USA > Indiana > Tipton County > History of Tipton County Indiana > Part 61
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62
"JOHN P. KEMP, "M. T. SHEIL, "M. V. B. NEWCOMER, "JOHN D. SMITH, "F. E. DAVIS, "WILLIAM RYAN."
C. B. GRAY.
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 husbandry. The free outdoor life of the farm has a decided tendency to foster and develop that independence of mind and self-reliance which characterize true manhood, and no greater blessing can befall a boy than to be reared in close touch with nature in the healthful, life-inspiring labor of the fields. It has always been the fruitful soil from which have sprung the moral bone and sinew of the nation, and the majority of our country's great warriors, wise statesmen, renowned scholars and dis- tinguished men of letters were born on the farm and are indebted to its early influence for the distinction which they have attained.
C. B. Gray, a prosperous farmer of Cicero township, was born Septem- ber 24, 1856, in Henry county, Indiana. He was the son of Samuel C. and Mary L. (Butler) Gray. His father was born in Fayette county and was a mechanic by trade. They had four children : James, deceased, Samuel A., William I., and C. B., subject of this sketch.
Digitized by Google
620
TIPTON COUNTY, INDIANA.
C. B. Gray attended the common schools of Henry county, and for a time was under Benjamin Parker and his wife, the Indiana poets. He came to Tipton county when he was about thirteen years of age, and settled with his parents in this township, where he still lives. He attended the Jefferson township district school after coming to this county. During the summer he worked on the farm while he attended school in the winter months.
Mr. Gray was married November 20, 1878, to Sarah J. Shannon, the daughter of Thomas B. Shannon, the latter dying some years ago. To Mr. and Mrs. Gray have been born the following children: Charles W., Jennie L., Harry C., Mary E., Thomas R. (who married Dena B. Glass), Alpha B., . and Samuel S.
Mr. Gray now owns one of the most complete and up-to-date farms in Cicero township. He has always been a Republican in politics, though he has never sought any public office from his party. Recently they have com- pleted a new house and barn and both are equipped with all the modern im- provements. Mr. Gray has, by his upright and wholesome life, gained the respect of all, and they have many warm and loyal friends, who have been drawn to them by their admirable traits of character. He has always sup- ported those interests which they have been calculated to uplift and benefit their community.
-
MARTIN MELVIN HOBBS.
It is proper to judge of the success and status of a man's life by the estimation in which he is held by his fellow citizens. They see him at his work and in his family circle, hear his views on public questions, observe the outcome of his code of morals, witness how he conducts himself in all the relations of society and thus become competent to judge of his merits and demerits. After a long course of years of such daily observation it would be out of the question for his neighbors not to know his worth, because, as has been said, "actions speak louder than words." In this county there is nothing heard concerning the subject of this sketch but good words. He has passed his entire life here and his worth is well known, but it will be of inter- est to run over the busy events of his life in these pages.
Martin Melvin Hobbs, retired grain dealer and merchant of Hobbs, has occupied a large place in the business, social and political affairs of his com- munity. He served Tipton county faithfully and efficiently as treasurer and his township as trustee and supervisor, instituting many business-like reforms
Digitized by Google
621
TIPTON COUNTY, INDIANA.
in those responsible offices and making a record as a public official that yet stands as a model to his successors. He is a native son of this county, hav- ing been born in Madison township December 14, 1845, the son of Levi and Cynthia (Boles) Hobbs. The mother's family came from Butler county, Ohio, and she was the last of the name. Levi Hobbs was a native of Lee county, Virginia, and on coming to the Hoosier state he settled in Marion county about the year 1836, living on a farm and teaching school, his early education having been acquired in his native state. In 1841 he removed to Tipton county and obtained a tract of twenty-nine acres on the southeast corner of section 23, which constituted the first settlement in Madison town- ship. He was the father of ten children: Lavisa and Tilman are deceased; Elmina Houser; Clinton H .; Martin Melvin; William B .; Miranda; Ann Eliza ; Cynthia, deceased, and Preston L.
