Washington Township (part 11 of 16)

Mr. and Mrs. Sanderson have one child, Ethel May, who is in her sixth year. Polit¬ ically Mr. Sanderson is a Republican, and works hard for the benefit of his party, but has never sought office. He is a member of Hartford City Tent, No. 50. K. O. T. M., in good standing, and is a most valuable member of general society, highly esteemed by all that know him. Mrs. Sanderson has always been a worthy helpmeet to her hus¬ band and shares with him the good opinion of the community in which they live.

The name of this popular physician and surgeon is familiar to nearly every man, woman and child in Montpelier and sur¬ rounding country, as he has practiced his profession at this place with encouraging success ever since entering upon his chosen calling in 1894. The Doctor is a native of New York state, born in the city of Auburn July 21, 1866, the son of James and Mary (Kirwin) Mulvey. In youth he enjoyed ex¬ ceptional advantages for obtaining an edu¬ cation, and such was his progress that at an early age he was graduated with honors from the high school of his native city.

Following his graduation the Doctor was for some years traveling representative of the Auburn Manufacturing Company, his particular duty being the purchase of timber for that concern, and this he followed to the satisfaction of his employers until about the year 1890. Prior to that time, however, he had made up his mind to enter the medical profession; accordingly, after a preliminary course of reading under the di¬ rection of competent instructors, he en¬ tered, in the above year, the Indiana Medi¬ cal College, Indianapolis, from which he was graduated in March of 1894. Imme¬ diately thereafter he chose Montpelier as a favorable location and at once began the practice of his profession in partnership with sustained to the satisfaction of both par¬ ties, and also to their mutual financial ad¬ vantage. Their office, in the Sinclair block, Main street, is equipped with all the mod¬ ern appliances requisite to the successful prosecution of the healing art, and from the beginning their progress has been marked by a success which attests the great confi¬ dence the people repose in their professional abilities.

Dr. Mulvey combines with an extensive theoretical knowledge of his profession the rare skill, to apply it, also the sympathizing nature and tender touch characteristic of the true healer. His patients are found among all classes of people, none of whom he turns away on account of inability to remunerate him for services rendered; hence his friends are many and his praises everywhere spoken. He has good business tact and careful judg¬ ment, and by diligence and close applica¬ tion has already laid the foundation for the comfortable competence which must surely be his, provided he continues the course he has thus far pursued.

On the J st day of August, 1894, the Doctor entered into the bonds of wedlock with Miss Mary A. Miller, daughter of F. G. and Charlotte (Lowry) Miller, a union blessed with one child, John S. Mulvey,

Aaron Ii. Clouse

Aaron Id. Clouse, one of the enterpris¬ ing and successful farmers of Jackson town¬ ship, whose postoffice is Dunkirk, was born in that township within one mile of Dun¬ kirk, toward the west, October 2, 1851.

is a son of Leonard and Mrs. Kavie Ann (Anderson) Bowen Clouse, the former of whom was a native of Maryland, reared in Pennsylvania, and the latter of whom it is believed was born in Ohio of Scotch parent¬ age. She was married to her husband in Jackson township, they settling on a farm of one hundred and four acres, upon which he lived until he had converted it into a good farm and home. But having invested its value, or thereabouts, in railroad stock, he finally lost the most of his property in this way, realizing but little from his farm when it was sold. He then removed to Bunker Hill, Miami county, Indiana, where he died at the age of seventy-six. His wife died when Aaron H. was about three days old, she being the mother of but two children. The other one was Augustus, whose life was passed in Blackford county up to the time of his death, which occurred when he was about twenty years of age, in Jay county, whither he had gone a short time before.

Leonard Clouse was the father of sev¬ eral children by a marriage which took place previous to the marriage above referred to, but none of these children are living in Blackford county. After the death of Aaron H. Clouse's mother Leonard Clouse married Maria Barnhart, a widow, but to this mar¬ riage no children were born.

The boyhood of Aaron Id. Clouse was passed upon the farm, he receiving such ed¬ ucation as was afforded by the common schools, and performing such labor as he was capable of from year to year. He was married, January 14, 1875, to Miss Eliza¬ beth Kesler, a daughter of Adam Kesler, whose biography 'appears elsewhere in these pages. Soon after their marriage they went to Dakota, and there, in 1879, took up a claim, which they not long afterward abandoned, returning to Indiana and pur¬ chasing his present farm in 1882. The farm was then completely covered with woods, in¬ somuch that he had to clear away a place on which to erect a house. Since then he has devoted himself to his farm, of which he has now under cultivation about seventy acres, and in addition to this he has cleared and improved about twenty acres of his fa¬ ther-in-law's farm, which he has purchased, and thus has placed in cultivation over ninety acres of land in all. ITis entire farm is thor¬ oughly underdrained and is devoted to the growing of grain, which he feeds to stock upon the farm, a practice gradually coming more and more into vogue with the farmers of the country. However, for the past two years Mr. Clouse has lived in Dunkirk, in which village he owns property.

Politically Mr. Clouse is a McKinley Re¬ publican, but is not an office seeker nor what may be called an active worker for the party. Plis duty as a voter, however, he always performs, regarding the right to exercise his franchise as one of the dearest to Ameri¬ can citizens. Pie is a member ol the Meth¬ odist Episcopal church at Dunkirk and is steward of the church. He is also a member of Dunkirk Lodge, No. 338, K. of P., has passed all the chairs, including that of past chancellor, and has always been active in the work of the lodge. His wife (Miss Eliza¬ beth Kesler) died April 5, 1886, after a brief illness, leaving two children, viz : Re¬ becca Jane and Cora Alice, aged, respective¬ ly, twenty-one and seventeen. These daugh¬ ters Mr. Clouse has given a good commonschool education and superior musical ad¬ vantages. By his second wife, who was Sarah Kipliiwer, of Delaware county, he has no child''- \ Mr. Clouse is one of the best citizens 01 his county, always alive to its welfare and prosperity, and enjoys the confidence of his many friends to an un¬ usual degree.

Davis Gilmore Dean

The Scotch-Irish race has furnished many distinguished and able citizens to the United States, and it is a most interesting and valuable study to trace to its source any trait possessed by any portion of humanity. The Scotch, from the climate to which they are accustomed, are a strong and sturdy people; the Irish are quick-witted, warm¬ hearted and genial, and the blending of these qualities produces the peculiarities of the "Scotch-Irish" race. As a member of this peculu race of people, it is a plea: re to present in this work the genealogy and an account of the life work of Davis Gilmore Dean, who was born August 18, 1852, in Grant county, Indiana, and who is a son of Thomas and Hannah (Anderson) Dean. Thomas Dean was born near what is now Wheeling, West Virginia, and was a son of Thomas Dean, also a Virginian and of Scotch-Irish descent. The father of this last mentioned Thomas Dean, who was the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was an American soldier in the Revo¬ lutionary war, and hence it is not surprising that his descendants should in times ot necessity manifest the patriotism inherited from him.

Thomas Dean, the father of the subject, was four years of age when, in 1827, his parents removed to Coshocton county, Ohio, and he was thirteen years old when they re¬ moved to Grant county, Indiana. It was in this county that they died, one at the age .of eighty-one, the other at the age of eightythree. He served as auditor of Grant coun¬ ty for a time, and his mother, Elizabeth Davis, was a native of Wales. Davis G. Dean was named in honor of her family, j Thomas Dean was married when he was twenty-three years of age, in 1846, to Han¬ nah Anderson, a native of Coshocton county, Ohio, the marriage taking place in Grant county, Indiana. Her father, Samuel An¬ derson, was of Irish ancestry, his father hav¬ ing been born in Ireland. Thomas Dean and his wife were the parents of three children when they settled in Blackford county, In¬ diana, in 1857. Soon after his marriage he began teaching school, his wages being twelve dollars per month. He was in re¬ ality a self-educated man, having attended school but sixteen days after his fourteenth year, and having received only what was called a "hickory bark" education. But so fond was he of study and so conscientious as a teacher that he kept himself thoroughly informed in the branches he was called upon to teach and also in the improved methods adopted from time to time in the art of teach¬ ing. His period of labor as a pedagogue extended over twenty-seven terms, sixteen of these terms being in the home district in Blackford county and his own children at¬ tending the school taught by him. As a teacher he acquired an enviable reputation and during his entire life kept up a lively interest in educational matters.

became a Republican, but politics was not his forte, and he seldom did more than to vote and to defend his party upon occasions of neighborly controversy and never in a bitter or rigid partisan spirit. When he settled on his farm in Blackford county it was unim¬ proved; he erected upon it a little log cabin in which his family lived until 1880, when he erected his present home. In this home he lived until his death, which occurred I January 9. 1894, his wife having died in May, 1880. They were the parents of the following children : Annie, wife of I. N. Ault, a lumber manufacturer of Dunkirk; Rebecca, who married William Davis and lived near the home place until her death, v\ hich occurred when she was thirty-seven years of age; Davis Gilmore, the subject of this sketch, and Elizabeth, wife of Augustus Anderson, who owns the original homestead in Grant county, which was handed down to him through his father. Thomas Dean was always an active member of the Trenton Methodist Protestant church, which has been in existence since 1830, he being a member of the original class at Trenton. For a number of years he was class leader, was active in the organization of the society at Trenton and in the erection of its church building. He was often a delegate to its conferences and was a most able and en¬ thusiastic worker along religious lines, and while not given to argument, yet he was always willing and able to uphold his views. In all religious work he was ably and gen¬ erously assisted by his wife. So thorough¬ ly did be master all the subjects commonly taught in the schools that his children found competent and willing assistance at his hands, and two of his daughters taught school for a time. So high did he stand in the estimation of the community that he was selected as administrator of several estates and as guardian of numerous minor children. He was agent for non-residents, and served as justice of the peace about the time of the war. When public improvements began to be made in this county he served one term as county commissioner and while he was licensed as an exhorter yet his work was mainly local in its nature. Not withstand¬ ing all his active labor performed with the view of uplifting his fellow man yet he found time to cultivate one hundred and ten of his one hundred and sixty acres' of land, and to drain the entire farm, so that at his death it was for the most part well improved, and when he died it was generally felt that a useful and honorable and excellent man had departed.

