Randolph County, Indiana - Biographical sketches (2 of 2 so headed), 1914 (part 2 of 20)

Jesse Parker, late of Bethel, Wayne county, is the son of Thomas and Aiuia Parker, and was bom in Rockingham county. North Carolina, near South Carolina line, in 1807. He came with his parents to Arba, Randolph county, in April, 1814, that family being the first white settlers in Randolph county, though land had been ent^ed in the county in 1812, some fifteen months before his settlement.

He married Phebe Puckett, daughter of Benjamin Puckett, in 1826, and they had seven children. Jesse Parker's parents died some years after their arrival in Indiana, his mother in 1823; she was the second or third person buried in the Arba graveyard.

Jesse Parker was born in North Carolina in 1766; came to Randolph county, Indiana, early; had seven children - ^Thomas, Joel, Piety, Eda and Jesse and two others. He died 9th, 24th, 1843, aged seventy-six years eleven months and two days.

Squire Bowen, a pioneer of Randolph county, son of Ephraim and Hannah Bowen, bom in Greene county, Ohio, April 10, 1805 ; he was the fourth of eleven children, five of whom are still living (1882) ; he removed with his parents to Randolph county October 22, 1814, and settled two and one-half miles from Spartanburg, where his father entered a quarter section of land. Squire lived upon this farm for fifty-three years ; here he spent the greater and best portion of his life. His inother died in 1844, and his father followed in 1858. After the death of his mother, the care of the father fell to the lot of Squire.

The boyhood of Squire was similar to that of the sons of most pioneers. At the time Squire's father settled in this county, there were only eleven white people living in the territory of which the county was subsequently formed. Having no neighbors but the uncivilized Indians, they were thrown upon their own resources to dear a homestead from the unbroken forest All of the products of the farm that were not used for home consumpticm were marketed at Fort Wajme, a distance of about ninety miles. The only means of conveyance was by wagon drawn by oxen. They were compelled to cut their own road through the dense wilderness. It required from sixteen to twenty days to make the trip and return. AJl of this work fell principally to the lot of the subject of this sketch.

Notwithstanding the almost entire absence of schools, Mr. Bowen, by dint of his own eflForts, with the assistance of a very brief attendance at school in Greene county, Ohio, and at Arba, this county, in the old log pioneer school house, used as a Friends meeting-house, he obtained a fair common school education.

James Dwiggins Bowen, son of Squire and Elizabeth Bowexi, was born in Greensfork township, Randolph county, December 23, 1832 ; he was raised on the farm entered by his grandfather, Ephraim Bowen; in 1814, of which he became owner and proprietor; his farm consists of 200 acres, of which 140 acres are in a high state of cultivation. His boyhood was quiet and uneventful, spending the greater part of his time in cultivating the farm ; his education was limited to the common district schools, with the exception of one term at a commercial school at Indianapolis in 1855. He was enrolling oificer of his township during the war, an appointment from the government ; he made three trips to the front to look after the sick and wounded soldiers from his district. He was married to Mary E. Chenoweth, daughter of John B. and Sarah B. Chenoweth, of Carroll county, Maryland, September 13, 1855. Mr. and Mrs. Bowen had a family of nine children, three boys and six girls.

Ephraim L. Bowen is. a native of Randolph county, Indiana; he was born at the family * homestead in Greensfork township on the 20th of March, 1819; his father, Ephraim Bowen, was one of the first white men who located in Randolph county, and bore a prominent and active part in its development and improvement. He remained at home assisting hjs father until twenty years of age, and was then united in marriage with Miss Ruth Dwiggins, a native of Wayne county, Indiana. He then began farming for himself in Greensfork township.

Within twenty years after his marriage, death bereaved him of the companionship of- the wife, whose love had stimulated his youthful labors in the felling of the forest and the "making" of a farm ; whose words of cheer had revived his drooping spirits at the end of days of weary toil, and whose careful economy had materially promoted his teniporal success. She died on August. 5, 1858. Eight children had been born to them, two of whom preceded their mother to the grave. Six survived her, viz., James H., Elizabeth A., Hannah L., Mary E., Jennie and Squire C, all of whom grew to maturity and were married. James H. died September 12, 1874; Mary E. died May 12, 1876, and Jennie died July i, 1877. M^"- Bowen was a second time united in the bonds of matrimony, choosing for his companion Mrs. Anna J. Corbett, daughter of John and Mildred Thornburg. She was born Decem-

Charles Crist is a resident of Greensfork township. He was born in Pennsylvania in 1801 ; his father moved to Maryland in 18 14, and he lived there till he was grown. He married Mary Flatters in Maryland in 1831. She was' born in 1809. They moved from thence to Marion county, Ohio, in 1 831; thence to Hancock county, Ohio, in 1834, and to Darke county, Ohio, in 1847, ^"d finally to Randolph county, Indiana, in 1854.

Hugh Card, farmer, was born in Preble county, Ohio, March 12, 1820, is the son of Lot and Ann (Vance) Gard, who were natives of Pennsylvania. Mr. Gard became a resident of this state when quite young, remaining until i860, when he returned to his native state. The event of his marriage took place February 11, 1862, to^ Sarah -Dunn, who was born in Pennsylvania September 12, 1830. Her parents, Joseph and Debra (Evans) Dunn, were natives of Pennsylvania, the former born September 30, 1792, and the latter March 2, 1795.

John C. Ruby, farmer, postoffice Spartanburg, son of Samuel F. and Jane Ruby. They were married in Darke county, Ohio, September 15, 1836. Father was bom in Kentucky April 27, 1812; came with his parents to Union county, Indiana. Afterward studied medicine with his brother, James, at Bethel, Wayne county, Indiana; and became a very successful physician.

West River Township.-^-Its boundaries at present are as follows : North by White river and Stoney creek, east by Washington, south by Wayne county, west by-TSTettle creek and Stoney creek.

West River township was laid ofif in May, 1831, then comprising all west of Huntsville and eight miles north and south, taking the whole southwestern portion of the county, and by several changes became what it now is* Its extent is forty square miles, eight miles north and south, and five miles cast and weit. The t3v/nship takes irr West River valle/ ( so far as it li ;; in Randolph county), as also the headwaters of Martindale creek, running

The region is rich and beautiful, the surface is rolHng and the scenerypicturesque; the country is capable of a high cultivation, tl was settled as early as 1816, and perhaps even sooner than that.. Hugh Botkin entered the township in 1816, settling southeast of Hunts ville. When he came he found already here several settlers, the exact date of whose arrival, however, is not known. Among them were these: Mr. Odle, one mile south of Botkin's; Joshua Wright, one-half mile south of Botkin's; Jesse Cox; Jonah' Heaton, three miles northwest of Huntsville. Seven entries had been made in 181 5, and three were made in 1816. Mr. Botkin effected his entry of land September 29, 1817, and before his had been sixteen entries. Joshua Wright (probably with his brother James) purchased his tract nine days before, and Jesse Cox seventeen days after Mr. Botkin. The other names (except Jonah Heaton's), do not appear at all as patentees. They were either "squatters" or lived on land entered by some one else. Jonah Heaton "entered" in 1819. William M. Botkin said that in 181 7 there came to the region several settlers, viz., Joshua Ballinger, Samuel Jackson, Valentine Gibson, William Gibson, Joseph HoUingsworth (bought out Mr. Odle), William Peacock (afterward associate judge). Most of these names stand among the list of entries, some of them; however, not till the lapse of several years. William Smith came upon West river somewhere west of Botkin's, near the "boundary," August, 181 7, and Jeremiah Smith said that the following were in the neighborhood when his father moved into the comity.

