Montgomery County, Indiana - Biographical sketches, 1911 (part 9 of 14)

William H. Martin

To attain a worthy citizenship by a life that is always honored and respected even from childhood deserx-es more than mere mention. It is no easy task to resist the temptations of youth and early manhood and plant a character in the minds and hearts of associates that will remain an unstained figure for all time. One may take his place in public life through some vigorous stroke of public policy, and even remain in the hearts of friends and neighbors, but to take such a position by dint of the practice of an upright life and without a craving for exaltation and popularity, is worthy the highest praise and commendation. The late ^Villiam H. Martin, one of the sturdy citizens of Scott township, Montgomery county, Indiana, who was well and favorably known throughout this community, was a man respected and honored, not because of the vigorous training of his special talents, but because of his daily life, which was a record of real, true manhood. Strong and forceful in his relations with liis iVllou imn. \k- .i;aiiu'il tho ^mxl will and commendation of his associates and tliu ,i;vniTal public, omt retaining;- iiis reputation among men for integrity and high character, and never losing that dignity which is the birthright of a gentleman. He lived and labored to worthy ends and as one of the sterling citizens and representatixc men of his community during past years, his nuMiKir}- merits a tril)ute of honur cm tlio pages of history.

William II. Martin was bdrn in Scott township. ^Montgomery county. Indiana, on Julv 2(). 1840. and he was the son of janics (irccn Martin ami wife, who are referred to at length in the sketcli of 1". A. .Martin, elsewhere in this work, and therefore need not be mentioned fully here. The subject's early bo\-hood was spent in Scott township, where his father followed farming and also operated a saw-mill. During his youth the family removed to Warren county, Indiana, where they remained until the death of the parents, while the subject was a young man. Mr. Martin then spent about two years with a brother in Boone county, this state, at the end of which time he returned to Scott township, this county, and for two years was employed as a farm hand by William T. Servies. whom he had known from boyhood. This was a fortunate engagement for the sul)ject. for he also gained the greatest boon that can bless a man. namel}-. a good wife, in the person of Mary A. Servies, daughter of his employer and to whom he was married on Oecemljer 30, 1875. She was born and reared in Scott townshi]) and the two had been acquaintances from childhood. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Martin moved to the northwest quarter of section 9, where he had bought eighty acres of good land, and they remained in this home as long as Mr. Martin lived. He engaged in general farming, in which he was successful and as he prospered he bought more land until he l)ecame the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of as good land as the township afforded. He was energetic and industrious, systematic in his methods, and a good manager in his business affairs, so that he was numlx^red among the enterprising and substantial farmers of his community.

In his political belief, Mr. Martin was a Democrat and gave stanch support to that party, though he never was a seeker after the honors or emoluments of public office. Religiously, he was an earnest and faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he was a steward for many years and a trustee for a time. Fraternally, he was affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, in which he had passed through all the chairs of the local lodge, fie was a man of clean habits, uprigh.t life and honest motives.

and devoted himself to the interests of his family, church and community. He was devoted to his home and family and to his children he gave every educational advantage possible. Mr. Martin's death occurred .on February 24, 1907. in the fifty-eighth year of his age, his death being generally considered a distinct loss to the entire community, while to those who knew him best there came a deep sense of personal bereavement.

To Mr. and Mrs. Martin were born the following children : John T. died at the age of seventeen years. Wallace B., who lives near Linnsburg, followed farming up to 1912, but is now working at the carpenter trade; he married Nannie Miller and they have three sons, Wendell, Chester and Kenneth. Charles died in July, 1903, at the age of nineteen years. Maud is the wife of David Douglass, a farmer in the northern part of Scott township, this county. James William, who lives on a farm three miles east of Ladoga, married Fern Corn, the daughter of Asa Corn, and the}- have three sons, ^\'illiam, Russell and Rol^ert. Har\ey died in A])ril, 1910, when twentytwo years old. Eva Lou is the wife of Harley Spencer, who is freight agent for an interurlian line at Lafayette. Claude, who lives on the home farm with his mother, was married, in .August, 191 2, to Ethel Delano, daughter of Nathan S. Delano.

Mrs. Martin still manages the home place, keeping everything in good repair and not allowing the productive value of the land to run down. She is a woman of many graces of head and heart that have commended her to the friendship and esteem of all who know her. She is kind and considerate of the needs of others, ever desiring the welfare and comfort of those about her rather than her own pleasure.

Charles Hicks

It is gratifying to see the younger generation of farmers of Montgomery county trying to improve the methods which their grandfathers employed in tilling the soil, not that the latter were not all right in their day; but conditions have changed and consequently a change had to be made in agricultural methods in order to ge the maximum results from the minimum expenditure of labor. It is not necessary here to enumerate these changes, for they are too apparent - the vast transformation from the country with its far-stretching and wild forests, the new soil and different climatic conditions found by the pioneers to those found today. One of the most scientific of these younger

Charles Hicks grew to maniiood on the home farm, where he helped with the general work when a hoy. and he received a good common school education. On Xo\eniber _'4. 1897. of James J. and Mary (Mark) Due county, this state, near North Salem. Her father was from I'.ath county, Kentucky, and came to Indiana with his mother, who was a widow w ith several children. The family estahlished a comfortable home near North Salem, where James J. Duckworth spent the rest of his life engaged in general fanning. His death occurred in North Salem on January :;. i(;ii. at the age of se\'enty-six years, eight months and fifteen days. He outlived his wife a numljer of decades, she having passed away when .Mrs. Hicks was a small child. When Mrs. Hicks was about five years old her father moved into North Salem and there she li\'ed until her marriage and attended the schools there, passing through the high school.

When Charles Hicks was twenty-one years old he began farming for himself. Up to that time he had farmed for his widowed mother. I'pon reaching his majority he began tending some land of his own, but continued to reside with his mother until his marriage, after which he moved to a farm he owned a miale north of where he now lives. Seven years later, having in the meanwhile gotten an excellent start, he purchased his present home place in the east one-half of Section 25 which joins his first tract on the south, the two tracts making a fine farm of two hundred acres on which he follows general farming and stock raising on a large scale. He has brought his land u|) to a high state of improvement and cultivation through his close application and good management. He has a good set of l)uildings and an excellent grade of livestock is always to be fcnind on his place.

To our subject and wife three children have been born, namely: Herbert Cecil, born July 25. 1899: Gladys Marie, born Sei)tember 2. 1903; and Harlan Eugene, born on Se])tember 2. i9i_'.

I080 Montgomery County, Indiana William Fisher

Those who know Wilham Fisher well are not surprised that he has won success at his chosen vocation, that of tihing the soil, for he is a man who has been a close student of whatever pertains to his chosen life work, believing that the best methods are none too good. He has kept his farm in Sugar Creek township in fine condition so that its old-time richness of soil has not been depleted by the many years of succeeding crops which are gathered in abundance from his fields annually, and he ranks with the foremost general farmers and stock raisers of the northeastern part of the county where the Fisher family has long been well and favorably known.

Mr. Fisher was born in the township and county where he still makes his home on August 26, 1863. He is a son of Samuel and Nancy J. (Corns) Fisher. The father was born in Vinton county, Ohio, in 1831. He received a common school education, came to Montgomery county, Indiana, when a young man, and here devoted himself to general farming, until his death in February, 1875. Politically, he was a Republican, but never specially active in public affairs. The mother of our subject was born in Montgomery county, Indiana, in 1833, and here grew to womanhood, received a common school education and spent her life here, dying in 1870. Her parents were among the first settlers in this county and members of the same have been well known here.

Samuel Fisher's family consisted of eight children, six of whom are still living. He was twice married, and his second wife was the mother of our subject.

Until he was eleven years old William Fisher spent his early life on the home farm and there assisted with the general work during the crop seasons and he attended the district schools in the winter time. From eleven years of age up to the time of his marriage, on October 3, 1889, he was thrown on his own resources, working out as a farm hand until he was twenty-six years old, when, on December 3, he was married to Martha M. Waugh, who was born in Sugar Creek township, this county, in 1867, and is a daughter of M. B. and Sarah (Saulsberry) Waugh, a highly respected family. Here Mrs. Fisher grew to womanhood and recei\'ed her education in the public schools.

The union of our subject and wife has resulted in the birth of four children, namely: Hallie P.. born June 13, 1893, is at home; Frank W., born

Mr. Fisher began farming for himself when a young man and he has continued this vocation through life until today he is very pleasantly situated on a finely improved and productive farm of two hundred and forty acres in Sugar Creek township, all of which is tillable but about forty acres. It has a natural drainage and is well suited for a stock farm, Mr. Fisher having long devoted considerable attention to raising a good grade of live stock of all kinds and specialized in the Poland China breed. He has made the improvements himself on this choice farm, and he has one of the best homes in this part of the county.

Politically, he is a Prohibitionist. He bclnngs to the Masonic Order at Colfax. He holds membership with the Melhodist Episcopal church of Potato Creek.

William T. Servies

The name of William T. Servies, long since a traveler to that "undiscovered bourne from whence no traveler e"er returns" is worthy of perpetuation on the pages of history, for it is a name that stands for wliolesome Ii\ing. progressiveness in agriculture and cleanliness in pulilic affairs, and the younger generation might do worse than to pattern their future careers after his: it would mean to them work with little idling in the shade of the tree.s by life's wayside, l)nt it would alsu mean a ctmifiirtalile measure of material success and what is more to be desired - a good name and irreproachable character. Like man\' another of the helpful ])eo])le who came into Montgomery county when it was in its first stages of develoi)ment and here did their full share of the further work recpiired to bring about the desired transformation from a wilderness to one of the finest farming sections in the state. Mr. Servies hailed from the Blue Grass state across the great river to the south, but nearly all his life was spent here.

