Grant County, Indiana - The whole text, 1914 (part 9 of 32)

Mr. and Mrs. Lyon are both members of the Shiloh Methodist Epis¬ copal church, in which his father served as a trustee, and he is presi¬ dent of the board. In politics he is a Democrat. Mr. Lyon shows much appreciation of history and of old relics, especially of a family nature. In his home one of the most interesting articles is an old wall or shelf clock, which was bought in 1828 by his grandfather and which is still in good repair and keeps excellent time. He also values as an heirloom a padlock that came from Ireland with his'McVicker ancestors, more than one hundred and fifty years ago, and is said to have been from a trunk or locker which the McVicker emigrant ancestor brought to this coun¬ try with him.

Henry H. Blinn. One of the really successful and admirable young men in Marion, Indiana, is Henry H. Blinn, the assistant cashier of the Marion National Bank. He has risen to his present position through hard work and a steady application to business. Although yet in his forties he has had many years of practical experience and his business ability and financial training have won for him the confidence, not only of the officials of the bank but also of the general public.

Henry H. Blinn is a son of Samuel A. Blinn and Rebecca (Raypholtz) Blinn, both of whom were bora in Grant county. His parents are still living and reside on a farm in Washington township. Henry H. Blinn was bom in Franklin township, Grant county, Indiana, on the 21st of August, 1866. He received his earlier education in the public schools of Franklin and Washington townships, and after completing his preparatory work he entered Lebanon University at Lebanon, Ohio, where he remained for a time. After this he became a student in Valparaiso University, at Valparaiso, Indiana, where he took a business course. After his education was complete Mr. Blinn spent fourteen years as a teacher in Grant county, Indiana, and in Iroquois county, Illinois. It was in 1896 that Mr. Blinn entered the business world and became deputy recorder of Grant county. He served for five years in this office and then, in 1901, became a bookkeeper in the Jason Wilson and Company Exchange Bank. This bank was later merged with the Marion National Bank and Mr. Blinn remained with the latter institu¬ tion. He advanced from bookkeeper to higher offices and has now reached that of assistant cashier.

Mr. Blinn is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, a member of Marion Lodge No. 105. He also belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Marion Lodge No. 96. In religious matters, both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, Mr. Blinn being a steward in the same. Politically Mr. Blinn holds to the Republican faith.

Mr. Blinn was married on September 5, 1894, to Miss Martha Nicewanger, a daughter of William H. Nicewanger of Van Buren township and a representative of one of the prominent families of Grant county/ One son, Everett W. has been bom to Mr. and Mrs. Blinn.

George White. One of the pioneers of the past generation and one of the men who played no small part in the history of Grant county, Indiana, is George White, now deceased, but for many years a powerful factor in the business life of Marion and of Grant county. He was one of the pioneers who not only had the courage and physical endurance to face life in the wilderness, but he was also of the type that could see into the future, and he realized the structure which was to be reared in that rich middle western section and helped to lay its firm foundation.

George White was a native of Ireland, having been born in County Donegal, in 1805. His parents emigrated to America a few years after his birth, but on the way they were captured by the British, and were detained at Halifax for two years, until the War of 1812, settled for all time the question of the freedom of the United States from the yoke of Great Britain. Upon reaching the United States the family made their way westward and settled at Cadiz, Ohio, where they lived for many years, with the exception of a break of three years when they resided at Warren, Ohio. It was in 1840 that they came to Grant county and located in Marion, and here George White was to spend the remainder of his life. He first engaged in the dry goods business and for many years was one of the most successful merchants in Marion. He built the Iroquois building, one of the leading buildings of the city, and con¬ ducted his store in this building for many years. He always had farm¬ ing interests in Grant county and although he retired from the mer¬ cantile business many years before his death, he personally managed his farm up to the time of his death. At one time he was county commis- sioner of Grant county, and he always took a keen interest in the public affairs of the county. In the religious world he was a member of the Methodist church.

George White married March 16, 1829, at Cadiz, Ohio, Miss Nancy M. Knox, who was an aunt of former Secretary of State, Philander C. Knox. Ten children were born to George and Nancy WTiite and of these six grew to maturity. Sarah White Mather, of Marion, is now the only living child. Of the others, William White was the eldest and lived in Marion; Edgar and James also lived in Marion; Amanda was the wife of Thomas D. Thorp of Marion; and Helen married R. W, Bailey, of Marion. George WTiite died in Marion in July, 1893, at the age of eighty-six.

Mrs. Sarah White Mather, the only living child, is one of the most popular women in Marion. She has been a resident of this city for many years and has been a leader in many ways. She was born in Cadiz, Ohio, July 26, 1836, and married Charles D. Mather. Her hus¬ band was born at Muncie, Indiana, February 24, 1833, but he came to Marion when he was a boy of nineteen and spent the remainder of his ' life here. He was first employed as a clerk in the store of his uncle, Aaron Sway zee, and after a number of years in which he gathered valu¬ able experience he went to the store of Goldthwaite and Company, as a clerk. He became so valuable to his employers that he was rapidly pro¬ moted and after a time came to have an interest in the store. Later in life he engaged in the grain business and in the agricultural implement business, and he continued in this line until he was forced to retire from business on account of ill health. He died on the 16th of December, 1907. Mr. Mather enlisted in August, 1862, in the 12th Regiment Indiana Volunteers and was in service until October, 1864, when he was dis¬ charged. He became first lieutenant in Company C and was later advanced to acting captain. "Onward, Christian Soldier' ' applies to soldiers of his class as he carried his religion with him in his defense of his country.

Mr. Mather was a member of the Methodist church and was an active member of the church. He was married to Miss Sarah White on the 20th of March, 1866, and one daughter, Helen Louise, was born of this union, also a little boy, who died at the age of six years. Mrs. Mather and her daughter reside in the home on Branson street, and Miss Mather is unusually gifted along musical lines.

Levi Moorman. It is a grateful distinction to have spent three quar¬ ters of a century in one community, and when those years have been filled with worthy accomplishments and with that old-fashioned spirit of loving-kindness, such a career becomes one deserving of admiration and worthy of perpetuation in any history of a county in which it has been spent. Levi Moorman, now living retired in Matthews, is one of the oldest native sons of Grant county, and now lives surrounded by his son and grandchildren and even great-grandchildren. Levi Moorman has reached a patriarchal age, and his years are well set off by his dignified appearance and characteristics, reminding one of the typical southern gentleman.

The Moorman family, which has been identified with Grant county for eighty years, comes of Welsh ancestry. The grandfather of Levi was born in Wales, and with a brother emigrated to the United States more than a century ago. While the brother located either in Pennsyl¬ vania or Virginia, the grandfather went to South Carolina, and found a home on the Big Pee Dee River, where he passed away in the prime of life, leaving two sons and one daughter. His occupation was that of

Lewis Moorman, father of Levi, was a small child when his father died, and his mother, who was a native of South Carolina, in 1811 emi¬ grated north with her little family to Orange county, Indiana, locating near Paoli, where* she remained until her death at a good old 'age. She was a remarkable woman in many ways, had the physical vigor and the executive ability of the sterner sex, and in Orange county she established and developed a homestead, and was one of the early horticulturists in that vicinity, raising fine crops of peaches and other fruits. Lewis Moor¬ man grew up on that farm in Orange county, and in early life acquired the trade of blacksmith. On reaching his majority he removed to New¬ port, now Fountain City, Wayne county, Indiana, and there set up his smithy. Some time later he married in Wayne county, Sarah Thomas, who was bora in North Carolina, about 1820, and was a small child when she came north to Wayne county with her parents, Stephen and Hannah (Wilcutt) Thomas. The Thomas family located in Indiana during the late twenties. Stephen Thomas was a practical mechanic and followed the trade of tinner and cabinet maker for some years, but in Wayne county, his energies were chiefly directed to the clearing up and developing of a tract of wild land, which eventually became a good farm-- stead, and was the home of Stephen Thomas and wife until the end of their lives. His death occurred when about seventy years of age, while his widow was more than ninety-three years old at death. They were both Orthodox Quakers. Their children numbered six.

After Lewis Moorman married he followed his trade of blacksmith for some years, but in 1833 abandoned it, and moved away from the somewhat well settled community of Wayne county to the frontier of Grant county. In this county he became one of the original land holders, getting a tract by entry, direct from the government. His location was in Union township, which was later named Fairmount township, and there he lived and followed the quiet vocation of farming, until he was past seventy-five years of age. His winters during the last years of his life were spent in the home of a daughter in Iowa, and in that state he died in 1900. His wife had passed away about ten years before aged sixty-eight. She died*in the Quaker faith, but late in life Lewis Moorman joined the United Brethren Church, and died in that belief. In early life his ballot was cast in behalf of Whig candidates, and later he was a Republican. There were five sons and four daughters in the family, all of ^hom grew up and all married but two sons, Nathan, the oldest brother, who died unmarried at the age of twenty -five; Steven, the youngest brother, who died in army during Civil War. The living sons are : Levi and Zachariah. Zachariah is married and lives in Jewel county, Kansas. He was a gallant soldier during the Civil war and in one engage¬ ment within five minutes time was shot in six different places, and never afterwards has been in good health. The two sisters still living are Jane, widow of Ira Howell, whose home is in Iowa, and who has one son and three daughters, and Theresa, wife of John W. Jones, a farmer in Jeffer¬ son township, and they have two sons and three daughters.

