Fayette County, Indiana - Biographical sketches, 1917 (part 8 of 16)

Samuel Rigg"s was born in Maryland on July 13, 1786, a son of James and Mary (Johnson) Riggs, who also were born in Maryland, representatives of old colonial families, and who later moved to Washington county, Ohio, where Samuel grew to manhood and where he married, on September 18. 1810, Elizabeth Ross, daughter of Andrew and Mary Ross. The next year, in 181 1, Samuel Riggs walked over into the then Territory of Indiana, "spying- out the land," and found here in the upper valley of the White Water what he had been seeking, a land very fair and good to look upon. He entered a quarter of a section of land in the woods four or five miles east of the point where John Conner had established his trading post on the river, and there, near the middle of what later came to be organized as Jennings township, decided to establish his home. He returned to' Ohio for his wife and the two came out here into the wilderness. They transported their household goods by flatboat down the river to Cincinnati and from that point began the toilsome journey by wagon through the woods up the old White Water trail to their new home in the wilderness. Upon their arrival there they put up a log cabin and began the laborious task of creating a habitable home amid conditions that would have appalled all but the stoutest hearts. Samuel Riggs was an energetic and industrious man and from the very beginning of his operations in this county prospered. He became; the owner of two hundred and twenty-one acres of land in Jennings township and was also the owner of four Inuidred and eighty acres in Howard county. Samuel Riggs died at his home in Jennings township on March 31, 1875. His wife, who was born on April 5, 1795, had preceded him to the grave less than a year, her death having occurred on June 19, 1874. She was an earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal church and she and her husband exerted a potent influence for good in tiie formative ])eriod of the now prosperous farming community in which they had settled in pioneer days. Tiiey were the parents of twelve children, Denton, John, Mary, Ruth, Stephen, James S., Andrew, S. H., Kinsey, Rossie, Jane and Nancy.

James S. Riggs was born on that pioneer farm in 1821, the si.xth child and fourth son of his parents, and was there reared amid real pioneer conditions, receiving his schooling at the home fireside and in the primitive school that early was established in that neighborhood, and from boyhood was an able assistant to his father in the labors of developing and improving the home farm, and after his marriage in 1845 began farming on his own account. He possessed a natural talent for business, had keen executive ability and prospered in his affairs, becoming a very successful farmer and was long accounted one of tlie most substantial and influential men in his community. His farm in Jennings township, containing ninety acres, was well improved and profitably cultivated and his live stock were of the best. He also owned two hundred acres in Effingham county, Illinois, and one hundred and sixty acres in Howard county, Indiana. In church affairs Mr. Riggs also took an active and influential part. He and his wife were devoted members of the Christian church and were among the organizers of the church of that denomination in Connersville. Mr. Riggs helped to reconstruct a school house in his neighborhood and fit it for church services and would drive intd Connersville for the preacher and bring him lo that point in Jennings township for services and then take him back to Connersville. That pioneer church in Jennings township was, in a way, the forerunner of the church at Springersville. James Riggs died quite suddenly in May, 1869, and his widow survived him many years, her death occurring in Connersville on h>bruar\- 17, 1902.

On January 23, 1843, J<i"ies Riggs was united in marriage to Susan Alonger, of Jennings township, who was born near Lebanon, Ohio, February 15, 1824, a daughter of John and Huldah (Davis) Monger, the former of whom was born in Virginia on January 30, 1799, and the latter, in Ohio, June 9, 1800. a daughter of Jonathan Davis and wife, the former of whom, a native of New Jersev, was a soldier in the patriot amiv during the Revolu- (S6) tionary War. Some time after the settlement began to grow up around old Ft. Washington and the then straggling village 'of Cincinnati began to develop, Jonathan Davis came down the river with his family and his goods and settled there, building a log cabin with a huge fireplace, from which extended a great brick chimney. One night the Indians attacked his cabin. He concealed his wife and children in the loft of the cabin and then he hid himself in the chimney in such a way as to berconcealed from the view of anyone entering the cabin, yet giving him a view of all that might go on. Presently the savage redskins broke into the cabin and were greeted by a shot from the doughty old soldier in the fireplace. Time after time he shot, the Indians being unable to reach him, and after awhile the marauders took their departure, dragging their dead after them, and the rest of the night danced the hideous war dance about the cabin. Upon the coming of the Mongers to this county, Jonathan Davis accompanied his daughter, Mrs. Monger, and his last days were spent in her home in Jennings township. He died on October 26, 1845, at Brookville, and is buried in the cemetery at Springersville, one of the two Revolutionary soldiers buried"" in this county. It was probably in 1825 that John Monger and his wife came to Fayette county from Lebanon, Ohio, for Miss Rosella Riggs, their granddaughter, now* living at Connersville, has their tax receipts bearing dates from 1826 to 1846. John Monger was the son of George and Frances Monger, who settled here in 1833; they had nine children. They lived and died here in Fayette county. John Monger and wife located on a farm just south of Lyonsville, in Jennings township, the tract they selected for a home being covered with forest trees, a previous occupant of that quarter section having done nothing toward clearing the same save clearing a spot for a door yard and erecting thereon a small log cabin. There John Monger and his wife established their home and there they spent the remainder of their lives, active and infiuential members of that pioneer community and helpful in all good works thereabout until the day of their death. Not long after settlingthere John Monger built a substantial brick house of unusually thick walls and in that house, which was destroyed by fire in April, 1912, there had lived five generations of the family, beginning with Jonathan Davis, the Revolutionary soldier; his daughter, Mrs. Hulda (Davis) Monger; her daughter, Mrs. Susan (Monger) Riggs, the latter's son, Francis M. Riggs, who was born there, and Lola Rosella Riggs, daughter of Francis M. Riggs, also was born there. John Monger not only was a good farmer, but he was an active man of affairs and during his life held numerous offices of public trust. Miss

Riggs, of CounersviUe, has many heirlooms of the family, including a chest which contains voluminous records of the business transactions of the Monger family, showing that they were subscribers to magazines and cultural periodicals and enjoyed a life of education and refinement such as the present generation may not ha\-e thought prol)able of the generation represented b_\' the pioneers. John i\b)nger died on March 8, 1839. He was a son of George and Frances Monger and he had a sister who was stolen b\- the Indians when she was a little girl, grew up with the tribe and married a saxage chief. After her marriage she found hei"' way back to the home of her parents and for a time resumed her place in their home, but presently began to long for the freedom of the life of the tribe to which she had l>een accustomed from childhood and returned to her chief and the tribe in which she had been reared and with that tribe spent her last days. John ]\Ionger"s widow survived him less than fi\e years, her death occurring on Deceml)er 7, 1844. She was a dexout member of the Christian church and her children were reared in that faith. There were seven of these children, six of whom grew to maturity, Jonathan D.. Susan, who married Mr. Riggs; Mary .-\., Hester, Sidney E. and Sarah F.

To James S. and Susan (Monger) Riggs eight children were born, of whom' two died before the death of their father, those remaining with the widowed mother at the time of his death having been as follow : Asbury Samuel, who died in Connersville, leaving a family of orphaned children, his wife having died a year pre\'ious to his death : Jonathan M.. who died in Jennings township; Francis M., who is lixing on a farm near tJie old home ])lace in Jennings township; Reeder James, who is living in C(3nners\ille : Oliver S., also a resident of Connersville, and Sarah Rosella, who also makes her home in Connersville. After the death of James S. Riggs in i86q. his widow remained on the farm until the Ixiys grew up and left home and then she and her daughter, Rosella, remained there until in November, 1891, when they moved to Connersville and built a house in Virginia avenue, just above Seventeenth street, that part of the city then being practically open fields, that residence section having developed since then. TJiere the mother and the daughter lived together until the deatli of the former on February 17, 1902, and Miss Riggs continues tn make her JKinie there. Besides owning that home she is the owner of ninety acres of the old .Monger quarter section south of Lyonsville.

Miss Rosella Riggs grew up in a community that was devoted to good works, its people possessed of high ideals and lofty aspirations, and from the time she was a little girl she took her part in the cultural activities of that neighborhood. When ten years of age she was the organist in the Sunday school and has ever given earnest thought to her musical education, a diligent student of both instrumental and \ocaI music, and is a pianist of much skill, playing the classical music with deep feeling and fine expression. For the sake of her mother and that she might ever be at the latter's side during her declining years. Miss Riggs nobly sacrificed many of the pleasures dear to }'oung people and during the last six years of her mother's life never left her alone in the house. Miss Riggs, as noted above, has many interesting family relics and heirlooms of the pioneer days in this county, some of these having come down from her great-grandfather, Jonathan Davis, the Revolutionary soldier, including certain articles of domestic use which he made with his own hands during the time of his residence in Ohio ; and a fine woven rattan riding-whip, with a handle of metal and ivory, which was used by her grandmother, Huldah (Davis) Monger, and a blanket of wool that was grown on sheep raised by her father, the wool having been prepared for spinning and carded by her mother. There are also old dishes that were in the Davis family and numerous bits of hand-made lace and embroidery that would excite the admiration and envy of modern lace-makers. Around many of these interesting mementoes Miss Riggs is able to weave stories of the other days, tales handed down in her family, that would make most interestingreading for the present generation.

