Fairmount Township (part 6 of 10)

"And sundry other devices. Tn the evening, council was held as to what course to pursue. It was decided to wait a few days for some modification of the President's orders. Receiving- no answer from the petition that had heen forwarded to the President, and getting somewhat uneasy, some proposed to enter the land in spite of the military. A meeting was held on the thirteenth day of December, at which Dr. Robert Wilson, of Texas, was appointed a committee of one to go to Washington, D. C, and see if something could be done at once to relieve the critical situation of the colonists. On the fourteenth day of December the colony moved on to Caldwell, some thirty-five miles, where they were joined by five more wagons atid twenty men. The mayor and a long processsion of citizens escorted them through the town, ladies waving handkerchiefs and men and children cheering. The troops moved along with the colonists without interfering with their progress. The day following, a mass -meeting was held by the citizens of Caldwell, resolutions were adopted indorsing the movement to settle these lands, and asking the President to order the troops to accompany the colonists to Oklahoma as an escort. Being unable to induce Congress or the President to move in their behalf, the colonists became restive, and shortly afterwards - Captain Payne having been arrested by the United States authorities, charged with trespassing upon Indian lands, and thus deprived of their leader - the colonists temporarily disbanded. Captain Payne was taken to Ft. Smith, before the United States District Court. Judge Barker presiding, and on the seventh of March, i88t, was tried before the Court. Captain Payne was ably represented by Judge Barker, of St. Louis, Missouri, who argued at length the Treaty of 1866. The question raised by Captain Payne's arrest involved directly the nature and validity of that treaty, and hence means were offered for testing a point u])on which the Secretary of the Interior and the ablest lawyers of the coimtry were at variance, the latter holding that Oklahoma was a part of the public domain and subject to settlement the same as other public lands. Captain Payne at this trial was nominally boimd over under bonds of $1,000 not to re-enter the Territory, and returned home.

"Since the above arrest Captain Payne has made four well-organized expeditions into the Territory, each time safely landing upon the Oklahoma lands, and there laid out towns, located farms, plowed and planted, Iniilt houses, and has as often been turned out by the United States military, seen his property destroyed before his eyes, and forced to the Kansas line, and there turned loose, he each time (knianding a trial before the courts. His last expedition was in the spring and sum- mer of 1884. He had with him two hundred and fifty wagons and about five hundred men, all being again dispersed by the United States troops and escorted to the Kansas line. Captain Payne and his officers were arrested and dragged through the Territory to the Texas line, thence back to the interior of the Territory, marched on foot, and often* suffering for the want of food and water, the object seeming to be to wear them out ; and then taken to Ft. Smith, and there refused a trial ; then taken from there to the United States Court at Topeka, Kansas, where public sentiment finally demanded a trial, which he was accorded at the fall term of 1884, and which resulted in a decision that he was guilty of no crime ; that the lands upon which he sought to settle were public lands. Elated with this decision, he returned to Wichita, Kansas, and, though shaken in health from exposure and exhaustion, he at once proceeded to gather about him his faithful followers. He soon found himself with the largest and strongest expedition that he had ever yet organized ; and in a few days he would have marched at its head to the promised land, when, suddenly, on the morning of November 28, 1884, while at breakfast at the Hotel de Barnard, in Wellington, Kansas, he fell dead in the arms of a faithful servant. He died without pain or struggle. His body is buried in a metallic casket at Wellington, Kansas, and was followed to its present resting place by the largest concourse of people that ever gathered together for a like purpose in southern Kansas. They numbered many thousands. The time will come when his body will find a permanent resting place beneath a monument erected to him in the great square of the capital of the State of Oklahoma.

"Personally, Captain Payne was one of the xnost popular men on the Western frontier. He was a natural-born scout, and inured to the hardships of the Western frontier. His mother was a cousin of the celebrated David Crockett, for whom he was named. Captain Payne was never married."

merchant of Baltimore. Mar\land. where she was horn. John Meskimen. i^Teat-grandfalhir ^A Thomas n. Dnling", Jr., was a soldier under (ien. Ceorge Washington, serving through the entire ])eriod of the Revolutionary War with a regiment of Maryland colonial troops. Thomas 1). Huling, Sr.. came to hairmount Township in the s])ring of 1845. ' ^<-' l><>ught of Xathan Dicks eighty acres of land located about one-half mile north and west of T'owlerton. Here he built a hewed-log cabin eighteen b\- twentv feet, with one door, two windows and a tirei)lace. Tiaving made jjreparations for a home, he returned to ( )hio. and on (October 3. 1845, with his wife and family. nameh, William .M.. Mar\", John ;ind llarbara .\nn. came in a twohorse wagon to settle in the traded to Cieorge Nose for clearing twelve acres cf ground. Here Tdizabeth. 'Thomas T")., Jr.. Joel O. and (ieorge E. W. Duling were born, hdizabelh jjassed awa\- at fifteen years of age. and ( leorge died Septemlier 2. 1804. The father and his family shared the hardships comnuMi to ])ioneers of that day. The first season he cleared six acres of land out of the green woods and ])lanted a crop of corn, h^ach season he added more acreage to his cleared ground. T.eing industrious and ilnift\ he began to accumulate. I le bought, in 1841). another eighty of Aaron \ estal. anil about i860 he

])urchased of the William Chanmess estate eighty acres more. In politics iVIr. Dtiling was a Republican and a pronounced Abolitionist. The Dulings are members of the Methodist Protestant Church, and have given liberally of their means and have devoted their activities to the firm establishment of this denomination in their neighborhood.

Thomas D. Duling, Sr., to whom extended references have been made in former articles, came to this Township in 1845. He taught two terms of school in the early, day, the attendance one winter being so large that he was obliged to employ an assistant, who was Oliver Meskimen, of Linton, Ohio. In 1846 Air. Duling was named one of the Township Trustees for a period of three years. ( )n October 31, i84'^>. he gave bond for the faithful performance of his duties, with Henry Simons as his surety. \[v. Duling continued to serve in this position until i860. The old log school house having burned in 1855, steps were taken at once to build a new one in his district. He offered onehalf acre of land free as a site. This site was situated on the northeast corner of the west half of the northwest quarter of Section 2^. He provided that this school house, which was known as the Liberty school house, should be open for all religious meetings, no denomination barred, when not occupied for school purposes. This building was completed in 1853. It was in this building that Marx- Ann Taylor taught when a very young woman. Mr. Dulings home was the scene of niucli hospitality. It was here that teachers usuallx' made their home, and itinerant ministers of all denominations found a characteristic pioneer welcome. Thomas Duling was a man of considerable education for his day, and in a few instances young men would not undertake to teach school in his neighborhood unless first assured of Mr. Duling's assistance and advice. ft was he, witli the help of his sons. William ]M. and John W. Duling, who

Was a pioneer who settled in Fairmount Townsiiip in 1845. Mr. Duling served as Commissioner from the Third District during the Civil War. and in many ways did his part to make this community what it is today.

got out the hui;c timbers, sills, posts and beams that were used in the construction df llic old Dulini^- home which was Ijurncd last winter. Tn finishing- the interior of this house the best walnut lumber obtainable in that day was used.

May 22, 1837. He came with his parents to Fairmount Township in 1845. He was educated in the common schools of Coshocton County, Ohio, and Grant County. Indiana, being- a pupil at different times of William H. H. Iveeder, George W. Bowers and Columbus Lay. Mr. Duling has all his life been engaged in agricultural pursuits and has been (juite successful. In politics he first affiliated with the Republican party, later identifying himself with the Prohibtionists. He has been for many years a prominent member of the Methodist Protestant Church. During the Civil War he served from 1864 to 1865 as a private with Company I of the Seventy-ninth Indiana Volunteers. On September 3, W ILLJAM M, DL'LIiNG 1862, he was married to Miss Matilda J. Wilson, born in Jefferson Township, June 30, 1844. She was the daughter of John M. and Mary Ann (Lucas) Wilson, early settlers in Grant County. Mr. and Mrs. Duling are the i)arents of seven children, namely: Mary, John M., Flora L., Frank, Eva, Oliver and Effie, all living. They have sixteen grandchildren and five greatgrandchildren. Much of the information appearing in this story regarding the Lake Galatia neighborhood was supplied l)y, t>r has been verified by Mr. Duling. who is still hale and hearty, though eighty years old.

were Edmund and Mary (Dean) Duling, and his maternal grandparents were William and Anna (Shryock) Aleskimen. Thomas D., Jr., was educated in the common schools of Fairmount Township, one of his teachers being William H. H. Reeder, frequentl\ mentioned as a highly efficient teacher of the pioneer period. Mr. Duling has lived his entire life in his native Township. He owns a splendid farm of eight}' acres, and has served as director, part of the time as treasurer of the Barren Creek Gas Company, which he helped to organize and became one of the first stockholders. In politics he identified himself with the Republican party when he attained his majority, later joining the Prohibitionists. He is an active and influential member of the Methodist Protestant Church at Fowlerton. On February 13, 1875, '"^e was married to Miss Laney Ellen Dean, born in Owen County, Indiana, July 29, 1850. Mrs. Duling died December 25, 1900. Mr. and Mrs. Duling were the parents of three children, namely: Melissa H., now the wife of Milton A. Rich; Sina Emily, wife of Lowry Glass, and Barbara L., who died February 2^, 1891, aged about five years. Mr. Duling remembers many of the pioneers who have been mentioned in this story, and has lived his entire life in Fairmount Township.

Thomas D. Duling, Jr Reeder Family

Jonathan Franklin Reeder and William Henry Harrison Reeder were among the pioneers of Grant County. They entered the land of which they afterward made homes for life in the year 1837. They settled in the southeastern part of Fairmount Township, and did their part in clearing up the forests. Both of them were of Rush County,

Indiana, to which their parents had removed wlien they were young from Montg'omery County, ( )hio. where W'iUiam was horn, .\oveml)er 15, 1813, I'Vanklin havincr been Ixtrn in llamiltDn Count)-, Ohio, June 18, 1806. The removal of their parents to Rush County was in the fall of 1822, where the father. George Reeder, died May 13. 1843. and the mother, September t2. 1858, both quite aged.

