USA > Indiana > Shelby County > Chadwick's History of Shelby County, Indiana, Vol. 2 > Part 15
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James McCabe had only a limited schooling, owing to the poor facilities at that time. He married Cordelia Johnson, May 26. 1870. She was of Rush county and died October 19. 1879. He married a second time on June I, 1902. to Elma Cobbs, of Jennings county, Indiana, a daughter of Joseph and Ann Maria Cobbs. She was of Jennings county, and he of Ohic. Jo- seph married a second time to Nancy S. McCaulin, of Jennings county.
After his first marriage James McCabe lived in Union township and farmed for three years on the old homestead of his fathers. In 1875 he went to Clark, Illinois, where he made drain tile and farmed. He later came back to Shelby county and bought twenty acres in Addison township. in section thirty-five, where he has since lived. The present farm was a part of the cld Robertson place. James MeCabe never asked for a public office. For many years he has been a staunch Prohibitionist and adhered strictly to the tenets of that party. He is a member of the Ben Hur Lodge. at Shelbyville, and a member, also, of the Baptist church, in which he has been a worker for many years. To him and his first wife were born seven children: Nellie, wife of Robert J. Kuhn, of Johnson county, Indiana : Ethel E., deceased : Clinton, de-
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ceased ; Ira, a carpenter and farmer in Decatur county, Indiana : Harry, now with the Long Distance Telephone Company: Cary, at home : Rufus, a farmer in Johnson county. Indiana. James McCabe is honored by his many friends for his honest and upright life, and his influence as a good citizen.
FRANCIS M. MELOY.
This enterprising farmer and stock raiser is a native of Shelby county. Indiana, and is a son of Jesse Meloy, to whose sketch elsewhere in these pages the reader is respectfully referred for data concerning the subject's history. Mr. Meloy, whose birth occurred December 12, of the year 1872, was reared under the wholesome influences of rural life and his early contact with the soil had a decided influence in developing a vigorous physique, industrious habits, and the well rounded symmetrical character which has enabled him to make the most of his opportunities and to forge to the front among the strong and eminently successful men to whose efforts and influence the county of Shelby is largely indebted for the prosperity which it now enjoys. At the proper age young Meloy entered the district schools of his township, which he attended until obtaining a knowledge of the branches taught therein, and on his father's farm he became familiar with the more practical affairs of life. being able while still a young man to do a man's part at almost any kind of manual labor. After remaining under the parental roof until attaining his majority, he began to make his own way in the world, choosing for his voca- tion the time-honored pursuit of agriculture, too which he has since devoted his attention and in which his advancement has been such that he now oc- cupies a conspicuous place among the enterprising farmers of the township in which he resides.
Mr. Meloy cultivated a part of the home place for several years. but in December, 1907, moved to his present farm, which at that time was consid- erably run down and the buildings in ill condition, but which. by a series of im- provements he has since brought to a high state of cultivation, and converted into one of the most beautiful and desirable rural homes in the county. Pro- gressive in the full meaning of the term, he has spared neither pains nor ex- pense in reconstructing his buildings and adding to their attractiveness by erecting new ones, while the excellent system of fencing. the fine condition of the fields, and the general air of thrift, by which the entire premises are characterized bespeak the care and attention devoted to his labors, and the success which usually follows well directed efforts and superior management.
Mr. Meloy cultivates the soil according to the most approved principles. and being familiar with modern agricultural science in all of its details, he
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realizes liberal returns from his time and labor. and in addition to raising abundant crops is also quite successful in the matter of live stock, making a specialty of registered thoroughbred Jersey cattle in the breeding and raising of which he has added very materially to his income. His farm, which con- tains one hundred three and a half acres, is well situated and admirably adapted to the purposes for which it is used, the soil, by judicious rotation of crops and the application of artificial fertilizers retaining all of its original fertility and never failing to respond liberally to the demands made upon it.
Mr. Meloy, on September 12. 1894. was united in marriage with Kittie Stine, of Jackson township. Shelby county, where her birth occurred August 26. 1877. being a daughter of John and Phoebe ( Lemar) Stine. who are still respected residents of that part of Shelby county. This union has been blessed with three children, namely: Raymond F .. born July 15. 1895 : Helen B., born July 15. 1898, and Millard. who first saw the light of day on May 29, of the year 1904.
In his political allegiance Mr. Meloy is a Democrat, and though well in- formed concerning the principles and history of his own and other parties. and abreast of the times on the leading issues of the day and general current thought, he has no ambition in the direction of official preferment. nor any aspiration for public honors. In matters religious he has strong convictions and well defined views, being, with his wife. a member of the Methodist Prot- estant church and, like her. deeply interested in all that makes for the good of humanity.
JAMES V. B. FIX, EsQ.
Notable among the first settlers of Eastern Indiana are the ancestors of James V. B. Fix, who was born May 16, 1831. in Washington township, Shelby county, Indiana. He was a son of a sturdy pioneer. Aaron Fix, who was born near Dayton, Ohio, in 1809. Aaron was a son of Philip Fix, who lived in Pennsylvania, and who married Abigail Hays, of Ohio, in 1821.
