Randolph County, Indiana - Biographical sketches (3 of 3 so headed), 1882 (part 13 of 24)

CHRISTOPHER C. HIATT, physician, Ridgeville, was born in Randolph County, Ind., March 18, 1832. He is the son of Silas and Mary Hiatt, both natives of Virginia. His father, Silas Hiatt, came to Randolph County, Ind., in the year 1818, and helped to build the first cabin in Winchester, near the present site of J. Norman's bank. In 1862, the subject of this biography enlisted as a private soldier in the Fifth Indiana Cavalry, Ninetieth Regiment. He was promoted to the office of Surgeon. He was in the Department of the Ohio, and was present at the first capture of Knoxville, September 1, 1863. He was also in the battles of Blountville, Danville, Bean Station, Walker's Ford, and other engagements. After the battle of Walker's Ford, they were sent to join Gen. Sherman's command at Tunnel Hill, and his regiment was sent with Gen. Stoneman to raid on Macon, but were nearly all captured by the rebels. Surg. Hiatt was detailed to return to Marietta, Ga., to take care of the sick and wounded, and was shortly afterward sent to Indianapolis, Ind., before the State election of 1864, and remained until after the Presidential election, and was assigned to do duty as Examining Surgeon of Recruits. Rejoined his regiment - those who were taken prisoners having, in the meantime, been exchanged. 'I'he regiment was again fitted for the field, and ordered to Nashville, to participate in the last fight at that city, but arrived too late to take any part in that action. They were next sent to Pulaski, Tenn., where Dr. Hiatt was placed in charge of the hospital as Surgeon, remaining until September, 1865. He had charge of all sick and wounded and about 400 smallpox patients, as well as the sick inthe military prison. He finally fell a victim to small-pox, but escaped with a light attack. Under a law giving three months' pay as a bounty to all officers who should remain to the close of the war, he remained and drew the bounty.

MILTON R. HIATT, druggist, Ridgeville, was born in Jay County, Ind. He is the son of Jonathan Hiatt, a native of Virginia. His grandfather was one of the early settlers of Randolph County, Ind. Mr. Hiatt enjoyed a commonschool education in his native county, and afterward attended the college at Oberlin, Ohio, for one year. He graduated in the Commercial College at Dayton, Ohio, in 1866. In 1869, he married Levina Mastick, a lady of fine accomplishments. She was at one time a teacher in the Normal School at Lebanon, Ohio, also in the college at Ridgeville in this county. Her father, Owen Mastick, was a native of Vermont, and her mother a native of Connecticut. Until twenty-six years of age, Mr. Hiatt was engaged in farming, but afterward adopted mercantile pursuits. For fourteen years, he has been engaged in the drug trade at Ridgeville, and has one of the finest stores in Randolph County. It is situated on the corner of Walnut and Main streets. Mr. Hiatt was elected Town Clerk at the organization of Ridgeville, and served four years, and is now the 'I'reasurer of the corporation and Secretary of the Board of Bidgeville College, in which capacity he is serving his second term. By his own efforts and industry, he has succeeded in accumulating property to the value of several thousand dollars. His brother, John W., who now resides in Nebraska, was a soldier in the Union army. His wife isa member of the Missionary Baptist Church,

GEORGE W. HOLOWELL, farmer, P. O. Ridgeville, was born July 11, 1842. His father was William Holowell, and his mother before marriage, was Catharine Newburn. Both were natives of Ohio. Mr. Holowell came to Indiana in 1847. He enlisted in the Fortieth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry and served four years. He participated in the battles of Mill Creek, Ky., Chickamauga, Nashville and other engagements, and at Kenesaw Mountain he was wounded in the arm and breast. He was married, February 6, 1868, to Julia A. Stephens, daughter of John Stephens; her parents are natives of Monroe County, Ohio. They have seven children living, viz., John W., Francis S., Jacob W., Jane G., George E., Adda E. and Oliver P. Adda E. died April 22, 1881. Mr. Holowell has a good farm of 160 acres, and is comfortably situated. In politics, he is a true Republican.

HALE HOLOWELL, farmer, P. O. Ridgeville, was born in Randolph County, Ind., April 4, 1854. His father, William Holowell, was born in Preble County, Ohio; his mother's maiden name was Elizabeth McKerr; his paternal grandfather served in the war of 1812. Mr. Holowell was married,

December 31, 1874, to Luzena Riddlebarger, daughter of David and Mary A. Riddlebarger, both of whom are now living at Ridgeville. daughter living. Mrs. Holowell's grandfather served in the war of 1812; -her father, David Riddlebarger, was born in Virginia; her mother, whose maiden name was Mary A. Rhoades, was born in Indiana.

HENRY D. HORN, farmer, P. 0. Sherman, was born in Randolph County, Ind., February 15, 1840; his parents, Jaeob and Sarah Horn, were natives of North Carolina; they came to Randolph County in 1830; his mother died in 1873 and his father in 1878. His grandfather Wood was in the war of 1812. Mr. Horn was married to Sarah J. Maltbie December 29, 1860. They have four children living, viz., Ida M., Annie B., George Thomas and James A. Mrs. Horn is the daughter of Joshua and Elizabeth O. (Brown) Maltbie, the former a native of Ohio and the latter a native of Kentucky; her mother is living at Farmland. Mr. Horn is engaged at the pursuit of farming. He isa member of the Society of Friends, and in politics a Republican. His wife is a member of the Disciples' or Christian Church. She has two sisters - Malinda A., wife of Stephen Norman, Rachel M., and two brothers - George W. and Robert T., both of whom are dead.

MARION L. JACK, tinner, Ridgeville, was born in Ward Township, Randolph County, Ind., November 4, 1856. His father, John W. Jack, and his mother, Mary E. (Lewis) Jack, were both natives of that township, and his grandfather, Robert Jack, was one of the very early settlers of this county. Mr, Jack is engaged in the tinware and stove business at Ridgeville. He is an enterprising young man. [Ife was married, December 4, 1879, to Miss Mary E. Collins, a native of Jay County, Ind., and daughter of Martin T. and Victoria Collins.

WILLIAM M. JANES, farmer, P. O. Ridgeville, was born in Campbell County, Ky., October 29, 1817. His father, Samuel Janes, was bora in Virginia October 15, 1796, and his mother, whose maiden name was Elizabeth McCollum, was born in Kentucky October 26, 1798. His father was an officer in the war of 1812, and fought gallantly in a number of battles. At the surrender of Hull at Wetroit, he forced his sword into the ground and broke it, rather than humiliate himself by handing it to a British officer. The subject of this biography first visited Randolph County in 1828, but did not settle here until 1868. On the 10th of February, 1842, he was married to Lucinda Baughman, a native of Virginia; her parents were both natives of that State. In early life, Mr. Janes was engaged in boating on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. He kept hotel in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1863 and 1864, and in Covington, Ky., for the next three years. He has been engaged at the carpenter's trade ever since, aad is still an able and efficient hand. He has a good residence on the corner of Main and Portland streets, Ridgeville, and seven and a half acres of good land adjoining the town. He served as Justice of the Peace three years and Trustee six years in Adams County, Ohio. Both himself and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was made a Master Mason in 1842, and a Royal Arch Mason in 1844. His mother died at the age of eighty-four years six months and ten days. She was 1 member of the Methodist Episcopal Church f>r more than fifty years. Mr. Janes and wife have two adopted daughters - Mary A. and Annie Belle, both estimable young ladies.

MRS. ELMIRA McKEW, farming, P. O. Ridgeville. Elinira Taylor was born in Virginia February 14, 1837. Her father, James Taylor, and her mother, Ann (Thomas) Taylor, were both natives of that State. Her grandfather served in the war of 1812. Her father died in Virginia. Her mother still resides there, at an advanced age. Miss Taylor was married. in 1855, to George Mc- Kew, a native of Ireland. He came to Randolph County in 1836, and died in 1870. She has two children living, named Ella and Robb, respectively. Mrs. McKew has 140 acres of good land in section 12, undera fine state of cultivation.

ISAIAH C. MILNER, farmer, P. O. Clark's. Isaiah C. Milner was born in Randolph County, Ind., September 10, 1822. His father, John Milner, was born in Virginia, and his mother, whose maiden name was Nancy Case, was born in North Carolina; she died August 25, 1846, and his father died May 23, 1850. They came to Randolph County about the year 1820. His grandfather Milner was in the Revolutionary War, and was wounded, and, although entitled to a pension, he always refused to apply for it. His maternal grandfather, Case, also served in the Revolutionary war for five years. Mr. Milner was reared in the county in which he now lives, and is well known. THe taught trade during the remainder of the year. has been engaged in farming. May 8, 1853, he was married to Blizabeth A. Freeman. They have three children - Mary J., Sarah S. and Nathaniel M. Mrs. Milner is the daughter of Thornton §. and Nancy P. (Holingsworth) Freeman, both natives of South Carolina. Her mother is still living; her father died February 19, 1849. Mr. Milner was elected Township 'Trustee in 1859, and, after serving four years, was re-elected. He also served as Land Appraiser and Assessor. He has 160 acres of good land, in Section 26, where he located when thirty-two years of age. He is a Republican in politics. His family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

HENRY T. KITSELMAN, merchant, P. 0. Ridgeville. Henry T. Kitselman was born in Wayne County, Ind., March 17, 1853. His father was Joseph Loven, but he was adopted and reared by Davis S. Kitselman. Te enjoyed good educational advantages in youth, and attended college for more than two years. [He was married to Martha Niswonger in January, 1874. Her parents, Joseph and Elizabeth, are both living at Ridgeville. Mr. and Mrs. Kitselman are the parents of three children, two of whom (Nina and Zella) are now living; Elsie died in February, 1880. After the close of his school life, Mr. Kitselman acted as express agent for three years, but has since been engaged in mercantile pursuits. He is now the senior member of the firm of Kitselman, Seaney & Cv., dealers in dry goods, clothing, etc. He is 1 member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, as is also his wife; he is also a member of Ridgeville Lodge, I. 0. O. F. He has long been identified with the Republican party, and has served as Town Clerk and Councilman, and is at present a member of the School Board. He has some valuable town property, and is comfortably situated.

