Grant County, Indiana - The whole text, 1914 (part 13 of 32)

Tarleton R. Bell, father of the Upland merchant, was born in Ken¬ tucky in 1818, and was still a child when his family moved to Decatur county, Indiana, where he grew up as a farm boy and spent the early part of his manhood. Before his marriage he went to Tennessee, and was for some time engaged in railway grade contracting. In that state he met and married Emma E. Adams, who was born and reared in Ten¬ nessee. Finally they returned to Indiana, and settled on the old Bell farm in Decatur county. After that the occupations of carpenter and farmer occupied the attention of Tarleton Bell, until his death in 1882. His widow is still living, at her home in Greenburg, Decatur county. On October 14, 1913, she was eighty years of age, and in spite of her four¬ score years is bright and keeps up with the current news of the day, and often entertains her pioneer friends at the regular annual meeting. She has been a lifelong member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and her husband worked with her in the same faith. He held to the political policies of the Democratic party, and living in a Republican district was at one time nominated for the office of representative, and nearly suc¬ ceeded in overturning the normal Republican majority. He was a close friend of the Hon. William S. Holman.

Mr. J. D. Bell was one of six children ; a daughter, Mrs. Mary Cheneworth, lives in Los Angeles, California; Wilbur is a farmer near Bur¬ lington, New Jersey, and has a family of children; Emma is the wife of William E. Tull, of Fairmount, Minnesota, and has one daughter; Nora lives with her mother in Greenburg, Indiana, her filial devotion never having permitted her to marry ; George died when forty-three years of age, leaving several children.

At Clarksburg, in Decatur county, Mr. Bell married Miss Emma C. Cain, who was born at Matamora, in Franklin county, Indiana, March 3, 1857. She grew up and received her education in the same locality. Her parents were Doctor C. C. and Eliza A. (Clements) Cain, her father well known as a prominent physician and surgeon at Matamora in Frank¬ lin county, and for sixty years practiced his profession and was one of the old-time country doctors who took his services to his patients regard¬ less of personal discomforts and physical obstacles and inconveniences. Dr. Cain died at the ripe age of ninety-five, and his widow was ninety - six when she passed away. They were likewise active members in the Methodist religion. Mr. and Mrs. Bell have no children. Fraternally Mr. Bell is affiliated with Arcana Lodge No. 427, F. & A. M., at Upland, and is lodge treasurer. He and his wife are working members in the Upland Methodist church in which he is trustee and recording steward, offices which he has held for the past eighteen years. He is also a trustee of Taylor College at Upland, and has given his official interests to that institution for the past three years.

James H. Seiberling. In the career of James H. Seiberling is exemplified in a marked degree the fact that merit wins recognition and that industry, perseverance and well-applied effort always bring just rewards, although some times they may seem delayed. As the president of the Indiana Rubber and Insulated Wire Company, he is one of the most forceful business figures in Grant county. He would have probably succeeded in any other field, for he possesses those qualities which make for success, but Jonesboro should feel grateful that he has centered his interests in this line and in this locality.

The Indiana Rubber and Insulated Wire Company was organized in 1890. with a capital stock of $200,000, as a corporation, and started the manufacture of insulated wire as its special feature, but three years later began also to make soft rubber goods. James H. Seiberling was the first president and has continued in that office to the present time. George Tate was the first vice-president, and was succeeded in 1898 by J. Frank Peterson as the holder of his stock, the latter being made a director at that time. He is a resident of Chicago. Nicholas Huber, of Akron, Ohio, became vice-president in 1908 and still retains that office. A. Frank Seiberling, a son of James H. Seiberling, became the first secretary and later superintendent and assistant treasurer, as well as a member of the board of , directors. The first treasurer was Monroe Seiberling, a brother of James H. Seiberling, who continued to act in that capacity 4 until his death in 1910, he being succeeded by S. H. Miller, a manufacturer of Doylestown, Ohio, who is also a member of the directing board. The present officers are as follows: James H. Seiberling. president and director; Nicholas Huber, vice-president and director; A. Frank Seiberling, superintendent, assistant treasurer and director; S. H. Miller, treasurer and director; R. W. Seiberling, son of James H. Seiberling, secretary and director; W. J. Richardson, time¬ keeper and director; J. Frank Peterson, member of the board of direc¬ tors. This enterprise has grown to large proportions, and at this time gives employment to about 400 people, the business amounting to some million and a quarter dollars annually, or about one hundred thousand monthly. It has become one of the leading industries of this part of the state, and is known as one of the largest in its special line in the country. A part of the large plant is operated by steam and the rest by electricity. At this time the factory is turning out great numbers of automobile tires and inner tubes, over 1000 bicycle tires a day and a full line of rubber supplies, as well as a great amount of insulted wire. This latter was the only product of the business when it was organized and continued to be the main line of manufacture for three years, when the rubber goods were added.

The directing head of this company, James H. Seiberling, is known to practically every business man of Grant county. He is a man who, although deeply engrossed in the concerns of a large and growing industry, has found time to cultivate his social nature and to enjoy the pleasures of companionship with his fellow-men. Mr. Seiberling was born in Summit county, Ohio, November 25, 1835, and comes of German ancestry. His great-grandfather, John Frederick Seiberling, was born in Germany, and came to America in young manhood, locating at Linnville, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, where he spent the remainder of his life, passing away at an advanced age. Nathan Seiberling, father of James H. Seiberling, was bom in Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, about the year 1810, and grew up a farmer. He married a Pennsylvania girl and they began their married life on a farm in Lehigh county. Subsequently the father moved to Ohio and settled on a farm in Norton township, Summit county. The grandfather was a remarkable man in many ways, was alert and active to the last, and fully retained the possession of his faculties. He came to Summit county, Ohio, in his ninety-third year and died there. While a resident of Linnville he had served as postmaster for sixty-five years, and when he died was the oldest postmaster in the United States. Although a whig and a Republican, Mr. Seiberling was never opposed by the opposite party's candidates. From the time of the emigrant the family has been identi¬ fied with the Lutheran church, and of this John Frederick Seiberling and his wife were both faithful nlpmbers. Their children were: Joshua, Sarah, Nathan, Peter, John and William, and probably several other daughters. All of these grew to maturity, were married and had families.

Nathan Seiberling, the father of James H. Seiberling, was bom in Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, and there was married to Miss Catherine Peters, who was born about 1812 in that county. Shortly after their union, about 1830 the young couple traveled overland with teams across the mountains into Norton township, Summit county, Ohio, and there settled in the woods, the father building a little log cabin, in which James H. Seiberling was later born. After some years this cabin home was supplemented by a good frame house. Mr. Seiberling 's first purchase amounted to 100 acres, but through energy, thrift and per¬ severance he managed to accumulate a competency, and was known at one time as one of the large landholders of his county. The old home¬ stead is now occupied by his youngest son, Gustavus. It was in the home they first settled that Nathan Seiberling and his wife died, the former in 1899, when five months less than eighty years of age, and the mother in 1894, at the age of eighty-three years. They were life¬ long members of the Lutheran church. Mr. Seiberling was a Whig and later a Republican, and for several years acted in the capacity of justice of the peace and held various township offices, in all of which he demon¬ strated his ability, his faithfulness to duty and his good citizenship. There were thirteen children in the family of Nathan and Catherine Seiberling, the greater number of whom were married and had issue. The living, all at the head of families, are: James H., Charles G., Columbus, Milton, Gustavus and Sarah, a widow.

James H. Seiberiing grew up on the home farm and was given only an ordinary education, as he was expected to assist his father in the work of the homestead, and continued to remain with him until he was twenty-five years of age. He was reared to habits of honesty and industry, and early learned the value of hard, persistent labor. When twenty-five years of age, Mr. Seiberiing was married, and at that time, wTith his brother John, embarked in the manufacture of farm imple¬ ments, at Doylestown, near Akron, Ohio. This business was continued for some forty years, and in connection therewith the Seiberlings operated a foundry. This business is now conducted by S. H. Miller, who is also a member of tHe rubber and wire company, although James H. Seiberiing has an extensive interest in the implement business still. He also is part owner of the plate glass works at Ottawa, Illinois. As a sturdy, enterprising and up-to-date citizen, Mr. Seiberiing has accom¬ plished an incomprehensible amount of good for Jonesboro. His aggres¬ siveness, coupled with his energy and prolific mind; his honesty as an example and precept; his capability as a man of opinions, public and private, all have combined to entitle him to the appellation by which he is known - one of the worthy and valuable men of the county, in social, industrial and commercial circles.

Mr. Seiberiing was married in Summit county, Ohio, to Miss Eliza¬ beth Baughman, who was born in 1838, and there reared and educated, and still active and alert in spite of her age. She is a daughter of David and Elizabeth (Blocker) Baughman, natives of Pennsylvania and early settlers of Summit county, where they spent the remainder of their lives on a farm. They were faithful members of the Reformed church and widely known and highly respected in their community. Mr. and Mrs. Seiberiing are the parents of the following children: Martha, who became the wife of J. W. Richards, a director of the rubber company, and died without issue; A. Frank, director and superintendent of the rubber works and a . prominent' business citizen of Jonesboro, who married in this city Angelina Cline, and has two children, Paul and Catherine, who are attending the public schools; Ollie, whose death occurred at the age of fifteen years; George, who died when eighteen months old; Allen B., who passed away at the age of four and onehalf years; and Robert W., secretary of the rubber company and one of his city's progressive young men, who married Genevieve Linn and has one son, James Linn.

