Thomas D. Evans. – Thomas Davis Evans, a prominent attorney of Liberty, Indiana, a prominent attorney of Liberty, Indiana, and well known throughout the state, was ushered into life in Decatur, Newton county, Mississippi, August 17, 1840, and there spent the early years of his childhood. When he was seven years old his mother died, leaving three children. His father, Dr. Thomas E. Evans, was born and reared in Bath, England; was educated at Oxford; came to America when a young man and at Philadelphia won great honors as a physician. From there he went south, where he met and married Miss Sarah Yerby, a native of Alabama and a representative of a historic family of that state. After her death he married again and moved to Vicksburg, and in 1853 went to New Orleans. On account of the great cholera epidemic that year he sent his family north, himself remaining in New Orleans and caring for the sick in the hospitals. After several months spent in hospital work he started to join his family, who were at Gallatin, Tennessee, but at Vicksburg was stricken with the dread disease and died there July 31, 1853. He was buried with the honors of Freemasonry. While he had a large practice and was untiring in his efforts to relieve the sick and afflicted, he was liberal and generous to a fault and he died a poor man, the heritage of a good name being all the fortune he left to his family.

Thomas Davis Evans, when a young, secured a position as clerk in a store and in that way provided for his own support and that of the two younger children, his stepmother meantime having married. After clerking in several stores, he learned the printer’s trade in the office of the Gallatin Examiner. In the meantime, June 7, 1860, he married, at Gallatin, Miss Mollie Johnson, daughter of James S. Johnson, mayor of that place.

Mr. Evans had for a neighbor in Gallatin Joseph S. Fowler, later United States senator, then president of Howard Female Institute, in which Mrs. Evans was educated. It was largely due to the influence of this gentleman that Mr. Evans when he became a voter espoused the cause of the Republican party. The majority of his friends and neighbors, however, were rebels, and at the outbreak of the civil war he took sides with the Union. At the beginning of hostilities he took his family and went into the mountains of east Tennessee, where he remained until Gallatin became a military post, commanded by Brigadier-General E. A. Payne, when he returned and subsequently secured a position in the United States quartermaster department as military storekeeper, an important position, which he held until the close of the war, sometimes having in his charge millions of dollars’ worth of stores. This position gave him a wide acquaintance among military men.

While acting as storekeeper Mr. Evans took up the study of law, and at the close of the war was examined and admitted to the bar at Lebanon, Tennessee, and immediately afterward commenced the practice of his profession at Alexandra, same state. He soon built up a large practice which extended, during the years immediately following the war, throughout Sumner, Wilson, Davidson and Smith counties, and in connection with his legal work he was active in political campaigns, stumping for the Republican party.

In 1870 Mr. Evans came north, locating first at Mansfield, Ohio, and shortly afterward came over into Indiana, settling in Albion, Noble county. In 1879 he removed from the latter place to Liberty, Indiana, all the while continuing the practice of his profession. At Liberty he soon became prominent at the bar, and has been connected with many important litigations, his practice reaching into the higher courts of the state. For ten years he was county attorney of Union county, and it was during his incumbency of that office that the court-house and poor-house were built. His activity in political lines has taken him into every county in the state, where he has addressed Republican gatherings. He is still conducting a large and lucrative practice.

August 31, 1863, Mr. Evans’ first wife died, and a few years later he married again. His second wife died previous to his removal to Liberty, and he wedded his present companion, Miss Lucretia Julien, at Tiffin, Ohio. His first wife left one child, Mollie, now the wife of James A. Murphy, of Richmond, Indiana; and the children of his second wife, three in number, are: Thomas D., a hotel-keeper of Berlin, Wisconsin; Carrie, widow of James F. Copeland, who died in 1898; and Carl R., an attorney with Crawford & Crawford, Dallas, Texas. He has no children by his present wife.

Submitted by: Jeanie
Biographical and Genealogical History of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin Counties, Indiana. Chicago. The Lewis Publishing Company. 1899.
Pages 171 to 173.

