Blackford County Biography Ref. Page

OLLIN GORDON. Barring a brief two years' time in which he was engaged with his father in the grocery business, Ollin Gordon has, during his entire active career of something more than twenty years, been identified with the enterprise in which he is now occupied—the furniture and house-furnishing business. In April, 1895, Mr. Gordon established himself in Gas City, opening a small shop in association with Mr. J. E. Ward at the corner of Second and Main streets. Since that time his advance in the commercial circles of the city has been rapid and today he has a leading position among the most prominent and prosperous business men of the community. Shrewd, careful and conservative in all his business dealings, he has conducted his affairs in a manner conducive to the best results, and his standing in the city today is one that he has undeniably earned, and of which he may well be proud.

Ollin Gordon was born in Grant county, Mills township, August 8, 1869, and he is the son of Seth and Sarah (Jay) Gordon. Seth Gordon was a native son of Henry county, Indiana, born there in the year 1831 on the 14th day of July. He was for years engaged in farming in Grant county, later interesting himself actively in the grocery business, and was connected with a prosperous grocery business in Gas City, Grant county, until a short time before his death, on his sixty-seventh birthday anniversary, in 1898. The mother was born on what is now the Infirmary Farm in Mills township, on January 23, 1843, and she is now living in the home of her son, Ollin Gordon of this review. She and her husband were both birthright Quakers and both had served as elders and overseers in the church for many years. The mother is yet active in the work of the church, and still continues an influence for good in her community. Mrs. Gordon was a daughter of James and Lydia (Hollingsworth) Jay, early settlers in Grant county, whither they came from their native state, South Carolina, in early life. They were of the old pioneer stock of the county, and they lived in a time when primitive civilization was at its height in Grant county. In about the year 1807 they settled in Vermillion county, Ohio, there residing until they settled in Grant county. They, too, were birthright Quakers and passed their lives in the church of their fathers.

Ollin Gordon is the youngest child but one of his parents, and he is today the sole surviving member. The other died young, and he alone was left to cheer them in their declining years, his mother making her present home with him.

Mr. Gordon had his education in the district schools, such as were provided in his boyhood in Grant county, and when the Marion Normal College was opened he became one of the first students enrolled there, graduating from its commercial department among the first with the class of 1892. Since that time Mr. Gordon has been steadily engaged in business.

The first enterprise with which Mr. Gordon identified himself was his father's grocery business, as has been stated already. For two years he continued with the elder Gordon, and while he was a deal of assistance to his father, it is also true that he acquired much in the way of practical knowledge of business management that stood him in excellent stead in the years of his earlier private business experience.

It was in 1895 that Mr. Gordon became established in the house furnishing business with J. E. Ward. The two were practically without capital, but they were young and courageous, possessing a deal of energy and ambition, and fortified with Mr. Gordon's business training, both in college and in his father's establishment, they were better equipped than many who start in with more of money at their command and less of these other assets. After a year of business activity, Mr. Gordon bought out his associate, Mr. Ward, and since that time has operated independently. He remained at the old stand on Second and Main streets for a year, then moved to one room in the Peele building on Main street. Here he has continued, and from time to time additions of one room have been made to the place, as the business expanded and demanded more space for its proper management. Mr. Gordon has not hesitated to branch out whenever he saw an opportunity for it, and he has from first to last carried on an advertising campaign that has resulted in a continued growth of the business, making necessary additions to floor space, warehouse room and all the appurtenances necessary in the conduct of a thriving furniture and house furnishing enterprise. In the past six years his advancement has been particularly rapid and substantial, and his place today devotes one entire room to carpets and rugs, one to upholstered goods, one to china and other household wares, and another in which staples in house furnishings are to be found in plenty. He carries a fine class of goods, his trade being of a conservative and discriminating character, and his place is considered the acme of completeness in his especial line in Gas City. The place itself is a building of two stories, with sixty-six by seventy foot frontage, all of which is occupied by the business. An overflow wareroom also adds to the floor space required by the business, this being located at the corner of First and Main streets.

