USA > Indiana > Wabash County > History of Wabash County, Indiana, Volume 2 > Part 54
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
August 20, 1885, gave record of the marriage of Mr. Boys to Miss Anna A. Asbury, who was born in Kentucky and who was three years of age at the time of her parents' removal to Indiana, where she was
Digitized by Google
928
HISTORY OF WABASH COUNTY
reared and educated. Mr. and Mrs. Boys have three children: Mabel L. is the wife of Kenneth Parker, of La Fontaine; Lawrence L., who was graduated in the Marion Business College, at Marion, Grant county, and who married Miss Elsie Bowman, is a progressive young farmer of Liberty township; John C., who likewise was graduated in the Marion Business College, after a two years' course in the La Fontaine high school, is associated with his father in the work and management of the home farm.
ANDERSON BURNS. For something more than eighty years the in- fluence of men of the Burns family has been felt to excellent purpose in the industrial and agricultural life of Wabash county, the year 1844 marking the advent of the family into the county. Anderson Burns was the first of the name to locate hereabout, and he, accompanied by his wife and two children and a brother Daniel, drove all the way by wagon from Columbiana county, Ohio, to Wabash county, Indiana. Here Anderson Burns bought land in the woods on the Waltz town- ship line road in that community, located between what is now Noble and Waltz townships. Primitive conditions prevailed there, it is per- haps needless to say, and the place Mr. Burns purchased had but one mark of civilization,-a small log cabin that some less hardy adven- turer had reared, and then deserted, unable to endure the life of the wilderness and the desolation of untamed nature.
Into this small cabin the family settled, and here Mr. Burns set about his new business with a hearty good will. The land was burdened with a heavy growth of virgin timber, and only those who have lived through such a period of reconstruction as did these people, or those who have heard the story first hand, can have any adequate under- standing of the task that was theirs in their efforts to hew out a. home for themselves under the conditions existing. But that they were equal to the demands upon their strength, their courage and their energies. has been amply proven in the fact that Anderson Burns and his wife passed the greater part of the remaining years of their lives on this identical spot, and in the years they devoted to the place, they subdued the wilderness to an unbelievable extent, making a blooming garden of many acres of their possessions. Late in life they moved to South Wabash, where they passed away, Anderson Burns dying in July, 1893, aged eighty-five years, and Emeline, his wife, passing away in March, 1898, at the age of eighty-two years. Mrs. Burns was a member of the Wesleyan church and was ever a devout and faithful Christian woman. She was the mother of two children,-Serena and Daniel, who was named for his uncle.
Daniel Burns was born on July 11, 1840, in Columbiana county, Ohio, and came to Wabash county with his father in 1844. All his remaining life has been passed within the borders of Wabash county. Owing to a physical weakness that had its origin in a crippled condi- tion, he attended school somewhat more than did the average farmer's boy of that day, and he later attended school at Somerset, as well.
Digitized by Google
929
HISTORY OF WABASH COUNTY
ยท
Mr. Burns has been a farmer practically all his life, having a natural aptitude for the work, and today, aside from his city property, he is the owner of about six hundred acres of fine farm land in the county that has so long been his home.
Mr. Burns is a Democrat, but is one who is thoroughly independent withal, regarding it his privilege to vote for the better man, though he be of the opposing faction. In the matter of putting men into public office to look after the interests of the people, he considers the man before the party, and the result is that his sturdy and fearless support is always with the side of right, regardless of party lines or prejudices.
Daniel Burns was first married when he was twenty-one to Miss Elizabeth R. Reeves, and to them were born two children: Elmer and Emeline. The latter is the wife of John P. King, and the son will be mentioned specifically in a later paragraph. Mrs. Burns died January 27, 1905, and Mr. Burns later married Miss Lovina Buck. In the Autumn of 1904 Mr. Burns moved to South Wabash from his farm home, and this was his place of residence until his death, May 29, 1914. He was buried in Mount Pleasant cemetery near Pioneer, Wabash county.
