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

Alanson A. Greenwood, live-stock dealer, Attica, was born in Bethel, Oxford county, Maine, in 1828. He received an academic education; for a few years he worked at making sash, doors and blinds; and was afterward merchandising. In 1857 he emigrated to Leavenworth, Kansas; and in 1860 came to Fountain county, and until 1877 lived in Shawnee township. Between 1860 and 1865 he was operating the Greenwood mill with his uncle, Harley Greenwood. In the latter year he and F. W. McCoughtry bought that property and manufactured flour till 1877, since which time they have rented it. During the same period these gentlemen have also been largely engaged in handling stock. For the past ten years their sales have annually reached $500,000. They make weekly shipments to Buffalo. In 1877 he removed to Attica where his family has since resided. He was married in 1850, and again in 1868. His whole time is engrossed with an extensive business. In politics he is a republican.

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

Samuel D. Landon, merchant, Attica, the first child of Benjamin and Mary (Deardorff ) Landon, was born April 5,1827, in Montgomery county, Ohio. In 1829 the family removed to Warren county, Indiana, and located in the Goodwine neighborhood in Liberty township. Mr. Landon has been interested in farming all his life, but during the past thirty years also engaged in mercantile pursuits. He began poor, first by working for $8 per month, and next renting land. In a few years he got a small start and then went to trading. In 1850 he commenced in the grocery business in Williamsport, afterward adding dry goods to his stock. In 1854 he sold out, and in 1856 resumed the grocery and provision trade. In the fall of 1862 he removed to Attica, and has since continued in the same line of merchandising. He was married October 19, 1861, to Lucinda, daughter of Joseph Hanes, an early settler of Warren county. They have reared four children: Isabel, born December 25, 1853, married R. A. Green, of Attica, and died April 20, 1874; Louis H., born April 19, 1856; Mary Alice, July 4, 1859; Samuel W., June 14, 1865. Mrs. Landon belongs to the Protestant Episcopal church. They own upward of 600 acres of land. Mr. Landon had five brothers in the Union army during the rebellion, two of whom died in the service. He cast his first vote for Zachary Taylor for president; in 1852 he voted for Gen. Pierce, and until 1876 continued to act with the democratic party; but in that year he joined the greenbackers, and voted for Peter Cooper for president. In 1878 he received the nomination of the greenback party of Fountain and Warren counties for state senator, but failed of election. In 1880 he was renominated for the same position. Except on finance Mr. Landon stands by the ancient and immutable principles of the democratic party. He is in favor of the government issuing currency direct to the people, and opposed to the conversion of the greenbacks into a bonded indebtedness. In common with all greenbackers he shared in the opposition to the refunding of the five-twenty bonds. His ancestors have exhibited a uniform longevity, living into the eighties and nineties.

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

Jonas C. Aylsworth, president of the Attica Mills Company, Attica, was born in Columbia county, New York, in 1831. He was the youngest child of Asahel and Harriet (Conkling) Aylsworth. In 1839 the family removed to Granville, Licking county, Ohio. His father was a farmer, and he was reared a tiller of the soil. His education was obtained at Granville College, now Dennison University. In 1858 he went to Nebraska, where he lived five years; a part of this time he was a clerk in the United States land office. In the spring of 1863 he came to Attica and took an interest with Fallis & Plowman in the gristmill. It was then run by water and had but two sets of burrs. They increased the capacity by the addition of two more run of stones and put in a boiler and an engine, and it was henceforth a steam mill. This firm sold out to Brown & Telford, of La Fayette, and Mr. Aylsworth superintended it for the new company until July, 1874, when he was appointed special agent of the pension bureau. During most of the time he was in this service he was traveling in the east and the west 'on business for the government. In October, 1877, he resigned and returned to Attica, and immediately the Attica Mills Company a joint stock association incorporated under the general laws of the state, of which Mr. Aylsworth is president was organized, and the mill, which had been standing idle a year or more, was again put to running. Since that time it has undergone a thorough refitting; the old machinery has been entirely replaced with new, comprising all the latest improvements in mill fixtures, and the capacity which was reduced to 100 barrels per day last year, has been increased to 150, while a farther extension and improvement of the grades are now being made. They manufacture the "new process" and the "patent" flour altogether, and are doing a very large business. Their mill is one of the best in the state. Mr. Aylsworth was married to Miss Mary W. Atkinson, of Pataskala, Ohio, daughter of Samuel Atkinson, at one time warden of the Ohio penitentiary. She died in 1877. By this union were born five children: Harry S., Mary Harriet, Edwin H., William A. and Walter J. Edwin died in 1878. Mr. Aylsworth married again, in April 1880, Lura F. Aylesworth, of East Clarence, Erie county, New York. She is a communicant in the Baptist church. He has been a Mason twenty-seven years, and secretary of Attica lodge since 1868, except the period that he was in government employ. He is now a member and secretary of the board of education of Attica, having been elected the current year. He has served three terms as councilman of the city. He is more or less independent in politics, but the preponderance of his voting is with the republicans.

