Hendricks County, Indiana - Biographical sketches, 1914 (part 14 of 19)

Murat W. Hopkins was born and reared on his father's farm, receiving his elementary education in the district schools of his home township. He taught in the public schools of this county and then attended the State Normal School at Terre Haute, after which he entered the State University of Iowa City, where he received his degree of Bachelor of Law in 1881. The following year he began the practice of law at Danville, and continued there until 1891 when he went to Lidianapolis, at which city he has built up a successful practice in general work and specializing in legal work relating to corporations. He has been a constant student of the law and during his practice of nearly twenty-five years in the Capitol City he has enjoyed a successful practice and now occupies an influential position among the lawyers of that city. He is a member of the Indianapolis Bar Association, the Indiana Bar Association and the American Bar Association.

Mr. Hopkins was married on April 20, 1882, to Allie L. Montgomery, of Mattoon, Illinois, who was formerly a resident of Brownsburg, Hendricks county, and was a daughter of Tyra and Caroline (Lockhart) Montgomery. Her grandfather was Thomas Lockhart, a pioneer Christian preacher of Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Hopkins have two daughters, Kate Elliott, the wife of Wendall Coval, of Indianapolis, and Caroline Ruah. the wife of Donald Gordon, of Metamora, Indiana.

Mr. Hopkins has been affiliated with the Democratic party since he reached voting age and has always taken an active interest in the affairs of his party. However, he has not felt inclined to enter into the struggle for any official position, being content to devote his time and energv to his interesting and successful legal practice. He is a member of the Indiana Democratic Club at Indianapolis, and he is also a member of the Art Association of that city. Fraternally, he belongs to the Free and Accepted Masons, is a Scottish-Rite Mason, and belongs to the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine and the Knights of Pythias.

Mr. Hopkins, in his public and private life, is regarded as a man r^ high integrity, with kindly impulses for his fellow citizens and always ready to help those who are deserving of assistance. His love of good books has caused him to accumulate a goodly sized private library, in which can be found many old. rare, interesting and valuable volumes. In his law library is to be found one of the \'ery few complete sets now in existence of the session laws of Indiana enacted by the General Assembly since the formation of the state. There will also be found in his law library original volumes of the Indiana territorial laws, enacted before the state was oro-anized.

Calvin T. Haulk

In the agricultural circles of Hendricks county, Indiana, a county noted for the degree of success attained and the high standing of its citizens following that vocation, there is no one more deserving of favorable comment than he whose name is found at the head of this paragraph. He is descended from some of the earlier families of the county, men and women who endured all the privations and sufferings of the early pioneers. The attributes of their stalwart characters still find expressii)n in their sons and daughter., of today and the energy, perseverance and enterprise which Calvin T. Haulk has exhibited in carrying his plans to successful execution mark him worthy of the ancestors who did so much to impress upon this locality in its early days the i^rinciples of correct living and advanced ideas.

Calvin T. Haulk wa--. born on December 28, 1870, in eastern Tennessee, the son of Andrew and Seda Emeline ( Ottinger ) Haulk, both of whom were natives of the same state, the former having been born in Greene county and the latter in Cook county, the daughter of Thomas and Lavina (Ottinger) Ottinger. Thomas was born in Virginia and Lavina in Pennsylvania and, despite the similarity of name, there was no relationship existing between the two families. Andrew Haulk, father of the immediate subject, was born on January i, 1847, and was the son of William Haulk. also a nacive of Greene countv. Tennessee. .\11 his life Andrew was engaged in farming in his native countv and died there on August 3, 1872, leaving his widow and three small children, namely: Calvin (the .subject), Wade and Malvina. Earlv in her widowhood, Mrs. Andrew Haulk brought her three children to the home of her brother, Wylie Ottinger, who lived near Whitestown, Boone county, this state, and in February, 1883, she again united in marriage, this time becoming the wife of Jacob Neese, also a native of Cooke county, Tennessee, and a son of Abraham and Mollie (Blazer) Neese. When Jacob Neese was twelve years old, his parents left their native state and came to Boone county, where they passed the remainder of their lives. They left Tennessee during the Civil War, making the journey all the distance in a wagon, bringing with them only a few of the most precious of the family effects. Jacob Xeese grew to manhood on the home farm in Boone county and about the year of 1900 he and his wife came into Hendricks county and now reside in the southeastern part of Lincoln township. To their union have been born five children, Wesley, Delia, Charles, Grace and Earl. Mr. Neese is identified with the Methodist Episcopal church and his wife is a member of the Lutheran society.

Calvin T. Haulk remained with his mother until the time of his marriage. In his boyhood days he attended the district schools of their locality, where he secured the rudiments of a good education, and after leaving school he engaged in farm work, working out among the neighbors. On December 16, 1893, he was united in marriage with Addie B. Isenhouer, who was born July 9, 1872, in Boone county, near W'hitestown, and is the daughter of William W. and Mary (Claman) Isenhouer. William W. Isenhouer was born in Boone county in 1850, being a son of Jonathan and Margaret (Whisnand) Isenhouer. His parents were also natives of Tennessee and early in their married life made the journey through the wilderness from Monroe county to Boone county, this state, about 1848. They came on horseback, carrying their oldest son, following the faint trails through the forests, fording streams, and in dvie time reaching the new covmtry. They did not stay long in Monroe county, coming almost directly to Boone, where there were few traces of civilization at that early date. They entered a tract of government land which was heavily timbered, and this they removed first of all so as to erect a cabin home. Gradually they reclaimed the soil from the grasp of the wilderness, gradually acquired greater comforts in the home, and on this homestead near Whitestown they lived to a good old age. They celebrate their golden wedding anniversary November 9, 1887. His death occurred in August, 1894, and she survived until December 24, 191 1, age ninety-two years, eleven months and three days. Isaac and Rebecca Whisnand, parents of Margaret and Rebecca Whisnand, come from eastern Tennessee in 1830, and settled near Bloomington, Monroe county, which at that time comprised but a few cabins and was called Hendersonburg. There they settled on a farm, where they spent the remainder of their days and died. Isaac Whisnand was opposed to matters religious and did not train his children in any faith. Margaret obtained possession of a Testament by stealth and kept it hid from her father under a sugar trough, where she went to read it and pray. Its beautiful truths appealed to her girlish heart and .he joined the Methodist church at ^^'hitestown. At that time the society had no church building, but a short time after an edifice was erected in which the society worshipped for a number of years, ^^^ithin the last few years it was torn down, and she alone was living of its members at the time of its erection. Her husband al.'o became a member at the time of its erection. Her husband also Ijecame a member of that church through her ministrations. William W. Isenhouer was united in marriage with Mary Angeline Claman in 1870. She was born in Monroe county, thi.s state, being the daughter of William and Rebecca ( \\'hisnand) Claman. William Claman was the son of John Claman, a native of West Virginia, who, with his wife, come to Indiana about 1835. In 1836 William Claman married Rebecca \\'hisnand, who was a twin sister of William W. Isenhouer's mother. After marriage, William W. Isenhouer settled down to farming and stock raising near Whitestown where he remained until 1883, when he removed to Missouri where the family :tayed a year and then returned to the old home near \Miitestown. In 1886 the}' again left the farm, this time taking up their residence in Lebanon, Boone county, and in 1906 left the Hoosier state, going to Arkansas, where his death occurred in 1909. His widow still resides in that state. William W. Isenhouer was a most affectionate husband and father, a man of marked domestic traits who was never happier than when doing something for those he loved. He was a faithful friend and neighbor, always obliging and selfsacrificing and ever anxious to extend a helping hand to those in need, even at the cost of self denial. For many years he was in poor health, but wa.5 of such a sincere and cheery disposition that he habitually looked on the bright side of life and bore his affliction in a .spirit of meekness, b^jr manv vears he and his wife had been faithful members of the Methodist lipi^copal church and through its teachings he found the beautiful way of life that even suffering could not darken for him.

After marriage, the subject and wife lived in Boone county on a rented farm and in March, 1904, purchased the farm where they now reside in the southeastern part of Lincoln township, this county. The farm comprises sixty-three acres and is in an excellent state of cultivation.' To Mr. and Mrs. Haulk have been born five children, namely: William Russell, born March 25, 1895; Ernest Isaac, born September 27, 1897; ^^7 Andrew, born December 19, 1899; Ruth Annabel, born January 2, 1905, and Margaret Evangeline, born February 26, 1911. Both Mr. and Mrs. Haulk are devout members of the Methodist Episcopal church, she having united with that society at the early age of thirteen.

