USA > Indiana > Miami County > History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume II > Part 32
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finally were married. This marriage occurred December 21, 1845. Miss Elizabeth Barnett, who thus united her fortunes with those of Michael Dice, was a faithful wife and a devoted mother, and their married com- panionship was prolonged to the unusual period of almost sixty years. The death of Mrs. Dice occurred June 6, 1905. After their marriage Michael Dice and wife bought a little land of their own, comprising a tract included within the present homestead of John H. Dice, and lying just across the road from the residence of the son John. All the land was in the timber when Michael Dice first took possession, and his first home was a log building. He had peculiar misfortunes in his early home, and several successive log houses were burned down, and each time rebuilt. At the present time a log house still stands on the farm, but it was erected by Mr. John Dice. As a pioneer in this county, Michael Dice assumed his full share of the task of transforming the wilderness into the beautiful farm district of today. The late Michael Dice was identified with the United Brethren Church at Erie almost from its beginning. He was ever an honored, faithful member of its communion. His life and the life of the church were so interwoven that any benefit conferred upon the church contributed to his own hap- piness. When well past the age of fourscore and ten, his life of service to home, to community and to church came to an end, and he rested from his labors, and his works will long follow him in the memory of his children and his many friends.
Michael Dice and wife were the parents of nine children, five sons and four daughters. The daughters were Mary C., Elizabeth' E., Sarah A. and Margaret E. The sons were George V., Andrew M., Jacob W. and Michael D. Those already deceased are Andrew M., Sarah A., Michael D. and George V. There are also thirty grandchildren and fifteen great-grandchildren of the late Michael Dice.
Mr. John Dice was born on the farm that he now occupies, on March 2, 1856. He was reared in Miami county, attended the neighborhood schools, and remained at home assisting his father until he was twenty- three years old. He then left home to follow the carpenter trade, but later returned and was manager of the home place. After his father was taken ill he conducted the estate under shares, and finally suc- ceeded to the proprietorship of the old homestead. Mr. Dice has eighty acres of land, and during his management has done a great deal of improving. All the present buildings, including a comfortable house and barns, and fences, are the result of his labors.
On the present farm occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Dice was celebrated the marriage, September '7, 1882, of John Dice to Louisa Oldfield, a daughter of Elijah and Rachael (Ivins) Oldfield. Three children have been born to their union, namely: Claude A., born October 23, 1883, married Myrtie Engleman, and they have one boy Alton A .; Cora M., born April 20, 1885, is the wife of Harry Farr; Sylvia J., born Janu- ary 18, 1893, is unmarried. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Dice have all received their diplomas from the public schools and are young people of unusual intelligence and culture. The son, now a resident of north Peru, has for six years been engaged with the Wabash Railroad, and is doing well. He is affiliated with the Loyal Order of Moose. Mr. and Mrs. Farr are residents of Wabash county, where he is a sub- stantial farmer. Mrs. Cora Farr not only had the advantages of the common schools, but studied music and taught for some time before her marriage. The daughter Sylvia has taken vocal instruction. Mrs. Dice was born in Wabash county, October 18, 1859, and is the fourth in a family of nine children, six sons and three daughters, five of those chil-
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here in 1845 and settled on a piece of land given him by his father, Jesse Bond, Sr., who was born in Wayne county, Indiana, on February 28, 1820. The mother of Isaac Bond was Phoebe (Commons) Bond, and he was one of their eleven children. Reaching years of maturity he married Catherine Eargood, and in January, 1845, made his advent into Miami county, at that time establishing himself as a family man upon the land his father had given him. On April 27, 1849, the young wife died, leaving three children, named as follows: Lewis, born Octo- ber 15, 1844; Arthur W., born December 10, 1846; and William, who was born on November 27, 1848, and died on March 22, 1876, unmar- ried. Of these children, Lewis will be mentioned at length in a later portion of this family sketch, and it may be said at this juncture that Arthur was twice married and that he eventually moved to the east, where he died, leaving one daughter, Darline Bond by name. Isaac Bond's second marriage took place on November 10, 1852, when Mil- licent Mendenhall became his wife, and two daughters were born to them, namely : Clara Ellen, born June 3, 1856, and who married John Dukes and died at Rocky Ford, Colorado, on February 22, 1907, the mother of four children, named as follows: Milton E., Bertha M., now deceased, Lewis B. and William; and Ludia M. Bond, born on April 7, 1865, who married on May 20, 1890, James M. Faris, and is now a resident of Peru.
