Judge James Orr (deceased), Attica, was born Jnne 2, 1805, near the town of Franklin, Warren county, Ohio. He was reared a son of toil, and learning the wheelwright's trade engaged himself for many years in the business of making wagons. It should be observed that he was born and reared on the frontiers of civilization, which were pressed well up to the possessions of the turbulent Indians, and which were kept in nearly constant perturbation, either by their open hostility or threatening attitude. While he was but a lad the second war with England occured, and it is well known with what savage ferocity and sickening barbarity hostilities were carried on by the British commanders and their hardly more inhuman Indian allies. These conditions were not such as to promote the arts of peace and the diffusion of knowledge, where the paramount objects were to make homes in a desolate wilderness, secure a simple existence, and maintain the public defense. Truly life was earnest. Men grew strong in body and in sense. It was in such a school as this, stripped as well of the superficial ornaments of our modern education as the more substantial and essential principles, that Mr. Orr received that training whose wholesome effects marked with singular distinctness the whole course of his life. In the mold of industry and integrity was his character formed, and when bronght conspicuously forth in the discharge of the duties of public station he was not found wanting in any of the qualifications for a comprehensive usefulness. Little of the early history of the Orr family can be rescued from the gathering shades of the past. It is known that they emigrated from the north of Ireland, and were of Irish birth. The first records of the family in this country are contained in a deed of property executed in the township of Yorke, Pennsylvania, in 1770. Mr. Orr himself was a pioneer settler of Fountain county. He came to Indiana on a tour of observation in 1827, and in 1829 returned permanently to reside here, fixing his home three miles south of Attica, where he lived till the date of his death. His popularity with the people made him, in 1837, a commissioner of the county, which position he filled with so much satisfaction for one year that on the recommendations of his numerous and prominent admirers he was appointed to the responsible dignity of associate judge of the circuit court, and discharged the duties of that office fourteen years, and until displaced by the new constitution of the state. He was the choice of the people of his township for trustee several terms, and at intervals filled various minor offices. Mr. Orr celebrated his first marriage in 1847 with Miss Jane Miller, a daughter of one of the very early settlers of the county. She made him the father of five children, one of whom is dead. He enjoyed her companionship little more than a decade, when she was taken from him by death, and in 1862 he married, for his second wife, Miss Susan Schermerhorn, sister to Maj. Schermerhorn, of Delphi, this state. By this union three children were born to bless and inspirit their home. Mr. Orr was not a negative man, and in the changing scenes and issues of passing time he could not have been in harmony with the opinions of all others; but his social demeanor and public conduct were regulated by candor, honesty, and dignified respect. He was not biased by sectarian views, but heeding at all times a well-disciplined conscience, acted toward others as he hoped they would act toward him. His days were crowned with the golden sunset of a mature, cheerful and happy age. Withal declining years beget infirmities, of whose increasing weight he was forever relieved January 22, 1876. He left to his family both a goodly record and inheritance.

History of Fountain County, Indiana
by H. W. Beckwith
Published by H. H. Hill and N. Iddings, Chicago, in 1881
Shawnee Township - Biographical

Robert Orr, farmer, son of Judge James Orr, was born in Shawnee township, September 19, 1851. His mother's maiden name was Jane Miller. She was the mother of five children, one of whom is dead, and died herself either in 1858 or 1859. Mr. Orr has been running the Rob Roy mill the last year in company with Alonzo Swank. He is a republican in politics. He owns eighty acres of well improved and valuable land, worth $6,500.

History of Fountain County, Indiana
by H. W. Beckwith
Published by H. H. Hill and N. Iddings, Chicago, in 1881
Shawnee Township - Biographical

Peter Auter, farmer, Rob Roy, son of James and Martha (Malatt) Auter, was born in Montgomery county, Ohio, December 27, 1822. His father died when he was eight years old, and in October of the same year (1830) his mother emigrated with her family of six children, Harvey, Peter, John, Mary Jane, Elizabeth and Ann, to Shawnee township, stopping first in Rob Roy; with the exception of three years that he was in Richland, he has lived here since. His mother died in September 1848. He was married January 6, 1848, to Sarah Clawson, daughter of Abraham Clawson, who came to this township from Pickaway county, Ohio, in the fall of 1825, and improved the farm now owned by Ben Malatt. Mrs. Auter was born on this place in 1830. They have had eleven children: Elizabeth, born March 3, 1849; Margaret, born August 29, 1851, died January 25, 1856; Abram, born August 12, 1853; John, February 25, 1856; Wilson, born November 24, 1857, died August 12, 1860; Marshal, born October 5, 1859; Solomon, born April 7, 1861; Martha Ellen, born February 14, 1866; Susie, born January 1, 1869, and Edgar Ingo, born May 9, 1871. Mrs. Auter belongs to the Christian church. Her father had two children, Sarah and Jonathan. The latter was a member of the 76th Ill. Vols., and died of disease in 1864, at Bolivar, Tenneseee, after two years’ service. Mr. Auter was drafted, and furnished a substitute for the army at a cost to him of $1,200. He is a democrat.