This George Reeder's ancestors, for the four generations preceding him, had the name of Joseph. The first Joseph Reeder was the grandson of \\'illiam Reader ( \\'ilhelm Leser), of the Kingdom of Hanover, in (iermanv, who removed to England, probably before the }ear 1600, and his grandson Jose])h came to Xewt(^n (Township), Long Island, Xew York, about 1650. He had with him John Reeder and perhaps other brothers. IT'om this John is descended, in the sixth generation. Governor Andrew H. Reeder (1^4), of Kansas, the true Free State man. The descent was thus: i. John; 2. John: 3. Isaac: 4. John; 5. .Absalom ; 6. Andrew H.

The four successive ancestors b\- the name of Joseph followed agricultural pursuits on farms of their own, and all of them, except thefirst Jose])h. were members of the Presbyterian Church, and citizens of industr\- and much respectability. The last two were deacons in the. church and noted for good sense, honesty and piety, as was George. who was an elder in the church ncarl\ all his life. All the Joseph ancestors had each two or more sons, wlu) married, and Irom them are descended manv of the Reeders of the different states. The second Jo.seph ancestor. ])rol)ahly late in life, removed to Morris County, Xew Jersev. His son. lacob, is celebrated in the earl\ history of X'ewton for his education, fine character and usefulness. ( Reeder was formerl\- spelled Reader.)

Joseph Reeder the third married in llopewell. Xew Jersey, about 1740, as his second wife, Susana Gano, daughter of Daniel Gano, and great-granddaughter of Francis Gano, a wealth) I luguenot, of Rochelle, F>ance, who. after the rev(K"iti()n of the i-'dict of .Xantes, barely escaped martyrdom by fleeing with his children and iheir families, about 1686. first to ( uiernse) Island, and thence to America, and he died at .Xew Rochelle, X^ew N'ork, aged one hundred and three years. Joseph and Susana had a large family, of whom six sons lived to have large families, and all of them settled in the Miami \ allc) . ( )hio. In 1763 he had settled in Loudoun Count)', Virginia, and his son. Jose])h. the fourth, having married Anna Huff, in Xew Jersey, removed to the same count\' in ]~()(). and a number of \ears later renuived to llani])- shire Counl\. now in West \ irgiiiia. and lived on the Great Lacai^tMi

River, whence with all his family he removed to Hamilton County. Ohio, in 1789. His son, George, married in Cincinnati, June 2, 1796, ^Margaret Van Cleve, daughter of John Van Clevc, who was killed b}' Indians there June i, 1791. John was descended, in the fourth generation, from John \'an Cleve, a Hollander, who came to Long Island, New York, in 1650; and, in the fifth generation, from John Vanderbilt. also a Hollander, who settled at Gravesend the same year, and Xew Utrecht, Long Island, in 1659. This John \'anderbilt was the father of Aris A'anderbilt and grandfather of Jacol) \'anderbilt, the ancestor of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt. The foregoing is an abridged sketch of the ancestral history of Franklin and \\'illiam Reeder, pioneers in Fairmount Township.

The Reeders had one brother and four sisters who lived to have families, the brother, George, the last surviving of his father's family, dying in Hutchinson, Kansas, August, 1900. One of the sister's husbands was Dan Wright, father of Rev. Harvey Wright, Bishop ]\Iilton Wright and Rev. William Wright, whose son, Ellis, resides on a farm owned by him east of Fairmount. Another was Prof. Ryland 1". Brown, of X'orthwestern Christian University, now Butler L^niversity, father of Capt. George Reeder Brown, who commanded the Ninth Indiana Battery through the Civil War. Another is John Braden, a retired merchant, of Greensburg, whose sons are merchants of Watseka, Illinois.

J. Franklin Reeder married in Rush County, Indiana, July 19, 1827, Nancy Furnish, and they had Alary Jane, ^Margaret, Phebe Catharine, Eliza and Asenath. all of whom married and have since died, except Eliza, and all had children. His wife, having died some years previously, Mr. Reeder, about 1853. married Fanny Broyles, by whom he had one son, George, and a daughter, the latter d\ing within a few years. The son married, removed to ^Michigan, and died some years afterward, leaving a widow and several children. Mr. Reeder's descendants are scattered, but those living in Fairmount Township are the children of Asenath, William ?*Iillspaugh, a former merchant at Fowlerton, and Mrs. Horace Reeve.

William H. H. Reeder, the pioneer, was of a fine mould mentally, morally and physically. Physically, of fine symmetry, handsome features, and of a magnetic temperament ; mentally, of an active, acute and strong cast ; morally, having a deep sense of the right and an abhorrence of anything unjust or wrong ; with a ready tongue, accurate utterance and good voice, his conversational powers were fine ; and if they had been so used he would have made an able and eloquent public speaker. But his ideas of the necessities of education forbade his entering- pul)lic hfe, and probably his taste did not incline him to it. He was, however, a successful school teacher a small ])art of his longlife. He died in honor among the best people, and having a very humble opinion of his own worthiness of everlasting life.

William H. H. Reeder married, in Decatur County, Indiana, August 1 8, 1847, ^^iss Elizabeth Dealy, and they were the parents of the following children, all born in Fairniount Township : Margaret Elizabeth, who married John ^^^ Broyles, of Delaware County ; Eliza Catharine, who married Joseph A. Broyles, of Delaware County ; George, who died at thirteen years of age ; Madora. who died at four ; William Henry Harrison, who married Alattie' Parks, of Jefferson Township, and who has served as Justice of the Peace : Flora M., who married Oliver A. Glass; Robert B., who married Hattie Glass. The older daughters have children and grandchildren. The two youngest children have each several children. William, who has no heirs. Flora, who resides on a farm of their own near Lincolnville, Wabash County, Indiana; and Robert all live on ])arts of the old homestead in Fairmount Township.

(Editor's Note. - Milton ^\'right, a pioneer of h'airmount Township, was born in Rush County, Indiana, in 1828. and died at his home. Oakwood, Dayton, Ohio. April 3. 191 7. His paternal grandfather was Dan Wright. Sr., who was a soldier in the War of the Revolution, and participated in the Battle of Saratoga. His paternal antecedents traced their ancestry back to Samuel Wright, of England, whose descendants probably settled originally in Connecticut. His maternal grandparents were George and Peggy Reeder, of Ohio, the former born September 24, 1767, and* died May 13. 1845. Dan Wright, Jr.. father of Milton, was born September 3, 1790, at Centerville, Ohio, and died October 6. 1 861. The mother, Catherine (Reeder) Wright, was born March 17, ]8oo, and died September 24, 1866. Dan Wright, Jr., and wife were the parents of five children, namely : Samuel Smith Wright. Harvey Wright, Milton WTight, Sarah Wright and William Wright, the latter the father of Ellis Wright, who resides southeast of lH)wderton. Milton Wright passed the early part of his life on the farm, attending country schools and for a time was a student at Hartsville College. When about twenty-one years of age he was a licensed exhortcr in the United Brethren Church ; in 1852 he was granted a license to preach; in 1856 he was ordained by Bishop David Edwards. In 1857 he was sent as a missionary to the Pacific Coast, and taught and preached in the region of Salem, Oregon, for two years. Returning East in 1859 he taught school a short time, and then served under the White River Conference until 1869 as pastor and presiding elder. He was the first authorized professor of theology in the church and taught at Hartsville College. He was elected to the general conference in 1861 and served forty-four years as a member of this body. In 1869 he was chosen editor of the

The Old W. H. H. Reeder Homestead

THE OLD W. H. H. REEDER HOMESTEAD Located about on? mile and a half southwest of Fowlerton. This hewn-loR cabin was bujlt by William Henry Harrison Reader out of native timber in 1844, three years before his marriage. In the early day it was pointed out as the finest home in that part of the Township. Up to the time of its construction there were but very few two-story cabins m the new country ot like dimensions and ele-ance. This cabin is still standing on the farm, which is yet in the hands of members of the original family, being now owned by a son William H. H. Reeder. For many years the son occupied this comfortable cabin, until it was recently replaced by his present modern residence The elder Reeder served in the Indiana State Militia before coming to Fairmount Township. It was in this cabin that the well known pioneer frequently presided as the arbiter in matters which came before hmi while serving as Justice of the Peace. In the early day William Henry Harrison Reede? was known far and near as a peacemaker. Upon many occasions he adjusted differences between neighbors which promised endless litigation and bitter enmities if carried into the courts. Well poised, with a mind keenly analytical, of discriminating judgment, and possessing a broad view of justice and eauity, his upright character and profound knowledge of men and affairs enabled him to command the respect and confidence of all who knew him. In several disputes where there were prospects of contention and strife he proved to be the man of the hour. His tact and resourcefulness served him in good stead in rendering quietly and unobtrusive y a good deal of important service to his pioneer friends It was at this cabin home hat many contentions were satisfactorily settled and friendships which might have been abruptly ended were made permanent and beneticial.

Cliurch, serving- as such the remainder of his life. He was an ordained minister of the (lospel for sixty-one years, a record seldom equalled in tlie work for religious and moral uplift. In politics IJishop Wright was a Republican. November 24, 1859, he was married to Susan Catherine Koerner. of Union County, Indiana, who died in 1889. By this union five children were born, namely. Reuchlin, Lorin, Wilbur, ( )rville and Kathrin. Reuchlin was born in a two-story log cabin Iccated northeast of Fowlerton ; Lorin was born near Dublin, Indiana, and Willnir. Orville and Kathrin were born at Da}ton, Ohio. Wilbur and Orville ^^'right achieved world-wife fame by their invention of the aer(jplane. This machine is now being utilized, with telling effect, in .the greatest war of all history. It was an invention designed by these modest voung men to bless and benefit mankind. It has by the exigencies of the hour l)een diverted from its original purpose to a potential agency of terrorism and destruction in the fiercest of all human conflicts.)

has the register of a school taught by this pioneer instructor in Union (now Fairmount) Township, commenced December 17, 1862. This record was kept by Mr. Reeder with scrupulous care. Mis penmanship is plain, easily understood, and would be a model for the present day. The record is kept on a blank arranged in his own way, and is concise. The names of his jjupils are given. In most cases the age is accurately indicated. The names appearing are those of the best known families of that dav, as follows : in Buckeye County, Kentucky, December 29, 1824. William Henry Harrison Reeder died at his home in Fairmount Township on June 24, 1885, and Mrs. Reeder passed away on May 6, 1892. George Reeder, the paternal grandfather, was born September 24, 1767, and married ^Margaret Van Cleve, at Cincinnati, Ohio. June 2, 1796. She

Mr. And Mrs. O. M. Bevington .And Family

Robert B. Reeder is a native of Fairmount Township, where he was born June 13. 1864. He was educated in the Township, attendingschool in winter and working- on his father's farm in the spring and summer months. He owns a farm of one hundred acres, part of which is the original Reeder homestead, and has been cpiite successful in its management. In politics, Mr. Reeder is a Progressive Republican and has served several terms as a member of the Grant County Republican Central Committee. In 1912 he was the choice of the Progressive party for the nomination of Representative in the Legislature. As a member of Fowlerton Lodge No. 848, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, he passed all the chairs and was a delegate at one time to the grand lodge. On February 5, 1892, he was married to Miss Hattie Glass, a native of Rush County. Their children are Crystal, George S., B. Dora and Edgar C, all graduates of high school or common school.

