Gibson County, Indiana - Biographical sketches, 1914 (part 9 of 20)

Gibson Coi'Xtv, Indiana

sent first to Cincinnati and from there up the Ohio river to Aiaysvillc, Iventucky, proceeding from there to Lexington, ha\ ing a skirmish below Alaysville, and joining their regiment at Lexingtun, went wilii it to Frankfort, where they were encamped for the winter. The following summer was spent in various parts of the Blue Grass state, putting down frequent uprisings, they being mounted infantry at the time. In September, 1863, they were organized in a division of some twenty thousand men, under General Burnsides. xAfter a number of skirmishes, they were hemmed in at Kno.Kville, Tennessee, by a force under General Longstreet, where they were forced to remain inactive for five or six weeks. However, expecting General Sherman to arrive soon with reinforcements. General Longstreet decided to delay no longer and made a charge, hoping to take them prisoners before the arrival of Sherman. This attack was decidedly unsuccessful, he being repulsed with great loss, and, Sherman coming nearer next day, Longstreet withdrew into Virginia, being hotly pursued by the forces under Burnsides. On the return from this chase to Strawberry Plains, Tennessee, the term of enlistment of the Forty-fourth Infantry had expired, but with very few exceptions the men of the regiment re-enlisted, they being mustered in this time as the Eighth Ohio Cavalary, under command of Capt. Frank E. Moores. Returning for a brief period to Camp Dennison, Ohio, to complete the reorganization, they were then sent to Charleston, West Virginia, and from that city to various parts of the state, being constantl}' on the march and having at least one skirmish a day. At Bunker Hill, between Winchester and Martinsburg, the subject was wounded on September 3, 1864, a bullet practically going entirely through his body. He was taken to Martinsburg, and, his case being considered hopeless, he was practically given up fur dead. However, he recovered sufficiently in about two months to be remcAed to Sandy Hook, Marxland, from there being transferred to Little York, Pennsylvania, where lie was given a furlough of twenty days to go home, which he did. When the time was up, however, instead of returning to the hospital at Little York, he proceeded to Beverly, West Virginia, and rejoined his regiment. The following morning they were attacked by the Confederates and four hundred and eighty men were taken prisoners, Mr. Shull being among the number. They were taken by their captors to Staunton and then to Richmond, where thev were thrown into Libby prison, being in that noted ])lace but a short time, when they were removed to Crew &- Peniberton's tobacco warehouse, just across the street from the prison. Tn this tvpical Southern jirison pen the (43) subject and his comrades were confined for about three months. Food was scarce, conditions unsanitary and treatment bad, and it is astonishing that Mr. Shull, in his weakened condition, due to his wound, stood it. After three long and trying months they were exchanged and tai<en to Annapohs, Maryland, and from there sent to Camp Chase, Ohio, where they were granted a furlough of thirty days. Even after this long period the subject's wound was seriously troubling him, pieces of bone continuing to come out of his side. At the expiration of his furlough, Mr. Shull and his companions rejoined their old command at Beverly, Virginia, but, their term of enlistment soon expiring, and the war being practically over, they were sent to Columbus, Ohio, where Mr. Shull was honorably discharged as corporal of Company D, Eighth Ohio Calavry, and was mustered out. Mr. Shull was in the following battles: Lewisburg, \'irginia. Mossy Creek, Lynchburg, Winchester, Beverly, Harper's Ferry, Martinsburg, Blain's Cross Roads, Bunker's Hill, Moorfield, Piedmont, Flat Rock, Kentucky, Hickman, Button Hill, Cumberland Gap, Tennessee, Louden, Knoxville and Cedar Creek. Aftr spending a month at his home, he came to Indiana and located at Princeton, Gibson county, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits, which he followed continously up until his retirement.

On March 7, 1866, Mr. Shull was married to Minerva L. Finney, daughter of J. K'. and Laurina Finney, who were early settlers in the Hoosier state. To this union were born six children, namely: John K. resides in Indianapolis; Nellie L., now Mrs. Lowe, lives in Evansville, Indiana; Addie is now Mrs. Henry Lowe, and lives at Fort Branch; Burton O. makes his home in Belleville, Illinois; Zella Z. is Mrs. Blessing, and resides in Cleveland, Ohio; Lola C. is at home.

Mr. Shull has taken an active part in the affairs of his county and has been honored by his fellow citizens many times. He served as supervisor of his township and for four years was a member of the town board, having also been treasurer of Gibson county for one term, in all of which positions of trust he acquitted himself in a creditable manner and to the entire satisfaction of his constituents. For the last twenty-five years Mr. Shull has taken an active interest in the Gibson County Agricultural Fair Association and has held all the offices in that body with the exception of president and general superintendent. He is a member of the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic. His interest and activities in so many lines are all the more remarkable when it is noted that he has suffered a great deal on account of the wound received while in the army. However, his mind has risen superior to

Mr. Shull and his family occupy a splendid modern residence in Fort Branch, where he is now living in honoral)le retirement after a long life of strenuous and successful endea\or. Religionsh-, thev are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Fort Branch, while, politically. Mr. Sliull has always been a Repniilican and active in local pul)lic afl'airs.

D.Wid Stormont

Having been requested to contribute some reminiscences relating to the late David Stormont and his times, I have here endeavored to recount some of the happenings of past days and thus throw some light on many events which have probably passed from the memory of even those who knew of them.

As to David Stormont's relations with the "underground railroad," I have heard him say that he always fed the hungry and clothed the naked, and that Avhen the slave came to his house on his way North, he fed and clothed him. I have heard father say that it was very hard for him to get No. 12 shoes sometimes, the fact that he often had to do without causing suspicion that he was not buying them for his own family. At one time two young colored men came to his house, and he put them to work hoeing corn with himself in a field not far from the house. Soon a stranger was seen riding up the lane and one of the young men said it was his master, who, however, rode on by without recognizing his slave. The colored boys told their story, which was to the efYect that they had swam the Ohio river, their clothes being tied on the back of their necks. On reaching the northern shore and when about to redress, they were frightened by the approach of some one and ran away, leaving their clothes. They succeeded in getting other clothing elsewhere, and it was doubtless because of this change in their clothing that their master did not recognize them. At another time a colored refugee was in my father's back yard when he saw his master pass the house on horseback. At another time I remember a white man and a negro came to my father's and asked for a lot of things, especially money. Imt father, deeming them spies, gave them nothing. A man who had been directed to father's house was asked when he had first heard of this house as a station on the "underground railroad," and he said that he had heard of it back in Georgia before he left home. At another time father and mother went to spend the day with a friend some distance from home, and when they got there they found a slave tied in the kitchen. My mother got them to release him, but eventually he was sent back to his master. Many others, perhaps hundreds, passed by that way, all of whom he fed if hungry and clothed if naked. When the slave hunters or masters came along, he also fed them, and when they inquired as to directions he pointed them to the North star, but they got little information from him as to the next station on the "underground railroad." Sometimes they threatened to take him out and whip him or kill him if he did not tell where he had negroes hid, and they watched his house for weeks at a time trying to get proof of his harboring negroes. At one time, it must have been about 1854 or 1855, he went one evening, just before dark, to see a sick neighbor. He was on horseback and suddenly came across a party of ten or a dozen men, whose horses were tied and who were plentifully supplied with whiskey. They were having a very social time and were feeling pretty good. While there, one of them confided in father that they were intending that night to go to his house, take him out and whip him in an effort to make him tell where he had negroes hidden. (As a matter of fact, he had none hidden at that time.) He went on to see his sick Democratic friend, who was a true friend to him, and sat up with him a short time. He told what he had heard and seen and that he was going home. It was arranged that he should ride over fields and get into his house by the back way. However, after riding part of the way, he turned his horse loose and proceeded the rest of the way on foot, succeeding in getting into the house in safety. He then acquainted my mother with the situation, and said that he would sit at the east window, with rifle in hand, and that as fast as he fired she was to hand him a loaded gun and reload the empty rifle. He said he would surely get some of them, for he intended to shoot to kill. The next morning the boys rode a ways up the road and found where the gang's horses had been tied, indications being that they had remained there a good part of the night. Father had made arrangements to be away from home the next night, but some of us thought he had better not go. However, he said he intended to go about his business just as he used to. So he armed himself and went on his way as if he had nothing on his mind. During this time my mother never let the fire die out in the stove, for she said if their enemies came around and did not behave themselves just right she would scald their eyes out; to this end, she always kept a boiler full of hot water on the stove. Howe\'er, they were never permitted to seriously molest father or any of his family, though sometimes shots were fired over our heads from the big hill back of the house.

About this time my brother Joseph was standing near a crowd of men in Princeton and father came along, stopping to shake hands and speak to each of the men, who said, "How do you do. Uncle David," as he was generally known throughout the community. After lie left one of the men said to another, "I could cut his heart out. the old abolitionist." Brother told father what the man had said, but would never tell him who said it.