Isaac Bond followed farming all his life, and in that enterprise he gained a high place in Miami county. He was industrious, economical and progressive, and largely increased his original property of one hun- dred and sixty acres given him by his father when he established himself as the head of a family, so that at one time he owned four hun- dred and eighty-four acres. He was well known for his innate honesty, and the faithfulness with which he lived up to his every obligation, however slight. He died on July 19, 1890. Mr. Bond was a Republican, but never sought public office. He was a Quaker in his religious faith and a stanch advocate of the cause of temperance all his life. Millicent Bond, his widow, resides in Peru, and on March 1, 1913, celebrated the eightieth anniversary of her birth.
Lewis Bond, the son of Isaac and Millicent Bond, was born in Wayne county, Indiana, on October 15, 1844, and was therefore a mere infant when brought to Miami county with his parents in 1845. Dur- ing his early years he worked on the home farm and attended the neigh- boring district schools, finishing his education with a term of study at Earlham College. Following that, he engaged in school teaching, in which he would doubtless have been very successful, judging from the fine start he had, but he was one who turned to farming from the genuine love he had for the life and work, and he made that his ulti- mate calling. He was successful in his enterprise and enjoyed a high place in his community as one of the most prosperous and capable men identified with it.
Mr. Bond was a member of no religious denomination, but accepted the doctrine of his parents, who were Quakers of an old established Quaker family. He was broad in his views, tolerant and charitable at all times, and was always a liberal contributor of his means to the support of the various organizations of a religious nature in his com- munity, as well as to all worthy public enterprises. In his politics he was a Republican, and notwithstanding the fact that the county had a nominal Democratic majority of something like six hundred, in 1895 he was elected and served one term as a member of the Board of County Commissioners, as well as serving as a member of the County Council for two terms. His public spirit and his alert and progressive nature
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dictated his hearty support of every measure calculated to result in the benefit of the county and his community, and he ever proved himself a citizen of the finest type in all the years of his activity in Miami county. He was the owner of a three hundred acre farm when he died and his was one of the finest and most productive farming properties in the Eel River Valley.
Mr. Bond was married on October 23, 1872, to Miss Iona Scott, in Wayne county, Indiana. She was the daughter of John and Martha Jane (Willitts) Scott, of that county. Three children were born to their marriage: Walter S., who is mentioned at length later in this review ; Nellie J. and Blanche B. Bond. The first named daughter was born on September 3, 1876. Her marriage to Gilbert Hood took place on February 23, 1899, and she is the mother of two children,- Margaret Iona and Joseph Lewis. The second daughter, Blanche B., was born on June 23, 1890, and was married on December 23, 1900, to Dr. F. E. Graft. They have two children also, Martha Vernice and Lewis Bond Graft. Mrs. Iona Bond is deceased, her death having occurred recently in the city of Peru.
Lewis Bond died on July 14, 1912, secure in the universal regard of those who knew him. His widow yet survives him and makes her home in Peru.
Walter Scott Bond, the son of Lewis and the grandson of Isaac Bond, was born in Jefferson county township on August 23, 1873, and was reared on his father's farm to years of manhood. He acquired his education in the public schools, finishing with one year in the Mex- ico high school, after which he took up his abode on the home place. Upon the death of his father he became the owner of a part of the home place, and he is now in possession of one hundred and ninety- . seven acres in the township. This land he cultivates in connection with general stock raising and is as successful in the enterprise as his father was in the years of his long agricultural activity here.
Mr. Bond was married on April 15, 1899, to Miss Mary E. Fisher, the daughter of Isaac Fisher, one of the old settlers of Miami county, and now living in Denver, Indiana. One daughter has been born to Walter Scott Bond and his wife; Vernice Marie, born on June 14, 1903.
Mr. Bond is a Republican in his politics, but has never aspired to public office, content to let his citizenship manifest itself at the polls, and in his ever prevalent public spiritedness. He devotes himself almost exclusively to his farming operations, and is fast making a name for himself among the more successful men of the community. The pretty homestead of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Bond is known as "Forest Grange."
