USA > Indiana > Randolph County > History of Randolph County, Indiana with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers : to which are appended maps of its several townships > Part 144
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414
HISTORY OF RANDOLPH COUNTY.
Charles W., John M., Finley S. and Ira E., all of whom are now living. Mrs. Smithsen's father was a native of l'ennsylvania, and her mother a native of Maryland. Mr. Smithson and wife are both members of the Christian Church, and Mr. Smithson is a member of the Masonic fraternity ; he has 139 acres of fine land adjoining the farm of his father, in Section 15.
ISAAC N. STRATTON, merchant, Ridgeville, was born in Jay County, Ind., February 12, 1839. Ilis father was born in Pennsylvania. His mother was born in West Virginia, but was reared in Ohio. They moved to Jay County, Ind., in 1837. llis mother died in that county in 1857. His father still re- sides there, and at the age of eighty years is still hale and hearty. Mr. Stratton enjoyed a common-school education, and afterward taught school. He followed the occupation of farming in early life, and up to the onthreak of the late rebellion, but has since been otherwise engaged. Hle enlisted in the Thirty-ninth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. in July, 1861. Subsequently his regiment was supplied with horses, and served as mounted infantry. They " veteranized" in 1864, and were known as the Eighth Cavalry. Mr. Stratton participated in the battles of Pittsburg Landing, Stouy Creek, Chickamauga, the battles around Chattanooga, and the entire series of battles from Atlanta In the surrender of Johnston. He was commissioned Lieutenant in 1862, and assigned to Company C. Ile was promoted to the office of Captain in 1864, taking command of Company 1, and was mustered out in 1865. At the battle of Pittsburg Landing, he was wounded in the shoulder. Sincethe close of the war, he has been engaged chiefly in mercantile pursuits, and is now in the gro- cery trade at Ridgeville, lle is a member of the Masonic fraternity sad I. O. O. F., and stands high in the community. On the 14th of February, 1867, he was married to Emma F. Hintt. Her father, William Hiatt, was born in Randolph County, Ind., June 24, 1822. ller mother's maiden name was Malintance E. Ward. Both her parents are now deceased. Her father flied in 1862, and her mother in 1868. Capt. Stratton and wife have five children living, viz. : Nellie G., Alice C., Melvin B., Ruth W. and Edith M.
ROBERT II. SUMPTION, farmer, I'. O. Ridgeville, was born in Darke County, Ohio, October 30, 1817. His father, Charles L., moved to Randolph County in 1835. His mother, Mary Embree, was born in Tennessee and died in Franklin Township. Randolph County, in 1839. His father died in 1851. The latter was Captain of a company in the war of 1812, and served under Gen. Harrison during the entire war. Mr. Sumption was married on the 23d of Aprit, 1845, to Berilla Ward, who was born in Randolph County, Ind., January 25, 1825. Her father, Jonb Ward, was born in North Carolina and came to Randolph County. Ind., in 1819. Her mother, Amy Ward, was also a native of North Carolina. Mr. Sumption and wife have three children living. viz. : Josephine, David W. and Albert O., and one, William, deceased. Their children are all at present residing in the State of Nebraska, the sons being agents on the Union Pacific Railroad, while the daughter, Josephine, is teach- ing school at Madison, in that. State. She was elected preceptress in the female department of Ridgeville College for 1881, having graduated at that in- stitution with the highest honors. She stood at the head of her classes aod had no superior in the school. Mr. Sumption and wife, as well as two of their
children, are members of the Free-Will Baptist Church. He has been Post- master for ten years and a Notary Public for eight years. He is Treasurer of the college at Ridgeville, a member of the College Financial Committee, and one of the College Trustees. He has a good private residence and two busi- ness houses at Ridgeville, also a number of town lots. D. W. died April 15, 1882 ; Josephine was married to Mr. Al Tyrrel, a banker of Madison, Neb., October 5, 1881.
