USA > Indiana > Fountain County > Past and present of Fountain and Warren Counties, Indiana, Volume 2 > Part 36
USA > Indiana > Warren County > Past and present of Fountain and Warren Counties, Indiana, Volume 2 > Part 36
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Joseph Coats, the paternal grandfather of the subject, was a native of Loudoun county, Virginia. His parents moved to Lancaster, Kentucky, when he was three years old, where they owned a tract of land and operated a "still house." Joseph Coats came to Fountain county, Indiana, in 1827 and entered land from the government, about two and one-half miles southeast of Veedersburg, and there he began in typical pioncer fashion, enduring the hard- ships and trials incident to such a venture in those days, but he persevered and succeeded, and there spent the rest of his life engaged in general farming, and he became an influential man in the carly history of the county. His death occurred in 1877, at the age of seventy-four years. He married Serena D. White, daughter of Capt. William White, a well known man here in his day. He came from Tennessee in 1823, when this country was a wilderness, in- deed, and he had the honor of building the first grist mill in Fountain county. Joseph Coats took the first census of Fountain county. He took a prominent part in public affairs, was influential and a potent factor in the early public
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life of this locality, and he served as a representative in the state Legislature, also as probate judge. lle was a Republican. As a public servant, he gave the utmost satisfaction in every respect. Ile had but one child, William B. Coats, father of the immediate subject of this sketch. The death of Mrs. Joseph Coats occurred in 1906 at the ripe old age of ninety-seven years.
William B. Coats, mentioned above, grew up on his father's farm and he was educated in the country schools and at Wabash College. Crawfords- ville, Indiana. Ile took up farming for a livelihood early in life and followed the same until his death with a large degree of success, becoming one of the substantial and influential men of his community. He married Elizabeth Lucas, daughter of Joseph Lucas, an early settler of Fountain county, who started a general store in Chambersburg in 1830. To William B. Coats and wife were born the following children: Laurel, who married Leroy Clore, of Crawfordsville; Frank is a farmer ; Elmer E., subject of this sketch; Dora, now deceased, was the wife of Joseph Sims; Charles is a farmer and lives at Veedersburg, Indiana; Joseph L. was next in order; Emma and Edna are both deceased.
William B. Coats was a Republican, and he was for two terms county commissioner. He was a member of the Christian church. His death oc- curred in 1897, at the age of sixty-seven years. His widow is still living, making her home in Veedersburg.
Elmer E. Coats was born in Fountain county, Indiana, and here he grew to manhood on the home farm and received his education in the common schools of Veedersburg and at Ladoga. He took up farming for a livelihood and has been very successful as a general farmer and stock man, being a good manager and a persistent worker, so that he has accumulated a competency. He has made a specialty of raising fine horses, and owing to the superior quality of his live stock they always find a very ready market. He is the owner of a fine and well improved farm of four hundred and twenty acres in Parke and Fountain counties, and he has a commodious and attractive resi- dence and large, convenient outbuildings. All of his land is under cultivation and modernly improved.
Mr. Coats has traveled extensively, having been around the world, and, being by nature a keen observer and a man of versatile talent, he talks most interestingly of his sojourns in foreign lands. Politically, he is a Republican and, while he takes no special interest in public matters, is influential in a local way. Personally, he is a man of genial address, excellent manners, makes one feel at home and it is a pleasure to know him.
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CHRISTOPHER BRANT.
The life of Christopher Brant, the venerable and extensive farmer of Cain township, Fountain county, has been such as to bear aloft the high standard which was maintained by his father and his uncle, who were carly residents of this section of the Hoosier state. The subject himself came down to us from the pioneer period, having spent most of his long and useful life in this locality, and during the seventy-eight years that have come and gone since his advent in this community he has seen wondrous changes, has seen the "wilderness blossom as the rose" and he has taken a leading part in the progress of his community, so that, for many reasons he is eminently entitled to a conspicuous place in the history of his county.
