A native of Wabash county, Mr. Emrick was born November 19, 1874, on a farm just across the road from where his present residence stands. His parents were John C. and Rose Elizabeth (Hursh) Emrick, and the grandfathers on both sides were John C. Emrick, Sr. and Abraham Hursh. The paternal grandfather came to Wabash county more than half a century ago, bringing his son John C., Jr. Their home previous to that time was in Darke county, Ohio, where the grandfather was a substantial farmer. It was in 1854 that the family moved into Indiana, locating on a farm near Somerset in Wabash county. It was on that homestead that Harmon L. Emrick was born, and the immediate locality of his present home has been the environment in which he grew up and where most of his active years have been spent. John C. Emrick, Jr. died March 16, 1906, and his widow passed away four years later on a farm in Waltz township. All their seven children were born at the old homestead. Their names are: Ira Franklin; Harmon Lewis; R. B. Hayes; Abbie Leona; Mary, who died in infancy; Homer Charles; and Minnie Emrick.

Harmon L. Emrick married Emma Bowman, the daughter of Eli Bowman. By this marriage there were two children, Virgil and Verlin, the first born January 9, 1899, and the second on January 24, 1900. Verlin died December 7, 1900. Virgil died in November, 1906. The mother of these two children died in 1901. For his second wife Mr. Emrick married Estella Clara Flook. Her parents were David E. and Mary Elizabeth Flook, the former of whom died on August 4, 1901, and the latter on January 20, 1910. Mrs. Emrick was one of ten children, the others being named Jennie, Anna, Charles, William, John E., Mary V., Ervin, Myrtle M., and two that died in infancy. Of those all except Anna married and are living lives of usefulness in the various communities to which their duties in life have called them. All the Flook children were born in Waltz township. By his second wife Mr. Emrick has three children: Floyd, the oldest, is deceased; Beulah, was born September 29, 1905; and John was born December 7, 1906.

Mr. Emrick is a stanch republican, and has been a trustee of Waltz township continuously since January, 1908, a term of six years. Fraternally he is a Mason and an Odd Fellow. He and his family have long been esteemed as people of many excellent traits of character and admirable qualities of heart and mind, and are included among the good citizens and stanch friends and neighbors of their community.

"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914

Clarkson W. Weesner was born August 12, 1841, in Henry county, Indiana. His first American ancestor was Michael Weesner, who was born in Germany April 3, 1740. He and his brother were early Quakers or Friends, and being opposed to war or service in the army, ran away from home, crossed the ocean and settled in Stokes county, North Carolina. In that county Micajah, a son of Michael, was born January 20, 1762. Michael Weesner, son of Micajah, was born in the same county December 25, 1788, and was the founder of the family in the Quaker settlements of eastern Indiana.

Michael Weesner and Ruth Mendenhall were married in Stokes county, where Michael was for some years engaged in his vocation as a hatter, making the Quaker hats so prevalent and characteristic in early days. Early in the last century he made a visit to the west with a view to locating in the new country, but his removal was deferred on account of his wife's unwillingness to move to a new country. Believing that in time, when her people had moved to the west, she would become reconciled to his plan, Michael Weesner continued to live in North Carolina some five or six years. In the meantime, he had placed an old iron tea-kettle in the chimney upstairs in his cabin, and such change as he could spare was dropped into that vessel, a fact entirely unknown to the rest of the family. Six years later, when they all made preparations to move to the west, since some of his wife's sisters had already settled there, and when all was in readiness to start with the wagon loaded, Michael went upstairs and took out his money, and found that the accumulations of six years amounted to $680.80. This was a capital that enabled the family to make the removal in comparatively easy circumstances and went a great way toward establishing a new home. It was in the year 1824 the Weesners settled near Chester, Wayne county, Indiana, and as the best land had been taken up by earlier settlers they had to be contented with a second grade of land. Michael Weesner cleared up his farm, and he and his wife lived and died there as respected citizens and members of the Friends church, where they sat as head of the monthly and quarterly meetings. To Michael and Ruth Weesner were born six children, as follows: Abigail, who married William Kendall; Jonathan Weesner; Ruth, who married Joseph Votaw; Asenath, who married John Kenyon; Lydia, who married Isaac Woodard; and Elwood P. Weesner - all of whom are now deceased.