DAVIS S. KITSELMAN, hardware, Ridgeville. Davis S. Kitselman was born in Chester County, Penn., October 23,1819. His father, John H., and his mother, whose maiden name was Mary Graham, were both natives of that county, and both died there - the father in 1841, and the mother in 1849. John H. Kitselman served in the war of 1812, and his father in the war of the Revolution, and was in the encampment at Valley Forge. Davis S. Kitselman came to Randolph County, Ind., in 1854, and has resided here ever since. He married Mahala A. Starbuck, a native of Indiana - born October 19, 1833. She is a member of the Baptist Church ; her father was a native of North Carolina. This union was blessed by seven children, viz., Alva L., Mary A., Davis M., Ida F., Carle M.,, Hdwin F. and Anna B.; they also have an adopted son, Henry T. Mr. Kitselman was reared on a farm, but has, at various times been spent a good portion of his life in mercantile pursuits. For six years he was engaged in the drug trade, with Dr. Ward, and for the past seven years, has: been in the hardware trade at Ridgeville. His store is on the corner of First and Walnut streets, where he keeps a general assortment of hardware, stoves and tinware. He has been a member of the Town Council of Ridgeville, and is a Past Grand in Ridgeville Lodge, No. 297, I. 0. O. F. He has 135 acres of good land, a neat, comfortable residence and several town lots.

Arthur McKew, one of the oidest and most prominent citizens of Ridgeville, was born near Cincinnati, Ohio, August 12, 1819. His parents came to the United States from Jreland, and were married in Pennsylvania. They removed to Fayette County, Ind.. when their son, Arthur, was but a child, and he grew up among the scenes that marked the pioneer period in this State. His educational privileges were necessarily very limited, yet by close application and faithful study he acquired sutficient knowledge to enable him to conduct intelligently and successfully an extensive business in later years, and qualify himself for a varied and successful career as a merchant, miller and banker. When about twelve years of age he came to Randolph County, Ind, with his parents, and located with them on a farm directly across the river from the present site of Ridgeville. Here a great portion of his time was employed in assisting his father to clear his land and cultivate his farm, until he had nearly attained his twenty-first year. During this period, however, he spent a term of four months at school in Fayette County, which closed his school life. Upon nearing his majority, he started out to earn a livelihood for himself, and for the next three years worked as a farm laborer, at very low wages, but managing to save a portion of the little pittance he earned. After working thus for about three years, he learned the plasterer's trade, without assistance from any one, and was engaged at this pursuit, in connection with farming, until about twenty-eight years old. By that time, he had saved enough from his earnings to enable him to purchase a small farm, and invested it accordingly. He purchased sixty acres, and opened a store at what was then the cross-roads, but now the principal part of the town of Ridgeville. This little farm was the nucleus of a large landed estate, comprising 1,200 acres in a body, and the little store the beginning of a prosperous mercantile career. He conducted a large and promiscuous trade with farmers throughout the surrounding country, buying from them everything convertible into cash, and keeping his store supplied with the class of merchandise most in demand. His personal popularity, and his honorable and manly treatment of his customers secured to his establishment a large trade from all the surrounding country throughout a period of many years. Ilis business grew with the years, and he became identified with other enterprises, thus making his interests varied and extensive. In 1854, he built a large and commodious storeroom at Ridgeville, and,in 1859, erected the '' River Mill" at that point. In 1866, however, he tore down this establishment, replacing it with a larger and better mill, intrgducing steam power, and in every way improving his facilities for manufacturing the best of flour. He sold this mill in 1870, and purchased one at Walton, Ind., in 1875, remoying it to Ridgeville. This mill, with all its fine machinery, together with a valuable lot of grain, were destroyed by fire on the 6th of May, 1877, but not discouraged hy this disaster, he at once began the erection of a fine fire-proof mill, with all its appointments and machinery of the latest and most approved style. His industry and fine financial ability could not fail to return him golden rewards, and his fortune accumulated rapidly. Yet he never possessed any sordid propensities, and, instead of seeking to add to a fortune already ample, he found the greatest pleasure in disbursing his money in ways that would do good to his fellow-men, and ease the burden of some one less fortunate than he. It was written of him, by one who knew well, that 'there is no material improvement in the town of Ridgeville that is not a monument to the industry and public spirit of this good man. There was never, during his lifetime, any good work commenced in this community that did not have him for a leader. He was one of the men born to lead; one of the men to whom it was given the power to succeed in almost every undertaking, and one of the grand old pioneers whose hands molded the growth and improvement of this county, and whose heart and pure life assisted to form habits aright in the lives of our people."

He was liberal to the poor, and his many acts of kindness and charity to this class gained him a place in their hearts that can never be filled by another, He contributed largely of his means to encourage public improvements throughout the county, and using his influence for the success of every enterprise designed to benefit the public. It is chiefly to his influence that Ridgeville is indebted for its excellent railroad facilities. He was one of the earliest friends of the Cincinnati, Richmond & Fort Wayne Railroad, and served as one of its Directors.

Although himself a Methodist, he gave to Ridgeville College (a Baptist institution) the ground upon which it is located, and this, with other donations, swelled his bounty toward this institution to the munificant sum of $11,000, while it proved his frzedom from sectarian bias. He served as one of the Directors of this college from its founding until his death. He was one of the organizers of the First National Bank of Winchester, and was the first Cashier of that institution. He founded the Ridgeville Bank, and served as its President until his decease.

In his political affiliations, Mr. McKew was at first an anti-slavery Whig. Later, however, he identified himself with the Republican party, and was a valued member of that organization. He filled several elective offices, among them that of County Commissioner, in which capacity his fine judgment proved of great value to the material interests of the county. He was an uncompromising temperance man, and a strong ally of the temperance cause. He united with the order of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons in 1851, and for more than thirty years was an active member. He transferred his membership to with it at the time of his death. He was a Royal Arch Mason in the Council at Winchester, and was unanimously admitted as a Sir Knight in the Commandery at Richmond, Ind., but was never initiated. He died on the Ist day of January, 1882, mourned by all who had known him in life.

He was married, in March, 1844, to Margery, daughter of Jomb Ward, and sister of Hon. Thomas Ward, of Winchester. Six children were the fruits of this union, all of whom are now deceased, save Melissa E., wife of W. F. Studebaker, of Ridgeville. His wife still survives him, occupying the home where they spent the years of a happy wedded life, ere death severed the tie that had so long bound their hearts as one.

Although dead, Arthur McKew has left a name that will always be honored and revered by those who knew him in life. while his connection with the public improvements of this county have placed him among its leading citizens.

his mother, whose maiden name was Christina Rarick, was born in Pennsylvania. They came to Randolph County, Ind., in 1838, where the father died in 1846, and the mother in 1878. His father was asoldier in the Indian wars, and his grandfather Rarick in the war of the Revolution. Mr. Orcutt was married, on the 24th of August, 1862, to Miss Anna BH. Haershman, daughter of Jacob Haershman, a native of Pennsylvania. He died in 1863. They have one son - Reuben, born January 23, 1864. Mr. Orcutt was reared a farmer, and followed that occupation until sixteen years of age. He learned the carpenter's trade, and has ever since been engaged in that vocation. He has succeeded by industry, and is now comfortably situated.

HENRY A. RARICK, milling, Ridgeville, was born in Dayton, Ohio, June 12, 1846. His father, Dr. H. J. Rarick, was born in Germany, and his mother, whose maiden name was Catharine Wertz, was bornin Pennsylvania. Both are now living at Dayton, Ohio. Mr. Rarick came to Indiana in 1876. In 1862, he enlisted in the Union army, and was engaged in thirteen battles, among which were the battles of Arkansas Post, Vicksburg, Stone River and Chickamauga. He was in the Red River expedition, and was twice wounded, but not seriously. He was mustered out of the service in 1865. On the 16th of October, 1867, he was married to Isabella Ray, daughter of William Ray, a tanner, of Indianapolis, Ind. Mr. Rarick has long been engaged in milling pursuits, but has recently adopted the vocation of farming. He has a good farm of eighty acres in Section 22, He was a member of the Seventeenth Independent - B. Light Artillery, and still retains, as a relic, the saber he carried through the war.

ABRAHAM ROBE, farmer, P. O. Ridgeville, was born in Ohio April 10, 1819. His father, Ezekiel, was born in Pennsylvania, and his mother, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Funk, a native of thesame State. His father died June 20, 1860, and his mother in 1863, both in Randolph County, Ind. Mr. Roe came to this county at a time when Indians and wild game abounded. He has killed, according to his own testimony, 970 deer, the largest part of this number haying been killed in this county, and his father was also a successful marksman. Mr. Roe was married, February 28, 1844, to Hannah Renbarger, a native of Randolph County, Ind. They are the parents of four children, only one of whom, Elizabeth, now survives. She is the wife of L. L. Williams. Mrs. Roe is the daughter of Abraham and Rachael (Luellen) Renbarger, the former a native of Kentucky, and the latter of Ohio. Mr. Roe has always followed the occupation of farming. He has eighty acres of fine land, and isa He and wife are members of the M. E. Church, and in politics he is identified with the Republican party.

MRS. ANGELINE WHIPPLE, housekeeper, Ridgeville, was born in Randolph County, Ind. Her father, Reuben Whipple, was born in Delaware County, Ohio, in January, 1834. Her mother, whose maiden name was Mary Orcutt, was born in Darke County, Ohio, October 18, 1838. Mrs. Whipple was married, on the 4th of May, 1876, to Newton McKew, a native of Randolph County, Ind., and son of Arthur McKew. Her husband was born July 13, 1854, and died July 6, 1879. They had two children - Newton A. and Ida, of whom only the former survives. Ida died September 25, 1878, aged thirteen months. Mr. McKew was a member of the M. EB. Church, and a life member of the Missionary Society. Reuben Whipple was a member of the Eighty-fourth Indiana Regiment. He enlisted in 1861, and served three years.

