History of Wabash County, Indiana, Volume 2, Part 40

Author: Clarkson W. Weesner
Publication date: 1914
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 619

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In 1872 Mr. Jackson married Sarah Kemp, and she died in 1876 leaving him three children. Emerson, the eldest, is now married to Luella Sailors, and has children Claude and Catherine, residing in Oklahoma. The others, Cecelia and Elburn, died in infancy.

On November 6, 1879, Mr. Jackson married Hannah Ramsey, a daughter of James and Mary (Welsch) Ramsey. They have one daughter,-Mary, the wife of Prof. William Cushing, of Cincinnati, Ohio. Mrs. Jackson was born on her father's farm about two miles south of Lagro. Her parents came to Indiana in 1842 from the vicinity of Philadelphia, and on reaching Indiana spent two years in Richmond, after which they established themselves in Lagro township. Mr. Ram- sey died here in 1884 when he was seventy-two years of age and his wife died in 1893 at the age of seventy-eight. They had a family of ten children. Sarah, the first born, died as the wife of Willis McDonald; John T. died in 1909; Lydia E. is deceased; Catherine died as the wife of Mr. John T. Collins; Hannah married Mr. Jackson of this review; William B .; James F .; Lydia, wife of Robert Scott; Phoebe, who mar- ried James Barton; and Margaret, the wife of R. G. Fultz.

Mr. Jackson farmed at various places in the township up to the time when he bought his present place in 1900 and his eighty acre farm is another of the attractive and well kept places in the township. He has remodeled the buildings since he came into possession and many changes have added to the value and appearance of the place. He no longer farms the entire place himself, but rents out certain of his fields, and is thereby relieved of much of the care of the place, at the same time realizing a nice income from the system.

Mr. Jackson is a democrat, and his churchly relations are with the Baptist church. He and his family are stanch members and attend- ants, and have a wide circle of friends in and about the township where they have so long been residents.

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LIEUTENANT WILLIAM R. HUNT. One of the best known citizens of Wabash county was the late Lieutenant William R. Hunt, who gained his honorable title by active service in the war for the Union, was for many years engaged in agricultural pursuits in Liberty township, and became one of his community's prosperous men and influential citizens, gaining the respect and esteem of the people of his locality by his fair and honor- able dealings and upright life. He was a valued member of the Grand Army of the Republic at La Fontaine, and at all times was popular with his old army comrades. His death on June 30, 1913, removed from the locality one of its best and most public spirited citizens.

William R. Hunt, the fourth son of Harrison and Diana (Lewis) Hunt, was born near New Salem, Rush county, Indiana, September 29, 1837, and was past seventy-five years of age at the time of his death. His early life was spent on the homestead farm, which he left in 1859, and with a party of young men from his neighborhood went by ox-team to Pike's Peak. The prospects in the gold mines of that region were not promising, and in the same year all the party returned to their homes. Only a little later Mr. Hunt found ample opportunity for the satisfaction of his adventurous spirit in the war of the Rebellion. He made a long and honorable military record. On September 4, 1861, enlisting as a private in Company K of the Thirty-seventh Indiana Regiment of In- fantry, he was mustered into the service of the army on September 18th following and went to the front with his regiment. During his service of more than three years he participated in numerous hard-fought en- gagements, including those at Murfreesboro, Missionary Ridge, Lookout Mountain, Chickamauga and the siege of Atlanta. He was wounded three times and by brave and faithful service won promotion from the ranks. On February 22, 1863, he was commissioned second lieutenant of his company and on October 22nd of the same year was advanced to first lieutenant, a rank which he held at the time of his honorable dis- charge on October 27, 1864. After the war Lieutenant Hunt returned to his home in Rush county, but in January, 1865, came to Wabash county.

In Wabash county on January 14, 1866, he married Miss Henrietta Poston, who died December 12, 1883. On September 21, 1887, Lieutenant Hunt married Mrs. Alma Z. (Downey) Hunt. By their marriage they had one son, William R., born April 21, 1891. William R. Hunt, Jr., married September 25, 1912, Miriam Grindle, and their daughter Doro- thy D. was born June 29, 1913.

