USA > Indiana > Whitley County > History of Whitley County, Indiana > Part 70
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deeded him fifty acres of land, of which he took charge in his twenty-second year, and from that day to this has been actively en- gaged in agricultural pursuits. At the pres- ent time he and his wife own one hundred and sixty acres of good land one-half mile west of Etna village, included in which is the above mentioned fifty-acre tract. He has greatly improved it all and now has it equipped with buildings of modern construc- tion, while everything around is indicative of thrift and comfort which come only from good management. Mr. Long lived ten years near Leesburg, Kosciusko county, and after coming to Whitley county returned to thresh his wheat and hauled it to Michigan City, the only place where he could get cash. He bought salt at fifty cents per barrel and on reaching Whitley county had ready sale at $10 per barrel. The trip required seven- teen days, his wife being alone in a cabin with four children.
October 10, 1867. Mr. Long married Edna C., daughter of Eli R. and Ann (Crew) Jones, who came to Etna township from Wayne county, Indiana, in 1849 and spent the remainder of their lives on a farm, part of which is now included in the Long farm. Mr. and Mrs. Long have four children: Florence A., at home; Oliver E. `married Iva Doane and is a carpenter of Etna township; Maud. wife of Ray Snodgrass, of Troy township; and Pearl, wife of G. R. Burns, of Troy township. Kittie Llewellyn died in child- hood. Mr. Long is a member of Etna lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Polit- ically he is a Democrat and is often found in conventions, but is not an aspirant for po- litical honors.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN COOPER.
Three years as a soldier in the hottest part of the Civil war, acting as a fireman " and engineer on a great railroad system and many years of hard farm work, such has been the experience of the subject of this sketch, who is now enjoying in the evening of life that repose which comes to him who has done his duty as he saw it and by indus- try accumulated the means that insures leis- tire and comfort in old age. He is the son of Peter and Margaret (Rowland) Cooper, the former a Pennsylvanian, and the latter a native of Ohio. They were married in the last mentioned state and lived on a farm in Holmes county, until the father's death in 1845. The widow took a second husband in the person of Goram Crumley, by whom she had five children : Christian, Levi, John and Mary, all of whom are dead, and Robert, who resides in Chicago. The mother was a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and died in 1896, at an advanced age while residing with her son Benjamin.
Benjamin Franklin Cooper, who was the only child by the first marriage, was born in Holmes county, Ohio, February 14. 1844. and hence was but one year old when his fa- ther died. His step-father removed to No- ble county. Indiana, some time after marry- ing his mother, and the child was kindly cared for until he reached his sixteenth year. when he began working at farm labor by the month. He was thus engaged until the breaking out of the Civil war and in Febru- ary. 1862, enlisted in Company F. Thirtieth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry. which was later assigned to the Second Bri- gade. Second Division of the Western Army.
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He was honorably discharged February 22, 1865. after three years of hard service, dur- ing which he participated in some of the greatest campaigns of the war. He took part in the battles of Pittsburg Landing, Stone River, Chickamauga, and made the famous march to the sea with the conquering and ir- restible hosts of Sherman. At Dallas, Geor- gia. he was shot in the ear and neck and as a result of this wound was laid up in the hospital for several months and has ever since suffered from its effects. After return- ing from the front he engaged in clearing and ditching land for a few years, and in 1869 secured a job as fireman with the Penn- sylvania Railroad Company, which position he held for four years, becoming an engineer and continuing three years longer. In 1877 he abandoned this life to become a farmer in Noble county, but two years later moved to a tract of one hundred and twenty-five acres in Etna township, which has since been his home. When he took possession of this land only about forty acres were cleared, but he has since greatly improved the place and converted it into a good farm. Among the improvements was the erection of an eight- room house and a large barn.
December, 1873. Mr. Cooper married Frances, daughter of John H. and Winifred Buckles, natives of Virginia. They opened their home to the needs of two children. Lew- is Stark, aged seven, and Ida Breninger, aged nine, and both were reared with the same advantages as their own children would have received. The former was with them till manhood and is now in Chicago. The latter has remained and since Mrs. Cooper's death in March, 1902, has continued as housekeeper as she was for two years be-
fore. Mr. Cooper is a Democrat in politics, member of the Freewill Baptist church and an honored comrade of the Grand Army of the Republic.