In politics Mr. Haulk is a Republican, though taking no active interest in politics, and his fraternal affiliations are with the Modern Woodmen of z\merica. He is a self-made man, who has worked hard to get ahead in financial matters and has displayed the marked economy which is a distinct trait of the enterprising American farmer. He went into debt in the purchasing of his farm and then his efforts were bent to discharging that obligation and acquiring all modern comforts to make more pleasant the daily life. No longer is the vocation of farming looked upon as one of liardship and privation, for more and more the American public is coming to realize that the man who is most independent, who has the opportunity to most fully live and enjov life, is the farmer. All the conveniences of the modern home of the citv are within his reach and in addition he enjoys the freedom and independence known in no other vocation. Mrs. Haulk's family were among the fir:;t in this section of the country and have many interesting experiences to tell. There were no matches and fire was kept constantly burning. If by any chance this should become extinguished, it was a laborious task to carry fire from the nearest neighbor, possibly some distance away. Tallow candles and "dips" furnished the illumination and the big fireplace v,a.; where the meals were prepared. How changed are all these conditions, brought about by men of foresight, energy and thrift, and in this class of worthy citizens the subject of this sketch well belongs.

Among the many sons of Hendricks county who have left their native count}' for wider fields is Amos D. McCormick, who is at present the manager of the Capitol Lumber Company yards Number Two, of Indianapolis. He is one of those strong, self-reliant and determined characters who are occasionally met with and who are of such a distinct type as to seem to be born leaders. Not that Mr. McCormick courts that distinction, for he is entirely unassuming, but his force of character and his zeal and energy in whatever he undertakes naturally places him at the head of the crowd. He has held a number of positions and wherever he has been he has rendered faithful and efficient service to those who employed him. His life has been one of unceasing industry. The perseverance and the systematic and honorable methods he has followed have not only won for him the confidence of his employers, but of his fellow citizens as well. He is a man whom Hendricks x\mos D. McCormick, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Aquilla S. McCormick, was born February 24, 1870, northeast of Cartersburg, Hendricks county, Indiana. He remained at home until eighteen years of age and then started to clerk in the store of Pruitt Brothers at Cartersburg, where he remained for three or four years. He then went to work in the store of W. T. Jordan at Pittsboro where he remained until he was twenty-six years of age. He then went into the poultry business at Cartersburg and followed this for the next two years, when he went to farming on the farm where he was born. He was ambitious, however, to get into the business world and when the opportunity presented itself he left the farm and took a position with a lumber company. On March i, 1901, he went to Linton and took a position with the Greer-Wilkinson Lumber Company, the largest lumber company in Indiana, having at that time forty yards throughout the state. He remained with this company a little more than two years and then went into the employ of the New Union Lumber Company at the same place as manager of their yards. From there he went to Indianapolis in the winter of 1906 and became estimator for the Burnett-Lewis Lumber Yards Company. Two years later he resigned his position and then spent a year at Los Angeles, California, with the Wells Fargo Express Company, but his love for the lumber business drew him back into that again and in 1908 he returned to Indiana and became manager of the New Union Lumber Company at Jasonville. He continued there until August 20, 191 1, when he took his present position as manager of the Capitol Lumber Company, yard Number Two at Forty-eighth street and Monon railroad in Indianapolis. He has a thorough knowledge of the lumber business in all its details and is rapidly pushing to the front as a capable man in that line of business.

Mr. McCormick was married in 1895 to Kate Brent, the daughter of George and Marion (McVay) Brent. His wife was born on the old Brent homestead, one and one-half miles southwest of Pittsboro. Her father was born on a farm near Campbellsburg, Kentucky, about 1844 the son of Sanford Brent and wife. He came to Hendricks county while a young man and was married to Marion McVay, the daughter of Molar and Mary (Bradshaw) McVay. The Bradshaws were early pioneers of this county. George Brent was a farmer all of his life, and died March 16, 1879, at the early age of thirty-five. After his death his widow married Dr. J. S. French, of Crawfordsville, and has lived in Pittsboro ever since. Mr. and Mrs. McCormick

Mr. and Mrs. McCormick are members of the Third Christian church of Indianapolis and liberal supporters of that denomination. Mr. McCormick is a man of excellent parts and by his strong and vigorous personality has won success in his chosen field. He thoroughly understands every phase of the lumber business and because of this fact he is a very valuable man to the company which employs him. He is a wide reader and a close observer of men, and enjoys a large acquaintance among the business men of Indianapolis. He is a man of integrity and honor and lends his support to all measures which make for the welfare of his community, and for this reason is deservedly held in high regard by all who know him.

Obed Underwood

In placing Obed Underwood in the front rank of the farmers of Hendricks county, simple justice is done to a biographical fact universally recognized by all who are familiar with his history. A man of sound judgment, wise discretion, thorough agricultural knowledge and business ability of a high order, he has managed his affairs with splendid success and has so impressed his individuality upon the community as to gain recognition among the leading citizens and public-spirited men of affairs.

Obed Underwood, the son of William and Harriett (West) Underwood, was born at Winchester, this county, on September 21, 1854. William Underwood was born in Shelby county, Kentucky, in 1824, the son of John and Rebecca (Radford) Underwood. When William was still a small lad his parents came to Hendricks county, Indiana, where they entered a large amount of government land in Marion township, and here they spent the remainder of their lives, rearing a family of seven children, William, the father of Obed, being the eldest child; Franklin, Charlotte, Elizabeth, Catherine, Sarah and Ellen. William Underwood was reared in this township and married Harriett West, who was a native of Kentucky, the daughter of Isaac and Polly Ann West. She came to this county when a child with her parents. Her father, Isaac West, now deceased, was one of the early pioneers of Hendricks county. He was born in Wayne county. Kentucky, and was a son of Alexander and Sarah West. He had no educational advantages in his youth and was early compelled to earn his own living. He married in Kentucky and his wife, Poll}-, the daughter of George Turner, came to Indiana in 1827 with her parents and settled in the woods one mile south of New Winchester, wliere they entered one hundred and sixty acres of land from the government. Here they lived until the death of Mr. Turner, who lived to the advanced age of ninety-four years, and died on August 29, 1898, having lived in this county seventy years. He began life with nothing whatever, and by hard work, honesty and indomitable courage, succeeded in clearing up a farm af two hundred and sixty-five acres. He was a member of the Missionary Baptist church, a man noted for his honesty and integrity and was held in the highest esteem by e\ery one. His w'ife died December 15, 1887.

After his marriage William Underwood, the father of Obed, began life on his own account as a farmer and so successful was he that at the time of his death he had six hundred acres of land in the county. He died September I, 1875. at the age of fifty-one. He was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His wife died April 7, 1912, on her eighty-fourth birthday. To Mr. and Mrs. William Underwood were born six children : John F., who hves in Danville; William I. and Robert L., of New Winchester; Mary -Ellen and Angeline, deceased, and Obed, of whom this narrative speaks.

Obed Underwood was reared in this county, spent his early days in the school room, and upon reaching manhood was married to Louie Bousman, the daughter of John and Mary (Haynes) Bousman, of Marion township. Her parents came from Clinton county, Ohio, about 1854 and located in Marion township, this county. Mr. Bousman Avas a carpenter by trade, although after he came to this township he bought a farm and continued farming and carpentering. In 1879 the Bousman family bought property in Danville, where they li\ed the remainder of Mr. Bousman's life, his death occurring February 5, 1904. He was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, while he and his wife belonged to the Christian church. Mrs. Bousman is now. living with Mr. and Mrs. Underwood at New Winchester. After his marriage, Mr. Underwood started farming for himself and became the owner of \arinus farms in Marion township. In September, 1912, he retired from the active management of his farm and moved to New Winchester, where he- is living a life of ease and comfort. In politics he is a Democrat and as a representative of his party has served as township trustee on two different occasions, being elected the first time in 1900 and again in 1904. He was an able and efficient official and served his party and the citizens of his county, irrespective of their political faith, equally well.

Mr. Underwood has two daughters, Maude and Jessie. Maude is the wife of Arthur Carter and lives in Clay township: Jessie is the wife of Olson

Hunt and lives in the eastern part of Marion township, and has one daughter, Marvel. Mr. and Mrs. Underwood are faithful and consistent members of the Missionary Baptist church and are interested in the various activities of that denomination. Mr. Underwood is a man who is well known throughout the community and is highly esteemed by all who know him, since he has for many years been a potent factor in the civic life of the community.

Nathan Addison Tucker

Hendricks county is indebted, perhaps, to the Tucker family as much as to any other for its wondrous transformation to one of the choicest sections of the Hoosier state, for members of this family have been leaders in agricultural, industrial and civic affairs since the early days. Each, with a fidelity to duty and a persistency of purpose peculiar to that class of men who takes the lead in large affairs, has performed well his duty in all the relations of life, and while advancing their own interests they have not been unmindful of the general welfare of their fellow citizens. Thus they rightfully deserve an honored place in the history of this locality.

Nathan A. Tucker, the son of Dandridge and Catherine (Davis) Tucker, was born four miles northeast of North Salem, November 2y, 1853. The reader is referred to the history of Dandridge Tucker, elsewhere in this volume, for a complete family genealogy of the Tucker family.

Nathan A. Tucker was reared on his father's farm and after taking the course in the local schools he attended Valparaiso University and Wabash College. Upon his return from college he worked with his father on the farm until his marriage.

