Randolph County, Indiana - Biographical sketches (3 of 3 so headed), 1882 (part 21 of 24)

via Deerfield, Ridgeville and Fairview into Delaware County. Though never a great route of travel like the Greenville, Winchester & Muncie road, yet in former days it took a considerable amount of business. The other is the old State road from Union City to Portland, Jay Co. It was at first a diagonal road, extending nearly in a straight line. That part of this road that lay in Randolph County has been nearly or quite all vacated. The part in Jay County mostly remains in use. Jackson bas no railroad and no railroad point at hand, Union City, Recovery, Portland and Winchester all being at a distance, Union City, however, being the nearest, and at that point most of the trade of that region is handled.

The Portland & Union Railroad, projected many years ago, was graded through Jackson Township, and New Pittsburg was laid out for a center of trade, but the railroad was not completed; the track was never made, and the road is simply a useless bank of earth, and Jackson Township and New Pittsburg as well is out in the cold.

At the present writing (November, 1881), a project is on foot to build a road from Bluffton to Union City. and the route contemplated is to follow the old road bed from Union to Antioch; thence across not far from Collett, and so to another road bed, which was once made from Camden to Bluffton, thus securing the advantage of those old tracks and also giving an outlet to Oamden, Jay County, that "spunky" little town hitherto left out by every road thus far built through that region. This would be the first railroad to pass through Jackson Township, and would revive such embryo towns as Pittsburg, at the Jay and Randolph line, and Boundary and Antioch, in Jay County, and enable Camden to grow and to increase the vitality which she has stubbornly maintained from her first establishment even to the present hour, in spite of fate and the railroads.

Jackson is the extreme northeast township of the county, and its boundaries are as follows: On the north by Jay County, on the east by Ohio, on the south by Wayne Township, on the west by Ward Township. Politically, Jackson Township is overwhelmingly Democratic. Originally it is said to have been almost wholly so, in so much that a story is told that at one time one Whig voted alone in Jackson Township. This can hardly be true, yet the time has been when the non-Democratic voters in Jackson Township were "mity skase" indeed. The Republican strength is said to be steadily growing there, but they are still in a large and for the present hopeless minority.

Allensville - Location, Section 9, 21, 15, Trowbridge Allen, proprietor, A. D. Way, surveyor; twenty lots, situated on the Union & North Salem Pike, a little south of the Mississinewa River; recorded November 138, 1847. Streets - north and south, Race: east and west, Water, Walnut, Vine.

1844 or 1845. The town was platted shortly afterward, and 'Lambert's store remained till perhaps 1856, and a Mr. Bowen succeeded him. Mr. Lambert took $1,200 stock in the railroad from Union City to Portland, and of course lost it all. Mr. Shanks also had a store, and sold it to Abraham Lambert, and afterward Ziba Davis bought him out. Ziba Davis had a smith shop from the beginning, aad brought up his sons to the business, and most of them follow the vocation still, Ira and William residing at Saratoga, Royal H. at New Lisbon and Isaac at North Salem, Jay County,

Some of the early settlers in the neighborhood were Trowbridge Allen, Ziba Davis, Cortlandt Lambert, Mr, Hoover, father of Isaac Hoover, Abraham and Jeremiah Lambert, etc.

Allensville was never much of a town. Mr. Handschey built the steam grist mill still standing at Allensville about 1850, after having had for years a water mill on the Mississinewa, near the mouth of Little Mississinewa, built in 1840. That steam mill was sold to Bowersox, being owned afterward by Bowersox & Achenback. Mr. Shreev bought it of them, and his widow owns it still. It is a good mill, and does creditable and reliable work.

The "Quaker trace" passed through Jackson Township, past Mount Holly, Castle Post Office, near Allensyille, crossing Mississinewa at the old ford, abont eighty rods east of the turnpike bridge. The Salem & Union Pike passes through the town. Nothing has been there for many years except the old mill.

As to the towns of Jackson, not much can be said. Most of them are extinct or greatly dwindled. Allensville (Sockum) was never " any great shakes," and what life it hid "winked out." New Lisbon had a brave start, and might have done well, but Union City cut off its wind, and it had to succumb.

New Middletown is worse faded than the other two. An old meeting-house opens its doors and a new schoolhouse welcomes a noisy troop of country lads and lasses, but as to the rest the passer by sadly asks ""Where?" and echo softly whispers, "Where?" Of Mount Holly, with name so sweet and redolent, no vestige is left. A house is there, but it is only a country farm house, and suggests no thought of yraveled streets and lighted palaces. As you pass the whilom town you behold an old farm house and an ancient barn; "only those and nothing more!"

New Pittsburg alone of all these interior towns - these places with high-sounding or euphonious names - retains a semblauce of life. Though by no means so large and rich as old Pittsburg, where in days of auld lang syne the gay and courtly French erected Fort Duquesne, though not so glum as its black and sooty namesake at the head of the Ohio, neither is it so dirty and so grimy. Each town has simply done its best and its most, which, in truth, for these log house towns in the Randolph woods has not been very much. Should, indeed, the Union & Bluffton Railroad succeed in being built and take New Pittsburgh in its track, some life might peradventure be evoked from its dry bones, but who can tell?

Castle Post Office, no town, Section 22, 21, 15; five miles northwest of Union City. The place is on the Salem Pike. There is only a toll gate office, a store, a post office and a dwelling, all in the same small building, and occupied by a single family. The location is on 22, 21,15. Some itmportance attaches to the spot, since, except Pittsburg in the extreme north, Castle is the only post office in Jackson Township. A considerable part of the north portion is supplied by Salem, on the county line in Jay County, three miles east of Pittsburg, and the southern part looks to Union City for its connection with the great world, and not in vain, for Union City is a center indeed.

New Middletown. - Henry Hinkle, proprietor; location, Section 30, Town 21, Range 15; recorded January 7, 1851. The streets were: North and south, Main; east and west, Main Cross (Deerfield road).

At first, Joshua Burton had a small store; Joseph had a smith shop; Samuel Lady and William Warren have had stores at this place at different times; Amos Cothron at one time had a smith shop. Many years ago a meeting-house was bnilt. The business done at Middletown was never large. The place may be said to be extinct. The old church is still there; and a schoolhouse has been lately built, but the town itself is now only

Almost all the towns in this region were originally christened as "New" something or other - -New Lisbon, New Pittsburg, New Middletown. They were indeed new then, but they are new ne longer, and the affix "new" is mostly omitted, and their memory is retained simply as Middletown, Lisbon and Pittsburg.

Mt. Holly. - George Debolt, proprietor; C. S. Goodrich, surveyor; location, Section 27, Town 21, Range 15, northwest of Union City; twenty-eight lots; recorded May 23, 1840. The streets were: North and south, Main; east and west, Sycamore, Walnut and Cross. Town extinct.

Mt. Holly seems to have been ahead, as to time, of all the towns in that region. Their dates are as follows: Mt. Holly, 1840; Allensville, 1847; New Lisbon, 1848; New Middletown, 1851; New Pittsburg, 1856. Thus the town with the fragrant name had seven years the start of its earliest rival, and "Sokum" was so distant that she need have had no fear of her faraway neighbor. But old settlers insist upon it that Mt. Holly never had anything but one blacksmith shop. If so, so be it. It was saved the slow, tedious process of dying by inches or perishing by dull, stupid decay. Its proprietor had more exalted ideas of future greatness for his new town, since he made three cross streets, while most of the embryo cities at their first laying out, were fully contented with one, and several had no " cross streets" at all. But all in vain; survey and record were alike for naught.

New Lisbon. - -Location, Section 12, Town 18, Rangé 1, near the boundary, north of Union City, on Little Mississinewa River. Thomas Wiley, proprietor; laid out in 1848; recorded January 19, 1850; fourteen lots. Streets: North and south, Main, Walnut; east and west, Elm. Polly's Addition, six lots (15 to 20), between the " Boundary " and the North and South road, John Polly, proprietor; recorded November 11, 1853. Distances: Union City, three and one-half miles; Middletown, three and one-half miles; Saratoga, five and one-half miles; Winchester, thirteen miles; New Pittsburg, eight and one-half miles. The town was situated on Secticn 12, Town 18, Range 1, being laid out by Rev. Thomas Wiley in 1848 (recorded 1850), when Union City was all a wilderness. not very long after its commencement, two stores, two smith shops, one cabinet shop, one hotel, one saw-mill, one church and some twelve dwelling-houses, The railroad and Union City killed the town. Someseven or eight dwellings remain. There is also a church near by. The business of the place is nearly extinct. A schoolhouse and a cemetery are also in the vicinity. The old church was taken away-.and a new one erected during the summer of 1881, a fine, large church, well suited for the purpore of worship and service, and quite tasteful in appearances. New Lisbon is three and a half miles north of Union City. It had a fine start, and but for the railroad would doubtless have made a creditable showing for business, but the fates decreed otherwise and New Lisbon has buildings still standing, enough to make quite a town, and the eight dwellings are all inhabited, but the only semblance of business is a smith shop, and the crowds on the Sabbath attending at the new meeting-house. The post office has been discontinued for fifteen or twenty years.

New Pittsburg. - Location, near Jay County line, upon the track of the Union City & Portland Railroad, Section 6, Town 21, Range 15, William McFarland, proprietor; recorded July 3, 1856; sixty-two lots. Streets: First street, north and south; Main, Elm, east and west.

New Pittsburg is on the route of a railroad projected and graded some twenty-five years ago from Union City to Portland, and at the line of Randolph and Jay Counties. The town is on Section 6, Town 21, Range 15, near the northwest corner of Jackson Township, and about one mile north of the Mississinewa River: The railroad failed, and New Pittsburg has dragged along trying to prosper, but not able todoso. It was set on foot in 1854 (recorded in 1856) by William McFarland. At one time, say about 1864, considerable life was shown. There were then two stores, two smith shops, a wagon shop and some other things. The business has mostly left the place, and the town is greatly decayed. There are now two small stores, a smith shop, a cooper shop, a wagon shop, one physician, one schoolhouse, a post office, two churches, some twenty dwellings (mostly poor and decayed) and perhaps one hundred people. A pike connects the town with Union City, a distance of twelvemiles. 'Lhe place would seem to be far enovgh from the railroad and from other places of trade, and so well connected with Union City by a substantial pike, that it might hold a fair share of business and maintain a moderate growth, but it appears not to do so.

