USA > Indiana > Fountain County > Portrait and biographical record of Montgomery, Parke and Fountain counties, Indiana : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens : together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States > Part 49
USA > Indiana > Montgomery County > Portrait and biographical record of Montgomery, Parke and Fountain counties, Indiana : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens : together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States > Part 49
USA > Indiana > Parke County > Portrait and biographical record of Montgomery, Parke and Fountain counties, Indiana : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens : together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States > Part 49
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SAAC N. LARRICK, who will long be held in remembrance as an honest, upright man and useful citizen, was an early and successful farmer of Montgomery County, Ind., and was later one of the highly esteemed and well known residents of Darlington. Mr. Larrick was born in Ross County, Ohio, in 1819, and received his youthful education and home training in the state which furnished so many pioneer settlers for the far west. Mr. Larriek was named in honor of his father, and was the eldest of five children.
The parents were of Pennsylvania Dutch extrac- tion and were prudent, hard-working people, and early trained their children to habits of useful industry. The four sons whose names are record- ed are: Isaac N., deceased; Robert, deceased; James and Jacob. Isaac N., being the eldest, it was necessary for him to assist his parents while
the other children were growing to manhood. Mr. Larrick, therefore, dutifully remained with the father, mother and brothers until he had arrived at man's estate, when he journeyed to Indiana, hoping there to become prosperous and make a home.
Mr. Larrick came to Crawfordsville, and there found employment and married Mrs. Elizabeth Holmes, a most excellent lady and daughter of John and Jane Tillard. Mr. Larrick and his wife began their housekeeping upon a farm in Union Township. They remained there for a time, the husband industriously sowing, ploughing, reaping and being engaged in the miscellaneous duties agricultural life entails upon the " tiller of the soil." Finally they removed to the town of Darlington, the birth-place of their seven children. Of the seven little ones who came into their home and were its joy and pride, but three survived the perils and dread diseases incidental to early youth.
Mr. and Mrs. Isaac N. Larrick enjoyed a large circle of friends and acquaintances, and were uni- versally respected by all the residents of the town where they spent so many years. Their three sons are widely known as citizens of worth and intelli- gence, progressive in their ideas and deeply interested in all affairs of public moment and local improvement. The brothers are: John A., now a farmer near Crawfordsville; Robert H., a suc- cessful agriculturist near Darlington, and Isaac, who bears the given name of both the father and grandfather, and is a merchant, dealing in grocer- ies in Darlington. He was born in 1851, and educated in the common schools of the county.
In 1881 Mr. Isaac Larrick engaged in merchan- dising on a small scale. Giving his close atten- tion to the demands of his new business, and extending to all with whom he came in contact a ready and courteous service, being always fair and honorable in his dealings, he naturally prospered and won a permanent success. He now carries the largest and most complete stock of goods, in his line of business, in the town. The same courtesy, energy and affability which characterize Mr. Larrick in his daily business life also distin- guish him in his conduct of official work. Elected
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to fill the position of Trustee of Franklin Town- ship, he served with faithfulness and ability dur- ing 1886 and 1887, and in his official capacity gave great satisfaction to the general local public. Mr. Larrick is a strong Democrat and votes with the party on all national issues, but is liberal in sentiment, and in local affairs would vote for the best man for the place. Socially inclined, and having resided all his life in Darlington, he can safely call the greater portion of the inhab- itants of the town and surrounding country his very good friends and well-wishers.
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W ILLIAM B. LYNCH, a representative citi- zen and snccessful lumber merchant of Darlington, Montgomery County, Ind., is an enterprising and energetic man. He has only been a resident of the state for about twelve years, but during almost the entire time since he came, a stranger among its people, he has closely identified himself with all the growing in- terests and public improvements in his section of the country. Mr. Lynch is a native of Tennessee, and was born near Cumberland Gap, January 7, 1861, and is therefore in the very early prime of mauhood. Progressive in his ideas, earnest in purpose, and strong in character, he cannot fail to be an important factor in the up-building and general management of local affairs.
The great-grandfather of Mr. Lynch was a na- tive of Ireland, and was there trained in habits of self-reliance, which so well adapted him to try his fortunes in a new country. Arriving at manhood, he determined to leave behind him friends and relatives and make himself a home in the land across the sea. The voyage from Ireland to America was not then what it is to-day, a quick, easy passage, made with dispatch and little dis comfort to a good traveler, but on the contrary, it was long, wearisome and full of peril. Tales of almost fabulous prosperity in the new world were wafted across the ocean to old Ireland, but it was also known that the venturesome emigrants had to face the terrors of both sea and wilderness, and
thus many of the timid and improvident feared to make the journey.