ISAAC WYNKOOP.
We have here an example, not infrequent in our free and prosperous country, of a rise from direct poverty to wealth and afflu- ence by the simple expedient of the hardest kind of work, accompanied by genuine busi- ness ability and thrift. In the second dec- ade of the last century John Wynkoop, a poor shoemaker, lived in the western part of Pennsylvania. He had managed to get to- gether enough to buy a small farm, had mar- ried Ann McClure, like himself a native of York county, by whom he had eight chil- dren : Matthew, Hetta Ann, David, Mar- garet. Elizabeth, Isaac, Martha Jane and one deceased in infancy.
Isaac Wynkoop, the second child and the only one living, was born in Cumberland county. Pennsylvania, January 22, 1825. In boyhood he managed to pick up a meager' education in the poor schools of that day and as he grew to manhood was engaged in hard work as his share toward furnishing a live- lihood for the household. When about twenty-seven years old he determined to try his fortunes in the west and in September, 1852, found himself in the then small town of Columbia City, the county seat of Whit- ley. For a year after arriving he worked by the day and month and then leased a piece of wild ground from the Adams estate, which he spent the next five years in culti-
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. vating. By this time he had saved enough money to buy forty acres in Troy township. which he cleared, improved and eventually sold to buy another tract of forty-eight acres. So he went on and as he prospered added more and more to his holdings until he owned one hundred and sixty-eight acres, but this was reduced by gifts to his children until his present home place consists of eighty-eight acres of well improved land five miles northwest of Columbia City. When he landed in Columbia City, Mr. Wyncoop had only $25, and the difference between that small sum and his present estate marks the credit due him for his successful achievements, as every dollar he now owns is the result of his own hard and persistent labor during all these years.
In December, 1853, Mr. Wynkoop mar- ried Mary Ann, daughter of Peter and Eliz- abeth Arnold, all natives of Pennsylvania, who came to Whitley county in the year 1852. Mrs. Wynkoop died in 1898, after becoming the mother of five children : John Monroe, deceased; Lavina, wife of Harrison McCloud, of Troy township: William A., married Rhoda M. Beard, and owns a farm adjoining his father ; Franklin David is still with his father; one child died in infancy. Mr. Wyankoop, now in his eighty-third year, is spending the evening of life alone with his son on the old homestead in Troy township. He has been a lifelong Republican, believing firmly in those principles for which his fa- ther fought in 1812 and his grandfather in the revolution. His vacations have been de- voted to fishing, a sport in which he finds greatest enjoyment. He has had but one lawsuit, and that when cheated out of his wages.
JAMES P. BILLS.
The family of this name. well known in Whitley county, is of patriotic stock and has been represented at the front in the two great crises of the nation. Alvin Bills, who was a native of New York, enlisted as a sol- dier at the beginning of the revolutionary war and served through the seven years of that memorable struggle. He settled sub- sequently in Pennsylvania, where he was prominent as a teamster and from which state his son Asa, and wife Elisa, emigrated to Illinois in 1844. Being dissatisfied with the outlook in the Prairie state. they re- mained a few weeks and then returning east to Franklin county. Ohio, remained until 1861. In the spring of that year. they came to Whitley county and settled in Troy town- ship. This was his theater of action until his death, which occurred April 23, 1898. his wife surviving until February 21, 1901. He was for many years an elder in the Pres- byterian church, of which his wife was also a member. Originally a Whig. he was much opposed to slavery and when the Republican party was organized, he became identified with it. ever after remaining among its loy- al adherents. Eight children were born to this pioneer couple. Warren, who died at seventy in Troy township: Olive. deceased wife of Edmund Johnson, of Pennsylvania : Lucy, deceased wife of Henry Kile, of Troy township: Rosetta, deceased wife of James Hinkle, and Rosella, her twin sister, deceased wife of Clinton Noble.
