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                       This is a fractional 
					township, on account of its location on the river, which 
					runs diagonally across the sections from northeast to 
					southwest.  The land is very rich, being mostly prairie 
					and bottom, and peculiarly adapted to corn, especially along 
					the river.  The southeast part of the township is 
					somewhat rolling and is more or less sandy, yet the whole 
					township is one of the richest and most productive in the 
					county.  The land lying in Secs. 2, 3, 4, 34, 35, 36, 
					25, 26, 27, 23, 24, 14 and 13 is almost proof against drouth 
					or wet seasons, as it is composed of a sandy loam which 
					expels the surplus moisture and retains a sufficient 
					quantity to mature crops.  The low bottom land along 
					the river is subject to overflow whenever the Wabash rises 
					to full banks; although the bottom land lying in Secs. 1, 4, 
					5 and 6 is protected by the big levee, and when there is no 
					overflow of the river-bottoms the corn crop is very large, 
					sometimes yielding as high as seventy-five to eighty bushels 
					per acre.  The wheat crop, and others usually, is 
					generally good.  There is only one stream of importance 
					besides the Wabash.  Honey creek, which derives its 
					name from the fact of there being agreat many wild bees 
					found along its banks at an early day.  There are 
					several anecdotes related about the naming of this stream.  
					One is as follows: A hunter was outhunting on the banks of 
					this stream, and after tramping for some time became weary 
					and lay down to rest himself, and after awhile began to look 
					about him as he lay on his back, when he discovered seven 
					bee trees before he got up.  Another story, probably 
					the correct one, is told by Mr. Wm. R. Bentley, 
					son of old Elisha Bentley, one of the first 
					settlers, who relates that his father, Elisha 
					Bentley, was one of the scouts of Gen. Wm.
					Henry Harrison's army, and as he was on the 
					way to the Black Hawk war he and several others left the 
					camp (Gen. Harrison had encamped for the night 
					on the banks of this stream), contrary to orders, for a 
					hunt, and finding a bee tree proceeded to fell it, and as it 
					fell it went into the stream and broke open, scattering the 
					honey out into the stream, which floated away on the water, 
					on seeing which the party named it Honey creek.  The 
					stream enters the township in the southeast corner of Sec. 
					13, T. 11, R. 10 W., running nearly south for half a mile, 
					thence southwest across Secs. 24, 26, 34 and 33, emptying 
					into the Wabash in the south 
					 Page 459 -  
					part of Sec. 33, T. 10 N., R. 10 W.  There is an old 
					bed of the stream which leaves the creek in the west part of 
					Sec. 24, running west into Sec. 23, thence south to the 
					south line of the section, thence west and northwest to the 
					Wabash in Sec. 22, leaving about 2,000 acres that forms an 
					island in high water, as the water from the Wabash sets up 
					the old bed to the main stream and thence down that stream 
					to the mouth of the creek.  The township is bounded on 
					the north and west by the Wabash river, on the east by Honey 
					Creek township, and on the south by Prairie Creek township. 
     Among the first settlers that came to this township may 
					be mentioned David M. Jones, James Wilson, 
					Moses Hoggatt, Enoch Harlan, old Jeremiah 
					Hayworth, Ezra Jones and some others who 
					came as early as 1816, or before.  David M. Jones 
					settled on the farm now owned by Harvey E. Bently.  
					He was a rough pioneer, but a man of some influence; he was 
					sent to the legislature from Vigo county.  James 
					Wilson lived about half a mile from the residence of 
					James Ferguson.  Moses Hoggatt 
					entered a section of land where the town of Prairieton is 
					built; he divided his land among his children at his death. 
					Enoch Harlan came to the township in 1816, and 
					settled on Sec. 1, in the southeast part ofthe township, 
					where he still resides. He is one of the oldest men in the 
					township, being nearly eighty years of age.  Old 
					Jeremiah Hayworth settled in Sec. 36, one mile 
					south of the town of Prairieton, and lived in a log cabin, 
					part of which is now standing.  He was a great hunter; 
					he and old Enoch Harlan were cronies, and 
					spent much of their time hunting and trapping, in which 
					pursuit they were very successful.  Enoch has 
					now the first clock that was brought to Prairieton township, 
					an old full-length wooden one.  The Hayworths 
					are quite numerous in the township.  Ezra 
					Jones and William Winters came about the 
					same time, in 1816, and Mr. Jones entered 
					eighty acres of the farm that Dr. J. W. Ogle now 
					owns; also William Winters entered alarge 
					tract of land, including the J. W. Ogle farm, but not 
					being able to pay for it turned it over to the settlers.  
					Old Jeremiah Raymond entered a large tract of bottom 
					land in the southern part of the township, but has been dead 
					many years, and the land has been bought up by a number of 
					men and is divided into small farms.  James 
					Strain was here at an early day and lived on the bottom 
					land in Sec. 6.  His son, John Strain, 
					was a captain of the militia, and the settlers used to meet 
					at their general muster to train, and the barn yard and part 
					of Dr. Ogle's farm used to be the old muster ground. 
					Capt. Strain, when in the United States 
					service as a common soldier, was sentenced to be shot for 
					sleeping while on duty, and it is stated of him that he had 
					been brought out for the purpose and was seated on 
					 
