USA > Indiana > Tipton County > History of Tipton County Indiana > Part 53
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James William Adams was born May 7. 1845, and died February 5. 1897. He first saw the light of day in Rush county, Indiana, being a son of Stephen B. and Lydia (Alger) Adams. His father, Stephen B. Adams, was a farmer and extensive land owner, who subsequently removed to Henry county, this state, and passed the rest of his life there. To the subject's parents were born the following children : Ira, Steve, John, Jesse, Henry, James W .. Polly Ann, Lydia, Elizabeth and Jane.
The early education of Mr. Adams was acquired in the common schools of Rush and Henry counties, his youthful days being spent at farm labor. He enlisted on March 10, 1864, in the Thirtieth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. serving with his command during the entire conflict and taking part in many
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of the most memorable and fiercely contested battles of that sanguinary con- flict. He was discharged on November 24, 1865, at Victoria, Texas.
After the close of the Civil war Mr. Adams came to Tipton county and located on a farm of one hundred and eighteen acres, which he improved and made one of the best in the community. He was married December 27, 1866, to Elmira Shaw, the daughter of James and Mary (Willburn) Shaw, and to this union were born five children, namely: Adel and Elma are deceased: Elmer married Maud Brenner and they have one child, Zed; Ora married Viola Filba; Earl is operating the home farmi and is a graduate of the com- mon schools.
In political affairs, Mr. Adams believed in the principles of the Demo- cratic party and displayed an active interest in the advancement of that belief, both in the casting of his ballot and in the exercise of his influence in the party councils. He was a man of prominence in the community and when his advice was sought on matters that affected the welfare of his fellow citizens or the advancement of the interests of his neighborhood he was always found on the side of law and order, right and justice. He gave liberally of his means and his time to the promotion of all enterprises for the advancement of his community and for the betterment of his fellow men. In his fraternal relations he was a member of the Knights of Pythias, in the workings of which order he took a deep interest.
GEORGE HARTLEY.
Prominent among the land owners and successful agriculturists of Tip- ton county is the enterprising and public-spirited gentleman whose life history is briefly outlined in this review. His career has been one of consecutive and well-directed application and he has never lacked the enthusiasm that con- tributes so largely to success. Today he is numbered among the popular citi- zents and representative men of the community in which he resides. It has been as a farmer that he has largely won his prosperity and he is recognized as one of the foremost representatives of the agricultural interests in this portion of the Hoosier state. In his business relations he is strictly fair and his good name and integrity stand as unquestioned facts in his career.
George Hartley, the owner of two hundred and eighty acres of fine farm land in Madison township, Tipton county, Indiana, was born February I. 1875, in Hamilton county, this state, the son of Jerome and Mary J. (Rulon)
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Hartley. Jerome Hartley came to Hamilton county from Pennsylvania with his parents when he was but twelve years old, his parents being John S. and Cassie Hartley. John S. Hartley was a German and one of the very first settlers in the Hoosier state. Jerome Hartley was the father of four chil- dren, namely: Howard is deceased; John married Ola Yarling: George; Nellie became the wife of Ora Auchenbach.
George Hartley first attended the Fairy Glade school and later finished his education at Omega, securing an education similar to that of the ordinary boy in the common school branches. During the time he was pursuing his studies he. applied himself diligently to his books and after completing his schooling did not consider his education completed, but has always been alert to add to his store of knowledge by reading and close observation, as a result of which he is a well informed man, thoroughly up-to-date in current affairs and is respected and honored as a man of good judgment and upright living. During his boyhood he was busily engaged in the duties of the home farm, being an efficient assistant to his father in the operation of the home place. On reaching mature years the subject started on his own account, farming on shares, and was so successful in his labors that he accumulated quite a little money. His father had given him his first chance toward independence when he was but twelve years old, allotting to him a small crop, on which his first money was made. . Eventually he acquired a fine farm in Madison county, this state, and one hundred and sixty acres in Madison township, this county, but recently he sold his Madison county land and bought one hundred and twenty acres more in his home township, making his total holdings two hun- dred and eighty acres in Madison township.