Air. Tucker was married September 15, 1880, to Mary E. Carriger, of Boone county, Indiana, the daughter of George and Sarah (George) Carriger, who came from Tennessee to Indiana in 1840 and located in Boone county. Upon his marriage, in 1880, Mr. Tucker started farming on eighty acres which was given him by his father, and he has proved to be a very successful farmer, since he has by his own energy and persistence added to his farm from time to time until he now has two hundred and eighty acres of excellent farming land in the county. He has his farm highly improved in every way and it presents a striking appearance to the passerby. His home is placed back from the road and is approached by a gravel roadway, lined on both sides with beautiful shade trees at regular intervals. The house is placed upon an eminence, which renders it conspicuous in all directions and from which an excellent view may be had all over his farm. He has good barns, outbuildings and all the equipment which characterizes the successful farmer of today. He raises all the crops of this latitude and makes it a point to feed most of his grain to his own stock, his annual sale of hogs, cattle and sheep adding not a little to his yearly income.

The first wife of Mr. Tucker died in November, 1892, and in October, 1894-, he was married to Anna M. Spears, who died two years later and Mr. Tucker nuw lives on the old home farm with his children. There is no mure interesting family of children in Hendricks county than Mr. Tucker's and no children in the county who have been given better educational advantages. He has three sons and three daughters and all of them have graduated from the North Salem high school, while the three sons are all DePauw University men. The sons are Lee, Carl A., and George D., while the daughters are Sarah Catherine, Etta Agnes, and Louisa J-. the last named being the only one of the six children married. She is the wife of Logan R. Owen and lives one and one-half miles north of North Salem. Agnes and Lee are Ijoth teaching at North Salem, and all of the children, except the married daughter, are living with their father.

Mr. Tucker is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, and he and his children are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. His home is one where genuine hospitality always manifests itself, and he is justly proud of his fine children, who have all prepared themselves for useful memberi of societv.

Peter Greely

The life history of Peter Greely, one of the well known and highly esteemed citizens of Hendricks county, Indiana, shows what industry, gooa habits and stanch citizenship will accomplish in the battle for success in life. His record shows duties well and conscientiously performed in all the relations of life. Born on a foreign soil and coming to this county many years ago. he has grown into the life of his adopted country and has played his part in the drama of ci\'ilization. He has ever been an advocate of wholesome living and has always stood for the highest and best interests of the community in which he has so long resided and which has been honored by his citizenship.

John and Bridget (Eagan) Greely, the mother dying when Peter was a child of three years. The subject grew up in Ireland, remaining on his native soil until twenty-four years of age, when, in 1864, in company with thirteen other young men and girls, he set out to try his fortune in the new world. They had a delightful voyage and landed in New York, where all found friends. Peter had a sister in this county, Mrs. Margaret Corliss, who had come to America in i860, locating near Brownsburg and had married a year later. Mr. Greely had owned a farm in Ireland and was well versed in the secrets of husbandry and upon reaching his sister's home he found that her husband owned a farm of forty acres in Brown township, later moving to Lincoln township, where he had one hundred acres. Thus it was but natural that Mr. Greely should turn to the work with which he was familiar, and he worked among the farmers until in 1869, when he purchased sixty-eight acres one mile northeast of Brownsburg. At the time he bought this land it was covered with dense thickets and timber and was very swampy, the thickets so dense in some places one could scarcely see ten feet ahead. There were but ten acres cleared and the only building was an old log house. He proceeded to clear this land, drain and tile it and has today some of the finest land in the county, land for which he has refused two hundred dollars per acre. He now has one hundred and forty acres in all. In 1908 his home burned, and he then erected the handsome and commodious dwelling in which the family now resides.

In 1870 Mr. Greely was united in marriage with Margaret Dugan, who was born in county Galway, Ireland, the daughter of Patrick and Nora (Dugan ) Dugan. She and Mr. Greely were accjuainted in Ireland and she came to America soon after Mr. Greely did, finding friends in Indianapolis and in her earlier days here worked in farm homes near the city. To their union were born ten children and throughout the years Mrs. Greely proved herself to be a most devoted wife and mother and a woman highly respected by triends and neighbors. Her death occurred at midnight on March i, 1910. John, the eldest son, married Mrs. Isa (Ulry) Maloney, a widow, and they live two miles northeast of the subject. Nora is the wife of Thomas O'Connell and resides in Indianapolis. Her husband is foreman for the Grocers' Baking Company. They have two children, Leo and Catherine. Bridget Delia is unmarried and makes her home in Indianapolis. Michael is teaching school at Paoli, this state. Margaret is a stenographer in Indianapolis. Patrick is on the farm with his father, and Kate also remains at home. Nellie is an instructor in the high school at Sunman, Indiana, having attended both

Butler College, Indianapolis, and the State University at Bloomington. Mary lived to the age of twenty-two years and Kate died when three years old.

The entire family are devout members of the Roman Catholic church. \\'hen a youth in Ireland, Mr. Greely received an excellent education, being versed in Latin, German and the Gaelic tongues, as well as many other subjects. He is an unusually well read man and exceedingly well versed in the Bible and history pertaining to it. He is a man of high ideals and strong convictions and throughout his life has lived according to his ideas of the essential qualifications of perfect manhood. He is a man of influence among hi - neighbors and highly respected by all.

Tames B. Dooley

The gentleman whose biographical record is here given was for a long lapse of years one of the substantial farmers and honored citizens of Hendricks county. His well-directed efforts in the practical affairs of life, his capable managenxent of his business interests and his sound judgment have brought him a fair measure of prosperity, and his life demonstrates what may be accomplished by the man of energy and ambition who is not afraid to work and has the perseverance to continue his labors in the face of seemingly discouraging circumstances. As a native son of Hendricks county he patriotically served his country during our great Civil War, and in all the relations of life he has commanded the respect and confidence of those with whom he has been brought in contact.

James B. Dooley was born in 1837, about one mile west of Danville, Hendricks county, Indiana. He is a son of Moses and Elizabeth (Bohannan) Dooley. Moses Dooley was born in Virginia in 1799, and at the age of thirteen years came to the state of Kentucky with his mother, his father having died in Virginia. The mother and son lived in Shelby county, Kentucky, and there Moses grew to manhood and married Elizabeth Bohannan, a native of that state. In pioneer days Moses Dooley and his wife came to Danville, Hendricks county, Indiana. That was a primitive day, and he assisted in the clearing of timber from the court house yard in Danville. Their eldest child, Martha J., was born in Kentucky, and their other children were born in Hendricks county. Moses Dooley's first farm was one mile west of Danville, but later he moved to a farm of one hundred and sixty acres situated between Belleville and Clayton. He met with pecuniary misfortune by going security for a friend and crediting others, which caused him to lose his farm. He had only three hundred and fifty dollars left, but later succeeded in buying another farm six miles northwest of Danville, in Marion township, where his son, James B., the immediate subject of this sketch, grew to manhood.

James B. Dooley was married in i860 to Mary Buntin, daughter of Harvey Buntin and a sister of John H. Buntin, of North Salem, Hendricks county. In August, 1862, he enlisted in Company H of the Ninety -ninth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, which was assigned to the Army of the Tennessee under General Logan and General Sherman. Major J. B. Homan, of Danville, was captain of this company and Rev. D. R. Lucas was chaplain. Mr. Dooley participated in some of the important battles of the war, among them being the battles of Dalton, Resaca, Atlanta, and many other engagements incidental to the march to Atlanta. With his company he accompanied Sherman to the sea, and was near Raleigh, North Carolina, when Johnson surrendered to General Sherman. The Ninety-ninth Regiment did as much marching as any in the service. Before going on the Atlanta campaign it saw much hard service at Haines Blufif during the siege of Vicksburg. They also participated in the battle of Mission Ridge and many other noted engagements. From Raleigh the horses and mules and artillery were loaded on cars and shipped to Washington, and the infantry was obliged to walk. They marched through Petersburg, Richmond and on to Washington, where they participated in the Grand Review, Mr. Dooley receiving an honorable discharge at the close of the war.

After the war Mr. Dooley returned to Hendricks county, reaching home on June 15th, a late time of the season for a farmer to start work. His good wife had saved five hundred dollars from money he had sent her from the front, and she, like many other patriotic women of that day, had, by dint of hard work in the harvest fields and by other heavy labor, managed well. He was thus enabled to buy a small farm, chiefly on credit, which he was able to dispose of the following spring at a profit. He then purchased twenty acres, paying cash, and this gave him a substantial start. He subsecfuently traded this and secured more land in Marion township, and in time became the owner of a good sized farm, a part of which, however, was inherited by his wife. He and his wife had eighty acres in one tract and he had fiftytwo acres in another part of the township, where the family home was established. He farmed there until he was unable longer to bear the burden of active work.

