Washington Township (part 1 of 16)

Washington Township

Of the pioneers of this township the writer has but little knowledge, and can do but little more than mention the names of some of them. John Miller, in section i, and his son Jonathan were here very early; there was another John Miller and also a Peter and a Jonas. John Cave, the associate judge, and Absalom Shrader were neighbors, and Jeremiah Lockett, Jonathan Cartwright and Levi C. Eartridge; the first justices, were in the same locality, as was also Edward Hughes and Roderick Craig, of whom men¬ tion has been made. Peter Bonham, Henry Balsley, and the Palmers, Christopher and Samuel, were farther west. William Patter¬ son, Peter McKee, David and James Mc- Conkey, and Thomas Cochran, and probably Thomas Downard, were others who settled along th. northern side of the townhsip. Besides Henry Balsley, there was Jacob Balsley, Sr., and Jacob Balsley, Jr., some¬ where in the township, and in a few years there were Samuel H. Palmer and Martin, David and Joseph Palmer. Along in the central part of the township there were Cyrenius J. Boyles, Lemuel Lcffingwell and Judge William Hadden. Daniel Watson and Samuel West married daughters of Henry Balsley. John Watson, father of Daniel, and Stephen Willman, a native of Germany, were among the old men who located here at an early date. Nicholas Willman, the eccen¬ tric justice of the peace, and his brother, Peter, afterwards in business for many years in Hartford City, were sons of Stephen, and located early in the township. Lewis Willman, a native of Gem. any and a distant relaj tive of the others, lived some years in this township. He was the father of J. P. and Lewis Willman, of Hartford City, and of Mrs. Christena Ervin. Peter Wadle, another German, settled in the midst of the most im¬ penetrable swamps of that time and the school house in that locality has always been called by his name. The extreme southeastern cor¬ ner of this township was settled by the Stallsmith brothers, Jacob, John and George, who came from near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The Fullers, Alfred, Allen and Jonas, were also pioneers of this region. Barnett Dewitt and his son Elisha were among the first. Barnett is said to have been a man of strong common sense, but of quite limited educa¬ tion. He was a hunter of remarkable skill, not only of the wild animals, but of wild bees as well. It is said that while he was a com¬ missioner of the county it was necessary at times to keep a close watch over him to keephim in his place during the session of the board, because if he observed a. bee he would watch its flight, take its course and start off into the depths of the surrounding forest in search of the "bee tree," leaving the coun¬ ty business in charge of his colleagues. His great weakness was his love for intoxicating liquors, which he frequently drank to excess. He was an old acquaintance of John M. Marlay, the village blacksmith of Hartford City, and also of the Dildine family. Mrs. Marlay was a sister of Samson Dildine, and Dewitt always called her Mrs. Dildine. Early one morning he called at Marlay 's house on his way home, having been to mill somewhere on the Mississinnewa or White river. He rode lip to I he house and his presence was an¬ nounced by the horse putting his head in at the open window. He was quite intoxicated but wanted his breakfast. After being assist¬ ed from his horse and into the house Mrs. Marlay proceeded to get breakfast and Mr. Marlay went to his work at the shop near by. In honor of her guest "Aunt Abbie," as she was called, put her best dishes on the table, a set that she greatly prized. While she was in the kitchen the guest of honor concluded that he would take a seat at the table. His unaided efforts in this endeavor were attended by a tremendous crash. Aunt Abbie rushed in and was horrified at seeing the table overturned and her supply of table ware "gone to smash." Dewitt pulled him¬ self out of the iv reck and looked at Mrs. Marlay and observing the expression of grief and despair depicted on her countenance he inquired, "Mrs. Dildine, have you lost any of your near relatives lately?"

In a few years white settlers became too numerous and wild game too scarce for the old hunter and he emigrated to the wilds be¬ yond the Mississippi.

Asher Van Cleve and Frederick and Henry Seelig located from two to three miles north of Hartford City. John and William Kemmer were also in this township and Wallis Benedict, the father of Peter and

Daniel, in Licking. In the southwest corner of Washington were Hilbert Townsend. Sr., already referred to, and his sons, Charles, Hil¬ bert, Jr., and John, Charles Householder, and the Lefflers, George Lefiier and his sons, Daniel and Jacob. In this neighborhood also were Thomas Miles, a Revolutionary sol¬ dier, and his son William and William's sons, Hammond and Adam W., and his nephews, Alfred and Joseph. William Castcrlinc and Edward Middleton were also among the first to locate here. Other pioneers were David Hains, Jonathan Leffingwell, Abel Nichol¬ son, Joseph Richardson, Barnabas Toler, his son, Tira Toler, and Burrell Toler, probably another son.

Conclusion

As had been stated the organization of the county was effected in 1839. The na¬ tional census of 1840 showed the following to be the population of the entire county.

The total population in i860 was, males 2,153; females, 1,969; total, 4.122. These figures would indicate that during the Civil war one-twelfth of the entire population of the county was in the military service.

Population of the county in 1900. As the figures have not yet been given to the public they can be written in the proper place by the owners of this volume.

The present commodious and beautiful court house of Blackford county, the pride | of all her citizens and the admiration of all strangers, was erected in 1893 and 1894. j The corner stone was laid with appropriate : ceremonies November 3, 1893. The outside walls are constructed of Amherst stone, quar¬ ried in Lorain county, Ohio.

Benjamin Granville Shinn

The name of this distinguished citizen has been inseparably connected with the his¬ tory of Blackford county for more than fifty years and no one has had greater influence in moulding public sentiment during that period or done more towards elevating the legal profession or awakening and keeping alive a deep sense of religion in the hearts of the people. Mr. Shinn has been a potent factor for good in the dual capacity of law¬ yer and minister of the gospel, to which may be added a political leadership long rec¬ ognized for its wholesome influence in coun¬ teracting partisan asperity and purifying local politics. He is essentially a man of the people, traces his family history back through many generations of honorable an¬ cestors, and, with the exception of the time spent in the army, has lived his entire life within the borders of his native Indiana.

From the most reliable information ob¬ tainable it appears that the progenitors of the American branch of the Shinn family were among the early English settlers of New Jersey, in William Penn's colony near Philadelphia. Here the subject's great¬ grandfather was born, in the time of the colonies, and here he lived until after the breaking out of the war for independence. His name was Clement Shinn, and his father bore the same name. One of his brothers was the father of Rev. Asa Shinn, an emi¬ nent Methodist divine, and one of' the found¬ ers, in J830, of the Methodist Protestant church.

About the middle of the Revolution Clement Shinn started to emigrate with his family from New Jersey to western Vir¬ ginia, but before reaching his destination was compelled, by reason of great military ac¬ tivity throughout the country, to stop tem¬ porarily at a place known as Apple-pic Ridge, near Winchester, where he remained until the close of the war. Elis wife's name was Ruth. Sonic of their children were born during their temporary residence here, one of whom was Daniel Shinn, grandfather of Benjamin G., who was born June 10, 1782. After the establishment of peace Clement Shinn proceeded upon his journey westward until reaching Harrison county, West Virginia, where he purchased land and resided until his death, which probably occurred early in the nineteenth century. Ilis children were Joseph, Moses, Daniel, Hephzibah, Clement, Edward, Samuel and Ach- sail. Ilis descendants. arc still found in large numbers in West Virginia and are also scattered through Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and the states on the Pacific coast.

Daniel Shinn was reared to manhood on the paternal estate in Harrison county, and must have married when unite young, as his oldest child, Noah Shinn, was born January 15, 1802. In 1823 he changed his residence to the county of Tyler where lie engaged in farming, lie resided there until 1830, when, lured by the prospects held out by the west, he removed with his family to Indiana, mak¬ ing his long journey by fiat boat down the Ohio river to Cincinnati, thence by canal to Cambridge City, whence he proceeded to Knightstown, Henrv county, near which place, on Montgomery's creek, he purchased land and began clearing up a farm. Here in the autumn of 1833 he had the misfortune to lose his faithful wife, who died of com sumption. Her maiden name was Mary Whiteman. She was born in Harrison coun¬ ty, West Virginia, May 14, 1785. Subse¬ quently Daniel Shinn disposed of his farm here and bought a small tract of land in the eastern part of Rush county. He lived most of the time with some one of his children and about 1846 or 1847 'ne came to Black¬ ford county and made his home for a fewr years with his son Hyman, and later for a short time with his daughters, Sabra Ells¬ worth and Mary Ann Burchard. I11 the early '50s, when about seventy years of age, he went alone in his own conveyance to his son, Elias Shinn, who resided near Du¬ buque, Iowa, and soon becoming dissatisfied there he started to return to Indiana and was only able to reach the home of his nephew, Hiram Shinn, who resided near New Windsor, Mercer county, Illinois, where he became very ill and died. He was a man of considerable intellectual force, greatly en¬ joyed argument and debate, and was an ad¬ mirer of the noted infidel, Thomas Paine, and of his book entitled "The Age of Rea¬ son.'' He had a large family, nine sons and four daughters, all of whom except the second daughter lived to become heads of families. All are now dead except Darius Shinn, the seventh in order of birth, now a retired farmer living, at the age of eighty - four, in the city of Montpelier, this state.

