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 70
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caster county, Pennsylvania. From here the family moved to Frank- lin county, Virginia, where a grandson, also named John, married Mary P. Showalter, a granddaughter of another soldier of the Revolution. John and his young wife moved to Wayne county, Indiana, in company with the Showalter family and settled first in Wayne and later in Henry county. Ilere their fourth son, Isaiah (Jan. 16, 1825-Sept. 18, 1853), father of Charles and grandfather of Edgar, was born. His death at the early age of twenty-eight was caused by typhoid fever and he left his wife, Elizabeth Fifer Farmer ( May 22, 1817-April 27, 1892) and four children as has been stated. It is related of him that he was a stockily built man and was considered to be a man of great strength among the pioneers where bodily strength and agility were highly re- garded. He could shoulder and carry a barrel of salt. To his occupa- tion of farming he added the trade of basket weaver which he learned from his father. While the Chicago-Cincinnati division of the Pennsyl- vania railroad was building he set up a barrel of whiskey in his kitchen and added to his scant income the profit on the sale of whiskey to the workmen at five cents a drink served in a pint tin. There were no re- strictions on the sale of liquor at that time and no more odium was at- tached to its sale than to the sale of calieo or groceries.
On the side of his mother Edgar W. Farmer traces his line of de- scent through the Scotch to the Norman French. Fleming Cummins was his maternal grandfather and the name Cummins is a variant of the French name Comyn, the family name of the Earls of Monteith. His maternal grandmother was Marenda Mann, a daughter of Michael Mann, born in Virginia on January 6, 1794, of German parents. He spent most of his life at Mechaniesburg, Indiana, and died at the age of ninety-five.
Edgar was married to Elizabeth Moore June 21, 1890, and they have three children. Hallie is a student at the Indiana State Normal at Terre Haute, Indiana. Ray is a student at home and Dorothy is a school- girl. The Farmer family are members of the Indiana Avenue Church. Charles M. Farmer and Rev. David D. Powell organized this church and Mr. Farmer was a member of the Official Board of the church until his death. His sons, Edgar W. and Harold W., each served for several years as Sunday School Superintendent and both are now members of the Official Board.
Isaiah Farmer was an old line Whig. Charles M. Farmer was a life long Republican and ranked his party along with his country and his church. In the natural course of development his sons are all Pro- gressives.
NEWTON BURKE was born in Connersville, Fayette county, Indiana, and died in July, 1907. He was a contractor, a vocation he con- tinued to follow during the best years of his life. A veteran of the Civil war, he participated actively in a number of important engage- ments, and was honorably discharged at the close of his term of enlist- ment, after which he took up his abode in Anderson and here plied bis trade up to the close of his long and useful life. His widow, who sur- vives him, still resides in Anderson, and is now in the sixty-second year of her age, enjoying hale spirits and in full possession of her faculties.
JOHN C. JOHNSON. Honesty and stability of character are the foun- dation stone of a young man's life, and in the formative period, when fit- ting himself for the battle of life, with those attributes of character, to-
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gether with a fair measure of ambition, one is sure to arrive at the goal of his desires. Mr. Johnson is a native son of Madison county, Indiana, and has here resided all his life. His days here have been as an open volume to the citizens of Van Buren township and the contiguous ter- ritory, and the people of his township have conferred upon him the high- est honor in official position in their gift,-that of township trustee. The supervision of the schools, highways, bridges, etc., and all pertaining to the interest and welfare of the township have received his closest atten- tion, and now, in the winter of 1913-14, his friends and acquaintances have solicited him to become a candidate on the Democratic ticket for the office of county clerk, and with straightforward honesty he is making the canvass, his candidacy seeming to meet the approbation of all.
A man of a jovial, kind and social nature, he makes friends easily and holds them steadfastly, and it is the expectation of many that he will carry the election at the head of his ticket. As one who thoroughly understands the requirements of modern education, he has already shown himself the champion of the local schools, and has used his best efforts to promote the efficiency of the local system.
