Jay County Indiana

Frank E. CAMPBELL, postmaster at Redkey and formerly and for years a painter and paperhanger at that place, one of the best known citizens of that part of the county, is a native son of Jay county and has lived here all his life. Mr. CAMPBELL was born on a farm in Knox township on December 2, 1868, and is a son of Edward T. and Catherine F. ( DALY ) CAMPBELL, natives of Ohio, the former born in Hamilton county and the latter in Warren county, who had come to Indiana with their respective parents in the days of their youth, the CAMPBELLs settling in Rush county and the DALY's in Randolph county. They were married in Randolph county and later came to Jay county, where they spent the remainder of their lives. Edward J. CAMPBELL formerly was widely known hereabout as a general dealer in produce. He also had a good farm of 106 acres in Knox township to which he gave the greater part of his attention in the later years of his life. He and his wife were the parents of ten children, of whom three are still living, the subject of this sketch having two brothers, George and John CAMPBELL. Reared on the home farm in Knox township, Frank E. CAMPBELL received his early schooling in the schools of that township, and this he supplemented by a course in the old normal school at Portland during the time Prof. George Sunman was principal of the same, and one term at the university at Valparaiso, Ind. Upon completing his school work Mr. CAMPBELL became engaged at Redkey in painting and paper hanging and became a general contractor in that line, which he continued to follow until his appointment in 1915 to the position of postmaster at Redkey. In 1919 his commission in that office was renewed and he is still serving, one of the most popular officials in that office the town has had. Mr. CAMPBELL was thus postmaster during the time of America's participation in the World war and had charge of the multiplicity of local details of war work that were carried on through the Postoffice Department, his activity in that direction having done much to stimulate the general activities of the community served through the Redkey postoffice. He is a Democrat and has long been looked upon as one of the leaders of that party in this county. On March 8, 1911, Frank E. CAMPBELL was united in marriage to Augusta A. KEHRER, who was born at Bellaire, Ohio, daughter of Charles and Augusta ( MILLER ) KEHRER, but who has been a resident of Jay county since she was fourteen years of age. Mrs. CAMPBELL is a member of the Catholic church at Redkey.  SOURCE: Milton T. Jay, M.D., History of Jay County Indiana, Historical Publishing Co., Indpls. 1922, Vol. II, pp.160-161. Transcribed by Eloine Chesnut.

William CARSON, a pioneer of Briant, was born in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, May 19, 1813, son of Samuel and Mary ( KINNEY ) CARSON. When he was six years of age his parents removed to Muskingum County, Ohio, where he lived until 1856. He early learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed for many years. At the age of twenty-one years he married Ellen SWAIN, born January 19, 1814. In 1856 he removed his family to this county, locating in Bear Creek Township, and it was through his influence that the town of Briant was laid out. He gave 100 feet for right of way, and also gave five acres for railroad purposes, besides ties and labor in building the side track. He assisted in locating and building the schoolhouse, and gave land for the church building. Mr. and Mrs. CARSON had three sons --Samuel, Hiram and Lewis. Mrs. CARSON died in 1876. Mr. CARSON was for many years a member of the Christian church and a liberal supporter of the same. He was very active in the building of the New Corydon turnpike. He has a well improved farm, a good story and a half residence, and commodious barns and farm buildings. Eighty acres of his farm he entered from the Government in 1840, having visited Indiana that year, traveling at one time thirty miles without seeing a cabin. Samuel CARSON, a son of the preceding, was born May 14, 1840, in Muskingum County, Ohio, and when four years of age, was taken by his parents to Coshocton County where he resided until 1856. He was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools. He was married in 1870 to Miss Sarah Ann WATSON, daughter of George B. and Catherine WATSON. She was born in Wayne County, Ohio, May 11, 1845. Mr. and Mrs. CARSON have five children -- Cora Lee and Calla May, twins; John, Nora, and Kate. SOURCE: p.377-378 "Biographical and Historical Record of Jay County, Indiana," Chicago: Lewis Publishing Company, 1887. Reprinted by Mayhill Publications of Knightstown,Indiana, 1974. This is the reprinted Jay County section out of the original combined 1887 History of Jay and Blackford counties. Submitted to GenWeb by: Betty Creath rcreath@azstarnet.com

CALDWELL C. CARTWRIGHT, retired merchant, landowner and financier and for many years one of the most prominent figures in the commercial and industrial life of Portland and of Jay county, is a native Hoosier, a fact of which he never has ceased to be proud, and has been a resident of this state all his life, a resident of Jay county since the days of his childhood. He was born at Winchester, in the neighboring county of Randolph, a son of James and Jane ( MILLIGAN ) CARTWRIGHT, the latter of whom was born in Pennsylvania but had come to Indiana with her parents in the days of her childhood, the MILLIGAN's settling in Randolph county. James CARTWRIGHT was born in Randolph county, his parents having been among the pioneers of that county, and there he was reared. He early became engaged in the milling business and in 1852 came to Jay county with his family and erected a sawmill at New Mt. Pleasant, having secured the contract to saw the lumber for a plank road that was to be built from Richmond to Ft. Wayne. For some reason work on this road was suspended after it had been pushed north about twenty miles from Pennville, but in the meantime Mr. CARTWRIGHT had got his mill going and the local demand upon its product was sufficient to make it a profitable enterprise, and it was kept in operation for ten years or more. James CARTWRIGHT also had a general store at New Mt. Pleasant and was there engaged in business when death interrupted his further activities in 1864. His widow was left with six children, one but an infant, Emma, who died in July of that same year, at the age of eight months. Mrs. CARTWRIGHT died in the .year following and within another year the only daughter, Mary Ellen, died, leaving four other children, of whom but two now survive, Caldwell C. CARTWRIGHT and his brother, Charles E. CARTWRIGHT, of Spokane, Wash. Another brother, William C. CARTWRIGHT, of Indianapolis, died on October 17, 1921. Caldwell C. CARTWRIGHT, then sixteen years of age, was the eldest of this sadly bereft group of youngsters, the others being thirteen, eight and three years old, respectively, and the burden of the care of the younger children fell upon his shoulders. He had been in attendance at Liber College, but he did not finish the course, instead securing a school and teaching the following winter. He secured a home with the family of Benjamin BRADLEY and then for a year assumed the operation of a sawmill, after which he became engaged in the general mercantile business at New Mt. Pleasant in association with Charles P. STARR, a partnership which continued there for about seven years, at the end of which time the partners moved their stock to Portland and set up in business at the corner of Meridian and Walnut streets. Eighteen months later Mr. STARR sold his interest in the store to Charles F. HEADINGTON and thus began the long partnership which has since been maintained between Mr. CARTWRIGHT and Mr. HEADINGTON, who continued to operate the store until they sold it in 1919, having thus been engaged together in mercantile business for a period of forty-five years. The partnership was not broken, however, for they still hold in common farm lands aggregating 725 acres in Jay county besides certain other financial interests in common. Mr. CARTWRIGHT is vice. president of the Haynes Automobile Company, of Kokomo, of which he is the heaviest individual stockholder, and also is interested in numerous concerns in and about Portland, including the Portland Forge and Foundry Company, the Portland Drain Tile Company, the reorganized Haynes Milling Company, the Portland Body Works, the Knocker Shirt Company, the Sheller Wood Rim Manufacturing Company, the grain elevator of Russell & Co., and is vice president of the Midwest Stone Quarries Company and of the Lehigh Clay Products Company. On July 8, 1868, Caldwell C. CARTWRIGHT was united in marriage, in this county, to Sophronia REED, who was born in Jay county, daughter of Harvey and Mary J. ( CARLEY ) REED, both of whom were born in Galipolis, Ohio. Harvey REED was a well known farmer in the New Mt. Pleasant neighborhood and he and his wife were the parents of six children, of whom Mrs. CARTWRIGHT is the only one now living. To Caldwell C. and Sophronia ( REED ) CARTWRIGHT were born three children, Elwood N., who died at the age of eighteen years; Grace, who died at the age of four years, and Earl R. CARTWRIGHT, born on January 9, 1879, who is a professional musician, now living at Portland, and of whom further and fitting mention is made elsewhere in this volume. Mr. CARTWRIGHT is a Republican and he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, to the affairs of which they have for many years given their interested attention. SOURCE: Milton T. Jay, M.D.,History of Jay County Indiana, Historical Publishing Co., Indpls. 1922, Vol. II, pp.48-49. Transcribed by Eloine Chesnut