History of Fountain County, Indiana
by H. W. Beckwith
Published by H. H. Hill and N. Iddings, Chicago, in 1881
Shawnee Township - Biographical

Josiah L. Orcutt, deceased, Rob Roy, was born in Onondaga county, New York, July 25, 1820. His grandfather Orcutt was a soldier of the revolution. His father died when he was nine years old, and he enjoyed considerable freedom; he was reared to work on a farm, but neglected his education. He remedied this defect by going to school after he became of age. In 1847 he came to Fountain county, and on the 11th of October of the following year married Hannah J. Crawford, daughter of Dr. Crawford. She was born September 22, 1828. Her father emigrated from Warren county, Ohio, and settled first on Bear creek in this township, a few years, finally removing about 1835 to the place where his widow at present lives, and where he died September 29, 1847; aged forty-four years. Her mother's name before marriage was Elizabeth Cline. Mr. and Mrs. Orcutt had eight children, as follows: Sarah E. (dead), Laura A. (dead), Theodore C. (dead), Florence E. (dead), John L., Simon J., Luella, and Lydia. Mrs. Orcutt was converted at the age of nineteen and united with the Presbyierian church, of which she was a member twenty-six years. At first, the distance being so great to Rob Roy, where she worshiped, and a Methodist society having been organized near her home, she withdrew from the former church and joined the latter. This was about six years ago. Her husband died of lung fever February 1, 1873. He was a reading, intelligent man. The family have eighty acres of land where they live, valued at $3,500, and eighty-seven acres in Iroquois county, Illinois, worth $2,500.

History of Fountain County, Indiana
by H. W. Beckwith
Published by H. H. Hill and N. Iddings, Chicago, in 1881
Shawnee Township - Biographical

William Carnahan, born of Scotch-Irish ancestry June 25, 1785, in Cumberland connty, Pennsylvania, emigrated to Indiana June 25, 1835, and settled in Shawnee township. He united with the Coal Creek Presbyterian church in August of the same year at a camp meeting. At a subsequent period he assisted in the organization of the Rob Roy Presbyterian church, of which he was elected one of the ruling elders. This office he held until the day of his death, which occurred January 25,1869, in the eighty-fourth year of his age. He was one of the many christian pioneers who, moving west with the first emigration to the new parts of onr country, carry the love of Christ with them and plant the gospel in the wilderness. He was in every way a most excellent man. With a clear mind, well stored with intelligence, and well versed in the doctrines of the gospel, with a heart fully in sympathy with Christ and His cause, he was at all times a safe and valuable adviser to his younger brethren. At the same time he was a peculiarly humble Christian. Living to a ripe old age he retained his mental vigor to the last. He died in full consciousness, and, as might have been expected from such a life, in perfect peace; gathered home "like as a shock of corn cometh in his season." In October, 1818, he married Mary Huston, who died in September 1823. In May, 1825, he married Margaret Cooper, who yet survives him. Mrs. Margaret C. Carnahan, relict of William Carnahan, born July 4, 1796, of English and Scotch-Irish ancestry, in Newville, Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, is now in her eighty-fifth year. In early life she united with the Presbyterian church, of which she is new a member, as were also her ancestors away back in the seventeenth century. She is in possession of a church letter given her great-grandfather and his wife, dated in the kingdom of Ireland and parish of Antrim, June 9, 1737, just before they emigrated to America, of which the following is a copy :
" That John Cooper & wife & family and his son Wm. Cooper and his wife Sarah Cooper all of ye Kingdom of Ireland County and parish of Antrim & hath lived within ye bounds of sd parish, all of them from their Infancy until1 ye 'Date hereof, & all of them while here with us behaved themselves Soberly and honestly free of any publick Scandal or Church Censure known to us & therefore may be received into Christian Communion in any Christian Society where God in his providence may be pleased to cast their lots. Certified at Antrim this ninth Day of June Anno Domini 1737. Seven

By WILLM HOLMES',

History of Fountain County, Indiana
by H. W. Beckwith
Published by H. H. Hill and N. Iddings, Chicago, in 1881
Shawnee Township - Biographical

