DAVID M. BLACKAMORE.
No business is of more importance economically to the farmers of this country than the elevator and warehouse business, to which is sold the most important products of the farm. Within recent years there has been a widespread agitation not only against the railroads which carry the farmers' grain to distant markets, but in many instances, against the local elevator. Criticism or censure has centered in two distinct allegations, first, that the farmers were not provided with sufficient facilities to market their grain, and second, that a combination existed among the elevator men to beat down prices and control the visible supply of the leading cereals which come from the farm. Perhaps some of the criticism has been justified, but one of the troubles of the grain business has been that the men engaged in it were incapable of grasping the farmer's point of view, or of appreciating his demands for a free market. When David M. Blackamore purchased the McCoy elevator in 1911, he brought to the business here in Greensburg the farmer's point of view, as well as an equal appreciation of the elevator operator's viewpoint. During the past five seasons the business of this elevator has grown enormously, and the increase is due, no doubt, to the fact that Mr. Blackamore pays for the farmers' product a price that is equal or greater than the price paid anywhere in Decatur county. Popular as he is with the patrons of his business, larger and larger increases may be expected in the future.

David M. Blackamore, now a well-known business man of Greensburg, but formerly a farmer of the county, was born on August 30, 1874, one mile west of Greensburg, the son of David F. and Lucetta (Sayler) Blackamore, the former of whom was born on April 6, 1823, at Shelbyville, Kentucky, and who died on October 27, 1885, and the latter of whom was born on November 15, 1838, in Ripley county, Indiana. Mrs. Lucetta Blackamore is still living, and makes her home with her son, David M., the subject of this review. She is a daughter of Lewis Sayler, an early settler of Ripley county. David F. Blackamore was a son of John O. Blackamore, a pioneer of Decatur county, who settled here in 1838, one mile west of Greensburg, on the farm where David M. was born. He was a sturdy, vigorous man when in his prime, a man of great mental power, strong convictions and determined will. He was very successful as a pioneer farmer in this county, and at the time of his death was rated as being worth twenty thousand dollars, all of which he had personally hewed out of the wilderness. David F. Blackamore, his son, lived on the farm settled by the father until February, 1875, when he removed to Clay township, and purchased a farm in that vicinity. This was known as the Joel Bennett farm, which he sold in the spring of 1880 to Ralph McGee. Subsequently, he purchased the Joseph Graham farm of two hundred and forty acres in Fugit township, and lived on this farm the remainder of his life.

David F. and Lucetta (Sayler) Blackamore were the parents of five children, two of whom, Will, the eldest, and Eliza, the third in order of birth, are deceased. The latter died at the age of eight years. The living children are James F., John O. and David M. James F. lives southeast of Greensburg, on what is known as the White farm. John O. lives north of Kingston, on a farm.

David M. Blackamore lived on the old home farm in Fugit township until the spring of 1900, having sold the farm in the fall of 1899, to H. Springmier. In the meantime he had become the owner of one hundred acres of the old farm. Later, in 1900, he purchased one hundred acres of land, one mile west and one mile south of the original farm, known as the old John I. Throp farm. He improved this place and held it until 1910, when he sold out and removed to Greensburg, engaging in the grain business. He now owns one hundred and sixty acres, the old Grant farm, in Adams township, located three and one-half miles from the Greensburg court house, which farm he purchased in August, 1914. He is operating this farm from his home in Greensburg.

On March 15, 1911, Mr. Blackamore took over the elevator and grain business of R. A. McCoy. This plant has a capacity of twenty-five thousand bushels of wheat and six thousand bushels of corn, and its proprietor handles on an average thirty thousand bushels of wheat and twenty thousand bushels of corn annually. He also buys straw and hay, and has a wholesale and retail business in these commodities. He buys and sells farming seeds, oats, timothy, clover, alfalfa, corn and retails coal and feed. Four men are employed at the mill. Feed is ground for local consumption, but Mr. Blackamore is not able to grind enough for the local market, and purchases great quantities in other markets. He now has one of the best-equipped plants in Decatur county.

On June 17, 1896, David M. Blackamore was married to Harriet Elizabeth Butler, the daughter of John Butler, of Richland township, Rush county, Indiana. Of the five children born to this union, three, all of whom are sons, are still living, Merwin Adelbert, Loren Jewel and Delmar Butler, all of whom are students in the local schools. Two children died in infancy.

For many years Mr. Blackamore has been prominent in Republican politics in Decatur county. In 1912 he was the Republican candidate for representative in the Indiana General Assembly, and was defeated by sixty-two votes, at a time when the defection caused by the Progressive party was a very severe handicap. He made a splendid race in the face of great odds, holding the normal Republican vote and receiving many Democratic votes. He cut down the Progressive vote by thirty-two and received three hundred and seventy-eight Democratic votes in the county, from five to fifteen votes in every precinct.

Mr. Blackamore and family are earnest and faithful members of the Presbyterian church, of which they are regular attendants and to the support of which they are liberal contributors. Fraternally, Mr. Blackamore is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and the Knights of Pythias.

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


JOHN F. RUSSELL.
One of the most thriving and extensive industries of Decatur county is the Garland Milling Company of Greensburg, of which John F. Russell, a prominent and influential citizen of the fourth congressional district, is president and general manager. His long connection with one of Greensburg's leading industries, his prominence in the official life of Greensburg and Decatur county, his long service as one of the leaders of the Democratic party in Greensburg and Decatur county, have combined to make him one of the best known men of this section of the state. Like so many of the prosperous and successful business men of the present generation, he has been the architect of his own fortunes. It is no small step from a delivery wagon which he drove at the beginning of his career, to managerial position and the presidency of a large milling company, one which has a trade in all of the principal countries of the globe, yet these two positions describe the progress of John F. Russell during an active working period of about twenty-five years.

