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 72
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 72
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 72
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Martha, wife of David Payton, of Crawfordsville; Mary, a resident of Ripley Township; and George and Rebecca, twins, the former of whom is a farmer in Vermilion County, Ill., and the latter the wife of Mr. Grubbs, of this township. Will- iam died September 22, 1878, and Jennie in 1884.
Robert W. Stump was reared principally in Union Township, where he has since built up a comfortable home of his own. He lived with his father until he was twenty-three years old, and on his father's well-managed farm he learned the principles of agriculture. After his marriage he took his bride to live on the old homestead, where they remained until 1891, and then they moved into the new and fine-looking house that Mr. Stump erected in the summer of that year. He has a fine farm of one hundred and forty-one acres of land of great fertility, which he cultivates after the most approved methods, and has it stocked with a fine class of stock, including registered Po- land-China hogs, of which he has a fine large herd.
Mr. Stump was married August 6, 1871, to Miss Laurinda Payton, in whom he has one of the best of wives. Mrs. Stump is a daughter of Charles L. Payton, who came to this State from Ken- tucky in 1836, and cast in his fortune with the pioneers of Montgomery County. He was form- erly a farmer of Brown Township, but is now a resident of Union Township. He married Cath- erine Reynolds, whose people also came from Ken- tucky, and by her he had twelve children, as fol- lows: Charles W., born September 8, 1839; Mary E., July 5, 1841; David, June 16, 1844; Laurinda A., April 1, 1846; Isaac W., July 22, 1848; Isa- bel, February 9, 1851; Franklin P., March 4, 1853; Lewis N., April 13, 1855; Susan E., May 31, 1857; Stephen II., May 27, 1860; Harry, Oc- tober 2, 1862; and Catherine R., February 9, 1864. Mrs. Stump's grandfather, Charles Payton, was born in Virginia, while her grandmother, Mrs. Nancy (Rice) Payton, was born in Louisville, Ky.
Mr. and Mrs. Stump are people of genuine merit, who are highly esteemed by their neighbors and associates, and the Baptist Church finds in them two of its most useful members, zealous in pro- moting the growth of both the church and Sun- day-school. Mr. Stump officiates as Deacon. He
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RESIDENCE OF THOMAS PAYTON, SEC. 21. GREENE TP. PARKE CO. IND.
"BEECH PARK." RES. OF ROBERT W. STUMP, SEC.27. SOUTH UNION TP. MONTGOMERY CO. IND.
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is a member of the Farmers' Mutual Benefit Asso- ciation, and is Treasurer of the Horse Thief De- tective Association in this township. Politically, he is a full-fledged Democrat.
HOMAS PAYTON, one of the well-to-do and enterprising agriculturists of Greene Township, Parke County, owns a substan- tial residence, which he erected at a cost of about $3,000 on his fine farm, which is situated on sec- tion 21. He is engaged in mixed farming, keeps a first-class variety of stock of all kinds, raises thorough-bred Poland-China hogs, and has some very good horses. Mr. Payton is much interested in the success of the Democratic party, has filled the office of Committeeman of the township, and has been a delegate to the State, and also to Congres- sional conventions.
The paternal grandfather of our subject grew up with Gen. Washington. He was a soldier in the War of the Revolution, taking part in nearly all the battles, and was an officer under the great commander, who was his personal friend. He was a man of more than usual ability and intelligence, pursuing the avocation of a school teacher the greater part of his life, and died shortly after the demise of Gen. Washington.
Our subject's father, Anthony, was born in the Old Dominion in 1801, and removed with his par- ents to Kentucky in his early youth. In that State he married Miss Margaret, daughter of Mark Wallingford, who was an early settler of the Blue Grass region. To this worthy couple were born four children while in Kentucky, and in 1828 the family removed to Indiana, settling in Greene Township, Parke County, on section 22, where the father rented a farm for four years. In 1831 he located near Bellmore, in Union Township, where he entered land. lIe was one of the first settlers of the township, and he at once commenced pil- ing brush and clearing a place to raise food for his family, and so diligently did he work that before
the spring had passed five acres were ready for the seed. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Payton in this county. Only four of the family are now living, viz .: Mrs. Julina Lewis, of Boone County, Ind .; James F., a resident of Greene Town- ship; John L., of Sullivan County, Ind .; and our subject. The father, who was a member of the Pre- destinarian Baptist Church, died in October, 1853. His wife, who held the same faith, survived her husband nearly half a century, her death oc- curring in December, 1882. Mr. Payton was a strong Democrat, and actively interested in the welfare of this region, to the development of which he contributed in no small measure.