ALEXANDER WOOD, farmer and lawyer, Ridgeville, was born in Darke County, Ohio, October 80, 1882. His father, Samuel Wood, was born in Virginia May 22, 1794, and his mother, Elizabeth (Thompson) Wood, was born at Elizabethtown N. J., March 4, 1801. His grandfather was born July 4, 1760, in North Carolina, and his grandmother, Jemima Phillips, was born in Delaware January 26,1774. They were married January 15, 1793. Mr. Wood's parents came to Randolph County, Ind., in February, 1837. His father served in the war of 1812, and his grandfather Wood in the Revolutionary war under Gen. Greene. He was wounded in the hip at Gilford Station, and was at the battle of Bunker Hill, Eutaw Springs, and others. His grandfather, Thompson, served one year in the war ot 1812. Mr. Wood was reared on a farm in this county, and in youth enjoyed good educational advantages. After completing the common school course, he graduated in the classical department of Ridgeville College. He stadied law, and on the 4th of July, 1855, was admitted to the bar. His time since that has been devoted more or less to his profession, and by diligence in his chosen field he has made life a success. He has a handsome residence and 100 acres of land adjoining the corporation of Ridgeville, also a good business house on Walnut street, in Ridgeville. His brothers, George and William, were both killed by Indians, in Minnesota, in 1857; his brother, Charles R., enlisted in Company G, Eighth Indiana Regiment, in August, and died on the field in November of the same year; another brother, Elijah, enlisted in the three months' service when but sixteen years of age, and re-enlisted, in 1863, in the Seventh Indiana Cavalry. He received a wound in the arm, from the effects of which he died in August, 1864. Elisha, the twin brother of Elijah, enlisted in Company B, Seventh Indiana Cavalry, and served until the close of the war, and was mustered out under the general order disbanding the troops. The latter was a graduate in the classical course at Ridgeville College, also at Ann Arbor, Mich., Law School, and is now practicing law at Long Prairie, Minn. He has been engaged in some very important cases, and the Omaha papers speak of him in the highest terms as a lawyer and orator, when he was a member of the bar in that State.

ANDREW J. WOOD, grocer, Ridgeville, was born at Ridgeville, Randolph Co., Ind., September 12, 1842. His father, Samuel Wood, was born in Virginia, and his mother, Elizabeth, in New Jersey. They came to Randolph County, Ind., about the year 1836, where the father died in 1846. Mr. Wood enlisted in the Nineteenth Indiana Infantry, July 15, 1861, and re-enlisted in 1864, serving as Second Duty Sergeant. He participated in the battles of Gainesville, the second Bull Run, South Mountain, Fredericksburg, Antietam, Fitzhugh's, Gettysburg, Chancellorsville, Mine Run, Spottsylvania, the Wilderness, Laurel Hill, and minor engagements. He was wounded in the hip, while bearing the flag of his regiment. He has saved a portion of the flag, as well as the ball that pierced him. The flag was literally torn into shreds by the storm of bullets. His ancestors were soldiers, his father having served in the war of 1812, and his grandfather in the war of the Revolution. He was wounded at the battle of Bunker Hill. Mr. Wood was reared on a farm, but since the war has been in the grocery trade at Ridgeville. He has built up a good trade, and by industry has accumulated a comfortable share of this world's goods. He was married, July 25, 1867, to Rebecca Finch, a native of Ohio. Her parents were natives of the same State. Mr. Wood and wife are. the parents of six children, viz.: Maud, Rex, Lenna, Alonzo, Annie, and one who died in infancy. Mr. Wood was made a Master Mason in 1864. He was Marshal of the town of Ridgeville for three years, and has held other positions of honor and trust. He recently spent three months on a hunting excursion in Montana, Dakota and Wyoming. During the war, a minie ball struck his cartridge-box, exploding sixty rounds of ammunition.

JOHN W. SEANEY, merchant, Ridgeville, was born in Wayne County, Ind., August 5, 1843. His father, Owen Seaney, was born in North Carolina, and came to Wayne County, Ind., at an early day; he married Martha Grimes, a native of the latter county. Both died in that county, the mother in June, 1846, and the father on the 17th of March, 1871. John W. Seaney came to Randolph County, Ind., and was married to Rosannah Starbuck December 5, 1866. Her father, Robert Starbuck, was a native of North Carolina, and her mother, whose maiden name was Hannah Addleman, was a native of Chester County, Penn. Her mother died April 8,1870. Mr. Seaney and wife are the parents of five children, viz.: Erminnie, Oran E., Bertha E., Ina Ethel, Erma E., and of this number the eldest, Erminnie, is deceased. Mr. Seaney was reared on a farm; he taught school five years, then, in 1866, began the dry goods trade, as the successor of E. 'T. Bailey ; he was also in the grocery trade for a time; he is now a member of the dry goods firm of Kitselman, Seaney & Co., who carry the largest stock of dry goods and ready-made clothing in Ridgeville. In 1870, Mr. Seaney was elected 'l'rustee of Franklin Township, and served four terms consecutively. He hasa good residence on the corner of Portland and Second streets, and is comfortably situated. His wife was born February 20, 1842. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and an estimable lady.

ANDERSON SLUSHER, farmer, P. O. Ridgeville, was born in Wayne County, Ind., September 15, 1842; his parents, George and Sarah Slusher, are both natives of Virginia. They came to Randolph County in 1844, and now reside in Franklin Township. Mr. Slusher served the Union cause as a member of the Thirty-sixth Indiana Volunteer Regiment, and participated in the battles of Stone River and Chickamauga. In the latter engagement, he was shot through the face, and was honorably discharged in consequence of his wound; he was married, in June, 1865, to Eliza Ann Silvers; her father, George Deboyd, was born in Virginia, and her mother, Millie Waters, in Kentucky. Mr. Slusher and wife are the parents of six children, viz.: Annettie, Lucy, Alice, Nora, Arlie and Ella. Mr. Slusher has 112 acres of fine land in Section 21, and isa successful farmer.

JOHN E. SMITHSON, farmer, P. O. Ridgeville, was born in Randolph County, Ind., May 15, 1830; his father, George W. Smithson, was born in Virginia; his mother, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Thornburg, was born in North Carolina. They came to Randolph County, Ind., in 1824, and settled in Stony Creek Township ; his father was the second Justice of the Peace elected in that township; he was elected to this office in 1827, and re-elected in 1832; he was subsequently the candidate of the Abolition party for the office of Commissioner, but his party being in the minority, he was defeated. He was President of a society for the promulgation of the doctrines of Abolition. Grandfather Smithson was a Revolutionary soldier. The subject of this biography enjoyed a common-school education ; he was reared a farmer, and has followed that occupation in connection with stock-raising all his life; he was married, March 14, 1850, to Caroline Beck. They are the parents of ten children, viz.: Eliza Jane, Elvin L., George M., William H., Kellie S., Sater,

Maryland. Mr. Smithson and wife are both members of the Christian Church, and Mr. Smithson is a member of the Masonic fraternity; he has 139 acres of fine land adjoining the farm of his father, in Section 15.

ISAAC N. STRATTON, merchant, Ridgeville, was born in Jay County, Ind., February 12, 1839. His father was born in Pennsylvania. His mother was born in West Virginia, but was rearedin Ohio. They moved to Jay County, Ind., in 1837. His mother died in that county in 1857. His father still resides there, and at the age of eighty years is still hale and hearty. Mr. Stratton enjoyed acommon-school education, and afterward taught school. He followed the occupation of farming in early life, and up to the outbreak of the late rebellion, but has since been otherwise engaged. He enlisted in the Thirty-ninth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. in July, 1861. Subsequently his regiment was supplied with horses, and served as mounted infantry. They '' veteranized"' in 1X64, and were known as the Eighth Cavalry. Mr. Stratton participated in the battles of Pittsburg Landing, Stony Creek, Chickamauga, the battles around Chattanooga, and the entire series of battles from Atlanta to the surrender of Johnston, He was commissioned Lieutenant in 1862, and assigned to Company C. He was promoted to the office of Captain in 1864, taking command of Company I, and was mustered out in 1865. At the battle of Pittsburg Landing, he was wounded in the shoulder. Sincethe close of the war, he has been engaged chiefly in mercantile pursuits, and is now in the grocery trade at Ridgeville. Ile is a member of the Masonic fraternity and I. 0. O. F., and stands high in the community. On the 14th of February, 1867, he was married to Emma F. Hiatt. Her father, William Hiatt, was born in Randolph County, Ind., June 24, 1822. Her mother's maiden name was Malintance E. Ward. Both her parents are now deceased. Her father died in 1862, and her mother in 1868. Capt. Stratton and wife have five children living, viz.: Nellie G., Alice C., Melvin B., Ruth W. and Edith M.

ROBERT H. SUMPTION, farmer, P. O. Ridgeville, was born in Darke County, Ohio, October 30, 1817. His father, Charles L., moved to Randolph County in 1835. His mother, Mary Embree, was born in Tennessee and died in Franklin Township, Randolph County, in 1839. Tis father died in 1851, The latter was Captain of a company in the war of 1812, and served under Gen. Harrison during the entire war. Mr. Sumption was married on the 23d of April, 1845, to Berilla Ward, who was born in Randolph County, Ind., January 25, 1825. Her father, Joab Ward, was born in North Carolina and came to Randolph County, Ind., in 1819. Her mother, Amy Ward, was also a native of North Carolina. Mr. Sumption and wife have three children living, viz.: Josephine, David W. and Albert O., and one, William, deceased. Their children are all at present residing in the State of Nebraska, the sons being agents on the Univn Pacific Railroad, while the daughter, Josephine, is teaching school at Madison, in that State. She was elected preceptress in the female department of Ridgeville College for 1881, having graduated at that institution with the highest honors. She stood at the head of her classes and had no superior in the school. Mr. Sumption and wife. as well as two of their children, are members of the Free-Will Baptist Church. He has been Postmaster for ten years anda Notary Public for eight years. He is Treasurer of the college at Ridgeville, a member of the College Financial Committee, and one of the College Trustees. He has a good private residence aud two business houses at Ridgeville, also a number of town lots. D. W. died April 15, 1882; Josephine was married to Mr. Al Tyrrel, a banker of Madison, Neb., October 5, 1881.

