Blackford County Biography Ref. Page

WILLIAM GINN. On section fifteen of Jefferson township is located the attractive rural estate of William Ginn, who has lived in this county for more than forty years, and stands high among his neighbors and friends for his success as a farmer and stock raiser, and for his kindly and useful relations with those who live in the same circle of social neighborhood.

Mr. Ginn comes of Irish stock. His grandfather William Ginn, was born in Ireland, and in young manhood emigrated to America, first settling in Virginia. In that state he married and he and his bride came on to Indiana and settled in Henry county when the country was still new. Henry county was his home until his death, and he and his wife were about threescore and ten when they passed away. They were both Protestants in religion. His sons were: James, Joseph, John, Job, William, and Ezekiel. Their daughters were Nancy, Sarilda, Elsie, and Polly, all these children having married and having families except John, who was wounded as a Union soldier in the battle at Richmond, Kentucky, and died of gangrene. Job and William were likewise soldiers and saw service from the beginning to the end of the struggle.

Ezekiel, father of William Ginn, was a married man at the time of the Civil war and he had volunteered his services to put down the Rebellion. In 1863 he enlisted in the Ninth Indiana Cavalry in Henry county, and served until the war was over. Part of the time he was on detailed duty. Not knowing that Ezekiel Ginn had already enlisted, they drafted him, but he had already been gone two weeks and was with them in Nashville, Tennessee. After the war he continued to live on his farm in Henry county until February, 1869, and then moved to Grant county. Two years were spent in Fairmount township, and in the fall of 1870 he moved to Jefferson, where his wife died on October 15, 1875. She was born in Maryland in 1833, and her maiden name was Sally Nicodemus. She was still young when she came to Indiana, and her father died in Henry county, while her mother later moved to Fulton county and died at the age of eighty-seven years. The latter's maiden name was Catherine Eckers, who was born in Bremen, Germany, and her parents emigrated and settled in Baltimore, Maryland, where she lived until they came out to Henry county. After the death of his first wife Ezekiel Ginn married Betsie Aldred, and a year later, in 1878, went to Independence, Kansas, where he died when seventy-eight years of age. His wife passed away some years later.

Mr. William Ginn was one of twins, and he has two brothers and three sisters living, all of whom are now married. He was born on a farm in Henry county, Indiana, December 14, 1856. Part of his boyhood was spent in his native county, but he was only about thirteen years old when his family came to Grant county. Since the age of fifteen he has been practically self-supporting, and has made his own way in the world. In 1877 Mr. Ginn bought his present farm in section fifteen of Jefferson township, and has now a highly productive estate of eighty acres, improved with a comfortable, though not pretentious residence, and a place which on the whole represents a good return for his many years of steady and consistent labor and management. In Jefferson township Mr. Ginn married Miss Sarah Jones, who was born in Jefferson township February 3, 1860. Her home has been in this vicinity all her life. Her parents were Joshua and Malinda (Owings) Jones, who came to Grant county in 1840, and lived on a farm in Jefferson township, until their death. The father was from Greene county, Ohio, and the mother from Muskingum county, Ohio. They were married in Grant county in February, 1843. Her father was ninety-one years old when he died on August 12, 1909, and his wife passed away some eight years before at the age of eighty-six. Mr. and Mrs. Ginn have the following children: Joshua, born July 13, 1885, is a progressive young farmer, and married Iva Fenton; Frank died in infancy; James A., born December 19, 1891, is a graduate of the high school, and follows the profession of electrician, being unmarried. Mr. and Mrs. Ginn attend the Shiloh Methodist Episcopal church and he and his sons are Republican voters. "BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES INDIANA, A CHRONICLE OF THEIR PEOPLE PAST AND PRESENT WITH FAMILY LINEAGE AND PERSONAL MEMOIRS"; Complied Under the Editorial Supervision of BENJAMIN G. SHINN; vol. II ; THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY; CHICAGO AND NEW YORK; 1914
Submitted by:Peggy Karol and Karen Overholt

PASCAL B. SMITH. Though not among the oldest residents of Grant county, which has been his home since 1890, Mr. Smith has so effectively identified himself with the spirit and activities of the county that he is regarded as one of the most valued citizens. Mr. Smith is a big man, not only in physical proportions, but in character and heart, is big hearted, generous and hospitable, and at the same time a very practical and successful farmer, who believes in going ahead all the time.

