Blackford County Biography Ref. Page

THOMAS WINSLOW. The late Thomas Winslow was born in Randolph county, North Carolina, more than one hundred and twenty years ago, and he came of one of the oldest families of that state, descended directly from Mayflower stock of the New England states. The blood of the Pilgrim Fathers flowed in his veins, and he was a worthy specimen of the old stock. His career was one well worthy of perpetuation in these records, and though the facts at hand are meager, there is sufficient to establish him as one of the true pioneers of Grant county, and as such he is presented in these columns. Though the sketch is rather a review of the family from his time to the present day, it is deemed fitting and proper to enter the facts under the heading of him who, properly speaking, established the Winslow family in Grant county.

It was in the early thirties that the Winslow family came from its native habitat, North Carolina, into the newer and less tried state of Indiana. They located in Fairmount township, or what has since come to be so designated, taking up government land and there hewing out of the wilderness country a farm that afforded them a real home. The head of this family was Ancil Winslow, a brief sketch of whom may be found elsewhere in this work. He died in the home he established here and left his family to carry on the name and the work he had begun.

This family began even in those early days to leave its indelible imprint upon the community in which it settled, and in the early days of its residence in Fairmount township aided in the organization of the Society of Friends known as the Mississinewa Monthly Meeting. Thomas Winslow, it should be said, was the first clerk of the meeting, and he was known in the town as a young man of the finest qualities, and of a type that added much to the moral and spiritual advancement of the community.

Thomas Winslow married Martha L. Bogue in North Carolina, and before they migrated to Indiana in the early thirties, a number of children were born to them. John Winslow, one of their sons, was born in North Carolina in 1833, and he was reared in the new home of the family in Fairmount township. No great advantages in a worldly or material way were his, but he was blessed in the possession of a home where the principles of honesty and Christian charity were daily and hourly demonstrated, and he grew up in an atmosphere of truth and purity that many another youth of his day was denied. A simple farmer boy was he, and when he reached young manhood he took a wife and settled down on one of his father's farms. Later he took up his abode with his wife's people, who had a well cared for farm in Section 8 of Mill township, and he died there on July 3, 1888. He was what was termed a birthright Friend, and was a stanch Republican in his political faith. In his community he enjoyed a generous measure of the esteem and regard of his fellow beings, and was known for a sincere, honest and gentle soul, a host of friends being his. He served in numerous township offices, and was a trustee for several consecutive years. He was married on December 16, 1869, to Miss Mary L. Russell, who was born on the farm she now owns and occupies, her birth date being May 7, 1842. With the exception of a brief period of three years, her entire life has been spent on this farm, and she is one of the best known and loved women of the community, and a leader among the Friends of the township. She is a daughter of John and Mary P. (Smith) Russell, the father having been a native of the Keystone state, born there in 1800. His father, Samuel Smith, was born there during the Revolutionary war period, and came of Irish stock, with a possible Scotch mixture. He married a native Pennsylvanian and they both ended their lives in the state of their birth. John Russell grew up to farm life in Pennsylvania, and it was not long after the birth of his second child that the family left the state and came west, making the long and tedious journey across the country with ox teams, in the year 1828 or 1829. They settled in Indiana, locating on new and wild land in section 8, Mill township, that spot representing the home today of Mrs. Winslow, their daughter.

The Russells proved themselves to be pioneers of an approved and worthy type, for the passing years witnessed the full blooming of the wilderness spot they had chosen for their home, and their 160 acre tract took on a look of prosperity and cultivation that made it one of the desirable farms of the township in later years. They first built a log house, in common with the other pioneers, to which they later added a frame addition, but still later, in about 1855, they reared a handsome brick house. This house still stands and is in a good state of preservation. The barn they built about the same time is still in good condition and bears silent witness to the excellent workmanship that entered into the simple structures of that period. The weatherboards and roof of the barn have been replaced in recent years, but aside from those improvements, the barn stands as it did when built by the Russells almost sixty years ago. Here John Russell died in 1870, having survived his wife by a good many years, her death coming in the late forties. Mrs. Russell, it may be said here, was the daughter of Judge Caleb Smith, a man of North Carolina birth, who after spending some years in Pennsylvania, came to Grant county, Indiana, and settled upon a new farm which he improved in accordance with the spirit of the time. The place was in close proximity to the Winslow farm, and there Judge Smith died, when in advanced years. He was one of the talented and prominent men of the county, and one of its earliest judges.

