USA > Indiana > Johnson County > History of Johnson County, Indiana > Part 63
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The subject of this sketch secured his education in the schools of his neighborhood, and from his earliest active years he has followed the vocation of agriculture, in which he has achieved a splendid success. He was given one hundred and sixty acres by his father, and by his own efforts has accumulated one hundred and eighty acres more, making a total of three hundred and forty acres now in his possession. He has a splendid set of farm buildings, all of which have been built with an idea of permanency and convenience, and he is here carrying on agricultural pursuits according to the most practical ideas. Mr. Mullendore has achieved a reputation throughout the community as a
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breeder of Hereford cattle, in which he has made a splendid success. His herd now numbers twenty, all of which are thoroughbreds, and thirty years' experience in this line has made Mr. Mullendore a splendid judge of these animals. He has bred some of the best Hereford cattle in the state of Indiana, for many of which he has received fancy prices and wherever they have been exhibited they have been prize winners. He shipped the first Hereford bull ever shipped to South America. Mr. Mullendore's home is pleasant and at- tractive and a good automobile contributes to the enjoyment of life. Optim- istic in temperament, Mr. Mullendore sees the cheerful side of life and his home is a center of the social circles of the community where is always found the spirit of hospitality and good cheer.
Politically, Mr. Mullendore is a staunch supporter of the policies advocat- ed in the platform of the Progressive party and enunciated by Theodore Roose- velt. He takes a deep interest in the current issues of the day and holds decided opinions on the great questions which are agitating the American people. His religious membership is with the Union Christian church of his community, while his fraternal membership is with the Knights of Pythias.
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On November 9, 1891, Mr. Mullendore married Lavina Featheringill, the daughter of Allen Featheringill, and to them have been born four children, three of whom are living, namely: Hubert, a farmer, who is a graduate of the Franklin high school; Naomi and Lucile. Because of his success in the material affairs of life, his influence in local affairs and the unblemished character which he bears, there is accorded to him the fullest measure of popular confidence and esteem throughout the community.
WILLIAM H. MCCLANAHAN.
The history of the loyal sons and representative citizens of Johnson county would not be complete should the name that heads this review be omitted. When the fierce fire of rebellion was raging throughout the South- land, threatening to destroy the Union, he responded with patriotic fervor to the call for volunteers and in some of the bloodiest battles for which that great war was noted proved his loyalty to the government he loved so well. During a useful life in the region where he lives he has labored diligently to promote the interests of the people, working earnestly and with little regard for his personal advancement or ease. He has been devoted to the public
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welfare and in all of his relations his highest ambitions have been to benefit the community and advance its standard of citizenship.
William H. McClanahan was born in Scott county, Indiana, on October 4, 1840, and is a son of Francis and Armilda W. (Moore) McClanahan, both of whom are now deceased. The subject came from a long line of sterling ancestors, who were characterized by loyalty to the national government in time of war, his paternal grandfather, Robert McClanahan, having served in the war of 1812, and four uncles were Union soldiers during the Civil war. The subject was reared on the paternal farmstead in Scott county and received his education in the public schools of the neighborhood. On the outbreak of the Southern rebellion he enlisted, on July 11. 1861, as a private in Com- pany C, Thirty-eighth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, with which he went to the front, his enlistment having taken place at Lexington, Indiana. Soon after his enlistment he was taken ill with measles and this, with resultant diseases, for several months necessitated his confinement in hospitals at Woodsonville, Columbia, Nashville and Madison. Indiana. He was granted a thirty-day sick furlough from the Woodsonville hospital in December, 1861, which was later extended to sixty days, at the expiration of which period he reported for duty at Franklin, Tennessee. He received an honorable discharge and on his return to civil pursuits he took up the vocation of farming, which he fol- lowed with splendid success until a few years ago when he retired and is now living in Franklin. He has a pleasant home on East King street and is engaged in dairying, in which he is meeting with splendid success, having a comfortable and attractive place of ten acres, on which he is spending his latter days in comfortable retirement.
On January 1, 1863, in Scott county. Indiana, Mr. McClanahan was married to Rebecca E. Flemming, who was born in Scott county, Indiana, on September 27, 1840. the daughter of Archibald and Mary (Hogeland) Flem- ming, both of whom are deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. McClanahan were born two children, Frank and Perry.Perry McClanahan inherited to a marked degree his father's patriotic disposition and military instinct, and at the out- break of the Spanish war he enlisted as a private in Company E, One Hun- dred and Fifty-eighth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, with which he did faithful and courageous service during that brief struggle. He is still a member of the regular army, stationed at Washington, D. C., in the marine service. The family's splendid military record is further enhanced by the fact that Mrs. McClanahan had two brothers in the service, William and Reid Flemming, both of whom served in Indiana regiments, and William died dur- ing the service from disabilities contracted therein. Their father, Archibald
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Flemming, served in the Indian wars and achieved a splendid record as a soldier.
