John H. Alexander was born on November 7, 1828, at Palestine, Illinois, and is the son of Dr. John C. and Nancy (Wilson) Alexander, natives of Kentucky and Virginia, respectively. The former, who was born in Montgomery county, Kentucky, on August 1, 1797, became a student at Transylvania University at Lexington, Kentucky, and began the practice of his profession with his old preceptor, Doctor Walker, of Mt. Sterling, when twenty years of age. Locating in Palestine, Illinois, in 1822, eleven years later he was appointed registrar of the land office at Danville, Illinois, and held that office until his death, August 7, 1841. A successful stump speaker, during General Jackson's two campaigns he traveled throughout the entire state of Illinois as a campaign orator and, as a reward for his services to the Democratic party, was elected and served three terms as joint representative from Crawford, Clark and Lawrence counties in the Illinois General Assembly. As a delegate to one of the Illinois state conventions, he introduced Stephen A. Douglas, as a speaker, when the convention was being held at Vandalia. In fact, Dr. John C. Alexander was a stanch friend of Mr. Douglas. Professionally, he was regarded as a very successful man. His wife, who was Nancy Wilson before her marriage, was born in Warding county, Virginia, on March 26, 1802, and died, January 24, 1884, at Clifty, Illinois, at the residence of her son, Dr. John H. She was the daughter of James Wilson, who was born in Hardin county, Virginia, in 1768, and who, on October 1, 1815, left Virginia for Ohio. At Brownstown, in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, he bought a flat-boat for one hundred dollars and sent his goods and family down the river by boat, he and his wife taking the six horses overland. Arriving in Hamilton county, the latter part of the month, where James had purchased a farm on a stream known as Dry run, they established a home. Mrs. Nancy Alexander's father, James Wilson, was the son of Moses Wilson, a native of the north of England, born near the Scottish line, who married Anna Blackburn. Their children were, Nancy, Mary Ann, Vastine, Benjamin, James Harvey, Elizabeth, Isaac Newton, Presley C., Jeretta and Marie. Dr. John C. Alexander and Nancy Wilson were married, August 27, 1822, and were the parents of seven children, Angeline, born on May 10, 1823, who married Rev. Erastus Thayer; John H., David Wesley, March 4, 1830, died in September, 1863; James Wilson, Jr., May 12, 1837, died on January 2, 1854; Nancy Jane, October 16, 1832, who married Jacob Harness; William Fethian and Guy Smith, twins, at Danville, Illinois, December 4, 1839. William F. died on October 7, 1847, and Guy Smith became a lawyer and, during the Civil War, was second lieutenant in Company F, Sixty-second Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry. Subsequently, he was promoted to first lieutenant, captain and major and was mustered out of the service as inspector-general, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, November 30, 1865. At this time he was not twenty-one years old.

Educated in the country schools of Illinois and at Danville, that state, after his father's death, Dr. John H. Alexander moved to Palestine, Illinois, where he attended the Parrish Academy and later the Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati. In these times the schools were very crude, especially the buildings in which they were housed. He crossed the plains to California in 1850, by mule team, during the gold fever and spent eight years in the West. Locating in Decatur county, July 7, 1858, for the practice of his profession, four years later, on September 27, 1862, he enlisted in the Twenty-seventh Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, under Col. Silas Colgrove, and was promoted to surgeon, July r 5, 1864, having been commissioned assistant surgeon, September 27, 1862. He was mustered out of service on November 4, 1864.

In December, 1860, Doctor Alexander was married to Mary Tarkington, who was born on February 25, 1834, in Greensburg, Indiana, a daughter of Rev. Joseph Tarkington, a well-known pioneer minister of the Methodist church. Mary Tarkington attended Mrs. Larabee's school for young ladies at Greencastle, Indiana, from 1848 to 1851, in which latter year she graduated. Mrs. Larabee was the wife of Prof. William Larabee of Asbury College, now DePauw University. She is an aunt of the well-known Indiana author, Booth Tarkington. Dr. and Mrs. Alexander have had two children, John T., who lives in Greensburg, and Joseph H., a traveling drug salesman of Springfield, Illinois. John T., who also is a traveling salesman, married Claudia Hill. Joseph H. married Myrilla Anderson and they have one child, Margaret June.

A practicing physician in Decatur county ever since the close of the Civil War, Doctor Alexander served fourteen years as secretary of the board of pension examiners. A Republican in politics, he served as secretary of the county board of health for over ten years. He was a member of the county and state medical societies and also a delegate to the American Medical Association in 1882. He was also in charge of the Odd Fellows' home for six and one-half years. Fraternally, he is a member of the Independent Order of Otld Fellows, having joined that order in 1874, and is a charter member of Milford Lodge. Doctor and Mrs. Alexander are prominent members of the R4ethodist Episcopal church at Greensburg, where the Doctor has lived in his present fine home since 1892.

