Hamilton County, Indiana - Biographical sketches, 1915 (part 10 of 14)

William C. Kendall, the only son of Ahimaaz and Elizabeth (Carter) Kendall, was bom on the farm where he is now living, June 30, 1856. He grew to manhood on the paternal farm and received a good common school education which he has since supplemented by wide reading and close obser¬ vation. Mr. Kendall was married in October, 1877, to Elizabeth Moore, born in Hamilton county, Indiana, the second daughter of Barkley and Phoebe (Barker) Moore. The Moores came from the state of Ohio and the Barker family from Holly Springs, North Carolina. Barkley Moore was* the son of Mordecai and Rachel (Stubbs) Moore and was bom in Preble county, Ohio. Mordecai Moore came to Hamilton county in the early history of the county, bought a farm one and one-half miles south of Westfield and lived there until his death in 1842, at the age of fifty-two, his wife surviving him many years, she passing away in 1879. Mordecai Moore and wife reared a family of nine children, three of them being Barkley, the father of Mrs. Kendall; Ann, the wife of Isaac Wells, and Joseph, who subsequently moved to Iowa. Barkley Moore died October 18, i860, leav¬ ing three children: Vincent, who lives southwest of Noblesville; Anna, the wife of Levi Kendall, of Whitestown; Elizabeth, the wife of William C. Kendall.

After his marriage William C. Kendall started farming on a farm north of his present home, but two years later moved on the old homestead where he has since resided. In the spring of 1822 he built a new house on the farm in which he and his. family have since made their home. He has followed general farming and met with success commensurate with his efforts.

Two children have been bom to Mr. and Mrs. Kendall : lone and Otto G. lone is the wife of Grant Hinshaw and lives in Mountain Creek, Ala¬ bama. Mr. and Mrs. Hinshaw are the parents of four children, only one of whom is living, Edna. Herbert died of scarlet fever at the age of eleven and the other two died in infancy. Otto married Emma Tracey and lives on the home farm. He and his wife have one daughter, Irene, living and three deceased: Chalmer, John William and Glenn.

Mr. Kendall and his wife enjoyed excellent educational advantages in their youth and have kept will informed on the current topics of the day. They have always been interested in the welfare of the Friends church and have been generous contributors to its various enterprises. Politically, Mr. Kendall has given his hearty support to the Republican party but has never been a candidate for any public office.

Eli Stalker

The whole career of Eli Stalker has been spent in Hamilton county, In¬ diana, and on the farm where he was born seventy years ago. As a life-long resident of the county he is well, known to its citizens, and such has been his part in the life of his community that he is highly respected by everyone who knows him. Serving as a public school teacher for several years and as a public official for more than twenty years, he has been very active in the civic and educational life of his community.

Eli Stalker, the son of David and Alvira (Kendall) Stalker, was born on the farm where he is now living in 1844. His father was a native of Ohio, born in 1811, and was the son of Nathan and Mary Stalker. About 1842 the Stalker family moved to Hamilton county, Indiana, and David Stalker bought one hundred and sixty acres of school land from the state in Washington township, and on this farm Eli Stalker was born, reared and is still residing. Alvira Kendall was bom about 1816 in North Carolina, near where High Point now stands. She walked nearly all the way from North Carolina to Indiana, being about thirteen years of age when her mother moved to Hamilton county, Indiana. Her father had died in North Carolina and her mother had married again and came to this state and county with her second husband, locating in Washington township. Here Alvira Kendall grew to womanhood and married David Stalker. After his mar¬ riage David Stalker lived the remainder of his life on a farm he had bought from the state. He came here during the winter season, cleared %a place for his cabin and made ready to move in. At that time wild game of all kinds was very abundant and when he cleared his ground and piled the brush near his little log cabin, a wild turkey built her nest in the brush, and Mr. Stakler secured the eggs and later hatched them. There were six children born to David Stalker and wife: Aaron, who died in Tipton county, Indiana, some years ago; Eli, with whom this narrative deals; Ezra, of Westfield: Mrs. Mary' Ellen Barker, who now lives on the eastern half of the old farm ; one who died in infancy, and Emily, who died when she was about twenty-one years of age. The father of these children died February 11, 1903, and the mother on May 10, 1914. Both were loyal members of the Friends church.

Eli Stalker received a good common school- education and later was graduated from the Union high school at Westfield. He was a youth of studious habits and devoted himself so assiduously to his studies that when he was graduated from the high school he had no difficulty in securing a license to teach. For eleven years he taught school, spending most of his time in Jackson township. After he stopped teaching he resumed farm¬ ing on the old home farm and has since continued to reside there. While teaching he spent part of his time in the dry goods business at Arcadia.

In 1872 Mr. Stalker was married to Mary Waltz, of Jackson township. She was born and reared in Jackson township, the daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Knause) Waltz. Her parents were Pennsylvania- Dutch and came to this state from Pennsylvania, making a permanent home in Jackson town¬ ship. To this first union of Mr. Stalker were born two children, one who died in early childhood, and Clarence, who died at the age of twenty-one. The mother of these children died in September, 1875.

In 1882 Mr. Stalker married Olive Stanbrough, who was also a native of Washington township, the daughter of Ira H. and Mary (Gause) Stan¬ brough. Her father was a carpenter and fanner and lived on the farm south of Mr. Stalker. Mr. Stanbrough built the house and barn where Mr. Stalker now lives. There were two children born to the second marriage of Mr. Stalker: Roxie, who is at home with her father, and Le Barron, who died in childhood. The second wife of Mr. Stalker died March 28, 1890.

In September, 1892, Mr. Stalker married Catherine Knause, a cousin of his first wife. She was born at Arcadia, Indiana, and is the daughter of Jonathan and Matilda (Waltz) Knause. Her father was a brother to Mr. Stalker's first wife's mother. Matilda Waltz was born in Indiana, and spent most of her life in Jackson township, this county, dying there in March, 1914, while Mr. Knause still lives in Jackson township. The chief occupation of Mr. Knause has been house moving, in which he still is actively engaged.

Mr. Stalker is a member of the Friends church, his wife maintaining her membership in the Christian church. Politically, he has been a life-long Republican, and for about fifteen years was drainage commissioner for Hamil¬ ton county. He was elected to this office in 1885 and continued to hold it until 1900, in which year he resigned in order to take the office of town¬ ship trustee of Washington township, to which he had been elected. He held the office of trustee from November, 1900, until January, 1905, when his father-in-law was elected to succeed him. However, his father-in-law died while in office, and Mr. Stalker filled out his unexpired term, so that he held the office for a total period of more than five years. Mr. Stalker is a well known citizen of the community and county where he has spent his entire life, and is highly respected by a wide circle of friends and acquain¬ tances.

Lixdley Carey

The prosperity of our state .is due in large measure to the farmer, whose honest industry, sturdy persistence and wise economy have .made him one of the most important factors of our civilization. Among the many worthy farmers of this county who have been identified with the agricultural life of the same there is no more progressive farmer than Lindley Carey, a successful agriculturist of Washington township.

Lindley Carey, the son of Eli and Mary (Barker) Carey, was born July 19, 1863, on the farm where he is now living. Eli Carey was born in Ohio, December 13, 1825, and as a young man learned the trade of a black¬ smith. He came to Hamilton county when he was nineteen years old with his parents, and settled in Washington township. He was married in 1847 to Mary Barker, who was a native of North Carolina. To Eli Carey and wife were born five children : Enos, born June 10, 1850, and deceased at the age of fifty; Mrs. Elmo Tucker, born April 20, 1853, who lives in New London, Howard county, Indiana; Mrs. Penina Williamson, born June 6. 1865, who is a resident of Westfield; Mrs. Cordelia Cook, born February 28, i860, and Lindley, with whom this narrative deals. The mother of these children died December 28, 1885. Eli Carey farmed and worked at his trade of a blacksmith all his life. He and his wife were devoted members of the Friends church and for many years he was an officer in the church.

Lindley Carey was educated in the district schools and later attended the Union high school at Westfield. After leaving the school room he en¬ gaged in farming and has been continuously following that occupation since his marriage. He keeps his farm up to the highest state of efficiency and raises all of the crops suitable to the soil of this locality. He has a beautiful home, and everything about it is always kept in the most attractive manner.

Mr. Carey was married on November 26, 1891, to Alice Rich, daughter of Elias and Mary Ann (Coppock) Rich, natives of Indiana and Ohio, re¬ spectively, both of whom for many years were ministers in the Friends church. Mr. and Mrs. Rich are the parents of six children : Albert, de¬ ceased; Mrs. Julia A. Lewis, Peru, Indiana; Mrs. Luella Osborn, whose husband is a farmer of this county; Lindley M., who lives in Howard county, Indiana; Alice, the wife of Mr. Carey, and Francis E., who lives on a farm near Gosport, Indiana.

Mr. and Mrs. Carey have three children; Lowell R., born June 6, 1894, a graduate of the Westfield high school and a student of the Muncie Normal School for four terms. He taught for a time in Leith, North Dakota, and is now teaching in Jasper county, Indiana. Mary Modenia, who was bom April i, 1896, died March 8, 1897, and an infant daughter died at the age of three months.

