John Gerber was born and reared in Switzerland and upon arriving at manhood's estate came to this country and made his way to Ohio, locating at Hamilton, where he married Mary Sloneker, who was born and reared in Germany, and then engaged in farming in the Pleasant Run neighborhood between Cincinnati and Hamilton, continuing thus engaged there until his death about 1886, leaving his widow with five children, of whom the subject of this sketch, then twelve years of age, was the third in order of birth. After the death of her husband the Widow Gerber moved with her family up into Butler county and there she spent her last days.

Sam Gerber was about twelve years of age when his father died and after the family moved to Butler county he was a valued aid to his mother in helping to keep the family together. He remained there until he was twenty-two years of age, when, in 1896, he came to Indiana and located in this county, where he ever since has made his home. For a year or two after coming here Mr. Gerber was engaged at farm labor west of Connersville and after his marriage in 1897 he rented a farm and began farming for himself and was thus engaged, farming the old Huston farm near Hawkinsville, in Harrison township, for ten years, at the end of which time, in June, 1907, he bought the farm of ninety-one acres on the north edge of Posey township, three miles north of Bentonville, where he ever since has made his home and where he and his wife are very comfortably situated. Since taking possession of that farm Mr. Gerber has made numerous substantial improvements and now has an excellent farm plant, good buildings and well-tiled fields. In addition to his general farming he has given considerable attention to the raising of hogs for the market and is doing very well in his operations. Mr. Gerber is a member of the local lodge of the Modern Woodmen and takes a warm interest in the affairs of that organization.

Mr. Gerber's wife, born Nellie Jane Caldwell, was born at Connersville, daughter of Sanford and Elizabeth (McCann) Caldwel1, both of whom also were born in this county and the former of whom is still living here. Sanford Caldwell was born in Posey township, on the farm two miles south of Bentonville, where Fred Hackleman now lives, May 18, 1843, son of Train and Jane ( McClure) Caldwell, the former of whom, a native of North Carolina, was but an infant when his parents came West, first locating in Ohio and then moving over into Indiana and settling in Harrison township, this county, in the days when the blockhouse was still being maintained there as a protection against the Indians and for some time lived in the blockhouse, which was situated where Daniel Caldwell now lives. Train Caldwell grew to manhood amid the pioneer conditions that then prevailed in Posey township and became one of the extensive farmers and stockmen of that part of the county. About 1865 he moved to Connersville, where he became engaged in the pork-packing industry, and where he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives. Sanford Caldwell was reared in this county and for some years after his marriage in 1873 was engaged in the retail meat business in East Connersville, remaining there until 1882, when he moved to Yankeetown, where he became the owner of a farm of one hundred and three acres, on which he made his home until about 1912, when he retired and has since been making his home with his children. His wife died in 1896. She was born, Elizabeth McCann, on a farm east of Connersville, a daughter of Basil and Eleanor (Webb) McCann , the former of whom was born in Jennings township, this county, a son of James and Barbara (Darey) McCann, who came to this state from western Virginia and located on land that now is in the very heart of the city of Indianapolis; but believing that land there never would amount to anything presently, came over into Fayette county and located in Jennings township, on what now is known as the old Spivey farm, three and one-half miles east of Connersville, later moving to a farm which occupied the site of East Connersville, where they established their home. Basil McCann became a partner in the big pork-packing concern of Caldwell& Company and was office manager for the same. When that concern went out of business about 1876 he continued his extensive farming operations and also for some time operated a saw-mill. He later engaged in the mercantile business in East Connersville and was thus engaged for about ten years. He was an active Republican and he and his wife were earnest members of the Christian church. Basil McCann died in 1885 and his widow survived him for fifteen years, her death occurring in 1900. She was born, Eleanor Webb, in Rush county, a daughter of Isom and Elizabeth (Cassidy) Webb, and when a child came to this county to make her home with a cousin, Mrs. Thomas White, and was living there at the time of her marriage to Basil McCann. To Sanford and Elizabeth (McCann) Caldwell four children were born, those besides Mrs. Gerber being Charles and Frank Caldwell, who live on a farm about four miles southwest of Connersville and Carrie, wife of William McClure, of Connersville.

"History of Fayette Counties, Indiana"
published by B. F. Bowen & Co. Indianapolis, IN 1917

William Maze, trustee of Waterloo township, this county, and the proprietor of a fine farm of two hundred acres in the southeastern part of that township, was born and reared in the neighboring county of Union, but has been a resident of Fayette county for the past twenty years or more, during which time he has come to be one of the best-known men in the county. He was born on a farm in the Quakertown neighborhood, in Harmony township, Union county, April 17, 1867, son of John W. and Susan (Hollingsworth) Maze, both of whom were born and reared in that same township, members of pioneer families in that part of the state.

Reared on the paternal farm in Union county, William Maze grew to manhood there and after his marriage began farming on his own account. In March, 1896, he came over into this county and bought the farm on which he is now living, in the southeastern part of Waterloo township, and has ever since made that place his home. Mr. Maze has two hundred acres of land in that farm and his place is well improved and profitably cultivated. Mr. Maze is a Democrat and in 1904 was elected trustee of Waterloo township, serving in that important capacity for four years. In 1914 he was re-elected to that same office and is now serving his second term as trustee, giving to the duties of his office the most careful attention to the needs of the public. He and his wife are members of the Christian church at Springersville and take a proper interest in church work.

Mrs. Maze, whose.maiden name was Alva Simpson, was born in Waterloo township, daughter of Benjamin and Melinda Jane (Strong) Simpson, both of whom were born and reared in the southeastern part of that same township. Mrs. Simpson was a daughter of Richard and Susan Strong, early settlers on the farm on which Mr. and Mrs. Maze are now living. Benjamin Simpson, who was a son of William Simpson, one of the early settlers in Fayette county, for years served his home township in the capacity of justice of the peace.

To Mr. and Mrs. Maze four children have been born, namely: Earl, who died when fourteen months of age; Anna, who married Wilbur Osborne and lives in the northwestern part of Union county; John Stanford, who is at home, and Lawrence, also at home. Mr. Maze is a member of both the subordinate lodge and the encampment of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, affiliated with the former at Brownsville and with the latter at Liberty, and takes a warm interest in Odd Fellowship. He is a public-spirited citizen and has ever given his aid in promoting such movements as are designed to advance the common welfare of the community.

"History of Fayette Counties, Indiana"
published by B. F. Bowen & Co. Indianapolis, IN 1917

Oliver T. Fiant, one of Waterloo township's well-known and progressive young farmers and the proprietor of a well-kept farm near Waterloo, was born on the farm on which he is now living in that township and has lived there all his life. He was born on March 29, 1882, son of Daniel and Lavina (White) Fiant, both of whom were born in this county, members of pioneer families, and whose last days were spent in Connersville, the county seat, Daniel Fiant having been serving as a member of the board of county commissioners at the time of his death.