His ancestry is of old and substantial Virginia stock, whose members possessed the fine social characteristic of that old commonwealth, were loyal to the state through the Civil war, and as a rule were of the prosperous planter class. The grandfather of Pascal B. Smith was Samuel Smith, born at Three Springs, in Washington county, Virginia, about 1790. He died at a good old age in 1861. His life work was farming. He married Rachael Stinson, a neighbor girl, and a native of the same county, of old Virginia stock. She died twelve years after her husband in 1873. They were Methodists in religion, and had seven children, all of whom grew up and six were married and had children. One of the children never married because he remained at home devoted to the welfare of his father and mother. The old homestead in Washington county is still owned by members of the family.

Captain William Smith, the father of Pascal B., was born at Three Springs, Virginia, in 1821, and died near his birth place in July, 1907. Throughout his life he was a planter, and a man of unusual prominence in his section of Virginia. When the war broke out between the states, he enlisted and went to the front as captain in the Forty-eighth Virginia regiment. In the battle at Saltville, Virginia, he was badly wounded. The gun which effected the wound carried a charge of a minie-ball and four buckshots, and the minie-ball and three of the buckshot took effect in him, while he was lying on the ground, one of the bullets striking his shoulder and others injuring his hand and fingers. This wound was given him about the close of the war and peace was declared about the time he got well. He had formerly served as captain of the local militia, and after the war was brevetted colonel of his home regiment of state militia. He also for many years served as a justice of the peace. In politics he was a Democrat, and was looked upon as a leader in the public life of his community. Near his old birth place, Captain Smith married Miss Darsey Fleener, who was born in that locality, about 1826, also representing an old Virginia family. She died in May, 1911. She was of the Lutheran faith in religion, and kept her membership with that church all her life. Her husband was a Methodist. They were the parents of twelve children, nine of whom grew up and are yet living. All are married and all have families of children. Two now live in Indiana. Pascal B. Smith has a sister, Margaret, the wife of Colonel Columbus Pullin, a resident of Muncie, Indiana, and they have seven living children.

Pascal B. Smith, the oldest of the children, was born on the old Virginia homestead, February 24, 1852. His education was received in the common schools, and as he grew up he became acquainted by practical experience with the activities of his father's farm. There he continued to live until twenty-three years of age. On July 4, 1875, just one year before the centennial of American Independence, he married Elizabeth Gardner, a native of Scott county, Virginia, where she was born September 22, 1856. Her parents were Ural and Margaret (Barnhart) Gardner, natives of Scott county, where they lived and died prosperous farmers. Mr. Gardner was a California forty-niner, spending more than three years on the western coast, and having exceptional fortune in mining and his other ventures. After returning to Virginia, he gave all his attention to the cultivation of a large plantation. He was born in 1810, and died August 17, 1890. His wife died March 6, 1904, when past eighty years of age. They were a Methodist family. Of the large family of children in the Gardner household, Mrs. Smith and a brother live in Indiana, the latter being J. Perry Gardner of Gas City in Grant county.

After the marriage of Mr. Smith and wife, they lived on a farm in Virginia, until 1890. They then came to Grant county and located on the Schrader farm, near Jonesboro, and three years later took possession and began operating one hundred and sixty acres in the Solomon Wise farm in section fifteen of Fairmount township. He has proved very successful in Grant county agriculture, grows large quantities of hay, clover, corn, oats and wheat, and with the exception of the wheat practically every pound of his crops is fed to the stock on the place. As already noted, Mr. Smith is a hustler, and one of the best farmers in this section of the county.