Mr. and Mrs. Seiberiing and their children have continued in the family religious faith, belonging to the Lutheran church. A Republican in his political views, Mr. Seiberiing cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln, and has continued to support the Grand Old Party to the present time. He has long been a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, while his sons hold membership in the Masonic fra¬ ternity. The beautiful home of the Seiberlings, a modern, brick struc¬ ture, overlooks Jonesboro and the Mississinewa river, and is one of the finest residences in Grant county.

Wade B. Teeter. The leading druggist of Upland, Mr. Teeter maintains a modern store, well stocked with pure drugs and with a large stock of druggists' sundries, at the corner of Main and Railroad streets. This store was opened in 1907 by Levi A. Teeter, father of Wade B., but the latter has been the regular pharmacist from the start. A short time before the store was established he graduated in the pharmacy department of Purdue University in 1907.

Wade B. Teeter was born at Pleasant Hill, Miami county, Ohio, September 14, 1882. The family moved to Grant county in 1890, lived for a time in Pleasant township, and later in Upland, where he graduated from the high school in 1900. For several years Mr. Teeter alternated between attendance at school and college and teaching and other forms of employment which were in the nature of preliminary steps in his regular career. In 1904 he graduated from the Marion Normal College, having previously taught school for one year and then taught another year, after which he entered Purdue University and completed the course in pharmacy. Mr. Teeter is a member of the Grant County Pharmacy Association and of the National Retail Druggists Association. Mr. Teeter is of Pennsylvania Dutch stock. His grandfather, Jacob Teeter, was born in Pennsylvania, later mqved to Pleasant Hill in Miami county, Ohio, where he was a successful merchant for some years. While there his son Levi A. was born January 11, 1847, and when a small boy lost his mother. Jacob Teeter married for his second wife a Miss Ward, and they continued to live in Miami county for many years, but Jacob died at his home in Dayton, Ohio, when eighty-seven years old. His widow, now about seventy years of age, lives in California. During the earlier generation the Teeters were all communicants of the Dunkard church.

Levi A. Teeter, who was one of the younger of his mother's children, was reared at Pleasant Hill, and from early boyhood gained a practical acquaintance with mercantile affairs under the eye of his father, a merchant at that place. He was given educational advantages that may properly be considered liberal, and after the common schools was a student in the Normal College at Lebanon, Ohio. For some years he taught school in Ohio, Indiana, and Nebraska. While teaching in Wabash county of this state he met Miss Ellen Bloomer, and their acquaintance ripened into marriage. After being married they lived three' years in Ohio and then came to Grant county, where Mr. Teeter was engaged in farming in Pleasant township until 1890, and from that date until 1910 he was in business at Upland. In 1910 he returned to Ohio and located near Farmdale in Trumbull county, where he owns considerable property and is now living retired. He and his wife are members of the Methodist church, and he is a Republican in politics, and has had a long and busy and useful career. Levi Teeter and wife had the following children : Von E., who lives at home with his parents and is unmarried; Wade B. ; J. Russell, who graduated from the Indian¬ apolis Dental College in 1914: Clara, who was for a time a student in DePauw University and now lives at home; and Francis, who is in the public schools.

Mr. Wade B. Teeter was married in Grant county in Monroe town¬ ship to Miss Mabel Mittank, who was born in Jefferson township in 1888. Her parents are Mr. and Mrs. Amaria A. Mittank. Mrs. Teeter was graduated from the Matthews high school in the class of 1910. To their marriage has been born one child, Louine, on November 15, 1912. Mr. and Mrs. Teeter are members of the Methodist church. In politics he is a Progressive, and is now serving his home locality as town clerk. Fraternally he is affiliated with Arcana Lodge No. 427 of the 'Masonic Order, and belongs to the Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

Jacob Wise. The career of the late Jacob Wise was one not only of long years, but marked by eminent usefulness as a man and citizen, and in many ways he made his impress on the Grant County community, which was his home for about sixty years.

Jacob Wise was born in Center county, Pennsylvania, February 15, 1833, and died at his home in Jefferson township of Grant county, December 12, 1909, when seventy-six years of age. His parents, Daniel and Catherine (Beckles) Wise, were of Dutch ancestry, and both natives of Pennsylvania, the former born August 30, 1805, and the latter in 1807. They were married in Center county. Daniel Wise was a skilled carpenter and cabinet maker, and he followed his trade for some years in Pennsylvania, though in later years he was chiefly a farmer. During their residence in Pennsylvania, four sons came into their home, and also a daughter, Ann Margaret, who was born and died in 1832. Then in 1848, the entire family set out for Indiana, placing, all their earthly belongings in a small wagon, and making the entire journey across the country and camping at night by the wayside. On arriving in Grant county they spent a short time with a friend Isaac Roush in Mill town¬ ship, and in the fall of the same year moved to Jefferson and acquired two hundred acres of land in section four. Only three acres of that tract was broken with the plow, and a log cabin was the home which first sheltered them in this county. After a number of years of hard labor and many difficulties the father prospered and came to be regarded as one of the most substantial citizens of his community. He was able to spend his later years in peace and comfort, and died in 1895, when ninety years of age. His widow passed away May 6, 1897, also ninety years old. They were both of the Lutheran faith, and were hard workers, kind neighbors, and in every respect good, thrifty people. Their chil¬ dren are given brief record as follows: John, born January 27, 1830, and died in Jefferson township, December 20, 1887, married Mary A. Marine, also now deceased, and their children were Samuel, who died at the age of twelve years, and Jonathan, who died after he was married. The second in the family is Jacob. Henry, born March 25, 1835, is a retired farmer of Gas City, and by his marriage to Maggie Simons, has several children. Samuel, bom March 3, 1838, died unmarried, Novem¬ ber 21, 1864.

Ja$ob Wise was fifteen years old when the family came to Grant county. He had an education perhaps of about the average amount and quality for the boys of his time, and had his share of pioneer labor in developing the estate in Grant county. In 1856 he was married, and he and his wife then located on eighty acres given them by his father-inlaw, Asa Marine. To this their subsequent good management and in¬ dustry added three hundred and twenty acres, and the entire place was improved with a fine set of farm buildings and was improved as a com¬ fortable and profitable home.

In Jefferson township on March 13, 1856, Jacob Wise married Eliza¬ beth Marine, who was born January 15, 1836, in Wayne county, Indiana. She belongs to the Marine family that has been so prominently identified with Grant county from the early days, and since the death of her hus¬ band she has continued to reside at the old homestead, where she owns two hundred acres of land. Though approaching the age of fourscore she is a hale and vigorous old lady, intelligent and well able to look after her business interests, and enjoys the esteem and admiration of a large circle of friends. Her parents were Asa and Lydia (Huff) Marine, both natives of South Carolina, and of Quaker stock. They came separately to Indiana, and were married in Wayne county, and from there moved to Grant county, where Asa Marine bought land on the Mississinewa and developed a home from the wilderness. His first wife died there in 1860 and he was again married and had three children by his second wife. The Marine family has many interesting connec¬ tions and relations with Grant county history, and further information can be found touching its membership and activities under the name of Daniel Marine elsewhere in this volume.

Mary J;, who was born October 13, 1858, is the wife of Jesse Stanley, a prominent farmer of Jefferson township, and they have several chil¬ dren; Solomon is a farmer in Jefferson township; Daniel lives on a farm in Jefferson township, and has a wife and children; Frank is living at home with his mother, is unmarried, and is considered one of the largest hog raisers and stock dealers in the eounty; Elmer, now married, lives at South Bend, Indiana, and has a daughter ; Alice, is the wife of Howard Simons, a farmer of Monroe township, and they have a son and daughter ; Lydia is the wife of George Himelick, a successful farmer in Jefferson township, and they have a family of eleven children.

Joseph Morrow, the elder, was bom in the state of North Carolina, A. D. 1799, and when a lad was brought to Wayne county, Indiana, by his father, John Morrow.

He was reared to agricultural pursuits, and for . a time was engaged therein, but subsequently became engaged in mercantile lines at New¬ port (now Fountain City), Wayne county, and while residing there served for a period as justice of the peace, and as a member of the State Legislature from Wayne county.

In 1843 he came to Grant county and located on his farm, bordering on the Mississinewa river, a part of which is included in the site of Gas City. In the spring of 1851, having sold his farm, he moved to Jonesboro and for several years was engaged in the dry goods business at that place, but finally retired from business entirely on account of advancing age.

In politics Mr. Morrow was originally a Whig and later a Republi¬ can, and was always opposed to slavery. He served twice as a member of the state legislature for Grant county, the last time in the winter of 1850 and 51. At this session an attempt was made to detach a portion of Grant county and add it to Blackford county which Mr. Morrow successfully resisted. His death occurred in 1863.

