History of Henry County, Indiana, Part 48

Author:
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago: Inter-State Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 996

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Perdue?

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Callahan. They have four children. Mr. Perdieu is a member of New Castle Lodge, No. 91, F. &. A. M.

Charles A. Phelps was born near Cadiz, Aug. 3, 1862, a son of Frederick and Elizabeth (Newby) Phelps, natives of Henry County. His father died in 1863. Charles A. received a good education in the schools of Spiceland, and attended the academy at Westfield, Hamilton County, one term. He then turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, and now owns a fine farm of 120 acres in Harrison Township. He lives on his father-in-law's farm, near New Castle, and is engaged in general farming. He was married in 1882 to Cora, daughter of Clark and Margaret Hosier. Mr. Phelps is a member of Crescens Lodge, No. 33, K. of P., New Castle.

Ezekiel Phelps was born in Guilford County, N. C., Feb. 11, 1829, a son of Samuel and Sarah Phelps. In 1831 his parents came to Henry County, Ind., and settled on a farm four miles west of New Castle, and four years later moved to another, four miles southwest of New Castle, where they lived the rest of their lives. Of a family of eleven children six are living. Ezekiel Phelps had very limited educational advantages. His father was an invalid many years, and he was obliged to work on the farm and care for the family. He married Sarah, daughter of Levi and Margaret Hoover. He settled on his present farm in 1865, known as the Abner Elliott farm. He owns 278 acres of choice land, the most of it under cultivation. In 1876 he built a fine two-story brick resi- dence with all modern improvements. Mr. and Mrs. Phelps have had four children; but two are living-Cora A., wife of S. S. Test, and Vierling L. They are members of the Society of Orthodox Friends.

I. W. Pitman, manager of Baldwin, Roberts & Co.'s packing house, New Castle, is a native of Milton, Ind., born June 20, 1832, a son of Eli and Hannah Pitman, his father a native of North Carolina and his mother of Pennsylvania. His father died in Cambridge City, in 1861. When nineteen years of age. Mr. Pitman went to California, returning to Indiana in 1856. In 1857 he came to Henry County, where he manufactured pumps and engaged in different kinds of business till 1867. He then sold agricultural implements nine years, and in 1876 assumed the duties of his present position. He was married in December, 1858, to Rebecca, daughter of Powell and Ann Carpenter. Her father died when she was a little girl, and her mother in 1872. Mr. and Mrs. Pit-

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man have six children. He is a member of New Castle Lodge, No. 121, K. of H.

Robert H. Polk, one of the oldest citizens of New Castle, was born in Virginia, June 13, 1800, a son of James and Elizabeth( Polk. In 1806 his parents moved to North Carolina, where they passed the remainder of their lives. His grandfather, William Polk, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and died in North Carolina in the fall of 1805. Robert H. Polk learned the gun- smith's trade when a young man. He came to Henry County, Ind., in 1841, and settled a mile and a half north of Greensboro, where he worked at his trade and carried on his farm till 1864, when he moved to New Castle, and soon after opened a shop, where, although eighty-four years of age, he still works. Mr Polk was married in 1823 to Hannah Hogin, who died in Febru- ary, 1875. They had a family of ten children-Babel N .; Milton; Rebecca, wife of Jacob Kennard; Rachel C., wife of Q. Hinshaw; John F .; Nancy J., wife of J. Newby; Jonathan C .; Hannah M., wife of B. F. Reagan; Robert L., deceased; Elizabeth T., wife of D. F. Woods. Mr. Polk has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church fifty years. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity.

Henry L. Powell was born in New Castle, Ind., Dec. 23, 1842, the only son of Simeon T. Powell. He received a good education in the schools of New Castle, and in 1863-'64 attended the State University. He then read law with Judge J. H. Mellett, and was admitted to the bar. He tried one case, which he won, and then retired from practice, and settled on the farm. He owns 214 acres of choice land two and a half miles south of New Castle. His residence is a two-story brick, with all modern improvements. His grounds are beautifully laid out with choice shrubbery and shade trees. His home is the finest in the county. His stock is all of a fine grade, and he takes special pride in his horses. He was married in 1867 to Amelia, daughter of Elisha Clift. They have one son-Howard, now twelve years of age.

