USA > Indiana > Fountain County > Past and present of Fountain and Warren Counties, Indiana, Volume 2 > Part 15
USA > Indiana > Warren County > Past and present of Fountain and Warren Counties, Indiana, Volume 2 > Part 15
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Captain LaTourette was married in 1863 to Kate Cooper, daughter of John and Lottie (Scott) Cooper, a highly respected Ohio family, who moved from that state to Fountain county, Indiana, in 1854, locating on a farm in Troy township. One child was born to the subject and wife, Fred, who mar- ried Mabel Cossey; they live on a part of the old place, on which are two sets of improvements, one being occupied by them, and the other by the Captain and his wife.
OLIVER H. STRADER.
It is said that the history of a county is the biographies of its great men. Just as truly, the history of a county is the combination of the biog- raphies of those men in that county who have been active in the work of building up the community, and through their energetic and varied interests have brought the agricultural districts to a high productive state, and made the towns business centers of importance. Among those who have been actively engaged and interested in the growth of Fountain county are the
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men of the Strader family. Oliver II. Strader and his father have both been representative citizens in that community for a number of years.
Oliver H. Strader was born at what is known as Stevens Station, in Richland township, Fountain county, August 1, 1859. His parental grand- parents were Henry and Mary Strader, natives of Montgomery county, Ohio, who farmed in that location until they moved to Indiana. Their son, Daniel Strader, was born February 26, 1819, on their farm in Ohio. He was the youngest of thirteen children. In 1826 the family moved to Dry Run, near Mellott, Fountain county, Indiana, and Daniel received his early education in this state. He was married November 23, 1843, to Sarah Jane Barbara Irvin, who died March 17, 1849, leaving three children, Washington, Mary Elizabeth and Barbara Jane, all of whom are now dead. February 14. 1865, he married Frances Matilda Leath, who died March 5, 1882, leaving nine children : Edgar A. is a farmer near Chaneyville, Illinois; Elmer T. is a farmer in Shawnee township; Berton B. is with the Parry Buggy Works in Indianapolis ; Daniel M. and Nettie A. are at Kingman, Indiana ; Sherman S. is farming on the old home place; Horace N. is dead; and Oliver H. is living near Veedersburg, Indiana. Daniel Strader spent his life on the farm, not only raising crops, but breeding fine stock. He joined the United Brethren church at Dry Run in 1845, and moved to Shawnee township in February, 1865. His loss was keenly felt in the community, for he was a good citizen and a good neighbor. Ile was always ready to take an active part in any movement for the good of the neighborhood in which he lived. Politically, he was a Republican.
Oliver H. Strader was educated in Shawnee township, and spent his early life on the farm. From there he went to Aylesworth and worked in a stock and grain office for his father for eight years, learning the business thoroughly. After that Mr. Strader turned his attention to farming, and has spent most of his time breeding fine stock of all descriptions. On March 28, 1894, he married Allie J. Perrin, and they have had five children: Elsie, born May 13, 1895, is dead; Esther B. was born April 6, 1897; Orville D. was born June 8, 1899; Jennie F. was born September 28, 1900, and Dennie Marie was born February 22, 1907. Allie J. (Perrin) Strader was born at Stone Bluff, Van Buren township, Fountain county, Indiana, in a cabin on February 1, 1874, and was a daughter of James H. and Anne ( Morris) Perrin. The Morris family were pioneers in Fountain county, coming from Ohio in an early day. James H. Perrin has been a farmer all his life and now resides at Stone Bluff. He was born in Wood county, Ohio, February 1,
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1840. At the outbreak of the Civil war he enlisted in the Second New York Calvary, and served until the close of the war, taking part in the battles of Falmouth, Virginia, Cedar Mountain, Fredericksburg, Bull Run, and a large number of minor engagements. He was twice wounded. After the war he returned home and has since followed farming. He had seven children named as follows: Charles C., a minister of the Baptist church at Arcola, Illinois; O. U., a lawyer at Crawfordsville, Indiana; Harry E., a farmer at Argos, Indiana ; Allie J., wife of the subject of this sketch; Bertha J., who married Dr. Hall, of Advance, Indiana; Usual M., deceased; Clara, wife of William Stucker, a farmer in Shawnee township. The parents of these children were members of the United Brethren church and Mr. l'e rin was a life-long Republican.
