"History of Warrick, Spencer and Perry Counties, Indiana - Leopold Township" by Goodspeed Bros. & Co. - published in 1885
ABRAM LANMAN, a progressive and enterprising citizen of Leopold Township, was born May 23, 1834, in the township of which he is now a resident. He is the youngest in a family of fourteen children born to John and Martha (Thrasher) Lanman, who were natives of North Carolina and Virginia respectively, and were among the first pioneers of this county. Abram Lanham made his home with his parents on the old homestead until their deaths and is yet a resident there. He received his early education from the primitive subscription schools of that day, and December 14, 1859, was united in matrimony with Mary Hill, who died February 12, 1860, after bearing one daughter - Mary E., who died November 14, 1883. April 24, 1861, Mr. Lanman wedded Helen A. Robertson, by whom he is the father of these seven children: William H., Martha, John E., Willard, George F., Lennie A. and
Minnie B., the last two named being twins. Mr. Lanman has successfully followed agricultural pursuits through life, and now owns 250 acres of good farming and grazing land. He is a Democrat in politics, and takes an active interest in the public and political affairs of the community in which he lives, where he enjoys the respect and esteem of all who know him.
"History of Warrick, Spencer and Perry Counties, Indiana - Leopold Township" by Goodspeed Bros. & Co. - published in 1885
JOSEPH LAURENT, born in the kingdom of Belgium, November 11, 1829, is the eldest of a family of seven children born to the marriage of Lewis Laurent and Mary Swaker. He was reared to man's estate in the land of his birth, securing a good practical education. On March 23, 1852, he embarked for the United States, where he expected to better his condition in many respects. These expectations have been realized, but Mr. Laurent has made life a success only by the industry, sobriety and frugality characteristic of people of his native country. On landing at New York he went to Buffalo, where he remained four months, then went to the vicinity of Cincinnati, Ohio, where he resided three years. In 1855 he came to Perry County, Ind., and engaged in farming and is now the fortunate possessor of 160 acres of valuable land. Perry County has ever since been his home. January 24,
1860, he united in matrimony with Susan L. Elder, and to their union a family of five children have been born, of which these three are now living: August, Mary A. and James. By trade Mr. Laurent is a stone-mason and cutter, but farming has been his principal occupation through life. He is a Democrat, and himself and family belong to the Roman Catholic Church.
"History of Warrick, Spencer and Perry Counties, Indiana - Leopold Township" by Goodspeed Bros. & Co. - published in 1885
GEORGE LITTLE, a resident of Perry County, Ind., for the past forty-five years, was born February 8, 1819, in Marrion County, Ky., and is the second of three children born to the marriage of Reynolds Little and Sarah Prather, the former being a native of Germany, and the latter of Maryland. George Little passed the first twenty-one years of his life in his native State, and owing to the limited facilities of that day secured but a meager education. In 1840 he first came to this county, and has since made it his home. Selecting farming as his life's occupation in youth, he has steadily followed his chosen occupation, and to-day is the owner of a valuable tract of land comprising 480 acres, of which all but about eighty acres is in timber. In politics he is one of the few Republicans of Leopold Township, firmly believing in the principles of his party; but is possessed
of sufficient judgment and discernment to not be controlled entirely by any party or clique in which a wrong or false policy is advocated. He was married July 14, 1847, to Ellen Wheatley, by whom he is the father of three children deceased, and the following named now living: Jane (Mrs. Frank Elder), Reynolds (married Mary Miller), George, Ellen, Joshua, Joseph and Amanda - the last two named being twins.