Edwin Gardner. – Gardner’s Island, belonging to the township of Easthampton, Suffolk county, New York, and separated from the east of Long Island by Gardner’s Bay, and having an undulating area of thirty-three hundred acres, was granted by the British crown to John Gardner, who was knighted by the king, and whose bones lie buried at Southampton, Long Island. This historic character was the progenitor of a large family of “Gardiners” and “Gardners” (note the differing orthography) who settled at Salisbury, later at Nantucket, Massachusetts, and one branch of which found its way early to North Carolina. Edwin Gardner, of Center township, Union county, Indiana, is a great-grandson of Stephen and Jemima (Worth) Gardner, and a grandson of Isaac and Eunice (Macy) Gardner, and a son of Aaron and Elizabeth (Gardner) Gardner. Elizabeth, wife of Aaron Gardner, was a daughter of Elihab and Sarah (Stanton) Gardner, Sarah Stanton having been a daughter of William and Phoebe (Macy) Stanton. Elihab Gardner was a son of Richard and Sarah (Macy) Gardner and Richard was a brother of Stephen, Isaac’s father. Thus it appears that Aaron and Elizabeth Gardner were second cousins. Isaac Gardner, grandfather of Edwin Gardner, came to Indiana from Guilford county, North Carolina, bringing with him eleven children. The family were Quakers and were active in founding the Salem and Silver Creek churches. His home was near the Salem meeting-house, and his farm is still in possession of his descendants, but the old house has disappeared. He settled his children about him and passed the declining years of his life here. He was born in 1760 and died in 1843. His wife died in 1840. Their children were born in the following order: Paul, born November 24, 1781, died May 3, 1862; Thomas, born October 24, 1783, died July 19, 1867; Matilda (Mrs. Williams Barnard) was born September 10, 1785, and died July 14, 1845; Isaac, born August 23, 1787, died May 29, 1871; David, born November 19, 1789, died October 31, 1871; Aaron, born February 7, 1792, died October 4, 1887; Rebecca, born April 6, 1794, died in childhood; Lydia (Mrs. Tristram Barnard), born March 28, 1796, died March 12, 1880; Sallie (Mrs. Jethro Barnard), born October 12, 1798, died October, 1876; Eunice (Mrs. Jonathan Swayne), born November 21, 1801, died August 18, 1870; Rhoda (Mrs. Nathaniel Swayne), born November 22, 1806, died August 8, 1887. Tristram and William Barnard were brothers, and Jonathan and Nathaniel Swayne were brothers. All the sons lived to be more than eighty years old, and Aaron ninety-five years, seven months and twenty-seven days. All of the sons married and reared families; all were members of the Salem church until the end of their days; and all were farmers and lived on lands given them by their father. One learned the blacksmith’s trade and one that of a tinner. Isaac, referred to last, had a tin shop in a corner of his house and worked in it on rainy days, when farming was out of the question. Five of the brothers, advanced in years, were photographed together. The daughters all lived to be old women. The one who died youngest died at sixty. Sallie lived more than ninety years.

Aaron Gardner married his second cousin, Elizabeth Gardner, in 1819, and she died in 1833, at the age of thirty-three years. His second wife, was Sarah (Davis) Stanton, widow of Samuel Stanton and mother of Thomas Franklin Stanton, father of Mrs. Alexander P. Cook. She bore him no children and died in 1872. His children by his first marriage are referred to below.

Edwin Gardner was born in his father’s farm, south of Lotus, Center township, Union county, Indiana, August 13, 1821. He learned the carpenter’s trade and was employed at it and in farming until after the outbreak of the civil war. He was three years in the United States service as a member of the Eighty-fourth Indiana Infantry, but on account of his mechanical skill he was detailed to the engineer corps, in which he was employed in bridge building, the construction of fortifications and in similar work, and for this reason he never had opportunity to participate in a battle. He has practically passed his life in his native town except for this experience of war. Once he went to New Jersey and once to Florida, looking around for inducement to move, but none presented were strong enough to hold him and he returned to Union county.

