Blackford County Biography Ref. Page

ELIJAH TOWNSEND. Accounted one of the progressive and practical agriculturists of Blackford county, Elijah Townsend has been a resident of this locality all of his life, and through earnest and consecutive labor has gained a position high in the esteem of his fellow citizens. Although a firm believer in methods that are time tried and known to be practicable, he has kept himself thoroughly abreast of the times in all things, and his activities have been rewarded in a manner commensurate with their merits. Mr. Townsend was born on a farm in Washington township, Blackford county, Indiana, January 10, 1851, and is a son of Alvah and Elzary (Shields) Townsend.

Gilbert Townsend, the grandfather of Elijah Townsend, came from Putnam county, New York, to Indiana during the early thirties, and with his wife and family located in Blackford county, where he entered land from the United States Government. He devoted his life to the cultivation of his farm in Washington township, improved a good property, and died there about 1856 or 1857, when about seventy years of age. He is remembered as a large man, of rugged build, and a consistent and energetic worker who fought his own way to success. His wife, who had been Polly Saxton, of New York, was a sister of James Saxton, a well known early settler of Blackford county, and lived to be nearly one hundred years of age. Of their six or seven children, all have now passed away.

Alvah Townsend, father of Elijah Townsend, was one of the younger of his parents' children, and was born in the state of New York, in 1830 or 1831. He was still a small lad when he was brought to Indiana by his parents and grew up amid rural pioneer surroundings in Washington township, his educational advantages being confined to several winter terms in the primitive district schools. Subsequently Mr. Townsend became the owner of forty acres of the old homestead place, which he farmed until being drafted into the Thirty-first Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, for service in the Union army during the Civil War. At the close of that struggle, with his honorable discharge and a record for soldierly bravery and faithful service, Mr. Townsend returned to his home and resumed agricultural operations, later becoming the manager of the Col. A. E. Steel homestead, containing about a section of land in Licking township, of which he remained as the directing head for thirty-two or thirty-three years. He then purchased eighty acres of land in sections 6 and 7, in Licking township, upon which his home was made for several years, he then moving to what was known as the Adam Shields farm, in Washington township, where his death occurred in 1909. He was a prominent man in his community, was active in democratic politics, and was a faithful member of the Universalist church. In Washington township, Mr. Townsend was married to Miss Elzary Shields, who was born in Virginia, and was a young woman when she came to Washington township with her parents, Adam and Anna Shields, who were pioneer farmers here and lived to advanced ages. They had a large family of children, of whom Elzary died in 1913, when about seventy-eight years of age, a member of the Sole Steeple church, now defunct. Eleven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Townsend, of whom one is deceased, and ten are now living, married and with families.

Elijah Townsend has devoted himself to the cultivation of the soil since boyhood. He grew up on the homestead place, and when not engaged in attending the public schools was to be found at work with his father and brothers, thus securing a thorough training for what he has since made his life work. His present property, located in section 6, Licking township, is under a high state of cultivation, is furnished with modern and substantial buildings ,and has up-to-date improvements of every kind. As a business man Mr. Townsend is entitled to the respect and esteem always commanded by men of integrity, and as a farmer and stock raiser he is thoroughly conversant with conditions and methods.

Mr. Townsend was married in Licking township, Blackford county, Indiana, to Miss Rachel Ann Farmer, who was born in Delaware county, in 1856, and died at the home place in section 6, March 18, 1898. She was the mother of the following children: Olie, the wife of Charles Tomelson, a farmer of Grant county, the oldest child, and has five sons; Charles, assisting his father in the cultivation of the home farm, married Laura Jones, the daughter of Frank Jones, and has four sons and two daughters; William, a farmer near Burn, Indiana, married and has five children; Fred, living at Hartford City, where he is connected with the Willer store, married and has six children; Adam, a worker in the oil fields of Illinois, married and has three children; and Oma, the wife of Sylvester Casterline, engaged in glass working at Hartford City, and has two daughters.

Mr. Townsend is a democrat, but has not taken an active part in public affairs, outside of supporting movements for the progress and advancement of the community. His acquaintance, secured during his long residence here, is extensive, and his friends are numerous.

