James B. Davis, who was born in 1848, in Union county, Indiana, is the son of Isaac and Martha (Barr) Davis, the former of whom was born in Butler county, Ohio, in 1803, the son of James Davis, Sr., who married Mary Taylor. They were natives of New Jersey. Mary Taylor was of Scotch-Irish origin, and James Davis was of German parentage. They were among the earliest settlers in Union county, Indiana, and lived the greater part of their lives in that county. They were very prosperous farmers, and at the time of his death, he owned approximately one thousand acres of land. They had eight children, of whom Isaac Davis, the father of James B., was the seventh child. He was born in Butler county, Ohio, and about 1803, when Isaac was born, the family removed to Union county, and there entered land, where they spent the remainder of their lives. Isaac Davis was a successful farmer and owned several hundred acres of good land at the time of his death. Until 1856, when the Republican party was organized, he was a Whig, and he affiliated with the party of Lincoln, and remained loyal to it all the rest of his days. He was more of a patriot than a partisan and always had at heart the best interests of his country.

Isaac and Martha (Barr) Davis had eight children, of whom James B. is the fifth child. The father died in 1858. James B. Davis lived at home and worked on the farm until he was twenty-two years of age, when he removed to Decatur county, Indiana, and purchased a farm in Jackson township. In 1873 Mr. Davis was married to Martha C. Ewing, who was the daughter of Patrick and Lydia (Morgan) Ewing.

The Ewing family is one of the oldest and most prominent in Decatur county, and is descended from one Patrick E. Ewing, who emigrated to America from Ireland some time during the War of the Revolution. On the voyage a son was born, and on account of kindness shown to him by General Putnam, he was named for the general and to this day the name has been kept in the family. On Patrick's arrival in America, he settled in Maryland, near the Susquehanna river, some forty miles from Baltimore, where he died. His family consisted of four sons, Samuel, Joshua, Nathaniel and Putnam. The first three settled in Virginia, where they became prominent citizens. Their descendants have since migrated to Tennessee and Missouri, and have attained considerable prominence in different states. Putnam Ewing remained in Maryland until some time after his marriage to Miss Jennie McClelland, the daughter of Doctor McClelland, of that state, and then came to Bourbon county, Kentucky, in 1866. Subsequently, he settled in Bath county and there lived and died. He had ten children, namely: Robert, Patrick, Joshua, Polly, Samuel, Jennie, James, Eliza, George McClelland and Andrew Jackson. It was the Patrick Ewing of this family who was the father of Mrs. James B. Davis. He was born in Cecil county, Maryland, in 1803, and was three years old when brought by his father to Kentucky. He remained on the farm in Kentucky until after his marriage to Lydia Morgan, of Montgomery county, Kentucky. He was a member of the state militia of Kentucky and was married in September, 1826, to Miss Morgan. About 1827 he came with his wife and infant daughter to Decatur county. He was a hardy son of illustrious ancestors and was a man of exceptional native ability. He accumulated a large tract of land in this county.

Mrs. James B. Davis is a woman of rare intelligence and one whose conversation sparkles with wit and humor. She had only the meager advantages of the pioneer public schools as far as an education is concerned, but she is a woman of great native ability, and one does not have to listen to her conversation long before discovering this wonderful native ability. Her children can be justly proud to have for their mother a woman of her intelligence.

After the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Davis, they liked in Jackson township on a farm until 1883, when they sold out and purchased the farm they now live upon, three miles southeast of Burney. In the early years of their married life they had the usual experiences of the pioneer citizens. They lived in a log cabin for the most part, and both remember keenly the hardships of this early life.

Mr. and Mrs. Davis have had three children, George was born in 1874, and is a farmer in Decatur county; William, in 1875, and is engaged in farming with his brother, George, and Della is the wife of Samuel Hanks, who lives three miles northwest of Burney and who is a prosperous farmer. Della has one child, Mary C. Hanks. George and Will Davis lived on the farm at home until George was twenty-eight years old, when he decided to begin life for himself. At that time the parents gave to the sons, George and Will, a farm of one hundred and twenty acres with an incumbrance of some two or three thousand dollars. This was no small load, even for mature shoulders, but by industry and shrewd management they cleared the farm of indebtedness in sixteen months' time. They have prospered proportionately ever since, and are now large dealers in live stock. Their home is called "Bachelors' Hall."