Daniel Fiant was born on a pioneer farm in Waterloo township, this county, January 28, 1846, son of John and Hannah (Fiddler) Fiant, the former of whom also was born in this part of the state, on a pioneer farm over the line in Union county, a son of Daniel and Saloma (Gaby) Fiant, prominent among the early settlers of this part of Indiana. The senior Daniel Fiant was born in Berks county, Pennsylvania, son of a Hessian soldier, one of the band of troops hired by the Duke of Hesse to the British government for use against the American patriots, but who had, deserted the British cause, putting in his lot with that of the colonists, and after the war had remained on this side, married here and established a home, his family now being a numerous one and represented in various parts of the country. Trained as a carpenter, Daniel Fiant followed that trade during his young manhood in Pennsylvania. There he married Saloma Gaby and in 1802 he and his family came out to this part of the country, then regarded as the "wilds" of the West, and settled on a farm in Union county, not far from the present Fayette county line, in the then territory of Indiana, and there established his home. In addition to buying a tract of land there, he also bought a pioneer mill, but the latter proved unprofitable and was not long continued. In 1834 the pioneer Daniel Fiant moved over into Fayette county and settled in Waterloo township, where he had leased a quarter of a section of school land for a term of ninety-nine years, and there he and his wife spent their last days, his death occurring in 1866, he then being eighty-six years of age, and hers, in 1867, she then being eighty-five years of age. John Fiant, the tenth in order of birth of the children born to the above pioneer couple, was born in 1818 and grew up on the pioneer farm in Union county, realizing fully the hardships which attended the efforts of the early settlers to bring the wilderness to a habitable state. In 1843 he married Hannah Fiddler, a daughter of Samuel Fiddler, and established his home in this county, becoming the owner of a farm of one hundred and seventeen acres. He and his wife were members of the German Baptist church, of which Daniel Fiant, the pioneer, and his wife also had been members, and he for years was one of the deacons of the local congregation of that church.

The younger Daniel Fiant, grandson of the pioneer whose name he bore, was reared on the home farm in this county and in April, 1871, was united in marriage to Lavina White, who was born in Waterloo township, this county, August 24, 1849, a daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth White. Daniel Fiant and his wife began their married life on a farm not far from Waterloo, in the township of that name, and as time passed prospered in their operations, gradually enlarging their holdings until they became owners of a fine farm of two hundred and forty acres of excellent land, all of which was well improved. In 1908 Daniel Fiant was elected a member of the board of county commissioners from his district and in that same year retired from the farm, turning the same over to the management of his sons, built a house in Connersville and moved to the county seat, where he and his wife spent their last days. In 1910 Daniel Fiant was unanimously renominated to the office of county commissioner, but did not live to enter upon his second term of office, his death occurring at Connersville on August 30, 1910. His widow survived him less than three years, her death occurring in March, 1913. She had been a member of the Brethren church for many years and it has been written of her that "her religion was a vital, controlling principle of her life." For more than thirty years Daniel Fiant had been a member of the Dunker church and for many years served as president of the German Baptist Tri-County Mutual Protective Association. To him and his wife seven children were born, two of whom died in early youth and the other five of whom are still living, those besides the subject of this sketch being Della, Martha and Oren, who continue to live in the house in which their parents died in Connersville, and Sylvia, who married Roy Sherry, also of Connersville.

Oliver T. Fiant was reared on the farm on which he is now living and has lived there all his life. He completed his schooling in the high school over in Wayne county and early began giving his practical attention to the labors of the farm. After his marriage in 1903 he established his home on the old home place, eighty acres of which he now owns, and there he and his family are very pleasantly and very comfortably situated.

On December 13, 1903, Oliver T. Fiant was united in marriage to Nelle Louise Stanley, who was born in the neighboring county of Union, a daughter of Edwin and Wealthy Ann (Gruell) Stanley, both natives of this section of Indiana, the former born in this county and the latter born in the neighboring county of Franklin, who are now living retired at Lyons Station. Edwin Stanlev was born on a farm in Jennings township, this county, June 16, 1843, son of Nathan and Mary (Golden) Stanley, the former a native of the state of Tennessee and the latter of this county. Nathan Stanley was but ten years of age when he came from Tennessee to Indiana with his widowed mother, two sisters and a brother, the family settling on the Jonas Scholl farm in the eastern part of Jennings township, this county. In that township Nathan Stanley spent the rest of his life as a farmer and was a substanrial and influential citizen. He was twice married. His first wife, who was Mary Golden, born in Jennings township, this county, a daughter of Stephen Golden and wife, who lived one mile from Alquina, on a farm now owned by Reed Nichols, died when her son, Edwin, was nine or ten years of age, leaving seven children. Later Nathan Stanley married Elizabeth Grimes, who bore him four children and was a devoted mother also to the children by her husband's first marriage.

Edwin Stanley grew up on the home farm in Jennings township and was married in 1867. In the following year he moved to Illinois and in that state farmed for two years, at the end of which time he returned to his home state and bought a part of the Wilson farm, two miles northeast of Alquina, on the east side of the Union county line, and there made his home until when he retired from the farm and moved to Lyons Station, where he and his wife are now living. He is the owner of one hundred and thirty-eight acres of excellent land over the line in Union county and twenty-eight acres in this county.

On February 7, 1867, in Rush county, this state, Edwin Stanley was united in marriage to Wealthy Ann Gruell, who was born in Franklin county, this state, a daughter of Thomas and Letitia (Gruell) Gruell, the former of who was born in Delaware and was about six years of age when he came to Indiana with his parents, Lawrence Gruell and wife, who settled on a farm on the northern edge of Waterloo township, this county, among the first settlers of that part of the county, and there established him home. There Thomas Gruell grew to mankood and there he married Letitia Gruell, who was born in the Xenia neighborhood, in Ohio, and who was but a child when her parents, Jacob and Prudence Gruell, natives of Delaware, moved from Ohio over into Indiana and settled in Waterloo township, this county. Some years after his marriage Thomas Gruell moved over into Rush county and, in 1843 moved from there to Franklin county, where Mrs. Stanley was born, and in the early fifties moved from that county to Columbus, this state, where he lived for two or three years, at the end of which time he returned to Rush county and settled on a farm near Arlington, where he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives. Thomas Gruell was a tanner, having served an apprenticeship to that trade in his youth, and owned a tannery at Columbus. He also owned a store at Andersonville, in Franklin county. Edwin Stanley and wife have seven children, those besides Mrs. Fiant, the last in order of birth, being as follow: Grant, who lives on a farm on the eastern edge of Jennings township and who married Grace Williams and has four children, Alpha, Vera, Wilbur and Frances; Thomas O., who married Jennie Geis and is engaged in the grain business at Lyonsville, this county; Carrie, who married John Williamson (now deceased), of Jennings township, and has four children, Everett, Earl, Lloyd and Opal; Minnie, who married George Harvey and lives on her father's farm in Union county; Rusha, who married Newton Gruell, of Elmwood, Ohio, and has two children, Thomas and Lowell, and Letitia, who married Dr. Stanton E. Gordon, of Alquina, this county, and has two children. Stanley and Helen.