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

John T. Nixon, grain buyer, Attica, son of John and Maria (Veeder) Nixon, was born in Racine county, Wisconsin, October 19, 1849. His father was a farmer, and he was reared to the same occupation. In 1867 he came to Attica, and in 1876 started in the lumber and grain trade, and has since followed that business without interruption. He was married January 10, 1878, to Miss Ida C. Plowman, of Attica. He has been a Mason three years, and is a pronounced republican.

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

John T. Huddle, farmer, Attica, son of Henry and Sophia (Tarter) Huddle, was born in Virginia in 1849. From about 1865 to 1870 he was engaged in the stock business, buying, driving to market, and selling cattle. In the latter year he went to Missouri, and in 1871 came to Logan township, this county, where he has since resided. He was married in 1877 to Miss Margaret J. Nave, daughter of Henry Nave, one of the very early settlers of Logan township. They have two children: Wiley J., born in 1878, and Mary Sophia, born in 1879. Mr. Huddle has made an extended tour through the south and the northwest. Both he and his wife are communicants in the Presbyterian church. Politically, Mr. Huddle's views are democratic.

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

Marvin T. Case, physician and surgeon, Attica, was born in Walworth county, Wisconsin, June 18, 1843. He was raised a farmer, and obtained his education in the common schools of his native place, and at the graded school at Gowonda, New York. He was enrolled as a private August 15, 1862, in Co. D, 86th Ind. Vols., and bore a share in all the battles in which his regiment was engaged. He was in the supporting column and under fire at Perryville, but did not exchange shots with the enemy. The next engagement was Laurel Hill, and after that Stone River. In the latter the 86th lost about 200 in killed, wounded and missing out of 460 that went into action. A reconnaissance to Crawfish Springs brought on a small engagement in which he participated. He fought next at Chickamauga and Mission Ridge; the 86th and 79th Indiana regiments were the first to plant the stars and stripes on the ridge in the advance from Orchard Knob on the last day of the battle. He then marched to the relief of Knoxville, and spent the winter of 1864-5 in East Tennessee. The following summer he was on the Atlanta campaign, and engaged at Rocky Face Ridge, Cassville, Kingston, New Hope Church, Pine Mountain, Kenesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, Jonesborough, Lovejoy Station, and following Hood back to Tennessee, fought at Columbus, Spring Hill, Franklin, and Nashville. He was mustered out as orderly sergeant at Nashville June 6, and disbanded at Indianapolis June 12, 1865. Besides the service mentioned he also did the usual amount of marching and skirmishing, and did not miss a day's duty in the whole period. He now engaged in farming and teaching, and in 1867 was elected school examiner for Warren county. He held this position eighteen months, and in 1868 entered the University of Michigan, receiving the following year the degree of pharmaceutical chemist, and on March 30, 1870, graduated from the medical school of that institution. He immediately located in Attica in partnership with his old preceptor, Dr. Joseph Jones. After the expiration of two years his partner removed to Indianapolis, and the doctor has retained the large practice of the firm. He was married November 16, 1850, to Miss Mary E., daughter of Rev. John R. Demotte, of the Northwest Indiana conference. They have had four children: Jessie, Clarence, Ethel, and Lauren. The third died in infancy. In 1875 the doctor was appointed county superintendent of schools, and filled the office a year and a half, and in 1877 was elected school trustee of Attica, his term having just expired. He is an Odd-Fellow and republican. Both he and his wife are communicants in the Methodist Episcopal church. The doctor's father was a member of the convention which framed the constitution of Wisconsin when it was admitted into the Union as a state.

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

Prof. Wilbur Buzzell, teacher, Attica, third son of John and Catherine Amelia (Lewis) Buzzell, was born in Davisonville, Genesee county, Michigan, November 27, 1848. His father was a carpenter, and he worked with him and partially learned the same trade. He prepared for college at Detroit and Flint, Michigan. At the former place he received instruction in music under John Zundel. In 1869 he matriculated at the Michigan University and graduated in the classical course in 1873. He was organist for the Methodist church at Ann Arbor, and this situation furnished him the principal part of the means required to complete his collegiate course. His father provided the remainder. In the fall of 1873 he went to the Norwich university, a military academy situated at Northfield, Vermont, and was there at different times amounting to two years altogether. He resided in Vermont during the school years of 1873 and 1874, and in February, 1875, came to Kalamazoo, remaining there till June. On September 1 he celebrated his marriage with Miss Carrie Matthews, of Ann Arbor, and immediately went to Vermont, spending a year in that state, and returning to Michigan the next summer. In the autumn of 1876 he removed to La Fayette and taught two years in the high school in that city, and in 1878 became principal of the Attica High School. In this position he has given eminent satisfaction, and has been retained another year. During his residence in La Fayette he was organist for the Second Presbyterian church, and when he came to Attica he took charge of the music in the Methodist church. The professor is an able and skillful musician and an accomplished vocalist.

