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 67
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 67
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 67
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
W ILLIAM J. ARMSTRONG. Parke Coun- ty contains a large number of finely-im- proved farms whose broad and well-tilled acres prove the thrift and enterprise of the owners. One of these is the tract of one hun- dred and thirty acres lying on Section 15, Adams Township, and is the property of Mr. Armstrong, by whom it has been brought to a high state of cultivation. Numerous outbuildings, adapted to their varied purposes, have been erected, and the latest farming implements may be seen here. General farming and stock-raising are carried on with commendable success, and the farm justly ranks among the best in the township.
Stephen Armstrong, father of our subject, was in many respects a remarkable man, and may well claim the attention of the reader for a short time. Born in Mercer County, Ky., February 8, 1797, he was the son of Alexander Armstrong, a native of Rockbridge County, Va. The last-named came to Kentucky in company with the famous pioneer, Daniel Boone, and settled at Ft. McApee, Mercer County, where he engaged in hunting and afterward followed farming pursuits. In those early days it was necessary to fight the Indiaus constantly, in order to retain possession of the land, and Alexander Armstrong became a noted Indian fighter. He was also a soldier in the Revo- lutionary War, having served for five years under Gen. Washington.
Alexander and Abigail (Arnold) Armstrong be- came the parents of eight children who grew to manhood and womanhood. After residing in Kentucky for many years, they removed to Indiaun and located in Monroe County, where Mr. Armstrong entered land from the Government. That place remained his home until death termi- nated his useful existence. His eldest son, John, served in Col. Dick Johnson's regiment in the War of 1812. His father-in law, John Arnold, was also a soldier and served as Colonel in the War of the Revolution under Gen. Washington.
From Mercer County, Ky., Stephen Armstrong accompanied his father to Monroe County, Ind. Later he returned to his old Kentucky home, and was there married to Miss Polly Weatherford, who was the eldest of twelve children born to Jackson
Weatherford. She was born in Mercer County, May 4, 1807, and became the wife of Mr. Arm- strong, August 22, 1827. Immediately after their marriage. they came to Indiana and located in Washington Township. Parke County, where he had entered Government land. The newly estab- lished home was in the midst of the wilderness, neighbors were few, and the land was wholly un- improved, scarcely a furrow having been turned in the soil. The land which Mr. Armstrong entered from the Government consisted of the southeast quarter of Section 14, and there he remained un- til his death, at which time he was the owner of about two hundred acres.
The parental family consisted of ten children, of whom six grew to maturity, and two are now liv- ing, our subject, and Agnes, wife of D. C. Sey- bold, of Parke County. The deceased are, Martha, Mrs. Connerly; James, Minerva, who was formerly the wife of Mr. Paton; Mary, Mrs. McClure, Ham ilton, Alexander, and two others. The mother of this family still survives, being now about four score years old, and makes her home with our sub- ject. Although advanced in years, she retains possession of her mental faculties and her health is still good. She has the distinction of being one of the oldest (if not, indeed, the oldest) settler of Parke County now living.
Our subject was born in Washington Township, Parke Connty, Ind., September 15, 1829, and spent his early years upon the farm which his father had entered from the Government. He aided in clearing the land and remained at home until about twenty-six years old, when he worked at building houses and barns in Washington Town- ship, continuing thus occupied for seven years. March 22, 1866, he married Miss Emmalie C. Goosey, who was born in Mississippi. Her father Pierce Goosey, was an extensive planter of that state. After the surrender of Vicksburg she wns a refugee and came to make her home with the family of her uncle Henry Rogers.
After residing upon the old homestead until 1879, our subject removed to Tennessee, where he engaged in farming for three years. He then re- turned to Parke County and settled upon the farm where he has since resided. He and his wife are
1
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the parents of six children, namely: James, a resi- dent of Mississippi, Henry, Stephen, George, Herman and Agnes, who are at home. During the Civil War, our subject enlisted as a member of Company D, Seventy-Eighth Indiana Infantry, and was in active service for two months of 1863, ยท but suffered imprisonment at Uniontown and upon being paroled, returned home. Politically he is a Democrat and socially is identified with the Masonic Order. The soil of his farm is very rich, being mostly bottom land. There may now be seen on exhibition at the court-house in Rock- ville a pair of elk horns, which were found at some depth in the ground on the Armstrong farm, a fact which proves that the land has been gradually filled in by the accumulation of soil deposited by the water.
