Grant County, Indiana - The whole text, 1914 (part 28 of 32)

William S. Glessner was born on section 33, in Franklin township, on the 17th of September, 1866, the son of Benjamin F. and Alcy Ann (Lloyd) Glessner. His grandfather, Moses Glessner, was a native of Somerset county, Pennsylvania, where he was born on August 14, 1809. Both of the parents of Moses Glessner were of German lineage, and he grew up in his native state. Later in life he came to Preble county, Ohio, where, he located and lived until he emigrated to Indiana, and in 1858 he removed to Grant county, Indiana. Here he lived until he met his fate by being burned to death in his own home. Moses Gless- ner married Nancy Shoemaker, and their son, Benjamin F., was bora in Randolph county, Indiana, on the 7th of June, 1842. He was but a boy when his parents came to Grant county, and when he grew to manhood he located on a farm in Franklin township; Save for one year he has lived on the farm in Franklin township where he now resides. He paid six dollars an acre for this land and it is now valued at two hundred dollars an acre. He has always been interested in securing public improvements and in every movement that would benefit the general public. He married Alcy Ann Lloyd on October 12, 1865, and three sons have been born to them, two of whom are living, William S., Charles A. and Herman. Charles A. Glessner married Nora Spangler and is a farmer in the state of Michigan. Herman haring been graduated from the common schools of Franklin township entered Marion Normal 'College, from which he was graduated with the degree of B. S. in the class of 1898. He taught two terms of school and for one term was the assistant principal of the high school at Roseberg. He died July 1, 1899.

William S. Glessner was reared on the old farm in Franklin town¬ ship, and when he was of an age to go to school he entered the district school. After being graduated from the public schools he entered Marion Normal College where he spent two years. After finishing his education -he became a teacher in the public schools, and for ten years he followed this occupation, in the summer when there was no school, finding employment at farming or in working at the carpenter's trade. At the end of his years as a teacher he went to farming and has con¬ tinued as a farmer since that time. His farm which is called Elmhurst Farm is situated on section 24 of Sims township, a mile east, a half mile north of Swayzee and three quarters of a mile west of Herbst, on a gravel road.

In politics Mr. Glessner is a member of the Democratic party, but he has never taken a very active part in the political game. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, belonging to Swayzee Lodge, and he and his wife are both members of Harmony Lodge No. 400, of the Order of Rebekah.

Mr. Glessner was married on the 7th of September, 1898, to Miss Chlora C. Shanahan, a native of Sims township. She attended school in her native township and is a graduate of the public school here, of the class of 1898. Two sons have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Glessner. J. Herman was born on July 16, 1899, and in 1913 he was graduated from the grammar school in Swayzee. George Raymond, who was born on the 22nd of February, 1904, is now attending the public school in Swayzee.

Benjamin F. Bryant. On the line between Sims and Green town¬ ship, on section thirty-four of the former township is the farm and home¬ stead of Benjamin F. Bryant, a substantial farmer citizen, who has spent nearly all his life in Grant county, and whose career has been one of substantial prosperity and with his share of civic influence.

Benjamin F. Bryant was born in Blue River township of Henry county, Indiana, April 3, 1859, a son of Edmond and Esther (Downing) Bryant, both parents being from North Carolina, and now residents in Swayzee. They were the parents of twelve children, nine of whom are living in 1913, namely: Ellen, wife of William C. Koons; Benjamin F. ; Sadie, wife of John B. Koons ; Joseph F. of Howard county ; Louis of Miami county; Charles 0., of Sims township; Maggie, wife of Eck. Allen of Kokomo; Anna, wife of William Ammons of Swayzee.

to Grant county, and as a boy he attended the district schools, and con¬ tinued his education and training at home until he was eighteen. Prom that time until he was twenty-one he gave all his time to the work of the farm, and when he started out on his own account he had little or no capital. On March 11, 1885, he married Miss Laura E. Shaw, who was born in Henry county, Indiana. They are the parents of three children : Earl, a graduate of the common schools and now living at home ; Ralph, a graduate of the local schools and engaged in farming ; and Ada, wife of Rev. Robert Wearly of Swayzee, pastor of the Christian Church. The family are members of the Christian church, in Green township, and Mr. Bryant is a deacon in the church and until recently was superintendent of the Sunday school, a position which he had filled for twelve years. In politics he is a Prohibitionist, and has always been a worker to promote religion and morality and temperance in his community. The Bryant homestead is located two miles south and three quarters of a mile west of Swayzee, and is one of the centers from which emanate wholesome influences for the betterment of the social and moral life of the county.

Arthur E. Curless. To the community of Swayzee and vicinity Arthur E. Curless has many important and varied relationships. To begin with, Mr. Curless is one of the men who located in what was then the new and scarcely developed section of western Grant county, soon after the war, and by his own thrift and industry improved and made himself the possessor of a large body of fine farming land. He is essen¬ tially a farmer, and from the soil has gained the nucleus of his substan¬ tial prosperity. In later years, Mr. Curless has undertaken various enterprises more closely affecting the general welfare of Sims township. He was one of the founders of the town of Swayzee, established the first bank in that village, was active promoter of the first improved roads through the township, and his name has been connected in one way or other with practically every movement for improvement and betterment in this part of the county.

Mr. Curless now has his comfortable home in section twenty-seven of Sims township, where he enjoys the fruits of a well spent career. He was bora in Brown county, Ohio, January 17, 1846, a son of Byard and Eliza A. (Hall) Curless. The father was born in New Jersey, a son of Asher Curless, who came from Scotland to the United States, first locating in New Jersey, which remained his home the balance of his life. Byard Curless was reared in New Jersey, and later moved out to Brown county. Ohio, where he married. He was a poor man at the beginning of his career, but prospered, and later in life moved to Grant county, where his death occurred. His wife also passed away in this county. They were members of the Methodist Protestant church. Of their eleven children two are still living, one being Arthur E. and the other Eliza, wife of John T. Fryermood, of Wabash county. The sons, Morris L. and Samuel B., were both Union soldiers during the Civil war.

Arthur E. Curless was reared on the home farm in Brown county, where he attended district school during three months of each year. He is one of the men who can look back to the old log school house days, and recalls the time when a school house was of the rudest type of con¬ struction and furnished with rough hewn benches and with a puncheon floor. In 1863, he first came to Grant county, and during the winter of 1863-64 taught a term of school in Sims township. After that he returned to Ohio to the old farm, remaining with his parents until his marriage. His marriage occurred July 13, 1865, when Miss Ada E. Hite became his wife. She was bora in Brown county, Ohio, December 3, 1846, a daughter of Noah and Elizabeth (Boyce) Hite. Her father was bora in Virginia, and her mother in Maryland, and they came separately to Brown county, Ohio. Noah Hite's father was in the war of 1812. Mrs. Curless received her education in the common schools of Ohio.

Mr. and Mrs. Curless began their married career without capital, and with their youthful energy as the chief insurance against the future. On January 1, 1870, they came to Grant county and located in Sims township, where Mr. Curless bought eighty acres of raw land. He and his wife went to work with a will to improve and to make this place pro¬ ductive, and in a few years, they were well on the high road to substan¬ tial prosperity. As their resources have increased, Mr. Curless has added more land, and now owns two hundred and eighty acres of the Sims township soil, all of which is well drained, has the best of improvements in the way of fences and buildings, and each season's crops represent a very desirable income. Mr. and Mrs. Curless have no children. They are both active members of the Methodist church in Sims township, and fraternally he is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and both have membership in the Lodge of the Rebekahs. He is a past noble grand, and a member of the Grand Lodge of Odd Fellowship in Indiana. Politically he is Republican, and at different times has done active work for the support of his ticket in this county.

Mr. Curless with Morris L. Curless, Willis Zirkle and James Mark laid out and named the town of Swayzee in Sims township. They made a contract with what is now the Toledo, St. Louis & Western R. R., then a narrow-gauge line, according to which the local parties were to donate the land, build a depot, grade and put ties on for a switch, and after this contract was fulfilled the railroad established it as one of its stations and thus gave birth to the town, which is now one of the flourishing smaller centers of Grant county.

In 1901 Mr. Curless established at Swayzee a private bank known as the Curless bank. He was the sole proprietor of the institution, and so conducted it until August, 1907, when it was a constituent factor in the organization of the First National Bank of Swayzee, an institution which is elsewhere mentioned in this history. Mr. Curless took a large amount of the stock of the new bank, but has since disposed of it. He was elected first president of the First National Bank.

Mr. Curless has the distinction of having been associated with the company of men who drilled the first gas well in Sims township and was president of the local Gas Company for thirteen years, the company having put in a plant at Swayzee. Mr. Curless has always been pro¬ gressive in all matters affecting the improvement of his community, and was the petitioner for the first gravel road ever constructed in Sims township. That road commenced at the Roseburg range line, and ex¬ tended through Sims township to Howard county, and was called the Curless extension. He also petitioned for another road from Swayzee to Mjertown, and an extension from the southeast corner of section twentyseven to Point Isabel. These were the first modern high-roads ever built in Sims township.

Henry T. Munea. A successful merchant at Swayzee, Mr. Munea has been identified with this community for about thirty years, and with the aid of his loyal wife has founded a substantial home and pros¬ perity, and is one of the most influential men in Sims township.