Davis Gilmore Dean spent his boyhood upon the farm and remained at home until he reached his twenty-seventh year assisting his father in the management of the farm. His grandmother Davis, wife of Thomas Dean, Sr., had a bachelor brother, named David Davis, who owned one hundred and sixty acres of land in Grant county and who Jived with her. Two of his relatives were named in honor of the family, Davis G. Dean and Davis McVicker. Some years be¬ fore his death he willed each of these two thus named eighty acres of his land. He died when Davis G. was seventeen years old and at that time the latter came into posses¬ sion of his bequest. At length, however, he sold this eighty acres and purchased his present tract of land, then all woods, but adjoining his father's homestead. This he soon began to clear and open up into a farm, still living at home.

in connection with the biography of \Y . A. Curry on another page. Not long after his marriage he moved into a little log cabin, about thirty-five acres of his land being then in cultivation, and the little log cabin re¬ mained his home for a couple of years, at the expiration of which period he erected his present commodious house. He also erected a large and convenient barn, which is 36x46x20, and cost about seven hundred dollars, and which was completed in 1900.. The extent of his underdraining is about .twenty-three hundred rods of tile, and his well improved farm is devoted to the rais¬ ing of grain and stock, the latter consisting of horses, cattle and hogs, from fifteen to sixty of the latter being fed by him each year.

Mr. Dean was executor of his father's estate, and himself received forty acres of the homestead. Politically he is a Republi¬ can, and though not in any sense an officeseeker nor a politician, yet he has attended numerous conventions and always performs his duty as a member of the party and as a citizen. He and his wife are members of the Kingsley Methodist Episcopal church, which stands two miles south of his home, and they are both faithful to their religious as well as their social, duties, and are known by all as most excellent citizens. Their fam¬ ily consists of one son, Walter E., born May 27, 1882, now a student at Marion College. David G. Dean is a member of Dunkirk Lodge, No. 306, I. O. O. F., and of En¬ campment No. 120, having passed all the chairs of both orders and having sat in the grand lodge of both. Both he and his wife are members of Charity Rebekah Lodge, No. 18, of Dunkirk, Mrs. Dean having passed all the chairs of this lodge and having been sent as a delegate to the state assembly sev- eral times. She has taken a very active part in all lodge work, has charge of the ritual and is unusually well informed. While her education was mainly obtained in the com¬ mon schools, yet by close reading and study she has become one of the best educated women of the community and is highly cult¬ ured and refined. Both she and her husband are well and favorably known for miles around and have hosts of friends among the best 0/ people and their lives are a kind of benediction to all with whom they associate.

Thomas Hughes Barnes

Thomas Hughes Barnes, a prominent farmer of Jackson township, whose postoffice address is Dunkirk, was born on the old Barnes homestead in Jackson township, Blackford county, Indiana, October 21, 1839. He is a son of Ozias and Hannah (Bowen) Barnes, and with his parents spent his boy¬ hood on the farm, performing his part of the work both outside and inside the house. On June 28, i860, he was married to Miss Sarah Ward, a daughter of William and Tabitha (Holton) Ward, who was born in Champaign county^ Ohio, July 11, 1839. In 1847, when she was eight years of age, her parents removed to Indiana, locating in Lick¬ ing township, six miles south of Hartford City, but later removed to a farm to the eastward from Hartford City, but still in Licking township. T! ere Miss Ward grew to womanhood and received her edu¬ cation at the Barr school house, which is well known for miles around. She was married at her father's home, who died when he was fifty-two years of age. His widow then married William Howes, who soon aftterward died, and she later married William Everett, and afterward died near the Barr school house when she was sixty-one years of age. The family of William and Tabitha Ward consisted of eleven children, eight of whom lived to mature years, and of these eight Mrs. Barnes is the only one living in Blackford county.

After his marriage Thomas H. Barnes lived for a time in a small house on a por¬ tion of the old homestead, of which he op¬ erated a part. Soon after the death of his father, January 6, 1874, he located on his present farm, which lies not far away from the old homestead. At that time his farm, which contained one hundred and twenty acres, was for the most part in a state of nature, covered over with woods with the exception of a small clearing that had al¬ ready been made. The other improvements consisted of a small log house and a small log stable. Mr. Barnes took hold in earnest of the work of clearing up and improving this farm, and now has about one hundred and ten acres in cultivation, most of which he has cleared and improved himself, suffi¬ cient proof of his energy and industry. Though this farm was never low or wet, yet he knew that drainage would be bene¬ ficial and hence began to lay underdrains, at first of timber, which has all been super¬ seded with tile, of which he has about two thousand rods on the farm, and there is still room for more. While he has for the most part devoted his farm to the raising of grain, yet he has not sold his crop off in the raw material, but instead has fed it to stock, depending mainly on hogs, of which he has on the average turned off annually about forty head. Mr. Barnes has devoted his time and attention mostly to the farm, but has given some thought to the question, theoretically and practically, of public im¬ provements, and has favored the building of public highways and public drains, in order that the land might he drier than other¬ wise, and that there might be good roads on which to drive. Politically he lias al¬ ways been a Republican, but has never been a bitter partisan, nor given much attention to public affairs.

The family of Mr. and Mrs. Barnes consists of four children, as follows: Ozias Newton, who, together with his brother, Edgar Delmont, operates the farm. Ozias N. was born on the farm May 7, 1861, and passed his life upon the farm with his father. His education was obtained at the common schools and at Ridgeville College, but he did not complete the course. Even since he became of age he has been content to re¬ main at home, has given his attention to the growing of grain and grass and the raising of stock. He has never married, but has traveled throughout a portion of the north¬ west, as Idaho and South Dakota. He is, like his father, a Republican in politics, but is not active in the work of his party; Lillie Samantha, wife of Jacob Kesler, whose biography appears elsewhere in this work ; Eliza Tabitha, wife of Roe Roberts, of the state of Washington, and a son of James Roberts, of Hartford City. Roe Roberts is a school teacher in the far west, and was a teacher in Blackford county for several years before going west; Edgar Delmont, who is engaged with his elder brother in the man¬ agement of the farm. Ihe married Minnie Alice Locker, who died one year later, leav¬ ing no children. ' Mrs. Barnes is a memher of the Kingsley Methodist Episcopal church and both she and her husband are re¬ spected everywhere throughout the com¬ munity in which they live, and have many true a ' warm-hearted friends.

John Stewart Fish Back

John Stewart Fishback, whose farm lies two and a half miles northwest of Dunkirk, his postoffice address, was born in Fayette county, Ohio, September 22, 1848. Lie is a son of William M. and Matilda (Stewart) Fishback, the former of whom was born in Madison county, Virginia, March 26, 1814, and died at Dunkirk December 15, 1892. Pie was a son of John Fishback, who was of Dutch ancestry and by trade a wheelwright. When he was twenty-four years of age he left his native state and re¬ moved to Ohio, where he was married, his wife being a native of Ohio, and he located in 1841, at New Martinsburg, Ohio. In 1856 he removed to Indiana, settling in Delaware county, four miles from Dunkirk, where he lived until the of his wife, in 1878. Afterward he lived in Dunkirk with a daughter until his death, which oc¬ curred when he was seventy-nine years of age. Like his father before him, he was a wheelwright by trade and after coming to Indiana he worked at his trade in connection with his farm labor. Politically he was a Democrat, but was not an office holder, and while he was not a member of any church, yet he held to the Old School Baptist views of religion. His character was above re¬ proach, and he was looked upon as a quiet, peaceable, honest and mild-mannered man, a harsh word being seldom heard to fall from his lips. He and his wife had three children that grew to mature years, viz:

The boyhood of John S. Fishback was spent with his father on the farm where he received his education and where he learned the use of carpenter's tools, follow¬ ing the trade of carpenter for fifteen years, principally in Blackford county. As a con¬ tractor he built several houses in this county which are still standing and which bear evi¬ dence pf his handiwork. For five years he managed his father's farm and in 1888 he purchased and moved upon his present farm, purchasing fifty-two acres for twenty-three hundred and fifty dollars and going into debt to the amount of seventeen hundred and fifty dollars. There was on the farm at that time a log house and a log stable and the farm was nearly in a fair state of cultivation. Mr. Fishback has always been ail industrious and progressive man, as his farm plainly in¬ dicates, and that he has prospered is indi¬ cated by the fact that since purchasing the original fifty-two acres he has added there¬ to forty acres more, for which he paid thirty dollars per acre. Flis entire farm is now under cultivation and thoroughly drained. The Lick creek ditch, which drains his farm, cost about five hundred dollars and is a most valuable improvement. At the present time he has about fifteen hundred rods of tile drains and all his farm is in a fair condition for raising grain, which he feeds exclusively to stock upon his farm, among this stock there being from thirty-five to forty hogs every year. He has a fine maple grove, of two hundred and seventy-five trees on his farm, which yield him each year from one hundred to one hundred and fifty gallons of syrup. He has himself erected a fine house and barn at a cost in the aggregate of twentyfive hundred dollars and he has also erected a tenant's house, in which lives his son-inlaw, who operates a portion of the farm.

