Hendricks County, Indiana - Biographical sketches, 1914 (part 13 of 19)

Charles W. Neal

Among the well known farmers of a past generation who have been instrumental in placing Hendricks county in the front ranks of the agricultural counties of Indiana, was Charles W. Neal, who was born in Bourbon county, Kentucky, March 29, 1834, and died March 18, 1905, on his farm in Lincoln township, this county. His parents were Nathaniel and Sallie (Sandusky) Neal, his mother dying at his birth. She was the daughter of Jacob Sandusk}', of Bourbon county, Kentucky. In the early history of the state Jacob Sandusky came to Indiana with twenty thousand dollars in his belt and walked around over the central part of the state barefooted and looking like a tramp in order to quietly pick out the best lands. He bought eleven hundred acres where Irvington now stands and four hundred and eighty acres two and one-half miles south of Brownsburg, six hundred and forty acres in Decatur county, this state, north of Greensburg, eight hundred acres in the south edge of Boone county and other lands in the central part of the state. However, he did not live on any of these tracts, but continued to reside in Kentucky, coming back to Indiana each year to look after his property and pay his taxes.

Charles W. Neal never knew what it was to have a mother's protecting care and when he was four years of age he was taken away by relatives on horseback to Illinois, where he was kept for six years. He was then taken back to Kentucky, but remained there only a short time before he took a yearling colt, with a sheepskin for a saddle and a rope bridle, and, fording the Ohio river, he returned to his relatives in Illinois. The first pair of shoes the lad had he earned by driving oxen at ten cents a day. He again returned to Kentucky and spent the remainder of his boyhood days, and in that state he was married, July 4, 1861, to Emma S. Bradley, the second of seven children born to Shelton and Mildred (Simpson) Bradley. His wife was born in Bourbon county, Kentucky, near Paris. It is interesting to note that both Charles Neal and his wife had been reared on farms where slaves did most of the work, and that neither of them had learned much of the hard realities of life when they were married. From his grandfather, Jacob Sandusky, he inherited four hundred acres of land two miles south of Brownsburg in Hendricks county, and in 1864 he and his wife came to this county to live. The only road to his farm was a blazed trail through the forests, swamps and underbrush, and the farm certainly could not have looked very inviting to him on the day on which he first saw it, as the land was low, wet, covered with a thick mat of underbrush. This was probably one reason why it had not been settled sooner. The Civil War had swept away what his family and relatives owned in Kentucky and that was one reason why he and his young wife decided to come to Indiana. They probably had little notion of the four hundred acres which was waiting for them in this county. Neighbors in Kentucky prophesied disaster for them in the new country, but Charles and his wife were not to be dismayed and with their little children they started in with brave hearts to make a living on their farm. For the first five years he did little farming, spending most of his time hunting. However, dire necessity made him forsake his gun for the hoe and axe, and he gradually began clearing his land and dealing in live stock, buying and selling throughout the county. He cleared his land, rolled his logs, burned brush just as though he had always been used to it, drained his land, improved and fenced it, erected buildings and built a house which was one of the best in the county at that time. It must be remembered that he had lived in a state where white men did little work and where the slaves did all of it, and for this reason it took some time for him to understand that in Indiana white men did all of the work.

Charles W. Neal was a frank, plain-spoken man, even blunt of speech, but he had a host of friends who admired him for his sincerity. He was a man all the way through and was respected for his rugged honesty. He died in 1905, and his wife on September 27, 1908. Four children were born to them : Tavner, whose history is given elsewhere in this volume ; Claudia, the wife of Alonzo Turpin; Forest, who is living; Lorenzo, deceased. The children all live in the southern part of Lincoln township, or near the old home farm.

E. W. Sawyer

The history of a county or state, as well as that of a nation, is chiefly a chronicle of the lives and deeds of those who have conferred honor and dignity upon society. The world judges the character of a communitv by those of its representative citizens and yields its tribute of admiration and respect to those whose works and actions constitute the record of a community's prosperity and pride. Among the prominent citizens of Hendricks county who are well known because of their success in business affairs and the part they have taken in the civic affairs of the locality is he whose name appears at the head of this article and who is now the efKcient and popular president of the Pittsboro Bank.

E. W. Sawyer, a business man of thirty years' experience in Pittsboro, Hendricks county, Indiana, was born in Sterling, Massachusetts, in 1854. He was given an excellent education and completed his schooling by graduating from the Lancaster Academy. He spent his boyhood and early manhood in the state of Massachusetts, where he operated a news-stand at Leominster for several years. In 1881 he came to Indiana and settled in Pittsboro, this county, where he worked for Oliver W. Hill in his general store. He showed a marked aptitude for business and in 1888 he was able to engage in business for himself. His worth as a citizen and the popularity in which he was held in his own town is shown by the fact that he was appointed postmaster of Pittsboro by President Benjamin Harrison in 1888. In 1895 he built the Sawyer block in his home town and continued in business for the next ten years in this building. In 1909 he was elected president of the Pittsboro Bank and has continued to hold this important office since that time. In addition to his mercantile and banking interests he has also been interested in agriculture, having bought in 1898 the Samuel Hill farm of one hundred and forty acres, which he still owns and manages. He has proven as successful in the management of his farm as he did in his mercantile business. He is now living retired in Pittsboro, having given up the active management of his store and farm.

Mr. Sawyer was married to Forest Dean Hill in 1884, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Hill. He and his wife are members of the Christian church in Pittsboro and take a very active interest in the various organizations of the church. Mr. Sawyer was elected a deacon and trustee of the church in 1905. He has made his way in the business world because he has led .'i straightforward and commendable course in all of his business transactions, and has won the admiration of the people of Pittsboro and vicinity because he has been a progressive man of affairs. He is a broad-minded and pubHcspirited citizen, who has not been backward in giving his support to every movement for the upbuilding and advancement of his community. Personally he is a most companionable man and is a popular member of the circles in which he moves.

T. Wesley Ayers

The science of agriculture - for it is a science as well as an art - finds an able demonstrator as well as successful practitioner in the person of J. Wesley Ayers, who is widely known in Hendricks county, Indiana, maintaining a very productive and desirable farm in Franklin townshio. He comes of a very highly honored pioneer family, members of which have played well their parts in the general development of this favored section of the great Indiana commonwealth.

-J. Wesley Ayers, the son of William P. and Mary E. (Bell) Ayers, was born in Danville, Indiana, April 4, 1865. His father was a native of Maryland, while his mother was born in this county. William P. Ayers came to Indiana from Maryland with his parents when he was about four years of age. He received his education in this county, and after leaving school he worked on his father's farm until his marriage, at the age of twenty. To Mr. and Mrs. William P. Ayers were born ten children: Laura, the wife of Aaron Aldredge; Leander; Alice, who married Bradley Tout and, after his death, Henry Roland; Miranda, the wife of Frank Ryland; Dora, who married James West; Clara, the wife of Charles Garrison and, after his death, Frank Whitlock; Charles, who married Delia Denny; Otis, deceased; Albert, and J. Wesley, the immediate subject of this review.

J. Wesley Ayers secured his education by attending the common and high schools of Danville and attended the Central Normal College of Danville, and upon the completion of his education he came to Indianapolis, where he was in the employ of the Sherman, Occidental and Stubbins hotels as clerk for about four years. Upon the death of his father at Danville, he removed to the latter place and took up his father's occupation as brick maker and contractor, and for the succeeding eight years he followed this line of business, erecting, among other buildings, the First National Bank building, of Danville. He then purchased a farm and began operations as an agriculturist, (39) securing his first farm of sixty-two acres north of Danville, and he managed this place for the next ten years, after which time he sold this tract and bought sixty acres two and one-half miles east of Danville. Two years later he sold this land and purchased his present farm of sixty acres in Franklin township, known as the William Tincher farm, a farm which he has brought to a high state of cultivation and made attractive with a good home, outbuildings and other extensive improvements.

Mr. Ayers was married April 2, 1908, to Aml^rosia Hurst, the daughter of Charles R. and Mary E. (Bence) Hurst, and to this union there has been born one child, Mary Elizabeth. Mrs. Ayers' parents were both natives of Harrison county, Indiana, and Mrs. Ayers was born in that county. She has one brother, John, who married Frankie E. Thomas, and they live near Corydon, Indiana.

Mr. Ayers has identified himself since his majority with the Republican party, but has never been an active participant in the campaigns of his party. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias and also of the Sons of Veterans. He and his wife are loyal and consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church of Danville, and are liberal contributors to the support of this denomination. Owing to his genuine worth as a man and his genial disposition, he easily wins friends and has always retained them. He enjoys a marked degree of popularity in the locality where so many of his active years have been spent.

Jesse Masten

The student interested in Hendricks county, Indiana, does not have to carry his investigation far into its annals before learning that Jesse Masten has long been one of the leading and active representatives of its agricultural interests and that his labors have proven a potent force in making this a rich farming region. Through several decades he has carried on farming, gradually improving his valuable place, and while he has prospered in this he has also found ample opportunity to assist in the material development of the county, and his co-operation has been of value for the general good.