John C. Johnson was born on the Joseph Johnson farm in section twenty-two on the ninth of November, 1877. His parents were Joseph and Elizabeth (Allen) Johnson. Joseph Johnson married Miss Allen in Hancock county, and then brought his young wife to Madison county in 1869, where he bought land in Van Buren township. Successful as a farmer, he was also a man of more than ordinary local influence. He was twice elected township trustee of Van Buren township, and was always a willing worker in any community enterprise. His death oc- curred April 7, 1908, and he is buried in the cemetery of the Odd Fel- lows south of Summitville one and one-half miles. There were thirteen children in the family, whose names were: Manson N., Minerva J .; Jesse A .; Daniel M .; Mary E., who died May 28, 1910; Lewis W .; Etta L .; Amanda L .; John C .; Della A .; Pearl A .; James M. and Sarah C. The three last named are now deceased.
John C. Johnson spent his youthful days on the home farm of his parents in Van Buren township, and as a boy first went to the old Zede- kar schoolhouse No. 4, in Van Buren township. For one year he was in the Summitville high school, and completed his education with one term of study in the Fairmount Academy in Grant county. It was his ambition to become a member of the legal profession, and with that end in view entered in 1896 upon a course of law studies under the able in- struetions of the Hon. Thomas Bagot, an honorable and successful law- yer. But ill health at that time intervened in the carrying out of this cherished desire and he returned to the farm. In the intervals of his school training Mr. Johnson worked on the farm, and was thoroughly trained for farm life and systematic business principles. Farming has been his regular vocation, and the cause of his most telling prosperity. He has a well improved eighty in section fifteen of Van Buren township, though he does not maintain his residence on the home place for he moved into Summitville on November 7, 1907, where he has an attractive and comfortable home with his mother.
His election to the office of trustee, already referred to, came in 1908, and he has held the office up to the present time. Fraternally he is affil- iated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks No. 478, the Im- proved Order of Red Men, No. 149, and the A. F. & A. M., No. 691. His family are members and attendants of the Primitive Baptist church.
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ALLEN PETERS. One of the present county commissioners of Madi- son county, Mr. Peters is one of the most efficient and popular officials of the county, and the public business has never been entrusted to abler hands than to those of Mr. Peters. He was formerly a teacher and merchant in this county, where he has spent all his life and represents one of the oldest and most prominent families in the history of Madison. He had been connected more or less with political affairs for many years, and at the present time is engaged in farming in Boone township.
Allen Peters was born September 2, 1869, on the old Peters farm about eight miles northeast of Elwood in Boone township. He still re- sides in the vicinity where he was born and reared and most of his asso- ciations have been with this section of the count ;. His parents were Edmon H. and Eliza (Hull) Peters. His father was a native of Brown county, Ohio, and the five children in the family are mentioned as fol- lows: Emma Chaplin, of Boone township; Allen; Mrs. Cora Hiatt of Duck Creek township; James E. and Mrs. Ethel Mann.
As a boy Allen Peters attended the common schools of Madison county, and most of his education was acquired in the Red Oak school- house which stood on the corner of the Peters homestead. He finished his preparation for life in the college at Danville, Indiana, and with this equipment attained a certificate and for eight terms taught in Boone township and was a teacher for one term in Van Buren. He continued to apply his energies to farming and teaching until 1892. In that year he engaged in the hardware business at Summitville under the firm name of MeLain and Peters. This business was conducted prosperously until 1898. In 1899 Mr. Peters took the superintendence of the old home farm, and in the following year bought a place of his own of fifty acres adjoining the old homestead. In 1900 he took charge both of his own farm and the estate of his father, and has since operated about four hundred aeres of the fine soil of Boone township. On May 13, 1900, Mr. Peters married Miss Fannie F. McDermott. Their children are Robert P. now deceased, and Violet E. in the 7th grade of school. Mr. Peters is affilated with both the subordinate and Encampment degrees of Odd Fellowship, belonging to the Lodge at Summitville, and the En- campment at Elwood. His other fraternal affiliations include the Knights of Pythias, Gas Belt Lodge No. 361, and the Improved Order of Red Men, Neoskaleta Tribe.
