USA > Indiana > Huntington County > History of Huntington County, Indiana : from the earliest time to the present, with biographical sketches, notes, etc., together with a short history of the Northwest, the Indiana Territory, and the State of Indiana > Part 77
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in Company E, Tenth Regiment, Indiana Volunteers, commanded by Captain William Taylor; his term of enlistment was for three months. They were ordered to West Virginia, and took part in the battle of Rich Mountain. In August, 1861, he received an honorable discharge and returned to Lafayette. During the winter of 1861-62, he came to Huntington County, and on the first day of August, 1862, he entlisted in Company E, Seventy-fifth Regiment, Indiana Volunteers, commanded by Capt. David H. Wall. About the 18th of August, they left Indianapolis for Louisville, Ky .; here he was placed in the department of the Cum- berland under the immediate command of Gen. Buell. They were transferred from one weak point to another and did not participate in any hard fought engagements until the battle of " Hoover's Gap" in June, 1863. After this, Mr. Elliott was in the battles of Chickamauga, Mission-Ridge, Resacca, Buzzard Roost, Dalton, Kenesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, Atlanta, Jones- boro, Savannah, Goldsboro, Bentonville, and Smithfield, N. C. He was with Gen. W. T. Sherman during his entire march to the sea and back to Washington. Strange to say, during all these hard faught battles he received but one slight wound, and that in the battle of Chickamauga. On June 8, 1865, he received an hon- orable discharge and was mustered out in the rank of Captain, which position he was promoted to at Murfreesboro, Tenn., in 1863. He enlisted as a private, was soon appointed Orderly-Sergeant, and in a short time received the appointment of Second Lieutenant, and as stated above, received the appointment as Captain of Company E, Seventy-fifth Regiment, Indiana Volunteers, which position he held until the close of the war. After his discharge, he returned to Huntington County, and engaged in farming in Salamonie Township. On August 23, 1865, he was married to Miss Martha A. Morrison daughter of Leander and Matilda Morrison, who were among the pioneer settlers of this township. Martha was born in Salamonie Township, May 30, 1842; this union has been blessed with four children: George C., Clarence R., Alice B., and Mary M., all of whom are living. Mr. and Mrs. Elliott are members of the United Brethren Church in which they have been faithful workers for over twenty years. Politi- cally Mr. Elliott is a Republican, and has served as Justice of the Peace for four years. During the spring election of 1886, he was elected Township Assessor, which position he now holds.
JEROME ELLIOTT, of the firm of Elliott & Christy, dealers in boots and shoes, Warren, Ind., is the subject of this sketch. He was born in Warren, June 24, 1852. His parents were Mar- tin and Clarissa (Hawkins) Elliott, the former a native of Ken- tucky, and the latter of Wabash County, Ind. Our subject has spent his entire life here, and has always made Warren his home. He received a fair education in youth, and at the age of seven- teen was apprenticed to learn the boot and shoe trade. After completing which, he engaged in the business in Warren.
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On March 24, 1877, he was married to Miss Asenath A. Irwin, daughter of Jonathan and Asenath Irwin, whose history appears in this volume. Mr. and Mrs. Elliott were blessed with four children: Jennie, Fred A., Edwin B., and Burr, of whom Jennie was called away when about two years of age. Mr. Elliott is a member of the Christian Church, and has always been a Repub- lican. He began life at the bottom of the ladder, and has, by strict attention to business, accumulated some wealth. At pres- ent writing his store is stocked with a first-class assortment of all kinds of leather and rubber goods found in any first-class establishment. He is respected by all who know him and is succeeding well in his business.