R OBERT CATTERSON, whose home is on Section 14, Sugar Creek Township, Parke County, has been a resident of this state since his eleventh year and has passed over forty years of his life in Parke County in the same township which is still his place of abode. He is one of the many examples this country affords of the man, who, starting out in life without means has overcome the hindrances which are ever found in the pathway leading to success and has only used such obstacles as stepping stones to some- thing higher.
The birth of our subject occurred in Henry County, Kentucky, in the year 1832, his parents being Robert and Mary (Pettett) Catterson. Grand- father James Catterson was born in Donegal, Ire- Iand, where he was reared to manhood and mar- ried. He was a farmer by occupation and his means being limited he determined to try his fort- unes in the New World. Accordingly, about 1790, he came to America, settling at once in Kentucky. Robert Catterson was born in Ireland about 1790 and was only two months old when his parents took passage in a sailing vessel bound for the United States. He was brought up near Lexing- ton, Kentucky. He was one of the following chil- dren: Patrick, James, William, Sarah, Elizabeth and Jennie.
Being ambitious as a student, our subject's father, by close application and industry, prepared himself as a teacher, which calling he followed more or less all his life. For many terms he taught for $12.00 per month. He was only about eighteen years old when he married, his wife being three years his junior. They had ten children: James, Hiram, Robert, William, John, Berry, George, Rachel, Sarah and Ruth. George received severe injuries, from the effects of which he died, by falling into the old-fashioned open fire-place. About the year 1843 Robert Catterson, Sr., with his family removed to Montgomery County, Indi- ana, and a few years later made a home in Sugar Creek Township, where he passed the remainder of his life. When not engaged in teaching he devoted himself to agricultural pursuits. He served for six months in the War of 1812, fighting under Gen. Jackson. He was a Jacksonian Dem- ocrat and, fraternally, a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons in Kentucky. He died in the faith of the Missionary Baptist Church, June 3, 1847, aged sixty-two years.
Remaining under the parental roof until his eighteenth year our subject then went to work for neighboring farmers at 25 cents per day. At length he ventured on renting a farm and finally by econ- omy and industry was able to buy sixty acres of partly cleared land. Following his father's exam- ple he was only eighteen years old when he mar- ried; Miss Jane Woman, who was a native of Kentucky, becoming his wife. His possessions at the time amounted to only a gun and a two-year old colt, while his wife had only her clothes. The first spring after renting the farm our subject cleared eighteen acres which he sowed with corn and the next spring raised a wheat crop that nearly paid for the place. From that time his success seemed assured and he now is the owner of four hundred and ten acres, over two hundred of which he has cleared himself. He has met with a great many reverses, losing considerable by going as security on others' bonds and once had five hun- dred dollars stolen from him.
Two brothers of our subject were in the Mexican War, namely: Hiram and William; the latter died in the City of Mexico with the yellow fever, while
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Hiram returned home and then joined the regular army. He afterward went to Oregon where he spent five years and then took a position on the mail service in California at $100 a trip and was supposed to have been killed by Indians.
In May, 1875, our subject's first wife died, leav- ing one child, William. He afterward married Miss Mary Hagan, by whom he had six children, namely: Cynthia A., Sarah J., Daniel V., Patrick H., Minnie A. and Zurilda. Politically our subject is a Democrat, and has held a number of local offices in the township. In former days he was very fond of hunting and won a reputation as a fox hunter second to none in the county.
**
W ILLIAM OVERTON STONE, M. D., of Rosedale, is so widely known that he needs no introduction to the reader. His lineage is distinguished, for on the pa- ternal side, his great-grandfather, Thomas Stone, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence; and on the maternal side, he traces his ancestry back to the famous Keyes family, of which Postmaster General Keyes is a prominent representative. The father of our subject, Henry Stone, was born in Virginia in 1803, the son of Samuel Stone, and by occupation was a contractor. He married Miss Martha T. Callis, who was likewise a native of the Okl Dominion.
