USA > Indiana > Grant County > Fairmount > The making of a township, being an account of the early settlement and subsequent development of Fairmount Township, Grant County, Indiana, 1829 to 1917, based upon data secured by personal interviews, from numerous communications > Part 17
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At the age of twenty-two William J. Leach was employed by Henry Harvey, then Township Trustee, to teach the winter term of school at Sugar Grove. As an evidence of the economical habits formed in early life, Mr. Leach now has in his possession, in the shape of a $2.50 gold piece, a part of the first money he ever earned, which was paid to him by Henry Harvey.
CLAUD LEACH
A former Fairmount Township man, member of the well known pioneer family of that name, now a prosper- ous farmer of Delaware County and Trustee of Washington Township.
In 1855, led by William H. H. Reeder, who had energetically ad- vocated the improvement, the first effort was made to drain the big sloughs of the Leach neighborhood by the construction of ditches lead- ing to Barren Creek, and in this work Mr. Leach, as a boy, had a part. In the winter of 1863 he split about five thousand rails. It was by means of the hardest kind of la- bor that he gained his first start in life.
All his life William J. Leach has been a prominent factor in the de- velopment of his neighborhood, and it is largely due to his untiring efforts and his ceaseless enterprise that the town of Fowlerton was built. Throughout his long and busy career he has, in season and out of season, with his influence, his energy and his purse, supported every well-directed movement which promised to redound to the advantage of the people of his community and of his Township, even doing so at times when it resulted in personal and financial sacrifice.
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20I
William Leach and Descendants.
Mr. and Mrs. Leach reside at Fowlerton, where they live in comfort amidst the friends and descendants of many who were his associates in his young manhood, enjoying the surroundings of his earlier activities and the scenes of his boyhood, blessed with a full measure of content- ment and happiness, which he richly deserves in the evening of a life well lived.
CHAPTER XIX.
AN INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE.
J TONATHAN P. WINSLOW, active promoter for many years of all movements tending to benefit Fairmount and surrounding com- munity, was a farmer and merchant. He was born in Randolph County, North Carolina, June 1I, 1818, and died at his home in Fair- mount, August 18, 1899. His pa- ternal grandparents were William and Quinea Winslow, and his ma- ternal grandparents were Jona- than and Mary Phelps. Jonathan P. Winslow was a son of Hardy G. Winslow, who was born in North Carolina August 15, 1791, and died December 30. 1871 : the mother. Christina ( Phelps) Wins- low, was born in North Carolina, August 8. 1793. and died June 21, 1861. Hardy G. and Christina ( Phelps) Winslow were the par- ents of twelve children, namely : Mary, Martha, William, Jonathan P .. Thomas, Quinea. Jesse, James. Alison, Hilkiah. Griffin and Eliza, all deceased except the youngest, Eliza Walker, who still resides in JONATHAN P. WINSLOW North Carolina. Jonathan P. Winslow was educated at New Garden Boarding School, now Guilford College, North Carolina. He first came to Fairmount Township in 1840, when he was twenty-one years of age, driving the horses and carriage for Dougan Clark, an uncle of Jane ( Henley ) Winslow. Dougan Clark, accompanied by his wife. Asenath, both recognized ministers in the Friends Church, visited most of the Friends meetings in the United States, traveling either on horseback or by carriage. Dougan and Asenath Clark were the par- ents of Dr. Dougan Clark, of Richmond, and Nathan Clark, of West- field, ministers in the Friends Church, both now deceased. On his
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An Influential People.
visit to Indiana Jonathan P. Winslow remained in Fairmount Town- ship a few months and worked for Daniel Winslow and Matthew Winslow, who owned farms on Back Creek. He worked at splitting rails and as a farm hand. He helped to make the shingles that cov- ered the old brick meeting house at Back Creek. He was reared in a Methodist home in North Carolina, but as a matter of religious convic- tion joined the Friends at Back Creek, September 19. 1840, during his brief stay here. The same year he returned to his native State and attended New Garden Boarding School. He afterward taught the Oak Grove school, in the neighborhood where he was reared. This was the first term of school Sarah (Stewart) Luther, of Fairmount. ever attended. In politics he voted the Whig ticket until the formation of the Republican party. In 1884 he left the Republican party and supported Governor John P. St. John, Prohibition candidate for Pres- ident. He was loyal and enthusiastic in his support of this party until his death.
