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Richard Gladden Biography
Richard Gladden, one of the most venerable and honored citizens of Lauramie Township, Tippecanoe County, was named for his
paternal grandfather, who was a native of Leeds, England, but came to America
when sixteen years of age, during the war of the Revolution. Our subject
remembers well his esteemed ancestor, and of hearing him relate incidents of
the great war between the mother country and her rebellious American colony. On
one occasion, while Richard Gladden, Sr., was working in a field, a party of
British soldiers rode up, and one of the officers, calling the youth a rebel
and a few other names less pleasant, ordered him to go ahead and take down the
bars of a fence near, that he and his soldiers might pass through. There being
no question in this case that "discretion is the better part of
valor," the young man obeyed, and was not sorry to see the little band of
Tories disappear in the distance.
Having mastered the
miller's trade, Richard Gladden, Sr., gave much of his attention to that
calling, and his services were in requisition, far and near,
for years, as he thoroughly understood how to put the machinery of a mill in
place, and was noted for his skill at dressing buhrs.
For his day, he was a man of good education, was a bookkeeper and a methodical
businessman. In the early times of Ohio
he removed to Montgomery
County
, where he entered and improved a
farm of about one hundred and twenty-five acres, in addition to which he
operated a flour and gristmill in Perry
Township
, same county, for many years. He
was married in Virginia
to a lady whose name is not
remembered, and they had one son, James. His second wife, of English descent,
was Catherine Hiatt, and their two sons, Joseph and William, were born in Virginia
. James and Joseph Gladden were drummer
boys in the War of 1812, connected with Virginia
regiments. The father lived to a
venerable age, dying when in the neighborhood of one hundred years. Rev.
Washington Gladden, the celebrated minister and author, is of the same stock,
and is probably descended form a brother of Richard Gladden, Sr.
William Gladden, the father of our subject, was born in Virginia
, in 1795, and when he was twenty
years of age he married, in Montgomery County
,
Ohio
, Magdalena Yost, daughter of Anthony and Catherine Yost, of sturdy
Pennsylvania-Dutch stock. The latter, pioneers of Montgomery
County
, were well-to-do farmers, and
gave to each of their children land or its equivalent. In religious faith they
were Dunkards, or German Baptists. They lived to
reach a good old age and to see their children honored and respected in their
several homes and spheres in life. The were named, in
order of birth, John, Jacob, Abraham, Anthony, William, Polly, Betsy, Magdalena
, Catherine, Sally and Susan.
After his marriage
William Gladden settled on a sixty-two acre farm, which had been entered in Perry
Township
by his father, and for several
years he continued to dwell in Montgomery
County
. At first he built a rude
round-log cabin, and later a hewed-log house took the place of the former
humble home. Later he sold his farm and bought a quarter section of land in Preble County
,
Ohio
. This he cleared and made a fine
homestead, but the spirit of the frontiersman was in him, and in the spring of
1834 he made another move to the westward. His brother Joseph had previously
settled in Lauramie
Township
, Tippecanoe
County
, and, having persuaded Mr.
Gladden to come her also, he returned with a two-horse team and assisted in the
removal of the family. They made the journey in a wagon drawn by four horses,
and were seven and a half days on the way, the men camping out at night while
the rest of the family were sheltered at hospitable houses along the route.
They located on a quarter section of land on Wildcat Prairie, the place having
been improved by the former owner, and a one-story frame house erected. The
numerous plans and improvements, which the new owner contemplated, were cut
short by his untimely death, in August 1835, when he was but forty years of
age. He was a man who was looked up to and highly esteemed by all, and while he
lived in Montgomery
County
he was a Justice of the Peace,
and at one time was a Captain of a company of the Ohio State Militia. His
widow, who was a member of the German
Baptist
Church
, survived him but five years.
Their children were Elizabeth, Richard, John, Joseph, William, Harrison, Jacob
W., Catherine and Sarah Jane.
The birth of Richard
Gladden occurred February 1, 1818
, in Perry
Township
, Montgomery County
,
Ohio
. He attended a subscription
school for three months at a time for four winters, this comprising his entire
educational advantages. Through he was but seventeen years old when his father
died, he assumed the management of the homestead, and succeeded quite as well
as did many of the older farmers of the neighborhood. He was of inestimable
assistance to his mother in the rearing of her large family, and always took
the attitude of a father toward his younger brothers and sisters. From choice
he has devoted himself to agriculture, and has made a comfortable livelihood by
hard, persevering toil, at the same time winning a name for integrity and
fairness in all his dealings, much more to be desired than a fortune.
Subsequent to his marriage he bought forty acres of land in Lauramie
Township
, and as he prospered he invested
in more land until he now owns two hundred and sixty acres. This he cleared,
improving it with substantial buildings, and ultimately making of the place one
of the best in the township. In his early manhood he was a member of the Sons
of Temperance, and has always favored the temperance cause. Politically, he was
an old-line Whig, voting for W. H. Harrison, and later became the stanch
Republican that he has been for years. He was Trustee of Lauramie
Township three years, and Election Inspector several years.
ON the
31st of October 1841
, Mr. Gladden married Magdalena
, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth
(Stoner) Ellis, pioneers of Montgomery County
,
Ohio
, and of Welch and Dutch descent,
respectively. About 1828 Mr. Ellis entered land in Lauramie
Township
, Tippecanoe
County
, and finally owned some four
hundred acres. He was a son of Roland and Frances Ellis, the former of whom
went down the Ohio
River
before Cincinnati
was founded, and settled in the southern part of Montgomery County
,
Ohio
. To the marriage of our subject
and wife four children were born, namely: Markus P., William H., Emma C. and
Eliza. Mrs. Gladden, who was a kind, affectionate wife and mother, loved by all
who knew her was called to the better land October 4, 1877, and is remembered by
many of the older residents as a lady of great force of character and sterling
virtues.
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