On February 26, 1902, Mr. Hartley was united in marriage to Carrie Carr, the daughter of William M. and Catharine (Yarling) Carr, and to this union have been born five children : Mildred, Catharine (deceased). Herbert H., Evelyn and Alice H.
Mr. Hartley and his wife are among the most loyal and earnest members of the Christian church and they give liberally to the support of that worthy institution. The subject is superintendent of the Hobbs Sunday school and both he and his wife are very prominent in the various activities of the church. In his agricultural operations it is conceded by all that Mr. 'Hartley ranks with the most progressive and scientific farmers of the community. He has a splendid farm, a comfortable home and a large circle of loyal friends, a com- plement of blessings which he has richly deserved because of his upright and honorable course in life.
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F. M. ETCHISON.
A review of the life of the honored subject of this memoir must of necessity be brief and general in its character. To enter fully into the inter- esting details of the career of the late F. M. Etchison, touching the struggles of his early manhood and the successes of his later years, would far transcend the limits of this article. He filled a large place in the ranks of the active, energetic and public-spirited citizens of his day and generation, and the memories which attach to his name and character form no inconsiderable chapter in the history of Tipton county, where he did his work and achieved his success.
F. M. Etchison was born May 1, 1855, in Madison township, and died June 20, 1913, aged sixty-one years. He was the son of Benton and Minerva (Ray) Etchison, his father having been reared in this county and the mother hailing from Wayne county, Indiana. A common school education, such as was afforded in the district schools of the period, was obtained by the subject. and his youth was spent in farm labor, he assisting in the work on the home place until he reached the age of twenty-one, when he purchased a farm of one hundred and forty acres, on which his widow is now residing. Here he applied himself to the development and improvement of his land and before long his place ranked second to none in the township, bountiful crops resulting from his careful and systematic methods of tilling the soil. Good buildings were erected, the best of machinery installed and, in addition to general farm- ing, Mr. Etchison engaged extensively in stock raising, his thorough knowl- edge of this branch of the business enabling him to draw from it a lucrative. income and gaining him a reputation for business sagacity and ability of which any man might be proud.
On the 18th of July, 1872, Mr. Etchison was united in the holy bonds of matrimony to Mary G. Darrow, the daughter of Zedic and Syntha Darrow. who are mentioned elsewhere in this volume in the sketch of Homer Dar- row. To the subject and his wife were born six children: Stella, deceased. was the wife of Henry Marley and the mother of two children, Josephine and Perry; Mattie married Arrie Foust and is the mother of two children. Chester and Dallas; Otie; Charles: Pleasant ; Clauda married John Boyd and has a son, Leonard.
A member of the Christian church, Mr. Etchison was quite prominent in its affairs, holding several positions of honor in that body and giving liberally to the support of the same. His life. public and private, in every situation or
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circumstance, was as an open book, and no word could ever be truthfully spoken against him at any stage of his careeer. He left an indelible impress upon the community which was honored by his presence and his example of upright living, honesty of purpose and industry will long serve as an inspira- tion and incentive to those who knew him. Useful lives such as his do not go out-they go on.
Fraternally, Mr. Etchison was an active and appreciative member of the Modern Woodmen of America.
JOHN FRANKLIN MORRIS.
The subject of this sketch is one of those strong, self-reliant and de- termined characters who are occasionally met with and who are of such a distinct type as to seem to stand out from their fellow men. Not that Mr. Morris courts that distinction, for he is entirely unassuming, but his great force of character and his zeal and energy in whatever he undertakes natur- ally places him at the head of the crowd, and he has been a potent factor in the development of Tipton county, where he has maintained his life-long home and where he is well known to all classes for his honorable and indus- trious life, having ever had the interests of his fellow men and the community at heart.
John Franklin Morris, prosperous and well known farmer and stock raiser, who resides about five miles east of Tipton. on the John F. Morris gravel road, was born in 1861 in the same township in which he now lives, the son of Samuel and Mahala (Likens) Morris. The father was born in Ross county, Ohio, and came to the Hoosier state with his parents, John and Sarah (Wycoff) Morris, who settled in Hamilton county, where they were farmers. On February 11, 1865, Samuel Morris enlisted in the One Hundred and Fifty- third Indiana Volunteer Infantry and served during the rest of the war.
