USA > Indiana > Fountain County > Past and present of Fountain and Warren Counties, Indiana, Volume 2 > Part 9
USA > Indiana > Warren County > Past and present of Fountain and Warren Counties, Indiana, Volume 2 > Part 9
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Garret Grady had four children: Dora Belle and Harry are both dead. Hardy Grady lives on an adjoining farm and runs the old home place, and Ed- ward is a lineman for the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad. Mr. Grady has one hundred and sixty acres of land in Mill Creek township, which he has cleared himself and has changed it from a primeval wilderness to a high state of cultivation. He had made all of the improvements himself and has a very comfortable home now, to take the place of the old log cabin, originally built by his grandfather, Jacob Isley, who obtained the land from the government and in which they first lived.
Iu 1862, Garret Grady left his productive farm, his home and family and joined Company H of the Sixty-third Indiana Infantry, under Capt. Schuyler La Tourette in Sherman's army, and fought from ."Atlanta to the sea." He took part in battles at Resaca and Atlanta, and chased Hood across the country, fighting at Franklin and Nashville, Tennessee. He spent the
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FOUNTAIN AND WARREN COUNTIES, INDIANA.
next three months in the hospital at Troy, New York, and was mustered out in May, 1865, and returned to his home.
He has served his country as faithfully in the capacity of an active citizen as he did as a soldier during the war. He and all of his family are members of the Christian church and active in all movements for the good of their community. Mr. Grady has made all he has by hard work, and his reward has been plentiful. He has not only given to his country in the cause of freedom all that was within his power but, in building up his personal prosperity, he has left a great heritage of good for those who come after him.
The subject's son Hardy enlisted in Company G, One Hundred and Fifth-eighth Indiana Volunteers in the Spanish-American war and served six months.
ALLEN SUMMERS.
There is a peculiar attraction about a man who has made all he has him- self: he enjoys everything more intensely because he knows just what it is worth, and he has laid a foundation of character that is not appalled by small obstacles. The farmer who has himself to thank for a fine, productive farm and good stock, has a satisfaction in every part of his estate that is in itself a reward for work well done.
Allen Summers, of Fountain county, Indiana, has cause for such satisfac- tion and opportunity for such enjoyment. His is a family that has grown up with the country. His grandfather, Elijah Summers, was a farmer in Jack- son township when Fountain county was in its infancy, and his grandfather, George Redenbaugh, took land from the government in Mill Creek township when there were only two men here, and, risking all the dangers of the pio- neer's life, cleared his ground and cultivated his farm until his death. His father and mother, N. M. and Delila (Redenbaugh) Summers, were both born in Fountain county. He was born in Jackson township, and has been one of the foremost farmers in that part of the country. They still live on the old homestead, he being seventy-one years of age and she seventy. They had five children: George died in infancy; Lydia married Thomas Day, and Samantha married Thomas Norris, both living on farms in Mill Creek town- ship; John married Luella Day, a native of the same county.
Allen Summers, the oldest son, was born in Mill Creek township, Febru- ary 16, 1864, and spent his early life on the farm, gaining an education that has been valuable to him in his later years. In 1884 he married Mosuri Leon-
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ard, daughter of Ahi and Mildred (Lambdon) Leonard. They were originally farmers in Orange county, where he died. Mildred was brought to this county by her mother and step-father. They have two children, Clarence II., who married Mabel Reed, is a merchant in Steam Corner, Indiana, and Walter Lee, who is at home now, after having graduated from Indiana University, at Bloomington, Indiana, and Yale University. At Yale he did remarkably well in all of his studies, and was given the title Doctor of Jurisprudence, which has never been given there before. He also has the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Doctor of Law.
Allen Summers owns eighty acres of fine farming land, highly cultivated, and is making money, selling his cream from some fine Jersey cows to the creamery in Yeddo, Indiana. He has a large barn and silo and has every mod- ern convenience on his place, which he built himself. In fact he has made almost all of the improvements on a remarkably productive and well equipped farm.
Mr. Summers is a Democrat, who has never neglected his farm to hold any office. He is a Mason at Yeddo, and is held in high esteem by his neigh- bors in the district as a valuable citizen and a man of sound judgment and level head, who can appreciate what he and others have, because he has made all he owns himself.
