History of Indianapolis and Marion County, Indiana, Part 115

Author: Sulgrove, Berry R. (Berry Robinson), 1828-1890
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 942

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The family of Robert Barnhill and his wife con- sisted of twelve children, viz .: Samuel, John, Wil- liam, Daniel, Robert, James, Hugh, Jane, Katie, Sally, Nancy, and Mary,-who became Mrs. Speer, and mother of William H. Speer, one of the most prominent citizens of the township. The widow of Robert Barnhill moved with her family (as before stated) to Wayne township soon after the death of her husband, and in 1829 she was assessed on eighty aeres of land in the township, described as the south- east quarter of section 22, township 16, range 2. She married a second husband, Jacob Whitinger. Her sons, Robert and Hugh Barnhill, are now living near the north line of the county.

John Barnhill, born in 1796, came to Marion County about 1823, and located on land in Wayne township. In 1829 he was assessed on the northwest quarter of seetion 27, township 16, range 2. He had several daughters, of whom Sarah, Beulah, and Aun are now living. His son, J. C. Barnhill, lives in Wayne township, and is one of its well-known citizens.

The Harding family, from Washington County, Ky., were also among the earliest emigrants to Marion County, Ind. Robert and Martha Harding, both natives of Pennsylvania, and emigrants to Kentucky, were married about the elose of the Revolutionary war, and became the parents of twelve children, viz. : John, Eliakim, Ede, Robert, Samnel, Israel, Laban, Ruth, Avis, Sarah, Martha, and Jemima. In . the

1 Robert Barnhill's ostate was the first entered for probate in Marion County.

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HISTORY OF INDIANAPOLIS AND MARION COUNTY.

spring of 1820, Mrs. Harding, then a widow, came to Marion County with her children, excepting two of her sons who had preceded her, and two who came afterwards. The family settled first on the " dona- tion" tract, just outside the town of Indianapolis, and built the first dwelling (a log cabin) erected on the banks of White River, in Marion County. The log house of Robert Harding (who was a married man, and lived separate from the rest of the family) was located on the bluff bank, just north of the east end of the National road bridge, as described by Mr. Nowland,1 who also says that Robert Harding's second son, Mordecai, was the first white child born on the donation.

Mrs. Martha Harding, widow of Robert Harding, Sr., and mother of the large family referred to, died in 1841. She owned a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Wayne township, near Eagle Creek, and three of her sons-Ede, Samuel, and Israel Harding-were resident tax-payers in Wayne in 1829, as shown by the assessment-roll of the township for that year. Samuel Harding's land is described on that list as the northeast quarter of section 6, in sur- vey-township 15, range 3; that of Ede Harding, as the northwest quarter of the same section, being directly west of the farm of his brother Samuel ; and Israel Harding's land as the southeast quarter of section 5, in the same survey-township.

Ede Harding was born in Washington County, Ky., March 16, 1792, and in his youth (1805) removed with the family to Butler County, Ohio, where he attended a backwoods school for a short time during each of several successive winters, hav- ing had no educational advantages whatever in his native State. In 1816 he married Mary Robinson, and removed to Fayette County, Ind., where he pur- chased and cleared a small tract of land. This he afterwards traded for land in Wayne township, Marion Co., and came to his new purchase in 1821, though he did not bring his family until February of the following year. After a long, useful, and honor- able life, he died, in January, 1876. Mrs. Harding died in 1857. One of their sons, Oliver Harding, is

living at Danville, Ill. Another son (John) and two of their daughters (Lavinia and Sarah) reside in Hendricks County, Ind. Laban Harding, the eldest son of Ede and Mary Harding, was born in Fayette County, Oct. 17, 1817, and came in childhood with his parents to Wayne township, where he is now owner of a fine farm of two hundred and twenty-five acres, located on sections 20 and 21, of survey-town- ship 16, range 3, about six miles from Indianapolis. He was married in December, 1837, to Jemima McCray, and they became the parents of eleven children, of whom seven are now living.

