Marshall Nicholas Hittle, one of the prominent and successful citizens of Hancock county, was born on July 21, 1863, in Jackson township, the son of William H. H. Hittle and Ann (Smith) Hittle.

William H. H. Hittle was born in Rush county and was the son of Nicholas and Susan (Morgan) Hittle. The name is of German origin and was originally spelled Huttle. William H. H. Hittle grew to manhood in Rush county and while yet a young man he and his father came to the edge of Jackson township to work on a "deadening" and while here he met Ann Smith, whom he married two years later. After marriage he and his wife lived in Jackson township until his health failed and they removed to the farm of his father, where he died on February 18, 1868.

Ann (Smith) Hittle was born on the Smith homestead in Jackson township on March 10, 1840, being the daughter of Samuel and Parthena (Roland) Smith, for former of whom was a native of the state of New York and the latter was born n Rhode Island about 1806. Samuel Smith and wife were pioneers of Rush county. About the year 1833 they put all their belongings on a sled and started for Jackson township, where Mr. /smith entered land on the north edge of the township. At that time the territory was one vast wilderness an not a stick of timber had been cut from his claim. Here he cleared a space and built a rude log cabin and began the development of the farm that has been the home of some of the family since that time. Never has the farm been in other than the Smith name. Mr. Smith increased his holdings until he owned three hundred and twenty acres. Ann Smith was the seventh of ten children and always lived at home until her marriage to William H. H. Hittle.

To William H. H. Hittle and wife were born two children: Marshall Nicolas and Edwin Owen, who died at the age of ten months. Some years after the death of William H. H. Hittle, Mrs. Hittle was married to Nimrod Lacy, a native of West Virginia, and the son of Adam and Sarah Lacy. Mr. Lacy came to Hancock county about 1860 and engaged in farming in Jackson township. It was here that Ann Lacy died on March 15, 1912.

While Marshall Nicholas Hittle was a boy he spent a part of his life in West Virginia, yet the greater part of it was spent in Jackson township, attending district school and at Spiceland Academy. In 1886 he went to Kansas and engaged in farming for two years in Pratt county and was then six years in the city of Pratt. He later came back to Indiana and taught school and engaged in farming for a number of years. His home farm, where he now lives, is on section 5, Jackson township. Mr. Hittle was nominated by the Republican party and elected in November, 1914, as trustee of his township, he being the only Republican trustee elected in the county at that time.

In 1887 Marshall Nicholas Hittle was united in marriage to Anna Reece, a native of Hancock county and a daughter of Charles and Martha (Harvey) Reece. Charles Reece was born near Cleveland, the son of John and Guliaelma (Dennis) Reece. John Reece came from North Carolina and was a pioneer settler near Cleveland. The Dennis family came from near Straughn. Charles Reece farmed in Jackson township until 1885 and then went to Kansas, where he died in 1889. His wife, Martha Reece, was born near Mooresville, Morgan county, and was the daughter of David Harvey, whose wife was a Hadley. The Hadleys were Quakers from North Carolina. David Harvey entered his land from the government in Morgan county. Charles Reece met Martha Harvey while they were attending school. She is still living in Kansas. Charles Reece and wife were the parents of nine children, all but one are living, three are living in Indiana, but Mrs. Hittle is the only one living in Hancock county.

Mr. and Mrs. Hittle have one son and one daughter: Horace E., who, on March 22, 1916, married Adeline Class, of Jennings county, Indiana, and they live on the Hittle farm, and Ethel R. Horace is a graduate of the high school at Wilkinson and Ethel is in the junior year of the same school.

Mr. Hittle is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. He and his family are members of the Nameless Creek Christian church and Mr. Hittle has been the superintendent of the Sunday school for many years.

Transcribed from History of Hancock County, Indiana, Its People, Industries and Institutions by George J. Richman, B. L., Federal Publishing Co., Indianapolis, Indiana, 1916. Page 1066-1068.

Submitted by Sylvia (Rose) Duda, Laingsburg, MI November 8, 2001.

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