USA > Indiana > Madison County > History of Madison County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume II > Part 27
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store as his father's assistant. With the approach of manhood the young man undertook farming for himself, and he began his independent life on the old homestead that his father had entered from the govern- ment in earlier years. His farm of one hundred and forty acres on the Moonsville Pike, some six miles from Anderson, he came into possession of in later years, and there the bulk of his accumulations was brought together. He was a capable farmer, and one who kept well abreast of the times, willing and eager to know the best in relation to the performance of his regular daily tasks. That progressive and enterprising spirit won for him his position of prominence in the community, his reputation for efficiency throughout the county and all the material success that came his way in life.
The first marriage of Mr. Vermillion was to Amanda Pence, deceased, a daughter of David Pence. Their children were: Mary. who has never married, and Amanda, who married a Mr. Alvin Curtis and has two children, Thurman and Cecil. On the 17th of November, 1863, Mr. Ver- million was married to Miss Esther Keicher, born on her present farm, a daughter of Peter and Katherine ( Lambert) Keicher, the father from Tennessee and the mother from Virginia. They were old pioneer residents of Madison county and the first settlers in the neighborhood. To this second union of Mr. Vermillion were born five children, con- cerning whom brief mention is made as follows: Alice, the eldest, liv- ing at home; Willis, who married Hattie Broadbent, and has a family of four children, Oliver, Easter, Ernest and Stella; John married Bertha Matthew, and they have two daughters, Mary and Marjorie; Elmer married Emma Keicher, and they have four children, Rhea, Doris, Kenneth and Conrad Marshall; Cora is the wife of William Beall, and they have two children, Nondas and Curren.
From his marriage in early life until his passing away Mr. Vermil- lion was a consistent resident of Richland township, and his friends were legion. His advice was sought in matters of public welfare, and he served on many occasions as the arbiter of cases of dissension among his fellows. Good citizenship characterized him all his days, and none bore more stanchly their share in the civic responsibilities than did he. His fine country home was the center of hospitality in the town- ship, and a great good-will ever prevailed on his dominion. In early life he was an enthusiastic Mason, but in his later years withdrew from his activities in the order and held little or no intercourse with the society. But the spirit of brotherhood, despite that fact, was ever strong within him, as none will gainsay. A Democrat, he gave of his interest and energy to the furtherance of the cause of that party. Never a politician, he was yet one who felt a good citizen's interest in affairs of that ilk, and he played well his part as a member of the party all the years of his life. His death, which resulted from the effects of a paralytic stroke suffered some months previously, removed from Richi- land township one of the most honored and loved men that ever shared in the daily life of that community, and though three years have passed since his going, his memory is still fresh in the hearts of all who knew him.
JOSEPH CHAMBERS. The oldest living representative of one of the pioneer families of Madison county, Joseph Chambers, who lives retired at his home in Lafayette township, has had many varied and interest- ing experiences during nearly seventy years of residence in this vicinity.
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His home is a fine farm of two hundred acres, about five miles north- west of the city of Anderson. Concerning the Chambers family and his early reminiscences in this county, Mr. Chambers has furnished some valuable data which in succeeding paragraphs will be incorporated for preservation in this work. A brief outline of facts concerning his life and the family history is given preceding this account which comes directly from this interesting old citizen.
Joseph Hiram Chambers was born in Bartholomew county, Indiana, on the 4th of January, 1845. His parents were Franklin and Mary (Drybread) Chambers. Franklin Chambers, the father, was born in Lawrence county, Indiana, a son of Hiram and Hannah (Thompson) Chambers. Hiram Chambers brought his family to Madison county in 1840. His children were named as follows: Franklin, John, Ma- linda, Miller, William, Emily, Jane, Elijah, Caroline and Bassald. Hiram Chambers spent the remainder of his life in this county. He had four brothers, James, Francis, William and Smith, and one sister, Nancy Short, but all are deceased. James lived on the farm in Dela- ware county now owned by Miles Walters, and of his family there are but two children living, Polly Walters and Julia Ann Walters. Francis Chambers lived on the farm now owned by Weems Bronnenberg, and of his family. there are also but two children living. Adeline Wigner and Mary Young. William Chambers lived in the southern part of the state, and it is not known whether he has children living. Smith Chambers lived on the farm now owned by Henry Boner. In about 1848 or 1850 Mary Chambers, the mother of Joseph Chambers, bought the property of Smith Chambers, and he then moved to Clinton county, Indiana, and died there a few years later. He has but one child liv- ing, Angeline Hart. Hiram, Francis and Smith Chambers had adjoin- ing farms and reared their families together. As they married they located their new homes around in the same vicinity. and it became known as the Chambers neighborhood.
