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COTTRELL, ABRAHAM.  It is to be remembered that one of the pioneers of Green Township was Abraham Cottrell.  He made his move from Virginia to Union County, Indiana and married Susan Hilderbrand, she, also, a native Virginian.  And, later in that year of 1823, they settled on lands at the fork of Fall Creek/Lick Creek.  Abraham lived and farmed there until his death 66 years later. In politics, Mr. Cottrell was a Whig and later, a Republican.  He was said to be an avid reader and very engaged with government affairs.  The children of Abraham and Susan were: Mary A. (b. 1824); Elizabeth (b. 1826); John H. (b.1829); Hester (b. 1832); William (b. 1834); Lydia (b. 1836); Abram (b. 1839); Samuel P. (b. 1840); Thomas J. (b.1843).

DIPBOYE, JONATHAN.   Extracted from  "Portrait & Biographical Record of Madison & Hamilton Counties, IN, 1893". [Submitted by J. P. Smith on 20 Oct 2001]. " Jonathan Dipboye was born in New Market, VA in 1819, and remained under the parental roof until 1838, two years after the death of his father. In 1837 he married Miss Eleanor Bartlett, native of the Old Dominion, but who came to Indiana with her father, Robert Bartlett, when but a girl. She was an intelligent Christian woman, and her death, which occured in 1877, was a sad blow to her family and friends. After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Dipboye moved to a cabin  in the woods and cleared a farm of seventy acres. There, this enterprising young couple lived for twenty years, after which they sold out and moved to Frankton. There, they bought and improved a farm of one hundred and ninety-five acres, and there his wife's death occurred. In 1883 Mr. Dipboye moved to his present place."   "In August, forty years ago, he entered the ministry, became a member of the Miami Conference, and during these forty years has organized forty churches. He is an evangelist, and has preached about five hundred funeral sermons. For four years he was Presiding Elder in the Eastern Indiana Conference, and held the same position for five years in the Union Miami Conference. Now he works as a he feels able to. In politics he is a Democrat, and socially a Master Mason, being Chaplin of Frankton Lodge. He is one of the old and honored citizens of the county, and has accomplished much good in his life."  "On May 9, 1869, Elder Jonathon Dipboye organized a Christian church at Elm Grove school house in Lafayette township, with eleven members. Meetings were held at the Elm Grove school house and other places in the township until 1872, when a frame house of worship, costing about $1,000. was erected on the farm of George D. Thompson, not far from the schoolhouse."

FOUST, ALVIN DON.   Written by Don Faust  for  "A Family History: The Ancestors of Thomas Wilson Faust", 1997. [Submitted by J. P. Smith on 20 Oct 2001, who notes as follows, as to Alvin Don Foust,:  "(Alvin) Don Faust was Glenn and Vivien's only son. He was a cousin that I looked up to and became my genealogy buddy.: We owe a great debt to Don for his exceptional research and "publishing" efforts in the quest for ancestral discovery. He was a model for those who try excell and make a contribution to Humanity."].   Don Faust grew up on his parents farm in Madison county, Indiana, but was the first in a long line of farmers, to enter a different vocation. He spent his entire career in the broadcasting field, first as a radio and television announcer, and then as a station executive for more than thirty years. Along the way the spelling of the family name got changed from Foust to the ancestral Faust.   He married Barbara Wilson in 1951 in their hometown of Dayton, Ohio. They became the parents of one child, Thomas Wilson Faust, who was born in 1956. Perhaps as a harbinger of the career to come, his first public speaking appearance occured two weeks before his second birthday, with a recitation at a church Mother's Day program. It was short, just, "Oh Mother dear, when you are near, all my troubles seem to disappear".   In Don's youth, he helped on the farm by tending livestock, cultivating the fields and doing assorted chores during the summer and after school. While still a young boy, as a learning experience in earning his own money, he was allowed to hatch eggs with a few setting hens, raise the chicks and realize the profits upon their sale. This led naturally to joining the 4-H Club, an organization of farm youth, when he was old enough to participate. His 4-H projects included Jersey calves, Shropshire sheep, and Buff Orpington chickens, all of which were groomed and shown in competition at county and state fairs, winning twenty blue ribbons. The most prized honor was a gold medal for the "Best Fitted" (groomed) Jersey at the Indiana State Fair. He also teamed with another 4-H member to win two state championships in demonstrating Applied Agricultural Procedures.   The Great Depression that engulfed the country during his adolesent years, left a profound impression on him. Although his family fared better than many because they could raise their own food, it was a period of relentless privation. A particularly vivid memory was of seeing rescue workers removing the body of a man who had jumped only moments before from the observation deck atop the obelisk of the Soldiers and Sailors monument in downtown Indianapolis, another victim of the stock market crash.

