When he started out in life for himself Samuel La Fuze, the father of the subject of this sketch, had only a small amount of means, but he was a man of pluck and energy, and he soon showed that he could both make and save money. He acquired a fine farm, four hundred acres in extent, which was the homestead, and besides it he owned other property, frequently buying and selling. His political views were those advocated by the Republican party, and he was always active in promoting the best interests of his party, though never seeking official honors for himself. His death occurred December 13, 1887, and up to within six years of that time he had a strong and vigorous constitution. He managed his own affairs to the last, at different times assisting his children, and he arranged his affairs in such a manner that all was settled quietly and without any litigation. He was a member of the Christian church, and throughout his life was a Christian in deed as well as name. His widow still survives him and is now seventy-eight years of age, clear in mind and vigorous in strength for one of her age. Their children, in order of birth, are as follows: Mary, wife of S. A. Martin, of Liberty, Indiana; Ellen, wife of Alexander Creek, died at the age of thirty-five years; Samuel Monroe, a farmer of Harrison township, Union county; William Henry, a farmer of the same township; Leonidas Homer, also of that township; Lucy, wife of T. J. Bennett, Harrison township; Danford, whose name forms the heading of this sketch; Oliver P., Liberty, Indiana; and George E., on the old home farm.

Danford La Fuze was born on his father’s farm in Brownsville township, Union county, Indiana, December 19, 1860, and remained a member of the home circle until the time of his marriage, which event occurred June 13, 1888, the lady of his choice being Miss Myrtle Kitchel, daughter of John and Susannah (Patterson) Kitchel, of Harrison township, Union county, where she was born February 11 1869.

Since his marriage Mr. La Fuze has occupied his present farm. He received eighty acres as his part of his father’s estate and he has since added to it by the purchase of another eighty-acre tract, paying therefore ninety-three dollars and seventy-five cents per acre. He has carried forward the work of improvement and has developed his land into a first-class farm in every respect. He utilizes each year about fifty acres in the cultivation of corn and fall wheat and keeps a high grade of stock, his herd of fine cattle numbering about twenty-five head. He has also for several years taken a pride in his poultry, keeping thoroughbred Plymouth Rock chickens, which he finds a profitable breed. An important feature of his place is its water system, a windmill furnishing the power by which the water is taken to places where used. In short, everything about the farm shows thrift and prosperity.

Mr. and Mrs. La Fuze have four children, namely: Hattie Belle, Herbert Earl, Frank Ernest and Goldie Mabel.

Like his honored father, Mr. La Fuze harmonizes with the Republican party and the principles advocated by it. His wife is a member of the Christian church.

Submitted by: Jeanie
Biographical and Genealogical History of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin Counties, Indiana. Chicago. The Lewis Publishing Company. 1899.
Pages 169 to 171.

Joseph La Fuze. – The history of Union county would be sadly lacking if, by any inadvertence on the part of the compilers of said history, the name of the La Fuze family should be omitted, for they have borne a very active part in the development of the resources of this region and have always been found in the front ranks of whatever has made for progress and the advancement of civilization. The paternal grandparents of the subject of this article were Samuel and Eleanor (Harper) La Fuze, who came to this state from their former home, in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, in 1814, and settled upon a tract of land adjoining the property of Joseph La Fuze; and since that date the land in question has never left the family. It comprises some seventy-seven acres and is now owned by Ezra W., grandson of the original proprietor. Samuel LaFuze was a successful farmer and was active in the establishment of the Silver Creek Christian church and assisted in founding schools and other useful public works during the infancy of this county. In politics he had ever been identified with the Republican party. When he was well along in years death deprived him of his faithful helpmate, and he thenceforth made his home with his children. His death occurred when he had passed the eightieth anniversary of his birth. Of his children William L., a resident of Harrison township, died, leaving one son, Usual P.; Samuel, whose home was in Brownsville, had six sons – Samuel M., Homer L., Oliver P., Danford, George and Henry; John, father of Miles La Fuze, was a citizen of Center township; Daniel was the next; Ezra died in early manhood, and Johnson, who died in Liberty, left one daughter.