Regarding these incidents, I was asked the question, "What recompense was there for your father in all this? Why would he spend his time and money and risk his property and the lives of his family and himself for such a cause?" Now, to answer these questions, why was it that my forefathers left Scotland, at the time of the Reformation, when many Presbyterians were put to death because they would not worship according to the dictates of the King. They believed that they had the right to worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences. Their ministers were not allowed to preach or hold meetings, at the risk of being hunted down and shot to death or burned at the stake. It was then that my forefathers became Dissenters - that is, they neither voted nor held office. Then they entered into a covenant with God, promising that if he would do certain things for them they would likewise perform certain things for God, and from this they became known as Covenanters. Then, rather than deny their God, or be persecuted for their belief, they left Scotland and settled in Ireland. Was not that done for principle's sake? And why was it that my grandfather, Samuel Stormont, at about the time of the Revolutionary war, left Belfast, Ireland, and settled in Chester district. South Carolina. And why was it that he did not accept a large estate willed to him In- an uncle. General Stormont, a bachelor. Grandfather said he would have none of the ill-gotten gains of his uncle, who was on the wrong side, fighting for England against the United States, although at that time my grandfather, David Stormont. was poor and needed money badly? Then when grandfather saw the evils of slavery and when he came to his death bed, he said to his wife, "You make one sale and sell everything here and move to Indiana," for he did not want his family reared in a slave state. They disposed of everything e.xcepting forty acres of land (and which they never afterwards realized anything on) and in the spring of i8li started on their long journey. Their effects were loaded into a one-horse cart, and the family comprised eight children, the oldest of whom was a girl about twenty years old and the youngest, a boy of five years. Reaching Kentucky, they stopped for about a year at the home of a cousin, Mr. Hage- wood. In the fall of 1812 they came to Princeton, settling near where the Archer cemetery is now. Soon afterwards they 1)ought land and located about a mile further west on land now owned by the writer. Father was then about ten years old, and, with the other members of the family, had to work very hard to make a living, for which reason also he had but little chance for securing an education. Then again, what caused my father, in 1833, when there was a separation in the Reformed Presbyterian church, to remain faithful to the old church, he and his wife being the only ones who did not join the New-Lights the first Sabbath. The second Sabbath he and his brother Robert and their families held prayer-meeting. Principle was back of all this. \\'hat caused my father to befriend the low, degraded, down-trodden negro ? Was it for financial profit or the applause of men ? No, for at that time the most unpopular doctrine imaginable was that of abolitionism, that all men are created free and equal. .

Well, you say, what kind of religion had he ? What church did he belong to, and what was his doctrine and creed? He belonged to the Reformed Presbyterian church (Old Light), the fruit of a long line of Dissenters, who neither voted nor held office. They neither held office nor voted because to hold office they had to take an immoral oath. The oath which the President is required to take does not contain the name of God. and the Constitution, as we believe, is unchristian. It says, "We, the people," and does not give God and Christ the glory that is due his name. We believe that Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and we think the Constitution should acknoAvledge Him as such. Then the laws are not in accordance with the laws of God. For instance, in slavery days they arrested a negro, who was trying to get to Canada, and tried him according to the laws of Indiana, which laws would send him back into slavery ; whereas, we believed that the white man had no right to hold the negro as a slave, according to the word of God. As we were bound to obey God's law rather than those of men, we, as Dissenters, could not sit as jurors. As to taking the oaths of office, many of these oaths we could not take; for instance, that of county commissioner, who is sworn to carry out the laws pertaining to his office. There comes a man who has fulfilled the recjuirements of the law regarding his character, and the commissioner, under his oath, is bound to grant that man a license to sell liquor. We deem it wrong to deal in that which kills both soul and body, therefore we could not hold such an office, neither could we vote for some one else who would be compelled to take an oath to do what we could not do ourselves. The question is asked why the undersigned did not vote in 1912 to put the saloons out of Princeton for the next two years, when I believe so strongly in prohibiticMi. It was because of principle. If we vote we become a part of the government and a part of the governing body. We claim to be a part of the nation, as we were born here, l)ut we do not become a part of the government until we exercise the riglit to vote and hold office. Consequently, we are Dissenters. Riley Stormont.

Among the farmers of Gibson county, Indiana, who belie\c in following twentieth century methods is Thomas Alfred Mangrum, of Union township, his family on both sides dating back to the pioneer days of the county and state, and has alwaws been known for right living and industrial habits, for education and morality, and for all that contributes to the welfare of the commonwealth. Such people are always welcome in any community, for they are empire builders and as such have pushed the frontier of civilization ever westward and onward, leaving the green, wide-spreading wilderness and the far-stretching plains populous with contented people and beautiful green fields. The Mangrum, Emerson and Montgomery families are among the oldest and best respected people of this county. They have figured largely in its development, and their many descendants have contributed to the material advancement of the community. Their neighljors and acquaintances all respect them, and the young generation who is to come will listen with reverence to the story of the lives of such people as these. They have always been the atlvocates of wholesome living and cleanliness in politics as well, and have always stood for the highest and best interests of the community in which they have lived. The subject of this sketch has always exerted a strong influence for good in his locality, being a man of upright principles and desirous of seeing the advancement of his community along moral, educational and material lines. He is a man of high moral character, unimpeachable integrity, persistent industry and excellent business judgment, and throughout the locality where he has lived all his life he occupies an enviable position among his fellow men, among whom he is unixersally esteemed for his many good qualities. The study of such a life cannot but be of help to the young people who are now growing into maturity in this county.

Thomas Alfred Mangrum spent his boyhood days on the home farm, following the career which falls to the lot of the average country youth. He was married on March 23, 1884, to Anna L. Emerson, of Johnson township, this county. She was the daughter of James Logan and Nancy (Mounts)

Emerson. Mr. Emerson was born in 1817, and his wife February 21, 1821, and they were united in marriage November 7, 1839, and reared their family on a farm about five miles south of Owensville in Johnson township. Mr. Emerson was one of the best farmers in the county, and was recognized as one of the leading citizens. The public schools never had a more loyal supporter than he, and his children received the best education which the county could give. Several of them became teachers in after life. Mr. Emerson's grandmother was a sister to General Logan, of Revolutionary fame. Mr. Emerson was public-spirited and always ready to assist young men to make a start in life. He often loaned them money without security and depended upon their honor and integrity to repay them. It is doubtful whether his confidence was ever betrayed. He had an interesting way of giving money to his children. When each of them reached the age of twenty-one he gave them one thousand dollars and took their note for the same. Mr. and Mrs. Emerson reared a large family of children, three of whom died in infancy. Mrs. Mangrum, the wife of the subject of this sketch, was the eleventh child. Mrs. Emerson came of one of the pioneer families of the state. Her father, Garrett Mounts, was a man of great physical strength, and was noted for his many sterling qualities of character, being one of the prominent citizens of the county. He married Patsy Montgomery, daughter of Joseph Montgomery, Sr., December 14, 1819.

Mr. and Mrs. T. A. Mangrum were the parents of three children, Cloyd, who is married and living on a farm in Montgomery township ; Ida, who married George C. May, of Salt Lake City, Utah, and Ola, who is still living under the parental roof. Mr. Mangrum continued to live on his father's farm for some time after his marriage, and when his father retired from active work on the farm and moved to Owensville he rented the farm for four years. He proved to be a very successful farmer and was enabled to purchase a farm of his own. In 1891 he moved, southwest of Owensville, Indiana, and in 1894 to his present farm, the Bailey Williams place. The last one hundred acres which he bought commanded the highest price which was ever paid for land in this county, and he considers that the land was well worth the one liundred and sixty dollars per acre which he paid for it. His principal crop is corn, which he feeds to hogs, and he makes a specialty of raising the Hampshire breed of swine, considering them the best that can be raised for the market. He does not deal exclusively in hogs, but also raises horses and cattle for the market. His present farm comprises about three hundred acres, all in a good state of cultivation.

Gibson Cointv, Indiana. 68 1

church, while his wife is affiliated with the Christian church, and are liberal contributors to the support of their respective churches and take an active part in all the various departments of church work. Politically he is a Progressive, though in local elections he always votes for the best men for office, regardless of politics. Mr. Mangrum has a fine country residence and good barns and outbuildings. His farm is one of the best fenced and improved farms of the county. He is a man of liberal, progressive and up-to-date views on all questions of the day, and is a firm believer in education, church work and in all movements which go to make a better community. In order that his children might have the advantage of a trip to the west, he and his family made a trip of nearly two years, 1904 and 1905, to the West, spen<ling this time in California and other Western states, visiting all places of interest beyond the Rocky mountains. Mr. }iIangTum is one of those men who has lived his life to good purpose and achieved a much greater degree of success than falls to the lot of the ordinary individual. By a straightforward and commendable course, he has made his way to a respectable position in the world, winning the esteem and hearty approbation of his fellow citizens and earning the reputation of an enterprising man of affairs which the public has not been slow to recognize and appreciate.

Francis M. Welborn

The prosperity and substantial welfare of a community are in a large measure due to the enterprise and wise fiiresight of its business men. It is the progressive, wide-av^ake men of affairs that make the real history of a community, and their influence in shaping and directing its varied interests is difficult to estimate. The well known gentleman of whom the biographer writes in this connection has long ranked among the leading business men of Gibson county, and it is to such enterprising spirits as he that the locality is indebted for its recent substantial growth and for the high position it occupies as a center of industrial activity and progress.