Earl R. CARTWRIGHT, one of the best known citizens of Portland, a professional singer of more than local note and who also is interested in various industrial enterprises, an active factor in the commercial life of the city, was born in Portland, and has been a resident of that city most of his life, the exception being the period spent In New York and Boston and in Europe in furtherance of his musical ambition. Mr. CARTWRIGHT was born on January 9, 1879, and is the son and only surviving child of Caldwell C. and Sophronia ( REED ) CARTWRIGHT, who are still living at Portland and further and fitting mention of whom is made elsewhere in this volume, together with an interesting review of the busy life of Caldwell C. CARTWRIGHT, the financier, whose activities for many years in the commercial and industrial life of his home town have long caused him to be regarded as one of the dominant figures in the work of development that has marked this community during the past half century. Earl R. CARTWRIGHT was reared at Portland and upon completing the course in the high school there entered Chicago University. From the days of his childhood his chief interest was the cultivation of his instinctive love of music and after a year at the university he abandoned the course there and went East, where in New York and Boston he devoted himself to musical culture, with special reference to voice culture, his studies in the former city being carried on under the direction of Isadore Luxstone. He supplemented these studies by a course in Berlin and has since devoted his chief attention to his professional work, for years having been recognized as one of the four or five really great baritones in America. Since attaining professional recognition more than twenty years ago Mr. CARTWRIGHT has sung in all the principal cities of the East and on the Pacific coast. He was one of the soloists during the progress of the great musical festival in connection with the Panama-Pacific Exposition at San Francisco and also appeared there at a return engagement with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Tn common with many of the country's great artists Mr. CARTWRIGHT's "day of small things" often was fraught with difficulties, but it was art for art's sake with him and he persisted until in due time came the reward commensurate to his talent, and an invitation to join the forces of the Metropolitan Opera Company, which invitation, for reasons sufficient to himself, he declined was convincing evidence that he had "arrived." His first appearance as a professional was in his school days when he made a tour of the Middle states cities with the old Chicago Glee Club. This experience provided the proper whet to his ambition to become a real singer and he then went to Boston to pursue his studies under Stephen Townsend, for a time eking out his slender allowance by singing in the choir of the First Methodist Episcopal church of Boston while thus occupied. Even after he had become qualified and was conducting his own studio in Boston Mr. CARTWRIGHT was occupying the position of soloist in the old Eliot church at Newton. and later accepted a call to sing in King's Chapel, Boston, under B. F. Lang, a position he occupied for five or six years. During the period of his residence in Boston he appeared for five consecutive seasons as a soloist with the Cecelia Society and during this period also was singing with Handel and Hayden, and for three seasons was on tour with the Boston Festival Orchestra. In 1915, at Boston, Earl R. CARTWRIGHT was united in marriage to Ethel FREDERICKS, of that city, and he and his wife have since made their home in Portland. where they are very pleasantly situated. As noted in the introduction to this review, Mr. CARTWRIGHT gives considerable attention to a line of investments he has In hand, chiefly industrials, and he is a member of the board of directors of the Sheller Wood Rim Company of Portland, of the Lehigh Products Company of Iowa, of the Springfield Clay Products Company of Springfield, Ill., of the Kokomo Malleable Iron Company, and of the Midwest Stone Quarry Company of Indianapolis and is a stockholder in the Haynes Automobile Company of Kokomo. He is a Republican and he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. CARTWRIGHT is a Scottish Rite (32) Mason and a noble of the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, is a Rotarian, and is a member of the Harvard Music Association of Boston and of the Indiana Society of Chicago.  SOURCE: Milton T. Jay, M.D., History of Jay County Indiana, Historical Publishing Co., Indpls. 1922, Vol. II, pp.318-319. Transcribed by Eloine Chesnut.

LAWRENCE R. CARTWRIGHT, county attorney for Jay county, former chairman of the Republican county central committee and for years a member of the bar of the Jay Circuit Court, practicing law at Portland, is a member of one of this comity's pioneer families. Mr. CARTWRIGHT was born at Portland on October 7, 1876, and is a son of William C. and Mary J. ( COULSON ) CARTWRIGHT, both of whom also were born in this county and the fonner of whom died at Indianapolis in the fall of 1921. William C. CARTWRIGHT was for years engaged in the mercantile business in Portland, a clerk in the CARTWRIGHT & HEADINGTON store, and was thus occupied until 1912, when he went to Indianapolis as the secretary-treasurer of the Midwest Crushed Stone and Quarry Company and in city spent his last days, his death occurring there on October 17, 1921. To him and his wife were born three sons, the subject of this sketch having two brothers, Forest S. and W. Dale CARTWRIGHT. Reared at Portland, Lawrence R. CARTWRIGHT was graduated from the high school in that city in 1896 and then entered DePauw University, from which he was graduated in 1900 with the degree of Ph. B. He then accepted a position as instructor in Washbum College at Topeka, Kan., and was thus occupied for two years, at the end of which time he entered the law school of Columbia University and in due time received his A. M. degree from that institution. For about three years thereafter Mr. CARTWRIGHT served as law clerk to Judge Monks of the Indiana State Supreme Court and then, in 1911, returned to Portland and has since been engaged there in the general practice of law. For the past three years or more Mr. CARTWRIGHT has been serving as county attorney. He is a Republican, long having been recognized as one of the leaders of that party in this district, and has rendered service as chairman of the Republican county central committee. Mr. CARTWRIGHT is a Freemason, is affiliated with the college fraternity. Phi Delta Theta, and he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. In 1907 Lawrence R. CARTWRIGHT was united in marriage to Vida WOOD, of Topeka, Kan., daughter of 0. J. and Anna WOOD, and to this union have been born three children, Jane, Wood and Rachel. During the time of this countrys participation in the World War, Mr. CARTWRIGHT was one of the leaders in the local work of the Red Cross. SOURCE: Milton T. Jay, M.D.,History of Jay County Indiana, Historical Publishing Co., Indpls. 1922, Vol. II, pp.53-54. Transcribed by Eloine Chesnut

Charles Alonzo CASH, a well known and substantial farmer of Jay county, living on rural route No. 2 out of Pennville, In Penn township, was born in that same township and has lived there all his life. He was born on March 20, 1867, and is a son of Hamilton and Angeline ( IREY ) CASH, the latter of whom also was born in this county, October 17, 1839, a daughter of Mahlon and Rachel M. ( McBRIDE ) IREY, who were among the pioneers of Jay county. The late Hamilton CASH was born in Harrison county, Ohio, January 17, 1840, and was a son of William and Rachel (PUGH) CASH, the former of whom was born in Jefferson county, Ohio, in 1812. In 1842 William CASH came with his family to Indiana and settled in Grant county, but about eighteen months later came over into Jay county and located on an uncleared tract of land in Penn township, where he spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring on September 10, 1888. His wife had died exactly three years prior to that date September 10, 1885. She was born in Harrison county, Ohio, May 10, 1815. Hamilton CASH was reared on the pioneer home farm in Penn township and early learned the blacksmith trade. He was twenty-one years of age when the Civil war broke out and In September, 1861, enlisted his services as a soldier of the Union and went to the front as a member of Company B, 34th regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, with which gallant command he served for more than three years. Upon the completion of his military service Hamilton CASH returned home and became engaged as a. blacksmith at Pennville, in association with Joseph LUPTON, and later opened a blacksmith shop of his own at Balbec. He married Angeline IREY on March 20, 1866, and after establishing his home at Balbec continued to make that place his residence the remainder of his life, his death occurring in December, 1913. He and his wife were the parents of four children, the subject of this sketch having a sister, Gertrude, and two brothers. Emmet and Fred CASH. Reared at Balbec, Charles Alonzo CASH received his schooling in the schools of that village and from the days of his boyhood has been engaged in farming. After his marriage he rented the old CASH homestead place of 140 acres in Penn township and there made his home for twenty-one years, at the end of which time he bought a part of the place. Not long afterward he sold this place and bought the farm of eighty-six acres on which he is now living. Mr. CASH is a Republican and has ever given a good citizen's attention to local civic affairs, but has not been a seeker after public office. Charles Alonzo CASH was united in marriage to Amy Leona GRAY and to this union three children have been born, Hilda, Ethel , and Carl, the last named of whom is an assistant to his father on the farm. Hilda CASH married Charles MILES and has four children, Cepha, Maxine, Harley and Amy MILES. Ethel CASH married Christian CART and has two children, Deloris and Hurley CART. Mrs. CASH was born in this county and is a daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (WHITE ) GRAY, the latter of whom was born in the Balbec neighborhood in this county, a member of one of the pioneer families there. Thomas GRAY was born in Monroe county, Ohio, and was but a child when he came to Jay county with his parents. He grew to manhood here and was married in this county. Early trained as a carpenter, he presently became a builder on his own amount and followed that vocation most of his life. He and his wife had three children, Mrs. CASH having a sister, Cora, and a brother, Miles GRAY. SOURCE: Milton T. Jay, M.D., History of Jay County Indiana, Historical Publishing Co., Indpls. 1922, Vol. II, pp.307-308. Transcribed by Eloine Chesnut

