History of Montgomery county, Indiana; with personal sketches of representative citizens, Volume II, Part 27

Author:
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Indianapolis, A.S. Bowen
Number of Pages: 664


USA > Indiana > Montgomery County > History of Montgomery county, Indiana; with personal sketches of representative citizens, Volume II > Part 27


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John Taylor is the only child of James F. Taylor and wife. He was ten years old when the family left the farm and located in their commodious and attractive residence in Ladoga. He received a good education, and, hav-


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ing grown up in the horse business and inheriting many of the sterling attri- butes of his father, he gives promise of great success in this field of endea- vor. He has long trained and driven his father's race horses. He is known as a prompt starter, always up to the scratch when the race starts, and handles his horses well.


In 1893 John Taylor married Clara Pierson, of Indianapolis, daughter of Jennings and Amanda (Browning) Pierson, a family well known in business and social circles in the Hoosier capital, where Mrs. Taylor grew to womanhood and was educated.


To our subject and wife three children were born, namely: Myrtle and Irene, living; and Vivian, who died when a year old.


Both father and son have been life-long Democrats, but have never as- pired to be public men.


The M. and M. race winners are telegraphed all over America and Europe. The Taylor stables are known all over the United States and are visited by many admirers, some of them being noted horsemen from all parts of the country.


DANIEL A. MYERS.


We are always glad in writing the biographical side of these county his- tories to note that such a large number of the older citizens have spent their lives in the county. It indicates at once a successful, contented and worthy citizenship, and it also indicates that the country is good, for not many ambitious and energetic young men will remain on his "native heath" unless it promises as much in the future for the outlay of his energy as other localities, notwithstanding the pleasant associations of the old homestead and relatives. Such a family as that represented by the gentleman whose name forms the caption of this sketch is a pride to any community and deserves all respect and praise, for reasons too patent and too numerous to need recounting here.


Mr. Myers was born in Scott township, this county, on September 25, 1841. He is a son of William and Lydia (Harshbarger) Myers, a complete sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work. The father of our subject did a great deal of teaming in the days before there was a railroad in Mont- gomery county, and when our subject was four years old he went with his father on one of his trips with his team to Lafayette, over in Tippecanoe county, and the old canal there with the boats going up and down made a


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great imression on the lad who has never forgotten this and other sights of the trip.


Daniel A. Myers grew to manhood on the homestead and there assisted with the general duties during crop seasons, and in the winter months he attended the neighboring schools. He remained on his father's farm west of Ladoga until he was twenty-three years old.


On October 6, 1864, Mr. Myers was united in marriage to Catherine Yenawine, who was born within ten miles of Louisville, Kentucky. She is a daughter of Jacob and Margaret (Bence) Yenawine, who brought her to Montgomery county, Indiana, when she was about eight years old, the fam- ily locating in Scott township, where she grew to womanhood and received her education. Her parents later removed to Coles county, Illinois. Mrs. Myers' folks made the trip from Kentucky to Lafayette, Indiana, thence south on the railroad on a flat car to Ladoga, the road still being unfinished.


After the marriage of Daniel A. Myers and wife they bought the farm which they still occupy in the northern part of Clark township. He started with one hundred and fifty acres. Working hard and managing well, Mr. Myers prospered with advancing years, until he is now the owner of two hundred and forty acres. He formerly owned three hundred and twenty acres, but sold a part of that, and he has also provided well for his family. He has been very successful as a general farmer and stock raiser, ranking, as he well deserves, with the leading husbandmen of the southern part of Montgomery county.


Seven children were born to Daniel A. Myers and wife, named as fol- lows: Thomas E., who lives in the southern part of Walnut township, where he owns a fine farm of his own, married Lola Keller, and they have two children, Russell and Blanche; Minnie A. married Rufus Myers, of Jamestown, who owns about eight hundred acres of valuable land near there, and they have two children, Lillie and Lambert; William F., who owns and operates a good farm in the northern part of Walnut township, married Cora Gray, and they have two daughters, Hazel and Lida; Ellen married Lodi Bradley, and had one daughter, Lida, by that marriage. Mr. Bradley died January 18, 1902, and she subsequently married James Chaffin, and lives in the southeastern part of Clark township, and she has one daugh- ter by her second marriage, Helen. Elmer Myers, who lives in the south- western part of Walnut township, married Eliza Bowman; John, a civil engineer, is at present in the Philippine Islands building a railroad; Clara H., the youngest child of our subject, married Floyd Smith, and they live in


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the western part of Walnut township, and have two children, Raymond and John.