No history of Wabash county or of those who have contributed to its material welfare and advancement would be complete that did not make mention of its worthy and energetic women, whose faithful and loving assistance has enabled their husbands to make this one of the thriving agricultural communities of the great Hoosier state. Few are better or more favorably known than Mrs. Alma Z. Hunt, widow of the late Lieu- tenant Hunt. For twenty-six years Mrs. Hunt has been a resident of Liberty township, and is now living in the suburbs of the town of Treaty.

Alma Z. Downey was born in Rush county, Indiana, March 30, 1855, a daughter of William H. and Sarah E. (Cowan) Downey. Her father

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LIEUT. WILLIAM R. HUNT

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was born in Virginia October 6, 1816, and her mother in Ohio on July 1, 1825. They were married in Ohio, moved to Rush county, Indiana, where they spent the remainder of their long and useful lives. Her father died April 25, 1894, and her mother on July 16, 1896. They were known as people of sterling worth and upright character, prominent in church and charitable work, and helpful and useful in their community. Of their seven children five survive: Laura D., widow of William M. Brooks of Rushville, Indiana; Florence, wife of Charles Lines of Knights- town, Indiana; Gertrude, wife of H. S. Carney of Rushville; Thomas J., engaged in farming in Rush county ; and Alma Z.

Alma Z. Downey was educated in the public schools of Noble town- ship in Rush county, was reared on her father's farm, and was well prepared for the various responsibilities that she has subsequently as. sumed. On December 27, 1876, she married Benjamin R. Hunt, a younger brother of the late Lieutenant Hunt. Benjamin R. Hunt was born March 17, 1853, and died November 14, 1879. There was one son by their marriage, Harry C., born December 27, 1878, and died March 25, 1907. He was married on September 30, 1903, to Pearl Miller.

Mrs. Hunt is now living in the environment of Treaty, Indiana, where she owns a farm of 244 acres of well-developed land. A woman of charitable impulses, she has been active in the work of the Christian church at Treaty and a treasurer of the Ladies Aid Society. Mrs. Hunt's acquaintance is extensive and her many excellences of mind and heart make her greatly beloved by a wide circle of friends.

JESSE M. PRICE. One of the principal industries of the agricultural community of Wabash county, and particularly of that section in which lies Paw Paw township, is the raising and shipping of valuable horses, cattle and hogs, and to this many of the most substantial men here are devoting their attention. Although it is a good country for grain, they have found by experience that it is more profitable to feed their product to their live stock and thus to turn it back into their land. Among the men who are making a distinct success of their operations is found Jesse M. Price, who is engaged in activities on his father's farm of 205 acres, a well-cultivated tract lying about two miles south of Urbana, on the west side of the Manchester turnpike. Mr. Price was born October 17, 1875, on the homestead farm, south of Wolcott, Indiana, and is a son of John and Maggie (McCallister) Price.

John Price was born in Kane county, Illinois, and was married in White county, Indiana, to Maggie McCallister, who was a native of the city of Chicago. Later they moved to Monticello, Mr. Price purchasing seventy acres at the edge of the town and embarking in the horse busi- ness. When his son, Jesse M. Price, had finished school and was ready to embark upon his career, the father sold both his farms and moved to Lafayette, Indiana, locating one and one-half miles from the Court House. In 1906 he sold off a part of his farm to the Big Four Railroad, for gravel, and since that time has lived practically retired. Mr. Price is a self-made man in every sense of the word. When he first came to

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Indiana, his capital consisted of a pair of sorrel horses, and these he traded for his first farm. From that time forward his energy, persistence and good judgment rapidly brought him success, and today he is justly accounted one of the substantial men of his community. He is still in good health and spirits, alert in body and mind, and although seventy years of age still takes a keen interest in all that goes on about him. Mrs. Price also survives, being sixty-one years old. They have been the parents of four children, as follows: Jesse M., of this review ; Frank, who is a resident of Marion, Indiana; Roy, who died at the age of fifteen years; and Anson, who resides with his parents.

