Fayette County, Indiana - Biographical sketches, 1917 (part 11 of 16)

On November 5, 1876, George W. Lake was united in marriage to Mary Caroline Kerr, who was born on a pioneer farm south of Everton on July 10, 1850, daughter of James and Margaret (Grist) Kerr, well-known and intluential residents of that community. James Kerr, who was one of the first school teachers in the l'"airfield neighborhood, was born in County Antrim, Ireland, October 22. 1701, and was but eight years of age when his parents left Ireland and came to this country. His father, a political refugee on account of his participation in the Irish rebellion of 1798, left his native land with his wife and two small sons, James and Henry, December 12, 1799, and arrived at the port of Charleston, South Carolina, April 20, 1800. He established his home in the Abbeville district of South Carolina and there James Kerr grew to manhood. There, on March 7, 181 5, James Kerr married Nancy Mcllwain and in the sijring of 1S22 he and his wife came West, arriving in Indiana on May 21 of that year, settling in the Fairfield neighborhood, in Franklin county. On July 2'/ of that same year Nancy Kerr died and on December 23, 1824, James Kerr married Margaret Grist, who was born in the Pendleton district of South Carolina, January 9, 1809, and who came to Indiana with her parents, Simon and Sarah Grist, .in 1813, the family settling in Fayette county. During the period of his residence in the Fairfield neighborhood James Kerr taught school and he also taught for some time after moving to the farm south of Everton in this county, where he spent the rest of his life. On January 28, 1828, he and his family moved to that farm in Jackson township and it was not long until James Kerr came to be recognized as one of the strong and influential characters in that part of the county. He took an active interest in the general civic affairs of the community and for some time served as trustee of the township, in that capacity rendering admirable service in behalf of the pioneer community. His last vote was cast for Abraham Lincoln. He and his wife were earnest members of the Methodist Episcopal church and their children were reared in that faith. There were thirteen of these children, all of whom grew to maturity save one son, Hugh, who died when two years of age. James Kerr died on September 16, 1873, at the age of eighty-one years, and his widow survived until January 26, 1884, she being seventy-five years of age at the time of her death.

born, namely: Mamie G., who married Lafayette Moore, a biographical sketch of whom is presented elsewhere in this volume, and has one child, a son, Daniel George; Frederick Ellis, who is at home with his parents at Everton, and Walter Arden Lake, now farming in the Bentley neighborhood, who married Eva Pierce and has one child, a son, Arden Pierce, born on October 17, 191 6. Mr. Lake is a member of the local lodges of the Knights of Pythias and of the Improved Order of Red Men and Mrs. Lake is a member of the Pythian Sisters and of the Daughters of Rebekah, both taking a warm interest in the affairs of these several organizations. Mrs. Lake is a member of the Methodist church and she and her husband have ever given their earnest attention to local good works, helpful in promoting all measures having to do with the advancement of the common welfare of the communitv in which they have lived all their lives.

Lafayette Moore

Lafayette Moore, trustee of Jackson township and one of the bestknown and most substantial farmers of that township, was born in that same township and has lived there all his life. He was born on the old Moore farm, now occupied by his elder brother, Joseph A. Moore, in section 22 of Jackson township, October 2, 1875, son of Daniel W. and Caroline (Beckett) Moore, both natives of this section, members of pioneer families, and both of whom are now deceased, the latter dying about eighteen years ago and the former surviving until May i, 1916. Daniel W. Moore was one of the most substantial farmers in the southern part of the county and for some time served as trustee of Jackson township. He and his wife were the parents of five children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the second son and the fourth child in order of birth. In a biographical sketch relating to Joseph A. Moore, the elder son, presented elsewhere in this volume, there is set out a comprehensive history of the Moore family in this county, and to that the attention of the reader is respectfully invited for additional information in connection with the present sketch.

Reared on the home farm in Jackson township, Lafayette Moore received his elementary schooling in the local schools and supplemented the same by a course in the Central Normal School at Danville, this state, and at the university at Valparaiso, and for three winters taught school at Everton. After his marriage in 1894 Mr. Moore located on the farm on which he is now living, about one mile east of Everton. and has ever since made that place his home, having been quite successfully engaged in general farming and stock raising. Like his father and liis grandfather before him. he has long been a buyer and shipper of live stock and has also done well in that line. Mr. Moore is a Democrat and has ever given his close attention to local civic affairs. In the fall of 191 4 he was elected trustee of Jack.son township and is now serving in that important capacity, giving his most thoughtful and intelligent attention to the public service.

On May 15, 1894. Lafayette Moore was united in marriage to Mamie G. Lake, who was born in Jennings township, this county, a daughter of George W. and Carolifie (Kerr) Lake, both members of prominent pioneer families in the Everton neighborhood and further and extended mention of whom is made elsewhere in this volume. Mrs. Moore completed her schooling in the high school at Everton and she and her husband have ever given their earnest attention to the general social and cultural affairs of the community in which they live. Mr. Moore is a member- of the local lodges of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Improved Order of Red Men and in the affairs of these organizations takes a warm interest. ]\Ir. and Mrs. Moore have a very pleasant home and have one child, a son. Daniel George Moore, born on March 20, 1895. Mrs. Moore has been county president of the Woman's Cln-istian Temperance L'nion for tlie past three years and was chosen as delegate to the national convention at Seattle, \\'ashington, which she attended.

Hon. James K. Mason

Hon. James K. Alason, joint representative in the Indiana state Legislature from the district comprising the counties of Fayette and Franklin, former chairman of the Fayette County Farmers Institute, one of the bestknown farmers and stockmen in Fayette county, the proprietor of a line farm in Posey township and for years actively identified with all movements having to do with the improvement of rural conditions throughout this part of the state, is a native son of Fayette county, born in Posey township, and has always lived in that township. He was born on a farm about threefourths of a mile southeast of Bentonville on April 11. 1879, son of James Henrv and Emma F. (Kemmer) Mason, the fomier a native of the state of Ohio and the latter of this county, for years well-known residents of the

Bentonville neighborhood, who later moved to Cambridge City, where James Henry Mason spent his last days and where his widow is now living, very comfortably situated.

James Henry Mason was born on a farm about eight miles east of the city of Hamilton, in Butler county, Ohio, August 18, 1848, son of James Mason and wife, who moved from New Jersey to Ohio, driving through with a spring wagon which contained all their belongings and settled in Butler county. There James Mason made a success of his farming operations and was regarded as a quite well-to-do farmer when, shortly after the close of the Civil War, he disposed of his holdings in Butler county and came to Indiana and bought a farm about four miles north of Connersville, on the west side of the Milton pike, just south of the county line, where he established his home remaining there for some years, at the end of which time he bought the Othniel Claypool farm of about four hundred and eighty acres, one and one-half miles east of Bentonville, where his grandson, the subject of this sketch, now lives; the place known as the old James McCullum farm. The handsome old brick house, of Colonial architecture, which still stands on that place, now remodeled and modernized, with a furnace heating plant and the like, was erected by James McCuUum in 1848 and is back thirty-four rods from the road, being approached through an avenue of pine trees. On that place James Mason spent the rest of his life, becoming one of the wealthiest men in the northern part of the county. He was a man of large public spirit and took an active part in political affairs, for years being regarded as one of the leaders in the Republican party in this county. He was stricken with apoplexy while addressing a Republican meeting during a campaign and died shortly afterward, sincerely mourned throughout the entire county. James Mason left four children, James H., John S., Mrs. Hannah Thompson and Mrs. Kate Murphy.

James H. Mason was a young man when the family came to this county from Ohio and he at once took an active part in the work of improving and developing the home farm in Posey township. At the age of twenty-eight he married Emma F. Kemmer, who was born in that township, daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Campbell) Kemmer, members of prominent pioneer families of that neighborhood, further reference to whom is made elsewhere in this volume. Elizabeth Campbell was a kinswoman of Alexander Campbell, the founder of the Christian, or Disciples church. After his marriage James H. Mason continued farming in Posey township until about 1905, when he retired from the active labors of the farm and moved to Bentonville, presently moving thence to Cambridge City, where he died on

Fayktte Coixty, Indiana

August 31, 191 1, and where his widow is still living. Me and liis wife were the parents of four children, those besides the subject uf tlii> skctcli IjcIulj Clarence A., Mrs. Maggie M. Beeson, who is living across the line in Wayne county, about a mile and a half east of the old Mason home, and Dorothea E., now Mrs. Grover Castner, living in Cambridge with her mother.

