Upon leaving home at the age of twenty-seven years, Nelson M. Templeton farmed near Adams for three years, and in 1875 moved to Letts Corner and purchased a farm, where he lived for ten years. Not liking this place, however, in 1885 he moved to Lebanon in Boone county, and purchased a partnership in a planing mill and builders' supply firm. In September of the next year, he returned to St. Paul and from there moved to Clifty, or Milford, and from Clifty to Franklin, Johnson county, where he remained for six years, during which time he was engaged in the carpenter trade. After his mother's death he removed to the old place, where he lived for three years, and rented a farm east of Greensburg for three years, subsequently removing to that city. During one and one-half years' residence in Greensburg, he purchased a part of the home estate of eighty-one acres, erected a house and barn, and moved his family to the farm. In 1909 he sold out and moved back to Greensburg.

On November 21, 1873, Nelson M. Templeton was married to Rachel Stark, who was born on November 4, 1852, in Decatur county, Indiana, and who is the daughter of Aden Boone and Eliza (Wallace) Stark, natives of Oldenburg, Kentucky, and Rockbridge county, Virginia, respectively. The former was the son of Caleb Stark, who married Anna Boone, a cousin of Daniel Boone. Caleb Stark, in fact, was a follower of Daniel Boone, and the son of Capt. John Stark, a soldier in the Revolutionary army. Caleb Stark was a member of the Decatur county board of commissioners when the court house was built. A number of the famous characters in the "Hoosier Schoolmaster" were modeled on members of Caleb Stark's family.

Aden Boone Stark, who was born on October 21, 1815, in Olden county, Kentucky, moved with his father to Decatur county in 1825. He was married to Eliza Wallace, September 7, 1837, and by her had nine children, among whom are the following: Percis Jane, deceased, who was the wife of Joseph Braden; John Caleb, of Clifty, Decatur county; Mary Ann, the wife of Cyrus Moore, of Clifty; Hannah Elizabeth, deceased; Charles, deceased; Mrs. Rachel Templeton; William, a farmer in Bartholomew county; and two children who died in infancy. Aden Boone Stark died on April 19, 1890. In this connection it is worth while to mention the fact that five of the eleven children born to Caleb Stark were natives of Kentucky, their names being Aden, George, Willett, Percis and Lovina.

Mr. and Mrs. Nelson M. Templeton are members of the Baptist church. He is identified with the Republican party. A man well known in this section, he is highly honored and respected by all who have come in contact with him, and especially his fellow townsmen in the city of Greensburg.

Nelson M. Templeton and wife have two children, Nellie, at home; and Perry William, a decorator at Indianapolis, who married Margaret Erhardt, and they have two children, Howard and Elizabeth.

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

James Porter was born on the farm on which he still is living, three and one-half miles southwest of the city of Greensburg, in Washington township, Decatur county, Indiana, on March 7, 1871, a son of Matthew E. and Clarissa (McKinney) Porter, both members of pioneer families of this county. Matthew E. Porter was born in the year 1836, his birth occurring in a log cabin which still is standing on the east half of the farm now owned by James Porter. He was the only son of Alexander and Elizabeth (Elder) Porter, the latter of whom was a daughter of the venerated Rev. Nathan Elder, a pioneer minister of the Baptist faith who exerted so strong an influence for good in pioneer days in this section of the state. Rev. Nathan Elder, a native of Kentucky, was a "circuit rider" of the old school and his ministrations were extended far and near throughout this section of Indiana. He built the first church in Union county, Indiana, and for many years preached the gospel with a devotion that made his name and his works widely known.

Alexander Porter was born in Dearborn county, Indiana, in 1799, the son of a Virginian, who, with his wife, penetrated the wilderness of Indiana Territory in an early day in the settlement of this section of the same. Upon reaching manhood's estate, Alexander Porter married Elizabeth Elder, who was born in Kentucky in 1813, and the pioneer couple went to housekeeping in the log cabin in which Alexander Porter was born, moving to this county in the year 1830 and establishing a new home in the then wilderness of Washington township. To this couple but two children were born, Matthew E. and a girl child, the latter of whom died at the tender age of four years. Matthew E. Porter succeeded to the home farm and lived there all his life, during which time he made but one change in residence, that being when he moved from the original eighty acres entered by his father to the west half of what now constitutes the fine Porter farm of two hundred and fifty-seven acres, owned jointly by James, Alexander and William R., grandsons of the original entrant. This move was made in 1892 and Matthew Porter died in 1908. Matthew Porter was an industrious and progressive farmer and was quite successful in his operations, at his death leaving a fine estate, wholly unencumbered. He and his wife were the parents of the following children: Martha A,, who married John McConnell and lives six miles south of Greensburg; Alexander, of Greensburg, member of the well-known firm of Pulse & Porter, building contractors, further mention of whom is made in this volume; John, deceased; William R., of the firm of Pulse & Porter, who has charge of that firm's extensive plant at Hope, Indiana; Elizabeth, deceased; James, the Immediate subject of this sketch; Andrew, who is living retired in the city of Greensburg, this county; Barton, who died just as he was entering upon what gave promise of being a singularly successful career as a lawyer, and Dr. Edward A, the well-known and popular physician, of Burney, this county, a biographical sketch of whom is presented elsewhere in this volume.

