History of Posey County, Indiana, Part 43

Author: Leffel, John C., b. 1850. cn
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago : Standard Publ. Co.
Number of Pages: 456


USA > Indiana > Posey County > History of Posey County, Indiana > Part 43


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


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George C. Taylor, New Harmony, a leading member of the Posey county bar, and a descendant of pioneer ancestry, is a native of New Harmony. He was born October 8, 1867, and is a son of Canada and Jane (Williams) Taylor. Canada Taylor was also born in New Har- mony in 1831. He was a river pilot by occupation, which he followed principally throughout his life. However, he served as city marshal of New Harmony for a time. He died March 31, 1875. He was a son of Tarpey Taylor, a native of North Carolina, who settled in New Har- mony not far from 1820. He was a man of remarkable physical strength, a veritable giant, and his marvelous feats of strength would seem almost incredible. After coming to Posey county he made New Harmony his home until the time of his death. Jane Williams, our subject's mother, was also born in New Harmony, and spent her life there. She died April 7, 1878. She was the daughter of John Williams, who was a native of Tennessee, and settled in the vicinity of New Harmony at an early day. George C. Taylor was one of a family of three children : Frances, married Joseph W. Camp, Terre Haute ; Delia, married Warren Roberts, Fort Branch ; and George C. George was reared in Stewarts- ville to the age of fifteen. He attended the public schools, and when seventeen years old began teaching in the district schools to get money to obtain a higher education. It was not long until he was elected prin- cipal of the Wadesville schools, where he remained one year. In the meantime he had attended the State normal school at Terre Haute, and in 1891 became principal of the New Harmony schools, a position he held for four years. He then entered a law office to pursue the study of law. Having devoted much time to the study of law prior to this time, he was prepared for examination a year later, or in 1896, when he was duly admitted to practice. Since that time Mr. Taylor has been engaged in the practice of his profession in New Harmony, where he has built up a large practice, and won the confidence and esteem of a host of acquaintances throughout Posey and adjoining counties. Mr. Taylor is an able lawyer and has ever been loyal to the interests of his clients, and although aggressive where the occasion demands, he is not, however, unfair to an adversary. He served as assistant prosecutor of Posey county from 1896 to 1906, and for fifteen years has been city


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attorney for New Harmony, and for an equal length of time has been attorney for the Illinois Central Railroad Company. On October I, 1904, Mr. Taylor was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Foshee, of Mt. Vernon, Ind. Mrs. Taylor is an estimable woman, whose genial manner and noble character have won many friends. She comes from a highly respected pioneer family of Posey county. Mr. Taylor is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and the Knights of Pythias. Politically, he is a Democrat, and has taken keen interest in the councils of his party. He is always interested in any movement which tends to the betterment of his town or county. He has been secretary of the Posey County Agriculture Society for eight years, and is secretary of the New Harmony 1914 Centennial.


Thomas Jones, a successful farmer of Black township, Posey county, Indiana, was born in Lynn township, of the same county, October 25, 1843, son of Samuel and Malinda (Nelson) Jones, the former a native of Kentucky, and the latter a native of Tennessee. These parents had fourteen children, of whom Thomas was the fourth. Samuel Jones was engaged in farming and stock raising, and our subject was reared on the farm, where he attended the country schools. In August, 1863, although yet under twenty years of age, he enlisted in Company H, Ninety-first Indiana regiment. After the war he returned to Black town- ship, to which the family had removed in 1853, and began farming and raising stock for himself. He has continued in that occupation ever since, and has met with a large degree of success. He is a member of the Primitive Baptist church, and in politics is a Democrat. In Jan- uary, 1866, Mr. Jones married Miss Edith C. Hinkley, daughter of Wil- liam C. and Nancy Hinkley, natives of Posey county, where they were engaged in farming and stock raising. Mrs. Jones was born in Black township and attended the common schools. They have had five chil- dren : Charles, deceased; Mary, married to Jewell Jukam, and living in Denver, Colo .; Sarah, married Wallace Wilson, they live in Seattle, Wash., and have one child, Walter; Ida, lives in Denver with her sister Mary; George, at home with his parents. The family are members of the Regular Baptist church.


