Hello Dorothy,
I was in Arney last summer 2002. My ggrandfather was born in Arney. I was
researching the area and came across a book in the library on Owen Co. I
have the name of the book somewhere but not on the page I copied which has
the info on Arney so I will give you the information and get the book name
later.
"The eastern part of the township was settled by farmers. The only town on
the east side and perhaps the oldest town in Jefferson Township was
Middletown, located middle way between Freedom and Stockton, and middle way
between Point Commerce and Lancaster. Settlers may have been there much
earlier, but it was platted in 1853, and a post office was established in
1856. The post office was called Arney, and closed March 3, 1912. The town
became known as Arney because three main families settled there, Arney,
Fiscus, and Hauser.
The most famous merchant at Arney was Edward J. Barton, who built a general
store, well stocked with merchandise of all sorts, about 1904. The large
store, located one block north of the crossroads, carried dry goods,
groceries, could order clothing or anything else people wanted, and bought
poultry and eggs. Barton traded the store to David Cummingham for a farm
northwest of Worthington about 1922-23. Cunningham, in turn, sold to
Charlie May of Jasonville. About 1929 the store burned. Shortly after that
Nelson Herrington acquired the John Nation property. On the east side of
the place stood a log house, once the home of David Speas who had been a
shoemaker. He moved the house to the crossroads corner at the southwest
corner of his place, and opened a store. Sherman Fiscus bought it, added
living space, and the store continued to operate attached to his house.
Floyd Stahl bought the property in 1942, operated it from 1944, and finally
closed the store, the last day in Arney, in 1953.
Some families living in Arney in the first decade of the twentieth century
were: Swearingen, Barton, Nation, Herrington, Hillsabeck, and George
Milligan, a confederate veteran of the Civil War. Orville Fiscus operated a
blacksmith shop there about 1910. He built a four-room house and shop from
salvaged materials after tearing down the residence of Nelson 'Nels'
Herrington. Nel's big house was built as a two-story sanitarium for Civil
War veterans but never finished. After leaving Arney, Nels lived southeast
of Hubbell Station where he operated a threshing machine and sawmill.
A Doctor Mahorney who lived at Arney earlier was shot and killed by his
wife. He was showing a revolver to her and it fired, killing him; but
before he died he stated it was accidental and his wife didn't intentionally
shoot him. Other doctors in practice in the Arney community were Dr.
Hester, and Dr. Yocum who was also remembered in the Coal City area.
Sometimes people would drive their buggies to Freedom to shop or to board
the train to Spencer. Freedom was served by three passenger trains per day.
As with other small towns, the improving roads and availability of
automibles led to the demise of Arney and little remains there today."
Here is some info in the book that mentions Henry Arney -
"The Dutch Bethel Church Of Christ, commonly called 'Old Dutch' or
'Bethel',
is the second oldest church of the Restoration Movement in Owen County. At
the first State convention, in 1839, it reported having two hundred members.
From it have sprung, directly, the Bethsaida and Antioch Churches, as well
as members responsible for organizing the Patricksburg church, and supplying
the life of the congregations in the County. Groups of its members also
migrated to Iowa and organized three churches there.
The church was organized in 1825. Abraham Kern from Lawrence County visited
the scattered settlers near Middletown and , at a meeting held in Henry
Arney Sr.'s home, Obadiah Winters and John Arney were chosen as elders and
Charles Inman and Andrew Arney as Deacons. At the close of that first
meeting, membership numbered about thirty. In 1830 they built a large log
church, a long, low building with a door in the middle of one side. The
pulpit was opposite the door, and a stone fireplace dominated each end wall.
Nearby they built a 'cook house' where members at protracted meetings cooked
their provisions in a fireplace. The three fireplaces eventually proved
destructive; the entire complex was consumed by fire.
The congregation continued to prosper and built another church in 1862.
It, too, burned in August 1875. Within weeks they rebuilt. That building
burned to the ground Easter Sunday morning April 21, 1935. Immediately they
built a clay block house of worship that is still in use. Old Dutch Bethel
was a strong pioneet church. Today (1994) the congregation is small and
there are two part-time preachers."
There is a cemetery with the Old Dutch Bethel church. It may be listed on
Debbie Jennings site.
While in Arney, my mother and I were able to visit with an 89 year old lady,
Mrs. Mary Ellen Fiscus Speas, who still lives at the crossroads in Arney.
She is a jewel of a person! She attends the Old Dutch Bethel church when
able. But there is nothing in Arney now, just a crossroads.
I have a township map of the area if you would like. Send me your snail
mail address and I can send that to you.
Good luck on your research,
Carol Lindamood
Max Meadows, VA
----- Original Message -----
From: Dorothy Perry <dorothy.perry(a)verizon.net>
To: <INOWEN-L(a)rootsweb.com>
Sent: Monday, February 03, 2003 10:09 AM
Subject: [INOWEN] the town of Arney
Can anyone tell me about the town of Arney? I am a descendant of Henry
Arney and was fascinated to see that there is a town called Arney; I
think it may be named for the Arney family but I am unsure.
Thank you for any help
dottie
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