 Don was a member of the class of 1936 at Elwood high School, and was chosen as a commencement speaker. Following graduation, he went to Taylor University for one year, then to Purdue University. The study of agricultural economics at Purdue was not of overriding interest, but it did lead to something of greater appeal... student announcer at the university radio station, where he began with a program called, "Farm Facts for Farm Folks". That did it; broadcasting became his career objective.   In 1939, he got a summer announcing job at an Indianapolis radio station, and never returned to college. The pay was $60 per month, but in that post-depression pre-inflation period, a full lunch cost only 35 cents, shoes could be had for $5, and a haircut was just a quarter (two bits). The next eight years were spent at several stations in the typically nomadic radio business. After two years of somewhat aimless smaller market experience, he moved up to major stations in Washington D.C., Detroit, and Chicago. While in Detroit, in addition to staff announcing duties, he played the title role in the ABC network action drama, "The Green Hornet", the second of four who enacted the role in the 13 year life span of the program.   Don left Detroit in 1944 for Chicago to learn something of a new broadcasting medium... television. There were only seven stations in the country at the time, all mostly experimental and on the air for just a few hours a day. Three were in New York, and one each in Philadelphia, Chicago, Schenectady and Los Angeles. Equipment was hand made, programming was rudimentary at best, and enormous amounts of very hot lights were required to produce an acceptable picture with the early cameras. For example, it took eighty-four, 300 watt birdseye bulbs to light a small news desk. There were only 360 television receivers in the city of Chicago, all with tiny screens. Since the station was not commercially viable, as there were no advertisers at the time, personnel consisted of volunteers, except for a core technical crew. While earning a living as an announcer at a large radio station and part time work with a major advertising agency, Don became one of those pioneering volunteers as an unpaid TV performer and director. The days were long: the radio station from 5am to noon, the agency from 1 to 3pm, and the TV station from 3 to 10 or 11pm. For almost three years, sleep was almost an afterthought, but the experience gained would prove useful in future years.   In 1947, with new stations beginning to come on air, Don and two others started a television production company to serve advertisers who were taking an interest in developing ways to utilize the new medium. The company enjoyed intial success, creating commercials for Shell Oil, Ford, Gilette, Kool cigarettes, Elgin Watch, and several brewers. But it was short-lived. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), ordered a freeze on licensing new stations while they deliberated the allocation of new channels; an action that stopped the fledgling industry in it's tracks. The freeze lasted for three years, while the production company held on. It finally succumbed for the lack of new customers.   Broke and in debt, Don took a job in 1949 as Program manager at a previously licensed TV station that was under construction in Dayton, Ohio. It was there that he met his wife, who also worked at the station. Two years later he accepted a position as assistant General manager, at a station in Pittsburgh, PA. after two years there, he and the Sales manager found financial backers, applied for and received, one of the new Ultra High Frequency (UHF) channels that the FCC had made available. Unfortunately, the higher frequency signal did not adequately penetrate the hilly terrain of Pittsburgh. And the new station, despite excellant programming, could never develop an audience sufficient to sustain it. Another entrepreneurial disappointment.   Next, Don was hired to construct and operate a new TV station in Flint, Michigan, where he remained as Vice President and General manager for over 11 years. From a late start against entrenched competition, the station within a few years, achieved the second highest rating among all ABC network affiliates nationwide. Then it was sold and the new owner brought in his own manager, a man with whom he had been associated for some years.   With a financial cushion from stock he owned in the selling company, Don took several months before deciding in 1966 to accept a job with the General Electric Broadcasting Company as Vice President and General Manager of the TV and radio stations it had just purchased in Nashville, Tennessee. In succeeding years, he was transferred to the company's broadcast properties in Denver, Colorado and then to headquarters in Schedectady, New York. There, he was responsible for all of the GE stations, then the General Electric Cablevision Corporation and, finally, President of both the broadcasting and cablevision companies. As President, he was responsible for 11 TV and radio stations and 51 cable franchises across the country from Boston to San Francisco, a geographic spread that required flying more than 125,00 miles a year. After 15 years with GE, he retired to Nashville in 1981.

 Throughout his career, Don Faust was very active in community organizations, serving as a director on dozens of boards. A few in which he was most active include: United Way in Flint, Nashville and Denver, YMCA in Flint, Nashville and Denver; Better Business Bureau in Nashville and Denver; Michigan Governor's Council on Traffic Safety; Colorado Governor's Task Force on Jobs for Veterans; Service Corps of Retired Executives in Nashville; and Senior Citizens Inc. and Senior Citizens Endowment in Nashville. There also were innumerable committees and service as a consultant to nonprofit organizations on long range strategic planning. He was a member of the Committee of Sponsors for Flint's College and Cultural Develpment, a group of community leaders who undertook the building of a cultural campus consisting of an art museum, theater, planetarium, carillon, auto museum, and two buildings to house a branch of the University of Michigan.
 One of the more demanding community assignments was director of the Golden Milestone Celebration. It was a Flint civic endeavor honoring General Motors on the 50th anniversary of its founding in the city and remembering the auto pioneers who were part of it -- David Buick, Louis Chevrolet, William Durant, Walter Chrysler, Charles Nash and Ransom Olds. The year-long celebration sponsored 85 events, culminating in a live broadcast of NBC Television's "Wide, Wide, World" and a parade attended by over 200,000 people. The parade featured over 3500 participants and special floats carrying the stars of several popular network TV programs.   Professionally, he was a director of: The National Association of Broadcasters Radio Board; the ABC Television Network Board of Governors; the UHF TV Association; the Michigan Association of Broadcasters; and a member of the Society of TV Pioneers. He was honored in 1953 as one of "Pittsburgh's Newsmakers of Tomorrow" in a Time Magazine/Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce recognition and is a biographee in "Who's Who in America".   Don has been a speaker for over 350 civic, professional and eleemosynary organizations from New York to Los Angeles. In academia, he lectured on broadcasting at Georgetown University, Michigan State, University of Michigan, Wayne State and the University of Colorado.   By the nature of the business, broadcasting brought him in contact with a innumerable number of noted people from all walks of life. Among them were six Presidents: Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Nixon, Johnson, and Reagan. The meeting with all except Roosevelt occurred before they were elected to the office.   Barbara and Don were taken many places by his career, and experienced a jolt or two along the way. But she, and their son Tom when he joined the family, took it all in good cheer, made new friends at each location and created a home out of each new house.