Samuel Morris was twice married, the fruit of the first union being a daughter. Adeline. To the subject's parents were born seven children, namely : Cyrepta Jane (deceased), Mrs. Malinda Balser. John F., Mrs. Cenia Groves, Mrs. Sarah Hobbs, Mrs. Susan Ray.
The subject of this review attended school at the old Antioch log school house and later in the frame building which took its place, acquiring such education as was afforded in this primitive institution ; however, in later life (35)
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he supplemented the learning which he got from school books by a wide knowledge of men and affairs, being a close student of human nature and a reader of the best books and periodicals, constantly enlarging his viewpoint and becoming one of the best posted men in his community. Until he reached the age of twenty-five years, Mr. Morris lived at home and helped with the many labors on the place of his father, during this time obtaining a thorough knowledge of agriculture, which was put to good use when he struck out for himself.
In February, 1886, Mr. Morris was married to Cora Fouch, the daugh- ter of Cole and Minerva (Harness) Fouch, and they have become the parents of six children, namely: Homer married Cela Rhoades and has one child. Telma; Bertha is deceased; Grace lives at home, as does also Minnie ; Hazel is deceased, and Charles is attending school.
Fraternally, the subject is affiliated with the lodge of Free and Accepted Masons at Tipton, in which he takes an earnest interest, ever seeking to exemplify in his daily life the beautiful precepts of that order. He has won a place in the community as a public-spirited and generous man and no one can truthfully say aught against him in any of the relations of his life. His large and well tilled farm of two hundred and eighty acres is ranked with the best in the township and as a result of his industry and persistency in the cul- tivation of the same Mr. Morris has acquired a comfortable competency.
BENJAMIN A. HOBBS.
Tipton county is indebted to the Hobbs family as much as to any other of the worthy pioneers of this section for its wonderful transformation to one of the choicest sections of the Hoosier state, for members of this family have been leaders in agricultural, industrial and civic affairs since the early days. Each, with a fidelity to duty and a persistency of purpose peculiar to that class of men who take the lead in large affairs, has performed well his duty in all the relations of life, and while advancing their own interests they have not been unmindful of the general welfare of their fellow citizens. Thus they rightfully deserve an honored place in the history of this locality.
Benjamin A. Hobbs, owner of a fine hundred-acre farm on the New Lancaster road, about three and one-half miles southwest of Elwood, was born February 29, 1876, in Madison township, near Hobbs, Tipton county.
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Indiana, the son of John and Nancy (Levell) Hobbs, John Hobbs having also first seen the light of day in Tipton county, where he spent his life and be- came quite a prominent man, being interested in political affairs and having at one time been the candidate of his party for county auditor. He was the father of seven children, as follows: Oscar is deceased; Nettie married Oscar Gilchrist; Maud is the wife of Charles Stewart; Benjamin A .; Morton mar- ried a Miss Gard; Fred married a Miss Mosebaugh ; Chalmer.
Benjamin A. Hobbs secured a fairly good education in the New Lan- caster school and during his youth was employed at agricultural labor. On reaching mature years he engaged in the oil and gasoline business, which he conducted very successfully for about four years, at the end of which period he again took up farming, securing his present place, and has since then devoted his attention to the development and improvement of the land, hav- ing erected improvements in the way of farm buildings and generally en- hancing the value of his land until it now ranks with the most valuable in the community. Always ready to adopt new ideas when their worth was proven, Mr. Hobbs has kept in the forefront of the progressive and scientific agricul- turists of the locality and is a brilliant example of the up-to-date, industrious and resourceful American farmer of the twentieth century.
On July 6, 1895, the subject of this review was united in matrimony with Retta Tranbarger, the daughter of Andrew and Mary J. (Morris) Tran- barger. The father of Mrs. Hobbs was one of the earliest settlers in Madison township, this county. To the subject and wife have been born five children, Virgil, Beulah, Glendora, Margaret and Morris. Virgil graduated in the common schools and spent one year in the Elwood high school.