Charles C. Powell, deceased, was a native of New Castle, Ind., born March 30, 1833. He was the eldest son of John and Eliza- 518 beth (Creek) Powell, early settlers of Henry County. He obtained 523 a liberal education, attending the schools of his native city, and later Asbury University, Greencastle, Ind., from which he grad- uated. He began his mercantile career on his own account in Elwood, Ind., and remained there several years. He then returned

· Hodgin

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to New Castle and opened a stove and tin store, and a few years later went to Indianapolis and engaged in the same business. He subsequently returned to New Castle, and was appointed Cashier of the First National Bank, of which he was a Director, retaining the position until his death. He was a man of excellent judgment and strict business integrity. His judicious investments were the means of accumulating a good property. He was a public-spirited man, and an earnest advocate of all measures of benefit to the county. He was one of the principal instigators of and stock- holders in the Dublin and Cadiz pikes. Mr. Powell was married in June, 1855, to Ella Van Winkle. She lived but a short time after her marriage, and in March, 1858, he married Mary J. Taylor, of Elwood, Ind., a daughter of William and Jane 'Taylor, natives of Virginia, but for many years residents of Wayne and Madison counties, Ind. To Mr. and Mrs. Powell were born four children -Hattie F., Ella M., Sophronia and Fletcher. Hattie F. and Fletcher are deceased. Mr. Powell was for many years a promi- nent member of the Masonic fraternity. He was, as is his wife, a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He was a very enthusiastic worker for the temperance cause, and was never called upon for money to aid in the work that it was not cheerfully given. He was a friend to the friendless, and in their need extended aid with a liberal hand.

John Powell, deceased, was a native of Pennsylvania, born July 22, 1806, a son of Thomas and Nancy Powell, natives of Wales, who came to the United States in 1801 and settled in Pennsylvania. About 1815 they moved to Hamilton County, Ohio, and settled on a farm near Cincinnati, where the father died. The mother died in New Castle, Ind., in 1839. In 1824 our subject moved to Connersville, Ind., and engaged in the teaming business till 1827, when he came to New Castle, and bought two tanneries and merged them into one. He was a skilled workman, understanding all the details of his business, and was very suc- cessful, carrying it on nearly a quarter of a century. Some of his hides he imported from as far South as New Orleans. Mr. Powell was a public-spirited man, and took an interest in all measures of improvement. He was one of the projectors and contributors of the Whitewater Canal. In 1847 he was elected to represent his county in the Legislature. He was an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and a liberal contributor to her interests. At the time a debt was hanging over the church he

HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY. . 523

came forward and assumed it, thus relieving the church of all em- barrassment. Mr. Powell was married to Lydia Collett who lived only a short time. He afterward married Betsey Creek, a native 52 of Union County, Ind., born Nov. 30, 1813. Five of their seven 518 children are living. At the time of the cholera in 1833 and 1849 Mr. Powell and his wife remained in town and nursed the sick, never deserting a post because of danger, deeming that to be the time their services were required. Mr. Powell died May 17, 1859, in the prime of life leaving hosts of friends and acquaintances to mourn his removal from their midst.

Fleming Ratcliff is a native of Belmont County, Ohio, born Oct. 19, 1846, the youngest of eight children of William and Sarah Ratcliff. His father died in 1862, and he subsequently came to Henry County with his mother, locating at Spiceland. His mother died in 1880. Jan. 1, 1869, he was appointed agent of the C., C. & I. C. Railway, retaining the position till July, 1871. In June, 1873, he became editor of the Spiceland Reporter and in 1876 went to Knightstown and began the publication of the Knightstown Journal. He was subsequently engaged in the land department of the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad, and in February, 1880, became assistant editor of the New Castle Courier, continning that relation till June 20, 1882, when he was appointed agent of the I., B. & W. Railway. Mr. Ratcliff was married June 15, 1881, to Anna M., daughter of the late Richard J. Hubbard, of Milton, Ind. She was a teacher in the New Castle schools three years.

