A portrait and biographical record of Boone, Clinton and Hendricks Counties, Ind. : containing biographical sketches of many prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all of the presidents of the United States, and biographies of the governors of Indiana, Part 18

Author:
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : A.W. Bowen & Co.
Number of Pages: 1080

USA > Indiana > Boone County > A portrait and biographical record of Boone, Clinton and Hendricks Counties, Ind. : containing biographical sketches of many prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all of the presidents of the United States, and biographies of the governors of Indiana > Part 18
USA > Indiana > Clinton County > A portrait and biographical record of Boone, Clinton and Hendricks Counties, Ind. : containing biographical sketches of many prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all of the presidents of the United States, and biographies of the governors of Indiana > Part 18
USA > Indiana > Hendricks County > A portrait and biographical record of Boone, Clinton and Hendricks Counties, Ind. : containing biographical sketches of many prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all of the presidents of the United States, and biographies of the governors of Indiana > Part 18

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

ILEY H. BOHANNON, a worthy resident and well known old citizen of Worth township, Boone county, Ind., is a native of Stokes county, N. C., where his birth occurred upon the thir- teith day of September, 1814. His father was Elliott Bohannon, also a native of North Caro- lina, and his mother, Sarah Yates, was born in the same state, and they married there and reared a family. Subsequently they emigrated to Indiana, locating in the county of Franklin, where they passed the remainder of their days. The following are the names of their seven children: Frances, Richard, William, Wiley H., Mary, Elizabeth and Elliott S.

Wiley H. Bohannon spent the first seven- teen years of his life in the state of his nativity and about 1831 came with his parents to Franklin county, Ind. He grew to manhood on a farm, attended, at intervals during his minority, such schools as the country afforded, and has always devoted his energies to the

217

OF BOONE COUNTY.

pursuit of agriculture. Miss Letty Yates, to whom he was united in marriage on the ninth day of July, 1837, was born January, 1815, in North Carolina, the daughter of William and Martha (Durhamn) Yates, who came from the above state to Indiana as early as the year 1831. After his marriage, Mr. Bohannon settled in Franklin county, where he lived un- til 1852, in the spring of which year he changed his residence to the county of Boone, purchasing his present farm in Worth town- ship, where he has since made his home. In his chosen calling, Mr. Bohannon has display- ed most excellent judgment, 'and he believes that agriculture is one of the most honorable as well as most satisfactory occupations in which a man can engage. His farm is well improved, containing good buildings, and a greater part of his 106 acres is under a success- ful state of cultivation. Socially he commands the esteem of his fellow-citizens or Worth and belongs to that large and eminently respectable class of people whose virtues and intelligence add luster to a community. By his first mar- riage he had seven children, only one of whom -James G .- is living at this time. Mrs. Bo- hannon was called from the scenes of her earthly trials on the twenty-third day of April, 1873, and August 10 of the same year Mr. Bo- hannon was united in marriage with Mrs. Phebe F. Smail, widow of Andrew J. Smail; to this marriage were born five children: Daniel W., Thomas W., Willis H., Martha J., and Wilburn R. In 1891 Mr. Bohannon's home was again visited by the death angel, on November 4 of which year his wife died.

R. MATTHEW H. BOUNELL, the oldest medical practitioner of Boone county, is descended paternally from French ancestry, and on the mother's side is of English lineage. His grandfather

Bounell came to the United States at a period antedating the war of Independence, in which struggle he took part, and settled at Elizabeth, N. J., where he married a Miss Hughes, and afterward moved to Kentucky. After a resi- dence of one year in that state he emigrated to Ohio, thence returned to New Jersey for the purpose of procuring money, and while on his way back to his new home in Ohio was mur- dered by either white men or Indians.