JOAB WARD, Ja., farmer, P. O. Ridgeville, was born in Franklin Town- ship, Randolph County. Ind., May 14, 1846. His father, Joab Ward, was born in North Carolina, and his mother, whose maiden name was Amy Graves, was born in Ohio. Both parents are now deceased. His father came to Randolph County, Ind., in 1819, and died November 5, 1874, at the age of eighty-four years. His mother died in 1864, aged sixty-six years. Mr. Ward was married, April 26, 1866, to Ann Webb, who died July 5, 1875. There were four children by this marriage, two of whom, Della and Grant, are now living. On the 20th of November, 1879, Mr. Ward was wedded to Ruth Resnr, his present companion. They have one son, Kit Carson. Mrs. Mary Ward is the daughter of Cyrus and Mary (West) Resur, the former a native of I'ennsylvania, and the latter of Ohio. She is a member of the United Brethren Church. Mr. Ward is a mem- ber of the M. E. Church, a Republican in politics and a good citizen. Ile has a good farmi of 146 nores in Section 13. ITis brether, David, served in the Union army for three years. He was a member of the Sixty-ninth Indiana Regi- ment, and was appointed Hospital Steward. After the war, he practiced medicine. He died January 26, 1874.
GEORGE W. WESLER, farmer and proprietor of saw-mill, P. O. Ridgeville, was born in Wayne County. Ind., August 26, 1847. llis father, Thomas Wesler, was born in Chester County, Penn., April 12, 1799. His mother, Susanna (Conkle) Wesler, was born in the city of Philadelphia. She died in September, 1879, from the effects of injuries sustained by being thrown frem a buggy. His grandfather, Conkle, was a Captain in the American Navy during the Revolution. Ile was captured by the British and held a prisoner until the close of the war. His great-grandfather was also a Revolutionary soldier, and was at the attack on Quebec. The elder Wesler, father of George W., settled in Wayne County, Ind., in 1834. The subject of this sketch enlisted, in 1864, in the One Hundred and Thirty-third Regiment Indiana Volunteers, and served five months. On the 23d of April, 1868, he was married to Miss Emily Henley. They have two children, Lizzie F. and Harry. Mrs. Wesler was born in Wayne County, Ind., September 8, 1850. Her father was a native of the same county. Her mother, Lucy A. Meridith before marriage, was born in North Carolina. Both her parents are now living at Richmond, Ind. Mr. Wesler engaged in tho pursuit of farming, and was also a partner in the saw- mill firm of Wesler & Bornes, at Stune Station. Ile was an energetic man, and had made life a success. Ilis wife is a member of the Society of Friends. On the 3d day of Maroh, 1882, Mr. Wesler was instantly killed while getting ready to begiu work in his saw-inlll hy an explosion of' the boiler in the mill which destroyed the building and the machinery ; three other men (employes in the mill) were also killed at the same time.
WARD TOWNSHIP.
GENERAL.
As at present constituted, it embraces Township 21 north, Range 14 east of the Second Principal Meridian, comprising a full township of thirty-six sections, equal to 23.040 acres. It lies . is past all belief. The ringing ax, the crashing branches, the wholly in the Mississinewa Valley. That river passes through the township in a direction nearly west and toward the north side of the township, the larger portion being south of the river. Massey's, Hickory and Mud Creeks, from the south, and Goshen Creek, from the north, flow through the township to the Missis- sinewa. It is one of the northern tier in the county, extending on the north to the Jay County line. The surface is level or moder. ately rolling. Near the river the land is somewhat hilly; far ther toward the head of the streams, it becomes rather level. though less inclined to be mar hy than if nearer the " divide " between the two rivers.
Originally, like the county in general, the earth was covered with a thick and heavy forest of many kinds of trees, the weight and burden of which sixty years of wearisome labor, performed by two or three generations of hardy yeomanry, have scarcely been able to remove. Indeed, much still remains, greatly more, in fact, than the farm needs of the county require. To get rid of the timber has, in days gone by, been a fearful task; a task, too, till within a few years, well-nigh useless, except that it was taken out of the way. The labor of clearing the ground and of fencing the fiolls, is greater by far than would readily be
supposed, and the amount of work of that kind that the farmers of Randolph County have accomplished since first the white man's ax became a factor in the human problem in this region,
thundering trunk, the resounding maul, the cracking of the teamster's whip, all the various noises of a woodman's life, have for ages past been the music of the clearing. It is true, indeed, that now, when the timber is nearly gone, a market begins to spring up. The increasing needs of civilization in town and in country, the numberless nses of material of wood, the growing scarcity of forest trees throughout the country-all these con- spire to create a larger demand for the timber product. Not twenty years ago, the stately walnut trees abonnding throughout the woods were reckoned no more than oak or ash, and men em- ployed that wood for uses of an ordinary kind. But now the highly increased price has swept tho walnut almost wholly from among us, and ash is rapidly taking its place. Even the elm, that tree in olden time so utterly worthless, too mean to burn itself up, has lately come to be a marketable commodity, and farmers get more for the elms themselves than no long time ago the choicest woods could command.
