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Welcome To Sullivan County, Indiana
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JAMES FRANK ALUMBAUGH JAMES FRANK ALUMBAUGH.---The vice president of the First National Bank of Carlisle, Indiana, and a man prominent in the business circles of his town and county, is James F. Alumbaugh, who was born September 10, 1857, in Haddon township, Sullivan county, Indiana, a son of Tilford and Paulina J. (Gobin) Alumbaugh. The father, who was of German desent, always followed farming in Haddon township, until about 1890, when he retired to Carlisle. He was a highly successful farmer and stock-rasier, at one time owning three hundred acress of most excellent Indiana land. Tilford Alumbaugh was born April 1, 1834, in Gill township, Sullivan county, and died March 22, 1900, aged sixty-five years, eleven months and twenty-one days. He was one of seven brothers, two perhaps being younger than he, but he was the last to pass away. The death of both parents within a short time of each other left him an orphan about the age of five years. He lived with his uncle, Morris Roberts, until eleven years old and was then bound out to Milner E. Nash, who died in February, shortly before young Alumbaugh was twenty-one. He remained with the widow during the following summer. In the autumn of 1855 Mr. Aumbaugh went to James M. Gobin's place. This was a turning point in his life, for about one year afterward, on September 11, 1856, he was married to Paulina J. Gobin, daughter of James M. To this union were born three children: Libbie G., James F. and William H., the last named dying in infancy. This left only a brother and a sister. The daughter was the late sister Cauble, of precious memory. The son, James F., one of the leading business men of Carlisle, is the only one now surviving. Uncle "Tip," as Tilford Alumbaugh was called, commenced life with nothing , but by industry and integrity, by economy and good management, he long since secured a competency for himself and his family. He loved his family and served them by selfsacrifice. He obeyed the gospel and became a member of the Providence Christian church in the early sixties. He and his wife were baptized at the same time by Uncle Joe Wolfe, who has also issued their marriage licence ans solemnized their marriage. Tilford Alumbaugh was a charter member of the Carlisle Christian church, which met first in the Old Seminary, then in a rented hall, and finally in the house now occupied by the church. In the building of this house, in 1866, he took a leading part, being a member of the buildingcommittee, and contributing largely both of time and money. For many years he served the congregation as elder. In church work, as in everything, he was candid, energetic and decisive. In his death the family lost an exemplary father and husband, the church one of its most valued member, and the communtiy a benefactor. "Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord, from henceforth; yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and their works do follow them." A large audience attended the funeral, which took place in the Christian church, Sunday, March 25, at 10:00 A. M., interment being at Engle cemetery. The services were conducted by the pastor, Rev. T. A. Cox. The mother of James F. Alumbaugh was also a native of Haddon township, born near Carlisle, Indiana, Jamuary 5, 1826, the daughter of James M. and Levicy (Booker) Gobin. James M. Gobin was born in Kentucky and his wife in Indiana, and both died in Haddon township, Sullivan county. He was a farmer and also a stock-rasier. In the early sixties Mrs. Alumbaugh became a Christian, uniting with the Providence Christian church at Carlisle. Through all the early struggles and successes of this church, she helped to carry the burdens and rejoice in the victories, and in her last moments the church was her chief source of care. No excuse for absence from the services of the church was satisfactory to her except sickness. She was ready to give of her means as well as her time and personal services toward the support of the teaching of the gospel. Her home was the home of the preacher as long as she was physically able to take care of the house. For months she had not been in vigorous health and for some weeks was quite feeble, but would not give her consent to leave her own home until stricken with paralysis, January 13, when she was removed to the home of her son, James Frank, where she died January 30, 1903. Retiring and modest almost to timidity, she was not a talking Christian but a working Christian. The early years of her married life, when she began with little, as well as in the later years of financial success, she was a true helpmate to her husband, by whose side she stood for more than forty-three years, was a true mother, a good neighbor, a faithful friend and an earnest though quiet Christian. James F. Alumbaugh was reared to farm labor, receiving his education in the district schools. He engaged in the livery business when twenty-three years old, locating at Carlisle for one year, where he operated the business until he sold it, to engage in the hardware trade, in company with J. N. Roberts, under the firm name of Roberts & Alumbaugh. They also conducted a lumber and grain business at the depot and carried a large stock of farm implements and vehicles. This co-partnership existed until January 1, 1905, when it was dissolved by mutual consent. The hardware business is now conducted by Mr. Alumbaugh's son, under the name of J. F. Alumbaugh & Co. Since January 1, 1905, when Mr. Alumbaugh retired from the hardward business, he has superintended his farm in Haddon township, a two hundred acre tract known as the old Alumbaugh homestead. He is also president of the Carlisle Construction Company, formed for the purpose of contructing gravel and stone walks and roads, and is vice president and one of the original organizers of the First National Bank of Carlisle, a solid financial institution. Like his father, James F. Alumbaugh affiliates with the Democratic party. He is a member of the county council and served two terms on the town council. He takes much interest in educational matters, having served nine years on the Carlisle school board with much credit to himself and to the entire satisfaction of the district. He belongs to Carlisle Lodge, No. 3, F. & A. M, standing high in the Masonic fraternity. Mr. Alumbaugh was married June 11, 1884, to Nora May Markee, who was born in Carlisle June 11, 1866, daughter of Isaac Newton and Mary Ann (Ferree) Markee. ( see sketch of the Ferree family, else where in this work, with sketch of Edley W. Rogers.) Isaac Newton Markee was born in Tippecanoe, Harrison county, Ohio, February 7, 1832. He was married May 29, 1856 to Mary Ann Ferree Pirtle, of Carlisle, Indiana, by Capt. Wilbur Van Fossen. To this union were born five children: William Allen, Sarah Ellen, Nora D., Maud Winifred and a daughter who died in infancy. Mr. Markee was a shoemaker by trade and a man of good business tact and had the confidence of all who knew him. His father, James Markee, was born in 1795 and is buried in the town cemetery of Robinson, Illinois. The mother, Rhoda Johnson Nevitt, was born in Ohio in January, 1801. Isaac Newton Markee died in Carlisle, Indiana, September 6, 1883, of paralysis of the bowels, having been an invalid for many years. Mrs. Alumbaugh was educated at Carlisle, Indiana, and taught school for a season. One son was born to Mr. Alumbaugh and wife, Harry Tilford, born March 21, 1885. He was educated at Carlisle and at the naval academy at Culver, Indiana, and the Illinois University, after which he returned home. He married Abbie Ross Harris, a native of Richmond, Indiana, where she was reared and educated, and they have two sons: James Winston and Harris Tilford. Mr. and Mrs. James F. Alumbaugh are member of the Christian church. Mrs. Alumbaugh is especially interested in church work, having served eight years as president of the C. W. B. M., three years as junior superintendent of the C. E., as a teacher in the Sunday school for twenty-five years, and has always taken an active part in all public charities. At present she is vice president of the National Benevolent Association for Homeless Children, and has done much good for that cause. She is much beloved by children and appreciates greatly the freindship of a child. The following obituary is taken from the Carlisle (Indiana) News of February 28, 1907:
IN MEMORIAM. VOLUME II. PAGE 30.
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