Matthew Bounell, father of the doctor, was born in New Jersey, but went to Ohio with his father when a small boy. After the latter's death he learned the blacksmith's trade, which, however, he did not follow, but chose instead the life of a farmer. He married in Butler county, Ohio, Ruth Flover, and to them were born nine children-John, Abigail, Daniel, Amy, Mary, Sarah, Matthew H., Jesse and Aaron. In October, 1828, Matthew Bounell moved to Clinton county, Ind., and entered a tract of wild land before the county was organ- ized. He was one of the original pioneers of Clinton, when there were but five white fami- lies in the county, namely: John Douglass, William Clark, David Kilgore, David Young and a Mr. Kirk. The country at that time was a primitive wilderness, Indians were numerous and the forests abounded in wild game. The early settlers had to depend largely for meat on wild turkey, deer, prairie chickens and wild hogs, while the nearest market was Lafayette, twenty-five miles away. Mr. Bounell entered nine lots of eighty acres each, and became a substantial farmer, with his residence on "Twelve Mile Prairie." He and his wife were members of the Methodist church, and it was at his house, in an early day, services and quarterly meetings were held. The noted Meth- odist itinerant divines often preached in Mr. Bounell's residence.

Mr. Bounell was a soldier in the war of 1812. He was one of the founders and organ-

218

BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY

izers of Clinton county, and at his house, which was of hewed logs two stories high, the first political convention was held to nominate county officers. He was a hard-working, pru -. dent, man, universally respected for his integ- rity, and died in 1863, aged seventy-seven years. His wife lived to be eighty-three years old, and like her husband was a true type of the pioneer of sixty years ago.

Dr. Matthew H. Bounell was born on a farm in Butler county, Ohio, November 12, 1822, and was but six years of age when brought by his parents to Indiana. The jour- ney to the new home in the wilds of Clinton county was made with a large wagon drawn by four yoke of oxen, and a small two-horse wagon and it is a fact worthy of note that but two houses were passed by the little company after leaving Indianapolis until they reached the log cabin which Mr. Bounell had erected the previous spring. The doctor well remembers the early pioneer settlers and the times in which they lived, and his reminiscences of the pioneer period are numerous and very interest- ing. The doctor's early education was ac- quired in the old-fashioned log school-house; later he attended school at Frankfort for a limited period and for one year pursued his studies at Asbury university, Greencastle, Ind. Having decided to adopt the medical profession for his life work, the doctor, after some pre- liminary study, entered, in 1846, the Rnsh Medical college, Chicago, and in 1847 em- barked upon his professional career at Leba- non, Ind., where in due season he built up a large practice, which, owing to the poverty of the majority of the people, was not very re- numerative. In 1851 he located at Younts- ville, Montgomery county, where he practiced successfully for ten years, and in the mean- time, 1856, he again entered Rush Medical college, from which he was graduated the fol- lowing year. In 1861 he returned to Lebanon

and resumed the practice, and was thus en- gaged until 1863, at which time he raised company G, One-Hundred and Sixteenth In- diana infantry, being elected and commission- ed captain when the company was organized. Later he was made major-surgeon of the regi- ment, and for some time acted as post-surgeon at Tazewell, Tenn .; and was also for a limited period surgeon of the brigade. He acted as surgeon at the battles of Blue Springs and Walker's Ford, and on returnig home again resumed the practice at Lebanon, which was continued then very successfully until 1872, when he moved to his present farm of 440 acres, not far from the county seat. Dr. Bounell still continues in active practice, and his professional services are in great demand throughout Boone and counties adjoining. He has been an enthusiastic student of his profes- sion, keeps fully abreast of the times and is a patron and deep reader of the leading medical journals of the day of both Europe and the United States, possessing a valuable and exten- sive library, collected with great care during his long practice of forty-seven years.

Dr. Bounell married in September, 1844, Mary Louisa Kilgore, daughter of David and Elizabeth (Clark) Kilgore-the father of Mrs. Bounell being one of the early pioneers of Clinton county, Ind. Mrs. Bounell died in the spring of 1862, leaving two children- Thomas A., a practicing physician for twenty- two years at New Brunswick, Boone county, and India J., at home. In 1863 the doctor was united in marriage to Elizabeth Heath, daugh- ter of Joshua Heath, a prominent merchant of Lafayette; and to this union have been born two children-Dr. Harry M , of Jamestown, and Dr. E. Guy, at this time a medical stu- dent at Indianapolis. Joshua Heath was a very prominent man of Scotch lineage, and was a republican, and a class leader in the Methodist church. At the time of his death

BENJAMIN BOOHER.