Mr. Brant was born in Shelby county, Kentucky, October 26, 1827, and he spent his early boyhood in the Blue Grass state, coming with his parents, John and Susan Brant, to Fountain county, Indiana, when he was seven years of age, and here he grew to-manhood and received his early education in the old-time schools. His father purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land upon his arrival here, and this he improved into a good farm and devoted the rest of his life to general farming. His family consisted of ten children, only two of whom are living at this writing, Christopher, of this review, and Catherine, who married a Mr. Blackford and lives at Wayne- town, Indiana.
Christopher Brant has devoted his life to farmning. He talks interestingly of the times when he came here and found a wilderness, and how he helped clear the land and assisted in getting the family located in their permanent home; also of the Indian days, how, eight years before he and his parents came, his uncle and aunt had braved the wilds of Fountain county, finding Indians camped on the land now owned by the subject. He has a great many interesting Indian relics, picked up on his farm. He has prospered as a general farmer and stock raiser until he is today one of the substantial and leading agriculturists of the county, owning a well improved and valuable farm of nearly one thousand acres in Fountain county, also three hundred and twenty acres of fine land in Oklahoma.
Mr. Brant first married Harriet Thompson, who died in 1859. One child was born to them, Jeanette, who married Matthias Beaver, who is now deceased. Mr. Brant was married second, May 20, 1866, to Mary Jane Campbell, whose parents came from Ohio in an early day. She was one of four children, namely : Wallace Campbell, Mrs. Elizabeth Chapman, Mrs. Sabina Epperson and Mrs. Brant. She was born January 6, 1841, at Rynear,
MR. AND MRS. CHRISTOPHER BRANT.
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Fountain county, and here she grew to womanhood and received her educa- tion.
Politically, Mr. Brant is a Democrat, and he has been ; pervisor of road work. Fraternally, he is a Mason, and he endeavors to carry the sublime pre- cepts f this time-honored order into his every-day life. consequently he is admired and esteemed by a wide circle of friends and acquaintances. Per- sonally, he is a genial, hospitable and whole-souled gentleman whom it is a delight to know. His record as a business man and citizen is without blem- ish and no man in the county is more deserving of trust and honor.
MARK B. BRINEY.
It is hard for the present generation to properly appreciate the brave deeds of the "boys in blue." who sacrificed so much on the altar of patriotism during the momentous national crisis of the early sixties, but as the years go by the immensity of their deeds will be realized to a fuller extent and each veteran will be accorded full measure of credit and praise. A member of this great army of patriots is Mark B. Briney, now a retired farmer of Shawnee township, Fountain county, a man who has spent his life in this vicinity, find- ing here ample opportunity for the exercise of his talents and he has done much for the general welfare of the same, being public-spirited and a good neighbor.
Mr. Briney was born in Shawnee township, Fountain county. Indiana, August 2, 1840. He is the son of William S. and Eleanor ( McMillen) Briney, natives of Butler and Clark counties, Ohio, respectively, the father coming to Fountain county at the age of nine years in 1831, and the mother in 1825. They were the parents of four children, namely: Daniel, who lives in Shawnee township; Mark B., of this sketch; Alexander died in 1875; Sarah E. married Oliver M. Marshall, deceased.
William S. Briney was a Democrat, a member of the Sons of Temper- ance, and he held a membership in the Methodist Episcopal church.
Daniel McMillen, the maternal grandfather of the subject, came to Fountain county, Indiana, in 1825, and built one of the first mills in Shawnee township in 1827. He bought considerable land and also bought mill prop- erty up and down Big Shawnee, and he followed milling and farming all his life, becoming widely known in this section of the state, being a man of con- siderable influence and financial standing. Mark Briney, the subject's paternal
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grandfather, came to this county from Butler county, Ohio, in 1831. and located first in Troy township, where he entered land from the government and followed farming all his life, becoming the owner of nearly three hun- dred acres of excellent land. His family consisted of twelve children, only one of whom is living, Mrs. Margaret Hutson, of Covington, Indiana.
Mark B. Briney grew to manhood on the home place and received his education in the common schools of Shawnee township. Early in life he took up farming for a livelihood and this continued to claim his close attention until the year 1902 when he retired, having accumulated a competency through his long years of industry. He is the owner of a fine farm of two hundred and fifty-five acres, ail well improved, two hundred acres being under a high state of cultivation. He has a pleasant home and is well fixed to enjoy a serene old age.