Mrs. Russell, the mother of Mrs. Winslow, was a member of the Methodist church, though her husband held to no religious creed. He was maried a second time, but of his later marriage there was no issue.

Mrs. Winslow is the youngest of her mother's children, of whom there were eight, and she is the only one living at this writing. Prior to her marriage with Mr. Winslow, Mrs. Winslow was the wife of Capt. William Shugert, who died in the south in the prime of life. He was a soldier in the Union Army in the Civil war, and after the return to peaceful pursuits he engaged in the cotton business, dying in Arkansas. His only child, William R., died as a young man. Of her second marriage, Mrs. Winslow has one son, Glen B. Winslow, who runs the old home farm. He was born on August 3, 1870, and lives on the home place with his mother, being unmarried.

On March 25, 1896, Mrs. Winslow contracted a third marriage when she became the wife of Levi Winslow, a relative of John Winslow, her second husband. He was born in Fairmount township on July 20, 1836, and his principal occupation in life has been that of a carpenter. He has enjoyed an excellent reputation as a master hand at his trade, and has assisted in the building of some of the best residences and other buildings in the township and county. He is a son of Henry and Annie (Binford) Winslow, natives of North Carolina and Virginia, respectively. They met and married in Fairmount township and here they passed their lives. Mrs. Winslow died there in 1863, and Henry Winslow married a second time. By his first marriage he had ten children, of whom Levi Winslow, the husband of Mrs. Winslow, was one, and by his second marriage he had three children. Of the ten of his first marriage, Levi Winslow is the second of four who are yet living.

Mr. and Mrs. Winslow live at the old home and their declining years are being passed in peace and contentment after busy and fruitful lives. He is a birthright Quaker of the Fairmount Society, and Mrs. Winslow has membership in the Presbyterian church in Jonesboro. She first became a member of the church when attending school in Marion, under the tutelage of Professor Sawyer, one of the best known instructors of his day in Grant county.

Mr. Winslow, by a former marriage, had eight daughters. Two of them died very young, and of the six who reached maturity five were married. Those living are: Sarah, the wife of John Flanagan, a sketch of whom will be found elsewhere in this work; Aletha, the wife of Homer Stephens, and living in St. Louis; Elizabeth, the wife of Jesse Thorp, living at Geneva, Indiana, and they have two children, Paul and Aletha; and Bessie, the wife of H. Asthorp, a banker of Cairo, Illinois, they have two children, Mary and Ada. The four deceased daughters of Mr. Winslow were: Elmina, who was kicked by a horse and died twenty-four hours later, aged four years; Anna, who died, aged two weeks; Alice, who died in 1891; and Gertrude, died in 1903.

"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

WILLIAM J. RICHARDS. Like thousands of his fellow countrymen who in their native land saw naught for the future except long years of hard work, with but little chance of the attainment of a competency, William J. Richards decided to try his fortunes in the United States and accordingly, when still a young man, migrated to these shores. He has had no reason to regret his action, for from the time of his arrival here his advance has been steady and his labor well remunerated, and at his time, as assistant treasurer, director and paymaster of the Indiana Rubber and Insulated Wire Company, of Jonesboro, he occupies a recognized position among the foremost business men of his adopted place. Mr. Richards was born at Glanmorganshire, near Swansea, Wales, December 11, 1864, comes of an old and honored Welsh family, and is a son of William and Jane (Jenkins) Richards, natives of the same place, where they spent their entire lives, the mother passing away in 1880, at the age of fifty-two years and the father in 1892, when he was seventy-six. Mr. Richards was a tin-plate manufacturer and for many years carried on a profitable business in his native land. Both he and his wife were devout members of the Presbyterian church and made many friends by reason of their many sterling qualities of mind and heart.

