USA > Indiana > Fountain County > Past and present of Fountain and Warren Counties, Indiana, Volume 2 > Part 8
USA > Indiana > Warren County > Past and present of Fountain and Warren Counties, Indiana, Volume 2 > Part 8
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William Furr was born in Cain township, Fountain county, Indiana, on July 31, 1831, the son of Jacob and Mary (Gosling) Furr. His parents came
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to this county from Kentucky in 1826, locating in Jackson township, but later removing to Cain township, where they spent their lives in farming, and lived happily with their numerous family and in the society of their neighbors. William Furr, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, came to this county with a family of seven, six boys and one girl. He was a farmer and a man of a nature rarely adapted to the exigencies of pioneer life. Jacob Furr died in 1845. They were the parents of twelve children, of whom William is the only survivor, and he has reached the ripe age of eighty-one.
William Furr obtained his education in the early schools of Fountain county, and began the actual work of farming as soon as he was old enough to do so. He has spent his life in that vocation, and starting out with a strong body and clear brain, he slowly accumulated property and invested his savings, aided by the counsel and efforts of his wife, He was married on January 1, 1855, to Mary Hesler, the daughter of Jacob and Frankie (Lightfoot) Ilesler. Her parents came from Kentucky about 1820, among the early settlers of the county. Her father had been a negro driver in Fleming county. To William and Mary Furr have been born five children : Elbert H., of Mill Creek town- ship, a farmer; Elliott and 'Sylvian, farmers of the same township, and Jacob, who is at home.
Not long ago Mr. Furr was the owner of three hundred and forty acres of land in one of the best sections of Fountain county, and his crops were un- surpassed by those of any farm in the neighborhood. Now he has retired from the greater part of the active work of farming, and has divided his land among his sons, reserving but sixty acres for himself, on which he lives content to look back over the achievements of his life and to give valuable advice when needed to his sons and younger neighbors. He made all the improvements now on ' his farm. Mr. Furr is not a member of any lodge. His religious affiliations are with the Christian church, and he takes an active part in its work. His life has been spent in the community in which he now lives, and has been al- ways identified with its interests, while he is now one of its oldest residents, but is no less in touch with all that is going on about him.
ยท T. M. JACKSON.
No resident of Kingman is better known in Fountain and surrounding counties than is T. M. Jackson, who has been for many years engaged in the stock business at Kingman, and while he has by his rare judgment and keen foresight`gained prosperity, he has not failed in acquiring a host of friends
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in his journeys about the country, and is a man whose genial comradeship and sterling worth have caused him to stand high in the appreciation of Fountain county people.
T. M. Jackson was born in Rush county, Indiana, September 4, 1861, the son of Samuel S. and Sara (Blair) Jackson. His parents were natives of North Carolina, and came to Rush county, Indiana, in 1860. In 1878 they returned to their native state, and in 1892 came back to Indiana, this time lo- cating in Fountain county. Samuel S. Jackson was a hard-working and ener- getic farmer, well liked for his many excellent qualities wherever he went. He died in Fountain county in March, 1900. He was married twice, and was the father of eleven children, nine by his second wife, the mother of the sub- ject of this sketch, who is living at an advanced age in Kingman, and who has the exceptional fortune of seeing all her nine children still living, grown up and active in the world's affairs.
In early youth Mr. Jackson attended the public schools and there re- ceived his education. His parents first came to Mill Creek township and later to Fulton, this county, but the subject has spent most of his life in Mill Creek township. At the age of twenty-one he started out for himself, and has been in the stock business ever since, beginning modestly, but gradually increasing the extent of his business, dealing in stock, buying, feeding and shipping, until now he ships from one hundred to one hundred and fifty carloads yearly, and buys all over Fountain county, also in adjoining counties in Indiana and Illi- nois, owing his success entirely to his own efforts and management. He has also given a good deal of attention to the breeding of good horses, and at present has an imported Belgian stallion, which he has owned for five years, a three-year-old Percheron stallion and also keeps a Shire horse, a draft horse, and a jack at Aylesworth, while he has at Kingman a fine road trotting horse, whose superior can not be found in the county. In 1907 Mr. Jackson moved to Kinginan, where he owns twenty-seven acres of land near the corporation limits, and he has since lived there, and makes this town the center of his stock buying and shipping.