In 1843, at the age of twenty-five years, the subject of this sketch was united in marriage to Jane Henley, at Back Creek, North Carolina. She, too, was reared a Methodist. but united with the Friends when a young woman. Jane Henley was born in Randolph County. North Carolina. May 12, 1823, and died May 17, 1908. Her parents were Esquire John Henley, born Janu- ary 3. 1793, and died February 18. 1854, and Margaret (Clark) Hen- ley, born February 7. 1794, and died during the Civil War. They were the parents of nine children. namely: Martha, William, Henry, Jane, Mary, Thomas, Rebecca, Alexander and John, all deceased except John. Jonathan P. and Jane (Henley) Winslow were the par- ents of eight children, namely : Mary M., Margaret L., Thomas J .. Martha J., William Clark. John Henley, Joseph A. and Oreanna E. JANE (HENLEY) WINSLOW Mary married Jesse Bogue ; Margaret married Enoch Beals ; Thomas left Fairmount in 1864 for the Civil War, and never returned ; Martha
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The Making of a Township.
married Henry M. Shugart : William married Adeline Patterson ; John died at the age of forty years, unmarried ; Joseph married Margaret Gurnea, and Ora married Webster J. Winslow.
By hard work and economy, which continued to characterize their lives, they succeeded in gaining a competency. The first $1,000 they saved, however, had to go to pay security for a friend. With un- daunted courage they kept right on, owned different farms and held stock in the Union Factory cotton mills. Just before the Civil War broke out he disposed of his business interests at High Point, being at that time a partner with Sewall Farlow in the mercantile line, and owning a half interest in the brick hotel at that place. This hotel was subsequently converted into a female seminary.
Having always cherished a desire to return to the North, he, with his wife and seven children, started in the spring of 1860 to their future home. They came via Baltimore, Chesapeake Bay, Cincinnati, Rich- mond and Anderson, thence by stage coach, driven by H. Walker Winslow to Fairmount. Arriv- ing at Fairmount, then a very small village, they met a warm re- ception at the home of Seth Wins- low, corner of Main and Wash- ington Streets, where the Borrey block now stands. Until a house could be procured they found most hospitable entertainment at the homes of the Winslows, Wilsons. Rushes and Thomases. They soon located in a house on North Main Street, the only vacant one to be found, now owned by Isaiah Jay, who purchased it of Dr. J. W. Patterson.
PALMER WINSLOW
Son of W. C. Winslow and grandson of Jonathan P. and Jane (Henley) Winslow, is a native of Fairmount Township. He is president and man- Mr. Winslow soon opened a general store on South Main Street, afterwards locating at the ager of the Winslow Glass Company, corner of Main and Washington located at Columbus, Ohio. Mr. Winslow is one of the best known manufacturers in the country, and has amassed a fortune. Streets, later building the two- story brick building now owned by John Flanagan. He purchased
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An Influential People.
forty acres of land of David and Elizabeth Stanfield. This land ex- tended from what is now Walnut Street east to the Big Four railroad and south of Washington Street to the fair grounds, all of which is included in the town of Fairmount. In 1861 they burned the brick and that summer built the house in which he and his wife continued to reside until their deaths. The youngest daughter, Oreanna E. Winslow, with her husband, Webster J. Winslow, continue to reside in the old homestead, which was left as a part of her inheritance. Out of a family of eight children, four sons and four daughters, only three survive,
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JONATHAN P. WINSLOW HOMESTEAD (East Washington Street)
Now owned and occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Webster Winslow. Mrs. Ora E. Winslow is a daughter of Jonathan P. Winslow, who came into possession of the property as an inheritance.
namely : Mary M. Bogue, of Fairmount ; Joseph A., of Ontario, Ore- gon, and Ora E. Winslow.
The grandparents of Mrs. Jane (Henley) Winslow on her father's side were John Henley and Keziah Nixon, who were also the paternal grandparents of Dr. Alpheus Henley. Her grandparents on her mother's side were William Clark and Eleanor (Nellie) Dougan. William Clark was a captain in the Revolutionary War. He lived to a ripe old age, but ever regretted the fact of having taken human life, although the cause for which he fought seemed a just one. The spectacles worn by William Clark are in the possession of the Winslow family and are prized by them as an heirloom of Revolutionary times.
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The Making of a Township.
