Clinton County Biographies
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BAILEY, Grover Cleveland
     Although yet a young man, Grover Cleveland Bailey, owner of Maple Heights farm, in Perry township, Clinton county, has proven himself to be capable of successfully carrying on a general farming and stock raising business with the best of his fellow tillers of the soil in this locality, for, in the first place he is a persistent worker, is always doing something and in the second place he is a thinking man, laying his plans well, carefully considering every phase of his business.  His methods of farming and his strong nature would give promise of large success in the future in his chosen vocation.
     Mr. Bailey is a descendant of one of our highly honored pioneer families and he was born on the old homestead in Perry township on November 10, 1884, the son of Silas BAILEY and wife.  Here he grew to manhood and was taught the valuable lesson of general farming that has stood him so well in hand after he took up the serious problem of life for himself.  He received a good common school education in the schools of his neighborhood.  On December 13, 1905, he married Nola Belle KEYES, also a representative of one of our excellent old families, she being a daughter of Stephen KEYES and wife.
     To our subject and wife four children were born, namely: Dorothy Lucile, Mary Elizabeth, Grace Louise and Mildred Druzilla.  Mary Elizabeth died at the age of five months and eighteen days.  Mr. Bailey's farm of fifty-five acres, although small, is one of the best and most productive in the country, and it is always in ship shape and produces a very comfortable annual income.  He has a modern eight-roomed house, well furnished and standing by a maple grove.  His wife is a member of the Methodist Protestant church.  Both our subject and wife are highly respected by all who know them and have a host of friends thought the county.
     Silas Bailey, mentioned above, is one of our well-to-do farmers and public spirited citizens and an honored veteran of the great Civil war.  He was born in Ross county, Ohio, March 10, 1838, was a son of William BAILEY, a native of Virgina, in which state the Baileys have resided since the old Colonial days.  The family is of Scotch-Irish descent.  This family has proven themselves to be stanch American citizens and have always been ready to fight in our wars and uphold the law.  Silas Bailey enlisted in the Eighty-sixth Indiana Volunteer Infantry in 1862 and served for three years in a faithful and praiseworthy manner, taking part in a number of important campaigns and hard-fought battles and skirmishes,  never showing the white feather in any of them.  He served under General Rosecrans, fighting under that great commander at Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge and others; also served for a time under General Sherman in the Atlanta Campaign, and was in the memorable march to the sea.
     Silas Bailey married in 1858 Elizabeth DEFORD, who was born in Indiana and who died at the old Bailey homestead in this county, November 19, 1912.  To this union were born eleven children, of which only five are living: Sarah, Ollie, Effie, Pearl and Grover.
     Silas Bailey is the owner of two hundred and seventy-two acres of productive, well improved and desirable land in Clinton county, and has for many years carried on most successfully general farming and stock raising on a large scale.  He has an attractive home, large, good barns.
     The Baileys are loyal Democrats in their political affiliations.  pp. 797-798   Source II   Transcribed by Tonya

BAILEY, Nun
     It is with a degree of satisfaction that the biographer has an opportunity at this juncture to write the following biographical memoir of the pioneer farmer and well known citizen whose name appears above, who has been for many decades active in the affairs of Clinton county.  The readers of this book, especially the younger generation, will doubtless gain inspiration from perusing these paragraphs to lead more industrious, kindlier and worthier lives, seeing what the life of Mr. Bailey has accomplished, not only individually, but for the locality as well, affecting all with whom he has come into contact in an uplifting manner.  He came with his parents to this section of the state in pioneer times and he assisted in bringing about the transformation of the locality in the wild condition in which it was found at the time of his arrival to its later day progress and improvement.
     Nun Bailey, who has spent the major portion of his life in Perry township, he being now seventy-six years of age, was born on the old Bailey homestead in West Virginia in 1837.  He is a son of Silas Bailey, and a grandson of Thomas BAILEY, a soldier in the war of 1812, in which war, William Bailey, a son of the latter, also fought.  Thomas Bailey was a son of Jonathan Bailey, a horse trader and dealer in old Virginia in the Colonial period and he bought and sold horses for the soldiers in the Revolutionary war.  He was of Scotch-Irish ancestry.  He got hold of a good deal of continental money, but by reason of its depreciation he lost most of his fortune.  However, the government later redeemed this scrip or continental money.
     Silas Bailey married Sarah TROTTER, a native of West Virginia and a daughter of William TROTTER, also a native of that state.  Silas Bailey and family removed to Ross county, Ohio, in 1838, thence to Tippecanoe county, Indiana, in 1839, and soon thereafter came on to Clinton county where they established their permanent home in Jackson township.  Seven children were born to Silas Bailey and wife: Melinda, Jane, Nun (subject), William Thomas, a soldier in the Civil war; Dorothy, Barbara, M. Jehu and Henry E.
     William Trotter, maternal grandfather of our subject, was a soldier in the war of 1812.  Silas Bailey, mentioned above, started for the California gold fields, intending to go by water, in 1852, but died of cholera at Cleveland, O., and there he was buried.  He left a widow and six children.  The mother died at the age of sixty-three.  The father of our subject was an exceptionally large man physically, being six feet and six inches in height.  Our subject had an uncle Trotter who was over six feet and seven inches tall.  He comes of a sturdy race on both sides of the house
     Nun Bailey was reared on the home farm where he found plenty of hard work to do when a boy.  He received a meager education in a log cabin school of the primitive type, the cabin being furnished with slab seats, sod floor, greased paper for window panes, and a large stove in one end.  He was married on April 1, 1869 to Matilda ELY, who was born in Montgomery county, Indiana, and there reared to womanhood, receiving a good common school education.  She was a daughter of John ELY and wife, both natives of Ohio, from which state they came to Indiana in an early day and established the family home in Montgomery county where they spent the rest of their lives on a farm.
     Mr. Bailey is owner of a valuable farm of one hundred and fifty-three acres which he has kept well improved and well cultivated, and which has retained its original fertility under his skillful management.  He carries on general and mixed farming and stock raising.  He has a comfortable home and such outbuildings and improved farming implements as his needs require.  He family consists of five children: Laura, now living in this county; Guy, living in North Dakota; Jonah B., owns a good seventy acre farm in Perry township; Jesse C., lives in Colfax, and Bertha, married to Floyd FREDERICK.  The death of the mother of the above named children occurred on March 30, 1999.  She was a good Christian woman, kind and neighborly and raised her children well, proving to be a faithful helpmeet to her husband during their married career of forty years.  She was optimistic, always seeing the silver lining in the dark clouds that overcast life's skies for everyone.  She was a worthy member of the Christian church, to which Mr. Bailey also belongs.  He is a staunch advocate of the church and school work and has encouraged both all his life.  He has always been noted for his kindness, steady habits and spirit of helpfulness.  His home is known far and near as a place of old-time hospitality.  pp. 461-462   Source II  
Transcribed by Tonya

BAILEY, Tighlman,
TIGHLMAN BAILEY --- Prominent among the well known citizens of Clinton county is Tighlman Bailey, who was born in Ross county, Ohio, on the fourth day of June, 1828.  He is descended from Scotch-Irish ancestry on the father's side and maternally is of German lineage.  From the best information obtainable, it appears that the family settled originally in Virginia before the war of the Revolution and in that state the subject's paternal great-grandfather became a planter of large means.  Thomas Bailey, grandfather of the subject, was born in Morgan county, Va., where he lived and died, and where, like his ancestors before him, he became a wealthy planter. He married in his native state Rebecca WILLIAMSON, and had a family of eight children, namely: William, Elizabeth, Bazel, Mary, Nancy, Samuel, Hannah, and Silas.  He was a patriot in the war of 1812, enlisting at the age of eighteen, and was present at the bombardment of Fort McHenry near Baltimore. William Bailey, father of the subject, was born August 8, 1795,   In Morgan county, Va., and there married Drusilla BOHRER, daughter of Adam and Barbara BOHRER, both parents of German descent, the father having been born upon the ocean.  William Bailey was by occupation a miller.  He lived in his native state until 1829, at which time he emigrated to Ross county.  Ohio, where he followed agricultural pursuits until his removal to Clinton county, Ind., about the year 1839.  On coming to Clinton county Mr. Bailey settled in Perry township, where he purchased eighty acres of land, to which he made   additions from time to time until he became the possessor of over 380 acres.  He died April 13, 1864; Mrs. Bailey departed this life in the month of January, 1859.  The following are the names of their children -- Belle Jane, F. P., Samuel, Tighlman, Caroline, Sarah, Rose and Silas.
    Tighlman Bailey accompanied his parents to Clinton county, Ind., when eleven years of age, and easily recalls many incidents of the journey, which was made to the new country in the middle of a bitterly cold winter.  The father preceded the family and prepared, for their reception, a small log cabin, in size about sixteen by eighteen feet.  In this primitive dwelling, surrounded by deep forests, in which numerous wild animals found shelter, life in the backwoods commenced in earnest.  The early life of Mr. Bailey was one of unceasing activity and he found much to do in assisting his father in clearing the farm, in consequence of which his educational advantages were somewhat limited.  On the fifteenth of June, 1856, he was united in marriage with Clara ELY, daughter of John and Hager (SHOBE) ELY.  Mrs. Bailey's parents came to Indiana from Fayette county, Ohio, in 1837, and the father was for a number of years a teacher in the schools of Montgomery county.  He was a man of fine intelltctual (sic) attainments, served as justice of the peace and in other official positions, and is remembered as a very earnest member of the Methodist church.  He died March, I845, and his wife was laid to rest on the fifth day of December, 1847.  The ELYs came originally from England and the SHOBE family is of German extraction.  After his marriage, Mr. Bailey began the pursuit of agriculture on a farm of 100 acres in Perry township, and, later, he added to his original place until he now owns 150 acres, and is recognized as one of the most successful farmers in the community where he resides.  In 1867 he identified himself with the Methodist Protestant church, and in 1870 he yielded to a desire of long standing and entered the ministry, in the active work of which he has been successfully engaged ever since, For a period of ten years he had regular charges, including four different circuits, and through his instrumentality over six hundred persons were converted and added to the church.
     Mr. Bailey has a military record of which he feels deservedly proud, and few soldiers had a more thrilling experience than he in fighting for their country during the late rebellion.  On the fourteenth of August, 1862, he enlisted in company I, Eighty-sixth Indiana infantry, and saw his first active service in Kentucky while under the command of Gen.  Buell.  He participated in the bloody battles of Perryville and Stone River, in the latter of which he was captured by the enemy and sent to the famous Libby prison at Richmond.  After an incarceration of about one month he was exchanged, and, rejoining his command in Tennessee, took part in the battle of Chickamauga, where he narrowly escaped death a number of times on that hotly contested field.  He was in the battle of Missionary Ridge and all the leading battles of the Atlanta campaign, where for a number of weeks his command was constantly exposed to the fire of the enemy.  He had many narrow escapes at Buzzard's Roost and Kenesaw Mountain and other engagements.  On account of sickness brought on by, exposure, he was compelled to leave the ranks, and at intervals was treated in the hospitals at Marietta, Chattanooga, Nashville and JeffersonviIle.  After spending a short time at home on furlough, Mr. Bailey rejoined his regiment at Pulaski, Tenn., in season to take part in a number of battles, including Jonesboro, Franklin and Nashville, in the latter of which he was for two davs engaged in the hottest part of the fight.  In the spring of 1865 he accompanied his command to Richmond to aid  Grant, but at Jonesboro was ordered back and then returned to Nashville a short time thereafter, where, on the twelfth day of June of the same year, he was honorably discharged from the service.  It will thus be seen that Mr. Bailey's military experience was in every way an honorable one, and, during his period of three years service he never shrank from nor hesitated to perform any duty, however dangerous. In civil life Mr. Bailey has a record which entitles him to the confidence and esteem of his fellow-citizens, and against his character as an upright and courteous Christian gentleman no breath of suspicion has ever been uttered.  Politically he is a prohibitionist. pp. 571 - 572 Source I
Transcribed by Connie