Levi Moorman, who was the second son and fourth child in the family, was born in Fairmount township in Grant county. May 16, 1838. His early life was spent in that vicinity, and his recollection includes the earliest pioneer days, when log cabins were numerous as homes, when the schools were conducted under the subscription plan, long before rail¬ roads were any where near Grant county, and when life was a very simple matter compared with the complexity of the present. His advan¬ tages in the way of schools#were limited by the conditions of the time, but he possessed a superior natural talent and intellect, and has never been seriously handicapped in his struggle with fortune. Sometime after becoming of age, he bought eighty acres of wild land, in Jefferson township, and that was the nucleus around which he built up his fortune. His eighty acres was increased under his management to one hundred and thirty-six acres, and was well improved with a large grain and stock barn, grain sheds, and a comfortable seven-room house, altogether making an attractive and valuable rural estate. Under his management prac¬ tically no land was allowed to go to waste, and the Moorman farm has long been regarded as almost a model in that community. In 1910 Mr. Moorman suffered a stroke of paralysis and retired to Matthews, where he has since almost entirely recovered his health and now enjoys the comforts of a good home on Seventh Street.

Mr. Moorman was married in Jefferson township, to Miss Lavina Lucas. Mrs. Moorman was bora in Jefferson township, August 22, 1841, and is a sister of the present county commissioner, Thomas J. Lucas, whose family sketch elsewhere in this publication will give the details in the history of the Lucas household. Mrs. Moorman was carefully reared and educated in the public and city schools of Marion, and is a cultured and very capable wife and mother. They are the parents of one son, Albert A., who was born March 12, 1865, was educated in the public schools, and now owns and operates a fine farm of eighty acres in Jef¬ ferson township. Albert Moorman married Rachel Dorton, of Delaware county, and they are the parents of three children, as follows : Beatrice, living at home; Clyde, who married Grace Johnson and occupies his grandparents' farm, and they have one daughter, Delight, born August 12, 1911 ; and Ralph, living at home.

Joel Duling. A life of quiet effectiveness, marked by a record of many duties well done, and many responsibilities faithfully fulfilled, was that of the late Joel Duling, who was born in Jefferson township of Grant county, April 13, 1844, spent all his career in this county, and died on his fine rural homestead in Jefferson township, June 17, 1910. In early life he was a soldier, bearing arms in defense of the Union, spent many active years as a substantial farmer, and left a record both in business and citizenship, which may well be enVied and admired.

The late Joel Duling was a son of Rev. Solomon and Jane (Hubert) Duling, both natives of Ohio, who after their marriage moved to In¬ diana, during the decade of the thirties and entered land direct from the government in Jefferson township of Grant county. There they were pioneers, did their share of wrork, contributing towards the develop¬ ment of the country, and lived blameless and upright lives. Solomon Duling made a good home for his family, and died in Jefferson township when fifty-seven years of age, while his wife passed away at the age of sixty-four. He was one of the pioneer preachers of the Methodist Protestant faith, in this section of Indiana, and a detailed record of his experiences would include much of the pioneer history, not only of his church, but of the people and community. He bore almost unnumbered hardships often exposed himself by swimming the swollen streams on horseback, and during the winter times his clothing would often freeze while riding along the lonely roads between different meetings. He was a devoted church worker, and labored earnestly for the spiritual upbuilding of his community. His death occurred in 1871. His wife was likewise a faithful member of the same church. They had eleven children, five of whom grew to manhood and womanhood, three were married and two are still living. John lives on a farm in Jefferson township, and the daughter Sina M. is the wife of Burton R. Jones, liv- ing in Marion, and they are the parents of a son and a daughter. Three of the Doling household were soldiers in the Civil war, including the late Joel Duling, and also his brothers Edmund and Elijah. Edmund was shot through the knee while on a gunboat on the Mississippi river and died soon afterwards from lockjaw, caused by the wound. He was a widower, at the time of his death, and his daughter Sarah J. is married and lives in Ohio. Elijah Duling spent three years in the war, returned home, and when past thirty-five years and still a bachelor, died as a result of a train wreck.

The late Joel Duling was reared on the old farm, and at the last call for troops, enlisted before he was twenty years old in 1864, and served until the end of the struggle. His military service lasted about one year, and most of that time he was on detached duty. When the war came to an end. he had just reached his majority, and on returning home he followed the labor of the home farm until 1868. In that year his mar¬ riage caused him to start independently, on a tract of eighty acres given him by his father in Fairmount township. Thirteen years of manage¬ ment of that estate brought him considerable prosperity, and he then bought the old homestead in Jefferson township, and lived there until his death. His farm comprised two hundred and forty acres, and part of it was entered by his father from the government, and has never had any owners except the Dulings. His attention was given to general farming and stock raising, and he set an example of thrift and enter¬ prise in his community. The farm was well improved with buildings, and in every direction it showed the careful industry and thrift of its owner.

Joel Duling was married May 3, 1868, in Mill township, to Miss Mary C. Roush. Her family is one of the oldest and most distinguished in Grant county. Mrs. Duling herself was bom in Mill township Feb¬ ruary 18, 1843, was reared and educated in that community, and since her marriage has devoted herself earnestly and without stint to the in¬ terests of her husband and household and was an important factor in making the generous prosperity that belongs to the name. In 1910, her husband's death occurred, and Mrs. Duling in September, 1911, moved to Matthews and bought a pleasant home on Eighth street, where she and her son are now living and are enjoying quiet and peaceful days. Her parents were William and Jane (McCormick) Roush. Her father was bora in Pennsylvania, in 1818, and her mother in Grant county, in the pioneer year 1824, seven years before Grant county became organized with a civil government. Jane McCormick was a daughter of Robert McCormick, whose name stands conspicuous in the pioneer annals of Grant county. He entered some fifteen or sixteen hundred acres of land in this county, and at one time was the largest land owner in this sec¬ tion, most of his property being in Jefferson township. Robert Mc¬ Cormick died in Grant county, when less than sixty years of age, and his widow whose maiden name was Ann McCormick but not related, married for her second husband, John Fankboner and died when she was ninety-four years of age. William Roush came from Pennsylvania to Grant county when a young man, married in Jefferson township, became the owner of two hundred acres of good land, and spent his career in quiet industry in that township. His death occurred April 5, 1904, and his wife passed away November 12, 1907. They were of the Presbyterian faith. Mr. and Mrs. Roush had thirteen children during their married career, including one pair of twins. The following grew to maturity: Mrs. Duling; Madison, who died a bachelor at the age of sixty-four years; William, who is married and has two daughters and Uvea in Jonesboro; Fremont, who lives in Jonesboro, and has two daugh- ters ; Isaac, who died in March, 1863, in a hospital at Memphis, Tennes¬ see, after a year's service in the Union army, being unmarried at the time ; John, who lives on a farm in Clark county, Indiana, and is mar¬ ried but has no children.

The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Duling are mentioned as follows: Ada, who is the wife of Charles B. Hook, and lives on a part of the old Duling homestead in Jefferson township, is the mother of five children: Virgil D., Nondas M., Paul Joel, Raymond I., and Hubert Me. Allie died when sixteen years of age. William Solomon, who is a bachelor, lives with his mother in Matthews, and owns and operates a part of the old homestead. Virgil B., is a successful farmer; owns eighty acres in Fairmount township, and by his marriage to Olive Himelick, has one daughter, Mary. Winnie F., died when nearly eighteen years of age. Clara B. died in infancy. Mrs. Duling, as was her husband, is an active member of the Methodist Protestant church. Their married companion¬ ship lasted for forty-two years, and was one of utmost harmony and ef¬ fective cooperation; they provided well for their family of children, laid up a competence for their own comfort, contributed liberally to the community and to the church, and are the class of people upon which the progress of any state or nation must chiefly depend. The late Mr. Duling was an active Republican in politics. As an old soldier he had affiliations with the New Cumberland Post of the Grand Army of the Republic. Mrs. Duling's father, William Roush was at the time of his death the oldest member of the Masonic Order in Grant county, and very prominent in the different Masonic bodies.

Charles F. Marley. The results of youthful energy and enterprise are no where to be seen more clearly than on Indiana farms, where the younger generation have caught the spirit of scientific agriculture and have changed the old half-hearted conditions into an efficient, business¬ like management. Of this younger generation of Grant county agri¬ culturists, Mr. Charles F. Marley is one of the best representatives. His home is in section eight of Jefferson township, though his farm opera¬ tions extend to two adjacent sections, and altogether several hundred acres of land are under his supervision. Mr. and Mrs. Marley are young people wTho move in the best social set of Grant county, and are not only prosperous farming people, but leaders in community life.

