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Author: wellscc
Surnames: Williams, Vennemmon, Smith, Slusher
Classification: biography
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Message Board Post:
From the Biographical Memoirs of Wells County, Indiana - printed in
1903 by B.F. Bowen, Publisher, Logansport, Indiana. Page 263-264
O. R. WILLIAMS.
This young and prosperous farmer of Jackson township, Wells county, Indiana, was born
September 17, 1870, two miles south of Bluffton, on the state road, in the same county. J.
W. Williams, father of O. R. Williams, was a native of Fairfield county, Ohio, a son of
Jesse Williams, and while still single came to Wells county, Indiana, about the year 1865,
and began working at bridge building and also at cabinetmaking, in Bluffton, although he
had been reared a blacksmith by his father, who was noted for his skill in this branch of
the mechanical arts. He married, about 1867, Miss Martha Vennemmon, whose mother is still
living at the age of ninety years.
After marriage J. W. Williams located on the farm two miles south of Bluffton, where his
son, O. R. Williams, was born, but four years later came to Jackson township, and here
lost his wife, June 10, 1884. In the September following, Mr. Williams married Mrs. Kittie
Smith, who still lives to share with him the blessings as well as the sorrows of life. In
1900 J. W. Williams retired from farm life and now lives in Warren, enjoying in peace and
comfort the competency his early industry gained him. To the first marriage of J. W.
Williams were born three children, namely: Adrian, now a resident of Jackson township; O.
R., whose name opens this biography, and William, who has his residence in Idaho. To the
second marriage there has been no issue.
O. R. Williams attended the district schools of Jackson township, Wells county, Indiana,
until he was seventeen years of age and assisted in the cultivation of the home place
until he was twenty, when he went to the city of Butte, Montana, and worked in a smelter
for a year, then returning to Wells county. Here he and his father purchased sixty acres
of the farm on which he now lives., but which was then all in the woods. He set himself
energetically to work and cleared off all but ten acres and in July, 1898, purchased his
father's interest in the place.
In 1901 Mr. Williams erected a substantial and commodious barn on his farm and in 1902
began the erection of an elegant residence. He rents out his farming land, however, and
devotes his attention to his oil wells, of which he owns five producers, which bring him
in twenty-five to thirty dollars each per month, and he has not lost a day at this
industry for the past three years.
Mr. Williams was joined in marriage November 23, 1893, with Miss Emma Slusher, a daughter
of Josiah and Naomi Slusher, whose biography will be found on another page of this volume.
To this happy marriage have been born four children, to-wit: Fred, November 8, 1894;
Arthur, September 30, 1897; Howard, March 26, 1900; and an infant daughter, born October
10, 1902.
Mr. Williams is a member of Lodge No. 784, I.O.O.F., at McNatts, and in politics is a
Republican. He is one of the respected young men in Jackson township, as it is well known
that he has made all he is worth through his personal exertions, he having had nothing at
the start, and having made his first "stake" of four hundred dollars while in
Montana. His industry and strict integrity have always been matters of commendation by his
neighbors, and he and his estimable wife are held in the highest regard by all classes of
the community.
Transcribed by wwkly(a)citznet.com
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