Jonathan Weesner, a son of Michael and Ruth Weesner, was born in Stokes county December 6, 1815, and was about nine years of age when the family moved to Indiana. His death occurred at Wabash April 15, 1902, at the age of eighty-six years, four months and nine days. Although receiving a limited education in the common schools, Jonathan Weesner possessed a remarkable memory, which he cultivated to the fullest extent, and was regarded as one of the foremost scholars in his community. Such were his powers as a mathematician that he could calculate an eclipse of sun or moon. As a historian he had few equals. His greatest pleasure was in the discussion of theological questions, and he was always loyal to science. On October 26, 1836, Jonathan Weesner married Ruth Williams, daughter of William Williams. She was born October 15, 1815 and died October 20, 1846, aged thirty-one years and five days. To this union five children were born as follows: Hezekiah Weesner, born September 14, 1837, and now living in Seattle, Washington; Susannah, who was born May 20, 1839, and died March 14, 1898, married Joseph Ridenour; Clarkson W., born August 12, 1841; Elwood, born November 16, 1842, and died December 20, 1857; Grear, born January 12, 1845, died March 4, 1864, at Chattanooga, Tennessee, from pneumonia contracted while on duty as a private in Company A of the Seventy-fifth Indiana Infantry, and his body now rests in the National Cemetery at Murfreesboro. Jonathan Weesner and Anna C. Barnes, a daughter of Henry Barnes, were married in Ohio March 14, 1848, and their six children are mentioned as follows: Permelia, born April 11, 1849, married Lafayette D. Marcus Julien; Elvira, who became the wife of Michael Ridenour; Michael Henry, born April 18, 1852, and died January 16, 1855; Eli Arthur St. Clair, born July 12, 1855, died July 12, 1908, aged fifty-three; Rebecca Ann, born August 19, 1857, and now living in Peru, Indiana, married Albert D. Bent; Lydia Maybelle, born November 6, 1862, married Albert Bakehorn, and she now lives in San Diego, California.

Having lost the use of one leg by a fever when only eight months old, Clarkson W. Weesner's schooling was limited to a few terms in the common schools of the county, while his most valuable instruction was received at the fireside in the winter evenings under the tuition of his scholarly father. At the age of seventeen he began teaching subscription schools, and subsequently taught in the public schools, holding a license from the following school examiners: General Charles S. Parrish, Alvah Taylor, Joseph Mackey and Warren G. Sayre. In the intervals of teaching his time was spent at work on the farm until September, 1863, when he moved from the country to the city of Wabash to take up his duties as deputy treasurer of the county. Mr. Weesner was at the county seat during the latter years of the war, and continued his duties until 1866, when he once more took up teaching.

Owing to his work in the different county offices, he became familiar with the names of all the residents of Wabash county and knew the exact location of most of them. This acquaintance was extended by a lecture he delivered at a number of places on the subject of the "Gulf Stream" the greatest river in the world, and later one on Abraham Lincoln, frequently before teachers institutes and the Grand Army Posts.

Mr. Weesner was secretary of the first building and loan association organized in Wabash county, and assisted in the organization of others. For several years he was secretary of the Wabash County Agricultural Society. A Republican in politics was elected in 1876 mayor of the city of Wabash, and declined re-election for the same office. He became a candidate in 1878 for county clerk and was elected and served continuously from November 1, 1879 to November 1, 1887. The opposition party did not name a candidate to oppose him. Since retiring from the office of clerk Mr. Weesner has been engaged in the practice of law, consisting chiefly of Probate Work, and of late years in the examinations of Abstracts of Title for the Aetna Life Insurance Company, the Penn Mutual Insurance Company and the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company, and for several real estate dealers. For the past eight or ten years Mr. Weesner has been president of the Old Settlers Association of Wabash county.

Mr. Weesner's father and mother performed their own marriage ceremony in the Friends church, and all their children held birth rights in that church. Mr. Weesner has been affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows since 1881, has filled all the chairs in the local lodge, and has gone as a delegate to the Grand Lodge of the state.