Fraternally, Mr. McClanahan keeps alive his old army associations by his membership in Wadsworth Post No. 127, Grand Army of the Republic, in which he has held a number of official positions. Religiously he is a mem- ber and, with his wife, a prominent worker in the Presbyterian church. By his advocacy of wholesome living, pure politics and honesty in business, Mr. McClanahan has long enjoyed the undivided respect and esteem of all who know him, being regarded as one of Johnson county's most substantial and worthy citizens.
THOMAS W. CRAVEN.
A man's reputation is the property of the world, for the laws of nature have forbidden isolation. Every human being either submits to the con- trolling influence of others or wields an influence which touches, controls, guides or misdirects others. If he be honest and successful in his chosen field of endeavor, investigation will brighten his fame and point the way along which others may follow with like success. The reputation of Thomas W. Craven, one of the leading citizens of Nineveh township, Johnson county, having been unassailable all along the highways of life, according to those who have known him best, it is believed that a critical study of his career will be of benefit to the reader, for it has been not only one of honor but of usefulness also.
Thomas W. Craven is a native son of the old Buckeye state, where he was born on August 21, 1869, and is a son of William and Mary (Burnett) Craven. The father, who was a native of Yorkshire, England, came to Ohio where he settled and followed the vocation of blacksmith until his removal to Brown county, Indiana, when the subject of this sketch was but a young man, where the father followed the combined occupations of farming and blacksmithing. He had eleven children, nine of whom are still living. He was a man of some importance in his locality, and for a number of years efficiently discharged the duties of justice of the peace. He was also elected superintendent of roads, but the office was abolished before he entered upon the discharge of his official duties. He was a Methodist in his religious be- lief, and in politics voted with the Democratic party.
The subject of this sketch received his education in the common schools of Brown county and then followed his father's footsteps and took up the
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trade of blacksmith, in which he worked actively for twenty-eight years. He is now engaged in the merchandise and implement business at Williamsburg, this county, in which he has met with splendid success, owing to his sound business methods, his courteous treatment of his patrons and his own personal worth. He remained in Brown county, until twenty-five years of age, since which time he has continuously been identified with Johnson county and is now numbered among the leading and influential citizens of his locality. He owns thirteen acres of land in and adjoining the village of Williamsburg.
In 1882, Mr. Craven was married to Laura A. Gillaspy, daughter of William E. and Elizabeth Gillaspy, the father having been a native of Ken- tucky, who came to Indiana early in life, and the mother a native of this state. To the subject and wife have been born four children: Pearl, who is a graduate of Indiana University, is now engaged as a teacher of language in the Bloomington high school; Reba, at home; Ina May is a common school teacher and Ralph W. is at home. The subject has taken an intelligent interest in public affairs and was elected trustee of Nineveh township, in which capaci- ty he rendered his fellow citizens important public service. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Masonic order, belonging to the local lodges at Nineveh, while his religious membership is with the Christian church, in the prosperity of which he is deeply interested and to the support of which he contributes of his means. Politically, he is a Democrat and is interested in all public questions of importance. He is properly numbered among the sub- stantial citizens of his locality, having contributed in many ways to the ad- vancement of his fellow citizens. He has in the course of an honorable career been successful in his business affairs, and is in every way deserving of men- tion in the biographical history of his county.
CHAUNCEY J. POWELL.
Chauncey J. Powell belongs to that class of men who win in life's battles by sheer force of personality and determination rather than by the influence of friends or freak of fortune, and in whatever he has undertaken he has shown himself to be a man of ability and honor, true to whatever trusts have been reposed in him, and as the county recorder of Johnson county he has played an important part in the public affairs of the community. Mr. Powell was born near Franklin, Johnson county, on July 13, 1877, and is a son of James R. and Sarah E. (Van Arsdale) Powell. The father, who was a
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native of the state of Kentucky, has followed farming all his active years, and in connection with this he was also an extensive dealer in live stock at Whiteland, this county. He came to Johnson county in 1865 or 1866, soon after the close of the war of the Rebellion, with his parents, Jackson Powell and wife, who also were natives of the Blue Grass state. Jackson Powell settled on a farm south of Franklin, where he lived until his death, which occurred on February 6, 1913, at the age of eighty-one years. Jackson Powell married Lydia Thompson, a native also of Kentucky, and they reared a family of four children, two sons and two daughters. The subject's par- ents reared two children, Chauncey and Cornelius, the latter being a resident of Whiteland. The subject's mother died in October, 1883, and his father subsequently married Lula T. Bohon, of Harrodsburg, Kentucky, by whom he had three children, J. D., of Huron, Indiana; Henry, of Whiteland, Indi- ana, and Mary, who remains at home with her father.