Samuel Harding, son of Robert and brother of Ede Harding, was born in Washington County, Ky., in 1795. He removed with other members of the family to Butler County, Ohio. Some years after- wards he went with his brother Ede to Fayette County, Ind., and emigrated thence, in February, 1820, to Marion County, where the family located, first on the banks of the White River as before mentioned. Thence he removed to his lands in Wayne township, a mile west of where the Insane Asylum now is. In 1824 he was married to Jeremiah Johnson's daughter Jane, with whom he lived for forty years. She died in 1864. They had ten children, of whom four are now living. Samuel Harding was prominent in the Baptist Church, and a member of the Indiana Legis- lature in 1846-47. He died in 1874.

Israel Harding, brother of Ede and Samuel Hard- ing, was also a native of Washington County, Ky., born in 1798. His farm in Wayne township was that where William H. Speer (his son-in-law) now lives. He was married about 1825 to Nancy John- son, daughter of Jeremiah Johnson, and sister of his brother Samuel's wife. Israel Harding was, like his brother Samuel, a prominent member of the Baptist Church. He served as a member of the Indiana Legislature in 1841, and was a candidate for re- election, but died in July, 1842. His widow sur- vived him nearly thirty-nine years, and died in June, 1881.

Obadiah Harris, who was a well-known citizen of Wayne township for more than half a century, was born in Guilford County, N. C., Feb. 5, 1789. At. the age of eighteen he emigrated to Ohio, and less

1 Sketches of Prominent Citizens, etc., by John H. B. Now- land.

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WAYNE TOWNSHIP.

than a year afterwards (in the fall of 1807) pushed on to Wayne County, Ind., where he remained nearly fifteen years, and in 1822 removed to Wayne town- ship, Marion County, where he settled on a farm lo- cated on the National road, near the site of the Insane Asylum, described as the west half of the northeast quarter and the east half of the northwest quarter of section 9, survey-township 15, range 3, on which he reared one of the earliest and best apple-orchards in the county, and on which he lived till his death, April 2, 1875. He was famed as a skillful hunter, was a widely-known and highly-respected man, and was once elected to the Indiana Legislature, in which body he served creditably.

Mr. Harris was married, in December, 1811, in Wayne County, Ind., to Sarah Lewis, of the same county. They became the parents of eight children, viz .: Hannah, born in November, 1812; Avis, March, 1815 ; Betsey, January, 1817 ; Lewis, Feb- ruary, 1819 ; Benjamin, September, 1822; John Harvey, January, 1824; Nancy, January, 1827 ; and Naomi, born May 19, 1832. The mother of these children died in November, 1842. In 1846, Mr. Harris married Ruth Huff, who is still living. One of Mr. Harris' daughters (Mrs. Carpenter) is still living on the homestead. Another (Mrs. Au- drew Wilson) lives in the southeast part of the town- ship. His son, John Harvey, died recently in Kansas.

Asa B. Strong, who was a highly-respected citizen and often filled responsible publie offices during the period of more than fifty years that he lived after becoming a settler in Wayne township, was born in Addison County, Vt., Sept. 28, 1799. In 1821 he, with an older brother, emigrated to Ohio, and thenee, in the fall of 1822, he moved with his family in an ox-wagon to Marion County, Ind., arriving at Indian- apolis on the 14th of November. The land on which he settled in Wayne township is described in the assessment-roll of 1829 as the southwest quarter of section 27, township 16, range 2. He was four times married : first, at Oxford, Ohio, in April, 1822, to Frances Shurtleff, who died Sept. 19, 1836; sec- ond, in April, 1837, to Sarah Ballard, who died in 1845 ; third, in January, 1849, to Margaret Ballard,

who died in March, 1852; and fourth, in January, 1856, to Emily Sanders, who died in November, 1867. Mr. Strong had eight children by the first marriage, four by the second, and one by the third, his last marriage being childless. He died Feb. 14, 1873. His sons, Samuel P., John T., and Asa M., are still living ; also several of his daughters, among the latter being Mrs. Charles Murray, of Indianapolis.

