USA > Indiana > Fountain County > Past and present of Fountain and Warren Counties, Indiana, Volume 2 > Part 66
USA > Indiana > Warren County > Past and present of Fountain and Warren Counties, Indiana, Volume 2 > Part 66
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Chauncey R. Thomas was born in Jackson township, Fountain county, Indiana, on the 30th of June, 1870. He received a good education in the public schools of Fountain and Parke counties, and then commenced teaching school, a pursuit in which he has been engaged, with very pronounced success, for twenty-one years. Mr. Thomas has the faculty of interesting his stu- dents in their work, so that they work for the sake of what they are getting, rather than as matter of duty or compulsion, and in this way he has been successful in securing results that could not be obtained otherwise. He is a splendid disciplinarian and at the same time his relations with the pupils under him have been such as to gain their good will and confidence. He enjoys the respect of the patrons of the school and his long continuance as a peda-
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gogute is evidence of his acceptability at his chosen line of work. He jna con- start and earnest student and keeps in touch with the latest ideas and wellodls in educational work and always gives to his work the very best that is m if
In connection with his pedagogical work, Mr. Thoma. owns and content a splendid farm to which he gives his personal attention during the sampor vacation The farm, which is favorably located in Jac's-on township. com prises o hundred and eventy-eight acres and has been improved by 21 ;. Thomas until today it will compare favorably with other farms in the neigh- Borhood. Mr. Thomas has a comfortable and attractive home, where the spirit vi true hospitality is ever in evidence.
On September 14. 1898. Mr. Thomas was married to Emily Liven good, the daughter of Matthias Livengood. of Jackson township. The union 'a. been without isstic.
Politically. Mr. Thomas gives his support to the Democratic ticket and he takes a keen and intelligent interest in public affairs, as every loyal citizen of the republic should do. Personally. Mr. Thomas is genial, though un- assuming, : ud because of his high character and his genuine worth he has Gained and retains the respect and good will of all who knowwy him. He has always stood for the best things in the community and is an influential factor for the public good.
CALVIN COLVERT.
Calvin Colvert, a prominent business man of Attica, was born in Fountain county. Indiana. July 1, 1869, being the son of William B. and Hester J. (Todd ) Colvert. William B. Colvert was an early settler of Van Buren township, and by profession a school teacher. In early life he obtained a liberal education and after teaching for a number of years in Fountain county, took up the study of medicine, following which he began the practice of the healing art at Stone Bluff, subsequently removing to Veedersburg. After a practice of some years in the latter place he moved a short distance east of Attica, where he retired from the duties of his profession, although he con- tinued to minister to the sick at intervals until his death.
Calvin Colvert attended the common schools during his childhood and youth, later completed the prescribed course of the Attica high school, and then entered DePauw University, where he acquired a knowledge of the more advanced branches of learning, thus laying a solid foundation for his subse- quent career in the various lines of business which engaged his attention. In
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addition to the intellectual discipline referred to above, be prepared hins.' for basine's life by a full course in the Bryant & Stratton Commercial ( lege, CI cago, shortly after finishing which he accepted a position in the State Bank of Veeder-burg, where he remained for a period of ten weeks, when he resigned to engage in the grain business. In partnership with a brother-in- Jan, he continued the latter with gratifying success for five years, at the expiration of which time he withdrew from the firm and embarked in the furniture und undertaking business with his father-in-law. Charles F. Rohlf- ing, the partnership thus constituted lasting to the present time. Mr. Colvert's business career has been a very active one and his financial success has been commensurate with the ability, energy and discernment which he has dis- played in all of his undertaking». Possessing keen intelligence, mature judg- ment and the ability to foresee with remarkable accuracy the future results of present action, he is seldom mistaken in his plans, as the almost invariable success with which his efforts have been crowned, attest.
Mr. Colvert is public spirited in the most liberal meaning of the term and ever since becoming a citizen of Attica he has manifested a deep interest in the material progress of the city and used his influence for the educational, social and moral advancement of the populace. He is a Republican in politics, and while keeping abreast of the times on all matters of public import, and having the courage of his convictions relative to the leading questions before the people, he is not a politithan in the sense of seeking office or aspiring to leadership. For a number of years he has been identified with the Masonic order and at the present time is a trustee of the lodge to which he belongs. He also holds membership with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America fraternities, in all of which organizations he has risen to high standing and influence, besides being honored with important offices from time to time.
