Chapter IV The Pioneer Men and Women

CHAPTER IV.
THE PIONEER MEN AND WOMEN-GENESIS OF THE EARLY SETTLERS.

The preceding pages have narrated the general course of events up to and including the organization of Sullivan county. Many individuals have been mentioned, some more frequently and prominently than others. Much must always remain unsaid concerning the pioneer citizens of any locality, the data having long since disappeared. The following paragraphs represent an effort to place on record, from such material as could be obtained, the essential facts relating to a large number of individuals and families who may be classed as pioneers. The classification of pioneers in this instance is an arbitrary one. The word is usually an elastic term, and is here most applied to those persons who came into the county to reside before the year 1840. Some names will not be found in this record which would be expected to occur there, for the reason that some of these characters seem more properly assignable to the chapters on the bench and bar, the medical profession, and other divisions.

The pioneer member of the Akin family, which has been so prominent in the county and particularly about Carlisle, was Ransom w. Akin, who was a merchant at Carlisle from 1838 until relieved of active duties by his sons. He died June 18, 1880, aged about seventy-four. As to the family origin, Virginia was the native state of his parents, who had emigrated to Clark county, Indiana, almost at the beginning of the nineteenth century. For a few years Colonel Akin was in the banking business at Bloomington. He left six sons and three daughters, and had lost three children by death.

The late James L. Allan, who died at Sullivan March 15, 1904, was one of the county's venerable citizens, having spent nearly seventy years here as a resident. He was born in Nelson county, Kentucky, February 14, 1818, came to this county with his parents in 1835, was married at the age of eighteen to Rachel Louise Eaton (who died in 1897), and spent his life as a farmer. He was a member of the Methodist church.

On July 31, 1876, died at Carlisle the head of one of the most prominent families of the county. Joshua Alsop had been identified with the business and civic interests of the county many years, but had repeatedly refused to accept public office, until 1870, when he was elected and served a term in the state senate. He was born in Northumberlandshire, England, September 5, 1807. His parents and the three other children left England May 18, 1818, and after living a year at Walls Corners, New York, set out for the west, York, Illinois, being their destination. Most of the journey was made in a flatboat. It is not known in just what year Joshua Alsop moved to Sullivan county, but he was prominent in the construction of the first railroad through the county. A charter was granted to the Vincennes and Terre Haute Railroad in 1851, and when this line was consolidated with the Vincennes and Evansville he was elected a director of the new road, the Evansville and Crawfordsville. While a resident of Carlisle he showed a liberal hand in supporting the public schools. He subscribed liberally toward the school building that was erected in 1857, and when it was completed he offered a loan to relieve the schoolhouse of the builder's lien. He married, February 14, 1837, Margaret Calvert, who was born in Washington county, Kentucky, May 10, 1811, and died October 10, 1877. They had seven children.

From Kentucky came the Arnetts, of Gill and Haddon townships. The date of the removal of Levin Arnett to this county is not given exactly, though his son William was born in Gill township in 1823, and the family have always been spoken of among the early settlers of the county.

One of the fine old Christian gentlemen of Curry township was Elder John Bailey, who died at his home on Palmer's prairie, July 6, 1877. was past eighty, having been born September 15, 1795, in Jefferson county, Kentucky. The family moved to Orange county, Indiana, about 1805. The father was one of those restless pioneers who prepare the ground for permanent occupation but are satisfied to leave the fruits of their endeavors to others. It was his practice to clear farms, make improvements, then sell, and move further back into the wilderness and begin the process over again. John Bailey assisted him until he was twenty years old when he married Elizabeth Henry, and settled in Lawrence county on Pleasant run. He was a pioneer, and had to travel thirty miles to mill. About 1836 he was converted and immersed by Elder Isaac Martin, an event which changed the whole manner of his life. He was thereafter one of the strong members of the Christian church, and died in that faith. He settled on Curry's prairie in 1845. His first wife died in 1863, and the following year he married Elizabeth Harris.

In the issue of the Democrat of January 2, 1878, was announced the death of Henry Barnard. As first president of the national bank organized at Sullivan in 1872, he had for several years been a citizen of marked influence. He was a man of fine culture and attainments, was lavish in the expenditure of his large means, and showed his generosity in support of every benevolent enterprise. Failing health had caused his resignation from the bank several years before his death, and he spent the remaining years in Bucksport, Maine.

Ferdinand Basler was a citizen whose life and services are still well remembered in the county. A native of Switzerland, he came to this county in November, 1848, was engaged in business in town and also at fanning; in 1855 was elected justice of the peace of Hamilton township, served as county auditor from March, 1864, to March, 1868. In 1872 he became a member of the state board of agriculture, and the following year was appointed by that board a delegate to the Vienna exposition of 1873. He assisted in laying out Center Ridge cemetery and was president of the board of directors at the time of his death, and was president of the county agricultural society two years.

William E. Beard served as a commissioner of the county six years. He lived in Sullivan county from 1826 until his death in Turman township, May 14, 1865. He was born in Nelson county, Kentucky, in 1804, and was a member of the Christian church.

Among the pioneers of southern origin may be mentioned the Bedwells, Elisha and Susan (Hinkle), who came from Kentucky and North Carolina respectively, the Collinses, Willias S. and Alary (Hoke), who brought their family from Kentucky to Haddon township in 1837; the Corbins, Vincent Corbin having come from his native state of Virginia first to Kentucky, and in 1829 to Sullivan county; the Davidsons, of whom Daniel was the pioneer who moved to this county not long after the war of 1812-15, one of whose sons was Thomas E., born in Haddon township in 1819 (died February 5, 1895), and long known as a prosperous farmer. The Nash family was transplanted from Kentucky to this county by Marvel W. Nash sometime about the '20s. Another Kentucky family, related by marriage to the Nashes, was the Shakes, the pioneer David Shake having moved from Oldham county, Kentucky, to Haddon township in 1830. Other Kentuckians who belonged to this group of pioneer settlers in Haddon township were Benjamin Ridgway and John Snyder, who, with their descendants, have been well known people in the vicinity of Paxton for the past eighty years. Sometime before 1823 Joseph Trimble brought his family from Kentucky to Haddon township. Luke and Samuel Walters each brought families from Kentucky to this county, during the early thirties, and the name has been familiar in Haddon township for many years.

One of the last survivors of the war with Mexico was Willis Benefield, who died at his home in Sullivan, March 23, 1902. He was a member of Captain Briggs' company in the war, being then a young man of about twenty-four years. The family have been identified with this county since 1836, when the mother moved here from Illinois. Willis was born in Lawrence county, Indiana, in 1822, and in 1850 married Elizabeth Maxwell, by whom there were three children.

During the pioneer days of this county, it was very rare that a settler of foreign birth came to the county. One such was Adam F. Bensinger, who was born in Germany in 1787, who came to Sullivan county about 1830, and was the founder of family of honored activities and connections.

Jesse Bicknell, who died in December, 1882, was clerk of the county two terms, and had also served as deputy in the office when Major Griffith was clerk. Mr. Bicknell was born in Kentucky the latter part of 1829, at an early age was thrown on his own responsibilities, and about 1855 began working in the store of John Giles at New Lebanon.

William Blackburn was lieutenant colonel of the Seventh Blinois Cavalry, having entered the service as captain, August 10, 1861. He was wounded in Mississippi, May 5, 1863, and died twelve days later. He was a member of the Presbyterian church at Carlisle, and also Carlisle Lodge No. 50, I. O. O. F.

A unique distinction belonged to William Bledsoe, who died at his home in Dugger, November 14, 1905, in his eightieth year. It was asserted that he was without doubt the most famous hunter the county ever produced. He had lived in the eastern part of the county since he was grown, and throughout his active life was an ardent and successful Nimrod. The claim is made that he killed the last wild deer which was ever seen in the county. He had a record of killing sixteen deer in three consecutive mornings. He was born in Lawrence county, Indiana, October 29, 1826.

William Alfred Brunker, who died April 8, 1902, had been identified with the town of Farmersburg for nearly half a century. In 1858 he had established a general store and grain market at that place, during the sixties was engaged largely in farming, and then began the manufacture of a healing compound known as "Brunker's Balsam," the patent for which in 1880 he disposed of to an eastern firm. He had served as postmaster at Farmersburg during the administrations of Buchanan and Lincoln, and was a justice of the peace three terms. Fie was a native of England, born in 1825, had to contend with poverty and had few educational opportunities, and for a number of years was employed in hospitals and asylums at Bristol, where he met his wife, Phoebe Say. He came to America in 1851, and began work at a dollar a day, but rapidly rose in prosperity.

Jacob Booker at his death, January 22, 1882, was one of the oldest residents of the county. He was born in Jefferson county, Kentucky, in 1798, and had located in Indiana when about twenty-one years old. He lived many years in the northeast part of Haddon township.

