Blackford County Biography Ref. Page

PERCIVAL G. JOHNSON. The fine little city of Montpelier, Blackford county, has proved a most attractive place of residence, and this fact has fortunately given to the community a goodly quota of retired farmers, who are here enjoying the well earned rewards of former years of earnest endeavor. Of this contingent Mr. Johnson is a worthy and popular representative, and as one of the venerable and highly esteemed citizens of the county he is eminently entitled to specific recognition in this history.

Like many other citizens of this section of Indiana, Mr. Johnson can revert to the old Buckeye State as the place of his nativity and he is a scion of one of the sterling pioneer families of that commonwealth. He was born in Greene county, Ohio, on the 7th of November, 1835, and is a son of John M. and Susanna (Moorman) Johnson, who were natives of either Pennsylvania or Virginia and who continued to reside in Greene county, Ohio for a term of years, their marriage having there been solemnized and the respective families having settled in Ohio in the pioneer epoch of its history. In 1839, John Milton Johnson came with his family to Indiana and became one of the pioneer settlers in Chester township, Wells county, where he obtained a tract of wild land and essayed the arduous task of reclaiming the same to cultivation. There his cherished and devoted wife died when about forty years of age, and she was survived by seven children, of whom the subject of this review is now the only one surviving, he having been about four years of age at the time of the family removal to Indiana, so that he was here reared under the conditions and influences of the pioneer days and has witnessed the opulent development and progress of the Hoosier State. After the death of his first wife John Milton Johnson wedded a widow, Mrs. Eliza (Woolray) Wright, and soon afterward they came to Blackford county and established their home on a farm in Washington township, where they passed the residue of their lives, Mr. Johnson having been sixty-five years of age at the time of his death and his widow having attained to the age of seventy-one years. John M. Johnson's life was marked by indefatigable industry and utmost integrity of purpose, and he not only endured the hardships and arduous labors of the pioneer, but also aided in the march of social and industrial progress, his character and labors making altogether consistent the placing of his name on the enduring roll of the honored pioneers of Indiana. He was originally a Whig and later a Republican in politics and both he and his first and second wives were zealous members of the Church of Christ.

It can be readily understood that the early educational advantages of Percival G. Johnson were limited to the somewhat primitive pioneer schools in Wells county, this state, but through this medium he gained the nucleus around which he has developed his broad and practical fund of knowledge, through his association with men and affairs and through self-application. In initiating his independent career as an agriculturist he established himself upon a farm of eighty acres, in Chester township, Wells county, and there he developed one of the model places of the county, the farm being improved with excellent buildings and otherwise giving palpable evidences of thrift and prosperity. Mr. Johnson continued to reside upon his farm until 1905, when he removed to Montpelier, where he has since lived virtually retired, his attractive residence property, which he owns, being situated at 301 West Huntington street, and the old homestead farm being still in his possession. He has stood representative of the best type of farmers and stock-growers and as a citizen has so ordered his course as to merit and receive the high regard of his fellow men. He takes a lively interest in governmental affairs, both national and local, and is well informed on the questions and issues of the hour, his political allegiance being given to the Republican party and both he and his wife being zealous and valued members of the Montpelier congregation of Church of Christ.

In Jackson township, Wells county, Indiana, on the 3d of July, 1856, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Johnson to Miss Margaret Cloud, who was born in Clinton county, Ohio, on the 15th of March, 1835, a daughter of Noah and Lydia A. (Pugh) Cloud, who came to Wells county, Indiana, in 1840, about five years after her birth. The parents were both natives of Virginia and her father was a son of Thomas Cloud, who was a valiant soldier of the Continental Line in the war of the Revolution and who thereafter removed with his family to Ohio, where he settled in the early pioneer days prior to the admission of the state to the Union. Thomas Cloud attained to advanced age and died in Ohio, and his widow passed the closing period of her life in Wells county, Indiana, where she died at the venerable age of ninety years, both she and her husband having been Primitive Baptists in their religious faith. After settling in Wells county, Noah Cloud there continued his residence on his original pioneer farm until about 1850, when he settled on a tract of wild land lying in Grant county. There he reclaimed a productive farm from the forest wilderness, and on this homestead they continued to reside until their death, when well advanced in years. Of their eight children only two are living,�Mrs. Johnson and her brother William, the latter being now a resident of the city of Indianapolis.

Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have walked side by side down the pathway of life for nearly sixty years, mutually sustained and comforted by love and devotion and enduring with fortitude the trials and sorrows that have been their portion and from which no life is immune. In the gracious evening of their lives thy find solace and happiness in the filial solicitude of their children and children's children and in association with friends who are tried and true. Concerning the children brief record is entered in conclusion of this sketch. Emma, who became the wife of James Berson, is deceased and is survived by three children, William, Edith and Margaret. Elma is the wife of Louis H. Tate, a successful business man of Montpelier, and they have three children,�Dimmie L., who is the wife of Charles Saxon, of Montpelier, and who has three children; Lemuel, who is engaged in the cleaning and pressing business in Montpelier, he and his wife having no children; and Margaret, who remains at the parental home. Lewis C., next in order of birth of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, is postmaster at Hartford City and is individually mentioned elsewhere in this publication. Loetta became the wife of Lewis Shidler and upon her death left two children, both of whom are living,�Iva M. and Eva M. Winfield W., who resides on the old homestead farm and is identified with the oil-well operations in Wells county, is married and has four children,�Lena Maude, Margaret and Charles.

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

JOHN MOSES HALLAM. Among the old and honored residents of Blackford county, is the venerable and highly respected citizen whose name appears at the head of this review, and who after a long period of activity is now living in honest retirement. It may be said of Mr. Hallam that during his active career he was a typical representative of the best and highest class in the agricultural element of the county, while his citizenship, in both times of peace and the days of warfare, has been such as to give him an honored and honorable name.

Moses Hallam, the grandfather of John Moses Hallam, was born in Pennsylvania, of Irish parentage, and was married at Washington, in his native state, to a lady of Irish birth. Later they moved to Clinton county, Ohio, where both passed away, the father being upwards of seventy years of age at the time of his death. Mr. and Mrs. Hallam were faithful members of the Presbyterian church. John Hallam, son of Moses and one of his older children, was born in Pennsylvania, where he grew to manhood and was married to a Pennsylvania girl, Sarah Kane, who had been born and reared in Washington county. After their marriage they removed to Clinton county, Ohio, where John Hallam purchased a tract of land and engaged in agricultural pursuits. Born October 22, 1805, he passed away September 22, 1839, a short time before the birth of his son, John M. Mrs. Hallam was born June 4, 1805, and died January 6, 1880. Both were faithful members of the Cedars Presbyterian church.

John Moses Hallam was born in Clinton county, Ohio, February 2, 1840, a short time after the death of his father. He received ordinary public school advantages and was reared a farmer, residing with his mother until the outbreak of the Civil War. Mrs. Hallam had subsequently married, in 1850, Jordan Rick, of North Carolina, and during the Civil War came to Blackford county, Indiana. John M. Hallam enlisted in September, 1861, from Clinton county, Ohio, in Company B, Fortieth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Capt. James Hayworth and Colonel Craynor, and went to the front in Eastern Kentucky, later seeing service in West Virginia and Tennessee. On September 20, 1863, he received a gunshot wound in the upper right arm, while engaged in fighting the forces of Longstreet, at Chickamauga, and after being confined at Fort Dennison for some time was given his honorable discharge because of disability. He was at all times known as a brave and valiant soldier, faithful in the discharge of his duty, and his daring frequently led him into dangerous positions from which he had numerous narrow escapes. Throughout his service he was a private.

When his military career was closed, Mr. Hallam resumed the pursuits of peace, coming to Blackford county to join his mother, who was then living on a farm which she had purchased in Washington township. Here she continued to make her home until her death, at which time Mr. Hallam assumed the management of the property, which he still owns. This is a well-cultivated tract of eighty acres, located in section 18, Washington township, on which Mr. Hallam has made numerous improvements of a handsome and substantial character. He has a modern eight-room house, painted white, a commodious barn and several good outbuildings for the shelter of his grain and machinery. He lost one barn by lighting. An industrious and energetic man, Mr. Hallam labored faithfully until a stroke of paralysis, in 1904, caused his retirement. He still superintends the operations on his farm, however, and through his good management is in receipt of a handsome income. The greater part of his time and attention have been given to general farming, but he has also made a success of stock raising ventures, and is known as a good judge of cattle. Absolutely reliable in all of his business transactions, he has gained an enviable reputation among his associates, and his name is synonymous with fair dealing and fidelity to engagements.