					Page 460 - 
					his coffin, when a reprieve came from the commander-in-chief 
					just in time to save his life. 
     There was a large increase of the population in 1817 
					and 1818.  Among those who came in about that time were
					Thomas Ferguson and family, who settled on 
					Sec. 2; Otis Jones, at Greenfield Bayou; 
					Elisha Bentley, on Sec. 34; Geo. 
					Southard, John Thompson, Sandford 
					Hayworth, the Montgomerys, Joseph 
					Benight, Joseph Thayer, John Cox, 
					a blacksmith, James Lee and family, the 
					Paddocks, old Moses Reynolds and brothers
					David and Robert, Amos P. Balch, Gen.
					Henry French, Henry T. Irish, Ralph 
					White and others.  John Campbell had 
					a child stolen by the Indians, who was not recovered, 
					although his father spent a large part of his means and 
					years of time searching for him. 
     Mr. Alford Hale, a son of Bradford 
					Hale, now occupies the farm formerly owned by his 
					father.  He can recollect when he had to go to Terre 
					Haute to vote, and the parties each set out a barrel of 
					whisky, one labeled Democratic the other Whig, and as a man 
					voted so he was entitled to a drink.  He cast his first 
					vote for Gen. Jackson.  The township of 
					Prairieton at first was attached to Sugar Creek township, 
					and settlers had to cross the Wabash river to vote.  
					Afterward it was cut off from Sugar Creek and joined to 
					Honey Creek township, then it was set off by itself, and a 
					strip of land across the north end of Prairie Creek 
					township, one mile wide, was cut off from that township and 
					joined to Prairieton, which shape it retains at present. 
     The village of Prairieton was for a long time called 
					Hoggat's store.  It was platted and laid out in 
					1836 by Robert Hoggat.   There was 
					an effort made on the part of the citizens of the township 
					to have it laid out in a rectangular form, but Mr. 
					Hoggatt persisted in his plan, and, as he owned all the 
					land that lay within the plat of town save what had been 
					sold as village lots, he succeeded in establishing the plat 
					of the town in the irregular form that it now assumes.  
					The town was incorporated in1870.  Among the first to 
					do business here were Moses Hoggatt, his son
					Robert Hoggatt, B. Ogle, Marks,
					Harrison Bryant, and John Bell. 
					J. A. Foote, who is now in business in Terre Haute, 
					kept one of the best stores that was ever in the town. 
					Ewing Isbell kept a stock of groceries. 
     There has never been a licensed saloon in the place, 
					and there is now no place where liquor is retailed by the 
					glass.  The population of the village of Prairieton is 
					about 250, and of the township 1,021.  There is but one 
					colored person it the township, Mrs. Eliza 
					T. Davis, who is very old. 
     There is a fine graded school at Prairieton.  The 
					school-house was 
					Page 461 - 
					built in 1870, and is 42×54 feet and three stories high.  
					Two stories are devoted to the school, and the third story 
					was built by the A. F. and A. M., and is used as a hall by 
					that order.  The cost of the building was $4,184.80.  
					The school attendance is about 100.  There are three 
					grades.  Mr. Chas. W. Finney took charge of the 
					school as principal in 1871, and retained the position until 
					the fall of 1879, when Mr. J. A. Boyer, of Terre 
					Haute, assumed the office as principal, which position he 
					continues to hold. 
     The first school in the township was taught by 
					Duncas Darrow, in a house built about 1820 in the 
					north part of the town.  Soon after other schools were 
					started in private houses, one on the bottoms in the south 
					part of the township, one at Greenfield Bayou, taught by 
					Mr. Joseph Thayer.  A log school-house was built 
					near where the New Harmony church now stands; afterward it 
					was removed and a brick school house was built in its place.   
					Both are now gone, the brick one having been taken down many 
					years ago.  There are now five districts in the 
					township. The cost of the school-houses ranges from $500 to 
					$4,184.80. 
     The township officers before the year 1859 consisted of 
					three trustees, a clerk, justice of the peace and constable.  
					The first trustees of which there is any record were 
					Moses Reynolds and Wm. R. Bentley. 
					Jacob Shirley was first clerk, and the first 
					justice of the peace was either Ashley Harris 
					or Archibald Davidson, for both filled that 
					office at a very early day. 
     The first church of the denomination of United Brethren 
					was first organized in the southeast part of the township, 
					in what was known as the Brush school-house, somewhere about 
					the year 1857.  The first preacher was the Rev. Mr. 
					Hedge.  James Paige now has charge of this 
					church and the circuit.  They have no church building, 
					and hold their meetings in the school-house, but are making 
					preparations to build.  The church has a membership of 
					about sixty.  Another church of this denomination was 
					organized in the village of Prairieton, in the fall of 1865, 
					by A. J. Nugent, pastor, Jeremiah Hayworth 
					and wife, Elizabeth Hayworth, Sarah 
					St. John, W. D. Malone, and Lydia 
					Shirley.  The building they now occupy was built by 
					the Methodist church about 1838 or 1840.  It was sold 
					to the United Brethren church in 1866.  The first 
					membership was small, but it increased rapidly until it 
					numbered some 150.  Of late years there has been a 
					falling off of members from various causes. 
     The first church building that was built in the 
					township of Prairieton was by the Methodists, in 1838 or 
					1840.  It was afterward sold to the United Brethren 
					church somewhere about 1866.  They then bought a church 
					that had been built by the Presbyterians in 1860, but 
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					was not finished.  The Methodists finished it, and it 
					was dedicated Apr. 29, 1866. The first pastor was the 
					Rev. G. W. Bower.  W. E. Davis is now on the 
					circuit. 
     The council to organize the New Harmony Baptist church 
					was called to meet Jan. 31, 1852.  It was called from 
					the churches of Terre Haute, Salem, Mt. Zion, Union, 
					Friendly Grove, and Fairbanks.  Elder Asa Frakes 
					was elected moderator, and John E. Bell clerk.  
					Letters from eight brethren and sisters were presented: 
					James H. Cowan and wife, Nancy Johnson, Andrew 
					and Gracia Ann McPheron,
					Joseph McDonald, Thomas McPheron 
					and wife.  From that, its organization, the church grew 
					rapidly, until it reached a membership of 135.  There 
					has also been a Sunday-school connected with the church 
					until within a year past.  Of late years the membership 
					of the church has fallen off, until the present attendance 
					is only from twenty to twenty-five, and they have no pastor 
					or regular stated meetings.  The church building is 
					about 30×40 feet in size.  It was built in the year 
					1858, and dedicated in the fall of 1859, and cost about 
					$800. 
     The Society of Friends (or Quakers) was probably the 
					first church organized in the township, as some of the first 
					settlers that came to this and adjoining township were 
					members of that society, among whom were the Hoggatts, 
					the Reynolds, the Durhams, the Coxes, 
					the Joneses, the Nobletts, and others.  
					The first meetings were held in 1818 or 1819, in a log house 
					in the north part of the town of Prairieton, which was built 
					for a winter school.  A log church was afterward built 
					in 1820, on the township line between Honey Creek and 
					Prairieton townships.  There was a split in the church 
					about 1830, some calling themselves the orthodox, and the 
					others styled themselves Quakers or the Society of Friends.  
					They were called heretics and were disowned by the orthodox 
					party.  In consequence of these dissensions the society 
					has diminished in numbers; the children of members have 
					married out of the church, and in consequence have been read 
					out of the society, so that now no meetings are held, and 
					the church as a church has ceased to exist.  The church 
					building was destroyed a long time ago, and they have now no 
					church. 
     Lodge No. 178, A. F. and A. M., was organized in 
					Prairieton, in 1871.  The first officers were: Henry
					Fortune, W. M.; M. S. Gunn, S. W.; James
					Myers, J. W.; S. S. Henderson, treasurer; 
					G. W. Finney, secretary; Thomas Robertson, 
					S. D.; G. W. Krusan, J. D.; B. F. Flesher, 
					Steward; J. B. Walker, Tiler.  The charter was 
					granted May 29, 1872.  The membership at first 
					consisted of only the officers, but the order has grown 
					steadily, and although there have been some deaths and 
					dimits, as well as some removals, the membership now 
					 
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					numbers forty-six.  They built a third story to the 
					high school building in Prairieton, which they use as their 
					hall.  The present officers are: S. S. Henderson, 
					W. M.; J. M. Hunt, S. W.; F. M. Matherly, J. 
					W.; Geo. C. Clem, treasurer; O. M. Curry, 
					secretary; J. W. Reynolds, S. D.; T. D. Simmons, 
					J. D.; E. E. Glover and J. M. Risley, 
					stewards; John De Baun, tiler; L. E. Carson, 
					chaplain.  The order is in a flourishing condition, and 
					is one of the permanent institutions of the township. 
     The date of the first charter of Prairieton Lodge, No. 
					16, Α. Ο. U. W., was June 17, 1876.  Afterward another 
					charter was granted of the date of Nov. 14, 1876.  The 
					names of charter members are: Joseph Reynolds, P. W. 
					M.; Sturgis Yeley, M. W.; C. 
					D. McPheron, G. F.; Geo. F. Neff, O.; 
					Jacob Woods, recorder; Lewis Hahn, financier; 
					John Manhart, receiver; Wm. Wigginton, G.; 
					Levi Dawson, I. W.; W. P. Kramer, O. W.: and 
					Ferdinand Volkers.  The lodge was organized 
					by G. W. Hill, G. M. W., and John T. Francis, 
					grand recorder.  The membership has been as high as 
					thirty, but at present it is but ten.  The present 
					officers are: G. W. Kruzan, M. W.; J. W. Reynolds, 
					P. M. W.; T. D. Simmons, recorder; J. T. Reynolds, 
					receiver; Ferdinand Volkers, financier ; O. 
					M. Curry, G. F.; Alfred Kruzan, O. 
					BIOGRAPHICAL. 
					    
