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Note: The subject of this review is one of the few pioneers of Wabash county who lived to see the dawn of a new century and is among the oldest early settlers of Liberty township living at this time. He is one of those grand old men who have cleared away the forests, changing the wilderness as if by magic from the home of savage beast to beautiful and valuable farms and thriving cities and villages. Jacob Tyner is a native of Franklin county, Ind. He was born near Brookville, July 18, 1819, the same year that the good Queen Victoria of Great Britain was born. He was the first of seven sons born to John and Nancy (Sailors) Tyner, three of whom are living, as follows: Jacob, the eldest, subject of this biographical review; Lewis J., who resides in Wabash, Ind.; and Beverly W., a resident of Curtisville, Ind. The father, John Tyner, was born in South Carolina in the year 1800. When he was a child of about five years he removed with his parents to Franklin county, Ind., the long and perilous journey being made on pack horses. Here he grew to manhood and married at an early age Miss Nancy Sailors, who was his faithful companion until death separated them. He was an honest, industrious young man and worked as a day laborer, clearing the forests and rolling logs to earn the money with which he purchased eighty acres of land in Rush county, Ind. He resided in Rush county until 1849. when he removed to Wabash county, where he died in 1870. Mother Tyner was also a native of South Carolina. She was born in 1799 and died in 1876. Mr. and Mrs. Tyner were both faithful, conscientious members of the Baptist church. Mr. [John] Tyner's father for more than sixty years was a minister of that demonination and established the first Baptist church ever organized in the state of Ohio. [This is the Little Cedar Grove Baptist Church, 2 miles south of Brookville, Franklin Co., Ind., which was founded 1806 in Indiana Territory. DTM] Although Jacob Tyner, of this review, was born in Franklin county, Ind., he was reared in Rush county, where he resided until he was twenty-eight years of age. His opportunities for gaining an education were meager, but he attended the subscription schools of his neighborhood and acquired wahat was then considered a fair education. The school-houses of that early date were log structures with clapboard roof, puncheon floors, broad fireplaces and rude benches. The Eclectic series of reader and spelling book were the only text books in use at that time and the teachers generally followed Solomon's advice in dealing with children, "Lickin' and Larnin'" went hand in hand, regardless of the social position or the age and size of the pupil. What a contrast between the primitive educational advantages of Mr. Tyner's boyood and all the excellent advantages offered to the youth of to-day! It is to such industrious, public-spirited pioneers as our subject that the young people of to-day are indebted for the liberal educational facilities that they enjoy. When he was a resident of Rush county Mr. [Jacob] Tyner was engaged in teaming and made frequent trips to Cincinnati, Ohio. He also moved eight families to Wabash county, Ind., and on one of their trips he purchased a claim of eighty acres of land. Mr. Tyner has in his possession the government deed for this land, the document bearing the signature of Zachary Taylor under date of May 1, 1849. This tract was the beginning of Mr. Tyner's present extensive estate and contains the buildings of the old homestead where he now resides. In 1849, two years after Mr. Tyner became a resident of Wabash county, he purchased a sawmill near the site of the twin bridges in Liberty township. In eighteen months Mr. Tyner had cleared the property of an indebtedness of $1,900 and then exchanged a one-half interest in it for eighty acres of land. Timber of the best varieties in the world was abundant and cheap. Mr. Tyner onece purchased a walnut log three and one-half feet in diameter for three dollars and sawed it into shingles. It made nearly six thousand shingles. Such a log would now be worth at least $125. Mr. Tyner has been married three times. He was first married at the age of nineteen to Miss Nancy Moore, who was his loving helpmate and companion for thirty years. None of the children born to them are living. His second wife was Mrs. Margaret (Poston) Perkins and two children, a son and daughter, born to them are still living. They are Ezekiel, a prosperous and enterprising merchant of Wabash, Ind., a member of the popular firm of Clark & Tyner, and Bertha is the wife of Mr. Henry H. Kerr, of Liberty township, Wabash county. In September, 1884, Mr. Tyner was united in marriage to Mrs. Sarah (Beaver) Smith, and one child, a charming little daughter, Miss Melissa, has been born to them. Mrs. Tyner is the daughter of Michael and Jemima (Moore) Beaver, and was born in Rush county, Ind., October 27, 1848. Her father, Michael Beaver, who was a native of Kentucky, was born in the year 1819 and died in 1892. Mother Beaver was also born in 1819 and is still living at her home in LaBett county, Kan. Although eighty-four years of age, she is remarkably strong and active, retaining her mental faculties unimpaired. Mrs. Tyner was first wedded in the year 1869 to William T. Smith, and five children were born to them. They are all living and are as follows: William A. resides in Boone county, Ind.; Clement, who resides in the same locality; Roxana, wife of Charles A. Rers, resides on the Tyner homestead; Ross, a resident of Rush county, Ind.; and Leroy, of Liberty township, Wabash county, Ind. Jacob Tyner has lived through the wonderful Victorian age of progress in science and achievements in man's industrial life. He has witnessed the marvelous development of railroads, steamboats, printing press, electrical appliances and all the achievements of the nineteenth century in science and invention, and to him none of these are more marvelous than the development of the county in which he lives. When he removed to Wabash county, in 1847, the present beautiful city [Wabash, the county seat] of 8,700 was a hamlet of a few log cabins and one store. The wilderness was almost unbroken; Indians were numerous and wild animals abundant. Instead of the fine gravel roads, iron bridges and fertile farms of to-day were the blazed route through the forest, the treacherous fords across the streams and the blackened stumps of the clearing. Mr. Tyner has spent fifty-five years of his eventful life in Wabash county, and the growth and development of the county from a primeval forest to a well-improved, prosperous farming community is but little less marvelous than the wonderful discoveries and inventions in the realm of science. Mr. Tyner's religious creed is embodied in the Golden Rule. He is a man of high moral character and his life has been one of emulation. Although he is not an active church member, he has contributed to the erection of several churches in his vicinity. No man in the county has done more to further the advancement of his community than has Mr. Tyner. Politically he was first a Whig, but with the organization of the Republican party he espoused its cause, casting his vote for Gen. John C. Fremont, the first Republican candidate for president. He has always remained loyal to the party and still manifests much interest in questions of a political nature. He is an octogenarian, and his sun is fast setting beneath the western horizon of life, a life which has been fraught with hard manual toil and industry. His industry has been fully rewarded, as he is a man of wealth. His estate numbers about three hundred and eighty acres in Liberty Twp. Source: p. 381 et seq. of Biographical Memoirs of Wabash County, Indiana, published 1901 by B. F. Bowen, Publisher, Chicago Submitter: Don T. Mitchell, great great great grandson of Stephen Tyner (1811-1880), first cousin of John Tyner (1800-1870), father of Jacob.
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