History of Madison County, Indiana ; a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I, Part 54

Author: Forkner, John La Rue, 1844-1926
Publication date: 1970
Publisher: Evansville Ind. : Unigraphic, Inc.
Number of Pages: 918

USA > Indiana > Madison County > History of Madison County, Indiana ; a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 54

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THOMAS E. DAY. Some thirty years ago Thomas E. Day took his bride into Stony Creek township while the wilderness conditions still prevailed and with a strong arm and courageous heart began the work of clearing out a home for himself and family. By dint of hard labor and thrifty management he has prospered, until today he is not only one of the most substantial, but also one of the most influential men in his section of the county.

Thomas E. Day is a native of the state of North Carolina where he was born April 15, 1858, and from an early age had to make his own way in the world. His parents were Alva and Sarah (Harris) Day, neither of the parents ever leaving North Carolina which was the state of their birth and their life and death. There were eight children in the family and Thomas E. was the sixth, and one of his sisters also lived in Indiana. The father died when Thomas E. was eight years of age, and he had little chance after that to get an education. He remained with an uncle for some years, and learned more of hard physical work than the lessons which are given in schools and in books. In company with an aunt he arrived in Madison county, November 22, 1874, and soon afterward began his career on his own account.

Thirty-two years ago Mr. Day married Miss Sarah J. Shaul, and he then went into the woods and with his axe cleared up a tract of one hundred and ten acres, which has been the basis of his home. The six living children in the family are named as follows: William H., who is at home; Vado P., wife of Hugh Minor; Inuither B., who is married and a resident in Stony Creek township; James E., who is married and

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lives in Stony Creek township; Iva M., who is unmarried and still in the home circle, and Lorenza, a student in the high school at Lapel. Mr. Day and family are members of the Christian church, and in politics he is a Republican, without any participation in party affairs or without ever having held any public office. Mr. Day is the owner of one hundred and eleven acres of land in Stony Creek township and has a prosperous and well improved farm.

JOHN L. GIVENS. A resident of Madison county for sixty-five years, Mr. Givens represents the progressive rural citizenship of Stony Creek township, where he has a fine farm of sixty-two aeres, with excellent im- provements and a comfortable home for himself and family.

John L. Givens was born in Green township, Madison county, No- vember 30, 1848, a son of Andrew and Elizabeth (Shawl) Givens. An- drew Givens, the father was born in the state of Michigan, came to Indiana and was married in Madison county, his wife being a native of this state. Ile continued to reside in Madison county until his death in 1854. He and his wife were the parents of three children, the other two being N. D. Givens, of Indianapolis; and Julins Givens, who is connected with the street railway system in St. Louis.

Mr. John L. Givens was reared in Green township until he reached his majority, and as a boy attended the district school near his home. Green township, while he was growing up, still presented almost an expanse of wilderness, and the residents were still engaged in the hard labor of clearing and grubbing and planting the first crops in the hard won fields. That was the training ground for his carly life. He was married in Green township to Amanda Heshberger, and, their happy married life continued until 1909 when Mrs. Givens died. She was reared in Green and Stony Creek townships and received her education in the public schools. The four sons born to their marriage are all living in 1913, namely : Horace, who is married and a resident of Stony Creek township; Elmer, who graduated from the common schools and is mar- ried and lives in Hamilton county; Willard, who graduated from the Lapel high school and in 1913 from the University of Indiana, and is now a principal of a graded school in Noblesville, this state; Asa, who finished the course in the common schools, and at the present time is in Indianapolis. Mr. Givens and family are members of the Progressive Dunkard Church. In politics he has always been a regular supporter of the Republican party up to the campaign of 1912 in which he voted the Progressive ticket.

VERLING STANLEY. A man who is well known to the citizens of his community by reason of his former connection with work of a journal- istic nature, Verling Stanley has for a long period been prominently identified with the farming and stock raising interests of Stony Creek township, where he is the owner of a well-cultivated farm of 260 acres. Mr. Stanley was born in Hamilton county, Indiana, June 16, 1857, and is a son of Isaac and Hannah (Nuby) Stanley.