Mr. Servies was born in Shelby county, Kentucky, March 4, 1831. He was a son of William Anderson Servies and Eliza (Pilcher) Servies. The family remained in Kentucky until the fall of 1831 when they remo\ed t(^ Montgomery county, Indiana, making the tri]) in wagons. They entered government land in Brown township, probably one hundred and sixty acres where William A. Servies spent the rest of his life. Settlers were few when thev arrived and. like the rest of the new-corner^ the elder Servies wcrkeil hard clearing his land and estabHshing the permanent home of the family, but he died when a young man, thirty-six years of age. His first wife preceded him to the grave, leaving five children a number of years before, and he had remarried, and his second wife survived him. The five children referred to were part of a large family, for four children were born of the second union, making nine children in all. Those by the first marriage were Mar}', William, John, Julia, Elizabeth and Nancy. Those by the second union were James, Martha, Martin and Ellen.

William T. Servies was about sixteen years of age when his father died. He began working out at eight dollars per month and did a great deal of hard work, such as clearing the new land of its great woods, splitting rails and doing similar work for whoever would hire him in this part of the county. He was economical, persistent and uncomplaining, and so he soon had a start. On January 3, 1853, ^^ married Nancy Jones, daughter of John and Phoebe (Foster) Jones. She was born where she still resides in the northwest one- fourth of section 17, Scott township, Montgomery county. Her father was born in Shelby county, Kentucky, where he lived until 1828, when he came to this county and was thus among the early settlers here. He entered from tlie government the quarter section where Mrs. Servies was born. Soon afterwards he and Phoebe Foster were married. Their first abode was a miserable shack, he not having time to build a house until he had cleared some land and got his crop for the season out and culti\ated ; in fact, their first dwelling was a rail pen with a temporary cover and their table was a goods-box. They started with practically nothing, but worked hard, were economical and in due course of time had a good home and a fine farm. Their cabin was still standing when William T. Servies and wife were married and in it the young couple went to keeping house, this being more than twenty-three years after their parents had begun their housekeeping there. Mrs. Servies was one of five children who grew up, and having an older sister who did the work about the house, Nancy helped in the fields and was very fond of the outdoors. She was much in the company of her father, and remembers seeing him kill a hoop-snake while it was rolling along on the ground like a barrel hoop. After the marriage of the subject of this memoir he began farming on his father's place, Mr. Jones having been at that time in failing health. Mrs. Servies was only fifteen years old when she was married, but notwithstanding her youth she proved an excellent helpmeet, sharing the incon\'eniences of pioneer life with its hardships and hard work without a murmur, knowing that time would bring everything out right. They worked together, consulted eadi otlier on a!I matters ot importance and prospered with achancing years, finally liecoming owners of six Inmdred acres of valuable land and for a number of \ears 'Sir. Servies ranked as one of the leading general farmers and stock raisers in the southern part of the county. Later in life he (lev<(ttd a great deal (if time to buying and shipping livestock. Ik- l)ecanic one of ilic most widely known stock buyers in this locality and everybody liked him for his Ikuh-sI. straightforward methods in dealing with his fellow men. lie had a large. comfortable home and his land was well impro\ed.

Seven children were born to William T. Servies, named as folhjws: John, who is engaged in the insurance business in I'ortland, Oregon, married Mary Peters, and they have twelve children living, one .son having died when a young man; Henry D., the present recorder of Montgomery county, is represented in an individual sketch elsewhere in this volume ; Mary is the widow of William ^lartin, deceased, and she lives in the northern part of Scott township; she has five children living, three having died; all the living are married and her youngest son, Claud, lives with her; .\merica ]*".. While, fourth child of our subject, is the widow of John While, tleceased. She lives in New Market, this counlx. with lier only child, a daughter. Katharine, anil she owns a farm in Scoll township. Charles Servies died in the fall of 191 1 ; he had married Mrs. Emma (Allen) Smith, widow of A. Smith, deceased, who now lives on his farm of one hundred and sixteen acres north of Lapland. Maggie Ser\-ies married Albert Seaman; they li\e just north of the old Servies homestead in Scott township, and ha\e had seven children, one of whom is deceased. Harne}'. who married Grace Landis, lives in the northern part of Scott township, and the\' have four children, three sons and a daughter.

Mrs. Servies is still living on the farm on which she was born nearly seventy-seven years ago. Here she grew to wmnanhood and she has li\ed lo see many great changes take place here during the three-quarters of a century of b.er useful and praiseworthy life. She has always been known as a good neighbor, kind, charitable and forbearing. Mr. Servies is also remembered as a generous, kind-hearted, upright gentleman, who was well thought of by all. Although not a member of an\- church, he attended and supported the Primitive Baptist church, and bis honesty and morality were so pronounced that others looked ui)on him as a worth}- example to Ije fol- lowed. It is said that some tried to be like him, but after all there was only one \\'illiam T. Serxies. During their younger days he was like a father to his brothers and sisters and always looked well to the comforts and general welfare of his own family. He was called to his eternal rest on October 22, i88s.

Samuel Hicks

Deeds are thoughts cr}-stallized, and according to their brilliancy do we judge the worth of a man to the country which produced him, and in his works we expect to find the true index to his character. The study of the life of the representative American never fails to offer much of pleasing interest and valuable instruction, developing a mastering of expedients w'hich has brought about most wonderful results. The subject of this review is a worthy representative of that type of American character and of that progressive spirit which promotes public good in advancing individual prosperity and conserving popular interests. Members of the Hicks family have long been prominently identified with the affairs of Montgomery county, and while their endeavors along material lines have brought them success they have also advanced the general welfare by accelerating industrial activity.

Samuel Hicks, one of the prosperous and modern agriculturists and stock men of Clark township, was born in this township and county on December 5, 1856. He is a son of Preston and Martha A. Hicks, a complete sketch of whom, containing the early history of the family, is to be found on other pages of this work, hence will not be necessary to repeat here.

Samuel Hicks grew to manhood on the old homestead in Clark township and there assisted with the general work when a young man during the crop seasons, attending the common schools in the wintertime, not leaving the parental roof until he was twenty-four years of age. On January 2, 1881 he married Elizabeth Payne, daughter of John F. and Mary Ellen (Dinsmore) Payne. She was born in Boone county, Indiana. Her father was born and reared near Paris, Kentucky, and he was a son of John and Cassandra (Hughes) Payne. His boyhood was spent in Kentucky and he came to Indiana when young, locating in Boone county. Mary Ellen Dinsmore was a daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth Dinsmore. She was bom in Boone county, this state, where her parents were early settlers. Mrs. Hicks lived in Hendricks county until she was sixteen years old. Her mother died when the girl was five years old. When she was sixteen years old her father brought lier to Clark township. Montgomery county and liere slie grew to wonianhood and was educated and married. Her father moved to Virginia, later Tennessee, and spent the last ten years of his life in the South. His death occurred in Tennessee on December 10, 191J. fie was a soldier in the Civil war in the Tenth Indiana \^olunteer Infantry, with which he saw considerable bard service. He was wounded at Atlanta, Georgia.

After his marriage Samuel Hicks went to farming on one of his father's farms. He had already been farming on the shares. He inherited some land from his father and bought more and now owns one hundred and fiftynine acres, having sold forty acres recently. He has brought his land up to a high .state of cultivation and improvement and has been verv successful as a general farmer and stock raiser. In the fall of 1R99 he completed a bandsome residence on his farm in Section 35 and Section 3(1.

Mr. and Mrs. Hicks are members of the Chri.stian church. Thev are the parents of eight children, namely : Letha, Ernest, Maude, Agnes, Merle, Lida, Hazel and Brewer. Letha married Fred Chadd and they live in Hendricks county, just across the Montgomery county line, east of Ladoga, and they have one daughter, Gail. Ernest Hicks married Bertha Henry and they live in Hendricks county, also, a mile northeast of his sister, Mrs. Chadd, and he and his wife are the parents of two children, Nomian and Lois. Maude Hicks married Lee Huckstep and they live northeast of their parents alx)ut a mile, on part of the old Hicks homestead : they have one child, a son, Hubert. The other five children of our subject and wife are all at home with their parents.

James M. Carti'R

Scott township, Montgomery county, can boast nt no l)ettcr farmer tiian James M. Carter, widely known and highly respected as one ni the most energetic, self-reliant and enterprising citizens of the eastern ])art of the county. He has for many years Ijeen intini;Uei\- associated with the best interests and upward progress of his neighborliood. and to his personal influence and efforts are due many of valuable and ])ermanent improvements of the locality. One of the older .settlers, he has not only l)een an eye witne.ss of part of the wonderful growth and development of bis adopted county but has actively participated in the changing scenes and has accunndated a valuable store of historical reminiscence.