"History of Warrick, Spencer and Perry Counties, Indiana - Leopold Township" by Goodspeed Bros. & Co. - published in 1885
VICTOR MARCHAL, a native of the kingdom of Belgium, was born March 10, 1830, being the youngest of six children born to James and Mary (Gillen) Marchal. Until nineteen years of age he continued to reside in his native country, during which time he received a fair education from the common schools. In 1849 he left relatives and immigrated to the United States, landed at New Orleans, from whence he came direct to Perry County, Ind. With the exception of eleven months, while in Floyd County, he has resided here since his first location, and by an economical farmer's life has become the owner of ninety acres of improved land. In politics he is an earnest supporter of the Democratic party, and has filled every office in the gift of the citizens of Leopold Township, serving as trustee alone a period of sixteen years. He is the present incumbent of the office of justice of the
peace. Mr. Marchal was married September 25, 1851, to Katie Goffinet, and to their union a family of twelve children has been born as follows: Mary (Mrs. Fred Lamking), Andrew (who married Celina Harborville), Emile (Mrs. Victor Devillez), Joseph (married Emile Devillez), Eugenie (now Mrs. Henry Frangeville), John B. (married Malinda Sprinkle), Adolph, Victor, Henry, Katie, Ellen and Edward. The Marchal family is among the first of Leopold Township.
"History of Warrick, Spencer and Perry Counties, Indiana - Leopold Township" by Goodspeed Bros. & Co. - published in 1885
A.J. MEUNIER, trustee of Leopold Township, is a native of the kingdom of Belgium, his birth occurring March 12, 1849. He is the seventh in a family of twelve children, six now living, born to John H. and Mary J. (Lombard) Meunier. The year following our subject's birth his parents immigrated to the United States and from New Orleans, where they landed, came directly to Perry County, Ind., and settled on a farm now occupied by A.J. The mother died April 12, 1880, and the father, January 27, 1883. Andrew J. Meunier, subject of this sketch, was commonly educated in the schools of this county, and February 7, 1872, united in marriage with Melanie Graves, by whom he is the father of five children, four now living. Mr. Meunier has steadily followed farming as an occupation, and is the owner of over 300 acres of improved land. As a Democrat in politics he has been an earnest worker
for the success of his party, and was rewarded for his fidelity by an election to the office of township trustee, which he is now filling. Himself and family are members of the Roman Catholic Church.
"History of Warrick, Spencer and Perry Counties, Indiana - Leopold Township" by Goodspeed Bros. & Co. - published in 1885
ANDREW PETER, a prominent old citizen of Leopold Township, and one of its first settlers, is a native of the kingdom of Belgium, born March 28, 1808, being the youngest in a family of nine children born to John and Mary C. (Gobin) Peter. He was reared and educated in his native country, and in the year 1842, immigrated to the United States, landing at New Orleans. He immediately came to Perry County, Ind., of which he has been a resident ever since. He first settled where the village of Leopold is now situated, butat the time there was nothing to mark the spot but a heavy forest of trees and underbrush. Mr. Peter felled the first tree where now stands Leopold. Since his location in Perry County, he has been one of its best citizens and one of its enterprising and successful farmers. February 5, 1832, he united in marriage with Mary E. Gravet, and to their union a family of seven
children were born, of which the following named are survivors: James (who married Annie C.H. Goffinet), Elizabeth J. (the wife of John J. Evrard), Victoria (now Mrs. James Rogers), John B. (whose wife was Victoria Etienne) and August E., who selected Catharine Meunier for his wife. Mr. Peter has always followed agricultural pursuits in this country, and is at present assisted by his youngest son. In his native land he was an employee in some of the foundries of that country. March 12, 1882, Mrs. Peter, a true wife and mother, died. The survivors are all Democrats in politics, and of the Catholic faith in religion.