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

Hugh Thomas McCracken was born on November 22, 1843, on the farm where he now lives, the son of John James and Sarah Ann McCracken, the former of whom was born on October 6, 1820, and who died in 1878. He was a son of James and Sally (Meek) McCracken, and was brought to Decatur county, Indiana, by the parents when three years old. James McCracken, who was born on November 6, 1787, in Kentucky, who married Sally Meek, born in August, 1784, settled on land in the neighborhood of his grandson's farm, was a tanner by trade and learned to write by marking on leather. An elder in the Social Reformed Presbyterian church, he was well known during his day and generation. He and his wife had seven children, Hugh T., born on December 19, 1810, died in infancy; Thomas, April 12, 1812, married Nancy Patton; Elizabeth, March 12, 1814, married Samuel L. Anderson; Martha, May 12, 1815, became the wife of John Kincaid; Sally Ann, September 26, 1817, married Thomas Meek, October 1, 1838. John J. was the father of Hugh Thomas McCracken; Adam R., May 30, 1824, and married Mary J. Rankin: March 13, 1851.

Reared on the pioneer farm of his father, John J. McCracken eventually settled on the farm and lived where James Maxwell now lives. He was widely known, especially as one of the foremost Democrats of Decatur county, and as a member of the Social Reformed Presbyterian church. John J. and Sarah Ann McCracken had ten children, William David died in 1913; Hugh Thomas is the subject of this sketch; Martha is the wife of Samuel Stewart, of Rushville, Indiana; Mary died in youth; Benjamin B. lives in Rush county; James, who was twice married, by his second marriage to Mary Spillman, had four children; Newton Jasper lives in Shelbyville; John Wilson and Gilbert Gordon live in Alabama; Mrs. Myrta Ann Foley lives in Greensburg.

Educational facilities were considerably limited during the boyhood and youth of Hugh Thomas McCracken, and his education was confined to a limited attendance at Springhill and Mt. Carmel schools. As soon as he was old enough, he assisted his father with the farm work on the old homestead farm and when he was married moved into the old house standing on his farm. By purchasing his sister's interest, he received eighty acres of his father's land, which by diligence and careful management and long and arduous toil, he has increased to two hundred and forty-seven acres. He now owns practically all of the old home place.

On October 27, 1864, Mr. McCracken was married to Martha L. Kincaid, who was born on May 24, 1841, in Fugit township, and who is the daughter of John and Priscilla (Alexander) Kincaid, natives of Kentucky. The latter, who was reared in Rush county, Indiana, was the daughter of John Alexander, who was born in 1813, and who died in April, 1895. It was a son of John Kincaid who entered the Kincaid land in 1821, and established a home in 1829. By his first marriage, John Kincaid had two children, Mrs. Martha L. McCracken, and Mary, deceased, the wife of David Martin, deceased; another child, John Alexander, born to this first marriage, had died in infancy. The mother dying in 1844, John Kincaid was married, a second time, to Nancy Alexander, sister of his first wife, who bore him seven children, John Andrew, deceased; Mrs. Priscilla Jane McCoy, of Fugit township; Rhoda Margaret, deceased; John Andrew, who died at the age of twenty-one; William Jasper, of near Springhill; Gilbert Gordon, who lives on the home place, and Cyrus, deceased.

To Mr. and Mrs. Hugh McCracken four children have been born, Cynthia Ann, the wife of Rufus Moore, who has four children, Lillian Ellen, Walter Thomas, Mary Ann; Ellen Moore married Thomas Kitchin, of Fugit township, and they have one son, John Robert; Sarah Helen married the Rev. Fred Schmunk, of Moorefield; Mary E. married Fern Power, who is now deceased, and who left one child, Ruth; Wilma Orta married James Maxwell, and lives on the old homestead in Fugit township; they have one son, William Thomas.

Politically, Mr. McCracken is a prominent leader in the councils of the Democratic party in Decatur county, and especially in Fugit township, where he lives. Mr. and Mrs. McCracken and family are members of the United Presbyterian church at Springhill.

The career of Hugh T. McCracken, it must be conceded, measures up well with the services of his distinguished ancestors, who were pioneers in this county, since he has, with somewhat better opportunities than were enjoyed by his forefathers, established a comfortable home, and reared a family of children to equally honorable and useful lives. From the standpoint of service the enterprising thrifty cultivation of his farm in Fugit township is sufficient to entitle him to honorable mention as a citizen of this great county.

