USA > Indiana > Montgomery County > History of Montgomery county, Indiana; with personal sketches of representative citizens, Volume II > Part 34
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Mr. Huston, our subject, was educated in the common schools of Madi- son county, then entered a Normal school at Danville, Indiana, where he studied for a period of three years, then became deputy surveyor of Dela- ware county, which position he occupied with credit for a period of four years, after which he took up photography at Cannelton, Indiana, which he followed with success for a period of seven years, then turned his attention to the newspaper field and purchased the Waveland Independent, and is still actively engaged in the publication of the same, having removed to Wave- land, and here he has become one of our leading citizens. He has made a great success and has improved the paper in every way, editorially and from a mechanical standpoint, and it has proven to be a valuable medium for ad- vertisers.
While taking much interest in the public affairs of his county, Mr. Hus- ton is not active politically. Fraternally, he is a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Modern Woodmen of America. Religiously, he is a member of the Christian church, Disciple.
Mr. Huston is a pleasing gentleman to meet and is deservedly popular with the people of his locality.
JOHN WILLIAM MILLER.
Very often it is greatly to the advantage of the farmer's boy that, in- stead of rushing off to some town to become a poor grocery clerk or employe of a dirty machine shop, he remains in the locality where he was brought up and where he knows what is necessary to make an honest living. He knows when and how to seed and harvest his crops, and knows what is necessary
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to insure success in the rearing and sale of livestock. If he leaves for the town he must learn another business and enter into competition with men who have grown up in the business which he must acquire. He is thus, as a rule, at a great disadvantage. This is said for the benefit of the boys who have a start in farm business, who, in nine cases out of ten, had better remain right where they are if they want insured to them a happy, healthy, respectable old age. One of the progressive farmers of Clark township, Montgomery county, who has been contented to remain in the section of the state of his nativity and devote himself to the line of endeavor with which he was most familiar is John William Miller, and one would judge from his excellent farm and pleasant home that he has been wise in following this course.
Mr. Miller was born east of Roachdale, Putnam county, Indiana, June 2, 1854. He is a son of Harvey and Mary E. (Perkins) Miller. Harvey Miller was born in Kentucky, probably in Shelby county, December 3, 1827, was a son of James and Nancy (Lee) Miller, both natives of Virginia. They moved to Montgomery county, Indiana, when Harvey Miller was three years old, in 1831. They settled in the south side of Clark township along the county line of Putnam county, and entered eighty acres in section 33, and eighty acres in section 34, adjoining. They cleared and improved this property and kept it, and there established their permanent home. When they first located there they had to live in a rail-pen until they could build a log cabin. All the back part of their land was then under water, and they began developing the higher land first. James Miller was twice married, Harvey Miller being one of fourteen children born of the first marriage, and there were seven children of the second marriage. James Miller's first wife died here on the Miller homestead. His scond wife was named Eliza- · beth Kinder in her maidenhood, who also died here.
James Miller was born March 14, 1801, and on October 5, 1825, he married Nancy Lee. She was born April 12, 1804, and her death occurred on January 5, 1844. To them fourteen children were born, as above inti- mated. On March 22, 1849, he and Elizabeth Kinder were married. Her death occurred on January 13, 1864, and James Miller passed away on May 12, 1871. By trade he was a carpenter and cabinet maker, an expert, one of the best in his day.
Harvey Miller was a life-long farmer. He married Mary E. Perkins, who was born and reared in Jackson township, Putnam county, and was a daughter of William and Patience (Glen) Perkins, who came from Ken-
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tucky and settled in the northern part of Putnam county in an early day. Harvey Miller farmed in Jackson township until about 1865, then bought his father's farm, moving thereto and operating the same a number of years.
