Blackford County Biography Ref. Page

ALBERT L. FEIGHNER. While Electra-Lea farm in Washington township is one of the best known farmsteads in Grant county—interurban transportation from the door and modern in all its appointments—the Feighner family residing there are not strangers, the present occupant being the third of the Feighners to live there. Albert L. Feighner is the only son of Adam J. and Martha (White) Feighner, and the homestead has been in the Feighner family by purchase and inheritance since acquired by his great-grandfather, John Adam Feighner, in 1854 from John King, who entered the land on March 15, 1837, and connected with the abstract of title held by Mr. Feighner is the original land patent granted by President Martin Van Buren.

Electra-Lea was the first farm home in Grant county to be lighted by electricity, the current being supplied from the M. B. & E. trolley line passing the house. Mr. Feighner is a machinist and mechanic enough to handle the current, shifting the wires and attaching power himself, and the silo and mows are filled with power, invisible and yet unfailing, and there is "no night there" in the sense of thick darkness. The barn at Electra-Lea has switch boards the same as the house, and milking early or late is no hardship, there being a drop light in each stall, and when the wind does not blow the water is supplied in the tanks from the same subtle agency—the electric current. Mr. Feighner is prepared to do all his own grinding, and when feed is necessary he has only to "touch the button." Electric current is used in "buzzing" wood, and the problem of power is well solved at Electra- Lea.

When the lighting system was installed it was extended to the home of Adam J. Feighner, and the two farm homes lacked nothing in the way of modern conveniences possible to any family in town. There were gas and oil there much longer than in some farm houses, and nothing would have tempted either family to quit the country. For years there has been a private telephone connection, and each house is connected with the Marion exchange, and with the daily mail the world was at their door—why leave the country? While A. L. Feighner is the third Feighner to own this land, there was no electricity and therefore no Electra-Lea prior to his living there. He has been interested in perpetuating some family lore, and since his grandfather, John Adam Feighner, came from Germany a translation was necessary in order to understand an old covenant or contract made by some of his ancestors and which had always been treasured by him. This covenant bears date of January 1, 1787, and was entered into by John "Faegner" of Lehigh township, Northampton county, Pennsylvania, with John Moyer, of Whitehall township, and it was duly witnessed that Mr. Moyer agreed to teach Mr. Faegner the weaver's trade in two years, for which he was to receive two pairs of wool socks, one suit of underclothes, a silk muffler, one broadcloth overcoat at three dollars per yard, a cap and two wool over shirts. In return Mr. Faegner was to be a dutiful servant, not to do anything wrong to his master—be perfectly honest in business toward his master, and not to go to any amusement or entertainments unless permitted by his master. He was to live a consistent, upright life, etc., and both signed the original agreement written in the German. This ancient document shows the evolution of the family name now written Feighner.

The family of John Adam Feighner came direct from Pennsylvania and knew the hardships incident to pioneer life in Indiana. There were five sons and five daughters in the family: Jacob, Animary, Harriet, John, Elizabeth, Adam J. (father of Albert L.), William, Sarah, Julia and Daniel, but only Daniel, living in Montana, and Julia, living in Ohio, survive Adam J. Feighner, who died at the family homestead, which he had acquired by purchasing all the shares, February 20, 1910. At the age of 73 years, 3 months and 10 days, Mrs. Feighner, with a niece, Miss Fanny White, continues to reside there. Mrs. Feighner was one of nine children in a Madison county family, her sisters being Sarah, Elizabeth and Rachel, and her brothers, Hiram, Henry, Samuel, John and Mace White. Some of them afterward lived in Grant county. Mrs. Feighner has always been a woman interested in those about her, and while her husband lived they had a large circle of friends, who still show every courtesy to her. She preferred living on at the old homestead where she had always been so busy and acquired a competency. She was a woman who enjoyed the daily newspapers, and she kept in touch with the whole world until she became an invalid a few months ago.

Albert L. Feighner married Miss Laura E. Lobdell, January 16, 1889, and for twenty-five years they have worked together, and their pleasant surroundings bespeak their industry. Mrs. Feighner is one of five children born to Aaron T. and Catherine (McDaniel) Lobdell, of Washington. (See Golden Wedding list in history.) A sister, Mrs. Emma Bradford, and a brother, Francis M. Lobdell, are deceased, and Mrs. Josephine Creviston (see H. C. Creviston) and John T. Lobdell are well known residents of this community. Two daughters were born to Mr. and Mrs. Feighner: Georgia Olive, wife of Claude R. Maple, and Edith Violet, wife of Clarence D. Erlewine. They also have one granddaughter, Wilma Catherine Maple, and they have lost one grandson, Raymond Feighner Erlewine. When Electra-Lea changes ownership again, even though by inheritance, it will go out of the Feighner family name, as there is no son to perpetuate it. "Faegner" in German became Feighner in English, and since A. L. Feighner is still a young man the name will not soon be forgotten in the annals of the community.