James Porter was reared on the home farm and has made the same his home all his life. He is a progressive farmer, having early discovered the value of adopting up-to-date methods in the operation of his extensive farming interests, and has prospered; now being recognized as one of the most substantial farmers in the county. His farm, which formerly was covered with hard timber, walnut and maple predominating, is gently rolling and is under excellent cultivation. Mr. Porter gives much attention to the raising of fine hogs and in this branch of agriculture has been quite successful, his hogs ever bringing "the top of the market."

On July 20, 1899, James Porter was united in marriage to Mary L. Woodward, daughter of Isaac L. and Christina (Jackson) Woodward, members of prominent pioneer families of this county, and to this union two children have been born, Raymond G., who was born in 1903, and James Iver, who died in infancy.

Mr. Porter is a Democrat and takes such part in the political affairs of the county as is becoming in all good citizens, but never has been included in the office-seeking class, preferring to devote his time and his talents to his own extensive farming interests, rather than to the public service. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is warmly interested in the affairs of his home lodge. He and Mrs. Porter are prominent in the good works of their neighborhood and are held in the highest regard by all who know them.

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

Frank Hamilton, a well-known attorney of Greensburg, Indiana, and member of the firm of Osborn & Hamilton, who was born on April 2, 1883, in Fugit township, Decatur county, Indiana, is the grandson of the well known Cyrus Hamilton and the son of Everett Hamilton, the youngest son of Cyrus Hamilton's family. Everett, who was born on October 16, 1841, and who received an excellent education in the Hartville (Indiana) schools and in Butler College at Indianapolis, at one time owned a fine farm of three hundred and sixty acres in Decatur county. He sold it some years ago and is now living retired in Greensburg. On November 10, 1870, he was married to Mary J. Hopkins, daughter of Preston E. Hopkins, of Fugit township, by which marriage there were three sons born. Paul, the eldest son, was born on October 5, 1871, and is engineer of track and roadway for the Big Four railroad system and is stationed at Cincinnati; Edwin S., the second son, who was born on August 23, 1873, lives on the home farm in Fugit township; Frank is the youngest member of the family. Everett Hamilton, the father of these children, has also been prominent as a citizen and farmer in Decatur county, having served as trustee of Fugit township at one time and having for many years been a prominent and influential member of the Kingston Presbyterian church.

Reared on the Fugit township farm and educated in its common schools and later in the Clarksburg high school, where he spent three years, Frank Hamilton no doubt inherited from his father and his grandfather his strong tendency for a professional career. Although neither the father nor the grandfather may be said to have been professional men, yet in their relations of life they exhibited a marked tendency in this direction. Having left the Clarksburg high school after spending three years there, Mr. Hamilton pursued his education in Butler College at Indianapolis, where his father had attended school, and later spent three years in Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. During the first year he was a student in the literary department of the university, and during the succeeding two years was a student in the law department. Later, however, he was graduated from the Indiana Law School at Indianapolis, with the class of 1905, and immediately began the practice of his profession in Greensburg.

Upon receiving his degree from the Indiana Law School, Mr. Hamilton spent a year in the law office of Tackett & Wilson, and from 1907 to 1912 was engaged in the practice of law with Judge James K. Ewing, the senior member of the firm of Ewing & Hamilton. In 1912 he became a member of the firm of Osborn, Hamilton & Harding. Later, however, Mr. Harding withdrew from the firm and for two years Mr. Hamilton has been associated with Mr. Osborn under the firm name of Osborn & Hamilton. Having been appointed deputy prosecuting attorney under the administration of Prosecutor Albert W. Phillips, of Columbus, Indiana, in 1907, for two years he had charge of all of the work of the prosecutor's office in Decatur county. In 1912 he became county attorney.

Within a short time after establishing himself at Greensburg in the practice of law, Mr. Hamilton was married to Mary F. Isgrigg, of Greensburg, daughter of W. H. Isgrigg. The marriage took place, December 14, 1907. One son, William Everett, who was born on January 24, 1909, is the fruit of this marriage.

A Republican in politics, Mr. Hamilton has been prominent in the councils of the party in Decatur county for many years. During 1910 and 1912 he was secretary of the Decatur County Republican Central Committee. Fraternally, he is a member of Clarksburg Lodge No. 124, Free and Accepted Masons, and is past chancellor commander of Greensburg Lodge No. 148, Knights of Pythias. He is also a member of the Grand Lodge of Indiana, deputy grand chancellor for the fifteenth district, during 1913 and 1914; past exalted ruler of Greensburg Lodge No. 475, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and a member of the Grand Lodge of Elks.

It must be remembered that Frank Hamilton is a comparatively young man, that he has no more than just begun his career as an attorney in Decatur county. Nevertheless, he is today well established in his profession and his firm enjoys a lucrative practice in this county, a condition for which Mr. Hamilton himself is in no small way responsible. He is not only learned in the law, a wise counselor and a successful practitioner in court, but he is a man of engaging personality and extremely popular in this county.