ISAAC FISHER. One of the best known men in Jefferson township or in Miami county is Isaac Fisher, a resident of these parts for nearly seventy years, and a pioneer citizen of Miami county. His life here has been devoted to agricultural interests and activities, and he achieved a distinct success in his chosen field of enterprise. Some few years ago he felt himself possessed of a competency sufficient to permit him to retire from the stress of farm life, and he has since lived quietly, enjoy- ing to the uttermost the fruits of his earlier toils, and the esteem and friendship of a wide circle of the best people of the county. He is a man whose life has been a definite force for good in the community wherein he has lived and moved and had his being, and few there are in the county today who have spent more years in the development and upbuilding of their home communities than has Mr. Fisher.
Isaac Fisher was born on January 3, 1827, in Franklin county, Vir- ginia, a son of Jonothan and Susannah (Neff) Fisher. When he was
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about six years of age he accompanied his parents to Preble county, Ohio, and there they continued to reside until 1841, when they moved to Miami county. They made the trip in the manner in which the homeseeker traveled in those early days,-by wagon or prairie schooner, -and reaching this county they settled some two miles south of Chili, in Richland township. There the parents passed their remaining days, the father dying in 1848. Isaac Fisher was the eldest of the ten chil- dren of his parents, and when the father died, he, as a dutiful son should, gave his energies to the maintenance of the family. He had been reared in the rugged, pioneer life of the frontier incidental to that early date, and his opportunities for the securing of anything like an adequate education were limited, and indeed, well nigh impossible. Until he was twenty-seven years old Mr. Fisher continued as the head of the household, after the death of the father, and at the time, younger sons being old enough to assume the care of the home, he launched out independently for himself. He was married in 1854 to Miss Mary Lybrook, and two children were born to them. One of them died in infancy and the other, Joseph L., is now a resident of Kokomo, Indiana. The death of Mrs. Fisher followed during the years of her young wife- hood, and later Mr. Fisher married Sarah Moss, the daughter of David Moss, of Cass county, Indiana. Nine children blessed their union, all of whom reached years of maturity, and who are named as follows : Simon, Sylvester, Leander, Susannah, Mary, Lavina E., Jennie N., Amos and Nora C.
Mr. Fisher devoted himself to farming activities until recent years, when he retired and now makes his home in Denver. Mr. Fisher is a Republican, and has been a member of the Church of the Brethren since his young manhood. On April 21, 1898, he suffered the loss of his faithful wife, and he has since lived quietly alone, depending upon associations with his sons and daughters and their younger families for the cheer and sunshine of his declining years.
WILLIAM H. LONG. Resident of Peru for more than a quarter of a century and long continued activity as a blacksmith has constituted Mr. Long one of the old and honored citizens, and he enjoys a position of thorough respect and esteem as a man of high moral worth and indi- vidual ability.
William H. Long was born on a farm in Cass county, Indiana, July 31, 1865, and is a son of William and Jane (Berry) Long. His grand- father was William Long, one of the pioneer settlers of Cass county. The family has thus for three generations been residents in this section of Indiana, and the name has always been associated with honorable effort and straightforward business integrity.
William H. Long was reared to manhood in Cass county, where he attained his education in the district schools. When he was a little more than twenty years of age he left the old home farm and came to Peru. Here for three years he learned his trade by a full apprentice- ship under John H. Miller. At the completion of his apprenticeship he went into business for himself and his first shop was established in south Peru, just across the highway bridge. About 1898 he moved to his present place of business on East Canal Street, and he has been located at that place for the past fifteen years.
In politics Mr. Long has been an active Republican and during his residence in south Peru was elected trustee of Washington township, serving five years and three months in that position and giving faith- ful and intelligent service in behalf of the public interests intrusted to his care. On April 10, 1889, he married Miss Nora Sharp. The two
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daughters born of their union are Jennie M. who is a graduate of the Peru high school and at the present time is organist in the Presbyterian church ; and Dorothy A., who is now a student in the city school. Mrs. Long is a daughter of James Sharp, now deceased who for many years was a farmer in Washington township, and both by character and activ- ity held a place of foremost influence in the citizenship of that locality. James Sharp was a native of Scotland. Fraternally Mr. Long is affili- ated with the Knights of Pythias and the Masonic Fraternity, and he and his family are members of the Presbyterian church, in which Mr. Long has for the past nine years served as a trustee.