FOUST, Glenn L.   From "A Family History: The Ancestors of Thomas Wilson Faust", by Don Faust, 1997.  Glenn L. Foust, born on November 1st, 1894, was only a little over 5', 7" tall in stature and about 140 pounds, but he was big in other things: integrity, industriousness, reliability, and sociability. This is the admittedly biased view of his son, but an assessment shared by others who knew him. He worked on the farm with his father until an adjacent parcel of 80 acres could be bought; later purchases over the years would increase his farm to 231 acres.   He married (Lela) Vivien Smith in 1917. Her family lived just two miles north of him, a short buggy ride to go courting in his Sunday best of celluloid collar, wide tie, fitted coat and peg-bottom trousers. Adversity was their companion during the first years of their marriage: a late frost destroyed their crops the first year; a hailstorm did the same the year after; and the third year their only child was born by ceasarian section, after which Vivien experienced serious complications and almost died. It was the beginning of fifteen years of burdensome medical costs that saw the family of three undergo 10 operations, many of them major in nature. In those days before medical insurance, the money expended could have bought a lot more land. Despite the adversity, Glenn and Vivien prevailed and held onto the farm through the Great Depression when many of the country's farmers lost theirs. During that terrible time, the milk they produced brought only a nickel a gallon, and a 225 pound hog sold for just five dollars. The economy was in collapse and a quarter of the nation's workers were unemployed.   For most of his life the Glenn Foust's farm was diversified, or what was known as a general farm. He raised both livestock and grain. During the peak years, over 200 acres of corn, wheat, oats and soybeans were grown along with 3000 broiler chickens, 800-1000 laying hens, about 200 hogs and 15-20 milking cows. Occasionally, beef cattle  and sheep were added to the mix. All this required long hours to handle; the work day was generally from 4am to 8pm, except during a few months in the winter when it was somewhat shorter. In his retirement years, the farm was rented out and turned exclusively to grain production as most others in the area were doing. Winters during the next couple of decades were spent on the west coast of Florida, or the Rio Grande valley of Texas, where he actively participated in the many events of "snowbird" organizations, and won several trophies in shuffle board tournaments.   Glenn had only an eighth grade education, but posessed an uncanny ability to "figure" in his head. He was neat in his personal habits and in the way the farm was maintained. The buildings were always painted, weeds kept down, implements properly housed and the corn rows were always planted straight. Uncompromisingly honest, his life exemplified the value of a good reputation, an example of which was conclusively demonstrated once when his son was on an errand to pick up some items at the local grocery. It was before the arrival of supermarkets when grocers pulled articles from the shelves of a small store. After the grocer had assembled all of the items  on the counter, the young man discovered that he had forgotten to bring the money for the order. When the grocer was told of this and asked to return the items to the shelves, the man asked his name. When he given it, he inquired " Are you Glenn Foust's boy?" Assured that was so, the grocer said, " In that case son, you go ahead and take the groceries and bring in the money the next time you're in town". A small episode, but a great lesson.   Glenn and Vivien lived to celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary, almost duplicating her parents 67 years together. His 95 years encompassed a period of perhaps the greatest progress the country has ever experienced. When he started farming, horsepower was just that- horses. A walking plow pulled by horses could only turn an acre of ground a day; by his later years, giant tractors pulling multiple-furrow plows could do that much in an hour. Large combines, corn pickers and improvements in other farm implements, brought equivalent gains and made the farmers life easier as well as more productive. Corn production per acre was doubled with heavy fertilization, different planting methods and the use of herbicides to control weeds. As fewer farmers could produce more, the farm population dropped to only 2% of the country's total.   Progress in other areas brought on momentous changes in everyday living. From the horse and buggy, wagons and gravel roads of his youth, Glenn would live to drive automobiles and trucks on paved roads, take airplane flights and see man travel into space. The advent of electric power replaced the kerosene lamp with electric lights and introduced a multitude of other appliances and equipment. Cooking advanced from wood-burning stoves to electric ranges and food preservation from root cellars, canning and salt curing to refrigerators and freezers. The telephone came into general use. The coal burning base burner was replaced by central heating and the outhouse by indoor plumbing. And he would see the development of radio, then television and finally, the computer. All in one lifetime!  When Glenn had something to do that was onerous to him, he would often say, "Sometimes you have to step up to the trough and take a drink."  Related by aunt Elizabeth, 9/2000.  [Submitted by J. P. Smith on 20 Oct 2001].