Mr. Strader is a Republican, and has taken his father's place in the community. He has a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, which is in a high state of cultivation. All of the improvements on this land have been made by Mr. Strader himself, and he has one of the best farms in that part of the country.
THOMAS MILLER.
Change is constant and general; generations rise and pass unmarked away ; and it is due to posterity, as a present gratification, to gather up and put in imperishable form upon the printed page as nearly as possible a true and succinct record of the parent's life. One of the citizens of the present generation in Fountain county who is deserving of a place in a volume of the character of the one at hand is Thomas Miller, well known farmer of the vicinity of Veedersburg who has spent his long and industrious life within the borders of this county.
Mr. Miller was born in Richland township, Fountain county, Indiana, November 7, 1838. He is the son of Daniel and Ruth (Collier) Miller. Dan- iel Miller was born in Pennsylvania and lived in that state until he was four- teen years old, then removed to Butler county, Ohio, where he remained until his marriage, then moved to Indiana, in 1837, and settled in Fountain county, five miles northeast of the present line of Richland township. The subject's maternal grandfather, Thomas Collier, came here the same time, 1837, and settled in Warren county, at the town of Independence. Grandfather Thomas
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Miller's family consisted of seven children, namely : Louis, Daniel ( father of the subject of this sketch), Mrs. Katherine Clark, Mrs. Mary Nichols, Mrs. Sarah Ingert, Mrs. Elizabeth Griffith and Israel, all deceased.
Daniel Miller's family consisted of four children, namely : Mary Ann, deceased; Thomas, subject of this sketch; Mrs. Margaret McKnight died in Minnesota; Daniel died in 1853. Daniel Miller, father of the above named children, devoted his life to agricultural pursuits and was a man who had lots of friends wherever he was known.
Thomas Miller, the subject, grew up on the home farm and he received hi: education in the common schools, all before he was seventeen years of age, for early in life he turned his attention exclusively to farming. In 1870 he was married to Martha A. Morehouse, daughter of Hiram and Elizabeth Morehouse, who came to this county in 1835 and settled in Van Buren town- ship. Six children were born to Thomas and Martha Miller, namely : Zulama, who married Frank Cook, lives in Indianapolis; Luella, who married Edward Helms, lives in Sterling, this county ; Gilbert is deceased ; Vernon is a lumber dealer in Veedersburg; Lucretia married Guy Smith, of Jonesboro, Arkan- sas; Adelia died at the age of three years.
Thomas Miller was married a second time, having formed a matrimon- ial alliance, in 1898, with Anna L. Lister, daughter of Reuben and Louisa (Yeazel) Lister. The father was born in Greene county, Tennessee, and the mother was born near Dayton. She was six years old when she was brought to Indiana, in 1822, by her parents, who settled near Stone Bluff, Fountain county, thus being among the very first settlers in the county. They found here a far-reaching wilderness where but a few small clearings had been made, and by hard work they in time had a good home and a fine farm. Grandfather David Yeazel settled in Van Buren township, this county, in 1822, being also among the few earliest settlers. He had five children, all of whom lived to reach maturity. There were eight children in Reuben Lister's family, of whom Anna L., who married Mr. Miller, was the youngest. Her birth occurred on December 28, 1856. Here she grew to womanhood and received a meager education in the common schools. She likes to tell of the days when her mother lived in a typical pioneer log cabin, with greased paper for window panes, puncheon floor, clapboard roof, etc.
Mr. Miller formerly owned one hundred and forty-five acres of land in Richland township, but he has disposed of the same and now owns and operates a fine little farm of sixty acres in Van Buren township, his land joining the corporation line of the village of Veedersburg. His land is well improved, productive and very valuable.
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Mr. Miller is a Republican. He was school director for three years and was supervisor of Richland township for one term. He belongs to the Anti- Horse Thief Association, No. 107, at Veedersburg. He is a member of the New Light Christian church, and has been superintendent of the Sunday school since 1897, has also been a deacon in the church for a period of forty years, having first been made deacon in 1873. He is an earnest church and Sunday school worker and has done much good in this line of endeavor.
