USA > Indiana > Montgomery County > History of Montgomery county, Indiana; with personal sketches of representative citizens, Volume II > Part 42
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Five children have been born to our subject and wife, namely: Pearl, who married Ward Graves, was born on July 18, 1893, and they have one child, Lois Yvonne, born February II, 1913; Marie was born March 23, 1895; Louis was born on May 8, 1896; Gladys was born on March 18, 1899; Olive was born on August 6, 1907. These children are all attending school but the oldest and youngest, and are making excellent grades; Gladys had the honor of receiving the highest grade of any pupil in Montgomery county in the graded schools, and was also next to the youngest to graduate from the Wingate school. She is now in her second year in high school.
Mr. Goff began farming for himself when young and this has remained his principal vocation, however, he owned a large lumber yard at Wingate for some time, and is now dealing considerably in real estate there. He has been very successful in whatever line he has directed his efforts and is one of the substantial men of this part of the county. He is the owner of three hun- dred and seventy acres of rich land, one hundred and sixty acres of which lie in Coal Creek township, and two hundred and ten acres in Wayne township.
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It is nearly all tillable and is very productive and valuable. Mr. Goff built his own home.
Politically, he is a Democrat and takes an interest in local affairs, how- ever he is not a seeker after public office. He belongs to the Baptist church at Elmdale.
AETNA B. CURTIS.
Aetna B. Curtis, one of the leading and most progressive agriculturists of Coal Creek township, Montgomery county, has proved what one can ac- complish who has industry, application and foresight while yet young in years. His family name is an honored one all over the land. Prominent citizens of varied professions and business, distinguished authors, orators, judges, statesmen, soldiers and farmers have borne the name of Curtis, and all alike, both rich and poor, have been the descendants of sterling English ancestry. More than two centuries ago the name of Curtis was a familiar one among the struggling colonists who laid the firm foundation of our national independence. But in whatever field members of this old family have labored that have, been known as earnest, honest, intelligent workers, leaders in their several communities.
Aetna B. Curtis was born in the township and county where he now resides on May 16, 1884. He is a son of Daniel W. and Julia A. (Stout ) Curtis, a well known family of farmers of this county.
Daniel Curtis was undoubtedly named in honor of his paternal grand- father, Daniel Curtis, who was a native of Maryland and a man of more than ordinary courage and ability. He served as a soldier in the early history of the United States, and afterward, marrying a Miss Pocock, also a native of Maryland and a lady of excellent family connections, transmitted to his descendants the love of his country and the ardent patriotism of the true American. This couple became the parents of eight children, most of whom lived to marry and rear children of their own. They were Levi, Jane, Joseph, Mary, James, Temperance, Wesley.
Levi, the eldest son, was the paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch. He was born in Butler county, Ohio, in 1817. He married Eliza- beth Dick who was born in Hartford county, Maryland, in 1821, the daugh- ter of Adam and Temperance (Wadlow) Dick. Adam Dick was a native of Pennsylvania, a worthy man and a good citizen. He was also a soldier in our earlier wars. The parents of Daniel Curtis settled in Montgomery
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county, Indiana, in a very early day, and were prosperous, the father leaving behind at his death a comfortable estate.
Daniel Curtis enjoyed the advantages afforded by the district schools, and grew up to manhood amid the scenes and early associations of his life. He was married when twenty-five years of age to Julia Stout, which union resulted in the birth of two children, one of whom died in infancy ; the other being Aetna B., of this sketch.
Daniel Curtis became a well known manufacturer of tile at the town of Wingate, and he also devoted much of his life to farming. As a tiller of the soil he had a wide experience and profitable results. His father left him an inheritance of three hundred and thirty acres of valuable land, and, as a wise investment, Daniel Curtis added to his farming property a fine tract of four hundred acres of land. In 1881 Mr. Curtis bought an interest with Maurice J. Lee in the tile mill business, of which he had the management during the rest of his life. At the expiration of five years he purchased Mr. Lee's interest, and from 1886 until his death he was sole proprietor of the business which he built up to large proportions through his able management, honest dealings and wise foresight.
