Elmer E. Walker, the late owner of this magnificent farm, was born on February 12, 1866, in Salt Creek township, near New Point, in Decatur county, Indiana, the son of Milton R. and Martha J. (Colson) Walker, the former of whom was born in 1829 and died on November 30, 1913, and the latter of whom was born in 1843, and died on February 12, 1912. The late Milton B. Walker, a native of Carlisle county, Pennsylvania, having been born near Pittsburgh, came to Decatur county about 1850, and after his marriage settled on a farm in Salt Creek township, working for neighboring farmers until he earned enough money to send to Pennsylvania for his mother, Mary (Hall) Walker, who then came with two other children, Beth and Angeline. Her husband having died, she married, secondly, Benjamin Robertson, and lived in Salt Creek township until her death. Mrs. Martha J. (Colson) Walker, who was the daughter of Squire Colson, a native of England, and an old settler in this community, who kept a hotel when the Big Four railroad was built and who owned part of the town site of New Point, was herself born near New Point.

Of the twelve children born to the late Milton B. and Martha J. (Colson) Walker, five died in childhood, seven were reared to maturity and five are still living. Of these children, the Rev. Joel Walker, a Methodist Episcopal minister, died in Montana in February, 1913 Elmer E., the subject of this sketch, died on May 21, 1915; Mrs. Ollie Tucker lives near New Point on the old home farm; Curtis is a section foreman for the Big Four railroad and lives at New Point; Elza, a farmer, lives one mile south of New Point; Roy lives one and one-half miles south of New Point, and Frank lives on the old home farm, three miles out of New Point.

Elmer E. Walker was not always engaged in farming. Upon leaving home, at the age of twenty-three years, he farmed for two years, and then was engaged in railroading for fourteen years, serving during that time as track foreman for the Big Four railroad. On April 17, 1903, he purchased the old home farm of his father-in-law, the Rev. David A. Tucker, in Marion township, and moved to that farm. During the twelve years he was there engaged in farming. Mr. Walker prospered with exceptionally satisfactory progress and deserved great credit for the care with which he developed his farm to its present high state of productivity.

On April 21, 1893, Elmer E. Walker was married to Fannie Tucker, who was born on December 12, 1868, in Ripley county, Indiana, the daughter of the Rev. David A. and Susan Tucker, the former of whom was for many years a Baptist minister, but who is now residing at Linnhaven, Florida. Mrs. Walker was brought by her parents to the old Tucker farm, where she now lives, when only an infant. Her mother died in 1888.

To Elmer E. and Fannie (Tucker) Walker were born seven children, three of whom are living: William McKinley, the eldest; Gladys M., the second born; Olive Opal, the fourth born, and Forrest Adrian, are deceased. The living children are Freda M., who was born on February 25, 1901; Frances Naomi, June 7, 1909, and Benton Bailey, April 16, 1913.

A stanch Republican in national politics, Mr. Walker was more or less independent in local matters, and did not hesitate to cross party lines to vote for some worthy man on the ticket of another party. Fraternally, he was a member of the Cartilage, Indiana, lodge of Odd Fellows, having been the first member initiated into that lodge after its organization. For a time he was a member of the Knights of Pythias. Mrs. Walker is a member of the Methodist church, as was her husband, and the children are being reared in that faith.

As one who had worked hard for material success as a farmer, and one who was rearing a family of children to be useful citizens in the community where they will live, Mr. Walker deserved credit as a valuable citizen of this great county and township. He was popular in the community where he lived and where he had done so well his part in all the relations of life, and his death was widely mourned throughout that section of the county. Mrs. Walker is held in the warmest esteem in the community in which practically her whole life has been spent and the heartfelt sympathy of the entire neighborhood went out to her upon her bereavement.

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

John G. Guthrie, former county treasurer of Decatur county, was born on September 8, 1835, on a farm near Adams, in Clay township, the son of Moses and Mahala (Stark) Guthrie, the former of whom was born on November 8, 1808, in Gallatin county, Kentucky, and the latter of whom was born in 1815 in Kentucky and died in 1906. Moses Guthrie was the son of Richard and Nancy (Keys) Guthrie, natives of Ireland, who immigrated to this country about 1800. With Richard Guthrie came his wife and three children, the other members of the family being born in this country. Altogether he had seven sons and three daughters: John, Moses, Thomas, George, James, William, Erwin, Mary, Margaret and Esther. Mary, John and Margaret were born in Ireland. Moses Guthrie brought his family to Decatur county in 1822 and settled in Adams township, where he preempted government land, west of Adams. After clearing the land of the timber, he grew a crop of corn. Before coming to Decatur county, he had lived for a few years in Jefferson county, Indiana. He became a naturalized citizen of this country and died on his farm in 1837.

