Blackford County Biography Ref. Page

ZEBEDEE F. RUSH was twelve years old when he came to Grant county and here took up his residence, and since that time he has been a constant resident of the district, barring a season spent in Kansas. He owns and operates a truck farm in Mill township, and his place is one of the most prolific spots in the county, bar none. Mr. Rush comes of a family that has for generations been identified with the soil, and the secrets of nature have been unfolded to them because they have devoted themselves to the horticultural art with all diligence and perseverance.

Randolph, North Carolina, has contributed some of her best old stock to the newer portions of Indiana, and Grant county has come in for a share of it in the acquisition of the Rush family, as well as a good many others who will be found mentioned in other pages of this historical and biographical work. Captain Zebedee Rush, the grandfather of the subject, was born in Randolph county, of sterling Scotch ancestry. He was a farmer by occupation, and in the War of 1812 he served his country as a captain. He passed his life in his native county, a citizen of splendid type, and he died in about 1870, when he was in the neighborhood of eighty-five years of age. He was married in the vicinity of his birthplace to Miss Fannie Fuller, also born and reared in that community, and she died in 1863 when she was about seventy years of age. She bore her husband a fine family of eleven children as follows: Duncan K., born September 11, 1815; Benjamin C., born December 13, 1816; Archibald F., born March 17, 1818; Martha, born July 9, 1819; Noah, born August 13, 1820; Henry, born March 17, 1822; Dorcas, born September 29, 1824; Fanna, born April 6, 1826; Zebedee Franklin, born December 28, 1827; Eliza and Calvin, twins, born June 7, 1829. All lived to years of maturity, a fact worthy of mention in so large a family, and all are married and had families of their own, every one reaching the age of fifty and many of them being much older before they passed on. Two of the number, Fuller A. and Duncan, served in the Confederate army, the latter from choice, but the former was pressed into the service, though his heart was with the North and the Union cause, as, indeed, were most of the family.

Benjamin Clarence Rush was reared to farm life in his native community, and in early manhood there he married Susanna P. Henley. She was horn in Randolph county in about 1820, and was the daughter of Jesse Henley, a farmer, distiller and miller. In 1866 the family came north to Indiana, settling in Grant county. They made the long trip with teams and were from April to June on the way, reaching Grant county on the 6th day of June, 1866. In 1867 they came to Mill township, and they continued to live there until 1878, when they returned to North Carolina, and there Benjamin Clarence Rush died in 1879. His widow later returned to the north and located in Fairmount township, and continued a resident of this place until her death, which took place on February 14, 1903. She and her husband were members of the Friends church, and he was ever a staunch Union man and a Republican in politics. They had fourteen children, and one of them, Calvin Rush, served as a substitute for his uncle in the Confederate army, though, as has been already stated, he was at heart a Union man. He died before he was twenty-one years of age. Of this large family nine are yet living, and all but one have children.

Zebedee Rush was twelve years of age when his parents moved from Randolph county, North Carolina, to Grant county, Indiana, and but for a year he spent in Kansas in 1870 this county has been his permanent home. He was born in February, 1854, and is the seventh in order of birth in the large family of which he was one. Mr. Rush has since reaching manhood devoted himself to truck farming, and in recent years has operated on a large scale. His place is in Section 8, Mills township, and his activities are confined to a tract of twelve acres, which are devoted chiefly to small fruits. He is an extensive grower of the choicest varieties of strawberries that are known to the horticulturist's art, and his success in his work has been exceedingly good. Vegetables, however, have their proper place in his garden, and almost every variety of vegetable peculiar to the climate is produced in this well conducted spot.