FOUST, JACOB.   From "A Family History: The Ancestors of Thomas Wilson Faust", by Don Faust, 1997.  Jacob Foust, better known as Jake, was born 1870, in the middle of this great transition from rural to industrial society in America. Farm population continued to fall; from more than 90% when his ancestors settled in this country, to 65% at the time of his fathers birth, to 17% at the end of Jacob's life. But along with his brothers, he chose the occupation of his forebearers rather than employment in the growing cities and towns. Jake was a sturdily built man, with a thick chest and powerful arms, well suited to the demands of country life. He started by working for other farmers in Hamilton county, and in the beginning, earned only $75 for an entire years work. But he saved his money and eventually acquired his own land in adjacent Hamilton county. Later, he built a fine new house of nine rooms. Jake married Jane Leeman in 1894 and they had three children together, all of whom settled within seven miles of their parents.   Jane was a smallish woman of uniformly good humor with, in her later years, a face as wrinkled as a prune. She was very neat in personal appearance and housekeeping and liked pretty things, such as flowers in her garden along with the vegetables. An enduring memory shared by her grandchildren is of the cake box in the pantry that always, without fail, contained homemade cake or cookies. She was the daughter of Alfred Leeman (1844-1936) and his wife Mary Eller (1843-1929).   Jake enjoyed superb health, never having a sick day in his life that required him to take to his bed. But ironically, he dropped dead of a heart attack at the age of 69, one of the shortest life spans in the generally long-lived Foust family. After his death, Jane moved into a bungalow in the small nearby town of Frankton where she lived until her death at 89.  [Jake was Glenn Foust's father and farmed in Madison County, IN.  Submitted by J. P. Smith on 20 Oct 2001].  

FOUST, LELA VIVIEN (SMITH).  Lela Vivien Smith was born February 26th, 1893, at the end of the Victorian era but was every inch a Victorian woman, being circumspect in whatever she did, albeit at times appearing a bit self-righteous.   She was very active in the Methodist church, taught Sunday School and religiously following the dicta it preached at that time: drinking, dancing and card playing were frowned upon, and business was never transacted on Sunday. But at the same time, she always stood ready to help someone in need, be it family member or mere acquaintance. Many families impacted by the Depression benefited from food boxes left on their doorsteps anonymously.   She graduated from Elwood High School where a classmate was Wendell Willkie, who became the Republican Party candidate for President in 1940.   In 1917, she married Glenn Foust and they moved into a house on the farm he had purchased about two miles south of her parents' home. The house was probably 60-70 years old at the time but of solid construction; the floor and structure were supported by 8x8 inch hand hewn beams. They remodeled it several times over the years and spent their entire married life there. Most improvements at the homestead dated from the early 1930's onward when electric power was extended to the rural areas, bringing appliances to the home and electric motors for many farm applications.   Initially, she had to carry water in from a well; later a pump at the kitchen sink was installed, and, finally, running water. Cooking first was done on a wood-burning iron stove, followed by an oil stove, then an electric range. She canned hundreds of jars of fruits, vegetables, meats, jams, jellies and juices. Ten-gallon crocks of sauerkraut also were made. Her first washer consisted of two wooden tubs mounted on an iron frame with a hand-cranked wringer between them. One tub was for washing with homemade lye soap using a washboard, the other for rinsing. The clean laundry was, of course, hung outside on a clothesline. Later, an automatic washer and dryer eliminated the drudgery of that Monday task -- doing the laundry.   In the early years, family groups got together for butchering. The men dressed and cut up the hogs for curing while the women made sausage and prepared the midday meal. Similar groups were assembled for threshing.   She became an accomplished teacher when her young son was not allowed to attend school for a year because of a bone cancer operation that left only a delicate shell of the cheekbone and doctors feared it could be broken in the rough and tumble of the schoolyard. She was such a demanding instructor that he finished two grades in one year and scored the highest grades in the county on the eighth grade final examination administered at the school.   Vivien kept the farm records and was largely responsible for the chicken portion of the business, to which she brought a significant amount of innovation. She developed a broiler feed mixture with ingredients such as gluten and iron oxide that had not previously been used. It produced broiler chickens a half pound heavier in two weeks less feeding time. Also, she had the unique ability to discern poultry infirmities through an autopsy.   For much of her adult life, Vivien experienced health problems. But she still accomplished much, lived to be 90 and celebrated her 65th wedding anniversary before she died. (Taken from: "A Family History: The Ancestors of Thomas Wilson Faust", by Donovan Faust, 1997.)  [Submitted by J. P. Smith on 20 Oct 2001].

