Rufus O. Willard
Rufus O. Willard, one of the old and honored farmers of Sullivan County, residing in Gill Township, was born January 8, 1838, on the farm on which he now lives. He is a son of Orson and Elizabeth (McCutcheon) Willard, the father born in Utica, New York, March 14, 1787, while the mother was a native of Virginia. Orson Willard came to Indiana in 1807, before it had been admitted as a state, and he entered government land and remained until 1852, when he left his farm in the hands of a tenant and went to California and there took up more government land within the Waukeen Valley. This western trip he made overland, arriving August 7, 1853. He took a large lot of cattle there with him and engaged in farming, remaining there until his death in 1854. His wife had died in 1840. Politically he was a Whig before the formation of the Republican party and he was a candidate for Senator in 1844. Orson and Elizabeth Willard were the parents of three children:
Lenora, deceased, was the wife of Captain James H. Garrett, also deceased.
Isabelle, wife of Colonel John A. Garrett; he is dead, and she is residing in Newton, Iowa.
Rufus O., of this sketch.
Rufus O. Willard received his education at the schools of New Lebanon, Carlisle and Waveland, Indiana. His father died when he was fifteen years of age, in California, where the son remained on the farm, caring for the stock and estate in general until it was disposed of and then started with his mother for Indiana, coming by the Panama water route to New York City, arriving June 16, 1854. He then resided in Carlisle and attended school about five years. He then went onto the farm which he now occupies, going to this farm in April, 1862. He possesses the original patent to this tract of land, the instrument bearing the signature of President Jackson. Mr. Willard has lived here continuously ever since his settlement, with the exception of the winter of 1907-08, which he spent in Florida, being absent four and a half months. This farm contains one hundred and sixty acres, which for many years was farmed by his sons until 1907, when it was rented. Though he was himself actively engaged on the farm, Mr. Willard made a specialty of stock raising, in which he was very successful.
Mr. Willard has been identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows since 1866 and stands for all that is good and truly progressive in the community in which he has resided so many years. Politically he is a radical Republican. He was married May 7, 1860, to Miss Mary Owens, born in Carlisle, August 5, 1842, daughter of B. F. and Sarah (Barker) Owens. Her father was a native of Macon, Georgia, as was also the mother. Mrs. Willard's parents resided in Indiana but a short time, then returned to Macon, where they died several years since. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Willard are as follows:
Louisa, wife of C. L. Engle, residing in Gill Township, on a farm, and they have eight children.
Anna, wife of Rush L. Davis, a farmer, they have six children.
Katherine, wife of E. W. Sanders, of Detroit, Michigan, a traveling salesman and manufacturer of porcelain, and they are the parents of two children.
Laura, wife of F. H. Huntworth, of Chehalis, a professor in the high schools, they have two children.
Mary, unmarried, residing in Seattle, Washington, at the head of the science department of the high schools.
Roxie, deceased, was the wife of Greenfield Wolf, of Sullivan, and they had two children.
Orson, married Marjorie Benefield, of Carlisle, and resides at Lawrence, Kansas, temporarily.
Belden, unmarried and at home.
Source: A History of Sullivan County, Indiana. Closing of the first century’s history of the county and showing the growth of its people, institutions, industries and wealth. Thomas J. Wolfe, Editor. The Lewis Publishing Company, 1909, page 402-403.