The parents of the subject of this narrative were Daniel W. and Barbara (Immel) La Fuze. The father was born on the old homestead in Center township, Union county, the first white male child born in this county. He married a daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Immel, who came to this state from Union county, Pennsylvania. Mrs. La Fuze, who was reared in Brownsville township, this county, died in 1870, and Mr. La Fuze later married Mrs. Mary Williams, whom he survived two years, his death taking place May 17, 1887. After his first marriage he had settled on the farm now owned by James E. Shendler, and there passed his active life. The property owned by him comprised two hundred and twenty-seven acres, and, altogether, he was blessed with material success in his business investments. A Whig and Republican until the civil war, he then became a Democratic partisan of the strongest type. He was a man of deep convictions and pronounced ideas on all important subjects. At first a Lutheran in religion, he became converted to the faith of the Christian church, and from that time until his death he was one of the stanch members of that denomination. Few men are better versed in the Scriptures than was he, and the New Testament was at his tongue’s end, for he could quote all the most important parts of it from beginning to end. His children included Emeline, who died, unmarried, at the age of twenty-one years; Elizabeth, wife of William Taylor, of Jay county, Indiana; Ezra, who, as before mentioned, lives on the original old La Fuze homestead; Mary, who became the wife of I. N. Snyder and died at the age of twenty-six years; Joseph; Irene, who was a lifelong invalid and died aged twenty-one; Huldah, wife of Henry Hermeier, of Darke county, Ohio; Florence, wife of James E. Shendler; and Samuel Daniel, an attorney-at-law in Indianapolis.

Joseph La Fuze was born June 1, 1851, in Center township, on the old homestead adjoining his present home, one mile and three-quarters northeast of Liberty. He received a thorough training in agriculture while he was a youth and remained at home until he was twenty-seven years old. February 24, 1878, he married Miss Mary Annetta Kitchel, daughter of John Kitchel, a respected farmer of Harrison township. The young couple commenced housekeeping on a farm of one hundred and two acres, and, as the years rolled by, their industry and economy brought well earned reward. In all his undertakings Mr. La Fuze was aided and encouraged by his wife, who has been a true helpmate to him. Six children grace the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. La Fuze, the two eldest, Luella and Irving S., being students in the Liberty high school, while the younger ones are Carrie, Stella, Amy and Daisy. At present Mr. La Fuze devotes about twenty acres to wheat and twenty acres to corn, and during the winter feeds about fifty head of hogs and other live stock, of which he keeps a good grade.

Mr. La Fuze belongs to the Agricultural and Horticultural Society, and is a director in the Guarantee Building and Loan Association, of Indianapolis. For the past ten years he has been a deacon in the Christian church and has officiated also as church clerk. He has always been a stalwart Democrat, and in 1889 was honored by being elected county treasurer, the first of his party to occupy that office for a period of thirty years, and at the same election the Democrats also elected a coroner and county clerk. While he was in office the county commissioners came to him and urged him to use his influence in raising a deficiency of about ten thousand dollars, which was needed to complete the building of the county court-house. He acquiesced in this request and was successful in getting the necessary funds, which were placed at the disposal of the proper authorities. Twice afterward he was the choice of his party for the same position, but each time was defeated by a small majority. He maintains his earnest interest in the welfare of his party, and frequently attends conventions, etc.

Submitted by: Jeanie
Biographical and Genealogical History of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin Counties, Indiana. Chicago. The Lewis Publishing Company. 1899.
Pages 477 to 479.

Benjamin F. Coddington. – Of the stanch and hardy pioneers who settled in the wilds of Union county in the ‘20s none were more worthy than the ancestors of the subject of this memoir, and the same sterling traits of character which they possessed have been noticeable in him.

Born on a farm about half a mile north of his present farm, May 3, 1829, Benjamin Franklin Coddington is a son of Enoch and Martha (Yaryan) Coddington. The father came to this state with his parents, Moses and Amy Coddington, who settled upon the farm where our subject was born, and there they lived until their death, at an advanced age. They had two sons, the other, David, later removing to Boone county, Indiana, where his son still represents the family. Enoch remained on the old homestead above mentioned, and cared for his venerable parents while they lived. Some years after their death he sold the farm and took up his abode in Macomb, Illinois, dying there within a year. His widow came back to Wayne county, this state, and died when about three-score and ten years of age, at the home of a daughter in Centerville, where she is buried. She was a child of Frederick and Mary Yaryan, who came to this locality as early as 1818, and in 1821 built the brick house on the homestead now owned by our subject, which farm they owned and operated for many years.