1840. He is a son of Othias and Artimessia (Grimes) Carter. The fatiier was born in Mason county, Kentucky, February 8, 1804, and his death occurred in Montgomery county, Indiana, on February 15, 1870. The mother of our subject was born in Bath county, Kentucky, February 2, 1806. Thev grew up in the Blue Grass state, received such educational advantages as the early schools of the county afforded and there they were married, removing the same year to Monroe county, Indiana, making the trip in a two-wheeled cart drawn by a yoke of oxen. They bought a farm in Monroe county and lived there until 1839, when they moved to Russell township, Putnam county, where they bought the farm on which James M. Carter was born. Only a small portion of the place had been cleared, and after our subject was large enough to work he helped clear the rest of the land, but he spent a part of the winter months in the neighboring scliools. The family remained there until 1862, then sold out and moved into the southwest part of Scott township, one-half mile west of Parkersburg, and here the parents spent the rest of their lives. Ten children were bora to them, an equal number of sons and daughters, namely : Nancy married Enoch Railsback, and lived most of her life in Scott township; Elizabeth, who remained unmarried, died when nearly eighty years old, in the winter of 1911-12; William Simpson died in Missouri when about seventy years old, lea\ing a wife and three sons; Daniel Thomas lived in Scott township until his death, in May, 1906, leaving a widow, who is now living in Russellville. Indiana; Lucinda, widow of John Railsback, deceased, and she now lives in New Mexico; Parmelia married William Evennan. and they are both now deceased ; John Edward lived in Putnam county, and later in life near Parkersburg, this county, and he is survived by one grandson. Otto Fowler, of Waveland; James M., subject of this sketch; Lucretia, who married Abraham Fink, lives on the old Carter homestead, a half mile west of Parkersburg; Eli, the youngest child, li\-es in Putnam county, near Bainbridge.

James M. Carter grew to manhood on the old home place in Putnam county, and lived there until 1862, when he removed with his parents to Montgomery county, the family locating near Parkersburg. He was married on November 16, 1863, to Sarah Frances Warbritton, daughter of Peter and Phoebe (Nelson) Warbritton. She was born in the center part of Scott township, where the Warbritton brothers now live. Her father was born in Virginia, but went to Kentucky when quite young, and they came to Montgomerv count}-, Indiana, from Bath county, Kentucky, in pioneer times. They entered land from the government as least as early as 1829, when the county was just being settled, and lie took his part in the Ino-nillings ;md nther pioneer e\ents, and Mr. W'arbritton worketl as hard as e\er man diil in clearing and developing his land, lie later told frei|uently cit the varions wild animals he saw here and how the wohes disturbed his nightly slumber. Mrs. Carter, who was born in 1840, recalls that e\eu in her day a bear was killed not far from their home.

Phoebe Nelson was jjorn in Kentucky, ami was a daughter of Samuel and Anna Nelson, also pioneers of Scott township. Peter WarbriUdu and wife lived the rest of their lives on the farm they entered from the government. Thirteen children were born to them, all of whom grew to maturity. and all but four are still living. They were named as follows: .Martha Jane, deceased, was the wife of George E. Grimes, also deceasetl : Sanniel W'arbritton, of New Market, this county ; John lives in Garnett, Kansas ; Reuben lives in Sedalia, Missouri: Charles lives near Moody, .\rkansas: Henr\' lives at Raccoon in Putnam county, Indiana: S;irah I'rances, wife of James M. Carter, our subject: Andrew lives on the old home place in the central part of Scott township: Anna, deceased, was the wife of Joseph Lenover, of Danville, Illinois; Cynthis Ann, deceased, remained unmarried, lived on the old home place and died when about thirty-four years old ; Daniel lives on the old homestead, his wife, Nancy L., dying some time ago, leaving one daughter. Tola \\'orthing1on : Mahala <lied soon after her marriage ti> George Taylor: George W'arbritton. who married Lyda Tattock. lives on the old home place.

Two children were Ixjrn to Mr. and Mrs. Carter, namely: Robert Sherman Carter, who died on Octo])er 11. 187^), at the age of elexen vears : and another son that died in infancy, unnamed.

After James M. Carter married he rented part of his father's farm and farmed there about ten years, getting a good start. He then mo\ed to Missouri and engaged in farming in that state for one year. He then returned to this county in 1870 and purchased eighty acres. Section 20, this farm being located near Lapland. The land was timbered, but he cleared it in due course of time, after a great deal of very hard work. But being a man of courage he never gave over the task until he had developed a good farm and established a comfortable home in which he has now been residing for forty years.

Mr. and Mrs. Carter both belong to the Primitive Baptist church, holding their membership in the Indian Creek church. The\- are regardeil as excellent people by their neighbors, being liked and trusted by all who know them.

Martin Hicks

To such gentlemen as Martin Hicks, well known agriculturist and stock raiser of Ladoga, Montgomer}- county, is the locality of which this volume treats indebted for its high rank as a farming section, its prestige and high standing as a rich and fine developed community. Mr. Hicks is an adept at farming, and has one of the best managed and most orderly farms in his township. He is known to his neighbors as a man of sensible views and sound convictions on all subjects with which he is conversant, and, taking a great interest in the general development of his community while he is laboring for his individual advancement, he has won and retained the respect and good will of all who know him.

Mr. Hicks was born in Clark township, this county, on August 29, 1862, and is a son of Preston and Martha A. (Utterback) Hicks. The father was born two miles east of Russell ville, Indiana, on June 28, 1830, and was a son of Thomas Jefiferson Hicks and Lucinda (Ragsdale) Hicks. These parents came to the state of Indiana from Kentucky in pioneer times, prior to the year 1830. Probably about 1828 they entered government land in section 25, Clark township, Montgomery county, and on this they set to work to establish the family home and develop a farm, but the elder Hicks' work was interrupted by death, which overtook him a few years later. His widow survived him just fifty years, having spent all that half century on the home farm. Three children were born to them, namely: Eliza,, who married Gabriel Davidson; Preston and Samuel S.

Preston Hicks grew up on the home farm. His first start for himself was on forty acres of land which he bought from Silas Davidson in the west side of section 25, Clark township. He went in debt for the same, but working hard and managing well, he succeeded in paying it out in due time, and purchased additional land from time to time until he became the owner of fifteen hundred acres and was one of the most extensive farmers and substantial citizens of his township. He followed general farming and stock raising all his life. He was very successful from a financial standpoint, and was a stockholder in the Bank of Ladoga and also in the Ladoga Electric Light plant. Politicallv, he was a Democrat all his life and was a loyal supporter of the party. Religiously, he belonged to the Christian church. He was an excellent financier, prudent and thrifty, far-sighted, bought land when it was cheap and improved it well, assisted by a large family of children. He was a public-spirited man, progressive in his ideas and took a great interest in the good of the conimunily fur whicli lif did much in varitnis ways, l)eing always ready to assist in any movement for the good of those concerned.

]\lartin Utterback was a native of \Mrginia, born in the Old Dmninion in December, 179S, and was a son of Henry and Tabitha (IMcl^owell) Utterback. When Martin was young the family moved to Henry county, Kentucky, where his parents spent the rest of their lives, dying when their children were young and they were all bound out, Martin having been boimd out to learn the carpenter's trade. There he grew to manhood and married Elizabeth McDowell. It was in 1830 that they removed to Montgomery county, Indiana, locating in the southeastern part of Clark township, near the south corner of the county. In 1831 Mr. Utterback entered one hundred and sixty acres from the government in that locality and in 1832 moved thereon. It was totally unimprox'ed, wild and presenting a discouraging prospect, but be was a man of true pioneer courage and grit, and he went to work with a w ill. soon having part of it cleared and improved. In connection with farming he worked some as a carpenter, and reared his family here. He worked at his trade before there were any saw mills in this locality. Such lumber as there was, being riveted out. He was an elder in the Christian church, of which his wife was also a member.

Preston Hicks and wife became the parents of twelve children uf whum two died in infancy; Jesse, died when about fourteen years old: ^lary Etta, died when nineteen years old; MeHssa, married Harrison Britton and lived near her old home and died early in December, 1885, leaving one child, Grace A., now the wife of \\'alter Harris, of Ladoga; the seven living children are William, who lives in Boone county, five miles north of Pittsboro ; Samuel, lives near the old home in Clark township, this county; Martin, subject of this sketch: Henry A., lives in Denver, Colorado; Thomas J., resides near the old homestead in Clark township, also Robert F. and Charles also.

The father of the above named children died February J7, i8(;5, when nearly sixty-five years old, his widow surviving him seventeen years, passing away on October 9, 1912 when past seventy-seven years of age. She^had been a member of the Christian church since she was sixteen years of age. She was greatly interested in church work, and she lived her religiim every day. was good to her family, sparing no pains to rear her cliildren in the proper way.

a common school education. In 1884 when twenty-two years old he married Arnetta Peck, daughter of Samuel C. and America (Logan) Peck, and a grand daughter of Jacob and Maria (Lane) Peck, who came from near Lexington, Kentuck\-, and located in the southeastern part of Clark township, Montgomery county, near the Putnam county line, and there entered land from the government. America Logan was a daughter of James and Jemima (Vorhees) Logan. The grandmother was related to the great criminal lawyer and United States senator, Daniel Vorhees. The Logan family came from near Logansport, Indiana, to Hendricks county, locating near the Montgomery county line, just across from Clark township, before the Civil war. It was in that county that Mrs. Hicks grew to womanhood and received a common school education.