Hyman Shinn, son of Daniel and father of Benjamin G., was born March 10, 1817, in Harrison county, West Virginia, and ac¬ companied the family to its various places of residence in that state and Indiana. I11 1838 he purchased from the government eighty acres of land in Harrison township, Blackford county, which is still in possession of his descendants, and here he made his home for forty-five years, laboring indus¬ triously in developing a farm out of the. un¬ broken forests and assisting actively in ad-, vancing the material and religious interests of the country. Prior to locating upon his land, Mr. Shinn was for some time en¬ gaged in the manufacture of brick in the town of Dublin, Wayne county, and about the year 1839 went to his father's farm in Rush county, where he made his home until removing to his purchase above mentioned in 1841.

On the 24th- of December, 1837, Hyman Shinn married Ann VanBuskirk, who was born on Patterson's creek, Hampshire coun¬ ty, West Virginia, November ir, 1810. She was a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Welch) Van Buskirk, natives respectively of Maryland and Virginia, the father being for many years a farmer and millwright. Her grandfather, Isaac Welch, was a sol- dier in the Revolutionary war. Mrs. Shinn came to Indiana in 1S36 in company with her oldest brother, William VanBuskirk, and at the time of her marriage was living in the town of Dublin, Wayne county, where she first became acquainted with the man she afterwards married. Mr. and Mrs. Shinn lived upon the home place in Harrison town¬ ship, four miles east of Montpelier, until November, j880, when, by reason of advanc¬ ing age and infirmities incident thereto, they retired from active life and removed to Hart¬ ford City, where his death occurred on the 12th day of November, 1890. His faithful and devoted wife, with whom he had trodden life's pathway for three years in excess of a half century, did not long survive; she an¬ swered the summons which must finally come to all on September 14th, of the following year, and side by side with her husband in the beautiful I. O. O. F. cemetery at Mont¬ pelier she peacefully sleeps, awaiting the resurrection of the just.

To Mr. and Mrs. Shinn were born six children, namely : William Henry, who died at the age of twenty-one months; James Lafayette, a soldier in Company K, Seventyfifth Indiana Regiment, who died January 29, 1878, leaving a wife, two sons and one daughter surviving, and who was the effi¬ cient and popular postmaster at Montpelier for a few years preceding his death ; John Marion, a soldier in the same company with his brother, who died April 24, 1863, of disease .contracted in the service; Oliver Whitfield, a retired farmer living in Mont¬ pelier; Thomas Sylvester, who died in Hart¬ ford City, August 27, 1888, and Benjamin Granville, who was first in order of birth.

Of the life and character of Flyman Shinn and the influence he exerted for good during hi.- 'ong period of residence in Blackj ford county, much might be said and written.

In the language of Holy Writ "He was a | good man and a just." and against his pri¬ vate character or career as citizen and neigh¬ bor no breath of suspicion was ever known to have been uttered. Accustomed from his youth to revere sacred things, he early united with the Methodist Episcopal church and religion with him was a tangible fact, the controlling influence of his life and the solace of his dying hour. For many years he served his church as class-leader and trustee. He was the leading spirit in building the beauti¬ ful temple of worship four miles east of Montpelier, named in his honor Shinn's Chapel, and other congregations found in him a zealous helper and liberal patron. He was an active and influential supporter of the Republican party in his neighborhood and always had at heart the best interests of the people, and if the opposition party, in his judgment, presented a better man as a candidate than his party did he did not hesi¬ tate to disregard party ties and vote for the best man.

In the matter of scholastic training his advantages were limited, but this defect he supplied in a measure in after years by be¬ coming acquainted with the works of some of the best authors and by special study -along certain lines, notably natural philosophy and astronomy, in both of which he was well informed, quite as much by careful study and the application of his vigorous reason¬ ing powers as by reading the views of others. He also had a well defined knowledge of several other natural sciences as well as of some departments of moral science and theol¬ ogy. He was a great admirer of the emi¬ nent Scotch philosopher, Dr. Thomas Dick, whose writings he perused with studious care, and the ideas of that renowned scholar

The Biographical Record

The wholesome influence he exerted in the home bore rich fruitage in the lives of his children, all of whom became respect¬ able members of society, and his admoni¬ tions to manly living and the example of his blameless conduct they looked upon as a priceless heritage to be handed down to gen¬ erations yet to be.

three years old was brought by his parents to the county of Blackford. He grew up a farmer's boy on the home place in Harri¬ son township and early met the full require¬ ment of the command that man shall eat his bread in the sweat of his face. The home of his childhood was a round-log cabin, 20x22 feet in size, with a large fire¬ place in the west end, built outside the house to the height of six or -°p feet, the out¬ side being made of puncheons, inside of which were the back wall and jambs made of dry earth, and the structure topped out with a chimney made of lath rived out of oak bolts and laid up in a mud mortar, plas¬ tered over inside so as not to take fire. The roof was made of clapboards, held in place by weight poles; the floor was made of boards called puncheons, split out of logs with the maul and wedges and smoothed on one side with the ax or broad ax and then laid smooth side up on log sleepers. There was a single dor on the south side and a single small window in the north side containing six 8x10 panes of glass. This single room supplied all the purposes of parlor, sitting room, sleeping room, dining room, and kitchen. When this pioneer family began life there their cabin was the only one that had been built on that section of land and one or two acres of land adjacent had been partially cleared off. Here, in February, 1842, William Henry, the baby boy, the youngest of the two children of the family, sickened and died, and the funeral procession of six or seven persons wended their way on horseback through the almost continuous forest to the burying ground at Camden, in Jay county, one of the party car¬ rying the coffin containing the little one in front of him on the horse he rode the entire distance of seven or eight miles. The sub¬ ject of this sketch, though but little past three years of age, distinctly remembers this funeral journey.

While a small boy Mr. Shinn spent many days alone in the wild woods near the home, amusing himself by cutting or hacking down small bushes with his father's ax. During the winter seasons when he was five and six years of age he spent his time studying the elementary spelling book and playing with and taking care of his baby brother, James L., while his mother wove flannel or linsey cloth on an old-fashioned hand loom. As he grew in years and strength his youthful days were given to the ceaseless round of toil that attends life in a country new and undeveloped and in assisting his father in clearing away the heavy growth of timber and in planting and cultivating the crops among the stumps and roots of newly cleared ground. The winter after he was seven years old he attended his first school in a log school house a mile and a half from his home, taught by Oscar B. Boon, a young and well educated Yankee, who had recently come from the state of Massachusetts. Mr. Boon afterwards became and continued for many years the leading merchant of Mont¬ pelier, and in that community was the lead- ing spirit in Republican politics and in the temperance reform. As long as he lived a liquor saloon could not be successfully main¬ tained in Montpelier. Until his nineteenth year our subject attended the common schools of his neighborhood during the win¬ ter seasons, the terms ranging in length from two and one-half to three months, and then, with a thirst for knowledge almost akin to passion, he entered Liber College, near Portland, Indiana, where he pursued the higher branches of learning for one term of sixteen weeks. The training thus re¬ ceived was supplemented by a two-years course in Indiana Asbury, now DePauw, University, which he entered in September, 1S59, and this ended his scholastic work, though by no mans his intellectual pursuits.

At the age of eighteen years Mr. Shinn taught a term of school two miles west of the town of Montpelier, having several pupils who were older than himself. From 1856 to 1871 he taught twelve terms of school, four in Blackford and eight in Wells county, securing as high a grade of license as was held by any of the district school teachers of those counties. While at Greencastle,in April, 1861, he joined a company made up princi¬ pally of the students of the university, and known as the Asbury Guards, and tendered his services to the government. The com¬ pany went to Camp Morton, Indianapolis, where it remained for eight days, and not being received into the three-months service on account of the state's quota being filled before it was reached it was sent back to Greencastle. Mr. Shinn then went home and assisted his father on the farm until the latter part of the summer. In August of this year he again enlisted, joining Com¬ pany B, Thirty-fourth Indiana Volunteer In¬ fantry, upon the organization of which he was elected second lieutenant. By "reason of protracted and serious sickness during the autumn months he was compelled to resign his position early in November, getting no farther with his regiment than Cam]) Jo. Holt, Jeffersonville, Indiana, a fact which has always been to him a matter of much regret, as his greatest desire at that time, was to render efficient service at the front in the contest for the preservation of the union. Subsequently, in the spring of 1863, a com¬ pany of state militia was raised and organ¬ ized at Montpelier, known as the Indiana Rangers, of which he was elected and com¬ missioned first lieutenant, and soon after was promoted to the captaincy, in which ca¬ pacity he served until April, 1864. In this month Mr. Shinn made a third attempt to enter the army, this time recruiting a squad of fifteen men which became a part of Cap tain B. F. Webb's Company I, One Hundred and Thirty-eighth Regiment Indiana Volun¬ teer Infantry, in which he held the position of orderly sergeant. . This regiment was employed in guarding the Nashville & Chat¬ tanooga Railroad during the Atlanta cam¬ paign. This was a line of great importance as all the supplies for General Sherman's army were transported over this road and it was an indispensable necessity that this line should be protected and kept open. The regiment was called out for one hundred days' .service, but from the time of the or¬ ganization of the companies until they were paid off and discharged, October 4, the term of service was full five months. After his discharge Mr. Shinn returned home and has since devoted his attention to various voca¬ tions of civil life.