Martin Melvin Hobbs acquired his education in an old log school house near his father's place and was engaged in assisting his parents in the labor on the home farm until he reached mature years. At the age of twenty-one years he learned the carpenter's trade, at which he was employed for some time, also teaching school for several terms. Eventually the subject settled on an eighty-acre tract of land and for four years devoted his attention to the cultivation of the same. At the end of this period he disposed of his holdings and came to Hobbs, about the year 1878 or 1879, and engaged in the merchandise business, having continued in this line and in the lumber and grain business for over thirty-five years.
On March 26, 1874, Mr. Hobbs was united in marriage to Sarah J. Lilly, the daughter of Green and Eliza (Wright) Lilly. She died February 26, 1904, and was buried in the Hobbs cemetery. Mr. Hobbs was married a second time, his present wife being the daughter of James and Elizabeth (Parmer) Castor, who came from Decatur county, this state.
Mr. Hobbs has always displayed an active and intelligent interest in political affairs, although of late years he has been content to limit his activities to the casting of his ballot for the Republican party, which in his younger days so signally honored him. Fraternally, he is a member of Elwood Lodge No. 230, Free and Accepted Masons, in which he takes an appreciative inter- est. A life of industry and good management has brought to Mr. Hobbs rich rewards and his declining years as a result are being passed in peace and comfort, surrounded by loyal friends and neighbors. He now owns two valuable farms, one of one hundred and fifty-two and one of eighty acres. The Farmers State Bank of Hobbs began business January 1, 1914, and Mr. Hobbs became its president.
Digitized by Google
622
TIPTON COUNTY, INDIANA.
M. W. JOHNSON.
Among the substantial men whose labor and influence have given im- petus to the agricultural interests and general material improvement of Tip- ton county, Indiana, and who today occupy high positions in the community in which they live, is the worthy gentleman whose name introduces this article. He grew up with the predominating idea of relying upon himself, and in his own work he has persevered steadily along a definite line of action, so that today he is considered one of the solid and enterprising farmers of his county. He is one of an increasing number of men who are taking an active part in public life, and in his capacity as an official of his township, he has shown himself as one of the most capable officials which his county has ever produced.
M. W. Johnson was born on March 31, 1853, in Tipton, Indiana, and is a son of William and Amelia (Short) Johnson. The senior Mr. Johnson was born in Darke county, Ohio, and was a miller by trade. He lived until his death, in 1854, on the farm where the subject now lives, having come to Tipton county in an early day. He was a man of strong intellectual powers, having received a good, practical education in the common schools of Darke county, and in the various communities where he lived he enjoyed in a large measure public confidence and esteem. To him and his wife were born the following children : Mrs. Amanda Oliver, who is the mother of four children ; James, deceased; and M. W., the immediate subject of this sketch.
M. W. Johnson was educated in the schools of Tipton in his childhood, and later attended district school No. 18, working on the home farm during the summer seasons, and so well did he apply himself to his studies that he was enabled to teach several years after finishing his own school work. Having decided to make agriculture his life work, he stayed on the farm and later bought out the interests of the other heirs of his father's farm of forty acres, this being a part of the original land belonging to his father. He has conducted his farming operations with much success. He carries on a general line of farming, in addition to which he gives some attention to stock raising. which he finds a profitable source of income.
In 1879 Mr. Johnson was united in marriage to Emma Colee, daughter of Robert and Elizabeth (Goodwin) Colee, who came to Tipton county from Shelby county and are highly respected citizens of their community. To Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have been born three children: Lundy, who married Sadie Partridge, and they have two children, Darrell and Robert: Paul and Monna, who are at home with their parents and both attending school.
Digitized by Google
623
TIPTON COUNTY, INDIANA.
Politically, Mr. Johnson is a Democrat and has always taken a deep interest in all public affairs, especially of his township and county. He is at present serving his second term as trustee of Cicero township, which is the second largest township in the state. He is discharging the arduous duties of his important office to the entire satisfaction of all concerned. Personally, he is genial and unassuming, and he and his family move in the best circles of their community, being highly respected and esteemed by all who know them.
LEWIS Z. VANDEVENDER.
It is not an easy task to describe adequately a man who has led an emi- nently active and busy life and who has attained a position of relative distinc- tion in the community with which his interests are allied. But biography finds its most perfect justification, nevertheless, in the tracing and recording of such a life history. It is, then, with a full appreciation of all that is demanded and of the painstaking scrutiny that must be accorded each statement, and yet with a feeling of satisfaction, that the writer essays the task of touching briefly upon the details of such a record as has been that of the honored sub- ject of this sketch whose eminently successful career is now under review.
