Clinton County, Indiana Biographies
Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Connie Rushing
cj59_1999@yahoo.com
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TEMPLE, Elonzo V.
THOMAS, Henry H.
THOMAS, Levi L.,
THOMPSON, Samuel H.
TlMMONS, Alonzo E.
TIMMONS, John W.
WHITE, Melville Bevendge
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ELONZO V. TEMPLE, of the firm of Ashman & Temple, druggists, 6 North
Main street, Frankfort, Ind., was born in Clinton county, November
22, 1860, and is a son of George W. and Mary A. (CLARK) TEMPLE.
George W. Temple, the oldest native of Clinton county now residing in
Frankfort, has his residence at the corner of Clinton and Aughe
streets, an aristocratic neighborhood. But the home of the family was
on the farm until Elonzo V. reached his thirteenth year, when the
city , was chosen for their place of residence, which it still
continues to be. Elonzo V. first attended the country schools of his
native township of Owen, and the education there obtained was
supplemented by a higher grade education at the schools of Frankfort.
He subsequently learned the carpenter's trade under his father, and
at this he worked for three years, but for the past fourteen years he
has been in the drug business---the first five years, of which time
were passed as a clerk. June10, 1885. Charles ASHMAN and Mr. Temple,
with Frank E. ROSS, bought out a drug store and founded the firm of
Ashman, Temple & Ross, which was continued until 1891, when Mr. Ross
withdrew, and the business continued under the present firm name of
Ashman &Temple----now the most popular in the city.
     The marriage of Mr. Temple took place, in 1890, to Miss Clara
Belle HILLIS, daughter of Anderville HILLIS, who resides near
Scircleville, Ind. Mr. Temple is a democrat in politics, and
fraternally is a Knight of Pythias. In the biography of George W.
Temple more interesting details concerning the family will be found.
The residence of Elonzo V. Temple is a most beautiful one and is
delightfully situated on the corner of Aughe and Washington streets,
the finest residence locality in the city of Frankfort. With his
wife, he is also owner of 540 acres of arable land on Indian Prairie,
in Johnson township, Clinton county, one mile north of Scircleville,
all of which is under a high state of cultivation, with the exception
of forty acres, and is well and substantially improved with modern
farm dwelling and commodious barns and convenient out-buildings, the
financial condition of Mr. Temple permitting him to make such
expenditure as may be necessary to render their farm a model one, and
that will compare favorably with any others in the county. Mr. and
Mrs. Temple are consistent members of the Presbyterian church, to the
support of which they contribute most liberally.

Source: Page  876  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.
******************
HENRY H. THOMAS, member of the wholesale business firm of J. H. Fear
& Co.. also of the firm of Campbell, Thomas & Co., proprietors of the
City mills and elevator of Frankfort, was born in Fayette county,
Ind., August 18, 1848. He is of German descent paternally, and on his
mother's side is descended from French ancestors. His father, Minor
L. Thomas, was a native of New York and son of David L.Thomas, also a
New Yorker, and a pioneer of Fayette county, Ind., moving to that
part of the country in a very early day. David L. Thomas was a
soldier in the war of 1812 and reared a family of three
children---Minor L., Erastus, and Harriet. Minor L. Thomas married
Cynthia JEFFREY, whose father, William JEFFREY, was a native of New
York state and an early settler of Fayette county, Ind; Both Mr.
Jeffrey and David L. Thomas moved with their respective families from
New York to the county of Fayette, Ind., and. located not far from
the town of Connersville, where a number of other New Yorkers also
settled, the locality being designated by the name of  "Yankee Town."
The marriage of Minor L. and Cynthia Thomas was consummated in
Fayette county in 1842, and resulted in the birth of three
children----William D., Henry H. and Caroline. The mother died in
1859, and the father in 1863. Minor Thomas served in the late war as
a member of the Fifty-fourth Indiana infantry, and rose from orderly
sergeant to the rank of second lieutenant. He took part in a number
of battles, and after the siege of Vicksburg was granted a furlough
on account of ill health, having contracted a chronic ailment which
resulted in his death nine days after arriving home. In 1838 he had
entered government land in Tipton county, Ind., settled thereon
immediately after his marriage, and aided in laying out the original
plate of the town of Tipton. He resided in that county until 1848, at
which time he moved back to Fayette county and lived there until his
return to Tipton six years later.
