USA > Indiana > Montgomery County > History of Montgomery County, together with historic notes on the Wabash Valley; gleaned from early authors, old maps and manuscripts, private and official correspondence, and other authentic sources > Part 49
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J. W. Ramsay, mayor of Crawfordsville, was born June 2, 1839, in Montgomery county, Indiana. His father, Robert M. Ramsay, was born in Kentucky, 1804, became a brick-mason, and afterward a merchant at Parkersburg, then Russellville, and is now a pork packer. He came to Indiana in an early day and settled near Portland mills, Putnam county, and afterward settled in Montgomery county, his residence now being Crawfordsville. The mother of the subject of this sketch, Mavina S. (Harris) Ramsay, was born in Tennessee. Her grandfather was a captain in the revolutionary war. The Ram- says are of Scotch descent. J. W. Ramsay was schooled at Wave- land Academy, then Wabash College, and afterward studied law with Hon. Henry S. Lane and Col. Wilson for two years, from 1859 to 1861. April 14, 1861, on the Sunday evening after the American flag was insulted at Fort Sumter, he enlisted in the 11th Ind., Wal- lace's Zouaves, served three months, was then made adjutant in the 51st Ind., in which position he served two years, and was then detailed as assistant adjutant general to Gen. Harker's staff, in which capa- city he served to the end of the war. His Union principles were tried and proven in the battles of Romney, Kelley's Island, Fort Donelson, Shiloh, siege of Corinth, Franklin, Hall's Gap, and
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others. At Shiloh he was severely wounded, and still suffers from its effects. At Appomattox Court House he was discharged, at the close of the war, and returned to his home at Crawfordsville. Soon after returning he was elected justice of the peace, for which office his knowledge of law well fitted him. He was continued as such till 1876, when he was elected mayor of Crawfordsville, and reelected in 1878. When he assumed the responsibilities of his office he found the city with a debt of over $20,000. Under his official supervision this debt has been entirely liquidated, new streets opened, and other improvements made, and the city is more prosperous than ever be- fore. He is now negotiating with different parties for a system of water-works. He has always been active in the republican ranks, a prominent citizen, and has made his own mark in life. He is a mem- ber of the Knights of Pythias society, and a Good Templar. In the latter lodge he was grand worthy secretary for two terms, and repre- sented the State of Indiana in the Right Worthy Grand Lodge at Michigan in 1879. October 7, 1872, Mr. Ramsay was married to Miss Alice Rice, daughter of Mrs. Mary Rice, of Crawfordsville.
Robert S. Jones (colored), farmer, Crawfordsville, was born Sep- tember 2, 1818, in Butler county, Ohio. His father, John Jones, was a native of Kentucky and a slave there until twenty-two years of age, when his master, removing to Ohio, gave him his freedom. His mother was born in Maryland and a slave also until she was eight or ten years old. Her master coming to Ohio, freed her. Her name was Dorthy K. Sampson. John and Dorthy were married in Ohio, and in 1840 emigrated to Montgomery county, Indiana, and bought six acres of land three-quarters of a mile east of Crawfordsville, where they lived until death. He died in 1853, and she in 1855. Both were Old School Presbyterians, and he was a republican. Robert S. attended school sufficiently to enable him to read, write, and cipher, which little learning he prizes highly. He was married in Ohio, March 10, 1836, to Dilly Henderson, who had been a slave until eight years old, in North Carolina, and had come to the west with her master, with whom she lived until her marriage, at the age of twenty years. In 1839 Mr. and Mrs. Jones moved to Montgomery county, Indiana, bringing two children : John F. and Silva A. They rented eighty acres west of Crawfordsville twelve years. He then bought forty aeres in Walnut township, and sold that and bought ninety acres northeast of Crawfordsville. He has since sold seven and one- half acres, rents out part, and farms the balance. His first wife died September 9, 1842, leaving two children, William P. and Abby M., besides the two mentioned. She was a member of the African Meth- odist Episcopal church. Mr. Jones was next married to Susan Mc-
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Kee, of Crawfordsville, who died April 5, 1871. She was also a Methodist. There were eight living children in the second family. Mr. Jones was a member of the first African Methodist Episcopal class in Montgomery county, contributed the first timber toward the church, has been trustee over twenty-seven years, and class leader three years. He is a Mason and a warm republican and lover of Lincoln.