John Rea, M. D., was born in Rockbridge County, Va., Feb. 10, 1819, a son of David and Elizabeth (Adams) Rea, natives of Vir- ginia. David Rea moved with his family to Fayette County, Ind., in the fall of 1833, and in 1843 to Cass County, where he died in 1855, his wife dying in the spring of the same year. They reared a family of eleven children, ten of whom are living. John Rea was reared on a farm, receiving only a limited education in the district school. He improved his leisure moments, however, and when nineteen years of age was qualified to teach, a vocation he followed several years, at the same time keeping up his studies. In March, 1844, he took charge of the New Castle school. and the following fall began the study of medicine with Dr. Wood- ward, remaining with him three years, when he was examined before the Thirteenth District Medical Society and granted a license to practice. He first located in Middletown, in this county,

Clift

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in May, 1847, remaining there until November of the same year; then went to Lewisville, where he remained till 1855, when he removed to New Castle, where he has since resided. After practicing medicine eight years, Dr. Rea attended lectures at the Ohio Medical College, Cincinnati, from which he graduated in 1855. He has been a resident of New Castle nearly thirty years, and in that time has built up a large practice. He has an enviable reputation with his brother physicians, there being none whose diagnosis of disease is regarded with more favor than his. As a consequence he is often called on as counsel, especially by younger physicians, by whom he is held in high esteem. Dr. Rea was married in 1851, to Mary E. Remby, a native of Salem, Mass., born April 5, 1829, a daughter of George Remby, who before her marriage was a teacher in the Lewisville schools. To them have been born eleven children, but four of whom are living-George N., Charles L., Lizzie and Francis. George is a graduate of Ohio Medical College, and is associated in business with his father. Charles graduated in March, 1884, at the same college, and located in Rogersville, in this county. Dr. Rea has served as School Trustee twenty-four years. He and his wife are members of the Baptist church.

John M. Redding is a native of Henry County, Ind., born Feb. 16, 1839, the eldest son of Michael and Lydia J. (Stanton) Red- ding, natives of North Carolina. In the spring of 1837 they came to Henry County, Ind., and remained two years; then returned to their native State, and remained till 1852 when they came again to Henry County, and rented land for several years, until able to purchase a home. The father died in 1876. The mother is now making her home with her youngest son, William. Of a family of twelve children, eleven grew to maturity and nine are still living. John M. received what was termed a common-school education and when eighteen years of age began teaching, follow- ing the vocation five years. In 1862 he was married to Lucy D., daughter of William and Nancy Clift, and soon after rented a farm where he lived five years. In 1868 he bought a portion of his present farm to which he has added, owning now 140 acres of fine land, on the New Castle and Dublin pike, two miles from the court-house. He has made the raising of hogs a specialty, and of late has turned his attention to Clydesdale horses. Mr. and Mrs. Redding have five children, one son and four daughters. Mrs. Redding is a member of the Christian church. Mr. Redding served nine months in the war of the Rebellion and is now a member of the G. A. R.

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Miles L. Reed, attorney at law, New Castle, Ind., was born in this city Feb. 6, 1832, the youngest son of Dr. Joel Reed, and is the second oldest native-born citizen of New Castle. He was reared in his native city, attending the public schools. Subsequently attended Asbury , University, at Greencastle, and College Hill Academy. He commenced the study of law in New Castle and soon after his admission to the bar was appointed District Attorney of the Court of Common Pleas, to fill a vacancy caused by the resigna- tion of T. B. Redding. At the next regular election he was elected to the office for a full term. In September, 1861, he enlisted as a private in the Eighth Indiana Infantry, and was discharged after the battle of Pea Ridge. In June, 1862, he again enlisted and was appointed to Battery K, First United States Light Artillery. He served in the Army of the Potomac and participated in about twenty engagements; was discharged in January, 1864. He then enlisted in the United States naval service and was assigned to the ship Malvern in the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. He was discharged in December, 1864, and returned home and opened a law office. At the close of the war he was elected Assessor of Internal Revenue for Henry County, and subsequently served a short time in the Pension Office in Washington. In 1872 he received an appointment to teach in the Ponca tribe of Indians in Dakota Territory remaining there two years. In 1881 he founded the Richmond Enquirer, a Demo- cratic journal, but fifteen months after sold out and resumed his practice. He was married in 1867 to J. O. Lawhead, of Rochester, Ind. They have one daughter-Laura.

John Rhine, of the firm Rhine, Miller & Co., proprietors of the New Castle Flouring Mills, was the founder of this valuable and much-needed industry in New Castle. The commercial standing of the city has been greatly advanced and a long-felt want has been supplied by their establishment. Mr. Rhine is a native of Indiana, born in Jay County, October, 1833, a son of James Rhine. When he was fourteen years of age his parents moved to B- and he went into his father's mill, remaining there eleven years. He then went to Milton and was engaged in the Milton Hydraulic Mills three years, and while there the mills were burned. In 1880 he came to New Castle and built his present mills, and soon after their completion, in 1881, admitted as a partner F. G. Mills, of Montpelier, a native of Germany, and a thoroughly practical miller. The following year Spaulding Brooks, also of Montpelier,

Bales Hinshaw

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was admitted to the firm. Their mills are fitted with the latest and best machinery, and the flour manufactured is of a superior quality. The mill has a capacity for handling 100 barrels of flour every twenty-four hours.