Mr. Fishback still does considerable work at his trade, having erected several houses and barns in his own neighborhood. Flis farm lies in the famous Indiana gas belt, and has upon it one well. While he has not given special attention to the growing of fruit, yet he raises enough for his own family consumption.

On January 5, 1871, Mr. Fishback was married to Miss Clarinda J. Fulkerson, of Blackford county, a daughter of William and Eliza Jane (Maffett) Fulkerson, she having been born in Jackson township, No¬ vember 8, 1853. Her parents settled in Blackford county, in 1848, locating in the section in which Mr. Fishback now lives and upon this farm Mrs. Fishback was born. William Fulkerson was born near Winches¬ ter, Virginia, February 14, 1813, and when he was eighteen months old his parents sailed down the Ohio river in a flatboat, landing at Cincinnati, and thence they went by wagon to Butler county, Ohio, finally set¬ tling on a farm in Greene county, Ohio. Here William Fulkerson, on November 30, 1837, married Eliza Jane Maffett, and in 1847 removed to Blackford county, Indiana. He died January 11, 1900, at the great age of eighty-six years, ten months and twentyeight days. Eliza Jane Maffett was born January 18, 1818, and died in February, 1867. having borne to her husband nine chil¬ dren, six of whom were living at the time of the death of their father, in January, 1900. Of these six Mrs. Fishback is the only one living in Blackford county. Mr. Fulkerson was by trade a cooper and worked at his trade in connection with the management of his farm.

Mr. and Mrs. Fishback have a family of four children, as follows : James William, who married Sarah Lentz and has no chil¬ dren; lie has a small farm adjoining that of his father; Frank Forest, who operates a portion of the homestead farm; his wife was Dora R. Ledbetter; Anna Corline, wife of Doris Wilson Mettler, who lives on and op¬ erates a portion of the home farm ; they have one child ; and Richard Alonzo, a boy of sev¬ enteen, living at home with his parents.

In politics Mr. Fishback is a Democrat and has served one term as township as¬ sessor. He is often a delegate to his party conventions. Mr. and Mrs. Fishback are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Kingsley and are both excellent mem¬ bers not only of their church, but also of general society. Mr. Fishback takes great pleasure in hunting and fishing, but only as pastime, being both industrious and enter¬ prising, not in any way neglecting business for pleasure.

William M. Shrack

Ever since the days of Vergil it has been well known to the intelligent that ag¬ riculture is capable of being placed on a high plane, not only as regards business methods, but also as to art, and even to those not versed in its history it has always been known as the most independent of callings. That it has not been developed to its full capacity and made more attractive to the young has been in part because some follow it merely for a living and look upon them¬ selves as an inferior class, thus laboring on from day to day without proper ambition tc make all possible out of their profession jn every direction, not only as to profit, but also as to respectability. This, however, is not the case with all, for there are many farmers in every state who realize that theirs is in reality a noble calling, and that it pre¬ sents to them opportunities for the exercise of the soundest judgment and the highest intelligence. One of this class of farmers is the subject of this sketch - William M: Shrack, who has one of the best farms in Blackford county, located three and a half miles northwest of Dunkirk, his postoffice ad¬ dress. This farm is in most excellent condi¬ tion, and is unusually well improved in ail respects as to cultivation, drainage and buildings. It is a source of pride, not only to its owner, but also to the entire com¬ munity. It attracts the attention of the traveler and excites the highest admin, ion. Its owner is shown, by the condition of his farm, buildings and stock to be a care¬ ful, wide-awake, up-to-date man, and he is known everywhere as a man of good sense, sound judgment and of firm but unobtrusive character and disposition.

William M. Shrack was born in Jay county, Indiana, on the farm now included within the limits of the city of, Dunkirk, March 7, 1844. He is a son of William and Margaret (Rice) Shrack, the former of whom came from Pennsylvania, and the lat¬ ter from Virginia. They were married in Ohio. William Shrack was a son of John Shrack, who was of Dutch descent. Mar¬ garet Rice was also of Dutch descent and un¬ til she was nine years of age used only the language of that race of people. In 1837, when William and Margaret Shrack had al¬ ready five children, they settled on the above mentioned farm, his brother, John, then liv¬ ing on a farm five miles away in Delaware county. William walked the entire distance to Fort Wayne, following an Indian trail, to enter the land, and to his brother's home he had to cut a road through the woods. His first house was constructed of hark, but he soon built a log house in which his fam¬ ily lived during their first winter on the farm. This house had no door, only a quilt hung¬ up to keep out the cold, but he succeeded in clearing up his land and in making a good farm and home for himself and family. The next year his brother-in-law, Isaac Sutton, came into this new country and laid out the village of Dunkirk at the time of the building of the railway, which passed through the Slirack farm. .William Slirack passed his life on his farm, but died early, when he was but sixty-one years of age, from a slight cut on the knee. His wife survived him but two years, dying when she was sixty-four.

The family of William and Margaret Slirack consisted of twelve children, one of whom died in infancy, the other eleven grow¬ ing to mature years. One son, John T., in 1851, went to California, saying when he started for that new and distant country that he should not return until he had made his pile of ten thousand dollars. For some years he was not heard from, but at length he wrote that he was about to return home, but just about that time the bank in which he had deposited his money failed and he lost it all. He then went to Australia, but later returned to California, where he is now living if still alive. Although seven of the family are still living, William M. is the only one in Blackford county.

Wiliam M. Shrack remained at home until he was eighteen years of age, when he enlisted in Company B, Eighty-fourth In¬ diana Volunteers, on August 11, 1862, and served three years, being discharged June 14, 1865. His services were rendered in the western army, under Generals Rosecrans and Thomas. He was in the Atlanta campaign, ; and after the fall of Atlanta aided in the pursuit of Hood and participated in the de- 1 cisive battle of Nashville, December 15 and 16, 1864. lie was also in the battle of Franki

| when lie returned i Strawberry Plains, east Tennessee, remaining in that vicinity during j the rest of that winter, and in the spring of j 1865 returned to Nashville, where he was mustered out. The most in -ortant battle in which Mr. Shrack was en; ed was that of Chickamauga, and he was also in that of Rocky Face Ridge, or Buzzards' Roost. Be¬ sides the above mentioned battles he was in several skirmishes, and was wounded in the right heel by a minie ball. He left the ranks until the healing of the wound, being in the hospital at Jeffersonville, Indiana, when he returned to his regiment in time to take part in the battle of Franklin. Four days after being struck by the minie ball gangrene set in and he came very near losing his foot. With the exception of the time spent in the hospital on account of this wound he was constantly with his company, and was pro¬ moted to corporal because of faithful serv¬ ice. He now receives a pension from a grateful government. He is a member of Benjamin Sheilds Post, No. 289, G. A. R., at Dunkirk, and has been a member since its organization. He attends all reunions of his regiment and went on a regimental excursion to the battle ground of Chickamauga in 1898, when it was occupied as a camp by the soldiers during the Cuban war, and he also attended two or three other national encamp¬ ments.

Anna Barnes, a daughter of Ozias and Han¬ nah (Bowen) Barnes, pioneers of Blackford county, they having located on a farm ad¬ joining the Shrack farm in the spring of 1837, and being about the first family to settle in that part of the county. Ozias Barnes and William Bowen, his brother-inlaw, came here at the same time, and there was then but one other family here, that of Edward M. Crumley, who came here in 1837. Ozias died on the farm he had en¬ tered, when in his sixty-first year. TIis wife survived him until December to, 1898, when she died in her eighty-sixth year, hav¬ ing during the later years of her life made her home with her daughter, Mrs. Shrack. Mr. and Mrs. Barnes were the parents of eleven children, five of whom reached ma¬ ture years, and four of whom were living in [900, as follows : Solomon Barnes, of Dun¬ kirk, who owns part of the old homestead : Thomas, of Jackson township; Annah, who was named for her grandmother, Bowen; and Orange Lemon, living on a portion of the old homestead. One son, Jonathan, died at Dunkirk, at the age of fifty-nine.

In 1866, after the close of the war and after his marriage, Mr. Shrack settled in Delaware county, one mile and a half south of Dunkirk, and remained there until 1870, in March of which year he removed to his present farm, then containing one hundred and thirty-two acres, for which he paid twenty dollars per acre. It was all wild land, in its primitive condition, covered with large and valuable forest trees, but nearly all under water. Mr. Shrack sold large quantities of walnut timber at one dollar per hundred feet in the tree. Ilis work for some years consisted mainly in clearing and ditching his farm. To this original farm lie has added other acres until now lie has one hundred and eighty-seven acres, fifty-six acres of which arc a portion of the original Barnes homestead. Nearly the entire farm is now in cultivation, most of the work hav¬ ing been done by himself, including the un¬ derdraining, which was at first laid with timber drains. These, however, have since been supplanted with tile drains which ex¬ tend to all parts of the farm. Besides hav¬ ing thus thoroughly laid underdrains every¬ where, he has expended about twenty-five hundred dollars in opening public ditches.