In 1882 Mr. Jackson was married to Lydia A. Kiger, the daughter of Elias and Ann R. (Neal) Kiger. Her mother was a native of North Carolina. her father was born in this county near Silverwood, and was a farmer before entering the Sixty-third Indiana Infantry in the Civil war. He died in the army of the measles. Mr. and Mrs. Jackson are the parents of seven children, namely : W. P., who is assisting his father ; Dottie, at home ; Claude, a farmer of Mill Creek township; Artie, who married Fred Ewing, of Kingman ; Charles C., of Silverwood, Indiana ; and Lula and Straudie, at home. Frater-
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nally, Mr. Jackson is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. the Knights of Pythias and the Rebekalis. In politics he is a Republican. He is one of the representative citizens of Kingman of whom the town may well be proud, for in his attaining prosperity for himself he has helped to bring added business to the town, and is always ready to aid in any enterprise for the good of the community.
MILES MARSHALL.
The statement is often made that the king of America today is the farmer. The man who owns beautiful farm lands, in the state of Indiana, fully improved, and loves his stock and his work, is by far richer, more independent. and happier than the most influential financier on Wall street. Miles Mar- shall is the owner of some of the prettiest farms in Fountain county, is one of the largest land owners and most influential men there.
His grandfather, Thomas Marshall, was of English descent, his ancestors having come over to this country from England, and settled on a farm in North Carolina, where Thomas Marshall and his son Isaac were born, the latter in 1814. After his father's death Isaac brought the family to Indiana, where he married Nancy Lindley. Her father, Reuben Lindley, was also born in North Carolina, and came to Fountain county, Indiana, in 1825. He farmed in Mill Creek township for many years, and died there when he was almost ninety years of age.
Miles Marshall was born in Fountain county March 10, 1850. In 1880 he married Ella E. Dice, daughter of Henry and Charlotte (Rice) Dice. (For the history of the Dice family see sketch of Franklin Dice in this work. ) They had two children. Walter D. Marshall married Olive Myers, and is now living on the farm, helping his father run the old home place. Clinton B. Marshall married Jessie Talbott, daughter of Doctor Talbott, of Crawfordsville, In- diana, and is a prominent lawyer in Indianapolis. Both boys were given a good education and both graduated at Wabash College, Crawfordsville, In- diana, in 1904.
Mr. Marshall has four hundred and seventy-seven acres of land in Van Buren township, two miles and a half from Veedersburg. Indiana. IIe farms his land generally, and also deals in graded hogs and other blooded stock. Mr. Marshall has made a great many improvements on the place, and has one of the most modernly equipped farms in the district. He is also interested in
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several Veedersburg interests, and spent a part of his life in that place. He has lived on the old home farm for eighteen years, and nine years was spent on his farm south of Veedersburg.
Mr. Marshall is a Republican, but sometimes votes independently. He is a member of the United Brethren church. He is also a member of the Knights of Pythias at Veedersburg, Indiana.
Although he is a very prominent man in the community, and one of the most influential and wealthiest men in Fountain county, Mr. Marshall is mod- est and retiring, and spends his time working instead of talking about it. He is very well liked in the country around Veedersburg, and is looked upon as one of the old aristocrats of the place who has helped to make Indiana what it is. It is snch men that have made Indiana the beautiful country that delights the eye as one passes through on train or interurban, and have made the soil productive, produced crops that have stimulated trade, and made this century one of progress.
CHARLES F. SMITH.
One of the first citizens and most influential men of Kingman, Indiana, is Charles F. Smith, postmaster at that place since January, 1898, and active in all the interests of the community. The public spirit which his father ex- pressed has found increased life in the son, and he has not only held his place in the service of the government with credit, but carefully worked out his in- dividual prosperity and service as a private citizen.
His father, Col. John T. Smith, was born in Johnson county, Indiana, in 1831. He availed himself of the best education afforded by the state of In- diana at that time, attending old Asbury College (now DePauw University) and Indiana University. He first followed the law, practicing in Greene and Clay counties, but later felt that his real work was in the ministry and became one of the most influential Methodist ministers in Greene county. He also found time, however, to participate actively in all the affairs of his commun- ity, and lost no opportunity to do good in every line. He held the position of clerk of Greene county for two terms. When he died, in 1908, at the ripe age of seventy-seven, his loss was keenly felt by the whole community, as well as by his large family, six of whom are still living. His wife, Mary C. (Arm- strong) Smith, was born in Greene county, Indiana. She is still living, and is at Terre Haute, Indiana, with her daughter.