The project of a railroad from Union City to Bluffton, to pass by New Pittsburg, Boundary, Antioch, Camden, etc., is now talked of. It would pass over two old grades, both in good condition. Should this proposal prove substantial, it would be the first road through Jackson Township, and would revive somewhat permanent growth, which is sincerely to be desired for all these places, since they have struggled so long and so gallantly against. adverse odds, and some of them have held asubstantial prosperity in spite of many obstacles.

Hampton Adkins, grandfather of Mrs. Jacob Gittinger (late of Jackson Township), was born in Delaware about 1776. He ran away from home at the age of seventeen years, making his way into Virginia. He volunteered in the United States Army under Gen. Anthony Wayne, in 1793, coming to Fort Washington (Cincinnati), marching with Wayne to Greenville and to Recovery, helping to gather the bones of St. Clair's men from that fatal field; helping, also, to crush the Indian power in the grand attack upon their forces on the Maumee in the fall of 1794.

Tarrying some years ip Ohio, he returned to Delaware, and while there married Elizabeth Lowe. In 1806, they emigrated to Butler County. They had four children, two sons and two daughters, one danghter living. He was a farmer and a carpenter, removing finally to Darke County, Ohio, and dying in 1860, eighty-four years old. He was hearty and rugged and almost as sprightly as a young man, and might have reached a hundred years, but a cruel cancer attacked his jaw and ended his life in the extremity of mortal agony. He, too, belonged to the Democratic faith, and clung to his principles as the sheet anchor of safety for the country of his love.

George Adkins, father of Mrs. Jacob Gittinger (late of Jackson Township), was born in 2801 in the State of Delaware. His parents settled in Ohio in 1806, in Butler County. G. A. was twice married, his first wife being Jane Wilson and Mrs. Margaret (Gittinger) being their only child. His second wife was Mrs. Ramsey, and their children were five in number, four sons and one daughter, two or three of whom are living. Mr. Adkins was a farmer by vocation, a Presbyterian in religious connection, and a Democrat in politics. He was married in Butler County and resided there many years, but his death took place in Darke County, not very far from New Paris.

Ezekiel Clough, farmer, was born in New Hampshire in 1802, emigrated to Mill Creek, Ohio, not far from Cincinnati in 1818. His father died soon afterward, leaving the care of the family to Ezekiel, then about eighteen yearsold. They "rented" for several years, and then engaged in making brick in Cincinnati, by which he got his start. He married Anna Huddart, and in 1836 the couple moved to the " wilds of Jay," entering 640 acres of land. In 1862, he changed his residence"from Jay to Randolph, and in the latter county has been his residence from that date. Mr. Clough has, in the course of forty-five years, acquired a large fortune, which has been liberally employed in works of usefulness and benevolence. Mr. Clough has had nine children - William, Nancy, Ezekiel, Hannah, George, Jane, John (and two more). William was killed in the army at Port Gibson, Miss., May, 1863. In those early days, accommodations were poor and times were hard. The people used even to grate corn-meal for mush, and hoe-cake and buckwheat meal for batter-cakes; and if the settlers wished to have grain ground at the mill, they had to send it to Covington, six miles beyond Greenville, or even to Dayton sometimes; often half of the grist was given to pay for grinding and for hauling it to mill and back. Mr. ©. was. better off from the start than many of his brother settlers, and hence was spared some of the trials of poor pioneer life. He has heen from the first an exemplary member of the Free- Will Baptist Church, and has spent much time and means in building up the interests of education aud religion. He was one of the chief founders of Ridgeville College, being understood to have given to it, at the beginning, $10,000, and also much more besides since that time. Mr. C. is now about seventy-nine years of age, and is growing somewhat feeble from age. He is still active, however, and is often seen at Union City and elsewhere in the region.

Jacob Corl was born in Pennsylvania in 1805, married Elizabeth Stufft in 1825, came to Richland County, Ohio, in 1835, and to Randolph County, Ind.,.in 1838, settling in Jackson Township, south of New Pittsburg. He has had three children, only one now living. He bought eighty acres at first, and now owns 160 acres. He formerly belonged to the Episcopal Methodists, and now to. the German Reformed Church, and he is a Democrat in politics.

Andrew Debolt, blacksmith, came to Jackson Township early in 1831. He is said to have been the father of twenty-seven children, nine by each of three wives (I give the statement as it was given tome). He died, seventy-eight years old, five or six 'years ago. His third wife is living still. He was a blacksmith and a hard-working man, though rough and passionate. It would be worth while to know how many of those children were living at home at once; how he managed to bring them up; how many were reared to adult age, and all and sundry about them every one; this deponent, however, saith not, for a somewhat good reason - he does not know. It would, indeed, be an affecting sight to behold a gathering of the descendants of some of these pioneer patriarchs at the ancient homestead, white-haired grandsires and aged matrons with silvery tresses, but with faces wreathed with gentle, loving smiles and soul filled with motherly kindness for all her progeny. Stalwart sons and sweet-voiced daughters, husbands. and wives, bringing their children of the seeond and third, and, mayhap, the fourth, generation, to honor their. common ancestry still spared in the land of the living, to behold:so grateful a sight. Well might the aged patriarchs exclaim with Simeon of old, "Now, Lord, lettest thou thy servants depart in peace, for our eyes have beheld thy salvation," or with the psalmist, " Praise the Lord for his goodness, for his wonderful works to the children of men."

[Later information obliges me to say that the truth as to Andrew Debolt's family is, that he was married three times, and had four, seven and four children, respectively, or fifteen in all I am sorry to cut, the former story down so much, but historians must tell the truth, you know. |

Henry Debolt was born in 1817 in Butler County, Ohio; married Ann Mikesell in 1844; had eleven children, seven living, four married; came to Randolph County in 1844; lives on a part of the farm formerly occupied by Amos Smith. Mr. Debolt is afarmer; was Justice of the Peace seventeen years; Town ship Trustee four years;.is a- Disciple and a Democrat, and a highly respected and trustworthy citizen.

George Debolt (father of the above), Jackson Township, was born in 1794 in Hamilton County, Ohio; resided in Butler and Preble Counties, Ohio; came to Randolph County, Jackson Township, in 1844; married Rachel Clawson; had eight children, six living. He died in 1853, his wife in 1861. Mr. Debolt was Colonel in Butler County, Ohio, was Justice of the Peace in Jackson Township four years, and Probate Judge one term. He owned 220 acres of land, having entered 140 acres. He wasa Democrat, and an active, intelligent and trustworthy citizen.

Thomas Devor, farmer, was born in Maryland in 1803, came to Jackson Township in 1834, entered forty acres and soon after forty more, and lives on the same land now. He is seventyseven years old, and the father of nine children, residing onehalf mile north of Allensville on the Salem pike. He is somewhat feeble, though for his age he is doing well. His wife died a short time ago. -He is a Republican. Mr. Devor has been a Justice of. the Peace several years. There were but very few

Mt. Holly, and a Mr. Porter lived south of Pittsburg. The first school in the township was taught by Mrs. Beach in her own house. The first sermon was at the same place. For other items, see account of Jackson Township.

Jacob Gittinger, grandfather of the one mentioned above, was born in Switzerland about 1760, or sooner; was married in that country and soon afterward emigrated to America, settling in Baltimore County, Md. He was a soldier for a time in the Revolutionary war. In politics, he was a Jeffersonian Republican, and afterward, a Jacksonian Democrat, and in religious connection a Lutheran. He had four sons and six daughters, all but one of whom grew up and were married. They all settled in Maryland, but their descendants are now widely scattered. As tv occupation, Mr. Gittinger was a blacksmith and a farmer and also a hotel-keeper on the pike between Hanover and Baltimore. He died about 1846, in Baltimore County, Md., at the age of eighty-six years or more.

Jacob Gittinger (son of the above and father of the present Jacob Gittinger) was born in Maryland in 1786. He married, jn Maryland, Mary Deal, in 1807 or 1808, and they were the parents of twelve children, nine sons and three daughters. All of them became grown except the youngest son, who died at seven years old, and six sons and one danghter are living still. Mr. Gittinger was a wagon-maker and a blacksmith and farmer. He was a Democrat in politics and belonged to the Methodists for many years, continuing in that connection to the close of his life. He moved to Ohio in 1835, tarrying awhile in Darke County, and settling in Randolph County, Ind., in 1838, in Jackson Township, not far from the Ohio line. He died about 1870, eighty-four yeurs old, and his wife in 1860, aged seventytwo years. The whole family removed to Randolph County except one son, though not many are left in the region at the present time. The aged couple lie side by side in the buryingground at Raper Chapel, in Darke County, Ohio.

He was a soldier in the war of 1812, being an Ensign in the Lighthorse Guards. He was not engaged in actual battle, but helped to guard Baltimore against the approach of Gen. Ross and Admiral Cockburn, the British commanders. Ensign Gittinger carried the flag of. his company, and that banner was preserved as a sacred relic for more than fifty years until it fell to fragments by sheer old age.

Jacob Gittinger (the third), now living in Union City, Ind, was born in Baltimore County, Md., in 1817. He came with his father to Ohio in 1835, and to Randolph County, Ind., in 1838, the latter removal heing when he was twenty-one years of age. Jacob's father had become straitened for means, and the young man had to strike out for himself, which he did manfully, earning by the severest labor and the closest economy, enough to obtain a comfortable home, which he owns to this day. In 1844, he married Margaret Adkins, in Darke County, Ohio, who was the daughter of George Adkins, and born in 1822 in Butler County. Ohio. They have been the parents of only two children, one son and one daughter, both of whom are living. Their residence has been in Jackson Township for nearly forty years, having removed to Union City in the spring of 1882. Mr. Gittinger is a Democrat, and his wife and himself have belonged to the German Reformed Church for many years. Mr. Gittinger belongs to an excellent stock, and is a fine specimen of the honest, industrious yeomanry of our country, upright, energetic, reliable, loving God and doing good to his fellow-men.