Mr. Shrack's farm is devoted to grain, to which it is best adapted, corn being the principal crop; but he has also raised good crops of wheat, over twelve hundred bushels in a season. Most of his corn he feeds to hogs, keeping annually about one hundred head, and it is his aim always to keep high grade animals. He was one of the original stockholders in the glass factory at Mill Grove, and he is now the vice-president of the company. He is also a stockholder in the gas and oil company at Mill Grove. He has a gas well on his farm, operated by the Fort Wayne Gas & Oil Company, which is considered a fine, productive well.

Politically Mr. Shrack is a Republican, has often been a delegate to his party con¬ ventions and has been township supervisor for some years. Of the Kingsley Methodist Episcopal church he is a trustee, and has been a class leader for several years, having been one of the original members of the class. Of his children five are living, viz : Desdcmona, wife of Edward Armstrong, living on the farm adjoining the Shrack homestead : she has four children - William Ray, Charles Cecil, Gladys Merritt and Har¬ old ; Hattie, wife of Charles Reasoner, liv¬ ing on the Shrack farm, and who has three children - Florence Geneva, Wilda Hazel and William Henry; Hannah L., wife of Charles W. Barr, whose biographical sketch appears elsewhere in this volume, and who has three chihlrcn - Ralph Farnly, Goldie and Marcia; Cora F., wife of William Brown, and still living with her parents; and Harvey Lee, at home and in his fifteenth year. Mr. and Mrs. Shrack have lost four children, three in infancy and one, James M., who died of pneumonia when in his twenty-first year.

Moses W. Banning

Moses W. Lanning, of Mill Grove, man¬ ufacturer of drain tile, belongs to one of the most prominent families of Blackford coun¬ ty. He was born March 26, 1S50, in the original log cabin elsewhere described in this biography, and remained at home on the farm of his father until he was thirty years of age, aiding in operating and managing the farm. His father, Robert Banning*, was a native of Sussex county, Nev Jersey, being born there January 15, 1820, and was married to Lydia Fuller, also a native of that county. Both of them died in Guernsey county, Ohio, he in 1873. and she in 1884. lie was a son of Robert Lan¬ ning, who was born in New Jersey and died in Guernsey county, Ohio, at the age of eighty-four. The father of the latter, Robert Lanning, was an English¬ man, but little appears to be now re¬ membered of his life. The Fuller fam¬ ily came to America previous to the Revolutionary war. The grandparents of Robert Lanning were Eli and Martha (Rundle) Fuller, the former being born in New Jersey and the latter in Connecticut, and both of them died in New Jersey, the former at the age of fifty-eight, the latter at eighty-six. When Robert Lanning was six months old he was taken to Guernsey county, Ohio, and was there married, Jan¬ uary 4, 1844. to Miss Margaret A. Kennedy, who was born in 1 8 t 7 near Bloomfield, Ohio. She was a daughter of Moses \Y. and Esther W. Kennedy, both natives of Sussex county. New Jersey, and both of whom died in Guernsey county, Ohio, he at the age of seventy-six and she at the age of eighty-six. Her grandfather was Robert Kennedy, a brother of Lord Kennedy, who on one occa¬ sion offered a prize for his brother Robert's head, in consequence of which Robert fled the country and settled in Sussex county, New Jersey.

In 1845 Robert Lanning, together with his wife and one child, came to Blackford county, Indiana, and settled on one hundred and sixty acres of land, a part of section 28. in Jackson township, which had been entered by his brother-in-law, David Fisher. Upon this one hundred and sixty acres there had been erected a log cabin, 18x20 feet in size, which was all in one room and which had a puncheon floor and no chimney, simply a hole in the roof for the escape of the smoke. The bedstead was constructed of poles resting on pegs and had a mattress of linn bark woven. The table wras a puncheon one and was used two years ; seats were merely stools. But notwithstanding all these rude and inconvenient pieces of fur¬ niture, as compared with modern styles, and notwithstanding the rude log cabin, which would now be indicative of poverty, there was much happiness to be had in even the primitive conditions of pioneer life. The first day Mr. Lanning spent on this new farm he killed a deer and he proved to be a great hunter, often shooting the fleer in the eye and having them fall close to his feet. "Wild hogs were also plentiful, as well as squirrels, and when Dr. Henry, of Hart¬ ford City, offered three cents for each squir¬ rel shot through the head Robert Lanning shot fifty of them in one day, receiving there¬ for his one dollar and fifty cents in silver. The Doctor was very fond of squirrel meat. At one time Robert killed eight young wolves which he found in a tree, for which lie received the bounty offere l by the county.

Mrs. Lanning died in November, 1880, having borne to her husband the following children : Maria, who died at the age of nine years; Lydia, who married Winfield S. Mercer, of Albany, Indiana; Isaac N., of Mill Grove; Moses W., the subject of this sketch ; Aaron ; William J. ; Stephen A. D. ; Harriet E., who married Ross Peterson and died at the age of thirty-five; and Mary, who married Thomas Stanley and died in Blackford county at the age of twenty-seven. Mr. Lanning has always been a Democrat, positive in his views, but never a politician. He has served the people in the capacity of a justice of the peace, township assessor and land appraiser, but always preferred to give his attention to his own private af¬ fairs rather than to those of the public.

Moses W. Lanning, whose name stands at the head of this biography, was married, January 1, 1880, to Miss Almeda Letitia Wright, a daughter of William G. and Talitha J. (Buckles) Wright, who was born in Blackford county February 16, i860. Her father, William G. Wright, came from Virginia to Indiana as a boy and worked on the farm until he was married, in Delaware county, to Miss Talitha J. Buckles, and lived on a farm in Blackford county until her death in 1880. Afterward he married

Elder John Buckles, grandfather of Mrs. Lanning, was born in Marietta, Ohio, De¬ cember 21, 1812, and was married, August 18, 1833, to Mary Northcutt, who was born in Miami county, Ohio, August 7. 1815. She died in Delaware county, Indiana, in March, 1887, Elder Buckles dy¬ ing in September, 1898, aged eighty-seven years. He was a great-grandson of Robert Buckles, whose father was a wealthy land¬ lord in England and who had a family of twelve sons. Robert Buckles came to Amer¬ ica in 1685, being then seventeen years of age.

In 1841 Elder Buckles located in Dela¬ ware county, Indiana, and was one of the earliest settlers of Miles township. In many ways he was a most remarkable man. At fourteen years lie united with the Baptist church and in 1841 he united with the Mississinawa Old School Regular Baptist church. In 1845 be was licensed to preach and in 1846 he was ordained pastor of the last named church, remaining its pastor nearly all the remainder of his life. He traveled extensively as a preacher, crossing the Alleghany mountains twice and preach¬ ing in six of the states, but never received a salary from any church. His family has been on American soil for the last two hun¬ dred and fifty years, took part in the Revo¬ lutionary war, in the war of 1812-15, ancl m the war of the Rebellion, and they have al¬ ways been true to their country and also to their church.

One of the sons of Elder Buckles is also a distinguished minister of the Baptist church, viz: Rev. William N. Buckles, who was born in Miami county, Ohio, near Cass- town, September 14, 1838, and in 1841 was taken to the extreme northeast corner of Delaware county, Indiana, his parents locat¬ ing near Dunkirk. The parents of Elder John Buckles located in Ohio in the latter part of the eighteenth century, and were thus among the early pioneers of that state. David Buckles, father of John, died at the age of eighty-seven, and his wife at the age of seventy-five. John died in his eightysixth year. Mary Northcutt was a daugh¬ ter of Willis and Eleanor (Wilson) North¬ cutt, the former of whom came from North Carolina and the latter from Kentucky. He attained the age of seventy-five, she that of eighty-seven. Her mother, whose maiden name was Wilson, died at the age of ninetyseven. From Robert Buckles, who came to America as stated above in 1681;. the line of regular descent is as follows to Rev. William N. Buckles : Robert's eldest son was James, whose son was James, whose son was John, whose son was David, whose son was John, and his son William N. To what has been already said of Elder John Buckles it may be added that in 1842 he sold dressed pork in Muncie at one and a half cents per pound, and he also tanned leather with which to make shoes for his family. He began with two hundred acres of land, and cultivated one hundred and twenty acres, all of which was cleared and improved by himself and his son, William N. He was an ordained minister of the Baptist church for fifty years, and was a member thereof for seventy-four years. His work in the different states in which he preached was carried on mainly on horseback. He was a general minister, or¬ ganized many churches, stood high as a church disciplinarian, never swore an oath, never drank liquor, never saw two men fight, never was sued for debt, and never sued but one man himself. While he was wholly selfeducated, he was considered one of the ablest ministers in the church. During his youth he taught school eighteen terms. In his dis¬ position he was not combative, was not con¬ tentious, being a mild-mannered man, be¬ lieving in the kind of religion that is experi¬ mental and practical. His own life was an example to all, and was thus all the more in¬ fluential than if it had been merely theoret¬ ical. Fie organized the Baptist church at Hartford City, and preached therefor as long as it remained a church, except for eighteen months, ..hen he was pastor of the Mississinawa church, near Dunkirk. Politics he per¬ sistently and consistently eschewed, confin¬ ing himself to the religious life. Of his family nine reached mature years and mar¬ ried, and all but one were living at the time of his death. There were five sons and four daughters, of whom William N. and John F. reside in Blackford county.