Dr. Samuel C. Henderson, a successful practicing physician of Howell, Ind., was born at Surgeonville, Hawkins county, Tennessee, January 16, 1848, son of S. L. and Annie (Williams) Henderson. The grandfather of our subject was killed and robbed by Indians near Chattanooga, Tenn. He had been making a campaign speech at Manchester, a short distance from the city, in the interests of a man by the name of Young, who was running for governor. The next day he started for Chattanooga and the tragedy occurred. Annie Williams was the daughter of Silas and Mary (Gibson) Williams, the former a soldier in the War of 1812, was wounded at Tohopeka (Horse Shoe Bend), March 27, 1814. Samuel .


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Henderson was reared on a farm in Tennessee, attended the common schools of that day, and at the age of fifteen he enlisted in Company E, First Tennessee Federal cavalry, but on account of his youth was not permitted to serve, and was discharged June II, 1865. Two of his brothers were in the Federal army, and one was in the rebel army. After his discharge he again attended school and on March 20, 1866, came to Indiana, locating first at Francisco, in Gibson county. He attended school in Owensville and later taught school in Columbia township, now Center township. He also taught one year at Cox school house, in Posey county. He paid for his education by teaching and by working in the harvest fields in the summer, receiving $3.50 per day for tying wheat. He secured a first grade certificate, and in 1873 began reading medicine, continuing the study three years while teaching school. He then attended the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Cincinnati. He was graduated from the Evansville Medical College in 1879. After his graduation he established himself in practice in St. Philip, where he has since remained and has met with great success, accumulating a com- fortable fortune meanwhile. He has retired from the most arduous duties of a physician, but still attends to some office practice. Dr. Henderson has a farm, and is a raiser of fine cattle and hogs. He has been township physician three years, and back in 1875 he was assessor for Center township, Gibson county. He is the only Democrat in the family, even his brother who served in the rebel army being a Republican. In faith he is a Methodist, but is not a member of any church. On August 7, 1873, Dr. Henderson married Barbara Pelt, daughter of James and Nancy Pelt. She was born in Wadesville, Ind., where she was reared and received her education. They are the parents of eight children : Annie (deceased), Ina, Estella, Ethel, Myrtle, Charlie, Irma and Versia. Charlie lives in Mt. Vernon and is engaged in farming and stock raising. Irma and Versia are at home with their parents.


Henry Herschelman, a prosperous farmer of Howell, Ind., was born in German township, Vanderburg county, Indiana, February 23, 1853, son of Andrew and Sophia (Leipold) Herschelman, the former a native of Bavaria, and the latter from Wittenberg, Germany. Andrew Her- schelman came to this country at the age of twenty. He was a car- penter, and had tools to do the very finest wood work. After several years in America he took up farming in Vanderburg county and con- tinued this occupation until his death in 1897. Henry Herschelman was reared and attended the schools of his native county, and later went to work on the home place with his parents, where he remained until he was twenty-seven years of age. He then began in life for himself. His father gave him seventy-three acres of land in Posey county, and he came here in 1880, and has remained ever since. Even at that date the land was wild and he began clearing it up year by year and improving


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it with buildings. He now has 120 acres of land, 100 acres of which are under cultivation. He has always engaged in general farming and stock raising. Mr. Herschelman has been a notary public for the past sixteen years. In politics he is a Republican. On May 6, 1880, Mr. Herschelman married Louisa Baumann, daughter of George and Sophia Baumann, natives of Wittenberg, Germany, who came to Posey county in early times and settled in Robinson township, where the wife of our subject was born and reared, and where she received her education in the public schools. Mr. and Mrs. Herschelman have had four children: Amelia (deceased) ; Wesley, who married Cora Luker, and lives with her father on the farm in Robinson township; Mary, who married George Maier, lives on the Herschelman farm, and is the mother of two children, Edgar and Gilbert; Carry, who is living with her parents. The family are members of the German Methodist church.


