USA > Indiana > Johnson County > History of Johnston 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 64
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Gilderoy Ilicks, then an attorney at Franklin. Finding the law fitted to his abilities, he relinquished the ministry, and was admitted to the Johnson County bar in 1851. Ile readily passed examina- tion to practice before the supreme court in 1852, and subse- quently, upon examination, was also admitted to practice before the supreme court of the United States. He devoted himself assid- ulously to the practice of law after he was admitted to the bar. In 1852 and 1854, he served as prosecutor for his district, and con- tinued working faithfully and successfully in his chosen profession until 1861, when he left everything and entered the union army. He was one of the first to enter the service, and by his own efforts raised the first company of volunteers in this county, which was the third raised in the state. He was elected captain, and subse- quently commissioned as major of the Seventh Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He served during the campaign in West Virginia, re- turning home in August. He then resumed his law practice, but for a short time only, as in 1862 he organized the second company of the Seventy-ninth Volunteer Infantry; was commissioned lieu- tenant colonel, and assigned to duty in the Army of the Cumberland. He was first with Buell, and afterward with Rosecrans, taking part in those memorable campaigns that aided so materially in bringing the war to a close. He was in the battles of Chickmauga and Chattanooga, where his regiment suffered severely. He returned to Chattanooga the day after the battle of Chickamauga, with 1,900 men, all that were left of the twenty-first corps, of which he was the ranking officer. He had the honor of leading the charge at Mis- sion Ridge, and his regiment, with the Eighty-sixth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, was the first to scale the ridge, and capture the works of the enemy. During the winter of 1863 and 1864, he was stationed in the valley of the Tennessee and the following summer, was with Sherman in his march upon Atlanta, but in July, was disabled by sickness, and in October, was compelled to resign his commission and return home. Upon his return home, he was at once chosen by the republicans to represent his district in the state senate, and he did his duty as well in the halls of legislation, as on the field battle, serving his country in both positions with honor and distinc- tion. He served two regular, and one extra session in the senate, was made chairman of the committee on organization of courts, and a member of the judiciary committee, and in 1868, he was appointed judge of the sixteenth judicial circuit, serving till 1870, since which time he has been engaged in the practice of his profession in Frank- lin. In 1866, he was a delegate and member of the platform com- mittee of the soldiers' convention held in Pittsburg. Col. Oyler has always taken a deep interest in local affairs, is, and has been,
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earnest in his efforts to advance the cause of education. As an attorney, he ranks among the best in Johnson County, and has acquired a handsome competence by his practice of law. He is a worthy citizen, and highly esteemed where known.
D. B. PATTERSON, of Franklin, Ind., was born in Needham Township, Johnson Co., Ind., September 3, 1835, and is the son of Thomas and Frances ( Harris) Patterson. Thomas Patterson was born in-Fayette County, Ky., April 24, ISOI, and is the son of Robert and James ( Henderson) Patterson. Thomas came with his parents to Clark County, Ind., in ISII, and later came to Johnson County, and now resides on his farm in Needham Town- ship. The mother of our subject was born at North Middleton, Bourbon Co., Ky., and died in 1835. To that union seven child- ren were born, five of whom survive. In August, 1838, the father married Nancy Hardesty, by whom he had six children, four of whom survive. Our subject was reared on the farm, and attended the district schools. He has followed farming as a vocation all his life, and removed to Franklin in March, 1885, but continues his farming. January 14, 1862, he was married to Eliza A. Beatty, who was born in Fayette County, Ky., September 30, 1830, and is the daughter of John and Sarah (Patterson) Beatty. Both Mr. and Mrs. Patterson are members of New Pisgah Presbyterian Church.