The seven sons and two daughters born to Enoch and Martha Coddington were: Benjamin F.; William, who resides at Oxford, Ohio; Charles, of Goshen, Ringgold county, Iowa; Esther Ann, who married Y. M. Powell, and died at Connersville; John, of Centerville, Wayne county; Asbury, who died at home, when but twenty years of age, suffering from the effects of the hardships which he had endured in the army during the civil war; Ella, who first married Thaddeus Green, and after his death, became the wife of Dr. A. W. Fisher, of Indianapolis; James, a resident of Harrison township; and Melville, who died in infancy.

As previously stated, Benjamin F. Coddington was born seventy years ago, and has spent his entire life in this immediately locality, thoroughly identified with the best interests of the county and township in which he has dwelt. For twenty-two years he lived on the old homestead, assisting in the cultivation of the place, there forming correct habits and laying the foundations of his future career. After his marriage he commenced improving and caring for a farm of seventy acres, which he purchased of his father-in-law, and this place is the fine homestead which he operates at the present time. He has added to the original Immel farm a portion of his maternal grandfather’s land, and now has two hundred and twenty acres in one body, besides having sold sixty acres to his sons. He has raised a general line of grain, hay and other crops commonly grown in this latitude, and has made a business of feeding cattle and hogs for the market.

On the 3d of April, 1851, Mr. Coddington married Miss Catherine Immel, a daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Smith) Immel. The parents were both natives of Pennsylvania, as was likewise Mrs. Coddington, whose birth occurred July 6, 1829. They removed to Indiana, about 1831, and were accompanied by John and Jacob Immel, brothers of Joseph Immel. The three settled upon farms in Brownsville township, their homes being within sight of one another. John Immel left four sons, - Andrew Jackson (now deceased), Thomas J., George W. and James Benton. Jacob has one son, James Benton, now residing near the line of Boone and Montgomery counties, Indiana. Jacob Immel’s daughters were Elizabeth (Mrs. H. Stoughton, deceased), and Ella, who is the wife of W. W. Leviston, of Liberty, Indiana. Mrs. Coddington is one of eight children, four of whom have passed to the better land. Their father, a man loved and honored by all who had the pleasure of knowing him, died on his old farm when in his sixty-ninth year. The wife and mother survived him some twelve years.

The marriage of our subject and wife was blessed with five sons and one daughter, of whom Homer, the eldest, is at home; Emmett is living on the old Yaryan place; Lucy is the wife of John C. LaFuze Turner, of Greene county, Missouri; Clinton is at home; Benjamin F., living a mile and a half from the old home, is a farmer of Harrison township; and Joseph Enoch is employed with Emmett on the old Yaryan place.

In his political views Mr. Coddington is a Republican, and he has been quite active in support of his party. Though he was reared in the creed of the Methodist Episcopal church, he has been connected with the Christian church at Silver Creek for many years, and has been a member of the official board and a deacon for thirty-five years. His daily life has been a sincere and noble exemplification of the lofty truths in which he believes and “none name him but to praise.”

Submitted by: Jeanie
Biographical and Genealogical History of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin Counties, Indiana. Chicago. The Lewis Publishing Company. 1899.
Pages 745 to 745.

Charles A. Drapier. – Charles Ariel Drapier was born in South Bend, Indiana, on November 29, 1861. His grandfather, Ariel E. Drapier, was one of the pioneer printers of the state. He established the St. Joseph County Forum in 1837 and was its editor and proprietor until its sale to Hon. Schuyler Colfax a few years before the civil war. He was also the first official stenographer west of the Alleghany mountains, and held the position of reporter to the constitutional congress of the United States. He originated the publication of the “Brevier Legislative Reports” of Indiana and issued annual volumes of this compilation for twenty years. He died in 1866, aged sixty-eight years. His sons, William H. and Charles E. Drapier, were associated with him in the publishing of the Forum and Reports and in job printing.