GUSTIN, ISAAC H.  [This biography was posted to the Henry Co., IN mailing list, INHENRY-L in March of 2001 by Lora  and it was forwarded for inclusion here by Jim R., especially since it contained much information relating to Madison County.  The original biography appeared in "Compendium of Biography of Henry County, Indiana".  B.F. Bowen, 1920; pages 347-349.]  [Surnames include:  Gustin; Fuller; Betts; Diltz; Cummins; Smith; Harvey; Nixon; Brunk; and Hirpp.]   Isaac H. Gustin:  Henry County, Indiana, has within its limits but few horticulturists and agriculturists as experienced in these two branches of husbandry as the gentleman whose name stands at the head of this biographical notice.  He is of French extraction and remotely of ante-Revolutionary descent, was born in Warren County Ohio, August 14, 1824, a son of Samuel B. Gustin, of Pennsylvania, whose father, Jeremiah Gustin,  was born in New Jersey and was a son of Jeremiah Gustin, the son of John Gustin, who was born on the island of  Jersey, on the northeast of France, and was the founder of the family in America. John Gustin and his wife Elizabeth came from the isle of Jersey to America in 1675 and died in 1719 at Falmouth (Portland), Maine. His son,  Jeremiah, who was born in 1691, married Mary -, who was born in 1692. They settled in Sussex County, New Jersey, and there Mrs. Mary Gustin died in 1762, and John Gustin in 1771. Jeremiah Gustin, son of John and Elizabeth Gustin, married Bethany Fuller, and died at Red Lion,Warren County, Ohio, in 1825 and 1829 respectively. Jeremiah Gustin, son of Jeremiah and Bethany (Fuller) Gustin, married a Miss Betts, of Cincinnati, Ohio, and died also at Red Lion at the advanced age of ninety-two years. Samuel B. Gustin, son of the Jeremiah last alluded to, married Elizabeth Diltz, a native of Kentucky, but reared in Ohio. Samuel B. and his wife lived on the old Gustin place at Red Lion until 1845, at which time they were the parents of six children, namely: Lemuel, who left his home about the year 1859, lived in Illinois and Dakota several years, then at Storm Lake, Iowa and is now a resident of the state of Washington; Isaac H., the subject proper of this biography, is next in order of birth; Rebecca, the third child, was married to John Cummins, but with her husband is now deceased; Jeremiah died in middle life in southwest Indiana;. Susan, who was married to Asa Smith, died about ten years ago; Benjamin Franklin, or Doe, as he was familiarly known, died in southwest Missouri, and Martha, who was first married to Miles Cummins, is now the widow of Frank Smith. The Gustin family came to Madison County, Indiana, and settled on the county line, where Samuel B. cleared up a farm of one hundred acres from a tract he had bought in the wild woods and on which he resided until his death March 31, 1874, at the age of seventy-six; his wife died a few years previously at the age of sixty-eight.  Mr. Gustin was a mechanic and had a shop in which he made guns, wheels, coffins, etc., and was also an impromptu dentist, but his work in this line was principally confined to the extracting of teeth. He also bled people occasionally and was the handy man of his neighborhood. He was a member of the Christian church, was in politics first a Wig and afterwards a Republican and had held the office of justice of the peace. Isaac H. Gustin assisted in clearing up the new farm and remained on the place three years after coming to Madison County, when he married, November 9, 1848, Miss Elizabeth, a daughter of James and Lucy (Harvey) Cummins, natives of Monroe County, Virginia, where Elizabeth was born April > 15, 1827. In 1829 the Cummins family came to Indiana in wagons with several other families and settled one mile east of Middletown, but two years later bought and west of the village, which land is now the property of James L. Gustin heirs. In 1832 there had seven or eight acres been cleared and the family lived in a round-log cabin, which was replaced by a hewed-log house, and here Elizabeth Cummins was married at the age of  twenty-one. For one year after marriage Mr. Gustin and wife lived on his father's land and then for a year on her father's. In 1850 he entered land in the Indian Reservation in Madison County, ten miles northwest of Alexandria, erected a log cabin in the woods among the howling wolves and laid in provisions sufficient to last him a year. He cleared up eight acres of the place and set out fruit trees; then he sold the place for six hundred dollars and for six hundred and fifty bought the farm of one hundred and sixty acres on which he now lives. But this land was swampy and he was forced to drain it.  He then built a hewed-log cabin (which has been replaced by his present modern dwelling on the same site), cleared up the higher ground, converted the timber into cord wood and sold it to the railroad company; this process was repeated the second year, Mr. Gustin deriving a fair income from it the meanwhile. Since 1852 this farm has been the homestead, although Mr. Gustin has sold some of the land to his sons, retaining but eighty acres for his own use.  He had placed one hundred and twenty-five acres under cultivation, had laid timber-lined ditches, which were followed by mole drains which in clay soils had a lasting quality of from five to ten years and finally secured the use of the public drains, into which he ran tiling at a cost of six hundred dollars. About three-quarters of the land was under water the greater part of the year and roads were invisible, but eventually logs were rolled together and covered with earth and now good gravel roads exist where before they were more a matter of imagination than reality. Besides devoting his attention to the farm. Mr. Gustin has made some experiments in inventing agricultural machine and gates, for which he has taken out several patents. In politics Mr. Gustin was first a Whig and in 1848 voted for General Winfield Scott as the presidential nominee of the party; since 1856 he has been a Republican, although for a few years he diverged from his party and joined the Populists.  Mr. Gustin has been a member of the Christian or New Light church since thirty-six years of age and Mrs. Gustin has professed the same faith for forty years. Mr. and Mrs. Isaac H. Gustin have had born to them the following family: Edwin, who lost his life in a gravel pit in 1895 at the age of forty five years; Cynthia, who was married to Lee Nixon and died in 1875 when twenty-two years old; Francis Marion, a homeopathic physician at Union City; James, who died in 1895 at the age of thirty years, wedded Mattie Brunk, and was the father of five children: Lee, Sylvester, Morton, Ada and one deceased; Smith, a resident of Fall Creek township, wedded Sallie Hirpp, and had children as follows: Clay, May, Ida and three deceased; Moses, an agriculturist, is married and is the father of five children as follows:  Montrew, Fredie, Ruby,  Ogleve and Argness. The surviving members of the Gustin family are among the most honored of the pioneer settlers around Middletown and have, always been among the foremost in developing from the forest the fruitful farm that now adorns and enriches the country and which have tended to make the town and township what they are today. They have certainly richly earned the enviable standing, which they  now enjoy.