Philip Fix went to Shelby county. Indiana, in 1821. and located at Flat Rock, Washington township. He entered one hundred sixty acres of land, and started to improve the tract. He subjugated its wildness and he lived to enjoy his home, he and his wife dying on the old farm. Five children were born to them as follows: Aaron, father of James V. B. Fix: Sarah married Elisha Townsend: Henry married Armenta Morris: Abigail married John McDonald; Antha M. married William Lacke;".
Aaron Fix was a self-taught man. and he obtained the rudiments of an education, as most boys of his time did. by attending a country school for a few weeks out of the year and studying at home. He was a man of consid-
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erable influence, and served as Justice of the Peace of the township for sixteen years. In 1830 he was united in marriage to Margaret A. Van Benthusen. a native of New York City. She was a daughter of James and Sarah ( Smithi) Van Benthusen, of New York City. After their marriage the Van Benthu- sens removed to Ohio, and later went to Shelby county, Indiana, where they became one of the leading and influential families of the county. He served with Thomas A. Hendricks as one of the first Representatives in the Legis- lature from this county, and assisted in the revision of the constitution of the state, and in blazing a trail for a pike road from Shelbyville to Columbus. Indiana. While he was still serving his county as a legislator he died in In- dianapolis in 1850. He was a large owner of real estate, and a man of prom- inence in the affairs of the state. His widow married a second time, being united to John Moore. The children by his first wife were: Margaret Ann. mother of the subject of this sketch : William died in Bloomfield. Iowa, at the age of eighty-one years: Mary Ann married William Clark : Catherine mar- ried Leonard Giles, Shelby county: Daniel removed to Missouri and died there. He was the husband of Rebecca Hughes: John married Sarah Clay- ton, removed to lowa and died there: Stephen married Margaret Kendall. lives in lowa: James is married and lives in Missouri: Aaron, who was a soldier in the Civil war, is an inmate of the Soldiers' Home at Lafayette: two children died in infancy. Aaron Fix was a Democrat in politics, and a member of the Baptist church. He died in 1874. and his wife in 1877.
The children of Aaron Fix were: James Van Benthusen, whose name heads this review: Susan, widow of John Karney, now lives in Missouri: John, deceased, remained single: Abigail married Joseph Robinson and is deceased: Anthony, deceased. married Joseph Patterson. also dead: William and Philip. deceased in early years: Mary Ann married Henry Woodward. of Shelbyville. Indiana : Stephen A. married Lennie Doran ; Aaron married Callie Puffenbarger. died in 1907, in Greenwood. Indiana.
James V. B. Fix obtained an education in the common schools of the county and lived with his parents until the age of twenty-one, when he re- moved to Owen county and farmed there for six years. He married the first time Rulannie Randolph, of Washington township. Shelby county, in 1852. She died in 1854: there were no children. In March. 1857, he went fo Nebraska and Kansas, finally locating in Kansas, where he bought a claim of two hundred eighty acres in Nemaha county. He lived there two years and part of that time assisted a government force in surveying roads and laying out sections in the county. He returned to Shelby county in 1858, and purchased the land where he now lives in section 36. Shelby township. He married the second time, Mahala Ann Burkett, of Owen county. Indiana, she dying in 1874. There were seven children by this marriage: Margaret. deceased : John A .. a farmer in Scott county, Indiana, who married Jane Jackson: Stephen S.
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lives at Greenwood. Indiana, married Phoebe Dill; James, who married Miss Endicott, is now superintendent of oil fields near Bakersfield. California: Charles, deceased : William M. married Dollie Smith, deceased. He is now living with James: Walter died young.
James Fix married the third time in 1876 to Arabelle Karney who was born in Washington township. Shelby county, and a daughter of John and Susan Karney. James V. B. Fix has two children by his third wife, as fol- lows : Voris M .. a farmer in Shelby township, who married Margaret Cherry: he has two sons. Leota married Edward Stephens, of Shelby township.
James V. B Fix is a Democrat in politics and has served four years as a Justice of the Peace. He became a member of the Free Will Baptist church in 1859. His present wife is a member of the Christian church. He has long been identified with the farming interests of the county in which he lives, and is known and respected by a large circle of friends.
SANDERS COURTNEY.
Before the War of the Rebellion had begun to call for the manhood of the nation. James Courtney and his family, of Harrison county. Kentucky. started northward to found a new home. It was in 1855 that the family settled in section 9. Shelby township. Shelby county, Indiana, and became Hoosiers. One of the children was Sanders Courtney, who was born in old Kentucky, on his father's farm, and assisted his father in starting a home in Indiana. He was but a stripling, being born in 1842, and he knew what the privations and hardships were in starting a new home in a new and alien state. The elder Courtney was no pampered child of fortune, and what of the world's possessions in his hands came there by dint of hard work and savings. The land he took up in Shelby county was wild and rough. He obtained fifty-two acres and set about to make a home. There was an old log cabin on the place. and this he made comfortable, and set about making his farm tillable. He was nobly assisted by his wife, who was Elizabeth Me- Kinney before her marriage, and, like her husband, a native of the Blue Grass state. The two worked hard and in after years saw the result of their labor. They both died on the old home place they had helped to make. To the union were born five children, as follows: Edward. deceased; Sanders. the subject of this review : Richard, single and retired as a farmer : Eliza Frances, dead: James, dead.