.^rew to manhood. In the summer of 1837, prolxihl)- July, he started West, on foot, to find sonic place to locate, where he could make himself a home for the future. Me walked to Grant County, where, after spending" some time lookinii' for a location, he found eighty acres in Section 3^), Fairmount Township, which had not heen taken of tlie Government. IMost of the land at that time which was thought to I)e of much accoimt had heen entered or bought hy peo])le hunting for homes. It was so wet and s\\am])y that it was supposed to he nearly worthless for agricultural jiurposes.

Pioneer farmer, was a native of Brad- \\'a\ne. He went north through ford County Pennsylvania. His fatli- the ' wilderness, traversing Grant er, Adnal Simons, was l^orn April ^ ^^ suffered from thirst more than he did while walking- on the towpath on his way to Ft. Wayne. There was plenty of water in the canal, but it was not fit to drink, and the settlements, where he could get a drink, were a great ways apart. After reaching Ft. Wayne, he found the Land Office and closed up the deal for the eighty acres. He left as payment for the land $100 in gold, which he had carried all the way on his trip from Ohio. After his purchase was made, he started on the return trip to Grant County, covering practically the same ground. Reaching the farm, he put out a deadening, after which he returned to Ohio to earn money and prepare to move to his newly accpiired possessions.

By the summer of 1,840 he was prepared to go West, he having previously married Phebe Thomas, wdio set out with him for Fairmount Township. Their mode of travel was by horses and wagon. They brought all of their possessions with them. They arrived at the home of their uncle, Bingham Simons, who lived a mile north, in the edge of Jefferson Township.

Leaving their goods at the home of their imcle. with the help of the early settlers he set out to cut logs and build a house in which to move his belongings. After three or four days they had logs cut and the house built and a door cut through the wall. Then the\' were read\- to move into their own home. They were obliged to prop up clapboards to close the doorway at night while thev slept, the wolves howling on the outside of their cabin.

To Henry and Phebe (Thomas) Simons were born six children, five sons and one daughter, namely, Jonathan, Martha Ann, Ransom Ellis, William and Adrial. One infant child was buried in the Fankboner Graveyard in 1841. Three others died of scarlet fever within one month of each other. William and x\drial Simons are still living. William resides in Fairmount and Adrial lives on his farm near the old home.

In February, 1854, Henry Simons was united in marriage to Elizabeth Ann (Walker) Parrill. To this union were born seven children, five sons and two daughers, four of whom are living, namely, John H. Simons, Levi P. Simons, Mata M. Buller, and D. \\'ilson Simons, Morris, Arthur, Walker and a daughter having ])assed away in infancy.

i'Mata Buller and her husband, Oliver Buller, own the eight}- acres bought of the Government bv mv father. There never has been but the one -transfer made - the conveyance to Oliver and Mata Buller.

r>elo\v are the names of some ol the ])ioneers ol" l'\-iirmonnt Township fifty years or more ago, as the recollects them : Jt)seph Corn, Ednumil Leach. 1. X. Miller. Esom Leach, William 11. 11. Reeder, John R. Minton, Idiomas Kstell. John Leach, David Lewis, l^dijah Ward. John llrewer. Stephen r>re\\er. llenjamin Ice. l^ilmnnd Dnling. Thomas Dnling, Cjeorge SinuMis. Cicorge Nose, John Ilca\ilin, Sr.. Abraham Reeve, b^lwood Smith, William ^laynard, Milton ^^'right. William Payne and Absalom b'nrnish.

The only one living at the time this article is written, to my knowledge, is L>ishop INlilton Wright, who resides at Datyon, Ohio. (Rishop Wright has passed a\\a\ since Mr. Simcms prepared this matter.)

One of the first chnrclus. if not the I'irst. organized in the east end of the Township was organized at my father's house in iS.jj. Among some of the old records I have in my possession T find the following:

"September the 2(\ in the year (tt' onr Lord one thousand eight hundred and fort\-two. We this day at lTem-\ ."^^inutus'. unite (un'selves together as a branch ol" the Christian Church to take the Holy .Scriptures as om- (Mily rule of faith and practice, as we have hereunto set our names. E. S. PARKS.

niiis organization was called I'.arren Creek Christian L'hurch. They bnilt a log church on my father's farm soon after this organization. The pews were made by taking logs and splitting them and then they were hewn off siuooth on the flat side, then ;i hole bored on the rounding side and wooden legs ])nt in. They were then turned o\er and set in position readv for (KHnipancy. This organization was kejM up tor a number of vears. until better churches were built in the connlrx nearby. Then the organization was abandoned, but the old log cluuch stood near a half centurv.

Chapter Xxii The Wilsons

VCHEL WILSON was born February (), 1719, and departed this Hfe Taniiarv 5, 1785, aged sixty-nine years and eleven months. John Wilson was born January 10, 1725, and departed this life October 23, 1776. aged fifty-one years and nine months. John and Rachel Wilson were married January 16, 1758.

Joseph Wilson, son of John and Rachel, was born November 9, 1760. Sarah Charles, daughter of Samuel and Abig-ail Charles, was born April 20, 1761. Joseph Wilson and Sarah Charles were married Jtme ti, 1780.

Rachel Wilson, daughter of Joseph and Sarah, was born September 20, 1781, and departed this life July it,, 1784, aged two years, nine months and twenty-three days.

( By Webst.^r Parry) Tn eastern North Carolina, what is now Perc^uinians and Pasquotank Counties, the W'ilsons were a prominent family of Quakers before the year 1700. Among the Friends families there in very early times were those of Alichael, Jesse. Edward, Robert, James, Isaac and Benjamin, Wilson, and probably others that I know nothing of. I suspect the Fairmou'nt Township Wilsons were there as early as 1695 ^^ 1700. I cannot certainly trace xour family further back than to thy great-grandparents, John and Rachel Wilson. In fact. I know nothing further about them than that Rachel, the wife, was born February 6. 1719. and died January 7, 1785, and that they had at least one child, Joseph, thy grandfather, who married my great-grandfather's sister, Sarah Charles, on June 1 1, 1780. He, Joseph Wilson, was born November 9, 1760, and died October 20. 1803. His wife, Sarah Charles, was born April 2, 1761, and died either the same clay as her husband or ten days previously. The records did not agree as to that. They were married at Symons Creek Aleeting and lived in Perquimans Count}-, X"orth Carolina, near Xixonton, where most all of their children were born. Later they moved to Randolph County, North Carolina, where they died and were buried.

Sanuiel Wilson and Ruth Thornburgh were married at Uwarrie -Meeting. Randolph County. Xorth Carohna, in 1809. They had a family of thirteen children, eleven of whom married and generally had large families. They lived in Hamilton County, Indiana, and Ruth died there on [March 15, i860. Samuel then moved to Leavenworth County, Kansas, where he died. His descendants are widely scattered throughout Indiana, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, California and others of the far Western States. I think it likely that his sons. Henry, Eleazer, Samuel and Nathan, may still be living, as I have not heard of the death of either of them. Henry, born in 181 5. was not long ago living at Santa Ana, California, almost totally blind.

Henry Wilson settled in Washington Count}-. Indiana, and died there. By his first wife, who died in 1855, there were six children, of whom, I believe, but two daughters married. One of them, Priscilla, wife of Samuel Trueblood. may be still living. If so. she is eighty-one \ears old this month. Henry Wilson's second wife was a minister in the Society of Friends, and died in 1894. Henry Wilson's father and mother having died when Henry was a boy of twelve years, he was taken and reared by Benajah Hiatt, at New Garden. Guilford County, North Carolina. His first marriage occurred October 9. 1816, at Springfield Meeting, and on the twenty-eighth of the same month he and his bride started on the long and tedious trip to Indiana. He was a saddler by trade, and the shop which he built soon after arriving in Washington County, this State, was still standing a few years ago.

i]y[ary W'ilson and Owen Lindley were married in Washington County. Indiana, on the last day of September, 181 9, and settled in Orange County. Indiana, where their seven children were born and where three of them were still living a few years ago. Owen Lindley came with his parents from Orange County. North Carolina, in 181 1, when eighteen years of age, and died in 1871.

Abigail Wilson and Thomas Symons were married in 1818. in North Carolina. They moved to Indiana and Thomas died in 1839 near Dublin, in Wayne County. Abigail died near Carmel, Hamilton County, Indiana. They had seven children, of whom some are living, one or two of them in Hamilton County, Indiana.

The ^^'ilsons are. I think, all of Irish descent, and I imagine that almost or quite all of the members of the family who were Friends (Quakers) and went to the Carolinas in early times were closely related to each other, but I have had no occasion to study the matter and it would be a task that would take both time and money to learn, if, indeed, it could be done at all. There were Wilsons who came with or about the time of William Penn and landed at Philadelphia. Some of these settled there, and in the country near there, and others moved south to Virginia and the Carolinas.

(Editor's Note. - This matter was prepared by Webster Parry, of Richmond, Indiana, who for many years has been engaged in tracing the genealogy of different prominent families of Indiana for interested relatives. I\Ir. Parry is regarded as one of the best authorities in the State in matters of family antecedents, and has earned a wide reputation for his careful research along this line. It will be well to note that this letter was written in 1905. It was addressed to Samuel C. Wilson.)