In his reminiscences of the early Indiana courts and bar, Oliver H. Smith relates the ridiculous experience of State Senator George Boon(e), in courting a young lady in his neighborhood. Whether this incident happened in Sullivan county is not related, but it was probably founded, in fact or romance, in Kentucky, where Boon's family home belonged. He claimed relationship with the great Daniel Boone. George Boon was called in later years the Abraham Lincoln of Sullivan county. He was nearly seven feet tall, of massive proportions. His large feet came in for the greater part of the ridicule and jokes at his expense. Despite his ungainly body he was a very popular man, and was repeatedly elected to the legislature. During his service in the assembly the question of internal improvements was the most discussed and more nearly concerned the people than any other affair. Boon was opposed to the state undertaking internal improvements on the scale then demanded, and his failure to ask, or obtain, anything for his county in this direction was the cause of his defeat by Colonel Haddon for one term, when he was again successful, and he continued in the legislature until his death, at the age of about 57. He wanted to go to Congress, and at one time was in opposition to John W. Davis and John Ewing, the latter gaining the coveted honor.

Tavner Bowen, who died December 1, 1890, and was buried in the Indian Prairie cemetery, had lived in this vicinity many years, and was the first president of the F. M. B. A. Lodge 2903. He was born in Jessamine county, Kentucky, January 1, 1818, and at the age of eighteen moved to Indiana with his parents, settling in Knox county. In 1838 he married Anna Robbins, and came to Sullivan county, where he passed the remainder of his life. He was the father of ten children. In 1844 he united with the Indian Prairie Baptist church under Rev. Stephen Kennedy. In February, 1864, he enlisted in Captain Gillman's company (C) of the 120th Regiment and served till the close of the war. He also served as a justice of the peace in his township.

It was said of James Brewer, who died near Fairbanks, October, 1889, aged sixty-eight, that he was a prominent man not because of offices held, but for his virtues. The Masons conducted his funeral, and J. H. Meteer came from Crawfordsville to preach the sermon. He was a member of the Brewer family which has so numerously and actively been identified with the county, was born in Butler county, Ohio, and came to this county when he was two or three years old.

William Brewer died at his home in Turman township, October 24, 1899, one of the oldest native citizens of this part of the county, having been born near Graysville, March 26, 1826. He was a farmer most of his life, but was also a member of the firm of Brewer and Burton of Sullivan. His first wife was Mary Ann Hawkins, who died in 1867, and in 1868 he married Amelia Miles of New Lebanon, who died in 1893. In 1895 he married Rebecca Thornberry of Graysville.

The Brewer family, one of whose representatives is Orlando C. Brewer of Fairbanks township, was founded in Sullivan county before 1820, by John and Mary (Cook) Brewer. John Brewer once cultivated a farm on land that is now included within the city of Terre Haute, and from there moved to Graysville, where most of his life was spent, being a merchant there, and a member of the Methodist church. He died May 20, 1880, in his eighty-fourth year.

At New Lebanon, during the forties, quite an industry was carried on in the building of flat-boats for the Wabash river traffic. One of the pioneers who engaged in this business at that place was Richard Anderson Bland. He was a cabinet maker at Carlisle and New Lebanon, and also had a sawmill. He spent his last years at Sullivan, where he died August 3, 1904, in his ninetieth year. He was a venerable citizen and early resident of the Methodist community at New Lebanon, and it was his distinction to have been a member of the church over sixty-five years, and to have assisted in the building of the old Methodist church at New Lebanon as also the present church edifice there and likewise the M. E. church at Sullivan. He was born in Nelson county, Kentucky, January 6, 1815, when a boy moved with the family to New Albany, and in 1834 the family home was established at New Lebanon, where, in January, 1835, he married Eusebia Mason. William H. and Thomas F. Bland were among the nine children of this union. After the death of his first wife in 1876 Mr. Bland married Amelia Ann Allen, who died in 1891.

The Burnett family which belongs to the early pioneer epoch of Sullivan county was especially identified with Gill prairie and New Lebanon. The date assigned for the settlement of the family on this prairie was 1813. Joseph Burnett, the son of the original settler, died in the county February 10, 1876. He was born in Kentucky, September 13, 1809. He was a Democrat and Methodist, and a wholesome citizen of his time.

John R. Burnett, another member of the family, died at New Lebanon, January 21, 1892, aged eighty-eight years. At one time he owned all the land on which New Lebanon is built but lost most of his property by going security.

Stephen G. Burton, who died October, 1875, at one time represented Sullivan county in the legislature.

On September 25, 1890, passed away one of the oldest men of Sullivan county. Christian Canary was probably the last survivor of the war of 1812 in Sullivan county. Born near Danville, Mercer county, Kentucky, May 7, 1792, he married Nancy South, on June 8, 1812, and soon afterward enlisted for service in the war with Great Britain, under Captain Lankister and General Carter. In October, 1816, with his father-in-law, Henry South, he moved to what was then the northern part of Knox county, but which in the following winter was made Sullivan county. The name is especially identified with the Gill township neighborhood, where a son of Christian Canary still lives, himself now an old man. One of the celebrations of age and family which had more than picturesque interest was the gathering of relatives, descendants and friends on the 4th of May, 1882. in honor of the ninetieth birthday of this patriot and pioneer. There was dinner, music by the Sullivan Opera House band, stories of the old time, and the festivity and pathos that mark such an occasion. Christian Canary joined the Methodist church when eighteen, was one of that Methodist community that made New Lebanon a center of church and educational affairs fifty years ago, and to the end of his life remained a member of the church.

The name of William Curry has been perpetuated in Curry township, which was named in his honor, as the first settler. He came there about 1817 from Kentucky, and was followed by Samuel and Robert Curry. Not only these pioneers, but many of their children have passed away, and only representatives of the third and fourth generation are now resident in the county. Thomas Franklin Curry was probably the first of the family to claim this county as his birthplace. He was born in Curry township October 4, 1818, and died January 1, 1878, leaving ten children. He was a member of the Presbyterian church 44 years.

Another branch of the Curry family was represented by John F. Curry, who died at Sullivan, October 30, 1889. He was born near Terre Haute, in 1824, a son of James Curry, who was a pioneer in the vicinity of Vincennes. John F. Curry lived for many years at Carlisle, having learned the tailor business under Peter Hawk there. He was elected sheriff of the county in 1872, and after his term continued in business at Sullivan till his death. He was a Presbyterian and a member of the Odd Fellows order.

On May 16, 1906, occurred the death of William Curry, one of the oldest citizens of the county, and almost a native son, having come to this county with Samuel Curry, his father, in 1822, when two years old, and for eighty-four years had been a resident of Curry township. In 1846 he married Rebecca Russell. Joseph Wolfe Curry and Spencer Russell Curry are two of their four children.

The Calvert family settled at Carlisle shortly after the close of the war of 1812. They were Kentuckians, and John Calvert, who died October 26, 1883, was born in Springfield, Kentucky, September 16, 1807, and had lived in the county since he was nine years old. He married, February 26, 1830, Delilah Pitts, and had eleven children. The family were Methodists.

Thomas Martin Campbell, who died at his farm north of Sullivan, February 26, 1884, was born in Knox county, Ohio, March 17, 1820. He represented an old Presbyterian family, and had himself been a member of the church since he was twenty-one, and was an elder in the church at Sullivan at the time of his death.

George Carrithers, who died at Graysville, January 23, 1882, was a man of note not only because of his sixty-five years' residence in this vicinity, but for the character and strength that are naturally associated with the pioneer. "I do not remember," said Rev. J. H. Meteer, "to have met another man who had so supreme a contempt for idleness, and whole life so nearly conformed to his theory . . . . Those who were favored with his intimate acquaintance always gained by his counsel, whether in matters of business or religion." He was born in Kentucky, in May, 1800, came with the family to this state in 1817, at which time he and his brother went into the woods and cut and split 500 rails, with which they fenced ten acres of ground from which the family raised its first crops. At the age of 28 he married Jane Weir, and his death broke their wedlock of fifty-four years. Four children were left. He had united with the Scaffold Prairie Presbyterian church in 1835, and the same year was chosen an elder of Hopewell church of Graysville.

Bennett Caffee, whose death occurred at Frankfort, Indiana, March 25, 1896, was at one time identified with the newspaper business of Sullivan, having come to Sullivan in 1868 as publisher of the Democrat. In 1862 he married Belinda Briggs, a daughter of Benjamin Briggs. He was sixty-five years old at the time of his death.

Joseph Click was born in Kentucky, March 10, 1817, and died February 27, 1894, having been a resident of Sullivan county since 1865. He became a member of Mt. Tabor Methodist church. He married Cynthia Hays, January, 1851, and had nine children.