The parental family consisted of three sous, as follows: Edgar, born March 3, 1830; Caius, October 12. 1831, and William O., January 4, 1834. Edgar is now an attorney at-law, and practices his profession in California; Caius is an enterprising farmer of Parke County. As was the custom in Southern families, our subject was nursed by a negro woman, owned by his father. Often now he alludes to his " old aunty" with the utmost reverence, and recalls clearly his sorrow at her death, which occurred when he was but six years old.
Until eighteen years old, our subject remained with his father, his time being occupied in the usual manner of farmer lads. At that age he came to Indiana, the journey being partly made
upon the only railroad in the state at that time, which ran from Madison to Indianapolis. After coming to this state he worked on a farm for three years, and then commenced the study of medicine with Dr. S. P. Clark, of Putnam County, with whom he remained for four years. He was gradu- ated from the medical department of the Louis- ville University and also from the Cincinnati Eclectic College.
The young Doctor located for the practice of his profession at Rosedale, where he at once opened an office. By steady persistence and pro- fessional skill he soon won a place among the most successful physicians and surgeons of the county, and his practice rapidly increased. He was united in marriage with Miss Minerva C., daughter of Jeremiah Durham, a native of Kentucky and a prominent farmer and stock-raiser. In his com- munity he was a potent factor in politics, and was firm in his adherence to Republican principles. Religiously he was a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. His death took place in 1881. Eleven years later occurred the demise of his wife, who was a lady of great lit- erary ability, and was beloved by all who knew her.
Mrs. Stone is a lady of talent and great execu- tive ability. She is a writer of note, her poetical works being widely read and appreciated for their lofty style, intrinsic worth and sweet sentiments. Her education is a splendid one, and has enabled her to greatly assist in the classical training of her children-two in number. The son, Edgar was born February 1, 1862, and was graduated from the Terre Haute Normal School. He now follows the occupation of a farmer in Sullivan County, Ind. He and his wife, whose maiden name was Della Riggs, are the parents of two daughters. The only daughter of our subject and his wife, Hattie O., was born October 12, 1870, and is a young lady of great musical ability, being R pro- ficient artist upon the piano and violin, as well as a soprano singer of note in the community. .
As a physician and surgeon Dr. Stone has been very successful, always busy, never indulging in a day's idleness, yet always ready to respond to all calls for his services to heal the sick and afflicted.
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
As a financier he has showed great ability, and in addition to his property in Rosedale, he is the owner of a fine grain and stock farm in Sullivan County, Ind. This place consists of three hun- dred and twenty acres, and contains an orchard of forty acres, also good buildings and first-class im- provements. As a horse fancier, the Doctor is well known, and he has a fine stock of "Wilkes" and "Mambrino" thorough-bred horses, which are too well known to require any comment. He is a regular exhibitor at all horse shows, fairs, etc., and his stock has been awarded its share of prizes.
Politically the Doctor is a conservative Demo- crat, and socially he is a member of the Masonic Order and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In his professional career he is widely known as a writer of authority upon various diseases and their treatment, his papers having been published in many of the medical journals. However, the Doctor remarks that " after thirty-six years of the practice of medicine, I have come to the conclusion that the practice of medicine is a humbug, but the practice of surgery is a science." He intends to retire permanently from the labors of his profes- sion, and will devote his remaining days to the enjoyments of home and family.
**********
A BRAHAM C. SWITZER, residing on Sec- tion 29, Wayne Township, represents one of the old pioneer families of Montgomery County, of which he is a native, and he holds an honorable position among its most suc- cessful farmers and stock raisers. He was born in 1831 on the old homestead when this part of the country was but newly settled and he grew up amid pioneer environments. He is a descendant of the sturdy Swiss people, his grandfather, Ab- raham Switzer, having been a native of Switzer- land. During some period of his life he migrated to this country, and settling in Pennsylvania, there met and married Elizabeth Grant, a cousin of General Grant. They were blessed with nine children, namely: Polly, who was born in 1798;
Peter G., in 1801; Sally, in 1803; James, in 1805; John, in 1807; Elizabeth, in 1810; one in 1813; Julia, in 1815, and Miranda, in 1819. Abraham Switzer was a farmer and pursued that occupation in Pennsylvania and Kentucky until his removal to this state in a wagon with his family in 1828. He purchased a tract of forest covered land of Mr. Moore and settled upon it. He also bought land around Greencastle. He died on the old homestead in 1840 at an advanced age.