Daniel A. Myers belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and he and his wife are members of the Christian church.


NATHANIEL HAMILTON.


One of the leading agriculturists and business inen of the northwestern part of Montgomery county is Nathaniel Hamilton, a scion of one of the sterling old families of this locality, and here he has been content to spend his life. While laboring for his individual advancement he has not neglected his larger duties as a neighbor and citizen. By deeds of kindness extending through a long period of years he has won and retained strong personal attachments, and though having passed his seventy-second milestone on the journey of life he is still in possession of his faculties, physical and mental, and bids fair to round out many more years of a happy old age.


Mr. Hamilton was born on October 21, 1840 in Fountain county, Indi- ana, and he is a son of James and Louisa (Thompson) Hamilton. The father was born in Ohio and the mother in Kentucky. The former came to Montgomery county in 1832, when the country was little improved, and he later moved to Fountain county where he remained until 1850 when he re- turned to Montgomery county, locating on the farm of two hundred acres which our subject now owns. He devoted his life to farming. His family consisted of six children, namely: Catherine, who married Alfred Lofland; Nathaniel, of this review; Jane, who married Solon H. Brown; Albert lives in Waynetown; Sarah Louisa married John C. Bible; Melville who lives in this county.


Nathaniel Hamilton received a good common school education in Mont- gomery county then entered an academy where he remained some time. In August, 1862, he enlisted in Company E, Seventy-second Indiana Volunteer Infantry in which he served about six months in the infantry, then joined Wilder's famous brigade, being mounted, and he participated in the battles of Hoover's Gap, Chickamauga, Chattanooga and Lookout Mountain. He was in the army of the Cumberland under General Girard, in General Thomas' division. He proved to be a very faithful soldier, according to his comrades, and he was honorably discharged and mustered out at Indianapolis in 1865.


After the war he returned home and resumed farming, which he has con-


NATHANIEL HAMILTON AND FAMILY


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tinued on a large scale and with great success to the present time. He has accumulated a competency and is vice-president of the Farmers Bank at Win- gate. He has a finely improved farm, and a commodious dwelling, and a good grade of live stock is always to be seen about his place.


Mr. Hamilton was married on May 20, 1880, to Mary Hunt, daughter of William and Mary (Rose) Hunt. They were from Ohio and were early settlers here.


Four children have been born to our subject and wife, namely: Galen is deceased; Hattie married Walter Haney; Clinton is deceased; William Fay is at home.


Politically, Mr. Hamilton is a Republican. He was township assessor for one term. Fraternally, he belongs to the Free and Accepted Masons at Wingate. He belongs to the Methodist church.


THOMPSON V. ASHBY.


Praise is always due to merit and especially where merit is the product of unassisted energy and perseverance. The self-made man commands our highest respect. Those struggles by means of which he has risen from ob- scurity to honorable distinction cannot fail to enlist sympathy and call forth our warmest applause. And, too, the record of a life well spent, of triumph over obstacles, of perseverance under difficulties and steady advancement from a modest beginning to a place of honor and distinction in the locality in which one devotes his effort, when imprinted on the pages of history, present to the youth or a rising generation an example worthy of emulation and may also be studied with profit by those of more mature years whose achievements have not kept pace with their expectations. On the roster of the names of those who have been prominently identified with the develop- ment and upbuilding of Montgomery county that of the late Thompson V. Ashby merits a place of honor. From the age of ten years until his death he was a resident of this county, and in the early epoch of her development as well as in later years his energies were effectively directed along normal lines of industry and enterprise, and in many ways he made distinct contribu- tion to the progress of this favored section of the famous Wabash valley country. His life was one of signal integrity as well as usefulness, and such was his association with material and civic affairs here over an extended


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epoch that a record of his varied, useful and honorable career he perpetuated in this publication.