Joseph Cunningham, who died suddenly August 1, 1893, had been for several years the efficient superintendent of the Sullivan County Agricultural Society, and shortly before his death had, with W. H. Crowder, erected the new mill at Sullivan. He had been held in high esteem by his fellow citizens, having been first nominated for public office in 1878, when he appeared on the National ticket for the office of sheriff. Though he failed of election that time, after running ahead of the rest of the ticket, he was nominated for the same office in 1880 and polled double the number of votes given to any other name on the ticket, though not enough to give him the office.

William E. Catlin will be remembered as one of the early merchants on the north side of the square at Sullivan. He established his store in 1850, and for many years carried a general stock of merchandise, drygoods, groceries, and liquors. He was born in Washington county, Kentucky, February 21, 1818, and died at his home in Sullivan May 31, 1906, leaving a son, William Francis. The family had come to Sullivan county during the early twenties, living a short distance north of Carlisle. William E. Catlin during his youth taught four years of school in the school-house that stood on his father's farm. When he first voted for a president, his ballot was cast for Martin Van Buren. He married, in 1838, Elizabeth H. Ridge.

The name Creager that is owned by numerous persons in this county was among the early names at the old town of Merom. One of the oldest of the family was William Creager, who died at Merom, March 30, 1868, and one of the last of the town's pioneers. He was a native of Kentucky, and for many years had been a justice of the peace at this locality.

June 12, 1878, William Combs, a county commissioner, then serving his second term, died in Cass township, where he had long, been a resident. He was about sixty years old, was a successful farmer, was known for his strong practical sense and uprightness of dealings.

In the old Carlisle cemetery, in a small lot surrounded with an iron fence, stands a plain marble obelisk with a base on which are stated only these simple facts: "Hon. John W. Davis, born in New Holland, Lancaster county, Pa., April 16, 1799, died at Carlisle, Ind., August 22, 1859," together with the name of his wife. Ann Hoover Davis, who died December 28, 1859. To one who was unfamiliar with the early history of Sullivan county and of Indiana the monument tells only the mortal facts about a man who, in reality, for thirty years was prominent among the men who shaped the history of Indiana. He served in the legislature of the state six terms, and was three times speaker of the house; was sent to Congress four times, and was the first of three Indiana men who served as speaker of the national house of representatives; was commissioner to China, governor of Oregon territory, and a judge of the probate court, besides many other connections with public and private life. In his reminiscences, Oliver H. Smith said of him, "few men in this or any other state have held so many prominent positions or discharged their duties with greater ability."

Of his family, none now live in Sullivan county, though a son is a resident of Greene county. An earlier generation would remember him as much for his services as a physician as in public life. He graduated from the University of Maryland as a physician in 1821, and two years later arrived at Carlisle with three cents in his pocket and a wife to support. For five years he practiced as a country doctor, part of the time being at Terre Haute. He entered politics in 1828, but was defeated for the state senate by William C. Linton. He became probate judge, and later was a successful candidate for the legislature. He tried for election as congressman in 1833, but John Ewing defeated him by two votes. Two years later he was successful against the same rival by a thousand votes. Persistency was the strongest element of his character, and through its exercise he accomplished many things that a less determined nature would not have attained. In 1841 his opponent was the noted Col. Dick Thompson of Terre Haute, who was elected. Immediately after his defeat, Dr. Davis successfully sought election to the state legislature, and was elected speaker of the house. Two subsequent terms he was sent to Congress, and during the twenty-ninth session was speaker of the house.

In 1847 President Polk appointed him commissioner to China, and on his return two years later he again went to the legislature and was chosen speaker. In 1852 Mr. Davis was chairman of the Democratic national convention which met at Baltimore in June, 1852. Cass and Buchanan were the principal candidates for nomination, but the delegates were so divided that after thirty-five ballotings had been tried no candidate had sufficient support to make him the nominee. The convention adjourned at noon with the understanding that Virginia should bring in a compromise candidate. Franklin Pierce was the "dark horse" brought forward, but when the balloting was completed it was found that Pierce led Davis of Indiana by only one vote, though on the forty-ninth ballot the nomination was made practically unanimous for Pierce. President Pierce later appointed Dr. Davis governor of Oregon, and after this he was elected to the legislature of the state, "by the most flattering vote," he said, "I ever received from the good people of Sullivan county." His last public appointment was by the secretary of war as a member of the board of visitors to the West Point Military Academy, and he served as president of the board.

According to an estimate of his life published some time ago, Dr. Davis was a plain, substantial man, not of extraordinary mental calibre, but of good sound judgment, and unusually qualified as a presiding officer. "As a safe and prudent legislator," said W. W. Woolen of Indianapolis, "he was the equal of any man in the state in his day. Moreover, no one ever doubted his honesty. He kept his hands clean. With opportunities for money-making possessed by few, he contented himself with his legitimate earnings, and died a poor man." He was a Democrat in politics. While making a political address on one occasion, some one in the audience annoyed and interrupted by asking him regarding his advocacy of this and that Democratic measure. At length he said: "My friend, to save you trouble and me annoyance, I will say now that I endorse everything, the Democratic party ever has done, and everything that it ever will do." He was a large man, over six feet tall, with light hair, blue eyes and a florid complexion.

In the Palmer's prairie graveyard in Cass township is a slab marking the grave of Hon. James DePauw, who once represented this county in the legislature, and whose son, Washington C. DePauw, has perpetuated the name by his liberal gifts to the university which is now DePauw University. Harvey Wilson was authority for the statement that James DePauw made his canvass for the legislature in advocacy of a new tax law, was elected 011 that platform, and succeeded in having the law changed to conform to his theory. Previous to 1835 the public revenues were obtained from what were known as "specific taxes," i. e., so much tax was levied on every horse, so much for each yoke of oxen, so much for an acre of land, etc., and no distinctions were made between the objects of each classification on the basis of value. Mr. DePauw was the first man in this locality to advocate taxation on an ad valorem basis. The date usually assigned for the settlement of James DePauw in this county is 1832. He located at Caledonia, in the vicinity of the water-power mill on Busseron creek, and did a large business in flat-boating from that point, being one of the early pork dealers who shipped pork from this locality down the rivers to the southern market.

A daughter of James DePauw married John Y. Dodd, who was born in Kentucky in 1802 and died in this county, January 10, 1892, lacking about two months of attaining the venerable age of ninety years. After his marriage he began farming near Caledonia, where his father-in-law then conducted a general store and pork-packery, and was probably proprietor of the mill. Mr. Dodd was a man of considerable strength of character, warm in his attachments, and extremely firm in his convictions.

The older citizens of Gill township recall varied memories of William F. Dodds, who was postmaster at New Lebanon for thirty years, was a squire for a quarter of a century, and very well and favorably known in that community. He was born in Kentucky in 1809 and came to Bloomington, Indiana, when ten years old, and in 1830 located at New Lebanon, where he lived until his death in August, 1873, was a member of the M. E. church thirty-seven years, and was buried with the ceremonies of the Odd Fellows order, having been a member of the Carlisle lodge twenty years.

One of the well known merchants of Sullivan was John Davis, whose death in 1891 removed one of the old citizens of the county. He was born near Vincennes, September 30, 1811, and had lived in Sullivan county since March, 1819.

John Dudley, who served as sheriff for two terms in the seventies, died in August, 1899, being at the time one of the oldest native sons, having been born in the county in 1824. His first wife was Anna Springer, of New Lebanon, and the second, Mary Jane Benefield, of Sullivan.

A family name that has been associated with Haddon township and Carlisle during early years was that of Dooley or Duly, as it was also spelled. There is a stone in the Carlisle cemetery, much defaced by age and weather, placed there "In memory of John Duly, who was born ____, and died February 18, 1837, aged (63?) years."

A more familiar personage, and one whose name appears on some of the early official documents to be found in the county, was Henry Dooley, presumably a son or relative of the above. He served as orderly sergeant in Captain Briggs' company of volunteers for the Mexican war, and after his return was for six years sheriff of the county, and then a justice of the peace.

The Eaton family was established near Carlisle about 1813, perhaps a little later. William Eaton, who died near New Lebanon in July, 1873, was at that time about eighty years of age, a native of Fleming county, Kentucky. He served, so it was said, in the war of 1812, and probably located in this county during and soon after the close of that war. He married Alary Hunt in June, 1815, and in 1825 moved to New Lebanon. He had become a member of the M. E. church in 1817, and held the office of trustee and class leader at the time of his death.

Probably a brother of William Eaton was the old justice of the peace at Carlisle, John H. Eaton, who lies buried in the cemetery there. According to the inscription on his tombstone, he was born November 25, 1794, and died March, 1842. During the thirties he was a justice of the peace in Haddon township, and must have been a man of some prominence. He had the habit of writing the initial of his middle name so close to the E of the final name that it seemed one word, and to a stranger his name would seem to be John Heaton. It was so mistaken in several instances where his name occurred in print. It seems that the chiseler who cut his name on the tombstone was instructed to carry out this peculiarity, for at first glance the name on the stone seems to be Heaton.