The father of our subject was born during the residence of his parents in Kentucky. He accom- panied them in their migration through the inter- vening wilderness to this county, and in the years that immediately followed assisted his father in the improvement of the farm. He received bnt little material aid from him aside from his heritage of eighty acres. He continued to make his home on the old homestead and in time became one of the most prosperous farmers of the township, ac- cumulating a valuable property by his energy and careful management, and when he died he was the owner of six hundred and forty eight acres of choice land, all in a fine state of cultivation and well improved. He married Mary Donelson, a native of Ireland and a daughter of Walter Donel- son, and they had the following children: William, a resident of Waynetown, who was born in 1829 and married a Miss Bunnell; our subject; John, who was born in 1832 and married a Miss Stout; Elsie, who was born in 1837, married John Vaughn, and died in 1869; Isabel, who was born in 1842, and is now the wife of Alexander McClure, a team- ster in Waynetown; Nathan, a resident of this township, who was born in 1834 and married a Miss Bunnell.
When Abraham C. Switzer of this biographical review first started out in life he worked farms on shares, and in that way accumulated sufficient means to buy some eighty acres of land, which he placed under cultivation by diligent and unremit- ting toil, and added to it other land by further purchase, and his farm now comprises two hun- dred and forty acres of as fertile and well tilled land as is to be found in this locality, and it may well be his pride that he has earned it himself. A good system of drainage has increased the pro-
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ductiveness of the soil, one hundred rods of tiling having been put in at a cost of a thousand dollars. A fine set of buildings adds greatly to the attract- iveness of the place, including a very handsome residence, elegant in its appointments and archi- tecture, which was erected at a cost of twelve thou- sand dollars. Mr. Switzer raises grain and is also extensively interested in breeding stock. He has some beautiful horses and a magnificent stallion, of fine build, standing sixteen and one-half hands high and weighing fifteen hundred pounds, which he bought of Mr. Neffer, of Danville, for two thousand dollars.
Our subject's first wife died in 1890, leaving two sons-George G., who was born in 1869, was edu- cated at Wesley, married Miss lda Barnett, and resides on the homestead, and Daniel, who was born in 1875, and is a student at Wesley. Mr. Switzer was married to his present wife, formerly Lucy Suthern, in 1892.
Mr. Switzer is a veteran of the late war, a vol- unteer in the Tenth Indiana Infantry, and his honorable war record is commemorated by his membership in Post No. 70, Grand Army of the Republic, at Crawfordsville. In politics he votes with the Republicans. He belongs to the Horse Thief Detective Association, and he favors what- ever will protect the interests of the farmer. Re- ligiously he is a member of the Methodist Church at Wesley, is active in the Sunday-school, is generous in his contributions to the support of the Gospel, and has the interests of the church deeply at heart.
***
W ILLIAM N. ENSEY was one of the Union's brave defenders in the late Civil War and took part in many important engagements. For nearly fifteen years he has been engaged in business in the village of Judson, Washington Township, Parke County, where he carries from one thousand to fifteen hundred dollars worth of groceries and queens- ware.
Our subject was born in Russellville, Montgom- ery County, Ind., in 1843, being a son of the Hon.
Samuel T. and Elizabeth (Harris) Ensey. The former was the eldest son of Jolin and Sarah Ensey, who were both natives of Ohio, the father born in Dayton. He was a school-teacher throughout his entire life. Our subject's father was born January 15, 1811. His boyhood was spent in attending the common school, where his father was a teach- er, and in his youth he worked in a brick-yard at the princely salary of four dollars a month. In 1832, having reached his majority, he took the contract for making the brick for the Shelby County, Ohio, court-house, this being his first large business transaction. The brick, one hundred and fifty thousand in number, he molded with his own hands, and also burned them in the kiln. In the fall of the same year he began learning the tailor's trade, which he followed until he had become com- petent in that line. His first trip as a journeyman was in 1834, and in that occupation he continued until 1843, being located at various points. It was in 1839 that he was stationed at Russellville, which was his home for several years. In 1843 he entered into partnership with James McGann in the dry-goods business, which they ran for about two years. At the end of that time Mr. Ensey became a resident of Annapolis, Parke County, where he entered the same business on his own account, and from that time forward he was one of the leading merchants of that vicinity, his trade extending over a large field and embrac- ing various kinds of merchandise, including grain and farm produce. For the latter he found a market in New Orleans, conveying the same thither in flat-boats.