John T. White

The late John T. \Miite, who died at his home in Connersville township, this county, in the spring of 1914, was a member of one of the oldest and most substantial families in Fayette county. He was born on a pioneer farm about three miles east and a little south of Connersville, December 26, 1843, and his whole life was spent in this county, the most of the time on the farm, thoug'h for some years he was engaged as a cabinet-maker in Connersville and during that period made his home in the city. His death occurred on the farm on which he was born, a pioneer tract that had been secured by his grandfather back in the days when the Indians still were numerous in this section of Indiana.

The first of the White family to come to Fayette county were Joel and Susanna \\'hite, who came into the Indiana country from North Carolina, by way of Tennessee and Kentucky. Joel White was a Quaker, but he mar- ried outside uf tlie faitli and was ostracized hy liis family and tlic otiicr Quakers of his lionie community for doing so. He and iiis wife Susanna left North Carolina and went to Tennessee, where their first child, a son, Thomas White, was born in 1803. In 181 3 the family started north with the expectation of finding a new home in tlie Indiana country, but on account of the continued Indian depredations about that time, were compelled to stop at the block house at Hamilton until the Indians were suppressed. In 181 5 they resumed their trip and in due time arrived in Fayette county, where Joel \\"hite bought a quarter of a section of land in the east ])art of Connersville township, cleared a small tract on the same, liuilt a log house and there established his home. h"or some time :;fter locating here he spent what leisure he could command in cutting wood near Cincinnati and thus earned the money with which to com])lete the payments on his cjuarter section of "Congress land." Joel White was an expert woodsman and trapper and he acted as the guide for the party of engineers who surveyed the Twelve Mile Purchase line. About 1838 Joel WHiite moved from Fayette comity to Madison county and in the latter county died a few years later. His widow survived him for years, her death occurring about 1853.

John T. ^^'hite was ado])ted when a child by his uncle, Thomas White, and was reared by the latter. Thomas White inherited a part of the old Joel White place am! bought the remainder and the jilace fell to John T. White upon the death of his adopted father. Thomas White moved into Connersville about 1860, John T. White then being about seventeen vears of age, and in the city the latter learned the trade of cabinet-maker and followed the same until 1897, when he returned to the farm where he was born and which had been entered from the government by his grandfather, Joel White, and there he spent the rest of his life as a farmer, his death occurring on Ma}- 5, 1914. His wife had preceded him to the grave a little more than two years, her death haxing occurred on I'ebruary 24, 1912.

It was while living in Connersxille that John T. White was united in marriage to .\nna R. Halbert, who was born in Baltimore county, Mar\'land, October 25, 1850, and who was fi>ur or hve years of age when her parents, Samuel and Rebecca (Hatton) Halbert, came to Indiana and located at Connersville, where Mr. Halbert became engaged as a cabinet-maker and where he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives. John T. White and his wife were earnest members of the Christian church and their children were reared in that faith. There are four of these children. Thomas H., Elizabeth R., James Douglas and .Mice F., tlie latter of wInMii married Faw rence

A. Ripberger and li\es on a farm near the old White farm. Mr. and Mrs. Ripberger have five living children, Russell, Aldene, Carl, Lillian and Henry. Elizabeth White married William F. Granger, who is living on the White farm and assisting in the operation of the same, and has one child, a son, William F. Thomas H. and James D. White continue to make their home on the old home place, their sister, Mrs. Granger, being housekeeper in the old home since the death of her mother. The Whites have a \'ery pleasant home and take a proper part in the general social activities of the community in which they live, ever helpful in promoting all agencies having to do with the advancement of the common welfare thereabout.

Frank Morris Hanson, one of b'ayette county's best-known and most progressive farmers and for years one of the best-known horsemen in this part of the state, is the proprietor of a fine farm in Connersville township, about a mile south of Connersville, where he has an attractive home and is well situated. He v.as born in that township and has lived there all his life. His birthplace was the old Hanson farm, three miles southwest of Connersville, where he was born on January 2y, 1871, son of William Asbury and Margaret (Ross) Hanson, members of old families in this county, both of whom are now deceased.

William Asbury Hanson also was liorn in Connersville township, son of Asbury Hanson and wife, pioneers of Fa}-ette county, and spent all his life farming in that township, one of the most substantial citizens of that part of the county. He gave much attention to the raising of live stock and was particularly attentive to his horses, having bred a number of race horses that attained more than merely local note. William A. Hanson had an excellent race track on his farm three miles southwest of Connersville, on which he trained his race horses and from the days of his youth the subject of this sketch took much interest in that phase of the operations of the Hanson farm. One of these race horses, a stallion, "Major Ross," dri\-en by Frank M. Hanson to a high-wheeled sulky in 1893, made a mile in 2:30 as a two-year-old; as a three-year-old made a mile in 2 iig^^, and as a four-year-old made a mile in 2:i6i4- William A. Hanson was an ardent Republican and ever gave his earnest attention to local political affairs, a strong force for good in his communitv. He died in September, 1905. and his widow survived him for nearly ten years, her death occurring in June, 1915. She was liorn, Margaret Ross, in tlie iieigliboriiig county of Franklin, a daughter of Jolin S. Ross and wife. William A. Hanson and wife had three children, the subject of this sketch having an elder brother, Karl L. Hanson, of Connersville, and a sister, Deva Blanche, wife of John E. Robbins, of Shelbyville, this state.

Frank M. Hanson was reared on the home farm in Connersville township, receiving his schooling in the local schools, and from boyhood was a valued aid to his father in the labors of developing and improving the home place. He early began giving particular attention to his father's racing interests and at the age of eighteen began taking a string of horses to the races and breaking and training promising animals on the private race track on the home farm, and was thus engaged for about ten years. Following his marriage in the summer of 1897 ^I''- Hanson began farming for himself on the home place and continued to remain there until 1909, when he bought his present place, the old "Billy" Robinson farm of one hundred and fifty-four acres one mile south of the East Connersville bridge, in Connersville township, where he since has made his residence and where he and his family are comfortably situated. The place has on it a handsome brick house and is well improved and well kept, Mr. Hanson pursuing modern methods in his agricultural operations. He also continues to give considerable attention to ihe raising of high-grade live stock and has done ven,' well. Mr. Hanson is a Republican and gives a good citizen's attention to local ci\-ic affairs, but has not been a seeker after public office.

On August 18, 1897, Frank M. Hanson was united in marriage to Bessie P. Erb, who was born in the neighboring county of Franklin, daughter of William H. and Anna (Fowler) Erb, the former a native of the state of Pennsylvania and the latter, of the state of Arkansas ; and the latter of whom is still living, now the wife of William M. Stoops. Anna Fowler was born in the vicinity of Jacksonport, near Little Rock, Arkansas, daughter of Dr. W. J. and Mary (Scott) Fowler, the former a native of Georgia and a practicing physician in Arkansas at that time. Doctor Fowler was an ardent Union sympathizer during the Civil War and was compelled to leave his home in Arkansas due to the bitterness of local feeling against him, and for two weeks, while seeking another location, he and his wife and their five children were camjjed within sight of the Union army for protection, having taken their flight, with what of their household goods they could get away in two wagons. They located at Raleigh, Missouri, where Doctor Fowler died a vear later. His widow. Marv (Scott) Fowler, who was born in

Franklin county, this state, a daughter of Thomas Scott and wife, who had moved to Arkansas when she was about ten years of age, was left with five children and she presently returned to Indiana with her children, locating at her^ girlhood home near Fairfield, in Franklin county, where six years later she married F. Z. Cushman and where she spent the remainder of her life, her death occurring there in 1892. There her daughter, Anna, grew up and married William H. Erb, who was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and who had come to Indiana with his parents, David and Rosanna Erb, who located in the Fairfield settlement. William H. Erb was both a wagonmaker and a farmer and spent the rest of his life in Franklin county. He was a Republican and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He died in 1904, leaving, besides his widow, three children, William Henry Erb, now living south of East Connersville : Maynard M. Erb, who is engaged in the lumber business and has an interest in a drug store at Connersville, and Bessie, who married Mr. Hanson.

Mr. and Mrs. Hanson have five children, Charlotte, Erb, Wilma, Marion and Robert. The Hansons have a very pleasant home and take a proper part in the general social activities of the community in which they live, helpful in promoting all local good causes. Mr. Hanson is a member of the Masonic fraternity and takes a warm interest in the affairs of that ancient order.

John Ludlow

In the memorial annals of Connersville township, this county, there are few names held in better remembrance than that of the late John Ludlow, who was a native son of Fayette county, a member of one of the pioneer families, and who spent all his life here, a practical, progressive and successful farmer, an honored soldier of the Civil War and a good citizen in all that term implies. He created a fine farm establishment in Connersville township and there his widow is still making her home, she and her family being very pleasantly and very comfortably situated. Mrs. Ludlow also is a member of one of Fayette county's pioneer families, the Athertons, and has lived here all her life, ever interested in the general social and cultural development of the community which has so grandly advanced during the period of her life time.