Jacob Davis, deceased. Among those men who have left marks of their effort in Crawfordsville, and have figured prominently in the busy streets of this industrious city, the name of Jacob Davis is by no means forgotten. He had worked, not only with muscle, for this had been guided by an active brain, and visible signs of his suc- cess in life is shown by a pleasant home and a competency for his family. Jacob Davis was born October 29, 1817, in a rural district of Butler county, Ohio. His parents, Randolph and Abigail (Hoel) Davis, were natives of New Jersey, and came to Ohio prior to their marriage, becoming Ohio farmers. Jacob learned early the real meaning of the word "toil." He grew to manhood, and by improv- ing the limited educational advantages secured education sufficient to enable him to teach public school, which he followed for some time. He became quite an active trader in stock and was for some time a partner of Jacob D. Early, of Terre Haute, in the pork busi-
ness. In the prime of life Mr. Davis cast his lot in Crawfordsville, first purchasing the warehouse at the north end of Washington street. Here he dealt in grain extensively, first in partnership with John Shwitzer. For eighteen years he owned the warehouse. To- ward the close of this period he was associated in the grain trade with his brother, Isaac Davis, and with Gen. M. D. Manson, present auditor of state. He also traded largely in grain in Chicago. Dur- ing the war Mr. Davis speculated in gold stocks. His life was em- phatically one of trade, and by good judgment his trade-life was a grand success. In the winter of 1875 he took a severe cold, producing lung and typhoid fever, which resulted in his death April 21, 1876. A short time before demise he requested the presence of Rev. Reece Davis, a Baptist minister of Indianapolis, whom he greatly admired. At his request also his remains were laid to rest by the Masonic fra- ternity, in which society he had been a prominent member, and had been worshipful master for years. Although not connected with any church he was a man of strict integrity and morals. In politics he was republican, but never sought political preferment. Prior to his marriage he was colonel of the state militia. March 10, 1853, he was married, at the age of thirty-five, to Elizabeth Allen, daughter of the Hon. Joseph and Margara (James) Allen, and who had, when
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ten years of age, been his pupil in the public school. She was born November 21, 1829, in Kentucky, the native state of her parents. The Allens came to Montgomery county in 1833, and settled in Brown township on the farm on which they died. Joseph Allen was a prominent democrat. He served as justice of the peace for many years, was sheriff four years, and represented his friends in the state senate when the constitution of Indiana was revised. He also was a member of the state legislature for some time. He was a prominent Mason. He died January 29, 1871, and his wife followed May 1, 1875. She was a member of the Baptist church. Both were widely known and highly respected citizens. Mrs. Davis now resides in Crawfordsville with her four children : Isaac M., Joseph A., Mary I. and Charles E. An infant, and Jacob F. (three years old), deceased. The children were born in Crawfordsville. Isaac M. was born December 31, 1853. He was educated at Wabash College, and from 1874 to 1875 he read law with White and Cowan. In 1876 he graduated from the law department of the Iowa State University, and the same year settled in Crawfordsville for the practice of his profes- sion. He was admitted to the bar in the fall of 1876, and was the first to be admitted to practice in the new court-house of this city. He has remained alone in his practice and occupies the office in No. 16 Binford's block.
Bartholomew Demoret, farmer, North Union, born in Butler county, Ohio, October 15, 1832, was the son of Samuel B. and Re- becca (Bolsar) Demoret. His grandfather Demoret was a French- man. In 1845 the family came to Union township, where his father survives at the advanced age of eighty-three. Except two years that this subject lived in Brown, his home has been in this township since he arrived in the county. He is a republican, "red hot," as he terms his politics. His first marriage was with Mary Ann Whitenack, and occurred February 12, 1856. She was born February 18, 1836, and died November 5, 1864. Her four children were: James Franklin, born August 11, 1857; Samantha Ellen, born October 11, 1859; Samuel B., born March 30, 1861; Francona A., born September 20, 1862. On December 5, 1867, he was married to Phebe T. Eliza Clouse, who was born June 17, 1846. The children by this marriage have been: Sidney, born October 30, 1868; Andrew, born August 25, 1870; Casady, born October 26, 1872; Flora, born September 2, 1874, died November 5, 1874; Icey, born October 22, 1875, and Claud, born September 10, 1879. Mrs. Demoret belongs to the United Brethren church. Her grandfather, George W. Clouse, and Henry Ruffner, came here from Kentucky with Henry Liter, whose biography and portrait will be found in this work.
MAJ. A. WHITLOCK
THE NEW YORK WIRTIC LIBRARY
A. TOR, LE VOX AND FILMEN FOUNDATIONS K
L
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Mrs. Martha Mullen, was born May 24, 1839, in Montgomery county. Her father, Zopher Ball, was one of the early settlers in this county. Her grandfather was probate judge of the county for several years. She was married January 17, 1869, to John Buck. He was born August 24, 1824, and died July 27, 1877. He was sur- veyor of Montgomery county twenty-one years, and was a valuable and efficient officer. In politics he was a democrat. She has three children : Anna, Emma, and John. She was married the second time, January 14, 1880, to Daniel K. Mullin. He was born June 22, 1831, and for years was a trader in stock. Mrs. Mullen is an act- ive, energetic woman.