Henry T. Munea is a native of Clinton county, Indiana, where he was born March 14, 1855, a son of Michael and Phoebe (Thorp) Munea. His father was of French birth, born near the city of Paris, March 10, 1827, and came with his parents to America, their settlement in Clinton county, Indiana, occurring about 1833, the pioneer year. The father was reared at the old home at Rossville, later moved to Carroll county, and from there to Tippecanoe county, and in 1885 moved to Swayzee, where he spent the last years of his life and died May 22, 1905. He was the father of nine children, three of whom are now living. Joseph D. is a merchant at Buck Creek, Indiana, and Edward T. is a grocer at Miamisburg, Ohio.

Henry T. Munea was reared on the home farm in Clinton and Carroll counties, and received his education by attendance at the district schools. From the time he was eighteen until he was twenty-seven he remained at home working a farm, and then was married and established a home of his own. His first wife was Martha J. Lewis, who died three years after their marriage. On January 31, 18§4, he married Miss Margaret Eyler, who was bom in Maryland, October 19, 1855, and was twelve years old when her family moved to Indiana, where she was educated in the common schools. Mr. and Mrs. Munea have one living daughter, Oral, who is a graduate of the Swayzee high school and is the wife of J. O. Connor, of Indianapolis. Mr. and Mrs. Munea are members of the Methodist church, of which he is one of the trustees and also treasurer of the aid society and assistant treasurer of the church.

They are well known in fraternal circles at Swayzee, Mr. Munea having membership in the Masonic Order, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, and the Modern Woodmen of America. Both have membership in the Rebekahs. Mrs. Munea and her daughter, Oral, are active in the Order of the Eastern Star, in which they have passed all the chairs. In politics Mr. Munea is a Democrat.

Mr. Munea began business in Swayzee on a small scale, and by close attention to business and a study of the wants of his patronage has developed an establishment which is a credit to the town. Besides this business he is one of the directors of the First National Bank of Swayzee. He is also a stockholder in the Grant County Trust Company of Marion. They have a delightful home in Swayzee, and are among the best people socially of that little town.

Charles S. Lot. A member of the Grant county bar for the past ten years, Mr. Loy, while not an old resident of the county, has identi¬ fied himself closely with the activities of this locality, and is one of the most progressive and influential citizens of Swayzee, which has been his home and place of practice since coming to Grant county.

Charles S. Loy was born in Berks county, Pennsylvania, June 20, 1875, a son of Samuel and Jennetta (Foust) Loy. The father died at Orient, South Dakota, May 19, 1913, and the mother still lives there. The oldest of the family, Charles S. Loy, spent his boyhood days in Pennsylvania, in Kansas, and afterwards in South Dakota, and received his early education in the common and high schools of these different localities. He was the first white child to appear in Faulk county, South Dakota, where the family took up their homestead during the pioneer times. Later he attended the University of South Dakota at Vermilion, South Dakota, and from there came to Indiana, and entered the North¬ ern Indiana Law School at Valparaiso, where, after a full course, he was graduated with the degree of LL. B. on May 21, 1899, and admitted to the bar at the same time. He then moved to Chicago, where he was in the employ of the Deering Harvester Company, a concern which a year or so later became merged in the International Harvester Company. He continued with that great corporation until 1903, and then moved to Swayzee, where he began the practice of law, and has since done very well. He is a member of the Grant County Bar Association, and has been admitted to all of the courts of the state, and to the circuit courts of the United States District Court in Indiana.

Mr. Loy was married April 12, 1902, in the city of Minneapolis to Miss Vera Grove, a native of Clinton county, Indiana, and a graduate of the Valparaiso schools. She taught school previous to her marriage in Clinton county, Indiana. They have one son, Gean, born September 5, 1903. Mr. Loy is a member of the Knights of Pythias, of which he is a past chancellor. In politics he is a Republican, and both as a lawyer and citizen is a young man of much public spirit who readily co-operates in such movements and enterprises as tend to advance the general welfare of the county

Emanuel R. Niccum. For a number of years known to the citizen¬ ship of Swayzee and western Grant county as a miller, Mr. Niccum is the second generation of his family to follow in the same line of indus¬ try, and has known no other trade since he entered his father's mill as a boy. He is a highly respected citizen of Swayzee, and was appointed postmaster May 20, 1913.

Mr. Niccum was born in Wabash county, Indiana, October 5, 1870, a son of Elias and Ellen (Brownsfield) Niccum. His father was born in Darke county, Ohio, and his mother in Pennsylvania, from which localities each came separately to Wabash county, where they were married. The father for a number of years conducted the Pearson Flouring Mills at Vernon, and was in charge of those mills during the Civil war period. At the present time he is a resident of Amboy in Miami county, where he is well known as a miller. He was the father of six children, three of whom are now living. Oren M. Niccum is with the Grant County Lumber Company at Swayzee, and Julia E. is the wife of F. E. Hagen, of Wyoming.

Emanuel R. Niccum was reared in Wabash and Miami counties, and from the common schools attended the Amboy Academy, an institution from which many of the successful men in this part of the state have been graduated. He remained a student there until he was about sev¬ enteen years old, and then went into the mill, managed by his father, under whose supervision he acquired the intricate art of milling. For eight years he was head miller at Greentown, Indiana, and then came to Swayzee, where for eight years he was in the employ of the local milling concern, until it was sold in March, 1912.

In January, 1895, Mr. Niccum married Miss Laura Rennaker, who was born in Wabash county. Their two children are Merville, a student in the first year of the local high schools, and Geraldine, twelve years of age and in the grammar school. Mr. Niccum is a member of Beacon Lodge No. 320, I. O. O. F. In politics he has been prominently identified With the Democratic party, and is one of the influential workers for Democratic success in this end of Grant county. Until his appointment as postmaster he had served as a member of the village council of Swayzee.

Noah A. West. A prosperous merchant at Mier, Mr. West has lived in Grant county all his life, and represents a family long well known and prominently identified with farming and business and civic activ¬ ities in this section of the state. Noah A. West was born in Sims, Grant county, September 25, 1874, a son of James Milton and Sarah C. (Ammon) West. His father, who was long a prosperous farmer and public spirited citizen, died in 1886. The mother is still living in Mier. They were the parents of nine children, seven of whom are yet living, mentioned as follows: Della A., wife of Jackson Miller; Lou E., of Rochester, New York, wife of F. J. Borgwald; Hattie L., wife of Arthur George ; Cora J., wife of Charles W. Myers, of Peru, Indiana ; Nathaniel

G., of Rochester, New York, principal of the high school in that city; and Earl A., a railroad man at Ecuador, in South America, and Noah A.

Noah A. West was reared on the home farm, and received his educa¬ tion in the district schools. When he was about eighteen years of age he found his first regular work in the employ of R. R. Taylor, the present trustee of Richland township. He continued in the employ of Mr. Taylor on the farm until January 1, 1913. He bought a stock of goods at Mier and has since been rapidly progressing as a merchant. Fraternally he is affiliated with Converse Lodge No. 601, A. F. & A. M., and in politics is an active Republican. In June, 1913, he was elected truant officer of Grant county for a term of two years. He is as man of quiet disposition, thoroughly honest and upright, and highly respected in his part of Grant county.

Henry F. Minnick. Love of land, of peace and industry, have been ever present and controlling influences in the life of Henry F. Minnick, one of the respected citizens of Richland township, and proprietor of the "Old Homestead Farm." Mr. Minnick has been a capable farmer, one who has used intelligence in the cultivation of the soil, and has pros¬ pered and provided generously for his family ^

It was on the "Old Homestead Farm" that Henry F. Minnick was born, May 13, 1857, a son of Jacob and Sarah G. (Lawshe) Minnick. Jacob Minnick was born in Pennsylvania, a son of William Minnick, a native of Virginia, who moved first to Pennsylvania, and then to Wayne county, Indiana, and finally to Wabash county, Indiana, locating near Somerset, where he had his home the rest of his life. William Minnick was the father of seven children, three of whom are still living, Milanda, wife of Isaac Hammer, David Monroe and John Minnick. Jacob Min¬ nick, the father of our subject, died in May, 1900. He had located in Richland township of Grant county in 1851, and on the farm where his son, Henry, still lives. There he pursued the quiet vocations of farming until his death. His wife died in May, 1909. In politics he was prominent, and was a man of substance and influence in the com¬ munity. He served a term as county commissioner, and was regarded as a man of exceptionally good judgment. He had eight children, six of whom are now living: Horace R., a resident of White county, Indiana; Charles S., unmarried, who makes his home with our subject; Henry F. ; Cary A., wife of Rev. Henry Neff, of South Whitley, Indiana; Amanda, wife of Oscar E. Haynes of Sims township; and Ira A., of Indianapolis, who is connected with the National Dry Kiln Company, manufacturing dry kilns, and a stock holder in the concern.

