USA > Indiana > Vermillion County > History of Parke and Vermillion Counties, Indiana : with historical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families > Part 63
USA > Indiana > Parke County > History of Parke and Vermillion Counties, Indiana : with historical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families > Part 63
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PARKE AND VERMILLION COUNTIES, INDIAN.I.
Mr. Snow was married in October, 1886, to Mary E. Bryant and to this union six children have been born, namely: Robert, who married Melissa Chaney; Herschel was next in order: Edith is the wife of Rufus Daniels; Roy, Cecil and Hazel are in school.
Fraternally, Mr. Snow belongs to the Knights of Pythias, being trustee of the local lodge; he also holds membership with the Modern Woodmen, being manager of the local camp, and he has been active and prominent in both for some time. Politically, he is a Republican and wields considerable influence locally, being more or less active in the ranks.
VOORHEES HUXFORD.
The prosperity and substantial welfare of a town or community are in a large measure due to the enterprise and. wise foresight of its business men. It is progressive, wide-awake men of affairs that make the real history of a community, and their influence in shaping and directing its varied interests is difficult to estimate. Voorhees Huxford, for a number of years one of the alert and industrious men of affairs of Parke county, is one of the enterpris- ing spirits to whom is due the recent substantial improvements of his section of the county, whose interests he has ever had at heart. With a mind capable of planning, he combines a will strong enough to execute his well-formulated purposes, and his great energy, keen discrimination and perseverance have resulted in material success as a farmer, general contractor and builder of gravel roads.
Mr. Huxford was born on August 27, 1862, on the old Huxford home- stead in Parke county, Indiana, and is a son of John and Matilda (Driver) Huxford, one of our sterling early families who became well known in Parke county.
Vorhees Huxford grew to manhood in his native township and there received his education in the common schools. When twenty-one years of age his father started him out as a farmer, and the lad forged gradually ahead until he became one of the leading farmers of his community. When crops were poor he took up carpentering, also learned the cement business, at which he worked from time to time, and while he has made general farming his main life work he has been very successful in a financial way as a con- tractor and builder of houses and gravel roads, his work always giving emi- nent satisfaction, for it has ever been not only well but honestly done, so
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that he enjoys the confidence of the people, and his services are in constant demand. His fine farm consists of one hundred acres, which he has put under excellent improvements and a high state of cultivation. He is also the owner of a fine farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Texas, a valuable lot in Ashdown, Arkansas, and other property, all of which he has made by his own indomitable efforts. He has made frequent trips, traveling extensively in Nebraska. Texas, Arkansas and other states, and, being by nature a keen observer, he has been greatly benefited by what he has seen; but his principal interests have remained in Parke county, he having made but one move in his life, and that was in 1882, when he moved from a log cabin into his present attractive and commodious dwelling which he built himself and which is one of the coziest homes in the township, modern in every detail.
Mr. Huxford was married in 1882 to Elizabeth Florence Nevins. daughter of Harry and Hannah ( Burnett) Nevins, a highly respected fam- ily and influential in their community. To the subject and wife nine children have been born, of whom those living are: Rose E., Charles W., Herman V., John Wilmer and Ellis ; four children are dead.
Politically, Mr. Huxford is a Democrat, and he and his family attend the Christian church.
GEORGE HENRY SALMON.
Success is only achieved by the exercise of certain distinguishing quali- ties and it cannot be retained without effort. Those by whom great epoch changes have been made in the political and industrial world began early in life to prepare themselves for their peculiar duties and responsibilities, and it was only by the most persevering and continuous endeavor that they suc- ceeded in rising superior to the obstacles in their way and reaching the goal of their ambition. Such lives are an inspiration to others who are less cour- ageous. Judging from the record George Salmon, well known farmer of Parke county, Indiana, is making, he has carefully laid the foundation for large future success, some of which he has already achieved. He is one of our worthiest native sons, who has been content to spend his life in his own com- munity, the interests of which and the county he has ever had at heart and sought to promote. He is the scion of one of our sterling pioneer families, the good name of which he has ever upheld.