Mr. and Mrs. Fiant have four children, Isabelle Junius, Daniel Webster, Paul Edwin and Thomas Kenneth. Mr. and Mrs. Fiant and the two eldest children are all members of the Methodist church, as are Mrs. Fiant's parents, and Mr. Fiant is a member of the local lodge of the Knights of Pythias, in the affairs of which organization he takes a warm interest. He and his wife take a proper part in the general social activities of the community in which they live and are helpful in promoting all causes having to do with the advancement of the common welfare thereabout.

"History of Fayette Counties, Indiana"
published by B. F. Bowen & Co. Indianapolis, IN 1917

Willard Hadley, proprietor of a well-kept farm on the eastern edge of the village of Columbia, in Columbia township, this county, and one of the best-known citizens of that part of the county, was born in the neighboring county of Franklin, but has been a resident of Fayette county since he was a boy and has lived in Columbia township ever since he came to this county. He was born on a farm in the immediate vicinity of Metamora, eight or ten miles south of his present home, December 18, 1867, son of David T. and Mary Ann (Curry) Hadley, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of this state and the latter of whom is still living, for many years a resident of Columbia township, this county.

David T. Hadley, who was an honored veteran of the Civil War, was born in Brown county, Ohio, August 21, 1841, a son of Anson Hadley and wife, and was but a child when his parents came over into Indiana and settled in the Metamora neighborhood. His mother died shortly after the family came here and he was taken in charge by the Whitelock family, of Jackson township, this county, and was reared there, growing up to the life of a farm. Though not yet twenty years of age when the Civil War broke out, David T. Hadley offered his services in behalf of the Union and on April 22, 1861, at Brookville, was mustered in with Company C, Thirteenth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, with which command he served his full three years, the term of his enlistment, and was mustered out with his regiment at Indianapolis on July, 1864, his company at that time having been reduced to twenty-three members. During the term of his service in the army Mr. Hadley was in some of the most important engagements and battles of the war, including Rich Mountain, Cheat Mountain, Green Briar, Allegheny, Winchester, Mt. Jackson, Summerville, Franklin, Jones's Ford, Cold Harbor, Petersburg and many others and ever acquitted himself to the full measure of a soldier.

Upon the completion of his military service David T. Hadley returned to his old home and on January 3, 1867, was united in marriage to Mary A. Curry, who was born at Metamore, in Franklin county, daughter of Thomas and Penselia (Simmons) Curry, both of whom were born and reared in that same community, members of old families thereabout. James Simmons, father of Mrs. Penselia Curry, was a Virginian, one of the early settlers in Franklin county. Mrs. Hadley grew up on a farm in the Metamora neighborhood, where her father followed farming all his life, and lived there until her marriage. For three or four years after their marriage David T. Hadley and wife continued to live in the Metamora neighborhood and then moved to Daviess county, this state, where they remained about five years, at the end of which time they moved to Rush county, where Mr. Hadley died on December 7, 1876, leaving his wife and three small children. He was a member of the Methodist church, as is his widow, and was a member of the Grange, in the affairs of which, as well as in his church work, he took a deep interest. After the death of her husband, Mrs. Hadley and her children returned to her old home near Metamora and remained there until her two sons were old enough to take the direction of a farm, when, about 1886, the family came to Fayette county and bought a farm about one mile south of Columbia, where Mrs. Hadley has lived ever since and where she is very comfortably situated, the owner of seventy-nine acres of excellent land, which is now farmed by her grandson, Virgil Hadley. Besides the subject of this sketch, Mrs. Hadley has two children, another son, Omer, and a daughter, Edith, the latter of whom married Rollin Pumphrey and now lives on a farm near Hawkinsville, north of Connersville. Omer Hadley now lives in Orange township, this county, where he owns a farm of one hundred and seventeen and one-half acres. He married Edith Robinson, who died in 1909, leaving two children, Virgil and Esta, the former of whom is now farming his grandmother's place, while the latter is keeping house for her father.

Willard Hadley was twelve or thirteen years of age when his mother came up into Fayette county from her old home near Metamora and settled in Columbia township and there he grew to manhood, helping his mother with the labors of the farm. About 1890 he rented the home farm and remained there, the last of the family to leave home, until about eleven years ago, he then being thirty-eight years of age, when he bought his present farm of ninety acres at the east edge of the village of Columbia, where he has farmed ever since and where he and his wife are very comfortably situated. Mr. Hadley has a well-improved farm and a well-kept farm plant. In addition to his general farming he has given considerable attention to the raising of live stock and has done very well in his operations. Mr. Hadley is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and takes a warm interest in the affairs of the same.

On June 20, 1906, Willard Hadley was united in marriage to Pearl Stevens, who was born of Garrison creek, in Columbia township, this county, daughter of Charles and Loanna (Limpus) Stevens, both of whom also were born in that same township. Charles Stevens was a son of Charles P. and Letitia (Thorpe) Stevens, old settlers in Columbia township, and he spent all his life farming there, dying when his daughter, now Mrs. Hadley, was three years of age, leaving a widow and three children. The widow afterward made her home at Alpine and followed dressmaking as a means of livelihood for herself and children and there she spent the rest of her life, her death occurring in 1900. She was a daughter of John and Harriet (Perkins) Limpus, the former of whom also was born and reared in Columbia township, his father having been one of the original pioneers of that part of the county, entering a tract of land there from the government in an early day in the settlement of that section of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Hadley have a very pleasant home and take a proper part in the general social activities of the community in which they live, helpful in promoting all agencies for the advancement of the common welfare.

John Limpus, who was one of the most active of the pioneer residents of Fayette county, was but a babe when his parents, Isaac Limpus and wife, came up here from the neighboring county of Franklin, where he was born. Isaac I.impus came to this state from Tennessee and upon coming to Fayette county located in the Columbia settlement, where he established his home. John Limpus grew to manhood in this county and became a carpenter, the most of his work being done in Alpine and vicinity, he and his brothers building the first four of five houses erected in the village of Alpine. He later became a foreman, then a contractor and then superintendent of construction of the canal between Cincinnati and Hagerstown, and was thus engaged until about 1860, when he started a saw-mill at Alpine and operated the same for seven or eight years. He then became "walking boss," or supervisor, of a number of gangs of men working on the construction of the old Valley railroad and when that work was completed took up chi1 engineering and bridge contracting, building numerous bridges in this county, erecting the foundation of factory buildings at Connersville and supervising the construction of numerous other large works in Fayette and adjoining counties. His wife, Harriet Perkins, had also come to this county in the days of her early childhood, having been but two years of age when her parents came here and settled in the immediate vicinity of the old block house about a mile west of the present village of Alpine, the presence of Indians hereabout in those days necessitating the maintenance of the block house as a means of protection against possibly raiding bands of redskins.

