Howard-Parke County IN Archives Biographies.....Pickett, Nathan 1818 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/in/infiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com April 14, 2006, 10:47 pm Author: Jackson Morrow NATHAN PICKETT. Nathan Pickett is president of the Howard National Rank, Kokomo. There are many poor men who have good business talent. Some of them have made themselves wealthy in former years by their commercial ability, but have lost their fortune by some accident, as the incompetency or treachery of a partner in business or of a trusted employe, or a fire or flood, or sickness or financial panic overspreading the country: and some there are even who have never made a fortune, though they have the capacity for such an accomplishment, especially among the poorer classes in the old world, with whom it is impossible to obtain the means by which to start. Some again have inherited talent of a certain kind, but are too far removed from the scene where they can have any opportunity of exerting it. But in this country, while we must acknowledge in the abstract that there are many poor men of good business capacity, yet the only "standing in evidence" to the average American of such capacity is the actual possession of wealth, or at least of a competency. The possession of wealth alone, however, is not considered evidence of morality. For the ethical and the aesthetic we must lookback of all the outward show; and it is by this scrutiny that we ascertain the character of the subject of this sketch, Nathan Pickett, to be worthy of honorable consideration in this volume. He was born October 26, 1818, in Chatham county. North Carolina, and was ten years old when his parents left that section in search of better facilities for a comfortable home. His father, William Pickett, a farmer, in the fall of 1828 moved from his Carolina home to this state, locating in Parke county, where he purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, to which he added by entering and purchase until he had in the home farm two hundred and forty acres, and he had given several of his sons one hundred and sixty acres each. He continued his residence there until his death, which occurred in August. 1837. when he was in his sixty-second year. He was a native of North Carolina, as was his wife, whose name before her marriage was Catherine Maris. She died in October, 1843, aged about sixty-two years. Both were members of the Friends church. They had four sons and four daughters, but of these the only one living is Nathan Pickett, whose name heads these paragraphs. John Pickett, grandfather, passed the most of his life in North Carolina. He was probably of English ancestry, was a member of the Society of Friends, and died in the old North state. In his family were seven or eight children. The maternal grandfather of Mr. Pickett, Mr. Maris, was a native of that state, was a Friend and a consistent Christian. Mr. Pickett grew to manhood in Parke county, this state, employed on the farm and attending the old-time subscription school, which was two miles distant from his home, but the most of his education he received through business habits. At the age of seventeen, on account of failing health, he quit the farm and obtained employment in a store, but he soon returned to the farm. This was in 1841. Being full of energy, however, he overworked and was compelled to quit the heavy, tedious and protracted duties of agricultural life in the "pioneer West," and he engaged in merchandising in the village of Annapolis for a period of fifteen years. In 1878 he moved to Kokomo, where he was elected president of the Howard National Bank, which was organized and opened for business in January of that year. The charter, however, was dated in the November preceding. The duties and responsibilities of president of this bank have ever since been faithfully performed by him, who has now reached the age of ninety years and is as vigorous and active as many men at the age of sixty. He still owns the old homestead in Parke county, containing four hundred and ten acres, seven miles from Rockville, the county seat. November 18, 1841, is the date of Mr. Pickett's union in matrimony with Harriet Emily Carter, daughter of Jehu and Lydia Thompson Carter, of Morgan county, Indiana, near Monrovia. They became the parents of two sons and eight daughters, named Louisa, Catherine, Lydia, Sarah, Jehu, Emma, Amanda, Walter, Ella and Ida. Louisa was married three times and has two children, Foster Branson and Grace Nixon being the children of the first and second husbands, respectively. Her last husband's name was Branson also; she is now a widow. Catherine died at the age of ten years. Lydia became the wife of William A. Moore and was the mother of two children, of whom only Amanda is now living. Mr. Moore was a teacher for a number of years in Earlham College, this state, and is now deceased. Sarah is now Mrs. D. T. McNeil at Ann Arbor, Michigan, where her children, Walter and Paul, attended the university. Jehu, now a traveling man, married Louisa Lindley and they reside in Wichita, Kansas. Their children are Emma and Ella. Emma, his sister, married Louis F. Hornaday and they live in Crawfordsville, this state. Amanda died at the age of twenty years. Walter married Jessie VanSickel, of Crawfordsville, and has one child named Catherine. He and his brother-in-law are in business together in that city, dealing in groceries, queensware, housefurnishing goods and stoves. Ella, twin sister of Walter, is unmarried. Ida, now deceased, became the wife of Julius Avers and has one child named Warren. Mrs. Harriett Emily Pickett, the first wife of the subject and mother of the above named children, departed this life May 30, 1888, in her sixty-sixth year. She was a noble woman and a member of the Society of Friends. On the 20th day of October, 1894, Mr. Pickett chose for his second wife Mrs. Catherine (Cox) Overman, widow of Charles Overman, and formerly a resident of Parke county. In his political views Mr. Pickett is a Republican, but he has never had any taste for public office. Now, the subject of the foregoing sketch is an example of rising to a competency by honest methods and a steady aim, perseverance and intelligent application and fidelity. When his parents settled in this state other settlers were there before him but two years. There were eight children in the family. At one time his father endeavored to buy wheat for them to make into flour, and at length succeeded in finding two bushels, which was ground, bolted by hand, and that was all the wheat flour the family had for a number of months. The staples of their table fare were corn, pork, pumpkin, milk and butter. Now, besides his finely improved farm at the old homestead in Parke county, he has a nice property here in Kokomo, his residence being No. 140 West Sycamore street, where he is enjoying life. Additional Comments: From: HISTORY OF HOWARD COUNTY INDIANA BY JACKSON MORROW, B. A. ILLUSTRATED VOL. II B. F. BOWEN & COMPANY INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA (circa 1909) File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/in/howard/bios/pickett171bs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/infiles/ File size: 7.4 Kb