    H. H. Thomas was born and brought up on a farm and his
educational training embraced the studies usually taught in country
schools. Mr. Thomas enlisted May, 1864, in company D, One Hundred and
Thirty-ninth Indiana volunteer infantry, in the hundred day serivce,
and served six months and fifteen days and was in garrison duty in
Kentucky and Tennessee--- was discharged October, 1864, at
Indianapolis. In the year 1872, he left the farm, and with a capital
of $600, saved from his earnings, went to the town of Tipton and
engaged in the buying and selling of live stock, which from the
first, proved a most gratifying success. He remained at Tipton until
1876, and then removed to Elwood, where, during the four succeeding
years, he bought and sold live stock and conducted a business in
grain. Returning to Tipton, he continued dealing in live stock until
1885, but from 1876 was associated in the business with J. H. FEAR,
Esq.
    In 1885, Messrs. Thomas & Fear embarked in the wholesale poultry
business, in which they have since continued, having at the present
time houses at Frankfort, Tipton, Noblesville and Colfax, being among
the most extensive dealers in their line in Indiana. In December,
1892, the firm of Campbell, Thomas & Co., was organized as
proprietors of the City mills and elevator of Frankfort, and the
better to give his attention to his business, Mr. Thomas in that year
moved to Frankfort and has since made this city his home. In 1886 Mr.
Thomas was nominated by the republican party of Tipton county for the
office of circuit clerk, and such was his popularity that at the
ensuing election he defeated his competitor by a majority of
ninety-nine, although the opposite party in Tipton had always been in
the ascendancy. He was the first and only republican ever elected to
the clerkship in the county of Tipton, and he discharged the duties
of the position with acknowledged ability for a period of four years.
As a business man, Mr. Thomas is safe and reliable, and his name has
never been connected with any transaction of a questionable nature.
He possesses financial ability of a high order, and his various
enterprises, manager with intelligence and wise forethought, have
resulted most profitably, and he is now one of the representative and
well-to-do business men of Frankfort. Mr. Thomas is a prominent
member of the I. 0. 0. F., and personally he stands high in the
estimation of all with whom he has had business or other relations.
His home is presided over by Mrs. Thomas, whose maiden name was
Henrietta FREE, and to whom he was united in marriage in the year
1878.
Source: Pages  876 - 878.  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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LEVI L. THOMAS, of Jackson township, Clinton county, Ind., was born
in Ripley county, Ind., March 11, 1847, the son of Purrel K. and
Eliza A. (MERRICK) THOMAS, both parents natives of the Hoosier state.
Purrel K. Thomas was the son of David Thomas, a native of Ohio who
came to Indiana in an early day, settling in the county of Ripley,
where he followed the occupation of farming.  Purrel was reared in
Ripley county, early chose agriculture for, a life work, and came to
Clinton county in the year 1857, locating about ten miles north of
Frankfort, where he purchased 480 acres of land which, by reason of
its many improvements, became quite valuable. Five years prior to his
death, he retired from the farm, moving to Frankfort, where the
remaining days of his life were passed. He was born in the year of
1818 and died on the twenty-third of June, 1885. By his marriage with
Eliza A. Merrick he had seven children, namely: Levi L.; Helen N.,
wife of Jacob L. CATRON; William D.; Indiana H., wife of John BEARD;
John W.; Laura, wife of Wood THOMPSON, and an infant that died
unnamed. By his second wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth A.
ANDERSON and who still lives on the old place, he had five children
whose names are as follows: Nevada, wife of John MILLER; Jennie B.,
wife of Charles HAMMOND; Pernal; Hugh B.; and one that died in
infancy
    Levi L. Thomas was reared on his father's farm, attending the
common schools at intervals during his minority, and, after becoming
of age, engaged in agricultural pursuits on the home place for a part
of the proceeds, being thus employed for a period of one year. He
then purchased eighty acres of his own, to which he has made
additions at different times, and now owns a beautiful farm of 280
acres, lying in one of the finest agricultural districts of Clinton
county. Mr. Thomas has made many valuable improvements upon his farm,
and, as a tiller of the soil and successful stock raiser, he ranks
among the best of his township. He raises full-blooded short-horned
cattle, and his other livestock, notably horses and hogs, indicate
the great interest he has taken in this department of the farmer's
vocation. Mr. Thomas was married October 2, 1870, to Margaret A.
Campbell, daughter of William and Sarah J. (MORRISON) CAMPBELL, the
result of which union has been six children James W., born August 20,
1871, Lewis L., born September 16, 1874; Jesse O., born November 4,
1876, died February 19, 1877; Iona E., born August 30, 1879; Nellie
B, born June 30, 1884, and Glen D., born July 11, 1888. The mother of
these children was born on the second day of September, 1850. Mr.
Thomas, as already stated, is a successful farmer, and his reputation
as a liberal-minded citizen has never been impeached in the community
where he is so widely and favorably known. He is a member of the
Masonic order, belonging to Frankfort lodge, No. 54, and in politics
exercises the elective franchise in behalf of the democratic party.