Elmer Burns was born on the old home place in Wabash county on March 31, 1865, and this county has always been his home. As a boy he aided in the work of the farm, and he finished his schooling in the public schools of Wabash and with a business course in Eastman Col- lege at Poughkeepsie, New York, and since that time has devoted himself mainly to general farming and stock-raising. His success has been praiseworthy, and though he moved to South Wabash in 1905 and here established his residence, he has continued to devote his attention to his business as before. He was one of the organizers of the Citizens Savings & Trust Company of Wabash, which was established the first of the year 1913, and he is now the president of the company.
On the 1st of October, 1889, Mr. Burns was married to Miss Myrtle Wait, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James C. Wait.
Like sire and grandsire before him, Mr. Burns has taken a prom- inent place in his native community, and has yielded an excellent in- fluence for good therein. He is a democrat and in 1913 was elected to the City Council as the representative of the Second Ward. His fraternal associations are with the Knights of Pythias.
ANDREW C. HUFF. One of the native sons and prosperous farming and stock men of Wabash county is Andrew C. Huff, born in the town . ship which is now his home on February 8, 1847. He has spent his entire life within the confines of the county, and has added to its citizen- ship in a worthy manner all his maturer days. As one who has done much toward the advancement of agricultural prosperity in the county, he is entitled to mention in this historical and biographical work, and as such, space is afforded for a brief mention of him and his career.
Andrew C. Huff is the son of Uriah and Levina (Spohr) Huff, who were natives of Morgan county, West Virginia, and who were united in marriage after they came to Wabash county to live. Andrew Huff,
Digitized by Google
932
HISTORY OF WABASH COUNTY
tobacco. In 1852 he moved with his family to Huntington county, In- diana, and later to Grant county, where he settled in the woods on "Indian land," his farm being located on the famous Indian battle- ground of Grant county, now a proposed park site. During the nineteen years he resided on that property he was successful in clearing and culti- vating some ninety-five acres, and there his death occurred in 1863, at the age of sixty-five years, his first wife having died many years before. He was married a second time to Delilah Burneswerth, who, after his death, married a second time and went to the West. To Samuel and Jane (Noble) Gilpin there were born six children, namely: Anna and Delilah, who are deceased; Sam R .; Margaret and William, who are de- ceased; and Jane.
Sam R. Gilpin was a lad of fifteen years when he accompanied his parents to the wilderness of Huntington county, and here he grew up among pioneer surroundings. He early made friends with the Indians, who soon grew to admire him because of his skill and prowess in their sports and dances. He soon learned their language and accompanied them on their hunts, becoming so skilled with the bow and arrow that he was able to kill a squirrel with that weapon at some distance. As a lad he had helped his father with his tobacco packing, and later he secured a position with Gilbert & Murphy, of Marion, Indiana, as a packer. He also assisted his father in clearing the ninety-five acres, and often while plowing the old battlefield came across Indian relics. These included a number of horseshoes rotted with rust, an old Indian single-barreled pistol, a razor and a dagger, the latter found in a hollow beech. Some of these articles are now highly prized possessions of the Historical Society, at Marion.
On October 24, 1861, Mr. Gilpin was married to Mary J. Connor, and they began their married life on the Indian land, where Mr. Gilpin had erected a small house. Three years later, however, they came to their present property, then located in the wilderness, the sixty-one acres cost- ing $1,800, and being a part of one-half section which had been pur- chased by the father of Mrs. Gilpin and Robert Beatty, and being also located in the old Indian survey of Lagro township. At the time of their arrival they settled in a little primitive log house, but this has been long since replaced by a comfortable modern dwelling and the little home of former years is now used as a coal house. This land has all been cleared by Mr. Gilpin, and here he has continued to carry on agricultural pur- suits with much success. He has also devoted a large part of his atten- tion to the raising of stock, and has never been satisfied with anything but the very best. He has a mare which is today accounted one of the finest in Wabash county. Mr. Gilpin has always been known as an ener- getic, industrious and diligent workman, and today, although seventy- seven years of age, carries on his daily duties and manages his large affairs in an alert and well-directed way. His dealings have been straightforward and honorable and he has always possessed the confi- dence of his associates in business and those who have come into contact with him in any way. Few men are better versed to the early history of
Digitized by Google
933
HISTORY OF WABASH COUNTY
the state, and none can relate in a more interesting or instructive manner experiences, anecdotes and incidents of the old Indian days. Mr. Gilpin is a democrat, but has never been an office-seeker. He and his wife have been the parents of three children: Martin N., who died in 1907, at the age of forty-three years; Lou O., who resides at home; and May G., who married James Pyle, and resides on a farm in Noble township.
