Delaware County, Indiana - Sidelights on Local History, 1924 (part 11 of 21)

HARRY RICHARDSON WYSOR, manager of the Wysor Grand Opera House and of the varied Wysor interests at Muncie, is a native son of Muncie and has resided in that city all his life, though of late years much of his time has been spent in California, where he not only has interests but where he finds the climate during the winter months much more to his liking than that of Indiana winters.. Mr. Wysor was born on April 8, 1858, and is the only surviving son of Jacob Henry and Sarah (Richardson) Wysor, who in their generation were among the most helpful and influential personal factors in the upbuilding of Muncie. The late Jacob Henry Wysor, whose name runs like a continuing thread through the annals of Delaware county since the 'year 1840, was a Virginian, born at or near the town of Dublin, in Montgomery (now Pulaski) county, Virginia, December 6, 1819, and was the son and only child of Jacob and Margaret (Miller) Wysor, both also natives of Virginia and members of Colonial families. Jacob Wysor, who was a soldier of the War of 1812, was a son of Henry Wysor, a commissioned officer in the Continental army during the war of the Revolution. He died just a short time before the birth of his son. His widow married John Guthrie and continued to make her home in Montgomery county (Virginia) until in 1834, when. the family came to Indiana and settled in the Smithfield neighborhood, in the eastern part of this county, Jacob Henry Wysor then being in his fifteenth year. Two or three years later the lad returned to Virginia to round out his schooling, giving particular attention to business forms. Thus equipped he returned to Delaware county and in 1841, he then attaining his ma- jority, he opened a general store in Muncietown, making a specialty of the dry goods and groceries lines of this business. He was just becoming well established in the mercantile business in the village when his store was destroyed by fire, entailing a practically total loss of his investments. Thus set back in his ambition to become a merchant, the young man took employment in the old Gilbert flour mill, the first of the pioneer industries in Muncietown, and after a few months of such employment leased the mill and began to operate it "on his own." In 1848, in association with John Jack and James L. Russey, Mr. Wysor bought this mill and continued actively engaged in the milling business until in 1849, when he became attracted by the possibilities then opening for gold seekers in California and, as is set out elsewhere in this work, became one of the considerable number of Delaware county men who went to the coast in quest of fortune. The captain of this party was Mr. Wysor's partner, the illfated James L. Russey, who, as is narrated elsewhere, was slain by Indians not long after his arrival there. Mr. Wysor remained in California for three years, his quest of fortune being moderately successful, and then returned to Muncie and resumed his milling operations, he and his remaining partner, John Jack, taking over the Russey interest in the mill. In 1854 Wysor & Jack erected the flour mill on North Walnut street which stood the storm and stress of more than sixty years and which, undergoing various stages of remodeling to meet changing conditions and various changes of management, carried on until the site it occupied was taken over a few years ago by the power plant people and the old industrial landmark was razed, as is narrated elsewhere in this work. Mr. Wysor retained his interest in this mill until his death and thus from pioneer days perhaps enjoyed a wider personal acquaintance than any other man in the county. But this was not his only interest. Successful in milling, he extended his operations along other lines and was from the start of his active career one of the leaders in all local development work. In the days of the building of the turnpikes he became one of the leading promoters of this means of bettering local transportation conditions and was the president of the Muncie & Granville Turnpike Company from its inception until it was liquidated upon the passing of the turnpikes to county control. He also was one of the active promoters of the movement which brought the first railroad to Muncie (the old "Bee Line') back in the early '50s and as other railways came this way continued to exert his influence in Muncie's behalf. With a clear vision of Muncie's possibilities

Mr. Wysor early became a considerable investor in real estate and as he realized on these foresighted investments extended his operations along other lines until by the time the new era dawned for Muncie with the opening of the natural gas "boom" in the late '80s, he -naturally occupied a foremost position in the industrial and commercial life of the town and was in a position, through his activities in connection with the commercial clubs of that period, the Citizens Enterprise Company and similar agencies, to promote in many ways the proper development of the city. With a true eye for the needs © of the people he had in 1872 erected at the valuable corner now occupied by the Wysor building, southwest corner of Main and Walnut streets, an opera house which was regarded at that time as one of the best fitted theaters in Indiana. Twenty years later, in 1892, keeping apace with the times, he erected the present Wysor Grand Opera House, southwest corner of Jackson and Mulberry streets. The public records and the newspaper files covering the period of Jacob Henry Wysor's many years of activity in Muncie reveal his name as having been identified with all important movements for the promotion of the town's interests. Upon three different occasions when the efforts of Muncie citizens to carry the city forward seemed doomed to failure and disappointment, Jacob Henry Wysor, by his courageous example put heart and renewed courage into the active workers that crowned their efforts with success. When the Enterprise fund was a practical failure Mr. Wysor increased his subscription four-fold, quickly followed by James Boyce, A. F. Patterson, George F. McCulloch and others, with increased subscriptions, which assured the fund. Again, when the stock of the old Natural Gas Company was about to be sold to out-of-town parties, Jacob Henry Wysor balked the move by buying the stock for home interests. And again during the panic of 1893, when one bank had closed its doors and a run was being made on the others, Jacob Henry Wysor headed a list of citizens guaranteeing against loss, every depositor in every bank in Muncie, a very interesting instance of the creation of community confidence set out at some length elsewhere in this work. In 1866 Mr. Wysor bought the old Goldsmith Gilbert home square, 418 North Walnut street, which was then known as the John Jack homestead, and which has been maintained since his death by his son Harry, now one of the most picturesque urban sites in eastern Indiana, and there spent his last days, his death occurring on January 18, 1905, he then being in his eighty-sixth year. His wife had predeceased him more than ten years, her death having occurred on November 6, 1893. It was on April 6, 1854, at Peru, Ind., that Jacob Henry Wysor was united in marriage to Sarah Richardson, who also was born in Virginia, a daughter of John and Martha Richardson, and to this union were born four children, Harry Richardson; Martha, who married William H. Marsh; Virginia, who died in her youth, and William H. Wysor, who died in 1894. Reared at Muncie, Harry Richardson Wysor completed his schooling in the old Smithson College at Logansport and from the days of his youth was an active factor in the operations of his father's milling and | other interests. In 1881 his father turned over to him the management of the old opera house and he ever since has given his attention largely to the interests thus involved, these interests naturally becoming much enlarged when the present Wysor Grand was erected. In 1906, the year following their father's death, Mr. Wysor and his sister, Mrs. Marsh, caused the old opera house site to be cleared and thereon erected the present Wysor building, one of the most complete office buildings in eastern Indiana. Mr. Wysor also has considerable other real estate interests in and about town. He is a Democrat, as was his father, and has rendered local public service as a member of the city council and as a member of the school board and served twelve years as a member of the board of park commissioners. He is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Improved Order of Red Men. In 1884 Harry Richardson Wysor was united in marriage to Jennie Kemper, who was born in Iowa, a daughter of William Kemper, and he and his wife have two children, Sarah, wife of Robert Carson, and Mary, wife of Howard Keefer. The Wysors reside in the picturesque old Wysor home at 418 North Walnut street. EDMUND J. HARMAN, a veteran farmer of Mt. Pleasant township and one of Delaware county's substantial landowners, residing on the Sycamore road, rural mail route No. 2, out of Daleville, is a native son of Delaware county and has lived here all his life, a period of nearly seventy years. Mr. Harman was born on a farm in Mt. Pleasant township on May 18, 1857, and is a son of John Wesley and Lavina (Van Matre) Harman, the latter of whom was born in the neighboring county of Henry in 1832, a daughter of James M. and Mary (Jones) VanMatre, who later became numbered among the pioneers of Mt. Pleasant township, this county. James M. VanMatre, who died in 1844, was a native of Clark county, Ohio, born in 1810. His widow survived him for nearly twenty years, her death occurring in 1863. She was born in what is now Fayette county, this state, in

