USA > Indiana > Fountain County > Past and present of Fountain and Warren Counties, Indiana, Volume 2 > Part 50
USA > Indiana > Warren County > Past and present of Fountain and Warren Counties, Indiana, Volume 2 > Part 50
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Joseph L. Chavers grew to manhood on the home farm and he received a practical education in the common schools. On March 18, 1903, he mar- ried Grace D. Garrison, daughter of James K. and Lucy Ann (Aldrich) Garrison, who moved to Warren county from Vermilion county, Indiana, in 1892. Two children have been born to the subject and wife, namely: Del- mar H. and Wilmer W., both at home.
Mr. Chavers has been a farmer all his life, and he has persevered until he is the owner of one of the choice and well improved farms of his town- ship, consisting of one hundred acres of productive land, on which he carries on general farming and always keeps some good live stock. He has a pleasant home and convenient outbuildings. He has some Jersey cattle of a superior quality and he is well known in this part of the county as a breeder. His
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FOUNTAIN VND WARREN COUNTIES. INDIASL
farm is well located about eight miles west of West Lebacon, Indiana. Ile is a quiet, hard-working home man who takes little interes m pohtical affairs and has never aspired to office, though he is always ready to segment wig more- ment looking to the betterment of Ins community and coming in any way. and is a good citizen in every respect, according to his neighbor.
AZARIAH T. LEATH.
As long as history endures will the American nation acknowledge it- indebtedness to the heroes who, between 1861 and 1865. fought for the pres- ervation of the Union and the honor of that starry banner which has never been trailed in the dust of defeat in a single polemic struggle in which the country has been involved. Among those whose military records as valiant soldiers of the war of the Rebellion reflect lasting honor upon them and their descendants is Azariah T. Leath, well known citizen of Fountain county, where he has long maintained his home and won an honored name by virtue of his consistency to truth, honesty and right living. Therefore, he is emi- nently qualified for a place in the present work.
Azariah T. Leath was born Ap: 1 28, 1838, and is the son of Silas and Mary N. (Barbara) Leath, both of whom were natives of Virginia, the father being a carpenter by trade. They were the parents of five children, of whom two are still living. The subject was given the advantage of a common school education and was early made acquainted with the hard and exacting work of a farm. He has always applied himself to husbandry and is now the owner of two hundred and forty-six acres of splendid land, which he has brought up to a high state of improvement. During his active years on the farm he was noted as a man of practical and progressive ideas and always maintained his farm in first-class shape. He f( wed a general line of farin- ing, in connection with which he gave some attention to stock raising, and in all his efforts he met with a well deserved success. He is now retired from active labor and is living in a comfortable and attractive home in .Attica.
The outbreak of the great Southern insurrection in 1861 aroused in Me. Leath all the fire of his patriotism and on July 22d, of that year, he enlisted for service in the Twentieth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, at Attica. under Capt. George F. Dick. He was in the service of his country four years, lacking seven days, and took part in a number of the most important battles of that contest, among which were Gettysburg, Fredericksburg, Bull
AZARIAHI T. LEATH.
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FOUNTAIN AND WARREN COUNTIES, INDIANA.
Run and Petersburg, besides a large number of minor engagements and skirmishes. He made a good soldier and at the conclusion of his enlistment he received an honorable discharge.
On January 1, 1867, Mr. Leath was united in marriage with Mellie Pierson, who was born near Attica, Indiana, on June 16, 1835. She was cdu cated in the common schools and was herself a school teacher for several years prior to her marriage to Mr. Leath. They became the parents of two children, namely: Anna, deceased, and Enoch P., a farmer east of Attica, who married Celestia McCalley.
Politically, Mr. Leath is a Republican. He has always taken a leading part in the welfare of the community and he rendered efficient service for one term as a member of the board of advisors. His religious affiliation is with the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he is a liberal supporter, being a member of the board of trustees. A man of forceful individuality, his probity of character and liis genial personality have gained for him universal esteem and friendship in the locality where he has spent his life.
HARRY FLESHER.
One of the most thoroughgoing of the younger generation of farmers of Warren county is Harry Flesher, a man who has taken much interest in the development of agriculture along scientific lines, believing that in this, as well as in other professions, one should never be satisfied with less than the best. He has been ever willing to aid in those things which make for better educational advantages, better homes, better living, and higher citizen- ship.
