Hendricks County, Indiana - Biographical sketches, 1914 (part 17 of 19)

Canady H. Dow'Nard

There can be no more comprehensi\-e history written of a city or county, or e^-en of a state and its people, than that which deals with the life work of those who. jjy their own endeavor and indomitable energy, have placed themselves where they may well deserve the title of "progressive," and in this sketch will be found the record of one who has outstripped the less active and less able plodders along the pathway of life. Canady H. Downard is one who has not Ijeen subdued by the many obstacles and failures that come to every one. but has made them stepping stones to higher things and at the same time that he was winning his way in material things of life gained a reputation for uprightness and probity.

Canady H. Downard, the son of David M. and Cassandra (Morgan) Downard, was born in Marion township, Hendricks county, Indiana, on December 27,, 1862. His parents were both natives of this county, his father being a farmer and stock raiser and one of the substantial men of the township. The grandfather of Canady H. Downard was Judge James Downard, who was one of the first probate judges of the Hendricks county court and had the honor of laying out the town of Danville in 1825. Judge Downard was a native of Pennsvhania, came to the Northwest territory about 181 1, removed to Kentuck\- a few years later and settled near Brooklyn, Indiana, in 1818. He afterwards mo\ed to Indianapolis and shortly afterwards permanently located in Plainfield, where he lived until his death in 1846. To the subject's father were born ten children : James A. ; Mrs. Martha Hammond, of Danville: :\Irs. Mary J. Anderson, of .Anderson; Canady H. ; \\'illiam, of Ea.st St. Louis: Erie, deceased: Oliver, of Lynn, Indiana: Frank, of Danville, and two who died in infancy.

Canady H. Downard was reared on the farm and received his common school education in the INIarion township schools. He then took a course in the Central Normal College at Danville, after which he returned to the farm, where he has continued to live until the present time. In 1S89 he was mar- ried to Nettie Hamrick, the daughter of William F. and Dicy (Blackburn) Hamrick. Mr. Hamrick was born in Flemingsburg, Kentucky, and came to this county in his boyhood with his parents, who settled in Marion township. He became one of the most successful farmers in the county and owned seventeen hundred acres at the time of his death. His wife was born in Madison county, Kentucky, the daughter of Mr. and ]Mrs. Tames Blackburn. Mr. Hamrick was in the dry goods business for a time at Danville, but sold out and devoted his energies to the raising of Hambletonian horses and other fine stock. In his early life he was a Republican, but later in life he became a Prohibitionist. He and his wife were members of the Friends church. She died in 1898.

After Mr. Downard was married he began farming in Marion township and has always lived in that township with the exception of five months when he lived in Dan\'ille. He now has a fine farm of three hundred and twentyfive acres which he keeps in a high state of cultix'ation and in excellent repair at all times. He pays particular attention to stock raising and has made a success of it. He is a man of more than ordinary business ability and is able to grasp a proposition and determine its value very accurately. He is a quiet, sociable and pleasant man to meet and makes a stranger feel at home in a short time. His career has in every way been commendable and accounts for the high esteem in which he is held in the community in which he lives.

The success of men in business or any vocation depends upon character as well as upon 'knowledge, it being a self-evident proposition that honesty is the best policy. Business demands confidence and where that is lacking business ends. In every community some men are known for their upright lives, strong common sense and moral worth rather than for their wealth or political standing. Their neighbors and acfjuaintances respect them, the ,^'ounger generations heed their exam]:)le. and when they "wrap the drapery of their couches about them and lie down to pleasant dreams" posterity listens with reverence to the story of their quiet and useful lives. Among such men of a past generation in Indiana was the late James L. McCoun, of Danville, Hendricks county, who was not only a progressive man of affairs, successful in material pursuits, but a man of modest and unassuming demeanor, well educated, a fine type of the reliable, self-made American, a friend to the poor, charitable to the faults of his neighbors and who always stood ready to unite with them in every good work and active in the support of laudable public enterprises. He was proud of Danville and of the grand state of Indiana and zealous of their progress and prosperity. He was a man who in every respect merited the high esteem in which he was uni\'ersally held, for he was a man of public spirit, intellectual attainments and exemplary character.

James L. McCoun, one of Danville's best known citizens, was born in Putnam count}', this state, on November 7, 1844, and died at his home in Danville, December 25, 1909. He was the son of Ward McCoun, one of the early pioneer settlers of the state. For many years Mr. McCoun was in the dry goods business in Danville, having associated with him in the firm his sons, Charles and Raleigh, and his nephew, Jam.es McCoun. He had made a success in business ranks and was regarded as one of the most substantial citizens of the town.

Mr. McCoun was married on August 12. 1863, to Fidelia McCoun, and to this union were born three sons, John S.. who died February 18, 1880: Charles L. and Raleigh B., who are both now living in Danville. He was a loving and affectionate husband and father and was greatly interested in his domestic life. Xo father ever cared for his boys and looked after their welfare any more conscientiously than did he.

Mr. McCoun was a man among men, always stood for the right and considered those around him and those with whom he came in contact, and was always willing that others should have their own views on any subject, although they might be different from his own. On the other hand, he would never compromise when he thought he would be doing something wrong. As a friend he was true in every respect and any one in considering him on any question for the good of the community, always knew he was to be found on the right side. As a member of the Christian church he was one of the most faithful and there is no place outside of his home relations where he will be more missed than in the Christian church of Dan\-ille, where he had been a member for many years and where he had been an elder, serving faithfully and conscientiously. He was faithful in his attendance, not only at the regular Lord's day services of the church, but when in health was seldom absent from the mid-week prayer meeting, and those who attended these mid-week meetings always said that the talks of Mr. McCoun were very inspirational.

The funeral services were held in the church where he had so long been a devoted member, and were conducted b>- the Re\-. Goodnight and Rew Elvet E. Moorman and Rev. Edgar Fay Daugherty, a former pastor of the church.

who delivered a sermon which was a masterpiece. The funeral was one of the largest ever held in Danville and the church was filled with relatives and hundreds of sympathizing and sorrowing friends. Mr. McCoun was prominent in all that counts for the ideal man. He had character of the highest type and stood for the best things. He was a part and parcel of those thoughts which are pure and his actions squared with his thoughts. He had the faculty of becoming interested in the daily affairs of the people about him and when one met him he felt at once that Mr. A'IcCoun was genuinely sympathetic and sympathetically genuine. Some way or other one felt that there was just a little more sunshine in the world after he met him. Any mo\'emeht that had for its object the betterment of his home town met with his hearty support. It can be truly said that his faith, his conscience, his purity, his spiritual ser\ice have passed from this world to the better world to come.

John E. English

More than half a century has dissolved in the mists of the past since John E. English was born and during that momentous period he has witnessed and taken an active part in the general development of Hendricks county and is highly esteemed as one of its respected and worthy farmers, and during that time his integrity has never been cjuestioned, nor has anything savoring in the least of dishonor ever attached to his name or reputation. He has ever tried to measure up to the standard of correct manhood and Hendricks county is proud to number him among its representative men.

John E. English, the son of Myzeal and Malinda (Arnold) English, was born four and one-half miles north of Danville, Indiana, on March 30, 1856. Myzeal English was a native of New Jersey, as were his parents. He came to this county with them when he was about eight years of age. Jonathan English, the father of Myzeal, entered land near the town of Danville and here he lived until his death. Myzeal English received schooling in the subscription schools of that day, and from his boyhood up had an overwhelming thirst for knowledge. When a mere youth he decided that he wanted to become a physician and with that end in view "read" medicine, as was the custom in those days, with some of the local physicians of his neighborhood. Afterwards he practiced in Hamilton and Boone counties for a number of years and later taught school in Center township for several terms. He was a man of great force of character and was one of the most int^uential men in the community. In addition to being a practicing physician, school teacher and farmer, he was, for a long time, a justice of peace in Union township. Because of his reputation for honesty and uprightness, men with grievances preferred to have them tried before Doctor English. Doctor English had a farm a mile and a half south of Lizton, after his return from Boone county, and on this farm of ninety-seven and a half acres he spent his spare time. He was married in March, 1854, to Malinda Arnold. To this union were born six children : George, of Shelby county, Indiana ; John, whose history is herein portrayed ; Mrs. Mary E. Jane Rutledge ; Mrs. Sarah Helen Hamilton, deceased; Mrs. Eva Ogle and Charles H. Doctor English was a Democrat his whole life, but never held any public office other than that of justice of .peace. He died May 31, 1906, of paralysis on his farm south of Lizton. His wife died December 3, 1907.