The Ellis family, which is represented in the third generation by Claude A. Ellis of Carlisle, was of Virginia origin, the grandparents John W. and Sarah E. Ellis both being natives of that state and coming to this county some time in the '20s or early '30s. Thomas O. Ellis, a native son of the county and representing the second generation of the family here, is a man of unusual historical interest because of his connection, while a young man during the fifties, with the Nicaraugua filibuster under Captain Walker, which was one of the romantic episodes of American history.

William Ernest, who died at his home in Fairbanks, August 29, 1882, had lived in this state since 1827, and joined the Baptist church in Fairbanks in 1834. He was born in North Carolina in 1804, and came to this state with his parents.

Alexander Engle, who died December 16, 1904, was for many years a local preacher of the Christian church, having united with that denomination in 1861. He was born in Sullivan county, October 20, 1826, and in 1849 married Patsy Rose.

Alonzo F. Estabrook was for many years surveyor of the county. He was born in Reading, Windsor county, Vermont, March 7, 1814, and came west during the construction of Wabash and Erie Canal, being one of the surveyors connected with that enterprise. He studied medicine and practiced for a year but later resumed surveying, and for a long time resided at Carlisle. He died at the home of a son near Gordon, Nebraska, April 3, 1892. At the time of his death his son J. Alonzo was living near Carlisle.

Dr. William A. Fleming, practiced a quarter of a century at Pleasantville before his death, which occurred July 10, 1892. Dropsy was the cause of his death. He was born in Jefferson county, Ohio, in 1841, read medicine there until this was interrupted by service in the army, being connected with the hospital service part of the time, and after the war continued his studies in the medical department of the University of Michigan, coming to Pleasantville in the summer of 1866. For fourteen years he was the partner of Dr. James McDowell, later with Dr. McClung, and then with Dr. L. C. McDowell.

One of the veterans of the Mexican war, who was also in the Civil war, was Col. James H. Garrett, who lived at Carlisle a number of years, but who died at Newton, Iowa, January 30, 1877, being fifty-two years of age at the time of his death.

The Giles family was located in the vicinity of Merom about 1830. At least one member of the family, John Giles, was engaged in the flat- boat commerce to New Orleans, and was later a merchant and county treasurer, and president of the Farmers State Bank of Sullivan. Hugh H. Giles, a native of New Jersey, was the original immigrant to this county, coming here in 1830. Hopkins Giles died in Gill township August 3, 1867, aged 71. John Giles died in November, 1894.

Robert A. Gilkison and wife, natives of Kentucky, came to Sullivan county in 1816, not long after the close of the war of 1812. For a number of years their home was on the prairie near Carlisle, but they spent their last years on the Gilkison farm a mile and a half west of Sullivan.

John Gilkison (or Gilkerson), who was born in Fleming county, Kentucky, in 1815, and died at his home in Sullivan, July 25, 1899, was a year old when brought to this county. For many years he lived on a fine farm along the Merom road a short distance from Sullivan. He married, in 1839, Mary A. Canary, who died in 1879, and in 1882 he married Mrs. Sarah Ann Freeman.

A well known and honored citizen passed away on February 6, 1893, in the death of William H. Griffin. He was seventy-seven years old, and many years before had located at Fairbanks, where he was a saddle manufacturer. He entered local politics, was one of the county commissioners during the war, having been elected from the second district in 1862, and in 1866 was county treasurer and re-elected to that office in 1868. He was a Mason and Odd Fellow.

Messages of condolence from Senator D. W. Voorhees and Col. W. E. McLean of Terre Haute read at the funeral of Major William C. Griffith, who died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Zerilda Reed, in Sullivan, February 5, 1892, showed the high estimate placed upon that worthy soldier and citizen who for more than half a century had been a resident of Sullivan. He was ninety-four years old at the time of his death. His father was one of seven brothers who came to Pennsylvania from Wales and all served in the Revolutionary war, and about 1816 moved to Kentucky. In 1817 William C. Griffith married Fannie McGrew, and fifty years later they celebrated their golden anniversary, their wedded life continuing three years longer. During the latter part of the war of 1812 he recruited a company of volunteers and was chosen major of the regiment to which it was attached. He was one of the last, if not the last, survivor of that war in Sullivan county. He had been a member of the Baptist church since 1823. He was clerk of the Sullivan circuit court four years.

Some of the older residents will recall the old Irishman, Robert Griffith, who was the town tailor of Merom for about thirty years, until his death at that place, December 12, 1875. He was at one time an official of the county, and at a very interesting period, when the county seat was removed from the bluffs of the Wabash to a more central location at Sullivan. Some time before he had been appointed by the county commissioners to the office of treasurer and collector, and was later elected to that office, and held that office when the county seat moved to Sullivan. He was a native of Belfast, Ireland, learned the tailor's trade, and had worked at Natchez, Mississippi, before coming to Sullivan county.

One of the old teachers of the county who will be readily recalled by many, especially in Jackson township, where he lived many years, was Peter Grant. He was a graduate of the University 6f Edinburgh, Scotland, and after coming to this county about 1855 was engaged in teaching for about twenty years. He died May 16, 1884, aged seventy-six. He was one of the original members of Claiborne Presbyterian church.

The carpenter and contractor who remodeled the court house was William Greenlee, a citizen who was well known in Sullivan up to the time of his death, August 11, 1896. He had lived in Sullivan since 1851. He is also credited with having built one of the schoolhouses of Sullivan. He was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, April 5, 1821.

For seventeen years the postoffice at Carlisle was held by David Hackney, who died there about May 1, 1878, at the age of seventy. As a citizen he had for many years been a leader in promoting temperance and other moral reforms in his community.

A native of old Shakertown who passed most of his life in this county in the vicinity of Carlisle was Isacher Hancock, who was born February 7, 1808, and died September 19, 1877.

Owen C. Hancock, who was sheriff of the county during the seventies, had just completed one term in that office and was on the ticket for a second term when he died, September 6, 1876. He was born in Owen county in 1830. He had six children.

Joel Harris, who was born January 17, 1818, was said to have been the first white child born in Fairbanks township. He died July 11, 1890. He was an enterprising farmer, and had the distinction of raising the first large acreage of wheat in his township. His first wife was Lydia Ransford, by whom he had five children.

James Heap, one of the most honored citizens of Curry township, died August 4, 1892, and was buried at Friendship church. His wife was Sarah J. Davis, and they had seven children.

John Hammond, who died August 10, 1899, was born in Kentucky October, 1816, and at the age of sixteen began working on the Ohio river as steamboat engineer, an occupation he followed until 1854, when he moved to Sullivan county. For several years he was an engineer in the Seth Cushman grist mill at Merom. After the beginning of the war he enlisted in Company I, Sixth Indiana Cavalry, and was made veterinary of the company. During his residence in the county after the war he was employed as engineer in some of the flour mills at Sullivan. In 1842 he married Nancy Pinkston, by whom he had eight children, and in 1858 married Louisa J. Kelly.

The late William Hosea Hawkins, who died in October, 1905, served as sheriff of the county from 1888 to 1892, and then under the Cleveland administration was appointed a United States marshal, a position he held during the trying months of the strike of the American Railway Union. When an injunction was issued against interfering with the trains at Hammond, he was ordered to serve the order of the court. The Monon placed a special train at his disposal. The news of the coming of Hawkins and his deputies preceded and created the rumor that a train-load of soldiers was approaching the town. A crowd of live thousand gathered at the depot, in an ugly mood, but on the arrival of the train Hawkins quietly left his car, read the order of the court in the presence of the strikers and their sympathizers, and two days later brought the strike leaders back to Indianapolis. Marshal Hawkins was the only son of Jesse Hawkins, a well-to-do farmer of near Graysville, and during his youth had been a clerk in a general store at Shelburn. During his later years he became prominent in the Democratic politics of the state. He resigned the position of secretary of the county central committee to accept a similar position with the state central committee, which he held four years. In business he was district superintendent of the Prudential Insurance Company, with headquarters at Terre Haute, until about a year before his death, when he became superintendent of the American Association, with headquarters at Indianapolis.

Philip Hinkle settled in the southeast corner of Sullivan county in 1819, coming from Kentucky. He lived there at a time when it was necessary to take corn to Shakertown to have it ground. The Hinkle family, of which Philip was the first immigrant to this county, have been well known and numerously represented since that time.

Nathan Hinkle was a Revolutionary soldier who spent his last years in Sullivan county. Some of the gray-headed men of the present century, who were boys sixty years ago, remember an old resident of Jackson township, who had been voting ever since the beginning of our national government, and who until his extreme age took a keen interest in elections and was assisted to the ballot box. When he died near Hymera in December, 1848, he lacked only half a year of having- completed a century of life. He was born in Pennsylvania, and early in 1776 enlisted in the colonial militia at Lancaster, and for three years served in the continental army. In 1832', while living in Lawrence county, Indiana, he applied for and received a pension for his army services. He lived in Kentucky before coming to this state, and in 1844 moved to Jackson township, this county, where he made his home for a time with Uncle Martin Hale.

