Blackford County Biography Ref. Page

BARSILLA B. PANCOAST. The following paragraphs contain a brief outline of the family history and the varied career of one of the most venerable men of Jefferson township, where he has lived and prospered as a farmer for the past thirty years. Mr. Pancoast is now over eighty years of age, has always borne the reputation of being a hard-working, honest and upright citizen, and in his community enjoys the esteem of a large acquaintance.

The Pancoast family is said to have been originally Swedish, and their early residence in New Jersey would bear out that assumption. The grandparents of the Jefferson township farmer spent all their lives in New Jersey, and so far as known practically all members of the different generations have followed farming as a vocation. The father of Barsilla B. Pancoast was Henry Pancoast, born in Salem county, New Jersey, and died there in August, 1835. The other members of his family were: Edward, who was a farmer and lived in Salem county, was twice married, but had only one daughter, Sarah; William, who spent is life on a farm in Salem county, New Jersey, was married twice and had one son, Stacey; Samuel, who lived and died on his farm in Salem county, was also twice married, had one son by his first wife, and a son and two daughters by the second; Sarah married Samuel Dickerson and her life also was spent in New Jersey.

Henry Pancoast belonged to a family that adhered to Quaker doctrines, and that was also his own religious faith. He was a Jackson Democrat, and all members of the Pancoast family have been strongly inclined in that way of political thinking. Henry Pancoast was married in his native county to Hannah Hackney, who was born in Salem county in 1788, and came of English stock. After a long widowhood she died in New Jersey in 1878. She belonged to the Methodist church. Her five children are mentioned as follows: Mary, who in October, 1913, was ninety-five years of age, and a resident of New Castle, Delaware; she married Hiram Cook, by whom she had a family. Caroline died after her marriage to Isaac James, a machinist, and they had one son and a daughter. Rebecca married James Cook, a brother of Hiram Cook just mentioned, and they spent their lives in New Jersey, and of their children, two sons and three daughters are living. Edward, whose home is at Riverton, New Jersey, and who is seventy-eight years of age, and retired, had a very successful career as a contractor and builder, and by his marriage to a second cousin, Rebecca Hackney, he has one son and a daughter still living.

Barsilla B. Pancoast was born at Woodstown, Salem county, New Jersey, May 23, 1831. When he was four years of age his father died, and he was then reared by his mother and his uncle Samuel until he was sixteen years of age. His education was somewhat limited, and acquired in the schools at Woodtown. His preparation for a practical career of usefulness in the world began at sixteen when he entered an apprenticeship to the blacksmith's trade, and at twenty had become a master workman and started out as a journeyman. He worked in Cincinnati and various places in Ohio; also in Indiana and Tennessee, and finally went back to Ohio, and at Beavertown, Montgomery county, Ohio, where he was married, he established a smith and carried on a good business there and elsewhere until 1883. That was the year he came to Grant county. In the meantime, by his many years of hard work and by the thrifty habits which he had acquired early in life, he had enough money to buy eighty acres of land lying in sections eleven and twelve of Jefferson township, in Grant county. Since turning his attention to agriculture, Mr. Pancoast has seldom known a year which he could not call prosperous, and at the same time he developed and improved his land, until as a farm its equal is hard to find in this community. All his land is in cultivation with the exception of five acres in timber. He has a comfortable dwelling, a big red barn, and has put up several other buildings for the home of his son. In December, 1857, in Beavertown, Montgomery county, Ohio, Mr. Pancoast married Sarah Bridgeman, who was born there September 24, 1841, and reared and educated in that part of Ohio. She has been a devoted wife and an able helper to her husband for fifty-six years, and their married companionship has not only endured much beyond half a century, but each year has strengthened the bond of their affection. Mrs. Pancoast's parents were Thomas and Esther (Johns) Bridgeman, her mother of Welsh stock, and her father born of Virginia parents. Mr. Bridgeman in his early day, when a young man, walked all the way from Harpers Ferry in Virginia to Montgomery county, Ohio, carrying his trusty rifle over his shoulder to protect himself from danger and also to shoot game on the way. He met Miss Sarah Johns in Montgomery county, where she was born, and after their marriage, they started life as farmers. She died, leaving two sons. He later married Esther, a sister of Sarah Johns. Mr. Bridgeman died in Montgomery county, in November, 1883, when eighty-four years of age, and his wife passed away at about the same age. They were both members of the Christian church.