BAILOR, Samuel M.
     The life of Samuel M. Bailor, one of the venerable native born citizens of Madison township, Clinton county, has been such as to preserve the high standard maintained by his father, who was one of the early settlers of this section of the Hoosier state.  The lives of both these men have been signally noble, upright and useful, with no shadow of wrong in word, thought or deed.  Such was the type of men who laid the foundation and aided in the development of this state, and to them will ever be paid a tribute of reverence and gratitude by those who have profited by their well-directed endeavors and appreciated the lessons of their lives.
     Samuel M. Bailor was born in Madison township, Clinton county, Ind., June 7, 1838.  He is a son of Jacob and Elizabeth (BRAND) BAILOR.  The former was born in Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, December 31, 1805, and there he resided until 1829, when he removed with his parents to Butler county, O., where he was married October 27, 1835.  In 1837 he brought his wife to Clinton county, locating in Ross township, where he purchased a farm, twenty acres of which had been partly improved, the larger trees being left.  On the place there was a small log cabin which the family occupied until 1842.  He had purchased one hundred and sixty acres before he moved here, which by hard work was developed into a good farm.  In 1833 Jacob Bailor and six other men visited this county on horseback and entered eighty acres of land six miles north of Frankfort.  Here he prospered through close application and good management and accumulated a large and valuable estate, leaving each of his children eighty acres, and he also left two hundred acres in Tippecanoe county for the benefit of his grandchildren.  His death occurred February 1, 1884.  His wife was born in Pennsylvania in 1809, June 18, and moved to Maryland, near Hagerstown, with her parents when a small child, and a few years later they came on to Butler county, O.  Her death occurred August 23, 1877.  The Bailors and Brands are of German origin.  The Bailors came to America, some of them prior to the Revolutionary war, others during the struggle.  Three of them were Hessian soldiers and fought for the British, but afterwards where taken prisoners and finally enlisted for service in the American army, in which they served until the close of the war. 
     Samuel M. Bailor was married January 8, 1865 to Sarah A. MCCOY, whose mother died when she was three years old.  Her father was born in the state of Maine, March 23, 1814, and from there he moved with his parents to Miami county, O., when he was about seven years old.  He settled on a farm in the woods, and there he grew to manhood and continued to live there several years after his marriage.  He then moved to Howard county, this state, where the death of the mother occurred.  A few years later the father married a widow, whose maiden name was Rachael HENDERSON.  She had first married John MCCAIN, who died a few years after their marriage.  Mrs. Sarah A. BAILOR was born in Miami county, Ohio, June 6, 1844.
     Ten children were born to Samuel M. Bailor and wife: Mary Elizabeth, still at home; Samuel M., Jr., lives in Lake county, Michigan, married to Anna PETER, has seven children; Sarah Ellen, wife of Aaron ERDEL, of Washington township, this county, has three children; Jacob C., (deceased), married to Rosa LAPEALLE, she and a child living in Crawfordsville; Lydia Ann, wife of John T. BUCK, of Madison township, has five children; Rev. George W., a Methodist minister, pastor of a church as Forest, Ind. Married to Fanny MINK, has two children; Albert P., single living at home; Alma A., was a successful teacher and trained nurse, now the wife of Wood UNGER, of Sedalia; Charles O., who also taught successfully for some time, now at home, married to May RUTAN; Wilbur GRANT, living in North Dakota, married Eva EMMERT, has three children.  Albert P. and Charles O., who are on the home place, operate a large dairy, keeping twenty cows of Holstein breed, and they have forty head of graded Holstein cattle on the farm, which is regarded as one of the best dairy farms in Clinton county.  The Bailor residence, which is a large brick, is one of the most attractive and substantial rural homes in the township; the farm is well improved in every way and is as productive as it ever was, having been very carefully cultivated.  It has a large bank barn and many good outbuildings, everything denoting prosperity and good management.  Our subject and wife have been married forty-nine years, and have been mutually happy and helpful.  The family belongs to the Methodist church at Mulberry, in which our subject has served as trustee.  Politically he is a Republican and was at one time candidate for county commissioner.  He has always taken much interest in local public affairs and has done much to promote the general good of the county.  pp. 869-871   Source II  
Transcribed by Tonya