Samuel Fullen, deceased, was of English and Irish stock, and was born in Virginia, January 22, 1799. In his infancy his parents emigrated to Knoxville, Tennessee, where they remained until he was eight years old ; then removing, settled at Connersville, Fayette county, Indiana, and subsequently fixed their home in Marion county, thus making their residence in the northwest territory some eight years prior to the admission of Indiana as a state into the Union. Capt. Fullen was married October 2, 1817, to Miss Annie Pogue, daughter of George Pogue, a famous western adventurer, and one of the earliest settlers of Indianapolis. She was born in South Carolina July 15, 1797. It is believed that her father was killed by the Indians. His horses were stolen by them, and he went in pursuit, but nothing was ever afterward heard of him. The neighbors followed hard upon the depredators and retook the animals. The wife of Pogue was Miss Cassa A. Paine, who was born, according to the most re- liable account, September 7, 1769. Her death occurred in this county October 9, 1861, at the extreme age of ninety-two years, one month and two days. Her remains were deposited in Oak Hill cemetery. Capt. Fullen was a militia officer in the days when mus- ters and trainings were all in fashion. In Marion county he held the office of justice of the peace many years. He was a strong believer in universal salvation, and after his settlement in this county, in 1840, took the pulpit, and labored with more or less regularity until 1845 to disseminate this favorite doctrine. In politics he could justly boast with pride that he was a Jackson democrat; and, like most of the venerable men of that school of belief, he was active and influen- tial in his party. He often took the stump, and in 1856 labored in this way in that memorable canvass with more than his ordinary zeal. He made his living by farming. He began poor, but acquired a fair competence, and at his death, which occurred April 7, 1876, left a good farm of 160 acres, three miles north of Crawfordsville.
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He enjoyed the respect of a numerous acquaintance, and was widely known for his integrity, intelligence, and general worth as a citizen. His wife, a kindly and estimable woman, in whom were the graces of cheerfulness, frugality and tender benevolence, survived him but a short time. She went peacefully to rest on the 19th of August, 1877, and was laid with the other members of the family, who are buried in Oak Hill cemetery. The children by these parents were fifteen in number, as follows: Amanda, wife of the Rev. Daniel Vines, of Fayette county, Iowa; Emaline, now Mrs. Seth Curtis, of Douglas county, Minnesota ; Melinda, relict of Harvey Montgomery; Lucinda, wife of John Alexander, of Tama county, Iowa ; Matilda, born Feb- ruary 20, 1820, and died July 17, 1845, married Thomas Hanks, who also died many years ago; Cassa A., born November 2, 1825, and died December 16, 1871, married Peter Sandoe, who died in the army ; Samuel J., born March 26, 1827, and died April 26, 1843; Charles M .; Louisana, now Mrs. Joseph Alexander, of Worth county, Missouri ; Andrew Jackson ; Martin Van Buren, born January 16, 1833, and died January 30, 1868; Stiney, wife of John J. Darter ; Elizabeth, died in infancy ; Thomas H. B., and John W., June 5, 1868. John W. Fullen was appointed by the commissioners school examiner of Montgomery county, and filled the office with much ability for three years. In the autumn of the same year he was also appointed superintendent of the public schools of the city of Crawfordsville, the first who ever held that office, and performed its duties with unquali- fied satisfaction four years. He retired during the school years 1872 and 1873, but in the summer of the last named year was recalled by the trustees, and occupied this responsible position two years longer. He organized and graded the schools for the city, and instituted the admirable system by which they are now governed, and the youth receiving efficient instruction. We properly close this family sketch with the following obituary, written by the brother of the deceased, Prof. J. W. Fullen, and which appeared in the Crawfordsville "Review" the week succeeding the annonncement of his death : " We are pained to announce the death of Martin V. Fullen, son of Samuel and Annie Fullen, of this county, who died suddenly of cholera on the 30th day of January, 1868, at Buenos Ayres, South America. He left home in the spring of 1854, at the age of twenty- . one, and died in his thirty-sixth year, after an absence of fourteen years without a returning visit to friends and home. For some five or six years previous to his death, Mr. Fullen had been in the em- ploy of the United States minister to Paraguay. The United States consul at Buenos Ayres, Hon. M. E. Hollister, states that he, accom-
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panied by his son and the American clergyman, Rev. Dr. Goodfellow, took charge of the burial of the deceased in the Protestant cemetery, and also that he took possession of his effects. All who ever knew Martin will lament his sudden death. An unpretending, yet ingen- ious youth, reared in the quiet country, his only ambition from early boyhood was to travel. He seemed to catch the inspiration from the very breezes, and to envy the wild swan her annual flights to the sunny regions of the south. It is consoling to his friends to know that, though exposed to the wiles of every clime, he died a sober, prosperous, and upright man."