Usual H. Meeker, retired farmer and stock raiser, Rob Roy, was born in Tompkins county, New York, October 12,1811. All he knows of his ancestral history is that two brothers named Meeker emigrated from England and settled in New Jersey anterior to the revolution. His father, Mannon Meeker, died when he was five years old, and his mother, whose maiden name was Hannah Thompson, removed with her family to Ohio. They were very poor, and at the age of eleven Mr. Meeker began toiling to support himself and his mother. For the first six months' labor he received the trifling sum of $8; and the following winter he worked for Peter Voorheee, grandfather of Daniel Voorhees, for twelve and a half cents a day, receiving hie pay regularly every night. Next season he was employed by Mr. Voorhees at $3 per month. At length he was able to earn $4 per month, and eventually his wages were increased to $5. Before he was eighteen he had saved $115; he now quit working by the month, and bought some oxen and went to cutting and hauling wood. He accumulated money rapidly; in six months his rising fortune had reached $215; but notwithstanding he was a yonng man of great strength and powerful constitution, he had so overtaxed and exhausted himself by excessive labor day and night that nature gave way under such a strain, and it was six months before he did any more work. He had to pay board. His oxen got scattered; he had lost long and precious months. When he began work again he found himself, as he expresses it, "nearly ruined." But it was not long till he bought eighty acres of land in Van Buren township without having seen it. He paid $215 for it. On November 27,1831, he married Sallie Dudley. Next year he came on horseback to see his land; it was hilly and rough, and did not please him; but in the winter of 1835-6 he brought his family to Fountain county. Next August he swopped his land with Moses Dudley for 160 acres in Richland township, where Daniel Carpenter lives, and agreed to pay $500 to boot. He had planted himself in the woods as poor as the most impecunious pioneer, and with a $5 and a $25 horse and a $20 wagon he began the hard struggle which he had voluntarily accepted. Next year he bought eighty acres of timber from Daniel Dyle, for $600 on credit. People were astonished at his apparently rash operations, and predictions that he would break up were freely volunteered. He did not break up, although he had to clear his land and pay for it from the products raised upon it. He brought 150 acres into cultivation. He sold this farm, and in 1856 he bonght another, of 280 acres, in Shawnee township, from George May, paying $5,000 down and obtaining credit for $9,000, the last payment to be made in three years. The gloomy prophecies were renewed, and Mr. Meeker was once more the butt of pitying observations. But he paid the last installment four months before it was due. He combined extensive stock raising with his farming; he labored at all seasons with tireless industry; he studied and practiced careful, if not rigid economy; he did not shrink from frequent risks, it must be confessed, and always declined to give bail on his notes of hand (often large ones), but never allowed one to mature without prompt payment. His success was uniform and his progress rapid. In 1858 he bought eighty acres from Abram Overly for $1,600; in 1859 a farm of 252 acres on Osborne's prairie, in Van Buren township, from Absalom Jenkins, for $8,000; in 1864, 400 acres in the same township from Charles Stewart and William Sewell, for $13,200; and 80 acres from Daniel Strader, for $2,000; in 1866, 68 acres from Enos Myers, for $3,700; a year or two later, 280 acres in Richland township, from the Woods heirs (Jonathan Swigert and H. Slusser), for $8,000; and 15 acres of woodland from William Kirkland, for $1,125; in 1869,169 acres in Shawnee township from Ferdinand Bookwalter, for $12,675. In 1875 he quit his farm and removed to Veedersburg, where he bought $1,600 worth of town property, and invested $2,000 in a grocery store. After eighteen months he sold out and went back to Shawnee township and built himself a neat country residence. In 1878 he pnrehased 200 acres adjoining his old homestead from William and Daniel Briney, for $12,000; in 1880, 133 acres in the same neighborhood from Francis Bookwalter, for $5,000; 80 acres for $7,500; add the dower of 60 acres belonging to his son Jacob's widow, for $3,000. Much more land has he bought, but this is that which he now owns, except 80 acres in Missouri, and for which he owes not a dollar, including some 800 acres he has given his children. Mr. Meeker has by no means exhausted his ability to buy more farms. He has been a money lender for twenty years. Mrs. Meeker was born in the State of Maine, August 8, 1811, and her parents removed to Butler county, Ohio, in 1815. She has borne seven children: Sarah, John, Joanna, Jacob, James, Maria, and Theodore. John and Jacob were soldiers in the late war. The former was in the 72d Ind. Vols., he served six or seven months, and was discharged for disability. The latter was in the 154th Ind., and after several months was discharged for a like cause. His service shortened his life, and he died in 1876. Mr. and Mrs. Meeker both belong to the Christian church. He cast his first ballot for Henry Clay in 1832, and from that time followed the fortunes of the whig party. He is now a republican.

History of Fountain County, Indiana
by H. W. Beckwith
Published by H. H. Hill and N. Iddings, Chicago, in 1881
Shawnee Township - Biographical

Esau Brown, farmer, Attica, was born in Shawnee township,September 17, 1837, and was the son of Simon and Nancy (Reed) Brown. He has always lived here except three years (1863, 1864, 1865) that he was in Berrien county, Michigan, engaged in farming. He was married in Shawnee townsbip, January 28, 1862, to Elizabeth Mills, who was born November 13, 1839. They have had twelve children: Sarah C., born, November 6, 1862, wife of David S. Hall; Cyrus C., October 13, 1864; Harrison R., July 19, 1866; Simon U., January 31, 1868; Emory E., and Emma A., August 25, 1869, the first died on the day of birth and the other lived till November, 1870; Alfred A., April 4, 1871; Mary Ophelia, October 23, 1872; Nanny E., May 22, 1874; Florence E., April 11, 1876; George Wellington, November 26,1877; and Franklin D., January 23, 1880. Mr. Brown and his wife are Spiritualists. He is a greenbacker. He has a farm of 143 acres, 100 acres being improved. For the history of his parents' settlement here see sketch of Cyrns Brown, his brother.

History of Fountain County, Indiana
by H. W. Beckwith
Published by H. H. Hill and N. Iddings, Chicago, in 1881
Shawnee Township - Biographical