Jesse M. Price attended the district schools in the vicinity of his father's farm, and subsequently took a course in the high school at Monticello. His vacations and spare time were passed in assisting his father in the cultivation of the homestead, and for four years he was engaged in operating the farm at Lafayette. Following this he identified himself with the well-known horse-breeding firm of J. Crouch & Son, and spent five years in their employ, but in 1907, when his father purchased the present farm from Mr. DeHaven, he again resumed the tilling of the soil, in which he has met with excellent success. At that time the barn was the only building standing on the property, but Mr. Price soon put up a large modern residence and other buildings, tiled and ditched the land, and made it into a handsome and valuable farm. He follows general farming to some extent, raises a great deal of alfalfa, and, in common with other progressive farmers of this section, devotes much attention to the breeding of good horses, cattle and hogs. As a business man he has shown himself capable of seeing and grasping opportunities, but his reputation is that of a man who has never taken an unfair ad- vantage of his fellows in commercial transactions. He has been too busily engaged in the cultivation of his land to enter actively into public life, but in political matters supports the policies of the democratic party.

On January 21, 1893, Mr. Price was married to Miss Myrta McQuarg, daughter of Daniel and Amanda (Davis) McQuarg, of Monticello, In- diana, and four children have been born to this union: Morris, Ardis, Margaret and Kenneth.

PETER NEFF came to Wabash county, Indiana, in 1860, from the State of California, where he had been six years, going to that state from Champagne county, Ohio. He has since been a resident of this state and community, and he lives today on the farm he bought and settled on in that early day, and he has enjoyed a long and useful career in the township.

Born in Shenandoah county, Virginia, on October 16, 1826, Peter Neff is the son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Strickler) Neff, and he was one of a family of nine children born to his parents. His mother died in middle life, and the father married Rachel Romick, who became the mother of four children. His third wife was Rachel Landacher.

In 1830 Peter Neff moved to Champagne county, Ohio, with his

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twice married, his first wife, Ruth Wessner, being the mother of Rebecca, Phoebe, Elam, Asenath and Daniel. After the death of the wife and mother in February, 1849, the father married Lydia Macy, the daughter of Nathan Macy, and to them were born seven children. Several of the seven died in infancy, and only Emma and Nathan survive today. Joseph Votaw was born and reared in the Quaker faith, and all his days he was active in the work of the church.

Daniel W. Votaw received his early education in Miami and Wabash counties, and he remained at home with his father until his marriage, in 1868, when Louisa Gaunt, the daughter of Uz and Sarah Ann (Whit- acre) Gaunt, became his wife. She was born in Ohio and came here when quite a young girl, in company with her family. She had seven brothers and sisters: John, George, Elizabeth, James, Hannah, Allen and Emma. Her people finally settled in Wabash county, and here they passed their remaining days.

In 1869 Daniel W. Votaw settled in Wabash county on a farm of ninety-five acres. Ile now owns two hundred acres in Wabash county, in two separate farms, and has done all of the improvement work himself. The land is in excellent condition, and reflects the spirit and ambition of its owner in every detail. In more recent years Mr. Votaw has main- tained his residence upon a small but well kept and productive place of thirty-one acres, which is quite enough to keep him busy in these days.

To Mr. and Mrs. Votaw were born eleven children, five of whom are living: Millard F., who married Ida Fisher; Joseph W., who married Florence Barnett; Viola, the wife of Joseph Sloop; Phoebe M., the wife of Louis Baldwin and living in Florida; and Ethel, the wife of Milton Barnett and living in California.

Mr. Votaw and his son Millard are life members of the Quaker church, but Mrs. Votaw and the remainder of the children are of the United Brethren faith. Mr. Votaw's father was first a whig in politics and later became a republican, and Mrs. Votaw's father was a life-long democrat. Mr. Votaw has been a life-long republican. The family is well established in the community, enjoying the esteem and confidence of a wide circle of friends in and about the township.

R. C. THOMPSON. Twelve years ago R. C. Thompson was practically without assets, and when he bought his present place in Noble township, he went in debt for it. Today he has not only succeeded in paying for the place, but he has brought it to a high state of agricultural productive- ness that makes it one of the most desirable farms in the county, and with its fine collection of comfortable and modern buildings, the place is assessed today at $40,000. This, it will be admitted readily enough, is very good progress for a plain and unassuming farming man, and Mr. Thompson may well be proud of his accomplishments.