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

Samuel L. Jackson, who was born on February 2, 1846, at Cincinnati, Ohio, is the son of William and Amelia (Hillman) Jackson, natives of Virginia and Maryland, respectively, the former of whom was born on October 13, 1797, and who died in 1869, and the latter of whom was born on January 31, 1805, and who died, March 6, 1882. They were married, July 19, 1823. Left an orphan at a tender age, William Jackson left his southern home, and made his way to Cincinnati, where he arrived in 1831. Here for a time as a protege of Nicholas Longworth I, he worked at the tailor trade and also engaged in teaming. While living in Cincinnati, he met with an accident in which he lost his left leg below the knee. One of his boyhood ambitions having been to own a farm, in 1846 he settled on a tract of land in Fugit township, where he purchased one hundred and sixty acres, and two years later sold it and moved to a farm near Milford. Here he prospered beyond any expectations of his boyhood, and beyond any dreams or fancies of his early life, reaching a position of influence in the community, and passing away, June, 1869, at the age of seventy-two, rich in experience and rich in possessions of this world's goods. Of the thirteen children born to William and Amelia (Hillman) Jackson, only one, Samuel L., the subject of this sketch, and the youngest child of the family, is now living. The children, in the order of their birth, are as follow: Mrs. Sarah Ann (Porter) Alden, born on February 20, 1825; James Henry, April 26, 1827; William Thomas, October 3, 1828; Rebecca Frances, April 9, 1830; Henry Jackson, February 11, 1832; Mary Elizabeth, October 3, 1832; Mrs. Christe Ann Woodward, June 30, 1835; Mrs. Amelia Priscilla Marlow, March 14, 1837; Mrs. Louisa Layton Clark, October 28, 1838; John White, April 7, 1840; Mrs. Mary Hester Porter, March 24, 1842; Henrietta, May 21, 1844, and Samuel Latta, February 2, 1846.

That Samuel L. Jackson's progress and prosperity as a farmer are just rewards of his generous and unselfish kindness to a mother and children of a deceased sister, cannot be denied. Educated in the country schools, he lived with his mother until forty pears old, and in 1886, the same year his sister, Mrs. Porter, died, he brought his mother and three sons of his departed sister to the farm, two miles west of Greensburg.

Later on in the same year, September 9, 1886, Mr. Jackson was married to Mary Hamilton, the daughter of Robert Marshall and Mary (Morgan) Hamilton, who was born on October 8, 1848, and who at the time of their marriage was two years her husband's junior. After his marriage, Mr. Jackson moved to the farm owned by Robert Marshall Hamilton, the old home place.

Robert Marshall Hamilton was born on November 17, 1811, and died on August 6, 1901. His wife, who, before her marriage, was Mary Morgan, was born in January, 1811, and died, February 3, 1884. They were married, September 26, 1834. He was the son of Robert Hamilton, who, in turn was the son of William Hamilton. Robert Marshall Hamilton, who was born in Kentucky, came to Decatur county, Indiana, when twelve years old and lived in Washington township all his life. During his life he erected a large brick house on the Clarksburg turnpike in Washington township, and it is this house which has since been remodeled, until it is now one of the most beautiful and attractive farm homes in Decatur county. Of the five children born to Robert Marshall and Mary (Morgan) Hamilton only three are now living, Charles C. and Gerard are deceased; Thomas Woodson, the eldest child, lives in Greensburg; Mrs. Sarah Rankin lives in Washington township; Mrs. Samuel L. Jackson is the other living child. A very energetic man, Robert Marshall Hamilton provided well for his family, educated his children and amassed a fortune, owning at the time of his death, thirteen hundred acres of land. First an Abolitionist, then a Republican and still later a Prohibitionist, he was a man of pronounced views. It is an interesting fact that his home was an important station of the underground railway, and that he sheltered many runaway slaves during his life, narrowly escaping trouble and damages on several occasions. A member of the Presbyterian church, in the latter part of his life he gave freely of his wealth to various educational institutions, and during his day and generation had, perhaps, more to do with the educational progress of this county than any other man.

To Mr. and Mrs. Samuel L. Jackson have been born three children, all of whom are living at home with their parents, Robert Hamilton, on January 29, 1889; Louise, November 29, 1892, and Amelia, February 12, 1894. These children attended the district schools and finished their school work in Purdue University and Oberlin College.

All the members of the Jackson family are identified with the Kingston Presbyterian church. Mrs. Jackson is a member of the Independent Club, and her daughters of the Department Club and of the Kingston Progress Club. Robert Hamilton, the only son, is a member of the Knights of Pythias. Mr. Jackson joined the Greensburg Lodge of Odd Fellows No. 103, when twenty-one years of age, and has been a member all his life. Formerly a Republican in politics, he identified himself with the new Progressive party at its formation and has been active in its councils in Decatur county. All the members of the Jackson family are well known and prominent socially in Greensburg and Decatur county. They are among the most hospitable citizens to be found anywhere in the county and well deserve the high socia1 regard and esteem bestowed upon them by the people of this county. Highly educated, cultured and refined, the Jackson family has added much to the wholesome community spirit and life of Washington township.

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

Thomas J. Kitchin, of Fugit township, was born on September 11, 1890, on the home place, and is a son of Frank Benjamin Kitchin. Thomas J. is a farmer, and is proud of his vocation, in which he takes the utmost interest. His education was obtained, first at the public schools of Kingston, after which he spent two years at the Greensburg high school, and later attended the Central Business College, at Indianapolis. He began farming on August 1, 1912, on the one hundred and sixty acres of land belonging to his father, which he has improved with a new dwelling house, and a fine barn. He is a Republican, and a member of the United Presbyterian church at Springhill.