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

Adam Meek was born on August 30, 1850, in Clinton township, Decatur county, Indiana, the son of John and Jane (Montgomery) Meek. John Meek, a well-known farmer and capitalist of Decatur county, of a past generation, was born in 1826, and passed away in 1908, at the age of eighty-two, after having lived in this county practically all his life. His wife, who before her marriage was Jane Montgomery, was born in 1827 in Decatur county, and died in 1892. They had ten children, one of whom, the youngest, Lola Frances, is now deceased. In the order of their birth the children are as follow: Robert S., of Greensburg; Margaret, the wife of J. B. Robinson, of Greensburg; John T., of Greensburg; Martha Louise, the wife of Capt. John A. Meek, of Kansas; Adam, the subject of this sketch; Jethro C., of Greensburg; Mary, the wife of A. C. Brown, of Rushville; Theresa Lavina, the widow of Robert Innis, deceased, lived in Rush county, Indiana, and Mrs. Anna Pleak, of Greensburg. John T. Meek and wife spent a considerable part of their life in Rush county.

Reared on a farm in Clinton township, the first recollection of Adam Meek dates back to the time when he was twelve years old and when he was engaged with his father in breaking up and plowing a new clearing. He was taken to the clearing by his father and shown by him how to hold the handles of the plow. In the meantime he was attending school at the old Foster subscription school about six months in every year. At the age of twenty-seven years he removed to a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Clinton township, which his father had given to him and which was already improved. Additional improvements, however, were made, including the erection of a house, barn and other outbuildings. Here Adam Meek resided for fifteen years, and in 1892 removed to Greensburg, where he has since lived, and from which place he has been engaged in directing the cultivation of the farm. Mr. Meek has always raised a large amount of live stock, including about one hundred head of hogs every year.

On November 27, 1878, Adam Meek was married to Adelaide Patton, the daughter of Nathaniel and Elizabeth (Duncan) Patton, and who was born on December 21, 1849, in Washington township, Decatur county, Indiana. To this marriage has been born one child, Clifford Patton Meek, May 1, 1882. He was married, October 18, 1904, to Ethel Braden, daughter of Jeremy Braden, and she has been the mother of two children, Harold, born on July 8, 1906, and Majorie, on February 11, 1909. Clifford Patton was educated in Greensburg high school. He was in the hardware business for about ten years in Greensburg, but is now a traveling salesman.

Mrs. Adam Meek's father, Nathaniel Patton II, was born on April 9, 1810, in Adams county, Ohio, and was married, May 21, 1835, to Elizabeth W. Duncan, who was born on April 2, 1813, and who died, January 10, 1894. Nathaniel Patton II, died, November 24, 1888. He and his wife had nine children, William C., whose life history is recounted elsewhere in this volume; John S., who was born on October 23, 1838, died on September 29, 1840; Mary E., September 18, 1840, was married, September 18, 1860, to Alexander M. Stuart; he died on July z, 1866, and Mrs. Stuart now lives in Greensburg; Eska J., April 5, 1842, married, January 26, 1864, to Robert S. Meek, who died on February 16, 1879; Melissa Ann, July 26, 1844, married, June 18, 1895, to Robert S. Meek, after the death of her sister, Mr. Meek's first wife; Martha E., August 8, 1846, married, September I, 1868, to Chalmers McDill, who died on July 16, 1879; Mrs. McDill lives in Indianapolis; Adelaide, December 21, 1849, the wife of Adam Meek, the subject of this sketch.

Nathaniel Patton II, the father of Mrs. Adam Meek, was the son of Nathaniel Patton I, who was born on February 22, 1776, and who was married, August 3, 1797, to Polly Robinson, of Rockbridge county, Virginia. She was born on March 10, 1775, and died on January 5, 1847. He died on July 3, 1844, and both are buried at Springhill, in Decatur county. The other members of the family of Nathaniel Patton I, and Polly (Robinson) Patton, were John S., Peggy, James R., Patsy, William, Polly, Nancy, J., Eliza, Samuel W., Rebecca B. and Mary A.

The father of Nathaniel Patton I was John Patton, an emigrant from the north of Ireland. He married Martha Sharp (or Steele), the daughter of a Presbyterian minister from Glasgow, Scotland. Nathaniel Patton I, left Virginia in 1806, and emigrated to Adams county, Ohio, settling there in the early twenties. About 1814 he removed to Rush county, Indiana, not far from Springhill, and died in 1844. The founder of the Patton family in America, John Patton, is believed to have been born about 1754. He had eight brothers.

Mr. and Mrs. Adam Meek are a genial and companionable couple, who have always enjoyed life in the fullest measure. He is affiliated with the Progressive party and he and his wife are members of the United Presbyterian church at Springhill. Liberal, enterprising and broad-minded, Adam Meek shows every evidence of the distinguished stock from which he is sprung. This may also be said of his good wife.

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

Reared in Kentucky and educated in the pioneer schools of that day, the late William Goddard was first married in Kentucky to Emily Hazelwood, who died after his removal to Decatur county, Indiana. They had five children, of whom only one, Joseph, a carpenter in Indianapolis, is living. The deceased children are Thomas, who was a soldier in the Civil War; James Wesley, John and Mary.