Francis M. Welborn, the son of Samuel P. and Mary (Waters) Welborn, was born December 30, 1839, two and one-half miles west of Owensville. His father, Samuel P. Welborn, was born in Guilford county, North Carolina, the son of Moses Welborn, who moved to Indiana in an early dav and settled near Mt. Vernon, in Posey county, on what was then called Dry fork of Big creek, and here he lived the life of the early pioneer farmer and here his death occurred caused b}- cholera when that disease was raging throughout the state in the early fifties. Samuel P. Welborn spent his boj'hood days on the farm near Mt. Vernon, and when he was nearly grown came to Montgomery township, this county, and worked on a farm for Risey Waters. While working for Mr. Waters, he became acquainted with his daughter, Mary, and in due course of time they were married, and they continued to reside on her father's farm until his death. In addition to his occupation as a farmer. Mr. Welborn and his two brothers "operated a sawmill for several years. Samuel Welborn was a man of more than ordinary ability and his sterling worth as a citizen was recognized by the Democratic party, of which he was a faithful constituent, by being nominated for the office of county treasurer, to which office he was elected by a big majority and served four years in this capacity before the Civil war.

Francis M. Welborn grew up on his father's farm. Tn i860 he went into partnership with his father and two others in the pork packing business and in this enterprise was very successful. In the fall of 1861 he came to Owensville and entered into partnership with Leroy Martin in a general store. He continued in this partnership until 1864, when he sold out his interest and entered into a partnership with James Montgomery in general merchandising. This firm continued in this business for about four years, when Mr. Montgomery sold his interest to Harmon & Summers, the firm name being afterward known as Welborn & Summers Company. This partnership continued for many years and they gradually built up a large and lucrative business in the community. After some years Mr. Welborn engaged in business with his wife's father, John W. Robb, and they continued in joint partnership until 1894, when Francis M. Welborn sold his share in the business to his son, George R. and retired from active participation in the conduct of the company. However, the old habits of industry could not be thrown off at once and he puts in full time at the store, just as he has done for the past forty years when he was an active partner.

Francis M. AVelborn was married to Lenora A. Robb, the daughter of John W. Robb. Mrs. Welborn was born and reared at Stewarts ville, Posey county, this state, where her father also was born, and where he followed the occupation of a farmer and was also a merchant at Stewartsville. Mr. Robb's parents came to this state at a very early date, and some of his people were among the first settlers in Gibson county, near Hazleton. To Mr. and Mrs. Welborn has been born one son, George R., who is represented elsewhere in this work.

age of sc\enty-four, and is still able to put in a full day's work in the store. He attributes this to his frugal way of living during all his life. Through a long and busy life, full of honor and success, he has always been actuated I)y the highest motives. His has been a life of honest and persistent endeavor, such as always brings a true appreciation of the real value of human existence, a condition that must be prolific of good results in all the relations of life. He can look back over a life well spent in the service of liis fellow men.

Virgil R. Carter. M. D.

The most elaborate history is necessarilx- a merciless abridgment, the historian being compelled to select his facts and materials from manifold details. In every life of honor and usefulness there is no dearth of incident, and yet in summing up the career of any man the writer must needs touch only the more salient points, giving the keynote of the character but eliminating all that is superfluous. Within the pages of this work will be found mention of many prominent and influential citizens whose lives have been practically passed in Gibson county and who are representatives of sturdy pioneer families. Among this class is the subject of this sketch, who occupies a prominent place in the ranks of the representative men of his community.

\'irgil R. Carter, M. D., was born January 17, 1863, in Johnson township, Gibson county, Indiana, the son of John W. and Martha (Emerson) Carter. The subject's mother, who was a native of Gibson county, is now living with the Doctor and is enjoying good health. The father. John W'., was born in Posey county, Indiana, in 1841, and died in November, 1895, at the age of fifty-five years.

The paternal grandfather of the subject was named Rane Carter, who married in Kentucky and l)rought his famih- to Indiana at an early date, settling in Posey count}', where he remained the rest of his da\-s, dying in his seventy-ninth year, his entire life having been spent in the pursuit of farming. To Rane Carter and wife were born twelve children, only one of whom died in infancy, the remaining eleven living to ripe old ages, there being a period of si.xty years without a death, and when the subject's father died there were ten of his brothers and sisters still living, the youngest being fiftytwo years of age. The eldest brother, James B. Carter, died in August, 1913, at the age of eighty-seven, the average age of this remarkably long-lived family being eighty years.

John W. Carter, the subject's father, enlisted in Company F, Eightieth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, in 1862, and served until the close of the war, being wounded at the battle of Resaca. He was a comrade of John Mangrum, a review of whose war record is given elsewhere in this work. In this sanguinary conflict for the preservation of the Union the family took a part that is worthy of more than passing note. Enlisted in the Union army were the subject's father, his brothers, James P., Benjamin, Samuel, John W. and Rane, besides two brothers-in-law and nephews innumerable. All lived through the war, though one of the brothers, Benjamin, received a wound in the service from the effects of which he died after returning home. A family record of five sons in the army is exceptional, and it is also interesting to note that the husbands of two of the daughters were also in the conflict. One of the daughters, Mrs. .Eliza McConnell, made a long and dangerous trip to the front to visit her husband, who was seriously ill, and was successful in reaching him and bringing him home, where he soon afterward died. The oldest son of this daughter was also a soldier and died or was killed in the service. On the death of her husband, Franklin McConnell, his widow, Eliza, was left with the care of six children.

On the close of the Civil war the subject's father returned to Johnson township, Gibson county, his wife having remained with her father while he was in the army. They soon after located in Union township, where they remained during their more active days, removing to Princeton in 1892. On his removal to the latter place he was elected township trustee and was efficiently discharging the duties of that oifice at the time of his death.

To the subject's parents were born three children : Virgil R., the subject of this sketch, is the oldest; Albert L. died January 18, 1890, in his twentythird year; Laura was married to George E. Daughert}', of Princeton, and died Fel^ruary 20, 1898, in Mexico, where she had been taken in an attempt to restore her failing health. The father of the subject was incapacitated physicall}- for some years owing to a wound which he received in the Civil war.

Virgil R. Carter's elementary education was received in the district schools, supplemented by a course in the high school at Owensville, he then entering on a scientific course in the Union Christian College at Merom, Indiana, from which he was graduated in 1887. After teaching school for a brief period, the subject, deciding on the practice of medicine for. his life work, entered the Eclectic Medical Institute at Cincinnati, graduating in June, 1890, and immediately engaging in the practice of his profession in Cynthiana, Posey county, and later at Toledo, Illinois.

In 1898, after the tleath of the Doctor's fatlier. he returned to Giljson county, and. retiring from the active work of medicine, located on the farm, to the cuhi\ation of wiiich he has since dexoted his energies. Large crops of corn and tlie ])est of registered hve stock liave been the chief products of his splenchd agricuhural plant, on which he has a fine modern residence and the best of farm buildings. For some time after his father's death, the Doctor had twenty aunts and uncles living, all blood relatives.

Doctor Carter was thrice married, first to Turia Buff, ilaughter of Dr. B, F. Buff, of Illinois, in 1890, she dying about a year after the marriage. In Xovember. 1895, the sitbject was united in matrimony to Mrs. Clara Logan, of Toledo, Illinois, who died in 1897. The Doctor's present wife was Mattie Eaton, of Crawford county. Indiana. The subject's four children are named Lowell L., John \V., James and Glen.

Doctor Carter has been honored by election to a number of important township offices and has served as county assessor four years. In 1910 he was president of the Farmers" Institute, which he promoted, and the first corn school contest among the farmers' boys was instigated by him.

Fraternally, the Doctor belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Tribe of Ben-Hur, while he and his wife are members of tht General Baptist church, fiis mother is a nienilier of the Christian church. Politically, the Doctor's faith is. like that of his father, in harmony with the platforms of the Republican party.

James H. Armstrong

Agriculture has always been an honorable vocation and at the present time the agricultural output of the United States is more than equivalent to the total output of all the factories of the country put together. There is one thing in the life of a farmer which distinguishes it from any other occupation, and that is his ability to exist independently of every other vocation. The merchant, the banker, the manufacturer, all depend absolutely on the farmer's crops. A famine throughout this country would bankrupt the strongest merchant, wreck the largest bank and close the most extensive factory. Business men can see their business collapse within a week, but m^thing short of an earthquake can ruin the farmer. Land is as it ahva\s has been - the most favorable financial investment. Panic may sweep the manufacturer or.', of business over night, but the farmer can survive when every other industry falls. Therefore, the farmer is the backbone of the nation and he who makes two blades of grass grow where but one formerly grew, is performing the most useful mission of man. Gibson county farmers are as good as can be found anywhere in the world, and their history is largely the history of the material advancement of the county. Among Gibson county's excellent farmers, there is none more deserving of recognition in this day of biography than is the gentleman whose name appears at the head of this sketch.

