Hendricks County, Indiana - Biographical sketches, 1914 (part 3 of 19)

August 2, 1876, Mr. Huron was married to Mary Etta Farmer, at Clermont, Indiana. She was the daughter of David and Sibby (Ferree) Farmer, early settlers of this township, coming to Indiana from North Carolina before their marriage. Soon after their marriage they moved to Iowa and Mrs. Huron was born in Jefferson county, in that state, October 19, 1856. When she was but a child her father volunteered in the Thirtieth Iowa Infantry, serving three years in the Civil War. After the close of the war he came again with his family to this county. He remained here until 1876 when he removed to Lucerne, Missouri, where he died, October 9, 1912, at the age of eighty-six years. In politics, Mr. Farmer was a staunch Republican; in religion, a firm Methodist and in every walk of life, a Christian gentleman.

To Mr. and Mrs. Huron have been bom six children: Mrs. Mary E. Blair, born May 3, 1877; Frank Paul, born June 16, 1880, died March 16, 1881; Mrs. Irma R. Smith, bom April 30, 1882; Flora F., born December 21,, 1884, died June 15, 1S94; Leroy B., born November 26, 1887, and John T., born October 16, 1890, are yet under the paternal roof and both are progressive farmers. Mr. Huron, with the constant support of his wife who, he says, helped him to attain to all that he has and is, is one among the many successful farmers of Hendricks county. His farm of near two hundred acres, known as Maple Row farm, is situated one-half mile east of Axon on the traction line and is one of the most attractive farms between Indianapolis and Danville. He believes in clover and tile drainage as the best means of conservation of the soil. He is also doing what he can to help introduce alfalfa as one of our most important crops. He feeds what the farm produces, selling the animal rather than the grain. Mr. Huron says he has always been a Republican, but never much of a politician. He served a term on the county council and a couple of terms as justice of the peace, but never sought an office nor asked any man to vote for him. The members of this familv have alwavs shown their interest in education and have ever been loyal supporters of the church. The school building is on the corner of the farm and the Methodist church is opposite it. To this church the whole family have given their membership and support in all its activities. Mr. Huron has long served on the official board as trustee and steward, and for a dozen years was superintendent of its Sunday school and both he and his wife and their children have been among its teachers and its constant attendants.

A family sketch for a county history should reach farther back from the immediate family and tell something of its ancestry. This is especially true if these ancestors had much to do in the early beginning of said history and if. throughout long lives lived in the community, they possessed such sterling qualities as to give their full measure of help in starting, sustaining and preserving measures for the common good of such community, and such qualities as have influenced and will continue to influence the community to make it a good and desirable place in which to live. It is therefore proper that this sketch include something of an older, a pioneer family.

Benjamin A. Huron, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Warren county, Ohio, December 31, 181 1. He came to Hendricks county in 1832 and from the government entered the same year the land now owned by the son. He spent the remainder of his life on this farm. In December, 1835, he married Katharine Harding, who came here from' Kentucky with her parents. They began at once the making of a farm and a home to take the place of a dense forest. A two-room log cabin was erected in a small clearing near the center of the tract. These first years were years of privation and hardship. The heavy timber was cut down and burned in huge log-heaps, the wife helping to pick and burn the brush as well as care for the house. In addition she helped pull, break, swingle, hackle, spin and weave flax and also spin and weave the wool from a few sheep and thus, in a measure, supply the needs of the family. The husband spent the summers in the clearing and the field, producing the small amount of grain required for their own use and at one time, when a small surplus remained, he drove, in his farm wagon, to Madison, a hundred miles away, where he exchanged it for a barrel of salt and a few groceries and in a week or so was again safe at home. He also marketed hogs at Madison, driving them the distance on foot. In the early forties a settlement having formed and a school being needed, Mr. Huron gave the ground for a school and most of the timber for a frame building and for a number of years he taught school in this building each winter. Again in 1858 he gave a new school-house site where a one-room house answered the needs until 1879 when a four-room graded sch.xjl building was erected and five years later rebuilt after a fire. This fourth building still stands, so that up to the present time the district school, the "hope of the country," has never left the Huron farm.

On this farm Benjamin and Katharine Huron together toiled for many years. They lived to see the wilderness transformed into a beautiful farm on which they reared a large family of children. Their eldest died in infancy, but nine others came to bless their home, and these nine yet live, though widely scattered. The sum of their combined ages is more than six hundred years. The eldest, George A., is police judge of Topeka, Kansas, and is seventy-six years old. Frank H. is a physician of Danville and Willis B., a physician of Tipton, Indiana. Mrs. Lu A. Bennett and Miss Jennie Huron live at Clearwater, Florida. Mrs. Esther A. Kelsey lives at Kansas City, Missouri; Mrs. A. Kate Gilbert, at Fremont, Nebraska; Mrs. Mary E. Ragan, at Plainfield, Indiana, and S. T., the only farmer of the family, lives on the old home farm. The two oldest sons served in the army during the Civil War, George in the Seventh and Frank three months in the Seventh and three years in the Seventieth Indiana Infantry. Frank answered the first call for troops and was among the first in the field. In the three years service he was color bearer of the Seventieth and at one time the flagstaff was shot ahnost in two just just above his head. Both brothers were in many hard fought battles, although neither was wounded. In politics the family have been Republican ; the father was at first a Whig, but when the Republican party was organized in 1856 he at once joined it and remained with it during life. He served his township several terms as trustee and one term as assessor. February 23, 1888, he was killed by a train, on the Big Four Railroad, at the age of seventy-six years. The mother remained until August 30, 1902, when she died at the age of eighty-seven years. These two pioneers left their impress on the community where they lived so long and contributed their full share in making it the quiet and law-abiding place it is to-day.

Edwin Morton Kurtz

Though several years have passed since the subject of this sketch was transferred from the life militant to the life triumphant, he is still favorably remembered by many of the older residents of Hendricks county, where for many years he was regarded as one of the leading business men of the county. Because of his many excellent personal qualities and the splendid and definite influence which his life shed over the community in which he lived so long and which he labored so earnestly to upbuild in any way within his power, it is particularly consonant that specific mention should he made of him in a work containing mention of the representative citizens of the community in a past generation. A man of high moral character, unimpeachable integrity, persistent industry and excellent business judgment, he stood "four square to every wind that blew," and throughout the locality where he lived he occupied an enviable position among his fellowmen, among whom he was universally esteemed.

The late Edwin Morton Kurtz was born in 1856 in Putnam county, Indiana, and died December 9, 1909. He was the son of Jacob F. and Eliza (Cassity) Kurtz, both of whom were also natives of Pmnam county, Indiana. Jacob Kurtz was born in 1833 and was the son of Jacob and Allutia Kurtz, who emigrated from Kentucky to Putnam couniv in 182S. Th'.- father of Edwin M. Kurtz was reared as a farmer and followed this occupation all his life. After his marriage he lived with his parents until their death, caring for them in their old age. His father was an invalid for more than twenty years and walked on crutches all that time. He died at the age of eighty-three years. The mother was active until about one year before her death, but during the latter period she was helpless as a little child, and her death occurred at the age of eighty-two.

After the death of his father and mother Jacob F. Kurtz became the owner of the old home farm, and there he lived until 1878. He was married in March, 1855, to Eliza Cassity, who was born November 19, 1838, the daughter of David H. and Susan Cassity. Her parents came from Kentucky, settling in Putnam county, this state, in the early history of that county. In 1882 Jacob F. Kurtz purchased a farm in the northwestern part of Marion township, this county, and there he remained until his death, in 1899. He was a Hfe-long Republican and he and all the members of his family were faithful members of the Presbyterian church. His wife is still living in Hendricks county.

Edwin M. Kurtz was reared en r. farm in Putnam county, ard after receiving a common school educat-'ni in tlio districr schools of that county his parents sent him to Lincoln University, at Lincoln, Illinois, where he received a college education. He came with his parents to Marion township, Hendricks county, in 1882, and two years later, on September 18, 1884, was married to Mary Florence Summers, who was born in Putnam county, the daughter of William C. and Mary (Lake) Summers. Her mother was born in 1833, on land now occupied by the city of Indianapolis, her father being

Elisha Lake, a native of New Jersey. William C. Summers, father of Airs. Kurtz, was born in 1830 near Bowling Green, Kentucky, and when about nine years of age came with his parents to Putnam county, Indiana, where he grew to maturity, and followed the vocation of a farmer all his life. In 1872 Mr. Summers moved to Kansas, locating in Rice county, that state, and there he remained the rest of his life, his death occurring in 1898. His wife is still living there at the advanced age of eighty-one years.

Mr. and Mrs. Kurtz lived in Hendricks county for one year after their marriage and then moved to Rice county, Kansas, where they reamined for two years, when they returned to Hendricks county because of the failing health of Mr. Kurtz's father and the fact that there was no one to manage the home farm. Mr. Kurtz continued to live at the old place until the death of Mr. Kurtz in 1909. They were the parents of six children: Blanche is the wife of Harry Page, who lives west of New Maysville, Putnam county, and they have four children, Maynard, Gerald, Kathryn and Muriel; Osie is the wife of Earl Maston, of Coatesville, and they have two children, Roy and Jeannette; the other four children, Lora, Lyell, Herschel and Kye, are still with their mother at home. The year before Air. Kurtz's death he built a fine, large modern home on his farm, in which Mrs. Kurtz and the four youngest children are now living. Mr. Kurtz was a very successful farmer and at his death left a highly improved farm of two hundred and ten acres, which is one of the most productive farms in the county. He was an excellent citizen in every respect, a good neighbor, kind, unselfish, reliable, and a man whose integrity was never questioned. His life was such that his children and grandchildren will cherish his name and honor his memory.