On June 21, 1838. he was married to Hannah Hill, daughter of Aaron Hill. They settled on the farm that remained his the rest of his life. It was a one hundredacre farm eighty rods wide, extending from what is now Mill .Street west along Eighth' Street and Fairmount and Western gravel road for two hundred rods. Their home buildings were located on the hill, where Joe Shane now lives.

Jesse Wilson was long identified with the history of Crant County and Fairmount Township. He was for many of the later years of his life head of the Society of

Jesse E. Wilson's name stood at the head of the list of active temperance and Sabbath school workers. He was for twenty years an elder in the church, and for several years belonged to the representative body of Indiana Yearly jMeeting. His ability and honesty in setthng decedents' estates were qualities well known in the County and Township, and his services were sought by both court and people.

While being progressive, as shown in the lines just written, he was especially so in other ways. The best, up-to-date farm tools and machinery were always at hand on his farm. The public improvements in the way of ditching and road building found a ready helper in Jesse E. Wilson. He was for years an official in the Fairmount and Jonesboro Gravel Road Company, and at the same time he was President of the Fairmount and Western Gravel Road Company. These activities antedate all laws for free gravel roads.

There was a great struggle to obtain the Big Four Railroad through the County and Township. A tax of fifty-six thousand dollars for a subsidy had been voted by the people. There arose quite a talk of enjoining its collection. This coming to the ears of the railroad officials, they refused to proceed with the building of the road unless this subsidy was fully guaranteed by reliable real estate owners. One hundred and fifty farmers signed the bond. Jesse E. Wilson was the first. He was liberal with his means in assisting the poor. Lending money and endorsing for neighbors who found themselves in close places for funds were very characteristic of him. His credit at the only bank in the County was limited only by his own judgment.

Nathan D. Wilson was born in Randolph County, North Carolina, December 21, 1817, and with his parents came to Fairmount Township in May, 1837. Shortly after he settled on the farm now owned by the heirs of John Scale, situated west of the corporation limits of Fairmount, he was married to Mary Hill, daughter of Aaron Hill.

build a frame house. He bought twenty-five large poplar trees of Xixon Winslow for twenty-five dollars. Either one of these trees would bring one hundred dollars now.

Xathan D. Wilson was a man of considerable ability, and was used in both church and business affairs. He was an elder in the Friends Church for thirty-five or forty years and served for many years as clerk of Back Creek (Monthly Meeting. He settled many estates, one of which was David Stanfield's, giving bond in the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars for the correct handling of - the business. He assessed Fairmount Township several times and served on juries in county courts quite frecjuently. He went AUNT MARY WILSON through many privations that people now would not know how to endure. Jonesboro had the nearest water-power mill. He would put a boy on a horse with two bushels of wheat. Sometimes they would fall off. In the dry season pioneers had to s-o to the nearest steam flouring mill, which, then, was at Chesterfield, Indiana. When he had wheat to sell he hauled it to Wabash. Thirty bushels made a good load for two horses in those days. It took two days to make the trip, and he got a yard of calico for a bushel of wheat. He was one of the company that went to Cincinnati with teams for the equipment to be installed at James Cammack's saw-mill that was built in l\-iirmounl in the early day. The company was gone nearly four weeks, in thr winter time, when the roads were very bad. Nathan and Mary Wilson were parents of thirteen children, namely: Joseph, born February i [. 1840: Fmily, born June Ji. 1841 ; Sarah, born June 12, 1843; Deborah. l)orn June 2(\ 1845: Anna, born July 26, 1847; Peninah, born April 12, 1850; Henry, born April 12. 1852; Rufus, bom September 10, 1854; ^largaret, born June 26, 1857; .Mvin J., born November 20, i85(}: Jane, born August 30. 1862: Thomas, born Octo- ber 7, 1865 ; Hannah, born June 24, 1868. All are deceased except Joseph, who lives at Newberg-, Oregon ; Thomas, who resides at Formosa, Kansas; Henr}-, who lives in Fairmount, and Alvin J., former Township Trustee, who owns a good farm northwest of Fairmount, where he lives.

Nathan D. Wilson died at his home, near Fairmount, February 14. 1881, aged sixty-three years. His wife, Mary, who was born February II, 1822, died on November 19, 1909, aged eighty-seven years, surviving her husband more than a quarter of a century.

The influence of this worthy man and wife will extend into the future generations, and their piety and rectitude are a memory and a heritage of which their progeny may be justly proud.

Samuel C. Wilson, farmer and pioneer, was born in Randolph County, North Carolina, October 14, 1834. His paternal grandparents were Joseph and Sarah (Charles) Wilson, also natives of North Carolina, and his parents were John and Mary (Winslow) Wilson, who came to Fairmount Township in 1837 from Randolph County, North Carolina. John Wilson was born July 13, 1784, and died in Fairmount in 1864, lacking one day of being eighty years old. Mary, his wife, was born July 20, 1797, and died in 1 87 1. They were parents of twelve children, namely : Jesse E., Nathan D., Cyrus, Henry,' Nancy, Micajah, Elizabeth, Eliza Ann, John IMilton, Lindsey, Samuel C, and Abigail, all deceased except Samuel C.

It is a tradition in the Wilson family that their early ancestors came to this country with William Penn, landing at Philadelphia. From this point members of the

Samuel C, Wilson attended the common schools of this Township, his first teacher being- David Stanfield, about the winter of 1S40-1841. Stanfield had charge of a school in a log cabin southwest of where Fairmount now stands. John Wilson had settled on a three hundred and sixty-acre farm about two miles southwest, now partly owned by Joel B. Ware and partly by John Dare, Ed Woolen and Lon Payne. The first recollection Samuel Wilson has of the new country as a child was when a clock peddler came through the forest selling Seth Thomas clocks, driving from cabin to cabin with an ox team. . His father bought a twenty-four-dollar clock. Another incident he recalls was the noisy approach of several Indians, with painted faces and wearing their moccasins and blankets. They came dashing; up to his father's cabin one day. whooping and yelling like mad. The Indians announced that they were hungry and demanded something to eat. After a short parley the fatlier provided each one with a case knife and turned them into his turnip patch. After satisfying their hunger they mounted their horses and single file galloped away in good humor.

'T was five years old at the time." remarked Mr. Wilson, in speaking of this visit of the red skins, "and to my childish mind the hideous noises made by this band of Indians were terrifying. I could not see much chance for a Tar Heel or a Hoosier in tliis country if that sort of thing happened very often. We got our mail at Summitville. where John Kelsay. uncle of John and A. W. Kelsay. was then serving as postmaster. ^Nly father was for many years a subscriber of the Louisz'UIc Journal, edited in that day by George D. Prentice, one of the great American journalists and a contemporary of Horace Greeley. The Jonrnal printed many descriptions of fugitive slaves, mostly coppercolored.

"Wlien we were getting our mail at Summirville. Solomon Thomas estabhshed a postoffice called AI in his cabin about two miles southeast of Fairmount. We then changed our postoffice, as it was nearer to the Thomas cabin. It was while we were getting our mail here that James Cammack came into the neighborhood in quest of a location for a saw-mill. The building of this saw-mill in Faimiount was really the first start of the town.

father. We traveled in a foiir-horse wagon. We took a load of bacon. It required four days to make the trip. Once we stuck in the mud in front of Ehzabeth Rogue's house on North Main Street.

"Father sold a great deal of stuff in Cincinnati. He sold wheat there for forty-five cents per bushel and brought back salt. Tt took twelve days to make this trip with a four-horse wagon.

"'My brother, Cyrus, who had a good education for that day. taught school in a log cabin southeast of Fairmount, then at the Benbow cabin. I recall the Underground Railroad station at Aaron Hill's quite well. One station was also located at Solomon Knight's."

Mr. Wilson bought one hundred and three acres of land, now owned by his son. Lin Wilson, as productive a farm as there is in this Township, which he drained and cleared. With the exception of fourteen months spent in Carthage, he has lived in the Township practically his entire life. He was one of the original stockholders in the Jonesboro and Fairmount Turnpike Company. He served four years as Trustee of Fairmount Academy. Believing that women should have representation on the board, he finally withdrew in order that a place might be provided for Mrs. Anna K. Rook.

Mr. \Mlson is a Republican in politics. His first vote was cast for John C. Fremont. He has served as Township Assessor, and was a member of the Indiana State Legislature during the session of 1890-1891. serving on six important committees, among them being the committee on railroads, the committee on swamp lands, and the conunittee on natural gas. He has been a lifelong member of the Society of Friends.

Mr. Wilson's first wife was Rachel Overman, born near Marion, who died in 1865, aged twenty-two years. On January to, 1867, at Carthage, Indiana, he married Elizabeth Jessup, a native of Rush County, who died in June, 1913, aged seventy years. Her parents were Thomas and Rebecca Jessup, to whom were born four children, namely, Elizabeth, Ann, Sarah, and Micajah, the latter being the only one now living. Samuel and Elizabeth (Jessup) Wilson were parents of thre(? children, namely: Lin, born March 19, 1870; Jessup, 1x)rn November 21, 1872, and Thomas, born December 19, 1874. Thomas died in 1880.

Lindsey Wilson, who lived during the last fourteen years of his life in Fairmount. was by training and occupation a farmer. He was born in Randolph County, North Carolina, December 19, 1832, and died at his home in Fairmount on May 20, T906. His ancestry for nearly two hundred years has been traced.

was industrious and tiirifty and owned a splendid farm of one hundred acres south nf I'^airniount. retiring from active pursuits only when advancing- years and failing health required him to do so. In politics he was a Republican. lie was a birthright member of the Society of Friends. After his marriage he joined the Wesleyan Methodist Church, his wife being a member of this denomination, and for many years they were among the leading members of the Back Creek congregation, southwest of Fairmount. He entered the Union army as a member of Com])anv D. Thirt\-third Indiana Infantry, but was taken sick, and afterwards assigned to hospital wtM-k. he being physically unable for army service. On December 13, 1854, he was married to Miss Jane Davis, born in Wayne County, Indiana, February 0, 1836. She died July 26, 1908. Her parents were Harvey and Maria Davis, and their children were Thomas, Philip, Henry, Foster, Jane, Harvey and Mary, all now deceased.