Henry F. Minnick was reared on the home farm, and attended dis¬ trict school until he had completed the course of study provided for country pupils. He continued at work on the farm for several years after leaving school, and in May, 1880, established a home of his own through his marriage to Mary A. Stewart. She was born in Illinois and was reared in Richland township. She is a daughter of Steven and Jane (Blomer) Stewart. The father died in Indianapolis, Indiana. He had enlisted as a soldier in the Civil war, but died in camp in Indianapolis. His wife is still living. After their marriage they located in South Bend, Indiana, where Mr. Minnick was employed in the Studebaker Wagon Company's works for five years. He then returned and settled on a farm near Somerset, which was owned by his grand¬ father, William Minnick, and where he was a renter for five years. He then bought land in Miami county, and in 1909 moved to the old home¬ stead, where he now lives. He bought the place in June, 1909.

named as follows: Bessie G., wife of Alva A. Snyder, of Lansford, North Dakota, and they have two children, Rex Henry and Margaret Florence; Jay, a graduate of the common schools and of the Amboy high school, and formerly principal of one of the ward schools at Peru, and now engaged in the electric light business in Danville, Indiana ; Paul, who is unmarried and lives at home ; Florence I., who graduated from the common schools in 1913 and is now at high school at Sweetser, Indiana. Mr. Minnick and family belong to the Methodist church, of which he is one of the trustees, and is now assistant superintendent of the Sunday school, having formerly been superintendent. In politics he is a Republican, and was elected trustee of Jackson township in Miami county, serving in that office from January, 1904, to January, 1908. Mr. Minnick is the owner of one hundred acres of land, situated eleven miles northwest of Marion, and seven miles northeast of Converse. He is a general farmer and stock raiser, and success has come to him as the result of long experience and close attention to business. While on his farm in Miami county, he conducted a nursery. He is a stock holder in the Miami County Fair Association, and is always ready to join in any undertaking for the general good of his community.

Harry 0. Lanning. A successful educator who puts much practical idealism into his work is the way the people of Sweetser regard Pro¬ fessor Lanning, superintendent of schools there since 1910. Mr. Lan¬ ning has been closely identified with school work in both country and town for ten years, and has an exceptional equipment both in training and tulent for his chosen work.

Harry O. Lanning was bom in Blackford county, Indiana, in the village of Mill Grove October 21, 1882, a son of William J. and Mary F. (Thorp) Lanning. Both parents now reside in Sweetser, the father being in the general merchandise business, and one of the substantial citizens of the town. Professor Lanning was reared in the village of Mill Grove, where he received his early education in the grammar and high schools, and in 1909 graduated from the state Normal School. He also has some post-graduate credits. His first work as a teacher began in September, 1902, in a district school, and he continued to teach in the country for four years. For one year he was principal of the Mill Grove school, taught science in the Rensselaer public schools, and in 1910 was chosen superintendent of the Sweetser City schools. Professor Lanning is unmarried, and is active and popular in social and civic affairs. He belongs to the Methodist church, is a teacher in the Sunday school, and fraternally is affiliated with the Improved Order of Red Men and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is past sachem of the Sweetser Tribe of Red Med, and belongs to the Odd Fellows at Sweetser and the Encampment at Marion. In politics his support has recently been given to the Progressive party, and he served as a state delegate in campaign of 1912.

Gilbert Baum. Throughout practically all his active career Gilbert Baum has been a stock and grain dealer, and now lives at Sweetser retired from the regular routine of business, but still a factor in affairs there through his official relations with several Grant county banks and by other vested interests. Mr. Baum has been a resident of this county for thirty-five years, and his business career was marked by such thor¬ ough integrity, that his name is spoken with respect wherever known.

Gilbert Baum was bom in Clinton county, Ohio, January 19, 1846, a son of Henry and Elizabeth (Terrell) Baum. The oldest in a family of children, Gilbert Baum was reared on a farm, had a substantial edu- cation and was early trained in the business which he has followed most of his active career. On June 29, 1901, was celebrated his marriage with Mary Fansler, of Franklin township. Mrs. Baum was bom in Franklin township of Grant county, August 10, 1864, had a district school education, and has proved a worthy assistant to her husband both in the home and in counsel in business affairs.

Mr. Baum through many years of close attention to business has accumulated a good competency. He has a fine residence in Sweetser, is a stock holder and director in the First National Bank of Marion, a stock holder in the Swayzee Bank, a stock holder in the Sweetser Bank, and interested in other ways in local business affairs. In politics he has always been an active supporter of the Republican party, but in the campaign of 1912 voted the Progressive ticket.

Julius C. Lake. With a fruitful and honorable life time of more than three quarters of a century behind him, Mr. Lake enjoys a pleasing retrospect of years, and having long since acquired a comfortable com¬ petence is living retired. For a number of years he and his wife have been in the habit of spending their winters either in California or Flor¬ ida. Although not continuously a resident of Grant county, Mr. Lake recalls this section at a time when improvements, railroads, cities and other evidences of modern civilization were exceedingly few in number.

Julius C. Lake was born in Henry county, Indiana, October 13, 1837, a son of William B. and Mary (Currant) Lake. Both his parents came from the old commonwealth of Virginia, and after their marriage located in Henry county, Indiana, which remained their home for a number of years. The father died in Henry county, in 1847. Later his widow moved to Grant county. She lived here many years but died in Jay county, Indiana, while on a visit to her daughter.

Julius C. Lake grew to manhood in his native county, had a district school education, though it was limited by the circumstances and con¬ ditions of the period. In 1858, at the age of twenty-one, he married Martha J. Skinner. Mrs. Lake was bom in Fayette county, Indiana, March 5, 1839, a daughter of John and Julia Ann (Hicks) Skinner. She was reared to young womanhood in Fayette county, Indiana, then moved to Henry county, Indiana, where she met and married Mr. Lake. Her parents later moved to G*ant county, Indiana, and both died in Sims township, Grant county, where they had lived about thirty years.

In 1873 Mr. and Mrs. Lake moved to Grant county, locating in Richland township, on the farm still owned by Mr. Lake, two miles west of Sweetser. In 1885, he put up the comfortable brick house on the farm. Among other improvements to be noticed about the farm is a fine bam, which was built by Mr. Lake in 1888. * In 1900 he erected a fine home at Sweetser and moved to it, retiring from the farm, which his son Leonard now operates.

The four sons and two daughters, comprising the children of Mr. and Mrs. Lake, are mentioned as follows: John W., a farmer in Pleasant township; Julia, wife of Daniel Williams, of Marion, Indiana; James R., a farmer in Richland township; Leonard L., on the home farm; Mary, wife of George B. Philips of Glassford, Illinois; and Ross, a farmer in Richland township.

Mr. Lake owns three hundred and four acres located in Richland township, and the ten acres where he has his home in Pleasant town¬ ship. When he was married more than fifty-five years ago, he had prac¬ tically nothing, and he and his wife through a long process of years and thrifty management accumulated a generous prosperity. He is a stock holder in the Farmers Trust & Savings Bank at Marion. Frater- nally he is affiliated with Samaritan Lodge No. 105, F. & A. M. A Dem¬ ocrat in politics, he served five years as township assessor of Richland township, and was a member of the county council four years. He is a stockholder in the Sweetser Telephone Company.

Ora C. King. A farmer business man is a phrase that well charac¬ terizes Ora C. King of Sweetser. Getting his initial prosperity through hard-headed, practical management of the soil and its products, he latterly has branched out into business and is now president of the Farmers State Bank of Sweetser, and interested in several other important concerns in that part of Grant county. Mr. King got an early start in his career, and is still a very young man for all that he has accomplished.

His birth occurred on the farm where he now lives, three quarters of a mile west of Sweetser in Pleasant township, January 11, 1880. His parents were Alvin C. and Elnora King. The mother is the daughter of Julius C, Lake, a prominent farmer of Pleasant township. Alvin C. King is deceased, and his wife, who was married a second time, now lives at 604 Spencer Avenue in Marion. The three living children of Alvin C. King and wife are Eva, a graduate of the Sweetser schools, and the wife of Elbert Stephens of Marion ; Ethel, a graduate of the Sweetser .schools, and wife of George Leming, of Marion ; and Ora C.

Reared on the home farm Ora C. King as a boy went to the town schools of Sweetser, Marion Normal College, Marion, Indiana, and the Indianapolis Business University at Indianapolis. He then taught school in Grant county for three years. He later returned to the management of the home farm. In September, 1903, at the age of twenty-three, Mr. King married Mary D. Morris, who was born near Swayzee in Sims township, received her education in the Swayzee High School, and for one year before her marriage was a teacher. Mr. and Mrs. King have one child, Hertnan C., aged four years. Mrs. King is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church at Sweetser.

Mr. King was one of the organizers of the Farmers State Bank of Sweetser, and at its organization was elected president, an office which he has held to the present time. He is one of its largest shareholders. The other officers are as follows: John N. Miller, vice president; Williard Elkins, cashier; Nelson L. Shockey, A. E. Reece, George C. Baum, William Hoover, Charles W. Simmons, Joseph P. Winger, Preston Shields, Ora C. King, and John Miller, directors. Mr. King is a member and also president of the Farmers Progressive Club and is a stockholder in the Sweetser Telephone Company. On his farm he operates one hundred and four acres of land, and gives very successful attention to the breeding of cattle, sheep and hogs.

George C. Baum. Among the men of the younger generation to whom those of the older point as the ones who have a future before them is George C. Baum, of Grant county, Indiana. He is not yet thirty but he is one of the successful men of Sweetser, Indiana. Full of energy and ambition he brings to his business the enthusiasm and fire of youth, but he has also had a number of years of valuable experience in the business world, and the combination of experience of youthful energy has made him very successful indeed. Honorable and generous in his business dealings he has won many friends and the respect of the business world.