The growth of the mannfactures of the county, and that of the towns, large and small among us, and everywhere, the pike roads for convenient hauling, the railroads for general market- ing, conspire to make the small remnant of the timber product
MAP
OF
WARD
TOWNSHIP
R.14 E.
I.ctapp
Hotmire
38
38 75
J.Parrat
E.Small
JEme Ty
H&MKem
ML.O'Brien
.
Shangfett
Wizmore 100
Wilmer
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76
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Emery
D.Ault 80
Porter 40
William -8072 60
3965
W.F. Barrett
.
80
AN. Sipe 80
H. Moyer
W. C.Scott
D. S. Harker
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78
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150
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102 88
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ALEX, VORHIS.
MRS ALEX. VORHIS.
RESIDENCE OF ALEX. VORHIS. RANDOLPH.] WARD TP. RANDOLPH CO IND.
415
WARD TOWNSHIP.
which is yet in existence, worth indefinitely more than the whole vast body that sixty years ago hid the surface in everlasting shadow. The forest is melting away, and the tilled and fertile fields have been, through all these years, slowly and painfully, but with the certainty of fate, taking its place. The cabin has given way to the hewed-log house, and that again to the tasteful and neat framne dwelling, or even the palace-like brick or stone mansion. The scrub cattle roaming through the woods are be- held no more, but the well fenced pastures are adorned with the splendid blooded stock, the product of ages of improvement; the " elm peelers," those marvels of voracity and fleetness, that could gnaw the bark off the trees and could outrun a dog-oh! where are they ? and echo answers, Where?
In all these changes for the better, Ward Township has en- joyed a reasonable share. Her farms are cleared, her dwellings have arisen, tasteful and sightly, through all her borders; her barns receive with joy the overflowing products of her soil; her orchards and her grain fields and her meadows gladden the eyes, and enrich the pockets as well, of her skillful and prosperous farmers. But not of this latter state, but rather of the rude be- ginning of things do we purpose to speak.
EARLY HISTORY.
A few settlers found their way upon the Mississinewa very early in the history of the county. When, in August, 1818, the first election was held in the then new county of Randolph, sev- eral families resided in the Mississinewa Valley, and most of them east of Deerfield. Just, who were there at that early time cannot now with certainty be determined. The first entry in the Mississinewa Valley and in Ward Township as well, appears to have been near the river, and not far from the east side of the, township. It comprised a whole section, Section 13, Town 21, - Range 14. and was entered by James Strain. The tract lies be- tween Judge Miller's old farm and the Mississinewa. Whether Mr. S. settled on the tract is not now known. We have not met his name in any account of the primitive settlement of the valley.
The next entry was by Daniel Richardson, S. W. Section 12, Town 21, Range 14, May 21, 1817. The land lay directly north of Strain's section, and on both sides of the river. June 10, 1817, or three weeks after Richardson's entry, eight other entries were made, all quarter sections but one, 1,360 acres in all. The par- ties were James Wilson, Benjamin Lewallyn, David Kite, Daniel Kite, James and John Jacobs, Joel Canady, James Reed. These tracts all lay in Sections 7, 8, 9 and 10, Township 21, Range 14, comprising one-quarter of Section 7, three-quarters of Section 8, one half of Section 9 and three eighties in Section 10. These lands extended from Burkett Pierce's, on the west, to one and one half miles east of Deerfield, three miles in length, but did not include the town itself. With Meshach Lewallyn's and James Strain's, the whole extent of the river for seven miles had boen taken up, except one and three-fourths miles in two " gaps." In the course of three years, or by October, 1820, most of the rest of the land on and near the river and several tracts along Mud and Hickory and Goshen Creeks, had been purchased.
