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 54
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George Hough, insurance and loan agent, Crawfordsville, was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, June 6, 1814, and is a son of John and Frances (Luckey) Hough, whose parents were natives of Virginia. John Hough, the great-great-grandfather of George Hough, was one of the immortal Mayflower's crew. The Houghs were Quakers or Friends, therefore were not actively engaged in the revolution. How- ever, the house of George's grandfather was a hospital for the Ameri- can soldiers, and was always full. All his crops, and any other prop- erty in his possession, he gave toward abetting the freedom of the united colonies. Benjamin Hough, brother of John Hough, the father of George, surveyed the State of Ohio for the government. So the Houghs have been prominent in the country's annals. Mrs. Frances Hough died in 1844, in Hamilton county, Ohio. She was a member of the Presbyterian church. Her husband, John Hough, went to Illi- nois, and there died while visiting. He was buried at Hamilton, Ohio. During his life he had been a whig, and at the time of his death, 1858, was a republican. George Hough, subject of this sketch, left home at the age of sixteen, and became a clerk in a Cincinnati wholesale dry- goods house, where he remained seven and a half years. He was then employed three years in another house of the same kind. Leaving Cincinnati, he engaged in the dry-goods trade in Liberty, Missouri, for four years. Mr. Hough then returned to Hamilton, Ohio, and was variously employed. He built a reservoir covering 4,000 acres of land in Ohio, for the Miami canal. For two years he engaged in hotel bus- iness. About 1854 he came with his wife's step-father, Stephen Inger- soll, to Crawfordsville, who built an addition to the Ristine hotel and kept this until 1856, when it burned, Mr. Hough losing everything. He then wrote or clerked for different parties for two or three years to
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gain a livelihood. In 1861 he went to the south with a stock of goods, and at the close of the war engaged in the grocery and commission trade, in Memphis, until 1866. He then returned to Crawfordsville, where he bought grain for a time. He was then appointed revenue assessor and also was made clerk and paymaster for the contractors of the Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western railroad. Since that time he has been mostly engaged in clerking for different firms. He is fol- lowing insurance, real estate and loan business, and is notary public. He represents, with his son-in-law, W. R. Fry, good companies in in- surance, and is doing a thriving business in the other branches of their work. Mr. Hough was married in 1842, to Caroline M. Williams, of Hamilton, Ohio, a native of Cincinnati. They have three danghters ; Fannie, now Mrs. W. R. Fry ; Emma, now Mrs. H. O. Fairchild, of Wisconsin, and Hannah, at home. Mr. Hough voted first for Harri- son, in 1840, and has walked in the whig and republican ranks ever since. He has often spent pleasant visits at Gen. Harrison's, and the general has frequently occupied Mr. Hough's bed. Mr. Hough has traveled in eleven states. Mr. Fry, his son-in-law and partner in business, spent three years in the civil war, and is well known in Montgomery county.
Duckworth Brothers, grocers, Crawfordsville, are a popular firm, doing business in the roomy building opposite the Catholic church, on the corner of Pike and Washington streets. They carry a stock of about $2,500, and do a trade of $16,000 to $18,000. They deal exten- sively in all kinds of feed. Their parents, Alvin L. and Narcissa (Walker) Duckworth, were both born in Kentucky in 1812, and whither the parents of both had come from North Carolina. In 1854 Mr. and Mrs. Duckworth emigrated from Kentucky to Montgomery county, Indiana, where they bought the square of land on a part of which their residence now stands. They brought with them five children, Thomas, John C., Newton M., Ruth A. and Mary C., all now married. Mrs. Duckworth died April 25, 1867. She with her husband and children are numbered in the membership of the Presbyterian church. For a livelihood Mr. Duckworth has farmed and teamed. He is a democrat in politics, but not ultra. John C., son of the above, was born Octo- ber 1, 1837, and was educated in the common schools, and at the age eighteen years began the trade of house carpentering. He also spent six years in a cabinet-shop, and six years as a machinist. He is naturally an adept with tools. In February, 1879, he engaged in his present busi- ness. Mr. Duckworth was married March 13, 1862, to Elizabeth F. Lasley, daughter of Hannah C. Lasley, of Crawfordsville. They have three boys and three girls. Newton M. Duckworth was born September
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23, 1842, in Bath county, Kentucky ; like his brother, farmed till seven- teen years of age, when he, too, learned the trade of house carpentering, which he followed till 1879, when he entered his present business. . He was married October 27, 1869, to Mina Wright, of Greencastle, Indi- ana. Her parents died when she was very small. They have one child, Harry. All the Duckworths are Presbyterians. They support the democratic ticket.