The children of Mr. and Mrs. Pancoast are: Leonidas, a blacksmith whose home is in Eaton, Indiana, and who has been three times married, having three daughters by his first wife and one son by his second; Ella is the widow of William Runyon, and lives at Indianapolis; Harry is a blacksmith at Eaton, and has a son and daughter; Charles C. is a baker by trade, in business at Muncie, and has two sons and a daughter.

Warren occupies and is the active manager of the old homestead, and by his marriage to Bertha Thompson of Grant county has two daughters, Hazel Ferne, and Mildred Delight, both daughters being highly educated. Maggie died when twenty-two years of age, and there were four other children who died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Pancoast attend worship in the Methodist Protestant church, in which he formerly served as trustee, and his son Warren is Sunday school superintendent. Mr. Pancoast and his sons are Republicans in politics, and his first vote was cast for John C. Fremont, who was the first standard bearer of the Republican party in 1856.

"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

JAMES B. STRANGE. One of the oldest and most prominent families of Grant county is represented by James B. Strange, of Monroe township. He himself was born close to his present home, was reared and educated in his native environment, is a product of local schools, and since attaining manhood has been closely identified with farming and stock raising interests of the locality. As a stockman he is easily one of the most successful in Grant county.

Near the little village of Areana, in section 9, of Monroe township, is located the excellent homestead of Mr. Strange. He has four hundred and ten acres of land, most of it under cultivation, and including a fine tract of thirty acres in timber. In 1886 he erected on this place the comfortable dwelling of twelve rooms, where the family has since had their home, and about which all the family associations center. About three sides of this house is a concrete porch, a large lawn surrounds it, and an evergreen hedge with trees and flowers serves to beautify the home and increase its attractiveness. Mr. Strange is a progressive farmer, who believes in housing his stock and machinery in the best fashion, and has a large red barn, and a concrete poultry house 14 x 90 feet. He and his wife are known all over the township for their success as poultry raisers, and they breed the Rhode Island Reds and the Blue Andalusians. Each year he raises about five hundred chickens, and from one hundred and twenty-five hens, his weekly output of eggs is fifty dozens. Some of his crops in 1912 show the extensive scale on which he does business. He raised four thousand bushels of corn from sixty-five acres of land, six hundred and sixty bushels of oats, cut one hundred tons of hay, and sent out to market one hundred hogs. He also keeps a number of cattle and horses, raising the Durham cattle.

James B. Strange was born on the old home place near the present farm, on June 24, 1857. He now owns this farm and his son, George Strange, Jr., lives there. His father was the late George Strange, who was born in 1820, and died October 28, 1910. The mother was Lydia Duckwall. Both parents were born in Ohio, and came to Grant county in 1842. The father entered eighty acres of land from the government, having farmed his place in the wilderness, and having spent many industrious years in clearing off the trees and underbrush. At the time of his death, his vigorous ability had accumulated what amounted to a fortune, and in one place he owned an entire section of land. At one time he was the owner of more than one thousand acres in Monroe township. While he was still living, he divided his estate among his children, and provided liberally for his family, and did well his part as a factor in the local community. For fourteen successive years, with the exception of one year, he served as trustee of Monroe township. He was a Democrat, and was elected while the township was Republican, having carried it each time except once. He was affiliated with the Masonic order. The mother died in February, 1911, at the age of ninety years. Their nine children, of whom five are living, were as follows: Absalom, who was killed by a horse at the age of twenty years; Rose Anne, who died at the age of fourteen; Anna, who died at the age of six months; one who died in infancy; Mrs. Margaret Roberts, of South Marion; Mrs. Kate Wall, of West Marion; Joshua, of Marion; John T., of Marion; James B.