Henry C. CHALFANT, who died at his home in Portland in the spring of 1917 and whose widow is still living there, was for many years engaged in the hardware business in Portland and was regarded as one of the forceful factors in the business life of that city. Mr. Chalfant was a native of Ohio, born on a farm in Perry county, that state, March 7, 1848, the fourth in order of birth of the eight children born to Robert and Mary ( HANKS ) CHALFANT. He remained on the farm until he was twenty-one years of age, when he bought a hardware store at Sommerset, Ohio, and was there engaged in business until 1876, when he disposed of his interests at that place and came over into Indiana, locating at Portland, where he bought the Fulton hardware store, which then was located at the site now occupied by the Long sporting goods store. Four years later he sold that store and was for three years thereafter engaged as a traveling salesman for the Binley Hardware Company, of Pittsburgh. He then returned to Portland and was there engaged as manager of the Fulton hardware store until 1907, when he again engaged in business in the hardware line on his own account, opening a store where Bebee Bros. now are located, and there continued in business the rest of his life, his death occurring on May 6, 1917, and he is buried in Green Park cemetery. Mr. CHALFANT was a Republican and was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, as is his widow. Henry C. CHALFANT was twice married. His first wife, Lucy JAMES, of Perry county, Ohio, died about five years after their marriage. To that union, two children were born, Owen (deceased) and Mary A., who completed her schooling in Indiana University and was for about ten years engaged in teaching in the schools of Portland. She married Prof. H. H. JOURNAY; former principal of the Portland high school, now superintendent of schools at Hooper, Colo., and has three children, Harry, Dorothy and Mildred JOURNAY. On January 20, 1884, Mr. CHALFANT was united in marriage to Ida F. MOOTS, who since the death of her husband continues to make her home at Portland, where she is very pleasantly situated. Mrs. CHALFANT was born in Preble county, Ohio, the third in order of birth of the six children born to Christian and Eleanor ( ROBINSON ) MOOTS, the latter of whom was born in that same county, a member of one of the pioneer families of that section of Ohio. Christian MOOTS was a native of Germany, but had been a resident of this country since he was eleven years of age, his parents having come here many years ago. He was widely known as a buyer of live stock and also carried on a retail meat business. SOURCE: Milton T. Jay, M.D., History of Jay County Indiana, Historical Publishing Co., Indpls. 1922, Vol. II, pp.240-241. Transcribed by Eloine Chesnut

Walter Lee CLARK, D.D.S., a veteran of the Spanish American war and former adjutant of the 3d Battalion, 160th regiment, Indiana National Guard, who for more than fifteen years past has been practicing his profession as a dental surgeon, at Pennville, in this county, is a native Hoosier and has been a resident of this state all his life. Doctor CLARK was born on a farm in the immediate vicinity of Columbia City, in Jefferson township, Whitley county, Indiana, April 24, 1878, and is a son of Joseph and Leah ( SHINBECKLER ) CLARK, both of whom were members of pioneer families in that county. Joseph CLARK was but a child when his parents settled on a farm in Jefferson township, Whitley county, and he grew to manhood there, completing his schooling in the seminary at Roanoke, down in the neighboring county of Huntington, from which lie was graduated. After his marriage he established his home on the farm and remained there until his election in 1878 to the office of county treasurer, he then being twenty-nine years of age, when he moved to Columbia City, the county seat. He was re-elected to that office and thus served for two terms, upon the completion of which term of public service he became engaged in the hardware and lumber business at Columbia City, but presently disposed of his interests in the hardware line and became the manager of the extensive lumber interests of the North, Clark & Edwards Company, with which he remained connected until in 1899, when he disposed of his lumber yard and opened a shoe store in Columbia City, and in this latter business was engaged the rest of his life, his death occurring on July 17, 1903. He was a thirty-second degree Mason and a noble of the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. In addition to his term of service as county treasurer he also for some time rendered service as a member of the Columbia City school board and in other ways was actively identified with the civic life of his home town. Of the ten children born to Joseph CLARK and his wife eight survive, Walter Lee CLARK was but an infant when his parents moved from the farm to Columbia City in 1878, the year of his birth, and he grew up in that city and was in his last year of high school when the Spanish American war broke out in 1898, He left school and enlisted for service, going out as a member of Company G of the 160th regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and with this command saw service in Cuba. He received his discharge on April 25, 1899, and returned to Columbia City, where he became engaged as a woodworker in a furniture factory. When his father, a year or two later, opened his shoe store there, he and his brother became associated with their father in that business, the firm being established as Joseph CLARK& Sons. After his father's death in 1903, Walter Lee CLARK entered the Indiana Dental College at Indianapolis, worked his way through college, and was graduated from that institution in 1906. .During his senior year in college he was president of the P.G.C. Hunt Society of the student body. Upon receiving his diploma Doctor CLARK located at Pennville and has ever since been practicing his profession in that pleasant little city, one of the best known dentists in this part of the state. The Doctor's military experience during the time of the Spanish-American war confirmed him in his opinion of the value of National Guard service. From June 11, 1895, to 1917 be served as a member of the Indiana National Guard, for some years rendering service as adjutant of the 3d Battalion, 160th regiment. The Doctor is a Freemason, having become affiliated with the Masonic lodge at Columbia City during the time of his residence there, and is also a member of the local lodge of the Knights of Pythias at Pennville, the present vice chancellor of the lodge. In his political views he reserves his right to independence. In 1910, at Pennville, Dr. Walter Lee CLARK was united in marriage to Wanda WRIGHT, daughter of Calvin B. and Mary Etta ( EDMUNDSON ) WRIGHT, of that city, and to this union one child has been born, a daughter, Wilda Virginia, born in 1913. Doctor and Mrs. CLARK have a pleasant home at Pennville and take an interested part in the general social and cultural activities of the community. Doctor CLARK is also interested in bee culture as a "side-line." He produced 2,200 pounds of honey during the past year and has seventy-five colonies of bees. He represents the A. T. Root Company in this vicinity. SOURCE: Milton T. Jay, M.D., History of Jay County Indiana, Historical Publishing Co., Indpls. 1922, Vol. II, pp.313-314. Transcribed by Eloine Chesnut

William B. CLOSE, a well-known expert machinist and proprietor of a well-equipped machine shop at Portland, is a native son of the old Buckeye state, but has been a resident of Portland for more than a quarter of a century. He was born in Wyandot county, Ohio, October 2, 1862, son of John H. and Mary (HOWARD) CLOSE, and was reared at VanWert, where he received his schooling. He early began to learn the machinist's trade and continued working as a machinist at VanWert until 1895, when he came over into Indiana and opened a machine shop of his own at Portland, where he ever since has been located and where he has created a call for his services covering a territory of thirty miles or more about that city, having equipment at his shop on West Water street for all kinds of boiler repairing and general machine work. His plant is electrically equipped and is up to date in other particulars. Mr. CLOSE is a Republican and he and his wife are members of the Friends church. William B. CLOSE has been twice married. In 1883, at VanWert, Ohio, he was united in marriage to Anna J. WAGGERS, who was born in that city, daughter of Jonah and Elmira (MIDDAUGH) WAGGERS, and to this union were born three children, daughters all, Ada C., Bertha E., who died at the age of thirty-four years, and Nella A. The mother of these daughters died in 1898, and on October 17, 1899, Mr. CLOSE married Mrs. Mae (BARNHARDT) HOPE, who was born in Howard county, Indiana, daughter of Benjamin and Catherine (HUBER) BARNHARDT, and to this union two children have been born, Mary and Charles. By her former marriage Mrs. CLOSE has a son, Ellis J. HOPE. SOURCE: Milton T. Jay, M.D., History of Jay County Indiana, Historical Publishing Co., Indpls. 1922, Vol. II, p.376. Transcribed by Eloine Chesnut.