George C. Baum is a native of Grant county, having been born here on the 14th of August, 1884, the son of William J. Baum and Roxie (Riggs) Baum, both of whom are living and are residents of Sweetser. George C. Baum is the younger of the two children of his parents and he grew up in the village of Sweetser. Here he attended b the public schools and received a good common school education. He * later took a course in the Marion Business College.

After completing his education the boy first became associated with his father in business and after two years he went into business for him¬ self in Sweetser, first as a member of the firm of W. J. Baum and Com¬ pany. Later he became interested in the Sweetser Grain Company, Incorporated, and this is the firm with which he is associated at present. The president of this company is Alfred Burger, George C. Baum is secretary and treasurer and 0. M. Thomas is vice-president. The active manager of the firm is Mr. Baum. They are general dealers in grain and live stock and have a most prosperous business. Mr. Baum is also one of the directors of the Farmers' State Bank of Sweetser.

In politics Mr. Baum is a member of the Republican party but he has never taken an active part in the political game. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, belonging to Sweetser Lodge No. 433.

Mr. Baum was married on September 17, 1907, to Miss Goldie A. Dicken, of Van Buren township, Grant county, Indiana, her father being Thomas Dicken. She is a graduate of the Van Buren high school. One child has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Baum, Helen R. Baum, who was born on the 3rd of September, 1909. x

Nelson Thompson. Among the highly respected citizens of Grant county, Indiana, none occupies a more enviable position in the regard of his fellow citizens than Nelson Thompson. He has now retired from active life but for many years he was engaged in farming in this district, being one of the pioneer settlers. Mr. Thompson has also played a prom¬ inent part in the general life of the community, his honesty and up¬ rightness winning him the friendship and respect of all. He has now passed his eightieth year but he takes a keen interest in all that goes on in the world and his judgment is often consulted on important mat¬ ters.

Nelson Thompson was bom in Champaign county, Ohio, on August 7, 1831. He is a son of Curtis M. Thompson and Fannie (Rector) Thomp¬ son, and his grandparents on his father's side were Charles Thompson and Mozella Bohonnis Thompson. The latter was born on a ship when her parents were on their way to the United States. They located near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, near which place the Thompson family also located, and here she met and married Charles Thompson. They lived in this part of the country until the end of their lives, and became the parents of five children, namely, James, William, John, Elizabeth and Custis. John was a private and William was a colonel in the American army during the Revolutionary war, and after the battle of Baltimore nothing was ever heard of either of them, so they both probably gave their lives for their country.

Custis Thompson was reared in Pennsylvania, remaining in his native state until he was twenty-eight years of age. He received his education in the common schools of the districuand in addition to being educated in the English branches also studied German. He came to Champaign county, Ohio, upon leaving Pennsylvania and here he met and married Fannie Rector. She was born in Mason county, Kentucky, and came to Ohio in 1801. After his marriage Mr. Thompson was a farmer and also was employed at his trade as a cabinet maker. He was an active member of the Methodist Protestant church in those early days and indeed took an active part in all the activities of the community in which he lived. Seven children were bom to Custis and Fannie Thompson,

Until he was twenty-one years of age, Nelson Thompson lived in' Ohio with his parents. He attended the public schools of the state, 'and received a fairly good common school education, although in those days schools were very primitive, and the teachers often knew little more than their older pupils. On March 19, 1856, Mr. Thompson was married to Miss Martha Miller, who was born in OhiQ,*on the 17th of May, 1836. She was of sturdy frontier stock and so although during the first years of their married life poverty was their constant companion, she never complained. They had little furniture in their house and often even the bare necessities of life were hard to find, but they fought their battles together and she was always his strong right hand. In 1861 they came to Indiana and located on the farm where he now lives. Ten dol¬ lars an acre was the price he paid for land which is now valued at one hundred and fifty dollars per acre. This land was then covered with woods and the young frontiersman found himself confronted with the task of clearing this off before he could plant a crop. With the aid of his wife he set to work and he gives her the credit for much of his success for she aided him in the same way all through life. For many years he was a farmer in Franklin township, his property being located on section 9, and though he has been retired for some time he still lives on the old place.

Mrs. Thompson is a member of the United Brethren church. Mr. Thompson is a prominent member of the Democratic party, being exceedingly enthusiastic in the work of his party. He has served as a justice of the peace for four years, from 1883 to 1887, being elected to this office by a majority of a hundred and four votes, which shows his popularity in Franklin township, which is a strongly Republican town¬ ship. In the fraternal world Mr. Thompson is a member of the F. & A. M., belonging to Samaritan Lodge No. 105. He was a charter mem¬ ber of the Royal Arch Chapter No. 55, in Marion, Indiana. Although justice of the peace is the only office which Mr. Thompson has filled, he has been a very valuable man to his party. He has been a member of the election board for thirty-five years, but in spite of his loyal service he has never asked any reward in the shape of office. Mr. Thomp¬ son has broadened his mind by travel and has spent considerable time in other parts of the country.

Six children have been bom to Mr. and Mrs. Thompson. Of these Benjamin W. is married and is a carpenter in Fairmount, Indiana; George W. is a farmer in Pleasant township; Mary F. is the wife of James Dooley of Marion, Indiana; Sarah C. is Mrs. Charles Martin of Swayzee, Indiana; John W. is a carpenter in Sweetser, Indiana, and Eliza T. is the wife of Nelson Shockey of Pleasant township, who is the trustee of Pleasant township.

George A. Modlin. A worthy representative of that pure-blooded American race whose forebears jmigrated to the Middle West shortly after the Revolutionary war, ana laid the foundations which have made this section of the country the seat of so much solid prosperity and the pivotal point of national life, is George A. Modlin, of Grant county, Indiana. Mr. Modlin is not only a very successful farmer but he has also served his fellow citizens in office, to his honor and their satisfaction. Progressive and practical in his views, he has handled his farm with great success, and is considered one of the best farmers in this section of the county. His personal popularity is good evidence of the conscientious way in which he has carried out the duties of the various offices of which he has been an incumbent.

George A. Modlin was born in Liberty township in Grant county, Indiana, on the 16th of April, 1863, a son of William and Jane (Benbow) Modlin. The Modlin family was founded in this part of the country during the earliest days of the statehood of Indiana. George Modlin 's great-grandfather, George Modlin, i emigrated from North Carolina to what was at the time the territory of Indiana. Upon his arrival in Wayne county, Indiana, he found that he had taken up his abode in a fullfledged state, for Indiana was made a state just eleven days prior to his arrival, this being in December, 1816. After living in Wayne county for a number of years the old pioneer located in Henry county, Indiana, and there he lived until his death. His son, Dillon Modlin and the grand¬ father of George A. Modlin, was reared in Henry county and came to Grant county in 1837. He first located in Liberty township and later lived in Center township for a time. He finally moved to Franklin town¬ ship and here he died in 1897. William Modlin was bom in Grant county and grew up on his father's farm. When he was of an age to support himself he began farming, following in the footsteps of his father and grand-father. With the exception of two years which he spent in Wis¬ consin, he lived all of his life in Grant county. He was a quiet and unassuming man, but one who was highly respected and thoroughly liked by all the citizens of the community in which he lived. Politically he was a member of the Republican party, casting his first vote for that party when Lincoln was nominated for his first term, and continuing to stand by the party until his death, which occurred on the 8th of August, 1897. '

Jane Benbow Modlin, his wife, is also of that strong and courageous stock that peopled the states of Virginia and North Carolina when they were British colonies. Her maternal grand-father, whose name was Isaac Elliot, emigrated from these eastern states early in the history of the western tide of emigration, and he entered the land upon which the National Military Soldiers' Home is now located. Five children were born to William and Jane Modlin, as follows, George A., Willis O., who is a farmer of Jefferson township; Lillian M., who married Mell T. Pilcher, of Marion, Indiana; Myrtle, who is the wife of J. E. McMullen, who is the professor of literature at Muncie College, at Muncie, Indiana ; and Edgar C., who is engaged in the printing business in Marion.

George A. Modlin, the eldest of his parents' children, spent his boy¬ hood on his father '8 farm, first in Liberty township and later in Franklin township. He attended the public school, but ambitious for further education he went to Terre Haute, Indiana, where he attended the State Normal School. After leaving school he taught for a time in Grant county, Indiana, and then took a course in the Eastman Business College, at Poughkeepsie, New York. After this he taught school for one winter and then came his entrance into public life.

It was in the spring of 1890 that Mr. Modlin was appointed deputy clerk of Grant county and about a year and a half later he was made deputy auditor, serving under George A. Osborne. He served through¬ out the term of the latter and also through that of his successor, John Wilson, completing eight years in the office of deputy auditor. In the fall of 1898, he was himself elected auditor and served until December 31, 1903, a period of four years and two months. After he retired from public office he returned to the farm, and two years later he moved to the farm where he now resides. This farm, which is known as the Villa View Farm, is located at the intersection of the Marion, Roseberg and Range Line, and of the Range Line of the Tree Gravel road, just on the boundary line between Sims and Franklin townships. This place is ten miles southwest of Marion and two miles east of Swayzee, Indiana, and consists of two hundred And forty acres. Two hundred acres of this property lies in Franklin township and forty acres in Sims township. Mr. Modlin has two hundred and thirty-two acres under cultivation and eight acres is well drained woodland. He has built a ten roomed house on the property, which is a most attractive home with all the modern conveniences. Commodious barns and all the improvements of an up-todate farm make the prosperity of Villa View Farm apparent. Mr. Modlin is a general farmer and also raises fine stock.