Lewis Z. Vandevender, trustee of Jefferson township, Tipton county. and a merchant of Goldsmith, Indiana, was born May 7, 1865, in Peru, Indi- ana, the son of Joseph and Catherine (Zeigler) Vandevender. His father was a native of Licking county, Ohio, and was a farmer by vocation. He came to Indiana in the early days before the Civil war and settled in Miami county, and was the father of three children, the subject of this sketch, Mrs. Minnie G. McFoster and Joseph W., who is married and has three children, Kenneth, Merle and Lawrence.
Lewis Vandevender attended the district schools of his neighborhood and finished his education by taking a course in the normal school at Peru, Indi- ana. During his minority he worked on his father's farm during the summer seasons, attending school during the winter. In 1891 he came to Goldsmith and entered the employ of J. D. Smith, a merchant of this place. By close application to business and thrifty habits, he was finally enabled to start a new business with his partners. After continuing in this enterprise for some years, he, with a partner, purchased and has continued in the general mer- chandising business up to the present time. In addition to the regular stock
.
Digitized by Google
624
TIPTON COUNTY, INDIANA.
of goods usually carried in general stores, they also deal in cement and cement blocks, and handle coal and wood. In his business he has been very successful and has, in addition to his interests in the store, a large farm in .Jefferson township, where he makes a specialty of raising live stock.
Mr. Vandevender was married in 1900 to Laura E. Hinkle, and to this union have been born three children, Keren, who married Carl Kritsch, and has one son, William L .; Curtis and William, who are still under the parental roof. Mr. Vandevender's first wife died September 16, 1900, and he after- wards married Mrs. Effie (Wiener) Cox, who was the mother of two children by a former marriage, Dorotha and Bonna Mae.
Mr. Vandevender has always affiliated with the Democratic party and. although he has taken an active interest in the welfare of his party, he has never sought any political office. Fraternally, he has been a valued member of the Free and Accepted Masons and of the Modern Woodmen of America, in both of which orders he takes a deep and active interest.
Mr. Vandevender has not confined his energies solely to the accumula- tion of material wealth, but has also been interested in all movements which have for their object the betterment of the community in which he lives.
JOHN A. SWOVELAND.
The record of the gentleman whose name introduces this article con- tains no exciting chapter of tragic events, but is replete with well-defined pur- poses which, carried to successful issue, have won for him an influential place in the ranks of his profession and high personal standing among his fellow citizens. His life work has been one of unceasing industry and perseverance, and the systematic and honorable methods which he has ever followed have resulted not only in gaining the confidence of those with whom he has had dealings, but also in the building up of a large and remunerative legal prac- tice. Well grounded in the principles of jurisprudence and by instinct and habit a constant reader and student, Mr. Swoveland commands the respect of his professional colleagues and his career has reflected honor upon himself and dignity upon the vocation to which he has devoted his efforts.
John A. Swoveland, a well-known citizen and successful attorney of Tipton, is a native of the old Buckeye state, having been born in Richland county, Ohio, in the village of Mansfield, on July 22, 1843. He is descended from a long line of sterling ancestors, his maternal grandparents, Peter and
Digitized by Google
1
625
TIPTON COUNTY, INDIANA.