William Blount and his two sons-in-law, John Proctor, Evan Shoemaker, John Jordan, Arny Hall, Thomas Brown, John Gwynn, James Malcom, Samuel Sales, David Jones, Isaac Barnes, came in 181 8, as did also John E. Hodges, William Hunt and Frederick Zimmerman. Few of, them appear as patentees. Evan Shoemaker lived on the tract east of the "boundary," and -just across from the Mount Pleasant Methodist meeting-house. Mr. Zimmerman bought out the Blount place, and resided there till he died, and his daughter Anna (widow of John Retz) occupied it until her death. All of these except two were located on Sections 7, 8, 17 and 18, township 18, range 13, in West River Valley. Those near Hugh Botkin's were farther east. William Blount made the first entry in the township, in section 8, now the Retz homestead farm, April 10, 18 15. Hodge and Barnes made their entry in July, 1815. They did not move to their land till 1818. Mr. Smith stated that they came out from Pennsylvania and made their purchases, and returned to the east, coming back to settle in 1818. Moses Martindale was unquestionably a very early settler, among the first, if not the very first, in the region. He made his first entry September 2, 1817, the extreme southeastern comer of what is now West River township. In two weeks' time he took up another tract, E. J4 S. W. }i n, 18, 13, on the headwaters of the stream which gained the name (doubtless from him as the first settler upon its banks) of Martindale creek. These entries of Martindale's were south and southeast of Botkin's, and near the other settlers in that vicinity. Of course, others also had found thair way into the wild woods, but we have not been able to trace them.

Thfe Congressional townships, with the sections, have already been named. The number of acres in West River township is about twenty-iSve thousand six hundred.

The "new boundar)^" passes through the western part of the township in an angular direction, yet the sections are not fractional, since the survey is reckoned from the second meridian. The meridian and the base line were located and the range lines estimated, and then the land east of the ''new boundary" was surveyed first, and, in process of time, that west of the twelve-mile strip was surveyed also.

Ferst Things

We have been able to trace but few "first things" for West River township. The beginning and progress of religious work may be seen in the detailed statement for the churches.

The mills were mostly in other portions of the coimty, and West river was not much of a mill stream near its upper course, and these settlers went chiefly down into Wayne county to find raiUing facilities already in operation. William Smith is said to have started a mill of some kind, but whether by horse or water power we cannot state. He was a blacksmith as well as a farmer, and one of the earliest things he did was to put up a shop in which to work at his trade. These smith shops were scattered over the county at various points, though we can name but few. Richard Robbins had one farther north in Stoney creek; James Frazier and his son Francis after him worked as a smith east of Lynn. The Fraziers were of a superior sort, being bell-makers as well as smiths.

Several families of Hunts came into that locality from Kentucky - shrewd, energetic, upright people, who have left their mark, .and many of their posterity also in this region. Most or all of them were Methodists, and one at least was a preacher. Rev. William' Hunt, or "Old Billy Hunt," as he was familiarly called, for many years until his death long ago. Coming from Kentucky as they did, and belonging to the well-to-do classes, it was but natural that they should oppose the Abolitionists, which most of them did with a hearty good will for years during the early days of that struggle. The logic of events, however, is its own teacher, and most of their descendants of the present-day are, like the mass of Randolph citizens, stalwart Republicans.

West River township, as also Nettle Creek, was in 1824 the scene of a most terrific tornado, which tore and twisted the giant forest trees for miles into inextricable confusion. This immense mass of timber lay for a decade or less upon the surface of the ground, and presented a literally impassable barrier. The fallen timber furnished in fact abundant opportunities for concealment, and in some cases fugitive slaves hid themselves in its coverts from their pursuers. In one instance, a man-hunter, baffled of his prey by this impregnable refuge, asked one of the old Abolitionists how far the fallen timber reached. The strudy pioneer, determined to keep the truth on his side and to mystify his questioner, replied : "Four or five miles west, and how far into Ohio I never heard." The fact hidden beneath this verbiage was that the fallen timber extended perhaps a mile east, and to the Ohio line was fifteen or twenty miles. But the slave-catcher never got any runaways out from that awful tangled, twisted, piled-up mass of tree trunks and brush and fresh-grown shrubs, all heaped into one vast untraceable labyrinth.

This same gang of man-hunters (for there were several) threatened to come and clean out that terrible place. "Do," was the reply; "we wish you would ; it ought to be away, but none here has ever had the courage to begin the work.'' The villains swore awhile and cursed the Abolitionists and then they let the fallen timber stay where it was, as other people before them had done. The jungle is said moreover to have been employed also as a den for a gang of robbers and counterfeiters, whose operations caused much trouble, some arrests and several trials in the attempt to rout the pestilent gang from the county. (60)

One party is stated to have been in so desperate a pinch upon trial for passing counterfeit money, that, on asking to let him see the bill a moment, it was handed to him, when lo, quick as a flash, he swallowed the bank note, and the case against him had to be dropped, for the evidence had gone down his throat. Upon the court record the name of this very man appears coupled with a criminal charge, and upon that entry Mr. Smith makes substantially this comment : "Here is the first appearance of this name in the court records of Randolph, but not by any means the last, for it adorns (or otherwise) these pages off and on for at least twenty-five years to come."

Some old men tell tales,, not needful to repeat at length, of charges and arrests and attempts at jescue, of prominent names coupled with rumors of forgery and counterfeiting, of surmises against residents of the region for the concealment of the haunts and the implements of crime among the secret coverts afforded by the fallen timber.

Pigeon Roost. '

The same region was remarkable also, moreover, as having furnished the place for an enormous pigeon roost located in the woods not very far from Huntsville during several years. Season after season would gather at the same spot countless millions of those feathered and winged travelers. Subjected as they were to ceaseless attacks by men and boys, and losing hundreds and thousands of their niunber every year, after some time had elapsed, the annual gatherings seemed gradually to decrease in amount, and finally the famous pigeon roost became entirely deserted. The merciless cruelty of the featherless and wingless bipeds, who would tramp for miles through the woods to reach this helpless mass of fluttering and roaring life to make their causeless and deadly attacks upon these unsuspecting and bewildered victims was fearful, Mention may be found, slightly more at length possibly, in the reminiscences, of both the matters briefly touched upon above. The pigeon roost has been forsaken probably for full eighty years, and the fallen timber has been cleared away by natural decay, by human toil and by fire, that terrible destroyer of the works both of nature and of man, for nearly as long a time; and now no visible token, no trace is left to tell of the unspeakable havoc which on that sultry July afternoon in the summer of 1 824 Avas made by that rumbling, crashing, thundering tempest as during those hours of mortal terror it lay in most terrific power, whirling and tearing and twisting those giant tree trunks as though they had been but chaff and stubble beneath its might. Nothing is left, in fact, except the memory of the terrible storm in the minds of a very few elderly persons and a name - Fallen Timber - a post- office at a lone farmhouse miles away from even the pretense or semblance of a town was once located there. It ought to be said, perhaps, tliat this postoffice finds it habitat not in West River, but in Nettle Creek township, which lies adjoining the former on the west.

First School

Ira Swain, whose father came in 1815 to Wayne county near Randolph -line, says that the first school in that neighborhood was held in a little cabin, 14x18 feet, probably in 1816 or 1817. The floor was puncheons and so was the door, and the benches were split poles with legs put in with an auger hole. The older pupils got wood enough at noon. That could be done without much trouble, though it took a large quantity of wood. But the trees were close at hand, and all that was needed was to take care that in felling they did not hit the house nor the children.

Tannery

Hugh Botkin was a tanner, and he had a tanyard in operation only a short time after making a settlement in the county ; and some of the old troughs that were made and put into the earth remained more than eighty yearSj firm, sound and solid,

Buena Vista. - Proprietors, William Gillam, John Heaston, Benjamin Peacock; twenty-five lots, two streets - Washington, east and west; Main, north and south. Recorded July i, 185 1. The first store was built in 1854; Benjamin Peacock set up a hotel; Ezekiel Kirk and Benjamin Heaston were original residents; Dr. Keen lived there awhile, as also did Dr. Blumenbach. There has been a Presbyterian church, but it has gone down, and the house has been used as a barn for many years.

As late as 1880 there were two stores, one saw-mill, one smith shop, one tile factory, one wagon shop, one church, a postoffice, all of which have disappeared. It is six miles from Winchester, three and one-half miles from Huntsville, eight miles from Farmland. The name of the postoffice was Cerro Gordo. The country around Buena Vista is very good. Residents near Buena Vista are John Jenkins, Leroy Starbuck, Welcome Starbuck, Walter Starbuck, Jesse Rynard, Tyre Puckett, William Demory, etc. [1882.]