In politics Mr. Modlin is a member of the Republican party and he has been active in politics. In the fraternal world he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, affiliating with Mississinewa Lodge, No. 96.

Mr. Modlin was married on the 25th of June, 1902, to Miss Lucy Willcuts, a daughter of Clarkson Willcuts. Mrs. Modlin was reared in Center and Franklin townships and received her education in the public schools of Franklin township. Two children have been born to this union: Lois G., who is a graduate of both the grammar and high schools of Marion, and Walter W., who is now a student in the Marion public school. Mrs. Modlin is a member of the Friends church in Marion.

James I. Hogsten. For nearly thirty years a resident of Franklin township, Mr. Hogsten is a substantial farmer, has provided well for his family, and though he began as a tenant farmer, he has long since reached that place of independence which is the ambition of all enter¬ prising men in any vocation.

James I. Hogsten was born in Randolph county, Indiana, February 10, 1850, a son of Alfred and Mary (Lacy) Hogsten. Alfred Hogsten, the father, was a native of Iredell county, North Carolina, from whence he came to Indiana, when about three years of age with his parents, who settled in Wayne county. In that county he grew up, was educated and was first married and afterwards moved to Randolph county, which con¬ tinued to be his home during the rest of his life. He was an industrious farmer and lived in the quiet round of civic and domestic duties. His first marriage was to Ann Price, who became the mother of two sons, Anderson and Samuel, both now deceased. To his second marriage there was one son, James I.

Mr. Hogsten was reared to manhood in Randolph county, and had his education principally in the district schools during the winter terms. Later by attendance in the summer normal schools he qualified himself for work as a teacher, although he has never followed that calling. After leav¬ ing school he turned his attention to farming, and on November 30, 1878, married Rebecca A. Mann. Mrs. Hogsten was born and reared in Ran¬ dolph county. After their marriage they found themselves at the threshold of larger life and responsibilities and yet with only a very small amount of capital. They began as renters, and made a living that way both in Randolph and Adams county, until 1882, in which year they moved to Grant county. Locating in Franklin township, they have made their home here ever since, and now possess one of the comfortable farm estates and homes of the township. He owns in all 460 acres located in Sections thirty-two, thirty-three and twenty-eight. ,

Six children were born to their marriage, four of whom are living in 1913, namely : Alfred, who has been a student in the State University of Indiana, and has served as principal of the Jonesboro public schools. He married Verna Jackway, their present home being in Marion, and they have two children, Frederick and Lyndel; Ada, wife of John A. Patterson, has five children; Myrtle K., wife of Earl Cabe, has three children; Richard, who married Bertha Babb, of Franklin township, has one child. In politics Mr. Hogsten is a Republican, and has served as deputy assessor of Franklin township.

Abraham L. Small. Bom to farm life, Abraham L. Small has devoted himself to that industry since he came to years of manhood, and in it he has proven himself a master hand at the business, winning a success that gives him place among the foremost agricultural men of the township. He has one hundred and ninety acres of fine land, fertile and well kept, and his home is one of the attractive spots in the com¬ munity. Mr. Small was bom on the old Small homestead on October 21, 1862, and is a son of Samuel and Ruth (Marshall) Small, who are both residents of Franklin township, and have for many years been identified with the industrial and social life of the community. They have five living children, concerning whom brief mention is here made as follows : Ellen, the wife of T. F. Floyd, of Franklin township ; Lydia, who married James T. Kelley, of Michigan ; A. L., of this review ; Emma, who is the wife of Frank Jaqua; and Oliver M. Small, of Liberty town¬ ship, Indiana.

Abraham L. Small was reared on the Franklin township farm where he was born, and in boyhood attended the district schools, finishing his training there at the age of eighteen years. He continued at home until he was about twenty-one, when he set out on a trip of exploration, and traveled through Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico and Michigan from border to border in search of a suitable location. He decided that Indiana offered as many opportunities as Michigan, and returned ac¬ cordingly to Grant county, where he married and settled down to a life devoted to agriculture. For a short time thereafter he worked for his father, then moved on a forty acre tract which he later purchased and began independent farming. He has gradually added to his hold¬ ings until today his farm aggregates one hundred and ninety acres, and he operates on a rather larger scale than do many of his neighbors.

In 1884 Mr. Small married Adeline Capron, the daughter of Oliver and Sarah (Yunt) Capron. She was born in Ohio, but spent the most of her life thus far in Grant county. Five children have been bom to them: Jennie is the wife of Harley Richey, of Scott county, Indiana; Cecil is the wife of Sandy Roe ; Nora married Yenard F. Said of Franklin township ; Quincy O. is unmarried ; and Sarah E., who with Quincy, lives at home.

Mrs. Small is a member of the Society of Friends, and an active worker in that body. Mr. Small is a Republican, and takes his place as one of the most estimable citizens of the community, where he is known and honored for the many excellent qualities that dominate him.

John Toyne. In 1890 John Toyne arrived in America, a youth of twenty years, just from his old home in England. His previous expe¬ riences had been with English farmers, though in a measure he was fairly well equipped to make his own way, even without capital or influential friends. His possession of a good country home and the employment of substantial influence and position in his community in Green township has proceeded from many years of hard work and good management. Since his marriage he and his wife have thriftily added to their capital, a little every year, and now have a comfortable share of the goods most cherished by mankind.

John Toyne, whose well improved farm lies in section 1 of Green township and two and a half miles south and two miles east of Swayzee. was born in Lincolnshire, England, February 4, 1870, a son of Daniel and Harriet (Salvester) Toyne, both now deceased, they having died in England. They were the parents of eight children, six of whom are living in 1913. One brother, Charles, lives in Massachusetts and the re¬ mainder are in England.

In the mother country John Toyne resided during his boyhood and early youth, received his education in the local schools, and when he was ten years old had completed with credit the course through five grades, being the only one in his school who had accomplished this feat. When he was fourteen he started out to earn his own way, and worked on a farm in England for some years. In 1890 he came to the United States and had enough money to bring him as far as Illinois, locating first in Iroquois county, where he found work as an agriculturist, and there he also met the lady who afterward became his wife. Mr. Toyne lived in Iroquois county until 1904, and in the spring of that year he came to his present farm in Grant county, which he had purchased two years pre¬ viously, in 1902. His homestead now contains eighty acres in Green township, all of which he has made as a result of the efforts of himself and wife. He erected the fine barn which now adorns the place, also the other farm buildings, and has greatly remodeled the residence. He takes great pride iq the fact that he arrived in America with little or no capital, and all that he now owns has been achieved as the result of his own efforts.

On December 15, 1897, in Iroquois county, Illinois, Mr. Toyne was married to Orise Miller, who was born and reared in Illinois and edu¬ cated in the common schools of that state. They have one daughter, Ruth E., bom November 14, 1898, to whom they have given the best of advantages. Mr. and Mrs. Toyne are cultured, well read people, andthey have traveled extensively in America. Among the many luxuries which they now enjoy is a fine Oakland automobile. Mr. Toyne is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias fraternity at Swayzee, and in poli¬ tics is a Prohibitionist. He follows general farming and stock raising, and lends his influence in a quiet way to the promotion of any enterprise for the local good and welfare.

Rinaldo R. Taylor. Nearly forty years have passed since Rinaldo R. Taylor first settled on his farm in Richland township, about four miles northeast of Converse, and during this time he has come to be knowm as one of his community's leading agriculturists. The owner of one hundred and eighty acres of well-cultivated land, he is carrying on his operations in the most approved manner, thus not only furthering his own interests but advancing those of his locality as well. Mr. Taylor has the added distinction of being a native son of Richland township, and was bom September 16, 1852, the next to the youngest of the ten children of George W. and Jane (Whittaker) Taylor.

The parents of Mr. Taylor were both born in Fayette county, Penn¬ sylvania, and shortly after their marriage migrated to Ohio, from which state they came to Grant county, Indiana in 1847, entering the old homestead which is four miles north of our subject's farm, in Richland township, on which they resided during the remainder of their lives. Of their ten children, Rinaldo R. is the only survivor. He received a liberal education in the common schools, and during his boyhood and youth spent the summer months in assisting his father with the work of the home place, as was the custom of farmers' sons of his day. Until attaining his majority, he continued under the parental roof, and one year later moved to his present farm, which was then owned by his father and on which he has continued to reside to the present time. Mr. Taylor began his operations in a modest manner, but as the years have passed he has added to his buildings, his stock and his equipment, and now has one of the valuable properties of Richland township, his one hundred and eighty acres being practically all under the plow and in a high state of cultivation. His residence is a handsome two-story brick structure, his bams are commodious and fitted with the most highly improved equipment, and his various buildings for the shelter of his. stock, grain and farming machinery are conveniently placed and in an excellent state of repair. As a result, the appearance of the property is pleasing and attractive, and eloquently evidences the presence of able management. In addition to general farming, Mr. Taylor has been suc¬ cessful in the raising of fancy cattle and high-grade hogs, and his stock has always commanded the highest prices in the local market. No citizep of Richland township stands higher in the esteem of his fellowcitizens, and the honesty and integrity with which he has conducted all of his business operations have placed him firmly in the confidence of his associates.