James H. Armstrong, the son of William S. and Emily (Smith) Armstrong, was born March 31, 1858, four miles northeast of Owensville. His father was a native of Vanderburg county, this state, his birth having occurred there on May i, 1824. His wife was a native of Gibson county, and was born November 24, 1827. William Armstrong was a farmer all his life and reared a large family of children to spheres of influence. He continued to reside in Vanderburg county until after his marriage, in 1846, when he came to Gibson county and purchased one hundred and ninety acres of land, part of which is now owned by his son, James H. He combined the raising of live stock with his general fanning and was uniformly successful in all his financial dealings. He was an active Democrat, but never sought public office, although he served as township trustee for several terms before the present constitution went into effect in 1852. Before that date each township in his county had three trustees, a system Avhich went out of use upon the adoption of the present constitution. He and his wife were both loyal and earnest members of the Regular Baptist church of Owensville, and he held the office of deacon in the church, taking a very active part in all of the various departments of church work. He was always a hard worker, and attended to his business with such application that he was able to give his large family all of the advantages which were obtainable. Mr. and Mrs. \A^illiam Armstrong were the parents of a large family, five of whom are still living: Willis, a farmer of this county; Warrick, also a farmer of the county: one who died in infancy; John, who lives in Kansas; Morgan, deceased; James H., the immediate subject of this sketch; Mary, deceased in 1888, and Pinkney, a farmer of Gibson county. William Armstrong died on July 24, 1877, and his widow survived him many years, her death occurring on January 2, 1901.

James H. Armstrong, the subject of this sketch, was married on July 6, 1879, to Lela G. Bingham, daughter of Garner and Jane (Roberts) Bingham. Her father was a native of this county and followed the occupation of a farmer during his lifetime. Mrs. Bingham was also a native of this county and died in 1876. her husband survixing her until iijoi. Air. and Mrs. .\rmstrong were the parents of ten children, Charles, wiio died at tiic age of thirteen months; Mary, the wife of John S. Cushman, a faimer of Po.sey county, this state, has one child, Grace; Harvey, who married Florence Brumfield, operates a farm in Montgomery township, and has two children, Roy and I\Iargerite May; Lemuel G., who married Nettie Spore, is a farmer in Patoka township, this county, and had one son, Gerald, who is dead ; William Edgar, the twin brother of Lemuel G., who lives at home and helps his father, James H., on the farm; Elva, the wife of Orville Spore, who died on August 12, 1913; John, who married Edith Woods, is a farmer of this township; Flora and Ruth are still at home; Herschell died at the early age of six months.

James H. Armstrong enjoyed all the pleasures and disadvantages of the average boy on the farm. He attended the district schools in the winter seasons and performed such work as falls to the lot of the ordinary country boy. After graduating from the common schools he completed the course in the Owensville high school, from which he graduated with honor to himself, and started out on his active career at the age of twenty-one years, when he married and bought some land in the township where he still li\es. By the exercise of good business judgment and economical habits of life he added to his holdings from time to time until he is now the owner of two hundred and fifty acres of as good land as can be found in the county. He combines stock raising with his general farming and has been more than ordinarily successful in all of his financial transactions. He keeps well informed on all of the new methods in farming and keeps his farm well supplied with the most modern implements for the carrying on of agriculture. His reputation for honesty and square dealing has won for him the esteem of all with whom he comes in contact.

Although he has always been a Democrat, Mr. Armstrong has never taken an active part in the deliberations of his party. However, the citizens of his township thrust upon him the office of township assessor, which he continued to hold for some time. Fraternally, he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. Personally. Mr. Armstrong is one of the most genial and good natured men in the community. He is companionable, charitable to his neighbors' faults and always looks on the bright side of life. With him optimism is a religion and his smile radiates sunshine in every direction. His wife is a loval and earnest member of the Cumberland Presbyterian church, and is whollv devoted to home and domestic duties, dfiing during all the best years of her life the lowly but sacred work which comes within her sphere. Through all the long years she has worked with her husband and children, and in her gentle, tender and loving way merits no small share in her husband's success.

Elijah L. Lincoln

It is by no means an easy task to describe within the limits of this review a man who has led an active and eminently useful life and by his own exertions reached a position of honor and respect in the commimity. But biography finds justilication, nevertheless, in the tracing and recording of such a life history, as the public claims a certain property interest in the career of every individual and the time invariably arrives when it becomes advisable to give the right publicity. It is, then, with a certain degree of satisfaction that the chronicler essays the task of touching briefly upon such a record as has been that of the subject who now comes under this review.

Elijah Lincoln was born in September, 1832, the son of Leonard and Nancy (Dick) Lincoln. The father, who was a first cousin of the immortal Abraham Lincoln, was born in Kentucky and was married in the Buckeye state, where he spent the remainder of his da.ys, he dying when the subject was a boy. Elijah Lincoln lived in Zane.sville, Ohio, until he was sixteen years old, when he joined his brother Robert, who had been in Illinois for five years. Two years later his brother John located with them and in two more years the mother also removed to Illinois, the family being located in Licken township, Crawford county.

After learning the cooper's trade, Mr. Lincoln made a trip Xo New Orleans and on his return settled in Gibson county, Indiana, where he farmed for several years and worked at his trade at intervals, continuing this until the Pike's Peak gold excitement in 1859, when he went west. One summer was spent on Chicago Bar, about sixty miles from Denver, a bare subsistence being all that the gold hunters could gain in that district. Mr. Lincoln then engaged in teaming, hauling hay and other goods. He would purchase hay at ten dollars a load, and after hauling it into the mountains was enabled to sell it for one himdred dollars a load. He followed this lucrative business for about three years, but, being desirous of joining the army, he returned to Gibson county, and in August, 1862, enlisted in Company B, Fifty-eighth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Colonel Emery and Captain

Smith. He was nuistCTed in at I'l-iiicelcju and joined his regimeiU at IndianapoHs, where he was stationed li\ o w ccks. l-"roni the Hoosier capital they were sent to Louisville and then U> Kardslown. Kentucky, where they joined General Wood's command and proceeded with it to Xashville and then to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where they were engaged in some severe fighting. Their next move was to Chattanooga, where they pursued General Bragg up over Missionary Ridge, trying to cut him off. General Bragg, however, after passing Missionary Ridge, was reinforced by General Longstreet and a hot fight ensued, during which j\lr. Lincoln was shot in the left foot. General Thomas holding the Confederates in check, the subject's command was enabled to retire to Chattanooga. Mr. Lincoln's regiment, with fifteen hundred wounded men, was taken to Nashville in a freight train, where he remained in a hospital for fifteen days. At the expiration of this time he was granted a furlough for ihirt)- days, which he spent at home, returning at the end of that time to his regiment, which had been in winter quarters. In a short time the regiment was returned to Indiana, where it remained until April, when it was again called into active service, the next engagement l)eing at Buzzard Roost. Mr. Lincoln was then detailed to join a few men who had been left in Chattanooga in charge of supplies and equipments which could not be carried at the time. These supplies were 'taken in charge and in June Mr. Lincoln and his companions caught up with their commantl at Big Shanty, b'rom this place they proceeded to Atlanta and joined General Sherman in his famous "march to the sea." The regiment assisted in driving the Confederates out of Savannah, after which they occupied that place for several weeks, and then marched sixty miles to Sister's i'erry. and from there went to Gold.sboro, where they remained a short time, from there Ijeing dispatched to head off General Johnson's army, whicii had not yet surrendered. While laying a bridge across the river they received the first news of the assassination of President Lincoln. Orders were received here for the troops to proceed to Washington, via Richmond. \'irginia, where they took part in the Grand Review.

The subject was honorably di.scharged at Indianaijolis, having jjeen mustered out in a livery stable in \\'ashington. b'rom that city he returned to his home at Fort Branch, where he took up farming. In 1857 Mr. Lincoln was married to Harriet Conner, daughter of .Mexander Conner, one of the pioneer settlers of the Hoosier state. His wife passed away in 187.J.. having been the mother of eight children, namely: Leonard, .\lonzo, Daniel and. (44)

Warren are deceased ; Abram is now living in Horton, Texas, where he has been successful and is the owner of much property; Rosie is living at home; Louisa is also residing in Horton, Texas; Clara is in St. Louis.

Mr. Lincoln, in his long and eventful career, has always endeavored to keep the Lincoln name clean and respected, and has inculcated this worthy desire in his children. The position of respect and honor which he has attained in the community honored by his residence proves that he has succeeded in this worthy ambition. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic at Fort Branch. He has always been a Republican, though be was first an old-line Whig. He is the last of his line of the Lincoln familv.

Cleve E. Willis

Hard and laborious work was the lot of the subject of this sketch during his )'outh and early manhood, but his fidelity to duty has won for him the respect and confidence of those with whom he has been thrown in contact, and by patient continuance in well doing he has gradually risen from an humble station to his present standing as a progressive young farmer of Gibson county. He has worked his way from a modest beginning up to a position of considerable prominence by his efforts, which have been practically unaided, a fact which renders him the more worthy of the praise that is freely accorded him by his fellow citizens.