James B. Davis had always been identified with the Republican party until 1912, when the new Progressive party was formed, with which he affiliated. He is a man who is little impressed by political parties or party emblems, but believes it is his duty, as a citizen, to support superior men and superior measures, rather than to cast his vote blindly without regard to platforms or principles, or the moral standing of the party's candidate. The sons are like their father in this respect. They are well respected in this community and favorably known.

Mr. and Mrs. Davis have lived honorable and upright lives and have set a worthy example for their children and for their friends in this community. No word of suspicion has ever attached to the character of James B. Davis. He is a manly man and a true Christian gentleman.

"History of Decatur County, Indiana"
Lewis A. Harding
B. F. Bowen & Co.
Indianapolis, Indiana
published in 1915.

George S. Crawford was born, on December 23, 1852, in Lawrenceburg, Dearborn county, Indiana, the son of Rev. James and Hannah F. (Robinson) Crawford, natives of New York and Madison, Indiana, respectively. When Doctor Crawford was an infant only three days old, he was bereft of the loving tenderness and care of a fond mother by her untimely death, and he was taken in charge by Mrs. Owensby, who had just lost her baby by death, and was reared by her until he was two years of age, the Owensby's home having been in Crawfordsville, this state. Subsequently, Rev. James Crawford remarried, his second wife having been Kate Woodfill, a sister of James M. Woodfill, of Greensburg, and after his death his widow made her home with Doctor Crawford, in Milford, for twenty-five years. Rev. James Crawford was a pioneer Methodist minister, had a large circuit in this section of the state and, during his life, filled many appointments. He was a man of noble and generous impulses, whose life seemed to be devoted to the service of his fellowmen.

When he was old enough George S. Crawford attended the typical Hoosier schools and there obtained the rudiments of a liberal education, later pursuing his education in Moores Hill College. At the age of twenty-one he was graduated from the Indiana Medical College at Indianapolis, and upon his graduation, came to Decatur county, locating at Milford, where he established himself in the practice of his profession. There he has remained for forty-one years, during which time he has built up one of the largest practices of any physician now living in Decatur county.

Doctor Crawford was not married until rather late in life. His wife, to whom he was married on July 6, 1898, before her marriage was Frances Olive Blackmore, who was born on October 19, 1867, on a farm five miles west of Greensburg, the daughter of Lawrence O. and Frances W. (Wallace) Blackmore, natives of Shelby county, Kentucky, and Rockbridge county, Virginia, respectively, the former being the son of Owen W. Blackmore, of Shelby county, Kentucky, who came to Decatur county, Indiana, in 1835. Mrs. Crawford's wife's mother was the daughter of John and Jane (Quigley) Wallace, natives of Virginia, who moved to Decatur county in 1837 and settled in Washington township. This was only two years after the coming of the Blackmores, who lived only a mile east of the Wallace farm.

Doctor and Mrs. Crawford have had no children. They are prominent in the social life of Clay township and both are well known in Greensburg and popular there. Both are members of the Presbyterian church at Greensburg. Dr. Crawford is a member of the Masonic fraternity, having joined this lodge at Milford many years ago. He is a member of the Decatur County Medical Society and the Indiana State Medical Association. He is a Republican and one of the most uncompromising of men as far as his political belief is concerned. He believes in the principles of the Republican party and believes that this party is best equipped from tradition and from its record of past usefulness to administer the affairs of this government. A man who believes this as strongly as does Doctor Crawford is naturally well settled in his political belief. He is a grand and useful figure in the community where he has lived and worked so long and enjoys the universal confidence and esteem of the people.

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"History of Decatur County, Indiana"
Lewis A. Harding
B. F. Bowen & Co.
Indianapolis, Indiana
published in 1915.

James M. Shortridge was born on November 6, 1849, in Johnson county, Indiana, the son of John and Ellen (Smock) Shortridge, the former of whom was born in 1822 and who died in 1899. The father was a native of Wayne county, Indiana, the son of George Shortridge, Sr., a native of Kentucky and an early settler in Wayne county. The parents of Ellen Smock were also natives of Kentucky. Her mother died in 1885 at the age of over ninety years.

The parents of James M. Shortridge moved to Greenwood and retired late in life and there died. The farm located near Greenwood, Johnson county, was purchased by James M. and his brother, George, and was farmed by the latter until his death. There were three children in the Shortridge family, George, now deceased; Mrs. Vandelene Washard, of Greenwood, and James M., the subject of this sketch.

