William H. Wiley was born at Jonesboro, Grant county, Indiana, on the 27th of January, 1861, and is a son of George W. and Margaret H. (Horne) Wiley, the former of whom was born near Vevay, Switzerland county, Indiana, her parents having been early settlers in the stanch colony there founded in the pioneer epoch of the state's history. George W. Wiley was a successful contractor during the greater part of his active business career and established his home in Grant county, Indiana, about 1858, here passing the residue of his long and useful life and ever commanding unqualified popular esteem. He was summoned to eternal rest, at Jonesboro, this county, on the 28th of April, 1900, one of the well-known and highly honored pioneer citizens of this section of the state, and his wife, Mrs. Margaret H. (Horne) Wiley, died on the 15th of July, 1880. Of their children two sons and three daughters are now living.

The village schools of Jonesboro afforded to William H. Wiley his early educational advantages, and this discipline was supplemented by an effective course of study in the Marion Normal School. He applied himself with characteristic diligence and ambition and before he had attained to the age of eighteen years he proved himself eligible for pedagogic honors, as he began teaching in the public schools, his initial venture having been in a district school. He proved a successful and popular instructor and continued to devote himself to pedagogic work for four and one-half years, during two of which he held incumbencies in the schools of Delaware county, his remaining service having been in Grant county, where he taught for a time in the schools of his native town of Jonesboro. He early began the technical reading through which he effectively equipped himself for the legal profession, but his energies have likewise been directed along divers other lines.

On the 1st of January, 1884, a few weeks prior to his twenty-third birthday anniversary, Mr. Wiley established his residence in the city of Marion, where he engaged in the abstract business, in which he became associated in a partnership with Addison M. Baldwin and William H. Irvine. Later he purchased the interest of Mr. Irvine, and Mr. Baldwin was succeeded by Joseph W. Stout. The firm of Wiley & Stout continued the prosperous abstract enterprise until about 1890, when Mr. Stout sold his interest to Pearl Bogue, whereupon the firm name was changed to Wiley & Bogue, this alliance continuing until 1893.

Having directed his legal studies with much energy and under effective preceptorship for a number of years, Mr. Wiley was admitted to the bar of his native state in 1899. The same year he engaged in the active practice of his profession at Marion, where he formed a partnership with William J. Houck and Charles M. Ratcliffe. The firm built up a substantial and representative practice and the alliance continued until 1904, when Mr. Houck retired from the firm, after which the business was continued under the title of Wiley & Ratcliffe for one and one-half years, with a general insurance business maintained in connection with that of the law. After the retirement of Mr. Ratcliffe the business was individually continued by Mr. Wiley until 1907, in December of which year he removed to Decatur, the judicial center of Adams county, where he became an executive of the Cappock Motor Car Company. In the meanwhile he still retained his law office in Marion, and to this city he returned in January, 1909, since which time he has continued in the practice of his profession, besides giving close attention to his other and varied interests.

Fully appreciative of the advantage and attractions of the city of Marion, Mr. Wiley, having as his associate Thad Butler of Marion and Geo. L. Mason of New York, initiated the work of exploiting its claims in an effective and productive way, his initial efforts along this line having been instituted in 1889, and his labors having been most vigorous, circumspect and effective. Within the next few years he did much to aid in the securing of manufacturing industries to the city, and he was specially influential in the enlisting of the requisite capitalistic support. He was aggressive and versatile in his endeavors, as may be realized when it is stated that he arranged for and brought to successful completion a number of special excursions to Marion, from Buffalo and other points in the western part of the state of New York, his work in this connection being projected for the purpose of bringing Marion to public attention and thus promoting its civic and material development and progress. Prominent among the important industrial concerns which he aided in securing to Marion may be noted the Marion Malleable Iron Works, which now gives employment to fully one thousand men; and the Hoosier Stove Company, the Central Foundry Company, the Western Drop Forge Company, and the Spencer Table Company. He was one of the organizers of the Canton Glass Company, the plant and headquarters of which are at Marion, and he is at the present time a member of its directorate. He also gave timely and effective aid in the raising of the fund of one hundred thousand dollars for the promotion of manufacturing enterprises in Marion. He was one of the foremost promoters and an active organizer of the Marion Commercial Club, of which he has served consecutively as secretary, save during the one year of his residence at Decatur.