James K. Mason was four years of age when his parents moved from the old home farm to the farm northwest of Bentonville and was eighteen years of age when they moved back to the old home place, where he is now living. He received his schooling in the high school at Bentonville and has ever sedulously supplemented the same by exhaustive home study and widereading until he has come to be one of the best-informed men in the cnunty. After his marriage in the fall of 1901 he rented the old home farm where he was born and there established his home. Two years later he bought at administers sale an adjoining "eighty" that had been a part of his Grandfather Mason's original homestead, and in the fall of 1910 he lx)Ught from his father, paying one hundred dollars an acre for the same, sixty acres of the home place, including the house. Upon the death of his father lie inherited ninety acres additional and now is tlie owner i)f two hundred anil thirty-two acres of the old home place, besides a onefDurth interest in a section of land in Rriscoe county, Te.xas, owned jointly by himself and iiis brother and sisters. In- addition to his general farming Mr. Mason has for years taken much interest in the raising of cattle and hogs for the market and has given much attention to the work of promoting the raising of hogs in this county, promoting the "pig-feeding" contests in all proper ways. In 191 5 his little daughter, Elsie, won second prize in this contest at the county fair and in 1916 Mr. Mason had charge of the annual contest and with the preparations for the same, speaking on every possible public occasion in behalf of the movement and urging the Irays of Fayette county to enter into the movement. Thirty days before the date of the decision of the contest he and others toured the county with a pair of scales, weighing the pigs that had been entered in the contest and during the linal exhibit at the countv fair weighed them again, one hundred dollars in prizes l^eing divided among the four winners. Mr. Mason also was continued in charge of that work in 1917 and has done wonders in the way of stimulating interest in hog raising among the youngsters of this county. During the years 19 12- 13 he was county chairman of the Farmers Institutes and his indefatigal)le lalwrs in that connection did much toward reviving the interest in such meetings and in re-establishing the work of the farmers institutes throughout the county. When Mr. Mason accepted that chairmanship he found l)ut two such insti- tutes in the county. When he retired from the office there were eleven in the county and all doing good work. From the days of his boyhood Mr. Mason has been an unwavering Republican and has for years taken an active part in local political affairs. In 191 2 he was nominated by his party as the candidate for joint representative from the legislative district comprised in the counties of Fayette and Wayne, but was unsuccessful in his campaign, the Democratic landslide in that year nullifying the effects of his canvass of the district. In 1914 he was again nominated from that same district and was elected, serving in the session of 191 5. During that session the joint-legislative district was changed, Fayette county being linked with Franklin instead of with Wayne, and in the spring of 1916 when Mr. Mason was re-nominated to succeed himself in the Legislature the district was generally conceded to the Democrats; but the nominee entered the campaign with all the vigor of which he was capable and won out by a majority of two hundred and seventy-four, running ahead of the state ticket in every precinct in the two counties. During the memorable legislative session of 191 7 Mr. Mason took much interest in the question of better roads for Indiana and worked vigorously in that behalf, his chief contention being that there should be a cash fund in each county to provide for the construction of all public roads and thus to do away with the present costly system of bond issues for highway purposes, according to his convincing demonstration forty per cent, of the present cost of building highways in this state being chargeable to interest accruing on the bonds issued for that purpose. In addition to his labors in behalf of a highway commission. Representative Mason stood firmly for the act prohibiting the traffic in liquor in this state, favored woman sufifrage and was a supporter of the bill for the creation of a new constitional convention.

On October 9, 1901, James K. Mason was united in marriage to Nellie Manlove, who also was born in Posey township, on the farm where her father still lives, two and a half miles southeast of Bentonville, daughter of John L. and Mary E. (Scott) Manlove, and to this union five children have been born, three of whom are living, Elsie Viola, Mary Florence and Bertha Olive, and two of whom, Carl Scott and James Lester, are dead. Mr. and Mrs. Mason have a very pleasant home and have long been regarded as among the leaders in the general social activities of the community in which they live, helpful in promoting all proper agencies for the advancement of the common welfare not only throughout this county, but throughout the state.

which he still lives, October j^, 1846, son of William and Margaret (iMunger) Manlove, prominent residents of that part of the county and further reference to whom is made elsewhere in this volume, both having been members of pioneer families in the northern part of the county. Mr. Manlove has always been a farmer on the place where he now lives. In 1876 he married Mary E. Scott, who also was born in Posey township, daughter of Jc^hn and Margaret (Weaver) Scott, also members of pioneer families. She died in 1910. To that union seven children were born, those besides Mrs. Mason, the second in order of birth, being as follow: Omer S., now Uving in Cambridge City, who married Nellie Jones and has two children, Martha Ellen and Irving; Lola, wife of Rich Miles, a farmer living near Raleigh, in the neighboring county of Rush; William G., who is with his father on the home farm, where he operates a saw-mill ; Eunice, who is now living at Bentonville, widow of Emery Curtis; Arthur T., living on part of his father's farm, who married Ina Hussey and has one, child, a son, Russell, and Park M., now living at Milton, over the line in Wayne county, who married Gertrude Baker and has two children, Horace and Marv Olive.

Charles W. Mason, member of the board of commissioners of b'ayelte county and a well-known merchant of Bentonville, is a native son of Fayette county, born on a farm just southeast of Bentonville, and has lived in that neighborhood all his Hfe. He was born on May 21, 1882, son of John S. and Alice (Morris) Mason, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Iowa, and the former of whom is still living on his fine farm threefourths of a mile southeast of Bentonville, where he has lived since the days of his young manhood, his father having settled there in the latter seventies.

John S. Mason was born in Butler county. Ohio. July 16, 1851, son of James and Ann (Sheppard) Mason, natives of New Jersey, who were married in that state and then moved to Ohio, locating in Butler county, where they remained until 1865, in which year they came up into Indiana and settled in this county, James Mason buying the northwest quarter of section 36 in Harrison township, four miles north of Connersville on the west side of the Connersville and Milton pike. There the mother died, after which, in the latter seventies, James Mason sold that place and bought five hundred and sixty-three acres, a half-mile strip running east from Bentonville, in Posey township, along the south side of the road, and there James Mason spent the remainder of his life, building up a very fine farm property, two hundred and fifty-one acres of which his son, John S. Mason, now owns, having made his home there for many years. James Mason and wife were the parents of four children, of whom John S. was the last-born, the other being as follow: Hannah, who married Miles Thompson and is now deceased; Catherine, wife of Cornelius Murphy, of Cincinnati, and Henry, who died about five years ago. Since coming into possession of his portion of the home farm John S. Mason has built a new house, remodeled the barn and has done a lot of fencing, draining and clearing, having now one of the best-improved faims in that part of the county. He was about twenty years of age when he moved to that place with his father and upon his marriage, established his home there. His wife died on July 2, 1896. She was born in Iowa, a daughter of Frank and Elizabeth (Harvey) Morris, the former a native of Delaware and the latter of Ohio, who left Butler county, in the latter state, not long before the birth of their daughter, Alice, and for several years made their home in Iowa, returning thence to Ohio, where they remained until about 1875, when they came to Indiana and located at Dublin, where they were living when their daughter Alice married Mr. Mason. Later Mr. and Mrs. Morris came to this county and for a time made their home at Bentonville, later moving to Hartford City, where the former died. Mrs. Morris spent her last days at Kalamazoo, Michigan. To John S. Mason and wife two children were born, the subject of this sketch having a sister, Bessie, wife of Harry Weaver, a banker at Bentonville.

Charles W. Mason was reared on the home farm, receiving his schooling in the schools at Bentonville, and continued farming until in the spring of 1912, when he and Frank D. Hackleman formed a partnership and engaged in the mercantile business at Bentonville, dealers in general hardware and farm implements. That enterprise has proved a pronounced success, the firm having built up an excellent trade throughout that part of the county, their store being stocked with a completeness of detail that would do credit to a town much larger than Bentonville. Mr. Mason has also been interested in the First National Bank of Dublin for the past four years and is a member of the board of directors of the same. He is a Republican and has ever given his close and interested attention to local civic affairs. On November 7, 1916, he was elected member of the board of county commissioners

On February 22, 1905, Charles W. Mason was united in marriage to Claudie Fern Miller, who was born on a farm two miles west and a mile south of Bentonville, in Posey township, a daughter of George and Martha (Cregar) Miller, the former of whom farmed in that neighborhood all his life. In a sketch relating to Frank D. Hackelman, Mr. Mason's partner, presented elsewhere in this volume, there are additional details relating to the Miller family in this county, Mr. Hackleman's wife's mother having been a sister of Mrs. Mason's father, George Miller. In December, 1881, George Miller married Martha Cregar, who was born near Cedar Grove, in the neighboring county of Franklin, a daughter of Samuel and Malinda (Brackeney) Cregar, both of whom were born in that same county. Samuel Cregar farmed all his life near Cedar Grove and both he and his wife died in 1902. George Miller died in 1903 and after his death his widow and children moved to Bentonville, where Mrs. Miller now makes her home with her daughter, Mrs. Mason. George Miller and wife were the parents of three daughters, Bessie (deceased), Mrs. Mason, and Grace E., wife of Thomas McKee. Mr. and Mrs. Mason are members of the Christian church at Bentonville and Mrs. Miller has been a memlier of that church for more than thirt}^ years. The Masons have a pleasant home and take a proper interest in the general social activities of their home town, helpful in promoting all movements having to do with the advancement of the common welfare.

Clarence G. Carr

Clarence G. Carr, the well-known public auctioneer at Glenwood and proprietor of the livery barn there, was born on a farm in Rush county, about two and one-half miles northwest of Glenwood, October 18, 1880, son of Guy B. and Jessie F. (Bussell) Carr, the former of whom was born in Ohio and the latter in Indiana, who are now living at Glenwood.