					Enoch Harlan, 
					farmer, Prairieton, was born in Davis county, North 
					Carolina, Dec. 19, 1800.  He came to Prairieton 
					township in 1816, where he has since resided with the 
					exception of several visits made to North Carolina, Parke 
					county, Indiana, and Missouri.  He now lives one and a 
					half miles south of Prairieton.   
					His wife, formerly Miss Catharine Pope, 
					was born in Davis county, North Carolina, and came to 
					Indiana in 1820 and married Mr. Harlan two 
					years afterward.  She was an industrious and exemplary 
					woman and a member of the Baptist church.  She died at 
					the age of sixty years.  They raised a family of six 
					children, five of whom are living.  He was always a 
					democrat.  He now lives on the 200 acres he entered 
					from the government.  He has been a member of the 
					Baptist church for forty years.  He was present at a 
					treaty with the Indians in Parke county, Indiana, and joined 
					the Indians in feasting, drinking, and had a big spree.  
					He was in the Black Hawk war.  Mr. Harlan 
					now has the first clock that was brought to this township, 
					an old wooden one.  He also recollects about the 
					Indians stealing the child of John Campbell, 
					who lived on the prairie east of Prairieton.  Mr.
					Campbell spent much time and nearly all his means 
					searching for his child, but never found it.  Mr.
					Harlan and old Jeremiah Hayworth Sr. 
					killed the first wild bear 
					Page 464 -  
					in Vigo county, about half a mile from Mr. 
					Harlan's present residence.  He has lived on his 
					farm about sixty years, and recollects when the tall timber 
					about his house, that is now fifty to seventy-five feet in 
					height, was only five to six feet high.  He is now very 
					feeble, and soon another one of the old pioneers will be 
					gone from our midst. 
					     
					Joseph Liston, 
					deceased, was born in the year 1792 and died in 1875 at the 
					age of eighty-three.  He first married in the State of 
					Ohio, and moved to Prairie Creek township, Vigo county, 
					Indiana, in 1816.  He moved his family and household 
					goods from Ohio to Indiana on horseback, by putting his 
					household goods on one horse and two boys on the top of the 
					goods, while his wife rode another horse, with one child 
					tied on behind and another one in her lap, while he footed 
					it and brought up the rear.  He was a farmer by 
					occupation.  He embraced religion in 1810, and was 
					baptized by the Rev. Isaac McCoy, afterward a 
					missionary among the Indians. He had a family of seventeen 
					children (sixteen by his first wife and one by his second 
					wife, whom he married in 1844), twelve of whom lived and 
					married.  He had a son killed in the war of the 
					rebellion, in Tennessee, under Capt. Puckett.  
					He is said to have plowed the first furrow on Fort Harrison 
					prairie, and was undoubtedly one of the first who came into 
					Vigo county. 
					     
					William C. Risley, 
					a farmer by occupation, was born in Green Bay City, 
					Wisconsin, Mar. 15, 1847.  He came to Prairieton 
					township in the fall of 1865.  He has a wife and one 
					child, and has lost three children.  He owns a good 
					farm of 100 acres, and he is fast making a pleasant home of 
					it.  He is a young man of steady habits and persevering 
					industry.  His father, Levi Risley, was a 
					carpenter and joiner, and removed a number of times, taking 
					his son William with him to Abingdon, Iowa, St. Paul, 
					Minn., New Orleans, Rushville, Ind, Terre Haute, Ind, and 
					again to Abingdon, Iowa, where he worked at his trade till 
					he died, in the winter of 1855.  William C. was 
					married in August, 1870, to Miss Martha B. 
					Bushel, of Vigo county, who was born in Nelson county, 
					Kentucky, in 1805, and was married in 1822 to Wm. T. 
					Lloyd, who removed to Sullivan county, Indiana, in 1824, 
					where she lived with him twelve years, when he died, leaving 
					wife and seven children.  She remained a widow ten 
					years, and was then married to Joseph Liston, whom 
					she survives.  She now lives two miles southeast of 
					Prairieton; was seventy-four years of age October 1879.  
					She has raised a family of eight children, four of whom are 
					living in Vigo county, Indiana.  She is a remarkable 
					woman, being able now at the age of seventy-four to read 
					without glasses.  
					     
					Alford Hale, 
					farmer, Prairieton, Indiana, was born in Miami county 
					Page 465 -   
					Ohio, Aug. 8, 1813.  His father, Bradford 
					Hale, came to Scott county, Indiana, when Alford 
					was quite young, where he lived five years.  His father 
					removed to Honey Creek Prairie, near Prairieton, in the fall 
					of 1823.  He intended to go to Illinois when he 
					started, but at that time the Wabash river was the boundary 
					line between the whites and the Indians, so he was compelled 
					to stop on the Indiana side, and was the first to settle on 
					Sec. 33. Afterward he removed to Sec. 34, where he died, and 
					his son Alford Hale has ever since made it his 
					home.  Alford Hale was married Apr. 20, 
					1843, to Miss Eliza Ann Angel, a 
					daughter of Dexter Angel, who lived several 
					miles farther down the river, and who afterward went back to 
					New York state and died there.  She was born Sept. 26, 
					1822, in a house that then stood where the Wabash river now 
					runs, on Sec. 6, which belonged to her grandfather, old 
					Joseph Benight.  The river has gradually 
					encroached on the land, washing it away from time to time 
					until it has changed its course very much from what it was 
					sixty years ago.  Mr. and Mrs. Hale have had six 
					children: Bradford, Sarah C., Almira,
					Dexter M., James R. W. and Alford J.  
					The two girls died in infancy and the boys are still living. 
					Bradford was a volunteer in the war for the Union, 
					and was wounded in the leg and taken prisoner by the rebels 
					Jan. 19, 1865, and was held three months, and was then 
					paroled and set free.  He was in the service one year, 
					and was in several battles.   He now lives in the 
					State of Kansas.  Mr. Hale has always 
					been a farmer, and has never held office except school 
					trustee.  He has never made much of a military record, 
					although he used to meet at muster and train, and even 
					offered his services in the Black Hawk war, but they were 
					not required and he returned home.  At first he had to 
					go to Terre Haute, ten miles, to vote, and voted there two 
					years, when the county was divided, and Prairieton township 
					was then joined to Sugar Creek.  Mr. and Mrs. Hale
					have been prominent members of the Methodist church, he 
					for thirty and she for forty years, and they are honored 
					members of society.  Her great-grandfather was a 
					colonel in the revolutionary war, and all her relations on 
					her father's side lived and died in York state.  Mr.
					and Mrs. Hale now live on the same farm 
					in Sec. 34, and they have a comfortable home. Their children 
					are doing for themselves except one, the youngest, who lives 
					at home with them. 
					     
					Samuel Haworth, 
					deceased, late husband of Mary Haworth, was 
					born near Prairieton, Jan. 22, 1824, and died Sept. 17, 
					1873, aged forty-nine years.  He has always lived in 
					Prairieton township, and was married Dec. 25, 1849, to 
					Miss Mary Myers.  He left a wife and seven 
					children, five of whom are now living.  He was a 
					minister of the United Brethren church, and was on his 
					circuit for about   
					Page 466 -  
					a year, and filled all of his appointments, but his health, 
					which never was very good, soon gave way, and he was called 
					home to his reward.  His widow, Mrs. Mary
					Hayworth, still lives on the old homestead.  She 
					was formerly Miss Mary Myers, and was born in 
					Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, May 2, 1828.  She 
					removed with her father to Ohio at six years of age, and 
					from there to Prairieton, Indiana, at thirteen years of age.  
					She was married to Samuel Hayworth, Dec. 25, 1849.  
					She has been an honored member of the United Brethren church 
					for twenty-seven years.  She now lives three miles 
					south of the town of Prairieton, in a comfortable home. 
					     
					Alfred Kruzan, 
					farmer, Prairieton, living on Sec.1, Prairieton township, 
					was born in Lost Creek township in 1829, and moved on the 
					farm on which he now lives in 1853.  He was married in 
					1864 to Miss Margaret Wheatley, of Vigo county, 
					Indiana.  They have now a family of nine children, all 
					living.  His father, Isaac Kruzan, is now 
					living in Lost Creek township, Vigo county, Indiana, and is 
					nearly seventy-four years of age.  His mother is dead.  
					He is a member of the A. O. U. W. 
					     