Daniel Boon Ridgway is a native of Henry County, Ind., born Feb. 19, 1838, the youngest son of Noah and Nancy (Dunn) Ridgway, natives of West Virginia. They moved to Henry County in 1833, and settled in Prairie Township, where his mother died when he was eight months old, and his father in 1840. He then lived with an uncle till thirteen years of age, then a short time with a Mr. Reece, and with his Grandfather Dunn eighteen months. He then worked for farmers till twenty-one years of age, when he married Mary J., daughter of Benjamin and Nancy Bales, and rented the old homestead of his father's. In 1876 he bought his present farm in Henry Township, which contains ninety-one acres of excellent land, with a good dwelling and farm buildings. He has accumulated his property by industry and economy, start- ing in life with nothing. He and his wife are members of the Christian church.

Ezekiel Rogers was born in Nova Scotia, Sept. 11, 1801, and died in Henry County, Nov. 12, 1883. When he was two years of age his parents moved to North Carolina. He was married in that State in 1823, to Eleanor Hinshaw, and in 1827 they moved to Wayne County, Ind., remaining there four years, when they came to Henry County and settled on the farm where his widow still lives. Of a family ofeleven children nine grew to maturity and five are living. In every walk of life Mr. Rogers was an upright man and a true Christian, being for more than forty years a Class-leader in the Methodist Episcopal church. Mrs. Rogers was born in North Carolina, Dec. 11, 1799, and when coming to Indiana walked the greater part of the way. She is still hale, and, for her age, very active. In the spring of 1884 she was strong enough to go to Logansport to visit two of her daughters. John C., her youngest son, resides on the home farm. He was born Feb. 20, 1844. Receiving a good education he taught several years, and then turned his attention to farming. He was married in 1872 to Almira, daughter of John B. Irwin. They have seven children, two sons and five daughters. Mr. and Mrs. Rogers are members of the Sugar Grove Methodist Episcopal church.

Leonidas Rodgers was born in Springfield, Ohio, in January, 1840. He was reared and educated in his native city, and at the

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age of sixteen he began to learn the carriage-maker's trade, at which he worked till he came to Indiana. In 1861 he enlisted in the Thirteenth Indiana Infantry in the three months' service. He was, for a while, in the body guard of General Fremont. The corps to which he belonged was afterward armed and equipped and put into the regular service, and took part in the battles of Pitts- burgh Landing and Fort Donelson. On being discharged at the end of three months, he re-enlisted in the three years' service, and was connected with the band. When his second term of enlist- ment expired he joined the 100 days' service. After his discharge he returned to Springfield, where he followed his trade till 1868. He then came to New Castle and started a carriage manufactory, beginning on a small scale. He is now doing an extensive busi- ness, most of his work being sold from his shop, and his work is always done in a first class manner. Mr. Rodgers is President of the New Castle Furniture Company. In 1869 he was married to Sidney, daughter of John K. Mowrer, of New Castle. They have two children-John W. and Effie J. Mr. Rodgers is a member of the Odd Fellows fraternity, and belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic. He is also a Knight of Pythias and a Knight of Honor.

Rev. Thomas Rogers is a native of Ireland, born Dec. 14, 1822, a son of George and Sarah (Boyce) Rogers. His parents came to the United States in the latter part of March, 1824, landing in New York City. From there went to Philadelphia, where our subject

was educated. In August, 1837, they moved to Indiana and located in Richmond. When sixteen years of age our subject be- gan teaching, and followed that vocation for ten years, in Wayne and Henry counties. In 1839 he removed with his parents to the neighborhood of Milton, Wayne County. In March, 1846, he was married to Joanna Willits, daughter of Elisha Willits, an early settler of Wayne County. Soon after his marriage he settled on a farm on Flatrock, in Henry County, and remained there three years, teaching fifteen months of the time in the Seminary at New Castle, five miles from his home. In 1849 he removed to New Castle, and Aug. 1, went into the auditor's office as Deputy for James Iliff. At the September term of 1850, Mr. Iliff resigned and Mr. Rogers was appointed to fill the unexpired term of six months. He was elected Auditor of the county for a term of five years, commencing March 1, 1851. The Constitution changed the time to four years, and the date of assuming the duties of the office to Nov. 1, and on that date, 1855, his successor took the