By his first wife he had, while living in Wayne county, four children of whom Joseph, whose history follows, is the only survivor. His second marriage was to Mary Smith, the sister of his first wife, and by that union there was born, in Grant county, three children: Alcinda L., Andrew T. and Lavina J., of whom Andrew T. is now the only one living and now a resident of Kansas and who was for many years a civil engineer in the United States service and for a time in the Argentine Republic, S. A., where his sister Alcinda L., who while young began her career as a teacher in Grant county, had been and was then engaged in teaching, having first acquired a proficient knowledge of the Spanish language and who recently died at Los Angeles, California, where she was highly respected as a teacher and for her charitable work. It is now proper as a conclusion to this historical sketch of Mr. Morrow's life to say that he was exceedingly conscientious in all his dealings with his fellowmen, and was highly circumspect in his demeanor, and always an unswerving advocate of what he believed to be correct principles of political and social life.

Joseph Morrow, Jr., a pioneer of Grant county, whence he came in 1843, and an esteemed citizen of Marion, has been a witness and partici¬ pant in the wonderful development of this section of the Hoosier state, and although now living a quiet life, retired from business activities, is still interested in the growth and progress of his community.

Mr. Morrow in his boyhood was denied many of the advantages con¬ sidered necessary to the education of the youth of today, and his early training or knowledge was secured largely by dint of his own unaided exertion a s opportunity was afforded him in connection with the school of hard work. His steadfast determination and industry have enabled him as will herein be further disclosed to make for himself an honorable place in life. He was bom September 9, 1838, and was the son of Joseph and Letitia (Smith) Morrow.

He was four years of age when he was brought by his parents to Grant county, and here he received his education in private and public schools. After going to Jonesboro he clerked in the stores of his father and afterward, for several years, in those of other merchants ; and subse¬ quently for a time served as first assistant teacher in the graded school at that place.

In 1866, at the age of twenty-eight years, he was elected clerk of ' rant county on the Republican ticket, and continued to serve in that office for four years, and following this was a member of the Grant county bar and thence devoted a portion of his time to the practice of probate law.

Later Mr. Morrow was connected with the North Indiana Conference, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, as a minister, but withdrew from the conference at a session held in Ft. Wayne, in 1874. He had joined the church at the age of 18 years, at Jonesboro, and was soon made a local preacher and served as such for many years.

In 1898 Mr. -Morrow removed to Traverse City, Michigan, where he resided for eight years, at the end of which time he again took up his residence in Marion, Grant county, and soon retired, on account of failing health, from all active secular pursuits.

On March 27, 1864, Mr. Morrow was married to Miss Mary A. Taylor, one of Grant county 's school teachers. She was born in England, daughter of William and Mary Ann (Fitch) Taylor, where Mrs. Taylor died. Afterward, in 1849, Mr. Taylor with his children came to the United States and settled in Grant county, Indiana, where he became engaged in agricultural pursuits on a farm located between Jonesboro and Fairmount and there his death occurred about five years later.

Her father's second marriage was to Rebecca Rich of Grant county, now deceased, by whom he had two children, Joseph, now also deceased; and Eli who lives in Kansas.

Mr. and Mrs. Morrow have three children, the eldest, Flora Elma Baldwin, wife of Dr. M. F. Baldwin, of Marion ; and Arthur J., now a member of the city council, of Marion, whose wife was Anna M., daugh¬ ter of Augustine and Loretta Kem; and Alcinda Estella, wife of Thomas H. Sherman, a merchant of Traverse City, Michigan, where they now reside. Mr. Morrow ?s character is so well known and so fully to be inferred from the foregoing as to make particular reference to it here unnecessary.

Henry D. Carter. Eighty-five years ago the first of the Carter family to become identified with what has in more recent years been known as Grant county, made his way from North Carolina into this section of the country, and from then to now men of the name have been worthily connected with the enterprises that have made of Grant county the progressive and prosperous district that it is.

Henry D. Carter, now deceased, represented the third generation of the name in Grant county. He was a son of George Carter and a grandson of Solomon Carter, the one who first settled here, and concerning those worthy pioneers it is proper that some mention be made at this point.

Solomon Carter eame of an old North Carolina family whose habitat there had long been Randolph county, which has in the past century contributed much new blood to the growth and upbuilding of this county. He was born there in the latter part of the eighteenth century, and there was reared. In young manhood he was married. His wife's surname was Jane, and with their family they migrated to Grant county, Indiana, about 1827. It is not to be thought that they found conditions other than most primitive in those early days. The state was young, having been admitted to the Union but a few years previous, and Grant county was in a particularly undeveloped and uninviting state. Mr. Carter had come to make a new home in a new land, however, and he did not permit the conditions that con¬ fronted him to daunt him in any manner. The result was that he settled down in what is now Center township, Grant county, his place being located on the turn of the Mississinewa River, a spot of singular beauty even in those wilderness days.

Here Solomon Carter and his wife passed the closing years of their busy and fruitful lives, death claiming them there not many years after they had settled, when they were somewhere between the ages of sixty and seventy years. They reared a fine family of seven sons and two or three daughters, none of which are living today. All of them married with the exception of Solomon Jr., who was a veteran of the Civil war and died in the Soldiers' Home in Illinois when he was quite an old man, and Jane, a daughter, who died aged 16 years.

Of these children, George Carter, who became the father of Henry D., of this review, was a good sized boy when his parents came north. He saw much of pioneering in the days of his residence on the home farm in Center township, and when he reached his majority and began to look about for himself, he felt that he could do no bettter than to take some Indiana land on his own account. He accordingly entered 120 acre» in Section 9, Mill township, and when he married a little later, he located on this new and uncultivated spot of land. There he built a log house, small but comfortable, and until 1850 he lived the life of a pioneer farmer. In that year they built a fine frame house, in which they passed their remaining years. He died on April 3, 1889, and his wife passed away on April 10, 1903. Both had reached a tine old age, and were ready to go when their summons to another life came to them. They were reckoned among the finest citizenship of their time, and as successful farming people of a splendid type, they had a secure place in the esteem of their fellows. Mrs. Carter particularly was known to be one of the most excellent managers of her day, and proved herself possessor of qualities and powers in matters of finance that undeniably had much to do with the prosperity they enjoyed. She retained her splendid mental vigor and much of her physical strength until the closing hours of her life. They were long active members of the United Brethren Church and were among its early organizers in their community. Mr. Carter was a prominent man in the community as an office holder, and his interest in the affairs of the church was such that he was usually to be found holding some important office in the administration of its activities. Their home was the free abiding place of all the itinerant preachers of the day, that being the period characterized by the circuit riders of the church, and all knew that the Carter latch string always hung out with a hearty welcome forthcoming to those who would avail themselves of it. Mr. Carter was a Republican in his political faith. Twelve children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Carter. The names of the twelve in the order of their birth are here given as follows :

Eliza J., bom in 1838 and 'died in 1848. Mary Ann, born in 1840, and now Mrs. Bond. She is without issue and has her residence at the Old Ladies' Home of Marion. John was born in 1842 and died in the same year. Susanna was bom in 1843 and died in 1849. Elizabeth, bom in 1845, died in 1846. Lydia, bom in 1846, died in 1871. ShO married Thomas Knight and had one son. William Carter was born in 1850 and died in February, 1912, on his fine farm home in Mill township. He married Elizabeth Knight, now living in Marion, Ind., and they have one son. Martha was born in 1851 and she died in 1875, two years after her marriage to Jesse Bogue, without issue. Solomon Jr. was bom in 1854 and now is a resident of Marion. He married Lydia Linder and is the father of three children. Lucy R. was bom in 1856 and married Daniel Gibson. She died in 1898, leaving a son and daughter. Rachel J. was bora in 1860 and died in 1862. Henry D.

Henry D. Carter grew up on his father's farm and early in his boyhood he gave evidence of those qualities that make for unqualified success in the farming enterprise. After he married he located on a farm of seventy acres in Section 31, Mill township, and there he spent the remainder of his life. He improved the place until it reached a high plane of modem completeness, and his barns and other similar buildings were built and equipped in a manner that left nothing to be desired. They were among the finest in the state and were built along scientific lines, in a manner most approved by experts in the line. His poultry house was a model of completeness with cement floors and every possible arrangement conducive to the comfort and general productiveness of the poultry.

In addition to his own place Mr. Carter came into ownership of the old homestead farm of 120 acres, which is another of the fine places of the county. His widow now owns and operates these places, with a success that is praiseworthy and that reflects great credit upon her as a manager.

Mr. Carter was a man of splendid native ability and of wonder¬ fully fine character. In addition to the care and conduct of his two farms he was largely engaged in the contracting business, road and street building being his line. Two years before he died he suffered a stroke of paralysis, and though he did not enjoy the best of health thereafter, he was able to attend to his duties in his former manner. He was a Republican and died a member of the Christian church.