Alfred D. Lofland, farmer and stock raiser, Crawfordsville, was born in this township August 12, 1841. His father, William Lofland, emigrated from Delaware to Montgomery county as early as 1834, and after his arrival married Sally Simpson. Her father, Allen Simpson, had located on the farm now owned and occupied by the subject of this sketch, having bought it several years before from a Mr. Croy. Mr. Lofland's father was a tanner and worked at his trade. His tanyard was on this place. He died when our subject was only three years of age, and left three other children, John, Hevellow, and Nancy. The two last are dead. The mother's second marriage was with Henry Thurston. She died December 31. 1879, and was sixth-eight years old at her death. Mr. Lofland was enrolled August 16, 1862, in Co. E, 72d Ind. Vols. At Louisville his regiment was brigaded with the 17th Indiana, and the 98th and the 123d Illinois regiments. For its distinguished service this command became celebrated as Wilder's brigade of mounted in- fantry. He served under Rosecrans in his advance from Murfreesboro, fighting at Hoover's Gap, and participated in a brilliant affair, by his brigade alone, in gaining the rear of Bragg's army, and assaulting Deckerd Station by night, causing the enemy to fall back the next day. He was engaged at Chickamauga, and was in pursuit of Wheeler's cavalry twenty-one days after that battle. In the following winter three hundred of his regiment were detailed, under the command of Maj. Carr, and went with the expedition under Gen. Sooy Smith to cooperate with Gen. Sherman in the Meridian campaign. He was present throughout the prolonged disaster which befel Gen. Smith's command, and fought in the sharp engagement at Okolona. He was in constant service during the Atlanta campaign, and after that ter- minated returned to Rome, Georgia, where the horses of the brigade were turned over to Gen. Kilpatrick, when the men went back to Louisville to be remounted. When this had been accomplished they joined Gen. Wilson's column, which took Selma, Alabama, by
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assault, destroyed an immense amount of property, and supple- mented the bold achievement with the taking of Columbus and Macon, Georgia, when the close of the war put an end to further operations. He was mustered out at Indianapolis July 6, 1865. Mr. Loffand was married October 5, 1870, to Miss Catherine Hamilton. Their only child, William, born October 7, 1871, died of diphtheria Jannary 12, 1881. Mr. Lofland belongs to the Methodist church. He is an Odd- Fellow, and owns 115 acres of choice land. In politics a republican. In 1876 he traveled in Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Texas.
The following extracts taken from a number of the "Wabash Magazine," published December 1861, will be read with pleasure by every one. We regret that our space will not permit the use of the whole article. Editor: "Rev. Charles White, D.D., died of apoplexy, on Tuesday evening, October 29, 1861. In usual health, he had attended all his college duties during the day, and had spent the evening in writing a sermon on faith, closing his evening labor with this sentence: "Faith sees the blessed Savior at the death bedside, with attendant angels to soothe and sustain, and bear up the spirit to heaven." After completing his preparations for retir- ing to rest for the night, he fell across the bed and expired. At half- past nine in the evening he was found by his son, the body still warm and flexible, but life extinct. The countenance, mild and placid in death, as it had ever been in life, indicated that the well poised shaft of death had sped instantly to the seat of life, and that withont a strng- gle or a groan " the spirit was loosened clean and clear from earth," and bouyant and exultant mounted to heaven. The dark valley of the shadow of death was mercifully narrowed to a line, and the loved and honored one on earth passed instantly to the bright re- gions of heavenly glory, to be carried to the Savior's bosom by those other loved ones of earth who had gone before. Dr. White was born at Randolph, Massachusetts, December 28, 1795, of pions parents. The family traced their lineage directly to the family of Whites that came over in the Mayflower. Dr. White often referred
with pleasure to his pilgrim ancestors. His father dying when he was two years old, he was left to the sole care of a mother of great vigor of intellect and unusual excellence of character. He fitted for college in Randolph, Vermont, under the eminent classical scholar, Rev. Rufus Nutting. He became a member of Dartmouth College in 1817, and graduated with the first honors of his class in 1821. He immediately received the appointment of tutor in his Alma Ma- ter, but declined, and entered the Theological Seminary at Andover, Massachusetts. Interrupted for a time in his theological studies by