Their son Charles spent his early life and received his education and
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training at Bowling Green, Indiana, where later in his life, for four years. he occupied the position of postmaster. He came to Fountain county and lo- cated at Kingman, in 1895. There he engaged in, the jewelry business, and has been very successful. Later, Mr. Smith added to the scope of his busi- ness and has dealt in notions also. In 1898 he became postmaster, and has held that position since that time.
In 1892, Mr. Smith was married to Iva O. Comer, the daugliter of Emery and Mary ( Peyton) Comer. She was of the same good stock of that part of Indiana, her father being a farmer in Owen county, and she grew up in close friendship with nature, from whom we learn such valuable lessons of life. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have two children, Mary Lucile and Dorothy Jane, both of whom are living at home with their parents.
Mr. Smith is a Republican of the stanch old school He is active in a number of lodges and associations, among which are the Knights of Pythias, Lodge No. 24. He is also a member of Camp No. 3621, Modern Woodmen of America.
Mr. Smith is the type of the man who has done well the duty which he has found nearest,-the kind of men that have made the good state of Indiana stand high in the political and social life of the country. He has spent his life in central Indiana, and proved that there is no better place to find work to do, and happiness to enjoy, than in the place that we are given in which to work.
OLIVER W. McGAUGHEY.
It is interesting as well as instructive to study the methods by which the individual rises by his own efforts from an inauspicious environment to a place of importance in the community, to note the lines along which progress has been made, which work of advancement has rendered possible the ad- vancement of the general good along material, civic and moral lines. One of the well known and influential citizens of Fountain county, Indiana, who has not only won success for himself in the face of obstacles, but has also done much toward the general upbuilding of the locality of which this history deals is Oliver W. McGaughey, attorney at law, at Veedersburg, who is also en- gaged in the loan and insurance business.
Mr. McGaughey was born near Greencastle, Indiana, December 20, 1870. He is the son of Jacob and Mary A. (Leonard) McGaughey, natives of Put- nam county, Indiana. The family came originally from the north of Ireland,
Sine Wy aughey
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the first of the name to take up his residence in the New World being William McGaughey, the great-great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch; he was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. The family founded the town of Mc- Gaugheysville, Virginia. Michael McGaughey, the subject's paternal grand- father, moved from Pennsylvania to Kentucky, and later he left the Blue Grass state and took up his residence in Putnam county, Indiana, where he devoted the balance of his life to agricultural pursuits. The Leonards came originally from Germany and for many years made their homes in North Carolina, from which state they moved to Putnam county, Indiana, in an early day, where, like the McGaugheys, they became well established.
Four children were born to Jacob McGaugliey and wife, namely : George Stanley, who is a minister in the Christian church at Bicknell, Indiana; Charles E. is an attorney at Roachdale, Indiana, and he is at present postmaster at that place; Minnie married Al Call, a mechanic, of Morton, Indiana; and Oliver W., subject of this sketch.
Jacob McGaughey, father of the above named children, was a member of the Christian church, as was also his wife, and politically he was a Repub- lican. When the Civil war came on he enlisted, in 1861, for ninety days, under the first call for troops. He re-enlisted and rose to the rank of first lieutenant, proving a very faithful soldier for the union, and he was honorably dis- charged at Huntsville, Alabama.