He and his wife have seven sons and three daughters living, mentioned as follows: 1. Stephen R., a farmer in Mill township, married Lillie Fresner, without children. 2. Calvin D., who married Ethel Overman, lives on a farm in Jefferson township, and had two children, Virginia, and Ilene, the latter dying in infancy. 3. Charles L. is a farmer in Mill township, and by his marriage to Bertha Clay has three children, L. Vern, Virgil Lee, and Edgar R. 4. James C., who is foreman in the Jonesboro Rubber Company, married Margaret Jones, and their two children are Warren H. and E. E. 5. Henry C. married Susan Swartz, lives in Jonesboro, and has a daughter, Delene. 6. Daisy E. was liberally educated in the grade and high schools, and is now living at home with her parents. 7. Maudella, a graduate of the high school, and the Marion Normal College, and holding a teacher's license, lives at home. 8. Woodie M. is a junior in the Fairmount Academy. 9. Joseph L. attends the public school, and the youngest, Gladys D., is also a student. One child, Orville S., died at the age of twenty-eight years unmarried. Mr. and Mrs. Smith hold to no particular church, though their children attend the Methodist Protestant Sunday school. In politics he is a Democrat.

"BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES INDIANA, A CHRONICLE OF THEIR PEOPLE PAST AND PRESENT WITH FAMILY LINEAGE AND PERSONAL MEMOIRS"; Complied Under the Editorial Supervision of BENJAMIN G. SHINN; vol. II ; THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY; CHICAGO AND NEW YORK; 1914
Submitted by:Peggy Karol and Karen Overholt

JOSEPH A. HOLLOWAY. One of the most attractive and profitable of Grant county homesteads is that located in section twenty-seven of Fairmount township, and owned by Joseph A. Holloway, who is himself of a younger generation of the family in Grant county, and is an up-to-date citizen and progressive farmer, who has made agriculture a very profitable business.

The family history of the Holloways begins with three brothers, who came from England during the colonial days, and one of them located in North Carolina. Of Quaker stock, the family in subsequent generations have always been devoted to that church, and the descendants of the American settlers have been noted for their thrifty, their quiet, unassuming virtues, and a fine citizenship. First to be mentioned by name among the descendants of the first settler is Abner Holloway, who married Elizabeth Stanley. They lived and died in North Carolina, were farmers and Quakers, and upright and excellent people. Their four children were Jesse, grandfather of Joseph A.; Isaac, Maria and Sarah, all of whom had families.

Jesse Holloway was born about 1805. In his native state he was married on July 2, 1826, to Eleanor Hinshaw, who was born in the same county and state, February 25, 1810. After their marriage they started to win success in the world as farmers. His wife became noted throughout a large community both in North Carolina and later in Ohio for her skill as a midwife and doctor. They lived for some years in North Carolina, and later moved to Ohio. Their children were born chiefly in the former state, but some of the younger in Ohio.

The nine children of Jesse and Eleanor Holloway are mentioned as follows: 1. Margaret, the oldest, was born September 22, 1828, and now at a very advanced age, is the widow of Williams Mills, and lives in Neoga, Illinois, with a younger daughter. 2. Abner, born December 6, 1830, was the father of Joseph A. and is given more space in the following paragraph. 3. Amos, born August 29, 1834, is now nearly eighty years of age, is a retired farmer in Monroe township of Grant county, and has a family of children. 4. Timothy, born May 24, 1837, now deceased, lived and died in Randolph county, Indiana, was twice married and had children by both wives. 5. Isaac, born June 29, 1840, now lives in Neoga, Illinois, where he is a retired merchant and retired school teacher, and had two children by his first wife. 6. Elizabeth, born June 24, 1842, married Josiah Ferguson, and lives in Marion with her family. 7. Jesse C., born December 12, 1844, died September 16, 1864, having starved to death in the Libby Prison at Richmond, Virginia, while a prisoner of war. He went out to the front as a member of Company C of the Ninetieth Indiana Regiment of Cavalry. 8. Eleanora, born February 20, 1847, first married James Fleming, and next Elijah Stafford, and for her third husband took Martin Fisher, a Civil war veteran, and they now live in Montana, having one daughter by the third marriage. 9. Sarah, born September 29, 1849, is deceased and was the wife of F. A. Fleming, a farmer living in Monroe township in Grant county and having children.

Abner Holloway was born in Clinton county, Ohio, at the date already given. His parents had moved to Ohio in the early days from North Carolina, and when he was a child they moved on and settled in Grant county in Fairmount township. There in the Friends church, and with the Quaker ceremony, on May 15, 1854, Abner Holloway married Sarah Rich, who was born in Hamilton county, Ohio, October 7, 1837, and was a child when her parents came to Grant county.

