Harris, David - see Eaton
Harris, Reason T. - see Eaton
Harrold, Milo - see Cowan
Harrold, Noah - see Cowan

HART- Written by Eva Marie (Wood) Hart - September 13, 1961
I was born Dec. 16, 1894 on a 4? (probably 40 acre) farm 2 miles east of Modoc, Indiana, about 20 rods south of what is State road 36, in a 3 room log house. My parents were Ashbery and Martha Rebecca McCallister Wood. I am the ? of 12 children, one half sister Cloe E, my father's child by his first wife and Otha Edmond, a half brother; 4 full brothers, Melvin, Peter, William (died), and Richard; 6 sisters, Laura Etta Wood Wr??, Clara Virgle Wood Dale (died July 13 1981- this date was written in by someone else, as Eva Marie Hart died in 1968.), Alta Leota (died at 3 months), Elsie Belle (died at ?), Florence Genetta Wood Batt and Cora. Josephine Wood Clevenger died July 19??. My father's Mother, Eunice Hodson Wood died when he was a child. His father Benjaman Wood raised the family of 4 boys (my father Ashberry, John, Moses, and William); 3 girls (Janie Wood Swoveland and Lida Wood Wilkerson), all dead now. William went to Hominy, Oklahoma as a boy - has children living there, one only that I know by name (Orn). Uncle Moses family are all gone but one boy Earl, who lives in Richmond, Ind. John has 3 boys, Corbett, Harry, and Alma (Jack) girl plus Dessie Hoover. (The previous statement is typed exactly the way it was written.) The Wilkersons sons, Harvey and Edd and some more I can't recall, live around Marion and Upland, Ind. Aunt Janie Swovelands family live around Hagerstown, Ind.

My grand parents on my mother's side were Alexander McCallister and Sarah Margaret (Holloway) Mcallister. My great grand parents on grandmother Holloway's side were Levi and Cherry____Hollaway. On grandad Mcallister's side, they were Ezekial and Mary Ann Rooks Mcallister. Great, great grandfather Andrew Mcallister (I never knew his wife's name) entered land and settled on 80 acres, the first farm on west side of road North of Philadelphia Christian Church in Delaware Co. He was from Belfast, Ireland and was returning to that country by ship to bring back a load of cattle. He was murdered, robbed and thrown overboard. It was said that he owned the land where the city of Dublin, Ireland now is, and had leased it for 100 years, before he came to America--but if he did all papers were lost, and it has never been proven in court.

On my father's side my grandfather was Benjaman Wood--my grandmother Eunice Hodson-great grandmother Rhoda Halstead. My great grandfather was Ashbery Wood. I don't know my great grand mother's maiden name.

I started school at 5 years of age at College Corner school 1¼ miles from home. This was a one room school house heated by a big box wood stove in the middle of the room. We started school Sept 15 and ended last of March. One teacher taught all 8 grades, about 15 to 25 scholars. We had Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, Language, Physiology, Geography, History, Music and Spelling. I quit school at 14 years because there was no high school near me, and I had finished grade school. We often popped corn on the big box stove; we had spelling and ciphering matches on Fridays. Always had a Xmas tree and Santa Claus. My dad usually was Santa. We ended the school year with a big carry in dinner and music.

My life was about like all others of that time--lots of hard work--lots of play and good times. Here are some of the thing we had to do besides hoe in the garden and corn field, milk cows, feed chickens, carry water from the spring, and many other chores. We had a large apple orchard and one big job was to pick up apples for cider, a big tall wagon load, which my dad would take to a cider mill. It was a lot of fun when he came home with 3 barrels of cider. We sucked cider from holes in the of barrels through a wheat straw. Then came apple butter making, when we filled the big brass kettles with cider which was boiled half away, then we poured in peeled and quartered apples, brown sugar, and cinnamon. This was cooked till good and thick, then poured in gallon jars, sometimes 40 or 50 gallons. These jars never were sealed, just a paper tied over the top and a board over them and it kept for a year at a time. With what cider was left my mother added rain water, a piece of brown building paper and I believe some soup beans, then it was aged for cider vinegar.

In the spring was soap making time. This is how it was done. All winter we saved all rancid grease, meat rinds, strong butter (etc). All wood ashes were emptied in barrels which were set on wood blocks off the ground. An iron kettle was set at the bottom of barrels (sometimes 3 or 4 barrels at a time). Our job was to carry water, pour in top of the barrels which filtered thru the ashes and made the lye from which the soap was made. This lye was boiled to a certain stage, then the soap grease added, and cooked till a dark amber color, then emptied into a keg or big jar. We used this for washing clothes, dishes, and all cleaning jobs.

Then another big job was topping and stripping cane for our years supply of sorgum. We made a barrel of sorgum each year. We raised lots of popcorn and my dad was an expert at making popcorn balls and taffy. My brothers, Melvin and Pete played on the Modoc basket ball team and one year won the Easter Indiana Championship. In the winter time, we went to church revival meeting, ball-games, and Sunday school, or sat around the old box stove and played cards and checkers or domino. We were a lively bunch.

We used bare floors all over the house until I was about 10 years old, then we had new rag carpet. We first covered the wide board floor with a layer of clean straw, then stretched the carpet over this. We got our first piece of wool carpet when I was 13 years old--also got a new sewing machine, a glass door cupboard, a new dresser with glass, and a big arm chair. My dad got a new farm wagon, a wheat binder (corn binder) and a 2 row corn plow. We thought we were real big folks then.

