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 146

Author: Tucker, Ebenezer
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago : A.L. Klingman
Number of Pages: 664

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 146

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Henry Kizer was born in Botetourt County, Va., in 1776; came to Ross County, Ohio, and then to Randolph County, Ind., in 1821. He had entered land in 1820, east of Stone Station, in Ward Township. The log house which he built not long after coming to the county is standing yet. His wife was born in 1770, being six years older than her husband. He died August 12, 1823, and his wife died the next day, Angust 13, 1823, both in middle life. They were earnest Methodists. Thomas W. Kizer, in speaking of his grandmother. when looking at the old family Bible, feelingly remarked: "There is not a word in this old Book that Grandmother has not read over and over." They had four children, all sous -- Elias, Henry, Adam, William. Mr. and Mrs. K. are buried near Stone Station, in a private graveyard.

Andrew McCartney was born in Virginia or Tennessee, of Irish descent. He is said (how truly we do not know) to have been the father of twenty-seven children; was in the war of the rebellion, though old enough to have been exempt years before, belonging to the Eighty-fourth Indiana Regiment, and serving from Angust 21, 1862, to February 27, 1863.

Mr. MeCartney is said to be a jovial and eceentrie old man, and to have had a strango and eventful history, having resided in many places, and been married several times. His last mar- riage was in Ward Township, to a lady who is the daughter of Andrew Key, an early pioneer of the Mississinewa Region from the State of Tennessee, and a sister of John Key, a prominent resident of that township.

Old Mr. Key and his wife are both dead, and Mr. MeCartney and his wife occupy the old Key homestead. Andrew Key and his wife were both buried at Prospect Graveyard, but no tomb- stones have been placed at their graves.

Mr. MeCartney, true to his life-long adventurous instinet. has left his last wife, who is said not to be grieved above measure at her loss, and found for himself a residence in some other locality.

Daniel Mock was born in Rowan County, N. C., in 1784, coming afterward to Greene County, Ohio; he was in the war of 1812, receiving afterward a pension as a soldier. He became a settler in Ward Township in 1824, fixing his location on Clear Creek, south of the present residence of John H. Sipe. Mr. Mock had ten children, eight of whom were married, and are still living. His first wife died forty-three years ago, and his second wife eight years ago. Of the children, five reside in Indiana, two in Minnesota and one in Illinois. Mr. Mock purchased 160 acres, somewhat improved, and resided upon the traet until his death, not many years ago, a very old man. He was a farmer and a Democrat.

John Moek, the son of Daniel Moek, settled east of Deerfield. on Clear Creek. being born in 1811, and coming there with his father from Ohio in 1824. John Moek married Elizabeth Cain, and also Miss Watson, a sister of Hon. E. L. Watson, of Win chester, Ind. Mr. Mock had a large family; was a farmer and a merchant of Deerfield, and a prominent citizen in Randolph County. He was Justice of the Peace, and also Associate Judge with Peter S. Miller during the term including the year 1848. He emigrated West, and resides at Cambridge, Henry Co .. Iowa, being a solid farmer of that region. He was in early times a Whig, and in later days a Republican. His second wife is still living. While residing in Randolph County, James G. Birney, the noted Abolitionist, and the first Liberty candidate for President of the United States, came into that neighborhood on business, and spent some time at his house, one result of which was that Mr. Mock also became an Abolitionist, and an- other result was that Mr, Birney became an extensive purchaser of lands in Randolph County, which land lay unoceupied, be- longing to Mr. Birney's estate and his heirs, for many years. Mr. Mock was an active man in Randolph County, especially in his early manhood, and was well versed in pioneer affairs; and it is his delight now, in the evening of his bustling life, to dwell in memory upon those stirring seones, and tell to listening friends the tales of his younger years. We had hoped to obtain for in- sertion in these columns an account of pioneer life and times from his lively pon, and have not been disappointed. The state- ment will be found in the " Reminiscences."