Guy B. Carr was born in Butler county, Ohio, November 10, 1855, a son of Guy A. and Elizabeth (Blue) Carr, the former a natixe of the state of New York and the latter of \'irginia, born in that portion of the Old Dominion now comprised in West Virginia. When fifteen years of age Guy B. Carr came to Indiana with an elder brother and located with him in Rush county. There he worked at farm labor until his marriage in 1878, he then being twenty-two years of age, after which he began farming for himself on rented land in Rush county. Six or eight years later he came over into Fayette county and bought a forty-acre farm northwest of Glenwood, in Fairview township, and there lived for about eighteen years, meanwhile increasing his holdings by the purchase of an adjoining tract of thirty acres. In 1892 he bought a place of one hundred and forty-eight acres on Williams creek, in tlie eastern part of Fairview township, and in 1903 he sold his original farm and moved to this latter farm, where he made his home until his retirement from the active labors of the farm in.1913 and removal to Glenwood, where he and his wife are now living. Mr. Carr has long given his close attention to public affairs and served for five years during the nineties as assessor of Fairview township.

On January 17, 1878, Guy B. Carr was united in marriage to Jessie F. Bussell, who was bom on a farm about five miles northwest of Glenwood, in Rush county, a daughter of James and Elizabeth Jane (McMillan) Bussell, old settlers and well-known residents of that part of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Carr are earnest members of the Christian church and their children also are members of the church and, as well as their parents, are active workers in the same. There are four of these children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the second in order of birth, the others being as follow : Otis, a draughtsman in the office of the Atlas Engine Works at Indianapolis, who married Maude Simpson and has two children, Virgil and Edith; Ethel, who married Edwin McGraw, of Milton, and has three children, Minnie, Robert and Ernest, and Minnie, wife of Scott Powell, a farmer, of Harrison township.

Clarence G. Carr grew to manhood on the farm, receiving his schooling in the graded school at Fairview and lived at home until his marriage when twenty years of age, after which he began farming on his own account, farming the place on Williams creek owned by his father, and two years later moved to the old Bussell farm in Rush county, where he made his home for two years, at the end of which time he moved to the Kirkpatrick farm near Ging's Station, where he lived for about two years. He then spent another year on the Bussell place and then for five years made his home on the Stout farm near Ging's Station, and a year on the Kinder farm farther east. He then, in October, 1913. moved to Glenwood, where he ever since has made his home. It was in the spring of 191 3 that Mr. Carr began his career as an auctioneer by taking a course in the Jones School of Auctioneering at Chicago, and he since then has been quite successful as an auctioneer and crier of public sales, liis services being in demand both in this county and in the neighboring county of Rush. In the fall of 1913, upon taking up his residence in Glenwood, Mr. Carr built a commodious livery barn there and in the following December started in business in the general livery line. The following summer he added automobile livery to his establishment and has since done a general garage business in connection with his horse-livery business. Since November 13, 1916, he has held the contract as rural mail carrier on route No. 28 out of Glenwood. In the fall of 1914 Mr. Carr built a handsome house just south of the interurban track, on the eastern side of the county line, in Glenwood, and is therefore still counted a resident of Fayette county. During his residence in Rush county he served for two years as assessor of Union township and he also has served as a member of the town board in Glenwood, but takes no particularly active part in politics. He and his wife are members of the Christian church and also take an interested part in the general social activities of their home town.

On March 6, 1901, Clarence G. Carr was united in marriage to Lulu McClure, who was born in the village of Fairview, this county, a daughter of George and Leuticia (Caldwell) McClure, both of whom also were born in this county, the former at Fairview and the latter in Harrison township. George McClure was born at Fairview on September 3, 1838. a son of John and Amanda McClure, and there lived until his marriage on October 9, 1861, to Leuticia Caldwell, who was born on the old Caldwell homestead in the northeastern part of Harrison township, the place now owned and occupied by her brother, Daniel Caldwell, a sketch of whom, presented elsewhere in this volume, gives details of the histon,' of the Caldwell family in this county. After his marriage Air. McClure lived for a time on the Caldwell farm and then moved to Rush county, where he followed farming for years, later returning to Fairview and for ten or twelve years thereafter making his home in the old Fairview Academy building, which he bought and reconstructed for a home, and in 1905 moved to Connersville, where he spent his last days, his death occurring there on May 21, 1909, since which time his widow has been making her home with her children. To George McClure and wife were born seven children, namely : Mary Amanda, wife of George Desborough, of Connersville; Julia Belle, wife of O. Morton Moffitt, of Indianapolis; Alice, who married Garrett Gray, of Connersville, and died in the fall of 1895; Samuel J., of Falmouth, Rush county; Florence A., wife of William Elwood, of Connersville; William, also of Connersville, and Lulu, wife of Mr. Carr. George McClure was an active member of the Independent (63)

Order of Odd Fellows and was an earnest member of the Christian church, as is his widow. To Mr. and Mrs. Carr four children have been born, namely: Russell Guy, born on February 21, 1903; Roscoe Von, October 28, i90_i ; Hazel Florence and Harold Floyd (twins), September 19, 191 1, the last-named of whom died on December 13, 191 1.

Frank Cummins

Frank Cummins, one of the best-known farmers and horsemen of Fayette county and the proprietor of a well-improved farm of eighty acres just west of the village of Bentonville, on which place he makes his home, is a native son of Fayette county and has lived here all his life. He was born on a farm in Posey township on September 2, 1859, son of John D. and Catherine (Williams) Cummins, prominent residents of that community and further reference to whom is made elsewhere in this volume.

Until his marriage in the fall of 1880 Frank Cummins made his home on the farm on which he was born and after his marriage he began farming a place of forty acres two miles west of Bentonville, where he lived until 1 901, when he moved to his present farm of eighty acres one-half mile west of Bentonville, where he has since made his home and where he is very comfortably situated, he and his wife having a very pleasant home there. For about twenty years and up to about four years ago Mr. Cummins had given much attention to the raising of fast horses and training them for' the track. Some of these horses he raced personally and for years was one of the best-known horsemen in this circuit. Nine of the horse raised by Mr. Cummins he himself raced. Among these was "Angie W.", with a mark of 2:iij4> pacing, and 2:16^ trotting. Another of these horses was "Redbird," with a mark of 2:18^. Both of these animals, however, actually worked faster for Mr. Cummins than the official mark given them, "Angie W." having done a mile in 2 :o6^ and "Redbird" in 2:10^. "Prince Patchen," another of Mr. Cummins's horses and a colt from "Redbird," had a record of 2:1834 and actually worked a mile in 2:iii4- "Angie W." also was a "Redbird" colt. For some years past Mr. Cummins has been living practically retired from the more active labors of the farm and is now taking things somewhat easier than during his earlier years of practical farming and horse raising.

was united in marriage to Flora Avers, who was lH)rn on a farm al)()ut a half mile east of the old Cummins homestead in I*ose\- township, a daughter of Levi and Susan (Jennings) Avers, and who died, in 1893, leaving one child, a daughter. Hazel, who married George Bridgeman, now living near Lewisville, in the neighboring county ui Menr\-, and has one child, a daughter, Wilma. Some years later while racing "Rcdbird" in Ohio Mr. Cummins met there Dora Focht. who was born in Union township, Auglaize county, that state, and on March 23, 1898, the two were united in marriage. Mrs. Cummins is a daughter of Daniel and Maria (Justice) Focht, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Ohio, whose last days were spent on the farm in Auglaize county, Ohio, on which Mrs. Focht had lived for sixty }ears. Daniel Focht was born in Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, and was reared to farming, a vocation he followed all his life. \Vhen a young man he moved over into Ohio and there married Maria Justice, who was born in Union township, Auglaize county, and in that county he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives, the former dying in 1896 and the latter, in August, 1913.

David Baker

David Baker, one of Fayette county's best-known retired farmers and a substantial old citizen of Fairview township is a native son of that township, born on the farm on which he is now living, two miles east of Falmouth, and has lived there all his life. He was born on February 14, 1845, son of John and Mary (Hanna) Baker, both of whom were born in Bourbon county, Kentucky, who became pioneers of Faxette county and here spent their last days, substantial and inlluential pioneers of the Falmouth neighborhood.

John Baker was born on a farm in the near vicinity of Paris, in P.ourbon county, Kentucky, F'ebruary 14, 1803, son of Abraham and Fllizabeth Baker, the former of whom was' born on July 7, 1764, and who were married on March 18, 1800, making their home in Bourbon county, Kentucky, where eight children were born to them, of whom John was the second in order of birth, the others being as follow: David, born on August 11, 1801 ; Harrison, April 3, [805: Mahala, March 3, 1807; Nancy, February i, 1809: Ellen and Eliza (twins). July 2. t8ii, and Daniel, June 22, 1814, In the fall of 1824 Abraham Baker, seeking land for his sons, came up into Indiana and settled in Fayette county, giving each of his sons a farm in the northeastern part of Fairview township. He bought three eighty-acre tracts, the place where David Baker now lives, and across the road from that place, where now the Fitzgerald farm is, he bought a quarter section. On this latter tract he established his home, and there his younger son, Daniel, remained with him until his death, the other sons, John and David, occupying the nearby "eighties," Harrison selling out and moved to Wabash county, wliere he died. The above three sons spent the rest of their lives on the farms which they opened and cleared back in the twenties. Elizabeth Baker, wife of Abraham, died on Octoljer 5, 1826, about two years after settling here in the then wilderness and Abraham Baker survived until January 17, 1842.