It was not so with the ancestor of William B. Lynch. Full of courage, ardent and ambitious, he came to America, and made for himself and his descendants a home and future in the land free from religious and political intolerance. His son, Alfred Lynch, grandfather of our subject, was a native of South Carolina, but he afterward settled in Tennessee, and there raised a family, among whom was hiis son Wesley W. This son was united in marriage with Miss Mary J. Peebley, also a na- tive of Tennessee. The husband and wife became the parents of a large family, of which the subject of this sketch was one.
William B. Lynch came to Hendricks County, Ind., in the fall of 1880, and engaged in farming. He followed the pursuit of agriculture about two years, and then decided to try the lumber business, and located his yard in North Salem. After mature consideration he concluded to remove his home and business to Darlington, where he has been most successful. In January, 1892, Mr. Lynch extended his lumber interests and received into partnership Mr. Adney and Mr. Shannon, the firm name now being Adney, Shannon & Lynch. In connection with the lumber business, in which they have been prospered almost beyond expectation, the firm are running a saw and planing-mill.
William B. Lynch was married in North Salem, in 1884, to Miss Sallie E. Miller, a charming lady, well known in social and church circles. Mr. and Mrs. Lynch have been blessed by the birth of two children, one of whom, little Frank, was taken from earth in early infancy. The young daughter, Mamie, a promising child, brightens the home. Mr. and Mrs. Lynch are both members of the Presbyterian Church, and are ever ready with their time and money to assist in benevolent work, or aid in social and religious enterprises. Mr. Lynch as yet has developed no wish to become a politician, but he nevertheless takes an active in- terest in all national politics, and is also desirous of seeing local offices well filled. He is an ardent Republican, and supports his party by word aud deed.
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AMES A. McCUTCHAN resides on Section 23, Green Township, Parke County, and is a son of William McCutchan, a native of Augusta County, Va., where he was reared to manhood and married. He was the son of William McCutchan, who served in one of the early wars of this country, probably the Revolution. William, the father of our subject, was married in Rockbridge County, Va., to Miss Margaret Cooper, a native of Rockbridge County. After they were married they stayed there about one year, and in the fall of 1828 they migrated to this state, coming by wagon and an ox team, and settled where William McCutchan now lives, in Washington Township, this county. The last- named gentleman's father had previously come and entered land from the Government, which was in a perfectly wild and unsettled condition. There he lived until his death.
The father of our subject had nine children, of whom all grew to manhood and womanhood. Six of them still survive, and are: Susan Jane, who was born in Virginia and lives on the old home place in Washington Township, this connty; Mary C., who lives on the old homestead with her sister Susan; James A .; Andrew L., who lives near Bridgeton, Parke County; Meredith M., a resident of Labette County, Kans., where he is a successful farmer; William W., of Washington Township. The father of our subject and his wife were both active members of the Associate Pres- byterian Church, and he was a supporter of the Republican party until the time of his death.
James A. McCutchan was born December 18, 1831, on the old home place in this county, where he was reared and educated. He resided with his father till his marriage. When twenty-one years of age he began learning the carpenter's trade, which occupation he followed for about twenty years. After his marriage, which took place February 28, 1868, to Miss Minerva, daughter of John Porter of this county, they located near Bloomingdale, where Mr. McCntchan worked at his trade. Mrs. McCutchan was born in Putnam County, Ind., in 1837, where she was reared and educated in the common schools. Her father had migrated to this county from North Carolina,
where he lived for some time, and then moved to Putnam County, where he still lives at the advanced age of eighty-two years.
After farming for a time near Bloomingdale Mr. McCutchan moved to the old Porter place, where they rented land and farmed, in the mean- time working at his trade until 1877. Three years prior to that time he went to Kansas, where he worked some at his occupation, but on account of this being the grasshopper year and business con- sequently dull, he came back to his old home. In 1877 he bought the place where he now resides, on which he built a large and substantial frame honse in 1890. He has a very attractive home, which is located on one of the finest farms in Green Township, and is being beautifully improved. Our subject is the father of seven children: Elmer M., who is attending the Commercial College at Terre Haute, and has since been teaching in the schools of the county; William P., who is a farmer in this township and is married to Zella Hazlette; Margaret A., who has been attending the Academy at Bloomingdale; John Henry, James Fulton, Sara Florence and Mary Nellie. All of this family of children are still under the parental roof with the exception of the married one.