F. N. Johnson, county treasurer, Crawfordsville, was born in Gal- latin county, Kentucky, in 1842. He resided there with his parents until he was twelve years old, when they removed to Montgomery county, Indiana, and settled in Brown township, which has since been his residence. In 1867 he began clerking for the firm of Davis & Hanna, general merchants, of Waveland, and in 1873 he became a member of the firm, the firm now being Hanna & Johnson. He continued busily engaged in merchandising until 1878, when he was elected to the office of county treasurer by the democratic party, which gave him a majority of 104 votes. He was elected for two years, and has since been renominated for a second term. He is a member of Waveland Lodge, No. 217, I.O.O.F., and has been a member of the Christian church for twenty years, and is at present superintendent of that church's Sunday-school at Crawfordsville. January 10, 1869, he was married to Miss Julia F. Durham, a native of Kentucky. She died January 6, 1880, leaving two children, Henry F., aged eleven, and John A., aged four years.
James E. Evans, merchant, Crawfordsville, was born December 5, 1849, in the northwestern corner of Putnam county, Indiana, at his grandfather's (James Evans') house. His father, Elza Eyans, died in 1849, at the age of twenty-seven, from the effects of a wound received from the adz of a workman while at work on a barn. This occurred before James was born. Elza Evans was a native of Kentucky, and came with his parents, James and Ruth Evans, to Putnam county, In- diana, in a very early day. Here James Evans entered land and lived a farmer's life. He was a warm whig, and pillar of the church. He helped build the first church in Russellville, and was always foremost in all measures of progress and improvement. Mrs. Elizabeth Evans, now Mrs. Hanna, lives near Waveland, at the age of fifty-three. James B. Evans was raised and educated by his grandfather, James Evans, whose name he bears. He attended the Russellville or Harmonia College and fitted himself for college. When eighteen years of age he entered the freshman class at Asbury University, and in 1872 grad- nated in a class of twenty-eight. Leaving college, he began the study of law with Hon. M. D. White and Hon. Lew. Wallace, of Crawfords-
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ville, with whom he stayed one year. He then formed a partnership with Geo. C. Coon for the practice of his profession. After one year he associated himself with Geo. C. Paul, but on account of ill health retired from practice and lived with his grandfather on the farm two years, at the end of which time he engaged in the boot and shoe trade with James B. Sidener, in Crawfordsville, which is his present occupa- tion. This firm is more specially noticed in connection with Mr. Sid- ener's sketch. Mr. Evans was married December 8, 1875, to Joanna Graham, daughter of Noble and Carrie Graham, prominent citizens of Crawfordsville. They have two children, Harry G., and a babe.
Biographical sketch of Peter S. Kennedy, by General Lew. Wallace : Mr. Kennedy was born in Bourbon county, Kentucky, July 10, 1829. His grandfather, Joseph Kennedy, was one of the earliest set- tlers of that county, to which, some years before the commencement of the present century, he removed from near Hagerstown, Maryland. He was a natural farmer, a man of peace, whose general character, as summed up in an old manuscript, was that of one who endeavored all through life to "deal justly, love mercy, and walk humbly, before God." The father of the subject of this sketch was also named Joseph. When quite young he learned the blacksmith trade, which, in connec- tion with farming, he followed as the occupation of his life. In March, 1860, at the age of seventy-seven, he died peacefully, literally worn out by time and hard work. He was not a sociable man, but one of stub- born adherence to his convictions, and fond of reading. He lived and died in poverty, leaving his children the simple inheritance of a name, noted among his neighbors for honesty and charity, although he was a confirmed skeptic in religion. When somewhat advanced in age he married Elizabeth Sharrer, by whom he had nine children, the subject of this sketch being the seventh in order. Mr. Kennedy's friends will be interested in knowing that, as a boy, he was of a melancholy, thoughtful disposition, and that, while seldom seeking the company of other boys, he preferred the companionship of men, for the sake of in- formation, and was a great and constant reader of books of useful knowledge, too heavy for the average lad. His education was princi- pally acquired at the common schools, with a short term at an academy in North Middletown, Kentucky, making him another illustration of the fact that the best part of man's schooling is what he gains by the process of self-teaching. Mr. Kennedy's mental and moral character- istics showed themselves early. From the time he was fifteen years old he engaged in heated discussions about slavery, the liquor traffic, and the annexation of Texas, all common topics of the time. Thongh these debates were as yet in private circles, they manifested the polit-