Charles F. Marley was born in Licking township, Blackford county, Indiana, September 17, 1886. His native township was the scene of his early youth, and while growing up he acquired an education in the district schools. His parents were Joseph and Sarah (Foy) Marley. Joseph Marley was born at Hartford City, Indiana, August 2, 1857, and died near Upland in Grant county, November 26, 1912. The Marleys settled in Blackford county in the pioneer days. Joseph C. Marley was married in Hartford City, February 10, 1882 to Miss Sarah Foy, who was born December 18, 1861, near Galveston in Cass county, but was reared and educated in Blackford county. She now lives with her younger son near Upland, and is a woman of much refinement and intelligence. Her parents were Fantley R. and Mary (Townsend) Foy. Her father was born in Ohio, and her mother in New York State, and came as young people to Blackford county, where they were married. Mr. Foy was a farmer, and also operated a threshing machine for some years. His death occurred in Jefferson township of Grant county, June 30, 1911, and his wife passed away at Hartford City in 1881. Mr. Foy was a Democrat, and his wife was a devout- member of the Methodist church. Mrs. Sarah Marley is one of three daughters and two sons, and she also adheres to the Methodist Doctrine. Joseph C. Marley, whose father died in young manhood in Blackford county, in 1861, and who was a blacksmith at Hartford City, spent all his career as a farmer. His mother was married again after his father's death. The brothers of Joseph C. Marley were Frank, George, Calvin, and William, all of whom were married, and George and William are still living. Frank was well known in musical circles, and William was a carpenter and builder and also had musical talent.

Charles F. Marley was the second child and first son in a family, the other members of which are mentioned as follows: Nora, the wife of Sylvester S. Smith, living on the Marley farm, and they are the parents of five children; Fred, a resident at Upland and section foreman for the Pennsylvania Railroad, who married Ethel Ballinger, a daughter of Webster Ballenger; Lee, lives at home with his mother in Jefferson township, and belongs to the Upland high school class of 1915.

Charles F. Marley grew up on a farm, and after completing his edu¬ cation decided that farming offered the best opportunities for a success¬ ful career, and since his marriage he and his wife have owned and operated four hundred acres of land lying in section eight, one hundred acres in section three, and fifty acres in section nine, all in Jefferson township. Fine farm buildings, including a dwelling of twelve rooms, a large barn on the main farm, sixty by one hundred and twenty feet in ground dimensions, and many other notable improvements indicate the progressive management of the Marley estate. Mr. Marley has learned the secret of making a high-priced land pay profits, and he does this by feeding all the grain and other crops to hogs, cattle, sheep and horses of the better grade, and his stock always command the topnotch prices, when sent to market.

On February 8, 1909, in Jefferson township, Mr. Marley married Miss Elva Johnson, who was born in Jefferson township in 1885, a daughter of Noah Johnson, whose career as that of one of Grant county 's well known former citizens is sketched on other pages. Mrs. Marley grew up in this county, had a public school education, and has entered spiritedly and actively into the plans and career of her husband. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Marley are as follows: Geneva; Joseph J. ; James Robert; and Charles, who died when three months old.

Amos Pugh. One of Grant county's sterling citizens, for many years an active farmer of Jefferson township, and a man whose .quiet and upright character, left its impress in his community, was the late Amos Pugh, who died at his homestead in section fourteen of Jefferson township, April 12* 1905.

Amos Pugh was bom in that township, on the old Pugh estate, entered by his father, on July 17, 1844, and was sixty-one years of age, when death came to him. He was reared and educated in his home locality, and from young manhood followed farming, and with such industry and good management that he left his family in good circum¬ stances. From 1884 until his death he lived on a farm of forty acres in section fourteen. His personal labors had entered into the develop¬ ment of that place, and among its improvements are a comfortable nine-room house, surrounded with attractive grounds, and also a good barn. Mr. Pugh lived his later years as almost an invalid, and his death was from bright's disease. 4

The parents of the late Amos Pugh were Marshall and Elizabeth Pugh, who were bom in Virginia, were married in Ohio and in the latter twenties, or early thirties came to Indiana and took up land in the wilderness of Grant county. Their first log-cabin home was built in the green woods, and as they possessed the hardy character of the typical pioneers they prospered in proportion to their efforts. Marshall Pugh was born in 1795, and his wife in 1804. They were working mem¬ bers of the Methodist faith, and assisted in the organization of the old Shiloh M. E. Church, and Marshall Pugh gave the cemetery in which the body of himself and wife now lie side by side. They had a large family of children, and the only survivor is Alfred, a justice of the peace at Upland, who lives with his children.

On January 18, 1866, Amos Pugh was married in Jefferson town¬ ship to Margaret Walker, who was bom in that locality August 27, 1842, and is now living on the Pugh homestead. She was reared and educated in her native township, and after her marriage entered actively into the plans and works of her husband and was a good manager and largely responsible for the success which came to both of them. Since her husband's death she has lived on the farm, and has done much to increase its value and improvements. Mrs. Pugh is a daughter of John and Miriam (Case) Walker. John Walker was born in Virginia, a son of Joseph Walker, and when a young man moved to Ohio, where he married in Preble county. Two children were bom in that county, and in 1834, the Walker family came on further west and found location in Grant county. The journey was made across the country with wagon and team, and they entered upon their possessions in Grant county as typical pioneers. The portion of the land which he secured for his homestead was in the school section, and the father devoted many years of labor to the clearing up and developing of a home. A man of excep¬ tional education, he not only did farming, but spent the winter seasons for a number of years in teaching in the community. His death occurred in Jefferson township in July 1845, when only thirty-six years of age. Some years later his widow married Jesse Ballinger, and they reared a family, and died on their farm in Grant county, she being past seventyfive years of age, and he a little older. There were six children in the Ballinger household. John Walker and wife also had six children, namely: Samuel, who died in 1908, in Jefferson township, where he was a farmer, and left two children; Catherine, became the wife of James Needier, and they are both now deceased, leaving a family ; Mary died after her marriage to William Simons, who now lives at Summitsville, Indiana; Sarah J., died when nine months old. The next in line is Mrs. Pugh, and William C. Walker, deceased, was a well known carpenter of Grant county, to whom is accorded separate space in this volume.

Mrs. Pugh is a member of the Jefferson Christian Church as was her husband. The latter always voted the Democratic ticket. The only child of Mr. and Mrs. Pugh was William Elmer, who was born October 21, 1866, was well educated, took up the occupation of milling, and after some years spent in that business he died at the home of his parents, November 5, 1894. He was at that time less than thirty years of age, was a young man of great promise, and very popular in the community. In politics he gave his support to the Prohibition cause and voted for the candidate, Mr. St. John. Mrs. Pugh has also fostered two children, and has given them the care and affection of a true mother. The first of these is Effie, who was well educated in the public schools, and whQ married 0. C. Needier, a successful young farmer in Jeffer¬ son township, and a son of Joseph Needier. Mrs. Pugh also reared a niece, Lois E. Simons, and she was married at the Pugh homestead to Louis Hanley.

the days when the wilderness and the Indians prevailed. Its members have followed farming chiefly as their occupation, though the name is also represented in the profession and in public affairs. Mr. Thomas J. Lucas of Fairmount has for many years been a successful farmer, and is now active in public affairs as county commissioner from the third district of the county.

The family ancestry goes back to early Scotch settlers of America, The first home of the family in America was in the state of Virginia, where the Lucases and related families lived for several generations. The grandfather of Thomas J. Lucas was Basil Lucas, a native of Virginia, who married a Miss Milburn. A recent investigator of this family records has shown that Mr. Lucas is a direct kinsman of General Thomas Jefferson Lucas, who was a soldier in the War of 1812, and also in the war with Mexico during the 40s. General L. J. Lucas was a son of General Lucas, who gained distinction as a soldier under Napoleon in the French wars. Basil Lucas was also related to William Penn, the founder of the Pennsylvania colony.

After his marriage in Virginia, Basil Lucas emigrated to Highland county, Ohio, where he was one of the early settlers, and where he followed farming. He died when about eighty years of age, and his wife was probably about the same age at the time of her death. They were Methodists in religion, and the father voted the Democratic ticket. The children of these parents were: 1. Basil, Jr., a farmer, who came to Grant county, where he died. He reared two daughters who grew to maturity. 2. Joseph Lucas located in Randolph county, Indiana, mar¬ ried and had a family of six children of whom one is still living.

3. John, married in Ohio, then came to Randolph county, Indiana, later to Grant county, where he died. He left the following named children : Noah, Julia, David, Anna, and Mary, the last two being still alive.

4. Rev. Simeon came to Randolph county, and spent all his active career as a preacher for the Methodist Church. He was married in Ohio, and he and his wife left a family of children. 5. Noah, lived and died in Ohio, where he was married and had two sons. 6. Thomas Milburn was the father of Thomas J. Lucas, and his family record is given at greater length hereafter. 7. Willialn was a veteran of the Mexican war, and for his services in that conflict received a grant of land in the old Indian Reserve in Grant county. After improving this estate he moved to Ohio and died in Allen county of that state. He was a devout Metho¬ dist, and a great worker for his church. He was married but had no children. William Lucas was also distinguished as a powerful athlete, and in the early days often wrestled with the Indians. 8. Sarah married a Mr. Allison, and they lived and died in Illinois, leaving two daughters. 9. Anna married a Mr. Bragg, and they spent their lives in Ohio as farmers. In their family was one son who proved his bravery as a Union soldier during the Civil war. 10. Amos, was married, lived in Ohio, and left one son.