Josiah Rusk, farmer, Attica, son of Benjamin and Sarah (Cook) Rusk, was born in Richland township, November 11, 1838. His mother was raised in Maryland, and his father in Ohio. They settled in Richland township probably as early as 1830, and lived and died there; his father, October 2, 1839. His mother married Abram Dove, and died September 5, 1869. Mr. Rusk got his education in the common schools of Richland township taught by Joseph Miller, Augustus Brier, Riley Hawking, Mr. Voliva, Moses Fowler, Pleasant Scott, and others. He was drafted in time of the war, examined, accepted, and held at La Fayette two weeks, but none of that draft went to the army, as the quota was filled by volunteers. So he came home, and April 2, 1864, was married to Melinda, daughter of Jacob Brown, who came to the Wabash with his mother in 1826. He lived near Portland three years, and then moved to Tippecanoe county. In 1839 he returned and has lived here till this time. His wife, to whom he was married in 1833, was Susanna Beeker. He is a descendant of German ancestry, and a native of Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, where he was born in 1811. Mrs. Rusk was born March 21, 1842, and has had six children: Jacob B. (deceased), Sarah Susanna, John, Albert, Ellen, and Miranda. Mr. and Mrs. Rusk belong to the United Brethren church and have their membership at Brown's chapel. He was converted at the age of twelve and united with the New Lights; his wife joined the same church a year after marriage. In 1868 they moved into Shawnee township and settled where they at present live. The change took them out of reach of the church where they had worshiped; and finally in 1879 they united by letter with the society of which they are now members. Mr. Rusk owns 246 acres in Shawnee township, and 240 in Grant township, Vermilion county, Illinois, valued at $23,000. He is a democrat.

History of Fountain County, Indiana
by H. W. Beckwith
Published by H. H. Hill and N. Iddings, Chicago, in 1881
Shawnee Township - Biographical

John C. Marr, farmer, Attica, was born in Attica, December 25, 1839. His father, was a native of Ireland, and came to Fountain county in 1837 and settled in Attica. His mother, whose maiden name was Ann Sholl, was born in Hagerstown, Maryland, April 3, 1810, and is living with her son in the enjoyment of a vigorous old age, but not wholly free from that most painful of diseases which too rarely fails to afflict old age - rheumatism. Mr. Marr received the log school-house education of those days. He has always been a tiller of the soil, but for the last two years he has been in the stock-shipping business. He owns eighty acres of land in Webster county, Iowa. He has been a Mason about ten years, and is a republican. He has been real estate appraiser of Shawnee township for four successive terms, beginning with 1872. He was first appointed by the board of commissioners of Fountain county, and in 1874 and in 1876 was reelected. He was United States supervisor of election for Shawnee township in 1880. He was married December 26, 1861, to Hester A. Keefer, who died September 6, 1876, leaving two children: John Edward, born January 24, 1863, and Mary B., September 4, 1865. His second marriage was with Miss Ella Simpson, who was born May 18, 1855. She has had two children: Gertrude Kate, born October 7, 1878, and George Howard, November 17, 1879.

History of Fountain County, Indiana
by H. W. Beckwith
Published by H. H. Hill and N. Iddings, Chicago, in 1881
Shawnee Township - Biographical

William Hall, farmer, Rob Roy, was born in Ross county, Ohio, May 1, 1812. He was the son of James and Hester (Hilvy) W. The former was born in Delaware, and the latter in Virginia. They were married in Ohio, and lived and died in Ross county. Mr. Hall's father was a hatter, and from him he learned that trade, and worked at it from 1828 till 1837, at which time he abandoned the business engaged in farming, which he has since followed without interruption. In August, 1834, he married Sarah Bookwater, and in 1839 emigrated to Fountain county, and improved the farm where he is living, in Shawnee township. His wife died in February 1847, and he married again October 14 of the same year. This wife's name was Sophia Van Gundy, daughter of Samuel Van Gundy, who came from Ross county, Ohio, to Shawnee township in 1838. She was born March 17, 1817. Mr. Hall originally a whig, and has been a republican since that party has had an existence. He has held communion in the Methodist church thirty years. His first wife was a member, as the second also is. He has filled the office of trustee twenty years, and is still discharging the duties of that position. He has traveled somewhat in the south and west. From l864 to 1869 he was trustee of Shawnee township, being elected five consecutive terms of one year each. He owns a choice, fertile, well improved farm, with handsome residence, picturesquely located a short distance south of Rob Roy. The place contains 200 acres, all in cultivation except thirty acres of timber. His first marriage was fruitful of five children: Elizabeth (deceased), Clinton (deceased), Jeremiah, Isaac, and James. By his second wife he has had six children: Wallace, Alonzo, Ophelis (wife of Daniel R. Brown), Alexander, Arphelia, and Ella. His sons, Clinton, Jeremiah and Isaac, were soldiers in the late war. Clinton belonged to the 22d Ill. Vols., and fought at Shiloh and Stone River. In the last battle he was wounded in the leg; gangrene set in, and though the limb was amputated it was not enough to save his life. His remains were brought home and interred at Rob Roy. Jeremiah was in the 86th Ind. Vols., and after four months' service in the field was taken sick and sent to Nashville, and after his recovery was retained there to nurse in hospital till the end of the war, serving on this detached duty nearly three years. Isaac was in the 113th Ind. Vols., and served his full time of six months in East Tennessee.