Before coming to Decatur county, Indiana, the late William Goddard taught school for many years in his native state, and was considered, for a man of his generation, to be well educated and well informed. His breadth of information naturally made him a leader, not only in his native community in Kentucky, but also in Decatur county.

After the death of the first Mrs. Goddard on December 6, 1866, William Goddard married as his second wife Mary Elizabeth McKinney, who was born in 1832 in Washington county, Indiana, the daughter of John and Margaret (VanCleve) McKinney, natives of Kentucky, who were early settlers in Washington county, and who, in 1837, removed to Decatur county, Indiana, settling in Washington township, where they owned a large farm, and became prosperous and well-to-do citizens. Altogether John and Margaret (Vancleave) McKinney had a family of eight children, James Alexander, who died at the age of seventy-seven; Mrs. Sarah Porter, William Rankin and Mary Jane, all deceased; Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Goddard; Martha Lovina; Mrs. Rebecca Porter, and Mrs. Emma Puke, the last three of whom are deceased. Mrs. Goddard, who also survives her husband, is the only member of her parents' family who is still living.

By his second marriage to Mary Elizabeth McKinney, the late William Goddard was the father of five children, all of whom are living. Of these children, Samuel, who is an automobile salesman in Boston, Massachusetts, married Lillian Scott, and they have one child, Blanche; William R., who lives on the home farm, married Margaret Talbott, and they have three children, Miles, John William and Dorothy; Margaret lives at home with her mother; Mrs. Lou Emmert, the wife of Leonard Emmert, lives four miles southeast of Greensburg, and they have three children, Louis, Mildred and Mary Catherine, and Mrs. Bertha Dowden lives in Greensburg and has one child, Margaret Ellen.

Mr. and Mrs. Goddard lived on the farm of a hundred and sixty acres, located about two miles from the Greensburg corporation limits, until Mr. Goddard's death, when Mrs. Goddard removed to Greensburg. William R., the second born of the family, lives on the home farm. A Republican in politics, the late William Goddard served for many years as a justice of the peace. Although Mrs. Goddard and the family are members of the Presbyterian church, Mr. Goddard was a member of the Methodist church, and for many years was prominently identified with the Odd Fellows lodge. Mr. Goddard, whose memory is revered by his loving widow, his children and the host of friends he left behind, was a hard-working, painstaking and successful farmer, who at the time of his death left his family well provided for. He was highly respected in the community where he lived.

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

Born on November 6, 1857, on the farm where he now lives, Gilbert Gordon Kincaid is the son of John and Nancy Helen (Alexander) Kincaid, the former of whom was born in Kentucky in November, 1813, and who died in May, 1894. He was the son of John W. Kincaid, a native of Tennessee, who emigrated to Kentucky and who brought his family to Decatur county in 1831, shortly after the settlement of this county began. He was preceded to Indiana, however, by his two sons, Joseph and Andrew, to Decatur county where he entered government land and eventually came to own a large tract of land in Fugit township. John W. Kincaid had married a Miss English.

Gilbert Gordon Kincaid is the son of his father by the third marriage. The father was first married to Martha McCracken, no children having been born to this marriage. Later he married a Miss Alexander, a sister of his third wife. By this marriage there were two daughters, Mrs. Martha Helen McCracken and Mrs. Mary A. Martin. He then married Nancy Helen Alexander, to which third union there were six children, three of whom are deceased. The names of the children in the order of their birth, are as follow: Priscilla, who married Sutherland McCoy; Rhoda M., deceased; John, who died at the age of twenty; William, of Decatur county; Gilbert Gordon of this sketch, and Cyrus, deceased.

It was the good fortune of John Kincaid, whose home was northwest of his son's place and who also owned a house north of his son's farm, that he prospered as a farmer and became the owner of several farms and extremely wealthy. A Democrat in politics, he always took an active interest in the councils of his party and was regarded as one of its leaders in Decatur county. The family were always active in the Springhill Presbyterian church.

Educated in the Clarksburg schools and the New Neighborhood school, Gilbert Gordon Kincaid farmed at home with his father for many years, residing with him and caring for him until his death. At different times his father gave him land, and he also purchased at various times tracts of land in the neighborhood where he lived, until now he owns, as heretofore stated, three hundred and seventy-five acres of land in Fugit township. Mr. Kincaid has come to he an extensive breeder of mules, and ordinarily has from forty-five to fifty head on the farm where he also raises a great number of horses and cattle, and keeps only the very best grade of live stock.

On November 9, 1898, some years after the death of his father, Gilbert Gordon Kincaid was married to Grace McWilliams, daughter of Ephraim McWilliams. The marriage ceremony was solemnized at Mrs. Kincaid's grandmother's home, near Greensburg, the grandmother being Mrs. Sarah Meek. Four children have been born to this marriage, one of whom, the eldest, Mary Helen, died at the age of ten years. Of the others, Helen Mildred, who was born on February 9, 1904, is now eleven years old; John Alexander was born on May 20, 1909; William Gordon, Jr., was born on May 18, 1914.