James P. Bills, fourth of this family, was born on Muchinick creek, Illinois, January 17. 1844. during the brief residence of his parents in that state. He grew up on the
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farm in Franklin county, Ohio, where he army, Mr. Bills spent one year in Iowa and attended the common schools and spent three returning to Indiana was married at Larwill in 1868 to Martha, daughter of Robert and Catherine Elliott, of Troy township, old set- tlers of the county. now deceased. By this union there were four children: Otho; Pearl, who died in infancy; Horton, who married Blanche Workman and operates one of his father's farms, and Mabel, wife of John Kenner. The mother died in 1887 and February 2, 1888, Mr. Bills married Carrie, daughter of Joseph and Frances (Black) Brunner, old residents of this county. They were born and reared in the same village in Switzerland and came direct to Columbia City after marriage about 1852. He was an expert shoemaker, worked at Cincinnati and then opened a shop at Larwill, where his family was reared. About 1874 he re- moved to a farm in Thorncreek, where his wife died about 1886. He married Mrs. Monroe and removed to Columbia City, both dying within a few days of each other in 1899, his age being seventy-four years. . By his last marriage, Mr. Bills has two children. Sylvia Spray and Mary Frances, both at home. The parents are members of the Methodist Episcopal church in Troy town- ship. Mr. Bills is a Republican. years at the Central College of Ohio, near Columbus. When his parents came to Indi- ana, the Civil war was opening and James, though only sixteen years old. enlisted in Company B, Forty-fourth Regiment Indi- ana Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until 1863 and then veteranized by re-enlisting in the same command, with which he remained until the end of hostili- ties, serving four years in all. He saw much hard service and participated in the battles of Pittsburg Landing, Stone River, Chicka- mauga, Peach Orchard, Lookout Mountain, Franklin and Nashville, besides numerous smaller engagements and skirmishes. He escaped without a wound or being taken pris- oner, but was in the hospital some time with typhoid fever. On returning' home he bought a farm, then known as the Jamison farm in Troy township, and went to work with a resolution to do his share in improv- ing the country, while building up his own fortunes. In 1881 he purchased the place in Thorncreek township where he makes his present home, but in addition to this owns eighty-eight acres in Troy township, and also ten acres in a separate body in Thorn- creek. It was a new place. demanding a vast amount of work, making in all one hun- dred and forty acres. He lives in a comfort- able residence of nine rooms, modernly con- WESLEY STAPLES. structed, with all conveniences, while the barn and other outbuildings are in keeping. Among the early settlers of Licking. county, Ohio, was William Staples, who en- gaged in farming but died at a comparatively early age. He married Ann Parkinson. who, after being left a widow. came in 1865. with her two sons, and daughter. Wesley. He has kept high grade stock but general farming covers his business. His farm, with well kept fences and neat general appearance. indicates the supervision of a careful and up- to-date farmer. After retiring; from the
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James and Sarah, to Whitley county. Wes- ley Staples, the eldest, was born in Licking county, Ohio. October 25, 1836, and spent his early manhood there in agricultural pur- suits. In 1864. he enlisted in Company D. One Hundred and Thirty-fifth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, for what was known as the "Hundred days' service." The command was sent to the Shenandoah Val- ley, where it was used in guarding points along the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, but eventually became a part of the force mar- shalled to repel Early's raid into Maryland during July, 1864. The "Hundred day men" took part in the severe battle at Monoc- acy under Gen. Lew Wallace and rendered excellent service to the Union by checking Early's army on its march to Washington. After being honorably discharged from the service Mr. Staples returned to his Ohio home, but shortly afterward made the re- moval to Indiana above mentioned. With his mother, brother and sister he settled on the Thorncreek township farm now occupied by his children. One half came to him upon the settlement and here he remained until his death. December 16, 1894. He was a quiet, modest man, who attended closely to his own business and enjoyed the esteem of all his neighbors. In politics he was stanch- ly Republican and a member of the Grand Army Post at Columbia City. In 1867 he returned to Ohio and there married Mary 1 .. daughter of William and Sarah Van Houten, who proved a loyal and devoted wife during all the trials of the succeeding twenty-seven years. She was born in Lick- ing county, Ohio, March 27, 1846, and died November 6. 1905. after rearing a family of three children: Cassius, the only son and
eldest of the family, manages the paternal farm, and is making a success of his busi- ness. His two sisters, Jessie and Lillian, are joint owners and act as housekeepers. Mr. Staples is a Republican in politics and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows as well as the Maccabees. They live in a cozy home on the old farm in Thorn- creek township, and all who call there re- ceive a hospitable greeting.
THOMAS ESTLICK.