Mr. Wiley is a man of broad and well fortified views concerning matters of economic and governmental polity and accords unwavering allegiance to the Democratic party, of whose principles and policies he has proved a most effective advocate. He has been an active and efficient worker in behalf of the party cause and in 1906 he was the Democratic nominee for representative of his district in the state senate. He made a spirited canvass throughout the district, which was strongly Republican, and while he failed of election, as he had anticipated, he gained a representative support at the polls and reduced the normal majority of the Republican party, with the result that his defeat was compassed by only one hundred and eighty-four votes. Mr. Wiley is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, the Knights of Pythias, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Both he and his wife are zealous members of the Presbyterian church in their home city and he is serving as a member of its board of trustees.

The 10th of April, 1884, recorded the solemnization of the marriage of Mr. Wiley to Miss Millie J. Bogue, daughter of Robert and Elizabeth Bogue, of Fairmount, Grant county, and she is a most popular factor in connection with the leading social activities of her home city. Mr. and Mrs. Wiley have had two children,—Forrest, who died in 1898, at the age of eleven years, and William Emmett, who was a member of the class of 1913 at the Culver Military Academy, winning the scholarship medal which carried with it a scholarship in the University of Chicago, where he will pursue his studies.

Blackford and Grant Counties, Indiana A Chronicle of their People Past and Present with Family Lineage and Personal Memoirs Compiled Under the Editorial Supervision of Benjamin G. Shinn
Volume I Illustrated
The Lewis Publishing Company Chicago and New York 1914
Submitted by Peggy Karol

JASON B. SMITH. For a number of years Jason B. Smith has been a well known resident of Grant county, having been prominently identified with gas development during the decade of the eighties. His headquarters during his operations in that field were at Fairmount, but finally failing health compelled him to go south and he lived for some years out of the county. His first wife was Miss Seytha Dobbins, who died January 15, 1908, leaving the following children: Charles H., who resides in the state of Washington; Harry D., who died as a young man; Bernie, who resides in the sate of Oregon; Roy, also residing in Oregon; Willis, residing in Atlanta, Georgia; Clyde, also residing in Atlanta, and Clare, residing in Fitzgerald, Georgia. After his return from Fitzgerald, Georgia, where he had been operating a saw mill, Mr. Smith was married in March, 1911, to Mrs. Rachael Lewis, whose maiden name was Wright. She was the widow of Leander L. Lewis, a late resident of Fairmount township. Mr. Smith since his marriage has successfully operated the large estate of his wife in Fairmount township, and both are actively interested in many affairs in that locality, giving much attention and assistance to those things which make for progress and a better social and moral condition of community life.

Jason B. Smith was born in Pennsylvania, August 7, 1845, and was quite young when he accompanied his parents to Rush county, Indiana, where he was reared and well educated. After some years the family moved to Decatur county, in this state. Mr. Smith is the son of David B. and Malinda (Phillips) Smith, the former a native of New Jersey and of a line of prosperous and intelligent people. Mr. Smith moved to Pennsylvania when a young man, where he met and married Miss Phillips, a native of that state and several years after their marriage they set out and established a new home in Indiana. They made the journey west by way of the Allegany river and the Ohio river, as far as Cincinnati, from which city a large wagon drawn by six horses carried them to Rush county. In Richland township of that county, they started life in almost a new country, and finally moved to Fugit township in Decatur county, where David Smith improved a substantial homestead. Later he retired to Rushville, where his wife died at the age of seventy-two. David B. Smith spent his last years with a daughter in Connersville, in Fayette county, where his death occurred at the very advanced age of eighty-nine years. He and his wife were active members and workers in the Methodist Episcopal church, with which denomination many years of their lives had been spent. He was also a strong abolitionist, and before the war his home was a station on the underground railway, and many a time he assisted the escape of a negro fleeing from the south for the Canadian boundary. After the war he was a Republican.