After receiving an ordinary education in the public schools of Wales, William J. Richards learned the trade of tin plate manufacturer in the business of his father, with whom he continued until reaching the age of twenty-six years. In 1890 he decided to try his fortunes in the United States, and on first coming here was employed in a steel plant at Pittsburgh. In 1891 he came to Elwood, Indiana, where he was connected with the establishment of the tin plate plant of that place, and there, under the superintendency of his brother, he rolled the first sheet of tin plate made in that establishment. When conditions for the tin plate people began to become unsatisfactory at Elwood, Mr. Richards went to the East, and upon his return was sent as superintendent of the plant at Gas City for the Morewood Tin Plate Company, who later sold out to the United States Steel Corporation. He took part in the building of that plant and was at its head for nine years, going from that point to the plant of the same company at Atlanta, Indiana.

When the gas at that place gave out Mr. Richards was sent to Middletown, Indiana, where he remained until 1905, and then came to Jonesboro to accept his present office. In his long and active business career Mr. Richards has sustained a reputation for the highest integrity and business ability, amid by his associates he is held in the highest esteem and confidence.

Mr. Richards was married at Jonesboro, Indiana, to Miss Martha J. Seiberling, who was born in Doylestown, Ohio, in February, 1864, educated in the Ohio and Pennsylvania schools, and is a daughter of James H. Seiberling, president of the Indiana Rubber and Insulated Wire Company, a sketch of whose career will be found on another page of this work. Mrs. Richards died at her home in Jonesboro, July 6, 1912. She was the mother of no children, but Mr. Richards now has an adopted daughter, a niece, Victoria May, who is twelve years of age and is now attending the city schools. Mrs. Richards was a member of the Presbyterian church and Mr. Richards still adheres to that faith. He has been well known in fraternal circles for some years, being a member of the Masonic Blue Lodge, of Jonesboro, the Chapter and Knights Templar, of Marion, and the Consistory of Fort Wayne, and recently took his thirty-second degree. He is a Republican in his political views, although he has never been a seeker after public office.

ELMER E. MASSEY, who has been holding one of the leading clerical positions in the offices of the Indiana Rubber and Insulated Wire Company, at Jonesboro, since March, 1904, is well known to the people of this city. He was born at Malta, Morgan county, Ohio, June 18, 1862, was educated at Muskingum College, of New Concord, Ohio, and at the Normal College of Valparaiso, Indiana, and then took up the vocation of teacher, which he followed in Morgan county for a period of four years. He first came to Indiana during the winter of 1883-4, and here taught as the principal of the Harrisburg (now Gas City) school for three years, following which he spent two years in the clerical department of the Deering Manufacturing Company, Chicago. On his return to Indiana, Mr. Massey again adopted the vocation of educator, and this he followed until accepting his present position in March, 1904. He was a successful teacher, was popular alike with pupils and parents, and had an excellent record, and in the line of his present vocation he is also showing marked ability. He has profited by his long and thorough training, may be said to be an expert in his calling, and has the confidence and respect of the business men among whom he has labored for so long.

Mr. Massey is a son of John Massey, also a native of Morgan county, Ohio, and a son of William Massey. The grandfather was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, and there grew to manhood, in an old Quaker family descended from William Penn stock. At an early day, with four brothers, he left his home in the Keystone state and journeyed to Ohio, where he remained, although his brothers pushed on and finally located in Western Indiana. He was married in Muskingum county, Ohio, to Mary Gay, and they became pioneers of Morgan county, settling in the depth of the woods and living in a little rude log cabin. They hewed themselves a home from the wilderness lived to see the wolves and deer desert their native hiding-places, driven forth by the relentless march of civilization, and became prosperous and highly respected citizens. The grandfather passed away at the age of ninety-one years, while the grandmother was sixty-seven years of age at the time of her demise.