"History of Fayette Counties, Indiana"
published by B. F. Bowen & Co. Indianapolis, IN 1917

Absalom Simpkins, one of Fayette county's best-known farmers, the proprietor of a fine farm in Harrison township and who, for some years past has been serving as assessor of that township, is a native of the neighboring state of Ohio, but has lived in this county since 1887. He was born on a farm in Clermont county, Ohio, December 28, 1851, son of Charles and Ann (Bennett) Simpkins, both of whom were born in the state of New Jersey and who became substantial farmers of Clermont county, Ohio.

Reared on the paternal farm in Ohio, Absalom Simpkins received his schooling in the district school in the neighborhood of his home and at the age of twenty-one began teaching in that school, the same one in which he had been a pupil the year before. He got along well with his first school and for seven years thereafter was engaged in teaching during the winters, continuing to farm during the summers. When twenty-two years of age he married and began farming on his own account in southern Ohio. Three years before that time, in 1870, he had come to Indiana and had worked for a time m Fayette county; and in 1857 he moved here to make his permanent residence in this county and has ever since been engaged in farming and in the buying and shipping of live stock, having made a specialty of the latter phase of his farming for the past ten years. Four years ago Mr. Simpkins bought the farm on which he is now living in Harrison township, just four miles north of the court house, and he and his family are there very comfortably and very pleasantly situated. Mr. Simpkins is an ardent Republican and has from boyhood given his earnest attention to political affairs. During the period of his residence in Clermont county, Ohio, he served for three terms as assessor of his home township and is now serving his third term as assessor of Harrison township; this county, having been successively elected to that important office. Mr. Simpkins is a member of the Masonic Fraternity, is also a member of the local lodges of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of the Improved Order of Red Men and of the Haymakers, and in the affairs of these several organizations takes a warm interest.

In 1873, while living in Clermont county, Ohio, Absalom Simpkins was united in marriage to Eliza Jane Frazier, who also was born in that county, a daughter of Leroy and Sarah (Aultman) Frazier, the former of whom was born in that same county and the latter in Rush county, this state. In 1891 Leroy Frazier and his wife moved from Ohio to Indiana and settled in the eastern part of Harrison township, this county, where they spent the remainder of their lives. During his residence in Ohio Mr. Frazier was for many years a dealer in live stock and also was an extensive buyer of tobacco. Upon locating in Fayette county he engaged in general farming and was thus engaged until his death.

To Mr. and Mrs. Simpkins eight children have been born, all of whom are living save three, one having died in infancy and two, Ira and Ora (twins), later; Ora dying at the age of five years and Ira, at the age of twenty-four. Those living are as follow: Lee, now living in Wayne county, who married Myrtle Wood, and has one child, a son, Robert; Frank, who also lives in Wayne county and who married Lizzie Watt and has two children, Paul and Elma Jeanne; Jesse, also of Wayne county, who married Carrie White and has two children, Geneva and Freda; Mary, who married Clinton Bertsch, of Wayne county, and has four children, Maynard, Ralph, Margaret and Arthur; Albert, who is at home with his parents, a valuable aid to his father in the management of the home farm.

"History of Fayette Counties, Indiana"
published by B. F. Bowen & Co. Indianapolis, IN 1917

AUSTIN B. CLAYPOOL
It was in the year 1816, the year of Indiana's admission to statehood, that Newton Claypool and his brother Solomon, vigorous and enterprising young Virginians, came over into the new state from Ohio and after prospecting a bit decided to put in their fortunes with those of such other settlers as would, in their opinion, form a colony in the vicinity of Conner's saw-mill , which had been established a short time previously by John Conner on the banks of the White Water, at the site of the present important and flourishing city of Connersville. Newton Claypool possessed a strong and true pioneering sense and his judgment unerringly told him that here on the banks of the White Water was an ideal location for a home. He secured a tract of land in the neighborhood of the mill and there set about the erection of a cabin for the bride whom he married in 1818, when he returned to his old Ohio home near Chillicothe. Together they made their bridal trip in the month of February on horseback to the then wilderness. Later he built a more commodious house and as the only available source from which he could obtain the lumber needful for the construction of the house was the Conner saw-mill, he made application there, but was told that no more business could be accepted at that time; that the capacity of the mill was taxed to the utmost, but something had to be done and young Newton Claypool fell in with the plan, suggested by Conner, of using the mill for himself after sundown and getting out what lumber he could by moonlight.

And it was in that-humble pioneer home, lovingly prepared by an ardent young lover, that Austin B. Claypool, who afterward was to become so prominently identified with the affairs of Fayette county and of the state of Indiana in general, was born. In 1536, Newton Claypool bought from a named Berry, the farm for many years known as the old Claypool homestead and now known as "Maplewood." He spent the greater part of his life here and the place is still in the possession of the family, being now occupied by Austin B. Claypool's widowed daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth Claypool Earl. Austin B. Claypool enjoyed the unique experience of growing up amid pioneer conditions and witnessing the growth of a considerable city about his home, the luxuries of modem life and modern ways of living being brought to his very door. He grew up as a farmer boy, tilling fields on which substantial buildings of the city now stand and was thus a witness to the development of the city of Connersville from the very beginning of the same, and was one of the most active and influential factors in that development. Upon his father's death he inherited the home place, beautiful "Maplewood," and became, in addition thereto, by his own efforts, the owner of other large landed interests. He was at one time president of what is now the First National Bank of Connersville, and the Citizens Bank of Milton, but the confinement entailed by the duties pertaining to those offices proved too irksome for this stalwart, open-air man, a true lover of nature, and he relinquished the offices. Mr. Claypool gave large attention to the raising of live stock and his herds of white cattle grazing on the beautiful pastures of "Maplewood" were widely admired. In an early day the old Claypool homestead was the scene of many spirited political conferences of the Republican party, to which the Claypools have been attached since the very beginning of the party, and conferences have been held there by many of the most notable personages in that party in the days gone by. Austin B. Claypool came to be regarded as a wealthy man, in his generation, and his chief delight was in adding to the happiness of others. He was a singularly public-spirited man and did very much toward the promotion of movements designed to develop his home community along all proper lines. He took considerable interest in fraternal matters and was a Scottish-Rite Mason and a member of the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He was strongly influential in the building of gravel roads and active in promoting the construction of the railways entering Connersville. He helped organize the early agricultural fairs of Wayne and Fayette counties and served as a member of the Indiana state board of agriculture and also was a trustee of Purdue University.