CHARLES A. EVISTON.
While success cannot be achieved without unflagging industry, the futility of effort is often noticeable in the business world and results from the fact that it is not combined with sound business judgment. Many a man who gives his entire life to toil, earnest and inremitting, never acquires a com- petency, but when his labor is well directed, prosperity always follows. Mr. Eviston is one whose work has been supplemented by careful management and today he is among those who have triumphed over adverse conditions and won success. As a manufacturer and dealer in confections and kindred fines he is now actively connected with the commercial interests of Attica. Indiana.
Mr. Eviston was born on August 3, 1879, and is the son of James and Minerva (Burnett) Eviston. These parents were natives of Ohio, who came to Indiana many years ago, and here the father was variously engaged. He was a lumber dealer and also ran a basket factory at Peru, Indiana, and at Butler, this state. He is now deceased and his widow is making her home at Butler. They were the parents of seven children, six of whom are living.
The subject of this sketch received a good common-school education, following which he took a course in bookkeeping and shorthand. He then entered the employ of the Wabash railroad as a brakeman, later becoming a conductor, and he remained in the service of that road nine years. In 1909 he began the business of which he is now the head and met with pronounced success from the start. He is now operating the largest candy factory in Attica, making all kinds of candies for the home trade, besides which he makes from twenty to eighty gallons of ice cream per day, accord- ing to the requirements of the trade. He is a very careful and conscientious maker of these goods, permitting nothing to go into them but the very best
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of ingredients, and because of the excellence of their quality the products of his factory are in great demand. Besides his confectionery, Mr. Eviston owns a fifty-acre farm two miles south of Attica, a part of which is in culti- vation, the balance being timber land. On the latter land there is a coal mine which has been operated spasmodically for a quarter of a century and is still a good coal mine.
On December 11, 1907, Mr. Eviston was united in marriage with Ruth Nave, who was born in Attica. on November 8, 1879. She was reared in this city and was given a good common-school education. This union was without issue.
Politically, Mr. Eviston is a Republican and has always taken a keen interest in the success of his party. His fraternal relations are with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Brotherhood of Railroad ' Trainmen. Religiously, he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Because of his splendid personal qualities Mr. Eviston has won the sincere respect of the entire community.
MILLARD DEATH.
Millard DeAth, the gentleman whose life record appears in the follow- ing lines, holds distinctive prestige among the enterprising farmers of Foun- tain county, and is a citizen whose influence has ever been along the lines for the public good. He occupies a place second in importance to none of his contemporaries. The parents of the subject were John C. and Rosanna DeAth, natives respectively of Ohio and Indiana and among the pioneers of Van Buren township, where they spent the remainder of their lives. The name of Mrs. DeAth prior to her marriage was Walker; she belonged to an old and prominent family and was a woman of beautiful character and whole- some moral influence, who spent no pains in implanting the principles of honor and rectitude in the minds and hearts of her offspring. Six children were born to John C. and Rosanna DeAth, viz: Elizabeth, who married Daniel Carpenter, of Richland township; Jemima, wife of John Cobb, of Lafayette; John W., of Covington; Aaron and Allen, both deceased, and Millard, who is the youngest of the family. The father of these children died in 1877, aged sixty-five years. Both parents were consistent members of the Christian (Disciple) church and exemplified in their daily lives the beauty and worth of the faith which they professed.
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Millard DeAth was born on the 23d day of January 1850, in Fountain county, Indiana, and passed his early life on the home farm in Van Buren township, where he first saw the light of day. His educational privileges were confined to the public schools, but in the rugged school of experience he obtained a valuable practical knowledge such as books fail to impart and which has enabled liim to discharge faithfully and well the duties of a very active and useful life. Reared in a rural district and early becoming familiar with farin labor, he very naturally chose agriculture for his vocation and has followed the same to the present time, being now the owner of four hundred acres of fertile land in Van Buren township which under his judicious management has been brought to a high state of cultivation and improved with excellent buildings that are among the best in the county.