221

OF BOONE COUNTY.

he was retired from active labor, his life hav- ing been principally engaged in mercantile pur- suits. The doctor is a republican and is, with his wife, a member of the M. E. church. So- cially the doctor and his family are great fa- vorites in the social circle and are greatly re- spected by the community at large.

ENJAMIN BOOHER, one of the wealthiest residents of Boone county, and one of the most energetic and business-like farmers of his township, intelligent and self-made, descends from good old Pennsylvania-German stock, and is well worthy of a prominent place in this vol- ume of biographical records. His grandfather, John Booher, on coming from Germany to America, first located in the Keystone state. and there married a native of Germany, and to this union were born the following-named children: Jacob, Mary, William, Benjamin, John, Frederick, Isaac, Henry and Elizabeth All of them, imbued with the stamina of their origin, grew to maturity, emigrated to the farming lands of Virginia and Tennessee, and reared families to add to the wealth of the nation through their incessant toil. John Booher, the grandfather, finally found a home in Sullivan county, Tenn., in the early settle- ment of that section, but still retained his farm in Washington county, Va. He was a slave owner, and a well-to-do planter of consider- able influence in both states. His son, Jacob, the father of Benjamin, our subject, was born in Pennsylvania, March 3, 1777, and when a boy of twelve, in 1789, found himself a resi- dent of Tennessee. He there learned the blacksmith's trade, and there married Cathe- rine Barnett, a daughter of Nicholas and Barbara Barnett, and to this, his first mar- riage, were born five children, named William. Mary, Elizabeth, Gurdianas and John M.

This lady was called away in due course of time, and Mr. Booher married her sister, Eli- zabeth Barnett, and to this union were born seven children, viz: Catherine, Jonathan, Jacob, Ambrose, Lucinda, Benjamin and Leander. December 8, 1834. Jacob Booher left Tennessee and came to Indiana and set- tled on 160 acres of entered land in Mont- gomery county, to which he subsequently add- ed by purchase 240 acres, but not immediately adjoining his entered property. He became a man of much wealth and influence and a repre- sentative citizen. He and wife were faithful members of the Lutheran church, and in poli- tics he was a Jacksonian democrat. He lived to be sixty-eight years of age, and died July 29, 1845, on his farm in Montgomery county, Ind., mourned by all who knew him.

Benjamin Booher, of Lebanon, Ind., with whom this particular sketch has most to do, was born on his father's farm in Sullivan county, Tenn., September 5, 1821. He re- ceived the education usually accorded in the common schools of his early days, but was an apt scholar and quick to learn through self- application to the books that came within his command. He was thirteen years of age when he came to Indiana with his parents, and here he was invigorated both in body and mind through the severe discipline of farm labor. He was married in Boone county Oc- tober 20, 1842, to Margaret, daughter of Wil- liam and Margaret (Hughes) Beeler, and of the twelve children born to this genial union eleven are still living, one son having died when an infant. The order of birth is: Mar- tha, Margaret E., William J., Albert L., Ben- jamin C., Sylvester C., Vando L., Adelaide M., Mark A., Emma R., Daniel B. and Min- nie F.

Benjamin Booher had been but three years married when he located in what is now Whitestown, Boone county, where he bought

222

BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY

ninety acres in dense wilderness. He cleared it of its heavy timber, and by hard work and thrift increased his possessions to 1, 700 acres, almost all of which is in one body, and all of this large property, with the exception of 320 acres, he has given to his children, donating to each of the eleven a comfortable-sized farm. After the death of his first wife, Mr. Booher married Mrs. Mary Smith, who had borne the maiden name of Ross. He then moved to Lebanon, and here purchased his substantial and elegant brick residence, retir- ing from the more active duties of business, but still following his restless activity in giving his attention to the details of some of the more important business of his life.