While Mr. and Mrs. Feighner were educated in the common schools, their daughters had high school advantages, the interurban car passing their door, and there is no advantage in town not available to the family at Electra-Lea. While the Feighner automobile is seen on Marion streets in summer, the family use the electric cars for lectures, sermons or the theater in the evening. They can see the car from their window in time to hail it at the Feighner stop in front of the house, and many matches are burned at that point—a light always a safe signal in the darkness. Electra-Lea has all modern equipments, and it is never necessary to call a machinist to adjust slight difficulties. While the old log house, weatherboarded up and down, still stands in the group of farm buildings and does service on butchering day and for storage, and while John Adam Feighner, who built it, operated a tannery and supplied many shoemakers with leather in pioneer days, at the same time clearing the land, dairy farming has been the source of income there recently.

A. L. Feighner was among the first Grant county farmers to install the telephone, and nothing is ever offered on the market that is not sold before it is brought to town. The silo at Electra-Lea has long ago paid for itself, and there is a manure saving plant not equaled anywhere else in Grant county. The manure spreader comes into a shed surrounding a shaft where all roughness reaches the cattle, and it is there loaded from both the horse and dairy barns, and there is no waste, as all fertility reaches the field with out rain falling on it. Mr. and Mrs. Feighner both understand the requirements of the successful farmer, and they make the most of their opportunities—convenience to market—and nothing is wasted at Electra-Lea. Mr. Feighner is conservative. He is a member of the township council, and is always alert to the interests of the community. They are members of the First Christian church, and are as frequently in their pew as if they lived in town. When Adam J. Feighner lived he was recognized as a man of his word, and the son has the same high moral conception of timings. While he is proud of his father's citizenship, he has pride also in his war record, Company K, Fortieth Indiana Private Infantry. He received his discharge at Nashville in 1865, when all the soldiers returned to their homes and every day pursuits. Two of his neighbors, G. W. Coon and Henry Callentine, were with him in the army, and they survive him. Their friendship continued to the end.

While Electra-Lea is modern, the Feighners know the meaning of "early and late'' as spoken by the pioneers, and they are entitled to the comforts and luxuries of twentieth century civilization.

"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 A. JONES. The cultivation of the soil has been the life long vocation of John A. Jones, who has a good farmstead in section seventeen of Fairmount township, and gets his daily mail over the rural route number sixteen from Jonesboro. It is now more than eighty years since the Jones family found their home in the wilderness of Grant county, their settlement having occurred only about a year after the organization of the county. The family has thus been well known through three generations, is well distributed in different sections of the county, and most of its members have been adherents of the Quaker faith.

The great-grandfather of John A. Jones was Louis Jones. Grandfather Jonathan Jones was born in Randolph county, North Carolina, about 1806. The fathers for several generations have been Quakers. He grew up on a farm and married Dorcas, a daughter of Hazel Hush, also of Randolph county. Jonathan Jones and wife continued to live in North Carolina, until most of their children were born. Then in the year 1832, as a family they all moved north to Indiana. Teams and wagons brought their little party across the mountains and over the intervening distance separating the ridge of the Alleganies, from the great central states of the middle west. Arriving in Grant county, Jonathan Jones took up government land in Liberty township. With his ax he chopped down trees, cleared a small place for his log cabin and a garden, and later extended his area of cultivated ground, until he had a nice little farm. He continued to live there until his death a few years before the Civil war. He was then fifty-two years of age. One brother, Joseph Jones, also came north to Grant county, and died in Fairmount township before the war, leaving a widow but no children. Dorcas Jones, after the death of her husband, married Mr. Asa Peacock, who died on the old Jones homestead. His widow later went to Kansas, where she died about 1877, at the age of ninety years.