Mr. McCuteban owns one hundred and twenty acres of good land, all of which is well improved, and in a fine state of cultivation. He is a general farmer and stock-raiser, keeping on his farm some excellent breeds of cattle and a good variety of other stock. Politically he is a Republican. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church, serving as Elder for a number of years. His wife is also a member of this denomination, in which she is an active worker. In 1862 our subject entered Com - pany C, Seventy-eighth Indiana Infantry, in which he was a Corporal. He was captured at Uniontown, Ky., paroled, and later returned home.
R ICHARD C. McWILLIAMS, now living in retirement in one of the attractive homes of Rockville, though not one of the earliest settlers of Parke County, may be con- sidered one of its pioneers, as his work as a
1
Thomas Davis
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shrewd practical farmer when in active business was a help in developing the soil and making this a prosperous agricultural community.
Mr. McWilliams was born in Madison County, Ky., June 11, 1821, to John C. and Nancy Mc- Williams. The father was born and reared in Madison County, and his father was of Scotch descent and the husband of a Miss Cleveland. Our subject's father was a stock-dealer and farmer in Madison County, Ky., having in his possession a number of slaves. He was married to Miss Nancy Hockaday of the same county as himself. She was the daughter of James and Betsy Hocka- day. Mr. McWilliams, the father of our subject, was a brave soldier in the War of 1812, serving two terms, during which time he was made Cap tain of his company. In the fall of 1856 he moved to Missouri and located in Clinton County, on sixty acres of land. Here were born to him- self and wife nine children, seven of whom are living. He was considered a very successful farm- er in his day and made his life a reputable one.
Richard McWilliams was reared in his native county, where he received his education and there commenced for himself in life. In the beginning of the year 1847 he went on a trading expedition, in which he was very prosperous, and in 1851 he moved to Washington Township, Parke County, where he resided but a short time and then mar- ried. He chose for a companion on life's journey, Miss Mary McMurtry, who was born in Garrett County, Ky., to John and Margaret McMurtry. Mrs. McWilliams was quite young when her par- ents came to Indiana and located in Washington Township. After her marriage to our subject they resided on the farm that Mr. McWilliams had previously purchased, and by careful manage- ment and hard work in thirty-one years they had accumulated land to the amount of three hundred acres, besides a tract of one hundred and thirty- five acres in Missouri.
In 1881 Mr. McWilliams sold all his land in Washington Township, and came to Rockville, where he purchased a fine and commodious resi- dence, which he has since made his home. While a farmer Mr. Mc Williams was very sucessful, both as a general agriculturist and stock-dealer, 21
but since he moved to this place he has sold his estate. He is now a member of the company that owns the Opera House block in the town, and is also interested in the County Fair, having used his influence to further the interests of that enter- prise for thirty years. He has also been identi- fied with the Parke County Agricultural Society, being a faithful member of the State Board of Agriculture for two years, when he tendered his resignation to that association.
Mr. McWilliams is a self made man, and his career illustrates what may be accomplished by determination, perseverance and a capacity for hard work, seconded by native shrewdness and a good insight into business matters. He has not only proved himself a man of thorough honesty, but also an obliging neighbor and helpful citizen. He takes an active part in everything pertaining to agricultural pursuits, and has been prominently identified with the county fairs held at Russell- " ville, Bridgeton and Bloomingdale. In politics he is a Democrat, which ticket he has voted since 1856, having cast his vote for the candidates of the Whig party previous to that time. He and his amiable wife are progressive people and oc- cupy high places in the community, where they are well known, and where their cordial, unaf- fected and hospitable manners have won them the warm regard of all with whom they associate.
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W ARREN DAVIS, JR., who is profitably managing a good-sized farm on Section 19, Union Township, is a native of Mont- gomery County, and was born in 1831 in one of the earliest established pioneer homes of Brown Township. His father, Thomas Davis, came here in 1830 from Shelby County, Ky., of which his parents, who were Virginians, were pio- neers.