Thompson V. Ashby was born April 25, 1818, in Shelby county, Ken- tucky, which locality furnished so many of the sterling citizens of Montgom- ery county, Indiana, where our subject came with the rest of the family in 1828, and here he grew to manhood and received such education as the primitive schools of that early time afforded, for the country was new and sparsely settled when he arrived here, but here he was content to spend the rest of his days, having faith in its future.


On May 30, 1844, he was united in marriage to Dulcenia Lockridge, who was born June 3, 1825. in Montgomery county, Kentucky. She was a daughter of Robert and Elizabeth ( Malone) Lockridge, the former born in 1784 and the latter in 1786. Elizabeth Malone was a daughter of Andrew and Rachael (Ozier) Malone. Robert Lockridge was a son of John and Margaret ( Henderson) Lockridge. Andrew Malone was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. The father of Dulcenia Lockridge died in Kentucky and her mother was left with nine children, three of whom were married and all but three grew to maturity. In the year 1835 the widow and all but one of the children came to Putnam county, Indiana, and located south of Raccoon Station and there Dulcenia lived until her marriage.


To Thompson V. Ashby and wife were born three children, namely : William Henry, Robert L., and Elizabeth Louise, the latter being now the wife of James Foster. They all live in Ladoga, Indiana, where they are very comfortably situated.


Thompson V. Ashby was a farmer by profession and was very suc- cessful, becoming the owner of two excellent farms near the center of Scott township, aggregating about five hundred and sixty acres. He was a man of much business capacity and energy and managed his large landed estate with that care and discretion that always insured success and he ranked with the leading and most progressive agriculturists and stock men of Montgomery county during his day. His land was well improved and carefully operated, and he has a pleasant home which was noted for its hospitality.


Mr. Ashby was a well read man, keeping advised on the current topics of the day, and he became well known locally as a debater, taking great in- terest in debating societies. In fact, he remained a great student all his life, was familiar with the best literature of the day, reading extensively of everything whereby he might advance himself and he ranked, justly, too, as one of the most intellectual men of the southern part of the county. He


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taught school in his younger days. He took a lively interest in church affairs and was an elder in the Presbyterian church. His life was of such influence for good, in favor of religion and all that made for moral uplift, temperance, righteousness and good citizenship. He did a great work against the liquor traffic, and when near his death he read a temperance speech in Ladoga, which was said by all fortunate enough to hear it to be the best ever heard in this locality.


Mr. Ashby was called to his eternal rest in April, 1903. His widow is still living, making her home in Ladoga. She is an unusually well pre- served woman, although now past eighty-eight years of age. The advancing years, cruel to many, have left but a few threads of silver in her hair, and her eyes are clear and bright. Her hearing is as good as that of many young persons, and her face bears that unmistakable mark of one whose life is lived uprightly, with kindly thoughts for others and charitable impulses.


WILLIAM M. FRANTZ.


It would be hard to find a more painstaking and energetic tiller of the soil in Montgomery county than William M. Frantz, of Clark township, a man who has worked hard and never depended upon others to his work or his planning, and the success that has come to him has been well de- served in every respect and we are glad to give his life record space in this volume along with other deserving citizens of this locality.


Mr. Frantz was born in Scott township, this county, about a mile west of Ladoga, on June 19, 1864. He is a son of Frank and Elizabeth ( Myers) Frantz. Matthias Frantz, the first of the name of whom we are informed, was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, September 3, 1808. His mother's maiden name was Hants, and she was a sister of Katherine Hants, who married John Myers, Sr., and for a fuller account of this family the reader's attention is respectfully directed to the sketch of Frantz O. Myers, appearing in this volume. Matthias Frantz's mother died when the boy was four or five days old, and he was taken into the family circle of his aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. John Myers, Sr. With them he went to Botetourt county, Virginia, and lived there on the Myers farm until he grew to man- hood. In 1831 he came on horseback with his uncle and his cousin, Henry Myers, from Virginia to the present site of Ladoga, Indiana, to visit John Myers, Jr., who was here beginning on works of great importance to the new


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community. Later the three men returned to the old Virginia home and prepared to move here, and it was in the fall of 1833 that the Myers family, including Matthias Frantz, made the long overland trip in wagons to Mont- gomery county, Indiana, locating in the vicinity of Ladoga, where they established permanent homes and took an active part in building up the com- munity.