T1Ie Biographical Record

office of Hon. Edwin R. Wilson, a prominent attorney of that place, who had just com¬ pleted his term as judge of the judicial cir¬ cuit embracing a number of counties in the northeastern corner of the state, lie pur¬ sued his studies under the direction of that gentleman until his admission to the liar by Judge Borden, in 1867, "after which he be¬ gan the practice at Bluffton, where he experienced the difficulties and discourage¬ ments incident to acquiring business so well known to the vast majority of young prac¬ titioners. Four years later he located in Hartford City and from that time to the present he has been one of the recognized leaders of the Blackford bar. While in Bluffton Mr. Shinn was for one year asso¬ ciated in the practice with Dwight Klinck, a public speaker of prominence, who had won an enviable distinction as a Republican po¬ litical orator in the campaign of t86o, be¬ ing known as the New York boy. After¬ ward for a period of two years Mr. Shinn had as a partner J. J. Todd, a widely known and successful attorney of Wells county, re¬ cently deceased. On coming to Hartford City, in April, 1871, he formed a partner¬ ship with Michael Frash, which lasted two years, and from the end of which time until 1881 he conducted an office of his own. In the latter year he took as a partner John Noonan, with whom he was associated until the close of 1883, and from that time until 1885 he again practiced alone, doing a suc¬ cessful business in the courts of Blackford and adjoining counties. From July i, 1885, to December 1, 1892, one of the leading law firms in Hartford City was conceded to be tlwiL of- Shinn & Pierce, both members being recognized in legal circles as among the ablest and most successful lawyers pracicing at the bar of Blackford county. After the dissolution of the above firm Mr. Shinn conducted his law business alone till 1896, when his son, Eugene M. Shinn, entered the office as a partner and has since continued as such.

Several years before the organization of the present city government of Hartford City Mr. Shinn served for a time by appoint¬ ment as treasurer and afterward as clerk of the town and was for some years the adviser of the town trustees in legal matters. In 1876 he was chosen a school trustee for the town and filled the station for a term of three years. When, in 1894, the town became incorporated as a city he was appointed city attorney and discharged the duties of that position with fidelity and care for a period of four years and two months. While a resiident of Bluffton he served two years as deputy collector of internal revenue under Idon. John F. Wildman, who was collector for the old eleventh congressional district. He also made the race on the Republican ticket for representative from the counties of Wells and Adams in 1868, but the district being a Democratic stronghold he failed of election. In 1878 he received the unani¬ mous nomination of his party for joint sen¬ ator from the counties of Grant, Blackford and Jay, but by reason of the Greenback ticket drawing largely from the Republican strength he again went down in defeat, al¬ though leading the state ticket by a goodly number of votes.

Mr. Shinn is one of the charter mem¬ bers of the Republican party. Though but a boy of fifteen years of age at the time, he took a deep interest in the great national struggle in the early part of 1S54, which resulted in the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill and the repeal of the essential features of the Missouri compromise meas- lire. Until that time he and his father had been Whigs, but they then became disgusted arid mortified with the manifest incapacity of their party to meet and deal with the is¬ sue forced upon the country by the ag¬ gressions of the slaveholding oligarchy, and they therefore hailed with joy the advent on the political stage of the Republican party as the crystalization and embodiment of the aroused and awakened anti-slavery senti¬ ment of the people in the free states of the Uniop. While Mr. Shinn has always been heartily in accord with the positive and lead¬ ing ideas and principles of his party he has never been a bitter or offensive partisan. He has no sympathy whatever with that nar¬ row minded and bigoted partisanship which claims that all the patriotism and political virtue in the country is concentrated in any one political organization. As a politician his ability has long been recognized and his leadership as chairman of the county central committee during the campaigns of 1876, 1884, 1886, and 1888 contributed greatly to his party's success in those years. Tt is a fact worthy of note that in every year he acted as chairman of the county central com¬ mittee the majorities adverse to his party were regularly reduced, and in no way has the influence of his leadership been more materially felt than in gradually undermin¬ ing an opposition, which even the most san¬ guine partisans had pronounced practically invulnerable. In 1896 he was chosen presi¬ dential elector for the eighth congressional district, and throughout the contest of that year by Hs wise counsels and able addresses he conti lbuted his share toward swinging the staie into line for McKinley and Hobart.

Indiana of which it forms a part. His in¬ vestigations have been painstaking and his opportunities are such as to enable him to utilize the large fund of material at his com¬ mand for this purpose, lie has at different times furnished historical sketches and earh reminiscences for this and other localities, and otherwise contributed to the history of the county. In 1893 he produced a care¬ fully prepared sketch in which was set forth in succinct form and elegant diction a synop¬ sis of the history of Blackford county from its earliest settlement, together with its rise and progress to its present proud position among its sister counties of the common¬ wealth. This paper was deposited in the corner stone of the new court house, which was laid in November of that year, thus per¬ petuating valuable information for the en¬ lightenment of generations yet unborn. Mr. Shinn wields a graceful and facile pen and holds his readers by a style clear and forcible and not infrequently ornate - wit¬ ness the interesting memorial chapter of this volume - a product of his investigation and research.

Mr. Shinn was married in Nottingham township, Wells- county, Indiana, on the 30th day of October, 1862, to Emily Jane Harris, whose birth occurred in that town¬ ship March 28, 1.844. She was the daugh¬ ter of Jonathan and Mary Ann (Dawson) Harris,- natives, respectively, of Carroll and Guernsey counties, in the state of Ohio. Her mother died when she was an infant and her father died when she was five years old. She was taken and cared for by her grandparents, John and Prudence Dawson, with whom she resided until her marriage. She bore her husband three children : Or¬ lando Milton, a former grocery merchant, now a farmer of Blackford county; Elmer

Ellsworth, newsdealer of Hartford City (see sketch elsewhere), and Eugene Melville. Orlando M. was born in Wells county, In¬ diana, December 4. 1864. In 1887 he mar¬ ried Annie L. Patterson, daughter of Sidney R Patterson, now deceased, one of the lead¬ ing business men of Hartford City. They have two bright and interesting daughters named Florence and Marjorie, aged, re¬ spectively, twelve and ten years.

Mrs. Emily J. Shinn departed this life on the 21st day of April, 1897, and her body , . sleeps in the I. O. O. I1', cemetery, a short distance east of the city. A devoted mem¬ ber of the Methodist church, noted for her many acts of charity and genuine goodness of heart, she was known and admired by a large circle of friends in this place and else¬ where. A helpmate in the true sense of the word, she nobly seconded her husband in his life work and not a little of the success he lias achieved is due to her wise counsel and unselfish devotion. She made little effort to shine in the circles of society, but in the quiet retirement of the home circle her true qualities were revealed. Her home and household duties were attended to with scrupulous care and punctuality and her un¬ selfish devotion to the comfort and welfare of her husband and children was heroic and sublime.

On the 22cl day of May, 1898, Mr. Shinn entered into the marriage relation, in Llartford City, with Mrs. Louise Baechlcr, widow of the late Rev. Samuel Baechler, who died in August, 1890, having been pastor of the Lutheran church in Hartford City for the preceding two and one-half years, lie was a minister of fine scholarly attainments and more than ordinary ability and a gentleman possessed of many admirable traits of char¬ acter. Mrs. Shinn is a lady of intelligence and refinement and sincere piety and her companionship is an honor to the man she accepted as a partner in the journey and conflicts of mortal existence. She is the daughter of John Posey and Mary A. (Hughes) Wilson, both deceased. She was born in Somerset, Perry county, Ohio, Sep¬ tember 1 9, 1843, and belonged to one of the old and highly respected families of that part of the country.

% right of birth and by virtue of his early training Mr. Shinn is a Methodist. He united with that church April 1, 1855. and his whole life has been measured ac¬ cording to its standard of right and his daily walk and conversation are practical, exempli¬ fications of its teachings. In 1868, while a resident oi Bluffton, he was licensed as a local preacher and at the session of the North Indiana conference held at Fort Wayne, in 1874, he was ordained as a local deacon by Bishop R. S. Foster. Since then, in addi¬ tion to the numerous and various duties growing out of his profession and incident to the public positions with which he has been intrusted, he has found time to proclaim the word and minister to the people in holy things. His well known ability as a public speaker always secures appreciative audi¬ ences and his services in this respect are m demand on special occasions. He has fre¬ quently been called to deliver addresses at distances remote from his home, especially oii Memorial Sunday and Decoration Day, and as an eloquent champion for the right his voice has ever been heard in behalf of moral and religious enterprises and every¬ thing else of a nature calculated to benefit or uplift humanity. He has been a classleader for many years in the local, congre¬ gation to which he belongs and during the greater part of the time since residing in

Hartford City has been the faithful and ef¬ ficient superintendent of the Sunday school, lie is often called on to conduct the relisrious services on funeral occasions, and has joined together about two hundred and fifty couples in the bonds of matrimony.

In the years 1S80, 18S8, 1892 and 1900 he represented the Hartford City charge in the North Indiana lay electoral conference, and in 1892, and also in 1900, was chosen as one of the reserve lay delegates to the general conference. He has passed all the chairs in the local lodge of the I. O. O. F., of Hartford City, and is a member of its board of trustees and takes an active in¬ terest in the care and maintenance of its beautiful cemetery near the city. He has represented his lodge in the grand lodge and as an occasional attendant on its sessions has formed the acquaintance of many of the leading members of the order throughout the state. His name has been upon the mem¬ bership roll of the Daughters of Rebekah for a number of years and he has honorary membership in the Junior Order of Unit¬ ed American Mechanics. He is one of the leading members of the local G. A. R. post, which he has served in the capacity of com¬ mander for one term, and as chaplain and adjutant for a number of years.

