USA > Indiana > Wabash County > History of Wabash County, Indiana, Volume 2 > Part 46
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vives her husband, and is well and favorably known to her many acquaintances at Servia.
JOSEPH S. BARNETT, M. D. During a period of twenty-seven years the late J. S. Barnett, M. D., was engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery at North Manchester, Indiana, and in that time became known as one of the leaders of his calling in Wabash county. A man of high attainments and great force of character, he exerted an influence for good in various avenues of activity in the city of his adoption, and is remembered as a man who at all times stood for the highest ideals of his honored profession. Doctor Barnett was born January 14, 1827, at Greencastle, Franklin county, Pennsylvania, and was a son of William and Mary Barnett.
Doctor Barnett was given good preliminary educational advantages in his youth, and early adopted the profession of educator, for some time teaching schools in his native state. After some preparation, he took up the study of medicine, and eventually, in 1849, became a student in the Sterling Medical College, at Columbus, Ohio, from which he was graduated. On July 13, 1851, he was married to Miss Isabel Singer, daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Singer, of Lewisburg. Ohio. and in the following year first came to North Manchester. After a short stay he went to Albion and then to Butler. but soon returned to North Manchester, and continued in active practice here until the time of his death. He became regarded as one of the ablest practitioners of his day in Wabash county. and his skill attracted to him a large and representative practice. His comprehensive reading on all medical subjects, his deep personal research and investigation and his prac- tical experience in his profession made him a perfect master of the con- struction and functions of the various parts of the human body. of the changes induced in them by the onslaughts of disease. of the defects cast upon them as the legacy of progenitors. and of the vital capacity remaining in them through all the vicissitudes of human existence. To this he added an accurate knowledge of the methods best calculated to abate the ravages of disease and restore that most cherished hamar posession-health. He succeeded in his profession because he realized keenly that he belonged to an organization working for the welfare of humanity: he attained distinction therein because nature endowed tim bountifully and he studiously, carefully and conscientiously improved the talents that were given him. He was a member of the Indians State Medical Society and the American Medical Association, and his comose- tion with these organizations kept him constantly in touch with the progress and improvement constantly being made in media! sirs.s. Doctor Barnett was some what interested in fraternal matters and for many years was a non ter of the local loige of the Massie order. E- was ever an earnest and Balbus Christian, and died in the faith of the Lutheran church. March 14. 19. 2. Mrs Barnett. who survives his tos hand and r siles a: North Manchester. has many fries is in thes .ity, and
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MR. AND MRS. ALLEN E. CORY AND ADOPTED DAUGHTER AND THEIR RESIDENCE, NOBLE TOWNSHIP
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ALLEN E. CORY. General farming and stock raising have claimed the attention of Allen E. Cory since he launched out for himself in agri- culture, and he has won a place, among the prosperous and successful farming men of the township that has been his home all his life. He is the owner of a fine and fertile tract of one hundred and seventy-two acres, divided into two farms, one of one hundred and twenty acres, his homestead, and another of fifty-two acres, a part of his boyhood's home, two miles south. He carries on the business to which he was reared and which he is best fitted by nature and training to pursue. Mr. Cory was born in Noble township on the 2d of August, 1862, a son of George M. and Emeline (Doane) Cory.
George M. Cory came of Holland ancestry, his parents coming from the Dutch Republic in their early days and settled in Pennsylvania, but later moved to Preble county, Ohio. His wife was a daughter of Abel Doane, and she was born in North Carolina, of which state her people were natives for several generations. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. George M. Cory, five sons and a daughter. Theodore, the eldest, married Martha Harris. Clinton is unmarried. Alexander married Anne Tate. William married Mary Propeck. Allen E., of this review, married Alice M. Brower. Ida M., the only daughter, is unwed and lives at home.
Mrs. Cory was a daughter of Louis Brower and Sarah (Miller) Brower, residents of Miami county, Indiana, for many years. No chil- dren came to Mr. and Mrs. Cory, but they have an adopted daughter, Josephine, eleven years of age at the time they adopted her. She had made her home with the Corys for two years prior to adoption, and in that time so endeared herself to them that they legally made her their child.