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sickness, he spent a year at St. Johns, South Carolina, but after- ward returned to Andover and continued his studies until 1824. January 1, 1825, he was settled over a Congregational church in Thetford, Vermont, as colleague pastor, with his stepfather, Rev. Dr. Burton. After four years at that place, he was called to suc- ceed Rev. Dr. Brown, as minister of the Presbyterian church in Cazenovia, New York. At that place, and subsequently at Oswego, New York, he fulfilled the duties of pastor with marked success for thirteen years. During the period of his ministry a number of ex- tensive revivals occurred. He received the honorary degree of D.D. from Union College, New York, in 1840. In 1841 he received and accepted an invitation to the presidency of Wabash College, which position he occupied until removed by death. Dr. White was married to Miss Martha Carter, March 8, 1825. Their family consisted of ten children, five of whom still survive, four sons and one daughter. Mrs. White died December 18, 1860. Dr. White was most widely known in the west as the president of Wabash Col- lege. After fourteen years of rich experience as a minister of the gos- pel, he entered, in the full vigor of his riper years, upon the duties of the presidency of this institution. Possessed of a fine literary taste, he sought to establish a high literary standard. As a teacher he was accurate and industrious. As a presiding officer he was strict, but kind, seeking rather to win than command obedience. Students always highly prized his teaching, and never had occasion to complain of severity in his discipline. His daily morning prayers in the college chapel, his weekly sermons in the pulpit, so full of holy unction and power, his everyday walk and influence, oh, how sadly will we miss them! Dr. White's character can be summed up in these few words : he was of the highest style a christian scholar. Dr. White's intellect was massive, his conception clear, his idiom largely pure saxon, his style carefully ornate and polished, his ratio- cination perfectly logical, his argumentation always cumulative, and his conclusions irresistible. As a thinker he was profound, and as a writer, eminently successful. Never trusting to extemporaneous power, he spoke ever with effect. The acted maxim of his life was, if you wish others to think, you must think yourself. Welling up from the innermost depths of a large heart, and flowing forth in streams at all times pure and sometimes sparkling, his writings pos- sess an interest and excellence which will give them a place above the ordinary productions of the day, with the standard christian litera- ture of our age. His sentences were always so carefully formed that from their very smoothness they sometimes failed to attract, as they
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would have done had they been less finished. The human mind is so constructed, or, perhaps, rather warped and weakened by sin, that it grasps more readily and retains more completely the imper- fect, the defective. It rejoices not over the ninety-nine as over the one returned from wandering. Thus, also, the least faulty composi- tion is not the most attractive. Dr. White's periods are full and round, wanting the rough edge that we may grasp and retain, or use with power, yet growing more and more in beauty, symmetry and excellence, as we carefully dwell upon and study them. Examples like this might be multiplied indefinitely, but we forbear. Dr. White has published addresses made before the Bible, the Home Missionary, and the temperance societies; also, sermons at the death of President Harrison, and at the interment of Hon. T. A. Howard. He furnished four discourses for the " National Preacher." Other publications of his are a lecture, delivered before the Ameri- can Institute, in Massachusetts, a number of articles for the " Bib- liotheca," at Andover, and many papers for the La Fayette "Journal," and New York "Evangelist." His most important work is a volume of essays on literature and ethics, of 471 pages, on the following subjects : Religion an Essential Part of all Education ; Independence of Mind ; Goodness Indispensable to True Great- ness ; A Pure and Sound Literature ; Political Rectitude ; Western Colleges ; Contributions of Intellect to Religion ; The Practical Ele- ment in Christianity ; The Conservative Element in Christianity ; Protestant Christianity adapted to be the Religion of the World ; Char- acteristics of the Present Age ; Literary Responsibilities of Teachers. The high literary character of this volume alone would give the author a prominent place among the contributors to a pure and sound literature. The elegant steel engraving found elsewhere in this work represents Dr. White a few years younger than he was at his decease. A very excellent portrait in oil, life size, of President White, adorns the hall of the Lyceum of Wabash College. This valuable painting is a present to the society, by her alumni and friends. Many peculiarly interesting circumstances cluster about the death of Dr. White. While we deeply mourn his loss to his family, to the church, and especially to the college, we have it not in heart to wish him back again, since death to him is such infi- nite gain. Less than one year before, while attending the death-bed of his sainted wife; in reply to her expressed regrets at leaving him, he replied : "Not long, I will soon come." How soon is the prom- ise fulfilled, and how kind that Providence which, after so brief a separation, has reunited in Paradise two who loved so long and so well on earth.
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