Charles E. Drapier, born in South Bend on March 17, 1837, attended that celebrated educational institution, Notre Dame Academy at South Bend, and, as above indicated, became a thorough practical printer. In 1868 he moved to Indianapolis to become deputy treasurer of Marion county. This position he held eight years, under the administration of Hon. Jackson Landers. For five years longer he conducted a job printing office in Indianapolis and then returned to St. Joseph county, his present residence. He married Josephine Groff, of South Bend, on August 14, 1859. Their children are Mary (who died young), Charles A., William C., Martha F. (Mrs. W. F. Miller), and Josiah H.

Charles Ariel Drapier, after a common-school education at Indianapolis, went into his father’s printing office and on his removal to St. Joseph county accompanied him, but in 1881 he returned to Indianapolis and engaged in the employ of William Burford & Company, state printers, and was later with the Indianapolis Daily Journal. With this latter office he was connected until August 7, 1887, when he came to Liberty to assume the management of the Liberty Review, a Democratic weekly newspaper then owned by a stock company. On September 6, 1888, he purchased the entire plant and has since been sole proprietor and publisher of the Review. Mr. Drapier was a good accession to the citizens of Union county. Originally a member of the Christian church, in which his parents held their membership, he is now connected with the Presbyterian church of Liberty, in which he is an elder and also the superintendent of the Sunday-school. He married November 29, 1888, Mary W. Clark, of Liberty. They have one child, named Elizabeth J. Drapier.

Submitted by: Jeanie
Biographical and Genealogical History of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin Counties, Indiana. Chicago. The Lewis Publishing Company. 1899.
Pages 739 and 740.

Milton Maxwell. – Few men are better known or more enthusiastic in the welfare, development and success of his home county than Milton Maxwell. He is the son of Thomas and Jemima Maxwell, the youngest of a family of ten children. Milton Maxwell was born in Union township, Union county, Indiana, January 18, 1841. His great-grandfather came to America from Ireland about the year 1740, settling in North Carolina. Milton Maxwell’s father was born in Tennessee. When a young man he came north to Union county, Indiana. He married in the adjacent county of Wayne, bringing his wife on horseback to Union township, Union county, Indiana, where they settled on one hundred and twenty acres of unbroken forest land. Here, with a few other “clearings” around them, this worthy couple, full of hope and energy, began the battle of life with few advantages and fewer luxuries coming to their door. Their fare was common but good; their clothing of homespun; but their hands were busy with plenty of hard work, from rosy dawn until the stars girdled the night. To this hardy, industrious generation of pioneers the subject of this sketch belonged, - a pioneer generation that laid deep the foundation of our strong and enduring civilization, shaping the destinies of the greatest country on earth, and weaving crowns of glory with which to adorn the nation’s brow. The ancestors of Milton Maxwell, generations back, were adherents to the faith of the Society of Friends.

Milton Maxwell’s father was an active Abolitionist. When politicians were wrong, judges subservient to influence and the pulpit a coward, Thomas Maxwell cried aloud: “Man shall not hold property in man. The least developed person on earth is just as important and sacred to himself or herself as the most developed person is to himself or herself.” To this democracy he held, and was an active agent in the “Underground Railroad” in those days, aiding with food, shelter, money and comfort many of the blacks in their night flittings from their plantation huts in the south to the land of the free, beyond the swift, sparkling waters of the old St. Lawrence. This pioneer hero was a cabinetmaker by trade, and many of his evenings were spent making furniture and other articles for the comfort of his own home and those of his neighbors. At the age of forty-eight years, young as the years are measured, but aged in experience and good deeds, his sun of life dropped behind the hills of life. He left a wife and ten children, and bequeathed to them a legacy of honest and faithful endeavor that will never die.

At an early age Milton Maxwell was thus left with brothers and sisters, and with a mother who was built upon the same grand plan of the father and husband, - strong in character, self-reliant, a pioneer, brave, hardy and resourceful. She was as a giant oak, sheltering well her children, and possessed of a heart that opened her hand to give substantial aid to the poor and all that called at her home in the “clearing.”

After reaching his majority Milton Maxwell went to the town of Lotus, in Union county, where he engaged in the merchandise business for about two years. He then went to Richmond, Indiana, where he followed the same business for a time. Returning to Union county, he purchased the farm owned by his father-in-law, Jonathan Swain, in Center township, which farm he still owns and manages. He has always been a man of convictions, with the courage to express them. To this “courage of conviction,” and feeling that it was a duty, he became a member of the state militia in early manhood. For this, and because of marrying outside the Society of Friends, he was deposed from that church. He is a stanch Republican, and his friendship for the soldier is as strong as affection can bind man and man together. He is a charter member of the Liberty Lodge of Knights of Pythias, No. 114, and past chancellor of that order.