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

Joseph Peacock, Attica, was born in Burlington county, New Jersey, September 19,1814. His parents moved to Warren county, Ohio, the following year, and to Attica in the fall of 1829. Joseph learned the blacksmithing and wagon-making trade when quite young, and followed it until a few years since. He served in the city council for seven consecutive terms. In 1874 he was elected township trustee and served for six years, the law prohibiting him from holding the office longer. In 1874 he made the race for mayor, but was beaten twenty-five votes. He has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church for the past fifty years, and has filled various offices in that organization. Mr. Peacock is the oldest resident of Attica now living, having been here almost fifty-two years. He is an honored and respected citizen, and counts his friends by the score.

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

Aaron Hetfield was the first man to settle in Richland township. He came from Elmira, Chemung county, New York, when he was thirty-five or forty years old. He was married to Miss Isabella Miller, of New York, in 1821, emigrated to this township in 1824, and settled where Newtown now is. He was a tanner by trade; engaged in that business for a time, and then sold out to Peter Shultz, who afterward settled on the farm now owned by the widow and heirs of Barzillai Kerr.

Mr. Hetfield was engaged chiefly in farming. He laid out Newtown, in 1830, on his own land. He died not long after in Illinois, while on a visit to his daughter. He had four sons. Two are dead. Lew. Hetfield, hotel keeper at Veedersburg, is his son. History of Fountain County, Indiana
by H. W. Beckwith
Published by H. H. Hill and N. Iddings, Chicago, in 1881
Richland Township - First Settlers

David Ogle, farmer, Newtown, was the sixth child in a family of eleven children, by Thomas and Anna (Jones) Ogle, and was born in Adams county, Ohio, February 27, 1818. The family traveled a distance of 200 miles in twenty-four days, in a four-horse wagon, and reached Fountain county, in the neighborhood of Hillsboro, about Christmas, 1824. In March following they moved, and made their home in Richland township, about a mile north of Newtown, on land at present owned by Isaac Shultz. His father died on the place in 1836, and his mother survived until six or seven years ago. In 1857 Mr. Ogle moved to his present location, where he owns about 140 acres, the most of which is choice farming land. His first marriage was with Hannah Knisley, in 1837, who had five children: Charlotte, wife of William Hatton; Anna (deceased); Mary Catherine, wife of Thomas Newell; Samuel T., and Levi (deceased). In 1856 he was married to the relict of William Kiff, formerly Margaret Kerr. The issue of this marriage has been three children: Esther (deceased), Elizabeth and Charles D. Mr. Ogle's stepson, Ambrose Kiff, was a soldier in the 154th Ind. Vols. He enlisted early in 1865 for six months, or during the war, and his service was in the Shenandoah valley, where he was mustered out in August. He is living in Republic county, Kansas. Josiah Kiff was enrolled early in the war, in a New York cavalry regiment. He went through the Peninsular campaign, and was afterward killed while advancing on the enemy near Fredericksburg. There were two others of these step-sons: James Kift, who died in Kansas five or six years ago, and Barzillia M., living in this township. Mr. Ogle is a decided republican. He and his wife have been members of the Christian church for thirty years. He was a deacon for a long time.

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

John Abolt, farmer, Newtown, was born in Montgomery county, Ohio, March 14, 1816. In 1825 he came with his parents, Jacob and Mary (Fosnoth) Abolt, to Richland township, and settled on the farm where he resides. This land, which his father entered, is described as follows: W. ½ N.E. 1/4 and E. 1/2 N.W. ¼ Sec. 13, T. 20, R. 7. About twenty-seven years ago he bought the place from his father, who lived with him from that time till his death, in March 1878. He attained the extreme age of ninety-eight. He was a German, but the date of his emigration to these shores is unknown. He was a miller in the fatherland, and followed his trade several years in the eastern states. At length he came west, and for some time lived in Cincinnati, where he ran the first steam grist-mill ever erected in that city. He married in Montgomery county, Ohio. After his home was in this county he confined his labors to agriculture. John Abolt married Mary Furr October 11, 1847. She was the daughter of Jacob Furr, who settled in Cain township in an early day, and was born March 18,1825. They have three living children: Samuel K., born April 30, 1849; Alice, October 11,1858; and Marion, December 24, 1854. Mr. Abolt united with the New Light church twenty years ago. His wife and children are Baptists. He owns a very desirable farm of 200 acres. His politics are democratic, and his record is one of good citizenship, untiring industry, and unswerving integrity.