Allen E. Cory was reared on the farm in Noble township which his father bought when he came here from Fayette county, Indiana, in 1846. But he had only lived in Fayette county a short time, and he had gone thither from Preble county, Ohio. It was a more or less uncultivated place of one hundred and sixty acres which he selected in Noble town- ship, and the sons, including Allen E., contributed in goodly measure of their young energies in subduing the primitive farm and bringing it to a state of cultivation where it was worthy the name of farm. The son Allen was five years old when the family moved out of the log cabin where he was born into the fine frame house that his father had built. In 1885 the father died at the old home place, and the mother passed away on the 11th of February, 1902. They were members for many years of the Christian church, and were among the best known and most highly esteemed people of Noble township.
Allen E. Cory stayed on the home place and assisted his father with its work until he married, in 1886, and he then rented and later bought his present place of one hundred and twenty acres. A log cabin and other similar buildings adorned the place when he came into possession, and they remained in use until 1902, when they were replaced by the pres- ent comfortable buildings, which are representative of the progressive farming men of the community. Here he has carried on general farm-
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ing and stock raising, and he has prospered in a pleasing manner in his chosen enterprise.
Mr. Cory is prominent in his township in business and other circles, and he takes an active part in the public life of the community. He is a republican, as was his father, and he has performed good work in the party ranks. Few men in the township have a greater following, and he is in every way worthy of the esteem in which his fellowmen hold him.
GEORGE W. STRICKLER. The Strickler family, now represented in Chester county by George W. Strickler, was founded in Wabash county nearly eighty years ago, when Henry Strickler entered 160 acres in Chester township and settled down to build a home for his family. IIe was born March 21, 1804, near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, a son of Con- rad and Elizabeth (Allen) Strickler, and was of distinguished ancestry, his mother being a granddaughter of William Penn. About the year 1825 Henry Strickler married Elizabeth Bricker, also of Pennsylvania, and they became the parents of the following children: John, was born August 20, 1826; Henry, who was born November 21, 1828; Jonas, born November 12, 1830; William, born August 12, 1833; Conrad, born August 28, 1835; Mary, born December 21, 1837; George W., born Feb- . ruary 1, 1840; Abraham, born January 18, 1843; and Amos, born August 30, 1846. Of these, John, Henry, Jonas, Conrad, Abraham and Amos are now deceased. In the year 1831 Henry Strickler left his Pennsylvania home and journeyed overland to the then far west of Richland county, Ohio, and four years later came to Indiana, locating 160 acres of land from the Government in Chester township at a time when the Indians still made their homes here and the woods abounded with game. His family followed him during the next year, and all settled down to wrest a living from the wilderness and to found a home, ambitions which were realized after years of strenuous labor. Henry Strickler was a man of energy and ability, fully capable of cop- ing with the difficulties which confronted him in the new country, and at the time of his death was one of the men of substance in his com- munity, where he was honored and esteemed for his ability and in- tegrity. He was a democrat in his political affiliations, and although never a seeker after public office was greatly interested in public affairs of importance. He passed away August 13, 1889, and Mrs. Strickler June 26, 1880, both in the faith of the Methodist church, of which Mr. Strickler had been an active supporter, having built the first church of that denomination in his community.
George W. Strickler, who lives on a tract of six acres and owns eighty more acres in the near vicinity in Chester township, has spent his entire life here and is one of the oldest living native born residents of the township. He was born February 1, 1840, in the house which his father had erected in the woods on first settling here, was given such educational advantages as were offered in the primitive district schools, and grew to manhood as a farmer, a vocation which he early adopted as his life's work. On November 5, 1871, Mr. Strickler founded a home of
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his own when he was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Wagner, daughter of John and Louisa ( Aberdeen) Wagner, natives of Germany. Mrs. Strickler's parents were married in Pleasant township, and both passed away here. During the first three years of their married life, Mr. and Mrs. Strickler lived at the home of her parents, and then located on the farm where they now reside, but after eighteen months went to Mr. Strickler's father's homestead and there remained engaged in operations for twelve years. They then returned to the present home for ten years, then spent twelve years on Mr. Wagner's farm, and in March, 1913, once more came to the Chester township farm, where they expect to spend the remaining years of their lives. They have a comfortable brick home, erected in 1874, while the barn was built two years later, and the other buildings are substantial and conveniently located. The equipment and appliances on the property are of modern manufacture, and Mr. Strickler uses the most approved methods in cultivating his land. He has devoted the greater part of his attention to general farming, but has not neglected stock raising, and has met with well-merited success in raising Poland-China and Chester-White hogs. His reputation as a man of integrity and sound business principles has never been questioned, and as a citizen he has fully discharged his obliga- tions to his community.