Mr. Flesher was born March 4, 1872, in Warren county, Indiana, and he is the son of Henry B. and Anna M. (Kirkpatrick) Flesher. His father was born in the year 1835, in West Virginia, and when young in years he came with his father to Ohio, where they remained a short time, then came on to Warren county, Indiana, being among the very early settlers in this section of the state. John Flesher, the grandfather of the subject, settled the present farm of the family and developed it from the wilderness after years of hard toil. His family consisted of two children, Henry B., father of the subject, and Mary, who married a Mr. Newsom, and she is still living in this state.
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FOUNTAIN AND WARREN COUNTIES, INDIANA.
Henry B. Flesher assisted his father in clearing and developing the home place and he received his early education in the common schools, hafer taking a classical course in Wabash College, at Crawfordsville. He re- ceived a fine education for those days, and ve began life for himself by teach- ing school ; however, he did not follow this vocation long, until he turned hi- attention to farming, which he made his chief life work. When the Civil war came on he enlisted in Company E, Eighty-sixth Indiana Volunteer In- fantry, in which he served for a period of three years, with a most creditable record. He was a man of exemplary habits and was a good business man and very successful farmer and stock raiser. His death occurred in Decem- ber, 1911, his wife having preceded him to the grave in 1902.
Harry Flesher, of this review, grew to manhood on the old home farm. where he began working when but a boy. During the winter months he at- tended the county schools, later taking a course at Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana, where he made a good record.
After finishing his college course he returned home and is now manager of the homestead, which consists of nearly five hundred acres, constituting one of the choice and valuable farms of Warren county. Living with him here are his two sisters, Mary and Elizabeth, both of whom also received ex- cellent educational advantages, Having passed through the local schools, later attending DePauw University at Greencastle, Indiana; Mary was also a student at the Western College for Women, Oxford, Ohio.
GEORGE W. CRAWFORD.
Warren county, Indiana, is characterized by her full share of the hon- ored pioneer element, who have done so much for the development of the county and the establishment of the institutions of civilization in this fertile and well-favored section. The biographical sketches in this work are largely · of this class of useful citizens and it is not in the least too early to record in print the principal items in the lives of these hard-working and honest people, giving honor to whom honor is due. They will soon be gone and the past can have no better history or memento than these records. Among the older residents of Warren county is the gentleman whose name appears above.
George W. Crawford was born on October 30, 1846, on the farm in Pike township, Warren county, Indiana, where he now lives and has been a resident of the county almost continuously to the present time (more than
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FOUNTAIN AND WARREN COUNTIES, INDLINA.
three-quarters of a century ), and he has thus been a witness mano! on active participant in the wonderful development which has chipactuel thus ser- tion of the state. His father, William .A. Crawford, was bondam Med, 1803. in Ohio, and his death occurred in 1850. The mother was bogom Jich 22. 1805, at Frankfort, Kentucky, and her death occurred on March 31. 1903. They were married in Ohio and in 1828 moved from their helle at Laton. that state, to Warren county, Indiana, entering land from the government. This land was then covered with a dense woods and a vast amount of hand work was required to convert it into tillable land. The present spendil farm owned and operated by the subject of this sketch is the result of the labors of those early years. To William and Letitia Crawford were born eleven children, three passing away in early life, and four, George W., John D., Harvey H. and Margaret Robb, are still living.
The subject of this sketch received his education in the primitive schools of that period, and as soon as old enough he took a hand in the strentions work of clearing the land and cultivating the soil. He has never forsaken the pursuit of husbandry, nor has he been disappointed in the returns for his labors. His farm is well improved and actieally all of the land is under cultivation. He has always been a hard working man and has exercised sound judgment in his operations, keeping abreast of the times in all things pertaining to his profession. An especially noteworthy improvement on Mr. Crawford's place is the splendid round barn. built in the summer of 1906, and which is one of the best barns in western Indiana. It is seventy-two feet in diameter and seventy-four feet high, the basement being constructed of concrete. A silo is situated in the center of the barn and teams can be driven in on three floors.
On January 14, 1875, Mr. Crawford was married to Sarah E. Porter, who was born near her present home on September 29, 1851, the daughter of Elias and Luvina Porter, natives of Ohio. To Mr. and Mrs. Crawford have been born two children, Stella L., born January 30, 1877, is now living at home, and Donald P., born October 25, 1883. On February 14, 1906, Don- ald married Beulah Lake, of West Lebanon, and they have a son, who was born in June, 1910.