Jason B. Smith is a veteran of the Civil War on the Union side, having enlisted when a boy in Company B of the One Hundred and Twenty-third Indiana Regiment. His service continued until the close of hostilities, and though unwounded he met with much exposure and hardships of army life.

Jason B. Smith is one of three living children. A sister, Emma, is the wife of John Carpenter, and lives in Rushville, having two sons, Clarence and Jesse. A brother, Frank, is unmarried, and is following the trade of carpenter and builder at his home in Rushville.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith have no children by their marriage, nor was she the mother of any children by her marriage to Mr. Lewis. They are both active in the Christian church of Fairmount City, and in politics he is a Republican.

Mrs. Smith is the daughter of John Wright, who was married in Fairfield township of Franklin county, Indiana, February 14, 1861, to Celia Glidwell. Her mother was born in Franklin county, November 10, 1832, and died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Smith, September 29, 1912. The Glidwells were a well known southern family, and they still hold an annual reunion, Mrs. Smith being secretary of the family association.

Leander Lewis, the first husband of Mrs. Smith, was born in Bartholomew county, Indiana, May 30, 1859, and died at Anderson, June 2, 1906, at the age of fifty-three years. He was a son of Armistead and Elizabeth (Carter) Lewis, the former a native of North Carolina, and a son of Michael Lewis. Michael Lewis lost his first wife in North Carolina, and later married again and came north about the middle of the decade of the thirties to Bartholomew county settling at Old St. Louis, when the county was in its pioneer state of development. There Michael Lewis lived and died, attaining the age of almost four score. He was four times married after coming to Indiana, and had children by all his five wives. Armistead was the only child who lived in the immediate family of his father and mother, and grew up in Bartholomew county, where his father had accumulated a large property as a farmer and business man. Armistead Lewis became the owner of two hundred and forty acres of land in Bartholomew county, having made it almost entirely by his own labor and having cleared and placed it in cultivation from an area of stumps and woods. He also owned and operated a saw mill. He is now living retired at Columbus, Indiana, and was eighty years of age on January 13, 1913. His first wife, Elizabeth Carter, died at Hope, Indiana, at the age of seventy-three. She was an old-school Baptist in religion, while Armistead Lewis has long been prominent in the Methodist church, having helped to build one of the early churches of that denomination at St. Louis in Bartholomew county.

Leander Lewis, who was the oldest of three children, grew up in his native county, had a substantial education and during his early years followed his career as a farmer and sawmill man, working with his father. He was married in Brookville, Franklin county, Indiana, to Miss Rachael Wright, who was born and reared there, and was well educated, having served at different times as a supply teacher.