JOAB WARD, Jr., farmer, P. O. Ridgeville, was born in Franklin Township, Randolph County, Ind., May 14, 1846. His father, Joab Ward, was born in North Carolina, and his mother, whose maiden name was Amy Graves, was born in Ohio. Both parents are now deceased. His father came to Randolph County, Ind., in 1819, and died November 5, 1874, at the age of eighty-four years. His mother died in 1864, aged sixty-six years. Mr. Ward was married, April 26, 1866, to Ann Webb, who died July 5, 1875. 'There were four children by this marriage, two of whom, Della and Grant, are now living. Onthe 20th of November, 1879, Mr. Ward was wedded to Ruth Resur, his present companion. They have one son, Kit Carson. Mrs. Mary Ward is the daughter of Cyrus and Mary (West) Resur, the former a native of Pennsylvania, and the latter of Ohio. She isa member of the United Brethren Church. Mr. Ward is a member of the M. I. Church, a Republican in politics and a good citizen. He hasa good farm of 146 acres in Section 15. His brother, David, served in the Union army for three years. He was a member of the Sixty-ninth Indiana Regiment, and was appointed Hospital Steward. After the war, he practiced medicine. Ile died January 26, 1874.

GEORGE W. WESLER, farmerand proprietor of saw-mill, P. O. Ridgeville, was born in Wayne County, Ind., August 26, 1847. His, father, Thomas Wesler, was born in Chester County, Venn., April 12,1799. His mother, Susanna (Conkle) Wesler, was born in the city of Philadelphia. She died in September, 1879, from the effects of injuries sustained by being thrown from a buggy. His grandfather, Conkle, was a Captain in the American Navy during the Revolution. He was captured by the British and held a prisoner until the close of the war. His great-grandfather was also a Revolutionary soldier, and was at the attack on Quebec. The elder Wesler, father of George W., settled in Wayne County, Ind., in 1834. The subject of this sketch enlisted, in 1864, in the One Hundred and Thirty-third Regiment Indiana Volunteers, and served five months. On the 23d of April, 1868, he was married to Miss Emily Henley. They have two children, Lizzie F. and Harry. Mrs. Wesler was born in Wayne County, Ind., September 8, 1850. Her father was a native of the same county. Her mother, Lucy A. Meridith before marriage, was born in North Carolina. Both her parents are now living at Richmond, Ind. Mr. Wesler engaged in the pursuit of farming, and was also a partner in the sawmill firm of Wesler & Bornes, at Stone Station. He was an energetic man, and had made life a success. His wife is a member of the Society of Friends. On the 3d day of March, 1882, Mr. Wesler was instantly killed while getting ready to begin work in his saw-mill by an explosion of the boiler in the mill which destroyed the building and the machinery ; three other men (employes in the mill) were also killed at the same time.

General

As at present constituted, it embraces Township 21 north, Range 14 east of the Second Principal Meridian, comprising a full township of thirty-six sections, equal to 23,040 acres. It lies wholly in the Mississinewa Valley. That river passes through the township in a direction nearly west and toward the north side of the township, the larger portion being south of the river. Massey's, Hickory and Mud Creeks, from the south, and Goshen Creek, from the north, flow through the township to the Mississinewa. the north to the Jay County line. The surface is level or moderately rolling. Near the river the land is somewhat hilly; farther toward the head of the streams, it becomes rather level. though less inclined to be marshy than if nearer the " divide " between the two rivers.

by two or three generations of hardy yeomanry, have scarcely been able to remove. Indeed, much still remains, greatly more, in fact, than the farm needs of the county require. To get rid of the timber has, in days gone by, been a fearful task; a task, too, till within a few years, well-nigh useless, except that it was taken out of the way. The labor of clearing the ground and of fencing the fields, is greater by far than would readily be supposed, and the amount of work of that kind that the farmers of Randolph County have accomplished since first the white man's ax became a factor in the human problem in this region, is past all belief. The ringing ax, the crashing branches, the thundering trunk, the resounding maul, the cracking of the teamster's whip, all the various noises of a woodman's life, have for ages past been the music of the clearing. It is true, indeed, that now, when the timber is nearly gone, a market begins to spring up. 'The increasing needs of civilization in town and in country, the numberless uses of material of wood, the growing

| searcity of forest trees throughout the country - all these conspire to create a larger demand for the timber product. Not twenty years ago, the stately walnut trees abounding throughout the woods were reckoned no more than oak or ash, and men employed that wood for uses of an ordinary kind. But now the highly increased price has swept the walnut almost wholly from among us, and ash is rapidly taking its place. Even the elm, that tree in olden time so utterly worthless, too mean to burn itself up, has lately come to be a marketable commodity, and farmers get more for the elms themselves than no long time ago the choicest woods could command.

vast body that sixty years ago hid the surface in everlasting shadow. The forest is melting away, and the tilled and fertile fields have been, through all these years, slowly and painfully, and neat frame dwelling, or even the palace-like brick or stone mansion. The scrub cattle roaming through the woods are be-,. held no more, but the well fenced pastures are adorned with the splendid blooded stock, the product of ages of improvement;

In all these changes for the better, Ward Township has enjoyed a reasonable share. Her farms are cleared, her dwellings have arisen, tasteful and sightly, through all her borders; her barns receive with joy the overflowing products of her soil; her orchards and her grain fields and her meadows gladden the eyes, and enrich the pockets as well, of her skillful and prosperous farmers. But not of this latter state, but rather of the rude beginning of things do we purpose to speak.

Early History

A few settlers found their way upon the Mississinewa very early in the history of the county. When, in August, 1818, the first election was held in the then new county of Randolph, several families resided in the Mississinewa Valley, and most of them east of Deerfield. Just who were there at that early time cannot now with certainty be determined. The first entry in the Mississinewa Valley and in Ward Township as well, appears to have been near the river, and not far from the east side of the township. It comprised a whole section, Section 138, Town 21, Range 14, and was entered by James Strain. The tract lies between Judge Miller's old farm and the Mississinewa. Whether Mr. S. settled on the tract is notnow known. We have not met his name in apy account of the primitive settlement of the valley.

The next entry was by Daniel Richardson, 8. W. Section 12, Town 21, Kange 14, May 21,1817. Theland lay directly north of Strain's section, and on both sides of the river. June 10, 1817, or three weeks after Richardson's entry, eight other entries were made, all quarter sections but one, 1,360 acres in all. The parties were James Wilson, Benjamin Lewallyn, David Kite, Daniel Kite, James and John Jacobs, Jool Canady, James Reed. These tracts all lay in Sections 7, 8, 9 and 10, Township 21, Range 14, comprising one-quarter of Section 7, three-quarters of Section 8, one half of Section 9 and three eighties in Section 10. These lands extended from Burkett Pierce's, on the west, to one and one half miles east of Deerfield, three miles in length, but did not include the town itself. With Meshach Lewallyn's and James Strain's, the whole extent of the river for seven miles had been taken up, except one and three-fourths miles in two " gaps." In the course of three years, or by October, 1820, most of the rest of the land on and near the river and several tracts along Mud and Hickory and Goshen Creeks, had been purchased.

Martin Boots and Henry Kizer had located on Mud Creek, the latter far up near Stone Station. James and Tense Massey, Allen Wall and others, had settled on theriver east of Deerfield. Robert Taylor was on the creek which comes from the north to the Mississinewa, at the Ritenour Church,

Samuel Cain, Jeremiah Lindsay, Jacob Weaver and William Jackson had entered land on Hickory Creek, south of Deerfield. James Jacobs had entered the Ritenour land. Joseph Hinshaw entered the land embracing the west part of Deertield, June 23, 1817. The east part was in Section 16 and therefore school land.

But though the Mississinewa Valley was nearly all occupied within three or four years, or by the close of 1820, yet the growth of the region was exceedingly slow. The valley was isolated. The settlers could scarcely get out in any direction. They were away from any great route of travel. One of the chief western thoroughfares passed through Winchester, and connected the central portion and the White River Valley with the world at large. But not so with the Mississinewa. 'The regions north did not,open till 1835 to 1837, and then only was the whole county occupied, and the world "swallowed them up " with settlements on every side. Deerfield sprang up and for many years became an important tradejcenter._]The swamps between Winchester and Deerfield stood almost as an impassable barrier until a late period. As late as 1859, there was a " corduroy bridge" on that northern road, one and one-fourth miles long. Imagine the road then, thirty or forty years before that time. But the forests have been cleared, and the swamps drained and the northern " pike" has been built, and Ward Township has gained full connection with the rest of the world.

Through the whole county, and in Ward Township as well, religion found early and effective entrance. As soon, perhaps, as 1823 or 1824, may be even before that, the " circuit riders " had ridden through swamps and crossed those creeks and found and fed those sheep in the wilderness. Meetings were had at Riley Marshall's, Allen Wall's and elsewhere east of Deerfield, and at some friendly dwelling west, perhaps at Mr. Ritenour's. But very early Ritenour's Meeting House was built and that graveyard established, and not long afterward, the old Prospect Meeting House was erected, and that second cemetery also dedicated to the memory of the dead ones dear. Two generations have come and gone, and those now ancient meeting houses have completed their work and fulfilled their mission. How many, many times have their sacred walls echoed the sound, of the Gospel message as it fell upon the eager ears of the scores or even hundreds of anxious listeners gathered from their simple forest homes to take part in the holy service, and feed their longing souls with heavenly manna. But the cemeteries remain open, in those solemn inclosures, as of old, and often, alas! does the ground receive the dead from sight. Slowly, too, O how slowly, did the delights of knowledge and the means of instruction find their way among those people so far, so far away from their fellow-men. Still, schools were found even there. The log cabin, the huge stick chimney, the greased paper lights, the split pole seats, the puncheon floors, the slab writing desks against the wall, were prepared by these forest dwellers, and not a few who have since " made their mark" among men had their "start" in the wooden schoolhouses of Ward Township. Hon. Thomas Ward, Hon. Enos L. Watson, Thomas Kizer, Esq., Col. Martin B. Miller} and more besides, emerged from those dim forest shades into the brighter sunshine of the county seat, or elsewhere. Mr. Ward says that he never attended any school in his life, except those taught in a greased paper log cabin.