Daniel Curtis was not a politician in the ordinary acceptation of the term, but he was well informed as to the matters of his day, especially the conduct of local affairs, and was a Democrat, adhering strictly to his party's principles. Fraternally, Mr. Curtis was identified with the Knights of Pythias, and socially had a host of friends in the community where he spent his life. He was born in 1853, and he was called to his eternal rest on November 17, 1902, at the age of forty-nine years, when in the prime of life, having been born in the year 1853 and spent his life here. His widow is still living, making her home with her son, Aetna B., of this sketch, and she is now fifty-five years old.
Aetna B. Curtis grew to manhood on the home farm and he received his education in the common schools of Wingate and Depauw University at Greencastle. Early in life he turned his attention to farming and is still active, being now the owner of one of the finest and most desirable farms in the northwestern part of the county, consisting of four hundred and ninety- two acres, which is under a high state of improvement and cultivation, and where general farming and stock raising are carried on extensively. He has an attractive home and numerous substantial outbuildings. Everything about the place denotes good management and thrift.
Mr. Curtis was married on October 12, 1904, to Mabel E. Burd, daugh-
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ter of John H. and Jennie E. (McCarty) Burd, both natives of Iowa, where they continued to reside until Mr. Burd's death two years ago, after which the mother moved to California where she now resides.
One child has been born to our subject and wife, Homer Bryan Curtis. Religiously, Mr. Curtis is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and he is prominent in fraternal circles, being a member of Knights of Pythias at Wingate; Free and Accepted Masons, No. 633, Mercer Lodge; the Com- mandery at Crawfordsville, the Scottish Rite at Indianapolis, and the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, Murat Temple, also at Indi- anapolis.
HENRY E. TENNANT.
One who was amply rewarded for his toil as a husbandman and who at the same time so ordered his life as to gain and retain the good will and re- spect of his neighbors and acquaintances was Henry E. Tennant, well known agriculturist and stock raiser of Scott township, Montgomery county, a descendant of the well known and influential Tennant family of Putnam county, the good reputation of which he ever kept unsullied.
Mr. Tennant was born in Putnam county, Indiana, November 3, 1856. He was a son of Elijah and Mary E. (Chenoweth) Tennante The father was born near Lexington, Kentucky, and he came to Putnam county, Indiana, in a very early day, probably soon after the county was settled. Mary E. Chenoweth was a daughter of John W. Chenoweth and wife, her family hav- ing come from near Harper's Ferry, Virginia, and drove a stage from Balti- more north over the mountains. When Mary E. was a girl about fifteen years old her people came to Putnam county, Indiana, prior to the days of railroads in this state. Her father was a slave owner and one of the old negroes on their plantation followed him to Greencastle, and Mr. Chenoweth took care of her the rest of her life. The elder Chenoweth thought it wrong to sell slaves and' divide their families, so he was good to those about him. When they were freed some of them refused to leave and remained with him.
The parents of our subject were married in Putnam county, and there they began farming about a mile and a half south of Greencastle. In 1862 when our subject was six years old, his father died, leaving a widow and two children, Henry E., of this sketch; and Lawrence, both of whom are de- ceased. Lawrence lived at Brazil, Indiana, his death occurring there March,
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1901. Henry E. Tennant died in the city of Indianapolis on June 12, 1913. The mother of these two children married again, her second husband being John R. Miller, and they soon afterward moved to Parke county, where our subject grew to manhood, and there he attended the common schools, later was a student at Merome College, south of Terre Haute in Sullivan county. He then returned to his Parke county home. In 1877 he bought a farm on Big Raccoon creek in Parke county, about one hundred and fifty-five acres, and there he lived some time before his marriage, which occurred in Decem- ber, 1879, when he le dto the altar Sarah J. Miller, daughter of Jacob B. and Elizabeth (Kerr) Miller. She was born and reared in Parke county, as was also her father, and these parents spent the rest of their lives in this locality. Jacob B. Miller was a son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Bell) Miller. The elder Miller was a pioneer of Parke county, coming there before there were any roads or any improved farms, indeed, when Indians were still numerous.
After the marriage of our subject and wife they remained on his farm in Parke county three years, then sold out and bought a place in Champaign county, Illinois, and was there three years, then moved back to Parke county, remaining there another three years, then moved to Vermillion county, where they purchased one hundred and twenty acres of good land near Dana. Remaining there about nine years, then came to Montgomery county and settled about a mile south of Browns Valley, buying there the Robert Goff farm, which they operated about three years, then returned to Parke county, living south of Bellmore two years. They then came to the southwestern part of Scott township, Montgomery county, where they remained about nine years, Mr. Tennant securing two farms there, one of one hundred and forty- two acres in section 30, and another of fifty acres in section 29. He resided on the latter. His one hundred and ninety-two acres are well improved and kept well cultivated.