Robert, Richard, and Jacob Helvey were among the earliest of those who came to Wayne township, though it does not appear that they were among the original land-owners, as in the assessment-roll of 1829 they were not so classed, and they then paid only a poll-tax except Jacob, who was assessed on two horses and two oxen. Robert Harding was known through all the region near and far as a great fiddler. Mr. Nowland1 mentions him as " Old Helvey," and says he " lived on the school seetion (No. 16) west of Eagle Creek, and near what was called the 'big raspberry patch.' His house was the headquarters for dances and sprees of all kinds. He made it a point to invite all the new- comers on first sight to visit him." It appears that Helvey had several fine, robust daughters, whose presence was not among the least of the attractions which brought visitors to their father's house. Con- cerning these and " Old Helvey's" estimate of them, Mr. Nowland makes the father say, " Thar's no such gals in the settlement as old Helvey's ! Thar's Bash (Bathsheba), and Vine, and Tantrabogus, and the like o' that. I'll tell ye, stranger, that Bash is a hoss. I would like you to come over and take a rassle with her. She throwed old 'Liakim Harding best two in three; 'tother was a dog-fall, but Bash soon turned him and got on top on him. . . . I'll tell. ye, stranger, that gal Bash killed the biggest buek that's been killed in the New Purchase. She shot off-hand seventy-five yards. He was a real three-spiker, no mistake." With regard to the pe- euliarities of "Old Helvey," Mr. Nowland says, " He distinguished himself in many hotly-contested battles at Jerry Collins' grocery, and never failed to vanquish his adversary, and fairly won the trophies

1 Sketches of Prominent Citizens, 1876.

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HISTORY OF INDIANAPOLIS AND MARION COUNTY.

of war, which were generally an eye, a piece of an ear, a part of a finger, or a slice of flesh from some exposed part of his antagonist's person. In Mr. Helvey's house could be found a great variety of munitions of war, such as rifles, shot-guns, muskets, tomahawks, scalping- and butcher-knives. In his yard were all kinds of dogs, from the surly bull-dog to the half-wolf, or 'Injun dog.' In his pound, or stable, was a variety of Indian ponies. . . . After the treaty with the Miamis of the Wabash, at the mouth of Little River, in the year 1832, Mr. Helvey moved to the treaty-ground, and there died."

James M. McClelland came with his father's family to settle within the boundaries of Wayne before it had been set off as a separate township. He was born in Dickson County, Tenn., in December, 1807, and in the fall of 1814 emigrated with the family to Union County, Ind., whence, in February, 1822, they moved to Marion County. In April, 1833, James M. McClelland was married to Anna, the eldest daughter of Jesse Johnson. Their children were two who died in infancy, and seven others, viz. : Mary J., Samuel J., Tilghman H., George M., Mar- garet H., Francis M., and John W., the last-named four being still living. Their mother died Aug. 4, 1882. Mr. McClelland now resides in Indianapolis.

Andrew Hoover, who came to Marion County in 1822, was a native of Randolph County, N. C., born March 12, 1788. At the age of twelve years he went with the family to Montgomery County, Ohio, where he was married (in 1808) to Sarah Sinks, who was also a native of North Carolina. In 1821 he attended the government land sale at Brookville, and purchased a quarter-section of land in that part of Marion County which afterwards became Perry town- ship, and removed to it November, 1822, but after a short stay in Perry removed to Wayne. The lands on which he was assessed in Wayne in 1829 were described as the northeast quarter of section 20, and the east half of the northwest quarter of section 17, in survey-township 15, range 3. The location of Mr. Hoover's farm was not far from the village of Maywood. He was a man of excellent character and standing among the people of the township, and held several responsible public offices. He died on

the 25th of November, 1863. He was the father of ten children, viz .: Abijah (dead), George (dead), Daniel D. (dead), Hannah, Mary Ann, Jacob E. (dead), Alexander W., Sarah J., Cary S., and Perry C., the last two being twins.