As a Democrat, Mr. Kincaid has always been interested in politics to some extent, but has never been a candidate for any office. Mr. and Mrs. Kincaid and family are members of the Springhill Presbyterian church. From any standpoint it must be admitted that he is a worthy son of one of the pioneer farmers of Decatur county, a worthy son of his noble mother, Nancy Helen (Alexander) Kincaid. As a farmer and citizen, he is living up to the worthy example set by his grandfather, John W. Kincaid, and his grandfather, John Alexander, who came from other states to found pioneer homes in the Hoosier wilderness. Any man who is industrious, economical and thrifty, good to his family and interested in public enterprises, deserves to be considered as a good citizen. Gilbert Kincaid is such a man.

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

In the annals of Decatur county, no name stands out more prominently than that of the late Col. Merit C. Welsh, a veteran of two wars, a lawyer of ability, a faithful officer of the county in which nearly his whole life had been spent, and a man who had been found faithful to every trust. A fluent and eloquent speaker, Colonel Welsh was a powerful factor in the civic life of this county for many years, and the memory of his exceptional services to the public long will be fondly cherished. Colonel Welsh was a cousin of Edward Eggleston, through the Lowry connection, his mother having been a Lowry, and it is undoubted that the high character of the Colonel had much influence in shaping the lofty ideals of the genial and well-loved author of "The Hoosier Schoolmaster," "The Annals of a Quiet Neighborhood," and other works which have made so strong an impression upon American letters. It is related that Edward Eggleston was most devotedly attached to Colonel Welsh, holding the latter as his ideal of a man and a hero, and this affection fount1 reflection in Eggleston's great story, "The Hoosier Schoolmaster," in the pages of which book the colonel is fondly mentioned. In attempting a biographical sketch of the gentleman whose name forms the caption of this sketch, Glanton G. Welsh, son of the late Colonel Welsh and for years the well-known assistant cashier of the Citizens National Bank of Greensburg, this county, the biographer is mindful of the obligation under which this community rests with relation to the memory of Colonel Welsh, and a brief summary of the salient points in the active life of that distinguished soldier and brilliant lawyer will be incorporated in the same.

Glanton G. Welsh was born near the village of Milford, in Clay township, this county, on July 10, 1867, son of Col. Merit C. and Elizabeth (Hanks) Welsh, the former of whom was born in Ripley county, this state, on May 22, 1825, a son of Oliver and Lucy H. (Lowry) Welsh, and the latter of whom was born in Owen county, Kentucky, on July 19, 1831, a daughter of Sydney D. and Mary (Graves) Hanks, natives of Kentucky and pioneer settlers in this county. Sydney D. Hanks was born in Kentucky in 1793, son of Benjamin Hanks, a Virginian, who married a Dale in the latter state and emigrated to Kentucky, where he became prominent in pioneer affairs. His family is the same as that from which Nancy Hanks, the mother of Abraham Lincoln, sprang. Sydney D. Hanks married Mary Graves, who was born in Woodford county, Kentucky, in 1796, her mother having been a Cave, and came to Decatur county in the early days of the settlement of this region, his death occurring at Milford, this county, in the year 1855, her death occurring on November 28, 1886, in Greensburg.

Oliver Welsh was born in the state of Maryland in 1794, his father a native of Ireland and his mother a native of Scotland. He married Lucy H. Lowry, who was born in Scott county, Kentucky, in 1800, the daughter of Samuel Lowry, a native of Scotland, her mother having been a native of Ireland, who came to Indiana, locating first in Switzerland county, at a place near Vevay, the home of the Eggleston family. Shortly before the birth of Merit C., the Welshes moved to Ripley county, where they remained until 1828, in which year they came to Decatur county, locating in the Milford neighborhood, where they spent the rest of their lives, the death of Oliver Welsh occurring on June 16, 1840, his widow dying on June 6, 1832.

Merit C. Welsh was born on a farm two and one-half miles east of the village of Napoleon, in Ripley county, on May 22, 1825, a son of Oliver and Lucy H. (Lowry) Welsh, and when three years of age came with his parents to this county, locating in the Milford vicinity, where he grew to manhood. His father died when he was fifteen years of age, and, having lost his mother when he was seven years old, he was left an orphan, indeed. While his opportunities for receiving an early education were limited to six months of actual schooling, Merit C. Welsh possessed an extraordinary mind; was a clear and direct thinker, far-seeing and broad-minded, and by the time he had attained his majority was a very well-informed man. He sedulously cultivated his remarkable native ability to recognize opportunities which men of lesser caliber would not have seen at all and early came to he recognized as a coining power for good in the community.