When a lad of twenty-two years, James M. Shortridge became a brakeman on the Pennsylvania railroad and followed this occupation for four years. He then took up carpentering and house building in his home locality and also worked for the railroad as a carpenter. He was for four years employed by the Lake Erie & Western railroad as a bridge carpenter.

On November 26, 1879, Mr. Shortridge was married to Allie Martin, of St. Paul, the daughter of Ralph Martin, an early settler of Decatur county. After his marriage, Mr. Shortridge engaged in the hardware business. He bought out the store owned by John Buell and remained in business for thirty years, having been very successful. In 1909 Mr. Shortridge sold out the business. He has extensive real estate holdings in St. Paul, owning a two-story brick building on Main street, a one-story stone building and residence property. He also has two lots and fifty-five acres of farm land, beside other personal investments.

Mr. and Mrs. Shortridge have had four children, Elmer, who is a motorman on the Indianapolis & Cincinnati Traction line and is a machinist by trade; Mrs. Hazel Clark, of Indianapolis; Irene E., who is a teacher in the public schools and lives at home, and Helen, who also lives at home and is a student in the high school.

James M. Shortridge was reared a Republican as was his father before him, but late in life the father voted the Prohibition ticket. Mr. Shortridge voted for Horace Greeley and was a Democrat until 1896, when he refused to subscribe to the free-silver doctrine of the Democratic party and voted the Republican ticket, which he has voted ever since. Mr. and Mrs. Shortridge are members of the Christian church, in which he is a trustee.

Fraternally, he is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and is a member of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite Masons of Indianapolis and also the Murat Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, at Indianapolis. He is a member of the Baldwin commandery and the Knights Templar at Shelbyville. In May, 1915, he attended the golden jubilee of the Scottish Rite Masons at Indianapolis. In addition to these fraternal relations, Mr. Shortridge is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks No. 475, at Greensburg.

Of Mr. and Mrs. Shortridge's children, Elmer married a Miss Hess and has one child, Priscilla. Mrs. Hazel Clark also has one child, June Ellen.

"History of Decatur County, Indiana"
Lewis A. Harding
B. F. Bowen & Co.
Indianapolis, Indiana
published in 1915.

John Johnson is the son of Richard and Fannie (McKee) Johnson, the latter of whom was a native of Pennsylvania, born in 1805. Richard Johnson was born in Kentucky in 1799, and, after emigrating to Indiana, settled near Vevay, Indiana, in Switzerland county, the home of Colonel Welsh and Edward Eggleston. He died in 1857 in Decatur county, Indiana, thirty-two years after coming to Decatur county, where he entered land near the town of Burney. He made the trip with an ox team in a covered wagon, camping in the woods on the way. At the side of a giant poplar tree he and his wife built a log cabin, where they lived when John Johnson was born. Decatur county was an unbroken forest at the time, there being no roads and scarcely any paths. Such as were used and passable were designated by marked trees. The wolves were thick in this county at the time and many a time chased the father of John Johnson into his cabin. On one occasion a deer came up to the Johnson cabin with the cows.

At the outbreak of the Civil War the venerable John Johnson tried to enlist under Colonel Welsh in the Seventh Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, but was rejected on account of his eyesight, being blind in one eye. He then joined the Seventy-sixth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, by resorting to a trick. In order to get past the inspection officer he changed sides with a man next to him and was successful. The Seventy-sixth Regiment performed valiant service in Kentucky. Mr. Johnson for the most part performed scouting and picket duty.

After the war, Mr. Johnson came back to Decatur county, and resumed farming on the old Johnson homestead, entered from the government by his father. This tract, originally comprising one hundred and sixty acres, was later enlarged by the addition of forty acres, making two hundred acres in all. He has always been a farmer and very successful in a business way. At the present time he is living with his youngest daughter.

In 1871 Mr. Johnson was married to Sarah Jones, a daughter of the Rev. Preston Jones, and a native of Decatur county. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have had two children, namely: Mrs. Lilly (Johnson) Miers, the wife of Willard Miers, and Fannie, a teacher in the Burney schools, who lives with her father.

Mr. Johnson's father was a Whig politically, but upon the organization of the Republican party identified himself with that political organization. John Johnson, who was formerly a Republican, now is a Prohibitionist. For many years he has been prominent in the fraternal circles of this section, being a member of the Masonic lodge at Milford and a charter member of the Knights of Pythias lodge at Burney, Indiana. On March 4, 1913, Mr. Johnson had the misfortune to lose his wife, who passed away quietly, and whose remains are buried at Milford. At the present time he is in fair health only, but nevertheless his mind is clear and active and he has a vivid and accurate memory of the many stirring incidents of his life. He has been a useful citizen in this county and a man who well deserves the respect, which, in his declining years, is showered upon him by the people of Clay township.