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

HARRY ALEXANDER. One of the progressive and circumspect business men who have given metropolitan prestige to the thriving little city of Montpelier, Blackford county, is the proprietor of the large and admirably appointed department establishment known as the Mammoth Racket Store. This admirable retail enterprise was founded by Mr. Alexander, the present executive head of the business, in 1903, and he has signally demonstrated his facility, enterprise and advanced policies in modern merchandising of the best type, the result being that his trade has shown a constantly cumulative tendency and he has secure vantage-place as one of the representative merchants of Blackford county. The various departments of his establishment are well stocked with the best of staple goods and novelties, and two floors of large area are demanded for the accommodation of the well ordered and prosperous enterprise, the Racket Store being recognized as one of the most popular in Montpelier and catering carefully and effectively to a discriminating patronage. Great credit is due to Mr. Alexander for his achievement, for he initiated business in Montpelier with a capital stock of only $370, and through his able management and fair and honorable dealings has succeeded in building up a business that in extent and importance is almost phenomenal in a town of the population of Montpelier.

The career of Mr. Alexander has not lacked diversity from the time of his appearance on the stage of life's activities. He was born in Germany, in the year 1862, was reared in England, where his early education was acquired, and in the United States he has found the field of opportunity that has enabled him to win large and worthy success. Like his ancestors for several generations, he was reared to mercantile pursuits, and his early experience, a veritable apprenticeship, has proved of inestimable value to him in his independent business career. His parents removed from Germany to the city of London, England, where his father, Israel L. Alexander, became a successful merchant, and there both he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives. Carl Alexander, an uncle of the subject of this review, was an extensive and wealthy coffee planter in Brazil, but Harry Alexander and his brother Morris are the only male members of the immediate family line who have established homes in the United States, Morris being now a commercial traveler from the city of Chicago, where he and his family maintain their home.

Harry Alexander was about sixteen years of age when he came to the United States, principally for the purpose of visiting his sister who had married and here established a home. The attractions of the strange land proved sufficient to prevent his return to England, and for many years he devoted his attention to the vocation of mercantile salesman, in the employ of various firms and at different places. In the mean-while his ambition and good judgment caused him to conserve carefully his earnings, and his first independent enterprise was projected when he came to Montpelier and established the modest mercantile business from which he has developed his present extensive and prosperous mercantile establishment.

In the State of Nebraska was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Alexander to Miss Elizabeth Fuller, who was reared and educated in the West and who is a daughter of Edward P. Fuller, her parents being now residents of Hartford City, the judicial center of Blackford county, Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Alexander have two children, Sidney Perry, completed the curriculum of the Montpelier high school and is now cashier in his father's mercantile establishment, besides which he is a popular factor in local athletic and social circles, as he has made an excellent sprinting record and is a talented pianist. Minnie, the younger of the two children, was born in 1900, and is attending, in 1914, the Sacred Heart Academy in the city of Fort Wayne. She has much talent in music, and as a vocalist, though a mere girl, she has been called upon to sing in leading church choirs in her home city and also in Fort Wayne.

Mrs. Alexander is a shrewd business woman, aiding her husband in conducting his business and has been a material factor in her husband's success.

Though he is primarily and essentially a business man, with a full appreciation of the exactions and responsibilities involved, Mr. Alexander has not hedged himself in with his personal interests but has stood exponent of loyal and public-spirited citizenship. He has had no desire to enter the arena of so-called practical politics, but he accords a staunch support to the cause of the Republican party, his progressiveness and sterling character having gained to him the unqualified confidence and esteem of the community in which he has achieved noteworthy success and precedence.

LIBERTY T. ARMITAGE. Of the men of Blackford county who have wielded the implements of destruction as well as those of construction, who have bravely upheld their country's integrity on the field of battle and have capably maintained its supremacy in the peaceful pursuits of agriculture, few are better known or more highly esteemed than Liberty T. Armitage, the owner of a well cultivated farm of eighty acres, lying in section 18, Licking township. For forty-two years Mr. Armitage has identified himself with the farming interests of this section of the county, and in the meantime has performed the duties of citizenship so faithfully and well that he has won the unquestioned right to be named as one of his community's helpful and stirring men.