Thomas Milburn Lucas, the father, was born in Highland county, Ohio, June 10, 1814. Growing up on a farm, he was one of a number of children, and owing to such a large family and the pioneer circumstances of the times, it was often difficult for the parents to provide all the necessities of life. The children went barefoot throughout the summer season, and as the procuring of shoes was not an easy matter some of the children often went without until well into the winter season. Shortly after he became of age, Thomas M. Lucas was married on May 23, 1839, in Ohio, to Mary Moore Shoemaker. She was born in New Jersey, March 30, 1813, and was a child when she came over the Alleghany Mountains in wagon and team to Highland county with her parents.

Her father, George Shoemaker, married a Miss Moore. Both her par¬ ents lived and died on a farm in Ohio, and reached advanced age. The Shoemakers were all Methodists.

In Ohio was bom George M. Lucas, the first child of Thomas M. and wife. After his birth the family moved to Grant county. The father had come to this county in 1840, locating a tract of government land on Barren Creek in Jefferson township. He then rode all the way back to Southern Ohio, and after entering and making his first payment on the land at the land office at Fort Wayne, finally set out in 1842 with his young wife and child across country to their new home. The settlement of the Lucas family in Jefferson township was in the midst of the green timber, and their first home was a primitive log cabin, with greased paper for window light, with a puncheon floor, and with a door made of slabs hung on wooden hinges. Practically all the expe¬ riences which have been described as a portion of the early settlers of Grant county were participated in by the early Lucas family. Among other things they had to pay a pound of pork for a pound of all the salt used in their establishment. Thomas M. Lucas prospered as a farmer, and eventually owned three hundred and twenty acres of land, having put three hundred acres of this under cultivation and improve¬ ment. His death occurred in March, 1874, while his wife survived him several years. Mrs. Lucas, the mother, as a housewife in those pioneer days probably had no superior. She was noted for her excellent cook¬ ery, and her children remember that she was as fussy about the clean¬ liness of her puncheon floor on the old cabin as any modern housewife is about the hardwood floors which are now found in so many Grant county homes. Both father and mother were life-long Methodists, and took part in the first organization of the church in their section of the county. Thomas M. Lucas was an official of the church, a class leader, a trustee, and superintendent of the Sunday school.

The children of Thomas M. Lucas and wife are given the following records on these pages: 1. George died when twelve years of age. 2. Lavina is the wife of Levi Moorman, and lives at Matthews in Grant county. They are the parents of one son, Albert. 3. Albert Lucas, a retired farmer in Jonesboro, of Grant county, married Louisa Kidner, and their children are Otto and Armenta. 4. John, lives in Jefferson township, a prosperous farmer, and married Clementine Jenkins, and their children are Lona, William, Florence, Daisy, Inez, Albert, Charles, and Elizabeth. 5. Anna M. is the wife of William P. Roush, living in Mill township, where they are substantial farming people. Their chil¬ dren are Nettie and Walter, both the children being now deceased. Walter was a student of Purdue and went with a party of students to Indianapolis to a football game, but the train was wrecked and he was killed. 6. Thomas J. was the youngest of the family.

Mr. Thomas J. Lucas was born in Jefferson township at the old homestead, December 18, 1849. His early training was received in the public schools. Taking up the career of farming he early accumulated some property, developed a good homestead, and still has his old farm of one hundred and thirty-five acres in Jefferson township. It is improved with an excellent barn, a comfortable dwelling, and on its feed lots and pastures run a number of horses, hogs and sheep. He raises corn, oats and wheat, and feeds practically all his crop, to his stock. Mr. Lucas continued a resident on the home farm until 1892, when he moved to a house in town, at 117 South Sycamore Street. This is now one of the attractive homes of Fairmount.

George Needler And Wife

and received her education in the same locality with her husband. Her parents were Harmon and Mary (Minnick) Dunn. Her father was bom in Delaware county, Indiana, about 1822 or 1823. Her mother was a native of Rockingham county, Virginia. They were married in Grant county, and started out as farmers in the midst of the wilderness. They hewed a home out of the woods, and were among the substantial pioneer settlers in this section of the state. Mr. Dunn died during the last year of the Civil war in 1864, being in the prime of life. His widow died some years later, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Joseph W. Littler, when seventy-six years of age. The Dunns were Presby¬ terians in religious faith. The children of the Dunn family were Elzina, widow of Robert F. Careins, and lives at Matthews, and has three sons ; Amanda, the second, is Mrs. Lucas ; Loretta is the widow of I. H. Shoe¬ maker, and has one son and two daughters, and lives in Oklahoma City; Calvin died at the age of twenty-two ; Elizabeth is the wife of J. W. Littler, living in Jefferson township, and the mother of four daughters.

The family of Mr. and Mrs. Lucas comprise the following children : Dr. Wilbur was bprn June 22, 1872, was liberally educated and prepared for his profession in the Northwestern University at Chicago, where he was graduated M. D. in 1903. He is now in successful practice at Pueblo, Colorado, and was married October 7, 1908, to Edith M. John¬ son of that city, and they have one daughter, Edith Lenore, born Decem¬ ber 26, 1910. 2. Carl Dunn Lucas, D. D. S., was bora October 24, 1879, graduated from the dental college of Indianapolis, in the class of 1902, and has a high rank as a practitioner of dentistry, and also through his other professional relations. He is a member of the faculty of the Indianapolis Dental College, and has gained a great reputation as a lecturer, on dentistry throughout the central states and the west. He married Effie Janet Carter, of Arcadia, Indiana, and they have a son, Carl, Jr. 3. Mabel, was born November 14, 1884, was educated in the Fairmount Academy, and married Dr. L. D. Holiday. Their children are Murrey L. and Philip L. 4. Georgia was bora November 9, 1889, was educated in the city grammar and high schools, studied music in the Marion Conservatory, under Professors Owen & Nusbaum, and was later a student under Miss C. Louise Dunning of New York City, but now a£ Portland, Oregon. Miss Lucas is now taking a normal course, and as a student of great ambition and talents is preparing herself to teach the Dunning course of music.

Mr. and Mrs. Lucas are attendants at the Congregational Church. Mr. Lucas is now serving his second term as county commissioner of Grant county from the Third District, having been chosen on the Demo¬ cratic ticket- He has also served a term on the Fairmount City Council, and as a successful business man his services to the public have been greatly appreciated by the local citizenship. He is affiliated with Lodge No. 383, I. O. 0. F., and with Lodge No. 381, Knights of Pythias, at Fairmount. He has passed all the chairs in these orders. In politics he is regarded as one of the leading Democrats of Grant County and has served as chairman of the township committee, and has frequently attended as a delegate the county, state and congressional sessions.

George Needler. For seventy-nine years George Needier has lived in Grant county. His recollections cover almost three-quarters of a cen¬ tury, and he is one of the few survivors of the actual period of pioneer circumstances and events in Grant county. At the present time nearly every section of land in the entire area of Grant county is more or less improved, and every section is a praiseworthy tribute to the hardy en¬ deavors and the courage and ability of the pioneers. Of those who came in the vanguard of civilization and assisted in the clearing up of one of these sections, the Needier family is not only one of the oldest, but through the worthy character of its various members is one of the most prominent. The Needier family originated in Germany, where the great¬ grandfather George Needier was born, and where he was married, and f partly reared his family. About 1790 he crossed the Atlantic with his little household, and on the voyage his wife succumbed to the hardship of the long trip, and was buried at sea. With his four sons, George Needier landed in Philadelphia, where he lived until his death at a good old age. His son George Needier, Jr., married Mary Snyder, who, though her name belies the assertion, is said to have been born in Ireland. Aftfer his marriage George, Jr., pursued his trade of cooper for a short while, then moved to the vicinity of Winchester, Virginia, and while there his family of six sons were born, whose names were : James, George, John, Jacob, David and Abner. About 1807 or 1808 the family left Virginia and settled in Guernsey county, Ohio, their location being on lands reserved by the government for school purposes. Some years were spent in that vicinity, and by the combined labors of %all the household, a substantial home was added. Some of the sons got their first capital and start in life through employment in the salt works in that vicinity. Then in 1832, James Needier, the oldest of the children, came to Indiana, and in the wilderness of Jefferson township of Grant county, acquired four hundred acres direct from the government. The following year he again came out and built a log cabin in the midst of the wilderness, and there in 1834 he brought his young wife and his father and brothers also came and thus the household was reunited in the valley of the Mississinewa. However, the mother of James died during the journey out to Grant county, and thus was enacted one of the tragedies of pioneer life. Her body was laid to rest at the roadside at Darby Plains near Urbana, Ohio. After they were all settled and started in the regular pursuits of a pioneer community, George Needier Junior was quietly taken from life at an old and vigorous age. He had been cutting wheat and still had his sickle in his hand when death called him.