Politically, Mr. Crawford has always given a stanch allegiance to the Republican party, in the interests of which he has been an active worker. His fellow citizens have shown their confidence in him on several occasions. He was elected and rendered efficient service as trustee of Pike township from 1900 to 1904, his administration of the office being so satisfactory that
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FOUNTAIN AND WARREN COUNTIES INDIANA.
in 1908 he was elected a member of the hand of count was reflected to this office i tyto and is still a member of thus mpgorant board. Fratern ly, he is a member of West Lebanon Linge. Free and der cepted Masons. He and the members of his family are all affiliated con tins Christian church, to which they give their earnest support.
Mr. Crawford is of an optimistic temperament and see the bright ende of life. Though a hard worker, he has had the sense to nieen wmally take vaca ions and Gas thus conserved his energies so that now, "the advance ! in years, he is well preserved. One of the enjoyable occasions me his life was a few years ago when he made one of a party of six neighbors who tool: a pleasure trip through the Western states, returning by way of New Orleans and Washington, D. C. Public spirited and broad minded, Mr. Crawford has always stood for the best interests of the entire community and has ·lways given his hearty support to all movements having for their object the advancement of the welfare of the people. He is widely known and liked by all.
MALCOLM A. McDONALD.
The well known subject of this sketch is one of the leading farmers and stock raisers of Warren county and that county is proud to number him among lier inost worthy and exemplary citizens. A native of Indiana, the birth of Malcolm A. McDonald, son of United States Senator Joseph E. Mc- Donald, occurred at the city of Crawfordsville, Montgomery county, on April 28, 1848. He came to Indianapolis with his parents in 1859. Mr. McDon- ald received his early education in the public schools of that city and the Northwestern Christian University, and later took a course in the State University at Bloomington. Then he turned his attention to railroading. Commencing as flagman in the engineering department of the Indianapolis & St. Louis Railroad, now a division of the Big Four, he rose to the position of division engineer and at the completion of the road went to Minnesota and secured a position on the Northern Pacific Railroad under General Rosser as division engineer, with headquarters at Brainard, Minnesota. When Jay Cook failed, Mr. McDonald returned to Indiana and accepted a position with the Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western Railroad (now the Peoria division of the Big Four), as traveling auditor, which position hie occupied several years. While a boy he ran as train boy on the Indianapolis & Lafayette Railroad and often helped wood up the old wood burners that were in use
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FOUNTAIN AND WARREA COUNTIES, IOPERA
ir those days. They took wood and water your time between Lavielle al I cianapolis. The I. B. & W. extension from Changer illinois to Il. you and Decatur was released from the I. B. & W. proper and May McDonald became the auditor of it. When the Wabash Rail ad Seochon it the sole ject went to Texas and took a position on the Texas Thenhe R.Silwand as roch agent. After one year in Texas he returned to Perut Jimano ax traveling auditor of the eastern division of the Wabash r: droad Won the Waleoh combinatie i broke up he was made general manager of Wie itronpaign & Havana railroad with headquarters at Urbana, Illimnos- Thede yes. lite: the Illinois Central bought the road and Mr. McDonald was transfered to the Cairo, Vincennes & Chicago Railroad as general manager, with headquarters at Cairo, Illinois. Upon this line becoming al rhed by the Big Four as its Cairo division, he went to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and took charge of the Pittsburg & Western Railroad, where he remained until that road was bought by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, when he retired from railreading. having given great satisfaction in every position that he ever held in lis long and eventful career as a railroad man. He returned to Indianapolis and resided there a year or two, when he moved to luis farm ir Warren county May 24,. 1894, and has since devoted his attention to general agriculture, paying especial attention to stock raising, handling a fine Frade of Jersey cattle and Percheron horses. His horses are imported from France and they are all greatly admired. He is an excellent judge of live stock, especially horses, and understands well their care and training. He often officiates as judge at the Indiana state fair, Illinois state fair and many other fairs and horse shows.
