USA > Indiana > Fountain County > Past and present of Fountain and Warren Counties, Indiana, Volume 2 > Part 17
USA > Indiana > Warren County > Past and present of Fountain and Warren Counties, Indiana, Volume 2 > Part 17
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In 1851 Mr. McMannomy was united in marriage to Emmeline T. Ward, whose birth occurred in Kentucky in 1826, and who accompanied her parents to Indiana in her girlhood. Her grandfather, William Ward, served three years in the war of the Revolution and, with the exception of Enos Davis, he is the only hero of that struggle buried in Fountain county. At the breaking out of the Rebellion Mr. McMannomy enlisted in the Sixty-third Regiment Indiana Volunteers and for three years shared with his comrades the fortunes and vicissitudes of war in many noted campaigns and battles, entering the army as second lieutenant and rising to the rank of colonel before the expira- tion of his term of service. Returning home at the close of the war, he re- sumed farming and was then occupied until advancing age obliged him to cease active pursuits, from which time until his death, in July, 1906, he lived a retired life. He was the father of four children, the two eldest, twins, dying in infancy. Divit was born in 1855 and died in 1875, Mrs. Coffing being the on'y survivor of the family.
An interesting experience in the life of Colonel McMannomy which his many friends will be pleased to see in print was his connection with the social club known for sixty years as the "The Raging Tads," a name given the or- ganization in derision but which the members by unanimous vote decided to accept. Thus the club, composed of twenty of the best known young men of Covington, was established on Thanksgiving day, 1847, and held its first meeting in the old Brown inn in Covington, where a sumptuous banquet was spread, to which the members did ample justice. When the feast had ended and the boys sat back from the table to smoke, sing and talk, one of the merry makers suggested that they make the Thanksgiving supper an annual affair. The idea was at once adopted and it was also decided that the one bottle of port wine remaining unopened be produced at each ensuing banquet, but not to be opened until the last survivor of the little company sat down alone, then he was to crack the bottle and drink to the memory of his de- parted comrades. The club met at their annual banquets for a number of years, but ere long one by one its members were removed by the hand of death until at the expiration of sixty years there were only two remaining, Colonel McMannomy and his life-long friend, Lewis Hetfield, of Covington. In compliance with the usual custom, these two remaining survivors of "The Annual Remembrance Supper" met at the home of Colonel McMannomy's daughter, Mrs. William B. Coffing, in Covington, where they partook of a bountiful repast, recalled incidents and experiences of their erstwhile com- rades and companions, to whose memory they again quaffed the ruddy wine, while tears coursed down each furrowed face. This was the last real re-
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union, for within a few months the Colonel passed to that mysterious bourne which all his comrades but one had already entered and from which no trav- eler ever returns, leaving Mr. Hetfield sole survivor of an organization which will forever form an interesting page in the history of Covington. Suffice it to state that at the ensuing Thanksgiving day Mr. Hetfield entered the ban- quet room alone and, cracking the bottle selected for the last survivor sixty years before, drank to the memory of the departed, an experience far more pathetic than pleasurable and then presided at the table, an office which he per- formed at the first meeting of the club and at each succeeding reunion until all the members except himself had passed into the land of silence.
GUY W. KERR.
One of the most successful and scientific of the younger generation of farmers in Fountain county, Indiana, is Guy W. Kerr, a member of the honored and well known old Kerr family, which has been a prominent factor in this part of the Hoosier state from the early epoch of her history, and the subject has taken a delight in keeping untarnished the splendid escutcheon of the family name. He has been a young man of fine practical ideas who has had the courage to carry out his convictions in a tangible form, and his methods of general agricultural pursuits might well be followed by those wlio have been less successful in a similar line of endeavor, as we shall see by a brief study of his life record, for he has always believed in doing well whatever he undertook and, like Cincinnatus, the Roman of old times, he believes in not looking backward from the plow. These and other commenda- ble traits have contributed to his success in his chosen field of labor.