ALBION S. RAMSEY. One of the fine country homes of Miami county, which for years has given a distinctive character of prosperity and well ordered enterprise to the country life of this section is the Ramsey homestead of Butler township, a place which has been under one name since it was taken up as government land more than seventy years ago, and of which Albion S. Ramsey is the present enterprising proprietor. Mr. Ramsey became successful after an apprenticeship of hard work and thorough experience in farm life, and at the present time is con- sidered one of the most substantial and influential men of his locality.
Albion S. Ramsey was born at Markle, in Huntington county, Indiana, December 28, 1862. His father was Jeremiah Ramsey and his grandfather Samuel Ramsey. The maiden name of his mother was Anna E. Swimley a daughter of Jacob Swimley. The father was a Methodist minister, an old-time circuit rider, who traveled about the country, preaching the gospel and devoting most of his life to that arduous work. The mother of Albion S. Ramsey died when he was eight days old and thereafter he was reared in the home of his grand- father Samuel Ramsey. The grandfather had taken up government land in Miami county, in 1841, and the one hundred and sixty acres in the farm was originally known as canal land, and cost one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. When it first came into the proprietorship of the Ramseys, it was covered with timber, and grandfather put up a cabin in the midst of the woods, was the first home in this county, and was later replaced with a more modern building. Grandfather Ramsey lived in the old cabin home for some nine or ten years, and continued to live on the place until his death on March 2, 1882. Through his own labors and management, he has done all the clearing, and was one of the sturdy pioneers whose labors effected so much for the subsequent wel- fare of not only his own descendants, but for the entire community. Since the death of his grandfather, Albion S. Ramsey continued the management of the old homestead, and has made excellent use of his patrimony, and has continued to improve and make his acres more productive every year.
After his marriage he began housekeeping in the old house where his grandfather had died. He and his wife have established an excel- lent home, and in the past two years have erected a complete set of new buildings, including an attractive and comfortable residence besides many outbuildings and barns. Mr. Ramsey has also done a great deal of ditching and fencing, and has put most of the land in cultivation. Grandfather Ramsey was a member of the Methodist church, and the grandson also attends that church. At one time he was affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, and in politics was an active supporter of the Republican ticket until 1912, when he voted for the Bull Moose candidate.
On November 15, 1893, Mr. Ramsey married Miss Lowa Leland, a daughter of John D. and Martha (Misner) Leland. Six children have
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blessed their marriage but Paul died in infancy. The others are: Roy L., who married Hazel Fisher, daughter of John and Mary Fisher; Jerome L., Charles M., Elbert Harald, and Martha E. The children have been liberally provided with educational advantages, and in school and in home have been trained and instructed in the principles and virtues which make worthy manhood and womanhood.
Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey have one of the old parchment deeds, given under the hand and seal of President Zachary Taylor, which is a valu- able souvenir in this home, and the second deed of the kind found in Miami county, Indiana. Mrs. Ramsey is a native of Wabash county. born May 23, 1876, the Centennial year, and the oldest of eight chil- dren, six sons and two daughters born to John B. and Martha C. (Mis- ner) Leland. All the children are living. Four brothers are residents in Oklahoma, and the remainder of the children are living in Indiana. Mr. Leland was a native of Ohio, but a resident of Indiana from a child. He was a veteran of the Civil war, a member of the Army of the Potomac, and was a soldier three years.
He is living at the present time aged sixty-eight years. He is a Democrat politically, and a member of the G. A. R. Mrs. Leland was a resident of Indiana, and she died in 1899, aged forty-two years. Mrs. Ramsey is a member of the Methodist church at old Sante Fe, Indiana. The homestead of Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey is known as "The Maples."
MARSHALL JACKSON. Among local county officers in Indiana there is none of greater importance and with more opportunity for useful service to the community than that of township trustee. The trustee has the practical management of the school affairs of his township, besides many other local administrative duties. In Butler township, since 1908 this important post has been held by Marshall Jackson, the most progressive and successful farmer citizen of the locality, whose present estate comprises one hundred and twenty-one acres of land, which he has developed both as a business proposition and as a home for himself and family.