After his marriage, Moses Guthrie settled in Clay township and lived there all of his life. His wife, who, before her marriage, was Mahala Stark, was the daughter of Philip and Elizabeth (Robbins) Stark, natives of Kentucky and members of an old colonial family, who moved from Shelby county, Kentucky, to Decatur county about 1822. Elizabeth Robbins was the daughter of William Robbins, a Revolutionary soldier, who served for several years in the Revolutionary army. He enlisted as a private in October, 1777, under Capt. James Clark and re-enlisted on September 22, 1778. He enlisted once more in 1781, being at that time a resident of North Carolina. The venerable John G. Guthrie remembers well his grandparents. His grandfather, Philip Stark, died in January, 1837, and his grandmother, Elizabeth Robbins, died about 1885.

To Moses and Mahala Guthrie were born ten children, all but two of whom are deceased. The two living children are John G., the subject of this sketch; and Mrs. Nancy Hamilton, the wife of John Mr. Hamilton, who resided in Pottawattamie county, Iowa. The names of the children, in the order of their birth, are as follow: John G., Philip S., who died while serving the cause of his country in the Civil War, a member of the Thirty-seventh Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry; James E., who died in 1911 at his home near Adams, in Decatur county; Elizabeth, who was the wife of Sanford Cline; Mary, who married Samuel Coleman; Epsie, who married Henry Kirbey, both now deceased; Nancy, who married John W. Hamilton; Esther, who was the wife of Sydney Sidener; Martha A., who was the wife of Ananias Pavey, and Alice, who is also deceased.

John G. Guthrie was educated in the country schools of Decatur county and took up farming at an early age. When thirty years of age he moved to Greensburg, having been appointed deputy county treasurer, in which capacity he served for three years. Since that time has followed various lines of business, now owning a splendid farm of one hundred and ninety acres in Adams township.

On May 6, 1887, John G. Guthrie was married to Amanda Hazelrigg, who was born in 1845 and who died in May, 1912. She was a native of Marion township, Decatur county, Indiana, the daughter of John and Elizabeth Hazelrigg, early settlers of the county, who came from Kentucky. To John G. and Amanda (Hazelrigg) Guthrie were born two children: Guy H., born in 1879, who is in the drug business in Greensburg, married Catherine Eich and has one child, Catherine, and Irwin Stanton, born in 1882, was a merchant of Greensburg, married Marie Russell.

Politically, Mr. Guthrie is a Republican. He has been a lifelong member of the Baptist church, his wife also having been a member of that church. Fraternally, he is a member of the Masonic lodge. There is no citizen in all of the length and breadth of Decatur county who occupies in the hearts of his fellowmen a warmer place than John G. Guthrie. He has lived a long and useful life and has behind him a career of which he may be justly proud.

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

Frank M. Weadon was born in London county, Virginia, on July 7, 1835, and received an excellent education in his home state. In 1854 he came to this county, entering the postoffice at Greensburg as deputy postmaster under Postmaster J. V. Remustaffer. In this capacity he quickly made friends in his new home and was regarded as one of the "coming" young men of the community. President Lincoln later appointed him revenue collector for this revenue district, and he served most acceptably in that capacity until 1871, in which year he was elected county auditor of Decatur county, a position of trust which he filled with the utmost fidelity to the public. This service continued for four years, at the end of which time his services were engaged by the Big Four Railroad Company, and in 1882 the scene of his activities was transferred to Indianapolis, in which city he spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring on December 21, 1914. In his thirty years of service in the division headquarters of the Big Four Railroad Company at Indianapolis, Mr. Weadon was absent from the office but four weeks. He remained with the company until he was retired on pension on account of the encroachments of age. He was singularly faithful and devoted in his service to the company and was held in the very highest esteem by all his office associates and the authorities of the road.

On October 8, 1856, Frank M. Weadon was united in marriage to Mary Jane Jamison, who was born in Greensburg, this county, on April 24, 1838, the daughter of Francis and Nancy (Preston) Jamison, both members of pioneer families of this county. Francis Jamison was the son of Martin and Barbara (Seebaugh) Jamison, the former of whom was born in Glasgow, Scotland, coming to this country in early manhood and locating at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he married Barbara Seebaugh, a member of one of the old Colonial families, later coining to Decatur county and entering business in the then rapidly growing village of Greensburg. Martin Jamison had h e n trained to the hatter's trade in Scotland and he engaged in the hatter's business at Greensburg, to which he added a general stock of dry goods, becoming one of the leading business men in southern Indiana. He built the first two-story building in Greensburg, his place of business having been located on the site now occupied by Minear's dry-goods store, and was a power in the early development of the commercial and industrial interests of this county, his influence in the religious and civic life of the community having been equally potent, so much so that few names in the early history of Decatur county are entitled to more respectful recognition than that of Martin Jamison.