At the outbreak of the Mexican War, Merit C. Welsh volunteered for service and was attached to the regiment led by Col. Jim Lane. He served through that war, having been present at the battle of Buena Vista and other notable engagements of the campaign, in which Lane's regiment was engaged. At the close of the war, Merit C. returned to Milford, where he engaged in the grocery business, in which he was quite successful, becoming a very influential citizen and a leading factor in the early development of the community in which he lived. After three years spent in operating a grocery store at Milford, Mr. Welsh sold the store and engaged in the live-stock business, in which, for fifteen years, he was very successfully employed. When Lincoln's first call was issued for volunteers to put down the rebellion in the Southern states, Merit C. Welsh was one of the first to tender his services, being attached to the Second Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, for the first ninety days' service. Before this regiment could be reorganized for the three years' service, Mr. Welsh was made captain of a company which had been recruited in this county, most of the members of which had enlisted from the Milford neighborhood. This company was assigned to the Seventh Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, being designated D company, and it was with this regiment that this distinguished soldier served for three thrilling and perilous years. At the Battle of the Wilderness, Captain Welsh was made major of the Seventh Regiment, by promotion on the field. At a later moment in this same battle, Col. Ira G. Grover, commanding the Seventh Regiment, was put out of commission by reason of a serious wound received on the field, and Major Welsh, as the ranking officer, assumed command of the regiment, being thereafter recognized as colonel of the same. On September 20, 1864, the Seventh Regiment was mustered out of the service, its three years having expired, and Colonel Welsh, in March, 1865, was appointed colonel of the One Hundred and Forty-sixth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and served until the close of the war in command of that regiment. It is a notable and singular fact that, although Colonel Welsh performed valorous service in both the Mexican and the Civil Wars, being in the very thick of many of the bloodiest engagements of those two wars, he never received a scratch on the field of battle. He was a fearless soldier and capable officer and was greatly loved and respected by the men under his command, all of whom were devotedly attached to him. For several years before his death, Colonel Welsh was the sole surviving field officer of the Seventh Regiment.

Colonel Welsh was a lawyer of force and ability and was admitted to the bar of the Decatur circuit court about the year 1875. He was a pleasing and eloquent speaker and was known as a powerful pleader before the court. In 1884 he was elected sheriff of Decatur county, and in that year moved to Greensburg, where he spent the rest of his life. Before the organization of the Republican party, Colonel Welsh was an ardent Whig, hut upon the formation of the former party, gave his undivided and unswerving allegiance thereto, and for many years was one of the leaders of the party in this county and throughout this section of the state.

On October 19, 1848, Merit C. Welsh was united in marriage to Elizabeth Hanks, of the family from which descended Nancy Hanks, mother of Abraham Lincoln, as set out above, and to this union there were born four children, namely: Ardry, who lives at Anderson, Indiana; Glanton G., assistant cashier of the Citizens National Bank of Greensburg, the immediate subject of this biographical sketch; S. Dale, of Greensburg, and Mrs. Clara Martin, of Lawton, Oklahoma. The mother of these children died on December 15, 1910, after which time Colonel Welsh made his home with his son, Glanton G. Welsh, in Greensburg, until his death, February 17, 1913.

Glanton G. Welsh was reared in Adams, receiving his elementary education in the schools of that town, supplementing the same by a course in the Greensburg high school, from which he was graduated with the class of 1889. Following his graduation, he taught school for ten years, at the end of which valuable term of public service he entered the Citizens National Bank at Greensburg and has been continuously connected with that sound old financial institution since 1899, during the past nine years of which time he has occupied the responsible position of assistant cashier.

On December 28, 1892, Glanton G. Welsh was united in marriage to Alice McConnell, daughter of James M. and Elizabeth (Hardy) McConnell, both members of old families in this county, and to this union one child has been born, a daughter, Mabel Elizabeth, born on March 19, 1894.

Mr. and Mrs. Welsh are members of the Baptist church and take an active part in all good works in Greensburg, being regarded as among the leaders in all movements designed to elevate the social and cultural life of the community. Mr. Welsh is a Republican, one of the local leaders in that party. In 1892 he was elected city clerk of Greensburg and served in that important capacity until 1899, giving the city most excellent service. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and takes a warm interest in the affairs of these two popular fraternal societies. Mr. Welsh is known as a progressive business man of sound judgment in financial and commercial matters and he is held in the highest regard in business circles in Greensburg and throughout the county. He and Mrs. Welsh take an interested part in the social affairs of the city and are very popular in their large circle of friends.

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

William G. Smiley was born on the old Smiley homestead in Clay township, Decatur county, Indiana, on January 20, 1877, son of George W. and Eliza (Blackmore) Smiley, both members of old and prominent families in this county. George W. Smiley, who died in 1907, was the son of William and Mary Ann (Kenny) Smiley, the former of whom was born in Pennsylvania on March 14, 1814, the son of Irish parents. Upon arriving at manhood, William Smiley moved to Butler county, Ohio, where he married Mary Ann Kenny, about the year 1836, and on January 7, 1849, came to Decatur county, locating in Clap township, on what is now known as the Smiley homestead, and by the exercise of energy and a display of enterprise that made him one of the foremost men in his community, presently became one of the most extensive landowners in the county, he being at one time the owner of nearly one thousand acres of land. As they advanced in years, and as their children arrived at manhood and womanhood, William Smiley and his wife divided the home acres among the children and moved to Greensburg, where for nearly twenty years they lived in quiet retirement, his death occurring in 1893, she surviving him by three years, both dying at the age of seventy-nine. In a biographical sketch relating to William G. Smiley's uncle, T. K. Smiley, presented elsewhere in this volume, there are additional details regarding the genealogy of this interesting family, to which the reader is respectfully referred for further information.