George Seib, a farmer of Cynthiana, Ind., was born January 20, 1840, in Hessen-Darmstadt, Germany, son of John and Elizabeth Seib. His parents came to America in 1846 and settled in Posey county, where he now lives. When John Seib bought the land there were only about three acres cleared, in fact there was very little cleared ground in the vicinity, and our subject helped clear a great deal of ground. When the house was built he helped clear the ground from around the home. Some of the logs of this first house are in a granary now in use on the place. After finishing the common schools Mr. Seib farmed on the home place and has lived there all his life with the exception of two years, when he was in Illinois. He has added to the original holding and now has 107 acres under cultivation. He is a Democrat in politics, and is a member of the Catholic church. On June 13, 1865, Mr. Seib married Miss Weida Knapps, daughter of Philip Knapps. She was born in Posey county and attended the common schools of St. Wendel. They have ten children: Peter J., Emil, Mary, John, Annie, George H., Catherine, Nicholas, Barbara and Elizabeth. Eight of the children are married and have families, and the other two are at home with their parents. Six live in Posey county and four in Vanderburg county. They are all members of the Catholic church, the family church home being St. Wendel.


Walter G. Carson, a successful farmer of Black township, Posey county, Indiana, was born January 9, 1862, son of James M. and Jane (Barton) Carson, natives of this county, where the father was a farmer. James M. Carson was captain of the Ninety-first Indiana Volunteers, and before the war was over he was made major, holding that office until 1865. He farmed from that time till his death in 1867. Walter G. Carson was born and raised in Marrs township, and in his boyhood there was a great deal of timber land and he did his share of. the clearing. The school house in which he received his education was built of logs,


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seats made of planks with holes bored in them and pegs driven in for legs, and the desks consisted of pegs driven into the walls with boards laid over the pegs. After leaving school he went to work on the farm, first at home for a time, and later hiring out to farmers for several years. The first work he did in the harvest field was to follow with a hand rake the man who was cradling wheat. About August, 1881, Mr. Carson started farming for himself, first in Marrs township and later removed to Black township, where he has now bought a farm of sixty acres. He rents eighty acres adjoining his place, thus farming 140 acres in all. His principal crops are wheat, corn and clover. In his early farming experiences Mr. Carson used cattle, and at that time the outfit of a well prepared farmer would be a plow, harrow, wagon and team. The hay was cut with a scythe and hand raked, and they made their own pitch- forks out of dog wood. The schools had terms of about three months out of each year, and one teacher had sixty to seventy pupils in one small room. There were no railroads, and few people had buggies. Mr. Carson was married April 7, 1889, to Parkina Shaw, daughter of Allen and Katherine (Weimiller) Shaw. Her father was a native of England, who came to this country at the age of twelve. Her mother's people were natives of this country and were farmers. Mrs. Carson was born in Posey county January 6, 1868, and was educated in the common schools. Mr. and Mrs. Carson had two children, one of whom died in infancy. Lela, the one remaining child, is a graduate of the common schools. She is an active church worker and takes great in- terest in Sunday school matters. The family are all members of the General Baptist church, and take an active part in church affairs. Mr. Carson is a Republican.


Fred H. Hagerman, a retired farmer and well-to-do influencial citizen of Mt. Vernon, Ind., was born in Schnathoist, Germany, October 3, 1839, son of Henry and Mary Hagerman, natives of the Fatherland, where they were engaged in farming and stock raising. Fred H. was educated in the schools of his own country and at the age of nineteen years he came to America, locating in Vanderburg county. He worked in a brick yard and in 1862 hired out as a farm hand. He then came to Evansville, where he was married in 1867. He had only $1.25 in his pocket when he first came to Evansville, and was an entire stranger to everyone. In 1870 . Mr. Hagerman moved his family to Henderson county, Kentucky, where they lived on a farm until 1874, when they bought a farm in Walnut Grove, Ky., just across the river from Posey county, and lived there for six years. This farm was the first one bought by Mr. Hager- man, and contained 200 acres. In 1880 they removed to Posey county, buying the sixty acres of land which was known as McFaddins Bluffs, and began farming. Sixteen years later Mr. Hagerman built a sub- stantial and beautiful farm house of brick and stone, surrounded with