Rachael Wright, who is now Mrs. J. B. Smith, as already stated, was a daughter of John Wright, and a granddaughter of William Wright, of whom were born in Lancastershire, near Manchester, England. William Wright, her grandfather, was born February 6, 1786. He married Elizabeth Bartsley, both being of old English families. In 1820 the family took passage for America, in a sailing vessel that was seventy-five day on the high seas. After landing they came up the Hudson River, and by the Erie Canal and through the great lakes, finally reaching Dayton, Ohio. Mr. William Wright followed the trade of hatter, in England and worked at the same line in Dayton. On coming to that city he had six hundred dollars in cash. With much faith in his fellowmen, owing to his own scrupulous integrity, he loaned all that money to a man without taking a note and lost it all. Although thus deprived of his capital he set about undiscouraged and soon earned two hundred dollars at his trade. In 1825, he moved to Franklin county, Indiana, and entered one hundred and sixty acres of land, and was one of the pioneers in that section. Later his holdings were increased by another one hundred and sixty acres, and eventually a large and commodious brick house was erected on his land, the brick having been made from clay dug and burned on his own farm. It was in that home that he died April 12, 1854, and his wife passed away there August 25, 1863. They were Church of England people for many years, but owing to the absence of a church of that denomination in their community they worshipped for convenience in the Presbyterian society. Their bodies now rest side by side in the Brookville cemetery. They had three sos and five daughters, all of whom grew up and married and had families except one. These children were: James, born in England, October 18, 1810, and lived in Fairfield township of Franklin county, and married Agnes Templeton, having one son, William. Ann married Dr. George Berry, a prominent physician, and for more than half a century lived in one home in Brookville, Ind., leaving three children. The next child in order was John Wright, father of Mrs. Smith. The fourth was Elizabeth, who married William Butler, and she died, aged 55. Hannah, born in Ohio June 1, 1821, married William Butler, her sister's former husband. Sarah, was born in Ohio, November 9,.1823, and died after her marriage to Andrew Shirk, and had eight children. Mary was born in Indiana, March 12, 1836, and married Elbert Shirk, and left three living children. William, Jr., was born in Indiana, July 21, 1828, and married Permelia Wynn, and they died in Bartholomew county, leavingthree children.

John Wright, the father of Mrs. Smith, was born August 15, 1815, and died January 11, 1875.

Mr. and Mrs. Jason B. Smith, own and reside on "The Clover Crest" farm, a fine country estate of 225 acres, lying one mile southwest of Fowlerton in Fairmount township. Mrs. Smith moved to this farm in 1884, with her parents, and with the exception of seven years, which she lived in Fairmount, had resided here ever since. She worked very hard on this place and helped to clear it. They do general farming and have a fine silo with 100 ton capacity which they erected in 1911.

Blackford and Grant Counties, Indiana A Chronicle of their People Past and Present with Family Lineage and Personal Memoirs Compiled Under the Editorial Supervision of Benjamin G. Shinn
Volume I Illustrated
The Lewis Publishing Company Chicago and New York 1914
Submitted by Peggy Karol

HIRAM A. JONES. One of fine old pioneer citizens of Grant county was the late Hiram A. Jones, who died at his home in Section 24 of Fairmount township on March 31, 1908. He was born on the old Jones farm in the same township, on October 17, 1843. The date of his birth indicates the early settlement of the family in this county. Mr. Jones was long a successful farmer, held a high position in the esteem of his community, and besides providing liberally for his immediate household was always helpful and liberal in his relations to the general welfare and advancement of the locality.

The founder of the family in Grant county was Grandfather Ellis Jones, who was born in Ohio, and it is believed that he came to this county with his family from Ohio, and after arriving did the pioneer work of establishing a home, and lived to a good old age in Jefferson township. The parents of the late H. A. Jones were Joseph and Catherine (McCormick) Jones. They were probably married in Ohio, and then moved to Grant county and settled on a farm in Fairmount township. There they continued their useful career until death. Joseph Jones was born April 15, 1811, and died September 15, 1856. His wife was born January 4, 1816, and died December 4, 1889. They were people of the highest character, and were active members of the Methodist church. The Methodist religion was characteristic of all generations of the family, while in politics the male representatives first supported the Whig ticket and later the Republican cause. In the family of Joseph and Catherine Jones, Hiram A. was the second among five sons. They were George Burton, who lived in Marion, and was first married to Jane Duling, by whom he had one daughter Minnie A., and afterwards married a sister of his first wife, Sina Duling, and their children are Edith and Ralph. Robert L. Jones was a former sheriff of Grant county, and was killed by a prisoner, while performing his duties. He married Louisa Gadden, who lived in Marion and has two sons, Clinton and Paul. The youngest son was Joseph A., who died after his marriage to Malinda Whitson, a sister of R. L. Whitson, editor of this Grant County History.