William N. remained on the farm until he attained his majority, receiving his edu¬ cation in the old log school-house. In 1862 lie became a teacher, his license being granted by Abraham Jutinore, an old attorney of Hartford City, and his first school being in Licking township. Of the seven terms of school taught by him all were in Jackson township but the first, and four were in the home school-house, the Crumley Cross¬ ing school. During this same time he was engaged in the clearing of his farm, which lies two miles south of Trenton, and con¬ tains eighty acres, for which he paid eight hundred dollars, and to which he moved in 1864. This farm he cleared and cultivated and made it his home until 1889. It is now owned by John J. Hill.

ing fifty-one and a half acres, which was originally a swamp, but which had been cleared and ditched, and which lies on the bank of Licking creek. Mr. Buckles lias taken out the stumps and has set ut a fine orchard and erected good buildings. lie has his farm in an excellent state of cultiva¬ tion, in fine condition for growing grain, which he feeds to stock.

In 1873 he united with the same church to which his father belonged, and in 1876 was ordained minister by the presbytery. He began as pastor and as an evangelical minister, operating in Indiana, Illinois, Ne¬ braska, Missouri, Kentucky and Ohio, his plan being to follow so far as practicable apostolic methods, and he was often away from home four weeks at a time. He is dif¬ ferent from his father in this - that he pre¬ fers evangelical work, while his father pre¬ ferred a regular pastorate. But he has filled pastorates in Blackford, Jay and Delaware counties. He enjoys the discussion of Bib¬ lical and doctrinal questions, but generally in private, by the fireside. However, he sometimes preaches doctrinal sermons, in which case his sermons bristle with' strong arguments. For several years Mr. Buckles has been quite active as a worker in the Democratic party, which he is always ready to uphold and defend. In 1865 he served as township trustee, and in 1878 lie began a three-year term as county commissioner. As such officer he always favored public im¬ provements, one of those improvements being the building of the county jail. His asso¬ ciates were Harrison Moon, Uriah Dick, William Schmidt and Isaac Ricketts. I he pioneer county pikes were also built at that time, and in all ways practicable Mr. Buckles favored the improvement of the county.

i860, to Miss Margaret M. Shrack, who was born on the present site of Dunkirk. They have had five children, as follows: Aaron Elmer, who began to teach at the age of twenty, and is now a teache at Mill Grove, having completed his eighteenth term, all in Jackson township, and in the winter of 1899- 1900 ten of the teachers of Jackson town¬ ship were former pupils of his; Letitia Josephine, who has been a school teacher; . \ Hie Adelia, who died at twenty-seven; Keturah, .who died in infancy; Eva; Ruth, a teacher; Gertrude, who died at the age of seven; Nellie and Bessie, school girls, living ar home.

Moses W. Lanning, upon beginning life on his own account, purchased a farm in Jackson township, upon which he lived four years. Then, in 1885, in company with George W. Ludy, he established a tile manu¬ factory, which he has continued to conduct up to the present time. This has been and is an extensive business, the annual value of the output of the factory being about three thousand dollars. The most prosperous times for this institution were about 1890. The company employs from four to six men and has an excellent reputation. Mr. Lan¬ ning is president of the Mill Grove Natural Gas Company, which was organized about twelve years ago, with Mr. Lanning as one of the original stockholders, but he has been president only two years. One well is lo¬ cated in the tile yard, the company having about nine miles of pipe with one hundred and seventy consumers, and it is paying fair dividends. Mr. Lanning still owns his farm, has erected upon it a good house and barn, both of them comfortable and conven¬ ient, and in both farm and improvements takes a pardonable pride.

but is in no sense an office seeker, preferring to devote himself to his private business, which requires all his attention. His family consists of two daughters, both of them athome: Lefa Alma and Hattie Jessamine, the latter of whom is making a specialty of instrumental music. One son, named Jo¬ seph, died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Han¬ ning have practically adopted a nephew of hers, William Harold Hubbard, since he was three days old, at which time his mother died. " They are both members of the Mississinawa (Predestinarian) Baptist church, on Green street, in Delaware county, west of Dunkirk. Mr. Larming is a deacon of the church, in the work of which he takes an active interest, and he has been licensed as a public speaker. Mr. Hanning is one of the most enterprising and public-spirited men of his county, and enjoys the confidence and esteem of all who know him.

David Vance

David Vance, one of the most prominent and successful farmers of Blackford county, is descended from excellent Virginia par¬ ents, named, respectively, V illiam and Sarah (Heaton) Vance. William Vance was a potter by trade, having a pottery at Morgan¬ town, Virginia, from which place he was ac¬ customed to float his wares down the river to various river towns in search of a market, sometimes reaching as far down the Ohio as Cincinnati, selling out his stock and flatboats and walking back. lie was married in Indi¬ ana, became a fanner in Marion county, and died when about the age of sixty-two. His wife died while still younger than this.

children, of whom six are still living in vari- I ous parts of the country, one of them, Will¬ iam. living in Marion county. Up to his fourteenth year our subject lived upon the farm, acquiring such education as the coun¬ try schools afforded, and from that age up¬ ward he has been self-supporting, showing the quality of the metal of which he is made. Having learned with his grandfather, Ebenczer Heaton, the trade of a carpenter, includ¬ ing the wheelwright trade and that of a cab¬ inetmaker, he afterward worked at these sev¬ eral trades for himself, continuing thus en¬ gaged until the breaking out of the war, which changed the plans of so many Ameri¬ can youths.

Ln July, 1861, he enlisted as a member of Company E, Thirty-ninth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and saw his fighting during the second day of the great battle of Shiloh, which was fought April 6 and 7, 1862. In this battle he was wound J in his right foot, his big toe on this foot having ever since caused him constant pain. After the battle of Stone River the Thirty-ninth Regiment was re-organized as the Eighth Indiana Cav¬ alry and was attached to General Kilpatrick's division, and participated in the great At¬ lanta and Savannah campaigns of General Sherman, and was in the last battle of Averysboro, South Carolina, Mr. Vance being present with his command and taking- part in all its actions. At Stone river he was taken prisoner and held by a body of Texan rangers, together with John Garrity, now of Hartford City, for a few minutes, but being led soon after their capture in front of Sheridan's men the rangers tried to escape, but were all killed, and Mr. Vance was thus enabled to return to his own regi¬ ment, having a musket again in his hands in less' than half an hour after bis capture.

While in the service he was wounded five times, but as all were flesh wounds he was never long detained thereby from the ranks, being constantly with his command. On one occasion he was one of a squad of scouts that entered the rebel lines and captured sev¬ eral prisoners, among them being the famous Major Rhett, who fired the first gun at Fort Sumter, April 14, 1861. He was also en¬ gaged in numerous scouting expeditions, and served until July, 1865, just eight days less than four years, having been at home but twice, once when sick with the measles and once 011 veteran furlough, when his regiment was in Georgia. Mr. Vance is now a pen¬ sioner, and though lie has never united with the Grand Army of the Republic, yet he at¬ tends all of the reunions of his regiment, and greatly enjoys meeting his old comrades in arms.

After returning' from the war he worked at his trade until he removed to his present farm, with the exception of the first year, which he spent at home. He located on his present farm in 1874, his father having en¬ tered three tracts, each of eighty acres, none of which, however, was improved. One of these eighty-acre tracts was given him by his father, and to the improvement of his farm and to the making of a living therefrom he has since devoted his energies. He has now one hundred acres under cultivation and has made excellent improvements, including buildings and underdrains, which he at first constructed of timber, the timber having more recently been superseded by good tile drains of the proper size. His farm is now well adapted to both hay and grain.

Mr. Vance was married, July 22, 1877, *n Blackford county, to Miss Jennie Barr, fuller reference to whom is made in the biograph¬ ical sketch of Charles Barr, to which the reader is respectfully referred. She was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, and was about ten years old when brought to this county. Mr. and Mrs. Vance have no children. Mr. Vance is a stanch Republican in his politi¬ cal views, but has never sought or desired office and is not a campaigner. Mrs. Vance is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church at Mill Grove, her parents having been prominent members of the same church before her, and her father having been con¬ sidered one of the pillars thereof. Mr. Vance is a member in good standing of the Odd Fellows lodge at Hartford City, and takes great interest in its fraternal features. The Fort Wayne Gas Company has three wells on his farm, one of which has been in opera¬ tion several years and is one of the best be¬ longing to the company. Mr. Vance's farm buildings are large and commodious, espec¬ ially his house, and these buildings were all erected by himself. Few if any of the cit¬ izens of Blackford county stand higher in the estimation of their fellow-men than does the subject of this sketch, and it is a great pleas¬ ure to make his biography a part of this volume.

Edward Lucine Shull

The oldest druggist and pharmacist of Montpelier and proprietor of the leading drug store there, has been a resident of Blackford county ever since his birth, which occurred on the 4th day of April, 1848. His parents were William and Sarah A. (Puttman) Shull, the father for many years a well-known and successful druggist of Mont¬ pelier and also one of the city's most repu¬ table physicians.

education in 011c of the old subscription schools common in Blackford county in the early days, and subsequently obtained a knowledge of the more advanced branches of learning in Liber College, Jay county, which he attended one term. The meantime he completed the public school course, and at the age of eighteen years entered his fa¬ ther's drug store in Montpelier, where in due time he became familiar with every de-. tail of the trade, also mastering the intricacies of pharmacy. He continued with his father some years and then succeeded to the business, which he has since conducted with success and financial profit, being, as stated above, the oldest pharmacist .in point of active service at this time in the city.