1818, three years before Indiana was admitted to statehood. There is a large continuing connection of VanMatres in this county, the family having been represented here since settlement days, as is set out elsewhere in this work. The late John Wesley Harman, in his generation one of Delaware county's large landowners, was born in Maryland in 1829, a son of John and Elizabeth Harman, the former of whom was born in Germany in 1805. John Harman died in the early '30s, leaving: his widow with two small children. In 1833 she became a resident of Madison county, Ohio, and a few years later there married David Osborn, who in the late 30s moved over into Indiana with his family and after some time residence in Tipton county moved in 1844 to Delaware county and established his home in Salem township. John Wesley Harman thus was fifteen years of age when he became a resident of Delaware county. He was a hard worker and by the time he had attained his majority was able to buy a bit of land, his first land purchase being made in 1850. Two years later he married and established his home in, Mt. Pleasant township, starting his farming operations on rented land. Four years later by trading and "boot"? he became the owner of a tract of 120 acres in that township. His affairs prospered and he eventually became the owner of right around 600 acres of land. Edmund J. Harman grew up on the home farm in Mt. Pleasant township and all his life has been devoted to farming. He married at the age of nineteen and then began farming on his own account, his first purchase of land being a tract of 80 acres in his home township. As his affairs prospered Mr. Harman has added to this tract until now his home farm on the Sycamore road has 294 acres in it. Besides this he is the owner of a farm of 265 acres in Monroe county and his wife has an eighty-acre place in Madison county, these aggregate land holdings amounting to 639 acres.. Mr. Harman and his wife are Republicans and he is a member of the Improved Order of Red Men. It was on December 24, 1876, that Edmund J. Harman was united in marriage to California Goodpasture, also a member of one of the pioneer families of this county, daughter of Jesse Goodpasture and Louisa Kilgore, of Mt. Pleasant township, and to this union were born eleven children, Nellie (deceased), Addie, John W., Lavina, Clara, Grace, Edmund, J. Jr., Kearney, Edna (deceased) and two who died in infancy. Nellie Harman married Casper Chambers and died leaving three children, Florence, Roscoe and Rhoda. Addie Harman married John Q. Chambers and has three children, Mildred, George and Bertha. John W. . Harman married Pearl Plummer and has six children, Neal J., Sid- ney, Edmund J., Mabel, Mary and California. Lavina Harman married William Shockley and has seven children, Edmund, Thomas, William, Roxey, Juva, John and Mary. Clara Harman married Walter Pugsley and has one child, a son, Harman, and Grace Harman married Roy Schlagel and has three children, Robert, Don and Elizabeth. It thus will be seen that Mr. and Mrs. Harman have no fewer than twenty-three grandchildren. They also have two greatgrandchildren, a great-grandson born to Mildred (Chambers) Addison, and a great-granddaughter born to Florence (Chambers) Tuttle. Mrs. Harman's father, Jesse Goodpasture, was one of the gold seekers from this county who went to California in the early '50s of the past century and it was in tribute to that experience that she was given the name of California, a name also now borne by one of her granddaughters. JOHN T. CROMER, chairman of the Farmers Federation of Salem township and, a farmer and landowner of that township, proprietor of a well improved farm on rural mail route No. 2 out of Middletown, where he is specializing in pure bred Duroc Jersey hogs, is a native son of Delaware county, a member of one of the pioneer families of Salem township, and has lived here all his life. Mr. Cromer was born on the farm on which he is now living, in the Cross Roads neighborhood, February 17, 1883, and is a son of Rush Henry and Emma Frances (Sayford) Cromer, both born in that same township, the latter a daughter of the Rev. Samuel and Mary (Miller) Sayford, concerning whom further mention is made elsewhere in this work, the Rev. Samuel Sayford, who died in 1865, a minister of the Lutheran faith and a landowner in Salem township, having: been one of the best known men in that part of the county in his generation. Rush Henry Cromer was born in the Cross Roads neighborhood also, a son of Josiah and Mary (Schultz) Cromer, who were among the pioneers of that neighborhood, as is set out elsewhere. Rush Henry Cromer and his wife were the parents of five sons, those besides the subject of this sketch, the third in order of birth, being Oran W., C. Otis, Samuel S. and Myron E. Reared on the home farm in Salem township, John T. Cromer supplemented the schooling received in the Cross Roads school by two years of attendance at the Middletown high school and from the days of his boyhood was a helpful aid to his father on the farm. After his marriage he continued on. the home place, farming there for six years, at the end of which time he moved to the W. R. Landry farm, renting eighty acres there, and farmed that place for two years. He then took over the operation of another farm and continued farming on a rental basis until in 1921, when he moved back to the old home place and in the next year bought that "eighty" and has since been carrying on his operations as proprietor, giving particular attention to the raising of purebred Duroc Jersey hogs, feeding out about 125 head a year. Mr. Cromer is an up-to-date farmer and is the present chairman of the Salem township Farmers Federation. He is a Republican and he and his wife are members of the English Lutheran church. His grandparents, Josiah Cromer and wife, were among the charter members of that church. It was in 1906 that John T. Cromer was united in marriage to Grace Landrey, who also was born in that neighborhood, daughter of W. R. and Hannah Landrey, and to this union four children have been born, Eugene, Mary Jane, Harriet and Hannah. One of Mr. Cromer's maternal uncles, Augustus Sayford, lost his life in the battle of Port Gibson, Miss., while serving as a soldier of the Union during the Civil war, a member of Company H of the 69th regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry.

P. J. KAUTZMAN, trustee of Mt. Pleasant township and for nearly a quarter of a century the local agent for the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway Company (Big 4), a division of the great New York Central system, at Yorktown, is a native of the old Buckeye state, but has been a resident of Indiana and of Delaware county long enough to regard himself as much a Hoosier as any. Mr. Kautzman was born on a farm in the vicinity of the pleasant village of Rushylvania in the northeast part of Logan county, Ohio, September 29, 1872, and when seventeen years of age was graduated from the Rushylvania high school. He then, in 1890, entered upon a service for the Big 4 railroad which has continued ever since, a period of nearly thirty-five years. Beginning as a telegraph operator in the office of the Big 4 at Rushsylvania, Mr. Kautzman was transferred from one station to another of that railway company in Ohio until he became thoroughly familiar with the details of railway station work and then, in September, 1899, was made station agent for this railway, the historic old "Bee Line", at Yorktown, where he ever since has been stationed, one of the veterans of the Big 4's station service. Mr. Kautzman is a Republican. In 1918 he was elected trustee of Mt. Pleasant township and in November, 1922, was re-elected to that office and is thus now serving his second term as township trustee. In 1893 P. J. Kautzman married Etta Sutton, daughter of Dr. J. D. and Mattie Sutton, of Rushylvania, and he and his wife have two sons, Fareda and Thomas Kautzman, the latter of whom is now the live stock agent for the New York Central lines at Indianapolis. He married Glenith Yarger and has one child, a son, Thomas, Jr. Fareda Kautzman, now the agent for the Big 4 at Ft. Benjamin Harrison, married Lottie Hancock and has a son, Byron. P. J. Kautzman is a member of the local lodges of the Knights of Pythias and the Improved Order of Red Men at Yorktown.

REV. G. STANLEY McGAUGHEY, pastor of: the Christian church at Daleville and trustee of Salem township, was born on a farm in Putnam county, Indiana, December 29, 1868, and is a son of Jacob and Mary A. (Leonard) McGaughey, both of whom also were born in Indiana, members of pioneer families in Putnam county. Jacob A. McGaughey, a veteran of the Civil war, who is still living in that county, served four years as a soldier of the Union during the time of the Civil war, a member of Company I of the 49th regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry. Reared on the home farm in Putnam county, G. Stanley McGaughey was graduated from the normal school at Ladoga in the neighboring county of Montgomery and after teaching school a couple of years entered Wabash College at Crawfordsville, where he spent two years. He then resumed teaching, meantime carrying on his studies with a view to entering the gospel ministry, and two years later was made principal of the high school at Whitesville in Montgomery county, serving thus for two years, at the end of which time he became engaged as a teacher in the Bloomington schools. Meantime he had been ordained as a minister of the Christian church and during the two years of his service as a teacher at Bloomington he also served as pastor of the Christian church at that place. From this charge he was transferred to the church at Linton and after three years of service there accepted a call to the church at Palestine, Ill. Two years later he took charge of the church at Robinson, IIl., where he was stationed for four years and during which time he secured the erection of one of the best church buildings of the Christian communion in southern Illinois. Upon the conclusion of his ministry at Robinson he returned to Indiana and was for two years thereafter pastor of the church at Bicknell, going thence to the Eighth Christian church at Indianapolis and serving as pastor of that church for two years. During the stressful period of this country's participation in the, World war Mr. Mc- Gaughey' served as superintendent of the schools at Westport and as pastor of the church at that place, and then, in 1919, entered upon his present pasterate at Daleville, where he since has resided. Mr. Mc-

Gaughey has completed his course in Iowa Christian College and has received from that institution the degrees of Bachelor of Philosophy and Bachelor of Divinity. He is the present president of the county board of Christian churches. He is a Republican and in the November election, 1922, was elected trustee of Salem township and is now serving in that responsible office. He is a Freemason and is also affiliated with the Knights of Pythias. In 1891, at Croye's Creek, the Rev. G. Stanley McGaughey was united in marriage to Luella Johnson, daughter of the Rev. R. M. Johnson. Mr. and Mrs. McGaughey have two sons, Leslie and Otis, the latter of whom married Lena Castain and is now connected with the tax bureau at Indianapolis. Leslie McGaughey also is connected with the Indianapolis city administration, an assistant engineer in the department of sewer construction. He married Irma Parker and has one child, a daughter, Mary Louise McGaughey.