In the fall of 1826 John Baker, second son of Abraham, went back to his old home in Kentucky and there on December 12, 1826, was united in marriage to Mary Hanna. who was born in that same community in Bourbon county on October 30, 1801. The following spring he returned to Indiana with his bride and settled on the farm two miles east of Falmouth, which he had begun to clear in 182.4 and where he had put up a log cabin for the reception of his bride, and there he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives, earnest and industrious pioneers of that community. As he prospered he increased his original holdings there to one hundred and twenty acres and later bought an adjoining tract of one hundred and forty acres on the north. On that pioneer farm Mary (better known as "Polly") Baker died on December 2, 1858, and John Baker, her husband, survived her many years, his death occurring in April, 1892, he then being in the eighty-ninth year of his age. He and his wife were the parents of eight children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the last-born, the others being as follow : Elizabeth, now deceased, who was twice married, her first husband having been WilHam Dickey and the second, Dave Weimer; Harrison and Eliza Jane (twins), the latter of whom died when eight years of age and the former of whom died in April. 1892; James, who lives in Milton: Sallie Ann, who married Guy Jackson and is now deceased ; Harriet, who married John Stuckey and lives in Grant county, and Mary Jane, of Falmouth, widow of Tillman Van Buskirk. David Baker still has the spinning wheel used by his mother, "Polly" Baker, and the saddle bags which his grandfather and his father brought with them from Kentucky. He also has the old family Bible, a venerable volume bound in sheepskin and printed in New York in 1814, in which is carefully set out the record of births and deaths and marriages in the family of Abraham and Elizabeth Baker and of John and "Polly" Baker.

John Baker and liis wife were earnest nienihcrs (if the Methodist eliureli, as were the former's parents, and took an active interest in churcli affairs in the early days of the community in whicli tliey settletl, rehgious services frequently being held in their home in the days before the settlement had an establislied liouse of worship, and their children were reared in that faith.

David Baker has always lived on the farm where he was born and has alwa\'s followed farming, becdming the owner of a fine farm of one hundred and fifty-eight acres with a nice country home on it. That farm he sold two years ago, but he continues to make his home there, living with his brother-in-law, who bought the place, and i-^ (luite content to spend the rest of his life on the place on which he was born and which he has helped to develop from pioneer times.

On May 8, tqoi, David Baker was united in marriage to Dora Iva Pierce, who was born in the neighboring county of I'^ranklin, a daughter of Cornelius and Isabel (Chance) Pierce, who years ago moved from b'ranklin county to New York City, where the father became a member of tlie metropolitan police force and wliere he died. .After his death his widow and children returned to Franklin county anfl presently moved thence to tlie neighborhood of Morristown, in Shelby count)-. There the \\i(low Pierce married again and presently moved back to Xew York. Her daughter, Dora Iva, remained in Shelby county until her marriage to Mr. Baker. She died at her home in Fairview township in the fall of 1908. She was a member of the Christian cliurch.

Warren Harris Munger, one of the best-known and most progressive farmers of Posey township and the pro|)rietor of a fine farm of something more than a quarter of a section of land about a mile and a half southeast of Bentonville, was born on that farm and has lived there all his life. lie was born on February 20, 1878, son of Lazarus and Savannah (Fergu.son) Munger, prominent residents of that community, whose last days were spent there and further mention of whom is made elsewhere in this volume of history and biography.

The Mungers have been prominently represented in this part of Indiana for generations, ever since the grandfather of the subject of this sketch came here from Ohio in 1821 and settled in this county, establishing a fine home in Posey township. This jiionecr was Fdmund K. Munger, who was born in Rutland county, Vermont, September 13, 1790, third in order of birth of the twelve children born to Gen. Edmund and Eunice (Kellogg) Munger, natives of Connecticut, the former born on September 30, 1763, and the latter, August 13, 1767, who were married on December 5, 1785, and after a few years of residence at Washington, Connecticut, went to Rutland county, Vermont, where they resided until the spring of 1798, when they moved to Belpre, Ohio, and a year later moved thence to Montgomery county, that same state, becoming thus among the earliest residents of the Dayton neighborhood, where they spent the remainder of their lives,^ General Munger dying there on April 14, 1850, and his widow surviving until January 8, 1868, she then being one hundred years and five months of age. The Mungers are of old Colonial stock, the first of the name to come to this country having been Nicholas Munger, a descendant of the sea kings of the Baltic, born in 1623, who left a son, John, born in 1660, whose son, Ebenezer, born in 1693, had a son, Reuben, who was the father of General Munger. Settling in the Dayton neighborhood as early as 1799, General Mimger early became one of the foremost factors in the early life of that settlement and when the War of 1812 broke out he raised a command and was commissioned brigadiergeneral, but was later superseded by General Hull, who led his troops to disaster at Detroit. General Munger served for some time as a member of the Ohio Legislature and in other ways did well his part as a citizen and as a man of affairs. He and his wife were Presbyterians and their children were reared in that faith.

Edmund K. Munger was eight or nine years of age when his parents moved from Vermont to Ohio and he grew to manhood in Montgomery county, in the latter state, remaining there until his marriage on December 17, 1 81 2, to Mary Cole, who was born in Virginia on October 15, 1794, a daughter of Samuel and Catherine (Byron) Cole, who were among the early settlers of Montgomery county, Ohio. Upon the breaking out of the War of 1812 Edmund K. Munger received a brevet appointment, but his active services were not re(|uired in that brief struggle. He remained in Ohio until 1 82 1, ^when he came to Indiana and bought two hundred acres of land in section 19- of Posey township, this county, where he established his home and where he and his wife spent the remainder of their Hves. Upon setthng on that farm he put u]) a log cabin, which served as the place of family residence until 1833, \vhen he erected a substantial brick house, which is still standing and in use. Originally a Whig, Mr. Munger became a Republican at the time of the organization of that party in 1856 and was active in the political affairs of his community. His wife was a devoted member of tlie Baptist cluirch. Slie died on Septenil)er y, 1853, and Edmund K. Muufjer survived until June 10, 1872. They were tiie parents of twelve children, all now deceased.

Lazarus Munger, son of Edmund K. and Mary (Cole) Munger, was born on the old home farm in Posey township on September 11, 183 1, and there grew to manhood; after the death of his parents he continued to make his home there, he and his brother, Edmund, . having in 1863 bought one hundred and twenty-one acres of the homestead, and there he spent the rest of his life, one of the most substantial farmers and stockmen in that part of the county. Edmund Alunger did not marr>' and made liis home witli his brother Lazarus, who was married in the fall of 1866. The two brothers engaged extensively in the live-stock business together until in August, 1882, when Lazarus Munger bought his brother's interest in the farm and the latter thereafter engaged in the building and loan business in Indianapolis and Cambridge City. Lazarus Munger not only continued in the live-stock business, but gradually added to his farm holdings until he became the owner of five hundred and eighteen acres of excellent land, all of which he brought under cultivation. He was an active Republican and though often importuned to become a candidate for one or another of the important offices in the county, ever declined and the only public service he accepted was the office of assessor of his home township, in which capacity he acted for some time. On September 10, 1866, Lazarus Munger was united in marriage to Savannah Ferguson, who was bom in this county on February 8, 1843, ^ daughter of Linville and Elizaljeth 'SI. (Lodcr) Ferguson, the former of whom was born in Xortli Carolina and the latter in this county and who were prominent residents of Posey township. To that union three children were born, Lorena M., Warren H. and Helen E. Lazarus Munger died at his home in Posey township on May 27, 1909, and his widow survived him a little less than three years, her death cKCurring on May 7, 191 2.

Warren H. Munger has always lived on the farm where he was born. Upon completing the course in the public schools at Beutonville he took a course in the high school at Rushville and then entered Earlham College, from which he was graduated with the class of looi with the degree of Bachelor of Science. He then spent a year in the University of Michigan, taking a special C(Xirse in mechanical and electrical engineering and upon lea\Tng college returned home and has ever since been there engaged in general fanning and stock raising. Mr. Munger is the owner of one hundred and sixty-one acres of fine land there and has charge of a quarter of a section of land lying just across the road from his own farm, belonging to his sister, Mrs. Helen E. Davis, who is living near Clinton, Michigan, and is doing very well, his general farming being profitably augmented by the attention he has for some years been giving to the raising of cattle and hogs for the market.