"History of Decatur County, Indiana"
Lewis A. Harding
B. F. Bowen & Co.
Indianapolis, Indiana
published in 1915.

After his marriage George Mr. Cuskaden purchased eighty acres of land in Illinois. He came back to Decatur county and began the usual life of a man on a rented farm in Clay township. After renting land for about two years, he purchased a farm just west of Milford, comprising one hundred acres, and located on the Shelby county line. Here he lived for about ten years, when he sold out and moved to Oregon. After remaining in Oregon a year, he came back to Indiana and purchased a large farm in Shelby county, Indiana. A few years before his death, which occurred in March, 1914, he traded the Shelby county farm for city property in Shelbyville, where he lived the last years of his life.

George W. Cuskaden was a prominent Democrat in Shelby county, and was honored with four terms as county commissioner of that county. He was a man of keen perceptions and had a broad knowledge of human nature. He was a member of the Episcopalian church. His good wife, Charity Bartley, was a native of Shelby county, born near St. Paul and the daughter of Jonathan and Elsie (Allen) Bartley, of Shelby county. The Allens of Shelby county are descended from .early settlers in this part of the country who came from Massachusetts. They brought with them from old England considerable pewter plate which was later molded into bullets for self-defense. The present Cuskaden family has in its possession only one plate of this original collection. George Washington is supposed to have been served on this plate while in Trenton, New Jersey, some time during the Revolutionary War, by Mrs. Cuskaden's Grandmother Allen.

John T. Cuskaden grew to manhood in Shelby county, and was married in 1880 to Orpha Wright, a daughter of John Wright, who was an emigrant from Derbyshire, England. Her mother, Annie Ridlen, was a native of Shelby county. After Mr. Cuskaden was married he and his wife lived on a farm in Shelby county until about sixteen years ago, when he removed to St. Paul. Mr. Cuskaden taught school for twenty-two years. He has always taken an active interest in politics and is allied with the Democratic party, a stanch and true adherent of this party. He was appointed postmaster of St. Paul on August 1, 1914.

Mr. and Mrs. Cuskaden have had two children, Charity Ann, who was born on August 30, 1881, and who married Charles F. Mitchell, of Shelby county, has four children, Mildred M., Allen Wright, John William and Malcom F., and Ora Wright, on October 26, 1887, married Dora E. Roberts, of Shelby county, and they have one child, Clarice Winifred.

There is no doubt that Mr. Cuskaden, who has always been prominent in public affairs in Shelby and Decatur counties, owes much of his success to the splendid equipment he was permitted to obtain in the common schools of Shelby county and later in the National Normal School at Lebanon, Ohio. It was at the latter school he prepared for teaching. It was there that he developed his native capacity for learning and became a student of history and politics. John T. Cuskaden is a good man and a good citizen.

"History of Decatur County, Indiana"
Lewis A. Harding
B. F. Bowen & Co.
Indianapolis, Indiana
published in 1915.

Born on the old Wright homestead in 1864, Londa Wright lived at home until he reached the age of twenty years, at which time his father died. He supplemented the education he received in the common schools of his home township in Decatur county by some fifty weeks spent at the Northern Indiana Normal School at Valparaiso. From the time he was twenty years old until he was twenty-three, Mr. Wright was engaged in teaching school. In 1888 Londa Wright was married to Minnie May Smiley, a daughter of Harvey and Serilda (Robbins) Smiley, who was born on May 17, 1870, in Sand Creek township, Decatur county, Indiana. Her father was a native of Franklin county, Indiana, and when a lad came to Decatur county, where he became a prosperous farmer. He was a son of William Smiley, whose family history is contained elsewhere in this volume.

After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Wright began life together on a farm of one hundred and eight acres, one and one-half miles north of Horace, in Sand Creek township. His present farm, which comprises two hundred and seventeen acres of fine land, is known as the old Robert Armstrong farm and is one of the best to be found in Sand Creek township.

Mr. and Mrs. Wright are the parents of five children, Arthur, born on April 5, 1890; Robert C., December 13, 1891; Lois Victoria, December 11, 1894, and Marshall and Margaret, twins, April 26, 1906.