Mrs. Tennant's mother died on January 6, 1864 and her father survived many years, passing away on November 19, 1896 at the old home where he spent his life.
Mr. Tennant's mother had four children by her second marriage, namely : Mrs. Lizzie Jeffries, Daniel Miller, Robert Miller, and Mrs. Effie Bullion.
Mrs. Tennant's brothers and sisters are Mrs. Mary E. Smock, Marion Miller, Mrs. Sarah J. Tennant, Mrs. Rosella Sellers, Thomas O. Miller, Cora E. Miller and Robert O. Miller.
Years after Mrs. Tennant's mother died the father married again and lias one son by this union, Jacob B. Miller.
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Mr. and Mrs. Tennant had one daughter, Mary T., wife of Charles N. Nicholas. Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas live on Mr. Tennant's farm in section 30, Scott township. They have one daughter, Lelah.
Fraternally, Mr. Tennant was a member of the Knights of Pythias.
Mr. Tennant's step-father died in January, 1897. Our subject's mother lived for a short time with her children. She spent the last four years of her life with the subject of this sketch, and died at his home on August 31, 19II.
JAMES MILTON NICHOLAS, JR.
The name of James Milton Nicholas, Jr., is too well known to the people of Scott township and the southern part of the county of which this book treats to need any special comment here. He comes of an excellent old pioneer family who braved the wilds of this section of the Hoosier state when it was still regarded as the frontier, and in Montgomery and Putnam counties the Nicholas family has been well and favorably known for many decades, for they have not only been industrious in their affairs, but have been public spirited and led exemplary lives, thus inspiring admiration in others.
Mr. Nicholas was born on July 20, 1853 in the northern edge of Putnam county. He is a son of James Milton, Sr., and Manda Catherine ( Hester) Nicholas. The father was born on August 7, 1822 at Mt. Sterling, Ken- tucky, and was a son of Charles and Ruth Nicholas, of Mt. Sterling, at which place Charles Nicholas followed blacksmithing.
It was about 1828 that the Nicholas family left the Blue Grass state and came to Putnam county, Indiana, entering land from the government in the northern part of the county, settling in the heavy timber, which they cleared from the virgin soil and established the family home, and there the parents spent their lives, along the line of Putnam county, near Parkersburg, and it was in that locality that James M. Nicholas, Sr., grew to manhood and en- gaged in farming all his life with much success, finally becoming the owner of six hundred and forty acres at one time. He was active in the Republican party, and frequently refused to accept office. He and his wife belonged to the Methodist church.
Catherine Hester, mentioned above, was a daughter of Adam and Ann M. (Van Zandt) Hester, and was a sister of. James M. Hester, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this volume, and which gives more of the Hester ancestry.
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James M. Nicholas, Sr., died on May 20, 1900. He had been married on October 15, 1846 to Amanda Hester, which union proved to be a singularly happy one and their home was a Christian home. " They were loyal to their God and their church-the Methodist Episcopal. Eleven children were born to them, eight of whom survived. The father was familiarly known to nearly everybody in that locality as "Uncle Jim." His last words to his children were, "Don't forget to be good to the poor." By judicious management he had accumulated a large, valuable farm and was one of the substantial men of his township. He was always ready to respond liberally to the call of those in need. He was a positive character, decided in his opinions, and when sure he was right could not be swerved from his duty as he saw it. His schooling was obtained in the old log school house, described in another part of this work. Yet he became a well educated man, kept books and ac- counts of all his business and amassed six hundred and forty acres. He and his wife started with nothing but they worked hard and managed well. For a period of fifty years he was an official in the Methodist church in which he and his wife were faithful workers. Her death occurred on January II, 1899. She was a cheerful, strong-minded and kindly woman who did much to encourage and help her husband in his struggle for success.