Marshall Jackson was born in Ripley county, Indiana, July 7, 1865. His parents were James and Ellen (Laswell) Jackson, and his paternal grandfather was Sam'l Jackson, and the maternal grandfather Thomas Laswell. Mr. Jackson has been a resident of Miami county since Febru- ary 1895, having come to this locality from Tipton county. He first settled in Pipe Creek township, later moved to Harrison township, and from there moved to Butler. He owned a farm in each of the other townships, but sold and in 1901 bought his present place in Butler township. Since taking possession he has improved his farm in many ways. He has done a great deal of building, has replaced and strength- ened the fencing about the farm, and has also drained most of the low spots in the ground by tile ditching.
The father of Mr. Jackson died July 19, 1880, and the mother Novem- ber 15, 1878, their last years being spent in Ripley county. Mr. Jack- son has membership in the Christian church, and is an elder in his society. His parents were both members of the Baptist faith. He was finally affiliated with the Knights of Honor, but gave up his affilia- tions since there were no lodges accessible for his attendance. He was at one time also a member of the Improved Order of Redmen. In 1908 Mr. Jackson was elected trustee of Butler township, and has served by reelection in that office to the present time. In politics he is a Demo- crat. He was finally appointed drainage commissioner in Butler town- ship, and in that capacity did much to improve the agricultural devel- opment of his locality.
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On July 21, 1886, Mr. Jackson married Mary S. Ross, who was born in Tipton county, Indiana, March 5, 1869, a daughter of Joseph H. and Clarinda (Small) Ross and the sixth of their nine children, four sons and five daughters, and there are five of the children living in Indiana. Mr. Ross was a native of Ohio and was young in years when he came to Indiana. He received a good common school education and his life was devoted to agricultural. Politically he was a Jackson Democrat, a strong advocate of Democratic doctrine. He died in 1877. Mrs. Ross was a native of the "Blue Grass State," Kentucky and was a devout Christian. Mrs. Jackson was reared, educated and married in her native county. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Jackson are as follows: Clara May, who received her diploma from the public schools in the Class of 1907, and also received musical instruc- tion, wedded Guy T. Cunningham, a practical agriculturist and they reside in Washington township; Raymond F., who received his diploma in 1907 from the public schools and he is an agriculturist, wedded Miss Esther Wolfe, daughter of David B. Wolfe; Ruth M., who received her diploma in 1908, and has taken music, wedded Sylvan Cunningham and they have one little daughter, Evlyn Irene; Flonnie B., a gradu- ate of the public schools in 1911 also spent two years in high school work and has studied music; Velma M., a member of the 8th grade and Earl S., the youngest is also in the 8th grade. The homestead of Mr. and Mrs. Jackson is known as "Locust Grove." Mr. Jackson as trustee of Butler township has performed his part as an official. He has six good schools and employs ten teachers. The Peoria school has four teachers and Santa Fe has two. The township of Butler anticipates erecting a fine $10,000 Township High School on section 9 and it is expected to be ready for occupancy for the spring term of 1914. Besides his numerous duties in the schools, during his official career Mr. Jackson has also caused the erection of six concrete bridges and has built seven miles of pike road in Butler township besides many miles of free gravel roads.
DR. OMER U. CARL of Peru is a native of Indiana. He was born January 28th, 1872, on a farm in Cass county, just across the line separating the two counties. He is a son of Martin L. and Sarah A. (Branneman) Carl,' the former a Pennsylvanian by birth, the latter born in Miami county. The father came to Cass county in early man- hood and lived all his adult life in this state. He married after com- ing to Indiana and in the fall of 1872 moved to Peru where he worked as a carpenter and contractor until his death, February 4th, 1908. He was a man noted for his sterling honesty and integrity. He never accumulated wealth, possibly because of too close application of the Golden Rule to the business affairs of life. Few builders who ever came to Miami county were his equal in ability to do first class carpenter- ing. He was a man of strong convictions and of a decided temperament. He never indulged in the use of liquor or tobacco and while of stanch principles never created antagonisms in consequence of his opinions. He became a Republican upon the birth of the party in 1856 and was an active adherent to its principles from then until his death. In religion he was a simple Christian but a member of no religious denomi- nation. For years, however, he was a regular attendant of the Meth- odist Episcopal church. His wife died August 7th, 1911. Dr. Carl is the third of their four children, all of whom are living.
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