DR. JAMES M. QUICK, a'veteran of the World war with an officer's commission and a practicing physician at Muncie for the past twenty-five years, making a specialty of the treatment of diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat, was born on a farm in Harrison township, this county, February 16, 1871, and is a son of Joseph A. and Mary Eliza (Love) Quick, the latter of whom was born in Ireland and had come to this country with her parents in the days of her youth. The late Joseph A. Quick was born in the neighboring county of Henry, a son of John Quick, one of the pioneers of that county and who is said to have erected the first brick house erected in that county. Joseph A. Quick was a substantial farmer of Harrison township and for some time served as trustee of his home township. He took an earnest interest in school work and was one of the incorporators of the old Eastern Indiana Normal University at Muncie, elected treasurer of the association which projected that ambitious undertaking more than a quarter of a century ago. He died on June 13, 1918, at the age of seventy-four years, and his widow survived him . for nearly six years, her death occurring in February, 1919, she then being eighty years of age. They were members of the church of the Disciples of Christ and their children were reared in that faith. There were four of these children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the last born, the others being Elizabeth Josephine (deceased), Dr. John C. Quick, present mayor of the city of Muncie, and Mrs. Nettie J. McColm. Reared on the home farm, James M. Quick supplemented the schooling received in the local public schools by a course in the normal school at Valparaiso, Ind., and for four years was en- gaged in teaching school. Meanwhile he was giving his attention to preparatory studies in medicine and presently entered the Physio- Medical College at Indianapolis, from which he was graduated in 1898. Upon securing his diploma, Doctor Quick established an office for the practice of his profession at Muncie and has ever since been located there. Determining upon the special practice with reference to diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat, two years after setting up in practice the Doctor took a post-graduate course along these lines in Chicago in 1900 and has since given his chief attention to the treatment of these diseases, later taking further courses along these lines both in Chicago and in New York. The Doctor is a member of the Muncie Academy of Medicine, of the Delaware County Medical Society, of the Indiana State Medical Society and of the American Medical Association. He is a Knights Templar Mason, a member of the American Legion and a member of the local Kiwanis Club. In September, 1918, during the time of this country's participation in the World war, Doctor Quick enlisted his services in the medical corps of the army and was given a lieutenant's commission and assigned to duty at Camp Merritt, New Jersey. He later was attached to Debarkation Hospital No. 5 in New York city, with special detail respecting the treatment of diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat, and was in service until finally discharged on June 19, 1919, the war then being over. In 1900 Dr. James.M. Quick was united in marriage to Mary A. Spurgeon, daughter of Dr. W. A. and Elvira (Chrite) Spurgeon, of Muncie, and to this union two children have been born, sons both, William J. and Robert Quick, the latter of whom is a professional musician, now connected with the Bush Conservatory of Music, a violinist of much skill and a concert performer. William J. Quick is now a medical student in the University of Chicago, giving his special attention to diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat. Doctor and Mrs. Quick are members of the church of the Disciples of Christ.

JACOB N. BARNARD, former postmaster of Daleville, a former member of the Delaware county council, cashier of the Commercial Bank of Daleville and president of the Bank of Salem, is a native Hoosier and has lived in this state all his life, a resident of Delaware county and of Daleville for many years. Mr. Barnard was born in Fayette county, Indiana, April 3, 1860, and is a son of Sylvester and Lavina (Myer) Barnard, both of whom were born in Union county, this state, but had become residents of Fayette county in their youth, their respective parents having moved into this latter county. Syl- vester Barnard and Lavina Myer were married in Fayette county and remained there until in 1866, when they moved with their family over into Henry county and settled on a farm in the Spiceland neighborhood, later moving to Middletown, where they spent the remainder of their lives, her death occurring in 1908 and his, in 1914. Jacob N. Barnard was six years of age when his parents moved into Henry county and he grew to manhood there. In 1879 he began teaching school and was thus engaged during the winters, in the schools of Henry, Rush and Fayette counties, for ten years, meantime, in 1882, being graduated from the old Spiceland Academy of excellent memory. In 1889, following the opening of the natural gas field in this section of Indiana, Mr. Barnard became engaged in the mercantile business at Daleville and not long afterward, under appointment of President Harrison, was made postmaster of that village. Upon the completion of his four-year term as postmaster Mr. Barnard went back to Henry county and became engaged in the mercantile business at Middletown and was thus engaged for some years, or until in 1897, when he closed out his store and took up the real estate and insurance business at Middleton. He remained there until in 1902 when he returned to Daleville and promoted the organization of the Commercial Bank of Daleville, was made cashier of this bank and has ever since occupied that position, a banker now of more than twenty years' experience. It was on November 26, 1902, that the Commercial Bank of Daleville was formally organized, the organizers besides Mr. Barnard being Thomas B. Millikan, of Newcastle; F. L. Thornburgh, of Middletown; E. L. Elliott, of Middletown, and George O. Suman, of Daleville. The bank started out with a capitalization of $10,000, Mr. Suman president, Mr. Thornburgh vice president and Mr. Barnard cashier. In 1908, in order to comply with the provisions of the new law relating to private banks, this bank was reorganized and its capitalization raised to $12,000, additional stock being issued to J. M. Hancock, F. M. Boyer and J. P. Kendall. Mr. Suman resigned his position as head of the bank at that time and Mr. Hancock was elected president. In 1914 Mr. Suman sold his interest in the bank to the late Hardin Roads and not long afterward Mr. Boyer and Mr. Kendall sold their respective interests to Charles E. Bradfield and Mr. Roads, these transfers of stock, however, not affecting the majority ownership nor the officiary. Mr. Barnard still is cashier of the bank, Mr. Hancock is the president and Mr. Thornburgh the vice president. The capitalization of the bank is $12,000, the stock being divided into 120 shares. The resources of the bank ex- ceed $150,000 and it has a surplus in excess of $22,000. In 1915 Mr. Barnard assisted in the organization of the Bank of Selma and was elected president of that institution. He also was one of the organizers of the Yorktown Banking Company in 1908. He is a Republican and in addition to his public service as postmaster at Daleville under the Harrison administration served one term as a member of the county council. He is a past noble grand of the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and a past sachem of the lodge of the Improved Order of Red Men. Mr. Barnard married Carrie Richey and has two children, Evans and Marjorie.

WILLIAM B. PIERCE, former justice of the peace in and for Salem township, formerly and for years engaged in the blacksmith business at Cross Roads, a former drainage commissioner for Delaware county and now engaged in farming, proprietor of a well improved farm in Salem towship, residing on rural route No. 1 out of Daleville; is a native son of Delaware county, a member of one of the real pioneer families here, and has lived here all his life. Mr. Pierce was born on a farm in the Cross Roads neighborhood in Salem township, June 9, 1861, and is a son of Calaway and Ruanna (Goodpasture) Pierce; the latter of whom was born in Warren county, Ohio, a daughter of Solomon and Sally Goodpasture, and died at her home in this county in 1879. The late Calaway Pierce, who lived to be ninety-five years of age, was born in Montgomery county, Virginia, September 17, 1822, and was a son of Thomas and Susanna (Thompson) Pierce, both also native Virginians, the latter a daughter of John Thompson, a native of Scotland. Thomas Pierce, who was a soldier of the War of 1812, was born in Botetourt county, Virginia, in 1796, a son of Richard and Peggy (Knight) Pierce, who had come to this country in colonial days from England and the former of whom had served the colonists as a soldier of the Revolution. Though but sixteen years of age when the War of 1812 came on, Thomas Pierce succeeded in enlisting his services in behalf of the army in that struggle, and for this service received from the government a land warrant. After his marriage he made his home in Montgomery county, in that part of the Old Dominion now located in West Virginia, and remained there until in 1827, when he moved with his family to Warren county, Ohio, making his home there until in 1832, when he came over here into Indiana with his family and established his home on an uncleared tract of land in section 9 of Salem township, this county, where he developed a farm and where he spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring in 1859. His wife had pre- ceded him to the grave nearly twenty years, her death having occurred in 1840. Of the eleven children born to them eight grew to maturity, Calaway Pierce and his seven sisters, Malinda, Rebecca, Arminta, Amanda, Jane, Susanna and Eliza. As will be noted by a comparison of above dates, Calaway Pierce was but five years of age when his parents left Virginia for Ohio and he was ten when they left the latter state and came over here into the New Purchase and settled in Salem township, in this county. Here he grew to manhood, early learning the carpenter's trade, and for twenty years or more followed that vocation, his building operations being carried on over a wide area throughout the region in which he lived. He then, in 1859, bought the old Pierce home place of 120 acres and began farming, later moving into Mt. Pleasant township, but in 1867 moved back to Salem township and continued farming there until his retirement in 1891 and removal to Daleville, where his last days were spent, his death occurring in 1917, he then being thought, to be the oldest man in Delaware county. Calaway Pierce was twice married. By his first wife, Ruanna Goodpasture, to whom he: was married on June 11, 1849, he was the father of eight children, of whom but three are now living, the subject of this sketch having two brothers, Thomas and Calvin Pierce. Another brother, the late Walter Pierce, died in 1914. There were two other brothers, John, who met death in an accident when twelve years of age, and James, who died at the age of forty. There were two sisters, Mrs. Florence Dietrich, who died in 1888, and Mrs. Martha Bowers, who died in 1884. The mother of these children died in 1879 and in 1888 Calaway Pierce married Mrs. Matilda (Luce) McAllister, a native of Miami county, Ohio, daughter of Benjamin and Ann Ohio (Girrard): Luce and widow of Andrew Mc- Allister, a pioneer of Delaware county. This second wife died in 1912. Calaway Pierce was a Republican, a Freemason and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. William B. Pierce grew up | on the home farm in Salem township and received his schooling in the Cross Roads school (district No. 10). Until he was twenty-six years of age he continued working with his father on the farm and then, in 1887, set up a blacksmith shop at Cross Roads and started in business there, a vocation he followed for seventeen years, or until in 1904, when he bought a farm of fifty-five acres, the place on which he is now living in Salem township, and has since been engaged in farming, meanwhile having increased his land holdings until now he is the owner of a well kept farm of 180 acres. Mr. Pierce is a Democrat. For three years he rendered public service as drainage commissioner for Delaware county and for eight years he served as justice of the peace in and for his home township. In 1881 William B. Pierce married Mary L. McLain, daughter of William and Johanna (Clevenger) McLain, of Monroe township, and to this union eight children have been born, all of whom are living save one daughter, Ethel, the others being Earl, Fred, Kenneth, Carl, Lulu, Eva and Bertha, all of 'whom are married. Mr. and Mrs. Pierce have eleven grandchildren. Earl Pierce married Laura Davis and has one child, Marion. Fred Pierce married Daisy Heath. Kenneth Pierce married Bertha Hofherr, who died on April 2, 1924, and has three children, Freda, Edith 'and John Wm. Car] Pierce married Leda Minnick and has one child, Frances. Lulu Pierce married Homer Schafer and has one child, Mary Ann. Eva Pierce married Jesse Ross and has three children, Donald, Harry B. and Robert, and Bertha Pierce married 'Harry Fehrman and has two children, Boyce and Nina.