Lindsey and jane (Davis) Wilson were parents of nine children, namely: John H. Wilson, of Fairmount, born October 5, 1855; Mary M. Harvey, born l""ebruary 8, 1858, wife of Rev. Enos Harvey, of Noblesville, Indiana : Lucy Rush, born February 28, 1861, wife of Miles Rush, of h'airmount ; Rachel, deceased, born December 13. 1863; William F. Wilson, of Huntington. Indiana, born August 22, 1866;

Elizabeth, deceased, born March 22, 1869, married John Dobson ; Charles S., deceased, born March 30, 1872; iMartha J., born April 24, 1874, married Carson Payne, deceased; and Merton L., deceased, born April 2, 1878. There are sixteen grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

John Wilson and family left North Carolina in April, 1837, to find a home in the State of Indiana. Their journey was not attended by the difficulties which so frequently beset the path of other pioneers. It is evident that the circumstances of the Wilsons, from a material point of view, were more prosperous than those of a great many who settled in Fairmount Township and Grant County at that early date. They located on Section 6, of Fairmount Township, where the father bought 360 acres of land.

Lindsey Wilson was a good citizen, seeking to promote that which is best in government and best for his country and his comnumity. He was a good neighbor, kind and accommodating to all. He was a man of sturd}- characteristics, exceedingly conscientious and scrupulously honest. He gave good quality and full measure in what he sold and paid promptly for what he bought. Every contract, whether verbal or written, he endeavored to fill to the letter. He was always willing and anxious, when convinced of error, to make confession and proper restitution. He welcomed the stranger and visited the sick and needy. He was a kind father, an indulgent husband and a splendid t\])e of American.

"There's land that will never be worth an\thin£^," remarked one member of the party, as they traveled on their way to the site of the new home near Back Creek. And the prospects were not the most flattering.

Mrs. Wilson was born near West Milton, in Miami County, Ohio, July 8. 1848. She began teaching school at fifteen years of age, and taught several terms at Back Creek, Oak Ridge, and near Greentown, Indiana. On September 30, 1871. she w^as married to Robert L. AA'ilson.

About 1886, a local organization of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union was formed at Back Creek, Mrs. Wilson becoming one of the charter members and served as President for several years. In 1889 she was chosen President of the Grant County Woman's Christian Temperance Union. She filled this position with such skill and ability for eighteen or twenty years that her reputation as organizer and speaker spread to other sections of the State. Under her splendid guidance the Grant County organization attained to a prominent position in reform work in Indiana. She was honored by her associates in this movement, and in 1900 was elected President of the Indiana Woman's Christian Temperance Union. For three years - igoo, 1901, 1902 - she was President of the Indiana Woman's Christian Temperance Union, declining re-election because of pressing household duties requiring attention. In this position she again demonstrated her capacity as a leader, and under her intelligent guidance the membership grew and the power of the women of the State became more potent and their sphere of work and usefulness w^as broadened and deepened. Mrs. Wilson recently stated that the Woman's Christian Temperance Union has given the best opportunity for the development of woman's talents of any reform organization ever created. Discussing this matter, she said :

"What is wanted in the Legislature, in the Congress and on the school boards is the home influence, and that is represented by the women. This is why w'oman needs representation on the various boards which have to do with the welfare of w^omen and children."

Mrs. Wilson has done a vast amount of good work for humanity, and her official connection with the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of the County, State and Nation has been of benefit in a large way to this splendid organization, which has played so important a part in making this a Prohibition State.

Lin Wilson

Lin Wilson, son of Samuel C. and Elizabeth (Jessup) Wilson, is one of Fairmount Township's prominent farmers. Born March 19, 1870, he has lived all his life on the home place. He was educated in the common schools of the Township and attended Fairmount Academy. He has always affiliated with the Republican party, is a member of Masonic Lodge No. 635, of Fairmount, and of the Friends Church. On December, 1894, he was married to Miss Effie G. Davis, a native of Fairmount Township, born August 8. 1869, and a daughter of Foster and Dorinda (Rush) Davis. To this union two children were born, namely, Dora E., now a member of the faculty of Fairmount Academy, and Hubert D., a graduate of Fairmount Academy. Lin Wilson is interested in all phases of up-to-date farming-, and has for several years done his part in promoting the agricultural welfare of the Township. He has served as President of the Fairmount Township Farmers' Institute, secretary of the Grant County Farmers' Institute, treasurer Grant County Farmers' Mutual Insurance Company for several years and also a director of this organization. His farm shows the energetic and painstaking care given to it, and the results of his labor from year to year bespeak the diligent student of agricultural matters combined with the capacity of applying in a practical way the best and most modern methods of farming.

Nathan D. W. Elliott, son of Elijah and Deborah (Wilson) Elliott, was born at Marion, Indiana, August 28, 1866. His paternal grandparents were Isaac and Rachel (Overman) Elliott and his maternal grandparents were Nathan D. and ^lary (Hill) \\^ilson. The subject of this sketch was educated in the Fairmount Public Schools and at the Holmes Business College, Portland, Oregon. He learned the printer's trade, working- in the office of The Fairmount News, being employed later at Warren and Marion. In 1887 he went West, working on The Neivberg {Oregon) Graphic, and later on The Daily Statesman and in the State printing office at Salem, the capital of the State. In 1903 he engaged in the printing business at Salem, and has been quite succesful. In politics he is a Republican, serving as Secretary of the Republican Count}^ Central Committee 1914-1918; member of Salem City Council iqo8- 1912, and again elected for the term of two years, 1916-1918. In 1910 he was chairman of the committee that installed a seven hundred and fifty thousand-dollar sewer system; in 1917 he is chairman of the committee that is building over one hundred thousand dollars' worth of new pavement. He is a member of Pacific Lodge No. 50, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons ; Multnomah Chapter No. i, Royal Arch Masons ; Hodson Council No. i, Illustrious Royal and Select Masters, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, No. 336. He is a member of the Society of Friends at Salem. He was a charter member of the Marion Light Infantry, in 1886, and was first sergeant in 1891 and cajv tain in 1892. Mr. Elliott was married in Newberg, Oregon, April 19, 1898, to Miss Clara E. Hodson, born at Carthage, Indiana, a daughter of Gideon and Delphina (Coffin) Hodson, both natives of Indiana, and of the same family of Coffins that played an important pan in the L^nderground Railroad in early days. For generations back I lie 1 lod-

Nathan D. W. Elliott

Clyde N. Wilson,, son of Alvin J. and Margaret (Ncal) Wilson, and a grandson of Nathan D. Wilson, is a native of Fairmount Township. Mr. Wilson now holds an excellent position as head of the Business Department of the Shehoygan (Wisconsin) High School.

Jesse Webster Wilson, son of C. AI. and Olive (Charles) Wilson, was born at Fairmount. Indiana, October 23, 1884. He attended the common schools, finishing his education at St. Louis and Paragould, Arkansas. While at Paragould he graduated in a business college and then accepted a position on The Paragould Soliphonc, a daily newspaper published there. He remained with this paper until he was seventeen years of age, at which time he accepted a position as assistant bookkeeper with the Stewart-Alexander Lumber Company at Gifford, Arkansas, and was soon promoted to assistant manager and was later transferred to Memphis, Tennessee. Air. Wilson proved his efficiency and was soon again promoted, this time to the main office of the firm at St. Louis. Vov a time he was manager of their jilanl at Maugham, Louisiana. Since May, 1913, he has occupied the important position of manager of the Mississippi Lumber Company; he is now located at Meridian, Mississippi, at which place lie resides w ith Iiis family.

Mexican War

While the Society of Friends do not encourage war and strife, as a denomination, but stand, instead, as a church, for peace and arbitration among nations, this community, where peace principles then largely predominated, contributed as many volunteers to the Union Army during the Civil War as any other locality of similar population.

John Vetor John B. Hollingsworth

JOHN B. HOLLINGSWORTH Ivetired monument dealer, was born in Hudson County, Ohio, August 5, 1836. His grandparents were natives of Pittsburgh, as were his parents, William Hollingsworth, born June _'5, 181 1, and Lucinda, born May 8, 1814. William and Lucinda' Hollingsworth were the parents of six children, namely: Wesley B., John 1!., Gilmore, Mariah, Isabel and William. In 1856 John B. Hollingsworth came to Fairmount Township with his parents, locating in Fairmount, then a village of about a dozen houses. The father opened the first cabinet shop in the Township, making household furniture of all kinds by hand, and supplying pioneers with coffins for their dead. John B. went to school at White Hall and also at Summitville. He started to learn the carpenter trade with his uncle, William Wellington, then living at Summitville, remain-' ing with his relative about one year, then returning to Fairmount and working at odd jobs until the spring of 1861. On April 23, 1861, he enlisted in Company K, Eighth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, for the three months' service, remaining with this regiment until the command was mustered out on August 6, 1861. He, with Smith Kelsay and Isaac Smithson, were the first three Fairmount Township men who at the outbreak of war responded to President Lincoln's call for troops. October I, 1861, Hollingsworth enlisted in Company H, Twelfth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, serving seven months in this regiment. With this command he was discharged May 18, 1862. On August 10, 1862, he volunteered for the third time, enlisting in Company H, Eighth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, for three years, or until the close of the war. The Eighth was mustered out June 14, 1865. He was with his regiment at the battle of Rich Mountain. West Virginia, July 12. 1861. During his second enlistment his regiment was on guard duty, being stationed near Sharpsburg, Maryland, guarding the Potomac River. During his third enlistment he saw hard service with the Eighth Indiana Infantry, participating with his command in the battles of Blackwater. Missouri. Port Gibson, Champion Hills, Jackson, Big Black, Vicksburg, second battle of Jackson, Hall Town, Oppcquon, New Market. Cedar Creek and T'isher's Hill. At Cedar Creek, on October 19, 1864. just before Gen. Phil Sheridan arrived to rally his deinoralized army, Hollingsworth met Harry Norton, who was then sick. Hollingsworth helped his comrade along as far as Norton was able to go. The Confederates had at this point flanked the Union forces and it was a case of every man for himself. Norton insisted that Hollingsworth go on and take care of himself, explaining, after much effort, that he was too sick and too weak, to go farther. Hollingsworth reluctantly left his comrade. The Confederates were upon them. Hollingsworth wheeled around, fired at his pursuers as he retreated, and took to his lucls. making his escape to the Union lines as bullets were "throwing up dirt all about him." Norton fell into the hands of the Confederates, and was taken to Libby Prison, where h^ died. In June. 1865, Hollingsworth returned home and for many years successfully carried on a monument business in Fairmount. - On February 17. 1876, he was married to Mrs. Hary Hall Hathaway, daughter of William and Hannah (Stanfield) Hall, who was born February 11, 1844, in Fairmount Township. To this union four children were born, namely: Martin L., Morton, Joseph B. and Sarah L., all deceased except Morton.

