USA > Indiana > Johnson County > History of Johnson County, Indiana > Part 68
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ter of the Gospel, but, his studies having been interrupted, he was compelled to alter his plans for a life work. However, their sacrifice made the father happy and they desired no greater reward than his comfort and happiness. Mr. Brewer has devoted his attention to farming and is now the owner of ninety-two acres of the old home farm, to which he gives his attention. In addition to the cultivation of the soil, he gives considerable attention to live stock, his product amounting to about sixty hogs annually. He also has a dairy herd of Jersey and Holstein cattle, in which he takes great pride and which are becoming a source of considerable profit.
In 1881, Mr. Brewer married Jennie Smith, of Mercer county, Ken- tucky, daughter of Thomas Smith, to which union were born the following children : Nellie; Guy D., born November 5, 1887, of Frankfort, Clinton county; Indiana, is now a civil engineer. He graduated from Purdue, and has achieved a splendid reputation in his profession. On January 15, 1913, he married Grace Norton, of Franklin. The third child, Smith, who was born May 15, 1890, graduated from Franklin College, and is now principal of the Edinburg high school, which position he has held for three years to the entire satisfaction of the patrons. Jennie Brewer died on November 17, 1890, and in December, 1891, Mr. Brewer married Mrs. Elizabeth Alexander Maiden, the widow of Sheriff Presley Maiden of Franklin, who had three children by her first marriage, Edvald, Lena and Oran.
Politically, the subject of this sketch is a Prohibitionist, while his reli- gious membership is with the Whiteland. Methodist Episcopal church. He is a man of progressive tendeneres and enterprising spirit and enjoys the sincere regard of the entire community in which he resides.
GEORGE HUGHES.
Among the enterprising and progressive citizens of Johnson county none stands higher in the esteem of his fellow citizens than the gentleman whose name forms the caption of this sketch. He has long been actively engaged in agricultural pursuits in this county and the years of his residence here have but strengthened the feeling of admiration on the part of his fellow men ow- ing to the honorable life he has led and the worthy example he has set the younger generation, consequently the publishers of this biographical com- pendium are glad to give such a worthy character representation in this work.
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GEORGE HUGHES
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George Hughes, who owns a splendid farm of one hundred and thirty- four acres in White River township, Johnson county, Indiana, but who is now practically retired from active labor, was born on March 31, 1834, in the township in which he now resides, and is the son of Jesse Hughes, a native of Tennessee, the latter being the son of Thomas Hughes. Jesse Hughes was born July 31, 1796, and on June 25, 1818, married Nancy Milton, who was born on August 29, 1801. Leaving his native state, Jesse Hughes first came to Fayette county, Indiana, and then, in the late twenties, located in Johnson county, where he entered one hundred and sixty acres of land. He took a prominent part in the development and upbuilding of the early community and deeded the land for the building of the Mt. Auburn Methodist church, in which society he was active, and also took a deep and intelligent interest in all township affairs during his active life. To him and his wife were born thirteen children as follows: David, who died in Iowa; Thomas, John, James, Wesley and Almira are all deceased; William is a successful banker in Wayne county, lowa; Jesse, deceased; George, the immediate subject of this sketch; Milton and Franklin are deceased; Mrs. Margaret Mitchell, of Centerville, Iowa, and Absalom Paris, who died in youth.
George Hughes remained under the parental roof until he was twenty years of age, receiving a fair education in the common schools of the neigh- borhood. After the age mentioned he received his freedom from his father, with a horse and saddle, and after working one year longer received one hundred dollars, with which he went to the state of Iowa and entered one hundred and sixty acres of land in Wayne county, also buying forty acres of land in Putnam county, Missouri. 'Eventually he traded this land for the interests of his two brothers in the paternal estate, to which he gave his at- tention, and after sixteen years of hard work he became the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of splendid land. Part of this land was taken off by the railroad which was put through it and the town of Stone's Crossing was built on ten acres of it, so that he is now the owner of one hundred and thirty-four acres of as good land as can be found in the township. In 1908 Mr. Hughes erected a fine dwelling, which is one of the most comfortable and attractive residences in the township. In every phase of agricultural work Mr. Hughes exercised good judgment and wise discrimination and was emi- nently successful, so that he is not now giving attention to the cultiva- tion of the farm, but is enjoying the rest which he has so richly earned.
