Fayette County, Indiana - Biographical sketches, 1917 (part 6 of 16)

Dr. William R. Phillips received admirable training for the exacting profession upon which early in life he decided to enter. Though but ten years of age when his father died he had even then determind to follow his father's profession and early began reading to that end. Following his graduation from the high school at Lexington, this state, he entered the Marion Normal College and continued his studies there until within about ten weeks of the time he should have graduated. He then began teaching school and for about three years was thus engaged, in the meantime pursuing privately his medical studies, and in due time entered the Kentucky School of Medicine at Louisville, from which institution he was graduated on July 12, 1905. Thus equipped for the practice of his profession. Doctor Phillips came to Fayette county and opened an office at Orange, where his uncle, Doctor Sipe, years before had been in practice and wherfe his father gained his early medical education. There Doctor Phillips has ever since been engaged in practice and has been quite successful. He has an excellent practice and is in numerous useful ways identified with the growing interests of the community of which he has become an influential factor. Doctor Phillips is a Republican and during the memorable campaign of 191 2 put in his lot with the Progressive wing of that party and was nominated for the office of coroner of Fayette county and for joint representative of Fayette and Franklin counties, but withdrew from the race in order to support James K. Mason, Republican nominee. Doctor Phillips is a Mason, as was his father, and has twice been master of Orange Lodge No. 234, Free and Accepted Masons, in which lodge he has tilled ail the offices save those of secretarv and treasurer. He also is a mem- her of the local lodge of the Improved Order of Red Men. has tilled all the offices in that lodge with the exception of that of keeper <jf \vanii)uni, and is now district deputy great sachem of the order of this tribe.

On Deceml)er 25, 1901, Dr. William R. Phillips was united in marriage to Mary Wilson, of Forest, Ohio, who was lx)rn in Hardin county, that state, daughter of Randall A. and Lydia J. (Coleman) Wilson, and who was attending the normal school at Marion at the time she met Doctor Phillips. She taught school for one term before her marriage. To Doctor and Mrs. Phillips four children have been Ixirn, one of whom, William R., died when seven weeks old. The other children are David Coleman. Nilah Grace and Richard Austin. The Doctor, his wife and family, are members of the Christian church at Orange and take a proper interest in church work, as well as in the general good works of the community in which they live, helpful in promoting all worthy causes therealxiut.

Torn C. Naylor

John C. Xaylor. one of Fair\iew township's best-known and most substantial farmers, was born in a log house on a pioneer farm in Blooming Grove township, in the neighboring county of Franklin, and has lived in this section of Indiana all his life. He was born on December 6, 1856, son of Joel and Sarali (Glidewell) Xaylor, both of whom were born and reared in Franklin count}-, members of pioneer families there, and both of whom have been dead for many >ears, the subject of this sketch having been orphaned when but a child.

John P. Naylor. father of Joel Xaylor. was one of the earliest .settlers in the Blooming Grove settlement in Franklin count)'. He was born in i'ennsylvania about 1792 and when twenty years of age came to Indiana Territory on a prospecting trip, crossing the site of what is now the prosjjerous city of Connersville when there was but one log cabin there. He went on farther to the west and entered a tract of one hundred and sixty acres near the junction of White river and Fall creek, where the cit\' of Indianapolis later came to be laid out by the state survey party sent out by the Legislature to locate a capital for the state. He cleared c|uite a bit of that track, land now a part of the city of Indianapolis, but the constant prevalence of fever and ague in the swampy country so discouraged him that he abandoned the farm and moved to F'ranklin county. His widowed mother and two sisters were with him, having moved out from Pennsylvania to join him in his Indiana home, and they established their home in Blooming Grove township upon moving to Franklin county and there became established as among the early settlers of that part of the county. John P. Naylor became a contractor during the time of the construction of the old White Water canal and built a number of the aqueducts along the course of that historic waterway. He was a man of robust and vigorous pliysic|ue and lived to be about eighty-five years of age.

Joel Naylor grew up in Franklin county and became a carpenter and stone mason, as well as a farmer, and some two-story houses he built in his home neighborhood are still standing. Pie was killed by the kick of a horse in i860, his son, the subject of this sketch being then but three years of age. Flis widow, who was born in Franklin county, a daughter of Nash Glide\\ell and wife. Virginians, who had settled in Franklin county in pioneer days, sur\'i\ed him about eight years, her death occurring when her son, John C, was eleven years of age.

Following the death of his mother, John C. Naylor made his home with his uncle. William Naylor, for three years, at the end of which time he went to Connersville, where he found employment in a machine shop and woodworking establishnfent and presently became an expert machinist and cabinetmaker, trades that he followed in that city for twenty-three years. In 1898 he traded his home in Connersville for a farm in Fairview township and on February 20, 1899, moved onto that farm, where he ever since has made his home and where he has done very well as a farmer. Mr. Naylor has a wellkept farm of one hundred and sixty-one acres and has improved the same in excellent shape, conducting his farming operations in accordance with the approved methods of modern agriculture.

On October 3, 1883, John C. Naylor was united in marriage to Isabel Waggoner, who was born in Wabash county, this state, daughter of Michael and Sarah (Clanford) Waggoner, the former of whom was born near Flat Rock, in Rush county, this state, and the latter in Pen Yan county. New ^'ork. Michael Waggoner lived at Henryville a short time after his marriage and then moved to Wabash county, where he farmed for a few years, at the end of which time he returned to this part of the state and settled on a farm on the north edge of Franklin county, in Blooming Grove township, where he spent most of the remainder of his life, his last days being spent in the village of Blooming Grove, where his daughter, Isabel, was living at the time of her marriage to Mr. Naylor. To that union one child has been born, a daughter, Marie. Mr. and Mrs. Naylor are members of the Methodist church and take a proper part in church work, as well as in the general social activities of the community in which they live.

When Dr. Riclianl W'asson Sii)e died at his hdiiie in (Jranoe in the summer of 1916, ti'.ere was sincere mournino- thri>ui;liiiut that part oi the county and througliout the neighboring sections of tlie counties of l'"ranl<hn and Rusli. for in his passing there had departed from that community a strong. ])ersona! inlluence that had been exerted in all good ways thereabout for more than half a century. Settling at Orange - then old Fayetteville - as a young man just out of college and full of enthusiasm for his profession, Doctor Sipe from the very beginning of his residence there, devoted his best energies to the alleviation of the ills of that neighborhood and to the promotion in all ways of the interests of the community. Always ready to relieve distress, he would go any place at any time on call of the ailing and ni;uiy times in .sea.sons of epidemic ov more than usual illness would ritle until exliausted. .The friend of all, he was retained as the family physician in most of the families of that community througii two generations, the grandclnldren of his original patients coming, in their generation, to rely upon the wisdom and skill of the old physician. Counsellor and adviser, as well as physician. Doctor Sipe was a veritable mentor in that community for many years and his influence ever was e.xerted for the good. Even when enfeebled by ad\ancing years the calls upon his services continued and toward the end he often responded to these calls at times when his physical strength was probably far less than that of the patients who relied upon him, and he maintained his active practice up to within two months of liis death. Lenient in matters in\-olving fees for his ser\-ices, the Doctor oftentimes neglected the mere material side of his afifairs to his own financial detriment, ever declining to press a bill for services rendered in behalf of those he suspected might find it inconvenient to pay: Imt he had his reward in the sense of duty well performed, realizing in the gratitude of those whom he thus served that higher profit which comes to those who are really servants of mankind and which is not based upon monetary standards, and his memory long will lie cherished in the community he served so long and so faithfully.

Richard W'asson Sipe was a native of Indiana, born in Jefferson county, -April 8. 1840, son of William and Mary (W'asson) Sipe. and lived on a farm until he was about thirteen years of age, when an attack of white-swelling crippled him so that for four years he was compelled to go on crutches and rendered him halt for life. Thus shut in from the ordinary activities of youth he became deeply interested in his books, presently turning his studies to account by beginning the study of medical works and thus equipped by preparatory study, about twenty years of age entered the Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati, Ohio, and after a four-year course in that institution was graduated with the degree of doctor of medicine in 1864. Upon securing his diploma Doctor Sipe located at Fayettevill^ (now Orange), in this county, opened there an office for the practice of his profession and there remained, actively engaged in practice the rest of his life. In 1872 Doctor Sipe took a post-graduate course in medicine at Indianapolis and early became recognized as one of the most thoroughly qualified physicians in this part of the state, liis practice extending east as far as the White \A^ater river, south as far as Laurel and half way to Rushville on the west. The Doctor was a busy man and ever took an acti\e interest in the public affairs of the community. I'or two terms he served as trustee of Orange township and served as a memljer of the county council from the time of the creation of that body, being a member of the council at the time of his death. He was a stanch Republican and for many years was regarded as one of the leaders of that party in this county. A man of strong religious convictions, Doctor Sipe was a member of the Presbyterian church at Glenwood and took an active part in church work, as well as in all neighborhood good works. His death occurred at his home in Orange on June 30, 1916, after a residence of more than half a century at that place.