Born on February 14, 1870, at Lawrenceburg, Dearborn county, Indiana, and the son of Richard C. and Catherine (McCullough) Russell, John F. Russell has enjoyed a phenomenal rise in life. His father, a native of Ireland, came to America when two years of age, in 1847, and after locating in Cincinnati, was married, in 1869, and became superintendent of telegraph construction for the Big Four railway. Eventually, he moved to Greensburg in 1879, and had charge of the building of the Michigan division of the Big Four, and the time of his death was an official of this railroad. He was born in 1845, and died in 1894, the son of John F. Russell, Sr. Mrs. Catherine (McCullough) Russell is the daughter of John McCullough, a native of Scotland, who married Margaret King, and who, after their marriage, settled in Galveston, Texas, where the mother of John F. Russell was born. The McCullough family removed to Cincinnati in 1852, where Mrs. Russell's father engaged in business as a wholesale commission merchant. After the death of her husband, in 1894, she married the second time to Thomas Hartman, who is deceased, and she now resides in Greensburg, Indiana. Of the eight children born to Richard C. and Catherine (McCullough) Russell, John F. was the eldest; Katie is deceased; Elsie is the wife of Dan S. Perry, the cashier of the Greensburg National Bank; Clara is deceased; Richard E. is a clerk in the traffic department of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroad at Chicago; Clem is employed by the American Express Company at Chicago; Marie is the wife of Stanton Guthrie, an extensive news dealer, and Lillian lives at home.

Educated in the public schools of Greensburg, Indiana, John F. Russell was graduated from the high school with the class of 1888, in the meantime, however, during 1886 and 1887, having worked on railroad construction, and during his vacations having learned the lineman's trade. During 1888 and 1889 he was engaged in driving a delivery wagon for a grocery. Two years later he was taken into the business of Doles & Russell, a grocery firm of this city. During 1896 and 1898 Mr. Russell was engaged in publishing the New Era, of which he was the business manager. In 1898 he entered the employ of the Garland Milling Company, and became finally a stockholder, was elected secretary and treasurer, then vice-president, and finally president of the company.

The Garland Milling Company was organized in 1898, and makes a specialty of manufacturing wheat flour from soft winter wheat. Its best known brands are "Pinnacle," "Old Times" and "Defender." With an output of five hundred barrels a day, it exports its products to all the leading markets of the world, and especially the markets of Great Britain and Ireland, South America, the Scandinavian Peninsula, and France. Drawing its raw products from Franklin, Shelby and other counties within a radius of seventy-five miles, the company employs twenty-eight men, and is one of the most thriving industries of this city. The capital of the concern is fifty thousand dollars. The vice-president is George B. Ayers, and the secretary-treasurer is George P. Shoemaker. Mr. Russell's knowledge and his popularity among his fellows, are well attested by the fact that he served two terms as president of the Indiana Millers' Association, and is at present a director of this organization.

The prominence of John F. Russell as one of the leading Democrats of Decatur county is proved by his long-time connection with the Democratic organization, Mr. Russell having served as secretary for eight years and as treasurer for eight years of the Democratic city and county committees. Altogether he has served in various capacities connected with these committees for a period of twenty years, having been elected in 1911 by the Greensburg city council as a member of the board of education and re-elected in 1914, and served until his appointment by Governor Ralston as a member of the board of trustees of the southeastern hospital for the insane, at Madison, a board of which he is now secretary. During his administration the new high school building at Greensburg, which cost one hundred thousand dollars, was erected. It is one of the very finest in the state of Indiana, and the people of Greensburg owe as much to Mr. Russell as to any other man, for the successful completion of this splendid building. During the Democratic state convention of 1914, Mr. Russell represented the fourth congressional district on the resolution committee. He also served two terms as a director and as president of the local associated charities, and was president of the commercial club for one term, an organization in which he is now a director. Mr. Russell is also a stockholder, vice-president and director of the Greensburg Weekly Democrat and Greensburg Evening Times.

On November 22, 1891, John F. Russell was married to Ella E. Doles, daughter of Henry Doles, who, at the time of his death, in 1910, was the oldest native-born resident of Greensburg, having been born in 1822, and being at the time of his death eighty-eight years old. To Mr. and Mrs. Russell have been born two children, John Francis, familiarly known as Frank, Jr., graduated from the Greensburg high school and has been a student at Indiana State and Purdue Universities; the other child, Clara Margaret, died in 1910.

With his many duties, private and public, Mr. Russell is also devoted to the comfort and happiness of his home and to his wife and only son. The Russell family are favorites in Greensburg and Decatur county, and Mr. Russell, in his long career, has won a host of friends by his genial personal relations with the public and his cordial manner. In many respects he has displayed those sturdy traits of character common to the Scottish and Irish people, from whom he is sprung. His greatest asset in this community, however, is not so much the business he has conducted with such conspicuous success, or the position which he has held, as the good name he enjoys among his fellows.