Nixon Winslow, farmer and banker, humanitarian in principle and in practice, benevolent in his tendencies and by inclination a com- munity builder, was born in Randolph County, North Carolina, June 28, 1831, and died at his home in Fairmount, May 23, 1910. His pater- nal grandparents were Henry and Elizabeth Winslow and his maternal grandparents were John and Lydia Bogue. He was a son of Thomas Winslow, born July 14, 1795. and Martha ( Bogue) Winslow, born August 30. 1805. Thomas and Martha Winslow were parents of six children, namely. Nixon, John, Nancy, Peninah, Charles and David, all deceased. Nixon Winslow came with his parents to Fairmount Town- ship in 1836, when he was five years old. He was educated in the com- mon schools of the log-cabin period, when reading, writing and arithme- tic were about the extent of the mental training received. At twenty- one years of age he began to carve out a fortune of his own. His first investment was the purchase of eighty acres of land, bought with money earned at hard labor. He kept adding to this possession until at one time he had acquired over five hundred acres. He was Presi- dent of the Citizens Exchange Bank from 1893 to 1909, being a heavy stockholder in this institu- tion. In politics he was affiliated with the Republican party, in later life identifying himself with the Prohibitionists. He was, all his life. a member of the Friends Church, being for many years an elder. During the Civil War he was drafted, but faithful to the principles of the Society of Friends NIXON WINSLOW and true to the doctrines of his forefathers, he paid $300 rather than enter the army. His wife's maiden name was Cynthia Ann Jay, born in Miami County, Ohio, May 5. 1832. Her parents were Denny and Mary Jay, he born April 24, 1809, and she on January 18, 1809. Their children were Susan Ratliff, Cynthia A. Winslow. Keturah Rush, Elisha J. Jay, Elvira Small. Jesse Jay, Thomas Ellwood Jay, David A. Jay, Mary J. Nixon, Denny Jay and Lambert B. Jay. October 25, 1854. Nixon Winslow and Cynthia Ann Jay were married at Jonesboro. To this
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An Influential People.
union seven children were born: Luvenia, February 24, 1856, married John Kelsay ; Webster J .. January 15, 1858, married Mary Jean, and after her death was wedded to Ora E. Winslow : Mary Ella. October 31, 1859, unmarried and at home with her mother ; T. Denny, October 28, 1861, married Anna Ellis : Ancil, December 29, 1864, married Ida Elliott ; Clinton, June 1, 1869, married Myrtle Ellis, and Marcus A., September 24. 1871, who passed away July 12. 1874. The sons and daughters of this esteemed couple all reside in Fairmount and the sur- rounding community.
John Kelsay and wife are parents of seven children, three now liv- ing, namely, Guy Kelsay, of Anderson, and Oren and Mary, at home. Webster and first wife had three children, one living. Mrs. Will Jones. Denny and wife had four, three living ; Ancil and wife, two, and Clin- ton and wife, one.
Nixon and Cynthia Winslow lived together fifty-six years, were life-long Friends, and all their children are members of this de- nomination. There are ten liv- ing grandchildren and sixteen great-grandchildren. If record- ed in detail the good deeds of this worthy man and wife would fill many columns. It is enough to say that they built wisely and well in their own day and gener- ation. The example of their 110- ble lives will be an inspiration to those who follow in the years to come.
Levi Winslow, son of Henry Winslow and grandson of Jo- seph Winslow. was born in Fair- mount Township on July 20, 1836. Levi Winslow remembers the old log meeting house which was the place of worship for Friends until 1841. when the red- brick structure was ready for use. Joseph Winslow sat at the LEVI WINSLOW head of the meeting for many years. He was a Quaker of the strictest sort, very plain in manner and dress. Levi Winslow lives near Jonesboro,
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The Making of a Township.
on the farm formerly owned by the late Jack Winslow, who was a son of Thomas Winslow, another pioneer. In early life Levi Winslow was a carpenter and has helped to build many of the homes still standing in this Township. He is a member of the Society of Friends, and attends services as often as health will permit.
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CHAPTER XX.
CAPT. DAVID L. PAYNE.
C 1 YAPT. DAVID L. PAYNE was the son of William and Celia ( Lewis) Payne, who lived four miles east of Fairmount.
Payne received a rudimentary education in the schools of his boy- hood days. Perhaps no other man born and reared in Fairmount Township attained to such distinction in frontier work and in the building up of the great West as did Captain Payne. He was as dashing and picturesque in real life as he was in his personal appear- ance. Long after he had departed for the West he continued to make visits periodically to his old home. He was born in 1836.
Gabrille Havens, who remembers Payne quite well as a small boy, relates that he was precocious, witty, and possessed an abundance of initiative.