Jackson Hinkle, who died a few years ago, nearly ninety years old, was a member of the Hinkle family first mentioned above. He was born in Kentucky and came to this county with his parents when five years old, in 1819. He lived at first near Pleasantville and later moved to Farmersburg in order to educate his children. He was a merchant there, and was also appointed postmaster during the administration of President Grant. He also practiced as a pension attorney at Washington. He married, in 1856, Eliza J. Alkire, who died in 1892, the mother of nine children.

Stephen Hiatt died at Sullivan, November 27, 1907. He was a native of the county, and in 1860 married Miss America Laycock of Carlisle. Five of their children survived his death. He entered the army in August, 1862, in Company F, Ninety-first Illinois Infantry, and was wounded at Sabine Crossroads with eleven balls. He was captured by Morgan at Elizabeth, Kentucky, and after being released from the hospital he was detailed to the body-guard of President Lincoln. He was discharged in May, 1865. at Madison, Indiana.

John Higbee, who represented this county in the legislature by elections in 1892 and 1894, died at his home north of Sullivan, January 9, 1902. He was a son of John L. Higbee, of Sullivan, and was born in Hamilton county, Ohio, in 1843. He married Miss Mary Turman of Turman township, daughter of Thomas Turman, February 20, 1864. and they were parents of eight children.

Thomas Allen Hughes, who died in 1903, was born December 13, 1820, in a house that stood just southwest of the site of Sullivan, and which is now included in the town limits. He served as deputy auditor after the removal of the county seat from Merom, probably the first to hold that position. He was a member of the Home Guards during the war, being one of the influential Union men of this section, and in the latter part of the war enlisted in the 149th Regiment. He took part in some of the last marches of the army in the south, and the exposure and hardship permanently impaired his health. He was one of the earliest members of the Methodist church at Sullivan, having joined the church at the age of sixteen, and he helped build the first church, a frame building that stood on the site of the present church.

One of the old residents in the New Lebanon vicinity, a member of the Methodist church there and an ardent Democrat ever since he had cast his first vote for Jackson, was John R. Hunt, who died at his home there August 15, 1877. He was a son of Meshack Hunt and a native of Kentucky, born in 1802, and had lived in the county about fifty years. He married Hannah Davidson and had nine children.

David Hutchinson, who died at Sullivan, January 31, 1892, was one of the original members of the Presbyterian church of this place, and had served as elder. He had come to the county in the early fifties, and later moved to Sullivan to take charge of the mill built by M. E. Chase.

Venerable Squire Joel Hendricks, who died at his home in Farmersburg, where he had long resided, in January, 1892, was one of the well- known characters of that vicinity. He had been a justice many years, and was said to have possessed the confidence and esteem of the people to an unusual degree.

Among the pioneer families that came to Sullivan county before 1840. at least one that has since been prominent, brought to the county's citizenship some of the excellent qualities of the Pennsylvania Dutch. The Hoke family has been prominent as farmers and business men in Sullivan county for the greater part of seventy years, since Jacob F. and Susanna (Brentlinger) Hoke settled here some time in the thirties. They were of Pennsylvania nativity, but they followed the general tendency of emigrants to this county, and lived for a time in Kentucky before moving to this county.

Jacob Hoke was born in Jefferson county, Kentucky, June 30. 1809, and died January 25, 1875, on the farm in Haddon township where he had settled in 1830. He was a man of considerable wealth, and at one time was a county commissioner. He had been converted in a Methodist revival in 1839, and was connected with that church the rest of his life.

Among the various family claims to priority in Sullivan county, it is asserted that Thomas Holder, Sr., built the first cabin put up by a white man north of Knox county and that he located in the vicinity that afterward became Haddon township before the Ledgerwood family, though the latter is usually given precedence in the settlement of the county about Carlisle. At any rate, Thomas Holder came to this vicinity several years before the Tippecanoe campaign and the war of 1812, and was a soldier in those hostilities under General Harrison. One of the block-houses in the vicinity of Carlisle was usually designated by the Holder family name, and there is no doubt that Thomas Holder deserves the prominence that is due one of the first men who braved the hardships and dangers of life 011 the edge of civilization. The Holders were from Virginia, thus adding another name to the notable list of the pioneer citizens furnished this county by the south. The pioneer had a large family, one of them being Thomas, Jr., who was born in Haddon township in 1828, and whose associations with the farming and civil activities of this township are well remembered facts of the past century.

The founder of the Jamison family near Sullivan, and the father of James and William Jamison, was Matthew Jamison, who died at Sullivan in August, 1883. at the age of seventy. He was a native of Fayette county, Ohio, and had lived in this county since 1875.

South Carolina was the state which gave to Sullivan county the pioneer Jenkins family. Thomas and Nancy (Gill) Jenkins left Chester county. South Carolina, in 1807, and the former died during the long journey to the territory of Indiana, but his widow continued on to what became later Sullivan county and joined the Shaker community, being identified with that sect the rest of her life. The son, John Jenkins, who was born in South Carolina the year before the family migration, was at the time of his death one of the oldest residents of Sullivan county, and one of the largest farmers of the Carlisle neighborhood.

James L. Johnson, who died in April, 1882, at Sullivan, where he had lived for the past ten years, became a member of the Hopewell church at Graysville in 1827, and was one of the oldest of that pioneer congregation. He was born in Tennessee January 1, 1800, and came to Indiana during territorial days, living first in Knox county and later moving to the vicinity of Graysville.

One of the early settlers of Jackson township was Wyatt Johnson, who died at his home near the Greene county line, July 14, 1878, having come to the township nearly a half a century before.

Robert Kirkham, who died October 5, 1879, at the age of 82, had lived in this county since 1832. He was a native of Nelson county, Kentucky.

One of the veterans of the war of 1812 who afterwards lived in Sullivan county was James Land, who died at his home near Carlisle, July 24, 1866. As a Kentucky volunteer he had seen hard service in Harrison's army, and was under the gallant Dudley at the capture of Fort Meigs by the British. He was born in Jessamine county, Kentucky, October 14, 1792, and settled near Carlisle in 1821.

Jacob N. Land was a native and almost lifelong citizen of Carlisle, a member of one of the old families, and his life history is strongly pervaded with the military activity which has been characteristic of the family. He was born three miles northeast of Carlisle, December 25, 1838, and died at Battle Creek. Michigan, July 26, 1899. He was educated at Carlisle, and enlisting as a private in the 59th Infantry served from the first year of the war until 1865, being promoted to first sergeant. He was in the drug business at Carlisle, 1870-72, and then studied law and was admitted to the bar, and being appointed justice of the peace was for more than twenty years Squire Land. He was a charter member of the George Rotramel Post, G. A. R., and was its commander at the time of his death. He married in 1868 Mrs. Sarah J. Milner, and they had six children.

Peter Lisman, of the well-known family of that name, was a soldier in the war of 1812, and had fought at the battle of Tippecanoe. He died in July, 1867, at the age of eighty-one. He had been a member of the Methodist church over forty-five years.

The death of John Lisman, at the home of his son in New Lebanon, July 8, 1906, removed a native of the county whose name and the circumstances of his early career connected him intimately with some of the best remembered traditions of early Sullivan county. He was born on the Lisman homestead one mile southeast of Carlisle, November 19, 1814, and it is claimed that he was the fifth white child born in the county. When he was only three or four months old occurred what has since been known as the Dudley Mack massacre. On that day the parents of the Lisman baby were busy making maple sugar, and had put the boy in comfortable yet secret quarters in a hollow tree. When the word came that the Indians had massacred two boys, the mother left her baby concealed in the tree until she had roused her immediate neighbors, and the Lisman block-house was crowded until the fear and excitement passed over the frontier settlement. Having begun his life in such frontier scenes, it was the lot of John Lisman to live through all the remarkable epochs of development during the last century, and in many ways his life was a link between the period of first things in Sullivan county down to the twentieth century. He married in 1838 Elizabeth Johnson, who was born in the county a few weeks earlier than he, and was the fourth white child born in the county.

Hugh Moore, who died at Sullivan June 24, 1901, was considered the pioneer in the development of the coal fields of this county. He was born in Northumberland county, England, in May, 1825, and migrated to the United States in 1852. He was a practical miner through wide and extended experience, and after he came to Sullivan county in 1866 he was identified with several of the important mining properties of the county. In 1870 he became a member of the Shelburn Coal Company and had charge of the sinking of the shaft at that point. He was superintendent of the Sullivan mine until it was abandoned in 1879. The daughters who survived him were Mrs. Charles P. Walker. Mrs. William Wilson, and Mrs. James Hargraves.

One of the active workers for temperance during the seventies was William C. McBride, who died at Sullivan March 11, 1882. A few years before he had served as a justice of the peace, and had also been a preacher in the Christian church.