James Needier was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, in 1797, grew up in Virginia and Guernsey county, Ohio, learned the trade of jcooper, though practically never followed it, and on coming to Grant county was soon followed by all his brothers except Abner, who remained behind. Abner later came to Grant county, still later went to Missouri and died there. James Needier lived the life of an industrious pioneer and cleared up two hundred acres of land in Jefferson township. There he pursued his vocation as a farmer until his retirement, and he spent his last days at the home of a son in Hartford City, where he died in 1881 at the age of eighty-four years. He was a Democrat in politics, belonged to the Presbyterian church, and was an upright and honored citizen. He mar¬ ried Rebecca Ward, a daughter of Captain John Ward, who held a com¬ mission in the United States Army during the War of 1812, and who died about 1815. Rebecca Ward was born about 1807, was reared in Ohio, in the family of some Irish people, until her marriage. She died at the old home in Jefferson township, about 1870. Her religion was that of the Methodist church.

Mrs. George Needier was bom in Guernsey county, Ohio, May 14, 1832, about two years before the family left that region and settled in Grant county. His career has been one of great activity, and of con¬ siderable variety. For four years he taught school, was in the business of manufacturing tile for eight years, served in the office of county com¬ missioner four years, and aside from those activities has spent the greater port of his life as a farmer and stock dealer. His success has fluctuated.

and at one time he was the owner of two hundred acres, but reverses reduced his property until he now possesses about sixty acres, and yet is still in fair circumstances, and is regarded as a man of reliable integrity.

Mr. Needier was first married in Blackford county, Indiana, to Lydia Cunningham. She was bom and reared in that county, her birth taking place in 1832, and she died in 1891. The children by her marriage were as follows : Franklin died after his marriage leaving two children, who live with their mother in Oklahoma ; Mary M. is the wife of W. H. Coffin, a farmer in Delaware county, and they have children ; Clementine lives in Muncie, the wife of Willard Nolan, and their children are five in num¬ ber; Emazetta is the wife of Charles Dodson, of Cincinnati, Ohio, and they have one daughter; Andrew J. is a resident of Muncie, and has a family of two children; Charles is a farmer in Jefferson township, and has six children. For his second wife Mr. Needier married Elizabeth Monroe, who was bom in Grant county, July 23, 1844, a daughter of Joseph and Hannah (Shirar) Monroe, who came from Pennsylvania, were settlers first in Ohio, and later came to Grant county in 1840, where they were among the early farmer settlers. Mr. Monroe died March 28, 1856, and his wife on March 27, 1875. They left two sons and two daugh¬ ters, who are still living and three of them are married.

John Borrey. The era of natural gas brought many able citizens to Grant county - men of large and varied industrial and commercial experience, whose enterprise and energy has done much to develop the county during the last thirty years. After a number of years as a suc¬ cessful glass manufacturer, John Borrey has chosen Fairmount as the home of his quiet years and prosperous retirement. ' With an ample share of the world's goods, he shows a fine sense of responsibility toward his community, and is employing his means and influence for the im¬ provement of his home locality.

Few Grant county families have so interesting a history as that of the Borreys. They are of French ancestry, and Mr. Borrey 's grandparents lived and died in Alsace. This border province of the German Empire has been changing destinies during the last century, so that a native of Alsace may properly claim to be either a native of France or of Ger¬ many. At the time of the Napoleonic wars, Alsace was taken from Ger¬ many and made a part of the French Empire. So it remained until the Franco-Prussian war of 1871, when it became one of the prizes of the war, and was returned to Germany and has since been a part of the German Empire. The grandparents of John Borrey spent their lives in Alsace while it was under French dominion. They were Catholics in religion, and the grandfather followed the family occupation of glass blowing. Mr. Borrey has no information concerning the names of his grandparents. However, it is known that there were four children, two sons and two daughters, the sons having been John and Michael, and one of the daughters named Elizabeth. These children were born in Alsace, but subsequently all moved into Germany, where they spent their lives in quiet industry and comfortable home life. They all reared families of their own and for many years had their homes at Sauerbroke, Germany.

Michael Borrey was born in Alsace in 1820. He learned the trade of glass blower when a young man, went to Germany, served according to the law of the land for three years in the army and then took up his regular work as a glass blower. He followed with great skill a special department of this work in the manufacture of large carboys, carboys being large glass containers. His father had worked at the same line of glass blowing in France, and the two sons on going to Germany took a contract for the blowing of these large bottles under condition that all the bottles should bear the family name of Borrey stamped upon them. Both brothers John and Michael continued in the manufacture of car¬ boys until they were sixty years of age. They were large and powerful men and were masters of their trade. Michael died in Germany when eighty-two years of age. Throughout his active career he had been a hard worker, and enjoyed peculiar esteem in his community. He mar¬ ried a German girl named Salma Schamm, a native of Frederickstahl, one of the great glass manufacturing centers of Germany. She died twenty years before her husband. All the family were Catholics in religion. The children of Michael and wife were : Lena, who married a glass blower in Germany, and they spent their lives in that country, leav¬ ing a family of children ; Sophia, married a window glass blower, and they were the parents of five children, the family spending their lives in Germany; Lizzie married Joseph Smith, also in the window glass trade, and they died in Germany, leaving a son and two daughters; Jacob, was a bottle blower in Germany, married and died when his only child was one year of age, while his widow is still living ; Netja married a German glass blower, later moving to the United States, and both died at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, leaving two sons and a daughter.

Mr. John Borrey of Fairmount, a brother of Michael, just named, was born in Frederickstahl, Germany, near the French border, August 9, 1848. He grew up there, learned the glass blower's trade both in the manufacture of bottles and window glass. In 1868 he decided against serving in the German Army, and in order to escape that rule he emi¬ grated to the United States, landing in New York City. From there he went to Pittsburg, and on account of his skill soon found a profitable employment in one of the large bottle manufacturing and window glass houses of that vicinity. After four or five years he moved to Ravenna, Ohio, where he spent sixteen years at his trade. For about five years of this time he was manager of the plant. As a glass blower he had few superiors, and was a quiet and efficient worker, well minded his own business and still was popular and a good manager.

While a resident of Ravenna, Mr. Borrey married Louisa Hahne, who was born at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, April 4, 1854, of German parentage. Her parents, when she was fifteen years old, settled at Ravenna, Ohio, her father having been a glass flatner, but later taking up the occupa¬ tion of farming. Her father died near Ravenna, Ohio, at the age of seventy-three, while her pother survived until eighty-eight years of age. Her parents were married in Germany, and came to the United States in 1848.

Mr. Borrey through his early career both when single and after his marriage exercised a great deal of thrift and economy in the management of his financial affairs, and as he commanded high wages, both as a blower and as manager, he was early on the highroad to prosperity. In 1888 he went to Massillon, Ohio, where he took stock in a window glass manufacturing company. Becoming manager, he remained there until the development of the natural gas belt in Indiana, and the consequent cheap fuel made it profitable for the company to move away. The com¬ pany accordingly dismembered the entire factory, and brought it in pieces to Greenfield, Indiana, and during 1890-91 rebuilt the entire fac¬ tory. It was conducted for the manufacture of window glass success¬ fully until 1897, when Mr. Borrey sold his interest. He then came to Fairmount and established a glass factory in this Grant county town. From the start, largely owing to his long and varied experience, au<3 a peculiarly able management, he was successful, and after about a year sold out the plant at a large profit over its cost to the American Window Glass Company, the trust. He was later employed by the combine, as & special manager, going from one factory to another to see that things were all right, but finally gave up the glass business altogether, and retired to his fine home at 510 East Washington Street in Fairmount. He now enjoys a large and ample prosperity, and among other property owns one of the best business blocks in the city at the corner of Main and Washington Streets which he erected. Although he had well earned a period of leisure, Mr. Borrey is not the kind of man who can sit down and fold his hands, and soon after he retired he bought a fine farm of good land with excellent improvements, well built and modeled houses and barns and with silo and all the appliances of modern farming, and on that country estate finds a profitable pleasure in farming and stock raising. He raises all the general crops and feeds everything to stock on the place with the exception of his wheat. He keeps only first class stock and has about a dozen first class horses, and all the machinery is of the very best type.

Mr. Borrey is a Republican in politics, and is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His wife belongs to the Congre¬ gational church. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Borrey were bom the following children : Bertha, who was born in Ravenna, Ohio, July 3, 1871, and is the wife of Paul Hagen, whose home is Indianapolis. They are the parents of two children, Marie and Lucile. William, the second child, was born September 27, 1872, is a glass manufacturer at Kokomo, Indiana, and is unmarried. Flora, was born January 11, 1875, and is the wife of Edward Welsch, a hardware merchant at Fairmount. They have no children. John G. was bora November 4, 1876, is a farmer and manager of his father's estate, being unmarried and living at home in Fairmount.

Joseph Ratliff. Among the old and honored residents of Fairmount, one who has been a witness to and a participant in the won¬ derful development which has changed this part of Grant county from an undeveloped wilderness into one of the garden spots of the State, is Joseph Ratliff, who is now living retired from active pursuits, after many years spent in agricultural work. Mr. Ratliff is a grandson of Richard Ratliff, who was born in North Carolina, and whose parents, natives of England, emigrated to America at an early day and spent the remainder of their lives in farming, leaving a family of eight sons and four daughters.