Charles Fr.Wklix Bexbow

The following is a brief sketch of the life of one who, by close attention to business, has achieved marked success in the world's affairs and risen to an honorable position among the enterprising men of the county with which his interests are identified. It is a plain record, rendered remarkable by no .strange or mysterious adventure, no wonderful and lucky accident and no tragic situation. Mr. Benbow is one of those estimable characters whose integrity and strong personality must force them into an admirable notoriety, which their modesty never seeks, who command the respect of their

Charles Franklin Benbow, of Clay township, was born in the county in which he has spent his entire life on November 2, 1867. He is the son of Harvey R. and Lydia (Atkins) Benbow, his father being a native of this county, and his mother of Kentucky. Harvey R. Benbow served his country nobly and well in the dark days of the Civil War and after returning home worked for his father on the home farm for about two years. He then married and engaged in farming on forty acres which his father gave him. To Mr. and Mrs. Harvey R. Benbow were born two children, Charles Franklin and Oscar, who married Daisy Blunk of Clay tnwnship.

Charles F. Benbow was given the best common school education which his home township afforded, attending school in the Dover school district. He spent his summer vacations working on his father's farm, and after finishing his educational training he continued to work with his father until his marriage. About three years after he purchased seventy acres of land, part of which is now included in the present farm where he is living. He has been uniformly successful in all of his transactions and has improved his place in the way of buildings, fencing, drainage, etc., until it presents a very attractive appearance. He has inaugurated a scientific system of crop rotation which keeps the soH of his farm up to the highest point of productivity.

On December 18, 1894, Mr.- Benbow was married to Nora Whicker, the daughter of Allen and Amanda J. (West) Whicker, and to this union there has been born one child, Leland W.. who is still under the parental roof. Allen Whicker, the father of Mrs. Benbow, was a native of North Carolina and came to this state when a small lad with his parents. They located in Franklin township, this county, and in that township he received his education. He followed the occupatiorjfcof a farmer all his life, and to him and his wife were born eleven children: Mary, who became the wife of John Bundy; George, deceased; Sinia, the wife of Louis Beasley; Simon, who married Nora Wright ; Dennis married Gertrude Mason ; Otto, who married Martha Schneider ; Effie, deceased ; Perman, deceased ; Nora, the wife of Mr. Benbow and two who died in infancy. Mrs. Benbow's grandparents were Frederick and Elizabeth (Cosmer) Whicker. Mrs. Benbow's mother died April I, 1910.

county, Indiana, when a young man and here he married. To this union were born five children: Thirza, Nancy, Sarah, Rhoda and Harvey, the father of Charles F. Benbow. Thirza, deceased, married Woodson Bryant, also deceased; Nancy married Eli Duffey; Sarah married William Hunt, who is mentioned specifically elsewhere in this volume; Rhoda married George Tincher.

Mr. Benbow has been a life-long Republican, but has never felt any inclination to take an active part in politics, his agricultural interests having required his attention to such an extent that he has left the political game to others. He and his wife are members of the Baptist church, at Amo, and are firm believers in the efficacy of church life in its relation to the good of the community. Mr. Benbow was treasurer of the church for a period of ten years. He is a man who is vitally interested in the educational, moral and civic advancement of his community and takes every opportunity to further every movement looking toward its welfare.

Enoch Harlan

It is a pleasure to investigate the career of a successful, self-made man. Peculiar honor attaches to that individual who, beginning the great struggle of life alone and unaided, gradually overcomes unfavorable environment, removes one by one the obstacles from the pathway of success and by the master strokes of his own force and vitality succeeds in forging his way to the front and winning for himself a competency and a position of esteem and influence among his fellowmen. Such is the record of the popular citizen of Clay township to a brief synopsis of whose life and character the following pages are devoted.

Enoch Harlan, a gallant veteran of the Civil War and a prominent farmer in Hendricks county, Indiana, for three score and ten years, was born in this county, October 8, 1838. He is a son of Enoch and Rachel (Osborne) Harlan, both natives of North Carolina. Enoch Harlan, Sr., spent the most of his life in the latter state, coming to Indiana after his marriage and locating in Franklin township, where he followed the vocation of a farmer. He had always been engaged in this calling with the exception of a short time when he worked in a gold mine in North Carolina. Enoch Harlan, Sr., and his wife were the parents of eight children: Lydia, who died in 1838; John, who married Polly McAninch, and after her death, Araminta

McAninch ; Stephen, who married Dosia A. Johnson ; Malinda, who married Jackson Ally; Mariam, who became the wife of Wilham Hols4aw; EHzabeth, who married Benjamin Bottorff; Jesse, who married Jemima Robinson ; Rachel, wh(i married Madison Wright, and Enoch, the nnmediate subject of this sketch.

Enoch Harlan, Jr., received all of his education in the subscription schools of his home township, and when a mere lad engaged in the carpenter trade with his brother. He was following that vocation when the Civil War broke out and he immediately forsook the carpenter's bench for the battlefield and first enli.^ted in Company C of the Fifty-fifth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, in which he served for three months. At the expiration of his first enlistment re-enlisted in the One Hundred Seventeenth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry and served for about nine months, and upon the expiration of this enlistment he was enrolled for the third time with Company H, of the Eleventh Indiana Volunteer Infantry, with which command he served until the close of the war. His Civil War record was a remarkable one and yet with his modesty it is difficult to get him to say anything about it.

After his return from the Civil War Mr. Harlan was married to Susanna E. Phillips, the daughter of Samuel and Rachel Phillips, and to this union were born six children, two of whom died in infancy and one, Alvin, who died at the age of five. The other three are unmarried and are all under the parental roof : Eva, Ella and Albert.

The grandparents of Mr. Harlan reared a large family of twelve chil- . dren: Hiram, who married Sallie Hodson; Enoch, the father of the subject of this sketch ; John, who married Rebecca Hill ; Nathan, who married Rachel Jordan; Ahi and William, who died in infancy; Eleazer, who married Rebecca Hodson; Eli; Alice, who became the wife of John Hadley; Carter, who married Nancy Tates; Mary and Jesse, who married Elizabeth Borders. Enoch Harlan, Sr., died July 8, 1840, and his wife on March 14. 1871. The wife of Enoch Harlan, Jr., died November 20, 1903.

Mr. Harlan has been a life-long Republican and has been old enough to cast his vote for every Republican president from i860 until the present time. He has never been a seeker for any political office, being content to devote all of his time and energy to his agricultural interests. He i'^ and has been for many years a member of the Friends church, and has always been actively interested in every movement which was inaugurated by his denomination. He is still hale and hearty despite his years and enjoys lif^ as befits a man who has lived a clean and wholesome life for so many years. His life has been so conducted that he has won the unbounded admiration of all of those with whom he has been associated, and because of his genial personality he is a welcome guest in any home in his community.

John Jay Crittenden Clay

One of the largest and most influential families in Hendricks county, Indiana, is the Clay family. They have traced their ancestry back to the Highland clans of Scotland, and from thence to Virginia, Kentucky and Indiana. Two of the most conspicuous memlaers of this family were Henry Clay and Cassius M. Clay of Kentucky. Many members of this family are scattered throughout the central and western states of this country, and one of the most prominent branches of the family in the state is found in this county. Wherever they have been found, they are always numbered among the representative citizens of their respective communities.

John Jay Crittenden Clay was born December 17, 1853, Eel River township, in this county, the son of James H. and Susan ( Fleece ) Clay, his father a native of Bourbon county, Kentucky, his birth having occurred there January 20, 18 19. James EI. Clay was the son of Littleberry and Arabella (McCoun) Clay, and he was married July 29, 1841, to Susan Fleece, his marriage taking place shortly after his father and wife arrived in this county. They came to Indiana about 1840, settling in the southern part of^ Eel River township where Littleberry Clay bought a section of land. A few years later he went to Missouri, but James remained in this county. Susan Fleece was born in Boyle county, Kentucky, near Danville, and came here with her parents, Charles Fleece and wife, in the early history of the county. Her parents settled west of North Salem near Eel River where they entered government land when that part of the county was a total wilderness. James H. Clay followed the vocationljOf a farmer for the remainder of his life and was a resident of this place about forty years, and here his death occurred. At one time he owned nearly a section of land, but before his death he divided it among his children, nine of whom grew to maturit\' ; Mrs. Arabella Waters; Mrs. Mary Catherine Rose; Samuel C, of Lebanon; Mrs. Sallie Rogers, of Amo; James A., of Indianapolis; John J. C, whose history is here delineated: Nicholas, deceased; .Arthur E., of Indianapolis,

John J. C. Clay grew to manhood on his father's farm and receivetl such education as was afforded by his home schools. When he was about eighteen years of age he learned the carpenter's trade and followed this vocation for the next four years. However, farming offered better opportunities for financial returns and he decided to engage in agricultural pursuits. Early in his career he turned his attention to the buying, feeding and breeding of live stock, and has been one of the largest shippers in the county. He has gradually added to his landed possessions until he is now the owner of over fifteen hundred acres of land in the northwestern part of Hendricks county and the northeastern part of Putnam county.