Thomas Payton was educated in the public schools of Parke County, where his birth occurred on the 12th of May, 1832. He lived with his father until his marriage, on May 6, 1852, with Miss Martha Ann Stout, who was born in Kentucky September 12, 1833. Her father, James Stout, em- igrated to this State from the Blue Grass region in 1834, locating in Union Township, where he resided until his death in May, 1889. He entered land of the Government, opened up a farm, and in time became the owner of several hundred acres. His wife was formerly Rhoda Maddox, and by her marriage she became the mother of seven children. Those living are Mrs. Payton; Mary Jane Connolly, who lives in Union Township; William P. and James O., who live in the same place; Sara E. (deceased); and Rebecca F., Mrs. John A. Rush, who lives in Iowa.
After his marriage, Mr. Payton located in Union Township, where he rented land for five years, and then purchased one hundred acres in the same township. This was in 1858 and he at once moved to the farm on which he lived for seven years, then removing to his present farm. At first he owned one hundred and twenty acres of this place, to which in 1875 he added fifty acres more. For about thirty years he has been engaged in carrying on this farm, which is now one of the most desirable in the township. Mr. Payton is a man of considerable mechanical genius, and in Angust, 1891, he constructed an appliance which, by means of an hydraulic ram and tanks, furnishes water for his stock in all parts of the farm.
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Of the ten children of our subject, eight still survive. James A. is a fruit-grower, raising lem- ons, oranges, etc., in California, and is doing well; Mary F. is the wife of Jacob Collings, who lives in this township; William Il. lives in New Market, Montgomery County, Ind .; Sarah J., wife of Rob- ert Laffolette, lives near Raeeoon Station, Mont- gomery County; Naney J., wife of Samuel W. Jar- vis, a farmer, lives in Putnam County; Ella lives at home and has taught musie for six years, prior to which she pursued her musical education for two years at Terre Haute, under Prof. Zobel; Ora is attending the commercial college at Terre Haute, and is preparing for a mercantile life; and Homer, now sixteen years of age, lives at home and will soon graduate from the public schools. The two deceased children of our subject are George W., who died when about one year old; and John A., whose death occurred when ten years of age.
The pleasant home of the Payton family is one of the best in the county, and, unlike the usual residences of farmers, is thoroughly warmed in all parts of the building during the winter season. Mr. Payton is a member of the Predestinarian Baptist Church, attending Mount Moriah Chapel, to which his wife also belongs. He is quite a mu- sician and leads the singing of the choir. It is safe to say that few men in this region are more honored and respected than is the gentleman of whom this is a brief life record.
ILLIAM L. MOFFETT, farmer and stock- raiser, is numbered among the most useful and estimable citizens of Fountain Coun- ty, of which he is a native. Ile is pursuing his calling on seetion 28, Cain Township, where he has a farm of one hundred. and eighty acres of land, which by extensive drainage, there being six or seven hundred rods of tiling on the place, and by careful cultivation by methods best adapted to
the soil, has been brought to its present high state of productiveness, making it one of the most fruitful farms in the neighborhood. The buildings are of a good elass and are all well kept up, and everything around this pleasant homestead has an air of thrift and excellent management. Mr. Mof- fett devotes it to general farming, and has it well stocked with a stock of standard breeds.
Our subject was born October 18, 1841, on the old family home place in Jackson Township, and is a son of one of the earliest settlers of the coun- ty, llenry Moffett, who was a prominent and in- fluential citizen of this part of Indiana for many years. When he was a very small boy, Henry Moffett's parents had taken him with them from their old home in the State of New York to Tennessee, whence they emigrated to Fayette Coun- ty, this State, when he was thirteen years old. Four years later the family came to Fountain County, where the father entered Government land in Jackson Township as early as 1827. The grandfather of our subject died a few years after coming here, and his land fell to Henry Moffett, who energetically took up the work his father laid down. He married Rebecca Glover, the daughter of a prominent pioneer farmer of Foun- tain County, and located on the old homestead, where the remainder of his life was passed. lle became prominent in the public life of the county, and much of the county business was intrusted to his eare. At the time of his demise he held the office of County Commissioner, which he had filled seven years, that being his third term. Hle was a leader among the Democrats of his township, and exerted a wholesome influence in locat politics. He was a man of high religious principles, who earnestly sought the good of the community of which he was so important a member. Hle he- longed to the Christian Church, of which he was Deacon, and bore an active part in the establish- ment of the Scott Prairie Church as one of its charter members.