. Jesse Masten, the proprietor of five hundred and fifty-five acres of fine farming land in Franklin township, Hendricks county, Indiana, was born in this township, February 26, 1847, the son of Reuben and Margaret (Garrison) Masten, both of whom were natives of North Carolina. Reuben Masten received his education in that state and after leaving school he worked on his father's farm for a few years. After his marriage in North Carolina, he, together with his father, moved to Daviess county, Indiana, but remained there only a short time. He then came to Hendricks county and entered one hundred and sixty acres of land from the government in Franklin township, and there he lived the simple, unostentatious life of a farmer and was very successful in all his undertakings, having four hundred and seventy acres of land at the time of his death, October lo, 1892. Mr. and Airs. Reuben Masten were the parents of eleven children: Hezekiah, who married Ann Jackson; John, deceased; Derias, who married Margaret DeMott; Mahala, the wife of David Pike, both deceased ; Mary, who married Marshall Roberts, deceased ; Matthias, who married Nancy Elmore ; Harry, deceased ; Sarah, deceased ; Ann, deceased, who married L. Buis; Emmazetti, the wife of John Hodson, of Coatesville, Indiana, and Jesse, the immediate subject of this review.

Jesse Masten received the best education which the country schools of Franklin township afforded in the stirring days preceding the Civil War. His education was naturally limited because there were no schools which really merited the name. After completing his meager educational training, he started to work with his father on the home farm. The land which his father had entered was a virgin forest, and the sound of tiie axe and the crackle of the burning brush was the finest kind of music to the ears of the pioneers of that day. While still a young man he was married to Mary Ellen Baird, the daughter of Boles and Emmeline (Coons) Baird, and to this union there were born six children : Irene, who married Albert Smith, and is the mother of three children, Nina, Carl and Jesse; Ira, who married Ida Bowen, and they are the parents of three children, JMabel, Vivian and Mary; Maude, who married Frank Powers, and is the mother of two children, Lucile and Ralph; x\rthur married Elizabeth Powers, and Clyde and Willis, who are unmarried and at home.

Mrs. Masten's parents were both natives of Kentucky and reared a family of eight children: William, who married Katie Starkey; Lucinda, the wife of Wesley Richardson; Eliza became the wife of Martin Mason; Bence, married Allie Bandy; Mary, wife of Mr. Masten; Frankie married Jacob Shoptaugh ; Clay married Eva Marshall ; Charles, deceased.

Mr. Masten was reared to the life of a fanner and has ne\er seen any good reason to forsake that time-honored calling, in which he has met with such distinctive success. On his splendid farm of five hundred and fifty-five acres in Franklin town.-^hip he carried on general farming and also gives considerable attention to the breeding and raising of high grade live stock, having found this to be a very valuable and profitable auxiliary to his agricultural

In politics Mr. Masten is a Progressive, having allied himself with that party upon its organization in the fall of 1912. He and his wife are interested in all movements looking toward the welfare of the community in which they live, Mrs. Masten being a member of the Missionary Baptist church at Coatesville. Mr. Masten is financially interested in the First National Bank at Coatesville and is now vice-president of that institution.

John A. West

Among the strong and influential citizens of Hendricks county the record of whose lives have become an essential part of the history of this section, the gentleman whose name appears above occupies a prominent place and for years he has exerted a beneficial influence in the locality where he resides. His chief characteristics are keenness of perception, a tireless energy, honesty of purpose and motive, and every-day common sense, which have enabled him not only to advance his own interests, but also largely contribute to the moral and material advancement of the community.

John A. West, the proprietor of one hundred six and a half acres of land in Clay township, Hendricks county, was born March 8, 1867, in the county where he has spent his entire life. His father was also a native of this county, his birth having occurred near Pecksburg, in 1833, and died in Clay township, March 5, 1908. Columbus West, father of the subject, received a limited common school education in the schools of his day, and worked on his father's farm and in the grist mill and, after his marriage, began farming on a forty-acre tract which was given him by his father. He proved to be a remarkably successful farmer, and at one time had eight hundred and sixty acres of fine land in the county. He married Tabitha Staley, and to this union eight children were born: Ellen, deceased; Lucy, the wife of George Harvey ; Jane, who married John Baron ; Morton married Efifie Walls ; George married Alva Walls; Henry, who first married Albia Harlan and, after her death, Mary Bartholomew; Milo, who married Naomi Barow, and John A., the immediate subject of this sketch.

came to Hendricks county with his parents when he was a small boy. Upon reaching manhood he married Sinia Hadley, and to this union nine children were bom: William; Washington, who married Lucinda Staley; Columbus, the father of John A. ; Diego, who first married Endemile Asher, and, after her death, Elizabeth Whicker; Sipio, who married Delia Parker; Ellen, deceased; Narcissus, who married Alpeus Harlan; Amanda, the wife of Allen Whicker; Malissa, the wife of Milton Asher, and who married Manly Justice after the death of her first husband.

John A. West attended the district schools of Clay township, and was early initiated into all the mysteries of agriculture by his practical father. Upon becoming of age his father gave him a farm and he immediately decided to provide a helpmate for himself. Accordingly he was married to Ada B. Harrison, the daughter of William and Eliza (Bartholomew) Harrison, and through the many years during which they have walked together theirs has been truly a happy marriage. His wife's father was a native of Hendricks county, and followed the occupation of a farmer all his life. His wife, Eliza Bartholomew, was the daughter of Benjamin and Sabina (Johnson) Bartholomew, and to them were born five children, Iva, Oscar, Ada (the wife of Mr. West), Benjamin and Wilma. Iva married Luther Trester Oscar married Nettie Rushton; Benjamin died when small and Wilma is still unmarried. William Harrison was born in 1834 and died in 1873 His wife was born in 1837, and her death occurred September 2;^, 1913 Thomas Harrison, the father of William Harrison, was a native of Ken tucky, and later mo\ed to Tennessee, from which state he moved to Hen dricks county, Indiana, early after his marriage. He was married to Xancy Bryan, and to this union six children were born : John, who married Margaret Clark; Martha, the wife of Reuben P. Wall; William, who married Eliza Bartholomew; James and Nathan died when young; Thomas died in 1853, the grandmother surviving nearly a half century afterwards, passing away in 1899.

Mr. West has always cast his ballot for the Republican party, because he felt that in this party were the leaders who were well ciualified to direct the destinies of the nation. In his fraternal relations he is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, while, religiously, he is a loyal and consistent member of the Baptist church at Amo. He has always taken a keen interest in the various movements of his locality which were organized for the purpose of civic or intellectual betterment, and has always been a sympathetic helper in all such movements. His clean life and integritv of high rank have won for him the approbation of a large number of friends throughout his home township. Mr. and Mrs. West have an adopted daughter, Carrie Trester, born February 2, 1893.

James Montgomery

One of the sturdy pioneers of Hendricks county who has Hved within its borders for more than three score and ten years is James Montgomery. His family were among the very first people in the county and during the whole history of the county the Montgomerys have been important factors in the material advancement of the county. They have seen the wilderness and swamps give way to broad, cultivated fields and flourishing towns and villages, and in all this change they have borne an honorable part.

James Montgomery, the son of George and Nancy (Sturman) Montgomery, was born near Plainfield, Hendricks county, in 1841 and has spent his whole life in this county. When he was two years of age his father moved from Plainfield to Marion township and in this township James Montgomery has lived since that time. He was given the best education afforded by the subscription schools of his time and at an early age began to assist his father upon the farm. He remained at home until his marriage, at the age of twenty-one, when he started out for himself on a farm adjoining his father's, and remained on the same farm until he retired from active life.

Mr. Montgomery was married in 1862 to Margaret Tharp, the daughter of James and Mary Tharp. A history of the Tharp family is given in the life of Joshua Tharp which is delineated elsewhere in this volume. To this first marriage there were born three children : George B. McClellan, who married Catherine Riggles, and has six children, Gertrude, Homer, Era, Harley, Lantus and Mary. George is now farming one mile west of New Winchester, but was formerly a merchant at Hadley and New Winchester. Louise Catherine, the second child of Mr. Montgomery, was the wife of John Neville, and died in November, 1900, leaving one daughter, Nellie. Nellie is the wife of Urban Olsen, of Pittsboro, and has one daughter, Louetta. The youngest child of Mr. Montgomery by his first marriage is Erasmus, who married Addie Patterson and has four children, Herschel, Lawrence, Clarence and Mabel. Erasmus is a farmer and lives in Union township near Montclair.

The first wife of Mr. Montgomery and the mother of the three children above mentioned died in 1869, and on November 17, 1870, Mr. Montgomery married Sarah Baker, the daughter of Jesse and Margaret (Clark) Baker. She was born in Putnam county in 1853. Her father was born near Lexington, Kentucky, the son of Andrew and Martha (Griggs) Baker, was reared in his native state, married Margaret Clark, of the same state, in 1852, and immediately brought his young bride to Hendricks county. In the following year they moved to Putnam, but in a short time came back to Hendricks county. For fourteen years he was assessor in this county and then, after moving back to Putnam county, he was an assessor in that county for five years. He was also deputy assessor for a number of years under others who did not understand the work. He was regarded as the most expert man in this line of business that either county ever had. He was a Democrat and, with his wife, an attendant of the Regular Baptist church. He died February 22, 1909.