Martin Hicks has devoted liis life to general farming and stock raising. He has been very successful and is now owner of a finely improved and valuable farm of two hundred and ninety-six acres in the home place and also other good farms in Clark township. He has a pleasant and attractive home and everything about his place denotes good management, thrift and prosperity. After his marriage he spent one year in Boone county, then removed to the farm where his wife was born in Hendricks county and lived there about twelve years, or until 1897, when he moved to his present farm a mile and a half south of Ladoga. He is a progressive and scientific farmer, keeps all kinds of improved fanning implements and an excellent grade of li\e stock is always to be seen in his fields, and large barns.

Our subject and wife are members of the church of Christ. They are the parents of four children, namely Otis C. who married Viva Goslin, lives in Scott township near his father, and he and his wife have one child, Geneva Florence ; Jesse H. married Julia Edith Osborne, a native of Peterson, Iowa, and they have one daughter, Ethel Arnetta. Jesse lives on part of his father's farm. Forest L., third child of Martin Hicks and wife, is at home with his parents, as is also the youngest child, Ewell -Vernon Hicks,

Thomas E. Huston

One of the molders of public opinion in Montgomery county and one of the most public-spirited and influential as well as representative citizens of the same is Thomas E. Huston, the able and popular editor and publisher of the JJ'azrlaiid Iiuicpciufcuf. and he has shown himself to be a man of fine mentality and enterprise and at the same time is a straightforward and unas-

Sinning gentleman wlmm lo know is tn csiccni and accunl (.'^itn- ri-s|)ccl. lii' has shown hi-nisell' at all times to be in liearty sym])atli\ -w itli the ik-Nclopnient of this locality and willing to do all in his power to enconrage the same.

Mr. Hnston was born on February 12. 1863. at Lafonte. Madison county, Indiana, and he is a son of Thomas Scott Huston and Olive 1.. (Gibson) Huston, both natives of Indiana. The father was a carpenter by trade, which he followed successfully all his life, lie was a soldier for the Union during the C'i\il war, serving in Company K. Twelfth liidi.uia X'oluiiteer Infantry, Army of the Cumberland, llis death occurred .at (irand Junction. Tennessee, llis faniil\- consisted of two children. n;imel\ : ( )ra I... who is deceased: and Thomas ]-'... of this sketch.

Mr. Huston, our subject, was educated in the common schools of .Madison county, then entereil a Normal school at Danxillc, Indian.a, where he studied for a period of three years, then became de])Uty surveyor of Delaware county, which iX)sition he occupied with credit for a period of four years, after which he took up photography at Cannelton, Indiana, which he followed with success for a period of seven years, then turned his attention to the newspaper field and ])urcliased the JJ'ai'claiui Indcpcudciit. and is still actixelv engaged in the publication of the saiue. ha\ing rcmo\ed to Wax-eland, and here he has become one of oiu- leading citizens. He has made a great success and has im])roved the paper in every way. editorially and fmm a mechanical standpoint, and it has proven to be a valuable medium for advertisers.

While taking much interest in the public affairs of his county. Mr. Huston is not acti\e politically. Fraternally, he is a meiuber of the Knights of Pythias, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Modern Woodmen of .\merica. Religiously, he is a meml>er of the Christian church. Disciple.

Very often it is greatly to the advantage of the farmer's boy that, instead of rushing off to some town to become a poor grocery clerk or emjjloye of a dirty machine shop, he remains in the kxrality where he was brought up and where he knows what is necessary to make an honest living. He knows when and how to seed and harvest his crops, and knows what is necessary to insure success in the rearing and sale of li\estock. If he leaves for the town he must learn another business and enter into competition with men who have grown up in the business which he must acquire. He is thus, as a rule, at a great disadvantage. This is said for the benefit of the boys who have a start in farm business, who, in nine cases out of ten, had better remain right where they are if they want insured to them a happy, healthy, respectable old age. One of the progressive farmers of Clark township, Montgomery county, who has been contented to remain in the section of the state of -his nativity and devote himself to the line of endeavor with which he was most familiar is John William ISIiller, and one would judge from his excellent farm and pleasant home that he has been wise in following this course.

Mr. Miller was born east of Roachdale, Putnam county, Indiana, June 2, 1854. He is a son of Harvey and Mary E. (Perkins) Miller. Harvey Miller was born in Kentucky, probably in Shelby county, December 3, 1827, was a son of James and Nancy (Lee) Miller, both natives of Virginia. They mo\ed to Montgomery count}', Indiana, when Han'ey Miller was three years old, in 183 1. They settled in the south side of Clark township along the county line of Putnam county, and entered eight}' acres in section 33, and eighty acres in section 34, adjoining. They cleared and improved this property and kept it, and there established their permanent home. When they first located there they had to live in a rail-pen until they could build a log cabin. All the back part of their land was then under water, and they began developing the higher land first. James Miller was twice married, Harvey Miller being one of fourteen children born of the first marriage, and there were se\en children of the second marriage. James Miller's first wife died here on the Miller homestead. His scond wife was named Elizabeth Kinder in her maidenhood, who also died here.

James Miller was born March 14, 1801, and on October 5, 1825, he married Nancy Lee. She was born April 12, 1804, and her death occurred on January 5, 1844. To them fourteen children were born, as above intimated. On March 22, 1849, he and Elizabeth Kinder were married. Her death occurred on January 13, 1S64. and James Miller passed away on May 12, 1 87 1. By trade he was a carpenter and cabinet maker, an expert, one of the best in his day.

Harvey Miller was a life-long farmer. He married Mary E. Perkins, who was born and reared in Jackson township, Putnam county, and was a daughter of \Villiam and Patience (Glen) Perkins, who came from Ken- tucky and settled in tlie northern part ut Putnain county in an early day. Har\ey Miller fanned in Jackson township until about 1865, then bought his father's farm, moving thereto and operating the same a number of years.

In the early eighties Harvey Miller moved to Ladoga, Montgomery countv. It was on May 29, 185 1. that he and Mary E. Perkins were married. To them six children were born, namely: Jeremiah P.. Jolm William, Martha Frances, James Willard, Cora Ellen and Jennie F. ; they are all deceased but Jeremiah and John W. The mother of these children died June 3, 1896. On September 22, 1901, Harvey Miller married Mrs. Mary A. Markey. His death occurred on April 4. 1912. He was a meml>er of the Baptist church from early life, but later in life joined the Christian church, in which he was a faithful and earnest worker as long as his health permitted. He was past eighty-four years old when summoned from his earthly labors, was widely known and highly respected, and while he was able to do so he took an active interest in the affairs of his conmumity and heiiied wherever help was needed.

Tohn W. Miller, the immediate subject of the skelch. was fnurteen years old when his parents moved to Montgomery county from Putnam count)-, and here he grew to manhood and helped with the work on the place. On September 3, 1874, he married Sarah Catherine Gregory, daughter of Anderson and Amanda (McDaniel) Gregory. She was born in Clark township, this county, her parents having come here from Kentucky, while they were young and unmarried, each coming with their parents and tlie.se families settled in Putnam county, where the p;irents of our subject's wife grew to maturity and were married, and later the\- moved intij Montgomery countv. locating their home in Clark township, and here her fatlicr's deatli occurred in 1873. Her mother is li\iiig in Roachdale. being now advanced in years.

After the marriage of our subject he began farming two miles east of his old home in the south side of Clark town.ship. His wife heired fiftythree acres and he bought forty acres adjoining it, and lived there until 1886, then moved to North Salem and remained there until 1893, engaged in the horse business, and kept fine stallions, among the most noted having been "Cambus Kenneth" and "Ravenstein." lx)lh registered trotting stock. He remained in this business twenty-five years and became widely known throughout the country, and most of that time he also carried on general farming. Leaving North Salem in 1893 he returned to iiis farm, as it demanded his personal attention. He li\ed there until 1901. then nioxed to the old Miller homestead, where he lias since resided. Although he made money in the horse business, he has of recent years given his attention to general farming and stock raising. He owns the original homestead that was entered by his grandfather, which place has never been out of the Miller family. He also owns eighty acres joining on the west, which he bought in June, 1910. About 1903 he cleared fifty-five acres of the north part of his farm, and it is now his best land. His finely improved farm of two hundred and forty acres, is all tillable and under a fine state of cultivation. He has a fine home and numerous substantial outbuildings. It is called the "Golden Rule" stock farm.

Three children have been born to Mr. Miller and wife, namely : Carl F., born October 24, 1877, on the farm where his father first went to housekeeping, remained on that place until he was married to Bertha Smith. He was' living there at the time he was married, and although away part of the time, died there on March 12, 1910, leaving a widow and two children. Catherine Rose and John Clifford Miller. He was a member of the Christian church and also of the Masonic Order. Bertha E. Miller, second child of our subject and wife, married Le'te Rogers, and they live in Jackson township, Putnam county, and have t\vo daughters, Nina E. and Mary Catherine. Edgar Franklin Miller, third child of our subject and wife, was born March 29, 1887, married Flossie Routh, and they live on the west eighty of our subject's farm. They have two cliiklren. Benjamin Franklin and William Robert.

Personally, Mr. Miller is a man whose word has ever been regarded as good as his or anyone's bond. He is courteous, genial and obliging and is liked b\' all who know him.

James Monroe Hester

To the people of Scott township and the southern part of Montgomery county the name of James Monroe Hester needs no introduction, for here he has spent. his long, useful and honorable life and is one of the best known general agriculturists in the locality, where he has lived to see and take part in many momentous changes and where he has been content to labor and take the usual vicissitudes of the years, appreciating the good and not complaining at the bad, and through it all keeping the evaa tenor of his way and setting a worthv example for his family and the younger generation.