Mr. Moffett began life in Indiana in a log cabin, with a puncheon floor, and from humble circum- stanees rose to a position of wealth among his neighbors. Ile was a sound and energetie farmer, and he left a valuable farm of one hundred and
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twenty acres, which he had developed by persis- tent and well-directed toil. He and his good wife were the parents of nine children, six of whom grew to maturity ; two died in infancy, and Zachar- iah died at the age of seven years of milk sickness. The children living are Thomas, who is engaged in the drug business at Crawfordsville; Martha, who lives with our subject; James, who is in the banking business at Covington; Christiana Eliza- beth, wife of Thomas Austor, a carpenter and con- tractor of Anderson; Winfield Scott, a resident of Crawfordsville, and the Prosecuting Attorney of Montgomery County; and William L., of whom we write.
Our subject received a very good practical education in the public schools of his native township, which he attended until he was past the age of twenty-one years, his first experience at school being in a little log schoolhouse char- acteristic of pioneer times, with its low ceiling and slab seats. When he attained his majority he adopted the profession of teacher for a while and taught successfully six winters. After his marriage he resided with his father-in-law three years, that is on the farm, and then took up his abode on the place where he now lives, and where he has since given himself to agricultural pursuits, with the exception of some eighteen months, when he was engaged in business as a merchant at Ilills- boro. He is a popular and well-known man, standing well as a shrewd, progressive farmer, as a citizen who has the best interests of the commu- nity at heart, and as a considerate neighbor. He encourages the organization of societies for the protection of man's property, for the preser- vation of law and order, and for the advance- ment of the interests of his fellow-farmers. He is a member of the National Horse Thief Detective Association, and is President of the Fountain County Association, organized for the same pur- pose. He also occupies the same position with re- gard to the Farmers' Mutual Benefit Association. He is a Democrat, with decided views on political questions, and is one of the leaders of the party in his own county. He is a conscientious and valued member of the Christian Church, being a charter member of Ingersoll Chapel, and for sixteen years
he has held the office of Elder and Leader, hav- ing been a member since 1857.
Mr. Moffett is blessed with a good and true wife, who bore the maiden name of Mattie Cade. She is a daughter of Henry Cade, who was a prominent citizen and an early settler of Cain Township, where his father had located land when Henry was thirteen years old. Her parents, who were natives of Ohio, were the parents of five children, four liv- ing. The mother's maiden name was Harriet Mc- Broom and she and her husband arc both deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Moffett have three children, namely: Harriet, the wife of Manson Wilkinson, who lives on her father's farm; and Rebecca and Henry, who are at home with their parents. The wife of onr subject is a member of the Christian Church, she having become a member at fourteen years of age; the children belong to the same church.
R EV. DANIEL S. KALLEY was one of the earliest settlers of Parke County, owning a farm on section 33, Union Township, and having been for many years a travel- ing preacher of the United Brethren Church. Our subject, than whom none is held in higher respect or is more worthy of the esteem which is accorded him, was born in Raccoon Township, Parke County, May 21, 1828. His father, Newell Kalley, a native of Onondaga County, N. Y., was born in 1804, while his paternal grandfather, Daniel, was a native of Ireland. He came in his young manhood to Am- erica, first locating in New York State, thence re- moving to Ohio, and becoming one of the early settlers of this county. He located in Raccoon Township, where he entered land, built a log house and improved the farm. He was a soldier in the War of the Revolution and a thoroughly patriotic citizen of his adopted land. He died on the old homestead, having attained a good old age. Our subject's mother, whose maiden name was Susannah Smith, died when he was a lad of seven years.