BAKER, Abner       
ABNER BAKER, retired farmer of section 12, Washington township, Clinton county, Ind., was born in Wayne township, Butler county, Ohio April 14, 1808. His father, Thomas Baker, was born October 18, 1763, his mother, Lydia (HAND) BAKER, was born December 23, 1761, and they were married January 6, 1784. They had ten children, four girls and six boys, viz; Sarah, William, Rachel, Stephen, Thomas, Anna, James, John, Lucy and Abner-the last named being the only survivor. The parents were married near Trenton, N. J; and when Washington fought the battle of Trenton the cannon were distinctly heard by Mrs. Baker. After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Baker moved to Redstone, Pa., where they lived two or three years, then started for Butler county, Ohio, on the Big Miami river; but hearing of serious trouble with the Indians, they stopped one year on the Hockhocking river below Wheeling; then went through to Cincinnati. In the year 1800 they went to Monroe, Butler county, Ohio. After that, and to the present time, it has been called Baker's Hill. The mother died in Preble county, Ohio, January 6, 1843, the father having died a few months previous, in the same county. Thomas was a family name. The great-grandfather's name was Thomas, and several of his descendants were so named. Abner Baker has in his possession a letter written by his great-uncle, Nathan Baker, to his great-grandfather, Thomas Baker, who died of smallpox in New Jersey.
      Thomas, the great-grandfather, born in 1707, was married in 1736, to Hannah THOMPSON, and settled on the Rahway river, in Essex county, N. J., then moved to the Passaic valley, bought a farm of forty acres of John BLANCHARD, of Elizabethtown, in March, 1738, and in 1761 bought of William MAXWELL ninety-nine acres; he also bought a small tract of land from Joseph ROLPH. He died of smallpox in 1767. William Baker, second son of above and grandfather of Abner Baker, was born in 1739 and died July 4, 1787. In 1762 he married Rachael VALENTINE, who was born in 1742 and died in April, 1790; she had a twin sister, who died June 26, 1768. William and Rachael were parents of six children: Thomas, Abner, Nathan, John, Hannah, and Sarah,
      Abner Baker, the subject of this sketch, passed his early life upon his father's farm. When thirteen years of age he met with an accident that materially changed his life work. While seeking shelter from a storm he made an unfortunate jump, which so crippled him that he did not recover for several years, and for one year could not talk. At the age of sixteen he commenced clerking for one David Holloway. at Richmond. He remained with him one year, then entered the employ of Jonathan Martin, at Middletown, Ohio, with whom he remained a year. and so faithfully did he perform his duties that when Mr. Martin learned that Abner wished to embark in the mercantile business on his own account he offered to purchase his goods for him, advance the money without security or interest, and wait six months for his pay. This scheme was faithfully carried out, and in March, 1828, Abner loaded two wagons with merchandise and started for Lafayette, Ind., accompanied by two brothers, James and John, and a brother-in-law, John CORNTHWAIT, the brothers driving a four-horse team, and Mr. Cornthwait a three-horse team. After two days' drive the goods were loaded on a boat, and the brothers and brother-in-law returned home. Mr. Baker pursued his way, stopping to trade at every Indian village. At night they would tie up the boat and sleep on the banks of the river. One night Mr. Baker and Capt. Wright made their bed together of coverlids that Mr. Baker had carried from home. Mr. Baker arose at daylight, and turning around espied a large timber rattlesnake lying between Capt. Wright and the spot from which he had just risen. He shouted to the captain, informing him of his dangerous bedfellow, whereupon the captain gave a sudden bound, and thus escaped from his deadly foe. Mr. Baker killed the reptile and preserved the ten rattles for several years. It was Mr. Baker's plan to go directly to Lafayette, having visited that point a year previous; but when he reached Logansport he was persuaded by Gen. Tipton to unload his goods at that point and open his store. He was the first person that sold goods there. Gen. Tipton and his interpreter were the only settlers. After being there a few days he inquired of the interpreter what his board-bill would be, and upon being informed that it would be fourteen dollars per week, he shipped his goods to Lafayette by the first boat. He rented a store from William DIGBY, paying four dollars a month, and boarded with Col. Johnson for one dollar and seventy-five cents per week. Here he remained during the summer. In September he was taken very ill with fever, and as soon as he was sufficiently recovered he returned home to recruit his health. His brother William packed up his goods and kept them until his return.
      In February, 1829, he went to Cincinnati and purchased a bill of goods, taking them himself to Lafayette. During his journey he camped out for sleep and was surrounded by wolves every night. The first summer he was in Lafayette he purchased 132 feet frontage on Main street, and built a one-story frame house upon it. It was the first painted house in Lafayette. Into this house he put his new goods and his old. About the time he was fairly settled in his new store, John ROSS went to see him and induced him to come to the new town of Jefferson. He at once purchased two lots of David KILGORE for $5 each, the choicest lots in the plat, one being a corner lot and the other adjoining. He bought a third lot of Samuel OLINGER for $25, which was not as desirable as either one of the others. He had a house built, for which he paid $10, exclusive of the door, which Mr. Baker was to furnish himself. For two or three months he had no door except a Blanket which his mother had given him before he left home. He wishes to say for the Indians that he lived in this chinked, undaubed log house, 16x20, with his blanketed door, all summer without losing any of his goods or being robbed of his money. They would not enter after dark without being bidden to do so. They encamped within ten rods of his store, armed with guns many nights, but he was never insulted or annoyed by them. Mr. Baker did a very profitable business until Gen. Jackson removed the deposits. At this time he was in debt $9,000 for goods. His creditors were considerably frightened and came here to see him; but after examining the situation, they went back satisfied that Mr. Baker would pay his debts if not molested. After settling up his business he had $1,300 left, and bought four eighty-acre lots in Wabash county and nine in Kosciusko county, a part of which he still owns. He then went to farming, and has since followed that vocation. He now owns between 500 and 600 acres where he resides. His two sons also reside upon this farm. The eighty acres upon which his barn stands was the first eighty entered in Clinton county, and is described as the west half of southwest quarter of section 12.
     Mr. Baker was the first man married in this county. In August, 1830, he was united with Catherine W. HOOD, daughter of John and Nancy HOOD. She was born in Westport, Ky., in September, 1811. Her father purchased a farm in Indiana, opposite Westport, where he lived from 1810 to 1829, when he brought his family to this county, settling near Jefferson, where they remained until their death. They lie buried in Jefferson cemetery. Mr. Baker put the first headstone and the first monument in this cemetery, to the memory of his wife's sister, who was the second person buried there. Mrs. Baker's ancestors came from Scotland and settled in South Carolina before the Revolution. Mr. and Mrs. Baker had born to them the following children; Matilda died at the age of four weeks; Dr. Robert Fulton is living at Davenport, Ia., and was at one time a professor in a medical college; Hood S., lives in Warsaw, Ind.; Theodore died when less than two years of age; Henry Clay died when about two years old; Caroline N. is wife of David TODD, who is believed to be the oldest Presbyterian minister in Kansas; Lucy A., wife of Joseph BURROUGHS, a resident of Wabash, Ind.; Catherine, wife of John RAY, now deceased; John Q., living on a farm near his father's; Knox, also a farmer; Linnaeus S., living in Jefferson. The death of Mrs. Baker occurred in April, 1887.
     Mr. Baker is a liberal republican in politics. He has taken the Cincinnati Gazette sixty-three years without intermission, and still continues to take it. He was justice of the peace for many years, his jurisdiction extending over the whole county. In 1830 he ran for county clerk, and came within two votes of being elected. He took the first paper that was sent to this county by mail, which was the "Liberty Hall," and also the Cincinnati '"Gazette." He was the first person to bring dry goods into the county, and he built the first house on a town lot, and when he built it Chicago was unknown. He says that people came from Indianapolis to Jefferson to buy their salt, and for ten years Jefferson sold more dry goods than Indianapolis. In 1848 Mr. Baker took 300 barrels of pork to New York, that was packed at Jefferson, and cleared $500 on it over and above his expenses. He has heard many of the greatest orators of his day, among them being Henry Clay (who spoke to 50,000 people), John C. Calhoun, Tom Benton, Ben Butler, and also his father; General Houston of Texas, Butler of South Carolina, Jeff Davis, Tom Corwin, Gens. Scott and Cass, and in 1825 heard Lorenz Dow preach to a large audience. He is in the enjoyment of good health and, although eighty-seven years old, has in the past year visited eleven of the states and Canada, and is contemplating a visit to the Southern states.
His second marriage occurred November 8, 1886, in Little Rock, Ark., to Mrs. Sarah F. Stafford, born in Butler county, Ohio, October 3, 1819, and daughter of John and Rachel (SHAFER) VANSICKLE, who were natives of New Jersey and Kentucky. At the age of twenty-three she was married to Edward STAFFORD and located in Clarke county, Ohio, then later Mount Pleasant, Iowa, and then in Arkansas, where Mr. Stafford died, and she still remained with their only son, A. V. Stafford, until her marriage with Mr. Baker. Pages 557 - 560    Source I     Transcribed by Chris Brown  

BAKER, George W. ,
GEORGE W. BAKER, one of the self-made men, of Boyleston, Clinton county, Ind., is now successfully engaged in farming. He is widely known in the couny and in its history well deserves representation . The record of his life is as follows: He was born in Owen county, Ind., May 20, 1847, and is of English descent. His grandfather, John Baker , was an Ohio farmer who died at the advanced age of eighty-eight years. By his first marriage he had six children, and by his second union one son, Beals. In politics he was a whig, and for forty years he was a faithful member of the Christian church.   William Baker, father of George W. was born in Ohio in 1817, and in 1860 came to Clinton county, where he purchased eighty acres of timber land. He now has eighty-three acres, all cleared and highly cultivated. In religious belief he is a Methodist. He was married, in 1846, to Mrs. lane (NICHOLS) PITTMAN, who by her former marriage had one son, Jasper, who enlisted in the cavalry service and died during the late war. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Baker -- George W., John, Sarah J. and Arabel.
    In an old log school-house G. W. Baker began his education. He was only seven years old at the time of his mother's death, and at the age of fifteen he began life for himself, working at any employment which he could find. In August, 1867, he was united in marriage to Mrs: Sarah (HOLTON) HENDRICKS, a native of Kentucky, and a daughter of Ambrose D. and Mary J. (VALLANDINGHAM) HOLTON. Her father was a soldier in the war of 1812, and received a land warrant for 300 acres.  To Mr. and Mrs. Baker have been born ten children: Ambrose S., Josephine M., Truly S., Edgar M., Dora K., Leontes, Richard E., Willard C., Zora F. and Basil V. Upon his marriage, Mr. Baker rented his father's farm, and afterward operated the farm belonging to his mother-in-law, for five years. He then purchased forty acres on Indian Prairie, and afterward bought forty acres of his present farm. To this he has added from time to time untiI he has now 180 acres, which yields to him a golden tribute in return for the care and cultivation he places upon it. At first he was able to make only a partial payment, but it is now clear from all indebtedness and is recognized as one of the valued farms of the community. His pleasant home was erected at a cost Of $1,400, and he has built good barns and outbuildings and added all other necessary improvements and conveniencies. His home is within a mile and half of the fine gravel road which leads to Frankfort, and he has five good markets within a short distance. Mr. Baker has won success through business ability, enterprise and industry, and has arisen from a humble position to one of affluence. His life has ever been an honorable and upright one, and throughout the community where he lives he has many warm friends, who esteem him highly. The energy with which he has lifted himself from comparative indigence to affluence is worthy of emulation. pp. 572 - 573 Source I
Transcribed by Connie