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ical turn of his mind, and the independence of his spirit. Thus begin- ning, he grew a confirmed hater of slavery and oppression in every form, a bold, outspoken enemy of the free sale of intoxicating drinks, and of the schemes and ideas of the democratic party generally. It is not at all singular, therefore, that the first public speech he ever made was in favor of emancipation in Kentucky, a position so unpopular that there was but one individual in his audience who sympathized with him. Resolving very early in life to follow the law, Mr. Kennedy made everything subservient to this idea. In the twentieth year of his age, while teaching school, he began the study of Blackstone; and from that time to the present he has devoted himself to the profession, trying not more to make himself rich by practice than master of the principles of the great science. Yet he did not bury himself in his office or limit his action to the courts. He wrote much for the lead- ing papers on politics, and with his pen was constantly helping for- ward reforms of every kind. At one time he contributed a series of eighteen articles for the "Indianapolis Daily Journal," in favor of the protection of home manufacturing. The views advanced, and the man- ner in which the subject was handled, won the admiration of all who were of his way of thinking, and the ire of opponents. A chief tenet in his political faith has always been that the human race is capable of almost indefinite improvement. Another one is that the condition of the common people depends, in a great measure, upon proper laws and teachings ; hence he has been, and now is, actively identified with measures looking to a wise development of the resources of coun- try, and the general improvement of its citizens mentally and physic- ally. It were very strange if his generous labors in these directions had been wholly without fruit; and his biographer is happy to say they were not. Thus learning, from actual practice at the bar, that courts were often hampered by the old rules excluding all persons as witnesses who happened to have an interest in the result of the suit, he went to work to bring about a change of the law in that respect. He wrote much npon the subject, and addressed himself energetically and personally to the members of the legislature. His efforts, after much persistence, were crowned with success. So to-day, thanks to Mr. Kennedy, as much if not more than any other individual in the state, parties to suits may testify in their own behalf. Still, it would seem, he is not content with the triumph. He holds that the statute does not go far enough ; that all barriers whatever should be thrown down, and everybody compelled to testify who knows anything about the case in hand ; particularly, that there is no more reason for exclud- ing a party whose antagonist is dead, than there would be for exeluding
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him on account of the death of any other witness on the other side. He is of opinion, also, that to allow parties to divorce suits to testify against each other would be a powerful check to bad conduct by both. Other reforms of like public import are attributable not a little to Mr. Ken- nedy-such as the law prohibiting gravel road companies from charg- ing toll where their roads are not in good repair, and the act revising the judicial system of the state. A man of the ardent nature of Mr. Kennedy could hardly avoid taking part against the rebellion of 1861. He answered President Lincoln's first call for volunteers to serve three months by helping raise a company, and in less than ten days marched with them into camp, where he was elected first lieutenant, though, on account of the sickness of the captain, he really commanded the greater part of the term. His regiment, the 7th (Colonel E. Dumont), served in West Virginia, participating in the battles of Philippi, Laurel Hill, and Carrick's Ford. At the end of his term of service he returned home, disabled by rheumatism contracted from exposure during the campaign. Unable to reënter the service, he hired a man to take his place in the next company that was made up from his county. Mr. Kennedy was married on October 6, 1853, to Miss Emily Talbot, in Fayette county, Kentucky. The union has proved a most happy one, and has been blessed with six children, all of whom are living. Though Mr. Kennedy has never joined any church, he has a profound respect for the religious opinions of other people, and was never known to speak disrespectfully of them where he believed they were honestly enter- tained. Believing charitable works are best advanced by organization, Mr. Kennedy very early united himself