THE WILLIAM PAYNE HOMESTEAD
Located about two miles southwest of Fowlerton. In the foreground of the above picture is shown Trustee David G. Lewis, a nephew of the pioneer. It was on this farm that Capt. David L. Payne was born and reared to manhood. William Payne was born in Georgia. He was a farmer throughout his life. He had a common school education. He was a close observer and a strict disciplinarian. The original homestead comprised one hundred and twenty acres, entered in 1835. In politics William Payne was a Democrat. He was
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The Making of a Township.
a member of the Methodist Church, and attended services at Sugar Grove. His wife was Celia Lewis, sister of David Lewis. Mrs. Payne was a native of Franklin County, Indiana. William and Celia Payne were the parents of ten children, namely: Jack, Morgan L., James G.," Wesley, David L., John, Allen W., Margaret, William and Jennie. William Payne died at his home September 10, 1875. Celia, his wife, passed away May 16, 1870. Their re- mains lie in the Fankboner Graveyard, where rest all that is mortal of many of their relatives and friends of pioneer days.
It is related that in the early day a plant had been discovered over on the river that was good for rheumatism, which in that time was a common complaint. Payne had a little touch of rheumatism, and when it was suggested one day that he try the new remedy he replied that it would not do for him, though it might be good for others, as he had understood that the medicine was a Payne killer, and he wanted to live a long while yet.
Mrs. George W. Bowers was among Payne's early teachers. Cap- tain Payne and John W. Furnish, who until recently resided at Jones- boro, were intimate boyhood friends. Furnish is a grandson of Ben- jamin F. Furnish, well known as a pioneer associate judge of the Circuit Court.
Furnish relates that his first acquaintance with Payne was formed when they attended a school taught by William H. H. Reeder in John Brewer's kitchen, about the winter of 1851-1852. There were about twenty other children in attendance at this school.
In 1859, having secured what was for that day a fair education, Payne, accompanied by his brother, Jack, went West and located in
*Henry Elsberry Payne was born in Fairmount Township on October 10. 1862. His paternal grandparents were William and Celia (Lewis) Payne. His maternal grandparents were Henry and Mary (Parsons) Osborn. James G. and Louisa J. (Osborn) Payne, the father and mother, were both natives of Fairmount Township, the former born in 1832, and died November 28. 1877, and the latter, born April 22, 1833, died October 16, 1915. James G. and Louisa J. Payne were the parents of nine children, namely: Amanda, Henry E., W. Zimri, David L., Emma O., Joseph C., Minnie M., Mark and James G., Jr. H. E. Payne was educated in the common schools of Fair- mount Township. From boyhood he has always worked on a farm, and with such industry and ability has he applied himself that today he is the owner of seventy-two acres of good land, situated three miles southeast of Fairmount. He is a stockholder of the Citizens Telephone Company. In politics he is a Prohibitionist, and his church affiliations are with the Meth- odist Protestant denomination. He has been honored by his party friends with the nomination for Township Trustee, polling the full strength of his party, with many accessions from other political organizations. He also has been frequently called upon to act as administrator and executor of estates, thus attesting to his sound business judgment and absolute integ- rity. February 20, 1884, he was married to Miss Effie C. Smith, born in Fairmount Township June 7. 1863, and a daughter of Roland and Nancy ( Hasting) Smith. Mr. and Mrs. Payne are the parents of six children, namely: Myrtle, deceased; Stella, Wessie. Lucille, Nellie and Madeline. Myrtle, who married Will Leach, died October 27. 1910.
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Capt. David L. Payne.
Brown County, Kansas. He took part in the Border-Ruffian War in 1859-1860, in Kansas and Missouri.
In 1861, upon the outbreak of the Civil War, he enlisted in the Seventh Kansas Cavalry. During his service in this command Payne distinguished himself by his courageous conduct and was promptly promoted to the rank of captain. He was with General Fremont in the latter's operations through the West, and was serving under Colonel Sullivan at the time Sullivan was in pursuit of Price in Missouri. Colonel Sullivan was killed at Springfield in a hot engagement.
After the Civil War Payne went with the command of Gen. George Custer and fought the fierce Comanche Indians with that brave officer through Kansas and Colorado.
In 1865, having returned to his Kansas home, Payne was elected from Brown County to the Kansas State Legislature.
In 1870, having taken up his residence in Sedgwick County, he was elected Senator from this county in the State Legislature.