Hugh McCammon, of near Carlisle, was a veteran of two wars. He was one of the Kentucky volunteers who followed General Hopkins in the campaign against the Indians during the war of 1812, and over thirty years later had been a private in Captain Briggs' company in the Mexican war. He was a native of Hickman county, Kentucky, and came to Sullivan county about 1817. He died at his residence near Carlisle January 17, 1863.

Mathew McCammon, of the same family, and prominent in politics, who died April 26, 1876, was born on a farm south of Sullivan in 1820. He had been elected to the office of sheriff in 1860 and 1862. and in 1872 was again the Democratic nominee for the same office, but was defeated.

William McCammon, who died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Cora Gilbert, October 1, 1903, was the thirteenth of the fourteen children born to William McCammon and Jemima St. Clair. He was born six miles south of Sullivan, March 1, 1841. With the exception of five years spent in Terre Haute his life was passed in Sullivan, where he was a successful business man. In 1881 he built the McCammon Hotel, in which his funeral was held. He married in 1864 Rose D. Pearce.

For two terms the office of county treasurer was filled by Abram McClellan, a well-known citizen of Gill township, whose death was recorded in January, 1890, at the age of about 65. After two terms as trustee of Gill township he was elected to the office of county treasurer in 1875 and again in 1877, and later was again township trustee and also a justice of the peace. He was a member of the Christian church.

Thomas F. Mackey, who died October 30, 1889, is best remembered for his activity in church work and also for his interest in local politics in behalf of the laboring men. He had been a member of the Methodist church since 1849, for many years was an official member, and was earnest in Sunday school affairs.

James A. Marlow, who was elected the first superintendent of schools in Sullivan county, met accidental death in July, 1896, being struck by an engine of a passenger-train at Shelbyville. He was a native of Sullivan county and about fifty-two years of age. Since leaving the office of superintendent he had been traveling agent for a school book publishing house.

The Kentucky family named Mann, which had several well-known representatives at different periods of history, was established in this county in 1819, their homestead being- near Merom. A former circuit clerk and prominent Democrat in the county was the late Thomas J. Mann of, this family, a grandson of the original immigrant. The grandfather "Judge" Mann, was a prominent citizen of Merom, in and prior to the forties. One daughter became the wife of the Hon. Henry K. Wilson and one married O'Boyce, one of the prominent merchants of that place, who subsequently moved to Terre Haute and engaged in the wholesale business. "Mann's Tavern," which was on the stage line between Terre Haute and Vincennes, and gave entertainment to "man and beast," was a noted hostelry and often entertained many men of note such as Gen. Harrison, "Dick" Johnson, Lewis Cass and others equally well known.

A pioneer family who have been in the county since the time of the war of 1812 and before the county was organized was represented by John Maxwell, who died July 27, 1882. He was born in Bourbon county, Kentucky, January 30, 1803, and came with his father to Wayne county, Indiana, in 1806, and thence to Sullivan county about the close of the war of 1812. From the south part of the county the family moved to the vicinity of Caledonia in 1820. There they began the erection of the usual pioneer dwelling, a log cabin. When the timbers were ready for the "raising" the son John was sent out to invite the neighbors, and in order to get a sufficient force it was necessary for him to visit every home on Curry's prairie. The family tradition is to the effect that at that time there was not a white man's cabin from the eastern edge of Sullivan county to the White river. John Maxwell married Polly Polk, September n, 1823, and the following year settled one mile south of his father's home. His first wife died in 1844, and he then married Mary M. Larimore. For more than sixty years he was a worker in the Christian church.

In Kentucky was born Thomas R. McKinney in 1803. The family migration to the north side of the Ohio river was made in 1815, and since 1829 the McKinney family has been identified with Sullivan county, through the residence of Thomas R. or some of his sons.

Elder Thomas R. McKinney gave many years of his active life to the work of the Little Flock church in Curry township, with the history of which his name should be associated. His parents were Presbyterians, and he was reared in that faith, but in 1834 changed his views on the subject of baptism and united with the Little Flock congregation. Being soon after ordained a minister of the gospel, he served as pastor and moderator of the Little Flock church until 1866. In that year he moved from Curry's prairie to Haddon township, and from that time was identified with the membership of the Sullivan church. He died at his residence near Paxton, April 12, 1877. His wife was Jane McGrew.

Another prominent family whose residence was in Kentucky prior to the settlement in Sullivan county was the Milams. Henry R. Milam is one of the conspicuous and aged representatives of this family still living in Gill township. Several heads of families bearing that name came from Kentucky to the vicinity of Carlisle about the close of the war of 1812-15, and the family relationship has always been large in the county.

With a knowledge of the conditions of a century ago, the limitations of travel and the meagerness of information about distant localities, and the practical absence of all the facilities which now make communication with all parts of the country both easy and rapid, it seems nothing less than remarkable that men living in the old world and the settled states of the east should assume the risks and hardships of an emigration to the interior of America, there to found homes and spread the civilization of an older order. That a family should remove from the British Isles, during the first decade of the past century, and establish itself in the territory of Indiana, under the protection of the block-house communities of the Wabash valley, co-operating with others in producing the comforts of civilization and in sharing in its prosperity, is a matter worthy of particular note in a history of Sullivan county. Such is the record of the McConnel family, which has lived in Sullivan county for more than a century, and has several well-known citizens of that name in the county at the present time. A Scotchman of the name brought his family to America in 1805, and a year or so after reaching the eastern states had found his way to the new country of the Wabash. Andrew McConnel, a son of this immigrant, was a boy here during the exciting years of the war of 1812, and his son, Bailey McConnel, is still one of the prominent citizens of Haddon township.

The Minich family of Haddon township in its earlier generations had a home in Virginia, and still further back was of German origin. The Virginia ancestor, Adam Minich, was born about 1791, and served in the war of 1812, presumably while still a resident of Virginia. After that he went across the mountains into Tennessee, and from there came to Haddon township in 1819 and entered government land. Amid the changes incident to modern American life and the restlessness that characterizes most men, it is pleasant to remark that this farm has never passed out of the possession of the Minichs from the day it was entered in the government land office, and is still the home of a son of the original pioneer, Pleasant A. Minich, who was born on this place over eighty-five years ago.

Nathan Miles, who died at his home in Sullivan, September 8, 1878, aged about 70, was born near Lexington, Kentucky, and had lived since an early age near New Lebanon.

Col. William Minter, who was killed by a runaway team March 15, 1882, was perhaps the only permanent resident of Sullivan county who participated in the war for Texas independence. When about eighteen years old, in 1836, he had been attracted to the Texas country and had enlisted in the army raised to repel the invading Santa Ana, being in the battle of San Jacinto, which brought independence. He soon after returned to his old home in Shelby county, Kentucky, and in 1840 moved to Sullivan county. Here he took part in another phase of pioneer life. During the period before the coming of the railroads he was one of the carriers who took the mail at Merom and conveyed it on to Terre Haute. He married Malinda Pinkston in 1845, and after a brief residence in Missouri settled near Merom, where he continued to reside until his death. He was noted for his courtesy and hospitality, though his quiet and unobtrusive manner did not often permit him to mingle in public affairs.

On July 5, 1864, Lieut.-Col. Frank Neff was buried in the Sullivan cemetery with military honors, some of the veterans and returned volunteers forming a squad to accompany the body to its last resting place in the Sullivan cemetery. Colonel Neff was born in Boyle county, Kentucky, in 1832, his parents soon after moving to Hendricks county, this state, and he received his education at Bloomington, graduating from the law school of Judge McDonald and later entering a law office in Danville. After his marriage he located in Sullivan, and was among the first volunteers after the firing on Fort Sumter. From the office of lieutenant he had filled the intermediate grades in his advancement to the rank of lieutenant colonel, and served with gallantry at Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Stone River, Chickamauga, and at Kenesaw Mountain, where he received his death wound.

John Osborn was born in Kentucky in 1789, and came to Sullivan county in 1826, living here till his death in 1851. His wife, nee Gardner, was also born in Kentucky.

"Uncle Billy" Owens, who died at his home in Turman township, February 25, 1903, was a citizen whose life span had covered nearly ninety-four years, and since 1837 had been a resident of Turman township. When a boy he worked in a butcher shop patronized by President Andrew Jackson, and this acquaintance with that rugged champion of democracy made him one of the most ardent supporters whom "Old Hickory" could claim. In 1843 Uncle Billy hauled lumber for the first house in Sullivan. He was twice married and leaves numerous descendants.

Col. Ed Price was a former county official, and a native of the county, born at Merom in 1833, and died at his home in Sullivan, June 7, 1893. As a boy he worked in the store of James Reed at Merom, and during his later employment in the dry-goods store of William Wilson at Sullivan he gained an acquaintance and popularity that made his candidacy in 1858 for the office of county treasurer very successful, and two years later he was re-elected. In 1865 he was elected clerk of the circuit court, and he made H. K. Wilson his deputy and turned his attention to merchandising. His business enterprise was not successful, and he later held a position in the state auditor's office under James H. Rice.