"History of Warrick, Spencer and Perry Counties, Indiana - Leopold Township" by Goodspeed Bros. & Co. - published in 1885
Additional information on this family can be found at
MARTIN S. SWEAT, a prominent citizen of Perry County, was born August 6, 834, in the township where he now resides. He is the third in a family of seven children born to the marriage of Hiram P. and Ruth (Shelman) Sweat, who were natives of New York and Kentucky respectively. About the year 1829, the parents of our subject settled in Perry County, at what was known as James' Mill, but a few years later, removed to Leopold Township, where they resided during the remainder of their lives. During early manhood Martin S. Sweat followed trading, and flat-boating on the river. He received but a limited education in youth. September 20, 1859, he married Cornelia E. Patrick, and since the year of his marriage, Mr. Sweat's principal employment has been farming and timber dealing. His life has been a success from a financial standpoint, now owning 377 acres of improved land. He and wife
are Catholics, and the parents of nine children, the following named yet living: Emma A., John M., Annie, Mary, Solomon, Martin and Lillian. Mr. Sweat is a prominent Democrat of the county, has served as justice of the peace, and is one of the present county commissioners.
"History of Warrick, Spencer and Perry Counties, Indiana - Leopold Township" by Goodspeed Bros. & Co. - published in 1885
VICTOR YAGGI, a native of the republic of Switzerland, and one of the prominent old citizens of Leopold, was born June 5, 1821, being the youngest of eight children born to Frank J. and Agada Yaggi. He was reared to manhood in his native country, receiving a good education from the common schools. In the year 1853 he immigrated to New Orleans, Louisiana, and ten days after his arrival, which was about April 20, he settled in Perry County, Ind., which has ever since been his home. Shoemaking has been his trade and occupation through life, and in connection with that, has farmed to some extent. He has been fairly successful with the acquisition of this world's goods, and besides a farm of 120 acres in this township, owns fifteen lots in the village of Leopold. In politics he is a Democrat. In July, 1843, Mr. Yaggi united in marriage with Louisa Gloor, by whom he is the father of ten
children, of which these are now living: Josephine (Mrs. James Cody), Edward (married Sarah Jarboe), Albert (who wedded Mary Baker), Joseph C. (married Eliza Herbert), Victor R. (married Celina Meunier), and John. The mother dying April 28, 1865, Mr. Yaggi married Mrs. Caroline (Ryland) Courcier, August 29, 1865, by whom he is the father of two children, both deceased. The Yaggi family are Catholic.
"History of Warrick, Spencer and Perry Counties, Indiana - Leopold Township" by Goodspeed Bros. & Co. - published in 1885
JAMES AARON BUTT was born April 5, 1843 in Crawford Co., IN to John Aaron Butt. He was married August 10, 1865 in Branchville, IN to Mary Eleanor (Polly) Sprinkle who was born Oct. 4, 1845 in Branchville.
On the way to their new homestead, their child Francis Adolphus (1882) died & was buried in Gibson Co, IL.
After they were settled in Iowa a daugher Ida Pearl (1886) was born.
Contributed by: Nancy Sackett
JOHN SPRINKLE was born Sept. 9, 1804 in NC, married Mary (Polly) Willett in Meade Co., KY, & I think he is buried in Walker Cem., Branchville, since his wife is there. Their 5th daughter was Mary Eleanor, also called Polly, who married James Aaron Butt. Their other children were: America (1828); George Washington (1831); Sarah (1833); Nancy Jane (1836); Elizabeth (1839, married a Faulkenborough); Wm. Maxfield & a twin that died (1842); Polly; and John Jr.(1848). These children are buried in many different states.