On May 23, 1866, in Jefferson county, tiiis state. Dr. Richard \V. Sipe was united in marriage to Sarah A. Phillips, who was born in that county, a daughter of ^^^illiam and Nancy (Hearn) Phillips, the former a native of the state of Pennsylvania and the latter, of Kentucky. William Phillips was a son of Joshua and Mary Phillips and was but a child when his parents came from Pennsylvania to Indiana and settled in what then was the "wilds" of Jefferson county. William Phillips was reared as a farmer and became a farmer on his own account. He died when iiis daughter, Sarah, was but an infant and his widow continued to make her iiome on the old Phillips farm, where she spent the rest of her life and where her daughter Sarah lived until her marriage to Doctor Sipe. l'<i that union were born seven children, Eva, who died in her seventh year, \\'illiam, John, Clara, Fred, Florence and Richard.

William Sipe, who continues to make his home in the Sipe residence with liis mother at Orange, is successfully engaged in farming. On Decem- Ijer 29, 1892, he was united in marriage to Hester McKee, who was jjorn in the neighboring county of Rush, a daughter of Charles H. and Catiierine McKee, the former of whom also was born in Rush county, son of lohn McKee, one of the pioneers of that county. Charles H. McKee spent all his lite on the land wliicli his father had entered from tlie 5J,nernnicnt upon setthno- in Ivusli county in ])ioneer da\s. \\^illiam Sipe and wife have four ciiildren, namely: Claude, who is a student at Hanover College; Margaret, who also attended school at Hanover and is now teaching school at Orange; Louise, now a student at Hanover, and Leon, who is still pursuing his common-school studies. William Sipe is a member of the Masonic order and takes a warm interest in the affairs of the same.

Dr. John Sipe, second son of Dr. Richard W. Sipe, is a practicing physician at Carthage, this state. He married Anna Jones, of Rush county and has two children, Dorothy and Clarabelle. Clara Sipe married Robert F. Titsworth, who later moved to Sedaha, Missouri, where she died in November, 1894, leaving two children, John and Frank. Fred Sipe became a farmer and lived at Orange until his death in 1902. He left a widow, Anna Sipe, and one child, a daughter, Grace. Florence Sipe married Jesse Kennedy, a postal clerk, living at Indianapolis, and has two children, Lelia and Donald. Richard Sipe is a well-known lawyer at Indianapolis and was elected as one of the representatives from Marion county to the state Legislature in 1916. He married Grace Frazee, of Rush county and has one child, a daughter, Ruth.

Frfd Dofxges

Fred Doenges, general manager and secretary-treasurer of the White Water Creamery Company, of Connersville, and formerly and for years connected with the wood-working industries of that city, was born at Lawrenceburg, this state, March 15, 1878, son of Simon and Amelia (Kring) Doenges, who later became residents of Connersville and further and fitting reference to whom is made elsewhere in this volume. Both Simon Doenges and his wife were born in Germany, hut were not married luitil after tiieir arri\al in this country.

Fred Doenges was about thirteen years of age when his parents moved from Lawrenceburg to Connersville and in the latter cit\- he became engaged as a wood carver in the furniture factory, a trade at which he worked there and at other points in Indiana and Ohio until in 191 1. when he organized the White Water Creamery Company at Connersville, was elected secretarytreasurer of the same and was installed as general manager of the plant, a position which he still occupies. The White Water Creamery Company has built up a large business since its organization in 191 1 and its product is in wide demand. Tlie company owns a dairy farm of one hundred and sixty acres surrounding the famous old "Elepliant Hill," northwest of Connersville, and there maintains one of the best herds of dairy cattle in Indiana. The dairy plant has been constructed along modern lines, embodying all the latest devices for the proper production of daiiy products, the dairy barn being regarded as a model of its kind. On this dairy farm still stands the old school house, which in the days it did duty as the district school there was widely known as "Elephant Hill College." It is still in an excellent state of repair and is now doing duty as a tool house, a part of the plant of the dairy company. On October 22, 1914, Fred Doenges was united in marriage to Magdelena Friedgen, daughter of the Reverend Friedgen, founder of the German Presbyterian church at Connersville. Mr. and Mrs. Doenges have a pleasant home in Connersville and take an earnest interest in the general social activities of the city.

George E. Manlove

George E. Manlove, one of the well-known and prominent retired farmers of Fayette county, now living at Connersville, was born in Posey township, this county, January 23, i8.}5, the son of William and Margaret ( Munger ) Manlove.

William Manlove was the first white child born in Posey township, and his wife was born near Dayton, Ohio. William Manlove was the son of George Manlove, a native of North Carolina, who grew to manhood in that state and came to Fayette county, Indiana, in the year 181 1. The trip from the North Carolina home was made with horses and wagon, a number of other families from that section coming to the Hoosier territory at the same time to seek homes in the then far west. Mr. Manlove settled in section 28, township 15, range 12 east, and entered the whole section. The tract at that time was covered with heavy timber and he later sold the place. There were many Indians in this region at that time and they caused the settlers much trouble and annoyance. Mr. Manlove left this part of the state and went south to the Ohio river, where he remained until 1815, when he returned to the township, and here the son William was born that same year, he being the first white child born in that section, so far as is known. In returning from a trip to Cincinnati, George Manlove developed a case of cholera and died in the year 183 1. His wife, Mary Caldwell Manlove, whom he married in North Carolina, died in Rush county, Indiana.

Conditions of living in the settlement at that time were of the crudest sort and the early settlers suffered many hardships. They had to depend upon themselves for nearly all the necessities of life, and much of their living was obtained from the forest and the streams. Their homes were of the rudest kind and very few comforts were obtainable by even the best of the families. Yet, withal, a hardy race was developed, and many of the men and women who lived their early lives as pioneers in this Indiana county, became successful and worthy members of society. They had to do with the primeval conditions and to them was left the development of the territory and the formation of the future government. Their task was a hard one, yet they met the many difficulties with a determination that was worthy of their best efforts. Townships and counties had to be organized, schools and churches established, and business enterprises undertaken. Their work was well done and the finished product, as shown in the splendid farms, beautiful homes, and thriving towns and cities of Fayette county, is the result of the work done by the people of those early days.

George and Alary Manlove were the parents of nine children, John, William, Joseph, Joseph C, Lydia. Hannah, James, David and George. John grew to manhood in his home count}- and later became a resident of Hamilton county. Infliana : Joseph died when he was but a small child ; Joseph C. and James li\ed in Tipton counties: Hannah became the wife of Hugh Dicky and made her home in Tipton county; Lydia married James McClure and made her home at Salem, Iowa, and David and George lived in Rush county, Indiana.

William Manlove received his education in the primitive school heUl in the old log school house. He was ever a student and received much of his education through his own efforts, coming to be considered a well-educated man for those days. He taught school in the county and met with much success in tiie work. He continued to live at home until he was twenty years of age, when he married and located on a farm which he had purchased, one mile west of the old homestead. That eighty-acre farm he developed and there he made his home until 1876, when he purchased another farm, farther south, to which he added until he became the owner of eight hundred and fifty acres of splendid land. There he engaged in general farming and stock raising and became well known throughout the county. Politically, he was, as a youn.g man, identified with the Whig party and later with the Republican party. He always took a deep interest in local affairs and was a man in whom all had confidence and for whom all entertained a (52)

William and Margaret Manlove were the parents of the following children: Oliver, George E., John L., Emory and Mary L. Oliver Manlove married Elizabeth Scott and was for many years a successful teacher, farmer and mechanic. His death occurred some years ago. John L. Manlove is now living on the old home place in Posy township. He married Mary Ella Scott, who now is deceased. Emory Manlove, who owns a part of the old home place, is now living at Connersville. He married Emily Johnson. Mary L., the widow of Calvin Myers, now lives south of Bentonville.

George E. Manlove received his early schooling in the home schools and later attended the Dublin high school. He was reared on the old home farm, where as a lad he assisted his father with the work. He remained at home until 1877, when, in January of that year, he was united in marriage to Malinda Wallace, of Wayne county, daughter of James and Nancy (Cluckner) Wallace. Her father was a native of Indiana, having been born south of Milton, and her mother was born in the state of Pennsylvania. The father of James \Vallace was John Wallace, a native of Scotland, who married Mary Banks. John Wallace left his native land in his young manhood and came to the United States, coming on out to Indiana and locating on a farm two and one-half miles south of Milton, where he entered three hundred and twenty acres of land and where he married and established his home.

John and Mary Wallace were the parents of the following children : Oliver, Cyrus, Stephen, James, John, William, Preston, Sallie, Richard, Emily, Allen and one who died in infancy. Oliver Wallace lived for many years on a farm near the old home place. Stephen Wallace died at the age of twenty-one years. Cyrus and John Wallace were farmers in their home county. William, Preston and Richard Wallace were residents of Wabash county. Emily Wallace married James Williams, a farmer living south of Milton, and Allen Wallace died in Tennessee. Mr. and Mrs. Wallace were prominent in the activities of their home community and were highly respected in that community.

James Wallace was born on Febrary 17, 1821. and died in the year 1880. His wife was born on July 20, 1829, and died in the year 1903. They were members of the Christian church and took much interest in church work and in the general social life of the county. They were the parents of three children, Alonzo, Malinda and Clara. Alonzo Wallace was born on Julv 30, 1850. He was united in marriage to Phoebe Caldwell and they lived on the home place until the time of their deaths some years ago.