John E. English was given a good education by his worthy father and assisted on the home farm until his marriage. He was ma;rried October 25, 1882, to Florence Talbott, the daughter of Willis and Nancy (McCoun) Talbott. Willis Talbott was born in Bourbon count}-, Kentucky, and in that state married Nancy McCoun in November, 1840. In February, 1841, the young couple came to Hendricks county on horseback and settled first on a farm in the south part of Eel River township, where they lived a few years, then moved to the first farm south of the present home of Mr. English and here spent the remainder of their lives. Mr. Talbott was born in 181 1 and died in 1881 and his wife died in 1898. There were eleven children in the Talbott family: Aria, deceased; Mrs. Rachel Grififes, deceased; John T., deceased; Dr. Robert C, of California; Nicholas L., deceased; Charles W., of California; Mrs. Mary L. Thomas, deceased; Nanny, deceased; Mrs. Scottie Sheets; Henry Clay, deceased, and Florence, the wife of Mr. English. Mr. and Mrs. English have two children, Mrs. Erie Inez Conn, deceased, and Willis M., who is salesman for the Stewart Talking Machine Company at Indianapolis. He married Helen Foore.

Mr. English is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Danville and the Knights of Pythias at Lizton. He and his wife are members of the Daughters of the Rebekah at Danville. While he has been a stanch Democrat all his life, he has confined his party activities to the casting of his vote at election time. As a citizen of the community and as the head of the family, Mr. English has been true in every relation of life to his highest ideals, and in no situation has he fallen short of the full measure of (48) men. He has always been found on the right side of all questions affecting the public welfare and his life has been a credit to the county honored by his citizenship.

Richard T. Dorman

The career of the well-known gentleman whose name forms the caption for this biographical memoir was a strenuous and varied one. entitling him to honorable mention among the representati\'e citizens of his day and generation in the county with which his life was so closely identified for so many years. Although he passed to the great beyond March 22, 1914, yet his influence still pervades the lives of a wide circle of friends and acquaintances who delighted to honor him. As a private citizen, as a man of business, as a valiant soldier of the Civil War, he was always true to himself and his fellow men, and the tongue of calumny never touched him. Although he had been in this country but two short years when the Civil War opened, he went to the front and fought as bravely for his adopted country as any of her native sons.

Richard T. Dorman, who lived a retired life in Indianapolis for about one year after a long and successful business career in Hendricks county, was born April 10, 1843, in Brighton, England. Both of his parents were natives of England, and his father, Richard, never came to America. After his father's death his mother, Ann (Kent) Dorman, came to this country with her five children, landing in New York in i860. While Richard, the subject ot this sketch, remained in New York for some time, his mother and the other children went on to Kansas, where the mother died several years ago. The five children are as follows: Richard T., the oldest one of the family; James, who is now living in Kansas; Alfred, deceased; John, now a resident of Kansas ; and Henry, who lives in Washington.

Richard T. Dorman was seventeen years of age when he first saw the shores of this country and for the first eight months of his life in the New World he worked in the city of New York. In 1861 he came west and finally stopped in Hendricks county, Indiana, where he found employment on the farm of Jack Parker, a farmer living south of Pittsboro. He continued to work for him until September, 1862, when he enlisted in Company H, Ninetyninth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He served until the close of the war and participated in thirteen engagements, among which were the battles of Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain and all the battles which General Sherman fought in his famous campaign to the sea. At Dallas, Georgia, he

Mr. Dorman came back to Hendricks county after he was mustered out and at once enrolled as a student in the Northwestern Christian University at Indianapolis. After remaining in school for some time he was compelled to take up some occupation for a living and, getting an opportunity to learn the plasterer's trade, he took that up and followed it until 1875, when he started in the mercantile business at Pittsboro, in Hendricks county. He was very successful from the start and for the next thirty years he maintained a general store in that place. He was a worthy representative of that foreignborn element in our population which has played such an important part in the development of our state. During his long business career he not only gained the confidence of his fellow business men, but as a man of force of character, upright and honest in his dealings with his fellow citizens, he gained the esteem of a large circle of friends and acquaintances in Hendricks county.

In 1902 Mr. Dorman sold his store at Pittsboro and removed to his farm in Putnam county, where he lived until 191 1, but the call of the counter and the jingle of the cash register took him back into the business world again. He went to Elwood, Indiana, in 191 1 and engaged in the mercantile business for eight months, but Father Time induced him to sell out and retire permanently from active business and he took his advice. He went to Indianapolis, where he lived until a few days before his death, when he moved to Brownsburg.

Mr. Dorman was married in 1873 to Seralda J. Dillon, who was born in Pittsboro. They are the parents of a very interesting family of ten children. all of whom are living but one. The children, in the order of their l)irtli, are as follows: Ivan, of Martinsville. Indiana: Earl, who is an officer in the Fourth United States Cavalry, and now stationed in Hawaii: Erwin, <>f Montana; Ulrey, who is connected with the government sur\-ey ser\ice in New Mexico; Hubert, who is a solicitor for the Metropolitan Business College of Chicago ; Clifford, who is now studying to be an electrical engineer ; and three who are still under the parental roof. Alma, Mina (now Mrs. I. C. Gharst) and Kent. Mr. and Mrs. Dorman had just pride in their children and gave them the best education obtainable. They are all making a success in life and reflect honor on their parents.

Mr. Dorman was a life-long Republican, but was never a candidate for any public office, feeling that his business affairs demanded all of his time. However, he always kept in touch with the current issues of the day and dis- cussed them intelligently. He was a consistent adherent of the Christian church and always contributed to the support of that denomination. Personally, Mr. Dorman was a man of clean character and ever exerted a wholesome and healthful influence in the community, giving his support to every movement which promised to advance the welfare of the localities in which he lived.

Charles C. Clay

Charles C. Clay, the son of John J. Crittenden Clay and Mattie ( Walker) Clay, was born November 2^, 1874, in Eel River township, this county. He was given a good common school education in the district schools of his home neighborhood, and early in life decided to devote his attention to agriculture and stock raising. His father had been a successful farmer and stock dtaler and he worked with him until his marriage, and in this way received a practical education along those lines which he intended to make his life N\ork. He continued to reside for two years after his marriage on his father's farm and then bought a farm one and one-half miles west of North Salem, which, with forty acres that he had inherited from his grandmother, gave him a fine tract of two hundred and fifty-five acres. Llere he lived for seven years, and then moved into North Salem, where he has since resided. He still manages his farm, but puts most of his attention to the buying and shipping of li\-e stock in car load lots, tie keeps his farm well stocked at all times by buying the cattle in the city markets and placing them on his farm for fattening. Li this way he makes use of all his own feed and grain which is --aised on his land.

:\Ir. Clay was married in October, 1897, to Adina Emmons, daughter of James AL and Elizabeth (Trotter) Emmons. Her father was born October 28, 1828, in Giles county, Virginia, the son of Jehu and Sarah (Henderson) Emmons. When James i\I. was about eight years of age his parents moved to this state and located in Marion township, this county. About three years later they permanently located in Eel River township, where they lived the remainder of their li\'es. James M. Emmons was married in January, 1853, to Elizabeth Trotter, a native of this county and the daughter of James and Sarah (Whitt) Trotter, early pioneers of Hendricks coimty. After his marriage, James ^I. li\-ed at North Salem, where he followed the trade of a carpenter and became a jjrospercus contractor and builder, an occupation which he followed the remainder of his life except when holding public office. In 1878 he was elected sheriff of Hendricks county and four years later was re-elected. Upon leaving the sheriff's office he bought a farm two miles south of North Salem, where he lived for ten years. He then sold his farm and moved to North Salem, where he has since lived. Mr. and Mrs. Emmons reared a family of eleven children, eight of whom are still living: Oscar, of North Salem; Jewel, of Indianapolis; Leonidas. of Texas; Eldred, of Nebraska; Sarah Catherine, the wife of Nathan Davis, of Denver, Colorado; Ida, the widow of Wilson Haynes; Gertrude, the wife of Thaddeus Banta, of Decatur, Illinois, and Adina, the wife of Mr. Clay. The mother of these children died September 6, 1912. Mr. and Mrs. Emmons were both members of the Christian church.

Mr. Clay is a member of the Knights of Pythias, and he and his wife are both consistent members of the Christian church of their town. They are the parents of four children, Mary. Emmons, Josephine and John J. C. Mr. Clay is one of the sterling and substantial citizens of North Salem, a man whose strong qualities demand respect, and whose congenial manner has won him manv friends.

Samuel Sherman Waters

It is not given to all men to do more than one thing and do it well, but in the case of Samuel S. Waters it is found that he has followed three distinct professions and in each has given equally efficient and faithful service. Each position which he has held has called for special attainment and qualifications and in each case he has measured up to the full requirements of the position. For twenty-five years he was a successful school teacher in this county and then he entered the newspaper business at North Salem and in this was equally successful ; later he was appointed postmaster of North Salem and as a result of ci-\-iI ser\nce examination he holds this office as long as he performs his duties properl}-. With his superior qualifications and with his attention to his business, it means that he will hold this office as longas he lives, or until he resigns. His life has been a busy one.