In his tastes he is very democratic, in his politics and religious views independent and liberal in the extreme. A born reformer, he has been by turns an Abolitionist, a Greenbacker and a Prohibitionist. He had a birthright in the Society of Friends and was a member of the Salem church until he had attained to manhood. He states that he was turned out of the church because he tried to learn to sing! He was married, April 3, 1847, to Miss Jemima A. Wickersham, and he adds that his wife was turned out of the church because she had married a man who had tried to learn to sing! He has an experience of Spiritualism which is comforting to him. Those who know him best say that in religion and in politics and upon all important questions he has always been somewhat in advance of his party and his more orthodox acquaintances. He is well read and has reasoned deeply, clearly and conclusively for himself. He has no sympathy with intolerance or narrowness, and accords to every man and woman the right of independent opinion. He is attractively venerable, pleasant, generous, and is endowed with the finest qualities of head and heart.

Mrs. Gardner was born in Henry county, Indiana, of Quaker stock, and has been to her husband a most helpful wife. Their eldest child, Amanda M., died when she was eighteen years old. Frederick D. Gardner, their son, was born September 4, 1867, and married Alexine M. Jones, a native of Ohio, and has a daughter, Helen N., aged four years. He is a railroad man and lives at Hannibal, Missouri.

Submitted by: Jeanie
Biographical and Genealogical History of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin Counties, Indiana. Chicago. The Lewis Publishing Company. 1899.
Pages 400 to 402.

Joseph C. Gilmore. – The subject of this brief sketch was born in Preble county, Ohio, December 10, 1832. He was raised on a farm near Camden, Ohio. His parents were natives of Virginia, who came to Preble county, Ohio, in 1825. His father, Dr. Eli Gilmore, was one of the pioneer physicians of the west, he being a regular practitioner, from the date of this settlement in Preble county until his death in 1856. On December 10, 1858, Mr. Gilmore was united in marriage to Miss Exira C. Larsh, a native of Preble county. During the civil war he enlisted in the Ninety-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, but served for only a short time, when he was honorably discharged on account of failing health.

In 1863 he moved to College Corner, Ohio, where he resided on the Indiana side of the state line in that town until 1895. In 1894 he was nominated by the Republican party (of which party he has been a lifelong member) as a candidate for the office of clerk of the circuit court, to which office he was duly elected. He was again elected to the same office in 1898, and his time will expire November 1, 1903. He expressed himself as feeling grateful to his friends for their confidence in placing him in the position which he now occupies. Since his election to the office of clerk of the court, he and his family have resided in Liberty.

Submitted by: Jeanie
Biographical and Genealogical History of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin Counties, Indiana. Chicago. The Lewis Publishing Company. 1899.
Pages 724.

Daniel T. Harvey. – The Harvey family is one of the oldest in Union county and has been noted from the beginning of this century for the sterling traits that are so characteristic of the subject of this sketch, constituting him a fitting representative of the name. He was born on a farm adjoining the one which he owns and cultivates to-day, the date of the event being June 19, 1846. His whole life has been spent in Brownsville township, and everything tending to advance the best interests of this region has received his earnest support and attention. In all his views he is liberal and broad-minded, striving to settle all difficult questions in an unbiased, logical manner, and weighing in an impartial way for himself all evidence presented. Both he and his estimable wife are members of the Universalist church at Pleasant Hill, and are generous in their contributions to the poor and needy.

The paternal grandfather of our subject was Francis Harvey, who came in early days to dwell in this township, thus being one of the first to permanently locate in this vicinity. His wife bore the maiden name of Elizabeth Snyder, and their son Michael, father of Daniel T. Harvey, was born in this township in 1819, and died in 1881. He chose of his wife Mary Miller, daughter of Henry Miller, one of the early pioneers of this township, and formerly a Pennsylvanian. Mary Miller had but one sister, Rosanna, and she became the wife of Moses, a brother of Michael Harvey. This couple had no children and both are deceased, but for many years Michael and Moses Harvey lived on adjoining farms, portions of the original Harvey estate. Henry Miller lived to be over eighty years old, and was survived several years by his wife, whose maiden name was Anna Spitznagle. The first home of Michael Harvey and wife after their marriage was situated west of Brownsville, and later they purchased a tract of two hundred acres near Liberty. Their last homestead was a beautiful farm of three hundred acres finely improved, and about one and a half miles west of Liberty on the Brownsville road. Mr. Harvey did a large business for years in cattle and live stock, and was a very successful financier. His widow survived his death about a dozen years. He was a Democrat and was not desirous of obtaining public office, preferring to attend strictly to his own affairs. All of his children attaining majority are living (1899) and are named respectively James Monroe, Daniel T., George H., Lavina A. and Ida May.