On September 5, 1865, at Kokomo, Indiana, occurred the marriage of Clarkson W. Weesner and Anna E. Leeson, daughter of William and Susanna Leeson. Her father was a teacher in the common schools of Wabash and Howard counties, and at one time served as justice or the peace in Howard county. Mr. Weesner has four sons, all of whom have attained successful positions in business affairs except the youngest, who had infantile paralysis when seven months old and still remains an invalid. Harvey Roscoe, the oldest, was born in Wabash county October 24, 1866, attended the city schools and subsequently finished a course in the Poughkeepsie Business College in New York, graduating at the head of his class, and then took up a business career. He is a large stockholder in the Wabash Screen Door Company, and lives in Minneapolis where the main factory is located, while the company has an extension branch at Memphis, Tennessee, and the principal offices are in Chicago. Harvey R. Weesner was married November 9, 1887, to Ollie A. Hoover, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John J. Hoover of Wabash. Their three children are: Beulah, born in Wabash county, November 2, 1888, and on April 24, 1912, married at Minneapolis to Frank Edward Struthers, their home being in Minneapolis; Louise, born October 3, 1894, and a graduate of the schools and college at Minneapolis; and Donald, born at Minneapolis February 8, 1907. Alvah Elwood Weesner, the second son, was born in Wabash May 26, 1868, and his attendance at the city schools was followed by a course in the business college at Poughkeepsie, and for a number of years he has been engaged in the real estate and insurance business at Rhinelander, Wisconsin. He married on June 30, 1897, Mary Louise Wiley. Oliver Otis, was born in Wabash March 9,1870, and was married July 1, 1891, to Blanche M. White. They soon moved to Marion, Indiana, where he became superintendent of the electric light plant until it was consolidated with the Marion Light Company, when he took the office of city weighmaster, a position he still holds. They have one son, Thomas Delmar, born in Marion March 24, 1907. Leeson Hildreth, was born in Wabash April 26, 1880, and owing to his infirmities is at home with his parents. A daughter, Cora Bell, born December 11, 1872, lived only seven days.

"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914

Hiram K. Pickering was born in Belmont county, in eastern Ohio, October 8, 1814, and died at the home of his son Dr. Samuel Pickering in New Lisbon, Indiana, May 9, 1898, at the ripe age of eighty-three years. He came with his parents to Henry county, Indiana, in 1823, before the surveys were completed in that portion of the state and the family located on a tract of land near Greensboro, which was still in the possession of the family at the time of his death.

In Dublin, Wayne county, on November 30, 1838, Hiram Pickering married Margaret Jackson. She was born in Pasquatauque county, North Carolina, December 16, 1818, and died at her home in New Holland, Wabash county, September 1, 1893, when upwards of seventy-five years of age. Her family were likewise among Indiana pioneers, her parents settling at old Vandalia, now part of Cambridge City in Wayne county, in 1820. It was in that neighborhood that she grew to womanhood and lived there till her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Pickering soon moved to Henry county, spending a few years at Knightstown and Greensboro, and in 1845 moved to Wabash county, settling on the banks of the Salamonie river, at the present site of the little village of New Holland. They were among the earliest settlers of that neighborhood, and for forty-eight years their lives were identified with the progress and development of that prosperous community. At New Holland Hiram Pickering engaged in tanning and the harness trade. One who had lived close to him for forty years said at the time of his death that his upright, honest life should prove a legacy to his family beyond all material measurement, and while his career was unostentatious it was in the highest degree useful, and he was honored by his own character and by the family of children and other descendants left to remember his name.

Hiram Pickering had a birthright membership in the Quaker church, and at the division of that church between the two sects of the Hicksites and the Orthodox, he chose the Hicksites and was a member of the Lincolnville Friends until 1880. His wife had joined the Wesleyan Methodist church in 1852, and in 1874 transferred her membership to the Methodist Episcopal church, and lived a useful and devoted member of her church, always prompt in public services and in her attention to the sick and needy. In 1880 Mr. Pickering yielded to the denominational preferences of his Christian wife, and joined the Methodist Episcopal church, and both spent their declining years in that faith. After the death of his beloved wife, Hiram Pickering lived with his children, among whom he was a welcome guest, and cheerfully and with perfect resignation awaited the end.

To their union were born nine children, six sons and three daughters, and three sons and two daughters still survive. The daughters are Mrs. Clementine Satterthwaite and Mrs. Minerva Craig, both of whom are widows and live in Logansport, Indiana. The son James P. lives in Oxford, Indiana, and Dr. Samuel at New Lisbon, this state. The son Abner graduated at the West, Point Military Academy, entered the regular army, spent some time in the service on the western plains, was in Cuba with the rank of captain during the Spanish-American war, and later in the Philippines, and now holds the rank of colonel in the Eleventh United States Infantry, and is stationed on the Mexican border in Texas.

"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914

When Mr. Graden was about fifteen years of age the family moved to Illinois, and succeeding his schooling he entered a drug store with a view of embarking in that business later in life. Subsequently he went to Indianapolis, where he furthered his studies in drugs, and in 1872 came to Wabash. He at once opened an establishment here and from the start it proved unusually successful, Mr. Graden winning the confidence and esteem of the people of the city through his knowledge of his vocation and his straightforward manner of doing business. His enterprise became one of the leading ventures of its kind in the city, and Mr. Graden was widely known to the trade throughout this section. Socially he was identified with the Odd Fellows and Masonic fraternities, and as a republican in politics he served several terms as a member of the city council, where his advice and leadership were eagerly sought by his colleagues. When he died, August 21, 1889, his adopted city suffered a severe loss, as did a host of friends.