Jonathan Jones was the father of five sons and three daughters. Milford, Van Buren and Jonathan, were brave soldiers of the Civil war in an Indiana regiment. Two of them died on the battlefield, giving up their lives for the flag, and one was sacrificed while a prisoner at Andersonville. The other children were: Thomas, mentioned below; Lewis, who married Mary Kirk, and died on his farm in Liberty township, where his widow still lives with her only son Milford; Louisa, married Elijah Stanfleld, and died in Missouri, leaving one son, also now deceased; Elinor, married Lindley Arnett, lived and died in Liberty township, and left eight sons and one daughter. Nancy married Henry Baldwin, who died in Oklahoma two years ago, and she yet lives there, in advanced age, and was the mother of one son and three daughters.

Thomas Jones, the father of J. A. Jones was born in North Carolina, November 19, 1830, and died in Liberty township of Grant county, December 29, 1875. He was just two years old when the family accomplished its migration north to Grant county. In Liberty township he spent his childhood days. In 1862 he enlisted in the Forty-second regiment of Indiana volunteers, but not many months later was taken ill as a result of exposure during the campaign, in which he participated, and was finally furloughed home and later discharged. He was never afterwards a strong man physically, and died about ten years after the war. He married Maria Miller. She was born in Clinton county, Ohio, January 19, 1830, and is now past eighty-three years of age, one of Grant county's octogenarians. She came to Liberty township in Grant county with her parents, William and Margaret (Chapson) Miller. Elizabeth Chapson, mother of Margaret Chapson died in Liberty township at the remarkable age of one hundred and ten years, eleven months and ten days, and is buried in Oak Ridge cemetery. William Miller and wife settled on a farm in Liberty township, and spent the rest of their lives there. His death occurred when he was about seventy-six years of age, and she lived to be four-score. They were members of the Wesleyan Methodist faith. Mrs. Jones at her venerable age, is now feeble, but retained her interest in life, and is devoted to the Oak Ridge church of which both she and her husband were members. Her children are mentioned as follows: Sarah F., the oldest, died when seven years old, from accidental burning; Della, died in infancy; the next is Mr. J. A. Jones; George lives on his father's old farm in Liberty township, and married Jane Elliott, a daughter of William Elliott, and has two children, Blanche and Thomas.

Mr. John A. Jones was born on the old homestead in Liberty township, March 29, 1863. There he grew up to manhood, had such education as the local schools afforded, and started out as a farmer, and has made a success of that vocation. He was married in Liberty township to Miss Frances K, Faust, who was born in Liberty township, July 15, 1867, and reared and educated there. Her parents, Frank and Laura (Felton) Faust, were natives of Pennsylvania and North Carolina respectively, but were married in Liberty township of Grant county, and were substantial farmers there. Her father died when eighty years of age, and her mother at the age of seventy-six. Both were members of the Christian church. Mr. and Mrs. Jones are the parents of three children: Bertha R., who had a public school education; Cora Alice, a graduate of the Fairmount Academy in 1910, and still at home; Edna May, who is a member of the Fairmount Academy Class of 1914. Mr. Jones and wife are both Quakers, and he was born in that church. His politics is Republican.

WILLIAM D. SHAFER. In a history of the prominent and influential citizens of Grant county, William D. Shafer is deserving of mention, for his well spent life, his ability, his loyalty to public duty and his fidelity in private life have all gained him a place among the leading residents of the community. He has been a resident of Mills township for twenty-seven years, and during this time has improved an excellent farm of forty acres, located in section 3, and his career continues to be one of constant progress and advancement. Mr. Shafer is a product of the Old Dominion, born in Rockbridge county, Virginia, November 30, 1847, and is a son of Philip and Catherine (McCorkle) Shafer.

Mr. Shafer is a member of an old and honored Virginia family. His grandfather, Jacob Shafer, a blacksmith by trade, also followed farming and passed his whole life in the vicinity of Natural Bridge, Virginia, where he passed away at the age of eighty-six years and was laid to rest on his own farm. He was a man of industry and integrity, endeavored to give his family the best of advantages and comforts, and won his community's esteem by a life of probity and clean living. He was for many years a member of the Presbyterian church, and in his political views adopted the principles of Democracy when that party was organized. Philip Shafer, son of Jacob Shafer, was one of sixteen children, all of whom grew to maturity, most of whom were married and had families, and now all deceased. This family was remarkable for its longevity, nearly all of its members attaining seventy or more years. Philip Shafer was born in 1812 in Rockbridge county, near Natural Bridge, and grew up a farmer, in the meantime securing an ordinary education in the public schools. His entire active career was devoted to the tilling of the soil, and when he retired for a well-earned rest went to live with his son, Robert Shafer, who was making his home in the vicinity of Tarkio, Atchison county, Missouri. There the father died at the age of eighty-six years. While living in Rockbridge county, Virginia, Mr. Shafer was married to Miss Catherine McCorkle, who was born in that same county in 1822, and died there in 1909, when aged about eighty-six years. She came of Scotch stock, was a woman of strong religious views, and for many years was a devout member of the Presbyterian church. She was the mother of eight sons and one daughter, and of this family five sons still survive.