Cleve E. Willis, the son of Joseph M. and Winnie (Rumble) Willis, was born in Pike county, Indiana, March 29, 1885. His father was also a native of Pike county, as was his mother, where they still reside. Joseph Willis was a farmer and has always followed agricultural pursuits. He now has eighty-eight acres of good farming land in Pike county. Mr. and Mrs. Willis were the parents of five children, Sarah, who became the wife of James Rumble, of Patoka township; Mrs. Flora Jenkins, deceased; Mrs. Mary Blake, who resides in Pike county : Cleve E. ; Mrs. Alice Stewart, also of Pike county.

Cleve E. ^^'illis received a good practical, common school education in his home schools and attended the Oakland City College for two years. At the end of his common school course he held the attendance record of Pike county. After he finished his two years' course at Oakland City College he secured a license to teach school, but decided to follow agriculture as a voca-

Mr. Willis was married tn .Mellie l'.l\the. the daut;hter of Samuel and Sarah (Clifford) P>lythe. Mareh 31. lyoS. Samuel Blylhe was born in Gibson eounty, Indiana, near Owensville, and his wife was a native of Pike county, this >tate. .Mr. and Mrs. Blythe now live in Columbia township, on the farm which his father. Craig Blythe. purchased at a time when it was a primitive wilderness. A part of that farm is now within the corporation limits of Oakland City. Mr. and Mrs. Blythe are the parents of two children, Mrs. Millie Blythe, and Mrs. Eunice Walker, who is now living in Indianapolis, where Mr. \\'alker is engaged in the drug business. Mr. and Mrs. Cleve Willis are the parents of one son, Joe Blythe, born September 18, 1910. Mr. \\"illis is now living on the farm near Oakland City known as the Bowen- Cheney farm, and has been managing it for the past three years. He carries on a general system of diversified farming and makes a specialty of stock feeding and shipping of hogs and cattle, in which he has been very successful. His ability as a farmer is shown by the fact that he has been elected to office in the Farmers' Educational and Co-operative Union of America. He was president of this organization for one year and has been secretary and treasurer for the Pike County Union for the past five years. This is an organization which seeks to promote agricultural interests and affairs pertaining to the life of the farmer. Mr. Willis has pursued a system of rotation of crops so as to retain the fertility of the soil and his land is as productive as any in the county where he resides. No farm in the county is looked after with greater can-. He takes an active interest in all jmblic aft'airs and has performed his full part as a pul)lic-spirited citizen.

Mr. Willis has cast his vote. at all times for the candidates of the Democratic parl\- and takes a prominent part in the local organizations of his party. He has never asked for any political preferment at the hands of his party, being content to devote all his energies to his agricultural interests. He and his wife are members of the Baptist church of Oakland City and are liberal contriljutors to the support of that denomination. Mrs. is a graduate of the Oakland City high school and taught school in Gibson county for two years. She also attended the Oakland City College for some time in order to the better equip herself for the teaching profession. Mr. Willis is thoroughly up-to-date in all his operations and keeps in close touch with the most advanced ideas relative to farming and stock raising and gives his undivided attention to the work in hand, so that he has justly earnetl the enviable reputation which he enjoys.

The present age is essentially utilitarian and the life of every successful man carries a lesson which, told in contemporary narrative, is productive of much good in shaping the destiny of others. There is, therefore, a due measure of satisfaction in presenting, even in brief resume, the life and achievements of such men, and in preparing the following history of the well-known and successful physician whose name appears at the head of this sketch, it is with the hope that it may prove not only interesting and instructive, but also serve as an incentive to those who contemplate making the medical profession their life work, for it shows how a man, not especially favored by inherited wealth, may forge to the front and not only succeed in the material things of life, but also be of inestimable service to his fellow men.

Herschel Logan Bass, M. D., the present efficient coroner of Gibson county, was born June 4. 1883, in Lane township, Warrick county, Indiana, the son of Gaines H. and Rhoda (McKinney) Bass, both natives of the Hoosier state. The progenitors of the Bass family were three brothers, who came to America from England, two of them locating in North Carolina and the other in the state of Maine. Doctor Bass's family descended from those who settled in North Carolina.

The subject's father, who spent his life following agricultural pursuits, is now retired, after a long and honorable career of usefulness to his fellow men, he having served in the offices of township trustee and county assessor, and has always been recognized as a representative man in his community.

Of a family of seven children, five sons and two daughters, the subject of this review was the eldest. His elementary education was received in the common schools, after which he entered the State Normal School and prepared himself for teaching, a profession which he followed for four years. Being desirous of taking up the medical profession as a life work, he abandoned his pedagogical work and entered the Louisville Medical College, from which he was graduated on June 30, 1909, two years of his time in college having been spent in hospital practice. Having thus laid a splendid foundation for his future calling.- lie came to Fort Branch, hung out his shingle, and in a comparatively short time had 1)uilt up a large and lucrative practice. He is essentially progressi\-e and modern in his methods, realizing that the education of a physician is never at an end, and by constant reading from the leading medical journals and study of the complex problems of medicine at first hand, he is keeping himself abreast of the times in his profession.

In December, 1909, Doctor Bass was united in matrimony to Lena Johnson, daujjhter of F. M. Johnson, of Illinois. .Mr. Johnson is one of the leading and representative men of his community antl the subject's wife is a most charming and cultivated lad)'. A beautiful residence and up-to-date offices have been erected liy Doctor Bass, and his home is the social center for his many friends, the genial natures of the suhiccl and his wife lieing demonstrated in the true spirit of hospitality which radiates from their home. To Doctor Bass and wife has been born one child, llerschel L.

In 1910 the subject of this review w.'is elected coroner of Gibson county, and so efficiently did he discharge the duties of that responsible position that he was re-elected in 1912, and is at present capably filling that office. The Doctor is a member of the Gibson County Medical Association, the Indiana State ]\Iedical Association and the Oliio Valley Medical Association, while, fraternal!)-, he is affiliated with the Free and Accepted Masons, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Improved Order of Red Men and the ^Modern \\'oodmen of America, of which latter order he is medical examiner.

John Wesley Harmon

The character of a community is determined largely by the lives of a comparatively few of its members. If its moral and intellectual status be good, if in a social way it is a pleasant place in which to reside, if its reputation for the integrity of its citizens has extended to other localities, it will lie found that the standards set by the leading men have lieen high and their influence such as to mold their characters and shape the lives of those with whom they mingle. In placing the subject of this sketch in the front rank of such men. justice is rendered a biographical fact universally recognized throughout Gibson county by those at all familiar with his history. Although a quiet and unassuming man, with no ambition for public position or leadership, he has contributed much to the material advancement of the community, while his admirable ciualities of head and heart and the straightforward, upright course of his daily life have tended greatly to the moral standing of the circles in which he moves and gives him a reputation for integrity and correct conduct such as few achieve.

John Wesley Harmon, one of the most progressi\e business men of this county, was born January 18, 1840. His parents were Laxton and Elizabeth Ann (Simpson) Harmon. Laxton Harmon was a native of Virginia, whose father, John Simpson, was a native of North Carolina. The father of the subject came to Gibson county in 1811, and at the time of the battle of Tippecanoe, on November 7, 181 1, he was on guard duty in old Fort Knox at Vincennes. He was not in the fight, but assisted during all the troubles incident to the Indian uprising in guarding the fort in the fall of 181 1. His death occurred in November, 1842, having lived all of his life as a farmer in this county. He did his share towards clearing up the land, draining the swamps and making the roads through the pathless forests, and at his death he had cleared and put under cultivation forty acres of land which was practically worthless at the time he entered it. Laxton Harmon, the father of the subject of this sketch, died shortly after the birth of John W. Mrs. Elizabeth Ann Harmon was the daughter of John Simpson, Sr., a native of Gibson county. She died in 1851, when John W. was about eleven years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Laxton Harmon were the parents of three children, Lewis, deceased, Melinda, deceased, and the subject of this sketch. Lewis lived and died in this county, having followed the occupation of a farmer there alU his life. He was never married. Melinda was the wife of Garr^^W^Mount.^and died in the spring of 1865. Mr. and Mrs. Mount were the parents of four children, Mrs. Elizabeth Wilhite, deceased ; Mrs. Mary Pegram, deceased ; Mrs. Alice McCrary and Julius.

John W. Harmon was reared on the farm west of Owensville in the Maumee river bottoms and followed the occupation of a farmer until 1870, when he formed a partnership with F. M. Welborn and engaged in general merchandising in Owensville, which pursuit he continued for two years under the firm name of Welborn & Harmon, after which time he sold out his interest in 1873 to Richey Sumner, but remained in the store as a clerk. After clerking for about eighteen months, he re-entered the business under the firm name of Welborn, Harmon & Company. Some time later he sold his interest to James Robinson, who purchased the stock for his son. The firm name was then changed to Pruitt, Robinson & Company. Pruitt later bought out the interests of Robinson and the firm name became Pruitt Brothers. Joseph Pruitt, the elder member of the firm, died in July, 1880, and in the spring of 1881 Mr. Harmon took the interest of Joseph Pruitt and the firm was reorganized under the name of Harmon & Pruitt. Tn the fall of 1888 Mr. Harmon traded his interests to Samuel Scott for a half interest in the Owensville Milling Company, the new firm being known as the Plarmon & Wallace Company. He still retains his interest in the mill. Mr. Harmon is also one of the largest land owners of the county, having over twelve hun- dred acres of good land, three hundred and fifty of which he in the Wahash township bottoms. The rest of liis land is located in Union and Montgomery townships. Mr. Harmon also has large real estate holdings in Owcnsville, consisting of business rooms, residence property and a large number of city lots.

