J. William Furnish
The progressive farmer of today is far from content to make merely a living from his land. It must pay him a full measure of gain for the labor he expends upon it, and he is constantly seeking new means and methods of increasing his production. It is through the efforts of such men that progress and advancement are accomplished, and because of such men in Grant County this has become one of the most prosperous farming communities of the Hoosier State. Not every man has the ability to aid in this progress, even though he possesses the inclination, but one who is possessed of both characteristics, and has gained the local title of "a hustler," is J. William Furnish, of Section 4, Mill Township, the owner of a nice property and a citizen who has fairly earned the esteem in which he generally held.
Judge Benjamin Furnish, the grandfather of J. William Furnish, was a native of Kentucky, and came to Grant county as a pioneer in 1832, entering land in Fairmount Township. There he improved a good farm, became prosperous and was known as an influential citizen but was cut down in the prime of life when about forty years old. By reason of his good judgment, strict integrity and well-known impartiality he was chosen to serve his fellow-citizens in the office of circuit judge, and at all times upheld the honor and the dignity of the bench. Judge Furnish married Miss Rachael Leach, who outlived her husband for a long period of years and died in advanced age. Both were devout members of the Primitive Baptist Church, led honest and God-fearing lives, and were numbered among their community's most highly respected people.
John Furnish, son of Judge Benjamin, and father of J. William Furnish, was born October 17, 1837, in Franklin County, Indiana, while his parents were spending a short time in that locality. As a lad he came to Grant County, here grew up and was educated, and was married in Jefferson Township to Miss Martha J. Garrison, a native of Ohio, born October 13, 1837. Mr. and Mrs. Furnish still survive and are making their home on their fifty-five acre farm, located in Mill Township, and in spite of advanced years are still alert in body and active in mind. Mr. Furnish has been essentially a farmer, yet he has found time also to engage prominently in Republican politics, and at one time was a candidate for the office of county recorder. At this time his views on the temperance question lead him to support the Prohibition party. With his wife he belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church, and both heave taken an active part in its various movements and charities.
J. William Furnish was born on his father's farm in Jefferson Township, Grant county, Indiana, October 8, 1860, and was there reared to agricultural pursuits and given an ordinary educational training in the public schools. He early showed himself possessed of industry and thrift, and at the age of seventeen years, seeking to better himself, went to Sedgwick County, Kansas, and there learned the trade of plasterer. this he followed in Wichita, Kansas, for a period of ten years and then returned to grant County, Indiana, and resumed farming, in which he has met with marked success. At this time he is the owner of a handsome tract of ninety-four acres, all under a high state of cultivation, located in Section 4, Mill Township, just outside of the limits of Jonesboro, of which he has been the owner for four years. He has devoted his attention to general farming, and the prosperity which he has gained has come through the medium of hard labor, intelligently applied. During the time he has lived in this locality, Mr. Furnish has built up a reputation for honesty and integrity that makes his name a synonym for reliability and straightforward dealing. His methods are progressive, although practical, and his property shows the beneficial effects of good management.
While a resident of Wichita, Kansas, Mr. Furnish was married (first) in 1881 to Ida L. Allphine, who was born in Schuyler County, Illinois, December 28, 1860, but was reared and educated in Kansas, where she went as a child with her parents. She died in Jonesboro, Indiana, having been the mother of four children: Maybelle, who died soon after marriage to Warren Knowles; Mary J., who is the wife of Thomas Owens and the mother of four children, Verda, Elizabeth E., Della and Aidrie; Nellie, who died at the age of twenty-three years, unmarried; and Myrtle, who died aged six years.
Mr. Furnish's second marriage, which took place in Madison County, Indiana, was to Miss Pansy May Mason, who was born August 29, 1884, in Madison County, Indiana, and was educated in that county, where she grew up and resided until her marriage. She has been the mother of Minnie, Thelma Irene and Nancy L., who are all attending school; and Edmund, Elizabeth and Owen, the babies. One child, Martha J. died January 1, 1904, aged one year and four days. For many years Mr. Furnish voted with the Republican party, but becoming convinced of the necessity for following a principle rather than party ties, he became a pioneer worker in the Prohibition party, which he now gives his aid and voting influence. He and his wife are consistent members of the Jonesboro Friends' Church, and have aided it in many ways. Mr. Furnish is prominent in fraternal circles as a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, his allegiance being given to Romania Lodge No. 82, in which he has passed through all the chairs and the degrees up to the Grand Lodge. He belongs to the class of men who are able to make their minds work with their hands, and who make their community's interests their own. Such men form the backbone of any locality.
Centennial History of Grant County Indiana 1812-1912. The Lewis Publishing Co., 1914.