During his college days at Earlham, Warren H. Munger became acquainted witli Elizabeth Hanson, of New London, this state, also a member of the student body, but of a class two years later than that to which Mr. Munger belonged, and on April 2, 191 1, the two were married. Elizabeth Hanson was born at New London, about fourteen miles west of Kokomo, in Howard county, this state, a daughter of Thomas Elwood and Lydia M. (Williams) Hanson, both of whom were born in Belmont county, Ohio, and who later moved to Indiana, where their last days were spent. Thomas Elwood Hanson was born in 1828, a son of Borden and Rachel (Cox) Hanson, natives of North Carolina, who were married in that state. Borden Hanson was a son of George and Susanna (Scrooven) Hanson, the former of whom was a soldier of the War of the Revolution and the latter a nurse during that struggle. While serving as a soldier George Hanson was seriously wounded and in the hospital he was tenderly nursed by Susanna Scrooven, a Quakeress, the acquaintance thus formed ripening into love and later marriage, George Hanson becoming a Quaker in order that he might marry his nurse. After their marriage Borden Hanson and his wife left North Carolina and settled in Belmont county, Ohio, whence presently they moved over into Indiana and settled near Economy, in Wayne county, Thomas E. Borden then being five years of age. There Borden Hanson died in 1847 ^nd shortly afterward his widow and her children went to Howard county, where she spent her last days. Thomas E. Hanson was a young man when he accompanied his widowed mother to Howard county, the family there entering upon possession of a tract of government land the mother had bought. After the death of his mother, Thomas E. Hanson bought the interests of the other heirs in that farm and there continued farming the rest of his life, the owner of an excellent farm of one hundred and twenty acres. As a boy he had learned the carpenter trade and during the time he worked at that trade he built a number of houses at Germantown and Milton and in the surrounding country. He was active in church and school work and was particularly interested in the work of the Friends Academy at New London. He died on January 15, 1906.

young- and his third wile, Lvcha M. Williams, was horn near Ilarnsvillc, in Belmont county, Ohio, daughter of I~.zra and Jane (Eaton) Williams, both of whom were born in that same vicinity, the former of English ancestry, the \\'illiamses having- moved by way of Pennsylvania into Ohio, and the latter a daughter of Ahijah and Jane (Campbell) Eaton, of Highland (Scotch) parentage. About 1856 Ezra Williams and his wife moved fron-i Ohio to Indiana and settled in the Quaker settlement near New London in Howard county, where they spent the remainder of their lives. Ezra Williams was a birthright Quaker and his wife changed her faith from that of the Methodist to that of the Friends in order that their union might be harmonious on the c[uestion of religioii. ?Ier father, Ahijah Eaton, served for four years as a soldier of the Union during the Civil War, attached to the Army of the Potomac and he had a son, James Eaton, who served in the artillery in the Army of the Cumberland, under Grant and Sherman. Lydia M. (Williams) Hanson died in 1S78, when her daughter, Elizabeth, was but a child, and Thomas E. Hanson later married his deceased wife's sister, Emma, who died in the spring of 1903. Thomas E. Hanson's maternal grandmother, Rachel (Stubbs) Cox, mother of his mother, Rachel, was of French Huguenot ancestry, her forbears having fled from France during the days of the persecution and settled in Ireland, where they became attached to the Society of Friends; members of the family later coming to this country and remaining devoted Friends to the present generation. The Hansons have been traced back through their Danish ancestr}- to the days of the Vikings, the family ha\-ing come to this country during Colonial days by way of England.

Elizabeth Hanson recei\-ed her early schooling in the schools of Xew London and upon completing the course in the high school there entered Earlham College, from the science departments of which she was graduated in 1903. She then entered the training school for nurses in connection with the Deaconess Hospital at Indianapolis, with a view to becoming a i)r(>- fessional nurse, but after three years of such training her health began to suiifer and she left three months before the date of her expected graduation. She shortly afterward married Air. Munger and did not return to Indianapolis to finish her course. Mr. and Mrs. Munger have a very pleasant home and take an interested and useful part in the general social activities of the community in which they live, helpful factors in the promotion of all agencies having to do with the advancement of the general welfare of the community at large.

I002 Fayette County, Indiana Descendants Of John Conner

In the historical section of this vohime a chapter is devoted to the Hfe and tile works of John Conner, tlie founder of the city of Connersville and one of the most romantic and strikingly interesting figures in all the history of the great Hoosier state, and there is therefore no occasion for a review of the career of that fine old pioneer in this brief sketch relating to his descendants ; but there are a few points that might properly be touched on as a means to furnishing a sidelight on some of the inherited characteristics of these descendants, for it is undeniable that many of the traits that marked the character of the pioneer have come on down through the period, more than a century, that has elapsed since he began his labors in Indiana and are now discernible in the third and fourth generations of those who so proudly bear his name.

Though reared by the Indians, as set out in the chapter above mentioned, and perhaps more intimately familiar with the habits, customs and speech of the aboriginals than any white man, except his brother William, living in the then Territory of Indiana, John Conner was an aristocrat by blood and inheritance, possessed largely the money-making instinct and was a natural adventurer, his life from boyhood, when he was carried into the wilderness by his savage captors after the Wyoming Valley massacre, until the close of his interesting career being filled with stirring' and romantic adventures. He was an instinctive and close student and in addition to acquiring a speaking knowledge of twenty-two aboriginal dialects, acquired a mastery of English and a speaking and reading acquaintance with French ; and the choice library which he gradually accumulated in his pioneer home on the banks of the White Water was a continual source of wonder to his Indian friends and little less a source of wonder to those of his white companions of an early day who had put books behind them, for the time, when they left the East. His choice collection of silverware, plates and goblets for table service, which he had made in Boston, sending thither for that purpose many pounds of silver trinkets he had picked up in his trading with the Indians, indicated also a refinement of taste not often exhibited out here on the then frontier of civilization. Added to this collection was a magnificent punchbowl that had come from England, brought by the Winships, and that had descended to his wife, Lavina Winship. On his tour of the Utnted States in his old age. General LaFayette visited John Conner and was regaled by a draught from this ancient punchbowl.

Concerning- the services to tlie state performed I)y John Conner, it is not necessary liere to go into detail, for all that has been dealt with at length elsewhere. As the right-hand man of General Harrison on more than one occasion and as the warm friend of the great Indian leader, Tecumseh, his services as an intermediary in the negotiations between the government and the aboriginals were of a notable character. As a member of the Senate in the first Territorial Legislature he also rendered conspicuous service and in other ways was a prime factor in the great work of establishing a .social order out here in the then wilderness. At the battle of Tippecanoe he was an aide to General Harrison. When Colonel Campbell was preparing; to go to battle against the Indians on the Mississinewa, Governor Harrison acKised him that when he wanted information regarding routes and details of the campaign he should seek Conner, and the latter acted as the guide to the expedition to the Mississinewa. Knowing of the friendship Conner bore toward the Indians, .some of Campbell's soldiers feared the guide might lead the expedition into ambush. Campbell therefore ordered one of his men to ride near Conner and if the latter displayed the least sign of treachery to shoot him. One of Conner's friends in the troop informed the scout of this action, but the latter gave no outward indication of concern. Coming to a ford with which lie formerly had been familiar, Conner urged his horse into the stream, but when the animal began floundering in deep water he discovered that the ford had been washed out since he had been that way. Conner's guard, believing that the guide was leading the troop into a dangerous channel, raised his gun to shoot, but Conner raised bis hand and commanded him to wait, explaining the situation, and presently was able to pick out a safe ford for the passage of the troop. This quality of coolness in the time of danger may be illustrated by another incident in the life of the pioneer. One day he was in the woods with his gun and sat upon a fallen tree' for a moment of rest, his gun pointing upward between his knees. An tmwonted change in the form of the shadows at his feet warned Conner that a catamount was in the branches of the tree above him. Knowing that an impulsive motion on his part would precipitate the spring of the dangerous creature, Conner silently, cautiously and almost imperceptibly moved his gun until he knew, by the location of the shadow, that the catamount was in range of the same and then he pressed the trigger, bringing the animal crashing down dead at his feet.

John Conner prospered in his pioneer ventures and became one of the wealthiest men of his time in Indiana. He was courtly in manner and speech and conformed to the polite formalities and the proper exercise of the scxial amenities of life when the occasion demanded. His excellent taste in such matters prompted bim in the selection of his clothes and there is a welldefined tradition that he was generally recognized as one of the best-dressed men in Indiana in his time. The warm affection that existed between him and his brother, William Conner, is a matter of pleasant tradition in his family to this day. He and his brother were closely connected in extensive business affairs and it is related that there never was the necessity for even "the scratch of a pen"" between them as the guaranty for the mutual fairness of these relations. On the occasions that William would come to visit John or John would go to visit William, it is related that the brothers would sit all night in earnest and enjoyable conversation. At times, as in the case of most brothers, they would be in disagreement, for both were men of decided opinions and .strong convictions, but these "quarrels" never amounted to open rupture and after their verbal set-tos the best of feeling soon would be restored. Wher John Conner died his son, William Winship Conner, was but a child and nis will directed that his brother, William, look after the boy. This dying request was religiously regarded by the brother, who directed the rearing of the youth and saw him through Hanover College and to a position in affairs wherein he could look after the extensive interests that had come to him through his father.