John Cossell was an early settler, and a resident in Wayne township for more than thirty years. Born in Maryland in 1770, he emigrated, after the Revo- lution, to Kentucky, and thence to Ohio, where he was married, in 1807, to Mary Holme. They be- came the parents of thirteen children. Mr. Cossell came to Wayne township in 1823, and died May 10, 1854.

William Cossell, son of John, was born in Butler County, Ohio, in 1811, and came to this county with his father in 1823. In October, 1835, he married Hannah, daughter of Andrew Hoover. The land of the farm on which he now lives was purchased by him with money earned in the building of the old National road bridge across White River.

Nicholas Robinson, a native of Washington County, Tenn., came to Marion County in 1832. On his arrival he was employed at work for Nicholas Mc- Carty. He was married in 1842, and in 1847 moved to Wayne township, where he is still living. His first wife dying, he was again married in 1853. By the first marriage he had four children (all dead), and by the second marriage six childreu.

William Gladden, who is still living, and almost a nonogenarian,1 has been a resident of Marion County and Wayne township for sixty years ; always a highly- respected citizen, and for many years a prominent man in public affairs. He was born in York County, Pa., and moved with his father's family to Maryland when six years of age, and afterwards emigrated to Ohio, where he was married in August, 1823, and came in the same year to Wayne township, Marion Co., Ind. In 1829 he was assessed on two hundred and forty-seven acres of land, described as the north- east quarter, and the east half of the northwest

1 When this was written (December, 1883) Mr. Gladden and his aged wife were living and in good health. He died Jan. 29, 1884, and she died on the day following. After a married life of more than sixty years, they rest together in Crown 1till Cemetery.

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WAYNE TOWNSHIP.

quarter of section 4, survey-township 15, range 2. Afterwards he added largely to his lands by purchase, and in 1835 was the owner of about five hundred and forty acres. The children of William and Eva Glad- den were nine in number, viz., William, John, Wash- ington, Alfred, George, David, Elizabeth, Hannah, and Mary. Five of them are now living, viz. : Alfred, in Indianapolis ; George, John, and David, in the country ; and William, in California.

Martin Martindale was born in South Carolina in 1788, and when a youth emigrated to Ohio, and at the age of nineteen was married to Elizabeth Pearson, who also was born in South Carolina about the year 1799. They settled on the Little Miami and re- mained there a few years, then moved to Indiana and settled on White Water, near New Castle, on a small stream called Martindale's Creek. There he remained, working at the wheelright trade making flax- and wool-wheels, which were in demand at that period, until the year 1823, when he came to Marion County and settled in Wayne township, five miles northwest of the city of Indianapolis, in an unbroken forest, having entered a half-scetion of land that winter before coming. There were six children in the family at that period, viz. : Charlotte, Miles, David, Hannah, Rebecca, and John P. There were also born in Marion County, Lucinda, Priscilla, Elizabeth, and Joseph, all of whom, except Priscilla, are deccased ; also Charlotte, Miles, and Rebecca, leaving David, Priscilla, Hannah (Mrs. McCaslin), and John P. the only children of Martin Martin- dale now living, the last two named living in Wayne township. David lives in Cedar County, Mo. ; Pris- cilla (Mrs. Benediet), lives in Ellsworth County, Kansas. Martin Martindale held no office in the county except justice of the peace two terms. He was a member of and elder in the Christian Church at Old Union for many years. He died Oct. 12, 1843.