Mr. Taylor was married in 1873 to Miss Rosa Hudson, daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth Hudson. She was bom, reared and educated in Richland township, and is widely and favorably known among her neigh¬ bors. Two children have been bom to Mr. and Mrs. Taylor: one who died in infancy ; and a son, Alfred B., who lived to be thirty-six years of age and died in Chicago, Illinois, in 1910, leaving a son and a daughter, Rex and Delight ; Rex resides with our subject.

Since reaching his majority, Mr. Taylor has been an unswerving Republican, but his interest in political matters has been mainly con¬ fined to supporting the candidates of his party. He has not been indif¬ ferent to the duties of citizenship, however, and for two consecutive terms has served in his present office as township trustee of Richland township. For many years he has enjoyed the privileges of membership in the Masonic fraternity, being connected with the Blue Lodge at Somerset.

William H. Beck. As one who has quietly pursued the "even tenor of his way" for many years in Grant county, William H. Beck, well known to the farming interests of Franklin township, has spread abroad an influence that can not fail to be productive of good results. He has been a resident of Franklin township, in Grant county for a considerable period of years, and has gained a wide acquaintance, de¬ spite the retiring and gentle nature of the man.

Bom in Seneca county, Ohio, on June 22, 1848, he is the son of George Beck and Sarah (Ripley) Beck. The father was a blacksmith by trade, and has plied his craft in Sandusky, where the subject was reared. Mr. Beck received a fair common school education, and he was in his early manhood when he married Mary A. Spade, a native daugh¬ ter of Sandusky. They engaged in farming in the Sandusky district, and after coming to Grant county they rented land and here continued in farming activities. For the past twenty-five years Mr. Beck has tation for skill and ability in his operations.

One son was born to Mr. and Mrs. Beck, Roland, who was educated in the public schools and in the Marion Business College. He is now employed as an electrician at the Bradstreet & Water plant in Marion. Roland Beck is married, and is the father of three children.

Mr. and Mrs. Beck are members of the United Brethren church, and their son has membership, in a fraternal way, in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Father and son give their political allegiance to the Republican party, and both acquit themselves creditably as cit¬ izens of the highest type. They enjoy the friendship of a host of worthy people, and all who know them accord to them their genuine esteem, so marked are their excellent qualities and characteristics.

Henry M. Shugart. Four miles southwest of Marion is located the fine Shugart farm, on sections twenty-five and twenty -six of Frank¬ lin township, alongside the Liberty Pike. Mr. Shugart is a fine example of the farmer of the present day; well educated, broad-minded, with a vision that extends beyond the borders of his farm, he typifies the modern progressive spirit that has so changed farm life in the last decade or so. Mr. Shugart was bora on the estate which he now occupies, and is therefore even more interested in the welfare of the county and the prosperity of its citizens than is the farmer who was not born on the soil.

Henry M. Shugart, was bom September 16, 1846. His parents were George and Abigal (Osborn) Shugart, the former a native of Guilford county, North Carolina, from which state his wife also came. He accompanied his parents from North Carolina from Wayne county, Indiana, where he lived for ten years, and then moved to Grant county, locating on Deer Creek, which remained his home the rest of his life. He was the father of three children, two of whom are now living, the sister being Mary J.

Henry M. Shugart was reared on the farm, and as a boy attended the district school of Deer Creek until he was about seventeen years old. He then became a student in the Jonesboro graded schools, which had the distinction of being the first regularly graded school in Grant county. Having completed a fair education, he was first employed in a general store for two years, after which he returned to the farm and has made farming his regular vocation. He began with eighty acres of land and was shouldering a heavy debt at the beginning. At the present time he possesses two hundred and forty acres of land all in Franklin township, has it well improved arid well stocked, and his pros¬ perity and business ability have been such that he has as good credit as probably any man in Franklin township.

Mr. Shugart was married in 1871, at Fairmount, to Martha J. Wins¬ low. Their two children were: Robert W., a graduate of the business college at Marion, and now proprietor of the Marion Wood & Coal Company; and Estella, widow of Dr. Ratcliff, of Fairmount. Mrs. Shugart died in 1887, and for his present wife Mr. Shugart married September 9, 1888, Miss S. A. Brewer. She was bora in Clinton county, Ohio, reared there, and educated in the common schools, a daughter of Randall Brewer, who was a native of North Carolina, and later she came to Grant county, Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Shugart are members of the Friends church, and she has active membership in the W. C. T. U. In politics Mr. Shugart is a Republican, but has never been active in party affairs, although he has served his township of Franklin as trustee for two terms. The three children of Mr. and Mrs. Shugart are : Cora M., a graduate of the common and high schools, of the Ohio State Uni¬ versity at Columbus, and of the Lewis Institute of the Chicago Univer¬ sity; having equipped herself for educational work; Pearl J., age twentyone, and a student of the Marion Normal College; and Raymond, six¬ teen years of age, and also a student at the Marion Normal.

Daniel M. Highley. For sixty-five years the Highley homestead in Richmond township has responded to good management and industry, has furnished the crops of the soil, a comfortable home and enabled the various members of the family to enjoy the good things of life. Mr. D. M. Highley lives on the old farm, so endeared to all members of the family by its many associations, and assists his mother in its cultiva-

Daniel M. Highley was bom on this place April 13, 1852, a son of James and Sarah (Myers) Highley. The parents came to Grant county from Union county, Indiana, locating on the northwest comer of section twenty-three in Richland township. There the father spent all his life and died on July 6, 1891. His widow now owns the old homestead, and manages it with her son Daniel. There were seven children in the family, five sons and two daughters, six of whom are yet living : David F.; Samuel M.; Daniel M.; Lydia, deceased; Clay burn, of Jonesboro; Martha, wife of William Eller; and Jacob M., of Miami county.

Daniel M. Highley was reared on the farm he still lives on, where he had a wholesome environment and learned the lessons of industry as well as those of books. He attended the district schools, and after completing his education remained at home and worked on the farm until he was about thirty years of age. He then established a home of his own, by his marriage on January 8, 1882, to Mary E. Weaver. Three sons were born to their union. Ora and Omar, twins, were born November 24, 1882, while the third is Wilbur F. Omar is a graduate of the common schools. His brother Ora married Dora Julian. They have four children, Herman, Yelma, Zelma and Earl. Wilbur married Inez Miller and had two children, Walter and Charlotte. The family are members of the Christian church. In politics Mr. Highley is a Republican, and has for a number of years taken an active part in local politics and has served as supervisor of his township. He is the owner of one hundred and twenty acres of land in section fifteen of Richland township, besides which he is closely identified with the management of the old homestead, which consists of one hundred and sixty acres.

Mbs. Jonathan Havens. Of Grant county octogenarians the most interesting, both for age and for remarkable clarity of mind and facul¬ ties, is, properly speaking, not now eligible to that association of venerable men and women, since she is no longer an octogenarian but a nona¬ genarian. Mrs. Jonathan Havens is now past ninety-three years of age, is in perfect health, with mind as clear as a bell. She is one of the best known women in the county, and recalls with perfect ease her seventy years of experience. She is known and loved by everybody in the southern half of the county and the following brief record will be read and appreciated as a distinctive chapter in this history.

The Havens family comes down through a Pennsylvania stock, which during the eighteenth century was established in the southwestern part of Pennsylvania, in what was known as the Redstone section. The grandfather of Jonathan Havens was also Jonathan, and was of Welsh ancestry. The name was established in America during the Colonial days, and its first home was in New Jersey. It is thought that the name of the American settler was Abram Havens. He had twelve sons and most of them saw service in the Revolutionary war on the American side. One of them located in Connecticut, two in Virginia, and one in western Pennsylvania. The latter was Jonathan, grandfather of the Grant county citizen named at the introduction of this sketch. Another son located in Kentucky, while the other lived in New Jersey. As to religious affiliations they were all Presbyterians. Grandfather Jona¬ than Havens was a deacon in the church. His life was spent in farming in western Pennsylvania, and he died in 1802 when quite an old man. He married a Miss Lippencot, of Pennsylvania, and she outlived him a good many years. Among their children were James, Elisha, and

Benjamin Havens, the father, was bora in Pennsylvania in 1785, was in early life apprenticed to learn the trade of harness maker, and by the death of his father was left an orphan at the age of seventeen. He later left his employer, and learned the trade of shoemaker and also of brick mason. He was a man of many trades, but was an expert in all of them, and performed a useful service in every community where he lived. He was married in 1816 in Fayette county, Ohio, to Miss Judith Davis, who belonged to the faith known as the Seven-Day Baptists. She was bom in Ohio, and died in Clinton county of that state at the birth of her sixth child, being then in the prime of life. Her husband later married Mary Ann Carver, and in June, 1841, they came to Indiana and settled in Jefferson township of Grant county. Some years later they moved out to Iowa and while there his second wife died also in childbirth. Benjamin Havens then returned to Indiana with his children and died in Huntington county, February 6, 1848. His last child, a daughter, was adopted by a family in Iowa.