Frank Benjamin Kitchin, father of subject, was a native of Decatur county, and lived there all his life, until his removal to Indianapolis. His present address is Indianapolis, where he is in the stock business. Thomas J. Kitchin was married on June 19, 1912, to Miss Lillian Ellen Moore, who was born in Fugit township. She is a daughter of Rufus and Anna (McCracken) Moore. Rufus Moore was born in Covington, Kentucky. He now lives in Fugit township. Mrs. Kitchin graduated from the Greensburg high schools in 1911, and attended Monmouth College at Monmouth, Illinois, for one year, at the end of which time she was married. Mr. and Mrs. Kitchin are members of the United Presbyterian church, where twelve families meet once a month for the purpose of discussing matters of general interest in the community in which they live. They have one son, John Robert Kitchin, born on April 30, 1913.

Rufus Sanford Moore was born on January 24, 1866, at Covington, Kentucky, and is a son of Joseph W. and Mary Ann (Stevens) Moore. He was employed, when quite young. in a tin shop at Clarksburg, and later in a bank at Delphi, Indiana. After his marriage, he farmed for fifteen years in Rush county, and then came to Decatur county, and now resides on the McCracken farm. His wife is a daughter of Hugh McCracken, an old resident of Fugit township. They were the parents of the following children: Lillian Ellen (Kitchin), born on February 11, 1891; Walter, who is now farming, and Mary Ann, who is at home.

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

In 1818 Joshua Cobb and family came down the Ohio river by boat, and, after remaining for two years in Dearborn county, on account of the dry seasons, came on to Decatur county, where only two houses could be seen from the farm he entered, to which place, in the spring of 1821, he brought his family. Here on the Michigan trail, in Marion township, Joshua Cobb pre-empted land, blazing his way through the forest from Napoleon in Ripley county. He put up a brick shack against a huge poplar log for his first home, and then felled logs and built a cabin. A large and vigorous man, he died in 1860. His wife, who was a Miss Crawford before her marriage, died in 1864. His eight children, Willard, Dyar, John, Percy, Elkenah, Mrs. Maria Christy, Helen and Mrs. Martha Terhune, are all deceased, the last named dying in Illinois.

When Dyar Cobb attained his majority he cleared a farm on the Michigan road, and there reared his family. The owner of three hundred acres of land, he was prominent during his day and generation, but declined official preferment. He was a member of the Universalist church and a Republican in politics, casting his first vote, however, for the Whig candidates in 1828. Early in life he had learned the brick-burning trade, and followed this trade occasionally. Of the twelve children born to Dyar and Elmira (Tremain) Cobb, all but four died in youth or infancy. Mrs. Nancy Hazelrigg, the eldest, died in 1905. Among the other children were: Mrs. O. C. Elder; Mrs. Martha Stewart, of Illinois; John, Nancy, Joshua, Harvey, Mary, Newton and Jasper.

At the age of sixteen years, Jasper Cobb enlisted in Company A, One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, in 1864, under Captain Joseph Drake and under Colonel Gavin, serving one hundred and twenty days. He enlisted, however, for only one hundred days. Mr. Cobb eventually came into possession of the old Cobb homestead of three hundred acres, but disposed of two hundred acres of the farm in 1906. He still has one hundred acres left. Until February 14, 1898, he was actively engaged in farming, and then removed to Greensburg.

In March, 1873, Jasper Cobb was married to Ann Eliza Montgomery. They had one child, Robert, who died at the age of four and one-half years. Mrs. Cobb, the daughter of John G. H. and Sarah (Shadrick) Montgomery, the former of whom was born on August 14, 1819, in Kentucky, a farmer by occupation, and one who was well educated and a natural genius. Mrs. Montgomery was born on May 8, 1813. In 1849 John G. H. Montgomery purchased a small farm, one and one-half miles southeast of Greensburg, and there established a home, increasing his acreage until he owned five farms. He is now deceased, having passed from this life in 1894. He and his wife reared a family of eight children. Of these children, Nancy Jane was born on November 1, 1840, married N. S. Potter, and died on April 8, 1870; Sarah E., January 25, 1842, who married Leonard McCune, died on March 5, 1874; Mary F., in 1844, married J. C. St. John, of Greensburg; Henry H., in 1846, was a soldier in the One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He lives in Zirich, Montana; Robert W., in 1848, died in Oregon on October 1, 1911; Ann Eliza married Mr. Cobb and is a talented and gracious woman; John Q., September 26, 1853, lives in Grants Pass, Oregon; George, in 1854, owns and operates a garage in Greensburg.