The first marriage of Mr. McDonald occurred at Ashland, Nebraska, March 31, 1874, Jessie Scott being his bride. She died on January 6, 1879, leaving two sons, Malcolm Scott and Frank W., both of whom are engaged in railroading. The lady who now bears the name of the subject was in her girlhood, Miriam Noble, of Lawrence, Kansas. She was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, August 29, 1860, her father being Col. George Noble, a man of large railroad experience as superintendent on the Kansas Pacific and also general manager of the Texas Pacific Railroad. He was a nephew of Col. Thomas A. Scott, of national reputation as a railroad man. Three children born to Mr. and Mrs. McDonald died in early years, namely : George Noble. Lawrence Buell and Ruth Miriam, and four children remain to bless their home, Clarence N., Alice N., Thomas R. and Joseph E. It is useless to say Mr. McDonald follows in his illustrious father's footsteps in the matter of
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FOUNTAIN AND WARREN COUN TIES, ESIXIAZZA
politics and the Democracy of his county hail lons at this coming chi grin Fraternally, he is a Masen and has the thirty-second alegres is well as the shrine.
JOSEPH VALL
Joseph Vail was born in Holmes county, Ohio. May 28, 1815 ant die! February 24, 1912.
When a boy of fifteen he came with his parents to Foumaty county, Indiana. In 1841 he was married to Sidney Isler, who died June 17, 1897. To them were born eight children: Jacob, who died in infancy; Charlotte, George, Noah ( deceased), Margaret, Jack. Albert and Nellie. Fraternally, Joseph Vail was an active member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
JOHN W. MILLS.
No citizen of a past generation in Warren county, Indiana, was better or more favorably known than the late John W. Mills, long an enterprising farmer and stock raiser aud a citizen who, while advancing the interests of himself and immediate family, never neglected his duties to the public. What- ever of success he attained was entirely owing to his individual efforts, his energy and natural ability. From small beginnings he gradually attained a prominence in his township, which entitled him to the high esteem which he enjoyed among his neighbors, all of whom reposed in him the nitmost con- fidence.
John W. Mills was born on the 6th of April, 1832, and he was the son of Jacob and Jane (Casell) Mills. These parents were natives of South Caro- lina, and they are now both deceased, the father dying on October 15, 1888, and the mother on April 1, 1889. They were the parents of thirteen chil- dren, of which number one survives. The subject's father was a farmer and a man of creditable standing in his community.
J. W. Mills attended the common schools during his boyhood and at an early age applied himself to the tilling of the soil. Upon the outbreak of the war of the Rebellion his patriotic spirit was aroused and he enlisted in the service of his country on the ioth day of August, 1863, in Company II, One Hundred and Sixteenth Regiment Indiana Volunteers. Upon the com-
FOUNTAIN ASIWARRES CHESTER. INDIANA
pletion of his aplitary service. MY Mills returned to the pursifeed pestey an i devoted his attention to his fans in Adams township. Watson coque, Men h his widow now own. He was an indefatigable worker and voglialed no de tail of his work, the result being that his farm was always miobered among the best in the township. The farm comprises four hundred and forty six acres. all of which is in cultivation excepting about seventy five acres which is in second-growth timber and devoted to pasture. In all of his actions. Mi. Mills was actuated by the highest motives and his integrity was inflexible. ... that at all times he commanded the fullest confidence of those who had busi- ness dealings with him.
On January 1, 1866, Mr. Mills was united in the bonds of wedlock with Hannalı Frazier, who was born of April 1, 1837, near her present home, the daughter of David and Zema ( Hedge) Frazier, who were natives, respec tively, of Pennsylvania and Maryland.
The death of the subject occurred on April 5. 1905. He had filled a dis- tinct place in the community and his loss was felt by many as a personal bereavement. Because of his military service, Mr. Mills was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, in the meetings of which he took an interest. His political sympathies were with the Republican party, with which he was always aligned.
CHARLES C. DAVIS.
Mr. Davis was born on December 18, 1884. in Warren county, Indiana. and is the son of William and Attie (Judy ) Davis. The father, Willian Davis, was born in Frederick county, Maryland, and he came to this county when he was a child, with his parents, Charles H. and Mary Davis, and here he grew to manhood and received his schooling in the local schools, and when a young man he bought land here and devoted his life to farming, and here his death occurred some years ago. His family consisted of one other child besides the subject, a daughter named Leila, who married a Mr. May; they live in Independence and are the parents of one child, Joseph D.