JESSE CLEVENGER, a veteran farmer and landowner of Salem township, residing on rural mail route No. 10 out of Muncie, was born on the farm on which he is now living and has lived there all his life. Mr. Clevenger was born on September 8, 1848, and is a son of Job and Elizabeth, (Bowers) Clevenger, the latter of whom was born in Virginia, a member of the Bowers family that became pioneers in Salem township, this county, in the '30s of the past century, she having been but a girl when her parents came here. Job Clevenger was born in New Jersey and was but a boy when his parents moved to Ohio and settled in Warren county, where he grew up, later coming to Delaware county where he married and established his home on the site now occupied by his son Jesse. This was an uncleared tract -at that time and he had to clear and develop the place. He started in a small way but as his affairs prospered he added to his holdings until he became the owner of a good farm of 240 acres, and there he spent the remainder of his life. Job Clevenger and wife were the parents of ten children, three of whom are still living, the subject of this sketch having a sister, Martha, and a brother, Benjamin Franklin Clevenger. Reared on the home farm in Salem township, Jesse Clevenger grew up familiar with the difficult details of developing a woodland farm. He received his schooling in the Davis school (district No. 9) and remained on the home farm, continuing to help develop and improve the same. After his father's death he and his brother Jacob, now deceased, took over the home place and Jesse 'Clevenger ever since has lived there, now the owner of a well improved farm of 100 acres, with a good set of buildings and a modern bungalow dwelling. Mr. Clevenger is a Republican and has rendered public service as assessor of his home township. Jesse Clevenger married Mrs. Henrietta -(Kabrich) Clark and he and his wife are members of the Tabor Christian church, of which he formerly was a deacon and is now an elder. Mrs. Clevenger is a daughter of the Rev. John M. and Eva M. (Fry) Kabrich, natives of Virginia, who in 1863 came to Indiana and located at Fairfield, in Franklin county, where they resided until they came to Delaware county in 1874. The Rev. John M. Kabrich was for years the pastor of the Christian church at Daleville and had other preaching charges throughout this section, including the Tabor church. To him and his wife were born eleven children, seven of whom were born in Virginia, among these latter being Mrs. Clevenger, who was but a child when she came to Indiana with her parents.

R. S. CUMMINS, cashier of the Yorktown State Bank, formerly and for years principal of the Daleville schools and a former trustee of Mt. Pleasant township and who has been engaged in the fire insurance business at Yorktown, has been a resident of Delaware county since the days of his childhood. Mr. Cummins was born in the neighboring county of Henry, in the Middletown neighborhood, September 10, 1877, and was but six years of age when his parents moved up over the line and established their home in Salem township, in Delaware county. He was graduated from the Middletown high school in 1896 and his later schooling was received in the college at Battle Creek, in the normal school at Marion and in the University of Indiana. In 1898 Mr. Cummins joined the ranks of Delaware county teachers and for ten years thereafter was engaged in teaching in the schools of this county, seven years of this period being spent in the Daleville schools, of which for six years he served as principal of the schools of that village. In 1908 Mr. Cummins assisted in the organization of a private bank at Yorktown and was made cashier of the same, this institution starting out as the Yorktown Banking Company with a capital stock of $10,000. This concern prospered and continued to carry on as a private bank until in September, 1922, when it was reorganized and chartered as the Yorktown State Bank, with a capital of $25,000. Upon the reorganization of the bank Mr. Cummins was elected cashier, thus being continued in the position he so long had occupied, and he retains that position. This bank now has assets in excess of $200,000. R. H. Curtis is president of the bank, Mark Broadwater is the assistant cashier and May Hofherr is the bookkeeper. In addition to his duties in the bank Mr. Cummins also is engaged in the fire insurance business, local underwriter for five fire insurance companies, and also is the local representative of a well established bonding company. He has ever taken a proper interest in local civic affairs and for one term served the people as trustee of Mt. Pleasant township. Mr. Cummins married Mae Andre and he and his wife have four children, Andre, Corwin, James and Marion.

ROSCOE N. SHROYER, postmaster at Daleville, former deputy recorder of Delaware county, formerly and for years engaged in the mercantile business at Daleville and now engaged in the grain and coal trade at that place, is a member of one of Delaware county's pioneer families though not a native of the county. Mr. Shroyer was born at Plankington, S. D., March 27, 1884, and is a son of Harvey and Florence (Cline) Shroyer, both of whom were born in Delaware county and both now deceased. The late Harvey Shroyer was born in Liberty township, a son of Nathan J. and Eliza Jane (Wood) Shroyer, both of whom were born in that same township, the latter a daughter of John and Mary Wood. Nathan J. Shroyer was born in 1838 and was a son of Melchoir and Rebecca (Jones) Shroyer, Virginians, who had settled in Liberty township, this county, in 1836, the Shroyers thus now having had representation in this county for nearly ninety years. Harvey Shroyer was reared in this county and was here married, shortly afterward moving to South Dakota, where he spent the remainder of his life as a carpenter, his death occurring in 1886. His widow returned to Delaware county. Her death occurred in 1920. Roscoe N. Shroyer was but a child when his mother returned to Delaware county and he received his schooling here, finishing in the Muncie schools. Upon leaving school he became employed in the office of the American Rolling Mills company and was thus engaged when in 1906 William H. Hufford was elected county recorder. He was called into the recorder's office as deputy under Mr. Hufford and thus rendered public service for four years, at the end of which time, in 1910, he became engaged with Mr. Hufford in the hardware and agricultural implement business at Daleville, which ever since has been his home. A year later he bought the Hufford interest in the store and carried on alone until presently he sold a half interest to A. F. Schlagel and the business was carried on under the firm name of Shroyer & Schlagel for ten years, or until in 1921, when he sold his interest to Mr. Schlagel and became engaged in his present line, grain and coal, in association with Vance Shoemaker, these partners owning two grain elevators, each with a ca- pacity of 12,000 bushels, and a well equipped coal yard, amply prepared to take care of the local requirements along these essential lines. Mr. Shroyer is a Republican and in October, 1920, was appointed postmaster of Daleville, an office he now is filling. He is a Freemason and is also a member of the order of Knights of Pythias. In 1909, at Muncie, Roscoe N. Shroyer was united in marriage to Maude Sutton, daughter of A. D. and Jennie Sutton, and to this union one child has been born, a daughter, Betty Jane Shroyer.

DR. CAMERON ARTHUR LEATHERMAN, physician and surgeon at Muncie and a veteran of the World war with the rank of captain, has been a resident of Muncie since the days of his infancy. Doctor Leatherman was born at Independence, Kansas, in 1885 and is a son of E. A. and Ida (Apple) Leatherman, who for many years have made their home in Muncie. Mrs. Leatherman is a daughter of John W. Apple and wife, the latter of whom was a Miller, a granddaughter of a soldier of the Revolution. E. A. Leatherman was born at Versailles, Ohio, and is a son of Godfrey Leatherman and wife, the latter of whom was an Atwood. Godfrey Leatherman, a soldier of the Civil war, was a son of a Revolutionary soldier who settled at Cincinnati in 1814. Dr. A. L. Leatherman, of Indianapolis, is another of the sons of Godfrey Leatherman, as was the late Rev. Walter Leatherman, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church, who lost his life at VanWert, Ohio, in a heroic attempt to rescue two boys from drowning. The Leathermans descend from one of the original members of the Roanoke colony in Virginia. For some time after his marriage E. A. Leatherman made his home in Kansas, but in 1886 came to Indiana with his family and located at Muncie, where he ever since has made his home, engaged in business as a general building contractor. Cameron Arthur Leatherman thus was but an infant when his parents located at Muncie and he was reared in that: city. Upon leaving high school he entered Purdue University and after a course there entered the Indiana Medical College. Upon his graduation from this latter institution he was appointed an interne in the hospital at Dayton, where he received special training in industrial surgery, and from there was transferred to St. Mary's Hospital at Rochester, Minn., where he had further special advantages in the way of surgical practice. He then returned to Muncie and became engaged in practice in his home city and was thus engaged when this country took a hand in the World war. Doctor Leatherman enlisted his services in behalf of the Medical Corps of the army and was given a commission as a lieutenant and assigned to the base hospital at Camp Jackson. From there he presently was transferred to Camp Mills and from there to overseas service, assigned to Base Hospital 27 (A. E. F.) in France and later to Hospital 26. With his detachment he entered Germany with the Army of Occupation and established a hospital at Neuenahr and was there in charge of the surgical detail. Upon his return to the United States following the close of the war, Doctor Leatherman was mustered out at Camp Grant, with the rank of captain, and returned to Muncie to resume his practice and has since been thus engaged, with present offices in the Johnson building. During the period of his service in the army Doctor Leatherman secured many photographs of scenes and details of service and has preserved a most interesting collection of these, a collection which now is coming to have great historic value. A special detail of Doctor Leatherman's practice is his position as surgeon for the Muncie Products Company. The doctor is affiliated with the Delaware-Blackford (counties) Medical Society, the Muncie Academy of Medicine and the Indiana State Medical Association, and with college fraternities Sigma Chi, Phi Chi and Phi Delta Kappa and is a member of the Country Club. He is a Freemason and also is affiliated with the local lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