Martin Boots and Henry Kizer bad located on Mud Creek, the latter far np near Stone Station. James and Tense Massey, Allen Wall and others, had settled on the river east of Deerfield. Robert Taylor was on the creek which comes from the north to the Mississinewa, at the Ritonour Church.
Samuel Cain, Jeremiah Lindsay. Jacob Weaver and William Jackson had entered land on Hickory Creek, sonth of Deerfield. James Jacobs had entered the Ritenour land. Joseph Hinshaw entered the land embracing the west part of Deerfield, June 23, 1817. The east part was in Section 16 and therefore school land.
But though the Mississinowa Valley was nearly all occupied within three or four years, or by the close of 1820, yet the growth of the region was exceedingly slow. The valley was isolated. The settlers could scarcely get out in any direction. They were away from any great route of travel. One of the chief western thoroughfares passed through Winchester, and connected the central portion and the White River Valley with the world at large. But not so with the Mississinewa. The regions north
did not open till 1835 te 1837, and then only was the whole county occupied, and the world " swallowed them up " with set- tlements on every side. Deerfield sprang up and for many years became an important trade center. _ The swamps between Win- chester and Deerfield stood almost as an impassable barrier until a late period. As late as 1859, there was a " corduroy bridge " on that northern road, one and one-fourth miles long. Imagine the road then, thirty or forty years before that time. But the forests have been cleared, and the swamps drained and the north- ern " pike " has been built, and Ward Township has gained full connection with the rest of the world.
Through the whole county, and in Ward Township as well, religion found early and effective entrance. As soon, perhaps, as 1823 or 1824, may be even before that, the " circuit riders " had ridden through swamps and crossed those creeks and found and fed those sheep in the wilderness. Meetings were had at Riley Marshall's, Allen Wall's and elsewhere east of Deerfield, and at some friendly dwelling west, perhaps at Mr. Ritenour's. But very early Ritenour's Meeting House was built and that graveyard established, and not long afterward, the old Prospect Meeting House was erected, and that second cemetery also dedi- cated to the memory of the dead ones dear. Two generations have come and gone, and those now ancient meeting houses have completed their work and fulfilled their mission. How many, many times have their sacred walls echoed the sound of the Gos- pel message as it fell upon the eager ears of the scores or even hundreds of anxious listeners gathered from their simple forest homes to take part in the holy service, and feed their longing souls with heavenly manna. But the cemeteries remain open, in those solemn inclosures, as of old, and often, alas! does the ground re- ceive the dead from sight. Slowly, too, O how slowly, did the de- lights of knowledge and the means of instruction find their way among those people so far, so far away from their fellow-men. Still, schools were found even there. The log cabin, the huge stick chimney, the greased paper lights, the split pole seats, the punch- eon floors, the slab writing desks against the wall, were prepared by these forest dwellers, and not a few who have since " made their mark " among men had their "start" in the wooden schoolhouses of Ward Towrship. Hon. Thomas Ward, Hon. Enos L. Wat- son, Thomas Kizer, Esq., Col. Martin B. Miller; and more be- sides, emerged from those dim forest shades into the brighter sunshine of the county seat. or elsewhere. Mr. Ward says that he never attended any school in his life, except those taught in a greased paper log cabin.