Source: Page  878   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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THOMPSON, Samuel H.
      Indiana sent many of her sons to the great struggle of 1861 to
1865, and many of them did not return, nor is it known where their
unmarked grave is placed.  Nothing but the memory of the happy,
youthful face that marched away is left for those who knew him.
Others did return, covered with laurels, and today are a reality,
wells of information and interest, and their place in the hearts of
their countrymen is secure and hallowed.  The subject of this sketch
was a soldier with an enviable record, and his presence today in the
ranks of the living veterans is one of pride, merit and courage.
      Samuel H. Thompson put his birth date September 13, 1838, and
the place Kirklin township, Clinton county, Indiana.  He was the son
of John M. and Ann (HOLLIDAY) THOMPSON, natives of the state of Ohio.
John Thompson was born on the first day of the nineteenth century in
Clinton county, Ohio.  The mother, Ann Holliday, was also born in
Ohio, and in that state married Mr. Thompson.  Soon after their
marriage they moved to Indiana and settled in Clinton county, where
the father began farming and was very successful. During his life
John Thompson was a Whig by politics, and on the formation of the
Republican party, he joined forces with them. Mr. Thompson was the
father of twelve children: Sidney, Mary, Delina, Joselia and Robert,
all deceased: Jane; Samuel; Manda; Sarah; John (deceased); Eliza; and
Milford (deceased).
      Samuel Thompson received his education in a log school house
with greased paper windows. After the war, August 5, 1878, Mr.
Thompson was married to Florence Kelly, a Clinton county girl, the
daughter of Henry and Ann (HARLEY) KELLY. She was called by death in
the year 1881.   Two children were born to her: Ora H., born in 1879,
died in 1896; Lenora M., born February 12, 1881, now married to
William E. BURGIS, of Kirklin, Ind.  She also has two children,
Florence and Mildred.
      Samuel H. Thompson began life with hard work on a farm and he
continued in this occupation until August 1, 1862. At that time the
heat of the war reached him.  He was engaged in the blacksmithing
trade at the time and immediately he dropped his tools and started
for the front.  On September 4, 1862, he enlisted in Company A,
Eighty-sixth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, under the command of Captain
Gorham. During his service with this troop, Mr. Thompson smelt the
smoke of many of the more important engagements, including Missionary
Ridge and Chickamauga. He was with William Tecumseh Sherman on the
famous march below Atlanta but when the army was divided he was sent
back to join Hood. Later he was made a corporal of the twenty-third
corps and sent back to Tennessee to take charge of his command. From
there he participated in many smaller battles in and around
Nashville, one being the conflict at Franklin. For a time he was on
the sick list, but after recovering he joined forces again at
Pulaski, Tenn.  Again he suffered illness and he was returned to
Nashville to mend. His next service began at Huntsville, Tenn., and
he continued then without interruption. Mr. Thompson was honorably
discharged at Knoxville, Tenn., June 6, 1865,  and was later mustered
out at Indianapolis, Ind.
      After the surrender of Lee at Appomattox, Mr. Thompson went
into the merchandise business at Kirklin, Ind. and remained in it for
about twenty years.  In 1885, he gave up his interests in the
merchant line and until 1895 lived a retired life.  Then he became
active again, this time in the insurance business and has continued
thus ever since. He was appointed postmaster of Kirklin, Ind., under
President William B. McKinley in September, 1898, and served eight
years in that capacity, to the gratification and esteem of his
friends.
      Mr. Thompson owns a palatial home in Kirklin, and frequently
entertains his many friends. He is a member of the Free and Accepted
Masons and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, both lodges at
Kirklin. Mr. Thompson saw fit to change politically in 1912, and he
cast his lot with the Progressive party.
Source : Pages 414 - 416 History of Clinton County .... 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
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TlMMONS, Alonzo E.
     The habit of self-help is what has determined the distinctive
business success and prestige of the gentleman whose career we now
take under consideration, and who stands at the head of one of the
leading industrial enterprises of Clinton county, where, in the city
of Colfax, he has built up one of the leading mercantile
establishments in this locality, controlling a trade which ramifies
throughout the county, and having the high reputation which is ever
signicant (sic)of personal integrity and honorable methods.
     Mr. Timmons, who is proprietor of a dry goods and grocery store
and who has been one of the prominent business men of Colfax for the
past twenty-four years, was born in Clinton county April 3, 1859, on
a farm.  He is a son of Andrew J. and Susan (WHITESELL) TIMMONS, an
industrious old family of this county. The father was a gallant
soldier in the Union army during the Civil war, serving in the
Eighty-sixth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, having enlisted in 1861. He
contracted a disease while in the army from which he finally died,
when in the prime of life, at the age of thirty-five years.  His
widow is still living, making her home at Frankfort, this county,
being now advanced in years.  Five children were born to Charles J.