DR. WALTER C. STEPHENS, physician and orthopedic surgeon at Muncie, where he has been located for the past ten years and more, was born at Rushville, Ind., December 15, 1879, and is a son of Henry and Alice (Hodgin) Stephens, both of whom were born in Wayne county, this state, of Quaker parentage. Henry Stephens. was a photographer who many years ago moved from Wayne county to Rushville and later moved to Pasadena, Calif., where he spent his last days. Reared at Rushville, Walter C. Stephens was graduated. from the high school there in 1897. He then entered Earlham College and after a four-years' course there was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Science. During this course he had been carrying on his studies with a view to the further study of medicine and upon leaving Earlham went to California and entered the Pacific College of Physicians and Surgeons, where he gave his special attention to osteopathy. In 1904 he was graduated from that institution as an osteopathic physician. Upon receiving his diploma Doctor Stephens opened an office at Los Angeles and was engaged in practice in that city until in 1909, when he returned to Indiana and entered the Indiana Medical College at Indianapolis, from which he was graduated in 1913. Upon receiving his M. D. degree Doctor Stephens had a year in the orthopedic department of the Indianapolis City Hos- pital and then came to Muncie and has since been engaged in general practice here, though giving his special attention to orthopedic surgery, with present offices at 8311 West Adams street, the only physician in the county who is doing orthopedic work as a specialty. Prior to coming here he had extended his practical knowledge of orthopedics by a special course as an interne in the New York Orthopedic Hospital. In January, 1919, Doctor Stephens entered the service of the war reconstruction unit maintained by the Society of Friends and was sent to France in that behalf. He spent a year in France and during that time took a post-graduate course, with full clinical observation, in the great Orthopedic Hospital at Berck Plage, the largest orthopedic center in the world. The Doctor is a member of the staff of the Muncie Home Hospital. He is affiliated with the Muncie Academy of Medicine, the Delaware-Blackford Medical Society, the Indiana State Medical Society and the American Medical Association, and with the fraternal order of Knights of Pythias. In 1905, at Westfield, Ind., Dr. Walter C. Stephens was united in marriage to Anna Doan, daughter of Abel Doan, and to this union three children have been born, Doan, Alice and Elizabeth. Doctor and Mrs. Stephens are members of the Friends Memorial church. MONTE Z. RUDY, former postmaster at Yorktown, formerly and for years widely known as a breeder and trainer of horses, now engaged in farming and as a contractor in highway construction with residence at Yorktown, has been a resident of this county since the days of his childhood. Mr. Rudy was born in Moore county, Minnesota, May 20, 1873, and is a son of Philip and Jane (Shoemaker) Rudy, the latter of whom was a member of the pioneer Shoemaker family of this section of Indiana. Philip Rudy was a farmer who for some time after his marriage made his home in Minnesota and then in 1880 returned to this county and established his.home on a farm in Mt. Pleasant township. Monte Z. Rudy was seven years of age when his parents returned to Delaware county and, he grew to manhood on the home farm in Mt. Pleasant township. Upon completing his schooling he began to teach school and was for eight years thus employed, teaching during the winters and farming during the summers. He then became engaged in the hardware business at Yorktown and was thus engaged for seven or eight years, at the end of which time he took up the breeding of horges, both track and draft horses, and for. five or six years was thus engaged, during this time attaining a wide reputation for the product of his stables. Mr. Rudy gave particular attention to the breeding and training of horses for the track and for four years raced his famous "Dan R" (2:0134), making the Grand Circuit, the Pennsylvania Circuit and the Oil Circuit. His draft horses also became widely and favorably recognized among horsemen and in breeding these he did much to help raise the standard of horseflesh in the heavy draft class. Upon disposing of his stables Mr. Rudy took up farming on a considerable scale and for the past four or five years has been operating between 700 and 800 acres of land in Mt. Pleasant township. He also of late has been engaged in contracting in highway construction and in this connection keeps fifteen or twenty teams at work. Mr. Rudy is a Republican and for nine years (1912-1921) served as postmaster at Yorktown. He is affiliated with the local lodges of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, the Improved Order of Red Men and the Modern Woodmen of America at Yorktown. Mr. Rudy married Samantha Miller, daughter of Perry Miller, and he and his wife have one child, a son, Philip Miller Rudy. The Rudys reside on Arch street in Yorktown.

WILLIAM H. HOFHERR, farmer and landowner of Mt. Pleasant township, has been a resident of the Yorktown neighborhood all his life. Mr. Hofherr was born on a farm in the valley of Buck creek, in Mt. Pleasant township, two miles southeast of Yorktown, in the vicinity of his present home, May 9, 1865, and is a son of Philip Jacob and Mary (Griesheimer) Hofherr, natives of Germany, who were married in Indiana and whose last days were spent in this county, both living to ripe old age. Mary Griesheimer was but a girl when she came to this country with her parents, the family settling at Connersville, Ind., where she was married. The late Philip Jacob Hofherr, who in his generation was one of the best known men in Delaware county, was compelled to flee from Germany in consequence of the unsuccessful revolution of 1848. He was well reared, became a trained musician and his college course closed in the year of that memorable revolution. In common with thousands of young Germans of that period and stirred by the historic demand which rose about that time in the Palitanate for a greater measure of civic freedom, he and his class made preparation as a part of their commencement exercises to have a lecture on the subject of America and the political freedom enjoyed by the people over here. This was regarded as treason in court circles and the entire class was subjected to court martial. The class leaders were put to death and the others fled. There were thousands of political refugees from Germany following "48 and America got most of them. Philip Jacob Hofherr, then twenty-three years of age, came to this country in 1851, landing at the port of New York. With his exceptional skill as a musician he had no difficulty in finding employment as a bandsman, and soon became the leader of a circus band, working out of Brooklyn. He presently became connected with the P. T. Barnum band and when that great showman directed the Jenny Lind tour in the early '50s he was with the orehestra that accompanied the famous cantatrice and thus made his acquaintance with the Middle West country. For three years or more he was a traveling bandsman, his circus tours taking him into no fewer than seventeen states and some of the then territories, among the towns thus visited being Connersville, where he became acquainted with the girl, Mary Griesheimer, whom he married early in 1853. Following his marriage Mr. Hofherr established his home at Connersville, setting himself up as a bandmaster and music teacher, and became the leader of a band which was famous in its day and which on occasion played in cities all through this part of the country, as well as in Cincinnati, New Orleans and New York. He was thus occupied for some years or until he became attracted by the lure of the land and in 1862 came over into Delaware county and bought a farm along the creek southeast of Yorktown, established his home there and became a permanent citizen of this county. He did well with his farm operations and became the owner of more than 250 acres of land. Though nominally a farmer, Mr. Hofherr never gave up his music and as a band and orchestra director on occasion and as a music teacher for many years continued to exercise a fine influence upon the musical tastes and accomplishments of the community, an influence which is felt hereabout to this day. Philip Jacob Hofherr died at his home in this county on August 9, 1901, and his widow survived him a little more than ten years, her death occurring on October 11, 1911. They were the parents of nine children, all of -whom are still living save Kate, who died in 1890, the others besides the subject of this sketch, the fifth in order of birth, being Martin, John, Mary, Minnie, Jacob, Anna and Louis, the three latter of whom live in Muncie. Philip Jacob Hofherr was a member of the Universalist church and was a past noble grand of the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Yorktown. Reared on the home farm in Mt. Pleasant township, William H. Hofherr received his schooling in the local schools and was an assistant to his father on the farm until his marriage when he began farming on his own account on an "eighty," a part of the home farm. In good time he bought this tract and has since added to it until now he is the owner and stockmen of the neighborhood. Mr. Hofherr is a Democrat and is a past noble grand of the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In 1896 William H. Hofherr married Emma Huffer,

CHARLES AUGUSTUS BURGESS, postmaster at Yorktown and a landowner in Mt. Pleasant township, was born in that township on November 14, 1876, and is a son of James and Ella (Morris)

Burgess, both of whom also were born in this county, members of pioneer families here, the former of whom died in 1881 and the latter of whom is still living, wife of Craven P. Keys, of Yorktown, and concerning whom further mention is made elsewhere in this volume. James Burgess was a member of the pioneer Burgess family of Delaware county which had its beginning here in the '30s of the past century with the settlement in Washington township of David Burgess, who had come over here from, Ohio, into which latter state the family had been transplanted from Virginia in Ohio settlement. days. James Burgess's last days were spent in Mt. Pleasant township. -He left two sons, the subject of this sketch having a younger brother, Percy Clyde Burgess, who resides on the Daleville pike west of Yorktown. Charles Augustus Burgess, better known among his friends as "Gus" Burgess, was but five years of age when his father died. Following his mother's marriage to Mr. Keys he was reared on the Keys farm in Mt. Pleasant township and in the schools of that township received his schooling. He married at the age of nineteen and then began farming on his own account, renting a farm in Mt.