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


EDEN T. RILEY, M. D.
Elsewhere in this volume, in connection with the biography of the late Hon. Zachariah T. Riley, the genealogy of the Riley family in this county is presented at some length, the Colonial and Revolutionary ancestry of the family being very clearly set out. In the presentation at this point of the biography of Dr. Eden T. Riley, one of Greensburg's best-known and most prominent physicians, the genealogical feature of the same therefore may properly be omitted, the reader being referred to the sketch above referred to for interesting information along that line, it being sufficient here to say that Doctor Riley is a member of one of the oldest and most prominent families in Decatur county, a family that has performed valuable service in the development of the best interests of the local commonwealth.

Eden T. Riley, of Greensburg, Indiana, was born on a farm in Clinton township, this county, June 23, 1868, the son of Zachariah Thompson and Mary Jane (Anderson) Riley, prominent residents of the Springhill neighborhood, the former of whom was a one-time representative in the Indiana General Assembly from this district, genealogies of both of whom the reader may find presented under another heading in this volume, and the latter of whom is still living at her home in Greensburg, this county, enjoying the evening of her life at the advanced age of eighty years. There were four children born to Z. T. and Mary J. (Anderson) Riley, Mary Libbie, who died at the tender age of sixteen years; Vessie, who is living at home with her aged mother; Dr. Eden T., the immediate subject of this sketch, and one who died in infancy.

Eden T. Riley was reared on the home farm in Clinton township, his preliminary schooling being received in the local schools of that township, supplemented by a course in the high school at Greensburg, from which latter school he was graduated. He then took a course in Butler University, at Indianapolis, Indiana, after which he entered Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati, being graduated from that excellent institution with the class of 1895. Following his graduation, Doctor Riley located at Montpelier, in Blackford county, this state, where he remained for two years engaged in the practice of his profession. It the end of this time he returned to Decatur county, locating at Greensburg, in which city he ever since has been very successfully engaged in practice, having made for himself a name as a practitioner that is known far beyond the precincts of the county. He served for six years as secretary of the city board of health at Greensburg and for two years as secretary of the Decatur county board of health, his services in that connection having met with the most appreciative approbation of the general public; his interest in the public-health service having been very largely instrumental in bringing to its present high state of efficiency the department of health in this county and in the city of Greensburg.

In 1902 Dr. Eden T. Riley was united in marriage to Lottie McVey, who was born in Columbus, Ohio, daughter of C. P. McVey, and he and Mrs. Riley take a prominent part in the social affairs of their home city and are deeply interested in all the good works of the community. They are very popular among their many friends and are held in the highest esteem by all, being regarded as among the leaders in all movements having to do with the advancement of the best interests of this part of the state.

Doctor Riley is a prominent Mason, as were his father and grandfather before him, his grandfather, W. W. Riley, having been a charter member of the Greensburg lodge of that order and for many years master of the lodge at Adams, this county. Doctor Riley's membership is in Greensburg Lodge No. 136, Free and Accepted Masons, in which for four terms he has served as master, there being few Masons in this section of the state who display a more active interest in Masonic affairs than he. Doctor Riley has been high priest of the chapter, and past worthy patron of Eastern Star. He has had ten years official connection with Masonic bodies. He is a highly-cultured gentleman, genial and affable and a prime favorite hereabout. His extensive practice takes him to all parts of the county, and the number of his friends is limited only by the number of his acquaintances, all who know him holding him in the highest respect and esteem.

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


GEORGE E. ERDMANN
George E. Erdmann, a well-known citizen of Decatur county, Indiana, and the postmaster at Greensburg, Indiana, was born, March 1, 1867, in Gilford, Dearborn county, Indiana, the son of Charles E. and Ellen Morris Erdmann, the former of whom was born in Switzerland in 1838, and the latter of whom was born in Ireland, March 17, 1836. Both the Erdmann and the Morris families emigrated to the United States about 1850, and settled in Cincinnati, where Charles E. Erdmann and Ellen Morris were married. They had four children: Charles J., a bond broker, of Greensburg; William W. and Frederick, who are engaged in the cigar business, and George E., the subject of this sketch.

The Erdmann family removed to Greensburg, Indiana, in March, 1868, when George E. was scarcely a year old. Here he attended the public schools, and, after completing his education, was engaged in the manufacture of cigars with his father and brothers, until 1895, when he engaged in the real estate and insurance business. During his active business career in this city he built and repaired many of Greensburg's most splendid residences and business houses, especially one now occupied by the "Shoe Feller." Mr. Erdmann, from the time he engaged in the real estate and insurance business, enjoyed a satisfactory measure and was able to build up a large patronage in Decatur county.

For many years prominent in the councils of the Democratic party in Decatur county, he as served as a member of the Democratic County Central committee as acting treasurer and secretary; as acting chairman, and, finally, as chairman by election. During his career as one of the leaders in the Democratic party in this county he had very much to do with its successes and victories, and as a reward for faithful service to his party he was appointed postmaster of Greensburg on March 10, 1914, and is now serving in this capacity.

Mr. Erdmann was married, October 9, 1889, to Kate Hamon, who died on March 25, 1895, leaving three children, Morris, Holden and William. Some three years later, Mr. Erdmann was married to Carrie L. Livenguth, the marriage taking place, June 22, 1898. Two children were born to this union, Alva, who died in 1899, and Robert L., who is still living. Mr. and Mrs. Erdmann reside at 432 East Main street, Greensburg, Indiana, where they have a comfortable home and where they are surrounded with all the conveniences of life.

A well-known citizen of this county, George E. Erdmann has won the confidence of the people and has worthily discharged the duties of every position of responsibility and trust bestowed upon him. He is a man of engaging personality, affable, generous, broad-minded and liberal in his views.