By the second marriage there were four children. Nancy Jane, Oscar, Florence May and Charles Harlan. Nancy Jane was born June 17, 1872, and died June 18, 1890. Oscar was born April 14, 1878, and was married April 20, 1898. to Sallie Lane, the daughter of Thompson and Josephine (Creech) Lane. She was born in Tennessee and came to Hendricks county with her parents when she was five years old. They lived at North Salem until 1910 when they moved to a farm near Danville, where they now reside. Oscar and his wife have three children, Mabel, Gladys, Mary Blanche and Walter Raymond. Florence May has been married twice, her first husband being Otha Sheets, and to this union there was born one daughter, Anna Mae; the second marriage of Florence May was to Thomas Cox and to this union there have been born two sons, Roy Harlan and James De Wayne. Mr. and Mrs. Cox live in Indianapolis at the present time. Charles Harlan, born September 25, 1885, the youngest child of Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery, lives at New Castle where he manages a sales stable. He married Hallie Peyton and has one son, Donald Edwin.

James Montgomery began manufacturing tile about 1884 near his home and continued in that business along with his farming for eight years. Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery are both members of the Regular Baptist church and are interested in all the activities of their denomination. Mr. Montgomery is a genial and unassuming man whose friends are numbered by his acquaintances.

Col. George C. Harvey

George C. Harvey, a prominent lawyer of Danville, was born on August 9, i860, on a farm near Rockville, Parke county, Indiana, the son of George C. and Martha Ann (Thompson) Harvey, his father also being a native of Parke county, and his mother of Kentucky. His mother was the daughter of James L. Thompson, a very prominent Methodist minister and author of a volume of sermons. His father was a young farmer at the opening of the Civil War and enlisted for service on September 15, 1861, in Company L Thirty-first Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He was mustered in as captain and participated in the battles of Fort Henry and Donelson in the spring of 1862 and was killed on the first day of the battle of Shiloh, April 6, 1862. His mother was left with three small children and reared them to lives of usefulness and honor. She never remarried and is still living in Danville at the age of seventy-six. These children were James H., of Yazoo City, Mississippi ; Mrs. Mary T. Hadley, the widow of Otis C. Hadley, who is now a teacher of art in the public schools of Lebanon. Indiana. For a number of years she was at the head of the art department in the Danville schools, and also the Central Normal College. She teaches for the love of art and cares nothing for the financial side of the profession. The third child is George C. Flarvey, the immediate subject of this sketch, who was only about one year old when his father was killed in battle.

Col. George C. Harvey was born in a log house which is still standing in Parke county about half way between Rockville and Bloomingdale. After his father's death in the Civil War, his mother, with her three children, moved to Attica, where they lived for a few years. Later they moved to Rockville, where they lived until 1875, when they came to Hendricks county. George C. Harvey then went on the faiTn of his guardian and remained there until the fall of 1879, when he entered Wabash College and completed the fouryears course. He worked his way through college by putting in crops in the summer time and doing railroad contract work and, in fact, anything he could find to do. He at times worked in the auditor's ofiice at Danville in order to make a little money to continue his course in college. While his vacation periods were as busy as they could possibly have been, he was not less employed while in school. In addition to carrying full college work and doing chores on the side, he read a great deal of law in the ofiices at Crawfordsville. In the summer of 1883, upon his graduation, he went into the office of Thaddeus S. Adams, of Danville, and continued with him until the Spring of 1887, but not as a partner. He was admitted to the bar in 1884, but had been deputy prosecuting attorney before that time in the justice of peace court, and might have been admitted to the bar before 1884, but he did not care for his admission until he had had a case in the circuit court. In July, 1887, he formed a partnership with George W. Brill, the present judge of Hendricks county, and this partnership continued until Judge Brill was elected in 1912. Colonel Harvey has won an enviable name for himself in court and is known throughout the central part of Indiana as one of the best jury lawyers. He has had more than thirty murder cases in court, and has had a very large share of success in the general practice of Hendricks county. Recognizing his keen ability as a lawyer and as an analytical student of the law, corporations have frequently engaged him as counsel, and he has always been able to give good service to his clients.

Colonel Harvey was married November 8, 1887, ^^ Flemingsburg, Kentucky, to Lillian D. Drenan, the daughter of James P. and Mahala Drenan, of that city. To this union there have been born four children, Drenan R., born April 6, 1889, who is now practicing law with his father; George R., born August 17, 1890, who is also associated with his father in the practice of law; Martha A., born April 22, 1895, ^"d John Parke, born June 10, 1902. Mr. and Mrs. Harvey are justly proud of their four children, and they have given them every educational advantage possible in order that they might be the best equipped for their future careers. It is a satisfaction to the parents to know that their children have fulfilled their expectations in every way and are in a fair way to make themselves recognized factors in the community in the future.

Colonel Harvey was elected clerk of the city of Danville on four dilYerent occasions, a fact which attests his popularity in his home town. He was a member of the military staff of Governor Chase, and also of Governor Matthews with the rank of colonel. He has also been chief inspector of the infantry of the state. In 1890 he was elected colonel of the Sons of Veterans of the state of Indiana, and since that time has held the office of judge advocate general of the Sons of Veterans of the United States. He is a member of the Loyal Legion, the Free and Accepted Masons, both of the chapter and council, and while in college was a member of the Phi Kappa Psi Greekletter fraternity. In his political relations he is a member of the Republican party and saw no reason in the fall of 1912 why he should sever his connection with that old and established party. Colonel Harvey is vice-president of the Klondike Milling Company, of Danville, and is financially interested in that company. He is one of the directors of the Columbia Club of Indi- anapolis and a stockholder in the same. Colonel Harvey has been a prominent figure in Hendricks county for many years and is still regarded as one of the best men of the Hendricks county bar. As he approaches the fall of life he will have the satisfaction of letting his mantle rest upon the shoulders of his two worthy sons, who are fast qualifying themselves to take up the work which their father has so well done in the past.

William Hunt

Hendricks county, Indiana, enjoys a high reputation because of the high order of her citizenship, and none of her citizens occupies a more enviable position in the esteem of his fellows than the gentleman whose name appears at the head of this sketch. A residence here of nearly seventy years has given his fellows a full opportunity to observe him in the various lines of activity in which he has engaged and his present high standing is due solely to the honorable and upright course he has pursued. As a leading citizen of his community he is eminently entitled to representation in a work of this character.

William Hunt, a gallant veteran of the Civil ^Var and a prosperous farmer of this county, was born in Clay township, July 31, 1845, and has spent his three score and ten years in the county of his nativity. His parents were Albert and Lucinda (Hayworth) Hunt, his father being a native of North Carolina and his mother of Virginia. Albert Hunt came to this state when a small boy with his parents and located in Clay township, this countv, where his father became one of the heaviest land owners of the county, having six hundred and forty acres of land at the time of his death, July 24, 1856. Albert Hunt was born August 10, 1818, and his wife, Lucinda Hayworth, was born February 18, 182 1. They were married August 10, 1 84 1, and to this union five children were born: Ira, who was killed in the battle of Gettysburg on July 3, 1863, was a member of Company I, Twenty-seventh Regiment Indiana \^olunteer Infantry; Rachel died in childhood; David married Melissa Hunt and has five children, Frank, Ira, Ida, Steven and Harry; David died Septeml^er 3, 1900; Beulah died when 3'oung; William, the immediate subject of this sketch, was the third in order of birth of the five children born to his parents.

William Hunt was educated in the district schools of his home township, and since he was only sixteen years old when the Civil War broke out, he was not old enough for service. However, as soon as he reached the age of eighteen he enlisted in Company B, One Hundred Seventeenth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and served for about eight months. At the close of his service he returned to his home county and worked at farm labor in his home township for aljout two years. He then married and went on to a farm of fifty-two acres, which he had inherited, and here he continued to reside for the next twenty years. He then moved to Amo in his home township, where he lived for the next fourteen years, at the expiration of which time he bought the farm of ninety-five acres on which he is living at the present time.

William Hunt was married September 7, 1869, to Sarah E. Benbow, the daughter of Elam and Anna (Harley) Benbow, and to this union there has been born one child, Ettie, who married William E. Christie, and is the mother of four children, Iso, Blanche, Hubert and Christine. Iso married Stanley Hadley and has one child, J. Edward. Mrs. Hunt's father was a native of North Carolina, and her mother of Virginia. Elam Benbow came to Hendricks county about 1S26 with his parents, who settled west of Amo, and he remained on the same farm until his death in 1892. His wife died in 1852, leaving a family of five children: Harvey, who married Louisa Atkins; Thirza, the wife of Woolson Bryant; Nancy J., the wife of Eli Duffey; Sarah E., wife of Mr. Hunt; Rhoda, the wife of George W. Tincher. The maternal grandparents of Mr. Hunt were Asher and Rachel (Johnson) Hunt. They reared a family of seven children: Elizabeth, wife of Ira Carter; Caleb, who married Mary Dickson; Eletha, the wife of Aaron Benbow; Albert, father of the immediate subject of this sketch; ^Margaret, wife of Mordecai Carter; Cynthia, wife of Newby Hodson ; Beulah. who married Newton Carter, and Elmina, the wife of Jay Kersey.