As a business man, it will not be gainsaid that Mr. Gordon has been a very successful man. His progress has been steady and consistent with the most conservative and business like advancement, so that he is properly regarded as one of the safe and altogether reliable business men of the city.

Mr. Gordon was married in Jonesboro, Indiana, to Miss Elizabeth Eaton, a native daughter of the state of Illinois, where she was reared and educated. Her parents are both deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Gordon have no children of their own, but they have an adopted son, C. Frederick, born April 5, 1910.

As members of the Friends church of Jonesboro, Mr. and Mrs. Gordon have carried on the church relations of their parents and grandparents, and they are among the most useful and active people in that church today.

A Republican in his politics, Mr. Gordon has served his fellow men well in Gas City, for ten years having been a member of the City Council. He is a citizen of splendid type, and has borne his full share of the civic burdens of the community in all the years of his residence here. He is a member of the Gas City lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and has filled all chairs in the local order, while he has also represented his lodge in the Grand Lodge of the Order.

"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

JOHN B. KING. The late John B. King was born in Washington township, Grant county, Indiana, on May 29, 1843, and he died at his farm home in Mill township on August 4, 1913, when little past seventy years of age. All his life had been spent in Grant county, with but slight exception, and he was one of the best known and esteemed men of the county during his life time. He is remembered, and long will be, as one of the substantial and worthy citizens of the community.

Mr. King was a son of John and Elizabeth (Bloxham) King, natives of Virginia, where the father was born in 1805 and the mother in 1800. The father was a son of John and Sarah King, who passed their lives in Virginia, and who were birthright Quakers and exemplary citizens all their days. John King, the father of the late John B. King, was a small boy when his parents died in Virginia, and he was early bound out as an apprentice to learn the trade of a tanner. He completed his apprenticeship and in early manhood married, coming to Ohio after the birth of the two eldest children in his family. That state did not long claim his attention, and he soon found himself established in Grant county. This was in the early thirties, and in Washington township he entered eighty acres of what seemed desirable land. He made a good deal of improvements in the place and then sold advantageously, intending at the time to go to Iowa to live. Their plan was altered, however, through the protracted illness of their son John, the subject of this review, and they settled in Marion, Grant county, Indiana, instead, the father once more resuming his work as a tanner, which he had discontinued when he settled on his Washington township farm. In about 185O he went to Arcana and established a tannery which he operated successfully until war times, even continuing it through a part of the war period, when he sold it and retired to a small farm in Mill township. Here he died on October 5, 1867, when he was sixty-two years of age. His widow later went to make her home with a daughter, Mrs. Sarah Nelson, and she died there on December 18, 1874, when she lacked twenty days of having reached her seventy-fifth birthday anniversary. She was a daughter of William and Mary Bloxham, who were native Virginians, living all their lives as farming people in that state. They, too, were Quakers. John King and his wife were birthright Quakers, though in later life they became associated with the Methodist Episcopal church. In this body they were active and prominent, Mr. King becoming a class leader and holding that place for some years prior to his death. His devoted wife was in perfect accord with him in all the issues of life, and they lived happily and to excellent purpose, being Christian people of many lovable qualities. Of their three sons and three daughters, two died young, and the names of the six were as follows: Jonathan, William S., Ruth, Mary, Sarah, John B., of this review. Ruth and Mary died in girlhood, but the other four reached mature years and reared families of their own. All are now deceased.

John B. King grew up on the home farm in Grant county and he found his early employment in work on the farm and in his father's tannery until the outbreak of the war caused the discontinuing of the tannery activities. On October 10, 1862, he was mustered in as a private in Company H, Fifth Indiana Cavalry, and with his command went to the front, and so continued until the close of the war, being honorably discharged in September, 1865. All through that period he proved in many ways his gallantry and devotion to the cause in which he had enlisted, and he participated in practically every engagement of importance in which his regiment was active. Exposure and the general hardships of war on several occasions caused his disability and confinement in hospitals, though he was never wounded in action. For years he was a member of the Jonesboro Post of the G. A. R.

