Carroll County IN Archives Biographies.....Small, George 1834 - ************************************************ 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 26, 2006, 5:03 am Author: John C. Odell (1916) GEORGE SMALL. Responding to the call of the West, the lure of the farther boundaries, James Small, a grandson of James Small, who was a soldier of the American Revolution, left his ancestral home in Jackson, Washington county, New York, in 1832, and walking ever westward, over mountain and valley and plain, came to Carroll county and here he found what his eyes had been seeking—a land very promising and good to look upon. Entering his claim to two hundred and twenty acres of the fine hard-timber land in section 1, at the northern edge of Adams township, in this county, he turned his face to the east and walked back to his home in New York state, taking a good report of what he had found back in Indiana. Seeking a companion to share the good fortune which he confidently believed awaited him in the West, the next spring, on March 19, 1833, James Small was united in marriage to Sarah Nelson, a daughter of Simon and Lucy (Stockwell) Nelson, and a cousin of Samuel Nelson, justice of the New York supreme court, and on May 1 they left New York, proceeding by lake and canal to Peru, Indiana, at that time the head of canal navigation, where they bought a small boat and putting their furniture into it sailed down the Wabash to a point about two and one-half miles south of the farm which had been entered the year before and presently had their home established in Adams township. Their first home was a log cabin, but when gradually the rough edges of pioneer living had been smoothed somewhat, this humble home gave way to a more pretentious and commodious dwelling, built throughout of finished walnut, the lumber for which was sawed from the giant walnut trees with which the homestead tract abounded; and that house is standing today, its timbers as firm as on the clay they were laid. There James Small and his wife spent the rest of their lives and the home they erected with such scrupulous care is still in the family, being occupied today by George Small, their eldest child and only son, the subject of this biographical sketch, who celebrated with his good wife, the sixtieth anniversary of his marriage on November 22, 1915. When James Small settled in Adams township there were no roads in that region and the few inhabitants marked their ways by making gashes on the trees—"blazing" their way. Lurking in the depths of those magnificent forests, the big gray wolves were plentiful. Out of this deep forest of walnut and hickory, beech and maple and giant oak, James Small cut his farm, burning the timber which, if available now, would be worth a fortune. This pioneer found hardships and difficulties which, to the present generation no doubt would seem insuperable, but strong arms and a stout heart prevailed and a place was made for the coming generations. James Small was among the foremost and most honored pioneers of that section. He brought to the forest wilderness practical Yankee knowledge and experience which his widely separated neighbors soon learned to rely on, and it is undoubted that his influence in that community did very much toward bringing about proper conditions of social and economic life in the formative period of the now prosperous and established farming region. He and the woman who was ever at his side, a true pioneer helpmate, long have lain in the Idaville cemetery, resting well after the stern labors which their hands found to do, and the fourth generation of their descendants in that community finds conditions of living immeasurably easier for their having striven—"blazing the way." James Small was born in Jackson, Washington county, New York, on March 19, 1805, the eldest of the six children of George and Janet (Lourie) Small, both natives of that same county. George Small, born on March 3, 1782, was the second son of James and Ann (Beveridge) Small, both natives of Scotland, who came to America in 1774, settling m Cambridge, Washington county, New York; where they were later married. James Small was born in County Perth in 1749, son of William and Anne (Stewart) Small, and Ann Beveridge was born in Strathmiglo, Fifeshire, in 1755, daughter of George and Janet (Lourie) Beveridge. Her brother, Andrew Beveridge, was the grandfather of Gen. John Lourie Beveridge, former governor of the state of Illinois, and a cousin of the great-grandfather of former United States Senator Albert J. Beveridge, of Indiana. James Small served in the patriot army during the Revolutionary War as a member of Colonel Van Woert's Regiment (Sixteenth Albany County) New York Militia. He died, on August 13, 1827, and his widow died on June 10, 1830. James Small, the Carroll county pioneer, grandson of the patriot soldier, whose name he bore, was united in marriage on October 19, 1826, in Argyle, Washington county, New York, to Mary Livingston Robertson, daughter of Gilbert and Elizabeth (Dow) Robertson, and to this union one child was born, a son, Gilbert, born on February 7, 1828, whose mother died eight days later. Reared by his maternal grandparents, Gilbert Small was educated for the ministry* and in 1849 was graduated from Union College. After preaching for a time in the East, the Rev. Gilbert Small became pastor of the United Presbyterian church at North Liberty, Ohio, remaining there two years, during which time he was united in marriage, February 24, 1857, to Helen A. Munroe, who died on April 23, 1858, leaving a daughter, Mary Livingston, who died in her twentieth year. In 1858 Rev. Gilbert Small became pastor of the United Presbyterian church at Indianapolis, and on November 3, of that same year, married, secondly, Frances A. Garrett, to which union four children were born, namely: Dr. Harry E., who married Anna Lisk and who died at Detroit, Michigan, on May 9, 1913, leaving one daughter, Cecile Livingston; William R. and Albert G. (twins), of Indianapolis, the former of whom married Ella L. Childs and has one son, Gilbert and the latter of whom married Mary O. Allen and has two children, Donald and Vivien A., the latter of whom married Henry Holt, Jr., and has a daughter Eleanor V., and Stella R., who married John A. MacArthur, of Albany, New York, and has two children, William R. and Frances G. For nine years Rev. Gilbert Small was engaged in the gospel ministry at Indianapolis, at the end of which time, in the fall of 1867, he moved to Idaville, a pleasant village just north of the Carroll county