James B. Strange as a boy attended the district school No. 2, and on finishing the common schools studied several terms at Marion College. Before he reached his majority, he qualified and taught school, and then his father gave him a cleared tract of land of eighty acres, where he located and began his regular career as a farmer. As a result of his efforts, he has been investing his surplus in additional land, until at the present time he has one of the largest and best improved farms in this township. In 1911 Mr. Strange erected on the old home farm now occupied by his son George, Jr., a large barn 50 x 90 feet, and 24 feet high, the highest in the township. Mr. Strange is a Democrat in politics, and served as township trustee of Monroe township from 1884 to 1889, having been reelected in 1886. He and his family worship in the Marion Christian church, and fraternally he is affiliated with Areana Blue Lodge of Masonry, of Upland.

In 1878 he married Miss Elizabeth Nelson, a daughter of Martin Nelson, one of the pioneers of Monroe township. They had five children, three of whom are still living, namely: George, Jr., who resides on the old home farm, which his grandfather entered, is married and has two children named Evaline and Genevieve; Minnie, wife of LeRoy Tudor, of Monroe township, and the mother of one son, Ray F.; Commodore, in the Texas oil fields; Otto, deceased, and one that died in infancy.

JOHN SANDERS. The quality of leadership and business enterprise has been distinctive of the career of John Sanders through many years in Grant county. Very recently Mr. Sanders left the farm enterprise to which he had devoted so many years and retired to a comfortable home in the little city of Matthews, where he and his good wife are enjoying the comfort and peace so well won by their past life. Mr. Sanders in everything he has undertaken has shown himself vigorous, efficient, and public spirited. He is well remembered as one of the former sheriffs of Grant county, and has been prominent both in township and county affairs.

John Sanders was born in Grant county, March 13, 1845, and this is one of the oldest of Grant county's pioneer names. His birthplace was in the township of Jefferson on his father's old homestead at New Cumberland. His father, William Sanders, was born in Ohio, September 19, 1809, and was a son of Robert Sanders, whose birth occurred in Culpeper county, Virginia, about 1768. Robert Sanders was a soldier and one of the devoted followers of General Anthony Wayne, and participated in the campaigns on the northwest side of the Ohio River against the Indians, following the Revolutionary war, fighting at Fort Wayne and also at Fort Recovery, and was on the St. Mary's River. Robert Sanders, who came of English ancestry, married Sarah McCormick, a Virginia girl, and to their union were born the following children: John, Catherine, Mary, William, Amelia, Lavina, Colman, Abner, James, Joseph and Nancy�eleven in all. All of these grew up and were married and had children of their own and most of them lived to be threescore years or more in age. One attained the venerable age of ninety-three. The entire family of children came to the state of Indiana during the decade of the twenties, and lived and died in this state. Robert Sanders moved from Virginia to Ohio about 1800, established a home and developed a portion of the wilderness at that state and some of his children were born there. About 1820 he moved to Fayette county, Indiana, living near Connersville until 1826, and in that year became one of the first who ventured into the wilderness of Delaware county, entering land in what is now Washington township. Just two years later, in 1828, Robert Sanders moved across into Grant county, and here again was a pioneer. His name is thus to be found among the list of pioneers in three Indiana counties. In Grant county, he entered government land along the Mississinewa river in Jefferson township. The entire township was then a wilderness, most of it covered with dense timbers, and his was one of the first cabins and first establishments in that section. A distinction which will always attach to the name of Robert Sanders is that in 1833 he platted and laid out on his land a town to which he gave the name New Cumberland, and selling a number of lots, started a village which has had a long history, and which under modern conditions has become somewhat submerged under the new village of Matthews, and is now designated as Old Town. In that vicinity Robert Sanders lived and labored, reared a family of children, and used his influence toward building up a community in which he was the leading spirit. He died at his son William's home in 1861, at the age of ninety-three years. He was an old-line Whig, and later joined the Republican party which was organized only a few years before his death. His wife passed away about twenty years before his death, and was about seventy years old. They were both members of the Methodist Episcopal church.

