Blackford County Biography Ref. Page

LEVI THOMPSON STANLEY. That farming can be developed into one of that most agreeable and satisfying occupations in which men engage, that industry, perseverance and good judgment form the foundation for a successful career, and that integrity and honesty are among the most valuable of human assets, are facts emphasized in the life of the late Levi T. Stanley, who during a long period carried on successful operations in stockraising and farming in Licking township, Blackford county, and passed away at his home, February 13, 1903. Mr. Stanley was a native of Indiana, having been born in Randolph county, September 27, 1859, and a son of Zachariah and Sarah (Cox) Stanley.

Mr. Stanley belongs to the old and honored Quaker family of that name, of Wayne county, whose members, belonging to the Society of Friends, contributed so generously to the founding and maintenance of Earlham College, of Richmond. After their marriage, the parents of Mr. Stanley settled on a farm in Randolph county, Indiana, where they made their home for some years, and then went to a farm near Eaton, Delaware county. There the father passed away when about fifty years of age, and Mrs. Stanley subsequently married Robert Lanning and lived at Mill Grove, Blackford county, where they remained for some years. After the death of Mr. Lanning his widow went to Eaton, and there passed away at the age of seventy-three years, in the faith of the Methodist church. She was the mother of nine children, of whom two are deceased, five grew to maturity, were married and are now deceased, and the oldest and the youngest, who are the only ones living, are married but have not children.

Levi Stanley, the third of the family in order of birth, was still a lad when his parents went to Delaware county, and there secured his education in the public schools. The vocation of agriculturist was chosen as his life work, and when he was reared to establish a home of his own he married Mary Lanning, who was born in Mill Grove, Blackford county, Indiana, in 1864. She was educated there and was a teacher prior to her marriage, and died at her home in Licking township, January 7, 1892. She was the mother of one son, Ralph, who was given a good education, is now manager for the Knott Manufacturing Company, of Tell City, Indiana, married Elsie Scheafer, and has one son, Rudolph. Mr. Stanley was married to Miss Charlottie Thorp, at Eaton, Delaware county, February 4, 1893. She was born at Kendallville, Noble county, Indiana, March 15, 1869, was born and reared in that village and educated in the public schools. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Stanley lived for a time on the Atkinson farm, in Licking township, for two years, then moving to north of Hartford City, where they lived for five years, and finally moved to the present farm in section 18, Licking township, a tract of eighty acres and one of the best of its size in the county, entirely equipped with the latest and most valuable improvements. Here are located a comfortable, seven-room white house, and a good red barn, 30 x 40 feet, in addition to which there are other buildings substantial in character and attractive in architecture. Everything about the property suggests the presence of able management and thrift, and such are indeed found here, for since her husband's death Mrs. Stanley has had entire charge of the place and has made its operations decided success. Following in the plan laid out by her husband, she raises large crops of wheat, hay, oats and corn, the land being well drained in spite of the presence of a plentiful supply of water, and has also had satisfactory dealings in the line of live stock. Mr. Stanley was a good and public-spirited citizen, and his community found in him one who could ever be depended upon to support beneficial movements and to give of the best of himself, his time or his means in behalf of the community's welfare. He was a democrat, although not a politician, and had friends among the members of all the political parties.

Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Stanley: Hazel O., born October 9, 1895, a graduate of the Hartford City High school, class of 1913, and now a student of music; Russell O., born September 17, 1899, and now in his second year at high school; and one child who died in infancy. Mrs. Stanley is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, is widely known in this part of the county, and has numerous friends who admire her for her many admirable qualities of mind and heart.

Blackford and Grant Counties, Indiana A Chronicle of their People Past and Present with Family Lineage and Personal Memoirs Compiled Under the Editorial Supervision of Benjamin G. Shinn
Volume I Illustrated
The Lewis Publishing Company Chicago and New York 1914
Submitted by Peggy Karol

FRANK F. DOUGHERTY. In the general real estate, and fire and life insurance business at Hartford City, representing the State Life Insurance Company and several fire companies, Frank F. Dougherty has been thus established as a factor in Blackford county commercial life for the past ten years. The State Life Insurance Company regards Mr. Dougherty as one of its ablest representatives, has implicit faith in his loyalty and faithfulness to the company, and his ability and practical achievement in the insurance field ranks him as one of the most capable business getters in the state. He has been with the State Life since 1905, as general agent for his district, and the confidence of the company is well shown by the fact that he has always worked without bonds. In 1913 the business turned through his office was second in volume among all the returns from the various agents of the State Life in the state. His business is located in the Gable Block on the north side of the public square in Hartford City. During the past year Mr. E. W. Hutchens of Portland, Indiana, has been associated with him in the office. Previous to taking up insurance and real estate in a permanent way, Mr. Dougherty spent six years as a traveling salesman in different parts of the country and from early youth he has been regarded as a hustler and thoroughly deserving of all his success. His first regular experience was as carpenter and mechanic in Blackford and Grant counties.