Mr. Briney enlisted on August 13, 1862, in Company C, Eighty-sixth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and was mustered into service at Indianapolis. He was sent to the Army of the Cumberland where he saw much hard service. He was in the battle of Perryville and other hotly contested engagements. He was honorably discharged at Nashville, Tennessee, February 19, 1863, having made a faithful and gallant soldier for the Union.
Politically, Mr. Briney is a Democrat, and fraternally he belongs to the Woodmen of the World and the Modern Woodmen of America.
Mr. Briney was married on August 19, 1869, to Mary E. Manlove, daughter of William Manlove, and to this union the following children were born : Mark M. and Edna L., both died in infancy; Okie married William C. Hnshaw and they have two children, George Carson and Clay Benton.
L. B. WILSON.
The general public has ever manifested interest in tracing the history of a man who, despite the fact of his having commenced life at the bottom of the ladder, has worked upward courageously, round by round, until attaining the goal of success and winning the plaudits of his fellow citizens. The career of the widely known and public-spirited man whose name appears above affords a striking example of what industry and energy, controlled by correct moral principles, can accomplish in overcoming an unfavorable environment and elevating their possessor to a position of usefulness and in- fluenee. Mr. Wilson is too well known in Fountain county to need a formal
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introduction to the readers of this volume and the following lines contain but a brief review of his career.
L. B. Wilson is a native of Montgomery county, Indiana, and a son of W. W. and Sophia Wilson, the father born in Hamilton county, Ohio, the mother in Butler county, Ohio. W. W. Wilson came to Indiana in an early day and was among the substantial pioneers of Montgomery county, where he farmed, and he ran a saw-mill and manufactured drain tile while living in Tippecanoe county. His death occurred at a ripe old age. Before her mar- riage Mrs. Wilson was Miss Sophia McGinnis. She departed this life in 1907 in Fountain county, the mother of eleven children, six of whom are living, the subject of this sketch being the only member of the family residing in Davis township.
L. B. Wilson received his early educational training in the district schools of Montgomery county and subsequently prepared himself for a busi- ness career by taking a course in a commercial college at Danville, Illinois. Alter being graduated from the latter institution, he accepted a clerkship in a commercial house in Illinois, to which line of effort he devoted four years and during the year ensuing served as salesman in a store at Crawfordsville, this state. Discontinuing clerking at the expiration of the period indicated, he returned to his home and after working for a while on the farm, came, in 1892, to Davis township and purchased the place where he has since lived and made rapid and substantial advancement as an enterprising farmer and stock raiser.
When Mr. Wilson moved to his present beautiful place it contained little that was pleasing to the eye, but much that was calculated to discourage one of less energy and determination than himself. Only a small part of the land had been improved and the buildings were small and in poor condition. With his characteristic energy, however, he addressed himself to the task before him and it was not long until another and much fairer prospect pre- sented itself. By well-directed industry and good management he succeeded in reducing the greater part of his lands to cultivation, and in due time the old buildings were replaced with substantial modern structures, and a spirit of thrift appeared to prevail over the entire premises. Mr. Wilson's progress since taking possession of his farm has been most commendable and gained for him no small place among the successful agriculturists and stock raisers of his township. He devotes his attention to general farming and in the matter of live stock makes specialties of fine graded hogs and Percheron horses, his success in raising the latter breed of animals giving him a reputa- tion much more than local.
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Mr. Wilson is essentially a self-made man, the fine two-hundred-twenty- cight-acre farm, his valuable live stock interests, together with every dollar of the comfortable fortune which he commands, being the result of his own energy, mature judgment, rare foresight and useful life and, as indicated in the initial paragraph, his example may be studied with profit by those whose characters are yet to be formed and fortines gained. lle is a zealous Repub- lican of the most orthodox type and has little sympathy for those who desert the principles of the party for new, untried and visionary political doc- trines. In his church relations he is a Methodist and for a number of years he has been a member of the Masonic lodge at Odell.