Daniel T. Harvey has always been an agriculturist from his youth up and has made a success of his enterprises in this line. He remained on the old homestead until he arrived at his majority, when he concluded that he would start in independent life. In time he was enabled to purchase his grandfather’s farm of one hundred and twenty-eight acres, and later he also bought the eighty-acre place where he now makes his home. About seven years ago he built his present commodious, modern house, near the Clifton pike, and has otherwise greatly improved his place. A few years ago he sold the old farm which his grandfather had owned and invested the proceeds in various enterprises, chiefly, however, in making changes upon his home place. In his political creed he adheres to the tenets of his father, voting for Democratic nominees.

November 4, 1869, Mr. Harvey married Miss Lovis Adney, daughter of Daniel and Susan Adney, of English origin. Her father has passed to his reward, but her mother is still living, now in her eighty-seventh year, her home being with her daughter, Mrs. Harvey. The Adney family was one of the first to make a permanent settlement near the town of Liberty. Though Mr. and Mrs. Harvey have not been blessed with children of their own, they have reared a boy from his early childhood and now have living with them a niece, Emma Simms, fifteen years old, she having been a member of the family for the past three years. Both he and his wife have hosts of sincere friends and well-wishers in this neighborhood, and with one accord they speak in the highest terms of the Harvey household.

Submitted by: Jeanie
Biographical and Genealogical History of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin Counties, Indiana. Chicago. The Lewis Publishing Company. 1899.
Pages 257 and 258.

James H. Johnson. – James H. Johnson was born in Warren county, Ohio, May 25, 1829, a son of Hon. Michael H. Johnson. That prominent pioneer was born in Virginia, March 10, 1769, and during his young manhood taught school in Kentucky. Certain of the Indian tribes of the northwest, instigated by the British, refused to cease hostilities after the peace of 1783, and had not been subjected, though attempts had been made to accomplish this. General Wayne marched into the northwest in 1793, built Fort Recovery, near Greenville, Ohio, and inaugurated a campaign which succeeded and was the means of opening a large territory to white settlement. During General Wayne’s operations along the Ohio, Judge Johnson was a quartermaster sergeant in his command and his duties lay north of the river. General William Henry Harrison, later president of the United States, was then an ensign in the same service and he and Judge Johnson were thrown much together and became personal friends. They last met at Lebanon, Warren county, Ohio, while General Harrison was a candidate for the presidency. Judge Johnson was one of the first settlers of Deerfield, Ohio, in 1797, and was the first storekeeper in Warren county. He removed to Hopskinsville in 1801 and lived there until his death. He was assessor of Deerfield, northwest territory. At the organization of Warren county, in 1803, he was elected one of its first justices of the peace and filled the office twelve years. He represented the district of which Warren county was a part in the Ohio senate 1809-1819. In 1820 he was elected the first recorder of Warren county. In 1825 he went on the bench as associate judge and served in that capacity ten years. He died in his seventy-seventh year. His son and wife were names James H. and Martha Richey Johnson.

James H. Johnson, custodian of the county building at Liberty, Indiana, was reared on the home farm in Warren county, and began life as a shoemaker at Cuba, Clinton county, Ohio. At the time of the civil war, Mr. Johnson was connected with the provost marshal’s office for the sixth Ohio district, at Hillsboro, and he acted for a time also as an enrolling officer. He came to Liberty, Indiana, in September, 1865, and for two or three years after his arrival was a merchant there. In 1868 he was elected justice of the peace, and he has been elected at each succeeding election since, - during a period of more than thirty years. His present commission will not expire until 1900. He has administered this important office with signal ability, and no assurance as to his tact, honesty and good judgment will be required by any who reflects that Justice Johnson has for nearly a third of a century adjudicated the disputes of his neighbors and has been all the time and is now exceedingly popular among them. His decisions have seldom been reversed by a higher court and have many times been affirmed and complimented by learned judges. He has performed the marriage ceremony one hundred and ten times.