Mr. Hunt's wife died March 14, 1907, since which time he has been making his home with his children. He has been a life-long Republican, and his party recognized his sterling worth by electing him as township trustee for a term of six years. Religiously, he is affiliated with the Friends church, and has been an overseer in this denomination for the past twenty years. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and is one of the most active members of the post at Amo. William Hunt has spent a busy and useful life and now, in the declining years of his career, he can look back over a life which has been one of usefulness to his fellowmen, and his career during the long years of his residence in this locality has won for him a host of warm friends.

Guy Harlan

One of the best known and enterprising of the younger agriculturists of Hendricks county is Guy Harlan, now in the very prime of life and usefulness, and his influence as an honorable, upright citizen is productive of much good upon all with whom he comes in contact. His past success gives assurance of something yet to come, and he is evidently destined to continue a potent factor for substantial good for many years to come. He lives on a fine farm in Franklin township, this county, which he conducts in a manner that stamps him as fully abreast of the times.

Guy Harlan, the son of Smith and Barbara (Masten) Harlan, was born in Franklin township, Hendricks county, Indiana, June 24, 1885. Both of his parents were also natives of Hendricks county, his father having followed the occupation of a farmer all of his life until his retirement in 1913, when he moved to Indianapolis. To Mr. and Mrs. Smith Harlan were born four children: Harry, who married Daisy Quirk; Londa married Sylvia Hurst; Carey, unmarried, and Guy, the immediate subject of this review. The paternal grandparents of Guy Harlan were Jesse and Elizabeth (Boarders) Harlan, and to them was born one son. Smith, the father of the subject.

Guy Harlan spent his boyhood in the manner of lads who are reared on the farm, attending the district schools of his neighborhood in the winter months and working on his father's farm during the summer. After finishing the course in the schools of Amo, Indiana, he worked as a lineman for the Big Four and the Terre Haute & Eastern Railway Company for three years He then began farming as a hired hand and worked for various farmers in his home locality until March, 1913, when he moved on to his father's farm. He is now improving this farm and bringing it to a good state of cultivation. He has started a system of crop rotation which will increase the productivity of the soil, and in the short time in which he has had the management of the farm he has shown that he will be a successful farmer in the future.

Mr. Harlan was married October 3, 1908, to Ella Underwood, the daughter of George and Nancy (Scott) Underwood. His wife's parents were natives of Kentuckj' and were married in that state, living there until 1902, when they located south of Clayton, Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Underwood were the parents of nine children: Rosa, the wife of George Bennett; Mary, deceased; James, deceased; Georgia, the wife of David Dispain; Maria, the wife of Joseph Ratliff; Mattie, who married John Van Cleave; William, who married Emma Scraggs; Ella, wife of Mr. Harlan; Emma, wife of Isaac Hendren. Mrs. Harlan's grandparents were Isaac and Maria (Druin) Underwood, and to them were born the following children : Nancy, Hiram, Thomas, Sallie, Ulysses, William, Martha and George.

Mr. Harlan is a Socialist in politics, because he believes that the unrest and distress in this country is due to the unjust advantage which is taken of the laboring class by the capitalists of the country. He feels that in the tenets of the Socialist party there are the principles which, if judiciously applied, will alleviate much of the suffering in this country. Owing to the fact that his party is in a minority in his home county, he has never had any opportunity to hold public office, and, in fact, never expects to. He is a member of the Improved Order of Red Men and the Knights of Pythias, and takes an active intercut in the workings of these fraternal organizations. Mr. Harlan is a man who has worked for what he has and knows how to sympathize with the laboring man. He is a man of such genial disposition that his friends are as numerous as his acquaintances. By his upright manner of living he has justl\' won the esteem of all of those with whom he is associated.

Amos Kersey

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

Amos Kersey, the owner and proprietor of three hundred and forty acres of land in Clay township, this county, was born October lo, 1843, in the township where he has lived all his life. His parents were James and Elizabeth (Hodson) Kersey, both of whom were natives of North Carolina, his father being born in that state on February 22, 1801. James Kersey was educated and married in North Carolina, coming to Indiana about 1830. He and his wife first located in Wayne county, this state, and in 1832 James came to Hendricks county and located in Clay township, where he entered three hundred and twenty acres of land from the government. Shortly after coming to this county he took up the study of medicine and studied under Doctor Parker, of Winchester, Indiana. After completing his course he practiced his profession in this county until his death, in 1883. To Dr. James C. and Elizabeth Kersey were born nine children; Jesse, who died at the age of nineteen; Abigail, the wife of Peter Elliott; James, deceased, who married Elmina Plunt, also now deceased; Rachel, deceased; Mary, who became the wife of Abraham Williamson; Isaac, who married Cassie Storms; Jonathan, who married Anna Jane Benbow, and, after her death, Addie Cressin; Ezra was killed in the Civil War, and Amos, the immediate subject of this sketch.

Amos Kersey was educated in the common schools of his home township and worked on his father's farm until the opening of the Civil War. He then enlisted in Company I, Twenty-seventh Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and served a little more than three years. His regiment was transferred to the Army of the Potomac and participated in the first and second battles of Bull Run, Winchester, Antietam and in the three-day struggle at Gettysburg in July, 1863. His regiment was then transferred to Sherman's army and he made the famous march to the sea through the state of Georgia and participated in all the battles of the famous Atlanta campaign. Upon returning from the war he engaged in farming with his father and continued in partnership with him until the latter's death, in 1883. He then bought two hundred and ten acres of his father's farm and began to build up a landed estate of his own. He has added to his possessions from time to time until he now has three hundred and forty acres of land in this township.

Mr. Kersey was married on September 24. 1867, to Mary Catherine Cassity, the daughter of Lewis Clements and Ann Jane (Knetzer) Cassity, and to this marriage there have been born eight children: Ann Jane, the wife of William Powers, of Plainfield, who has four children, Ernest Gladys, Hor- ace, and one who died in infancy; Ernest married Eunice Montgomery and has two children, Kathleen and Beryl ; David is unmarried and living in the West; Ezra is unmarried and is still at home; Clarence married Florence Hodson and has four children, Gladys, Theodore, Virgil and Lucile; Eva married Claude Henderson and has four children. Hazel, Cecil, Clyde and Carroll ; Charles married Menti Seckman, and they have two children, Naomi and Edna; Carrie married Arthur Brooks; Mary is unmarried and still at home. The Cassity family is of Irish descent. Lewis Clements Cassity was born near Owensville, Montgomery county, Kentucky, on October 31, 1822, and died at North Salem, Indiana, in April, 1905. He was the son of David Cassity, whose father emigrated with Daniel Boone from Virginia to Kentucky, where he reared his family. He married Polly Clements and their seven children were Lewis C. Levi, Elizabeth, Emma, Mary and two who died in infancy. Polly Clements Cassity was the daughter of Roger and Hannah Clements, of Bourbon county, Kentucky. Roger Clements was a large slaveholder, and at his death all but four of the slaves were dispersed with, the widow bringing two of them to Indiana. She settled in Boone county, near her two sons, Phillip and John, where she died. Grandmother Cassity also brought two of the slaves to Indiana. Lewis C. Cassity's maternal grandmother was a Hathaway. In 1834 David Cassity came to Indiana, locating in Putnam county, three miles southeast of Bainbridge. Lewis C. Cassity was brought to Putnam county, Indiana, in childhood, and was there reared and married. His wife, Ann Jane Knetzer, was born in Mason county, Kentucky, in 1827. Her paternal great-grandparents were natives of Germany, who, upon their emigration to America, first settled in Virginia for a short time, and there was born Charles Knetzer, Mrs. Kersey's grandfather. Later the family moved to Kentucky, where the parents died on the same day from cholera. Charles Knetzer, who was born on August 18, 1793, married, in Kentucky on September 23, 1819, Catherine Gill, of German descent, who was born June 23, 1804, and died January 9, 1879. The latter's mother, who was of Welsh stock, bore the family name of Moss, her grandparents having settled on what was known as the Lockridge farm near Greencastle, Indiana. Their daughter, Lydia Ann INIoss Bradley, died at Peoria, Illinois, about ten years ago, at the age of ninety-four years, leaving an estate valued at four million dollars, which she willed to the city. Catherine Gill's parents remained in Kentucky, where they owned slaves, and upon their deaths, their children all came to Indiana excepting a son and a daughter who remained at the old homestead, retaining their slaves until emancipation.

erine, the wife of Amos Kersey; David, deceased; Andrew, who married Margaret Snyder; one who died in infancy and Levi, of Montana. The mother of these children died in April, 1858, and Mr. Cassity afterwards married Pauline M. McCoy, the daughter of George and Julia (Raglan) Mc- Coy, who were natives of Kentucky, but married in Indiana. To this second marriage thirteen children were born: Armilda, the wife of William Weller, died in May, 1878, about seven months after her marriage, her husband being now deceased; Cyrilda, the wife of James Johnson; Lodusky, who became the wife of Walter Pugh; Lucretia, the wife of William Robinson, who died and she afterwards married Andrew Bales; Emma, the wife of James Owen; Jacob; Cassie, who married James Horton; Lewis; Albert M. ; Otho, who died at the age of two years ; Oscar, who married Miss Robinson ; Ambrose, who married Miss Aggers.