Richard Ratliff grew up a farmer, and married a North Carolina girl whose name has since been forgotten. After the birth of several children, he left his native State in 1810, and came north across the mountains in teams, settling in a Quaker locality in Wayne county, near the present site of Richmond, although that city had not yet been established. There, in the wilderness, surrounded by pioneer hard¬ ships and privations, he made a home for his family, but later dispose^ of his interests and moved on to a new property near Hopewell, in Henry county, where the remainder of his life was passed in tilling the soil. Both he and his wife lived to advanced years and reared a large family of children.

Gabriel Ratliff, the father of Joseph Ratliff, was one of the older chil¬ dren in the family, and was bora in North Carolina in 1805, being five years of atge when he accompanied the family to Wayne county, Indiana. He was not yet of age when he came to Henry county, and he was there married to Catherine Pearson, also a native of the Old North State, where she was bom in 1808. She had come with her parents to Wayne county in 1810 or 1811, by wagon, and located in the Quaker settlement near what is now Richmond. At that time one John Smith started a little store, andi there they purchased their first goods and sold their eggs and produce, this being the only store for many miles around The Pearson family accompanied the Ratliff family to the same neigh¬ borhood in Henry county. Mr. and Mrs. Ratliff settled on a property not far from Spiceland, and there Mr. Ratliff died in 1845, aged only forty years, during an epidemic of typhoid fever. Subsequently his widow and her children moved to Miami county, Indiana, locating on land then situated in the Indian Reserve, where many of the Indians still remained. There Mrs. Ratliff was married to a Mr. Atkinson, who died in 1871, and Mrs. Atkinson then came to Grant county, where she passed away at the age of seventy-five years, at the home of a son. She was a Quaker until late in life, when she adopted the faith of the Wes¬ leyan Methodist church. By her last union she had no issue.

A brother of Gabriel Ratliff, Nathan Ratliff, was one of the most famous hunters and trappers in Indiana, and many tales are told as to his prowess with the rifle. As related, on one occasion, when invad¬ ing a bear's den after a litter of cubs, he was surprised by the return of the mother bear, which he killed only after a desperate struggle. He spent his entire life in the woods of Henry and Blackford counties, and died in the latter when about eighty years of age, leaving a widow and family.

Joseph Ratliff was the fifth son and ninth child in his parents' family of twelve children, and was born in Henry county, Indiana, in 1838. He was nine years of age when he accompanied his mother to Miami county, and there he received his education, attending school a part of the time until he was fifteen years of age. At that time there were no roads, and in their travels to church and to the homes of their friends the early settlers had to depend upon blazed trails. He grew up an industrious, thrifty farmer, and this has been his occupation throughout life. An interesting conversationalist, he speaks entertainingly of the early days, of 4 'log rolling" and "house raising," of coon hunting and of running through the woods after the cows, and of going a dozen miles through the woods to church and to market.

Mr. Ratliff was married first in Miami county, Indiana, to Mary A. Lamb, who was born a Quakeress, in the Quaker settlement near Moonsville, Madison county, Indiana. She died in 1881, leaving seven children. Prior to this, in 1871, Mr. Ratliff had come to Grant county and purchased a fine farm of ninety-two acres, just beyond the limits of Fairmount. He married in Miami county, for his second wife Mrs. Mary (Arnold) Thomas, who was born June 7, 1851, in Miami county, daugh¬ ter of Nathan and Sarah (Overman) Arnold, natives, respectively, of North Carolina and Wayne county, Indiana, although Mrs. Arnold was of North Carolina parentage. Both families were of old Fox Quaker stock, and came to Wayne county as early as 1800. Nathan Arnold and ^Sarah Overman were married in 1839, on August 21, near Richmond, and moved to Grant county, Indiana, in 1847, to a farm which the grandfather Arnold had entered from the government. It was all then a wilderness. Some years later Mr. Arnold traded his farm for one in Miami county, where he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives, he passing away in 1868, at the age of fifty-five years, and his wife in 1894, when seventy-three years of age. Both were active Friends, Mrs. Arnold being overseer and elder of the church at Amboy at the time of her death, while Mr. Arnold was for many years an elder. He was a substantial and progressive farmer, and owned the first carriage in this section, in which he traveled in his preaching trips. By her first marriage with Mr. Simeon Thomas, who died at the age of twenty-five years, Mrs. Ratliff had two sons : Nathan H. and Herbert E., the former of whom lives on Mr. Ratliff's farm in Fairmount township, while the latter lives at Marion, Lamonre county, North Dakota, where he has large agricultural interests.

Of the children of his first marriage, Mr. Ratliff has three living. Charles, a farmer of Cass county, Michigan, is married and has a family of five children. Hon. Ancil, a successful farmer of Liberty township, Grant county, is an ex-member of the Indiana Legislature, and led the local option movement four years ago in Grant county. He has six children, all graduates of Fairmount Academy, while one daughter, Ina M., is a Friends missionary in Cuba. Milo E. Ratliff, D. D. S., with a large dental practice at Cassopolis, Michigan, is a graduate of Fairmount Academy, Earlham College, Northwestern Dental College, Chi¬ cago, and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. He mar¬ ried Belle Bogue, and they have twin daughters.

Mr. Ratliff's life has been a long and useful one, and his activities have served not alone to give him financial independence and prominence in Fairmount, but have also assisted materially in advancing the inter¬ ests of his adopted community. He has always been straightforward and honorable in his dealings, and everywhere he is held in the highest esteem by all who know him. He was trustee of Fairmount township for eleven years, elected on the Republican ticket.

John H. Simons. Among, the old families of Grant county that of Simons has had a prominent place from the time when this county was on the western frontier. Its members have prospered as farmers both in the times of early settlement and in later generations, have been good business men and public-spirited citizens and their lives have been led along the paths of quiet industry and prosperity through a period of three-quarters of a century. The representative of the name selected for special note in this article is John H. Simons, for many years identi¬ fied with business and civic affairs at Fairmount.

His grandfather, Adrial Simons, was born in the state of New York. He served as a soldier in the war of 1812. In his native state he mar¬ ried and then moved to Pennsylvania which remained his home until about 1820. He then went west until he reached Darke county, Ohio, and his death occurred there in 1876. There was a large family of ten children, all of whom grew up and two of them are still living: Mrs. Naomi Broderick, of Fort Wayne; and Sarah J. Wilt, on a farm near Warren, Indiana.

Henry Simons, the father, was born near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, May 15, 1815. He was a small boy when the family moved out to Darke county, Ohio, and in that pioneer locality he grew up. In 1837 he set out from Darke county, walked all the way through woods and over the old time trails, to Grant county, where he entered eighty acres of land in section thirty-six of Fairmount township. Then he walked to the land office at Fort Wayne, seventy-five miles distant, entered the land and paid the fees, after which he retraced his steps to Grant county and cleared off the woods from a few acres of the land. These preliminaries having been accomplished he went on to his old home in Ohio, where he married Phoebe, a daughter of Solomon Thomas. In 1839 or 1840 he brought his young wife to Grant county, and located on the eighty acres which he entered a couple of years before. There he lived and his death occurred in 1902 on the thirty-first of March when at an advanced age.

and high qualities of mind and heart, and may be said to have fulfilled all the obligations of righteous living. He was a member of the Chris¬ tian church and in politics a Republican. His first wife died in the early fifties, leaving five children. Two of them, William and Adrial, are living and have families of their own. For his second marriage Henry Simons, in 1853, took Mrs. Elizabeth Parrill, nee Walker. She was born in Rockbridge county, Virginia, in 1826. When she was thir¬ teen years of age she came with her father to Grant county. Here she was married to James Parrill, and left one son, Joseph, who is now in the automobile business in Fairmount. She died on March 19, 1899, leaving the following children by Mr. Simons: John H.; Levi, a farmer in Jef¬ ferson township, and the father of three children; Wilson, who lives on a farm in Jefferson township, is married, and his seven children are at home; Mata, wife of Oliver Buller, who resides in Fairmount and has one son and one daughter.

John H. Simons was born on the old homestead in Fairmount town¬ ship, November 17, 1854. His youth was spent on a farm, and he was given better than ordinary educational advantages. From the country schools he attended the Marion city schools, and afterwards was a student at the National Normal University at Lebanon, Ohio. He began his career as a teacher, and later entered the lumber and saw mill industry. His partner for some seven years was William H. Lindsay, until he finally sold out to Mr. Lindsay. All his life he has* been skilled in the mechanical arts, and has done much work as a carpenter and builder. Mr. Simons was one of the organizers of the Citizens Telephone Com¬ pany at Fairmount, served as its president seven years, and as secretary and treasurer during 1911 and 1912. He is now a stockholder in this successful enterprise. His business career has been one of success, and all his accomplishments have been worthy and of benefit not only to him¬ self but to the community.

Mr. Simons served two terms in the city council at Fairmount. In politics he is a Republican, and at the present time he is holding the office of township assessor. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias Lodge in Fairmount.