Mr. Kerr was born in Richland township, Fountain county, Indiana, October 27, 1874, and he is the son of Samuel and Virginia (Dagger) Kerr, one of our best known and most successful families, a complete sketch of whom will be found on another page of this volume, hence need not be reproduced here.
Guy W. Kerr grew to manhood on his father's farm and when but a boy made himself useful during the crop seasons, attending the common schools of his neighborhood. He is one of a family of four children, three of whom are living, namely: Charles D .; Guy M., of this review; Carrie is married and lives at Waveland, Montgomery county. There was plenty of hard work for the subject on the home place, for the father was an exten- sive farmer, owning at one time one thousand acres of land, so young Kerr
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grew to be a young man of exceptional industry and, having had an excellent preceptor in his father along general husbandry lines, he has turned it all to good account in after life and has become well fixed while yet a young man, and he now ranks with our best farmers and stock men. He is the owner of one of the most desirable farms in Richland township, his place being well improved in every respect and on it is to be found a commodious residence and large, substantial outbuildings. A fine grade of live stock of all kinds is kept by him. His place contains three hundred and forty acres, a part of the old home place, and this he has managed so skillfully that it has retained its original strength of soil and fertility.
Mr. Kerr was married on November 17, 1898, to Isabella Beatty, daugh- ter of William and Isabella Beatty, a highly respected family who came to this county from Ontario, Canada, many years ago and here became very comfortably established. Mrs. Kerr was born in Canada and was young when brought here by- her parents, She grew to womanhood in Canada and received her education in the common schools there. Three children have been born to the subject and wife, namely: Samuel, Fletcher and Isabella, all at home.
Politically, Mr. Kerr is a Republican, and' while he takes considerable interest in local affairs he has never sought the emoluments of public office.
LOUIS G. RIGGIN.
The record of a life well spent, of triumphs over obstacles, of perseverance under difficulties and steady advancement from a modest beginning to a place of distinction in the industrial world, when imprinted on the pages of history, presents to the youth of a rising generation a worthy example. Such a life is that of Louis G. Riggin, trustee of Logan township, Fountain county, and a man who has long ranked among the most highly esteemed and useful citizens of his part of the county. The able and conscientious manner in which he - has ever looked after the interests entrusted to him have called forth much praise from his fellow citizens, so that now, in the mellow Indian summer of his years, he can look backward over a long, useful and honorable career with no compunction for misdeeds, he having ever done his duty as he saw and understood the right, consequently he has nothing to regret. He is in every way entitled to the high esteem in which he is held by all who know him and to the large material success that has been his, owing to the fact that he is one of our splendid types of self-made men, and his history contains many
LOUIS G. RIGGIN.
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valuable lessons for the youth of the land whose fortunes are yet matters for the future.
Louis G. Riggin was born in Pickaway county, Ohio, October 6, 1827, and there the first ten years of his life were spent. In 1837 he came to White county, Indiana, as a "bound" boy, working for William Gerton, near where the town of Walcott now stands. He remained there until 1860 when he went to Little Rock, Arkansas. Upon the outbreak of the Civil war he re- turned North, to Cairo, Illinois, and in Jasper county, that state, he enlisted, in August, 1861, in Company K, Thirty-eighth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was in a number of hotly contested engagements in Missouri and Arkansas during the first two years of the war. From Jacksonport, Arkansas, he went to. Cape Girardeau, Missouri, thence to Corinth, Mississippi, and was in the siege and battle of Corinth. After that he did guard duty at different places until he was discharged in August, 1864. He performed his every duty as a soldier for the Union very faithfully and he received an honorable discharge. After the war he returned to White county, Indiana, then went to Carroll county. In January, 1870, he came to Attica, Fountain county, Indiana, and worked by the month for Jonathan Sheidler, for two years. Then he worked seven years in the freight office of the Wabash Railroad. He then bought live stock for Greenwood & McCoughtry for two years. Then, in partnership with Alonzo Green, he bought a cattle ranch in Greenwood county, Kansas, where he remained seven months, then returned to Attica, Indiana. Later he entered. the employ of J. T. Nixon, buying grain at West Point, three years. In September, 1884, in partnership with James Martin, he, having retired from the grain business, at Attica, bought grain at Covington until the spring of 1885, and then bought grain at Williamsport four years. In 1889 he started in the elevator business at Wingate with J. W. McCardle, and on account of poor health sold out and remained practically idle for a year, then engaged in buying and selling live stock, which he continued with ever-increasing suc- cess until 1908, when he retired from business, having accumulated a compe- tency through his long years of close application and good management, hav- ing been successful in whatever he turned his attention to. He is deserving of the highest praise for his admirable rise from the bottom of the ladder to the topmost rung, through his own indomitable industry.