JOSEPH EUBANK, for thirty-five years a prominent resi- dent of Salamonie Township, was born in Preble County, Ohio, October 8, 1820. His parents were Hezekiah and Christena (Devidoff) Eubank, natives of Virginia, the former of English and the latter of Swiss descent. They were married in Virginia about 1810, and were blessed with eleven children, seven boys and four girls: John, Sarah, Henry, Thomas, Mary, Joseph, Jacob, Stephen, Elizabeth, Rebecca and Hezekiah. About 1815, Mr. Eubank emigrated to Highland County, Ohio, but did not reside there long, when he removed to Preble County. In 1820 he removed to Montgomery County, Ohio, and there resided until the death of his loving wife, who was called away in 1820. Mr. Eubank ended his days in this township in 1868, at the ad- vanced age of eighty eight years. They were members of the United Brethren Church, with which they had been united for a number of years. Joseph Eubank, the subject of this sketch, spent his boyhood and youth on his father's farm in Montgomery County, Ohio. His education was fair for that day of log school houses. At the age of nineteen he turned his attention to brick laying and masonry, and occasionally followed this trade for over thirty years. Joseph began doing for himself at an early age and had to depend upon his own labors for his start in life. He was always ready and willing to work at anything he could make an honest dollar at. On May 16, 1841, he was united in marriage with Miss Rosanah Rohrer, daughter of Christian and Rachel (Deaner) Rohrer, natives of Maryland, of German des- cent. Rosanah was born in Washington County, Maryland, November 22, 1822; her parents moved to Ohio when she was about twelve years old. They first settled in Pickaway County, thence to Preble County, where she grew to womanhood. This union was blessed with eleven children: Aaron, David, William, Rachel, Henry, Catharine, Jane, John, Marietta, Elizabeth, Ida, of whom Willlam and Rachel are deceased. The other children are grown to maturity, married and living in Ohio, Indiana and Kansas. Mr. and Mrs. Eubank are members of the United Brethren Church with which they have been identified nearly fifty years. Politically he is a Republican, and upholds the
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principles of that party. He began life a poor boy working by days for his living. Shortly after his marriage he purchased ten acres of ground in Darke County, Ohio; there he resided until 1851, when he removed to Section 16, Salamonie Township, where he had purchased eighty acres of wild land. He put up a log cabin and moved into it, and began to clear up a home, and by hard work and careful management he succeeded well.
JONATHAN FOUST, for forty-seven years a resident of Sal- amonie Township, was born to Jacob and Mary L. Foust, in West- moreland County, Penn., October 15, 1802. In 1817 he bade his friends adieu and started on foot to Highland County, Ohio. There he obtained employment and was married to Anna Shearer. This union was blessed with nine children, namely: John, Mary, Andrew, Jacob, Sarah, Elizabeth, Samuel and Adam, of whom Andrew and Elizabeth are deceased. In 1838 he came to Sala- monie Township, and entered 160 acres of land in Section 35. He returned to Ohio, and in the fall of 1839 moved his family to this "new western country." Aided by a loving wife and family they soon had a comfortable home cleared out of the forest. Mr. Foust is now eighty-four years of age and his venerable wife is eighty-three. It is seldom the biographer meets such an aged couple. They are nearing the end of a long and useful life, and their children can point with pride to their honorable record. They have been united with the Methodist Episcopal Church forty-five years. Up to the war Mr. Foust advocated the princi- ples of the Democratic party, but since then has been a staunch Republican. What he has to-day he has made by hard and dili- gent toil. He has been very liberal with his family.
ADAM FOUST, the subject of this sketch, was born in this Township, June 20, 1845. His parents were Jonathan and Anna (Shafer) Foust, whose biography appears above. Here he was reared on his father's farm, receiving a good education. He com- pleted his studies in the graded school at Bluffton, Ind., and taught several terms of school in this and Wells County. At the age of seventeen he enlisted in Company E, Seventy-Fifth Regi- ment, Indiana Volunteers, under Capt. David H. Wall. He was placed in the Army of the Cumberland, commanded by Gen. George H. Thomas, and took part in the following noted battles: Chickamauga, where he was wounded; Mission Ridge, Buzzard Roost, Dalton, Resacca, Kenesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, Atlanta, Jonesboro, Savannah, Goldsboro, Bentonville and Smith- field. He accompanied Sherman on his March to the Sea, and remained with him until the grand review in Washington. Dur- ing the engagement at Chickamauga he was wounded in the face; and during the fight at Kenesaw Mountain a minnie ball struck his cartridge-box, but did not penetrate through it. On June 8, 1865, he was mustered out of the service, and on the 17th day of June was discharged at Indianapolis, and returned home.
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HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY.
He again commenced farming, which he has followed ever since. On October 20, 1870, he was married to Emily C. King, daughter of Gabriel H. and Susan (Mendenhall) King. Emily was born in Wells County, Ind., November 7, 1851, where she was raised. This union was blessed with five children: Clara A., Charles H., William E., Francis E., who died in infancy, and Gracie Pearl. Mr. and Mrs. Foust are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is also a member of Monroe Laymon Post, No. 211. He owns a residence property in Warren, also a fine farm in Wells County. Politically he is a staunch Republican, and gen- erally takes an active interest in the welfare of his party. In 1884 he was chosen by his party as their candidate for Represen- tative from this county; but owing to a large majority to over- come, he was defeated; however he ran ahead of his ticket thirty five in this county, and was only defeated by seventy votes. He is one of the rising young men of the county.