Mr. Kersey has been a Republican through all his voting vears, but has never been a partisan in the strict sense of that word. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and is a birthright member of the Friends church and has always been active in church affairs. His wife holds membership in the Christian church of Winchester, Indiana. Mr. Kersey has been a hardworking man all of his life and now, in the twilight of his career, he can look back over a life well spent in the service of his fellow men. He has ever been ready to lend his influence to all worthy movements and by so doing he has won a large number of friends throughout the county where he has spent his three score and ten years.

John C. Walker

Though he whose name stands at the head of this review has passed from the life militant to the life triumphant, he will for many years to come be favorably remembered by the residents of Clayton, Hendricks county, Indiana, and in fact by many throughout the county and in an even yet larger field. Because of his many excellent personal qualities and the splendid and definite influence which his life shed over the entire locality in which he lived so long and which he labored so earnestly to upbuild in any way within his power, it is particularly fitting that specific mention should be made of him in a work containing mention of the representative citizens of the community in which he lived and labored so long. A man of high moral characier, unimpeachable integrity, persistent industry and excellent business judgment.

he stood "four score to every wind that blew" and throughout his wide circle of friends and acquaintances he was universally admired and esteemed.

John Columbus Walker was a native of this county, having been born near Belleville on February 22, 1847, and he departed this life at his home in Clayton on October 29, 19 13, aged sixty-six years and eight months. He was left an orphan in early childhood and was reared by an uncle who lived in Liberty township, this county. Robert Walker, the uncle, saw that he received a good education, and in early youth he attended the Belleville schools, later finishing at what was known as the Belleville Academy. When only a little over fourteen years of age, with his boyish soul on fire for humanity and love of country, he heard the call to arms and on April 24, 1861, he \sas entered in the nation's ranks as a private in Company A, Seventh Indiana Volunteer Infantry. On August 2, 1861, his term having expired, he was mustered out of service, but he could not be content to remain at home with the wrong still unrighted, so he again enlisted on June 18, 1862, this time as a member of Company H, Fifty-fourth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and remained at the front until the expiration of his term of enlistment, which was the following September. He again returned home, but again becoming dissatisfied with his idleness, once more joined the forces of the nation's patriotic sons, this time as a member of Company A, One Hundred and Seventeenth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry. This was on July 22, 1863, and he remained in service until February 24, 1864, when he was mustered out. This time he remained at home something over a year, but, the nation still being engaged in conflict, he felt his duty strong once more and again donned the blue and was enrolled as a private in Company K, One Hundred and Forty-eighth Regiment, on March 15, 1865, remaining in service until he received his honorable discharge on September 5, 1865, the great war having ended in the meantime. All this he went through before he reached his majority and upon his return home he proceeded to lay the foundation which later proved his right to be considered one of the very foremost agriculturists of the county. He began in an humble way as a farm laborer, then became a renter and in due time made his first modest purchase of land, which served as the nucleus of his excellent farm of six hundred acres, all in exceptionally good state of cultivation and, in addition to his own holdings, he was caring for one hundred and si.xty acres of the Miles estate at the time of his death. He owed his success in life solely to his own efforts, possessing indomitable will and energy, unlimited perseverance and a high degree of business ability, which, combined with correct principles of (40) life, wrought most excellent results. His home was located about two miles south of Clayton on the national road and was a commodious ten-room brick house, most beautifully located. He took up his residence there in 1870 and remained there until the fall of 1908, when he purchased a large and modern home in Clayton, where he passed the remainder of his life.

Mr. Walker was twice married, his first wife being Martha Ann Miles, with whom he was united in marriage on October 20, 1870. This union was without issue, and in 1874 Mr. arid Mrs. Walker adopted a little daughter, who is now Mrs. Florence Bray, of Indianapolis, and with her three sons cherishes most happy memories of a kind father. Mrs. Walker departed this life on December 22, 1891, and on March 5, 1896, Mr. Walker was again married, his bride being Jeanetta S. Mays, who was born in Center Valley, four or five miles south of Clayton, being a daughter of Stephen R. and Mary Frances (Tate) Mays. Both Mr. and Mrs. Mays were born and raised in Orange county. North Carolina, near Hillsboro, where his birth occurred in 1834 and hers in 1838. They were married in their childhood home on December 30, 1852, and in 1859 they came to the Hoosier state, locating near Center Valley. Mr. Mays was a blacksmith, which trade he followed,, and in addition to this was a considerable dealer in horses and other live stock. Both he and his wife were devout members of the Methodist Episcopal church and his fraternal affiliation was with the Free and Accepted Masons, of which order he became a member in 1863. Mr. Mays departed this life on December 10, 1906, and he met death with the high courage of a true Christian. Mrs. Mays" death occurred on July 24, 1913, at the advanced age of seventy-five years. Her life was guided by her faith and under all circumstances, whether pleasant or otherwise, her countenance ever exhibited her sweet spirit of hopefulness and resignation and her peace with God and the world. Mrs. Walker was but six years old when her parents brought her to Belleville and she attended the schools of the village during her girlhood, later finishing at the academy. To Mr. and Mrs. Walker were born two children. The eldest was a little daughter, Helen M., who passed away when a babe of but six months. She was born on July 14, 1897. Edward Raymond, the son, was born December 19, 1903, and is a bright and promising boy.

Mr. Walker's political sympathies were with the Republican party and he was ever active in local politics. During the fall of 1867, while a religious revival was in progress at the Baptist church of Belleville, he was brought under personal conviction and made his peace with God, but for many years failed to unite with any church societ3^ while living the life of a consistent Christian and assisting in the material support of different church societies. However, in June, 1913, he united with the Clayton Presbyterian church, of which his wife and son are also members. Mr. Walker's fraternal affiliation was with the ancient order of Freemasonry, being a member of Lodge No. 463 at Clayton. He received the thirty-second, or Scottish Rite, degree at Indianapolis in 191 1 and also at that time became a Noble of the Mystic Shrine.

Mr. Walker was a man among men, ever ready to assist all who were doing all in their power to assist themselves. He was averse to doing kind deeds that the public might know of, and doubtless many are the benevolent acts placed to his credit of which the world knew nothing. He was a man of good business judgment and executive ability, and spurned taking advantage of his fellow men in any way, believing always that a square deal was the only course. In all the elements of manhood and good citizenship, Mr. Walker was all that a man should be and the enviable place which he held in the hearts of a wide circle of friends and acquaintances was but a fitting tribute to one eminently deserving.

Fred G. Shirley

It is a well authenticated fact that success comes as the result of legitimate and well applied energy, unflagging determination and perseverance in a course of action when once decided upon. She is never known to smile upon the idler or dreamer and she never courts the loafer, only the men who have diligently sought her favor being crowned with her- blessings. In tracing the history of the influential farmer and representaiive citizen of Clay town.ship, Hendricks county, Indiana, whose name forms the caption of this review, it is plainly seen that the prosperity which he enjoys has been won ])y commendable qualities and it is also his personal worth that has gained for him the high esteem of those who know him.

Vre'l G. Shirley, the proprietor of one hundred and twenty acres of fine land in Clay township, this county, was born on the farm where he is now living February 2, 1873. His parents were William R. and Sallie M. (Phillips) Shirley, his father being a native of this county, born in 1845, and his mother also a native of Hendricks county, her birth having occurred in about 1855. William R. Shirley received a good common school educa- tion and when a young man engaged in the general merchandising business at Pecksburg, Clay township, in connectTon with his father. He continued with his father in the store until his marriage, and shortly afterwards he bought forty acres, part of this land being included in the farm of Fred G. Shirley. He continued to reside on this farm until about 1900, when he retired from active farm life and moved to Danville, where he remained until his death. August 4, 1902, his wife having preceded him in death some years previous in 1898. Sallie M. Phillips, wife of William R. Shirley, was the daughter of Samuel and Rachel (Newman) Phillips. Mr. and Mrs. William R. Shirley were the parents of four children: Etta L., who married Wilson J. Shaw, of Danville, and they are the parents of five children, Erver, Ina, Merrill, Ralph and Phillip; Fred G., the immediate subject of this sketch; Alva R., who married Elizabeth Hadley and has one child, Mildred, and one \A-ho died in infancy.