John Massey was reared to agricultural pursuits and was given the usual education obtainable in the public schools of his day and locality. On attaining manhood he was married in Morgan county, Ohio, to Mary C. Crawford, who was also born in that county. Together, they cleared and improved a good and valuable farm, added to their holdings as the years passed, and accumulated a valuable property, which they left to their children along with the priceless heritage of an honored name. Mr. and Mrs. Massey were faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal church. He was a stalwart Republican, although not an office seeker, but took a keen and sincere interest in all that affected the welfare of his community or its people and endeavored to assist movements which had for their object the progress of his locality in any way. At the time of the Civil war he showed his patriotism by enlisting in an Ohio regiment in the Federal army, and after serving for one year received his honorable discharge and returned to the duties of a civilian. Of the children, two died in infancy: W. J. is a successful attorney at law of Zanesville, Ohio; a sister, Mary E., was a teacher for some years and died while thus engaged; Charles L. is in the tire department of the Indiana Rubber and Insulated Wire Company, is married and has a family; and Elmer E. is the other child. The father died at the age of seventy-seven years, while the mother reached the age of eighty- two years.

While a resident of Richland township, Grant county, Indiana, Elmer E. Massey was married to Miss Maggie U. Walker, a native of this township, who was reared on a farm and educated in the public schools. Two children have been born to this union, namely: Emil L., born October 9, 1896, a graduate of the Jonesboro High school, class of 1914; and Pauline Retta, born July 14, 1907. Mr. and Mrs. Massey are active members of the Methodist Protestant church, in which he is serving as a member of the board of trustees, and in the work of which both are very active. He is popular in fraternal circles as a member of Amana Lodge, No. 82, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Jonesboro; Junior Order United American Mechanics; Grant Lodge, No. 7; the Knights of Pythias, at Converse, Indiana; and the Tribe of Ben Hur, at Jonesboro.

JAMES A. CURLESS. One of Grant county's citizens who has done his share of public service, particularly in educational lines, James A. Curless is now best known as cashier of the First National Bank of Swayzee, and one of the leading business men of that city. The First National Bank of Swayzee is a very strong institution, having a capital stock of thirty-five thousand dollars with surplus and undivided profits of ten thousand dollars. Mr. Curless has been with this institution from its beginning. It was organized in August, 1907, and he stood behind the wicket and accepted the first moneys paid on deposits. The other officers of this well known bank are: Darius Nesbitt, president; George W. Smith, and W. J. Nesbitt, vice presidents; James A. Curless, cashier; Isaac Spiker, assistant cashier; Tessie C. Plackard, assistant cashier. The directors are Darius Nesbitt, George W. Smith, W. J. Nesbitt, Marion Curless, J. M. Leer, John H. Miller, John A. Peterson, H. T. Munea and Jarret Echelbarger.

James A. Curless was born in Green township, of Grant county, September 20, 1875, and belongs to one of the old and substantial families of this section of Indiana. His parents were Marion and Mary A. (Covalt) Curless, both of whom are now residents of Swayzee. They were the parents of ten children, nine of whom are living.

James A. Curless spent his boyhood on a farm in Howard county, during which time he attended the district schools of his township, and also had one term in the Greentown high school, and one year in the Fairmount Academy, completing his education by two years' course in the Valparaiso University, and the Terre Haute Normal School. He prepared himself thoroughly for his work as teacher, and taught his first term of school in 1895. He was very successful as a schoolmaster and continued the work consecutively until 1907, in the public schools of Howard and Grant counties. In August of the latter year he gave up teaching to become one of the bankers of the county.

Mr. Curless was married on Christmas Day of 1897, to Miss Anna M. Matchett, who was born and reared in Grant county, was educated in the common schools, in the Marion Normal College and in the State Normal School at Terre Haute and taught in the public schools for six years. The two children born to Mr. and Mrs. Curless are both now deceased. The family are members of the Methodist church, and fraternally he is affiliated with Grant Lodge, A. F. & A. M., the Lodge and encampment of Odd Fellowship, the Knights of Pythias Lodge, and the Daughters of Rebekah. He is past noble grand in his fraternity. A Republican in politics, he is now serving as a member of the Swayzee town council. Besides his other interests Mr. Curless owns sixty-six acres of land situated a mile southwest of Swayzee on the Kokomo and Gas City Pike. Though no longer a teacher Mr. Curless maintains the same interests in educational affairs which he had when in the work of the school room. At the present time, in order to promote scholarship and the wholesome rivalry among the scholars, he has a standing offer of an International Webster's Dictionary to the student making the best grade in the Sims and Green townships schools. His wife takes an equal interest with him in educational affairs, and both are energetic and progressive members of the social community in which they live.