Mr. Dougherty was born in Henry county, Indiana, at Millville, January 21, 1868. He grew up on a farm, and when eleven years of age his family moved to Grant county, and his education was completed in the public schools. His father, Samuel Dougherty, had the distinction of being the second white child born in Henry county, Indiana. His birth occurred August 22, 1882, and he was the son of John Dougherty, a native of Scotland who came to the United States, first locating in Pennsylvania, and was married there to Rebecca Kott, a native of Pennsylvania and of an old family. After their marriage John Dougherty and wife lived only a few years in Pennsylvania, and in 1821 migrated west and found a home in the wilderness of Henry county, Indiana. They settled at Millville in Liberty township, secured eighty acres of government land, and passed through all the vicissitudes and experiences of the pioneers, living for a time in a log cabin until they could erect a more comfortable home, and their labors resulting eventually in prosperity for themselves, and in the redemption of a considerable part of the country from primitive conditions. Grandfather Dougherty died in Henry county at the age of seventy, and his wife, passed away at the age of eighty-one. They had a large family of eight children, six daughters and two sons. One of these are still living, one being James Dougherty of Hagerstown, Indiana, who is married and has children and grandchildren.

Samuel Dougherty, the father, grew up and learned the trade of cooper, which employed him for many years, first at Milton, Indiana, later at his birthplace of Millville, and in 1879 he moved to Jefferson township, Grant county, and settled on a farm, which remained his home until his death, July 26, 1888. His widow still lives on the homestead in Grant county and is seventy-one years of age. Both were active members of the Church of God, and Samuel Dougherty was a democrat who cast his first vote for James K. Polk in 1844, although his father before him was a whig. During the Civil war Samuel Dougherty saw two years of service as a regimental teamster. He and his wife became the parents of eight children, and they are briefly mentioned as follows: Alice is the widow of Frank Newcom of Hagerstown, Indiana, and has two daughters and one son; Elizabeth is the widow of L. P. Harris, lives at Richmond, Indiana, and has one son; Lawrence W. is married and has a son Samuel Ross, and is engaged in the grain and hay commission business at Hartford City, having at one time served as county auditor for Blackford county; Jeptha J. is a mechanical engineer and fruit grower at Bountiful, Utah, and has two sons and one daughter by his first wife; John, who has been twice married and has a daughter by his first wife, is a farmer near Hagerstown, Indiana; the sixth in order of birth is Frank F. Dougherty; Daniel V., who is unmarried, is connected with the State Epileptic Institution at Newcastle, Indiana; Everete lives with his mother in Jefferson township of Grant county, his wife being deceased, and he has a son and a daughter.

Mr. Frank F. Dougherty was married in Jefferson township of Grant county to Dora L. Owens, who was born in Coffey county, Kansas, December 7, 1870, but was educated in Upland in Grant county, Indiana. Her father, John M. Owens, died at Winnemac, Indiana, in 1901, and was a farmer. His widow now lives in Hartford City and is sixty-two years of age and a member of the Methodist church. Mr. Dougherty and wife are the parents of six children: Alice, aged twenty-three, married Carl Swindler, of Blackford county, but they now live at Tulsa, Oklahoma; Cecil Helen is a student in the Muncie College; Mildred H. is a member of the class of 1914 in the Hartford City high school; Harry is a grade school pupil; Mary F. is also in grade school, and Annabel is the youngest. Mr. Dougherty takes an active part in fraternal matters, especially with the Knights of Pythias. He is a trustee of Blackford Lodge No., 135, of that order, and has been through all the chairs and is a member of the Pythian Sisters. He is also a member of El Capitan Temple No. 94, D. O. K. of K. at Muncie. In politics a democrat, he is one of the vigorous workers in his party and both in business and civic affairs one of the leaders in Hartford City and Blackford county.