The story of John Conner's marriage to an Indian girl before he had attained his majority and of the birth by that marriage of two sons and of the death of the young Indian wife in 1812, is told in the chapter particularly relating to Mr. Conner, presented elsewhere in this volume, and needs only to be alluded to here. By his marriage to Lavina Winship, daughter of pioneer parents, the Winship family at that time having been residents of the Cedar Grove neighborhood, he was the father of two sons, William Winship Conner and Henry Ives Conner, and a daughter, the latter of whom died in her childhood. Lavina Winship Conner is referred to in contemporary accounts as a woman of lovely character and of many graces of person and mind, a fitting helpmeet for the man between whom and herself there came to be the most perfect understanding and the closest affection, and who proved to be a valuable factor in the work of setting up something more than a mere semblance of a social order in the formative period of the village that later grew into the thriving manufacturing city, the Connersville of today. The younger of the two sons mentioned above, Henry Ives Conner, died in his early manhood, right at the opening of what seemed to be a most promising career. He early took up the study of the law and upon being admitted to practice formed a partnership with James M. Ray and was engaged in the practice of his profession when he died snddenly. Ojntemporary acconnts refer to the young man thus suddenly reino\ed from tiie scenes of eartldy activity, as having possessed a brilliant intellect, farseeing and of a ripeness of judgment that his elders in practice might have envied. Forty years before the outbreak of the Civil War he was recorded as having given utterance to the belief that the institution of slavery was a crime against manhood and against nature that only could be atoned for by war and bloodshed and that the nation some day would pay dearly and in bitterness of spirit for permitting the maintenance of the institution.

William Winship Conner was born at Connersville in 1820 and was but six years of age when his father dietl. As noted above, he was looked after by his paternal uncle. William Conner, who later made his home at Noblesville, and by his uncle was sent to Hanover College. In the meantime the considerable estate that had been left by his father had been carefully conserved and upon the young man's return from college he turned his active attention to the direction of his extensive business afTairs. He had much of his father's directness of manner and keen executive ability and his affairs prospered from the very beginning. At the age of twenty-four years he w as^ elected to represent his district in the state Senate and was a member of that body when the counties of Boone and Tipton were organized. He was a singularly light-hearted and genial young man and his early campaigns were marked by a spontaneity of expression and a gladsomeness of manner that made him friends all over the district, while his course in the Senate, in which he served, by succeeding re-elections, for ten years or more, made him friends among the most substantial persons in all parts of the then rapidly developing state. His youthful ojjtimistic and sunny disposition gave him an appearance of youth that his early-matured mind strongly contradicted and led to some amusing confusion among his constituents. On one of his early campaigns he approached an elector, a stranger, and w-ithout introducing himself asked what were the chances of securing the voter's support in his race for the Senate. "My mind is made up," answ'ered the voter. "I am going to vote for W. W. Conner, and, even if I wasn't, I wouldn't vote for a fellow as young as you." Though of the opposing political faith, William Winship Conner was appointed adjutant-general of the state if necessary under the administration of Governor Hendricks, his warm personal friend. Upon the organization of the Republican party Mr. Conner threw himself heart and soul into the new political movement and from the beginning was one of the leaders of the same in this state. He was a delegate to the historic convention of that parly at Chicago that nominated Abraham T.incoln for the

Presidency in i860. Under protest he accepted the instructions of the state convention that the Indiana delegation should cast its vote on the first ballot for Seward, but after that, he insisted, Indiana should stand "like a wall" for Lincoln - and it did.

William W. Conner married Amanda Coggswell, who was born in Canada, and who was but two years of age when her parents, Francis B. and Sallie (Thorn) Coggswell, came to Indiana and located at Noblesville, where F. B. Coggswell was for years engaged in the mercantile business. Both Mr. Conner and his wife spent their last days in Noblesville. Of the children born to this parentage six lived to maturity, namely : John C, Lavina, Sarah, Addie, Mary E. and William Winship, second, the latter of whom is a veterinary surgeon, now living at Farmland, this state; married and has two children, Jesse and Ruth. The other son, John C. Conner, possessed many of his father's energetic traits. He went to Texas at twenty-three years of age, as captain in the regular anny, but resigned that position, to take an active part in the reconstruction of that state. He was twice elected to Congress from that state and the nomination for the third term was given him by acclamation, but, on account of ill health, he was compelled to decline. He died, December 10, 1875, at the age of thirty-one. Lavina Conner married Richard Conner, son of William Conner, and spent her married life in Indianapolis, where she died, leaving one son, Charles E. Conner. Addie Conner married Charles F. Woerner, who as a partner of Colonel Straight, was one of the most successful manufacturers in Indiana. He was also state labor commissioner under Governors Hanly and Marshall. She is living at Indianapolis. She has four children, William Conner, Frances, wife of John F. Engelke; Freda L. and Mrs. Carolyn Woerner Smith, widow of Charles T. Smith, of Greenfield, Indiana. Mary E. Conner married Wesley Bond, who is now deceased. She formerly lived in Kansas City but is now living in Indianapolis. She has two daughters, Mrs. Gertrude Anderson and Ruth Bond.

Sarah Conner married James R. Christian, of Noblesville, former clerk of the court of Hamilton county and who was a well-to-do stock farmer. To that union was born one son, John Conner Christian, who early developed a remarkable business ability and at the age of twenty-one was directing a business that had attracted the attention of millionaires. At the age of seventeen he went to Texas, where his half-brothers were interested in the oil business and set himself to the task of becoming thoroughly familiar with the business relating to the oil industry then developing so rapidly in that state. By the time he was twenty-one years of age he had a growing busi- ness of his own and was known as a skillful and successful promoter of enterprises bearing upon tlic nil induslry when death overtook him. stopping what promised to be a very successful career, in Marcli. 1914. He married Flora McCarty, of Noblesville. He left no children.

Mrs. Sarah Conner Christian now lives at Indianapolis witli her sister, Mrs. Woerner. She is not idle, nor could she be. She was educated at the old Baptist Institute that stood on the .site of the present Shortridge high school in Indianapolis and early developed an unusual mental caiiacity, which found its outflow along various useful lines, particularly in public work. As a young woman she was for some time engaged as society editress of the Noblcsz'ille Enterprise and early developed a clear, terse style of writing that has given her more than local reputation as a writer. From her youth interested in matters relating to the early history of Indiana, with particular reference to the part her grandfather, John Conner, took in making that history, she has collected much interesting material concerning the man who founded Connersville and the historian gratefully acknowledges here the obligation he owes to Mrs. Christian for interesting data .supplied in that connection. Mrs. Christian is widely known in Indiana club circles and is constantly being engaged to write club papers for women whose talents have not been developed along those lines; these papers being read before some of the leading clubs in Indianapolis and elsewhere throughout the state. Mrs. Christian's comprehensive research in pioneer history and her ability to narrate the story of pioneer days in an informative and entertaining manner are well known throughout the state and she fre(|uently is called upon to address public gatherings, old settlers meetings, flag raisings, meetings of the Woman's Relief Corps, or to address the city council in behalf of worthy movements, her addresses not infrequently being published in full by the city newspaf)ers. At a celebration of the Fourth of July on one occasion when there were fourteen thousand persons present. Mrs. Christian's address held the great multitude in rapt attention. Her ability in this direction seems to have been an inheritance from her father, the Hon. William Winship Conner, son of the Hon. John Conner, of whom it is related that his extemporaneous speeches in the Senate or on the hustings were delivered with such ease and fluency that he hardly could speak rapidly enough to keep pace with the ideas that teemed for utterance.

Reverting to the ancestral history of the Conner family, the following quotation is from Reverend Stimpson, whose informant was William Conner, of Hamilton county. Indiana, and who was the son of Richard Conner, here referred to :

'"Sometime before the Revolutionary War, three Roman Catholic, Irish gentlemen - brothers - sons of John Conner, of Dublin, Ireland, came to this country. Their names were Thomas, James and Richard Conner. When the "O" which was formerly a prefix to their name, was left off, is not exactly known, but supposedly at that time. They had between them considerable wealth. One of them settled in Virginia; another, in New England, where some of his descendants are now living, while the other brother, Richard, with whom we have to do, preferred Pennsylvania. With a generosity and a loose way of keeping accounts, both characteristic of a young man and an impulsive Irishman, his share of the many thousand pounds was soon spent and he doubtless was compelled to take up fur trading with the Indians. He established himself at Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh, where he subsequently sojourned for a short time, in 1770 consisted of twenty cabins, inhabited by Indian fur traders. The garrison of Fort Pitt consisted of two companies of Irish regulars. Now we can easily see that Richard Conner, an Irishman, married to a French woman, who thoroughly understood the Indians, would be amongst the first to go over the mountains to the trading post at Pittsburgh, where many of his own countrymen were. From this place he pushed on and established a trading post at what became Conner's Town, Ohio, in what is now Coshocton county. At the time of that settlement, 1770, previous to the Revolution, there was no Northwest Territory. There were only indefinable possessions, ceded by the French, and Pennsylvania could claim this region until a later survey robbed her of it."