To Georfje E. and Malinda (Wallace) Manlove have been born two children, Bertha and Ortha. The former is the wife of Homer Elorea, a successful farmer and stockman of this county. They have one child, a daughter, Hazel. Ortha is the v.'ife of Ray Thomburg, a well-known farmer, stockman and automobile dealer, living south of Bentonville. They are the parents of one child, a daughter, Ethel. Soon after their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Alanlove located on a farm in section 33, Harrison townshi]). where for thirty years Mr. Manlove was successfully engaged in general farming and stockraising. In the year 1905, he retired from the more active duties of life and moved to Connersville, where he and his wife now live in their beautiful home at 1307 Central avenue.

While on his farm of three hundred and fourteen acres George E. Manlove devoted much attention to the breeding and raising of live stock, and was particularly interested in Shorthorn cattle. Poland-China hogs and draft horses. He was always a lover of good horses and at various times owned some fine ones, his success as a stockman being widely known throughout the district. Mr. Manlove is now one of the directors of the Central State Bank at Connersville and is a man of much influence. He and his wife have many friends in Connersville, as vi-ell as throughout the county. The records of the Manlove familv have been traced back to 166^.

William R. Porter

William R. Porter, a well-known and substantial farmer of Connersville township, this county, and the proprietor of a fine farm about three miles southwest of Connersville, in that township, was born on a farm in that same vicinity, December 7, 1850, and has lived in this countv all bis life, with the exception of a few years spent in Wabash county, this state, during the days of his young manhood. He is the son of Clark and Elizabeth (Reed) Porter, l)oth of whom were born in Connersville township and who spent all their lives there, substantial and influential farming people.

Clark Porter was born on the same farm as was his son, mentioned above, in 1817, a son of Joshua Porter and wife, who settled in that community among the earliest settlers of Fayette county and there spent the rest of their lives, useful pioneers. On that pioneer farm Clark Porter spent all his life.

one of Fa}'ette count}'"s best-known citizens. He acquired a good piece of ])roperty and was quite well circumstanced at the time of his death, which occurred in 1894, lie then being seventy-seven years of age. His widow survived him about four years, her death occurring in 1898. She was born in the same neighborhood as was her husband, a bit more than three miles southwest of Connersville, a daughter of Thomas and Susanna (Pollard) Reed, well-known among the pioneers of that community. Thomas Reed came to this country from Ireland and entered a quarter of a section of land in section 34 of Connersville township, this county, getting the land from the government for one dollar and twenty-five cents an acre. His tract was covered with timber, much of which was fine w^alnut, and upon locating there he cleared a small tract and put up a log cabiil, the floor of which was the earth, and he and his wife started keeping house there with tables and seats hewed out of logs. Later he built a better log house, this latter having a plank floor, and afterward added to the same another room built of brick. There he spent the rest of his life, his death occurring about 1850. To Clark Porter and wife were born seven children, five of whom, Wallace, Thomas R., Clark, William R. and Robert M., grew to maturity, and three of whom, Thomas R., William R. and Robert M., are'still living.

William R. I^orter received his schooling in the schools in the neighborhood of his old home and remained at home until he was eighteen years of age, \\hen, in 1868, he and one of his brothers went to Wabash county, where, in the vicinity of LaGro, they began farming a place of eighty acres which their father had bought there, land that had been entered by their mother's brother, Thomas Reed. Later Clark Porter bought another eighty adjoining that place, and William R. Porter remained there farming with his brother for a couple of years or more, at the end of which time he returned to the old home farm in this county and there remained until his marriage in the spring of 1876, when he and his wife located on the farm where they are now li\-ing, three miles southwest of Connersville, and there have ever since made their home. The farm which Mr. Porter bought at the time of his marriage, a tract of ninety acres, was a bit of natural meadow and he was spared the difficulties of clearing the same. He hais made all the improvements on the place and has one of the best farm ])lants in that part of the county, including a neat and commodious dwelling, and he and his family are very pleasantly situated. Mr. Porter has done well in his farming operations and as he prospered Ijought seventy-six acres adjoining his original place on the west and another tract of eight}' acres, a part of Grandfather Reed's old farm, and is now the owner of two hundred and forty-six acres of excellent land.

Air. Porter is an ardent I'ruhibitionist and for years has taken an active and earnest interest in tlie ati'airs of tliat party, attending the state and national conventions of tlie same and in many ways doing his part in prnninting the principles of the party.

In the spring of iSjfo, William R. I'orter was united in marriage to Alice Martin, who was born at Bentonville, this county, a daughter of Ezra and Caroline (Dale) .Martin, further mention of whom is made elsewhere in this volume, and to this union ti\e children hax'e been born, namely : Martin D., who married Lottie Guffin and lives on a farm adjoining that of liis father on the west; Clarence E., who is a photographer at Connersville ; \\'illiam G., who is at home; (irace, who married Charles Schuler, of Connersville, and has had four chiUlren. two, I-lsther and Dorothy, living, and two who died when about two years of age, and Ernest, who is employed in a foundry at Connersville. Mr. and Mrs. Porter are members of the Christian church and take a proper part in church affairs. Mr. Porter is a member of the local lodge of the Improved Order of Red Men and lakes a warm interest in the affairs of that organization.

Harry H. Smith

Harry H. Smith, superintendent of the Fayette county infirmar\-, or "county farm." is a native of the state of Missouri, but has been a resident of Indiana since the days of his infancy. He was born in Alaysville, Missouri, February i8, 1872, son of Carey and Eva (Hamers) Smith, the former of whom was born in Mississippi and the latter in Missouri, but both of whom were reared in Indiana, where they spent most of their lives.

Carey Smith was but a child when his parents moved from his native Mississippi and came to Indiana, locating in Indianapolis, where he grew to manhood and where he married Eva Hamers. who was born in Missouri and who was but a child when her parents, Andrew and Eliza Hamers left that state and came to Indiana, locating in Madison county, near .Anderson. Following their marriage Carey Smith and wife went to Missouri, locating at Maysville, where they made their home for two years and wJiere tlie subject of this sketch was born. Carey Smith was a stonecutter by trade and u|)on his return to Indianapolis from Missouri engaged in that vocation tliere and was thus engaged at that place until his death in 1875. His widow married John McCormack and moved to Cadiz, in Henry county, this state, where she spent the rest of her life, her death occurring in 191 2.

Harry H. Smith was about three years of age when his father died and the most of his youth was spent in Tipton county, where, when old enough to do so, he became engaged in farm work. When seventeen years of age he came to Fayette county and began to work on farms in Connersville in Jackson townships and was thus engaged until his marriage in 1895, when he and his wife began keeping house on the Welch farm near Alquina, presently moving thence to a farm in Columbia township, where Mr. Smith farmed until about 1899, when they moved to a farm about one and one-half miles west of Connersville, later moving to Jackson township, where they lived until IVJr. Smith received the appointment from the board of county commissioners in March, 1914. to the position of superintendent of the county farm, since which time they have occupied the administration building at the infirmary. Since Mr. Smith's appointment to the position of superintendent of the infirmary, the county has erected new buildings on the old county farm and in other ways has greatly improved conditions at the institution, which is now regarded as one of the best-equipped and most capably conducted county infirmaries in the state. Mr. Smith is a Republican and for years has taken an acti\e interest in local political affairs.

On October 2, 1895, Harry H. Smith was united in marriage to Clara Stevens, who was born near Orange, this county, a daughter of William and Ellen (Stephen) Stevens, both members of pioneer families in this part of the state. \\'illiam Ste\ens was born at Laurel, in the neighboring county of Franklin, in 1853, a son of Abner and Elizabeth Stevens, who lived in or near Laurel until their children were grown, after which they came to this county and located on a farm west of Alpine. Abner Stevens was a member of one of the first families that settled in this part of the state. One of his aunts was stolen by the Indians when three or four years of age and grew up among Indians. She married a red man and spent her life among the members of the tribe which had brought her up. ^^'hen Abner Stevens came over into Fayette county his son, William, accompanied him and here William Stevens married Ellen S. Stephen, who also had been born at Laurel, about a year after his birth, a daughter of Levi and Elizabeth Stephen, who had moved to this county about the time the Stevens family came over, the Stephen family also locating west of Alpine. After their marriage William Stevens and wife made their home on a rented farm in Orange township until about 1890, when they bought a small farm in that same township and there Mrs. Stevens died about ten years later. William Stevens now lives with one of his daughters, Mrs. Leona Eddy, near the line between Orange

Fayette Coixtv. Indiana

To Mr. and Mrs. Smith seven children have been born, Austin, Pearl, deceased, Carl, Dorothy, Elma, Elbert and Joim. Austin died on September 30, 191 5, he then being eighteen years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are members of the Christian church and Mr. Smith is a member of the local lodges of the Red Men, of the Haymakers and of the Loyal Order of Moose, in the affairs of which several organii^ations he takes a warm interest.