The name Estlick has been familiar in Whitley county for nearly eighty years. which is to say that the first who bore it were among the very earliest of the early immigrants. Thomas Estlick, Sr., a native of New Jersey. found his way into Virginia during the second decade of the last cen- tury and was married in Harrison county to Rebecca Van Horn. The young couple abandoned the beautiful valley of the Shen- andoalı to seek their fortunes beyond the Alleghanies. They located in Delaware county, Ohio, but after tarrying there a few years pushed west until they reached Whit- ley county, which was destined to be their permanent abode. One hundred and twenty acres of land in Troy township was "en- tered" from the government, and it is hardly necessary to add that it was merely a part of the boundless timbered wilderness, which stretched unbroken for hundreds of miles. It was in the days of Indians, wild animals, hardships, peril and deprivation. By de- grees, however, a home was carved out of the inhospitable surroundings and here these
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pioneers lived their allotted span. Their six children, Albert, William, John, Thomas, Abigail and Diana, are now all dead.
Thomas Estlick enjoys the distinction of being the first white child who saw the light of day in Troy township, his birth occurring June 23, 1828. His childhood and early manhood were spent in years of trial and privation in an era of universal hardship. He grew up on the rude farm in the woods, helped in all the exacting and never-ending work of grubbing, chopping and clearing and throughout his subsequent career knew no other occupation than that connected with agriculture. He was not merely a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, but a zealous worker and holder of official posi- tions. Thus he acquired and justly deserved the recognition of being a Christian man, who was ever a practicer of the Golden Rule, a good neighbor and respected citizen. He showed genuine devotion to his aged par- ents and took tender care of them during their declining years. After their deaths he inherited the old home farm, which he great- ly improved during his active life and made it a valuable as well as productive and com- fortable estate. He was a member of the Masonic order and exemplified in his daily doings the precepts of morality taught by that noble fraternity.
August 1, 1858, Mr. Estlick married Re- becca Thompson, who was born in Dela- ware county, Ohio, June 19, 1839. Her parents, Thomas and & Anna (Connet) Thompson, came to Whitley county in 1853, but later removed to Marshall county, where the father died in 1871 and his wife about 1894. They had thirteen children : Dorcas, Mary, Benjamin, David. Sarah Jane, Mar-
tha, Joshua, Adeline, Nettie and Josephine, all deceased but Sarah Jane, Adeline, Jo- sephine and Rebecca. Mr. and Mrs. Estlick had eight children : Sarah Ann is an organ- izer for the Ladies of the Maccabees and lives in Ligonier; Lavona Ann, deceased ; Irvin, of Yoakum. Washington, married Lida Luckey and has one child, Merlwood ; Ellen, deceased; Charles married Lura Groves and has three children, Neil Liza and Naomi, and owns part of the old homestead ; Johnnie, deceased; Ray and Georgie, who died in infancy. Ray married Ola Smith and operates the old home farm with his mother. He has three children : Marie, Ern- est and Fern. Sarah Jane is the wife of Asca Palmer, of Troy township. Adeline is the wife of L. C. Strang, of Marshall county. and Josephine is Mrs. Joseph Jones, of Etna township. Benjamin became a trav- eling salesman in the south and has not been heard from for six years.
Mr. Estlick, after some months of de- clining health, passed peacefully away Au- gust 20, 1889. His widow survives and still resides on the old homestead one mile south of Etna village, which has experienced the improving influence of three generations of the family. Like her husband, she is an ex- emplary member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
JOHN R. WATSON.
Among the numerous Quaker families who came to Wayne county, Indiana, from various states of the south during the early decades of the nineteenth century was one by the name of Watson. They were Ken-
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tuckians and came to this stronghold of the Society of Friends when the state of Indi- ana was mostly wrapped in the primeval wilderness. Among the children was a son named William, who was still young when his parents crossed the Ohio for the free state then beginning its career. After reach- ing manhood this young man married Eliza- beth Wolf, a Virginian by birth, with whom he settled on a farm in Wayne county and followed agricultural pursuits for twenty- five years. In 1859 they removed to Whit- ley county and settled on a farm in Rich- land township, a part of which is the pres- ent home of John R. He enjoyed many years of life subsequent to this, which were spent in improving his wild land, and passed away in 1889, his wife surviving until 1900. and both still adhering to the Quaker faith. This worthy couple had seven children : John R .; David E., a resident of Troy town- ship: Arthur, who owns part of the home- stead: Mary, wife of Frank Klingaman, of Etna township: Frank, a mechanic at Mar- ion : Annie, wife of Charles H. Cummins, of Marion; and Addie, who died at the age of nine years.