After the war Mr. King settled down to farm life on the farm of his wife in Mill township, continuing there until 1897, when the family removed to Jonesboro, three years later coming to Gas City, but retiring to the old farm home some few months prior to his death, it being his wish that his last days might be spent there.

Mr. King was a Republican and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. A good citizen all his days, he had his full share in the civic activities of whatever community he lived in, and he enjoyed the esteem and high regard of his contemporaries and is still remembered with genuine affection by those who knew him in the various relations of life.

On March 17, 1867, Mr. King was married to Miss Elizabeth Overman, born in Mill township on the old Overman homestead on September 18, 1840, and there reared and educated. She was the eldest child of Jesse and Jane (Griffin) Overman, an account of which family will be found elsewhere in this work. Since the death of Mr. King, Mrs. King has maintained her residence in the Gas City home, where she took up her abode after the passing of her husband on the old home place in Mill township, and she is still active and energetic at the age of seventy-two. She still has ownership of the Mill township property, which is a fine place of eighty acres, and some desirable property in Jonesboro as well as the Gas City property, make her independent. She is the mother of the following children:

Ida J. is the wife of Lincoln Lamb. They live on the mother's farm in Mill township and their children are Charles, Earl and Florence, the latter the wife of Benjamin Stockwell. She is the oldest of the three children. She has one child, Chelsey James. Charles King is married and has one son, Charles II. James, the second son, of John and Elizabeth King, died after his second marriage, at the age of thirty-seven years. His first wife was Elizabeth Brewer, and this marriage was without issue. Two children blessed the second union, Rea, the first born, died young, and Harry B. now resides with his paternal grandmother, Mrs. King, and is attending the city schools. Jesse Albert King died aged fifteen years.

Mrs. King is a stanch member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and still retains her membership in the Griffin M E. Chapel of Center township, where she united with the church many years ago. She is a woman of many virtues and is one whose life has been a shining example in the community all her days.

LEE C. FRANK. When Gas City was beginning its development as a commercial center, Lee C. Frank identified himself with the new community, and set up in a business way there. For twenty years, since January, 1893, he has been a citizen of that community, and in that time a number of distinctions have come to him as a business man and factor in local affairs. The official records of the city will always give him a place as the first treasurer after the incorporation under a city charter. His chief business has been as a funeral director and embalmer, and he keeps a first-class establishment with perfect facilities for giving service to his patients. His establishment contains two hearses, he has a complete line of caskets, and for eleven years, from 1893, at the beginning of his career here, until 1904, conducted a furniture store in connection with his undertaking business. For five years Mr. Frank was vice president of the First State Bank of Gas City. His election to the office of city treasurer, after the incorporation, occurred in 1894, and he continued to hold the office by successive reelection without any opposition candidates until January, 1912, resigning before the conclusion of his last term. He was elected on the Republican ticket, of which he has always been a stanch supporter, though as a matter of fact his choice for this office was one based upon personal fitness rather than on account of party considerations.