William G. Smiley was reared on the paternal farm, his father always having remained on the old Smiley homestead, and received his early schooling in the excellent local schools. This he supplemented by a course in the Hartsville Normal College, which he further supplemented by a comprehensive course in a business college at Hope, this state. He entered upon the life of a farmer amply equipped to give to his vocation the most thoughtful attention and from the start he brought to bear upon his extensive operations the most approved methods of modern agricultural schools. Mr. Smiley is the owner of seven hundred acres of fine land, three hundred acres of which lies east of the village of Burney and four hundred acres of which lies south of that town. He gives much attention to the raising of thoroughbred stock, horses, mules and hogs being his specialties, he paying little attention to the breeding of cattle. He annually ships about one hundred head of mules to Atlanta, Georgia, for the Southern market and usually ships from five to six hundred hogs each year. "Fred S.," bred on his farm, was the first horse bred in Decatur county to step a mile in 2:07 1/2. "Burney Patch," also bred on Mr. Smiley's farm, has a record of 2:12 ¼. Mr. Smiley also is an enthusiastic corn grower, giving particular attention to the raising of Yellow Dent and Volger's White corn and is locally noted for his fine crops. Since being elected to the presidency of the Burney State Bank, Mr. Smiley has given much attention to that rapidly growing institution and is now recognized as one of the foremost bankers of the county, his sound judgment and excellent executive ability giving to his conclusions regarding questions of conservative investment much weight among his business associates.

At the age of thirty years, William G. Smiley was united in marriage to Martha Inez Ardery, daughter of William Ardery, who died on March 11, 1913, leaving one child, a son seven months of age, since which time Mr. Smiley has made his home with his widowed mother in Burney. It is not too much to say that in the thirty-eight years of his life, Mr. Smiley has accomplished remarkable things in the way of successfully conducting the affairs under his immediate direction, and his associates very properly rank him among the leading men of affairs in Decatur county. He is a member of the Methodist church at Burney and is devoted to all good works affecting that neighborhood as well as to the best interests of the county at large and is held in the highest esteem in his large circle of friends and acquaintances.

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

Linton W. Sands was born in Fugit township, Decatur county, Indiana, and is the son of James P. and Eliza Ann (Williams) Sands, the former of whom was one of the early settlers of Decatur county, having come here from Ripley county where he was a wagon maker. He settled at St. Maurice in Fugit township, and later removed to Springhill, and the latter was a native of Ohio, who came to Indiana in pioneer times, living here with her aunt, her mother having died when she was a small child.

In 1861 James P. Sands enlisted in Wilder's Battery, and served throughout the war. Three weeks from the day, however, when he left home, he was taken prisoner at Harpers Ferry, but was soon paroled and, after a short furlough home, returned to his regiment with which he remained until the close of the war, when he was mustered out of service. He saw a great deal of hard service, but fortune seemed to smile upon him, and during the long war he was neither wounded nor in the hospital. His first duty was to carry ammunition for the cannon, but afterward he was promoted to the position of artificer. He was an intense patriot at heart, loyal to his country and loyal to his flag. At the close of the war he came home to Decatur county and resumed his trade as a wagon maker. He was a well-known and highly respected citizen in this community. Shortly after coming back from the front, he moved his family to Fugit township, settling in Springhill, where he and his wife spent the remainder of their days. He was an ardent Republican, and he was also a member of the United Presbyterian church. Early in her life she was a school teacher and was engaged in teaching school while her husband was a soldier in the Civil War. She taught for twenty-five or thirty years altogether, and was a cultured and highly educated woman. Her father was a dairyman in Cincinnati, Ohio, during his prime, and owned the largest herd of dairy cattle in the state of Ohio. He was one of the wealthiest and most substantial citizens of Hamilton county, Ohio. Few men of his day and generation living in Hamilton county, Ohio, surpassed him in capacity for business or in business accomplishments. To James P. and Eliza Ann Sands were born one daughter and one son, Mrs. Clara C. (Sands) Henry, the wife of James Henry, is a resident of Fair Haven, Ohio, and Linton W. Sands, a resident of Greensburg, Indiana.

Educated both in the common and high schools of Springhill, Linton W. Sands, after leaving the latter, became a telegraph operator at New Point in Decatur county, and when he had mastered telegraphy, took a position at that place in the railroad office there and remained for twenty-three years. Mr. Sands' wife before her marriage was Mrs. Anna E. (Wise), whose father was a soldier in the Civil War and was killed in the service.

After quitting service in the railroad office in 1904, Mr. Sands came to Greensburg as deputy auditor and served eight years, or until 1912, when he was himself elected county auditor. He is still holding this office. Mr. Sands has been a stanch Republican all his life, and each campaign he has been on the firing line, and his personal efforts have had much to do with the success of the Republican party in Decatur county.

Mr. and Mrs. Sands have two children, Mrs. Cora M. Clouds and Mrs. Grace M. Gray, the former of whom lives in Indianapolis, and the latter of whom lives on a farm in Decatur county.

Linton W. Sands is a member of the United Presbyterian church at Springhill, while Mrs. Sands is a member of the Baptist church at Rossburg. Mr. Sands is a liberal contributor to the support of religious enterprises, as well as all other public movements. His election to the important office he now holds is a forcible testimonial to his popularity as a citizen and his standing as an honorable, upright and conscientious man. He is a very worthy citizen of this great county.