HENRY LAWSON.
Some of the best blood in America is due to the Irish, who came to this country in search of freedom; loyal, trustworthy, big-hearted, and naturally leaders of men, settling in the farming districts and giving to their communi- ties generously of the best in themselves. Henry Lawson's great-grandfather was one of these, and one can still trace his influence in the attitude of Henry Lawson toward Mill Creek township and his popularity in that region.
This man, with the fire of the Emerald isle in his veins, came to Virginia and located on a farm, where his son John was born. He, also, felt the call of the West, and after farming for a while in the old state, came to Parke county, Indiana, and established the home farm, carving out his home in the wilderness. He married Catherine Brent, a native of Montgomery county. She died in 1864, leaving ten children, of whom Laura, Walter, William and Mary are dead and Rachel, James, Emma, John, Rebecca and Henry are still living. John Lawson then took a second wife, Melissa (Huffmire) Lawson, and has two children by this marriage, Manson and Nettie. He was a Demo-
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crat, and was justice of the peace for many years, well known throughout the country around for his kindly and just nature and careful dealing with all cases that came under his jurisdiction. He was a member of the Universalist church, and died in 1899 on the old home place.
Henry Lawson was born on the home farm in Parke county, Sugar Creek township, September 8, 1856. He was married there in 1878 to Florence Sow- ers. Just five hours after the marriage, however, she was killed, due to an un- fortunate accident in the charivari. Mr. Lawson afterward married Phebe Barker, daughter of Bryant and Annie (Sowers) Barker, who were old set- tlers of Parke county, having come originally from North Carolina, and were prominent farmers in the county. They have seven children, Manford, John, Joe, Amanda, Emma, George and Wilson, the latter of whom is dead.
Henry Lawson has lived in Mill Creek township, Fountain county. for twenty-three years and has been very prosperous. He has a farm of thirty acres of fine tillable soil, and has brought his land to a high degree of cultiva- tion. He has been very active in the affairs of his community, and is looked up to by his neighbors as one of the brightest and most able men in the town- ship. He has been township trustee, to which office he was elected in 1908. and also held the office of township assessor for four years and that of deputy assessor for three years. He has been aggressive, making all the improve- ments on his place, nine miles from Veedersburg, Indiana, himself, helping along with every public work and using his influence for good in every op- portunity which Has presented itself. Mr. Lawson is a Universalist by belief, and is a Mason at Yeddo. His wife is also a social factor in the community, and is a member of the Eastern Star, to which order her husband also belongs. as well as the Royal Neighbors.
Mr. Lawson is a good example of the law that says that as we give we receive, and he has prospered, and is the type of the citizen who has made Indiana the prosperous state that it is today.
THEODORE M. MEEKER.
While Fountain county has many excellent farms, and many of its citi- zens can be reckoned successful farmers, there can be found no better farm for all general purposes than the Shawnee Site farm, near Attica, and no more successful farmer and stock raiser than its owner, Theodore M. Meeker, for he by his years of experience has demonstrated the practical value of farming, and, moreover, the practical value of giving more than ordinary attention to the operations of farming and the care of stock. He was born on the old Dry
T.M . MEEKER
JULIA V. MEEKER
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FOUNTAIN AND WARREN COUNTIES, INDIAN.A.
Run farm in Richland township. Fountain county, on February 22, 1852, the son of Usual Halford and Sarah (Dudley) Meeker. His education was begun in the common schools, then at the age of eighteen he attended Merom Col- lege for six months. He then took up farming and stock raising, which he has since continued. His parents moved in April, 1856, to the farm where he has since and now lives.
On December 12, 1894, Mr. Meeker was married to Julia Virginia Mc- Knight, the daughter of Linton and Margaret (Marquess) Mcknight. To this union were born four children: Frank married first Calma May Thomp- son, by whom he had two children, T. M. and Irene, and was later married to Edith Quiggle, who has borne to him one daughter, M. Virginia; Jacob E. married Maud Larr, and is the father of three children, Olin B., Naomi and Miriam; the third child died in infancy, and the fourth, O. M., married Bar- key Galloway and has two children. Gerald Don and Harold.