Mr. Hughes has for many years taken a deep interest in the public welfare of the community and has been especially generous in his attitude to- (45)
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wards churches, having given more cash in this direction than any other man in his community. He practically built the Rock Lane Methodist Epis- copal church, and also assisted liberally in building both Mt. Auburn and Fairview churches. He is the oldest living member of the Mt. Auburn church and was superintendent of the Sunday school connected with that society for more than half his lifetime. He was one of the principal members of the community which had charge of the fiftieth centennial anniversary of the Mt. Auburn Methodist Episcopal church, a celebration lasting from March 15 to 19, 1900. By a life characterized by consistency and integrity he has earned the warm regard of all who know him.
Politically, Mr. Hughes has given his life-long support to the Demo- cratic party and served efficiently as supervisor of roads. Mr. Hughes has twice been married, the first time on February 14, 1856, to Elizabeth Sells, the daughter of William and Catharine ( Robinson) Sells. She died on Janu- ary 21, 1882, and in 1885 he married Mrs. Ursula Dorrell Clary, a widow, who by her first marriage with Mr. Clary had five children: Mrs. Martha Seddon, David Franklin, Mrs. Mary Catharine Surface, J. J., and Minnie Lucinda, deceased. By his first marriage Mr. Hughes became the father of the follow- ing children : Mrs. Nancy C. Washam, Mrs. Eliza Ann Dunham, Mrs. Rosa A. Sedam, Mrs. Mary Etta McCarty, Chamron C., who lives in White River township; Bruce, of Indianapolis; Mrs. Brusian Clary and Freddie D.
Mr. Hughes has passed a long and active life. In addition to the culti- vation of his own land, he was for a quarter of a century one of the most successful auctioneers in this part of the county, having cried all the sales over a radius of many miles and been unusually successful in his work. In other phases of life's activities he has been enterprising and progressive, winning the praise and commendation of all who know him because of his energy, indomitable spirit and the success which he has attained.
T. EDWARD NORTON.
The following is a brief sketch of the life of one who, by close attention to business, has achieved marked success in the world's affairs and risen to an honorable position among the enterprising men of the county with which his interests are identified. It is a plain record, rendered remarkable by no strange or mysterious adventure, no wonderful and lucky accident and no tragic situation. Mr. Norton is one of those estimable characters whose
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integrity and strong personality must force them into an admirable notoriety, which their modesty never seeks, who command the respect of their con- temporaries and their posterity and leave the impress of their individuality upon the age in which they live.
T. Edward Norton was born August 23, 1868, in Mercer county, Ken- tucky, and is a son of William T. and Sarah Jane (Johnson) Norton, also natives of the Blue Grass state, who moved to Illinois when the subject of this sketch was but six months old. The father died there in 1881 and the mother and her family later returned to their native state. They were the parents of five children : T. Edward, James, Nannie, William and Stella. James and Will- iam are residing in the state of Illinois; Nannie married a Mr. Polter and lives in Kentucky ; Stella, who married a Mr. Taylor, is a resident of Johnson coun- ty. In February, 1885, when but seventeen years of age, the subject of this sketch came to Johnson county and began working for Straughter Vandivier, with whom he remained two years, and then during the following three years he was with Isaac Vandivier. After his marriage in 1880, Mr. Norton rented eighty acres of land west of Franklin, known as the P. Clark farm, to the cultivation of which he devoted his attention for three years, and then for sixteen years he lived on the E. D. Brewer farm, adjoining the place he now owns. In 1909 he bought his present farm in Franklin township, of which he has made a splendid success. The farm is well improved in every respect, one feature of which is a large and handsome house of ten rooms, modern in every respect, which he erected in 1911; good barns and other essential farm buildings, well kept fences and other features of an up-to-date farm characterize this as one of the best country homes in Franklin township. Mr. Norton feeds practically all his grain to stock, selling annually about two hundred hogs and about two car loads of cattle. He also buys and sells several mules each year. He is a lover of live stock and keeps none but good grades, finding it more profitable to handle the better grades than the cheap stock.