Contributed by: Nancy Sackett
THOMAS LYONS, one of the wealthy farmers of Pike Township, resides on section 34. He commenced life in Jay County with but little besides strong hands and a determination that no obstacle could overcome, and perhaps no man in Jay County has accomplished more, from so small a beginning as he, and few have done more to develop the county from a state of wildness of that of civilization. Mr. Lyons was born in Columbiana County, Ohio, February 13, 1829, a son of Thomas and Eve (Apple) Lyons. His mother was born in Pennsylvania of German descent; his father was of Irish descent. They were united in marriage in Columbiana County, Ohio. In 1837 they moved to Perry County, where the father died in 1838. In 1850 our subject's brother, Elijah Lyons, came to Jay County and located in Pike Township, and a little later Thomas followed him and bought eighty acres of heavily timbered land on
section 26, of the same township. His capital at that time consisted of $180. He erected a log cabin and commenced clearing his land. In 1852 he leased it to his brother-in-law, Enoch Drake, for a term of five years, and returned to Ohio. In 1855 he married Amanda Templeman, and in 1856 they came to Jay County and settled on the homestead on section 26, Pike Township. In 1864 he bought and moved to the homestead of his neighbor Edmond Rathburn. Steadily year by year, by industry and economy, he added to his property until he became a large land owner. His homestead contains 190 acres of finely improved land, and his substantial brick residence and other buildings and improvements denote wealth and prosperity. He has assisted his children to get a start in life by giving to the different ones as seemed most fitting, land or money, not wishing them to travel the weary road from poverty over which he so manfully made his way. His wife,
who shared the hardships and privations of pioneer life and later the comforts of a good home with him, died in 1878. To them were born eleven children -John, now of Kansas; Mrs. Amanda Smiley, of Randolph County; Thomas and Elijah, also of Kansas; Mary, Jackson, Sarah and Eve, the latter deceased. In 1882 Mr. Lyons married Miss Florence Harkins, andto them have been born four children, but two of whom, Daniel and Elizabeth, are living. In politics Mr. Lyons is a Democrat. He enlisted during the war of the Rebellion and served nine months, a member of the Twenty-third Indiana Infantry. He is a member of the Baptist church, as was also the wife of his youth.
BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL RECORD OF JAY AND BLACKFORD COUNTIES, INDIANA The Lewis Publishing Company, 1887 Page 311-312
Elias Rector was the third of nine sons born in Fauquier County, Virginia, to Frederick Rector and his wife, Elizabeth Connor, a daughter of Lewis and Ann (Wharton) Connor, of Norfolk, and probably a sister or cousin to Terence Connor, the pioneer of that name in Perry County. All those nine sons were educated as civil engineers, and in 1806 came in a body to Indiana Territory, whose area then extended from the Mississippi River to Lake Superior. They established themselves at Kashaskia, and formed a clan of remarkable brothers, who surveyed for the Government all the district known as Illinois after 1809, when set apart from Indiana. Besides this work, performed under appointment from Jared Mansfield, surveyor general of the Northwest Territory, whose headquarters from 1803 to 1812 were at Cincinnati, they were required to survey the lands of private individuals, many of which were old French grants difficult to outline, and for such intricate
labor Congress, in December, 1809, allowed additional compensation to William and Elias Rector, upon the report of Senator Richard M. Johnson. The nine brothers were strikingly clannish, each six feet in height, straight as an arrow, fearless yet quiet, with a chivalrous sense of honour and manners of courtly dignity. However interesting their personality, it is, notwithstanding, scarcely correct to designate Elias Rector as an actual pioneer resident of Perry County. His entry was transferred within a few years to Nicholas J. Roosevelt, of New York City, a great-uncle of Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States.