Mr. Graden was married April 9, 1874, to Miss May Pawling, daughter of Albert Pawling. Mr. Pawling, who was one of Wabash county's pioneer settlers, was born in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, January 21, 1809, and was a son of Joseph and Sarah (Riffert) Pawling. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Graden: a daughter who died in infancy; Alberta, who died at the age of twenty years; and Jean, who married Fred B. Walter, secretary and treasurer of the firm of B. Walter & Company of Wabash.

"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914

The advent of the Moyer family in Indiana occurred when Jesse Moyer was a mere lad, his parents driving through from the Buckeye state and spending several days at North Manchester before continuing on to Miami county. There both parents died. Jesse Moyer was given his education in the early public schools of that locality, and was reared to farming and the nursery business, his father, Mathias Moyer, being the first nursery man in northern Indiana, locating at Nicorza in 1833. He won success through his energy and ability and was known as a substantial man. On November 18, 1860, he was united in marriage with Miss Eliza Hoover, daughter of Elias and Mary (Whitmire) Hoover, and they became the parents of two sons: George, who is a nurseryman of Wabash county; and Charley, who carries on successful farming operations here. Mr. Moyer always took an active part and interest in anything that would benefit his community, and at his death, January 25, 1887, bore the respect and esteem of all who knew him.

Mrs. Moyer subsequently married James Horning, and is now a resident of the village of Laketon, where she is widely and favorably known. Her father, Elias Hoover, was a son of Henry Hoover, of Maryland, and came to Wabash county, Indiana, from Ohio, in 1844. He and his wife became the parents of four sons and five daughters, and of the latter two are now deceased. Mrs. Horning is one of the real pioneers of this section of the country, which she has seen develop from a practical wilderness, without roads or schools, churches or improvements of any nature, into a flourishing community, rich in agriculture, prosperous in business ventures, and a center of educational and religious activity. She has done her full share in contributing to this wonderful growth and development, and in the evening of life may be proud and content, that she has played her part, in the wonderful drama in which Indiana has developed into glorious statehood.

"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914

John Walters, Sr., was born in Germany, April 4, 1826, and was about eighteen years of age when he emigrated to this country on a sailing vessel which arrived in port after a journey consuming forty-five days. He first located in Stark county, Ohio, where he was engaged in farming, and there married Mary Smith, five children being born to this union: Christian, Kate, John, Fred and Henry. Of this family, Kate is now deceased. The family came to Wabash county in 1851 and settled in Chester township, in the heavy woods, the family living for a time on rented land, but subsequently buying thirty acres, which was sold a short time later. The father then bought eighty acres, to which he subsequently added forty acres, and the former tract was the home of the parents at the time of their death, the father passing away in 1894 and the mother in 1882. They were industrious and hard-working people, who reared their children to traits of honesty and integrity, and were honored by all who knew them for their many sterling qualities of mind and heart. Although not a politician, the father was a stalwart democrat, and took much interest in affairs of a public nature as they affected the community in which he had his home. He and his wife were consistent church members and conscientiously endeavored to live according to their faith.

John Walter was given the educational advantages afforded by the district schools of Chester township, and during his vacations assisted his parents in the operation of the home farm. He remained at home until his marriage, September 18, 1888, to Miss Amanda Flick, daughter of Dan and Mary (Miller) Flick, and at that time located on his present farm, a property of eighty acres which he has brought to a high state of cultivation. He is a general farmer, and has the reputation of being skilled and energetic in his work, using modern methods and achieving excellent results thereby. As a specialty he breeds Red hogs for the market, and his business ability enables him to secure top prices for his product. His good management and progressive nature are evidenced by a fine set of substantial buildings, which are equipped with modern improvements, and his entire property bespeaks his fitness for the calling to which he has devoted his life. Mr. Walter is a democrat, but bas never held office, although local movements always find him a hearty co-operator. He and Mrs. Walter are consistent members of St. Peter's Lutheran Church.

Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Walter: Charley, born March 10, 1889, who is engaged in assisting his father with the farming operations at home; Clinton, born March 31, 1893, who married Tressie Crill and is engaged in farming in Chester township; Leota, born November 3, 1895, who married Howard Jackson, also of this township; and Homer, born August 26, 1898, who is attending the public schools.

