Bank, of Plainfield, of which he is the principal owner and controller of the business. He has been a successful business man, and owns two farms and his residence in the village of Plainfield. In 1876 he was elected Township ·Trustee and served two terms, and in 1882 was again elected and is still an ineninbent of the office. He was married Feb. 6, 1852, to Miss Damsel Watson, of Brownsburg, Hendricks County. To them have been born two children-Terrillus B. (deceased), and Tennessee, now the wife of Milton Phillips. Mr. Tomlinson is a member of the Masonic fraternity, Plainfield Lodge, No. 287. He is a member of the society of Friends. His wife is a member of the Missionary Baptist church.
William A. Watson, grocer, Plainfield, Ind., is a native of Jeff- erson County, Ind., born in January, 1834, a son of Ebenezer and Ann Watson, his father a native of Virginia and his mother of Kentucky. In 1839 his parents moved to Hendricks County, and settled in Brown Township, where the mother died in 1874 and the father in 1884. The latter was well and favorably known in the county, and for nine years served as County Commissioner. He died at the advanced age of eighty-four years. His family con- sisted of nine children, four sons and five daughters, all of whom lived till maturity. William A. Watson was reared in Brown · Township, on his father's farm, receiving a good education. He
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followed agricultural pursuits till 1874, when he sold his farm and moved to Indianapolis, but in March, 1875, returned to Hendricks County and located in Plainfield, buying an interest in the flouring mill. He subsequently sold his interest in the mill and has since been engaged in the grocery business. He keeps a full line of groceries and provisions, and has built up a good trade. He was married in 1855 to Susannah Funkhouser, and to them have been born three children. Mr. and Mrs. Watson are members of the Missionary Baptist church, of which he is Trustee and Treasurer.
John R. Weer, a prominent and enterprising farmer of Guil- ford Township, was born in Warren County, Ohio, Feb. 22, 1831, a son of Elijah and Margaret (Cox) Weer, natives of North Caro- lina, who settled in Washington Township, this county, in 1832, where the father died in 1850, and the mother in 1865. They were active members of the Christian church, he serving as Elder several years. Their children were ten in number-Emily, Samuel, John R., David, Hiram, Harris, Julia, Elizabeth, Martha and Amanda J. John R. Weer was reared on his father's farm, in Washington Township. After the death of his father he took charge of the farm, and after his marriage bought the interests of the rest of the heirs. In addition to the 120 acres entered by his father, he now owns 215 acres which makes a fine farm of 335 aeres. He has made a specialty of stock-raising and in 1884 fat- tened 121 head of Poland-China hogs. He has been one of the most successful horse-breeders in the township. In 1882 he moved to Plainfield, giving the management of his farm to his son- in-law, George Carr. He was married in 1853 to Emma Gunn, . daughter of John and Lydia Gunn. They have three children- Martha A., wife of Theodore Walton; Lydia, wife of George Carr, and Ernest E. Mr. and Mrs. Weer are members of the Christian church, of which he is an Elder and Trustee.
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CHAPTER XVI.
LIBERTY TOWNSHIP.
DESCRIPTION .- FIRST SETTLEMENT AND EARLY HISTORY. - REMI- NISCENCES OF JOSHUA MARSHALL. -- POLITICAL HISTORY .--- TOWNSHIP OFFICIALS. -- STATISTICS. - CLAYTON. - BELLEVILLE. - CARTERS- BURG .- CENTRE VALLEY. - BIOGRAPHICAL.
Liberty Township is in the southern part of the county, and is bounded as follows: On the north by Center and Washington, on the east by Guilford, on the south by Morgan County and on the west by Franklin and Clay. It comprises about forty-nine square miles, in townships 14 and 15 north, ranges 1 east and 1 west. It is the largest township in the county. The surface in the northern and eastern portions is high and rolling, while the southwestern portion is low, level, and in places inclined to be swampy. East Fork crosses the northeast corner of the township near Clayton, and passes out of it near the southwestern corner. The natural drainage of the higher portions of the township is excellent, and the small streams or branches generally afford an abundance of pure water the season through. Mud Creek Valley, in the south- west, is of easy drainage on account of the large proportion of sand in the soil. The lands of the township are fertile throughout and well cultivated, and the most extensive farmers in the county live in it.
EARLY HISTORY.
The first settlenient was made in October, 1822, on the National Road east of Belleville, by William and Thomas Hinton, James Thompson and Robert MeCracken. The first ground was cleared on the Pearson farm. William Pope and his son, James N., who was then sixteen years old, came in the spring of 1823, which year brought into the township George Matlock, James R. Barlow, Samuel Hopkins, William Brown, William Ballard, and if not in the same year, soon came David Demoss, John Cook, Moses Craw- ford, John Hanna, Thomas Cooper, George Coble and Jonathan Pitts. William Hinton taught the first school in the township
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and county in the fall of 1823, in a school-house which had been built that fall, one-half mile south of Cartersburg.