Francis Jamison was born at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and as a child came to this county with his parents, being reared at Greensburg, and upon reaching manhood was associated with his father in the dry-goods business at Greensburg, being for many years one of the leading merchants in that city. He married Nancy Preston, who was born in Georgetown, Kentucky, and who came to Decatur county with her parents at the age of sixteen years, her father, Thomas Preston, becoming one of the best-known pioneer farmers of this county. Thomas Preston entered a government tract, at what is now known as the Doss Pleak farm, and became a substantial and honored resident of that part of the county.

To Frank M. and Mary Jane (Jamison) Weadon were born the following children: Percy, who is prominently connected with the theatrical business in New York City; George A., a prominent business man in Indianapolis, in the millinery line, a biographical sketch of whom is presented elsewhere in this volume; Burt C. and Bruce.

The Weadons are held in high esteem throughout Decatur county, though long having been absent the connection of the two names, Jamison and Weadon, formerly so strongly identified with the commercial and political life of the county seat, giving to the family a substantial position in this county which time cannot effect.

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

Oscar B. Trimble was born in Washington township, Decatur county, Indiana, in 1859, the son of John E. and Adelaide (Owens) Trimble, the former of whom was born in 1818 in Grayson county, Virginia. The Owens family, originally from Pennsylvania, came to Decatur county in pioneer times, first settling in Jackson township, where their descendants are still numerous. Risden Owens, the founder of the present branch of the family in this section, emigrated, when past the prime of life, to Kansas and there entered land and became wealthy. He died in that state, after having spent a life of unusual vigor. He and his wife were the parents of ten children, of whom Adelaide, the mother of Mrs. Trimble, was one of the daughters.

The Trimble family is of Scotch-Irish descent and came to Decatur county in 1836 from Virginia, settling in Washington township, near Greensburg. John B. Trimble was a carpenter in his younger days, and there are several houses still standing and in good condition which he built in Decatur county. The house on what is known as the old Tarkington farm, where the ancestors of Booth Tarkington lived, now owned by Bird Sefton, was built by Mr. Trimble and stands today as a monument to his skill and honesty as a builder. Later he abandoned carpentering and became a farmer. He was married in 1855 to Adelaide Owens and after their marriage, they purchased a farm in Washington township, now known as the Applegate farm. After selling this farm, John B. Trimble moved to Kansas, where he remained one year, and then came back to Decatur county, purchasing land in Clay township, now owned by his sons, O. B. and A. B. Trimble.

Although reared a Democrat, the late John E. Trimble, soon after coming to Decatur county, became a member of the Whig party and, upon the organization of the Republican party, in 1856, became a member of that party. He was always true to the party of Lincoln and was intensely patriotic, ever displaying the utmost loyalty to the principles of the Union during the time of the Civil War. John B. Trimble was elected several times as trustee of Clay township and made a fine record in that office. A noble citizen and an influential man, he had a wide acquaintance and was popular with his neighbors, especially on account of his brilliant conversational abilities. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity and of the Christian church. He died on August 24, 1907. His widow, who died less than two months later, on October 12, 1907, was a woman of kindly, Christian character and was much loved and respected in Clay township.

To the late John B. and Adelaide (Owens) Trimble the following children were born: Mrs. Maria Morse, wife of William Morse, of Indianapolis; 0. B., the subject of this sketch; Arthur B., a farmer of Milford, this county; Mrs. Carrie McCoy, wife of Curtis McCoy, of this county, and Fred B., a well-known Decatur county farmer, who died in 1900, at the age of forty-two.

In 1879 O. B. Trimble was married to Ida M. Butler, who was born in Bartholomew county, this state, in 1860, daughter of John F. and Susan (Woodard) Butler, who later were well-known residents of this county. Mr. and Mrs. Trimble began life on the farm where they now live and there they have lived a life noted for its peacefulness and happiness. To them two children have been born: Claudia A., wife of Dr. Charles A. Kuhn, of Greensburg, and Ethel B., wife of Christian Steen, of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Dr. and Mrs. Kuhn have two children, Dorothy and Hilda.