Mr. Shirley attended school for two years in the village of Pecksburg and completed his common school education in the Dover school house in Liberty township. After finishing the common school course he entered the Central Normal College at Danville, where he made a very satisfactory record as a student. Upon the completion of his educational training he returned to his home and worked with his father until his marriage, which occurred on March 16, 1898, to Elnora Hadley, the daughter of Mathias and Matilda (Bringle) Hadley, and to this union there have been born three children, Wendell, Lois and Geneva. Mathias Hadley was a native of Hendricks county, Indiana, and to him and his wife, who was the daughter of Solomon and Cynthia (Suits) Bringle, there were born eleven children, two of whom died in infancy. The other nine lived to maturity and all of them married: Leora, married James Harvey; Alzora became the wife of Dr. W'illiam Marshburn; Loretta married Perry Hunt; Orlando married Eva Dickerson; Ozella married Miles Furnas; Orien married Mary Stanley; Ozro married Rossilee Garrison; Or\'is married Catharine Cosner; Elnora married Fred G. Shirley. Mrs. Hadley died in 1894, and her husband the vear following. John Hadley, Mrs. Shirley's paternal grandfather, was a native of North Carolina, and married Elizabeth Johnson, who alio was born in that state. They reared a very large family of children.

Mr. Shirley allied himself with the new Progressive party in the fall of 1912, because he felt that this new party had a platform which, if properly carried out, would redown to the welfare of the country at large. In his religious affiliations he has been a member of the Friends church since 1912, and has always taken a very active part in the affairs of this denomination, he'mg a trustee in the church at the present time. The Hfe which Mr. Shirley has led stamps him as a man who has the interest of his community at heart, and one who is not only concerned with his individual advancement, Init takes a keen interest in the welfare of his friends and neighbors. Sttch men are a help to the community in which they live, and because Mr. Shirley is such a man he has won the esteem of a large circle of friends and acquaintances.

William Wallace Leach

There are very few farmers in Hendricks county whose memory goes back to the time when there were but two roads in the county, the National road and the old State road. In those days, back in the thirties, it was possible to go out and shoot deer any place in Hendricks count\', and wild turkeys, squirrels and small game of all sorts were as abundant as English sparrows are today. William Wallace Leach, who has lived in this county nearly eighty years, has seen as many as ten deer in a herd in his boyhood days in this county, and flocks of wild turkeys numbering hundreds. As he travels around over the highly improved roads of his county now in his automobile his mind goes back to the time when in order to get to his home he had to follow a bridle path. The complete history of such a man as William Wallace Leach would be a history of Indiana for eighty years, civic, educational and moral.

William Wallace Leach, retired farmer of North Salem, was born in Bath county, Kentucky. October 15, 1835, the son of Aleredith and Eliza (Allison) Leach, both of whom were natives of Kentucky, where they were reared and married. In 1836, when William Wallace was only one year old, his parents moved to this county and settled south of Lizton, in Union township, where his father entered government land. The axe of man had never touched a tree on this farm and here in this primitive wilderness Meredith Leach and his young wife began housekeeping and here they remained tjhe rest of their lives, his death occurring in 1859, while his wife survived him a few years. Mr. and Mrs. Meredith Leach were the parents of seven children, of whom William Wallace, whose history is portrayed here, is the oldest, the other in the order of their birth being as follows : James Valentine, deceased; Mary L., deceased wife of Amos Rook: Martha Jane, the deceased wife of Moses Rawlings: Sarah Ann, the widow of Jeptha West;

William Wallace Leach was reared amid these primitive conditions, hearing the music of the axe in the daytime, and yet he probably spent .is happy a boyhood as any of the boys of today. A very meager education was his, because the schools in his day were confined to three "R's" and very little of that. In February, 1862, he was married to Margaret F. Clark, who was born November 29, 1841, in Union township, this county. Her parents were Silas Garrett and Mary Ann (Mount) Clark. Silas Clark was born in Kentucky, near Lexington, the son of William and Francis (Blades) Clark, and came to this county early in its history and here married Mary Ann Mount, the daughter of Alfred and Margaret Mount, the same family which gave a governor to the state of Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Clark reared a large family of eleven children, only four of whom are now living. The sons are : William, of Missouri; James Thomas, of Bloomington, Indiana, and Henry Washington, of Iowa. Two other brothers, George and John, died in the West. Of the five daughters, Sarah Elizabeth married Thomas Stewart ; Jane became the wife of John Russell; Rhoda Ann, the wife of Linden Wade, and Ella died when a young woman.

When Mr. Leach was married he already owned forty acres of land in Union township, and here the young couple started in life. He rented land in addition to his own for farming, and by thrift and ecomony was enabled to save some money, and in a few years bought another eighty acres near his first farm. In 1844 he traded for a farm of sixty-five acres near North Salem and moved into North Salem, where he engaged in the grocery business for six years. He was also in the dry goods business for a part of the time when he lived in North Salem. He then traded his grocery for a farm two and one-half miles northwest of Salem, at the same time selling his sixty-five-acre farm and buying one hundred acres adjoining the farm for which he traded, making him a total of one hundred and eighty acres of land, which he still owns. He lived on this farm for about five years and then bought property in North Salem, where he has lived for the past twelve years.

Mr. Leach is usually a Democrat in politics, although he does not hesitate to vote for the best men in local elections irrespective of politics. Mr. and Mrs. Leach have now been married for more, than fifty-one years and are both enjoying good health at the present time. They are both able to read without glasses, have good hearing and are cheerful and genial at all times. In recent years they have made several trips to Hot Springs, Arkansas, and to Florida, and are frequently seen in good weather in their automobile driving around the roads of Hendricks county, enjoying themselves as if they were fifty years younger.

The man who devotes his talents and energies to the noble work of ministering to the ills and alleviating the sufferings of humanity is pursuing a calling which in dignity, importance and beneficial results is second to none other. If true to his profession and earnest in his efforts to enlarge his sphere of usefulness, he is indeed a benefactor of his kind, for to him more than any other man are intrusted the safety, the comfort, and, in many cases, the lives of those who place themselves under his care and profit by services. It is gratifying to note in the series of personal sketches appearing in this work that there remain many native sons who are maintaining the prestige of their county in other fields. Many have gone to other parts of the state and yet they look back to Hendricks county as their real home. Among the many citizens who were born in this county and then left for wider fields is Aubrey C. Pebworth, a successful physician of West Indianapolis.

Aubrey C. Pebworth, the son of James H. and Marcia (Carrington) Pebworth, was born near Danville, Indiana, December 28, 1877. His father was a native of Shelby county, Kentucky, and his mother spent all of her life in Hendricks county. James Pebworth came to this county with his parr ents when he was a small boy and followed the life of a farmer until his death, September 13, 19 10. He served in the Civil War and a wound in the head which he received at the battle of Lookout Mountain was finally the cause of his death. Mr. and Mrs. James Pebworth were the parents of six children: Mrs. Morton Ellis, of Pittsboro; Mrs. Frank A. Haynes, of Pittsboro; Eva, one of the best known teachers of Hendricks county; Dr. Aubrey C, the youngest of the family, and two others who are deceased.

Doctor Pebworth received his common and high school education in the schools at Pittsboro, in his native county, and immediately after his graduation entered the Central College of Physicians and Surgeons at Indianapolis. Upon finishing his medical course in 1905 he at once began the practice of medicine in West Indianapolis, where he has been very successful. During the period of his professional practice in that community. Doctor

Pebworth has not only gained the respect of his confreres in his chosen field, but has also siistained a sound reputation for uprightness and nobility of character in all th,e relations of life. He has realized that to those, who attain determinate success in the medical profession there must not only be technical ability, but also a broad human sympathy which must pass from mere sentiment to an actuating motive for helpfulness.

Doctor Pebworth was married on August 9, 1905, to Mary Thomas, the daughter of Rev. and Mri. E. D. Thomas, and to this happy union there have been born two children, James T. and Robert C. The Doctor is a member of the Marion county and Indiana state medical societies and is interested in all the meetings of these organizations. He is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and also Ijelongs to the Indianapolis Chapter of Royal Arch Mason,^. Politically, he is allied with the Progressive party. In his church relations he is a member of the Christian church, while his wife retains her connection with the Baptist denomination. Mrs. Pebworth is secretary of the Hendricks Countv Society for Indianapolis. She is a graduate of the teachers' course at the Central Normal College of Danville and was a teacher in the public schools before her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Pebworth are genial and hospitable people who have gained a wide circle of friends in the communitv where thev live.

It cannot be other than interesting to note in the series of personal sketches appearing in this work the varying conditions that have compassed those whose careers are outlined, and the efifort has been made in each case to throw well focussed light on to the individuality and to bring into proper perspective the scheme of each respective career. Each man who strives to fulfill his part in connection with human life and human activities is deserving of recognition, whatever may be his field of endeavor, and it is the function of works of this nature to perpetuate for future generations an authentic record concerning those represented in its pages, and the value of such publications is certain to be cumulative for all time to come, showing forth, the individual and specific accomplishments of which generic history is ever engendered.

county, Indiana. June 21. 1848. His parents were Jonathan D. and Eliza J. (Wilson) McClelland, his father being a native of Union county. Indiana, and his mother of Kentucky. Jonathan McClelland was born in 1816, the year Indiana was admitted to the Union, and came to Marion county, this state, with his father, Francis McClelland, when he was a small boy of six years. Francis McClelland settled on a farm in Marion county, near the Hendricks county line, on land which he entered from the government. He lived on this farm until his death. Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan McClelland were the parents of seven children, only three of whom are living, Charles, of Danville, Indiana; James, of Ponca, Oklahoma, and William R.