John Ludlow was born on a pioneer farm in Harrison township, this county, a place about three miles northeast of the farm on which his widow now lives, August 8, 1832. a son of Samuel B. and Hannah (Canipliell) Ludlow, who came here from Xew York state in 1821 and settled on that farm, where they spent the rest of their lives. Samuel B. Ludlow was a resident of Seneca county, New York, and' in i8ig he became attracted to the possibilities of pioneering in the then "wilds'" of Indiana and started out here on a prospecting tour. He walked all the way from his home in New York, this section of the new state of Indiana being his destination from the beginning of his trip, and upon arriving here looked about a bit with a view to picking out a tract of land that would come up to his expectations and made choice of a tract in Harrison township. L'pon inquiry, however, he found that land in that section had not yet been opened for settlement, nor was it opened for purchase until the government acquired title from the Indians, and thus obtained the New Purchase, in the following year. Disappointed in his quest, lilr. Ludlow returned to his home in New York, hut in 1 82 1 disposed of his interests there, packed his essential household goods in a wagon and with his family drove through to Indiana and settled in this county, entering a tract of "Congress land" in Llarrison townsliip, where he established his home and where he spent the rest of his life, his death occurring on July 30, 1879. His widow survived him l)ut a few years. Thev were the parents of twelve children, of whom tlie suliject of this sketch was the eighth in order of birth.

It was on that pioneer farm in Harrison township that John Ludlow grew to manh(3od. a valued assistant to his father in the labors of improving and dexeloping the same. During the Civil ^Var he enlisted for the Hundred-Day ser\ ice and ])articipated in the action against the Morgan raiders and in the pursuit of the leader of that cavalry band. John Ludlow was married in the fall of 1872 and for six years thereafter made his home on a farm about four miles west of Harrisburg, in the immediate vicinity of his hovhood home, and tlien moved to the farm where, his widow now resides, and there spent the rest of his life, an active and successful farmer and a progressive and public-s]iirited citizen, his death occurring on October 24, 19OT.

On September 10. 1872. John Ludlow was united in marriage to Martha H. Atherton. who was born on a pioneer farm in the northwestern part of Connersville township, this county, September 28, 1845, daughter of Stout and Rachel (Martin) .\therton, natives of the state of Ohio, who became early residents of this county anfl whose last days were spent on the farm on which their daughter. Mrs. Ludlow, now lives. Stout .\therton was born near Harrison, Ohio, in 1803, and there grew to manhood. In 1825 hq married and shortly afterward moved on up the Whitewater valley and settled in this county, buying the farm on which Mrs. Ludlow now lives and which at that time was but slightly improved. He straightway set about the improvement and development of that farm and in time had one of the bestimproved places in that part of the county. He was an industrious and progressive farmer and, as he prospered, added to his holdings until he was the owner of two Inmdred and sixty acres, having owned besides the quarter section on whicli he made his home, a farm of seventy acres, just east of that place and thirty acres in Harrison township, and was long regarded as one of the most substantial residents of that community. There he spent his last days, his death occurring on September 16, 1878.

Stout Atherton was thrice married. In February, 1825, he was united in marriage, in Hamilton county, Oliio, ta Mary Ann Safer, who died on April 27, 1835, leaving four small children. On December 3, 1835, he married Rachel Martin, who was bom in the neigh1x)rhood of Middletown, Ohio, January 20, 1810, and who had come to this county when a child, with her parents, Samuel and Ann (Potter) Martin, early and influential pioneers of Fayette county. Samuel Martin was born on September 4, 1778, probably in New Jersey, and in that state, in 1805, married Ann Potter, who was born on February 24, 1784. After his marriage Samuel Martin moved to Butler county, Ohio, and some years later came on up into this part of Indiana and settled on a farm about four miles west of Connersville, where he spent the rest of his life, his death occurring on January 9. 1851. His widow survived until March 14, 1863. Rachel (Martin) Atherton died on November 4, 1851, in the forty-second year of her age. She was the mother of ten children, eight of whom grew to maturity. After her death Mr. Atherton married her sister, Sarah E. Martin, this latter union being without issue.

To John and Martha H. (Atherton) Ludlow three children were born, Cora, who died in infancy, and Orris S. and Edna. Orris S. Ludlow married Maggie Maurer, and lives on a farm in Harrison' township, which his father left him and which he has improved in excellent shape. He has a fine home and is doing well in farming operations. Edna Ludlow married Orris Williams, who is farming the Ludlow farm, and she and her husband make their home with her mother there. Orris Williams was born on a farm near Benton ville, this co.unty, May 17, 1879, son o^ Madison H. and Ella (Crandall) Williams, who are now living at Connersville and further and extended reference to whom is made elsewhere in this volume. Orris

Fayette Cocnty, Indiana. 89I

Williams is a progressive and enterprising farmer and since takine^ the management of the Ludlow farm has made numerous improvements of an up-to-date character, notably the installation of an electric-lighting plant for the house. The Ludlow home is a beautiful country home, equipped witli modern con\eniences, and is one of the most attractive places m that part of the county. Orris Williams is a member of the local lodges of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Knights of Pythias and in the afifairs of these two organizations takes a warm interest.

Samuel M. Post

Samuel M. Post, a well-known citizen of Ea.st Connersville and a carriage trimmer in a Connersville automobile factory, is a native son of Fayette county and has lived here all his life. He was born in the village of Everton on October 2, 1871, son of John W. and Elizabeth (Murphy) Post, for many years prominent resiflents of that village and both of whom are now deceased.

John W. Post was born at Franklin, in Butler county, Ohio, in 183 1 and when about eighteen years of age came to Indiana, locating in Jackson township, this county, where he began working as a cabinet-maker and also as a hand in one of the waterpower mills or factories that were so numerous along Elys creek in the eastern part of Jackson township in the early days of the settlement of this county. There he presently learned shoemaking and established a shoe shop at Everton, where he spent the rest of his life thus engaged, his death occurring on .August 4, 1907. He was a Democrat and ever gave close attention to local political afifairs. Fraternally, he was affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and took an active interest in lodge work. His widow survived him for more than seven years, her death occurring on February 20, 191 5, she then being nearly eighty years of age. She was born on a farm in the southwestern part of what is now Jennings township, this county. May 15, 1835, a daughter of Samuel and Susan (Bybee) Murphy, natives of North Carolina, who were married in that state and later came to Indiana, becoming early settlers in Fayette county. Samuel Murphy bought a tract of school land in Jennings township and there established his home. His wife died there in 1846 and he died about 1871, at the age of si.xty-five years.

schools of that village, and when about nineteen years of age went to Connersville, where he learned the trade of carriage-trimming, which he ever since has followed, formerly working in a carriage factory there and, since the establishment of the automobile industi-y engaged as a trimmer of automobile bodies. He makes his home in East Connersville and is one of the best-known residents of that thriving suburb.

On October 10, 1901, Samuel M. it waS united in marriage to Goldie C. Burk, who was born in the neighboring county of Union on July i, 1877, daughter of Stephen D. and Jennie (Hess) Burk, the former a native of this county and the latter of the state of Virginia. Stephen D. Burk was born in Jennings township, this county, a son of Elisha and Mary Ann (Green) Burk, the former of whom came to this county from Harrison, Ohio, and settled on a farm south of Alquina, where he spent the remainder of his life, living to the great age of ninety-three years. Jennie Hess was but a child when her parents, W'illiam Hess and wife, came to Indiana from Virginia and settled in Fayette county. After his marriage Stephen D. Burk made his home in Union county until the summer of 1878, when he moved with his family to Hancock county, wliere he died about one and one-half years later, leaving a widow and one child, a daughter, now Mrs. Post, who was about one year of age when her parents moved to Hancock county. After the death of Mr. Burk his widow returned to Fayette county with her child and here she spent the remainder of her life, her death occurring about fifteen years ago. Mrs. Post is a member of the Pre.sbyterian church.

George Emmett Oldham

George Emmett Oldham, one of Fayette county's well-known and substantial farmers, a member of one of the county's oldest families and the proprietor of a farm of nearly two hundred acres in Jennings township, about three miles east of Connersville, is a native of this county and has lived here all his life. He was born on a pioneer farm about one-half mile south of Lyons Station, in Jennings township, March 3, 1870, son of George W. and Emeline (Mullen) Oldham, both of whom were born in this county, members of pioneer families, and whose last days were spent here.

George W. Oldham was born on that same farm, June 9, 1840, son of William and Mary Ann (Johnson) Oldham, the former of whom was born on the same farm, a son of Elder Stephen Oldham and wife, Rebecca. Elder

Fayette Colntv, Indiana. - 893

Stephen Oldham came In Indiana from eastern Tennessee and entered a tract of land from the guvernnicnl in the sdutheast (juarter of section 22, jennin.s^s township, this county, al)out 1810 or 181 1, the farm where \V. li. Ihown now lives. He was a minister of the Primitive Baptist church and he and his wife were constituent members of the New Bethel Baptist church, ort^anizcd in 1814, and he was pastor of .the ,,'«jiie until his death in 1834, one of the most influential pioneer residents ot tiie eastern part of this countw On that pioneer farm A\'illiam Oldham grew to manhood. In addition to his general farming he was long engaged as a dealer in live stock and liecame one of Fayette county's best-known citizens. He was killed in a runaway accident when his son, George W. Oldham was nine years of age. George W". Oldham grew up on the farm on which he was born and in the summer of 1857 married Emeline Mullen, who also was born in this county. When the Civil War broke out he enlisted for service in the Union army as a private in Company A, One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and served with that command for nearly three years, serving in the armies of General Thomas and General Sherman. Upon the conclusion of his military service he returned to the home farm and was there engaged in farming until a year after his wife's death in 1874, wiien he moved to another part of Jennings township, about three and une-half miles east of Connersville, where he continued farming for years. In 1900 George W. Oldham was elected sheriff of Fayette county, as the nominee of tlie Republican party, carrying every ward and township in the county, and served in that cajjacitv for four years, at the end of which time he returned to the farm and there spent the rest of his life, his death occurring in January, 1914. He was a member of the Primitive Baptist church, in tiie local congregation of which he was one of the leading workers, and was a memljer of the local post of the (irand Army of the KepuliJic, nf the local lodges of the Knights of Pythias and of the \ie(\ .Men, and a member of the Patriotic Sons of America, in tlie affairs of all of which organizations he took ;i warm interest.