Perry County
At the extreme southern end of the bottom, land was entered in November, 1807, by the Rev. Charles Polk (then spelled Polke), the pioneer member in Perry County of a prominent and widespread American stock tracing their direct descent from Robert Polk and Magdalene Tasker, his wife, of Somerset County, Maryland, a stronghold of Irish Presbyterianism whither they had fled with other families of high position, leaving behind them valuable estates in the mother-country and taking refuge in the province from internal dissension at home. In 1689, the names of Robert Polk and some of his sons appear among the list of loyal subjects in Somerset County who addressed a letter to King William and Queen Mary. "Whitehall," the handsome estate, descended to William Polk I, the second son among nine children, himself the father of six. From his eldest son, William Polk II, who married M. Margaret Taylor, of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, sprang eight children, of
whom Thomas I became a general in the American Revolution and father of William IV, a Revolutionary colonel, whose son, in turn, Leonidas, Bishop of Louisiana, was a general under the Confederacy. Of the same generation (sixth) as the Bishop, James Knox Polk, of Tennessee, (grandson of Ezekiel, brother to Thomas I, of North Carolina, who signed the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence,) became eleventh President of the United States. The second son of William Polk I was Charles I, known in family chronicles as "the Indian trader of the Potomac," the father by his wife, Christiana ______, of five children, William V, Edmond I, Thomas II, Charles II and Sarah. The spelling Polke appears first in this generation. Nine children were the fruit of Edmond's marriage, the second being Charles III (the Reverend) whose wife, Willey Dever, bore him ten children. Several died in infancy, and the most conspicuous sruvivor was perhaps Greenville Polk,
who became a colonel in the Indiana Miltia. Jacob Weatherholt, who was a Revolutionary veteran of the Virginia Department, took up land in October, 1808, near the Rev. Charles Polke, and during the same year a tract two miles farther up the river was purchased by Alexander Miller. The Polk and Miller lines were early united through the marriage of his grandson, Henry J., son of Robert and Mary Elizabeth (Evans) Miller, to Nancy, daughter of Greenville and Matilda (Simms) Polk.
Perry County
John Winchel was born, 1760, on the estate of the "Great Nine Partners," Dutchess County, New York, and at the age of nineteen was married there to Rachel, daughter of Alpheus Avery. They came in 1809 to Indiana, and although John Winchel lived by two years in the new home, dying September 14, 1811, perhaps from some of the strange ailments which mysteriously swept away so many sturdy pioneers in their prime - nine out of his ten children grew to maturity and married, rearing families of their own. These Winchels of the second generation may be here named, with their marriages, although considerations of space forbid carrying the line further. 1. John, Jr. 2. Smith, m. Annie Mallory, 1805. 3. Catherine m. Arad Simons. 4. Phoebe, m. Daniel Ryan. 5. Charity, m. Benjamin Wilson. 6. Margaret, ("Peggy") m. Israel Lamb. 7. Uriah, m. Sarah Weatherholt. 8. Roxana, m. Robert Graham. 9. Mary, m. Edmond Polk. 10. Cassandra, m. Metthew Ferguson.
Perry County, as such, was unthought of when John Winchel's family settled in one of its choicest spots, as may be noted in the entry of the land which he bought in 1809, and for which a final grant was issued by the Government in 1818. In faded yet still legible ink, on parchment yellowed by ninety-seven years, one may read: "James Monroe, President of the United States of America: To all to whom these presents shall come, greeting; Know ye, that John Winchel, of Knox County, Indiana having deposited in the General Land Office a Certificate of the Register of the Land Offices at Vincennes, whereby it appears that full payment has been made for the west half of section thirty-three, of township seven (south,) in range two (west,) of the Lands directed to be sold at Vincennes, by the Act of Congress, "An Act Providing for the Sale of the Lands of the United States in the Territory northwest of the Ohio and above the mouth of the Kentucky River,"
or the Acts amendatory of the same; There is granted by the United States unto the said John Winchel the half lot or section of Land above described. To have and to hold, the said half lot or section of Land, with the appurtenances, unto the said John Winchel, his heirs and assigns forever. "In testimony whereof, I have caused these Letters to be made patent, and the seal of the General Land Office to be hereunto affixed. "Given under my hand at the city of Washington, the twentieth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the forty-second. "By the President, JAMES MONROE (Signed.) "Recorded in Volume 2, Page 77, Josiah Miegs, Commissioner General Land Ofice." This interested document, one of very few - if not the only original - of its kind preserved in this vicinity, is now owned by a direct descendant of John Winchel (Doctor Arad A. Simons,
of Cloverport, Kentucky,) through the marriage of Catherine Winchel to Arad Simons II, who came in 1816 to Perry County. He was born February 18, 1783, in Mansfield, Connecticut, a son of Arad Simons I (who had been in the Connecticut Marine Service, later a civil engineer) and his wife, Bridget Arnold. The Simons relationship in Tobin Township is extensive through the female line, though the name itself, as a consequence, is not so frequently met in the present generation as that of many other pioneer families.