On March 27, 1880, Mr. Carter was married in Fairmount town¬ ship to Miss Sarah C. Lamm, born in Jackson township, Miami county, Ind., on January 18, 1857. Her mother, Johanna (Elliott) Lamm, died when Mrs. Carter was six weeks old, and she was reared by her grandparents, Isaac and Rachel (Overman) Elliott in Center township, Grant county, Ind. The home of the Elliotts in those days was on the spot now occupied by the National Soldiers' Home. The Elliotts in the earlier days entered the land from the government, and there they lived and finally died, after which the land was sold back to the government by their son, Isaac, Jr., as a site for the proposed National Soldiers' Home. The Elliotts were of an old Quaker family, and people of many excellent qualities of heart and mind. The father of Mrs. Carter was Edmond Lamm, a native of Randolph county, North Caro¬ lina, who came to Miami county, Indiana, as a young man, in company with his parents, Caleb and Sarah Lamm, who passed the closing years of their lives in that county. They, too, were Quakers. Edmond Lamm was reared to farm life and he entered land in Jackson township, in Miami county, there passing his life, which, though busy, was unevent¬ ful. He was sixty-two years of age when he died and he had been three times married. The children of his first marriage were three in number, and besides Mrs. Carter there were Mrs. Margaret J. Bundy, now living at Converse, in Miami county, and Rachel, who died at the age of eighteen years. By his last marriage Mr. Lamm had one daughter, who died in infancy.

Mrs. Carter was educated in the public and normal schools and waa for five years prior to her marriage engaged in teaching. She is the mother of Prof. George E. Carter, of Port Arthur, Texas, and an instructor in manual training at that place. Professor Carter married Esther Shafer of Jonesboro, Indiana, and has one daughter, Margaret Catherine. Frank, another son of Mrs. Carter, is now in the branch house of a Cincinnati, Ohio, roofing concern, with headquarters in Chicago much of the time. He is not married.

Hazel Carter, a daughter, has been given an excellent education in the public schools and the Terre Haute (Ind.) Normal School and in Bradley Institute, having specialized in Domestic Science and Economy. She is now a successful instructor in that important branch in the Marion Normal.

Dwight is a graduate of the Marion Normal Institute in 1913, and he is busy at home, helping his mother to manage the farm, which is known as Oak Grove Terrace, and their combined skill and energy has been resultant in the most thriving and prosperous conditions about the place.

Ivy Luther. To be well born is one of the greatest blessings that can come to a child. Ancestry counts for benefits and becomes a matter of pride only as it confers attributes of character and family traits that enable later generations to live more fully and with greater usefulness to themselves and their community than the generations that have pre¬ ceded them. No matter how much may be charged to circumstances and environments in the making or marring of character, it is as true as the hills that 4 ' blood will tell. ' ' These remarks have special application to the Luther family in Grant county. They come of many generations of strong, sturdy Americans, characterized by mental and moral qualities of a high order, and the present generation has well lived up to the stand¬ ards set by its predecessors.

The family history is authentically traced back to John Luther, a brother of Martin Luther, the great German and reformer and founder of German Protestantism. One of the descendants of that John Luther came from Germany to England prior to 1630. The first American of the family was also named John Luther, born in England before 1630, and emigrating to the American colonies previous to 1640. This immi¬ grant was known as Captain John Luther, and was killed by Indians in Delaware Bay in 1644. He married Sarah Butternut, who was probably an English girl, and they were probably married in England, since their son Hezekiah Luther, next in the line of the family history, was born in England in 1626. Hezekiah Luther married and had children, among whom was Michael Luther, who was bom in Maryland about 1656-7. From Maryland he moved south into North Carolina, settling in Randolph county, the point of origin for so many Grant county settlers. There he died in 1734. In religion he was a Methodist He was twice married and had children by both wives.

was born December 14, 1776, and died August 3, 1855. He grew up in Randolph county of North Carolina, and married Elizabeth Stride, who was born in 1779, and died in 1816. They were farming people and members of the Methodist faith. Godfrey and Elizabeth Luther had five children, Sarah, Jacob, Martin, William and Catherine. Of these children Martin was born in Randolph county, North Carolina, September 6, 1805. He grew up in his native vicinity, took up farming as his occupation, and married Sarah (Sally) Kearns. She was born in Randolph county in 1807. After their marriage, which occurred about 1830, they settled on a farm in Randolph county, and spent the rest of their lives there. He died March 26, 1883, and she on December 15, 1892. Their religious faith was Methodist.

The children of Martin and Sarah Luther were as follows : 1. Mary Ann, bom August 18, 1832, died after her marriage to Richard Graves and left a family. 2. Ivy was born February 22, J834, and is head of the well known Grant county family of that name. 3. James W. was born July 14, 1836, and died unmarried during the Civil war in North Carolina. 4. Josiah was bom March 4, 1840, died in his native county, and married Anna Crawford, and their children were Elsa and Martin. 5. Martha E. died after her marriage to M. Lathrock, and left children, Ivy and Vetura. 6. Emily Maria is the wife of William Fletcher Hicks, and has seven children.

Ivy Luther, whose birth has been noted, and who is now in his eightieth year, has had a long and honorable career. Reared on a farm, he early found himself out of sympathy with the tide of public opinion before the war, and when the war broke out was conscripted for service in the Confederate army. Instead of going to the front he managed to secure an appointment in the Government Salt Works, but soon after left the south and journeyed to Henry county, Indiana. There he had his home for seven years, and then moved to Grant county, where he bought eighty acres of land adjoining the Fairmount corporation. He has placed many improvements including a fine home and barns and other out¬ buildings on that land, and is living in comfortable circumstances.

In Randolph county, North Carolina, Mr. Luther was married August 28, 1855, to Sarah Stuart, who was born in Randolph county, August 21, 1833. She was reared and educated in that vicinity, and she and her husband were school children together. Her parents were Jehu and Rebecca (Hicks) Stuart, natives of North Carolina, where they lived and died as substantial farmer people and strict adherents of the Quaker faith. The Stuart family has an interesting genealogy. Jehu Stuart, father of Mrs. Luther, was a son of Henry and Mary (Nelson) Stuart, both natives of Chatham county, North Carolina, and farmers and Quakers. Henry Stuart was in turn the son of Alexander and Elizabeth (Pike) Stuart. They were married in Frederick county, Virginia, in 1759, thence moving to Chatham county in North Carolina, where they died at a good old age. Alexander Stuart, going back still another gen¬ eration, was a son of Robert and Martha (Richardson) Stuart, natives of Pennsylvania, where they were married, and afterwards moved to Virginia. These last named couple were of English parents and were probably immediately descended from some of the Quakers who came over with or soon after William Penn and located in Chester county, Pennsylvania.

Mr. and Mrs. Ivy Luther have the following children: 1. Dorothy, was bom in Grant county, received her education in the city high school, and also the Earlham College at Richmond and the State Normal School at Terre Haute. She was for seventeen years a successful teacher in the city public schools and now lives at home. 2. Narcissa is the wife of Elias Bundy, an attorney of Marion. Their two children are Homer L., and Howard E., both in the city schools. 3. James A., is one of the prominent business men of Terre Haute, Indiana. He is one of the executive officials in the National Drain Tile Company, is connected with the Lower Vein Coal Company, and an official in various banks and other corporations. He married Lizzie Scott, and their children, Forest J., and E. Agnes, are both married. 4. Emily R., is the wife of Alvin B. Scott, a well known business man of Fairmount, whose family history will be found on other pages. Mr. and Mrs. Luther are both prominent members of the Friends church at Fairmount, and at the present time in point of years are the oldest couple in the local con¬ gregation. Their children were all reared in the same faith. Mr. Luther in political allegiance is a Prohibitionist.

Reuben Fritz. On North Main Street in Fairmount, the meat mar¬ ket enterprise of R. Fritz & Son has been a very successful establishment since its opening in the fall of 1901. Mr. Reuben Fritz with his son is a practical butcher and meat man, and they conduct a high class shop, with all the facilities for serving their customers with good meat. They kill all their own stock, and buy their cattle and hogs from the local farmers. They also manufacture the by-products into salable stuffs for the local market, and both in their slaughter house and shop have every¬ thing arranged for sanitary and expeditious handling.

Reuben Fritz was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, January 22, 1851. His grandfather Peter Fritz was bom near Pottstown, Pennsylvania, was a farmer, and of good German stock, known in that locality as Pennsylvania Germans. His wife was a native of the same state, and soon after their marriage they moved to Ohio with a little colony of Pennsylvania people, numbering about half a dozen families. They made settlement on new land in Liberty township of Fairfield county. There the grandparents developed a fine farm, and prospered. They died when well past seventy years of age and were members of the German Reformed Church, where the grandfather was a Democrat in politics. There was a large family of children, and two sons and about half a dozen daughters grew up, were married and had children. Two are still living. Mrs. Rachel Bowser is a widow living in Allen county, Indiana, while Mrs. Mary Mauger now lives at Etna, Ohio, with a daughter.

Martin Fritz, father of Reuben, was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, in 1828, and died in the latter part of 1851, soon after the birth of his first and only child, Reuben. He was married in Fairfield county to Catherine Soliday, who was born in that county about 1830. Her parents came from Pennsylvania, at an early day, and were among the pioneers of Fairfield county, where they lived and died as prosperous farmers, and as members of the German Reformed church. Mrs. Cath¬ erine Fritz after the death of her husband married Absalom Arnold, of Fairfield county, where he was a farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Arnold lived in Fairfield county until their death, she at the age of seventy-six, while he preceded her in death. There were five Arnold children, and Nansen, George, Frederick, and Emma all married and have families, and all are residents of Fairfield county, except the daughter, whose home is in Denver, Colorado. Mr. Arnold married for his first wife a Miss Weist, and had two sons and two daughters, of whom the two sons are still living.