Mr. Harmon was married September 29, iS-j, to Julia A. Pruitt, the daughter of William and Elizabeth (Spain") Truitt, both of whom were natives of this county. These parents both died in Evansville. One child, Harvey, was born to this union, who is represented elsewhere in this volume. Mrs. Julia Harmon died December 4, 1876. On December 12, 1878, Mr. Harmon was married to Nancy Elizabeth Musick, daughter of Herrod and Mary E. (Warrick) Musick. Herrod Musick was a native of Ohio and came to Logan county, Illinois, where his death occurred several years ago. Mrs. Musick was a native of Gibson county, and has been dead many years. To Mr. Harmon's second marriage was born one child, a daughter, Grace, who is the wife of Rufus H. Barnet, the present postmaster of Owensville. They have three children, Robert, Warren and IMarriam.

Mr. Harmon has for a half century been one of the most prominent business men of the county. He is distinctly a man of affairs, sound of judgment, with keen discernment, and far-seeing in everything he has undertaken, and every enterprise to which he has addressed himself has resulted in liberal material reward. His extensive business interests are the legitimate fruitage of consecutive effort, directed and controlled not only by good judgment, but also by correct moral principles. Personally, he is congenial, quiet and unassuming in disposition, and in all the relations of life he has so conducted himself that his friends are in number as his acquaintances.

Politically, Mr. Harmon has always been a Democrat, but has never taken an active interest in the deliberations of his party, although when he was a young man not far past his majoritx' he was township assessor for two terms. He has been a life-long member of the Regular Baptist church, and for many years has been a trustee of that denomination. He has always lent his influence and support to everything in the matter of the advancement and welfare of his town and community, and his charitable work has been the means of alleviating much suffering in his locality. Tie is always ready to share his substance with the poor and needy, and by a straightforward and commendable course he has made his way to a highly respected position in the world. His career presents a notable example of those nol)le fjualities of mind and character which o\'ercome obstacles and win success, and his example is eminently worthy of imitation.

Gibson county, Indiana, has reason to take pride in the personnel of her corps of medical men from the earliest days m her history to the present time, and on the roll of honored names that indicates the services of distinguished citizens in this held of endeavor there is reason in reverting with gratification to that of Dr. W. V. Morris, of Fort Branch, who has attained eminence in his chosen calling and stands high among the scholarly and enterprising physicians in a community that has long been distinguished for the excellence of its medical talent. He realized early that there is a purpose in life and that there is no honor not founded on worth and no respect not founded on accomplishment. His life and labors have been eminently worthy because they have contributed to a proper understanding of life and its problems.

W. F. Morris, M. D., was born September 14, 1875. in Barton township, Gibson county, Indiana, the son of John T. and Mary E. (Miller) Morris, the father a native of the same township, he having been born and passed his entire life on the home place where the subject first saw the light of day. John T. Morris was a son of John T. and Mary (Marshall) Morris, who were born and grew to maturity in England, leaving that country in 1832 and coming to Evansville, Indiana, where they were married. From there they removed to Vanderburg county, and in 1838 again sought a new location, this time settling in Barton township, Gibson county, where they, with the other sturdy pioneers of those days, engaged in the struggle to subdue the almost unbroken wilderness and build a home. John T. Morris, Sr., was an efficient surveyor and his services were in great demand by his neighbors in locating their lands. He was a well informed man and was a valuable addition to the community, his advice often being sought on matters of business. It is said that one of his many accomplishments was "fiddling," and his presence was demanded at the social gatherings of those days, where the music from his bow helped to make the sturdy pioneers forget their hardships and struggles. He and his wife were members of the Episcopal church. To this worthy couple were born six children, as follows: John T.. the subject's father; Richard, Lewis, Phillip and Sidney are deceased; Robert is engaged in farming on the home place. The subject's father secured what education he could in the early schools of the county, and his father dying when he was but twelve years old, the care of his mother was taken up by him, and she hved wilh him until her dcalh in i8c)S. Jolm T. Morris, Jr., engaged in farming for thirty-live years. He was a consistent meniher of the Methodist Episcopal church, while, i)olitically, he was a supporter of the RepubHcan party. He was united in marriage to Mary li. Miller, daughter of David Miller, of \'irginia, w!io was an early settler in I'ike county, Indiana, and -later removed to Missouri. To this union were horn nine children, namely: George Thomas, who is a farmer in Warrick county. Indiana, married Mary E. Heldt. He is also interested in engineering and in the dairy business; John T., a physician, who is the subject of a review in another part of this work; Robert Benjamin is a farmer in Warrick county, and among other investments he is interestefl in a telephone company. He was married first to a Miss De Priest and his second wife was a Miss Smith; Charles died at the age of four years; Mattie died at the age of two and a half years; William F. ; James died at the age of four; L)a\-id, deceased; Edison, a farmer of Elberfield, Warrick county, married Augusta Ebrecht ; Mary Eva married \\'illiam C. May, a farmer at Mackey, Indiana.

The subject of this review attended the common schools of Barton township, supplementing this with a course in a business college in Indianapolis. Deciding on the practice of medicine as his life work, he took up the study of that noble profession under the tutelage of Dr. John Ballard, which he continued until 1906, when he entered the Jefferson College of Medicine in Philadelphia, Pennsyhania. graduating from this well-known institution in 1900. While pursuing his medical studies in the Philadelphia college he also took up the surgical branch under the direction of Dr. W. W. Keen, Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, one of the most noted surgeons of the world, his most wonderful accomplishments having been along the line of brain surgerv. Receiving his diploma in both branches at the same time. Doctor Morris returned to his native state and took up the practice of his profession at Fort Branch, where he has been very successful and has Iniilt up a large and lucrative business.

In September, 1902, Doctor Morris was united in marriage to Ercel May Arburn, daughter of John M. Arlnirn. one of the earliest merchants of Gibson county. To this union has been Ijorn one child, Ludson D.. born in September, 1907.

Besides holding membership in the Gibson County Medical .Association and the State Medical Association, Doctor Morris is a member of the American Association of Railroad Surgeons, and is local surgeon for the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad Company. Fraternally, he holds mem- bership in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Tribe of Ben-Hur at Fort Branch. He also belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church at Fort Branch.

Ephraim M. Fowler

- The Union soldier during the great war between the states wrought even better than he knew. Through four years of suffering and wasting hardships, through the horrors of prison pens and amid the shadows of death, he laid the superstructure of the greatest temple ever erected and dedicated to human freedom. The world looked on and called those soldiers sublime, for it was theirs to reach out the mighty arm of power and strike the chains from off the slave, preserve the country from dissolution, and to keep furled to the breeze the only flag that ever made tyrants tremble and whose majestic stripes and scintillating stars are still waving universal liberty to all the earth. For all their unmeasured deeds the living present will never repay them. Pension and political power may be thrown at their feet ; art and sculpture may preserve upon canvas and in granite and bronze their unselfish deeds ; history may commit to liooks and cold type may give to the future the tale of their sufferings and triumphs; but to the children of the generations yet unborn will it remain to accord the full measure of appreciation and undying remembrance of the immortal character carved out by the American soldiers in the dark days of the early sixties, numbered among whom was the gentleman whose name appears at the head of this sketch.

Ephraim M. Fowler was born on January 4, 1840, the son of Martin and Nancy (Wakeland) Fowler, the father a native of North Carolina and the mother of Kentucky. Martin Fowler was reared in his native state, where he first married Mary Cox, whose death occurred in Warrick county, Indiana. After the subject's marriage he located in Warrick county, Indiana, northeast of Boonville, where he obtained a piece of wild land, which he cleared and established a home. Later he added to it, and finally became the owner of a fine tract of six hundred and forty acres, all in one body. Here he followed farming and stock raising, in which he was very successful, shipping large numbers of stock to New Orleans. It was on one of his trips to that city in 1847 that his death occurred. He was very successful in his financial affairs and was well known and respected throughout the community. After his death his second wife married John Cherry, and her death occurred in Warrick countv. To Martin Fowler and his first wife were born nine children:

Wiley W., John, Matilda, Betsy Ann, Bettie, Lucy, Isaac B., Ruth and Mary Ann. By his second union Martin Few ler became the father of five children : William Henry, Ephraim Merritt, James Martin, Mary Jane and Sarah Elizabeth. To Mr. and Mrs. John Cherry were born six children : Richard, Lucinda, Martha, John, Absalom and Alexander. John Cherry also had been married twice, and to his first union, with a Miss McDaniel, there were born five children, George, Mary Jane, Marina Ann, Sarah and Allen.