In October, 1890, Mr. Norton was married to Dolly McDaniel, a daugh- ter of Richard McDaniel, and they have become the parents of three children, Pansy, Treva and Dorris. Politically, Mr. Norton is identified with the Democratic party, in which for many years he has taken an active part. In the fall of 1911 he was elected a member of the board of county commis- sioners from the middle district and is now discharging efficiently the duties of that responsible office. Fraternally, he is a member of the Knights of . Pythias, while his religious membership is with the First Mt. Pleasant Bap-
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tist church. His life has been filled with activity and usefulness, while his untiring energy and good business ability have gained for him a conspicuous place among the leading men of his township. In every sphere of endeavor in which he has taken a part his unpretending bearing and strict integrity have elevated him in the confidence of his fellow citizens and he is eminently en- titled to representation in a work of this character.
D. W. SHEEK, M. D.
It is not always easy to discover and define the hidden forces that move a life of ceaseless activity and large professional success : little more can be done than to note their manifestation in the career of the individual under consideration. In view of this fact the life of the successful physician and public-spirited man of affairs whose name appears above affords a striking example of well-defined purpose, with the ability to make that purpose sub- serve not only his own ends but the good of his fellow men as well. Doctor Sheek holds distinctive prestige in a calling which requires for its basis sound mentality and intellectual discipline of a high order, supplemented by the rigid professional training and thorough mastery of technical knowledge, with the skill to apply the same, without which one cannot hope to rise above medioc- rity in ministering to human ills. In his chosen field of endeavor Doctor Sheek has achieved a notable success and an eminent standing among the medical men of his county. In addition to his creditable career in one of the most useful and exacting of professions, he has also proved an honorable member of the body politic, rising in the confidence and esteem of the public, and in every relation of life he has never fallen below the dignity of true man- hood nor in any way resorted to methods that have invited criticism or censure.
D. W. Sheek is a native of the county in which he now resides, having been born in Pleasant township on October 8, 1871, and is a son of Isaac D. and Martha H. (Henry) Sheek, natives, respectively, of North Carolina and Johnson county, this state. Isaac Sheek, who was a farmer by vocation in his native state, enlisted in 1861 in the Confederate army and for four years he followed the fortunes of war, engaging, under Generals Jackson and Lee, in some of the most hotly contested battles of that great internecine conflict. His regiment took part in nearly all the concluding battles of the war in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania and every important engagement in the Eastern army, and Mr. Sheek was present at the final surrender of General
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Lee. After the conclusion of hostilities he returned to his home and in 1866 he came to Johnson county, Indiana, where he has since resided, his present home being with his son, the subject of this sketch, at Greenwood. His wife died on December 3, 1900. To them were born three children, namely : Myrtle, who died on January 22, 1908; D. W., the subject, and Luna E., who died on March 23, 1903.
D. W. Sheek was reared under the parental roof and secured his ele- mentary education in the public schools, graduating from the Greenwood high school in 1891. He then attended the Terre Haute Normal School for a year, after which for two years he engaged in teaching school in Pleasant township. During the following three years he was a student in the State University at Bloomington, and then resumed his pedagogical work for a year. Having decided to make the practice of medicine his life work, he then matriculated in the Indiana Medical College at Indianapolis, where, four years later, he was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He then served a year in the Indianapolis city dispensary, where he gained val- uable experience. On May 16, 1904, Doctor Sheek came to Greenwood and entered upon a professional career which has been not only successful from a scientific standpoint, but which has gained for him the sincere regard and confidence of the entire community. A high order of skill in his calling. a broad-minded sympathy with the sick and suffering, and an earnest desire to help others have combined to make him unusually successful, and he is held in the highest esteem by his brother physicians because of his genuine worth. Genial and cheerful, he carries sunshine anti comfort into every sick room which he enters, winning at once the confidence and the co-operation of his patients. Indeed, he is a welcome visitor in any company which he chooses to enter, for he possesses to an' eminent degree those qualities which commend a person to the good will of other's: ffe was honored by the medical fra- ternity of the county by election as-president of the county medical society in 1912, discharging the duties of the position in an able and satisfactory manner.