Fred P. Collyer

Fred P. Collyer. proprietor of the well-known Pen View greenhouses at Falmouth and one of the most skillful and successful florists in this part of the state,, was born on a farm one and one-half miles southeast of Fairvievi^, this county, October i6, 1882, and has lived in Fayette county all his life. He is a son of Alfred and Hattie ( Quenzer) Collyer, the former of whom was born in Franklin county and the latter in Falmouth, who are now living at Falmouth, where Mr. Collyer has for years been actively engaged in the mercantile business. In a biographical sketch relating to him, presented elsewhere in this volume, there is set out a history of both the Collyer and the Quenzer families covering the period in which the families have been represented in this county and it is therefore not necessary to go into that genealogical detail in connection with the presentation of tlie story of the life and career of the subject of this sketch.

Fred Collyer spent the early part of his life on the farm and when his father engaged in the mercantile business at Falmouth on May 3, 1900, he entered the store with him and was thus engaged in business at Falmouth until he left the store to engage in his present line in 1912. During the period which he spent in the store Fred Collyer helped his father to build up an extensive business, which the elder Collyer is still continuing there. In August, 191 2, Fred Collyer started his greenhouses at Falmouth, which, under the name of the Penn View greenhouses have become more than locally famous and which are one of the first points to attract the attention of visitors to Falmouth, for the fine plant is far ahead of those usually found in towns of that class, or, indeed, in towns of much greater pretensions than Falmouth.

Though practically inexperienced as a florist when he undertook his ambitious enterprise, Mr. Collyer has made a success of his greenhouses from the very start. He .started with a space of one hundred feet by twenty feet under glass, that portion of his plant now known as the north greenhouse, and two years later added a couple of additional greenhouses, now having ten thousand feet in all under glass. Mr. Collyer's original plan was to raise vegetables for the winter trade and flowers for the summer and he has adhered pretty generally to this plan, furnishing both vegetables and flowers for the Connersville market and also shipping considerable quantities of both to the Cincinnati markets. One of his summer-grown crops during the past season consisted of twelve thousand chrysanthemums and the products of the Penn View greenhouses have attained a wide reputation throughout the territory reached by the enterprising proprietor. Mr. Collyer is energetic and public-spirited and since becoming a resident of Falmouth seventeen years ago, has done much to the general interests of that village. He is a member of the local lodges of the Modern Woodmen of America and of the Improved Order of Red Men and in the affairs of these organizations takes a warm interest.

B. F. Thiebaud, president of the Farmers and Merchants Trust Company of Connersville, former county superintendent of schools, former treasurer of Fayette county, former publisher of the Connersville Courier, former president of the Connersville school board and formerly and for years one of the best-known and most successful school teachers in Fayette county, is a native Hoosier and has lived in this state all his life. He was born on a farm in the immediate vicinity of Vevay, in Switzerland county, December 28, 1853, a son of Justi Thiebaud and wife, well-known residents of that community at that time.

Reared on the home farm in Switzerland county, B. F. Thiebaud received his early schooling in the schools of that neighborhood and after leaving school taught school for two or three winters there, thus earning sufficient money to secure his entrance at the university at Valparaiso, from which institution he was graduated in 1880. Upon leaving college, Mr. Thiebaud came to Fayette county and resumed teaching, being appointed pfincipal of the Bentonville schools, a position he held for four years, at the end of which time he was made principal for the schools at Orange. After three years of such service in the Orange schools Mr. Thiebaud was appointed principal of the Maplewood high schools and served in that capacity for two years, at the end of which time he was elected superintendent of schools of Fayette county. He served for one term in that office and then was appointed principal of one of the ward schools at Connersville. A year later he was appointed principal of the Connersville high school and in 1892 was elected treasurer of Fayette county. He entered upon the duties of that office in 1893 and served for four years, at the end of which time he re-entered the ranks of Fayette county's teaching corps and for a short time was thus engaged at the Columbia township high school, relinquishing that position to become connected with the office of the F. T. Roots flour-mill, where he remained for a year, later resuming school work, accepting the appointment as principal of the Harrisburg high school. A year later Mr. Thiebaud joined the ranks of Fayette county's newspaper men and for two years was engaged as publisher of the Connersville Courier.

In 1902 when the Farmers and Merchants Trust Company was organized at Connersville Mr. Thiebaud was one of the chief factors in that organization and was elected secretary of the company. In 19 17 he was elected president. In addition to his years of active service in the school room, Mr. Thiebaud for years also was connected with the schools of Connersville in an executive capacity, for twelve years serving as a member of the city school board, during a part of which time he served as president of the board, and was a member of the building committee that had in charge the erection of the new high-school building. In other ways also he has contributed of his time and energies in behalf of movements having to do with the betterment of local conditions and to the extension of the city's cultural activities, and is president of the Fayette County Chautauqua Association, in the organization of which he was one of the prime factors and in the afifairs of which he has ever taken an active interest. He was chairman of the building committee which had in charge the erection of the Fayette County Centennial Hospital at Connersville and from the very inception of the movement which led to the establishment of that useful institution was one of the most active and influential promoters of the same. Mr. Thiebaud and his wife are the donors of a perpetual annual scholarship to Earlham College, given to the Connersville high school in 191 5 in memory of their daughter. Marguerite, a graduate of the Connersville high school, of Earlham College, and a graduate student at Brynmawr College at the time of her death in 1914 - an extended and fitting reference to which scholarship is made in the chapter relating to schools in the historical section of this work.

daughter of William Lamberson and wife, and to this union were born four children, all of whom have preceded them. A daughter, the lamented Marguerite, mentioned above, who died on March 13, 1914, was the last of the children to pass to the higher life. Mr. and Mrs. Thiebaud are members of the Christian church and Mr. Thiebaud has for many years been an elder and was chairman of the building committee that had charge of the erection of that congregation's handsome new house of worship. He is a Mason and a member of the local lodges of the Knights of Pythias and of the Improved Order of Red Men, in the affairs of which organizations he takes much interest.

Elmer E. Murphy

Elmer E. Murphy, one of Connersville township's most progressive and substantial farmers and the proprietor of a fine farm about two and onehalf miles south of Connersville, was born on a pioneer farm about two miles south of Whitcomb, in the neighboring county of Eranklin, and has lived in this part of the state all his life. He was born on December 19, 1862, a son of Samuel and Margaret (Crist) Murphy, both natives of Franklin county and well-known and influential residents of the Whitcomb neighborhood, the latter of whom is still living, now making her home at Brookville.

Samuel Murphy was born on a pioneer farm in the northern part of Eranklin county, a son of Recompense Murphy and wife, the latter of whom was a Hitchner, who were early settlers and well-to-do residents of the Whitcomb community. Recompense Murphy was born in New Jersey and came out to this part of Indiana in an early day and here spent the rest of his life. Samuel Murphy grew up on the home farm in Franklin county and farmed in that county all his life. He married Margaret Crist, who was born on a farm about four miles east of Brookville, about 1841. a daughter of John and Mary Crist, wlio came here from Pennsylvania and settled in Franklin countv. Samuel Murphy died about thirty years ago and his widow is still living, now a resident of Brookville, she being seventy-six years of age. They were the parents of four children, those besides the subject of this sketch being as follow: Perry, who lives in Indianapolis; Harry, who died in his twenty-second year, and I\Iary. wife of George E. O'Byrne, a well-known lawyer, of Brookville.

Elmer E. Murphy grew to manhood on the home farm in the vicinity of Whitcomli and received his schooling in the local schools there, remaining on the farm, a valued assistant in the labors of improving and developing the same, until his marriage in the fall of 1889, when he began farming for himself on a place four miles east of Brookville, where he made his home until igo2, when he nio\ed to a farm near Carmel. A year later, in 1903, he moved to his present farm, two and one-half miles south of Connersville, just west of the railroad, and there has made his residence ever since, long having been regarded as one of the most substantial farmers of that neighborhood. Mr. Murphy is the proprietor of a fine farm of two hundred and twenty-four acres, which he has improved in excellent shape. When he bought the place it had a good set of buildings on it, back off the road, but ifl 1916 he built a thoroughly modern bungalow dwelling near the road, equipping the same with electric lights, sanitary plumbing, furnace, a broad concrete veranda, and other modern improvements, the water pressure being provided by an electric pump, and there he and his family are very pleasantly and very comfortably situated. His other house also is equipped with numerous similar improvements and his whole farm plant is in keeping with the progressive spirit displayed in the equipment of the home. In addition to his general farming Mr. Murphy ha.i been giving considerable attention to dairying and has demonstrated that the latter phase of farming may be carried on with profit in this section.

In October, 1889, Elmer E. Murphy was united in marriage to Tina Schiltz, who was born on a farm in the vicinity of Brookville, in the neighboring county of Franklin, a daughter of Peter and Elizabeth ( Stonebraker ) Schiltz, well-known residents of tliat community. Peter Schiltz was liorn in Germany and came to this cf)untry with his parents when he was fifteen years of age, the family settling in Butler county, Ohio, where he remained until he was twenty-one years of age, when he moved over into Franklin county, this state, where he .'<pent the rest of his life, becoming one of the best-known residents of that county. He followed various occupations, such as butchering, stock-trading and farming, and for eight years served the public in the capacity of auditor of Franklin county. Although reared a Catholic, he attended the Methodist church and was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Knights of Pythias. Peter Schiltz died at Brookville in 1913. His wife had preceded him to the grave in 1901. They had four children who grew to maturity, those besides Mrs. Murphy having been .-\manda, Lizzie and Alsie, the latter of whom is now deceased.