To James B. and Mary (Buntin) Dooley were born four children: Hattie, the first born, is the wife of WilHam Bowman, and they Hve at Maplewood, Indiana, and have two children, Ernest and Homer. Minnie is the wife of Edward Dow and they live on East Twelfth street, Indianapolis, and have six children, Mary, Lora, Ruby, Vivian, Phyllis and Byron. Lizzie is the wife of John Crosby, a successful farmer, and they live two miles north and three-quarters of a mile east of New Winchester, Indiana, and they have two children, Ray and Carlos, both now students at Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana. Lester, the youngest by Mr. Dooley's first marriage, died at the age of eighteen months. The first Mrs. Dooley died in 1903. She was a faithful member of the Christian church at New Winchester, and a woman of many lovable traits of character. On November 17, igo8, Mr. Dooley was married to Mrs. Leanah (Buntin) (Walton) Wright, a sister of his first wife. She was born about two miles west of New Winchester and grew to womanhood in Marion township. In January, 1861, she married William Walton. One son, Amos McClellan Walton, born of this union, died at the age of two years, of diphtheria. Mr. Walton and Mr. Dooley enlisted for service in the Civil War at the same time and in the same company, and were together until Mr. Walton's death by typhoid fever, near Lagrange, Tennessee, in the winter of 1862-3. Mrs. Walton later married John Wright, a native of Marion township, a son of William Wright and wife, who were pioneer settlers in Marion township. William Wright was in iNIissouri at the time the Civil War began and came home and enli.-ted in the state militia which was called into service at the time of Morgan's raid. Mr. Wright was a farmer and did a great deal of teaming and hauling timber. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Wright lived for seven years in the state of Illinois, when Mr. Wright's health failed and they then returned to Hendricks county, where he died. Mrs. Wright remained a widow twenty-four years, during which time she lived on a farm in Marion township. There were seven children born of her marriage to William Wright. Lena is the wife of Otis Hedge and they live near Valley Mills, and they had two cliildren, only one living, Edna, who is the wife of Chester Jay. Retta, the second child, died at the age of twenty-one. Oscar Wright is a grocer and horseman at Franklin, Indiana. Maude is the wife of Fred Sears and they live in the eastern part of Marion township, Hendricks county, and have one daughter, Maxine. Donna was the wife of Charles Graham and both are deceased, leaving two children, Vesta and Bernice. Alice is the wife of Raymond Rudd and they live at Franklin, Indiana, where Mr. Rudd is a partner with Oscar Wright in the grocery business; they have two daughters, Farrell and Leanah. Homer Wright has been a government employe in the Indianapolis postoffice for past eight years and makes his home with his mother and Mr. Dooley.

James B. Dooley is retired from active life, and on September 15, 1909, removed to his present home at No. 1902 Commerce avenue, Indianapolis, which they had bought a year before. He and his wife are members of the Christian church and he belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic. Politically, he was formerly a Republican, but is now allied with the Progressive party.

Mr. Dooley has always been a loyal and patriotic man, loyal to the laws of his country in times of peace and patriotic in defense of the flag in times of peril. He was one of six sons, of whom five were soldiers in the Civil War, and none of them were in the same regiment. Henry was wounded and Arthur was captured and confined in a Confederate prison, but all came home alive.

Dandridge Tucker

Among the families of Hendricks county who have descended from Revolutionary stock is the Tucker family, whose history is not only of general interest, but of especial interest to the many descendants of that illustrious family.

Dandridge Tucker, one of the most highly respected and best beloved men of Hendricks county of a past generation, was born in Casey county, Kentucky, March 3, 1827, and died in Danville, in this county, on June 18, 1892. He was the only son of Lee and Miranda (Durham) Tucker. Lee Tucker was one of the first pioneers in Hendricks county, and was born in Bedford county, Virginia, May 4, 1803. Lee Tucker was the eldest son and third child of a family of ten children, born to Dandridge and Nancy (Settles) Tucker, who were also natives of Virginia. The father of Dandridge Tucker was William, a soldier of the Revolutionary War for seven years.

William Tucker, who grew up in Virginia, married Nancy Settles, and their son, Lee, became the father in turn of Dandridge, whose history is herein presented.

Lee Tucker, the father of Dandridge, was eight years of age when his parents moved from Virginia to Casey county, Kentucky. He was reared to manhood on his father's farm in Kentucky and married, on March 7, 1826,

Miranda Durham, the daughter of Thomas and Frances (Moss) Durham, natives respectively of Virginia and Maryland. Miranda (Durham) Tucker was born December i6, 1805, in Mercer county, Kentucky, and after his marriage he and his wife continued to live on the old homestead farm until the fall of 1834, when, on account of his opposition to slavery, he came to Indiana, arriving in Eel River township, Hendricks county, on September 12, 1834. He immediately entered one hundred and sixty acres of unimproved land in this township, and afterwards entered one hundred and twenty acres more. When Lee Tucker and his family came here in 1834, practically the only cleared land in the township was that of Isaac Trotter, all the rest of the township being a dense wilderness. In 1826 Mr. Tucker and his wife joined the Methodist Episcopal church in Kentucky and soon afterwards he was appointed class leader. Upon coming to Indiana he organized a church society of six members and his own house served as the place of worship for some time. Later he organized the first Sabbath school in Eel River township, which was also held in his own home. He served as class leader, steward and trustee in the church until his death. His house was always the rendezvous of the ministers, and no man in the county ever took a more hearty interest in this work than did Lee Tucker. He was an earnest advocate of temperance and was the first man in his township to refuse to furnish intoxicants at his log rollings or in the harvest field. Politically, he was an oldline Whig, but upon the organization of the Republican party he became affiliated with that political institution. He was always among the foremost to aid in every good cause. His death occurred June 23, 1884, his wife having passed away July 24, 1872. Three children were born to Lee Tucker and his wife: Lee Ann, the wife of John Durham: Dandridge, and Francis, who died when seven years old. In addition to rearing these children of their own, Mr. and Mrs. Lee Tucker reared eight orphan children, all of whom grew to be useful members of society.

Dandridge Tucker, reared by such parents, could not help but be a man who would be an ornament to any community. Coming to this county when he was seven years of age with his parents, he spent the rest of his life here. He assisted his father to clear and improve the home farm and was given the meager education which was afiforded by the subscription schools of that period. He was married on May 5, 1850, to Catherine Davis, who was born March 11, 1830, in Montgomery county, Kentucky, the daughter of Nathan and Nancy (Kidd) Davis, her parents coming to this county in 1835. To Dandridge Tucker and wife were born four children, David Lee and Nathan (42)

After his marriage in 1850 Dandridge Tucker settled on the farm where his sons, Nathan and David, now reside, and gradually improved the farm until it was as productive as any in the county.

Religiously, Mr. Tucker was a loyal and earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal church and his wife of the Christian church. His wife died February 15, 1883, and some years later he married Jennie Hadley.

Mr. Tucker was always an active worker in the Republican party, and in 1847 he was appointed township trustee. He was elected treasurer of the board and served in that capacity until the new Constitution was adopted in 1852. He was a great student of Masonry and was one of the oldest representatives of the grand lodge of Indiana. He had taken all of the degrees and was one of the first thirty-second-degree Masons in the state. He was a man of broad, generous character, a good citizen in every sense of the word and a man who was indeed and in truth "four square to every wind that blew."

David Lee Tucker

The Tucker family have played an important part in the history of Hendricks county. The history of this family, which has been traced back through the Revolutionary War, discloses the fact that its members have always played an honorable and prominent part in the affairs of the various communities in which they have resided.

David Lee Tucker, who has lived more than three score years in this county, is a man who stands high in the estimation of his neighbors and friends, whose interests he has always sought to promote while endeavoring to advance his own. He is a man of courage, self-reliance and of the utmost integrity of purpose, with the result that he has earned a full share of this world's goods and at the same time has taken a part in the civic life of the community in which he lives. He is a son of Dandridge Tucker and his birth occurred February 13, 1852, on the farm where he now lives m Eel River township, this county. Since the Tucker family history is given in the sketch of Dandridge Tucker, the reader is referred to that biography for the ancestry of David Lee Tucker.

completing his common and high school education in the North Salem schools he attended Wabash College. He was married December 31, 1903, to Lillian G. Overstreet, the daughter of Aaron and Catherine (Elder) Overstreet. Aaron Overstreet, the son of James and Susan Overstreet, was born in Caseycounty, Kentucky, January 19, 1826. He was reared in Kentucky, and on December 24, 1850, married Catherine Ann Elder, and two years later came to Hendricks county, Indiana, and after living in several different parts 01 the county he settled in Union township. In August, 1862, he enlisted for service in the Union army in Company G, Ninety-ninth Regiment Indiana A'olunteer Infantry, and ser\ed during the remainder of the war. He was in the battles of Jacksonville. Chattanooga, A'icksburg, all of the battles of the Atlanta campaign, and was with Sherman on his march northward irom Savannah to the final surrender at Guilford court house in the spring of 1865, and in August of that year he was mustered out of the service, when he immediately returned to this county, where he lived as a farmer until his death, which occurred June 22, 1910. To Mr. and Mrs. Overstreet were born twelve children. Both Mr. and Mrs. Overstreet were active members of the Christian church, and, fraternally, Mr. Overstreet was a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and also of the Grand Army of the Republic. He was an honest, industrious man who had great faith in the better side of human life. He was truthful and optimistic to a marked degree and not only mild \\hen life looked dark and gloomy, but believed that the man who is worth w hile he is tiie one who will smile when everything goes against him. Mr. Tucker has one hundred and sixty acres of well improved land in Eel River township, where he grows all the grains, vegetables and fruits common to this section of the state. He devotes a great deal of time and attention to live stock and has earned a reputation more than local as a cattle raiser. He is a man of progressive ideas and tendencies, and by adopting modern methods of farming and ligeping in touch with the more advanced thought on the matter of agriculture and stock raising, has achieved definite success. He is a meml:)er of the Knights of Pythias at Jamestown, while, religiously, he and his wife are both members of the Christian church at North Salem. He is a man of keen business discernment, is able to foresee with remarkable accuracy the probable outcome of a transaction, and is by nature a man always on the alert, progressive, yet scrupulously honest, straightforward and unassuming, obliging and courteous, kindly and hospitable and he numbers his friends only by the limit of his acquaintances, and has won the good will and confidence of all with whom he has come in contact.