Mrs. Strickler is a member of the Lutheran church, in the faith of which her father died May 5, 1871, and her mother February 17, 1912. She has one brother and six sisters, namely: Elizabeth; Anna Maria, who married Gideon Kennedy; and Sarah Ann, Martha, Mary, John and Wilhelmina, all of whom are deceased.
JOSEPH J. CART .. Whatever success has been attained in life by Joseph J. Cart, and it is not inconsiderable, is due entirely to his own well-directed efforts. In his youth he started out to make his own way in the world unaided, and by resolute purpose, indefatigable industry and sound judgment he has steadily worked his way upward to a posi- tion of independence. The monument to his labors is a fine farm of seventy-seven acres in Chester township, Wabash county, three miles southeast of North Manchester, which is all under a high state of cul- tivation, yielding to its owner a golden tribute in return for the care he bestows upon it. He calls his place the Fruit and Gravel Farm.
Mr. Cart is a native of Rush county, Indiana, where his birth oc- curred May 11, 1841, and is a son of Adam and Elizabeth (Nichol) Cart, natives, respectively, of Germany and the state of Virginia, and both now deceased. His boyhood days were passed in attending the district schools during the winter months and in assisting his father in the work of the home farm during the remainder of the year. When he attained his majority he started out to make his own way in life, working as a farm hand for one year and also spending a like period in a sawmill in Elkhart county. Returning home about this time, he resided on the old homestead until his marriage, September 14, 1865, when he was united with Miss Sarah Alexander, a native of Rush county, and a
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daughter of Reuben and Salina (Caldwell) Alexander, who were born and reared in the green woods of Kentucky. For a period of three years after their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Cart were engaged in farming in Elkhart county, and then removed to Christian county, Illinois, where they resided until 1897. In 1873 Mr. Cart embarked in the nursery business in which he successfully continued for a number of years in Christian county, Illinois, but in 1897 disposed of this business and came to Wabash county, Indiana, locating on December 1st of that year on his present property, which he purchased from Samuel Heeter. Mr. and Mrs. Cart have since made Chester township their home. The farm has been put under a high state of cultivation, and now yields excellent crops under Mr. Cart's good management and modern methods. He is known as a good business man and one who has ever been honorable in his dealing, thus winning the respect and confidence of his community.
Mr. and Mrs. Cart have been the parents of three children, namely : Reuben, who married Marian Burdell and is now living in South Caro- lina; Nettie M., who married Jacob J. Wolfe, superintendent of the Peabody factory ; and J. Daniel, who married Emma Elliott, and keeps a grocery at Servia, where he makes his home. In his political views, Mr. Cart is of prohibition tendencies, taking this stand because of the generation of fast-growing young people about to take their places among the world's workers. He is keenly interested in public affairs as they affect his community, but has never sought nor cared for political preferment. For more than half a century Mr. Cart has been identi- fied with the Church of the Brethren, which he joined in 1862, and at present is serving in the capacity of deacon in the church at Ogans Creek, located about three miles southeast of his home.