In the early eighties Harvey Miller moved to Ladoga. Montgomery county. It was on May 29, 1851, that he and Mary E. Perkins were mar- ried. To them six children were born, namely: Jeremiah P., John William, Martha Frances, James Willard, Cora Ellen and Jennie F .; they are all de- ceased but Jeremiah and John W. The mother of these children died June 3, 1896. On September 22, 1901, Harvey Miller married Mrs. Mary A. Markey. His death occurred on April 4. 1912. He was a member of the Baptist church from early life, but later in life joined the Christian church, in which he was a faithful and earnest worker as long as his health per- mitted. He was past eighty-four years old when summoned from his earthly labors, was widely known and highly respected, and while he was able to do so he took an active interest in the affairs of his community and helped wherever help was needed.
John W. Miller, the immediate subject of the sketch, was fourteen years old when his parents moved to Montgomery county from Putnam county, and here he grew to manhood and helped with the work on the place. On September 3, 1874, he married Sarah Catherine Gregory, daughter of An- derson and Amanda (McDaniel) Gregory. She was born in Clark town- ship, this county, her parents having come here from Kentucky, while they were young and unmarried, each coming with their parents and these families settled in Putnam county, where the parents of our subject's wife grew to maturity and were married, and later they moved into Montgomery county, locating their home in Clark township, and here her father's death occurred in 1873. Her mother is living in Roachdale, being now advanced in years.
After the marriage of our subject he began farming two miles east of his old home in the south side of Clark township. His wife heired fifty- three acres and he bought forty acres adjoining it, and lived there until 1886, then moved to North Salem and remained there until 1893, engaged in the horse business, and kept fine stallions, among the most noted having been "Cambus Kenneth" and "Ravenstein," both registered trotting stock. He remained in this business twenty-five years and became widely known throughout the country, and most of that time he also carried on general farming. Leaving North Salem in 1893 he returned to his farm, as it de- manded his personal attention. He lived there until 1901, then moved to the
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old Miller homestead, where he has since resided. Although he made money in the horse business, he has of recent years given his attention to general farming and stock raising. He owns the original homestead that was entered by his grandfather, which place has never been out of the Miller family. He also owns eighty acres joining on the west, which he bought in June, 1910. About 1903 he cleared fifty-five acres of the north part of his farm, and it is now his best land. His finely improved farm of two hundred and forty acres, is all tillable and under a fine state of cultivation. He has a fine home and numerous substantial outbuildings. It is called the "Golden Rule" stock farm.
Three children have been born to Mr. Miller and wife, namely: Carl F., born October 24, 1877, on the farm where his father first went to house- keeping, remained on that place until he was married to Bertha Smith. He was living there at the time he was married, and although away part of the time, died there on March 12, 1910, leaving a widow and two children, Catherine Rose and John Clifford Miller. He was a member of the Christian church and also of the Masonic Order. Bertha E. Miller, second child of our subject and wife, married Lete Rogers, and they live in Jackson town- ship, Putnam county, and have two daughters, Nina E. and Mary Catherine. Edgar Franklin Miller, third child of our subject and wife, was born March 29, 1887, married Flossie Routh, and they live on the west eighty of our subject's farm. They have two children, Benjamin Franklin and William Robert.
John W. Miller and wife both belong to the Christian church, as do also their children.
Personally, Mr. Miller is a man whose word has ever been regarded as good as his or anyone's bond. He is courteous, genial and obliging and is liked by all who know him.
JAMES MONROE HESTER.
To the people of Scott township and the southern part of Montgomery county the name of James Monroe Hester needs no introduction, for here he has spent his long, useful and honorable life and is one of the best known general agriculturists in the locality, where he has lived to see and take part in many momentous changes and where he has been content to labor and take the usual vicissitudes of the years, appreciating the good and not com- plaining at the bad, and through it all keeping the even tenor of his way and setting a worthy example for his family and the younger generation.