George W. Oldham was twice married. In the summer of 1857 '^^ married Emeline Mnllen. a member of one of the pioneer families of Fayette countv, and to that union eight children were born, one of whom died in infancv and se\en of whom grew to maturity. Of these latter, Sylvester A. Oldham died in 1900 and Jesse K. died in January, 19 17. The four survivors are, besides the subject of this sketch, Charles F., Mrs. Mary Isal)el Melbourne. William and Mrs. Gertha Riggs. After the death of the mother of these children, George W. Oldham married Sarah Elizabeth Ferguson, who died in January, 1907, she having preceded her husband to the grave about seven years. That second union was without issue.

George E. Oldham was reared in Jennings township, receiving his schooling in the local schools there, and has lived there all his life, following the vocation of farming, in which he has been successful. He remained at home until after his marriage in 1896, when he began farming on his own account and he now owns a well-kept farm of one hundred and ninety-five acres in Jennings township, about three miles east of Connersville, where he and his family are very pleasantly and veiy comfortably situated. Mr. Oldham is a Republican and has ever taken an earnest interest in local political affairs, but has not been a seeker after public office.

On January 12, 1896, George E. Oldham was united in marriage to Laura Belle Stanley, who also was born in Jennings township, this county, about one mile south of Lyons Station, a daughter of Nathan and Elizabeth (Grimes) Stanley, the former of whom was born in Tennessee and the latter, in Lidiana, who were well-to-do and substantial residents of the eastern part of this county. Nathan Stanley was born in Campbell county, Tennessee, in 1810, son of Garland and Nellie (Noble) Stanley, and was about eleven years of age when he came to Indiana with his mother in 1821, his father having died in Tennessee in 1813, the family settling in Union county. In 1824 he came over into Fayette county with his mother and settled in Jennings township, where she died in 1840 and where he also spent the rest of his life, his death occurring in 1893. Nathan Stanley was a good farmer and became the owner of nearly three hundred acres of land lying south of Lyons Station. He was an earnest Republican and ever took an active interest in local political affairs.

Nathan Stanley was twice married. About 1838 he married Mary Golden, who died in 1855, leaving eight children. Preston, Rush, Edwin, Sarah, Lewis, Eliza, Steplien and Elizabeth. In 1856 Mr. Stanley married Elizabeth Grimes, who was born in the neighboring county of Union, and to that union five children were born, those besides Mrs. Oldham being Frank, Samuel, Robert and one son who died in infancy.

Mr. and Mrs. Oldham have one child, a son, George Heber Oldham, who was born on January 19, 1899. They are members of the Primitive Baptist church and Mr. Oldham is 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 a warm interest.

George Green

Of the native sons of Eayette county who have Hved their hves in the county, and have met with success and have become prominent in tlie district, is George Green, a well-known resident of Connersville, who was born in Waterloo township on March 20, 1857, the son of William and Martha Ann (Cross) Green.

William and Martha Ann (Cross) Green were born in Baltimore county, Maryland. William Green came with his parents when but a boy to Indiana, and with them settled in Wayne county. The father died shortly after coming to his new home, and the son, William, was left to his own resources. For nine years he lived with the family of Joseph Howard, when he started out for himself. He later came to Fayette county, where he was marrietl. After his marriage he and his wife established their home in Wayne county, near the Fayette county line, and there he engaged in farming for some years. He later purchased a farm in Waterloo township, Fayette county, and there he engaged in general farming and stock raising until his death on January 7, 1895, at the age of seventy-one years. His wife died ten years later, at the age of eighty-one years. They were a most estimable people and their lives were devoted to the interests of their family and the community in which they lived and where they were held in high regard.

William and Martha Green took an active interest in the affair.s of the district, and had much to do with the moral and civic development of the township. Mrs. Green was an active member of the United Brethren church and had much to do with the activities of her home society. Mr. Green as a young man identified himself with the Democratic party, and alwavs took a keen interest in the affairs of the township as well as the county. .Although he was ne\er a seeker after office, he felt it the duty of every man to assist in the election of the best men to office. He was a successful farmer and raiser of stock, and was known as a good business man and an excellent citizen. He and Mrs. Green were the parents of the following children, Samantha Melinda, Susan Elizabeth, Levi, George, \\'illiam R. and Anna Martha. Samantha, now deceased, was the wife of A\'illiam V. Crawford and lived in Waterloo township; Susan Elizabeth died in 1902; Levi N. married Christine Spencer and they reside in Waterloo township, where Mr. Green is a substantial and prominent farmer and stockman; William R.. Anna Martha and George live together in Connersville.

they left the farm and moved to their home at 716 Central avenue. They still look after the intere.sts on the farm, where they spent so many years of their lives. George and William, reared on the farm, soon in life became impressed with the life of a farmer and stock raiser. They remained with their father as long as he lived, and were to him a great assistance in the management of the farm and the care of the stock. After the death of the mother, the three children moved to Connersville. As farmers and stockmen, George and William have been successful, and their management of the farm of five hundred and sixty acres has demonstrated their ability in that line.

William Green and his wife were devoted to the cause of education, and their best efforts were ever exerted on the behalf of better schools. Their children were all educated in the home schools, and have since become prominent in the affairs of the communities in which they live. Mr. Green was known throughout the county for his ability as a farmer and business man, and his advice and counsel were often sought in financial matters, as well as in the civic affairs of the district. Few men were better known over the county and few were held in higher regard and esteem. At his death, the community knew that a good and worthy man had gone to his reward, after a busy life of usefulness.

John M. Culbertson

John M. Culbertson, one of the best-known and most substantial farmers of the Glenwood neighborhood in this county, has lived here since 1S63, when he established his home on the fine farm he has developed in Orange township, and has for years been recognized as one of the best-established citizens of Fayette county. Mr. Culbertson is a native of Ohio, born in the city of Cincinnati on April 20, 1837. son of John C. and Jane (Moody) Culbertson, natives of Pennsylvania, where they were married and later moved to Cincinnati, where they established their home and where their last days were spent.

John C. Culbertson was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, and as a young man served as a soldier from that state during the War of 181 2 and in the battle of Chippewa on July 5, 18 14, was severely wounded. He later became a sutler and when Ft. Snelling was established on the upper course of the Mississippi in 1822 he conveyed a stock of goods lo that point and started a trading station and for some time did a thri\-ing business trading- with the ImUans. tlius acquiring an excellent financial fnundation tr)r his later successful banking career in Cincinnati. It was in iSji) tliat he located in Cincinnati and there, during the forties, he and two others fonndxl the Franklin Bank, Mr. Culbertson becoming one of the most successful bankers in the Queen City and a man of considerable means. It was in Pennsylvania that he married Jane Moody, who also was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, and to that union were bom seven sons who grew to maturity, of whom the subject of this sketch, the eldest and the last-born are now the only survivors.

John ]\I. Culbertson grew up in Cincinnati and was gi\en excellent educational advantages in his youth. From the E. S. Brooks Academy in Cincinnati he was sent when twelve years of age to the H. and S. M. ITamill Classical and Commercial School at Lawrenceville, New Jersey, and thence to Princeton University. Returning to Cincinnati upon the completion of his schooling he remained in his home city until 1863, the year of his marriage, when he came up into Indiana and bought a farm of two hundred and forty acres one mile east of Glenwood, on the Connersville and Rushville pike, in this count}', where he erectetl a large and substantial brick residence and where he ever since has made his home. When Mr. Culbertson's house was built it was regarded as one of the best houses in this part of the state and is still looked upon as one of the finest in that section. The other buildings on the farm are in keeping with the appearance of the dwelling and the farm plant is kept up in admirable shape.

In June, 1863, John M. Culbertson was united in marriage to Catherine Donnelly, of Boston, who died in 1896, and to that union eight children were born, two of whom died in infancy, the others being Mary J., Alice C, Margaret J., Anna E., John M., Jr.. and Henry C. The junior John M. Culbertson is now a resident of Indianapolis. Henry C. Culbertson, who lives on a farm not far from his father's place, married Nellie Jeffrey and has two children, a daughter, Mary Eleanor, and a son, Henry C, Jr. The motlier died on December 10, 1896. The four Misses Cull^ertson are living with their father in the comfortable old farm home east of Glenwood. The Culbertsons have ever taken an earnest interest in the development <>f the general social life of the community in which the\' live. Henry C. Culbertson was a member of the class of 1898, Indiana University, and Margaret Culbertson attended college at Oxford. Ohio.