Mr. Armitage was born at Franklin, Warren county, Ohio, December 5, 1840, and was three months old when he was brought to Jay county, Indiana, by his parents, Seth and Prusia (Thayer) Armitage. His father, a native of Upper Canada, came to the United States in young manhood and settled in Ohio, where he was married, the mother being a native of Rhode Island and a member of an old New England family. On coming to Jay county, Indiana, with his wife and five children, Seth Armitage secured employment at his trade of wagonmaker at Pennville, but some time thereafter went to Knox township and purchased eighty acres of land, on which he carried on agricultural pursuits for a number of years. Some time prior to his death, in 1898, Mr. Armitage retired from active labors, and passed away on his farm at the age of eighty-three years. He was a good farmer, one of his community's well known men and a public-spirited citizen, was stanch in his support of the Union at a time when his part of the county was largely in favor of slave holding and was also a republican when Jay county was largely democratic. On his mother's side he came of good old Quaker stock, but himself a Methodist, an official of his church, and for years a class leader. His first wife died on the home farm, when Liberty T. Armitage was still young, in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church, the mother of five children: Ellen, who died as a child, two weeks after the death of her mother; Seba, who met his death in the Union army during the Civil War, as a result of sickness, having been a member of the Thirty-fourth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, aged twenty-six years, and left a widow and daughter, the latter of whom is deceased; Mason, who died as a young man not long after his mother's death; Liberty T.; and Aaron, who died single at the age of eighteen years. Seth Armitage was married to Miss Eliza Timberlake, and they became the parents of the following children: Mary E., who died as a young lady of eighteen years; John, who served two years as a Union soldier during the Civil war, now a prominent attorney of Peru, Indiana, is married and has two daughters: Elizabeth, who is single and makes her home in Jay county; Emma, who is the widow of David Kesler, of Hartford City, and now living in Jay county; Laura, single, who lives with her sister in Jay county; Alvin, of Denver , Colo., in the hardware business; Mark, a farmer near Syracuse. New York; and Ollie, who is the wife of Jacob Miller, a Jay county farmer, and has two sons and three daughters.

Liberty T. Armitage grew up on the home farm in Jay county and was given good educational advantages in his youth, being a student in the Farmers Academy when President Lincoln made his first call for troops during the Civil War. Although a lad of but twenty years, his patriotism was aroused, and with other youths of his neighborhood he succeeded in enlisting September 21, 1861, in Company F, Thirty-fourth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, an organization with which he served for three years, participating in numerous engagements and having many thrilling experiences. Following the death of his brother, Mr. Armitage contracted the typhoid fever, and was confined to the hospital for some months, but rejoined his regiment at New Madrid, Mississippi, and participated in the battle of Champion Hills, the Vicksburg campaign, and the taking of Jackson and Vicksburg, at which latter place he received his only wound, a gunshot injury on the cheek. Mr. Armitage received his honorable discharge September 21, 1864, after a brave and honorable record as a soldier, and at once returned to Jay county to again resume the tilling of the soil. There he remained, however, only until 1866 in which year he came to Blackford county and located on a farm. He came to his present place in 1872, the property at that time being practically a wild swamp, with little promise of ever becoming a productive farm. Earnest, continued and well-directed labor have wrought wonders upon this property, and as the years have passed, Mr. Armitage has developed a valuable tract, equipped with the most modern of improvements and boasting of an excellent set of buildings. A practical farmer of the old school, he has kept himself fully abreast of the advancements being made in agriculture, and is able to thus successfully compete with the labors of the younger generation growing up about him. All but eight acres of timber of his land is developed, his residence has nine rooms, and his barn is a structure 44 x 60 feet. Mr. Armitage grows wheat, oats and corn, and has a good grade of all kinds of livestock. He is esteemed in his locality for his many stable and reliable traits of character, for his unceasing devotion to the best interests of the community, and for the example offered of ability, perseverance and well-won success.

Mr. Armitage was married in Blackford county, Indiana, to Miss Emma Mercer, who was born in this county about 1844 and died in 1867, without issue. Mr. Armitage was married in August, 1871, to Miss Emma Stevens, of Marion, Grant county, Indiana, who was born in Logan, Ohio, and was a young woman when brought to Indiana by her parents, Elias R., and Matilda B. (Rose) Stevens. Here her father died during the Civil War, while her mother survived for some years. Grandfather Rose was killed at Perry's victory on Lake Erie. Mr. and Mrs. Armitage have been the parents of six children, namely: Frank, who is single and lives with his parents, assisting his father in the work of the home place; Mary, the wife of Edward Stewart, living on a farm in Licking township, who has four children,�Maybelle, Robert, Edna and Selma; Martha, who resides at home and is unmarried; Louisa, who is the wife of Elwood Phillips, a farmer of Washington township, and has three children � Walter Donald and Esther; Nellie, the wife of John Williams, living on a farm in Licking township, and has two children � Mildred Myrle and John; and Esther, a graduate of the Hartford City high school, who is single and devotes herself to music. Mr. and Mrs. Armitage and their children are consistent members of the Methodist Protestant church.