Early in life Mr. Clay was married to Mattie J. Walker. In fact, he was only a youth of nineteen when he assumed the responsibilities of married life. Mrs. Clay was reared in Eel River township, the daughter of David and Mary Walker. Her father came to this state from North Carolina. One son was born to the first marriage of Mr. Clay. Charles C. wht. is now living in North Salem. Mr. Clay's first wife died in 1875, and in 1881 he was married to Mary E. Ballard, the daughter of George and Margaret (Polk) Ballard. Margaret Polk was born in Wayne county, Indiana, on May 9, 183 1, and came to Marion county in this state in childhood with her parents. She was married June 12, 1849, to George Ballard, and her death occurred November 25. 1898. George Ballard was born in Scott county, Indiana, January 14, 1822, and moved to Marion county in 1834, where he lived most of the remainder of his life, following the trade of a carpenter. He lived a part of the time in the city of Indianapolis, but spent his declining years at North Salem, where his death occurred in 19 12. He and his wife were both members of the Methodist Episcopal church.

Mr. and Mrs. Clay have two children living and one deceased : Edna Coral, born in 1882. is the wife of Taylor Owen, and lives in North Salem: James Henry, born in 1885, married Ina Sparks, and is a farmer in this township.

Mr. Clay and his wife are both loyal and earnest members of the Christian church, and are zealous in the support of the various organizations of that denomination. He has spent most of his life in North Salem, from which point he ships a large amount of li\'e stock annually. Personall}-, Mr. Clay is a man of unblemished reputation and the strictest integrity, and his private life has always been above reproach. He is a vigorous, as well as an independent thinker and has the courage of his convictions upon all subjects which he investigates. He is essentially cosmopolitian in his ideas. a man of the people and a fine type of the strong American manhood which commands the respect of all classes by reason of genuine worth. Thus he has so impressed his individuality upon the community as to wnn the confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens and become influential in leading them to better things.

The present age is essentially utilitarian and the life of every successful man carries a lesson which, told in contemporary narrative, is productive of much good in shaping the destiny of others. There is, therefore, a due measure of satisfaction in presenting, even in brief resume, the life and achievements of such men, and in preparing the following history of the scholarly physician whose name appears above it is with the hope that it may prove not only interesting and instructive, but also serve as an incentive to those who contemplate making the medical profession their life work.

Dr. W. J. Hoadley, the oldest physician in Hendricks county, was born March 2. 1831, in Chatham county, North Carolina. His parents, Abram and Sophia (Staley) Hoadley, came to Hendricks county, Indiana, in 1837, where they lived the remainder of their lives. Abram Hoadley was born in Bramford, Connecticut, in 1793, and began the practice of medicine in Chatham county, North Carolina, as a young man. His wife was a native of Randolph county, that state. After Dr. Abram Hoadley came to Hendricks county, Indiana, he practiced medicine in this and adjoining counties and was one of the best known men in Hendricks county at the time of his death in 1865. When he and his family came from North Carolina to this state, they made the long trip in a wagon and carriage, and such was the condition of the roads at that time that it took them over six weeks to make the journey. The widow of Dr. Abram Hoadley died in 1898, at the advanced age of ninety-two years. Dr. Abram Hoadley and wife were the parents of twelve children, only three of whom are now living, Abram Hoadley, who lives on the old homestead farm in Washington township, this county; Mrs. Alvira Hornaday, who is the oldest of the family and lives with her children in this county, and Dr. W. J. Hoadley, the immediate subject of this review^ the overland trip from North Carolina to Indiana. He received his primaryeducation in his home township schools and "then spent two years in Asbury University. He then took up the study of medicine and, as was the custom in those days, read in the office of his father. Although he did not graduate from the Medical College of Ohio until 1866, he had practiced medicine for nine years before that time at Pittsboro, this county. In 1866, immediately after his graduation, he opened offices in Danville and has practiced there continuously, although he is now practically retired from the active duties of his profession. He is now, and has been for the past eighteen years, secretary of the Hendricks county board of health.

Doctor Hoadley was married on April 11. 1861, to Louisa F. Shirley. the daughter of James and Demirah Shirley, a well known family' n^ Hendricks county, and to his marriage there were born four children : Willis F., who lives in central California; Eva, the wife of Nathan J. Thompson, of this county; Harry H., who also is a resident of California; .Anna May, deceased, who was the wife of Benjamin Lingenfelter. Doctor Hoadley's wife has been dead for about twenty years.

For more than eighteen years after the Ci\il War. Doctor Hoadley was pension examiner and was known for his absolute honesty in the conduct of this office. He bore an unblemished reputation for honesty and high integrity. While active in the practice he was wholly devoted to his profession and no man stands higher in the community than the venerable Doctor Hoadley. He is the oldest physician in the county, both as to years and as to length of service. His health is excellent for a man of his age and his physical and mental powers are intact after a busy life of over eighty-three years. He has a hopeful disposition and is of an optimistic nature and has always made it a practice to look for the silver lining on every cloud which has swept across his horizon. He is a stanch member of the Christian church and has been one of its elders for more than twenty-five years. For many years he was a Mason, but now has a demit from the local lodge at Danville.

Doctor Hoadley's father came of English ancestry, while his mother was of German descent. The Hoadleys trace their lineage back to the year 1600, when there was a man by the name of Hoadle, who reared four sons, who married and in turn reared large families of their own. Doctor Hoadley is the sixth generation from this Hoadle of 1600. There are now about eighteen hundred Hoadleys in the United States alone.

Doctor Hoadley is a remarkably strong and active man for one who has lived fourscore and three years, with a self-governed body and a riind ot (17) sterling quality. With a generous nature, he has been in the forefront among the good men of this county, leading the wonderful development that has marked Hendricks county the past seven decades. Fevir men here have done longer or equal service in the progress of this community.

Lincoln A. Hasten

There is no calling, however humble, in which enterprise and industry, coupled with a well directed purpose, will not be productive of some measure of success, and in the pursuit of agriculture the qualities mentioned are quite essential. Among the well known and highly respected farmers of Hendricks county who have attained to a definite degree of success in their line and who at the same time have greatly "benefited the community in which they have lived, is the gentleman to a review of whose career we now direct the reader's attention.

Lincoln A. Masten, the proprietor of a one-hundred-ten-acre farm in Clay township, Hendricks county, was born in this county, September 21, i860, the son of William and Delphinia (Johnson) Masten. His father was a native of North Carolina, his birth having occurred there in 1832, while his mother was a native of Indiana, having been born here in 1833. When a small child, William Masten was brought from North Carolina to Indiana by his parents, and his father entered land from the government, south of Amo, Franklin township, and here William Masten spent his boyhood and was married. x\fter his marriage his father gave him a small farm to start with, and being a farmer of more than ordinary ability he gradually added to his possessions. However, he did not always reside in this county. For some years he livecj in Morgan county, Indiana, and for three years he farmed in the state of Kansas, but the love for his home state drew him back and he died in Greencastle, where he spent the last twenty-six years of his life, dying March 13, 1910.

William Masten was married three times, first to Janie Jackson, to which union were born three children, namely: Ursula Ann, who became the wife of Simon Allen, and they have three sons; Ellwood, who is married and is the father of a son and a daughter; Nathan, deceased, married Dora Cook, of Indianapolis, and they had a son, Otis. For his second wife William Masten married Delphinia Johnson, and to them were born four children, namely: Charles, who married Ida Ingold; Fred, who died in 1907; Rosella, who married Lewis Phillips, and Lincoln, the immediate subject of this sketch. Mr. Masten's third wife was Elizabeth Wells, of Greencastle, Indiana, who died on February 3, 1914, there being no issue to this union. The subject's mother had the following brothers and sisters : Snyder, who married Patsy Shoemaker; Euphemia Curtis; Sarah Shields; Maria Wilhite; Wesley was married twice, first to Mary Garrison and second to Sallie Bryant ; Belinda McClelland, and Jesse, who married a Miss Seaton.

Lincoln Masten attended school in Morgan county, and when his parents went to Kansas he spent three years in the public schools of that state, and upon their return to Hendricks county he finished his education in the district schools of this county, after which he worked on the farm with his father until his marriage, when he purchased forty acres of land and started farming for himself. Being a man of good sound judgment and a farmer of up-to-date methods, he has been uniformly successful in all his transactions and to-day is the owner of one hundred ten acres of fine farming land in Clay township. He has his farm well improved and has a fine home and good barns and other outbuildings which add not a little to the value and attractiveness of his home.