J. B. PAYNE, the subject of this sketeh, is senior member of the firm of Payne, Johnson & Co., millers, and proprietors of the Pearl Roller Mills, of Franklin, Johnson County, Ind. He was born at Vernon, Jennings County, Ind., on June 21, 1849, and is the son of Leland and Julia (Butler) Payne. The father was born at Newburg, Ohio, October 26, 1818, and was the son of George M. Payne, who was born at Lebanon, Conn., on January 9, 1791, and he was the son of Stephen Payne, a native of Connecti- cut (see sketch of Dr. P. W. Payne). Our subject's mother was born in Jennings County, Ind., on September 28, 1822, and was the daughter of James Butler, a native of Virginia, and came to Indiana in 1818. She died on March 6, 1850, while our subject was but nine months old. Leland Payne came to Franklin in 1854, and en- gaged in the milling business in co-partnership with Ebenezer Bald- win, whose daughter he married the same year. Mr. Baldwin retiring from the mill in ISSI, and Mr. Payne took as a partner in the business, John W. Ragsdale, in July, 1882. In April, 1884, Mr. Payne retired from the firm, and his death oc- curred the same year. Until 1854, our subject was reared on a farm in Jennings County, by an aunt, and at that time joined his father in Franklin. He was educated in the public schools of
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Franklin. After finishing school, he clerked in the woolen mills of Baldwin & Payne (his father) for two years, and next entered the flour mills of the same firm as a clerk. In IS71, he engaged in the drug business in Franklin, at which he continued until 1873, when his health failing him, he spent a year in Minnesota. Re- turning to Franklin, he engaged in the planing-mill business, and continued until 1879, and then removed to the farm, where he re- mained until 1884, when he returned to town and engaged in his present business. He is a member of the Masonic and Knights of Pythias fraternities. and a member of the Christian Church. In I871, he married Ellen Williams, of Wayne County, Ind., who was born in Rush County, Ind., on August 8. 1850. and is the daughter of Thomas Williams. To this union three children have been born. Mrs. Payne and two of the children are members of the Christian Church.
PHILANDER W. PAYNE, M. D .- Among the leading and older members of the medical profession of Johnson County, Ind., is Philander W. Payne, physician and surgeon of Franklin. He was born at Bedford, Ohio, on March 9, 1832, and came with his par- ents to Jennings County, Ind., in 1839. At the age of sixteen years he left the farm and entered Jennings County Seminary, where he attended for three years, occasionally teaching school, the income from which occupation was necessary for paying expenses at school. Upon leaving the seminary he taught school for two years, and then commenced a regular collegiate course at Wabash College, at Crawfordsville, Ind. On account of a disease of the eyes he was compelled to leave college before completing the full course, but the degree of A. M. was afterward conferred on him by the faculty of the college. Choosing the medical profession, he began reading medicine with Dr. A. Parks, of Vernon, Ind., and in 1855 he entered the medical department of the Ann Arbor Univer- sity, Michigan, from where he entered Jefferson Medical College, at Philadelphia, from which school he graduated in 1858. He afterward attended the College of Physicians and Surgeons, and also Bellevue Ilospital College, New York City. He then began practicing in Franklin, and has continued up to the pres- ent. In 1863 he was appointed by Governor Morton, one of of the special surgeons for the relief of Indiana soldiers at Stone River. Tenn., and spent some time in the service. By efficient and faithful practice he has established an enviable name and standing in professional circles, and as a citizen, has earned a place in the front rank. He was one of the original founders of the Franklin Gas Works, and helped that enterprise from an experiment to a solid and flourishing industry. lle was for a time trustee of
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Franklin College, and held a similar responsible position in the In- diana College of Physicians and Surgeons, at Indianapolis. He was married May 4, 1862, to Mary A. Forsythe, the daughter of a well-known merchant of Franklin, and to this union three sons and ' four daughters have been born. Politically, he is a republican, and religiously is a Methodist Episcopalian. His father was George M. Payne, who was born at Lebanon, Conn., on January 9, 1791, and was the son of Stephen Payne, who was a native of Connecti- cut, and a descendant from several families who emigrated from the mother country at a very early date, and located in the New Eng- land and Southern States. George M. emigrated to Ohio, in ISI4, and thence to Jennings County, Ind., in I839, and came to Johnson County in 1854. He died in Franklin, January 24, 1883, in his ninety-third year. The mother of our subject was Susan Holcomb, who was born at Panton, Vt., August 9, 1794. She was the daughter of Benjamin Holcomb, a native of Connecticut, who served for eight years in the Revolutionary War, entering as a captain, but rising at once to a colonelcy, and serving as such most of the time of his service. He was with the Continental Army at Valley Forge, and present at the capture of Trenton. The mother died at Queensville, Ind., December 12, 1866. To the par- ents, who were married at Madrid, St. Lawrence County, N. Y., January 16, 1815, seven children were born, of whom our subject is the only surviving one. The children were as follows: Livonia, born at Newburg, Ohio, September 12, 1816, and died at Queens- ville. Ind., on March 31, 1861; Leland, born at Newburg, Ohio, October 26, ISIS, and died at Franklin, Ind., in IS84: Minerva P., born at Newburg, Ohio, June 12, 1821, died at Vernon, Ind., February 2, 1849: George J., born at Newburg, Ohio, April 26, 1824, died at Vernon, Ind., September 15, 1850; William N., born at Newburg, Ohio, March 26, 1827, died at Vernon, Ind., March 15, 1846; Rollin, born at Bedford, Ohio, November 21, 1829, died at Harrodsburg, Ind., November 2, 1854. Upon emigrating to Ohio, George M., the father, located on a farm, which ground is now in the Sevententh Ward of Cleveland. He followed merchan- dising principally in Ohio, and farming in Indiana, up to his removal to Franklin, when he engaged in the furniture business, and con- tinued until about fifteen years previous to his death.