"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914

The founders of the family in this part of Indiana were Alfred and Elizabeth (French) Purdy, who are yet remembered as splendid types of pioneer settlers in this county. Alfred Purdy was born in Anne Arundel county, Maryland, January 1, 1804, and was married in that county to Elizabeth French, who was also born in the same county May 7,1809, a daughter of Daniel and Isabella French. During his residence in Maryland Alfred Purdy was a tobacco planter. In 1832 he and his wife and two children moved out to Ohio, locating in Clermont county, which was their home for more than a score of years. In the fall of 1856 came another removal of the family, this time to Wabash county, Indiana. The journey was made overland with wagon and team, and they drove out to the farm now occupied by the Gurtner family, where Alfred Purdy bought a tract of one hundred and sixty acres of virgin land. It was almost an entirely new country, principally swamp and thick woods, and so thick was the timber that some difficulty was experienced in finding the little log house then standing on the place. Forty acres had already been cleared, and in the house occupied by the former owner, two families, comprising sixteen members in all, found shelter and kept up domestic life until the following April, when Alfred Purdy's son-in-law, Mr. Gwinn, moved to the adjoining farm on the east. In the woods around the cabin home deer and wild turkey were plentiful, so that the larder never lacked for fresh meat. The cabin, like most houses of those days, was built of rough logs, with the cracks stuffed with sticks and mud to keep out wind and snow. Extending about half way from one end of the cabin to the other was a kind of loft, reached by a rough ladder from the ground floor. This loft was the sleeping quarters for the children, each climbing up the ladder at night, and in the winter time the snow frequently sifted in through the cracks and in the morning the bed clothes were covered with a mantle of white. The roof was made of clapboards, held down by heavy-weight poles running from end to end. On the floor was the old familiar puncheon, and at one end of the house was an ample fireplace, the chimney constructed of sticks and mud. Notwithstanding the cramped quarters, the house was frequently thrown open to guests, and when the family and company were assembled they formed a half circle in front of the fireplace, with the children sitting tailor fashion on the floor in front of their elders. Here the younger ones sat and listened to the stories told, and that was after the old traditional manner of instruction, when books and newspapers were almost unknown. The autumn following the arrival of the family in Wabash county the household circle was made complete when grandmother Hall came out from Ohio, and her coming was appreciated by none so much as the children. After the removal from the older and more comfortable surroundings of the East, mother Purdy frequently longed for the conveniences which she had abandoned, but the children were content and happy with the wilderness environment. They ran barefoot in summer, gathering berries and nuts, chopped brush, and one of their favorite sports was when three or four would bend down a tough sapling, and then would suddenly release it with one of their number clinging to its tip end and swung high in the air. That was years before the introduction of township wagons to carry the children to and from school, and no attention was paid by the school architects of the time to the question of which side of the building the light should come in. However, the children grew up happy and healthy, became useful citizens, and it should not be forgotten that from the men and women instructed in such schools were drawn the founders and builders of the present splendid civilization. In their young lives they experienced hardships almost in the light of pleasure, and by their sacrifices made possible the comforts which the present generation enjoy. On returning home from school cold and hungry, they would sit down to a meal of hot corn bread and other good but simple things, all cooked over the hot coals in the big fireplace. It was on that old homestead that grandmother Hall and also Alfred Purdy and wife spent their remaining years until called beyond. Alfred Purdy was first a voter for the Whig party, and later a Republican, in the early days was a supporter of Henry Clay, and cast his first Republican vote for John C. Fremont, and in the next campaign for Abraham Lincoln and others who succeeded him. He was reared a Methodist, but late in life joined the New Light church in Paw Paw township. He died in that faith on January 21, 1888, and thus one of the finest of Wabash county's early settlers passed to his reward. His wife, who survived until August 25, 1898, was one of the kind hearted and helpful women of her community, and besides her own children reared three orphans.

One feature of the Purdy family reunion is the custom of having a portrait of one member of the family, with wife or husband, appear on the invitations. In that way each member of the family has a good picture of the others of the kin, and a sufficient number of reunions have already been held, so that all the older members of the family now appear in such likenesses, and a beginning has been made on the younger generation.

The children of Alfred and Elizabeth Purdy are mentioned as follows: the first two were born in Maryland, and after they established their home in Ohio six other children were added to the household. Margaret, now deceased, was the wife of Henry Gwinn, who accompanied the elder Purdy on his emigration to Wabash county. Elizabeth, also deceased, became the wife of Elijah Tatman. Henry, Nelson, Belle, who married Charles Clayton, were the first three born in Ohio; Martha Matilda, now the widow of Alexander Freeman, has a farm across the road near the Gurtner place; Maria, who was a twin sister of Martha Matilda, is now deceased, and married William Merrick; while the youngest of the family is Jeanette, now Mrs. Christian Gurtner.