					Lawrence S. 
					Ball, physician, Prairieton, was 
					born in Terre Haute, Vigo county, Indiana, Mar. 15, 1829, 
					and made that place his home until 1855.  He was 
					educated at the Western Military Institute, at Georgetown, 
					Kentucky, under the Hon. James G. Blaine, of Maine, 
					who was a professor in the institute, it being an 
					institution of learning and discipline.  Hon. 
					Bushrod Johnson was also a teacher, and Prof. Hopkins, 
					from West Point.  Mr. Ball first commenced study 
					at Georgetown in 1846, and remained there until 1849.  
					In 1853 he attended the medical college at Cincinnati, Ohio, 
					and graduated in 1855, since which time he has been engaged 
					in the practice of medicine at Prairieton.  He is 
					permanently located at Prairieton, and keeps the 
					post-office, and in connection with that keeps a stock of 
					drugs, notions, and groceries.  He was married at York, 
					Clark county, Illinois, in May 1855, to Miss Frances Burr, 
					of New York, a daughter of Robert H. Burr, a distant 
					relative of Aaron Burr.  They have a 
					family of four children, two boys and two girls, all at home 
					but the eldest, who is at Kansas City.  Their names 
					are: Edward H., Agnes Preston, and Bertrand.  
					His first wife died in April 1876, and is buried at 
					Prairieton.  He was married again in 1878, to Miss
					Clara Kelsey, of Evansville, Indiana, a daughter of
					Loring Kelsey, a prominent farmer of that 
					county.  He went into the United States service for 
					three months, as captain of Co. F, 54th Ind. Vol. Inf.   
					He served four months, and returned home with his company at 
					the end of their service.  He is an honored member of 
					the Methodist church.  He has never been an aspirant 
					for office.  His father, Dr. Edward V. Ball, 
					was born in Hanover, New York, in  
					Page 467 -  
					February 1800, and came to Crawford county, Illinois, in 
					1817, and lived there a number of years.  He commenced 
					the study of medicine under a Dr. Shuler, and 
					practiced medicine for nearly fifty years.   He 
					removed to Terre Haute about 1826, and was married in 1828 
					to Miss Sarah E. Richardson, a daughter of Joseph 
					Richardson, and a sister of Berkly Richardson, 
					who died recently in the city of Terre Haute.  Dr. 
					Edward V.Ball raised a family of four children: 
					Lawrence S., the subject of this sketch; Caroline, 
					who was married to the Rev. Wm. M. Chever, of Kansas 
					City, who is dead now; Mary, who is now the wife of
					Chas. Peddle, of Terre Haute, and Matilda. 
					Dr. E. V. Ball died March 1873, and was buried in 
					Woodlawn cemetery.  His wife is still living in Terre 
					Haute. 
					     
					Abel Hardin 
					Isbell, deceased, was born in Nelson county, Kentucky, 
					Nov. 23, 1820.  He died in Prairieton township, Jan. 
					25, 1878.  His father was born in North Carolina, and his 
					mother in Virginia.  Both are dead.  Abel H. Isbell came to 
					Vigo county when quite young and settled in Prairieton, 
					where he resided until he died.  He was a member of the 85th reg, Ind. Vol. Inf., under 
					Capt. Ball, and served his 
					country faithfully.  He was a strong political partisan in 
					the republican ranks.  He was a member of the Methodist 
					church, and an exemplary man.  He received a serious injury by 
					a kick in the face from a horse about a year before his 
					death, which tended to hasten his death.  He was noted for 
					his benevolent acts and charity.  He never had children of 
					his own: still he raised a family of seven, three girls and 
					four boys, friendless orphans.  He used to raise large crops 
					of corn and boat it down to New Orleans by flatboat. 
					     
					Lydia Isbell, 
					widow of Abel 
					H. Isbell, was born in Hardin county, Kentucky, Dec. 22, 
					1826.  Her father was born in Maryland, and died Aug. 
					1, 1868, and her mother was born in Virginia, and died in 
					May 1849.  Mrs. Lydia Isbell now lives on the 
					farm just south of the town of Prairieton, which is one of 
					the beautiful farms that abound in this part of the county.  
					She is a member of the Methodist church, and is warmly, 
					devoted to the cause of temperance and other good works. 
					    
					
					Charles Dudley Benight 
					lives on the bank of the Wabash, on Secs. 33 and 34 of 
					Prairieton township. He is a son of C. N. Benight, of Terre 
					Haute, and was born in Prairieton township, Aug. 31, 1854.  He was educated in Terre Haute, and took a course in 
					Garvin's Commercial College.  He was married in February, 
					1878, to Miss Hattie B. Miller, of Terre Haute. His father 
					and some other relatives came to Prairieton at an early day, 
					and prepared the land for cultivation by their children.
					 
					Page 468 -  
					     
					David C., or, as he is 
					familiarly called, Cary
					McPheron, 
					farmer, Prairieton, was born and raised on the farm he now 
					occupies.  He married, at Prairieton, Miss Hattie 
					Rowe, a daughter of John M. Rowe, an intelligent 
					and social lady.  His father, Andrew
					McPheron, was born in 
					Tennessee, emigrated to Ohio when a child and came to 
					Prairieton at an early day.  He first walked from 
					Champaign county, Ohio, to Edgar county, Illinois, and back.  
					He then rode out on horse back and returned to Ohio on foot.  
					He subsequently rode a good horse and came with about $275 
					in money and settled in Prairieton.  He was married in 
					1849 to Mrs. Gracia Ann Bethys, the widow of 
					Marvin Bethys.  He died Jan. 16, 1871.  His 
					wife is living and resides in the city of Terre Haute. 
					    
					James Harlan, 
					farmer, Prairieton, was born in Prairieton township, Vigo 
					county, Indiana, Jan. 24, 1835.  He has always lived in 
					this township, with the exception of two or three years.  
					He was married Mar. 6, 1861, to Miss Sarah 
					Herrington, a lady of Vigo county, Indiana, who died 
					three years afterward.  He was again married, Dec. 6, 
					1870, to Miss Harriett Mullikin, also 
					of Vigo county, Indiana. He has a family of four children.  
					He owns a good farm of 285 acres in the southeast part of 
					the township, which though new he is fast making a pleasant 
					home, and if he lives he will be one of the substantial and 
					well-to-do farmers of Vigo county.  He left his 
					father's home with only six dollars in his pocket, and he 
					has by indomitable energy succeeded in laying the foundation 
					of a fine home, having bought and paid for his farm and is 
					making preparation for the erection of a fine residence and 
					other necessary buildings, which when completed will be an 
					ornament to that part of the township.  Such men as 
					Mr. Harlan are always a blessing to the country, 
					as they by their example always exert an influence for good 
					on the rising generation and those of their neighbors who 
					are not endowed by nature with such executive ability. 
					     
					John Copeland Jr., 
					farmer, Prairieton, resides on his farm in 
					Sec. 25, half a mile east of the town of Prairieton.  
					He was born Nov. 6, 1820, near Greensborough, Henry county, 
					Indiana.  His father, John Copeland Sr., was 
					born in North Carolina and came to Indiana before it was a 
					state and settled where Wayne county now is.  He 
					removed to Henry county, and from there he removed to 
					Prairieton in 1837.  He taught two terms of school in 
					Prairieton.  He was a farmer, and died in 1869.  
					He was a member of the Society of Friends.  John C. 
					Jr., came to Prairieton with his father in 1837, where 
					he has lived ever since.  He was a member of the 
					Society of Friends, but on marrying out of the church he was 
					read out of the society.  He has never been an office 
					seeker.  He has been married three times.  His
					 
					Page 469 -  
					first wife was Miss Ellen Hess, of Vigo county, who 
					is now deceased.  His second marriage was to Miss
					Samira Morris, of Vigo county.  She also 
					died, and he was then married to Mrs. Elizabeth Moore, 
					who is now living with him.  He has had four children, 
					three boys and one girl, who married a Wm. Miles, 
					and now lives at Pendleton, Indiana.  His son, 
					Marion Copeland, volunteered and served three months in 
					the late war.  He reënlisted in the 2d Ill. Cav., 
					serving nearly two years.  His two other boys live at 
					home and help to work the farm. 
					     