Andrew Rhoads

Who was a shoemaker, was a native of Pennsylvania, where he secured a coinmon school education. He was a splendid mechanic. It is said of him that he could take a man's measure for a pair of boots one morning and have them ready to wear the next. In politics he was a Republican. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and took an active part in religious work; he was very conscientious and always endeavored to do what was right. At the beginning of the Civil War he closed his shop and volunteered his services, going at once to the front. He was killed December 31. 1862, at the Battle of Stone River, being the first man from Fairmount Township to lay down his life in defense of his country. His remains were buried in the Stone River National Cemetery. Andrew Rhoads married Sarah Mann, born in Indiana, and a daughter of Andrew and Martha Mann. To this marriage was l)orn John L. Khuads and Jennie (Rhoads) Thorn. John L. Rhoads was born November 19, 1858. He was married November 14, 1887, and his children are Glen, Bessie, Alta, Blanche and Lillian. Their present home is at Fairmount. Jennie was born December 6, i860; married August 17, i88q, and her children are Hassel, Walter and Lloyd, all of whom reside near Gaston, Indiana. Sarah (Mann) Rhoads had two brothers in the Civil War, namely, John and Andrew. They contracted the measles while in the service and died. Andrew Jackson Mann, father of Sarah, John and Andrew, also served in the Union Army during the War.

Jesse Scott, private, Company F, One Hnndrcd and Tliirty-ninth Indiana Infantry ; private, Company G, One Hnndrcd and Mfty- third Indiana Infantry.

Additional Names

John Evans, of the Eighth Indiana Infantry, who was poisoned at Otterville, Missouri, with a numher of other Indiana soldiers. Evans was the l)oy whom mv father reared and who came to Fairmount with us.

Samuel Puckett, of the First Indiana Cavalry, who was an own cousin, and a brother of Cyrus Puckett, who was drowned, and William Wright was a grandson of William Said. His mother will be remembered as Susan Wright, who married Frank Lytle, Sr.

I am sending you some additional names of soldiers and think I may have duplicated a few of your names on printed list. I am sure I have omitted many names.

The Montgomery boys were brothers, as were also the Lytles, Paynes and Thorns, with the exception of Bailey S. Payne and Lewis and Wesley Payne.

I omitted to say that John B. Wells, James A. Wells and Newton Wells are brothers, as are also the Stewart boys, John and Samuel, and the Beals boys.

Four Soldiers

Please correct the statement about the Smithson boys who were in the army. There were four in the army during the Civil War, namely, Judiah, Jehu, Isaac and Seth. Jonathan was drafted and got exempt on account of a crooked finger. Jehu and Seth died in the army.

(Editor's Note. - Mrs. Smithson is the widow of Jude Smithson, and although eighty-six years old, is enjoying good health for a person of her age. Her father was the late Mahlon Neal. She was born in Miami County, Ohio, and came to Grant County with her parents in 1839, when she was about eight years old. In her father's family there were six children, namely : William, Margaret, James, Eli, Lydia and Caleb. Judiah and Lydia Smithson commenced housekeeping in Fairmount in 1 85 1, shortly after their marriage.)

Joseph Whybrew, unassigned, was drafted in September, 1864. He reported at Indianapolis, took sick and died in Camp Carrington Hospital in October or November, 1864. I went to General Carrington's residence at late bed time and procured an order to take the body home for burial, with a detail for two comrades, Henry Winslow and Thomas Hobbs, to accompany the remains and see that he had a soldier's burial, which instructions were carried out, and he was laid to rest in Back Creek Graveyard.

John Winslow, a brother of Nixon, was drafted, reported at Indianapolis, obtained a furolugh to return home, and hired Silas Cook to substitute. When they both reported at headquarters at Indianapolis Cook was examined and accepted and Winslow was released. So we have Silas Cook, Elisha Elliott, Henry (Tobe) Winslow and David L. Payne.

In speaking of the early shoemakers of Fairmount will say that my father, /\ndrew Rhoads, had a shoeshop at the time the Civil War broke out, which he closed up and went to the front.

The building he was in was a low. wooden structure, located where the John Flanagan store now stands. He had the shop in the front and we lived in the rear rooms. Our living room door faced Washington Street.

Just across from us, where the Hahne drug store is now located, lived Uncle Seth and Aunt Mary Winslow, as I always called them. Their south door faced our north door, and Uncle Seth often coaxed me over there with a nice red apple or something tempting, and I will always remember them as jolly good friends of my childhood days.

I have been told that father would take the measure of a man's foot one morning and by the next morning the man would be wearing his boots. My father taught the round notes in early days, also played the violin by note. Sometimes they would bring a violin to the shop and have him play, but, after he was converted and joined the Methodist Church and jjecame a class leader, they did not sanction such things, so he quit playing.

I was a small boy, but remember quite well when the stage brought the letter to mother saying my father had been killed at the Battle of Stone River, on December 31, 1862. Uncle George Mann was staying with us at the time. My sister, now Mrs. ^^'ill Thorn, of Gaston, and myself, were the only children in our family.

After father's death mother sold the shop. He belonged at his death to Company G, h'ifty-seventh Indiana \'olunteers. We have in our home an enlarged picture of him, taken in his uniform.

came to Fayette County, Indiana, in 1854. In i860, with his parents, he located in Liberty Township, on the farm now owned by Wihiam Lindsey, about seven miles southwest of Fairmount. He went to school in Devonshire before leaving his native land, and also attended the common schools as a boy in Fayette County. In politics he is a Progressive Republican. Mr. Bartholomew is Commander of Beeson Post, No. 386. Grand Army of the Republic, having become a member of this Post in 1903, by transfer from Andrews, Indiana. He is a member of the Baptist Church. On Jul\- 28, 1861, he enlisted in Company A, Nineteenth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, then organizing at Camp Morton, Indianapolis, Col. Sol. Meredith commanding. No regiment, perhaps, saw more hard fighting during the Civil War than the Nineteenth, which was mustered into the service July 29, 1861. On August 9 the command arrived at Washington, D. C. In an engagement with Confederates at Lewinsville, Virginia, September 11, 1861, three men were killed and wounded. The winter was passed at Fort Craig, brigade headquarters being established at Arlington House, formerly the home of Gen. Robert E. Lee, now known as the National Cemetery. On March 10, 1862, moved with the First Army Corps, under General McDowell, to Fredericksburg, Virginia, and on August 5 made a raid to Spottsylvania Court House, reaching Cedar Mountain August 10. August 28, 1862, the Iron Brigade, of which the Nineteenth Indiana formed a part, and General Gibbons' brigade, six regiments in all, withstood General Jackson's corps of twenty-six regiments from 5 p. m. until 9 p. m., the regiment losing one hundred and eighty-seven killed and wounded and thirty-three missing, Maj. Isaac M. May being among the killed. On August 30, at Groveton (second Bull Run), they were engaged with slight loss. September 14 the Iron Brigade was engaged to carry the pike at South Mountain, center of the position under General Hooker, losing forty killed and wounded and seven missing. On September i/, at Antietam. the regiment went into battle with two hundred officers and men and came out with but thirty-seven officers and men. Colonel Meredith was promoted to brigadier-general and Lieut.-Col. Samuel J. Williams promoted to colonel. Participated in the Battle of Fredericksburg, December 12 and 13. April 28, 1863, was in the fight at Fitz Hugh Crossing. The Nineteenth was one of the first regiments to launch pontoons and carry the rifle pits, losing four killed and wounded. May 21 went to West Moreland Court House to relieve some cavalry on a raid. June 12, 1863, crossed the Potomac River at Edwards' Ferry. The Iron Brigade was on picket dut}' June 30 in front of the Army of the Potomac. July i this brigade was the first infantry to engage the Confederates at Gettysburg, capturing Archer's Brigade and General Archer during the forenoon. On this day Bartholomew was promoted to the rank of first sergeant. About 3 p. m. Gen. A. P. Hill's corps in full force attacked the First and Eleventh corps. The Eleventh corps had arrived at about 12:30 p. m. The Nineteenth Indiana went into the engagement with two hundred and eighty-eight men, losing two hundred and ten killed, wounded and missing. July 2 and 3 the regiment was entrenched on Gulp's Hill, near Cemetery Ridge. Its loss was but two wounded. Moved to Culpepper, Virginia, then to Mine Run, in November. While in winter quarters at Culpepper the regiment re-enlisted and was granted a furlough to Indiana. 2\ loving with General Grant's army May 4, 1864, was engaged in the battles of the Wilderness. Laurel Hill, North Anna. Spottsylvania, and Cold Harbor. May 5 Colonel AA'illiams was killed and Lieut.-Col. John ^l. Lindley was given command of the regiment. Losses from May 4 to July 30 : Killed, thirty- six ; severely wounded, ninety-four ; slightly wounded, sixteen ; missing, sixteen ; total, two hundred and twenty. In the seige of Petersburg, Virginia, the regiment was constantly under fire. August 19-21 was in the capture of the Weldon railroad below Petersburg. September 2^ the Seventh Indiana was consolidated with the Nineteenth Indiana. October i8 they were consolidated with the Twentieth Indiana and Bartholomew was promoted to first lieutenant of Company I. and served as such until the Twentieth Infantry was mustered out of the service Jul\- 12, 1865. Bartholomew was wounded twice, the first time in front of Petersburg, on June 16, 1864, and again on April 6, 1865, while leading his company at Amelia Court House, Virginia a few days before (icneral Lee surrendered at Appomattox, Bartholomew was severelv wounded and left on the field to die. He regained consciousness, was picked up and moved by his men to the hospital. And this is the story of a man and of a regiment which did their part in the great Civil War to restore the Union. On February 4, 1864, Mr. Bartholomew was married to Miss Sarah E. Gibson, daughter of George Gibson, she a native of Hamilton County, Indiana, born June 26, 1845. They were the parents of six children, namely: Frances Ann, George, William, Mary, Linnea, Albert and Annie Gussie, all deceased except William and Albert. Mrs. Bartholomew died in March, 1903. In 1913 Mr. Bartholomew was married to Miss Emma F. Davis, of Tipton, and they now reside on North Buckeye Street, Fairmount.