Warren Davis was taken to Ray when he was eight months old and there the family lived until he was six years old, when they returned to Brown Township. His home was there during the re- mainder of his boyhood and he was educated in its public schools. June 24, 1855, Miss Margaret
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Smith became his wife and in her he has a true helpmate. Her father, Robert Smith, was born in Virginia and went from there to Ohio, whence he came to Indiana and was one of the early settlers of this county. He was the father of ten children, of whom seven grew to maturity and three are still living: John, a resident of Ripley; Ellen, wife of Levi Wilcox, who resides near Crawfordsville; and Mrs. Davis, who was born December 8, 1837, and was ten years old when her father came to this county from her native Ohio.
The marriage of Mrs. Davis with our subject has brought them ten children, of whom two died in infancy: Nancy Elizabeth and Martha Ellen. Those that are living are: Sarah T. and her twin sister, Hannah R., who were born December 28, 1858, the former now the wife of Telman Switzer, of Crawfordsville, and the latter the wife of Taylor Austin, of this county; Mary J., who was born September 12, 1861, and is the wife of E. W. Christ, who lives near Crawfordsville on the Green - castle road; Betty F., who was born October 25, 1863, and is the wife of Fred Rogers, of Brown Township; Laura, who was born February 12, 1865, and is the wife of Samuel B. Demeret, of this county; William A., who was born November 12, 1867, and is a resident of this county; Alice E., who was born September 24, 1872, and is the wife of Edward Grimes, a farmer of this township, and Charles E., the youngest of the family, who was born March 21, 1875, is a student at school and still makes his home with his parents.
After his marriage Warren Davis first located in Brown Township on a farm of his father's and lived upon from 1855 to 1868, when he came with his family to the farm that he now occupies in Union Township. It comprises two hundred and ninety acres of good land, all well improved and provided with neat and substantial buildings and every convenience for farming. He derives a de- sirable income from its fertile and well tilled acres.
Mr. Davis stands well in his community and his name is closely associated with its social and relig- ious interests as a member of the Masonic frater- nity and of the Baptist Church. His wife also belongs to the latter. Politically Mr. Davis affili- ates with the Democrats.
EORGE S. NOEL is one of the oldest set- tlers now living in Adams Township, Parke County. When he first came here Indians were numerous and game of all kinds was abundant, and he was a hunter of no mean repute, delighting in the sport. He owns a fertile farm of eighty acres on Section 20, Adams Township, where he is engaged in general farming and stock- raising.
The birth of Mr. Noel occurred in Monroe County, on January 31, 1821. His father, Lewis Noel, was born in Essex County, Va. He was in turn the son of Bernard, who was an early settler of Kentucky and a preacher in the Baptist Church. Lewis Noel grew to manhood in Kentucky, and there married Sally McCannon, soon after which event he located in Franklin County, Ky. He was a boat-builder by trade and for some years con- tinued at that occupation. In the year 1816 he removed to Indiana, first settling in Sullivan County, where he engaged in farming for about one year, and then resided in Monroe County for about seven years. In December, 1824, he landed in Parke County, purchasing land of the Govern- ment, on which he settled. He was one of the first pioneers of this region and was devoted to clearing his land until 1828, when he became a resident of Rockville for two years and then re- turned to his agricultural pursuits. Again, in 1836, he went to Rockville and built a house, where he lived for one year. In 1837 he moved upon a farm a mile sonth of the village, where he lived several years. Then retiring from his active work and once more going back to Rockville, he spent his remaining days, dying in 1851.
George S. Noel is one of eleven children, all but two of whom grew to mature years, and the following are still living: Samuel, who lives in Des Moines, Iowa, and is a veteran of the Civil War; Coleman, who lives in Odell and is clerk of the court, having held an office under President Garfield; Patsy, wife of Johnson Puett, and Nallie, wife of James Burford, deceased. Scott died about two years ago. The father of these children went by the name of Judge Noel and was a popular man in political circles. He was one of the deacons of the Baptist Church at Rockville, of which he was
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one of the founders. The building he erected, raising the timbers himself.