Charles W. Martin

Charles W. Martin, one of Connersville township's best-known and most substantial farmers and who also is engaged in the road-building and contracting line, is a native son of Fayette county and has lived here all his life. He was born on a farm adjoining that on which he now lives, in the northwest part of Connersville township, March 24, 1859, son of Ezra and Caroline (Dale) Martin, the former of whom was born in Ohio and the latter, in this county, both now deceased, who spent their last days on the old Martin homestead in Connersville township.

Ezra Alartin was born in Miami county, Ohio, and was but a child when his parents, Samuel and Ann (Potter) Martin came over into Indiana and settled in Fayette county, on the farm where the subject of this sketch was born, in Connersville township. There Ezra Martin grew to manhood, taking his part in the work of developing a pioneer farm. After his marriage he for some years conducted a store at Bentonville and also served as postmaster of that village. After the death of his father he bought the interests of the other heirs in the home place and there established his home, becoming a. well-to-do farmer. He served for some time as assessor of Fayette county and was later for some years a member of the board of county commissioners, giving his earnest attention to public affairs. Ezra Martin died at his home on the old home farm in 1892 and his widow survived him about six years, her death occurring in June, 1898. She was born on a pioneer farm near Harrisburg, this county, a daughter of Joseph Dale and wife, the latter of whom was a daughter of Doctor Bradburn, a pioneer physician and surgeon, well-known throughout this part of the state in pioneer days. Joseph Dale was but a child when he came to this part of Indiana with his parents from Kentucky and he grew up in Harrison township and became a successful farmer there and one of the most influential men in that part of the county.

Charles W. Martin grew to manhood on the home farm in Connersville township and after his marriage in 1895 rented the home place and began farming there on his own account. Three years later he bought a tract of one hundred and twelve acres, the place on which he is now living, just south of the traction line, four miles west of Connersville, and has since made his home there. Mr. Martin has added to his original holdings until he now is the owner of two hundred acres of well-improved and profitably cultivated land. Of recent vears he has given considerable attention to dairying and has demonstrated to his own satisfaction that there is profit in that phase of taniiiiii:;- in tliis section. I'or tliirty year.s, or until the fall df 1913, Mr. Martin was the proprietor of a threshing-rig and did a large husiness in that line throughout the part of the county in which lie li\es. .\hout seven \ears ago he and Thilip W'ilk engaged in general road contracting and ha\e dune much in that line, building roads in Rusli, Fayette, Franklin and L'nion counties, under the operation of the new tiiree-niile road law. Mr. Martin is a public-spirited and energetic citizen and has done much for the general ui)building of the county. It was he who circulated the petition for the construction of a good road past his farm and he was one of the few persons whci gave land for the right-of-wa\- f(jr the traction line from Connersville to Rushville.

In 1895, as noted abo\e, Charles W. Martin was united in marriage to Lydia J. AX'ebster, who was born on a farm two miles south of Connersville. a daughter of Joseph M. and Ellen (Parker) Webster, both of whom were born in Butler county, Ohio, and who came to Indiana in 1865 and died in Connersville. Joseph M. Webster was born on May 3, 1838, a son of Dr. I'^lias and Mary ( Kane) \\'ebster, and grew up in Butler county. Ohio, wliere he married Ella I'arker. who also was born and reared in that county, a daughter of John and Jane I'arker. In the spring of 1865 he and his wife and his parents. Doctor Webster and wife came to Indiana, he and his wife locating on a farm near Knightstown, in Rush county, and Doctor AVebster locating on the Whitewater, two miles south of Connersville. There .Mary Kane Webster died and the Doctor afterward remarried and moved to Connersville, where he continued in practice until his death on No\ember 2, 1891. He was an official in the Methodist Episcopal church and was for >-ears active in church work.

Upon locating in the Knightstown neighborhood, Joseph M. Webster bought a farm there, but in 1869 traded the same for his father's farm south of Connersville, where he lived luitil 1909. when he retired and moved to Connersville, where he died, prior to which he gave close attention to the operation of his farm of two hundred and sixty acres, on which for years he w'as extensively engaged in stock raising and for eighteen years also gave much attention to dairying, profitably maintaining a herd of from fifty to seventv-five dairy cattle. Joseph M. AVebster and wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal church and their children were reared in that faith. There are five of these children, those besides Mrs. Martin, the third in order of birth, being Mary. Mrs. .Anna Williams. Mrs. Rosa Heck and C"harles Henrv Webster.

Mr. and Mrs. Martin have three children, Rosella, Woodford and Frank! Thev have a very pleasant home and have ever given proper attention to the general social activities of the community in which they live, helpful in promoting all agencies having to do with the advancement of the common welfare.

James T. Fisher

James T. Fisher, former trustee of Jennings township and one of the best-known old settlers in Fayette county, the proprietor of a farm in Jennings township and for years identified with the community in which he lives, is a native of the Keystone state, but has been a resident of Indiana since 1851 and of this county since 1866, coming here from the neighboring county of Union, where he had lived since he was eleven or twelve years of age. He was bom in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, January 19, 1839, son of Samuel and Mary Ann (Maloney) Fisher, both natives of Virginia.

The Fisher family is of Scotch-Irish origin and its history in Virginia can be traced back to Colonial days, Winchester, in that state, having been the home of the family since before the Revolutionary period. The paternal grandparents of James T. Fisher were Thomas and Margaret Fisher. It is said that Fisher's Hill, which was the scene of one of the important battles of the Civil War, the battle in which General Sheridan defeated the Confederates under General Early, was so called in honor of Thomas Fisher. Thomas Fisher spent all his life in Virginia. His son, Samuel Fisher, father of the subject of this sketch, was one of a family of six brothers and was born on the old Fisher homestead in Virginia on November 13, 1808. In that state he grew to manhood and there married Mary Ann Maloney, who was born in that same locality on April 11, 1811. After their marriage he and his wife moved to Fayette county, Pennsylvania, where he engaged in the butcher business and where he died in 1849, leaving his widow and their only son, James T., then ten years of age. The Widow Fisher returned to Virginia with her son and there, in the following December, gave birth to another son whom she named Jonathan Samuel. After a year spent at her old home in Virginia, she returned with her children to Pennsylvania and for a time made her home there with her deceased husband's brother. She then came to Indiana with her children and for some time made her home with her brother, B. F. Maloney, in Dnion county, a few years later going over into Oliio, where she made her iionie with a half-brolher and some time later, at Dunlapsville, in X'nion county, this state, married Joseph Dungan, who died a few years later. She spent the latter years of her life with her younger son at Muncie, Indiana, where she died in 1895. at the age of eighty-three years.

James T. l-'isher was twehe years nf age when his father died and was still but a hoy when he came to Indiana with his mother. Here he found a pleasant home with his uncle. B. F. Alaloney, and when he was fifteen years of age his inicle, who desired him to remain with him, offered to pay him one hundred and fifty dollars when he was eighteen years of age if he would remain. When that time arrived his uncle urged him to remain longer and j)roposed that he would give him five hundred dollars if he would reiuain until he was twenty-one years of age. and, as the uncle was an invalid, liound that proposition by inserting a clause to that eft'ect in his will. The uncle died before his nephew had reached his majority and the latter remained with the family, receiving the stipulated five hundred dollars upon coming of age. Four hundred dollars of this sum he loaned at good interest to a person whom he thought responsible, but the borrower turning out to be an irresponsible individual, he lost his loan. With the remaining hundred dollars he bought a horse, which he presently traded for another horse, receiving a twelve-dollar watch in "boot", and someone stole the watch. Mr. Fisher has always regarded that experience as a dear one, but valuable.

During his youth and young manhood, while living on his uncle's place, James T. Fisher was carefully trained as a farmer and upon lea\ing his uncle's place continued farming in Union county, Indiana, working for other farmers by the month. He was married in iS''>3 and remained in L'nion countv until 1866, when he came o\er into I-'ayette count}-, where he e\er since has resided, long having been regarded as one of the substantial old settlers of this county. In 1895 Mr. Fisher bought his present farm of ninetv-two acres in section 22 of Jennings township, a farm originally owned by William Scholl, who made the initial improvements on the place. In connection with his farming operations in this county Mr. Fisher for twentyfive vears was engaged in the bu_\ing and selling of live stock and did a prosperous business in that line. Mr. h'isher is a Democrat and has for years given his thoughtfid attention to local ci\ic aft'airs. having served for eight years as trustee of Jennings township and in other ways contributed of his time and his energies to the public service.

united in marriage to Mary E. Hill, who was torn in that county on October 15, 1843, a daughter of Israel and Harriet (Edwards) Hill, the former a native of New Jersey and the latter of Ohio. Israel Hill was born on August 15, 1813, and before he was two years of age moved with his parents, Charles and Mercy Ann (Hendrickson) Hill, to Ohio, where he grew to manhood and where he was married to Harriet Edwards, who was born five miles south of Hamilton, in Butler county, that state. About the year 1835 Israel Hill and wife moved over into Indiana and settled on a farm in Union county, where they spent the remainder of their lives.