The marriage of Mr. Colvert, to which reference is made in a preceding paragraph, was solemnized on March 2, 1899, with Bertha Rohlfing, daugh- ter of Charles F. and Mary (Coen) Rohlfing, the father an old citizen of Attica and for many years one of the city's most enterprising and successful business men. Isaac Coen, the father of Mrs. Rohlfing, was an early settler and prominent citizen of Richland township and for a number of years took an active part in the development and progress of that part of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Colvert have two children, Fred R. and Hester S., whose pres- ence adds life and interest to the home and makes the family circle a truly happy and contented one. In his various relations with the public, Mr. Colvert
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measures up to a high standard of manhood and citizenship, and his buches. record and social standing have ever been honorable and above reproch Possessing the ability to win and retain warnt personal friend hips, it is need less to state that he is highly esteemed in the city of hi- residence, where hi- popularity is second to that of none of his contemporaries.
EDWIN S. HOBART.
One of the well known citizens of Warren county who has been con- spicuously identified with the material growth and prosperity of this locality is Edwin S. Hobart. Since coming to Wabash valley his life has been very closely interwoven with the history of the same, where he has resided fo more than half a century, during which he has been an interested spectator, but indeed not an idle one, of the wonderful growth and development of his community. He has managed well and worked hard and has met with a large measure of material success as an agriculturist aud stock raiser and hie is a worthy citizen in every respect, having always stood ready to do all in his power to advance the general interests of the people, and lived such an exemplary life as to gain the confidence and good will of all who know him.
Mr. Hobart was born in the state of New York, May 11, 1847, and he is the son of Homer and Hannah (Roberts) Hobart. The father of the subject was born in New York state and there he spent his earlier years, having made the long overland journey over rough roads, driving a team of horses in 1859, to Warren county, Indiana. He farmed here one summer, and the following year his family came out and joined him. Two children were born to Homer Hobart and his wife-Edwin S., of this review, and Ellen, who died when she was twelve years old. Homer Hobart had a brother, Hiland W. Hobart, who came to Warren county, Indiana, about 1854, and he also had a sister here, Elizabeth, who married a Mr. Howe, and she taught school in Williamsport for some time in the early days. The father of the subject of this sketch owned a good farm of one hundred and sixty acres, which he developed from the wild state to an excellent place and cs- tablished thereon a comfortable home for his family.
Edwin S. Hobart grew to manhood on the home farm. He was about thirteen years of age when he came here. He went to school for a time in the East when a boy, and he finished his education after coming to Warren county ;
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however, he may be said to be a self-educated man, having all his life been a wide leader and a close observer.
Mr. Holland was married on January 28, 1875, to Louise Pitcher, dang! tor of Charles and Catherine ( Smodell) Pitcher The Smodell family came from Germany. Two children have been born to the subject and wife, namely : Clara .A., who is the wife of Oscar George and they make their home on the farm with the subject: Laurence E. Hobart also lives at home and is attending school.
The family of the subject attend: the Methodist Episcopal church. Politically, Mr. Hobart is progressive, and usually votes for the men whom he deems best suited for the offices sought. irrespective of party.
Mr. Hobart has devoted his life to farming and tock raising and has been very successful in his life work. He owns a well improved and well cultivated farm and has a good home and convenient outbuildings. He always keeps a good grade of live stock and is one of the leading farmers of liis vicinity.
MRS. ANNE WILSON-BARNET.
Historical sketch of life of Mrs. Anne Wilson-Barnet, daughter of Ann and George Hogue, Gentleman :
I was born in Muncy, Pennsylvania, Northumberland county, October 20, 1802.
At the age of three and one-half years I was lost in Muncy Hills, on the west branch of the Susquehanna river, on the morning of the 22d of February, 1806, and found on the evening of the 24th, being lost three days and two nights. My mother was making sugar in a hollow that runs up into the Hills, and my father was teaching school three miles away. I was with my mother, and she left me at the camp while she went to gather in the sugar water, so I and my little dog ran off. We took to the Hills, six miles across to the river. They were very mountainous and inhabited by bear, panther, wolves and catamount. It was thickly settled below-we lived at the foot of Muncy. As I often went to the homes of friends, my mother supposed I had gone to some of the neighbors, and did not think of the hills. When the alarm was given that I was lost, it was exciting times and more than three hundred people engaged in the search.