A Democrat in politics, Mr. Wright is progressive in his political ideas and principles, and is in no sense a hide-bound partisan. Both he and his good wife are members of the Baptist church at Westport. Formerly he was a member of the Knights of Pythias lodge at Greensburg, and during his membership there, passed through all the chairs, but some time ago dimitted on account of his inability to attend lodge meetings.

"History of Decatur County, Indiana"
Lewis A. Harding
B. F. Bowen & Co.
Indianapolis, Indiana
published in 1915.

Joseph Cory was born in Clay township, Decatur county, Indiana, on December 26, 1845, a son of James and Martha (Dorton) Cory, the former of whom was born in 1817, coming to Decatur county about 1844, at which time he purchased the farm now owned by George Logan, where all of his children, except the eldest, were born and grew to manhood and womanhood. Mrs. Martha (Dorton) Cory, who was born in 1822, and whose parents came from New Jersey to Union county, Indiana, where their children were born, died in June, 1899. James Cory owned two hundred and forty acres of fine land in Decatur county, and was a Republican in politics. He was a successful farmer and a stockman of ability and promise. Mrs. Martha Cory's brother and sisters were John, Matthew, Ann and Belle.

James Cory was a son of Joseph and Nancy (Baker) Cory, the former of whom, born in New Jersey, in December, 1788, came to Ohio on horseback in young manhood. The Cory family is of Scottish and English origin. Nancy (Baker) Cory was a daughter of Daniel and Hannah (Westfield) Baker, the latter of whom was a daughter of Joseph and Mary (Halsey) Westfield. Daniel Baker was one of eight children born to Nathaniel and Abigail (Hendricks) Baker. Nathaniel Baker was born in Scotland in 1716, and came to America in 1735. He died on January 17, 1786, in his seventieth year, and his wife died on October 3, 1775, in her fifty-sixth year.

At the age of twenty-one years, Daniel Baker, who had enlisted as a soldier in the Revolutionary War, attracted the attention of Gen. George Washington, and served on his personal staff. It was Daniel Baker who piloted General Washington through the British lines to a silversmith for the purpose of haying the general's field-glasses repaired. Daniel and Hannah (Halsey) Baker were the parents of nine children, Rhoda, Mary, Jacob, Joseph, Patrick, Philip, Elizabeth, Hannah and Nancy. In 1814 Daniel Baker and wife, with their children, came west to Ohio, where his death occurred in 1830, and there was inscribed upon his tombstone the following words: "A companion of Washington."

To James and Martha (Dorton) Cory six children were born, those besides the subject of this sketch being: Ephraim, who is a resident of Missouri; Henry, living in Iowa; Mrs. Sarah Carter, widow of Elijah Carter, living at ,Alexandria, Indiana; James, a resident of Clay township, living south of Burney, and Mrs. Belle Pleak, wife of Charles Pleak, living in Iowa.To Joseph and Leanora (Deem) Cory two children have been born, Walter B., deceased, and Irma, who married John M. Douglas, a native of this county, who is farming the old home place for Mr. Cory.

"Sulphur Springs Farm" in Washington township, consists of a fine quality of soil, which is gently undulating, and there general farming and stock raising are carried on. The farm is beautifully situated and the buildings are kept in a first-class state of repair. Hogs, corn and clover are the chief products of the farm, and Joseph Cory has always been rated as a successful farmer and business man.

The part which Joseph Cory has played in the agricultural development of Decatur county, Indiana, cannot be overestimated, but he has been no less prominent as a farmer than as a business man and citizen, and today, surrounded with all the material comforts of life, he enjoys the respect of his neighbors and the esteem of everyone with whom he has ever come in contact.

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"History of Decatur County, Indiana"
Lewis A. Harding
B. F. Bowen & Co.
Indianapolis, Indiana
published in 1915.

A man who is not yet forty-five years old and who has never had a single dollar given to him, his wealth today probably amounts to over two hundred thousand dollars. In 1894 he bought forty acres of land and in 1901 he had accumulated four hundred and ten acres which had cost him fifty-five dollars an acre and upon which he had a loan of twenty thousand dollars. Since then he has bought and sold several farms and has now twelve hundred and eighty-five acres.