To James T. and Mary E. (Hill) Fisher nine children have been born, namely : Benjamin F., a farmer, of Columbia township, this county, who married Elizabeth Price and has three children, Cynthia, Ruby and Frank : Emma, who married George M. Davis, a farmer, living in the northwestern part of Jennings township, and has seven children, Jacob Phares, Benjamin Harrison, Israel Frank, Ruth Rebecca, Mary Eliza, Clara Isabel and Harriet Ethel; Harriet, who is at home with her parents; Samuel, a grocer, living in Union county, who married Jennie Lemon and has one daughter, Darlie Teannette ; George, the owner of a farm across the highway from his father's place, who married Mary Scholl and has a daughter, Mary; Alice, who married Elmer Scholl, a farmer, of Jennings township, and has two children, Maurice La Verne and Harriet Inez; Clara, who married James Lake, a farmer lix-ing southwest of Everton, and has two childien, Dorothy Jane and James Earl ; Alpha, who married Edwin Thomas and. who, with her husliand, is engaged in missionary work, and Frederick, living on a farm near Dunlapsville, who married Sophia Bryson and has three children, James Raymond, Herschel Eugene and Opal Rebecca. Alpha I'isher completed the course in the local schools and then attended Earlham College, later attending Wittenburg College, in Ohio, where she met Edwin Thomas, also a student of that institution. Both later became missionaries to India and were married in that country. Edwin Thomas was in India for more than seven years, having been there some time before Alpha Fisher was sent as a missionary to the same station, she having been there for nearly five years. They continued in their missionary labors some time after their marriage and are now in the L'nited States on a furlough. Mr. and Mrs. h'isher are members of the Primitive Baptist church and they and their family have ever been helpful in all local good works. Mr. Fisher is a member of the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and takes a warm interest in the affairs of that popular organization.

Edmund B. Trusler, one of Fayette county's most substantial farmers and the proprietor of "Spring Dale Farm", a well-kept place of one hundred and sixty-six acres in Connersville township, is a native Hoosier and has lived in this state all his life, with the exception of about nine years spent in Colorado. He was born on a farm in Decatur county, this state, March 4, 1871, son of Ezra and Emeranda Josephine (Miller) Trusler, both of whom were born in Franklin county, this state, members of pioneer families there.

Ezra Trusler was born in Blooming- Grove township, Franklin county, Indiana, April 6, 1S47, son of Edmund B. and Permelia (Moore) Trusler, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Kentucky, whose last days were spent in Franklin county, this state. The senior Edmund B. Trusler, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born on August 18, 1804, son of James Trusler and wife, the former of whom, also a native of the Old Dominion, was born on June 7, 1755, and was a soldier in the patriot army during the Revolutionary War, and the latter of whom was born in tliat same colony on June 27, 1755. Wlien a young man Edmund B. Trusler came over into Indiana and settled in Franklin county. He married Permelia Moore, who was born in Kentucky on May 20, 1806, and he and his wife reared a large family, all their childi^en having been born in Indiana. Of these, the first-born was born in 1824 and Ezra was the next to the lastborn. Grandfather Trusler died in Franklin county on October 27, 1863, and his widow survived him for more than twenty-five years, her death occurring on February 13, i88g. Ezra Trusler grew to manhood on the home farm in Franklin county and in that county was married, June 22, i86q, to Emeranda Josephine Miller, who was born in that county, June 25, 1850, daughter of Isaac and Elizal)eth (Buckley) Miller, members of pioneer families in Franklin county and who were married there. Isaac Miller was a son of Abraham and Elizabeth ^Miller, the former of whom was born on September 17, 1802, and the latter, June 28, 1798, and who came to Indiana in an early day in the settlement of this state and located in Franklin county. Elizabeth Buckley was born on September 23, 1830, a daughter Anson and Jane (Harrell) Buckley, the former of whom was born on Octol)er 2, 1803. and the latter, July 2, 181 1. Isaac Miller died on October i, 1865.

After his marriage Ezra Trusler located in Decatur county, this state, where, in partnership witli one of his brothers, he engaged in blacksmithing and was thus engaged until his last illness, when he was taken back to the home of his parents in Frankhn county, where he died on March 28, 1874, leaving a widow and one child, a son, Edmund B., the subject of this sketch, then three years of age. After the death of Ezra Trusler, his little daughter, Lena, was born, August 7, 1874. His widow, meanwhile, had gone back to the home of her parents and there little Lena died on May 24, 1877. Mrs. Trusler became a nurse after the death of her husband and remained thus engaged the rest of her life, her death occurring on May 5, 1905.

Edmund B. Trusler was reared by his maternal grandmother, Mrs. Elizabeth Miller, in Blooming Grove township, Franklin county, and there lived until 1891, when, he then being twenty years of age, he went to Brookville, where for four months he was engaged in a baker's shop, later going to Rushviile, where he worked at the baker's trade until January 5, 1895, when he went West and was for nine years* located in Colorado. He was married in the fall of 1901 and in January, 1904, returned to Indiana and located on a farm in the southeastern part of Connersville township, this county, a place that belonged to his father-in-law, and there has farmed ever since. His father-in-law died the next year, the farm then descending to Mrs. Trusler. When Mr. Trusler located on that farm it consisted of one hundred and fourteen acres, and he has since added to the same by purchase until he and his wife now own a fine farm of one hundred and sixtysix acres, "Spring Dale Farm," which is one of the best-improved and most thoroughly equipped farm plants in that part of the county. In 191 3 Mr. and Mrs. Trusler built a fine, new modern house, equipped with bath, sanitary plumbing, furnace and acetylene-lighting systan, and are now very pleasantly and very comfortably situated. They are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and Mr. Trusler is a member of the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

On October 16. 1901, Edmund B. Trusler was united in marriage to Efifie Belle Remy, who was born on a farm two miles north of Brookville, in Franklin county, this state, a daughter of Moses A. and Susan J. (Jemison) Remv, the former of whom was born on the same farm and in the same house as was his daughter, June 17, 1849, a son of Henry and Catherine (Cory) Remy and the only child of that union to grow to maturity. Henry Remy farmed all his life on the place v>'here ]\Irs. Trusler was born. His father had come out here from the East, from Maryland, according to family tradition, and settled in Franklin county in 1819, establishing his home on what came to l)e known as the old Remy farm north of Brookville. There Moses A. Remy grew to manhood and on October 4, 1871, married Susan J. Jemison, who was born on a pioneer farm three miles south of Connersville, Octo- her 8. 1846, a daughter of \\'ilhani and Martha (Dunlap) Jcmison, who were married on March 30. 1845, ^"<J ^^'^o \Wed to celebrate tlieir golden weddinganniversary. William Jemison was bom near Connersvilie and ail his life was spent in this county. He was a son of John and Cynthia (Coe) Jemison, the former of whom was born in Mason county, Kentucky, in i7(),v ^^'llen quite young John Jcmison's father died and he was bound out to learn the tanner's trade. He married, in Cincinnati, Cynthia Coe, wlio was born in Louden county, Virginia, in 1796, and who was reared near Parkersburg, and in 181 3 he and his wife came up into Indiana and he entered a tract of land from the government in Jackson township, this county, and there erected one of the first tann.eries in Fayette county. John Jemison was an industrious, upright citizen and did much to advance the early interests of this county. He died in 1851 and his widow survived him until 1874. After his marriage Moses A. Remy li\ed on a farm adjoining the old Remy homestead until after his father's death, when he occupied the old home place and there spent the rest of his life, his death occurring on February 0, u)05. His wife had preceded him to the grave about five years, her death having occurred on March 20, 1900. They were members of the Methodist Episcopal church and were the parents of three children, those l^esides Mrs. Trusler being William, who lives in Jennings township, this county, and Martha Katherine, who married Oliver Redmond and lives on the old Remy homestead north of Brookville. Mr. and Mrs. Trusler have one child, a daughter. Irene Josephine.

John S. Clark has been a continuous resident of the farm on which he now lives, in the western edge of Connersvilie township, and which he now owns, since the year 1873. He was born not far from there and his wife was born about a mile south of the place and they ha\e both been residents of that neighborhood all tb.eir ]i\es. He was Ijorn on a farm at the foot of Bunker Hill, west of Connersvilie, February i, 1851, son of John and Nancv (Woods) Clark, the former a native of Scotland and the latter of the state of Kentucky, who spent their last days on their Bunker Hill farm.

John Clark grew to manhood in his native Scotland and then came to this country, coming to Indiana anfl locating in this county about 1840. He bought a small farm at the foot of Bunker Hill, on the west side of the creek, and after his marriage establi.shed his home there, both he and his wife spending their last days there. He was a stone mason by trade and gave more attention to his trade than he did to his farm, the demand for his services as a stone mason keeping him pretty busily engaged at that vocation. He died in 1881 and his widow sur\'ived him but a year, her death occurring in 1882. She was born in Kentucky and was but a child when her parents came to Indiana and settled in the Blooming Grove neighborhood, in Franklin county. John and Nancy Clark were Presbyterians and their children were reared in that faith. There were thirteen of these children, nine of whom grew to maturity, those besides the subject of this sketch being as follow : Elizabeth, who married Samuel McCrory and is now deceased ; Mrs. Jane Queen, deceased; Mrs. Anna Clawson, deceased; Mrs. Jessie Fremont Roots, deceased; Mrs. Mary McCrory, of Fairview township; Vinson H., of Nebraska; Frank, of Fairview township, and Samuel, of Hawkinsville, in Harrison township.