Perry County
John Terry with his wife Esther (Brown) and their family, came on packhorses about 1815 from Botetourt County, Virginia, into Perry County, and during their journey of several weeks met many wild animals and Indians. The twelfth of their fourteen children, Elias Terry, whom his mother carried all the way in front of her saddle, married four times, becoming himself the father of eighteen children. He was "a mighty hunter before the Lord," having in early times killed as many as six deer in one day. Two of his wives were of the Sandage family, daughters of Thomas and Nancy (Simonson) Sandage, who came on horseback from South Carolina to Indiana, settling in Perry County about 1812. They had seven children, of whom the eldest, Nathan, married twice and had twelve children.
Perry County
James Lasher, a native of Pennsylvania, who had served under General Harrison in the War of 1812, and had laid the foundation of the Perry County court house and jail at Rome about 1820-22, was married there to Elizabeth Comstock (born in Kentucky) by whom he was the father of ten children, eight living to maturity; Abraham; Clarissa, m. P.H. Esarey; Isaac; Rebecca, m. Calvin Drysdale; Jacob; Elizabeth, m. Samuel Aders; Daniel; and Mary, m. Louis M. Goble. That both parents were of profound piety, according to the tenets of the Regular Baptist persuasion, finds evidence in the predominantly Scriptural names chosen for their offspring. Abraham Lasher, a native of Bullitt County, Kentucky, July 11, 1823, was married June 16, 1844, to Sarah, daughter of John and Martha (Thrasher) Lanman, ten children being born to this union. Following her death, he took as his second wife, Sarah, daughter of William and Rachel (Litherland) Bennett, who bore him
nine children. Nineteen grand-children in only one branch of the second generation suffice to show that the Lasher lineage can not be carried further within the limits of an ordinary chapter.
Perry County
Of famed prowess as a hunter and trapper in the central and northern part of Perry County was John Archibald, of whom an exciting adventure was related by the older generation. One day Archibald and his wife treed a bear near their log cabin, and the former roceeded to cut down the tree, but in its fall became entangled in the brances and was pinned to the ground with a broken leg. The bear rapidly made off into the forest, followed by the dogs, who had him again treed when Mrs. Archibald arrived on the scene, panting from her swift pursuit of the quarry. With her own trusty rifle she despatched the dangerous animal before missing for the first time her husband. Hastening back she learned only then the cause of his detention, so set to work with axe and handspikes to release him. Then almost carrying him into the house, she set out for a doctor, who dressed the wound and set the broken limb, although its use was never fully recovered, after which she brought home the slain bear.
Perry County
They had these children born in Branchville: George William (1866); John Henry (1867); SIDNEY ELMER (1869 - my husband's grandfather); Charles Wesley (1871); Willshire Theodore (1874); Marcia Luella (1876); James Solomon (1877); Edward Monroe (1879). They decided to come to Iowa after Edward was born, aiming for Montgomery County. They had a few relatives in Ringgold County they visited on the way, evidently deciding to remain here instead of going on, as most of the above children then married & settled down in this county.
Submitted by Dusti
A History
by Thomas de la Hunt
The W.K. Stewart Company, Indianapolis
Published 1916
A History
by Thomas de la Hunt
The W.K. Stewart Company, Indianapolis
Published 1916
A History
by Thomas de la Hunt
The W.K. Stewart Company, Indianapolis
Published 1916
A History
by Thomas de la Hunt
The W.K. Stewart Company, Indianapolis
Published 1916
A History
by Thomas de la Hunt
The W.K. Stewart Company, Indianapolis
Published 1916
A History
by Thomas de la Hunt
The W.K. Stewart Company, Indianapolis
Published 1916Deb Murray