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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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. |