The Republican party claims the support of Mr. Carey, but he is not a rigid partisan in any sense of the word. He takes an intelligent interest in good government and supports all worthy enterprises in his community. All the family are devout members of the Friends church and are interested in its various activities. Mr. Carey is a man of domestic tastes and is never happier than when seated by his own fireside surrounded by the members of his family. He bears an excellent reputation among his neighbors and en¬ joys the confidence and esteem of everyone who knows him.

Paul B. Wright

In the wonderful progress humanity has been making along so many lines in recent years, no more significant step has been taken in any direction than that which marks the, improvement in the methods of caring for the physical ailments of mankind. All "schools" of medicine have been affected by the irresistible demand of humanity for something that will actually touch at the roots of disease and provide correctives for the manifold bodily suffer¬ ings of humanity. In all of these "schools" there no doubt has been marked advance, due to this insistent demand, but in the field so rapidly being filled by the progressive school of osteopathy there has been an advance in the last few years that has been remarkable and which is being taken note of by thoughtful persons everywhere.

Among the practicing osteopathic physicians of Indiana there are none who enjoy a better reputation for keeping abreast of all the latest knowledge which the unceasing researches of science daily are bringing to light relating to the treatment of humanity's ailments, than Dr. Paul B. Wright, the sub¬ ject of this interesting biographical sketch. Dr. Wright, who has admirably equipped and pleasantly situated offices in rooms 3-4-5, Opera House block, Noblesville, Indiana, is one of the most active among the younger professional men of Hamilton county. During the three years he has been located in Noblesville he has made many warm friends, not only in the county seat, but in all parts of the county, where the practice of his profession has called him. He undoubtedly has succeeded in proving to even the most doubting ones, who, not very many years ago, were inclined to look askance at the claims set up by the osteopathic school of treating human ills, the actual and un¬ mistakable benefits growing out of the methods of this school of practice, and his friends see a fine future ahead of him in this community.

Paul B. Wright, son of Henry E. and Kathryn 1. (Kirwhin) Wright, was born February 2, 1890, at Hartford, Connecticut. His father was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, and his mother was a native of New York state. Henry E. Wright was educated in the public schools of Reading, and was graduated from the high school at that place. He then attended the Kansas State University at Kansas City. This education was supplemented by a comprehensive course in a Kansas City business college, after which he engaged in the lumber business in Kansas City for a time. He then engaged in the brokerage business in Hartford, Connecticut, with offices in the Con¬ necticut Mutual building, later engaging in the dry-goods business at Springfield, Massachusetts. He also had a store at Hartford, Connecticut, in which city he lived for twenty-five years.

In 1908 Mr. Wright entered the A. S. O. at Kirksville, Missouri, and was graduated from that institution in 1911, after which he located in Phila¬ delphia, Pennsylvania, for the practice of osteopathy. His wife was gradu¬ ated from the same institution in 1912, later doing post-graduate work in the college of osteopathy in Philadelphia, from which institution she was graduated with the class of 1915 and is assisting her husband in the practice of their chosen professions. Henry E. Wright is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Hartford Country Club, is a member of the Protestant Episcopal church and in politics always has adhered to the principles of the Republican party.

To Mr. and Mrs. Wright were born five children, as follows: (1) Harry Edward, educated in the grammar and high schools and Martin's private school at Hartford, Connecticut, after which he attended for three years the A. S. of O. at Kirksville, Missouri, being graduated from that institution in June, 1914. During the course of his instruction he practiced osteopathy for two years at Greenfield, Indiana, and is now doing post¬ graduate work at Chicago, Illinois.

(2) Paul B., the subject of this biographical sketch, was educated in the public schools of Hartford, Connecticut, after being graduated from which he attended Martin's private school, from which he also was graduated. He then attended the high school at Kirksville, Missouri, and put in one year at the D. C. of O. at Des Moines, Iowa. He then entered A. S. of O. at Kirksville, Missouri, and was graduated from that institution with full

(3) Ruth E., educated at Hartford, Connecticut, and in the public schools of Kirksville, Missouri, after which she attended the Missouri State Normal school for three years and is now a teacher at Lathrop, Missouri.

(4) Olive, following attendance at the public schools of Hartford and Kirksville, was graduated from the Missouri State Normal school and is now a school teacher at Palmyra; Missouri.

(5) Walter Theodore, attended the high school at Kirksville, Missouri, and is now attending the high school at Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, from which he expects to be graduated in 1916, after which it is his intention also to take up the study and practice of osteopathy.

Here certainly is a remarkable tribute to the efficacy of the comparatively new school of osteopathy. Father, mother and three sons devoting their lives to the welfare of humanity and the treatment of humanity's ailments by rational methods is a record perhaps unique in American medical annals.

Dr. Paul B. Wright is entitled to all the commendation which has been bestowed upon him by the people of Noblesville and the surrounding com¬ munity since taking up his residence in Hamilton county's capital. He is making a fine reputation in the practice of his chosen profession and his earnestness and painstaking efforts to apply the practical proofs of the osteo¬ path's principles are doing very much to make that school of treatment really popular in the community in which his influence is being so widely manifested.

Walter L. Sturdevant

The occupation of farming is becoming recognized as one in which brains as well as brawn must play a part. The old idea that any one could farm is fast giving away to the modem idea that it takes an educated man to get the best results from the soil. The soil now must be fed as carefully as the live stock upon the farm and the farmer who understands how to fertilize his land properly has all the advantage over the farmer who knows nothing about scientific fertilizing. The methods of fifty years ago would send a farmer to the poor house and, as it is, there are too many farmers who are barely making a living. On the other hand, there never was a time when the farmer could make as much money on the farm as he can today. Among the successful young farmers of Hamilton county who are keeping fully abreast of the times in agricultural lines there is no one who is making a better record than Walter L. Sturdevant, a prosperous farmer of Washington town¬ ship.

Walter L. Sturdevant, the son of Calvin and Emma (Beals) Sturdevant, was born November 14, 1882, on the farm where he is now living. His father was born in a log cabin on the same farm and lived all his life in this county, dying February 3, 1914. Calvin Sturdevant was a very successful farmer and one of the leading citizens of his county. He was elected auditor of Hamilton county on the Republican ticket in the fall of 1896 and filled that office to the entire satisfaction of the citizens of the county from March, 1897, to March, 1901. To Calvin Sturdevant and wife were born three children: Elmer, the secretary of the Hamilton County Trust Company at Noblesville; Dr. J. D., who is practicing medicine in Noblesville, and Walter, whose history is presented in this connection. The mother of these three children is still living, at the age of sixty-four.

Walter L. Sturdevant received an excellent education, graduating from the common school and then taking the four-year course at the Noblesville high school. After he had graduated from the high school, in 1900, he went to work upon his father's farm and has been managing it ever since. On this farm of one hundred and fifty-five acres he raises excellent crops and keeps as much stock as he can feed from the produce of his farm. The farm is well improved and he has every modern convenience for successful farming.

Mr. Sturdevant was married October 9, 1907, to Mabel Johnson, the daughter of Cyrus and Minnie (Parr) Johnson, both of whom are natives of Hamilton county. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are the parents of five children: Claude, Westfield, Indiana; Mrs. Myrtle Hinshaw, Westfield; Blanch C., who is still at home; Mabel, the wife of Mr. Sturdevant, and Esther, who is still at home. Mr. Johnson died March 9, T912, and his widow is now living in Westfield. Mr. and Mrs. Sturdevant have two little daughters, Ruth, born March 7, 1910, and Rebecca, born July 26, 1911.

Mr. Sturdevant is a stanch Republican in his politics, but has never taken an active part in the deliberations of his party. His agricultural, in¬ terests have consumed all his time and, while taking a part in the general welfare of his community, he has never been a candidate for any political office. He is a member of the Friends church, while his wife holds her membership in the Methodist Episcopal church. He is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, belonging to Lodge No. 115 at Westfield, and to the Royal Arch and Council at Noblesville. Mr. Sturdevajit is a young man with a bright future before him and his record in the past presages a successful career. He is living such a life as to bring him the esteem and high regard of his fellow citizens and possesses the ability to carve out an honorable career.

Irvin Stanley

There is no nobler profession than that of teaching, and the conscientious teacher has more to do with the molding of the youth of this country than has the practitioner of any other profession. One of the most successful teachers of Hamilton county, a man who has spent his life in the school room, is Irvin Stanley, who is now living a retired life in Westfield. He taught in Kansas for about fifteen years, and while in that state was superintendent of the Mitchell county schools, a position which he filled with great credit to himself and satisfaction to the citizens of the county. Mr. Stanley has been the cause of hundreds of young men getting a better grasp on life, the in¬ fluence which he has wielded over the lives of young people always having been of the higher order. It is not too much to say that if all of the young people of this county were under the guidance of such teachers as Mr. Stan¬ ley during the formative periods of their lives the history of our county would be different. The good which such a man does cannot be measured.

Irvin Stanley, son of Milton and Leah (Pickering) Stanley, was born in Howard county, Indiana, near Russiaville, in 1848. His father was a native of Guilford county, North Carolina, and was the son of John Stanley. While still a child, Milton Stanley came with his parents to Greensboro, Indiana, where he grew to manhood and married Leah Pickering. His wife was born at Greensboro, her parents being natives of Ohio. Milton Stanley and wife were early settlers at Russiaville, Howard county, Indiana, where Mr. Stanley followed the trade of a tanner. Later he followed this profession at Russia¬ ville, Wabash, Deming and still later at Westfield, to which latter place lie moved during the Civil War. He spent his declining years at Westfield, where he followed both the tanning business and harness-making.