Mr. and T^Irs. Murphy are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and take a proper part in church affairs, as well as in the general social activities of the communit}- in which they live. They have two children.

Paul, now living in the older of his father's two houses and giving his attention to farming, who married Eva Moffett and has one child, a daughter, Roberta, and Hazel, at home with her parents. Hazel Murphy was graduated from the Connersville high school in 19 16 and is now attending college at Oxford. Ohio, specializing there in music.

Dr. H. S. Osborne, phj'sician and surgeon at Glenwood and the proprietor of the Glenwood garage, is a native son of Indiana and has lived in this state all his life. He was born at New Winchester, in Hendricks county, December 16, 1877, son of Dr. John A. and Harriet W. (Kay) Osborne-, the former of whom was born in that same county and the latter, in the state of Ohio, whose last days were spent in New Winchester, a pleasant village seven miles west of Danville, wh.ere Dr. John A. Osborne was engaged in the practice of medicine for forty-six years, or until his death on March i, 191 1. He had served a term as recorder of Hendricks county and for sixteen years was a member of the board of pension examiners for that district. Fraternally, he was affiliated with the Indqjendent Order of Odd Fellows. His .wife had preceded him to the grave a little more than one year, her death having occurred on December 16, 1909. She was born near Jamestown, Ohio, and was about eight years of age when her parents moved to Hendricks county, this state, where she was living when she married Doctor Osborne.

H. S. Osborne grew up at New Winchester and supplemented the course in the local schools there by a course in the high school at Danville, from which lie was graduated. He then attended Bloomingdale Academy and after a further course there entered the Central Normal College at Danville, from whicli he presently was graduated. From the days of his boyhood, under the able ]ireceptorship of his father, he had been devoting his thoughtful attention to the study of medicine and upon leaving college entered the medical department of the University of Kentucky at Louisville and was .graduated from that institution in 1900, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Upon receiving his diploma Doctor Osborne opened an office for the practice of his profession at Pittsboro, in his home county, and was there engaged in practice for twelve years, at the end of which time, in 191^, he moved to Glenwood, opened an office there and has been engaged in practice there ever since, having built up air extensive practice throughout that part of Fayette county and in the neighlioring county of Rusli. Not long after locating at Glenwood, Doctor Osborne bought the garage at that place and has since been operating the same. He is a Republican and, fraternally, is affiliated witli the Connersxille lodge of the Benevolent and Protecti\e Order of Elks.

Dr. H. S. Osborne has been twice married. His first wife, Grace McCowan, died, leaxing one child, a daughter, Gladys, and later the Doctor married Madge Morgan, who was born in Benton county, this state, a daughter of \^'ilbur I*", and Addie ( Blessing) Morgan, and whose maternal grandfather, George Blessing, was a resident of Pittsboro. To this union one child has been born, also a daughter. Virginia. Doctor and Mrs. Osborne have a very pleasant home at Glenwood and take a proper interest in the general social activities of their home town, helpful in promoting all agencies having to do with the advancement of the common welfare thereabout.

Joseph Emery Moffett

Elsewhere in this volume of biography, in a memorial sketch relating to Samuel Calvin Mcjffett. a pioneer of Fayette county, who died in 1892, and who was a son of Samuel Moffett, who came from Tennessee to this section of Indiana in 1833 and settled at the nortliern edge of Harrison township, this county, there is set out in considerable detail, something concerning the well-known Moffett family in Fayette county, to which the attention of the reader is invited in this connection.

Joseph Emery Moffett was born on the old Moffett home farm in Harrison township, this county, January 11, i860, son of Samuel Calvin and Exeline (Cox) Moffett, and was about five years of age when his parents moved onto a farm o\-er the line near Beeson, in the neighboring county of Wayne, where he grew to manhood. He and two of his brothers, William S. and Oscar F. Moffett, received a farm located on the eastern edge of Harrison township from their father and there the three farmed together until the early eighties, when Joseph E. Moffett bought the interests held b)- his brothers in that farm and there continued farming imtil 1891, when, he having married in the meantime, he nio\ed to the old homestead of his wife's people, the old DeHaven fami, in the north edge of Connersville township, where he has since resided and where he and his family are comfortably . situated. He sold his place in Harrison township and now owns two hun- dred and forty-six acres of excellent land, comprised in two farms, two miles west of the city of Connersville. Mr. Moffett has conducted his farming operations along modern lines and his place is very well improved.

In 1885 Joseph E. Moffett was united in marriage to Flora DeHaven, who was born in a log house on the farm on which she is still living, daughter of James Isaac and Eliza (Hamilton) DeHaven, both of whom were born in this county, members of pioneer families. James I. DeHaven was born on a farm in the immediate vicinity of Harrisburg, a son of Isaac and Nancy (Stucker) DeHaven, who came up to this section of Indiana from Kentucky in 1816, the year of Indiana's admission to statehood, and settled on a farm in Harrison township, this county, where they established their home, among the earliest settlers of that part of the county. There James I. DeHaven grew to manhood and married Eliza Hamilton, who was born in this county, a daughter of Nathaniel and Lucinda (Tyner) Hamilton, the former of whom was born in Pennsylvania, May 25, 1798, son of Nathaniel and Elizabeth (Buchanan) Hamilton, natives, respectively, of Ireland and Pennsylvania, who came out West in 1810 and settled just above Brookville, in the then Territory of Indiana, and remained there during the period of the War of 18 1 2, two of the Hamilton sons, John and Adam Hamilton, serving as soldiers during that struggle. In 181 5 the Hamilton family moved from Franklin county up into Fayette county and settled on a farm northwest of Connersville, in Connersville township. There the elder Nathaniel Hamilton died in 1823. His widow later went over into Illinois, where her death occurred in 1826. They were earnest members of the Presbyterian church and the elder Nathaniel Hamilton was for years an elder in that church. The junior Nathaniel Hamilton grew to manhood in Connersville township and in 1821 married Lucinda Tyner, daughter of James and Margaret Tyner, pioneers of this county ; and he shortly afterward began buying land from the other heirs of the family estate and became the owner of a farm of one hundred acres, on which he spent the rest of his life, meeting death in September, 1885, when a load of shingles he was hauling upset with him. He was four, times married, but all his children were born to his first union, that with Lucinda Tyner. He was a firm believer in the tenets of the Old School Baptist church and an attendant on the services of the same. He is remembered by the old settlers as a singularly amiable and remarkably well-preserved old gentleman and was highly esteemed by all who knew him. James Isaac DeHaven became a substantial farmer of Fayette county, the owner of more than four hundred acres of land in Connersville and Harrison townships. His wife died in 1892 and he survived until 1900.

Mr. and Airs. Aloffett have two daugliters living, Etliel, who married William Semler, who is farming a part of the Moffett farm, and has three children, Marion, Catherine and Emery, and Eva Lucinda, who married Paul Murphy, wlio is living on a farm two miles south of Connersville, and has one child, a daughter, Roberta Maxine. Mr. and Mrs. Moffett are members of the Christian church, in the affairs of which they take a proper interest, and Mr. Moffett is a member of the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, taking a warm interest in the affairs of that popular organization.

A. E. Rich

A. E. Rich, one of Fairview township's well-known farmers, was born in the neighboring county of Rush on September 25, 1857, son of Robert and Nancy (Bishop) Rich, the former of whom also was born in that county, a member of one of the pioneer families, and the latter in the state of Ohio. Robert Rich was the owner of a quarter of a section of land in Rush county and farmed there all his life. He and his wife were the parents of three children, the subject of this sketch having two sisters, Mrs. Mollie Johnson -and Mrs. .^manda McCrory.

Reared on the home farm in Rush county, A. E. Rich received his schooling in the schools of his home neighborhood and remained at home, a valuable assistant to his father in the labors of improving the home place, until his marriage when he was twenty-five years of age, when he established his home in Henry county, where he bought a farm and where he lived until 1898, when he and his family moved to the farm in Fairview township, this county, the same belonging to his wife, where they have since resided and where they are very comfortably situated. The farm consists of one hundred and thirty-two acres of well-improved land and the farm plant is arranged along up-to-date lines. In addition to his general farming, Mr. Rich gives considerable attention to the raising of a good grade of hogs and is doing very well in his operations.

On January 24, 1882, A. E. Rich was united in marriage to Minnie Hinchman, who was born in Rush county, daughter of Allan and Nancy (Moffitt) Hinchman, the former of whom also was born in that same county and the latter in this county, both members of pioneer families. Allan Hinchman was a son of John and Margaret Hinchman, who came from Virginia to Indiana in early days and settled in Rush county. There he was born and reared and there he remained all his Hfe, becoming a substantial farmer, the owner of three hundred and eighty acres in Rush and Fayette counties. He and his wife were the parents of fiA'c children, those besides Mrs. Rich being Margaret, Nora, Grant and George.

To Mr. and Mrs. Rich have been born three children, Allan, who married Gallic Crouch and has four children, Neva, Mervin, Earl and Catherine; Gertrude, who married Lloyd Wysong, and Nora. The Riches are members of the Christian church in Fairview township and take a proper part in the good works of their home neighborhood. Mr. Rich is a Democrat, taking a proper interest in local civic affairs, but has not been a seeker after public office. Fraternally, he is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is past noble grand of his local lodge, in the affairs of which he ever has taken an active interest.