Samuel Sherman Waters, son of Isaac B. and Elizabeth Ann (Watts) Waters, was born Eebruary 6, 1865, about three miles northeast of Brownsburg. The father, Isaac B. Waters, was born March 10, 1832, in Brown county, Ohio, and was the son of Philip and Lydia (Gardner) Waters. Philip \\'aters and his wife came to Hendricks county in 1834, when Isaac

B. was two years of age, and entered one hundred and twenty acres of land on November 3, 1834. Philip Waters died in 1851, at the age of fifty-one, having been born in Brown county, Ohio, in 1800. His wife died in 1863. Mr. and Mrs. Philip Waters were the parents of twelve children, Isaac being the only one who is living; the eleven deceased are as follows: Gary, Benjamin, Lucinda, Reynolds, Joseph, John, Raszilla, Matilda, and three who died in infancy. Isaac B. Waters was first married in 1858 to Elizabeth S. Walter, and to this union were born three children, two who died in infancy and Mrs, Fannie Williamson. Isaac B. Waters married his second wife, who was Elizabeth A. Watts, on November 19, 1863, and to this union were born five children, three dying in infancy, Samuel Sherman, whose history is herein given, and John T. Isaac Waters has lived in this county practically all of his life, spending two years, from 1865 to 1867, in Illinois. In addition to his farming, he was also a carpenter and cabinet-maker and in 1868 he went into the undertaking business. This he followed until 1904. when he transferred his business to his son John, who followed the same until 1913, when he sold out to W. C. Hicks. Isaac B. Waters was one of the progressive business men of Pittsboro. He built the block where he conducted his undertaking and furniture establishment, later selling this to Howard Stanley. He was very much interested in Masonry and had served seven terms as master of the Pittsboro lodge. He was justice of the peace for several years and was elected three times afterwards, but declined to serve. In addition to his career as a private citizen, he served a short time in the Civil War, enlisting October i, 1864, in Company C, Twenty-fifth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and fought in the battles in North Carolina under Sherman in the spring of 1865. He was discharged June 10, 1865, at Washington, D. C, and mustered out in July following.

Samuel S. Waters has lived in this county all of his life with the exception of two years when his parents were in Illinois. After graduating from the common schools, he attended the Central Normal College at Danville and then began teaching school in this county. For the next twenty years he was engaged in teaching at and near Pittsboro, Lizton and North Salem and was regarded as one of the most successful teachers of the county. In 1906 he bought the North Salem Herald of B. M. Pace and continued as editor for the next seven years. In 1909 he was appointed postmaster of North Salem and later took the civil service examination and, the ofiice being in the fifth class, he will retain the position as long as his services are satisfactory. Two rural routes out of Pittsboro serve about three hundred rural patrons.

In February, 1889, Mr. Waters was married to Ethel Wills, the daughter of J. M. and Alice (Dillon) Wills, of Pittsboro. To this marriage have been born two children, Horace Monroe and Mary Alice. Mr. Waters is a member of the North Salem lodge of Free and Accepted Masons. He has a pleasant and attractive home in Pittsboro,. where the spirit of genuine hospitality is always in evidence and where he and his wife delight to entertain their many friends. He has always been a man of public-spirited energy and while a resident of Pittsboro has given his hearty support to all movements of a public nature which were directed towards the welfare of the community. He has been true to life in its every phase and the feeling of the communit}' towards him is shown in the confidence and regard in which he is held bv all who know him.

Bert A. White

Among the well-known and ppoular citizens of Hendricks county is Bert A. White, a business man of Brownsburg and the trustee of Lincoln township. He is a man who, by the exercise of his keen faculties, soundness of judgment and honest dealings with his fellow men, has earned a comfortable competency and is justly deserving of the high esteem in which he is held by his fellow citizens.

Bert A. White, the son of Vincent and Cassandra (Black) White, was born August 8, 1867, in the township where he has always made his home. Vincent White was a native of Kentucky, and when about six years of age came to Indiana with his parents, Asa and Margaret (Hunter) White, who settled in Hendricks county. Asa White was a wagon-maker by trade and first settled in Danville, where he operated a shop for a few years, but later purchased a farm and continued his wagon making on the farm for the rest of his life. He made the wagons at times when he was noi able to work on the farm, and in this way added not a little to his annual income. Vincent White was reared on his father's farm and followed the occupation of a farmer all his life. After his marriage he lived on a farm near his father's place for a time and then moved to his wife's father's farm, where he lived twenty years. He is now living retired in Brownsburg. Cassandra Black, the wife of Vincent White, was born in Kentucky, coming here with her parents, John and Virginia (Campbell) Black, when she was a small child.

Brownsburg since he was twenty-one years of age. Most of his life he has been engaged in the meat business, and much of this time has conducted a meat shop in Brownsburg, He and his brother-in-law, Edgar Thompson, were in partnership for a time, and within ten years they sold and bought back their place of business several different times. From 1899 to 1903 Mr. White was a live-stock broker in the stock yards at Indianapolis, but again returned to Brownsburg, where he engaged in the meat business with his brother-in-law. Upon his return from Indianapolis he and his brother-inlaw also operated a saw-mill for two years, afterwards selling the mill and engaging again in the meat business, which they continued until 1912, when Mr. White retired from this business altogether.

In 1908 Mr. White was elected as trustee of Lincoln township, and since 1912, when he closed out his meat business, has given his entire attention to the duties of this important office. Since the 1913 Legislature extended his term of office two years, he is still holding the office and his term will not expire until the end of 1914. He attends strictly to the various duties connected with this position and is making a very competent and efficient official. There is no more important office in the LTnited States than that of the humble trustee, and no other official handles as much real power as does he. He is both an administrative and legislative official and is practically the king within his own bailiwick.

Mr. White was married June 16, 1889, to Mary E. Thompson, the daughter of Squire and Millicent (Griggs) Thompson, both of whom were born, reared and married near Richmond, Kentucky. Squire Thompson was the son of Jesse and Mary (Little) Thompson, both of whom lived and died in Kentucky, and his wife was the daughter of Martin and Eliza (Burgess) Griggs, who were also life-long residents of Kentucky. The Thompsons came to Indiana and settled in Hendricks county about 1870. Squire Thompson was a stock buyer and moved to Brownsburg about 1881, where he remained until his death, which occurred in 1906. He was an active Republican and he and his wife are loyal and consistent members of the Christian church. He was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias and was known as a very industrious and progressive man in every way. He was a public-spirited citizen, who was always on the alert for the welfare of his community. His wife died in 1905. Mr. and Mrs. White are the parents of four children: Bessie A., the wife of William H. Cosby, of Indianapolis, has one son, Harold : Nellie, William Leslie and Herbert, the last three named being still under the parental roof.

Mr. White lends his support to the Democratic party at all times and has always been a prominent figure in the caucuses and conventions of his party. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Tribe of Ben-Hur, taking an active interest in the workings of these fraternal orders, while he and his wife are both loyal and consistent members of the Christian church, to which they give their zealous support. He and his wife have worked hard for their success and they made what they have honestly and they can claim a wide circle of friends here who rejoice with them in their prosperity. They started out in life without much in the way of worldly goods, but have worked hard together, have been economical and managed well and for this reason they have the entire respect and esteem of all who know them, for their lives have been above reproach and tliey are regarded as good neighbors and obliging friends.

Phillip B. Herring

The psalmist says that three score and ten years is the allotted span of man's life and yet there are scores of people living in Hendricks county who have passed that age and hundreds of others who are just approaching it. Among the latter is Phillip B. Herring, who was born in 1846 in Hendricks county, near Clayton. His parents were Azriah and Ellen (Beasley) Herring, both natives of Kentucky, who both came to this county in early days with their parents and were married at Belleville. Azriah Herring worked by the day at various kinds of employment for the first ten or twelve years after his marriage, when he purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land in the western part of Brown township. On this farm he lived for the next thirty years, when he sold it and bought another farm in the northwestern part of the same township, where he lived until his death. Mr. and Mrs. .Vriah Herring reared a family of fourteen children.

Phillip B. Herring lived under the parental roof until he was married in 1874 and often laughs because he was married at seven o'clock on the morning of January ist, saying that for once he started the new year right. Previous to his marriage he had purchased thirty-three acres of land where he now resides, and since that time has added twenty-seven acres more until he is now owner of sixty acres of as fine farming land as can be found in the county. On this farm he has a good house and large and commodious barns and outbuildings, and has his farm well improved in everv wav.

and Elizabeth Ann (Menefee) Walker, who were both natives of Kentucky, coming to this county after their marriage, settling in Washington township about 1862, but later buying forty acres of land in Brown township. America Walker was one of three children living at home when she was married. Mr. and Mrs. Herring are the parents of four children: Minnie Alice, who married Conrad Marker, the son of Amos and Laura Marker, and they live just across the road from Mr. Herring and have a family of four children, Lawrence, Cleo, Eula L. and Violet A. ; Angie Belle is the wife of Virgil S. Watson, the editor of the Brownsbiirg Record, whose history is given elsewhere in this volume. Mr. and Mrs. Watson have one daughter, Hazel Bernice; Mary E., who lives at home, and Carl C, who married Sallie Funkhouser, the daughter of Lucien and Mira (Crane) Funkhouser. Carl is a farmer living in this township.

Mr. and Mrs. Herring are both loyal and faithful members of the Methodist Protestant church at Brownsburg and give it their zealous support, having always been interested in the activities of this denomination. Mr. Herring, in addition to his farming interests, made a specialty of breeding fine horses and has won several prizes at the county and state fairs with some of his best stock. In recent years he has retired from active work and at the present time is only supervising the management of his farm. He is a well preserved man, despite his sixty-eight years, and has a host of friends wherever he is known. Through his long residence in this county he has gained an enviable reputation for hii integrity and generosity, and is justlv regarded as one of the representative men of his community.