The subject of this sketch was born and reared on a farm, received his elementary education in the public schools, graduating from the Hope- well high school. He then became a student in Franklin College, where he was graduated in 1901. Immediately after he entered the employ of Swift & Company, of Chicago, as traveling salesman, with whom he remained for three years. He then located in Greenwood, where he engaged in the real estate business for two years, after which became interested in life insurance, in which he is still engaged to some extent, being manager for the American Central Life Insurance Company of Indianapolis for Johnson and adjoining counties. On November 5, 1910, Mr. Powell was nominated on the Demo- cratic ticket for the office of county recorder and took office on January I, 1911, for a full four-years term. He is discharging his official duties in a manner highly creditable to himself and to the entire satisfaction of his fellow- citizens.
Fraternally, Mr. Powell is an enthusiastic member of the Masonic order, while his religious membership is with the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he is an earnest supporter and to which he gives a liberal support. In addition to his regular occupation, he is the owner of a twenty-acre fruit ranch in Montana, where he expects some day to locate.
Mr. Powell has been married twice, first at Omaha, Nebraska, on March 14, 1903, to Myrtle B. Lee, a native of Norway, and who died on October 21, 1903. On February 14. 1906, Mr. Powell married Lola B. Brenton, of Greenwood, Johnson county, Indiana, and to them was born one child, Sarah Louise, who died on July 4, 1910. Mr. and Mrs. Powell move in the best social circles of the community and because of their genial dispositions and
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genuine worth they have endeared themselves to all who know them. Mrs. Powell has proven an efficient aid to her husband in his official duties, taking her place as his deputy in the recorder's office. Mr. Powell takes a deep and abiding interest in everything pertaining to the welfare of the community and county and gives his support to all worthy movements for the advancement of his fellow citizens. Prompt in the discharge of his official duties, affable and courteous to all who have business in his office, and a man of inflexible integrity, he is justly deserving of representation in the annals of his county.
FRANCIS WINTERBERG.
No people that go to make up our cosmopolitan civilization have better habits of life than those who came originally from the great German empire. The descendants of those people are distinguished for their thrift and honesty. and these two qualities in the inhabitants of any country will in the end alone make that country great. When with these two qualities is coupled the other quality of sound sense, which all the German descendants possess, there are afforded such elements as will enrich any land and place it at the top of the countries of the world in the scale of elevated humanity. Of this excellent people came the subject of this brief sketch. who is numbered among the enterprising merchants and public-spirited citizens of Johnson county, Indiana.
Francis Winterberg was born on March 13, 1843, in Germany and came to the United States in 1860, locating at Edinburg, Indiana, where he engaged in the grocery business first as clerk. He also engaged in the bakery business and some time later moved to Hope, Indiana, where he remained for a time, but eventually returned to Edinburg, where he has since been actively engaged in the grocery business. He carries a large and well selected stock of fancy and staple groceries and because of his evident desire to please his customers and his sound business methods he has achieved a pronounced success in his line. He takes a deep and commendable interest in the welfare of the com- munity and gives his support to all movements which have for their object the advancement of the interests of his fellow citizens. Because of these worthy qualifications for citizenship he is enjoying the warm regard of all who know him.
In 1865 Mr. Winterberg was married to Charlotte Sander, and to them have been born seven children, namely: Emma, Eda, Anna, Frank, Lucy, Florence and May. Politically, Mr. Winterberg is a stanch supporter of the
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Democratic party and has been elected to public positions by his fellow citizens, having rendered efficient service as a member of the town board and as school director. Fraternally, he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Free and Accepted Masons, in which latter order he has attained to the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite. Mr. Winter- berg has a splendid home, in which he takes a justifiable pride, and in his community he stands high in public estimation. He is a worthy representa- tive of that foreign-born element which has played such an important part in the development of our state, and he is well entitled to representation in this work. He has always been actively interested in everything which tended to promote the development of the community and has been con- fidently counted on at all times to endorse any progressive measure and to uphold everything which stands for the best interests of the people. During his long and industrious career he has not only gained the confidence of his fellow business men, but as a man of force of character, upright and honest in his dealings with his fellow citizens, he has gained the esteem of all who know him.
WILLIAM DUANE COVERT.
Holding distinctive prestige among the enterprising citizens of Johnson county is William Duane Covert, whose record here briefly outlined is that of a self-made man who, by the exercise of the talents with which nature en- dowed him, successfully surmounted an unfavorable environment and rose to the position he now occupies as one of the influential and well-to-do men of the locality honored by his residence. He is a creditable representative of one of the old and highly esteemed pioneer families of Indiana, and possesses many of the admirable qualities and characteristics of his sturdy Pennsyl- vania ancestors, who migrated to Indiana in a very early day and figured in the history of different sections of the state.