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Mr. Hester was born in Scott township, this county, August 13, 1844. Ile is a son of Adam and Ann M. ( VanZandt ) Hester, who came here from Fleming county, Kentucky, about 1828 or 1830, locating first in Putnam county, just across the line from Montgomery county. Three or four years later the elder Hester moved his family across the line into Scott township, Montgomery county, buying a farm near the southwestern corner of the township, and there established the permanent home of the family, and there James M., our subject, was born, he being one of five sons and four dangh- ters, of which family one son and one daughter died in infancy. Our sub- jeet was about twenty years old when his mother died, and after one of his sisters married he made his home with her. He received such educational advantages as the schools of his time afforded. In 1875 he married Lucy Eads, daughter of James Wiley Eads and Elizabeth ( Martin) Eads. She was born and reared in Brown township, this county, where her parents had settled in an early day, having come here from Shelbyville, Kentucky. After his marriage Mr. Hester rented land and farmed in this way for a period of thirteen years, during which he got a good start, having remained in Brown township all the while. He then moved into Scott township, where he has since resided, and he now owns a finely improved and valuable farm of his own along the Greencastle and Crawfordsville road, a mile north of Parkers- burg.
Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hester, namely: Stella May, the eldest, is at home with her parents ; Charles Wallace, who is farming near Lapland, married Vermelia Hampton, and they have one daughter, Au- tumn ; Elmer is represented in this work in a separate sketch: Lillie Blanche married Arch Stilwell. and they live a short distance north of her parents, and have two children, Norma D. and Thomas.
Mr. and Mrs. Hester belong to the Christian church, and politically. he ·is a Republican.
Adam Hester settled near Parkersburg away back in the days of the first settlers in Montgomery county. Before the days of pike roads and trains he hauled lime to Crawfordsville with oxen, which lime was used in the building of the first court house of the county, or more properly the first after the original log court house. He also hauled lime to Lebanon. When he came here the Cornstalk Indians were still living along the creek bearing that name.
Ann Mann VanZandt, mother of our subject, was a daughter of Aaron VanZandt and wife. Aaron VanZandt and his two sisters owned an enor-
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mous quantity of land, now a part of the city of Philadelphia. He removed to Kentucky and they leased the land for a period of ninety-nine years. This land has now been turned over to the heirs, who are probably all descendants of Aaron VanZandt, whose children were Mary, who married Moses Bridges, of Filmore; Mandy, who married Anthony Bowen, of Maysville, Indiana ; another daughter, probably Jane, married a Hillgoss at Rushville, Indiana ;; also Bennett, who is believed to have remained near Shelbyville, Indiana; John lived near Flemingsburg, Kentucky; Isaiah was a hotel keeper at Elizabethville for many years in the early days.
WILLIAM L. ANDERSON.
There is a great deal in being born under a good eye, one that watches and guards off the error and folly that overtake so many young men. The parents are able to infuse into their children the spirit of the Spartans-the spirit that can meet any fate and make the most of the world-will see their children grow to years of maturity with excellent habits and splendid prin- ciples and see them become exemplary citizens. William L. Anderson, one of Montgomery county's progressive agriculturists and public-spirited men of affairs, was fortunate in having broad-minded, honest and painstaking parents. He was taught from the start the duties of life, not ordinary instruction, but the higher duties which all owe to each other and to society. The result has been to give him broad ideas of life and its responsibilities and to fit him for honorable citizenship. He is a talented minister and versatile writer, also.
Mr. Anderson was born in Brown county, Indiana, on July 15, 1847, but nearly all of his life has been spent in Montgomery county whither his parents removed with him in 1849, locating on the farm where our subject now lives in Section 7, Clark township, having conducted the Ladoga Gardens for many years with great success.
He is a son of Madison B. and Salome (Harshbarger) Anderson. The father was a farmer and manufacturer of molasses near Ladoga. He was born in Montgomery county, Virginia, September 2, 1822 and was a son of Joseph and Christina (Britts) Anderson. In 1837 the family removed from the Old Dominion to Morgan county, Indiana. When twenty-one years of age Madison B. Anderson started in life for himself and came to Montgomery county in 1844. he and Salome Harshbarger marrying the same year. She was born in Virginia in 1824, and came with her parents, Jacob and Salome Harshbarger, to Montgomery county, Indiana, in 1831. In 1857 when sugar
WILLIAM L. ANDERSON
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cane was first introduced here, Madison B. Anderson was one of the first to engage in the manufacture of molasses. He experimented a great deal and greatly improved the method of manufacture. He was an energetic man and spent much time and money in improving his processes, and, owing to the superior quality of his products, they were always in great demand.