Always intensely loyal to the principles of the Republican party, O. B. Trimble has been prominent in the affairs of his party for many years and is regarded as one of the influential men in the party's councils in Decatur county. In 1894 he was elected trustee of Clay township and served for five years. In 1906 he was elected treasurer of Decatur county and was re-elected in 1908. Both as trustee of Clay township and treasurer of Decatur county, Mr. Trimble was one public official who worked at the job; who kept the business of the county and the township absolutely straight and who devoted his time exclusively to looking after the public business. He is a man of whom the people of this county have reason to be proud. Mrs. Trimble is a member of the Christian church and takes a warm interest in the affairs of the same. Mr. Trimble is a Mason, being a member of the lodge of that order at Milford. He also is a member of the Odd Fellows lodge at Milford, the Knights of Pythias lodge at Burney and the lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks at Greensburg, being very popular among the members of these several fraternities. He and has wife are active in all good works in their neighborhood and are held in the highest esteem thereabout.
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"History of Decatur County, Indiana"
Lewis A. Harding
B. F. Bowen & Co.
Indianapolis, Indiana
published in 1915.

Dilver E. Douglas was born on a farm near Vevay, Indiana, on November 9, 1870, son of John and Esther (Pocock) Douglas, natives of Indiana, the former of whom was born in 1840 and died in 1892 and the latter born in 1842 and died in 1894. John Douglas was the son of Jackson Douglas, a native of Pennsylvania, who, as heretofore stated, came down the Ohio river from Pennsylvania and, after numerous experiences and exploits, settled near Vevay.

Educated in the district schools and in the Vevay high school, Dilver E. Douglas was also a student for some time at the local normal school and taught school for seven years in Switzerland county. Beginning the study of medicine in his boyhood, in the office of Dr. R. D. Simpson, he entered the Ohio Medical University in 1892, later entering the Kentucky School of Medicine at Louisville, from which he was graduated with the class of 1897.

From 1897 to 1912 Dr. Dilver E. Douglas was engaged in the practice of medicine at East Enterprise, near Vevay, but in 1912 came to Decatur county and has since that time been successfully engaged in the practice of medicine in Greensburg. Doctor Douglas is a member of the Decatur County Medical Society, the Indiana State Medical Association and the American Medical Association, in all of which organizations he takes a prominent part.

On June 10, 1896, Dr. D. E. Douglas was married to Lillian Adams, of Vevay. To this union two children, Robert E. and F. Mareta, have been born.

A member of the sixty-sixth General Assembly of Indiana, Doctor Douglas served as a member of the committee on ways and means, the committee on state medicine and the committee on benevolent institutions. He was a prominent and influential member of that session, having been elected as a Democrat and serving as a member of a body which was Democratic for the first time in several years. During this session, however, the upper house of the General Assembly remained Republican.

Doctor Douglas is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, the Knights of Pythias, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America. A Democrat in politics, in addition to his service as a member of the Indiana General Assembly, he also served as county surveyor of Switzerland county for one term before moving from East Enterprise to Greensburg.

Although a resident of this county a comparatively brief period, Doctor Douglas has already established a flourishing practice. During his short residence here, he has gained a host of friends and is honored and esteemed, not only by his patients, but by all the people of Greensburg, Decatur county.

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

Mathias Johannigmann was born on August 16, 1856, in a log cabin on the farm on which he now lives, the son of Bernard Dominicus Johannigmann, who was born in Germany in 1821, and who died in Decatur county in 1896. After emigrating to America in 1850 Dominicus Johannigmann lived for a time in Cincinnati and then came to Decatur county and bought a tract of land in Marion township that had been partly cleared by the Indians, the aboriginals having had a village at that point. The remainder of this land was cleared by Dominicus Johaninngmann and in 1876 he made the bricks and built the fine brick residence in which his son, Mathias Johannigmann, now lives.

The wife of Bernard Dominicus Johannigmann was Elizabeth Egbert, who was born in Germany in 1832 and died in Decatur county in 1866. They had the following children: Mary, who lives in Cincinnati; John, who is deceased; Mathias, the subject of this sketch; Henry, who lives at Walnut Hills, Cincinnati; Joseph, who lives at Price Hill, Cincinnati, and Anna (Theimann) St. Bernard, of Cincinnati.

Mathias Johannigmann is now in possession of a tract of two hundred and forty-six acres of well-improved land, which has a running stream of water passing through it. Mr. Johannigmann has one of the finest barns in Decatur county. This barn was built in 1909 and is sixty-four by forty-eight feet and three stories high. It is made out of hard-wood lumber that was cut from trees taken on this farm. The construction of the barn is such that any of the three stories will support a wagon and team. The barn is well supplied with granaries and has running water for the stock. It is unquestionably the finest barn in Decatur county. The Johannigmann farm presents a most picturesque sight with its hills and valleys and fine old buildings set in surroundings of huge old maple trees. The fine brick residence was built by Mathias Johannigmann's father in 1877, and is in an excellent state of repair. Mathias Johannigmann has always lived on this farm, with the exception of six years spent in Cincinnati, as a teamster, when a young man. He is a breeder of Shorthorn cattle and has a fine herd of fifteen head of this breed. He has five head of fine mules and five head of pure-bred Percheron horses, and on both horses and mules he has won premiums at Batesville, North Vernon, Osgood and Greensburg fairs and stock shows. He also raises annually from twenty-five to forty head of fine Duroc- Jersey hogs.