The county building at Liberty was erected in 1890-1891, and since then, except during one year, Justice Johnson has been its custodian. It is a fine structure, and with is furniture, clock and other appointments cost one hundred thousand dollars.

James H. and Mary (Reed) Johnson have had one son and three daughters. The son, A. E. Johnson, was born at Cuba, Ohio, February 6, 1854. He has been a teacher, deputy county auditor, county auditor and clerk of the house of representatives at Indianapolis, and is now an expert accountant and a resident of that city. Martha, the eldest daughter, married James A. Driggs, of Liberty. Louisa is Mrs. William Humbert, of Springboro, Ohio. Dora E. married L. A. Druley, who is a member of the town council of Liberty, Indiana.

Justice Johnson was made an Odd Fellow at Wilmington, Ohio, and has passed the chairs of Morton Lodge, of Liberty. He has also risen to the highest chair in the local encampment and has represented his lodge and encampment in the grand lodge and grand encampment, and as district deputy, in which office he has served twenty years, he has organized many lodges and installed officers in the several lodges within the county limits. For eight years, in the ‘70s, he was a member of the council of the village of Liberty. He has in every way proven himself a public-spirited citizen and he possesses the the public confidence to a remarkable extent.

Submitted by: Jeanie
Biographical and Genealogical History of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin Counties, Indiana. Chicago. The Lewis Publishing Company. 1899.
Pages 479 and 480.

John W. Himelick. – An energetic, progressive agriculturist of Union township, Union county, is he of whom this sketch is penned. One of the native sons of Indiana, he was born in Bath township, Franklin county, August 3, 1860, and in this section of the state his whole life has been passed.

Andrew Himelick, the paternal grandfather of our subject, was born in Virginia, but came to Indiana in the early part of its history, and seventy-three years ago settled upon the land, in Bath township, now owned by his son John, the father of John W., of this sketch. Andrew Himelick spent the rest of his days on that homestead, which he cleared and improved. He died when in his sixty-eighth year, and was survived a few years by his widow. John, their son, was born in 1824 and since he was two years old has lived at his present home. He has been fairly successful as a farmer and has given considerable attention to the breeding of good horses.

In his early manhood John Himelick married Miss Mary E. Davis, who was born in Butler county, Ohio. They have had six children, of whom the eldest, Mary, is the wife of Jacob T. Sites, and is now living on the old homestead with her father; Marian, wife of N. J. Moore, resides in College Corner; Laura is Mrs. James A. Bake, of Bath township, Flora married Clinton Walling and died at the age of twenty-two years; and Grant is a farmer of Bath township.

John W. Himelick passed his boyhood in the usual vocations of country lads and early mastered the duties of an agricultural life. Just after he had celebrated his arrival at his majority, he was married, on the 16th of August, 1881, to Miss Rachael Dubois, a daughter of John K. and Elizabeth Dubois, of Union township, Union county. Mrs. Dubois is still living, her home being in Bath township, Franklin county. Mrs. Himelick was born in this township, on a farm situated about two miles south of Billingsville. To John W. Himelick and wife two sons were born, namely: Loren Dwight and Ellis Ralph, now fifteen and eleven years of age, respectively. The mother is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.

In starting upon his independent career Mr. Himelick purchase his present farm, which has long been known as the Gobel place. The property is located four and a half miles southwest of College Corners, and is but one-third of a mile from the line between Union and Franklin counties. On this homestead, which comprises eighty acres, the owner has placed many valuable improvements, including tiling. He practices the rotation of crops and feeds his stock with grain which he raises.

Politically he is strongly in favor of Republican principles, and has frequently attended local, congressional and state conventions of his party in the capacity of a delegate. In 1892 he was elected to the responsible position of county commissioner, and upon the 5th of December he entered upon his duties as such. In 1894 he was re-elected for another term of three years, and has given the public general satisfaction as an official.

Submitted by: Jeanie
Biographical and Genealogical History of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin Counties, Indiana. Chicago. The Lewis Publishing Company. 1899.
Pages 1035 and 1036.