Lincoln A. Masten was married to Rosa Sanders, the daughter of Oliver S. and Saluda (Shirley) Sanders, and to this union there have been born three children; Clarence H., Blanche G. and Sanders W. Clarence married Mary Derr, daughter of John Derr; Blanche married Thomas Wolfrom, and has one son. Maynard. The paternal grandparents of Mr. r\lasten reared a family of ten children, Eli, Nathan, Hanna, Mathias, Cyrus. William, Manuel, John, Reuben and David. Mrs. Masten was one of two children born to Oliver and Saluda Sanders, her sister being Minnie. Minnie married Louis Wilcox, of Los Angeles. The maternal grandparents were Aaron and Abigail Sanders and they had a family of ten children. Abraham. William, Jesse, Oliver, Ebenezer, Mary Ann, Lucinda, Emmeline, Martha and Jane. Mrs. Masten's mother's parents were Richard and Jerusha Shirley, and to them were born eleven children, Absalom, Minerva. Jennie, William, Mary Ann, Ruth, Saluda, Winerd, Stillwell, John and Benton. Absalom died at the age of twenty-two; Minerva married Joseph Scott; Jennie married James Chenoweth; William died at the age of nineteen ; Mary Ann married Samuel Brazell ; Ruth died at the age of twenty-four ; Saluda is the mother of Mrs. Masten; Winerd died in infancy; Stillwell married Jennie Logan; John; Benton died in infancy.

interested in politics, taking an active part in local elections. However, heis not a strict partisan, but reserves the right to vote for the best men in local affairs, regardless of political affiliations. He and the members of his family are adherents of the Methodist Episcopal church of Amo. Mr. Masten has been interested in all the civic and moral movements of the community and casts his influence in the scale in favor of all worthy causes.

Ouincy Adams Davis

Among the earliest settlers of Hendricks county, the Davis family occupy a prominent and conspicuous part. P^rom 1835 down to the present time they have been important factors in the material and civic advancement of the county. The Davis family, of Hendricks county, trace their ancestors back to one Josiah Davis, who, according to the records, was born about the year 1665 in Wales. The family history has recorded only one son of Josiah Davis, who crossed the Atlantic ocean about the year 177 1, stopping first in Pennsylvania, thence, after a residence there of some years, he moved to Virginia and later settled near Mount Sterling, the county seat of Montgomery county, Kentucky. He was married four times and was the father of twelve children in all, six sons and six daughters. Two of these sons, Enoch and Nathan, with their families, were among the early settlers of Eel River township, in this county, and from these two sons was sprung a numerous progeny, whose descendants are now residents of Tennessee, Texas, Kentuck}', Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Colorado, California, Washington, Oregon and probably other states.

Nathan Davis, who has been mentioned, was born in Kentucky sometime during the latter part of the eighteenth century, and married Nancy Kidd, a native of that state After several children were born in Kentucky, Nathan, with his family, and his brother Enoch and his family, came to Hendricks county and settled in Eel River township. Nathan settled east of North Salem, bought part of his land from the government, and became the owner of more land from time to time until at his death he owned about five hundred acres of land. Nathan Davis and wife were the parents of nine children: John; Walter, the father of Ouincy A., whose history is herein presented; Ouincy, William, Frank, Marion, Mrs. Louisa Hunt, Mrs_ John Fleece, Mrs. Catherine Tucker and Mrs. Susan Ann Riner.

near Mount Sterling, in Montgomery county, Kentucky, and was twelve years of age when his parents came to Hendricks county. Here he grew to manhood and here he married Mary Margaret Speers, who was born near Danville, Kentucky, and came here about 1835 with her parents, John and Martha (Mitchell) Speers. . They settled about one and a half miles northeast of North Salem, where John Speers bought land and became a large owner in several townships in Hendricks and Boone counties. He bought lowland at a time when others were choosing the highlands, Ijelieving the lowland would eventually become the most profitable. To Walter Davis by his first wife were born eight children : John, Quincy A., Lafayette, Robert, Charles (the last two being deceased), Martha E., Nancy A. and Frances A. The first wife of Walter Davis died June 16, 1861, and he then married Mary A. Scott, of Montgomery county, Kentucky. To this second marriage were born six children : Walter ; Lorenzo ; Thomas Clarence ; Edgar L. ; Betty L., who died at the age of five, and Mrs. Myrtle D. Hendricks, the wife of Edgar Hendricks, of Jamestown, Boone county. The second wife of Walter Davis died in the summer of 1873 and two years later he married Mrs. Matilda (Free) South, of Danville. Walter Davis died January 11, 1893, in his seventieth year, a man highly respected and honored by everyone because of his upright and unostentatious life. He was a member of the Methodist church from his childhood and so conductd his life that he was beloved by everyone who knew him.

Quincy A. Davis grew up on his father's farm and after completing his common school education in the district schools he attended Northwestern Christian University, now Butler College, at Indianapolis, for eight terms, between the years of 1867 and 1870. In early manhood he clerked in a gas fitting and plumbing establishment in Indianapolis for three years and a half and also taught school for eight terms, which included one year at North Salem, near his home. In 1876 he moved to the farm east of North Salem where he has since resided. He is a man of excellent judicial ability and has the entire confidence of the community. He has served as administrator of a large number of estates, a fact which testifies to the confidence which the people of his community have in him. For thirty years he has been a farmer and has kept pace with modern movements in agriculture, so that his farm today presents a very attractive appearance.

Mr. Davis was married February 8, 1872, to Betty (Linn) Scott, who was born near Mount Sterling, Kentucky, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Scott. Her parents came to this county early in its history and lived here to a good old age. Mr. and Mrs. Davis have three children living and one deceased: Sylvan B. died at the age of three; Alden has taken the civil service examination for railway mail clerk, having passed one examination, another to be taken; he married Nora Higgins and has two children; Charles is in the blacksmith business at North Salem and Mary, who is still at home with her parents and who teaches music, having three large classes.

Mr. and Mrs. Dcivis belong to the Church of Christ at North Salem, and have lived true Christian lives through all of their career. Mr. Davis is a kind and courteous person, a worthy follower of Him who has been called the "world's first gentleman."

Silas M. Pearson

The farmer is the bulwark of the nation and investigation has shown that a majority of our best business men, of our best lawyers, of our best men of every vocation of life, have been raised on the farm. George Washington was a farmer and was proud of tlie fact; Abraham Lincoln was reared on a farm in the southern part of our own state. Probably the most popular Democratic governor this state ever had was "Blue Jeans" Williams, who prided himself on being nothing but a farmer. The Republican party never had a better governor than that plain, unostentatious farmer, James A. Mount. Verily, the farmer is the bulwark of the nation, the salt of the earth. To be a farmer today is to be a king among men.

Silas M. Pearson, the son of Henry and Anne (Spears) Pearson, was born in 1840, in Miami county, near Troy, Ohio. Henry Pearson was born in South Carolina in 1799 and came to Ohio with his parents when he was about twelve years of age or younger. In 1858 he came to Hendricks county, Indiana, where he lived the life of a farmer and where his death occurred in 1882. Mr. and Mrs. Henry Pearson were the parents of ten children: Rebecca, deceased; Sidney, deceased; Eunice, deceased; William, deceased at the age of two years; Robert, deceased; Hiram, deceased; Silas M.; John, deceased; Henry, of Grant county, and one child who died in infancy.

Silas M. Pearson received his education in Ohio, but has supplemented the meager education which he received in the public schools with con- tinuous reading all his life. He was married to Melissa J. Little, daughter of Samuel and Rebecca (Green) Little. Samuel Little was a native of Washington county, Indiana, and caaaae to Hendricks county with his father, Alexander Little, when he was a small boy. Alexander Little was in the Legislature in 1822 when the present capital of the state received its name. He served m the first, second, eleventh, twelfth and fourteenth sessions of the Legislature. Alexander Little died in 1903 and his'wife in 1883. To Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Little were born nine children : Mrs. Sarah Crawford; Elizabeth; Joseph, deceased; Alexander, deceased; Mary Ann, deceased; Robert; one who died in infancy; Melissa and Thomas. Mr. and Mrs. Pearson are the parents of seven children, five of whom are living: Edward; John, deceased; Mrs. Laura Esarey, whose husband is a member of the history department of Indiana University; Mrs. Cora Card; Ada. deceased at four years ; Mrs. Pearl Lamy and Harry.

When the Civil War broke out. in the spring of 1861, Mr. Pearson, then a young man of twenty-one years, was seized with the same patriotic fervor which caused two hundred thousand of Indiana's native sons to go to the front, and as soon as an opportunity offered itself he enlisted for the service. He was mustered in during August, 1861, in Company I, of the Eleventh Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry. His company was attached to the Army of the Cumberland, and was in the field three years and three months. He saw hard service in the battle of Fort Donelson and many other battles. At the battle of Shiloh Mr. Pearson had the good fortune to escape unharmed, although the men on both sides of him were shot. He was not so lucky in the battle of Champion's Hill, for on this bloody battlefield, on May 16, 1863, he was twice wounded and then taken prisoner. He lay on the battle field of Champion's Hill for twenty-four days and for eight days was without food of any kind. He remained a prisoner until the 30th of September, 1863. when he was paroled and then transferred to Company Ninety-one of the Veteran Reserve Corps, and assigned to the quartermaster's office, at Madison, Indiana, where he remained until the end of his enlistment, being mustered out at Indianapolis in 1864. Immediately after being mustered out Mr. Pearson returned to his home county and settled down on the homestead farm south of Danville, where he remained until his marriage, two years later. He lived on various farms in the immediate neighborhood and then moved to Danville, where he remained for five years. In 1898 he moved to his present farm of one hundred and sixty acres, where he is still active and able to manage his farm 'in a very efficient manner. He raises all the crops common to this section of the country and in addition gives considerable attention to the breeding of livestock. As a farmer he has been very successful, because he has kept pace with modern methods of agriculture.