In 1879 Mr. Hallam was married in Wells county, Indiana, to Miss Isabelle Mary Greenlees, who was born in Scotland, February 19, 1849, a daughter of George and Isabella (Forsythe) Greenlees. The mother died at the age of thirty years, when Mrs. Hallam was still a child, and in 1859 she went with her father to Ohio, where they resided for three years. They then returned to Indiana and settled in Grant county, where the father died at the age of sixty-four years, in 1881. He died in the faith of the Presbyterian church, of which his wife had also been a member.

Mr. and Mrs. Hallam have been the parents of three children: Roy, who died at the age of twenty-six years, after his marriage to Pearl Nelson, of Grant county, his widow now being a resident of Monroe township, that county, with her four children, Vica G., John H. T., Esther I. and Roy I.; Maggie, who is the wife of Lora A. Tudor, a farmer of Monroe township, Grant county, and has a son, Hallam M. and Elly, who died when one month old. Mr. and Mrs. Hallam are consistent members of the United Brethren church. Politically, he is a republican, but takes only a good citizen's interest in public matters.

SETH DIEHL. A Hartford City business man who since 1891 has built up a large and prosperous establishment as a general blacksmith, Seth Diehl is of the substantial German stock originating in Pennsylvania, and with many interesting associations with the pioneer life of early eastern Indiana. His people were not only founders of homes and conquerors of the wilderness, but were notable for the part they took in community and religious affairs, and also in the kindly helpfulness which is so valuable an asset in the social welfare of every locality.

Mr. Diehl's grandparents were natives of Pennsylvania and after their marriage moved to Ohio, and a few years later located in Randolph county, Indiana, buying land near Saratoga, where those good people, David and Elizabeth (Sheets) Diehl, both died.. The grandfather passed away about twenty years before the grandmother, who was eighty-two years old. She was born in 1802 and he about 1800 They had one son and ten daughters. The son Ephraim Diehl and one of the daughters are now deceased, while the eight remaining children are all living and are all married except one.

Ephraim Diehl, who was born in 1817, probably in Pennsylvania, was reared in Ohio and Indiana, and at an early age learned the trade of broom maker, an occupation which he subsequently varied with activities as a farmer. His death occurred in Randolph county, Indiana, May 22, 1861, at the age of forty-four. Although then only in the prime of life, he had prospered and provided well for his family. He was a church worker and in politics a Democrat. In Randolph county occurred his marriage to Miss Margaret Baugh. She was born in the county in 1820 and died at her home near Union City in June, 1862, being about the same age as her husband. She was a member of the Christian or New Light church.

Margaret Baugh was a daughter of John and Mary (Morris) Baugh. The former was a native of North Carolina and the later of Greene county, Tennesee, both born about 1800 and married in Tennessee. Soon after their marriage about 1820 they came north and located in Randolph county, where they secured government land and were among the first settlers of that community. Their housekeeping began in a cabin of logs, and all the country about them was wild and covered with heavy timber filled with game. During the first year the bears carried off the only hog they had, and they subsisted largely on game, and corn pone and hazel-brush tea. This primitive mode of living was improved in successive years, and finally they improved a good eighty acre farm and spent their last years in a hewed log home. John Baugh died just after the close of the Civil war, while his widow survived many years and was eighty-four at the time of her death. Both were noble characters, charitable, helpful, and were people whose service was almost indispensable in the early days. John Baugh was a Dunkard in religion while his wife was a New Light Christian. Grandmother Polly (Mary) Baugh was one of the remarkable pioneer women whose lives have been celebrated in many stories of early days. She was the midwife physician for a country covering many miles for a period of fifty-six years. Seldom did she fail to respond to a call for her professional services, and it was her custom to ride horseback, and at some of the most distant cases be in the saddle for two days and a night, stopping and eating bread and drinking hazel-brush tea on the way. The people of several counties in Indiana and Ohio knew and esteemed her, and she not only attended many others in the birth of their children, but herself was the mother of twelve children, and reared four others from infancy. The richness of her charity and love went out to hundreds of young and old, and she was always looking after the welfare of other people. Of her twelve children nearly all are still living, and some of them are upwards of ninety years of age and have their homes in several states.