Mathias Johannigmann was married on February 19, 1884, to Anna Kuhlman, who was born in Madisonville, Ohio, in 1859, the daughter of John Kuhlman, a native of Germany, who came to Indiana from Ohio. To Mathias and Anna (Coleman) Johannigmann have been born six children, of whom three are living: Clara, born in 1888, now resides in Cincinnati; Mathias, June 8, 1893, is now farming at home, and Helen, October 25, 1894.

Mathias Johannigrnann is a Democrat. He is a member of St. Mary's Catholic church and is a good example of the sturdy German blood which has done so much to enrich America, he and his family being held in the highest esteem throughout a part of the county in which for years he has taken so prominent a part in agricultural development.

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

In the agitation against the institution of slavery which preceded the Civil War, no man gave greater power or more intelligent direction to the crusade than the late Rev. John G. Fee, founder of Rerea College, at Berea, Kentucky. A school which today ranks with our foremost colleges and universities, with an enrollment of more than two thousand students, it is a living monument to the memory of Reverend Fee, who was the father of Edwin Sumner Fee, a well-known farmer and stockman of Decatur county and the subject of this writing.

Edwin S. Fee, born on March 17, 1863, in Clermont county, Ohio, is today the only surviving member of a family of six children, reared under the best impulses of Christian citizenship, and under the protecting love of a noble and capable Christian mother, who added her best energies, her best thought and action to the success of her husband and the cares of her household. Mr. Fee has complete data on the genealogy of his ancestors as far back as 1630, which is greatly prized by himself and will increase in value in coming generations. Mr. Fee's infancy was contemporaneous with the stirring period of the Civil War. He, like all his brothers and sisters, was educated in the schools of Berea, Kentucky, and in Berea College.

On September 11, 1883, Edwin S. Fee was married to Enrie J. Hamilton, of Fugit township, Decatur county, Indiana, a daughter of the late William McCoy and Euphemie (Donnell) Hamilton, both members of old and prominent families in the county, the former of whom was born on November 26, 1822, and died on February 25, 1905, and the latter of whom was born on October 5, 1829, and died on December 6, 1892. Mrs. Fee's father was a citizen of Decatur county and lived his entire life within its' borders, a son of Cyrus and Mary (McCoy) Hamilton, natives of Kentucky.

William McCoy Hamilton was born and reared on the paternal farm in the Kingston neighborhood in Decatur county. On January 24, 1854, he was married to Euphemie Donnell, the only daughter of Luther and Jane (Braden) Donnell. Immediately after their marriage they moved to the farm on which their only son, Luther Donnell Hamilton, now lives. At that time there was an old pioneer dwelling on this farm, which, ten years later, was supplanted by a fine, large brick residence, which Mr. Hamilton erected and which, with some remodeling to suit modern conditions, still does fine service as a country home.

Mrs. Hamilton inherited about six hundred acres of land from her father, and gradually this was increased by Mr. Hamilton until he became the possessor of more than three thousand acres of land. He bred and raised a great number of mules, cattle and hogs for the market. He was one of the most substantial citizens in this county, an earnest Republican and took an active part in political affairs. He was a fiery abolitionist and served in the capacity of county commissioner for two terms. He was prominently connected with the affairs of the "underground railroad," by which agency many slaves found their way to freedom before the war. He was president of the First National Bank of Greensburg. Both Mr. Hamilton and his wife took active interest in all church work and charitable institutions. Mrs. Hamilton's main work was in her household and aiding poor and unfortunate people who came within the reach of her kindly care and Christian influence.

To William McCoy and Euphemie (Donnell) Hamilton were born five children: Enrie Jane, born on November 8, 1854, the wife of Mr. Fee; Grace Greenwood, November 20, 1858, died on January 16, 1898; Luther Donnell, at present one of the largest farmers in the county; Myrta Gay, February 18, 1865, married John M. Berry on December 26, 1893, and died at her Chicago home on March 19, 1897, and Mary Blanche, May 9, 1868, married George W. Lyons in December, 1900, and is now living in Greensburg.