John S. Clark lived at his home in the vicinity of Bunker Hill, a valued assistant in the labors of the home farm, until he was twenty-two years of age, when, in 1S73, he became a resident of the old McCrory farm on the western edge of Connersville township, where he ever since has resided. He farmed for William McCrory as long as the latter lived and then remained with the family, continuing to look after the farm. William McCrory died in 1876, leaving a widow, four daughters and his wife's mother living on the home farm, and it was for these latter that Mr. Clark continued the management of the farm. After his marriage in 1895 he established his home there and when the place finally was sold at administrator's sale, he straightway bought it from the purchaser and has been the owner of the place since November 13, 19 15. Mr. Clark's farm contains two hundred and six acres, is well improved and has been profitably managed, Mr. Clark having given the place as earnest attention during all the years of his management of the same as though he had owned it personally.

In 1895 John S. Clark was united in marriage to Annie Woodcock, who was born on a farm a mile south of her present residence, a daughter of Homer B. and Flester (McCrory) Woodcock, the former of whom was born in that same neighborhood, on the farm now owned by Palmer T. Bilby. His parents came to this county from the state of New York and settled in the southern part of Connersville township, in what then was known as the "Stumptown" neighborhood, where they bought a tract of heavily-wooded land. Later they went to Illinois, where their last days were spent. It was on that pioneer farm in "Stumptown" that Homer B. Woodcock grew to manhood. He later spent two years in Logansport, this state, and then moved to Coiinersville, where he spent the rest of his life, his death occurring in 1896. His wife, Hester McCrory, was l>orn on the farm where Mr. Clark now lives, a daughter of William and Melissa J. (lies) McCrory, and she survived him for nearly twenty \ears. her death occurring on November 21, 191 5. William McCrory, one of tlie real "old settlers" of Fayette county, was a native of Ireland, born on April u. 1S04. and was but six years of age when his parents came to this country. At a very early day in the settlement of Fayette county the) came here and settled in the western part of Coiinersville township, at that time an unbroken forest, and tiiere established their home. William McCrory had a brother, Robert McCrory, who also, in time, estaljlished his home in this county, locating in Fairview township, about a mile and a iialf northeast of Glen wood. He also had a sister, Margaret Saxon, who lived in Fairview township. William McCrory grew to manhood in Connersville township and on March 22, 1838, married Melissa J. lies, who was born in Kentuck}' on January 30, 1818, and who came witii her parents to this county, the family settling near P'airview. After William McCrory 's marriage he established his home on the farm now owned by Mr. Clark, and there he spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring on November 29, 1876. His widow survived him many years, her death occurring on January 28, 1892. Mr. and Mrs. Clark ha\e four children, lone, Albert, William and John.

Maynard Marion Erb

Maynard Marion Erb, member of the I'^ayette county council, proprietor of "The Owl" drug .store at Connersville and also actively connected with the lumber business now operating at Macon, Georgia, was born on a farm in the neighborhood of Blooming Grove, in the adjacent county of Franklin, September 25, 1873, son of \\^ Harrison and .Anna L. (Fowler) Erb, the latter of whom is still li\in,g. now making her home near Connersville.

W. Harrison Erb was born in Lancaster county. Pennsylvania, and was but an infant when his parents. David Erb and wife, drove through to the then Territory of Indiana, in 1813. and settled in the vicinity of Fairfield, in Franklin county. Da\id Erb entered a fractional section of land there and the original parchment deed given by the government for the same and bearing the signature of President James Madison is now in the possession of the subject of this sketch, grandson of the first settler on that tract. Upon settling on his place in Franklin county David Erb put up a small log cabin and there established his home. David Erb was a man of vigorous mind and body and early became acknowledged as one of the leaders in the new community. In 1820 Governor Jennings appointed him major of the Sixteenth Regiment, Indiana State Militia, and he was long a familiar figure at the annual musters and on other occasions of public gathering throughout that section. He held various local ofifices and was widely sought by his pioneer neighbors and consulted in matters requiring legal advice. Harrison Erb grew up on that pioneer farm and lived in that neighborhood all his life, a lifelong farmer. His wife, Anna L. Fowler, was born in Arkansas, a daughter of Dr. John West and Mary ( Scott j Fowler, natives of Indiana, who had moved to Arkansas not long after their marriage. In 1863 Dr. John West Fowler started to return from Arkansas with his family to Indiana, but died in Missouri, en route. His widow and her three sons and two daughters continued the journey and upon their arrival in Indiana settled in the Everton neighborhood, in this county, later moving down into Franklin county and locating at Fairfield, where Anna L. Fowler was living at the time of her marriage to Harrison Erli. Mr. Erb died in 1903 and his widow is now living near Connersville. To her and her husband three children were born, two sons and a daughter, the subject of this sketch having an elder brother. W. H. Erb, who is living on a farm three miles south of Connersville, and a sister, Mrs. Frank M. Hanson, who is living south of East Conners\'ille.

Maynard Marion Erb grew up on the paternal farm in Franklin county and received his early schooling in the schools of that county. When eighteen vears of age he entered Purdue University and was graduated from the department of pharmacy in that institution in 1893. Thus equipped for the business to which he had decided to devote his life Mr. Erb engaged in the drug business at Connersville and when the McFarlan building was completed he rented a room in that building and moved his store to that point, remaining there for two or three years, at tlie end of which time he became engaged as a traveling salesman for a wholesale drug house. Later he bought a drug store at Muncie, but eighteen months later he became engaged in the lumber business and moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he remained for five or six years, at the end of which time he returned to Connersville, where he ever since has been located, though continuing to maintain his interest in the lumber business he established at Chattanooga. It has since ]^en moved to Macon, Georgia, where it is now being successfully operated. In 191 1 Mr. Erb bought "The Owl" drug store at Connersville and has since been conducting the same, at the same time continuing to look after liis extensive lumher interests. l"Aer since his return tci C(>nners\ille Mr. F.rh has oiven his close attention to county politics, lias l)een treasurer of the Kepul)lican county central committee for several )ears and is now a meml)er of the county council, giving his earnest attention to county affairs. h'or a luimber of years he also was treasurer of the Fayette County Free F'air Association and in other ways has contributed of his time and his energies to public and semi-public movements, long having been regarded as one of the "live wires'" of the hustling citv of Conners\ille. Mr. Erb is a thirtv-second-degree Mason, affiliated with the Indiana]M)Iis consistory, Ancient .\ccepted Scottish Rite, antl a noble of the Ancient Arabic Order of .Vobles of the Mystic Shrine, affiliated with Murat Temple, at Indianapolis, He also is a member of the local lodge of the Knights of Pythias.

In 190J Maynard M. Erb was united in marriage to Laura Lowe, who was born at Camden, Ohio, a daughter of Alexander and Ellen (Campbell) Lowe, natives of the state of Ohio, who moved to this state and located on a farm in the Connersville neighborhood when their daughter, Laura, was a child, .\lexander Lowe was an honored veteran of the Civil War, having enlisted at Ivichmond, tliis state, for service in the Thirty-sixth Regiment, Indiana \'olunteer Tnfaiitr}', and served with that command for four years. He was severely wounded at the battle of Chickamauga. He died more tiian thirtv vears ago and his widow is now making her home with Mr. and Mrs Erb.'

James Moxroe Harlax

James Monroe Harlan, one of Connersville t<iwiiship's substantial and well-to-do farmers, was born on the farm on which he is now living and has lived there the greater part of his life. He is a representative in the third generation of one of the oldest families in Fayette county, the Harlans having been here since the year 181 5, one year before Indiana was admitted to statehood, and ha\e therefore been jiarticipants in the development of this county from the \ery beginning of a social order hereabout. He was born on February 10. 1849, son of Enoch and Mary Ann (Honeywell) Harlan, the former of whom was born in that same locality- on July 31. 18 19, son of Samuel and Xaiicy ( Brown ) Harlan, who were amonn^ the earliest settlers in Fayette county, having come out Iiere in what then was the "wilds" of the West from their native South Carolina ami settling in the woods in what is now Connersville townsliip, this county.