He is a member of the Commercial Club since its organization, and was secretary for four years. He is also a member and director of the associated charities, and for many years has been affiliated to Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

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


JOHN J. FOLEY.
In the memorial literature of Decatur county, no name is more worthy of honorable mention in these pages than that which the reader notes above. Mr. Foley, a one-time well-known and wealthy grain dealer of the city of Greensburg and one of the most progressive and enterprising farmers of Decatur county, was the son of the late Hon. James Bradford Foley, one of the, most noted men which this section of the state ever produced, and in all things lived worthy of the good name which had been bequeathed to him. Reared on a farm and following the vocation of farming, until he had substantially established himself in a financial way, John J. Foley left the farm and engaged in the grain business in Greensburg, becoming the leading grain dealer of that city, a business which he followed with much success until he was ready to retire from active pursuits, after which he again took charge of his farm, but never left the city of Greensburg after locating there. At his death there was much mourning, for he was a man who made and retained friends as few men are able to do and he was held in the sincerest affection throughout the whole county. His widow is living in pleasant retirement at her delightful home in Greensburg, located at 222 South Broadway, enjoying, in the evening of her life, the profoundest regard of all who know her.

John J. Foley was born on January 21, 1830, on a farm in Decatur county, Indiana, the son of Gen. James Bradford and Mary (Hackleman) Foley, the former of whom was born in Kentucky on October 18, 1807, and became one of the pioneer settlers and most prominent citizens of this county, being honored by his fellow citizens in this district by election to a seat in the Indiana state constitutional convention in 1850; honored by Governor Wright by the appointment to the post of brigadier-general of the Indiana state militia for the fourth district, and by the voters of this congressional district to a seat in the national House of Representatives in 1856. General Foley also had served this county as treasurer, being elected to that responsible office in 1841, and in that and all other offices to which he was called, performed the most faithful public service. General Foley died at his home in this county on December 5, 1886, honored and respected of all throughout this entire section of the state.

Gen. James B. Foley was twice married. On April 2, 1829, he was united in marriage to Martha Carter, of Mason county, Kentucky, who was born on February 25, 1810, and died on April 22, 1847, to which union there were born three children, Mrs. Mary Mansfield, who lives on Broadway, in the city of Greensburg, this county; Mrs. Mary Zoller, also of Greensburg, and Mrs. Elizabeth Payne, of Franklin, Indiana. On March 4, 1848, General Foley married, secondly, Mrs. Mary Hackleman, of this county, to which latter union there were born three children, John J., the immediate subject of this memorial sketch, Alexander A., and William O., of Connersville, Indiana. Mrs. Mary (Hackleman) Foley was born on January 21, 1830, and died on October 18, 1888.

John J. Foley was reared on the paternal farm in Washington township, this county, and received excellent schooling, the course in the public schools being supplemented by careful reading in his father's excellent private library. He was a great reader and one of the most devoted lovers of books in this county, being recognized as a person of very fine literary tastes. On January 13, 1853, Mr. Foley was united in marriage to Margaret J. Hillis and for ten year he and his wife resided on a farm in Washington township. At the end of that time they sold the farm and moved into the city of Greensburg, where, for years, Mr. Foley was successfully engaged in the business of buying and selling grain, becoming one of the most extensive dealers in grain in this part of the state, amassing quite a comfortable fortune in the pursuit of this business. Some years before his death, Mr. Foley retired from business and bought a fine farm of two hundred and forty acres on the Madison road, near Greensburg, which he took charge of until his death. Mr. Foley's death occurred on February 16, 1903, and there was since mourning among his friends at his passing, for he was a good man.

Mrs. Foley, widow of John J. Foley, was born on March 13, 1835, on a farm in this county, the daughter of John and Ann (Hazelrigg) Hillis, both of whom were natives of Kentucky, the former of whom was born on February 1, 1801, and died on May 6, 1876, and the latter of whom was born on May 23, 1811, and died on November 8, 1870. John Hillis was the son of William and Margaret (Wilson) Hillis, who were the parents of three sons and one daughter, William, John, who married Ann Hazelrigg; David, who married "Patsey" McConnell, and Jane, who married John Hazelrigg. The brothers and sisters of William Hillis were John, James, Ebenezer, who married Jane Lile; David, who married Sarah Burke; Matthew, Mrs. Nancy McConnell, Mrs. Cynthia Stevenson and Mrs. Jane Legerwood.

John Hillis and his wife came to this county in the early twenties of the last century, when Greensburg was a mere hamlet, and here they reared their family. Mrs. Foley well remembers when a log cabin served as a court house and jail for Decatur county, and she has been a witness of the marvelous development which has taken place in this section of the country since the time of her girlhood, a development to which she and her late husband were among the most active contributors in their day and generation.

To John and Margaret J. (Hillis) Foley two children were born, Edwin Wallace, born on February 18, 1854, died on September 8, 1867, and Anna Belle, born on November 18, 1855, died on August 21, 1868.

Though not a member of the same, Mr. Foley was an attendant of the services of the Christian church and was active in the good works of his community, an honest, honorable and upright man, who believed in doing his full duty in the observance of all the principles of good citizenship. He was a Democrat and took an earnest interest in the political affairs of the county, though not an office seeker. He was a member of the Greensburg lodge of Odd Fellows, which he joined on January 15, 1855, and in the affairs of which he ever took an active and interested part. In the development of the best interests of both city and county, Mr. Foley was an active worker and few men labored in this region in the past, are more rightly entitled to an honorable memorial in the hearts of the people than he.