JOHN S. SELLERS, M. D. The high professional attainments of Dr. Sellers give him impregnable vantage-ground as one of the representative physicians and surgeons of Blackford county and he maintains his residence and professional headquarters at Hartford City, the judicial center of the county. The Doctor is a scion of a family that was founded in America in the colonial days, and his lineage touches Scotch, Irish and Welsh stock, his paternal grandfather having been born in Pennsylvania, of Scotch-Irish ancestry; in the old Keystone state was solemnized the marriage of this sterling citizen, and his wife, whose family name was Brandon. She was born in Pennsylvania, of Welsh extraction. Soon after their marriage the grandparents of Dr. Sellers removed to Kentucky, in which state their children were born, and in the early "20s the family came to Indiana and numbered themselves among the pioneer settlers of Wayne county, where the grandfather bought a large tract of land in the vicinity of the present village of Walnut Level. There he reclaimed from the wilderness a productive farm of 200 acres, and he was long known and honored as one of the strong and influential men of that section of the state, where both he and his wife continued to reside until their death. The grandfather of the Doctor died in the prime of his vigorous and prolific life, having passed to his reward more than eighty years ago and his widow having survived him by a number of years. They reared a number of children, and of the number Isaac Sellers figures as the father of him to whom this review is dedicated.

Isaac Sellers was born in Kentucky in the year 1812, and he was a young man at the time when he came with his parents to Indiana. He assisted in the development of the home farm, in Wayne county and had his full quota of experience in connection with the life of a pioneer. In Wayne county he wedded Miss Emma Trocksell, who was born in Maryland, in the year 1816, her paternal grandparents having immigrated to America from Germany in the latter part of the seventeenth century and having established their permanent home in Maryland. In that commonwealth was born the father of Mrs. Emma (Trocksell) Sellers. When the daughter Emma was a child the family came to Indiana and settled at Richmond, the county seat of Wayne county. After his marriage Isaac Sellers removed to Madison county, where he filed claim to forty acres of government land and effected the purchase of an additional tract of 160 acres. He brought his land under effective cultivation and became one of the substantial agriculturists and representative citizens of Madison county, where he died at the age of sixty-five years, his wife living to the age of seventy-nine years. Though both were reared in the other faiths they became zealous member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and they lived righteous lives, so that they merited and received the high regard of all who knew them. They became the parents of five sons and three daughters, and of the number Dr. Sellers of this sketch is now the only one living.

Dr. John S. Sellers was born in Richland township, Madison county, Indiana, on the 18th of November, 1843, and he acquired his early educational training in the common schools of the locality and period. In the study of medicine the Doctor gained his initial knowledge under the direction of an able private preceptor, one of the leading physicians of Madison county, and finally he entered the Indiana Medical College, in the city of Indianapolis, an institution in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1878, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. For two years after his graduation Dr. Sellers was engaged in practice in his native county, and thereafter he was a resident and practitioner of medicine at Sulphur Springs, Henry county, until 1881, when he came to Blackford county and established his residence at Montpelier, where he built up a large and representative practice and where he remained fully thirty years, removal to Hartford City, the judicial center of the county, having been made in 1911. Dr. Sellers gave years of earnest and effective service in the alleviation of human suffering and distress and he is now retired largely from active practice, though the many representative families to whom he has ministered in past years still place insistent demands upon him, for his able service and unfailing kindliness and consideration have given him inviolable place in the affection and confidence of the people of Blackford county, He is now one of the oldest of the prominent physicians of the county, and has always been known for his civic loyalty and public spirit.

Distinctive honor is due to Dr. Sellers for the intrinsic patriotism which he manifested during his service as a soldier of the Union in the Civil war. In October, 1862, from Madison county, he enlisted as a private in the One Hundred and Thirtieth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and with this gallant command he continued in active service until the close of the war, his honorable discharge having been granted to him on Christmas day of the year 1865 and the last six months of his service having been in connection with the provost marshal's department, after the cessation of specific conflict following the surrender of General Johnston and Lee. The Doctor received a slight scalp wound in the battle of Kinston, North Carolina. Though he participated in many engagements he was never captured, but he had many narrow escapes. He has perpetuated the more gracious associations of his military career by retaining membership in the Grand Army of the Republic. The Doctor is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and in times past he has been an active and appreciative member of the American Medical Association, the Indiana State Medical Society, and minor professional organizations.

