Clinton County Indiana Biographies
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BAILEY, Grover Cleveland 
BAILEY, Nun  
BAILEY, Tighlman  
BAILOR, Samuel M.  
BAKER, George W.  
BAKER, Linnaeus S.  
BALL, David M.  
BARNER, David Parry  
BARNER, John (2)  
BARNETT, Amos E.  
BARNETT, Frank W.  
BARNETT, Vincent E.  
BARNETT, William E.  
BARNHART, Harry  
BAYLESS, Alfred Ayers  
BAYLESS, Samuel O. 
*********************************************************************** 

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.  
Source: Pages 797-798 History of Clinton County, Indiana.. 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 
*******************
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.
Source: Pages 461-462   History of Clinton County, Indiana .. 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 
******************
 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. 
Source: Pages 571 - 572 History of Clinton County, Indiana .. 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  
**********************
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.
Source: Pages 869-871   History of Clinton County, Indiana .. 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 
********************
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.
Source: Pages 572 - 573 History of Clinton County, Indiana .. 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  
*****************************
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.
Source: Pages 811 - 814 History of Clinton County, Indiana .. 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  
**************************
David 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.
Source: Pages 593 - 594 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.  
*************************** 
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.
Source: Pages 576 - 578 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.   
************************
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.
Source: Pages 574 -576 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. 
*************************
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.
Source: Pages 376-378   History of Clinton County, Indiana .. 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 
**************************
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.
Source: Pages 606-607   History of Clinton County, Indiana .. 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 
**************************
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.
Source: Pages 949-950   History of Clinton County, Indiana .. 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 
***********************
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.
Source: Pages 830-831   History of Clinton County, Indiana .. 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 
**********************
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.
Source: Pages 609-611   History of Clinton County, Indiana .. 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 
*********************
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.
Source: Pages 689-690   History of Clinton County, Indiana .. 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 
***********************
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.
Source: Pages 887 - 889  History of Clinton County, Indiana .. 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  
************************
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.
Source: Pages 579 - 581  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.
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  c Connie Rushing and Tonya Martin 1998 - 2001