When the future historian of Connersville and of Fayette county comes to summarize the various individual factors that have contributed so largely to the industrial and commercial development of the city and county, it undoubtedly will be found that the name of the late John B. McFarlan will be found very near the head of that list. From the time of taking up his residence in Connersville in 1856 to the time of his death in 1909, John B. McFarlan was a tireless promoter of the interests of his home town and it is undoubted that his energy and public spirit did very much toward gaining for Connersville the advantageous industrial eminence it now occupies among the sisterhood of cities in the proud old Hoosier commonwealth. Elsewhere in this volume there is set out at considerable length something of the his- tory of the McFarlan family in tliis county, together with interesting details of a genealogical character relating to that family, and these it will not be necessary here to repeat; but the biographer would be remiss in the discharge of his obligation of duty and respect to the memory of those stalwart men of a past or now passing generation who did so much for the early development of this community if he did not here present a brief memorial sketch of the pioneer manufacturer whose name forms the caption of this particular narrative.

John B. McFarlan was a native of the great city of London, but had been a resident of this country since the days of his childhood and was therefore as much American and as proud of the institutions of this country as "one native and to the manner born." He was about eight years of age when his parents, James and Ann (Beecraft) McFarlan, left England with their family and came to this country, settling in Hamilton county, Ohio, in the immediate vicinity of the city of Cincinnati. James McFarlan, who was a native of Scotland, was a silk manufacturer in London, but upon coming to this country bought a farm in the vicinity of Cincinnati, land now included in the corporate limits of that city, and there established his home and spent his last days, his death occurring there when he was fiftyeight years of age. His widow, who survived him many years, lived to be nearly ninety years of age. Of their considerable family of children, the following lived to maturity : James, Thomas, Robert, Edward, Ann, Martha, Elizabeth, Mary and the subject of this memorial sketch.

Reared on the home farm in the neighborhood of Cincinnati, John B. McFarlan completed his schooling there and when about seventeen years of age entered the factory of the old firm of George C. Miller & Sons at Cincinnati and was there thoroughly grounded in the trade of carriage blacksmithing. Upon completing his apprenticeship he opened a small carriage shop of his own in the village of Cheviot, afterward and now known as Westwood, a suburb of Cincinnati, and while there married. Not long afterward, about 1850, he moved up by canal to Cambridge City, this state, and there established a more extensive shop for the manufacture of carriages and did so well there that he presently began looking about for a more advantageous location, and in 1856 moved down to Connersville and there bought the carriage factory that had been established in that city by Ware & Veatch. That business Mr. McFarlan gradually expanded until his factory became one of the most extensive in the country and the product of the same became known far and wide for their excellence of construction. (64)

Not only did Mr. McFarlan become one of the leaders in the industrial life of the city he had chosen as his permanent home, but he was equally active in the general business affairs of the city and from the very beginning of his residence there his boundless energies were exerted m behalf of the city's development. Upon the discovery of natural gas hereabout he immediately discerned the incalculable advantage this form of fuel would prove to the city and became one of the chief organizers of the Connersville Natural Gas Company, and was elected president of the same. He also was one of the organizers and a member of the board of directors of the Indiana F'urniture Company (now the Krell Piano Company), was president of the McFarlan Building Company and upon the organization of the Connersville Blower Company was elected president of the same and served in that capacity until his death. For several years also he was president of the Fayette Banking Company, organized in 189.?, and since then merged with the First National Bank of Connersville, and in other ways gave of his time and his energies to the development of his home town; so that, when death called him on August 15, igog, he then being nearly eighty-seven years of age, this community felt that it had suffered the loss of one of its greatest benefactors.

Murl Donald Cummins

Murl Donald Cummins, a well-known and substantial farmer of Posey township and owner of a fine farm of one hundred and six acres on the southern edge of that township, just over the line from the place on which he was born and where his father is still living in the northern part of Fairview township, was born on the farm last indicated and has lived in the northern part of this county all his life save for a short period spent in farming over in Rush county. He was born on September 5, 1885, son of Noah and Ella (Swift) Cummins, well-known residents of Fairview township and a biographical sketch of the former of whom, presented elsewhere in this volume, carries the interesting history of the Cummins family in this county.

Reared on the paternal farm in Fairview township, Murl D. Cummins received his schooling in the schools of that neighborhood and remained at home until after his marriage, when, in 1903, he began farming on his own account, spending one season on the farm which he now owns, across the line from his old home. He then lived for three years On the farm just west of his father's place and then went to the "Jot" Caldwell farm two and one-half miles west of Falmouth, over in Rush county, and a year later moved to a farm five and one-half miles northwest of Falmouth, where he lived for a couple of years, at the end of which time, in the spring of 191 1, he bought his present well-improved farm of one hundred and six acres and has since made his home there, he and his family being very comfortably and very pleasantly situated.

On December 24, 1902, Murl D. Cunnnins was united in marriage to Rhoda Suter, who was born in Owen county, Kentucky, a daughter of John and Mary (Morrow) Suter, both of whom were l»rn and reared in that same county and who still reside there, Mr. Suter being a well-to-do farmer. Mr. Cummins was making a visit to his kinsfolk in Kentucky when he met the girl who later became his wife. To this union four children have been born, Juanita, Murl Garnet, Donald and Webb. Mrs. Cummins is a member of the Baptist church and Mr. Cummins is a member of the Methodist church. They take a proper part in the general social activities of the community in which they live and are helpful factors in the advancement of all worthy causes thereabout.

John L. Byrne

John L. Byrne, farmer and landowner of Waterloo township, this county, and for years manager of the Joseph M. Sutcliffe estate in that township, is a native of the neighboring state of Ohio, but has been a resident of Indiana since the days of his childhood and has lived in the house in which he is now living, the old Sutcliffe home, in Waterloo township, for the past fifty-four years. He was bom in Butler county, Ohio, not far from the city of Hamilton, February 2, 1856, a son of Patrick and Mary (McCardle) Byrne, who later came to Indiana and located at Brownsville, in Union county.

Patrick Byrne was born in Ireland and there grew to manhood, coming then to the United States and proceeding on out into Ohio, where he married Mary McCardle, American born, who had grown up in the vicinity of Hamilton. When the subject of this sketch was about four years of age, Patrick Byrne and his family moved to Indiana and located at Brownsville, in Union county, where Patrick Byrne died a year later, leaving his widow with four small children, one of whom still was a babe in arms. These children, with the exception of the baby, were taken care of in the households of kind-hearted neighbors and John L. Byrne was taken into the household

John L. Byrne was not yet six years of age when his father died and when he was taken into the Sutcliffe home and there he grew to manhood, a valued aid in the labors of improving and developing the place. After the death of Mr. Sutcliffe in 1882 he continued to make his home there, remaining with Mrs. Sutcliffe and looking after the operation of the farm, and after his marriage in 1885 established his home there, where he ever since has resided, a continuous resident of that place and living in the same house for a period of fifty-four years. In addition to looking after the Sutcliffe farm in the interest of the heirs to the same, Mr. Byrne also owns a farm of his own in that neighborhood and is looked upon as one of the substantial citizens of that community.

As noted above, it was in 1885 that John L. Byrne was united in marriage to Alice N. Holland, who was born in Waterloo township, a daughter of William A. and Mary A. Holland and a sister of James F. Holland, a biographical sketch of whom is set out elsewhere in this volume, and to this union three children were born, two of whom died in infancy. The surviving child, a daughter, Edith, married Basil Bell, a farmer living in that same neighborhood, and has one child, a son, John Howard. Mrs. Alice Byrne died in January, 19 15. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, as is Mr. Byrne, and was ever devoted to good works. Mr. Byrne is a good farmer, progressive in his methods, and has done well in his operations.

Levi N. Green

Levi N. Green, one of the best-known and most substantial farmers of Waterloo township, this county, is a native Hoosier, born in the neighboring county of Wayne, but has been a resident of Fayette county since the days of his childhood and has thus been a witness to and a participant in the development of this county during the past half century and more. He was born on May i, 1854, son of William and Martha (Cross) Green, natives of Maryland, who became residents of Indiana in the days of their childhood and whose last days were spent in this county.

William Green was born near the city of Baltimore and was about ten years of age, when, in the early thirties, his parents came out to Indiana and established their home on a farm near Milton, in Wayne county. There

William Green grew to maniiood, tliat period of his life between the ages of sixteen and twenty-three being spent as a teamster and drover to and from Cincinnati, in which he developed quite a business. Old settlers still living are authority for the statement that William Green walked from Cincinnati to his home in Wayne county, returning from a drover's trip, in one da)-, which still stands as the record for pedestrianism in the pioneer annals of this part of the state. William Green married Martha Cross, who also was born in Delaware, a daughter of Levi Cross and wife, the latter of whom was a Davis, who moved from Delaware to Ohio and thence to Indiana, and some years later, about 1858, came over into Fayette county and established his home in Waterloo township, later becoming an extensive landowner in that part of the county. His death occurred in 1893. He and his wife were the parents of six children, three sons and three daughters, two of whom are deceased, namely: Mrs. Samantha Crawford, who was born in 1850 and who died when she was about twenty-five years of age, and Susanna, who died in 1902. The surviving children, besides the subject of this sketch, are George, William and Anna, who live in Connersville.