Mr. Pearson has been a member of the Free and Accepted Masons for fifty years, having been initiated at Madison in this state, during the last years of the war. In politics, he has been a Republican since reaching his majority, but in 1912 allied himself with the Progressive party, feeling that the old-line Republicans were not conducting the affairs of the nation as they should. He keeps well informed on all the current questions of the day and is able to discuss intelligently the political issues which are before the people. Although he has always been very much interested in politics, he has never held anv public offices, being content to devote all of his energies to the management of his agricultural interests. He and the members of his family are adherents of the Presbyterian church of Danville and contribute of their means to its support. Mr. Pearson is a keen, alert and progressive farmer in every sense of the word. He has always been a great reader and this has made him an entertaining conversationalist. He is a quiet man, who attends strictly to his own affairs, a man of strict integrity and high ideals, who has never failed to ally himself with all enterprises which have for their object the improvement and betterment of the conditions in the community in which he lives.

Julian D. Hogate

It is universally conceded that there are three factors which are more potent than all others in the advancement of civilization, the pulpit, the platform and the press. Of these three the press reaches places and conditions which the other two are never able to touch. Pulilic opinion as voiced by the newspapers has as much influence in molding legislation, advancing reforms and eliminating corrupt politics as all other agencies put together. A good newspaper, one which stands for the best interests of the community, is a blessing and the good that it can do is incalculable. It is the paper of the town which often is the only means of driving graft out of city affairs and placing the government of the city in the hands of the best class of citizens. The editor of a good newspaper touches the daily life of the community on every side and the editor who does his work honestly, fearlessly and conscien-

JuHan D. Hogate, the editor and proprietor of the Hendricks Count\ Republican, was born in Danville, Indiana, October 14, 1868. His parents were Charles F. qnd Sarah E. (DePew) Hogate, his father being a native of Salem county, New Jersey, where his birth occurred June 7, 1838. He came to Indiana when he was nineteen years of age and settled in Danville, where he was employed as a clerk until the opening of the Civil War, when he enlisted first in the Seventh Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry f(ir the three-months service and later, upon the expiration of his enlistment, he reenlisted in the One Hundred Seventeenth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry as second lieutenant of Company B. He served to the end of the war with honor, participating in some of the fiercest battles of that great struggle. He was a man of marked ability and popularity and in 1864 was elected on the Republican ticket to the Legislature from Hendricks county. He was one of the organizers of the Meridian National Bank, of Indianapolis, of which he was cashier until 1869, when he was appointed internal revenue collector for the sixth district of Indiana. He held this position until his death, w^hich occurred March 16, 1874. Charles F. Hogate was twice married, his first wife being Julia A. DePew and his second wife Sarah E. De- Pew, both being daughters of Jeremiah and Ann J. DePew. To the second union were born two children, Clair, deceased, and Julian D., the immediate subject of this sketch. Charles F. Hogate was a Methodist in his religious affiliations and always took a deep and abiding interest in the affairs of his church. In the Republican party he was for years a man to whom the party looked for counsel. He was a member of the Repuljlican national convention in 1868, which nominated General Grant for the Presidency.

Julian D. Hogate was reared in Danville, where he received his elementary education. After finishing the common and high school courses at Danville, he attended DePauw University. In 1888 he became connected with the Danville Republican as local editor, a paper which had been established in 1847. I" 1890 he purchased the establishment and since that time has conducted the paper alone. His paper is the official organ of the Republican party of Hendricks county and, under the able editorial management of editor Hogate, it has forged its way to the front until it is recognized as one of the leading weekly Republican papers in the central part of Indiana.

Mr. and Mrs. Hogate are devoted members of the Methodist Episcopal church of Danville and have great faith in the eiificacy of the various activities of the church. Mr. Hogate is a member of the order of Free and Accepted Masons and the Knights of Pythias. He has been a stanch Republican for many years and has served two terms as a member of the state central committee of his party. He served also as secretary of the state Senate during the sessions of 1905 and 1907 and the special session of 1908. As editor of the party organ for the county, he has been of inestimable value to his party. He has not been a rank partisan, but has stood for the better elements in his party during all these years in which he has been at the heim. He has always taken an active interest in the civic affairs of his town and every movement which seeks to uplift the community always finds in him a hearty and sympathetic supporter. He and his wife are very hospitable people, and number their friends everywhere throughout the county.

Stephen Douglas Noland

Farming was the original profession of man. Through the countless ages which elapsed since the first tiller of the soil grew the first crop, the farmer has been the bulwark of all nations. Today more attention is paid to farming than to any other profession, and there is a reason for it. When a railroad thinks of expansion, it first examines crop conditions, and when a great insurance company has money to invest, it first examines crop conditions also. When the secretary of the treasury, Mr. McAdoo, and his committee sought to locate the new American original bank, they examined the crop productions of the various bank regions. When Dun & Company prepare a general statement of business they examine crop conditions and always find the farmers' wealth most secure and increasing, and there is a reason for all of this. Land itself is the foundation of prosperity. The farmer not only feeds them all, but acts as the balance wheel and wealth builder of the nations and lives a more happy and contented life than his misguided brother. The interurban, telephone, rural mail route and automobile makes his farm a city improved estate. He is the final force that turns the wheels of factories; his land is the basis of security, the foundation of credit, the great factor of prosperity and constitutes ninety per cent, of our nation's wealth at the present time. Eliminate the farmer from Hendricks county and no other profession could exist. Thus it is that the farmer is the mainspring of prosperity in any county and the better farmers a county has the greater the material prosperity which that county will enjoy. Among the many substantial and wide-awake farmers of Hetidricks county, there is no one who is making more strenuous effort for the advancement of his county's interests today than is Stephen Douglas Noland, the present trustee of Eel River township.

Stephen Douglas Noland, the son of AVilliam and Elizabeth ( Underwood) Noland, was born October 19, 1852, in Putnam county, Indiana. His father was born in Madison county, Kentucky, and grew to manhood, married and reared six children there. After the death of his first wife, William Noland married Elizabeth Underwood, a native of Virginia, who had come to Kentucky with her parents when a small girl. In the fall of 1852, a short time before the birth of Stephen Noland, the family moved to Putnam county, this state, and temporarily located near Cloverdale. While in this county Stephen D., whose history is herein presented, was born. A year later the Noland family moved to Center township, in Hendricks county, and located near Danville on the land where the Mount Pleasant church is now standing. William Noland was a life-long farmer and died at a ripe old age, honored and respected by all of his fellow citizens. There were six children born to the second marriage of William Noland, of whom Stephen D. is the eldest; Melinda, deceased, was the wife of Marene Bonifield; Perry; Julia, deceased, was the wife of Walter Eastes; Mary, the wife of James Mannings, of Danville; John, of Indianapolis, who married Lulu Thrift.

Stephen Douglas Noland remained on his father's farm until his marriage. He was given such education as was afforded in his home neighborhood and in October, 1874, married Ella Whitenack, daughter of Abraham and Caroline E. (Reynolds! Whitenack. The Whitenack family originated in Holland and were driven from, or rather left, the country on account of religious differences. They belonged to the nobility and upon coming to America in the colonial days they first settled in New Jersey and later emigrated to Ohio, where Mrs. Noland was born. When she was a year old, her parents located in Eel River township, this county, between Danville and North Salem, where her father bought a farm in 1856. Here the family lived until her father's death in 1882. He was a farmer and during the summer operated a threshing machine and at other times operated a tile factory, employing more men in his various enterprises than any other man in the township. He was a life-long Democrat and at one time was nominated on the ticket for county treasurer, but inasmuch as his party was in a hopeless minority he had no chance of election. Mr. and Mrs. Whitenack reared a family of eight children, namely: Ella, Mrs. Noland; Llewellyn, deceased; Isalona, the wife of John F. Jeffries; Viola, the wife of Marshall Gardner, of Indianapolis; Levona, the wife of Harry Dean, of North Salem; Theresa, wife of G. W. Lackey, of Lawrenceville, Illinois; Oscar Odell, of Denver, Colorado, and Leon A., of Indianapolis. Mrs. Whitenack is still living at North Salem, at the age of seventy-eight years.

After Mr. Noland's marriage, he spent two years working with his father-in-law in the tile factory and then engaged in farming for himself. In 1881 he bought the farm where he now lives, two and one-half miles southeast of North Salem, on the Jamestown road. As a Democrat, he was nominated by his party for the office of township trustee and elected to this office in 1908. He is still holding this office by virtue of the fact that the 1913 Legislature increased the length of the trustee's term by two years, thus giving all trustees in the state who were elected in 1908 a six-year tenure.