Mr. Shinn is a western man, in the broad sense of that term, and a splendid product of institutions which confer their favors upon merit rather than upon the prestige of wealth and family. He has realized the wants of the people among whom he lives and with strong brain and keen foresight he has done what he could to aid in supplying that demand. Since casting his lot with the people of Hartford City his biography and the history of the Blackford bar have been very closely interwoven, and he has given to it much of its distinctive character. His has indeed been a long life of honor and trust and no higher eulogy of his public rec¬ ord need be attempted than simply to state that throughout his career there has never been the shadow of stain upon his integrity or unflinching honesty. In his chosen pro¬ fession few in Blackford county have at¬ tained to a more eminent standing or have surpassed him in comprehensive grasp of the law, or in applying its principles to the vari¬ ous phases of practice. He is a close, logical and judicious pleader, his papers alwavs be¬ ing prepared with skill and caution, and he never presumes upon the weakness or care¬ lessness of his adversary. As a counselor he is careful and conscientious, having an eye single to the best interests of his clients, and in not a fewr instances he has, at the sacrifice of a fee, dissuaded those who sought his advice from embarking in uncertain liti¬ gation. Upon the assumption that a lawyer's province is to win his cases at every hazard and regardless of the methods employed, large numbers of persons have declared that Mr. Shinn was too honest to make a success¬ ful practitioner.

Before a jury he is at first calm and selfpossessed, proceeds step by step to adduce in logical sequence arguments plainly but forcibly tated, but as he warms to the sub¬ ject his address frequently takes on an addi¬ tional aspect, becoming eloquent and seldom failing to convince. In his practice he is ab¬ solutely free from anything that savors of trickery or a resort to disreputable methods. He is always fair and open, conducts his cases with the dignity becoming the profes¬ sion, and his well known ability and integ¬ rity give him power and influence with court and jury.

able man, has the happy faculty of making friends at all times and while his reputa¬ tion is by no means confined to his place of residence he is certainly best known and most popular at home.

As a political leader his convictions of right have nearly always placed him in har¬ mony with the positive and avowed policies of his party, but he heartily endorses the maxim that he serves his party best who serves his country best, and upon all ques¬ tions affecting the intellectual, moral and 'material interests of society he can always be found endeavoring to ascertain the right involved with a view of acting in conformity therewith. In a word, Mr. Shinn is a svmmetrically developed man with versatile tal¬ ents. As a lawyer, politician or religious teacher he is first of all distinctively a man of the people, whose interest he has ever unselfishly had at heart and for whom he hesitates pot to make any reasonable sacri¬ fice in his power. He recognizes no aris¬ tocracy except that of true and noble man¬ hood, based upon genuine worth and merit, regardless of race, color, sex or the accident of social rank and station.

Thoroughly American, and with faith in the ultimate glorious destiny of our free in¬ stitutions, he believes the best way to realize that destiny is for each member of the body politic to live up to his highest ideas of right. This, to the best of his ability, he has al¬ ways endeavored to do and whether or not he has succeeded let the people among whom the best years of his life have been spent testi fy.

His life has been fraught with good to the individual citizen and to the community, in the aggregate and it is a compliment woi - thily bestowed to class him among the noted men of his day and generation.

Archie W. Tracy

Archie Wilkinson Tracy, editor and pro¬ prietor of the Hartford City Daily and Weekly Times, is a native of Ohio, born in the county of Butler on the 12th day of Feb¬ ruary, 1872. His parents, D. A. and Rc becca (Wilkinson) Tracy, both natives of the Buckeye state, became residents of In¬ diana in 1884, settling near New Castle, where the father for some years has been en¬ gaged in agricultural pursuits in connection with dealing in real estate and insurance. The family of D. A. and Rebecca Tracy consists of one child besides the subject of this sketch, a daughter, Mary E., a young lady still under the parental roof.

Archie Wilkinson Tracy received his pre¬ liminary education in the common schools of his native county and later pursued the more advanced branches of learning in the New¬ castle high school, and then spent two years as reporter on New Castle papers. The training thus received was afterwards sup¬ plemented by a two years' course in De- I'auw University, of Greencastle, which he attended for the purpose of p: taring him¬ self for journalism, and on leaving that in¬ stitution he began practical newspaper work in the city of Richmond. Meanwhile, how¬ ever, while a student in New Castle he start¬ ed a. high-school paper and was also editorin-chief of a college paper while at De- Pauw. The latter brought him to tiie notice of the public and it was then predicted that a future career of great promise as a journal¬ ist awaited him. After doing general work on the Richmond papers for one year Mr. Tracy purchased a half interest in the New¬ castle Press and shortly thereafter changed the paper to a daily and greatly increased its circulation. His connection with the Press covered a period of two years, at the end of which time, in 1895, he disposed of his in¬ terest in the plant and bought the Hart¬ ford City Times. He assumed editorial man¬ agement of the paper December 10, of the above year, from which date until the first of the year following it was issued .as a weekly, and after that time it made daily visits to its many subscribers. In 1896 Mr. Tracy purchased the Daily and Weekly Re¬ publican, which he consolidated with the Times ufider the name of the latter, and he now has one of the best equipped offices in the central part of the state and also one of the sprightliest and best edited papers. In addition to his work upon the different papers mentioned, Mr. Tracy has at different limes done considerable special correspond¬ ence for the metropolitan press, by means of which his reputation as a clear, forcible writer has become much more than local, many of his articles having been extensively copied by a number of the leading papers of the country.

Mr. Tracy wields a facile and trenchant pen and his editorials are noted for their freshness and vigor, while the fearless man¬ ner with which he addresses himself to the leading political, economic, social and other great questions of the day has won for him the admiration of intelligent readers wher¬ ever his paper circulates. A potent factor in moulding public sentiment in the commu¬ nity, the Times is designed to be a reflex cf the current thoughts of the age; through the medium of its columns the productions of local talent are given publicity, while free discussion is generally invited.

In its mechanical make-up the paper is a model of neatness, being presented in the best style of typography, pleasing to the eye, thus bespeaking for its editor a thorough knowledge of the art preservative. Since taking possession of the paper Mr. Tracy has steadily increased its circulation until it now has a greater number of subscribers than any other sheet in the county ; at the same time its advertising patronage, already quite liberal, is becoming more remunera¬ tive with each issue.

Mr. Tracy was married, 111 the city of Washington, D. C., February 12, 1895, to Miss Selma Alice Moffatt, whose birth oc¬ curred in Indianapolis, Indiana, on the 30th day of September, 1874. Mrs. Tracy is the daughter of Charles and Elizabeth (Adams) Moffatt, natives respectively of New York and Pennsylvania, and has borne her hus¬ band two children, Archie and Paul.

Mr. Tracy wields a potent influence for the Republican party and fraternally belongs to the Maccabees and Pythian orders. In re¬ ligion he subscribes to the Methodist creed, of which body his wife is also a member.

Charles O. Fleming

Charles Odgen Fleming, county recorder of Blackford county, Indiana, is a native of Henry county, in the same state, was born May 1, 1865, and is the fourth of the six children born to Cornelius C. and Emily J. (Odgen) - Fleming.

Cornelius C. Fleming and wife were na¬ tives of Marion county, West Virginia, and Mr. Fleming was reared a farmer. He first came to Blackford county in 1867, pur¬ chased seventy acres of land in Washing¬ ton township, and there he has ever since resided, prosperously engaged in agricult¬ ural pursuits.

sketch, was but a babe when brought to Blackford county, and has here been reared to manhood. He received his early educa¬ tion in the common schools of his district, which he attended until eighteen years of age, and then entered the normal school in Portland, in the adjoining county of Jay, which he attended four terms, thus fully preparing himself for teaching, and at Dan¬ ville, Indiana, he took a commercial course. After finishing his schooling Air. Fleming began teaching in his home township of Washington and in this trying vocation met with a phenomenal success for twelve years, at the same time carrying on farming.

Mr. Fleming has always taken a keen interest in politics and early identified him¬ self with the Democratic party, with which he has labored faithfully from the begin¬ ning to the present time, under adverse as well as propitious circumstances. He has made himself a factor in its councils and has become a favorite with its rank and file, and in 1896 was elected county recorder of Blackford county, by a majority of eightyfour votes, for the term of four years, and it is a recognized fact that no better man has ever filled the office.

Mr. Fleming was united in marriage, April 17, 1891, in Washington township, with Miss Mary A. Craft, who was born in Henry county, Indiana, November 7, 1869, a daughter of William L. and Eleanor (Bur¬ ris) Craft, and this union has been crowned with a son, Walter, and a daughter, Forest. The parents are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and fraternally Mr. Flem¬ ing is a Modern Woodman of America (adviser's station) and also of the Knights of Pythias.

Mr. Fleming is what is known as a "selfmade man," and it is through his own energy and ability that he has raised himself to his present prominence among his townsmen.

Ezra M. Stahl

In the following lines are briefly set forth the leading facts in the life of a very busy man; modest reference is also made to his character as a citizen and the salutary influence he has exerted as a member of the body politic. From the name it would ap¬ pear til,'; the Stahls are of German origin and from the most reliable information ob¬ tainable it is learned that tho family was first represented in America by the sub¬ ject's great-great-grandfather, Henry Stahl, who came from Germany to the United States in a very early day and settled in Pennsylvania. Henry Stahl reared a large family, some of whom were born in Ger¬ many and some after the family made a home in America. Among his sons were Michael, born in December, 1745, and Jacob Stahl, Ezra M.'s grandfather, wdio Was born in Pennsylvania and who also became the father of a number of children. Their names are as follows: Sarah died in 1888; Abraham died at the age of eighty-one; Simon dic-d at the ripe old age of eightyseven; Rachael, deceased; Michael died at fifty-five ; Elizabeth ; Bethuel ; Rebecca died in December, 1890; Moses, Jonathan and Mary Jane. Jacob Stahl resided in the Keystone state until 1839, at which time he came to Blackford county, Indiana, where his death occurred in 1854.