GEORGE LEFFEL, for many years a resident of Wabash county and now living in North Manchester, is of German extraction and Indiana nativ- ity. He was born October 27, 1840, on a farm in the Southern part of Kosciusko county, a son of William and Juliana (Tridle) Leffel, who were among the pioneer settlers of that locality. His boyhood days were spent in helping his father on the home place and attending, when- ever was possible, short terms at the district schools. When war was declared beween the north and south Mr. Leffel, with many of his young friends, enlisted for the defense of his country in Company H, Twentieth Indiana Volunteers, and was mustered into the service on July 10, 1861, at Indianapolis. For a time their command under Col. William L. Brown, was stationed near Baltimore doing guard duty, and then was ordered to Fortress Monroe, then to Fort Hatteras and Fort Clark in North Carolina. Their first active service was seen on Chicamaconogo Island. Mr. Leffel served in various campaigns and engagements throughout that memorable struggle, until on December 13, 1862, at Fredericksburg, he was wounded and subsequently granted an honorable discharge by the war department.
Returning home at once, Mr. Leffel and several of his companions began to attend school at Warsaw, and later he was granted a diploma,
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and taught school one year. He then took up the study of engineering, but was obliged to give up the work because of his father's failing health, which necessitated his return to the farm in Kosciusko county. There he stayed until he was twenty-seven years old, when he married Miss Ximena Arnold, a daughter of Ralph and Louisa Arnold, and set- tled on eighty acres of unimproved land in the same county. From 1867 until 1872 Mr. Leffel remained there, then sold the place and in 1875 he acquired a farm of two hundred and twenty-five acres in Pleasant township, Wabash county. This, too, he sold in 1902, and moved into North Manchester, where he erected his present home on Main street.
While engaged in farming activities, aside from general stock raising and farming, Mr. Leffel conducted a butter tub hoop factory for a time, and he also sold farm implements and erected hay carriers. In May, 1877, Mrs. Leffel passed away, leaving her husband and two chil- dren,-Alvin and Jessie. In April, 1881, Mr. Leffel was married to Miss Eveline Oldfather, a daughter of Adam and Caroline (Burger) Oldfather. Mrs. Leffel's people were among the pioneers of Wabash county, settling in Pleasant township in 1842, whence they came from Montgomery county, Ohio. Both are now gone from this life, the father passing away in 1893 and the mother surviving until 1909. To this latter union were born the following children: Blanche, who married Chester Leedy, of the state of Washington, Ralph, who married Mabel Ashbaugh; Walter, married to Blanche Lautzenhiza; and Lena, the wife of Charles Snorf.
Mr. Leffel is now retired from the cares of business life and can look back over the years with the consciousness that he reached a state of independence and prosperity as a result of his own unaided efforts, and that the world has been in some measure benefited from his life. He has seen the county grow froma primitive state to one of cultiva- tion, progressiveness and wealth, derived in part from the utilization of her natural resources, and in this metamorphosis he has in his own way played an important part. He is a member of John A. Logan Post No. 99, G. A. R., and with his wife has membership in the Christian Science church.
THOMAS HANLEY, for many years a resident of Chester township, and a man who bore the respect and esteem of all who knew him, was a native of Ireland, born in County Roscommon, about the year 1816. When attaining his majority he married Miss Bridget Condra, and in 1852 left the old country and came to America, with a view to making it their future home. He settled in Vermont and secured employment in a stone quarry, the owner of which from the beginning took a deep interest in the Irish emigrant. He suggested that Mr. Hanley remain with him indefinitely, and when sufficient money had been saved from his wages, Mr. Hanley sent back home for his wife and family. For five years he remained in Vermont, and then came west to Fort Wayne, Indiana, and there helped to build the first large building that was
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erected in the place. He bought a small piece of land in Hancock county about the time he arrived in the state, and in 1857 he sold it and came to Wabash county. Here he bought eighty acres in section 4, Chester township, and hired a man to cut a strip of the timber and build him a house. This property has always remained in the possession of the Hanley family.
When war was declared in 1861, Mr. Hanley enlisted in Company D, Forty-seventh Indiana Volunteers, and served throughout that memor- able struggle, or until within six months of the surrender. He partici- pated in many of the numerous battles and engagements that fell to the lot of the Army of the Potomac and when his term of service expired was honorably discharged by the war department, and then returned home.
Mr. Hanley was originally of Democrat politics, but after seeing the conditions that existed in the south, changed to Republicanism, and he remained loyal to the party throughout the remainder of his career.