Mr. and Mrs. Noland have reared a very interesting fam.ily of children, all of whom have received, or are receiving, the best educational advantages which it is possible for them to get. Mona, the oldest child, is the wife of H. F. Adams, a farmer in Eel River township, and has two children, Edna and Harmon; Ralph W., who lives in West Lafayette, is now an instructor in machine designing, heating and ventilating at Purdue University, from which he graduated in 1910 in mechanical engineering. He is a brilliant young man with a very promising future before him ; he married Madge Holloway, of Lafayette; Vera is a graduate of Indiana University, completing her course in 191 1, and she is now teaching history and English in the North Salem high school; Ernest D., the youngest child, is a student in Purdue University, where he is taking the full course in agriculture. Mr. Noland has always been a stanch supporter of education, l:)elieving that in the training of the mind there lies the greatest hope for our future generations. As township trustee he has been interested in securing the best possible teachers for his district schools, and, moreover, believes in paying them the best salaries which the law will allow him to pay. He has seven schools under his charge, as well as an excellent high school at North Salem, where there are now seventy-five enrolled in the high school.

Mr. Noland has been a Mason for many years and his son, Ernest, is also a member of that fraternal order. Sufficient has been said to indicate the esteem in which Mr. Noland is held by the people of his township, and it is shown that he is essentially cosmopolitan in his ideas, a man of the people in all that the term implies and, in the best sense of the word, a representative type of the strong, virile American manhood which demands and retains respect by reason of his worth, sound sense and correct conduct. None have made better use of their talent and opportunities and today he stands as one of the representative men of his county and. measured by the accepted standard of excellence, his career has been in e\er\- way eminently honorable and useful and his life fraught with good to his felluwmen at large.

William I. Gill

The record of William I. Gill, who is one of the leading citizens and progressive men of North Salem, Hendricks county, is that of a man who, from a modest beginning, has, without the aid of anyone, made a comfortable living, secured valuable property and laid by a competency for his old age, and at the same time won the undivided respect of all who know him as a result of his clean living and evident desire to promote the community in which he resides.

William I. Gill, the son of James and Jane E. ( Williams ) Gill, was born in Floyd county, Virginia, on July 21, 1847. James Gill was a brick layer by trade and in 1867, when William I. was twenty-one years of age, the . family came to Indiana, settling in Eel River township, this county, where James Gill engaged in farming and also followed his trade of brick laying as opportunity presented itself, and here he lived the remainder of his life, his death occurring in 1876. His wife survived him several years, dying in 1887. James Gill was a member of the Masonic order and both he and his wife were earnest and consistent members of the Christian church. They were the parents of seven children who grew to maturity and three who died in childhood. Those who lived were William I., Amanda, John T., Eli, Emma, James, Alfred and Mary.

William I. Gill was educated in the common schools of his native state, and early in life learned the brick-laying trade w ith his father and continued to assist his father until the latter's death in 1876. He then operated a brick yard of his own for about fifteen years at North Salem and in the meantime engaged in contracting and building. In 1891 he erected the town hall and opera house building in North Salem. Later he built the bank building, which contains the Masonic hall in the upper stories, and since then has built most of the business houses of North Salem. He has also built all of the brick school houses in Eel River township except two, and a large number of concrete bridges over Hendricks county. At the present time he manages the opera house and also owns and operates a cement tile factory at North Salem. As a contractor he is recognized as one of the most efficient and trustworthy artisans in }:he county, and his various buildings are a tribute to his skill as a workman.

Mr. Gill was married in 1877 to Lydia M. Henry, who was a native of Putnam county, Indiana, and a daughter of John B. and Elizabeth (La- Follette) Henry, her father being a farmer of that county. To Mr. Gill and his first wife were born nine children:. Ora, who is a bricklayer, lives at Indianapolis, and is the secretary of the bricklayers' union of that city; Mary, who became the wife of Ollie Graves, of Marion township, this county; Beryl, the wife of Otha Williams, of Brownsburg, who is engaged in the retail meat business in that place, and they are the parents of three children, Martha, Kenneth and Louise; Malta and Brewer are still under the parental roof, Malta being the telephone operator in the local exchange ; Vesta is employed in the North Salem postoffice. The mother of these children died in March, 1897, and in 1903 Mr. Gill married Sarah Elizabeth Bunten, a native of Marion township, this county.- .She was the daughter of Henry Harvey and Frances (Robbins) Bunten. Henry H. Bunten was born in Mercer county, Kentucky, in 1818, and came to Hendricks county, Indiana, in 1833. with his parents, William and Leanna Bunten. They entered government land near New Winchester and lived there the remainder of their lives. Frances Robbins was a native of North Carolina, the daughter of William and Leah Robbins, and came here in 1834 with her parents, who located in the northern part of Marion township, where her father entered government land. Henry Bunten was a life-long farmer and was county commissioner and also held other public offices of trust. He spent his entire life here near North Salem, his death occurring in 1899, his wife surviving him until 1902. Mrs. Gill lived at home with her parents until their death.

Mr. and Mrs. Gill are both earnest and consistent members of the Christian church and he is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, both of them also belonging to the Order of the Eastern Star. Mr. Gill is a man of unusual business abilities and has been one of the most important factors in the upbuilding of his home town. He is a quiet, friendly man. always

The family history of the LaFollettes, to which Mr. Gill's first wife belonged, is very interesting. The family originally came to the United States from France, during the time when the Huguenots were being persecuted, and first settled in New Jersey. The one male representative of the family who first came to America is the ancestor of a large and influential family, among whom are to be found Senator Robert M. LaFoUette, of Wisconsin. Many of the LaFollettes have been prominent in the history of this state and nation and the Lafollettes of Putnam county have long been one of the prominent families of the county.

Una Doris Adams

One of the striking characteristics of the twentieth century is the advent of women into the professional field. It has not been many years since it was thought that housekeeping was the only occupation to which a woman might aspire, and yet today we find women in all of the learned professions. It does not follow that the entrance of women into the professional life means the loss of her womanly qualities in any way. Women have made the greatest inroads into the teaching profession and here may be found some of the brightest, keenest and most charming of the sisters of Eve. Indiana has been foremost among the states of the Union in opening her higher educational institutions to women, the State University at Bloomington being the first university to open its doors to women on an equal footing with men. Since 1867, when the first woman entered the portals of Indiana University, there have gone forth thousands of well-trained young women who have become important factors in molding the life history of the state. More than a score of young women from Hendricks county have availed themselves of the opportunity to obtain a higher education, and among this number there is no one who has achieved more distinct success than has the present efficient superintendent of schools of North Salem.

Una Doris Adams was born in North Salem, the daughter of Thomas J. and Mary (Fleece) Adams, whose histories are recorded elsewhere in this volume. She graduated from the North Salem high school in 1898 and then attended the Central Normal College at Danville for two years, after which she spent several years in teaching and in 1909 received the Bachelor of Arts degree from the State University at Bloomington. She had already done high school work before entering the State University, having taught at Rock Branch and North Salem. She also taught two years in the public schools of Newcastle, this state, before graduation at the university, and after her graduation she returned to Newcastle and taught one more year, then came to North Salem and became assistant superintendent of the public schools at that place, under the superintendency of Theodore F. Martin. The following year Professor Martin became the county superintendent of Hendricks county and she was elected superintendent of the schools, a position which she has been iilling ever since. As a teacher she combines both the proper educational qualifications and that tact and skill which are the necessary concomitants of every successful teacher. She is one of the very few women school superintendents in the state and it is a tribute to her ability that .she is filling the position at North Salem in such a creditable manner. Miss Adams is a member of the Christian church and also belongs to the chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star at North Salem.

Major Joseph B. Homan

A man who has gained more than ordinary success and whose record as a patriotic citizen and influential business man is recognized throughout the state is Joseph B. Homan, of Danville. Mr. Homan is a native of Hendricks county, Indiana, born in Washington township on September 16, 1838. the son of Aaron and Sibelena (Faucett) Homan. His father was a native of Pennsylvania and his mother of Ohio. The paternal grandfather, Fred Homan, and maternal grandfather, John Faucett, were both soldiers in the War of the Revolution, .\aron Homan came to Hendricks county, Indiana, in 1819, locating in Washington township, and in 1848 removed to Danville, where he lived until his death, which occurred at the age of eighty-five years. By occupation he was a mechanic and millwright. The mother of Major Homan died soon after removing to Danville, about 1849 or 1850. .\aron Homan then married Harriett Sandusk)-, who also is deceased. Aaron Homan was the father of eight children by his first marriage, three of whom are still living: Mrs. Mary J. Hadley, of St. Lo«is, Missouri, the widow of N. T. Hadley; John F., of Carroll county, Missouri, and Joseph B.