Isaac Stanley was born in Clinton county, Ohio, and was about six- teen years of age when brought to Hamilton county, Indiana, by his parents. Here he engaged in agricultural pursuits and was reasonably successful in his operations. and at the time of his death, in 1898, his community lost one of its best citizens. His wife, a native of North Carolina. was about three years of age when brought to Hamilton county.

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and here her death occurred in 1911. They were members of the Friends' Church, in the faith of which they were married; and were the parents of five children, as follows: Verling; Melissa, who became the wife of Prof. Fellows, was a graduate of the high school and a former teacher; Edgar A., who is engaged in farming in Hamilton county, Indiana; Melvina, residing at Anderson, Indiana, the widow of Junius Knight; and Lydia, the wife of H. W. Ramsey, who is engaged in farming in Boone county, Indiana.

Verling Stanley received his primary education in the district schools adjacent to his father's farm, and supplemented this by attendance at the Union High school, at Westfield and by a course in the Indianapolis Business College. Succeeding this, he accepted a position on the New- castle (Indiana) Mercury, where he learned the printer's trade, and later, in company with Prof. Fellows, bought the Grant County Repub- lican, of Marion. One year later they sold this publication and Mr. Stanley went to Ohio, where he was editor and publisher of the New Holland News, which he conducted for one year, then becoming inter- ested in several other newspapers in Ohio. After a short period spent at his trade, on a Kansas City newspaper he received a government appointment to a position in the government printing office at Washing- ton, D. C., in which he remained four years. In 1895 Mr. Stanley came to Lapel and purchased the News, of which he was editor and publisher for four years, and at the end of that period retired from newspaper life to engage in farming and stockraising. He is now the owner of a hand- some tract of 260 acres, all in a high state of cultivation, which has been rendered more valuable by the erection of a set of buildings of substantial character and architectural beauty. Mr. Stanley has proved as good a farmer as he was newspaper man as evidenced by the gratify- ing success which has rewarded his efforts.

On August 14, 1898, Mr. Stanley was married to Mrs. Isabella V. (MeClintock) Ward, who was born in Jackson township, Madison county. She was educated in the district schools of her native town- ship, and was there married, November 4, 1888, to Walker Ward, who is now deceased. One child was born to this union, Grace L., born August 22, 1889, who died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Stanley have had one daughter: Verlina M., born May 24, 1900, who is now in the seventh grade in the public school at Lapel.

Mr. and Mrs. Stanley are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Lapel, in the work of which she has been very popular, num- bering many friends in the wide acquaintance they have formed since locating in their present home. In political matters, Mr. Stanley be- came an adherent of Progressive principles in 1912, but he has never sought public office, being content to confine his activities to his farm, of which he has every reason to be proud. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., the K. of P. and the Red Men.

OLIVER E. MCCLINTOCK .. The roster of agriculturists of Madison county who have participated prominently in the movements which have served to bring about the great progress and advancement of this sec- tion of the State during the past half a century would be incomplete indeed did it not contain the name of Oliver E. McClintock, of Stony Creek township, who, although now a resident of the town of Lapel, has for many years been interested in farming and stock raising in Stony Creek and Jackson townships, where he is the owner of large properties.

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Mr. MeClintock belongs to that class of enterprising, energetic men to whom are due the progress and improvement of the West, while as a public servant he has and is contributing materially to the welfare of his fellow men. Mr. McClintock was born on a farm in Jackson town- ship, Madison county, Indiana, June 21, 1858, and is a son of Daniel and Elizabeth (Bristol) McClintock.