Mrs. Gilpin is a descendant of one of the old and prominent families of Grant county. She is a daughter of Nelson and Sarah (Boots) Connor, and a granddaughter of Martin Boots, for whom Boots street, Marion, is named, and who, with Mr. Branson, donated the square upon which the Court House stands. It was one of his stipulations that a hitching rack should always be maintained, otherwise that the land should revert to his descendants. He had come to Indiana from Chillicothe, Ohio, when the mother of Mrs. Gilpin was sixteen years of age, in 1829, she riding behind him on his old saddle-horse. She was married in Grant county, in 1831, to Nelson Connor, who was born in 1811, and this was the first marriage of white people in the county. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Connor first lived at Marion, but subsequently the father became the owner of a farm near the Soldiers' Home, and later built a water- power gristmill one mile from the Court House, and is likewise the owner of a woolen mill. Eventually Mr. Connor moved to the Jacobs Mill property, now known far and wide as the Connor Mill, located across the river from Mr. Gilpin's home, and there both Mrs. Gilpin's parents passed away.
D. F. BREWER. Various business enterprises have claimed the atten- tion of D. F. Brewer in the years of his active career, but that which has received his sincerest approbation and in which he has been accorded the greatest measure of success is his farming enterprise. His farm of eighty acres in Noble township is one of the best to be there found, and he has demonstrated his ability as a practical farmer in no uncertain terms.
D. F. Brewer is a native son of Wabash county and of Noble township also, for he was born here on February 16, 1865, and is a son of Flavius and Mary E. (Kunse) Brewer. They were born in Fayette county, this state, and in Wabash county they married and settled to live in the early forties. They first took up their residence in the town of Wabash, and there resided for a number of years. It should be stated here, however, that Flavius Brewer is the son of Joel Brewer, who settled first on a Paw Paw township farm in Wabash county, and later lived in Lagro township, where he ended his days. The maternal grandfather of the subject was David Kunse, who also came to the state in an early day, and in Wabash he engaged in the manufacturing of brick, his being known and noted as the first brick yard to be established in the place. Flavius Brewer remained at home with his father, occupying himself with the work of the farm and such other duties as presented themselves, until the war broke out in 1861. It is characteristic of him that he was one of the first men to enlist in Wabash county for service, and he served through- out with but a brief respite, until the month of August, 1865. He came Vol. II-30
Digitized by Google
934
HISTORY OF WABASH COUNTY
home on a furlough and during that time he married Mary E. Kunse, soon after returning to his regiment and continuing until the close. He saw much of hard service, and there are few who can relate more thrilling experiences than can Mr. Brewer as the result of his four years of life as an active soldier.
D. F. Brewer was more fortunate than many country youths in the matter of education, for he was privileged to attend the schools of Wabash city, in addition to his country training. When he had finished school he turned his attention to the home farm and remained as his father's assistant until he married in 1887, when Alice W. Curry, daughter of John and Louisa (Catlin) Curry, became his wife. She was born in Noble township, Wabash county, and here reared, and is among the best known women of the community. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Brewer settled in Noble township, and then they moved, after a short time, to Wabash, where he was engaged for some twenty years in the real estate business. He enjoyed a fair measure of success in the business, but his early training had instilled into him a fondness for rural life that would not be denied, and so it came about that he moved to his present fine place of eighty acres in Noble township, where he was born and reared.
Since Mr. Brewer settled here he has done a large amount of improve- ment work on his place, adding much to the appearance of the property by additions to barns and dwelling, and the place is one of the most pleasing and attractive in the township.
Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Brewer. Myrtle, the eldest, married Frank Goldsberry, and has one child, Alice Carrie Goldsberry. Glenn died at the tender age of three months, and Lawrence lived to be one year old. All three were born in Noble township.