James Harvey Reed, who at one time held the office of countv recorder, and later was known about the court house as deputy auditor, died in January, 1873, then fifty-five years old. Between terms of office he was a farmer in Fairbanks township. He was a member of the Little Flock Baptist church.

A numerous family of this county, dating from pioneer times, are the Ridgeways. One branch of the family, of which Levi was the settler, came from Kentucky to the Ledgerwood neighborhood not long after the war of 1812. Levi had served in the New Orleans campaign under Captain Peacock, whose daughter he later married, and then came to Sullivan county.

James Thomas Reid, who was a druggist at Sullivan in partnership with Dr. Hinkle during the fifties, died at Denver, Colorado, July 25, 1899. He was born in Jefferson township in 1842. After leaving the retail drug business, he was a traveling salesman a number of years, but in 1875 returned to Sullivan and engaged in the grocery and milling business. During the Civil war he served as a member of the 85th Indiana. He was a Mason and a member of the Methodist church. He married Miss Sue Lyons in 1866.

One of the soldiers who came to Indiana at the beginning of the war of 1812 and later effected settlement in Sullivan county was Hezekiah Riggs, whose grandson, William Riggs, is now a resident of Fairbanks township. A native of Virginia, he settled at Carlisle when he left the army, and about 1815 married Lydia Ingle, whose parents, it is said, became residents of this part of Indiana about 1803.

Commodore P. Riggs, who died December 3, 1891, was a former incumbent of the office of county treasurer, having been elected to that office in 1878 by about a thousand majority, and in 1880 was re-elected by an even increased majority. He was a native of Fairbanks township, and after his marriage lived for many years near Shelburn, being a member of the M. E. church.

The late Thomas L. Roberts, who died at his home on North Section street, Sullivan, April 14, 1901, came to Sullivan in 1866, being at the time in the employ of the E. & T. H. Railroad. He is remembered for his genial temperament and his interest in sciences and literature, and was a man of broad acquaintances. He was eighty-five years old when he died, and was born at Battletown, near Hastings, England, and was brought to America when eight years old. He spent his youth in New York, but in 1836 became an engineer on the Madison and Indianapolis Railroad, the first railroad line in the state. He knew personally Gen. William Henry Harrison, Henry Clay, Zachary Taylor and other noted men of the time, also the poet O'Hara, who wrote the "Bivouac of the Dead." He was a member of the Methodist church. He was twice married. His eldest daughter became the mother of Senator Beveridge's first wife, and among the other children William B. was private secretary of several Indiana governors and of Senator Beveridge.

Charles Scott, who was born on a farm south of New Lebanon, November 20, 1823, and died at Sullivan, May 9, 1908, was an early merchant of Sullivan and for several terms county commissioner. He was a school teacher during his youth, and after coming to Sullivan in 1857 by industry and thrift accumulated enough to enter the clothing and mercantile business with James Hinkle. In 1867 he sold out and moved to a farm. He voted for Polk in 1844, and was elected and served as county commissioner three terms, 1874-77, 1886-92. His first wife was Alary J. Ryerson and his second Alary J. Carrithers.

The Sherman family came from North Carolina to Sullivan county in 1816. Samuel and Elizabeth (Lewis) Sherman lived in the county over thirty years, and left a number of descendants. Thomas K. Sherman, a son, was formerly a banker at Sullivan and a well-known business man. He was born seven miles southwest of Sullivan, September 26, 1829, and when twenty years old began teaching, farming and other occupations, and later went into the dry-goods business at Sullivan. He was both president and cashier of the Sullivan National Bank, and was also incumbent of several county offices. His first wife was Sarah Elizabeth Jewell, and his second, Amanda J. DeBaun. He died in 1903.

C. B. Shepard was one of the county commissioners during the war. He was born on Shaker prairie March 12, 1819, and died June 29, 1883. He was an active figure in the politics of the county for many years.

William McKendree Springer, who died at Washington in 1903, was one of the native sons of Sullivan county who became prominent in the nation. He was a member of the well-known family of the name in Gill township, where he was born May 30, 1836, moved to Jacksonville, Illinois, in 1848, but returned to Indiana to complete his education in the State University, from which he was graduated in 1858. He was a member of the Illinois constitutional convention in 1870, and was a member of the lower house of the legislature in 1872. He was elected to Congress from the Sprinfield district in 1874, and served in the 44th to 53d Congresses. He is credited with having led the fight against the McKinley tariff, which resulted in Cleveland's second election. He was one of the most active leaders in the long movement for the organization of the Indian Territory and the opening of Oklahoma. After his last term in Congress he served a while as judge of the United States court for Indian Territory, and then practiced law in Washington until his death.

Nathan Thomas, who died April 20, 1905, was for twenty years county surveyor, and in that capacity had laid off a large portion of the town of Sullivan. He was born near Connersville, Indiana, December 25, 1820, and for a number of years taught school, being a teacher in this county after he moved here about 1852. He was also a farmer, but the last ten years of his life were spent in Sullivan. He married Anna Moore. Mrs. J. M. Lang, Airs. A. B. Stansil and Dr. Anna T. Sheridan are his daughters.

One of the prominent men in the affairs of Sullivan, whose name often appears in connection with the enterprises of half a century ago, was Lafayette Stewart, who died at Sullivan, February 29, 1884. He was born in Floyd county, Indiana, in 1826, and after coming to this county followed the business of cabinetmaker, later was a merchant. He was not active in local politics beyond holding the office of township trustee. The editor of the Democrat referred to him as a man of strong convictions and very earnest in his advocacy of them, and yet very courteous in all his intercourse with men of variety of opinion. For many years he was a deacon in the Presbyterian church, and was long master of the local Masonic lodge.

Thomas Turman, who was the leading representative of the family of that name in this county during the first half of the last century, was born in Virginia in 1796 and came to Indiana territory with his father Benjamin in 1810. During the thirties he served in the Black Hawk war. He built two mills in his community in Turman township, using the waters of Turman creek, and these were of great benefit to the people of that vicinity if they were not to the proprietor. He was elected and served in the legislature in 1843-44. He died at his residence in Turman township, June 30, 1863.

Wilbur Van Fossen, who was captain of Company C, 59th Indiana Infantry, during the Civil war, and was the first commander of the Frank Neff Post, G. A. R., died at his home three miles west of Carlisle, November 21, 1899.

Frederick Wilkey, who died at his residence five miles west of Sullivan, July 8, 1880, was one of the organizers of the old Methodist society known as Mt. Tabor, and the church was built on the southwest corner of his farm. He was born in Clark county, Indiana, October 18, 1819, and came to Sullivan county in 1837, with his step-father Kelley, who located and gave the name to Kelley's Landing. Mr. Wilkey joined the Methodist church soon after coming to this county.

George W. Walker, founder of a well-known family of Haddon township, was originally from North Carolina, accompanied the family migration to Tennessee, and after a brief residence in Kentucky he came to Sullivan county in 1826. He died at his home east of Carlisle, January 26, 1882, when past 87 years of age. He had been drafted for service in the war of 1812. His first wife was Elizabeth Cook, and his second, Rhoda Blevins.

Tennessee was also an intermediate home for the Wheeler family, between the date of its residence in the east and its final permanent location in Sullivan county. Hugh Wheeler was born in Tennessee at the beginning of the century, moved to Clark county, Indiana, in 1824, and six years later established the family home in Sullivan county.

Peter Wilson during his youth left his native state of Virginia, crossing the mountain barrier into Tennessee, where he lived long enough to marry and start a family, and in 1828 came to Sullivan county with his brothers, John, Adam and George. Peter Wilson was the son of a Revolutionary soldier, himself served in the war of 1812, and members of the family have served in every important war of the nation. The Wilsons are still well represented in the citizenship of this county.

Henry K. Wilson occupied a place of varied and great usefulness in the early affairs of Sullivan county, and his death on November 1, 1882, was marked as the passing of one of the eminent citizens. He was born in eastern Tennessee, January 12. 1815, and being without educational opportunities he learned to cipher on thin pieces of slate picked up on the mountainside. The family came to Indiana in 1831. In 1834 his father took him to Merom and made arrangements with Benjamin Wolfe, then county clerk, that the boy should find a place in the office as deputy. His capabilities were such that 011 the expiration of Mr. Wolfe's term it was suggested on the day of election that the deputy should be given the office, and almost enough votes were cast to elect him, although he was not yet of age. When the county seat was moved to Sullivan, Mr. Wilson was appointed to the vacancy in the clerk's office. He was clerk of the circuit court when the court house and its records burned in February, 1850. So accurate was his memory of persons who had annually paid interest to the school fund that he was enabled to notify all borrowers, and the school fund suffered no loss. In 1855 he was auditor. His strict economy and integrity in all public offices were notable. He served twice in the state senate, and though he never tried to make a speech he was an excellent worker in committee. In 1842 he married Mary E. Mann, daughter of Judge Mann of Merom. His second wife was Mrs. Sallie J. Pogue. One of his sons was a graduate of the naval academy and served in the navy.