Benjamin F. Gittinger, son of Jacob and Mary Gittinger, was born in Baltimore County, Md., on the 30th day of December, 1828. His parents, though both natives of Maryland, were descended from German stock. When the subject of this sketch was in his ninth year, his parents came from their native State and settled in Darke County, Ohio. Two years thereafter, in

1839, the family removed to Randolph County, and settled on a piece of wild land in Jackson Township, where young Benjamin grew up in what was then backwoods, surrounded by the priva- tions of a pioneer life, deprived of educational advantages and assisting in clearing up the farm and earning a living for the family. On arriving at maturity, young Gittinger started out to earn his own living and to make his own way in the world. Besides the traditional suit of '' jean clothes," he was endowed with perseverance, with health, energy and a few implements of manual labor. Being now his own master, and the increased improvements of the country affording better educational advantages, and not being satisfied to begin life in earnest without some learning, he spent the winter seasons of the three succeeding years in the common district: school. By this means he ac: quired the rudiments of an education, which he has developed by reading and observation, until he is now known as a reasonably well-informed man. By industry as a common laborer, and by the practice of a rigid economy, he had, at the age of twentyfive, accumulated $250, which he applied on the purchase of eighty acres of wild land in Jackson Township, which he disposed of at the end.of one year at a good advance. With the proceeds of this safe, he went to Southern Iowa, where he purchased 200 acres of prairie land, returning to this, Randolph County, after an absence of four months, to continue his usual avocation of toil, and, by economy and sober habits, to add to his fund of cash.

On the 12th day of April, 1855, he was married to Miss Mary A. Harshman, daughter of Abram and Hannah Harshmaz, from which union there have sprung four children, three sons and one daughter.

Having sold his Iowa land and by adding to the purchase money his recent savings, he, in 1856, bought ninety acres of unimproved lands in Jackson Township, tive miles north of Union City, upon which he settled and began the work of making a farm. This purchase was the nucleus of his present homestead, and to it has been added, as opportunity offered and means afforded, until he now possesses a farm of 200 acres of first quality of land, well drained and inclosed, with a well-arranged and sightly dwelling, barn and outhouses - in fact, a first-class farm, all reclaimed by his own endeavors from the forest and marsh. As a farmer, Mr. Gittinger has always been successful. Not being a believer in luck, but believing that the earth yielded her treasures to those who sought them aright, his crops were planted, harvested and housed in season.

Mr. Gittinger was mnde a Freemason in Deerfield Lodge, No. 117, in 1858, and at present is a member of Union City Lodge, No. 270. For thirty years he has been a consistent and reHable member of the Christian Church.

In politics, Mr. Gittinger is of Democratic aritecedents, and, until 1860, voted the Democratic ticket, and as such has been elected twice Township Assessor. Being dissatisfied with the Charleston Convention, he declined to vote in 1860, but after the beginning of the war of the rebellion. he identitied himself with the Republican party, and, though maintaining his political opinions with zeal and sometimes with pertinacity, and in face of a large local majority, he has retained the confidence and esteem of his neighbors and former political associates.

In the spring of 1882, Mr. Gittinger was nominated by the Republicans of Randolph County as a candidate for the important and responsible (though not, indeed, lucrative) office of County Commissioner for the Eastern District. This nomination, as against other candidates who were themselves also deservedly popular, is indeed a pleasing token of a confidence vouchsafed by his fellow-citizens, both in his ability and his integrity- - not less than an acknowledgment of the claims of the locality of his residence. ;

The Harshmans (four brothers), Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Reuben Harshman, were born in Rockingham County, Va., and were brought by their father, James Harshman, to Preble County, Ohio, in 1807. Abraham and Jacob Harshman emigrated to Randolph County, Ind., in 1832. Reuben came in 1834, and Isaac about 1837 or 1838. They settled near and north of Saratoga and Middletown. Abraham Harshman was twice married, and had ten children, but he is dead and his widow lives on the old farm. Isaac Harshman moved to Illinois after awhile.

iam Debolt, Esq., of Union City, and she has lately achieved some notoriety in the famous siege of " Fort Debolt," during the spring of 1880.

Reubeu Harshman, was born in Virginia in 1807; was brought to Preble County, Ohio,in 1807, married Sarah Hereford, of Warren County, Ohio, in 1829, and came to Randolph County in 1834. They have had ten children, eight grown, and five are now living; seven have been married. He entered forty acres and bought forty more of Benzett Evans. They moved to Union City in 1875, Mr. Harshman having been afflicted with partial paralysis, aud now reside with their soz, who runs a harness shop in that town. Mrs. Harshman was born in Virginia in 1804, and is now in her seventy-seventh year, being in the enjoyment of nealth and activity. When they came to the county, they located between the settlements in the woods, Deerfield and Ridgeville being below, and New Pittsburg and Allensville above them. Mr. H. died in the spring of 1881, being buried in Prospect Cemetery, aged about seventy-four years.

Henry Hinkle was born in 1810 in Butler County,Ohio. His father, Joseph Hinkle, was a "character" in those regions, being the parents of seventeen children, one still-bora, sixteen grown, fourteen married and twelve now living, four in Butler County, Ohio, two in Illinois, one in Michigan and five in Indiana. Joseph Hinkle volunteered in the war of 1812, and marched to Detroit, but the ranks were full, and he, with others, returned home, after an absence of some weeks. He died in Butler County, Ohio, July 3, 1881, aged ninety-four years and above from April 18, 1881. His wife died in 1859, aged sixty-eight years. Henry Hinkle came to Randolph County in 1841. He had, in 1833, married Eliza Ann Pentecost, in Butler County, Ohio. They have had eleven children, ten grown, nine married, eight living. He entered 160 acres, northeast quarter of Section 3], Town 21, Range 15, in November, 1837, the patent bearing the Presidential signature of Martin Van Buren. Mr. Hinkle is living still, a hale old man, as is also his wife, a cheerful old woman, a year younger than her husband. She was born in Warren County, Ohio, in 1811; moved to Union City, Ind., being one of thirteen children, eleven of them grown and ten married, only three living. They belong to the Regular Baptist Church. Mr. H. is a worthy, active, exemplary citizen, a fine specimen of the " Democrat of the olden time," as was his father before him. He resides about one-half mile south of Middletown, in Jackson Township. He has never held public office, except, indeed, that he has been Supervisor of Highways - a humble and thankless, yet greatly important cffice, in which, he says, his great vexatioh was that some of the men would not accomplish work enough to satisfy him, and their complaint of him was that he pressed them too hard, a very common complaint against faithful, energetic officers.

John Hoke was born in Pennsylvania in 1809; moved to Knox County, Ohiv, in 1832; to Richland County, Ohio, in 1834; to Randolph County, Ind., in 1836; entered 160 acfes in October, 1836 (southeast quarter of Section 12, Town 18, Range 1 west, east of Old Boundary); married Margaret Shaffer in 1834, and Mary Boitner in 1867. He has had fourteen children, eleven living; the youngest is not two yearsold. He has owned 500 acres of land, but has sold or given to his children, etc., until he has only 240 acres left. Mr. H. is a bluff, hale, jovial old man, who (although seventy-one years old) still} does his share in the field. He eschews modern "improvements," and thinks reapers, riding-plows, etc., are an injury to the farmers. (John Hoke died September, 1881, by being thrown from a loaded wagon by his horses' running away.)

Jacob Johnson was born in 1792, in Maryland, and came to Jackson 'Township, Randolph County, Ind., in 1833. He had married Mary Vatenbaker in 1815, and is the father of thirteen children, twelve of whom lived to be grown. His daughter, Mrs. Sutton, says that those thirteen children all lived at home at the same time. There must have been a cabin full! Mr. J. isa farmer. He has been a Democrat all his life, giving his first

Presidential vote for James Monroe, in 1816. He has been a yoter through seventeen Presidential campaigns, and, in fact, longer, since he came to his majority in 1813, sixty-eight years ago. He has been confined to his bed for some years, but his mind is strong and clear and he delights to talk of old times. He entered eighty acres at first and theneighty more. Mr. J. was a soldier in the war of 1812, and has for many years drawn a pension of $8 a month for his services in that war. The first night they slept in a rail-pen without any roof on it. For their bedsteads they had poles with the ends bored into the sides of the pen, and for bed-cords they had twisted elm bark, a very good substitute. One of his daughters married Joseph Sutton, and the couple, now aged, live near the same place, and she has been the mother of seventeen children, thirteen now living (1880). There were seven boys and ten girls. The boys are all living and six girls; eight are married. The oldest daughter is the mother of eleven children, and there are in all thirty-eight grandchildren. Jacob Johnson is still alive, some eighty years old. Joseph Sutton's wife and her sister worked (week about) for six weeks, to pay for twelve bushels of corn. The work was 50 cents a week and the corn 25 cents a bushel. They (the girls) used to pull flax and thresh it and spread and dress it, and spin and weave it to boot. They would chop and grub in the clearing, ride horseback to mill, ete. People wore homespun and were glad to get, that. They went to meeting dressed in home-made linen, were thankful, contented and happy. His aged wife died in the spring of 1881, and the husband followed his feeble companion in August of the same year, in the ninetieth year of his age. Their bodies lie side by side, and their spirits have gone to join each other in the skies. His brother, John Johnson, came about the same time, and died a short time ago, aged more than eighty-four years.

Robert F. Kemp was born in Maryland in 1809, married in that State, emigrated shortly afterward, to Richland County, Ohio (in 1835) and settled in Jackson Township, near New Pittsburg, in 1844, residing there still. They have had twelve children, ten of whom are grown, married and now living, most of them in Randolph County, Ind. They are like most of the settlers in Jackson Township, Democrats in politics. The aged couple, threescore and twelve years old, now keep house by themselves, the children all having made them separate houses and left the aged parents in the isolation of solitary home life, as in the olden days full fifty years ago, without not even agrandchild out of the numerous flock to keep them company. Long may they thus be able to care for their own wants, but if a feebleness and decrepitude come on, may they find an abundance of willing hands and ready steps to minister to the wants of their weakness and sorrow.