As a farmer who believes in the nobility of his calling, Mr. DeAth easily ranks with the most enterprising and successful in the township of Van Buren and as a citizen interested in all that concerns the general welfare he is public spirited, up-to-date and takes broad views of men and things. Politically, he may be classified as an independent Republican, being a sup- porter of the principles of his party in district, state and national affairs, but in matters local gives his support to the best qualified candidate irrespec- tive of parties and dictation. Like most progressive men, he is a believer in secret fraternal work and holds membership with the Knights of Pythias and Improved Order of Red Men, in both of which organizations he is an active and influential worker.
On January 18, 1877, was solemnized the ceremony which united Mr. DeAth and Elizabeth Campbell in the holy bonds of wedlock, to which union four children have been born, namely: Everett E., who married Myrtle Shade and lives in Richland township; Hugh, whose wife was formerly Jessie Rice, and lives in Mellott; Fred, who is deceased, was twice married, first to Nannie Gott and later to Orpha Quiggle; Marie, the youngest, is still under the parental roof.
CHARLES E. HUFF.
The subject of this review, who is cashier of the Mellott Bank, and a gentleman of high standing in business circles, is a native of Tippecanoe county, Indiana, and son of Henry F. and Amanda ( Bennett ) Huff, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in these pages. The subject was born November 16, 1864, grew up to habits of industry on the farm and in the common
MR. AND MRS. CHARLES E. HUFF.
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schools secured a fair education, which he afterwards supplemented by study at home and a wide range of reading on many subjects. By diligent applica- tion during his leisure hours he became the possessor of a large fund of valu- able knowledge and in due time was accounted one of the best informed young men of the community in which he lived. Having carly manifested a decided taste for business, Mr. Hluff, while still a young man, became asso- ciated with W. W. Garrett in the lumber, trade at Frankfort. which lasted three years and proved successful in more ways than its financial earnings. Severing his connection with the firm at the expiration of the period indicated, he took charge of the Ilenry Brothers lumber business at Mellott, which responsible position he held with credit to himself and to the satisfaction of his employers until 1908 when he resigned to accept the position of cashier in the Mellott Bank.
The Mellott Bank was established in the year 1901 with a capital stock of ten thousand dollars, all subscribed by well known citizens of the town and adjacent country and the steady growth of business since that time and the high favor in which the enterprise is held has more than met the expectations of the founders. John A. Dagger was elected president of the bank, Samuel Rice, vice-president, and Mr. Huff, cashier, which officers, together with the board of directors, are well known citizens of the community and in whom the public repose implicit confidence. Being the center of a prosperous agricultural country and a trading post of considerable importance, Mellott offered exceptional advantages for a bank and thus far the institution has fully justified the judgment and wisdom of the organization, besides afford- ing evidence of a still larger and more profitable business in the future.
Mr. Huff possesses business ability of a high order and in his various positions has enjoyed the confidence of his employers and acquitted himself as a man whose character has ever been above the suspicion of anything savor- ing of dishonor. He is a skillful accountant, familiar with every phase of banking and to his personal popularity as well as to his ability is attributable much of the growth in favor and increase of business which the institution has enjoyed ever since its organization. In addition to the duties of his position as cashier, Mr. Huff devotes considerable attention to agriculture, owning a fine farm of eighty acres in Richland township, from which he re- ceives no small share of his income. In all matters concerning the public welfare he manifests an abiding interest, keeps abreast of the times on the questions and issues before the people, and is an earnest advocate and liberal patron of every movement and enterprise having for its object the material
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advancement of the community and the social and moral well-being of his fellow men. Politically, he wields an influence for the Republican party, though never posing as a politician or office secker. Fraternally, he holds membership with the Pythian lodge at Wingate and the Improved Order of Red Men at Mellott.
Mr. Huff is a gentleman of domestic tastes and has a beautiful and at- tractive home in Mellott, the presiding spirit of which is the gracious lady who became his wife in the year 1896, and who prior to that time bore the name of Lenore Miller, the marriage being without issue. Mrs. Huff is the daughter of James and Elnira Miller, a well known and reputable couple who have lived in Fountain county for many years and contributed much to the advancement of the community in which they reside.
WILLIAM A. THOMAS.