George S. Noel grew to manhood in Parke County and remained with his parents until his marriage, in 1840, with Miss Sarah Ann Morris. She is a daughter of John Morris, who emigrated from Augusta County, Va., in 1837, and was a carpenter in Rockville. Mrs. Noel was also a native of Angusta County, Va. Soon after his marriage our subject located on a farm south of Rockville, which his father had given to him. They settled in the midst of the woods, where they commenced housekeeping. About the year 1856 Mr. Noel became the owner of his father's farm, upon which he moved and there resided for four years, selling the place in 1860 and buying the one which has been his home for over thirty years. Mrs. Noel died in 1851, leaving four children, of whom two yet survive: John L., who lives in Rockville, and Charles R., a resident of Des Moines. Amanda Jane died in the prime of life. She was the wife of Andrew J. McAllerten and left four children to mourn her loss. George, a grandchild, died in the summer of 1892 at the home of his grandfather.
Mr. Noel's present wife, to whom he was mar- ried in 1851, was formerly Mary Manken, who was born in Columbiana County, Ohio, August 7, 1829, and came to Indiana in 1850, settling in Parke County. Their daughter, Sarah, married Alexan- der Strain and died at the home of her father, leaving one child, Elizabeth, who lives with our subject's son John at Rockville. Politically, Mr. Noel is a Democrat. He is a member of the Missionary Baptist Church, to which he has be- longed for many years past. For two years he acted as Deputy Assessor of this township, keeping all the books and records himself.
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H ON. DAVID D. NICHOLSON. It gives us pleasure to represent on these pages the life of this venerable gentleman, one of the early settlers of Ladoga, where he is now living in retirement from active business. He was for many years identified with the industrial inter-
ests of Montgomery County as a skillful mechanic and as a practical farmer, and he has been promi- nent in the management of its public affairs as an incumbent of some of its most important offices.
Mr. Nicholson was born December 1, 1811, in Jessamine County, Ky., but his life has been passed in this state since he was four months old, his age when his parents came hither to found a pioneer home in the wilderness. His father was Benja- min Nicholson, a Virginian by birth and a Ken- tuckian by breeding, as he was but a small hoy when his parents settled in Woodford County, Ky., of which they were among the earliest pioneers. When Benjamin was a young man his father removed with his family to Jessamine County, in the same state, and there he was married to Miss Jemima Starr, who was the daughter of a German who died in coming across the ocean to this conn- try.
Mr. Nicholson continued to live in Jessamine County some two or three years after marriage, and then migrated to this state in the spring of 1812. He became one of the first pioneers of Washington County, and during the exciting times of the War of 1812 he and his family lived in a fort for two years. He bought land that was in a perfectly wild condition, and in the busy years that followed was actively employed in clearing and improving it, and was one of the successful farmers of the county. He died in 1848, leaving behind him a sound record as a man and a citizen. His wife departed this life in 1830. They had eight children, three of whom are still living: David D., Martha Catherine, widow of Noble Calloway, and William M., who lives in Washington County.
Hon. David D. Nicholson grew to manhood in Washington County, and managed to secure a very good education, although the schools of the day were poor. He remained with his father until he was nineteen years old, and then left home to learn the trade of a gunsmith, at which he worked several years. From Washington County he went to Putnam County, where he engaged at his trade and opened up some land that his father had bought. Two years later he left there, and in the spring of 1837 he came to Ladoga, and this has been his home for the past fifty five years. He
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opened a gun shop and a smithy, and until within ten or fifteen years has devoted himself to mechan- ical pursuits. He then bought a farm of one bun- dred and twenty acres near town, and engaged in its improvement. At the age of seventy-five he ยท retired from business altogether, and is spending the declining years of a long and honorable life in cheerful contentment, at his ease, in the enjoyment of an ampleincome, which is the fruit of his diligent and well-directed labors in years gone by.
Mr. Nicholson was married in 1832 to Miss Elizabeth Fleener, a daughter of John Fleener, who was a prominent pioneer of Washington Coun- ty. He was one of the first to settle within its borders, and on his land was a fort during the War of 1812. Mrs. Nicholson died in 1875 after a wedded life that extended ever a period of forty- three years, in which she had been all that a true wife could be to her husband, and a faithful mother to her children. They all hold her in grateful remembrance. She was a sincere Christian, as was shown in her every-day life, and she was a member of the Missionary Baptist Church. Of the seven children born to her and our subject all grew to maturity, and these six are living: Benjamin, a blacksmith in Ladoga; John, an engineer, also residing at Ladoga; William, a general mechanic at Ladoga; Oliver, who works at heading barrels at Ladoga; Reece, a farmer, who is living with his father, and Amanda, who died at the age of thirty, and was the wife of Benjamin F. Williams.
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