Samuel H. Ballinger. – In 1898 one of the oldest merchants of Liberty in years of active business transactions, Samuel H. Ballinger, retired to private life and to the enjoyment of the rest which he has certainly earned during his thirty-one years of commercial enterprise. To his public-spirit and desire for local advancement can be attributed much of the prosperity which this town to-day enjoys. For thirty years he has been a member of the Masonic fraternity and for years he has been one of the pillars in the Methodist Episcopal church, serving in various official capacities, such as steward, trustee, etc.

A son of Isaac and Orinda C. Ballinger, Samuel H. was born on the old homestead belonging to his parents, April 16, 1845. He passed his youthful days on the farm, supplementing his elementary work in the local schools by a year’s attendance at Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio. He continued to dwell on the farm until he was twenty-two years of age, and now, after a long interval of business life, he has returned with renewed interest to the peaceful occupations of the agriculturist, and takes great pride in the finely improved homestead which he owns and which became his property in 1879. It comprises four hundred acres, all in one body, and, in addition to raising the usual line of crops common to this region, he feeds cattle and live stock, and is making a financial success of the whole.

On the 27th of January, 1876, Mr. Ballinger married Miss Lucy Sullivan, daughter of W. W. Sullivan. They became the parents of three children, the eldest of whom, Ora W., died at the age of two years and ten months; Robert Lincoln, lately engaged in the clothing business in San Antonio, Texas; and Mettie, a musician and artist of marked ability, now living at home, who has been engaged in the millinery business for some years and is considered an expert trimmer. Mrs. Ballinger and daughter are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.

Mr. Ballinger has never been an aspirant to office, but in a spirit of banter a Republican friend one day said to him that he intended to run as a candidate for the position of trustee of the township. Mr. Ballinger jokingly replied, “Why, you cannot be elected; I can beat you;” and when the other answered, “I’ll bet a dollar you can’t,” both took up the matter in semi-seriousness and announced themselves as candidates. The result of the primary election was that Mr. Ballinger was victorious and was elected by the people. He is now serving his fifth year in the office. He has nine schools under his supervision, hires teachers and buys the fuel and supplies for the schools, and also must look after the poor, the roads and general matters effecting the public more or less directly. While he is allowed wide latitude in these matters and has the handling of large sums of money every year, it is but justice to him to state that no complaint has ever been made against his management and that not the slightest doubt as to his fidelity and integrity has ever been expressed. By his long and honorable business career he is known to be above suspicion, and the good of his fellows has ever been his sincerest interest. Perhaps no better illustration of Mr. Ballinger’s business ability can be given than his record in office as township trustee. When he first assumed this office the township was four thousand dollars in debt. During his incumbency the township has been placed out of debt and has money in its treasury, while the tax levy of the present year is a lower one than it has had for forty years. Besides this, Mr. Ballinger has built four new brick school-houses in the township. One of them, a double (graded) school-house, is a model structure, pronounced one of the finest buildings of its kind in the state. He has also superintended the building of more bridges and culverts and done more work on the roads of the township than was done in years before his accession to office.

Mr. Ballinger has done much earnest and efficient service in church work. He has been both steward and trustee of the Liberty Methodist Episcopal church for the past fifteen years. He was the treasurer of the board of trustees during the erection of the beautiful new Methodist church, collected all the moneys as well as paid them out, and as one of the board had much to do with planning the structure; and it is not too much to say that the success of its erection in a prominent degree is due to him. Mrs. Ballinger is an earnest Christian and hearty partaker in the activities of the church, and has been for years a valued teacher in its Sunday-school.

Mr. Ballinger has had a long career as a merchant and leading business man of Liberty. In 1867 he became a partner with his father-in-law, W. W. Sullivan, in the grocery trade. This firm had a large patronage and was the leading house in this line in all this region. In 1869 Thomas C. Ballinger was admitted to the firm upon the retirement of Mr. Sullivan. The brothers continued together in trade for five years, when T. C. Ballinger purchased his brother’s interest. During our subject’s connection with this house the firm handled seventy-five thousand dollars’ worth of goods annually. After closing his grocery business, Mr. Ballinger and J. P. Kennedy engaged in the dry-goods trade in Liberty, and this partnership was terminated at the end of six months by Mr. Ballinger becoming sole proprietor. Conducting a prospering business in this line for five years, his health failed, and he sold out to S. W. Creed. Purchasing the homestead farm of his parents, he made his home thereon with the expectation that the outdoor life incident to conducting a farm would restore his health. This expectation was realized, and for five years he was busily engaged in agriculture. With restored health the desire for mercantile activity returned, and he now purchased from Mr. Creed the dry-goods business he had formerly conducted. Thenceforth until his retirement from trade in 1898 he was prominent among the merchants of the county. With the exception of three years, when his brother Bennett was connected with him, and two years when his son was a partner, he was the sole proprietor of the business.