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wide lawns and beautiful trees. Gradually he added to his savings and bought land until he now owns 650 acres in Henderson county, Ken- tucky, and 400 in Posey county. His secret of success is hard work and economy, and by means of these two he has become not only one of the most wealthy, but one of the most influential of the old settlers of the county. Mr. Hagerman married Augusta Dusner on March 14, 1867. She is the daughter of Philip and Williamania Dusner, the former en- gaged in shoemaking in Evansville, where he had a shoe store. Mrs. Hagerman was born and educated in Evansville, and it was here she met and married her husband. Nine children were born to them: Katie, deceased, Philip H., Mollie, deceased, Frederick O., Sophie V., Eliza- beth R., Charles E., William L., and Bertha P. Sophia V. married F. J. Wittmer, and they live in Evansville. Elizabeth R. married August Blosfeld, who is now deceased. Bertha P. married John H. Moore, deceased, and is now at home with her parents. The family are mem- bers of the German Trinity church. While living in Henderson county, Kentucky, Mr. Hagerman was school trustee for two or three terms. In his early manhood, while in Vanderburg county he belonged to the Home Guard, joining in 1864 and remaining till the close of the war.


Fred O. Hagerman, a farmer, stockman and grain dealer of Mt. Ver- non, Ind., was born in Henderson county, Kentucky, January 12, 1874, son of F. H. Hagerman and Augusta (Dusner) Hagerman, the former a native of Germany and the latter of Evansville (see sketch of F. H. Hagerman). When he was about five years of age his parents removed to Posey county, Indiana, locating in Black township, and now live adjoining Mt. Vernon. Fred Hagerman was educated in the public schools of Mt. Vernon and in a business college at Evansville. After finishing school he was employed in McCarthy's drug store at Mt. Vernon, later sold to Charles Dawson. After working in the drug busi- ness two years he engaged in farming in Kentucky. The first year he farmed about 120 acres, and the next year increased it to more than 200 acres. He then rented some of his father's land and for five years farmed 500 acres. During this time he was making a specialty of Poland China hogs and raising corn, and in the winter bought and fattened cattle for the market. In 1900 Mr. Hagerman removed to Posey county, where he bought his present farm of 324 acres, three miles west of Mt. Vernon. He continued to farm his land in Kentucky, handling in all over 700 acres. In the last three years Mr. Hagerman has de- voted his time almost entirely to stock raising. In the past years he raised registered Short Horns, but has now changed to registered Here- fords, and his herd is one of the finest in the State. He buys and ships large numbers of cattle, his farm in Posey county being 'especially equipped for the business. He is also a stockholder in the Farmers' Elevator Company of Mt. Vernon. In politics he is a Republican. He


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belongs to the German Lutheran church, to the Modern Woodmen of America, and to the Eagles. On February 20, 1894, Mr. Hagerman married Katherine Loerch, daughter of Godford and Mary (Moll) Loerch. Her father is a native of Germany, and her mother of Posey county. Godford Loerch lived at Evansville, where his daughter Kath- erine was born, but when she was a small child the family removed to Mt. Vernon, where her father engaged in the stone business, and where she attended the common schools. Mr. and Mrs. Hagerman have two children, Mary Augusta and Ralph Gilbert, both students at the Gill school house in Black township. The family are members of the Lutheran church.


Alfred E. Smith, a specialist in the culture of fruit and berries, and of bees, living near Mt. Vernon, Ind., was born in Richmond, Va., June 15, 1847, son of John A. and Mary Ann (Clark) Smith, both natives of Virginia. When Alfred was eight years of age the family removed from Richmond to Kentucky, where John Smith engaged in the manufacture of tobacco. He also conducted a hotel at Columbus, Ky. Alfred went to school in a log school house. At the close of the Civil war the family removed to Mt. Vernon, where the father resumed the manufacture of plug tobacco and cigars. Our subject started out in life by helping his father in the tobacco business. When they discontinued the manufac- ture of cigars, Alfred became a carpenter and helped build the first Louisville & Nashville depot in Mt. Vernon. After working as a car- penter for a few years he began draying in 1878, and still continues this business. Mr. Smith also manufactures bee hives and fixtures, and has also developed a large bee industry, having at present 140 colonies of bees, making a comfortable income from this source alone. Some years ago he removed to a farm overlooking the city of Mt. Vernon for the accommodation of his bee interests, and since that time has developed a large fruit and produce business, raising peaches, pears, apples and cherries. Mr. Smith is scientific and carries on experiments for the betterment of his methods. He has succeeded in raising on one tree twelve different varieties of plums, three of cherris and one of peaches. Another line to which he pays a great deal of attention is berries, of which he has several varieties. His garden is one of the largest in this section of the State. The Smith home is one of the most beautiful spots in or about Mt. Vernon. It is located on a high hill just outside of town. Our subject is making a close study of fruit and produce culture, and is meeting with marked success. In politics he is a Demo- crat. On November 20, 1870, Mr. Smith eloped with Nannie Daniels and they went to Shawneetown, where they were married. She was born in Mt. Vernon, Ind., May 6, 1854, daughter of William P. and Eliza (Wilson) Daniels, the father a native of Indiana and the mother of Kentucky. The Daniels home stood where the Methodist Episcopal