Charles C. Hull

Charles C. Hull, president of the Rex Manufacturing Company, of Connersville, vice-president and factory manager of the Central Manufacturing Company of that city, former president of the National Carriage Builders Association of America and interested in vai'ious other manufacturing and industrial concerns in Connersville, is a native son of Fayette county and has lived here all his life. He was born on a pioneer farm in the near \-icinity of Alquina, in Jennings township, January 17, 1866, son of John and Maria (Burk) Hull, both of whom also were natives of this county and the latter of whom is still living here, for years a resident of Connersville.

John Hull also was born in Jennings township, son of Matthew R. Hull and wife, the former of Avhom was born in that part of the Old Dominion now comprised in West Virginia and who came to Lidiana in his youth, settling- in Fayette county, where he married and established his home in the Alquina neighborhood. His wife died when she was about thirty years of age and he survived her for years, he being sixty-six years of age at the time of his death. They were the parents of six children, Oscar, Jane, Justinian, John, Matthew R. and Alpha. On that pioneer fai-m John Hull was reared and later took over the farm and lived there many years. Upon his retirement from the farm he moved to the village of Dublin, in the neighboring county of ^^'ayne, and thence to Indianapolis, moving thence to Zion

City, Chicago, where he died on May 30, 1913. His widow is now making her home in Connersville. She also was born in this county, daughter of John J. and Xancy (Snyder) Burk, the former of whom was a native of the state of Maryland and one of the pioneers of Fayette county, a farmer and a man of considerable substance, who lived to the great age of ninety-two years. His wife lived to the age of sixty-five. They were the parents of the following children : Mar}^-, Jackson, Nancy, Rachel, John S., Ellen, Green, Maria, Alice and Stephen. John Hull and his wife were members of the Baptist church and their children were reared in that faith. There were ten of these children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the second in order of birth, the others being as follow : Clifford, deceased ; John, of Chicago; Robert, of Connersville; Jennie, who is unmarried and is living with her mother in Connersville ; George, of Little Rock, Arkansas ; Cynthia, who died at the age of two years; Frank, of Valparaiso, Indiana; Warren, of Connersville, and Mary, who died when about thirteen years of age.

Charles C. Hull was reared on his grandfather's farm in the vicinity of Alquina and received his early schooling in the district school in that neighborhood. This he supplemented by a course in the Central Normal School at Danville, this state, and thus equipped for teaching taught school for a couple of years, after which he engaged in the hardware business and was thus engaged for four years, at the end of_ which time he accepted the position of assistant superintendent of the plant of the Parry Manufacturing Company, manufacturers of buggies, at Indianapolis, and was there engaged in that capacity for ten years, during which time he thoroughly mastered the details of the manufacture of buggies. Mr. Hull then returned to Connersville and in association with William H. Harris and Frank G. Volz organized the Rex Manufacturing Company and established a plant for the manufacture of buggies in that city. Mr. Hull was made president of the company and has ever since occupied that position, developing the industry into one of the largest buggy factories in this part of the country, the company employing about three hundred persons and shipping its product to all parts of the United States. In addition to his interests in connection with the Rex Manufacturing Company, Mr. Hull also has other and extensive manufacturing interests in Connersville. In 1902 he became connected with the Central Manufacturing Company of Connersville, he and liis business associates buying a controlling interest in the same, and they also bought the plant of the Connersville \\'heel Company, which has since been absorbed (53) by the Centval Manufacturing Company and of which Mr. Hull was president for twelve or fourteen years. He also is a member of the board of directors of the Lexington-Howard Motor Company, manufacturers of automobiles, and a director in the Hoosier Castings Company. Mr. Hull is a Republican and for three years served as secretary o.f the Connersville school board and also served for some time as the director of the Elmhurst school. He has been a member of the board of directors of the Connersville Commercial Club for years and served for some time as president of the same. He has for years been one of the most prominent members of the National Carriage Builders Association of the United States and in 1913 was elected president of the same.

On December 5, 1888, Charles C. Hull was united in marriage to Rozzie F. Lair, who also was born in the Alquina neighborhood in Jennings township, this county, July 8, 1865, daughter of Mathias and Discretion (Ferguson) Lair, natives of this county, both now deceased. Mathias Lair, a former sheriff of Fayette county, was for years one of the best-known residents of the county. He was a substantial farmer and was twice elected sheriff of the county. His father, whose wife was a Bell, came to this county from Kentucky and became a substantial pioneer and the father of eleven children, of whom eight grew to maturity, John, Charles, Mathias, Joseph, Harriet, Osie, Sophia and Jennie. The Fergusons also were wellknown pioneers. Mathias Lair was thrice married. By his first wife, who was a Ross, lie had one child, a daughter, Edna. By his marriage to Discretion ]^"erguson he had four children, Charles, Rozzie, Kate hnd one who died when six years of age. Upon the death of the mother of these latter children he married a Miss Sparks and to that imion one child was born, a daughter, Mattie.

To Charles C. and Rozzie F. (Lair) Hull four children have been born, namely: Ruth M., who married Frederic L Barrows: M. Lair Hull, who is the assistant superintendent of the plant of the Central Manufacturing- Company at Connersville: Rachel, who was born in 1904, and Hollis, who was born in 1907. Mr. and Mrs. Hull are members of the First Methodist Episcopal church at Connersville and Mr. Hull is a member of the board of trustees of the same. In 1916 he was honored by being sent as a delegate to the general conference of his church. He is a Mason, a member of Warren Lodge No. 15, Free and Accepted Masons, and takes a warm interest in Masonic affairs.

Johx J. Burger

John J. Burger, one of Connersville townsliip'.s well-known farmers, is a native of the neighhoring county of Wayne, but has been a resident of I^""ayette county since he was seven years of age. He was Ijorn at Cambridge, in Wayne county, this state, March 8, 1861, son of Jacob and Veronica (Fager) Burger, natives of fiermany, whose last days were spent in this county, well-known resiilents of the community west of Connersville.

Jacob Burger was born in the \i11age of Kuhr, in the province of Hessen, Germany, July 25, 1831, only son in a family of four children. He lived at home until he was twenty-three years of age, when he had an elder sister came to the United States, landing at the port of New "S'ork on July 17, 1854, without means and strangers in a strange land. Jacob Burger had but five cents in money when he landed on the shores of America, but he soon got a job as a gardener in New "S'ork, where he worked until he had earned money enough to pay his way to Cincinnati, in the neighborhood of which city he worked, gardening and farming, for nearly two years, or until the last of .April, 1856. when he came up into Indiana and located at Connersville, securing employment in that vicinity as a farm hand. He married in 1857 and in i860 went up into Wayne county, where he remained until 1869, when he returned to this county and bought a farm west of Connersville, the place now occupied by his sons, I.ouis and John, and there spent the remainder of his life, a substantial farmer, he and his wife both doing well their part in the upbuilding of that community. On May 7, 1857, in this county, Jacob Burger was united in marriage to \'eronica b'ager, who was born in the grand duchy of Baden, in Germany, .\ugust 20, 1829. and who came t(^ t1iis country alone in 1853. After more than forty years of happy married life, she died on Twly 19. 1898. Jacob Burger survived his wife for nearly tweh'e \ears, his death occurring on March 12, 1910. He and his wife were earnest members of the Catholic church and their children were reared in that faith ; these children, besides the subject of this sketch, being Mrs. .\nna Geise, Mrs. Clara Schoenborn, Mrs. Maggie Ariens, Josejih S. (who died in October, 1908), Mrs. Lizzie Greiner and Louis.

John J. Burger was seven years of age when his ])arents moved from Wayne county to the farm about two miles west of Connersville and in the latter vicinity he has lived ever since. He grew up on the farm and in t886 bought the farm where he now lives, one and one-half miles southwest of Connersville, and upon bis marriage in the spring of 1891 estal)li.shed bis home there. Mr. Burger lias a well-kept farm of eighty acres and he and his family have a very comfortable home. They are members of the Catholic church and take a proper interest in parish affairs.

In April, 1891, John J. Burger was united in marriage to Katherine Meyer, who was Ixirn in W'inningen, Bavaria, Germany, daughter of John and Elizabeth ( Peft'er) Meyer, who, in 1883, came to this country with their nine children, proceeding at once to Connersville. Two weeks later the father bought a farm three and one-half miles east of Connersville, established his home there and there spent the rest of his life, his death occurring in 1904. His widow is now making her home with a daughter, Mrs. Keller, at Indianapolis. To Mr. and Mrs. Burger four children have been born, namely : Gertrude, who married George Seffrin, of Connersville, and has one child, a son, \\'alter Leo: John A., who continues to live on the home farm with his parents; Louise, who died at the age of three years, and Frankie, who died when eight montlts of age.

George M. Fries

George M. Fries, well-known manufacturer of drain tile and president of the Indiana State Association of Manufacturers of Clay Drain Tile, whose extensive plant for the manufacture of tile, just west of the city of Connersville, is one of the best-ecjuipped plants of that kind in the state, was born at Stavetown, in the vicinity of Brookville, in the neighboring county of Franklin, and has lived in this part of the state all his life. He was born on April 15, 1866, son of Anthony and Margaret (Miller) Fries, natives of Germany, Bavarians both, who came to this country in the days of their }'outh and whose last days were spent in this county, the latter having been one of the victims of tlie flood of 19 13.