In 1891 Mr. Simons married E. Ruth Stalker, who was bom in Ran¬ dolph county, North Carolina, August 11, 1863, a daughter of Thomas and Sara J. (Elliott) Stalker. Her father was a member of the Quaker sect, and her mother a Methodist. Her parents were married in Ran¬ dolph county, North Carolina, August 4, 1847, and her father died there after a career as a farmer, on November 2, 1864. His widow was left in very poor circumstances, and with seven children in her care. In 1865 she brought her family out to Indiana and went through many hard¬ ships in her endeavor to keep her flock together until they were grown. One of her children died at the age of fourteen. A son, Jabez L. Stalker, is now living in Marion county, Oregon, and has one son who is also living. Another of the Stalker family is Paulina, widow of Harrison Wiand of Marion, and she has seven children still living. Mr. and Mrs. Simons are the parents of one son, Harry L., born June 2, 1892, a grad¬ uate of the city high school, and still at home.

Adrial Simons. Since his birth nearly three score and ten years ago, Adrial Simons has lived in Grant county, has met and accepted the hazard of chance and circumstance, has steadily strengthened a reputa¬ tion for integrity and unimpeachable conduct, and along with a fair degree of well won prosperity has acquired those inestimable riches of character and honor.

Simons was bom in one of the New England states, served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war, was married and later moved to Bradford county, Pennsylvania, where he reared a family of sixteen children. His wife's maiden name was Bingham. They both attained to good old age, and died in Pennsylvania. Adrial Simons, the grandfather, was born either in New England or Pennsylvania about 1793, and was brought up on a farm in Pennsylvania and was there married. His first child, Henry Simons, father of Adrial Simons of Grant county, was born May 15, 1815, and four years later, in 1819, the little family came out to Ohio and settled in Darke county. In Darke county, Adrial Simons and wife spent most of their years, and his wife passed away about 1855. They had estab¬ lished themselves in the wilderness, and eventually acquired a good farm, and made a comfortable home for themselves and children. Some years after the death of his wife, Adrial Simons n^oved out to Indiana, and died at the home of a son, Henry Simons, in Jefferson township, in 1875.

Henry Simons, who was the oldest of the family, had brothers and sisters who grew up as follows : Eliza, who died after her marriage, and after she had reared a family; William, died in Warren, Indiana, in 1912. when past ninety-two years of age - he lived with his wife for more than sixty years, and had a la tge family of children; Anna, married, died without children ; Adrial, third of the name, who married and reared a family and died in Huntington, Indiana; Erastus, who had a family and who died on a farm in Grant county ; Sophronia, the wife of William Helms, and both died in Huntington county, Indiana, having a family of children; Naomi, who married a Mr. Broderick, who died in Darke county and she died in Huntington, Indiana, in October, 1913 ; Maurice, who died in Huntington county, Indiana, was a farmer, miller and railroad man, and left a family; Sarah J., the wife of Martin Wilts, lives near Warren, Indiana, and has several children.

Henry Simons was reared in Darke county, Ohio, and in that vicinity married Phoebe Thomas, a neighbor girl, a daughter of John and Agnes (McClure) Thomas, who were natives of Virginia, but spent most of their lives near New Madison on the Whitewater river. Soon after their marriage and before the birth of any children, Henry Simons and wife moved out to Indiana, and in 1840 located on government land in section thirty-six of Fairmount township. Their location comprised eighty acres, and had been selected by Henry Simons, according to a usual custom of that time, some months previous to the settlement of his family. Probably when he first selected the land he made a little clearing and erected a log cabin home. Anyhow such a house was the first shelter of the Simons family in Grant county, and he and his young wife began housekeeping there and set out with courage and determination to make a home for themselves in the wilderness. The wife of Henry Simons died in February, 1852, being then only thirty-two years of age. She left five children. Henry Simons then married for his second wife, Mrs. Eliza¬ beth Parrell, whose maiden name was Walker, and who was the widow of James Parrell. She had one child by her previous marriage, Joseph W. Parrell, who lived in Fairmount township. Elizabeth Simons died leaving four children, all of whom are now married and have families of their own, their names being John H., Levi P., David W., and Mata M. Henry Simons survived both wives and died at the old homestead March 30, 1902. By his first marriage, there were children as follows : An infant that died unnamed ; William, who is now a resident of Fairmount town¬ ship, a retired farmer, and who has one son and two daughters ; Adrial, mentioned below ; Jonathan, who died of scarlet fever in the winter fol¬ lowing his mother's death, and that same plague carried off other chil¬ dren named Martha Ann and Ransom E.

horse team, in company with a large party of people making the migra¬ tion through the west. In 1853 the family moved to Grant county, where he grew to manhood, and at the age of twenty years, in 1862, he enlisted for service in the Civil war as a member of the Eighty-Fourth Indiana Regiment. Later, on account of sickness, he received an honor¬ able discharge and was sent home to die, but instead got well, and before the war was over enlisted in the Seventh Indiana Cavalry. He remained with that command until the war was over. At Guntown, Mississippi, he received a wound from a bullet through the. ankle, and suffered from the effects of that injury all his life. He died at his home in Fairmount, July 29, 1905. He always stood high in the community, was a man of industry and excellent business judgment and had friends wherever he had acquaintances. He belonged to Beeson Post No. 386, G. A. R., was affiliated with the Masonic Lodge at Jonesboro, was a Republican in politics, and belonged to the Friends church.

Thomas Little was married in Fairmount township to Susanna Foust, who was born in Randolph county, Indiana, October 5, 1848. She came to Grant county when a girl with her parents and grew up and spent the rest of her days in this locality, her death occurring in August, 1909. Her father was James Foust, already mentioned in this family record as having married the widow of John Little, Jr. Mrs. Thomas Little was a member of the Quaker church. She had the following children: Wintford, deceased; Florence, deceased; Luther, deceased; John R. ; Rosanna, who died in childhood; Albert, who is married, lives in Danville, and has a family; Marilla, who died young; Charles, who is a glass blower, has a family and resides at Montreal, Canada; Leonard, a farmer near Jonesboro, Indiana, married and has a family; Frank, a glass blower living in Fairmount with his family; Annie, who died in childhood; Grace, who lives with her brother, John R.; Robert, who is married and lives in Pulaski county, Indiana, where he owns a farm and is the father of one child.

Mr. John R. Little who inherited the substantial family characteristic of honest purpose and industrious habits was reared in Fairmount town¬ ship, and was graduated from the normal department of the Fairmount Academy in 1892. With education as his chosen calling, he qualified as a teacher, and did a successful part in instructing the young in his home township. Since his election to the office of trustee, he has given practically all his time to the administration of the township school system. In the township are several good school houses, built of brick, and most of them are constructed of a modern type. He has under him nine teachers, and through his office has the entire responsibility of hir¬ ing, placing and paying the teaching staff of the township. The annual fund provided for this purpose by taxation and from other sources in the township amounts to forty-five hundred dollars. In politics Mr. Little is a stanch Republican.

In Fairmount, on May 2, 1900, Mr. Little married Effie Davis, who died in 1906. She was born June 17, 1879. At her death she left a daughter, Mary, who was born August 20, 1901, and is now a student in the public schools. Mr. Little for his second wife was married on March 4, 1913, to Mrs. Ella Moon, whose maiden name was Lamb. She was born in Howard county, Indiana, in 1873, was reared and educated there and was a daughter of William and Artie Lamb. Her father died in 1913, while her mother still lives at Greentown, in Howard county. The Lamb family were Quakers in religion, and Mrs. Little was one of four children. By her marriage to Eslie Moon, now deceased, Mrs. Little had two children, Leo and Emerson, both now nearly grown. Mr. and Mrs. Little belong to the Friends church and are popular members of the social community at Fairmount.

William W. Ware. One of the most enterprising merchants it has ever been the good fortune of Fairmount to claim as a citizen is William W. Ware, head of a large establishment dealing principally in buggies, harness and heavy farm machinery, and for forty years a resident of Grant county. In addition to his keen business ability, Mr. Ware is one of the kind of business men who believe that the best method of doing business is to give value for value. He has therefore won the trust and friendship of every one with whom he has come in contact, and he per¬ forms a useful part of community service in addition to his business activities.

William W. Ware was bom in Guilford county, North Carolina, June 15, 1867. His parents were Joseph B. and Naomi (Mendenhall) Ware. His mother was born in Guilford county, a daughter of Mordecai and Lydia (Pugh) Mendenhall, both natives of North Carolina, Quakers in in religion and farming people, spending all their lives in their native state. Joseph B. Ware was born in Granville county, of North Caro¬ lina, a son of Henry and Sallie (Hicks) Ware, natives respectively of Virginia and Granville county, North Carolina. They were married in North Carolina and lived to a good old age. Henry Ware was a member of the Episcopal faith, while his wife was a Presbyterian.

Joseph B. Ware and wife were married in Guilford county, North Carolina, and lived there until 1867, during which time their first child William W. was bom. The family then moved to the north locating first at Hendricks county, Indiana, near Amo. There the father pur¬ sued his trade as a plasterer and mechanic for several years. Within that time was bom the only other child, Ada. In 1873 the family moved to Grant county, locating two miles southwest of the city of Fairmount. There the father continued to follow his trade as a plasterer contractor, and did work over a large territory for fifteen years. Finally he de¬ voted all his energies to farming, and is still a resident of the farm and interested in its active management. He is seventy-six years of age, and for the past fifty years never had a day of sickness until the summer of 1912, and is still smart and active. His wife, now seventy-two years of age, is somewhat enfeebled from the weight of years. They are both active members of the Friends church, and the father is a Prohibitionist in politics. Besides William, their only child is Ada, wife of Rev. Oscar H. Trader, a minister in the Friends church and a resident of Fairmount. Mr. and Mrs. Trader have two children, Cleo, a graduate of the Fairmount Academy, and the wife of Clarence Riggs of Logansport, and Retta, a graduate of the Fairmount Academy and living at home.