Mr. Salmon was born on the home farm, which he still occupies, located
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less than a mile from Rosedale, Indiana, March 8, 1869. He is a son of Joseph and Eleanor (Doty) Salmon, a complete sketch of whom appears on another page of this work, hence need not be reproduced here.
George H. Salmon grew upon the farm and there has always worked from the time he was old enough. During the winter months he was to be found in the neighboring schools, where he received a good practical education. He has been very successful as a general farmer and stock raiser, having worked hard and managed well, and he is the owner of one of the best farms in this part of the county, consisting of three hundred acres, which has always been known as the Salmon farm. The subject has kept the place well tilled and improved in an up-to-date manner, so that it ranks with the best in the county, and has retained its original fertility. Here he carries on general farming and stock raising on an extensive scale.
Mr. Salmon was married on October 2, 1891, to Henrietta Boatman, daughter of one of the highly respected families of this locality. To this union three children have been born, named in order of birth as follows: Flossie, who received an excellent education and who has made one of the successful school teachers of the county, is living at home; Claude is assisting his father with the work on the home farm; Leah, the youngest child, is at home and is attending school.
Fraternally, Mr. Salmon is a member of the Modern Woodmen, and in religious matters he belongs to the Church of Christ. Politically, he is a Re- publican, and while he has never made an effort to be a leader in public affairs, yet his support could always be depended upon in movements having for their object the general good of his township and county.
CHARLES BENNETT.
One of the most enterprising and successful young farmers of the vicinity of Rosedale, Indiana, is Charles Bennett, a man who has made a careful study of the methods of general husbandry, the oldest of the world's arts, for all will agree, who are in any way conversant with agriculture, that it is an art, and one, too, that is not by any means mastered by all. It requires a man of close observing powers, a highly developed perceptive faculty, thrift. persistency and fortitude, and the idler and the dreamer never need try their hand at it, for on such the contents of the fabled horn of Cornucopia will never be poured.
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Mr. Bennett, who is the owner of a valuable and highly productive farmi of fifty-six acres, which he is managing with ever-increasing success, was born on May 13, 1873, in Mecca, Indiana. He is a son of Reuben and Mar- tha (Biller) Bennett. The father was born in Indiana and has devoted his life to farming. His father was one of the early settlers of this state and the family has been well known in the sections of Hoosierdom in which they have resided from that early day to this. To Reuben Bennett and wife were born a large family, but only three of them are living at this writing, namely : Isabelle, who married a Mr. Wright; Charles, of this review ; and Emmett.
Charles Bennett grew to manhood on his father's farm and there assisted with the general work of the same, and he received his education in the common schools, but he is very largely self-educated, having ever been a wide reader and a home student.
Mr. Bennett was married in 1894 to Maggie Hutchison, the daughter of a highly respected family, and to this union five children have been born, namely : Minnie, who married Blaine Wheat: Fred, Wallace, Cynthia and Claude.
Mr. Bennett and his family attend the Methodist Episcopal church, and politically he is a Democrat, but he has never been much of a public man and never cared for the emoluments of office. preferring to devote his attention exclusively to his home and farming.
JAMES A. TAYLOR.
One of the farmers of Parke county who has believed from the outset of his career that "The wisdom of yesterday is sometimes the folly of today," and that while the methods of our grandfathers in tilling the soil were all right in their day and generation, yet in the twentieth century we are com- pelled to adopt new methods and farm along somewhat different lines, in view of the fact that conditions of climate, soils, grains, farming implements, supply and demand, etc .. have changed since the epoch of the pioneers, is James A. Taylor. He has been a close observer of modern methods and is a student at all times of whatever pertains to his chosen life work and he has therefore met with encouraging success, and, judging from his past record. he will undoubtedly achieve much in the future years and take his place among the leading farmers of a community noted for its fine farms and adroit Ins- bandmen.