(Stainbach) Swoveland, having been natives of Pennsylvania, where they were reared, their marriage occurring in Bedford county, that state. Coming west, they became early settlers in Richland county. Ohio, where they followed farming. Mr. Swoveland also being a carpenter, which trade he had learned in youth, and at a time when everything was done by hand. He was a finished mechanic, and also was very successful as a farmer, which pursuit he made his principal life work. He died at the advanced age of ninety-three years, his wife being also quite old at the time of her death. They were the parents of eight children, all girls, as follows: Mary. Rebecca, Catherine. Barbara, Eve, Ann. Sarah and Louisa. Of these children, Sarah. the mother of the subject of this sketch, was born in Pennsylvania. and upon attaining mature years married Jacob Swoveland, also a native of Pennsylvania and also of German descent. To them were born ten children, five sons and five daughters, eight of whom lived to maturity, namely : Peter, who died in 1907; Susan, deceased, who was the wife of Louis Ballinger; Catherine, a twin sister of Susan, who died at the age of twenty-two years ; John A., of Tipton, Indiana; Mary, deceased, who married a Mr. Beisel; Barbara, deceased, who married Joseph Carter; Sarah, who died at the age of nineteen years, unmarried; Aaron F., of Sims, Grant county. Indiana. Jacob Swoveland was reared to the life of a farmer, which pursuit he always followed. At the age of sixteen years he went to Richland county, Ohio, where he grew to manhood, and was married and farmed there until 1843. when he removed to the Wyandot Reserve in Ohio, living there until about sixty years of age. He then came to Indiana, and died here about three years later, in about 1878, at the age of sixty-three years. He was twice married, his first wife having died in Ohio about 1865, at about forty-five years of age. For his second wife he married Abiah Farnham, and she died without issue. Mr. Swoveland held many township offices, and was a man of importance and influence in his community. The subject's paternal grandfather, John Swoveland. died in Pennsylvania. as did his wife, and they were the parents of six children, namely: John. Peter, Jacob. Polly, Sarah and Susan.
John A. Swoveland was reared on his father's farm in Van Wert county, Ohio, and attended school three months in the year and also a term in an academy in Van Wert, and then engaged in teaching school for two terms in Ohio, and was one term superintendent of the Windfall schools, establishing the first graded school in Tipton county, Indiana. At the breaking out of the Civil war, Mr. Swoveland enlisted as a private in Company H, Fourth Regi- ment Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, and served from September 15, 1861, until (40)
.
.
Digitized by Google
.
626
TIPTON COUNTY, INDIANA.
July 15, 1865, according to his muster papers, but in reality he had enlisted on August 10, 1861, as one of General Fremont's body-guard under Captain Carter. He was wounded in the spring of 1862 at the battle of Tullahoma, Tennessee, and on the 28th of October he was taken prisoner with others, and remained a prisoner until January 1, 1863, when he and his comrades were exchanged and returned to their command at Murfreesboro, when that battle was fought. Mr. Swoveland participated in nearly every battle of the Army of the Cumberland, save that of Murfreesboro, and proved a valiant and faithful soldier. He was a corporal and, according to the evi- dence of his comrades, he was a good soldier. An incident of his service in the Civil war is worthy of special mention. At the close of the war, when Jeff Davis made his escape from Richmond and was captured at Irwinville, Georgia, he was taken to Macon, where he was held as a prisoner at the LeNier hotel. J. A. Swoveland was a corporal and he had in charge a squad that was doing guard duty at the LaNier hotel. Mr. Swoveland was a member of Joe Wilson's cavalry corps and a member of the Second Bri- gade, composed of the Fourth Ohio, Fourth Regular, Fourth Michigan and Third Ohio Regiments. While Corporal Swoveland was guarding the hotel. he several times spoke to Jeff Davis, and one of his duties was to prevent some Union soldiers from shooting the ex-Confederate President, as it was to prevent the escape of his charge. Mrs. Davis so appreciated the kind- nesses shown her and her husband by Corporal Swoveland that she presented him with a bouquet of flowers, which he kept as souvenirs for many years. She was an intelligent woman and was very much of a lady, and Comrade Swoveland became very much attached to her, and he speaks reverently of her to this day.
After the war and the conclusion of peace Mr. Swoveland returned home and attended school one year, and also received some academical education. He then taught school until coming to Windfall, on March 20. 1867, where he bought a half interest in a general store of J. H. Zehner. This partnership had been maintained two years when they dis- solved and Mr. Swoveland went to Nevada, where he engaged in a business for himself, dealing largely in railroad ties and timber. In 1871, the year of the Chicago fire, he had the misfortune to lose six thousand dollars worth of ties by fire, which practically made him a bankrupt. He then returned to Windfall and took up the practice of law in the local courts, and in 1878 was elected prosecuting attorney of the thirty-sixth judicial circuit, moving to Tipton, where he has practiced his profession continuously since, having been
Digitized by Google
627
TIPTON COUNTY, INDIANA.
admitted to the bar in 1873. As an attorney who has a comprehensive grasp of the principles of jurisprudence, he is easily the peer of his professional brethren and has brought honor and dignity to the bar. He is a master of his profession, a leader among men distinguished for their high order of legal ability, and his eminent attainments and right judgment have made him an authority in matters involving a knowledge of jurisprudence.