The region is well settled, and filled with thriving and prosperous farmers. Unionsport is quite near Buena Vista, only two miles distant. A meetinghouse connected with a burying ground is about half a mile west of the town on the pike between the two villages. The church was built by a union effort.

Huntsville. - Twenty-eight lots. Miles, and William Hunt, proprietors. Location, Sections 27 and 28, 19, 13, near the head of Cabin creek. Recorded March 6, 1834. Keener's Addition - Stephen Keener, proprietor; eight lots, four outlots. Recorded December 29, 1848. Hunt's Addition - Twenty-nine' lots, Bezal Hunt, proprietor. Recorded August 23, 1850. William J. Shearer, surveyor. '

James Pugh had a tanyard in 1834; Miles Hunt kept store; Parker Jewett had a smith shop. Huntsville stands in a fine and fruitful region far enough from other and larger towns to have some room to flourish. It became quite a thriving country .village, but lack of a railroad has doomed it to decay. - v - . ;

Swain's Hill was simply a postoffice. Mr. Swain w^as a prominent settler and an influential partisan, and desired a postoffice to be located in the vicinity for the convenience of his neighbors and himself ; and his dwelling being on a sightly and beautiful hill, the name of Swain's Hill was conferred on- the office, and Ira Swain himself was made postmaster. It has long since been discontinued.

Unionsport. - Location in White River and West River townships, two miles west of Buena Vista; Hiram Mendenhall, proprietor; thirty-two lots; S. D. Woodworth, surveyor. Recorded March 30, 1837. It was located in the center of the proposed Union township. The town seems to have been well supplied with streets. Bloomingsport, six miles ; Maxville, three and one-half miles ; Huntsville, three miles ; Winchester, seven miles ; Lynn, nine miles; Buena Vista, two miles.

John O. Wattles lectured in this region some seventy-five years ago, and induced a company to form a community in about 1840. It went on for a short time, but before long "winked out," and many citizens lost heavily by the socialistic experience. A woolen factory was established in 1856. The mill was burned and another built in its place in 1866. - It was owned later by Amos Mendenhall. A grist-mill once stood where the factory was located.

The village is beautifully situated on rolling ground, the houses are bright, neat and tasteful, and altogether the town presents a delightful and cheerful aspect.

Hugh Botkiri, born Virginia 1775; Tennessee, 1786; married Rachel Keener 1801 ; Wayne county, Indiana, 1815; Randolph county 1816; thirteen children, seven boys and six girls. All thirteen lived to be grown, and all but one were married. He died in 1836 and his wife in 1837. He was a farmer and a tanner, as also an active Methodist, and a prominent and respected citizen. He lost his dwelling by fire, and did not succeed in amassing a fortune, but his children rank among the thriving and substantial citizens of the region.

William M. Botkin, son of Hugh Botkin, born in Randolph county 1823,* married Martha A. Hiatt in 1849, and Dosha Butler in 1868; ten children. He was an enterprising, wide-awake, prosperous farmer and business man, and was county commissioner one term (three years). He was an active Methodist, a thorough Republican, and an earnest temperance man, and an honor to the commtmity in which he dwelt, having been a resident of the neighborhood during his whole life.

William Chamness was born in North Carolina in 1793, and carne to Randolph county in i8t6, settling west of Bloomingsport on a farm owned by Elijah Bales, where old Billy Rish once lived, the land' having been entered by Benjamin Jones. He married Charity Moore, and afterward Margaret Hinshaw. He had eleven children, ten of them coming to bt grown and married.

John Charles was born in Wayne county, Indiana, in 1828. He is the son of Daniel Charles, who came from North Carolina to Wayne county in 1812, having been born in 1799. John Charles came to Randolph county in 1845. H^ married Eunice Swain in the same year, and Nancy Clark in 1862. He had six children; he carried on a drug store in Economy during several years. He was elected justice of the peace for White River township,-but the burden of labor or of honor proved too great, and he resigned the' position before his time was half out. He was township trustee three years. He was an elder among the Friends ; was an old Abolitionist.

William Cox, bom in 1773 in South Carolina, came to Stillwater, Ohio, early, and to Randolph county in 1823, and settled in West River. He died in 1857, 3.gtd eighty- four years. He had been married three times. The names of his wives were Elizabeth Thomas,' Nancy Mills and Laura Owens.

Daniel Cropper, son of Bela W. Cropper, was born in Kentucky in 1825 ; went to Warren county, Ohio, in 1828, and moved to Randolph county, Indiana, in 1833. He married Elizabeth Thornburg in 1849, ^^^ had five children. He resided in Huntsville, and was a farmer and hotel keeper. His father entered i6o acres of land, and after paying for that, and paying also the man who moved them from Ohio to Randolph county, he had just. $25 left. A rich man- he was, farm all paid for and money to spend. His father was a worthy member of the Baptist church, and a preacher among them.

Daniel Hunnicutt was born in 1770 in Virginia, and married Jane, Walthal, who was born there in 1780. They moved to Fayette county, Indiana, in 1827, and to Randolph couMy in 1832. They had seven children, all of whom were born in Virginia. Mr. Hunnicutt was a farmer^ and belonged to the Friends. He died many years ago.

John T. Hunnicutt, born 1816, near Petersburg, Virginia; Fayette county, Indiana, 1827; Wayne 'county, 1828; West River, 1832; married Jane T. Charles, 1851, and Deborah (Hollingsworth) Arnett, 1872; five children.

Peyton Johnson was born in i8og in Campbell county, Kentucky; married Elizabeth T. Butler ; came to Randolph county in 1834 ; had five children, all grown and. all married.

Robert Lumpkin Was born in 1756; married Elizabeth Forrest in 1785, who was born in 1766; moved to Tennessee, then to Randolph county, 1831. He was a wagoner in the Revolutionary war. He had twelve children, and raised eleven of, the twelve. He died 'in 1842, eighty-six years old, and his wife died in 1846, eighty years old.

Albert Macy was born in North Carolina in 1 774 ; married Nancy Hall ; came to Randolph county, Indiana, in 1819, and settled near Huntsville. They had eight children, seven of them having been born in North Carolina, and one in Randolph county. His daughter Phebe was the wife of Ira Swain, of Swain's Plill, West River township. Mr. MaCy died many years ago.

William Macy was born in 1786 in Guilford county. North Carolina; came to Randolph county, Indiana, in i82'i ; married Hannah Hinshaw.in 1809, and died after 1867; had fifteen children, seven in North Carolina and eight in Randolph county, Indiana, allof them born between 1809 and 1836. Six of his daughters married Hadleys (two families). William Macy moved to Morgan county, Indiana, about i860. , He was a Friend, active, prominent and trustworthy.

Rufus K. Mills was born in Wayne county, Indiana, in 1823. He married Elizabeth McPherson in 1844, and came to Randolph county in 1857. They had three children. He was township trustee five years and assessor' several years. He was one of the old-line Abolitionists and early Wesleyans.

and was born in Randolph county, Indiana, in 1821. She married John Retz in 1837. They had thirteen children. Her husband, John Retz, died in 1876, being sixty-six years old, and having been born in 18 10. She resided on what was her father's farm, on which he settled in 1818. One of her sons was killed when coon hunting by the falling of a tree. She was an Episcopal Methodist, as also was her husband. He was a farmer and a worthy citizen.

Robert Starbuck, Buena Vista, is a native of North Carolina, having been born in Stokes county in that state in 1814. He came to Virginia in 1823, and to Randolph county, Indiana, in 1833, settling near Buena Vista. He married late in life, being fifty-six years old at the time. His wife was Lucy Ann (Green) Gillani. They had one child. He was a farmer,. merchant, trader, hotel keeper, etc.

Ira Swain, Swain's Hill, youngest son of Elihu Swain, was born in Tennessee in 1809; Wayne county, Indiana, 181 5, near Randolph line; married Lydia Macy; came early to Randolph county; had several children; was a farmer and an active business man. He was treasurer of Randolph county during one term.