Miles Martindale, Martin's brother, was born in South Carolina about the year 1790. He married Nancy Hill and came to Marion County, Ind., about the same time that Martin did, and settled on adjoin- ing lands. They had seven children,-Elmina, Wil- liam, Martin, Elizabeth, James, David, and Elijah, the last two named being born in Marion County.

All of these are dead except Elmina, Elizabeth, and David. Elizabeth (Mrs. Holliday) now lives in Wayne township, and the other two in the West. Miles Martindale died about the year 1830.

David Martindale came from South Carolina, where he was born, to Indiana, and married Priscilla Lewis in Wayne County ; then moved to Marion County ; located on lands adjoining Martin and Miles, his wife dying soon after, leaving one child, whose name was Allan. He married a second wife, whose name was Rachel Houston, and who had two children, Eliz- abeth and William. Allan and William are now dead, and Elizabeth is living at Newcastle, Ind. David died about the year 1830. Neither he nor Miles ever held office or were members of any church.

Jesse Frazier was born in Chatham County, N. C., April 7, 1790. He came to Marion County in 1827 or 1828; was a preacher in the "New Light" faith for some time; then embraced the doctrines of the Reformation, and died an acceptable evangelist in the Christian Church, Dec. 30, 1839.

Jeremiah Johnson eame to Marion County with his family in 1821, and settled first on lands located north of Indianapolis, near the site of the present fair grounds. He was the first jail-keeper of Marion County, and later he kept a public-house in Indian- apolis. In or about 1832 he moved to Wayne town- ship, and erected a steam-mill at Bridgeport, one of the earliest of that kind in the county. Afterwards he lived for some years on his farm, three miles east of Bridgeport. He died in 1876, at the age of eighty-two years.

Samson Hougliman was born in Virginia in 1795, and moved thence to Butler County, Ohio, where he passed the years of his youth. He was married very early in life, and became the father of five daughters and one son, Peter N. Houghman, born in 1820. Mr. Houghman came to Marion County in 1829, and settled first in Decatur township, but about 1844 moved to Bridgeport, where for a short time he carried on merchandising with his son. Afterwards he moved to the farm now occupied by his son, Peter N. Houghman, on the National road, about one-fourth of a mile east of Bridgeport. He died in 1852.

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HISTORY OF INDIANAPOLIS AND MARION COUNTY.

The following-named persons, early settlers in Wayne, were resident tax-payers in the township in 1829. The names are given, with a description of the lands on which each was assessed, according to the assessment-roll of that year, viz. :

James Anderson, part of the northeast quarter of section 33, survey-township 16, range 3, ninety-seven acres.

George Avery, east half of northeast quarter of section 25, township 16, range 2.

Matthew Brown, cast half of northeast quarter of section 32, township 16, range 3.

Henry W. Barbour, part of southcast quarter of section 11, township 15, range 2.

George Cossell, Sr., west half of southeast quarter, and east half of southwest quarter of section 6, town- ship 15, range 3.

Daniel Closser, three hundred and twenty acres ; the southeast quarter and the east half of the north- east quarter of section 19, township 15, range 3, and the west half of the southwest quarter of section 21, in the same township.

Martin Davenport, the west half of the northeast quarter of section 19, township 15, range 3, eighty acres.

John Evans, east half of southcast quarter of sec- tion 7, township 15, range 3.

John Fox, the southeast quarter of section 20, township 16, range 3.

Elijah Fox, the southeast quarter of section 29, township 16, range 3, one hundred and sixty acres.

David Fox, the west half of the northwest quarter of section 29, township 16, range 3, eighty acres.

Joseph Hanna, the southeast quarter of section 32, township 16, range 3, and the west half of the northwest quarter of section 33, in same township, two hundred and forty acres.

Jonas Hoover, the west half of southwest quarter of section 29, township 16, range 3, eighty acres.

George R. Hanna, the east half of the northeast quarter of section 5, township 15, range 3, eighty acres.