But enough; we can no longer dwell upon the history in detail of Ward Township. Much that is of interest concerning its affairs will be found in the treatment of the topics which are considered in connection with the county at large. The entries of land in the early time, as they appear in the office of the County Auditor, are given below:

Ward is bounded north by Jay County, east by Jackson, south by White River, west by Franklin. Ward Township was entered mostly between 1836 and 1838 inclusive, during which time an immense amount of land was purchased in Randolph County of the United States, and great numbers of families took up their abode within its limits. Among the chief settlers on the Mississinewa may be named Burkett Pierce, Joab Ward, Elias Kizer, Daniel B. Miller, William Simmons, Messrs. Ritenour, Parsons, Cain and others not now in memory.

Mr, Parsons built the first mill on the Mississinewa after Lewallyn's at Ridgeville. That mill stood some years; was washed away, and Mr. Ritenour built another, 100 yards lower down.

Joab Ward's house was the scene of the encounter of the Indians with Ward and Kizer, and the shooting of Fleming in the bushes by Jesse and J ohn Gray was near by. David Connor's trading house was above Deerfield, and the Mississinewa Valley witnesse1 many early trials and perils springing from the whisky so freely dealt by the traders of those times to those poor natives of the forest wilds. But those were days of ignorance. The children of many of the whisky-sellers of pioneer times are among the most sturdy advocates of total abstinence of the present day. Let our motto be, "Out of the darkness, into the light." Rather than widely parade in unseemly prominence any of the evil traits in the characters of the ancestral dwellers, it were better to follow the primal example of filial affection, and, like the children of Noah of old, taking a garment upon the shoulders of two, with mingled feelings of reverence and sorrow, lovingly to shield the unsightly failings from public gaze, and, in the full noontide radiance of this latter day, walk ever forward toward the light, onward and upward, ever into the light, honoring our fathers for their heroism, copying filially their virtues, shunning their failings, that our pathway may be like "the path of the just, shining more and more unto the perfect day."

Three old routes of travel passed through Ward Township - from Winchester to Ridgeville, from Winchester to Portland via Deerfield, and from Greenville northwest through Deerfield, Ridgeville and Fairview.

Two railroads pass through the township now - the Pan-Handle and the "Shoo-Fly," or, more strictly, the P., C. & St. L., and the Richmond & Grand Rapids Railroads. 'Three stations are in the township - Saratoga and Randolph, upon the P., ©. & St. L.; and Stone Station, upon the Richmond & Grand Rapids Railroad. They are but small towns. The larger towns adjacent - Union City, Winchester, Ridgeville, Farmland - sap their vitality and prevent their growth.

One principal pike, the one extending north toward Portland, has been in existence for several years, and it is of priceless value to those low and level regions, erewhile wellnigh impassable. The smooth and gravelly surface, the solid highway, is widely in contrast to the "corduroy" that used to stretch its rough and weary length for miles and miles at intervals toward the northern regions - northward, constantly northward, farther and still farther, across swamps, through jungles, over creeks and rivers, through bottomless nforasses, into the gloomy, overshadowing forests, those rude paths, those primitive roads - -they could not be called highways - would unroll their endless extent. And now these awful " corduroys," which used to jerk and shake and pound and rattle, with their endless " pounce " and " bounce,"

By sani git and starlight, in rain or in shine, come winter come summer, do that fearful work no more forever! |, Other pikes also are in process of construction - one east and west through Stone Station, through Saratoga east and west, and perhaps others still.

Deerfield - -Location, Sections 16 and 17, 21, 14, south side of Mississinewa River; Curtis & Butler, proprietors; twentynine lots; streets, north and south, Meridian; east and west, Sycamore, Main, Hickory. Recorded October 14, 18383.

Edger & Searl's Addition - E. Edger and - - Searl, proprietors; twenty-eight lots. Recorded June 3, 1852. Winchester, seven and a half miles; Union City, ten and a half miles; Randolph, one mile; Farmland, fourteen miles; Stone Station, four miles; Ridgeville, three miles; Fairview, twelve miles; Portland (Jay County), ten miles.

The village was laid out in 1833, by Messrs. Curtis & Butler, and surveyed by D. W. McNeil, of Portland. The town is located north of Winchester, on the State road laid out from Greenville west, and running by Fairview into Delaware County. A pike connects the place with Winchester. The '' Pan- Handle " (P., C. & St. L.) Railroad is within about a mile south of the town. The village grew at one time to be of considerable size, and was in early days the center of a large and prosperous trade, the best time in that respect being from 1845 to 1855. The principal business men of the place during or before that time were Messrs. Butler, Searl, Edger, Whipple and others. Much travel passed northward and westward upon the roads crossing each other at that place, although those highways, especially from Winchester north, were often wellnigh impassable, notably in the winter and spring. Much grain and stock changed hands there; many goods were sold; a woolen factory, a grist-mill, ete., were built, and altogether, that town became a lively place.

current of business elsewhere. Especially since the Union & Logansport and the R. & G. R. BR. R.'s have been made has the town rapidly declined. There is now very little business. There is one small store; the wool factory has been burned; no grain, ete., is bought or handled, and trade is wellnigh extinct. The grist-mill still prospers, though its custom has fallen off. At one time it had a great run of business, people coming from Wabash, Centerville, Greenville, etc. There were other mills, but the Deerfield Mill had a great reputation, and drew much custom from an extensive region. A large number of business men have been at the town during its existence. Merchants: Edward Edger, +earl, U. Pierce, Fitzpatrick, George Wilt, Robert Watson, John Collett, David T. Holly, William Drew, Sam Clevinger, Daniel Pierce.

in early times, which was bought by Jason Whipple in 1847, and run by him till 1855. Jason Whipple built a new steammill in 1855, still in operation. A woolen factory was here for many years, owned at different times by Robert Murray and Dennis Hess, etc. It was twice burned, and the last time (1875) was not rebuilt. Theré was at one time a tannery and an ash factory.

There are at present one small store, one grist-mill, one smith shop, one church (Methodist), one schoolhouse, one post office, one toll gate, one saw-mill (near by). A new station (Randolph) has grown up where the pike crosses the Pan-Handle Railroad, one mile south of Deerfield.

The principal citizens of Deerfield and vicinity are Jason Whipple, Willis Whipple, Daniel Pierce, Benjamin Clevinger, Dr. Purcell, Burgett Pierce, William C. King, John Clapp, Quincy Pierce, John Michael, John Sipe, David Harker, Benjamin Clevinger (east of town), Robert Collins and others. There is a thriving store a mile north of town, on the pike which crosses the Mississinewa just north of the place.

Randolph - Location, on Pan-Handle Railroad, eleven miles west of Union City, one mile south of (old) Deerfield, three miles east of Ridgeville, at the point where the Deerfield & Winchester Pike crosses that railroad, upon Sections 16, 17, 20 and 21, 21, 14. I. H. Fitzgerald, proprietor. Recorded May, 1867; seventy-four lots; size of lots, 44x125 feet; streets sixty feet wide; Main and Line streets, eighty feet wide; alleys, twenty feet wide.

Miller's Addition - Sylvester Milier, proprietor. Recorded July 8, 1874; twenty-four lots. The streets of the town are, north and south, Diamond, Pearl, Pike; east and west, Miller, Line, Main,South. The town lies on both sides of the railroad.

The growth of the place has been slow, and it is yet quite small, being too near Ridgeville (a point where two important railroads cross each other) for extensive trade. Some business, however, is done, and considerable grain and stock are handled.

There are as follows: One store, one smith shop, one warehouse, one post office, one toll gate, one schoolhouse, one lodge F. & A. M., one lodge I. O. O. F. Its chief citizens are Alexander Voris, Enos Myers, Benjamin Hawthorne, Thomas Addington, Darius Orr and others. The town contains about twenty houses and one hundred people.

Saratoga - Location, Section 25, 21, 14, on Pan-Handle Railroad; fifty-two lots; J. C. Albright, proprietor. The streets are, north and south, Barber; east and west, Washington. Recorded August 10, 1875

The town was begun under the name of Warren Station, about 1867, when the Pan-Handle Railroad was built, though the plat seems not to have been recorded till 1875. - {t grew up immediately upon the completion of the Union & Logansport Railroad, and has become the center of some trade.

There are three stores - John & J. F. Warren (grain-buyers), Cyrus Bowsman, Jacob Lucas. The smith shops are Davis, Elijah Frazier. There are two wagon shops - William Davis, Philip Devore; one saw-mill, J. St. Johns, corn-cracker; one milliner shop, Miss Bowsman; one post office, Cyrus Bowsman; one hotel, Cyrus Bowsman; one schoolhouse, two rooms; two churches - United Brethren, frame, 1870; Methodist Episcopal, brick, 1877; two physicians - Messrs. Evans and Ford; threc carpenters - Harrison Pogue, Geurge Browse, Enos Cole; thirty houses, 150 peuple, one cemetery.

The town has some growth, and does a fair business. It is seven miles from Union City, four miles from Rando]ph and five miles from Deerfield.

Residents in vicinity not already named are John Warren, in town; James Evans, southwest; Freeborn Charlton, west; Cyrus Cox, south; William Gaylor, southwest; Elisha Lawler, west; Joseph Lawler, north; V. R. Warren, north; Elihu Warren, north; Mrs. Lawler, west; N. Bowsman, north; George Limbard, northwest.