George B. Davis

There is nothing which stimulates a man to deeds of worth and a life of uprightness and rectitude more than the recollection of the strength of character and examples of right living which ha\-e been shown by his forbears. In this respect Mr. Davis is fortunate beyond the majority of men in being descended from a line of men who have been in their communities men of strength and influence, doing their duty well, whether in the peaceful pursuits of ordinary life or in positions of puljlic trust. A heritage of such memory of the lives of one's forefathers is of more value than a heritage of material wealth. In the business affairs of North Salem the subject of this sketch occupies a position of importance and among those who are todav conservino- the commercial and industrial prosperity of this community none occupy ;i higher standing among their associates than he whose name appears at the head of this sketch.

George B. Davis, a banker of Xorth Salem, was born April 14. 1869, near this town. His parents were Francis Marion and Sarah E. (Brown) Davis. Francis Marion Davis was born near North Salem in 1837, the son of Nathan and Nancy Davis, who came to this county about 1833 from Mount Sterling, Kentucky. Nathan and Nancy Da\'is spent the remainder of their lives in North Salem, dying here in the early history of the state. Francis Marion grew up to manhood in this count}', farmed, operated a sawmill, flour-mill, a planing-mill, dealt extensively in lumber in Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky, and was one of the most enterprising business men who ever managed a financial transaction in this county. He was active up until the time of his death in 1887. He was a member of the Masonic order, active in. the Christian church, a public-spirited citizen, who was very frank in his manner. His wife, Sarah E. Brown, was born near Cove Spring, Kentuck}-, and came to this county earl}- in childhood with her parents, George M. and. Martha Brown. Later her parents mo\'ed to Crawfordsville, where her father spent his last days. His mother still lives in North Salem.

George B. Da\'is was given a common school and high school education in his home town and then attended Butler College for four years, after which he graduated from the State University at Bloomington in the spring of 1894. He received the degree of Bachelor of Arts from Butler College, and the degree of Bachelor of Laws from Indiana University. Before he had finished his course at Bloomington, he had become part owner of the North Salem Bank and to this financial institution he has devoted his time ever since leaving college.

The North Salem Bank was organized in 1891 by Pritchard & Son of Illinois. In 1893 they sold it to C. W. Davis, G. B. Davis and Samuel R. Stewart. Soon after this, Mr. Stewart sold his interests to J. B. Fleece and the bank is now owned by C. W. Davis, G. B. Davis and Samuel R. Stewart. The deposits now average one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and it is considered one of the strongest and safest private banks in central Indiana. It is well managed and is an institution which has won the confidence of the people of North Salem and vicinity, because all of the owners are upright men of excellent education.

Mr. Davis was married in December, 1897, to Lulu C. Duncan, the daughter of George H. and Nancy (Davis) Duncan. She was born and reared in Eel River township, this county, near North Salem, and received her education in the North Salem schools. Her parents were both born and reared in this county and have spent their whole life here. Mr, and Mrs. Davis have three children: Rollin, aged eleven; Mildred, aged nine, and Mary Eunice, aged six. The family are members of the Christian church and Mr. Davis is president of the board and treasurer of the church. Mr. Davis is a man of unassuming demeanor in his relations to his fellow men. among whom he enjoys a well deserved popularity, and has, without resei've, always been for the best things in life for the community honored by his residence and here his name has become known for his sterling character and worth.

Grandison Eaton

If for no other reason, the life history of Grandison Eaton, well-known citizen of Brownsburg, Hendricks county, Indiana, should be contained in this work because he is one of the honored veterans of the great War of the Rebellion, who unhesitatingly gave up the pleasure of home associations and the opportunities of business and ofifered his services and his life, if need be. in order that the nation might be perpetuated and the Star and Stripes saved from treason and hishonor; but there are other reasons, one of which is that he has led a life of honesty and sobriety and another is that he has done much for the general good of his community here.

Grandison Eaton, a distinguished veteran of the Civil War and publicspirited citizen of Brownsburg, was born in Hendricks county, September 13, 1837, and has spent his whole life within the county. His parents were Greenup and Mahala (Turpin) Eaton. Greenup Eaton was born in 181 3 in Bourbon county, Kentucky, and came to this county in childhood with his parents, his father dying soon after their arrival in this county. Mahala Turpin was born in Scott county, Kentucky, in 181 5, and reared to young womanhood near Clermont, in Marion county, this state. ' She was the daughter of Jacob and Martha Turpin, who came from Kentucky among the early pioneers. Jacob Turpin was born in 1785 in the eastern part of Maryland and was a son of William and Nancy (Hanley) Turpin. William Turpin's father was a soldier of the Revolution and lived to the advanced age of over one hundred years. In 1786 William and Nancy Turpin left Maryland and went to Kentucky, and for the first few years were compelled to live in a block house with the other settlers of the community for safety, as at that time the Indians were on the war path and practically all of the settlers of Kentuckv were gathered in the block houses scattered throughout the state. Jacob Turpin married Martha Taylor in Bourbon county, Kentucky, in 1804. Martha Taylor was born in 1786, of Scotch ancestry. Jacob Turpin and his wife moved to Scott county, Kentucky, and in 1820 came to Indianapolis when it had not even yet reached the dignity of a village. In 1829 Jacob Turpin and his wife mo\ed to the eastern part of Hendricks county, near Clermont. At that time there were no bridges nor roads and the farm on which they settled was a virgin wilderness in every respect. Jacoli Turpin started in to clear the ground and make a home. He died in 1849 and she in 1855.

Greenup Eaton, the father of Grandison, whose history is here presented, came from Marion county, Indiana, to Hendricks county while still a boy and hired out to the farmers in this county to work by the day. He married Mahala Turpin, and to them were born four children, James Samuel, William Harrison, Grandison and Ruann. \Mien Grandison was about three years of age his mother died, and his father a,fterwards married i\Ielinda Smith, and to this second marriage live children were born, Reuben, Thomas, Willard F., Fannie and Mahala J. The mother of these children died after Mahala was born, the latter being then reared by Moses Gwinn. Some time after the death of his second wife. Greenup Eaton married Cynthia Watson, and to his third marriage were born seven children : Marcelite, the wife of Joseph Jones; Luna, the wife of Oliver Parsons: Estella, who married William Ellis; Flenry, who was at one time sheriff of Hendricks county, and Charles and Allen, both of whom died in infancy.

Greenup Eaton made his home two miles north of Brownsburg, where he operated a brick yard and also followed the trade of a bricklayer. He was one of the first men to place brick on the ground for the erection of the present insane asylum at Indianapolis. He and two other brick men ran a race to see which one would be the first to get a load of brick on the ground and he was the winner. He was a man who was intensely devoted to his country and had a deep-seated hatred of slavery. When the Knights of the Golden Circle began their nefarious operations in Indiana, he waged incessant war against them, and did everything that he could to break up their organization in his county. Four of his sons, William Harrison, Grandison, Reuben and Thomas, went to the front and all of them made valiant soldier* for the Union. He died in 1866, a man universally honored and respected.

Grandison Eaton, the son of Greenup Eaton by his first marriage, grew up on the home farm and in September, 1861, enlisted in Company B, Seventh Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry. A large number of Hendricks county boys were in this same regiment, among whom was Judge

John V. Hadley, editor of the historical section of this volume. Mr. Eaton was at the front nearly four years and ser\'ed in many of the most important battles of the Civil War, among which were the battles of Gettysburg, Antietam, Spotsylvania, Chancellorsville, second battle of Bull Run and many others of minor importance. After being mustered out, he returned to this county and resumed his trade of brick-making and brick-laying. This has been his life work until a few years ago when he retired from manual labor. He has built a majority of the brick structures in and around Brownsburg, his first experience being before the Civil War opened during the Lincoln campaign, when he laid the brick in the building which is now occupied by the Hunter Bank of Brownsburg. Mr. Eaton has prospered because of his industry and good business abilities and now owns the postoffice building, the two buildings across the street from the postoffice, the second building east of the postoffice, the property occupied by the telephone exchange and residence properties in the town. As a contractor he has always rendered good service and his buildings will remain for many years to come as monuments to his honest labor.

Mr. Eaton was married January 8, 1865, to Mary S. Lawler, who was born in 1841, near Clayton, this county. Her parents were Nicholas and Ann (Buchanan) Lawler, natives of Kentucky, who came to Jennings county, Indiana, and from thence to this county in an early day. Nicholas Lawler was a life-long farmer.