Mr. ilcsler was burn in Scull inwiishii), lliis conntv, Anj^iist i_^. 1N44. He is a son of Adani and Ann M. ( \ aii/andl ) Hester, who canie licrc fmin I'leminfj county, Kentucky, almul iSjS ur 1830, locating first in i'ulnani ciiunly. jusl across the line frnni .Monti;(inicry cnunty. Three or lour years later the elder Hester niu\ed liis taniily across the line into Scott town>inii, Montt;'oniery county, huyiu!;- a farm near the soiuhwestern corner ol" the township, anil there established the pcruianenl home of the family, and there James M., our subject, was born, he beini;- one of live sons and four daui^'hters. of which famil_\- one son and one daut^hter died in infancy. ( )in' >ubject was about twenty years old when his mother died, and after one of his sisters married he made his iiome with her. He received such educational advantages as the schools of his time afforded. In 1875 '^^ married Lucy Iiads. daughter of James Wiley Eads and Elizabeth (.Martin) I-.ad--. Site was born and reared in Brown township, this county, where her ])arenis had settled in an early day. liaxing come here from Shelbyx ille, Kentucky, .\ftcr his marriage Mr. Hester renteil land and farmed in this way for a ])eriod of thirteen years, during which he got a good start, having remained in I'.mwn township all the while. He then luoved into Scott towiisbii). where he has since resided, antl he now owns a finely ini])ro\ed and valuable farm of jiis own along the (ireencastle and L'raw ford>\ ille road, a mile north of I'arkersburg.

Four children have been born to Mr. and .Mrs. Hester, namely: Stella Mav, the eldest, is at home with her jiarents : Charles Wallace, who i> farming near Lapland, married Vermelia Hampton, and they have one daughter. .\utumn: Fdmer is represented in this work in a separate sketch; IJllie lllanche married .\rch Stilwell. and they live a short distance north of her parents. and have twn children. Xornia D. and Thomas.

Adam Hester settled near Parkersburg aw.ay back in the days of the first settlers in Montgomery county. Before the days of ]>ike ro.ads ;nid trains he hauled lime to Crawfordsx'ille with oxen, wliicli lime was used in the building of the first court house of the county, or more jjroperly the lirst after the original log court house, lie also hauled lime to Lebanon. WJu-n he came here the Cornstalk Indians were still living along the creek bearing that name.

mous quantity of land, now a part of the city tjf Philadelphia. He removed to Kentucky and they leased the land for a period of ninety-nine _\-ears. This land has now been turned over to the heirs, who are probably all descendants of Aaron V'anZandt, whose children were Mar)-, who married Moses Bridges, of Filmore ; Mandy, who married Anthony Bowen, of Maysville, Indiana ; another daughter, probably Jane, married a Hillgoss at Rush\ille, Indiana ; ; also Bennett, who is believed to have remained near Shelby ville, Indiana : John lived near Fleiningsburg, Kentucky ; Isaiah was a hotel keeper at Elizabethville for manv vears in the earlv davs.

William L. Anderson

There is a great deal in being born under a good eye, one that watches and guards off the error and folly that overtake so many young men. The parents are able to infuse into their children the spirit of the Spartans - the spirit that can meet any fate and make the most of the world - will see their children grow to years of maturity with excellent habits and splendid principles and see them become exemplary citizens. William L. Anderson, one of Montgomer}- county's progressive agriculturists and public-spirited men of affairs, was fortunate in having broad-minded, honest and painstaking parents. He was taught from the start the duties of life, not ordinary instruction, but the higher duties which all owe to each other and to society. The result has been to give him broad ideas of life and its responsibilities and to fit him for honorable citizenship. He is a talented minister and versatile writer, also.

Mr. Anderson was bom in Brown county, Indiana, on July 15, 1847, but nearly all of his life has been spent in Montgomery county whither his parents removed with him in 1849, locating on the farm where our subject now lives in Section 7, Clark township, having conducted the Ladoga Gardens for many years with great success.

He is a son of Madison B. and Salome (Harshbarger) Anderson. The father was a farmer and manufacturer of molasses near Ladoga. He was born in Montgomery county, Virginia, September 2, 1822 and was a son of Joseph and Christina (Britts) Anderson. In 1837 the family removed from the Old Dominion to Morgan county, Indiana. When twenty-one years of age Madison B. Anderson started in life for himself and came to Montgomery county in 1844, he and Salome Harshbarger marrying the same year. She was bom in Virginia in 1824, and came with her parents, Jacob and Salome Harshbarger, to Montgomery county, Indiana, in 1831. In 1857 when sugar cane was first introduced here, Madison B. Anderson was one of the first to engage in the manufacture of molasses. He experimented a great deal and greatly improved tlie method of manufacture. He was an energetic man and spent mucli time and money in improving his processes, and, owing to the superior quality of his products, they were always in great demand.

The early education of William L. .Anderson was obtained in tlie Ladoga Seminary and Academy, and in 1869 he entered Kentucky University, where he remained until 1871, making an excellent record for scholarship. In 1872 he entered Meadville Theological School in Pennsylvania, from which institution he was graduated in 1874. Following his graduation he was for two years tutor in Latin and Greek in the last named school, and at the same time he had charge of the church at Milledgeville and also that of Oil Citv. He had united with the Christian church in 18C6 and Ijegan preaching the following year. Having completed his college work he I>ecame pastor of the church at Aurora, Ohio, after which he preached for the church at Bedford. Ohio.

Having concluded to combine preaching and teaching, he retiu-ncd to Ladoga, Indiana, and attended the Indiana Central Normal and Business College, from which he was graduated. He then taught two years in the Ladoga public schools and was elected principal, but accepted the position of superintendent of the township schools at New Winchester, Indiana. In 1880, he became pastor of the church of his denomination in Greenfield, Indiana. .At the close of this ministry, he decided to secure a fixed home, that he might train and educate his children? and ever since that time he has resided on his fine farm adjoining Ladoga, where school facilities are good. .As a minister he was very successful, being an able theological scholar, an earnest, logical, and not infrequently truly eloquent pulpit orator, and he greatly strengthened the churches where he was pastor and was popular with the various congregations he served.

IMr. Anderson has made a success of gardening and has built up a business known and patronized for miles around. .At the same time he has engaged extensively in preaching, lecturing and writing for various periodicals. One of his most popular lectures is entitled, "Historical Evidences of the Truths of the Bible." It has been widely quoted and eulogized. He has written a small work on "Divorce and Remarriage," which has lieen widely circulated, which he has heard from not only from coast to coast in his own country, but also from Africa. Two of his books have recently come from the press, "The History of Ladoga and \'icinity" and the "History of the Harshbargers."

Mr. Anderson is an ardent Prohibitionist and has been twice nominated for the legislature on that ticket. He has been frequently employed by that party in campaign work and has canyassed several counties in the state. In the various organizations formed by the farmers of his county some years ago he took active part and was chairman of the joint committees of those organizations. Great interest was aroused and much accomplished. He has been a champion of every progressive movement in his age in which he has always been aggressive. He is considered by some as radical if not fanatical, however, the majority of people praise him for the great good he is accomplishing.

Mr. Anderson was married in 1874 to Ora Johnson, a lady of culture and refinement, and to this union five children have been born, namely : Anna,- AUie, Angle, Paul and Harry. They are all well educated, having passed through high school and taken college work also. For many years Anna has taught in the South and at present is connected with the Southern Christian Institute, in charge of the mathematical department, at Edwards, Mississippi. Allie, after leaving business college, took a position with the Phelps Publishing Company in Massachusetts. She now has a business of her own and occupies an office in the Board of Trade Building at Indianapolis. After teaching some years Angle married William Lee, then superintendent of schools in New Haven, Indiana. She now resides at Markle, this state. The two sons have been connected with \'arious educational institutions in the United States. They have been employed by the government at different times as experts in botanical research. At present Paul is connected with Cornell University, at Ithaca, New York ; and Harry is with Wabash College, at Crawfordsville, Indiana. Paul was sent by Cornell University to investigate the effect of fumes and dust from cement mills on the great orchards in New York that were being ruined by the many cement mills nearby. Paul's investigations proved that the dust and fumes were injurious, then taught the mill men how to collect the dust and make a valuable by-product of it. He was later sent to Pennsylvania to investigate the blight that was killing the chestnut timber of that state, a valuable natural resource. His brother Harry was one of his assistants. He made a thorough and widespread investigation, extending into many states, and succeeded in finding the remedy. Both Paul and Harry are experts in their lines and are quoted as authority on the subjects they handle. Harry from infancy has evidenced absorbing interest in nature study, collecting and classifying moths and butterflies, also Indian relics and other things found in the great outdoors.

William L. Anderson is known as an accurate and thorough inxestigator, much interested in the general welfare of humanity, aggressive for the right, fearlessly championing the right even if he should stand alone. He is kind and considerate of others, generous, obliging and courteous and is popular with all who know him. He owns thirty-two acres of land which he cultivates as a garden.

John D. Holland

A well known merchant and business man of Waveland, Montgomery county, is John D. Holland. His earnestness of purpose and intense desire to li\e in accord with his highest ideals of right, has had no little influence in moulding the lives and character of those with whom he was associated, and his career as a busy and successful man of affairs is absolutely blameless in the community where he has so long lived and acted his part. As a citizen he commands great esteem, and it is a tribute well deserxed to class liim with the representative men of this section of the count}-. Being at the x-cry meridian of life, with vigorous physical powers and mental attributes of no mean order, he bids fair to reach the advanced age nf his father and continue to be in the future as he has been in the past - a puwer for good in the communit}-.