Of Mrs. Cobb's remote ancestry, it may be said that her great-grandfather, Hugh Montgomery, was born in 1760, in Ireland, and settled in Pennsylvania, and that he and his brother William were soldiers in the Revolutionary War. William was lost. A half-brother, George, also disappeared. Hugh Montgomery married Eva Hartman in 1784, a native of Germany. They had thirteen children, among whom were Mary, the wife of Alexander Ganst; Mrs. Elizabeth Thompson; Thomas; Henry; Margaret; William; Sallie, and Hugh, Jr., the grandfather of Mrs. Cobb, who was born on August 29, 1797. While on a visit to Kentucky, he fell in love with a distant cousin, Elizabeth Montgomery, and married her, October 14, 1818. They resided in Shelby county, Kentucky, until 1830, when they came to Indiana, settling two miles north of Greensburg. Here they purchased a farm one mile southeast of Greensburg. The wife died, December 4, 1859. When Hugh Montgomery was sixty-six years old he enlisted in the One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, but was refused admission in the army on account of his age. He died, April 22, 1872. His son, John G. H. Montgomery, the father of Mrs. Cobb, who married Sarah Shadrick, died in 1898.

Of Mrs. Cobb it may be said that she is a talented woman, and one who is well known in this section for her beautiful poem, the "Old Homestead." She also is the author of that portion of the Montgomery genealogy which deals especially with the Montgomerys of Decatur county, Indiana. Mr. Cobb is a Republican, a member of the Baptist church and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is also a member of Pap Thomas Post No. 5, Grand Army of the Republic, at Greensburg, Indiana. Mrs. Cobb is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Lone Tree Chapter, of which she has been active as a charter member and she was the second treasurer of the chapter.

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

This farrn was purchased by the late Thomas Duffey three years before his death. During his life, Thomas Duffey was one of the best-known farmers and stockmen of Decatur county. He was born on October 10, 1857, and died, September 23, 1907, having almost reached the half century mark. His parents, Patrick and Bridget Duffey, natives of Ireland, emigrated to Decatur county, and settled on a farm, their son being reared here and educated in the schools of Decatur county, especially in the Milhausen neighborhood. At one time Patrick Duffey kept a grocery in Cincinnati, but later removed from Cincinnati to the Milhausen neighborhood, two miles from Milhausen, where the late Thomas Duffey was reared and where he was married.

During his lifetime, Thomas Duffey owned several farms. He first purchased a farm of eighty acres in the Milhausen neighborhood, and after living there for eight years, removed to Milhausen and engaged in the live stock business for two years, when he moved to the McCoy farm, where he lived for eight years, finally purchasing the farm. He then bought the Hazelrigg property, near Greensburg, and lived there from 1898 until 1907, the time of his death. In cultivating his various farms and from the live stock business he was able to save considerable money and was regarded as a very successful man.

At the time of his death, the late Thomas Duffey left a widow and six children. His wife, Mrs. Anna (Koors) Duffey, to whom he was married, February 12, 1884, was born in Cincinnati on March 28, 1862, the daughter of Barney and Anna (Fernerding) Koors, natives of Germany. Mrs. Duffey's father, a cooper and mill-wright by trade, removed to Decatur county and settled in the Milhausen neighborhood in 1865, farming there for eight years. The mother died in 1873, and after her death, her husband operated a mill and a mercantile store in Milhausen, until the mill burned. He kept the store, however, until his death, December 20, 1907, when he was seventy-eight years old.

Of the six children left by Thomas Duffey at the time of his death, the Rev. Charles Duffey is the assistant pastor of St. Anthony's parish, at Indianapolis; Bernard, who was born on April 2, 1888, is managing the Prairie View farm; Alfred, October 25, 1890; Hilda, December 6, 1893, is at home with her mother; Clarence, February 12, 1896, died on June 18, 1909; Robert, the youngest child, January 2, 1900.

After removing to the Washington township farm in 1910, Mrs. Duffey and her sons erected a magnificent fine barn in 1911, and in 1914 they erected a modern silo. The Prairie View farm is one of the best to he found in Decatur county - the best, not only from the standpoint of its general appearance, but from the standpoint of the fertility of the soil. In 1914 the forty acres of corn raised on the farm produced two thousand bushels. Mrs. Duffey and her sons feed and sell seventy to one hundred and fifty head of hogs every year, and about a carload of cattle. Every bushel of grain raised on the farm is fed to live stock, and last year it was necessary to buy one thousand bushels to feed out the stock. One might search the length and breadth of Decatur county and still fail to find young men who are more progressive in their notions and methods of agriculture and more enterprising and thrifty than the sons of the late Thomas Duffey. At the time of his death, he was a member of the St. Mary's Catholic church, and Greensburg Council No. 1652, Knights of Columbus. In fact, the Duffey family are all members of the Catholic church, and loyal and devout in this faith.

With earnest purpose and a sense of the responsibility, Mrs. Duffey and her children have taken up and carried forward the work of the deceased husband and father, a man who, by his industry, energy and good management, was able to provide well for his widow and children. A man of most loving disposition, his memory is revered not only by the members of his immediate family, but by those who knew him as a successful farmer and stockman, and by those who had any relations with him in a business or social way. His passing was a distinct loss to the citizenship of this county.