Mr. Wilson was married in the year 1904 to Anna Carter, daughter of James F. Carter, of this county, whose sketch may be found elsewhere, the union resulting in the birth of two children, Opal A. and C. Harold.
JOHN W. DUNKIN.
In America, perhaps more than any other country, the man who has made all he has himself is looked upon as the most entirely capable, the man upon whom one may most thoroughly rely. He knows the value of work and the value of money. He can more thoroughly enjoy the good things of life be- cause he has earned them all himself, and knows what it is to be without them. He can most really sympathize with men still at the ropes, because he has been there himself. There are many such self-made men in Indiana, and among them are prosperous farmers who have gained all they have by diligently driving nature to her utmost. Nature must be feminine, indeed, for she loves a master, and the man who has conquered her is richly rewarded. Among the men of Fountain county who have made all they own themselves is John W. Dunkin, one of the most prominent men in Davis township.
Mr. Dunkin was born in Fountain county, Davis township, February 25, 1855, and is the son of John and Annie (Van Meeter) Dunkin. His father was born in Indiana, and lived in Davis township all of his life. He was a tiller of the soil, and highly respected by all in the neighboring district. Ile died in 1860. They had five children, all but one of whom are alive. John WV. Dunkin was raised on the farm and educated in the district school of Davis township. In 1882 he married Lucy Hall, daughter of Cornelins and Elizabeth (Cale) Hall. Her father came from Spaldin, Lincolnshire, Eng- land, where he had engaged in the shoe business. John and Lucy Dunkin
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have had five children : Clarence, Grover and Peari are at home on the farmn. The other two children, Ernest and Lulu, are deceased.
Mr. Dunkin's home is about six miles east of Attica, Indiana. He ins about two hundred and ten acres of land, all of which, with the exception of ten acres, is in a high state of cultivation. Ile is interested in general farmi- ing and his methods have gained rich rewards from the soil. He has made a great many improvements on his place and it is one of the best equipped farms in Davis township. On it he has a lovely home and lives like a king with his little family.
Mr. Dunkin is a Democrat, but he has never held any office, as his time has been too completely taken up on his land. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias in Attica, Indiana, and is active in many public movements.
He is a good farmer and a good citizen, and the history of Davis town- ship. would certainly be incomplete without the biography of this man who has done so much to help in her growth, and spent his whole life there. It is men such as he, men of sterling integrity, public spirit and diligent industry, that have made the American people what they are.
WILLIAM H. BENDER.
One of Davis township's progressive farmers is William H. Bender, a man who, although not especially favored by fortune in early life, forged ahead on his own account, beginning diligently and earnestly to work in order to advance himself in the world's affairs, at the same time doing what he could for the welfare of the community at large, and as a result of his habits of industry, public spirit, courteous demeanor and honorable career he enjoys the esteem and admiration of a host of friends in Fountain county, where he has maintained his home all his life and where he is known as one of the representative citizens of the section of the Hoosier state of which this volume deals.
William H. Bender was born in Davis township, Fountain county, Indiana, June 15, 1856. He is the son of Isaac and Mary (Schnepp) Ben- der. Isaac Bender was born in the state of Pennsylvania, Berks county, and there his earlier years were spent, finally removing to Miami county, Ohio, and in the year 1851 he moved to Fountain county, Indiana, and established the permanent home of the family. Here he engaged in general farming and spent the rest of his life, having now been dead a number of years. The
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mother of the subject of this sketch was from Miami county, Ohio, near the city of Dayton. Five children were born to these parents, namely : Maggie, who lives in Willianisport, Indiana; Amanda died when five years old: William H., of this sketch, was next in order of birth; Noah died when two years old ; Anna, the youngest, is deceased. The father of the above named children was a Democrat, but held no office, and religiously he was a Lutheran.
William H. Bender, of this sketch, grew up on the home farm and received his education in the common schools. In the year 1892 he was united in marriage with Minnie Snyder, daughter of John Snyder and wife, both natives of Pennsylvania, where they grew up, were married and re- mained there. The death of Mr. Bender's wife occurred in 1904, leaving one child, Mabel, who lives at home and keeps house for her father.