Hal H. COFFEL, cashier of the Peoples State Bank of Pennville, a member of the bar of the Jay Circuit Court, former deputy prosecuting attorney for this county, former president of the board of trustees of the town of Pennville, a musician of recognized talent and attainment and a nature student whose lectures on bird life have given him the distinctive title of "the bird man" throughout the state, has been identified with the banking interests of this county for many years and has long been recognized as one of the active factors in the commercial and social life of the county. Mr. COFFEL was born at Montpelier, in the neighboring county of Blackford, February 2, 1875, and is a son of George Washington and Ellen Virginia ( HOWARD ) COFFEL, the latter of whom, daughter of William J. and Sarah ( BURLEY ) HOWARD was born in the vicinity of the town of Cameron, in Marshall county, Virginia (now West Virginia), April 18, 1834, and died at Nottingham, in Wells county, Indiana, September 13, 1877. George Washington COFFEL was born on a pioneer farm in Henry county, this state, near the Wayne county line, west of Hagerstown, March 22, 1838, and died at Pennville on October 30, 1921. He was a son of Henry and Rebecca ( WILLIAMS ) COFFEL, who came to Indiana from Virginia in pioneer days and settled in the Hagerstown neighborhood, but later came up into this part of the state with their family and located on a farm in the vicinity of Montpelier, at a crossing called Five Points, where Henry COFFEL spent his last days, and where he is buried. He was a son of Henry and Barbara COFFELT, natives of Germany, who had come to this country after their marriage and had located in Rockbridge county, Virginia, where they established their home and reared their family. They had five children, George, Henry, Barbara. Anna and Elizabeth. In the second generation of the American descent the "t" was dropped from the family name, which since has been COFFEL. The second Henry COFFEL was twice married and by his union with Rebecca WILLIAMS was the father of five children, Francis Marion, George Washington, Mrs. Sarah PERFECT, Mrs. Nancy Ellen HADWAY and Mrs. Elizabeth WILSON. Following the death of the mother of these children he married Catherine KESSINGER and had one child, a daughter, Mrs. Malinda Jane CANADA. . George Washington COFFEL and his wife, Ellen Virginia HOWARD, who were married in Blackford county, where they had located with their respective parents in the days of their youth, were the parents of three children, the subject of this sketch having had two brothers, Carl Porter, who died in infancy, and Marvin Arnold COFFEL, a soldier of the Spanish-American war, who died in the service of the United States Army at Corregidor, Philippine Islands, November 3, 1899. Marvin Arnold COFFEL took part in the expedition against Santiago de Cuba and was in the battles of El Caney, July 1, 1898; San Juan, July 2, and the battle of Santiago, July 3, 10-11. The command to which he was attached later was sent to the Philippines and there he died in service. As will be noted by a comparison of dates above given, Hal H. COFFEL was but little more than a babe in arms when his mother died. He was reared in the home of his uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Adelma LUPTON, at Pennville, in the schools of which pleasant little city he received his early schooling. In the summer of 1890, when fifteen years of age, he went to Portland, where he entered the local office of the L. E. & W. Railroad Company, with a view to learning telegraphy. After acquiring the mastery of the key he remained at the Portland railway station for some time and then was transferred to the station at Alexandria. He put in four years in the railway telegraph service and then resigned and entered the university at Valparaiso, lnd. directing his studies particularly in behalf of bookkeeping and commercial law, and on March 28, 1895, was graduated in the bookkeeping course. Thus equipped for the business career toward which he had set his mark, Mr. COFFEL returned to Pennville and entered his uncle's bank as assistant cashier. From the days of his childhood Mr. COFFEL has been deeply interested in musical expression and during his service at the bank continued his studies along musical lines. After five years of service at the bank he went to Chicago to take a thorough course in the study of guitar, mandolin, banjo and harmony at Kimball Hall, where he came under the direction of the great Arling SHAEFFER, a master of technique and harmony along this line. Upon completing this course Mr. COFFEL located at Indianapolis, where he was made head of the Chicago School of Music in that city and president of the faculty of the same, and there he remained for three years, or until the illness of his aunt, Mrs. Eliza Howard LUPTON, required his return to Pennville to aid in the direction of the extensive business interests left to her charge by the death of her husband, Adelma LUPTON. Giving up his active musical work Mr. COFFEL in 1905 re-entered the Peoples State Bank of Pennville, as assistant cashier, and has ever since been giving his attention to the bank's affairs, having been elected cashier of the institution in the following year, 1906. He also is a member of the board of directors of the bank and in other ways is interested in the general commercial and industrial activities of the town and vicinity. Years ago, completing the course in law which he had begun at Valparaiso University in the days of his young manhood, Mr. COFFEL was graduated from the American Correspondence School of Law and is a member of the bar of the Jay Circuit Court and has been admitted to practice in the Indiana State Supreme Court. He has served as deputy prosecuting attorney for Jay county and during the time of America's participation in the World war served as a member of the legal advisory board for this county. For twelve years he has served as attorney for the board of trustees of the town of Pennville and has also served as a member of the board and president of the same. Mr. COFFEL is a Republican and has ever given a good citizen's attention to local civic affairs. He is a 32nd degree (Scottish Rite) Mason, affiliated with the consistory at Ft. Wayne, and is a member of the Portland lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and of the Pennville lodge of the Knights of Pythias. For years Mr. COFFEL has given his earnest attention to nature study, the opportunities for which so lavishly abound throughout this region, and he is a member of the executive board of the Indiana Audubon Society as well as a member of the National Association of Audubon Societies (New York City), and of the American Forestry Association, and his services as a lecturer on bird life, in connection with the work of the Indiana state conservation commission, have caused him to be known widely as "the bird man," a complimentary title which he certainly seems to deserve, for perhaps no one in this state is better informed along this line than he. Though long ago relinquishing the ambition to be a musical director, Mr. COFFEL has not given up his musical work and continues to find delightful recreation in the composition and arrangement of music for his favorite instruments, the guitar, the mandolin and the banjo. On July 4, 1910, Hal H. COFFEL was united in marriage to Vesta G. KING, daughter of George B. and Julia E. ( GALE ) LUPTON, of Petroleum, in the neighboring county of Wells, and to this union two children have been born, Virginia Yetive, born in 1911, and George Francis, 1914. SOURCE: Milton T. Jay, M.D., History of Jay County Indiana, Historical Publishing Co., Indpls. 1922, Vol. II, pp.104-106. Transcribed by Eloine Chesnut.

George W. COOK, a well known former merchant and retired undertaker at Dunkirk, is a native son of Jay county and has lived here all his life with the exception of a few years spent in business at Ridgeville, over in the adjoining county of .Randolph. Mr. COOK was born on a farm in this county on August 14, 1860, and is a son of William and Catherine ( THRASH ) COOK, the former of whom was born in that part of Virginia now comprised in the state of West Virginia and the latter in the state of Pennsylvania. William COOK enlisted for service in the Union army during the Civil War and went out with the 23d regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry. For want of proper medical aid during an illness which seized him shortly after his enlistment he died in service, January 1, 1865, leaving his widow with four small children, two of whom are still living, the subject of this sketch having a brother, Oscar COOK. Bereft of his soldier father when but a child, George W. COOK early began to "do for himself." He completed his schooling by a short course in Ridgeville College and at the age of eighteen became engaged in the livery business at Ridgeville, where he also carried on the sale of buggies. He carried on this business for four or five years, at the end of which time he disposed of that line and in association with Charles WARD became engaged in the grocery business at Ridgeville. For about eight years this partnership continued and then Mr. COOK disposed of his interest and returned to Jay county, locating at Dunkirk, where he became engaged in the undertaking business. For nearly twenty-five years Mr. COOK carried on this latter business, becoming one of the best known funeral directors in this section of Indiana. For about ten years of this period he also carried on a general livery business at Dunkirk. In 1918 Mr. COOK sold his undertaking establishment to S. R. MARTIN and retired from business, continuing, however, to make his home at Dunkirk, where he has resided for so many years. Mr. COOK is a Freemason, affiliated with the local lodge at Dunkirk, and is a Republican. In May, 1881, George W. COOK was united in marriage to Melissa H. RIDDELBARGER, who was born and reared in the neighboring county of Randolph, daughter of David and Mary RIDDELBARGER, and to this union one child has been born, a son, Roll D., who was born at Ridgeville. Roll D. COOK completed his schooling at the university at Valparaiso. He married Ethel SMITH and is now engaged in the grocery business at Dunkirk, in which city he has resided since the days of his boyhood. SOURCE: Milton T. Jay, M.D., History of Jay County Indiana, Historical Publishing Co., Indpls. 1922, Vol. II, pp.154-155. Transcribed by Eloine Chesnut