Levi N. Green was but four or five years of age when his parents moved from Wayne county to Fayette county and he grew to manhood in Waterloo township, where he ever since has lived, a life-long farmer. He has interests in eight hundred acres of land and is regarded as one of the most substantial farmers in that part of the county. He has a well-improved place, with a good -house and a fine, large barn and he and his wife have ever taken an earnest part in the general social activities of the neighborhood, helpful in advancing all worthy causes. Mrs. Green is a woman of education and refinement and the Green home has ever l>een noted for its hospitality and good cheer.

On December 30, 1886, Levi N. Green was united in marriage to Christina Spencer, who was born at Oxford, Ohio, daughter of Franklin and Catherine (McArthur) Spencer, both born in that same city, the former of whom, an architect and builder, moved from Ohio to Indiana and later to Louisiana, where he died in March, 1907, and where his widow is still living. She is the daughter of the Rev. John D. McArthur, a Presbyterian clergyman, a former professor of Greek and Hebrew in Miami Universitv, at Oxford and who for some time served as president of that institution. Mr. and Mrs. Green have seven children living, namely: Roy Levi, who was graduated from Purdue University and who is now in the employ of the state, as a traveling inspector of stock feed and fertilizers ; Albert Spencer, who also was graduated from Purdue and is now teaching school at Hender- son, Kentucky, married Neva Coleman, of Sale Creek, in Hamilton county, Tennessee, and has one child, a daughter, Geneva; Otta, who was graduated from the University of Wisconsin and is now teaching school at Quincy, Illinois; Marcia Hazel, who is at home; Howard Franklin, Isabel Samantha and Lawrence Lincoln, also at home. Mrs. Green and her daughters, Otta and Marcia, are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and the family has ever been devoted to local good works.

Joseph M. Sutcliffe

It was in 1828 that the Sutcliffe family came into the then "wilds" of Fayette county and founded a home in Waterloo township, a home which is still in the possession of the family. The founder of this branch of the Sutclifife family in Indiana was a Methodist clergyman, the Rev. John Sutcliffe, who, strangely enough, left his native England as a "stowaway" upon his departure for America. That was in 18 12. Upon his arrival in this country he located in Kentucky, but in 1828 left that state with his family and came to Indiana, locating in Fayette county, where he spent the remainder of his life, one of the most substantial and influential pioneer residents of the northeastern part of the county.

The Rev. John Sutcliffe was born in England, where he received an excellent education and where he became a minister of the Methodist church. He was trained as a reedmaker, a member of the guild which had in charge the making of the reeds for the old looms of that period, and members of which guild, in order to protect the weaving industry, were forbidden by the British government from leaving that country. John Sutcliffe, however, determined to get out of the country and to go to the United States, where he was sure better opportunities awaited craftsmen. He had a friend who was the captain of a vessel sailing to America and to this captain he confided his design. The captain told him if he could stow himself away on board so securely as to evade the government inspection of the vessel before sailing, after the point of final inspection had been passed all would be well, that he then should have the unmolested privileges of the vessel. In order to get on board the vessel John Sutcliffe insinuated himself into the gang of stevedores who were loading the vessel and presently was thus able to stow himself away securely in the hold, where he remained until after final inspection of the vessel had been made, when he revealed himself to the capr.WKTTE COL'NTV, INDIANA. IOI5 tain and the balance of the voyage was made in comfort. He had taken the precaution to pack his reed-making; tools, upon the exportation of which the government also had an interdiction, in a tirkin of butter, which he had openly shipped aboard the vessel on which he stowed himself away, and thus safely smuggled his valued tools out of the country for use in the new home he thought to set up in the New World. Upon his arrival in this country he proceeded to Kentucky and located in Fayette county, in the neighborhood of Lexington. There he presently was joined by his wife, Mary, to whom, upon his arrival here, he had at once imparted the news of his safe arrival, and the new home was set up in Kentucky, where he began working at his trade and where he also soon gained more than a local reputation as a minister of the Methodist church. In 1828 the Rev. John Sutcliffe and family left Kentucky and came to Indiana, settling in Waterloo township, this county, where he and his wife spent their last days, his death occurring in 1843, he then being about sixty years of age. His wife had preceded him to the grave some years previously. They were the parents of ten children, of whom Joseph M. Sutcliffe was the youngest son and the ninth in order of birth.

Joseph M. Sutcliffe was born in Fayette county, Kentucky, in 1821, and was about seven years of age when he came to this county with his parents, the family settling in Waterloo township, where he spent the rest of his life, becoming one of the most influential residents of that part of the county. He received an excellent education for that period and ever took an active part in public aft'airs, serving for years as a member of the board of county commissioners. After his marriage in 1842 he established his home in Waterloo township and became a well-to-do farmer. For more than forty years he was a faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal church and he and his wife were ever active in local good works. On his home farm in Waterloo township, Joseph M. Sutclifife died in 1882. His widow survived him for about nine years, her death occurring in 1891. She was born, Cynthia Ann Robinson, in Fayette county, daughter of Matthew and Eleanor Robinson, the former of whom was born in Morgantown, Virginia, in 1781, and who, in 1 84 1, came with his family to Indiana and settled in Waterloo township, this county, where he spent the rest of his life. He was one of the founders of Robinson Chapel Methodist Episcopal church. His death occurred not long after he came to this county and his widow survived him until 1864, she being eighty-four years of age at the time of her death. Mrs. Sutcliffe was a woman of refinement and was a zealous worker in the Methodist Episcopal church.

To Joseph M. and Cynthia Ann (Robinson) Sutcliffe four children were born, two of whom died in infancy, the survivors being Dr. John A. SutcHffe, a surgeon, of IndianapoUs, and Emma, who is still living on the old home place in Waterloo township, widow of Isaac J. Doddridge. It was in June, 1877, that Emma Sutcliffe was united in marriage to Isaac J. Doddridge, who was born in the neighboring county of Wayne, where he grew to manhood. After his marriage he located in Waterloo township, on the place where Mrs. Doddridge lives now. He was a life-long farmer and became the owner of a farm of eighty acres. His death occurred in 1909 and since then Mrs. Doddridge has continued to make her home on the farm where she now lives and where she has lived since she was four years of age. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, as was her husband.

James Ludlow

James Ludlow, one of Fayette county's best-known farmers, proprietor of a fine farm in the southwestern part of Harrison township and an honored veteran of the Civil War, was born in this county and has lived here all his life. He was born in Harrison township on August 8, 1840, a son of Samuel B. and Hannah (Campbell) Ludlow, natives of Cayuga county. New York, who were married in that county and in 18 19 came out here to the then "wilds" of Indiana and settled in Rush county. There Samuel B. Ludlow entered a tract of land from the government, but a short time later moved over into Fayette county and bought a farm in the southeast quarter of section 9 of Harrison township, where he made his home until 1856, when he bought another farm in the northwest quarter of section 8 of that same township and on that latter place spent his last days, his death occurring in 1891, he then being nearly eighty-two years of age.. His widow survived him for some years, she being nearly ninety years of age at the time of her death. They were the parents of twelve children, six sons and six daughters, all of whom grew to maturity, but all of whom are now deceased save the subject of this biographical sketch and his sister, Anna, wife of Welborn Caldwell.

James Ludlow grew to manhood in Harrison township and remained with his parents, a valued aid in the labors of the home farm until August, 1 86 1, when he enlisted as a private in Company H, Thirty-sixth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantrv, and went to the front with that command, serv- ing his full term of three years. The Thirty-sixth Iinliana was attached to the Army of the Cumberlaiul and Mr. Ludlow saw some of the most vigorous action of the war, including the battle of Stone's River, the battle of Chickamauga, the battle of Chattanooga and other engagements in which his regiment participated, and was in the one hundred-days campaign from Chattanooga to Atlanta, participating in the siege of the latter city. While there his term of enlistment expired and he received his honorable discharge. During his three years of arduous service Mr. Ludlow received but one wound and that a minor wound at the battle of Chickamauga. Of the company of one hundred men who went out with Company H when the Thirty-sixth Indiana started for the front, Mr. Ludlow and Stephen White, of Everton, are the only members now living in Fayette county. Mr. Ludlow is an active member of the Grand Army of the Republic and has ever taken an earnest interest in the affairs of his local post and in those of the Department of Indiana in general.

Upon the completion of his military service James Ludlow returned to the home farm in this county and there remained, continuing to help his father in the work of the farm, until his marriage in 1875, when he started farming for himself on land he rented from his father, in section 9 of Harrison township, where he remained until 1886, when he moved to his present place in section 18, in the southwestern part of Harrison township, wliere he ever since has lived. On that place, in 1887, he erected a new house, which has since been his place of residence and where he land his wife are very comfortably situated.