Anthony Fries left his native Bavaria when he was sixteen years of age and came to the United States, locating at Cincinnati, where, when he became of age, he was naturalized as an American citizen. There he married Margaret Aliller. who had come to this country from Bavaria when she was fifteen years of age, and, shortly after his marriage, he having learned the cooper's trade in Cincinnati, he moved to Hamilton, Ohio, where he lived until 1864, when he moved o\'er into Indiana and started a cooper shop one mile south of Brook\ille, in Franklin county, building up quite an extensive business in that line, the settlement which grew up around his coopershop coming to be known as Stavetown, whicli name the \illage bears to tliis day, on account of the stave factory Imilt up there by Mr. Fries. Aliout t88_', the stave timber in tiiat section liaving by that time Ijecome pretty well exhausted, Anthony Fries began to utilize extensi\e cla\' deposits that had been disclosed in that vicinity, and established, in the vicinity of Stavet(Mvn, the first steam-power brick jjlant in Indiana. The product of this factory soon attained a wide demand, especially in Cincinnati and in Connersville, some of the best buildings in the latter city, notably the Eighth street school building, the Fifth street school building, the First National Bank building, the McFarlan Carriage Company's building, the Connersville Furniture Company's warehouse and numerous other important buildings in that city having been constructed of Fries brick. In January, 1892, Anthony Fries organized the -\. Fries & Sons Company, in partnership with his sons, John A. and George AI. Fries, and was perfecting plans for the establishment of an extensive brick-manufacturing plant west of Connersville. the present site of the well-known Fries tile factory, but his plans were interrupted by his death in the next month, in February, 1892. The sons, however, went ahead with the perfection of these plans and established an extensive factory on the site. In 1902 they discontinued the manufacture of brick and took up the manufacture of drain tile, soon achieving a wide reputation for the durable quality of their output, and the brothers continued in business together until the tragedy of the flood of 191 3 came upon them with all its overwhelming force. During that flood, perhaps the most tragic incident in the history of Brookville, where the brick plant was located, the widow Fries, mother of the subject of this sketch, and John A. Fries and his family, a total of eight persons in the Furies family, were drowned and the big brick plant was practically destroyed. George M. Fries, the remaining member of the firm, bought out the other heirs and has since continued the manufacture of tile at the Connersville plant, sole owner and manager of the plant, one of the best-established concerns of its kind in the state.

In 191 2 George M. Fries, who had long been recognized as one of the most expert and enterprising tile manufacturers in Indiana, organized the Indiana State Association of Manufacturers of Clay Drain Tile and has been president of that association from the date of its organization. This association is maintained for the mutual protection of drain-tile manufacturers and has done much in the way of intelligent promotion of legislation for the purpose of facilitating tile draining and the reclamation of swamp lands. The association maintains a publicity and educational bureau, which publishes and disseminates information regarding the wonderful results that have attended underdraining and by this means has done much in the way of educating the public to the value of tiling as a means of reclaiming much otherwise waste land in the state. Mr. I'ries is an enterprising, public-spirited citizen and has ever since becoming a resident of this county in 1892 taken an active part in the promotion of the manufacturing and other substantial interests of tlie community.

In 1893, the year after taking up his residence in this county, George M. Fries was united in marriage to Carrie Hohman. of Indianapolis, who was born in Franklin cotinty, this state, daughter of Tobias and Mary (Schubert) Hohman. who came from Bavaria, Germany, to this country, in 1859, proceeding on out to Indiana and settling on a farm in Franklin county, where they spent the rest of their lives, Tobias Hohman dying in 1896 and his widow surviving until 1908. To Mr. and Mrs. Fries two daughters have been born. Helen, born in 1900, and Xellie, born in 1905. Mr. and Mrs. Fries are members of the Catholic church and tak^ a proper interest in parish affairs. Mr. buries is a member of tlie Knights of Columbus, in the affairs of which he takes a warm interest.

George W. Prifogle, a well-known farmer and fruit grower of Orange township, this county, was born in the neighboring county of Franklin, October 24, 1848, son of John and Eliza fHuber) Prifogle, the former of whom was born in that same county, a son of Peter Prifogle and wife, pioneers of the Highland neighborhood. Peter Prifogle was born in Germany and was about eighteen years of age when he came to this country. For some time he made his home in I'ennsylvania and then came to Indiana, entering a tract of government land in Highland township, Franklin county, and there establishing his home. On that pioneer farm he spent the remainder of bis life and tliere his son, John Prifogle, .spent all his life and tliere the subject of this sketch was born and reared.

Rearerl on the farm, George W. Prifogle became a farmer and continued, after lu"s marriage in 1S77, to make his home in Franklin county until 1882, when he came up into Fayette county and located at Connersville, where he lived for nine years, engaged at work in the furniture factory. He then rented a farm in Columbia township and remained there for four years, at the end of wliich time lie traded his house and lot in Connersviile in part payment for a farm of eighty acres in tlie northeast part of Orange township, where lie has made his home for the past twenty years. In addition to his general farming, JNlr. Prifogle has long given considerable attention to truck farming and to fruit growing. He has an excellent orchard and besides raises quantities of small fruit and berries, finding a read}' market for the products of his farm along these lines. Mr. Prifogle is a Republican and has ever given a good citizen's attention to local civic affairs. Fraternally, he is afifiliated with Guttenberg lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and takes a warm interest in lodge affairs.

George W. Prifogle has been thrice married. In 1877, while living in Franklin county, he married Amanda Tilden, who was born and reared in that county, and to that union seven children were born, of whom two died in infancy and fi\-e of whom are still li\'ing, namely: Edward, a member of the police force at Bedford, Massachusetts, married Mary Agnes Carrol, born at Oldham, England, September 30, 1882, and they are the parents of two children ; Frederick, of Connersviile, who married Carrie Brooks and has two children ; Alice, who married Glenn Loos, of Brookville, this state, and has four children ; Joseph, of San Pedro. California, who married Catherine Abercrombie and has two children, and Harry, who is serving his third term of enlistment in the United States army, now serving as a surgeon in the military hospital at Columbus, Ohio. The mother of these children died at Connersviile on February 23, 1889, and on April 11, 1893, ^^- Prifogle married Maggie Reif, who also was born in Franklin county, a daughter of Valentine Reif and wife, and who died on June 10, 1910, leaving two children, Julius, who married Linnie Snyder, of Columbus, this state, and now lives at Indianapolis, and Charles, who is at home with his father.

On September 24, 1911, Mr. Prifogle married Mrs. Mary (Miller) Berger, who was born in Cincinnati, a daughter of Charles and Francesco (Miller) Miller, both of whom were bom in Gemiany, but were not of blood kinship, though both bearing the same name. Charles Miller spent his last days in Cincinnati and there his daughter Mary grew to womanhood and married William Berger, who was born in the Hartz mountains, in Germany, and who had come to this country in the days of his youth. In 1881 William Berger moved with his family from Cincinnati to Connersviile and in the latter city became employed as a joiner in the furniture factory and was thus engaged at the time of his death on January 31, 1886. To William and Marv (Miller) Berger eight children were born, namely: Katherine Mary, who married Fred Bronnert (now deceased) and still lives in Cincinnati; Charles, who married Ida Rydman and is now living at Olmsted Falls, Ohio; Freda, who married John Murra}', a Connersville druggist, and has four children : Otto, who married Grace Spangler and is living in Connersville ; Louisa, who married Eugenio Dahne, the Brazilian commissioner-general of agriculture, commerce and industry, whom she met at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition at St. Louis, and who is now living at San Diego, California, where Mr. Dahne installed an exhibit of his own at the San Diego Exposition, and William, Jr., who died at El Paso in his seventeenth year. Besides these, two children died in infancy. After the death of Mr. Berger his widow continued to make her home in Connersville until her marriage to Mr. Prifogle. While a member of the German Presbyterian church at Connersville, Mrs. Prifogle sei-ved for four years as secretary of the Ladies' Society.

Millard Fillmore Cummins

Alillard Fillmore Cummins, one of Fayette county's best-known and most substantial retired farmers and horsemen, now living at the north edge of the city of Connersville at the foot of Grand avenue, is a native son of this county and has lived here all his life. He was born on a pioneer farm in Posey township, November 19, 1856, son of John D. and Caroline (Williams) Cummins, both of whom v,'ere born in Bourbon county, Kentucky, and whose last days were spent in Fayette county, substantial and influential pioneers of the northern part of the county.

John D. Cummins was born about 1818 and grew to manhood in Bourbon county, Kentucky. On July 30, 1840, he married there Caroline Williams, who also was born in that county, a daughter of Eli and Elizabeth (Hanna) Williams, also natives of that county, the former born on January 30, 1800, and the latter, a daughter of Joseph Hanna, September 4, 1796. After their marriage John D. Cummins and his wife established their home on a farm in their native county and there remained until five of their children were born, Charles, Noah, John, Oliva and Elizabeth. In November, 185 1, the baby, Elizabeth, then being but two months of age, the family came up into Indiana, driving through, and settled in Fayette county. John D. Cummins bought the southeast quarter of section 22, in Posey township, three miles southwest of the village of Bentonville, and there established his home, he and his wife spending the remainder of their lives there. Mr.