Jonathan Havens, the first son and second child of Benjamin and his first wife, was born in Fayette county, Ohio, November 17, 1819. He grew up in Ohio, and in November, 1841, came to Indiana, locating in Jefferson township. There his career was that of farming, and after some years he bought one hundred and twenty acres, on which he re¬ mained until his death, June 30, 1863. In religion he was a Methodist, and a strong Republican in politics.

Jonathan Havens was married in Fairmount, Jefferson township of Grant county, April 7, 1842, to Miss Gabrielle Clark. She was bom in Bradford county, Pennsylvania, February 25, 1820. In 1837, when she was seventeen years of age, her family moved to Darke county, Ohio, and in 1838 to Fairmount township, Grant county. Her parents were James H. and Sarah (Simons) Clark, her father born in Bradford county, Pennsylvania, February 10, 1794, and died May 23, 1878, in Fairmount township, four miles up the creek from Jonesboro. Her mother was bom March 16, 1796, and died in Grant county, October 27, 1885. They were married July 3, 1816, on the banks of the Susque¬ hanna River in Pennsylvania. The Clark family were farmers, Meth¬ odists in religion, and the father first voted the Whig ticket and later the Republican. James H. Clark was a son of John T. and Cynthia (Cas¬ well) Clark, both natives of Bradford county, Pennsylvania, where they lived and died as farmers and Methodists. When John T. Clark was seven years of age, his father, Benjamin Clark, went away to serve as an American soldier in the Revolutionary war. Some time during that war the son John at one time was lost in the woods in Bradford county, near Wilkesbarre, and was for ten years away from his family. He was finally located when seventeen years of age, having been taken up and cared for after straying about three weeks in a large woods 70 miles through, and spent the next ten years in the home of a man living 60 miles away from the Clark place. Benjamin Clark died in Bradford county, Pennsylvania, when in old age. He came of English parentage, and his first wife was a Miss Hojet who died in the prime of life. His second marriage was to a Mrs. Shaw, whose first husband had been killed in the massacre of Wyoming Valley during the Revolution.

Mrs. Jonathan Havens was educated much more liberally than was the custom for young women in her time. Since the death of her hus¬ band she has lived on the farm of eighty acres near Fowlerton, up to 1893 when she bought a home in the village of Fowlerton. Mrs. Havens is the mother of the following children: 1. Sarah B. died after her marriage to William Leach and the four living children are Scott, Kerr, Hancock and Leach. 2. Mary D. is the wife of Alonzo Roly of Grant county in Jefferson township, and their children are Bailley, Cappy, Winnie, Jesse, Jennie, and Arlee. 3. Tabitha A. died after her mar¬ riage to Samuel Carmichael, and had two children, Eva and Edward. 4. John M. married Flora Baird, and lives on a farm in Jefferson town¬ ship. The children are Jesse, Glen, Charles, Benjamin, Clyde, Ethel, and Edith. 5. Cynthia M. is the wife of William H. Mann, and has children, Roy, Charles, and one other; by a former marriage to Mark Norton she has one son, Benoni. 6. Martha is the wife of John Brewer, now living on a farm in Oklahoma, and their children are Ora 0., Ernest 0., Araetta G., and James T. 7. Emma E. is the wife of Davis Peck, living at Eaton in Delaware county, and their children are Arlington, Barnett, Eva and Susan. 8. Clark J., who is now con¬ nected writh the State Hospital, has the following children: William, Emma, Blanche, Hazel, Russell, and Cynthia E.

The descendants of Mrs. Havens are numerous, comprising thirtyseven grandchildren, fifty-nine great-grandchildren, and of her thirtyseven grandchildren, twenty-seven are married, and all are living and have children.

Mrs. Havens has been a worker in the Methodist Episcopal church since she was twenty-one years of age, and has been devoted to the cause of religion and morality. Though bom February 25, 1820, while James Monroe was still president of the United States, she still possesses "a green and smiling age," and there is hardly a tremor in her hand to indicate any break in her physical faculties. There is no woman in the state who can so accurately call up dates and facts from the early half *of the nineteenth century as Mrs. Havens. To indicate her remark¬ able powers of old age, in December, 1911, she made a trip alone to Oklahoma, where she celebrated her ninety-first birthday with a daughter, and on May 30, 1912, returned to Indiana, also alone.

Francis W. Chase. The men of this generation cannot realize the situation which faced their fathers, when fresh from the excitement and stir of the battlefields of the Civil war, they returned to the quiet farm life and were required to settle down to what must have been not only a hard life but a commonplace one. That many of them could not endure it is evidenced by the great emigration to the west at this time, but that many did settle down our prosperous farms of the middle west bear evidence. Among the latter was Francis W. Chase, now one of the most successful farmers of Grant county, Indiana. He is not only suc¬ cessful but he has won the honor and respect of all who know him and is one of the most popular and influential men of this section.

Francis W. Chase was born at Eckford, Calhoun county, Michigan, on the twenty-fourth of September, 1843, a son of Eli T. and Margaret (Whitcomb) Chase. Eli T. Chase, a son of Daniel T. and Huldah (Youngs) Chase, was bom in Rensselaer county, New York, near Troy, in 1815. His youth and early manhood were spent in the western part of New York in Genesee county, and at the age of sixteen he began to work for an uncle, with whom he made his home until he was twenty-one. Then after a mid-winter journey of twenty-two days, he accompanied a party from western New York to Southern Michigan. He arrived in Calhoun county, February 12, 1835, and lived there until his death on January 19, 1897. He was one of the influential pioneers and helped to develop the prosperous and fertile land of Calhoun county. After paying for his first eighty acres, he had only three dollars left, with which to continue his improvements and provide for the necessities of life. Eli T. Chase during his active career had a very prominent place in Calhoun county, Michigan, and in view of his long and honorable career it seems appropriate to quote several paragraphs concerning his life as published in a Michigan paper at the time of his death.

"Mr. Chase was a public spirited citizen, and took a deep interest and an active part in political, educational and religious affairs during his long life. He was active in the organization of the township of Eckford, and was the last survivor of those who voted at the first township meet¬ ing in 1836, after its organization. While a young man he took a bold stand against the institution of slavery, and voted for the Liberty party candidates in 1844, and advocated the principles of that party until slavery was abolished. In those days it required strong convictions and manly courage to espouse the unpopular cause of the slaves. He was one of the three representatives from the town of Eckford in the his¬ toric convention of 1854, 'under the Oaks,' at Jackson, and assisted in the organization of the Republican party, and during his active years took a prominent part in its councils and conventions.

"While residing in western New York, Mr. Chase became a member of the Free-Will Baptist church, and upon settling in Michigan territory labored to establish a branch of his chosen denomination at his home. He was one of the thirteen charter members, and the last survivor of those devout pioneers who united together and organized the Free-Will Baptist church of Cook's Prairie, March 12, 1836. He was one of the members who procured the legal incorporation of the church and society and served on the building committee in erecting the church edifice, and served as trustee for many years and was chairman of the executive committee of the Semi-Centennial Anniversary of the organization of the church, March 12, 1886. Mr. Chase was often sent as a delegate from his church to quarterly meetings and other conventions of his denomination and for more than sixty years was one of the most reliable and influential members of the Prairie church.

"In the educational movement, which, as an element in the church policy of the Free Will Baptist Denomination was a prominent question fifty years ago, Mr. Chase took advance position for progress. Long before the mass of communicants realized its importance, he was laboring to establish a denominational school in Michigan. He was one of the founders and liberal contributors to Michigan Central College at Spring Arbor, and served on its board of trustees. Being one of the first to perceive that the location of the school was unfortunate, he voted for its removal, and was on the committee which selected Hillsdale as the new location and which gave Hillsdale College to the denomination and the world. In this crisis of the school, Mr. Chase assumed heavy responsi¬ bilities, and for months held the title of the property until legislation could be procured and Hillsdale College incorporated and the title trans¬ ferred.

"His cheerful and genial nature and ready wit made him a welcome guest at every gathering. As a kind neighbor, devoted husband and father, useful citizen and a Christian gentleman, he reflected cheerful¬ ness and happiness all along the pathway, and he will long be remem¬ bered by his neighbors and friends. As a man of deeds, not words, Mr. Chase has taken an active part in the religious and secular questions in his church and community, and has participated in the educational and political affairs of his township, county and state. He has lived to see his educational reforms triumph, his educational enterprises succeed, and not only to see the institution of slavery wiped out, but to see the slave an enfranchised citizen. He helped to make his history, and it was justly a source of great satisfaction to him in his declining years to feel that his life work had contributed to make his countrymen freer, wiser and better.' '

In the fall of 1838 Eli T. Chase married Miss Margaret Ann Whit¬ comb, who died October 7, 1894, at the age of seventy-six years. Her father Rev. Samuel Whitcomb was one of the pioneers in southern Mich¬ igan, and very influential in the organization of the Free Will Baptist church at Cook's Prairie, being its first pastor. Eli and Margaret Chase were the parents of nine children, five of whom are now living : F. W. Chase; John E. Chase, who lives in Benton Harbor, Michigan; Mel¬ ville, of Oklahoma; Charles S., who lives in Michigan on the old home place ; and Dora E., who is the widow of J. H. Graham, the founder of the Graham-Morton Transportation Company.