Seth Diehl who is one of six sons and five daughters, eight of whom grew to maturity, and five sons and one daughter are still living, was born in Randolph county, Indiana, June 25, 1857. His early education was acquired there, and at the age of twenty-two he began learning the trade of blacksmith at Winchester. That has been his regular occupation ever since, and after a few years he set up a shop of his own, and has always been on the steady road of prosperity. In September, 1901, Mr. Diehl moved to Hartford City, built a good shop at 607 E. Water street, and has had a good business. He now owns considerable property in Hartford City, including a comfortable home at 601 Market street.

Mr. Diehl is an ardent prohibitionist, and has affiliated with that party and with the cause for the past twenty years. He was married in Randolph county to Emma J. Frazier, who was born in Lynn township of Randolph county, September 6, 1859, and grew up and was educated in that vicinity. Of Scotch-Irish ancestry and her grandparents from the Southern states, she is the daughter of Elijah and Joanna (Ellis) Frazier, both of whom were born in Randolph county, Indiana, were married there, and in 1901 moved to Hartford City, where their deaths occurred, her father at the age of seventy-four and her mother at seventy-six. Both were faithful members of the Friends church and lived up to the fine principles and practices of the Quaker religion. Mr. Frazier was a bell maker by trade, which he had learned in early boyhood, but subsequently became a blacksmith and for eighteen years was associated with his son-in-law Mr. Diehl.

To Mr. Diehl and wife have been born four children: Harriet A. is the wife of Benjamin F. Stone, a blacksmith at Hartford City, and they have three children, Ephraim, Ruth and Frank; Ethel is the wife of George Ford, who is employed in the paper mill at Alexandria, Indiana, and they have no children; Seth, Jr., a blacksmith at Hartford City, and by his marriage to Georgia Shawhan has two children, William, three years old, and Dorothy, aged one year; Jennie B. is the wife of Earl E. Owens, who is a blacksmith living in Oklahoma. Mr. Diehl and wife are members of the Methodist church, and the daughters are also of the same religion.