Concerning the Rich family more particular history will be found under the name of Mr. Eri Rich. After his marriage Abner Holloway and wife began life on a farm in Monroe township. In 1882 they moved to Fairmount township, buying land in section twenty-seven. He prospered as a farmer, and eventually owned two hundred and fifty-four and a half acres of land, besides having invested interests in Fairmount. His death occurred April 1, 1903. He was a life-long member of the Friends church, and in politics a Republican, always esteemed for his upright character, and public spirited citizenship. His widow is still living, having her home with their children.

There were ten children born to Abner Holloway and wife, and brief mention of them is made as follows: Margaret A. and Sarah, are both deceased, and both were married and left children. The living children are: 1. Miriam, is the wife of Sylvester McCormick, living in section twenty-seven of Fairmont township, and having children. 2. Marion married Emma Riffle, lives on a farm in Huntington county, and has three sons. 3. Mary E. is the wife of William Nelson, living in New Mexico, and the parents of four sons and two daughters. 4. Matilda J. is the wife of Elsey Mills, whose home is in New Mexico, and they are the parents of three sons and two daughters. 5. Margaret, now deceased, was the wife of William Osenbaugh, who lives at Swayzee, and has two living sons. 6. The next in line is Joseph A. Holloway, whose career is described in the following paragraphs. 7. Sarah E., now deceased, was the wife of Burton Less, and he lives in Upland and has three daughters. 8. Jessse C. married Lillie Corn, lives on a farm in Fairmount township, and has five children. 9. Eri is a farmer of Fairmount township, married Clara Jones, and has one son and three daughters. 10. Arthur A. is a farmer in section twenty-seven of Fairmount township, and by his marriage to Ella Fleming has three sons and two daughters.

Mr. Joseph A. Holloway was born in Monroe township of Grant county, March 20, 1870. His early education was begun in the public schools and completed in the Fairmount Academy. Choosing farming as his vocation, he bought some property in Fairmount City and divided his time between farm work and teaching for several years. His home was in Fairmount from 1896 until 1899, and at the latter date he moved to Monroe township. In 1904 he came to his father's old farm in Fairmount township on section twenty-seven and there he is owner of one hundred and two acres, making a valuable and most productive farm estate. Its improvements classify it among the model places of Grant county. A fine basement barn, with ample capacity for grain and stock, is a prominent feature of the homestead, while a nicely painted white house affords the comforts of home to himself and family. As a farmer Mr. Holloway believes in sending all his products to market on the foot, and therefore feeds his corn, oats, wheat and hay to his hogs and fine short-horn cattle.

Politically he has for many years been an active Republican and has served as precinct committeeman and in other party posts. He is now and has been since 1910, secretary of the Fairmount township advisory board. Mr. Holloway was married in Monroe township to Miss Lorana Nelson, who was born there November 1, 1875. She was educated in her native locality, and was well trained and possesses the character fitting her for her duties as housewife and mother. Her parents were Nelson H. and Mathilda (Thorp) Nelson. Her father was born in Grant county, and her mother in Ohio. For many years their home has been in Monroe township, where they are thrifty farmers and active members of the Christian church. There were six children in the Nelson family, two of whom are married. Mr. and Mrs. Holloway have the following children: Nelson A., born December 7, 1896, and now attending school; Clarence C., born March 2, 1898; Ancil D., who was born May 8, 1903; and Ernest W., born November 29, 1909. Mr. and Mrs. Holloway are members of the Friends church, in which Mr. Holloway was reared.

CHARLES E. DAVIS. In the November election of 1912 the citizens of Grant county made a very happy choice for the office of county recorder. Charles H. Davis came to Marion only a few years ago to take a position in one of the local manufacturing enterprises, and by his ability as a business man, and the ready esteem and popularity which he quickly acquired among all classes of citizenship, has for several years been recognized as a citizen who deserves promotion, and is thoroughly worthy of the confidence of the voters.