Politically, Mr. Eaton has been a life-long Republican, and has always kept abreast of the times in political matters, although he has never been a candidate for any public office. He is a great reader of all kinds of literature and has always been deeply interested in the local history of his county. He is a loyal member of the Grand Army of the Republic, which was established in 1866 at Decatur. Illinois, and takes a prominent part in all the Memorial day services in his count}'. It is interesting to note in this connection that the Grand Army of the Republic reached its highest membership of four hundred thousand four hundred eighty-nine in 1890, and that today it has been reduced by death to less than one hundred and seventy-five thousand. The Grand Army of the Republic has held a national encampment every year since 1866 excepting 1867, and has gathered in nearly every important city in the United States. It was the originator of May 30th as Memorial day, the first Memorial day being celebrated in the year 1868. Mr. Eaton is a public-spirited man who has been a prominent factor in the business life of Brownsburg. He is a sociable man, highly esteemed and one of those whole-souled, genial men whom every one likes to meet.

Clark H. Sellars

Self-assertion is believed by man}' people to be absolutely necessary to success in life, and there are good reasons for the entertainment of such belief. The modest man very rarely gets what is due him. The selfish, aggressive man elbows his way to the front, takes all that is in sight and it sometimes seems that modesty is a sin, with self-denial the penalty. There are, however, exceptions to all rules, and it is a matter greatly to be regretted that the exceptions to the conditions are not more numerous. One notable exception is the case of the honorable gentleman whose life history we here present, who possesses just a sufficient amount of modesty to be a gentleman at all times, and yet sufficient persistency to win in the business world and at the same time not appear overbold. As a result of these well and happily blended qualities, Mr. Sellars has won a host of friends in Guilford township, Hendricks county, where he is well known to all classes as a man of influence, integrity and business ability.

Clark H. Sellars, one of the prominent farmers and stock raisers of Guilford township, this county, was born October 26, 1869, in the township where he has always resided. His parents were John and Adaline (Coble) Sellars. His father was one of the leading ministers of the Friends church and preached at Mooresville for the most of his life. The grandparents on both sides came from North Carolina, and originally from Germany. John Sellars was married twice and to his first marriage was born seven children. His first wife died in March, 1896, and a few years later he married Rebecca Doan. The seven children of the first marriage are as follows : Albert H., deceased, who married Ida Hight; William, of LaMar, Missouri, who married Rosa Fogleman and has five children living and two deceased; Dossie, of Morgan county, the wife of VV. O. Latta, a farmer, who has six children living and two deceased; Charles, of Indianapolis, who married Violet Moore; Clark H., of whom we are writing; R. D., a farmer of Morgan county, who married Sallie Sumner and has three children living and one deceased ; Addison, a merchant of Mooresville, who married Maud Scruggs and has two children. Mrs. John Sellars died in 1896 and her husband five years later, having lived on the same farm in Guilford township for thirty-one years previous to his death.

Clark H. Sellars was married August 23, 1893, to Flora C. Thompson, the daughter of John S. and Martha E. (Latta) Thompson. John S. Thompson was a farmer of Morgan county and a veteran of the late Civil

War, dying in. 1907. Mr. and Mrs. Clark H. Sellars are the parents of five children: Pearl Marie, born February 7, 1894, who, after graduating from the Mooresville high school, began teaching school and has continued at that profession up to the present time; Claire J., born January 27, 1896, who is a graduate of the Mooresville high school and the Indiana State Normal School at Terre Haute; Dorrett Laurene. born January 29, 1899, a graduate of the Mooresville high school: Grace Hildren, born January 19, 1901 : Paul Lee, born January 13, 1904.

Mr. Sellars and the members of his family are adherents of the Friends church and are generous supporters of all of the organizations of their church. Mr. Sellars has allied himself to the new Progressive part}-, because he feels that in the principles advocated by this party the welfare of the nation will be the best ser\'ed. Fraternally, he is a member of the Knights of Pythias. Mr. and Mrs. Sellars have reared a very interesting family, and have had the pleasure of seeing their children rise to lives of honor ann usefulness. They have given them the advantages of the best educational institutions in the state, and they have responded by doing their part in a very satisfactory manner. Mr. Sellars is one of the most substantial men of the county, and has helped very materially in the advancement of his community, giving his support to all worthy enterprises and measures.

Marion Bailey

An enumeration of those men of the present generation who have won honor and public recognition for themselves in Hendricks county, and at the same time have honored the locality to which they belong, would be incomplete were there failure to make specific mention of Marion Bailey, of Union township. The qualities which have made him one of the prominent and successful men of Hendricks county have also brought him the esteem of his fellow men, for his career has been one of well directed energy, strong determination and honorable methods. Yet he has not neglected to take his part in the public life of his community.

Marion Bailey, the president of the Lizton Bank and vice-president of the Citizens State Bank at Jamestown, was born December i, 1854, near St. Paul. His parents were John and Catherine (Emdy) Bailey. John Bailey was born in Butler county, Ohio, September 19, 1827, and came with his parents to Shelby county, Indiana, when a small boy. In 1861 John Bailey with his family, moved to this county and settled in Union township near

Mr. And Mrs. Mariox Bailey

Lizton, where he followed the life of a farmer and stock raiser until his death in 1902. The wife of John Bailey was a native of Shelby county, Indiana, and died in 1855, when Marion was only one year of age. John Bailey was the father of fourteen children: Mrs. Elizabeth Smith; Sarah, who died at the age of two ; Mrs. Eva A. Campbell, and Marion, whose history is herein delineated, are the children of his first wife, Catherine Emdy. Mrs. Mary E. Dale ; George W. ; Peter N. ; Mrs. Ellen Hall ; Mrs. Nettie Hedge ; Mrs. Nora E. Lee; Edgar; William, who died at the age of three; John T., and one child which died in infancy, are children by his second marriage, to Rebecca J. Reed.

Marion Bailey was given a good education in the schools of Lizton and Jamestown and assisted his father on the farm until his marriage, at the age of twenty-three. He was married November 15, 1877, to Rachel C. Young, the daughter of Milton and Susan Young, and to this union have been born five children. The first died in early infancy : Harry E., who married Dora Brown; Harry is a farmer living near Lizton and has two children, Buford E. and Veletia ; Artie M., a farmer of Boone county, who married Nora Coombs and has two children, Kenneth and Earl; Luna A., the wife of Stewart Pritchett, a farmer of Boone county, has two children, Thelma and Lorin ; Goldie Vesper, a farmer of this township who married Ruth Keeney and has one child, Ranold Marion.

Immediately after his marriage, Mr. Bailey began farming in Union township and has been a successful farmer from the beginning and now owns three hundred and eighty-seven and a half acres in this county and Boone county. In 1903 he made his first venture in the banking business and upon the organization of the Citizens Bank at Jamestown, in Boone county, he became vice-president and has continued in that capacity up to the present time. Pre-eminent among his many good qualities is that of sound financial judgment and an ability to grasp facts and infer their practical significance with almost unerring certainty. After once engaging in the banking business he became interested in it and began to make a study of practical banking. In 1910 he helped to organize the Lizton Bank and has been president of that financial institution ever since its organization. Both of the banks with which he is connected are in a flourishing condition and have gained the confidence of the community which they serve.

However, Mr. Bailey's life has not always been devoted to business, for he has taken a prominent part in the public affairs of his communityand state and for the past thirty years has been one of the prominent figures in (49)

Democratic politics in his county and for the last ten years a conspicuous figure in state politics. His first official position was trustee of his township, an office which he held from 1888 to 1895 : he then served as a member of the county advisory board, getting his appointment through the governor, then served three years on the state board of charities and correction, this board being composed of three citizens of the state selected by the governor. Mr. Bailey's first entry into state politics was in 1906, when he was nominated by the Democratic state convention for state auditor, and, although the whole Republican ticket was elected in that year, he was defeated by only thirtytwo votes. In 1908 the Democratic state convention recognized in him a man of great ability and a man who would make an effective appeal to the voters of the state, and they again placed him before the Democrats of the state on the ticket for state auditor. Again, however, the fortunes of politics were against him and this time he was defeated by a vote of only one hundred and twenty-eight out of a total of nearly six hundred and fifty thousand votes. It will be seen from what has been said of Mr. Bailey that he is a man of marked ability along many lines. As a political leader his convictions of right and wrong have been sharply separated and he has always taken a positive stand for clean politics and better political conditions generally. He has always heartily endorsed the maxim that he serves his party best who serves his country best, and upon all questions involving the material, moral and educational interests of society he has always endeavored to ascertain the right involved, with a view of acting in conformity therewith.

Mr. Bailey is a member of the Knights of Pythias, Improved Order of Red Men and Pythian Sisters at Lizton; the Free and Accepted Masons at Jamestown and the Royal Arch Masons at Danville. He is also a member of the Indiana Democratic Club, Indianapolis. Mr. Bailey has a reputation as a hard worker and a man of good judgment and honest principles. He is a self-made man and one who has in every respect merited the high esteem in which he has been universally held. He has been recognized as a man of public spirit, intellectual attainment and exemplary character.

Millard Tyra Hunter

No citizen is better or more favorably known in Hendricks county today than Millard Tyra Hunter, the president of the Hunter Bank, of Brownsburg. He has witnessed the wonderful development of this localitv and played no inconspicuous role in the growth of the same, for he has had its in- terest at heart and was ever ready to do his full share in the work of progress. As a farmer he was one of the most successful in the county, and as a merchant he was no less successful, while as a l)anker he has shown those business qualities which mark him as a man of more than ordinary ability.