Charles E. Kurtz

In the history of Hendricks county, as applying to the agricultural interest, the name of Charles E. Kurtz occupies a conspicuous place, for through a number of years he has been one of the representative farmers of Marion township, progressive, enterprising and persevering. Such qualities always win success, sooner or later, and to Mr. Kurtz they have brought a satisfactory reward for his well-directed efforts, and while he has benefited himself and community in a material way, he has also been an infiuential factor in the educational, political and moral uplift of the community favored by his residence.

Charles E. Kurtz, the son of Henry and Margaret (Logan) (Vannice) Kurtz, was born in Marion township, this county, September lo, 1867. His father was born in Nelson county, Kentucky, February 10, 1823, and was brought to this state by his parents when six months old. They settled in Putnam county on a farm, where he was reared and, with the exception of the three years he spent in the army during the Civil war, he always resided on the farm. He was married October 9, 1851, to Margaret Logan Vannice, the daughter of Lawrence and Caroline Vannice, after which they settled on a farm, where they continued to live the remainder of their lives, the farm at the time they took it being an unbroken wilderness. At the opening of the Civil War there were four little children in the family and when the husband and father enlisted, on August 13, 1862, to battle for the Union, he left his family not knowing whether he would ever see them again. He enlisted in Company G, Ninety-ninth Regiment Lidiana Volunteer Infantry, and was assigned to the Army of the Tennessee, and, with his regiment, participated in all the campaigns and battles of that command until July 22, 1864, when in the great two-days battle at Atlanta, he was taken prisoner and confined to the stockade at Andersonville. He was in this historic prison from August i, 1864, until October 24th of the same year, and during this time he experienced all the horrors and privations of that terrible prison pen. From Andersonville he was taken to the stockade prison at Florence, South Carolina, and confined here for three months. On February 28, 1865, he was exchanged and sent north, being almost dead from the hardships he had endured. He arrived home March 22, 1865, and, since the war was nearly at an end, he did not re-enlist. While in the army he wrote home as frequently as the mails would permit and his letters give thrilling glimpses of the battles, marches and incidents through which he was passing. Many a day his loving wife took the Httle flock to the forest to gather such wood as she could find for fuel. Many a night she put the children to bed, extinguished the light and sat with her face pressed against the window, where she saw men pass along the road to meet and plot against the government for which her husband was risking his life, but he returned and their happy life was resumed and they lived for fifty years after this terrible struggle was over. In 1901 they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary and in 191 1 their sixtieth anniversary, and on these occasions abundant testimony was given of the high regard with which this venerable couple was held. To them were born eight children ; Mrs. Caroline F. Underwood ; Jacob L. ; Mrs. Eliza Hadley ; William H., deceased; Mrs. Jennie Hadley; Charles E., Oscar and Wilbur, deceased. Living together for more than sixty years, they were separated in death only a few days, Mrs. Kurtz dying on May 28, 1913, and he dying a few days later, on June 8, 19 13.

Charles E. Kurtz received his education in the district schools of his township and grew to manhood on the home farm, part of which is now owned by him. He has operated his present farm since his boyhood days and has improved it in every way. The farm is well drained, well fenced, and he has a fine home, excellent barns and other outbuildings, the place being a model of neatness and convenience. While he raises all of the crops peculiar to this latitude, he makes a specialty of stock raising and breeding. He breeds Hereford cattle and ships them to all points in the United States. He has taken part in many fairs and expositions and has won many prizes away from his home county and in different states. He has displayed his cattle at the International Stock Show at Chicago and has carried off prizes, winning over cattle from all over the United States. He also is a breeder and raiser of Spotted Poland China hogs and finds a ready sale for his surplus stock.

Mr. Kurtz was married in 1892 to Alice Henry, daughter of Thompson and Esteline (Jesse) Henry. Thompson Henry is a native of this county and grew to manhood on the old Nathan Tucker farm in Eel River township. He and his wife, who also was a native of this county, are now living retired at Jamestown. They reared a family of eight children, Jesse. George H., Oliver, Alice, Effie, Mattie, Reddie G., deceased, and one who died in infancy.

I'ree and Accepted JMasons and the Knights of Pythias at North Salem, and also is a member of the Royal Arch Masons at Danville. He is a Republican in politics and has always taken a more or less active part in local political affairs. He has been a member of the Hendricks county council and in that capacity has stood for all measures which promise to better the condition of the county. He and the members of his family are adherents of the Presbyterian church at New Winchester and are generous contributors to its maintenance. Mr. Kurtz has been a hard worker all of his life and is richly deserving of the success which has come to him. On his fine farm of two hundred and eighty acres he has the opportunity to show what a progressive farmer can accomplish and it needs but a glance over his welltilled fields to show that he has taken advantage of the opportunity. Such men are welcomed in every community, and the greater the number of this class the better it is for the community, for it is people who live in any localit}- which really make it what it is. Therefore, Mr. Kurtz can be justly regarded as one of the best representative men of Hendricks county today.

Martin Hession

The history of the Hoosier state is not an ancient one. It is the record of the steady growth of a community planted in the wilderness in the last century and reaching its magnitude of today without other aids than those of continued industry. Each county has its share in the story, and every county can lay claim to some incident or transaction which goes to make up the history of the commonwealth. After all, the history of a state is but a record of the doings of its people, among whom the pioneers and the sturdy descendants occupy places of no secondary importance. The story of the plain common people who constitute the moral bone and sinew of the state should ever attract the attention and prove of interest to all true lovers of their kind. In the life story of the subject of this sketch there are no striking chapters or startling incidents, but it is merely the record of a life true to its highest ideals and fraught with much that should stimulate the youth just starting in the world as an independent factor.

Martin Hession, the subject of this review, was a native of Ireland, born in county Galway, and about the year 1834, when fourteen or fifteen years of age, he came unaccompanied to America. His mother had died previous to his coming, and some time after he had established himself in the new land his father joined him. He was the son of Daniel and Sarah Hession and was one of a family of four children, the others being Charles, Michael and Ellen. Mr. Hession first set foot in the new world at New Orleans, after a long and tedious journey in tlie sail boats of that day, and remained there for about two months before coming to Indiana. After arriving in Indiana, he found friends in both Marion and Hendricks counties and worked out among them on their farms at day labor. In this manner he employed himself for eight or nine years, when he felt able to invest in a farm for himself and purchased a forty-acre tract in the eastern portion of Brown township, this county. He lived there for three or four years, when he sold it and bought a forty-acre farm in Boone county. There he resided for two years, when he traded that farm to a brother tor forty acres in Brown township, when he again became a citizen of Hendricks county, and has since remained here. Mr. Hession has carried on general farming and kindred interests and, by reason of his unfailing energy and tireless efforts, he has prospered. The forty acres secured from his brother has formed the nucleus for his present holdings, comprising three hundred and fifteen acres of as fine land as the county can boast, and the reputation of Hendricks county for excellent soil is well known.

On January 4, i860, Mr. Hession was united in marriage with Mary Hagon, who was born in September, 1840, in county Galway, Ireland. Her parents died in the old country when she was young and when but fourteen years of age she journeyed to the United States alone, landing at New Orleans and coming directly to Marion county, this state, where three of her brothers and one sister were already settled. These were John, Michael, Martin and Kate. After arriving at the home of her brothers she went out as a domestic to service on various farms in Marion county and in this way made her own way until the time of her marriage. Her parents were James and Bridget Reddington. To the union of Martin and Mary (Hagon) Hession have been born nine children, two of which have passed away. The others are : James, who married Belle Sharkey and resides on a farm about one mile north of the subject; Sarah is the wife of Martin Hession and li\es on a farm in iVIiddle township, this county: Delia married Darby Mulrine and lives in Indianapolis. Her husband is employed by Kingan & Company, Limited. They have two children, Nora and Martin. Martin F. married Nellie King, of Indianapolis, and they reside just east of the subject's home; Daniel, John and Mary remain at home; they are the parents of three children, namely: Elizabeth, Mary and Martha. Charles died when thirty-three years and six months of age and a little daughter, Julia, died in infancy. The family is considered one of the very best in the community and has a host of friends. The atmosphere of the home is thoroughly hospitable and both friends and strangers find appropriate welcome there. Mr. Hession, after a strenuous career, has practically retired from active duties and is enjoying the fruits of many years of unceasing labor. There is much that is commendable in his life's record, much that might well be an inspiration to young men with life before them and without influential friends to come to their aid. By his own effort and right principles of living he has not only won for himself an enviable competency for his declining years, but has so conducted his affairs with his fellow men a.s to win for himself the reputation of one absolutely trustworthy and honorable in his business dealings, and worthy in every respect of the warmest personal friendship. The entire family are communicants of the Roman Catholic church and give liberally of their substance to its support.