The early education of William L. Anderson was obtained in the Ladoga Seminary and Academy, and in 1869 he entered Kentucky University, where he remained until 1871, making an excellent record for scholarship. In 1872 he entered Meadville Theological School in Pennsylvania, from which institu- tion he was graduated in 1874. Following his graduation he was for two years tutor in Latin and Greek in the last named school, and at the same time he had charge of the church at Milledgeville and also that of Oil City. He had united with the Christian church in 1866 and began preaching the follow- ing year. Having completed his college work he became pastor of the church at Aurora, Ohio, after which he preached for the church at Bedford, Ohio.
Having concluded to combine preaching and teaching, he returned to Ladoga, Indiana, and attended the Indiana Central Normal and Business Col- lege, from which he was graduated. He then taught two years in the Ladoga public schools and was elected principal, but accepted the position of superin- tendent of the township schools at New Winchester, Indiana. In 1880, he became pastor of the church of his denomination in Greenfield, Indiana. At the close of this ministry, he decided to secure a fixed home, that he might train and educate his children; and ever since that time he has resided on his fine farm adjoining Ladoga, where school facilities are good. . As a minister he was very successful, being an able theological scholar, an earnest, logical, and not infrequently truly eloquent pulpit orator, and he greatly strengthened the churches where he was pastor and was popular with the various congrega- tions he served.
Mr. Anderson has made a success of gardening and has built up a busi- ness known and patronized for miles around. At the same time he has en- gaged extensively in preaching, lecturing and writing for various periodicals. One of his most popular lectures is entitled, "Historical Evidences of the Truths of the Bible." It has been widely quoted and eulogized. He has written a small work on "Divorce and Remarriage," which has been widely circulated, which he has heard from not only from coast to coast in his own country, but also from Africa. Two of his books have recently come from the press, "The History of Ladoga and Vicinity" and the "History of the Harshbargers."
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Mr. Anderson is an ardent Prohibitionist and has been twice nominated for the legislature on that ticket. He has been frequently employed by that party in campaign work and has canvassed several counties in the state. In the various organizations formed by the farmers of his county some years ago he took active part and was chairman of the joint committees of those organizations. Great interest was aroused and much accomplished. He has been a champion of every progressive movement in his age in which he has always been aggressive. He is considered by some as radical if not fanatical, however, the majority of people praise him for the great good he is ac- complishing.
Mr. Anderson was married in 1874 to Ora Johnson, a lady of culture and refinement, and to this union five children have been born, namely : Anna, Allie, Angie, Paul and Harry. They are all well educated, having passed through high school and taken college work also. For many years Anna has taught in the South and at present is connected with the Southern Chris- tian Institute, in charge of the mathematical department, at Edwards, Missis- sippi. Allie, after leaving business college, took a position with the Phelps Publishing Company in Massachusetts. She now has a business of her own and occupies an office in the Board of Trade Building at Indianapolis. After teaching some years Angie married William Lee, then superintendent of schools in New Haven, Indiana. She now resides at Markle, this state. The two sons have been connected with various educational institutions in the United States. They have been employed by the government at different times as experts in botanical research. At present Paul is connected with Cornell University, at Ithaca, New York; and Harry is with Wabash College, at Crawfordsville, Indiana. Paul was sent by Cornell University to investi- gate the effect of fumes and dust from cement mills on the great orchards in New York that were being ruined by the many cement mills nearby. Paul's investigations proved that the dust and fumes were injurious, then taught the mill men how to collect the dust and make a valuable by-product of it. He was later sent to Pennsylvania to investigate the blight that was killing the chestnut timber of that state, a valuable natural resource. His brother Harry was one of his assistants. He made a thorough and widespread investigation, extending into many states, and succeeded in finding the remedy. Both Paul and Harry are experts in their lines and are quoted as authority on the sub- jects they handle. Harry from infancy has evidenced absorbing interest in nature study, collecting and classifying moths and butterflies, also Indian relics and other things found in the great outdoors.