John R. Watson, eldest of this family. was born in Wayne county, January 30, 1853, and was only six years old when his parents came to this section. After he grew up, Mr. Watson cleared a farm and built a log cabin in which he lived for many years. His present place of fifty-three acres, which was part of the homestead, was secured in 1900, at the settlement of the estate, of which he was administrator, and he has made of it a cosy home as well as a valuable piece of property. He has spent his whole life in agricultural pursuits, has taken an active
part in county affairs as a supporter of the Republican ticket and was elected township assessor in 1904, a position he is now occupy- ing. He raises hogs and other live stock, manages his place with good judgment and is regarded by his neighbors as a good farm- er and good citizen. April 24, 1877, Mr. Watson married Ellen J., daughter of Jacob and Nancy (Frederick) Klingaman, who came to Whitley county in 1861 from Stark county, Ohio, where she was born January 20, 1857. She is a sister of Frank Klinga- man, who married Mary Watson. Mr. and Mrs. Watson have seven children: Cora, ' a teacher in Richland township, Cora has taught several years, having made prepara- tion in the Terre Haute Normal School, and is now in charge of the school at Loraine. Floyd and Sherman, in Wabash county ; Eliza. Alice, Florence and Ralph at home. Mr. Watson holds to the faith of the Society of Friends while Mrs. Watson holds with the Free Methodist doctrine.
CHRISTOPHER JUDD.
Among the hosts of people who came from Ohio to Whitley county during the first half of the last century, were Mahlon and Susan (Blair) Judd, who became the founders of the family bearing their name. Though not among the first settlers, Whitley county was still quite wild when they ar- rived and the prospects for easy living were not bright. The newcomers took up a small tract of land in Thorncreek township, spent many years in the hard task of clearing and eventually paid the debt of nature, exacted
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of all, after doing their duty as best they could under the exacting conditions of the era in which they lived. The mother was a member of the Mennonite church and is spoken of by all who remember her as a good, pious woman, especially devoted to her family. This worthy couple had four children, all of whom are still living: John is a resident of Thorncreek township; Mar- tha is the wife of Isaac Brown, of Columbia City: Christopher ; and Henry, who lives in Manistee county, Michigan.
Christopher Judd, third of these children, was born on the homestead in Thorncreek township. October 14, 1885, and grew to manhood in the usual way of farm boys. He learned all about hard work and has been acquainted with the same in various forms during all the years that have succeeded. In 1885 he came to his present farm in Thorn- creek township, consisting of sixty-eight acres, to the cultivation of which he has de- voted a large part of his time since taking possession. During the last nineteen years, however, Mr. Judd has found much else to occupy his time, though all of his enterprises have been connected with agriculture. He has been engaged in the threshing machine and clover hulling business during the thresh- ing seasons, while in winter he has devoted considerable time to wood sawing. He also conducts a picket-mill and sawmill and all these side lines, besides looking after his farm, have kept him busy. Being industri- ous and thrifty, he has done fairly well in a financial way and has dealings with a large number of farmers throughout a wide section of the county.
In 1882 Mr. Judd married Lavina Harshbarger. who was born in Union town-
ship, and by this union there have been five children : Elmer, who married Nellie Hack and is with his father; Mary, wife of John Hill, of Noble county ; Charles, deceased at thirteen years of age: Lotta, wife of Daniel Quinn and in Thorncreek township; and Rhoda, wife of Andrew Greager, of Noble county. Mr. Judd is a Republican and is found in party conventions.
FRED N. HUNT.
Among the notable agricultural agencies of Whitley county is the Gray Dawn Stock Farm Company, of Etna township. This company controls five hundred acres of land, which is managed and cultivated on up-to- date principles and constitutes an interesting feature of the section in which it is operated. Indiana has been advancing rapidly along agricultural lines during the last ten years and her enterprising farmers have done their full share in keeping Whitley county well up with the procession. One of the most successful and deserving of these is the mov- ing spirit of the company above mentioned, and it is the object of this sketch to give a brief outline of his career.
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