Charles E. David was born December 6, 1873, at Oswego, New York. His parents were Richard S. and Lydia (Court) Davis, the former a native of England, and the latter of New York State. For half a century the father sailed the high seas, and visited every port on the globe. In 1888 he came to the middle west, locating in Allegan county, Michigan, which remained his home until his death in 1898, when he was seventy-four years old. The mother is still living there. Of their three children, two are living, and the brother of the Marion citizen is James F. Davis of Allegan county. The father was a man of unusual education, and took a very prominent part in Masonic circles.

Charles E. Davis has a career in which individual initiative and self effort have been prominent factors. Born in New York, educated there and in Allegan county in the common schools, he left Allegan county at the age of fourteen, and went to seek his fortunes first in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He got a job as ash-wheeler in a large powerhouse, and his willingness to work and readiness to learn were appreciated by several promotions until he was assistant engineer. From there he went to Chicago, and while working there came to a keen realization of the advantages of a good technical training as a preparation for life. Consequently he gave up his leisure and social pleasures, entered Armour Institute of Technology and paid his way while studying the course in electrical engineering until his graduation in 1902. He followed his work as an electrical engineer in Chicago until 1907, when he came to Marion to become engineer for the Marion Handle & Manufacturing Company, a position which he has since held.

On November 8, 1894 Mr. Davis married Alice Ortman of Allegan county, Michigan, a daughter of J. H. Ortman. Their four children are Mahlon O., Lucy E., Barbara, and Charles E., Jr., all of whom are at home. Mr. Davis was elected on November 5, 1913, recorder of Grant county on the Democratic ticket, and took office on the first of January, 1914. Fraternally he belongs to the Order of Eagles, the Loyal Order of Moose, and the Crew of Neptune.

RICHARD H. DILLON. Through all his career Mr. Dillon has quietly followed the vocation of farmer. Since he left school each recurring spring has meant to him a time of opportunity, the planting for the later harvest. Many of his hopes have had fruition, as well as his crops. He has been prospered, has performed his share of the responsibilities that come to every man and the extent of his riches is not to be measured alone by his material store.

Concerning the family of Mr. Dillon it may be said that his grandfather was also Richard H. Dillon, and was probably born in one of the southern state, of Irish ancestry. His death occurred in Ohio. He married Elizabeth Unthank. They lived in Clinton county, Ohio, for some years, and in 1848 moved to Madison county, Indiana, where they were among the early Quaker settlers. Of their children, the youngest son, Oliver, lived to be 60 or 65 years of age and died near Indianapolis, and Allen became the father of Richard H. Dillon.

Allen Dillon was born in Clinton county, Ohio, March 13, 1836, and was twelve years of age when the family moved to Madison county, Indiana. There he grew to manhood, and for a number of years conducted a saw mill, did carpenter work, lived on a farm which he owned. In 1856 he moved to Grant county, and lived in this county until his death on January 3, 1899, passing away in Fairmount. In 1857 Allen Dillon married in Fairmount township Kaziah Henly, who was born in North Carolina in 1832, and came north from Randolph county, North Carolina, to Grant county with her parents in 1837, and continued to reside in Grant county either in Fairmount township of the city until her death in 1911. Her parents were staunch Quakers whose ancestors came to America with William Penn, and Allen Dillon was also of that faith. She was the mother of two children, one of whom died in infancy.

Richard H. Dillon was born on the old home farm in Fairmount township, August 14, 1858, received his education in the public schools and Purdue University, and has always followed the vocation of farming. He built his present good brick home at 919 North Buckeye Street in Fairmount in 1891. He and his wife own seventeen acres of land in an adjacent section, also another tract of 40 acres in Fairmount township and valuable farm lands in Marshall county, Indiana.

Mr. Dillon was married in Grant county to Alice R. Coahran, who was born April 4, 1861. When she was six years of age, she moved to Madison county, Indiana, with her parents, who were John and Susan (Hammond) Coahran. Her parents lived on a farm in Madison county until 1879, when they moved to Fairmount City, and here they both died, the father at the age of eighty-four and the mother at the age of seventy-two. They were also of Quaker religion. Mr. and Mrs. Dillon are the parents of one child, Mary Allen, born July 14, 1892. She received her early educational advantages in the Fairmount public schools and the Academy, and is a member of the class of 1914 at Earlham College at Richmond. In politics Mr. Dillon is a Republican voter.

Deb Murray