Matthias Frantz entered land two miles west and one mile north of Ladoga, and this he improved and established his home thereon, and here he married Sally Graybill. He followed farming all his life. He took an in- terest in public affairs and was a pioneer justice of the peace, was also a deacon in the Dunkard church. His death occurred on July 1, 1898, his wife having preceded him to the grave on June 23, 1894. To them the fol- lowing children were born: James P., William H., Sarah J., Elizabeth, and John Frank.


John Frank Frantz was born on January 18, 1838, on the farm where his father had settled in pioneer times, and there he grew to manhood and in 1859 married Elizabeth Myers, a daughter of William and Lydia (Harsh- barger) Myers. For her ancestry the reader is directed to the sketch of Frantz O. Myers, elsewhere in this volume. She was born November I, 1838, a mile west of Ladoga, where her father, William Myers, was a pio- neer settler. Frank Frantz bought a farm north of her father's farm, and farmed there all his life. Six children were born of his first marriage; the first an infant son, died unnamed on December 19, 1859; Leona Ellen, born February 27, 1861, died February 17, 1864; the third and fourth, twin sons, died unnamed in infancy on March 16, 1863; William H., born June 19, 1864; Sarah L., born August 29, 1866, was the wife of Frank Williams, and she died July 6, 1902. The mother of the above named children died July 6, 1878, when William M., of this sketch, was fourteen years old.


After the death of his first wife Frank Frantz married Emma Tapp, a daughter of John and Amanda Tapp. She was born and reared in Scott township, this county, three miles west of Ladoga. Two children were born of this union, May and Gaynelle. In 1897 Matthias Frantz, being feeble from advanced age, his family moved in with him to care for him. His death occurred on July 1, 1898, and his son, Frank, died about five weeks later, on August 9, 1898. His widow lives at Richmond, Indiana.


William M. Frantz grew up on the farm west of Ladoga and he attended the public schools in his native locality. He continued to work on the home place until his marriage, on September 13, 1888, to Valetta Corn, daughter


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of George W. Corn and wife, of Clark township, a complete sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work. For a year after his marriage he continued on his father's farm, then moved to where he now lives in the northwest part of Clark township on the farm owned by Mrs. Frantz's father, and here he has been successfully engaged in general farming and stock raising in part- nership with Mr. Corn.


To Mr. and Mrs. Frantz one son has been born, George F., whose birth occurred on October 13. 1894. He is now in his junior year in the Ladoga high school.


Fraternally, Mr. Frantz is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Ladoga. He is a quiet, home man, obliging in disposition and fair in all his dealings.


HENRY T. THOMPSON.


One of Ripley township citizens whom nature seems to have especially designed to be a tiller of the soil is Henry T. Thompson, one of the venerable and most highly honored native sons of Montgomery county. The pursuits of agriculture have afforded him high gratification, and in the conduct of his farm the principles he has held have been peculiarly adapted to the success- ful development and improvement of the varied elements of farm life. He has ever been energetic and enterprising and everything about the place in- dicates that an experienced hand is at the helm. This gentleman is a well informed farmer, who, from a small beginning has built up a comfortable competence and is now enjoying the result of his industry and enterprise, his property having been acquired through his untiring diligence, foresight and good management. He is one of the oldest native born residents of the western part of the county, and he has lived to see and take part in moment- ous changes here, having known the county when it was little improved, when the vast woods stretched in every direction and when the roads were ungraded, the streams unbridged, and when there were very few of the evi- dences of present-day civilization.