William W. Ware was nine years of age when the family moved to Grant county, and he grew to manhood here, and in 1888 was graduated from the Fairmount Academy. His early career was devoted to teach¬ ing, and he has a record of fifteen years of service in the school room. During all that time he lost only one day through illness. For three years he was principal of the Fowlerton schools in this county, and has the distinction of having organized the consolidated schools in that vicinity. While still following the profession pf teaching he became interested in mercantile affairs, and joined Mordecai M. Nixon in the farm implement and machinery business for five years. He was then with O. M. Trader, and in 1899 they established the Fairmount Buggy Com¬ pany, a concern which was conducted by them for ten years. Mr. Ware then took over the business and conducted it independently two years. At the end of that time he became associated with M. A. Hiatt in the harness and buggy trade, and theirs is now the largest establishment of its kind in southern Grant county. They carry a splendid stock of both high priced and medium priced goods, valued at five thousand dollars.

They occupy a good store building on north Maine Street, one hundred by twenty-five feet, and also two warehouses for the storage of buggies and harvesting machinery.

In Fairmount township in September, 1895, Mr. Ware married Nettie Dare, who was born in Union county, Indiana, August 1, 1868. She was reared in Knox county, Missouri, to which locality her family moved in 1876. In 1893 they returned to Indiana, and located in Grant county, where she has since lived. Her parents are Robert and Mary (McQuoid) Dare. Her mother died in Grant county at the age of fifty-eight, in August, 1911. Her father is now seventy-three years of age, and has his home in Fairmount city. During the Civil war he was a soldier in an Indiana regiment, and went through the war without wound or capture. Mr. and Mrs. Ware have no children. In politics he is a Prohibitionist and he and his wife take a very prominent part in the Little Ridge Friends church. Mr. Ware is teacher of the Ware Adult Bible Class, one of the largest rural bible classes in the county, with a membership of fifty. Mr. Ware owns a nice country home, a mile and three quarters from Fairmount and has already accumulated a generous competence for his later years. For nine years he gave his services in behalf of local education as a member of the board of trustees of the Fairmount Academy.

William H. Lindsey. Born in Grant county, Mr. Lindsey learned a good mechanical trade, spent many years in building and contracting, and later invested the proceeds of a well spent career in farm lands, being now one of the largest landholders in his part of the county. He lives retired at Fairmount, but has not yet felt the necessity of relaxation on account of age, and enjoys the vigor of life to its full. His family has been represented in Grant county nearly seventy years, and the name has always been associated with substantial worth and integrity.

The family of Lindseys were originally from the north of Ireland and of what is known as Scotch-Irish stock. Between one hundred and twenty-five and one hundred and fifty years ago they crossed the Atlantic and located in Guilford county, North Carolina. There the first genera¬ tions lived and died and were as a rule farmers and mechanics. The history of those early generations is largely lost to record and it is only known definitely that the grandparents of William H. Lindsey lived and died in North Carolina.

Daniel T. Lindsey, father of William H., was born in Guilford county. North Carolina, February 6, 1815, being one in a family of three chil¬ dren and the only one who came north. His early years were spent on the old Guilford county farm, and when he was about eighteen he bound himself out for his board to serve three years in learning the cabinet maker's trade. After three years of apprenticeship he continued to work for some time for his old employer as a journeyman. At the age of thirty when still unmarried, he left North Carolina, and moved to Indiana, settling in Delaware county. There he met and married Nancy E., a daughter of Hiram and Martha (Leach) Lee. Both her parents were born in Virginia,* were married there and then moved to Franklin county, Indiana, where their daughter Nancy was bom May 14, 1827. When she was nine years of age, the family in 1836 moved to Delaware county, and there her parents took up anew the burdens of pioneer existence and the responsibility of making a new home in the wilderness. Her father hewed a farm out of the woods, and there he and his wife died, the latter when in middle life, while her father was twice married, after the death of his first companion. He died in the fall of 1876, when about fourscore years of age. There were two sons and one daughter by the second wife, and one son by the last marriage. Daniel T. Lindsey was a skilled workman, and followed his trade as a cabinet maker for a few years after his marriage. He then took up carpentry and build¬ ing, and still later did some farming. After his marriage he lived in Henry county, Indiana, until 1846, in which year he settled in Fairmount township, and ten or eleven years later moved to Franklin town¬ ship, this county, where his death . occurred January 27, 1899. His widow survived him and died at the home of her daughter Mrs. George Berry in Marion, May 3, 1910. She belonged to the old-school Baptist faith which the father also believed, and this denomination had been the church of their parents before them. Daniel T. Lindsey was a Demo¬ crat in politics. Daniel T. Lindsey and wife had twelve children. There were five sons and seven daughters, and of these nine grew to maturity, and all were married. Four sons and four daughters are now living.

William H. Lindsey was born in Fairmount township, November 26, 1852. In 1857, when he was five years old the family moved to Franklin township, and it was there that he spent his boyhood days and was reared and educated. The school he attended was the old Baptist school house, two miles west of Roseburg. Later he turned his attention to the practical things of life, learned carpenter work under his father, and made that trade the basis of a successful business career. February, 1872, he moved to the city of Fairmount, where his skill as a builder and reliability as a contractor brought him a large patronage. He built a great many homes w in Fairmount, and dwelling houses and barns throughout the country in that vicinity. In 1887 he abandoned his trade, and in the spring of the following year established at Fairmount a saw and planeing mill and lumber yard. This was a prosperous business establish¬ ment, and was cbntinued by him until 1901 when he sold out. He then bought six hundred and twelve and a half acres of land in Liberty town¬ ship. His possessions in that township comprise some of the finest farm lands in the county and all of it is in an excellent state of cultiva¬ tion and improvement. He has six sets of farm buildings on the land, and all the tenants are well provided for and are a prosperous and substantial little colony of farmers. Mr. Lindsey himself lived on the farm three years, but then returned to his city home. He owns a beauti¬ ful residence at 304 E. Washington Street in Fairmount. As a farmer he has made an exceptional success in the raising of corn, wheat, oats, hay and clover, and has made a practice of feeding nearly all his crops on his own land. In Jefferson township of Grant county, on March 8, 1877, was solemnized the marriage of William H. Lindsey to Miss Sarah D. Couch. Mrs. Lindsey was born in Grant county on the old Jefferson township homestead of her parents September 16, 1855. Her home has been in this county all her life, she was reared and educated here, and her family name has long been honorably identified with this section of the state. Her parents were Samuel and Nancy (Furnish) Couch, natives respect¬ ively of Indiana and Ohio. They were married in Jefferson township, Grant county, and began their married life in this county. Her father died at the age of sixty-two and her mother passed away on Christmas Day of 1901 at the age of seventy. The Couches were of the old-school Baptist Faith. They were the parents of seven children, all of whom married, and all had children except one, who died soon after marriage.

The children of Mr. and Mrs. Lindsey are noted as follows: 1. Vella was born November 28, 1877, and is the wife of J. Otto Fink, assistant superintendent of the Premier Auto Company of Indianapolis ; their three children are William, and Vella, both in the city high school, and Mary E., aged fourteen. 2. Ewa, born March 15, 1881, was edu¬ cated in the Fairmount high school, and is now the wife of Charles H.

Hubbard, a glass manufacturer at San Springs, Oklahoma. Their children are Margaret E., aged ten, and Catherine, aged six. 3. Burr died at the age of three years. 4. Guy died when aged ten months and eleven days. 5. John C. born November 16, 1895, is now a member of the Fairmount High School Class of 1915. The church attendance of the family is at the Congregational, and Mr. Lindsey is a Democratic voter. Fraternally he has taken both the lodge and chapter degrees in Masonry at Fairmount, and is also affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Hackelman.

Santford Little. Not only through his enterprise as a successful farmer has Mr. Little contributed to the permanent prosperity of Grant county, but has exercised his inventive ability in the perfection of devices for the lightening of human labors on farms throughout many states, and as he is still young his activities in this direction may be considered only to have fairly begun, and his career will have many successful accomplishments to record during the subsequent years. Mr. Little on his mother's side is descended from the McCormick family, so prominent since pioneer days in this section of Indiana, and related to the McCor¬ mick family which produced the inventors and manufacturers of the early reapers, and first successful harvesting machines. Perhaps from this side of the house Mr. Little has inherited his inventive turn of mind. His adjustable device for a spring seat is one of his improvements, and the upright stay for hay racks has been patented and has been sold over a wide territory, and is one of the best things on the market lx>r hay wagons. Mr. Little has also perfected a unique machine for picking up hogs and turning them over in order to operate on them for vaccination and altering, and this, invention finds much favor among veterinary sur¬ geons. Another farm implement bearing the name of Mr. Little as pat¬ entee is his hog ringing machine, which operates with great rapidity and causes less pain than the old and slower process.