					F. W. Romine, 
					farmer, Prairieton, was born in Vigo county, Indiana, Mar. 
					21, 1838, and has lived in the county ever since.  He 
					was married Aug. 15, 1869, to Miss Mary A. Steadman, 
					a daughter of Jefferson Steadman, of Morgan 
					county, Ohio.  She came to Terre Haute, Indiana, and 
					was brought up by Dr. Bell, of Terre Haute.  
					They have only moved three times since they went to keeping 
					house, and are now living on a small farm of forty acres in 
					the northwest corner of Sec. 2.  They have four 
					children, three boys and one girl: James Bell,
					Emily Alice, Wm. David and Thomas D.  
					They have also adopted a son of Benjamin Romine, who 
					lost his wife a short time ago.  He has been a member 
					of the United Brethren church for seventeen years and is 
					considered an honorable citizen.  He has always been a 
					farmer.  His brother, Samuel Romine, was a 
					volunteer in the 85th reg. Ind. Vol. Inf.; was in thirty-two 
					battles of the war and had his hat rim cut off and the 
					letters U. S. shot off his belt and his canteen shot from 
					him; he was also severely injured by being run over by an 
					ambulance, which has proved to be a permanent disability and 
					for which he receives from the government a pension. 
					F. W. Romine has met with some severe losses, but has 
					come through safely and is now in comfortable circumstances. 
					     
					Livingston Isbell, 
					deceased, was born in Barren county, Kentucky, Feb. 22, 
					1825.  He was one of five brothers, whose names were:
					Henderson, Abel Harding, Livingston,
					John, and Ewing.  Livingston came 
					to Indiana with his parents when a boy.  He was first 
					married to a Miss Mary Reynolds, and she died in 
					1851.  He afterward married a Miss Sarah Myers, 
					of Vigo county, in December 1853.  He lived near 
					Prairieton, and followed farming principally.  He 
					enlisted in the 43d Ind. Vol. Inf., in October 1861, and 
					served seven months, when he was discharged for disability 
					and died two years after coming home from the war, from 
					disease contracted while in the service.  His second 
					wife is still living and resides in Terre Haute.  
					Livingston became the father of four children by the 
					first marriage and three by the second, one of whom, 
					Edward Isbell, lives in Prairieton.  He was 
					born Nov.  22, 1855, near the town, and has always 
					lived in the township  
					Page 470 -  
					of Prairieton.  He was married Feb. 12, 1880, to 
					Miss Adelia Lydia Mobley, of Prairieton, a daughter of
					Geo. W. and Celia Mobley.  Geo. W. Mobley 
					and Celia Bishop were married Nov. 14, 1853. 
					Mr. Mobley died Mar. 29, 1865, and his wife Celia 
					Nov. 2, 1860.  Their daughter, Adelia Lydia, 
					was born May 24, 1858.  The five brothers all lived in 
					the township of Prairieton, but are all dead. 
					     
					Mr. Jacob Ogle, Sr.
					and his wife Sarah, the parents 
					of Jacob W. Ogle, physician and farmer, Prairieton, 
					were born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, he in 1791 and 
					she in 1790.  He was married in 1811 to Miss Sarah 
					Baty.  He entered land from the government near 
					Indianapolis, in 1813.  He came from Perry county, 
					Pennsylvania, to Ohio in 1812.  They had a family of 
					eight children:  
					Thirza S., William B., Martha L., Jacob W., the 
					subject of this sketch, Sarah, and Elisabeth M.; 
					two died in infancy.  Martha died in 1843 and 
					william B. in 1872; the rest are living.  Jacob 
					W. Ogle Jr. settled in Prairieton township in April 
					1839.  She was married in December, 1851, to the 
					youngest daughter of Thomas Ferguson, who came to the 
					township in youngest daughter of Thomas Ferguson, who 
					came to the township in 1817.  They have had six 
					children, three boys and three girls.  The eldest, a 
					boy, died, and the remainder are living at home.  
					Mrs. Ogle, a genial and sociable lady, has been 
					disabled by rheumatism for six years or more, and has not 
					been able to walk or work, but is remarkably patient under 
					her affliction.  Dr. J. W. Ogle received his 
					education at Oxford or Miami University, in Ohio, and then 
					attended the Ohio Medical Institute at Cincinnati, in 1848.  
					He afterward graduated at Rush Medical College, at Chicago.  
					He has practiced medicine a number of years, but his time 
					now is chiefly devoted to farming.  He has a fine farm 
					of 320 acres in one body, and owns in all about 500 acres. 
					He has never been a military man, an office-holder or an 
					office-seeker. 
					     
					Hamilton J. Benight, 
					farmer, Prairieton, lives on Sec. 6, Prairieton township.  
					He was born in Prairieton township Oct. 31, 1839, and is the 
					son of C. N. Benight, of Terre Haute, Indiana.  
					He has spent most of his life in Vigo county, Indiana.  
					He was a volunteer in the 85th reg. Ind. Inf., under 
					Capt. Brant, and served nearly  three years, or to 
					the end of the war.  He was with the army at Nashville, 
					Tennessee, Goldsboro, North Carolina, and other places in 
					the south; was promoted to the office of first sergeant of 
					Co. E.  He was married in July, 1867, to Miss Hannah 
					A. Jones, who was born in Vermilion county, Illinois, in 
					1848, and came to Terre Haute in 1868.  After marriage 
					they went to Kansas and spent five years.  Returning in 
					1873, he settled on the farm where they now live.  His 
					grand father, Joseph A. Benight, came from New York 
					state and settled on this farm in 1818.  Mr. Benight 
					lost his whole crop in 1875 by the August  
					Page 471 -  
					flood, which stripped nearly all of the settlers on the 
					bottoms of their crops. 
					     
					Robert G. 
					Reynolds, 
					farmer, Prairieton, now lives one mile north of Honey Creek, 
					on the river road from Prairieton to Terre Haute.  He 
					was born on the farm just south of where he now lives in 
					1842.  He has lived on his farm of eighty-five acres 
					since 1869.  He has a good farm, which will always 
					produce a crop, being composed of a loamy sand which resists 
					the drouth or floods.  In fact, the lands lying in what 
					is known as the Pocket, near Prairieton, and adjacent to 
					Honey Creek, are the finest lands in Indiana.  Mr. 
					Reynolds is a sober, steady, industrious farmer; has a 
					pleasant family, and is laying the foundation for a sure 
					competency in old age.  His father, Moses Reynolds, 
					was born in Randolph county, North Carolina, in 1810; came 
					to Indiana in 1820, and settled where David 
					Reynolds now lives.  He died in 1872, leaving a 
					son, Robert, and a daughter, who is now the wife of
					John Allison Pugh, who lives just south 
					of the city of Terre Haute.  Moses Reynolds 
					was married twice, and he and both of his wives are now 
					dead.  He was one of the early pioneers who endured the 
					privations and perils of life on the frontier. 
					     