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Mr. Taylor was born on July 10, 1863, near the town of Lyford, Parke county, and he is a son of Silas and Lucinda ( Davis) Taylor, the father hav- ing been one of the large farmers and land owners of this county in its his- tory. He is now living in Sullivan county, this state, at an advanced age. His family consisted of five children, namely : Henry H. was the eldest; Abra- ham is deceased; James A., of this sketch; Edward was next in order, and Sarah I. is deceased.
James A. Taylor was reared on the home farm in his native county and while he attended the public schools some, he is principally self-educated. During his boyhood days he assisted his father in the regular farm work, and he was enabled to save a little money, so upon reaching manhood got married, spending his savings for household effects, buying teams of his father. The date of his wedding was March 22, 1888, and his bride was Amanda Salmon. daughter of Joseph and Eleanor ( Doty) Salmon, a sketch of which family appears elsewhere in this volume. The following children were born to the subject and wife, namely: Herbert S., who married Joy D. Gaskin ; Lucinda Mabel married Henry Kelch, and they have one child, Mary; Har- old E., Ellis L., Eleanor D .. James Stanley, Loren S., Mary A .: Francis Wayne, deceased : Helen M., deceased.
Mr. Taylor is very successfully engaged in general farming one hundred and fifty acres, the Salmon farm, located on the Salmon road, about a mile west of Rosedale. He belongs to the Church of Christ, and he is a member of the Modern Woodmen. He is a Republican and was elected town- ship assessor hy a good majority, being now incumbent of that office.
FRED GRIFFIN.
A man who is deserving of the success which he now enjoys is Fred Griffin, for he started out in life without assistance and without means and, by patient continuance, has won, having worked hard from boyhood. Man- aging well, he has become the owner of an excellent farm and a comfortable home, and he has led a life of such uprightness that he has ever enjoyed the good will and confidence of his neighbors and friends, thus upholding the dignity of the family name, for the Griffins have been known in Parke county since the early days and they have never heen accused of unworthy acts.
Mr. Griffin was born in Parke county, Indiana, on September 13, 1866, and he is a son of Hiram and Lucy (Evans) Griffin, who devoted their lives
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to farming in this county. They became the parents of nine children, those living named in order of birth as follows: George, Gertrude, Mart, Fred, Anna and Gilbert, the subject of this sketch having been the fourth child; three are dead.
Fred Griffin was reared on the home farm in his native county, and there he made himself generally useful during the crop seasons when he be- came of proper age, and in the winter time he attended the neighboring schools, applying himself in such a manner as to gain a very practical educa- tion. Early in life he took up farming for a livelihood and this he has fol- lowed ever since, and is now the owner of a very choice little farm of eighty- one and one-half acres, which he has placed under excellent improvements and cultivation. When nineteen years of age he began working out by the month on the farin, and, saving his earnings, it was in this way that he was at last enabled to purchase his present farm.
Mr. Griffin was married on December 31, 1902, to Ethel Remington, a daughter of a very highly respected family of this locality, where she grew to womanhood and where she received her education in the public schools. To this union one child has been born, Margaret, who is attending school at this writing. Mr. Griffin's family belong to the Christian church.
JOHN R. NEWTON.
John R. Newton is now practically living retired after a long life of earnest endeavor. Through his many years of connection with agricultural interests he not only carefully conducted his farm, but so managed its affairs that he has acquired thereby a position among the substantial residents of the community. Moreover, he is entitled to representation in this volume because he is one of the native sons of Parke county, and his mind hears the impress of its early historical annals, and from the pioneer period down to the present he has been an interested witness to its development.
Mr. Newton was born August 15, 1865. on the old Newton home place. which is a part of the subject's farm. He is a son of Benjamin and Malinda (Lewis) Newton. The father was born near Cross Keys, West Virginia. and he was hut a boy when he left that country with his parents. they being among the early settlers in Parke county. Indiana. He was a man of fine business qualifications. He started in with forty acres and at his death was the owner of seventeen hundred acres of excellent land, still retaining the orig-
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inal forty acres he first purchased. To Benjamin Newton and wife were born eight children, six sons and two daughters, namely: George; John R., of this review; Isaac, Edward, Charles; Robert is deceased; Emma, who mar- ried a Mr. Ogden, and Mrs. Margaret McCool.