Mr. Riggin was elected a member of the Attica school board in 1882, serving on the same for a period of twelve years, in a manner that reflected much credit upon himself and to the satisfaction of all concerned. He was then elected trustee of Logan township and served with equal success for a (32)
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period of five years. He was the first member appointed by Gov. W. T. Durbin on the state pardon board, serving on the same for a period of five years, then resigned to again become trustee of Logan township, and has since served continuously, being still incumbent of that office. As a public servant he has always discharged his duties faithfully and conscientiously, winning the hearty approval of all concerned. Politically, he is a Republican, and he cast his first vote for Gen. Zachary Taylor. He has been a Mason for fifty years. He also belongs to the Knights of Pythias, the Uniform Rank, having joined Rank No. I. He enjoys the distinction of being the oldest member of the Uniforin Rank of Knights of Pythias in the United States. He is also a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, of Lafayette.
Mr. Riggin is the owner of a fine farm of two hundred acres in Davis township, Fountain county, all under a high state of cultivation and well im- proved, he having made all the improvements himself,
LAWSON HUGHES BOOE.
Many and varied are the momentous changes which have taken place in Fountain county, Indiana, during the life of Lawson Hughes Booe, well known citizen of Veedersburg, for since he first opened his eyes to the sky here nearly eighty years have dissolved in the mists of time and drifted away to take their places in the annals of the irrevocable past. They were four score years of great moment in the history of the world, the most important perhaps that the world has ever witnessed. The subject has not by any means been a disinterested and inactive spectator to the vicissitudes of that period, as it affected this section of the Hoosier state. He has long been numbered among the enterprising and substantial men of Fountain county, where his long and useful life has been spent, and a brief outline of his career from the time when a boy he began his vocation as farmer to the present high standing which he has attained, can not fail to be interesting as well as instructive to the young men into whose cradle smiling fortune has cast no gilded scepter.
Mr. Booe was born in this county on April 10, 1833. He is the son of Philip and Jemima (Clinton) Booe, natives of South Carolina, where their earlier years were spent and from which state they came to Indiana, first set- tling at Brookville, later moving to Connersville, thence to Scott's Prairie, Fountain county, in 1827, when this part of the state was very sparsely settled, and here they established the future home of the family, which they worked hard to improve. They had twelve children, named as follows: John is de- ceased; Joseph, William and Washington are also all deceased; Lawson
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Hughes, of this review, was the next in order of birth; Fielden J. is deceased ; Amelia married John Willis and they live in Hillsborough.
Lawson 11. Booe grew to manhood on the home farm and he received such educational advantages as the early schools of his time afforded. When but a boy he turned his attention to farming and in a few years had a good start in life, and now in his old age he finds himself very comfortably situated as the result of his former years of activity and good management.
Lawson H. Booe was married in 1850 to Isabella J. Hesler, daughter of William and Matilda Hester, who came to this county in a very carly day. Two children were born of this union, namely: Ida J., who married Silas Vickery, of Covington, is deceased; the other child died in early life. In 1869 Mr. Booe was united in marriage with Matilda Campbell, and to this union one child was born, Ellora, who married a Mr. O'Rear.
Fraternally, Mr. Booe is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, Lodge No. 491, at Veedersburg. Religiously, he belongs to the Christian church, and he is a very faithful supporter of the same.
MONT BOORD.