					John de Baun, 
					miller and farmer, Prairieton, was born in Mercer county, 
					Kentucky, Nov. 25, 1821.  He removed from Kentucky to 
					Sullivan county, Indiana, in 1830, where he lived till 1845, 
					when he removed to Prairie Creek township, and lived for a 
					number of years about three and a half miles south of 
					Prairieton.  He removed in 1860 to the farm he now 
					occupies, just south of the village of Prairieton, where he 
					has since made his home. He was married Jan. 17, 1843, to 
					Miss Elisabeth Trueblood, a daughter of 
					Benoni Trueblood, who was born in Camden county, North 
					Carolina, about 1790, and came to Indiana in 1828.  He 
					was a Baptist minister, and died May 10, 1863.  John 
					De Baun has a family of a wife and seven children 
					living, three sons and four daughters.  His eldest son 
					died.  He owns and operates the steam flouring-mill at 
					Prairieton, and has been in the milling business for about 
					twenty-three years; was formerly a farmer, and now runs a 
					small farm in connection with milling.  He has a fine 
					home in a beautiful location; is also an honored member of 
					the Masonic order, and has been an officer in the society 
					for a long time.  He is one of the solid men of 
					Prairieton.  One of his sons is married and lives in 
					his residence near the mill, and assists his father in the 
					milling business.  Mrs. John De Baun received a 
					serious injury a short time ago by falling down a cellar 
					hatchway. 
					     
					Harvey E. Bentley,  
					farmer, Prairieton, was born in Prairieton township, on the 
					farm now occupied by his father, W. R. Bentley, and 
					he  
					Page 472 -  
					has lived here all his life.  His father, William 
					Ransford Bentley, who was a son of old Elisha Bentley, 
					who came to the country in 1817 and entered the land that is 
					now occupied by W. R. Bentley, now lives on the old 
					homestead, and has a fine home.  He was married in 
					1838, at the age of twenty-two years, to Miss Sarah 
					Cornell, of Vigo county, who died Oct. 28, 1853.  
					He was married a second time, to Miss Sarah Carrithers, 
					of Vigo county, who was born in Sullivan county, Indiana.  
					She died Feb. 28, 1874.  His third marriage was to 
					Miss Mary Carson, of Vigo county, a daughter of the 
					Rev. L. E. Carson, of Prairieton.  He is considered 
					one of the wealthiest farmers of Prairieton township.  
					His son, Harvey E. Bentley, now occupies the farm 
					formerly owned by Maj. Jones, who rented the farm to
					Willis Simmons for a number of years.  
					The house burned in the night-time, and the family barely 
					escaped with their lives, and he has erected a fine 
					residence and outbuildings, and his farm is one of the 
					finest in the township.  He was married Oct. 19, 1862, 
					to Miss Emma E. Farmer, a daughter of Wm. Farmer, 
					who formerly lived on the farın adjoining, in the same 
					section, No. 3, and who died some years ago.  Mrs. 
					Bentley was born July 26, 1843, in Park county, Indiana, 
					and came with her parents to Prairieton township in 1858. 
					Mr. Bentley and wife have succeeded in 
					building for themselves a nice home, and have 168 acres in 
					fine cultivation.  They have five children: William 
					F., Sarah E., Horace E., Frank and
					Otto, aged respectively fifteen, thirteen, ten, six 
					and four years.  He and his wife have been members of 
					the Missionary Baptist church for five years.  He has 
					been, and is now, one of the successful farmers, as he puts 
					into practical effect a rotation of crops which almost 
					always proves to be a success when rightly managed.  He 
					has never been a political or military aspirant, and as he 
					seems to combine a close application to business together 
					with a rigid economy in expenditures and a contentment with 
					himself and home, he is sure of an abundant success. 
					    
					James G. Norman, 
					farmer, Prairieton,was bornin Spencercounty, Kentucky, Dec. 
					17, 1805.  He removed from Kentucky to Indiana in 
					January 1846, and moved on the farm he now occupies in the 
					fall of 1846.  His family off our children are all dead 
					but one daughter.  He is pleasantly located in the 
					southeast part of the township, on a farm of 110 acres.  
					At the time of the Mexican war Mr. Norman 
					belonged to a company of light infantry in Taylorsville, 
					Shelby county, Kentucky, and was ordered out to go to the 
					war, but volunteers coming in so plentifully, the light 
					infantry was sent home without participating in the war.  
					The country was full of wild game when Mr. Norman 
					came to Indiana, and he has enjoyed the life of a sportsman, 
					often bag-  
					Page 473 -  
					ging as high as 
					four deer per day.  An incident in the life of Mr. 
					Norman is perhaps worth relating.  On one occasion, 
					in company with Jeremiah Hayworth and Samuel 
					Hayworth, he was going to town, when it was found out 
					that neither of the company had any money, and they began to 
					speculate as to how they could get their regular drinks.  
					One of the company, however, had ingenuity equal to the 
					occasion.  Riding up to the fence he shouldered a 
					couple of fence stakes.  When asked what he was going 
					to do with them he said he was going to sell them and buy 
					his drinks.  No sooner was this said than the whole 
					company shouldered fence stakes, and when they arrived at 
					town proceeded to sell them, and obtained what nearly all 
					pioneer frontiersmen considered as necessary as food and 
					clothing.  Mr. Norman and wife have been 
					exemplary members of the United Brethren church for 
					twenty-two years.  In the year 1879 Mr. Norman 
					and wife made a transfer of their farm to Stephen H. 
					Watts and wife, with the condition that Mr. and Mrs. 
					Watts should care for them while living and bury them at 
					death.  Mr. Watts and wife seem to be worthy and 
					honored members of society, and richly deserve the favor 
					shown them by Mr. Norman, as they have proved by the 
					interest they have taken in the care of the old folks and 
					the farm that the confidence has not been misplaced. 
					     
								Benjamin 
					N. Rowe,  farmer, Prairieton, is a son of John M. Rowe, 
								who lived for many years in Prairieton, and was 
								a stock dealer, and well-to-do in the world.  
								His house was the home of all traveling 
								ministers, and many times have the hospitalities 
								of his house been ffreely tendered to not only 
								ministers, but wayfarers and others.  He 
								was the father of Mrs. Hattie McPheron, 
								wife of 
								
								David C. McPheron.  He died in 
								April 2, 1869, aged fifty-three years, and his 
								wife May 5, 1877.  Benjamin N. Rowe, 
								has lived in Vigo county nearly all his life.  
								He volunteered in the 85th Ind. Vol. Inf., under
								Capt. Brant, and served eighteen months, 
								or until the war closed.  He came home 
								without a hurt.  He was with Gen. 
								Sherman in his famous march to the sea.  
								He was married Aug. 1, 1869, to Miss Jennie 
								E. Ridge, of Vigo county, and they have a 
								family of five children. 
					
					     
								Thomas 
					McPheron, deceased, 
								brother of Andrew McPheron and husband of
								Mrs. Virginia McPheron, was born in Green 
								county, Tennessee, Feb. 5, 1815, three miles 
								from Greenville City.  He moved to Allen 
								county, Ohio, in 1831, and was married to 
								Miss Nancy Coon, of Allen county, Ohio, who 
								died eighteen months afterward, leaving one 
								child, a daughter, Nancy E. McPheron, who 
								still lives in West Newton, Ohio, and is married 
								to a man by the name of Hughes.  
					