Philip Van Cortlandt Lambert (grandfather of L. D. Lambert) was born in New Jersey, moved to Danville, Ky., afterward to Paint Creek, Preble County, Ohio, and still again to Jackson Township, Randolph County, Ind., the last about 1843 or 1844. He was in the war of 1812, belonging to the Ohio Militia, and serving in several of the line of forts extending along the frontier from Cincinnati to Lake Erie. His son Jonathan, a mere lad, born in 1797, was with his father in the service. He also moved to Jackson Township, and they both died and were buried in Randolph County, having survived to a ripe old age.

James Porter was born in 1801, in Clermont County, Ohio; married Hannah Daines, in 1824, who was born in Waynesburg, Ohio, in 1805, and came to Jackson Township, Randolph County, Ind., in 1829. He entered 120 acres of land at tree different times, going on foot mostly, each time to Cincinnati to accomplish the entry. They have had twelve children and have raised ten, all of the ten having been married. Mr. Porter and his wife are still hale and sprightly, having lived at their present home fifty-two years, and having witnessed the entire change in that section from utter savagery and wilderness desolation to the present condition as the comfortable abodes of civilized men.

John Poorman was born in Pennsylvania in 1815, and came to the West with his father when eight months old. They settled in Richland County and he grew to manhood and married in that region, the latter event taking place in 1837, and the name of his wife being Lucy Ann Brooks. They came to Ran- He entered forty acres and afterward sold it and bought eighty acres. They had nine children, seven of whom grew up and were married, and six are now living - Peter, Henry, Margaret, John, Washington, Emmaretta, Martha Ellen, James and William. Mr. Porter's wife died in 1875, and he married Mary (Weimar) Anderson, and she is now living. Mr. Poorman was never a hunter. He bebongs to the Christians (New Lights). His first wife was a Dunkard, and his second a Christian (New Light). In politics, Mr. Poorman has always been a Democrat, as was also his father before him. Mr. Poorman is one of the few remaining pioneer settlers of that region, most of the township being unbroken forest when he found his way thither. Some of the settlers when he came were the Porters, the Warrens, the Harshmans, Daniel Miller, Helms, Reeves, Smith, Mangus and others. Brockus and Storms had gone. James Reeves was born in 1801 in Kentucky; moved with his father to Warren County, Ohio, in 1811, and to Darke County, Ohio, in 1824. He married Rachel Skinner in 1827; she was born in 1811, in North Carolina and came to Kentucky, and afterward to Seven-Mile Creek, ten miles from Eaton, Preble County, Ohio, and then to Long Prairie, Darke Co., Ohio, six miles north of Paris. Mr. Reevescame to Rundolph County, Ind., Jackson Township, May 25, 1832. He said he was going to "play gentleman and hunt," but the second year he entered forty acres, und awhile after, forty more. On this small tract of land he raised his family of eleven children, ten of them growing up to maturity. The ten were all married and seven are living, five in Randolph County, one in Minnesota and one land he had tilled nearly forty years. He was a Jackson Democrat, but turned Republican, earning the name from his former political associates of " Black Abolitionist." In religion, he was a Disciple, in business a farmer, a steady, quiet, estimable, reliable man. His widow is still living, a sprightly, cheerful old lady, active and lively, though so severely afflicted from the effects of paralysis, nearly twenty years ago, as to be nearly deprived of strength. Mrs. Reeves spends her time alternately with her various children in Randolph County. She could tell many quaint and curious tales of the "olden time," when Jackson Township was a, wild and howling wilderness, nearly fifty years agv. Mr. Reeves' first entry was November 3, 1834, the S. W. N. E. 22, 21, 15, forty acres; his second entry was made two years later, August 30, 1836. It is an interesting incident that while he was going from home on his trip to Cincinnati for the second entry, a gentleman called at Mr. Reeves' cabin and asked Mrs. Reeves if acertain "forty" in the neighborhood was vacant. "T cannot tell," said she; "my husband is probably by this time in Cincinnati, and if it is not already entered, it will be shortly." The man stared, but said nothing and went his way.

Amos Smith came in 1832. James Wickersham came nearly the same time; he had not built a cabin yet when Mr. Smith came. Andrew Debolt was here; he has been mniarried three times, having four children by his first wife, seven by his second and four by his third; she is still living in Jackson Township; he came in 1831, and died seven or eight years ago. John Jones lived on Lowe's Branch, where Ishmael Bunch had lived; Jones entered the land. James Simm ns was here, but not married. William Simmons was living on the Mississinewa; he had twenty-one children by one mother; she never nursed her children, but had to bring them up "by hand." A large number of them grew up. William Brockus was on William Simmons' place. Jerry Brockus lived on Gray's Branch, in Ohio. James Porter had come to the county in. 1829.

did. His death occurred there, in 1848, at the age of about seventy years. He was a Whig of the Revolutionary type, having|been born during that eventful era, and having had his youthful training amidst the fresh and stirring memories of that His wife was what was called They had been reared in Carolina and her father was a slavebolder, and she, moreover, became heir to an estate consisting partly of slaves. It went sorely ayainst her conscience to participate in slaveholding, even in that indirect way, and she received the portions of the estate with much misgiving, declining at length to take the tinal installments. Dr. Reeves well remembers, when a lad, seeing his aged grandmother handling a quantity of silver in his lap, which had come from that source, saying while doing so: "TI'll have no more of it; if my descendants choose to avail themselves of it, they may do so. I will not burden my conscience with it any longer." They were friends of the slaves in those times of " harboring runaways." James (Dr. Reeves) well remembers, also, seeing a handsome negro standing at the door, waiting for admittance, but inquiring for him shortly afterward, was greatly surprised to have his grandmother apparently deny that any negro had been there. He knew that he had seen the black face, and years elapsed before he found out why his grandmother should try to make him believe the contrary.

John Skinner, son cf James Skinner and uncle of Dr. Reeves, built the first mill in the region. [It stood on the Little Mississinewa, a little north of New Lisbon, being a log-cabin structure, and it was at first simply a corn-cracker, but was afterward changed to a wheat-mill, a hand-bolt being added. The will answered well its purpose, standing and running for twenty or twenty-five years. The edifice has long been removed, but the mill-stones, backwoods gray-heads, as they were, are supposed to be lying buried where once the mill-race used to be.

Three brothers of James Skinner were with Jackson at New Orleans during the war of 1812, and two of those brothers were buried in that distant Southern clime. James himself volunteered also, but for some reason, not now known, he was sent home again. James Skinner emigrated from North Carolina to Ohio at an early day, at least before the war of 1812, having become at some time, not now known, a resident of Darke County, in that State. Mr. Skinner became a member of the Disciple Church at New Lisbon, continuing prominent therein until his death. His wife, Anna, died in 1846, aged about sixty-eight or sixty-nine years. |

Eleanor (Smith-Wiley) Ruby, widow. This lady now resides at Union City; she is the daughter of Amos Smith, one of the first settlers in Jackson Township. He entered land southwest of New Lisbon, and some two or three miles north of Union City. She was born on the Little Miami in Ohio, in 1808. They moved to Middleboro, Ind., in 1809, and to Darke County, Ohio, in 1828. She married, in 1828, Thomas Wiley, a farmer boy, seventeen years old. Her husband was born April 11, 1811. She herself was not old, but she was three years older than her husband. That farmer boy, then unable to read, became afterward a noted and efficient preacher of the Gospel of Christ among the disciples, though at his marriaye he was not even a church member. He died at Union City in 1861. They moved to near New Lisbon in 1836, and to Union City in 1852. After Mr. Wiley's death, she married John Ruby, farmer, and moved to Wayne County, for two years, and returned to Union City, where Mr. Ruby died, in 1878, aged nearly eighty years. She has had ten children, all by her first marriage, nine girls and one boy - Sally Ann (Thomson), Rebecca (Thomson), Nancy (Coldren), dead, Esther (Reeves), Gilbert S., Annie (Harlan), Elizabeth (Thomson), Abbie (Swisher), Mary Ellen (Vincent), Amaretta, died at eighteen months. Mrs, Ruby now resides at Union City, being seventy-four years of age. :

Michael Shank was born in Virginia about 1785, being the son of Henry Shank, who was born about 1758. He came to Montgomery County, Ohio, with his father at twenty-one years old. about 1806, and they settled ten miles from Dayton. Two or three years afterward, he helped bring a drove of cattle to Greenville for meat for the Indians at one of their gatherings te confer with* agents of the United States. M. S. entered 160 acres of land, and when twenty-four years of age, about 1809, he married Polly Davis, who was born in 1794 in Montgomery County, Ohio, They were the parents of six children, on!y two of whom are now living- - Richard, with whom he has resided nearly forty years, and a married daughter. His wife died in

1841. His father had ten children, only two of whom are now living, the eldest son, Jacob, ninety-eight years old, and Michael, himself two years younger.

Whsn Mr. Shank cama to Ohio there wera only two stores in Dayton and a few dwelling-houses. Mr. Shank's father died at seventy-five years of age, and his mother at sixty-three. His grandfather came from Germany. His father and mother both belonged to the United Brethren, and the former was probably a Democrat in politics.

Michael Shank has belonged to the United Brethren for seventy years; he voted for Jefferson and for Jackson, and for Democrats uniformly since that day. Richard Shank came with Michael Shank to Randolph County in 1875, and resides there still. Michael Shank was never in the war. When he helped drive the lot of cattle to Greenville, he was in the place only about an hour or two. They got there after dark, and returned that night to Mr. Studebaker's, some five or six miles (who had a fort or block-house for defense against the Indians). Mr. Shank had enjoyed tolerable health during his long life, except that he had the phthisie five or six years, about 1833 to 1839, and that he has been afflicted with nervous trembling for some eight or ten years past. He isnow feeble and somewhat hard of hearing, but is able to walk about the house or yard, being in his ninetyseventh year, and probably the oldest person residing in Randolph County.