James C. Thorn is the son of Stephen and Jane (Lewis) Thorn, who settled in Van Buren Township, Madison County, about 1840. The' Thorns came from Boone County, Indiana. Stephen and Jane Thorn were parents of five children, namely, Joseph, George, Charles, Jacob and James, all deceased except the latter. On August I, 1 86 1, at Fairmount, he enlisted in the Thirty-fourth Indiana Infantry, but on August 16, of the same year, was transferred to the Thirty-sixth Indiana Infantry, commanded by Col. William Grose, of New Castle, and Lieut.-Col. O. H. P. Carey, of Marion. Thorn served with this regiment until April 12, 1864. He was transferred from the Thirtysixth on April 13, 1864, to the Nineteenth Veteran Reserve Corps, at Washington, D. C, and on November 16, 1865, was mustered out at Buffalo, New York, having completed a service of more than four vears in the Union tendering- his services he had taken the precaution to prepare for any objections on account of his youth. He had marked the figures 18 on the soles of his shoes. When the recruiting officer inquired his age he repHed that he was "over 18," and no further questions were asked. The Thirty-sixth Infantry took part in several important engagements, among them Chickamauga, Stone River, Pittsburg Landing and Mumfordsville.

"At Washington, on July 12, 1864," stated Mr. Tliorn to the writer. "the Confederates under Gen. Jubal A. Early and General Breckinridge, had they known it, could easily have taken the capital. Outside the city about three miles the breastworks were held by a small force of hundred-days' men, imseasoned and without military experience. The Confederates came up Saturday afternoon, but on account of heavy marching stopped to rest over Sunday. By Monday, when the attack was started. Early and Breckinridge found themselves confronted by a considerable force of Union troops, who had in the meantime manned the works with artillery and seasoned infantrymen. Gen. Lew Wallace and his Sixth Army Corps coming up in time to save the day. The Confederate attack, which occurred at a point about three miles north of Washington, was repulsed."

During the four years Thorn was in the service he was injured four different times. He was wounded at Chickamauga, where he lost a finger on his left hand. The Thirty-sixth was under fire one hundred and twenty-eiglit days in succession on the Atlanta campaign.

On October 7, 1868, Mr. Thorn was married to Miss Elizabeth J. Dame, in Clinton County, Indiana. In 1882 he located in Fairmount, and in 1884 they moved to his farm, situated two miles and a half southwest of Fowlerton. x-Xssisted by John George and Jacob Dame he circulated a petition for the building of the Thorn pike, extending from the Interurl)an line to John W. Himelick's corner, a distance of four miles. When Mr. Thorn first moved to his farm, land in that neighborhood was valued at fifty to sixty dollars per acre. He constructed timber ditches and j)ut in about seventy rods of tile to get an outlet to Barren Creek and the Harrison ditch. In a few years his land was worth one hundred and fifty dollars per acre. The farm developed into a splendid oil territory, four good producing wells being put down. Thorn and Capt. David L. Payne were relatives and schoolmates. He speaks of Captain Payne as a boy of considerable native ability, always fond of jokes and pranks. These characteristics were not entirely lacking when Payne became a man. Mr. Thorn relates llial upon one of his visits to his old neighbors, while on his way from \\'ashington,

D. C, to his Western home, Captain Payne brought with him a quantity of what he described to be very choice yam sprouts. Two of his old friends were eager to try out this new variety for a change, and proceeded to plant the sprouts. The result was a pestiferous growth of wild morning glories, which are still found in spots in the vicinity of Payne's old home. Captain Payne had simply resorted to this plan of getting even with some of his old school-day friends who had on many occasions in the past played tricks on him in his boyhood. Mr. and A'Irs. Thorn are now comfortably situated at their home in Fowlerton, where they are passing their last years in peace and plenty.

Alson M. Bell, who lived in Fairmount Township for many years, was born June 7, 1842. He was a Confederate soldier during the Civil War, serving in Company H, Thirty-eighth North Carolina Infantry, in the Army of Northern Virginia, under Gen. Robert E. Lee.

War With Spain

*J. Frank Deshon. John H. Crow. Burl W. Cox. *Leroy R. Smith. Murton Woolen. "^Hollis R. Hayworth. Louis O. Chasey. Allen D. Parker. *David Tappan. Charles T. Payne. Edgar M. Baldwin. All members of Company A, One Hundred and Sixtieth Indiana Volunteer Infantry.

W. Hort Ribble

W. Hort Ribble is a native of Delaware County, Indiana, graduating from the Muncie High School. In April, 1899, ^^ ^^'^' eblo, Colorado, he enlisted in Company H. Thirty-fourth I'nited States Volunteer Infantry. In Julv following he was promoted to corporal, and in 1900, while serving in the Philippines, he was again promoted to sergeant. Sergeant Ribble took part in seventeen skirmishes and participated in the engagement at San Ouintin, in the Island of Luzon, where he saw service for nearly two vears.

attended school at Marion during one year while his father, Joseph H. Parker, was serving as County Treasurer, and for over three years a student at Fairmount Academy. In April, 1898, he enlisted as a ])rivate in Company A, One Hundred and Sixtieth Indiana X^olunteer Infantry, Col. George W. Gunder. commanding. When this regiment returned from Cuba, at the close of the Spanish-American War, Colonel Parker was ordered to Fortress Monroe, where he passed a rigid examination and was commissioned, on his twenty-first birthday, as second lieutenant in the United States Army. He has LIEUT. COL. ALLEN PARKER been promoted several times since that date. In 1917 he was assigned to duty with the new army and brevetted lieutenant-colonel, the only Fairmount Township man to attain to this military honor.

Chapter Xxiv

IN SEPTEMBER, 185 1, Fairmount Township was organized by authority of an order issued by the Board of Commissioners of Grant County. This Board consisted of Robert H. Lenfesty, WilHam C. Miles and Spencer Reeder, the latter being the Commissioner from the Third District.

The territory set aside for this purpose had been included within the boundary lines of Liberty Township since May, 1839. The Township lines were then indicated as follows :

"Commencing at the northeast corner of Section 16, in Township 23 north, Range 8 east ; running thence south on section line to the southeast corner of Section 4, in Township 22, in Range 8 ; thence west to the southwest corner of Section 6, in Liberty Township and Range; thence north to the northwest corner of Section 18, in Township 23, Range 8 ; thence east on the section line to the place of beginning."

In describing the topography of Fairmount Township, William Neal, who for many years followed his occupation, that of a Surveyor, and was reputed to be familiar with practically every section of land in the Township, in 1886 wrote as follows:

"This Township presents some variety on the surface, but is generally level except in the neighborhood of the streams, where it is somewhat rolling, the greater portion consisting in a state of nature of black, level lands, where the ash, elm and maple grow in great abundance, yet a great deal of the soil produced the walnut, poplar, beech, sugar and lin, all growing together in the fullest perfection, and arriving at great size. Along Back Creek grew the poplar (tulip) in large proportion. Along Barren Creek grew the oak in full size and perfection. In the eastern and southeastern portions grew in great plenty all timber mixed in together, so that the lumberman could get whatever he might want without going off the section where he might be located. The surface along Barren Creek and along the prairies is peculiar, and more or less uneven as compared with the other parts, and is almost exclusively covered with oak, mostly white oak mixed in with black and red and even some jack oak. Barren Creek enters the Township in Section 4, Township 22, Range 8, and has a general northeasterly course and leaves the Township a little south of the northeast corner of Section 24, Township 23, Range 8; then comes the prairie on the west of the

Joseph Warren Relfe

Who lives on Route 3, southeast of Fairmount, is one of the Township's splendid farmers. He was born August 25, 1854, near Linwood, in Madison County. His paternal grandfather was Malachi W. Relfe, born in Perquimans County, North Carolina, who died March 5, 1870, aged fiftynineyears, five months and seventeen days. The maternal grandfather was George Smith, who died in 1858. Alliertson Relfe, the father, was born in Perquimans County, North Carolina, October i, 1833, and died at his home in Marion County, Oregon, October i, 1899. The mother, Virginia (Smith) Relfe, was born in Madison County, Indiana, May 22, 1834, and died at the family home southeast of Fairmount. February 2, 1879. To Albertson and Virginia Relfe were born three sons, namely: Joseph Warren and Wilson Worth, who now live in Fairmount Township, and Grant, who lives in Jefferson, Oregon. It is a tradition in the Relfe family that through the maternal side of the house they are descendants of Captain John Smith, the founder of Jamestown. Warren Relfe attended school near Linwood, in Madison County; near Amboy, in Miami County, and after his parents moved to Grant County, in October, 1869, he went to the Fairmount Township schools. When he left school he engaged in farming, in which occupation he has been successful. He was one of the original stockholders of the Barren Creek Gas Company. In the spring of 1896 he was elected Township Assessor, serving in this position until 1900. Again, in 1904, the people turned to Mr. Relfe, and he was for the second time honored by their confidence, the term of Assessor being by act of the State Legislature extended from four to six years, making the total length of time ten years for the two terms for which he was elected. In politics Mr. Relfe is a Progressive Republican. He is a member of Pleasant Grove Methodist Protestant Church. February 22, 1877. Mr. Relfe was married to Miss Mary Ann I>uller. born in Liberty Township, January 5, 1857. '<^ daughter of John and Jane (Thomas) Duller. She died January 12, 1912. Four children were born of this marriage, namely: George M., January 22, 1878; Nellie, June 16, 1880; Frank E.. February 16, 1882, and Mary E., March 10, 1887. George died April i, 1881; Nellie died October 25, 1914; Frank E. and family reside on the Hubert farm, in the northeast corner of the Townsiiip. March 20, 1915, Mr. Relfe married for his second wife, Miss Ida Ink. daughter of a well known pioneer family of the 'i'ownship.

were consolidated, the territory comprising the new (hvision taking the name of Union Township. Again, before the close of the year 1855, another change was ordered, and the old lines restored. Being again consolidated in 1858, the new arrangement re-established the original boundaries and the territory thus created was called Fairmount Township.

added to Center Township, and at a later period that part of Sections 1 1 and 12, in Township 23, Range 8, which lies south of the ]\Iississinewa, was annexed to Fairmount Township. There has been no change in the boundary lines of the Township since 1863.