"' Thomas Worth was a native of North Carolina, and came to Randolph county in 1812. He was born in 1802, and married Sarah Macy, and afterward Nancy (Macy) Marshall. He had ten children - Theodore, Eliza, Aaron, Mary, Lucinda, Anna, David, Emily and two others. David was a member of the Sixty-ninth Indiana, and died in the service. Aaron has long been an active and efficient preacher in the Wesleyan church. Thomas Worth was a hearty supporter of the Wesleyans and an old-fashioned Abolitionist and an out and out Republican.

Frederick Zimmerman was born in Tennessee. He moved first to Penn- ' sylvania, on the Susquehanna river, and then to Ohio, and after that to West River, Randolph county. The removal last mentioned was made in 181 8. He bought out William Blount's 160 acres, and resided in the same place till his death in 1835. He had married in Tennessee Catherine Bowerman, and his widow survived him twenty-one years, dying in 1856.- They had fourteen children. He was a Methodist and a Democrat.

Jeremiah Bly, farmer, postoffice, Trenton. This . vvorthy citizen was born May 13, 1829, in Germany; he came to Ohio in 1845, and after making several changes in his location, he finally settled here in the fall of 1848.

William Miller Botkin, a farmer and son of Hugh and Rachel K. Botkin, was born in Randolph county, Indiana, July 7, 1823. He was the eleventh of a family of thirteen children. His father was born in Pendleton county, Virginia, November 17, 1774, and his mother in Knox county, Tennessee, February 25, 1786. They were married in- Knox county, Tennessee, in the year 1801, and removed to Wayne county, Indiana, in 1815, and to Randolph county in 1817. His father entered 120 acres of land, and continued to live on the farm until his death; his father died February 2"], 1836, and his mother January 24, 1857.

He was first united in marriage to Martha A. Hiatt, daughter of Louis and Charity Hiatt, of Clinton county, Ohio, December 20, 1849. I After his marriage, he settled 3h his father's homestead, which he had commenced to purchase from the heirs; he continued the purchase of shares until the entire estate came into his possession.

Williard Haynes, farmer, was born in Herkifhei- county, NeW York, February ii, 1823. He was educated in the common schools of this county, which, in 1835, were in their pioneer state. He was married May 21, 1846, to Delilah Wright, who was a native of Clinton county, and born there December 3, 1822. Stephen Haynes, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Dutchess county. New York, January 12, 1800, aild after making some changes, settled in this county in the year 1834; his wife and m rather of Williard, was originally' Laura Gaines, a- native of Vermont, and born there about the year 1804; deceased March 25, 1875, in this county. The. father of Mrs. Haynes (Empson Wright), was originally frojn Virginia, where he was born November 15, 1797. He came to this county about the year 1824; deceased November 28, 1853, on the land which he entered. His wife was originally Rachel Rubel, born February i, 1801, in Tennessee (now deceased). The worthy wife of Mr. Haynes was a consistent member of the Christian church, and he was a Republican, and one of the substantial farmers of the neighborhood in whicli he resided. Seven children have blessed this union-^Laura E., born March 5, 1847; Sarah E., October 23, 1849; Louisa M., December 22, 1851; William H., April 23, 1855; Lucy A., October 3, 1857; Stephen C, October 13, 1859, and Harrison W., February 22, 1862.

Levi Johnson, merchant, Trentoii. He was. born February 6, 1831, in this county. Mr. Johnson has been married twice ; the first time to Maria Blake, November 21, 1857; she was a native of Virginia, and born there in the year 1840; she deceased September 15, 1858. The second time he was marri^ to Bettie Butler, November 21, 1861 ; she was born in Campbell, county, Virginia, June 17, 1842. They have one child - Lillie T., who was born November 13, 1862. He was educated in the common schools of Virginia, and followed farming and teaching music for twenty-five years; he also taught in the common schools in early life; was for eleven years engaged in the mercantile business. He was elected to the office of township trustee of West River township in April, 1880. His father, Jonathan Johnson, was originally from Virginia, where he was born in 1803, and deceased in West Virginia in the year 1862.

Franklin township is located in the northern part of the county, being the smallest in extent of territory, as also the latest in formation. The township embraces twenty-four square miles, being six miles long by four miles wide. Franklin township lies in the valley of the Mississinewa river, on both sides of that stream, the river dividing it into two unequal parts. As to surface, the township is mostly rolling, though in some portions inclined to be level.

The streams of water in the township are the Mississinewa, in the north part, flowing westward ; Day's creek, entering the Mississinewa on the north, Bear creek on the south. Day's creek comes from Jay county, and Bear creek from White River township. Mississinewa river is in this portion of its course a large and important streani, serving a good purpose for water power. Bear creek is of considerable size, an^in early times was utilized to some extent.

Like the rest of the county, this part of l^andolph was covered with a heavy growth of deciduous timber of many kinds, among which oak, sugar maple and walnut were prominent. Many^gf fhe early pioneers made great quantities of sugar from their maple orchards in those original days, and though some things may have been scarce, "sweetening" was not. Deer, bears, wolves, etc., were plentiful, as were also turkeys, squirrels and all the animals of various kinds common to the climate, and region, and hunters found the Mississinewa valley a very paradise for t-hem. One of the first settlers killed six deer and wounded a seventh before ordinary breakfast time.

The first settlement in Franklin was made in 181 7 by Meshach Lewallyn, an elderly man with a large family. The great body of the township remained a wilderness for many years afterward. A few settlers, however.

Mr. Lewallyn, about 1819, built a mill on the river, which has been 3. noted point ever since that day. The Mississinewa was in time of flood navigable for flat-boats to Lewallyn's mill,- and not much above. <^;;

This place became the nearest point of connection between the settlements in Wayne county and the Wabash yalley, and for many years produce in large quantities was brought tHipugh the wilderness to Lewallyn's mill, and Joab Ward built boats and sold them to the produce owners to float it down the river into the Wabash valley. Many curious and some dangerous adventures occurred in connection with that old-time navigation down, the booming Mississinewa during the spring flood upon the stream.

The Indians were yet residents of the region, and some tragic occur^ rences took place near Ridgeville. Reming was shot and wounded near Joab Ward's, and killed at Meshach Lewallyn's, though not by him nor any of his family. Shadrach Lewallyn, one of Meshach's sons, shot and killed an Indian, and the natives were greatly enraged and made threats of vengeance. They were, however, quieted by the pacific efforts of Meshach Lewallyn, as also of David Connor, the Indian trader, who, though a rough and wild man himself, had yet a great influence over the savage red men of the forest; and he often employed it in the interest of peace and order, insomuch that he was, in solemn state, and with imposing ceremony, according to their custom in such matters, installed a chieftain among the Miamis.

Joab Ward, who came to Ridgeville in 1819, bought, land on credit of Mr. Lewallyn; and for ten years those pioneers were literally in the woods; cut off from their fellow-countrymen, and dwelling far amidst the mighty forests. The next settlers after the Lewallyns and the Wards, were, so far as now known, James Addington and David- Hammer, who entered, and, it is to be presumed, settled upon section 10, about two miles west of Ridgeville and on the river.

We are unable to follow the course of settlement further with any certainty. About 1830. the current of emigration -began to set with a slight force in that direction, which grew still stronger in 1832 and 1833, and from that time and onward till 1838 the township came to be filled with occupants, at least the land was by that time almost wholly entered. Not much needs to be said as to early efforts in the line of education and religion.. The usual "w;oods schools" in the greased-paper log cabin were established in these forest nooks also.

those outposts, and the Gospel Shepherd sought out the stray sheep in the wilderness, giving to them the needed care and comfort. And what was thtts sown has proved to be good seed cast into a fruitful soil, which has in these latter years, brought forth thirty, sixty and a hundredfold.

Carlisle. - Location on Mississinewa river, section 12, 21, 13, directly opposite the old town of Ridgeville, Edward McKew, proprietor; D. W. McNeal, surveyor; twenty-eight lots; recorded October 18, 1836, Ridgeville (first plat) was recorded September 21, 1837. Carlisle was south of the river, and Ridgeville was (and is) north of it. Both the towns were still born. Sixteen years after 1836 no town' was atjgither place, and the plat had relapsed into ordinary farm land. Ridgeville was laid out again, however, in about 1853, and this time the town began to grow. Yet it did not do much for a long time, not, in fact, till the Pan-Handle track was completed through its limits. But Carlisle never so much as "peeped." We have never heard that it ever had even so much as a beginning.