The most of Milton Maxwell’s life has been devoted to agricultural pursuits. For fifteen years he bought and sold live stock, being a member of the firm of Keffer, Maxwell & Company, which firm transacted a very extensive and profitable business. He is an earnest worker in the party of his choice, the Republican party, using his best efforts and influence in the cause which he believes to be right. In 1894 he was elected auditor of Union county, Indiana, which office he filled for the term of four years, efficiently and to the satisfaction of all concerned. In 1898 he was re-elected auditor for another term of four years.

Possessing genial, lively and social qualities, Mr. Maxwell is very fond of out-door sports. Almost every summer his steps incline him to woodland paths and banks of purling streams, where the flowers bloom and the breezes ripple the waters; and he takes his outings in the neighborhood of the great lakes of the north, where he finds sweet solace and an angler’s rapture in coaxing the leaping trout with artful lures; or in tossing the animated shiner in the lair of the gamy bass, where, if fortunate enough he sends the cruel steel into the purloiner’s quivering jaw, bringing on a battle royal that makes the nerves of the true sportsman tingle and his responsive heart beat a lively tattoo that will not quiet until the mail-clad warrior safely reposes on the green sward at his side. Turning from the sinuous streams, with his gun and dog, he roams the woods for the toothsome partridge and bounding deer. From these side trips every true lover of the sport with rod and reel, gun and dog, returns to his duties invigorated and refreshed, taking up his worked with renewed energy.

On the 17th of March, 1864, Milton Maxwell was married to Miss Jerusha Swain, the youngest daughter of Jonathan Swain. Her parents, too, were early settlers in Union county, coming from North Carolina. Both have long since passed to the land of shadows, - the “Land of the Leal.”

Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell’s first child died in infancy. The next, Clyde E., is a bookkeeper in the firm of Saddler, Huddleston & Company, in the stockyards at Buffalo, New York. The third child, a daughter, Ora B., is the wife of Allie Bertch, the junior partner in the hardware firm of Bertch & Son, Liberty, Indiana. Leo C., the next, is a student in the Miami University, at Oxford, Ohio. Hollis D. and Ada E. are both pupils of the high school in Liberty, Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell are affable and genial, esteemed and influential members of the highest social circles, and, being royal entertainers, their home is often the scene of festive enjoyment.

Submitted by: Jeanie
Biographical and Genealogical History of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin Counties, Indiana. Chicago. The Lewis Publishing Company. 1899.
Pages 762 to 764.

John W. Maze. – John Wesley Maze, one of the well known and highly respected farmers of Liberty township, Union county, Indiana, was born in Harmony township, this county, near Quakertown, March 21, 1833, son of David and Sarah (Pigman) Maze. Sarah Pigman was a sister of Adam Pigman, the original settler of that name in Union county. David Maze was born near Cynthiana, Kentucky, where he spent the first twenty-one years of his life. His parents, John Maze and wife, were members of the Presbyterian church and were people of sterling worth. John Maze died in Kentucky, and after his death his widow came with her family of ten or twelve children to Indiana, David being then about twenty-one. They built a house in Union county, and lived here for several years, all the children, however, except David, finally settling in other parts of the state.

David Maze remained on the farm with his mother until his marriage, September 4, 1817, to Sarah Pigman and then settled on the farm, in Harmony township, where his son, the subject of this sketch, was born. About the last work he did on the farm was to erect a brick house, and the family moved into it the week after his death. He died in August, 1850, in the fifty-eighth year of his age. His widow remained on the home place, reared her family there, and had charge of the farm during the rest of her life. She died June 23, 1874, at the age of seventy-two years. The farm is now owned by their grandson, Richard Maze. David Maze was a Presbyterian, while his wife was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Of their family of eleven children that reached maturity, only three are now living (1899), all in Union county: John Wesley, whose name introduces this sketch, Hiram H., a resident of Harmony; and Mahala, widow of Andrew Crawford, a resident of Harmony township.