For the past twenty years he has been quite active in public affairs, and his first important position was as deputy assessor in Boone town- ship in 1892. He served as trustee of the township from November, 1900, to January, 1905, and during this time he administered the affairs of the townhsip in a praiseworthy manner and the schools in particular prospered under his term of office. Two years ago he was elected com- missioner from district No. 3 by a large majority and has made an excel- lent record in that office. He and his family have membership in the Methodist church.
ROBERT E. WEBSTER. Near Summitville in Van Buren township is one of the fine country homes of Madison county, a place which for years has given a distinctive character of prosperity and well ordered enterprise to the country life of this section of the county. It is the farm occupied and owned by Robert E. Webster who was born on the place and has been identified with agricultural activities in this section Vol. II-18
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all his life. In his home place he has eighty acres and also owns another farm of seventy acres east of Summitville about two miles.
Robert E. Webster was born in Madison county on his present estate February 25, 1868, a son of Daniel W. and Elizabeth (Bear) Webster. The family belongs to the same stock which in an earlier day pro- duced the noted orator and statesman Daniel Webster. Daniel W. Webster was the son of Robert and Rebecca (Fisher) Webster. Robert Webster during the early days brought his family from the state of Delaware to Madison county, and reached this part of Indiana in time to secure land direct from the government in Boone township. Later he sold his old homestead and moved into Van Buren township. Daniel W. Webster and wife had a family of seven children, namely : Oliver, Robert E., Jane Canup, Daniel F., Arthur; and two that died in infancy.
Robert E. Webster was reared in Van Buren township, and all his early schooling was attained in the old Allen school. His first teacher was John Vinson, and under other instructors he continued until he was fairly .well equipped in the fundamentals of knowledge. While a schoolboy he also worked on the farm, and at the age of twenty-six began renting the home place, where he has since lived and of which be has since become owner.
Mr. Webster was married April 21, 1894, to Miss Etta L. Johnson, a daughter of Joseph Johnson, one of the well known old residents of Madison county, concerning whom more information will be found on other pages of this work. The three children of Mr. and Mrs. Webster are: Ethel, Vern, Joseph W. and Helen E. Mr. Webster is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias Gas Belt Lodge, No. 361, and his family belongs to the Methodist church. By good management and with thrifty ideas of agriculture he has brought his place to rank with the best improved in Van Buren township. He built, in 1912, a modern residence, and has a complete set of new out-buildings.
DANIEL F. MUSTARD. The president of the Citizens Bank of Ander- son, Daniel F. Mustard, is an old-time resident of Madison county. having lived within the boundaries of this civil division of Indiana all of his life. He belongs to a family whose name has been borne with honor and usefulness in this county for practically all the years since the pioneer epoch, and his own career has been one of exceptional service, beginning with the time of his part in the Civil war as a soldier of the Union and continuing with distinguished positions in the public affairs of the county and with over thirty years of active connection with banking in Anderson.
Daniel F. Mustard was born in Lafayette township, Madison county, on the 20th of October, 1844. In 1850 his father, William Mustard, who was an early settler of this county, moved from Fayette township to Anderson. Daniel, or Dan, as he is more familiarly known among his friends and associates, entered the public schools of this city and there remained, working at intervals in his father's shoe shop, learning the shoemaker's trade, until he reached the age of seventeen. He was a good student, and also diligently applied himself to acquiring a trade as a basis for his subsequent work in life, soon becoming an expert and skilled workman.
When the Civil war came on he was sixteen years old. Ab it two years went by, and then his patriotic enthusiasm would no longer allow him to stay at home, and on the 6th of April, 1863, he enlisted in the Thirty-
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Mustard
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fourth Indiana Infantry as a private in Company I. After about fifteen months of service he was detached, and until the close of the rebellion was a musician in the regimental band. He was with his command during the memorable siege of Vicksburg in the summer of 1863 until the very last battle of the war at Palmetto Ranch. in Texas, a small skirmish fought on the 13th of May, 1865, fully a month after the surrender of Lee to Grant at Appomattox. Owing to conditions existing with Mexico at that time the regiment was retained in Texas until February, 1866, when it was discharged, this regiment having the honor of being the last one discharged from the service. Returning then to Anderson, Mr. Mus- tard once more became associated with his father in the boot and shoe business, remaining with him until March, 1868. He was then given the appointment of deputy auditor under James M. Dickson, a position which he filled with credit to himself and with fidelity to the interests entrusted to his charge for two and a half years. On leaving the auditor's office he was employed by Dr. Joseph Pugh, at that time treasurer of the county, as a clerk in his office, remaining there for a number of months. Later for six months he was employed in the recorder's office. This was followed by service as deputy clerk under Thomas J. Fleming. On leav- ing the clerk's office in 1871, Mr. Mustard took a position as book- keeper in the First National Bank of Anderson, and in that way gained his first detailed experience of banking. He remained with the First National until August, 1873.