SAMUEL L. GOOD, partner in the banking firm of Good & Thompson, is a native of Perry County, Ohio, where he was born October 4, 1834. His parents were Benjamin and Nancy (Griffith) Good, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Virginia. On September 1st, 1847, they landed in Warren and purchased a part of the Jones tract of land in Section 29, and adjoining the town plat. Upon this they moved and continued to reside until their deaths. Samuel was thirteen years of age when his parents came to this county, and owing to the scarcity of schools, it required a great effort on the part of a student to get much of an education. At the age of seventeen Samuel obtained a position as a clerk in J. F. Good & Bros. gen- eral merchandise store, and remained with that firm almost con- tinuously for eight years, during which time he had taught three terms of school. The spring of 1860 found him financially pre- pared to enter business on his own responsibility and associated himself with George H. Thompson, Jr., in the general merchan- dise business. This partnership lasted two years, when he sold his interest to Mr. Thompson and immediately bought out J. F. Good & Bro's. establishment, where he continued in business until 1865. He then disposed of his entire stock of merchandise and turned his attention to his farms, and dealing in hogs and cattle. This he pursued with marked success until 1879. During that year the Toledo, Delphos & Burlington Railroad was built to Warren. He was one of the leading advocates of the road, and spared neither time nor money in his endeavors to secure the amount asked by the company of the citizens of Warren and vicinity. On the completion of the railroad a market was opened up for grain and stock, and he, with his former partner, Mr. George H. Thompson, erected a large elevator, and began buying grain. They were engaged in this business until 1884, when they disposed of the elevator and have since given their entire attention to banking. Prior to this, or on October 1st,
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1883, they established the "Exchange Bank" of Warren, and have done a general banking business ever since. Mr. Good's life companion was Miss Mary A. Thompson, daughter of George H. and Julia A. (Elliott) Thompson. She is a native of this county. This marriage occurred January 25, 1861, and was blessed with five children: Lizzie B., Emma K., George S., who is now associated with his father in the bank, Julia M. and Rob- ert E., of whom Emma K. and Robert E. are deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Good have been identified for some years with the Christian Church. Mr. Good is also a member of the Masonic order, and firmly upholds the principles of the Republican party, holding the office of Trustee of Salamonie Township several terms. He started in life as a clerk on a small salary, but saved his earn- ings and applied his money in such a way that in a few years he commanded quite a considerable sum, and engaged in business as the proprietor instead of the clerk. During his business career he received some aid from home, and of late years his father-in-law, George H. Thompson, Sr., has aided him consider- ably, but on his own account he has accumulated quite a fortune. He has always been very fortunate in business and never failed in anything he undertook to do. He is always ready and willing to aid any enterprise that will be of benefit to the citizens in general. Besides his banking interests and valuable residence property in Warren, he owns about 800 acres of fine farming lands adjoining and within two miles of the town. By his straight-forward business methods he has won the esteem of the public in general, and is a valuable factor among the substantial business men of Warren. He expects to end his days where he has spent the best part of his life in making a comfortable home and a fortune.
FRANCIS M. HUFF, Ex-County Superintendent, and promi- nent furniture dealer of Warren, is the subject of this sketch. His is an eventful life, and one worthy of consideration of every young man. He was born in Harrison County, Va., December 27, 1842. Owing to the poverty of his parents he was compelled, at an early age, to earn his own support, mainly upon the farm. His companions were of the roughest type, and capable of doing almost anything for money. It was with this class our subject spent his boyhood days. At the age of thirteen he resolved to tear himself away from his early associates, and to adopt a dif- ferent life. Up to this time he had never received a day's school- ing. He was living near Simpson's store, Greene County, Penn. William Teagardener was teaching school near by, Francis hunted up an old book and entered the A, B, C, class; he made such rapid progress in his studies, that before the expiration of the term, he was chosen by Mr. Teagardener as assistant teacher in Geography, having learned this branch in song before he could read. During the next winter he attended school at Prosperity, Washington Co., Penn., Miss Nannie Langdon being his teacher.