John W. Maze was seventeen years of age at the time of his father’s death as above recorded. June 7, 1855, he married Susannah Hollingsworth, daughter of Enoch and Margaret (Mills) Hollingsworth. After his marriage he continued on the home farm for eleven years, having charge of its operations during that time, and then the estate was divided, he receiving a portion of the farm. In 1870 he bought a part of his present farm, in Liberty township, ninety acres of which were originally entered by Joshua Harlan. Shortly afterward Mr. Maze bought forty acres adjoining this tract, to which he kept adding until he owned over three hundred acres. His farm now comprises two hundred and ninety acres, and he also owns half of another farm of one hundred and sixty acres, in Fayette county. His home farm is a fine stretch of fertile land, lying along the west short of Whitewater river and extending on the uplands. His residence stands at the base of a beautiful hill, from which comes forth a crystal spring, water from it being piped to the house, an abundant supply being always furnished. Mr. Maze carries on general farming, raising a diversity of crops and keeping his farm well stocked with a high grade of horses, cattle and hogs. His lowland fields are rendered more productive by being well drained, he having laid over five hundred rods of tile. An important industry which was maintained on his farm for twenty years, and which has recently been disposed of, was a sorghum factory. Some years he manufactured no less than five thousand gallons of molasses, for which he received over five hundred dollars in one year.

Mr. and Mrs. Maze have a large family of children, most of whom are married and settled in life, occupying honored and useful places in society. Their names in order of birth are as follows: Margaret, wife of Joseph Beck, Liberty township, Union county, Indiana; Enoch, who was for twelve years a traveling salesman for the Deering Harvester Company, is now engaged in farming; David and Charley, both farmers; George, who has charge of the home farm, married Miss Alice Keller and they have one child, Louis, at home; Joseph, of Brownsville township; William, on the farm owned by his father and himself, in Fayette county; Mary, wife of George Scholl, of Glenwood, Indiana, who owns a farm nearly adjoining the home farm; and Richard, on the home farm, married Miss Annie Smalley, and they have one child. All the sons are in Union county, with the exception of the one in Fayette.

Mr. and Mrs. Maze are identified with the Christian church at Brownsville, of which he is an official member. Politically he gives his allegiance to the Democratic party.

Submitted by: Jeanie
Biographical and Genealogical History of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin Counties, Indiana. Chicago. The Lewis Publishing Company. 1899.
Pages 450 to 452.

Hon. John F. Miller. – At one time a well known lawyer and statesman of California, and later a distinguished member of the Indiana bar, Mr. Miller was born in Union county, this state, November 21, 1831. His father, Hon. William Miller, served for three successive terms in the Indiana legislature, from Union county. At an early day he emigrated to St. Joseph county, locating at Portage Prairie at a time when the white settlers were far outnumbered by the Indians of the Pottawatomie tribe, whose children were the playmates of John F. Miller in his youth. In his fourteenth year he became a student in the academy at South Bend, and for several years there pursued his studies through the winter months, while in the summer season he assisted in the work of the farm. In 1848 he entered the Hathaway Mathematical and Classical Institute, in Chicago, where he attained a fair knowledge of Latin, chemistry and philosophy. In 1849 he began to read law with Judge Elisha Egbert, of South Bend, and in 1852 he won the degree of Bachelor of Law in the State and National Law School at Ballston Spa, New York.

Mr. Miller entered upon the practice of his chosen profession in South Bend, in company with Joseph Defrees, but his health failing him he soon afterward went by way of the Nicaragua route to California, reaching San Francisco, in March, 1853. He continued his law practice in the city of Napa, and being fortunate in the presentation and conduct of a case in which he successfully defended a man for assault with intent to commit murder, his argument and bearing in the case brought him considerable prominence, and he was soon afterward employed in opposition to the attorney general of the state and Judge Aldrich in a slander case, in which his arguments and presentations were so able that he was at once ranked among the most eminent lawyers in the state. From that time his path was an easy one. He secured a very large clientage and his counsel was sought in almost every criminal case of importance. In all of these he won new laurels, and in 1853 he became a partner of Judge Currey, against whom he had fought and won an important land case, after which he was invited by Judge Currey to become his associate in business. They opened an office in San Francisco, and their rank in the legal fraternity was second to none. Mr. Miller was made county treasurer only six months after his arrival in California and held the office for two years. He also represented California in the United States senate, and declined a nomination to the state senate.