When Weems Heagy was elected to the office of county treasurer Mr. Mustard was again appointed deputy treasurer, and fulfilled the functions of that position while Mr. Heagy was treasurer, a period of four years. The fine business qualifications of the deputy treasurer together with his long experience in that and other county offices and his thorough integrity both in public and private life, caused his many friends in the party and county to present his name for nomination in the office of county treasurer. They carried their point successfully, and he was nominated on the first ballot and in the election was chosen by a vote which was in the nature of the highest possible personal compliment, for he ran two hundred votes ahead of his ticket. His name was on the ticket that elected "Blue Jeans" Williams for governor of Indiana, in the memorable campaign of 1876. When his term of office expired Mr. Mustard was again placed in nomination by his party and re-elected by a majority of over nine hundred. He thus served two terms in that important office, and since then has been closely connected with the busi- ness affairs of Anderson.
Politically Mr. Mustard is a stalwart Democrat, and since arriving at the age of majority has been an ardent worker for the success of his party. He is an Odd Fellow, and has received all the honors that a subordinate lodge can bestow. He has been treasurer of Anderson Lodge, No. 131, and of Star Encampment, No. 84. for more than twenty-seven years.
In 1871 Mr. Mustard was married, and his children (as he calls them). six in number are: Fred E. Mustard, his only son, and his wife Nelda and daughter Janet; Mrs. Ethel M. Cline, his only daughter, her hus- band, Frank C. Cline, and their daughter Adelaide Johana, all of whom live near his home in Anderson, and this is an exceptionally happy and devoted family.
Industrious to a fault, temperate at all times and under all cir- cumstances, frugal and cautious in the disposition of his means, Daniel
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F. Mustard has for a number of years been honorably accumulating for himself and family a handsome competence. In his public as well as private relations with his fellow citizens it can be truthfully said that his honesty has never been questioned or brought into question. Strong in his attachments and quick to appreciate a generous act, he can appeal confidently to his generation and to those who have known him from childhood, in sunshine and shade, to say that he has not been ungrateful.
GEORGE B. McDERMIT. One of the independent and progressive farmers of Boone township is George B. McDermit, who has in his home place, located on the rural free delivery route No. 28 out of Elwood, one hundred and twenty acres of fine and well improved land, his mother's place, and he also owns and operates other land in the same township aggregating more than two hundred acres. He conducts his farming on businesslike principles and after looking over his farm and understanding somewhat of the man it is not difficult to under- stand his reasons for success.
George B. DeMermit was born on the McDermit farm which he now occupies, the date of his birth having been December 28, 1871. He is a son of Samuel and Julia (Minnick) McDermit. Samuel McDermit came from Mason county, West Virginia, and hought land in Boone town- ship of Madison county, comprising a portion of the estate now owned by his son George. The Minnick family also came from Mason county, West Virginia, and Mr. McDermit's mother had one sister, Sarah Over- shiner, who lives in Boone township. Mr. McDermit's father was buried at Forestville cemetery. The children in the family of Samuel McDermit and wife were eight in number, mentioned as follows: Margaret, de- ceased ; Martha Minnick; John D .; Edward; Charles E .; Samuel H .; one that died in infancy ; and Mr. McDermit of this review.
George B. MeDermit as a boy grew up on the old homestead in Boone township, and during the winter seasons attended the Red Oak school- house. He finished his education in the Marion Normal College, but did not prepare for teaching, and has followed agricultural activities all his life. While attending school he also worked on the farm, and is a thoroughly experienced man in farming and stock raising. He began by renting land, and from the gradual accumulations of his industry and thrift saved enough to increase his landed property from time to time, and now the McDermits have one of the best estates in Boone township.