Hiram A. Jones was a lifelong resident of Fairmount township, with the exception of three years spent in the army during the Civil war. He served three years in Co C 89th Indiana Vol. Infantry during the Civil war and had his right eye shot out in battle. After his education in the local schools, he found farming to be his best vocation in life, and from that time until his death followed the industry with thrift and energy, and steadily prospered. In 1874 he bought a fine farm of eighty acres of well improved land, and kept increasing his estate by judicious investment until at the time of his death he owned four hundred and seventy acres, all good land and divided into six different farms. These farms all lay in Fairmount township, excepting eighty acres in Washington township of Delaware county, and all of them were well improved with farm buildings, except one. The home place now occupied by Mrs. Jones, is an unusually attractive rural home, and the house sits in the midst of well kept grounds, and a large red barn is itself an evidence of the prosperity which has always been a feature of this homestead. The late Mr. Jones was very domestic in his tastes, and lived entirely for his family.

He was married in Jefferson township on April 21, 1867, to Miss Anna Hardy. Her birth occurred in Jefferson township January 28, 1844. She was reared and educated in that vicinity and proved herself a most competent wife and mother having done her share in the creation of the prosperity which has been described and having given careful attention to the rearing and training of her children. She now occupies the old homestead where she and her husband located nearly forty years ago. Her parents were Walter and Jane (Dowden) Hardy, both natives of Ohio. Her father was born August 27, 1820, and her mother May 4, 1821. Their marriage was celebrated in Grant county, March 26, 1843. They began their careers as farmers in Jefferson township, and to begin with had a tract of almost raw land. They made it a highly improved and well cultivated farmstead, and there spent all their active lives. Her father died in 1887 and her mother on May 9, 1860. They belonged to the Methodist church and in politics he was Republican. The Hardy children were: Anna, Mrs. Jones; Henry, who died in infancy; David, who died after his marriage to Mollie Moore, who is still living with her two children: Noah, who died after his marriage in Jefferson township, and left a family; Celina, who died young; Elizabeth, who died after her marriage to Joseph Boey without children; Lewis, who lives on the old homestead in Jefferson township, and has one son and two daughters; George, a resident of Indianapolis, and the father of two sons and one daughter.

To the marriage of Hiram A. Jones and wife were born eight children, whose names and brief mention of whose careers are as follows: 1. Charles P. educated in the common schools, is a farmer in Fairmount township, and by his marriage to Nora Foster, has five children, Harry, Wilbur, Myrtle, Emerson and Albert. 2. Neetie J. is the wife of Elwood Rich, a farmer in Huntington county, and has three sons, Robert, William and Ralph. 3. George C. is a farmer in Delaware county, and by his marriage to Clara Haynes has tree children, Inez, Everett, and Francis. 4..Della S., who is a well educated young woman, has given all her love and affection to her parents, has for a number of years had charge of the home and lives with her mother. 5. Dolly C., is the wife of Wick Leach, a son of Charles Leach, a Grant county family, whose history will be found on other pages. Wick Leach and wife lived in Fairmount township, and have children, Hazel, Adelbert, Kenneth and Robert. 6. Arthur O., is a farmer on his grandfather's farm, in Fairmount township. He married Tura Skinner, and their children are Joseph and Harvey. Robert L., a farmer in Fairmount township married Lena Neal, and has a son Ralph. Mrs. Jones and family are all members of the Methodist faith.

Blackford and Grant Counties, Indiana A Chronicle of their People Past and Present with Family Lineage and Personal Memoirs Compiled Under the Editorial Supervision of Benjamin G. Shinn
Volume I Illustrated
The Lewis Publishing Company Chicago and New York 1914
Submitted by Peggy Karol

Francis Marion Frazier
The author was born at 9:50 A.M. August 20th, 1857 on the North Central line of the Washington Township, Blackford County, Indiana. His father was William Frazier (see bio) and his mother was Catharine Ullom-Frazier. He was the third son of six. Was raised on a frontier farm and past thru all toils and hardships of such life. Attended country school one mile south of his home, known as Dundee, now Roll, Indiana. Attended College at Ridgevilles, Indiana in the fall of 1876 for six weeks, in 1877 for 12 weeks and in 1878 for 24 wks. In 1879 he was in M.E. College, Fort Wayne, Indiana for 12 weeks.