HIRAM TEWKSBURY. Among the men of Blackford county who have contributed materially to the advancement and development of this section of the great state of Indiana, the late Hiram Tewksbury held an important place. For many years associated with the agricultural interests of his community, he accumulated a large property and so spent his life that he held the highest respect and esteem of his fellow citizens, and when he died, June 4, 1905, the locality in which he had lived so long suffered a severe loss. Mr. Tewksbury was born in Ohio, December 16, 1840, the son of Nathaniel and Betsy (Tewksbury) Tewksbury, natives of New Hampshire and members of old and honored New England families.

Nathaniel Tewksbury was born August 6, 1799, and was married in New Hampshire, February 24, 1835, to Betsy Tewksbury, who was born November 7, 1807. After their marriage they removed to Summit county, Ohio, and in 1841 the little family came to Wells county, Indiana, by way of ox-teams, purchasing new government land, where they settled down to pioneer life. For many years they were engaged in agricultural pursuits, becoming widely and favorably known among the early settlers, and at all times exerted an influence for good. Mr. Tewksbury died February 11, 1878, and his wife March 17, 1877, both in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church. They were the parents of two children: Hiram; and Henrietta, who died in infancy, July 12, 1842.

Hiram Tewksbury grew to manhood on his father's farm in Wells county, and received good educational advantages, completing his studies at Liber College. For a number of years he was engaged in educational work in Wells and Blackford counties, but eventually turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, and so well managed his operations that he accumulated 1,000 acres on the line between the two counties mentioned. His land was under a high state of cultivation, equipped with modern improvements and substantial buildings, and stocked with a high grade of horses, cattle, hogs and sheep. Throughout his life he was industrious and enterprising, and among those who had business dealings with him was known as a man of the strictest integrity and high business principles. At one time he was a candidate for office on the People's ticket, in Wells county, but failed of election.

Hiram Tewksbury was married first, on April 30, 1863, to Mary Jane Harris, of Jay county, Indiana, and to them two sons were born, John Marion, born August 24, 1864, and Elmer, born January 31, 1866. His wife died September 10, 1877. He was married at Battle Creek, Michigan, January 22, 1880, to Mrs. Cecelia (Nowlin) Conley, who was born at Rochester, New York, January 23, 1845, and was reared and well educated at Dearborn, Michigan, to which place she had been taken as a child by her parents, Addison and Mary (McConaghy) Nowlin. Her father was born in Dutchess county, New York, May 8, 1814, and was a son of John and Dorothy (Hoyt) Nowlin, natives of New York, where the former was born December 25, 1763, and the latter November 14, 1794. The grandfather passed away December 19, 1852, while the grandmother attained advanced years. The family has always been associated with the Presbyterian church, and the chief occupation of its members has been that of farming. Addison Nowlin was married October 6, 1840, passed his life in farming pursuits, and died November 25, 1892, at Misaukee county, Michigan. Mrs. Tewksbury was married to George E. Conley, who died in the prime of life in Michigan, leaving two children: George, who died at the age of two and one-half years; and Mary C., who is the wife of Andrew Johnston, proprietor of the Big Store, at Montpelier, and has three children,�Hilda, aged twenty-two years, James C., who is fourteen years of age, and Edward J., aged six. To Mr. and Mrs. Tewksbury there were born the following children: May Eva, who received a good education in the schools of Montpelier and Bluffton, is the wife of Harold Hungerford, of Concord, Michigan, and has one son,�Richard Hopkins; Joy E., born in 1884, educated at Indianapolis and Montpelier and now connected with the Big Store, married Dean Lacey, and has one son, - Robert E.; and Helen H., a graduate of Montpelier high school and Knickerbocker Hall (1906), a young lady of much talent and a teacher of music, who is single and resides at home with her mother.

Mrs. Tewksbury is a member of the Episcopal church, and has been active in its work and charities. Her fine farms cover a half-section of land, and on them are to be found the latest improvements. Her comfortable home at Montpelier is situated on West Green street, in the vicinity of which she has a wide acquaintance and numerous sincere and admiring friends.