GUSTIN, ISAAC H.  The following information was submitted 18 May 2002 by Sally Gordon (no valid email), a ggg granddaughter of Isaac H. Gustin.  There are several corrections and also additional information submitted, as follows:  

The parents of Isaac Hendershot Gustin were Samuel Betts Gustin & Elizabeth Dills (the pronunciation is Dilts/z but I use the spelling on the marriage license in Warren Co. OH).   Samuel B. & Elizabeth Dills Gustin lived in Madison Co. IN.  I have yet to discover her parents, but she was definitely not a sister to the William Dilts who m. Jane Gustin and moved to Madison Co. IN.   I mention this because someone once assumed the brother-sister relationship and that false information has been circulating for decades.       Isaac Hendershot Gustin died Nov. 16, 1913  in Henry Co. IN (his farm was on the county border) and is buried in the Keesling/Ellison Cemetery.  His wife, Elizabeth Cummins, died July 8, 1903 in Henry Co. IN; her obituary notice was published in "The Middletown News" July 14, 1903.  They had 6 known children:  1.) Edwin (Dec. 1849 IN - Jan. 1895 Henry Co. IN) married Flora Ellison (b. Jan. 1846 IN) Jan. 1876 in Henry Co. IN.  News of Edwin's fatal accident was reported in  "The New Castle Courier" Friday Jan. 4, 1895, p. 8, c. 2, under "Middletown."  2.)  Cynthia Susannah (Jan. 2, 1852 IN - Aug. 25, 1875) is also buried in the Keesling/Ellison Cem.  She m. Leonides Nixon Nov. 3, 1873 in Henry Co. IN.  3.) Francis Marion (Sept. 18, 1854 - after 1945), a homeopathic surgeon in Union City IN, m. Nancy Lee MacDonald Feb. 23, 1884/7 in Middletown, Henry Co. IN.  She died before 1920.  Their children were Thomas Lee Gustin (Feb. 24, 1888 IN - July 19, 1888) and Frances (1901 - Dec. 9, 1967 Union Ciity, Randolph Co. IN).  Frances never married, was her father's only heir, and died in the Randolph county home.  4.) James Leander (Aug. 28, 1857 IN - March 27, 1895  Middletown, Henry Co. IN) m. Martha J. "Mattie" Brunk (c1863 - c1894) Oct. 7, 1879 Henry Co. IN.   Their children were Minnie Lee, Sylvester, Morton H., & Ada E.   He was described as a prominent farmer who died from consumption at his father's home, the news reported in "The New Castle Courier" April 5, 1895 p. 8 c. 5.  5.) Franklin Smith, a farmer called "Smith" (July 16, 1859 Madison Co. IN - Aug. 28, 1949 nr. Middletown, Henry Co. IN) m. Sarah "Sallie" Lyda Hupp [not "Hirpp, as was published, maybe a misreading of handwriting] (1871 - 1954) on Dec. 23, 1889 in Henry Co. IN.  Sallie Hupp's parents were John B. & Elizabeth Bushong Hupp, who lived near Middletown.  Smith & Sallie had 11 children:  Clay, May, Mary, Samuel Clifford, Ida Margaret, Bessie, Hilma, a daughter born June 1903,  Claude Leon, Kenneth Rex, and Marjorie Jane.  Of these, Cliffie, Mary, Bessie, Hilma, and the unnamed daughter all died very young.   Ida, who died in 1960, was my grandmother.  6.) Moses McDaniel, called "Mote" (June 5, 1866 IN - Feb. 8, 1950 Hancock Co. IN) lived in Anderson, then Ovid, IN.  He was a tester in 1916 at Remy Electric in Anderson, IN, and later ran a silent film theater called "The Orpheum."  He is buried at the Mt. Zion Lutheran Cem.  Mote m. (1) Louise Bray (1868 - 1894) in June 1886;  they had 3 children:  Montrew, Mary Frederica, and Ruby.  After "Louie" died in 1894, Mote m. (2) Cora Alice Hodson in Oct. 1896;  they were later divorced.  They had 6 children:  Ogilvie (Mrs. Alva J. Lindsey) (1897 IN - 1964 Anderson, Madison Co. IN), unnamed twins born 1899, Argness (Mrs. Floyd Collis), a resident of Anderson, IN, and twins Geraldine and Maxine, born 1906.  
      Isaac H. Gustin co-founded the Bristol Christian Church in March 1895, along with Isaac Ellison & Joseph Graves.  [Sally notes she has a photograph of Isaac H. Gustin at an advanced age, seated outside his house in front of his family.]