CORNELIUS CORWIN, an honored veteran of the Civil war and the oldest living member of the bar of the Jay Circuit Court, now living retired at his pleasant home in North Meridian street, Portland, is a native son of Jay county, a member of one of the real pioneer families here, and has lived in this county all his life, a member of the bar for fifty years and active in practice until his recent retirement. Mr. CORWIN was born on a farm in Knox township, this county, October 3, 1843, and is a son of William and Mary ( GRAY ) HUDSON CORWIN, the latter of whom was the widow of Joshua HUDSON, one of the pioneers of Randolph county. William CORWIN was a pioneer Baptist elder, a member of the first Baptist Association organized in this part of Indiana. He was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, and later became a resident of Ohio, where he was married and where he resided until 1838 when he left his home in Columbiana county, that state, and came to Indiana, locating at Deerfield, in Randolph county, whence he presently moved up into Jay county and settled in Knox township, where he spent the remainder of his days, his death occurring on September 17, 1847. In addition to his service as a missionary of the Baptist church William CORWIN was an expert blacksmith and thus was able to render double service in the pioneer community. He was twice married and by his first marriage was the father of four children. His first wife died at Deerfield, in Randolph county. By his union with Mrs. Mary ( GRAY ) HUDSON he was the father of two sons, Cornelius and Stephen CORWIN, the latter of whom died from the effects of a wound received in battle while serving as a soldier of the Union during the Civil war, a member of Company K, 16th regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He later was transferred to the 13th Indiana Cavalry, but was wounded while serving with the 16th Indiana. Two of Mr. CORWIN's half-brothers, Ben J. and Edwin HUDSON, also served as soldiers of the Union, the latter a member of Company F, 12th regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, later Company F, 59th Indiana. Ben J. HUDSON, who was a member of Company E, 89th Indiana, died in Jefferson military hospital at Memphis, Tenn., August 3, 1863. Three of Mr. CORWIN's nephews also served as soldiers of the Union. Cornelius CORWIN was not four years of age when his father died. His mother survived until 1864. He was born in Knox township and his early schooling was received in the schools of New Mt. Pleasant, this being supplemented by a course in the old Liber College. On August 9, 1862, he then being eighteen years of age, Mr. CORWIN enlisted his services in behalf of the cause of the Union and went to the front. He continued to serve as a soldier until mustered out three years later, the war then being over, and upon the completion of his military service returned home and resumed his place in civil life. In his youth he had learned the tanner's trade under the direction of his half-brother, William C. Hudson, but did not long follow that, the inclination toward a professional career having steadily developed during his period of service in the army. Not long after his return from the army Mr. CORWIN served for a year as deputy county treasurer and also was for a year or two engaged in teaching school in. this county. He then went West with a view to locating in Iowa, but not finding things wholly to his liking out there presently returned and became engaged in the study of law under the preceptorship of lames N. Templar at Portland. He was admitted to the bar in October, 1871, and then entered into a partnership with James B. JAQUA for the practice of his profession in Portland. This mutually agreeable association was maintained for fourteen years, at the end of which time Mr. CORWIN formed a partnership with John M. SMITH. This latter association continued for thirteen years and then Mr. CORWIN became engaged in practice in partnership with James J. MORAN and was so engaged for five years, or until his retirement from practice. Since his retirement Mr. CORWIN has continued to make his home in Portland, where he is very comfortably situated. He has ever taken an interested part in the general commercial development: of the community and has been a real force in that behalf. He was one of the fourteen men who guaranteed the right-of-way for the Lake Erie railroad through Portland and has for years been a member of the board of directors of the Peoples Bank of Portland. He is a Republican and has in years past served in various public capacities, such as school trustee, county attorney and member of the town board. Mr. CORWIN is a York Rite Mason. He is a charter member of the local chapter, Royal Arch Masons, at Portland, of which he was the first captain of the host, and for six years served as high priest of the chapter. In 1876, some years after he became a resident of Portland, Cornelius CORWIN was united in marriage to Rachel E. WOOD, who was born in Miami county, Ohio, a daughter of Thomas G. WOOD, who later became a resident of Penn township, this county, and to that union was born one child, a son, William Thomas CORWIN, now living at Portland, who married Laura J. DESTTATE, who was born in the kingdom of Belgium, and has five children, Rachel, Mary C., Laura J., Cornelius and John. Mrs. Rachel E. CORWIN died on October 29, 1910. Cornelius CORWIN's military record during the time of his service in the Union army was so varied and interesting that a brief resume of the same may be found to be of value here. As noted above, it was on August 9, 1862, that he enlisted his services with a company that was being organized in this county. This company went into camp at Wabash, Ind., on August 18 and presently was sent to Camp Burnside, Indianapolis, where it was mustered in as Company E of the 89th Indiana infantry regiment by Henry B. Carrington, brigadier general. A few days later the command was sent to Louisville, Ky., and was thus unlucky enough to be caught at the battle of Munfordville, September 14, 1862, and compelled to surrender to General Bragg, of the Confederate forces. Three days later, at Green river, they were paroled and sent into Buel's lines to Bowling Green, whence they presently were returned to Indiana and camped at Sugar Creek, where they received an order to report at Indianapolis, where they received a twenty-seven days furlough. On November 17th at Camp Morton they were .exchanged and then were sent, via Centrailia and Cairo, to Memphis, Tenn., where and at Ft. Pickering they were kept on garrison and picket duty until December, 1863, when they were sent to Moscow, Tenn. At Lafayette Station they had a scrimmage with the enemy, going on to Coldwater, Miss., whence they returned via Moscow to Memphis, from which point in January they were sent to join General Sherman on the Meridian expedition. They later took part in the Red River expedition, participating in all the battles of that memorable campaign, including the battle of Pleasant Hill (La.), April 9, 1864, in which they held the field at a loss to the regiment of fifty-three men. The regiment then was assembled at Grandecore and went down the Alexandria. On this expedition the regiment lost sixteen more men. At Marksville they routed 10,000 Rebels and then went on to Yellow Bayou, where a battle ensued, May 18, 1864, in which the regiment lost fifty-four men, three of whom were Company E men. Thence by boat the command returned north to Vicksburg, Memphis, Grand Junction and Harrisville, at which latter place) on July 14, 1864, it took part in the engagement which resulted in the loss to the Rebels of 1,200 men. The command then was sent back to Memphis to help defend the town and thence to Jefferson Barracks, Mo., marching west of St. Louis and thence to Independence and Harrisonville, Mo., St. Charles and other points, starting on October 3 and returning to St. Louis on November 21, getting there a change of clothes for the first time in more than a -month. The command then went into camp at Nashville and was there to take part in the battle of Nashville, December 15-16, 1864, in which several Company E men were wounded. In January, 1865, this command took a turn down the Tennessee river to Eastport, Miss., presently going thence to New Orleans, where they were held three weeks, at the end of which time they went by gulf boats to Mobile, Ala., and took part in the siege and capture of Ft. Blakeley, April 9, 1865. While between Greenville and Ft. Blakeley the command received word of Lee's surrender. The remainder of the regiment's service was rendered at Mobile, where it was kept on patrol duty until July 19, when it was mustered out and returned to Jeffersonville, Ind., thence to Indianapolis, where it received its final discharge on August 8, Mr. CORWIN being mustered out as a corporal. SOURCE: Milton T. Jay, M.D., History of Jay County Indiana, Historical Publishing Co., Indpls. 1922, Vol. II, pp.96-99. Transcribed by Eloine Chesnut.

Jesse E. CREAMER, a well known retired farmer and former landowner of Jay county, now living at Portland, where he has made his home for years, is a native son of Jay county and has lived here all his life. Mr. CREAMER was born on a farm in Pike township on January 23, 1862, and is a son of George E. and Mary ( BOCKHOVEN ) CREAMER, both members of pioneer families in this county. George E. CREAMER was born in the vicinity of Shelbyville, in Warren county, Ohio) and was but a lad when he came with his parents to Jay county, the family settling on an uncleared tract of land in Pike township, where he grew to manhood. He married Mary BOCKHOVEN, a daughter of Nelson and Betty ( LEWIS ) BOCKHOVEN, substantial residents of that community, and not long after his marriage was seriously injured in an accident which befell him while aiding in the erection of the old wooden bridge over the Salamonie river at Portland, and for eighteen months thereafter was confined to his home. Upon his recovery he began farming in association with his father and some years later purchased a farm of 120 acres one mile west of Bluff Point. In Pike township, where he established his home. He later added to tills holding an adjoining "forty" and thus had an excellent farm of 160 acres, which he continued to operate until his death in 1890. He and his wife were the parents of six children, two of whom, Anna and Jimmie, are deceased, the others (besides the subject of this sketch) being, Ellory, Hattie P. and Jane. Reared on the home farm in Pike township, Jesse E. CREAMER received his schooling in the Days Creek and Bluff Point schools and from the days of his boyhood was a helpful factor in the labors of the farm, continuing as a farmer in association with his father until the latter's death, after which for a time he made his home in Portland, but presently again was attracted to the farm and bought a tract of forty acres in Wayne township, a mile and a half east of Portland, but a year later returned to Portland where he has since resided, and in 1916 sold his farm. On May 24) 1902) Jesse E. CREAMER was united in marriage to Mrs. Isabel ( SWANK ) BLAKELY and he and his wife have a very pleasant home at 142 East Third street in Portland. They are Democrats and are members of the First United Brethren church. Mrs. CREAMER was born in the vicinity of Salem, in Madison township, this county and is a daughter of George and Anna (SNELLBAKER) SWANK) the latter of whom was born in Philadelphia, Pa., and was seven years of age when she moved with her parents to Warren county, Ohio and came to Jay county with his parents as a boy. After his marriage he bought a farm of eighty acres in the Salem neighborhood in Madison township and there established his home and spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring in 1890. He was an honored veteran of the Civil war having enlisted in 1862 and served until his discharge after the close of the war in 1865. At the battle of Chickamauga he received a severe hip wound which rendered him a cripple for life. His widow survived until 1897. They were the parents of eight children, all of whom are living save one, Mrs. CREAMER having one sister, Adeline, and five brothers, George, William, John, Terry and Isaac SWANK. By her previous marriage to Montraville M. BLAKELY, Mrs. CREAMER has one child, a son, Andrew J. BLAKELY. SOURCE: Milton T. Jay, M.D., History of Jay County Indiana, Historical Publishing Co., Indpls. 1922, Vol. II, pp.269-270. Transcribed by Eloine Chesnut.

George V. CRING, M. D., a well known physician of Portland was born in that city and has lived there all his life save during the time spent away at college. He is a son of John and Margaret V. ( HANLIN ) CRING, the former of whom was an honored veteran of the Civil war and was engaged in business in Portland. John CRING was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, February 7, 1838, and was but two years old when he came to Indiana with his parents, who settled on a farm in Wabash township, this county, where they established their home and became useful and influential pioneers of the county. John CRING was reared on the farm in Wabash township and supplemented the schooling he received in the local district by a course in old Liber College, after which he entered Oberlin College and was in attendance there when the Civil war broke out. He relinquished his studies and enlisted his services in behalf of the cause of the Union, going to the front in August, 1862, as a private in the 5th Indiana Cavalry. During this service Mr. CRING was captured by the enemy and was compelled to undergo all the horrors of imprisonment in the notorious rebel prison pens at Andersonville, at Belle Isle, and in the old Libby warehouse at Richmond, Va. After the war was over he returned home but soon went to Illinois where he taught school for two years. Returning to Ft. Recovery, Ohio, [Mercer Co.] he purchased the drug and general store of Dr. D. Milligan and continued in that business for eleven years. In 1879 Mr. CRING moved to Portland, engaging in the furniture business, in which he remained until his retirement in 1903. After his retirement, Mr. CRING continued to make his home in Portland where he spent his last days, his death occurring on January 28, 1919. He and his wife were the parents of four children: George V. CRING, Ella, Fanna and Adda. Doctor CRING received excellent schooling for the profession to which lie early devoted himself. He was reared in Portland and after completing the course in the high school in 1901 took a commercial course at Indianapolis. This he supplemented by a pre-medical course at Earlham College [Richmond, Wayne Co.] from which he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Science. He then entered the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and after receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree from that institution he entered the medical school at Harvard University and was graduated there in June, 1910. In July following his graduation, Dr. CRING began an eighteen-months hospital service in the Boston City Hospital, one of the country's best hospitals, receiving there much valuable practical experience. At the end of that time, in February, 1912, he returned to Portland and opened a thoroughly equipped office and soon attained the large and choice practice which he merited. Since entering the practice of his profession. Doctor CRING has taken post-graduate work in 1915 and 1918 at the Harvard Post-Graduate School at Boston and in 1921 at the University of California Medical School of San Francisco, besides frequently attending clinics in various cities. During the time of America's participation in the World war, he was a first lieutenant in the Medical Corps of the United States Army. He served as county health commissioner of Jay county for four years, and has always been quite active in all matters pertaining to health and education. During his term as county health commissioner, Doctor CRING was able to aid materially m the establishment of a Visiting Nurse Association, medical school examination and child welfare activities. The Doctor is a member of the American Medical Association, the National Tuberculosis Association, the Indiana State Medical Society, the Tri-State Medical Society, the Muncie Academy of Medicine, and the Jay County Medical Society, He is also a member of the Phi Rho Sigma Medical fraternity. Doctor CRING is a Republican, a Knights Templar, a Thirty-second degree Mason and a Shriner. He is also affiliated with the local lodges of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias, at Portland. SOURCE: Milton T. Jay, M.D., History of Jay County Indiana, Historical Publishing Co., Indpls. 1922, Vol. II, pp.300-301. Transcribed by Eloine Chesnut