Soon after the parents of our subject were mar-
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ried they located on a farm in Raccoon Township, where they resided for a short time, and in 1832 removed to the place which is now the home of our subject, which land they took up from the Government. They first built a log cabin, 16x18 feet. The parents both died on the old homestead, the father at the age of fifty-one years and the mother at the age of twenty-four. They had a family of five children, three sons and two daugh- ters. One died when fifteen years of age, the others growing to maturity. In this family Mr. Kalley of this sketch is the eldest son and second child. His schooling was obtained in the early subscription log schoolhouse, the windows of which were of greased paper. He remained with his father, who was married a second time, Miss Sarah Nevins being the lady of his choice, by whom he had two children. One died in infancy, and the other, George, died in manhood.
On January 10, 1850, was celebrated the mar- riage of Mr. Kalley and Margaret B. Shaw, daugh- ter of William B. and Jane (McCorkle) Shaw. Mrs. Kalley was born twenty miles from the city of Charleston, N. C., August 24, 1825. Her father was also a native of the same State, where he fol- lowed the trade of a blacksmith and was also en- gaged in farming. His father, in turn, whose name was William, was of Irish descent, and was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. Mrs. Kalley's mother was a native of South Carolina and a daughter of Stephen M. McCorkle, who was a far- mer in Pennsylvania. After his marriage Mr. Kalley located in the southern part of the town- ship, where he now resides, renting a farm, but soon purchased the old homestead which he now owns. He carried on farming until 1869, his attention be- ing solely claimed by his agricultural duties, but at that date he commenced preaching in the Uni- ted Brethren Church, traveling in the interests of that denomination for seven years, during which time he conducted successfully many meetings. He has preached one hundred and forty-three fun- eral sermons, and has pronounced the marriage ceremony for one hundred and forty-one couples. In temperance work he has always been very strong, and as a man is above reproach, as he has never used tobacco or liquor in any form. For
ten years he has been Assessor of Union Township. In 1880 he started an apiary, and in 1886 collected twenty-one hundred pounds of honey from thirty- five colonies. Mr. and Mrs. Kalley have two daughters: America, the wife of G. W. Martin, a general farmer of Union Township, by whom she has two living children; and Sarah K., who died at the age of two years and ten months. In poli- tics Mr. Kalley is a Prohibitionist.
W P. BLAKE, a leading agriculturist of Parke County, owns two fine farms in Union Township, one of one hundred and seventy-seven acres on section 16, and his home farm on section 19 has one hundred and fifty- seven acres within its boundaries. He is a practi- cal farmer, and has made a success of his various ventures. His well-tilled, fertile fields yield to him an abundant income in return for the care and attention lie bestows upon them.
Our subject is a native son of this county, hav- ing been born in the same township where his home is located, on January 28, 1837. His par- ents are Charles L. and Barbara (Miller) Blake, the former born in Greene County, Ohio, March 4, 1809, and the latter in Franklin County of the same State, on September 4, 1816. Jolm Blake, our subject's paternal grandfather, was a native of Maryland, a hatter by trade, and of Irish descent. In 1823 he took up land from the Government in this county, to which he removed his family. He hewed the logs for a primitive cabin, and cleared his farm, which was thickly timbered. Our sub- ject's maternal grandfather, Daniel, was a native of Virginia, and of Dutch descent. Charles L. Blake was called from this life in 1878. He was laid to rest by the side of his wife, who died in 1864. They were the parents of eight children, two sons and six daughters, our subject being the second in order of birth. He attended the primi- tive log schoolhouse of former years, and resided with his parents until arriving at man's estate.
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On February 20, 1862, Mr. Blake married Louisa McGilvrey, by whom he had three sons and three daughters, viz .: Charles W .; George S .; Mary E., now the wife of L. F. Moore; Cora E., wife of Charles Nevins; William P .; and Sarah E., de- ceased. On December 19, 1877, Mr. Blake and Mary E. Jack were united in marriage. Mrs. Blake was born October 16, 1838, in Greene Township, this county, being a daughter of James H. Jack, a native of Ohio, where he was an early settler, lo- cating there in 1825. Mrs. Blake's mother, whose maiden name was Mary Sellers, was born in Ohio, and first married J. II. Blake, having one child, Minnie S., now deceased, by that union.
Mr. Blake located in Adams Township, where he owned one hundred and twenty acres of farm land, remaining on that place until 1869, when he removed to one in Union Township. This he en- gaged in cultivating until 1878, when he came to his present valuable farm, which has since been his lome. In the late war Mr. Blake came nobly to the defense of the Stars and Stripes, becoming a member of Company D, Seventy-eighth Indiana Infantry. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, belonging to Scott Post at Portland Mills. In his political faith he is a stanch Repub- lican.