Born in Pike county, Ohio, on February 28, 1860, R. C. Thompson is the son of George W. and Rhoda (Miller) Thompson, natives of Colum- biana county, Ohio, where the father was a farmer. They were the parents of ten children, four of whom are yet living. The parents passed

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their lives in Pike county. On February 9, 1886, R. C. Thompson was married in Pike county, Ohio, to Lulu Rankin, a daughter of Milton and Martha Rankin, and their first independent home was in Sangamon county, Illinois, where they settled on a farm. They remained there for nine years, when they sold out and bought a farm in White county, Indiana, there residing for six years. It was in 1901 that they came to Wabash county and purchased their present fine place in Noble township.

Mr. Thompson's success has been remarkable, in that he began to work for himself when twenty-one as a hired man on a farm in his com- munity, and his possessions today have been acquired through his own skill and good management. He has worked as only a man on a farm may, and today he has a magnificent place to show for his labors. As has been stated, his present home is valued at $40,000. Up to the time when he established himself in Noble township, Mr. Thompson gives much of the credit for their prosperity to his wife, who has done her full share in helping him to accumulate their property. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson had about $7,000 when they came to Wabash county and bought their 185 acres, paying $11,500 for the place, and going in debt about $4,000. But he has cleared off that debt and has also bought addi- tional land, about seventy-five acres. He does mixed farming, raising grain and stock. At the present time he is clear of all debts. The place today boasts an entire new set of fences and buildings of all kinds, and altogether, it is one of the most attractive places in the county. The house, a comfortable looking frame affair, is painted white, with a white fence surrounding it, and one of the best kept lawns one might hope to see adds much to the natural beauty of the place. Cloverdale Farm is undeniably one of the finest looking places in the county.

Mr. and Mrs. Thompson have four children. Pearl, the eldest, mar- ried Minor Bickel, and has two children, Armond and Dorothy Helen; Lenora, the second, is the wife of La Moyne Shellhammer; Lorine is un- married; as is. also Ardath. The family are members of the United Brethern church, and Mr. Thompson is a Democrat in his politics.

JOHN ALEXANDER MARTIN AND SANFORD CHARLES MARTIN. Of family names that have been identified with Wabash county since pioneer times, none have had more honored and active association with the county at large than that of Martin. Both father and son named above were sol- diers of the Union during the dark days of the Civil war, and the father lost his life in the war. While the son's activities as a business man have been for a long period of years connected with Liberty Mills, he is best known over the county at large for his capable administration of the duties of sheriff a few years ago.

The late John Alexander Martin was one of the real pioneers of Wabash county. He first saw the light of day in Fayette county, Penn- sylvania, in 1821, and came of old and prominent American ancestors. He was a son of Alexander and a grandson of John Martin. John Martin was one of the early volunteers in the cause of independence

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during the Revolution. He was a pioneer and an Indian fighter as well as a soldier of the regular army during the Revolution, and was associated and intimate friends with such great historic characters as Daniel Boone, Simon Kenton and George Rogers Clark. In the latter years of the eighteenth century he journeyed west to the state of Ken- tucky, and for his services rendered the government was given a section of land in Greenup county. This property, now worth many thousands of dollars because of its oil and iron deposits, was handed down through several generations of the family, but unfortunately was sold a number of years before the value of its sub-surface was realized.

John Alexander Martin spent his boyhood days at Uniontown, Penn- sylvania, and early in life married Amanda McLean. She was a daughter of Ephriam McLean and a granddaughter of Colonel McLean. Colonel McLean was one of the pioneer engineers of the United States, and was the man employed by the government to lay out the Mason and Dixon line from Baltimore to St. Louis. Owing to the fact that the Southern states had complained that this line was surveyed too far south, two London engineers named Mason and Dixon were employed to verify the work done by Colonel McLean. They found his line as nearly ac- curate as possible, and its course was never changed in any important particular, though it has always borne the names of the Englishmen who covered the ground instead of the man who performed the original work.

