OLIVER CROMWELL BARTMESS, a representative of one of the old and honored pioneers of Tippecanoe County, is a native of Ohio, born October 1, 1819, a son of JACOB and SOPHIA (RIZER) BARTMESS, both of whom were natives of Maryland, the father born May 10, 1793, of German descent. GEORGE RIZER, the maternal grandfather of our subject, represented Alleghany County in the Maryland State Legislature, his daughter, MRS. BARTMESS, having been born in that county.

In 1797, the family of JACOB BARTMESS removed to Butler County, Ohio, remaining there eight years, and in the fall of 1829 came to Tippecanoe County, Indiana, and settled on section 14, Sheffield Township, where the father lived until his death, March 8, 1848. He was a prosperous agriculturist, and accumulated 370 acres of land, 100 acres being prairie land, on section 6 of the same township. His widow survived him until the year 1866. Both were worthy and consistent members of the United Brethren church. They reared a family of eight children, but four are now living--OLIVER C., the subject of this sketch; MARGARET ANN, living in Lafayette, and JOSEPH F., presiding elder of the United Brethren church at Buchanan, Michigan. Those deceased are MRS. SARAH JANE BULL, MARY THOMPSON, ELIZA A. GREGORY and HARRIET ASHER.

OLIVER C. BARTMESS was reared to the vocation of a farmer on the home farm, and received his education in the public schools of his neighborhood. He was married January 4, 1844, to MISS SARAH CLARK, who was born in Butler County, Ohio, February 20, 1824, a daughter of JOHN and SUSAN (SHERRARD) CLARK, her father born in Berks County, Pennsylvania, of English ancestry, and her mother a native of New Jersey. The CLARK family came to this county and settled in Sheffield Township as early as 1832. JOHN CLARK resided in the county for a period of thirty years, when he removed to Illinois, but several years later he returned to this county, where he died at the home of his daughter, MRS. BARTMESS, in 1875. His wife died many years before, her death taking place in 1843. They reared eight children, five of whom yet survive--SARAH, wife of our subject; HENRY, in Illinois; ROBERT, in Illinois; MRS. ELIZABETH DARLING, of Cass County, Indiana, and MRS. JANE THOMPSON, of Iowa. WILLIAM CLARK was a member of the Fifty-first Illinois Infantry, and died in the army. SAMUEL, another son, died in Sheffield Township, at the age of nineteen years, and MRS. ELLEN THOMPSON died in Indiana.

MR. and MRS. BARTMESS have three children living--MARTHA, wife of DR. STRATHER, of Labette County, Kansas, and SAMUEL E. and WILLIAM, residents of Sheffield Township. Three children are deceased--SOPHIA, wife of DR. J.H. CROUSE, of Dayton, and two who died in infancy.

MR. BARTMESS has resided on his present farm since 1846. His first house in the county was a small frame building, eighteen feet square, and in 1866 he erected his fine brick residence, which is one of the best dwellings in Sheffield Township. His barn and other farm buildings are substantial and commodious, and everything about the place betokens care and thrift. His home is the abode of hospitality, both MR. and MRS. BARTMESS being possessed with cordial manners and genial disposition. MR. BARTMESS has always taken an active interest in the advancement of education and religion, and every worthy object for the public welfare has his encouragement and support. He is an earnest and faithful member of the United Brethren church. Politically he affiliates with the Republican party.

Biographical Record and Portrait Album of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, pp. 660-661
Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois, 1888