History of Fountain County, Indiana
by H. W. Beckwith
Published by H. H. Hill and N. Iddings, Chicago, in 1881
Shawnee Township - Biographical

Mark B. Briney, farmer, Rob Roy, second son of William S. and Ellen (McMillin) Briney, was born near his present residence in Shawnee township, August 2, 1840. His grandfather, Mark Breinnig (now spelled Briney), served in the last war with England, and was one of the garrison,of Fort Meigs when it was besieged. He was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, October 23, 1790, and came with his parents to Butler county, Ohio, in a very early time. His mothers parents, Daniel and Ellen (Fergusson) McMillan, arrived in Shawnee township, from Dark county, Ohio, about 1830. He was a prominent citizen, and built the first mill of any consequence on the Shawnee. This first bore the name of its original proprietor, and for manv years recently has been known as the "Nave Mill," but its name has still more recently been changed to Wheatland. Mr. McMillin was one of the commissioners of Fountain county in his time. His birth occurred in 1768, and his death in 1836; his wife was born June 12, 1774, and died in 1840. Mr. Briney's father emigrated from Butler county, Ohio, reaching Fountain county October 20, 1831. After living four years near Covington, he married and removed to Shawnee township, where he at present resides. He was born in January 1815, and his wife March 16 of the same year. She was the youngest child of twelve, and is the only one of the number living. This couple reared three sons and one daughter: Daniel, Mark, William Alexander (dead), and Sarah Ellen. The latter is the wife of Oliver Marshall, of Troy township. Mr. Briney enlisted August 13, 1862, in Co. C, 86th Ind. Vols., and was discharged February 19, 1863, on surgeon's certificate of disability. He was married August 19, 1869, to Mary E., daughter of William and Nancy (Brier) Manlove. Mrs. Manlove died January 15,1856, and Mr. Manlove November 27, 1860. Mr. Brier has had three children: Okella, born May 17, 1870; William M., born Febroary 13, 1872, died September 6, 1873; Edna, January 29, 1875, died May 11 of same year. He owns a good farm of 164 acres, 110 being improved, and is a democrat. His wife is a Presbyterian.

History of Fountain County, Indiana
by H. W. Beckwith
Published by H. H. Hill and N. Iddings, Chicago, in 1881
Shawnee Township - Biographical

Simon B. LaBaw, farmer, Fountain (Portland), was born in Shawnee township, July 15, 1841. He was the son of Benjamin and Phebe (Crane) LaBaw, who came by wagon from Montgomery county, Ohio, probably as early as 1830, and settled on the farm which is owned and occupied by John LaBaw. This couple reared twelve children, seven of whom are living. Mrs. LaBaw died April 24, 1852, and Mr. LaBaw married twice afterward; three children by his second wife, Elizabeth Smith, are living; his third wife, Eliza Arheart, had two children, but both are dead. Mr. LaBaw’s eldest brother, David, was a member of the 86th Ind. Vols. He was slightly wounded at the battle of Stone River, and being afterward prostrated with typhoid fever, died in hospital at Murfreesboro, April 4, 1863. His brotber, Derrick B., was in the same regiment, and was killed in the first day's battle at Stone River, January 31, 1862. His brother, Benjamin F, was in the 72d Ind.Vols. He shared in the hard service done by the Army of the Ohio, in the last quarter of the year 1862. He was in a number of skirmishes and on long marches, and died of lung fever at Bowling Green, Kentucky, January 4, 1863. Mr. LaBaw himself was in the 154th Ind.Vols. (Co. C); he enlisted in the spring of 1865, for one year, and served near Winchester, in the Shenandoah valley, doing garrison duty. He was retained in the service until August 1865, and then discharged. This was truly a family stimulated by no doubtful patriotism. Mr. LaBaw was married to Sarah E. Deal, December 7, 1865. She died December 15, 1866, leaving a son, Emory G., who was born November 27. December 10, 1867, he was married in Pennsylvania, by the Rev. Wolf, to Amelia Brame, who was born April 9, 1838. The children by this union are Mary. E., born December 29, 1868; Laura B., born May 11, 1871; Elizabeth E., born March 4, 1873; Edwin, born September 9, 1874 died in infancy, and Lily Naomi, born August 25, 1876. Mrs. LaBaw belongs to the United Brethren church, and has her membership at Brown's chapel. He is a trustee of this church, but not a member. He owns 200 acres of land, 90 acres being timber, worth $10,000. He is a greenbacker.

History of Fountain County, Indiana
by H. W. Beckwith
Published by H. H. Hill and N. Iddings, Chicago, in 1881
Shawnee Township - Biographical