[It would be interesting to know what gathering of Indians is referred to in the above statement. The narrative would seem to refer to about 1809. We do not remember to have seen any account of such assemblage of Indians at Greenville at that date. Doubtless, however, Mr. Shank is correct, since he could hardly be mistaken as to an occurrence of that kind. |

Aaron Simmons was born in 1810 in Miami County, Ohio. He came to Randolph County, Ind., in 1838, and married Rebecca Marquis in 1840, They have had six children. Jie entered 240 acres of land, and has dwelt in the same place more than forty years. Mr. Simmons and his family are Dunkards. The settlers when he came were Eli Noftsinger, east toward the Ohio line; James Wickersham, north of the Catholic Cemetery; Amos Smith, southwest of New Lisbon; Charles Smith, son of Amos Smith; William Warren, east of Aaron Simmons'; Thomas Wiley, New Lisbon; Jacob Johnson, west-of Aaron Simmons; John Johnson, northwest of Aaron Simmons'; Andrew Debolt, Mt. Holly; John Sheets, Smith farm; William Byrum, came same year, just after N. Cadwallader and Simmons did.

Disciple Church was organized perhaps in 1839; log house built soon afterward, about 1847, the present meeting-house at New Lisbon was built. Dunkards resided in that region from early times, but no meeting-house was built by them till about 1870, at which time one was built one mile north vf Union City, on the Ohio line, in Jackson Township. There are four ministers and about 250 members. They hold stated meetings on the first and third Sundays of each month, and they observe the Lord's Supper once a year. One of Aaron Simmons' sons is a minister among the Dunkards. They are very steady, soberminded, Christian-hearted people. Originally, the State road from Greenville to Portland passed by Mr. Simmons' house, crossing the Mississinewa a mile southeast of Pittsburg, but within a few years most of that "angling" road has been discontinued, and this removal of the highway brings hisdwelling nearly half a mile from any public road.

James Simmons was born in North Carolina in 1809, brought to Wayne County, Ind., in 1811; drove an ox-team with a wagon load of bacon from Richmond to Fort Wayne in 1821 (at twelve years old). From that time onward, he "went for himself." He drove team to Fort Wayne, drove hogs to Cincinnati, etc., ete. But he spent much of his time in Randolph Covnty, Ind., from 1821. He took a claim, a tract occupied by one George Vance. He cleared and "cropped," raising corn and fattening hogs, and thus got money to enter his land. He had been through the country at different times, and he selected a claim as early as 1825, and settled, but not until 1832. In 1821, his uncle, William Simmons and himself, were hauling to Fort Wayne with three yoke of cattle. They slept under some oak trees that were afterward in his dooryard. These trees were near a beautiful spring, and he thought then: " How fine a piece for settlement," and years afterward, the twelve-year-old lad then grown a man, entered the tract and in due time murried and established his home there. They are both buried in the Hawkins' Graveyard, near Antioch, Jay Co., Ind. He had three sons in the Union army - Joseph C., unassigned recruit, 1865, sick at hospital, in Indianapolis till the close of the war; Nathan C. joined Company F, Sixty-ninth Regiment Indiana Volunteers; Benjamin W., Eleventh Ohio (three months), April 18, 1861, discharged September 5, 1861, then Company F, Sixty-ninth Indiana Regiment; he was never sick, but was wounded at Thomson's Hill May, 1, 1863.

James Simmons, in 1831, entered a tract occupied by George Vance, and lived with Mr. Vance in the cabin built by Mr. Vance till Mr. S. got married, which he did in 1834, tv Avaline Hawkins, daughter of Mr. Hawkins, pioneer of Jay County, Ind. After Mr. S. was married, he built a new cabin, and let Mr. Vanee live still in the one built by him (Mr. V.). Mr. S. was twice married, and was the father of twelve children. He died in 1873, and his second wife yet survives him; his first wife died in 1863. He was an active, intelligent, enterprising, genial man, an ardent Whig and a straight-out Republican, and was highly esteemed by his fellow-citizens. He was a Whig from the beginning, and is said to have voted the Whig ticket alone in Jackson Township.

Samuel Simmons came some time before James Simmons, perhaps in 1827. William Simmons moved here, and then went to Blue River, for a year or more, and then returned. William is the one that was frozen so badly (see Jay County history). Samuel and William Simmons came nearly at the same time. Benjamin Simmons thinks that Samuel (his uncle) was perhaps the first settler in the township.

John Vance lived on James Simmons' place three or four years, till he (Simmons) got married. Several of the Simmons family emigrated to Oregon. Benjamin Simmons has had four uncles in Oregon, and a fifth died of small-pox, at St. Lomis, on his way to Oregon, as also his eldest daughter. Samuel Simmons went to Oregon in 1837, among the first emigrants. Hdward, John and Andrew went in 1851. Edward died there, in March, 1880. The other three are supposed to be living still. John Buff was an early settler, but did not stay long. John Jones was also among the first.

William Sizemore was born in North Carolina in 1780; came to Tennessee and afterward to Jackson Township, 'Randolph County, Ind@., in the fall of 1834. He had nine children and was three times married, the last wife being now living. He lived a farmer and died in 1877, in his ninety-seventh year. He was buried in Prospect, but has no stone erected. His first wife was Esther Anderson, died in 1850, aged about sixty-six years, buried at Prospect with no tombstone; his second wife, Jedidah Fields, died May 17, 1859, aged between sixty-five and seventy years; buried at Prospect, no tombstone. He bought land of William Warren, Sr. His son, Edward Sizemore, born in 1822, lived east of Middletown.

Amos Smith was born in Pennsylvania about 1783, and moved to Kentucky when a young man; married Blizabeth Ashby, in Kentucky, about 1805, and came to Miami County, Ohio, about 1807; to Wayne County, Ind., about 1810; moved back to the Ohio settlements for fear of the Indians in 1811; returned to Wayne County again and afterward settled in Darke County, Ohio. In 1830, he came into the wilds of Jackson Township, Randolph County, being nearly or quite the first permanent settler in that township. He came in the spring with a son and daughter, partly grown, the boy to help him clear a patch and put outa crop, and the girl, Esther (now Mrs. Carn, of Grant County, Ind.), to cook and keep camp for them. Probably she helped outdoors, also, for the camp needed but little attention, and they had but little to cook, and the girls in those days could pile brush as fast as boys could. They put out their crop and he brought his whole family in August, and tlie whole company lived in a camp for some time. He had had fourteen children, in Darke County, Ohio, and he brought nine into " Randolph -woods;" and the others came afterward, bringing the whole family together. Four of them are living so far as known. He entered eighty acres of land, and on that homestead he resided nearly twenty-five years, tilling his land and working, also, somewhat as a cooper. He removed, in 1853, to Grant County, Ind., and died there about 1856, his wife outliving her husband and dying in 1863, seventy-six years old. Mr. Smith was, like many of the pioneers, a famous hunter. In polities, he was a sturdy Whig, and afterward a Republican, though he died not long after the rise of that party. He joined the Disciples shortly before his death. In politics, he was long nearly alone in that Democratic stronghold. At one time there were only three of his faith in polities in the township. As to the settlers in Jackson Township. it is probable that few permanent settlers were there much before Mr. Smith. An old man by the name of Ishmael Bunch lived about one-half mile southwest of Dolphus Warren's, on Lowe Branch. He wus a "squatter" and did not reside there very iong. Philip Storms was also in the region, owning no land, however. Eli Noffsinger, then a young man, made a clearing about the same time, and moved his mother and sisters up to his cabin perhaps the next spring. John Sheets came not long afterward. There was not a house from Hill Grove to New Lisbon. Andrew Debolt came about 1831. Mr. Smith appears to have been in the township four years before he entered his land, W.S. EH. 27, 21, 15, eighty acres, May 15, 1834.

[Note. - Mr. Simmons seems to have come before Mr. Smith, and James Porter says that he came in 1829. Mr. Porter's tirst entry of land was in October 29, 1833. There seem to have been some settlers on the Mississinewa, in the west part of Jackson Township, before those in the neighborhood of New Lisbon. Mr. Porter says his brother George came in the spring of 1829, and raised a crop and brought his family in the fall of 1829, and that Thomas Shaler had been a "squatter" in the same neighborhood for some years. William Simmons probably lived in Ward Township, as he. was down the Mississinewa from James Porter's.

James Warren was the father of the (older) Warrens, who are still residing in Jackson Township. He was born in 1787, in North Carolina, and came to Richmond, Ind., in 1825, He had married Elizabeth Cabuniss, in 1809, and they had ten children, eight of whom came to be married, and four are now liying. He came to Jackson Township, Randolph County, Ind., in 1835, settling near New Middletown, between Union City and Deerfield. He died in 1876, in his ninetieth year. His wife died many years ago. He was a farmer and a Democrat. His sons were William, John and Dolphus Warren, who are still residents of Jackson, prominent and influential among the citizens there, large land owners and prosperous and successful farmers, and all thorough Democrats of long standing, except, indeed, Dolphus, who belongs to the Republican fold.

William Warren is the son of James Warren, and was born about 1811. He came to Randolph County about 1834, stopping first near New Lisbon, and afterward near New Middletown. He has had eleven children, seven of them now living. He entered forty acres at first and 240 acres in all. Heisa farmer and a Democrat and an active man of business. He lives north of Middletown, Ind. He emigrated to Wayne Connty, Ind., in 1825, and married Elizabeth Newton in 18382.

James Wickersham was born in Philadelphia, Penn., in 1780. He learned the hatting business at Harrisburg, Penn., came to Cincinnati; Ohio, in 1805, married Rachel Smith, sister of Amos Smith, and moved to Wayne County Ind., and, in 1832, to Jackson Township, Randolph County, Ind., and in 1867, to Jay County, Ind. He died in 1873, ninety-three years'old, and his wife in 1855. They had eleven children, seven grown and five living. He was a hatter and then a farmer, he was also a grocer at New Lisbon awhile, etc. Mr. W. was Justice of the Peace both in Wayne and Randolph Counties. He has also been Township Trustee, Assessor, etc. He was a Disciple and a Democrat, and an upright, exemplary and trustworthy man. He is thought to have been the first Justice of the Peace in Jackson

Township. He entered his land July 29, 1835 (Section 13, Town 18, Range 1 west), forty acres. Like most of the pioneers of Jackson Township, Mr. W. had not much of this world's goods, but he had what is better, intelligence, sound judgment and the love of God in his heart, and these are better than a kingdom.