Abraham Stahl, the second child and eldest son of the above Jacob, was married in November, 1834, to Elizabeth Waltz and reared a family of eight children, namely: Esther, wife of John Frash ; Anna married Dr. Chaffee, of Huntington, Indiana; Ezra M., born February 21, 1839; Jacob, born March 11, 1841, killed in the battle of Rocky Face Ridge, Georgia, May 9, 1864, Mary Elizabeth married Nathaniel H. Peck, of Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania; Sarah died in infancy; Rebecca died in July, 1876, and Joseph, .born June 7, 1853, died in the year 1872. The Waltz family were also from Germany and among the early settlers of Pennsylvania.

Ezra M. Stahl, the date of whose birth has been mentioned, first saw the light of day in Fulton county, Pennsylvania, and when but seven months old was brought by his parents to Blackford county, Indiana. In the district schools he pursued, until his seventeenth year, such studies as at that time constituted the curriculum! and then experi¬ enced his first independent contact with the world as clerk in a mercantile establishment at Hartford City. After a brief period in that capacity he accepted a position in the county auditor's office, where he worked upon the records four years, and then again engaged in clerking in the general store of William II. Campbell, where he remained for a limited period. Mr. Stahl's next ven¬ ture was a trip to Pike's Peak before the or¬ ganization of Colorado as a territory, where for the greater part of a year he tried his fortunes at mining with but fair financial results. This was in the spring of i860 and after remaining in the west till 1862 he disposed of his mining interests and re¬ turned home for the purpose of entering the army in response to President Lincoln's call that year- for 600,000 additional men. After a visit with his people of one week, he enlisted at Cincinnati, Ohio, in October, 1862, in Company K, Eighty-fourth Indiana Infantry, being mustered into service at Guyandottc, Virginia, November following. He took part in every engagement in which the regiment participated until the close of the war and received an honorable discharge at Nashville, Tennessee, on the 14th day of | June, 1865. His military career is replete ! with duty bravely and unflinchingly per¬ formed and his record as a soldier is one of which any man might feel deservedly proud.

On leaving the service, Mr. Stahl re¬ turned to Blackford county and made the race for county auditor, his party, the Re¬ publican, having nominated him during his absence against an ex-rebel soldier, who came to Hartford City after his release from a federal prison and became a factor in local politics. Mr. Stahl polled an unusually heavy vote, overcoming an overwhelming Democratic majority, and was the first Re¬ publican to hold the office of auditor. He discharged his official functions in a highly creditable manner and at the expiration of his term accepted the- position of station agent for the Pan Handle Railroad Company at Hartford City which place he filled ac¬ ceptably for one and a half years. He then resigned to become deputy county treasurer under his father, who held the office one term. By reason of his father's ill health the responsibility of the office rested entirely upon the son's shoulders and he acquitted himself so efficiently as custodian of the county funds as to win the highest praise from all parties. During the two years succeeding he again held the position of deputy auditor, after which he became.bookkeeper for the mercantile firm of Ivirshbaum

& May, and later was similarly employed by Kirshbaum & \\ eiler, his connection with these two houses covering- a period of six years. In June, 1883. Mr Stahl was elected cashier of the Citizens State Bank of Hart¬ ford City, a place he has filled uninterrupt¬ edly for seventeen years, being the present incumbent.

Mr. Stahl's marriage was solemnized, on the 9th day of September, 1866, with Miss Hilda A. Shelton, daughter of Sylvester R. and Hannah (Dragoo) Shelton, the issue of which union is four children, whose names and dates of birth are as follows: Jacob Bert, June it, 1867; Ruth A., February 16, 1872, died August 4, 1874; Elizabeth, April 6, 1875, an(' Charles Edgar, March 9, [877.

Mr. Stahl has been identified with the fraternity of Odd Fellows for twenty-nine years, having passed through all the chairs in Hartford City Lodge, No. 262, besides filling tho office of district deputy three terms and being twice sent as delegate to the grand lodge. He has also served many years as trustee for the order and is a mem¬ ber of the Jacob Stahl Post, G. A. R., named in honor of his brother, and always takes an active part in the deliberations of that body. In matters educational he has always been a leading spirit. A member of the first board that organized the present effi¬ cient graded school system of Hartford City, he did much in the way of procuring professionally prepared teachers and Mr a period of fifteen consecutive years watched over this important trust with an unwaver¬ ing interest. In religion he is a Methodist and for twenty-eight years has been a mem¬ ber of the official board of the Hartford City congregation. He also took a lead¬ ing part in the buying and laying out of the beautiful city cemetery and its present artistic condition is largely due to his in¬ terest. and oversight. In all matters per¬ taining to the moral and religious advance¬ ment of tho community his words have had great weight and his influence, always on the side of right, has been potent in produc¬ ing a high order of citizenship.

By the foregoing it will be seen that the life of Mr. Stahl has boon one of great ac¬ tivity and usefulness and the impress of his I character has been indelibly stamped upon ; the public mind of Hartford City and Black- I ford county. Politically he is a stanch Re- | publican and while a partisan in the sense j of always putting forth his best efforts to promote the interests of the party, he never resorts to trickery or disreputable practices, consequently many of his warmest friends are found in the ranks of the opposition. He is highly respected by his neighbors; his word is his bond and his hand is free in extending aid t.o those less fortunate than himself. His career as a soldier, official and civilian has been consistent with the principles of true manliness, and there is nothing therein but what reflects credit upon his good name.

John F. Wright

John F. Wright, a prominent farmer of Licking township, and assessor of the same, was born in Greene county, Ohio, February 11, 1842. His parents, William T. and Mariah .S. (Reid) Wright, were natives re¬ spectively of South Carolina and Ohio, aving been married in the latter state, to which the father moved when eighteen years of age. William T. and Mariah Wright lo¬ cated in Muncie, Indiana, * about the year

1850, and made that place their home until their removal, in 1857, to the county of Blackford. By occupation William T. Wright was a carpenter; he worked at his trade in Muncie for several years and then abandoned mechanical pursuits and engaged in merchandizing as a dealer in hoots and shoes.

On coming to Blackford county he pur¬ chased a farm about five and a half miles southwest of Hartford City, on what is known the Williams turnpike, the place at that time consisting of two hundred and twenty-two acres of land, only partly im¬ proved. Here he carried 011 agriculture ip connection with carpentering and became a successful man and one of the leading citizens of the community. Originally a Democrat, he became dissatisfied with the policy of 1 party in 1856 and became a Republican, to which, political faith he re¬ mained true until Cleveland's second race for the presidency, when he again espoused the cause of Democracy. For a number of years he was an elder of the Presbyterian church at Matthews. He was a man of ex¬ cellent parts, high minded and true, and his influence was ever exerted in favor of religion and the moral upbuilding of the community. Sustained and comforted by an abiding faith in Him who is the Resurrection and the Life,' he passed into immortality on the 30th day of April, 1894; his wife pre¬ ceded him to the grave, departing this life February 21, 1*883 .

The family of William T. and Mariah Wright consisted of three sons and two daughters: Howard R. resides on the home place; Andrew T., of Marion; Sally Ann died June 21, 1878, at the age of twentyeight; and Rachel Louise, who married David R. Craw and died when forty years old. In addition to the above there was a son, William Harvey, who died in childj hood, and Joseph Fleming died in infancy. John F. Wright was a youth in his 'teens when the family came to Licking j township, since which time, with the ex¬ ception of his army experience, his life has been spent within the confines of Blackford county. He assisted his father on the farm r ril 1862, in August of which year he en¬ listed in Company B, Eighty- fourth Indi¬ ana Infantry, with which he served in the Army of the Cumberland during some of the most active campaigns of the war, and otherwise deporting himself as a brave and gallant defender of the nation's honor. In the spring of 1863 he was detached at Frank¬ lin, Tennessee, for pioneer work, principally railroad repairing, and in June, 1864, trans¬ ferred to the First United States V. V. En¬ gineers, and was constantly in service until discharged, July, 1865.

At the expiration of his period of en¬ listment Mr. Wright returned to Blackford county and resumed farming on the old homestead, where he continued to reside un¬ til 1870. About 1872 he moved to his pres¬ ent place, a beautiful little farm of sixtytwo acres, well tilled and otherwise well im¬ proved, the general condition bespeaking for the owner a thorough mastery of agricult¬ ure.

Mr. Wright's first marriage was solem¬ nized with Miss Rebecca Polsley, who died after two years of happy married life. His second wife, to whom he was married in 1871, was Sarah E. Reasoner, daughter of Jacob Reasoner, one of the oldest settlers of Blackford county, of whom a biography appears on another page of this volume. The following arc the names of Mr. Wright's children: Wilbur L., George T., Harmon

, Mr. Wright is a member of the G. A. R. post at Matthews and always takes an active interest in its deliberations. He was one of the organizers of the original society in 1867, and nothing affords him greater satisfaction than meeting with his old com¬ rades in arms and recalling the stirring and bloody days when the fate of the Union hung as in a balance. In politics he is an unswerv¬ ing Republican, a leader of the party in his township and always a delegate to conven¬ tions, state, district, county and township. He cast his first presidential vote at Chat¬ tanooga, Tennessee, for Lincoln and John¬ son, and from that time to the present his belief has been that the practical application of Republican principles is for the best in¬ terest of the country. In 1894 he was elected township assessor and still holds the office; he lias discharged his official functions in a highly creditable manner and enjoys the full confidence of the people of his township, ir¬ respective of politics.