Charles C. Davis grew to manhood on the home farm. Te received his education in the common schools and he has for some years been renting land in his native locality, being one of the largest renters in the county, and is operating at this writing about three hundred and fifty acres.
Mr. Davis was married on December 19. 1907, to Emma Mehaffey, daughter of Ed. and Jane (Lloyd) Mchaffey. She was born in Warren
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county, Indiana, and an- elisatal in the Somunun -clouds, Tiur catherine farmer antes a promoted man in bal flot & home ad dos weathe Allels of his toureship. He takes much interest in whether is not for well !
ac posted by all who know him
To Mr. an Taire bayi ofte chili has been i m a ale chant the frog narod Chester, Politically, the subject is a Respaldan, and he had met as bad mich inclination for a public Fre, preferring to Tenaient on La from
JOHN K. VANDEVENTER.
One of the most widely known and highly honored of fountain county's older citizens is Jonn K. Vandeventer, of Mill Creek townslope obo came to this favored region in an early day and has lived here continually sine. HE warly had the saga y and prescience to discern the eminene which the future had in store for this great section of the Hoosier consonwealth and. acting in accordance with the dictates of faith and judgment, bereaped in the fullness of time the generous benefits which are the just recompense of in- domitable industry, unquestioned integrity and progressive enterprise. Ile has played well his part in the general advancement of the locality. for while laboring for his individual advancement he never shrank from his larger duties to civilization, and now, in the golden Indian summer of his years, surrounded by the comforts of life as the result of his former years of in- dustry, he can look backward over a career well spent, in which duty was well and conscientiously performed and know that he has the good will and hearty esteem of all who have come into contact with him.
John K. Vandeventer was born in Hunterdon county. New Jersey, on the 5th of February, 1832, and is the son of Abraham and Elsie ( Clickner ) Vandeventer, both natives of New Jersey, where they were married and spent their entire lives, being farmer by vocation. Of their ten children, four came to the West, namely: George, now deceased, was a successful carpen- ter at Veedersburg; Mathias, a carpenter, lives in Attica ; Abraham is a prom- inent physician at Oswego, Illinois, and John K., the subject of this sketch. The other children all remained in the East, excepting Mrs. Dr. Beebe, who lives in Houston, Texas.
John K. Vandeventer came to Indiana at the age of nineteen years, hav-
JOHN K. VANDEVENTER.
S-5
being located where the chimneycity of Koaliceball, now When He among the first settlers i due Reality and romenior even the first role hauled and the first rail Ience jodd, Later, ofceo the box 69: 00 tel lie Built the first house. so that he Dar hieralle koon aurey wifioss ur the coil derful growth which bas chancreris Udes section of the nan Inversagiel in his first location for eleyah year, and then borgle mie presagt Pour on the carly sixties, the land being at that Time a veritable wikhomes , ow wach not a tree had been felled. He paid two thousand Towr huntired dollars for one hundred and sixty acres and at once entered upon the task of Fame the land and getting it in shape for cultivation. Erecting a cabin Tom. he hired a force of seventeen men and the first day they girdled the free- on sixty acres. The work was vigorously pushed forward and soon Mi. Van- deventer had developed his place into one of the best farms in the commun- ity, a reputation which it has always borne, due to the energetic and sys tematic way in which it has been handled. The cabin first built by Mr. Van deventer was his home for fifteen years and then was replaced by a comfort- able and attractive residence. . All the farm buildings are substantial and kept in good repair, modern labor-saving machinery is used in the handling of the crops and in every way the place bears evidence of the sound judgment and wise discrimination of the owner. All that Mr. Vandeventer has he has acquired by the hardest sort of work and therefore he is entitled to the fullest credit for what he has accomplished and today no man in the community stands higher in general esteem.
In 1857 Mr. Vandeventer was married to Elizabeth Keeling, the daugh ter of Christopher Keeling, an early settler of Fountain ounty. They be- came the parents of four children, namely : Christopher, deceased; Alice, the wife of James Songer, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work ; Abra- ham and Annie are deceased. After the death of his first wife, Mr. Vande- venter married Elizabeth Songer, the daughter of Martin Songer, who was a pioneer and prominent in the early history of Fountain county. To this minion were born three children, namely : William, who is living on the sub- ject's farm; May, the wife of Leonard Pevler, a successful and well known horse buyer; George, who died in infancy.
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