Holding worthy prestige among the representative men of Covington is the gentleman whose name introduces this sketch, who in the line of his call- ing fills an important place in the affairs of the city and stands high in the esteem and confidence of his fellow citizens. Mont Boord, proprietor of the leading furniture and, undertaking establishment of Covington, is a native of Fountain county, Indiana, and dates his birth from November 14, 1857. His father was Oliver Boord, whose birth occurred in this county, and his mother, who bore the maiden name of Catherine Ludlow, was born in the state of Ohio. Oliver Boord engaged in farming until about thirty years of age, when he moved to Covington and engaged successively in the drug, hardware and hotel business, and is now leading a retired life. He enlisted in the year of 1861 in the Eighty-sixth Indiana Regiment and was lieutenant of his company.
Mont Boord was reared in his native county and received a good practi- cal education in the schools of Covington, which he attended at intervals dur- ing his minority. On July 1, 1879, he engaged in the furniture and undertak- ing business at Covington, where by close attention to the business, he gained the confidence of his patrons and in due time became familiar with every phase of the business. He has built up an extensive and lucrative patronage, being, as already indicated, the largest dealer in his line in the city and con-
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ducting an undertaking establishment which in completeness of stock and the latest and most approved equipment compares favorably with similar estab- lishments in much larger and more pretentious places.
Mr. Boord was a charter member of the Indiana Funeral Directors As- sociation, and at the thirty-second annual convention of that body, held in the year 1911, he was honored by being elected its president, which position he held for one year. As a business man Mr. Boord enjoys an honorable reputation and to him in great measure is due the recent substantial growth of Covington, in the material advancement of which he has always manifested an active interest. Quick to perceive, wise to plan and possessing business ability of a high order, he has wrought wisely and well and in him are com- bined the sterling qualities of manhood and citizenship which give character and stability to a community and make its name honored at home and abroad.
Mr. Boord has been twice married, the first time on the 26th day of September, 1883, to Flora Bodine, who departed this life on March 30, 1906. To this union were born two children : Alma B., wife of Roy A. Rogers, who is engaged in the sand and gravel business, and Paul C., a grocery man of Covington. The subject's second marriage was solemnized on June 26, 1907, with Mrs. Mary Crawshaw, nee Tipton, of Muncie, this union being without issue.
In his political belief Mr. Boord may be classified as an independent Re- publican, being an earnest supporter of the principles and policies of his party, but in local affairs giving his support to the candidate best qualified for the office to which he aspires, irrespective of partisan dictation. He is a member of the Presbyterian church and is holding at the present time the position of elder in the local church at Covington. Like the majority of enterprising, wide-awake men, he is deeply interested in secret fraternal work, being a member of the Masonic order, the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Personally, he is quite popular with his fellow citi- zens and his friends are as the number of his acquaintances ..
MANFORD LIVENGOOD.
Prof. Manford Livengood, superintendent of the Fountain county public schools and one of the leading educators of his part of the state, is a native of Indiana and a son of Kelin and Amanda Livengood, the former born in North Carolina, the latter in Kentucky. Thomas Livengood, the Professor's grand- father, was born in 1797, in the Old North state and migrated to Fountain
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county, Indiana, in pioneer times, where he cleared a farm and spent the re- mainder of his days, departing this life in the year 1876. Kelin Livengood, whose birth occurred on April 20, 1824, accompanied his parents to Fountain county, Indiana, when ten years of age and grew to maturity on the home farm in Jackson township, which he helped clear and develop. He received but little schooling, notwithstanding which he became a man of much more than ordin- ary intelligence and for many years was a leader among his neighbors and fellow citizens, and in no small degree a molder of public opinion in his section of country. He always manifested a lively interest in matters per- taining to the general welfare, took strong grounds on the political questions of the times and by reason of his ability as a public speaker wielded a wide influence in behalf of the policies which he advocated and the party to which he yielded allegiance. He possessed well balanced judgment and keen dis- cernment in matters of business, became a rapid and accurate accountant and for many years his services were utilized by his neighbors and friends in the settlement of estates, also as in the adjustment of difficulties and misunder- standings which, but for his judicious advice, might have led to unfortunate and expensive litigation. His was indeed a useful life, filled to repletion with good to his fellow men and his death, which occurred in the month of Sep- tember, 1909, was greatly deplored by the people among whom he had so long lived and for whose advancement he had spared no reasonable efforts.