line, in White county, near which place his father had located years before, and where* was then the largest numerically organized congregation of United Presbyterians in the state of Indiana. For thirteen years he served as pastor of that church and then, securing dismission from the United Presbyterian communion, transferred his connection to the Presbyterian church and for years supplied vacancies in pulpits not too remote from his home in Idaville, three of these charges having been those at Burrows, Rockfield and Rockcreek, in this county. His wife died on April 27, 1887, and on May 23, 1888, he married Mrs. Emma Buchanan Sanderson, who survives him, his death having occurred at his home in Idaville on July 20, 1904. As set out in a previous paragraph, James Small married, secondly, Sarah Nelson, his constant helpmate during their years of residence in this county, and to this union three children were born, as follow: George, born on June 2, 1834; Mary Ann, January 25, 1836, and Janet, March 12, 1839. James Small died on April 15, 1864, and his widow survived him many years, her death not occurring until May 10, 1886. George Small, the immediate subject of this sketch, was reared on the home farm and has lived there all his life, being one of the best-known and most substantial residents of the northern part of the county. He received his elementary education in the neighborhood school near his home, finishing at the old Burnettsville Academy, and on November 22, 1855, was united in marriage to Mary Eldridge, who was born in Shelby county, Ohio, on May 7, 1836, daughter of Elijah and Elizabeth (Gibson) Eldridge, both natives of that county, who were the parents of seven children, namely: Prudence, long since deceased, who married Thomas Beard, upon whose death she married, secondly, Thomas Barnes, one of the best known and most influential men of his day in the Idaville neighborhood; James, deceased; Levi, deceased; Mary, who married Mr. Small; Margaret, deceased, who had married George I. Barnes; Isabella deceased, and John, a former well-known resident of the Burnettsville neighborhood, who was killed in a farm accident thirteen years or more ago. To George and Mary (Eldridge) Small ten children have been born, as follow: Sarah Margaret, born on July 27, 1857, married John O. Campbell, of Lafayette, Indiana, and now lives at East St. Louis, Illinois; Janet A., December 24, 1858, who died on May 14, 1884; James, January 5, 1861, a prominent merchant of Idaville, married Nancy Barnes; Mary Belle, September 22, 1862, who died on March 29, 1876; Fannie A., September 1, 1864, living at Idaville, widow of Benjamin F. Ginn, who was killed in a railway accident on January 18, 1905, has three living children, Bertha, wife of A. T. Sink, of Detroit, Michigan; Merle, wife of Ray Hinshaw, of Monticello, Indiana, and Francis, who lives at Burnettsville; Ida E., October 29, 1866, married Charles Johnsonbaugh, who operates the Small farm, and has two living children, Jennie Merle and Goldie Faye; Elizabeth, February 27, 1869, married Frank Graham, a well-known farmer of the Burnettsville neighborhood, and has five living children, Ralph, George, Virdin, John and Leona; John N., February 25, 1872, associated with his brother, James, in business at Idaville, married Margaret Davidson and has one son, William Dwight; George T., January 12, 1877, who died on April 5, 1914, and Edwin, September 3, 1878, who died on December 31, 1878. Mary Ann Small, eldest daughter of James and Sarah (Nelson) Small, was united in marriage on April 2, 1855, to Hugh B. Knickerbocker, a native of New York state, who at that time was a teacher in the old Bur-nettsville Academy, and to this union two children were born, Janet, who married Newton Townsley, a well-known farmer of Adams township, and John H. When the Civil War broke out, Hugh B. Knickerbocker returned to his old home in New York and aided in the enlistment of the Forty-third Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry, and was made captain of Company D, of that regiment, at the head of which he served valorously until he was killed in the battle of Chancellorsville on May 3, 1863. His widow died at her home, in Adams township, on August 30, 1880. Janet Small, her sister, was well known as a teacher in the Burnettsville schools in the early part of her life. She remained a spinster and died at her home, a portion of the old homestead, on August 13, 1910. George Small has lived all his life on the farm on which he was born and owns one hundred and two acres of as choice land as there is in Carroll county, the same being his portion of the tract entered by his father in 1832, and which has been brought to a high state of cultivation. About fifteen years ago Mr. Small retired from the active management of the farm, since which time it has been operated by his son-in-law, Charles Johnsonbaugh, who lives in a house nearby the old home. Mr. and Mrs. Small are among the most highly esteemed residents of that part of Carroll county, ever having been active in all good works thereabout. James Small, the pioneer, and his wife were among the leaders in the old Seceder church at Cedarville and their children were reared in accordance with the rigid tenets of that faith, but in 1858, upon the union of the Associate and Associate Reform churches, a merger was effected between the Seceder church at Cedarville and the United Presbyterian church at Idaville and the Small family ever since has been connected with the latter church and for more than forty years George Small has served the congregation at Idaville as a deacon, being held in the highest respect by all associated with that locally influential organization. Despite the weight of their years, both Mr. and Mrs. Small retain a large measure of their former physical vigor and continue to take a deep interest in local affairs. From the date of the organization of the Republican party to the formation of the Progressive party in 1912, Mr. Small had been an ardent Republican, but since then has been inclined to cast the weight of his political allegiance in behalf of the Progressives. He is a good citizen and an excellent neighbor, being regarded as one of the most substantial men in that part of the county in which his whole life has been spent. He has lived to see amazing changes in the methods of farm life and has contributed his share to the world's work, having ever played well the part of a useful man. 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. 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