On December 26, 1867, Mr. Swoveland married Isabella Van Winkle, who was born in Crawford county, Indiana, on January 24, 1850, the daugh- ter of Joseph and Amelia (Scott) Van Winkle. Her father was a Ken- tuckian by birth and rearing and her mother a Canadian. They were early settlers of Crawford county and their deaths occurred at Windfall, this state, he at the age of nearly eighty-nine years. His first wife, mother of Mrs. Swoveland, died at Windfall in 1875. They had eight children: Sarah, Isabella M., Alpheus, Celeste, Alice and Webb (twins), Rovilla and Della. Her father married for his second wife Emma Legg, and to this union were born three children, Albert, Leota and Ernest. To Mr. and Mrs. Swoveland have been born six children. Joseph W., Jessie A., Cora I., Grace M., Sarah Gertrude and Alice Miriam. Joseph W. died when about sixteen months old. Cora I. died when about eighteen months old. Alice M. died when about two years old. Jessie became the wife of Omer Legg and they live in Tipton. They have two sons, John and Robert. Grace M. is the wife of Harry L. Odle, of Toledo, Ohio, and they have two children, Isabelle Ger- trude and Harry Van Winkle. Sarah Gertrude is the wife of Charles W. Winfield, who conducts a successful mercantile business in Sheldon, Illinois. They have two children, Nedlyn and William Swoveland.
Mr. and Mrs. Swoveland are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he is a trustee. Fraternally, he belongs to Tipton Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which order he has been a mem- ber for forty-one years. He is also a charter member of the James Price Post, Grand Army of the Republic, in which order he takes great interest, having held all the important offices of the local post. He is an interesting speaker and whenever there are any functions in which some one is expected to say something, he is always called upon. There have been very few mem- orial services on Decoration day that he has not delivered an address, not only at home and in his home state, but in other states. He also belongs to Tipton Lodge No. 151, Knights of Pythias, of which he is a charter member, while politically he is a Republican. He is the owner of a splendid farm of fifty-one acres in Cicero township, which is improved and which has proved
Digitized by Google
628
TIPTON COUNTY, INDIANA.
to be a profitable source of income. His strength is as the number of his days, and not only has he accomplished much in connection with his life vocation, but his nature, strong and vigorous, has found denotement in kindly tolerance and human sympathy, generous deeds and worthy service. In his life history are found evidences of characteristics which always make for achievement. persistency coupled with fortitude, and as a result of such a life he has long been one of the best known, influential and highly esteemed citizens of this county and state.
STEPHEN WARNE.
To write the personal record of men who have raised themselves from humble circumstances to a position of responsibility and trust in a community is no ordinary pleasure. Self-made men, men who have achieved success by reason of their own personal qualities and left the impress of their individu- ality upon their communities and affect for good such institutions as are em- braced in the sphere of their usefulness, unwittingly, perhaps, build monu- ments more enduring than marble obelisk or granite shaft. Of such men is the gentleman whose name forms the caption for this biographical review.
Stephen Warne, prosperous farmer and owner of seventy-one and a half acres of good land one-fourth mile south of Hobbs, Tipton county, Indiana, was born in 1841, in Franklin county, Indiana, the son of Elijah and Amelia Warne. Elijah Warne came to Indiana from New Jersey and was a promi- nent and highly respected man. He settled near Brookville, where he engaged in farming and spent the remainder of his life. He was the father of thirteen children, namely : Philip, John, William, Samuel and Elijah are deceased : Stephen ; Sarah, Mollie, Elizabeth, Anna and Catherine are deceased; two others died young.
Stephen Warne attended the common schools in Franklin county and engaged in farm work in his spare time. Early deciding on agriculture as his life work, he devoted himself to a study of the best methods in that line. never being satisfied unless he was applying the most progressive and up-to- date treatment to his land, being ever ready to adopt new modes of operation when they were proved best. As a consequence he has a highly developed and improved farm, which has provided him with a good competency and which has increased in value as a result of the care Mr. Warne has given to it.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.