BAKER, Linnaeus S.
     Linnaeus S. Baker was born in Washington township, Clinton county, Indiana, on January 20, 1855, and was the son of Abner and Catherine W. (HOOD) BAKER.      Abner Baker was born on April 14, 1808, in Wayne township, Butler county, Ohio, and died June 24, 1895. His father, Thomas Baker, was born October 18. 1763: his mother, Lydia (HAND) BAKER, was born December 23, 1761, and they were married January 6, 1784.  They were the parents of ten children: Sarah, William, Rachael, Stephen, Thomas, Anna, James, John, Lucy and Abner.  The parents were married near Trenton, New Jersey, and when George Washington fought the battle of Trenton the boom of the cannon was distinctly heard by Mrs. Baker.  After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Baker moved to Redstone, Pennsylvania, where they lived two or three years, then started for Butler county, Ohio, on the Big Miami river; but hearing of danger from hostile Indians, they remained one year on the Hockhocking river, below Wheeling, then went through to Cincinnati.  In the year 1800 they went to Monroe, Butler county, Ohio, and since then the place has been called Baker's Hill.  The mother died in Preble county, Ohio, January 6, 1843, the father having died a few months previous in the same county.  Thomas was a family man. The great-grandfather’s name was Thomas, and several of his descendants were so named.
     Thomas, the great-grandfather, born in 1707, was married in 1736, to Hannah THOMPSON, and settled on the Rahway river, in Essex county, New Jersey, then moved to the Passaic valley, where he bought a farm of forty acres of John Blanchard, of Elizabethtown, in March, 1738, and ninety-nine acres of William Maxwell in 1761.  He also bought a small tract of land from Joseph Rolph, He died of smallpox in 1767. William Baker, second son of above and grandfather of Abner Baker was born in 1742 and died in July 4, 1787. In 1762 he married Rachael VALENTINE, who was born in 1742 and died in April 1790; she had a twin sister, who died June 26, 1768.  William and Rachael were the parents of six children : Thomas,  Abner, Nathan,  John, Hannah, and Sarah.
     Abner Baker , the father of our subject, passed his early life upon his father's farm ,and when thirteen year's of age met with an accident which materially changed his career.  While seeking shelter from a storm he made an unfortunate jump, which so crippled him that he did not recover for several years, and for one year could not talk.  At the age of sixteen he began clerking for David Holloway, at Richmond.  He remained with him one year, then entered the employ of Jonathan Martin, at Middletown, Ohio, with whom he remained a year,  and so faithfully did he perform his duties that Mr. Martin started him in his own business. In March, 1828, Abner, accompanied by his two brothers, James and John. and a brother-in-law, John CORNTHWAIT, started overland, with one four-horse and one three-horse team, for Lafayette, Indiana. After two days travel all turned back but Abner, who pursued his way alone by boat, stopping to trade at every Indiana village, at night tying up the boat and sleeping on the banks of the river.  One night Mr. Baker and Captain Wright made their bed together of coverlets that Mr. Baker had carried from home.  Mr. Baker arose at daylight, and turning around saw a large timber rattlesnake lying between Captain Wright and the spot from which he had just risen.  He shouted to the captain, informing him of his dangerous bed-fellow, whereupon the captain gave a sudden bound and thus escaped from his deadly foe.
     It was Mr. Baker's plan to go directly to Lafayette, but when he reached Logansport he was persuaded by General Tipton to unload his goods at that point and open his store. He was the first person that sold goods there, and General Tipton and his interpreter were the only settlers. After being there a few days he inquired of the interpreter what his board bill would be, and upon being informed that it would be fourteen dollars per week, he shipped his goods to Lafayette by the first boat.  He rented a store from William Digby, paying four dollars a month, and boarded with Colonel Johnson for one dollar and seventy-five cents per week.  Here he remained during the summer. In September he was taken ill and returned home to renew his health.
     In February, 1829, he went to Cincinnati and purchased a bill of goods, taking them himself to Jefferson, where he lived the rest of his life as a pioneer merchant, trading with the Indians, and with his proceeds buying land, which was, at that time, exceedingly cheap. Monetary troubles necessitated the closing up of his business finally, and when he had cleared up his debts and other obligations, Baker had thirteen hundred dollars which he invested in land in Wabash, Kosciusko and Clinton counties.  He then went to farming and until his death on June 24, 1895, he followed that occupation.  He owned between eleven and twelve hundred acres of land.
      In August, 1830, Mr. Baker was married to Catherine W. HOOD, the daughter of John and Nancy HOOD, and was born in Westport, Ky., in September, 1811. Mrs. Baker's ancestors were from Scotland and settled in South Carolina before the Revolution: her father and mother were farmers.  To Mr. and Mrs. Baker were born the following children: Matilda, died at the age of four weeks; Dr. Robert Fulton died April, 1890, at Davenport, Iowa, at one time a professor in a medical college: Hood S. died in Poplar Bluffs, Ind., April, 1910: Theodore died in infancy; Henry Clay also died young; Caroline N. TODD, of Holton, Kansas; Lucy A. BURROUGHS, of Wabash, Ind.; Catherine Ray (deceased) : John Q.,  died June 2, 1902, a farmer of this county; Knox, a farmer; and Linnaeus, our subject.  Mrs. Baker died in April, 1887.  Mr. Baker was married the second time at Little Rock, Ark., to Mrs. Sarah E. STAFFORD, who was born in Butler county, O., October 3. 1819, and was the daughter of John and Rachel (SHAFER) VANSICKLE, natives of New and Kentucky. Mrs. Baker died in April, 1913, aged ninety-one years.
     Mr. Baker was a liberal Republican in politics, and for many years was a justice of the peace.  He was a man with a wealth of interesting reminiscences.  He heard many of the great orators of his day, including Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, Thomas Benton, Benjamin Butler, General Houston, of Texas; Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy; Thomas Corwin, Generals Scott and Cass, and Lorenzo Dow.  Mr. Baker took the first newspaper that was brought by mail into Clinton county, which was the Liberty Hall.
      Our subject, Linnaeus Baker, had the usual comnion school education in his native county, and then attended Wabash College, at Crawfordsville, Ind., but only stayed at that instituition (sic) for three years.  After leaving there he worked at farming, solicited life insurance, and was elected deputy sheriff from 1886 to 1890, and then returned to farming.  He was later elected trustee of Washington township and served in that capacity six years.  In 1900 Mr. Baker was elected chief of the Frankfort police and since that time he has made an enviable record, both from the standpoint of efficiency and of honest, moral service.
     On March 22, 1879 Mr. Baker was married to Dora B. FIELDS, of Oxford.  O., who was born there October 13, 1855.  He suffered the loss of this wife by death on July 3, 1912, and was left with the care of one daughter, Agnes, who is a graduate of the local high school and is now attending the Western Female Seminary at Oxford, 0.   Mr. Baker had one other daughter, Flora, who died in the year 1897.
     Fraternally, Mr. Baker is a member of the Masonic Order, having attain the third degree. He is a Past  Master of Vesta Lodge, I36, of Jefferson. He is also a member of the Knights of Pythias, and is Past Chancellor of the same, and member of the grand lodge of Indiana. Socially, Mr. Baker is a very pleasant man to meet and it is not hard to understand why his friends are so numerous.  His affability and courteous treatment of everyone is a means of insuring a place of admiration and esteem in the hearts of Frankkfort (sic) people. Pages 811 – 814. Source II
Transcribed by Connie

BALL, David M. ,
DANIEL M. BALL is a native of Indiana, and was born in the county of Boone July 26, 1845. His father, Joseph Ball, married in West Virginia Ingabo McDaniel, and in 1834 emigrated to Boone county, Ind., in company with his father-in law, William McDANIEL, a planter of Virginia. At the time of his arrival in Boone county but few improvements of any kind had been made in the country, the city of Lebanon containing but a few log cabins and a population less than two hundred. Joseph Ball was one of the pioneer teachers of Boone county and did much in awakening an interest in matters educational in an early day. He occupied a high social position and was known and respected throughout the countv as a man of good judment and most excellent moral character. He reared a family consisting of the following children: Jackson, Nancy A., Robert, Reuben, Celesta, Perry, John, Ellen, David M., William, Joseph and Flora.
   David M. Bell (sic) was but nine years old when his father died, which sad event threw him, at that tender age, largely upon his own resources. He desired to obtain an education, but untoward circumstances interfered with the realization of his wishes, although he obtained a fair knowledge of such branches as were then taught in the common schools. The building in which he first received instruction n the mystery of books was common to that period, being constructed of unhewn logs, covered with clap-boards, held in their places by weight poles, warmed in the winter season by a fire in a fireplace occupying nearly an entire end of the building, and supplied with rough benches which rested upon an uneven floor made of puncheons. While attending school in this primitive backwoods college he worked mornings, evenings and Saturdays for his board, and, considering the obstacles by which he was confronted, his progress was indeed commendable.
    Mr. Ball chose for a life partner Miss Almeda Trotter, daughter of Matthew and Emily (McFARLAND) TROTTER, and shortly after his marriage settled on a farm near Colfax, where he lived for some years. Later, he abandoned farming for a time and engaged in the hardware business in Colfax, but, after two years thus spent, returned to agriculture, purchasing his present farm of eighty acres in Perry township, where he has since resided. He has a pleasant home, is comfortably situated, and ranks among the well-to-do farmers of his neighborhood. While not identified with any religious organization, Mr. Ball believes in churches, and is always found on the side of any movement having for its object the moral well-being of the community. Politically he is a republican. The following are the names of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Ball, together with the dates of births: Robert A., April 3, 1868; Lawrence, November 3, 1871; Jesse, February 27, 1878, and Emma, June 28, 1883. The father of Mrs. Ball was a merchant of Colfax and a very successful business man. He came to Clinton county from Virginia and was the father of four children - Almeda, Abner, Thomas J. and James. After his death his widow married David WOLF, a farmer of Clinton county, by whom she had three children - Sanford, Charles and Jesse. She died in 1867. pp. 593 - 594
Source I Transcribed by Connie

BARNER, David Parry
DAVID PARRY BARNER, banker and broker, and second son of the late John Barner and his wife, Mary E. DARNELL, was born October 29, 1833, in Frankfort, Clinton county, Ind., which is still his place of residence.  He acquired a liberal education in the schools of his native city, and passed his Saturdays and vacations in the offices of the Clintonian, Compiler and Clinton News, acquiring a knowledge of typography, and in the winter of 1852 entered the office of the Sentinel at Indianapolis as a compositor, and so worked until the following spring, when he entered Asbury university, at Greencastle, Ind., and after a partial course, returned to Frankfort and taught  school durlng the winter of 1854. He next entered the office of his father, who was at  that time clerk of Clinton county. He taught school in the country during the winter of 1855, and served as an assistant clerk in the lower house of the state legislature during the session of 1857.  He then returned to Frankfort and resumed his duties in the clerk's office, and in 1859 was elected to succeed his father, who had retired after a faithful service of fifteen years.
     October 19, 1858, at Jefferson, Ind., Mr. Barner was united in marriage with Miss Mattie M. Hopkinson, daughter of Mrs. Lydia HOPKINSON, now deceased.  To this union have been born four children, viz : John H., deceased; Bird E.; Mabel C., and Lee G., the latter also deceased.  In October, 1863, Mr. Barner was re-elected county clerk.  It is a matter of pride with Mr. BARNER that he was the first native-born citizen in Clinton county elected to fill a county office.  May 1, 1868, he and his father engaged in the banking business, under the firm-name of D. P. BARNER & Co. January 6, 1869, this firm consolidated with CARTER, GIVEN & Co., proprietors of the International bank, of which Mr. Barner was elected cashier, which position he retained until July 22, 1871, when the International was converted into the First National Bank of Frankfort, of which institution Mr. Barner was chosen cashier, and which office he accepted at the solicitation of Wm.  R. CARTER, now deceased, who for some years ably filled the position of president. Mr.  Barner honorably and efficiently discharged his responsible duties as cashier until September 25, 1893, having filled the position continuously for twenty-two years --- a term of service not often equaled, and of which anyone might well be proud.  Under his management the First National bank steadily advanced to a condition of enviable prosperity. Mr.  Barner is generally acknowledged by men who are versed in such matters as the best judge of credit in this county, and as a safe and conservative banker.  Unlike many men whose life work consists in the management and control of money, Mr. Barner has never become its slave.  The needy and suffering could not appeal to a more indulgent source of relief; nor could they who desired to engage in any legitimate enterprise find a more enthusiastic supporter.
     In June 6, 1876, Mr.  Barner was elected to attend the democratic national convention at St. Louis, Mo., in the interest of Gov.  Hendricks as a nominee for the presidency.  Mr. Barner is an earnest friend of public education, and during his term as member of the school board of Frankfort the handsome school edifice in the Second Ward, was built in 1873.  He is the only survivor of the board of trustees with whom he was associated in that enterprise -- Messrs.  James H. PARIS and Samuel D. AYERS --- who have since died.  pp. 576 - 578
Source I Transcribed by Connie