Austin B. Claypool was born on December 1, 1823, son of Newton and Mary (Kern) Claypool, the former of whom was born in the state of Virginia and the latter in Ohio, the first white child born in the Sciota valley. Newton Claypool was born on May 20, 1795, and when a young man moved over into Ross county, Ohio, coming thence, in 1816, as noted above, and buying a tract of land on the present site of the city of Connersville and erecting on the same a house. In January, 1818, on High Bank prairie, in Ross county, Ohio, Newton Claypool was united in marriage to Mary Kern, who was born on February 3, 1798. In their pioneer home nine children were born, Sarah Ann, Austin Ringley, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Jefferson, Edward Fay and four who died in infancy or youth.

From the very beginning of his residence in this county Newton Claypool exerted his energies, not only to the task of developing his community, but to the general public service, and became early recognized as one of the most substantial and influential pioneers of this section of the state. He was elected first treasurer of Fayette county and while serving in that capacity performed a notable service in behalf of the county, his well-ordered and systematic methods doing much toward starting the civic affairs of the county off in proper shape. He was early elected to represent his district in the state Legislature and was retained in the General Assembly for many terms, his services in both the House and the Senate proving of large value not only to this district, but to the state at large, his constructive mind and abilities as an organizer being widely recognized by his colleagues in the Legislature. Newton Claypool died on May 14, 1866, he then being seventy years, eleven months and twenty-four days of age. His wife had preceded him to the grave less than two years, her death having occurred on August 16, 1864, she then being sixty-six years, six months and thirteen days of age. The memory of this honored pioneer couple is cherished wherever the history and the traditions of Fayette county are held dear.

Austin B. Claypool's early schooling was obtained under Harvey Nutting, a young Yankee school teacher who located in Connersville in an early day in the settlement of that place, and from the very beginning of his school days he evinced an unusual aptitude in his studies. His special bent was in the direction of mathematics and before he was sixteen years of age he was called on to settle a local dispute arising out of a variance of opinion as to the amount of stone in one of the White Water canal locks, the contractor having disputed the estimate made by the appraisers. The issue was carried into court and young Claypool was called as an expert witness, his estimate, based upon his careful calculation, being accepted by the court, which sternly rebuked the opposing counsel, Samuel Parker, for the manner in which he had attempted to confuse the youthful witness. While still a boy, young Claypool was entrusted with numerous responsible duties by his father and at one time he was sent out with five hundred dollars to buy hogs throughout the county. That was in the day before farm scales were thought of and on the young stockbuyer's judgment depended the faithful performance of the trust, which was carried out to his father's entire satisfaction, the lad soon becoming an expert buyer and thus laying the foundation for his future success.

On May 20, 1846, Austin B. Claypool was united in marriage to Hannah Ann Petty, daughter of Williams and Elizabeth (John) Petty, pioneers of this section of the state, and to that union eight children were born, namely: Virginia, wife of Henry Clay Meredith, of Wayne county, Indiana; Marcus S., who married Elizabeth Burson and now resides at Muncie, this state; Elizabeth, widow of Morel1 J. Earl and who is now occupying the old Claypool home, "Maplewood"; Frank J., of Muncie, and four who died in youth. Frank J. Claypool married Luella Swiggett and has two children, Austin B., who married Elma Quick, and Virginia Meredith, who married Dr. Robert Miller. Austin B. Claypool and wife did not unite with any church until late in life, but contributed generously to the support of all denominations in Connersville, as well as to all other good works there. When "Maplewood" was laid out, Mr. Claypool donated the ground on which the Grand Avenue Methodist Episcopal church was erected and practically gave to the congregation both the church and the parsonage, he and his wife at the same time becoming members of that congregation and continued active workers in the same until their death. Austin B. Claypool died on January 16, 1905, he then being eighty-two years of age. A distinct honor was paid to his memory by the city schools during the funeral service, by having each teacher devote one period to his life and character. His widow survived until January 18, 1913, she being eighty-five years of age at the time of her death.

Mrs. Elizabeth Claypool Earl, the only one of the Claypool family remaining in Connersville and who continues to occupy the old home, "Maplewood," was born during the brief period, in which her parents lived at Germantown, in the neighboring county of Wayne, but has been a resident of Connersville since she was three or four years of age. In her childhood she was tutored in private schools and by a governess and later attended Glendale College. Even in the days of her girlhood Elizabeth Claypool began to take an earnest interest in the cultural activities of her home town and all her life has been devoted to the promotion of the best interests of the community in a cultural way. Married in 1878 and left a widow after less than one year of happy married life, Mrs. Earl has ever since found distraction from her lonely state in doing in behalf of others what she has been denied doing for her own, and for many years one of her chief delights has been the labor she has been able to perform in Sunday-school work, the satisfaction she has derived from witnessing in after years the fruits of those labors reflected in the lives of the boys and girls who had been members of her young peoples clubs and pupils in her Bible classes, being a great source of comfort. She regards this as the greatest work of her life and counts it a high privilege to have been given the time, strength and means for the successful prosecution of such labors.

Mrs. Earl has also given much of her time and energies to the work of women's clubs in Indiana and is a past president of the Indiana Union of Literary Clubs. She was chairman of the committee that introduced the bill creating the public library commission of Indiana and successfully carried the same through the Legislature, and was appointed by Governor Mount the woman member of that commission of three; has been reappointed by each successive governor and is now president of the commission. In this important capacity Mrs. Earl has performed a most valuable service in behalf of library extension and development in Indiana and her influence has been carried into adjoining and other states. She is now president of the League of Library Commissions and is a member of the council of the American Library Association. It was through her suggestion that the Indiana Library Trustees Association was organized and it .has been her enthusiastic co-operation in the labors of that association that has done much to advance the standard of libraries throughout the state. In 1915 she was president of this association and she also has served as president of the Indiana Library Association. She is vice-president of the Connersville library board and it was largely through her influence and direction that the handsome Carnegie library building was secured for that city.