KING, THOMAS J.    (Submitted March 21, 2002 by Eugene F. Gray.)   One of the successful farmers and a citizen always held in high esteem was the late Thomas J. King, who died at his home in Pipe Creek township, March 10, 1912. The late Mr. King was a man of thorough industry, knew how to apply his energies to the complicated tasks of farming, with the best results, and in all his relations he stood honorably toward his community.  The late Thomas J. King was born in a log cabin on the home farm which he occupied at the time of his death, on January 30, 1858. He was a son of Washington and Elizabeth (Howard) King. The Howard family came to Indiana from North Carolina. Washington King, the father, was a son of William King, who came to Indiana from the state of Ohio. The parents had the following children: William, Joseph, Rinda, Catherine, Barry, and Frank, (who were twins), Thomas J., Margaret, Jonathan, Daniel, and Ozro.  Born in the old log house which before the war was the home of the King family in Pipe Creek township, Thomas J. King grew up in this locality, and for his education attended what was known as the King school house. His attendance at school was alternated with work on the farm, and he was a farmer all his life. On the day he was married he moved his residence to a portion of the old homestead farm, renting land, and thus beginning his career.  Mr. King married March 8,1883, Miss Eliza J. Johnson, a daughter of Penn and Eliza (Wilborn) Johnson. The father came from North Carolina, and for many years was a farmer near Elwood. The seven children in the Johnson family included Mrs. King, the oldest; Willliam, Lewis, Harley, Rindy, Catherine and Eliza. The four children born to Mr. and Mrs. King are mentioned as follows: Rose, who wedded W. R. Johnson, is the mother of four children, Hessel, Russell, Lucia and Helen, the last named being deceased; Floy, who is single and lives at home; Willard, and Arthur, who is a school boy. The son, Willard, manages the home farm of one hundred and twenty-three acres, and has his home in a house located a short distance below that of his mother. He rents the place and is a very progressive and industrious agriculturist. Willard King wedded Miss Flossie Little April 5, 1913. She comes from one of the good families of Madison county and received a good education, both in the public and high school. The King family is one which commands the respect and esteem of all who have the pleasure of their friendship. Their home is in a pretty cottage and is the abode of hospitality. The late Mr. King was affiliated with the Masonic Order and the Knights of Pythias, and the family all worship in the Methodist church. - Forkner, John, History of Madison County, Indiana, Vol. 2, p. 628. 

PEARSON, JESSE.  One of my ancestors was Jesse Pearson a/k/a James Pearson. He was one of the 29+ settlers listed in the "History of Madison and Hancock Counties". He resided in or near Ovid, Madison Co., Indiana. He was a Quaker and purchased his land in Madison Co. in 1829.  His son, James Pearson, acquired his land and added more to it over his lifetime. At the time of his death, he own 800 acres of land most of being in Adams Township near the Madison and Henry County lines with one 100+ acre tract being over near Pendleton, Indiana. James' son, Jesse Pearson, was a Civil War veteran and served in the 19th and 20th Indiana Infantry and was wounded at the "Wilderness, Virginia". James Pearson also had a son named Granville Pearson.   Granville was also a Civil War soldier. He died at Nashville, Tenn., was originally buried in the National Cemetery there but was re-interred in the Kessling-Ellison Cemetery in Madison County.    (Submitted by Mike Pearson.)

SMETHERS, JOHN A.  [Excerpted from "Those I Have Met, or Boys in Blue".  Compiled by Samuel Harden, Anderson, Ind., September 1888.  Reproduction by Unigraphic, Inc., 4400 Jackson Avenue, Evansville, Indiana 47715, 1970.]   Mr. Smethers was born in Tennessee, March 28, 1844,.  He was five years old, when in 1849 he came with his parents to Madison County, Indiana, where he has resided all the time since except three years temporary stay in the State of Florida.  He was raised on a farm, and that
has been his chief occupation, and to-day (1888) he owns a fine farm of one hundred and twenty acres in Green township, near the Hamilton county line, six miles West of Pendleton and eight East of Noblesville, Indiana.  In August, 1862, he enlisted in Company B, 89th Indiana Volunteers, and served two years in the army.  He was discharged in 1864.  In March, 1869, he was married to Lyda J. White, daughter of Wesley White (a highly respected citizen of Green township).  Mr. and Mrs. Smethers' children are:  Willard E., Edgar, Letta, Leroy, Margaret, Elnora and Rosale.  The following are deceased and buried at Pleasant View cemetery, in Green township:  Edgar, aged seven years; Letta, four years; Rosale, three years (buried in Florida); Leroy, two years."   