Mr. Shull was married, January 7, 1872, to Miss Electa A. Ellsworth, daughter of Nathan and Sabra (Shinn) Ellsworth, a union to which the following family have been born: Jessie L., whose birth occur¬ red January 16, 1876, and who is now the wife of Edward K. Martin, of Montpelier; Guy E., born September 2, 1882, and an in¬ fant that died unnamed. Mr. Shull's ex¬ perience as a business man embraces a eries of continued successes, and by close atten¬ tion, directed and controlled by a sound judgment, lie has built up a large and lucra¬ tive trade, the result of which is the com¬ fortable competence he now commands.

Lie carries a fu' ine of drugs, sundries and goods of like character usually found in first-class establishments, and as a com¬ pounder of medicines long since established a reputation which for knowledge and skill is second to that of no other pharmacist in Montpelier or Blackford county.

and commanding in an unusual degree the confidence and esteem of the public. While possessing superior qualifications which would enable him to succeed in any under¬ taking, it may modestly be said that not a little of his success is due to his social na¬ ture, which never fails to win and retain warm personal friendships. His enviable standing in the community has been hon¬ estly earned, anti the people of Montpelier are proud of him as a business man and citi¬ zen. With the exception of five years, when they lived in Kansas City, Springfield, Mis¬ souri. and Little Rock, Arkansas, where he was engaged in different pursuits, Mr. Shull and wife have spent their entire married life in this county.

James Gilliland Baird

To the state of Pennsylvania, as well as to Virginia, are many of the western states indebted for their excellent citizens, those states having sent out numerous enterprising pioneers. James G. Baird, of Jackson town¬ ship, whose postoffice is Hartford City, and who was born near Adams county, Ohio, March 9, 1821, is a descendant of a family of this description, his parents having been Joshua and Susan (Gibson) Baird, both of whom were from Washington county. Penn¬ sylvania, and both of whom were taken in childhood by their respective parents to Ohio. Joshua Baird was a son of 'James and Eliza¬ beth (Robinson) Baird. Susan Gibson was a daughter of Thomas and Sarah Gibson, and she married Joshua Baird in Adams county, Ohio, in which county they lived the rest of their lives. Mr. Baird served a short time at Sandusky as a soldier in the Ameri- can army during the war of 1812-15. Tin children of this couple were four in number, James being now the only survivor and the only one who ever lived in Indiana.

The boyhood of James G. Baird was spent upon his father's farm, but as his father died when he was ten years of age, he thencefor¬ ward remained with his mother until he was twenty -five, when he married, August 9, 1846, Miss Clarissa Lcedon, of Adams coun¬ ty. The next year he drove with team and wagon to Indiana in company with his fa¬ ther-in-law, who also located in Blackford county, Mr. Lecdon having previously lived in this county and entered land in Licking township. But his wife dying here, he re¬ turned to Ohio, married again avid then re¬ turned to Blackford county, settled on the farm he had selected and remained upon it until late in life, when he removed to Hart¬ ford City, where he died at the age of seven¬ ty-six. His name was William Leedon, and he had moved from Adams county, Ohio, to Blackford county. Indiana, about 1841. He is well remembered for his energy and enterterprise, having owned a large farm which he managed in a businesslike manner. His daughter, Elizabeth, married John Sommerville, of Hartford City, and is a half sister of Mrs. Baird.

James G. Baird, coming here, as stated above, in 1847, soon determined to remain and purchased his present tract of land, eighty acres, at two dol¬ lars and fifty cents per acre. At that time he had about one hundred dollars in cash, and in consequence was compelled to go somewhat in debt. Upon this eighty-acre tract not a tree had been cut and it was all in its primitive state of wildness and beauty. He made a small clearing and erected a little log cabin, which served as a home for himself and family for a number of years. There were then but few people living in this vicin¬ ity, only one small clearing having been made in a direct line toward Trenton for eight miles. But little of this kind of work had ben done in the direction of Hartford City and there was nothing but solid woods to the southeast for miles. But Mr. Baird was near the Fort Wayne trail, and so in communica¬ tion with the outside world. His first work was to clear his farm, which he set himself resolutely to do, and after raising one crop he was never in want, and made steady progress toward comfort and independence. His first house mentioned above was of round logs, clapboarded up and had a puncheon floor, and was in other respects similar to the first houses of most of the pioneers. This lasted him until 1861, when it was supplanted by a larger and better one, more in keeping with his surroundings and on a plane with those of his more progressive neighbors. He was so industrious and economical that he soon had his farm paid for, and being ambi¬ tious to acquire more of this world's goods, he purchased other tracts of land, paying three dollars and fifty cents per acre for un¬ improved land of practically no value, but looking into the future he saw that value would come to it in due course of time. For some land of this kind he paid as high as sixteen dollars per acre, and at length was the owner of one hundred and sixtyseven acres, some of which he sold off so that at the present time he has only one hundred and thirteen acres, of which one hundred acres a e in cultivation. More than forty acres of swamp land Mr. Baird has reclaimed by drainage, at first putting in wooden drains, which have been replaced with tile, his plan being to put in more or less tile drains each year. Now the farm is in excellent condi- being now the best on his farm, .producing readily one hundred bushels of corn to the acre. Mr, Baird has always been alive to the value of improvements, both private and public, perceiving that farm lands are made more valuable in this way, and that the ma¬ terial progress of the country depends at least to a considerable extent on the betterment of the roads and in the budding up of various | industrious establishments, for these create a market for farm products which are more easily gotten to market over improved roads.

Mr. Baird proved his faith in railroads by becoming a stockholder in the first built in this part of the country several years be¬ fore its construction, tie sold six shares of the Pan Handle Railway Company's stock at thirty cents on the dollar and a free pass to Union City, "while many of the other stock¬ holders never received a penny for their stock. Early in his farming operations Mr. Baird hauled wheat to Wabash and Hagers¬ town, distance of forty-five miles, receiving seventy-five cents per bushel, sometimes, however, not receiving more than thirty cents. In those early days salt was worth five dollars per barrel. Mr. Baird has de¬ voted his farm for the most part to the rais¬ ing of grain and stock feeding considerable quantities of cattle and hogs and being noted far and wide for the quality of the stock that he feeds. 1 s present commodious and con¬ venient housv. he erected in 1883.

Politically Mr. Baird is a Democrat and has served as county commissioner, but on account of ill health he was compelled to re¬ sign in 1891. His associates during his term of service were Winslow Miles and John W. Clore. Mr. and Mrs. Baird have had the following children : Catherine, wife of Isaac Black, of Hartford City; William, of Jewell county: Kansas; Henry, of Leadville, Colorado; Alice, who died in her twentieth year ; Susan, who died at five years of age; John, of Leadville, Colorado; Jasper, who is operating the home farm, and America, wife of Patrick Carmichael, of Delaware county, Indiana.

Jasper Baird married Elizabeth Willman, who died leaving two children, viz: Eveline, who is fourteen years old, and Edna, who is eleven. Mr. Baird married for his second wife Eifie Brogdon, who has no children.

James G. Baird is prominent in fraternal circles, being the oldest member in point of years of Hartford City Lodge, No. 262, I. O. O. E., having been a member for forty years. He is one of the enterprising, sub¬ stantial and highly regarded citizens of his county, surpassed by few if any in those things that go to make manhood and good citizenship.

William G. Ort

William G. Ort, linewalker for the Foil Wayne Gas Company, at station A, Jackson township, whose postoffice is Hartford City, was born in Allen county, Indiana, near New Haven, January 8, 1865. He is a son of William II. and Mary Ort, who were married in Pennsylvania, removed thence to Ohio and finally to Allen county, Indiana, in which county the former died about twelve years since, at the age of fifty-five. Mrs. Ort, mother of the subject, died in 1872, and his father, about two years later, married again.

upon ihe farm, and he acquired such a com¬ mon school education as the country then afforded. At the age of seventeen he began working in the woods, cutting logs, cord wood, etc., continuing thus engaged for one year. One year he spent in building houses and barns, and the succeeding two years he worked upon the farm. At the expiration of this period, September 21, 1885, he was married in Allen county, Indiana, to Miss Alice M. Carver, who was also a native of Allen county, they being brought up as chil¬ dren together and attending the same school. After managing the farm two years he then worked it for one year with his brother, and then rented it for three years, working it alone. At the end of this period he en¬ tered the employ of the Fort Wayne Gas Company, beginning with them in June, 1890, and continuing up to the present time. Being employed at first as an ordinary labor¬ er, he was sent, in January, 189], to his present position, and has ever since then re¬ mained in charge of the lines and wells in his district, which extends into Jay county, and which is fully eight miles in length. In this field there are about twrent}r-three pro¬ ducing wells, in he management and care of which Mr. Ort finds ample opportunity to keep himself employed. In politics Mr. Ort is a Republican, and he and his wife have the following children : Bertha, thirteen years of age; Jennie, eleven, and Charley, eight. Mr. and Mrs. Ort are members of the Christian church at Hartford, of which Mr. Ort is a deacon. He and his wife are both active in religious work, and are fully alive to the necessity of thoroughly educat¬ ing their children, in order that they may be respectable and useful citizens. They en¬ deavor to keep abreast of the progress of the age, fully informing themselves on all cur¬ rent topics, and being interested in all mat¬ ters of material and moral importance to the race. They are highly respected be¬ cause of their character and disposition to do right unto all with whom they come in contact.