Mr. Holland was born in Brown township. Montgomery county, April 10, 1879. He is a son of Joseph O. and Nancy Elizabeth (Smith) Holland. The father was born in Xew York City, and the mother was a native of Indiana. The father came to Lidiana in 1864 and settled near Parkersburg, where he was married, later moving near New Market, Montgomery county.

Our subject's grandfather, John Holland, came to the LInited States from England as a stowaway, at the age of twelve years. He was a sailor bv profession. He established liis home in New ^'(Mk Cit\- antl he followed the sea until a bale of cotton fell on him in i860. His death occurred in iSoi.

Joseph O. Holland's family consisted of four children, namely: John D.. of this sketch: William Allen lives in Oregon: Ira J. lives in Roaclidale, Indiana; Ida May married William Shure. of Roaclidale. Indiana, and tliev have two children.

John D. Holland grew to manhood on tlie home farm in I'.rown township and received a common school education. In 1900 he married Bertha May Purcell, daughter of James R. Purcell and wife. Mrs. Holland's death occurred in 1905 at the age of twenty-eight years, leaving three children,

Mr. Holland first took up fanning, later following blacksniithing, then began huckstering, then clerked in a store. When he first came to Waveland he entered the poultry business in 1895, and in 1897 opened a grocery and notion store, later taking up the general mercantile business, in which he is still active, carrying a large stock of goods usually found in such stores and enjoying an extensive trade with the surrounding country.

Politically, he is a Democrat. He belongs to the Free and Accepted Masons, No. 300, at Waveland, and the Modern Woodmen of America, No. 9589, at \\'aveland. He is a member of the Baptist church.

Tohn S. Baker

It is a pleasure to place on the pages of history the life record, however brief and unsatisfactory, of such a man as the late John S. Baker, who was one of the courageous pioneers of this locality and who labored here through a long life of successful endeavor, during which he not only advanced his own interests but also those of the community in general, for he was one of those neighborly, unselfish and hospitable gentlemen who delighted in seeing others progress, and he was so honest that those coming in contact with him need not be told of the fact, it was apparent in all his dealings and relations with his fellow men.

Mr. Baker was born in Kentucky, which state furnished more enterprising settlers to Montgomery county than any other, the date of his birth being December 8, 1827. He was a son of Isaac and Patsy (Sparks) Baker. The father was born on February 5, 1801, and the mother's birth occurred on March 30, 1802. Isaac Baker was a native of Kentucky, where he grew to manhood and remained until 1830, when he removed to Montgomery county, Indiana, with his family, when his son, John S., of this memoir, was three years old. The family located in Clark township, entering land from the government. Mrs. Baker now lives in New Ross. The elder Baker was a typical pioneer, and he did the usual amount of hard work clearing and developing his land. His family consisted of two children, John S., of this memoir; and Jonas, deceased.

John S. Baker grew to manhood on the old homestead in Clark township, and there he found plenty of hard work to do, like all pioneer children.

John S. Bakeu Moxtgomickv Couxtv, Indiana. Iioi

He received a iDeager education in llie early schools of his daw and when a young man took up farming, which he continued all his life, making a comfortable living for his family, leaving eighty acres of excellent and jiroductive land in Clark township, which his widow rents.

]Mr. Baker was married on June 12. 1851, to Lucinda t'lark, daughter of Willis and Hannah (Jones) Clark. Her father was born in Kentucky, where he grew to manhood, and there married. He moved with his family to Putnam county, Indiana, when his daughter, Lucinda, was six months old, and later they came to Montgomery county and established their permanent home in Clark township, where Mr. Clark spent the rest of his life. He was a hard-working, honest man, whom his neighbors respected, and he followed farming all his life. He was a Democrat and a member of the Christian church. His family was a large one, consisting of sixteen children, namely : Joseph J., the oldest; William T., Milton, Nathan, James M., Benjamin, Winifred, Oliver, John, Francis M. are all deceased; Lucinda, who married Mr. Baker, of this review; Sidney J., Susan C, are both deceased; Alexander C. is living; Mary is deceased; Fanny, the youngest, is living.

Eight children were born to John S. Baker and wife, namely : Winifred is deceased; Harriet E. is living at home with her mother; Emma, Martha H., George, are all deceased; Mary A. is the wife of Walter Canine; William is deceased ; and the youngest died in infancy, unnamed.

Israel Harrison White

Tlie true western spirit of progress and enterprise is strikingly exemplified in the lives of such men as Israel Harrison White, one of Montgomery county's honored native sons, whose energetic nature and laudable ambition have enabled him to conquer many adverse circumstances and advance steadily. He has met and overcome obstacles that would have discouraged many men of less determination and won for himself not only a comfortable competency, together with one of the very choice farms of Scott township, but also a prominent place among the enterprising men of this favored section of the great Wabash Valley country, and now in the mellow autunui period of his life this venerable citizen can Inok l)ackward (i\er the l')ng stretch of weary years witliout regret or conipunctiim. Such a man is a credit to anv communitv. His life forciblv illustrates what energv and con- secutive effort can accomplish when directed and controlled In- correct principles and high moral resohes, and no man is worthier of mention in a volume of the province of the one in hand and of the material success he has achieved and the esteem in which he is held.

Mr. White was born in section 9, Scott township, Montgomery county, March 17, 1839. He is a son of William S. and Amy (Watkins) White. The father was born in Greene county, Ohio, not far from the city of Dayton, on March 6, 1817, being a son of Benjamin and (Blair)

White. About 1833 the family came to Montgomery county, Indiana, when William S. White was sixteen years old, and here Benjamin White bought a farm about two miles southeast of Ladoga. There they established their permanent home, developed a good farm and became well known. They worked hard, clearing the land of its virgin growth of timber and finally had one of the choice farms of the township. Their family consisted of twelve children, named as follows : Mrs. Eliza Kelsey, William, John, James, Mrs. Hannah Imel, Mrs. Elmira Elrod, Mrs. Charlotte Smith, Benjamin F., Thomas, and two who died in infancy unnamed.

Benjamin White, the father of this family, was the owner of half a section of land. He was a carpenter by trade, as was also his sons. He and his family were members of the Methodist Episcopal church and he was a licensed exhorter and class leader in the church in his earlier years.

When William S. W^hite was about nineteen years old he married Amy Watkins, daughter of George and Rebecca (Kelly) Watkins. She was born near Dayton, Ohio, and her people moved here at the same time the White family came, a number of them coming together. The Watkins family settled in Section 3, Scott township, and there made their home until 1864. There were also twelve children in this family, namely : Mrs. Betsy Harrison, Mrs. Amy White, Atchison, Mrs. Jane Custer, Mrs. Sarah Mills, William, Russell, Mrs. Rebecca Ann Barnett, Daniel K., and three other children who died young. The Watkins family were also active workers in the Methodist Episcopal church here in the early days. George Watkins was a soldier in the war of 1812.

William S. White, father of Israel H. White, had nothing of this world's good at the time of his marriage, but his wife and a knowledge of the carpenter's trade. He went in debt for one hundred dollar's worth of tools, and started out on his career in Ladoga. Their dining-room table was a dry-goods box. He was an earnest, hard worker and finally succeeded. He bought eighty acres of land in the northeast one- fourth of Section 9, in

Scott township. Xot a tree had 1)een cleared from tlie hiud. lie went lo work with a will, cleared the ground and developed a good farm, cstahlisliing a comfortable home there. He prospered and bought more land until he became the owner of about four liundred and fifty acres nf g(»i(l land. He gave up carpenter work years before, although he was a very able man at framing with heavy timbers, bridge work, etc.. and many of the old ])arns are still storm proof by reason of the substantial and skilful \\a>- be built them.

He, too, was the father of twelve children, as bad been his father and his wife's father. They were named as follows: Mrs. Mary Rebecca (iarman, deceased: Israel H., subject of this sketch; Benjamin F., who died during the Civil war w bile in the service of the Union : Rirs. Elizabeth Mercer, of Ladoga : Sarah Hubbard, deceased ; Elmira. deceased : George W. of Lebanon. Indiana : Josephine, deceased : Mrs. Susan Kelsey of Scott township: I-Vedonia Alice is deceased: John B., deceased, but his widow li\'es in Xew Alarket, this county: Emma Caroline is deceased.

The mother of the abo\e named children died .\]>ril 24. iSyh. when past eighty-four years of age. The father's death occurred on May u. i8g8, reaching the age of eighty-two years.

Israel H. White grew to manhood on the home farm, and he received his education in the common schools of his community. He learned the carpenter's trade under his father, who required of the boy the same strict accountability that he did of his other employes and paid him the same wages for the same work. Our subject also engaged in farming, and in 1873 he purchased the place where he now lives. The following fall the panic came on and made hard sledding for him. but he held on and in due course of time prospered through his close application and good management, and be now owns a valuable, productive and well ini])ro\ed farm a mile long in Section 4, Scott township, consisting of o\-er one hundred and si.Kt^-three acres.