"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914

Henry Lee Purdy was born in Clermont county, Ohio, July 25, 1835, three years after the Black Hawk war. He was about twenty-one years old when the family came to Wabash county, and his education had been acquired by attending a log schoolhouse in Ohio. A short time after the family came to Wabash county he started to work for a neighbor as a farm hand. Mr. Purdy first married Anna Maria Giek, who died in 1864, and who was the mother of three sons: Alfred married Della King, and has three sons: Lamoine, born May 1, 1888; Homer F., born January 4, 1891, and Russell L., born January 21, 1894.

George Purdy, the second son of A. L. Purdy, married Sarah Dawes, and their two children are Hazel M., born June 27, 1892, and Lawrence, born August 27, 1902.

Charles Purdy, the third son, died aged twenty-three years.

Mrs. Purdy was a Methodist in religion and a faithful wife and kindly member of the community in which she lived. On July 9, 1867, Mr. Purdy married Josephine Brown. She became the mother of twelve children, of whom nine are living: Mary Elizabeth is the wife of John Calvin Dawes, and they have eight children: Ethel May, born May 24, 1887, and who died at birth; Elsie Marie, born October 7, 1888, married Lorin Richardson, and they have two children, Marvin and Wilma Richardson; Lonie Josephine Dawes, born January 24, 1891, married Hugh Richardson; Mabel Leora Dawes, born August 3, 1895, died September 2, 1910; Everett Lee and Ernest Albert, twins, born May 22, 1901, and Ernest Albert, died when not quite a year old; Wilbur Calvin, born June 22, 1904; and Kenneth Werlin, born November 30, 1906.

William Henry Purdy, the second child of H. L. and Josephine Brown Purdy married Elizabeth Mills and lives in Canada. He had seven children: Ray M., Ruby June, wife of John Brown; Lester Elisha; Gladys Fern; Josephine Elizabeth; Clay, and Mary Rosabelle.

Rosie Belle, the third child, married Walter S. Walker, and they have two children: Dorothy Mildred and Jennie Josephine.

Elisha T., the fourth child, married Laura Tryon, and they have seven children: Lavone, Travis, Ella, Theodore (Teddy), Elisha Grant, Charlie and Corvin.

Edward, the fifth child, married Miss Grace M. Morford, and their four children are: Leo Charles, who died aged six weeks; Ralph Gerald, Kermit Dewan, and Vesta.

Nora, the sixth child, married B. F. Smyers, and has five children: Hugh, Wayne, Wanda, Robert Henry and Doris.

Clara, the seventh child, married Philip Cramer and has two children, Bruce and Mildred.

Harley M., the eighth living child of H. L. and Josephine Brown Purdy, married January 10, 1914, Jessie Riddle of Nebraska. They were married in Montana, where she had taught school.

Roy, the ninth living child, married in Montana Myrtle M. Barnard, and they have one child, Millard Myrtle. Three children of H. L. and Josephine Brown Purdy are dead: John W., who died in infancy; Lillie, who also died when an infant, and Maudie May, who died aged two years, seven months and ten days.

Mrs. Josephine Purdy was born in Miami county, Indiana, August 27, 1846, a daughter of George M. and Elizabeth (Van Mater) Brown. She was one of a family of eleven children, and all are now deceased except three. Her early life was spent in Wabash county, with an education in the public schools, and she has always been, in addition to the duties of her household and the responsibilities of community life, a great reader of instructive books.

After his first marriage Mr. Purdy became a renter, and for seven years provided for his family in that way. The death of his first wife was a severe blow to him, and in his discouragement he spent some time working for wages. His first purchase of land was eighty acres in Pleasant township. A few acres of that had been improved, and on it stood a log cabin and stable. Mr. Purdy had practically no money when he bought that place, and assumed a debt of sixteen hundred dollars, but used such good judgment that he subsequently sold it at a profit, and bought the eighty acres comprising his present homestead in Noble township. Mr. Purdy during his active career has done a great deal to develop and increase the area of cultivated land in his section of the county. His farm when it came into his possession had twenty acres cleared and improved, and the building equipments comprised a one-story log house and a small stable. Then followed many years of arduous labor and thrifty management, and the farm has been improved in many ways, ditches have been dug, eight hundred rods of tile have been laid, tight fences have been placed around the fields, and sixty-five acres are now cleared up and produce crops every season. Mr. Purdy has also put up a number of new buildings, and the entire farm is a monument to his excellent business ability. In 1888 he erected a nice frame residence which is now his home, and in 1884 had built a barn on a foundation 34x58 feet. On Thanksgiving night of 1899 the barn with its contents of grain, hay and farm machinery, was burned to the ground, with a loss of two thousand dollars. This was only a temporary setback to his fortune, and in the following year he had completed a still more commodious barn on the same site, on a foundation or 60x36 feet. Besides his home farm Mr. Purdy has twenty-five acres in Paw Paw township.