Pleasant township, and thus continued farming for fifteen years and more, meanwhile, about twenty years ago, becoming the owner of a farm of fifty-five acres in that township, which he still owns. In 1913

Mr. Burgess left the farm and became employed as a substitute city mail carrier at Muncie, making his home in that city for about three years, at the end of which time he returned to the farm, renting additional fields until he had 130 acres under his care, and was thus engaged in farming until his appointment on December 1, 1921, to the office of postmaster at Yorktown, since which time he has been giving his attention to his official duties, making his home on West Smith street in Yorktown. Mr. Burgess is a Republican and is a past noble grand of the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Felows at Yorktown. It was in 1895 that Charles A. Burgess was united in marriage to Mollie Fugsley, who also was born in this county, daughter of Joseph and Hulda Pugsley, and to this union one child was born, a son, Payton Burgess, who married Crystal Luce and has one child, Dwaine. Mr. and Mrs. Burgess are members of the Yorktown Christian church.

ELMER E. PRILLAMAN, one of Yorktown's leading merchants, dealer in hardware, farm implements, furniture, rugs and furnaces at that place, was born on a farm in the neighborhood of Bryant in the neighboring county of Jay, in 1882, and is a son of William and Mary (Hughes) Prillaman, the latter of whom was born in Ohio. The late William Prillaman also was born in Jay county, a member of one of the pioneer families of that county, and all his life was spent in farming. He was the owner of a farm of eighty acres in the vicinity of Bryant, which since his death has been bought by the subject of this sketch. William Prillaman and wife were the parents of four children, the subject of this sketch having a sister, Esther, and two brothers, Charles and Edwin Prillaman. Reared on the home farm in Jay county, Elmer E. Prillaman was graduated from the Bryant high school in 1902 and then began teaching school. Two years later he entered Hillsdale College at Hillsdale, Mich., and in 1908 was graduated from that institution. He then served a term as principal of the schools at Westchester in his home county and then for two years was employed in a printing office at Hillsdale. He then, in 1911, became engaged in the hardware business at Yorktown in partnership with his cousin, Fred Prillaman, the two doing business under the firm name of E. & F. Prillaman, and was thus engaged until in 1916, . when he bought his cousin's interest in the store and has since been carrying on the business alone. This store was started with 1,680 square feet of floor space. The store now covers 6,600 feet of floor space. In 1917 Mr. Prillaman took the county agency for the sale of the Caloric furnace and in 1920 established a Muncie branch of this latter department of his business, which is carried on in connection with his old established line of hardware and agricultural implements. Mr. Prillaman is a member of Delaware lodge, No. 46, Free and Accepted Masons, at Muncie, and of the local lodge of the Knights of Pythias at Yorktown. In 1904 Elmer E. Prillaman was united in marriage to Lulu Logan, daughter of T. W. Logan, of LaFontaine, Ind., and to this union two children have been born,

Vivian and Naomi, the former of whom was graduated from the Muncie high school and is now a student at Miami University at Oxford, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Prillaman are members of the Yorktowm Methodist Episcopal church and Mr. Prillaman has served the congregation of that church as treasurer of the board of trustees. HENRY F. HAGER, secretary-treasurer and general manager of the Hager Manufacturing Company of Muncie, manufacturers of wire fabrics for bed springs, was born at Perryville, Mo., September 12, 1883, and is a son of Archibald C. and Marthena (Brewer) Hager, both also natives of Missouri, who in 1896 moved with their family from Perryville to St. Louis. Henry F. Hager was thirteen years of age when he moved with his parents to St. Louis and his schooling was completed in that city. He then began working in a carriage and wagon making shop at St. Louis and was thus engaged for something more than two years, learning there the rudiments of this line of manufacture, with particular reference to carriage blacksmithing. He then took up the machinist's trade and was engaged in that line for four years, at the end of which time he entered the plant of the Peter H. Mellon Bed Company at St. Louis and was thus employed there until in 1910 when he went to Chicago to take a position as superintendent of the plant of the Henry Schomer Company in that city. He served in this capacity until in 1916, when he became associated with the operations of the Pittsburg-Hickson Company at Butler, Pa., and served as factory manager of that concern's plant at Butler until in the spring of 1919 when he made arrangements for establishing himself in the manufacturing line at Muncie. It was on July 1, 1919, that the Hager Manufacturing Company of Muncie was organized and its plant on the Westside was established, Mr. Hager being elected secretary-treasurer and general manager of the company and J. L. Moore and C. G. Moore, of the Moore Company, operating the neighboring bed spring' and iron bed factory, president and vice president respectively. The Hager Manufacturing Company specializes in the manufacture of wire fabrics for bed springs and has created a wide market for its products, selling to bed spring manufacturers all over the country. Mr. Hager is the inventor and patentee of several different styles of wire fabrics and thus his plant is able to meet all demands along that line. Mr. Hager is a member of the Muncie Chamber of Commerce and of the Muncie Ad Club and also is affiliated with the local organizations of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Columbus, and the Travelers Protective Association. He and his family are members of St. Law- rence's Catholic church. In 1906, at Moberly, Mo., Henry F. Hager was united in marriage to Clara E. Bayless, daughter of Richard Bayless of Pittsburg, Pa., and to this union three children have been born, Henry F. Jr., Helen Mary and C. Elizabeth. The Hagers reside at 321 West Jackson street. |

WILLIAM A. THOMPSON, former judge of the Delaware circuit court and present dean of the bar of that court, is a native Hoosier and has spent all his life in this state, active in the practice of law - save for the period spent on the bench - for more than fifty years. Judge Thompson was born on a farm in Shelby county, Indiana, August 8, 1840, a son of pioneer parents of that county and oldest of the fourteen children born to that parentage. Reared on the farm, he received his early schooling in the district school in the neighborhood of his home, supplementing this by attendance on the Shelbyville high school and two years of study in old Moores Hill College (now Evansville College), and at the age of eighteen years was made principal of the graded school at St. Paul, in his home county. At the age of seventeen he had united with the Methodist Episcopal church and in 1862, at the age of twenty-two, he entered the ministry of that church and the next year was married. For seven years he continued in the ministry, these labors being confined to the field of the Southeastern Indiana Conference, and meanwhile took another course at Moores Hill College. In 1870, warned by failing health to relinquish the arduous duties of the Methodist itinerary, he reluctantly gave up the ministry and took up the study of law under the able preceptorship of Judge Lamb, these studies being completed in the office of Gordon, Browne & Lamb at Indianapolis, and in 1871 he became engaged in the practice of law at Winchester, Ind., in association with Gen. Thomas Browne. Two years later he became associated in practice with Judge J. J. Cheney and then in the next year, 1874, entered into a partnership with Judge Leander J. Monks, of Winchester, an association which continued for five years, or until in 1879, when he formed a partnership with Capt. O. A. Marsh and his brother, J. W. Thompson, under the firm name of Thompson, Marsh & Thompson, and this association continued for ten years, or until toward the end of 1889, when he came to Muncie and entered into a partnership in the practice of law with Judge Ryan. It was on Christmas Day, 1889, that Judge Thompson came to Muncie and he ever since has made his home here. Beginning in the spring of 1913, on account of the illness of Judge Ellis, he served for some time as acting judge of the Delaware circuit court and then, in 1916, as the nominee of the Republican party in this county, was elected judge of the circuit court and in that judicial capacity served for four years or until the beginning of the present judicial incumbency, November 15, 1922. Upon retiring from the bench Judge Thompson resumed his practice, with offices in No. 18 the Patterson block, and has since been thus engaged, one of the oldest lawyers in continuing _ practice in the state of Indiana. Judge Thompson has been twice married. In 1863 he married Mary R. Wilkinson, of Decatur county, who died leaving him one child, a son, Clifford A., now deceased; and in 1868 he married Elizabeth S. Lamb, daughter of Judge Lamb of Indianapolis. To this latter union three children were born, a daughter, Mrs. Marietta T. Sprague, and two sons, Will H. and John M. Thompson. Will H. Thompson completed his schooling at DePauw University and Leland Stanford University and is now an attorney for the Bell Telephone Company.