Francis W. Chase was reared on the old farm in Michigan and was early placed in school. After finishing the work of the public school, he entered Hillsdale College and it was his father's intention to give his son the best education possible, but the Civil war made an end of all his plans. Aflame with patriotism, the young collegian enlisted in Company A of the Twenty-Fifth Michigan infantry on August 5, 1862. He served until the close of the war, being in the Twenty-Third army corps. His first engagement was in the battle of Tibs Bend, on July 4, 1863, and then came the Atlanta campaign, which he passed through unscathed. He served as a corporal during part of this campaign. Later he was a participant in the Battle of Nashville, and his last fight was a little skirmish at Wilmington, North Carolina. After this his corps joined Sherman's command at Greensboro, and he was mustered out on June 30, 1865, at Salisbury, North Carolina.

After the war was at an end, he returned to Calhoun county, Mich¬ igan, and at first determined to complete his uninterrupted studies. He therefore entered the University of Michigan, and took a course in the medical department, but he was never graduated. However, for one year he practiced medicine, and then married Janet Robertson of Alle¬ gan county, Michigan.

With the responsibilities of a family he moved west to Kansas where he and his wife lived for seven years. In 1878 they returned to the middle west and settled in Grant county, Indiana. This has been his home ever since, and Mr. Chase has a farm in Franklin township on section five near Sweetser. Here he has attained prosperity, both as a farmer and as a crop raiser.

Mr. Chase is affiliated with the Masonic Order, with Samaritan Lodge No. 105, A. F. & A. M. He is also a member of Sweetser Lodge No. 433 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he is past noble grand, and a member of the Grand Lodge. In politics he is a member of the Republican party, and has been active in the affairs of that organization. While a resideht of Kansas he served as trustee for a year, and had one term as commissioner of Sedgwick, Kansas. Since coming to Grant county, he has served as commissioner of the county, his term lasting from the fall of 1892 until 1898. Mr. Chase owns one hundred and eighty acres of land, and his farming operations are con¬ ducted along general lines.

Mr. and Mrs. Chase have become the parents of five children. The eldest, Margaret, after graduating from the public schools, entered the teaching profession, in which she has been engaged since 1892, now being located on the Island of Porto Rico. Frank is a resident of the state of California, being connected with the Standard Oil Company. Mary A. graduated from the Kindergarten department of the normal school at Benton Harbor, Michigan, and is now the wife of Edward

Daniels of North Marion, Indiana. Harriette, who is a graduate of Northwestern University at Evanston, Illinois, is now a teacher in Idaho. Paul E., who is a graduate of the electrical engineering department of Purdue University, is now located in Porto Rico, being employed by the Electric Power Company of San Juan in that island, but also spent four years in the Philippine Islands.

John M. Smith. Since 1866 the Smith family, of which John M. Smith of this review is a worthy representative, has been located in Grant county and they have been prominently identified with the agri¬ cultural interests of the district in all the years that have elapsed. Fine farms have come into a state of productiveness highly creditable to them and the county under the influence of their effectual husbandry, and they have taken places of merit in their various communities as men who lived well up to the high standards of their localities.

John M. Smith was bom in Adams county, Ohio, on February 15, 1864, and is a son of Joseph A. and Martha A. (Daggett) Smith. The father was also a native born son of Adams county, while the mother was born in Virginia, and they came to Grant county in 1866, when the subject was about two years old. Locating in Franklin township, they applied themselves to the task of carving out a home from the wilderness, and they succeeded beyond any doubt in that task. Until 1905 the father made his home there, but in that year moved to Swayzee, where he now resides, enjoying the fruits of many years of toil, and secure in the high esteem and friendship of a large circle of those people who have been his neighbors and acquaintances for a half century. The mother of John M. Smith died November 8, 1887. Mr. Smith is eighty-seven years of age now, but still retains a measure of his old time vigor. They became the parents of six children, four of whom were living in 1913. Anna is the wife«of Jordan Miller of Sims township ; Mary married Joseph Galbraith ; Joseph R. is a resident of Swayzee, and John M. Smith, whose name introduces this brief review.

Mr. Smith, as a boy at home, had the privilege of attending the dis¬ trict school, but beyond that he did not go. He early turned his atten¬ tion to independent farming, and today he resides on a farm of one hundred and sixty-nine acres, owned by his father, and has lived here ever since he was twenty-seven years old. He gives his attention to stock raising and general farming. He has achieved a most unqualified suc¬ cess as a farmer and stockman, and takes a leading place in his com¬ munity today as such.

In 1886 Mr. Smith was married to Miss Mary A. Martin, a daughter of John and Sarah Martin of Franklin township, and they have two children living; the oldest, Mabel Blanche was born in 1887, died aged eight months; Harold, bom in 1889, is a graduate of the grade schools and attended the high school at Swayzee. He married Letha Tibbetts, and lives in Swayzee. Martha W. is the wife of Raymond Babb, of Sims township, and they have one child, Gilbert Babb.

Mr. Smith is a Democrat in his politics, and though a man of much civic pride and loyalty, is not deeply concerned in the political issues of the party. He lives well up to the demands of good citizenship, however, and like all the men of his family, his identification with his community is a beneficial one thereto.

Harry L. Creviston. Bearing a name honored by three generations in Grant county, Harry L. Creviston is a young agriculturist who is not hiding his talents in a napkin, but is utilizing the knowledge and re-

As a producer his record for 1912 stands about as follows: On his fields he gathered twenty-five hundred bushels of corn, harvested and threshed twenty-four hundred bushels of oats, and cut about twenty tons of hay from his meadows. For 1913 he has planted twenty acres of wheat, fifty acres of corn, and twenty-five acres of oats. A considerable portion of his land is in pasture with one hundred acres of timber. For live stock he sends about one hundred hogs to market every year, runs a hundred head of sheep, all high-class, and twenty-five head of cattle. He keeps seven horses and mules to work his estate. In 1912, from his timber he sold twelve thousand feet of lumber. Mr. Creviston 's home is on section fourteen in Van Buren township, and his three hundred and twenty acres of land is located half in section eleven and half in section fourteen. His home, a comfortable residence of nine rooms, was erected by his father in 1905, and has all the modern improvements. In front pf the house is an attractive lawn, set with evergreens. The large barns, well painted and substantially built, for their purposes are two in num¬ ber, one having ground dimensions of thirty-six by fifty-six feet and erected by Mr. Creviston 's father in 1902, while the other is thirty-six by sixty feet and was built by Harry Creviston in 1908. On this farm are located twenty-six oil wells, all of which still produce some oil. Mr. Creviston has two large fruit orchards, and by carefully cultivating them and by spraying the trees, keeps them in good bearing condition, and is one of the large fruit raisers of Grant county.

Harry L. Creviston was born May 24, 1874, in Grant county, a son of Elijah J. and Lydia (Whinrey) Creviston, both of whom were natives of Indiana. The paternal grandparents were Daniel and Sarah A. Crev¬ iston, concerning which pioneer settlers much further detail will be found on other pages of this work. The family has been located in Grant county since 1840. The ancestry is Scotch. Elijah Creviston, the father, was born in Van Buren township February 8, 1844, and died June 4, 1907. Elijah was reared on the old Creviston homestead, became a teacher in early life, taught in Grant and Huntington counties, and afterwards engaged in farming, at which he was very successful. At the time of his death he was the owner of six hundred and forty acres in Washington and Van Buren townships. The three children who sur¬ vive him are: Mrs. Ella Nye, Otto and Harry L. The mother died in June, 1902. Among other members of the family were Henry C., Harvey and Ephraim Creviston, all of whom were brothers of Elijah; also Mrs. Carey, Mrs. Bradford, and Mrs. Dickens, sisters of Elijah.

Harry L. Creviston received his early education in district No. 1 of .Washington township. When twenty-four years of age he left home, was married, and settled on the farm where he now lives. Part of his land he obtained by inheritance, and he bought the rest on the settlement of the estate. In 1898 he was married to Miss Dora A. Shinholt, a daughter of Samuel H. Shinholt of Washington township. They are the parents of two children, Ralph C. and Mark S., both of whom are at home. In politics, Mr. Creviston is a Republican voter.

James W. Cemer. A representative of the sturdy pioneer stock of the Middle West, James W. Cemer, of Grant county, Indiana, has shown the same characteristics that enabled his ancestors to brave the dangers of the frontier. Mr. Cemer has been a successful farmer in this section for many years, and is a well known and popular citizen of Franklin township.

Cemer was bom on the 11th of February, 1863, in Niles township, Delaware county, Indiana. His father was a native of Piqua, Ohio, and his mother was born in Delaware county, Indiana. Jacob and Charlotte Cemer were the parents of ten children and of this large family eight are yet living. Susan is the wife of William Wingfield of Bluff ton; Emma is the wife of George Swisher, of Marion, Indiana; John Cemer married Phoebe Ridley; James W., who married Victoria Rader; Monice, who married Sam Kiser j George, who married Clara lies ; Charles A., who married Minna Lane, and J. V. Cemer, who mar¬ ried Louise Eleman and now lives in Portland, Oregon.