Carroll County IN Archives Biographies.....Neff, John H. 1847 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/in/infiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com March 21, 2006, 6:52 pm Author: John C. Odell (1916) JOHN H. NEFF. The career of John H. Neff, a well-to-do, retired farmer of Deer Creek township, Carroll county, where he owns one hundred and sixty acres of land, purchased by his father twenty-nine years ago, contains no exciting chapter, but is filled with well-defined purposes, which Mr. Neff has carried to a successful issue. He enjoys an influential place in the civic and agricultural circles of Carroll county. He has not only won the confidence of his neighbors but, in all of his long life, has so lived as to retain this confidence to the present time. John H. Neff is a native of Jefferson township, Carroll county, born on February 25, 1847. He is the son of Finley and Elizabeth (Speece) Neff, the former of whom was born on October 13, 1820, near Dayton, in Montgomery county, Ohio, and the latter born on September 20, 1826, also near Dayton. Finley Neff came with his parents, Daniel and Lydia Neff, to Jefferson township, Carroll county, in 1830, and settled with them on the Indian reserve, where they spent the remainder of their lives. Daniel Neff died in middle life, but his wife lived to be sixty-seven years old. Elizabeth Speece came with her parents, John and Mary Speece, to Carroll county, when she was a little girl of five years old. They settled on Connors' reserve in Jefferson township, and there spent the remainder of their lives. John Speece lived to be eighty-one years old and his wife died at the age of about sixty. John H. Neff's paternal great-great-grandmother Neff lived to be one hundred and ten years old, passing away in Jefferson township, Carroll county. Her remains are interred in the Speece cemetery in Adams township. Mr. Neff's great-grandparents, on both sides of the house, were born in Maryland and emigrated to Montgomery county, Ohio, in pioneer times. His parents were married in Carroll county in 1846. They had three children, of whom John H., the subject of this sketch, was the eldest. The other two were: Lydia, who married Elias Harner and spent most of her life in Delphi, her husband dying about 1912; Lewis, the other child, died at the age of fifteen. The late Finley Neff was engaged in farming in Jefferson township until 1871, when he retired and moved to Delphi, where he lived for a number of years. Subsequently, however, he moved to Adams township and, after living in that township for two years, returned to Delphi. He died in 1894 and his wife, the mother of Mr. Neff, is still living in Delphi, at the advanced age of eighty-nine years. She is a member of the United Brethren church, as was also her husband. He was a stanch Republican, but never cared to hold office. John H. Neff received a common-school education in the public schools of Carroll county and lived at home with his parents until February 24, 1871, when he was married to Catherine Sidenbender, the daughter of Joseph Sidenbender. Mrs. Neff died in March, 1872, and on January 1, 1874, Mr. Neff was married to Sarah A. West, and to them was born one son, Charles E., who lives in the state of Washington. Mrs. Sarah Neff died in September, 1876, and Mr. Neff was married, on June 2, 1878, to Mary M. Rothengatter, a native of St. Louis, Missouri, and the daughter of Philip Jacob and Mary M. (Scheese) Rothengatter, both of whom were born in Germany. They came to America in 1847 an<3 Hved in New York state for one year, after which they moved to St. Louis and lived for three years. They then returned to New York state and, after living there for a short time, removed to Peoria, Illinois, where they lived for four years. They then moved to El Paso, Illinois, and lived there for two years and then moved to Lockport, Carroll county, where they spent the balance of their lives. Philip J. Rothengatter served three years and three months in the Ninth Indiana Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War and was honorably discharged at the end of his term of enlistment. He died at Lock-port and his wife, the mother of Mrs. Neff, died in Tippecanoe township, at her daughter's home. They were the parents of two daughters, Mrs. Neff and Louise Caroline, the wife of William Feathers, of Delphi. To Mr. Neff's third marriage there have been born four children, one of whom died in infancy. The living children are: Walter F., born on February 27, 1882, who lives in Rock Creek township, Carroll county, is married and has two sons, Herman Samuel and Roger Finley; Addie, who is the wife of Benjamin B. Jackson, of Chicago, and has one. daughter, Regina Thelma; and Hazel C, who married Reed Jackson and lives on the old homestead farm. They are the parents of one daughter, Lorine Margaret. John H. Neff owns one hundred and sixty acres of land in Deer Creek township but is now living retired. Fraternally, he is a member of Carroll Lodge No. 174, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, at Delphi. He is a stanch Republican. Both he and his wife are members of the United Brethren church. Additional Comments: Extracted from: Biographical Section of HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY INDIANA ITS PEOPLE, INDUSTRIES AND INSTITUTIONS BY JOHN C ODELL With Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families ILLUSTRATED 1916 B. F. BOWEN & COMPANY, Inc. Indianapolis, Indiana File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/in/carroll/bios/neff188nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/infiles/ File size: 5.8 Kb