Mrs. Brewer is a member of the Christian church and is active in the various departments of the work of the organization. Mr. Brewer has membership in a number of fraternal orders, among them being the Red Men, the Woodmen and the Ben Hurs. He is a republican in his politi- cal faith, and is active in the ranks of the party in the county. In all the years of his residence here he has demonstrated a citizenship that is a benefit to the community, as well as being highly creditable to himself, and he has a secure place among the substantial men of the township.
DANIEL W. COOPER. The agricultural career of Daniel W. Cooper is one of which he may well be proud, and much credit should be given him for his achievements in this field of enterprise, despite the adversities he has met with from time to time.
Born about a half a mile from his present place, known as Brookside Farm, on December 7, 1861, Daniel W. Cooper is the son of John and Lucinda (Powell) Cooper, John being one of a family of three sons and four daughters.
John Cooper was a son of Wilson Cooper, and he was born in Wabash county. He and his brothers, Daniel and Hilary, served in the Civil war from the beginning to the end of hostilities, and the father of the subject
Digitized by
- Google -
935
HISTORY OF WABASH COUNTY
died in 1870 from illness contracted under exposure during the service. It is also worthy of mention that the five brothers of Mrs. Cooper, mother of the subject, also served in the war, seeing much of active service during the time they were enlisted. The sisters of the Cooper brothers, men- tioned above, were Ada, Alice, Martha and Addie. Alice became the wife of William Tower; Ada is unmarried; Martha married Alonzo Ortt, who is now deceased; and Addie married first a Mr. Kimball and later married Oliver Wibell.
Daniel W. Cooper had a very limited schooling in his native com- munity, for he was only eleven years of age when the death of his father, who had long suffered from illness contracted in the war, made it neces- sary for him to go out to do whatever work he might find in his efforts to help in the support of the family. He never, in all the years of his service, received more than $15.00 a month, and he worked for some years from peep of day to dark on the wage of $8.00 a month.
When Mr. Cooper was twenty-one years of age he married. After several years he had saved $150.00, and with that he made a payment on forty acres of land, going in debt for the greater part of it. The first three years of his married life, however, were spent on the old Bent farm, and the next four years on the Jays place. He then bought his first farm. It had a small frame dwelling on it, and the land had never been broken. It was inclined to be wet, and it required ditching, so that a ditching assessment on the place soon after he bought it called for $600.00. It was well drained, however, and extending across the place are two ten- inch tile drains, so that the place is in excellent condition in that respect. For five years Mr. and Mrs. Cooper lived in the old weather-boarded house, and then he built the present comfortable dwelling, where he has since resided.
Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Cooper. Clinton married Grace Miller; Hazel married Charles Wiley ; Howard is unmarried; and a fourth child born to them died in infancy, unnamed. The two sons are living in California, and the daughter is a resident of Wabash county.
Mr. Cooper has suffered a number of losses, among which was that of the burning of a new barn, which stood him a loss of $1,000. He did not let that misfortune discourage him, however, but went ahead and put up a new and better barn than he had before. Concerning the Bent farm, it should be said, was entered from the Government in about 1850, but was never patented until Mr. Cooper was made administrator of the Bent estate, and he, fifty years after the land had been taken up, secured a deed from the Government. Mr. Cooper owns today 245 acres of land, and all of it he has won through hard work and careful management. . He set out in life with the determination to succeed, and despite the hindrances and bits of ill luck that came his way from time to time, he has managed to overcome them all, and is today among the best estab- lished men of the community. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen and the Maccabees in his fraternal relations, and politically he has always been a republican.
Digitized by y Google
936
HISTORY OF WABASH COUNTY
ROBERT E. WEESNER. Since the pioneer times in Wabash county the name Weesner has signified strong men and noble women, and in earliest times, as at the present, is widely and favorably known in nearly all sections of the county. Among the various representatives of the family the late Robert E. Weesner, of Noble township, was prominently known. A native son of Wabash county, where he had lived all his life and.where since early youth he had been closely identified with agricultural activities, he lived worthily among his fellow-men and at all times enjoyed their esteem and confidence.