BARNER, John
JOHN BARNER (decensed) -(sic) , father of D. P. Barner, whose biography will be found below, was born in Surry county, N. C., January 11, 1810, and died in Frankfort, Ind., March 31, 1892.  His parents were of American birth, but of French, German and Irish descent.  In the vear 1814, with his parents, he emigrated to and settled in Bledsoe county, Tenn. His father, Horatio Barner , was a mlllwright by occupation. At this early day in the settlement of the central west there were but few opportunities to attend school, but while working on a farm and learning cabinet-making, John managed by honest industry and perseverance to obtain quite a good education.  It was on the 27th day of March, 1828, when eighteen years of age, that he left his parental home.  He journeyed from Pikeville, Tenn., to Bloomington, Ind., alone, walking the entire distance.  Here he found employment at his trade during the winter of 1828-29.  In the spring of 1829 he went with his employers to Indianapolis.  He was next employed about six months in a cabinet-maker's shop in Logansport, but returned to Indianapolis in the spring of 1830.  It was in this city, February 27, 1831, that John Barner and Miss Mary E. DARNELL were united in marriage.  Thev lived in Indianapolis until the following spring, when they moved to Frankfort, arriving here on the 19th of May, 1832.  To this union were born five children: John H., David P., Mrs. Mary E. HILL, Mrs. Jndith (sic) B. SAMPLE and Mrs. India S. GHERE. The first named, John H. Barner, died April 22, 1885.  The ever faithful and beloved mother departed this life June 21, 1884.
    In 1834 Mr.  Barner was appointed postmaster of Frankfort and served continuously until 1849, when he resigned, that he might give his time more fully to the duties of clerk of the circuit court, to which office he had been duly elected in 1843.  Father Barner was the leading spirit in the organization of the Clinton county Old Settlers' association, and for seventeen years its competent secretary.  For forty years he was a prominent member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.  He enoyed meeting men as men, but he specially revered this order for its work's sake.  He loved the brothers of this society as he loved himself, and they in turn reverenced him with affectionate veneration.    He was an honorable member of the Clinton county bar for thirty-two years.  In legal matters he was a safe counselor, and in all his official and professional transactions be showed the minutest care.  He was a master of details, but it was as a pure, gracious, manly, christian man that his children and his grand- children, his friends and neighbors, will remember him.  His Christian life began at his   mother's knee when he was but three years of age.  He united with the Methodist Episcopal church in May, 1831, and his active church life began at the old Wesley Chapel in Indianapolis, sixty-two years ago.  He served as teacher and officer in the Sunday-school of that church , and he assisted in organizing the first Methodist Sunday-school in Frankfort, in February, 1841.  For thirty years he was either a teacher or officer in the school, and for eighteen years was its capable superintendent.  For nearly sixty years he was a member of the official board of this church, serving up to the time of his death with marked loyalty and fidelity as president of the board of trustees.
     Mr. Barner was a delegate from this, the old Eighth congressional district, to the national democratic convention in 1852, which resulted in the nomination of Franklin PIERCE for president.  At that time it took some five days to make the trip to the city of Baltimore, where the convention was held, by the various modes of travel --- stages, steamboats and a small part by rail.  What a contrast now, when we think of its taking only a few hours to make this trip.
    Mr. Barner's was the first golden wedding celebrated in Frankfort, at which there were a large number of the family friends in attendance, on the 27th day of February, 1881, at the old family homestead on the east side of the public square of Frankfort, on which occasion the following brief history of this old couple was read by one of the family friends:       "John Barner and Mary DARNELL were married at Indianapolis, on Sunday, February 27, 1831, by Rev.  Thomas S. HITT, now deceased, at the late residence of Isaac N. PHIPPS, now deceased.  Mr. Barner went to work in his cabinet shop on the lot now occupied by the Bates House the next day after his marriage; commenced housekeeping in a few days and was furnished with a joint of bacon by his neighbor and friend, the late Calvin FLETCHER.  In about a week afterward, this young couple started on a pleasure trip on board the steamboat, General Hanna, the first and last steamer that ever came up from of White river, which event was hailed with the roar of cannon.  They ascended the river quite a distance, with a jovial company from the city; and there was also a small artillery company in attendance, and all returned that evening.  This couple came to Frankfort, May 19,1832, in a wagon drawn by oxen, making the distance in five days from Indianapolis.  Their first dwelling was in a brick house on Kentucky avenue; the next in a double log cabin, opposite the present site of the new state house; the next at Frankfort in a log cabin on the next lot north of this; next in the old log frame, south of this; and since July 4, 1865, in their present dwelling, where they are on this, the fiftieth anniversary of their marriage, happy to meet their children, grand-children, friends and acquaintances.  By this marriage there have been born two sons and three daughters: John H., David P., Mary E., Judith and Indiana S.; they have seven grandchildren living: Emma M. WHITCOMB, John H. BARNER, Jr., Willie B. HILL, Bird E. BARNER, Mabel C. BARNER, Alba B. GHERE and Helen BARNER; and three dead: Ella and Mattie U. HILL and Lee G. BARNER, and one great-grandchild living.  Bertha WHITCOMB, all of those living being present this evening, except John H., Jr., who is in a distant clime on account of ill health."  
     The death of this venerable citizen took place Thursday morning, March 31, 1892, and memorials in his honor were passed by the official board of the Methodist Episcopal church of Frankfort, by the Women's Foreign Missionary society, by Frankfort lodge, No. 108,  I. 0. 0. F., and by the Clinton county bar.  At the meeting of the latter for this purpose, addresses were made by Capt. J. N. SIMS,   P. W. GARD,    H. Y. MORRISON,    Joseph CLAYBAUGH,   J. V. KENT,    J. C. SUIT,   Rev.  W. McKendry DARWOOD, of Yonkers.  N. Y., and Sam VANTON.  At his demise the remains lay in state at his former residence, from two till five o'clock, Saturday afternoon, April 2, and were viewed by hundreds of mourning friends.  The obsequies in honor of Mr. Barner took place Sunday, April 3, 1892, at the M. E. church, of which he was an ardent member. The ceremonies were most impressive and the floral display very elaborate.  Orations were made by Rev.  W. B. SLUTZ, Rev.  S. B. TOWN, and Rev.  Thomas MERIDITH, and the funeral cortege, which formed on Tuesday morning, at 9:30, proceeded to the I. 0. 0. F. cemetery.  The attendance of the representative Odd Fellows was the largest ever assembled to pay homage to their dead, and under the auspices of this noble order were the mortal remains of the lamented John Barner laid in their last resting place. pp. 574 -576 Source I
Transcribed by Connie

BARNER, John
     There is an old saying that the dead are soon forgotten, but in the case of the subject of this review, the adage asserts an untruth.  No man in the history of Clinton county lives today in the memories of the inhabitants in greater measure of esteem and reverence than John Barner.  The life and development of this holy and honest man has been parallel with the growth of the county, and the prosperity and modernity of the community today is the direct result of the influence of such pioneers.  Our subject's exemplary life is immured in the hearts of Clinton county's men, and his spiritual presence, if not his material, is a guide to the faith and trust of his friends. Too fast we are losing these old men, these stalwart oaks of the primal forest, so it is with pleasure that we sketch the interesting details of Mr. Barner's career.  A true patriot, a thorough business man, a devoted Christian, a successful farmer, quiet, unobtrusive, charitable and democratic--this is our estimate of the man.
     John Barner was born in Surrey county, N. C., near the Virginia line, January 11, 1810, two years before the outbreak of the war with Great Britain.  He was the son of Horatio and Elizabeth (CHRISMAN) BARNER, and was one of three children.  The other two, Mrs. Judith Barner WEBB and Horatio, Jr., are now dead.  John Barner's parents were American by birth, but claimed descent from French, German and Irish stock.  In the year 1814, Horatio BARNER, seeking new fields of endeavor, traveled in covered wagons across the Blue Ridge mountains and on into the southwest, until they reach Bledsoe county, Tennessee.  On a farm here they settled, and the father took up his regular occupation as a mill wright.  John Barner found little opportunity in the rough country to gain a school education, but by ceaseless industry, managed to gain the rudiments of an education, besides working on the farm and learning the cabinet making trade.
     On March 27, 1828, Mr. Barner, then but eighteen years of age, found that he must leave the parental roof in order to make a start in the world.  In those days the young men left home with a traveling back and a few dollars in their pockets, given to them by their father.  It is to be imagined that thus Mr. Barner left his home in Pikeville, Tenn.  He traveled on foot, coursed his way along dusty roads, broke almost impenetrable forests, and swam rivers until finally he reached the town of Bloomington, Ind.  There, during the winter of 1828-9, he found employment at his trade of cabinet-making.  In the spring months of 1829, he went to Indianapolis, and in November of the same year walked away from Indianapolis to Logansport, passing through the territory of this (Clinton) county.  There were then but two houses from Eagle Creek to Logansport--Kirk's and Edward's.  He borrowed a hatchet at an Indian camp on Sugar Creek and cut the first tree across the creek where the Michigan road line had been surveyed.  The winter of 1829-30 he spent at Logansport with the Whites and Indians, returning to Indianapolis in March, 1830, when he set up a shop on the site of the present Claypool hotel.  In the spring of 1832, he loaded his household goods in an ox wagon and left for this county.  The ox wagon upset in Eagle Creek and broke an axle at Mud Creek.  He made a new one out of a rail.  Then one ox played out, leaving the wagon in the mud, he walked eight miles, borrowed a horse collar, put it on the odd ox and reached the prairie country.  Here he borrowed, out of the plow, another ox and arrived in Frankfort on Friday evening, May 19, 1832, making the trip in five days.
     Mr. Barner's settled career might be said to have dated from the time of his arrival in Frankfort, a town then "containing about twelve families and forty inhabitants, near an Indian camp."  This was just before the beginning of the Black Hawk war, and the settlers were apprehensive of the Indians.  Mr. Barner makes the sarcastic statement, in a memoir left by him, that many of the farmers "forted."
     Mr. Barner was appointed postmaster in 1834, and diligently served in that capacity until 1849, and then resigned only to take up the duties of clerk in the Clinton circuit court, an office to which he was elected in 1843, and which he held until 1859.  After his retirement from the later office, he was admitted to the Clinton county bar, and remained a member of it until his death on March 31, 1892, in Frankfort.
     On February 27, 1831, John Barner married Mary E. DARNELL.  They lived in Indianapolis until the following spring, when, as Mr. Barner relates in his memoir, "my wife, little boy and I, reached Frankfort by ox team."  To them were born five children: John H., David P., Mrs. Mary E. HILL, Mrs. Judith B. SAMPLE and Mrs. India S. GHERE.  John H. Barner died April 22, 1885, just about a year after his mother, who died June 21, 1884.
     During his life Mr. Barner was the secretary of the Clinton County Old Settlers' Association, an organization which he helped to form.  For forty years he was also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
     In speaking of Mr. Barner's church life, we come to the most salient and controlling element of his life.  Beginning with the day when he left his mother back in Tennessee and promised her to lead a Christian life, he has clung to his faith.  In May, 1831, he joined the Methodist Episcopal church.  Old Wesley chapel in Indianapolis was the scene of his first labors in religious life, and he served both as teacher and officer in the Sunday school in that church.  In February, 1841, he assisted in organizing the first Sunday school in Frankfort, and from then on he was either a teacher or officer in the school.  For eighteen years he held the position of superintendent, for nearly sixty years he was a member of the official board of the church, and at the time of his death he was president of the board of trustees.  He not only gave his church personal aid during his life, but assisted in every other way that he possibly could, and many enterprises have been successful under his guidance.  This devout spirit extended into the daily routine of his family life.  Among the quaint and beautiful customs of his home was the holding of special prayer service before any member of the family departed upon a journey.
     Mr. Barner's reminiscences are intensely interesting, especially of the early pioneer days when he traveled overland searching for a home.  These have been published in a small volume, together with remarks made by leading citizens of Clinton county, and resolutions passed by different organizations of which he was a member.  Lack of space prevents extensive quoting from this booklet, and we regret that all can not be set down verbatim.  Particularly to the point are the addresses made by Dr. Town, Rev. Thomas Meredith, Perry W. Gard, Joseph Claybaugh, Henry Y. Morrison, James V. Kent and Sam Vanton.
     It is the duty of the younger generation to follow the example set by this old pioneer, to revere the memory of such men as John Barner, and to teach the same to their children so that the good wrought by a clean, religious life will go on forever.  The manner of this teaching has been set down by Mr. Barner, who wrote: "Remember you are under parental authority.  Study and obey the laws of health; be industrious; use economy; be truthful; read your Bibles; treasure up the truths and wisdom, and practice the precepts; be charitable; use no strong drinks or tobacco; abstain from all species of gaming, and shun every appearance of evil, that you may be worthy representatives of the pioneers."
     It was Mr. Barner's boast that he had seen the development of Frankfort through its every stage of growth from the time of its beginning as a backwoods village.  pp. 376-378   Source II   Transcribed by Tonya