For a man who began his career without a dollar, and with many discouraging circumstances to thwart him. Mr. Purdy's success is all the more praiseworthy. He is now clear of debt, and with the aid of his hard-working and thrifty wife has accumulated a prosperity that will last him till the end and will give something to the children, whom he and his wife have already provided with good schooling and home training and has started each on a path to worthy and useful living. Mr. Purdy is a Democrat, but his first vote went for Abraham Lincoln. He and his wife are stanch friends of public education, and are active and liberal in support of church and charity.

"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914

Nathan King is a son of William and Nancy Ann (Owens) King, both of whom were born in North Carolina, but were married in Indiana. William had a first wife whom he married in North Carolina, and she died in Madison county, Indiana. The children of that union were William, David, Cornelius, George W., Daniel, Thomas, Jesse and Polly, all of whom are now deceased. Miss Owens, his second wife, came to Indiana when quite young with her parents, James Owens and wife, who located in Madison county. To this second union were born the following children: Richard, Lydia Ann, John W., James, Elizabeth, Nathan, Elisha and Henrietta. All are now deceased except Nathan and Elisha, who is a farmer in Jay county.

In 1861 William King moved his family to Wabash county from Madison county, buying a farm which has since been acquired by his son Nathan. Both he and his wife died in that old homestead, he at the age of seventy-nine and she when seventy-one.

Nathan King was born on his father's farm in Madison county, Indiana, September 23, 1846. Mr. King is one of the comparatively few men still in active life who received at least a portion of their schooling in one of the old-fashioned and primitive log cabins which were the predecessors of the little red schoolhouse. The schoolhouse in which he learned his first lessons had a puncheon floor, and the benches on which the scholars sat were slabs smoothed off on one side, and were supported from the floor by pins driven into the underside. There were other primitive facilities with which he was familiar, such as the old-fashioned goose-quill pen, made by the teacher, and the curriculum consisted of the familiar three R's. He was about fifteen years of age when the family moved to Wabash county, and at Dora in July of the year he celebrated his twentieth birthday he started to learn the blacksmith's trade under James Fulton. The shop changed hands several times, but in about five years from the time the young apprentice started to learn his trade he had acquired ownership of the establishment, and each year from that time has found him at his anvil and forge, and the merry clink of his hammer shows that the village blacksmith is always busy. For a couple of years his son, H. W., was with him, but during most of the time he has worked alone, and his skillful services have so long been offered the people of this community that they are depended upon almost as a permanent institution.

After the death of his mother, Nathan King bought out the interest of the other heirs in the old farm, and has since been its owner, his son Joseph now running it. On Christmas Day of 1868, Mr. King married Anzeletta Holdren. To their union have been born twelve children, five of whom died young and the others are mentioned briefly as follows: Mrs. Daisy Huston, who is the mother of two children, Arnold and Florence; Amanda E., the wife of Harry Scully; William Otto, who was a bright and popular young man, went west on account of his health, and died at the age of thirty in California; Joseph, who is manager of the farm; Hubert, who married Grace Lenol; Iva May, who married Loren Sayer, and has one child, Maxine; Kizzie, the wife of James Adams, and the mother of one child, Virginia.

Mrs. King was born in Blackford county, Indiana, a daughter of Joseph C. and Mary (Hewett) Holdren. Her father, Joseph, was a carpenter and also a schoolmaster, was born in Pennsylvania, married in that state, and was the son of the one-time owner of the Hocking Valley Coal Mines. Joseph Holdren died at Andrews, Huntington county, and his wife passed away in the city of Marion. There were twelve children in the Holdren household, as follows: Loretto; Mary Ann; Josephine; Anzeletta; Olive, deceased; Susanna; Elizabeth; Nancy, deceased; Sarah, deceased; Mildred; Joseph, and Washington. Mrs. King came to Wabash county with her parents when eight years old, and her father later traded his farm for one near Andrews in Huntington county. Like her husband, Mrs. King received her education in a little log schoolhouse. Both have witnessed the tremendous changes which five or six decades have introduced into all parts of the country, and as prosperous people who have done their duty to society and to their children they have a pleasing retrospect upon the past. They reside in a comfortable home near the shop.

Nathan King has been a lifelong democrat. He began voting during the years following the close of the Civil war and has long been regarded as one of the most influential party workers in Wabash county. In all these years he has never asked for an office, but could always be depended upon to support the ticket and his influence has again and again counted for the election of his friends. He and his family are members of the Christian church.