Mr. Rush was married in Liberty township to Miss Jennie Wall, who was born in Liberty township on March 20, 1859. She is the daughter of Jonathan Wall, who died when she was a small child. Her mother, Mary (Rush) Wall, died some years ago, well advanced in years. Mrs. Rush was reared by her maternal grandfather, Nixon Rush, a prominent man of Liberty township all his days, and she is the mother of four children. Mary Margaret Rush, born May 9, 1879, died May 17, 1879. Helen Demaris, who was born on June 10, 1882, died at the age of twenty-four, soon after her marriage to Roy Manlove, without issue. Clio C. Rush, born March 20, 1885, is unmarried and makes his home with his parents. D. Benton, born October 12, 1887, is a farmer of Mill township, and is married to Blanche Burr, of Mill township, and they have a daughter, Helen Lucile, born August 18, 1913.

Mr. and Mrs. Rush are members of the Friends' Church, and are among the most active and useful members thereof in the community. He is a Prohibitionist, and his life has been directed along the lines of his belief with telling effect in his community at all times. Few men in the township have a better standing that he, or a greater influence for good.

"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

MRS. CARRIE J. DUNN. The old pioneer families of Grant county have interesting records, and none of them more so than the Jones family, which will always have a permanent memorial in the little city of Jonesboro. Mrs. Carrie J. Dunn, of Marion, is a daughter of the late Dr. Enoch Pearson and Lydia (Ellis) Jones. Her grandparents were Obediah and Ann (Pearson) Jones. The Jones ancestors came from Wales in 1700, locating first in Virginia and afterward in North Carolina. Obediah Jones was born in the latter state. With other Quakers who were opposed to the institution of slavery the parents of Obediah moved to Montgomery county, Ohio, and there he met the woman who became his wife. In 1835 they came with other Montgomery and Miami county families to Indiana, but Obediah Jones had already been in Grant county, where he bought three hundred acres of land, and two years later the town of Jonesboro was founded on a portion of his estate and still bears his name. The house he built is still a landmark of the time. Eight children had been born to Obediah and Ann Jones while they lived in Ohio.

Lydia Ann (Ellis) Jones, the mother of Mrs. Dunn, is a daughter of Robert and Anna Ellis. This was also a family from Ohio who located at Jonesboro. Mrs. Jones, who is still living at Marion, in advanced years, makes her home with her daughter, Mrs. Dunn, and is in many ways one of the most notable of Grant county women. When Dr. E. P. Jones began the practice of medicine she was such an able assistant to him that she frequently prescribed for his patients, and the charge for her medical services were added to the account of the doctor's. She was a specialist in diseases of children, many asking her advice from choice in this respect. Dr. Jones and his wife had grown up together at Jonesboro, and while she did not attend the medical college she practiced in his office every day and no comment was ever made about it from a professional point of view. While the Jones family homestead was in town, Dr. Jones built a splendid suburban residence at Jonesboro, where the family combined town and country life, but that home has since been destroyed by fire.

In 1875 Dr. Jones and his wife moved to Marion, where the family still live, and Dr. and Mrs. Jones built up a splendid practice. The Jones block and residence on Fourth street are practical results of their activities, and Mrs. Jones still owns a farm which they paid for out of their joint earnings many years ago. The death of Dr. Jones occurred in 1903, and since then Mrs. Jones and her daughter, Mrs. Dunn, have lived together. Of the seven children born in the family only Mrs. Dunn and Linton E. Jones reached adult age. The son spends the most of his time in travel.

Carrie Jones, the daughter, was married October 30, 1883, to Dr. Wesley A. Dunn, who had read medicine in the office of her father and who located in Wabash for the practice of his profession. Dr. Dunn was a son of John and Miranda (Bryant) Dunn, who were pioneer residents of Pleasant township, Grant county. While he had long aspired to a finished education, Dr. Dunn could not complete it until after he had begun medical practice. He continued for ten years in Wabash, and then sought a larger opportunity in Chicago, where he specialized in diseases of the throat, nose and ear, and became recognized as one of the best surgeons in that city. He did a great deal of post graduate work, and twice he went abroad for study and twice for recreation. Mrs. Dunn accompanied him on one of his trips across the ocean. The last voyage was made with a friend, Francis Dunn (no relative) of Chicago, who was with Dr. Dunn when the latter died of typhoid fever in Naples, Italy, March 20, 1897. His friend brought the body to Marion, where he was laid to rest. The body arrived in the home city at the time it had been planned to complete the pleasure trip. Mr. Francis Dunn was a member of the Chicago Board of Trade, and secured transportation for the body of Dr. Dunn without difficulty, although the Italian laws on that subject are stringent.