Amos Oreutt was born in 1825, in Darke County, Ohio, com- ing with his father to Randolph County, Ind., in 1838. He married, in 1848, Phoebe Ann Sutton, and has six children. They are all living, and four are married. He resides two and a half miles northwest of Deerfield, and is a farmer, owning 156 aeres of land. In politics, he is a Democrat He is a thriving citizen, and is prominent and respected.

Joseph Orcutt was born in 1795, in New York State; came to Rossville, Ohio, and to Darke County, Ohio, and, years after- ward, to Ward Township, Randolph Co., Ind., in 1838. He en- tered seventy-six aeres of land. His wife was Christina Rarick, sister of Philip Rariek, of Jay County. They were married in Darke County in 1820, and had eleven children. Ton of them grew up and were married, and nine are living now. His father was a Revolutionary soldier, receiving a wound in that war. Jo. seph Oreutt was a farmer, and also a teacher. Ho belonged to the Christian (New-Light) Church, and in polities was a Demo. erat. He died in 1848, only ten years after his emigration to this county, and while the region around him was still new and wild. His wife survived him twenty-four years, dying in 1872, having been left a widow with a large, dependent family.

Robert Parsons came of a distinguished stock in Tennessee. Three of his brothers were prominent attorneys in the Southern States, and one of them died by the bursting of a blood vessel while speaking on the stump as a candidate for Congress. Rob- ert Parsons was born in 1775; removed in youth to Kentucky; abont 1810, to Wayne County, Ind .; and in 1828 or 1829, he came to Deerfield, Randolph Co., Ind. Deerfield, however, was not laid out till years afterward. Mr. Parsons settled half a mile west of Deerfield, entered eighty acres of land, and built the first mill on the Mississinewa after Lewallyn's mill at Ridge. ville. It was a log building, with two run of stones, grinding both corn and wheat. At first, flour was bolted by hand, but be- fore long by water. The mill did a good business for those

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HISTORY OF RANDOLPH COUNTY.

times, and stood some ten years. It was finally washed away. and Mr. Ritenour erected another, 200 yards farther down the river. That also has been gone for many years. Mr. Parsons married Mary Johnson, of Tennessee, a relative of President An- drew Johnson, and they had twelve children, only five of whom grew up and were married, and only one is now living. Mr. P. died near Deerfield about 1863, eighty-eight years old. His widow died in Miami County, Ohio, aged eighty years. Mr. Parsons was buried in Ritenour's Graveyard, west of Deerfield. He was n Democrat, voting, however, once for Henry Clay, with whom he was well acquainted. Two brothers of Mr. Parsons were sluveholders, owning 400 slaves apiece. His youngest brother, Silas, was living in Louisiana not long ago. The whole con- nection wore prominent among their fellow-citizens, and many have become distinguished in the different professions.

Burgett Pierce was born in Virginia in 1793. His father and mother were Samuel and Delilah Pierce, and they moved to Ross County, Ohio, in 1800, ten miles from Chillicothe. Mr. Pierce was married to Elizabeth Ward, daughter of Joab Ward and sister of Thomas Ward. in 1815, she having been born in 1797. They moved to near Deerfield, Randolph County, in 1819 or 1920, and Mr. Pierce has resided in the same vicinity ever since that early time, more than sixty-three years. He owns the same farm still which first he occupied, though he has had his resi- dence for some years with his son-in-law, William C. King, half a mile below Deerfield. His wife departed this life in 1859, aged about sixty-two years. Their children have been seven in number, to wit: Matilda, born in 1816. married Jeremiah L. Mock, had eight chil fren. and died in 1876; Uriah, born in 1818. married Martha A. Mock, had six children, and died in 1878; Dolila, died an infant; James, married Mercy Whipple, had thirteen children, three pairs of twins; Joel, married Sarah Collins and Julia Sherman, the last having one child: Nancy, 1828 (W. C. King), no children: Sarah, 1832. Burgett Pierce's descendants live mostly in Randolph County, and many of them are well-to-do farmers. Mr. Pierce is in his ninetieth year. Until lately. he has been hearty and sprightly. For a short time past, his powers have been failing, though he is still doing very well, considering his great age.