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

Abram H. Talbott was born on May 26, 1837, in the old home on the north side of the public square at Greensburg, and is the son of Henry H. and Eliza (Hendricks) Talbott, the former of whom was born on March 25, 1800, in Kentucky and who died in 1872.

The son of Richard C. and Drusilla (Grover) Talbott, who moved from Kentucky to Indiana and settled in Ripley county early in the nineteenth century, Henry H. Talbott was reared by a relative and served as deputy clerk at Madison, Jefferson county, Indiana, for some time, acting in this capacity when he helped organize Decatur county, of which he was the first county clerk, serving for a period of thirty-seven years and eight months. He was also recorder of Decatur county for a period of twenty-eight years, or until the Legislature enacted a law prohibiting one man from holding two offices. Previous to the act of the Legislature he held both the office of county clerk and county recorder at the same time. For many years engaged in business as a partner with his father-in-law, Thomas Hendricks, he became well-to-do, and especially a large landowner. A Whig and a Republican in politics, he was also a member of the Centenary Methodist Episcopal church. During his life he was a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity. His wife, who before her marriage was Eliza Hendricks, was born on September 4, 1802, at Greensburg, Pennsylvania, the daughter .of Thomas Hendricks, who was an uncle of Governor and Vice-president Thomas A. Hendricks. They were the sons of Major John Hendricks and grandsons of Abram Hendricks, a descendant of the Huguenots, who immigrated to New Jersey and thence to Pennsylvania before the Revolutionary War. Abram Hendricks served four terms in the Pennsylvania General Assembly, first in 1792, and the last in 1798. Abram Hendricks was not only the father of Major John Hendricks, but he also was the father of William Hendricks, the second governor of Indiana, who preceded his brother in removal from Ohio to this state. Major John Hendricks, prior to 1829, resided with his family at Zanesville, Ohio. His wife, whose maiden name was Jane Thompson, and a niece were the only members of the Thompson family who came West. Shortly after their marriage, Major John Hendricks and wife moved to Muskingum, Ohio, where they lived for some time in a rude house, in which were born two sons, Abram and Thomas A. The next year, 1830, Major John Hendricks moved with his little family to Madison, Indiana.

The first wife of Thomas Hendricks, the father of Mrs. Eliza Talbott, was a Miss Trimball, who died young. After her death, he married a Miss Paul. Thomas Hendricks was born in 1774 and died on March 31, 1835. He came down the Ohio river by flat-boat to Madison, and from there to Greensburg, bringing with him a load of iron and casting for trade and barter. A successful merchant in the early days, he purchased and shipped live stock in great quantities, driving hogs and cattle to Madison, Cincinnati and Lawrenceburg and shipping from these points by boat. By his first marriage, Thomas Hendricks had four children: Mrs. Silas Stuart, Mrs. Jacob Stuart, Mrs. H. H. Talbott and Rachel. By the second marriage, there were two children, Eunice and Elizabeth, both deceased.

To Henry H. and Eliza (Hendricks) Talbott were born eight children: Rachel, deceased; Sarah Ann, who married W. S. Woodfill, both now deceased; Drusilla G., who is now eighty-six years old and the mother of Cortez E. Moss and six other living sons, resides with her son on the farm; Abram H., the subject of this sketch; Richard C., in 1831 and now deceased; Thomas H., January 13, 1835, died on May 26, 1836; Henry H., retired, who lives in Greensburg, and Mrs. Mary Eliza King, of Indianapolis.

Reared in Greensburg, Indiana, Abram H. Talbott attended the local schools. For many years he assisted his father in the county clerk's office, and in 1861 engaged in the hardware business with his brothers, his father having set him up in this business, which was conducted under the firm name of Talbott & Sons. During a part of this time he also operated a dry goods store in this city. Selling out both stores in 1867, he clerked for several years in a drug store, and after saving enough money to purchase an interest in his uncle Abram Hendricks' store, he formed a partnership with his son Thomas, and three years after the partnership was formed bought out Thomas Hendricks and remained in business for thirty years. This store is now owned by Joe Moss. In 1912 he retired from business after a long and busy career, a career which had been crowned with unusual success.

In 1880 Mr. Talbott was married to Clara Armington, the daughter of Dr. William Armington, an early physician of this county, who practiced here for many years, but who was a native of New York state. He died during the early part of the Civil War, at the age of fifty-two. Mrs. Talbott was born on June 13, 1847, and died on February 15, 1914.

A Republican in politics, Mr. Talbott has never been active in the councils of any party. He recalls that the first courthouse built in Greensburg was a double log structure with a driveway in the middle. It was built by Thomas Hendricks, his grandfather, during the early part of the nineteenth century. Abram H. Talbott has been a generous man during his entire life. He has always entertained great respect for the opinions of others, and if one differed from him in any subject he has always been kind, courteous and considerate, and has never engaged in needless debate nor fruitless controversies with those who held contrary opinions. Generous to a fault, he has never sought to deprive those with whom he has come in contact from acting and thinking along their own lines and in their own way. He has been a just man and has never exacted in friendship or business more than he was willing to grant or allow. He has believed that the weakest arm is strong enough when it strikes with the sword of justice.

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