Mr. Booher is a man of remarkable physi- cal strength as well as intellectual superiority and force of character, and it is stated that at the age of fifty-five years he could easily spring over the back of a high horse. His stupendous labor in the field and untiring industry have given full evidence of his physi- cal endurance. He is entirely self-made as to pecuniary affairs, but his position as an intelli- gent citizen of high standing before his fellow- men has come through nature alone. He takes but little interest in politics, and thinks for himself on all matters pertaining to politi- cal economy and party affairs, but yet, on one occasion, withdrew from his personal business to become trustee of Worth township, as a self-imposed duty. He is a thoroughly self- made man, and has won his present high posi- tion before his fellow-citizens entirely through his personal exertions.

Mr. Booher's mother, Elizabeth Barnett, was born February 3, 1779, a daughter of Nicholas and Barbara Barnett; they were natives of Pennsylvania; and later they moved to West Virginia, where they remained until death. They were farmers and very devoted christian people. and were the

parents of the following named children: George, Catherine, John, Adam, Jacob, Peter, Elizabeth, Mary, Margaret, Sarah and Nicho- las. The father of this family was a man of ordinary means, but much respected.

S AMSON S. BOWEN, one of the oldest and most honored pioneers of Boone county, Ind., and now a resident of Jefferson township, was born in Harrison county, Ky., August 19, 1818. His parents were Francis and Sarah G. (Turley) Bowen, who died, respectively, August 20, 1866, and July 19, 1874. Mrs. Sarah G. Bowen was a daughter of William Turley, a native of Virginia. She bore her husband twelve children, all of whom lived to manhood and womanhood. Francis Bowen was of Welsh extraction and by trade was a tanner.

Samson Bowen, when he became old enough for manual labor. was hired out to a planter until he reached the age of eighteen, when, in November, 1836, he came to Boone county, Ind .. worked industriously, and in August, 1838, purchased a farm of forty acres; in 1840 he bought forty acres additional, and eventually increased it to 280 acres, on which he has his present home. April 11, 1844, Mr. Bowen was joined in wedlock with Miss Mary A. Burke, daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Basket) Burke, who had born to them a family of thirteen children, of whom Dr. George L. Burke of Jamestown is one. Samuel Burke died September 24, 1839, and Mrs. Elizabeth Burke was called from earth February 27. 1865-the remains of both being interred in Erskine cemetery, Boone county. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Samson Bowen were named in order of birth as follows: George E., born March 7, 1846; Elbert C., born December 7, 1847; Armilda M., born July 2, 1849, and died September

223

OF BOONE COUNTY.

15, 1858; Emily J., born January 19, 1851- died September 21, 1853; James C., born May 9, 1853-died September 27, 1853, and Marietta, born July 25, 1858. Mr. and Mrs. Bowen are pious members of the Christian church, and stand deservedly high in the esti- mation of the community in which they have for so many years resided and in the improve- ment of which they have been no small factors. In politics, Mr. Bowen has always been a faithful adherent of the democratic party,

a HARLES H. BOYD, a thrifty and respected farmer of Harrison town- ship, Boone county, Ind., springs from sturdy Irish stock. His great- grandfather, the first of the family to come to America, settled in Maryland; his grandfather settled in Franklin county, Va., and was a patriot of the Mexican war; William Boyd, the grandfather of Charles H. was born on his father's farm in Maryland, married in Frank- lin county, Va., accumulated a handsome es- tate, and died a highly respected citizen. Henry Boyd, son of William, and the father of our subject, was also a native of Virginia, in which state he passed his entire life.