with both the Odd-Fellows and Masons, and has on several occasions delivered addresses to each. The personal character of Mr. Kennedy is more than above reproach ; it is admirable, and in every respect worthy of imitation. He is candid and earnest, slow to suspect others, incapable of treachery, gen- erons to a fault, a true friend, and full of charity for the unfortunate. He loves his home and family dearly, and has the implicit confidence of all his neighbors. In questions of public improvements he has ever been pronounced in favor of progress, holding nothing tending in that direction unimportant. On this account, quite as much as because of his acknowledged ability and integrity, he was elected, in 1874, to the legislature, from Montgomery county, notwithstanding the majority was ordinarily considerably democratic. On the floor of the house he forced recognition as a laborer in committee and a debater of the first rank. In fact he stepped quickly into the leadership of his party, and held his place to the end of the session, extending his reputation throughout the state, and laying the foundation of an influence which
18
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has grown and is now by no means at its limit. But his heart seems to be given chiefly to his profession. He is by nature a lover of the study and practice of law. At the bar he is magnanimous and large- minded, despising tricks and seeking the merits of the case. On the wrong side, he is lethargie and uninterested, but let him believe him- self right and he never gets done fighting, and in the heat of the eon- test strikes like another Cœur de Lion. He makes no pretensions to brilliancy of speech, whether to the court or to the jury, but in the supreme court is formidable, on account of a singular power of state- ment on paper, and a tenacity of purpose which never weakens. His compeers all agree that Mr. Kennedy is never so much to be dreaded as when he is in danger of defeat. In criminal practice he is seldom heard, because, it is said, his sympathy is most generally with society and against the criminal. He served as prosecuting attorney of the Indianapolis circuit from 1856 to 1858, and in that time probably saw too much of the tricks and perjuries by which crime is defended to care for distinction in its defense. Mr. Kennedy is in the prime of life, hale, hearty, laborious. The crowns of his career are before him. Diligence, sound judgment, talents of high order, added to practice of good morals, a pleasant manner, and striking, manly appearance, will bring him to them as certainly as he lives.
William R. Poynts, farmer, New Market, was born in Scott county, Kentucky, December 27, 1828, and is the fourth child of James and Rebecca (Ross) Poynts. His ancestors on the paternal side were Irish. His mother's people were from Maryland. When very young his father died ; and when he had attained suitable age he was apprenticed to learn the bricklayer's trade. He served three years, and worked one year as journeyman. He married Ann Eliza Rice, February 6, 1851, in Fayette county, Kentucky, and in the following autumn moved to this county and settled in Union township, where he has since made his home. He owns 203 acres of land, worth $9,000. He obtained $900 by marriage; the rest of his property is the result of industry and careful management. Mrs. Poynts has been a communicant in the Christian church thirty-four years. They have had five children : William, born October 12, 1854; James, August 25, 1860; John, Oc- rober 29, 1871; and two daughters which died in infancy.
John J. Childers, farmer, North Union, is the descendant of revolutionary stock. Gooseberry Childers, his grandfather, was a pen- sioned son of 1776, and emigrated at an early period to the white set- tlements of Kentucky, and died in Garrard county about 1840. This subject was the youngest son of Lindsey and Catharine (Lydic) Chil- ders, and was born in Fayette county, April 1, 1824. After learning
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the bricklaying trade he followed that occupation ten years anterior to his removal to Indiana. On December 16, 1847, he was united in marriage with Miss Margaret Ross, who was born November 26, 1828. Her parents were William and Eleanor Ross. In the autumn of 1855 Mr. Childers moved with his family to this township and settled at his present home, just north of North Union. His farm comprises 168 acres, all inclosed, and 90 acres under the plow, the estimated valne of which is $8,500. He has been a democrat all his life. Mrs. Childers is a member of the Lutheran church. Of these parents six children have been born : Ella, wife of Jasper Britton ; Kittie, now Mrs. James H. Armantrout ; William, who married Miss Emma Wat- kins ; Belle, wife of James M. Galey ; Mary and John. Besides their own children, they are rearing their nephew, George, son of William Ross, and whose mother died when he was eight months old.