JESSE DAVID WRIGHT. About this name can be associated many interesting facts of Grant county family and local history. In the group of people related and in successive generations are a number of personalities who through practical business and influence have helped to mould the Grant county in its present form. Jesse David Wright has attained the distinction of threescore years and ten nearly all spent in this county, and while successful in a business way has also won esteem and the dignity attaching to an honorable gentleman.

Jesse David Wright was born October 10, 1843, in Henry county, but in January of the next year his parents removed to Grant county, and his life has been spent in this locality. Caroline Sears was born October 21, 1842, and October 30, 1866, they were married and lived together until her death on September 2, 1906. The children born to them are: Mrs. Lelia J. Jones, wife of Paul Jones; Arthur C. Wright, who married Miss Eva Johnson; Mrs. Mary Aber, wife of Max Aber; and Orville C. Wright, who married Miss Jessie Springer.

Mr. and Mrs. Paul Jones live in Zanesville, Ohio, where he is superintendent of a division of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Mr. and Mrs. O. C. Wright live in Fort Wayne, where he is employed as an electrical engineer, and Mr. and Mrs. Aber live in Kansas City, where he is engaged in the practice of law. Arthur C. Wright is the only one of Mr. Wright's children living in Marion, where he deals in builder's supplies. There are four children and four grandchildren. Mrs. Lelia Jones has a daughter, Miss Hilda Jones; Mrs. Mary Aber has two daughters, Misses Caroline and Mary Aber; and A. C. Wright has a son bearing the full name of his grandfather, Jesse David Wright.

When Mr. Wright's family was about him, the education of his children was uppermost in importance. Miss Lelia Wright, graduated from Earlharn College, Miss Mary from DePauw University, and the two sons from Purdue � Arthur in scientific and Orville in the electrical course. All are doing well for themselves since assuming the responsibilities of life away from the childhood home. The Wright family homestead is on Lincoln Boulevard�the Jonesboro road when the children lived there. Beside this family homestead Mr. Wright owns the farm where his father reared a family, just across the McFeely bridge along the Monroe pike, and it has always been profitable both as farm land and for the gravel-pit operated there. It is the first bottom along the Mississinewa and there are hills as high as the Grant county court house, a variety in landscape being a feature of this old farmstead of the Wright family. While the Wright family home remains furnished, Mr. Wright has divided his time among his children, also staying much at the hotel.

Jesse David Wright is a son of Joab and Melinda (Elliott) Wright. There were four sons and four daughters in the family, and the two brothers living are Milton Wright of Michigan, and Walter Wright of Oregon. Mrs. Belle Overman, wife of Clarkson Overman of Fairmount, is a sister. Mrs. Wright was a daughter of Christopher and Jeannette Sears, a prominent early-day Washington township family. Her sisters, Mrs. Maria Campbell, Mrs. Mary Kem and Mrs. Alice Brown are all that remain of the family.

While the Wrights were Quakers the Sears were Wesleyan Methodists at Fairview. Joab Wright had been a Friends' minister for many years�the old-fashioned type of honest Quaker, but in his early and active business life he combined farming and stock buying, and the son J. D. Wright has had the same occupation for twenty-five years being associated with Henry Wise in buying and shipping livestock, and while subject to market fluctuations they seldom lost money on shipments.

While the Wright pioneer ancestry came from Tennessee, and the Elliotts from North Carolina, they were all actuated by the same impulse�the Northwest territory offered them a home free from the institution of slavery. The Sears's ancestry came into Indiana from Ohio, all coming early to Grant county, and all obtaining land while it was cheap and holding it for the advance in value. John and Jesse Wright, who were well known pioneer Friends, were brothers of Joab Wright. While J. D. Wright is not a native of Grant county, he has been here since only a few months old, and does not remember anything about any other home. While now very much alone in family relations, he is surrounded with every comfort for his material well being.

Deb Murray