BARNETT, Amos E.
     The subject of this sketch is a representative farmer and business man of Jackson township, Clinton county, and he is known as one of the alert, progressive and most successful agriculturists of this section of the Hoosier state.  In his efforts in his chosen occupation he has not allowed himself to follow blindly in a certain rut, but has studied and experimented, and thus has received the greatest returns for his untiring efforts, and at the same time so shaping his course as to win the confidence and respect of the community in which he lives, being a man of square business methods and a strong advocate of honest commercialism.
     Amos E. Barnett was born June 26, 1862, in Kirklin township, Clinton county.  His parents were John and Nancy (POINTS) BARNETT, both of whom claim Rush county, Indiana, as their birthplace.  John Barnett's parents came to Indiana from Kentucky in the early days, traveling overland: at that time William Barnett's father was a lad of ten years.  John, Jr., traveled to Sugar Creek township, living there a very short time.  He subsequently moved to Kirklin township and engaged in general farm work until 1868.  In that year he moved to Frankfort, Indiana, and entered the dry good business.  During the first year of his residence in that city, John Barnett was deprived of his wife, Nancy, by death.  To them there had been born a family of eight children, namely: Malissa, Charles (dec.), Mrs. Mary MAISH, Ala (dec.), Josie, Amos E., and William E. (twins), and Dora.
     Mr. Barnett began his useful life with mental equipment furnished by the simple but effective public schools of his home county.  On March 6, 1884, he was married to Laura Cunningham, a Clinton county girl, the daughter of Nicholas and Kate (MAJORS) CUNNINGHAM.  Her parents are still living in Jackson township, Clinton county and are numbered among the oldest couples of the locality.  Laura Cunningham received a common school education the same as her husband.  On July 2, 1906, Laura BARNETT was removed by the hand of death, leaving an enviable record as a womanly woman.  She was very active during her life in the work of the Presbyterian church at her home.  To Mr. and Mrs. Barnett eight children were born, seven of whom are still living.  They are: Floyd, born January 1, 1885; Mrs. Jessie JARRELL, born April 22, 1887; Mrs. Fay STRANGE, born December 26, 1889; Fronie, March 14, 1893; Marie, September 19, 1896; Gertrude, March 14, 1899, and Doris, born March 4, 1906.
     Amos E. Barnett moved to Jackson township, Clinton county, in the year 1878.  In this place, Mr. Barnett owns one hundred and sixty acres of excellent soil, well tiled and cultivated by his skillful hand.  Besides this work on his estate, Mr. Barnett constructed his very comfortable home.  The land is divided into two sections, one of eighty acres, where he lives, and another of like area south of the first.
     Mr. Barnett belongs to the Frankfort Lodge of the Improved Order of the Red Men, also is a member of the Woodmen of the World at the same city.  Mr. Barnett believes in the principles of the new political party launched in 1912, and does not hesitate to proclaim that he is a Progressive.  pp. 606-607   Source II 
Transcribed by Tonya

BARNETT, Frank W.
     One of the progressive farmers and stock raisers of Union township, Clinton county, who is deserving of special mention in a work of this nature, is the gentleman whose name appears at the head of this sketch, a man who believes in keeping his farm in as good a condition and appearance as any of his neighbors and one who also believes that it is his duty to assist in the general upbuilding of the community, thus he is always in favor of better roads, bridges, public buildings, law enforcement: in fact, whatever makes for the public weal in his township and county.
     Frank W. Barnett was born May 26, 1868 in Kirklin township, Clinton county.  He is a son of William J. and Anna (WILLIAMS) BARNETT.  The father was born in Puttnam county, Indiana, and his death occurred some eighteen years ago.  The mother of our subject was born in Tipton county, Indiana, and she preceded her husband to the grave by about two years.  William J. BARNETT was a farmer and stock trader.  About Twenty-eight years ago he left the farm and moved to Frankfort and served as treasurer of Clinton county for two terms on the Republican ticket with much satisfaction to his constituents.  His family consisted of seven children, only two of whom are now living, Mrs. Cannie O. PHILLIPS, and Frank W., of this sketch.  Frank W. Barnett grew to manhood on the home farm and there he worked when a boy.  He attended the district schools in his neighborhood, later the Frankfort high school and received a very practical education.  Mr. Barnett was married June 22, 1892, to Zona BALL, who was born in Jackson township, Clinton county, in 1869.  She is a daughter of John and Dora (MAJOR) BALL.  Here she grew to womanhood and received a common school education, also attended high school.  Six children have been born to our subject and wife, all of whom are living a tthis  (sic) writing.  They were named as follows: Eulalia, married Claude THOMPSON; Hortense, Dolores, Anna, William J. and Theodore Arlin.
     Mr. Barnett remained on the home farm until he was eighteen years old, in Kirklin township, and then moved to Frankfort, where he finished his schooling, and then worked in his father's office in the court house, who was at that time county treasurer.  After his marriage he went into the grocery and meat business in Frankfort, then engaged in Farming and trading.  About nineteen years ago he moved to a farm in Center township, where he lived three years and from there moved to Union township, where he now lives.  He owns one hundred and fifty-five acres of good, tillable land, which he has placed under modern improvements, building his own home.  He has taken much interest in public affairs, and since moving to Union township he has served a term as treasurer of Clinton county in a highly acceptable manner to his constituents.  For the last four years he has been in the contracting business in connection with farming, under the firm name of Snider and Barnett.  They have been very successful, handling some large jobs in various places, in gravel and stone road work.  Our subject also devotes considerable attention to the dairy business, maintaining one of the most sanitary, up-to-date and desirable dairies in the county, keeping eighty-five head of fine Jersey cows.  He feeds large numbers of hogs, and raises draft and driving horses, which, owning to their excellent breeding, find a very ready market.  He has been very successful in business way and is one of the substantial men of his township.  Politically he is a stanch Republican, and fraternally he belongs to the Masonic Order, the Knights of Pythias, and the Improved Order of Red Men, all of Frankfort.  He attends and supports the Methodist Episcopal church.  pp. 949-950   Source II  
Transcribed by Tonya

BARNETT, Vincent E.
     Close adherence to a fixed principle and that a correct principle, has been the secret of Vincent E. Barnett's success.  Constancy is a trait which many people lack and its absence has been responsible for perhaps more failures in life than anything.  The man who is constantly changing from one thing to another, believed this to be true today and that tomorrow, seldom amounts to much in this world.  Our subject was fortunate in forming right ideas of life and character when a boy and he has adhered to them tenaciously with the result that he has not only been successful is the matter of material gain but has had the friendship of all who know him.
     Mr. Barnett was born at Cicero, Ind., August 5, 1859, the son of a farmer, William A. BARNETT, who lived in Johnson county, Ind., a man noted for his industry and honesty, who provided well for his family and developed a good farm under difficulties.  He came of an old family of the Blue Grass state that came from Kentucky to Indiana in pioneer days.  He received his education in a log cabin and married Mary Ellen HALL, who was a native of Ohio, and a daughter of Edward HALL, who was a gallant soldier in the war of 1812 under General William Henry Harrison.  The father of our subject lived to be seventy-two years of age.  Politically, he was a Republican, and was a member of the Christian church, in which he served as an official for some time.  The death of his widow occurred some ten years ago at an advanced age.  She, too, was a good Christian woman, gentle and kind.  These parents are buried at Cicero, Inc.  They had but four children: Vincent E., of this sketch; two sons who are deceased, and Mrs. Emma ECCLESTON, of Whiting, Ind.
     Vincent E. Barnett grew to manhood on the home farm and there worked when a boy.  During the winter months he attended the district schools.  In early life he turned his attention to farming which he followed for several years near New Hope church, three and one-half miles east of Colfax.  He is one of the pioneer rural route mail carriers in this section of Indiana, having begun the service on September 15, 1900, and continuing to the present time, a period of thirteen years, giving eminent satisfaction to both the people and the department, by his faithfulness and courtesy.  He covers twenty-five miles daily.  His route is north and west out of Colfax.  During the period mentioned he has driven over one hundred thousand miles.  His route is No. I.  Doubtless there is no more faithful and methodical man in the civil service. 
     Mr. Barnett was married to Rachael HINTON, a daughter of Samuel HINTON, a well known and popular pioneer in his neighborhood, who did an incalculable amount of good wherever he went.  Our subject's wife was reared in her native community and received a common school education.  To Mr. and Mrs. Barnett two children were born: Harley, of Sims, Indiana, engaged in the glass works; and Mrs. Grace M. DYER, of Spencer, Indiana.  The wife and mother was called to her eternal rest in 1891, and in 1893 Mr. Barnett was married at Greencastle, this state, to Mrs. Rheuma A. HIGGINS, a widow.  Of this second union there were no children born, but Mrs. Higgins had three children by her first Marriage:  Otto, Alonzo, of Colfax, and Mrs. Pearl TEAGARDEN, of Saratoga, Indiana.  Mrs. Barnett's Maiden name was WILSON.
     Fraternally, Mr. Barnett is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Lodge No. 487, having been trustee of the same for six years.  He also belongs to the Missoula Lodge of the Improved Order of Red Men, and has been chief of records of this tribe for eight or ten years.  He was at one time a member of the United Brethren church at New Hope, in this county, and had the honor of naming that church when it was built and dedicated.  Later he transferred his membership to the Christian church in Colfax, but at the present time does not claim membership with any church.  He also has the distinction of being the first carrier in the county to put the automobile into the rural mail service.  pp. 830-831   Source II  
Transcribed by Tonya