The weather was freezing cold at night, but warm in the day time. I
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slept by old logs in the leaves at night and was warmly clad. Took off my shoes the first night and cried next morning because there was no one to put them on for me, so I wore out my new woolen stockings climbing the hills and at last was not found by anyone hunting me.
There were three boys making sugar on an island up the river. They had heard of the lost child, and as they heard a child's cry across the river they thought it might be it, so they got into their canoes and rowed across --- once, twice, three times, thought they must be mistaken, for ] had grown wild and would keep still when they came near. One of them stooped down and spied me hanging by a laurel bush, having slipped twenty feet down the rocky bank, which was twenty feet more overjetting the river. They made an Indian ladder to get me down. I was so weak I could not stand- having had nothing to eat all that time. Runners were sent out that the child was found, but too weak to be brought home. Word was sent back immediately to bring the child by all means, for the people were wild with excitement and the parents almost distracted. Trumpets were sounded and I was carried up the road amid the gazing crowd, while loud and long was the glad cry for my deliverance. I was the youngest child and the object of admiration ever afterward.
In after years, when settled in my own home on the frontier in western Indiana, a traveler stopped at the gate and asked for a night's lodging. During the evening he proved to be a native of my old home. He asked me if I had ever heard of the lost child of Muncy Hills. I told him, "I was that child." He said: "Yes, and I was one who engaged in the search."
My father died when I was nine years old. I learned the tailor's trade of my brother, and at the age of seventeen years we moved to Ohio, Darke county. I had never seen buckskin clothing and hunting shirts. Oh, how I longed to go back to civilization, but I had to stay. I was married to John R. Wilson, December 27, 1821. My husband was the first white child born in Chillicothe, Ohio, his birth occurring May 14, 1797. His parents were Joseph and Mary (Polly). (Wright) Wilson, who later removed to Darke county, Ohio, near Greenville. We removed from Ohio to the Wabash in the year 1826 to the site where Attica is located. There were but four cabins there then. William Compton had a two-story log house. He took us in to stay with his wife while he went down the river to buy goods to set up the first store. We built a cabin, but had no pens for our stock, so our cows ran off. I told John to go till he found them. He left me sick abed, with two horses tied to a wagon and two children. He found them twenty miles away
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and brought them back. . There was a little mill on Shawnee creek that ground corn and buckwheat, but we had to sift the buckwheat.
The winter of 1826-7 was the coldest winter I ever saw; snow was from ten to twelve inches deep and we often heard of people freezing to death on the prairies. Times were hard and money scarce. I had an industrious husband, but men's work brought no money. I was a tailor and worked hard at my trade day and night. Men had come out to raise crops and had to have sewing done. I could make money and this is what saved us. 1 received from $1.50 to $2.00 for making coats and fifty cents for making a pair of pants or vest. I got more than I could do, for there was no tailor here.
Warrington, the first county seat of Warren county, was laid out about a mile above the mouth of Pine creek in 1827, and the first steamboat came to Attica in May of the same year. In August the Indians became hostile at the lead mines and threatened the settlement. News came to Attica that there were five hundred Indians at Cicots, or Independence, and that they would take Attica that night. Every man was ordered to take his family and fort at William Compton's-the women and children in the house and the men on guard. We were all so still you could hear a pin drop-not a child cried that night. Some time in the night word came that the Indians were in sight, but it proved to be a false alarm. But the people were frightened and left their dead and fled to Attica for safety. A young woman in Warren county had died that day.
In the year 1827 the land came into market. My husband and Henry Stump bought a mill site on Pine creek where Dick's mill now stands.
The winter of 1827-28 was the wettest, rainiest winter I ever saw. We had no snow until February 27th. The Wabash was away out of its banks and snow fell eight inches deep that night and we had to move to a three- sided camp on Pine creek the next day. There was no railing around the boat on which we crossed; this gave us much trouble, stock jumping off and swimming back. It took us all day to get across. Some of the stock was drowned. We made our beds on the snow and slept on the banks of Pine creek while the river and creek raised all over the bottom and a skim of ice froze that night.
Left our stock on a half-acre island. We tried all day to get them off, but failed, so had to go on and leave them, as it was getting dark. Soon we came upon seventy-five Indians camped on Fall creek, making sugar. Our
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horses scared at their campfires, cleared themselves of their harness, and left us; we did not get them for two hours.