SMITH, BETTY (Miller).  As remembered by John Smith, 9/9/99.  "Betty (Miller) Smith was my mother.  Boy, I still miss her.  Thanks, John P. Smith."  Betty was raised in the Frankton, IN area with her father, John Miller and mother, Ethel Rosella (Pflueger). After her father was killed in 1933 (see notes on John Miller), her mother married Everett Johnson in 1937, and started another family. Betty met a guy named Glendon Smith and they married in 1941 when she was fifteen years. They set up house in a drafty, cold little place with the nickname, "Yellowcat". The house is north of route 128, on the road that joins up with route 13 going into Elwood. Three of her four boys were babies there. She got plenty of advice on how to be a mother from her inlaws around the corner on the Smith's "Brookside Farm". And her mother, sister Anne, and brother John, were raising families at the same time! Betty became the center of her family's universe while her husband served in World War II, worked the night shift at a factory, and began farming their own 80 acres SW of Elwood. One especially challenging night occured when the power for the heat lamps went out, and hundreds of baby chicks where threatened by the Spring cold. Betty and Glen brought hundreds of chicks into the living room of the farmhouse to save them. What a racket the little peepers made!  As the boys grew, Betty made sure they all went to the Aroma Methodist church, and made the school bus at the end of the lane to attend school in Frankton, and Little League baseball afterwards. She was active in church and Women's clubs, but Family activities were her main social outlet. Glendon's health failed and she was asked to leave everything familiar and move to Arizona. Many tears were shed as the family pulled out of the Foust's barn lot with everything they owned in a little trailer pulled by a Ford station wagon, and headed west. The desolate scenery, the July heat and the loneliness was hard for her to bear. They stayed in Tucson with fellow Hoosiers, the Botts, while Glendon found a house in Tempe (NE corner of University and Rural). He began work at Motorola, and Betty set up a sparse household, and got the boys into school.
 Betty gradually expanded her activities and became a Reading teacher with the Mesa Public Schools district, and active in St. Andrews Methodist church. As her boys moved out and started their own families, she seemed to be able to thoroughly enjoy her life in a nice home in Mesa on the Camelot golf course. But something very wrong was gaining strength in her body. She was diagnosed with leukemia, and given four years to live. Even to the end, Betty's life was a tremendous example of the best of Human Nature, and Christianity.   Sons Marty and John brought her ashes to the Aroma Methodist Church cemetery, buried them, and had a small interment ceremony with Peggy, Elizabeth and the itinerant Minister of the church at the time. The grey day and a half dozen grey geese taking off from the bordering field, provided a somber ending to their efforts. Row:21, Gs:10, southeast corner by the woods.  [Submitted by J. P. Smith on 20 Oct 2001].

SMITH, FERNANDO WOOD.  (Glendon Smith, 1998, remembers Fernando "Pop" Wood Smith).  Fernando (Pop), was a very religious man who regularly conversed with the Almighty. When we would gather the 'gang' of family around the kitchen table, we would wait expectantly for the blessing to be asked. He would begin in a head bowed manner, building in passion until his face would be raised to heaven, with happiness radiating from it.   "Mom" and "Pop" were successful farmers and stockmen, building their "Brookside Farm" on route 128 south of Elwood, IN. The farm was worked with horses (Dick & Dan), by the men including: Pop, Howard, Eddy and Glendon. On harvest days, many would come to help their neighbor thresh wheat or pick corn. Planks and tables would be set up to feed the small army, and much socializing would be going on with the work. The grain would then be taken to the grain elevator in Aroma, and the corn would be put up in the crib to be stored through the winter.

Taken from "A Family History: The Ancestors of Thomas Wilson Faust", by Don Faust, 1997:   Fernando Smith was born June 29th, 1863 at a time of war, the Civil War, but it is hard to imagine a more peaceful, gentle and compassionate man. He quietly embodied the attributes his Quaker forebears admired but without their adamant ideology. Simply put, he was a good man.   He married Cyrena McWilliams in 1887 and they were the parents of four children, two of whom died young. Their marriage lasted for 67 devoted years. Little is known of her father and mother, Simeon McWilliams and Elizabeth Dipboye, except that he was apparently of Scot-Irish derivation and she of French. Logic suggests that Elizabeth's father may have been Jonathon Dipboye but it cannot be confirmed. He is known to have had a daughter of that name and he died in her home area around Madison County, Indiana -- the only family there of that unusual name at that time. Also, the name Cyrena appears in three generations of the family -- a striking coincidence since that unique name occurs only those three times in the tens of thousands of names perused in preparing this history. For these reasons, a strong probabability exists that Cyrena McWilliams' mother Elizabeth Dipboye traced back to a Frenchman named George Dipboye.   It has always been a matter of some curiosity to the writer, his grandson, how a farm family in Indiana came to bestow upon their son a Spanish name, Fernando. As noted above, Cyrena is unique as well.   Fernando, Cyrena and their two living children Vivien and Howard lived on a 105-acre farm four miles south of Elwood, Indiana. They earned a good living but never were well to do. But they were beloved by their grandchildren who enjoyed staying with them, playing scratchy records of opera singers on their old hand-cranked Edison phonograph and shuffling through the fascinating basket of sea shells they collected on their one trip to Florida.   Fernando was very active in the Aroma Methodist Church, serving in many lay capacities. He was usually called upon by the minister to give the closing prayer at the conclusion of Sunday services, a task which was performed with eloquence and feeling on every occasion.   In the early 1900's a modern convenience became available as a small independent telephone company brought service to their area. It was a party line and considerable eavesdropping by others on the line took place. But this practice occasionally had its benefits; if those listening in learned of an emergency, they often would show up immediately to help. The operator was located in the tiny village of Aroma, knew everyone on the line and often entered the conversation when someone was making a call. It was not unusual for her to say something like "They're not home now, I saw them drive by heading west only a couple of minutes ago".   This generation of the family lived to enjoy a ripe old age. Fernando died of a stroke while sitting in his favorite leather easy chair at 91; one sister lived to be 96 and his remaining siblings were in their upper 80's. Cyrena passed on at age 86. She had a sister, Eleanora, who reached 104, about whom the family joked that, to the end, she kept a hat on a hook by the door to be ready to go anywhere that someone was willing to take her.  [Items on Mr. Wood were submitted by J. P. Smith on 20 Oct 2001].

Indiana Biographies Project: Madison Co., IN.  Click this link to search for more Madison County biographies at the Indiana Biographies Project site.  Other Indiana Counties can be researched also.

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