William D. Shafer was reared and educated in his native county, early adopted the vocation of farmer as the field in which to work out his success, and continued to be so engaged in the East until 1883. In that year Mr. Shafer left his home and came to Jonesboro, Indiana, where he was employed in the steel mill in Gas City, Indiana, several years, and for nearly a quarter of a century was a resident of that place. In 1906 however, he came to Mills township and purchased his present property in section 3, a tract of forty acres which is yielding him golden harvests for the work he expends upon it. Mr. Shafer is progressive and enterprising in his views and operations, using modern methods and being at all times ready to give a trial to new appliances and devices. He has improved his property with good substantial buildings, and the general appearance of the homestead denotes the presence of thrift, prosperity and good management.

While still a resident of his native county, Mr. Shafer was united in marriage with Miss Nancy J. Ruley, who was born in Rockbridge county in 1844, and she died in Jonesboro, Indiana, in 1892, and was there laid to rest. Four children were born to this union: Burtney, now a resident of Jonesboro, is married and has children; Margaret, who became the wife of Harry Wootring, resides in Jonesboro and has no children; Esther, who is the wife of George Carter, a school teacher of Port Arthur, Texas; and Jennie, who became the wife of Frank Bourie, and died leaving a son and a daughter. Mr. Shafer's second marriage occurred at Jonesboro, Indiana, when he was united with Mrs. Sarah Eliza Wilson, nee Roush, a sister of William P. Roush, a sketch of whose career will be found on another page of this volume. She was born, reared and educated in Mill township, and has always lived here. By her first marriage, with Henry Wilson, now deceased, she has one child living: Bertha, the wife of Morris Fowel, living at Chicago, Illinois, with no children.

Mrs. Shafer is a Presbyterian, while her husband is connected with the Methodist church. He is a stalwart Democrat, but takes only a good citizen's interest in affairs which affect the welfare of his community and its people. Essentially a farmer, he has been content to devote his best energies to the tilling of the soil and to allow others to seek the sometimes doubtful honors of public life.

JESSE J. TIPPEY was born in section 31, of Van Buren township, Grant county, Indiana, February 24, 1847. He lived at home with his parents till he was past seventeen years of age, when he enlisted in the army, enlisting at Wabash, Wabash county, in Company D, One Hundred and Fifty-third Regiment, Indiana Volunteers, in which he served until mustered out at the close of the war.

He was diligent in school. After returning from the army he attended the old Academy at Marion for a few years, finishing his education at Crawfordsville College, Crawfordsville, Indiana, where he was socially prominent and a leading member of the Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity. He receiving many invitations to attend meetings of the order as a member of the Alumni after leaving college.

He began his teaching career in the Fall and Winter term of 1867-8, and continued as one of the leading teachers in the common schools of Grant county for twelve years. In 1872 he was united in marriage with Elizabeth Westfall, to which union was born seven children, all of whom are now living. They are Macaulay E., of Wabash, Indiana; Mrs. George B. Love of Marion, Indiana; Mrs. Edward S. Hawkins, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania; Mrs. Ora E. Talbert, of LaGro, Indiana; Mr. Frank H. Tippey, of Marion, Indiana; Flossie C. and Merritt J. Tippey, of Wabash, Indiana. He possessed a progressive spirit and was in every way considered successful.

In the year 1879 he sold his possessions in Grant county, and, with his family, removed in the Spring of 1880 to Cass county, Iowa, where he was successful as a farmer and stockraiser. In the Spring of 1891, together with his family, he removed to Pasadena, California, but not finding the school facilities and surroundings suitable for the family he decided to return to the place where the larger part of his life had been lived and at once returned to Marion, Indiana, and purchased a farm three miles east of Marion, where he lived for sixteen years, at which time he sold out and moved to a large farm seven miles northeast of Wabash. At the end of three years he retired from active farm life and purchased a splendid home on West Pike street, Wabash, Indiana, where he resided until called upon to leave this life, March 18, 1910, at the age of 63 years and 24 days.

He united with the Methodist Episcopal church in 1873. His early training was conducive to a strong, firm faith in God who doeth all things well. He was a student of the Word and often found pleasure in teaching the same. In all his dealings with men he was ever considered honest and honorable. He loved the simple life. He was not ostentatious, but quiet and unassuming. To know him was but to find in him a friend; for he was truly a friend of man.