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


CLARENCE FAY KERCHEVAL, M. D.
Clarence Fay Kercheval, now a well established physician of Greensburg, Indiana, who was born, October 18, 1872, in Rush county, Indiana, on a farm, is the son of J. Louis and Martha (Martin) Kercheval, the former of whom was born in 1846, Decatur county, and the latter of whom was born in 1848, Decatur county. J. Louis Kercheval was the son of William Kercheval, a native of Virginia, who was married in that state to Mary Parmore, and who, in 1840, came to Decatur county and settled in Adams township, where he was a farmer, blacksmith and wagon maker. His shop was located on the site of the Kammerling residence, the first door west of the Centenary church. He died in 1872, after having been twice married. William Kercheval had seven children: Courtney and Margaret, deceased; Louis, Oren, William and Mary, deceased, and Mabel, the wife of James Caskey. Louis Kercheval has been a farmer most of his life. In 1870 he moved to Rush county, but moved back to Decatur county arid settled in Adams township in 1873. He resided on the farm until 1914, when he removed to Greensburg, but he still looks after his farming interests. Mrs. Louis Kercheval, who, before her marriage, was Martha Martin, was born in Decatur county in 1848, and is the daughter of Dr. Matthew Martin, a native of Harrison county, Kentucky, and a practicing physician in Decatur county until his death of typhoid fever in 1856, at the age of thirty-five.

Of the three children born to Mr. and Mrs. Louis Kercheval, Albert lives in Indianapolis, Earl died at the age of one year, and Clarence Fay is the subject of this sketch.

After having been reared on the farm and living on the farm until he was twenty-one years of age, Clarence Fay Kercheval, who, in the meantime, had attended the district schools, was married upon reaching his majority. For several years he taught in the public schools of Decatur county, and later entered Illinois Medical College of Chicago, where, after paying his own expenses, he was graduated with the class of 1898. Doctor Kercheval began the practice of his profession at Harris City, in Decatur county, and after remaining one and one-half years, located at Greensburg. Here he has built up an excellent practice, and here he has won the confidence of the public to an unusual degree.

On September 24, 1893, Doctor Kercheval was married to Nellie McKee, of St. Paul, Indiana, and the daughter of John McKee, a merchant of that place. To this happy union, one son, John Marine, has been born. He is now fifteen years old, and a junior in the Greensburg high school. He is well known in educational circles of this city as an earnest student, and was able to do the first and second year of high school work in a single year. He is a young man of splendid attainments and a son of whom his parents are very proud.

A member of the Decatur County Medical Society and the Indiana State Medical Association, Doctor Kercheval is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, and the Loyal Order of Moose. Doctor and Mrs. Kercheval are active members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and both take a prominent part in the work of the church. Doctor Kercheval is not only an eminent physician of Decatur county, but he is likewise respected and honored as one of the most enterprising citizens of Greensburg.

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


WILLIAM STEWART SMITH.
Of the hundreds of young men who left home and friends at the outbreak of the Civil War, to serve their country and to assist in the preservation of the American union, no private soldier had a better record than William Stewart Smith, who served out three enlistments during this war. At the first call for volunteers, he enlisted on April 22, 1861, in the Beminstuffer Company, of Greensburg, and was with the Seventh Regiment, Indiana Volunteers, for three months. He then enlisted in the Seventeenth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and served eighteen months, and later in Wilder's Battery until the close of the war. The principal battles in which he was engaged were those of Cross Keys, Port Republic, Winchester, Harpers Ferry, Knoxville, and several engagements in the Atlantic campaign. At Harpers Ferry he was captured by the enemy and set free twenty-four hours later while on parade. After returning to Springfield, Illinois, he rejoined his regiment and proceeded south to Kentucky, and participated in the siege of Knoxville and Sherman's campaign to the sea as far as Resaca. At the close of the war, Mr. Smith returned to his Decatur county home and here took up the peaceful pursuits of life.

William Stewart Smith, a retired farmer of Washington township, and the owner of sixty-two acres of land in this township, was born on October 22, 1839, in Switzerland county, Indiana, the son of Simeon and Roxanna (Jayne) Smith, natives of Indiana, whose parents came from Ireland and settled in Switzerland county. Simeon Smith was the son of Walter Smith, a native of Ireland, and his wife was the daughter of Daniel Jayne, also of Ireland. In 1853 his parents moved from Switzerland to Ripley county and William Smith came with them. Upon the death of his mother, July 11, 1854, and the remarriage shortly afterwards of his father, William Smith left home. The father, who was born on January 29, 1812, and who was married the first time, April 4, 1829, died on June 14, 1886.

Simeon and Roxanna Smith had eleven children, of whom only one other besides William S., is living. The other living child is a daughter, Rosanna, the fifth born, who lives near Lebanon, Indiana. The eleven children, in the order of their birth, are as follow: Mrs. Jane Dilks, born on February 9, 1830, and died June 16, 1883, who married Isaac Dilks, July 18, 1849; Beniah, November 11, 1831, and died February 18, 1832; Cilicia, in November, 1832, and died May 16, 1859, who married Sylvester M. Rudycyla, in August, 1855; Celestia, January 19, 1835, and died on November 6, 1891, who married James A. Burton; Rosanna, April 14, 1837, who married John Williams, October, 1860; William S., the subject of this sketch; Marian D., February 28, 1842, and died on March 14, 1892; Maria E., September 28, 1844, and died on March 13, 1861; Mary Alice, January 20, 1848, and died August 4, 1908; Eunice Ellen, August 5, 1850, and died August 9, 1851, and Harriet Olive, November 4, 1853, and died on August 20, 1854. Simeon Smith married Laura M. Bowers and had one child born to this marriage, Dillard M., May 13, 1856, and died on August 21, 1908.