Mr. Thompson was born in Montgomery county, Indiana, as above in- timated. on October 17, 1837. He is a son of Alexander and Jane (Taylor) Thompson. The father was born on April 3. 1796. in the state of Pennsyl- vania. He received a limited education in the primitive schools of his time and he followed farming and the trade of mill wright during his active life. He came to Montgomery county, Indiana, in a very early day, when this


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country was practically a wilderness and here he established the future home of the family, enduring the usual privations of life on the frontier. He was a rugged, hard-working and honest man, who never permitted hardships, no matter how appalling, to thwart him. He reached the advanced age of eighty-nine years, dying in May, 1885. The mother of our subject was born in Butler county, Ohio, on May 14, 1801, and she grew to womanhood there and received what education she could in the rural schools. Her death occurred in 1867, at the age of sixty-six years.


Fourteen children were born to Alexander Thompson and wife, four of whom are still living, namely: David, born November 2, 1818; Elizabeth, born January 14, 1822; William, born September 26, 1823; Francis, born May 12, 1825; James, born September 2, 1826; Ruhana, born April 6, 1828; Isabelle, born December 28, 1829; Jane, born August 1, 1831 ; Hester, born August 17, 1833; Nancy A., born May 17, 1835; Henry T., born October 17, 1837; Sarah C., born May 1, 1840; Joseph R., born December 22, 1841 ; the youngest child died in infancy.


Henry T. Thompson grew to manhood on the home farm and did his share of the work about the place. He received such educational advantages as the early schools afforded in his community in the early days here. He has never married. He has always followed farming and general stock rais- ing. He is now the owner of a finely improved and valuable farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Ripley township. It is nearly all tillable, and it is rolling, so that but little tile is needed. All the improvements on the place, including the residence and outbuildings, were made by Mr. Thompson. He has a pleasant home, and keeps a good grade of live stock from year to year. He lives with his sister Jane, who is a widow, also a daughter-in-law.


Politically, Mr. Thompson is a Democrat, but he has never been espe- cially active in public matters.


GEORGE W. HARSHBARGER.


Allegiance to duty and a fixed purpose have been dominating factors in the life of George W. Harshbarger, one of Clark township's best known citizens. Indeed, such principles as he has followed always do more to ad- vance a man's interests than material wealth or fortituous environment. He is a worthy descendant of one of our most sterling old families, and many of the strong characteristics of his progenitors seemed to have manifested


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themselves in him, and he has been most careful to keep untarnished the brilliant escutcheon of the family name, being noted for his honesty, hospi- tality and his readiness to assist in the progressive movements of his com- munity.


Mr. Harshbarger was born in Clark township, Montgomery county, October 20, 1858, a son of Jacob M. and Mary ( Myers) Harshbarger, the mother having been the daughter of Henry Myers, brother of John Myers, Jr. Both the Harshbarger and Myers ancestry will be found on other pages of this work.


George W. Harshbarger grew to manhood, where he now lives in Clark township. He attended the common schools in his native community, the high school at Ladoga, and later the agricultural college at Lafayette. He continued farming on the home place, and in 1881 married Eva Canine, daughter of Cornelius and Keziah Canine. She was born at Waveland, this county, and grew up on a farm two miles east of that town and there she was educated and lived until her marriage.


Cornelius Canine was a son of Ralph Canine and his first wife. Cor- nelius Canine was born and reared near Waveland and farmed there all his life. He was an active Democrat and was a member of the Baptist church. He was a broad-minded man, upright and honorable. His parents had come to that locality in a very early day and cleared and developed a farmn.


The parents of our subject induced him to remain on the home farm, rebuild the dwelling and improve the place, the elder Harshbarger desiring to retire from active life. He accordingly remodeled and enlarged the old home, installing modern heating and lighting plants and many of the con- veniences not usually found in the country. The mother of our subject was called to her eternal rest on June 17, 1899, and the father continued making his home with his son, George W., until Mrs. Davidson, sister of our sub- ject, was left a widow, in 1908, whereupon the father went to livve with her. Since that time our subject has had full charge of the farm where he now lives. He is the owner of six hundred and fifteen acres, all in close proxim- ity of his home, all well improved and well kept, and here general farming and stock raising are carried on extensively, a specialty being made of all kinds of high grade live stock. On the place is to be seen many good barns and outbuildings.


Mr. Harshbarger, wife and children belong to the Christian church at Ladoga. Ever since the Fair Association was organized our subject has been a member, and has done much for its success. He is a member of the




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