Timmons and wife: Mrs. Elizabeth SHEPHERD of Logansport, Indiana; J.
S.,  Alonzo E., subject of this sketch;  Mrs. Mary TEGNER, and W. T.,
of Colfax.  The father was a Democrat in politics.
     Alonzo E. Timmons was reared on the home farm and worked hard
when a boy. He received his education in the public schools.  For
twelve years he worked in Dawson's tile factory, one of the first
concerns of its kind to be established in Indiana.  Then for three
years he traveled selling a patent tile machine, covering the states
of Indiana, Ohio and New York, and was very successful in this work.
He then took a clerkship for E. H. Johnson, which he held for a
period of thirteen years, his long retention being an indication of
the excellent and satisfactory service he rendered.  He subsequently
formed a partnership with Martin DUNBAR, and for many years engaged
successfully in the general mercantile business, building up a large
trade with the surrounding country.  He now has one of the largest
and most popular stores in this locality, carrying a large and
carefully selected line of dry goods, boots, shoes, staple and fancy
groceries.  His prices are always right, according to his hundreds of
regular customers and his trade is constantly growing.  He is
scrupulously honest in his dealings with his fellow men, and is
uniformly courteous.  His store is neatly arranged with everything
under a superb system, and it is a favorite stopping place, winter
and summer, for the county people from all over Clinton county when
they come to Colfax.
Mr. Timmons was married in 1886 in Colfax to Junietta Swallow, a
native of Indianapolis, where she was reared and educated.  She is a
daughter of Benjamin and Caroline (MILBURN) SWALLOW.  The father was
one of the brave sons of the North who fought against the hosts of
rebellion in the sixties. The mother and father are both deceased.
    Mr. and Mrs. Timmons have one daughter, Mrs. Louise GRIGGS.
    Politically, Mr. Timmons is a Democrat.  Fraternally, he belongs
to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Knights of Pythias
and is active in lodge work, being also a member of the Maccabees and
the Woodman of the World. Mrs. Timmons belongs to the Presbyterian
church. They have both been laborers for the general good of Colfax
and vicinity in every way, and are highly esteemed by a very wide
circle of friends and acquaintances.
Source : Pages  500 - 502.   History of Clinton County .... 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
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TIMMONS, John W.
     One of the careful and up-to-date farmers of Perry township,
Clinton county, and a man who has so ordered his course as to gain
the respect and admiration of his fellow men is John Timmons.  He has
been a close student of the soil, noting its changes as well as the
climate changes since he was a boy, and has farmed so skillfully and
scientifically that his land has retained its original fertility, and
his outlay of labor is annually regarded by handsome crops.
     Mr. Timmons was born September 27, 1864.  He is a son of John
Timmons, Sr., who was a native of Fountain county, Ind.  Our subject
is descended from a thrifty pioneer family, who did their part in
clearing the wilderness.  His paternal grandfather came to Indiana
from Ohio in a very early day.  Our subject's mother was known in her
maidenhood as Harriet WYANT, a native of Virginia, and was a daughter
of William Wyant, a soldier under Gen.  William Henry Harrison in the
war of 1812, and who fought at the great Indian battle of Tippecanoe,
November 7, 1811.  After the war he returned to his home in Virginia,
were he continued to reside until 1828, when he built a flat boat, in
which he placed his household belongings and his family and drifted
down the Kanawha river to the Ohio, and down that stream to
Cincinnati, where he sold his boat and purchased a wagon and an ox
team and came overland to Indiana, locating in Clinton county, three
miles northwest of Colfax.  Here he established the future home of
the family.  William  Wyant's wife was a native of Ireland and she
always retained a strong love for the old sod.
     To John Timmons, Sr., and wife was born the following children:
Michael, Ezekiel, Elizabeth,- David, Jane, Sophronia, John W., Jr.,
Alice and Della.  The father of the above named children died at the
age of fifty-one years.  Politically he was a Democrat, and he and
his wife were members of the Methodist church.  The mother survived
to the advanced age of eighty-one years. The father was a very large
man physically, weighing three hundred and twenty-five pounds.