William A. Thomas ranks among the most enterprising farmers of the township in which he resides and as a citizen alive to all that makes for the best interest of the community and the good of his fellow men, he wields an influence second to that of none of his contemporaries. John F. Thomas, father of the subject, was a native of Fairland county, Ohio. He received a good education, taught school for a number of years in his native state and about 1857 came to Fountain county, Indiana, purchasing land in Cain township where he engaged in farming and stock raising. He was more or less a trader during his entire life, met with success in his various lines of activity and was in independent circumstances when called from earth in 1877, at the age of forty-six years. Rebecca Van Gundy, who became the wife of John F. Thomas, was born and reared in Indiana. She bore her husband four children and departed this life at the age of forty-five in 1879. The following are the names of the children to this couple: Charles died in childhood; Frank, a farmer and stock raiser of Fountain county; William, whose name introduces this sketch, and Zelda, widow of G. Beaver, formerly a resident of Kansas and a farmer by occupation.
William A, Thomas was born May 23, 1861, in Fountain county, Indiana, and grew to maturity on the parental homestead in Cain township where he first saw the light of day. After completing the common school branches, he entered the Northern Indiana Normal University at Valparaiso, where he pursued a more advanced course of study, after which he returned home and
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turned his attention to agricultural pursuits. Mr. Thomas is a farmer by choice and has a proper conception of the nobility of his calling. He remained in his native township until the spring of 1899 when he bought what is known as the Oak Grove farm in Jackson township where he has since lived and prospered, the meanwhile making a number of valuable improvements on his place, including one of the finest and most attractive private residences in his part of the country. His farm, which embraces an area of three hun- dred thirty-five acres, all under cultivation, lies in one of the most fertile districts of Jackson township and is admirable adapted for agriculture and stock raising. As stated above, it is highly improved and its general appear- ance of thrift and excellent management impresses the passerby as the home of an intelligent, broad-minded American farmer who is up-to-date in his vocation and a man of thought and influence among his fellow men.
Mr. Thomas is a Republican and in religion a member of the Christian church, in which he holds the office of elder. He is active in every good work under the auspices of the church, contributes of his means and influence to all enterprises having for their object the material progress and moral advancement of the community and as a neighbor and citizen has the con- fidence and respect of those with whom he mingles. He was married on the 20th day of January, 1886, to Amanda Adkins, daughter of Dr. Adkins of this county, the union resulting in the birth of three children, viz: Ethel, wife of Charles Parker, a farmer of Cain township; Harry M. and Dorothy E., who are still with their parents.
DAVID LIVENGOOD.
The name of David Livengood, one of our worthy retired farmers, is well known to the readers of this work. His active connection with the history and growth of Fountain county transcends the limits of three score and ten years, and within this time he has been not only an eye witness of the many remarkable changes that have taken place, but an active participant in the same, nobly bearing his part in the winning for the county a proud position among enterprising and enlightened sections of the Hoosier state.
Mr. Livengood was born in Jackson township, Fountain county, Septent- ber 4, 1841, and is the son of Thomas and Eva (Shuler) Livengood. The subject's father came from North Carolina in 1834 and settled in Ripley township, Montgomery county, Indiana, on the sixteenth section, temporarily,
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then entered land in Jackson township, Fountain county, where he followed arming the rest of his life, and there his death occurred. He became a man of influence in his community, was often called upon to settle disagreements between his neighbors, and his advice was often sought in various things. He lived to the advanced age of eighty-four years.
The subject of this sketch was two and one-half years old when his mother died, and in 1844 his father married again. Three children were born to the last union, two of whom are still living. Fourteen children were born to the first marriage, named as follows: John Peter, who was a minister for a number of years, was born April 19, 1819; Andrew, born September 16, 1820; Mary, born November 13, 1822; Kelin, born April 20, 1824; Susana, born January 30, 1826; Sarah, born November 9, 1827; Katherine, born September 16, 1829; Elizabeth, born January 1, 1831; Abigail, born August 14, 1832; Solomon, born January 1, 1834; Caroline, born March 6, 1836; Lucinda, born December 15, 1837; Thomas, born February 16, 1840; David, born September 4, 1841. All of the above named children lived to be married and become heads of families before any of them died.
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