His children were dearly loved by him and he ever sacrificed for them that they might have a good education and be intellectually and morally equipped for the battles of life.

GEORGE B. LOVE. In every community there are a few men whom everyone admire and respect, not on account of their business ability and worldly successes, but because of their personal characteristics. Such a man is George B. Love, of Marion, Indiana. Although he is one of the most successful farmers in the county, men do not speak of him as "one of our big farmers," but as "one of the finest men." He was born in this county and has spent his entire life in this section. His genial disposition and his public spiritedness, as well as his ability and practical common sense, have won him universal liking and respect, and since he is a young man the future looks very brilliant for him.

George B. Love is a son of Irvin Love, who was born in Miami county, Ohio, August 28, 1840. He was the third son in a family of eleven children born to William and Mary (Dungan) Love. Both his father and mother were born in Huntington county, Pennsylvania, his father in 1807 and his mother in 1809. Irvin Love was of Dutch and Irish descent. His parents moved to Grant county, Indiana, when he was but six months old, and there they settled on a farm in Washington township. William Love died on this farm when Irvin was only seven years of age, and it then devolved upon the entire family to obtain their sustenance, meaning hard work for all. Owing to this Irvin was deprived of the advantages of an education, but being of an observant nature he largely overcame this disadvantage later in life through study and observation. At the age of twenty-two Irvin Love enlisted in Company C, Fifty-fourth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, this being in October, 1862. He served in that regiment for a year, taking part in the battles of Chickasaw Bayou, Arkansas Post, Magnolia Hill, Champion Hill, Jackson and the siege of Vicksburg. In December, 1863, he was discharged at New Orleans, and then returned home. He at this time owned a part interest in the home farm in Washington township, the remainder being owned by the other heirs of the father. By hard work and thrift, he now managed to save enough to purchase the entire property and become the sole owner of the farm. He remained a farmer all of his life, though he had other interests. He assisted in the building of the Marion-Salem gravel road, one of the first in Grant county, and in 1885 he built a livery barn in Marion, at the corner of Adams and Third streets, which he conducted for several years. He also built a fine home in Marion on North Branson street, expecting to move into the city, but he died at the farm. In political matters he was an active member of the Democratic party.Irvin Love married Mrs. Emily Ballard on the 24th of October, 1868. She died on the 12th of April, 1882, leaving two children, George B. and Orville I. Love, the latter born March 20, 1878, and was killed by a horse on the 11th of April, 1892. On May 23, 1883, Mr. Love married Mrs. Hettie Pearman, a sister of his former wife, and his widow now resides in Marion. Mr. Love died on the 11th of May, 1899, and in his death Grant county lost one of her best and noblest citizens.

George B. Love was born July 12, 1871, in the old log cabin home on the farm in Washington township, Grant county, Indiana. He was reared on the farm and received his education in the schools of Washington township and in Marion Normal College. After completing his education he went to work on the farm with his father, and continued to work with him until the latter's death. He always lived at home, but previous to his father's death he rented a farm south of the old home and worked it. Upon the death of Irvin Love he took the home farm and also bought the eighty acres adjoining, thus making him the owner of two hundred and forty acres of fine land. Although he moved to Marion in November, 1909, he still manages his farm and has made it prosper greatly. He owns an attractive home at 417 North Washington street in Marion.

In religious matters Mr. Love is a member of the Methodist church, and fraternally he has affiliations with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, having been a member of this order since 1900.

Mr. Love was married on the 8th of March, 1899, to Miss Almynta Tippey, a daughter of Jesse J. and Elizabeth A. (Westfall) Tippey, both natives of Grant county, Indiana. Mrs. Love was prominent in musical circles and was engaged in teaching school for several years prior to marriage. She is a member of and a very active worker in the First Methodist Episcopal church at Marion. She is also prominent in W. C. T. U. circles, being vice president of the Grant county, Indiana, Women's Christian Temperance Union, and in 1907 the Love W. C. T. U., of Marion, was organized, and she was made its first president. The branch was organized with a membership of twenty-three, and it now enrolls one hundred members. Mrs. Love has been its president since its organization. Four children have graced the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Love, as follows: Earl R., who was born on the 26th of May, 1900; Emily A., born August 13, 1901; Elizabeth G., born May 21, 1903; and Mary E., born on the 15th of December, 1908.

Deb Murray