					 
					Page 474 - 
								 
								Mr. McPheron afterward moved to Miami 
								county, Ohio, where he was married Feb. 27, 
								1847, to Miss Rhoda J. Pence, a cousin of
								Dr. Allen Pence, of Terre Haute, Indiana.  
								He moved to Prairieton, Indiana, in 1853, and 
								his wife died July 21, 1862, aged forty-two 
								years.  He was again married, this time to
								Miss Virginia Bennett, of Sullivan 
								county, Indiana, Apr. 16, 1863.  His 
								children by his second wife are:  Thomas 
								A., Eli, Maria, William, Carry, Henrietta 
								and Harriett; and by his third wife: 
								Mary, Florence, Rosa and James.  
								Six of these are dead: William, Cary, 
								Henrietta, Harriet, Rosa and James. 
								He was a member and a deacon of the 
								Missionary Baptist church for many years, and 
								was respected by all who knew him.  He died 
								Mar. 28, 1869, at his home one and a half miles 
								southwest of Prairieton, where his third wife, 
								who survives him, still lives.  She was 
								born Sept. 3, 1828, near Merom, Sullivan county, 
								Indiana.  She came to Prairieton in 1863, 
								soon after her marriage, where she has since 
								resided.  She has a fine farm of about 150 
								acres, which she, with the assistance of her 
								children, has successfully managed since her 
								husband's death, and they have a good home, 
								surrounded by the comforts of life.  Her 
								health has always been good.  She has been 
								a member of the Methodist church for many years.  
								Her stepson, Thomas A. McPheron, is a 
								young man of steady habits, and an important 
								factor in the successful management of the farm. 
					     
					Thomas Robertson, 
					farmer, Prairieton, was born in Butler county, Ohio, in 
					1834.  His father, Lane Robertson, who 
					now lives about one mile east of his son Thomas, came 
					from Ohio to Hancock county, Indiana, when Thomas was 
					four years old, and Thomas lived there until August 
					1858, when he removed to Prairieton township.  He has 
					lived in the township since 1861, but was absent for several 
					years.  He was married May 23, 1861, to Miss Eliza 
					Jane Simmons, a daughter of Willis Simmons, 
					formerly of Prairieton township, but now a resident of the 
					State of Kansas.  Mr. Robertson commenced 
					to learn the carpenter's trade when fourteen years of age, 
					and followed it till twenty-six years old, since which time 
					he has been a farmer, carpenter, and one year he tried 
					brick-making in Terre Haute, when he lost about $1,500, 
					owing to the decline in the price of brick.  He had 
					paid his workmen the high rate of wages with the expectation 
					that the price of brick would remain as when he commenced to 
					manufacture.  The price fell from $7 to $5 per 
					thousand, and he became a loser, and after that he returned 
					to the farm.  He owns 300 acres of the richest bottom 
					land in the southwest part of the township.  He has 265 
					acres in crops and the remainder in grass, and it is all 
					under fence.  He lost his entire crop during the high 
					water of August 1875, which destroyed  
					Page 475 -  
					nearly all of the crops on the bottom land.  He has 
					never held office in the public service.  He is an 
					honored member of Prairieton Lodge, No. 178, A. F. and A. 
					M., and has held a high position in the order, and is one of 
					the organizers of the lodge.  Up to 1873 his health was 
					good, but he was attacked by the sciatic rheumatism, since 
					which his health has not been the best.  Mr. and 
					Mrs. Robertson have four children living, and they have 
					lost four.  Those living are two boys and two girls.  Mr. 
					Robertson is a genial, social gentleman, and one with 
					whom a person feels at home at all times. 
					     
					Isaac Bryant, 
					farmer, Prairieton, lives on Sec. 5, in Prairieton township.  
					He was born in Washington county, Ohio, May 18, 1813.  
					His father was born in Harrison county, Virginia, near the 
					Potomac river, and removed to Tippecanoe county, Indiana, 
					where he died aged seventy-five years.  His mother came 
					from England when a child, and died at the age of 
					eighty-five years.  Isaac Bryant moved to 
					Clark county, Illinois, in 1843, where he bought nearly 500 
					acres of land, which he afterward sold out in small parcels 
					to the Germans.  He lived there about twenty years, 
					when he moved to the farm on which he now lives.  He 
					went to Kansas in 1862, and bought 400 acres of land which 
					he afterward sold.  He now owns only 180 acres in Sec. 
					5, Prairieton township, having disposed of the remainder to 
					his children.  He had two sons in the war of the 
					rebellion, one of whom, Samuel Bryant, his 
					oldest, died with the yellow fever; the other one, 
					Madison M. Bryant, was shot in the knee, and now draws a 
					pension from the government.  Mr. Bryant 
					has been a member of the Methodist church for forty years.  
					He was married in Champaign county, Ohio, Mar. 11, 1837, to
					Miss Elisabeth Hayes, and has raised a family of five 
					children, all married.  During his life he has received 
					several severe injuries, still his general health has been 
					good.  He lost 200 acres of corn in August, 1875, by 
					the overflowing of the Wabash bottoms.  His wife died 
					May 14, 1875, of erysipelas.     
					Isaac B. Haworth, 
					merchant and farmer, Prairieton, was born in Jefferson 
					county, East Tennessee, Dec. 27, 1809.  He went to 
					Georgetown, Vermilion county, Illinois, in the spring of 
					1827, and returned to Tennessee in the fall of the same 
					year.  He afterward came again to Vermilion county, 
					Illinois, the same winter, and remained there till 1862, 
					when he removed to Prairieton, Vigo county, Indiana, and has 
					made that place his residence ever since.  He was 
					importuned by his father many times to return to Tennessee 
					and assist him in starting a spinning factory, but he chose 
					to remain in the north, and he went into partnership with 
					his brother-in-law, Benjamin Canaday, in Georgetown, 
					Illinois, and sold goods for a number of years.  He 
					finally  Page 476 -
					 
					sold out his business and residence at Georgetown, and came 
					to Prairieton, Indiana.  He was married, in the fall of 
					1844, to Miss Mary Walker, a daughter 
					of William Walker, who lived south of Terre 
					Haute, on the Prairieton road.  They have had four 
					children, three of whom are living: Alice, Jane, 
					and William Walker.  Oscar died.  
					Since coming to Prairieton Mr. Haworth has 
					followed farming part of the time, but he was afflicted with 
					the rheumatism for some time, which finally turned into the 
					dropsy, from which he has suffered more or less, and he has 
					been obliged to abandon hard labor.  He and his wife 
					live in town, but own a nice farm, from which they derive a 
					revenue.  He is a member of Terre Haute Encampment, I. 
					O. O. F., and is also a member of the Methodist church.  
					He has never held office or had anything to do with military 
					life.      
					Thomas G. Drake, 
					physician, Prairieton, was born in Sullivan county in 1836.  
					His father, Preston G. Drake, was born in Warren 
					county, Kentucky, about the year 1800, and came to Indiana 
					some where about 1820.  He came direct to Vigo county, 
					where he was married to Miss Nancy Ferguson, a 
					daughter of Thomas and Elisabeth Ferguson.  He 
					engaged in teaching school for several years.  He 
					entered land in Sullivan county, Indiana, and removed there 
					and lived till 1849, when he went to Terre Haute and 
					remained a few months.  He traded for property east of 
					Merom, Sullivan county, and removed there and made that his 
					home until he died.  His first wife died some time in 
					1840, and he was married again in 1842, to Miss Susan 
					Bryant, of Vigo county, who was after the death of 
					Mr. Drake, which occurred in 1840, while on a visit to 
					Kentucky, married to Joseph E. Jones, a brother of 
					old Jimmy Jones, of Vigo county.  Joseph 
					Jones died in 1863, and his wife Susan died in 
					1855.  She left two children: Delia, who was 
					married to James Kelly, and lives at Sullivan, 
					and the other, Etta Ellen, who married a Mr.
					Davis, and removed to the State of Texas.  Thomas 
					G. Drake lived at Sullivan for about ten years, and then 
					came to Terre Haute.  After leaving home he went to 
					Bowling Green and studied the languages under Prof. 
					Pillsbury, a highly accomplished teacher.  After 
					that he came to Terre Haute and read medicine with Dr. 
					Geo. W. Clippinger.  He afterward studied medicine 
					and graduated at Chicago, Illinois, in the winter of 
					1861-62.  He then came to Prairieton, where he has 
					since lived.  He was married Oct. 8, 1862, to Miss 
					Eliza J. Ferguson, a cousin on his mother's side, and a 
					daughter of James and Mary Ferguson, who live just 
					south of Prairieton.  Mr. Drake has a family of 
					four children: James F., Thomas A., Mary N. 
					and Guthred.  They lost one, Thomas P., 
					who was one year old.  Mr. Drake has made the 
					practice of medicine his life-work. He  
					Page 477 -
					 