Mrs. Dunn has three children, and it has been her ambition to give them the education their father had planned for them. The Misses Grace and Edith Dunn left the Marion high school in their junior year and entered Vassar College, where Grace graduated in 1908 and Edith in 1909. While at Vassar Grace Dunn specialized in music, and after teaching piano and violin for two years in the Marion Conservatory of Music took a similar position in Highland Park, Chicago, where for two years she taught the two instruments with success. On the 4th of September, 1913, in Geneva, Switzerland, she was married to John P. Matter, a son of Mr. and Mrs. Philip Matter, a prominent business man of Marion, Indiana. This young couple spent their school days together in Marion, and afterward Mr. Matter attended Princeton University, where he graduated with the class of 1906. Mrs. Matter spent the summer of 1913 abroad, and she was met by Mr. Matter in Geneva, and they were married in that historic old city. Their home is now in Chicago, Illinois.

Miss Edith Dunn taught history and English for two years in the Marion high school, and on March 26, 1913, was married to Berthold M. Nussbaum, who was also a Marion young man, a son of Mr. and Mrs. Leo Nussbaum. After graduating from the Marion High School, he attended Howe School, at Howe, Indiana, to prepare for Harvard, where he graduated in 1908. They began housekeeping in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Mr. Nussbaum had located in business. It had been a cherished ambition of Dr. Dunn's to give his children the best of educational advantages, and Mrs. Dunn feels that she has carried out his plans for them. While her children are away from her, she and her mother constitute the family circle, and live in Marion where they have business and property investments.

Francis Wesley Dunn, the son of Mrs. Carrie J. Dunn, was a member of the class of 1913 of the Marion High School, and in the fall of the same year he entered the University of Chicago, preparatory to entering Harvard, his education being his mother's present ambition.

JESSE M. BALLARD. As president of the Ballard Packing Company, which he founded some years ago in Marion, Jesse M. Ballard is well and favorably known in this city, where he has been prominently identified with business interests since his young manhood. He is a man who has seen a considerable public service, his acquaintance in the city being unduly wide because of that fact, and there are few men in the city who have a better standing among their fellows or are more worthy of the hearty good will he here enjoys than is Mr. Ballard.

Born July 13, 1861, in Center township, Grant county, Jesse M. Ballard is the son of James and Emily (Riggs) Ballard. The father was a native of Henry county, Indiana, and the mother of Elkhart county, this state. James Ballard was a farmer, born to the industry, and he came to Grant County as a young man, and worked as a farm hand by the month until he had saved sufficient money to buy him a small farm. He had no sooner made his purchase and become well settled on his new home with his little family, when the outbreak of the Rebellion upset his plans forever. He was drafted in the Forty-third Indiana and he died in the service at Huntsville, Indiana, leaving his widow and two young children to mourn his untimely end. The children were Jesse M., of this review, and Nora, who is married and lives in Grant county.

The mother later married Irwin Love, of Grant county, and of this second marriage two sons were born,�George B. Love, who is mentioned elsewhere at length in this work, and Orville, who is now deceased. The mother passed away in April, 1882.

Jesse M. Ballard was reared on the farm where he was born, which his father had earned by the sweat of his brow, and which relentless Fate never permitted him to enjoy for more than the brief period preceding his enlistment in the service of his country. The son received some education in the country schools, and being an apt and brilliant student, found it possible to spend some time in the Marion Normal. He began life as a farmer, teaching school in Washington township during the winter seasons for eight years, and on May 1, 1893, he was appointed deputy postmaster of Marion, a position he held until 1896, when he was appointed postmaster by President Cleveland. He held the office for three years, resigning his place on the anniversary of the day when he entered the service. For some time thereafter Mr. Ballard farmed and handled live stock, and then commenced to take an active interest in the wholesale meat and packing business, in connection with his farming operations. He began the new enterprise on January 1, 1901, under the firm name of Ballard & Schwartz, and for eighteen months thereafter the new firm conducted business, after which Mr. Ballard bought out his partner, and the firm became known as the Ballard Cold Storage Company, continuing as such until 1909. On January 1st of that year the business became known to the community as the Ballard Packing Company, having been incorporated in September, 1908, with Jesse Ballard, president, A. J. Ballard, vice-president and Otto Small, secretary-treasurer. The firm carries on a general packing business in hogs, cattle and sheep, and is one of the prosperous and well established enterprises of the city.