Amanda Purnell, who became the wife of Kelin Livengood in 1844, was born near Flemingsburg, Kentucky, in 1829. and when three years old, was brought to Fountain county, Indiana, by her parents, where she has since lived and where her father, John Purnell, an old and respected citizen, also resides. The children of this marriage, nine in number, were as follows: Sarah E., wife of John Davis, lives in Cayuga; Pleasant married Hester Grimes, and is a resident of Fountain county ; Katherine, now Mrs. Eli Myers, fives in the county also; Elminia, the fourth of the family, is deceased; Levi, whose wife was formerly Stella Frazier, resides not far from the place of his birth; James is deceased; Christina died in her youth; Manford, of this re- view, being the eighth in order of birth; and Austin, the youngest of the num- ber, married Maud Wright and is a well-known farmer of his native county.
. Manford Livengood, to a brief review of whose career the residue of . this sketch is devoted, was born May 22, 1871, in Fountain county, Indiana, and received his preliminary educational training in the old Jackson township graded school, where he early manifested a decided predilection for books and study and gave evidence of the strong mentality which subsequently enabled him to take advanced grounds as a scholar and educator. Later he entered-
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the Independent Normal School at Covington, where he was graduated in 1893, following which he spent several terms in the State Normal School at Terre Haute, the discipline then received being afterwards supplemented by a three-years' course in the State University. Well fitted by academic and pro- fessional training, Mr. Livengood entered upon what has proven a notable educational career, his first work being as superintendent of the public schools of Newtown. After reorganizing the educational system of that village and placing the school upon a firm and successful basis, he was elected superin- tendent of schools of Mellott, where he remained for a period of six years, during which time he made the schools among the best in the state and earned an honorable reputation as an eminently successful manager and instructor. While holding this position at the latter place, in 1907, Professor Livengood was elected superintendent of the schools of Fountain county, which office he has since retained and in which he has displayed unusual ability in the line of organizing, the adopting of improved methods and in general educational work.
During the five years Professor Livengood has been at the head of the educational interests of Fountain county, the schools under his efficient man- agement have made commendable progress, and in the matter of general effi- ciency they compare favorably with those of any other county in the state. The high character which he has achieved as an educator has earned for him much more than local repute, both as a teacher and superintendent, and, in view of his untiring energy and painstaking efforts, it is safe to assume that there are few if any more popular school officials in Indiana. He is now in the prime of vigorous manhood, possesses genial manners, a winning person- ality and with his superior scholarship and many years of practical experience, it is safe to predict for him a future of still greater efficiency and usefulness. He is a member of the state reading circle board.
On September 4, 1898, Professor Livengood was happily married to Jessie L. Warfield, of Fountain county, Indiana, a union blessed with two children, Norman Dale, born June 16, 1903, and Marion L., whose birth oc- curred November 29, 1906. In matters political the Professor is an uncom- promising supporter of the Democratic party, and as such wields a strong in- ยท fluence in public affairs, being ever ready to defend the principles which he believes to be for the best interests of the people. In religion he subscribes to the Presbyterian creed, and is an earnest advocate and liberal donor to all worthy charitable and benevolent enterprises. Fraternally, he belongs to the Knights of Pythias and Improved Order of Red Men, in both of which orders -he has been honored from time to time with important official positions.
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F. B. GOOKINS.
The history of a county or state, as well as that of a nation, is chiefly a chronicle of the lives and deeds of those who have conferred honor and dig- nity upon society. The world judges the character of a community by those of its representative citizens and yields its tribute of admiration and respect to those whose works and actions constitute the record of a state's prosperity and pride. Among the progressive citizens of Fountain county, who are well known because of their success in private business affairs and the part they have taken in the general upbuilding of the locality is F. B. Gookins, proprietor of a grocery store in the town of Veedersburg.
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