William Simmons came to Jackson Township very early, some say as early as 1827. He was an older brother of James Sim- mons, of Jackson Township. He used to live in Wayne County, Ind, as early as 1821, traveled through the region, hunting. to and from Fort Wayne along the " Quaker Trace." He moved to Blue River, and afterward returned to Randolph County. He died in middle life, having been the father of twenty-one chil- dren, all by the same mother. The children were all raised by hand, the mother being unable to suckle them Twelve of the twenty-one became grown, and ten are living still. Several of the children were twins, and the statement has been made- whether true or not we cannot toll-that the children were all born within thirteen years. The fact of his having twenty-one children by the same wife seems to be undisputed and well au- thenticated. William Simmons lived on the Mississinewa, just south of New Pittsburg, and he is the same man who is men- tioned in the history of Jay County as having been lost in the woods and nearly frozen to death about the time of the first set- tlement of that region, and as having been found by the Haw- kins boys after he had been some days in the depths of the for- est, and so severely frozen as to bo made an almost helpless crip- ple during the rest of his life.

John B. Sipe is the son of Samnel Sipe, of Ward Township. He joined Company C. Ninetieth Indiana Regiment (Fifth Cav- alry), August 8, 1862, and served nearly three years. receiving his discharge after the close of the war. June 36, 1865. Two of his brothers wore in the same company, viz., Isaac and Martin (Van Buren). The latter was prisoner of war at Richmond, Belle Isle and Andersonville for many months. but was at length set free and joined his regiment. They were all mustered out together. John B. Sipe is married and has quite a large family of children. He resides on the old homestead; is a farm- er and a Democrat. The voters of Ward Township chose him as their Trustee in the spring of ISSO. He seems a genial and

intelligent citizen, and will no doubt make a faithful and effi- cient public officer, and fully justify the confidence reposed in him by his fellow-citizens.

John H, Sipe is a farmer of Ward Township. He was born in Bedford County, Penn., in 1802; married Mary Brubaker in 1824, came to Randolph County, Ind., in 1842; has had nine children, five living and married. He bought at one time 120 and at another time 150 acres of land, but he has sold it all to his son. Four of his children reside near him, and one, a daughter, in Minnesota. In the early time of his settlement here, he engaged extensively in teaming, and made much money in that way. John Thomas and Perry Fields had had a saw- mill near Mr. Sipe's, where the State road crosses Clear Creek, east of Deerfield. Mr. Sipe rebuilt the mill, and has kept it in operation till the spring of 1880. He enjoys good health, notwithstanding his age, appearing not more than seventy years old. In politics, he is a Democrat, as are, in fact, a great ma- jority of the citizens in that Democratic stronghold.

Samuel Sipe was born in Pennsylvania in 1798; married Bar- bara Brubaker in 1823, and came to Ward Township, Randolph Co., Ind., in 1847. They have had ten children, nine of the number being now alive, and all of them are married. He entered no land, as he came to the county too late for that. He owned, how. ever, 240 acres, was a thriving, prosperous farmer, a prominent and energetic citizen, and was a member of the Democratic party in politics. He died in 1875, being about seventy-seven years old, and was buried in Deerfield Cemetery, near the old chapel west of the town. His wife still survives her husband, enjoy- ing a genial old age, and residing on the old farm with her son, John B. Sipe. [ October 8. 1882, his agod widow, Mrs, Bar- bara Sipe, lay down to her lust earthly rost, having borne the storms and trials of this earthly existence about seventy- seven years six months and twenty-six days, and in hope of a blessed immortality and an endless life in the upper and better kingdom |.