In her labors in behalf of the woman's clubs movement, Mrs. Earl has for years been particularly active and her activity and influence in that connection have done much to advance the movement in this state. When the "General Federation of Women's Clubs" began its campaign for a one hundred thousand dollar endowment fund, Mrs. Earl was selected as chairman for Indiana and, with marked ability, raised several hundred dollars over Indiana's apportionment. At the biennial meetings of the General Federation of Woman's Clubs held at Chicago in 1914 and at New York in 1916 she served as an aide to the president. When the secretary of agriculture asked Mrs. Percy V. Pennybacker, president of the General Federation, to appoint a special committee of three to co-operate with the agricultural department of the federal government to ascertain what the government is doing in the way of aid for women and children, Mrs. Earl was selected as one of the three women appointed. So successful was the report made that the committee was asked to be continued and take up other departments, which work is now under way. Mrs. Earl has been an extensive traveler, both in this country and in foreign lands, and a trip through the Holy Land made some years ago gave her vivid and invaluable impressions with which to render more realistic her presentation of the Bible lessons to the plastic minds of her Sunday school pupils. Mrs. Earl is a Presbyterian and is devoted to foreign missions.

"History of Fayette Counties, Indiana"
published by B. F. Bowen & Co. Indianapolis, IN 1917

Morell J. Earl, of Lafayette, Indiana, who died in the summer of 1879, and whose widow, Mrs. Elizabeth Claypool Earl, has since made her home at "Maplewood," the home of her father and of her grandfather, at Connersville, was born at Lafayette, Indiana, June 7, 1853, and was therefore but twenty-six years of age at the time of his death. He was the son of Adams and Martha (Hawkins) Earl, both of whom were born in the state of Ohio, and who were the parents of two children, the subject of this memorial sketch having had a sister, Alice, who married Charles B. Stuart, of Logansport, who became a prominent lawyer of Lafayette.

Adams Earl was for years one of Lafayette's best-known and most influential merchants and landowners. The grocery business he built tip there became one of the most substantial mercantile establishments in that city. He did other things also on a large scale and "Shadeland Farm," his Hereford cattle ranch on the Wea plain, near Lafayette, was widely famed for the excellence of the cattle he bred there. He and his wife spent all of their married life in Lafayette and died at their beautiful home, "Earlhurst," stately in its natural setting of forest trees.

Morell J. Earl was reared at Lafayette and finished his schooling at Wabash College and at Amherst College, Massachusetts. From boyhood he took much interest in his father's farming and stock-raising operations and received careful instruction along the lines of agriculture, owning a large tract of land in Benton county, upon which he had a herd of Shorthorn cattle. After completing his college course, he entered the wholesale store with his father and was devoting himself to a business career, with prospects for large success opening out before him, when his death occurred on July 28, 1879.

Less than a year before his death, on October 9, 1878. Morell J. Earl was united in marriage to Elizabeth Claypool, of Connersville, daughter of Austin B. Claypool and granddaughter of Newton Claypool, and his widow still survives, making her home at "Maplewood, " the old homestead at which her grandfather and his wife established their home in 1836 then a large farm, where now stands the beautiful suburb, "Maplewood," of the city of Connersville. In a memorial sketch relating to Austin B. Claypool, presented elsewhere in this volume, there are set out, in full, details relating to the origin of the Claypool family in this community and of the good works and the various services to the community rendered by Newton Claypool and by his son, Austin B. Claypool, and, by the latter's daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth Claypool Earl, and the reader's attention is respectfully called to the same in connection with this brief memorial sketch of a brave young man whose life went out just at the time when that life seemed fairer to him than ever before.

"History of Fayette Counties, Indiana"
published by B. F. Bowen & Co. Indianapolis, IN 1917

James F. Holland, a former member of the board of county commissioners of Fayette county and one of the best-known and most substantial farmers of Waterloo township, proprietor of a fine farm of four hundred and eighty acres of land, was born in that township, on a pioneer farm not far from his present home, and has lived in that vicinity all his life. He was born on June 19, 1861, son of William A. and Mary A. (Scholl) Holland, both now deceased, who also were born in that same township, where they spent all their lives, among the best-known and most influential residents of that part of the county.

William A. Holland was born in 1833, a son of Robert and Margaret (Stephenson) Holland, the former a native of Ireland and the latter of the state of Ohio, who were among the early settlers of Waterloo township, this county. Robert Holland was born in County Fermanagh, Ireland, in 1779, and was well grown when he came to this country and settled in Hamilton county, Ohio, where he married Margaret Stephenson, who lived in Colerain township, that county. Shortly after his marriage Robert Holland came over into Indiana and entered a tract of "Congress land" in Waterloo township, this county, and there established his home. He also owned a farm in Union county. He was a weaver as well as a farmer and was wont to work at his trade as a weaver at night, spending his days farming, and it is related of him that it was nothing unusual for him to sit before his loom all night and then do a full day's work in the fields the next day. His son, William A. Holland, grew to manhood on the pioneer farm where he was born and for several winters taught school in that neighborhood. He spent his entire life in that township, a life-long farmer, and came to be the owner of four farms, aggregating four hundred and eighty acres, in Waterloo township, besides helping his children to get a start on farms of their own. William A. Holland was an ardent Republican and for some time served as assessor of his home township and for sixteen years served as a member of the board of county commissioners of Fayette county, his services in the latter connection proving of much value to the county at large. He and his wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal church and were among the leaders in all good works in the community in which they lived. William A. Holland died on May 11, 1908, and his widow survived a little less than two years, her death occurring in February, 1910. She also was born in Waterloo township and lived there all her life. Her maiden name was Mary A. Scholl and she was a daughter of John and Sallie (Reed) Scholl, members of pioneer families in that part of the county.

John Scholl was born in Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, in 1824, and was about five years of age when his parents, John and Sallie (Reed) Scholl came to Indiana with their family and settled in Fayette county, establishing their home on a tract of land bought from the government in Waterloo towns. The senior John Scholl also was born in Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, a son of John Jacob and Mary (Hetzel) Scholl, natives of that same county, of German descent, the former having been born there in 1773, son of John Peter Scholl, who was born in the Black Forest of Germany and who, when a lad, started with his parents and the other members of their family for this country, all of the family save himself dying on shipboard of cholera on the way over. John Jacob Scholl and his family came to Indiana from Pennsylvania in 1833 and settled in Fayette county; where John Jacob Scholl died in 1870, at the age of ninety-six years. His son, the senior John Scholl, also located in Waterloo township, this county, in 1833, and there died in 1876, he then being at the age of seventy-six years. He and his wife (Sallie Reed) were the parents of seven children, John, Sallie, David, Mary, Henry, Leah and William. The junior John Scholl was but nine years of age when he came with his parents from Pennsylvania to this county and here he grew to manhood on the pioneer farm in Waterloo township, where he spent all his life. On August 19, 1852, he married Jane Holland, who also was born in this county, a daughter of Henry and Jane Holland, pioneers, and their daughter, Mary A. Scholl, grew to womanhood in Waterloo township and there married William A. Holland. To that union five children were born, those besides the subject of this sketch, the second in order or birth, being as follow: Mrs. Alice K. Byrne, deceased; John W., of Cottage Grove, Union county, this state; Charles E., of Connersville, and Mrs. Edie B. McGraw, of Connersville.