In religion he is a Presbyterian, having been reared in that faith, and at the present time he is a trustee of the congregation wor¬ shiping at Matthews.

Mr. Wright is a commendable example of the successful, self-made man, such as are only produced under the favorable aus¬ pices of our free institutions. Well informed upon all the leading questions of the day. a reader and a thinker, he is highly re¬ garded in the communitv where so many of his years have been spent. As an agri¬ culturist, he keeps abreast the times, believes in the dignity of that ancient and honorable calling, and his example of industry may safely be imitated by the young man who desires to obtain from life the greatest ben¬ the full sense of the term an upright, broad minded, God-fearing gentleman, whose greatest aim is to know his duty and conse¬ quently perform it.

William A. Curry

William Amos Curry, clerk of the circuit court of Blackford county, is a native of Indiana and a son of Aaron S. and Eliza Curry, both parents born in the state of Ohio.

The elder Curry, a farmer by occupation, remained in the state of his nativity until late in the '40s, when he came to Randolph county, Indiana, thence later, in 1857, to the county of Blackford, purchasing a farm in Jackson township, where he made his home until 1889. He married, in Randolph county, Indiana, Eliza Ewing, who bore him eight children, namely : Margaret Ann, deceased ; James M., a farmer living in Kan¬ sas; William A., subject of this sketch; Thomas IT., who lives on the old home place in Jackson township; Harris Levina, wife of D. G. Dean, a resident of the township of Jackson; Alfred, foreman of the glass works at Millgrove; Sarah, deceased; and Edward M., who resides in the vicinity of Millgrove. After the death of his wife, which occurred in March, 1875, Mr. Curry returned to Ohio and in Franklin county, that state, subsequently entered into the mar¬ riage relation with Mrs. Mary Price, widow of John Price, and there he has since re¬ sided.

cessful in life, and has made his presence felt wher er his lot has been cast. Intelli- > gent bev< the average, and progressive, he has be successful in the accumulation of worldly goods, and as a politician of local repute first wielded an influence for the Re¬ publican party and later, failing to agree with its financial policy, cast his lot with the Greenback party, of which he remained an ; earnest advocate until its dissolution as an active organization. For some years past he ha$ been a Prohibitionist, the principles of which he believes to be for the best in¬ terests of the American people.

William Amos Curry was born on the 1 8th day of February, 1857, in Randolph county, Indiana, and when one year old was brought to the county of Blackford. Like the majority of men of Indiana birth, his first experience wras upon the farm, with the rugged duties of which he early became familiar, and the country schools afforded him the means of a practical English edu¬ cation. The knowledge thus derived was afterward supplemented by three terms at Ridgeville College, where he obtained a knowledge of the higher branches of learn¬ ing, after which he completed a commercial course in the Capitol City Business College of Columbus. Fortified with exceptional scholastic training, Mr. Curry entered the educational field as teacher, and for five con¬ secutive years had charge of schools in Black¬ ford county, principally Jackson township, and while thus engaged earned the reputa¬ tion of a painstaking and efficient instructor. With no desire to devote his life to educa¬ tional work, he finally abandoned the same and, in partnership with a friend, Thomas II. Racer, of Jackson township, engaged in farming and stock raising. Additional to quite an extensive scale throughout Black- [ ford and adjoining counties, and also dealt in grain, lumber, etc., in which their success from the beginning was flattering and to which they continued to give their attention for a period of twelve years. During six of these years Mr. Curry made his home with his partner, but in 1895. on the 19th | day of December, lie set up a household of his own by entering into the marriage relation with Miss Florence Armstrong, of this county, daughter of Andrew and Levina (Anderson) Armstrong.

Mr. Curry has for many years taken a lively interest in matters political and in time became a potent factor in deliberations of the Republican party in Blackford coun¬ ty. In recognition of his service as an earnest and untiring worker in the party ranks, he was honored, in 1896, with the nomination for clerk of the circuit court, and after a lively contest was triumphantly elected, entering upon the discharge of his official functions the year following. An idea of his popularity with his party and also with the opposition may be gathered from the fact that in the above election he was the only successful candidate upon the Republican ticket, overcoming a formidable majority and entering the office with less than a dozen votes to spare. Mr. Curry's official record has been faultless, and to say that the' public, irrespective of party, is pleased with his manner of conducting busi¬ ness is only giving expression to a truth recognized by the people of Blackford coun¬ ty. He has been complimented by renomina¬ tion and the present outlook is prophetic of his re-election by a largely increased ma¬ jority.

the Methodist, church. As a man and citizen he is public spirited and exemplifies in his attending to the performance of any task devolving upon an up-to-date, competent, practical and aggressive man of affairs. Mr. Curry's beautiful home in Hartford City is brightened by the presence of an interest¬ ing child, Edith Lucile, and his domestic life those sterling traits of character which win for their possessor an honorable and permanent abiding place in the affections of the people. 1 he excellent reputation earned and maintained throughout his business and official career has been ably sustained as he has proven himself thoroughly capable of relations are of the most pleasant and felicitous character. Financially his success has long since been assured and now, in the very prime of sturdy manhood, he is in pos¬ session of a competence which effectually dispels any forebodings as to the future.

Calvin Harrison Fordney

For a number of years the subject of this sketch has been the faithful superintendent of the count}'- infirmary, or poor farm, and his long retention in the position bears elo¬ quent testimony to his able and efficient serv¬ ices as custodian of this department of the county's interests. Mr. Fordney is a native of Virginia, born on the 16th day of De¬ cember, 1833. When he was thirteen years of age his parents, John and Achsali (Cot¬ ton) Fordney, moved to Pennsylvania, thence, about 1845, emigrated to Blackford county, Indiana, locating three miles west of Hartford City, in the present township of Licking. Here the elder Fordney farmed for some time on leased land, but later suc¬ ceeded in purchasing a farm in the vicinity of his original settlement, upon which lie continued to reside until his removal to Sag¬ inaw, Michigan, in the year 1882. John and Achsali Fordney were residents of Blackford county for about twenty-five yea. s, and of the ten children born to them, the subject of this biography is the only one at this time living in Indiana. They both died in Michigan, in which state a number of their descendants still r aide.

Calvin Harrison Fordney remained un¬ der the parental roof until attaining his ma¬ jority, when, on the 25th day of February, 1855, he entered into the marriage relation with Miss Rachel Kirkpatrick, a native of Guernsey county, Ohio, but for several years previous to the above date a resident of the county of Blackford.

Her parents, Francis and Polly Kirk¬ patrick, were among the substantial citizens of Licking township, having settled here in 1836, their home being situated on Lick creek, a few miles south of the county seat. Immediately after his marriage Mr. Fordney engaged in the pursuit of agriculture on rented land, and subsequently succeeded in obtaining the old Kirkpatrick homestead, which he farmed for a number of years with a fair amount of success. Later he dis¬ posed of the farm, while residing in Hart¬ ford City. He was first appointed to take charge of the county farm in 1886 by the board of commissioners, composed of Henry Schroyer, James Petti nger and Oliver Woodward, and for a period of three years thereafter discharged the duties incident to the position in such a manner as to com¬ mend him to the county as the most pains¬ taking and capable man who had up to that time exercised control of the place. At his suggestion various improvements were in- augurated, including tile drainage, plant¬ ing of an orchard, repairing of buildings and a general system of sanitation, the be¬ neficent results of which were soon made apparent in the greatly increased health and happiness of the inmates and a larger rev¬ enue from the successful cultivation of the lands. At the expiration of his official term Mr. Fordney returned to Hartford City, where for a period of ten years he was en¬ gaged in operating an ice plant, having also been connected a part of the time in the livery business and draying.

Upon the election of a new board of county commissioners Mr. Fordney - was again solicited to take charge of the county farm, which after mature deliberation he did, the position coming to him unsought, and that, too, by a board to whom he was op¬ posed in politics.

Immediately u on accepting the superin¬ tendency the second time Mr. Fordney brought to the attention of the board the necessity of certain improvements, which he was authorized to make. Among these is the large and commodious two-story brick dwel¬ ling, consisting of thirty-six rooms, erected at a cost of $7,000. In its general plan and appointments this structure is a model of its kind, and compares well with any like build¬ ing of similar size and cost in the state. Additional to the above Mr. Fordney, by a successful system of tile drainage, has added a number of acres to the cultivable area of the farm, besides replacing the old and worn out fencing by fences of the latest pattern, thus giving to the place a new and greatly improved appearance. At this time there are twenty inmates at the farm, the majoritv of whom proved almost self sup¬ porting by reason of services rendered, while the condition of the less fortunate are

In politics Mr. Fordney is a Democrat, but, as already stated, he commands the re¬ spect of all, irrespective of party. At the earnest solicitation of the Republican board he was induced to accept the place he now so creditably fills, and that, too, as a suc¬ cessor to a Republican party-worker, whose removal was brought about by reason of services inefficiently performed. Mr. Ford¬ ney possesses business ability of a high order, and he manages the farm, lookingafter every detail as if the enterprise were his own private concern. lie permits nothing to intervene between himself and duty, and his efforts in nehalf of the poor unfortunates are heartily seconded by his good wife, who has proved herself in every respect a most popular and efficient matron of the female department.