JOSEPH P. HORTON. The business interests of Montpelier, Indiana, are well and capably represented by Joseph P. Horton, who is the proprietor of a book, stationery, cigar and confectionery store at the corner of Main and Huntington streets. Mr. Horton belongs to an old and honored family, and is able to trace it back to the year 1570. He is in the tenth generation from Joseph Horton, and the genealogy of the family is as follows: (I) Joseph Horton, born in 1579, in England. (II) Barnabas Horton, son of Joseph, born July 13, 1600, at Meansley, Leicestershire, England, emigrated to America in 1633 in the ship Swallow, Capt. Jeremy Horton, master and owner, and in 1638 located at Hampton, Massachusetts. He removed to New Haven, Connecticut, in 1640, his wife and two children, Joseph and Benjamin, being with him and in the latter part of that year settled permanently on Long Island, now Southhold, Suffolk county, New York. (III) Caleb Horton, son of Barnabas, born at Southland, Suffolk county, New York, in 1640, married December 23, 1665, Abigail Hallock, daughter of Peter Hallock, the Pilgrim. (IV) Barnabas Horton, son of Caleb, born on Long Island, New York, September 23, 1666, married 1686 Sarah Hines, and had issue. (V) Caleb Horton, son of Barnabas, was born at Southhold, New York, December 22, 1687, married December 10, 1714, Phoebe Terry, moved in 1848 to Roxbury (now Chester) , New Jersey, and had six sons and six daughters. (VI) Richard Horton, son of Caleb, was born at Southhold, New York, about 1729, married Elizabeth Harrison, and moved to Chester, New Jersey, in 1758, and later to Delaware county, Pennsylvania, where he died, the father of seven sons. He was a Quaker by religious faith as was also his wife. (VII) Samuel Horton, Sr., son of Richard, was born about 1752, and was married in 1772 or 1775 to Ortha Evans, the daughter of Hugh Evans. He located at Norristown, Pennsylvania, when that place was a settlement containing but six log houses, and later moved to Bradford county, Pennsylvania, where his death occurred either in 1835 or 1836, his wife having passed away several years before. They were the parents of a family of thirteen children. (VIII) Samuel Horton, Jr., son of Samuel, Sr., was born at Norristown, Pennsylvania, March 16, 1791, in one of the six log cabins that constituted the little hamlet. He was married in 1811 to Elizabeth Foster, daughter of Basil and Mary (Penn) Foster. Mary Penn was the daughter of Benjamin Penn, who was the son of Charles Penn, a brother of William Penn. Mrs. Horton was born September 22, 1783, and died April 17, 1870. In 1814 Mr. Horton moved to Highland county, Ohio, and in 1830 to Hillsboro, in that county, later going to Marion, Indiana, where he died October, 1871. They had a large family of children. (IX) Joseph Baker Horton, son of Samuel, Jr., and father of Joseph Pearl Horton, was born January 7, 1820, in Highland county, Ohio, and came to Marion, Indiana, with his parents in 1814. In 1901 he removed to Home City, near Cincinnati, Ohio, and there died March 16, 1904. He was a cabinet maker by trade, a vocation which he followed largely in Marion until 1890, and was prominent in local political affairs, being a leading factor in the local organization of the republican party. On May 16, 1856, he was married at Hillsboro, Ohio, to Miss Lydia Zink, who was born in Ohio, July 6, 1837, and died February 12, 1901, at Marion, Indiana. She was a daughter of David and Jane (Miller) Zink, natives of Pennsylvania, of Pennsylvania Dutch stock, who were married in Ohio, or just before leaving Pennsylvania, and died at Hillsboro, he being a little past fifty years of age, and she when nearly eighty. They were thrifty and well-to-do people, and , like the Hortons for generations, were members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Joseph Baker Horton and his wife were the parents of the following children: May, who died unmarried at the age of thirty-five years; Joseph Pearl, of this review; Eddy, a graduate of the high school, who died when eighteen years of age; Clarence, who died in 1913, aged about forty-six years, married Mary Overman, and had two sons: Murray M. and Robert; Lizzie, who died when two years old; Charles, who died young; and Lena, who is the wife of George Williams, of Seattle, Washington, connected with the Vancouver Railway Company. (X) Joseph Pearl Horton, son of Joseph Baker, was born February 24, 1859, and received good educational advantages in his youth, attending the graded and high schools and the Methodist Episcopal College at Fort Wayne, Indiana. At that time he became a student of electrical work, and was thus engaged until 1889 when he went to the South and embarked in the lumber business. He continued therein until 1893 and at that time returned to the North and at Marion, Indiana, again took up electrical construction work, continuing thus engaged until 1896. In that year Mr. Horton came to Montpelier and established a news stand, book store, and stationery, cigar, tobacco and confectionery business, located at the corner of Main and Huntington streets, in a room in the Columbia Building, which has grown to be one of the flourishing enterprises of the city. Mr. Horton is a man of excellent business ability, and his activities have been prosecuted in such an able manner that he has been able to successfully compete with the strong competition that the years have brought. He has at all times maintained a high reputation for integrity and honorable dealing, and represents the substantial and reliable element of the town and county, his life affording an excellent example of thrift, moderation and public spirit.

Mr. Horton was married at Fremont, Ohio, to Miss Annette Beck, daughter of George and Eliza Ann (Kittle) Beck, the former born in Ohio and the later in New York. They were residents of Ohio for many years, the father dying at Fremont in 1885, while the mother still survives and makes her home with her three daughters. Although now nearly seventy years of age, she is still hale and hearty. Mrs. Horton was reared and educated at Fremont, Ohio, and has been the mother of the following children: Anna L., educated at Marion and Mount Pleasant, a graduate of the state normal school, who is now the wife of Charles A. Doods, and has one son, � Horton C., born in May, 1909; and Harry Zink, born in 1887, a graduate of the Montpelier High school, who now has a position with the Chaney Hardware Company. Mr. and Mrs. Horton are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which Mr. Horton is a steward, while Mrs. Horton is president of the Ladies' Aid Society. Mr. Horton is fraternally connected with the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in both of which he has filled all the chairs and is a member of the board of trustees.

Deb Murray