Mr. Bender has devoted his life to general farming, handling some good stock the meanwhile, and he has a very pleasant home in Davis town- ship, not far from Attica. He made most of the improvements on his place and has a fine home, comprising one hundred sixty-six acres of land in Davis township, all well improved and productive.
Politically, he is a Democrat, but he has never taken much interest in political affairs and has held no offices. Fraternally, he belongs to the Free and Accepted Masons, Lodge No. 129, at Odell, Indiana, also belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, also at Odell.
GEORGE W. PARNELL.
One of the citizens of Richland township, Fountain county, Indiana, who has enjoyed distictive prestige among the enterprising men of this local- ity is George W. Parnell, who has fought his way onward and upward to a prominent position in industrial circles, and in every relation of life his voice and influence have ever been on the side of right as he sees and understands the right. He has always been interested in every movement for the general welfare of the community and liberally supports such enterprises as make for the betterment of his fellow men in the county honored by his life-long citizenship. He comes of one of our oldest and most highly respected fami- lies, being the son of Robert and Minerva (Bowyer) Parnell, the father hay- ing been one of the substantial and influential citizens here during the early history of the county.
George W. Parnell was born in Logan township, Fountain county, In-
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diana, January 20, 1863, and is one of seven children, namely: Thomas B., who lives in California; Horace E. is at home; George W., subject of this review; Charles M. lives at Warsaw, Indiana; Dela E., who is at home; Wilbur F. lives in Richland township; Alice P'. married J. H. McBroom and they live in El Paso, Texas. These children are the heirs of the fine old Par- nell homestead in Richland township.
George W. Parnell grew to manhood on the home place and there lie assisted with the general work when a boy during crop seasons, attending the common schools in the winter time. On February 27, 1890, he was united in marriage with Lenna Van Meter, daughter of Harrison and Mary Van Meter, early settlers in Fountain county and a highly respected family. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Parnell, Robert Leland, who is at home, and two who died in infancy. The wife and mother was called to her rest in March, 1895.
Mr. Parnell has been very successful in a business way and is one of the substantial and enterprising citizens of Richland township, where he has a pleasant home.
The death of the mother of the subject occurred on April 1, 1912, at the old home place near Newtown, when lacking a little more than two months of her seventy-eighth year. Her parents were Thomas and Elizabeth Bow- yer, who came from Ross county, Ohio, in 1826, and settled on the old Bowyer homestead near Greenhill, Warren county, Indiana, where Mrs. Robert Parnell was born. When she was about fourteen years old she was converted and joined the Methodist Episcopal church, erected on one corner of the Bowyer homestead. As a young lady she attended the girls' school in Danville, Illinois, and afterward entered the Thorntown Academy. On De- cember 31, 1857, when she was twenty-three years old, she was united in marriage to Robert Parnell, and together they came into the Bethel neighbor- hood and first settled on the farm now occupied by Isaac Waldrip. About 1863 they returned to the Bowyer homestead in Warren county, where they spent two years, after which they came back, and since 1865 lived in the house near Newtown, in which Mrs. Parnell died. Robert Parnell purchased the land from Ellis Insley, who first entered it from the government, and the same buildings are on the place now as were there when the property was purchased in 1865. Of her father's family there are two that survive her, Eliza Bowyer Mather and Charley W. Boyer, both of Otterbein. Her life has been an exemplification of the saying that it is not all of life to live, nor all of death to die. To both her home and her church she was ever loyal, and
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during the last fifty years, when the duties of the family and the home were often burdensome, she found rest and peace in the Lord's Day and with her Bible. She was a charter member of the Woman's Foreign Missionary So- ciety of the Methodist church at Newtown, joining when it was organized during the pastorate of Rev. Le Sourd in 1878-79. She was a regular reader of the Western Christian Advocate, and never failed to renew her subscrip- tion. We get a little view of her life by a characteristic incident : On the night she was taken ill there lay on her table the Bible, "Pilgrim's Progress" and "Ben-Hur," all favorites with her. She was a good and useful woman, kind and genial, hospitable and loved to do charitable acts to those in need in her neighborhood, and many there are who have been helped by her on life's rugged road.
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