James M. Nicholas, Jr., lived on his father's farm near Raccoon until his marriage. He received a good common school education. On Septem- ber 12, 1875 he was united in the bonds of matrimony to Mary Alice Dawson, daughter of William Riley Dawson and Elizabeth Rebecca (Tyler) Dawson. She was born near Fincastle, Indiana, and when a child her parents moved to Carpentersville. Her father was a life-long school teacher and his services were in great demand in the early days here. He was a native of Tennessee, and his wife was born in Kentucky, and she was a sister of James M. Taylor, of Ladoga, a sketch of whom appears herein. William R. Dawson was a graduate at Greencastle, and he taught in a number of the schools in Putnani county and a host of Putnam county people still remember with keenest feelings their old school teacher. He is a grand old man, scholarly, kind and genial, beloved by everybody. He has attained the advanced age of ninety years and is living at Bainbridge, Indiana. The death of the mother of Mrs. Nicholas occurred in March, 1872, at the age of thirty-six years. When Mrs. Nicholas was a girl the family lived a few years in Missouri and Iowa, but spent their lives for the most part in Putnam county.
After his marriage Mr. Nicholas began farming for himself in the south- western part of Scott township, Montgomery county. Part of his land ex-
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tends just across the line into Putnam county. He has worked hard, man- aged well and has more than doubled his original holdings, being now one of the substantial and influential farmers of the southern part of the county. He has given his sons a good start in life and now has one hundred and ninety acres of finely improved land, mostly in Scott township, and he has a good set of buildings there, and an excellent grade of live stock is to be seen about his place.
Mr. Nicholas is generous in charitable work and church matters and is esteemed by all who know him.
To Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas have been born two sons, Arthur Carleton, whose birth occurred on October 21, 1876; and Charles William, born Octo- and they have three children, Ina Myrtle, Agnes Marie and Gail Belle; Ina is ber 11, 1878. The elder son married Gertie Allnutt on February 4, 1897 attending high school in Russellville. Arthur owns a farm of fifty-eight acres north of Parkersburg and he and his father are farming their two farms in partnership. Charles W. Nicholas married Mary Tennant Novem- ber 1, 1906, and they have one daughter, Lela Elizabeth. Charles W. is operating the farm owned by his father-in-law, Henry E. Tennant, near Parkersburg.
James M. Nicholas is a member of the Modern Woodmen, and Knights of Pythias. He and his wife, also their children and families are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
ASBURY LINN.
Success has come to Asbury Linn, one of the best known and substantial. citizens of Linnsburg, Montgomery county, in a number of different ways and he has proved that he is a man of many parts, capable of directing to a successful termination many things. He has in his long, varied and interest- ing career been farmer, merchant, lumberman, doing a large and successful business in all these lines. He has always sought to do well whatever was worth doing at all, and this and other equally praiseworthy ideas have no doubt been responsible in a large measure for his large material reward. He has dealt honestly with his fellow men and has as a result gained and re- tained the good will and esteem of all with whom he has come into contact, whether in a business or social way.
Mr. Linn was born in Walnut township, this county, on February 23,
ASBURY LINN.
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1849. He is a son of John and Susanna (Fender) Linn. The father was born in Olio on August 4, 1800, and his father was born on November 28, 1771, in Pennsylvania, from which state he removed to Ohio when young and there spent the rest of his life, dying in 1846, at the age of seventy-five years. After his death the father of our subject came to Indiana and settled in Mont- gomery county where Linnsburg now stands. He was a brick mason by trade and he spent the rest of his life in this county. He married Anna Slaback in 1822. She died in 1843 at the age of thirty-eight years. To this union three children were born. John Linn then married, in 1843, Susanna Fen- der, to which two children were born, namely: Mrs. Emmaline Peterson; and Asbury, of this sketch. The mother of these two children was called to her eternal rest at an advanced age on July 11, 1900, having survived her husband, our subject's father, over a half century, he having died in Septem- ber, 1858, when young in years.
Thus deprived of his father's guidance when a mere child, Asbury Linn found responsibilities resting on him when quite young, but this proved to be of value in forming his character for the after battles of life and he accepted the discouraging situation without a murmur. He had little chance to obtain an education, but later in life made up for this lack by actual contact with the business world and wide reading.
On January 23, 1868, Mr. Linn began a new chapter in his life by marrying Martha J. Rasher, daughter of a pioneer family of Montgomery county, in which Mrs. Linn grew to womanhood and was educated. To the union of our subject and wife the following children have been born : Charles F., born April 9, 1869; Edwin T., born November 28, 1870; Everett N., born October 5, 1872; Grace D., born January 5, 1874, married John O. Peck, and had one child, Clayton; Grace died July, 1904; Neola Fern, born December 21, 1886, and married Wilbert Chambers, and they have two children, Doris and Max. Martha J. Linn, the wife of our subject, died in July, 1904, the same month as her daughter, Grace.