James F. Holland grew up on the paternal farm in Waterloo township and remained at home until his marriage at the age of twenty-seven years, when he began farming on the place where he now lives and where he ever since has made his home, long having been regarded as one of the most substantial farmers in that part of the county. Mr. Holland owns four hundred and eighty acres of land and has done very well in his farming operations. His place is well improved and well kept and he and his wife are very comfortably situated. Mr. Holland is a Republican and has ever taken a good citizen's interest in local civic affairs. He has served as a member of the board of county commissioners, having been appointed, without his previous knowledge or solicitation, to fill an unexpired term on the board and then elected to fill the balance of the unexpired term.

Mr. Holland has been twice married. In 1888 he was united in marriage to Nancy McDaniel, who was born in Hancock county, this state, a daughter of Jacob and Martha ( McCray) McDaniel, and who died in August, 1903, without issue. In 1906 Mr. Holland married Mrs. Emily J. (McDaniel) Scholl, his deceased wife's sister and widow of W. C. Scholl. She also was born in Hancock county and there lived until her marriage to W. C. Scholl, a native of this county, coming to Fayette county with her husband in 1883 and locating near Springersville, where she lived until Mr. Scholl's death in December, 1889. She has two sons by her first marriage, Chester A. Scholl, who is now living in Iowa, and Curtis Scholl, who is living on the place his father owned near Springersville. Mrs. Holland is a member of the Universalist church and Mr. Holland is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.

"History of Fayette Counties, Indiana"
published by B. F. Bowen & Co. Indianapolis, IN 1917

William Thomas Jones, one of Fayette county's best-known old settlers and a well-to-do farmer in Connersville township, proprietor of a well-kept farm in the southern part of that township, is a native son of Fayette county and has lived here all his life with the exception of eight years, during the seventies, when he was pioneering on the plains of Kansas and enduring the hardships and privations of "grasshopper days" in that state. He was born on a pioneer farm in Orange township, this county, December 27, 1845, son of George Washington and Elizabeth (Bedell) Jones, the former also a native of this county and the latter of whom was born over in Preble county, Ohio, whose last days were spent in this county, respected and influential residents of Orange township.

George Washington Jones was born on the farm in the southwestern part of Connersville township, the place on which his son, the subject of this sketch, has for years made his home, and was a son of William and Lucinda (Ginn) Jones, pioneers of this section of Indiana. William Jones was born in Culpeper county, Virginia, and upon, reaching manhood went to Bracken county, Kentucky, where he married Lucinda Ginn and about 1829 came on up into Indiana and settled in Fayette county, entering from the government a tract of eighty acres in the southwestern part of Connersville township, the place on which his grandson, the subject of this sketch, is now living. There William Jones and his brave pioneer wife established their home and with all the toil and endeavor necessary in the creation of a farm in a forest wilderness presently had a good piece of property. Upon coming here they had but one horse and on that horse Mrs. Jones rode up from Kentucky, carrying her babe in her arms, her husband walking alongside and carrying a gun as a protection against possible dangers from wild beasts or Indians. Their small cooking equipment and a few essential household belongings were strapped onto the horse and they arrived here with an exceedingly limited equipment for making a home. However, they had stout hearts and willing hands and it was not long until they had a little log house erected in a clearing which William Jones made on his place and had begun to make a place of comfortable residence. On that pioneer farm William Jones and his wife spent the rest of their lives, and there George W. Jones grew to manhood, a valued aid in the labors of improving and developing the home place. In 1840 he married and three years later, in 1813, located on a farm in Orange township, this county, where he spent the rest of his life. George W. Jones was a man of firm convictions and much strength of character and for years rendered excellent service in his community as township trustee. He possessed in a high degree the confidence of his neighbors and frequently was called on to act as administrator of estates or as guardian of minor heirs and in all these positions of trust acquitted himself faithfully. He and his wife were members of the Christian church and took an earnest part in all neighborhood good works. George W. Jones died in 1897 and his widow survived him for nearly ten years, her death occurring in 1906. She was born, Elizabeth Bedell, near Lebanon, in Preble county, Ohio, a daughter of John and Martha (Yaryan) Bedell, who had moved from New Jersey to Ohio, then to Indiana, and then in 1845 moved to Iowa, where their last days were spent. To George W. Jones and wife were born seven children, three of whom died in childhood and another, John Bedell Jones, in 1911, the survivors being the subject of this sketch and his two sisters, Mrs. Nancy L. McKee, of Posey township, Franklin county, and Mrs. Sallie I. Logan, of Noble township, Rush county.

William T. Jones grew to manhood on the paternal farm in Orange township and for two or three years before his marriage farmed on his own account on his father's place. In the latter part of 1869 he married and in 1872 he and his wife went to Kansas and settled on a tract of a quarter of a section of railroad land he bought in Lincoln county, that state. Grasshoppers, droughts and hot winds made life a burden for Kansas farmers during that period, but Mr. Jones persisted, despite all the discouragements that beset him, and in time developed a good piece of property there. There he remained until 1880, when, at the urgent request of his father, he returned to Indiana and resumed his place on the old home farm in Orange township. On September 3, 1895, Mr. Jones moved to his present farm in the southwestern part of Connersville township, the place that had been opened in the wilderness by his grandfather in 1829, and there he and his family are very pleasantly situated. Mr. Jones is the owner of one hundred acres of well-improved land and has done very well in his farming operations. He is a member of the Christian church and his wife is a member of the Methodist church, both taking a proper part in neighborhood good works.

Mr. Jones has been twice married. On December 8, 1869 he was united in marriage to Ann Eliza Johnson, who also was born in Orange township, this county, daughter of Louis and Louisa (Winchell) Johnson, who came to this county from Pennsylvania about 1830 and settled in Orange township, and to that union four children were born, namely: Sedella Lee, who married Edward Thomas, of East Connersville, and has three children, Gladys, Frank and Garnet; George C., a contractor and carpenter, now living at Glenwood, in Orange township, this county, who married Mollie Medsker and has four children, Nellie, Cecil, Evelyn and Elizabeth; Charles F., who lives on the home farm with his father, and Eva, who died in infancy. The mother of these children died in 1883 and in 1887. Mr. Jones married Emma Steffey, who was born at Laurel, in Franklin county, this state, a daughter of Lewis and Amelia (Snyder) Steffey, both of whom were born at Williamsport, Maryland, and who, after a sometime residence in Ohio, came to Indiana and located at Laurel, where they spent the remainder of their lives. Lewis Steffey was a carpenter and contractor and followed that vocation to the time of his death. He died in 1880 and his widow survived him about four years, her death occurring in 1884. They were the parents of six children, all of whom grew to maturity save one, who died at the age of nineteen months. Of the others, William Steffey died in 1903 and Mrs. Catherine Naylor died on September 27, 1912. Mrs. Jones now having two surviving sisters, Mrs. Matilda Cameron and Mrs. Alice Sheppard.