Shortly after the close of the Civil War, Mr. Smith was married, and some time afterwards lived at Smith's Crossing for three years. After this they moved to Boone county, Indiana, where they lived for three years and then moved to their present farm in Washington township, where they have lived ever since. For a period of eleven years, Mr. Smith was superintendent of the Greensburg gas and woolen works. He has always been known as a hard-working and industrious citizen, hut the active period of his career is now passed and Mr. Smith has at his disposal a substantial competence for these unproductive years.

On March 15, 1866, William S. Smith was married to Sarah C. Williams, who was born February 4, 1847, in Washington township, and who is the daughter of George Washington and Drusilla (Van Cleave) Williams, natives of Kentucky, the former of whom was born in 1812 and died in 1879, and the latter of whom was born in 1816 and died in May, 1897. George W. Williams came to Decatur county in 1830 with his father, John Williams, who had been a soldier in the War of 1812. Mrs. George Williams was the daughter of David Van Cleave, a pioneer settler in Decatur county. Of the nine children born to Mr. and Mrs. Smith, only two are living: Mary Drusilla, born on April 17, 1867, died in infancy; Charles I., May 25, 1868, also died in infancy; William M., October 21, 1869, who married Eugene Petus, and has one child, Marion Stewart; Julia Olive, March 10, 1871, and died on March 1, 1908, who married Charles E. St. John and left four children, Hazel Catherine, Elton Livingston, William Sherman and Nadine Lavina; Martha Rosanna, November 2, 1872, who died in infancy; one died in infancy unnamed; and Sarah Elizabeth, September 5, 1880, who married Monteville Johnson, of near Indianapolis, and has three sons, Ivan William, George Franklin and Ralph Smith. William M., the only living son of Mr. Smith, served in Company F, One Hundred and Sixty-first Volunteer Infantry, recruited at Richmond, Indiana, by General Wilder for service in the Spanish-American War. William M., who was the second youngest captain of this company, served throughout the war. He is at present an electrician living in the city of Cincinnati. William Sherman St. John, the grandson of Mr. Smith, married Blanche Farlow and has one child, Edna Marguerite.

Fraternally, Mr. Smith is a member of Pap Thomas Post No. 5, Grand Army of the Republic, at Greensburg. Since the organization of the Progressive party, in 1912, he has been identified with this party and is well-known throughout Decatur county as an ardent admirer of Colonel Roosevelt and of Senator Albert J. Beveridge. Religiously, Mr. and Mrs. Smith are members of the United Brethren church.

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


ANDREW M. WILLOUGHBY
Newspaper editors and publishers exert upon a community greater influence than any other institution. When a newspaper is well managed and well edited and when it seeks conscientiously to represent the best interests in the community where it circulates, there is no means by which the breadth and depth of its influence can be accurately measured. In Decatur county the Greensburg Daily and Weekly Review has exerted a profound influence, socially, religiously and commercially for many years. It has always stood faithfully and valiantly in support of the highest ideals of American citizenship and its high standard is due, in a large measure, to the forcefulness of Andrew M. Willoughby, former mayor of Greensburg, who has been connected with the paper for thirty years.

Andrew M. Willoughby, the editor of the Greensburg Daily and Weekly Review and the former Mayor of Greensburg, was born on April 1, 1857. Educated in the public schools, he began learning the printer's trade on August 17, 1874, when he was seventeen years old. After that he worked on metropolitan papers in the Central West in various capacities for a period of nine years, coming to Greensburg in 1883. Two years later he purchased an interest in the Review and has been continuously connected with this paper for thirty years. Mr. Willoughby is an able editor and a writer of rare force and ability. The Review is a Republican newspaper and in the Fourth Congressional District there is no paper which has more worthily upheld the ideals of the Republican party and which has fought harder for the success of its candidates than the Greensburg Review.

Mr. Willoughby is a Republican and was elected mayor of Greensburg in 1898 and served almost four years, during which time he looked honestly and sincerely after the interests of the city, endeavoring to uphold the patriotic traditions of its first citizenship and to promote its moral, civic and political welfare.

It was while serving as Mayor of the city that Mr. Willoughby opened a correspondence with Andrew Carnegie which resulted in the establishment of one of the handsomest public libraries in the state in Greensburg. He was a trustee of Decatur Lodge No. 103, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and a member of the committee which located the State I. O. O. F. Home in Greensburg, an institution of which not only Greensburg but the entire state of Indiana is proud.

He resigned as mayor in February, 1902, to become postmaster of Greensburg, which position he held until March, 1906. During his term as postmaster, Mr. Willoughby gave to Decatur county the excellent rural mail delivery service that it now enjoys, and in many other ways improved the postal service of the city and county. In 1900 Mr. Willoughby was chairman of the Republican county central committee, and succeeded in restoring the county to the Republican column after the slump to the Democrats in 1898. Mr. Willoughby has also served as deacon of the Presbyterian church for fifteen years, as secretary and president of the Indiana Republican Editorial Association and as a member of the library board for two terms. He is a charter member of Greensburg Lodge No. 148, Knights of Pythias, and of the Elks.