He was the father of eight children: John, a Civil war veteran with his father; Martin, also a veteran of the war; Liza, married to Richard Adams; James; Margaret, who became the wife of Charles Hil- legass; Maria, who died at the age of about eight years; Thomas C. and Mary, who became Mrs. Allen Heck.
Mr. Hanley died on December 23, 1891, and on June 23, 1892, his widow followed him. Both-are at rest in Concord Cemetery.
Thomas C. Hanley, the son of Thomas, and Bridget (Condra) Han- ley, was born in Hancock county, Indiana, on January 1, 1857, and was brought to Wabash county with his parents when he was only a year old. He grew to manhood on the old Hanley homestead, attending the district schools and helping his father with the duties of the home place. When he was twenty-one years old he started out in life for himself, and in November, 1877, he married, and soon thereafter he began farming on the old homestead. Another house was erected for him and his fam- ily, and there Thomas, Jr., and his wife lived until after the passing of the old couple. Mr. Hanley's wife was in maidenhood Miss Sarah Singer, and she was the third child born to Jacob and Lucinda (Jenks) Singer, her people being among the very earliest settlers of Wabash county. The father came here in 1838 and he helped to build the old Harter mill at North Manchester, and the old distillery at Wabash. He died in 1893, preceded by his wife in 1869, and they also are buried in Concord Cemetery.
In October, 1902, Mr. Hanley rented the old home place to a son and bought ten acres lying about a mile from town, where he and his wife took up their abode and have continued since to live. For some years Mr. Hanley has been in the wire fence business and at present is a part- ner of Isaiah Hoover in road construction work. They recently bid on and secured the contract for rebuilding the Jenks-Bowman road north of North Manchester to the county line, and they have done much build- ing in their line since they joined forces in partnership.
Mr. and Mrs. Hanley became the parents of the following children :
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William, married to Mamie Schroll; Myrtle, married to Charles Christ- man; Harley, married Ethel Green; Virgil, married Hattie Rickert; and Ruby is at home, now attending high school. The family are members of the Christian church, and have an excellent social standing in their community.
O. D. WARNER. One of Wabash county's families that did its full share in breaking down the wilderness in the early days and which has been represented by useful citizens through all the generations is that represented by O. D. Warner, whose home is in Pleasant township. Mr. Warner, though his home is on a farm and he is much interested in agricultural activities, has given practically his entire career to the postal service, in the railway department.
O. D. Warner was born in Wabash county, July 21, 1873, a son of Jacob and Eliza (Redeye) Warner. There were six children in the family, and one is now deceased. The founder of the Warner name in this county was grandfather Abraham Warner, who came to the county many years ago as an early settler, and established his home on land which adjoined the present place of O. D. Warner. The first buildings there were erected by grandfather Warner, who was a man of unusual enterprise and ability, and for a number of years was engaged in the saw mill business in this county. Both the grandfather and grand- mother died in Pleasant township. Mr. Warner's parents were both reared and were married in this county.
O. D. Warner grew up in Pleasant township, attended the local schools, and finished in the schools of North Manchester. While still young he engaged in the mail service, and for twenty-one years has had a regular run as a railway mail clerk.
Mr. Warner married May Price, daughter of John and Louisa (Mote) Price. Mrs. Warner was one of eleven children, two of whom are de- ceased. Her grandfather was Adam Price, who married Polly Tackett. Mrs. Warner was born in Wabash county. Her father was a Union soldier, serving in the Forty-seventh Indiana Infantry. Mr. Warner and wife are the parents of seven children: Hilda, deceased; Ford, de- ceased; Dean; Hale, deceased; Lola ; Helen; and Russell. All were born in Wabash county except Hale, who was born in Benton Harbor, Michi- gan, where the family resided for some time. Mrs. Warner is an active member of the Christian church, while the son Dean affiliates with the Dunkard denomination. Mr. Warner in his political belief supports the socialist cause, but his father and Mrs. Warner's father were both democrats.
JOHN H. BIDLESTETTER. As a farmer and citizen John H. Bidlestet- ter has for many years performed a useful part in the community of Noble township, where he is known as a man who prospers in the handling of crops and stock, is the father of a fine family, and takes an interest in religious, educational and civic affairs.
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