Lee C. Frank was born in Troy, Miama county, Ohio, September 30, 1867. He grew up in his native town and county, was reared on a farm, and after getting his schooling was employed in an undertaking establishment, an experience which gave him a thorough preparation for his chosen vocation. Mr. Frank is a son of Samuel and Charlotte Frank, who were born in the state of Ohio, and were married in Troy, where the father still lives. Samuel Frank, during his active career, was one of the very prominent men, not only in his home locality, but in the state, especially in Republican polities. As a young man he enlisted during the Civil war and went to the front with the One Hundred and Tenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. His regiment was in the Army of the Potomac, and he fought in many of the great battles of the war, mainly in Virginia, being out about three years. In a small skirmish in Virginia he was shot, a minie-ball passing through his left elbow, and the wound was of such a nature that he was discharged on account of disability and returned home. The veteran soldier soon became prominent in public affairs. He was elected sheriff of Miami county, then promoted to the office of county treasurer, and for ten years was in the United States Revenue service. In the meantime in a business way he had bought land and taken up farming. He served as postmaster at Troy during McKinley's administration, and for a number of years held the office of county commissioner. He was one of the leading and influential Republicans for many years, a personal friend of President McKinley and of General J. P. Warren Keiffer, the latter one of Ohio's notable public men. The elder Frank served as delegate to many state conventions, went through the national convention as a delegate on several occasions, and was twice a presidential elector. He has been long identified with Grand Army affairs and has attended nearly all the national reunions. He and his wife now live in a comfortable home at Troy. In that city he has served as alderman, and in other local offices, and has been township trustee. He and his wife are devout Methodists. Mr. Lee C. Frank was the only son and his three sisters are: Mabelle, wife of J. H. Scott, of Troy, and the mother of four children; Maude, wife of Rev. E. M. Kerr, a minister of the Christian church and they have one son and a daughter; Florence, who lives at home in Troy, is a fine instrumental musician, on the piano and pipe organ, and is a teacher of music and a leader in musical affairs in her home locality.

Lee C. Frank was married in Gas City to Miss Bell West, a daughter of James R. and Lucy T. West. The West family came from Ohio to Gas City during the early history of the latter locality, and her father was a hardware merchant for a number of years. He and his wife now live at Cleveland, Ohio. Mr. West was born in England. Mrs. Frank was born in Elyria, Ohio, and was educated partly there and partly in the high school at Marion, Indiana. To their marriage the following children have been born: Margaret, who is now a sophomore in the high school; Richard, in the grade schools; Dorothy, also in school; William, in the second grade; and Robert, the youngest of the family. Mrs. Frank is a regular attendant of the Methodist church, and her husband is affiliated with the Masonic Order, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, the Improved Order of Red Men, and the Loyal Order of Moose.

ISAIAH WALL. Nearly three-fourths of a century ago the parents of this honored citizen established their residence in Grant county, and he is now one of the most venerable of the native sons of the county residing in Marion. He gave virtually his entire active career to agricultural pursuits, and is still the owner of a well improved and valuable landed estate in his native township, besides his attractive residence property in the city of Marion. His life has been replete with earnest and productive endeavor, he is known as a man of high ideals, broad views and impregnable integrity, and none has more secure vantage ground in popular confidence and esteem. He served as a member of the board of county commissioners for three years, retiring therefrom on the 1st of January, 1914, and this fact in itself vouches for his high standing in the county that has ever represented his home, and to the development and progress of which he has contributed with all of loyalty and liberality as an enterprising and appreciative citizen.

On the old family homestead in Monroe township, this county, Mr.Wall was born on the 24th of December, 1844, and thus he became a welcome Christmas arrival in the pioneer home of his parents, David and Sarah (Dwiggins) Wall, both of whom were born and reared in Clinton county, Ohio, where the respective families were founded in the pioneer epoch of the history of the state. The paternal grandparents of the subject of this review were John and Mary (Mills) Wall, and both were natives of Pennsylvania, where their marriage was solemnized and whence they finally removed to Ohio and numbered themselves among the early settlers of Clinton county, where they passed the remainder of their lives. The maternal grandparents, Robert and Sarah (Starbuck) Dwiggins, were born and reared in North Carolina and were representatives of stanch Colonial stock. They likewise became pioneers of Clinton county, Ohio, which continued to he their home until death.