In 1881 Captain Payne con- ceived the idea of starting an agi- tation for the opening of Okla- homa Territory to settlement. It was at this time that Furnish was called by Payne to the position of private secretary. Payne caused to be printed and circulated many thousand bills and circulars .an- nouncing his purpose to open Oklahoma to settlement. Payne stated in his circulars that he would locate parties on the land, and proceeded to form a stock company for the purpose of secur- ing the necessary funds with which to push his enterprise. Headquarters were established at Wichita. The shares were sold at five dollars each. About three CAPT. DAVID L. PAYNE thousand different investors became interested in the movement, and in 1883, headed by Payne, these stockholders moved into the Terri- tory. Captain Payne, Couch, Smith and two other leaders of the colo-
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The Making of a Township.
nists, were promptly arrested by the Government police and taken to Fft. Smith. Payne offered no resistance to the orders of the Territorial police, and quietly instructed his people to calmly submit to lawful authority.
The arrest of Payne, Couch and Smith had the desired effect. Payne's purpose was to start an agitation which would create a senti- ment favorable to his project. Events which followed later showed his calculations to have been correct. He was at no time hostile to the Government. He always recognized the right of properly constituted authority to eject his people from the Territory, but it was his firm con- viction that Oklahoma should be opened to the public for settlement. and he was impressed with the idea that already this important step had too long been deferred by the Government. A few days after Payne and his comrades were taken to Ft. Smith they were released.
Returning to Wichita. Payne again renewed his agitation, and was again organizing his following for another entry into the Territory. Before the expedition began its march. Payne had prepared a plat for the location of Oklahoma City. Entering the Territory again in 1883. Captain Payne was promptly arrested. The Government police took into custody ten or twenty of the leaders, and they, with Payne, were confined in the prison at Ft. Smith.
Being again released, Payne organized the third expedition for the trip into the Territory. Again he was seized and sent to Ft. Smith. this time for thirty days, when he was released under bond.
Returning again to Wichita, he began once more to organize a company for another invasion. His headquarters were changed to Wellington. Kansas. Before his plans were fully completed for the fourth effort to reach Oklahoma he died suddenly in 1884 at his hotel in Wellington.
During this prolonged fight, which covered a period equal to the duration of the Civil War, Captain Payne became a National figure. Ile had the sympathy and support of many followers in various parts of the United States.
His printing press, on which he printed the first newspaper ever published in Oklahoma, was seized by the authorities and thrown into the Chickaskia River. It is related that he was once chained behind a slowly moving ox-cart and compelled to walk the entire distance across eastern Oklahoma to Ft. Smith.
In a short time final action was taken by the Government for the opening of the Territory. Had Payne lived to see the Territory thrown
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Capt. David L. Payne.
open to settlement, he would undoubtedly have been elected Governor or one of the first United States Senators from Oklahoma.
Captain Payne was a natural orator of great magnetism and con- siderable power. His language, though not of the finest quality, was nevertheless logical and convincing. His power over men was rarely equaled. He was liberal to a fault. No worthy person ever appealed to him in vain for financial assistance. He was a friend of the poor. In the West, when he was in the midst of his tempestuous career, he was · known among the people as "Ox-Heart" Payne. He was always con- siderate and courteous to all with whom he came in contact. In his personal relations he was always a gentleman, never quarrelsome or rude, and it is said that he was never known to take part in an argu- ment of any kind.
Mr. Furnish. Payne's secretary, who gave the writer these facts, served three years in the Thirty-fourth Indiana Infantry during the Civil War under Col. Ab Steele. Furnish lost his left arm while in the service, at Algiers, Louisiana.
The writer is indebted to William Z. Payne, nephew of Captain Payne, for the following very interesting narrative written by E. C. Cole, an intimate friend and follower of Captain Payne. The story was printed first in book form, in 1885, and is replete with illustrations showing the camp life and the many daring exploits in which Captain Payne had a leading part. Mr. Cole says :
"With the recent death of the Hon. David L. Payne, the great inter- est already agitating the people, and in fact the whole world on both sides of the Atlantic-the Oklahoma country and the Indian Territory -is increased tenfold. That the great mass of the people are crazed over this most beautiful country is no wonder to the average man of today.
"Among the statesmen, soldiers, and pioneers, David L. Payne's 、 name stands foremost in the history of this country-Oklahoma. His sterling qualities, his faithful friendship, unwavering in devotion and constant as a polar star, have endeared him to those who knew hint best. Who ever spent an hour in his friendly company without feel- ing his life's burdens as a feather? Conscious that you were with one whom you were proud to call your friend-a convivial compan- ion, and a true gentleman in every sense that the word implies. Rude- ness and vulgarity were never a portion of your entertainment in his company. His camp was your home ; his noble heart your solace. He had the generosity of a prince. His purse was ever open in behalf of those around him who were more in need than himself. When
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