T. C. M. PERRY, auditor of Johnson County, Ind., was born at Gallipolis, Ohio, June 29, 1847. His father was Thomas L. Perry, who was born in Wheeling, W. Va., in ISIS, and his mother was Joannah Brunnemer, who was born in Covington, Va., in 1822. In 1846, the father moved to Gallipolis, Ohio, and two years later came to Indiana and located at Waverly, Morgan County, where
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he died in 1864. His wife died the same year, and within a week of the death of her husband. The paternal grandfather of our subject was an Englishman, and the paternal grandmother was a native of Ireland, while the maternal grandparents were both Germans, the grandfather being a native of Germany, and the grandmother of . America. To Thomas L. and Joannah, the parents, six children were born, as follows: Sarah (now deceased), Mary E., now de- ceased, Jennie, Francis, (now deceased), T. C. M., and Aldice. Upon the removal of the parents to Indiana, the subject of this sketch was but one year of age, and his boyhood days were spent in Waverly, in Morgan County. He was given an academic edu- cation, and later conceived the idea of fitting himself for the legal profession, and to that end read law for awhile, but was not ad- mitted to the bar, having abandoned his studies. He removed to Johnson County in 1872, and engaged in merchandising at differ- ent points in that county, for a number of years, the last point at which he was so engaged being Providence. In ISS2, he was elected trustee of Union Township, and held that office for four years, being at the same time engaged in the stock business. On March IS, 1886, he was nominated by the democratic county con- vention for the office of auditor of Johnson County, and the follow- ing November, he was elected to that office by a majority of 396 votes, and took charge of the same on November 5, 1887, at which time he removed to Franklin. He is a member of Union Village Lodge, No. 545, F. & A. M., and of Waverly Lodge, No. SIS, I. O. O. F. He was united in marriage in ISSI, to Mary A. Farris, who was born in Bargersville, Ind., and to this union two children have been born, both deceased.
N. M. PITTMAN, lumber dealer, and saw-mill proprietor, of Franklin, Johnson Co., Ind., was born in Monroe County, Ohio, on April 19, 1845, and is the eldest of seven children born to Isaac and Eliza J. (Moore) Pittman, both of whom were natives of Ohio, the father, born April 26, 1822, and the mother on July 5, 1827. Isaac Pittman came to Bartholomew County, Ind., in IS50, where he followed farming until his death, which occurred in 1867. His father was William Pittman, who was a Pennsylvanian by birth, re- moving from that state to Ohio, and thence to Indiana in 1860. The mother is the daughter of Solomon Moore, a native of Ohio, who came to Indiana in 1846, settling in Bartholomew County, where he died in 1856. The mother now resides in Bartholomew County. Our subject was reared on the farm, and secured a good common school education. Leaving school, he, in 1868, began to learn the carpenter's trade, and worked at the same until IS70, when he began saw-milling in Monroe County, Ind. He remained
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in Monroe County until 1872, and thence removed to Johnson County, and located at Union village (now Providence). He con- tinued in the saw-mill and lumber business at that point until 1887, and then removed to Franklin, and purchased the business he now operates. He has one of the only two saw-mills in town, and does an extensive business, both in sawing, and in the lumber trade. He was married January 11, 1872, to Elizabeth Small, who was born in Kentucky, on January 9, 1850, and is the daughter of William Small, of Johnson County, Ind. To this union the following chil- dren have been born: Flora, Harry, Oscar, Frank, Annie and Nettie. Our subject is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and he and wife are members of the Presbyterian Church. He is a re- publican in politics.