At Anderson, Madison county, in the year 1872, Dr. Sellers wedded Miss Emma J. Menefee, who was born in Virginia, and who is a representative of the fine old Southern family of this name. She is a daughter of Alexander Menefee, who had been a substantial planter and slaveholder in Virginia, but who voluntarily freed his salves prior to the Civil war.. He came to Indiana and established his home in Madison county, where he became a successful farmer, and during the Civil war he served the Union, in the commissary department. Both he and his wife were residents of Madison county until the time of their death. Mrs. Sellers has long been a most devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal church and has been specially active in benevolent and charitable work. In conclusion is given brief record concerning the children of Dr. and Mrs. Sellers. Charles A., was graduated, in 1904, in the Fort Wayne Academy of Medicine, at Fort Wayne, this state, the institution having later been consolidated with the Indiana College of Medicine. He succeeded to his father's large practice at Montpelier, and later came to Hartford City, where he now holds prestige as one of the leading young physicians of his native county. The first wife of Dr. Charles A. Sellers died shortly after the birth of her only child, which likewise died at birth. She was born at Madison, this state, and her maiden name was Greiner. As his second wife Dr. Charles A. Sellers married Miss Catherine Chapman, who was formerly a successful and popular teacher in the Montpelier high school, and the two children of this union are Gertrude and Betty Virginia. Addie, the only daughter of Dr. John S. Sellers, is the wife of Frederick Chandler, of Hartford City, and they have two children, Helen and Lucille.

FRANK CULBERSON. Practically the entire career of Frank Culverson has been identified with Blackford county. A great many men and women in this county remember him for his school work as a teacher, and about nine years were spent in the school room chiefly in Licking township. A young man of progressive energy and ambition, of brains and good family, he has already, while still in his thirties, established himself securely in business affairs, and is a member of the grocery firm of Pursley & Culberson at Hartford City. Their store enjoys a large trade both in the city and surrounding country, and has a splendid location in the very heart of the business center of 105 S. High street on the west side of the square. The firm has been in existence since October, 1908.

Frank Culberson was born in Washington Court House, Ohio, January 8, 1881. Six years of age when the family moved to Hartford City, he grew up and was educated in Blackford county and after graduating from the city high school and with three years additional training in the Marion Normal College qualified as a teacher and spent nine years in that work. In Licking township he was in charge of the school of District No. 12 three years, for a similar time in District No. 3, and one year each at District No. 5 and No. 9, and also taught a year in Harrison township.

Mr. Culberson's parents were David H. and Josephine E. (Thompson) Culberson. His father was born in Clinton county, Ohio, a son of George Culberson, who spent all his life in that state as a farmer, and had a large family of children. The religion of the Culberson has been Methodist for a number of generations. David H. Culberson, who was of Scotch stock, grew up in his native Ohio county, and married a daughter of Joseph and Mahala (Brakfield) Thompson. The Thompsons were natives of Pennsylvania but were married in Ohio and lived in Greene and Clinton counties. Joseph Thompson died in Clinton county at Sabina at the age of seventy-seven and his widow still lives there and is seventy-seven years of age at this time. Both the Thompsons and Culbersons have all been radical democrats in politics. Frank Culberson was the first born of his parents, and a daughter Maude was also born in Ohio. She is now the wife of Joseph Atkinson of Licking township, and has two children, the first being Francis Joseph, Jr. After the birth of these children David H. Culberson and wife moved to Indiana and established their home on a farm of eighty acres in Section 19 of Licking township. It required much hard work and close economy to make both ends meet and to improve their land into a productive homestead, but the father was of the pioneer type and his industry enabled him to provide well for his family. He was born in October, 1856, and died in Blackford county, September 3, 1904. Besides his long career as a farmer, he was honored with the office of county commissioner for three years. He was a Democrat and a Methodist, and his widow now lives on the old homestead and is sixty-five years of age. After they moved to Blackford county one other child was born, Mildred, who is the wife of Ashford Rogers, and they now occupy the home farm in Section 19 of Licking township. Mr. Rogers and wife have one daughter, Isabel M.

