310                 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY


appears elsewhere in this volume. To Mr. and Mrs. Pell eight children
have been born, namely: Dora; Vellie; Benjamin F.; Ernest and Elda,
twins; George Marshall; Roy Worth; and Cynthia. Dora married Martin
Bell, and has one child, Louise. Fraternally Mr. Pell is a charter mem-
ber of Pontiac Tribe, No. 137, Improved Order of Red Men; of Carbon
Lodge, No. 145, Knights of Pythias; and of Carbon Lodge, No. 693,
Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

    AUGUST GAUCHAT.—Many of the most enterprising and prosperous
farmers of Clay county have come from the land beyond the sea, some of
them, mayhap, seeking a refuge from military despotism, others fleeing
from the penury and poverty that obtains in their native country, while
others come with the hope of legitimately bettering their condition by
willing toil. Prominent among this latter class stands August Gauchat,
whose finely-improved farm, almost adjoining Clay City, bears visible
evidence of his industry, thrift and good management. A native of
Switzerland, he was born March 12, 1851, in the village of Prilly, Canton
Berne, which was also the birthplace of his father, John F. Gauchat.
    John F. Gauchat made farming his principal occupation during life.
being employed in tilling the soil in his native land the greater part of
his active career. In 1857 he made a bold venture, going on a sailing
vessel to South America. At the end of ninety-eight days on the ocean he
arrived in Buenos Ayres, and from there went up the La Plata river to
Santa Fe. Going then into the country, he bought a tract of land, and
at the end of a year and a half, having made some improvements on it,
sold it and returned to his native heath, having been away from home
two years. After the death of his wife, whose maiden name was Sophia
Geauque, he came here in 1881 and spent his last days with his son
August, dying at the age of sixty-one years. Nine children were born to
him and his wife, namely: Julia, August, Zaline, Louis, David, Fred-
erick, Mary, Paul and Emile. David now lives in Clay county, Indiana.
Frederick came to Indiana and died, while yet in manhood’s prime, in
Indianapolis. Paul is a resident of Linton, Greene county, Indiana. All
of the other children still live in Switzerland.
    Brought up in his native canton, August Gauchat was educated in its
schools, in which French, the language of the people, was taught, attend-
ing regularly until sixteen years old. In the subsequent six years he
followed farming, but not satisfied with his future prospects he deter-
mined to come to America. Leaving Switzerland September 2, 1872, he
came directly to Indiana, arriving at Bowling Green, Clay county, on
October 2 of that year, a stranger in a strange land, unable to speak any-
thing but the French language. Mr. Gauchat worked at various kinds
of labor for awhile, for two months being employed in a brewery at
Bowling Green, and for a year working in the timber. He subsequently
worked on a farm three months, receiving sixty-five dollars wages for
that time. With the money that he had accumulated he then, in com-
pany with John Wellen, bought a tract of standing timber, and for
twenty-one years was engaged in the manufacture of staves until forced
to give up the business on account of the scarcity of timber. In 1877
Mr. Gauchat bought fifty-five acres of land lying three and one-half miles
northeast of Clay City, and after living on it seven years sold it and pur-
chased one hundred and sixty acres in sections twenty-nine and thirty-
three, very near Clay City. Taking possession of the frame buildings