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

Nathan Neal, farmer, Hillsboro, was born near Lexington, Kentucky, July 20, 1801. About 1807 his parents, Benjamin and Mary (Seller) Neal, moved to Preble county, Ohio, where they lived and died. He was married February 1,1821, to Delilah Fleming, of Darke county, Ohio. In August, 1825, he came to Fountain county to view the country, in company with Jacob Hawk and Ebenezer Bridge, who had been here the spring before and entered land. They had come now to put up cabins, and while so engaged Bridge decided not to move his family until the succeeding spring. Hank, rather than come to the county with his family alone, sold twenty-fire acres off from his eighty to Mr. Neal, on four years' credit. The latter left Ohio October 25, 1825, with his wife and three children, without a cent of money, and drove through with a yoke of oxen and two cows, his entire worldly estate, arriving on the 6th of November. It seems hardly credible that it was but a generation ago that he sat down here in a wooded wilderness where there was but little sign or sound of human life to disturb the primal solitude, and bring cheer to the head of the lonely pioneer. No Indians were to be seen, but deserted wigwams were yet standing in good order. At different times two bands afterward came into the settlement. The family had to depend mostly on game for provisions. Mr. Neal obtained twenty-five bushels of corn on credit from George Ives, who lived on the Shawnee; the rest he worked for at the Hillsboro mill, a little corn-cracker where he could occasionally work a day for a bushel of meal. The only feed he had for his cattle was browse; they wintered on this very well. Except the Hawk family, who came with him, his neighbors were David Yeazel, who lived three miles north on Coal creek, and who subsequently built s saw-mill; and the same distance south, on the present location of Hillsboro, were Charles McLaughlin and Jesse Kester, owners of the little mill just mentioned. These were the only white settlers nearer than Chambersburg. He had erected his cabin in August, and on his arrival with his family he at once set about clearing his land, as well to have a patch ready for seeding in the spring as to provide browse for his stock. By the first of May he had six acres cleared out of the dense forest, fenced and ready for the husbandman's care. Exchanging the use of his oxen with Mr. McLaughlin for his horse, with a bar-plow he check-rowed his ground, and after it was planted, plowed out between the rows. At this point of progress he traded one of his two cows for a two-year-old colt. With this young animal he tended his crop. Mr. Neal says he never raised a better crop of corn in Indiana on the same amount of land. Next fall he had a plenty of sound corn to sell at sixteen cents a bushel. He put the whole field into shock, which made a great quantity of fodder; this he divided with Henry Strader, a neighbor who had come into the settlement that fall, giving him what he could use. The land which he had bought from Hawk not proving desirable, the latter took it back, paying Mr. Neal for his labor expended in its improvement, and in March, 1829, he entered and occupied the land on which he has ever since lived. The first piece entered was the W. 1/2 S.E. 1/4 Sec. 26, T. 20, R. 7, and the patent was signed by Andrew Jackson April 3, 1829. His wife died in childbirth, with her twelfth child, September 22, probably in the year 1842. Her children were the following: Polly (dead), Elizabeth, David (dead), Thomas (dead), Eliza (dead), three infants which died without names, Benjamin, John, and George. Thomas was a soldier in the war with Mexico, and died in that far-off country. He married a second time, March 13, 1843, to Mary Ann, widow of Adam Shover. By this wife he had three children: Sally Ann, Nathan, and Kerziah. She died October 29, 1876, and he was married a third time, January 23, 1877, to Mary Ann, widow of William Riley. Mr. Neal and his wife are members of the New Light church. He has been in communion twenty-five years. Politically, he is an ardent supporter of the greenback doctrines. In the early years of his settlement here he got little, if ever any, rest; and what with hard work through the week, and at first hunting deer and wild turkeys and bee trees on Sundays, and a long period of well directed activity and industry, and careful management, .he has succeeded in gathering around him a handsome property. He owns 390 acres, 230 being in the home place and 160 in another body. Besides he holds evidences of credit amounting to more than $5,000. He is now in his eightieth year, enjoying robust health, and is remarkable for the soundness of his bodily powers, for his well-preserved firmness and agility, and his still clear and vigorous understanding. The writer acknowledges himself indebted to this octogenarian for a specimen of the genuine, old-fashioned hospitality.

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

Conrad Lighty, farmer and mechanic, Newtown, was born in Montgomery county, Ohio, December 12, 1814. His father, Jacob, was born in Pennsylvania, and his mother, Elizabeth (Hewitt), in North Carolina. He was the oldest son of these parents. In November, 1825, they arrived in Richland township, and opened a farm one mile south and two miles west of Newtown. Mr. Lighty's father was a cooper by trade, and he worked at the same business until after he had become of age, when he engaged in carpentering, threshing, milling, and farming. The mills, which he ran about eight years after he was married, were situated on the east fork of Coal creek. He was married July 14, 1836, to Mary Kellogg, who bore him nine children, of whom we mention the following: Jacob, born October 2,1837 (dead); John E., October 19, 1839; Elizabeth, September, 1841; Nancy, August, 1844 (died in infancy); Daniel, 1846 (died in infancy). His wife died January 23, 1853. He married again, August 2, 1854, the widow of John Akin, formerly Mary Ann Stephens. By her he had four children: Addie Jane, born December 28,1856, wife of Joseph Whole, of Vermilion county, Illinois; James Carroll, January 19, 1860; Emma Laura, March 13, 1862, and Charles, January 15,1866, (died in infancy). His wife died of inflammatory rheumatism August 12, 1876. His third marriage was with the widow of Columbus Chamberlain, her maiden name being Mary Jane Marlatt, February 20, 1877. Mr. Lighty has led an active and busy life. He was one of the first settlers, and being a great observer, and having a retentive memory, added to a lively relish for reminiscences of the olden time, makes him one of the most entertaining and enjoyable men that it has beep our fortune to meet. At every old settlers' reunion he may be seen with his little wheel that once was so common for spinning flax, illustrating to the young people its novel, amazing, and almost incredible use. In numerous ways besides does Conrad Lighty refresh the dimming recollections of the past among those of his own age, and interest and gratify the later generation. For thirty seasons, beginning with 1850, Mr. Lighty has followed threshing grain, and during the greater part of the same period has run a corn-sheller. For many years he was in the business of selling farm implements and machinery, and it was through his exertions and example that grain-drills were introduced into the community. He is a member of the United Brethren church, and his wife of the Christian church. He has been a democrat ever since he was able to lisp the shibboleth of that party. The office of township trustee was three times conferred upon him. His father served his country six months in the war of 1812. He was a lieutenant under Capt. Samuel Brier, and did duty on the frontier at forts Brier, Amanda, and Greenville, without falling in to any actions. He hauled the lumber for the first buildings that were erected in Attica. He died December 5,1839,and his widow drew a pension, and a land warrant for 160 acres.