Martin Fritz was a member of the German Reformed church, while his wife after her second marriage joined the United Brethren church. Reuben Fritz, after the death of his father, lived in the home of his grandfather Peter Fritz, until he was about twelve years old, and after that with his step-father Mr. Arnold. When he reached his majority, he started out to make his way as a farmer. He was married at Baltimore, Ohio, to Catherine Gehring, who was born in Licking county, Ohio, a daughter of Henry and Mary Gehring, natives of Wuertemberg, Ger¬ many, and married in Newark, Ohio, where they lived, and also in other places in that state until locating at Baltimore. Mr. Henry Gehr¬ ing died at Baltimore fifteen years ago at the age of sixty-four, while his widow later moved to Fairmount in Grant county, and lived with her daughter Mrs. Fritz, until her death in November, 1910, at the age of seventy-six. The Gehring family were Methodists. There were a large number of children, and two sons and two daughters are still living.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Fritz lived in Baltimore, Ohio, where he learned the trade of butcher, «and did business in that line there until 1900. He then moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana, and eighteen months later to Fairmount.

Mr. and Mrs. Fritz are the parents of two children. Nellie is the wife of William JL Lamb, a stock buyer and real estate dealer in Balti¬ more, Ohio. They have three children, William, Catherine L., and Vir¬ ginia. The son Harley H., the partner of his father in the meat market at Fairmount, was born, reared, and educated in Baltimore, Ohio. He learned the trade of butcher under his father, and has been in partner¬ ship since 1890. He was married in Fairmount to Miss Myrtle Hart, who was born and reared near Warsaw, Indiana. They have no chil¬ dren. Both Mr. Fritz and his son reside on South Main Street in Marion. Both are loyal Democrats, and all the family attend worship in the Methodist church.

John Alpheus Carter. The Carter family of which John A. Car¬ ter is a representative has lived long in Grant county, and has been characterized by many of the more substantial virtues of citizenship and private industry. The following article refers briefly to the main points in the family history since the beginning of its Grant county resi¬ dence, and mentions the different members of the family.

John Alpheus Carter was one of the family of Isaac W. and' Phebe (Whitson) Carter. Isaac W. Carter came from Clinton county, Ohio, - in 1855. Two years earlier he had married a Grant county woman, Miss Phebe Whitson. She was a daughter of Amos Whitson, a pioneer of Liberty township in the Bethel Friends neighborhood. Her father moved to Valley Mills many years before his death. Phebe Whitson had three sisters, Mrs. Ann Shugart, Mrs. Hannah Ellis, and Mrs. Mary Metcalf, all of whom reared families in Grant county. Isaac W. Carter also had a sister, Mrs. Louisa Walthall, who reared a family in this county. Isaac and Phebe Carter were among the best known pioneer Quaker families in Grant county, and both were useful citizens in the Bethel community. He always looked out for the welfare of his family and she was a woman to go about the neighborhood wherever there was sickness and need of neighborly ministrations. Her death occurred at the family homestead, and he died at the home of a daughter in Marion, having abandoned the country as a place to live, although he always maintained citizenship in Liberty, caring more to vote in that township.

The sons and daughters of Isaac W. and Phebe (Whitson) Carter are : John A. Carter; Joseph E. Carter; Mrs. Louise C. Harmon; and Mrs. Ida C. Kem ; William A. Carter, deceased, and Alice and Rosetta Carter, who died in childhood. All the other children have families about them.

married Miss Chestie Wise, and has two children, Ilene and Margaret. Eli Carter married Miss Dessie Hubert, and has a son, Hubert Carter. Joseph E. Carter married Miss Della Coggeshall, now deceased, and their children are: Pearl; Earl; Ray, who married Miss Marie Kelly; and Arthur, who married Miss Tabitha Emmons. Mrs. Louise C. Harmon is the wife of J. F. Harmon and their children are Madonna, Frances and Robert, and a daughter Glyde, who died in childhood. Mrs. Ida C. Kem is the wife of Oren E. Kem (see sketch of Augustin Kem), and their children are Edith and Carter Kem.

John Alpheus Carter, who recites the family history, married Miss Minerva Hiatt, and their children are : Omar Isaac Carter ; Mrs. Lena H. Moore ; and Miss Hazel May Carter ; and Harry, who died in infancy. Mrs. Lena H. Moore is the wife of E. L. Moore, and has three children, Harold, Herbert and John Moore.

The will of Isaac W. Carter provided that the three sons have the farm land and that the two daughters be paid in cash for their interests, and thus the homestead remained in the family name. William A. Carter, who became owner of the old home, was the first to die, and a son lives on the farm, while Mrs. Carter lives in Fairmount.

John A. Carter left the farm several years before the death of his father, although he continued to reside in the country for a few years after taking a position as rural mail carrier. He began his duties in that position on July 16, 1900, while the system was still an experiment in Grant county. The first carrier over a country mail route out of Marion was A. B. Comer, and his service began in September, 1899. The second was L. E. Rinehart, who is still doing duty, while Mr. Carter has been on route No. 3 for more than thirteen years, and is the second oldest rural carrier. All the rural routes in Grant county were com¬ pletely covered for the first time on August 15, 1902, a little more than two years after Mr. Carter first began delivering mail to country patrons. In all his thirteen years he has missed less than a week except for his annual vacation, and he has always had the friendly support of his patrons.

The Carter family has always been relied upon in the community where' these sons and daughters were reared, and their friendly inter¬ ests will always remain there, although J. E. Carter is now the only rep¬ resentative of the family in the township of Liberty. When the Strawtown road was built - the second gravel road in Grant county, I. W. Carter, the father, was a promoter, and with two neighbors, Willis Cammack and George Davis, undertook the contract for the mile begin¬ ning at the Liberty-Franklin Line, and passing the Carter farm to the Bethel road. The contract for the next half mile was taken by Tristam Conner, David M. Y. Whitson, and Richard Jay. The neighbors thus concerned worked much together in developing the community, and it is that kind of cooperation that counts for community advancement. Isaac Carter, Willis Cammack, and David Whitson owned a horse-power threshing machine together for several years. That was at a time when it required many more men and horses to thresh the crop than now, and the dinners served all over the neighborhood were the products of many women clubbing together. Threshing was always a social event and there has always been a subsequent friendship among the younger gen¬ eration of all those families.

In speaking of this old neighborhood policy and the Carter partici¬ pation, J. A. Carter said the rule was " Always go or send a hand," no matter what was going on in the community that required cooperation. And even while the interview was in progress, arrangements were being made over the telephone for all the town relatives to go out to the old farm on the following day for the annual threshing event. Although Isaac W. and Phebe Carter are gone, they will not soon be forgotten in the neighborhood centering about Bethel Friends church in Liberty. J. A. Carter's mail route is past the old home, and while he no longer follows the plow, he is in daily communication with the people who look after affairs, and the Carter ambition, as in the past, is to be abreast of the times in everything. The young people in the second and third gen¬ erations have all been given splendid educational advantages, and citi¬ zenship is of a high type in the family. The Carter farm in Liberty has always been a model and when results are in evidence anywhere the crops there have been abundant. The Carter burial plot is near the entrance to Friends Cemetery, and a beautiful shaft marks the last resting place of the family.

John A. Meek, M. D. For a period of more than forty years the late Dr. John A. Meek was engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery at Jonesboro, and during this time rose to a commanding posi¬ tion among the members of the profession in Grant county. The pioneer physician of Jonesboro, he gained a widespread reputation for his skill, his devotion to his calling and his broad sympathy, and was equally well known and respected for his sterling citizenship and his upright and honorable life. Doctor Meek was of Scotch descent and came of a southern family which was for many years prominent in Kentucky. His father, Joseph Meek, was bom in that state about the year 1790, and came about the year 1810 to Indiana, locating on a farm in the vicinity of Richmond, Wayne county, where he was married to Miss Julia Smith, daughter of John Smith, the founder of Richmond. Mr. Smith was a native of North Carolina, where he married a Quakeress, and soon thereafter moved to Wayne county, where he became one of his community's best known citizens, was Richmond's first blacksmith and merchant, and donated large tracts of land to his adopted place. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Meek located on a new farm near Richmond, and there were bom their eleven children : William, Samuel, Dr. John A., James R., Sarah J., Nathan, Margaret, Alfred, Allen, Sarah Ellen and Jane. All grew up and were married except William, Samuel and Sarah Ellen, and but two now survive, Dr. Allen Meek of Hollingsburg, Ohio, and Margaret, an eighty-year-old resident of Wayne county. Joseph Meek and his wife continued to live on the old home¬ stead throughout the remainder of their lives, and were both about eighty-nine years of age when they died. They were faithful members of the Methodist church, and Mr. Meek was a Democrat in his political views.

John A. Meek was bom on the home farm in Abington township, Wayne county, Indiana, December 8, 1820. He was reared to the pursuits of the farm, but early decided upon a professional career and accordingly began the study of medicine under the preceptorship of Doctor Swaller, an early physician of Abington, Wayne county. There he was married to Miss Sarah Weaver, daughter of Adam Weaver, a native of Pennsylvania of German parents and one of the very first settlers of Abington township.