     John W.  Timmons, Jr., was reared on the old home farm and there
he worked hard when a boy, and received his educational training in
the common schools of his township.  When twenty-two years old he
married Ida CHENOWETH, who was born and reared in Clinton county, and
here she was educated in the public schools.  She is a daughter of
William N. Chenoweth, a respected farmer of Perry township. He was
born on April 20, 1839, the son of Arthur Chenoweth, a native of
Kentucky. William Chenoweth was married at the age of twenty-four
years, while living in Montgomery county, Indiana, to Esther DUNBAR,
a widow.  Of this union one child was born, Ida, wife of Mr. Timmons
.
     Mrs. Esther CHENOWETH died at the age of twenty-six years, in
1866.  Her mother's name was Bowers before her marriage.  She was a
daughter of Abner BOWERS, an old soldier.
     The subject of this sketch has a productive and well improved
farm of seventy-five acres, and here he carries on general farming
and stock raising successfully.  He has a pleasant dwelling and
substantial outbuildings, including a garage.  He owns a good forty
horse power automobile.
     The following children leave been born to Mr. and Mrs. Timmons:
Lela, wife of Prof. J. SARIG, of Cass county; Walter, Russell, Carl
and Eugene.
     Mr.  Timmons was president of the local telephone company for
four years, and its large success was due to his able management.  He
brought it out of a debt of three hundred and fifty dollars, and soon
had it on a money making basis.  He is a member of Masonic Lodge, No
473, of which he served as master four years.  Mrs. Timmons is a
member of the Eastern Star, of which she has been matron for two
terms, discharging the duties of her position in a most commendable
manner.  They are both members of the Christian church of Colfax.
Source : Pages 482 - 483  History of Clinton County .... 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
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WHITE, Melville Bevendge
In the respect that is accorded to men who have fought their own way
to success through unfavorable environment we find an unconscious
tribute to the intrinsic worth of a character which not only endure
the test, but gains new strength through the discipline.  The
gentleman to whom the biographer now calls the reader's attention was
not favored by inherited wealth or the asssitance (sic) of
influential friends, but in spite of this, by perseverance, industry
and wise economy, he has attained a comfortable station in life,
making his influence felt for good in his community of Clinton
county, where he is well known by reason of his honorable career and
because of the fact that he is numbered among those patriotic sons of
the North who assisted in saving the Union's integrity in the dark
days of the sixties.   Melville B. White was born December 9, 1844,
in Bloomingrave, Indiana, and was the son of Alexander and Nancy
(TEMPLETON) WHITE.  Alexander White was born also in Bloomingrave on
July 11, 1816, and he was the son of William and Nancy (SKINNER)
WHITE.   Alexander White spent practically all of his life in
farming, and was very successful in the pursuit of the same.  At the
time of his death, on August 3, 1905, he possessed one hundred and
sixty acres of excellent land in Franklin county.  He married Nancy
TEMPLETON, who was born in Franklin county in 1816, and who died in
Wisconsin, where she and her husband had gone in the spring of 1860
in hopes of benefiting her health.
     William White was born in Delaware in the latter part of the
eighteenth century and came to Indiana before the year 1800, being
one of the very first white men to penetrate the forests of this
locality and brave the hardships therein.  Most of his life was spent
in the vocation of farming and he experienced the usual life of the
pioneer of the day.
     Melville White received a good common school education in the
county of his birth.  He spent the early years of his life on his
father's farm and was yet a boy in his teens when the first gun was
fired in the Civil war.  He enlisted in Company C, Thirteenth Indiana
Volunteer Infantry, and was attached to the Army of the Potomac,
under General Grant.  He participated in all of the more important
engagements of the Army of the Potomac.  In September, 1865, he was
given an honorable discharge, at the time holding the rank of
corporal of his company.  After the close of his military career, Mr.
White began farming in Franklin county, which he continued for a
couple of years, then conducted a dry goods business at Bloomingrave,
Indiana until 1872.  He then came to Clinton county, still following
the same business, and settled first in Rossville, where he stayed
until 1901.  He came to Frankfort in that year, and accepted a very
lucrative position as cashier of the Central Union Telephone Company,
and here he has been since that year.
     In politics, Mr. White is a Progressive, and in 1909 was elected
as councilman  from the third ward of Frankfort, and in this capacity
has given very efficient service.  Fraternally,  Mr. White is a
member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, Independent Order
of Odd Fellows, Improved Order of Red Men, and the Grand Army of the
Republic.  He is a Methodist in religion and has always been a
liberal supporter of the church.
     In June, 1874, Mr. White was married to Emma C. McCLURE, of
Brookville, lndiana, she having been born there May 20, 1847.  Two
children have been born of this union: Oakley M., of Indianapolis.
and Lula R. at home.
Source : Pages 436 - 437.   History of Clinton County .... 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
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(c) Connie Rushing 1998 - 2001