Ridgeville. - Location, section 12, town 21, range 14, north side of Mississihewa river, William and John Addington, proprietors; Jere Smith, surveyor; sixteen lots; street east and west, Main street; recorded September 21, 1837. Ridgeville (new town), Arthur McKew and Joab Ward, proprietors; 128 lots; streets, north and south, Race, Walnut; east and west, Water, Main, First, Second, Third. Location, section 12, north of Mississinewa river, at what is now the crossing of the Pan-Handle and Grand Rapids railroads. Recorded January 5, 1853. Thus it is seen that Ridgeville was laid out twice, and has had nine additions at various times. It was platted by William and John Addington in 1837. There had been a mill built by Meshach Lewallyn and a flat-boat factory, carried on by Joab Ward for years, but not even the semblance of a town had come into being. And even after the village was located by Mr. Addington (who was the proprietor of the mill after Lewallyn), no growth took place. Only three or four houses were erected, and the town seemed still-born. For sixteen years no business of importance was transacted in the place, and the lots had been remanded to their original farm state.

Some of the men who were, or had been, residents up to 1852, were Meshach Lewallyn, miller; Joab Ward, farmer and boat-builder; William Addington, Jerry Barker, Legraves and Jenkins. Jenkins had a store in 1837. Jerry Barker built a hewed-log house soon after. Lewallyn's mill was built about 1820, and in 1836 was owned by William Addington. At first, it was only a. corn-cracker, and was afterward changed into a flour-mill, with a hand-bolt (water mill). The stones were home-made. Joab Ward and Arthur McKew re-laid the town in 1853, calling it Newtown. It stood on the Deerfield state road, as also at the crossing of the Pan Handle (P. C. & St. L.) and the "Shoo-Fly" (Richmond & G. R.) railroads, and on the Mississinewa river, at the head of .flat-boat navigation. A fine bridge spans the Mississinewa south of the town. The country is good and the lands are fertile. During the summer of i|88o the people of the town and region began to build pikes from Ridgeville into the surrounding country. .

In 1853 the Union &. Logansport railroad was projected, and there- was large activity at Ridgeville. In 1853-54 there were thirty carpenters at work in the town at once. Railroad work, however, soon ceased. The Logansport road was not made until 1867, and the "Shoo-Fly" in 1872.

The railroad ceased in 1857, and the town lagged. Mr. Sumption's hotel prospered, and the stores, also, but up to 1866 there were no more than ; one hundred people, perhaps not so many. From the completion of the Pan- Handle railroad, the growth of the town has been constant. The foundation of Ridgeville College was laid in 1867, the instruction began in I-868', and the college building was inclosed and occupied in 1869. ' *

The Mississinewa river passes near the town on the south side. For. many years this place was the point whence flat-boats were sent down the stream, laden with flour, bacon; apples, etc. Joab Ward built great numbers of these in the earlier days. ' That business, however, stopped long ago.

Ridgeville is now a prosperous and thriving town, and an important and growing center of business and trade. In the vicinity is a great rocfe crusher 'and htmdreds of carloads of crushed rock are shipped annually. Ridgeville has a broom factory second to none in the United States, one bank and several good business houses. A fine state of moral sentiment exists, and temperance and good order largely prevail. Salo.£>ns foi^ the most part, have been suppressed, and wherever the public feeling and principle are strong enough to prevent their existence, good morals are sure to be in the ascendant.

Joseph Lay Company, Ridgeville. - The Joseph Lay Company, manufacturers of brooms, was organized by Joseph Lay and Samuel C. Lay, in Ridgeville in 1886, and was maintained as a mutual company until 1901 when it was incorporated under the state laws. The company at that time consisted of Joseph Lay, Samuel C. Lay and L. P. Sims. They organized with a capital stock of $100,000.00.

hundred men, fifty of whom are employed in Ridgeville and expend $60,000.00 per year for labor, alone. This company makes a specialty of factory brooms, which are brooms of miusual weight. This company is the largest manufacturer of heavy brooms in the United States and uses on an average, per year, of 70 tons of bamboo, 50 of rattan and 360 tons of broom corn. They are importers of rattan and split ha;mbo6 direct from China and are the greatest consumers of this product of any other institution in the United States. 360 tons of broom corn per year would represent the growth of more than a thousand acres.

The presnt officers of this company that have done so much for the business interests of Ridgeville are Samuel C. Lav, president and treasurer; Lester P. Suns, vice-president; Harry J. Lay, secretary. This, company also has a plant at Mattoon, Illinois. They manufacture house brooms especiall)'^ at that place. Mr. Arthur J. Lay is the manager of that plant.

Another important commercial enterprise of Randolph county is the A. & C. Stone & Lime Company, Ridgeville, Indiana. This company was organized in about 1903, by John Armsfield and C. C. Cartwright, of Portland. Mr. Will Nichols was superintendent for a number of years. They purchased thirty-eight acres of land east of Ridgeville and immediately began to crush stone for ballast, railroads and building of public highways.

The company has been very successful and has grown to enormous pro- , portions. Running constantly at this time three large crushers with an output of from 160,000 to 175,000 tons of stone annually. It requires over 3,000 cars to ship the material while hundreds of loads are hauled by wagons. The capital stock of this company is $250,000.00. This is represented by two plants, one at Ridgeville and one at Greencastle. This would make the Ridgeville plant valued at a'pproxirnately $125,000.00. This institution has been of great benefit to the people of Randolph ccainty as it has been the means of -making better roads possible. The company as organized at the present time has the following officers : A. B. Meyer, president and.general manager ; C. C. Cartwright, vice-president ; Ed Mgyer and William C. Cartwright,^ secretary and treasurer ; John Collett, local manager.

Jesse Addington was born in Wayne county, Indiana, in 1814, and his wife, Margaret Sullivan, in North Carolina in 181 5. She came to Washington, Indiana, in 1828, and moved to Wayne county, Indiana, in 1831. They were married in 1834, and moved to what is now Franklin township in the same year. They settled on Bear creek, "in the woods,"- three and a half miles from Ridgeville.

Joseph Edger, Ridgeville, was born in 1822 in Harrison county, Kentucky, carne to Darke county, Ohio, in 1824, his father died there, and he was brought up by his uncle, . Edward Edger. In 1837 he accompanied this uncle to Deerfield, Randolph county, which town having been laid out a few years before that date had not yet began to grow. -

Since that primeval period, there have been as merchants, among others, Beales' branch store, in a log cabin; H. L. Searl, B.. W. Hawkins, Fitzpatrick & Edger, Putnam & Avery, etc.

Joseph Edger married AliSte Kinnear in 1846, and has had six children. He has lived at Deerfield, Winchester and Ridgeville; went to New Orleans and Texas, hunting a home, but came back to Ridgeville.

George Huffman came to Randolph county, two miles west of Winchester, in 1 81 8; moved to Franklin township, on Bear creek, in 1838, and died in 1863, having had ten children.

Arthur McKew was the son of Edward McKew, who moved to Ridgeville, Indiana, in 1831, from Fayette county, Indiana, and previously from Cincinnati. He was born August 14, 1819, above Cincinnati, in Ohio, and was taken to Fayette county, Indiana, in 1819, and Ridgeville in 1831. He married Margery Ward, daughter of Joab Ward, and sister of Hon. Thornas Ward, of Winchester, Indiana, in 1844. They had six children. He farmed in Jay county four years, but returned to Ridgeville. He was county commissioner of Randolph county two terms, and president of Wmchester National Bank for sixteen months. He was a Methodist. Arthur McKew died in January, 1882, highly respected and greatly lamented; he was in his sixtythird year.

Jeremiah L. Mock, son of Daniel Mock, of Ward township, was born ifl 181 5i in Ohio; came to Randolph in 1828; married Matilda Pierce in 1834, who was the daughter of Buckett Pierce and born in 1817, and died in 1873. Mr. Mock had ten children and resided in Franklin township, northeast of Ridgeville for twenty-eight or thirty years, being a member of the Democratic party and in vocation a farmer.