Ephraim M. Fowler had but little opportunity to attend school, ihe nearest school house being four miles through tlic timber from his home. His stepfather, John Cherry, cut a log and hitched a horse to it and put the subject on the horse and led the horse through the woods, thus making a path through the leaves and brush to the school house, this path being known as the Hudson school house path and was used for nearly thirty years. In 1861 Mr. Fowler enlisted in the Seventeenth Regiment Indiana \'olunteer Infantry as a musician for three months' service, and at the end of his first period of enlistment he returned home and enlisted as a private in Company C, Fortysecond Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, which was sent to Kentucky and up the Green river. The regiment then went south to Huntsvilie, -\labama, and was assigned to the Army of the Cumberland, with which it remained until the close of the war, taking part in all the engagements and campaigns in which that celebrated army had a part. Mr. Fowler was transferred to Company G. One Hundred and Forty-third Regiment, and was made a lieutenant in 1864 because of faithfulness to duty and courage in battle, which rank he held at the time of his discharge in 1865. After the war he returned to Warrick county, Indiana, and bought and shipped leaf tobacco until 1877, when he located in Oakland City, where he also engaged in buying and selling tobacco, as well as handling large quantities of grain. He later engaged in the grocery business and also operated a restaurant for some time. For sixty years Mr. Fowler has attended all of the county fairs in this section of the state, being widely known, and has sold lemonade and other articles of public consumption. He is a man of remarkable health, having never taken one dollar's worth of medicine in his life, and is of an intensely optimistic and cheerful disposition, being a welcome mcnihcr of any circle which he chooses to enter.

In 1862 Mr. Fowler married Susan Harland. a native of Kentucky. Her death occurred in 1873 and subsequently he married Fannie Boner, of Boonville, Indiana. There were no children born to the first union, and the second union resulted in one daughter. Ethel May. who is now a milliner at Oakland Citv, Indiana.

Mr. Fowler is a charter member of Cochran Post, Grand Army of the Republic, at Oakland City, Indiana, has been a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows since 1866, and a member of the Free and Accepted Masons since 1882, taking an appreciative interest in the workings of all these orders. He is an earnest and faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal church at Oakland City and is numbered among its loyal and earnest constituents. Mr. Fowler would be the last man to sit for romance or become a subject for "fancy sketches, but his life presents much that is interesting -and valuable, for he is one of those whose integrity and strength of character must force them into an admirable notoriety, which their modesty never seeks, but who command the respect of their contemporaries and leave the impress of their individuality upon the community.

Samuel S. Reed

A man's reputation is the property of the world, for the laws of nature have forbidden isolation. Every human being either submits to the controlling influence of others or wields an influence which touches, controls, guides or misdirects others. If he be honest and successful in his chosen field of endeavor, investigation will brighten his fame and point the way along which others may follow with like success. The reputation of Samuel S. Reed, one of the leading journalists of Gibkon county, having been unassailable all along the highways of life, according to those who have known him best, it is believed that a critical study of. his career will be of benefit to the reader, for it has been not only one of honor, but of usefulness also.

Samuel S. Reed, who, after an active and useful life, is now living retired in Oakland City, was born in Winslow, Pike county, Indiana, on November 29, 1839, and is the son of Elijah and Rebecca (Slater) Reed, the former a native of North Carolina, and the latter of the Hoosier state. Elijah Reed came from his native state to Indiana in early manhood, locating first at Bloomington, where he was later married. He was a carpenter by trade and in the early days here did much important building. Eventually he removed from Bloomington to Winslow, Pike county, and from there to Monroe, that county, where he located on a farm, to the operation of which he devoted his remaining years, dying there at the advanced age of eightyfour years. His widow survived him two years, also dying at the age of eighty-four. They had been married for the remarkable period of sixty-five years, and reared a family of thirteen children, eight boys and five girls, all of whom are now living- but two, and all of whom came to mature years and married before their parents' death. These children are as follows: John \V.. who is deceased; Samuel S., the inmiediate subject of this review; Clark, of Oakland City; Richard, of Oakland City; Elisha, of Pike county; Mrs. Jane Riddle, of Gibson county; Mrs. Phoebe English, deceased; Mrs. Milanda Bilbenback, of Princeton; Elijah; Joseph; Mrs. Rebecca Davis, of Princeton; Mrs. Sarah Ross, of New Albany, Indiana, and Peter, of Gibson county. Samuel S. Reed received his education in the public schools of Pike and Gibson counties, and was reared to the life of a farmer on the paternal homestead in Monroe township, Pike county. In 1861, .shortly after attaining his majority, Mr. Reed enlisted as a private in Company K, Fort\'-second Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, in which he served three years and three months. During his active service he took part in the engagement at Perryville, Kentucky, on October 8, 1862, and was with Sherman on his historic march from Chattanooga to Atlanta. After the war Mr. Reed spent five years in Spencer county, Indiana, near the town of Newtonville, where he engaged in farming, and then for nine years he was similarly occupied in Montgomery township, Gibson county. From there he removed to Oakland City, where he has since resided for a period of over thirty years. Here he has built a comfortable and attractive residence, and is num1)ered among the solid and substantial citizens of the community.

In 1866 Mr. Reed married Jane Hayden, of Warrick county, Indiana, though they married in Missouri, where she was temporarily living at that time. To this union has been born the following children : Laura E., the wife of Dr. J. W. McCord, a successful dentist of Oakland City; Lydia A., the wife of John A. Carlisle, of Terre Haute, Indiana, and Lucy, the wife of Fred Benton, of Oakland City.

Politically, Mr. Reed has given his earnest support to the Republican party, and has served tweh-e }-ears as justice of the peace and three or four times as a memlier of the Oakland City council. He has maintained a deep interest in local public affairs, giving his support to every movement that promised to benelit the people, educationally, morally, socially and materially. Fraternally, he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he has passed all the chairs in the subordinate lodgel and is also a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. His religious connection is with the Christian church, of which he is an elder. Because of his sterling c[ualities of character and upright life, Mr. Reed enjoys the confidence and esteem of the entire community with which he has been identified for so many years, standing as one of the representative citizens of the locality.

Robert A. Jenkins

This well-known citizen is another of the gallant boys who, a half century ago, enlisted to save the Union, and during that ever memorable struggle he was found ready for action, no matter how dangerous or arduous the duty. He did not enter the service as some did, from motives of sport or frolic, but saw beneath the surface and realized that the South was determined to break up the Union for the purpose of establishing a confederacy of slave-holding states. From his earliest years he had been taught to hate slavery and to do all he could to blot it from this country's escutcheon. He regarded it as a foul blot on the old flag, so that when the rebels precipitated the conflict he was ready to take up arms to preserve the Union.

Robert A. Jenkins was born in Butler county, Kentucky, May 7, 1838. the son of Thomas and Martha (Webster) Jenkins, both natives of Butler county. The father was a farmer and also a skilled mechanic, making shoes, looms, coffins, furniture and plows and was noted far and wide for his skill with tools. He canie to Gibson county, Indiana, about 1858 and settled south of Oakland City, remaining there until 1867, when he removed to Carroll county, ^iissouri, where he died. He was a Democrat and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. To Thomas and Martha Jenkins were born eight chililren, namel}' : Elizabeth married James Jenkins and lived in Columbia township, Gibson county; Benjamin was a member of the Eightieth Indiana \'olunteer Infantry and died at Indianapolis from a wound received in the service; George died in Missouri; Robert A.; William T., who was a member of the Eleventh Kentucky in the Civil war, died in Missouri ; Squire Mansfield, also a member of the Eleventh Kentucky in the Civil war, died at Lexington, Kentucky; Willis is living at Nevada, Missouri; Ferdinand resides in Carlton, ^lissouri.

The subject of this review attended the old subscription schools and acquired what education they had to offer, living at home and assisting in the cultivation of his father's farm until he reached the age of twenty-one, when he married Rebecca Lowney, of Carlton, Carroll county, Missouri. She died in 1910, and was the mother of the following children: Stephen is with the traction ciimpan\- at Springfield, Missouri; Ella is the wife of W. E. John, of Springfield, Missouri; Emma, deceased, was the wife of Al Brumfield; Fred, whu was emplo\"ed bv the Bell Telephone Company, was killed while working on a ])ole in Springfield, Missouri; Bertha and Robert are deceased; one child died in infancy.

In the fall of 1861 Mr. Jenkins enlisted at Princeton. Imliana, in Company F, lujrty-second Regiment Indiana \'(ilnnteer Infantry, the command first being sent to Evansville, Indiana, where the}- were in camp fur several weeks, then going to Henderson and Calhonn, Kentuck}-. and fmni there to Owensboro. On a flat boat they patroled Green river from this place to the mouth of that stream, and also the Tennessee river to its mouth. After taking part in the battle of Fort Donelson, they went to Nashxille and Murf reesboro, when the subject was taken sick and was sent home on a thirty days' furlough. Physicians advised him that he was too ill to again enter active service, but in spite of this he again reported, and attached himself to Captain Pierce's companx', a part of the Eleventh Kentuckw until he could reach his own command. \\'ith this compan\- he was at Shiloh, Corinth and Quaker Springs, then being detailed to care for the sick and wounded of the Eleventh Kentucky in the hospital, later going to Huntsville, Alabama, where he rejoined his original company and with them marched to Deckard's Station, subsequently falling back with them to Louisville, where an order was given them to bring up the rear at Huntsville, Alabama. With five hundred of his comrades, Mr. Jenkins made the trip, being attacked several times. During the confusion the trains left fifteen hundred men at Stephenson, Alabama, and the Confederates bombarded the town and compelled them to retire to the Cumberland mountains, from where they proceeded to IMurfreesboro and then to Louisville. Soon the\- were engaged in the battles at Perrysville and at Crab Orchard, and at New Market Mr. Jenkins was again taken ill. a general breakdown being the result of his strenuous activities in the .service. He was taken to Lebanon, Kentucky, and placed in the hospital dead house and left for dead. However, he revived and after spending ten days in this hospital he was sent by way of Bowling Green to Louisville, where he was confined to the hospital for about a month, then being consigned to the Invalid Corps anfl sent to Xew All)any. Indiana. I4ere hv remained until he felt able to resume active duties, when he went l^ack on his own responsibility and joined his regiment at Murfreesboro, Tennessee. They took part in the Tallahoosa raid, but when they reached the foot of the Cumberland mountains, Mr. Jenkins broke down completely and was discharged at Stephenson, Alabama, in 1863, returning to his home. For a long time after his discharge the subject was incapacitated as a result of his illness.