George F. CULL, one of the best known and most substantial farmers and landowners of Noble township, proprietor of an excellent place on rural mail route No. 3 out of Portland where he is living, besides other property interests, was born in that township and has lived there all his life. Mr. CULL was born on March 26, 1867, and is a son of Jacob and Magdalena ( ZIMMERMAN ) CULL, both of whom were born in Marion county, Ohio, where they were married. Jacob CULL was trained as a blacksmith in his youth and for some time followed that vocation. In 1866 he came to Indiana with his family and located in Noble township, this county, where he bought a farm of 130 acres and established his home. On that place he spent the remainder of his life, developing there an excellent piece of property. He and his wife had seven children, all of whom save two, Emma and Henry, are living, the others (besides the subject of this sketch), being Fred, John, Lucinda and Matilda. Reared on the home farm in Noble township, George F. CULL received his schooling in the Warnock school and remained at home, a valued assistant in the labors of developing the home place, until his marriage at the age of twenty-six years) when he began farming "on his own" as a renter. Five years later he bought a tract of 115 acres. In 1919 he bought the old CULL home place of 126 acres, but in 1921 sold thirty-six acres off this tract, leaving him now a total of about 200 acres, besides which he owns a dwelling house at Ft. Recovery, (Mercer County, Ohio) which he built in 1920, and other property interests. Mr. CULL's farm is well improved and his operations are carried on in up-to-date fashion. In addition to his general farming operations he gives considerable attention to the raising of live stock and is doing well. He is a Democrat and he and his wife are members of the Lutheran church at Salamonia. On September 28, 1893, George F. CULL was united in. marriage to Anna LEONHARD, of this county, and to this union five children have been born, all of whom are living save Howard G., who died at the age of two years and three months, the others being: Herman, John, Russell and Maurice, the two last named still being in school, Russell being a member of the junior high school, class of 1923. Herman CULL, a veteran of the World war, now farming in Noble township, married Inez THEURER and has one child, a son, Harold E. It was in September, 1918, that Herman CULL enlisted his services for the World war. He was sent to Ft. Benjamin Harrison, where he was honorably discharged in December of the same year, the war then being over. John CULL, who also is farming in Noble township, married Lura MITCHELL and has one child, a son, Robert. Mrs. Anna CULL was born in Noble township and received her schooling in the Davis school (district No. 5). She is a daughter of John P. and Christina (THEURER) LEONHARD, the latter of whom was born in Marion county, Ohio. John P. LEONHARD was born in Wittenberg, Germany, and was twelve years of age when he came to this country with his parents, the family proceeding on out into Indiana and locating in Jay county. John P. LEONHARD grew to manhood here and after his marriage began farming on a rented farm. Not long afterward, however, he bought a tract of sixty acres in Noble township and there established his home. As his affairs prospered he added to his land holdings until at the time of his death he was the owner of 348 acres and was accounted one of the substantial citizens of that part of the county. He and his wife were the parents of eleven children, those besides Mrs. CULL being Jacob, John, Christian, William, George, Henry, Mrs. Emma HALEY, Mrs. Elizabeth BOISLEY (deceased), Mrs. Harriet YOUNG (deceased) and Daniel (deceased).  SOURCE: Milton T. Jay, M.D., History of Jay County Indiana, Historical Publishing Co., Indpls. 1922, Vol. II, pp.266-267. Transcribed by Eloine Chesnut.

John W. CUNNINGHAM, dealer in musical instruments and one of the veteran merchants of Portland, is a native son of Jay county and has lived in this county all his life, a resident of Portland for the past fifty years. He was born on a farm in Noble township on July 21, 1847, and is a son of Isaac and Anna (WAGNER) CUNNINGHAM, who were among the real pioneers of that section of the county. Isaac CUNNINGHAM, who was a veteran of the Civil war, was born in Gallia county, Ohio, and was eight years of age when his father, Benjamin CUNNINGHAM, moved from there with his family to Ft. Recovery [Mercer Co. Ohio] That was in 1830. Three years later, in 1833, three years before Jay county was established as a separate civic unit, Benjamin CUNNINGHAM came with his family over into Indiana and settled on a tract of forty acres in what later came to be organized as Noble township, this county, where he put Up a log cabin, established his home and spent the remainder of his life. His son, Isaac CUNNINGHAM, traded a pony to a dissatisfied settler for a tract of forty acres in that township, put up a log cabin on the tract and established his home there, and it was in that log cabin that John W. CUNNINGHAM was born. During the progress of the Civil war Isaac CUNNINGHAM was called into service. Upon the completion of his military service he returned to the home farm and there spent the remainder of his life, developing and improving the place and increasing his land holdings to 120 acres. Isaac CUNNINGHAM and wife were the parents of five children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the third in order of birth, the others being Margaret Elizabeth, Mary Catherine, Rachel Ann and George W. Reared on the home farm in Noble township, John W. CUNNINGHAM received primary schooling in the pioneer schools of that district and was about sixteen years of age when his father was called into service during the Civil war period. He was the elder son and thus the management of the farm and much of the care of the family fell upon his shoulders during the time of his father's absence with the army. On his father's return he entered Ft. Recovery high school and on finishing the course there took a short course at old Liber College and then became engaged in teaching and for nine years was thus engaged, teaching during the winters and continuing farming on the home place during the summers, meantime also selling musical instruments locally. Many of the pupils who thus came under Mr. CUNNINGHAM's direction have become enrolled among the ranks of Jay county's able teachers and business men. During the progress of Mr. CUNNINGHAM's last school the school became the victim, as he states it, of a fight between two rival schoolbook publishing houses, each striving to have its respective books adopted for use in the schools of Jay county. Mr. CUNNINGHAM was partial to the Eclectic series, then used in his school, and which were to be replaced by the Harper Bros. series. Exchange of books had been made in most of the county's schools when Mr. CUNNINGHAM entered the fight in behalf of the Eclectic series, arguing their superiority, and became the agent for the publishers of these books. Supported by other friends of this series of text books he induced the school authorities to keep the Eclectics at an even exchange for the used books of that series and for the lately introduced Harper's, thus saving to three townships about $3.000 of exchange money besides, as he believes, giving the schools better books and at the same time creating the desired uniformity in text books. When he gave up teaching Mr. CUNNINGHAM located at Portland and has since been engaged there in the music trade. SOURCE: Milton T. Jay, M.D., History of Jay County Indiana, Historical Publishing Co., Indpls. 1922, Vol. II, pp.395-396. Transcribed by Eloine Chesnut