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

David Whitesel, farmer, Newtown, was born in Montgomery county, Ohio, December 19, 1819. His parents, George and Elizabeth, (Yazel) Whitesel emigrated in 1823 to Vermilion county, Indiana. In 1825 they moved into Fountain county and settled a mile south of Mr. Whitesel's present residence. Four years afterward they went back to Ohio to live and remained there ten years; then they removed to Randolph county, Indiana. In 1842 Mr. Whitesel left home, and coming to this county, finally settled in Richland township, where he has since resided. He was married March 19, 1844, to Nancy Abolt, who was born December 23, 1820. She died April 14, 1847, and left two children: George, born May 15, 1845, and Mary, born October 30, 1846, who is the wife of Louis Aiken, of Warren county. On October 23, 1853, he was married to the widow of Alexander Furr, formerly Rebecca Boo, who was born September 9, 1818. She has borne two children by her second husband: Jasper, August 13, 1854, and Martha, July 12, 1856. The former was married October 3, 1874, to Hattie Carlile, born April 11, 1855. Their children are Josie May, born February 22, 1875; George, born June 7, 1878. Martha was married to Charles S. Handy October 11, 1874. They have one child, Ulyeses Carl, born May 26, 1877. Mr. and Mrs. Whitesel are members of the Christian church. He, in company with Conrad Lighty, attended the first Sabbath-school ever held in Fountain county; this was where the Union church now stands, three and a half miles west of Newtown. He is a charter member of Richland Lodge, No. 205, A.F. and A.M. He owns 120 acres of land, and is a democrat. Mr. Whitesel once narrowly escaped death by accident while walling a well. Leonard Royal was working at the windlass and was violently precipitated with a half-barrel of stone into the well. Serious temporary injuries were sustained by both.

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

Francis M. Beedle, farmer and stock raiser, Pleasant Hill, Montgomery county, Indiana. In 1825, Aaron T. and Mary (Carson) Beedle emigrated from Miami county, Ohio, and settled on Sec. 9, T. 20, R. 6, in Richland township, where their son, the subject of this notice, now lives, and was born June 20, 1842. Their journey was made in autumn with an ox-team, through an extended wilderness, presenting every variety of western primitive nature. They were followed the next year by their relatives. Mr. Beedle's father died in June, 1870, and his mother in February 1874. He was married March 23,1870, to Lucy Donaldson, who was born February 21, 1852. Their three children were born in the following order: Lulu May, December 6, 1870; Morris, January 7, 1874; Jessie, January 17, 1878. Both Mr. Beedle and his wife belong to the New Light church at Pleasant Hill. He has been church trustee the last two years. His homestead comprises 189 acres of choice, well improved land. In politics he is a democrat. His grandfather, David Carson, was a soldier of the revolution, and also of the war of 1812. He fought in the defense of Fort Meigs when that stronghold was besieged by Gen. Proctor.