Mr. White was married on January 5. 1881, to Elizabeth Dorothy Ellington, daughter of James M. and Eliza J. (See) Ellington. She was born in Nicholas county, Kentucky, September 30, 1852. When she was seven years old her parents removed to North Salem, Hendricks counlw Indiana, where her father continued his trade of blacksmith. While li\ing in Kentucky he had for years employed a negro sla\-e. howex'er he was opposed to slavery, being very pronounced in bis views again.st the .system. He and his wife spent the rest of their lives at North Salem, and there Mrs. White grew to womanhood and was educated, remaining there until her marriage to Mr. White. To this union five children were born, four of whom are li\ing, one, Fannie May, dying when nearly three years of age; Mabel Estelle is the wife of Perry R. Himes, and they live in Section lo, Scott township, and have four children. Norma, Audrey, Elizabeth and Amy; Lolita Belle, second child of our subject, is the wife of Earl Lee; they live in Peoria. Illinois, and have two daughters, Florence Elizabeth and Mabel Cordelia the third child William Ashby White is at home and is assisting his father with the work on the farm : Ina Cordelia, the child is attending school at New Market.

Israel H. White is a member of the Alethodist Episcopal church, and his wife belongs to the Christian church. He became a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows many years ago.

Charles A. Minnich

Charles A. Minnich, one of the leading farmers and stock men of Walnut township, is one of those men of whom it is a pleasure to write. He is modest in the opinion of himself, not claiming the worth and importance that others are ready and anxious to ascribe to him. He is quiet and unassuming in manner, as such characters always are, and holds the high place which has been given him in the public favor by right of what he is, and not of what he claims. It is a grateful task to write of such a one, and the only danger is, that sufficient merit will not be ascribed; yet the hearts of his friends, and they are very many, will supply any lack of words on the part of the writer, or any failure to express happily the true thought.

Mr. Minnich is a native of the grand old state which has won the appropriate soubriquet of "the mother of Presidents" - eight of the nation's chief executives having first seen the light of day within her borders. He was born at Newcastle, Craig county, Virginia, June 26, 1852. He is a son of Andrew J. and C. Adeline (Mills) Minnich. The father was postmaster at the town of Newcastle for several years before the Civil war. During that mighty conflict he was a soldier in the Twenty-eighth Virginia regiment. Company B, fighting for the Southern army, and he was killed during the seven days' battle around Richmond, or more specifically the battle of Fair Oaks, on June 2, 1862, when his son, Charles J., was scarcely ten years of age. The latter was one of three children, an older brother being John L., and Frances S. was a younger sister. The family came to Indiana in

187-'. landing at Mace. Montgoiiierv county, vu January j()tli nf that year. Andrew J. Minnich luul (|uite a large estate in X'irginia. which \va> sold after his death by the adniinislralnr and paid for in C on federate ninne\ , which had to be exchanged for a later issue of Confederate money, and this being finally of no value, the family was left almost penniless. They had but little to keep the wolf from the door when they landed in Montgomery county, but they went to work with a will and in due course of time were very comfortably located. They first rented a little log house in the southern part of Walnut township, bought a team of horses and an old wagon and farmed on the shares for two years, then leased twenty-five acres of Joe Markey's place in the western part of Clark township, which was heavily timbered, having leased it for nine years. The)- cleared the land and improved it and from that got a new start. Charles sold his interest in the place to his brother in April, 1S75, for four hundred dollars, then went to work for himself. In 1878 he purchased eighty acres in Section 29, W'alnut township, at twelve dollars and fifty cents an acre. He paid fixe hundred and ten dollars down and went four hundred dollars in debt. His neighbors predicted that he would never pay out, but he did pay out and succeeded admirably. The same land at this writing would now be worth perhaps one hundred and seventy-five dollars per acre. He later purchased fifty-one acres across the road west of where he now lives, paying eighteen dollars an acre for it, but he failed to pay it out and finally sold it. About six }-ears later he bought it back at forty dollars an acre, and he still owns it. He has since jnirchased additional land, now owning several valuable and producti\e farms, aggregating about two hundred and sixty acres. On this land are three different sets of buildings and modern improvements in general, all three residences being good ones. His land is thoroughly tiled and well drained ; in fact, the cost of drainage was more than the cost of the land. He has always followed general farming and stock raising, and although he has met many reverses he has forged ahead despite all obstacles, and is now one of the substantial men of his township.

Mr. ]\Iinnich has long been active in the Repulilican ranks, in fact ever since he was old enough to vote. He was elected trustee of \\"a]nut township in 1894. taking charge of the office in 1895, holding the same for five years, during which time he built the new school house that now stands in X'ew Ross in 1898, selling the old school house and grounds.

On Januarys 9, 1878, he married Isabelle Downing, daughter of Edward and Emilv (Botts) Downing. She was ])orn in Boone count\-, Indiana. Her (70) father died when she was four years old, and she was about seven years old when her mother died. Edward Downing was a son of James and Avis (Gideons) Downing; Edward Downing was born on January 25, 1824. James Downing was born in Ireland, coming to America when a young man and here he met and married Avis Gideons, a native of England. Emily Botts was a daughter of William and Sarah Botts, who came to Boone county, Indiana, from Ohio. The other children of the Downing family are Wellington, who lives in Indianapolis; Romulus, of Howbert, Colorado; Mary A., wife of Butler Neal, of Lebanon, Indiana ; Ephriam D. lives at Home, Kansas ; Oliver M. lives at Hortonville, Boone county, Indiana.

After Mrs. Minnich's parents died she lived with an aunt in Hendricks county a year and later was given a home with James H. Harrison and family of Walnut township, this county.

Seven children have been born to the subject and wife, named as follows: Andrew E., Harvey L., Clara D., Romulus D., Mary Avis, Charles Oliver and Frances Olive, twins.

Andrew Minnich owns a farm south of his father's. He married Lola Batman, daughter of Dolph and Ella B. Batman, and to this union two children have been born. May Isabelle and Dorothy Esterine. Harvey L. Minnich married Iva Bowman and lives on a farm lying just east of that owned by his father; he and his wife had four children, one of whom, Vera Lucile, is deceased ; Ruth, Ralph and Neva are the living children. Clara Minnich married George E. Peters, and they live at Nespelem, Washington, both she and her husband being teachers in the Indian school there on the reservation; they have two children, Harold Truman and Frances Minnich Peters. Romulus D. Minnich is connected with the A. S. Clements commission house in Crawfordsville, in which city he lives. Mary Avis Minnich married Ottie Douglas, and lives in North Dakota, just east of the Montana line on a homestead. Their postoffice is Carlyle, Montana. They have one daughter, Olive Marie. Charles and Frances Minnich are both at home. Both were graduates from the high school at Mace.

Charles A. Minnich and all but one of his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, he being trustee of the church of this denomination at Mace. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias.

Mr. i\Iinnich's mother and his sister removed to Kansas in 1878, and the mother died there on October 27, 1888, and is buried in Linn county, Kansas. The sister married William Hinkle, and they live in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The brother of our subject is now at Lordsburg, California.

Montgomery Countv, Indiana. Iio7 Clifton G. Hill

The name of Clifton G. Hill, a venerable and highly esteemed citizen of Clark township, Montgomery county, of which township lie is trustee, needs no introduction to our readers, for here much of his interesting and industrious life has been spent and here he has labored to the general good of the community, his work not by any means being without fruits, as all will tell you who are in any way familiar with his career. Such men are \-alua])le to any community and their lives might be held up as examples for the young men to pattern after.

Air. Hill was born in Franklin county, \'irginia, August 2i), 1839, being the scion of a fine old family of the Old Dominion, and a son of Collin and Julia L. (McCrosky) Hill, the father having been of' Scotch descent and the mother of Scotch-Irish extraction. The father died when our subject was four years old, and he was only eighteen when his mother was called away by death. Ten children were born to these parents. When the mother died the two eldest were married and gone, and our subject and one brother had to care for the family. The children were reared on a farm. After he grew up, Clifton G. Hill worked out one year for the sum of one hundred and eight dollars, and he saved nearly all of it. He then went into business w ith his brother and another man as photographers. They bail a car on wheels and traveled about through the country just before the war. Wlien hostilities began all three joined the Confederate army, our subject choosing Company K, Forty-second Virginia Volunteer Infantry, in which he saw much hard service and made a very faithful and gallant soldier for the stars and bars, participating in about thirty-two engagements, many of them the fiercest of the war. He was captured at Manassas Junction, or Second Bull Run. He was in command of an advanced squad in a railroad cut, helping a wounded comrade, when the enemy rushed them and cajjtured him. During another charge they rushed over him, he pretending that he had lieen killed, and although he was badly trampled he escaped. The following day he was wounded by a piece of bomb-shell which struck his canteen and cut it in two ; however, it did not so much as break the skin on him, merely shocking him and making his leg turn black its full length, the bruise and concussion being severe. He was again captured at Monocacy in Marvdand, while in command of his company, he having gone to an ex])osed place for the ]iurpose of reconoitering and was returning when he was shot through the hand. Sharp shooters kept peppering away at him and he had to lay low to avoid them and soon became weakened from loss of blood. But he finally got his wound dressed and had one finger cut off. He refused to take ether, sitting cjuietl)- on a piece of timber- while the surgeon operated. After his regiment was dri\en out and, not having enough ambulances to move all the wounded, he was left behind and captured. He was taken to the stockade in which his own regiment had camped for some time and finally escaped from it by a way previously used by the boys when they "slipped out" during the night for the purpose in going to the town nearby "for fun." Mr. Hill was also wounded at the battle of Sharpsburg or Antietam, in Maryland, where he was shot through the hip. He was carried off the field on a stretcher and narrowly escaped capture again. He was also shot in the chest by a spent ball at Cedar Mountain, where he also had sixteen holes shot through his clothes. Of fifty-two in the company who were in ad\'ance, all but twelve were killed or wounded in a terrific fight. He remained in the service until the close of the war, and was always at the front except when he was wounded. He was with the great fighter, "Stonewall" Jackson, and necessarily saw the hardest of fighting, but he never faltered.