John R. Newton grew to manhood on the home farm and there he made himself generally useful during the crop seasons, receiving his education in the common schools. When twenty-one years of age he rented of his father, of whom he later bought land, and, having worked hard and managed well, he is now the owner of one of the choicest farms in Florida township, consisting of four hundred acres, all in a square and well located in one of the richest sections in the county. He has a substantial and commodious brick home in the midst of pleasant surroundings, on the west side of the Nessler gravel road, about four and one-half miles east of the city of Clinton. He has al- ways kept a good grade of live stock and no small portion of his annual in- come has been derived from that source.
Mr. Newton was married in January, 1885, to Rachael Bound, daughter of Oliver and Rachael (Burson) Bound, the father having come to this coun- try from Ohio and devoted his life successfully to agricultural pursuits. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Newton, namely: Harley B. is married and has three children; Stanley is at home and looks after the farm; Maxwell also assists in the management of the home farm, he and his elder brother renting of their father; Frances is at home.
The Newton family attend the Methodist Episcopal church and are liberal supporters of the same, being very prominent in church affairs.
ALBERT NURNBERGER.
The traveler with any experience whatever and who has been trained to observe carefully would know readily upon coming into the community where Albert Nurnberger resides that it was a German settlement, or at least a number of people live there with German blood in their veins. The farms are well kept, well tilled and well improved and the houses are clean and cozy looking. There is an atmosphere of thrift and cheerfulness about them which is not always noticeable in a farming community of other nationalities.
Mr. Nurnberger, who is the owner of an excellent and very productive farm of sixty acres on the Martin Kessler road, about five miles from Clin- ton, Vermillion county, Indiana, was born on June 28, 1866, on the old
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Nurnberger homestead, and he is a son of John and Mary (Dean) Nurnber- ger. The father was born in Germany and there he spent his earlier years, emigrating from that country to the United States when eighteen years of age, after he had been educated in the schools of the fatherland. He at once penetrated to the middle West, locating in Parke county, Indiana, having come here with his parents, Adam and Eve Nurnberger, an excellent old Ger- man couple, who were the first settlers in this country of this name, and by persistency and hard work they became very comfortably established in the New World, and the family name from that day to this has been one which has stood for thrift and honesty, good government and clean living.
Albert Nurnberger grew to manhood on the old home place and there he made himself generally useful in the crop seasons when he became of proper age, and he received a good practical education in the public schools. He applied himself closely and was regarded as an excellent pupil. Early in life he began working on the farm in order to save enough money to purchase land of his own, which he did in due course of time and on this he is making a good living and laying by for his declining years.
Mr. Nurnberger was married on December 13, 1894, to Gertrude D. Chesser, of Rockville, daughter of Daniel and Jennie Chesser, of that place. To this union three children have been born, namely: Kathleen, Bernus and Helen Jeannette. The subject is a Methodist in religion.
FRED WALKER.
One of the up-to-date farmers and stock men of the section of Indiana of which this volume treats is Fred Walker, a man who has made farming pay because he has not only worked persistently and well, but because he has studied every phase of the same, always alert for new ideas and improved methods, where he deems them better than the old, and as a result the two hundred acres of finely improved and productive land which he operates, but which is in his mother's name, is made to yield abundant crops and a com- fortable income from year to year.
Mr. Walker was born on March 17, 1879, and he is a son of Joseph N. and Margaret (Lewis) Walker. The father was born on the old Walker homestead in Florida township and he there grew to manhood and spent his life there, successfully engaged in general farming, and there his death oc- curred on June 4. 1912. Joseph Walker, grandfather of the subject, came
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from Ohio and was the first of the name to come to the Wabash country and settle here, and from that early day to this the Walkers have been well known in this section. To Joseph N. Walker and wife five children were born, namely : Laura J., Arletta, David M., Dayton, and Fred of this sketch.