Franklin Chambers, the oldest of the children of Hiram and Har- nah Chambers, was educated for the most part in Lawrence county, Indiana. He was a farmer, and by his marriage to Mary Drybread, which occurred in Delaware county, this state, he had three children : Julian, deceased, who married John Michaels: Joseph H., the subject of this sketch; and Hannah, deceased. The mother was twice married, first to Thomas Camby, and they had one child. Melcena, deceased.
Joseph Chambers was a baby when he was brought to Madison county, and he was four years of age when his father died. For the three following years his home was in Delaware county, after which they moved to Richland township, where they lived for seven years and then moved to Lafayette township, where he has resided ever since. When fourteen years of age he took charge of the home farin, con- sisting of eighty acres, and thus at an early age had severe responsibili- ties thrust upon him, but it has been the tribute paid him by his old associates that he always bore his burdens faithfully and discharged every debt, whether in money or obligation, ever imposed upon him.
On February 1, 1866, he married Rebecca Pritchard. a daughter of Samuel and Martha (Davis) Pritchard. Samuel Pritchard, who came from South Carolina, was a farmer and located in Madison county, spending many years in Adams township. He was a son of Benjamin Pritchard, who was among the oldest settlers of Madison county. Samuel Pritchard and wife were the parents of the following sixteen
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children: Mary, Lucinda, Clarinda, Phillip, George, Louisa, Jane, Margaret, Rebecca, Peter, Sallie, Calvin (who was killed in the Civil war while serving for the Union), Martha, Samuel, Susan and Benjamin. Mrs. Rebecca Chambers was the last of her family in Madison county with the exception of one sister, Martha Davis, now living in this town- ship. Mr. and Mrs. Chambers became the parents of five children : Mary I., now deceased. Martha, the wife of S. A. Alexander, who lives near Frankton in Lafayette township, and is the mother of four children, Joseph, Herchel, Forrest and Ernest. James C. married Emma Bolin, is a resident of Lafayette township and has the following seven chil- dren, Edna, Thelma, Mildred, Dorothy, Joseph Theodore, Robert Lee and Howard. Anna is the wife of Byron Stevens, and has four chil- dren, Everett, Mary, Donna and Marcus. Arthur, who married Addie Bilby, has the following six children : Alice, George, Hazel, Mabel, Earl and Chester Lee. Mr. Joseph Chambers has been a farmer all his life, and is a successful one. He has interested himself little in politics except so far as to be always ready to promote the welfare of his home community. Mr. and Mrs. Chambers are members of the Christian church.
Mr. Joseph Chambers, so far as known, is the oldest of the Chambers name now living, and as he looks back over the past receding years it seems but a short while to him since Smith Chambers and Ann, his wife, gave a turkey roast on Christmas day of 1864. As well as he can recollect the ones who attended that celebration, and who have since passed away, are: Smith Chambers and his wife Ann, George Cham- bers and wife Rebecca, John Chambers and wife, William Chambers, Mary Chambers, Rachel Chitty, Susan Chitty, Mary Bodle, William Barnes, Lindy Barnes, Juliann Michaels, Samuel Rick, Elizabeth Rick, Daniel Walters, Elizabeth Walters, Free Boner and wife, James Short, and Henry Walters and wife. The attendants on that occasion still liv- ing are: Polly Walters, Juliann Walters, Miles Walters, John Michaels, Tishy Boner, Sarah S. Esbelman, and Joseph Chambers. Out of thirty- two only nine are living, but there may have been others in attend- ance whom he has forgotten.