After the war Mr. Hill took up farming, spending one season on the home farm, and in the spring of 1866 he came to Ladoga, Montgomery county, Indiana. He worked out for seventeen months, never losing a day. He had onlytwenty-seven dollars and fifty cents when he came here. He saved his money and later bought a farm, and then for ten years he rented a farm southwest of Roachdale. In 1878 he bought eighty acres in the southern part of Clark township, on which he moved and a year later he met with the misfortune of having his house burned, with no insurance and when he was in debt eleven hundred dollars. Nothing daunted, he borrowed funds and rebuilt his dwelling, and, managing well and working hard, he prospered with advancing years, and from time to time has added to his original holdings until he is now the owner of five hundred and twenty-two acres of valuable and well improved land and carries on general farming and stock raising on a large scale, having long ranked among the leading and most substantial farmers of the county. For a period of twenty years he has also bought and shipped live stock. He was also for sometime a manufacturer of carriages and buggies in Ladoga, building up a large business in this line, building the factory that is now run by William Rapp. Owing to the high grade of his output his vehicles were in great demand.

Politically, Mr. Hill is a Democrat, and has been active and influential in local affairs. For the past five years he has been trustee of Clark town- ship, and he has two years more to serve of liis present term, lie lias given eminent satisfaction in this position to all concerned. Sn well did he discharge the duties of his otiice that in lyio the held examiners for the stale board of accountant wrote of him as follows: "lie is one of the most careful, exact and conscientious business men that we ha\e found in the oftice of trustee. He gives "personal su])er\ision to all of the details of lx)tli his ci\ il and school township work. His rejiort was exact in details and conclusive in all its findings. We liaxe onl}- words of commendation for the trustee of Clark township."

.Mr. Hill was married on December u, 1X07 to llattie P. Hymer, who was born in f'utnam county and is a daughter of Jesse 1'. and Eliza (<jill) Himer. She grew to womanhood and was educated in her natixe county and there resided until her marriage. Her parents came from Bath county, Kentucky, in the early days and settled in Franklin township, Putnam county, west of Roachdale.

Five children have been born to Mr. antl Mrs. Flill, one of whom died in infancy; the living are: Otro, married Ella Ashby, daughter of John Ashby and they have one son, Earl Hill; Cecil, married Mary Christy, and ihey ha\e had three children, Carl, Gladys and Glen, the latter d\-ing when three \ears old; Eva Lee is at home: Clemmie is the wife of H. O. Botman and li\es in Bainbridge.

Fraternally, Mr. Hill belongs to the Scottish Rite Masons, the Commandery at Crawfordsville, and the Murat Temjile, Ancient Aral)ic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, Indianajjolis : he is alsci a luember of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

Mr. Hill is one of the best known cattle men in the county, and is now making a specialty of breeding shortdiorn cattle. At this w riting he has a herd of over sixty pure bred short-horns. In fact, he has been in this business ex'er since he began farming, even when a renter, and he attributes nuich of his success to raising such stock. He has won a great reputation in western Indiana with his short-horns and they are in great demand and bring fancy prices owing to their superior quality. He is a scientific farmer, employing such modern methods as are apj^hcable to the land and climate here, and his farm now produces nearly double what it formerly did. He is certainly entitled to a great deal of credit for what he has accomplished, liaving worked his way up from the bottom of the ladder in the face of all kinds of adversitv.

Taylor Thompson

Many elements contribute to the development of a new country, but no one thing plan's so large a part as sterling worth and character. It is to the rugged, steadfast men and women who come into its domain that the new land must look, and it is most often the plain, blunt men of business and every-day affairs who most affect a new country's history. Among the families of Montgomery county who hax'e contributed their share of influence and labor toward its development is the Thompsons, members of which family came here in an early day, and throughout the years that have passed since then they have played an important part in the affairs of the community of their residence during the most momentous period of this locality's development, and one of the best known of the family of the present generation was Taylor Thompson, of Crawfordsville, the secret of whose popularity lay in the fact that he was always allied with those things which tended toward the advancement and betterment of his native county. While a careful and straightforward business man, he was never a dollar worshipper or permitted the lust of greed to eradicate his higher ideals, believing that life held much of greater value than mere wealth of estate.

Mr. Thompson was born on December 31, 1834, in Ripley township, Montgomery count}-. He was a son of William and Margaret (Mumfort) Thompson. They were both natives of Ohio, from which state they came to Montgomery county, Indiana, when children, and here they grew to maturity and were married. William Thompson learned the carpenter's trade when a young man, which he continued to follow in connection with farming in this county. His earlier life was spent in Ripley township, and his later days in Crawfordsville, in which city his widow is still living, he having passed to his eternal rest on March 10, 1890. He and his wife had only two children - Taylor, of this review : and Anna, who married A. E. Livengood, he being now deceased; she was born in 1864, and' is living in Crawfordsville.

William Thompson was a Democrat and was more or less active in public affairs. He was a trustee of Ripley township for a period of four years. He was a member of the Horse Thief Detective Association.

Taylor Thompson grew to manhood on the home farm in Ripley township, and there assisted with the general work when a boy, and received his education in the common schools ; however, his education was limited and had to be made up in after life by miscellaneous home reading, but this and

Mr. Thompson was twice married, tirst, on November 25, 1874, to Ida M. Sidle, who was born May 28, 1854, in this county, a daughter of Joseph and IMatilda (Taylor) Sidle. Her death occurred on February jo, kjoG, leaving three children, one having died, namely: Cora, who married (ieorge F. Anselm, was born on August 12, 1876: they li\e in Indianapolis, and they have one child. Elizabeth, born September 3, 1910; William Fee. born Xovcniber 24, 1880, married Catherine Holmes, antl they also live in Indianapolis; they have nne child, \\'illiam Flolmes Thompson, burn June 30, 1905; Harry died in infancy.

Mr. Thompson was married a second time on November 15, 191 1, his last wife being Catherine Kelley, who was born in Fountain county, Indiana, in 1863, and she grew to womanhood and was educated in her native community. She is a daughter of John and Catherine (Downs) Kelley.

Mr. Thompson made his start in life on the farm, carrying on a general farming business with success until ]March 3, 1893, when he retired from active agricultural pursuits and moved to Crawfordsville, where he entered business. After coming here he became active in politics and held the position of bailiff of the court here for the past sixteen years. He was connected with the Democratic County Committee since 1888, and his influence and counsel contributed much to the success of the party here. Shortly before his death he was in the race for postmaster at Crawfordsville, and, owing to his general popularity and peculiar fitness, his appointment was regarded by his friends as most probable, seventeen hundred representative voters of Crawfordsville having endorsed his candidacy.

Mr. Thompson was always an ardent Democrat, following in the footsteps of his honored father in this respect. Fraternally, be belonged to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

" 'Taylor,' as he was known by hundreds of personal friends, has been a leader in Democratic politics for the past fifteen years. He was county chairman at one time several years ago, and since that time has had more to do with the success of his party than any other man in it. His active political career and his work as court bailiff gave him a wider ac(|uaintance perhaps than any man in Montg(jmery county. He knew everybody in the county. He was an excellent judge of human nature, and few men were able to run the gauntlet of his inspection without being accurately weighed."

Orpheus W. Bratton

In a county like Montgomery, where there are so many men of excellent moral character, pronounced business ability and social nature, it would be hard indeed to determine who would be most worthy. There are some, howe\er, who are generally conceded by their neighbors to take a place in the front ranks of usefulness and influence. Such is the gentleman above named, who manifests an abiding interest in the intellectual development and spiritual upbuilding of the community in which he lives as well as in its material prosperity and who, while managing his own affairs in so prudent a manner as to take his place among the solid men of Walnut township, yet finds time to serve his fellow men in various ways.

Orpheus W. Bratton was born on June i8, 1862, northwest of Mace, in Union township, this county. He is a son of Charles L. and Catherine (Dice) Bratton.

Charles L. Bratton, one of the pioneer settlers of Montgomery county, was born in Augusta county, June ig, 1819. and there he spent his early boyhood years, being fourteen years old when, in 1832, he accompanied his parents in a four-horse wagon from the Old Dominion to Montgomery county, Indiana, leax'ing Virginia on September 12th, and reaching here October 12, 1832. They traveled through the week and rested on Sunday and greatly enjoyed their rough overland journey through the woods and wilderness. His parents were William and Mary G. Bratton. His father was a soldier in the w^ar of 181 2. and both his grandfathers were in the Revolutionary war. His father was a Jackson Democrat, a Whig, then a Republican. His mother was a member of the Presbyterian church.

Charles L. Bratton went to school in a log cabin and sat on puncheon benches, and had greased paper for windows. He lived with his father until he was twenty-five years old, having always been a farmer. He became owner of a productive and well-kept farm of one hundred and sixty acres, on which stood a substantial two-story brick house, about five miles from Crawfordsville. On January 11, 1844, he married Catherine Dice. She