The MeClintock family is one of the old and honored ones of this section, and was founded in Indiana by Alexander McClintock, who came as a pioneer from North Carolina. A son of this progenitor, George McClintock, settled in Anderson when there were but three houses in that place, his journey thence having been made by wagon, and subse- quently he located on a tract of land along the river in Jackson town- ship, where he passed the remainder of his life. Daniel McClintock. son of George, and father of our subject, was born in Jackson township, May 19, 1832, and died May 4, 1910. He was reared on his father's farm, received his education in the district schools and continued to reside on the homestead until within eight years of his death, when he came to Stony Creek township and located in Lapel. For forty years he was a faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and his politics were those of the Republican party, whose candidates and principles he supported stanchly. A successful farmer, Mr. McClintock developed an excellent property, and he was also a large breeder. of pure-bred Short Horn cattle, which he served to introduce in Jackson township. He and his wife were the parents of three children: George K .; Oliver E .; and Belle V., a graduate of the Jackson public schools, and now the wife of Verling Stanley, former editor of the Lapel News, a sketch of whose career will be found on another page of this work.

Oliver E. MeClintock was reared on his father's farm and after a district school education and a term at high school, secured a teacher's license. He continued to farm, however, and remained on his father's property until he was twenty-one years of age. at which time he embarked in operations on his own account. Mr. MeClintock was married Novem- ber 28, 1886, to Miss Leora Wise, who was reared in Jackson township and educated in the common schools, and to this union there were born five children: Hershel G., a graduate of the Lapel High school, who was a public school teacher for one year and is now a Rural Free De- livery mail carrier out of Lapel; Daniel, also a graduate of the Lapel High school, and now a teacher in the public schools of that place ; Walter, a high school graduate, who is assisting his father in the opera- tion of his farms; Cecil, who graduated from the high school, and like his brother is engaged as an educator; and Myrtle, who is still a student at Lapel. The family has long been connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which Mr. McClintock serves as steward. His fra- ternal connection is with Lapel Lodge No. 386, Knights of Pythias, and the local lodges of the Improved Order of Red Men and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Politically a Republican, he was elected a mem- ber of the board of trustees of Stony Creek township, and is now serving his fifth year as incumbent of that office, where he has given the utmost satisfaction.

In 1903 Mr. MeClintock transferred his home from the country to Lapel, in order that his children might receive better educational oppor- tunities. He is the owner of 500 acres of land, of which 200 acres are located in Stony Creek township and 300 in Jackson township, and all are under a high state of cultivation. General farming has occupied Vol. 11-8

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the greater part of his attention, but he has also met with a gratifying success in the breeding of standard Short Horn cattle and Arabian horses, and few men of the county are more widely known as stock buyers and dealers. Mr. McClintock has been interested in other business ven- tures, and is at present a stockholder in the Lapel State Bank. In the conduct of his commercial interests and in the discharge of his official duties his reputation is unassailable and among the citizens of Lapel he is held in the highest regard.

JOHN B. CRAGEN. Every branch of commercial and industrial activ- ity is represented at Lapel, for this locality is not only a flourishing community, but furnishes a large contiguous territory that looks to it as a base of supply. For this reason many progressive men who seek the best locality for the prosecution of their lines of endeavor have settled here, confident in the future of the place and in their ability to make their mark upon its advancement. The men who succeed here, as elsewhere, in forging their way to the front ranks have to possess more than the average ability, as well as sound judgment and unswerving integrity of purpose. One of the men who has brought himself to an enviable position in his line of work, and at the same time secured and maintained a reputation for good citizenship among his associates, is John B. Cragen, notary public and dealer in real estate, loans and insur- ance, who has been resident of Lapel since 1900. He was born in Lou- don county, Virginia, March 15, 1834, and is a son of Samuel and Harriet (Trundle) Cragen.

Mr. Cragen received his early education in a little log schoolhouse in his native state, and was a lad of fifteen years when he accompanied his parents to Illinois, there attending school for four months. In 1855 he went to Iowa, where he entered 160 acres of land which, after culti- vating, he sold at a good figure and returned to the Prairie State. There he embarked in the threshing machine business, and while so engaged was injured in the fall of 1861, this accident incapacitating him for ser- vice during the Civil war. His next venture was as an educator and for four years he taught school in Dewitt county, Illinois, at the end of that period going to St. Louis, Missouri, where he was engaged in the insurance business for twelve years, and while there he was married to Mrs. Dubois, who lived but a short time. In 1879 Mr. Cragen came to Fishersburg. Indiana, and for several years was in the timber business, and was there married in 1883 to Mrs. Charlotte Fisher. His advent in Lapel occurred in 1900, when he embarked in the insurance and real estate business, and in this line he has continued to the present time, steadily building up a large and remunerative trade and firmly establish- ing himself in public confidence and esteem.