"The first school I ever attended," says Joseph Chambers in his reminiscences, "was in a little schoolhouse in Richland township not more than twenty feet square. made of round logs. It had a fireplace in the north end that burned wood about four feet long. The chimney was made of mud and slats driven out above one inch square. The door was in the east side, and on the south end was the window. It was a log cut out, and the window glass was put in about one foot wide the entire width of the room. Under that window was the writing desk. It was a plank about eighteen inches wide. Holes were bored in the logs of the wall, pins stuck in and this board was laid on those pins. The benches were made of slabs. Mose Treadway was the teacher. I went to this school two or three terms. The house stood about eighty rods west of where Henry Boner now lives. The ones living who went to that school are: Betsy Ann Bigsby, A. J. Barracks, Adaline Wigner, Gil- bert Scott, Hester Ann Delp and myself. If there are any more I have forgotten them. In about 1854 they built a frame schoolhouse about eighty rods north of the old one. Isaac Scott was the first teacher that taught in the new house. The last school I went to in that house was in 1859, taught by A. J. Barracks. He gave a prize for spelling, and three of us tied-Mary Young, Ned Johns and myself, and the teacher
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gave each one a prize. All three of us are living. The Chambers Chris- tian church was organized in that house by Ebenezer Thompson with seven members-Hiram Chambers and wife, John Chambers and wife, Susan Chambers, Mary Chambers and Nancy Scott. They held mert- ings in that house until it burned in 1869. Hiram Chambers deeded to the church the ground and they built a church house there and it is still standing.
"We had no buggies then in which to go to church. If we went to church with our best girl we walked, if it were not too far; if it were too far to walk we rode horseback. If the girl had a horse and side- saddle we rode a horse apiece, if not we both rode the same horse, the girl riding behind. Our clothing was home made. My mother kept a few sheep, and we would shear them and wash the wool, pick it, take it to the woolen factory, have it carded into rolls, take it home, and mother would spin it into yarn. She would then color it and weave it into cloth. She would make flannel for herself and the girls and jeans for me, and this is what our elothing consisted of for the winter.
"I rode on the first steam car that came to Anderson. They gave a free ride to Pendleton and back. Anderson was but a small place then, and they called it Anderson town. There were but about three stores in the place. I have seen it grow to be quite a city. We had no family reunions then, and the last was the seventh reunion of the Chambers family. These reunions have been a particularly pleasant occasions for the older members especially, of the Chambers family." Mr. Chambers also speaks of the somewhat melancholy circumstance that each year witnessed the passing of some face which had been visible in the previous assembly, but that each year new young faces came to fill in the picture where the old were blotted out.
EDGAR W. FARMER, a railway postal clerk on the New York Central Lines between Cleveland, Ohio, and St. Louis, Missouri, lives on Indiana Avenue, North Anderson. He was born here February 23, 1868.
The Farmer family is better known, probably, than any other fami- . ily in Anderson township outside of the city of Anderson and ranks among the older ones in the county. Charles M. Farmer (April 16, 1846-June 27, 1910) and Mary L. Cummins Farmer (Nov. 27, 1848- Nov. 16, 1900), the parents of Edgar, moved from Henry county. In- diana, immediately after their marriage and bought two acres of land of Isaac Clifford. There were then about six houses in what is now known as North Anderson. Indiana Avenue was then a mud road lined by woods on both sides except an occasional clearing for a dwelling. A little house was built on the land purchased, and here the children, Ed- gar W., Harold W., and Jessie M .. and John S. were born. Charles. the father, had been left an orphan at the age of nine years and was the old- est of a family of four children. His first work was in a brick yard at twenty-five cents a day. From this on he toiled early and late. managed carefully and lived frugally. By this means he kept his mother in com- fort, supported his brothers until their death in early manhood as well as his sister until her marriage. Besides this he raised and educated his children, added a little to his land from time to time and established the wholesale market garden and greenhouse business which is now con- dueted by his son, Harold.
The Farmer family is one of the pioneer families of Indiana. John Farmer was a captain in the Revolutionary army and is credited to Lan-
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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. Here 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 calico 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 Mechanicsburg, 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 Avenne 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 his trade up to the close of his long and useful life. His widow, who snr- 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 elosest 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 elerk, 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 tieket. As one who thoroughily 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 oe- eurred 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 .; Jolin 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 Graut 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 systematie business principles. Farming has been his regular voeation, 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 inentioned as fol- lows: Emma Chaplin, of Boone township; Allen; Mrs. Cora Hiatt of Duck Creek. township; James E. and Mrs. Ethel Mam.
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. Ile 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 Mclain 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 bis own farm and the estate of his father, and has since operated about four hundred acres of the fine soil of Boone township. On May 13, 1900, M :. 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 Gi-18
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