 |
 EV. JOHN GILBERT SAWIN, of the firm
of J. G. Sawin & Co., general merchants,
and of the firm of I. W. Sawin & Co.,
grain and hay dealers at Loxa, was born on
the farm of his father in Bartholomew County, Ind.,
March 1, 1838. He is the son of James H. and
Carolina (Harvey) Sawin, the former a native of
New York State and the latter of New Jersey.
James H. Sawin located in Bartholomew County,
Ind., after his marriage, where he engaged successfully in farming pursuits, and spent the balance of
his life, his death taking place in the spring of 1871.
He left an estate including 200 acres of land and
its buildings, which constituted a comfortable
homestead. There the wife and mother still resides.
She was born in 1808, and has consequently
attained to the advanced age of nearly fourscore
years. The parental family included nine children,
all of whom attained their majority and five are
now living. The subject of this history, who is a gentleman of excellent education and more than ordinary ability, was reared on the farm and received briefly the advantages only of, the common schools, his attendance there being limited to six months. He was fond of his books, however, and did not abandon them after leaving school, but kept up a course of reading by which he secured a good fund of information and which enabled him to cultivate his literary tastes, which were developed largely in after years. He resided in his native State until after reaching his majority, and in 1862 came to this county, settling in Lafayette Township, on the farm where he still resides, and which comprises a fine body of eighty-five acres, adjacent to the town limits and upon which is a good set of frame buildings. Mr. S. became connected with his present business in 1870, and has been engaged in merchandising for the past twenty years. He was married in this county, in 1862, to Miss America L., daughter of Dumas and Lucy (King) Jones, and who was born in Coles County, May 26, 1846. Of this union there are four children Ida F., the wife of J. P. Stout; Lucy C., Clara V. and William G. Mr. Sawin has been identified with the old-school Baptist Church since 1860. The year following he was ordained as a minister, and for twenty-seven years thereafter officiated in various places, traveling one year 11,000 miles in the prosecution of his pious duties. His health, however, gave way, and he was obliged to abandon his arduous labors and choose something less active, although he still officiates in the pulpit of the church near Loxa and occasionally in other places. He represented Lafayette Township on the County Board of Supervisors five years, and since becoming a voter has been the stanch supporter of Republican principles. Mr. Sawin is a natural linguist, a fluent speaker and writer, and an excellent penman. He never studied grammar in his life but has been the author of many interesting articles, and his manuscript has always been highly complimented by the “intelligent compositor.” His tastes have been literary in a large degree, and in 1881 he founded the “Youth’s Home Journal,” a sixteen-page monthly, which he published at Loxa with success for two years. His strength then gave out, and he was obliged to abandon for a time anything which required the exercise of labor, either mental or manual. |
 |
| Return To Contents |
|