Mrs. Edwin S. Fee, the eldest of the family, was educated at Oberlin College, and took special courses in the conservatory of music and was affiliated with the class of 1875. For two years she taught music in Berea College, and was teaching at the time she met Mr. Fee. After their marriage they began farming in this county. Today Mr. and Mrs. Fee own over nine hundred acres of land in three farms. They have a beautiful modern home in the town of Clarksburg, perhaps the finest residence in the county. Completed in the fall of 1906, it contains twenty-one rooms and is finished throughout with native hardwood and with hardwood floors. It is hot water heated and is lighted with natural gas. The rooms are all artistically decorated and a large open fireplace in the spacious living room is a most attractive and comfortable feature of this magnificent country home. It is painted cream and white and has French plate-glass windows and a large circular porch, which extends almost around the entire house, with the porte-cochere on the south side.

On this body of land there are four sets of farm buildings. Mr. Fee is an extensive cattle, mule and hog raiser, and a large feeder of Shorthorn cattle. He averages not less than one hundred and fifty head of cattle and twenty-five mules and two hundred head of hogs for market per year. Four men are employed by the year to aid in the work on these farms, their families living on these farms.

To Edwin S. and Enrie J. (Hamilton) Fee five children have been born, two sons and three daughters, all of whom after attending the high school at Clarksburg enjoyed the advantages of higher education. Burritt Hamilton, born on June 26, 1884, was educated at Berea College and is now a farmer and stockman; William Howard, July 4, 1886, attended Berea, Tarkio (Missouri) and Valparaiso (Indiana) College, and is farming near Kingston. Both sons own one hundred and sixty acres of land apiece, besides other interests. Mary E., February 24, 1889, is pursuing special courses of music in Berea College, DePauw University and Oberlin and Cincinnati conservatories. Nellie M., August 4, 1891, attended Monmouth College, Illinois, for three successive years in the liberal arts course, at the same time taking a course in vocal music at the conservatory. Bessie E., July 16, 1894, attended college a year each at Miami University, at Oxford, Ohio, Monmouth College and Bradley Polytechnic, at Peoria, specializing in music, domestic science and painting.

The family are members and regular attendants of the Clarksburg Presbyterian church, Mrs. Fee having been organist and leader of the choir for more than forty years, and is today still doing excellent service in that capacity. All the family live at the home in Clarksburg.

Edwin S. Fee is a progressive Republican, but is independent in his voting and thinking. He has proved a valuable citizen in this great county, and is a director and largest individual stockholder in the Clarksburg State Bank, and is a trustee of Lincoln Institute at Louisville, Kentucky, and prominent on temperance boards and affairs of community interest and betterment. Both Mr. Fee and his two sons are valuable factors in the community as farmers and men of judgment, prominent in corn and stock shows and farmers' institutes.

There is an old saying that blood will tell, and if we believe in this statement we must say that Mr. and Mrs. Fee, by their every thought, word and act, are fulfilling the noble desires and traditions of two families which have figured prominently in the public and religious life of two continents.

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

J. Minor Gaston was born at Sardinia, Decatur county, Indiana, on September 19, 1856, of excellent pioneer stock, the son of Francis M. and Margaret (Gray) Gaston, both natives of Butler county, Ohio, who came to this county in the year 1849, locating in Jackson township, in the village that at that time was known by the name of Maxwell, where Francis M. Gaston engaged in the general merchandise business. Upon opening his store in the village, Mr. Gaston gave a great sardine supper, free to all who would attend, as a means of advertising, in a day when newspaper advertising was not so much a factor in commercial enterprises as it is today. Needless to say, the sardine supper was attended by the entire countryside and the fame of the unique "spread" became enduring. About that time Maxwell attained the dignity of being made a postoffice, and, on account of there being another Maxwell postoffice in the state, it became necessary for the villagers to select another name for their town. In compliment to Mr. Gaston, and to perpetuate the fame of his sardine supper, the people unanimously agreed that the town should be called "Sardinia," and the postoffice department so ordered. And Sardinia it is to this day.

Francis M. Gaston was reared on a farm in Butler county, Ohio, not far from the city of Cincinnati, and there he married Margaret Gray, one of the belles of his home neighborhood. As stated above, the Gastons came to this county, locating at Sardinia, where Mr. Gaston operated a general store for five or six years, becoming one of the best known men in that entire section of the county. The success which attended his effort as a village storekeeper enabled him presently to purchase, an excellent farm of two hundred and forty acres in the neighborhood, and on this farm he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives, his death occurring in 1893 and hers in 1911. Mr. and Mrs. Gaston were among the most influential factors in the life of that community. They both were persons of strong moral fiber and were active in promoting all causes designed to advance the general good.