William R. iMcClelland was born on his father's farm in Marion county and educated in the district schools of his home neighborhood. He continued to work on his father's farm until he was twenty-four years of age, when he went to Danville and entered the employ of a dry goods firm as a clerk. A few years later he started out in business for himself, engaging in the furniture and undertaking business in Danville, in which business he continued for about twenty-five years. He left the furniture and undertaking business to become identified with the State Life Insurance Company as general agent, and in 1905 removed to Indianapolis, where he has since continued to reside.

Mr. McClelland has always taken a prominent part in Repuljlican politics in his county and has been signally honored by his party on several dififerent occasions. He served as county clerk of Hendricks county from 1884 to 1888, was a member for four years of the board of control of the Indiana Boys School at Plainfield, and was a member of the school board at Danville for ten .years. In all of these positions he showed himself thoroughly familiar with the duties of his office and proved himself to be not only an able -and efficient official, but one who won the confidence of the citizens of the county.

Mr. McClelland was married to Sarah E. Nichols in 1S72, a daughter of James and Rachel Nichols, who were both members of pioneer families of Hendricks county. Mrs. William McClelland died on March 16, 1912, leaving one son, Harry Nichols, who is married and has one son, William Pearce, aged two years. Harry Nichols is in the auditing department of the State Life Insurance Company, and resides in Indianapolis.

]\Ir. McClelland has been a life-long member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and has been a member of the official board of the Methodist Episcopal church for more than forty years. Fraternally, he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, with which order he has been identified for more than forty-two years, and has held every office in Silcox Lodge No.

Thus far Mr. McClelland's life has been one of strenuous activity and by reason of the success with which it has been attended, his friends are justified in predicting for him a still greater sphere of usefulness and efficiency. As a citizen of Hendricks county for many years he stood high in the esteem of his fellow men. Whether as a merchant or as a public official, his influence was always public-spirited and progressive, and at all times he was found willing to lend his aid and influence in behalf of enterprises for the material benefit and advancement of his city and county, and for the intellectual, social and moral good of the people. He is a man of social tendencies, kind, obliging, unassuming and straightforward and honorable in all the relations of life, and is universally respected and popular among his large circle of friends and acquaintances.

Charles Relander

There are few natives of far-away Sweden in Indiana and still fewer in Hendricks county, but the few who have come to our state have been amdhg our best citizens. No country of the okl world has sent to us better and more substantial people than Sweden and fortunate, indeed, is the community that can boast of Swedish descendants. They are always loyal to their adopted country and are a valuable asset to the locality in which they settle.

Charles Relander, the son of Nels and Lottie (Ericson) Relander, was born in Grenna, Sweden, in 1843, ^"d lived there till eighteen years of age, then went to Stockholm, the capital of the country. He received a good practical education in the public schools of Grenna and early in life started to learn the bricklayer's trade. At the age of twenty-four he came to America to seek his fortune and made his first stop at Chicago. In 1869 he came to Danville, Hendricks county, Indiana, landing in the town for the first time on June 17th. He at once began work on the Big Four railroad, which was then being built through the county, and for the next twenty-eight years continued in the employ of this company. For twenty-one years of this time he was section boss and during that time saved his money so that he was enabled to buy an eighty-acre farm in Center township, this county. In 1897 he retired from the service of the Big Four and went onto his farm where he has since remained. Since taking up farming he has added another eighty acres to his farm and now owns one hundred and sixty acres in Center township. He has been a success as a farmer and stock raiser, despite his long years at another occupation. He has shown his abihty by adapting himself to a new occupation without having had any previous experience in it, and in the course of a few years being recognized as one of the leading farmers of his township.

Mr. Relander was married in 1870 to Mary Elizabeth Curtis, the daughter of Peter and Sarah (Kirkendall) Curtis. The grandfather of Mrs. Relander was Peter Curtis, who was born in 1763 in Virginia and served for five years in the Revolutionary War. He was at the battle at Guilford Court House in North Carolina in 1781, and was later married at that place. He and his young bride then settled in Kentucky and there, in Garrard county, Peter, Jr., the father of Mrs. Relander, was born on February 14, 1808. Peter, Jr., grew up in Kentucky and on Christmas Day, 1827, was married to Sarah Kirkendall, the daughter of Richard and Betsy (Reed) Kirkendall, She was born in Garrard county, Kentucky, September 18, 181 1. Her father was of Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry and her mother of Irish parentage. In 1829 Peter Curtis and wife came to Indiana and settled near Crawfordsville, shortly after moving into the town, where Mr. Curtis followed the trade of a blacksmith for several years. About the year 1840 he moved to Hendricks county and bought the Scearce farm, half a mile west of Danville. The family lived here for a number of years and then moved into Danville where the father and mother spent the remainder of their days, he passing away in 1890 and his wife in 1892. During the Civil War they had charge of the Hendricks county poor farm, which at that time was south of the present location. Mr. Curtis was a strong Republican and was also a great student of Masonry. To Peter Curtis and wife were born twelve children, four daughters and eight sons, two of the sons dying in childhood. The other six sons served in the Civil War, one of them, Ambrose, dying in the service. Mary Elizabeth Curtis, the wife of Mr. Relander, was born on the Scearce farm, on December 21, 1851.

Mr. and Mrs. Relander are the parents of five children, Charlotte, Pearl, Fred, Frank and Edward. Charlotte is a graduate of the Central Normal College at Danville, class of 1895, and has taught continuously since that time. She taught three years in the district schools and since then in the Danville schools. She is a very successful teacher, a wide reader, has an excellent library of her own and is an entertaining conversationalist.

Pearl is the wife of Claude C. Rivers and lives in Yorba Linda, California. Fred is a farmer at Exeter, California. He married Lessie Pearcy and she died in February, 19 12, leaving two sons, Pearcy and Clifford. Frank died in 1894, at the age of eleven . Edward is an electrician and lives at Lebanon, Indiana. He married Flossie Dinsmore and has one daughter, Geraldine. Mr. Relander is a stanch Republican and takes an active interest in local politics. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and he and his wife have long been faithful members of the Christian church at Danville, to which they contribute liberally of their means. IMr. Relander is a man who has made everything he has today, and now in the evening of life can look back over a career which has been well spent in every way.

Williaai T. Higgins

One of the oldest and best known families in Hendricks county is the Higgins family, six generations of whom have lived in this county. David Higgins, the first of the family to come to Indiana, was born in Mercer county, Kentucky, in 1795. His wife, Helen Mudd, was a native of Maryland, whose parents had moved to Kentucky from their native state. Soon after their marriage, David Higgins and his young wife set out for Indiana, and in the spring of 182 1 they stopped for a short time in Lawrence county. Later they moved on north and located about four miles south of Greencastle. In 183 1 they came to Hendricks county and settled the southeast C[uarter section 33, in Alarion township, this land having been entered in 1828 by Thomas, the brother of David. On this farm David Higgins spent the rest of his life, dying in 185 1, his wife surviving him several years. He proved to be a successful farmer and at the time of his death owned fifteen hundred acres of land in the county.

Michael Higgins, the father of William T., was born in Putnam county, August 5, 1823, and spent his boyhood days on his father David's farm. He was married on October 7, 1847, to Elizabeth Plaster, the daughter of William Plaster, an early settler of Middle township, this county. Mrs. Michael Higgins was born September 30, 1822. To Mr. and Mrs. Michael Higgins were born six children, William T., David A., Mrs. Mary Jane Wilson, Mrs. Cassandra Hunt, Charles E. and May. Mrs. Michael Higgins died August 15. 1883. Fle was the largest land owner in Marion township at one time, having eight hundred and eighty acres of valuable land in this township. Michael Higgins was a truly remarkable man and his ability was recognized by every one. He served his township as trustee and his county as treasurer, filling both offices to the entire satisfaction of his fellow citizens. He was a hard worker, a good manager, diligent, thrifty and persistent in carrying out his plans. He was of unusually upright character, strictly moral and took an active stand for righteousness and the betterment of humanity. He and his wife were members of the Christian church and lived up to the teachings of the church as near as they pos. iblv could. He died in April, 1903, a man who was loved by everyone with whom he came in contact.

William T. Higgins, the son of Michael Higgins and wife, was born October 2, 1848, in the township where he has spent his whole life, tie lived at home until his marriage to Mary Underwood on January 23, 1S77. She is a sister of Obed Underwood, a sketch of whom, elsewhere in this volume, gives the family history of the Underwood family. William began farming for himself about two miles northeast of New W^inchester on a farm of his own. About two years after his marriage he moved to his present farm in the northwest part of Marion township. He has been very successful, as is shown by his present farm of five hundred and sixty acres, of which four hundred acres are cultivable. He was formerly a hea\y dealer in live stock, but has confined his energies to the raising of grain in the last few years. He has made many improvements on his place and has a very comfortable arid attractive home.