John A. Wickersham is the son of James Wickersham. He was born in 1818, in Wayne County, Ind.; came to Randolph County, Ind., in 1832; married Elizabeth Criviston in 1839; has had nine children, seven living, two married. He is a farmer, owning 190 acres of land; is a Disciple and a Republican. Mr. W. is an intelligent, estimable citizen, a thrifty aod prosperous farmer and an upright and honorable man.

MINUS W. BERKHEIM, farmer, P. O. Union City, born November 4, 1851, in Jay County, Ind. He received a common school education, and was married, September 15, 1872, to Malissa Simmons, a native of Miami County, Ohio, who was born October 22, 1852, Four children blessed this union - Benjamin F., born August 11, 1873; Mary A., April 23, 1875; Clara M., October 28, 1877; and Charles L., May 24, 1880. Mr. Berkheim is a member of the Caristian Church, and of the Masonio order. He owns a good farm of 109 acres, and is Democratic in politics, His father, Isaac Berkheim, isa native of Frederick County, Va., born June 26, 1808; came to Ohio in 1828, and from thence to Jay County, in 18383; he married Margaret Conoway, who was born April 23, 1813, deceased October 1, 1880. Benjamin Simmons, the father of Mrs. Berkheim, was a native of Miami County, Ohio, born October 30, 1827; came here twenty-six years ago; deceased, October, 1871; he married Jane Lindley, a native of Miami County, Ohio, born August 11, 1823. Mr. Berkheim is a social, companionable gentleman, and one whom people love to meet,

Eli Byrum

Eli Byrum was born in North Carolina in 1816, and died in Randolph County, Ind., in Febuary, 1877. His father, William Byrum, was. a farmer and blacksmith, and a man of fine intellect. He was a prominent and leading citizen of his county, and was three times elected as its Representative in the Legislature of North Carolina. In 1838 or 1839, he came North, locating in Preble County, Ohio, and about a year later came to Randolph County, Ind. Eli, the subject of this sketch, accompanied his father in his removals, and at the time of the removal to Randolph County, purchased eighty acres adjoining his father's farm, in partnership with his brother Robert. His land was covered by a heavy growth of timber, and he devoted his time to clearing it and reducing it to a fine state of cultivation. At the age of twenty-nine years - in 1845 - he was united in marriage with Rachel Newton, daughter of Henry and Mary Newton, who resided at that time near Richmond, Ind. In November, 1846, his wife died, leaving a daughter, who died a few months later. On the 25th of July, 1848, he married Miss Lucinda Fields, daughter of Lansford and Nancy Fields, who came from Tennessee to Randolph County, Ind., in 1832. By this second union Mr. Byrum and wife were the parents of thirteen children, nine of whom are now living, viz., Eli W., Fletcher N., Robert L., Lourinda, Enoch E., Drusilla, Emma J., Noah H., and Norman KE, Mr. Byrum'was one of the self-made men of this locality. He entered upon his career as a farmer, with a capital of only about $50, and with a tract of wild, unimproved land from which to develop a farm, Yet this small amount proved the foundation of an ample fortune, which accumulated year by year under his tireless energy and excellent management. He cleared two farms during his life; first the one near Lisbon, upon which he first located in this county, and afterward the one upon which he died. Gradually he enlarged the boundaries of his farm, by sundry purchases, until he possessed 340 acres, free from debt, and the larger portion of it under a fine state of cultivation. Upon the last-named farm his widow and children stillreside. Mr. Byrum was reared in the Democratic school of politics, and for many years was an adherent of that party. Latterly, however, he cast aside party ties, and exercised the privilege of an independent voter. But he was never a politician, and never held an elective office. He confined his attention to the pursuit of farming, and managed his affairs with an abilily that returned him very satisfactory results, and placed him among the wealthy farmers of the township. In all his transactions, he was governed by a high sense of honor, and among all who knew him he was recognized as a man of irreproachable integrity, and a good citizen in the best sense of that term. He was a consistent member of the United Brethren Church, with which denomination his wife and family are still identified.

JO3EPH BROWN, farmer, P: O. Union City. This industrious citizen was born August 2, 1821, in the State of Maryland. He immigrated to Miami County, Ohio, in 1823, and from thence settled in this county in October, 1844. Mr. Brown was united in marriage, November 25, 1847, to Nancy A. Harshman, a native of this State, who was born July 11, 1829. The following children blessed this union: William S., born October 8, 1848; Mary A., September 28, 1851; Daniel W., April 26, 1857; Tillie C., November 6, 1859; Abraham November 8,'1864; Isaac E., January 12, 1865; Francis M., Febuary 27, 1870, and Albert, August 19, 1872. His father, Joseph Brown, was a native of Germany, and was born about the year 1798; came to the State of Maryland, and was married there to Margaret Lower. Abraham Horshner, the father of

Mrs. Brown, was a native of Preble County, Ohio; born in 1787, and was married to Hanna Garner, of his native county. He came to this county in 1831; deceased, September 18, 1866, his wife having died October 2, 1840. William S., the son of the subject of this sketch, was married, December 1, 1872, to Evaline Simmons; they have two children - Phebe L. and Dora. Mary A. was married to Ira Porter, May 1, 1868; they have two children -

HENRY DEBOLT, farmer, P.O. Union City. This worthy citizen was born #ebruary 28, 1817, ia Butler County, Ohio; he went to Preble County in 1839, and finally settled in this county in 1846. He was educated in the common schools of his native State, and was married April 14, 1840, to Ann Mikesell, who was a native of Preble County, Ohio, born December 20, 1823. This union was blessed by the birth of ten children, of which number seven are living - George M., born February 22, 1845; Oscar F., January 14, 1846, deceased May 21, 1852; Emmaretta, August 16, 1848, deceased August 27, 1849; Irene E., April 2, 1851; Annetta J., January 28, 1832; Cass C., September 22, 1853, deceased March 10, 1875; Martha C., May 17, 1855; John B., October 27, 1856, deceased December 6, 1856; Kate, July 20, 1858; Charles, March 15, 1860, and Henrie A., January 27. 1848. Mr. Debolt has served as Justice of the Peace of Jackson Township for over seventeen years, and was Justice of the same township for four consecutive years. Ile and his worthy wife are consistent members of the Disciple Church, and are generally esteemed. He is a Democrat of. the old school, and enjoys the confidence of his friends. His father, John Debolt, was a native of Hamilton County, Ohio, born about 1797; came to this county in 1838, deceased 1852, in June. His wife was originally Rachel Clawson, born in 1800, deceased December 380, 1862. These people had many noble traits of character.

Ezekiel C. Clough

Ezekiel C. Clough was born June 12, 1802, at Warren, in the State of New Hampshire. In 1818, his father started with his family to lucate in the West, but while passing through the State of New York, one of his daughters was taken suddenly ill, and it was found necessary to remain there until she could recover. They remained in that State during the winter, the children attending school while their sister recovered her health. In the following spring, they resumed their journey, reaching Cincinnati, Ohio, in April, 1819. The family resources, which, at best, were never opulent, were much depleted by the long journey, and it became necessary for the several members of the family to engage in some kind of labor, to assist in its maintenance. Ezekiel found employment in a brick yard, and learned the brick-maker's trade. Within a year after their arrival in the West, the father died, and the maintenance of the family was assumed by the subject of this sketch, who did his part nobly, until all were old enough to take care of themselves. Ata later date, he purchased the establishment of his employer, and manufactured brick on his own account, until 1826. In that year, he removed to Jay County, Ind., where he entered 640 acres of land. In the following year he was married, at Cincinnati, to Mary A. Huddart, and brought his wife to the wilderness, in the midst of which he had selected a place fora home. He began the task of olearing this large tract of land and preparing it for cultivation - an undertaking in which he succeeded nobly. By subsequent purchases he enlarged the boundaries of his farm, improving and beautifying each new tract, until he owned probably the largest and best cultivated tract of land in Jay County. He was always known as one of the most industrious men of the community, and to his industry, economy, and prudent management, are due the financial results that have made him a wealthy man. He has been economical, but he has never permitted this principle to beget a sordid or parsimonious nature. On the contrary, he has always been known for his charity and benevolence, and instead of seeking to hoard or augment a fortune already ample, he has found boundless pleasure in disbursing liberal sums in channels from which his fellow-men would reap benefits. His private charities are numerous - done in private, and known only to those who were the grateful recipients, In his public charities he has desired the same privacy, yet enough has transpired to mark him a public-spirited man of the most unselfish order, and to show that in all the years of his prosperity he has been the devoted friend of public improvement, public education, and the cause of religion. The first Baptist Church at North Salem was erected almost entirely at hig expense, and the new house of worship was built upon land donated by him, and constructed and furnished largely from his liberal contributions. To the erection of Ridgeville College, he contributed a munificent amount, which, in deference to his modesty, was never made known. To the same institution he donated 220 acres of excellent farming land, worth at least $15,000, and holds three life-scholarships that cost him $900, He is one of the Trustees of this college, and has acted in that capacity ever since the organization of the board.