Mr. Cragen is a Democrat in his political views, but takes but little interest in public affairs outside those that affect his immediate com- munity and its people. . He may always be depended upon, however, to assist in forwarding movements calculated to secure good government, and belongs to that class of citizens who believe that they can best for- ward their own interests by advancing those of their section. Although he belongs to no particular religious denomination, he has been liberal in his support of religious work, and is known as a man who having suc- ceeded himself is every ready to assist others to succeed. Mr. Cragen is one of the venerable citizens of Stony Creek township, being the last survivor of those who lived here when he first came to Fishersburg, but,

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although in his seventy-ninth year, still walks the streets with firm tread in the daily discharge of the duties of his business, a striking example of the virile and energetic old age that follows a life of sobriety and probity.

HON. CHARLES W. BIDDLE. Elected in 1910 and now representing Madison county in the state legislature, Hon. Charles W. Biddle is one of the ablest members of the agricultural community of this county and state. He was born and reared in the township where he makes his home, has been steadily progressive both in business and in his civic ideas, and has the complete confidence of his fellow citizens, in any public capacity.

Mr. Biddle resides in Adams township, in a very attractive and valuable farm homestead on section eighteen, six miles southeast of Anderson on the Columbus Pike. He was born in Adams township, November 23, 1862, and his entire life has been spent within the limits of Madison county. His parents were James M. and Esther (Slaughter) Biddle. The paternal grandfather, Caleb Biddle, a native of North Carolina. brought his family from that state to Madison county in 1829, when James Biddle was about twelve years old. By reference to the general history of this county, published in this work, it will be seen that the year 1829 was one of the pioneer years in the settlement and development of Madison county.

The Biddle family have therefore been factors and useful citizens in the history of this county from its earliest years to the present time, and each generation has produced useful and honored citizens. James M. Biddle, the father, who was born in North Carolina in 1817, received part of his early education in North Carolina, and also attended country schools in Adams township of Madison county, from the age of twelve years. He lived on the old Biddle homestead, which his father had entered from the government until his marriage. His wife, Esther Slaughter, was born in Pennsylvania in 1829, and her family also were among the early settlers of Madison county. After their marriage they lived on the Biddle farm in Adams township of one hundred acres, and James Biddle added to the original estate until he was the owner of two hundred and forty acres. His life time was chiefly devoted to the im- provement and productive cultivation of this place, and he erected good buildings, fenced the farm, and made it a very valuable property. He lived there until his death in 1892, his wife dying about five years later in 1897. She was the mother of the following children: George M., living in Wayne county ; Mary Alice, wife of Charles Mitchel; Margaret, wife of Harvey M. Davis; Jerusha, wife of S. R. Manzy; John, a farmer of Adams township ; Charles W., the subject of this sketch ; and Ida, wife of Miles Elsbury, who resides on the old Biddle homestead. All the children except George reside in Adams township.

Charles W. Biddle was reared on a farm, when a boy attended the district schools, knows and is known by practically all the old genera- tions of the county, and continued working on the home farm until he was twenty-one years of age. He then began as an independent agri- culturist, but continued to live and work a part of the homestead until he was twenty-seven years old. At that date he married Miss Nellie M. Gray, a daughter of Samnel and Elizabeth Gray, both of whom were well known in Madison county. Mrs. Biddle was a talented young woman and had taught school in Adams township two terms previous to her

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marriage. After his marriage he continued on the old place for a time, and in 1898 bought his present place in Adams township, ninety-eight acres of choice land. There he erected a modern dwelling, a new barn and outbuildings, and under his supervision the fields have been well fenced, and all the place supplied with modern machinery. He raises first-class stock, hogs, cattle and horses, and is one of the rural residents of Madison county, who have made farming pay by application to the same business principles which bring success in other vocations of life.