JOSEPH RICHMAN, a landowner of Salem township, formerly and for many years engaged in farming in that township, now living retired at Daleville, where he has made his home for the past fifteen years and more, is a native son of Delaware county, a member of one of the pioneer families here, and has lived in this county all his life. Mr. Richman was born on a farm in Salem township, August 8, 1852, and is a son of Daniel and Susanna (Kauffman) Richman, the latter of whom was born in the neighboring county of Henry, a member of one of the pioneer families of that county. Daniel Richman was born in Rockingham county, Virginia, and was but a lad when he came to Indiana with his parents, Henry Richman and wife, in 1835, _ the family settling on a tract of land which Henry Richman entered from the Government in section 8 of Salem township in this county in that year. On that pioneer farm Daniel Richman grew to manhood. After his marriage he became a farmer on his own account and came to be the owner of more than 400 acres of land in the neighborhood southeast of Daleville, and there he and his wife spent their last days. They were the parents of eleven children, seven of whom are still living, the subject of this sketch having two sisters, Mary and Lydia May, and four brothers, Harvey, George, Frank and William Richman. Reared on the home farm in Salem township, Joseph Richman received his schooling in old Pike's Peak school house (district No. 2) and continued as an aid to his father in the labors of the home farm until he had attained his majority when he rented a tract of land from his father and began farming on his own account. Not long afterward he bought a tract of 144 acres in that same neighborhood, established his home on that place and there continued actively engaged in farming until his retirement in 1908 and removal to Daleville, where he has since resided, his son-in-law, Houston Brown, now farming the home place. Mr. Richman is a Democrat and is affiliated with the Daleville lodge of the Improved Order of Red Men. In 1875 Joseph Richman married Sarah E. Campbell, of the pioneer Campbell family of Salem township, daughter of John K. and Mary Jane Campbell, and he and his wife have five children, two sons, Charles and Oscar, and three daughters, Della, Hazel and Susan. Charles Richman married Ina Hine and has two sons, Ray and Ralph. Oscar Richman married Anna Heath and has two children, Claude and Myrel. Della Richman married Bert Jackson and has two children, Merritt and Claude. Hazel Richman married Houston Brown and has four children, Armour, Joseph, Sarah and Margaret, and Susan Richman married Robert Swain and has one child, a daughter, Fredia. Mr. and Mrs. Richman thus pave eleven grandchildren.

LON ALLEN, a substantial farmer and landowner of Mt. Pleasant township, now living at Yorktown, where he formerly was engaged in the mercantile business, was born at Yorktown and has been a participant in the activities of that place for more than fifty years. Mr. Allen was born on March 11, 1867, and is a son of Thomas and Amanda (Bishop) Allen, the latter of whom also was born in Delaware county, a member of the pioneer Bishop family in this county. She died in 1889. The late Thomas Allen was born in Ohio but was reared in Delaware county, his parents having established their home here when he was a small boy. He early became identified with the commercial life of Yorktown and was for fifteen or twenty years engaged in the mercantile business at that place, also becoming owner of a fine farm of 320 acres north of town, and to this farm he devoted his attention during the later years of his life, his death occurring in 1917. Lon Allen supplemented the schooling he received in the Yorktown schools by a course in the old normal schoo! at Portland, in the neighboring county of Jay, and for some years during the period of his young manhood was engaged as a clerk in his father's store at Yorktown. He then became engaged in the grucery business at Yorktown, an enterprise which he maintained for about three years, at the end of which time he sold out and since then has devoted his attention to his farming interests, farming in partnership with his father until the latter's death and since then carrying on the operations of the farm alone, making his home in town and rent- ing his fields, now living practically retired from the active opera- . tions of the farm. He is the owner of a well kept place of 220 acres. Mr. Allen is a Democrat and is a member of the Muncie lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Lon Allen married Myrtle D. Erther and he and his wife reside on Smith street in Yorktown. Mrs. Allen was born at Yorktown and is a daughter of Jacob and Isabel (Daugherty) Erther, the latter of whom was born in that same vicinity, daughter of William Daugherty, a pioneer of Mt. Pleasant township. Jacob Erther was born in the Rhinepfaltz, Germany, in 1834, a son of John and Margaret (Dahl) Erther, and when eighteen years of age came to the United States. That was in the fall of 1852. He presently made his home at New Boston, Ohio, where he remained until in the summer of 1859 when he came to Indiana and located at Yorktown. After his marriage in the fall of the next year to Isabel Daugherty he established his home at Yorktown, a blacksmith and wagon maker, and did well, in time coming to be the owner of right around 500 acres of land in the Yorktown neighborhood, this including the lands which were included in the West Muncie development project of which much was made during the height of the natural gas "boom" here in the early '90s and concerning which further mention is made elsewhere in this work. He and his wife were the parents of nine children.

ORAN W. CROMER, a farmer and landowner of Salem township, formerly a merchant at Cross Roads, now living on his well improved farm on rural mail route No. 2 out of Middletown, was born on the farm on which his brother, John Cromer, is now living in Salem township, and has resided in this county all his life. Mr. Cromer was born on April 6, 1877, and is a son of Rush H. and Emma F. (Sayford) Cromer, both of whom also were born in Salem township, members of pioneer families there. Mrs. Cromer was born on a farm in section 16 just west of Cross Roads, daughter of Samuel and Mary (Miller) Sayford, the latter of whom was born in Virginia. Samuel Sayford, who in his generation was widely known hereabout aS a pioneer minister of the Lutheran faith, was a Pennsylvanian who had received his theological training in the Lutheran seminary at Gettysburg and was installed as a preacher in Floyd county, Virginia. In 1848 he came to Indiana and bought a quarter of a section of land in section 16 of Salem township, this county, where he established his home and spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring in 1865. He and his wife were the parents of seven children, those besides Mrs. Cromer having been Mrs. Henrietta Young, Mrs.

Sarah C. VanMatre, Mrs. Mary E. Bell, Mrs. Laura VanMatre, Augustus, who served as a soldier of the Union during the time of the Civil war, a member of Company H of the 69th regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and who lost his life at the battle of Port Gibson, Miss., and William E. Sayford, who is still living in Salem township. Rush H. Cromer was born in that same neighborhood, a son of Josiah and Mary Cromer, pioneers of that section of the county and who were among the constituent members of the Richwood Evangelical Lutheran church in that neighborhood. To Rush H. and Emma F. (Sayford) Cromer were born five sons, those besides the subject of this sketch, the first in order of birth, being C. Otis, John T., Samuel S. and Myron E. Reared on the home farm in Salem township, Oran | W. Cromer completed his schooling in the Middletown high school and remained on the farm, an aid to his father, until his marriage, after which he rented the Cromer homestead place and was for five years engaged in operating the same. He then became engaged in the mercantile business at Cross Roads, dealer in general neighborhood merchandise and agricultural implements, and was thus engaged for eight years, at the end of which time he resumed farming on his father's farm, and so continued as a renter until presently he bought the farm of eighty acres and has since been operating it as proprietor, he and his wife now owning 240 acres there. Mr. Cromer makes a specialty of certified wheat. He is a Republican and a Freemason, affiliated with the Masonic lodge at Middletown, and he and his wife are members of the Cross Roads Lutheran church, of the congregation of which he formerly was an elder and is now one of the trustees. It was in 1899 that Oran W. Cromer was united in marriage to Sadie V. Moore, who also was born in Salem township, a daughter of William M. and Margaret E. (VanMatre): Moore, the latter a daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Summers) VanMatre, who were among the pioneers of that township. William M. Moore, a veteran of the Civil war, was a Pennsylvanian, born in Franklin county, that state, a son of David M. and Effie E. (McEwen) Moore, who in 1848 came to Indiana with their family and settled at Middletown, where William M. Moore was living, working with his father as a wagon maker, : when the Civil war broke out. He went to the front in November, 1861, with the 124th Indiana and served until after the close of the war, being mustered out in August, 1865. In 1873 he married Margaret VanMatre and established his home on a farm in Salem township. To Oran W. and Sadie V. (Moore) Cromer have been born three sons, Lawrence H., Paul C. and R. Carl, the two latter of whom are on the farm with their father. Lawrence H. Cromer was graduated from Purdue University and is now teacher of vocational agriculture in the Salem township consolidated school, the only township school in the county supporting vocational training in agriculture. HENRY C. SCHLEGEL, a former member of the board of county commissioners, former trustee of Salem township and a former farmer, stockman and landowner of Salem township, now living retired at Daleville, where he has made his home for the past twentyfive years and more, is a European by birth but has been a resident of this country since the days of his childhood and of Delaware county for nearly sixty-five years. Mr. Schlegel was born at Aszlar, in Germany, August 31, 1848, and is a son of Henry and Margaret (Busch) Schlegel, both of whom were born in that same country and whose last days were spent in this county. Henry Schlegel served his term in the German army and in 1838 married Margaret Busch. He owned a tract of seven acres of land and during the summers acted as foreman on a large farm in his home neighborhood and during the winters served as foreman in a distillery. In 1852 he closed out his affairs in Germany and with his family came to the United States. For two years thereafter he made his home in Pennsylvania and then, in 1854, came to Indiana and settled on a farm a mile west of Chesterfield, in Madison county, where he lived for two years and a half, at the end of which time he moved to a farm a half mile west of Chesterfield, where he remained until in 1860, when he moved over into Delaware county, bought a tract of eighty acres just north of Daleville, established his home on that place and there spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring on October 27, 1872. His widow survived him for more than twenty-five years. They were the parents of six children, two of whom died in childhood, the others besides the subject of this sketch being Johanna, Wilhelmina and John Jacob Schlegel. Henry C. Schlegel was but eight years of age when he came to this country with his parents in the spring of 1852 and was ten when he came with the family to Indiana in 1854. He attended school in Pennsylvania and also in Indiana and later became engaged as a school teacher, working at farm labor during the summers, and for five years taught school in the Chesterfield neighborhood. Mr. Schlegel married at the age of twenty and for four years thereafter was engaged in farming on a rented farm in Madison county. He then came over into Delaware county and bought an "eighty" in section 36 of Salem township, north of Daleville, established his home on that place and proceeded to develop there a good farm, which he eventually increased to 198 acres, and on which he made his home until after his wife's death in 1897, when he retired from the farm and moved to Daleville, which since has been his home, his only daughter, Miss Mary Florence Schlegel, being the homekeeper. Mr. Schlegel is a Republican and for many years gave close attention to local civic affairs. He served for two terms as trustee of Salem township, also served for two terms (1894-1900) as the member of the board of county commissioners from his district, and was for some time a ditch commissioner. He is a'member of the United Brethren church, was for years one of the trustees of the church and also formerly served as superintendent of the Sunday school. It was early in 1864, while living in Delaware county, that Henry C. Schlegel was united in marriage to Laura Jane Myers, who was born in Madison county, daughter of Solomon and Louise Myers, and who died on November 16, 1897. To that union were born four children, three sons, William H., Elmer 8. and John Calvin, and the daughter, Mary Florence, formerly a teacher in the Daleville schools, who, as mentioned above, makes her home with her father. William H. and John Calvin Schlegel also formerly were teachers in the public schools. William H. Schlegel married May Davenport and has six children, Leslie, Chester, Ada, Alta, Morton and Zona. Elmer S. Schlegel married Martha Stewart and has one child, a daughter, Bertha. John Calvin Schlegel married Effie Modlin and has two children, Arden and Vivian.