J. Minor Gaston's youth was spent in and near the village of Sardinia, his elementary education being received in the schools of that village. This schooling he supplemented by a course in the National Normal College, at Lebanon, Ohio, following which he went to the village of Westport, this county, where he engaged in the general merchandise business, continuing this form of commercial activity for four years. He also owned farm lands near Westport and gave these his direct personal attention. About the year 1905, Mr. Minor engaged in the banking business in Westport with J. S. Morris, who previously had opened a bank there, operating the same as a private bank. In 1912 Mr. Gaston sold his interest in the Westport bank and moved to Indianapolis, in which city he aided in the organization of the Marion County State Bank, being elected to the position of vice-president of the same, holding that position until 1914, in which year he was elected president of the bank, a position in which he is still serving. The other officers of the bank are Mr. Minor's son-in-law, Clarence C. Deupree, another Decatur county man, who is cashier, and John Duvall, vice-president.

With Mr. Gaston's and Mr. Deupree's connection with this bank, it is hardly necessary to say that all Decatur county people find a hearty welcome when they step into that popular financial institution while visiting the capital city.

In 1913 Mr. Gaston also helped organize the Beech Grove State Bank, at Beech Grove, a suburb of Indianapolis. While officially known as the assistant cashier of this latter institution, Mr. Gaston is practically manager of the same, devoting nearly all of his time to this bank, being the only member of the management who does so. He has disposed of most of his holdings in this county, though still retaining some property at Westpoint, which place, through long association, he still likes to think of as home.

In 1885 J. Minor Gaston was united in marriage to Lottie Beesley, who was born at Brewersville, Indiana, daughter of Robert and Charlotte (Brumley) Beesley, the latter of whom is a native of England, having been brought to this country by her parents in her girlhood, and the former of whom was born in this country, of English parents, his birth having occurred shortly after his parents arrived in America. Robert Beesley and Charlotte Brumley were married at Brookville, this state, later moving to Jennings county, this state, where their daughter, Lottie, was reared on a farm. Mr. and Mr. Beesley remained on the Jennings county farm until the year 1910, when they moved to Sardinia, this county, where their old age is being spent in quiet and pleasant retirement. During his residence in Westport Mr. Gaston was accounted one of the most forceful and energetic men thereabout and much credit is given him by the people of that village for the part he took in public affairs there. In 1906 he was the president of the town board. During the years since its establishment as a hamlet, the town had grown up around the old cemetery, creating a situation that was very distasteful to many of the townspeople. Mr. Gaston promoted a movement for the location of a new cemetery, well outside the town limits. An ordinance to this effect was adopted by the town board and bonds were offered for sale. For some reason, however, these village bonds would not sell. Upon consulting an attorney, Mr. Gaston found that he was not barred from being a buyer of the bonds, even though a member of the board which authorized their issue, and he purchased the entire issue on his individual responsibility, thus insuring to the village the location of the cemetery at the point most popularly favored by the people thereabout. Though the action in moving the cemetery for a time aroused some opposition in the neighborhood, some desiring to retain the time-honored burial ground, that opposition long since has vanished, all now agreeing upon the desirability of the change. Westport cemetery, the new burial ground, is a beautiful plot, a credit to the town, and the townspeople are proud of it. The first interment in the new Westport cemetery was that of the body of Christopher Stott, who, at the time of his death, was the oldest man in Sand Creek township.

To J. Minor and Lottie (Beesley) Gaston one child has been born, a daughter, Stella Edith, who was born and reared on the same farm as was her father. On October 20, 1910, Stella Edith Gaston was united in marriage to Clarence C. Deupree, son of Thomas M. and Laura V. (Pritchard) Deupree, a member of one of the old families of this section of the state, who was born at Westport, this county, on January 8, 1888, and to this union there has been born one child, a son, Robert Gaston. Mr. Deupree is cashier of the Marion County State Bank at Indianapolis, and a biographical sketch of him with a genealogy of his family, is presented elsewhere in this volume.

Mr. and Mrs. Gaston are members of the First Baptist church at Indianapolis and are earnest in good works, the same kindly influence they exerted for so many years during the time of their residence in this county having been extended to their new field of labor in the state capital, where they have made many friends and are held in the highest esteem by all who know them.

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

Born on July 26, 1838, Isaac H. Taylor passed away quietly on January 21, 1903, a few months after moving to Greensburg, Indiana. Mr. Taylor first settled on a farm near Horan, Indiana, which he later sold and then moved to a farm near Gaynorsville, on which he lived until his removal to Greensburg. This latter farm consisted of one hundred and sixty acres and, due to Mr. Taylor's prodigious toil, it was brought up to a high state of cultivation.