Perry CUPP, one of Jay county's best known and most substantial farmers and landowners, formerly and for years a member of the teaching staff of the public schools of this county, proprietor of an excellent farm in Pike township and for years devoted to the best interests of that township as well as of the county at large, was born on the place on which he is now living and has lived there practically all his life, the exception being a period of three or four years during the days of his young manhood when he was farming another place in that same neighborhood. Mr. CUPP was born on March 8, 1863, and is a son of Jacob H. and Eleanor (BOPE) CUPP, both natives of Ohio and the latter of whom is still living, now in her eighty-second year, making her home with her son Perry. Jacob H. CUPP was born in Perry county, Ohio, August 28, 1836, and was a son of David and Catherine CUPP, who had settled in that county upon moving over from Virginia. David CUPP, who was a native of Rockingham county, Virginia, was a saw-mill man, who after operating a mill for some years in Perry county moved to Fairfield county (Ohio), where he became engaged in milling and also became a farmer and landowner, and there spent the remainder of his life. Jacob H. CUPP was but a lad when he moved with his parents from Perry county to Fairfield county in the early '40s and in the schools of the latter county he completed his schooling, growing up well trained in the ways of the farm and the mill. On November 1, 1860, he was united in marriage to Eleanor BOPE, who was horn in Fairfield county on April 17, 1840, daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (BURY) BOPE, and immediately thereafter came with his bride over into Indiana and settled on a tract of eighty acres of uncleared land in Pike township, this county, which he had bought prior to his removal here. On that place he put up a log cabin which served as a place of residence until he was able to erect a more substantial and commodious dwelling and settled down to the task of clearing and improving the place, in time having a well improved farm. On that place he spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring there on July 11, 1895, he then being in his fifty-ninth year, and his widow is still living there. To them were born two children, the subject of this sketch having- had a sister, Clara A., born on September 6, 1861, who died on April 20, 1901. Reared on the place on which he was born, Perry CUPP received his elementary schooling in the Bluff Point school and grew up familiar with the details of farm life. He completed his schooling- by attending one term at the Portland high school and in the old Portland Normal School and began teaching in the schools of his home township, a vocation he continued during the winters for eight years, meanwhile continuing his work on the farm during the summers. Mr. CUPP married when twenty-seven years of age and then began farming on his own account on an "eighty" one mile north of Bluff Point. Three years later, upon the death of his father, he returned to the old home place and has since resided there, he and his wife and his mother being very comfortably situated. Mr. CUPP has been successful in his farming operations and is now the owner of a fine farm of 245 acres, besides which he continues to look after the operation, of his mother's "eighty." He has a well equipped farm plant and in addition to his general farming has long given considerable attention to the raising of live stock. He is a Republican and has ever taken a good citizen's interest in local civic affairs, as well as in all movements having to do with the elevation of the general standards of living hereabout, but has not been a seeker after public office. Perry CUPP has been thrice married. On December 31, 1891, he was united in marriage to Cora L. DARBY, who also was born in Pike township, a daughter of Silas H. and Laura L. (STRATTON) DARBY, and to this union one child was born, a son, Errol D., who died on August 7, 1894, at the age of one year, eight months and fourteen days. Just one month later, lacking a day, the mother of this infant died, she then being in her twenty-third year. On December 31, 1905, Mr. CUPP married Erma EVANS, who died on June 1, 1907, leaving an infant child, a son, Donald. On October 26, 1917, Mr. CUPP married Mary STRATTON, who was born in Texas. The CUPP's have a very pleasant home on rural mail route No. 12 out of Portland and their latch string is always out to their friends. SOURCE: Milton T. Jay, M.D., History of Jay County Indiana, Historical Publishing Co., Indpls. 1922, Vol. II, pp.398-399. Transcribed by Eloine Chesnut.

Benjamin F. CURRENT - No name is more familiar to the resident of Jay county, Indiana, than the name of CURRENT, families of prominence and influence having borne that name for years and been associated with all that was good and noble. They were known among the very earliest pioneers in this section of the state and have contributed their full quota to the progress which has been rapid and steady since the first white settler braved the anger of the red man and the ferocity of the wild beasts to carve for himself a home in this fertile country. Of all the large number who have been a credit to the name, none have been held in higher esteem or have led more honorable lives than the gentleman whose history it is our pleasure and privilege here to briefly portray, Benjamin F. CURRENT. Born October 12, 1831, near Grafton, Taylor county, West Virginia, he inherited the courtly manner and kindly hospitality for which the south is noted, and his home today is one of the most cheerful spots in all Jay county. His immediate ancestors were John and Mary ( NORRIS ) CURRENT, while those twice and thrice removed were both known as James. The great-grandfather, James CURRENT, was born in Ireland in 1730, and died in America August 15, 1822, near Grafton, West Virginia. He first came to Maryland and then to West Virginia, where he secured thirteen hundred acres of land, trading therefore a gray horse. He was the father of the following children: William, John, Martin,, Mollie, James and Enoch, most of whom lived and died in Virginia. His son James, the grandfather of our subject, was married in 1796, to Margaret JOHNSTON, who was born in a b1ock- house, in Pennsylvania, August 7, 1777. They came to Iudiana in 1835 or 1836, settling in Henry county, where their children had already made homes, and where they both passed away; reaching advanced ages. He died February 2, 1845, and she January 23, 1875. Their children were as follows:Peter, Nellie, John, Susanna, Mary, James, Abraham, William P., George W. and Nancy. George, William, John and Nancy lived in Jay county, and in 1839 first settled here. Peter came later, and afterwards went to Nebraska where he died. His daughter, Rachel, is the wife of Ila T. LAKE, of Redkey, and his son Samuel is the father of William CURRENT, who lives south of Red-key. Oscar, another son, resides in Redkey. George W. died at the age of sixty-two years, leaving a son, John W., and two daughters in Randolph county. William P CURRENT is now in his eighty-sixth year and resides at Wadena, Minnesota. He has two daughters living here, Nancy, wife of Daniel Bird, and Mary, wife of Thomas Dragoo and mother of Del Dragoo, of Redkey. Nancy KEENER is now nearly eighty years of age and lives in Kansas. John CURRENT was born April 25, 1802, on the old homestead near Grafton, West Virginia, and died July 24, 1881. He was married February 19, 1829, in the Old Dominion, to Miss Mary NORRIS, who was born December 24, 1803, and died January 9, 1875. Five years after marriage, in 1834, they came to Henry county, Indiana, and six years later, in 1840, they came to Jay county and settled on the farm where Jacob DAUGHERTY now lives, his wife being a daughter of John CURRENT. On this farm they spent the remainder of their lives. Nine children were korn to them, as follows: Harriet Jane, who married John BOOTS and resides in Randolph county at the age of seventy-one years; Benjamin F., our subject; Henry O., who resides one mile north of Redkey; William M., who resides in Dunkirk; Susan M., wife of Jacob DAUGHERTY; David, who resides in Redkey; Rebecca E., who married George JACKSON and died in early life, leaving two children; Mary E., wife of Abraham SUTTON, of Knox township; and James K., also a resident of Portland. The CURRENT family held their first re-union on October 12, 1895, the birth-day of Benjamin F., on the old homestead in Richland township There were about two hundred members of the family present, among them William P. CURRENT, of Wadena, Minnesota. This proved to be such a success in every way and was attended with so much pleasure that it was voted to hold these re-unions annually, and Benjamin F. CURRENT was made the president of the meetmg. The other meetings have been held on the old James CURRENT homestead in Henry county, and on the Jacob DAUGHERTY farm, in Jay county. Benjamin F. CURRENT was but nine years old when his parents came to Jay county, and here his boyhood was passed in assisting, his father to clear up the farm. He remained at home until April 3, 1853, when he was united in marriage with Miss Luesa CLORE, a sister of' George and John CLORE of Blackford county, Indiana, and daughter of Charles W. and Frances ( SNYDER ) CLORE. She was born in Madison county, Virginia, December 4, 1830, and was about nineteen years of age when she came to this state, locating near Redkey. After Mr. CURRENT's marriage he first settled in Jay county, and in 1862 moved on a farm in Jackson township, Blackford county, which he improved, and on which he resided until 1864, when, he purchased and settled on the farm on which he now resides. He enlisted October 10, 1864, in the Twenty-third Indiana Regiment, joining his regiment in the spring of 1865. The regiment went with Sherman, but Mr. CURRENT was sent to Dalton, Georgia, to do guard duty and was later sent back by way of Nashville, to Moorehead City, North Carolina, and marched to Kingston, where they took part in the battle. The battalion in which he marched also included the Twenty-fifth Massachusetts, and after joining his regiment at Goldsboro, North Carolina, they remained there until the surrender of Johnston, when they marched to Washington and took part in the grand review, being discharged July 29, 1865, at Louisville. Mr. CURRENT has lived on his present farm since 1864 and has brought it from a meager start to its present splendid condition; He did not have much of a start for a farm when he began here. The house was of logs and the ground was covered with timber. He has cut off the timber, tiled the land and carried on general farming, plantmg three acres of fruit, which yields him the choicest variety of delicious fruit of all description. His buildings are all good and a credit to the community. He is a Republican and has held minor offices and attended the conventions of the party. He is a member of the Primitive Baptist church, worshipping at the old Mississinewa church in Delaware county, and is deacon and church clerk, taking an active part in all church work. Of the children born to them but five are living. They are as follows: John W., of Portland trustee of Green township; William Sanford, who died in infancy; Isaac Henry, of Redkey; Albert F., a mechanic of Redkey; Laura Ann, who died at the age of fifteen; Mary F., at home; Esther M., at home; and nine grandchildren who are living at this time. SOURCE: Milton T. Jay, M.D., History of Jay County Indiana, Historical Publishing Co., Indpls. 1922, Vol. II, pp.--. Transcribed by Eloine Chesnut.