Fraternally, Doctor Sheek is affiliated with the Free and Accepted Ma- sons, belonging to the York Rite bodies, blue lodge, chapter, council and com- mandery.
In 1908 Doctor Sheek was united in marriage with Anne Lewis Vivian, the daughter of Albert and Laura (Reyburn) Vivian, who were natives of Kentucky and Kansas, respectively. The father, a successful dry goods mer- chant, lives at Greenwood, where he is numbered among the leading men of the community .. To the subject and his wife have been born the following children : Daniel W., Lewis V. and Kenneth S.
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COL. JOHN C. WEDDLE.
It is by no means an easy task to describe within the limits of this review a man who has led an active and eminently useful life and by his own exer- tions reached a position of honor and trust in the line of industries with which his interests are allied. But biography finds justification, neverthe- less, in the tracing and recording of such a life history, as the public claims a certain property interest in the career of every individual and the time invaria- bly arrives when it becomes advisable to give the right publicity. It is, then, with a certain degree of satisfaction that the chronicler essays the task of touching briefly upon such record as has been that of the subject who now comes under this review.
Col. John C. Weddle, well known auctioneer, successful farmer and ex- sheriff of Johnson county, was born in Hensley township, this county, on March 5, 1857, and is the son of J. F. and Delilah (Spicer) Weddle, natives respectively of Brown county, Indiana, and Kentucky. J. F. Weddle was born in 1830, and when two years old was brought to Johnson county by his father, Stephen A. Weddle, and mother, Rachel (Pruitt) Weddle, natives respectively of Tennessee and Kentucky, who settled in this state in the early twenties, their arrival in Hensley township being in 1832. J. F. Weddle, who is still living, has spent practically all of his days in Hensley township. To him and his wife were born the following children: James S., who was killed in Franklin in 1909; John C., the immediate subject of this sketch; H. L., who resides on the home farm; Mrs. Sarah E. Green, of Franklin; Emma, who died of typhoid fever at the age of twenty years; Mrs. Addie L. Spicer, of Franklin, and Louella, of Franklin.
The subject of this sketch received his education in the common schools of Hensley township and in the Morgantown high school, completing his studies under Prof. John Martin, at Franklin. In 1886 he began his note- worthy career as an auctioneer and from that time to the present he has been one of the best known and most successful men in his line in this section of the state. His reputation has not only been local, but almost national, having cried sales in eight or more states as far south as Louisiana, as far west as Iowa and Missouri, east into Ohio and north in to Michigan. He is an especial expert in the sale of live stock, of which he is a good judge and in the judging of which he holds a license, especially as judge on Poland
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China, Duroc Jersey, Chester White and Berkshire swine, and is very well informed on live stock pedigree. At the age of ten years he was so unfor- tunate as to lose his left arm in a mill accident, but this ordinarily unfor- tunate condition has but inspired him to greater effort and in everything he has attempted he has achieved success. He is the owner of one hundred and forty-six acres of splendid farming land in Franklin township, to which he gives a due amount of attention, having fifty acres planted to wheat, thirty acres to corn, fifteen acres to hay, twenty acres to grass, thirteen acres to oats. His output of live stock, principally hogs, amounts to about one thou- sand dollars annually. In connection with his farm he operates a small dairy of twelve fine Jersey cattle and also owns eleven head of horses. His farm is maintained in the best possible condition and as a result of his splendid management it returns him a very satisfactory income.
In 1880 Mr. Weddle was married to Eda C. Pritchard, the daughter of John T. Pritchard, of Nineveh township, and to them have been born six children: Homer S., who married and has three children, Nelda Mar- guerite, Gladys Imogene and Marion Lucille; Wilma Edith is at home; Chester V. is married and lives on a farm two miles southwest of the home farm and has one son, Maurice Edwin; Mecia, Georgia and Arla are at home.