					bought the old Robert Hoggatt farm of over 300 acres 
					of the wife and daughter of Mr. Hoggatt, who now live 
					in Illinois, and he has made some accessions to his farm, so 
					that he has now one of the finest farms in Prairieton 
					township.  The Hoggatt farm has only changed 
					hands from the government to the Hoggatts, and from 
					them to Dr. Drake.  He and his wife are members 
					of the close communion Baptist church, and are honored and 
					respected citizens.     
					Lewis Evans Carson, 
					physician, Prairieton, was born in Highland county, Ohio, 
					Dec. 20, 1824, and was educated in Petersburg, Ohio.  
					He lived in Hamilton county until twenty-two years of age.  
					He married a Miss Mary E. Jermen in September 1847, 
					and in the same year he removed to Madison, Indiana.  
					From there he removed to Martinsville, Morgan county, 
					Indiana.  He studied medicine first in the city of 
					Madison, and continued the study two years after going to 
					Martinsville.  While living there he was licensed to 
					exhort in the Methodist church; three years after was 
					licensed to preach, and three years after that entered the 
					Indiana conference, and was first sent to the New Albany 
					circuit; in 1859 he was sent to the Hardinsburg circuit, and 
					at the close of the second year at Hardinsburg was elected 
					chaplain of the 38th reg. Ind. Vol. Inf. and served in that 
					capacity for three years.  He was with the regiment 
					from the battle of Perryville, Kentucky, to the taking of 
					Atlanta.  He was at the battles of Stone River, 
					Hoover's Gap, Shelbyville, Tullahoma, Chickamauga, where he 
					came near being captured by the confederate troops, as the 
					hospital was between the rebels and the United States forces 
					during the battle; Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, and 
					all those hard-fought battles on the route to Atlanta.  
					He returned in the fall of 1864, and entered the work of the 
					ministry by being appointed to the Bloomfield circuit.  
					From there he went to Fredericksburg, in the fall of 1867; 
					then was sent to New Albany and remained two years; then to 
					Salem, Washington county, for two years, and came to 
					Prairieton in 1872 and remained three years.  After 
					that he went to Evansville for one year, where he had charge 
					of the Engle-street church.  He returned then to 
					Prairieton, where he has since been engaged in the practice 
					of medicine.  His first wife died at Hardinsburg, 
					Indiana, in 1860, leaving two children, one of whom, Mary 
					Virginia, is now the wife of Wm. R. Bentley, of 
					Prairieton township, and the other one is the wife of Dr. 
					J. C. Mason, formerly of Bloomfield, but now of 
					Annapolis, Indiana.  In 1861 Mr. Carson was 
					again married, to Miss Annie E. Graham, by whom he 
					has had six children, three boys and three girls; the girls 
					are all dead and the boys live at home.  He is a member 
					of the A. F. and A. M., I.O.O.F., the Grangers and the Good 
					Templars.  He is also a Page 478 -
					 
					member of the Vigo County Medical Society and the Esculpian 
					Society.  He was a successful minister, having taken 
					into the church over 2,000 members while engaged as a 
					Methodist preacher.  He also organized what they called 
					the army church of the 38th reg., which was nonsectarian.  
					His fahter, Silas Carson, was born in Stokes county, 
					North Carolina about 1796; went to Ohio with his parents in 
					1812-13, and settled in Highland county, and lived and died 
					in that county, June 3, 1836.  He was a very fine 
					scholar,  being a fine mathematician and penman, and 
					was a genius in the way of mechanics, showing great 
					ingenuity in the manufacture of guns and otehr kinds of 
					mechanism.  He married a Miss Sarah 
					Davis, of that county, about 1821, a daughter of John 
					and Jane Davis of that county.  They had five 
					children, one of whom, a boy, died young of scarlet fever; 
					the others, Eliza, Lewis E., AllenTrumbull and 
					Silas are living; Eliza in Henry county, Iowa; 
					Allen in Howard county, Indiana, and Silas at 
					Martinsville, Indiana, where he is a justice of the peace 
					and mayor of the town of Martinsville.   The wife 
					of Silas Carson Sr. is still living at Russiaville, 
					Howard County, Indiana, and is seventy-nine years old.   
					L. E. Carson's great grandfather and the famous 
					pathfinder Kit Carson's grandfather were brothers and 
					came from the north of Ireland and are Scotch and Irish. 
					     
					William 
					Kelley Flesher, farmer, 
					Prairieton, was born in West Virginia May 28, 1824.  He 
					removed to Defiance county, Ohio.  Afterward he came to 
					Prairieton township in 1867, where he has since resided.  
					His grandfather was an old revolultionary soldier and did 
					good service in the cause of liberty.   His father 
					was born and raised good service in the cause of liberty.  
					His father was born and raised in Lewis county, Virginia, 
					and died in Rome, West Virginia; he was a farmer by 
					occupation.  His mother was also a native of Virginia.
					 Wm. K. is a farmer.  He has one brother 
					and four sisters.  He is a member of the Masonic 
					fraternity at Prairieton.  He lost his first wife by 
					the spotted fever, Apr. 29,1873, and was again married, to
					Mrs. Mary Ann Clark, Aug. 9, 1877.  By his first 
					marriage he had a family of ten children, two of whom died 
					young; the rest, four boys and four girls, are living.  
					One son and three of his daughters are married, and the 
					remainder of the children live at home with their parents.  
					His last wife, Mrs. Clark, was formerly a Miss 
					Mary Ann Johnson.  She first married Mr. 
					Carlisle Reed Clark, who was born in York state, July 
					23, 1813, and came to Indiana when quite young, and lived 
					and died in Prairieton township; died Nov. 5, 1864, leaving 
					one child, Joseph Carlisle Reed Clark, who 
					also lives at home with his mother.  Mr. 
					Flesher has a farm of nearly 200 acres, one of the most 
					fertile farms in the township, and his home is one of the 
					most quiet, pleasant and agreeable ones that is to be found 
					in the county.   
					 Page 479 - 
					      
					Jacob Hornor, 
					farmer, Prairieton, was born in Washington county, Indiana, 
					Nov. 20, 1836.  He spent his youth and life in that 
					county till after the war.  He has lived in Vigo county 
					since 1875, and lost all of his crop in the high water of 
					1875. He was a volunteer in the 66th reg. Ind. Inf. and 
					served thirteen months.  He was wounded in the hip and 
					discharged for disability.  He was in several battles, 
					among which maybe named the battles of Ringgold, Snake Gap, 
					Buzzard's Roost, Resaca, Kingston, Dallas, Pine Mountain, 
					Allatoona, and many others.  He was wounded at Van 
					Wert, Georgia.  He is a member of the I.O.O.F.  He 
					and his wife are members of the Methodist church.  He 
					was married in 1865 to Miss Margaret N. Lightner, of 
					Illinois, formerly from New Albany, Indiana. 
					     
					James Albert Ridge 
					was born near Covington, Indiana, and lived there a number 
					of years and then came with his father to Prairieton a 
					number of years ago and has since made this township his 
					home.  He is a young man of steady habits and is 
					located on a beautiful farm north of the town of Prairieton.  
					He married a Miss Cox, daughter of Jackson
					Cox, now living on the west side of the Wabash river 
					west of the town of Prairieton.    |