GEORGE H. ABSHIRE, a progressive farmer and stockman of Salem township, proprietor of a well improved farm on rural mail route No. 1 out of Daleville and also owner of farm lands in the neighboring county of Grant, is a native son of Delaware county, member of one of the pioneer families of Salem township, and has lived here all his life. Mr. Abshire was born in Salem township on September 12, 1864, and is a son of Edward and Catherine (Basicker) Abshire, the latter of whom was born in the neighboring county of Madison. Edward Abshire was born in Virginia and was but three years of age when his parents, Allen Abshire and wife, moved with their family to Indiana and settled on an unimproved tract in Salem township, where they established their home and became helpful in developing that part of the county. On that pioneer farm Edward Abshire grew to manhood and after his marriage became a farmer on his own account, coming in time to be the owner of a farm of 206 acres in Salem township, where he and his wife spent their last days. They were the parents of eight children, seven of whom are still living, the subject of this sketch having six sisters, Martha, Lucinda, Sarah, Armilda, Savilla Jane and Loretta. There was another sister, Mary Ellen, now deceased. Reared on the home farm in Salem township, George H. Abshire received his schooling in the neighborhood schools and remained on the home farm until after his marriage, when he began farming on his own account. Not long afterward he bought a small tract of land and in the years since then has added to his land holdings until now he is the owner of 396 acres in this and Grant counties, 214 acres of this land lying in Delaware county. In addition to his general farming Mr. Abshire long has given considerable attention to the raising of pure bred Red Polled cattle and also specializes in Yellow Dent seed corn, having come to be recognized as one of the best seed corn experts in the county. His farm in Salem township is well improved and he has a modern dwelling house there. Mr. Abshire is a Republican with "independent" leanings. During the stressful time of this country's participation in the World War (1917-18), he took an active interest in local war work and served as chairman of the organization in the east half of Salem township in direction of local war activities. "In 1887 George H. Abshire married Emma Needham and they have two children, a daughter, Stacey Edna, and a son, Albert Edwin, both of whom are married. Stacey Edna Abshire married Ross Peck, now living at St. Paul, Minn., and has two children, Betty and William Ross Peck. Albert Edwin Abshire, who married Golden Snodgrass, was graduated from Purdue University and is now director of vocational education in the schools of Aurora, Ind. Mr. and Mrs. George H. Abshire are members of the English Lutheran church, of which Mr. Abshire is one of the trustees, and Mrs. Abshire is the president of the Missionary Society of that congregation. Mrs. Abshire also was born in Salem township and is a daughter of John and Mary (Chiles) Needham, both of whom were born in Ohio but were married in this county, having come here with their respective parents in the days of their youth. John Needham, who was a veteran of the Civil war, was a brick and stonemason and in his generation was widely known hereabout as a builder, many houses in Delaware county having been erected under his direction. He and his wife were the parents of five children, Mrs. Abshire having three sisters, Margaret, Frances and Cora, and a brother, Albert E. Needham, an attorney at Muncie and former prosecutor for the Delaware circuit court and concerning whom further mention is made in this work, together with additional information regarding the Needham family in this county. John Needham died in 1921 and his widow is still living, now past seventy-five years of age.

LEE O. BAIRD, superintendent of the schools of Delaware county and formerly and for years a teacher in the schools of the city of Muncie, was born on a farm in the neighboring county of Randolph in 1881 and is a son of Lindsey and Louisa (Monks) Baird, the latter of whom is a daughter of Joseph Monks, a native of Lancashire, England, who came to Indiana upon his arrival in this country and settled in Randolph county. This is the Monks family with which the late Judge Leander J. Monks, of Winchester, a former justice of the Indiana Supreme Court, was connected. Lindsey Baird, who is now county school attendance officer for Delaware county, formerly was a farmer in Randolph county and later was a merchant at Harrisville, in that county. He was born in Darke county, Ohio, a son of John Baird and wife, the latter of whom was a Woodbury. The Woodburys were from Massachusetts. To Lindsey and Louisa (Monks) Baird were born three children, the subject of this sketch having two sisters, Mrs. Pearl Carmin, of Indianapolis, and Mrs. L. E. Clark, of - Muncie. Reared in Randolph county, Lee O. Baird completed his public schooling in the schools of Harrisville and Parker City and then pursued a course of study at the university at Valparaiso, Ind., giving special attention to the teachers' normal course, and in 1899 became a teacher in the public schools of his home county. After a term or two of teaching in the rural schools he was given charge of the schools of the village of Parker and was there until in 1903, when he was called to become principal of the Emerson school at Muncie and has since been a resident of that city. Mr. Baird continued his service in the public schools of Muncie, serving successively as principal of the Emerson, the Longfellow and the Whittier schools, until in 1919, when, under the incumbency of Earle H. Swain, county treasurer, he was made deputy treasurer of Delaware county, and was thus serving when in 1921 he was elected by the county board of education to the responsible position of superintendent of the schools of Delaware county and has since been serving in that capacity, with offices in the court house. Mr. Baird is an ardent advocate of the extension of the township consolidated schools and under his administration it is confidently expected that the "last gap" in the final rounding out of the consolidation system in this county soon will be closed up. The schools of Delaware county rank high among those of other counties in the state and plans now in hand in Superintendent Baird's office are expected to give them even higher rank. According to the current Indiana Year Book the assessed value of public school property in Delaware county aggregates right around $2,250,000 and the an-. nual disbursements in the school fund total near $1,620,000, items which indicate something of the importance of the county superintendent's office. Further and interesting details concerning the schools of Delaware county are set out at informative length elsewhere in this work. In 1906 Lee O. Baird was united in marriage to Anna Fern Williams, who was born at Selma, daughter of W. Henry and Joanna (Fielder) Williams.

_ FLOYD L. BALLINGER, former justice of the peace of Salem ' township, formerly and for years a teacher in the schooly of this county and for some years past engaged in the general merchandise business at Daleville, member of the firm of Ballinger: & Richman, was born in the neighboring county of Henry on November 9, 1884, and completed his local schooling in the high school at Middletown, supplementing this by a course of study at Indiana University, where he spent a year. For ten years Mr. Ballinger was engaged in teaching school, two years in a district school, four years at Cross Roads in Salem township and four years in the Daleville schools, meanwhile during the summers carrying on farming operations on a rented farm. He then, in 1913, bought the general store at the historic hamlet of Cross Roads and was there engaged in business for six years, at the end of which time he disposed of his store and moved to Daleville. For a year thereafter he was employed in the plant of the Remy electric works at Anderson and then he and Cary L. Richman bought the established general store of J. W. Chandler at Daleville and have since been engaged in the mercantile business at that place, doing business as the firm of Ballinger & Richman, and are doing well. Mr. Ballinger is a Republican and for eight years during the time of his residence in Salem township was justice of the peace in and for that township. He is a past noble grand of the lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Middletown and is also affiliated with the Improved Order of Red Men. Floyd L. Ballinger married Maymie Brandon, daughter of Henry C. Brandon, and he and his wife have three children, Marie, Virginia and Malcolm. Mr. and Mrs. Ballinger are members of the Daleville Methodist Episcopal church and Mr. Ballinger is one of the stewards of the congregation. During the time of his residence at Cross Roads he was one of the trustees of the Lutheran church at that place. .