On account of his health Mr. Miller returned to Indiana and opened an office in South Bend, where he engaged in practice in partnership with Hon. N. Eddy, later attorney general of Minnesota. In August, 1860, he was elected to the state senate, over Col. John Smith, and with one exception was the youngest member of that house. In 1856 he canvassed the northern part of the state for General Fremont and materially strengthened the cause of the Republican party. His literary achievements and his success in the profession of law in California at a time when distinction in that line was earned at the risk of the counsel’s life, demonstrate his extraordinary talent, perseverance and courage.

Submitted by: Jeanie
Biographical and Genealogical History of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin Counties, Indiana. Chicago. The Lewis Publishing Company. 1899.
Pages 915 and 916.

The Pigman Family. – Adam Pigman, the founder of one of the oldest and most honored families of central-eastern Indiana, was born in 1779, in Greene county, Pennsylvania, and was about a year old when he was taken to Breckinridge county, Kentucky, and when four years of age went to Jessamine county, same state. In the summer of 1812 he assisted in the building of Fort Meigs, for he had learned the carpenter’s trade, and in December of the next year he took up a quarter-section of land in Fayette County, Indiana. In September, 1814, he erected the first frame house ever put up in Union county, which dwelling is now occupied by R. F. Maze. In 1817 Mr. Pigman married Mary Eli, a daughter of Adam Eli, and in 1824 they removed to Harmony township. He became a prosperous farmer, taking an interested part in the development of the county and loyally aiding in the establishment of the structure of the commonwealth. He was a Jackson Democrat, and for several terms, or until he resigned, he was elected and served as county commissioner. For his time and advantages he was much more than an average man, and owing to his robust constitution, outdoor life and temperate habits (for he never used tea, coffee or tobacco), he attained an extreme age, dying September 19, 1876. His wife followed him to the better land a week later, her death occurring on the 27th of September. They were the parents of twelve children, of whom only one, Lorena, is living in 1898, and, with the exception of herself and her brother Eli, all of the number died in the years between 1856 and 1861.

Eli Pigman was born, lived and died in Harmony township. He owned the old Adam Eli farm, which the latter settled upon as early as 1807, building a blacksmith shop the same year. Part of this homestead is still owned by Mrs. Pigman, who was Miss Rebecca Wilson prior to her marriage to Eli Pigman, and who is now a resident of Liberty. Her father, Garrett Wilson, was a successful farmer, owning a place about two miles west of Liberty, and at one time he was a county commissioner here. His son, John T. Wilson, of Dunlapsville, is the sole representative of the family name to-day. Garrett Wilson departed this life in the winter of 1866-7, but his widow (formerly Harriet Thompson) died recently, when nearly ninety years of age. Eli Pigman died when fifty-six years of age, and two years later Mrs. Pigman removed from the farm to her present home, in Liberty. The first wife of Eli Pigman was a Miss Mary Buckley, and their three children were Charles, now of Connersville, Indiana; Adam; and Mary, who died in infancy. An excellent financier and business man, Eli Pigman amassed quite a fortune, and at one time owned eighteen hundred acres of valuable farm land. He was too generous and accommodating, sometimes, for his own best interests, and he became security for many friends and was obliged to pay twenty-six thousand dollars of the indebtedness of others. He was a man of intense patriotism and public spirit, active in the ranks of the Democratic party and frequently present at conventions. Educational affairs and the work of churches found a warm response in his large heart, and many a dollar did he contribute toward these worthy causes. His family was one of the first and most prominent in local Presbyterianism, and were material factors in the early days of the history of that denomination in this county.

Mr. Pigman had six children, who were reared on the old farm in Harmony township and attended the district school of the neighborhood. The two elder sons, John W. and Jesse B., are residents of Fayette county, Indiana; Garrett is a practicing physician of Liberty; George W. is an attorney, with his residence and offices at Liberty; Lurena is the wife of W. K. Kerr, of this town; and Annie is the wife of George Garrett, of Indianapolis.

Submitted by: Jeanie
Biographical and Genealogical History of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin Counties, Indiana. Chicago. The Lewis Publishing Company. 1899.
Pages 432 and 433.