Taught school in his home township from 1877 to 1882 and in most of the time in his home district. In 1882 was superintendent of the Montpelier, Indiana Schools, resigning in November to accept a Clerkship in the Pension Department at Washington D.C. Resigning to enter the Law Department at The Northern Indiana Normal School, Valparaiso, Indiana, graduating with the class of 1884 on May 29th. Was admitted to the Bar of Blackford Blackford County, Indiana on June 2nd, 1884. Admitted to the Bar of Supreme Court of Indiana at Indianapolis, Indiana on June 4th, 1884. Taught his home school the following winter. Then taught a Country Normal School at Hartford City, Indiana for six weeks for teachers, closing August 8th, 1885. Left immediately for Manson, Iowa entering the Bank of Manson, Manson, Iowa as Attorney and Clark. Was admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Court of Iowa on October 5th, 1885. Left said Bank on 6th of may 1887 going to work for the Champion Reaper Company, Chicago, Illinois, being sent to Dakota Territory, working there until January 15th 1889. Returning home for a visit, brother, Dr. Sherman S. Frazier, Angola, Indiana insistently begged me to enter Medical School with him. We entered the Medical School at Fort Wayne Indiana in September 1889; graduating in the class at 1891, march 19th, then being the medical Department of Taylor University, now located at Upland, Indiana. Was with several physcians until December 1891 when I located at Bridgewater, Ohio. On January 6th, 1896 move to Pioneer, Ohio. On July 8th 1896 was registered as a Physician and Surgeon as required by the act of February 27th, 1896. On July 27th, 1902 sold out at Pioneer, Ohio, and moved to Montpelier, Ohio. On August 29th, 1901 was duly registered as physician and surgeon in Hillsdale, Michigan. In the fall of 1905 was elected Probate Judge, Williams County Ohio, taking office February 9th 1906, was re-elected in the fall of 1908 and served until February 10th 1913. On October 27th 1907 was admitted to the Bar as an attorney of the Supreme Court of the State of Ohio. On the 2nd day of December 1907 was admitted as a member of the Bar of the United States Supreme Court at Washington, City, D.C. U.S.A.

Since leaving the Probate Office on February 10th, 1913 have been practicing Law and medicine and working on various occasions filling lecture calls.

Was married to Emma S. Back of Bridgewater, Ohio, July 7th 1892 to whom have been born 4 children. Edna C. Mauch, a teacher in the Science Schools of Detroit, Michigan, she has two children, Catharine and Charles. Albert W. Frazier, died in infancy in 1905. Helen R. Frazier Thompson, living in Hempstead, Long Island, NY. Has three children, Lozere Thompson, Frances Ann Thompson, and Frazier Thompson. Dr. Sherman M. Frazier, lives in Toledo, Oh, a Dentist, was married to Lorena Brown and they have one child, Patty Dee Frazier. He enlisted in the Regular Army April 17th, 1917 in the Signal Corps, serving until August 30th, 1918, being in nearly all the principal engagements of the Worlds War and serving in the Army of Occupation in Germany at Anderknock, near Colbentz, Germany. Was in nearly all the principal engagements of the Worlds War.

The author will be pleased to hear from all who may read this volume, as to their estimation of the same. Do not be afraid of offending, as the author would be glad to know the kind readers exact estimates of the efforts.

Yours truly,
Marion

Dr. F.M. Frazier
Bryan, Ohio

Transcribed to softcopy By his Great grandson Mark Thompson
January 2002