JACKSON POWELL, leading stock-dealer and liveryman of Frank- lin, Ind., was born in Mercer County, Ky., on December 24, 1832, and is the son of John and Mary (Thompson) Powell. The father was a native of Virginia, who removed to Kentucky at an early date, and was one of the pioneers of Mercer County, when he died there in about 1843. The mother was born in Kentucky, and came with her children to Johnson County, Ind., in about 1857. Her death occurred in July, 1874. Our subject was reared on the farm. In 1855 he went to Missouri, where he remained until 1861, and then located in Johnson County, near Franklin. Six years later he located near the town of Whiteland, and in 1884 removed to Franklin, where he has since resided. Recently he engaged in the livery business, which he carried on in connection with his stock dealings. He is one of the substantial citizens of Johnson County, and is a man respected and esteemed by all who know him. Mr. Powell was married in October, 1852, to Lydia M. Thompson, who was born in Kentucky, and to this union two sons and two daughters have been born. Mr. and Mrs. Powell are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
JOHN POWELL, farmer and stock-dealer, of Franklin, Johnson County, Ind., was born in Mercer County, Ky., on December 7, IS41, and is the son of John and Mary ( Thompson ) Powell. (See sketch of Jackson Powell for sketch of parents.) Mr. Powell was reared on the farm, and like other youths of his day obtained but a limited education. With his parents he came to Indiana, when about sixteen years of age, and in about 1857, began life for him- self by hiring out as a farm laborer, by the month. His first land was a tract containing about thirty-six acres, located about two and one-half miles from Franklin, which he purchased in about 1869. A year later he disposed of the same, and purchased 120 acres of land two miles north of Franklin. He at present owns altogether
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about 205 acres. For the last fifteen years he has been buying and trading in stock of all kinds. Mr. Powell was married on September 26, 1861, to Juna A. Ransdell, who was born in Johnson County, Ind., October 10, 1841, and is the daughter of William P. Ransdell. To this union eight children have been born, as fol- Iows: Alonzo, born 1862; William I., born 1865; Ora, born 1867; George, born 1869: Susan E., born 1872: John, born 1874; Myrtle, born 1878, and Bessie, born 1883. Mr. and Mrs. Powell and three children are members of Hurricane Baptist Church.
LOVEN G. PRITCHARD. - Among the representative citizens of Johnson County, Ind., worthy of mention in a work of this char- acter, none are more so than Loven G. Pritchard, of Franklin. Ile is the son of Daniel and Abigail (Parkhurst) Pritchard. The father was born in Maryland, on January 15, 1781, and was the son of James Pritchard, a native of England, who emigrated from his native land to America at an early date, and located in Maryland, and thence removed to Henry County, Ky., where he died. The mother was born in Tennessee, September 29, 1785, and was the daughter of Ezekiel Parkhurst, a native of North Carolina. The parents of our subject were married May 20, 1803. Daniel Pritchard removed with his father to Henry County, Ky., and in January, 1823. came to Indiana, crossing the Ohio River at Madison, on the first day of that year. He located at what is now Edinburg, on Blue River, where he raised two crops, and then on account of the ague, removed, in 1824, to Nineveh Township, where he entered a homestead of 160 acres near the center of the same. Ile followed farming as a life vocation, and though an uneducated man, met with remarkable success, and out of a fam- ily of nine children he gave each a farm'of about 135 acres, he having in his possession at the time our subject came of age, over 1,000 acres of land. The records show that he entered more land than any other one citizen of Johnson County, among which were eighty acres which were entered by him and sold to George King, who sold it to the county, and upon that tract Franklin, in part, was built. He was a man who pre- ferred the quiet and independent life of the farmer to that of a pub- lic servant, and hence never sought or filled any public official positions. He was a member of the religious organization then known as " The Western Predestination Two-Seat Baptists," but abandoned that belief two years prior to his death. In March, 1852, he disposed of his property in Johnson County, and removed to Jasper County, Ind., where he died on October 11, 1852. The mother died in Johnson County, on March 9, 1854. To the par- ents, twelve children were born, as follows: David P., September
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16, 1804; Walker D., July 3, 1806: Roland, February 3, 1809; Jona- than H., February 10, IStr; Sallie, March 16, 1813: Allen M., April 19, 1815: Lewis, March 6, ISIS; Curtis, July 15, 1820; Loven G., November 12, 1822; William I., May 15, 1825; Matilda M., December 6, 1831 : all of whom are deceased, leaving our subject the only surviving member of the family. He was reared on the farm and secured a limited education in the log school-houses of the district, under the old " blue beech system," when, if a scholar did not succeed as rapidly as the teacher thought he should, the beech switch was liberally used. Nevertheless he secured the rudiments of an education, to which he has since added a large fund of practical information, sufficiently to make a success of his life. He has followed farming as a life vocation, and now owns a fine farm of 115 acres in Needham Township. He removed to Franklin in IS86, and remained for about one year, and then returned to the farm. In January, 1888, he again removed to Franklin, and is now a citizen of the town, residing on his own property. a neat cottage residence. He has always taken an interest in public affairs, and in 1854, was elected justice of the peace from Nineveh Township. He was a democrat until the Kansas troubles in 1854, when he joined the republican party, and has since affiliated with that organ- ization. Ile was married February 20, 1848, to Nancy Keaton, who was born in Nineveh Township, Johnson Co., Ind., on Decem- ber 25, 1830, and was the daughter of Judge William Keaton. To this union nine children were born, three of whom survive. The wife died February 20, 1887. He was a member of the Christian Church. He was again married January 25, ISSS, to Sarah (Gra- ham) Poffinberger, a native of Ohio. Our subject is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and of the Christian Church, and stands well as a citizen, being generally respected by all who know him.