His has been a long and busy life, and he has not lived in vain. He has stamped his identifiy upon many of the most important institutions and public improvements in Randolph County, and has proved himself a blessing to the community. He has retired from active business, and now resides in the north part of Randolph County. He has transferred his large landed estate to his children, reserving only the proceeds of his farms during his He was identified with both Randolph and Jay Counties in their pioneer period, and has a vivid recollection of the events of early days. Inthe intervening years, he hag been an interested witness of the progress and improvement of the locality with which he was identified in its earliest days of civilization, while every enterprise of a public nature has received his encouragement and support. Until 1874, he was permitted to enjoy the companionship of his devoted wife, who accompanied him to the wilderness in the prime of a happy young life, adding her efforts to his in transforming the forest intoa home. On the 17th of August, 1874, she died, leaving a void inthe hearts of her family never to be filled. They were the parents of seven children - William, the eldest, enlisted in Company F, of the Sixty-ninth Indiana Infantry, and was killed at the battle of Port Gibson, while fighting in defense of the Union and for the maintenance of our national integrity; Nancy married Mr. Lewis, and is now deceased; Ezekiel resides in Jackson Township, Randolph County ; Hannah, Lottie and George W. are living, and John is deceased.

schools of his native State, and was married, April 8, 1831, to Nancy Coabstick, born December 9, 1811, in Butler County, Ohio. This union was blessed

April 80, 1835; Benjamin, November 26, 1836; Rachel, October 16, 1838; Ann, October 5, 1842, and Mary, July 29, 1849. Mr. D. had one son in the war for the Union, John Q., who enlisted in the Fifth Indiana Cavalry. He was captured and imprisoned at Andersonville and other Southern prisons; he died from the effects of the terrible ordeal through which he passed while in those horrible pens. His father, John Devor, was a native of Pennsylvania; he settled in Ohio at an early date, and deceased July 25, 1828, in the seventieth year of his age. He was @ man of noble impulse, and much of his character has found a place within the mind of his son. Mr. Devor is still active, and is a Republican in politics.

JOHN GITTINGER, farmer, P. O. Union City, was born September 6, 1809, in Maryland; he was educated in the rural schools of his native State, and at twenty-six years of age came to Ohio. He was married in Randolph County, Ind., September 28, 1848, to Dorothy Helm, who was born September 1, 1830. These parents were blessed with the birth of the following children: Jane, born December 16, 1849; Mary, October 14, 1851, deceased September 156, 1872; Ruth, March 26, 1854; Jacob and Samuel (twins), September 8, 1856, deceased September 28, same year; John J., December 9, 1857; Willard, November 25, 1859; Esther, April 19, 1862; Jonas, February 22, 1865; Daniel, July 21, 1867; Ann, October 31, 1870, and Olive, May 20, 1876. Mr. G. is a member of the Presbyterian Church, F. & A. M., No. 56, Winchester, and of Jackson Grange. His father, Jacob Gittinger, was a native of Baltimore County, Md., born March 25, 1785: he was an officer in the war of 1812; came to this county in the fall of 1838, deceased February 14, 1865; his wife's maiden name was Mary Deal, born September 6, 1792, in the same county and State aforesaid. She died February 10, 1861, in this county. Mr. Gittinger owns a well cultivated farm of 810 acres of valuable land, and is considered to be one of the best citizens of his neighborhood. Since the above was written, Mr. Gittinger has deceased. He died the 21st of August, 1882, quite suddenly. A few minutes before he passed away, he was engaged in sociable conversation with his family.

JACOB. GITTINGER, farmer, P. 0. Union City, was born September 19, 1817, in Carroll County, Md. Hecame to Darke County, Ohio, at eighteen years of age, aud settled here in the fall of 1844. He was married in the early part of 1844, to Margaret Adkins, who was a native of Butler County, Ohio, born December 25, 1828. Two children blessed this union - William H., born May 26, 1845; he is an architect of considerable ability. The other child is a daughter, Lilly C., born February 19, 1851. Mr. G. is a self-made man, and has been intimately connected with the progress and development of the county. He and his wife are worthy members of the German Reformed Church. He owns & valuable farm of 100 acres of land, and is a Democrat in politics. His father and mother, Jacob and Mary Gittinger, are noticed elsewhere in this work. Suffice it to say that they were of the best families of their native State. The father of Mrs. Gittinger, was George Atkins, a native of Delaware, born in the year 1800, came to Butler County, Ohio, in 1807, and finally settled in Darke County, Ohio, where he deceased February, 1878; his wife, Jane Wilson, a native of Butler County, and a few years his junior, died April, 1823.

HENRY HANDSCHY, Jr. Henry Handschy, Sr., the father of this gentleman, was born in 1784, in the canton of Basel, Switzerland, and within fifteen miles of the city of Strasbourg, France. He emigrated to the United States with a younger brother in 1803, landing at Philadelphia, and removing thence to Lancaster County, Penn. In 1814, he removed to . Franklin County, Pean., and while there he joined a volunteer infantry company organized for the defense of Baltimore, and arrived just in time to see the British fleet sail out of the harbor. From Franklin County, Penn., he removed to. Loudoun County, Va. In 1817, he removed to Ohio, and purchased a farm of 160 acres in Perry Township, Muskingum County. Subsequently, he removed tg Fairfield County, in the same State, and there married Mary Ann Weaver, in May, 1819. After a residence of two years in Fairfield County, he returned to his farm in Muskingum County, where he died on the 9th of November, 1861. In personal appearance he was a fine looking man - above the medium height, an entertaining conversationalist, and gifted with a remarkable memory. He wasa fine debater, and well posted in the current topics of the day. Although he served as Justice of the Peace for a number of years, he never sought office, and never felt political ambition. In politics he was a Jeffersonian Democrat, and always maintained the principles enunciated by that great statesman. In religion he discarded allcreeds and denominations, relying upon the Bible as the great founation-head, the source of all truth and righteougness. From this book he drew his conclusions, and in its promises he centered his faith and trust. He read it through many times, and always held it in the, highest reverence. His wife survived him about ten years. She was born in April, 1794, in Westmoreland County, Penn., and removed with her parents to near New Baltimore, Fairfield Co., Ohio, where she married Mr. Handschy. Her parents were also from Switzerland. In the community where she resided for s0 many years, she was always looked upon as a " Mother in Israel.'' She was kind, compassionate and tender, and possessed the affectionate regard of all whe knew her. She died March 3, 1870. Henry Handschy, Jr., son of Henry and Mary Handschy, was born April 20, 1820, in Muskingum County, Ohio. He was educated in the schools of his native State, and came to Indiana in May, 1840. On the 27th of October, 1841, he was united in marriage with Sarah Walker, and located upon o farm in Jackson Township, where he has ever since been engaged in agricultural pursuits, having improved his farm and enlarged its boundaries by subsequent purchases, until it now embraces 320 acres. Mr. Handschy has always entertained advanced ideas in the science of farming, and there are no farmers in the county who may be called his superiors as model agriculturists, and but few who are his equals. Foreseeing the great benefits to be derived from a proper aystem of artificial drainage, he became one of the first movers in the matter of inaugurating this improvement in Jackson Township, and is known to be the first man in Randolph County who seoured a petition for an open ditch - the object being to effect drainage from his farm to the Mississinewa River, across intervening lands. Having taken the initiative in this matter, he set an example which has been extensively followed by his neighbors, while the value and availability of their lands have been largely enhanced by this action. Aside from farming, Mr. Handschy has devoted a great deal of attention to milling pursuits, feeling a commendable pride in this profession, at which, in former years, he was known to excel. By his long association with mechancial appliances, he has been able to invent many useful additions for the saving of labor, and to secure speed in the performance of work. His principal invention is an automatic flood-gate, for which he secured a patent on the 12th of September, 1882. This gate is designed for the use of mills operated by water-power, and is recognized as a valuableinvention. During a residence of more than forty yearsin this county, Mr. Handschy has identified himself with many important public improvements, and has always manifested a willingness to encourage such improvements by liberal contributions and by personal codperation. By honest toil and industry he has amassed a comfortable store of worldly wealth, and by his upright and honorable life, he has won and ever retained the confidence and good will of his fellow-men. Politically his sympathies are with the Democratic party, with which party he acts and votes. He has been identified with the Masonic fraternity for more than thirty years, having been initiated into the lodge at Deerfield, in this county, about the year 1851. He is a member of the Disciples Church, and is recognized as one of the best citizens of the community in which he resides. His wife, whose maiden name was Sarah Smith, was born September 16, 1819, and married Mr. Walker, who died after a few years of wedded happiness. The fruits of this union were three children, the eldest of whom - Sophia R. - is deceased, while Emily M. and Ellis W. still survive. Mrs. Handschy is an excellent lady, aud by her kindness and charity has gained the affectionate regard of all who know her. Seven children are the fruits of her second marriage, viz. : Lydia A., Frederick, David, Joseph, Mary A., Loretta C. and Manda J., four of whom - Lydia, Frederick, David and Joseph are deceased,

LEANDER HARSHMAN, farmer, P. O. Union City, born June 2, 1842, in Preble County, Ohio, educated in this county, married August 28, 1866, to Mary E. Corl, who was born March 17, 1848, in this county. The following children were horn to these parents: Anna B., November 15, 1869; Sarah E., October 25, 1869 (deceased March 2, 1870, burned to death by fire catching clothes); Clara J., December 29, 1871; Mary M., August 21, 1875; Della M., February 10, 1877, and William E., September 26,1878. He and his wife are members of the German Baptist Church. Isaac Harshman isa native of Warren County, Ohio, born June 22, 1820, settled in this county in March, 1850; he married Nancy A. Robisson, January 28, 1841, she was a native of Butler County, Ohio, born July 12, 1817, deceased August 15, 1862. The following sons and daughters were born to them - Leander, June 2, 1842; Charlotte E., September 38, 1843; Henry B., February 14, 1866; Martha Tey "May 17, 1846 ; Martin V., April v5, 1847 ; John M. G., March it 1849 ; Eliza D., July 18, 1851 ; Alice AS December 17, 1858 ; James He. January '30, 1866, and Ida, September 12, 1858. The grandfather of these children was Elijah Harshman, a native of Virginia; he participated in the war of 1812, decensed January, 1857, in Preble County, Ohio; his wife was Nancy Wolf, born 1776 in Bourbon County, Ky. Jacob Corl, the father of Mrs. Harshman, is a native of Pennsylvania, born August 16, 1805; he was married, January 31, 1825, to Elizabeth Stuff, a native of Pennsylvania, born April 7, 1806. These old people are still living at this date, and are very active.