Frank Culberson was married in Licking township to Miss Gertrude E. Atkinson. She was born in Hartford City, was educated in the rural schools and besides her devotion to home and family takes considerable part in local social affairs. She was born September 9, 1883, a daughter of Hugh C. and Mary Atkinson, who are farming people of Licking township. Mr. Culberson and wife are the parents of two sons; Wayne Harold, aged eleven, is now in the city grade schools, and Donald A. is five years of age. Both Mr. Culberson and wife are member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and he affiliates with the Knights of the Maccabees, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Fraternal Order of Eagles, and in politics follows the long standing affiliation of the family with the democratic interests.

ALBERT A. RUSSELL. Few of the citizens of Blackford county have won their way to more deserved success than has Albert A. Russell, owner of a finely cultivated farm and extensive breeding stables in Licking township. Although still a young man, with the best years of his life still before him, he has already achieved what many would consider sufficient prosperity for lifetime of steady effort, and the fame of his stables is giving him prestige all over the county. Mr. Russell has spent his entire career within the limits of Blackford county, where he was born March 29, 1882, a son of Samuel and Esther A. (Stallsmith) Russell.

Samuel Russell was born in Wayne county, Indiana, and after his marriage to Miss Stallsmith, who was born in Blackford county, settled on a farm in Licking township and here for a long period was engaged in agricultural pursuits, later securing another property in Washington township. On this latter he passed away, January 21, 1906, being then but forty-eight years of age. His widow was married to Thomas Clevenger, of Centerville, Wayne county. Indiana, a prominent farmer, now retired. By her first marriage she was the mother of seven children, namely: May, who died in infancy; Emma, the wife of William Hurley, of Ceylon, Indiana, with two sons and two daughter; Albert A., of this review; Henry, who is engaged in farming in Harrison township, married and the father of two sons; Etta, the wife of Walter Glancey, of Mill Grove, Blackford county; David, who resides on a farm in Licking township; and Grace, single, living near Greenville, Ohio.

Albert A. Russell was reared amid rural surroundings, and his education was secured in the district schools of Licking township, his youth being about evenly divided between his studies and his duties on the home place, he being the eldest son. It was but natural that he should adopt the vocation of agricultural pursuits as his life work when he embarked upon a career of his own, and accordingly he settled on a farm of forty-seven acres located in section 3, Licking township, where he has since continued operations. He now devotes forty acres to grain farming, with twenty acres in oats and twenty acres in wheat, and has brought his land under a high state of cultivation and made numerous modern improvements. But although he has been successful as a general farmer, it is in the line of stock raising that he has met with the greatest business prosperity. He raises a good grade of cattle and fine Duroc hogs, shipping large numbers to the markets each year, but his stables have acquired fame principally because of his fine horses, he being one of the best known breeders of draft and road horses in the county. In his stables are found "Hindo," a Belgian registered stallion, imported, eight years old, weight 2,040 pounds; "Humorous, " a registered imported Percheron stallion, six years old, weight 2,000 pounds, which has proved a good breeder; "Album," a dapple gray imported, registered Percheron stallion, 1850 pounds, also an excellent breeder; and "Colonel Harrison," a three year old, which weighed 1,800 pounds before its third year, and which has a most promising future. Mr. Russell is a conservative, although progressive business man. He always has kept in the middle of the road and has avoided extremes. Honesty and industry have been his guiding stars and the mediums through which he has gained success, and have brought him the rewards of confidence, prosperity and happiness. In the line of his chosen work, Mr. Russell is accounted one of the best informed men in the county, and is frequently sought for advice in matters pertaining to live stock.

Mr. Russell was married in Licking township to Miss Lula M. Butler, who was born in this township, June 9, 1883, and here reared and educated, a daughter of Edwin and Lydia (Grabber) Butler, the former of whom is deceased, while the latter survives and at the age of sixty-eight years is still active in the management of the home farm. She is a consistent member of the United Brethren church, of which her husband was also an adherent. His attitude toward temperance extended to all phases of his life, moderation was one of his conspicuous qualities from his youth, and the prohibition party found in him a warm supporter. Mr. and Mrs. Russell have three daughter: Lela, aged nine years, who is attending school; Maybelle, who is seven years old and also a student in the public schools of Licking township; and Marie, who is eight months old. Mr. and Mrs. Russell are devoted members of the United Brethren church, and have been active workers in its various movements. Mr. Russell is a democrat, and while not a politician in the accepted sense of the word takes a keen and intelligent interest in the affairs of his community, and at all times endeavors to serve the best interests of his section by electing good men and securing helpful legislation.

Deb Murray