Oliver W. McGaughey received his early education in the comnion schools, later attending Shurtleff College, at Alton, Illinois, and he also took a four years' course at Wabash College, Crawfordsville, Indiana, from which he was graduated in the year 1899 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He took post-graduate work in Butler College, Irvington, a suburb of Indianapo- lis, studying there one year. Thus well equipped for life's struggles, he en- tered the ministry, becoming pastor of the Sixth Christian church at Indian- apolis, where he remained three years, then accepted the pastorate of the Cen- tral Christian church at Columbus, Indiana, where he remained two years ; he then had a call to the First Christian church at Everett, Washington, where he spent two years. Although as a minister he was very successful, greatly strengthening the congregations of the charges mentioned above and winning the hearty approval of all concerned, he gave up this line of endeavor, and in 1906 he returned to Indiana and, upon the death of his father-in-law, he en- tered the drug business at Veedersburg, Fountain county, continuing the same for two years. Since that time he has been engaged in the practice of law, in connection with which he carries on a loan and insurance business in Veed- ersburg. He has been very successful in these varied lines of endeavor and is
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today one of the leading business men and substantial citizens of Veedersburg and one of Fountain county's most progressive men of affairs, his business constantly growing through his close application and honest dealings with his fellow men.
Mr. McGaughey was first married. on November 1, 1899, to Alberta Booe, daughter of Art and Elvesa (Glasscock) Bove, to which union one child was born. Gilbert Arthur McGaughey. On September 17, 1911, Mr. Mc- Gaughey was united in marriage with Ardella Inlow, daughter of John Inlow and wife, of Veedersburg.
Mr. McGaughey is a member of the Christian church here ; he is an elder in the same and he preaches part of the time. Politically, he is a Republican and has long been more or less active in the ranks and influential during cam- paigns: He is chairman of the Fountain county central committee. IIe was elected mayor of Veedersburg in 1909, but resigned after serving in this ca- pacity for a period of one year. As a public servant he has discharged his duties in a manner that has reflected much credit upon himself and to the eminent satisfaction of all concerned. Fraternally, he belongs to the Masonic order, the Modern Woodmen of America, Tribe of Ben-Hur, and the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, also the Phi Delta Theta, a college fraternity.
JAMES R. SONGER.
One of the prettiest country homes in Van Buren township, Fountain county, Indiana, is that of James R. Songer, three miles from Veedersburg. Mr. Songer has lived on this place all of his life and has improved it con- stantly. He is one of the foremost citizens and most influential men in that district, and has the distinction of being of a family of the first settlers in that part of Indiana.
Adam Songer, his grandfather, came to Indiana from Virginia in 1826, and settled on land in Fountain county. This land was signed over to him by John Quincy Adams, President of the United States, in 1826, and has never passed out of the family. James R. Songer was born February 24, 1860, in the old home place, where his father,. James Songer, was born in 1828. James Songer taught school in the old log cabin school house for several winters. He farmed all of his life. He married Sarah J. Isley and they had nine children : James R .; Walts, who lives in Tulare, California; Arthur, who is with James R. Hardy, a druggist at Veedersburg ; Julian, who is dead; Manford, who also
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lives in Van Buren township; Florence, who married William Gookins and lives in Van Buren township ; and Court, who is also a farmer in the same dis- trict. One child died in infancy.
James R. Songer married Alice Vandeventer. the daughter of John Van- deventer, who was born in New Jersey, February 5, 1832, and moved to Mill Creek township, Fountain county, Indiana, where he still lives. His wife was Elizabeth ( Keeley) Vandeventer. They had a family of four children. ( For the history of the Vandeventer family see sketch in. this work.) James R. Songer and his wife live in the old Songer place, which he bought from the rest of the heirs, on eighty acres of the land originally settled by his grand- father. He has remodeled the old place and brought it to a highi state of culti- vation. They had four children: Guy married Della Mullen, and they live near Veedersburg on a farm; Katie married Luther Mullen, and they live on a farm near the old home place; Roy and Glenn are at home.
James R. Songer and wife own one hundred and eighty-three acres of land in Van Buren township and one acre in Veedersburg. He farms about one hundred and thirty aeres of it generally and raises a fine grade of Poland China hogs. He also buys and fattens cattle for the market.
Mr. Songer has been energetic and untiring in his work on the land which his father settled. He has brought it to a high degree of cultivation and production and his place is up-to-date and in a fine condition. The result of the work of such men in the country is far-reaching. They build up trade, furnish food for the thousands who live cooped up in the cities, and instill into the life of the nation fresh, pure young blood, direct from contact with nature. We should never fail to recognize the fact that it is because of the work of our forefathers in carving out a nation in the wilderness that the United States is what it is today.
GEORGE F. SINES.