When Irvin Stanley was a lad he "worked out" among the farmers in the summer time, and went to school during the winter months. He at¬ tended the Union high school at Westfield, and in 1875 graduated from Spiceland Academy, at Spiceland, Indiana. He then became a teacher in the common schools of Hamilton county, teaching his first school at the Poplar Ridge schools in Clay township, remaining there for five years. He then became principal of the schools at Carmel for two years, after which he came to Westfield, and for nine years was associate principal of the Union high school. In 1884 Mr. Stanley moved to Kansas and remained in that state until 1900. During his sixteen years of earnest service in the cause of education in that state he served for four years as county superin¬ tendent of Mitchell county, and was on the state reading circle board of Kansas for the same length of time.

In the year 1900 Mr. Stanley returned to Westfield in order to take care of his father and mother and has since made that city his home. His father died in 1901, and his mother in 1911. Both of them were loyal members of the Friends church.

After his return to Westfield, Mr. Stanley again assumed the charge of the Union high school at that place and continued as superintendent of the school until 1906. It is probably true that he has signed more diplo¬ mas than any other person ever connected with that excellent school. Some of the best known educators of the United States have gone to school to Mr. Stanley. Several of his pupils are now college professors, and he has the satisfaction of knowing that the president of Washington State Uni¬ versity was once a pupil of his. Still another pupil won a Cecil Rhodes scholarship at Oxford University, England, and after completing his threeyears1 course in that famous university, returned to this country and is now a professor at Oxford University in Ohio. A colored lad from Noblesville went to school to Mr. Stanley and later to severeal colleges, and is now preparing for a professorship in a southern colored college. Mr. Stanley has always striven to get boys to go to college, and has even arranged ways and means whereby they might secure a college education. He had to make his own way when a young man and realizes the necessity of encouraging boys who have little money to continue their educational work.

Mr. Stanley has an established reputation as an astronomer, his accom¬ plishments in that line having brought him substantial recognition from the United States government. In 1874 and again in 1882 Mr. Stanley was sent with government expeditions to observe the transits of Venus, which occur in pairs every eight years, and each pair a hundred years apart. The first observation station was at Kergulen Island in the South Indian Ocean. The second onfe in 1882 was in the southern part of South America, in Patagonia, within three hundred miles of the Straits of Magellan.

Mr. Stanley was married in 1876 to Ruth A. Heston, who was born in Miami county, Indiana, the daughter of George and Mary (Jackson) Heston. Her father was born in Maryland and came to Indiana with his parents,

Samuel and Susan Heston. Mary (Jackson) Heston, the mother of Mrs. Stanley, was born in Wayne county, Indiana, the daughter of Ruth and Corbin Jackson. Mrs. Stanley's father was a blacksmith, and when she was a small girl her parents moved to Rochester, Indiana, where her father continued his trade until his death. Mrs. Stanley was five years of age at the time of her father's death, and her mother later married Nathan Weesner, and moved to Wabash county, this state, where Mrs. Stanley grew to womanhood. She entered Oxford College at Oxford, Ohio, and taught school in Wabash county, Indiana, until 1874. In that year she came to Hamilton county as a teacher in the Union high school at Westfield, and while teaching there she met and married Mr. Stanley.

Mr. Stanley and his wife have two children living and one deceased. Raymond married Alice Estes, and lives at Indian Head, Canada. He was graduated from Earlham College and later, from Purdue University in the electrical engineering course. He is now an electrician with headquarters in Canada. Three sons have been born to Raymond Stanley and his wife, Rol¬ and, Raymond and Allen. Laura, the other living child of Mr. and Mrs. Stanley, was graduated from Earlham College and then married Robert Haskett and lives in Washington township, this county. She has two daugh¬ ters, Ruth and Anna.

Thomas A. Fesmire

We should be proud of the fact that there is no limit in this country to which natural ability, industry and honesty may not aspire. One born in the most unpromising surroundings and reared amid the most adverse en¬ vironment may, nevertheless, break from his fetters and rise to the highest station in the land, and the qualities do not have to be of transcendent char¬ acter to enable him to accomplish this result. Such a rise is due more to the way he does it and to the skill with which he grasps the opportunities pre¬ sented, than to any remarkable qualities possessed by him. Accordingly, it is found that very often in this country the chief executive of the nation or state possessed no greater ability than thousands of others, but such men have been more prompt to seize advantage of their opportunities than their fellows, this great underlying truth running through every occupation. The farmer or business man rises above his competitors merely by taking ad¬ vantage of conditions which others overlook or fail to grasp. It is so with Thomas A. Fesmire, a man who has carved his own fortune, having started in life with no assets but a strong heart and willing hands.

Thomas A. Fesmire, the son of Isaac and Mary (Macon) Fesmire, was born in Randolph county, North Carolina, July 28, 1867. His parents were both natives of the same state, and left Randolph county, North Caro¬ lina, March 7, 1870, for Kansas, intending to make that state their permanent home. They arrived at Eudora, Kansas, March 14, 1870, but left there at the time of the grasshopper plague which was sweeping the state. Isaac Fesmire was a wheelwright and followed this occupation while he lived in Kansas. The family remained in Kansas for about four years, leaving there September 8, 1874, with two two-horse wagons, and arriving in Hamilton county, Indiana, October 15, 1874. Isaac Fesmire conducted a general black¬ smith and repair shop in this county the rest of his life and died here August 14, 1905, his wife dying July 12, 1911.

Isaac Fesmire and wife were the parents of eleven children, Simeon, a farmer of this county; Mrs. Jane Chance, of Rose Hill, Kansas; Jessie, of Rose Hill, Kansas; William, a farmer of this county; Mrs. Ann Hammack, whose husband is a farmer in this county ; Eli, deceased ; Mrs. Emily Slater, deceased; Mrs. Rosanna Tweedy, of Indianapolis; Thomas A., whose life history is here recorded; Mrs. Vashti Perisho, of Hamilton county, and Walter, deceased.

Thomas A. Fesmire was three years of age when his parents moved from North Carolina to Kansas, and seven years of age when they permanently settled in Hamilton county, Indiana. His education was received in this county in the district schools of his home neighborhood, after which he at¬ tended the high school for a time. Early in life he decided that he would follow the vocation of a farmer and when twenty years of age he rented a farm and rented continuously until 1902. He was an energetic farmer and a man of frugal and thrifty habits. He farmed so successfully that he was enabled to purchase sixty-seven acres of fine farming land on October 28, 1902. It is interesting to note that he paid one hundred dollars an acre for this land, the same land which had been purchased many years before for one dollar and a quarter an acre. He is probably the first man in Washing¬ ton township who paid one hundred dollars an acre for land. He has made a large number of improvements on this farm, and now has one of the beauti¬ ful country homes of the county. He has been making a specialty of hog raising and has built a hog barn twenty-four by sixty feet with a cement floor and every other modern convenience for successful hog raising. He was one of the principal promoters of the electric light line which was built a few years ago between Westfield and Horton, this county, and he now has electric lights in his own home.

Mr. Fesmire was married July 14, 1900, to Harriett E. Jessup, the daughter of Morris and Rachel (Hiatt) Jessup, both of whom were natives of Indiana. Morris Jessup was a blacksmith by trade, but also carried on farming in connection with his blacksmithing. He died in January, 1899, and his wife died in March, 1905. Mrs. Fesmire is a graduate of the Union high school at Westfield, and a teacher of many years' experience.

Mr. Fesmire was originally a Republican in politics, but for the past fourteen years he has been voting and working for the success of the Pro¬ hibition ticket, believing, as do thousands of other voters, that the liquor traffic constitutes one of the greatest evils in this country today. Mrs. Fes¬ mire is a member of and earnest worker in the Woman's Christian Temper¬ ance Union. Both are loyal members of the Friends church and deeply in¬ terested in the. work done by the churches.

The life of Mr' Fesmire has been filled with good deeds. As a publicspirited citizen he has always acted for the material, moral and intellectual uplift of those with whom he has come into contact. He has always used his influence in behalf of all moral and benevolent enterprises, and has been deeply interested in whatever tended to promote the prosperity of his town¬ ship and county.

Herman Lawson Covode

Change is constant and general ; generations rise and pass away and it is due to posterity as well as to the present generation to gather up and put into imperishable form on the printed page the record of men who have left the imprints of their personalities on their respective communities. Among the many good citizens of Hamilton county who have passed to their reward there is none more worthy of having his life history recorded in this volume than the late Herman Lawson Covode, a man of education and culture, a man of high business qualities, and above all, an honorable, upright and courteous gentleman who made his influence felt wherever he went. A pro¬ tracted fever in 1895 left him in feeble health, from wrhich he never recov¬ ered, and during the remainder of his life he w^as a great sufferer. In 1897 he became an earnest follower of the Master and experienced an exaltation of spiritual life which comforted and sustained him until the end. He believed that a gentleman and true soldier of the Cross should meet the vicissitudes of life with courage and optimism and after the manner of this belief he lived a life of singular sweetness. He knew life in all its phases and loved it for what it had to give him. He departed from this earth willingly and with absolute confidence in the future in the early dawn of March 12, 1913. He spent the last two years of his life at Los Angeles, California, surrounded by every comfort which the loving ministrations of his wife could give him, and there the end came peacefully.

