Burr Oak, Indiana

Cromley departed this life in the year 1890. To them were born five children, four now living: the subject of this mention, John F., of Union township; Sarah J., wife of Henry Romig, of Union township; and Merritt J., who lives at the home place. J. J. Cromley grew to manhood on the farm in Union township, and received a fair English education in the common schools. Having a taste for the medical profession he began studying the same under the instruction of Dr. Kelsey, of Pulaski county, and afterward attended one course of lectures at Indianapolis, where he made commendable progress in the profession. He subsequently abandoned the calling and in 1S85 established his present business at Burr Oak, where he now conducts a well-ordered general store which has a liberal patronage. Politically Mr. Cromley is a democrat, and as such was elected to the responsible position of township trustee in 1886, the duties of which office he discharged with commendable fidelity. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity. Mary Loring, of Stark county, Ind., became his wife in 1882, and to their marriage one child, Carl Chester, has been born.

Passage source: History of Indiana : Containing a History of Indiana and Biographical Sketches of Governors and Other Leading Men. Also a Statement of the Growth and Prosperity of Marshall County, Together with a Personal and Family Histry of Many of Its Citizens, published 1890.

Andrew J. Kyser, a successful farmer of Union township, was born in Summit county, Ohio, February 7, 1827. He is a son of John and Rebecca (Warner) Kyser, both natives of Lancaster county, Penn., and early settlers of Summit county, Ohio, where the father was for a number of years connected with the militia service, and where for twenty-six years he followed the trade of cooper. He was a local politician of the democratic party, well educated in the English and German languages, and with his wife, first belonged to the Lutheran church, but afterward became identified with the Reformed church, in which he was a leader for fifty years. He died in 1873, a-^^d his wife followed him to the grave in 1885, both departing this life in Summit county, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Keyser had a family of eleven children, seven of whom still live, viz.: Andrew J., Mrs. Mary Sorick, Mrs. Sarah Vandersoll, Jeremiah, Elizabeth, Philander and Henry. A deceased brother, John, who came to Marshall county in 1866 and settled in West township, died there in 1886. The subject of this sketch grew to manhood in Summit county, Ohio, and in 1851 married Elizabeth Kemery, daughter of Jacob Kemery, a native of Lancaster county, Penn., and an early resident of Summit county, Ohio. Mr. Kyser came to Marshall county, in 1S55, and settled in West township, where he cleared a farm of seventy-four acres, which he disposed of in 1865, and moved to his present place in Union township, where he now owns 320 acres, 150 of which he cleared. Mr. and Mrs. Kyser are the parents of six children, three now living, viz.: Franklin M., Carlisle D. and Flora R., of Burr Oak. Mr. Kyser is a successful farmer and has given considerable attention to the breeding of fine horses; is an active supporter of the democratic party, and was formerlj' a Presbyterian in his religious belief, but now attends churches of all denominations.

Passage source: History of Indiana : Containing a History of Indiana and Biographical Sketches of Governors and Other Leading Men. Also a Statement of the Growth and Prosperity of Marshall County, Together with a Personal and Family Histry of Many of Its Citizens, published 1890.

Among the substantial farmers and representative men of Marshall county is William Shaw, of Marmont, who was born in Richland county, Ohio, December i, 1822, the son of Henry and Margaret (Williams) Shaw, both natives of Pennsylvania. The father was a carpenter by trade, and a pioneer of Richland county, having settled in Mansfield as early as the year 1812, during the war of which year he experienced all the vicissitudes and dangers incident to a life on the frontier. He subsequently became a resident of Hancock county, Ohio, when that part of the state was a wilderness; and after residing there and elsewhere for a number of years came to Indiana in 1842, settling in Wabash county, where he cleared a farm and engaged in agricultural pursuits. Ten years later he moved to Stark county, where his death occurred in the year 1870. Mr. Shaw was a man of great physical strength and endurance, and a representative pioneer of the period in which he lived. His wife, whom he married in Richland countj^ Ohio, died in 1870. They reared a family of nine children, five of whom are living, viz.: Stephen, William, Joseph, I\Irs. Elizabeth Rist, and Henry B. The immediate subject of this mention was reared to manhood in Ohio, obtained his educational training in such schools as the country at that time offered, and began life for himself as a teacher, in which calling he continued with good success for a number of years. He came to Wabash county, Ind., with his parents in 1842, and in 1S48 was married, in Noble county, to Miss Mary Gilchrist, daughter of John Gilchrist, a pioneer of Richland county, Ohio, who moved to Kosciusko count}', Ind., in an early day. Mrs. Shaw died in Kosciusko county, September, 1852, after which Mr. Shaw again resumed the profession of teaching, and continued the same for some time in Marshall county, at a place known as Burr Oak Flats. He subsequently engaged in farming, and in 1863 moved to his present place in Union township, where he has a beautiful farm under a high state of cultivation. Mr. Shaw's second marriage was solemnized August 14, 1854, with Miss Nancy Thompson, daughter of Job and Sarah Thompson, of Marshall county, where the family settled as early as 1S37, moving here from Kentucky. To Mr. and Mrs. Shaw have been born five children, whose names are as follows: Charit}', wife of Charles Stoble; Stephen A., who married Elizabeth Given; James C, merchant at Burr Oak, married Elizabeth Butler; Delia (deceased), and Alexander B. Politically, Mr. Shaw is a democrat, and as such, has been a potent factor in local politics, having represented Marshall county in the legislature of 18S3. He has filled various official positions in the township in which he resides, in all of which he has discharged his duties in an able and satisfactory manner. Fraternally, he belongs to the Improved Order of Red Men, and in his religious views is quite liberal, adhering to no particular church or creed, but believing implicitl}' in a kind and overruling Deity.

Passage source: History of Indiana : Containing a History of Indiana and Biographical Sketches of Governors and Other Leading Men. Also a Statement of the Growth and Prosperity of Marshall County, Together with a Personal and Family Histry of Many of Its Citizens, published 1890.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Union Township.