William S. Dickerson

Among the earnest men whose enterprise and depth of character have gained a prominent place in the community and the respect and confidence of his fellow citizens is the honored subject of this sketch. A leading farmer and stock raiser of the township in which he resides and a man of decided views and laudable ambitions, his influence has ever been exerted for the advancement of his kind, and in the vocation to which his energies are devoted he ranks among the representative men of the country.

William S. Dickerson, the son of Eimis and Anna (Ross) Dickerson, was born February 24, 1865, in Marion township, Hendricks county, Indiana. His father was a native of Virginia, and came to this state with his parents, Andrew R. and Mahila (Dodd) Dickerson, when but a small boy. They settled in Marion township about three and one-half miles north of New Winchester. Here Andrew R. Dickerson bought a fort\'- acre farm which had been entered by Paul Faught, and is known as the old Dickerson homestead. Ennis Dickerson was a member of the Friends church and a farmer in this county until his death, in 1899. He was an invalid most of his life, but in spite of this affliction he was a hard worker and successful in life. His wife, Anna Ross, was a native of Kentucky and came to this county with her parents when she was a small child. She is now seventy-four years of age and is living in Indianapolis. Mr. and ]\Irs. Ennis Dickerson were the parents of six children: John Calvin, deceased; William S., whose history is herein set forth; Mrs. Eva E. Hadley; James Ora; Frank O. and Ella, who died at the age of eight.

William S. Dickerson spent his boyhood days on the farm, and lived with his parents until he was twelve years of age in Marion township, ihey then removed to Center township, near Mill Creek, where he remained until he was nineteen years of age, returning to care for his grandmother, with whom he lived until his marriage. He moved on his present farm of fiftythree acres in 1905, and has improved his farm until it presents a very attractive appearance in every way, built fences, put up buildings and a neat country home.

Air. Dickerson was married January 30, 1887, to Lizzie Faught, the daughter of Henry H. and Martha J. (Armstrong) Faught. Henry H. Faught was born August 23, 1841, in this county, the son of George Washington and Annie Jane (Hayes) Faught. George Faught was reared in this township, being born in 1818, the son of Paul and Elizabeth (Liszt) Faught. Paul Faught was one of the first settlers to enter land in this county. His wife, Elizabeth, died April 26, i860, and he died one month later. May 26, i860. Their son, George W., lived and died in the same locality and was a farmer all of his life, dying June 26, 1880. His wife, Annie Jane, died September 4, 1874. Henry H., the son of Mrs. Faught, was married August 27, 1863, to Martha J. Armstrong, the daughter of William and Mary Ann (Ross) Armstrong. William Armstrong was born in 1818 in Shelby county, Kentucky, the son of Levi and Susan (Johnson) Armstrong. Levi was born February 27, 1791, and his wife in 1793. Levi was a son of George, born in 1763, and Sarah Armstrong, born in 1766. The Armstrong family has traced their ancestry back to a much earlier date in the state of New York. They came to Kentucky in wagons and have lived in that state for several generations. William Armstrong grew up in Kentucky and in 1837 married Mary Ann Ross, a native of Kentucky. Soon after marriage they came to Indiana and settled near New Winchester, where they lived and died. His first wife, the mother of Mrs. Faught, died in 1875. In 1876 he married Amanda Harris, and died July 15, 1899, at the age of eighty-one, having spent a very busy and useful life. After Henry H. Faught was married he moved to Edgar county, Illinois, where he remained for five years. He then came back to Marion township, Hendricks county, and located two miles north of New Winchester on a farm, which belonged to his father. xAfter his father's death, Mr. Faught bought his brother's interest in the farm, thus becoming the owner of one hundred and twenty acres. He hved here the rest of his life, farming and trading in live stock. He was a Mason and both he and his wife were members of the Christian church, although at the time of their marriage she was a member of the Baptist church. He died March 30, 1911, after nearly half a century of married life. He was an earnest believer in the faith of the Gospel and his life was one devoted to making friends and keeping them. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. H. H. Faught: George W., a clothing merchant of Indianapolis, who married Mrs. Catherine (Morris) Adams; they have one child, Cecil. Dora May, the deceased wife of John C. Himes of Ladoga. She left one son, Fred C, who was only nine months old at the time of his mother's death. He was reared by Mr. and Mrs. Faught and has been a member of the home ever since. Lizzie Etta is the wife of W. S. Dickerson and has two children, Harry B., born February 8, 1890, and Lester F., born January 26, 1895.

Harry B., the oldest son of Mr. and Mrs. Dickerson, married Kate Christie July 2. 191 1, and is a farmer in Putnam county. Lester is still at home with his parents. Mr. Dickerson is a Democrat, but is not active in politics. His wife is a member of the Christian church at New Winchester, Indiana. Mr. Dickerson is liberal in his views and charitable to the faults of his neighbors. He has advanced ideas on farming and does not hestitate to put them into operation, with the result that he is rightly regarded as one of the representative farmers of this county.

Fred Albert Hays

The subject of this review as one of the most enterprising of our younger generation of farmers in Hendricks county, who has believed from the outset of his career that the "wisdom of yesterday is the folly of today," and that while the methods of our grandfathers in tilling the soil were all right in their day, yet in the twentieth century we are compelled to adopt new methods and farm along different lines, in view of the fact that conditions of climate, soil, grains, etc., have changed since the days of the pioneers. He has been a close observer of modern methods and is a student at all times of whatever pertains to his chosen life work, and he has ttierefore met with encouraging success all along the line, and, judging from his past record, he will undoubtedly achieve much in the future years and take his place among the leading agriculturists of a community noted for its fine farms and adroit husbandmen.

Fred Albert Hays, the son of James and Mary (Kelley) Hays, was born in Marion township, Hendricks county, Indiana, June 3, 1876. His father was born in this township March 10, 1836, the son of John ana Catherine (Munday) Hays. John Hays was a native of Virginia and was a son of William and Mary Hays. When John was about eight years of age his parents moved to Mercer county, Kentucky, and there he grew up and married Catherine Munday, who was a native of Mercer county, the daughter of Woodson and Nancy Munday. In 1829 John Hays and his wife came to Hendricks county, Indiana, and entered land not far from New Winchester, where they lived, reared their family and there they both died. John Hays was a life-long farmer and owned between three and four hundred acres of land at the time of his death. James Hays, the father of Fred Albert, is one of nine children, only two others being alive at the present time, Harvey Hays, of New Winchester, and John Thomas Hays, who lives two miles southwest of Danville, in Center township.

James Hays was married twice, his first wife being Mary Kelley, a native of this county and the sister of his second wife. After his marriage on March 24, 1857, he began farming on the place where he is still living. At that time the land was heavily timbered and he had to clear ofif a plot of ground large enough to build his cabin, a task of no small magnitude in those days. On this farm he has built three houses, his first two having been destroyed by fire. To his first marriage there were born four children: Annie Belle, the wife of James Clark, of Danville, died in i8g8, leaving three children, Mabel, Rennice and Carlos; Hattie lives south of New Winchester, where she owns a farm; Frank, who married Ida Myrtle Sears, the daughter of Jeptha and Emily (Hamrick) Sears, lives on a farm adjoining his father's place on the east. He has a farm of one hundred and twenty-seven acres ; the youngest child of this first marriage is Fred Albert, whose history is herewith outlined. After the death of his first wife, in 1882, James Hays married Mrs. Margaret (Kelley) Rose in 1889, who was a sister of the first Mrs. James Hays. She is the mother of William M. Rose, of Eel River township, this county, whose history will be found elsewhere in this volume.

Fred Albert Hays spent his early days on his father's farm, and has been a tiller of the soil all his life. He moved to his present farm in March,

1902, and now has one hundred and twenty acres of land which he operates in an up-to-date manner. In addition to his general farming he makes a specialty of buying, feeding and selling cattle.