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

James McClure, farmer, Newtown, was born in Butler county, Ohio, March 3, 1809. His parents were William and Esther (Gregory) McClure. In the spring of 1826 his father entered the land where he now lives, the N. 1/2 of Sec. 17, T. 20, R. 6. He had made a selection of land on the Wea plains, and intended to establish himself there, but finding some Presbyterian families on Coal creek who had removed from the same section of country in Ohio where he lived, he was induced to reconsider what he had determined upon. When he came the country was in an execrable condition for travel; where there were roads they were muddy beyond description, and elsewhere the surface was sodden with rains; the streams were high, wild and dangerous, and could be crossed only by swimming his horse. He brought $400 in silver coin in his saddle-bags, with which he paid for his land. In the autumn following he moved his family, which consisted of his wife and six children; the latter were James, Sarah Jane, Martha Ann, John, Samuel, and Eleanor. James and John are the only ones surviving. The latter has resided in Mercer county, Illinois, since 1853. The parents went to their rest many years ago, the mother in 1854 and the father in 1860. The latter was one of the prominent organizers of the Presbyterian church on Coal creek in 1827, the first in the county, and was one of the original board of elders. Our subject united with the congregation in that year, and was about the second person taken in on examination. At the date of Mr. McClure's coming here only two settlers had gone higher up the creek and located. A traveler going to Crawfordsville would go half the distance before he would see a house. It was all government land. Mr. McClure's house was built by his father in 1832. He has since put up an addition. Probably there is not another in the township of as great age in so good preservation. Mr. McClure was married in 1835 to Phebe Dagger, a pious and exemplary woman, and member of the Presbyterian church after the time of her marriage, and who died July 16, 1880. They reared six daughters and two sons, all of whom are living: Mary E., wife of Benjamin Riffle; Charles D.; Esther J., married William Carruthers, who afterward became a veteran soldier in the late war; he served one term of enlistment, and then reentered the army in the regular service as hospital steward; and after his discharge, while returning home, died at Fort Dodge; Sarah Jennetta, wife of Hamilton Chney, of Republic county, Kansas; William A.; Phebe H., wife of Samuel Ogle; Emma R., and Eureka. Mr. McClure has raised four children besides his own. Charles was a soldier of three years service. His biography will be found in this work. Our subject has always been a leading man in his community, and his influence has been steadily exerted in the interest of good order and a moral and advancing condition of society. In his church, in which he has been a consistent and influential member, he holds the offices of elder and trustee. He was an ardent supporter of the Union cause during the war, and is now a firm advocate of republican principles as affording the only guarantee of the perpetuity of our institutions. In 1874 the republicans of Fountain county ran him as their candidate for the lower house of the legislature, but he was defeated.

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

David P. Parrett, farmer and stock dealer, Newtown, was the son of David and Nancy (Miller) Parrett. His father came from Dayton, Ohio, in 1826, and bought eighty acres of land on Turkey Run, in Shawnee township. Having raised a crop, in the following winter he went back and brought his family. Not liking his location, in the spring of 1828 he purchased the N. ½ N.W. 1/4 Sec. 3, T. 20, R. 7, and moved to this new place. Some years after he acquired the other half of the same quarter. It was on this place that the subject of this notice was born August 19, 1839. His father was a cooper, and from him he learned the same trade, working at this minters for several years when a young man, and in summer time tending the farm. His father was one of the founders of the Presbyterian church on Coal creek, the first in the county, and as long as he lived was a recognized pillar in that society. He was a strictly temperate man during his whole life, and strongly and effectively opposed to the use of intoxicating liquor as a beverage. He was one of the first to banish strong drink from the harvest field; he formed the determination to abolish it from his own premises, and put in force this noble resolution at the imminent risk of losing his crop. His neighbors, appreciating his good purpose and respecting the firm stand he had for taken principle, came forward to his assistance and his harvest was secured. It ought to be remarked here that another of the bold and upright spirits who set out earliest in this reform, was William McClure. Mr. Parrett died at Covington, and his wife at her old home, in 1848. Our subject was married February 2,1853, to Mary E. Dagger, daughter of James Dagger, an early settler. They have six living children: Clara E., born November 26, 1854; James A., May 10, 1868; Franz S. December 20, 1859; Edgar E., July 30,1863; Harry M., May 18,1866; and Ira D., February 6, 1870. In the years 1875 and 1876 Mr. Parrett assessed Richland township, receiving his appointment from the county commissioners, when the change was made from county assessor to township assessors. He belongs to the Presbyterian church, and is a republican. His homestead embraces 185 acres, all but twenty acres of woodland being reduced to cultivation.

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

Leonard Royal, farmer, Newtown, son of James and Phebe (Graves) Royal, was born in Madison township, Butler county, Ohio, May 18, 1814. In 1827 the family moved with a four-ox team and settled in Richland township; his father entered the W. ½ S.W. ¼ Sec. 15, T. 20, R. 7; afterward he entered the E. 1/2 N. W. 1/4 Sec. 15, and Mr. Royal now owns this last piece and occupies it for his home. His mother died in 1853; two or three years after his father moved to Grundy county, Illinois, where he died about two years ago, of cancer. Mr. Royal followed coopering some forty years, but about twelve years since quit the business; meantime he did not neglect to do farming. He was married to Mary Jane Miller November 25, 1842. They had nine children: John and James, twins, which died next day after birth; Isabel, born June 15, 1844, wife of Aaron Gardner; Francis Marion, November 13, 1845; Harriet L., November 3, 1847, died in infancy; Phebe E., October 9, 1849, married William H. Hyatt, and died October 15, 1876, leaving a son and a daughter; Catherine, May 27, 1852, wife of Logan Kell; Clinton, August 31, 1854; Artemecia Penelope, April 9, 1857, married first to Charles Pugh; after his death she married John Hoots in Missouri. His wife died March 15, 1863, and on September 30 of the same year he married Priscilla S. Fogg, by whom he had five children: William L., June 17, 1864; James Walton, December 4, 1865; George B., January 10,1868, died October 26, 1870; Margaret, January 19, 1869, died June 28, 1869; Mary Etta, August 10, 1870, died December 28, 1873. His wife died on the same day the last child did. On March 11, 1875, he married Mary Irvin, who died March 24, 1880. His fourth marriage was with Rebecca, relict of David Jones, and occurred June 12,1880. She was born in Adams county, Ohio, July 2, 1827. She married John Hyatt in Kentucky. In 1849 they moved to Iowa and settled in Davis county; the next year her husband went overland to California, and in 1853, when returning home, died in San Francisco of inflammation of the brain, just after having recovered from the smallpox. Her marriage with David Jones took place September 13, 1855. He died May 14, 1878. Mr. Royal belongs to the United Brethren church and has been a professing Christian about twenty-three years; he has held the offices of trustee and steward. His present wife has been a Methodist twenty-four years. His oldest son, Francis Marion, served six months at the end of the war, in Virginia. He was in Jacob Dice's company. Mr. Royal went from the whig party into the republican.