Mr. Willoughby has been twice married, the first time to Minnie E. Christy, daughter of the late Samuel Christy, cashier of the Citizens National Bank. To them was born one son, Raymond C., who is now a well-known newspaper man of Indianapolis. On February 12, 1895, Mrs. Willoughby died at Greeley, Colorado, and on November 22, 1898, Mr. Willoughby was married to Clara E. Hollowell, of Harrison, Ohio.

Not only in the realm of public life, where he has been prominent for more than a quarter of a century, is Andrew M. Willoughby admired and respected, but in the realm of private affairs, in the personal relations of life, he has won for himself an enviable position among the best people of this city and county. A worthy and capable editor, lie is also an honored and courageous citizen.

Click here for photo.

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


GEN. JAMES B. FOLEY.
The civic honors which were bestowed upon Gen. James Bradford Foley, during his long and useful life in Decatur county, and the high tribute which the people of this section of the state of Indiana continue lovingly to pay to his memory, must stand as an abiding earnest of his singular ability as a statesman and his eminent services to the public, in the various capacities to which his fellow citizens had called him. In his public service, General Foley played a dignified and forceful part; in his private life he was generous and large-hearted, greatly beloved of all who had the pleasure of an intimate acquaintance with him - a fine type of man, a useful citizen, who, in all things is fully entitled to have his name engraved high on the roll of Decatur county's great men. Though himself a leader of men, none was more willing to take even the most modest part in the service of the common weal, and, in all that he did, the good that might be done in behalf of the people, ever was uppermost in his mind. Beginning his service as county treasurer of Decatur county, then called to take his part in the framing of the basic law of Indiana in the constitutional convention of 1850, as a delegate from this district, to that historic convention; then given by the governor of the state command of the Fourth Brigade of the Indiana state militia; next sent to Congress by his admiring constituents in this district in 1856, declining a nomination to the same high honor in 1874; all the while regardful of the best interests of his home county in a moral, civic and commercial way, General Foley certainly did his part in the upbuilding of this community and did it well. Therefore, it is but fitting that in a historical and biographical work of this character, honorable tribute should be paid to his memory.

James Bradford Foley was born in Mason county, Kentucky, October 18, 1807, and died at his home near the city of Greensburg, in this county, December 5, 1886, in the ripe fulliness of a green old age, honored and beloved of all throughout this entire section of the state. His father died when James B. was seven years of age, leaving to his mother the task of rearing and supporting a family of seven small children. This brave pioneer mother, who was Mary, the daughter of Benjamin Bradford, superintendent of the arsenal at Harpers Ferry during the Revolutionary War, was stricken with blindness shortly after the death of her husband, and the boys of the Foley family very early began life as bread winners. At the age of sixteen, James B. Foley began as a "hand" on a flatboat plying the waters of the Mississippi, engaged in the New Orleans trade. Applying himself to the opportunities which thus were opened to his discerning and enterprising mind, he presently engaged in the river trade for himself, and, by the time he had reached the age of twenty-one, had accumulated a fortune of twenty thousand dollars; no insignificant achievement for one of his years in that day. On June 15, 1834, Mr. Foley abandoned the river trade and opened a dry-goods store in the growing village of Greensburg, the seat of government in this county. For two years he operated this store, meeting with much success in his commercia1 venture, and then, in the year 1837, sold the store and bought a farm two miles from the city of Greensburg, on which he made his residence until the year 1880, at which time he sold this farml and bought a residence one mile out of town, in which he spent the rest of his life. For a period ending with 1877, General Foley was engaged in the pork-packing business in Cincinnati and in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, doing for years an aggregate business amounting to as much as eighty thousand dollars a year.

During all this time, General Foley was taking an active part in the civic affairs of this section and there were few men in this part of the state whose lives proved more useful to the general welfare. He was ever interested in the advancement of the best interests of this community and gave himself unselfishly and ungrudgingly to the public service. In 1811 he was elected county treasurer of Decatur county, an office in which he performed good service. When the convention for the revision of the state constitution in 1850 was called, General Foley was elected as a delegate to that convention from this county and in the deliberations of that historic body, his counsel and advice, based upon his sound judgment ant1 excellent executive ability, proved of high value. In 1852 Governor Wright appointed General Foley to be brigadier-general of militia for the fourth district of Indiana and, in 1856, he was elected to serve this district in the lower house of Congress, a service which he performed with an eye single to the public good, largely extending his reputation as a statesman and a public man. In 1874 he was importuned by his party to accept a second nomination to Congress, but he declined the honor, his extensive business interests and the inexorable encroachment of years, necessitating his gradual, though reluctant, retirement from a measure of his former public activities.

On April 2, 1829, General Foley was united in marriage to Martha Carter, of Mason county, who was born on February 25, 1810, and died on April 22, 1847. On March 4, 1848, General Foley married, secondly, Mrs. Mary Hackleman, who was born on January 21, 1830, and died on October 18, 1888. To each of these unions three children were born, as follow: Mrs. Mary Mansfield, who lives at Greensburg, this county; Mrs. Mary Zoller, who also lives at Greensburg; Mrs. Elizabeth Payne, of Franklin, Indiana; John J., born on January 21, 1830, died on February 16, 1903, a memorial and biographical sketch of whom is presented elsewhere in this volume; Alexander A. and William O., of Connersville, Indiana.