After the birth of three children, Perry S., James R. and Mary E., Doctor Meek came to Jonesboro, where on February 14, 1848, he estab¬ lished himself as the first physician of this place. Here he was engaged in a successful practice until August, 1862, when he enlisted in the Federal army as a surgeon for service during the Civil War, and became 2nd Lieutenant and Surgeon, serving as a field officer of the Eightyninth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry. After more than two years of active service he received his honorable discharge, and returned to the duties of his practice at Jonesboro, where he continued one of the leading members of his profession until his retirement in 1889. From that time until his death he lived quietly at his home, although he never ceased to be interested in the advancement made by the calling or the progress made by his adopted city. Probably few physicians of Grant county have been more favorably known. His high ability, his devotion to the interests of his patients and the broad and unfailing sympathy which he displayed at all times endeared him to those who came in contact with him whether in a professional or social way, and in the affairs of his city he ever maintained a sterling citizenship that made him a promoter of all things that stood for the advancement of education, religion and morality. He was a Democrat in his political views, and his religious belief was that of the Methodist church, in the faith of which he died July 11, 1901.

Doctor Meek's first wife died in 1854, and on June 4, 1862, he was married to Miss Diana R. Pool, who was born at Petersburg, Pennsyl¬ vania, December 25, 1840. When she was eight years of age she was taken to Tuscarawas county, Ohio, by her parents John V. and Hannah (Milburn) Pool, the former born in Maryland and the latter in the city of Baltimore, that state. The Pool grandparents were German birth, while John and Ursula (Drake) Milburn, Mrs. Meek's maternal grandparents, were natives of England. John Milburn served as sheriff of Baltimore county, Maryland, for some years, but later moved to Ohio, where he died at the age of eighty-eight years. John V. Pool came to Grant county in 1852, and spent the remainder of his life in Jonesboro, where he died in 1854, at the age of fifty-two years, while his wife, who was born May 2, 1808, passed away February 17, 1887. They were members of the Methodist church, in which Mr. Pool was for many years a class worker.

Ten children were born to Doctor and Mrs. Meek, of whom five died in infancy, while one son, William, passed away after marriage. The living are as follows : Charles M., born August 28, 1865, and educated in the schools of Jonesboro, is a comicemaker by trade and now a resident of California. He married Miss Emma Brewer, and has one child, A. Milburn, who is sixteen years of age. Herman W., bom June 5, 1874, a barber by trade with an establishment at Marion, married Lillian Gagen. Frank, born January 19, 1880, and educated at Oberlin, Ohio, is a telegraph operator of Jonesboro and single; Harry Clyde, bom May 29, 1884, was educated in the graded and high schools of Jonesboro, and at Marion, Indiana. He was formerly a telegraph operator and is now connected with the Indiana Rubber and Insulated Wire Company as an automobile tire maker. He married in Jones¬ boro Miss Lelia F. Dunn, who was born in South Carolina, they have one daughter, Mary Belle, born August 24, 1910.

Mrs. Meek still survives the Doctor and resides in her pleasant home in Jonesboro. She is widely known in social circles, and among the members of the Methodist Episcopal church which she joined as a child of fourteen years.

Merrill L. Lewis. The Marion hardware store is a familiar institu¬ tion, not only to the citizens of the county seat, but to practically all the people from the surrounding country who buy their goods in the city. The manager of this store is Merrill L. Lewis. Mr. Lewis is a native of Genesee county, New York, but most of his early life was spent in Michigan. He was married on Christmas Day of 1873 to Miss Julia Breckenridge of Hillsdale county, Michigan, and after living in Lansing and Indianapolis, the family located in Marion in 1886. Since that time Mr. Lewis has been actively identified with the community* To this marriage were born three daughters: Gennie, Iva and Marjorie. The mother died October 5, 1896, ten years after the family located in Marion. Mr. Lewis afterwards married Mrs. Mary Roehm, and a daughter, Florence, was bom to them.

When Mr. Lewis located in Marion he was a traveling hardware sales¬ man through Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan, and Marion was central to his territory. He could be home frequently, and the family much en¬ joyed a home built to their own order on West Fourth Street, but later an opportunity came for entering a retail business and the residence was sold toward the investment.

Mr. Lewis first bought an interest in the Campbell and Ludlum Hard¬ ware Store, and later organized the Marion Hardware Store, of which he is business manager. He had his first experience in selling hardware in Lansing, and after five years as a retail clerk went into the wholesale trade as a knight of the grip. For fourteen years he traveled over three states, where he developed a splendid trade among hardware dealers.

Mr. Lewis associated himself with others in the hardware trade in Marion, the store being in the Wilson block, but as the business increased more room was required, and W. C. Webster built the present store room to fill the demands, planning ventilation, light and heat to suit the re¬ quirements. There is no better equipped hardware store about the country. Miss Gennie Lems is the efficient bookkeeper, and it is nothing unusual for her to go on the floor and wait on the trade - an unusual occupation for a woman. Miss Lewis has specialized on seeds, a fine stock always carried by the store.

It was in 1910 that the Marion Hardware store was moved into the present location, Washington and Fifth Streets, and a large force of men is required to take care of the trade. The firm has an extensive patronage from Marion factories, and from building contractors, and its farm patronage is excellent. No business in the city has better patron¬ age, and there is no more efficient corps of salesmen waiting on trade than at the Marion Hardware Store. There is no man in town who has the good of the community more at heart, and Mr. Lewis has always been a "booster." He is always allied with any advance movement, and when a subsidy must be raised he is always ready to solicit funds. The whole community recognizes the wrorth of a man who labors in its inter¬ ests. Some of the business men who have subscribed to factory subsidies have learned what to expect when they see M. L. Lewis and other busi¬ ness men enter their doors - there is need of money to boost some local industry. The community effort to equip the Marion Normal Institute was his special ambition, and he was gratified at the response of the people when the subsidy was raised for it.

On Sunday morning Mr. Lewis takes his place at the First Methodist church, a sort of a doorkeeper in the House of the Lord, and strangers as well as members are welcomed alike and offered a hymn book and psalter used in worship there. He always finds a seat for the stranger, and people visiting a church are glad of such attention. While the Lewis family has not always lived in Grant county, it is certainly part of community affairs, and fills a niche both in the social and business world. While he is surrounded by a competent force of salesmen, all of them defer to him in many things, a man who thoroughly knows the hardware trade and understands a profitable and necessary business, and that is what makes of the Marion Hardware store a necessity in the community.

Orlando H. Couch. There are probably few progressive farmers and stock men in eastern Indiana who are not familiar with at least the reputation of the Matthews Stock Farm of which Orlando H. Couch is proprietor. This stock farm, located in Section Five of Jefferson Town¬ ship is the seat of a big industry and one which for value and usefulness of its output equals any large industrial factory or commercial estab¬ lishment in the county. Of the one hundred and twenty-one acres com¬ prising the farm, one hundred acres are under intensive cultivation. Some of the features which at once attract the eye, and indicate the class of business done on that place is a large red barn, a silo of fifty-tons capac¬ ity, a first-class grain barn, a stable for the stallions, and a comfortable and commodious house of eight rooms. An unfailing supply of good water is furnished both to the house and to the stock farms by means of windmills and gasoline engines. Besides the facilities on the farm itself, Mr. Couch and his brother own a large brick property fifty by three hundred and fifty feet in Matthews, and utilize that for the feeding and breeding of hogs during the winter seasons. Some of the best red Duroc swine in the country can be found on the Matthews farm, and they are raised both for breeding purposes and for market. Mr. Couch keeps about four hundred head of these red Durocs. Jersey cattle is another specialty of his, and he has perhaps made his greater reputation as a successful breeder of Percheron horses. His Percheron stallion known as Lafayette, is a thoroughbred and was imported from France in 1909. Lafayette weighs twenty-two hundred pounds and cost twenty-five hun¬ dred dollars. An even greater horse by record and reputation is the Belgian stallion, Martin De Cappelle, which was imported in 1908. This horse weighs twenty-two hundred pounds, and cost Mr. Couch three thousand dollars, won the gold medal at Chicago as the champion Bel¬ gian stallion in 1908, and has not only proved valuable in a financial way to its owner, but has been the source of much up-breeding and im¬ provement in the horse stock in this community. Mr. Couch has followed stock farming since young manhood, and has proved himself both a prac¬ tical and scientific breeder and manager of live stock. All his colts have turned out well, and many of them have won prizes in the exhibitions.

Orlando H. Couch is a member of a family that has been identified with Grant county since the early days, and a somewhat detailed history of the family and its connections will be found elsewhere in this publi¬ cation, under the name of Thomas M. Couch, a brother of Orlando. Orlando H. Couch was born in Jefferson township June 10, 1870, a son of Samuel and Nancy (Furnish) Couch. The maternal grandfather was Judge Benjamin Furnish, one of the early settlers of Jefferson township, who entered large tracts of land, and that land, or a considerable part of it, has been in the possession of some of his descendants down to the present time. Mr. Couch was one of a family of five sons and two daughters, all of whom are married and have families of their own, except one sister, Nettie, who died after marriage to L. E. Richards.