Mr. Meeker is the owner of Shawnee Site farm of five hundred and forty- five acres, of which four hundred acres are under cultivation. He at one time owned one thousand and fifty-five acres. The farm is well improved, with good barns and a handsome and substantial home, and shows on every hand the evidences of careful and practical farming. For more than twenty years Mr. Meeker has been a breeder of Aberdeen Angus cattle, and the cattle coming from his farm are justly admired by the buyers and the neighbors. Since 1909, in partnership with his son, Orville M., he has been engaged in dairying. Mr. Meeker has also been active in other business interests besides farming. He is a director of the Mutual Insurance Company of Montgomery and Fountain counties. He has always taken an active interest in bringing to the attention of his fellow farmers the latest and best methods of cultivation and operation of farms, and has been for some time president of the Farmers Institute. For thirty years he has been an active member and at one time he was first advisory councilman of the Horse Thief Detective Association. In politics he is a Republican, and is a member of the county council.
Mr. Meeker is a conscientious member of the Christian church, in which he has been a deacon for twenty years, and for the same length of time a mem- ber of the Western Indiana conference and treasurer of the local mission board for the conference. He is also a trustee of Merom College. He has been active in church work, and believes in a thorough extension and application of the Gospel as the best remedy for all the evils of the day. Standing among the first rank of farmers, and a citizen who has ever used his strong influence to the betterment in every way of the condition of those around him, he is a man whose high reputation is deservedly founded upon a basis of sturdy and upright character.
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FOUNTAIN AND WARREN COUNTIES, INDIANA.
JOHN WESLEY METSKER.
The subject of this sketch is one of the leading farmers and stock raiser- of the township in which he resides and as a citizen, alive to all that tends to promote the interests of the community and benefit his fellow men, he stands a conspicuous example of the intelligent, broad-minded American of today. John Wesley Metsker is descended paternally from Teutonic ancestry, and traces his family history back through several generations to Germany. of which country his great-grandfather, Jacob Metsker, was a native. Isaac Metsker, son of Jacob Metsker, came to America many years ago and was among the earliest settlers of Warren county, Indiana, where he purchased land from the government and made a number of substantial improvements. The original family homestead is near Pine Village, and it was there that the subject's father, John R. Metsker, spent the greater part of his life and achieved distinctive success as an enterprising tiller of the soil. John R. Metsker was born in 1817 in Ohio, came to Indiana with his parents when quite young and departed this life on the family homestead in the month of April, 1888. His wife, a native of North Carolina, died in the year 1902.
John Wesley Metsker was born September 28, 1842, in Warren county. Indiana, and has spent all of his life in the vicinity of the original farm which his grandfather entered. He was reared to agricultural pursuits, early chose farming for his vocation and has followed that honorable calling with marked success ever since, being at this time one of the leading agriculturists and stock raisers of Mill Creek township and among the most enterprising and progres- sive citizens of Fountain county.
Mr. Metsker has a fine farm of one hundred forty acres, which he has brought to a high state of cultivation, and on which are some of the best build- ings and other improvements in the above township. In connection with tilling the soil, he gives much attention to live stock, in the breeding and rais- ing of which he has few equals and no superiors in his part of the state. For a number of years he has made a specialty of fine Jersey cattle, principally for dairy purposes, and Po'and China hogs, while his horses, of which he keeps from twelve to fifteen, are of standard breeds and noted far and wide for their many points of excellence. Associated with him in the raising of horses is his son, Webb Metsker, an intelligent and. wide-awake young man whose knowledge of horseflesh and how to develop strong, beautiful and sym- metrical animals is second to that of no other man in the county similarly engaged. At the present time they have a number of fine pacers and trotters which have won their full share of prizes, in addition to which their fine ani-
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mals of the Belgian breed have also attracted much attention from horse men and others interested in introducing improved live stock among the farmers of the county.