Soon after he was married John Alexander Martin moved from Penn- ' sylvania to the section of land owned by the family in Greenup county, Kentucky. In 1847, having sold that property, he came north to Wabash county, Indiana, which was then a veritable wilderness. His cabin home was built at North Manchester, and from there he moved to a farm near Urbana, and subsequently to another farm two miles west of Manchester, and still later to Kosciusko county. Though he was forty years of age when the war broke out, he enlisted in Company I of the Forty-seventh Indiana Infantry, and first served as wagon-master, and later was commissioned first lieutenant of his company. In April, 1862, while conducting some troops down the river he contracted diphtheria and at Cairo was taken on board a gunboat for medical treatment. The old-fashioned remedy of bleeding was resorted to, and during that operation the surgeon's knife accidentally severed his jugular vein, and he died almost immediately. His body was brought home, and was laid to rest in a soldier's grave at North Manchester. His widow survived him many years and died February 14, 1911, and is now at rest near Liberty Mills. To their marriage were born the following children : M. K .; Sanford C .; Alice, who married Michael Cook, deceased; Manassa Clinton, of Kansas City, Kansas; Jessie F., who married John Folk; and Nellie, Mrs. Life Cloutman, of Kansas City, Missouri.

Sanford Charles Martin, who had a record as a soldier in the Civil war while still a boy, was thirty-five years an active business man of Liberty Mills, and now living retired at that village, was born in Greenup county, Kentucky, April 10, 1846, a son of John A. and Amanda

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human existence by seven or eight years at the time of his death. His early rearing was on a farm, and during his boyhood his parents moved to Fulton county, Ohio. The district schools laid the foundation of his mental training, and he was also a student in Old Bethany College at Bethany, West Virginia, an institution known probably to every member of the Christian church in its association with Alexander Campbell its founder. Early in life he determined upon a career in the ministry, but for a number of years his activities were divided between his studies for his profession, and his work as an education, and in public office. He taught school for a time in Fulton county, Ohio, and while living at Wau- seon, Ohio, was elected treasurer of Fulton county and by re-election served two terms. That public service was during the Civil war. He had already begun preaching after leaving the office of county treasurer, and devoted his entire time to the ministry.

In 1868 Rev. Carpenter came to Indiana, and was stationed at Wabash in charge of the local church. In a very short time, through his excep- tional talent as a preacher, his ability in the organization of churches, and the extension of the beneficent activities of religion into both new and old fields, he became a figure of national importance in the Christian world. He was pastor of the Christian church at Wabash for many years. He was elected by the State Sunday school association as Sunday school evangelist for the state of Indiana, a position he retained a long time, and in the discharge of his duties visited practically every section of the state. For twenty years prior to his death, Rev. Mr. Carpenter was president of Bethany Assembly, the National Chautauqua of the Christian church, with grounds located twenty miles south of In- dianapolis. He was one of the organizers of that institution.

Perhaps no minister ever lived who dedicated more churches than did Rev. Carpenter. The number at which he presided in this capacity reaches seven hundred and sixty-two and they were located throughout the United States and Canada. The travel necessary to reach these churches alone comprehend considerable portion of one man's life, but it was characteristic of him that he allowed no ordinary consideration to deter him from the performance of his duties. The last twenty years of his life were largely devoted to the dedication of churches.

The Rev. Mr. Carpenter was six feet two inches in height, jovial in disposition, and in every sense of the word was an optimist. His faculty of looking on the bright side of everything was translated into hope and encouragement among thousands who came to him for sympathy and mental and spiritual relief. He was an exceptional Bible student, and an orator of much power and resource. He was a firm believer in the creed he advocated, was honest in his convictions, a devoted and sincere worker, and always maintained a happy balance between practice and theory, so that he might well be described as having been a "doer of the Word." His talents as a minister, and his personal attributes rendered him a prominent and welcome personality everywhere. He was outspoken in his convictions on every subject, and his sound reason- ing commanded the closest attention.

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It was not only within the immediate sphere of the church that Rev. Carpenter was known. In politics, a republican, his services as a cam- paign orator were utilized in this state and elsewhere. He was affiliated with both the Masonic and Odd Fellow fraternity and while believing in the tenets of those orders, he was not a strict attendant at their lodge meetings.

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History of Wabash County, Indiana, Volume 2, Part 40

Author: Clarkson W. Weesner Publication date: 1914 Publisher: Number of Pages: 619

Author: Clarkson W. Weesner
Publication date: 1914
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 619