James Marquess, farmer, Fountain (Portland), second son and fourth child of Kidd and Jane (Trussel) Marquess, was born in Louden county, Virginia, May 8, 1805. His birthplace was on the summit of the Blue Ridge, where he passed the first sixteen years of his life. At eighteen he crossed to the east side of the mountains to a little town called Union, where he learned the shoemaker's trade with Thomas Jones, in whose shop he worked three years. In May, 1827, he went to Leesburg, the county town, and engaged in making boots and shoes for the paupers of Louden county. At Christmas 1828, he went up on the Blue Ridge and embarked in the coopering business with his brother till September 1831, when he came to Dayton, Ohio, where he made this his principal employment during his residence in the place. November 21, 1833, he was married to Miss Margaret Ann Berry, who was born in Maryland, August 18, 1815. In 1835 he purchased sixty acres on Mad river, in Clark county, Ohio, for $900, and they lived on this until the spring of 1838, when they returned to Dayton. June 1, 1841, they departed from that place for the west land arrived in Rob Roy on the 9th. In the following autumn he bought from Thomas Bodley the farm which John Stucker, son-in-law of Mr. Marquess, now owns and occupies. This was entered in 1822 by George Johnson who sold it to Bodley. Here Mr. Marquess and his family resided until March 1846, when they moved to his present homestead. He has 190 acres in a body, abont 130 acres being under the plow and in pasture. This is worth $9,500. Mr. and Mrs. Marquees have reared nine children of their own and three belonging to other parents. Following are the former: Serena Ann, wife of Samuel Smith, of Niles, Michigan; Delilah Jane, deceased wife of David L. LaBaw; Mary Catherine, wife of Dayton E. Coffing; Nancy Ellen, wife of Jonathan D. Crane; William H., who married Mary, daughter of the Rev. Simon Brown; Margaret E., wife of Jobn Crawford; Sarah A., wife of Simon Hoots; Elda, wife of John Stucker; and George, married to Eliza Ferguson. They brought up William Jemison, who was a soldier in the late war, and afterward died; and Samuel F. and George M. LaBaw, grandsons. The father of these grandchildren, David L. LaBaw, was a member of the 86th Ind.Vols., and was slightly wounded at the battle of Stone River. He was attacked not long after with typhoid fever, and died in hospital at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, April 4, 1863. William Marquess belonged to the same regiment and served about six months, when he was discharged at Bowling Green, Kentucky, on account of disability. Mrs. Marquess is a member of the United Brethren church. Mr. Marquess cast his first vote for president for Gen. Jackson, in 1832. He voted the democratic ticket till 1852, when he cast the only ballot for John P. Hale that was deposited at the polls at Portland. He has been a republican since that party came into existence.

History of Fountain County, Indiana
by H. W. Beckwith
Published by H. H. Hill and N. Iddings, Chicago, in 1881
Shawnee Township - Biographical

James J. Meeker, farmer, Rob Roy, son of Usual H. Meeker, was born in Richland township, January 31, 1847. In the spring of 1856 he moved with his father's family into Shawnee township, and has since resided here. He was married April 21, 1870, to Martha E. McKnight, daughter of Linton and Margaret (Marcus) McKnight, who removed from Ohio to Richland townsltip in 1850. Her father was a Virginian by birth. Their marriage has produced two children: Hettie M., born November 20, 1871, and Usual M., November 29, 1873. Both parents are members of the Christian denomination, and have their membership at the Union Cemetery church. Mr. Meeker has 190 acres of first-class land, 30 acres being in pasture and timber. He is a republican.

History of Fountain County, Indiana
by H. W. Beckwith
Published by H. H. Hill and N. Iddings, Chicago, in 1881
Shawnee Township - Biographical

William M. Hatton, farmer, Attica, was born in Logan township, October 6, 1849. His grandfather Hatton was an early settler from Ohio, locating on Sec. 17, T. 21, R. 7, in 1886. The farm which heimproved, and on which he lived and died, is now the property of Henry Nave by recent purchase. His grandfather Swank was another who came two or three years later than the Hattons, and set up at his trade of blacksmithing close by Henry Nave's. He afterward bought on the N.E. 1/4 of Sec. 20. The Swank homestead has recently been purchased by the subject of this sketch, who also has just disposed of the Hatton homestead. Thomas S. Hatton was born in 1833, and came here with his father from Ohio. He married Julia Swank, and the fruits of this union were ten children, nine of whom are living: Thomas S., James E. (born in l848), William M., Charles T., Mary C. (deceased), John A.; Frank E. (born October 7, 1857), Joseph B., David H., Sarah E. and Walter B. William M. was married March 27,1873, to Nancy C., daughter of Leonard and Ann Eliza Houts. She was born in Logan township, December 17, 1850. Her parents came from Ohio at an early day, and settled on Lopp's prairie. They have one child, Charles Edmund, born December 31, 1873. James E. was married January 24, 1810, to Mary A. Coppock, who died July 7, 1878, leaving three children. Charles has been in business a short time in Attica, but recently sold out to his brothers, James E. and Frank, who now carry on the grocery trade. John A. is in the same business in W illiamsport.

History of Fountain County, Indiana
by H. W. Beckwith
Published by H. H. Hill and N. Iddings, Chicago, in 1881
Shawnee Township - Biographical

Francis M. Potter, farmer, Attica, was born in Floyd county, Indiana, March 5, 1835. He was the son of Abram and Thirza (Overbay) Potter, the former of whom died and was buried in Knox county in March 1844 or 1845. In 1851 he and his mother arrived in Fountain connty and settled on the Big Shawnee, where he has since lived sometimes in Logan, sometimes in Richland, but most of the time in Shawnee township. His mother died February 4, 1880, aged seventy-nine years. He was married August 10, 1868, to Nancy Ann, daughter of William H. and Mary (Stout) Smith, who settled in Richland township in 1828. Mrs. P. is a sister to John C. Smith, who has a sketch in Richland township. These parents have seven living children: John D., born April 11, 1862; Lenora E., February 20, 1864; Alta Mary, January 2, 1867; Francis Marion, August 30, 1869; George Washington, April 19, 1872; Icy Abigal, October 9, 1874; and Daniel Voorhees, January 31, 1878. Mr. Potter was an Odd-Fellow five years from 1864; since that he has not been affiliated. He enlisted May 8, 1861, in Co. H, 15th Ind. Vols., and was in the service three months. He is a democrat.