Millard Tyra Hunter, a banker of Brownsburg, was born April 14, 1 85 1, in Middle township, this county. His parents were Lewis S. and Elizabeth A. (Parker) Hunter. Lewis S. Hunter was born in 1813 in Fleming county, Kentucky. His father died when he was only three months old and when he became of age his mother came from Kentucky and settled in Middle township. There Lewis Hunter married and afterwards lived the life of a farmer until 1852, when he came to Brownsburg and engaged in the general mercantile business, in which he continued until the opening of the Civil \\'ar. when he sold out and resumed farming. He owned a farm one mile east of Brownsburg, but lived in the town. Lewis S. Hunter was an active Republican and in the early days was appointed county tax collector. He, with his wife, were members of the Christian church and he was a man who was highly respected by his neighbors. He died in January, 1892, and his widow survived him five years.

]\Iillard T\Ta Huunter recei\ed his education in the Brownsburg schools and after his graduation from the high school attended Butler College. After leaving college he returned to the farm and later clerked for Cope & Hunt in their store in Brownsburg. After his marriage Mr. Hunter went to farming for himself east of Brownsburg and remained on the farm about twelve years. He then moved into Brownsburg and engaged in the dry goods business, although he still managed his farm, and has never entirely relinquished his agricultural interests. He continued in the dry goods business until 1907, when he discontinued this line of endeavor and opened the Hunter Bank at Brownsburg, of which he has been president since its organization. This bank has had a remarkably successful career since the date of its organization, and the following statement, which was issued at the close of its business on October 21, 1913, shows the remarkable progress which it has made in seven years: Resources - Loans and discotmts, $160,422.87: overdrafts, $530.81 : furniture and fixtures. $1,400.00: due from banks and trust companies, $47,478.93; cash on hand. $4,484.08: cash items, $1,276.35: current expenses. $2,082.00: total, $217,675.04. Liabilities - Capital stock paid in, $10,000.00; surplus, $2,500.00: demand deposits. $159,121.34; demand certificates, $42,053.00; exchange, discounts, etc., $4,000.00: total, $217,- 675.04.

doing an ever-increasing business, which is a tribute to the business abihty of Mr. Hunter and the confidence which the people of the community have in him.

Mr. Hunter was married in the fall of 1879 to Mary Larsh, who was born in Clermont, Indiana, and came to Brownsburg when she was about twelve 3'ears of age with her parents. ]\Ir. Hunter is a Republican in politics and has served as trustee of Lincoln township, although he is not active in politics at the present time. He and his wife are loyal members of the Christian church of Brownsburg, and give it their zealous support. Mr. Hunter is a man who has shown rare business qualities, and in all of his tinancial dealings he has so conducted himself that he has won the hearty approbation of his fellow men. He is a worthy scion of one of the old and influential pioneer families of this locality, and has kept untarnished the good name which his ancestors ever bore unsullied.

Cleo L. Hunt

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 effort has been made in each case to throw well focused light onto 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 cumulati\-e for all time to come, showing forth the individual and specific accomplishments of which generic history IS ever engendered.

Cleo L. Hunt, the cashier of the Hunter Bank of Brownsburg, was born in Brownsburg, April 15, 1880. His parents were Cyrus N. and Julia A. (Hunter) Hunt. Cyrus N. Hunt, the son of Cyrus Hunt, Sr., was born at Belleville, this county, and was a merchant in Brownsburg from about 1867 until his death in January, 1891. He was a memberof the Christian church, and was prominent in local public affairs of his community. Cleo L. Hunt was the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Cyrus Hunt.

from Shortridge high school at IndianapoHs in 1899, after which he entered Butler College and graduated from that institution in 1904. While in college he took a prominent part in college activities and was a member of the Greek-letter fraternity of Phi Delta Theta. After graduating from college he returned to Brownsburg, and when the Hunter Bank was organized in 1907 he was elected cashier and has continued in that capacity until the present time. He has shown ability to grasp financial matters in a comprehensive manner and his usefulness to the bank is increasing year by year.

Mr. Hunt was married in 1908 to Lura Harold, the daughter of Dr. Cvrus N. and Ella ( Spencer) Harold, of Indianapolis. Doctor Harold is a practicing physician in Indianapolis, and was born near Carmel, Indiana, his wife being a native of Henry county, this state. Mr. and Mrs. Hunt are both devout church members, he belonging to the Christian church, while she holds her membership in the Friends church. Mr. Hunt is a man ol strong intelligence and good judgment and with the qualities of business management which he has developed he will become increasingly useful to society as he grows older. He is a man of pleasing personality who easily makes friends, and because of his splendid qualities of head and heart his friends are as numerous as his acquaintances.

James Nelson Lockhart

In the removal of James N. Lockhart from this mundane sphere on the last day of 1912, there was removed another of those prominent farmers of this county who have made their way in life by force of their own merit and industry from small beginnings to great success and his memory will long be revered and his influence felt for good in this section of our commonwealth. He was of a turn to win the confidence and good will of those with whom he came into contact, and to retain their esteem and friendship without effort. He was a man of absolute honesty, always on the advance and managed his agricultural interests with a skill and prudence which came of a practical knowledge of every branch of the business.

James Nelson Lockhart was born near Martinsville, in Morgan county, this state, in 1848, and died at his home in Eel River township, this county, December 31, 1912. He was the son of Jarman and Leah (Robbins) Lockhart, and a brother of Jacob Lockhart, whose history is found elsewhere in this volume and contains the ancestry of the Lockhart family. John Lockhart died when James was a small boy and the widow and her four children moved from Morgan county to Marion township, in this county, on her father's farm. Here James grew to manhood and as soon as he was old enough to do a day's work he started to work for his uncle, William Robbins, for whom he worked several year.s, saved his money and rented a farm, to which he took his mother and some of his brothers and sisters.

James M. Lockhart was naturally a man of keen discernment and good Ixisiness qualities, and saved his money with the intention of investing in land. In 1888 he bought a farm, but four years later sold it and bought one hundred and eighty-four acres one mile south of North Salem. This farm he improved and brought to a state where it is the equal of any in the county in productivity. He is an excellent and capable farmer, because he really loves his occupation, and for this reason has been able to live a contented and at the same time successful life.

Mr. Lockhart was married in February, 1895, to Mrs. Anna (Rook) Weakley, who was born at Phillipsburg, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Amos D. and Margery (Currey) Rook. Her parents came to Hendricks county after the close of the Civil War, and after a temporary stop in Putnam county, near Roachdale, this state, they permanently located in this county near Montclair. The Rook family moved to Kansas some years after they came to this county, where they lived for a short time, and while in that state, in 1884, Anna Rook married Thomas Weakley. Mrs. Rook died in 1870 and Mr. Rook survived her many years, his death occurring in 1912. Thomas Weakley, the first husband of Mrs. Lockhart, was born near Pittsboro, this county, and was a son of Perry and Arthusa (Smith) Weakley. When he was nine years of age his parents moved to LaBette countv, Kansas, when there were only twenty-six white settlers in that county. In 1888, five years after he and Anna Rook were married, he came back to this county and died a year later, leaving his widow and two sons. Claude and Paul. Claude married Pearl Baggs, of Edelstein. Illinois, and lives on the old Lockhart farm one mile south of North Salem. Paul is living with his mother in North Salem at the present time. To Mr. and Mrs. Lockhart was born a daughter. Bertha Clare, who was born near North Salem, and who remains at home and is attending school.

After Mr. Lockhart was married in 1891, they lived on a farm near Montclair until 1903, when they moved to a farm one mile south of North Salem, which he had previously purchased. In 1907 Mr. Lockhart purchased a home in North Salem, where he lived until his death. Mr. Lockhart was a life-long Republican, althought he never aspired to any office at the hands of his party. He and his wife were both members of the Christian church and gave it their earnest and consistent support. At the time of his death Mr. Lockhart owned one hundred and eighty-four acres of land and three acres in North Salem.

The community lost one of its best citizens when Mr. Lockhart passed away. He was a man of essentially domestic tastes and was usually to be found at home with his family. He was a man who was honest and upright in all of his dealings and one who was highly respected by all with whom he came into contact. He was a man of modest and unassuming demeanor, a fine type of the reliable, self-made American, a friend to the poor, and a man who united with his neighbors in every good work.

Hon. Samuel H. Elrod

True biography has a more noble purpose than mere fulsome eulogy. The historic spirit, faithful to the record; the discerning judgment, unmoved by prejudice and uncolored by enthusiasm, are as essential in giving the life of the individual as in writing the history of a people. Indeed, the ingenuousness of the former picture is e\'en more \ital. because the individual is the national unit, and if the unit be justly estimated the complex organism will become correspondingly intelligible. The world today is what its leading men have made it. This is especially true of those wdiose influence has passed beyond the confines of locality and permeated the larger life of a state.