Mr. Ballard was married on September 4, 1883, to Mary A. Lomax, a daughter of Alfred and Mary (Anderson) Lomax. They have two children: Emily, the wife of Harry Stover, of Mobile, Alabama, and Alfred J., who is associated with his father in the business, as vice-president of the company.

In addition to his other interests, which are more or less widespread, Mr. Ballard has a cotton plantation in Louisiana, consisting of 1,185 acres, and a small place of 140 acres in Washington township, this county. Other property in and about the county is also to be found upon the tax tolls charged against him.

Mr. Ballard and his family are members of the Episcopal church, and he is a Democrat in his political faith. He has membership in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Independent Order of Foresters, and in these, as well as in other circles, is highly esteemed by his fellow men.

TONY GEORGE. One of the most familiar figures in Grant county and of the most likeable of men is Tony George, ex-sheriff of Grant county. As one who fought the battles of life independent of help from his earliest boyhood, his success has been manifestly of his own making and he is deserving of all credit for the progress he has made and the prosperity he has experienced. Born at Antwerp, Paulding county, Ohio, on May 3, 1871, he is the son of Anthony and Caroline (Raddenbaugh) George, natives of Germany and Ohio, respectively.

Anthony George was a butcher by trade, and he came to America when he was about twenty-seven years of age. He died when his son was about two years old, his death occurring in Paulding county, Ohio, and there the mother also died a few years later. They had three children, the others being Anna, who is the widow of Charles Huffner, of Defiance, Ohio, and Lulu, who is the widow of Gus Kerns. Some time after the death of Anthony George, his widow married Frank Wisemettle, and to them were born seven children, five of whom now survive, namely John, Frank, Joe, Carl and Leo.

The education that Tony George received in his boyhood days in Antwerp, Ohio, was a limited one, and did not extend past his eleventh year. At that age he was put to work in a factory to add what he could to the support of the family. He began in a stave factory, later going into a hoop factory, and he continued in that work for some little time. He set himself to learn the trade of a baker in Antwerp, and he finished his apprenticeship in 1888, after he had come to Marion. He worked here for a short while, then left Marion and was employed in Toledo and other Ohio cities. He later moved in a southerly direction and for a time Memphis and other southern cities claimed his attention. In time he returned to the north and from Antwerp, Ohio, made his way back to Marion, Indiana, which has since represented his home and the center of his business activities. Until May 5, 1897, he followed his trade as a baker, and in that month he become a member of the local police force, with the rank of sergeant continuing in that capacity until April 19, 1901, when he resigned. For two years thereafter he was engaged in his old work and again gave it up to identify himself with the local police force, this time as captain of the force. During the time he served thus he was recognized as one of the most capable and efficient officers the service had ever known in Marion, and he was one of the most popular with his men. He continued in that office with all success until he was nominated by the Republican party in 1908 for the office of Sheriff of Grant county, and he was duly elected to the position, assuming the duties of his office on January 1, 1909. He was re-elected in 1910 and continued in consecutive service for four years. His regime as incumbent of the office of sheriff was one of the most efficient the county has ever known. He gave no quarter to criminals of whatever order, and his was a veritable "reign of terror" to evil-doers. Of a gang of thirteen horse thieves that he rounded up and captured, nine served prison terms, and during his term of office, he apprehended and dealt with nine murderers. In short, his official career as sheriff was characterized by the most praiseworthy and efficient service in the office, and he proved himself an honest and fearless servant of the public, whose confidence in him was manifestly well placed, and merited to the last moment of his official connection with the position.