Mr. and Mrs. Fordney have one child, a son, Francis Marion Fordney, who at this time operates the ice plant at Hartford City, the father also retaining his interest in the same. The family stands high in the estima¬ tion of a large circle of friends in Hartford City, and it is eminently fitting to class them with the representative citizens of the county of Blackford.

Hon. Arthur F. Kinsley

Hon. Arthur Ferdinand Kinsley, mayor of Hartford City, Blackford county, Indi¬ ana, was born in Shelby county, Indiana, April 5, 1858, and is a son of Augustus E. and Harriet (Lisher) Kinsley, both natives of Indiana and whose marriage took place in Shelby county. The father was of a lit¬ erary turn of mind and a well-known per¬ sonage in his community until his death, which occurred in May, 1S65; his widow is now a resident of Hartsville, Bartholomew county, this state. They were the parents of eleven children, to whom and the widow the father was able to bequeath three hun¬ dred acres of land, and he passed away in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church and in politics a Republican, honored by all who knew him.

Arthur F. Kinsley, who was the sixth born of the above named family of eleven children, remained on the home place until fourteen, attending the local school in the meanwhile, and then went to Hartsville, passed a year in the United Brethren College, and before he had reached sixteen had taught a year in Hancock county. He then resumed his studies in school, pursued them with avidity until twenty-two years old, availing himself, however, of an opportunity to teach two winters during this period. Un¬ til 1886 he continued his pedagogic career, winning commendation in all quarters, and finally engaged in merchandising at Free¬ port until 1889, when he came to Hartford City and embarked in the livery business, which he followed with success until 1894, when he sold out and has since been inter¬ ested in the management of the affairs of the city. Mr. Kinsley first made a venture as a public officer in 1891, wffien he served one year as city marshal; from 1896 to 1898 he was chairman of, the Republican county central committee, and in 1896 he was elected mayor of the city and re-elected in 1898.

Mr. Kinsley married, in Decatur county, Indiana, in 1881, Miss Irene Tyner, who was born in that county September 6, i860, and is a daughter of Capt. W. IT. and

Nancy (Sloan) Tyner, both natives of In¬ diana. Of the four children born to this happy marriage, Gladys, the first born, is deceased ; Guy, Garnet and Gertrude still survive. The mother is a consistent mem¬ ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, in the faith of which church the parents are rearing their children. Fraternally Mr. Kinsley is a Knight of Pythias and of the Tent of Maccabees, and at the family resi¬ dence on Franklin street he and his wife extend a generous reception to a host of warm friends.

The ancestors of the subject of this sketch came originally from Germany and wrere among the early settlers of Pennsyl¬ vania, locating in the counties of Bedford and Lancaster, where his paternal grand¬ father and grandmother were respectively born. Henry Clapper, a farmer and cooper, married, in his native state, Mary Smith, and about the year 1854 came to Blackford county, Indiana, where his death occurred on the 15th day of March, 1873; his wife preceded him several years, departing this life October 29, 186.9. Henry and Mary Clapper were the parents of twelve children, of whom but two are living at this time. One of their sons, Christopher Clapper, whose birth occurred in Stark county, Ohio, married Catharine Hall and in 1S54 moved to Blackford county, Indiana, locating in Licking township, where he became a pros¬ perous farmer. He enlisted in 1864 in Com¬ pany K, Fifty-first Indiana Infantry, and died at Huntsville, Alabama. January 22 of the following year, leaving besides a widow three children, whose names are as .follows : Theodore, a farmer of the township of Lick¬ ing; Alice, wife of George W. Marley, of Hartford City; and Manford M., the im¬ mediate subject of this sketch. Subsequently, in 1872, Mrs. Clapper entered into the mar¬ riage relation with David Hess, who died in 1888, leaving one daughter, Cora M., now the wife of James Dildine, a tool dresser of Hartford City.

Dr. lanford M. Clapper is a native of Blackford county, Indiana, born July 11, 1863, on the home farm in Licking town¬ ship. The first fourteen years of his life were spent under the parental roof, after which he went to Ohio, where for a time he was engaged in farm labor and coal min¬ ing, attending at intervals in the meantime the common schools. The knowledge thus derived was later supplemented by a course in the Northern Indiana Normal School at Valparaiso, which he attended during the greater part of 1882 and 1883, and in 1884 he became a student of the National Normal at Lebanon, Ohio. The Doctor's career as a student in both the above institutions was marked by intense application, and upon leaving the latter he began teaching in the schools of Blackford county. He continued his labors as an instructor with encouraging success until 1886, at which time he entered the office of Dr. W. A. Yohn at Valparaiso and began the study of medicine. The same year he began taking lectures in the Chicago Medical College, which he attended during the greater part of the succeeding four years, completing the prescribed course and receiv¬ ing his diploma in the spring of 1890.

By reason of blood poison, unfortunately contracted while experimenting in the dis¬ secting room, the Doctor was compelled to forego practicing until the following fall, at which time, being sufficiently recovered, he opened an office in Hartford City. For a period of eight years the Doctor gave his attention to the general practice, but in 1898 took up as specialties diseases of the eye, ear,' nose and throat, in the treatment of which he has achieved a large measure of success and a permanently assured reputa¬ tion. The Doctor irofoundly versed in his profession, especially in the departments to which reference has been made, and has an office thoroughly equipped with all the latest and most scientific appliances necessary to success in the practice. His services have been sought far and wide, patients coming to him from different places and invariably de¬ parting greatly benefited, if not entirely re¬ lieved from the maladies by which they are afflicted. His career thus far as a specialist presents continual successes, animated by a determination to leave nothing undone to insure greater efficiency hereafter, and his many friends unite in predicting for him a future of still greater usefulness. To omit from Dr. Clapper's record a commendation of him as a man and a genial, warm-hearted friend, would leave untold some of his most strongly marked characteristics. In every relation of life he reveals the same energy and spirit that have marked his professional career. In the social circle a gentleman of culture and education, a genial, pleasant companion and a sympathizing friend, at home a ; nder husband ana indulgent father, unassuming in business, tenacious of his con¬ victions upon all questions and fearless in upholding them, and as a citizen public spirited and progressive in the full meaning ot those terms. In politics he is a Demo¬ crat, earnest in his advocacy of party prin¬ ciples, but by no means a partisan in the sense of making everything subserve to po- litical ends. IT is religious creed is repre¬ sented by the simple belief of the Disciples of Christ, or Christian church, hut his views are liberal and he is tolerant with all who differ from him in matters of faith. Finan¬ cially the Doctor has met with well deserved success, having already accumulated a hand¬ some fortune, including a fine farm of one hundred and thirty-three acres of valuable land in Licking township, besides business and residence properties in Hartford City.

Dr. Clapper was married, in this place, February 18, 1893, to Miss Auretta Klee fisch, whose birth occurred in Hartford City on the 26th day of March, 1873; she is the daughter of Philip and Matilda (Kline) Kleefisch, and has borne her husband one child, a son, Erskine M. Clapper.

Jay Anderson Hindman, attorney-atlaw and distinguished member of the Black¬ ford bar, is the son of Crooks and Matilda (Brown) Hindman, both parents natives of Wayne county, Ohio. The father, a farmer by occupation, removed from Ohio to Wells county, Indiana, in 1848 and there contin¬ ued the pursuit of agriculture until his death, which occurred on the 26th day of April, 1878. His widow still resides in that county, making her home at this time with a daughter, Mrs. Frances E. Bowman. Crooks and Matilda Hindman had a fam¬ ily of seven children, namely: Frances E. married R. M. Bowman, a farmer of the county of Wells; Albert died in infancy; Mary, wife of W. H. Kreep, carpenter and contractor of Bluffton ; Clara became the wife of Otto McCorkle, a farmer residing in

Ohio; Thomas J., a railroad man, lives in the city of Fort Wayne; Jay A. is the sub¬ ject of this article, and Tda, wife of J. II. Zion, Middletown, Michigan. Mr. and Mrs. Hindman were descended, respectively, from German and Irish ancestry and for a number of years previous to their marriage were both teachers in the public schools of their native state. Crooks Hindman was a gentleman of literary tastes, a leader of thought in the community where he lived and successful in his business affairs, being the possessor of a substantial competence at the time of his death. For a number of years himself and wife were members of the Pres¬ byterian church and their lives were prac¬ tical examples of the faith they professed.

Jay Anderson Hindman was born Sep¬ tember 1, 1863, in W'ells county, Indiana, and there received his preliminary educa¬ tion in the district schools. At the age of fifteen he entered the Methodist college at Fort Wayne, from which he was graduated in the academic course in 1880, the mean¬ while during vacations teaching in the com¬ mon schools of his county. The further to increase his scholastic knowledge and pre¬ pare himself more efficiently for educational work, he became a student, in 1882, of. the Northern Indiana Normal at Va'paraiso, in which he took the teacher's course, gradu¬ ating the year following. With this he did not stop, but continued at that institution until he had taken a full commercial course, and later, 1887, received a diploma from the scientific department, which ended his experience as a student. For some time after quitting school, ' Mr. Hindman was travelii salesman for the J. A. Ruth Pub¬ lishing Company, of Chicago, and subse¬ quently, 1889, was elected superintendent of the Blackford county schools, the duties of which position he discharged in a creditable manner the greater part of two terms, resign¬ ing in 1892. For some years previous to tins step he had given much attention to the law, studying the same as he had oppor¬ tunity and with such progress that in the above year he was admitted to the Blackford bar by Hon. J. S. Dailey, judge of the twenty-eighth judicial circuit. Ilis resignation of the superintend cy of schools was for the purpose of acc\ ing the position of prose¬ cuting' attorney, to which he was appointed in 1892, and his creditable record in that office was the means of his election to the same by direct vote of the people eighteen months later. At the expiration of his of¬ ficial term in 1896, Mr. Hindman entered actively upon the general practice, since which time his career has been one of uni¬ form success. He first effected a co-partner¬ ship in 1892 wjth Elisha Pierce, which lasted until 1S95 and since the latter date he has been alone in the practice.