Pardon Sherman was born in 1801, in Greene county, New York. He married Mary D. Parke in 1826; they came to White river, Randolph county, in 1835, and to Franklin township in 1837. He entered eighty acres. They had six children. Mr. Sherman was one of fourteen children, eight boys and six girls, all grown, only eight of whom, however, were married. His, wife died in January, 1882, and her husband ended his life among mortal men in about a month afterward.

to Franklin township, west of Ridgeville. Francis during his Hfe had nine children and James had seven children. They each entered ' eighty acres; they were both farmers.

Andrew and Alexander Stevens came in 1835. Andrew had eight children. Alexander had twelve children. Andrew has been dead many years. Alexander has been dead fifty years. James Stevens has three sons living in Jay county. Andrew Stevens had three sons - Garvin', Jacob and Francis. Alexander Stevens had two sons, Joseph and Elijah. The Stevenses have always been active farmers and Democrats from olden time.

Robert H. Sumption, Ridgeville, was born in Darke county, Ohio, in 1817; moved to Deerfield, Indiana, in 1835, arid graduated at Greencastle, Indiana, in 1845, teaching school more or less during his time of study. He married Berilla Ward in 1845 and moved to St. Joseph county, Michigan', teaching and farming till 1854. They returned to Ridgeville in that year and he kept hotel in that place till 1872. They had three children.

Joab Ward, Ridgeville, was born in North Carolina, December 14, 1790; came to Ross county, Ohio, about 1800 and to Champaign county, Ohio, on King's creek between 181 3 and 1819; married Amy Grave in 1813 ; moved to near Ridgeville April 7, 1819; changed his residence for a short time to a farm east of Winchester for fear of the Indians, but returned soon afterward to his forrher abode near Ridgeville and never moved elsewhere from that time till his death. He bought of Meshach Lewallyn a small tract of land, reckoned to be fifty acres, at $3.00 per acre. The land was situated south of the river near the present water tank. Mr. Ward built a house, scutching down the logs and making a stick chimney and a clapboard roof. In about 1838,. he put in new sills, raised the building to a story and a half, ^pebble dashed and shingled it, making, also, 'two brick chimneys and it is a good house to this day, still occupied as a residence, after standing ninety years. A fine spring was near, which in those times was reckoned a very great advantage. He had fifteen children, one still-born and twelve grew up.

Joab Ward had been a trader in Ohio but he had "broken up," and plunged into the Western woods, going to the bounds of civilization, Ridgeville then being the extreme outskirt and corner of white settlement. His health was poor and his prospects were not bright. Without means, without health, with a growing family, he still lived in hope and did his best, looking and wishing for better times. He first settled in a camp, cleared some land, made sugar, killed deer, etc. He was a great hunter, having killed more than once two deer with the same shot. At one time he killed six deer and crippled the seventh in one morning before ordinary breakfast time, He used to hunt deer by driving sharpened stakes into the ground with points upward at the places where the deer would jump into the field, often crippling them thus. Several times four were killed by him in a single day. He died November 7, 1874, having lived there nearly fifty-six years and being eighty-four years old. He was a Whig and a Republican. His wife was a very religious woman, though she was deprived by long distance from meetings of religious societies; she died in 1864. Both are buried at White River burying ground.

Mr. Ward was employed ^r many years in building flat boats for sale to persons who wished to transport merchandise during the season of floods down the Mississinewa to the Wabash valley for traffic with the Indians and the early settlers in that region. He was for nearly sixty years a prominent citizen of that portion of the county, the township receiving from him the name it still bears. Mr. Ward was greatly respected and highly esteemed, though quiet and unassuming and not inclined to press into active public life.

Benjamin Addington was born in Wa3me county, Indiana, June 28, 1824. His father, Joseph, Vas a native of South Carolina and his mother, whose maiden name was Ceilie Townsend, was born in North Carolina. They came to Randolph county in the spring of 1834. The father died in 1837 and the mother in 1853. His grandfather Townsend was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. Mr. Addington w^ married in 1850 to Rebecca Harrald, who died March 4, 1876. They were the parents of seven children.

Elisha T. Bailey, physician, was born in Clinton county, Ohio, September 19, 1821. -His father, Hiram Bailey, was born in Sussex county, Virginia, in 1796, and his mother, whose maiden name was Rachel Thomas, was born in Warren county, Ohio, in 1802. The parents removed to Wayne county, Indiana, in 1830, where thej remained until death. The mother died in 1868 and the father in 1872. Elisha, their, son, attended the common school and worked on the farm until twenty-two years of age, and then began the study of medicine under Dr. Stanton Judkins, brother of Professor Judkins, of Cincinnati. In 1846, he was examined by the Wayne county Medical Board and licensed to practice medicine. In 1847, he lofcated at Emmettsville, Randolph county and practiced four years, then attended the Miami Medical College at Cincinnati, Ohio, graduating in that institution. In 1854 he located at Ridgeville, where he continued the practice of his profession. He was appointed postmaster at Emmettsville in 1848, and at Ridgeville in. 1862. He also served as township trustee four years. In 1845, he was married to Julia A. Morgan, a native of Randolph county, who died in November 17, 1854. On the 27th of September, 1856, he married Paulina Mack. Her father, Jei-emiah L. Mack, was a native of Ohio, and her mother.

Abraham Roe, farmer, was born in Ohio April lo, 1819. 'His father, Ezekiel, was born in Pennsylvania and his mother, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Funk, a native of the same state. His father died June 20, i860, and his mother in 1863, both in Randolph county. Mr. Roe came to this county at a time when Indians and wild game abounded. He killed, according to his own testimony, almost one thousand deer, the largest part of this number having 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. They were 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 always followed' the occupation of farming.

Mrs. Angeline Whipple, housekeeper, Ridgeville, was born in Randolph county, Indiana. 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 McK'ew, a native of Randolph county, and son of Arthur McKew. Her husband was born July 13, 1854 and died July 6, 1 879. They had two children.

Ward Township. - 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 Missis- . sinewa 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 Mississirifewa. It is one of the northern tier in the county, extending on the north to the Jay couhy 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 between the two rivers.

Originally, like the county in general, the earth was covered with a thick and heavy forest of many kinds of trees, the weight and burden of which sixty years of' wearisome labor, performed 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. To get rid of the timber has, in days gone by, been a fearful task ; a task, too, till within a few years, well-night useless, except that it was taken out of the way. The labor of clearing the -ground and of f encir% 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 hum.an 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.

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 tim.e 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 13, township 21, range 14, and was entered by James Strain. We have not met his name in any account of the primitive settlement of the valley.

The next entry was by Daniel Richardson. The land lay directly north of Strain's section, and on both sides of the river. June 10, 181 7, or three weeks after- Richardson's (entry, eight other entries were made, all quarter sections but one, one thousand three hundred and sixty acres in all. The parties were James Wilson, Benjamin l^ewallyn, David Kite, Daniel Kite, James and John Jacobs, Joel Canady, James Reed. These tracts. all lay in sections 7, 8, 9 and 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 lip near Stone Station. James and Tense Massey, Allen Wall and others, had settled on the river east of Deerfield. Robert Taylor was on the creek which conies 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 Deerfield, June 23, 18 17. 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, a,nd 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 trade center. 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 fped their longing souls with heavenly manna. Still, schools were foiuid even there. The log cabin, the huge stick drimney, 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, Isaac Jenkinson and more besides, emerged from those dim forest shades, into the bri^ter 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.

Ward township was entered mostly between 1836 and 1838 inclusive, during which time an immense amotmt 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 one hundred 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 John Gray was near by. David Connor's trading house was above Deerfield and the Mississinewa valley witnessed 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.