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HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY.
After the close of this term, he began working by the month, and August of that year he found he had accumulated $10, with which he resolved to start west and go as far as his money would take him, and accordingly left Pennsylvania about the last of August, and arrived in Richmond, this State, in September. There he hired to a farmer, and worked for him until the winter schools began, when he again commenced his studies. This was during the winter of 1860. By the time this term of school closed, the great storm which had been threatening the solidity of the Union began to burst, and Frank was one of the first to answer his country's call. On April 21, 1861, he enlisted in Company B, Sixteenth Regiment, Indiana Volunteers, under Capt. John S. Lee, his term of enlistment being for one year. He was placed in the Army of the Potomac, then commanded by Gen. Banks. He remained with his command until the expiration of his term of enlistment, when he received an honorable discharge. Shortly after his return home, he re-enlisted in Company E, Eighty-Seventh Ohio Volunteers, under Capt. Calkins. For three months he was placed in the garrison at Harper's Ferry, and was made a pris- oner of war on the surrender of that post by Gen. Miles, Septem- ber 15, 1862. He was immediately paroled and sent home, but was not content to remain idle when his services were needed in the front, and in October he once more enlisted, this time in Company B, Nineteenth Regiment, Indiana Volunteers, under Capt. W. W. Dudley, for three years or during the war. He was once more placed in the Army of the Potomac, under the command of Gen. Burnside. During this en- listment he took part in the following noted engagments: Fredricksburg, Fitzhugh's Crossing, Chancellorsville, Gettys- burg-in this battle he received a wound in the head, and out of 300 of his Regiment who went into the fight, only sixty-nine re- ported for duty after the battle. He next took part in the battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor and Petersburg; here he was shot through the right thigh and sent to Sickles' Bar- racks' Hospital, and was under the surgeon's care six months. He again reported for duty at Petersburg, in March, 1864, and during the siege of Richmond and three days before the capture of Lee's army, he was again shot in the right thigh and was sent to Baltimore, where he received an honorable discharge on ac- count of disability. He immediately returned to Richmond, Indiana, and being crippled, could not again engage in farming, and had to turn his attention to something else. A friend per- suaded him to attend school and fit himself for teaching, but after attending one term he run out of funds and was on the point of giving up an education, when he applied to Miss Eliza- beth Lewellen, a lady teacher of Wayne County, for $50 to carry him through the second term of school; she gladly loaned him the amount, and with this he was enabled to keep himself in school until he passed a successful examination and received a license for teaching. He taught two successful terms, and in
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1868 he resolved to try a cow-boy's life, and took a trip to Ne- braska. The west did not suit him, and in 1869 he returned to Huntington, this county, and during the winter of 1869, he began teaching near Mt. Etna, this county, where he taught several times with marked success. In the spring of 1872 he came to War- ren, and was engaged as principal of the Warren schools, a posi- tion he held until April, 1874, when he was elected Superintendent of Schools in Huntington County, which position he held until 1879. On October 18, 1874, he was united in marriage with Miss Jennie Sprowl, daughter of Robert and Hannah (Shaffer) Sprowl, old and respected residents of Warren. This union was blessed with two children, Charlie and Pearl, of whom Charlie was called away in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Huff are members of the Christ- ian Church. Mr. Huff is a member of the I. O. O. F. and Mon- roe Laymon Post, No. 211, G. A. R. He is a staunch Republican, and upholds the principles of his party. In 1880 he was appointed mail agent on the Wabash Railroad, but owing to poor health had to resign his position. In 1881 he was appointed Postmaster at Warren, and held the office until the change of administration. He is now engaged in the furniture business, and has a large and well selected stock. He is a self-made man, and has risen to his present standing through his own efforts. His education is good, and his library is one of the finest in Warren, and contains many volumes of science and literature. In all of his official and busi- ness life, he has managed his affairs with credit to himself.