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

James Archer, farmer, Newtown, was born where he lives, in Richland township, February 9, 1827, and was the youngest child and only son of his parents. These, Samuel and Jane (Elliott) Archer, were married December 16, 1824. His father was first married to Elizabeth Griffith, by whom he had three daughters. His mother's first husband was James Steele. In 1826 his parents left Dayton, Ohio, and, coming here, entered the land upon which Mr. Archer now resides. This comprised three tracts, aggregating 240 acres, described as follows: N.E. 1/4 Sec. 18 and E. 1/2 S.W. 1/4 Sec. 19, T. 20, R. 6. The paternal head of the family did not long survive his settlement and brief period of usefulness, for in August, 1830, he was stricken by disease and died. He was a man whom the community could ill afford to lose in its early infancy. He surveyed nearly all this region of country. He was the second justice of the peace in Richland township, and county commissioner at his death. Mr. Archer's mother died in 1867. He has always lived on his native homestead. He was first married to Ann Rivers, September 19, 1850. She had two infants, which lived but a little time, and she herself departed this life September 21, 1853. On May 26, 1854, he was again married, this time to Miss Harriet Ray. The fruit of this union is one child, Charles, born December 13, 1857. They have raised William A. Lawson, son of other parents, since he was fifteen months old. He was born November 27, 1854. Mr. and Mrs. Archer are members of the New Light church of ten years' standing. He owns 181 acres, about half being plow-land and the rest woodland and pasture, worth $7,000. He is a republican.

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

John Leatherman, farmer, Newtown, was born in Montgomery county, Ohio, March 5, 1811. His mother, Rachel (Sprague), died when he was eleven years old. In 1828 he removed with his father, John, to Fountain county, and settled four miles southwest of Newtown. His father died in 1833. In 1831 he began the cabinet trade with George W. Hicks. Indoor work not agreeing with him he worked at carpentering much of the time summers. He followed these two trades thirty years. In 1833 he married Elizabeth Brimm, daughter of Churchwell Brimm, who came from Kentucky and settled near Roseville, on the Big Raccoon, in Parke county, in 1815. Her parents died the next year. She was born August 14, 1811, and lived in Parke county till 1830, when she removed to Fountain. They have eight children: William M., born December S, 1833; Mary Catherine, February 9, 1836, died May 28, 1843; John, April 9, died June 19, 1838; Sarah, September 1, 1839, wife of Daniel Reed; James P., Jannary 25, 1841, died June 4, 1843; John W., April 11,1844; Harriet, June 26, 1846, died September 10, 1847; Clinton Hale, July 30, 1847, died October 18, 1873, leaving a family. Mr. and Mrs. Leatherman have been members of the Methodist church about fifty years, and the former an Odd-Fellow about twenty years. Mr. Leatherman cast his first vote for Henry Clay for president. He then became a free-soiler, and later a republican. John Wesley was enrolled in Co. H, 72d Ind. Vols., in July 1863. His regiment was one of those composing Wilder's celebrated brigade of mounted infantry, and with this command he fought at Hoover's Gap, Chickamauga, Mission Ridge, Buzzard Roost, Dalton, and Resaca; did duty throughout the Atlanta campaign, and was engaged at Peachtree Creek; then returned to Louisville, where the command was remounted, and reached Nashville after the destruction of Hood's army before that city. He was with the expeditionary force of Gen. Wilson at the taking of Selma, Alabama, by assault, just at the close of the war. He was mustered out at Indianapolis in July 1863. Returning home, he sold groceries one year in Newtown; since that he has been farming; in addition he is now operating a large tile factory. He was married March 27, 1874, to Mary Dimmick. His wife belongs to the Methodist church; and he has been an Odd-Fellow since 1865, and is a republican.