William Sanders was only a boy when his parents came to Indiana, and was seventeen years old at the time the home was established in Jefferson township of Grant county. There the time passed until he became of age, and in 1834 he made his first important venture independently by entering one hundred and thirty-two acres of government land in section two of Jefferson township. During his younger and more active career, William Sanders was known as a hard worker and an expert in handling the ax and cradle, and could follow the plow up and down fields all day long. He cleared away much of the timber from his land, and was always known as a man of substantial prosperity and influence. He lived and died on his farm in Jefferson township, passing away February 17, 1879. In April, 1837, he was married to Rachel Wharton, who was born either in Ohio or Pennsylvania, April 2, 1812, a daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Gray) Wharton, the former a native of Maryland and the latter of New Jersey. The Wharton family is likewise an old name in Grant county, and Thomas Wharton entered land in Jefferson township when the greater part of its area was a wilderness. The Whartons were Methodists in religion. Mrs. William Sanders died at her home in Jefferson township in January, 1893. She and her husband belonged to the Methodist church, and in politics he was a strong Republican. Their children are: Nancy J., the widow of David Collins, and living at New Cumberland, at the age of seventy-seven; Sarah, who is the wife of James H. Wills, a farmer in Delaware county, and they have three children, and John Sanders of this review.

Mr. John Sanders grew up in the pioneer times of Jefferson township, had a common school education, and was about sixteen years old when the war broke out between the north and south. A year later, when seventeen years old, he enlisted in Company B of the Eighty-Fourth Indiana Volunteers, and made a record as an efficient and faithful soldier in the various campaigns until the close of the war. The date of his enlistment was August 11, 1862, and his honorable discharge came on May 29, 1865. He was in the army under General Rosecrans and other noted Union leaders, and most of his active service was in the campaigns of the middle west, including the battle of Chickamauga and others in Tennessee and Georgia.

At Rocky Face Ridge he was wounded by a minie ball through the left foot. He was in the company commanded by Captain John H. Ellis, who was killed at Chickamauga and his son Franklin Ellis was promoted to captain, and he is now judge of the circuit court in Delaware county. The colonel of the regiment was Nelson Trusler. Mr. Sanders on returning home took up his work as a farmer, and his since become one of the most successful in that business in Jefferson township. His home place comprises eighty acres of land in section thirty-two and its improvements and buildings, fences and cultivation mark it as one of the best estates in this vicinity. Recently Mr. Sanders and wife retired from their farm and are now residing in a comfortable seven-room dwelling in Matthews. Mr. Sanders also owns a fine farm near Old Town in section two, that being one hundred and twenty-six acres of his father's old homestead. As a farmer Mr. Sanders showed himself both practical and scientific, he always did mixed farming, raising both grain and live stock, did much to maintain the fertility of his soil, and in business as in civic affairs has always been a hustler, and a leader.

In 1890 Mr. Sanders was elected on the Republican ticket as sheriff and served one term until 1892. Two terms have been given to the office of township trustee, and wherever placed by his fellow citizens, his work has been commendable and beneficial. Fraternally he has been an active member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows since 1871, in both the subordinate Lodge No. 383, and in the Encampment No. 125, and also the Rebekah Lodge No. 447. He is a past noble grand in the lodge, and is past commander of the B. R. Dunn Post, No. 440, of the Grand Army of the Republic, formerly located at New Cumberland, that village being now merged into the village of Matthews.

In Blackford county on October 13, 1866, Mr. Sanders married Mary J. Reasoner, of an old and prominent family in Delaware county. She was born in Delaware county, in Washington township, October 27, 1848, and at the age of twelve years was taken by her parents to Blackford county. She is a daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Dunn) Reasoner, who were born in Pennsylvania, but were married in Delaware county, and were farmers and good citizens. Mr. Reasoner was more than eighty years of age when he died and his wife lived to be about seventy. They were Presbyterians, and he was a Republican in politics. Jacob Reasoner was a son of Benjamin and Mary (Hill) Reasoner, of Pennsylvania birth and of Scotch ancestry. The Reasoners came to Delaware county in time to enter land from the government, and later moved into Blackford county, where they died old people and highly respected members of their community. The faith of the Presbyterian church they zealously maintained themselves and were leaders in the extension of that religion in their various communities.