General Foley was a liberal supporter of the Christian church at Greensburg and also was a generous contributor to Bethany College, Virginia, and Butler College at Indianapolis, and was likewise active in all local good works in and about Greensburg. He was a Democrat and was one of the strongest supporters of that party in this county and throughout this section of the state, his sage counsel ever being sought by the party managers of this district. His large business affairs made him one of the leaders also in the commercial and financial life of this section, while his strong moral and religious convictions made him also one of the most potent factors in the general uplift of the community - a very faithful public servant of whom it truly may be said he did well his part; faithful, devoted and true in all the relations of life.

Click here for photo.

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


ROBERT CASSIUS HAMILTON.
One of the pleasantest and most hospitable homes in Decatur county, is that of Robert Cassius Hamilton, one of the best-known farmers of Washington township, who is living on the farm, in the fine brick house erected by his father in 1863, and is active in the labors of the farm. His pleasant home is one of the landmarks in that part of the county and is a source of unbounded enjoyment to its genial owner, the well-kept lawn, driveway, evergreens and shrubbery testifying to the care with which the place is kept up. Cassius Hamilton is a member of the well-known Hamilton family of this county, of which further reference is made at other points in this biographical history, particular reference being made to the genealogy of the family in the biographical sketch relating to Chester Hamilton.

Robert Cassius Hamilton was born in Clinton township, Decatur county, Indiana, June 26, 1844, the son of William Warder and Isabelle Jane (Hamilton) Hamilton, both natives of Kentucky, the former of whom was born in April, 1821, died on January 22, 1907, and the latter of whom was born on February 7, 1820, and died on June 18, 1899. William Warder Hamilton was the son of William and Polly (Bernau) Hamilton, the former of Scottish and the latter of French descent, residents of Nicholas county, Kentucky. Col. William Hamilton was a soldier and drilled a company for service in the war of 1812. Isabella Jane Hamilton was a daughter of Robert and Polly (Henry) Hamilton, natives of Kentucky, both of whom died within three days of each other, at the age of fifty-two. To the union of William and Polly (Bernau) Hamilton were born five children: Cincinnatus, who died in Kentucky; Thomas George, William Warder and Samuel Robert, all of whom died in this county, and Mrs. Mary Menefee, who died in Missouri.

William W. Hamilton came to this county in 1823, when he was twenty-one years of age and spent the rest of his life here. He settled on a tract of sixty acres in Clinton township, his sole possessions at that time being a horse and saddle and fifteen dollars in cash. He prospered, his energy and initiative quickly making him one of the dominant factors in that part of the county, and gradually added to his farm lands until he presently was the owner of no less than two thousand acres of well-cultivated land in the county. In the very nature of things he took a prominent part in the affairs of this section of the state, his energy and fine executive ability giving him a place among the leaders of men and for many years was one of the directors of the state board of agriculture, part of which time he served as president of the board. He was widely known and his influence was more than local. He was one of the men most largely instrumental in securing the location of the old Vernon, Greensburg & Rushville railroad and the Greensburg & Hope railroad and assisted in building every church in Greensburg, even the Catholic church, although he was an Old School Presbyterian. He was singularly progressive in his business methods for that day and, in some things, might even have been looked upon as a "plunger," although it must be said for him that he invariably "made good" in his many financial transactions. There was no more popular man in the county than he in his day and he gained and held the warmest friendship of all his associates. Charitable to all, liberal-minded and kind-hearted, he was extremely well liked. In 1863 he moved to the farm on which his son, Cassius, now lives and, erecting a brick-kiln, burned the bricks which entered into the construction of the fine house which he built upon the place. In this home he spent the rest of his life and there his son, Cassius, now makes his home.

To William Warder and Isabella Jane Hamilton were born two sons, Robert Cassius and William Brutus. The latter died in 1905 in Greensburg, leaving four children, William Cassius Hamilton, of Indianapolis; Mrs. Mary Florine Roland, of Greensburg; Richard Ray Hamilton, of Greensburg, and Harry Warder Hamilton, of Indianapolis.

Cassius Hamilton received his elementary education in the district schools of his home neighborhood, supplementing the same with comprehensive courses in Hanover College and in Monmouth College. His father was a dealer in mules in an extensive way and when a young man Cassius was given practical direction of this branch of his business and has followed the business all his life, having been very successful. During the Civil War he indirectly supplied the government with large numbers of mules and for years was one of the heaviest shippers of this class of stock in the country. He gives his personal attention to the direction of affairs on his place. This farm consists of four hundred acres of highly-cultivated land, one of the best farms in the county.

On October 7, 1879, Robert Cassius Hamilton was united in marriage to Estelle Fenton, who was born in Wisconsin on May 23, 1856, the daughter of William Warren and Mary Eliza (Totten) Fenton, the former of whom was born in 1825 and died in 1906, and the latter of whom was born in 1826 and died in 1877. In 1859 the Fentons moved from the state of Wisconsin to Cincinnati. Mr. Fenton had been connected with large timber interests in Wisconsin and upon moving to Cincinnati, was connected with the Little Miami Railroad Company. In 1871 the family moved to Greensburg, but after Mrs. Fenton's death, Mr. Fenton moved to Eaton, Ohio, later returning to Greensburg, where he died. Mrs. Hamilton has two sisters, Mrs. Iva Wooden, of Chicago, and Mrs. Phillip Auer, of Chicago.

Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton are members of the Presbyterian church and Mr. Hamilton is a Democrat. They have many friends throughout Decatur county, all of whom hold them in the highest regard and their pleasant home in Washington township is the center of much hospitable entertainment.

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


Deb Murray