At a very early age Mr. Hindman dis¬ played unusual ability in the art of public discourse and while a boy still in his 'teens he complied wiith frequent calls to make addre. :s upon various subjects. When but nineteen he was employed by the central committees of Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska to stump those states in behalf of the Democratic national ticket. He made a brilliant canvass for Cleveland and wherever he went crowds thronged to hear the celebrated bov orator, whose eloquence had preceded him and wffiose influ¬ ence upon the "stump" added many votes to the cause of Democracy that year. As an extempore speaker he has few equals, his oratory being of that popular kind which at once commands attention, by argument logically arranged and eloquently discussed, interspersed with apt anecdote admirably told, and keen satire, which never fails of finding its mark or accomplishing its pur¬ pose. Add to these a fine presence and pleasing personality, both essential in the makeup of the popular orator, and a mag¬ netism which enables him to sway at will vast concourses of people, and the reader has a mental picture of one of the youngest and most successful campaigners that ever advocated the cause of Democracy through¬ out the great west.

Mr. Hindman entered into the marriage relation, July 7, 1897, with Ida B. Maines, who was born on the 20th day of July, 1870, in Randolph county, Indiana, the daughter of William and Elizabeth (Penry) Maines, both parents natives o' this state. The domestic life of Mr. Hindman is one of great happiness and content, his beautiful home on West Main street being well known to the best social circles of the city, of which both himself and wife are popular members. He is a thirty-second-degree Mason and also belongs to the fraternity of Odd Fellows, in the local lodge of which he has passed all the chairs, besides taking an active part in the deliberation of the order elsewhere.

Although embracing the law after a com¬ paratively short period of preliminary study, Mr. Hindman has attained a degree of suc¬ cess surprising to himself, and achieved dis¬ tinction at a bar made up of exceptionally able men. His life illustrates the worth of well-grounded principles and from the be¬ ginning he subordinated everything to a strictly defined and inflexible purpose to suc¬ ceed. By energy and perseverance in his profession he soon forged to the front, until he is new the peer of his fellows as an able and astute lawyer, and he has few equals and no superiors in the preparation and management of cases and their argument before court and jury. As an advocate he lias achieved distinction such as rewarded his efforts upon the hustings, being clear and concise in statement, logical and con¬ vincing in argument, rising at times to im¬ passioned eloquence, and seldom fails of carrying conviction and winning verdicts for his clients.

To him is accorded the honor of con¬ ducting to successful issue the most im¬ portant case ever litigated in the courts of Blackford county and receiving therefor a larger fee than that commanded by any other lawyer at the Hartford City bar. This was when he appeared as attorney in the re¬ ceivership for the Montpelier Sheet & Tin Plate Company, winning the case and re¬ covering $85,000, his fee being the munifi¬ cent sum of $7,000. Since then his name has appeared in connection with various other important cases and is frequently retained as counsel in places outside his circuit. Tn all probability Mr. Hindman has one of the largest and best equipped law offices in the state, a matter in which he takes much pride. His apartments consist of four commodious rooms, elegantly finished and superbly fur¬ nished, and his library, which completely fills the four sides of one room, is one of the most carefully selected and valuable in the west. Being of scholarly tastes, he has also accumulated a library rich in the world's best literature, in which he finds rest and intellectual recreation from the cares and activities of his professional labors.

Mr. Hindman is in the prime of vigor¬ ous manhood and with his fine personal presence moves among his fellows as one born to natural leadership. His popularity professionally is undimmed by the commis¬ sion of a single questionable act and with the people whose good opinions he has ever strived to maintain his high standing has long been assured. He is what he is from natural endowments, rigid self culture and severe professional training and has attained j his present position in society and at the | bar through the impelling force of his own | genius.

He possesses not only those powers that render men efficient in court and the political i arena, but: also the gentle traits that mark ! refined social intercourse. In all his daily ; affairs he manifests a generous regard for others and a strict allegiance to principles of honor and integrity, and no man in Blackford county more fully merits and commands the hearty good will of the public.

The p 'fessional gentleman, to a brief review of whose life these lines are devoted, is one of Indiana's eminent physicians and enjoys the distinction of having practiced the healing art longer at Hartford City than any other man within the limits of Black¬ ford county. Dr. Clouser came from a state prolific of great and useful men; Ohio, where he was born on the 13th day of August, 1823, the scene of his nativity being Highland county, where were passed the years of youth and early manhood. Primarily he was ed¬ ucated in the common schools and later com¬ pleted the prescribed course of Hillsboro College, from which he was graduated with honors in 1840. Meantime, having decided upon the medical profession for a life work, he began a course of reading under the di¬ rection of a competent physician of his na¬ tive place and subsequently became a student at the Ohio Medical College, from which lie received a certificate of graduation in 1842. Immediately thereafter he began practicing his profession in Clinton county, where he continued for a limited period only, remov¬ ing to Blackford county, Indiana, the above year, and locating at Hartford City, at that time an insignificant hamlet, but abounding in opportunities for a young and ambitious man with his fortune still in the future. It would be interesting to note in detail a his¬ tory of the Doctor's early practice among the sparse settlements of Blackford and neighboring counties, how for rna; r days and nights in succession he was kept con¬ stantly on the g'o in order to answer the calls of his numerous patients living at remote distances and how upon more than one oc¬ casion while traversing lonely roads through dense orests he was compelled to climb trees in order to escape being torn to pieces by the wolves then so plentiful in this part of the state, but anything more than a mere reference to these and other thrilling ex¬ periences would far transcend the limits of an article calculated, as is this, to be merely a synopsis of the. leading parts in his life. The Doctor's practice from the time of his settlement has more than met his most san¬ guine expectations and its history, if prop¬ erly chronicled, would fill a respectably sized volume of interesting reading. Coming to Blackford county when he did, a young man animated by a laudable desire to succeed, he has seen the country gradually develop from its primitive condition of woodland, with settlements like niches in surrounding for¬ ests, into one of the best populated and most highly improved sections of central Indiana. In the gradual upbuilding of civilization in these parts the Doctor has been no idle spectator, but imbued with the progressive spirit characteristic of our cosmopolitan pop- ulacc, he contributed freely his share of the energy and activity necessary to lay broad and deep the foundation upon which the prosperity of the community now rests. For a period exceeding by six years a half-cen¬ tury his familiar form was seen traversing the highways and byways of the county, prompt to answer every call, pausing at no obstacle except his own disability, which was rare, and ministering alike to rich and poor in their afflictions, the good Doctor was everywhere a welcome guest and his presence in the sick room a comfort and a benedic¬ tion. His familiarity with every detail of the general practice, his long and success¬ ful experience in treating diseases with which humanity in this part of the west has been afflicted during the last half-century, the gentle touch and the confidence inspired by his presence long since combined to make him the ideal family physician, and even now, since advancing age and infirmities in¬ cident thereto have compelled him to forego much of his former activity, there are still patients who cling to him and refuse rem¬ edies when tendered by other hands. Dr. Clouser practiced continuously until 1898. since which time, by reason of a severe spell of sickness then suffered, he has not been able to much more than administer to such patients as visit his office. His present in¬ tention is to retire permanently from the profession, to which his best years and ripest energies have been devoted, and spend the remainder of his days in the enjoyment of that rest and quiet which only those who have battled so long and successfully with the world know7 fully how to appreciate.

The Doctor has kept pace with the prog¬ ress of his profession and during his practice has met, in consultation and otherwise, many of the most- eminent physicians and surgeons of the state. He was really the second medi¬ cal man to locate in Hartford City, and to many who have since come and gone he proved of valued assistance and more than one man now distinguished in the profes¬ sion owes much of his success to the kind words and sound advice of the old physi¬ cian who could look upon the advancement of others without envy and freely give of his knowledge and experience to alleviate the suffering of mankind. He has keen a mem¬ ber of the Blackford County Medical So¬ ciety ever since its organization and in all the deliberations of that body his voice lias been heard and his counsels heeded. He was a leading spirit in the organization of the Medical Society of Grant County and at the present time his name appears upon the records of the American Medical Associa¬ tion, the State Medical Society (since 1862) | and the Mississippi Valley Medical Society, j with all of which he has frequently met and j while in attendance has been no idle spec¬ tator. For a number of years he served at different times as president of the Blackford County Society, and to him more than any other individual is due the success with which it has been crowned. The Doctor is a mem¬ ber of the Pan-American Medical Congress and met with it in Washington, D. C, in 1893. They had a large group picture made, in which the Doctor occupies a conspicuous place. Through infirmities he has not been permitted to attend the congress since that time. Fraternally the Doctor belongs to the Masonic order and in religion was for¬ merly a Methodist, but in recent years in¬ clines towards the teachings of Advent¬ ism.