My grandmother Ruth (Miller) Ward said that this picture was taken in or near Hardentown about 1920. It shows (from left) Marie; sisters Jane and (??); and Ruth Miller (about 14 years old); (first name?) Karsteter, and Earl Guard. Unfortunately, with the passage of time, some of the first and last names are now lost.
Job Miller Homestead in Hardentown
This picture shows (from left) Rachel (Whipple) Miller (1834-1904); son Job (“Jobie”) M. Miller (1869-1929), and Job Miller (1833-1912). Although unverified, this is probably their home in Hardentown, about two miles north of Lawrenceburg Indiana. Thanks to Bruce Miller for this picture.
The Hardentown School had originally been built in 1829 as a community church. After construction of Bellevue Church in Homestead in 1854, I assume it became a full-time school. Bricks of the building had been damaged at the time of Morgan’s Raid through southeast Indiana in 1863 when local militia fired on each other.
My grandmother, Ruth Miller Ward (1904-1993) and her siblings, Tom, Arnold and Hattie were students in this one-room schoolhouse. Sometime during the 1970s, she identified the students in the picture above.
Front row (from left): Mary Jane Rogers, Isaac Miller, Pete (or Orville) Hayes, Marie Ziegler, Henry Vetter, Ruth Miller (my grandmother), Pauline Barrows and Jane Hayes
Back two rows (from left): unidentified Lowe, Arnold Miller, Joe Lowe, Henry Vetter’s brother, unidentified, another Vetter, Ed McKinney, Clarence Jackson, Ms. Burkham (the teacher), unidentified, Jennie Hayes, Odetrice Hayes, Zettuck West
This photograph from the late 1890s appears to show part of the Job Miller, Jr. family, in front of their home on Oberting Road in Lawrenceburg Township. Job Miller (1833-1912), born and raised in Hardentown, is in the lower right hand corner.
According to The History of Dearborn and Ohio Counties, Miller was “one of the most prominent farmers of Lawrenceburgh Township…He grew to manhood on the farm with his parents. He married in 1854, Rachel Whipple… He inherited a moderate fortune from his father’s estate, and to this he has since made a creditable addition, almost doubling his original possessions. He has always engaged in farming, except two years spent in operating a flouring-mill, and has been generally successful, now owning about 450 acres of land… Mr. and Mrs. Miller have seven children living: Abbie, Harriet, Isaac, Job, Thomas, Charles R. and Carrie; six others are deceased. Mr. Miller is fully entitled to a place in the front rank among farmers of the county” (1875, pp. 839-840).
Rachel Whipple Hayes (1834-1904), sitting next to Job Miller, was the daughter of Nancy Hayes and David Whipple. Other identifiable people in the picture include son Thomas Miller on the left, holding his son Tommy (born 1896). Thomas is briefly described in the “Hardentown Boys” photograph. Thomas’ wife Alice Hayes (born 1877) sits, holding daughter, Harriett or Hattie (born 1893).
I suspect that the two men closest to Thomas are his older brothers, Isaac, “Ike” (1867-1944) and Job III, “Jobie” (1869-1929).
This photograph, taken about 1890, possibly near the Job Miller home on Oberting Road in Lawrenceburg Township, shows seven boys and young men, dressed in a variety of clothing. They all wear hats and shoes, except the two boys on either side who go barefoot. Four of the five central figures sport jackets or vests, suggesting either that they may not be laborers or that they are dressed in their Sunday best. According to notes on the back of the picture, they are (from left to right): Ben Williamson, Tom Miller, Frank Ludlow, Joe Hayes, Everett Slater, Joe Halverstadt, Sherman McKim and his dog.
Several of these individuals were members of the Miller-Hayes family of Lawrenceburg Township. Joe Hayes (born 1869), was the grandson of wealthy farmer and riverboat businessman Jacob Hayes. Though he was a farm laborer (according to the 1900 census ), his privileged position in this picture leads me to believe that he was a foreman.
Joe Halverstadt (born 1872) would later marry Carrie Miller, the daughter of Job Miller, Jr. in 1897. Grinning Tom Miller (1871-1957), the son of Job Miller, Jr., would attend Moore’s Hill College to receive training as a Methodist minister. The History of Dearborn County (1915) described him as a “farmer, dairyman and evangelist, who is one of the best-known citizens of Lawrenceburg township…(who)…with the exception of two years, has lived on the old homestead farm all his life. He has done considerable evangelistic work throughout the southern part of Indiana, and is especially well-known as a powerful and successful preacher.” He moved to Yorktown about 1927.
Frank Ludlow (born 1876) was the son of Omer T. Ludlow. The 1900 census described him as a farmer/laborer. Sherman McKim is possibly the John S. McKim (born 1878 ) found in the same census. Son of John C. and Lucy McKim, he was a railroad brakeman. Everett Slater (born 1874), son of Robert and Mary Slater, would become a newspaper correspondent. Nothing is known about Ben Williamson.
Recovering the History of Dearborn County, Indiana 