his own efforts. His mother died when lie was only twelve years old and he was obliged to work for his board and tuition while attending school. On April 24, 1861, he enlisted in Company A, Seventh Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, for the three-months service and from a private became promoted to the rank of a corporal. At the expiration of this term of enlistment, he went to Iowa and there enlisted in the Thirteenth Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and served until after the battle of Shiloh, whe^e he was severely wounded by an artillery horse running over him. He came home ' on a furlough after the accident and while home helped to recruit a company from Hendricks county and Marion county, which was made a part of the Ninety-ninth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He was commissioned captain of this company, which was mustered in as Company H. Afterward he was promoted to the rank of major and was finally mustered out as lieutenant-colonel, after serving three years and seven months. His company lost nineteen men in the battle of Shiloh. Among the engagements in which the subject participated during the war were the following: Phillippi, Laurel Hill, Carrick's Ford, Chattanooga, Dalton, Tunnel Hill, Mission Ridge, Graysville, Knoxville, Scottsboro, Brush Mountain, Nickajack Creek, Chattahoochee River, Decatur, Atlanta, Snake Creek Gap, Resaca, Kingston, in and about Dallas, Pumpkinvine Creek, Altoona, New Hope Church, Big Shanty, Kenesaw Mountain and Pine Mountain. Major Homan was captured at Atlanta and was in prison three or four months at Charleston, South Carolina, until exchanged at Rough and Ready, Georgia. At the close of the war, Major Homan came home and engaged in the dry goods business in Danville, although as a boy he had learned the carpenter's trade. He continued in the dry goods business from 1865 to 1873 in Danville and then organized the Danville Banking Company. He was manager of the institution from its organization until 1884. For many years he was a large feeder and shipper of cattle, making large shipments to Scotland. Since 1885 he has been engaged in the real estate and loan business with his son, Eustace W. Homan. Major Homan was married in 1865 to Mary L. Ballard, of Greencastle, Indiana, and to this marriage there was born one son, Eustace W., above mentioned. Mr. Homan is a member of the Loyal Legion, and also an active member of the Grand Army of the Republic. He belongs to the order of Free and Accepted Masons and in all these fraternal organizations he takes an interested and active part. Religiously, he is a Methodist in belief and a liberal contributor to the support of this denomination. In politics he is an ardent Republican and has voted for every Republican that has been elected (18)

President. He was a delegate to the Republican national convention which nominated Garfield in 1880, and he was also at Minneapolis when Benjamin Harrison was re-nominated, and a member of the notification committee which went to the White House and notified General Harrison of his nomination. He is now a member of the board of trustees of the Indiana Boys' School at Plainfield. Major Homan has lived to honorable ends and his admirable career has won for him the unqualified esteem of a host of friends.

John Henry Bunten

The life of a farmer is one of comparative obscurity, yet such is the peculiar fitness of things that in no other station in life do we find men of sounder character and stronger principles than in the environment of the farm. Surrounded by nature, the farmer's life is one which offers fewer temptations and more facilities for developing strength than does the artificial life of the cities. And, as in the last analysis, it is character which counts, so in the end the life of an honest, upright farmer, like Mr. Bunten, may outweigh the life of a man who occupied a much larger place in the eyes of the world.

John Henry Bunten, of North Salem, was born in Marion township, Hendricks county, Indiana, on February 24, 1850, his father being a native of Mercer county, Kentucky, and his mother of Randolph county. North Carolina. Henry Harvey Bunten was born in 1818 and was the son of William and Leanna (Wilson) Bunten. When Henry Harvey Bunten was a young man he and his parents came to Marion township, this county, from Kentucky, and here William Bunten entered government land and lived the remainder of his life as a farmer. He was married to Frances Robbins, who was born in 1819, the daughter of William and Leah (Lamb) Robbins. She was a small girl when her parents left North Carolina in wagons to make the long trip across the Blue Ridge mountains and the Ohio river valley to this county, where the family entered government land in Marion township. Henry H. Bunten and Frances Robbins were married when they were both very young and lived the simple life of farmers all their lives, he dying in 1898, and his wife two years later. Henry H. Bunten was county commissioner of Hendricks county at one time, and, with his wife, was a life-long member of the Christian church, in which he was a deacon and elder for many years. Mr. and Mrs. Henry Harvey Bunten were the parents of nine chil- dren, eight of whom grew to maturity. At the present time three daughters and John H., whose history is here presented, are the only Hving children of this marriage.

John Henry Bunten was reared on the home farm and upon reaching manhood was given the management of the home place. He and his sister, Sarah E., stayed at home, caring for their parents until their death. Sarah E. is now the wife of William I. Gill, whose career is portrayed elsewhere in this volume.

Mr. Bunten was married April 28, 1904, to Mrs. Pearl D. ( Hadley ) Duncan, the widow of Elmer Duncan, and the daughter of James and Jennie (Fleece) Hadley. James Hadley was born in 1847 '" Marion township, this county, and was the son of Edmond R. and Sarah S. (Ragan) Hadley. Edmond R. Hadley was born in North Carolina, the son of James C. and Mary (Richardson) Hadley. When Edmond R. was a small boy, his parents came to Hendricks county, Indiana, and located southwest of Danville, where James C. entered government land. On this farm James C. Hadley lived and died, a life-long farmer and stock raiser. Edmond R. Hadley grew up o'> the farm and married Sarah S. Ragan, who was born in Mercer county, to this county in early childhood with her parents, who first settled in Putnam county, but later came to Hendricks county. After Edmond R. Hadley's marriage he was given a farm of forty acres by his father in Marion township, this county, and as the years went by he added to this until he had seven hundred acres of fine farming land at the time of his death in 1875. Edmond R. Hadley and wife were the parents of eight children, two of whom died in childhood. Three or four years before his death Mr. Hadley bought a farm in Eel River township, and here he remained for the rest of his life. James Hadley, the father of Mrs. J. H. Bunten, was married October 25, 1871, to Louisa J. Fleece, a native of Eel River township and the daughter of John and Elizabeth (Davis) Fleece. John Fleece was a child when he came to this county with his parents. Elizabeth Davis was born in this county and was a sister of Walter Davis, the father of Ouincy A. Davis, whose family history is given elsewhere in this volume. Since his marriage James A. Hadley has followed farming pursuits in Eel River township, and for the past thirty-four years he has lived in North Salem. In 1901 he sold all of his land but twenty acres, which adjoins North Salem. He owns a threshing and shredding outfit and still engages in that business. Mr. Hadley is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and the Independent Order

Mrs. Bunten was born in Eel River township, this and in 1891 married Elmer C. Duncan, the son of George H. and Nancy (Davis) Duncan. For two years after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Duncan lived in this county, then went to Colorado, where they remained for the next seven vears. At the time of his marriage, Mr. Duncan assisted his father in a tile factory, but upon his removal to Colorado he engaged in gardening and fruit raising. He died in June, 1900, at the age of thirty-three years, leaving his widow with one son, Glenn D. After Mr. Duncan's death his widow came back to the home of her parents and lived with them until her marriage to Mr. Bunten.

After Mr. Bunten's marriage he built his present home in North Salem, and lived there for about four years. He then returned to the farm, but two vears later moved back to North Salem and now rents his farm out. He is the owner of one hundred acres of fine farming land and also has the management of forty acres adjoining, which belong to his sister.

Mr. Bunten is a stanch Republican in his political views but has never been a blind partisan in defense of his party. He is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and he and his wife are both members of the Order of the Eastern Star. Religiously, their affiliation is with the Christian church, to which they give their earnest and zealous support. Mr. Bunten is a man in whom everyone reposes the utmost confidence, for his word is to him a sacred obligation arid he has always been ready to assist in every good work and help those in need. He has a wide acquaintance throughout the northern part of this county, and is highly respected by alUof those with whom he has come in contact and who know him personally.

Dr. Thomas J. Adams

Among the men of the past generations who have been influential factors in the life of Hendricks county, the late Dr. Thomas J. Adams occupied a prominent place. Doctor Adams was born September 22, 1837, in Center township, near Danville, and died at North Salem, this county, March 13, 1908. He was the son of Solomon and Nancy (Griffiths) Adams. Solomon Adams was a native of Nicholas county, Kentucky, and in the twenties of the last century came to Switzerland county, Indiana, where he married.

Thomas J. Adams received an academic education at the old Thorntown Academy in Boone county and began the study of medicine with Doctor Lockhart, of Danville, as his preceptor. For several years before the war he taught school in Tipton, Boone and Hendricks counties and on January 2, 1864, he enlisted at Danville in Company I, Ninth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Cavalry, for three years. He served until he was honorably discharged in 1865. the close of the war. On the organization of his regiment he was appointed hospital steward and served in that capacity throughout the remainder of his service. During six months of this time he acted as surgeon, his superior officer being absent from the regiment. His regiment took part in many heavy skirmishes on Hood's campaign, being in the battles of Columbia, Franklin, Nashville and many others. Doctor Adams helped to care for the wounded. At the battle of Nashville, he remained behind several days to help gather up the wounded and send them to hospitals.

After the close of the war Doctor Adams returned to this county and at once entered Rush Medical College in Chicago, from which he graduated in 1870. However, in the meantime he had been practicing at North Salem, beginning in March, 1866, after he had had one term at the medical college. After graduation he started to practice at North Salem and was more than usually successful. He was a member of the county, state and national medical societies and had a large medical library.

Doctor Adams was married in April, 1867, to Mary A. Fleece, the daughter of John and Elizabeth (Davis) Fleece. John Fleece was born in Boyle county, Kentucky, the son of Charles and Mary (Harlan) Fleece. In 1836 the Fleece family came to Hendricks county and settled in Eel River township. Elizabeth Davis was born near Mt. Sterling, Montgomery county, Kentucky, and was the daughter of Nathan and Nancy (Kidd) Davis. She was about fourteen years of age when her parents came to this county and located northeast of North Salem, where they entered government land. While Mrs. Davis was still a small girl, her parents moved to Ladoga, where the father engaged in the general merchandise business for sixteen years. Then they moved to North Salem, and after the war her father moved to Jamestown, where he again engaged in the mercantile business until his death, about fifteen years later. While living in Ladoga he served as township trustee.