Herman L. Covdde, the son of Jacob and Minerva (Wilson) Covode and nephew of the Hon. John Covode, of Pennsylvania, was born at Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania, on February 3, i860. He received a good common school education and later entered the University of Pittsburg, where he was in attendance when his father died in 1877. He then withdrew from the university and went to the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, but left before graduation, in order to enter business life. While in the University of Pittsburg, and later at the Naval Academy, he had made a special study of civil engineering and had no difficulty in qualifying as a railroad civil engineer with the Northern Pacific railroad. For a few years he was in the employ of this railroad as civil engineer and later owned a ranch in Montana. After retiring from the ranch he went to St. Paul, Minnesota, and engaged for a few years in the insurance and real estate business in that city with marked success.

Mr. Codove was married in the Friends church at Westfield, Indiana, in 1886, to Manzanita Anderson, the daughter of William Wright and Rhoda Ann (Mendenhall) Anderson. After his marriage he remained in Hamilton county and engaged in live stock farming.

It was in 1895, when in the full bloom of manhood, he was stricken with a fever, from which he never fully recovered. From that time on he never was able to do any work, the condition of his health being such that it was impossible for him to do any physical labor. For eighteen years he was an invalid and yet during all of that time no one ever heard him murmur against his fate. He and his beloved wife went to Los Angeles, California, in the hopes that his health might be improved, but it was not to be. They then went to Florida and various places in the South, hoping that changes of scene might prove beneficial, and returned to Los Angeles, remaining there until the end.

Mrs. Manzanita Covode is now living on her farm of one hundred and seventy-seven acres in this county, which she is superintending with a success which speaks well for her ability as a manager. She is a devout member of the Friends church and never wearies of taking part in the work of her church and Sabbath school. She is a woman of culture and refinement and greatly beloved by all who know her.

Abel Doan

There are individuals in nearly every community who, by reason of pronounced ability and force of character, rise above the heads of their fellow men. Characterized by perseverance and a directing spirit, two virtues that never fail, such men always make their presence felt, the vigor of their strong personality serving as a stimulus and incentive to the young and rising gener¬ ation. To this energetic and enterprising class Abel Doan very properly be¬ longs. Having never been seized with the roaming desire that has led many of Hamilton county's young men to other fields of endeavor and other states in search of their fortunes, Mr. Doan has devoted his life to industries at home and has succeeded remarkably well, as we shall see by a study of his life history.

Abel Doan, a prosperous farmer and the president of the Westfield State Bank, was born near Mooresville, Indiana, August 25, 1843. His par¬ ents, John and Eunice (Hadley) Doan, were natives of Tennessee and North Carolina, respectively. The Doans and Hadleys came out of the states of their nativity because of their opposition to slavery and their desire that their children should be brought up where the hated institution was not tolerated. Upon arriving in Indiana, many years before the war, they first settled in Morgan county, this state, and in that county John Doan and Eunice Hadley were married and there they lived for several years. They came to Hamilton county in 1857 and located in Westfield, where they reared their family. They were the parents of seven children, Abel being the only one of the fam¬ ily now living. Two of the children, Ruth and Zeno, died in childhood, while the other four lived to maturity. Abel Doan was thirteen years of age when his parents moved from Morgan county to Westfield, in Hamilton county, and all of the remainder of his life has been spent in this county. He received a meager common school education in the subscription schools of his home county, but has supplemented this limited education of his boyhood days with extensive reading. He has a fine library of well selected books, and has been a diligent reader all his life. Realizing the great advantage in education he has always been very much interested in seeing his own children receive the best advantages possible along this line, with the result that they have be¬ come leaders in the educational world along several different lines.

Mr. Doan was married September 8, 1869, to Phoebe Lindley. daughter of Aaron and Elizabeth Lindley, natives of North Carolina and Ohio, re¬ spectively, and to this union have been born seven children, all of whom grew to manhood and womanhood, and all of whom are still living except Edwin L., who-was struck by lightning July 9, 1913, and instantly killed. The other children are Mary, Martha, Emma, John Lindley, Anna and Frances. Mary is the wrife of Prof. Allen D. Hole, who is an instructor in Earlham College; Martha is an instructor in chemistry at Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York, where she has been located for the past thirteen years; Emma is the wife of Prof. William E. Furnas, who is a teacher in the high school at Westfield; John Lindley, the only son living, is a professor in the State Horticultural School at Ambler, Pennsylvania; Anna is the wife of W. C. Stephens, of Muncie, Indiana; Frances is a teacher in the high school at Greencastle, Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Doan have every reason to be proud of the record which their children have made. It must be gratifying to them to know that they have reared such worthy members of society.

Mr. Doan was for many years a farmer and is still managing his fine farm of two hundred and fifty acres in Washington township. He is a man of exceptional ability and as a farmer was the peer of any in his county dur¬ ing the time he was actively engaged on the farm. For several years he was vice-president of the Westfield State Bank, and for the past twenty-three years he has been president of this bank. Mr. Doan has taken an active inter¬ est in everything pertaining to the welfare of his locality. Being a man of absolute integrity, he has inspired with confidence everyone with whom he has come in contact. His life has been filled with good deeds and kindly thoughts and all who know him entertain for him the highest regard, because of his upright, honorable career, on the record of which there has never fallen the shadow of a wrong or the suspicion of anything evil. In every relation of life he has been true and faithful to duty and to the trust reposed in him and has thereby won the unqualified confidence and respect of his fellow citizens.

In his political belief, Mr. Doan has long adhered to the principles of the Prohibition party, believing that the suppression and final extinction of the liquor traffic is the greatest problem before the American people today. He and the members of his family are earnest and zealous supporters of the Friends church, and to it they have contributed generously of their means and in it they have always been faithful workers. Ever since its organization Mr. Doan has been a member of the board of county charities. Noted as a citizen whose useful career has conferred credit on his county and state, his marked abilities and sterling qualities have won for him a high reputation, and he holds today distinctive precedence as one of the most enterprising and progressive men of his county. He is essentially a man of affairs, of sound judgment, keen discernment and rare acumen, every enterprise to which he has addressed himself always having resulted in success. The influence of such a man in a community cannot be overestimated, and when he lays down the cares of life there will have gone from this county a man who has never fallen short in the performance of any duty which might benefit his fellow citizens.

William Wright Anderson

Among the men of a past generation who were prominently identified with their community during their life time, there is no one who deserves more honorable mention than the late William W. Anderson, of Westfield, Indiana. He passed through more interesting experiences than falls to the lot of the ordinary man and breasted the winds of fortune in a way that stamped him as a man of great courage and fortitude. He was a man of the highest type of Christian character and always practiced what he preached. His sympathies were ever with the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted, the oppressed and the down-trodden, the bereaved and broken-heart¬ ed. He was a devoted and loving father and no sacrifice of time, money or inclination was too great for him to make for his one daughter. In April, 1904, he was stricken unconscious while alone with his daughter. He recov¬ ered, but a year later was again stricken and the eighteen months preceding his death he was unable to leave his home, and though lying helpless in bed for nearly a month before the end came, no complaint ever escaped him. lie was ever gentle and sweet, but so tired in body and mind with the weight of his years and failing strength that he prayed the dear Lord to take him into His presence and make him a rested being.

William W. Anderson was born near Easton, Maryland, June 4, 1821, and died near Westfield, April 26, 1907. He was the oldest child of Wright and Margaret (Atwell) Anderson, who moved to Greenplain, Ohio, when he was about seven years old. There the wife and mother died, and the father, with his. sister and the little ones, moved. to Indiana, then spoken of as the far west, and settled on a farm near Milton, Wayne county. When the aunt married a temporary home was found for the children and the separation from home and father, made an indelible impression on the gentle heart of William W. Anderson. The father then married Mrs. Mary Thomberg and brought his children, William, Mary, John. Jane and Margaret, home again, where they grew up with their step-brothers, Henry and John Thomberg, and

William W. Anderson worked for his father, who was a skilled black¬ smith, until he was twenty-one years old, when he left home and worked at his trade in several towns and cities of Indiana. In the fall of 1847, at ^ar_ lington, Montgomery county, Indiana, he joined a company of homeseeker-, who were starting with their wives and children, to Oregon. They reached St. Joseph, Missouri, that fall, and that being the outpost of civilization, they wintered there. This was a busy winter; having his tools with him, he did the repairing and the shoeing of the cattle and horses in the company and also for the surrounding slave holders who sent their work in. He got fodder and corn from the farmers for his oxen, worked at his trade, hunted, instilled ideas of freedom and pointed the way to the free states to the slaves who stole round the forge fire in the night time.