The life of George F. Sines reads almost like a book of fiction. There we find the hardship of the pioneer's life, the building up of the home in the new West to a large and prosperous estate, to leave it at the call of his country and take part in one of the most terrible wars that the world has ever known.
George F. Sines was born in Fountain county September 26, 1840. Ilis father and mother, Joseph and Mary Ann (Griffith) Sines, were born in Phila- delphia county, Pennsylvania. They came west in the early days, and settled
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in Cain township, Fountain county, Indiana, where they farmed for a while. and later moved to Mill Creek township, and both have died.
George F. Sines received his education from the common schools and the farm, where he spent forty years of his life. In 1851 he married Catherine Rayphole, daughter of Anthony and Elizabeth (Redman) Rayphole. Mr. Rayphole was also a farmer of Fountain county, coming here from Ohio. He was a prominent man in the community and spent the end of his days there. In 1892 Mrs. Sines died, leaving nine children to endeavor to fill her place in the home.
Marjorie C. Sines, the oldest daughter, married James Ward, a druggist at Veedersburg, Indiana. Barbara married John B. Condon, a railroad con- ductor, and is now living in Chicago, Illinois. Sylvester B. Sines married Nora Crowder, and is now living at Yeddo, Indiana, and Nellie G. Sines mar- ried Fred Beal and is also living at that place. Lottsee C. Sines married Byron Thomas, and lives near Danville, Illinois. The rest of the children, J. G., Mary A. and Clara E. Sines, live at home with their father in Yeddo, Indiana, where he has been in the general mercantile business for thirty years. He has a splendid general store there, with about four thousand dollars of stock, and has been very prosperous. He has built up and remodeled the old farm and added to his possessions constantly. Mr. Sines now owns three hundred and twenty-two acres of land, two hundred and fifty of which are fine tillable soil.
When volunteers were called in 1862, Mr. Sines left his home and fam- ily, and enlisted in the Sixty-third Indiana Infantry, serving first under Cap- tain Conover, and later under Capt. Schuyler La Tourette. With those brave and true men of the sixties, he fought from Chattanooga to Atlanta, where he was wounded. Then followed a siege amid the horrors of the hospitals, at Knoxville and Nashville, Tennessee. Notwithstanding the fact that he had already served the cause so faithfully Mr. Sines continued in the service until the end of the war and was honorably discharged July 3, 1865, to return home and lend his aid there in the civil life, as he had as a soldier.
Mr. Sines is one of the leading Republicans in Yeddo, and for fifteen years was postmaster at that place. He is also a Mason of Lodge No. 636, at Yeddo. The firm determination in everything undertaken and the untiring work in every cause of right that Mr. Sines has shown, characterize the men who have been victorious in all walks of life .. We look with interest on the accomplishments of the man who has made all he has himself, and see how in gaining prosperity for himself he has given prosperity to his county and state as well.
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GARRET GRADY.
Ilistory proves that the men who have found their early education strug- gling with nature, the men who have been forced to wrest a livelihood from the earth, and carned everything they have gained, have been the ones who have stamped themselves indelibly upon their communities and their country and have done the most to place the United States in its present place in the world today. One of the self-made men and war veterans of whom the citizens of Fountain county are proud is Garret Grady, whose family was one of the first settling in this part of Indiana.
Mr. Grady was born in Fountain county, February 22, 1833. His father, Reuben Grady, was born October 26, 1806, in Kentucky and came to Indiana in the early thirties. He took land from the government in Van Buren town- ship, Fountain county, and lived there until his death, in 1897. The subject's mother was Margaret (Pearson) Grady, who died in 1887. They had eleven children : William, John, Allen, Garret, Newton, Reuben, Mary J., Jessie. Samuel, Kitty Ann and James F., all of whom, excepting Garret, are dead.
On February 18, 1868, Garret Grady married Emily Isley, daughter of David and Rachael (Chumlea) Isley. He was born in Fountain county, In- diana, and died in 1850. She was born in Tennessee, and died September 8, 1894. Both families were old settlers and farmers. John Chumlea was one of the first settlers in that part of the country and was a gunsmith by trade, as well as a millwright. David and Rachael Isley had two children, Mary Jane, who died when she was young, and Emily, who married Garret Grady. David Isley was a farmer and died at the age of twenty-seven years.
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