Mr. Linn was married a second time, on May 6, 1906, to Tolitha E. Patterson, nee Brown, the daughter of William H. and Nancy J. (Routh) Brown.
James W. Patterson, the first husband of Mr. Linn's second wife, was born January II, 1859, in Rockbridge county, Virginia, and at the age of eight years came to Montgomery county with his parents, Jamestown and Polly Patterson, who located in Walnut township and followed farming all of their lives. Mr. Patterson suffered an unfortunate accident, and his spinal
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cord was broken. Contrary to medical knowledge and experience, he lived, and, although paralyzed, he kept the breath of life many years. The acci- dent happened while driving into a double crib or granary, the wagon being loaded with sacks of wheat protruding over the front end of the wagon box. He was sitting on the front sacks with his feet and 'legs hanging over the front, supposing that by bending over there was plenty of space above the door for him to pass under. But there was not. His body was bent over and wedged in so tightly between the wagon and the top of the door that it stopped the team. He heard his back crack and felt it break and from that time there was never any feeling or movement from the middle of the back downward. He had presence of mind all the time and directed the men about him to deliver him from his terrible position.
Many eminent surgeons saw Mr. Peterson and one of the best of Chicago performed (in the presence of many surgeons) an operation, cutting into the spinal column and dissecting quite a number of pieces of bone. After this it was hoped he would have the use of his limbs, but this was denied to him. He laid upon his bed all those years, with the exception of one trip to Crawfordsville, one to Ladoga, and one to Jamestown. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Patterson, Pearly, Ernest and Charles. Mr. Pat- terson had four sisters and two brothers, namely: John B., Thomas, and one sister in Virginia and one in Missouri, Mrs. James Walker and Mrs. Finch. Mr. Patterson was a member of the Presbyterian church.
To return to the subject of our sketch, Mr. Linn began farming when a young man and got a good start in life. Later he turned his attention to merchandising at Linsburg, which place was named for the Linn family. The town was formerly known as Mace. Linnsburg is laid out on the old John Linn homestead. In this place Asbury Linn built up an extensive trade with the surrounding country, and was finally appointed postmaster, which posi- tion he held with credit to himself and to the satisfaction of all concerned for a period of seventeen years, during which time he was actively engaged in the stock business with good success, in partnership with M. E. Edwards. Later he entered the lumber business, and in due time was carrying on an extensive trade with the surrounding country, continuing the same for a period of three years, then retired from active life and is now serenely spend- ing his declining years at Linnsburg.
Politically, Mr. Linn is a Republican, but he has never been ambitious to be a public man. For a period of seven years he was a member of the advisory board of his township, filling the office in a highly commendable .
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manner. Fraternally, he is a charter member of the Knights of Pythias lodge at Mace, Indiana, which he joined on October 19, 1874. Religiously, he was reared in the faith of the Methodists, from which he has not departed.
ROBERT HUGH HODGKIN.
One of Montgomery county's successful farmers is Robert Hugh Hodgkin of Brown township, a worthy descendant of one of the early families of this section of the Hoosier state, and here he has been content to spend his life and has never cared for other lines of endeavor than husbandry, and, having thus given it his undivided attention for many decades it is no wonder that he has succeeded and now owns a valuable farm and has a com- fortable home.
Mr. Hodgkin was born in Parke county, Indiana, March 31, 1853, and he is a son of Edward C. and Dianna ( Scott) Hodgkin, the former a native of England and the latter a native of Scotland. The father emigrated to the United States when a young man, landing in New York City and re- mained in the East for many years, and there got his education, studying for a minister in the Episcopal church. He finally came to Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he preached and taught school, subsequently joining the Christian denomination, and he became widely known in that part of the state and was popular with the people wherever he went, for he was not only a scholarly man and an earnest, forceful speaker but was a man of genial address, always obliging and delighted in helping others, and the good he did in that early day cannot be estimated. He preached and taught school all his life. He finally came on to Parke county and established the permanent home of the family and there his son, our subject was born. The elder Hodgkin spent the rest of his days, teaching and preaching in Putnam and Parke counties, his death occurring in the town of Russellville in 1866 where he was con- nected with the Russellville Academy, at the early age of forty-seven years.
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