Mr. and Mrs. Biddle are the parents of the following children: Ward G., a graduate of the Pendleton high school, and now engaged in teaching at Pendleton ; Howard J., and Jesse S., who are both in Pendle- ton high school.

For a number of years Mr. Biddle has been one of the factors in Democratic politics in Madison county and Adams township. After serving in some of the minor responsibilities of civic affairs, he was elected representative of Madison county in 1910, and again in 1912, and has served to the present time. Among the important committees of which he has been member were the Roads Committee, the Railroad Committee, and the Publie and Municipal Corporation Committee. Dur- ing the session of 1913 Mr. Biddle was chairman of the Roads Commit- tee, before which was brought many important bills. At this time he introduced a road bill which was passed, and is known today as the Biddle Road Law. It changed the township road system. Its great value is that it requires all road tax above twenty dollars to be paid in cash. This broke up the practice of railroads and other large corporations letting out their road tax work for the entire state to contractors who in the past have made thousands of dollars a year in working them out at a loss to the townships and roads.

Fraternally he is well known in Masonic circles, being a member of Ovid Lodge, No. 164, A. F. & A. M., at Columbus, and is also affiliated with Tahoe Lodge No. 232 of the Improved Order of Red Men. His residence, situated on Columbus Pike is attractively located and in front of the house stands a massive native white oak, a tree that when in full foliage is an admirable feature of the entire farm, and is often commented upon by those who pass by. Charles W. Biddle is known as a successful business man, an influential factor in politics, and also for his genial social character.

WILSON T. TRUEBLOOD. Now living virtually retired in the attractive village of Chesterfield, Mr. Trueblood was for many years one of the representative merchants of his native county and is a scion of one of the sterling and honored pioneer families of this section of the fine old Hoosier state. His career has been marked by earnest and effective. endeavor and he has at all times maintained secure place in the confi- dence and esteem of his fellow men, so that he is specially entitled to specific recognition in this publication.

On the old homestead farm of his parents, in Adams township, Madi- son county, Indiana, Mr. Trueblood was born on the 18th of December, 1841, and is a son of Wilson and Melissa (Overman) Trueblood, both of whom were natives of North Carolina and representatives of old and honored families of that commonwealth. Wilson Trueblood was reared and educated in his native state and was about thirty-five years of age at the time when he came to Indiana and numbered himself among the pioneers of Madison county. He purchased eighty acres of wild land,

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in Adams township, and there reclaimed a productive farm, to the affairs of which he continued to devote his attention until his death. Of the ten children the subject of this review was the youngest and he is now the only surviving, all of the other children having been born prior to the family immigration to Indiana.

Wilson T. Trueblood was only two years of age at the time of his father's death and his mother subsequently contracted a second mar- riage and having continued to maintain her home in Madison county until she too was summoned to the life eternal. He whose name initiates this sketch gained his rudimentary education in the pioneer schools of Henry county and thereafter continued his studies in the village of New Columbus. At the age of twelve years he assumed a clerical position in a general store at New Columbus and he learned the business in all its details, with the result that he eventually proved himself well fortified for individual activities along the same line of enterprise. In 1868 he established himself in the mercantile business in the village of Chester- field, and here he built up a large and prosperous trade, based upon fair and honorable dealings and upon his personal popularity in the com- munity that has long represented his home and been the stage of his productive activities. He retired from active business in 1911 and has since lived virtually retired, in the enjoyment of the rewards of former years of earnest endeavor. He is the owner of valuable real estate in his home village, including both business and residence property, and is one of the well known and highly esteemed citizens of Madison county.

In politics Mr. Trueblood has long been a zealous supporter of the basic principles of the Republican party and as a citizen he has been liberal and public-spirited. He is affiliated with the local organization of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and his family hold member- ship in the Christian church.

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History of Madison County, Indiana ; a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I, Part 54

Author: Forkner, John La Rue, 1844-1926 Publication date: 1970 Publisher: Evansville Ind. : Unigraphic, Inc. Number of Pages: 918

Author: Forkner, John La Rue, 1844-1926
Publication date: 1970
Publisher: Evansville Ind. : Unigraphic, Inc.
Number of Pages: 918