William H. Mobley, who was born in 1871, is the son of John Henry and Mary Ann (Burk) Mobley, natives of Pennsylvania and of Scotch-Irish descent and who came to Indiana about 1842 and settled in Bartholomew county on a farm. His father was a successful farmer and business man and died in 1897 at the age of seventy-five years. He was a strong Republican in politics and leader in the councils of his party during his life. Mrs. Mary Ann Mobley was the daughter of Hunter Burk, who married a Miss Hunter, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania. Mrs. Mobley lives in Bartholomew county with her youngest son. She and her husband had a family of ten children, Lyman, who lives in Kansas; Mrs. Emma Wilson, of Bartholomew county; Randolph M., who is a resident of North Dakota; Theodore, who lives in Bartholomew county; Mrs. Margaret Wright, who lives in California; Mrs. Ella Loose, who died in Iowa; Loren, who died in infancy; Arthur, who died in infancy; William H.; the subject of this sketch, and James Hunter, who resides in Bartholomew county.

Large successes generally have small beginnings. It was so with the career of William H. Mobley. Beginning in a small way, his rise to fortune has become a matter of remarkable interest to the people of this county. The home farm and outbuildings are well kept and present a pleasing home appearance, nevertheless, an air of large and important business. The sale barn is eighty by one hundred and thirty-two feet and the cattle barn, fifty by eighty feet. Mr. Mobley holds auction sales attended by buyers from all parts of the country. The size of the buildings on his home farm and the business-like appearance of the establishment, suggest the auction barns of the large cities. Besides the two large barns on the farm, there is also a blacksmith shop and a garage. The owner of this great business enterprise has been offered one hundred and fifty dollars an acre for his home farm, comprising four hundred and fifteen acres, and, according to the tax duplicates of Decatur county, is the highest-priced land to be found in the county. Mr. Mobley thinks real estate, and especially farm real estate, is the best investment in the world. The annual sales of the Mobley farm amount to between thirty and forty thousand dollars for every sale and at least one sale amounted to sixty-one thousand dollars. William H. Mobley buys one carload or two carloads of mules in as many minutes and makes a thousand or two dollars quite as quickly. The expenses of his business are enormous for an enterprise of this kind. Ordinarily his telephone rent amounts to fifty dollars a month and he pays high wages to all of his employees. One man worked for him for ten years and received sixty dollars a month during the entire time. There are six tenant houses on the farm and the tenants rent land for one-third of the annual production. Men regularly employed on the farm, however, live at Hartsville. On September 25, 1914, the date of Mr. Mobley's annual sale, five hundred mules were sold. He has from one hundred to one hundred and fifty head of mules on hand at all times of the year and raises about two hundred head of cattle every year.

As a matter of fact, the large capacity for business with which William H. Mobley is endowed is not surprising when it is remembered that his deceased father was a large speculator, having the same active instinct regarding business.

In 1903 Mr. Mobley was married to Grace Pearl Myers, of Decatur county, the daughter of George M. and Mary Alice (Taylor) Myers, the former of whom lives one mile east of Forest Hill on a farm of one hundred acres, and who is a son of William Myers. Mary Alice Taylor was the daughter of George and Hannah (Wise) Taylor. To Mr. and Mrs. Mobley have been born two children, Mary Florine, in 1904, and Franklin Wayne, in 1908.

William H. Mobley has made good because he has given strict attention to his business. His striking personality has been no small factor in his success. He believes in taking chances and, moreover, he believes in taking big chances. To begin with, he is a man of highly progressive ideas. His mind is always at work. Although he received a good common school education and additional training in Hartsville College, there is nothing in his educational experience which would account for his magnificent success in life. While talking to you he leaves the impression of a man who knows what he wants and how to get it. He has always been a heavy borrower of money and is a stockholder in the Burney State Bank and a director of the Hope State Bank. He is a firm believer in his home county and believes in investing in land in this county rather than in other states. Everything that Mr. Mobley buys, he buys at home, if it is at all possible to do so.

Although a Republican, he is interested in politics only as a citizen, and would not have the best office within the gift of the people if it were offered him. Any community is indeed fortunate to have as one of its citizens a man of the temper and ability of William H. Mobley, who is widely and favorably known.

"History of Decatur County, Indiana"
Lewis A. Harding
B. F. Bowen & Co.
Indianapolis, Indiana
published in 1915.