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church is now located. Mr. and Mrs. Smith had eleven children : Nelia, Nellie, Alfred E. deceased, William Archibald, Nannie, Charles, Floyd, Percy, Nora, Thomas, and Cornelius, deceased. Nelia married Samp Jeffries, and they live in Black township. Nellie married William Brissell, a merchant of Mt. Vernon. William Archibald married Ethel Wilson, and is farming on Greathouse Island. Nannie married Ed Mischke, agent for the Louisville & Nashville railroad at Hartford, Ky. Charles married Myrtle Mischke, and is now agent of the Chicago & Eastern Illinois at Farmersburg. Ind. Floyd married Miss Margaret Winn, and is in the automobile business at Nashville, Tenn. Percy married Eugenia Pembroke, and is ticket agent at Guthrie, Ky. Nora married Ralph Curtis, and they live on a farm in Black township. Thomas is at home with his parents. The family are members of the Methodist church.


S. Benthal, farmer, stock raiser and cattle feeder of Farmersville, Ind., was born in Black township, Posey county, same State, December 9, 1841, son of Cornelius and Rachael (Rowe) Benthal, the former a native of North Carolina, and the latter of Kentucky. They were married about 1836. Rachael Rowe was first married to David Culley and to them were born two children. Through her marriage to Cornelius Benthal she has eight children, of whom our subject was the fourth. Only one of the others is living: William, who lives in Jefferson county, Illinois. Those deceased are: Mary, Thomas, Rebecca, Jacob, Jowell, Sarah and Elijah. The father and mother died within a few weeks of each other in 1852, leaving this large family of children, the youngest only six months old. Our subject was then about eleven years of age and had to begin taking care of himself, and has continued to do so the rest of his life. What little schooling he received was at the country school house, with slab benches, and one long desk fixed to the wall. He worked on the farm with his uncle, Perry Allen, until July 9, 1861, when he enlisted in Company A, Twenty-fifth Indiana infantry. He left Evansville for St. Louis in the fall of 1861, then to Georgetown, Mo., and from there marched to Springfield, Mo., thence back to the Laurine river. They went to Cold Harbor where they cap- tured some prisoners and took them to St. Louis. They next camped in Jefferson Branch for a few weeks, after which they came by boat to Cairo and joined the fleet going to Fort Henry. The regiment went to Fort Donelson and after the battle there was ordered to Shiloh, where they participated for two days in the battle of that name.


Thomas Marvel, retired farmer and former school teacher, is the great-grandson of Thomas Marvel, of Sussex county, Delaware. The following historical record is quoted: "Andrew Marvel was a member of the English Parliament about the middle of the Seventeenth century and did his whole duty. There was not