Millard F. Cummins grew up on the farm on whicii he was born in Posey township and received his schooling in the district school in that neighborhood. Conditions in that region still were in a pretty primitive state during the days of his boyhood and he grew up familiar with the ways of pioneer living. As a boy he used to watch his mother sitting at the spinning wheel and he learned to spin, a boyish accomplishment which he now recalls with much interest. His father was an excellent horseman and took much pride in keeping up his stock, his horses and mules frequently winning prizes in the local fairs and horse shows; and it was thus that, even from boyhood, Millard T. Cummins acquired an interest in good horses that he has retained to this day. After his marriage in 1877 Mr. Cummins continued to make his home on the home farm and there continued to reside until in April, 1917, when he retired from the active labors of the farm and moved to Connersville, where he now resides and where he is very comfortably situated in a pleasant home on the north side of the city, at the foot of Grand avenue. He had long ago bought the interests of the other heirs in the old family home and still owns that quarter-section tract, which is well improved and profitably cultivated, his youngest son now being in charge of the sariie. As noted above, Mr. Cummins has from the days of his boyhood taken a warm interest in good horses and he formerly maintained a race track on his farm, raising and training horses for the track. He bought a trotting stallion. "Robert B.," 2:2954, and one of the first colts from this sire, "Lucy C," developed, under Mr. Cummin's training, a speed of 2:12 and had an official mark of 2:20%. Her first colt, "Pine Bush," did even better. Mr. Cummins has exhibited several other horses of more than local note and is now the owner of "Indiana Belle," 2:1514-

]\Iillard F. Cummins has been twice married. In 1877 he was united in marriage to Samantha Hyatt, who was born in Henry county, this state, daughter of Frank Hyatt and wife, the latter of whom was a Plummer, both representatives of old Quaker families in the Dublin neighborhood, and who died in March, 1883. leaving three children, John, Rufus, living on the old Hyatt farm near Strawns, who married Grace Ward and has five children, Elbert, Geraldine, Pauline, Dorothy and Ward, and Lota, who married Howard Sherwood and died in igo8, leaving a daughter, Mildred.

of whom were born and reared in that same county, and to that union two children have been born, Walter and Nettie. Walter Cummins, who is now operating the old home farm in Posey township, married Lola Saxon and has two children, Leroy and Roscoe. Nettie Cummins married Roscoe Hall, of Richmond, and has one child, a daughter. Avis.

Gus Bowen

Gus Bowen, a farmer living a short distance southeast of Orange and who is a member of the advisory board of Orange township, was born on a farm over the line in Noble township. Rush county, and has lived in that neighborhood all his life, being, therefore, one of the best-known residents of that part of the county. He was bom on February 14, 1879, the youngest son of Rufus P. and Desdemona (Stone) Bowen. the former of whom also was born in Noble township, Rush county, and the latter, who is still living, now making her home in Rushville, a native of Fayette county.

Rufus P. Bowen was a son of Solomon Bowen, who came to Indiana from Bourbon county, Kentucky, in pioneer days and entered a tract of "Congress land" in Noble township. Rush county, where he established his home and where he spent the rest of his life, one of the substantial pioneers of that part of the county. There Rufus P. Bowen grew up amid pioneer conditions and in turn became a farmer on his own account, farming all his life in Noble township, where his death occurred in 1896. His widow is now living at Rushville. She was born in Orange township, this county, daughter of Silas H. and IMartha (Dicken) Stone, pioneers of Fayette county, a record of whose lives is interwoven with the history of that part of the county in which they lived.

Silas H. Stone was a native of Kentucky, born in Scott county, that state, who became a carpenter, millwright and wagon-maker. In the early twenties he came up into Indiana, prospecting in Fayette county, and here married Martha Dicken, who also was born in Scott county, Kentucky, in 1806, and who had come to Indiana with her parents, Henry Dicken and wife, who settled in the west half of the southwest quarter of section 14 of Orange township, this county, and who later moved to the eighty just east of the above described eighty. After his marriage Silas H. Stone returned to Kentucky, but in 1823 he and his wife returned to this county, coming through with a considerable company of Kentuckians who were seeking liomes in this region. Upon settling here Silas H. Stone entered an "eighty" in the southwest quarter of section 1 1 of Orange township and there established his home. As a miller he worked in a grist-mill during the days and as a carpenter he huilt his house, working on the latter at night. The mill in which he worked was the pioneer mill erected by his brother, Elias Stone, on Garrison creek, in section ii of Orange township, in 1821. It was in this latter year that Elias Stone had come up here from Kentucky and had settled in Fayette county. He platted that part of the village of Orange that lies north of the cross road. About 1840 Silas H. Stone bought the mill that had been started by his brother, afterward selling the same and building another mill farther down the creek, in the northeast part of the southeast quarter of section 14, and later added to that grist-mill a saw-mill. In connection with the latter he also carried on a carriage shop and made a considerable number of the old-style "Rockaway" carriages, besides buggies and wagons and any other kind of vehicle demanded by the people of that vicinity, his wife operating the grist-mill while he would be thus engaged. He and his brother, Elias, built the Christian church at Orange, said to have been the first house of worship erected for the uses of that denomination in the state of Indiana, the local congregation having been organized on July 4. 1829. Silas H. Stone was a devoted member of the Christian church, but his loyalty to the founder of that sect (Alexander Campbell) was such that he never referred to the church only as the "Campbellite" church. He was always the first person on hand at the meetings of the local congregation and in many ways did all he could to promote the interests of the church. For some time he also served as a member of the board of school directors and in that capacity was able to gratify an early wish to build a good frame school house to supplant the first school house, built of logs, in the settlement. About 1880 he and his wife moved to the village of Orange, where their last days were spent, his death occurring in 1882 and hers in 1883.

On November 28, 1900, Gus Bowen was united in marriage to Ethel Murphy, who also was born in Noble township, Rush county, a daughter of George and Julia (Thompson) Murphy, the former of whom also was born in that township, a son of John and Anna (McCrory) Murphy. John Murphy was bom in Butler county. Ohio, a son of Jesse and Charlotte Murphy, who came from New Jersey and after a sometime residence in Butler county, Ohio, came on u\) the \alley of the White Water and settled in the near vicinity of Glenwood. John Murphy was but a child when his parents came up here and he grew to manhood on the farm and remained a fanner all his life. His wife, Anna McCrory, was born in this county, a daughter of Robert and Celina (Saxon) McCrory, the former of whom, a native of Ireland, walked from Cincinnati to the land office at Indianapolis and there entered a quarter of a section of land two and one-half miles northeast of Glenwood, in this county, where he established his home. He married Celina Saxon, who was born in Georgia and who was but a child when her parents came to Indiana, settling in Fayette county at a time when Indians still were numerous hereabout. The Indians at that timfe were continuing to give such cause for apprehension on the part of the settlers that the little Celina was not permitted to wander far from the house in her play, lest she should be stolen by the Indians. Ethel Murphy was bereft of her mother when she was eight days old and she was reared by her grandmother and by her aunt, Mrs. George, of Orange. She completed her schooling in the high school at Rushville and taught school for a year before her marriage to Mr. Bowen. To that union one child has been born, a daughter, Lela Myrl. The grandfather of Mrs. Bowen, John P. Thompson, was the founder of the Christian church at Orange.

Gus Bowen has been a member of the Orange township advisory board for the past two years or more and gives his earnest attention to public affairs. He is a member of the local lodge of the Improved Order of Red Men and takes a warm interest in the affairs of the same. He and his wife have a pleasant home and take a proper part in the general social activities of their community.

Ralph Wright Bowen

Ralph Wright Bowen, a well-known and progressive young farmer of the Orange neighborhood, is a native son of Fayette county and has lived here all his life. He was born on a farm southeast of the village of Orange, in Orange township, March 25, 1885, son and only child of Nicholas F. and Sarah C. (Wright) Bowen, both of whom are natives of this part of the state, the former born on January 24, 1859, in Noble township. Rush county, son of Rufus P. and Desdemona M. (Stone) Bowen, members of pioneer families, whose family record extending back to the early settlement of this part of the country is set out elsewhere in this volume in a biographical sketch relating to Gus Bowen, a member of the Orange township advisory board and uncle of the subject of this sketch.

in tlie spring after he was twenty-ime years of age lie began farming for liimself on a rented farm. A year later he married and continued as a renter until in ^March, 189J. when he bought a farm of eighty acres in the northeast corner of section 22 of Orange township, this county, and there established his home. About eight years later he bought the eighty adjoining that place, in the northwest corner of section 23, and has since been the owner of an excellent farm of one hundred and sixty acres, all in one body. There he continued farming and stock raising until in March, 1909, when he retired from the active labors of the farm, turning the management of the place over to his son Ralph, and he and his wife moved to Orange, where they have a pleasant home and one and one-fourth acres in the village, together with a good barn, garage and orchard. In the fall of 1908 N. F. Bowen was elected assessor of Orange township, entering upon the duties of that office in January of the following year. His official term of four years was extended by legislative enactment and thus served for six years, his term of office expiring on January i, 1915. He was urged by both political parties to accept the nomination for a second term, but he declined to become a candidate.