FRANK S. RECORDS, a native of Bartholomew County, Ind., was born February 19, IS27, son of William P. and Elcey (Har- vey) Records, and is of English descent. His father was born in Pike County, Ohio, November 23, 1801, and his mother in New York, in 1806. ITis paternal grandfather, Spencer Records, was born in Sussex County, Del., in 1760, and died in Shelby County, Ind., in 1850. He was a man of more than ordinary abil- ity; he was a soldier in a number of Indian battles in Kentucky, and his father was a Revolutionary soldier. The maternal grand- father of our subject, was Longstreet Harvey, a native of New Jersey, who died in Shelby County, Ind., in 1852, at an advanced age. In 1835, the immediate subject of this biography removed with his parents to Shelby County. Here he attended the country schools, and through his own effort has acquired a valuable and
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practical education. In 1848, he came to this county and settled in Nineveh Township, and, in 1854, settled where he now lives, and owns 235 acres of fertile land. His residence, built in 1883, at a cost of $2,500, is one of the finest in the township. For about twenty-five years Mr. Records has been giving his attention to breeding thorough-bred hogs, and now has a number of very fine Poland-China hogs. December 19, 1849, Mr. Records was united in marriage to Miss Susan M. Utterback, born near Lexington, Ky., February 25, 1829, daughter of Perry and Matilda (Dewitt) Utterback, natives of Kentucky, who came to Johnson County, in 1831. Her father died in Iowa, and her mother in this county, when she was about fifteen years of age. Of eight children born, four are living : Mary V., Jennette A., John N. and Hattie E. He was formerly a whig, but is now a republican. Mr. and Mrs. Records are members of the Christian Church; he is an honest, upright citizen, esteemed for his many good qualities, by all who know him.
RILEY RIGGS, one of the leading farmers of Franklin Town- ship, was born in Iowa, March 1, 1849, and is the son of Horace and Sarah (Helterbrand) Riggs, natives of Shelby County, Ind .; the former born in 1816, and died about 1851, and the latter born about 1824. In 1860 she married Richard S. Verbryck, and now resides in Kansas. When four years of age the immediate subject of this sketch came with his mother to Johnson County, and here was educated in the common schools. In ISSI, Mr. Riggs pur- chased his present farm, and the same is well improved, and lo- cated about two miles from Franklin. Mr. Riggs was married in IS75, to Miss Carrie Byers, a native of this county, born in IS51. She is the daughter of Henry S. Byers, Sr., and a member of the Baptist Church.
JOSEPHI A. SCHMITH, one of the leading young merchants of Indiana, was born in Madison, Ind., December 16, 1853. His pa- rents were Anthony and Rebecca (Sterling) Schmith. The father war born in Alsace in 1825. and died in November, IS67. The mother was also born in Alsace, in 1824, and is a resident of Frank- lin. The parents were married in Madison, Ind., in November, IS5I. In August, 1865, the parents removed to Franklin. To them were born the following children: Joseph A., our subject; John H., born July 3, 1856; Frank A., October 6, 1858, and died May 27, 1860; Philip, March 31, 1861, and died November 30, 1877: Benedict, October 19, 1862; Mary L., June 17, 1867. Our subject was reared in Franklin, and attended the public schools of the place. He began clerking as soon as he left school, and con- tinued at such until ISSI, when he engaged in the grocery busi-
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