Robert E. Weesner was born on a farm in Waltz township of this county, September 5, 1849, the second of the five children of Johiel and Nancy (Starbuck) Weesner. He was of German lineage, as his great- great-grandfather, Michael Weesner, was born in Germany, April 3, 1740, and emigrated to America when thirteen years of age. His great- grandfather and his grandfather were named Micajah, the latter being a native of North Carolina, from whence he, with his family, migrated to Wayne county, Indiana, in 1819. Of this family of ten children Johiel Weesner, the father of the subject of this sketch, was a native of Wayne county, and came with three of his brothers to Wabash county in 1843, the four entering adjoining Government land in the Indian reservation of Waltz township and thus gaining control of a large acreage. In order to reach this land it was necessary to cut a road through the dense timber for a distance of five miles, and in this strenuous task he was aided by his three brothers, Nathan, Joseph and Elihu, who had accompanied him as homeseekers to this county. The three brothers, being married, built small cabins to provide shelter for their families until the exigencies of planting and harvesting would allow them to erect better homes. On their completion the brothers sent for their families and entered upon the business of clearing the land for more extensive cultivation.
The personal possessions of Johiel Weesner consisted of four dollars and a quarter in money and a few articles of wearing apparel which he carried in a bandanna handkerchief. He lived with his brother Joseph for three years, during which time the brother taught him the blacksmith's trade. During this interval he also busied himself preparing a cabin for his young bride, for whom he returned to Wayne county in 1846. Fol- lowing this his time was divided between his shop and the pioneer work of farming and clearing. It became necessary to build a barn to house the products of the farm. Timbers were hewn from the forest for the erection of a barn forty by sixty feet in dimensions. The neighbors were called in to assist in the "barn raising." They came in such numbers that their feeding became a problem in the kitchen. A large ham was boiled, eighteen chickens dressed, fifty pies baked and other food supplied in like proportion. Not so much as a whole pie was left after the appetites of the hungry pioneers had been satisfied.
Amidst these surroundings Robert E. Weesner was born, and as he grew to manhood he aided his father in clearing the farm and making it more productive. Eventually a substantial frame dwelling replaced the log cabin, but later it was destroyed by fire and a large brick house was
Digitized by Google
1.
!
937
HISTORY OF WABASH COUNTY
built on the site. Johiel Weesner retired from the farm and resided in Wabash at the time of his death, in 1907. The old homestead remains in the possession of his wife, and the patent to it is held as a matter of his- torical interest by the family.
The maternal forefather of Robert E. Weesner was a first settler of Nantucket, Rhode Island. The first tea party of the island was held at the plantation home of this ancestor, Nathaniel Starbuck. The tea for it was brought from China by his son, Nathaniel, Jr. In celebration of his home-coming the relatives and neighbors were invited to "sit the old year out and the new year in," December 31, 1735. A splendid dinner was prepared, but Content, the good wife, was much perplexed as to how to cook and serve the tea. She hung the bright five-gallon bellmetal kettle on the crane, and, putting a two-quart bowlful of the tea, with plenty of water into it, swung it over the fire, where it boiled for a long time. She became solicitous lest she had not put in enough tea and put in another bowlful. When the tea had boiled down to about a gallon, it was poured into a silver tankard to be served. After the blessing had been asked she said to her son, "I have made a dish of tea for you, but am fearful it is not rightly made, and would like to have your opinion." Whereupon, he and the captain who had voyaged with him looked and sniffed at the tea and the son made answer, "As my loved mother desires my opinion, I must needs tell her that a spoonful of this beverage, which she hath with such hospitable intent prepared for us, would go nigh to killing any one at this table," and the captain said laughingly that Mrs. Starbuck could keep the decoction to dye the woolens. The captain then instructed them as to how to draw the tea and entertained them with many sea-faring stories.
. Robert E. Weesner, in addition to schooling in Wabash county, had the advantage of two years at Spiceland Academy, at which place he be- came acquainted with Louisa Wood, a daughter of Simeon and Margaret (Ratcliffe) Wood, and to whom he was married October 3, 1873. To this marriage were born three children: Bertha Margaret, who married Luther D. Hutchins; Arthur Morton, who married Henriette Arnold, of Bluffton, Indiana, and lives in Nashville, Tennessee; and Carl W., who married Mabel Aschbacher, of Richmond, Indiana, and lives in Youngs- town, Ohio.
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.