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

The late Thomas H. Stevenson was born on August 11, 1854, the son of Thomas and Eliza (Abrams) Stevenson, and died on December 16, 1914. His father, the son of Scottish parents, lived and died in Dearborn county. In 1871 Thomas H. came to Greensburg as deputy internal revenue collector under the late Will Cumback, and held this position for eleven years, or until 1882, when he resigned to enter the produce commission business in Cincinnati with Gilette Stevenson, who was a former revenue collector. After being in Cincinnati for three years, he returned to Greensburg in 1885 and took charge of the Emmert Flouring Mill, relieving his father-in-law, the late John Emmert, whose health had failed. After being in charge of this mill until it changed owners, he engaged in the brokerage business, his own health having failed. In this latter business he was very successful and at this time his widow and son own the old Wooley farm in Decatur county, a farm which consists of one hundred and sixty acres of well-improved and highly productive land.

On January 13, 1879, Thomas H. Stevenson was married to Elizabeth Emmert, who was born on July 10, 1855, in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, and who is the daughter of John and Catherine (Seitz) Emmert, natives of Mannheim, Germany, and Alsace-Lorraine, respectively.

There were three eventful years in the career of John Emmert. In 1845 he came to America with his parents and located at Trenton, New Jersey, and eight years later, in 1853, he located in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, where he married Catherine Seitz and thirteen years later, in 1866, he moved to Greensburg, Indiana, where most of his fortune was acquired. During his life at Greensburg, he built and operated the Garland mills. He was an excellent miller and understood not only the business phase of milling, but the technical and manufacturing end as well. A Democrat in politics and for some time a councilman in Greensburg, John Emmert was an influential man in Decatur county, public-spirited, progressive, industrious and, in his later life, very wealthy. He was also prominent as a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Catherine Seitz had come to America with her parents when four years old in 1838, when they first located at Hamilton, Ohio, but her father, Christopher Seitz, later moved to Dearborn county, where he became a farmer. John Emmert died in 1882, his wife surviving him many years and passing away in 1909.

To Mr. and Mrs. Thomas H. Stevenson was born one son, Emmert C., who was born on May 21, 1891, and who was educated in the Greensburg public schools, the Greensburg high school and Purdue University at Lafayette. After graduating from the electrical engineering department of Purdue University, he returned to his home in Decatur county and is now manager of the home farm.

During his entire life, Mr. Stevenson was more or less actively identified with Republican politics in Decatur county and the fourth congressional district. During very late years, however, he was inclined toward the new Progressive party. In this section of the state, he was known as a farseeing political leader and manager, although he personally never sought office, but he looked after the interest of his party in this section of the state and it was well known by state leaders that his pledges of support and promises of services could be depended upon absolutely. A member of the Greensburg lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, he was very prominent in this organization, and if any man who has lived in Decatur county within recent years has followed the Golden Rule as a model for the relationship of life, it was the late Thomas H. Stevenson.

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

James A. Myers, who was born on July 22, 1847, on Sand creek, in a log cabin in the wilderness, is the son of William H. and Elizabeth M. (Annie) Myers, the former of whom was born on August 6, 1824, and who died, August 8, 1904, and the latter of whom was born on June 29, 1827, died May 1, 1900. Born in Kentucky, the late William H. Myers was a son of George and Margaret (Harmon) Myers, also natives of Kentucky, the former, who came to Decatur county about 1832, took up a tract of timber land on Sand Creek, and there cleared a place for a house and established a home. He died at the age of eighty-nine years. Reared in a pioneer settlement, the late William H. Myers lived with his father for many years after his marriage. In 1857 he sold the farm situated on Sand Creek and purchased the farm now known as the Davis homestead, near Horace, where he lived for several years, eventually selling out and removing to Kansas, where he lived for fifteen years. At the end of this period he returned to Decatur county and there died.

William H. and Elizabeth (Annis) Myers had ten children, two of whom are deceased. Of their children, James A. is the subject of this sketch; George M. lives in Sand Creek township; John Thomas, born on October 21, 1851, lives in Clay township, Decatur county; William R., July 24, 1854, died in infancy; Mrs. Alice B. Sanderson, July 21, 1857, died on September 11, 1897, near Forest Hill; Eliza L., February 21, 1859, lives in Webb City, Missouri; Harvey M., October 18, 1861; Merritt E., November 25, 1864, lives in Oklahoma; Mrs. Ida M. Johnson, September 11, 1867, lives in Indianapolis, as does her sister, Mrs. Nancy N. Berry, born on September 26, 1871.