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gold enough in the King's exchequer to make him swerve from the right. He was an author and poet of considerable note." It is a well known fact that the Marvels constituted a part of the colony of Sussex county, Delaware. The Marvels turned their attention to the raising of peaches and fine horses. From the first they made their brandy, which became an indispensable article for family use and public gath- erings. They were fond of well trained saddle horses and in their esti- mation speed was an addition to his other good qualities. No young man in all that country rode a finer horse or possessed a more richly mounted saddle than did David Marvel, who was himself dressed in the finest blue broadcloth. There was living in the same country a wealthy French family by the name of Prettyman, whose daughter was the prettiest girl in all the land. To her, after obtaining the consent of her parents, young David made suit and Miss Comfort Prettyman be- came his wife. Their family occupied a leading place in society, being composed of daughters, with only one son, born in 1760, whom they named Prettyman. This boy when he grew up was very small, and was an expert rider of horses, which he made profitable as a business. When he wished a wife he sought and obtained the hand of Miss Lavina Rogers, whose near relative was governor of Delaware. His cousin, Elisha Marvel, married her sister Orpha. Thomas Marvel, the great- grandfather of our subject, was born about 1750. Elisha Marvel, the son of Thomas and Susannah Marvel, was born October 28, 1771, and married Orpha Rogers, who was born December 22, 1775, daughter of John and Comfort Rogers. They had twelve children, as follows: Painter, born October 20, 1793; Comfort, born October 8, 1795; Levina, born February 18, 1798; Elisha, born April 6, 1801 ; George, born Octo- ber 28, 1803; Polly, born April 6, 1806; William, born October 22, 1808; Orpha, born May 13, 1811; Thomas, born March 20, 1814; Cenie, born December 31, 1816; John Rogers, born July 8, 1819; Unice, born March 2, 1823. All grew to manhood and womanhood except William, who died when quite young. Painter Marvel, the eldest child of Elisha and Orpha Marvel, was born in Delaware and went with his parents to Georgia at the age of five years. The family came to Kentucky from Georgia about the year 1800, or a little later. In 1811 they crossed the Ohio into Indiana, locating in Gibson county, five years before Indiana became a State. Painter Marvel, then eighteen years of age, entered the land on which the family lived. This was in the midst of the forest and he, with his father and brothers, cleared a part of the ground and began farming. He was commissioned by the first governor of the State as lieutenant of a home guard company organized for the protection of the settlers. Painted Marvel farmed all of his life and amassed a com- fortable fortune. His death occurred January 18, 1864, at the age of seventy-one, and that. of his wife October 16, 1857. They had seven


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children: Martitia, born September 13, 1823; Serelda, born January 20, 1825; James, born June 15, 1826; Eliza J., born February 24, 1828; Wil- liam L., born November 2, 1829; Amanda, born February 1, 1832, and Thomas, born May II, 1834. All are deceased except Thomas, our subject, and Amanda, who married Nicholas W. Robinson, now de- ceased, and is living in Ardmore, Okla. Thomas Marvel was reared on a farm in Gibson county, Indiana, where he was born. He attended the country schools, built of logs, with puncheon floors and home-made benches of split logs. There were no blackboards. The writing was done with quill pens, and the ink made of pokeberry juice. After leaving school he entered the Indiana Asbury University at Greencastle, now the DePauw University, where he was a student from 1851 to 1854. Prof. Larribee, one of his teachers, was the first State Superintendent of Public Instruction. As there were no railroads, he had to drive to Greencastle in a hack. He began teaching September 4, 1854, in the same schoolhouse he first went to as a boy. He introduced the use of blackboards. Mr. Marvel taught school at different times, and in seven different rural schools, and between times he farmed and was very suc- cessful. In August, 1904, he retired and removed to Cynthiana, and since that time has been councilman one term. Mr. Marvel has seen, many changes in his lifetime. He remembers driving oxen, then horses, and his father bought the first buggy in their neighborhood. Now he drives an automobile. He also remembers when there were no carpets or cook stoves. Mr. Marvel was raised a Whig, but from the organiza- tion of the Republican party voted that ticket until 1887, and has voted the Prohibitionist ticket ever since. He is a member of the First Christian church, in which he is deacon and moderator.


On September 14, 1854, Mr. Marvel married Miss Betsie Serina Ros- borough, daughter of Alexander and Lucile (Emerson) Rosborough, natives of Gibson county, where she was born and raised. They had six children: William L., born August II, 1855; Eliza J., born Sep- tember 26, 1858; Lillie B., born January 24, 1860; Alexander L., born November 7, 1864; Lemuel E., born November 8, 1870; Roberta Imo, born April 16, 1877. All are living except William L. Eliza J. married Leroy C. Wilson, and they live at Poseyville ; Lillie B. married James C. Calvert, and lives at Cynthiana; Roberta Imo married Jesse J. Shelton, and they live in Posey county (see sketch of Thomas and Jesse J. Shel- ton) ; William L. married Luella Calvert, both now deceased; Alexan- der married Laura Stone, and they live in Owensville (see Dr. Alexander L. Marvel) ; Lemuel E. married Katie Fitzgerald, and they live at Clin- ton, Ind. The wife and mother died September 2, 1892. The second wife was Hattie Berridge, nee Cross, daughter of William and Mahala (Davis) Cross, natives of Cambridge, England, where she was born. She came to America with her parents when quite small. Both parents of Mrs. Marvel are now deceased.