When the grass was grown enough in the spring to support the cattle, the company started out into the almost trackless plains and wilderness, forty-nine wagons in all, eight yoke of oxen to each wagon, and after many adventures and a journey of four months and fourteen days they reached a settlement in the Willamette valley, Oregon. Here he worked at his trade for nearly a year. Wheat was the currency in circulation and this he floated down the river to market, a boat load at a time. In 1849 he joined a party going to California, and spent three years there ranching and working in the gold mines. He then formed a partnership with a friend and returned to the eastern states by way of Panama, Havana and New Orleans, intending to buy cattle and drive across the plains to the Pacific coast the next year. There was much joy over the returned son and brother. In the spring the entreaties of his father, the long illness of his partner and the advance in the price of cattle caused him to change his plans. He secured the few thousand dollars he had saved and after some time spent in the middle west, where he bought claims in Missouri and Kansas, he married Rhoda Ann Mendenhall at Darlington, Indiana, May 14, 1859. In the fall of that year he bought a farm nar Westfield, Indiana, and set up a blacksmith shop. He lived on this farm until the day of his death. To him and his beloved wife, Rhoda, were born three daughters, Elizabeth, Manzanita and Senorita, and one son. Wright. Elizabeth and Senorita died in infancy. The death of his wife and son in 1870 was a blow from which he never recovered. But the blessed Comforter came and he gave his heart to God, his faith sustaining him until the end.

Thus died a man who never tired of doing good for his fellow men, and who. throughout his long career of half a century in this county, was never heard to speak unkindly of his fellow man. When he was finally sum¬ moned to his reward he left behind him a record of which his descendants may well be proud and a name they will always delight to honor.

The Tomlinson family of Hamilton county, Indiana, trace their ancestry back to William Tomlinson, a native of Ireland, who emigrated to this coun¬ try in the latter part of the eighteenth century and settled in Guilford county. North Carolina, while the Indians were still living there in large numbers. William Tomlinson, the first of the family to come to this country, married Martha Kopick, a native of North Carolina, and reared a large family, four sons, Joseph, Robert, Josiah and Allan, growing to maturity. William Tom¬ linson took an active interest in the political affairs of his adopted country and lived far beyond the allotted life of man, surviving long enough to wit¬ ness the close of the struggle for independence and the laying of a sure foun¬ dation for our present system of government.

Of the four sons of William Tomlinson and wife who grew to maturity, Roliert became the progenitor of the branch of the family now represented in Hamilton county by E. B. Tomlinson. Robert Tomlinson was married at the age of twenty-six to Lvdia Kellum, and to this union nine children were born, Milton, Martha, Noah, Allan, Jessie, Asenath, Jane, Levi and Esther.

Allan Tomlinson, the father of E. B., with whom this narrative deals, came to Washington township, this county, from Carolina in the spring of 1837, with his parents and lived in this county the remainder of his days. Allan Tomlinson was educated in this township, and upon reaching his ma¬ jority was married to Martha Perisho. He was a prosperous and substantial farmer and acquired a large tract of land in this county before his death.

E. B. Tomlinson, the son of Allan and Martha (Perisho) Tomlinson, was born May 30, 1864, in Washington township, this county, and has lived his whole life in the township of his nativity. After finishing the common school course of his township, he spent several terms in the high school at Westfield, after which he devoted all of his time to labor upon his father's farm. There were five children in the family of Allan Tomlinson and wife, four children of their own, and one adopted daughter. The five children in the family were Luther, deceased; Orlando T., who lives in Michigan; E. B., of this review : Mrs. Mary Horney, whose husband is a farmer in Noblesville township, and Mrs. Clara Carey, the adopted daughter, who is now living in Indianapolis. E. B. Tomlinson is now living on the farm where he was born and has one hundred and seventy-five acres of as good land as can be found in the county. He is making a specialty of the raising of Shorthorn cattle, having found this to be a very profitable business.

Mr. Tomlinson wras married June 6, 1889, to Ella Beals, the daughter of Lemuel Beals, and to this union there has been born one daughter, Gladys, who is still at home with her parents.

The Republican party claims the support of Mr. Tomlinson, but owing to his extensive farming interests, he has never felt inclined to take an active part in political affairs. He and his wife are actively identified with the Friends church, and contribute extensively of their means to its support. Mr. Tomlinson has attained to a definite success in a material way, and in addition to his land holdings, is a stockholder in the First National Bank of Noblesville, with which institution he has been connected for many years. Mr. Tomlinson is a man of generous impulses and genial disposition and is ever ready and willing to help those less fortunate than himself. Having gained bv his earnest efforts and consecutive labor a competent fortune for himself, he is now enabled to take life easy, yet he is still actively engaged in the management of his farm. He is charitable to the faults of his neighbors and deeply interested in the welfare of his community, lending his support to all worthy causes.

Practical industry, wisely and vigorously applied, never fails of success. It carries a man onward and upward, brings out his individual character and acts as a powerful stimulus to the efforts of others. The greatest results in life are often attained by simple means and the exercise of the ordinary qualities of common sense and perseverance. The every-dav life, writh its cares, necessities and duties, affords ample opportunities for acquiring ex¬ perience of the best kind and its most beaten paths provide a true w orker with abundant scope for effort and self-improvement.

Theodore G. McGill, a retired farmer of Jackson township, Hamilton county, Indiana, and the son of John and Matilda (Slack) McGill, wras born November 14, 1853, one mile w?est of Arcadia, in this county. John McGill was a native of Wayne county, this state, and came to Hamilton county with his parents, Robert McGill and wife, when he was twelve years of age. Robert McGill was born in Virginia and when he first came west settled in Kentucky and later removed to Wayne county, Indiana. The father of Rob¬ ert McGill was the first one of the family to come to this country from Scot¬ land, the original home of the McGills. Mr. and Mrs. John McGill were the parents of four children, Mrs. Mary E. Phillips; Amanda, deceased; Mar¬ garet J., the wife of Robert Tranbarger, and Theodore G., with whom this narrative deals.

Theodore G. McGill attended the schools of his home neighborhood dur¬ ing the winter season and assisted with the fann work during the summers. He remained at home until he was twenty-four years of age and then married and went to work upon a rented farm. He was an industrious, hardworking man and in the course of time acquired a farm of sixty acres in Jackson township in sections 21 and 22. He raises all of the . crops which are adapted to the soil of this locality and bv a scientific system of crop rotation always keeps his land at the highest point of productivity.

Mr. McGill was married April 29, 1878, to Rebecca Ella Malott, the daughter of John B. and Sarah (Baker) Malott. John B. Malott was the son of Joseph Malott, a native of Ohio, and was a prominent farmer and land owner of Jackson township. John B. Malott and wife were the parents of six children, Elizabeth, William, Rebecca E., the wife of Mr. McGill; Horace, Mary and Mrs. Laura Hall. Mr. and Mrs. McGill are the parents of one son, John S. McGill.

John S. McGill was born November 24, 1884, in' this township and received a good common school education and high school education, graduat¬ ing in 1902 from the Arcadia high school, after which he took a two-year course in the Vorhees Business College at Indianapolis. When only nineteen years of age he started in life for himself and when twenty-one years of age was married to Miss Lettie F. Devaney and has two children, Leota May and Mark Ford. He and his wife were reared together and attended the same school. John S. McGill quickly forged to the front as one of the progressive young agriculturists of his township and though now retired from the farm, still gives considerable personal supervision to the management of a fine eighty-acre farm, where he raises all the crops suitable to this section of the state, as well as a considerable amount of live stock each year, also buying and feeding a good deal of stock.

Both Mr. and Mrs. McGill are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and are interested participants in the various activities of that organi- aztion. Mr. McGill was a Republican until 1912, in which year he trans¬ ferred his political allegiance to the Progressive party and has been active in the councils of that party in Hamilton county since its organization. He has been a member of the Hamilton County Council since its inception.

Zora T. Powell

Specific mention is made in this volume of the many worthy citizens of Hamilton county who have in one way or another been identified with the growth and development of the county. Many have been born in the county and many others have been natives of other counties in the state or of other states. Among the many progressive farmers of the county who have come here from other counties in the state there is no one more worthy of mention than Zora T. Powell, a successful agriculturist of Noblesville township.

Zora T. Powell, the son of Milton and Emily (Northam) Powell, was born November 7, 1864, in Rush county*, Indiana. Milton Powell is a pros¬ perous farmer in Marion county and has never been a resident of Hamilton county. The wife of Milton Powell was born in North Carolina and is still living at the age of seventy. To Mr. and Mrs. Milton Powell have been bom four children: Zora T., with whom this narrative deals; Charles, deceased; Fred, a farmer of Marion county; and Harry, who is also a farmer of Mar¬ ion county.

Zora T. Powell was educated in the common schools of Marion county and later attended the high school at Broad Ripple, in that county. After leaving school he assisted his father on the home farm until his marriage and then began farming for himself. He continued to farm in Marion county until 1910, when he moved to Hamilton county and settled on his present farm of one hundred and two acres in Noblesville township. His farm is highly improved and is as productive as any to be found in the county. # He has a beautiful home, excellent barns and outbuildings and such other im¬ provements as are to be found on up-to-date farms. In the raising of crops he is following the latest and most scientific methods and has the satisfaction of seeing his farm yield very gratifying returns.

Mr. Powell was married February 2, 1889, to Emma Spahr, the daugh¬ ter of Joshua and Charlotte (Tippy) Spahr, natives of Pennsylvania and Ohio, respectively. To Mr. and Mrs. Spahr have been born four children: (54)

Mrs. Ida Steinmeier, of Marion county; Emma, the wife of Mr. Powell; Mrs. Ella Leonard, deceased, and Grace, who is still living with her parents in Marion county. Mr. Powell and wrife have one son, Chester M., who was born June 18, 1880, and married September 18, 1900, to Estel White.