Ephraim Howard, the east half of the south- east quarter of section 6, township 15, range 3, and the west half of section 5, in same township. Mr.

Howard was a brother of Samuel Howard and Reason Howard. The last named was known as a great hunter and fishermen.

John Hanna, the northwest quarter of section 28, township 16, range 3, one hundred and sixty acres.

John Hawkins, the west half of the southeast quarter of section 24, township 16, range 2, eighty acres.

Samuel Howard, forty acres in the east half of the southeast quarter of section 11, township 15, range 2. John Johnson, the east half of the southeast quar- ter of section 36, township 16, range 2.

James W. Johnston, the southwest quarter of sec- tion 17, and the southeast quarter of section 18, in township 15, range 3.

William Johnson, the west half of the southeast quarter of section 36, township 16, range 2, eighty acres.

Isaac Kelly, the east half of the northeast quarter of section 20, and the west half of the northwest quarter of section 21, in township 16, range 3, one hundred and sixty acres.

James Logan, the east half of the northeast quarter of section 25, township 16, range 2.

William Logan, the north half of the southeast quarter of section 31, and the west half of the north- west quarter of section 32, and a part of the south- west quarter of the same section, all in township 16, range 3; total, one hundred and eighty acres.

James Leonard, the west half of the northeast quarter of seetion 5, township 15, range 3.

James Miller, the northwest quarter of section 26, in township 16, range 2, one hundred and sixty acres.

Francis McClelland, the west half of the northwest quarter of section 34, and the south half of the north- east quarter of section 33, in township 16, range 2.

Thomas Martin, the north half of the northeast quarter of section 33, township 16, range 2.

William Morris, the east half of the southwest quarter of section 19, township 15, range 3.

Enoch McCarty, the southwest quarter of sectiou 32, in township 16, range 3.

Benjamin S. McCarty, the south half of the soutlı- east quarter of section 31, township 16, range 3.

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WAYNE TOWNSHIP.

Isracl Phillips, the northwest quarter of section 33, in township 16, range 2.

Benjamin Patterson, part of the southwest quarter of section 18, township 16, range 2, fifty acres.

Minor Roberts, the west half of the southwest quarter of section 28, township 16, range 2.

Jesse Roberts, the west half of the northwest quarter of section 22, township 16, range 2.

James Rains, the east half of the southeast quarter of section 17, township 15, range 3.

James Rhodes, the east half of the southwest quarter of section 24, township 15, range 2.

Hiram and Joseph R. Rhodes, the east half of the northwest quarter of section 24, township 15, range 2. Hiram Rhodes was born in Gloucester County, N. J., io 1805; arrived in Marion County, Ind., in February, 1824.

Caleb Railsback, the west half of the southeast quarter of section 23, township 16, range 2.

Joseph J. Reed, the west half of the northeast quarter of section 22, township 16, range 2.

Andrew W. Roberts, the east half of the southwest quarter of section 28, township 16, range 2.

Thomas Stoops, the east half of the northwest quarter of section 32, township 16, range 3.

William Speer, the west half of the northwest quarter of section 9, township 15, range 2.

Oliver Shurtliff, the west half of the southeast quarter of section 28, township 16, range 2.

Abraham Sadousky, the west half of the northwest quarter of section 1, and the east half of the north- east quarter of section 2, in township 15, range 2.

Luke Strong, the northeast and southeast quarters of section 21, in township 16, range 2.

David Stoops, the east half of the northeast quar- ter of section 32, township 16, range 3.

Thomas Triggs, Jr., the west half of the northeast quarter of section 25, township 16, range 2.

David Varner, the southwest quarter of section 26, in township 16, range 2.

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History of Indianapolis and Marion County, Indiana, Part 115

Author: Sulgrove, Berry R. (Berry Robinson), 1828-1890 Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts & Co. Number of Pages: 942

Author: Sulgrove, Berry R. (Berry Robinson), 1828-1890
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 942