In the first place, the Greeley Stone Company, which was incorporated in 1908, with a capital stock of fifteen thousand dollars, is the largest plant of its kind in Decatur county, employing twenty-five men and producing twelve hundred carloads annually of stone for road building and concrete work. The plant is located on sixteen acres of land on the bank of Flatrock and has a capacity of one thousand tons per day. The stone is excavated to a depth of thirty feet and elevated for grinding. The crusher which is of the Gates design, breaks the stone into different sizes and delivers the product into waiting cars on a special track owned by the company. The plant is operated by a one-hundred-and-fifty-horse-power engine, which derives its power from two hundred and fifty horse-power boilers. Besides crushing all sizes of stones for road purposes, the company crushes and pulverizes limestone dust for fertilizer. This dust is obtained by screening and is a by-product of which about one carload daily is produced. By chemical analysis it shows about ninety-four per cent calcium carbide and magnesia, and is valuable for fertilizer and is extensively used in this section. The pay roll of the company is from eight hundred to one thousand dollars per month and in 1914 amounted to nearly sixteen thousand dollars.

The geniuses who are behind this industry, actively, are Clarence E. Greeley, secretary and treasurer, and R. E. Greeley, general manager. Albert Greeley, of Muncie, Indiana, the father of Clarence E. and R. E., is the vice-president of the company. Clarence E. Greeley is a native of Warren county, Ohio, being born on the Little Miami river in 1879, the son of Albert and Tena Greeley, both of whom were born in Ohio. Albert Greeley was engaged in the saw-mill and flour-milling business at Foster Crossing, Ohio, until the beginning of the gas boom in Delaware county, Indiana, when he moved to this state. After moving to Muncie, Indiana, he engaged in the lumber business, in which he has been very successful.

He is now rated as one of the substantial business men of Delaware county. In 1908 the Greeley Stone Company was incorporated and another industry added to the interest of the Greeley family. Albert Greeley was president of the Indiana Lumber Dealers' Association and is, at the present time, one of the directors of the Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Indiana.

Born in Warren county, Ohio, Clarence Greeley was educated in the public schools of Muncie, Indiana. When twenty-four years of age, he engaged in the lumber business at Selma, a small town east of Muncie, and there he was very successful. From Selma, he moved to Illinois, where he was also engaged in the lumber business. He sold out in 1908 at the time of the organization of the Greeley Stone Company.

Clarence E. Greeley was married to Louise Bantly Kirk, a native of Muncie, Indiana, and the daughter of John and Bertha Kirk, also natives of Muncie. Mr. and Mrs. Greeley have one daughter, Helen, who was born in 1903.

R. E. Greeley, who is the general manager of the Greeley Stone Company, was born in Ohio in 1881 and was educated at Muncie, Indiana, and at Culver Military School. Before the organization of the Greeley Stone Company, he was also engaged in the lumber business. In 1901 H. E. Greeley was married to Velma Keltner, a daughter of Dr. F. M. and Rebecca Keltner, of Muncie. Mr. and Mrs. Greeley have four children, Mildred, thirteen years old; Robert, ten years old; Francis, seven years old, and Virginia, six years old.

Both Clarence E. and R. E. Greeley have been active in politics since coming to Decatur county. They are ardent and active Republicans as is their father also. R. E. was a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks at Muncie, but has since transferred his membership to the Greensburg lodge, and R. E. Greeley is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons.

Here in Decatur county, the Greeley brothers have come to be recognized as among its most aggressive and capable young business men. The industry which they helped to establish and which they manage, has brought thousands of dollars to this county and the people here are highly pleased with their great success.

"History of Decatur County, Indiana"
Lewis A. Harding
B. F. Bowen & Co.
Indianapolis, Indiana
published in 1915.

John W. Burney was born on the old Burney homestead now owned by Edward Jackson, son-in-law of S. M. Burney, in 1849. He is the son of S. M. and Sarah (Pumphrey) Burney, old citizens of this county. S. M. Burney was born in 1814 in North Carolina, and came to Decatur county with his parents in pioneer times when Clay township was nothing but a howling wilderness. The family settled on the farm that Edward Jackson now owns, and which is known as the old Burney farm. The parents of S. M. Burney spent the remainder of their lives in Milford, the mother having died at the home of her son, S. M. He was a very successful farmer and owned several hundred acres of land in this county. He gave five hundred dollars to the town of Burney when it was founded and purchased stock in the railroad when it was built. Burney was named for him. A progressive, broad-minded man, his word was as good as his bond. A public-spirited citizen, he donated several hundred dollars to the building of the Methodist church at Milford and at Burney. He was a stanch Democrat and true to his party. While he never asked for office, he always held at heart the welfare of his party and country. He left the impress of his character and influence upon the life of this community, and died full of honors as only a private citizen who has done well his duty can die. He passed away in 1901 at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Edward Jackson. The Pumphreys are an old family in this section.

