HISTORY OF ClAY COUNTY                       531

took the place of the chairs used in modern schoolrooms, and boards
placed against the sides of the cabin furnished a place upon which the
children could write. At the age of eighteen years he began working
with his father at the carpenter’s trade, continuing thus employed four
years. Going then to Illinois, he worked on a farm a few months, and
then returned home, having in the meantime saved some money, Mr.
Leachman continued his studies under the tutorship of William Travis,
after which he taught school thirteen terms, one term in Vigo county,
three in Parke county, and the remainder in Van Buren and Dick John-
son townships. From 1866 until 1869 he was a resident of Vigo county.
Coming to Dick Johnson township in the latter year, he was for a number
of years employed in farming on rented land. Meeting with encouraging
results while thus employed, Mr. Leachman, in 1878, purchased the farm
on which he is now residing. His estate contains eighty acres of rich
and arable land, well improved and judiciously cultivated, constituting
one of the model farms of this vicinity. Here he is prosperously
engaged in general farming and stock-raising, in his operations being
uniformly successful.
    Mr. Leachman has been twice married. He married first, December
24, 1865, Sarah J. Wilson, a daughter of Peter and Mary Wilson, She
was born in Van Buren township, and died, October 27, 1900, on the
home farm. Mr. Leachman married second, June 23, 1893, Mrs. Mahala
(Girton) Wright, who was born in Van Buren township, a daughter of
Stephen and Margaret Girton, and widow of Benjamin F. Wright.
Stephen Girton was born, it is thought, in Pennsylvania, and as a boy
removed with his father, George Girton, to Brown county, Ohio, where
the father cleared a farm, and spent his remaining years. In 1837
Stephen Girton, with his wife and three children, came overland to
Indiana, making the tedious trip with teams. Entering government land
in sections 13 and 24, Van Buren township, he at once built a log cabin
for himself and family, and then began the arduous task of clearing and
improving a homestead. Working with indomitable perseverance and a
resolute will, placed the larger part of his estate under cultivation,
erected a comfortable set of frame buildings, and there resided until his
death, in 1862. His wife, whose maiden name was Margaret Van Sandt,
survived him, passing away at the age of eighty-seven years, in 1897.
She had a large family of children, rearing twelve of them.
    Mr. Leachman has five children living, all by his first marriage,
namely: Mary Isabelle, Lewis William, Albert Melvin, Ida Ellen, and
Richard Otis, Mary I., wife of Harvey Yant, has four children, Hilda,
Charlotte, Jesse, and Mary Ellen. Lewis W. married Orpha Webster,
and they have three children, Lewis William, Dulcie and Baby. Albert
M. married Minnie Yocum. Ida E., wife of Frederick Greenwald, has
four children, Clara, Mabel, Clarence, and Carroll. Richard married
Charlotte Knapper, and they have two children, William Calvin and
Orville. By her first marriage Mrs. Leachman had one child, Lillie,
who is now the wife of William Winn, and they have one child, Willie
Epperson.
    Politically Mr. Leachman is a straightforward Democrat, and since
casting his first presidential vote for George B. McClellan has worked for
the advancement of his party’s interests, and the good of his country.
In 1872 he was elected trustee of Dick Johnson township, and was re-
elected in 1876 and 1882. Fraternally he is a member of Brazil Lodge,