David Wall came from Ohio to Indiana in the year 1837, making the trip on horseback. His object was to select a location for a home, and he made Grant county his destination. Here he entered claim to a tract of government land in Monroe township, and in 1840 he and his wife came to this pioneer homestead, which he reclaimed from the virgin wilds and developed into a productive farm. Both he and his wife passed practically the entire remaining period of their lives on this tine old homestead, and the names of both find enduring place on the roll of time honored pioneers of Grant county, where they lived and labored to goodly ends and where popular confidence and regard came to them with naught of qualification—a just tribute to their sterling worth of character. David Wall was born on the 1st of May, 1815, and thus was eighty-eight years of age at the time of his death, which occurred in 1903. His wife, who was born on the 7th of June, 1817, was summoned to eternal rest on the 7th of May, 1894, exactly one month prior to the seventy-seventh anniversary of her birth. Of their three children, the eldest was Mills Wall, who sacrificed his life while serving as a. gallant soldier of the Union in the Civil war. He was a member of Company M, Fifth Indiana Cavalry, was captured by the enemy in connection with the battle of Resaca, was held at Andersonvillle prison for some mouths, and died while confined as a prisoner of war at Florence, South Carolina. Isaiah Wall, of this review, was the second in order of birth of the three children. The youngest is Dr. Mahlon M Wall, of Marion, a representative physician and surgeon of Grant county. The father was influential in his home township, and served at one time as its trustee. In politics he was first a Whig and later a Republican. He and his wife were reared in the Quaker faith, but on coming to Indiana they adopted the United Brethren as the church of their choice, and while they did not become members they were regular attendants and took a deep interest in the welfare of the church and the cause of Christianity in general.

Isaiah Wall continued to be actively identified with agricultural pursuits from his boyhood days until he had attained the age of sixty years. He assisted in the reclamation and other work of the farm which his father obtained from the government, and his early educational advantages were those afforded in the common schools of the pioneer days, —a discipline later to be rounded out through the medium of self application and through close association with practical duties and responsibilities of life. He continued to be associated with his father in the work and management of the home farm until he had attained to the age of twenty-two years, when he initiated his independent career on an adjoining farm. Energy, experience and close application gave results, and the years brought to him definite prosperity, indicated in the development of one of the fine farms of Monroe township. He continued to purchase additional land as circumstances justified, and his home place, on which he resided for more than forty years and which he still owns, comprises three hundred and forty acres. He made the best of improvements on the place and gained reputation as one of the most progressive and broad-minded farmers of his native township. He has at all times given evidence of his liberality, loyalty and public spirit by supporting enterprises and measures projected for the general good of the community, and his attitude in this respect, combined with his invincible integrity in all of the relations of life, have given him high vantage place in the confidence and esteem of the people of his native county. In the autumn of 1906 Mr. Wall removed from his farm to Marion, and in this city he has an attractive modern home on West Third street, the same being a favored rendezvous for the wide circle of friends who wish by this means to pay tribute to him and his devoted wife. After years of earnest toil and endeavor he is enjoying the well earned repose and comfort that are his due, and he and his gracious wife find themselves compassed by most pleasing associations and environment.

Mr. Wall has by no means abated his energy and his vital interest in affairs. He takes a lively concern in public matters of a local order, and is a stalwart supporter of the cause of the Republican party. In 1910 he was elected to represent the second district of his county on the board of county commissioners and he served in this important office until January 1, 1914, with characteristic loyalty and effectiveness. Within his incumbency of this office there occurred a vigorous contest between the liquor amid Prohibition elements in Grant county, and, as may naturally be inferred, his influence has been cast unequivocally in support of the local option policy and in favor of all things which make for morality and civic righteousness. Both he and his wife are devout members of the United Brethren church, and they still retain their active membership in Oak Chapel of this denomination, the same being situated near their old homestead farm. Of this church he served as a trustee for a number of years prior to his removal to Marion.

On the 8th of November, 1866, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Wall to Miss Catherine Strange, who has been a resident of Grant county from the time of her birth and who is a daughter of George and Lydia Strange, both now deceased. Her father was a representative agriculturist of Monroe township, and there her birth occurred. Of the seven children of Mr. and Mrs. Wall two died in infancy. Carrie E. is the wife of Frank F. Seegar, of Greentown, Howard county; Clinton M. remains at the parental home, as does also Ada L. and Della, the latter of whom is a successful and popular teacher in the high school in the city of Vincennes; Claude D. is engaged in the drug business in the beautiful city of Spokane, Washington.

Deb Murray