It may be remarked, in passing, that inasmuch as Fairmount Township, while yet in her infancy, partook freely of the soil of Liberty and Union, seed fell upon good ground. The natives of this community point with a pardonable pride and satisfaction to the unusuall}- heavy

Considering territorial area there is comparatively little or no unproductive land in the Township. Practically every foot of cleared ground is under cultivation. The earnest labors of the pioneer, reenforced at a later period by the industry and enterprise of his sons and daughters, have transformed the bogs and the beaver dams of the early day into the fertile farms of the present.

the past. Chills and fever, relentless enemies of our ancestors, have disappeared before the sweep of modern scientific knowledge and correct sanitary conditions. The percentage of mortality is now insignificant as compared with the appalling death rate of former times, when large families were invaded and homes almost broken up within a few weeks by diseases known to the pioneer.

At a meeting of Township Trustees held April ii, 1853, the bond of William Hall, as Township Treasurer, was accepted as sufficient and filed. The Trustees at that date were Jesse Brooks, Nixon Rush, Sr., and Joseph Hollingsworth. Ezra Foster was the Township Clerk. At this session of the Trustees seventy-five cents was allowed as compensation for one full day's service. This is the first meeting of Township Trustees, the law then providing for the election of three, instead of one, as shown by the official records of the Township now in possession of the present incumbent. Trustee David G. Lewis.

Thomas J. Lucas

District No. 6, William Fear, Supervisor - William Fear, John Smith, John W. Ridge, Aaron Cosand, James Williams, Isaac Thomas, William Parsons, Isaac Johnson, Clark A. Johnson, Jr., Henry Osborn, Jonathan Osborn, Charles A. Johnson and Nelson Thomas.

April 7, 1856, Phineas Henley was elected Justice of the Peace, William Hall, Treasurer, A. R. Williams, Clerk, and Samuel Dillon, Daniel Thomas and Micajah Wilson were chosen to serve on the Board of Township Trustees.

In 1858 Thomas D. Duling, Samuel Dillon and Seth Winslow were elected to the Board of Township Trustees, John S. Carey, Township Clerk and William Hall, Township Treasurer. This was the last year that a Board of Township Trustees was elected.

The census of i860 shows that Eairmount Township had a population of one thousand, three hundred and six, two colored. In 1870 the census shows a population of one thousand, five hundred and seventythree, one thousand, five hundred and forty-three native, thirty foreign ; one thousand, five hundred and twenty white and fifty-three colored.

'^Joseph Ratliff, for many years Trustee of Fairmonnt Township, serving in this important office at different times, was a native of Henry County, Indiana, born March 27, 1838. His parents wer.^ Gabriel and Catherine (Pearson) Ratliff, natives of North Carolina, who came to Indiana and settled with their parents while small children, near Richmond. Joseph Ratliff came to h'airmount Township in 1870, and bou.nht the farm one mile northeast of Fairmount, which he owned until his djath. He was educated in Miami County, Indiana, where he was married, in 1859, to Miss Mary A. Lamb, a native of Madison County, Indiana. They were the parents of eight children, but two of whom, Ancil E., a prosperous Liberty Township farmer, and Dr. Milo E. Ratliff, a prominent citizen and d^^ntist of Cassopolis, Mich., are the only survivors. Joseph Ratliff and family were consistent members of the Society of Friends, and were always active and influential in the church. He was during his entire lifetime engaged in farming. His broad experience and strict integrity in all the affairs of life soon won the confidence of the people of the Township and this confidence was fully justified by a number of years of faithful and efficient service rendered.

In 1876 four hundred and forty votes were cast in the Township for the different candidates for President, of which number Rutherford B. Hayes received two hundred and ninety-six ; Samuel J. Tilden, one hundred and twenty-one, and Peter Cooper, twenty-three.

David G. Lewis

DAVID G. LEWIS Township Trustee, was born two miles and one-half southeast of Fairmount, on what was known as the John Leach farm, August 16, 1862. His paternal grandparents were David and Nancy (George) Lewis; his maternal grandparents were Morgan and Susan Lewis. Morgan O. Lewis, the father, and a former Township Trustee, was born in Fairmount Township, January 21, 1836, and died January 18, 1884. The mother, Maria Lewis, was born at Narvou, Illinois, May 4, 1844, and died in November, igoi. David G. Lewis was educated in the conimon schools of Fairmount Township. In 1868 he attended his first school at Sugar Grove, which was taught by his father. All his life he has followed farming. For twenty-five years he has studied tree culture. His nursery on South Mill Street is an evidence of his perseverance and industry. For several years he was a stockholder and director in the Fairmount Fair Association. Mr. Lewis is a self-made man. By his own unaided efforts he has met with success from humble beginnings. As Trustee of Fairmount Township he was the first to secure State aid for vocational training, which enables boys over fourteen and under twenty-five to secure competent instruction in various vocations. In politics he is a Democrat, and has served his party as precinct committeeman. Secretary of the Township Committee, and as a member of the Finance Committee. He has been active in all organized movements looking to the elimination of the saloon from County and Township. The esteem in which he is held is evidenced by his election as President, repeatedly, of the Grant County Township Trustees' Association. He was reared in the Methodist Protestant Church. In June, 1899, he was married at Jonesboro, to Miss Mintie Ward, only child of Austin P. and Lucinda A. Ward, and a granddaughter of Elijah Ward, who helped to organize the first Methodist Church in Fairmount Township. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis are the parents of one son, Iliff Ward Lewis, born January 30, 1903. All his life, with the exception of eleven months spent in Hand County, South Dakota, has been passed in Fairmount Township.

In September, 1870, a petition, properly drawn, and signed by a sufficient number of voters of Fairmount, was presented to the County Commissioners, requesting that an election be authorized for the purpose of determining whether or not the town should be incorporated.

The election was held on September 26 of that year. The total vote cast was sixty-five. Of this number, forty-four were in favor of incorporation and twenty-three voted against it.

The first election of officers, on December 10, 1870, resulted as follows : Trustee First Ward, Enoch Beals ; Trustee Second Ward, Elwood Haisley ; Trustee Third Ward. Milton Gossett ; Trustee Fourth Ward. Dr. P. H. Wright ; Trustee Fifth Ward, C. T. Schooley. A. M. Raper was elected Clerk ; Micajah Wilson, Town Assessor, and Foster Davis, Marshal.

The Board of Trustees met January 23, 1871. and adopted By- Laws. At a meeting- held on April 4. 1871, William Hall, Alex Pickard and Joseph N. Rush were elected School Trustees.

By-Laws Adopted

Article One. - It shall be the duty of the President to call the members to order and conduct all business before the Board to a speedy and proper result.

Article Two. - He shall state all questions to the Board before putting it to vote, shall ask, "Are you ready for the question?" Should no member of the Board offer to speak, he shall rise to put it and after he has arisen no member shall be allowed to speak on it without the consent of all the members present.

Article Four. - The Pfresident shall have a casting vote in case of a tie, but in ordinary cases shall not vote. He shall announce all votes and decisions and his decision shall not be debatable, unless he invites discussion.

Article Five. - He may speak to points of order in ])refcrcnce to other members, rising from his seat for that purpose, and he shall decide points of order subject to an appeal by any member of the Board.

Article Six. - When an appeal is taken from the decision of the President, he shall put the question thus : "Shall the decision of the chair be sustained?"

Article Eight. - It shall be the duty of the Secretary, or Clerk, to call the roll of the members at each meeting, note absentees, and read the minutes of the previous meeting, and keep a true and accurate record of the proceedings of the Board of Trustees.

Article Thirteen. - Any conversation by whispering or otherwise, which is calculated to disturb a member while speaking or hinder the transaction of business, shall be deemed a violation of order and if persisted in shall incur censure.

Article Fourteen. - When a question is before the Board the only motion in order shall be, first, to adjourn ; second, the previous question : third, to lay on the table ; fourth, to postpone indefinitely

Article Fifteen. - A motion to adjourn shall always be in order, except, first, while a member is in possession of the floor ; second, while the yeas and nays are being called ; third, while the members are voting, and fourth, when any business of importance is before the house.

Article Sixteen. - The Board shall be called to order by the President within fifteen minutes of the time the Board agreed to meet at its last session, or if he is not present, the Board will be allowed to call one of its members to the chair, for the transaction of business.

Article Seventeen. - It shall be the duty of the Treasurer to receive all money assessed by the Board, and pay it out on an order from the Board attested by the President and Clerk.

Article Eighteen. - It shall be the duty of the Marshal to execute and put in force all the ordinances and laws passed by the Board of Trustees, and perform all the duties prescribed by law for the action of the corporation.

Article Nineteen. - It shall be the diit} of the Assessor to make a true and correct assessment of all the ])roperty, both real and personal, within the corporation limits, and make a return to the Board of the same, according to law.

Article Twenty. - The Marshal shall be allowed one dollar per each arrest he may make and sustain, and for serving subpoena, or other writs, such fees as are allowed constables by law, and for collecting taxes he is allow^ed five per cent, on the amount collected.

Article Twenty-one. - The Assessor shall be allowed one dollar and a half a day for each da}- he may be occupied in making the assessment of the corporation.

.Article Twent}-two. - The Clerk shall be allowed one dollar and fift\- cents for each regular meeting and for each called meeting and for other services he shall receive a reasonable compensation to be allowed by the Board.

On motion the Board adopted Ordinance No. i, which is recorded in Ordinance Book, Page i ; also Ordinance No. 2, recordetl in said Book, Page 2 ; also Ordinance No. 3, recorded in said Book, Pages 2 and 3 ; also Ordinance No. 4, recorded in said Book, Pages 3 and 4.

On motion the Clerk was requested to ascertain whether two Ijlank books for the use of the Board could be obtained for an order from the Board for their cost, and if so to order such books.

The 1870 census shows that Fairmcmnt liad a total population of three hundred and thirty-four native and three foreign ; three hundred and thirty-one white and six colored.