Charles H. Boyd was born in Carroll county, Va., May 22, 1843, grew up a poor boy and secured his education at home. He lived on his birthplace until the commence- ment of the Civil war, when he enlisted in Floyd county, Va., in March, 1862, in com- pany B, Fifty-fourth regiment of Confederate volunteers, Capt. Dobbins, Col. Wade and Gen. Trigg being his officers. From Floyd county the regiment went to Montgomery county, Va., to drill for active service, and in Russell county was further prepared for war. His first experience on the field of battle was in a skirmish at Princeton, whence his regi-

ment pursued the Federal cavalry to Kentucky. The next engagement was at Richmond, Ky., where sixty Federals and fifteen Confederates were killed-the fight lasting about three hours and the Federals being driven back. The regiment then went to Camp Dick Robinson and joined the army of Braxton Bragg, the Confederate commander-in-chief. Here it was engaged in a twenty-four-hour fight with Gen. Buell. Although the Confederates had the better of this batle, they were the next day ordered to fall back, and finally went to Black- water, near Suffolk, Va., and there had an- other battle in which the Federals were worsted. The next engagement was at Straw- berry plains and lasted seven hours; the next was at Cumberland Gap, from which the Con- federates withdrew and went to Knoxville, Tenn., and then to Bridgeport; they next took part in the great battle of Chickamauga, which lasted four days. Mr. Boyd was in the thick- est of the battle and his regiment was in the last skirmish, in which it captured 700 prison- ers. The Confederates also captured eighty pieces of ordnance, many hundred small arms and many prisoners in addition to those men- tioned above. The regiment was next marched to Missionary Ridge, and after fight- ing a day and a half, Mr. Boyd was captured and taken to Nashville, where he was plun- dered of all his possessions by convict soldiers. Here, also, a Confederate killed a convict for robbing him of his clothing and blankets. From Nashville the Confederate prisoners of war were transferred to Rock Island and were detained for over fifteen months, suffering se- verely from cold a portion of the time, and often, too, for want of full rations. When exchanged, Mr. Boyd went to his home in Virginia, where he remained until 1866, when he came to Boone county. Ind., engaged in farming on rented land, and has been a tenant of the same family for over twenty-five years.

224

BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY

February 28, 1869, he married Miss Luvinia (Boyd) Boyd, and has had born to him the following children: Tillman A., Floyd F., and Emma E. Mrs. Susanna Dickerson, grand- mother of Mrs. Boyd, when thirteen years of age, had the honor of meeting George Wash- ington. She was born and reared in Tenn- essee, but was visiting in Virginia when this gratifying event took place. Mr. Boyd has a vivid recollection of the famous Humphrey Mar- shall, under whom he also fought, and whom he describes as having been a Kentucky gentle- man of fine appearance. Mr. Boyd is an active supporter of public education, and has given his children every opportunity he could for at- tending the schools of his district. He is pub- lic spirited and has won the esteem of his fel- low citizens and is recognized as a gentleman of integrity and worth; is the support of his aged mother, seventy-nine years old, belongs to the Missionary Baptist church and believes in experimental religion.

HOMAS E. BRADSHAW, the popular druggist of Thorntown, Ind., was born near Saxapahaw, N. C., November 27, 1851. a son of Samuel N. and Ruth E. (Woody) Bradshaw. Samuel N. Bradshaw was a native of Orange county, N. C., born December 20, 1824, a son of James and Eliza- beth (Allen) Bradshaw, also natives of North Carolina, but of English parentage. Thomas Bradshaw, the great-grandfather of Thomas E. Bradshaw, was born in Ireland in 1750, as near as can be ascertained, and died in North Carolina in 1834, at the advanced age of eighty- four years. He was married to Lutitia Wil- liams, who lived to reach the wonderful age of one hundred and ten years. Thomas and Lutitia Bradshaw were the parents of three sons-William, Thomas and James. Thomas, the father of these three sons, was a soldier in