Stone Station (Clark Post Office) - Small unincorporated town and station on Richmond & Grand Rapids Railroad, on Sections 380 and 31, 21, 14, four miles from Winchester and four miles from Ridgeville.

It is not a laid out town, but a small station on the Richmond & Fort Wayne Railroad, started about the time of the completion of that road, 1870. The place is small, with but little business.

There is one little store, kept by Thomas H. Johnson. There is a post office, Thomas H. Johnson; also one grain-buyer, Thomas H. Johnson. There is a saw-mill owned and run by Barnes & Clark. The place contains five or six houses. One stockbuyer lives near - George Wesler. He buys stock extensively, and Mr. Johnson handles a fair amount of grain. One pike has been built, passing east and west through the place, intending to connect the pike running north from Farmland with the Winchester & Deerfield pike. There seems no reason why Stone Station should not become a thriving little country center, suitable for a quiet village residence, near the railway but away from the bustle of a crowded town. A Free-Will Baptist society was formed in the vicinity in 1880-81, the meetings being held in Clark's Schoolhouse, one-half mile from the station, A church is soon to be built.

A fearful casualty occurred at the place in March, 1882. The boiler of a steam saw-mill exploded, killing several persons outright, and wounding others.

Benjamin Clevinger was born in Pennsylvania in 1816, and came to Randolph County, Ind., about 1850; married first in Pennsylvania, but lost his wife there, and was married again, in Randolph County, in 1851. His second wife was Sarah Ann Smiley, who was born in 1838, and whose parents moved to Randolph County the same year. Mr. Clevinger moved to Pennsy]lvania after living awhile here, but he returned again and took up his permanent abode where he now lives, two miles east of Deerfield, on the Greenville State road. He has had only three children. He is a thriving farmer, owning about one hundred and forty acres of land; a Democrat in politics, and has been Township Trustee during two terms - 1876-80. He is very careful of the public funds. Some think a little freer use of money would have been better economy in the long run. Mr. Clevinger is a respectable and influential citizen.

William Doty was born in Maryland. He came to Butler County, Ohio, and to Randolph County, Ind., the latter removal having been made in 1828. He was the father of eleven children, nine of whom are still living, and seven are married. Mr. Doty was a farmer, residing just across the Mississinewa River from Deerfield. He died about twenty years ago, and his wife sixteen years ago. There were but few settlers in what is now Ward Township when Mr. Doty came. The Masseys had come and gone; the Kizers, Burgett Pierce, Mr. Ritenour, Daniel B. Miller, Riley Marshall and a few others were living in the woods in that region. The town of Deerfield was not laid out (at least not recorded) till five years afterward (1833). A few settlers found their way to the Mississinewa very early, but the whole region remained nearly a wilderness till after 1825.

Samuel Emery. Among the quaint personages of the pioneer times of Randolph Co., Samuel Emery was conspicuous. We regret that no detailed history of him has been obtained. He was an early settler, among the first, and he died, a very old man, only a short time ago, yet no one has been found who can give a definite history of his life. Andrew Aker, in his "reminiscences," furnishes a hint from which to draw a picture of the odd, quaint, sturdy, brave, honest backwoodsman. He says, in substance: "There came to my store in Winchester a strange, uncouth-looking fellow, with a bundle of skins on his back. His pants were buckskin, and ripped up to the knee; the rim of his straw hat was half torn off, his shoes were ragged and tied up with hickory bark, and everything else in proportion. He wished to 'trade out' his roll of buckskins. He got several articles; we reckoned up, and found the account nearly even. He then said, 'I wish to get some other things - powder, lead and flints; will you trust me?' JI asked Charles Conway. 'Oh, Sam Emery is all right; he is one of the substantial citizens out on the Mississinewa.' So I 'trusted' him, and he paid promptly. He traded much with me afterward, dealing always fairly, like the honorable man that he was." But no other story of him is at hand, and we add no more. [Mrs. Evans, daughter of Allen Wall, who settled on the river in 1519, says that Samuel Emery came years after her father, probably in 1826. He lived two miles north and one mile east of Deerfield, north of the river. |

Since writing the above, another incident has come to hand, which is so odd that we cannot withhold it. As to the truth of the tale we can say nothing, for we know nothing. A truthful man told us, but how it came to him we cannot tell.

Samuel Emery lost some money, and was considerably worried, for " money was money" in those times; besides, no one likes to lose a thing by having it stolen, at any time.

Edward Edger, then at Deerfield, thinking perkaps he could guess where the money had gone, since " boys will be boys," and sometimes think they need more than their "pap" thinks they do, advised Mr. Emery to a certain course, which he followed faithfully. He took the Bible and read a certain chapter five nights in succession, and told his family that he was doing it to find out who took his money, and that the one who had taken it would die on the fifth night. The last night, as the old man took down the Bible for the fifth time and began to read, one of the boys sang out, " Stop, dad; you might have a death in your own family!" He stopped, and made no more inquiry for his money (at least, not among the outside world). What transpired between "dad" and the boy, this deponent saith not, for a very good reason - he does not know. The boy who is concerned may be alive yet for all the author knows; if so, it is to be hoped that the whilom lad, be the story true or not true, will not be angry, since the crime, even if it were so, was not a very heinous one; and the story was really tuo good not to be told; and because, in so large and dry a work as a history has to be, some fun is, in fact, a sine qua non (thing indispensable); since also, according to the old couplet,

Perry Fields lives east of Deerfield, on the old State road, and is a prosperous farmer and land-owner. He was born in North Carolina in 1802. His father moved to Tennessee in 1804. Perry Fields married Millie Bragg in 1826, and in 1833 they emigrated to Randolph County, Ind., settling in Ward Township. He bought 160 acres in the school section, and, soon after, forty acres more. He has kept on buying at various times until he now owns 865 acres. They have had five children. Three only are living, and they are married. Mr. Fields is a Methodist and a Democrat. Heis aged, but active and sprightly for his years. Mrs. Fields died very suddenly in the early winter of 1880 (not far from Christmas). She was found in the morniug, just before breakfast, sitting in her chair, entirely dead. She had been a member of the Methodist Church for nearly sixty years; in fact, ever since she was a young girl. She was an active Christian, and is greatly missed from her circle of friends and acquaintances. Her remains lie buried in Prospect Cemetery, and her aged, sorrowing companion is sadly, patiently waiting the final hour, when his body shall be laid solemnly and quietly by the side of that of this life-long bosom friend, and when his ransomed spirit shall go to meet her in the Paradise of rest on high.

Jesse Gray was born September 9, 1789, at Newberry, S. C. His mother was a native of Ireland, and his father, having been born in Maryland, fought through the war of the Revolution, and emigrated to Wayne County, Ind., in 1810. Jesse Gray married Sarah Stone in 1808, and in 1811, in company with a brother-in-law, they set out for Indiana, the wives, children and movables "being brought upon horses equipped with pack-saddles." They did not sleep under a roof upon the route, but, finding some relatives in Knox Uounty, Ky., they stopped there, doing this the more willingly since the Indians north of the Ohio River were hostile; the war with England was at hand, At the first call for volunteers, Jesse Gray answered the call, and joined the first company from that region. They were placed under Gen. Harrison's command at Cincinnati, and served in Northwestern Ohio. Returning from the war at its close, he found a wife overjoyed to see her husband once more, no word from him having reached her ears during his absence. They next moved to Wayne County, Ind., soon afterward to Butler County, Ohio, and in 1820, according to his memory, they emigrated to the banks of the Mississinewa River, in Randolph County, where he spent the time upon which, in his old age he looked back as his happiest years. His life was, however, by no means quiet, but full rather of adventure and romance. Deer-hunting, bear-killing, Indian-shooting and such like were but the events of his every-day career. He roamed the forests far and wide, Wayne, Randolph and Jay Counties, and we know not how much larger a scope of country, were the scenes of his wild pranks and his narrow escapes. Northern Randolph is full of verbal reminiscences of the old hunter, but accurate details are nevertheless not easily obtained. When Fleming, the Indian, was killed at Lewallyn's by Jesse Gray, and Smith, the mulatto whom Fleming had wounded, Gray was living on Mud Creek, near Elias Kizer's. On account of the trouble arising from that homicide, he left the county and the State, and resided for several years near Hill Grove, Ohio. Mr. Clapp, resident near Deerfield, saw him at Bridge's Mill, below Greenville, in 1826. Tyre Puckett says that Jesse Gray was indicted for the killing of Fleming, and that his father, Joseph Puckett, was one of the grand jury that found the indictment. William Warren says he was at Jesse Gray's house in 1832, and that he resided then near Hill Grove, Darke Co., Ohio. A lady resident near Deerfield says that her sister lived on old Jesse Gray's place tive years, from about 1845 to 1859, and that that was north of the Loblolly, near the line of Adams and Wells Counties; that he was then a very old man, with a number of great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren. [She seems to be mistaken as to his great age at that time, since, if he was born in 1789, he would be in 1859 only seventy years of age.| His adventures were wild and romantic, and at least one person has written a life of the old pioneer, which, however, remains in phonetic manuscript, having never been published. The facts as to his early life before coming to Randolph or its vicinity were obtained from the gentleman who prepared the manuscript referred to, and who still [1881] has it in possession. Judge Wharry, of Greenville, an old man, and an almost life-long resident of that town, says that Jesse Gray, as early as 1824, had killed the Indian Fleming, hud fled from Randolph on account of it, and was living near Hill Grove. He had a good farm there of 100 acres, but was a famous hunter. Judge Wharry says he has bought great quantities of furs and deerskins from Jesse Gray while he dwelt at Hill Grove, and also that Mr. Gray must have moved away tu the "Loblolly" about 1840. Darke County History mentions Jesse Gray as settling probably the first in Jackson Township, a mile or two from Union City, Ohio, and not far from Hill Grove. After residing for many years north of the Loblolly, he is said to have removed to Jay County, in the region of Camden, and to have died there some years ago. His father, John Gray, is thought to have lived and died one mile north of Deerfield, having had eleven children. Jesse Gray himself was twice married, and had a large family. His brother, Hezekiah, went to Texas, and died there.