Henry Williams, deputy postmaster, Crawfordsville, was born January 4, 1823, in Baltimore, Maryland. His father was a merchant, and died in 1824, and the subject of this sketch was left in charge of a guardian, R. L. Colt, who sent him to the public school in New · Jersey. He finished his education afterward in Pennsylvania, where he graduated. Mr. Williams came to Tippecanoe county, work- ing there several years, then went into the mercantile business in La Fayette. In 1857 he came to Crawfordsville to send his children to college, and engaged in the grocery business a few years. He enlisted in Co. G, 11th Ind. Vols., for three years. His son, John F. Will- iams, was captain of the same company, and was in the battles of Shiloh, Fort Henry, Fort Donelson and Winchester. He was a vet- eran soldier, a brave officer, and much lamented by his friends when he died, April 6, 1866. After the war Mr. Williams went to Illinois to improve some land he had there, his family remaining here. In 1871 he was appointed deputy postmaster, which position he now holds, his management having been an honesty and efficiency one. He is a member of the Center Presbyterian church, a Mason, and a radical re- publican. He was married February 19 to Martha B. Haight, daugh- ter of Rev. S. Haight. They have five children : Laura, Charles, Har- riet, Eva and Jolin. The latter attended Wabash College before going to the war, and Charles attended the same for some three years. Eva attended Elmira, New York, Female College. Mrs. Williams and her daughters are members of the Center Presbyterian church.
Amazon Ward, farmer and stock raiser, Whitesville, was born April 25, 1835, on a farm near Liberty, Union county, Indiana. His father, David G. Ward, was born July 18, 1803, in Madisonville, Ohio. When a young man he moved to Union county, Indiana,
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where he was engaged in farming and wagon-making, having pre- viously learned his trade in Madisonville, Ohio. In this county he was united in marriage with Eleanor Lafuze, daughter of Samuel and Eleanor (Harper) Lafuze. By this union they became the parents of twelve children, nine of whom are living. From this county they em- igrated to Madison county, Indiana, and after a two years' sojourn, in 1856 moved to Montgomery county, Indiana, and settled near Mace, on what is known as the old Chrisman place. In about four years he traded this farm for a home near Darlington, where he resided six years, when he disposed of his property in Montgomery county and moved to Boone county, where he purchased a home upon which he still lives and is engaged in gardening. He is a member of the Chris- tian church, as is also his wife. Formerly he was a whig, but since the organization of the republican party he became one of its most active workers. Amazon lived with his parents until the age of twenty-two. January 27, 1859, he was married to Phobe Jane Mont- gomery, who was born July 18, 1838, and is the youngest daughter of James and Phæbe Montgomery, prominent pioneer citizens, who lo- cated in this township in 1832. Mr. Ward is the father of four chil -. dren, all of whom are living : Clara Bell, Camella May, Ulyses Grant, and Henry Alva. He farmed two years on the Chrisman place, when he moved on the Montgomery farm, in Union township, and in three years purchased his father's farm, near Darlington, in connection with his brother Stephen. Two years later he traded his portion of the property for 160 acres, where he now resides, being in possession, at this date, of 195 acres. He moved to his present beautiful location Jannarý 1, 1866, and in 1874 erected a comfortable frame dwelling about the size of his present one. February 21, 1877, it burned to the ground, but with the same energy that has characterized all his doings he immediately set to work on the two-story, 46×52, handsome brick building now standing upon the ashes of its predecessor, the brick being made upon his own property. He is an earnest supporter of the principles of the republican party, casting his first presidential vote for John C. Fremont, in 1856.
Michael Price, grain dealer, Crawfordsville, was born in Carlow county, Ireland, in 1821, and is the son of William Price, who was a farmer and miller, and died in Ireland. The subject of this sketch obtained his education by going to night schools, reading, and from active business. When twenty-four years old he went to Liverpool, England, and managed the grain business for a man who dealt with' American grain dealers. He remained in Liverpool thirteen years and then came to America and settled in Crawfordsville, where he has ever
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since resided. His brother and sister, William and Mary, came to America before he did, and settled in New York. Mr. Price first engaged in handling farmers' produce, which he continued four or five years. He then began buying grain for a milling company in New Albany and Indianapolis. In 1869 he bought his present warehouse for $3,600. He has been very successful, and has bought as high as 125,000 bushels of grain in one year. In 1873 he was elected city councilman, and served two terms. He was married in 1864, to Jane A. Regan, of New York. They have six children : Mary, Margaret, Anunciatta, Jennie, Bernard, and Angeline. Mr. and Mrs. Price are both members of the Catholic church.
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