On July 20, 1892, Mr. George was married to Tillie Gilpin, the daughter of George and Hannah Gilpin, of Grant county, Indiana. One son was born to them, Rex George, whose birth occurred on October 2, 1893. He was graduated from the Marion high school in 1910, when he was seventeen years old, and he is now a student in the Indiana State University at Bloomington.

Mr. George is a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the Loyal Order of Moose, the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the Orioles. He is president of the Gifford Gun Club, and is one of the well known sportsmen of the town and county. Gifford Club, which is one of the representative gun clubs of the state, has five sections of land leased in the vicinity of Kankakee, Illinois, and has long known the influence and support of Mr. George. Mr. George received from the club at one time as a token of the esteem and appreciation of its members, a handsome and valuable ring, which he wears with considerable pride, in which he is well justified. Mr. George is also president of the Grant County Protective and Indemnifying Association, which has a membership of five hundred men, and which was organized for protection against horse thieves. As president of this association for the past four years, he has done excellent work in the best interests of the organization, and the association as such is thoroughly appreciative of the character of his interest. He is one of the most popular men in the county, and numbers his friends by the score, and it is a pleasure to record that his immense popularity is not one of ephemeral quality, but is founded upon genuine respect and esteem, and a thorough understanding of him and the many, excellent qualities that characterize the man.

DAVID W. WINSLOW. The late David W. Winslow was a resident of Grant county through a period of more than sixty years, and from manhood until his death he was engaged in a variety of pursuits, all connected with the rising mercantile, commercial and agricultural interests of the county, with whose growth he was intimately related, and with whose phenomenal prosperity he prospered. While he was essentially a business man, he also found time to devote to the public enterprises of the various communities in which he made his home, and is remembered as a man of sterling public-spirit, with a high ideal of the duties of citizenship and of the responsibilities of public office. When he died at his home in Jonesboro, February 14, 1910, his community lost a citizen whose place was decidedly hard to fill.

Mr. Winslow was born May 10, 1849, in Grant county, Indiana, a son of Thomas Winslow, who came to Indiana as an early settler of Grant county and spent the remainder of his life in Fairmount township in agricultural pursuits, dying in advanced years. He was a brother of Nixon Winslow, and a complete review of the family history will be found in the sketch of Ansel Winslow, on another page of this work. The brothers and sisters of David W. Winslow are all now deceased.

After obtaining an education in the district schools of Fairmount township, where in the meantime he assisted his father in the cultivation of the home fields, David W. Winslow engaged in operations on his own account until 1879, when he removed to Gas City. He maintained his residence there, however, only for one year, when he removed to his farm on the line of Mills and Center townships, a valuable tract of 143 acres, which he brought to a high state of cultivation. While residing there he was appointed deputy sheriff, under Sheriff William Wilson, and continued to act in that capacity for two years, resigning his office when he came to Jonesboro. Here he established himself in the livery business, and for ten years carried on one of the popular enterprises of its kind at this place. During this time he had become interested in the breeding of stock and in trading in horses, and to this he finally gave his entire attention, being so engaged at the time of his death. He was ever known as an honorable man of business, whose transaction were carried on in a strictly legitimate manner, and his associates had every reason to place the greatest confidence in him.

While a resident of Franklin township, Mr. Winslow was united in marriage with Miss Nancy J. Harris, who was born in that township, March 31, 1858. She was reared and educated there and at Fairmount, and since her husband's death has demonstrated the possession of excellent business abilities. She still makes her home in her pleasant residence at the corner of Main and Seventh streets, where she has lived for more than twenty years. Mrs. Winslow is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church of Jonesboro, in the work of which she has been active, and has numerous friends in its congregation. Her husband was also a consistent member of this church and served as a member of its board of trustees during a long period of years. In politics a Republican, he served his city faithfully and efficiently as a member of the city council and was able to do much to advance the community's interests in his official position. He was a valued member of the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

Deb Murray