In the fall of 1866 Mr. Jenkins went to Springfield, Missouri, and engaged in farming for a year, then removing to Carroll county, that state, where he purchased eighty acres of land and remained for seven years. In 1874 he returned to Gibson county, Indiana, and bought several town lots in

Oakland City and later a small tract of land west of that place, where he resided for a while, then acquiring seventy-two acres of land near Augusta, Indiana, which he farmed for three years. Subsequently he sold his holdings and removed to Missouri, where he rented land near Springfield and carried on gardening until 1912, returning then to Oakland City, where he has since lived in retirement. On December 25th of that year, Mr. Jenkins was united in marriage to Martha Jenkins, the widow of Lemuel Jenkins.

The subject is a member of John Mathews Post, Grand Army of the Republic, at Springfield, Missouri. His belief in matters of religion is indicated by his membership in the Methodist Episcopal church.

John Sloan

In the early days the middle West was often a tempting field to energetic, ambitious, strong-minded men, and Indiana was filled with them during the time she was struggling up to a respectable position in the sisterhood of states. There was a fascination in the broad field and great promise which this newer region presented to acti\'ity that attracted many men and induced them to Ijrave the discomforts of the early life here for the pleasure and gratification of constructing their fortunes in their own way and after their own methods. The late John Sloan, for a long lapse of years one of the most substantial and prominent citizens of Gibson county, was a native son of this favored section of the country, and for many years wielded a potent influence. He gave to the world the best of an essentially virile, loyal and noble nature, and his standard of honor was absolutel}- inflexible. He was a citizen of high civic ideals and ever manifested his liberalit}- in connection with measures and enterprises tending to advance the general welfare of the community honored by his residence. He was the architect of his own fortune and upon his career there rests no blemish, for he was true to the highest ideals and principles in business, civic and social life. He lived and labored to worthy ends and as one of the sterling citizens and representative men of this locality in a past generation his memory merits a tribute of homir on the pages of history.

John Sloan was born March 9, 1838, on the old Sloan homestead in Patoka, Gibson county, Indiana, and was a son of Richard and Nancy (Bell) Sloan. These parents were born and reared near Charleston, South Carolina, and later went to the state of Kentucky, and eventually located in Gibson county, Indiana, settling near Hazelton, of which locality they were among the first settlers. There they obtained a tract of wild land, which the father clearefl and on which he built a typical log cabin, in which they established their home and here the father was accidentally killed while leaning on his gun during a deer hunt near Patoka, in 1841. He was sur\i\ed more than three decades by his widow, whose death occurred in August. 187^. I\lr. Sloan was a farmer by vocation, and also gave attention in his early rears here to freighting, having hauled many Vincennes. A man of genial dispusitidu he enjoyed a large acquaintance, among \ was the father of six children, James. Martha.

John Sloan had little opportunity for securing a school education, his early days being spent on the home farm, and. because of the untimely death of his father, the support of his mother and the rest of the family was largely thrown upon his shoulders. After his marriage, which occurred in i860, he and his wife located on a part of his father's old homesteail. and eventually bought the home where they spent tlieir remaining days and where Mrs. .Sloan now resides. The farm comprises one hundred and eleven acres, and is numbered among the choice agricultural tracts in this locality. Mr. Sloan, who followed farming throughout his active life, was a man of industrious habits and exercised sound judgment in the management of his estate, with the result that he was enabled to realize a handsome profit from its operation. He was up-to-date and methodical in his methods, raising all the crops common to this section and also giving some attention to the handling of live stock. In addition to the home farm, Mrs. Sloan also (jwns eighty acres of land in the Patoka bottoms and forty acres in White River township, both of which are valuable lands.

On January 26, i860, John Sloan was united in marriage with Catherine Phillips, who was born January 6, 1841. the daughter of Alexander and Christina (Decker) Phillips, the father a native of Tennessee and the mother of Washington township, Gibson county, huliana. .\lexandcr Phillips came with his parents to Washington township, this count)-, being among the earliest settlers of that locality, and here he grew to maturity and married, and spent the remainder of his days there. He was a farmer and passed through all the hardships incident to frontier life. Their first home in which they lived on coming here was but a rail pen. which was later followed Ijy a (45) log cabin, and eventually an attractive and modern residence was built. To Mr. and Mrs. Phillips were born the following children : Polly, deceased, was twice married, first to John Foster, and the second time to Michael Murphy, their home being in Washington township, and both are now deceased. Xancy married William Hargrove, and both are now deceased. Henry, who lives in Washington township, married Jane McRoberts. Catherine, Mrs. Sloan. Elizabeth became the wife of Hiram Keith, who lives about six miles west of Princeton. Serena is the wife of Thomas Boswell, at Madison, Illinois. Christina was twice married, first to Riley Decker and second to George Hays, of Washington township, this county. Some time after the death of his first wife, Alexander Phillips married Nancy Bullard, and to this union was born one child, Alice, deceased, who was the wife of Charles Thompson. To Mr. and Mrs. Sloan were born ten children, namely : Richard A., born October 23, i860, and who is a farmer in Patoka township, married Etta Smith, and to their union were born eight children, Galen, Barney, Jess, Stella, Ethel, deceased, Avilla, Frank, deceased, and Alonzo, also deceased. Caleb T., born December 5, 1862, is a retired farmer living at Princeton. He married Catherine Thompson and they have three children, Howard, deceased, Ruth and Frank. James Henry, born Novemljer 24, 1864, died on August 28, 1877. Nancy Cordelia, born November i, 1866, married William Smith, and her death occurred August 4, 1898. They were the parents of four children, Gilbert, Ida, Mary and Bertha. Isaac Newton, born March i, 1869, married Ida Decker and after her death married Minnie Pritchett, a native of Illinois. To the first union were born two children, namely: Mabel Mary, who became the wife of Fred Warthe, of Evansville, Indiana, and Dennis Paul, who lives at home with his grandmother, and who is a brakeman on the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad. By his second marriage, Isaac Newton Sloan l:)ecame the father of three children, Thelma Olive, the wife of Gustan Sward, Charles Newton and Callis. Isaac Newton now lives at Pine Bluffs, Arkansas, and is a conductor on the Cotton Belt Railroad, having followed railroading since sixteen years of age. West Sloan, born May 5, 1871, was killed 1)y the accidental discharge of a gun on June 11, 1889. John W., born April 27, 1873, and who now lives at Stonington, Colorado, married, first, Ella Eaton, and to them were born five children: Morris, who married Martha Walker and lives in Patoka township, Bessie, who died in 191 1, Lennie, George and Ralph. For his second wife John W. Sloan married Myrtle Finch and they are the parents of four children, a daughter that died in infancy, Henry, Perry and John Robert. Christina Sloan, born

November 2, 1873. married, c.n Septenil)er jj, i8i;6. Charles Xeimeier. a merchant at Princeton, Indiana, and they liave two cliil(h-en. Harold, who died at the age of eight years, and Helen. JXaxid D. Sluan. horn March 18. 1878, married, on December 17, iqio, Allie I.xncli, and they li\e nu a [lart of the old homestead farm. He was formerly a railroad m;in, bnl is now engaged in a store. They have two children, Charles and Mabel. Charle.s B. Sloan, born February 6, 1881, died on September 5, 1896. The death of John ^^^ Sloan, the subject of this sketch, occurred on November 20, 191 1, and his passing away was considered a distinct loss u> the community. His death removed from Gibson county one of her most substantial and highly esteemed citizens and the many beautiful tributes to his high standing as a man and citizen attested to the abiding iilace he had in the hearts and affections of his friends. His life was ;in inspiration tn all who knew him, and his memory remains to his friends ;'nd children as a blesseil l)enediction of an noble and u])right character. Although his lite was one, his e\'ery-day affairs making heavy demands upon his time, Mr. Sloan never shrank from his duties as a citizen and his obligations to his neighbors and his friends. Always calm and dignified, never demonstrative, his life was, nevertheless, a persistent plea, more by precept and example than by public action and spoken word, for the surety and guarantee of right principles in the elevation of wholesome character. To him home life was a sacred trust, friendship was inviolable and nothing could swer\e him from the ])ath nf rectitude and honor.