"History of Fayette Counties, Indiana"
published by B. F. Bowen & Co. Indianapolis, IN 1917

Samuel Calvin Moffett, one of the well-remembered pioneers of Fayette county, who died at his home just over the line near Beeson, in the neighboring county of Wayne, had been a resident of Fayette county since 1833, having come up to this part of Indiana in 1833 with his parents, he then being a child of five years, and has spent the rest of his life in this vicinity, thus having been a participant in the development of the interests of the northern part of this county, his family having settled in Harrison township, from pioneer days. He was born on a pioneer farm in Grainger county, in the eastern part of Tennessee, January 17, 1828, a son of Samuel and Mary (Donaldson) Moffett, who later became pioneers of this part of Indiana and here spent their last days.

The elder Samuel Moffett was born in Ireland, a son of Henry, whose father's name also was Henry Moffett, and with others of the family came to this country, locating in Grainger county, Tennessee, in 1803. There he was naturalized, becoming a citizen of the United States, and when the War of 1812 broke out enlisted for service in behalf of the arms of his adopted country and served in the army of Andrew Jackson. Samuel Moffett was a neighbor of David Crockett in his Tennessee home and became one of the stalwart pioneers of that section of the state. There he married Mary Donaldson, daughter of a pioneer of that section of Tennessee, and in 1833 came north with his family and settled in this part of Indiana, where he and his wife spent the rest of their lives. Previous to coming up here Samuel Moffett had bought a tract of land in the northern part of Harrison township, Fayette county, a tract of wild and unimproved land, the farm now occupied by his grandson, O. O. Moffett, and for a year while getting the same ready for occupancy, made his home on the Dungan farm, one-half mile west of Beeson. He gradually improved his woodland farm until he had one of the best places in that part of the county, and there he and his wife spent the rest of their lives, useful and influential pioneer residents of Harrison township. They were the parents of ten children, James, William, Lambert, Jane, Nancy, Susan, Franklin, Elizabeth, Samuel Calvin and Emeline.

Samuel Calvin Moffett was but five years of age when his family moved to Fayette county and he grew to manhood on the home farm in Fayette county, becoming thoroughly familiar with the conditions that confronted the pioneers of this section of the state. He lived on the home place after his marriage, having bought the interests of the other heirs in the old homestead, and there continued to make his home until in December, 1867, when he moved to a farm south of Beeson, just over the line in Wayne county, and there he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives. His death occurred on July 17, 1892, and she survived until December 9, 1902. She was born, Exeline Cox, May 9, 1827, near Ogden, in Henry county, this state, and was a member of one of the pioneer families of that section. To Samuel C. Moffett wife ten children were born, three of whom died in infancy and seven of whom lived to maturity. One of the daughters, Belle, died on January 6, 1851, and one of the sons, Oscar Franklin, who was born on January 25, 1858, died on May 9, 1893. The five still living are as follow: Simpson, of Kinnard, in the neighboring county of Henry; Emery, who lives two miles west of Connersville; Otho O., mentioned above as living on the home place that was settled by his grandfather back in 1833, and a biographical sketch of whom is presented elsewhere in this volume; Lambert, who lives three miles southeast of Middletown, in Henry county, and Mrs. Oma Mochworth, who lives one and one-half miles west of the village of Dublin, in Wayne county.

"History of Fayette Counties, Indiana"
published by B. F. Bowen & Co. Indianapolis, IN 1917

Otho Orlando Moffett, one of the well-known and substantial farmers of Harrison township, this county, was born on the farm on which he is now living, on the northern edge of that township, and has lived there most of his life. He was born on March 11, 1862, son of Samuel Calvin and Exeline (Cox) Moffett, the former of whom was born in eastern Tennessee and who came to this county with his parents when he was five years of age, and the latter of whom was born in Henry county, this state, a daughter of pioneer parents. Samuel Calvin Moffett became one of Fayette county's substantial farmers. He and his wife spent their last days on a farm in the neighborhood of Beeson, over the line in Wayne county, but their children were reared on the pioneer farm in Fayette county, the place taken by Samuel C. Moffett's father, Samuel Moffett, in 1833, when he moved up here with his family from Tennessee, the place now occupied by the subject of this sketch. In a memorial sketch relating to Samuel C. Moffett, presented elsewhere in this volume, there are set out further details concerning the Moffett family in this section of the state, to which the attention of the reader is invited in this connection.

On the pioneer farm in the northern edge of Harrison township, above referred to, Otho O. Moffett grew to manhood. He received his schooling in the district school in that neighborhood and from boyhood was a valued assistant to his father and his brothers in the labors of developing and improving the home place. After his marriage in 1887 Mr. Moffett continued to make his home on the home place for about seven years, at the end of which time he moved to another farm that had belonged to his father, between Connersville and Waterloo, and there was engaged in farming until 1900, when he returned to the old home place, where he was born and where he ever since has made his residence, he and his family being very pleasantly and very comfortably situated there. Mr. Moffett owns ninety-eight acres and has a fine new house and a very well-kept place, his farm being improved according to modern standards. Mr. Moffett is a life-long Democrat and has ever given a good citizen's attention to local civic affairs, an ardent exponent of clean politics, but has not been a seeker after public office. He is a member of the local lodges of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and takes a warm interest in the affairs of that organization.

On February 17, 1887, Otho O. Moffett was united in marriage to Clara Dailey, who was born on the old James' Lester farm on the Rushville road between Connersville and Glenwood, in the southwest quarter of section 30, Connersville township, this county, a daughter of Aaron and Mary A. (Lester) Dailey, both of whom were born in this county, members of pioneer families. Aaron Dailey was born on October 28, 18-24, a son of William Dailey and wife, of English descent, and Mary A. Lester was born on September 28, 1830, a daughter of James and Jennie Lester, both of Irish parentage, who were early settlers in the western part of Connersville township, this county. Mr. and Mrs. Moffett have four children, namely: Murl Leroy Moffett, who lives at Richmond, this state; Mabel May, who married Dennison Kerr, living near Hawkinsville, this county, and has one child, a daughter, Virginia Eloise; Mary Marie, who married Ernest Caldwell, who lives near Yankeetown, in Harrison township, Fayette county, and Luella, who is at home with her parents. The Moffetts have a very pleasant home and have ever taken a proper part in the general social activities of the community in which they live, helpful in advancing all worthy causes thereabout.

"History of Fayette Counties, Indiana"
published by B. F. Bowen & Co. Indianapolis, IN 1917