History of Fountain County, Indiana
by H. W. Beckwith
Published by H. H. Hill and N. Iddings, Chicago, in 1881
Shawnee Township - Biographical

William Carnahan Cole, M.D., was born July 16, 1828, in Washington, Daviess county, Indiana, of English and Scotch-Irish ancestry. In his eighteenth year he enlisted in New Orleans, Louisiana, in the regiment of Mounted Rifles, Smith's brigade, Twigg's division, and with that command, under Gen. Scott, participated in all the battle in the Valley of Mexico, entering the city September 14,1847, and remaining nine months. He was discharged at Jefferson barracks, Missouri. He studied medicine at the Medical College of Ohio, attending two full courses of lectures and graduating from that school. He located in Newtown, Fountain county, March 1852, where he practiced until December 1859, when he changed his location to a farm in Shawnee township, where he has practiced over since with the exception of the three years he served in the Union army. In August, 1862, he assisted in recruiting Co. H, 72d reg. Ind. Vols., of which company he was elected first lieutenant. On the arrival of the regiment at Indianapolis he was commissioned by Gov. Morton assistant surgeon; and after one year of service in the field, and in charge of Hospital No. 5, at Gallatin, Tennessee, was cornmissioned surgeon of the 72d regiment. He served during the last year of the war as brigade surgeon of Wilder's brigade of mounted infantry; the 72d and 17th Indiana and the 98th and 123d Illinois comprising the brigade. At the close of the last campaign, while at Macon, Georgia, he detailed Dr. Groves, of the 98th Illinois, to accompany the 4th Michigan in pursuit of Jeff. Davis. The doctor was present at the capture of that noted personage. He was mustered out of the service at Indianapolis. He is a member of the American Medical Association, Indiana State Medical Society, and of the Fountain County Medical Society, of which last he is president. He was married May 3, 1853, to Miss Mary A. Carnahan, who was born November 5, 1830, at Newville, Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, and who emigrated with her parents to Fountain county in 1835, settling in Shawnee township. Dr. Cole's eldest son, William G., was born in Newtown, June 9, 1854. He attended Waveland Collegiate Institute and Wabash College each one term. He was married May 27, 1879, to Niss Eva Haas, who was born November 25, 1860. They have a child, William C., born March 24, 1880. Both are rnembers of the Beulah Presbyterian church, and he is a republican.

History of Fountain County, Indiana
by H. W. Beckwith
Published by H. H. Hill and N. Iddings, Chicago, in 1881
Shawnee Township - Biographical

George M. Foster, farmer, Rob Roy, eldest of two sons, by John L. and Catherine (Nave) Foster, was born April 24, 1853. His grandfather, James Foster, emigrated to this township from Franklin county, Ohio, in 1887. Mr. Foster was married November 3, 1876, to Eliza Jane Burbridge, daughter of Morgan Burbridge, a pioneer settler of western Indiana. She was born October 21, 1854, in Tippecanoe county. They are the parents of three children: Wilmer, born August 18, 1876; William Robert, February 21, 1878, and John Lee, February 8, 1880. Mr. and Mrs. Foster are members of the Presbyterian church. He is a republican.

History of Fountain County, Indiana
by H. W. Beckwith
Published by H. H. Hill and N. Iddings, Chicago, in 1881
Shawnee Township - Biographical

George W. Snyder, farmer, and trustee of Shawnee township, Rob Roy, son of Abram and Christina (Kerns) Snyder, was born in Perry county, Pennsylvania, April 7, 1821. His father was a soldier in the last war with England, and served in Canada. Mr. Snyder was raised a farmer, and received a common school education. March 17, 1854, he and his family arrived in Shawnee township, where they have since lived. He was married January 8, 1852, to Mary Fidler, who was born October 26, 1821. They have had two children: Mary, born June 9, 1861 (died in infancy), and Samuel E., born February 5, 1863. Mr. Snyder was elected township trustee in 1870, and held the office two years. In 1878 he was reelected, and also again in 1880. He belongs to the German Reformed and his wife to the Lutheran church. He owns a good farm of 327 acres two miles west of Rob Roy. He is a national green backer.

History of Fountain County, Indiana
by H. W. Beckwith
Published by H. H. Hill and N. Iddings, Chicago, in 1881
Shawnee Township - Biographical

John G. Keefer, farmer, Rob Roy, son of Israel and Margaret (Hall) Keefer, was born in Ross county, Ohio, August 31, 1851. He came with his parents to Shawnee township in the fall of 1854, and has lived here since that time. His father was a mechanic, and the use of tools coming to him naturally, he learned the carpenter's trade with much freedom, but has never followed it to any great extent. He began farming in 1874. December 18, 1873, he was married to Miss Henrietta Fisher, who was born February 24, 1851. Her father came to Shawnee township, and first settled near Portland, about forty years ago. He died in Rob Roy, in December 1854. They have two children: Estella, born October 3, 1874, and Lulu, December 4, 1876. Mr. Keefer was elected assessor of Shawnee township in the spring of 1880, for two years. He is a republican, active in politics and business, and an intelligent, useful citizen.