William Duane Covert, whose splendid farm of one hundred and twenty acres in Union township, Johnson county, Indiana, is considered one of the best agricultural tracts in that section of the county, was born in the town- ship where he now lives on July 19, 1843, and is the son of William V. Covert. His paternal grandfather was John Covert, to whom were born eight chil- dren, five boys and three girls, namely : William V., John, Simon, Cornelius, Daniel, Mrs. Freeman, Mrs. Lagrange and one other, all of whom came to Johnson county in 1828. John Covert filed on land for himself, while other
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MRS. ANNA COVERT
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members of the family settled in the Hopewell neighborhood. John entered the farm which is now resided on by W. M. Van Nuys. Thomas Henderson entered the land where the Presbyterian church now stands. John and his wife, whose family name was Verbryck, were members of the Hopewell church, of which John was for many years an elder. William V. Covert married Margaret, the daughter of Peter Bergen, who had entered the farm where the subject of this sketch now lives. William V. Covert was a promi- nent man in his locality, and during his life time was a leading and influential member of Hopewell church. His death occurred in 1859 of typhoid fever. To him and his wife were born four children, John, Mrs. Sarah Ann De Motte and Peter G., all now deceased, and the subject of this sketch. The widowed mother kept her family together for awhile after the father's death, and eventually the three brothers bought their sisters' share of the estate. Eventually Peter G. and William Duane bought the farm and still later the subject of this sketch bought the entire tract, which he now owns and to the cultivation of which he has successfully devoted his time and attention dur- ing his active years. The substantial and attractive old home was erected in 1842, being one of the oldest residences in this section, but it is still in a well preserved state and here the friends of the family always find the spirit of old-time hospitality in evidence. The subject of this sketch received his elementary education in the distritt schools of 'Union township and supple- mented this by attendance at Hopewell Academy. He has all his life been a wide reader and a close observer of men ,and events and is considered a well informed man. In addition to the pursuit of agriculture, Mr. Covert for the long period of forty-six years conducted an up-to-date undertaking business, with headquarters and office on the farm, his brother, P. G., being his as- sociate in the business until the latter's death, after which time the subject's wife assisted him.
In 1903 Mr. Covert was married to Anna Bergen, whose death occurred on January 18, 1910. Politically, Mr. Covert was for many years an active supporter of the Republican party, but of recent years he has affiliated with the Prohibition party, believing the liquor traffic to be the most vital issue now before the American people. His church membership for over a half century has been with the Hopewell Presbyterian church, in the prosperity of which he has been deeply interested. He is now classed with the financially strong and reliable men of his locality, having given strict attention to busi- ness, his career being characterized by honorable dealing and a straightfor- ward course from which no motive has ever caused him to deviate. He has
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accumulated a comfortable competency and his personal relations with his fellow men have ever been mutually agreeable, so that the high esteem in which he is held indicates his universal hold on the confidence and respect of the people.
RICHARD V. DITMARS.
The history of him whose name heads this biographical sketch is closely identified with the history of Johnson county, Indiana, which has long been his home. He began his career in this locality in the pioneer epoch and throughout the subsequent years he has been closely allied with its interests and upbuilding. His life has been one of untiring activity and has been crowned with a degree of success commensurate with his efforts. He is of the highest type of progressive citizen and none more than he deserves a fitting recognition among those whose enterprise and ability have achieved results that have awakened the admiration of those who knew them. The cause of humanity never had a truer friend than Mr. Ditmars, and in all the relations of life-family, church, state and society-he has displayed that consistent Christian spirit, that natural worth, that has endeared him to all classes. His integrity and fidelity have been manifested in every relation of life, an example which has been an inspiration to others and his influence has been felt in the community honored by his citizenship.
Richard V. Ditmars is descended from sterling old Holland Dutch an- cestry, the line being traced back many generations. His maternal grand- father Verbryck was a soldier in the war of the Revolution and at the battle of Trenton, New Jersey, was in command of a regiment of continental troops, while at the time his wife was in hearing of the guns. The subject's parents were Garret and Sarah (Verbryck) Ditmars, both of whom were born in New Jersey, Millstone being the father's native place. Garret was a farmer by vocation and, desiring larger opportunities for advancement, turned his face westward and removed, first, to Warren county, Ohio, where he remained six years. In 1835 he came to Johnson county, Indiana, locating on a tract of land six or seven miles west of Franklin, where he remained until his death, which occurred in 1851. His widow died in 1854. They were the parents of twelve children, of whom the survivors are Cornelius L., John T., and Richard V., of Johnson county, and Mrs. Rebecca Donnell, of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Richard V. Ditmars was born on December 8, 1834, while his parents
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