WILLIAM BIRD. That Blackford county ranks high among the agricultural regions of the Central West is largely due to the exertions of such men as William Bird, whose privilege it has been to realize many worthy ambitions, and through the exercise of good judgment and business sagacity wrest from his opportunities a full measure of success. His career has been a long and active one, and at all times has been characterized by a strict adherence to integrity, and his conduct has been such as to entitle him to a place among the builders of this rich and productive section of the Hoosier state. Mr. Bird was born in Washington township, Blackford county, Indiana, July 22, 1862, and is a son of James and Caroline (Williams) Bird.

The Bird family originated in Ireland, from whence the grandfather of James Bird emigrated to the United States and located in Ohio. For some years they resided in the Buckeye state and then came to Indiana, but in their later years removed to Kansas, and there passed away on their farm, ripe in years and in the possession of a comfortable income. They were Protestants in their religious faith, and the grandfather was a stalwart republican. James Bird was born in Ohio, and was reared on a farm, coming to Indiana in his youth. He was married in Wayne county, Indiana, to Caroline Williams, and following their union they came to Blackford county, Indiana, and began housekeeping on a farm in section 19, Washington township. There Mr. Bird continued to be engaged in successful farming enterprises until his death in the prime of life, in 1865. He was an energetic and industrious man, worked faithfully that he might establish a home for his children, and through a life of probity and integrity won his fellow-citizens' respect and esteem. He was the father of the following children: Joseph, residing on the old Bird homestead, has been married twice, having a son James by his first marriage, and two daughters, Ruth and Myrtle, by the second union; Emma and Rosella, who died as small children; John, a bachelor, carrying on farming in Delaware county, Indiana; Evaline, residing in Idaho, is the widow of Newton Gaskill, and has five sons; William, of this review; and Mary, who died at the age of twelve years. Mr. Bird was a lifelong member of the Christian church. He was a republican in political matters, but found little time to spare from his farming interests to devote to public affairs, and never was a seeker after public office. After his death Mrs. Bird was again married, her husband being Andrew J. Gray, who still survives and is living at the Odd Fellows Home, at Greensburg, Indiana, being well advanced in years. Mrs. Gray died on the old Bird homestead in Washington township, in August 1910, when eighty years of age, in the faith of the Christian church, of which she had been a lifelong member. Mr. and Mrs. Gray were the parents of one son: Lewis.

William Bird was reared in Washington township, and, varying the routine of the paternal farm by attendance at Independence school district, grew to rugged manhood, cherishing wholesome ambitions and sane, practical ideals. Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather he adopted farming as a means of livelihood, and upon attaining his majority entered upon a career of his own, excellently equipped both in body and mind for his struggles with the world. Mr. Bird was engaged in operations on various properties in Washington township until 1908, when he came to his present farm in section 28, a tract of forty acres. He has been here but six years, but during this time has made numerous improvements, and the property gives ample evidence of his thrift and good management. It is well laid out, is cultivated to a high degree, and is devoted to the raising of oats, corn and wheat, and to large pastures. Mr. Bird feeding all of his grain to his fine stock. His ventures both in cattle and hogs have been successful, and as a business man he has displayed signal ability. He has a nice seven-room house, erected in 1908, as well as a 30 x 56 barn, built in the same year, and the outbuildings are substantial in character and well equipped. Modern methods find favor in Mr. Bird's eyes, and he makes a study of his calling, keeping fully abreast of its numerous advancements.

Mr. Bird was married in Monroe township, Grant county, Indiana, to Miss Emma Futrell, who was born October 7, 1870, in that county, daughter of Jordan and Rebecca (Ballinger) Futrell, the former of whom died at Upland, Indiana, December 25, 1913, while the later is still living at the age of eighty-two years at the home of her daughter in Monroe township. A complete review of the Futrell family will be found in another part of this work. Mrs. Bird died at her home, August 27, 1913, widely mourned. She had been the mother of these children: Lester J. and Chester J., twins born in 1889, the former of whom is single and lives with his father, while the latter married Ora Johnson and is engaged in farming in Washington township; and Ralph, born in 1892,who resides at home and assists his father in the cultivation of the homestead. The members of the Bird family are all identified with the Christian church, of which Mr. Bird was for some years deacon at Independence. He was for a long period a supporter of the republican party, but with the birth of the so-called "Bull Moose" party, in 1912, transferred his allegiance to that organization and has since supported progressive candidates.

Deb Murray