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

Henry Hushaw, farmer, Attica, was born in Ross county, Ohio, in 1818. His mother, Susanna (Wilfong), died when he was a lad, and in 1828 his father, Samuel, removed to Fountain county, and began a home in the southeast corner of Logan township, where he lived till his death, which occurred a few years after. At the date of his settlement here the country was destitute of schools and churches. Between his place and Newtown, which was merely staked out, there was not a house; and between there and Attica there was only Judge Milford's place and a few houses close to the village. People got grinding done at the month of the Little Shawnee, where John McCune lived in a small round-log cabin, and ran a corn-cracker, which could be approached only on horseback. A little later McMillin got his mill to running, and after that the pioneers had much of their wheat manufactured into flour to haul to Chicago to be exchanged for salt and groceries. Wheat and corn and meal also were hauled there in great quantities from this region. At this period tanning was done at Newtown by Peter Shultz. While great improvements have been made in the condition of the people, a very unhappy change has taken place in their social characteristics. Once, freedom, hospitality and generous treatment abounded, and hearty cheer and welcome were extended alike to neighbor and stranger. But it is not so now. This contrast is universally remarked by old settlers, and is to them a subject of most sorrowful reflection. To use Mr. Hushaw's own words, "if men had been as unsocial and selfish then as now, they mould have been run out of the country. Everybody was ready and willing to lend everybody a helping hand." This state of things can be deplored, not remedied. The more independent men become of one another, rarer will become the beautiful exhibitions of human kindness. Mr. Hushaw was married in 1844 to Julia Woods, who was born March 1, 1827. They have four children: Sarah Amanda, born March 6, 1845, wife of David Overbay, of Neosho county, Kansas; Caroline, May 6, 1849, wife of John Potter; Alice, February 27, 1852; and Charles, January 17, 1866. Mr. Hushaw has lived here since his first settlement in the country, except the last two years he was in Kansas with his family. He is a democrat.

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

John C. Smith, farmer, Newtown, though a young lad when he reached this neighborhood with his parents, William H. and Mary (Stout) Smith, in 1828, was yet one of the pioneers in this section of country. He was born in Ohio, November 13, 1819. His father was a native of New Jersey, and his mother was born on Shemoken creek, Pennsylvania. They were married December 18, 1817. The family, on their arrival, wintered at Shawnee Mound; then they lived eighteen months on the Foster place, in Shawnee township; after which, in 1830, they settled down on the farm where Mr. Smith has since lived. His parents both died here; his father, March 22, 1845, and his mother April 6, 1870. His father was a wheelwright, and he learned the trade from him, but never made any use of it afterward. Mr. Smith and Phebe Stephens were united in marriage April 6, 1851. She was the daughter of William and Sarah Stephens, and was born September 29, 1830. The issue of this union has been six children, born as follows: William Franklin, January 9, 1852; Leroy, August 22, 1854; Daniel V., September 10, 1857; John H., February 3, 1863; Laura, February 13, 1867; and Emma, April 28, 1869, died April 12, 1870. Mr. Smith has been assessor of Richland township two yeats. He was drafted in time of the war and had his arrangements to report for muster nearly completed when he was taken sick with fever and was prevented from serving his term. He and his wife are members of the Baptist church, and he has been an Odd-Fellow since 1858. He owns eighty acres of farming land and thirty acres of woodland. In politics he is a democrat. Mr. Smith's grandfather, Michael Stout, was in the war of the revolution, probably as a teamster; he came to this township in 1831. A neighbor of his, John Bake, another revolutionary soldier, settled here in 1829. These veterans mere buried side by side in the Shawnee graveyard.

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

James A. Wade, farmer, Hillsboro, second child of Benjamin and Nancy (Rivers) Wade, was born in Marion county, Kentucky, June 21, 1825. The family arrived here in September 1828, and improved a farm on the N. W. 1/4 Sec. 32, T. 20, R. 6. His father died in 1838, and his mother married Edward J. McBroom, and died in January 1842. Mr. Wade was married April 20, 1845, to Nancy Ann McBroom, who was born December 25, 1826. They have seven children living and three dead, as follows: Beninah, born July 31, 1846, wife of Dickison Riley; Nancy Jane, March 27, 1849, died September 7, 1852; William Truman, March 28, 1851, died May 18, 1851; Benjamin F., April 5, 1852, married Rhoda Cecil; Henry W., Jane 18, 1854, married Martha Murray; James B., August 9, 1867, married Emma E. Cecil; John M., May 22,1860, died May 25, 1860; Harriet Elizabeth, August 15, 1861, wife of John S. Stockdale; Mary E., November 16, 1865; and Charles Carroll, August 2, 1867. Unlike the majority of men, Mr. Wade has always had a disinclination to office holding, for, though he has been offered township offices and urged to accept them, he has uniformly refused. He and his wife have held communion in the Disciple church forty years. He has traveled with the Masonic fraternity at Pleasant Hill the last twelve years. His farm of 814 acres is beautifully located on the south side of Richland township, within easy drive of Hillsboro, and is one of the best in this region of country. He is steadfastly anchored to democratic principles.

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