The Hobbs family are members of the Christian church, and in the Sunday school of that institution they take a very prominent part, giving freely of their means to support that worthy cause and by their attendance lending much encouragement. While never having taken a very active part in political affairs, Mr. Hobbs has always used his best judgment when it came to exercising his suffrage. He votes with the Republican party. Fra- ternally, he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, while his wife belongs to the Royal Neighbors of America. Mr. Hobbs has by his indomit- able enterprise and progressive methods contributed in a material way to the advancement of his locality and during the course of an honorable career has been successful in his labors, having been a man of energy, sound judgment and honesty of purpose.
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JOHN ESSIG.
The man who boldly faces life's duties and responsibilities and by deter- mined and untiring energy carves out for himself an honorable success exerts a powerful influence upon the lives of those who follow after him. Such men constitute the foundation of our republican institutions and are the pride of our civilization. To them life is so earnest and real that they find no time for vice or frivolity. Their lives are closely bound up in their duties, they feel the weight of their citizenship and take pleasure in sowing the seeds of up- rightness. To such a class belongs the gentleman whose name introduces this review, the owner of the beautiful and valuable Maple Grove farm of one hundred acres, on the Windfall road about seven miles southeast of Tipton, Indiana.
John Essig was born May 18, 1849, in Montgomery county. Pennsyl- vania, the son of Henry and Caroline (Bosler) Essig. Henry Essig was a native of Wittenburg, Germany, and came from the fatherland to this coun- try when he was eighteen years of age. He landed in New York City and went to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he worked at his trade of cabinet- maker for a time, later moving to Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, and continuing the same vocation. Here he was married and reared his family. being the father of fourteen children, as follows: Emmeline is deceased; Louisa; Oliver died while serving in the Eighth Indiana Volunteer Cavalry in the Civil war; Henry; Frederick; one died in infancy; Mahlon is de- ceased ; John; Samuel: Malinda; Joseph and Christiana are deceased; Frank and Jacob.
John Essig's education was acquired in the common schools in the Key- stone state, he having to help on the farm of his father during all of the period of his schooling. Early in life he learned the carpenter's trade and followed this craft for some time, becoming quite expert in wood working and building. In 1881 he came to Tipton county, Indiana, and began ditching the farm of eighty acres which he had purchased, having previously resided with his father in Wayne and Hamilton counties, the elder Essig having come to Wayne county in 1855.
On January 19, 1873. John Essig was united in matrimony to Mary A. Yarling, the daughter of Jacob and Margaret (Baker) Yarling, and they became the parents of three children : Margaret married Peter Durr; Will- iam and Sylvester. Mrs. Essig died May 28, 1913, her passing away being mourned by a vast number of friends, who remember her as a woman of
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WILLIAM ESSIG AND PRIZE CORN.
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splendid character and womanly attributes. She was a native of Indiana, having been born in Shelby county on November 7, 1847, her parents, men- tioned above, having emigrated to this country from Germany many years ago. She was a faithful member of the New Light church.
John Essig is the possessor of a comfortable competency, and when we consider that he started out in life on his own account without a penny, we will see that he is justly deserving of the proud American title of self-made man. His honesty stands as an unquestioned fact in his career and there are other elements which are equally as strong in his character and which com- mand for him the unqualified confidence of those with whom he is associated.
WILLIAM ESSIG.
A list of Tipton county's enterprising and progressive citizens would be incomplete if it failed to include the name of the well known and honored gentleman whose life story is so briefly told in these lines. He has served his community well as an educator and few have been more active than he in connection with the great basic art of agriculture in the section which is proud to claim his residence. Although comparatively a young man, he has attained success through well directed effort and his life has been marked with the utmost integrity and rectitude, so that none may consistently be- grudge him the prosperity which today is so significantly his portion.
William Essig, proprietor of a fine one-hundred-and-twenty-acre farm in Madison township, Tipton county, was born on July 29, 1877, in Howard county, Indiana, the son of John and Mary A. (Yarling) Essig. The father of the subject was reared in Arcadia, Hamilton county, where he attended the district school and eventually took up farming, removing to Howard county for a while, but returning to Hamilton in 1881. Before his marriage John Essig was a railroad man for some time, and was also in the tile business. To the subject's parents were born three children : Margaret married Peter Durr ; the subject of this review ; Sylvester married Ethel B. Achenbach.