Thomas Hinton was the first Justice of the Peace, and William Pope, a Baptist minister, did the first preaching, and organized the first Baptist church in Hendricks County, in his own house, in the autumn of 1823.
The first brick dwelling house in the county was built in 1830, for Jesse Cook, just south of Belleville, by Joseph V. Pope and William Hinton. The act authorizing the organization of Hen- dricks County designated the house of William Ballard, which was on the old Terre Haute road, south of Belleville, as the place of holding the courts, but William Ballard died before the county was organized, and George Matlock, who kept tavern on this road a mile east of Mr. Ballard's, laid off a town which he called Hills- boro, and made a strong effort to get the county seat located there; but failing in this, and meeting his death in 1825 in an affray with his brother-in-law, the Hillsboro enterprise was a failure.
In connection with the early history of Liberty Township, Joshua Marshall, now of Kirkville, Iowa, writes:
" In the autumn of 1826 my father, William Marshall, of Surrey County, N. C., emigrated to Indiana and settled in the south part of Hendricks County, I being then in my nineteenth year. Evan Davis, my brother-in-law, with his family, came at the same time and settled near by. At that time most of the land belonged to the Government, and settlements were scattering. We frequently went as far as five miles to help each other raise our log cabins and stables. A few settlers had preceded us-Edward and Joseph Hobson, William Rushton, John Cook and sons-Levi, Jesse and Stephen, with their families-Edmond Cooper, Jefferson Matlock, Rev. Wm. Pope, Thomas Irons, Judge Little, William Herron, William Townsend, Joshua Hadley, Bowater Bales and others.
"Not having saw-mills, we felled a nice tall gray ash and cut it into 4 x 6 lengths, split out puncheons, dressed the ends to a uniform thickness and then laid them on sleepers. They were jointed with saw and ax, and made a good floor. We split our clapboards for roofing and door shutters. We had plenty of elbow room, and were anxious for our neighbors to help build our cabins and roll logs so as to get them out of our way, in order to raise a little corn for bread and to feed our stock. We were mostly poor, yet contented, and looked forward to better days and more con- veniences. We were all neighborly and kind to each other.
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"Danville had been laid out into lots and a few cabins were be- ing built. David Matlock and others had settled near by and were opening farms. Religious privileges were scarce, not a church or school-house, to my knowledge, being then in the county. The Friends had formed a society and worshiped in a log house near Mooresville, in Morgan County. Rev. Mr. Pope, a Baptist minister, then living near where Cartersburg now is, preached frequently in his own house to attentive, thongh small, audiences; and we were glad thus to meet, hear preaching, and form each others acquaintance. In the spring of 1829 Joseph Tarkington, a Methodist minister, established a preaching place at the house of Edmond Cooper, then residing on Mnd Creek, at the crossing of the Indianapolis and Terre Haute road, and there a class was formed of six members-Evan and Rebecca Davis, Mother Cooper and two daughters, and Hannah Snodgrass. Shortly after this, in June, 1829, at a two-days meeting held in Putnam County, I joined the church and invited Rev. John Mur- ser to come to Hendricks County and preach at my house. At the appointed time he came, and seven joined the church. Three weeks later he came again and seven more joined. Thus a society was formed in the settlement where Salem church now stands. In August of the same year Evan Davis, Father Crutchfield, Bowater Bales, myself and a few others commenced work on a liewed-log church, which was raised in the presence of an 'assembled multi- tnde.' About this time Evan Davis built a saw-mill on White Lick, and there we had our lumber sawed ont for flooring and seat- ing. Evan Davis was Class-Leader and I was assistant. By Christ- mas there were seventy-five members. In the summer of 1884 I visited Salem church, and found the old log church had been re- moved and in its stead was a beautiful frame building, nicely painted and finished inside and out. Near by stood a handsome brick school-house. Surely this wilderness has ' budded and blos- somed like the rose.'"
FIRST ELECTION.
The poll-book of the general election of Aug. 2, 1830, gives the names of thirty-nine voters in Liberty Township, and these prol. ably include most of the first settlers. The names are here copied as recorded in that document, which is more than half a century old: Evin Davis, Joshua Marshall, Jacob Harper, Abraham Woodward, Lewis Coopper, Samuel Gwin, Thomas Coopper, Ed-
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mand Coopper, Cornelions Coopper, George Dawes, William Rush- ton, George Rushton, John Cook, Jonathan Mills, William Allen, James Hiuett, George Rushton, Michael Kerkum, Jesse Allen, William Cawerby, William Marshall, Nathan Snodgrass, Joshua Rushton, Joel Wilson, Silons Grigory, Boyeter Bails, Cornelious Jonson, Jesse Rushton, Joshua B. Hadley, Robert Coopper, John Mills, Thomas Harper, William Townsend, Nathan Cook, Robert H. Irvin, Silous Rushton, Martain Coopper, Eli Moon and Jesse Whippo.
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