Mr. and Mrs. Higgins have three children : Oscar, born in 1878, who graduated in the New Winchester high school, and later married Olive Oakley, the daughter of James and Ellen (Ader) Oakley. James Oakley, born and reared in Putnam county, was the son of Lafayette and Mildred (Harris) Oakley. Mildred Harris was born in Kentucky and came to Putnam county in early childhood with her parents. Her mother's maiden name was Neeves. Lafayette Oakley also came from Kentuckx^ in childhood and settled with his parents in Putnam county. Ellen Ader was born and reared in Putnam county and was the daughter of Adam and Margaret (Chatham) Ader. After Oscar Higgins, the eldest son of William T., was married he farmed in Putnam county for one year and then moved to his present home on his father's farm. Oscar and wife have two children, Edna Merle, and Virgil Wayne, who died recently.

Clay, the second child of William T. and wife, died at the age of thirteen and the youngest son. Earl Glendon, is still at home. The wife and mother died in April, 1S93. Politically, Mr. Higgins is a Democrat, though he has never aspired to public office. Religiously, the members of his family affiliate with the Christian church.

John R. Garner

All callings, whether humble or exalted, may be productive of some measure of success, if enterprise and industry, coupled with a well-directed purpose, form the motive force of the person directing the same, and in no case is this fact more apparent than in agricultural pursuits. It is a well authenticated fact that success comes as the result of legitimate and well applied energy, unflagging determination and perseverance as well as the above enumerated cjualities. When a course of action is once decided upon, these attributes are essential. Success is never known to smile upon the idler or dreamer and she never courts the loafer, only those who have diligently sought her favor being crowned with her blessings.

John R. Garner was born in Brown township, Hendricks county, Indiana, on December 14, 1861, about one and one-half miles northwest of his present home, being a son of Solomon B. and Deborah (Lyons) Garner, both natives of Bath county, Kentucky. They had been married several years before they brought their family to the Hoosier state. After coming here they settled on the farm where the immediate subject of this sketch was born. This farm comprised some two hundred acres, being land which Solomon Garner had entered from the government and on which he passed the remainder of his life, his death occurring in 1861. His wife died on the same p[ace in 1880. There were nine children in their family, but one other besides the subject living today.

John R. Garner passed his youth and early manhood under the care of the parental roof, remaining there until first married, on December 17, 1871, to Sarah A. Jones, daughter of Benjamin and Nancy (Dodson) Jones, both of whom were from the state of Kentucky, and who took up their abode in Brown township, Hendricks county, upon coming to Indiana. Sarah A. Jones, first wife of the subject, died on November 17, 1888, leaving two children, the eldest being Viola, who is the wife of Robert Davis, of Rossville, Illinois, where they live at the present time. They are the parents of a family of nine children, namely : Ruth, Lucretia, Mary, Esther,

Ralph, Agnes, Edith, Randle and Arthur. The second child of Mr. Garner by his first wife is a son, Arthur, who chose as his wife Delia Johnson, daughter of Martin and Norah Johnson, of Hendricks county. They make their home in Middle township, Hendricks county, and the parents of three children, Russell, Crystal and Catherine.

After his first marriage, John R. Garner took up his residence on a tract of forty acres, being part of the land originally entered from the government by his father, and there they lived for eighteen years. In 1890 he took as his second wife Sarah A. Jones, daughter of Uriah and Frances (Kenneday) Jones. Uriah Jones was the son of Benjamin and Nancy (Moore) Jones, who were of Kentucky nativity. The parents of Frances (Kenneday) Jones were also from that state. Mr. Garner's wives were of the same name, the first wife being a half aunt of the present Mrs. Garner. After his second marriage. Mr. Garner built his present home, where they have since resided. There is one child. Ethel, by the second marriage, who remains at home.

Mr. Garner recalls with interest the methods of farming which were in vogue in his younger days, when he plowed with a yoke of oxen. He also has used the reap hook for harvesting grain, before the days of reapers or any of the' farm machinery now thought necessary by the smallest and poorest of agriculturists. He also recalls with pleasure the days of sugarwater gathering time and the work of the sugar camp, which became quite a social affair for the neighborhood and was eagerly looked forward to from year to year. Then, too, the sugar so made was the entire supply of the pioneer families for the ensuing year. Mr. Garner has always confined his efforts to the vocation of farming and has seen this labor grow from one of the most arduous of occupations, with its attendant comparatively small remuneration, to an up-to-date business, wherein machinery of all kinds is employed as well as modern and scientific methods and the farmer has become the most independent man in any line of business.

Mr. Garner's religious affiliation is with the Baptist church, of which his wife and daughter are also members, and the entire family contribute of time and means to furthering the cause of that church society. By a straightforward and commendable course, Mr. Garner has made his way to a respected position among his associates, winning the hearty admiration of the people of his neighborhood as a broad-minded and upright citizen whose line of conduct has ever been above reproach.

William M. Rose

To a great extent the prosperity of the agricultural sections of our country is due to the honest industry, the sturdy persistence, the unswerving perseverance and the wise economy which so prominently characterize the farming element of the Hoosier state. Among this class may be mentioned William ISL. Rose, who, by reason of years of indefatigable labor and honest effort, has not only acquired a well merited material prosperity, but has also richly earned the highest esteem of all with whom he is associated, as is shown by the fact that he has been entrusted with important official positions, the duties of which he has most faithfully and ably discharged, thus eminently meriting the high esteem in which he is universally held.

William M. Rose, a prosperous farmer of Eel River township, was born November 2^, 1859, in Putnam county, near the Hendricks county line. His parents were Lewis M. and Margaret (Kelley) Rose. Lewis M. Rose was the son of Lewis A. Rose and wife, who were natives of Kentucky and lived in the vicinity of Bowling Green. Lewis M. Rose married Margaret Kelley, the daughter of William and Malinda (West) Kelley. William Kelley was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and came here as a young man, entering one hundred and sixty acres of government land near New Winchester. However, he did not farm, but became the pioneer merchant of New Winchester, where he died early in life. Melinda West, the wife of Mr. Kelley, was born in Kentucky and came here with her parents and located near New Winchester, where she grew to womanhood and on February 22, 1855, married Lewis M. Rose. After his marriage Lewis M. Rose moved to near New Maysville, where he lived until the breaking out of the -Civil War. In August, 1862, he enlisted in Company B, Ninety-ninth Regiment Indiana N'olunteer Infantry, and died while in the service in the following January. For several years after his death, his widow remained on the farm near New Maysville, and later married James Hayes, and moved to his farm in the northwestern part of Marion township, in this county, where she still resides. Lewis M. Rose and wife were the parents of three children, one of whom died in infancy, the other two being William M., and Mrs. Alice Dooley, of Danville.

William M. Rose grew up on his stepfather's farm and after c(jmpleiing the course in the common schools in his neighborhood, he then attended the normal school at Ladoga for two terms. After his marriage, he began farming in Marion township near his mother and there remained until 1905. He already owned a farm when he was married and in 1905 sold this and bought one hundred and ninety-three and a half acres about a mile northeast of North Salem, where he still lives. On his new farm he has built a fine residence, good barns and improved the place in every way. As a farmer he ranks among the first in the township and divides his attention between the raising of grain and the production of live stock.

Mr. Rose was married on August 21, 1884. to Amanda Bowen, who was born in Putnam county, Indiana, December 9, i860, the daughter of James and Nancy (Higginsj Bowen. Nancy Higgins was born in this township, her parents coming to this county from Mercer county, Kentucky, in 182 1. James Bowen was reared in Putnam county, Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Rose are the parents of three children, all of whom are at home, Ethel C, Edith Lottie and Etlward Maurice.

Mr. Rose and his family are all members of the Christian church and to this denomination render faithful and zealous support. Mr. Rose has been an honorable, upright, industrious and temperate man all of his life, and has performed well his part in the body politic. No one questions his standing as one of those citizens who always stand for the best welfare of the commonwealth.

Murat W. Hopkins

This biographical sketch has to do with Murat \\\ Hopkins, who has for a number of years been recognized as one of the successful lawyers of Indianapolis. As a citizen he is public spirited and enterprising; as a friend and neighbor, he combines the qualities of head and heart that have won confidence and respect; as an attorney, he is easily the equal of his professional brethren at the Marion county bar.

Murat W. Hopkins, now one of the leading attorneys of Indianapolis, and formerly a resident of Hendricks county, Indiana, was born in Brown township, this county, on October 20, 1857, the son of William and Ruah (Harding) Hopkins, his father being a native of Maryland and his mother of Kentucky. William Hopkins was a farmer all of his life, coming to Hendricks county, Indiana, about 1840, and locating in Brown township, where he followed the occupation of a farmer until his death, which occurred in 1891. William Hopkins was one of the prominent citizens of the county in that early dav, and for many vears served as trustee of his township. He (41) also held many other appointments of trust and frequently served as administrator or guardian. Mrs. William Hopkins died in 1907. They were the parents of six children. Mrs. Sarah Lawhead, of Newburgh, New York; Erastus, of JMarienthal, Kansas; Wyatt, deceased; Listen, of Salem, Oregon; Everett, who lives on the old home place two and one-half miles north of Brownsburg, and Murat W., the immediate subject of this review.