the Revolutionary war, and is supposed to have fought Cornwallis under Gen. Greene. James Bradshaw, son of this Revolutionary hero, Thomas, married Elizabeth Allen, and to this union were born five children, viz .: Thomas Histon, William Nelson, James Logan, Samuel Newton and Theodore Fletcher; of these, Sam- uel Newton Bradshaw married Ruth E. Woody in February, 1851, and this happy marriage was blessed with two sons and four daughters, as follows: Thomas E., the subject proper of this sketch; Mary E., Sarah J., William J., Margaret N. and Abigail L. The grandfather of our subject, James Bradshaw, was accidently shot while squirrel hunting, it was supposed, as his dead body was found in the woods; and Elizabeth Bradshaw, his wife, died in 1869 Both were members of the Methodist Episco- pal church. Samuel N. Bradshaw, their fourth son, and father of Thomas E., was in his early days a school teacher. Of his children, Mary E. is the wife of W. J. Riddle, a farmer of North Carolina; Sarah J. is the wife of James D. Williams, a farmer; William J. is superin- tendent of convict labor in eastern North Car- olina; Margaret N. is the wife of P. W. Cates, a carpenter of the same state, and Abigail L. is now Mrs. Crawford. April 1, 1861, Mrs. Ruth E. Bradshaw was called away from earth, and Samuel N., in 1862, married Nancy A. Edwards, who has borne him six . children. Samuel N. Bradshaw is a democrat, is quite prominent in local politics, and has served for many years as justice of the peace; in 1865 he was elected captain of the home guards.

Thomas E. Bradshaw remained on the parental farm until twenty years of age, when he came to Thorntown, Ind., engaged in general labor or farm work until 1876; then, as clerk for James Hanna in a drug store for a year; then for another year, at various occupations; then as clerk for W. C. Burk for three years; then, in company with Mr. Nathaniel Krauss, engaged

Fr. Bradshaw

227

OF BOONE COUNTY.

in the drug business from ISSI to 1884. when Mr. Krauss retired, and his son William assumed his interest until 1886, when Mr. Bradshaw secured active control of the estab- lishment, and now carries a stock of fresh drugs and all articles pertaining to a first-class drug store, valued at $4,000. The marriage of Mr. Bradshaw was solemnized March 17. 1880, with Elizabeth A. Langston, and this marriage has been favored with seven children, as follows: A. W., deceased; Jessie May, deceased; Edith L, Leo H.,; Thomas L. and William L (deceased), twins, and Ken- neth W. Mr. Bradshaw is a republican in his politics, and has served for the past two years as president of the school board, and is the present incumbent of said office; he is a thirty- second degree Freemason, a member of the Mystic Shrine, and master of the blue lodge; also past grand master in the I. O. O F. and member of the grand lodge; is past chief patriarch of the encampment, and a member of of the grand encampment; also, is a Knight of Py thias; he likewise was a charter member of the Indiana Pharmaceutical association, organized at Indianapolis May 9, 1882. Mr. and Mrs. Bradshaw are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and Mr. Brad- shaw has been a trustee in the church for a number of years. The family stand very high in the esteem of their neighbors, and Mr. Bradshaw is regarded as one of the most sub- stantial business men of Thorntown.

IRAM ALLEN BRADSHAW. a prominent citizen of Clinton town- ship, Boone county, Ind., and the present efficient post-master of Eliza- ville, is a native of Indiana, born in the coun- ty of Boone, one mile north of Lebanon, on the 26th day of May, 1857. His father, David Bradshaw, was born October 15, 1802, in

Kentucky, and died in the state of Arkansas on the first day of July, 1876. David Bradshaw was one of the early pioneers of Boone coun- ty, moving to that part of Indiana from Ohio, in company with his father, when the country was in a wilderness state, and afterward pur- chased eighty acres of government land near the town of Lebanon, which he subsequently sold and purchased other lands-first a farm of eighty acres on Brown's Wonder, and, later, a fine piece of 160 acres on Eagle Creek in the township of Marion. He was married November 12, 1835, to Rebecca Sims, daugh- ter of Stephen and Elizabeth Sims, and reared a family of eleven children, whose names and dates of birth are as follows: Eliza- beth A., August 8, 1839; Robert A., August 19; 1841; Minerva C., August 15, 1843; Stephen S., Jannary 3, 1845; Mary E., July 21, 1847; Martha L. A., January, 1849; John L., June 17, 1851; Charlotte L., December 10, 1853; James N., November 27, 1855, and Hiram A. and Horace G., twins, May 26, 1857.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Author: Publication date: 1895 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : A.W. Bowen & Co. Number of Pages: 1080

Author:
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : A.W. Bowen & Co.
Number of Pages: 1080