We left our wagon at the camp and went on horseback over the snow and up the hills . M .. Stump's cabin. I thought this Pine creek country was an awful looking place. I told John this must be the "jumping off place," if there was any. We had only a camp and we wanted to build us a house so as to be ready to go to work at the mill with Mr. Stump, and I wanted to make sugar. I made one hundred pounds.
The Indians' dogs were very troublesome. John killed one of them and this made the Indians very angry. I saw four Indians come within eight rods and take aim at my husband. He went into his camp, got his gun and walked out. They got on their ponies and rode off, cursing him for a d-d Yankee. When we got our house logs ready, sixteen by eighteen, we raised it ourselves: he lifted and I propped, and without windows or doors, we moved in. Then our horses ran away-started back to Ohio-and, though I had never stayed a night alone, I told him to go till he found them. He was gone three days and two nights, and Indians so near. He found them above Lafayette. He could not swim the river and Pine creek was very high, so he withed two logs together and made the horses swim.
William Harrison, the proprietor of Williamsport, laid out the present county seat in 1828, as Warrington was a failure.
My husband and Henry Stump built a good saw-mill and had it running by the first of August, 1828. But then they could not sell inch oak lumber for fifty cents per hundred. There was no money to buy; people had to make puncheon floors. John and Stump made mill-stones of grayheads and placed them in one corner of the mill, where they ground about eight bushels per day. The meal would grit a little, but the people would patronize it, as there was no other mill near.
But the hardest trial is to come. When death entered my household, in a stranger's land, and took away my bright and promising little four-year- old boy August 24, 1828, this was almost more than I could bear. I had to make his shroud myself and his father had to dig his grave. Mr. Stump went to Attica for the coffin, but a man by the name of James Quick and his wife came before he was buried-no one lived nearer than Mr. Stump. John Pugh lived on what is now the William Furgeson farm and Thomas Doan lived on the old Goodwin place, west of Five-points. The Goodwins had bought it, but had not come out here yet.
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My husband had business to Ohio, intending to be gone two weeks, and was detained seven. I began to think I was a widow. No letters in those days. He did not get back till the first of December. I had the three-day ague when he went away Carried and cut my own wood for four weeks. tended my corn-cracker, got my toll and hired hands to run the mill. Others had come out by this time. I got the hands to kill a fat hog for me and had it in the mi lille of the floor, cutting it up, when my husband came home. In the year 1829 we sold our mill property to Peter Christman and bought out Joseph Norman, which is now called the old Wilson farm. On this farm my husband grubbed and cleared up one hundred acres himself, and burned the brush by night. In the early thirties we bought the land adjoining this farm, on the south, from the government. We worked hard, but were happy that we could now see our way to a comfortable home. My husband had so much to do, I sheared the sheep and had my wool-picking's when he had his log-rollings and we had jolly old times in those days. I spun my wool and flax and wove them on a loom my husband made for me. Made our own wear and sold hundreds of yards to Messrs. Hains and Dickson, George King and Lowery. I made my butter and cheese and went to market on horse-back with a bucket of butter in one end of a sack and four or five cheese in the other. Only got six cents per pound and paid from twenty- five to thirty-seven cents per yard for muslin and calico. I had never been used to such hardships, but I found where there is a will there is a way and with a true and kind husband a woman can do almost anything. That hus- band, the partner of my youth and hardships, died August 28, 1854. In him I felt as if I had lost everything. He died an example of industry and piety, at the age of fifty-seven years, and left an estate of more than thir- teen hundred acres.
I have lived to see the fruit of my own labor. I have all of the com- forts of life and many of its luxuries. The country that seemed like a wil- derness when I came here is now under much cultivation. Churches and schools are numerous. Shipping that was first carried on by the river, and later by the canal, is now done by railroads. The Wabash railroad was built through Warren county in 1856.
My home is now on a part of the old farm, as it has been divided, with my second husband, Moses Barnet, who is also one of the oldest pioneers of this Wabash country.
NOTE-The above sketch was written by the subject's daughter, Mrs.
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Thomas B. Brodie, who read it before a meeting of old settlers of Warren county, at Williamsport, Indiana, in September, 1877.
After the death of Mr. Barnet, in 1878, his widow resided in the home of her daughter until her death, February 10, 1886, aged eighty-three years, three months and twenty-one days.
She was the mother of eleven children and eleven grandchildren. Lawrence Wilson, a grandson, owns the old Wilson farm purchased in 1829.
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