Indiana has been the birthplace and early home of many men who have gained honor and distinction in the newer states of our great West. Of this number, notable mention is due Hon. Samuel H. Elrod, former governor of South Dakota, recognized today as one of the strong and noble characters of that great commonwealth. A man of superibr ability and great usefulness, a citizen representative of the utmost loyalty to every obligation of citizenship, he has given much to aid and sustain the civic and material prosperity of his adopted state, and his name is enshrined in the hearts of the people of South Dakota as one who has always given of his best.

Samuel H. Elrod was born in Clay township. Hendricks county, Indiana, May I, 1856, a son of Jesse F. and Lydia (Pursel) Elrod. Jesse F. Elrod was born in Stokes county. North Carolina, from which county came many of the early settlers of Hendricks county, Indiana, and about 1836 he came to Indiana, settling in Clay township, this county. Lydia Pursel was a native of

Samuel H. Elrod was born on the farm, his father being a pioneer farmer. As a boy he was inured to hard work and had little opportunities for acquiring an education. At the age of twenty, however, he entered DePauw Uni\'ersity at Greencastle, and "worked his way" through the university course, earning the necessary money by doing janitor and other work. He also studied law while at DePauw. He graduated from the university in 1882, and went to South Dakota the same year. He went to Clark, that state, on a construction train, to make his home there when there was not a dwelling on the town site. He was admitted to practice law in South Dakota by Judge Kidder, one of the pioneer jurists of the state, at Watertown in 1882. He did a large land and law business from the outset.

Taking, an acti\-e interest in politics, Mr. Elrod was not long in attaining a prominent place in the councils of his party, and his fine abilities soon won notable recognition from the body politic. He was a member of the first South Dakota constitutional convention, and has served five terms as state's attorney for Clark county. He also held the office of county judge for one term during territorial days. In 1898 he was a candidate at the Republican state convention at Mitchell for the nomination for Congress, but was defeated. In 1904 he was nominated by the Republican party for governor of South Dakota, and he was triumphantly elected at the ensuing election. During this campaign he won the sobriquet, "Honest Sam," an endearing title by which he is now known all over the state, and the public prints often speak of him as the "Abe Lincoln of South Dakota."

As chief executive. Governor Elrod measured up to the stature of any predecessor in all that concerned purity and strength of administration. There was never a period in his illustrious career when his mental equipment was not recognized by friend and foe alike as of a superior order. None ever failed to credit him with high moral purpose, true nobility of character, sterling sense of justice, able and comprehensive statesmanship and firm adherence to the loftiest of political, social and business ideals. The almost unanimous concession to his worth disarmed the temporary determination due to partisan exigency, for there was none who could debauch his integrity or swerve his independence. His judgments found respect without reference to party predilections. Reared as a farmer boy, it was but natural that his sympathies should be with the agricultural interests of his state, and no executive perhaps did more for the farmers of South Dakota than Governor Elrod. The Dakota Fanner pays this splendid tribute to him :

"From the moment Governor S. H. Elrod was sworn in as the chief executive of South Dakota, in season and out of season, he has stood by every measure that would possibly benefit the agriculturists of his state. Before in these columns we have enumerated not less than half a dozen distinctively agricultural and live stock measures that had his constant support during the last session of the Legislature, a number of which, we believe, could never have become laws without it, and now we must record one more, and in our estimation, among his crowning achievements in this line. We refer to the securing of what was known as the 'Fishback quarter' of one hundred and sixty acres of splendid land for the agricultural college and experiment station at Brookings. This splendid piece of land, as many know, was literally located in the very heart of the farm school grounds. It came up to the very doors of the college buildings on two sides, and was not only in every way perfectly adapted to the work and needs of the school, but was fast advancing in price and being clamored for by many far-sighted investors to be laid out in building lots. Much more than the price given could have been had for it for this purpose. The troulsles relating to getting title to this land are too com]ilicated to explain. It is enough to say that repeatedly, during the long-drawn-out time, this title was in jeopardy, the timely and personal interference of the go\'ernor saved it from going from the state forever."

Go\'ernor Elrod did not disappoint any intelligent opinion of his exceptional qualities of head and heart by retirement from public life, but, on the contrary, has continued to add to acquired esteem by a constant display of ability and usefulness which is continually recognized and appreciated. He returned to the practice of his profession, and is now actively engaged therein at Clark, South Dakota. In the practice of law he has achieved an en\'iahle reputation. Years of conscientious work have brought with them not only increase of patronage, but also that growth in legal knowledge and that wise and accurate judgment the possession of which constitutes marked excellence in the profession.

Samuel H. Elrod is a plain man, a man of that plain and noble class that constitutes the creative capacity and the true manliness and worth of a community. He loves South Dakota, and is very optimistic regarding the future of his adopted state. In his little home city of Clark he is peculiarly active in everv movement having for its object the moral and material betterment of the communitv, and here it is that he is revered with a sentiment akin to idolatry. He has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church for many years, and is a member of the official board of this denomination at Clark. He has never used liquor or tobacco in any form.

Mr. Elrod' married Mary Ellen Masten, who also was a native of Hendricks county. Indiana, being born near Coatesville. They have two children, Barbara and Arthur, the latter named for ex-Governor Arthur C. Mellette, who was always a warm friend and patron of Mr. Elrod.

Eleazar E. Carter

Fealty to facts in the analyzation of the character of a citizen of the type of Eleazar B. Carter is all that is required to make a biographical sketch interesting to those who have at heart the good name of the community, because it is the honorable reputation of the man of standing and affairs, more than any other consideration, that gives character and stability to the body politic and makes the true glory of a city or state revered at home and respected abroad. In the broad light which things of good repute e\'er invite, the name and character of Mr. Carter stand revealed and secure and, though of modest demeanor, with no ambition to distinguish himself in public position or as a leader of men, his career has been signally honorable and it may be studied with profit by the youth entering upon his life work.

Eleazar B. Carter, one amongst the oldest farmers of the county, was born fifth month 30, 1844, in the county where he has spent his entire life. His parents were Samuel and Susanna (Bales) Carter, his father being a native of North Carolina, his birth having occurred ninth month 26, 181 7, while his mother was a native of this county, born second month 18, 1822. Samuel Carter came to this state from Carolina when he was a lad of six years, his parents locating on a farm south of Plainfield. On his farm, which his father entered from the government, Samuel Carter was reared and recei\ed his meager education in the subscription schools of that period. Upon his marriage, tenth month 22, 1840, he moved to Liberty township on a farm of eighty acres which has father gave him and remained there until his death, which occurred twelfth month 15, 1876. his wife surviving him several years, her death occurring on fourth month 4, 1885. Samuel Carter married Susanna Bales, the daughter of Eleazar and Ann (Millikan) Bale^ on tenth month 22. 1840, and to this union there were born nine children: Ira, born second month 7, 1842, died seventh month 15, 1864; Eleazar B., born fifth month 30, 1844; Asenath, born eleventh month 7, 1845, who married Cuthbert Osborn; Jonathan, born seventh-month 8, 1848, who first married Svbil Osborne, and after her death, Levina Coffin, and for his third wife.

he married Sidney Sacre; Evan, born first month 29, 1851, who married Sarah J. Weasner; Alvin, born seventh month 13, 1854, died eleventh month 5, 1862; Nathan S.. born ninth month 22, 1857, married Martha Hodson ; Dayton H., born eighth month 19, 1861, died fifth month 31, 1906: Elva, born first month 14, 1866, married Louis Stokes.

Eleazar B. Carter received the best education which was accorded by the old-fashioned subscription schools of his day, and at an early age began to help his father on the home farm. He remained on the h(3me farm until his marriage, which occurred ninth month 18, 1869, and then rented a farm for the first five years of his married life. At the end of that time he had saved enough money to buy the farm on which he is now living. As a farmer he is wide-awake and thoroughly up-to-date in all the latest improved methods of agriculture. He keeps himself well informed on the best ideas pertaining to scientific farming and is recognized as a farmer of more than ordinary ability. He divides his attention judiciously between grain and stock raising and has been uniformly successful as a stock breeder and raiser.

iNIr. Carter was married ninth month 18, 1869, to ^Nlary Ellen Nichols, the daughter of Erasmus and Elizabeth (Stanley) Nichols, and to this union there has been born one child, Luella, who married William B. Newlin. IMrs. Carter's parents were old settlers in Hendricks county, her father, Erasmus Nichols, being born in Pennsylvania, but came to Nelson count}-, Kentucky, when he was about three years of age with his parents, where he remained until 1 82 1, when his parents removed to Indiana and located in Hendricks county. As a young man Erasmus helped to clear the ground w hich is now occupied by the county court house at Danville. He was married ninth month 8, 1825, to Elizabeth Stanley, whose birth occurred in \'irginia, but who emigrated to this state with her parents when a small child. To Air. and Mrs. Erasmus Nichols were born fourteen children : Thomas, born fifth month 26, 1826, who married Jane Brown, deceased first month 7, 1863; Eliza, born first month 17, 1828, married Israel Brown and her death occurred first month 10, 1877; Rachel, born eleventh month 14, 1829, died eighth month 16, 1831 ; Matilda, born tenth month 16, 1831, married Samuel Hastings, and her death occurred on seventh month 19, 1906; William, born seventh month 3, 1834, married, first, Luzenia Newman, and after her death, Emily Johnson; Jane, borli first month 22. 1836, married John Stewart, and her death occurred eighth month 6, 1907: Martha, born tenth month 24, 1837, married Jared Stewart, and she died in 1909; Sarah, born tenth month 22, 1839, died fifth month 10, 1842; Nathan, born twelfth month 4, 1841, died ninth month 11, 1843; Lucinda, born second month 6, 1844, died eleventh month I, 1846; James, born third month g, 1846, married Rachel Nichols; Matthew, born fourth month 4, 1848, died sixth month 5, 1872; Susannah, born second month 19. 1850, died seventh month 26, 1851, and Mary E., born second month 6, 1852, married Eleazar B. Carter. Samuel Carter was born ninth month 26, 1817, and died on twelfth month 15, 1876. His wife was born second month 19, 1822, and died fourth month 4, 1885.