STEPHEN HINDSLEY was born in North Carolina August 20, 1818. Mr. Hindsley, after making several changes, finally selected Jackson l'ownship as a desirable place to locate, and made his final settlemeht February 10, 1848. He married Miss Ann M. McConnell March 7, 1841, a native of Piqua, Ohio, born June 10, 1820. Ten children blessed this union, of which number nine are living. Sarah was born January 19, 1842; she became the wife of Westley Johnson; Joseph G. was born April 28, 1848, he married Mary C. Musselman; Malinda, born August 23, 1844, married Absalom Mangas; Rufus G., born February 21, 1847, married Malinda A. Noffsinger; John W., born July 26, 1849, married Martha J, Johnson; Mary E., born December 8, 1851, deceased September 16, 1853; George M., born March 28, 1854, married Caroline E. Warren; Melissa J., born September' 10, 1856, married E. W. McFarland; Annetta, born October 23, 1858, deceased July 15, 1882, and James W., born August 14, 1860, married Rachel F. Byron. Mr. Hindsley and his daughters are worthy members of the Disciple Church. Mr. Hindsley is a social gentleman, and % Democrat of the old school. His father, John Hindsley, was a native of Maryland, born January 17, 1767. He united in matrimony with Miss Hannah Stone March 8, 1807; she was born March 8, 1788, in North Carolina. In the year 1828, Mr. John Hindsley and family settled in Granger County, Tenn.; thence in Darke County, Ohio. He deceased August 16, 1847, and his estimable wife September 6, 1866.

SQUIRE HINKLE was born July 10, 1853, in Jackson Township, Randolph County. He was educated in the common schools of this county ; i: he is the owner of a fine farm and a pleasant home; he is a great lover of music, and is naturally a musician. He-was married, April 11, 1875, to Henrietta Simmons, also a native of Randolph County, born December 25, 1853. They have three children - Dillie M., born January 25, 1875; Arrillus B., June 10, 1877. and Rolla R., born May 17,1881. Mr. Hinkle's father, Henry Hinkle, is a native of Butler County, Ohio, born May 26, 1809, He came to this county about the year 1840; his wife, Eliza A. Hinkle, is a native of Union County, Ind., born December 1, 1811. They are both living. James Simmons, the father of Mrs. Hinkle, was born in Wayne County, Ind., June 10, 1809, deceased March 28, 1872. He was a man of sterling qualities; he was a kind and indulgent parent and social companion, He married an estimable Jady by the name of Avoline Hawkins, of Jay County, who deceased June 30, 1861. Mr. Hinkle and wife are an intelligent and social couple.

ISAAC HOOVER, farmer, P. O. Castle. This industrious citizen was born July 4, 1829, in Clark County, Ohio. He attended the district common schools of his native State ; he settled in this county in 1840, and was married, February 13, 1856, to Elizabeth Sutton, who was born October 12, 1889. Nine children were born to these parents - Martha J., born November 11, 1859; Joseph, born February 13, 1862; Michael H., born November 1, 1863; Cornelius, born December 2, 1865; Luella, born March 5, 1871; Lilly M., born May 11, 1878; Peter, born August 26, 1875, and Florence, born May 15, 1878, and James I., born July 4, 1881. His father, George Hoover, was a native of Virginia, born in the year 1795, settled in Ohio in 1882, deceased 1851. He was married to Catharine Simmons, born in Virginia in 1796, immigrated with her husband to this county, deceased November, 1880. Mr. Hoover and wife are worthy members of the Christian Church. He owns a good farm of 171 acres of valuable land; is Republican in politics, and considered to be one of the best citizens of his vicinity.

JACOB S. HOWARD, farmer, P. O. Union City. This worthy citizen was born February 16, 1823, in Warren County, Ohio. He was united in marriage, August 31, 1843, to Margaret Wimer, who was a native of Stark County, Ohio, and born March 18, 1824. Mr. Howard was educated in Montgomery County, Ohio, and has engaged successfully in farming from boyhood. Heand his worthy wife are members of the German Baptist Church. He owns fifty acres of good land, and is considered one of the best citizens. His father, George Howard, was originally from Maryland, where he was born April 18, 1796, immigrated to Warren County, Ohio, in 1809; from thence to Montgomery County, where he deceased April 27, 1876. His wife was originally Elizabeth Anderson, born near Pittsburgh, Penn., December 25, 1799; still living at this date. These people were married in Ohio June, 1822. Mr. Wimer, the father of Mrs. Howard, was 8 native of Pennsylvania, born September 21, 1795; came to Ohio, and, after making several changes, deceased in Preble County, Ohio, November 13, 1864. His wife was Catharine Studebaker, born in Pennsylvania December 27, 1802. She was matried to Mr. Howard November 18, 1819, deceesed at the residence of her daughter, in Jackson Township, December 28, 1869. The following are the sons and daughters of these worthy parents: Jobn Wimer, born July 15, 1820, deceased June 7, 1880; Mary, December 16, 1821; Elizabeth, June 22, 1826; Daniel, July 4, 1828; Henry, July 1, 1832, died in infancy ; Sarah, June 27, 1835; Samuel, December 7, 1837; Susannah, July 20, 1840, and Jacob, April 21, 1844.

WESLEY JOHNSON, farmer, P. O. Union City, born June 25, 1884, in Jackson Township, attended the common schools of his neighborhood, and was united in marriege April 29, 1858, to Sarah A. Hindsley, a native of Darke County, Ohio, born January 19, 1842. Seven children were born to these parents - Malinda, October 15, 1869; Tillie V., May 14, 1861, deceased October 29, 1880; Thomas W., April 20, 1863; William L. and Joseph G., twins, December J5, 1865; Bertha A., September 11, 1869, and Malissa A., February 6, 1872. Mr. Johnson owns a good farm of 147 acres of land; he served in Company G, Fifty-fourth Indiana Infantry, participating in the principal engagements of the war. He was wounded at Vicksburg in the right hand. Jacob Johnson, his father, is a native of Frederick County, Md., born November 19, 1792 ; came to Dayton, Uhio, in 1824, and from thence to this county in 1832. He married Magdaline Vattenbaker in September, 1816, who was born in June, 1794, in Maryland. He participated in the war of 1812, and was noted for his bravery. The subject of this sketch owns a good farm of 147 acres of land, and is a great lover of schools and good books.

JAMES V. KING, physician, Castle. This esteemed. citizen is a native of Brown County, Ohio, born July 5, 1828. He attended the common schools, Ripley College, of his native State, and settled in this county October, 1846. The Doctor was married, April 17, 1851, to Mary J. Devor, who was a native of Darke County, Ohio, born October, 1834. This union was blessed by the birth of eight children - Florence, July 22, 1852; William, August 1, 1855; Benjamin, June 24, 1857; Mary L. September 9, 1859; Eveline, September 16, 1864; Thomas, April 6, 1867; Harry, January 6, 1870, and Gertrude, August 16, 1878. Dr. King studied medicine under the eminent physician, Dr. Buckner, of Ohio, and has practiced continuously since 1845. He located in this county in 1846, and has filled the office of Township Trustee, besides superintending his farm of 140 acres. His father, William King, was a native of Adams County, Penn., born August 2, 1792. He was married to Miss Bonde, of Kentucky, in 1816, and deceased in Brown County, Ohio, December, 1859. He wasin the war of 1812, and much of his patriotism and energy has descended to his son, the Doctor. The Doctor is considered to be a skillful physician, his practice amounts to $1,500 annually, and he is courteous and attentive to business. Dr. King's maternal grandfather was a Captain in the Revolutionary war, and the Doctor says he has often looked upon the old sword of Capt. Bonde, when a boy, with no little interest.

NORMAN McFARLAND, physician, New Pittsburg. This esteemed gentleman is @ native of Darke County, Ohio, born June 10, 1842. He was principally educated at Antioch and Ridgeville Colleges. He was married, September 12, 1870, to Sarah Sanders, who was born at Mount Pleasant, Jay County, Ind., January 13, 1847. They have one child, Mary J., born November 12, 18765. After reading medicine under Drs. Simmons, Bailey and Anderson, he graduated in the Indiana Medical College, of Indianapolis, in the class of 1869, and subsequently attended the Eclectic Medical College of Cincinnati, Ohio. The Doctor has followed his profession successfully with an annual income of $1,500. He is a member of Union City Lodge, No. 152, I. O. O. F. He served in Company (©, Fifth Indiana Cavalry, participating in all the principal engagements of that organization. His father Lewis McFarland, was born March 6, 1812, and resides at present near Union City. He married Charity Marquis, a native of Ohio, and born March 12, 1818. Jacob Sanders, the father of Mrs. McFarland, is a native of Philadelphia, Penn., born May 21, 1810, deceased at Ridgeville, Ind., August 10, 1868; he married Ruth Penock, February 3, 1833, She was born in Pennsylvania, November 7, 1816,

EMANUEL MANGAS, farmer, P. 0. Castle. This worthy farmer is a native of Pennsylvania, born August 25, 1826. He attended the common schools of Ohio and Indiana, and was united in marriage, the first time, December 20, 1855, to Catharine Ely, who was born April 12, 1838. Two children blessed the first marriage - Jacob J., born December 21, 1859, deceased February 20, 1864, and Sarah B., April 8, 1865, deceased August 13, 1865. Mr. M. lost his beloved wife by death, August 8, 1865. He was married the second time, October 15, 1868, to Caroline L. Castle, who was born July 14, 1834 ; two children were born to these parents - Oliver M., August 11, 1869, deceased January 3, 1873, and Isaac N., September 12, 1873. This son is a bright, intelligent lad of much promise. Mr. Mangas has held the office of Township Assessor and he and his worthy wife are members of the Disciple Church. He has followed farming and is one of those stanch Democrats from principle. The sketch of his parents is given in another part of this work. The father of Mrs. Mangas, Isaac Castle, is a native of Vermont and born December 14, 1809; her mother is a Methodist Minister ; was born March 9, 1813. The subject of this sketch is a law-biding citizen, and is held in high regard by his neighbors. Mr. Mangas has a pleasant home on the Salem and Union City Turnpike, about five miles north of Union City.