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Dr. Alexander L. Marvel, a veterinary surgeon of Owensville, Ind., was born November 7, 1864, and is a son of Thomas Marvel, a sketch of whom precedes this article. Dr. Marvel graduated from the Indiana Veterinary College at Indianapolis in 1904. Previous to that he at- tended the Chicago Veterinary College and practiced in Owensville in 1903. Dr. Marvel is married and has two children, Naomi and Adrian L. Adrian L. Marvel was born April 5, 1888, and married Nellie M. Wilson, daughter of Columbus and Nancy Wilson. Mrs. Marvel was born in Gibson county, Indiana, where she attended public schools. Her high school education was received at Owensville. Adrian L. Marvel and wife are the parents of two children, Adrian Wilson, born August 18, 1908, and Mirabel, born October 3, 1910.


Clarence P. Wolfe, of New Harmony, is one of the live newspaper men of Posey county. Mr. Wolfe is a native of Indiana and was born in Harrison county, January 20, 1870. He received his education in the public schools and Borden Institute. In early life he began his journalistic career as a reporter on the Evansville "Courier." In 1892 he severed his connection with that paper and on June 20 of that year founded the New Harmony "Times," further mention of which is made in the chapter, "Newspapers," of this volume. Clarence Wolfe was elected trustee of Harmony township in 1908 without opposition, and is now serving in that capacity. He is capable, conscientious, and a hard worker, and justly merits the confidence of the public in the busi- ness and political world. He is a Democrat.


Elisha E. Ellis, a successful and popular educator of Posey county, was born on his father's farm on January 13, 1862, a son of John D. and Harriett (Russell) Ellis, both of whom were natives of Posey county. Prof. Ellis received his preliminary educational discipline in the Farmers- ville schools, later in Mt. Vernon, and completed a two-years course in Purdue University. On completion of his education, he engaged in teaching, and at the time of his death, which occurred February 24, 1910, he was principal of the Griffin schools. As a teacher he was recog- nized as one of the most able in the county, and his death cut short a career which promised rapid advancement in the educational field. He was a member of the Masonic order, the Red Men, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. Ellis married, on September 2, 1891, Mrs. Vina K. Barter, nee Kittle, a daughter of William and Gilliah (Kivett) Kittle.


William Edward Hastings, M. D., a leading physician of Mt. Vernon, was born in Point township, Posey county, Indiana, August 10, 1867, son of William Thomas and Jane (Booth) Hastings, the former born in Delaware and the latter in Posey county. William T. Hastings came to Posey county with his parents when he was a small boy, and they settled in Point township somewhere between the years 1830 and 1835.


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HISTORY OF POSEY COUNTY


Grandfather Hastings was of English descent, and was born in Dela- ware. Grandfather Thomas Booth was born in Posey county, and made his home in Point township, where he died early in life. His father was a pioneer settler in the county. The father of Dr. William E. was a farmer in Point township and died at the age of fifty-five. His wife died at the age of seventy. They had four children who lived to maturity : Thomas, died in 1886, at the age of twenty-eight; David died in 1887, aged twenty-two; William and Ida are still living. Ida married Charles F. Engler, of Mt. Vernon. William E. Hastings was reared on his father's farm and acquired his early education in the country schools. Later he was a student in DePauw University, at Greencastle, Ind., and entered the medical department of Washington University at St. Louis in 1893, graduating with the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1897. He spent three years as interne and superintendent of a hospital and came to Mt. Vernon in 1900. Dr. Hastings is interested in farming and has 1,000 acres of land in Point township. He is a breeder of and dealer in cattle and mules, of which he raises a large number. In 1895 he married Anna Bell, a native of Ireland, and she died November 6, 1910, leaving two children, David and Anna.


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