Mr. and Mrs. Sanders are the parents of three living children: Geneva S. is the wife of Walter L. Gay, of Fairmount, and they have two children, Mary L. and Morris L.; William Frederick is now active manager of his father's farm, and married Gertrude Landis; Bernice R. is the wife of Leo Clyde Gossett, living in Van Buren, Grant county, and their children are Frederick C. and Martha. Mr. and Mrs. Sanders are members of the Presbyterian church.

CHARLES H. SNYDER. One of the largest and best farming estates in Jefferson township is that of Mr. and Mrs. Charles H. Snyder whose home is in section five. Mr. Snyder is one of the progressive young agriculturists, a man of great energy, a hard-worker, and is giving excellent account of himself in his chosen vocation. Their home place consists of one hundred and sixty acres, improved with a commodious white house of ten rooms, and a large red barn standing on a foundation one hundred by forty-two feet. Mr. and Mrs. Snyder own other lands and the aggregate of their possessions amounts to five hundred and eighty acres. It is divided into four different farms, and each has excellent improvements, including two full sets of farm buildings. The crops are corn, wheat and oats, and practically every pound of grain produced on the land is fed to livestock, and in that way the fertility of the soil is kept up to the highest point.

Mr. Charles H. Snyder was born in Hocking county, Ohio, January 26, 1878, was reared and educated there, and his parents were Jacob and Catherine (Eckstein) Snyder. They were also natives of Ohio, and of German stock. They were married in Hocking county, and began life on a farm in Laurel township of that county, where they spent the rest of their years. His father died in 1897 when sixty-five years old, and his mother was about fifty-two when her death occurred. They were good Christian people, substantial farmers, good neighbors, and his father was a Democrat in politics. Their six children are mentioned as follows: Mary, is the wife of Jacob Lyghtle, a farmer in Monroe township of Grant county, and of their four children the only son died, leaving three daughters still living; Eliza is the wife of David Llama of Hocking county, Ohio, where he is a farmer, and they have six children: Flora is the wife of John D. Llama, a farmer in Marion county, Ohio, and they have a family ; Kirk G. is a farmer in Michigan and has a wife and children. The next is Charles H.; Ira lives with his sister, Mrs. Lyghtle, in Grant county.

Mr. Snyder came to Grant county because his sister lived here, and he had his home with her for several years. In 1898 he married Miss Bertha Johnson, who was born and reared and educated in Jefferson township, and belongs to the Johnson family which has been identified with Grant county as early settlers and among the largest land owners since pioneer times. She is a great-granddaughter of John Johnson, who spent most of his life in Guernsey county, Ohio, but in 1835 came to Indiana on horseback and entered and bought a tract of land in section eight of Jefferson township, and also land in Delaware county. His son James Johnson some years later came out to Grant county and took possession of the quarter section in Jefferson township, settled down to farming on a large scale, was a business man of exceptional energy and foresight, and eventually was regarded as the largest land owner in Grant county, possessing twenty-seven hundred acres, lying chiefly within the limits of this county. He died only a few years ago on the old homestead. Noah Johnson, a son of James and father of Mrs. Snyder, was born on the Jefferson township farm, and died in Upland in 1893 when in middle life. He was cashier of the Upland Bank at the time of his death. His wife was Bell Conley, who was born at Upland and died May 16, 1890, on the old farm. They were the parents of three children: Elva and Alva, twins, the former being the wife of Charles F. Marley, and more details concerning the Johnson family will be found in a sketch under his name elsewhere in this publication, while Alva is a well known real estate man in Marion. Bertha Johnson, the oldest of these children, was born on the old family estate in 1883, was reared and educated here and at her grandfather's death inherited a large amount of land. Mr. and Mrs. Snyder have two children: Clarence Alva, fourteen years of age, and now in the second year of the Upland high school; and Harry Clyde, aged twelve and in the graded schools. Mr. and Mrs. Snyder attend the New Light Christian church in Jefferson township, and in politics Mr. Snyder votes the Democratic ticket.

Deb Murray