"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914

Thomas G. Daugherty, the father of Charles Lee Daugherty, was born July 27, 1832, in Ohio, where he was given a common school education and reared on a farm. Shortly after his marriage he came to Wabash county, where he embarked in the packing business at Wabash with his brothers, and for thirty years continued to be identified with that industry, his extensive operations making him widely and favorably known in business circles. He invested heavily in farming and pasture lands and at the time of his death, February 9, 1914, was known as one of the prosperous men of his locality, owning 520 acres in Liberty township and a cattle ranch of 420 acres in New Mexico. Mr. Daugherty married Edith S. Darling, who was also a native of the Buckeye state, and they became the parents of five children, as follows: Marion Ross, who is engaged in agricultural pursuits in Liberty township; Grace, who passed away at the age of eleven years; Charles Lee, of this review; Hollis F., who was twenty-six years old at the time of his death; and Dema, who died when six months old.

The boyhood and youth of Charles Lee Daugherty were passed on the homestead farm in Liberty township, and his early education was secured in the district schools, this being supplemented by a course in a business college at Lexington, Kentucky. Thus admirably fitted for his career he returned to Liberty township and adopted the vocation of farmer, in which he has been engaged to the present time. Mr. Daugherty has had no reason to regret his choice of occupations, for in the line of agricultural work he has met with very satisfactory success. He has applied himself to general farming and stock raising, has developed an excellent property and has come to be numbered among the progressive men of his community. He has a thorough knowledge of farming methods and conditions and believes in the use of modern machinery in his work. In politics Mr. Daugherty is a democrat, but has not found time to enter public life in search of personal preferment.

On November 14, 1894, Mr. Daugherty was married to Miss Lou Bright, who was born, reared and educated at Treaty, Indiana, and to this union there have been born three children, of whom two survive: Thomas A., who is attending the public schools of Wabash; and Grace, born January 3, 1906. Mr. and Mrs. Daugherty are consistent members of the Liberty Presbyterian church.

"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914

Thomas G. Daugherty was born in Ohio, July 27, 1832, was reared to manhood on a farm in the Buckeye state and there married, shortly after which he came to Wabash county and for thirty years was engaged in the packing business in partnership with his brothers. Through wise and well-directed management of his affairs Mr. Daugherty became the owner of 520 acres of valuable land in Wabash county, as well as a cattle ranch of 42b acres in New Mexico, and at the time of his death, February 9, 1914, was known as one of the prosperous men of Liberty township. Mr. Daugherty married Edith S. Darling, who was also born in Ohio, and they became the parents of five children, namely: Marion Ross; Grace, who died at the age of eleven years; Charles Lee, who is engaged in farming in Liberty township; Hollis F., who died at the age of twenty-six years; and Dema, who died when six months old.

Marion Ross Daugherty was given good educational advantages in his youth, first completing the curriculum of the public schools of Liberty township, subsequently entering Otterbein university at Westerville, which he left during his sophomore year, and finally taking a course in a business college at Columbus, Ohio, from which he was gradŽuated. Succeeding this Mr. Daugherty embarked upon his career at Columbus in a wholesale and retail queensware establishment, but after one year thus spent returned to Liberty township to engage in farming, to which he has since devoted his energies. For some years he gave a large part of his attention to breeding fine horses, and at one time was the owner of the famous stallion, "Poem," 2:11-1/4, but of later years has applied himself to general farming and stock raising. A wide awake and progressive agriculturist, a public-spirited and enlightened citizen, and a promoter of good government and education, he has been a distinctively helpful factor in the advancement of his community, where the members of his family have been so long and so favorably known. Politically Mr. Daugherty is inclined to be liberal in his views, exercising his franchise in support of the men and measures which his judgment tells him will be the best contributing forces to the general welfare.

Mr. Daugherty was married (first) in Liberty township to Miss Josephine Unthank, of Henry county, Indiana, who was a graduate of Spiceland Academy, and to this union there were born two children: Edith S., who is the wife of John Richards of Liberty township; and Helen, a graduate of the high school at Spiceland and resides with her father. Mrs. Daugherty died in March, 1901, and in April, 1903, Mr. Daugherty was married (second) to Miss Lizzie Hunt, daughter of the late Lieutenant William R. Hunt. They have no children. Mr. Daugherty has taken some interest in fraternal work, being a member of Wabash Lodge, Knights of Pythias, hut is essentially a home man, preŽferring the pleasures and comforts of his home surroundings to any to be secured in social circles. He has a wide acquaintance in Liberty township, and his numerous friends give evidence of his general popularity.

"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914