Submitted by: Jeanie
Biographical and Genealogical History of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin Counties, Indiana. Chicago. The Lewis Publishing Company. 1899.
Pages 224 to 226.

Joshua Michael Snyder. – One of the prominent old pioneer families of Union county is that of the Snyders, well represented in Brownsville township ever since the opening decade of this century. They have ever borne their part in the upbuilding and development of this region, and have invariably been exponents of progress and liberal ideas upon all subjects.

Michael Snyder, the founder of the family in this portion of Indiana, died when well along in years, and it is a remarkable fact that all of his seven children lived to pass the eightieth anniversary of their birth. When he came to this township he entered a quarter-section of land, and as he prospered he kept investing in more land until he was the possessor of a large and valuable estate. He assisted each of his children to make a good start in life by giving them farms and other aid, and his own old homestead is still retained by his descendants, belonging to the subject of this sketch and now managed by the latter’s eldest son, Walter Michael. The eldest son of Michael Snyder was Michael, Jr. (father of D. F. Snyder, of Liberty), who was a resident of this township until his death; the next son, David, lived for years in Dakota and died there; Moses went to Minnesota when past seventy years and died there about ten year later; Isaac always lived on the farm which his father purchased for him; Esther married George Witt, a cousin, and died at her home in Richland, Indiana; and Betsy became the wife of Mr. Harvey and is deceased.

Simon, one of the sons of Michael Snyder and the father of the subject of this notice, was a native of Virginia, but came to this state in 1812, and, having received a share of his father’s property, built a substantial brick house in 1835, the bricks therefor being manufactured and burned on the farm. There he continued to dwell as long as he lived, and, following his father’s example, he provided liberally for each of his children, helping them to buy farms. When he was about twenty-five years old he married Sally Witt, whose death occurred several years prior to his own. He was an active member of the Richland Christian church, and when it declined materially he transferred his membership to the church at Liberty, and was a trustee and officer of the same for many years. All local enterprises were supported by him, and he it was who donated the money for the erection of the pretty chapel at Richland cemetery. Moreover, he personally looked after the fences and repairs of the same surrounding the cemetery, and thus, in varied ways, he manifested his active interest in whatever was calculated to benefit the community. In politics he was a Democrat of the old Jackson school.

Joshua Michael Snyder, who name heads this sketch, was born in the old brick house above mentioned, March 27, 1841, and with his seven brothers and sisters passed many happy years under its sheltering roof. The four older ones are deceased, namely: John, who removed to Illinois and died at the age of sixty years; Jemima, whose death occurred when she was about eighteen; Mary, who is survived by her late husband, Spencer Stevens, of Liberty; and Martha, who was the wife of S. C. Stevens. Isaac is a resident of Clifton, Benjamin of Brownsville township, and Andrew is now in Liberty.

When he reached his majority J. M. Snyder married Rachel Patterson and settled upon the farm which he has since owned and operated in Brownsville township. The place comprises one hundred acres, devoted to the raising of a general line of crops commonly grown in this section. The place is fertile and productive and is considered one of the most valuable farms in the county, the owner taking just pride in keeping everything in fine order and good repair about the premises. Like his father, he votes the Democratic ticket, but, in the main, keeps out of politics. He has four manly, enterprising sons, namely: Walter Michael, previously alluded to; Simon, of Clifton; Paul, whose home is the old brick house which is such a landmark in the township; and Clifford is at home and gives valuable assistance to his father in the management of the farm.

Submitted by: Jeanie
Biographical and Genealogical History of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin Counties, Indiana. Chicago. The Lewis Publishing Company. 1899.
Pages 311 and 312.

Deb Murray