Orlando H. Couch was reared and educated in his native township, and since twenty-five years of age has given all his attention to the prac¬ tical business of farming and stock breeding. In Madison county of this state, on August 31, 1893, he married Miss Ida M. Worth, who was born in Van Buren township of Madison county, March 24, 1873, was reared and educated there, is a daughter of James and Elizabeth (Hoppis) Worth, who lived and died in Madison county, passing away in the full ness of years. Mr. and Mrs. Couch are the parents of eight children, whose names and some facts about whom are mentioned as follows: Hallie L., who graduated from the Matthews high school with the class of 1911, but still remains at home. Wade S., who is attending high school ; Marion G.; Howard 0.; and H. Joseph, who are all three in the grade schools; Helen M. ; and John R. The oldest child, Samuel W., died at the age of eleven weeks. Mr. and Mrs. Conch attend worship in the Baptist church, and in politics he is a Democrat.

Joseph Needler. The Needier family record in Grant county goes back eighty years. It was established here about three years after Grant county became an organized civil community. Joseph Needier is a son of the pioneer, and is of the third generation consecutively residents in the county. His own career has been spent as a farmer in Jefferson township, where many years ago he won a place as a substan¬ tial citizen, and is now enjoying the fruits of his long and well spent years, on his home in section thirteen of that township.

His grandfather Needier was a native of Germany, was a young man when he came to America, and his marriage occurred probably in Pennsylvania. From Pennsylvania they moved to Virginia, where James, father of Joseph, was bom and probably other children. Later the family moved to Guernsey county, Ohio, and very late in life the grandparents moved into Grant county, where they passed away when very old. Their bodies now rest in a family lot in Jefferson township.

James Needier who was one of six sons, was bom in Virginia, about 1800. All of them came to Indiana, all were married and had children and are now deceased. James Needier grew up in Guernsey county, Ohio, and there married Rebecca Ward. She was bom in Ohio. After their marriage James and wife lived in Guernsey county, and while there Eliza J., Sarah, George, and John were bom into their household. Early in the thirties they determined to find a home in the then new country of eastern Indiana. It was customary among the pioneers often¬ times to go to the country they had in mind, look over the land, select the place, and purchase it from the government, and make some little improvement preparatory to the establishment of the family. Thus in 1833 James Needier came into Jefferson township, and after selecting a place in the wilds he put up a rough log cabin. In 1834, having in the meantime gone back to his family, he brought the entire house¬ hold and all their movable possessions to Indiana, and started life in the midst of a wilderness. His location was in one of the most remote and unsettled portions of the township, and for several years practically the entire substance of the family was derived from wild game. He often killed bear and deer within a few rods of the home. James Needier became the owner of four hundred acres of land in that township. The old log cabin was in time replaced with a substantial house, and his industry and good management introduced many other improvements and comforts into the family economy. James Needier died when about eighty-two years of age, and his wife passed away in 1871. They de¬ serve to be mentioned among the hard-working, thrifty, and honest people who had the strength and sturdiness of character of the early population of Grant county. Mr. James Needier was a member of the Methodist church, though he made no profession of religious faith. In politics he was a Democrat. Joseph Needier who was one of the youngest of the six sons and six daughters, and who has three brothers and two sisters still living, was bom on the old homestead in Jefferson town¬ ship, August 31, 1841. As his recollection goes back nearly seventy years he readily recalls some of the customs and institutions which have long since become obsolete in Grant county. For instance, he attended one of the old subscription schools, supported by contributions from the individual families, and taught by an itinerant schoolmaster. Ever since reaching man's estate, Joseph Needier has depended upon his own resources, and being thrifty and industrious gradually aecuramulated enough to enable him in 1881 to purchase one hundred and twenty acres of fine land in section thirteen. Since then all of that place has been improved with the exception of fifteen acres of native timber, and there is a full set of excellent farm buildings, including the comfortable residence in which he lives. The farm is now operated by others, and Mr. Needier has no occasion for worry over his financial circumstances, since he has ample to keep him in comfort the rest of his life.

Mr. Needier was first married to Nancy J. Owings, who was born in Delaware county, Indiana, a daughter of George and Ruth (Owings) Owings, her parents being cousins. Her family were among the promi¬ nent early settlers of Delaware county. Mrs. Needier died in Jefferson township when comparatively young. She was an intelligent and lovable woman, a capable assistant to her husband in his early efforts, and she is cherished in the memory of her children. Her children were: Elmer, who died at the age of twenty-one years, having been fatally injured when struck by a piece of timber; Orlando C., a successful farmer, and the owner of ninety-five acres in section thirteen of Jeffer¬ son township, married Sarah E. Ballenger; Lacy, wife of Carl Osborn; and Louis L., whose career is given in more detail on other pages of this work. The second wife of Mr. Needier was Mrs. Elizabeth (York) Wilds, who was born in Henry county, Indiana, and by her marriage to William Wilds had three children, as follows: Fred, who is married and has a family, his home being in Eaton, Indiana; Mamie Pearl, wife of Harry Pancoast, of Eaton, and their children are William and Arlis; and Leonard; the youngest, died aged two years seven months. Mr. and Mrs. Needier have one child of their own, Edith Ethel, the wife of Rev. Edward C. Corts, a minister in the Church of God at Logansport, and they have a son Adrian. Mr. and Mrs. Needier are members of the Church of God, and in politics he is a Prohibitionist.

Hanford R. Miles. The material development of Upland and vicinity owes much to the ability of Hanford R. Miles, prominent as a general contractor and builder. For twenty years he has been a resi¬ dent at Upland, and has to his credit a remarkably long list of worthy achievements in houses and public buildings, and other successful con¬ tracts. In later years a very important feature of his business has been street paving and concrete construction. Examples of his work may be seen in the Pennsylvania Railroad freight house at Hartford City, and the passenger stations at Converse and Ridgeville. For three entire years, Mr. Miles was employed altogether by the Pennsylvania Com¬ pany. The number of public schools likewise testify to his energy. Mr. Miles is a practical architect, and has drawn more than one hundred plans for public buildings, and different kinds of work. He was the architect and superintendent of construction of the fine high school at Matthews, and stood in the same relation to the handsome Washington Street bridge at Marion.

Hanford R. Miles was born in Blackford county, Indiana, July 2, 1869. He was educated in the public schools and in Normal College, and before his marriage got a wide and thorough experience in the different lines of the building trade, and in contracting. He lived in Blackford county until 1893, and in that year came to Upland. He had already proved successful in carrying out several important contracts, fcnd as the business broadened and larger opportunities were presented, he determined to prepare himself for the proper handling of these larger opportunities. He studied architecture, and for a number of years has given close attention to both the professional and practical side of his business. He was chosen superintendent of construction in the erection of the Deeren Planing and Lumber Mills at Upland, and had the superintendence of operation for seven years. He also drew the plans and took an important part in the construction of most of the buildings along the business streets of Upland, and successfully carried out the contracts for the erection of the handsome group of University buildings on the campus of Taylor University.

Hanford R. Miles was one of a family of twelve children, nine sons and three daughters, all of whom are married and all are living except two. The Miles family was established in the northeastern states sev¬ eral generations ago, and General Nelson A. Miles belongs in the same family relationship. The founder of this branch was Thomas Miles, who came from England when young, with his step-mother, and a few years later took part as a soldier on the American side during the Revo¬ lutionary war. So far as known, his life was spent in the state of New Jersey. Grandfather Lorenzo Miles was bom in New Jersey, later moved to Western New York, and in 1835 to Indiana, settling first in Fayette county, and in 1838 in Jefferson township of Grant county. 1 Lorenzo Miles died in this county, in 1850, when quite old. Hammond Miles, son of Lorenzo, was the first child born in Hammond, Steuben county, New York, and his birth occurred June 1, 1826. He was nine years of age when the family came to Indiana, and about twelve when they located in Jefferson township on a farm. He began life as a farmer, and acquired one hundred and fifty acres in Blackford county. He finally retired to Hartford City, where he died in 1910. Hammond Miles was married in 1849 to Sarah Remly. Their marriage occurred in Grant county, and she was born in Pennsylvania in 1829, and died November 25, 1901. When a child she lost her parents, and was taken into the family of Peter Gregory, who became one of the first settlers of Blackford county where she was reared and educated.

All generations of the family, so far as known, have produced loyal Democrats, and Hanford R. Miles is one of the ablest men in his party in Grant county. He has served his home community as a member of the town council, and also on the board of education. In 1892, in Black¬ ford county, he married Miss Luella Johnson, a daughter of Thomas and Sarah Jane (Rix) Johnson. The Johnsons were old settlers of Blackford county, were substantial farming people, and Mrs. Johnson died there when her daughter Mrs, Miles was four years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Miles have two children: Leah B., who graduated from the Upland high school in the class of 1913, and is now a student of German and music in Taylor University ; Doris, who is now a high school student ; Dallas, a son, the first child of Mr. and Mrs. Miles, died aged two years.