Starting out in life for himself at the age of twenty-one, James A. Myers was married, October 21, 1868, to Martha E. Wynkoop, daughter of James and Barbara (Hedrick) Wynkoop, of Sand Creek township. Mrs. Myers was born on July 24, 1848, near Laurel, in Franklin county, Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Myers have had two children, Jennie F., who was born on November 3, 1869, married William S. Gartin, the son of Zack Gartin, October 22, 1899, and Effie B., October 31, 1877, married Norman Eubanks, of Greensburg, and they have one child, Gilbert Dale, aged nineteen.

Mr. and Mrs. Myers owned thirty-five acres of land in Clay township, where they lived until April, 1869 (after their marriage), when they removed to Sand Creek township and there lived until 1903. At that time they sold out and purchased a farm near Greensburg, comprising eighty acres of land, where they have now lived for twelve years.

A Democrat in politics, Mr. Myers comes from a long line of ancestors who have been prominent Democrats in the respective communities where they have lived. Although a Democrat in national and perhaps state politics, Mr. Myers is not a hide-bound partisan and votes independently in local affairs. He served two terms as justice of the peace of Sand Creek township. Mr. and Mrs. Myers are members of the Baptist church at Liberty. They are active workers in church affairs. Here in the neighborhood where they have lived these many years, they are highly respected citizens, honored for their quiet and unassuming manners, for their native intelligence and sympathetic interest in the welfare of the community as a whole. Mr. Myers is a man of sterling integrity, scrupulous in all the dealings of life, and well known in different parts of Decatur county.

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

Frank C. Stout, piano dealer and tuner, of Greensburg, Indiana, was born in that city, in June, 1878, the son of Wiley J. Stout. Subject was reared and educated in the public schools of Greensburg. In young manhood he studied medicine, thinking to follow that profession, but his artistic nature outweighed this desire and, about 1905, he began tuning pianos, and later opened salesrooms in Greensburg, where he handles a fine line of the French & Sons and Gusch & Geits pianos, in which he does a thriving business. His store is one of the most attractive of its kind in the city.

Wiley J. Stout was born in Decatur county and died about 1895. He was a son of Harvey P. Stout (see Stout genealogy in the sketch of John F. Robbins, elsewhere in this volume). At an early age, Wiley J. Stout learned the carpenter trade, in which he became very skillful, and at which he worked all his life. He was united in marriage to Octavia Lloyd, who is also deceased. Frank C. Stout is their only child now living. He is a strong advocate of the principles of the Progressive party, is an exceptional musician, and is especially proficient on the piano. His host of admiring friends, who have done their part in aiding him to build up his business, speaks well for his popularity.

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

The late James Carter McLaughlin, proprietor of Ash Grove stock farm in Washington township, Decatur county, Indiana, and later of the old homestead farm of three hundred acres, was born on January 27, 1831, in Decatur county, and passed away, January 4, 1894, the son of George and Sarah (Carter) McLaughlin, who were born and married in Mason county, Kentucky, and who, after their marriage, in 1827, came the same year to Decatur county, where they entered government land.

George and Sarah (Carter) McLaughlin, the former of whom was an intelligent and highly respected citizen, progressive in spirit and successful in business, were the parents of eight children, only four of whom grew to maturity. Of these children, James C. is the subject of this sketch; Mary Frances, deceased, was born on February 1, 1829, and married Zachariah T. Riley, April 13, 1853; Elizabeth Ann was the wife of Thomas M. Hamilton, deceased, who now lives on North East street, Greensburg, Indiana, and Casper Wooster died in the state of California.

The father of these children was an ardent Republican during his life. He spent his declining years at the home of his son, the late J. C. McLaughlin. The father was born on September 24, 1802, and died, October 29, 1885. His wife, Sarah (Carter) McLaughlin, was born on August 18, 1804, and died July 20, 1873. They were married, April 10, 1827.

After living at home on his father's farm and performing the work ordinarily falling to the lot of the average country boy during the earlier years of the history of this county, James Carter McLaughlin enlisted in 1861 in the Wilder battery, later the Independent battery, and served four years as a soldier in the Civil War. At the siege of Knoxville he was taken seriously ill and was unable to serve for some time. He was in many battles and sieges, including those at Somerset, Kentucky, and Harpers Ferry, where the battery was captured. James C. was later exchanged at Indianapolis. Afterward the battery saw active service in Kentucky and Tennessee, and was on the firing line until the close of the war.

Immediately after the close of the Civil War, Mr. McLaughlin was married, March 14, 1866, to Louisa Davidson, who was born on December 25, 1839, in Decatur county, Indiana, and who is the daughter of Isaac and Jennie (Miller) Davidson, natives of Nicholas county, Kentucky, and Monroe county, Virginia, respectively. Isaac Davidson, who was born in 1802, and who died in July, 1835, came to Decatur county, Indiana, when a young man, and worked for seven and one-half dollars a month. Coming here in 1827, he eventually owned a fine farm in Clinton township. Mrs. Jennie (Miller) Davidson, who was born in 1809, and who died in 1905 at the age of ninety-six years, was the daughter of John Miller, who came to Decatur county in 1814, and after settling near Clarksburg, was engaged in burning brick. He had come down the river on a flat-boat, and at the time he passed Cincinnati, it was a mere hamlet. His nearest neighbors at the time were seven miles away. Indians were very numerous in the country. At this time his daughter, Jennie Miller, was only five years old, and she had accompanied him to this county.