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 morasses, 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 sunlight and starlight, in rain or in shine, come winter come summer, do that fearful work no more forever ! -

Deerfield. - Location, sections i6 and 17, 21, 14, south side of Mississinewa river. 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. In 1837, four log cabins constituted, the sum total of that embryo town. In one of them, Henry Taylor played at keeping hotel and also sold whisky. In another, Henry Sweet worked as a blacksmith. Jonathan Thomas lived near and was a farmer. William Anderson was also a resident but what was his occupation is to us utterly unknown. Edward Edger came there to show the dwellers in those woods what could be accomplished in the business of a merchant, bringing with him a magnificent stock of goods, the value of which could not have been less than $200. After a time, a second store was opened by John Jenkinson. A somewhat amusing instance of apparent larceny occurred in connection with Mr. Jenkinson's stock of goods. Some ribbons were missing and in these days the absence of a few rolls of ribbons would be readily discovered. The lost treasure was looked for high and low and were given over at last as having been stolen. They had been stolen in fact, but iiot by felonious biped burglars. They were found weeks afterw^ard in a mouse hole in one of the logs of the wall. George Ritenour owned a mill one mile below Deerfield very early, as he was one among the very first settlers in the region. 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.^ Much grain and stock changed hands there; many goods were sold; a woolen factory, a grist-mill, etc., were built and altogether, that town became a lively place.

But the era of railroads in this region began and drew the current of business elsewhere. Especially since the Union & Logansport and the R. & G. R. R.'s have been made has the town rapidly declined. At one time a grist-mill 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. ' At one time Deerfield was the only postoffice between Winchester and Fort Wa)me.

Randolph. - Location, on Pan Handle railroad, eleven miles west of Union City, one mile south of (old) Deerfield, three miles east of Ridgeville. Recorded May, 1867; seventy- four lots, 44x125 feet. 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 stock are handled.

two lots; J. C. Albright, proprietor. Recorded August lo, 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. It grew up immediately upon the completion of the Union & Logansport railroad and has become the center of some trade. In 1880, there were three stores. It now has one bank, one posto'ffice, one hotel, one schoolhouse, two churches - United Brethren, frame, 1870; Methodist Episcopal, brick, 1877, also all merchandise is handled here; one cemetery. The town has some growth and does a fair business. It is seven miles from Union City, four miles from Randolph and five miles from Deerfield.

Stone Station (Clark Post Office) - Small unincorporated town and station on Richmond & Grand Rapids railroad on sections 30 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. 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 Clevenger was born in Pennsylvania in 181 6 and came to Randolph county, Indiana, about 1850; married first in Pennsylvania but lost his wife there and was married again in Randolph county, in 185 1. His second wife was Sarah Ann Smiley, who was born in 1838 and whose parents moved to Randolph county the same year. Mr. Clevenger moved to Pennsylvania after living awhile here, but he returned again and took up his permanent abode two miles east of Deerfield on the Greenville state road. He had only three children. He was a thriving farmer, owning about one hundred and forty acres of land; a, Democrat in politics and township trustee during two terms, 1876-80.

William Doty was born in Maryland. He came to Butler county, Ohio, and to Randolph county, Indiana, the latter removal having been made in 1828. He was the father of eleven children. Mr. Doty was a farmer, residing just across the Mississinewa river from Deerfield.

Samuel Emery. - Among the quaint personages of the pioneer times of Randolph county, 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, 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, hrave, honest backwoodsman. He says, in substance : "There cjipe to my store in Winchester a strange, uncouth-looking fellow with a byndle 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 ^jther things - powder, lead and flints ; will 3''ou trust me?' I 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." 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 perhaps 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.

Perry Fields lived east of Deerfield on the old state road. 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, settling in Ward township. He bought one hundred and sixty acres in the school section and soon after, forty acres more. He kept on buying at various times until he owned three hundred and sixty-five acres. They had five children. Mr. Fields was a Methodist and a Democrat. Mrs. Fields died very suddenly in the early winter of 1880. She was found in the morning, just before breakfast, sitting in her chair dead. She had been a member of the Methodist church for nearly sixty years ; in fact, ever since she was a young girl. [Perry Fields died August, 1882, aged eighty years.]

Jesse Gray was born September 9, 1789, at Newberry, South Carolina. 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, Indiana, in 1810. Jesse Gray married Sarah Stone in 1808 and in

181 1, in company with a brother-in-law, they set out for Indiana, the wives, children and niovables "being brought upon horses equipped with pack-saddles." They did not sleep under a roof upon the route, but, finding some relatives in Knox county; Kentucky, 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, and the Indians mostly sided with the British. At the first call for volunteers, Jesse Gray answered the call and joined the first company from that region. They were placed under General 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, Indiana, 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 everyday 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 never- .theless not easily obtained. When Fleming, the Indian, was killed at Lewallyn's by Jesse Gray and Smith, the mulatto whom Fleming had Avounded, Gray was living on Mud creek near EHas Kizer's. On account of the trouble arising from that homicide, he left the county and the state ancT 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 county, Ohio. A lady resident near Deerfield says that her sister lived on old Jesse Gray's place five years, from about 1845 to 1849, ^i^d *^l''^t '^^^ north of the Loblolly, near the line of Adams and Wells counties ; that he was then a very old man with a number of greatgrandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren. 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, had fled from Randolph on account of it and was living near Hill Grove. He had a good farm there of one hundred 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 to. the "Loblolly" about 1840. Darke county history mentions Jesse Gray as settling probably the first in Jackson township, a mile or two from tJnion 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 Dfeerfield, having had eleven children. Jesse Gray himself was twice married and had a large family. His brother, Plezekiah, went to Texas and died there. £|

Henry Kizer was born in- Botetourt county, Virginia, in 1776; came to Ross county, Ohio, and then to Randolph county, in 1821. He had entered land in 1820; east of Stone Station, in Ward township. 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.

Daniel Mock was born in Rowan county, North Carolina, in 1784^ coming afterwardto 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. Mr. Mock had ten children, eight of whom were married.

John Mock, the son of Daniel Mock,* settled east of Deerfield, on Clear creek, being born in 181 1 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, Indiana. Mr. Mock had a large family ; was a farmer and a merchant of Deerfield and a prominent citizen in Randolph county.

Amos Orcutt was born in 1825,' in Darke county, Ohio, coming with his father to Randolph county, in 1838. He married in 1848, Phoebe Ann Sutton and had six children. He resided twd and a half miles 'northwest of Deerfield.

Burkett 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. Afr. Pierce was married to Elizabeth 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 resided in the same vicinity until his death. His wife departed this Hfe in 1859, aged about sixty-two years. Their children have been seyen in number, to-wit: Matilda, born in 18 16, married Jeremiah L. Mock, had eight children and died in 1876; Uriah, born in 18 18, married Martha A. Mock, had six children and died in 1 878 ; Delila, died an infant ; James married Mercy Whipple, had thirtefen 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.

John B. Sipe is the son of Samuel Sipe, of Ward township. He joined Company C, Ninetieth Indiana Regiment (Fifth Cavalry), 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, viz., Isaac and Martin (Van Buren). The latter was prisoner of war at Richmond, Belle Isle and Andersoiiville for many months, but was at length set free and joined his regiment. They were all mustered out together. He resided on the old homestead. The voters of Ward township chose him as their trustee in the spring of 1880.

John H. Sipe was a farmer of Ward township. He was born in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, in 1802; married Mary Brubaker in 1824, came to Randolph county, Indiana, in 1842; has had nine children. 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 saw-mill near Mr. Sipe's, where the state road crosses Clear creek, east of Deerfield. Mr. Sipe rebuilt the mill and kept it in operation till the spring of 1880.

Samuel Sipe was born in Pennsylvania in 1798; married Barbara Brubaker in 1823 and came to Ward township, Randolph county, Indiana, in 1847. They had ten children. He entered no land, as he came to the county too late for that. He owned, however, two hundred and forty 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 survived her husband. She died October 8, 1882.

Temple Smith was born in 1806, in Adair county, Kentucky; went to Highland county, Ohio, in 181 1, and came to Randolph county, Indiana, in 1819. He resided thirty-six years west of Bloomingsport - six years at Bueha Vista, two years at Farmland and fifteen years east of Stone Station, Ward township. He married Priscilla Crossley'in 1827 (born in 1809). They had twelve children. 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 tibout 1779. His wife's maiden name was Sarah Beechy and they had ten children, all grown and married. 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. Nearly the only settlers east of Deerfield in 1819 were the Masseys and 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 i8i8.- 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. It is 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 18 13; came to Wayne county, Indiana, 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 time 980 acres and had it all under fence. His first wife died in April, 1878, and his second wife. in October, 1S79. He has had ten children.