Mr. Hays was married June 2, 1901, to Emma L. Hardwick, the daughter of Warren and Nancy (Graham) Hardwick. Warren Hardwick was born September 25, 1839, in Marion township, this county. He was the son of Silas and Rhoda (Cook) Hardwick. Silas Hardwick was born about 1809. in Montgomery county, Kentucky, and moved to Shelby county, in the same state, when a child, where he remained until 1830. In 1832 he came to Hendricks county, Indiana, with his parents, Charles and Elizabeth Hardwick. Charles Hardwick entered one hundred and sixty acres of government land in Center township, Hendricks county, and one hundred and sixty acres in Marion township. Both Charles and his son, Silas, were blacksmiths and started the first shop in Danville. Silas Hardwick was an all-around mechanic, a good carpenter and an excellent cabinet-maker and in addition was a farmer of more than ordinary ability. Warren Hardwick grew up on the home farm and received his education in the old academy at Danville. He taught school for several terms in Indiana, Illinois and Iowa, and was married March 16, 1871, to Nancy G. Graham, the daughter of Young W. and Emily (Harris) Graham. Mr. Graham came from Mercer county, Kentucky, in November, 1840, and bought two hundred acres of school land in section 16, of Marion township, this county, and here his death occurred on April 22, 1846, at the age of thirty-five years, his wife surviving him for forty years, her death occurring on April 14, 1886. Warren Hardwick spent the rest of his life in Marion township, where he followed the occupation of a farmer and stock raiser. He became the owner of several fine farms and owned nine hundred acres in Marion township. Mr. and Mrs. Hardwick reared a large family of eight children, one of whom died in infancy: the other seven are still living and are as follows: Glenn; Silas; Emily L., the wife of Mr. Hays; Everett W. ; Harry J.; Florence R., the wife of Fred Creech, and Bessie E. In the fall of 1907 Mr. Hardwick bought a fine residence on the Danville and North Salem road, where he lived until his death, which occurred May 6, 1909. Mrs. Hardwick and all her children except the two married daughters still reside at this home. Mr. and Mrs. Fred Hays have a daughter. Irene, born May 8; 1902.

Mr. Hays is a Democrat in politics, but has never been active in the affairs of his party. He is interested in all public enterprises and takes a kindly interest in the welfare of his fellow citizens. His wife is a member of the Missionary Baptist church at New Winchester and is a woman of refinement and culture who adds grace and charm to the home. Mr. Hays is a congenial man and one who is well liked by every one. He and his wife are prominent in the best social circles of their community and still ha\e many years of usefulness before them.

Warren Hardwick

The Hardwick family have been in Hendricks county since 1832 and from the day that the first representative of the family arrived in the county until the present time they have played an important part in its history. They belong to that early group of pioneers who paved the way for the present civilization of the county and in all of these years they have always taken a leading part in promoting public enterprises which affected the weal of their community.

The Hardwicks trace their ancestry back to the latter part of the eighteenth century, the first of the family to come into this county being Charles Hardwick, who was born during the Revolutionary War. Silas, the son of Charles and Elizabeth (Crook) Harwick, was born in 1809 in Montgomery county, Kentucky, and came with his parents to this county in 1832. Charles entered one hundred and sixty acres in Center townshrp and he and his son Silas at once opened the first blacksmith shop in the little village of Danville, Silas being an excellent mechanic, carpenter and cabinetmaker.

Silas Hardwick married Rhoda Cook and they were the parents of Warren, whose interesting career is briefly set forth here. Warren Hardwick was born September 25, 1839, on the New Maysville road in the northeastern part of Marion township. He grew to manhood on the home farm and after completing the course in the common schools of the neighborhood, he attended the old Methodist Academy in Danville. He liien taught school for several years in Indiana, Illinois and Iowa, and made an enviable record as a teacher.

Mr. Hardwick was married March 16, 1871, to Nancy E. Graham, the daughter of Young W. and Emily (Harris) Graham. His wife was born in Marion town.^hip, her parents having come from Kentucky in the fall of 1840. Mr. Graham entered two hundred acres of school land in section 16 in Marion township and died on this farm on April 22, 1846, his wife surviving him until April 14, 1886. Mr. and Mrs. Hardwick have reared a family of eight children, seven of whom are still living : Glenn ; Emily L., wife of Fred A. Hays, whose history is given elsewhere in this volume; Everett VV. ; Harry J.; Florence R., the wife of Fred Creech, whose career is presented in another part of this volume, and Bessie.

After his marriage, Mr. Hardwick retired from teaching and devoted the remainder of his life to farming and stock raising. He was very successful and at the time of his death owned several fine farms, aggregating more than nine hundred acres. In the fall of 1907 he purchased a fine residence on the Danville and North Salem pike and there his widow and all the children except the two married daughters are now living. Mr. Hardwick enjoyed his new home only two years, passing away on May 6, 1909.

Mr. Hardwick was a man of unusual power and concentration and achieved success because he was a skillful manager and a keen observer of men and condition.-;. His career was such that his honesty and integrity were never questioned and the result was that he was highly esteemed by a large circle of friends and acquaintances in the county.

George Montgomery

In the year that the United States opened up its second war for independence there was born in the state of North Carolina a lad whom destiny was to make one of the pioneers of Hendricks county as well as one of its wealthiest men. North Carolina has sent its thousands into Indiana, but no one of its early emigrants made a more pronounced success in the Hoosier state than did the youngest, who uttered his first cry on July 22. 1S12. On this date there was born in the old state of North Carolina George Montgomery. His father was Samuel Montgomery and he came from sturdy old colonial stock, that could handle the musket and hoe with equal facility.

The first pictures of young George were filled with the terrible struggle which was then being waged between the United States and England, and those were stirring events which were happening just one hundred years ago. The girl whom he was to marry was born in the same year that General Jackson won his famous victory at Nev^f Orleans, and when Nancy Sturman, who was his future wife, was born, on February 27, 181 5, the

When George Montgomery and Nancy Montgomery were married they at once, if not before, began to plan to go West. It must have taken brave hearts to face a trip in those days to the plains of the Mississippi, but our grandfathers and grandmothers were never daunted by any fears. So George and Nancy talked it over with his people and her father and mother with the result that in the spring they decided to cast their fortunes in the rising state of Indiana. They induced the Sturmans to accompany them and the little party made their overland journey in the spring of 1837, arriving in Hendricks county, Indiana, when nature was at her loveliest. George and his young bride settled at Plainfield and the Sturmans located in Marion township. For seven years George worked as a farm hand for Jonathan Hadley, at the end of which time he felt able to purchase a forty-acre farm in Marion township. When they first located at Plainfield they occupied a rude log cabin with a dirt floor and a bed which was built into the wall. In this cabin their first three children were born and here was where they planned how they could buy the little farm. When they moved to the farm they put all of their possessions on a small sled and to the casual onlooker it would hardly have seemed possible that in a few years this little family would be one of the wealthiest in the whole county. But George Montgomery was a man who knew how to work and, what is more important, how to save his money. The result was that in the course of a few years he owned seven hundred and forty-five acres of land and was considered one of the wealthiest and best known men in the county. It is not every man who can start out in life with a wife, thirty-seven cents in cash and a roan horse, as did Mr. Montgomery, and accumulate over seven hundred acres of land, but that it has been and can be done is strikingly shown in his case. He and his good wife also reared a family of eight children: Julia, who died Septemlaer 16, 1907, at the age of seventy-two; Jonathan, who was born October 11, 1836, and died June 6, 1851; Hannah, who was born December 31, 1839, and married Tajdor Mills; James, who was born December 14, 1841, and whose life history is set forth in this volume; Harlan, who was born July 6, 1843, ^^i^ is now living at Bedford, Iowa; Samuel Thomas, who was born February 12, 1846, and died June 28, 1869; Mary Jane, who was born September 17, 1848, and died August 3, 185 1; and Tyra, who was born December 9, 1852, and whose history is presented elsewhere in this volume.

The mother of these children died April 8, 1881, at the age of sixtysix, and the father lived to the ripe old age of ninety-one, not passing away until October 26, 1903. They were truly good people and were a blessing to the community in which they lived so many years. The day of th;* log cabin is gone, the dirt floor is passed away forever, but the memory of such people as these will never die. They fought the good fight and the victory is theirs and their children and grandchildren ' shall always have cause to cherish their memorv with filial reverence.

Tyra Montgomery

Descended from an illustrious family, one of the earliest pioneers of Hendricks county, Tyra Montgomery is an excellent type of the sturdy sons who have placed this county in the foremost ranks among the agricultural counties of the state. He has been one of the factors in the material development of his particular locality and has always been foremost in lending his encouragement to worthy causes of every kind.

Tyra Montgomery, the son of George and Nancy (Sturman) Montgomery, was born in Marion township, Hendricks county, in 1852. Inasmuch as a history of George Montgomery is presented elsewhere in this volume, it is not necessary to go into detail concerning his interesting career at this place. Suffice it to say that he was one of the best known of the early pioneers of the county and a man who left a deep impress upon the county.