Isaac and Jennie (Miller) Davidson had eight children, Mary, who married Sol Sharp, died in 1860; John, in 1833, resides on a farm near Hartville, Kansas; Elizabeth, who was born in 1835, became the wife of Henry Bird, deceased, and resides on Hendricks street, Greensburg; Margaret, in 1837, married Thomas Draper, who died in 1910, in Kansas; Louise, the widow of the late James Carter McLaughlin; Jane, February 2, 1841, always lived with her mother on Walnut street; Rhoda died at the age of twelve years, and Taylor died in his youth.

To Mr. and Mrs. James Carter McLaughlin six children were born, all of whom are living, except one, Mary, who died at the age of thirty-eight years. The names of the children are as follow: Blanche, Orion D., Mary, Della, James Barton and Frances. Of these children, Blanche, a graduate of Indiana State University, lives on Lincoln street, Greensburg, Indiana; Orion D., a farmer, resides on East street. He owns three hundred and twenty acres of land; Della, a graduate of Purdue University, is the wife of W. H. Silver. They live at West Newton; James Barton, who lives on the old homestead, is a graduate of Purdue University, and married Margaret Miller. They have two children, James C. and William Graham; and Frances, a graduate of Purdue University, is the wife of S. W. Shirk, a well-known farmer of this county.

James Carter McLaughlin was a Republican, although he never took much interest in political affairs, while his good wife during her active life, was a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal church. As an enterprising man of business, a farmer and breeder, James Carter McLaughlin contributed materially to the progress and prosperity of Decatur county. He was a man necessarily of large vision, who could foresee large opportunities, and he possessed the executive skill, the capacity for details to carry out preconceived plans. He was the very soul of honor, loving and kind in the home, cordial and genial in all the relations of life, private or public.

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

William Smiley, was born in February, 1814, and migrated with his parents from Pennsylvania to Butler county, Ohio, where they settled on a farm on which he grew to manhood. He was married in Butler county and, in the year 1849, came to this county, locating on a farm in Clay township. He became very prosperous, in time coming to own hundreds of acres of choice land in this county. Beginning life in Decatur county with a few hundred dollars as his capital, he managed his affairs so wisely and so prudently that he became one of the wealthiest men in the county. To each of his children he gave farms, in addition to which his daughters received nice sums of money upon reaching eighteen years of age. Despite the fact that he continued giving away his property, he left an estate of about sixty thousand dollars, an evidence of his ability as a financier. Mr. Smiley had few advantages in his youth and was a self-educated man, acquiring, by close observation and the constant exercise of his remarkable native talents, a fine general knowledge. He was an uncompromising Democrat and ever took an interest in the county's political affairs, long being recognized as one of the most active workers in his party in this county, a veritable "wheel-horse," in fact; his sound judgment and keen common sense giving large weight to his counsels in the deliberations of the party managers in Decatur county. He was a splendid horseman and it is still recalled that, on gala occasions, it was his wont to turn out, driving ten or a dozen horses in a team. In his later years he left the farm and moved to Greensburg, where his last days were passed in comfortable retirement, his death occurring on June 30, 1893, his widow surviving until July 8, 1896.

To William and Mary A. (Kenny) Smiley were born ten children, as follow: Mrs. Permelia Henry, deceased; Mrs. Caroline Sefton, widow of Edward E. Sefton, of Greensburg; George W. and James M. (twins), the former of whom died in 1907, and the latter of whom died in infancy; Harvey K., who died in January, 1915; Thomas K., a well-known farmer of Clay township, this county; William F., who resided in Greensburg; Mary, who died on August 17, 1914; S. P., who lives at El Campo (Texas) Hotel, and Margaret, widow of William A. Johnston.

Mrs. Margaret L. Johnston was born on a farm in Clay township, Decatur county, Indiana, on January 18, 1857, the daughter of William and Mary A. (Kennedy) Smiley, pioneers of this county, the former of whom was a native of Pennsylvania and the latter a native of New Jersey.

Upon her marriage to William A. Johnston in 1877, Mrs. Johnston moved from the paternal farm to Greensburg, where she ever since has made her home. Mr. Johnston was born in the town of Franklin, Johnson county, Indiana, on February 1, 1854, and died in February, 1907. To Mr. and Mrs. Johnston three children were born, Cora S., at home; Walter married Elizabeth Bates in 1910 and lives at Greensburg; and Raymond K., stenographer with the Big Four Railroad Company at Indianapolis.

Mrs. Johnston is held in the highest esteem in the social circles of Greensburg and is deeply interested in the general welfare of the entire community. She formerly was an active member of several local clubs.

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