Doctor Adams continued his practice in North Salem and vicinity until two or three years before his death, when a stroke of paralysis necessitated him giving up his practice. He died in North Salem, March 13, 1908. Doctor and Mrs. Adams were the parents of seven children: Galen, Una and Herbert are still living with their mother at North Salem ; Beulah is the wife of Dr. C. M. Trotter, a dentist of North Salem, with one son, Richard ; Percy died at the age of twenty ; Herman died when he was about six years of age; Ernest, the youngest child, is a graduate pharmacist of Purdue University.

Doctor Adams was a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and the Grand Army of Republic, and held official positions in both. He was one of those strong, sturdy individuals who have contributed largely tp the material v/elfare of this county and was a public-spirited citizen who always stood for the best interests of his community. For a long term of years he was active in promoting the community's progress along social and moral lines, and consequently his name will long be remembered for his potent influence for good in this county.

E. E. Blair

Specific mention is made of many of the worthy citizens of Hendricks county within the pages of this volume, citizens who have figured in the growth and development of this favored locality and whose interests have been identified with every phase of progress, each contributing in his sphere of action to the well-being of the community in which he resides and to the advancement of its normal and legitimate growth. Among this number is E. E. Blair, who, as a private citizen and public official in his home township, has won the esteem of his fellow citizens because of his blameless private life and his efficient public service. Some men in each community are the natural leaders in public affairs and among this number is Mr. Blair, whose training has rendered him peculiarly adapted to public service.

E. E. Blair, ex-trustee of Washington township and successful farmer, was born October 13, 1865, in the township where he has lived the most of his life. His parents were Clark and Marium Blair, who were highly respected citizens of the community in which they lived.

Mr. Blair received his common school education in his home schools and then entered Purdue University at Lafayette, Indiana, where he took an agricultural course of one year, then returning to his father's farm, remained there and assisted his father until he moved on to his present farm in 1895, He purchased it from the Walter Ross heirs and has improved this tract in many ways by erecting new buildings and draining and fencing it in a way to increase its value materially. While he raises all of the crops peculiar to this section of the state, he has made a specialty of hog raising and has been uniformly successful along this line. In his farming methods he has kept abreast of the times and keeps well informed upon the latest agricultural methods so that he may keep his farm to the highest state of efficiency. He is interested in all of the farmers' institutes and special short courses for farmers, feeling that these are things in which the farmer cannot make a mistake.

Mr. Blair was married, in 1887, to Jennie Barker, the daughter of William and Louisa Barker, of Avon, this county. Mrs. Blair was born June 7, 1868, in Avon and received her education in the schools of that place. Mr. and Mrs. Blair are the parents of seven children : Nola, born July 10, 1888; Earl H., born July 21, 1891; Bessie, born December 29, 1892; Eddie E., born December 29, 1894; Everett C, born July 10, 1896; Russell B., born March 21, 1898, and Helen G., born January 23, 1900. All these children are still under the parental roof and are being given the best educational advantages by their parents.

Mr. Blair has always taken an active interest in Republican politics and in 1895 was selected by his party to make the race for township trustee and that he was elected to that important office shows the esteem in which he is held by the citizens of his township. He responded to -their confidence in him by rendering to them and to the township faithful and efficient service while in the capacity of a trustee. He interested himself in the township schools, roads and everything which came within his jurisdiction.

Mr. Blair has spent his whole life in the township of his nativity with the exception of a short time in the West, when he spent about a year on a ranch in Indian territory and another year with a contracting firm in Kansas City, Missouri.

Fraternally, Mr. Blair is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons at Bridgeport, Indiana, and is actively interested in the affairs of his local lodge. In every avenue of life's activities he has performed his full part and because of his genuine worth and high character he has enjoyed to a large degree the respect and confidence of his fellow citizens.

No other profession has accomplished, during the last century, the progress and development that have been made by the medical. The man of original thought and action, Avhose text-book forms but the basis of future work, has ever moved forward, taking advantage of and utilizing new discoveries in the science and looking always for better methods and surer means to the desired end. Such a man is he whose name heads this review. In considering the character and career of this eminent member of the medical fraternity, the impartial observer will not only be disposed to rank him among the leading members of his profession in his locality, but also as one of those men of broad character, culture and mental ken who have terrible struggles of the Civil war, his whole career has been replete with honor and success. He has been actuated by the highest motives, and to the practice of his profession he has brought rare skill and resource, his quick perception and almost intuitive judgment enabling him to make a correct diagnosis. He has always been a close student of medical science, keeping in intimate touch with the latest advances along that line, and he has for this reason kept thoroughly abreast of the times.

Dr. Charles A. White, one of the oldest practitioners in Hendricks county, was born in Canton, Washington county, Indiana. January 4, 1845. His parents, Maxamillian and Martha (Miles) White, removed to Hendricks county in the fall of 1850 and located in Liberty township, about two miles south of Belleville, then the largest town in the county.

Doctor White was only five years of age when his parents came to this county. He was given a good common school education and at the age when most boys of today are in school, he enlisted in the local military company which was being raised in his county. Although he was pnly sixteen years of age when the Civil War opened, his excess of patriotic zeal made up for his lack of years, and as soon as the opportunity ofifered itself he enlisted in Company A, One Hundred and Seventeenth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and served out his term of enlistment. As soon as he came back from the front he began the study of medicine in the office of Drs. R. C. Moore and L. H. Kennedy at Belleville and later enrolled as a student in Rush Medical College of Chicago. He was compelled to borrow the money with which to pay his school expenses, and for this he paid twelve per cent, compound interest. In the spring of 1868 he began the practice of medicine near Bloomington, Indiana, but remained there only about a year. On Mafth

15, 1869, he formed a partnership with Dr. John Dancer at South Milford, Indiana, which was dissolved two years later. While located at SoutH Milford, Doctor White took a second course of lectures at Rush Medical College and graduated as valedictorian of his class on February i, 1871. In the following April he located at Wolcottville, Indiana, in partnership with Doctor Dancer and was rapidly building up a good practice when sickness in the family necessitated a change. His partnership with Doctor Dancer closed on April i, 1873, and he at once moved to Danville, near their former home. He next went into practice in Danville with Dr. Henry G. Todd and they continued together from January i, 1874, until March i. 1877, when they agreed to dissolve. Doctor White then united with Dr. Wilson T. Lawson and they practiced together until October, 187Q, since which 'time Doctor White has practiced alone.

Doctor White was married on January 21, 1873, to Dee A. Miller, the daughter of Tolliver B. and Matilda (GilH Miller, and to this union there have been born two children, Geraldine Max Millar, born June 14, 1880, and Glyndon Del.askie Miller, born November i, 1881.

Politically, Doctor White has been a life-long supporter of the Republican party, in the councils of which he has been a prominent figure, and has frequently been a delegate to county, district and state conventions. Doctor White is a birthright member of the Quaker church, but at the age of twentyeight years he united with the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he has since been a consistent member. In his fraternal relations. Doctor White has been a Mason since he was twenty-one years of age and is also a member of the Royal Arch chapter and the council of Royal and Select Masters. He also belongs to the Scottish Rite, thirty-second degree; to Murat Temple, Nobles of the Mystic .Shrine; to the Knights of Pythias since 1878, and, from the age of twenty-one years, has been identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is also an appreciative member of the Grand Army of Republic. He is a member of several medical societies, in the proceedings of which he is deeply interested. He was vice-president of the State Medical Society, president of the Seventh Indiana Councilors' District Medical Association, and has served as a delegate to several meetings of the American Medical Association. During President Harrison's administration, he served as a member of the board of pension examiners. He has for many years been medical examiner for several leading life insurance companies, is local surgeon for the Big Four railroad and for years has been a member of the Big Four Railroad Surgeons' Association. He has during the forty years of his residence in this county built up a large and lucrative practice and been a potent factor for good in all lines of endeavor. He has been a public-spirited citizen who has always made his influence felt in all enterprises looking toward the betterment of the community in which he lives. During his early years in this community. Doctor White took a great interest in horses and he was instrumental in introducing into this county a higher grade of horses than had formerly been bred here. Personally, the Doctor is unassuming and approachable, a splendid conversationalist and excellent companion. Because of his high professional standing and sterling character, he is eminently deserving of the exalted position he holds in the esteem and confidence of his fellow men.

Jeremiah Jasper Page

One of the old families of Hendricks county which traces its ancestry back to England is the Page family, whose descendants now number thousands throughout the United States. The family name "Page" indicates that the family was once connected with the nobility, some members of which were once pages to members of the royal family. Later on some members of the family were given titles and received valuable concessions from the crown with the result that many of them became immensely wealthy. There is said to be an estate of several million dollars left in England by members of the Page family to which the American branch are justly entitled. However that may be, the Pages in America have always been able to take care of themselves and have never made any effort to establish their claim to the Page fortune of England.