It is related of him in Darke County History that he used to tell of himself that at one time he encountered an armed Indian. He was armed also, and, being on equal footing, they, by mutual agreement, fired off their rifles and started for the next town. They came toa creek, and the Indian stooped down to drink. Jesse said that he left the Indian at the creek. What was done with him was not told, but the inference is that the old hunter made way with the Indian.

in 1880, crossing the mountains in a wagon. He is the eldest of nine children - six boys and three girls. His father was a farmer, renting land in Butler and Warren Counties, Ohio. D. 8. Harker, when twenty-one years old, married a daughter of Cornelius Whitenack, near Foster's Crossing, Warren Co., Ohio. Like his worthy father, they were very poor. His father gave him a cow and two pigs, and his mother gave him a bed; and they began housekeeping in an old shanty that had long been the resort of cattle, sheep and swine, having no chimney, windows nor doors, and built of round logs, in the middle of an open field. His wife's parents were also from New Jersey. They had a family of twelve children. The parents of both are dead, except his wife's mother, who is eighty years old, having 100 grandchildren and many great-grandchildren. Five years passed after he was married before he owned a horse. That time was spent in working by the day, month or job, cutting cord-wood, carrying rock on Gov. Morrow's mill-dam, up to his knees in water, etc., etc. He then purchased a team and began farming as a renter in Butler County, Ohio. In three years, he came to Ward Township, and purchased land where he now resides, and where he expects to spend the rest of his days. They have had twelve children; ten are living - three sons and seven daughters. Mr. Harker has been an active and earnest Methodist for more than thirty years, zealous for the church and for education, temperance and every good cause. He is a firm believer in the religion of the Bible, maintaining that Christ instituted His church for the salvation of the world, and that all other organizations are only "side-shows," good enough, perhaps, in their place, but powerless to save the souls of men. He says: "T believe that any man that preaches temperance and smokes and chews tobacco a hypocrite, and also that any young man who will choose an honorable occupation and stick to it, with economy, health and good habits, will certainly succeed."

Mr. Harker is an active, intelligent, estimable man, an honor to the community and respected by all who know him. He is a thorough Republican, and presents a pleasing spectacle of successful activity, being the owner of an excellent farm, with a good and substantial dwelling, for the comfort of his swarming family of ten living children.

Henry Kizer was born in Botetourt County, Va., in 1776; came to Ross County, Ohio, and then to Randolph County, Ind., in 1821. He had entered land in 1820, east of Stone Station, in Ward Township. The log house which he built not long after coming to the county is standing yet. His wife was born in 1770, being six years older than her husband. He died August 12, 1823, and his wife died the next day, August 13, 1823, both in middle life. They were earnest Methodists. Thomas W. Kizer, in speaking of his grandmother, when looking at the old family Bible, feelingly remarked: 'There is not a word in this old Book that Grandmother has not read over and over." They had four children, all sons- - Elias, Henry, Adam, William. Mr.and Mrs. K. are buried near Stone Station, in a private graveyard.

Andrew McCartney was born in Virginia or Tennessee, of Irish descent. He is said (how truly we do not know) to have been the father of twenty-seven children; was in the war of the rebellion, though old enough to have been exempt years before, belonging to the Highty-fourth Indiana Regiment, and serving from August 21, 1862, to February 27, 1863.

Mr. McCartney is said to be a jovial and eccentric old man, and to have had a strange and eventful history, having resided in many places, and been married several times. His last marriage was in Ward Township, to a lady who is the daughter of Andrew Key, an early pioneer of the Mississinewa Region from the State of Tennessee, and a sister of John Key, a prominent resident of that township.

Old Mr. Key and his wife are both dead, and Mr. McCartney and his wife occupy the old Key homestead. Andrew Key and his wife were both buried at Prospect Graveyard, but no tombstones have been placed at their graves.

Mr. McCartney, true to his life-long adventurous instinct, has left his last wife, who is said not to be grieved above measure at her loss,and found for himself a residence in some other locality.

Daniel Mock was born in Rowan County, N. C., in 1784, coming afterward to Greene County, Ohio; he was in the war of 1812, receiving afterward a pension as a soldier. He became a settler in Ward Township in 1824, fixing his location on Clear Creek, south of the present residence of John H. Sipe. Mr. Mock had ten children, eight of whom were married, and are still living. His first wife died forty-three years ago, and his second wife eight years ago. Of the children, five reside in Indiana, two in Minnesota and one in Illinois. Mr. Mock purchased 160 acres, somewhat improved, and resided upon the tract until his death, not many years ago, a very old man. He was a farmer and a Democrat.

John Mock, the son of Daniel Mock, settled east of Deerfield, on Clear Creek, being born in 1811, and coming there with his father from Ohio in 1824. John Mock married Elizabeth Cain, and also Miss Watson, a sister of Hon. E. L. Watson, of Winchester, Ind. Mr. Mock had a large family; was a farmer and a merchant of Deerfield, and a prominent citizen in Randolph County. He was Justice of the Peace, and also Associate Judge with Peter S. Miller during the term including the year 1848, He emigrated West, and resides at Cambridge, Henry Co., Iowa, being a solid farmer of that region. He was in early times a Whig, and in later days a Republican. His second wife is still living. While residing in Randolph County, James G. Birney, the noted Abolitionist, and the first Liberty candidate for President of the United States, came into that neighborhood on business, and spent some time at his house, one result of which was that Mr. Mock also became an Abolitionist, and another result was that Mr, Birney became an extensive purchaser of lands in Randolph County, which land lay unoccupied, belonging to Mr. Birney's estate and his heirs, for many years. Mr. Mock was an active man in Randolph County, especially in his early manhood, and was well versed in pioneer affairs; and it is his delight now, in the evening of his bustling life, to dwell in memory upon those stirring scenes, and tell to listening friends the tales of his younger years. We had hoped to obtain for insertion in these columns an account of pioneer life and times from his lively pen, and have not been disappointed. The statement will be found in the " Reminiscences."

Amos Orcutt was born in 1825, in Darke County, Ohio, coming with his father to Randolph County, Ind., in 1838. He married, in 1848, Phcebe Ann Sutton, and has six children. They are all living, and four are married. He resides two and a half miles northwest of Deerfield, and is a farmer, owning 156 acres of land. In politics, he is a Democrat. He is a thriving citizen, and is prominent and respected.

Joseph Orcutt was born in 1795, in New York State; came to Rossyille, Ohio, and to Darke County, Ohio, and, years afterward, to Ward Township, Randolph Co., Ind., in 1838. He entered seventy-six acres of land. His wife was Christina Rarick, sister of Philip Rarick, of Jay County. They were married in Darke County in 1820, and had eleven children. Ten of them grew up and were married, and nineare living now. His father was a Revolutionary soldier, receiving a wound in that war. Joseph Orcutt was a farmer, and also a teacher. He belonged to the Christian (New-Light) Church, and in politics was a Demoerat. He died in 1848, only ten years after his emigration to this county, and while the region around him was still new and wild. His wife survived him twenty-four years, dying in 1872, having been left a widow with a large, dependent family.

Robert Parsons came of a distinguished stock in Tennessee. Three of his brothers were prominent attorneys in the Southern States, and one of them died by the bursting of a blood vessel while speaking on the stump as a candidate for Congress. Robert Parsons was born in 1775; removed in youth to Kentucky; about 1810, to Wayne County, Ind.; and in 1828 or 1829, he came to Deerfield, Randolph Co., Ind. Deerfield, however, was not laid out till years afterward. Mr. Parsons settled half a mile west of Deerfield, entered eighty acres of land, and built the first mill on the Mississinewa after Lewallyn's mill at Ridgeville. It was a log building, with two run of stones, grinding both corn and wheat. At first, flour was bolted by hand, but before long by water. The mill did a good business for those times, and stood some ten years. It was finally washed away, and Mr. Ritenour erected another, 200 yards farther down the river. That also has been gone for many years. married Mary Johnson, of Tennessee, arelative of President Andrew Johnson, and they had twelve children, only five of whom grew up and were married, and only one is now living. Mr. P. died near Deerfield about 1863, eighty-eight years old. His widow died in Miami County, Ohio, aged eighty years. Mr. Parsons was buried in Ritenour's Graveyard, west of Deerfield. He was a Democrat, voting, however, once for Henry Clay, with whom he was well acquainted. Two brothers of Mr. Parsons were slaveholders, owning 400 slaves apiece. His youngest brother, Silas, was living in Louisiana not long ago. The whole connection were prominent among their fellow-citizens, and many have become distinguished in the different professions.

Burgett Pierce was born in Virginia in 1793. His father and mother were Samuel and Delilah Pierce, and they moved to Ross County, Ohio, in 1800, ten miles from Chillicothe. Mr. Pierce was married to Hlizabeth Ward, daughter of Joab Ward and sister of Thomas Ward, in 1815, she having been born in 1797. They moved to near Deerfield, Randolph County, in 1819 or 1820, and Mr. Pierce has resided in the same vicinity ever since that early time, more than sixty-three years. He owns the same farm still which first he occupied, though he has had his residence for some years with his son-in-law, William C. King, half a mile below Deerfield. His wife departed this life in 1859, aged about sixty-two years. Their children have been seven in number, to wit: Matilda, born in 1816, married Jeremiah L. Mock, had eight chillren, and died in 1876; Uriah, born in 1818, married Martha A. Mock, had six eileen and died in 1878; Delila, died an infant; James, married Mercy Whipple, had thirteen children, three pairs of twins; Joel, married Sarah Collins and Julia Sherman, the last having one child; Nancy, 1828 (W. C. King), no children; Sarah, 1832. Burgett Pierce's descendants live mostly in Randolph County, and many of them are well-to-do farmers. Mr. Pierce is in his ninetieth year. Until lately, he has been hearty and sprightly. For a short time past, his powers have been failing, though he is still doing very well, considering his great age.