George D. CURRENT, local representative throughout eastern Indiana for the DeLaval Separator Company oi Chicago and a substantial farmer and landowner of Richland township, this county, is a native son of Jay county, a member of one of the pioneer families here, and has resided here all his life. Mr. CURRENT was born on a farm in the Halfway neighborhood m Richland township on January 7, 1883, and is a son of William and Emmaline (BELL) CURRENT) the latter of whom also was born in this county. William CURRENT was but a small boy when he came to Jay county with his parents, the family moving up here from Henry county, this state, and he grew to manhood here and was married. He followed farming successfully and when the gas and oil field was opened here became also a quite successful contractor in that field, one of .the best known figures in the gas and oil development in this section. He became the owner of 300 acres of land and was accounted one of the substantial citizens of the community in which he lived. William CURRENT died on February 7, 1914. He and his wife were the parents of six children, all of whom are living, those besides the subject of this sketch being Jessie F, J. Russell, Watson C., Agnes A. and Cora B. Reared on the home farm in Richland township, George D. CURRENT received his early schooling in the Halfway school house and supplemented this by two years in the Redkey high school. He early became associated with his father in the work in the oil field and was for ten years thus engaged becoming thoroughly acquainted with all phases of oil development hereabout. With the gradual subsidence of oil activities In this section Mr. CURRENT turned his attention to other matters and was for three years engaged as a salesman in the store of the Fulton Hardware Company at Portland. During this time he did much to promote the sales of the DeLaval cream separator throughout this section and presently accepted a position as traveling salesman and eastern Indiana representative of the DeLaval Separator Company of Chicago, calling on the hardware dealers throughout this section of the state, and has since been thus engaged, though continuing to make his home on his well kept place in Richland township, he having inherited eighty acres of his father's estate in that township, and rents his fields, his chief attention being devoted to his commercial interests. On September 17, 1905, George D. CURRENT was united in marriage to Vida M. SHEPHERD, of this county, and to this union two children have been born, Eugene S., who is now attending Halfway school, and Marjorie, who died at the age of two years. Mr. and Mrs. CURRENT are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Redkey and are Republicans. Mr. CURRENT is a member of Redkey Lodge No. 383, Knights of Pythias. Mrs. CURRENT was born at Union City, Ohio, but was reared in Jay county, where she received her schooling, her parents, Levi D. and Emmaretta ( ISENHART ) SHEPHERD, having returned to this county, where both were born, when she was but a child. Levi D. SHEPHERD was a stationary engineer and was one of the best known men in this county. He and his wife were the parents of three daughters, all living, Mrs. CURRENT having two sisters, Desha and Ophe SOURCE: Milton T. Jay, M.D., History of Jay County Indiana, Historical Publishing Co., Indpls. 1922, Vol. II, pp.260-281. Transcribed by Eloine Chesnut.

Russell CURRENT, one of the best known farmers of Richland township, residing on his well kept place just on the outskirts of Redkey, is a native son of Jay county and has lived here all his life. Mr. CURRENT was born on a farm in Richland township on September 13, 1879, and is a son of William and Emmaline ( BELL ) CURRENT, both members of pioneer families here. William CURRENT also was born in Richland township and there he spent all his life, becoming one of the substantial and influential farmers of that section. He completed his schooling in old Liber College and after his marriage established his home on a farm in Richland township in the immediate vicinity of the place of his birth, and in time became the owner of an excellent farm of 270 acres. He and his wife were the parents of six children, those besides the subject of this sketch being Jesse F., George, Watson, Agnes and Cora. Reared on the home farm in Richland township, Russell CURRENT received his schooling in the excellent schools of that neighborhood and since the days of his boyhood has devoted himself to farming and the raising of live stock, in which vocation he has done well. He continued farming on the old home place until in 1900, when he took charge of a 120-acre farm owned by his mother on the outskirts of Redkey. Two years later he married and established his home there and has ever since made that his place of residence. Since taking over this farm Mr. CURRENT has made many substantial and modern improvements on the place and his farm plant is recognized as one of the best in the neighborhood. It was in 1902 that Russell CURRENT was united in marriage to Etha ANDREWS, who was born in Wayne county, this state and to this union four children have been born, Clyde, Mary, Willard and Mildred. Mr. and Mrs. CURRENT are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and are Republicans. Mr. CURRENT is a member of the local lodge of the Woodmen at Redkey. SOURCE: Milton T. Jay, M.D., History of Jay County Indiana, Historical Publishing Co., Indpls. 1922, Vol. II, pp.184-185. Transcribed by Eloine Chesnut

Watson C. CURRENT, one of Richland township's well known agriculturists and stockmen and widely recognized as one of the leading breeders of pure bred Duroc hogs in this section, is a native son of Jay county and has lived here all his life. Mr. CURRENT was born on a farm in Richland township on September 13, 1884, and is a son of William and Emaline ( BELL ) CURRENT, the latter of whom is still living. The late William CURRENT, who died at his home in Richland township in 1914, was born in Henry county, this state, and came to Jay county with his parents in the days of his childhood. He became a successful farmer here, the owner of 300 acres of land, and also for years was one of the leading figures in the work of developing the local oil and gas field. He and his wife were the parents of six children, all of whom are living, those besides the subject of this sketch being Jessie F., J. Russell, George D., Agnes A. and Cora B. Reared on the home farm in Richland township, Watson C. CURRENT received his schooling in the Halfway school house and remained at home assisting in the labors of the farm until his marriage at the age of twenty-three years, when he went to Portland and became engaged as a salesman in the store of the Fulton Hardware Company. Three years later he moved to Redkey and for six months thereafter was engaged as a clerk in the hardware store of the Williamson Bros. He then passed the civil service examination for railway mail clerks and was engaged as a railway mail clerk for two years, at the end of which time he returned to the home farm and resumed farming, for seven years thereafter taking care of 160 acres of the place. At present Mr. CURRENT is farming eighty acres which he bought in January, 1922, and is devoting his attention largely to his live stock interests, with particular attention to the breeding of pure bred Duroc hogs for breeding purposes, and clears out from 150 to 160 head a year, his sales attracting much attention among discriminating stockmen throughout this section of the state and over in Ohio. Mr. CURRENT conducts a public sale of his stock each fall. It was on October 23, 1907, that Watson C. CURRENT was united in marriage to Bessie M. WISE, who was born in the neighboring county of Randolph, daughter of George and Carrie ( MAY ) WISE, and to this union three children have been born, Lucene W., who is now attending Halfway school, William G. and Carolyn Louise. Mr. and Mrs. CURRENT are members of the First Methodist Episcopal church of Redkey and Mr. CURRENT has been a member of the board of stewards of the same for the past six years or more. SOURCE: Milton T. Jay, M.D., History of Jay County Indiana, Historical Publishing Co., Indpls. 1922, Vol. II, pp.247-248. Transcribed by Eloine Chesnut

William N. CURRENT, former trustee of Richland township and one of the oldest and best known landowners and former farmers of Jay county, now living retired at Portland, is a native Hoosier and has lived in Indiana all his life, a resident of Jay county since he was six years of age. Mr. CURRENT was born on a farm in Henry county on September 25, 1835, and is a, son of John and Mary ( NORRIS ) CURRENT, Virginians, both of whom were born in that part of the Old Dominion now comprised within the state of West Virginia and whose last days were spent in Jay county, of which county they were pioneers. John CURRENT and his wife came to Indiana in 1834 and settled in Henry county, where they made their home until 1840, in which year they disposed of their holdings there and moved up into Jay county and settled on a quarter section of land which Mr. CURRENT had bought in Richland township, three miles south of Redkey. On that place they spent the remainder of their lives. Mrs. Mary CURRENT died in 1867 and Mr. CURRENT survived her until 1881. They were the parents of nine children, of whom but two now survive, William N. CURRENT having a brother, James K. CURRENT. As noted above, William N. CURRENT was but six years of age when he came to this county with his parents in 1840 and he thus grew up pretty well acquainted with pioneering conditions in Richland township. He completed his schooling in the old Halfway school boose, supplementing the same by a finishing course in the old Farmers Academy, and in 1855, he then being twenty years of age, began teaching school in this county, a vocation he followed during the winters for fifteen years, or until 1870, farming during the summers and also operating a sawmillùfor those were the days when timber was king hereabout and sawmilling was a live industry. In the meantime, when twenty-one years of age, Mr. CURRENT had married and he presently bought a farm of 152 acres in Knox township and on that farm established his home, gradually developing there an admirable farm plant. There Mr. CURRENT continued to make his home until his retirement from the farm in 1895 and removal to Portland. Presently he moved from there to Dunkirk and thence to Redkey, where he remained until 1915, when he returned to Portland, where he has since resided and where he is very comfortably situated. He is a Republican and has ever given his thoughtful attention to local civic affairs. For one term during the time of his residence on the farm he served as trustee of Richland township. He has for many years been interested in Masonic affairs and is the last survivor of the charter membership of Halfway Lodge No. 298, Free and Accepted Masons, at Redkey, of which lodge he was the first worshipful master. Mr. CURRENT has been twice married. On July 2, 1857, he was united in marriage to Calista EVANS, who was born in Delaware county, this state, but who was reared and educated in Jay county, a daughter of Evan and Rhoda ( ALLEGRE ) EVANS, former well known residents of this county, and to this union were born five children, Henrietta, Arthur C. Francis, Alva L. and Laverna, all of whom are living, all save Francis and Alva L. making their home at Portland. Miss Henrietta CURRENT has for years been a member of the excellent teaching staff of the Portland city schools, teaching in the Garfield school, and has ever given her thoughtful attention to the community's cultural activities. Francis CURRENT, who is a well-to-do farmer in this county, married Mary HARTMAN and has three children, Harold R. a mechanic living at Dunkirk, who married Opal BARR and has two children, Francis and Philip; Edith, who married Wayne HOLDCRAFT, a farmer of this county, and has one child, a son, Francis M.; and Dorothy. Alva L. CURRENT, who has from the days of his youth been following mechanical pursuits and is now living at Decatur, III., married Allie CREWS and has four children, Cecil, who married Eva ROGERS and is living at Decatur, Ill., Francis A., an electrician, now living in New York city, who married Madaline LANG and has one child, a son, Francis R.; and Alva J. and Grace. Mrs. Calista Evans CURRENT died on September 9, 1881, and is buried in Crest Hill cemetery at Redkey. In 1883 William N. CURRENT married Sarah HOWARD, who was born in Ohio and who died at her home in Pennville on February 29, 1915. SOURCE: Milton T. Jay, M.D., History of Jay County Indiana, Historical Publishing Co., Indpls. 1922, Vol. II, pp.110-111. Transcribed by Eloine Chesnut.