Temple Smith was born in 1806, in Adair County, Ky .; went to Highland County, Ohio, in 1811, and came to Randolph County, Ind., in 1819. He has resided thirty-six years west of Bloomingsport-six years at Buena Vista, two years at Farm- land, and fifteen years east of Stone Station, Ward Township. He married Priscilla Crossley in 1827 (born in 1809). They have had twelve children; six died in childhood and youth, and six have been married, and they have had thirty-seven grandchil- dron; three of the sons died of diphtheria, at the ages of nine, eighteen and twenty respectively. His wife died in January, 1882.

Allen Wall was among the very first residents of the Missis- sinewa Valley, above Deerfield. He was born in North Carolina in about 1779. His wife's maiden name was Sarah Beechy, and they had ten children, all grown and married, and seven are liv- ing yet. One daughter, sixty five years old, is the wife of Ja- cob Evans, of Saratoga. Mr. Wall entered forty acres about two miles east of Deerfield, north of the Mississinowa, settling in the region about 1817-18. Samuel Emery lived not very far away, though he came years later. Mr. Wall died in 1835, aged about fifty-six. His wife died in 1841. He was a farmer, and he and his wife were Methodist9. Nearly the only settlers cast of Deer- field in 1819 were the Masseys and the Jacksons. Robert, James and Tense Massey were there some time before. James, at least, was in the county and on the Mississinewa in the summer of 1818. James and Tense Massey appear to have made their first entry in Sections 10 and 11, January 26, 1818, and Will- iam Jackson in Section 21, October 2, 1819. Mr. Wall was a farmer, and he and his people were Methodists. It is likely that he was a Democrat, as most (though, indeed, not all) of the dwellers in that region were and are of that political faith.

John R. Warren was born in North Carolina in 1813; came to Wayne County, Ind., in 1821, and married Ann Newton in 1834; moved to Ward Township, Randolph County, in 1836; entered 160 acres of land, and, shortly afterward, 160 more. He owned at one time 990 acres, and had it all under fence. He now owns none, but has his property in other forms. His first wife died in April, 1878, and his second wife in October, 1879. He has had ten children -three dend, seven living-seven married -all

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WARD TOWNSHIP.

in the neighborhood, but one in Minnesota. Mr. Warren was a farmer and stock-dealer, and managed a large business; but he has now retired from active life. Both his wives have died within about one and a half years, and he feels deeply their loss. He is a Methodist of twenty years' standing, and a life-long Democrat.

Jason Whipple, Deerfield, was born in 1804, in Rhode Isl- and; came to Delaware County, Ohio, in 1817; married Eliza H. Bass in Rhode Island in 1824; moved to Jay County, Ind., near and north of Liber, in 1836, and to Deerfield, Randolph County, in 1847, where he has resided ever since. He has had thirteen children, eleven of whom are living. They reside in Randolph, Jay and Adams Counties, Ind., in Missouri, Minne- sota, and still elsewhere. He has been a farmer, a mechanic and a miller. Mr. Whipple built a steam grist-mill at Deerfield in 1855, and it is still doing good and extensive work, being now owned by his son, Willis Whipple. He has been twice married, and his second wife is yet living. Though in his seventy- eighth year, Mr Whipple is strong, hearty and vigorous, and does not look more than sixty-five. He has been an enterprising cit- izen, and his family form a valuable addition to the strength of the community. He is a sturdy Democrat of the olden time, clinging with unflinching tenacity to the political affiliations of his youthful days. Coming of age during the administration of the younger Adams, his first Presidential vote was given at the election of the grand old hero of New Orleans to the Chief Exec- utive chair, and he has witnessed and taken part in the strug. gles, the victories and the defeats of that ancient and famous party of freemen from that time to the present. Long crowned with triumphant success, the leaders of that historic body of men administered with a bold and steady hand the affairs of the nation for nearly all the years since the accession of the stern and iron-willed Jackson to the Presidential office up to 1861; shut out since that time from the ocenpancy of the White House, except. indeed, during the incumbency of Andrew Johnson, who had been elected as a Republican with the lamented Lincoln, and who assumed the responsibilities of Presidential authority upon the assassination of his distinguished predecessor; they have, nevertheless, clung together, firm, notwithstanding defeat, and faithful through adversity, looking backward with admiration -- nay, with reverenee !- upon their ancient leaders, with fond affection and melancholy regret, upon their victorious progress during the years now long past and gone, and looking forward, moreover, with fond and anxious hope, with ardent desire and with longing expectation, to the successes which may yet, in the years that are still to come, by them again be accomplished.