But enough; we can no longer dwell upon the history in do- tail of Ward Township. Much that is of interest concerning its affairs will be found in the treatment of the topies which are considered in connection with the county at large. . The entries of land in the early time, as they appear in the office of the County Auditor, are given below:
Ward Entries-James Strain, Section 13, 21, 14, October 16, 1816; Daniel Richardson, S. W. 12, 21, 14, May 21, 1817; James Willson, N. W. 10, 21, 14, June 10, 1817; James Will- son, W. S. W. 10. 21, 14, June 10, 1817; Benjamin Lewallyn, S. E. 7, 21, 14, June 10, 1817; David Kite, N. E. 8, 21, 14, June 10, '.1817: Daniel Kite, S. E. 8, 21, 14, June 10. 1817; James and John Jacobs, S. W. 8, 21, 14, June 10, 1817; Joel Canady, N. E. 9, 21, 14, June 10, 1817; James Reed; Jacob Graves, S. W. 7, 21, 14. June 19, 1817; James Reed. S. W. 9, 21, 14, June 10, 1817; David Connor, N. W. 9, 21, 14, July 4, 1817: Joseph Hinshaw, N. E. 17, 26. 14, June 23, 1817; James Jacobs, N. E. 18, 21. 14. July 18, 1817; John S. Reed, E. N. W. 17, 21, 14. August 28, 1817; James Massey, W. S. W., 11, 21, 14, January 26, 1818; Tence Massey, E. S. E. 10, 21, 14, Jan- uary 26, 1818; Robert Taylor, N. W. 8, 21, 14, March 23, 1818; Richard Beeson, N E. 21. 21, 14, October 5, 1818; Samuel Cain, E. S. W. 21, 21, 14, October 26, 1818; James Massey, N. W. 24, 21. 14, November 5. 1818; Joseph Cravens, E. N. E. 14, 21, 14, May 11, 1819; William Jackson, S. E. 21, 21, 14. October 2,.1819; Eli Blount, W. S. E. 12, 21, 14, October 12, 1819; John Halt, E. N. W. 28, 21, 14, November 18, 1819; Jeremiah Lindsey. W. S. W. 28, 21, 14, November 26, 1819; Jacob Weaver, N. E. 28, 21, 14, December 8, 1819; Martin Boots, E. N. E. 20, 21, 14,
416
HISTORY OF RANDOLPH COUNTY.
March 28, 1820; Henry Kizer, N. W. 29, 21, 14, October 21, 1820; Henry Kizer, N. E. 31, 21, 14, October 21, 1820; Henry Kizer, E. S. E. 30, 21, 14, May 4, 1822; William Simmons, N. E. S. E. 12, 21, 14, June 17, 1826; Samuel Helm, N. W. S. E., 24, 21, 14,"June 17, 1826; Samuel Hodges, S. E. S. W. 5, 21, 14, October 17, 1826; James G. Birney, E. S. E. 29, 21, 14, No- vember 2, 1826; John Baugh, S. E. S. E. 12, 21, 14, December 15, 1826; Israel Taylor, N. E. N. W. 14, 21, 14, May 21, 1828; Burgett Pierce, E. N. E., 7, 21, 14, April 5, 1832; Daniel B. Miller, E. N. E., 23, 21, 14, July 15, 1831, Perry Fields (part of) 16, 21, 14, May 31, 1834; Andrew Key, N. E. S. E. 14, 21, 14, January 30, 1836.
Ward is bounded north by Jay County, east by Jackson, south by White River, west by Franklin. Ward Township was entered mostly between 1836 and 1838 inclusive, during which time sn immense amount of land was purchased in Randolph County of the United States, and great numbers of families took np their abode within its limits. Among the chief settlers on the Mississinewa may be named Burkett Pierce, Joab Ward, Elias Kizer, Daniel B. Miller, William Simmons, Messre. Ritenour, Parsons, Cain and others not now in memory.
Mr. Parsons built the first mill on the Mississinewa after Lewallyn's at Ridgeville. That mill stood some years; was washed away, and Mr. Ritenour built another, 100 yards lower down.
Joab Ward's house was the scene of the encounter of the Indians with Ward and Kizer, and the shooting of Fleming in the bushes by Jesse and John Gray was near by. David Con- nor's trading house was above Deerfield, and the Mississinewa Valley witnessed many early trials and perils springing from the whisky so freely dealt by the traders of those times to those poor natives of the forest wilds. But those were days of ignorance. The children of many of the whisky-sellers of pioneer times are among the most sturdy advocates of total abstinence of the pros- ent day. Let our motto be, "Out of the darkness, into the light." Rather than widely parado in unseemly prominence any of the evil traits in the characters of the ancestral dwellers, it were bet- ter to follow the primal example of filial affection, and, like the children of Noah of old, taking a garment upon the shoulders of two, with mingled feelings of reverence and sorrow, lovingly to shield the unsightly failings from public gaze, and, in the full noontide radiance of this latter day, walk ever forward toward the light, on ward and upward, ever into the light, honoring our fathers for their heroism, copying filially their virtues, shunning their failings, that our pathway mny be like " the path of the just, shining more and more unto the perfect day."
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