Eleazar B. Carter has been a Republican since reaching his majority and has never seen any valid reason why he should leave his party for that of any other. He remained true to the old party in 1912, when thousands saw fit to change their allegiance to the iiew Progressive party. In his church relations he has been a life-long member of the Friends church. He is financially interested in the First National Bank, of Amo, and is now a director in that institution. I\Ir. Carter has lived a simple, honest and unostentatious life, doing good wherever he could, speaking kindly of his neighbors, charitable to the faults of others, and his whole career has been of such a nature as to gain for him friends throughout the community in which he has spent his entire life.

William W. Gore

Dependent very largely upon his own resources from his early youth, William W. Gore, of Brown township, has attained no insignificant success, and though he may have, like most men of affairs, encountered obstacles and met with reverses, he has pressed steadily forward, ever willing to work for the end he has in view. His tenacity and fortitude are due, no doubt, in a large measure to the worthy traits inherited from his sterling ancestors, whose high ideals and worthy principles he has ever sought to perpetuate in all the relations of life.

William \\'. Gore was born near Shelby\'i!le, Shebly county, Indiana, October 10, 1864, the son of Silas and Sarah (Barnes) Gore, both natives of Virginia, being brought by their parents to Indiana while still quite small. Sarah Barnes' parents entered land from the government in Shelby county and lived there the remainder of their lives. Silas Gore's parents died while he was still quite young and as he grew older he took up the carpenter's trade and was the leading carpenter in Shelby and Rush counties until about 1874. Building a house or barn was in those days a far more laborious task than it is today and when he took a contract for a building, it meant that he had to prepare the timbers used in same. As saw-mills were not then in use, he would go out into the woods, select his trees, fell them and hew out all of the required boards, rafters, sills, etc. This was naturally a very slow process and he considered he had done well when he built two buildings a year. He was married when twenty-five years old and to him and his wife were born fourteen children. In 1874 he moved to North Manchester, Indiana, and established a tile manufacturing business. At the end of five years he sold this factory and moved to Howard county, this state, where he built another tile factory near Greentovvn. This he operated for some four years, when he came to Hendricks county and built another factory about a mile and a half east of Brownsburg. While the family resided in this county the mother died, and three years after coming here Mr. Gore took his family back to Howard county, where he purchased a small piece of land and retired from active business. There he passed the remainder of his life.

William W. Gore remained under the parental roof until the time of his marriage, on November 7, 1884, to Rosie Moore, who was born December 8, 1861, near Avon, Indiana. She was a daughter of George W. and Sarah Jane (Williams) Moore, both of whom were originally from Chillicothe, Ohio, being brought here by their respective parents while they were still young, unmarried people. Both families settled near Avon. Rosie Moore was one of a family of fourteen children and remained at home until the time of her marriage to the subject. Sarah Jane Williams, mother of Mrs. Gore, was a daughter of Ezekiel and Sally Williams.

After his marriage, for eight years Mr. Gore worked on a farm jjy the day. Six years of this time was for one man. He then rented an eightyacre farm four miles northeast of Brownsburg and lived there three years. He later rented seventy-two acres north of Brownsburg, where he lived one year and then contracted for the renting of a hundred-acre tract about five miles northeast of Brownsburg. Here he resided for ele\en )ears. He then was able to purchase a ninety-two-acre tract directly across the public highway from the Lawler school house, where the family now lives. To Mr. and Mrs. Gore have been born three sons, Oscar, Atlas and Roy, all of whom are still at home. Mr. Gore is considered one of the up-to-date farmers of the township and. while he raises excellent crops, he does not specialize in any particular line nor raise any fancy stock for selling, yet he always has quite a quantity for marketing. By his own unfailing energy and determination to succeed, Mr. Gore has mastered the obstacles that confronted him and has won an excellent degree of success, at the same time so ordering his life as to win the confidence and respect of all who know him. He is a stanch supporter of the Democratic party and takes an active interest in that party's affairs, having served as road supervisor for two years. Both Mr. and Mrs. Gore are members of the Christian church, to which they give liberal support. Mr. Gore is a man of splendid personality and because of his industrious habits and persistent energy, he has attained definite success in his vocation and enjoys the respect and esteem of the community in which he resides.

John Wesley Hunt

The late John Wesley Hunt, of Eel River township, this county, who, many years ago, passed on to the silent land, was a man whose name is enrolled very high on the list of honored and worthy citizens of a past generaton in this county. He was a man who made a persistent effort to lead a life in every respect in harmony with the higher rules of ethics and established morality, and, being industrious and public spirited, he did a great deal for the general good of the community honored by his citizenship. When he passed away he left what is much more to be desired, a good name and an untarnished reputation. He was one of the many gallant boys in blue who went from Hendricks county to fight for the country's flag, and in that struggle he contracted a disease which ultimately caused his death. It is a pleasure to record the life history of a man such as Mr. Hunt, a man whose fine character and generous qualities of mind and heart won for him a high place among the men of his generation.

John Wesley Hunt was born near North Salem, Hendricks county, in 1838, and died in 1892 on the farm where he was born. His parents were Johnson and Louisa (Davis) Hunt. Johnson Hunt was born in 1816 in Kentucky, near Mt. Sterling, and came to this county when he was sixteen years of age. The Johnsons in Kentucky were slave owners and up to the time when he came to this county Johnson had never performed any manual labor. However, upon coming here, he at once became imbued with the spirit of work, and during his long life in this county there was no man who was more industrious and attended more strictly to his own duties than Johnson Hunt. Shortly after coming to this county he married Louisa Davis, the daughter of Nathan Davis, and his first wife, whose genealogy is presented elsewhere in this volume in the sketch of Quincy A. Davis. Upon his marriage Johnson Hunt bought a farm north of North Salem and started in to carve out his fortune in the virgin wilderness. He added to his holdings from time to time, until at his death, on September 15, 1876, he was the owner of three hundred and twenty acres of land in this township. His wife died June 25, 1866.

John Wesley Hunt grew to manhood on the home farm and upon the outbreak of the Civil war he enlisted in 1861 in the Fifty-first Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and in six months after his enlistment he was taken sick and for a long time was unable to be on duty, being finally honorably discharged because of total disability. He returned to this county and in 1866 married Nancy Davis, a native of this county and the daughter of Jesse and Minerva (Zimmerman) Davis.

Jesse Davis was born near Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, the son of Enoch and Nancy (Hart) Davis. Enoch Davis and his family came to Hendricks county, Indiana, in pioneer times and settled two miles northwest of North Salem. Their first home was nothing but a jude log cabin, with dirt floor, pole bed and a stick-and-mud chimney, and their household possessions consisted of one skillet and one kettle. Practically everything they used they made themselves. They ground their own meal, spun the cloth and made their own clothes, were their own doctors, teachers, nurses and, in fact, were practically a community unto themselves for some years. Minerva Zimmerman was born in Montgoinery county, Kentucky, and was the daughter of John and Nancy (Myers) Zimmerman. John and Nancy Zimmerman were the parents of fifteen children and were among the first settlers in Eel River township, where they entered government land. Each one of the children received a farm on which to start a home and all of them became the heads of families whose descendants are still among the best known people in the county. Jesse Davis was a life-long farmer and a man who was well worthy the respect of his nieghbors. He and his wife were both de\-out members of the Christian church.

After the marriage of John W. Hunt, he operated a saw-mill for three years in the northeastern part of Eel River township, on land which Jesse Davis had entered, after which time he discontinued the operation of the mill and sold the land and moved to the farm now occupied by Grant Sellers, west of North Salem. About 1887 he built a beautiful and attractive residence there and remained on that farm until late in life. For the last ten years of his life he was in poor health, but still remained on the farm until his death, in 1892.

Mr. and iMrs. Hunt were the parents of four children : Ada Catherine. the wife of Grant Sellers, who now lives on the old home farm in the house built by her father, and they have two children, Benjamin Franklin and Rhoda Catherine; Ewell Emmett, born January 24, 1875, has lived on the home place all his life and now owns sixty-seven acres of the home place. He and his mother have lived together since the death of his father. He is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and is also an earnest member of the Christian church. He has allied himself with the new Progressive party. The other two children are deceased, one being a twin brother of Ewell E., who died in infancy, while Lena Ann died at the age of seventeen years.