THOMAS L. ADDINGTON, farmer, P. O. Randolph, is a native of Wayne County, Ind., and was born January 26, 1829. His father, James Addington, r's Lative of South Carolina, and canio to Wayne County, Ind., in 1806. year 1809, he married Miss Nancy Lewellyn, by whom he had thirteen even of whom they raised, viz. : John L. (deceased), William ( killed · az in 1852), Benjamin G., Rachel, Thomas L. (our subject), Isaac The elder Addington died in Kansas in 1860, while there visiting If T'ier-in-law, Meshack Lewellyn, came to this county about the , and ercoted the first mill on the Mississinowa River. He came race to Wayne County, Ind., in 1806. Our subject, Thomas L. Ad- mis > with his parents to this county in 1832, and settled in the woods; .i .c. col in a log cabin with slab sents, greased paper windows and & خ,أصد را posted on pins in the wall, for a writing-desk. The deer, wolves and riv': at : game were abundant. He was married, in September, 1852, to Miss h. yo.ta Woodard, by whom he had two children-Melissa and William. Tis. Addington died in 1854, and in 1857 he married Miss Nancy Pierce, 1. . Wer of Burket Pierce, of whom we shall speak elsewhere in this work. By her he had four children-Marybeth (deceased), Elizabeth, Eleworth and An- thonv. Mr. Addington resides on Section 20, and owns 180 acres. In March, 18%, he became a member of the Masonic fraternity, and in the fall of 1868, he became a member of the order of Odd Fellows. Mr. and Mrs. Addington are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Addington filled the office of Justice of the Peace for eight years.

DAVID ALMONRODE (deceased) was born in Rockbridge County, Va., November 16, 1814, and was a son of George and Margaret Almonrode ; he came to this county with his widowed mother about the year 1836; he was first married, June 7, 1838, to Miss Esther Bousman, daughter of Adam Bons- man, an early settler of this county. They had six children-Margaret, Su- sannah, Janetta (deceased), Adam, Rachel and Nancy J. Mr. Almonrode died July 14, 1880, loved by all. He was a worthy member of the United Brethren Church, and an ardent worker in the temperance cause, and was always ready

to assist the poor and needy. Mrs. Almonrode is also a member of the church. [Ter son, Adam, was a soldier in the Inte war.

JOHN BEARY, farmer, P. O. Suratogn, was born in Virginin August 16, 1809, and is & son of Joseph and Barbara Benry (deceased). Joseph Beary was a soldier in the war of 1812. Our subject was married in February, 1839, to Miss Susanna Overhulser, and the following fall emigrated to this county and . located in the woods, where by hard Inher he male a farm. He had two chil- dren by his first wife-John H. (deceased) and Barbara A. Mrs. Benry died, and he again married, January 23, 1845: this time to Miss Susannah Grow, by whom he had nine children, seven living-Isabelle, Catherine, Sarah, Eliza- beth, Emeline E., Josephine S. and Daniel F. Mr. Beary was a member of the German Reformed Church. Sarah died June 13, 1882. Subject died Angust 15, 1881.

CYRUS BOUSMAN.