William Simmons came to ) Jackson Township very early, some say as early as 1827. He was an older brother of James Simmons, of Jackson Township. He used to live in Wayne County, Ind, as early as 1821, traveled through the region, hunting, to and from Fort Wayne along the " Quaker Trace." He moved to Blue River, and afterward returned to Randolph County. He died in middle life, having been the father of twenty-one children, all by the same mother. The children were all raised by hand, the mother being unable to suckle them. Twelve of the twenty-one became grown, and ten are living still. Several of the children were twins, and the statement has been made - whether true or not we cannot tell - that the children were all born within thirteen years. The fact of his having twenty-one children by the same wife seems to be undisputed and well authenticated. William Simmons lived on the Mississinewa, just south of New Pittsburg, and he is the same man who is mentioned in the history of Jay County as having been lost in the woods and nearly frozen to death about the time of the first settlement of that region, and as having been found by the Hawkins boys after he had been some days in the depths of the forest, and so severely frozen as to be made an almost helpless cripple during the rest of his life.

John B. Sipe is the son of Samuel Sipe, of Ward Township. He joined Company C, Ninetieth Indiana Regiment (Fifth Cayalry), August 8, 1862, and served nearly three years. receiving his discharge after the close of the war. June 30, 1865. Two of his brothers were in the same company, VvizZ., ene and Martin (Van Buren). The latter was prisoner of war at Richmond, Belle Isle and Andersonville for many months, but was at length set free and joined his regiment. They were all mustered out together. John B. Sipe is married and has quite a large family of children. He resideson the old homestead; is a farmer and a Democrat. The voters of Ward Township chose him as their Trustee in the spring of 1880. He seems a genial and sl aaeliaane citizen, and will no doubt make a faithful and efficient public officer, and fully justify the confidence reposed in him by his fellow-citizens.

John H. Sipe is a farmer of Ward Township. He was born in Bedford County, Penn., in 1802; married Mary Brubaker in 1824, came to Randolph County, Ind., in.1842; has had nine children, five living and married. He bought at one time 120 and at another time 150 acres of land, but he has sold it all to his son. Four of his children reside near him, and one, a daughter, in Minnesota. In the early time of his settlement here, he engaged extensively in teaming, and made much money in that way. John Thomas and Perry Fields had had a sawmill near Mr. Sipe's, where the State road crosses Clear Creek, east of Deerfield. Mr. Sipe rebuilt the mill, and has kept it in operation till the spring of 1880. He enjoys good health, notwithstanding his age, appearing not more than seventy years old. In politics, he is a Democrat, as are, in fact, a great majority of the citizens in that Democratic stronghold.

Samuel Sipe was born in Pennsylvania in 1798; married Barbara Brubaker in 1823, and came to Ward Township, Randolph Co., Ind., in 1847. They have had ten children, nine of the number being now alive, and all of them are married. He entered no land, as he came to the county too late for that. He owned, however, 240 acres, was a thriving, prosperous farmer, a prominent and energetic citizen, and was a member of the Democratic party in politics. He died in 1875, being about seventy-seven years old, and was buried in Deerfield Cemetery, near the old chapel west of the town. His wife still survives her husband, enjoying a genial o]d age, and residing on the old farm with her son, John B. Sipe. [October 8, 1882, his aged widow, Mrs, Barbara Sipe, lay down to her last earthly rest, having borne the storms and trials of this earthly existence about seventyseven years six months and twenty-six days, and in hope of a blessed immortality and an endless life in the upper and better kingdom].

Temple Smith was born in 1806, in Adair County, Ky.; went to Highland County, Ohio, in 1811, and came to Randolph County, Ind., in 1819. He has resided thirty-six years west of Bloomingsport - six years at Buena Vista, two years at Farmland, and fifteen years east of Stone Station, Ward Township. He married Priscilla Crossley in 1827 (born in 1809). They have had twelve children; six died in childhood and youth, and six have been married, and they have had thirty-seven grandchildren; three of the sons died of diphtheria, at the ages of nine, eighteen and twenty respectively. His wife died in January, 1882.

Allen Wall was among the very first residents of the Mississinewa Valley, above Deerfield. He was born in North Carolina in about 1779. His wife's maiden name was Sarah Beechy, and they had ten children, all grown and married, and seven are livying yet. One daughter, sixty-five years old, is the wife of Jacob Evans, of Saratoga. Mr. Wall entered forty acres about two miles east of Deerfield, north of the Mississinewa, settling in the region about 1817-18. Samuel Emery lived not very far away, though he came years later. Mr. Wall died in 1835, aged about fifty-six. His wife died in 1841. He was a farmer, and he and his wife were Methodists. Nearly the only settlers east of Deerfield in 1819 were the Masseysand the Jacksons. Robert, James and Tense Massey were there some time before. James, at least, was in the county and on the Mississinewa in the summer of 1818. James and Tense Massey appear to have made their first entry in Sections 10 and 11, January 26, 1818, and William Jackson in Section 21, October 2, 1819. Mr. Wall was a farmer, and he and his people were Methodists. Itis likely that he was a Democrat, as most (though, indeed, not all) of the dwellers in that region were and are of that political faith.

John R. Warren was born in North Carolina in 1818; came to Wayne County, Ind., in 1821, and married Ann Newton in 1834; moved to Ward Township, Randolph County, in 1836; entered 160 acres of land, and, shortly afterward, 160 more. He owned at one tims 980 acres, and had it all under fence. He now owns none, but bas his property in other forms. His first wife died in the neighborhood, but one in Minnesota. Mr. Warren was a farmer and stock-dealer, and managed a large business; but he has now retired from uctive life. Both his wives have died within about one and a half years, and he feels deeply their loss. He is a Methodist of twenty years' standing, and a life-long Democrat. ;

Jason Whipple, Deerfield, was born in 1804, in Rhode Island; came to Delaware County, Ohio, in 1817; married Eliza H. Bass in Rhode Island in 1824; moved to Jay County, Ind., near and north of Liber, in 1836, and to Deerfield, Randolph County, in 1847, where he has resided ever since. He has had thirteen children, eleven of whom are living. They reside in Randolph, Jay and Adams Counties, Ind., in Missouri, Minnesota, and still elsewhere. He has been a farmer, a mechanic and a miller. Mr. Whipple built a steam grist-mill at Deerfield in 1855, and it is still doing good and extensive work, being now owned by his son, Willis Whipple. He has been twice married, and his second wife is yet living. Though in his seventyeighth year, Mr Whipple is strong, hearty and vigorous, and does not look more than sixty-five. He has been an enterprising citizen, and his family form a valuable addition to the strength of the community. He is a sturdy Democrat of the olden time, clinging with unflinching tenacity to the political affiliations of his youthful days. Ccming of age during the administration of the younger Adams, his first Presidential vote was given at the election of the grand old hero of New Orleans to the Chief Executive chair, and he has witnessed and taken part in the struggles, the victories and the defeats of that ancient and famous party of freemen from that time to the present. Long crowned with triumphant success, the leaders of that historic body of men administered with a bold and steady hand the affairs of the nation for nearly all the years since the accession of the stern and iron-willed Jackson to the Presidential office up to 1861; shut out since that time from the occupancy of the White House, except, indeed, during the incumbency of Andrew Johnson, who had been elected as a Republican with the lamented Lincoln, and who assumed the responsibilities of Presidential authority upon the assassination of his distinguished predecessor; they have, nevertheless, clung together, firm, notwithstanding defeat, and faithful through adversity, looking backward with admiration - - nay, with reverence! - upon their ancient leaders, with fond affection and melancholy regret, upon their victorious progress during the years now long past and gone, and looking forward, moreover, with fond and anxious hope, with ardent desire and with longing expectation, to the successes which may yet, in the years that are still to come, by them again be accomplished.

THOMAS L. ADDINGTON, farmer, P. O. Randolph, is a native of Wayne County, Ind., and was born January 26, 1829. His father, James Addington, was a native of South Carolina, and came to Wayne County, Ind., in 1806. About the year 1809, he married Miss Nancy Lewellyn, by whom he had thirteen children, seven of whom they raised, viz.: John L. (deceased), William (killed by lightning in 1852), Benjamin G., Rachel, Thomas L. (our subject), Isaac and Mary. Theelder Addington died in Kansas in 1860, while there visiting friends. His father-in-law, Meshack Lewellyn, came to this county about the year 1818, and erected the first mill on the Mississinewa River. He came from Tennessee to Wayne County, Ind., in 1806. Our subject, Thomas L. Addington, came with his parents to this county in 1832, and settled in the woods; he attended school in a log cabin with slab seats, greased paper windows and a board, supported on pins in the wall, for a writing-desk. The deer, wolves and other wild game were abundant. He was married, in September, 1852, to Miss Marybeth Woodard, by whom he had two children - Melissa and William. Mrs, Addington died in 1854, and in 1857 he married Miss Nancy Pierce, daughter of Burket Pierce, of whom we shall speak elsewhere in this work. By her he had four children - Marybeth (deceased), Elizabeth, Elsworth and Anthony, Mr. Addington resides on Section 20, and owns 130 acres. In March, 1850, he became a member of the Masonic fraternity, and in the fall of 1868, he became a member of the order of Odd Fellows. Mr. and Mrs. Addington are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Addington filled the office of Justice of the Peace for eight years.

DAVID ALMONRODE (deceased) was born in Rockbridge County, Va., November 16, 1814, and was a son of George and Margaret Almonrode; he came to this county with his widowed mother about the year 1836; he was first married, June 7, 1838, to Miss Esther Bousman, daughter of Adam Bousman, an early settler of this county, They had six children - Margaret, Susannah, Janetta (deceased), Adam, Rachel and Nancy J. Mr. Almonrode died July 14, 1880, loved by all. He was a worthy member of the United Brethren Church, and an ardent worker in the temperance cause, and was always ready