BARNETT, William E.
     In summing up the biography of such men as William E. Barnett, the impression comes that a life of subdued usefulness, no display, but real sincere work, is the most satisfactory, and the pleasantest for the subject to contemplate as the autumn days of life come.  Mr. Barnett is still a young man, in spirit and body, and his capable services rendered to the community in which he lives have earned for him the esteem, the admiration, and the loyalty of a host of friends.  Mr. Barnett and his large family are known in every household in Clinton county, and his agricultural methods are spoken of in excellent terms by his fellow farmers who are, after all, the best critics.
     Mr. Barnett is the son of John and Nancy (POINTS) BARNETT, and was born in Kirklin township, Clinton county, on June 26, 1862.  John Barnett claims Rush county, Ind., as his birthplace and June 5, 1827, as the day.  His parents were John and Bertha (AMES) BARNETT who came to Indiana from Kentucky in a very early day, when John Barnett was ten years old.  William Barnett's father was married on March 19, 1848, to Nancy J. Points, a young girl of Rush county, Ind.  John Barnett traveled to Sugar Creek township, where he lived just a short time: he then went to Kirklin township and took up general farming work until 1868, then moved to Frankfort, Indiana.  In that interesting city, Mr. Barnett engaged in the dry goods business.  During the first year there Mr. Barnett suffered the loss of his wife, Nancy.  To them had been born a large family of eight children.  They are Malissa, Charles (dec.), Mrs. Mary MAISH, Ola (dec.), Josie, Amos E. and William E. (twins), and Dora.
     William Barnett began domestic life on March 3, 1885, when he married Anna MOORE, a young girl born in Jackson township, Clinton county, on November 9, 1866, being the daughter of Thomas and Martha (MAJOR) MOORE.  Thomas Moore is still living at the ripe old age of seventy-six years.  He was born April 27, 1837, in the state of Indiana.  Martha Moore, born October 28, 1842, is also still living and enjoying excellent health.  Anna Moore, before marrying Mr. Barnett, lived with her parents and went to the common schools of her county.  To William Barnett and wife there have been born seven children.  They are: Ethel, born October 3, 1888, married to Grover DEARTH; Glenn, born June 1, 1890, still residing on farm and single; Ralph, born November 5, 1892; Mary, born February 22, 1896; Maurice, born November 6, 1888, died January 13, 1904; Harold, born February 8, 1902, and Helen, born November 17, 1907.
     The subject of this sketch started life with a good education from the public schools.  Agriculture held the most fascination for him and he plunged into the work with a vim that has resulted in an elegant farm of one hundred and twenty acres of very tillable land in Jackson township, Clinton county.  Mr. Barnett has improved his estate until it now is one of the best in the surrounding country, being well tiled and in condition to give the best yield.  The owner is an enthusiastic stock breeder and delights in exhibiting his Poland China hogs, Jersey milch cows, and Percheron horses.
     Mr. Barnett is a loyal member of the Improved Order of Redmen, Frankfort lodge, and also a member of the Frankfort local lodge of the Woodmen of the World.
     Politically, Mr. Barnett is a Republican.  He has since 1910 been serving on the advisory board of Jackson township.  He was road supervisor at one time for a period of two years.
     Mr. Barnett is active in the work of the Presbyterian church at Prairie Center, being at present an elder.  pp. 609-611   Source II  
Transcribed by Tonya

BARNHART, Harry
     In examining the life records of self-made men, it will invariably be found that indefatigable industry has constituted the basis of their success.  True, there are other elements which enter in and conserve the advancement of personal interests,--perseverance, discrimination, and mastering of expedients,--but the foundation of all achievement is earnest, persistent labor.  At the onset of his career, Mr. Barnhart recognized this fact, and he did not seek any royal road to the goal of prosperity and independence, but began to work earnestly and diligently in order to advance himself.  The result is that he is now numbered among the progressive, successful and influential citizens of Clinton county, where he conducts a thriving restaurant business and caters to the most fastidious of patrons.
     Harry Barnhart was born April 4, 1870, at Hawthorne, Illinois, and was the son of Benjamin and Sarah (HOLLINGSWORTH) BARNHART, both parents having been born in Illinois.  The father was a farmer.  Both parents died in the year 1876, after worthy lives devoted to their work and family.  The Methodist church was their denomination, and in politics the father was a Republican.  Five children were born of the union, including our subject. 
     Harry Barnhart, being only six years of age when his parents died, was adopted by an uncle, and raised on his farm.  The boy remained there until he was eleven years of age, during which time he obtained as much education as possible from the common schools.  At the age of eleven he went to the city of St. Louis, Missouri, and began to work in a restaurant.  His work was hard here, and, being but a lad he was forced to undergo a great many embarrassments, but he stayed on the job, and gradually began to progress.  He worked in various restaurants and hotels until he had, by strict economy, saved enough money to begin for himself in the restaurant business.  He selected Frankfort, Indiana, as his first location, and he started here in 1895.  Mr. Barnhart had previously come to Frankfort in 1892 and had worked for O. C. Parson.
     Since 1895 Mr. Barnhart has engaged in the trade of the restaurateur here in Frankfort, and his popularity in his chosen profession has constantly increased since his opening.  Mr. Barnhart has the only restaurant in Frankfort which has the approval of the state board of health.  He has equipped his place of business with every modern device to insure cleanliness and quick service.  His kitchen is of the new sanitary type, and is open at all times to the inspection of the patrons.
     In politics, Mr. Barnhart is a stanch Republican.  Fraternally, he belongs to the Woodmen of the World and the Loyal Order of Moose, of which latter lodge he is a trustee.  Mr. Barnhart has invested his savings in Florida farm lands.  He also owns his home at 8 Freeman Street, and his place of business at 14 North Main street, on the west side of the square.
     In 1899 Mr. Barnhart was married to Ethel HUNT, the daughter of John and Sarah HUNT, of Kirklin, Indiana.  Her father is a haybuyer and baler of that town, and the father of eleven children.  pp. 689-690   Source II  
Transcribed by Tonya

BAYLESS, Alfred Ayers
       There have been comparatively few to sound the praise of the brave and sturdy pioneer though he is certainly, deserving of at least a little space in the chronicles of the noble.  To him more than to any other is civilization indebted, for it was he that blazed the way and acted as vanguard for the mighty army of progress that within the last century has conquered Indiana's wilderness and transformed it into one of the fairest and most enlightened of the American commonwealths.
       One of these sterling pioneers is Alfred Ayers Bayless, a venerable and honored citizen of Frankfort, Clinton county, who has passed his eighty-eighth milepost and is yet hale and hearty because he has lived an active, conservative and even-tempered life, free from the usual vices that wreck so large a portion of mankind.  He was for a long lapse of years one of the most widely known contractors and builders in this section of the Hosier (sic) state.  He was born in Butler county, Ohio, February 17, 1825.  He is a son of Platt and Frances (MCGARY) BAYLESS, the father born in New Jersey in 1794, and the mother born in Kentucky in 1796.  The paternal grandparents were New Jersey farmers and on the mother's side were natives of Ireland.  Platt Bayless was one of a family of nine children.  He and Frances MCGARY were married on March 2, 1812, and to them seven children were born.  Platt Bayless was a soldier in the war of I812.  After the war he followed farming in the summer time and the shoemaker's trade during the winter months.  Major Platt Bayless, an officer in the Revolutionary war and an aide to George Washington, was the great-grandfather of Alfred A. Bayless, of this review.  He mortgaged his farm at Baskingridge, New Jersey, in order to obtain means to help support the Patriot army in the field.
      Alfred A. Bayless grew up amid early pioneer conditions, and he received only about six weeks schooling in the winter, between corn husking and sugar making time.  In 1833, when a small boy, he came with his parents overland from the old home in Ohio, to Tippecanoe county, Indiana, traveling by wagon to Cincinnati, thence by boat down the Ohio river to the mouth of the Wabash, and up the latter stream to Vincennes, where the boat was burned.  From there they proceeded by wagon to Tippecanoe county, the trip from Butler county, Ohio, requiring about six weeks.  Upon their arrival in Tippecanoe county they had with them the only salt in the county, having brought two barrels with them.  The wagons hauling grain to Chicago had gone on their regular trips and had not returned with supplies, about three weeks being required to go to the lake city and return, The family located on a farm about seven miles east of Lafayette, near the village of Dayton. Later the elder Bayless purchased a farm of eighty acres, for which he paid the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars.  It lay on the line between Tippecanoe and Clinton counties, and this they developed from the woods into a productive farm in due course of time by hard work.
       Alfred A. Bayless assisted with the hard work on the home place when a boy, remaining there until he was twenty years of age.  He served as an apprentice in a carpenter shop for two years, for which he was paid five dollars a month and board, and the second year ten dollars a month and board.  In 1845 he went to Lafayette, where he worked at his trade and received a dollar and twenty-five cents a day.  He put in the first plate-glass windows ever used in Lafayette, making the sash for the whole front by hand.  He also turned out the first machine-made sash used in that city, the machine having been run by horse-power.
      On May 26, 1847, Mr. Bayless married Harriett PARKE, a daughter of John and Elizabeth PARKE, he a native of Pennsylvania, and the mother of New Jersey.  Elizabeth PARKE's maiden name was ANDERSON.  Mrs. Harriett Bayless is one of a family of four children  all still living in 1913.
       To Mr. and Mrs. Bayless six children have been born, four of whom are living at this writing: Mrs. C. B. SINE, of Indianapolis; Sylvester, of Memphis, Tennessee; William O., also of Memphis; and Laura E., of Frankfort.  Mrs. Sine has two daughters, Mrs. Harry MCLELAND, who has two children, George Edward and Charles Alfred; and Mrs. Edward MAURER, who also has two children, Russell and Frances.  Sylvester had three children: Lenora, married to E. C. BAILEY, of Tuscola, Illinois, has two children, twins, David Bayless and Edward Ozias; and Eva, married to J. C. CARSON, of Lafayette, who died, leaving one child, Olive Crooks CARSON.  John Alfred Bayless is a clerk in a wholesale grocery in Champaign, Illinois.  W. 0. Bayless and Laura E. Bayless have remained unmarried.  The latter is reporter for the Clinton circuit court.
      On Christmas day, 1847, Alfred A. Bayless was working in a pork house in Lafavette at one dollar a day and dinner, unheading barrels.  He had his choice of either one hundred pounds of pork tenderloin or one dollar a day in cash.  After living in Lafavette two years he removed to Dayton, where he remained until 1869.  Then he went to Cass county and engaged in the saw mill business, operating a mill two years, when it was burned.  He then moved to Logansport, where did contracting until 1877, in which year he moved to Frankfort, Clinton county.  His first contract work here was the Coulter House.  He also built the Coulter opera house and many other large buildings in this city, which will long remain as monuments to his skill and honesty as a builder. He built the third ward school building twice.  He remained in the carpenter and contracting business with much success, his services being in great demand until 1897, when he retired from contracting owing to advancing age, but retained a work shop in the basement of his home, where he still makes screens and ladders.
      Mr. Bayless is a master Mason, being the oldest member of the Frankfort Lodge.  He was reared in the Presbyterian faith, and he has attended Sunday school regularly, seldom missing a Sunday for the long period of seventy-seven years, starting when a barefoot boy of eleven years.  He still has a testament which he received for memorizing verses when a little boy.  In politics, he votes the Prohibition ticket. He is the oldest Bayles (sic) living. Pages 887 – 889  Source II
Transcribed by Connie