Mr. Metsker keeps abreast of the times on all matters of public import and, though not a politician in the usual sense of the term. he manifests a lively interest in the leading questions and issues of the times and gives his support to the Republican party. ITis domestic life dates from the year 1870. when he was happily married to Sarah Little, whose father, George Little. was a native of Ohio and an early settler of Warren county, Indiana, where his death occurred some years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Metsker have had five children, the oldest of whom, Carrie, married .A. N. Ford, a farmer and school teacher of Mill Creek township, and has a daughter of her own, seventeen years of age: William, Everett and Raymond died young ; Newton Webb is the youngest of the family. The last named, who, as already indicated, is associated with his father in farming and rearing of live stock, was married in January, 1912, to Edna Alice Moore, daughter of George Moore, deceased, and lives on the home place with his parents. He is a man of high standing, be- longing to the lodge at Kingman, an energetic farmer and business man, and his many friends predict for him a bright and promising future.
JAMES H. CRANE.
Among the progressive farmers of Van Buren township worthy of special notice in a work of this character is the well known gentleman under whose name the following lines are written. Henry Crane, father of the sub- ject, was born in Warren county, Ohio, in 1808, came to Fountain county, Indiana, many years ago and improved the farm in Van Buren township which James H. now owns. He was an industrious tiller of the soil, a praise- worthy citizen and departed this life in 1894, lamented by all who knew him. Evaline Simmerman, wife of Henry Crane and mother of the subject, is a native of Fountain county, Indiana.
James H. Crane was born February 7, 1857, in Fountain county, Indiana, and received his early education in the public school. Actuated by a laudable desire to increase his scholastic knowledge, he subsequently entered Union Christian College in Sullivan county, where he pursued his studies for two years, during which time he finished the teacher's course with the object in view of engaging in educational work. After one term in the school room, however, he decided to adopt some other vocation : accordingly he turned his
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FOUNTAIN AND WARREN COUNTIES, INDIA; A.
attention to agriculture, which he has since followed with gratifying success. being at this time one of the enterprising farmers of Van Buren township, as well as a representative citizen of the community in which he resicks. For some years Mr. Crane paid considerable attention to live stock and was suc- cessful in the breeding and the raising of high-grade Poland China hogs, but of late he has grown grain almost exclusively, though keeping some cattle, which add very materially to his income. The farm which he owns consists of one hundred and sixty-eight acres of fine land, all except twenty-five acres in cultivation and highly improved. The unimproved tract is covered with ex- cellent timber, maple predominating, and his sugar camp is one of the best in the country. This woods, which is little disturbed, is the habitat of various kinds of wild animals and during certain seasons of the year Mr. Crane finds recreation in hunting this game, being a keen sportsman and skillful with the gun. As already indicated, the Crane farm was first settled by the subject's father, who cleared the greater part of the land and made n. ist of the im- provements. Under the efficient management of the present proprietor, who has remodeled the buildings and added other improvements, it is now one of the best farms in the township and as a place of residence it answers every purpose which a comfortable and attractive rural home is designed to subserve.
In the year of 1883 Mr. Crane contracted a matrimonial alliance with Margaret Coffing, daughter of Dayton and Margaret ( Marquess) Coffing, to which union two children were born, Glenn, who married Irma Campbell and manages the home place, and Fred, who assists in the cultivation of the farm and who is also married, his wife having formerly been Lena Bever, of this county. In public matters Mr. Crane has well settled convictions and his read- ing and investigation have led him to espouse the cause of socialism as the best and surest correction for prevalent national evils. He is a reader and thinker, well informed on the great questions of the times and keeps in close touch with current events, on all of which he has well grounded and decided opinions. The mother of Mr. Crane is still living at a good old age and makes her home under his roof.
GEORGE M. HOUSER.
No family has been better known, and few as well, as the Housers, for they have been prominently connected with the affairs of Fountain county for three-quarters of a century, during which time they have played well their several parts in the general development of the same and have borne unassail-
GEo. M Houser
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FOUNTAIN AND WARREN COUNTIES, INDIANA.
able reputations. Since the family established their permanent home in the wilderness here the county has developed from a wild, sparsely settled section to one of the leading farming communiti. of the state. They could foresee the great future in store for those who were willing to remain here and work diligently.