Cyrus Bousman was hern in White River Township, Randolph Co., Ind., February 27, 1845, And is the son of George W. Bousman, one of the early sct- tlers of this county. His father's father came from Germany, and finally to Preble County, Ohio. The mother of the subject of this sketch was born and raised in Rockbridge County, Vn., and was there married to a man by the name of Holmes, who died at the end of five years, leaving her with two children nad but little means. After the denth of her husband, she loaded her worldly effects into n one-horse wagon, and with her two little girls and her young brother, traveled the distance of more than six hundred miles to Preble Coun- ty, Ohio, where she met G. W. Bonsman, to whom she was married in 1837. In the following year, they enme to this county, with only means enough to en- ter a quarter section of land, upon which they settled and proceeded to make a farm. The land was then an unbroken wilderness filled with wild game, and they were without neighbors nenrer than three miles, and but three neighbors within five miles. Upon this farm the subject of this eketch was born in 1845, and when nine years of age, was injured by a horse stepping on his foot and crushing it. This injury confined him to his bed for one year, after which he apparently recovered, but at the age of fourteen, the trouble again came on, this time contining him to his bed four years, and leaving bim crippled for life. On account of this continued disability and poor school facilities, his education has been limited, being confined to three terms of school at the "old lost schoolhouse," and two terms at a seminary in Winchester.

In 1865, Mr. Bousman was married to Miss Margaret Ann Frase, and in 1866, they began life upon & rented farm. They changed location ahout once each year until 1869, when he took a lense on a piece of woodland belonging to his father, upon which they settled and on which he worked hard for four years. At the end of this time, poor health compelled a change of occupatien. In 1873, they removed to the village of Saratoga, where Mr. Bousman engaged in a huekstering business for one year ; he then learned photographing and carried on a gallery at Saratoga for three years. This business ceasing to be re- munerative, he quit it in 1877, and started into a general store, selling dry goods groceries, and whatever is necessary and profitable in a small town. At the same time his wife opened a millinery store. These businesses they still carry on. In 1874, Mr. Bousman was made Postmaster af Saratoga, which position he yet fille, and all the time his wife has been his assistant. He has for some time been Freight and Ticket Agent for the Pan-Handle Railroad at Saratoga: also agent for the Adams Express Company. It is readily scen that he is a concen- trated inhabitant, and is a useful and respected citizen. By integrity in busi- ness he has gained the confidence of the community in which he lives, and by energy, perseverance and correct habits, he has earned a competence, has ae- cumulated property, and is in a fair way to enjoy a prosperity which a proper life will merit.

Margaret Ann Bousman, nee Frase, is the daughter of John and Nancy Frase, and was born near the town of New Madison, Darke Co., Ohio, Au- gust 28, 1846. In 1851, she was brought to this county by her parents, where she was raised on a farm, and educated in the common district schools. Iu 1865, she was married to Cyrus Bousman, since which time her life has been parallel with his, and for whom she has been a helpmate and valuable assistant, and with whom she has made a comfortable success of life, with him attaining creditable social position, against adverse circumstances.

THOMAS H. CLARK, farmer, P. O. Clark, was born in Warren County, Ohio, August 26, 1846, and is a son of Thomas and Susannah Clark, also natives of Warren County, and who came to this county in 1847, and now reside in Winchester. Mr. Clark was brought up on n farm, and received a common-school education. Hle served twenty-two months in the late war in Company G, One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and participated in the battles of Atlanta, Franklin, Nashville, Wise Fork and oth- ers. Ile was married, in 1866, to Miss Barbara Hobbick, by whom he had two children-Ida and Elmer. Mrs. Clark died in 1872, and, in 1875, he married Mrs. Jane Rittenour, by whom he has one child-Susannah C. Mrs. Clark had one child by her first husband, viz., William Rittenour. Mr. Clark is en- gager 1. farming and stock-raising, and owns eighty acres of valuable Iand.

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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 146

Author: Tucker, Ebenezer Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Chicago : A.L. Klingman Number of Pages: 664

Author: Tucker, Ebenezer
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago : A.L. Klingman
Number of Pages: 664