Frank Smiley. The leading general mercantile house of Matthews was established in that vicinity by Frank Smiley twenty-five years ago, and Mr. Smiley has employed the sound principles of commercial integ¬ rity and industry in effecting a result which classifies him among the substantial and prosperous citizens of Grant county. He started out in the drug business in Ndw Cumberland, now known as "Old Town" and is so called to designate the older part of the little city of Matthews. Mr. Smiley moved his enterprise to the new town of Matthews, when that village was started in 1891, and here became a general merchant on Massachusetts Avenue. His business there has been conducted for more than twenty years, and with marked success. In 1910, Mr. Smiley moved his establishment to a new location near the corner of Seventh Street on Massachusetts Avenue, and there occupies a well arranged store, twenty-two by eighty feet in ground dimensions, and his stock is always fresh and selected with a view to supplying all the wants of the large and prosperous community about Matthews. Mr. Smiley has been one of the leading men in his community for many years and was the first postmaster of Matthews, serving a long period in that office.

Frank JSmiley was bom in Jefferson township of Grant comity, August 5, 1861. His parents were Jonas and Lavina (Mullen) Smiley. The father, who was born and reared in Darke county, Ohio, was a young man when he took up his residence in Grant county, was married here, and thereafter followed farming in Jefferson township until his death at the age of forty-seven. With farming he combined the trade of carpentry, and while during his youth he had no educational advan¬ tages, he was always regarded and esteemed as a bright and intelligent man. He and his wife were Methodists in religion, and his political faith was that of the Republican party. His wife was born and reared in Grant county, and died at the old home in Jefferson township at the age of forty-two. Besides the Matthews merchant the other children were : Charles, who is an oil well man, living in Fairmount, and by his 1 marriage to Anna Monnahan has one daughter, Lavina; Mattie Grace is the widow of Eben Coppick, and has a son Reuben and a daughter Ruth. One daughter died in childhood. Frank Smiley was about eight years old when his parents died, and he grew up and was educated in Jefferson township, started out without capital and all through his own efforts has built up a substantial business. He was married in Delaware county, this state, to Miss Minnie Millspaugh, who was born in Jeffer¬ son township of Grant county forty-four years ago, but was reared and educated in Delaware county. Her parents are William and Margaret J. (Burgess) Millspaugh, both natives of Indiana, reared and married in Grant county, and later active farmers in Washington township of Delaware county. There her father died in 1906 when sixty-two years of age, but Mrs. Millspaugh still occupies the old homestead, and is now sixty-three years of age. The Baptist was the faith of the Millspaugh family. There were five sons and three daughters, and with the excep¬ tion of one son, all are living, and all are married but one. Mr. and Mrs. Smiley are the parents of one son, Russell, who was born January 19, 1891, and is still getting his education. Mr. and Mrs. Smiley are Presbyterians in religion. He is a Republican and for nine years gave an efficient administration of the duties of postmaster in Matthews.

Alvin B. Hoover. A solid business enterprise of Matthews has a history of its own, which illustrated both the progress of the town and the career of one of its foremost citizens. This business, conducted under the name and proprietorship of Alvin B. Hoover, is a complete establishment for the supplying of hardware, wall paper, paints, with also a plumbing and tinware department, and occupies a storeroom forty-two by ninety feet in dimension at the corner of Eighth and Massachusetts Avenue. This business represents the steadily progres¬ sive labors of Mr. Hoover, over a number of years. He established a business here in March, 1911, and in April, 1913, took over the entire stock of the Hayworth Hardware Company, and is now the only dealer in general hardware and related supplies in Matthews. His business up to a few years ago, was more in a special line as a paper and paint¬ ing contractor and house decorator. As a house decorator his business extends all over this section of Grant county, and also into Blackford, Madison and Delaware counties. He is himself a practical house painter and decorator, and that trade was the basis on which he has built up his present prosperous commercial enterprise.

Washington township of Delaware county, his birth occurring January 4, 1868. His native township remained his home until he came to Matthews sixteen years ago. His parents were William and Catherine (Hoover) Hoover, his mother and father being of the same name, but not related. They were both natives of Blair county, Pennsylvania, coming of Pennsylvania Dutch stock, and previous to the Revolution ' members of the family lived, in Virginia. William Hoover when a young man moved west to Henry county, Indiana, and there he met and married his wife, who came from the same state as he. Mrs. Hoover's parents were Peter and Margaret Hoover, and had settled in Henry county, improved a good farm, and made that their home until their death when past eighty years of age. After four children had been bom in Henry county, William Hoover and wife came to Washington township in Delaware county, and there established a home on eighty acres of land. There the parents lived quiet and industrious lives until past seventy and in 1905 retired to a comfortable home in Matthews, where both are now living, and are each seventy-eight years of age, and hale and hearty. The father belongs to the Progressive Dunkard church, while his wife is a member of the Old Church of that order. His politics is Republican.

Alvin B. Hoover was one of a family of six children, named as follows: Miles L., who is a merchant at Wheeling, Indiana, and has a family; Estella, who is married and lives in Missouri; George W., cashier of the Farmers State Bank at Eton ; Alvin B. ; Alta, wife of Denton Tomilson, of Madison county, and the mother of three children ; and Benton, who died at the age of four years.

Alvin B. Hoover was married in Gaston, to Miss Margaret Barrett, who was bom in Iowa in 1874, but was reared and educated in Delaware county. By her marriage she has become the mother of two children: Twila, who died at the age of two years and five months ; and Hilda B., who is thirteen years of age and attending the public schools. Mr. and Mrs. Hoover attend worship in the Methodist Episcopal church, and he is in politics a Republican, served seven years in the offices of city clerk and treasurer, and made a splendid record in administering those offices. When he went into office the city was burdened with a debt, and when he left the treasury had eight thousand dollars. Fraternally he is well known in several orders, including the Blue Lodge of Masonry, and he occupies the Masonic Building at Matthews as the site of his store. He belongs to the Wheeling Encampment of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, has taken all the chairs in the lodge and has also been honored with office in the Improved Order of Red Men.

Hon. Burtney W. Shafer. Over Grant county at large the name just mentioned will be most closely associated with the Democratic leader and former state senator of Jonesboro, and will recall the fact that he was a few years ago the first Democratic candidate who ever suc¬ ceeded in carrying Grant county in the senatorial district comprising the trio of counties, Wells, Blackford and Grant. While Mr. Shafer did some exceedingly commendable work in the state senate, his career is notable not only for his participation in politics, but also as one of Jonesboro's substantial business men, and he has long been one of the valued factors in local affairs of that city.

Burtney W. Shafer comes of an old Virginia family. His grand¬ father Phillip Shafer was born in Virginia, and was descended from a Revolutionary war veteran. Phillip Shafer was married in Rockbridge county, Virginia, to Miss Margaret McCorkle, a native of that county and of the prominent Virginia family of her name. Mrs. Phillip Shafer was an aunt of former Governor McCorkle of West Virginia, and she was a descendant of Colonel McCorkle, who served with the rank of colonel on General Washington's staff during the Revolution. The McCorkles were identified with early Virginia history, and by direct right were able to display their coat of arms granted during the residence of the family in old England. PhiHip Shafer and wife spent most of their lives on a farm in Rockford county, but finally moved out west and settled at Tarkio, Missouri, where Phillip died when past eighty years of age. His wife subsequently returned to her native county in Vir¬ ginia, and died there when about eighty years of age. They were Presbyterians in religion and Phillip Shafer, although of old Virginian stock, was opposed to the holding of slaves. Of their children, the first was William D. Shafer, father of former Senator Shafer; Arthur, who died, left three daughters; John is married and lives in Rockford county, Virginia, having a small family. The son Emmett lives some¬ where in the west, and has several children.

William D. Shafer was bom in Virginia in 1847, grew up and received his education in that state, and in Rock Bridge county married Miss Nancy Ruley. She was born, reared and educated in the same county, her birth having occurred in 1846. After their marriage, they made their home in Virginia for some years, and in that state were bom Burtney W., Margaret, Jennie and Esther. In 1884 the family moved to Grant county and located in Mill township on a farm. There William D/ Shafer still lives and all their children were reared in that vicinity. The daughter Jennie died after her marriage to Frank B. Bourie, leaving children, May and Frank; Margaret married Harry W. Wootring, who is connected with the rubber works at Jonesboro ; Esther mar¬ ried Professor George Carter, a son of Henry D. Carter, a sketch of which family appears elsewhere in this work. Professor George Carter is at the head of the department of manual training in the schools of Port Arthur, Texas, and they have one daughter, Margaret. Mr. Shafer's first wife, the mother of Senator Shafer, died in the early nineties and William D. Shafer in 1898 married Mrs. Lida E. Willson.

Burtney W. Shafer grew up in a time in which the inspiring influence was the mother, a highly educated and cultured woman, who afforded her children many advantages which schools could not supply. The local high school gave him an adequate literary training for busi¬ ness purposes, and he early engaged in brick mason work, and sub¬ sequently became a brick contractor, which is his principal business at the. present time. He also clerked for some time, and has had a thorough business experience and as a workman at a trade has a ready appreciation of all phases of the labor situation. In recent years, he has done a large and successful business in the higher grades of brick work, chiefly in decorative and chimney construction. Mr. Shafer has had his home about Jonesboro ever since 1884, with the exception of about eight years, during which he was on the road as a journeyman brick mason.

He was married in Grant county to Miss Myrtle Allison, who was born in Bartholomew county, Indiana, in 1874, was educated in the city of Columbus, Indiana, and to her marriage with Mr. Shafer has been born one daughter, Helen Margaret, born November 22, 1902, and now attending the Jonesboro city schools. Mrs. Shafer is a member of the Methodist church.