Zophar Evans

Z» . liar Evans, one of the most promi¬ nent citizens of Blackford county, and a patriot of the war of the Rebellion, was born November 12, 1831, and is descended from Virginia parents, George W. and Hannah (Johnson) Evans, the former of whom was born in Jefferson county, Virginia, and the latter near Culpeper Court House, that state. George \V. Evans was a son of Rev. George Evans, a minister of the Protestant Meth¬ odist church, who removed with his family to Fairfield countv, Ohio, and it was near Lancaster, Ohio, that the subject of this sketch was born. Hannah Johnson was brought to Ohio by her parents when a young girl, they also settling in Fairfield county; their names were Zophar and Elizabeth (Romine) Johnson.

In 1837, when Zophar Evans was six years old, his parents removed from Fairfield county, Ohio, to Henry county, Indiana, his maternal grandparents removing to the same county at the same time. Here he lived un¬ til he was se\ onteen years of age, when he went, to Richmond to learn the carpenter trade, being apprenticed there for four years. His compensation, besides the learning of his trade, was his board and clothes. At the expiration of three years, so great had been his progress and such being his profi¬ ciency in the use of tools, that he was dis¬ charged from the further fulfillment of his agreement, and lie received a suit of clothes and a set of tools. Then returning to his fa¬ ther's home he worked with him for one year, his father being also a carpenter and having a contract for the building: of two brick houses in Dunkirk and a barn in Tackson township. This was in 1851, and at the completion of the contract his father re¬ turned to Henry county, where he lived un¬ til 1854, when he removed to Blackford county, settling near Dunkirk, in Jackson township, and there died when sixty-four years -of age.

From that time on until his marriage Zophar made his home with his uncle, Will¬ iam Bowen, and continued working at his trade in Blackford county, building houses and barns, for eleven years, and he also built bridges on the Panhandle Railway, con¬ structing six bridges for the company. Dur¬ ing this period, from 1851 to 1861, he made considerable money, and in 1856 purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land, for which he paid nine hundred dollars. Upon this farm he settled that year and has made it his home ever since. In 1862 he entered the service of his country, serving a short time that year. In 1863 he volunteered for thre, years, or during the war, in Company H, One Hundred and Thirtieth Indiana Vol¬ unteer Infantry, but remained in the state of Indiana, at Indianapolis and at Kokomo, un¬ til about February, 1864, at which time he crossed the Ohio river for service at the front. He reached Schofield's corps in time to participate in the battle of Buzzards' Roost mountain, otherwise called the battle of Rocky Face Ridge, which occurred May 11, 1864, and afterward went on with Sher¬ man to Atlanta. For thirty-one days he was in. such constant action that he never took off his boots to rest, and after the fall of At¬ lanta he belonged to the army under Gen¬ eral Thomas that pursued the rebel General Hood northward to Nashville, Tennessee, and there, on December 15 and 16, 1864, almost completely crushed that rebel gen¬ eral's army. After this most signal victory he was sent to join Sherman via Washing¬ ton, D. C., Fort Fisher and Kingston, North Carolina, where he was engaged in battle with the enemy, and finally joined the army of Sherman at Goldsboro the next day. He was present at the surrender of Johnston, and remained in the vicinity of Charlotte, North Carolina, until December 4, 1865, when he was mustered out. Mr. Evans served all through the war in the ranks, but at one time he was detailed to command twenty men whose duty it was to guard for three weeks a cotton warehouse, during which time he acted in the capacity of a sergeant. He had the good fortune not to be wounded or captured during bis whole term of service, but nevertheless had many narrow escapes. He is now a pensioner, and belongs to General Shields Post, No. 289, G. A. R., at Dunkirk.

On returning to the pursuits of peace he gave his attention' to his farm, putting one hundred and fortv acres in cultivation, he and his sons doing the clearing themselves. Finding that it would be difficult for him to .pay for his entire farm, even at the low price of nine hundred dollars, he sold eighty acres for five hundred dollars, and afterward bought it again for twelve hundred dollars, so that now he has his original farm intact. At first there were many ponds and low, wet places, but the farm is now so well drained with tile that tl e places are dry and con¬ stitute the best land upon the farm. Origi¬ nally this farm was covered with large oak, hickory and ash trees, but these he cut down, rolled the logs into heaps and burned them up, as many another farmer has done before and since, thus realizing but little except ashes from the burned log heaps. 1 Inwevcr, from hooppoles lie did realize some money, hauling them to .VI unde, a distance of about twenty-two miles, but this hauling could be done only when the ground was frozen or in dry seasons of the year. So numerous were the hooppoles hauled to Muncie that they were called by the business men of that place "Blackford county currency."

Mr Evans has aided his sons to secure a start in life by giving each thirty acres of land. His farm is best adapted to corn, wheat and grass. Soon after the close of the war lie brought into the county its first steam thresher, this being about 1874-75, and with this new machine he threshed grain all over Blackford county, and in parts of Jay, Delaware and Grant conn . s. lie ran a threshing machine for twenty-five seasons, wearing out in that time five machines. He still owns an outfit. In 1880 he began oper¬ ating a portable saw-mill, continuing to op¬ erate it in various parts of the count)' for fifteen years, thus showing that there was scarcely an enterprise in which he could not engage, and making a success in all of those he entered upon.

Mr. Evans has been married three times : First, on November 18, 185 2, to Avah Clouse, of Jackson township, who died Oc¬ tober 29, 1854; second, to Adelaide Alfrey, February 8, 1855, who died April 13, 1891; and, third, April 28, 1892, to Eliza A. Kitzmiller, also of Jackson township. By his first wife he had one son, William Wesley, born September 3, 1854, and living at home with his father. By his second wife he had the following children : George W., born February 29, 1856, and now a carpenter livi ing at Dunkirk; Isaac N., born August 8, 1858, now living on a portion of the home j farm; Mary, born October 2, 1S60, who i lived at home and remained single until her i death, March 27. 1895; Nancy B., born Sep- J tember 25, 0862, and now the wife of Will¬ iam T Whitsel, of Jay county, Indiana; Ed¬ ward C, born December 14, 1866, a farmer of Jackson township; John O., born Decem¬ ber 18, 1869, and died February 28, 1894; and Luther A., born February 19, 1872, liv¬ ing on a portion of the home farm.

Mr. Evans is a strong Republican, hav¬ ing voted for General Fremont for presi¬ dent in 1856, and for every subsequent Re¬ publican presidential candidate. He is nearly always in attendance upon his party conventions, and in service on party commit¬ tees. He was appointed trustee of Jackson township in 1891, against his own wishes and request, the bondsmen of his predecessor becoming his bondsmen, notwithstandiirg his predecessor, who was a Democrat, was a | defaulter, and the selection of Mr. Evans to | this important position was largely due to his Democratic friends.

For twenty years he has been a steward in the Methodist Episcopal church at Kings¬ ley, formerly at Dunkirk. He is a Master Mason, carrying that work into the chapter and council, and he served five years as worj shipful master of Priam Lodge, No. 405, at j Trenton. He has also sat in the grand lodge at different times. He is a director of the Linbark Gas & Oil Company, which has twenty-six stockholders and operates twro wells, supplying about fifty families and hav¬ ing about fifteen miles' of pipe, the line ex¬ tending into Tay county. The two wells are located within one-half mile of each other in Blackford county. Mr. Evans uses this gas not only for fuel and light, hut also for power, pumping water with it at his home. His own farm lies in the gas belt, but he has no well opened on it. Taken all in all, Mr. Evans has been and is one of the most enter¬ prising and public-spirited men of his day, and has the full confidence and respect of all that know him.

David O. Snyder

Early in the present century many excel¬ lent people from the state of Virginia emi¬ grated thence to Ohio, which, in a certain sense, is a daughter of the former state, and many of her enterprising citizens and distin¬ guished men are descended from Virginia ancestry. David O. Snyder, though born in Fayette county, Ohio, January 7. 1845, a son of John N. and Rhoda (Racer) Snyder, both of whom were born and reared and married in Virginia, and who as a young married couple removed to Ohio, making that fair state their home until their son, David O., was four years of age. Then they removed to Randolph county, Indiana, living there one }rear, and in 1850 they finally located in Jackson township, Blackford coun¬ ty, where they passed the remainder of their lives. Both parents died on the farm which is now owned bv Jesse N. Snyder, the fa¬ ther at the age of eighty and the mother at the age of seventy-nine. Upon arriving in Jackson township they settled in the woods and erected a hewed-log cabin, his only neighbors at first being George Whitsel an James Craig. There was scarcely a clear¬ ing for a distance of two miles to the north, three miles to the west, where Robert Lanning lived, and for a mile and a half to the south.

it nearly all under cultivation, later adding two eighty-acre tracts. lie assisted each of his sons to get a start in life by selling them forty acres each for one hundred dollars. Politically he was a conservative Demoit, but neither sought, desired nor held office. Fie and his wife belonged to the Missionary Baptist church, being among the original members of that church at Dun¬ kirk, and Mr. Snyder was one of the main pillars of that church, the first preaching therefor being held in the old log schoolhouse north of Trenton by Rev. Willis Fiance. Of this first church Mr. Snyder was a trustee for many years, and was during his entire life a model churchman, neighbor and citizen. In the earlier days he enjoyed hunting greatly, and killed many a deer, at one time bringing home three, two of them strtmg over his horse's back and the third tied to his horse's tail. Fie and his wife were the parents of three children that still live, and four that have died, as follows: Sarah E., wife of Benjamin Stover, of Jackson township; Mary A., who married Ira Julian, and died at the age of thirty-five, leaving two children, Fanny, who died in childhood; Samuel, who died in childhood, at the same time as Fanny, of scarlet fever; David O., the subject of this sketch; John W., who died at the age of forty-one, leav¬ ing a wife and two children, and Jesse, who owns the old homestead.