Mr. McDermit is unmarried. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Improved Order of Red Men, the Neoskaleta Tribe, No. 149, and the Haymakers at Alexandria, Indiana.
RALPH B. CLARK. In his native city of Anderson Mr. Clark has found ample scope and opportunity for effective business enterprise and has gained a secure position as a representative citizen of the county with good claims upon popular confidence and esteem in the community that has always been his home, and in the progress and prosperity of which he maintains the deepest interest. He is a member of the firm of Clark and Raber, which conducts a flourishing retail jewelry business, and is also general manager of the Merchants Fire Insurance Company, one of the strong institutions of its kind in the state, with general offices at Anderson.
Ralph B. Clark was born at Anderson, Indiana, on July 24, 1866,
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and belongs to one of the oldest and most honored pioneer families of Madison county, where his grandfather George Clark established a home at an early period, and continued to reside in Fall Creek township until his death at the patriarchal age of ninety-two years. Grandfather Clark contributed his quota to the development and progress of the county, and was a man who enjoyed the unqualified esteem of all who thew him.
The parents of Ralph B. Clark were Ralph N. and Mary A. (Jack- son ) Clark, both of whom were born and reared in Indiana. The mother was a daughter of Hon. Andrew Jackson, another of the sterling pioneers in Madison county, and a resident of Anderson at the time of his death. Andrew Jackson beeame the owner of an excellent landed estate in Madison county, and was long numbered among the representative agri- culturists and stoek growers of this favored section, having given spe- cial attention to the raising of high grade horses and cattle. He was a man of energy and enterprise, was broad in his views, and enjoyed the unqualified confidence and esteem of his fellow men. Ralph N. Clark continued to reside on his homestead farm until his death, which oc- curred in 1872. He was born in 1820. His wife survives him by a number of years.
Ralph B. Clark is indebted to the public schools of Anderson for his early educational advantages, which included the curriculum of the high school. After leaving school he entered a jewelry store at Ander- sot and learned the trade of jeweler and watchmaker. Thoroughly equipped in this line. in 1888, Mr. Clark engaged in the retail busi- ness on his own account, and from a modest beginning built up a large and prosperous enterprise, which for years has been a center of patronage for most discriminating buyers. For a number of years Mr. Clark conducted the business under his own name, and then ad- mitted his brother-in-law, William Raber, to partnership. This alliance has since continued and the firm of Clark and Raber has a thoroughly metropolitan jewelry establishment at 1008 Meridian street, where they carry a large and select line of watches, elocks, jewelry, silverware, etc. Mr. Clark has long been one of the prominent and progressive business men of Anderson, and his success has been the direet result of fair and honorable dealing, and personal popularity. In 1905 he had the dis- tinction of being elected president of the Indiana Retail Merchants Association, and remained in that office five years. He has been gen- eral manager of the Merchants Fire Insurance Company since 1906, and has been an important factor in developing that large and sub- stantial corporation. .
Public spirited in his civic attitude, Mr. Clark has always given his influence and cooperation to the furtherance of measures and enter- prises projected for the general good of his home city and county, and has long had a prominent place in the local Republican party. In this connection he has done much effective campaign work in the interests of his friends and the general party organization, and in 1912 his name was prominently brought forward in connection with the office of state senator from this district. The general wave of Democratic success of course defeated his political aspirations. Mr. Clark served two years as a member of the Anderson Board of Public Works, and for one year was a member of the Board of Pensioners of police. In the Masonic fraternity he is affiliated with Mount Moriah Lodge No. 77, F. & A. M .; Anderson Chapter No. 52, R. A. M .: and Anderson Commandery No. 33,
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K. T., and also belongs to Banner Lodge No. 416, Knights of Pythias. In 1906 he became one of the organizers of the Merchants Fire Insurance Company of Anderson, has served as its secretary since its incorpora- tion, and has done much to bring it to its present substantial and important status in the insurance field of Indiana.
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