JONATHAN IRWIN, the subject of this biography, has been a resident of Salamonie Township forty-seven years. He was born in Guilford County, N. C., May 21, 1816. He was the son of Samuel and Abia (Mathus) Irwin, both of whom were natives of North Carolina. The former of English and Irish descent, and the latter of Irish extraction. In 1835, Jonathan accompanied his parents to Preble County, Ohio. On November 16, 1837, he was married to Asenath Logue, daughter of William and Abi- gail (Masey) Logue, natives of North Carolina, where Asenath was born and reared. In 1840, Mr. Irwin emigrated with his wife to Huntington County, Ind., and located four and one-half miles east of Warren, where he entered forty acres of wild land, put up a cabin and began to clear up a home. There he resided until 1844, when he removed to Danville, this State, and engaged in the carpenter business, which he followed until 1850, when he sold out and removed to Pendleton, Ind., where he followed his trade a short time, returning to Warren in the fall of '50. On his arrival here he purchased property with the determination of locating here permanently. He followed his trade until 1862; during this year he received the appointment of Postmaster at Warren, which office he filled with credit until 1866. Andrew Johnson's administration was not in sympathy with Republican Postmasters, and Mr. Irwin was temporarily relieved for awhile, but was re-appointed in 1869, and served until the fall of '83, when
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HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY.
he resigned his position in order to give his entire attention to the grocery business, in which he established himself in 1864. The firm is now known as J. Irwin & Son, they carry a large and well selected stock of groceries and queensware, which is a credit to the town of Warren. He and his wife were blessed with twelve children, namely: William M., Tursey A., Samuel R., Jona- than L., Louis, George S., Mary L., Sarah E., Asenath A., Ada- laska, Eugene and Rosa M .; William M., Tursey A., Sarah E., Asenath A. and Eugene reside at this writing in Warren; Sam- uel R. resides in St. Augustine, Fla .; Jonathan L. is a resident of Chicago, Ills., and Mary L. is married to Louis P. Morrison, and resides in Fremont County, Col. Mr. Irwin is a staunch Repub- lican. He has held the office of Justice of the Peace for twelve years, and Notary Public eight years. He commenced life empty handed, and when he first landed in Salamonie Township he says $4 was all the money he had, but by carefully saving his earnings, he has succeeded in providing himself with considerable property and a comfortable home. He is in fair health for one of seventy, and bids fair to live and enjoy many years of happy old age where he has so long been identified with the development of the town and country.
CORNELIUS N. IRWIN has been a resident of this town- ship forty-one years last January. He was born in Guilford County, N. C., May 25, 1826; his parents were John and Hannah Irwin, natives of North Carolina. Cornelius spent his boyhood and youth on his father's farm, his early education was fair for that day, his father taking quite an interest in schooling his children. At the age of twenty, or in the winter of '46, Cor- nelius and his uncle, Robert Irwin, bade a good bye to home and friends, and set out on foot to cross the mountains, and seek a home in the west. They arrived at Robert Irwin's in this town- ship, in about twenty-eight days, having walked the entire dis- tance from Guilford County, N. C. For a number of years he could name every town he passed through en route, a part of the distance was traveled through drifts of snow. After his arrival here he engaged as a laborer. On August 29, 1848, he was mar- ried to Elizabeth Swaim, daughter of Simeon and Nancy Swaim, whose biographies are found elsewhere in this work. She was born October 31, 1824, in Stokes County, N. C. When about the age of thirteen, her parents emigrated to this county, and she has resided here ever since. They were blessed with seven children: Eunice A., Nancy L., Samuel L., Robert C., Ruth E., William N., and Elizabeth, of whom Samuel and Elizabeth are deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Irwin are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, with which they have been united over thirty years. Mr. Irwin has always upheld the principles of the Republican party, and has never missed a vote in his life, and has cast every ballot in Salamonie Township. He began work- ing the road at the age of twenty-one, and continued to work
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each year until he was fifty. In 1848 he purchased a tract of partly improved land, in Section 23, a cabin was on the land and into this he moved his family. There he resided for a number of years; 1876 he purchased the farm he now resides on, which lays in Section 26. When Mr. Irwin came to Salamonie Township, this part of it was considered very poor land on account of the flat surface of the soil, but by good husbandry, what was consid- ered a swamp, forty years ago, has been transformed into fine, beautiful farms. The general development of the country has been great, the old by-roads have been replaced with fine public highways, civilization has come to stay, and there are but few of the pioneers left, to tell the story of pioneer life. Mr. Irwin began life a poor boy, and had to work out to get his start in life. When he arrived here, he was $10 in debt, but by dint of industry and perseverance he has provided himself with a com- fortable home, where he expects to spend the rest of his life. Mrs. Irwin, one day heard the hounds baying, and, on going out, found a deer cornered near the roots of an old tree; she took a mattock and killed it.
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