David O. Snyder lived at home until he was eighteen years of age. acquiring such education as the country then afforded, and performing such labor as he was able to per¬ form. He was married, December 26, 1876. to Miss Sarah L. Sherry, a daughter of David Sherry, living near Mill Grove. Miss Sherry was born in Delaware county, In¬ diana, and when she came to Blackford county she was about fifteen years of age. During the first two years after their mar¬ riage Mr. and Mrs. Snyder lived on a rented farm, and then moved to their present farm, : which was then new, and to which Mr. Sny¬ der has added forty acres, so that now lie lias a fine farm of eighty acres, nearly all of which is cleared, under cultivation a d well | -drained. At first Mr. Snyder constructed ! drains of timber, hut these drains have all j been replaced with excellent tile drains. For J the most part he lias grown grain, corn being j his principal crop, which lv mainly feeds to j his hogs, which he breeds and raises himself, and of which he raises from forty to eighty head per year. His farm is in excellent con¬ dition, and upon this farm he has erected a residence which is one of the best in Jackson township. hi is barn and outbuildings are also in fine condition and convenient, j these, as well as his house, having been ; erected by himself.

Mr. Snyder in politics is a Democrat, often attending his party conventions, but he is not an officeseeker. He and his wife are the parents of the following children : Martha, wife of Glen Bowen, of Jackson township, who has no children ; Pear' a ; young man who is 5 aching school and at¬ tending high school at Clown, Indiana ; Edith, a young lady living at home. Mr. Snyder is not a member of any church, but is nevertheless a good man. a good citizen , and highly7 respected bv all that know him.

William Harley, Sr

Sr., who was born in county Donegal, Ire¬ land, near Londonderry, March 10, 1836. He is a son of James and Eleanor (McGowan) Harley, the former of whom was of English ancestry, his father, John, having been horn in England and emigrated to Ireland as a member of the family of General Hart. 1U McGowan family was from county Derry, one of the old families connected with the Tracys.

William Harley, Sr., on August 28, 1852, after a voyage on the Atlantic ocean of five weeks and three days, landed at New York, three of his brothers having come to the land of the free several years before. His brother Michael came in 1844, and in 1852 was with Commodore Perry in Japan. The other brothers were John and James, who were in 1852 living at Birmingham, Con¬ necticut, where William joined them, and in which place he worked in the brass, iron and steel works one year, his brothers being engaged in the same establishment. At tinexpiration of the one year William removed to Newark, New Jersey, in which city he was engaged as a turner and finisher in an axle factory for eight years, and for the next two years as foreman of the shop.

In the meantime, on April 19, 1857, at Newark, New Jersey, he was married to Margaret Morrisey, a native of Tipperary county, Ireland, who came to the United States with her parents when a young girl. Two years after William came to this coun¬ try his father, James Harley, died, and in 1863 his mother, three sisters and a brother, all that remained of the family in Ireland, came to this country, he having in 1862 re¬ moved from Newark, New Jersey, to Phila¬ delphia, in which city he kept a grocery store and also a cooper shop. It was, therefore, in Philadelphia that his mother and her four children whom she brought with her joined him, and as all of the brothers that had pre¬ viously come, to this country had located in Philadelphia, the entire family made that city their home for some years.

In 1867 William Harley removed to Union <-ounty, Indiana, with the intention of making that his family's horn* but as business there became unexpectedly dull he decided to go further west, and removed to Randolph county, Indiana, and lived near Union, City two years. But as there was con¬ siderable malaria in that part of the state be moved to Baltimore, where be worked at his trade as cooper one year, supplying the Mer¬ chants' Sugar Refining Company during that time with barrels. Again returning to Philadelphia, he there followed the cooper trade until after the Centennial of 1876, and in 1S77, as business again became dull with him, he returned to Randolph county. In¬ diana, and lived there seven years on a farm. In the spring of 1885 removed finally to Blackford county, where he lived on a rented farm until 1890, the farm belonging to John Cronin, and lying in Harrison township. In the spring of 1890 Mr. Harley removed to his present farm on the Powell pike, ar 1 in Jackson county, seven miles east oi Hart¬ ford City. Here he has eighty acres of land, which at the time cf its purchase by him had over thirty-five acres cleared, but now all is cleared but five acres. It had on it a little clapboarded log cabin. But much of it needed draining, and Mr. Harley set him¬ self to this task. At first he used timber in constructing iiis drains, but now he has bis farm all underlaid with tile drains, of which he has about six hundred rods, and the low lands thus drained, which when he took hold of the work would not raise anything, are now in excellent condition and among the best land on his farm. Prom the tim¬ ber that still stood on his farm he realized something handsome, and thus was enabled to nr rapidly make the many modern impro\ 'ills now to be seen upon his farm. He (! rotes his land to grain mainly, but keeps such stock upon it as will eat the products he raises, his stock consisting of cattle, hogs and sheep. To his farm Mr. Harley has given most of his time and at¬ tention, and the little log house in which he and his family lived for about eight years has been supplanted by a commodious and con venient dwelling.

Politically Mr. Harley is a Democrat, and has been a delegate to several of the county conventions of his party. He and his wife have had eleven children, of whom nine grew to mature years and seven are still living. One died in infancy; Pleanor, now Mrs. John B. Buckley, and living near Dunkirk; William, county surveyor, living at Hartford City, whose biography appears elsewhere in this work; Sarah, who died at the age of nineteen ; Mary, who quali ¬ fied herself to teach and died at the age of seventeen; James, of Hartford City, con¬ tractor for public works; John, civil engin¬ eer, who makes county maps, having made maps of several adjacent counties ; Lizz: who died single at the age of twenty-four: Edward, living at home on the farm, and Agnes, a successful school teacher who has taught four terms of school, three of them in the home district.

Mr. Hartley and his family are members of the St. James Catholic church at Hert¬ ford City, to the unbuilding of which he has largely contributed in material and moral ways. When he first came to this part of the country mass was said in the homes of the members once a month. lie was one of three who erected the church, and the parish is now in excellent condition. Mr. Harley and his family are well known to all, and are favor bly regarded by all as valuable citizens and excellent members of the com¬ munity.

John E. McFarland, M. D., a successful physician of Mill Grove, was born in Darke county, Ohio, November 5, 1847. lie is a son of Lewis McFarland, a native of Ohio, and now a retired farmer living at Union City. Indiana. His father was Samuel Mc¬ Farland, who was six years of age when brought to the United States from Scotland by his parents, who for a time lived in Mary¬ land, but later removed to Ohio, becoming pioneers of that state. Lewis McFarland married Miss Charity Stingley, who was of English parentage, but a native of one of the United States. She is not now living.

When John E. McFarland was eight years of age his father settled in Indiana, in Randolph county, near the Ohio line. His education was obtained in the common schools 1 at the Union City high schools. For some years he followed the useful pro¬ fession of teaching, beginning in 1868 in Randolph county. In 1869 and 1870 taught in Douglas county, Kansas, but pre vious to going to this state he had begun the study of medicine with Dr. Simmons, of Union City, Indiana. But now as Dr. Sim¬ mons had removed to Lawrence. Kansas, young McFarland also went to that city on the Ivaw to further pursue his medical stud¬ ies, teaching school at the same time in Douglas county. In J 873-74 he attended medical lectures at Fields' Medical College at St. Louis, returning to Indiana in the summer of the latter year, locating first in Randolph county, and on May 1, 1875, re¬ moved to Mill Grpve, in Blackford county, his present home.

It was in Mill Grove that he began the practice of medicine, but continued his stud¬ ies by taking lectures at the Indiana Eclectic Medical College at Indianapolis. Since May 1, 1875, ^ias been in constant and successful practice, which has always been extensive and renuiring him to ride over a wide extent of country. When he located in Mill Grove there were there but eight houses and one store, while now it is a thriv¬ ing town of four hundred inhabitants. For many years he gave his exclusive attention to his profession. Dr. McFarland is one of the public-spirited citizens of his county, and has largely contributed to the building up of the industries of Mill Grove. In 1898 through his efforts a glass factory was se¬ cured. for the village, he being one of the original stockholders and is now one of the directors. This is the most important in¬ dustry of the place. Its capital stock is twelve thousand dollars, and it employs about seventy mechanics, its pay roll amount¬ ing each two weeks to from seven hundred dollars to one thousand dollars. It makes flasks exclusively, and has ti daily output of about one hundred and forty gross. The company has platted about ten acres of ground which is adjacent to and an addi¬ tion to the town. The enterprise is purely a local one, its stock being owned by resi¬ dents of the town, to the prosperity of which it has materially contribute ..