The first schooling of Mr. Essig was secured in the Prairie Grove school, and he later graduated from the common branches at Hobbs. On the com- pletion of this preliminary education, he took a course at Marion and then taught for ten years in this township in which he now resides. In his duties of teaching Mr. Essig gave to the school patrons the very best satisfaction, as is attested by his long record of service. His aim was always to adopt the
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best and latest pedagogical methods, keeping thoroughly abreast of the times in educational work and winning not only the commendation of his superiors in the work but also of his pupils and their parents.
On March 22, 1903, Mr. Essig was united in the holy bonds of matri- mony to Jessie M. Shaw, the daughter of F. M. Shaw, of this township. Mrs. Essig's mother was Mary A. ( Balser) Shaw. They have a splendid home on Mr. Essig's place and are the center of a circle of loyal and admiring friends. both the subject and his wife standing high in the community as people of ex- ceptional worth and culture. It is such men as the subject that give to a com- munity its character and not only assure its progress, but its stability and per- manency. Mr. Essig is an unassuming man, who attends strictly to his own affairs and whose life forcibly illustrates the value of a sterling integrity, hon- orable dealing and upright conduct. He enjoys to a marked degree the esteem of his fellow men and as a citizen discharges his duty in such a manner as to be worthy of the confidence in which he is held. In his fraternal relations, Mr. Essig is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and of the Modern Woodmen of America, in the workings and teachings of which orders he displays an active and loyal interest.
V. B. HOBBS.
V. B. Hobbs, prominent farmer and stock raiser, the owner of five hun- dred and sixty acres of good land in Madison township, Tipton county, In- diana, was born December 15, 1861, on the old Warden Hobbs farm in this township, the son of Warden C. and Sarah E. (Beeson) Hobbs. The father was a son of Henry H. and Mariah ( Pierson ) Hobbs and is yet living, being the possessor of two hundred and sixteen acres of land which is the direct result of his own efforts, he being a self-made man in the truest sense of the term. In politics, the subject's father votes with the Republican party, while his religious membership is with the Methodist Episcopal faith.
V. B. Hobbs attended the common schools and secured the average edu- cation obtained by the farmer boys of his youthful days, studiously devoting himself to the pursuit of knowledge during the short winter terms and doing a man's share of labor on his father's place in the crop planting. tending and harvesting seasons. His first purchase of land in his own right consisted of a small tract of thirty-three acres, and from this start he has steadily increased his holdings until his present fine farm of five hundred and sixty acres is one
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of the most valuable in the community. Here he carries on general agricul- ture and stock raising, and he has been more than usually successful in his life work, being essentially progressive and modern in his methods and insisting that the improvements on his place be always of the best. A careful rotation of crops has conserved the vitality of the soil and the most scientific and proven methods of feeding and breeding rule in the live stock branch of his business.
On February 8, 1883, the subject of this review was united in marriage to Mary E. Henderson, and this union has been blessed by the birth of three children, May, Rolly and Ben, all of whom have received good schooling, Rolly now being engaged in teaching.
OMER DARROW.
Agriculture has been an honored vocation from the earliest ages and as a usual thing men of honorable and humane impulses, as well as those of energy and thrift, have been patrons of industry. The free out-door life of the farm has a decided tendency to foster and develop that independence of mind and self-reliance which characterizes true manhood and no truer bless- ing can befall a boy than to be reared in close touch with nature in the health- ful, life-inspiring labor of the fields. It has always been the fruitful soil from which have sprung the moral bone and sinew of the country, and the majority of our nation's great warriors, renowned statesmen and distin- guished men of letters were born on the farm and were indebted largely to its early influence for the distinction which they attained. Among the many young men of Tipton county who have not been seized by the wanderlust and have been content to cast their lot in this favored community as tillers of the soil, the gentleman whose name heads this paragraph is a striking example of what can be accomplished in these days of highly organized and scientific methods in the operation of agricultural plants.
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