Part of the Indiana Biographies Project
Milo Cranor
One of the pioneers and founders of Wayne county was the father of the subject of this sketch. Joshua Cranor, for such was the name he bore, was a native of North Carolina, his birth having occurred September 10, 1794. He was but two years of age when his father, Thomas Cranor, died, and, though it is not certainly known, it is believed that the Cranor family lived in North Carolina for several generations. The three brothers of Joshua — Thomas, Joseph and Moses — have all passed to their reward.
In his early manhood Joshua Cranor came to Wayne county, and in 1811 made a settlement in what is now known as Green township. He improved a farm situated about a mile southeast of Williamsburg, and continued to live there until his death, June 3, 1866. His reputation as a business man, citizen and neighbor was irreproachable, and every one held him in high regard. When about twenty-one years of age he married Susannah, daughter of William Johnson, a pioneer of Wayne county. She was born January 27, 1797, and died at the home of her son Milo, in Williamsburg, in December, 1887.
Five sons and six daughters blessed the union of Joshua and Susannah Cranor, and at this time six of the number survive. Martha, the eldest born, married Ephraim Gates, and died May 20, 1842, when in her twenty-seventh year; Sarah, born March 8, 1817, is the widow of Daniel Gates, and is now a resident of Iowa; Thomas, born January 31, 1819, died many years ago; Stephen, born in March, 1821, is living in Missouri; Ann, born August 29, 1823, married David Pitts, and died many years ago; William, born March 29, 1826, resides in Randolph county, Indiana; Hannah became the wife of Edward Neal and lives in Richmond, this state; Moses, born January 13, 1832, is a citizen of Howard county, Indiana; Jane, born April 23, 1834, died September 7, 1839; Amanda, born May 31, 1837, became the wife of William Coggshall, and died September 23, 1886; and Milo, born September 15, 1839, completes the family.
Milo Cranor, the youngest child of his parents, was born and reared on the old homestead. He remained with them, tenderly caring for them in their declining years, and justly received the old home as his inheritance. He has never parted with the farm, to which he is attached by a thousand associations and the traditions of his forefathers, but for the past fourteen years he has made his home in Williamsburg, where he has owned and operated what has long been known as the Williamsburg Mill. In his business methods he is systematic, upright and just, winning the approval of those with whom he has dealings.
On the 9th of October, 1862, Mr. Cranor married Miss Frances J. Irvin, a daughter of George Irvin, of Randolph county, Indiana. Mrs. Cranor was born in Ohio August 16, 1842, and died September 19, 1896. The only child of this worthy couple is Leonidas I., whose birth occurred March 5, 1866. On March 5, 1892, he married Lizzie Meredith, daughter of John and Melissa Meredith, residents of Williamsburg.
Source:
Biographical and Genealogical History of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin Counties, Indiana, Volume 1, The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, 1899