John W. Burney began life for himself when about twenty-five years old. He had a small start from his father, but has accumulated most of his land and property by his own efforts.

In 1875 Mr. Burney was married to Mary Sharp, daughter of James Sharp, a native of Decatur county, and an old and well-established family in Sand Creek township. The Sharps were early settlers here, and prominent in the social and agricultural life of the county.

Eleven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. John W. Burney, of whom Samuel, Annie, Opal and Orlif are deceased; Lula, Clara, Arthur, Clifford, Bertha, Mattie and Ethel. Arthur lives in Adams; Bertha is the wife of Charles Gilliland, of Hope; Mattie married Clarence Thompson, of Burney; Ethel lives at home; Clifford married Blanche Horner. Although Mr. Burney is a stanch and true Democrat, he is, nevertheless, a progressive thinker, and is somewhat independent in his political thought and action.

In 1890 he was elected trustee of Clay township, and gave a most efficient and satisfactory administration. He is a man well respected in this community and well known. Fraternally, Mr. Burney is a member of the Knights of Pythias lodge at Burney. He is a charter member of this organization.

Mr. Burney's success as a farmer he attributes to raising corn and hogs, because from these he has derived his greatest profits.

"History of Decatur County, Indiana"
Lewis A. Harding
B. F. Bowen & Co.
Indianapolis, Indiana
published in 1915.

Albert Boling, who was born on October 4, 1867, on a farm near the Decatur and Franklin county line, is the son of William W. and Hannah (Humphrey) Boling, the former of whom was born on October 8, 1828, and died in 1898, and the latter of whom was born in 1857 and is still living at Adams, in this county. William W. Boling was the son of Benjamin and Elizabeth Doling, natives of Virginia, who, after coming to Decatur county in 1818 and homesteading the farm of eighty acres now owned by Albert Boling, lived in an Indian wigwam for a time, or until they could clear a place for and erect a house. Benjamin Boling died at the age of twenty-eight, a few years after coming to Decatur county. His widow, who lived to be ninety-two years of age, died near Crawfordsville, Montgomery county, Indiana. William W. Boling spent the whole of his life on the ancestral farm.

To William W. and Hannah (Humphrey) Boling were born five daughters and seven sons, two of whom, Alice, the first born, and Jasper, the seventh born, are deceased, the former dying in January, 1914. Of the surviving children, Mary lives in Clay township; Mrs. Martha Carr lives at Frankfort; Ada is the wife of Wilbur W. Wright, of Adams; Edna lives in Indianapolis; Albert is the subject of this sketch; George is engaged in the hardware business at St. Paul, this county; Walter also lives in St. Paul; Clyde, Elmer and Owen live in Indianapolis, where the latter is an attorney.

Educated in the district school of his neighborhood, located near the Decatur and Franklin county line, and in the Stubbs high school, Albert Boling was engaged in farming until he was thirty years of age. He then engaged in the grain business at Adams, and remained there for seventeen years, or until his election as treasurer of Decatur county in the fall of 1912. Having been re-elected in the fall of 1914, he is now serving his second term. Mr. Boling owns the old home farm, which now comprises altogether a hundred and twenty acres, city property in Indianapolis, and in Adams, where he owns a large grain elevator and residence. He is therefore entitled to rank as one of the well-to-do farmers, business men and citizens of this county.

Albert Boling was married in April, 1893, when he was twenty-six years old, to Carrie Harrison, daughter of Robert Harrison, an early settler of Adams township, Decatur county, Indiana. To this union two children have been born, Dorothy and Robert, both of whom are attending school.

For three generations the politics of the Boling family has been decidedly Democratic. Benjamin Boling was a Democrat, William W. Boling was a Democrat, and the son and grandson, Albert, the subject of this sketch, is and has always been an ardent and enthusiastic Democrat and has been for years a leader in the councils of his party. Mr. and Mrs. Boling and family are members of the Christian church, and the former is a member of St. Paul Lodge No. 368, Knights of Pythias. Honorable in all the relations of life, private as well as public, Albert Boling has a host of friends in Decatur county, men who have stood valiantly at his side and fought the battles waged for the political success that is now his. He is a man who never forgets and never fails to cherish his obligations to a friend and to those who have stood by him in a common thought and for a common cause. He well deserves the confidence of the people of the citizenship of this county.

"History of Decatur County, Indiana"
Lewis A. Harding
B. F. Bowen & Co.
Indianapolis, Indiana
published in 1915.