Samuel Harlan was born in Laurens county, South Carolina, April 30, 1772, and grew to manhood and was married there to Nancy Brown and several of their children were bom in that county. In 181 1 Samuel Harlan and two of his brothers set out on horseback on a prospecting trip into the West, seeking a new location. They proceeded west as far as Mississippi, but not being favorably impressed with the lay of the land in that direction turned and came back north and east, up through Tennessee and Kentucky and on up into Indiana Territory. They were very much taken with the appearance of the rich timber lands in this ))art of the country and here Samuel Harlan picked out all of section 31 and the northwest quarter of section 6. in what afterward was organized as Connersville township, this county. The nearest land ofifice at that time was situated at Cincinnati and thither he went to secure title to his land. There he paid for his title in gold which he had carried with him in all his journeying through the wilds, and then returned to his old Carolina home, where he began disposing of his interests there and making preparations for settlement on his timber tract back in Indiana. Early in the spring of 18 r 5 he and his family, among whom were the sons, Stephen, Matthew, George and Amos, the latter, then but a babe in arms, being carried on horseback by his eldest sister, started for the West. The household goods were packed in a big Conestoga wagon, substantially built and trimmed with brass, to which was attached a brass-bound and heavily riveted money-box. one of the rivets of which released a secret spring which ga^-e access to the strongbox. "Without undue adventure the Harlan, family arrived at their destination in the wilderness and on the bank of Village creek, at a point just east of where the bridge over that creek now is located, they "pitched their tent." .And tent it literally was, for during the first year of the family's residence in this county and while thev were getting ready to build a house, they made their home in a kind of a tent, or shanty, constructed of canvas and poplar bark, supported by poles driven into the ground. Nearby, on the nortliwest quarter of section 6, there was an extensive pigeon-roost deadening and there, on a tract of about eight acres, the Harlans raised their first crop. They had brought poultry with them and not long after their arrival at their new home in the wilderness they set out for the hamlet of Connersville to di.spose of a surplus of eggs, starting through the woods in what they thought was the general direction of the hamlet, but so thick was the timber that they lost their way and presently found themseh'es back at their own place, having wandered in a circle. By observing the moss on the trees and thus keeping a true course, they later

Samuel Harlan farmed un that pioneer tract the rest of his life and becaiue early recogniized as one of the most substantial and inlluential settleis in that community. He gave the land for the Village Creek cemetery and there he is buried, his death having occurred on April i8, 1858, he then being eighty-five years, eleven months and twenty-nine days of age at the time of his death. His widow, who was born on November 27. 1778, survived him for about thirteen years, dying on January 12, 1871. she then being then at the great age of ninety-one years, one month and fifteen days. Other children were born to them after they came to Fayette county and they were the parents of eleven sons and three daughters, all of whom grew to maturity. When Grandmother Harlan died she not only had many grandchildren and great-grandchildren, but several in the fourth generation of her descent.

Enoch Harlan, one of the eleven sons of this pioneer couple and who is mentioned above, grew up in Connersville township amid pioneer conditions and remained a farmer all his life. For some years after his marriage to Mary Ann Honeywell, wiio also was a member of one t^f the pioneer families of Fayette county, he CDUtinued to li\e at the old home place, but later traded with one of his brothers and received the farm where his son, James M. Harlan, was born and where the latter now li\es. There Enoch Harlan died on February 281. 185 1, and bis widow surxived him liut a few years. They were the parents of three children who grew to maturity, tliose besides the subject of this sketch being Harrison Harlan, who now li\es at Kokomo, this state, and Judith, who married Edmund Burk and is now deceased.

James M. Harlan was but a small child when his father died and was btit about five years of age when his mother died, and he thereafter was taken care of in the family of his uncle. Samuel Harlan, until he was eighteen years of age, when he started out for himself, presently taking charge of the farm where he was born and where he ever since has made his home. He owns one hundred and ninety-se\en and one-half acres of excellent land and has a well-ec|uipped farm plant. In addition to his general farming, Mr. Harlan has given considerable attention to the raising of live stock and has done very well. He and his wife have a very comfortable country home and are quite pleasantly situated.

On January 27, 1870, James M. Harlan was united in marriage to Susanna Agnes Knipe. who was liorn in Posey township, this countv. daughter of Thomas and Mary (Meranda) Knipe. the former of whom was of English parentage and the latter of whom was born in soutliern Ohio, probgi2 FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.

ably near Higginsport, and who came to this county with her parents, Samuel and Susanna (Shinkle) JNIeranda, who settled in Posey township in pioneer days, Samuel Meranda getting part of his land there from the government. Thomas Knipe was both a farmer and a cabinet-maker. He died when his daughter (Mrs. Harlan) was eight months of age and his widow survived liim less than seven years, Mrs. Harlan thus having been orphaned at almost as tender an age as was her husband.

Edward V. Hawkins

In the amazing industrial de\'elopnient that has marked Connersville during the past third of a century or more, there has been no more active personal factor than Edward V. Hawkins, president of the Conners\'ille Furniture Compan)^ former president of the Connersville Commercial Club, president of the Connersville city school board and in numerous ways identified with the growing interests of that city. He has been a resident of Connersville since 1874, in which year he arrived there as a journeyman cabinetmaker to take a position in the factory of the old Indiana Furniture Company, and eyer since locating in that city has given his most earnest attention to the development of its various interests. The coming of Mr. Hawkins to Connersville hinged on an apparently trivial incident, but that incident proved fruitful of important consequences and unquestionably was far-reaching in its effect upon the later development of the industrial life of the city. Mr. Hawkins was about twenty years of age at the time. He had just completed an apprenticeship at cabinet-making at Vevay, his home town, and was a skilled craftsman in that line. One evening he was sitting in a barber shop at Vevay, awaiting his "turn" for tonsorial attention, when his attention was called to a copy of the Connersville Weekly Examiner that had been forwarded to Vevay by a former resident. In the local column of this issue was a notice that the new Indiana Furniture Company would be ready to begin operations March ist. Believing that the prospect might open up further opportunities in the way of advancement in his trade, the young man decided to apply for a position, which was obtained. He, thereafter, came to Connersville, arriving with twenty dollars in money and his chest of tools, practically his total wordly possessions, and there he Las remained ever since and for many years has been recognized as one of the leading forces in the city.

In 1874 luhvard \'. Hawkins arrived at Conncrsville and tiiere bet^an working in the plant <if tlie uld Indiana l-"nrnitnre Company, at that time one of the leading concerns in liiat line in Indiana. So satisfactory did his work prove to his employers that he presently was promoted to the position of foreman of the plant and, later, to the position of general superintendent of the same, occupying the latter position when, in 1882, he conceived the idea of organizing a factory for manufacturing furniture. He approached Charles Mount, F. M. Roots and some other men of Conncrsville, who became interested, joining him in the organisation of a com[)any for the purpose of manufacturing bed-room furniture. Mr. Ha\\kins had little money for inxestment in the proposed concern, but he had what was far more valuable, expert experience in the manufacture of furniture, and he cast his lot with the new company, the same being incorporated as the Conners\ille Furniture Company, of which Mr. Hawkins has long been the president and general manager. The Conncrsville Furniture Company is an incorporated concern with a capital stock of two hundred thousand dollars, one hundred and titty thousand dollars common and fifty thousand dollars preferred. It now employs two hundred men, occupying a plant with a Hoor space of o\er one hundred thousand square feet and in iqiO did a business exceeding five hundred thousand dollars, its products being sold in all parts of the United States. The present officers of the company are as follow : Edward V. Hawkins, president and general manager: Mrs. M. L. Hawkins, vice-president; Edward P. Hawkins, secretary and assist;int general manager, and 1'. J. Snider, treasurer.

In 18S7 Edward V. Hawkins was united in marriage to Margaret L Pratt, who was born in the state of Xew ^'ork and to this union was born one child, a son. Edward P. Hawkins, mentioned above as secretary and assistant general manager of the Conncrsville P'urniture Company and a biographical sketch of whom is presented elsewhere in this volume. Mr. and Mrs. Hawkins are earnest members of the Methodist Episcopal church and for many years have been among the leaders in all good work hereabout. Mr. Hawkins is one of the most active workers in the church to which he is attached and, as an office-bearer, has served the congregation of the same in various capacities. Since the year 1893 he has been a member of the city school board, with the exception of two years of that time, and since 1908 has been president of the board. He and his wife, some years ago, presented to tlie city, through the public schools, in i^eqit'tuity. an attractive tract of ground covering three and one-half acres at the end of Eastern avenue, the (58) same to be used for plaj-gronnd purposes, and the tract has been very properly styled the Hawkins playground, a continual memorial to the children of the city of the kindness of heart and benevolence of its donors.

John J. Williams

John J. Williams, one of Connersville township's most progressive young farmers and the proprietor of a farm of three hundred and fifty-five acres in that township, is a native son of Fayette county and has lived here all his life. He was born on a farm in Jackson township on June 15, 1884, son of Madison Homer and Ella (Crandall) Williams, both of whom also were born in Jackson township and who are now living at East Connersville, where they have resided since 1914.

Madison Homer Williams was born on November 18, 1858, a son of Jesse and Adeline (Benner) Williams, the former of whom was born in Jackson township, this county, a son of Elisha and Martha (Baker) Williams, who were among the early settlers in that part of Fayette county, the Williams family thus havin gbeen represented in this county since the days of the beginning of a social order hereabout. Elisha Williams was born in Pulaski county, Kentucky, August 3, 1802, son of Virginia parents, and was about fourteen years of age v/hen his parents moved with their family up into Indiana, settling in the Brookville neighborhood, whence, a year later, they came on up into Fayette county and settled in Jackson township, not far west of the present village of Everton. Elisha Williams there grew to manhood and became a farmer, remaining in that community all his life. He early turned his attention to the church and was for years one of the best-known ministers of the Methodist church in that part of the country. He was three times married. His first wife and the mother of all his ten children, was Martha Baker, who was born in 1808 and died in 1856. The Rev. Elisha Williams died in 1884. His son, Jesse Williams, also grew up in Jackson township, where he farmed all his life. His first wife, Adeline Benner, was born in Wabash county, this state. She died about 1861, leaving two small children, Madison H. and Emma, the latter of whom is now Mrs. Emma Handley. Jesse Williams later married Anna Marie Rously, which union was without issue.