Tyra Montgomery received an excellent common school education and continued to reside under the parental roof until after his marriage. As a boy he was ambitious and worked his own way through the graded schools at Amo by working out and fattening hogs of his own, thus early showing a dependence upon his own efi^orts. At the age of twenty-three he was married to Amanda Wilson, the daughter of Peter and Delilah Wilson, and to this union there were born two children, Alice and Grace Ann.

Mr. Montgomery continued to farm until 1891, when he decided to quit farming and go on the road for the Huber Threshing Machine Company. He was in the employ of this company for the next seven years, part of the time being on the road and part of the time in their offices doing clerical work of various kinds. He is an expert penman and accountant and made a valualale man in the office for that reason. In 1898 he returned to Marion township and married Mrs. Mary Riley, the widow of WilHam Riley, she being a native of Orange county, Indiana. She is the daughter of Mahlon and Charity (Morris) Leonard, and has one daughter by her first marriage, Nora, who has been adopted by her stepfather.

Mr. Montgomery is a stanch Democrat, but does not take an active part in the political game, preferring to devote his time and energies to his agricultural interests. He has two highly productive farms. One consists of eighty acres near the northwest part of Danville, where he has just built a modern home in a beautiful location commanding a very broad view of the country. His other farm is one of eighty acres in the northeast part of Marion township. The family are very fond of music and have several musical instruments in the house, the daughter being an accomplished musician. Mr. Montgomery is a very genial man who easily makes the stranger feel at home and is known throughout the neighborhood as a man who is charitable to the faults of others and who tries to help all those who are in distress in any way. He has a big, whole-souled heart, which makes him friends everywhere he goes.

Oliver Sayer Gowin

The one of whom this narrative speaks is one of those strong, selfreliant and determined characters who are occasionally met with and who are of such a distinct type as to seem born leaders of their fellow men. Not that Mr. Gowin courts that distinction, for he is entirely unassuming, but his great force of character and his zeal and energy in whatever he imdertakes naturally places him at the head of the crowd, and he has been a potent factor in the development of Hendricks county, where he has long maintained his home and where he is well known to all classes for his honorable and industrious life, both in private and public.

Oliver Sayer Gowin, the son of Steven and Eliza (Debery) (Walton) Gowin, was born in Marion township, Hendricks county, Indiana, two miles from his present farm, on October i6, 1854. His father was left an orphan at a tender age, his parents, James and Mary Gowin, both dying shortly after his birth in Virginia. He was sent to Frankfort county, Kentucky, where he was reared to manhood by his uncle. Steven Gowin was twice married, his first wife being a native of Kentucky, and to this first mar- (43) riage were born twelve children, only one of whom, Jane, is living at the present time, the other eleven being as follows : Etna, James, William, Allen, Sarah, Mary, Steven Merritt, Elizabeth, Robert, John and two unnamed, who died in infancy. After his first marriage, in Kentucky, Steven Gowin moved to Ripley county, Indiana, where his first wife died, and some time after this he was married to Mrs. Eliza (Debery) Walton, and to the second marriage six children were born : Love, deceased ; Emily Adeline; Oliver Sayer, whose biography is set forth in this review; Alexander Campbell Buchanan; Cynthiana Ellen and Ann Eliza. While living in Ripley county, this state, Steven Gowin purchased a farm, but in 1852 he sold this place and moved to Hendricks county, where he settled in Marion township, about seven miles northwest of Danville. Here he purchased eighty acres and later added thirty acres more, and on this farm of one hundred and ten acres he lived the remainder of his life. He was a Whig in politics in the early days, and upon the dissolution of that old party, in 1852, he became a Democrat. He was a member of the Christian church at New Winchester and a man who was well known and highly respected in the community where he lived.

Oliver Sayer Gowin, the third child of his father's second marriage, was given his elementary education in the district schools of Marion township and spent his boyhood and early manhood days on his father's farm. Upon reaching his majority, in 1875, he was married to Mary E. Blanton, the daughter of John and Delilah (Ragland) Blanton. John Blanton was born in Kentucky in 181 1 and came to Hendricks county with his parents when a young man. He was a farmer all his life and died in 1873. His wife was also a native of Kentucky, her birth having occurred there in 1825, and her death occurred in this county in 1907, at the advanced age of eighty-two.

Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Gowin have seven children : Esther Ann, the wife of Daniel Dodds, a farmer of Eel River township, in this county; Alva Porter, who married Mamie Rooker, and who lives on a farm in Marion township, this county : he has four children living and one who died in infancy, Cecil, Ollie, Jennie and Raymond; Charles, who died at the age of thirteen; Edgar M. married Emma Eggers, and is a farmer in Marion township, has one daughter, Dorothy, living, while three children died in infancy; Lilly Tessie, who became the wife of Maurice Sutherlin, who was formerly a teacher, but is now a farmer in Putnam county, this state, and they have one son. Howard; Mamie, the wife of Allen Eggers, a farmer

Mr. Gowin has been a farmer since the age of ten, starting out at that early age by renting a small tract from his father and tending his crops with the enthusiasm which characterizes boys of that tender age. Upon his marriage, he rented a farm of eighty acres four miles northwest of New Winchester and remained on this farm for the first three years of his married life. He then moved to the eighty acres adjoining his present farm and lived here for twelve years, after which he moved to his former farm of eighty acres and spent the next three and one-half years there. He then returned to his other eighty acres and, after living there for about a year and a half, he moved to his present place in 1895, where he has since resided. By close attention to his business and by good management he has succeeded in accumulating a fine farm of two hundred and forty acres. He is what the world delights to honor, a self-made man, and is not at all ashamed of the fact that he started out in life with nothing.

Mr. Gowan is a Progressive Republican and is well informed upon all the political questions of the day, being a wide reader of magazines and newspapers. He has never held any office except that of township supervisor. He and his wife are members of the Christian church at New Winchester, and he has been a trustee of the church for a number of years. Mr. Gowan has managed his affairs in such a way as to keep his reputation unblemished before the world, and in his whole life of three score years in this county no act of his has ever been the occasion for censure upon the part of his fellow citizens. He has lived the quiet, unostentatious life of the good American citizen and is an honor and credit to the community in which he lives.

Hendricks county, Indiana, has reason to take pride in the personnel of her corps of medical men from the earliest days m her history to the present time, and on the roll of honored names that indicates the services of distinguished citizens in this iield of endeavor there is reason in reverting with gratification to that of Dr. Bertrand M. O'Brien, of Danville, who has attained eminence in his chosen profession and for a number of years has stood among the scholarly and enterprising physicians in a community long distinguished for the high order of its medical talent. He realized earlv that there is a purpose in life and that there is no honor not founded on worth and no respect not founded on accomphshment. His labors ha\-e been eminently worthy because they have contributed to a proper understanding of life and Its problems.

Bertrand INI. O'Brien, the son of John O. and Rachel ( Anderson) O'Brien, was born in Putnam county, Indiana, October 5, 1880. His father was born in county Tipperary, Ireland, in May, 1819, and was the son of James O'Brien. At the age of twenty-one John O'Brien came to America and for the first four or five years worked on the steamboats on the Mississippi river. He then came to Greencastle, where he worked for three years and then moved to Hamrick Station, bought land and followed the occupation of a farmer for the remainder of his life. His wife was a native of Putnam county, this state, and a woman of great strength of character. John O'Brien became a prominent citizen of Hamrick Station and vicinity and as an indication of the esteem in which he was held by his fellow citizens it may be noted that he was elected as township trustee on two different occasions, and served with fidelity and efficiency throughout his whole term of office. He was a member of the Catholic church, while his wife adhered to the Christian church. His death occurred February 6. 1905, and his widow is still living in New Winchester, this county.

Dr. Bertrand M. O'Brien was reared on the home farm and while a youth farmed on the shares in the neighborhood in order to get money for his education. After graduating from the Manhattan high school in his county, he attended the Central Normal College at Danville. However, he was determined to obtain a medical education, and he entered, in the fall of 1899, the St. Louis College of Physicians and Surgeons, and worked his way through, graduating with honor in April, 1903. He at once began the practice of medicine at Hazelwood, in Putnam county, this state, but after a year he entered into a partnership with another physician at Filmore. This partnership continued for one year, after which he came to New Winchester on March i, 1905, where he has since continued to reside. Here he has built up a very large and lucrative practice and is justly regarded as one of the best physicians of this section of the state. In 191 3, in order to keep fully abreast of the times, he took a post-graduate course at the State University of Illinois, at Chicago. He is a wide reader of all literature bearing upon his profession and takes a deep interest in all the associations which deal with his profession.

nam coi'.nty. Doctor O'Brien and wife are the parents of two children, Berenice and Waldo. Fraternally, he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, while he and his wife are both members of the Christian church of New Winchester. The Doctor is a very genial gentleman to meet and has an ever-increasing number of friends who take delight in his success. His career is a splendid example of what can he accomplished by a determined American youth when he luakes up his mind to qualify himself for any particular profession and should be a source of inspiration to others who are forced to make their own way in the world. Doctor O'Brien is just entering into the period of his life where his usefulness is increasing and in the course of time he bids fair to become one of the most valuable members of the community in which he is living.