History of Fountain County, Indiana
by H. W. Beckwith
Published by H. H. Hill and N. Iddings, Chicago, in 1881
Shawnee Township - Biographical

Robert D. Keefer, carpenter and grocer, Rob Roy, son of Israel and Margaret (Hall) Keefer, was born in Shawnee township, January 10, 1856. His parents removed from Ross county, Ohio, to this place in 1854. He obtained a common school education, and at the age of eighteen began to learn the carpenter's trade. He has followed this business to the present time. Mr. Keefer was married, September 9, 1880, to Miss Ida, daughter of Jacob Clawson. She was born October 16, 1860. Her mother's maiden name was Mary Nehemiah. The Clamsons were early settlers in this part of the country. Mr. Keefer is a young man of spirit and enterprise, and in politics a republican.

History of Fountain County, Indiana
by H. W. Beckwith
Published by H. H. Hill and N. Iddings, Chicago, in 1881
Shawnee Township - Biographical

Samuel H. Burbridge, miller, Attica, second son of Morgan Burbridge; was born in La Fayette, Indiana, March 25, 1851. He received a common school education, and was reared a miller. He came to this township in 1865, his parents preceding him one year. He was too young for military service in the late war, but his persistent ardor was three times displayed in attempts to reach a recruiting office, and disappointed in each case by his being taken from the cars and returned to his parents by acquaintances. When sixteen he left home on a trip to Missouri, and returning stopped awhile in Illinois. Again he went to Ray county, Missouri, traveling by team, and from there successively to Baxter Springs, Kansas; Springfield and Jefferson City; Missouri, and thence to Texas, employed to buy and drive cattle for a man at Springfield. He was in this business six months, and then returned home. In 1873 he visited Springfield again. February 4, 1880, while attending to his duties in the mill, he was accidentally caught in the machinery and severely injured in the left arm by having the flesh torn from the bone, rendering this limb permanently useless. In politics he is a republican. His father was born in Pickaway county, Ohio, December 6, 1817. In the autumn of 1822 his parents moved to Montgomery county, and settled two and one-half miles west of Crawfordsville. In the fall of 1823 his father bought his land at the office in Terre Haute. Up to the time he was fifteen Mr. Burbridge worked on a farm; then he began to learn the trade of a millwright. When a boy he worked on the Michigan City mills. In connection with his business he has visited and traveled in the states of Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, New York, and Pennsylvania. He was married December 25, 1847, to Rachael A. Jones, who was born near Newcastle, Indiana, Angust 1, 1827. Their four children are Charles L., Samuel H., Eliza J. (wife of George M. Foster) and John William. After their marriage they lived two years at Crawfordsville, and in the fall of 1849 removed to La Fayette, where he owned a foundry and machine shop four years. In 1864 he settled in Shawnee township, and bought the flouring-mill where he lives, on the Shawnee. He is still operating it. Before this removal he was absent from home much of his time millwrighting, but since that has given little attention to his trade.

History of Fountain County, Indiana
by H. W. Beckwith
Published by H. H. Hill and N. Iddings, Chicago, in 1881
Shawnee Township - Biographical

Henry Quiggle, farmer and stock raiser, Attica, was born in Adams county, Pennsylvania, November 18, 1841. His ancestry was German, and his parents were George and Mary (Shely) Quiggle. He was reared a farmer, and received a common school education. In 1865 he came to Fountain county, and spent two years working as a hand on a farm. In the autumn of 1866 he retnrned to Pennsylvania and was married February 28, 1867, to Susan Whitmer, daughter of Henry and Katherine (Eiholtz) Whitmer, born January 7, 1845. In the spring of 1867 he returned with his wife to Fountain county, and has since lived here. They occasionally pay visits to their native home. They have had six children: Cora, born November 4, 1867; Laura; November 13, 1869; John, March 4, 1872; Ira, February 20, 1874; Frank, August 27, 1876, and Elmer, September 20 (died October 25), 1878. Mrs. Quiggle belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church, and Mr. Quiggle is a member of Richland Lodge, No. 205, A.F. and A.M., at Newtown. He was reared a democrat, but had too much intelligence to allow his manhood and usefnlness to be impaired by party bondage, and so has torn away, when he thought reason dictated, from the attachments formed by early training, before his judgment had matured, and voted the republican ticket and principles as often as the other.

History of Fountain County, Indiana
by H. W. Beckwith
Published by H. H. Hill and N. Iddings, Chicago, in 1881
Shawnee Township - Biographical

Alonzo Swank, miller, Rob Roy, son of Jacob and Mary Ann (Foster) Swank, was born in Warren county, Indiana, January 26, 1857. His mother died when he was nine days old, and he was taken and reared by his grandfather, William Swank, who with his own father, Jacob, came to this county in 1830. Both were blacksmiths. The latter remained only a short time, then went into Montgomery county. They had a smithy close to Henry Nave's. William Swank improved the farm, and built the brick house where Wm. Melvin Hatton lives, in this township. In September, 1872, the subject of this notice went into the Rob Roy mill to learn the business of milling with Messrs. Bookwalter & Claypool, and has been connected with it ever since. In November, 1876, Mr. Swank joined with Albert Donovan, and leased the mill from his employers. They ran it till August 1878, when James W. Orr bought his partner's interest in the lease; and these have operated the mill to the present time. Mr. Swank married Miss Luella Kingora Janaary 3, 1878. She was born May 13, 1860. They have one child, Ally, born December 17, 1878. Mr. Swank's father died in August 1875.

History of Fountain County, Indiana
by H. W. Beckwith
Published by H. H. Hill and N. Iddings, Chicago, in 1881
Shawnee Township - Biographical

Deb Murray