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, Indiana, near and north of Liber in 1836, and to Deerfield, Randolph county, in 1847. He had thirteen children. They reside in Randolph, Jay and Adams counties, Indiana, 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. It was afterward owned by his son, Willis Whipple. He was twice married.

Thomas L. Addington, farmer, P O. Randolph, was a native of, Wayne county, Indiana, and was born January 26, 1829. His father, James Addington, was a native of South Carolina and came to Wayne county, Indiana, in 1806. About the year 1809, he married Miss Nancy Lewallyn, by whom he had thirteen children: John L. (deceased), William (killed by- lightning in 1852), Benjamin G., Rachel, Thomas L. (our subject), Isaac and Mary. The elder Addington died in Kansas in i860, while there visiting friends. His father-in-law, Meshach Lewallyn, came to this county about the' year 18 t8', and erected the first mill on the Mississinewa river. He came with his parents to this county in 1832 and settled in the woods; he attended school in a log cabin witli slab seats, greased paper windows and a board, supported on pins in the wall, for a writing-desk. He was married in September, 1852, to Miss Marybeth Woodard, by whom he had two children - Melissa anc William. Mrs. Addington died in 1854 and in 1857 ^^ married Miss Nancy Pierce, daughter of Burkett Pierce. By her he had four children : Marybeth (deceased), Elizabeth, Els worth and Anthony.

David Almonrode (deceased) was born in Rockbridge county, Virginia, 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.

Other men prominent in the early history of Ward township were : William O. King, Elisha L. Lollar^ William Montgomery, Thomas G. Mullen, Uriah Pierce, David Pogue, Doctor John Purcell, Jesse Riddlebarger, James A. Sipe (a Mexican soldier), John Smiley, Walter Smiley, William Stick, John R. Warren and Alexander Vorhis. Mr. Vorhis was located near Deer- " field until about 1890 at which time he moved to Winchester.

Mr. Vorhis by his personal characteristics won many friends and enjoyed the confidence of the public. In 1863 he married Hettie M. Drew, Shelby county. New York.

Wayne Township. - Wayne township was created in 1838. It lies on the east side of Randolph county, Indiana, with Jackson township north, Darke county east. Greens fork township on the south and White River township at the west. The township is about eight miles north and south and five miles east and west, containing about forty sections, It lies on both sides of the old (Wayne's) boundary, embracing most of township 17 and the south part of township 18 north, range i west and the north part of township 19, and all of township 20, range 15 east. It is located upon Greenville and Dismal creeks and also on White river and Little Mississinewa river. The surface is mostly level and some of it quite low, though probably its entire extent is tillable by proper drainage. Greenville creek is in the southeast, Dismal in the central east, Little Mississinewa in the center and northeast and White rivet in the west. The western part was first settled in 1818 and onward. The first settlers were at Jericho. Amos Peacock, Benoni Hill, Hiram Hill and Abram Peacock were perhaps the first. They came in 1818. Joshua Foster came very early in 1 819 or 1820. Robert Murphy, three and a half miles south of Union City, came in 1834. Settlers in that region and soon after were James Griffis, in 1833; Smith Masterson. William Kennon lived on the State road in 1832. He was the father of Smith Kennon, north- west of Bartonia. John Dixon lived one and a half miles north of Murphy. Mr. Green lived on the state road. The first important mill in Wayne town- .'^hip was Cox's, on White river, about five miles east of Winchester,- built in 1825. It was sold to Joseph and Benjamin Pickett before a long time and bought afterward (1853) by William Pickett and run till 1864; stood idle through five dry years and was pulled down in 1870. The first school probably was in Jericho settlement, among the Friends in 1822 or 1823. Matiam Hill taught the school in Friends^ meeting-house, with twenty or tvventy-five pupils.pupils. Friends' meeting was established about 1821 at Jericho. The first school near Robert Murphy's he said was about 1838. Several settlers came in that year and the neighbors built a little log cabin schoolhouse with no windows, but a log cut out for light. The first meeting-house in his region was at . South Salem. They used to go to Coletown, Ohio, at first where was a Cgngregational church. The members of the Friends' meeting were Benoni Plill, Amos Peacock, Henry Hill, Abram Peacock, Elijah Cox, William Cox. There was no preacher in the meeting for a long time. The first one in the bounds of the meeting was John Jones. It was a quaint but afifecting sight to witness those faithful souls gathering in that humble woods cabin and sitting in utter quiet, without a word of prayer or exhortation or song, waiting in stillness 'oh the Lord for the power of His purifying spirit in their hearts, meeting thus week by week, month by month, year by year, without weariness and without failing, humbly and in love both with God and with' men.

Different settlers came at various times. Some of those who are now prominent came later. James Grififis moved to the Grifiis farm in about 1838 ; Norton, near Bartonia; Graves, old town of Randolph; Bailey, who kept a store and tavern just east of Randolph in 1846, and for years uerore and after came very early. The father of Thomas S. Kennon, northwest of Bartonia, came in 1830. Mr. Shockney, father of Samuel Shockney, west o,f Bartonia, emigrated from Maryland in 1840. Williamson, on tlie State Line pike, south of Union City, settled there in about 1838. Elihu Cammack, on the S{:ate road, east of Bartonia, settled there in 1846, but was born near Arba in 18 17. William Pickett settled in White River township in 1828 and in Wayne township at the Cox Mill property in 1853. The Pollys and the Masons came in early. George Thomas, son of Benjamin Thomas, near Newport, Indiana, settled in Randolph county (Jericho), in 1835, and his wife in Wayne township in 1818. William A. Macy, north of Elihu Cammack, dkme there in 1852. John Hartman, northwest of William A. Macy. settled there in 1848. Gullett, west of Robert Murphy's, came to that-place about 1836. Poor settled near the Griffis farm. Joshua Foster came to the same neighborhood early - 1820 or sooner; Sheets, north of Union, in 1830.

The "Bee Line," the original Indianapolis & Bellefontaine road, was the second road in the state, built in 1851-53. The "Pan Handle" was begun about the same time, and constructed to Union City from Columbus soon after, but completed to Logansport about 1867. These roads are now parts respectively of two immense railroad corporations, holding each thousands of miles of track and millions of dollars' worth of fixtures and apparatus.

,At first, emigrants in great numbers passed westward and in a few years vast droves of cattle came East on the same route. Many persons kept hotel and pasture and feed stations for people and for droves. Immense crowds of cattle used to go East along this route during twenty or thirty years - in fact, until the Bellefontaine railroad stopped the business, in 1853 - seven or eight hundred fat cattle would be in a single drove. The road would be tracked in straight, deep hollows, as if logs had been "plumped" down lengthwise and taken up, leaving a huge mark across the road.

In Wayne township, James Griffis kept one of the chief stations for droves for many years. William Robison, whose father lived not far east of Winchester, said his father kept a tavern and also fed cattle more or less. The charges seem to have been low enough, compared with these times. The price for man and horse (supper, lodging and breakfast for both) was thirty-seven and a half cents. He says also that the boys had often to sleep in the barn on the hay-mow to make room for the travelers in the house.- The business of feeding droves seems to have been lucrative. At least, the men who followed it appear generally to have become wealthy, principally, perhaps, for two reasons - first, they had of course large tracts of land for pasture; second, the feeding gave them a home market for all the corn and hay they could raise. The business of keeping tavern was indeed important in those early days. When all the travel from east to west went through "by land." great means of accommodation would be needed; and, as it is always, a public demand created a general supply, and on all the chief roads and in every town, one of the chief occupations used to be to keep travelers.

- - The first entry in the county seems to have been made within the present bounds of Wayne township. The location is about a mile west of Harrisville, on the White river. How the man who made the entry got away in there, so far from any settlement, and why he entered that. particular quarter-section, would be interesting at this day to know, but probably the facts will be forever hidden in the tomb of the forgotten past. This entry was made more than a year before the first settlement, which took place in April, 18 14, and some fifteen miles southeast, on Nolan's fork.