In politics, Mr. Powell has always given his support to the Republican party, but has never been an aspirant for any public office. He has been content to devote all of his time and attention to his agricultural interests and leave the cares of political life to others. He and his wife are loyal members of the Friends church at Gray, in their home neighborhood, and have always contributed liberally of their means for church purposes. Mr. Powell takes a deep interest in the welfare of his fellow citizens and gives his support to such measures as he thinks will benefit them in any way. His life has been clean and wholesome and he justly deserves the high esteem in which he is held by every one with whom he comes in contact.

Alonzo J. Roberts

Though many years have passed since Alonzo J. Roberts was transferred from the life militant to the life triumphant, he is still remembered by his many friends and acquaintances as one of the worthy citizens of the county where he spent so many years of his active life. Because of his many ex¬ cellent qualities and the splendid and definite influence which his life shed over the entire community in which he lived, it is particularly fitting that mention be made of him in this volume. He was a man of high moral char¬ acter, unimpeachable integrity, persistent industry and excellent business judgment, who stood "four square to every wind that blew.,,

Alonzo J. Roberts, the son of Elihu and Sarah (Stubbs) Roberts, was born January 12, 1866, in Preble county, Ohio, and died in Hamilton county, Indiana, July 4, 1902. He was educated in the schools of West Elkton, Ohio, and lived in the state of his birth until after his marriage. While still living in Ohio he became interested in the oil business and was the superintendent of an oil station near his home. In 1894 he came, with his family, to Hamil¬ ton county and purchased eighty acres in Noblesville township, where he lived until his death. He was also identified with the oil industry after coming to this county and had general charge of an oil station in addition to the man¬ agement of his farm.

the daughter of Isaac and Nancy (Row) Shaffer, natives of Ohio and In¬ diana, respectively. To Mr. and Mrs. Roberts were born five children: Sada J., Esther E., Gula, Golda and Charles. Sada J. was graduated from the Carmel high school and is now teaching school in the grades at Cicero. Esther married Chester Cook, a farmer of Noblesville township, and has two children, Louise and John, the latter of whom died July 6, 1914. Gula, who went through the third year of high school at Carmel, but had to leave it on account of her health, is an accomplished musician. She is a milliner at Anderson, Indiana. Golda and Charles are still attending school. At the time of his death, Mr. Roberts owned twelve and one-half acres near Gray, which Mrs. Roberts sold in 1904.

Mrs. Roberts was married a second time on September 12, 1906, to Frank Hinshaw, who was born in North Carolina, April 5, 1862. Mr. and Mrs. Hinshaw are living on the farm, where they have a fine home and good barns and outbuildings of all kinds. Mr. Hinshaw is a Republican and a member of the Friends church.

Mf. Roberts was a stanch Republican all his life but was never an office seeker, preferring to devote all of his time and energy to his private interests. He, as well as his wife, were loyal members of the Friends church and con¬ tributed freely of their means to its support. He was a man who was always concerned in the various movements in his locality which sought to benefit the welfare pf its citizens, and for this reason justly merited the esteem of his friends and acquaintances. He will be remembered by those who knew him as a man who was charitable to the faults of his neighbors and kindly disposed towards everyone whom he met.

John Eller

Dpendent very largely upon his own resources, even from his early youth, John Eller, a retired farmer of Arcadia, has attained no insignificant success and though he has encountered many obstacles and met with re¬ verses at different times, yet he has pressed steadily forward, ever willing to work for the end he has in view. His tenacity and fortitude are due, no doubt, in a large measure, to the worthy traits inherited from his sterling ancestors, whose high ideals and correct principles he has ever sought to per¬ petuate in all the relations of life. He early learned the habit of industry, and during his vacation periods, while attending school as a boy, he was con- stantlv employed on his father's farm and thus early in life he became ac¬ quainted with the multitude of details with which the successful farmer must become acquainted.

John Eller, the son of Andrew and Elizabeth (Auchenbach) Eller, was born in Jackson township, this county. December 29, 1851. Andrew Eller was born in Roanoke, Virginia, and in his boyhood moved with his parents, David Eller and wife, from that state to Ohio, later accompanying his parents to this county. Andrew Eller and wife were the parents of seven children, Henry, a soldier of the Civil War; Mrs. Mary Leaman; Sarah, the wife of George Dunn, who has five children, William, Wilson, Mack, Minnie and an infant: Peter; Lydia, deceased, who was the wife of Frank Kauffman, of Terre Haute, Indiana, and had a family of several children: Charles, Alva, deceased ; Mona, Emma, Mollie, deceased ; Eva, Edward, deceased, and Addie; John, with whom this narrative deals, and Elizabeth, deceased.

John Eller has spent his entire life in White River township, the place of his birth. He received a good common school education in the Fairy Glade and Mulberry schools of his home neighborhood, and spent' his boy¬ hood days when not in school in assisting his father on the home farm. At the age of nineteen he began life for himself by renting a farm and from that time until his final retirement from active farm labor in 1908, was continu¬ ously engaged in the pursuit of agriculture. Within a short time after starting out for himself he was able to purchase twenty acres, to which he has added from time to time until he is now the owner of eighty acres of finely improved land in White River township. As a farmer he was energetic and enterprising and carried on a diversified style of agriculture, raising all the crops common to this section of the state and meeting with marked success in his work. He always devoted considerable attention to the breeding of live stock, his annual sales netting him a handsome profit.

Mr. Eller was married January 5, 1871, to Anna Overdorf, daughter of George and Mary (Steichleman) Overdorf. Mr. and Mrs. Overdorf were the parents of eight children, George, Mrs. Mary Scott, John, Sarah, Kate, Anna, Mattie, deceased, and Lizzie, deceased.

Mr. and Mrs. Eller are the parents of six children, Nora, William, Charles, Jess, Flora and Edward. Nora is the only one of the family who is deceased; William married Luella Young, and has four children, Elsie, who married B. Newby, and has one child, Rubv - Ethel, Ray and Marie; Charles married Susan Sumner, and has five children, Eva, Ruth, Eda, Ray and Paul ; Jess married Allie Hankley, and has seven children, Orlie, Kenneth, Letha, Wavne, Catherine, Fav Olive and Donald Murrell. Flora is the wife of Frank Landis and has three children, Mildred, Catherine and Garald; Edward married Laura Jack, and has two children, Venita and Clifford.

Mr. Eller has always been independent in politics, both he and his sons declining to exercise the right of franchise. Believing that his time and energies should be devoted to his agricultural interests he has never felt that he had the time to take an active part in political affairs. However, no worthy measure of his community has failed to enlist his support when he felt that it would be to the general benefit of his fellow citizens. Religiously, he and the members of his family are loyal adherents of the Church of the Brethren, and to it they have contributed of their time and substance. Mr. Eller is essentially a self-made man and the success to which he has attained has come solely through his own labors. He and his gpod wife have reared a family of children to lives of usefulness and honor, while he himself has always lived such a life as to bring the commendations 'of his fellow citizens.

Joseph Boone Lafeber

One of the few distinguished veterans of the Civil War who are living today in Hamilton county, Indiana, is Joseph B. Lafeber, a prominent in¬ surance man of Atlanta. He is a man who has been a valuable factor in the local affairs of his community for many years. As a farmer he was recog¬ nized as one of the leaders in his township, while as an insurance man he has built up a profitable business in Atlanta. During his career of nearly fifty years in this county he has so conducted himself as to win the hearty approval of all with whom he has been associated.

Joseph B. Lafeber, the son of James and Sarah (Boone) Lafeber, was born in 1843 in Hamilton county, Ohio, near Cincinnati. James Lafeber was born in Pennsylvania and brought his family from Pittsburg down the Ohio river to Cincinnati, and later came to Indiana, coming to this state in 1863. The wife of James Lafeber, Sarah Boone, is a member of the family which boasts of Daniel Boone, the famous frontiersman of the early his¬ tory of this county. Joseph Boone was a cousin of Daniel Boone, and a resi¬ dent of Kentucky. James and Sarah (Boone) Lafeber were the parents of six children, Frank, Adelia, John, Joseph B., with whom this narrative sub¬ sequently deals ; James and Philip.

Joseph B. Lafeber received all of his education in Hamilton county, Ohio, near Cincinnati, and was still a mere youth when the Civil War opened. He enlisted in the Sixth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry and served under

Col. Nicholas Anderson in the Army of the Cumberland for three years. Most of his service was in West Virginia, but he was in battles throughout the eastern and southern states before the close of the war. He made a gal¬ lant record and served with distinction until his final discharge. His broth¬ ers, James and Frank, also served during the war as members of this same company.

Immediately after the close of the war, Mr. Lafeber went to Cambridge City, Indiana, and while living there was married in 1869. A year later he came to this county and engaged in farming, continuing to follow that occu¬ pation for the next twenty years. For the past twenty-five years he has been engaged in the insurance business in Atlanta and has built up a prosperous business in the town and surrounding territory. He thoroughly understands every angle of the business and carries some of the largest and strongest oldline companies to be found in the country today.