We had moved from where I was born to the first house south of us. This farm had 100 acres and a 5 room house. It had a large woods with lots of maple trees. In Feb and March we got ready to make maple syrup. My dad made spigots of hollow elders and bored a hole in the side of each maple tree and set a wooden bucket under each tree for the sap. This was gathered up in barrels and taken to a shelter where it was boiled down to maple syrup, and alway at the end, we would all have a piece of maple sugar.

We churned our own butter, made buscuits, corn bread and yeast bread, canned hundreds of cans of fruit. My mother and older sister made all our clothing, knitted our stockings, crocheted the hoods and mittens. We slept on straw ticks with a feather bed on top. Sometimes we made us a corn shuck filled bed. We all would sit night after night, tearing corn shucks into fine shreds to fill the bed tick. This made a fine bed.

My father and all 3 brothers were fine singers, and always were called on to sing for church services and reunions.

My father died August 15, 1930 at 76 years of age. My mother died Aug 27, 1945, at 84 years of age. She was diabetic and went blind 2 years before she died.

I was married at 17 years; Newt was 22. Here are our childrens names and birthdates:
Kenneth Edmond - b Aug 27, 1912; d Jan 12, 1929
Ruby Jeraldine - b Feb 13, 1914
Cleda Lester - b Sept 27, 1916
Gladys Pauline - b Jan 8, 1917; d April 19, 1919
Martha Caroline - b Jan 12, 1919
Naomi Ruthe - b June 3, 1921
Joseph Earl - b May 6, 1923
Charles Melvin - b Dec 1924; d Dec 21, 1925
Robert Lee - born Feb 14, 1927; d Feb 16, 1933
Roberta Fay - b Feb 14, 1927; d at birth
Mary Josephine - b Sept 22, 1928
George Marvin - b Aug 5, 1930
Margaret Eileen - b Dec 14, 1932
Alton Duane - b Feb 9, 1935

Kenneth (Jim) - died of heart troble caused by Flu epidemic in 18 & 19 - died Jan 1922 - 9 yrs 5 mon.
Gladys Pauline - (Lady) died of Pneumonia following the Flu epdemic of 1918-19 - age 2 yrs, 2 mon, 11 days.
Charles Melvin - died of Pneumonia at 11 months and 20 days.
Roberta Fay - died at birth - twin of
Robert Lee - who killed by a car at 6 yrs and 2 day old.

As for Newts Folk - here is all I know. His mother Caroline Vanarsdol, daughter of Cornelius Vanarsdol. He was said to have been the first white baby boy born in Delaware Co. Newts great grandfather was also named Cornelius and was one of the first settlers in this part of Ind. in 1823. He was a Preacher and had the first services here in his own log cabin. He fought in the War of 1812. He is buried in the old part of Mt Tabor Cemetery, S. E. of Muncie. His grandmother on his mother's side was Elizabeth Lewis (this was marked over and name of Mary Jane McClellan written in; however Elizabeth Lewis is correct). She died at 34 yrs from T. B. They were of German descent. His father, James Riley Hart, son of Henry and Basha Strodes Hart, came here from Virginia. They were Irish. His--I don't know if I know all of Newt's father's, brothers and sister, only Uncle John Hart, Mary Ann Current, Rebecca, who died young, and Rachel. I can't remember the last name. Newt's mother's brothers and sister were Mary Ann Hiatt, Sarah Jane Lykins, Flora Hodson, Lena Reed ; brothers John, Sam, and Cornelius Vanarsdol. Newt's brother and sister were Emma Cullens, Rose Cross, Clara Halstead, Gertrude Brown, Ethel Brown, and 2 girls died; brothers John, Will, Neal and Sylvester. 1 boy, Henry, died. Newt was born 1 mile south ½ east of Center School, about 4 miles Northwest of Blountsville, on March 23, 1889 - died May 21, 1962.
(Contributed by Mona Hart - [email protected])

Heal, William -- During the year 1829, William Heal of Muskingum county, Ohio, left his home, traveling on foot, prospecting. He came on west until he finally decided that he had found the place to build his future home, and going to the land office at Fort Wayne he purchased three 80-acre tracts in section 11, Washington township, his purchase being on both sides of the Mississinewa river. After securing his land Mr. Heal returned to his Ohio home. William Heal's entries are dated September 12, 1829. Upon his return, Mr. Heal at once set to work getting ready to bring his family to his western home, and, starting with three wagons, they came on to Columbus, Ohio, where they fell in with the family of Thomas Littler, who were also seeking a western home. Acquaintances were soon formed in these early days, and these families, cutting their road through the woods by day and surrounding the same campfire by night, soon formed a friendship that could not be easily severed, and when Mr. Heal reached his destination it did not take much persuasion to induce Mr. Littler and his family to remain, and so on November 17 of the same year (1829) we find Mr. Littler entered the tract of land adjoining that of Mr. Heal on the west. And here these families lived side by side for more than thirty-five years, neither having cause to regret the formation of their friendships, nor the choice of location of their western homes. These families can safely be called the pioneer families of Washington township. (Source: Our County, Its History and Early Settlement by Townships, John S. Ellis, 1898 - Washington Township, pages 183/4)

Heaton, Samuel - see Thornburgh; also see - Mt. Pleasant
Holsinger, John - see Oakville