It was in the fifties that Mr. Ensey became largely interested in Illinois lands and was mainly instrumental in the organization of Douglas County, and improving as well as locating the county seat at Tuscola, near which place his prop- erty was located. As an evidence of the high re- gard in which he was held, the citizens of that place have named one of the principal streets in his honor.
When the note of alarm was sounded in 1861, President Lincoln's proclamation calling for seventy-five thousand volunteers, Mr. Ensey being too old a man for service in the field, was one of
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the first, however, to respond, and by his deter- mined energy and love of country rendered much more effective service at home than he could have done in the field. He took the stump, and by his eloquence and the ardor which he infused into his fellow-citizens he assisted in filling company after company and sending them to the front, not spar- ing even his own sous, two of whom were in the army. But his services did not stop here; he gave up his money and goods, and when told that "our boys " on Green river were suffering for clothing the Government at that time was unable to supply, he boxed up and sent at his own expense clothing and blankets from his stock of merchandise. His interest in the soldiers and his efforts in behalf of the Government never flagged, but with that un- tiring energy which is the most marked trait of his character he persisted in his efforts until the dawn of better days.
In 1854 Vermillion County (one of those com- prising the senatorial district in which he lived), nominated Mr. Ensey for the State Senate, and called upon his own county to ratify the same. Parke County responded promptly in the affirm- ative, and he was triumphantly elected. His career as a Senator was chiefly marked for the prom- inent part he took in support of the Bank Bill and the Maine Liquor Law. Mr. Ensey was always active in local and state politics, often attending their conventions. In the Republican State Con- vention in 1854, which was the first one of the party in Indiana, he was a member of the Com- mittee on Resolutions. In the matter of public improvements no man has done more, as he has always responded to the best of his ability, not only with his voice and influence, but with his money. On the fourth of March, 1841, Mr. Ensey married Elizabeth Harris, of Montgomery County, to whom was born eleven children.
At the age of seventeen years William N. Ensey started forth in his life career by first going to the defense of the old flag. He became a member of Company I, Thirty-first Indiana, in 1861 under Gen. Crittenden, and fought in the following battles and engagements: Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Stone River, where he was wounded in the right arm and right knee, Resaca, Chicamanga, Atlanta, and many minor skirmishes of that campaign. He
received an honorable discharge at Chattanooga in 1864 and returned home. His education was that of the district school, supplemented by a two- years' course at the Bloomingdale, Ind., Acad- emy. After coming home in 1864 he entered a general store at Annapolis as salesman, was later employed in the same capacity at Terre Haute until 1879, when he removed to his present place of business, having continued successfully ever since at this stand.
At Hardeysburgh, in 1868, occurred the mar- riage of our subject with Miss Phoebe J., daughter of Joseph Russell. Mrs. Ensey was born in How- ard, Parke County, her father being the original builder of the Russell Mills of this county. Three children came to bless the home of our worthy subject and his estimable wife: Orrin V., who died at the age of eighteen years; Newton Hallow, whose death occurred October 14, 1888, aged five years, and Clayton R., who attended the Danville schools for three years and is now telegraph oper- ator at Wellington, Ill. He was married July 4, 1892, to Miss Clauda Starks.
Mr. Ensey is a member of Howard Lodge, No. 71, in I. O. O. F. of Rockville, with which he has been connected for twenty years. He is also a charter member of Morton Post, No. 1, G. A. R., of Terre Haute. It hardly needs to be told that our subject is a loyal Republican, and though not desirous of official positions, he has served his fellow-citizens as Notary Public for the past two years.
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