Fred Walker grew to manhood on the home farm and there assisted his father with the general work when he was a boy, and in the winter time he attended the common schools and was graduated from the Clinton high school. Later he took the course at the Indiana State University, from which institu- tion he was graduated in the year 1904. He made an excellent record at the university and was popular with the student body.
Mr. Walker was married on December 27, 1911, to Pansy Bryant, a daughter of Frank and Mary Bryant. This union has been blessed by the birth of one child.
Fraternally, Mr. Bryant belongs to the Masonic order at Terre Haute, to which city they both go for their society and amusement. Mrs. Walker belongs to the Christian church. They are young people of pleasing per- sonalities, educated, progressive, cultured and genial, and they have made a host of friends since taking up their permanent abode in this locality.
CHARLES BRANNON.
As an all-round farmer and stock man, Charles Brannon, of the vicinity of Rosedale, Parke county, is deserving to rank with the most enterprising in his locality, for he believes in doing everything well and as scientifically as possible, thus conserving the strength of the soil and rendering it more pro- ductive than under the time-honored methods of husbandry known to our grandfathers, whose methods were all right in their day when the land was new, the soil deep and everything different ; but the farmer who succeeds to- day must do differently, for the most part.
Mr. Brannon was born in Douglas county, Illinois, in 1874 and there he grew to manhood and received his education in the common schools, working on the farm during all of his school period. In '1900 he came to Parke county, Indiana, and here he has since resided. He is at present man- aging a fine farm for his father, consisting of one hundred and sixty acres on the Rosedale gravel road. He is a son of Christopher and Elizabeth ( Peters) Brannon. The father came from Virginia when he was sixteen years old, he and his mother locating in the vicinity of Oakland, Illinois. His father had died in Missouri. Before coming to Indiana, Christopher Bran-
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non purchased the Cloyd farm, which he continued to manage with much success until about two years ago, when he rented it, turning it over to his son, Charles of this sketch, who is now working it on the halves, and is man- aging it in a manner that reflects much credit upon his ability. He keeps his fields clean and well cultivated, never doing anything slovenly, and his fences are all up in good shape and the outbuildings kept well repaired. He is a good judge of live stock and some good breeds are on the place, which re- ceives his special care.
Mr. Brannon was married on December 23, 1898, to Agnes Hollis, daughter of Clark and Sarah ( McCord) Hollis. To this union two children have been born, Archie and Minnie. Fraternally, Mr. Brannon is a member of the Masonic order.
ERNEST CHANEY.
The traveling public in this section of Indiana have long since become acquainted with Ernest Chaney, the well equipped, obliging and genial livery- man of the town of Rosedale, Parke county. He is a man who has worked hard for what he has and in his dealings with his fellow men he has ever been known to be on the square. This has given him an excellent reputation and he enjoys a nice business in his line, which is constantly growing. He is of a fine old pioneer family.
Mr. Chaney was born on a farm in Parke county, Indiana, March 8, 1889, and he is a son of James and Emma (Lewis) Chaney, the father hav- ing been born on the old Chaney home place, which was settled by the sub- ject's forbears when this country was practically a wilderness, and from that time to this the Chaney family has been well known in this locality. James Chaney grew up on the old homestead and he received his education in the common schools. He has devoted his life to farming and is now the owner of an excellent and well improved farm of one hundred and twenty acres, bordering on the town of Rosedale. To James Chaney and wife nine chil- dren have been born, namely: Ernest, Clarence, Curtis, Raymond; Herman, Albert, Letha, James and Stella, the latter being deceased.
Ernest Chaney, eldest of the family, grew to manhood on the home farm and there helped with the work during the vacation periods of his boy- hood days, and in the winter-time he attended the public schools. He began farm work when eleven years old, and made general farming his vocation up to 1911, when he started in the livery business, having worked around at different things, made several successful horse trades and finally accu-
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mulated about five hundred dollars. He is making a success as a liveryman, understanding well the handling of horses, and he has an excellent equip- ment for his chosen calling.
Mr. Chaney was married on June 25, 1910, to Sadie Cook. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and politically he is a Republican.
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