Mr. Lafeber was married in 1868 to Carrie Waltz, and to this union have been born four children, Henry, Walter F., Frank and Mrs. Nellie Noble. Mr. Lafeber is a member of the Christian church and Mrs. Lafeber is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He is a member and past commander of Lookout Post No. 133, Grand Army of the Republic, at Nobles ville, and a charter member of Lodge No. 445, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, at Atlanta, which was organized June 17, 1865, an(l has gone through all the chairs of that lodge.

Politically, Mr. Lafeber was a Republican in politics until the organiza¬ tion of the new Progressive party, in 1912, since which time he has been identified with this latter political organization. He has always taken a deep interest in politics and his ability and service to the party was recognized by President Harrison, who appointed him postmaster of Atlanta in 1889. He held this office until the close of the Harrison administration and but for the change in Presidents he would have continued in the office, in the discharge of which he gave eminent satisfaction. Mr. Lafeber always has been inter¬ ested in everything which affected the welfare of his home town and such measures as he felt would benefit it have received his hearty and enthusiastic support. He has stood for good government and pure politics, and because of his attitude on public questions he is regarded as a man of influence in the locality where he lives. He is a man of pleasing manner, an interesting con¬ versationalist and is able to recount many incidents of the three years' service which he spent in the Civil War. As a friend, citizen and public official his career has been unstained by word or act of dishonesty and presents an en¬ viable record of faithful duty promptly performed.

James M. Driver

It is a well attested maxim that the greatness of a community or a state lies not in the machinery of government nor even in its institutions, but rather in the sterling qualities of the individual citizen in his capacity for high and unselfish effort and his devotion to the public welfare. In these particulars he whose name appears at the head of this review has conferred honor and dignity upon his locality, and as an elemental part of history it is but proper that there should be recorded a resume of his career, with the object in view of noting his connection with the advancement of one of the most flourishing and progressive sections of the commonwealth, as well as his official relations with the administration of the public affairs of Hamil¬ ton county.

James M. Driver, a prosperous farmer and stock raiser of Jackson town¬ ship, and the present postmaster of Arcadia, was born August 6, 1861, in the township where he has spent his whole life. He is the son of J. T. and Elizabeth C. (Deal) Driver. His father was born in Rush county, in this state, in 1831. He is the son of John Driver who was born in Tennessee. John Driver came to this county in 1852 and settled on one hundred and sixty acres in the northwestern corner of section 10. To John Driver and wife were bom five children: Mrs. Martha Wilson; J. T., deceased; J. C., de¬ ceased; Mrs. Margaret A. Deal, deceased, and Mrs. Elizabeth C. Smith.

J. T. Driver was twenty years of age when he came to this county with his parents and, until his marriage, helped his father clear the farm and put it under cultivation. Upon his marriage to Elizabeth Deal he started farm¬ ing on an eighty-acre farm in this township. J. T. Driver and wife were the parents of six children: John E. ; Wm. H., deceased; Margaret, de¬ ceased; Francis, deceased; James M., with whom this narrative deals, and C. M., of Winchester, Kentucky.

James M. Driver received his youthful instruction in the schools of Arcadia and spent all of his boyhood days when not in school on his father's farm. Marrying in 1882, he at once began farming on a rented farm of one hundred and sixty acres, but shortly after bought a farm of fifty-six acres upon which he moved. He has since added to this farm until he now owns a highly productive «tract of seventy acres in this township.

Mr. Driver was married March 2, 1882, to Mary Newby, daughter of Squire and Jane (Cullap) Newby. To this marriage have been born five children: Hazel Lee, deceased; Carrie Blanche, deceased; Frank, a banker of Indianapolis, who is married and has one son, James E., and James T., of Detroit, Michigan. Mr. Driver was married a second time, on May 7, 1891, to Rose A. Kellar, and to this second marriage has been born one son, Edward, who is now assistant postmaster under his father.

Mr. Driver is actively interested in the principles of the Democratic party and has always taken a prominent part in the deliberations of his party. He was postmaster at Arcadia during both terms of Grover Cleveland, and was appointed postmaster again by President Wilson. Fraternally, he is a member of the Knights of Pythias, while religiously he holds to the faith of a Christian church. Mr. Driver is a man of many splendid qualities and is highly regarded by every one with whom he has been associated. In the public position which he holds he comes in contact with hundreds of people daily, and in this way he has as wide an acquaintance in this sec¬ tion of the country as any other man. He has a kindly disposition and his genial demeanor has won him a large circle of friends and acquaint¬ ances.

John F. White

Among the retired farmers of Hamilton county who have played an important part in the history of the county is John F. White, who is now living in Westfield, this county. Left an orphan at an early age, he had to struggle against adverse circumstances, yet with no outside help he has become one of the substantial and solid men of, his township. At the open¬ ing of the Civil War he was one of the two hundred thousand men of In¬ diana who enlisted and served their country faithfully and well. His in¬ tegrity and honesty never have been questioned, and during his long life in this county he always has so conducted himself as to win the hearty com¬ mendation of his fellow citizens.

John F. White, the son of Burden and Agnes (Jessup) White, was born January 24, 1840, in Guilford county, North Carolina. Burden White was the son of Thomas and Mary (Lamb) White, both of whom were stanch Quakers and natives of North Carolina. Agnes Jessup, the mother of John F. White, was the daughter of Caleb Jessup, of Scotch ancestry, her mother having been a Hoskins.

The mother of John F. White died when he was a 'mere child, and his father died when he was only six years old. Burden White and wife reared a family of ten children, and after his parents' death John F. White went to live with his brother, Caleb, with whom he remained two years, and then went to live with Nathan H. Clark, to whom he had been bound out for a definite number of years. It was while living with Mr. Clark that he came to Indiana in the spring of 1857, being at that time seventeen years of age, and continued to reside with the Clark family until he enlisted in the Civil War. He was given a common school education and from his earliest boy¬ hood was a hard worker. He enlisted in August, 1862, in Company D, One Hundred and First Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry and served until the close of the war. He was with General Sherman in his memorable march through Georgia to Savannah and then on to Washington for the Grand Review. At the battle of Chickamauga, in September, 1863, Mr. White was severely wounded and for seven months was confined in the hospital. He received his injury while serving on a detail in the Nineteenth Indiana Battery, one of the most gallant batteries which Indiana furnished during the war.

Immediately after the close of the war Mr. White returned to the home of Mr. Clark, where he lived until his marriage, in 1869. He then pur¬ chased one hundred and twenty acres of land one and one-half miles north of Eagletown, in Washington township, this county, where he lived for ten years. He afterwards traded this farm for eighty acres two and one-half miles northwest of Westfield, and subsequently bought forty acres more ad¬ joining this farm. He continued to manage this farm until 1881, when he moved to Westfield, where he had previously purchased property, and in this town he has since resided. He now rents his farm, but still maintains a care¬ ful supervision of its management. He has been largely interested in stock feeding and breeding, making a specialty of the breeding of Clyde horses and Poland China hogs.

Mr. White was married February 23, 1869, in Washington township, this county, to Mary Jane Roberts, the daughter of Lewis and Hannah (Barker) Roberts, who was born October 27, 1847. Her parents were native of Ohio and North Carolina, respectively, and came to this county from Bucks county, Pennsylvania. Mary Jane Roberts was one of eight children ; the family consisting of four sons and four daughters. The Roberts family are of Welsh descent and for several generations have been mem¬ bers of the Friends church.

Mr. and Mrs. White are the parents of five children, three of whom are living: Luda, Gale and Maud. Luda married Edward L. Flannigan, lives in Indianapolis and has two children, Esther and Phoebe; Gale is the wife of Arvoy G. Baldwin, a druggist of Phoenix, Arizona; Maud married Edward L. Shepherd and is now a resident of Joplin, Missouri. Two of the daugh¬ ters, Hattie and Marie Ella, are deceased ; Hattie married Dr. E. E. Hod- gins and lived in Indianapolis until her death in August, 1904, leaving two children, Agnes and John H.; Marie Ella married Rev. Lester Poor, a Methodist minister, and lived in Galveston, Indiana, until the time of her death in April, 1905.

Mr. White always had been a Republican until 1912, at which time he affiliated with the new Progressive party. Being a man of influence and universally recognized as a citizen of ability, the new party in this county chose him as a delegate to the first state convention of the new Progressive party. He always has been actively interested in political affairs, although never a candidate for any public office. He and his family always have been loyal members of the Friends church and contribute generously to its support. Mr. White has lived a useful life and has been an influential factor in his community for many years. As a private citizen and as an honored veteran of the Civil War he always was true to himself and his fellow men and consequently is well deserving of the esteem which is ac¬ corded to him by his fellow citizens.

The following is a sketch of a plain, honest man of affairs, who by correct methods and a strict regard for the interests of his patrons has made his influence felt in Noblesville and won for himself distinctive prestige in the business circles of the city; a man whose life story presents much that is interesting and valuable and which may be studied with profit by the young whose careers are yet before them ; a man whose integrity and4strength of character command the respect of his contemporaries and who has left the impress of his individuality deeply stamped upon his community.

Daniel Boone McCoun, a prosperous lumber dealer of Noblesville, In¬ diana, was born September 29, 1872, on a farm near Danville, Indiana. He is a son of Robert H. and Mary C. (Doty) McCoun, his father being a native of Missouri, and his mother of Carroll county, Illinois. Robert H. McCoun is a stock raiser and a prominent farmer of Hendricks county. He and his wife are still living.