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place. He was retained as Deputy by J. S. Ferris eight years. He was again elected Auditor serving from Nov. 1, 1863, to Nov. 1, 1867, and then served as Deputy to S. S. Bennett two years, making a total service of twenty years in the office, either as Audi- tor or Deputy. Feb. 16, 1863, Mr. Rogers was licensed a local preacher of the Methodist Episcopal church by Rev. O. V. Lemon, Presiding Elder of the district. April 18, 1869, he was ordained a Deacon at Richmond, Ind., by Bishop Simpson, and April 20, 1873, was ordained Elder by Bishop Merrill, at Logansport. He has a fine farm of 253 acres, a mile west of New Castle, on which he has erected a large two-story brick residence, where he lives in quiet and peace. He often visits neighboring towns to fill vacan- cies made by absent pastors, and also attends to many appointments of his own. He has probably officiated at more weddings than any other minister in the county. He has served as School Examiner five years, aud was the first County Superintendent elected under the present school law.

. John W. Roof, eldest son of Samuel and Dorothy Roof, was born in Rockingham County, Va., June 6, 1821. Among the pict- uresque scenery of the Shenandoah Valley he spent his early days, with incidents familiar to childhood; falling in the vats of his father's tannery, or pursuing the finny tribe beyond his depths in the sparkling waters of the Shenandoah, and to be resurrected from one or the other of these liquid graves, "more dead than alive," was no uncommon occurrence. When he was fourteen years of age the family moved to Wayne County, Ind., Nov. 1, 1835. The country was very new, the influx of immigration so great that an empty house was scarcely to be obtained, the family very poor, the winter, then upon them, very severe, so that to the eldest boy fell a man's portion in assisting to keep the wolf from the door. However, in March, 1837, the family moved to New Castle, Henry County, and while many privations and incessant toil were to be endured, brighter days came, bringing their re- ward. In the spring of 1839 the first buildings for county offices were to be erected, and the boy, willing and ready to earn an honest penny, carried the mortar which cemented the brick. The only way then to receive goods and groceries from Cincinnati and dis- pose of the two principal products of the farmer, wheat and hogs, was to "wagon through," with four and six horse teams. John was employed by Wesley Goodwin, a large land-holder, to drive his team, and numerous trips were made during the year to and

Stout

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from the city. At one time nearing Cincinnati with a heavy ladened wagon, the rain falling all day, and freezing until every- thing was covered with ice, in attempting to mount his saddle horse he fell, the wagon crushing his feet and breaking his leg. Imagination cannot conceive of sufferings heroically endured through the long months necessary for the healing process, and the pain yet attending, at times, the broken parts. With a brave heart, as soon as he was able he renewed his contract with his employer, Mr. Goodwin. In course of time, by indus- try and economy, he bought eighty acres of heavily timbered land, east of New Castle. Adjoining it was an eighty, owned by a pre- possessing young lady named Stout. Accordingly, May 4, 1848, he married Miss Marietta Stout, daughter of John and Elizabeth(499 Stout, who died of cholera in 1833, and were buried in the same grave. In the spring of 1853 the 160 acres of timbered land, with some clearing on it, was sold and a farm of 160 acres, four miles west of New Castle, was purchased, to which he has added thirty-five acres, making a very desirable farm, supplied with stock water. They have an excellent house and comfortable farm buildings. Mr. Roof makes a specialty of breeding Clydesdale horses, and owns some of the finest animals in the county. Mr. R. and his family have always given influence and material aid in the improvement of the country in their neighborhood, and as zealous workers in school and Sunday-school, exert an influence of moral worth. Mr. and Mrs. Roof are the parents of eleven ---- children, three dying in infancy; the surviving ones, four sons and four daughters, fill honest and honorable places in life. Mr. R. has seen much of real life- what hardships endured, what changes taken place within his recollection! From a handful of pioneers with scanty means, he has seen comparatively a dense population with abundance upon every hand. The young people of to-day have but faint conceptions of what had to be endured half a century ago in Henry County. Mr. and Mrs. Roof with some of their children are members of the Christian church.

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History of Henry County, Indiana, Part 48

Author: Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Chicago: Inter-State Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 996

Author:
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago: Inter-State Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 996