BAYLESS, Samuel O.
HON. SAMUEL O. BAYLESS, a prominent member of the Frankfort bar and of the bar of the supreme court of the state, is a son of John N. and Christiana (COSNER) BAYLESS, and was born in Tippecanoe county, Ind., June 24, 1848. John M. Bayless was born in Butler county, Ohio, January 3, 1813, and was the son of Platt and Fannie (McGARY) BAYLESS, who were born and married in New Jersey, where Platt Bayless was engaged in farming. In 1802 they moved to Butler county, Ohio, and there remained until 1833, when they came to Indiana and settled in Tippecanoe county, and in the eastern part of which Platt Bayless entered 160 acres of forest land, which he cleared and cultivated until his death, which occurred in 1856, his widow surviving until 1861. They were the parents of the following children: John M., Sarah Ann, wife of Ezra BUSH, now decassed (sic); Cyrus; Martha J., wife of William H. SIMS, of Mulberry, Clinton county; Platt, of Lincoln, Neb.; and Samuel, who went to Texas before the opening of the late war, and of whom all trace is lost.
     John M. Bayless was only twenty years of age when he came to Indiana with his parents. At the age of twenty-one he engaged in shoemaking, at which he worked in the village of Dayton, Tippecanoe county, until 1842, when he purchased land and engaged in farming in same county, which vocation he followed until March, 1879, when he moved to Frankfort and retired from active labor. His first farm comprised eighty acres only, but before he retired he had increased it to 300 acres, and had erected one of the finest farm dwellings in the county. During his residence in Tippecanoe county he assisted in the organization of the Tippecanoe & Clinton county Farmer’s Mutual Insurance; was elected its first president and held his position until his retirement from the farm. He was also for a number of years president of the board of trustees of the Dayton seminary. The first marriage of John M. Bayless took place in Tippecanoe county, August 25, 1839, to Harriet Isabella PAIGE, who was a member of the first white family that settled in that county, and was of English extraction, and to this marriage were born three children – two sons who died in infancy, and a daughter, Sarah, who grew to maturity, but now is also deceased. The mother of these children died November 3, 1845. The second marriage of John M. Bayless took place, in Tippecanoe county, July 25, 1847, to Christiana Cosner, a native of Virginia, born July 6, 1826, and the daughter of Adam and Margaret (MICHAELS) COSNER. To this felicitous union were born eight children, all of whom are deceased save two – Samuel O., the subject proper of this sketch, and John Q., of Frankfort. The greatly lamented John M. Bayless departed this life, at Frankfort, October 3d, 1892. In his religious belief he was a life-long and consistent Universalist; never bitter in the advocacy of his views, but broad and comprehensive in his love for mankind, with charity and tolerance for all. He was a Mason, belonging to the Dayton lodge, of which he was an active member at the time of his death. This lodge had charge of the burial ceremonies. In politics Mr. Bayless was a republican from the organization of that party. At the beginning of the war, having passed the age of active service, he was appointed and served as enrolling officer in Tippecanoe county.  He was an ardent union and anti-slavery man and rendered material assistance to the cause. Mr. Bayless was a kind, gentle and genial companion, a true steadfast friend, and honest man free from deception of any kind. His integrity was spotless and irreproachable.
     Samuel O. Bayless, the subject of this biography, was reared on the home farm, alternating his labor with study. His preliminary education was received at the common schools of Tippecanoe county, supplemented by a course of one year in the high school of Frankfoot (sic), Clinton county, and a year at Lombard University, Galesburg, ILL., where he took a special course in political economy. In October, 1868, at the age of twenty, he entered the law department of the Michigan university at Ann Arbor, and up to this time had never entered a court room nor even read a law book. After a course of two years, he graduated (March 27, 1870), and went to Selma, Ala., where he practiced until the fall of the same year, when he settled in Frankfort, Ind., where he has met with a success unrivaled.  In 1871 he formed a co-partnership with Judge J. SUIT. This partnership continued until January 1, 1873, when the partnership was discontinued and he practiced alone until November, 1874.At that time he associated himself in the practice with Hon. A. E. PAIGE, under the firm-name Paige and Bayless. This partnership continued until the election of Mr. Paige to the position of judge of the Clinton circuit court, in October, 1884. The firm did a large and lucrative business during the years of its existence. In May, 1885, he associated with him W. H. RUSSELL. Esq., under the firm name Bayless and Russell. This partnership continued one year and again, in January, 1889, Charles G. GUENTHER became the partner of Mr. Bayless, under the firm name of Bayless & Guenther. This relations still exists. To revert, however, to the initiatory practice of Mr. Bayless in Frankfort, it may be mentioned that it was soon manifest that Mr. Bayless had a peculiar faculty for handling legal affairs of corporations. He was selected as local attorney for the railroad companies then constructing their lines through the county, and his reputation was soon established on a permanency, and his corporation business has steadily and rapidly increased from year to year, until he now stands without a peer in Indiana in this particular class of litigation.
     In 1884 he accepted the position of general attorney for the Indianapolis and Chicago division of the Monon route, or Louisville, New Albany & Chicago railway company, which position he held two years; in 1886 he was appointed general attorney for the Toledo, St. Louis & Kansas City, or “Clover Leaf” railroad company, for Indiana, which office he held until 1892, when he accepted the position of assistant general solicitor for the same company, and had entire charge of the litigation of the company in Indiana and Illinois; in May, 1893, he was appointed assistant general counsel for the receiver of this company, which position he still holds. Mr. Bayless is also special attorney for the Logansport and Terre Haute division of the Vandalia line, and the local attorney with the Lake Erie & Western railroad company. Mr. Bayless is also called upon frequently to act as counsel for the “Big Four”, or Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis company, as well as for the Wabash company as local counsel. Beside his railroad connection, he is attorney for the Central Union Telephone company in Indiana, and has been the counsel for the water-works, gas and other corporations at Frankfort. In March, 1894, he was admitted to the bar of the United States supreme court.
     Mr. Bayless was most happily united in marriage, in Clinton county, Novenber 21, 1872, to Miss Emma D. Clark, daughter of Dr. John M. and Sarah V. (GILKERSON) CLARK, prominent residents of Clinton county. This lady was born August 18, 1852, is highly accomplished, and is a member of the Presbyterian church. Two children have blessed this union, and are named Coralyn C. and Florence G.  Mr. Bayless is a thirty-second degree Mason, a K. of P., a member of the I. O. R. M. and the B. & P. O. E. In politics he is a republican, and in 1874 was elected mayor of Frankfort, and filled the office for three consecutive terms of two years each. For a number of years he was the chairman of the republican county central committee, and a member of the republican state central committee. His name has frequently been mentioned as a candidate for the position of congressman on the republican ticket in this congressional district. This, however, he has always declined on account of his extensive law practice. It is needless here to comment upon the career or character of such a man as Samuel O. Bayless.  pp. 579 – 581  Source I    A photo of Mr. Bayless is included.
Transcribed by Connie

Source I: A Portrait And Biographical Record of Boone and Clinton Counties, Ind., ... Containing Biographical Sketches of Many Prominent and Representative Citizens, Together with Biographies and Portraits of all the Presidents of the United States, and Biographies of the Governors of Indiana. Published 1895 by A.W. Bowen & Co. in Chicago.   

Source II : History of Clinton County …. With Historical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families. By Hon. Joseph Claybaugh. Published 1913 by A. W. Bowen & Company – Indianapolis, Indiana 

Source III:   History Of Clinton County, Indiana…. together with sketches of its cities, villages and towns, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons and biographies of representative citizens. Published 1886 by Inter-State Publishing Co., Chicago.

  © Connie Rushing 1998/99/2000 © Chris Brown 1998/99/2000

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A PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF BOONE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, IND.                

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