The late John Harvey Wilson, whose death January 18, 1904, removed one of the oldest residents of the county and also one of the finest types of its citizenship, was born near Greenville, Tennessee, January 27, 1811, the oldest child of Adam and Margaret Wilson. Both his grandfathers served in the Revolutionary war. The family came to Sullivan county in 1832, settling at first near Carlisle and later in Cass township. Harvey Wilson assisted in laying out the town of Sullivan. He was a teacher in one of the early log school houses of the county. He had attained his majority before leaving Tennessee, and it was the custom in the family that that event be celebrated by the father presenting the grown son a suit of clothes. The suit given to John Harvey was made by a poor tailor of Greenville, named Andrew Johnson, later president of the United States. This is the current version of the story, but it is probable that the suit was tailored before Wilson reached his majority, since Andrew Johnson was by that time well advanced in his political career. In 1832 Harvey Wilson cast his first vote for Andrew Jackson. In 1840 he was elected sheriff of Sullivan county, and during his two terms of office the county seat was moved to Sullivan. In 1845 and 1850 he represented the county in the legislature. He was a Mason for forty years, and for about an equal period was an elder in the Presbyterian church. He married, November 25, 1862, Mrs. Dorcas Lyons Patton.

On January 22, 1892, death removed John Willis, at the age of sixty-eight. A highly respected and prosperous citizen, he lived for many years on a farm north of Sullivan, and for several years before his death had resided in Sullivan.

Benjamin Wolfe, who died at his home on Shaker prairie, December 6, 1868, was one of the oldest citizens of the county and had been identified with official affairs while the county seat was on the bluffs of the Wabash at Merom. He came to Sullivan county in 1819, was elected clerk of the court in 1830, was postmaster at Merom in 1831, was again elected clerk in 1837, and resigned that office when the county seat was moved to Sullivan. In 1846 he was elected to the legislature and served three terms in succession, and was also a member of the constitutional convention of 1851-52. In 1865 he was again chosen to the legislature. He was a man of untiring energy and succeeded in accumulating a large estate.

He was born in Culpeper county, Virginia, April 18, 1799, the son of a shoemaker. His father was not a good financier, and, the family being large, Benjamin assumed responsibilities beyond his years and at ten years of age was working to keep the family from poverty. He remained with his father until he was twenty-two years old, helping to support the family of fourteen children, and he had no time for attending school and never could recall when or how he learned to read. Later lie attended school for a few months, and at the age of twenty-eight entered Miami University, making the trip from home on foot, and studied there two years. After leaving home he had engaged in the principal line of commerce then followed, the shipping of produce in flat-boats to the southern markets. For twenty years he followed this business, building his own boats and often directing them to the New Orleans markets. He was proud of the record that he had never lost a boat or a cargo. When a member of the legislature he presented the first bill to charter a railroad from Evansville to Terre Haute. In 1852 he moved to Bloomington to educate his children, and while there he was postmaster three years. He married, in 1831, Isabella Shepherd. He was a member of the Christian church.

Pioneer Rcminiscence.

In 1905 the Democrat published some interesting reminiscences by pioneers of the county. The following paragraphs contain an abstract of the essential facts covered in these stories:

The first relates to the school days of "Uncle" Len Bailey in the Gardner schoolhouse on Curry's prairie. The building was of logs daubed with mud, a puncheon floor, and the ceiling of planks fastened with wooden pins driven through auger holes into the rafters. The house was so cold that the knots on the unhewed sides of the benches froze, bulged out and fell to the floor. The one stove in the center of the room was the only stove in that section of the country, and was the gift of Willis Benefield to the school district. Mr. Benefield owned a valuable horse, Old Jane, of Kentucky stock, and one of the fastest of her time. One day a stranger from Kentucky boasted that he had a horse which could outrun any horse in this section. He was promptly challenged for a race, and when he insisted on wagering a considerable amount of money on the result, Mr. Benefield covered the amount, and the race was run on the public road. Old Jane won easily, and from the winnings was bought the stove for the school. Old Jane, with the possible exception of Old Puss, who was brought to this county in the sixties, was the fastest horse ever owned here. Old Puss was state champion. She was a quarter-miler, with a record of sixteen seconds for that distance.

Thomas Shepherd, who cast his first vote in 1848, then lived on the site of the present town of Hymera. The log house used for school and public meetings stood where the M. E. church is located. The window of the old school was merely an opening from which a log had been removed, and the door was an opening only large enough to allow a person of medium size to enter, and was closed with a log which when not in use was leaned against the side of the building.

Thomas Morgan, who was born in Gill township in 1830, at the age of twenty-one helped his father build a flatboat, 80 by 20 feet, with a hold of seven feet depth. Between the floor and the outside facing of the boat a space of ten or twelve inches was left in which the water might accumulate and be pumped out without damaging the stock. His father received $150 for building the boat, and it was loaded with three thousand bushels of corn. Thomas Morgan engaged to accompany Captain Springer with this cargo to New Orleans, and the start was made in March, 18-. At Natchez Captain Springer tied up and sold his boat and cargo for $3,000, which netted a profit of sixty-five cents a bushel for the corn. The return was made by steamboat as far as Evansville, thence to Princeton over the railroad that is now the Evansville & Terre Haute, and the rest of the journey to Carlisle was by stage. Another method by which some of the residents of this vicinity carried on a profitable trade was in the buying of kiln-dried apples and peaches from the farmers at fifty cents a bushel, and then transporting- them overland to Chicago or Milwaukee, where they could be sold at one dollar and a dollar and a half respectively. A wagon load was about sixty or seventy bushels, and it required two weeks to make the trip to Chicago and return and a week longer to Milwaukee.

An article in the Democrat of November 16, 1905, by S. H. Silver contains an excellent description of the implements used in farming and housekeeping in the early days. His grandfather, Thomas Bennett, was one of the earliest settlers in his part of the county, owning land in Hamilton township on the Merom road. In house building and the fabrication of nearly all the implements used on the farm the pioneers seldom used nails or rivets. Timbers were joined with wooden pins, and where pins could not be used, hickory-bark withes were employed. Bark ties were to the farmers of that time what wire and binder twine are now. One man said that a plow point was the first thing he had found that could not be fastened with a withe. Another, on being asked at April election if he had plowed any that spring, replied, "No; my gears are so broken up that I could not rig my teams until hickory bark would peel."

A fine shirt was seldom seen, but every man or boy who wished to dress up wore a dickey. This white linen bosom was worn over the shirt and fastened at the neck and waist with strings. In hot weather some discarded the shirt and wore the dickey and a light coat. At the general elections in August whisky flowed freely, and one man under its inspiration threw off his coat preparatory to a fight. The laugh that went up when it was noticed that he wore no shirt cooled his ardor.

The cooking utensils consisted of a three-legged skillet, Dutch oven, pots, and a sheet-iron skillet with a handle three feet long, called a fly or spider, and a smooth board eight inches wide-the johnny board. The nearest approach to a cook stove that was owned by Mr. Silver's mother until 1848 was a tin reflector, twenty inches long and fourteen inches wide, which, before a hot fire, would bake pies and biscuit nicely.

In the harvests, after the cradles were introduced, the wages of an ordinary reaper were fifty cents a day, while the cradler got one dollar. In threshing, when inconvenient to use horses for tramping the grains, flails were used. In winnowing, if the wind was insufficient, a sheet was fastened to a stake and flapped up and down to create enough air current to separate the chaff from the wheat. Grist mills being few, the mortar and pestle were used to supplement them. The mortar was made by setting a log on end and building a fire on top. The drier heart burned out to the depth of six or eight inches, leaving a smooth cavity. The pestle was an iron wedge, affixed to the end of a spring-pole. A handful of corn being thrown into the cavity, the pestle was pounded vigorously, and after the bran was separated the heavier portions of the grain were again placed in the mortar and pounded until reduced to meal of tolerable fineness. Wheat was ground* the same way, but it was also "bolted." Wheat bread among the pioneers of this county was usually the luxury of the Sunday meal.

Log rollings were also a feature of the life of this pioneer family. This work lasted twenty-one days in succession one year, Sundays excepted. After that it was agreed that the rollings should also discontinue on Saturdays, so that the men might have a day to attend to their individual affairs. A feature of all such occasions, and one that only gradually was abolished, was the furnishing of whisky to all the men who took part in the work. At log rollings this was called "tapping of the stump." The jug was placed ahead of the men in a hollow stump, and when in the course of the work the men reached that point the liquor was passed around to all who would drink and there were few exceptions in the early days. Then the jug was moved on to another stump. A jug was also kept in the barn for the men when they went to their meals.