Daniel B. McCoun was educated in the country schools of Hendricks county, and when a mere youth began teaching in the rural districts of Hendricks county. He taught three years and then attended the Central Normal College at Danville, where he took three years work. After leav¬ ing the college he became foreman of the bridge and depot construction gang of the Springfield division of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Rail¬ way. After four years' employment with this company he moved to Dan¬ ville in 1900 and became a carpenter contractor and has rapidly built up a good business in this line of activity. In 1903 he became the superintendent for the Danville plant of the J. W. Pinnell Lumber Company of Indian¬ apolis. He continued in the service of this company in Danville until August, 1909, when he moved to Noblesville, where he became the superin¬ tendent of the lumber plant of the same section of the Pinnell-Dulin Lum¬ ber Company, of Indianapolis. He has been connected with this company as superintendent ever since. His farm handles all kinds of building material and also conducts a coal yard in connection with the lumber yard. His business extends all over Hamilton and surrounding counties, and under the management of Mr. McCoun has developed into one of the important industries of Noblesville. He understands every angle of the business, and by his courteous treatment of his patrons and his reputation for square dealing has justly earned the commendation of the company in whose employ he is now engaged.

Mr. McCoun was married, November 19, 1895, to Estelle M. Carter, daughter of Joseph M. and Matilda (French) Carter, of North Salem, Hendricks county, Indiana. To this union have been born two children, Frances Jessica and Morris, both of whom are now attending the public schools in Noblesville. They are all members of the Christian church, and take an active part in all the Sunday school work of their denomination. Mr. McCoun is a member of the board of deacons, and for the past two years . has been the superintendent of the Sabbath school.

Mr. McCoun always has taken an active interest in political affairs pertaining to Noblesville, and previous to 1912 had been a Republican. Up¬ on the organization of the new Progressive party, in the summer of 1912, he gave his support in behalf of the new party, believing that it advocated principles which would be of great benefit to the country at large. In 1913 he was a candidate on the Progressive ticket for the mayor of Noblesville. This has been his only effort to enter political life as an official. He is a splendid type of the good American citizen, and never withholds his sup¬ port from any movement which he thinks will benefit his community. He is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, holding membership in both the Chapter and Council of that fraternity. He is also a Knight of Pythias, and takes a great interest in the work of that fraternity. Mr. McCoun is a genial and companionable man who makes friends wherever he goes, and has bv his well ordered way of living earned the respect of every one with whom he has been connected since coming to this county.

Isaac Bright

The following is a sketch of a plain, honest man of affairs, who by correct methods and a strict regard for the interests of his patrons has made his influence in Arcadia and won for himself prestige in the business circles of that town. He would be the last man to pose in the role of a hero of romance or become the subject of fancy sketches, nevertheless his life presents much that is interesting and valuable and may be studied with profit by the young whose careers are yet to be achieved. He is one of those whom in¬ tegrity and strength of character force into an admirable notoriety which their modesty never seeks, who command the respfect of their contemporaries and their posterity and leave the impress of their individuality deeply stamped - upon the community.

Isaac Bright, a prominent carpenter and contractor of Arcadia, was born July 14, 1864, in the township where he has always made his home. He is the son of David G. and Eliza (Bowser) Bright, his father being a native of Virginia, and his mother a native of Hamilton county, Indiana. David G. Bright came to this state when a young man and first settled in Ran¬ dolph county, later coming to Hamilton county, where he purchased land and lived the life of a farmer until his death. David G. Bright and wife were the parents of the following children : William, Zacariah, Cassius, Mary, Philina, Hattie, Ino, Isaac, Henry, George, Joseph, Lizzie, Della, Elma and David.

Isaac Bright received a good common school education in the schools of his home township and assisted his father on the home farm during his summer vacations. Marrying at the early age of nineteen, he started in to leam the carpenter's trade and is now recognized as one of the best carpenters in the state. He is painstaking in all of his work and thoroughly under¬ stands every kind of carpentry work. He not only does a large amount of work in his own town but he has worked on some of the highest class jobs in Indianapolis. His services are always in demand where good work is wanted, with the result that he has been able to acquire a very comfortable competence for his declining years.

Mr. Bright was married June 26, 1873, to Sarah Kinder, the daughter of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Putnam) Kinder. To this union were born two children, Julia and Lula. Julia married Mr. Cruse and has three children: Inez, John and Paul. Lula married William Walton and has two children, Charles and Amel.

Mr. Bright is a Progressive in politics, having identified himself with the new party upon its organization in the summer of 1912. He takes an active interest in public affairs, and has always advocated such measures and enterprises as he thought would be of benefit to his community in any way. However, the necessity of attending very closely to his business has kept him from engaging in politics, although his advice and counsel are frequently sought by the leaders of his party. He and his family are all members of the German Baptist church and contribute freely of their means to its support. Mr. Bright is strictly a self-made man and is deserving of a great deal of credit for his success. He is a man of pleasing person¬ ality and has a host of friends who admire him for his kindly disposition and clean and wholesome life.

Robert J. Follett

Specific mention is made in the following paragraphs of one of the worthy citizens of Hamilton county, Indiana - one who has figured in the growth and development of this favored locality and whose interests have been identified with its progress, contributing in a definite measure in his par¬ ticular sphere of action to the well-being of the community in which he re¬ sides and to the advancement of its normal and legitimate growth. Addi¬ tional interest attaches to his career from the fact that he has passed a quarter of a century within the borders of this county. Earnest purpose and tireless energy combined with mature judgment and everyday common sense have been among his most prominent characteristics and he has merited the respect and esteem which are accorded him by all who know him.

Robert J. Follett, the proprietor of the prosperous flour mill at Carmel, Indiana, was born in Edinburg, Indiana, December 29, 1868, and is a son of Nathaniel F. and Martha J. (Duncan) Follett. His father was born April 2, 1839, in Devonshire, England, and his mother was a native of this county, her birth having occurred November 16, 1844.

Nathaniel F. Follett, who is still living in Carmel, has an interesting history. He is the son of Nathaniel and Joanna (Wills) Follett. Nathaniel Follett, Sr., was a foreman in the clay pits of England, working fifty-two vears for one firm. He and his wife were the parents of two children, Nathaniel Jr., and Elizabeth Ann, who married William Sampson, and is still living in Burslam, England. Nathaniel Follett, Jr., came to this country in April, 1851, landing in New York city, where he lived the most of the time until 1858. During this period he made two trips back to England. In 1858 he came to Indiana and located at Zionsville, where he worked for the United States Milling Company. Mr. Follett answered the first call of Presi¬ dent Lincoln for troops and enlisted for service on April 19, 1861, in Com¬ pany K, Tenth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, being a corporal in his company. He saw service in the West Virginia campaign under General McClellan and immediately after the end of his first term of enlistment, re¬ enlisted August 4, 1862, in Company A, Seventieth Regiment Indiana Volun¬ teer Infantry and served with this command until the close of the war. It was the Seventieth Regiment which was led by Benjamin Harrison as colonel when it was mustered into the service. Mr. Follett participated in many of the hardest fought battles of the long and bloody struggle. He took part in all of the battles of eastern Tennessee and those which Sherman fought while making his memorable march through the state of .Georgia.

Immediately after the close of the war Mr. Follett returned to Indi¬ anapolis, and after his marriage in 1866 removed to Edinburg, Indiana, where he worked in a flour mill until 1879. He had previously worked in a flour mill at Fortville, Indiana, and while working there had met his wife. From Edinburg Mr. Follett moved to Kansas, but returned a year later to Indi¬ anapolis, where he remained eighteen years, about seventeen years with the Blanton Milling Company, and for a short time engaged in milling on his own account. He then went to Franklin, Indiana, where he worked in a flour mill for three years and from thence he removed to Carlinville, Illinois, where he remained for the next two years. Cambridge City, Indiana, be¬ came his next home and after working for two years in the latter place he located in Shelbvville, this state, where he remained for five years. His last change of residence was from Shelbyville to Carmel, in Hamilton county, and here he is still living. He has followed the miller's trade all of his life with the exception of the four years which he spent in the service of his countiy. Nathaniel Follett, Jr., was married July 29, 1866, to Martha J. Duncan, the daughter of Hiram and Martha J. (Reddick) Duncan, both of whom were natives of North Carolina. The Duncans were early settlers of Hamilton county, and in this county Martha J. was reared. Mr. and Mrs. Nathaniel Follett were the parents of eight children, four of whom are still living, Johana, Robert J., whose history is here presented; Elizabeth Ann, Jennie T. ;

Robert J. Follett received a good, common school education, being edu¬ cated in the schools of the different towns in which his father followed his occupation as a miller. He remained at home until 1890, and by that time was already an expert miller, having worked with his father from his boy¬ hood. From here he went to Westfield, in this county, and started to work in a flour mill, remaining there for a little more than three years. During this time he acquired an interest in the Westfield mill and he and his partner shortly afterwards purchased the mill in Carmel. In 1894 Mr. Follett bought his partner's interest in the mill at Carmel, and for the past twenty' years has operated this mill alone. His mill has enjoyed a steady and prosperous growth from the beginning of his management and now has a capacity of fifty barrels daily. His flour is known as the "Eureka" brand of flour and finds a ready sale in this and surrounding counties. He does a large amount of custom work among the farmers in this section of the county.