The late Isaac W. Taylor was twice married, the first time to Mary E. Miller, November 18, 1860. She died on November 30, 1863, and he married, secondly, March 9, 1865, Emily A. McConnell, who was born March 8, 1841, in Decatur county, the daughter of Archibald and Emily (Burk) McConnell, natives of Kentucky and early settlers in Decatur county. Of their family of seven children, only one, Mrs. Taylor, is now living. The parents died in 1851, when Mrs. Taylor was only ten years old. Her mother was the daughter of John Burk, a native of Kentucky, who built Burk's Chapel. The six deceased children, brothers and sisters of Mrs. Taylor, were: Elizabeth, Patsy Jane, John Burk, Archibald, Nancy and Chesley. Of the children born to Isaac H. and Emily A. (McConnell) Taylor, three are deceased and four are still living: Emma, born on July 18, 1866, is the wife of Ira Scripture and lives at Moores Hill; George died in infancy; John, October 10, 1867, married Mollie S. Jackson on December 29, 1895, and lives in Henry county; James, October 2, 1871, lives on a farm near Sandusky, Decatur county; Mary died in infancy; Gertrude, October 2, 1875, died December 31, 1893, and Hugh, February 2, 1879, living on a farm two miles north of Greensburg, married Otie Fiscus.

Of the late Isaac H. Taylor it may be said that he was one of the best men in all Decatur county, a man whose heart was pure, whose motives sincere and aboveboard, and whose will was centered on any means which might be taken to uplift his neighbors or his fellows. During his residence in the country, he and his wife were loyal and faithful members of Burk's Chapel of the Methodist Episcopal church, a building which had been originally erected by Mrs. Taylor's maternal grandfather. Faithful in all of the duties of life, Isaac H. Taylor well deserved the confidence of his fellowmen. This confidence, so freely bestowed upon him, was the result of true merit.

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

R. Ray Hamilton was born on April 8, 1876, the son of William Brutus and Catherine (Cunningham) Hamilton, the former of whom was born in 1848 and died on September 17, 1903, and the latter of whom was born in Warren county, Ohio, in 1849 and died in February, 1905. William Brutus Hamilton was one of two sons born to William Warder Hamilton and wife. Cassius, the other son, is a farmer living near Greensburg and is well known throughout the county. Mrs. Catherine Hamilton . was a well-educated, intelligent and refined woman, who, after coming to Decatur county from Ohio, taught school for several years until her marriage to William Brutus Hamilton. They had four children: William Cassius, who is a coal dealer in Indianapolis; Florine, the wife of Elmer Roland, formerly of Columbus, Indiana, who has one child, Kathryn; Richard Ray, the subject of this sketch, and Harry Warder, a well-known manufacturer of Indianapolis, who married Disney Bird, to which union three children were born, two now living and one deceased, William Warder, Helen Florine and Harry Cassius, the latter of whom died in 1914 at the age of three years.

R. Ray Hamilton received a splendid educational training for business. After completing the prescribed course in the public schools of Greensburg, being graduated from the high school, he was for some time a student in one of the business colleges at Indianapolis, where he was especially well prepared for business. For several years he was engaged in the stone business with his father-in-law, Ira J. Hollensbe. At the present time they are engaged in the manufacture of automobile radiators, the firm being known as the Take-Apart Radiator Company, the auto radiator being an invention controlled by the firm. This company has enjoyed an unusual success, due in a large measure to the business foresight of Mr. Hamilton. His exceptional business ability is not unusual, since his father, William Brutus Hamilton, was a very successful business man. Reared on a farm, his father was engaged for many years in the hardware business and later became a pioneer promoter of telephone enterprises, in association with the Bell Telephone Company. He was the manager of many telephone companies and at one time, in association with five other members of the family, owned the Hamilton Gas Company, a concern which was finally sold to the Muddyfork company. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church and he was politically identified with the Democratic party.

On June 8, 1898, R. Ray Hamilton was married to Myrtle Hollensbe, the daughter of Ira J. Hollensbe, for many years a well-known manufacturer of Decatur county, and to this union three children have been born: Ira Brutus, born on September 4, 1899; Richard Ray, July 13, 1901, and William Hollensbe, November 5, 1909.

Mr. Hamilton is a Democrat and is at present a member of the Greensburg board of education. He was a member of the board at the time the new high school building was erected. Fraternally, he is a member of the Knights of Pythias and of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton are active members of the Presbyterian church at Greensburg.

Not only has R. Ray Hamilton made a gratifying success in business, but his success has not been won by any sacrifice of principle or yielding up of the respect of those with whom he has had dealings. As a citizen, he has been especially active in educational affairs and is entitled to no small part of the credit for the high standard of the Greensburg schools today.

Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton are socially popular in Greensburg and are among the most hospitable entertainers in the city.

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