L EVI WILCOX, who owns a large and well- managed farm on section 8, Ripley Town- ship, is an old citizen of this section, who is well known and favorably spoken of throughout Montgomery County. Ile was born in Butler Coun- ty, Ohio, in 1823, into the pioneer home of Peter Wilcox. When a lad of ten years, his father, who was a native of Maryland, came with his family to this county, in 1833, as one of its pioneers. Ile bought land from the Government east of the pres- ent village of Yountsville, and at the time of his death, in 1878, he owned a large and well-improved farm. He had three sons and two daughters. Daniel, the eldest, married Mary Ann, the daugh-
ter of Conrad Smith; Mary, who was born May 29, 1827, was married first to William Causer, who died, and she then became the wife of Conrad
. Smith; Susanna, who was born March 15, 1832, died April 8, 1875, in Illinois; Jolin, a farmer, was born September 29, 1834; and our subject completes the family.
Our subject has given his attention to agricul- ture from his early youth and has made it a prof- itable pursuit. After his marriage in 1852, he rented land for farming purposes two miles south of Crawfordsville. A year later he purchased eighty acres of land of Robert Smith, paying $20 an acre for it. He resided upon that place ten years, and then bought his farm in Ripley Town- ship, upon which he has since lived. It is of goodly dimensions, the soil is rich and well tilled, and much of it is admirably adapted for grazing purposes, and a fine class of stock is raised in its pastures. The buildings are substantial and well kept, and ample machinery lightens the labor of the farm.
Mr. Wileox was married in 1852 to Miss Ella Smith, a daughter of Robert and Ilannah Smith and a granddaughter of Robert Smith, a native of North Carolina, and a Revolutionary soldier. Mrs. Wilcox had two brothers and two sisters, all of whom were born in Ohio, namely: lliram, the eldest; Elizabeth, deceased; Joseph, who married Martha Goss; and Margaret, who married Warren Davis, and resides four miles south of Crawfords- ville. Mr. and Mrs. Wilcox have had seven children, as follows: Alice, born January 15, 1853, and mar- ried in 1878 to James Gilty, of Ripley Township; Howard, who was born in 1855, married Miss Lula Derawll, and died in 1890 from the effects of a gunshot wound; Hannah, who was born January 11, 1859, and married Joseph Taylor, of this town- ship; Mary, who was born April 6, 1861, and is the wife of William Clark, of Crawfordsville; Os- car, who was born May 1, 1863, married Julia Iloleman, and died February 13, 1891; Dora, who was born July 5, 1865, and is the wife of Charles Mecker, a commercial traveler, and a resident of La Fayette; and Lanra, who is the wife of Charles Watterbury, a commercial traveler, residing in Crawfordsville,
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Mr. Wilcox is a man of good habits and char- acter, and he and his estimable wife are worthy of the esteem accorded to them. Ile gives cheer- fully of his means in support of the church and all good objects that are brought under his notice. Politically, he is found with the Democrats.
Sinee the above was written Mrs. Wilcox has been called henee, her death occurring October 25, 1892.
P ETER M. LAYTON. The stranger who for the first time visits Fountain County and drives upon a pleasant summer morning along the smooth roads of Troy Township will not fail to pause with admiration at the beau- tiful homestead on section 10, the property of the subject of this notice. Fields of waving grain meet the eye on every hand, while a commodi- ous residence and substantial farm buildings form the foreground of the pleasant scene. The house, a model of its kind, was erected in 1879, and contains seventeen rooms, furnished throughout with the most exquisite taste.
The owner of this property is a native of New York and was born in 1832. llis father, John Layton, was born in New Jersey, and at an early age displayed the qualities of thrift which soon led to prosperity in his chosen occupation-that of a farmer. Ile became the owner of two hun- dred and four acres of well-improved land, which through his exertions was brought to a high state of cultivation, with the exception of a small tract. For many years he filled the responsible position of Superintendent of the Poor of Broome County, N. Y., and his death in 1814 was mourned alike by rich and poor as an irreparable loss. Ile was survived by his widow, a native of Vermont, and known in her maidenhood as Esther Moody. Iler death occurred at the ripe old age of ninety- seven.
It was during the year 1853 that the subject of this biography came to Fountain County, Ind., and embarked in business as a blacksmith. From his
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