Politically, Mr. Weddle is a staunch Democrat, and among the leaders of that party is held in high repute because of his political activity. He made a race for the office of assessor of Hensley township when but twenty-one years of age. and was defeated by only two votes. Subsequently he was elected sheriff of the county and so efficiently did he discharge his duties that he was re-elected and thus served two terms. His religious membership is with the Bargersville Christian church. He was reared a Missionary Baptist, but his wife and eldest son being members of the Christian church, he joined them. Fraternally, he is a member of the Provident Masonic lodge, in the working of which he takes a deep interest. In every avenue of life's activities he has performed his part to the best of his ability, believing that anything worth doing at all is worth doing well, the result being that he has won and retains to a notable degree the sincere respect and confidence of all who know him. He has a vast field of acquaintances, among whom are many loyal, staunch and devoted friends, and wherever he goes he receives a hearty welcome. Because of his high personal character and his genuine worth as a man and a citizen he is specifically entitled to mention in a work of this character.
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JOHN WESLEY DITMARS.
Among the farmers of Johnson county, Indiana, who believe in follow- ing twentieth-century methods is John Wesley Ditmars, of the vicinity of Franklin township. He comes of a splendid family, one that has always been strong for right living and industrious habits, for education and morality, and for all that contributes to the welfare of the commonwealth. Such people are welcomed in any community, for they are empire builders and as such have pushed the frontier of civilization ever westward and onward, leaving the green, wide-reaching wilderness and the far-stretching plains populous with contented people and beautiful with green fields; they have constituted that sterling horde which caused the great Bishop Whipple to write the mem- orable line, "Westward the course of empire takes its way."
John Wesley Ditmars, than whom there is no more successful or enter- prising agriculturist in Johnson county, and who is the owner of a fine farm in Franklin township. was born September 5, 1852, in this township, and is the son of Cornelius L. and Caroline ( Banta) Ditmars. Cornelius L. Dit- mars was born July 17. 1825. in Somerset county, New Jersey, and is the son of Garrett and Sarah ( Verbryck ) Ditmars, also natives of that state, Garrett being the son of Peter Ditmars ;;; Sarah .Verbryck Ditmars was the daughter of Major William Verbrycks a veteran of the Revolutionary war. The family emigrated from New Jersey to Warren county, Ohio, in 1830 and in 1836 came to Johnson county, Indiana. where Garrett bought a tract of land on which the timber had been partially cut and a log cabin built. Be- cause of the fact that Cornelius Ditmars' was compelled to go to work at an early age he was deprived of very much early education, his only schooling being gained at a subscription school taught in a log cabin by an indifferent teacher and with the most primitive equipment. In 1846, about the time he attained his legal majority. Cornelius Ditmars was hired by George King for a year at nine dollars a month, but a few months later began working on the construction of a pike road at seventy-five cents a day. and later went to work in a saw-mill at eighteen dollars a month. He and his brother, Peter. bought eighty acres of land with their savings and planted it to wheat. They were successful and continued to make money for a few seasons. The next year Peter moved onto a farm of his own and Cornelius worked for his brother, William. A little later Peter married and was given one hundred and sixty acres of land by his father-in-law, and Cornelius went to work for Captain Banta, with whom he worked early and late, giving most faithful service to his employer. In 1850 he married the daughter of Captain Banta. For .
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seven years he managed the latter's big farm, the Captain having moved to Franklin. In 1866 Cornelius Ditmars bought one hundred and sixty acres of the present home farm and moved onto it two years later and has resided there ever since. He has been very successful in his agricultural labors and has added to his acreage from time to time, one of his farms being managed by the subject of this sketch, John W., and another is now owned by William S. Cornelius Ditmars' first wife died, leaving four children, namely : John W., Belle, William S., and Emmeline, who died at the age of four years. For his second wife Cornelius Ditmars married Catherine Alexander, who died shortly after her marriage, leaving one child, Olive D., now Mrs. Dungan, who lives in the Hurricane neighborhood. For his third wife Mr. Ditmars married Mrs. Jennie Graham Voris, who is still living. In politics Mr. Dit- mars is a staunch Republican and has always taken an active interest in polit- ical matters. His church relationships are with the Hopewell Presbyterian church. Of his children. William S. is the father of two, Carter C., who is married, and Jane, who married a Mr. Denning, one child being born to the latter union. To Belle (Ditmars) McCaslin have been born two children, Herbert and Caroline.
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