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William L. Anderson is known as an accurate and thorough investigator, much interested in the general welfare of humanity, aggressive for the right, fearlessly championing the right even if he should stand alone. He is kind and considerate of others, generous, obliging and courteous and is popular with all who know him. He owns thirty-two acres of land which he culti- vates as a garden.
JOHN D. HOLLAND.
A well known merchant and business man of Waveland, Montgomery county, is John D. Holland. His earnestness of purpose and intense desire to live in accord with his highest ideals of right, has had no little influence in moulding the lives and character of those with whom he was associated, and his career as a busy and successful man of affairs is absolutely blameless in the community where he has so long lived and acted his part. As a citizen he commands great esteem, and it is a tribute well deserved to class him with the representative men of this section of the county. Being at the very meridian of life, with vigorous physical powers and mental attributes of no mean order, he bids fair to reach the advanced age of his father and con- tinue to be in the future as he has been in the past-a power for good in the community.
Mr. Holland was born in Brown township, Montgomery county, April 10, 1879. He is a son of Joseph O. and Nancy Elizabeth ( Smith) Holland. The father was born in New York City, and the mother was a native of Indiana. The father came to Indiana in 1864 and settled near Parkersburg, where he was married, later moving near New Market, Montgomery county.
Our subject's grandfather, John Holland, came to the United States from England as a stowaway, at the age of twelve years. He was a sailor by profession. He established his home in New York City and he followed the sea until a bale of cotton fell on him in 1860. His death occurred in 1861.
Joseph O. Holland's family consisted of four children, namely: John D., of this sketch; William Allen lives in Oregon; Ira J. lives in Roachdale, Indiana ; Ida May married William Shure, of Roachdale, Indiana, and they have two children.
John D. Holland grew to manhood on the home farm in Brown town- ship and received a common school education. In 1900 he married Bertha May Purcell, daughter of James R. Purcell and wife. Mrs. Holland's death occurred in 1905 at the age of twenty-eight years, leaving three children,
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namely : George M., born December 18, 1901; Joseph E., born in April, 1904; and John Bert, born in April, 1905.
Mr. Holland first took up farming, later following blacksmithing, then began huckstering, then clerked in a store. When he first came to Waveland he entered the poultry business in 1895, and in 1897 opened a grocery and notion store, later taking up the general mercantile business, in which he is still active, carrying a large stock of goods usually found in such stores and enjoying an extensive trade with the surrounding country.
Politically, he is a Democrat. He belongs to the Free and Accepted Masons, No. 300, at Waveland, and the Modern Woodmen of America, No. 9589, at Waveland. He is a member of the Baptist church.
JOHN S. BAKER.
It is a pleasure to place on the pages of history the life record, however brief and unsatisfactory, of such a man as the late John S. Baker, who was one of the courageous pioneers of this locality and who labored here through a long life of successful endeavor, during which he not only advanced his own interests but also those of the community in general, for he was one of those neighborly, unselfish and hospitable gentlemen who delighted in seeing others progress, and he was so honest that those coming in contact with him need not be told of the fact, it was apparent in all his dealings and relations with his fellow men.
Mr. Baker was born in Kentucky, which state furnished more enter- prising settlers to Montgomery county than any other, the date of his birth being December 8, 1827. He was a son of Isaac and Patsy (Sparks) Baker. The father was born on February 5, 1801, and the mother's birth occurred on March 30, 1802. Isaac Baker was a native of Kentucky, where he grew to manhood and remained until 1830, when he removed to Montgomery county, Indiana, with his family, when his son, John S., of this memoir, was three years old. The family located in Clark township, entering land from the government. Mrs. Baker now lives in New Ross. The elder Baker was a typical pioneer, and he did the usual amount of hard work clearing and de- veloping his land. His family consisted of two children, John S., of this memoir ; and Jonas, deceased.
John S. Baker grew to manhood on the old homestead in Clark town- ship, and there he found plenty of hard work to do, like all pioneer children.
JOHN S. BAKER
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He received a meager education in the early schools of his day, and when a young man took up farming, which he continued all his life, making a com- fortable living for his family, leaving eighty acres of excellent and productive land in Clark township, which his widow rents.
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