George M. Houser, one of the substantial farmers of Richland township. Fountain county, was born January 4, 1848, in this township and county, and is the son of Jonathan and Sarah (Newer) Houser. The father was born in Virginia, December 26, 1803, and there he spent his boyhood days. He walked through from his native state to Fountain county, Indiana, and settled near what is now Newtown. He and Sarah Newer were married March 18. 1834, and they became the parents of six children, namely : Mary Catherine. who married Jonathan Garver, was born October 12, 1835; Abraham W., of Danville, Illinois, was born October 25, 1837; John W., born February 18. 1840, died February 17, 1873: Sarah Elizabeth, wife of John Neil, of Hills- boro. Indiana, was born May 19, 1842: James R., of Cain township, this county, was born May 19, 1844; George M., of this review, is the youngest.
George MI. Houser was reared on the old homestead and he received a practical education in the public schools of his community. On March 27, 1884, he was united in marriage with Ella Bible, daughter of John and Mary > (May) Bible. They were early settlers in Montgomery county, Indiana. The subject's wife died in 1904 at the age of forty-four years. This union was without issue.
Mr. Houser is a Prohibitionist, but has never sought or held public office. He is a member of the Anti-Horse Thief Association at Dry Run, this county. He belongs to the Christian (New Light) church.
The subject is the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of fine land, which he has kept well improved, having built a good barn and other build- ings, and he has made a pronounced success as a general farmer and stock raiser. He still lives in the log cabin, which has been added to and made a sort of bungalow, an attractive and picturesque old place, it being the original house built here by his father in 1834, and is thus seventy-eight years old. The father came into possession of the place now owned by his son, George M. Houser, in 1834 and here he developed a good farm and spent the rest of his life, dying on July 24, 1870, at the age of sixty-six years and six months. He was well known throughout the county in the early period of her history and he did much for the general good of his immediate community, and bore a good reputation, being especially noted for his hospitality and his close adher- ence to the Golden Rule.
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FOUNTAIN AND WARREN COUNTIES, INDIANA.
LEANDER SONGER.
The subject of this review, who has joined the silent majority and gone to his reward. is an honored citizen of Fountain county whose life and in- fluence made for the good of all with whom he came in contact. A God-fear- ing man, honest and upright in all of his dealings and esteemed by a large circle of friends and neighbors, his death was felt as a personal loss by many and his place in the community where he so long resided will be difficult to fill.
Leander Songer was born in Fountain county, Indiana, in the year 1836, the son of Adam Songer, who came to this part of the state from Virginia in pioneer times and entered a tract of land in Van Buren township, which he cleared and on which he spent the remainder of his life. ( See sketch of J. R. Songer.) The subject was reared on the family homestead, attended such schools as the country afforded during his childhood and youth and on arriv- ing at manliood's estate he turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, which he followed with encouraging success to the end of his days. He was a man of great industry and energy, succeeded well at what he undertook, and in the line of his calling he was easily the peer of any of his neighbors similarly engaged. He possessed in a marked degree the qualities of manhood which win esteem and beget confidence and in all that constituted intelligent, broad- minded citizenship he stood a conspicuous example among his fellow men.
In the year 1858 Mr. Songer was united in marriage with Martlia Lyons, whose parents, Umberson and Ann (Glenn) Lyons, natives of Virginia, were among the early pioneers of Troy township, this county, the father being one of the first mechanics in the township indicated. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Songer, the older of whom, Frank, is a physician and surgeon of Hillsboro, Indiana. He married Ida Janway, and is one of the successful medical men of the town in which he resides. Anna S., the second in order of birth, is the wife of Albert Henderson, a tomb-stone cutter of Lafayette and one of the esteemed residents of that city. In addition to her own children, Mrs. Songer opened her heart and home to a youth by the name of Raymond Boes, whom she took from an orphan home at the age of eighteen and to whom she has since devoted the same love and care that she would have shown to one of her own flesh and blood. The young man still lives with his foster mother and assists her in the management of her affairs and in looking after the interests of the fine farm of one hundred and twenty acres on which she lives and which, under her judicious direction, is now one of the most beauti- ful and desirable rural homes in the township of Van Buren.
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