Sanders Courtney obtained a meager education in the common schools and when he was twenty-one years old started to do for himself. He was married on March 10. 1864. to Mary R. Parish. She was a native of Ken-
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tucky, having been born in Mercer county, and a daughter of Charles J. and Elizabeth Ann ( Seths) Parish. The Parishes came to Johnson county. Indiana, in 1855. where Charles Parish obtained employment in a mill as a miller. Three years later they went to Shelby township. Shelby county. where he took up the work of farming, which he continued until his death. IIis wife died later in Shelby township. She was noted as a worker in the Christian church. To this union were born ten children, as follows : Lucinda. deceased : David W .. deceased; Elizabeth lives in Washington township : Mary R., wife of Sanders Courtney: Polly lives in Kentucky; Erastus, of Shelbyville, Indiana: Sallie, deceased; Henry, deceased : George. deceased ; Charles. deceased.
Sanders Courtney, after his marriage, started out to make a home for himself and wife. Neither were largely endowed with worklly property, and he was forced to go to work for twenty-eight dollars a month until they could get a foothold. Later he rented a farm and obtained a start. and continued leasing until 1886. when he purchased twenty acres in section 20, Shelby township. Here the family lived in a log cabin until the home place was built in 1893. Sanders Courtney labored incessantly and improved his farm with modern buildings and other improvements, besides adding to his hold- ings until he has ninety-two acres of valuable land. Two children were reared and one boy, James, died in infancy. Thomas M. is now occupying a part of his father's farm: he married Amanda Young. Hugh died when he was nineteen years old. Mr. Courtney has been a farmer all his life and incident- ally raises horses and cattle. He is a lover of fine horses and his farm is well stocked with them. He has been a life-long Democrat, but has never aspired to office. His life has been devoted to his family and his farm, and what success he has attained he declares is not only due to himself, but to his faithful, hard-working wife.
EDMUND HENLEY DUNN.
As a soldier himself, and a grandson of a soldier, a man who loves his country and flag. and knows what it is to be identified with its uplift. Edmund . Henley Dunn points with pride to his ancestry and to his own service in the great cause of human liberty. He was born in Rush county, Indiana, on June 7. 1842, the son of Wilson and Amelia ( Young ) Dunn. Wilson was of hardy Virginia stock. and his good wife a native of Ohio. Wilson Dunn was a son of Edmund Dunn, also of Virginia, who moved to Rush county, Indiana, when the father of Edmund Dunn was but nine years of age. They were pioneers, and in later years moved to Shelby county, where the elder
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Dunn and his consort died. The following children were born to them : John. Rhoda, Jane, Wilson. father of Edmund H .: Nancy, Fannie. Emily, Ma- linda and Lewis.
John Young. the grandfather of Edmund H .. was a native of Ohio, and came to Rush county in the early days, where he lived ont his life. He was a minister in the Regular Baptist church. His children were: Thompson. Barnet, Lewis, Dorothea. Amelia, Minerva and Clemmie.
Wilson Dunn received his education in the common schools of his day, and lived at home until his marriage. In 1854 he went to Clark county, Il- linois, where he farmed seven years, removing then to Shelby county. In- diana, and locating in Addison township, near Shelbyville. where he and his wife lived until their demise. He was a Republican in politics, but held no office. By profession he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. The four children born to the union were: Edmund H., Martha, married C. J. Limpus, of Shelbyville : Celeste, who died in Illinois; John S., who died at the age of thirteen.
Edmund H. Dunn, like others of his time, was limited in his school op- portunities, but managed to obtain the rudiments of an education that helped him in after life. He was first married to Augusta Thompson in August. 1865. She died in 1866. leaving one child, Edmund A. In 1872 he married Missouri A. Barnes, of Noble township, Shelby county. She was a daughter of Elisha and Mary ( Gregory) Barnes. both natives of Kentucky. They settled in Shelby county. Indiana, in Noble township, and later removed to Shelby township, where he carried on general farming. They both died in this township. Nine children were born to them, six of whom are living. One daughter was born to Edmund H. Dunn and his second wife. Mary A .. who died in 1892. She was the wife of Benjamin F. Faulkner, and they had one son, Howard K., who was born in 1892, and who is still living at home.
In 1865 Edmund H. Dunn located in Addison township, Shelby county, where he lived until 1888, when he bought his present farm in Shelby town- ship, of thirty acres. Although he was a carpenter by trade and worked much at this vocation, yet he made many improvements on his farm and brought it up to a high state of fertility.
On December 19. 1863. he enlisted in Company B, Seventieth Indiana Regiment of Volunteers, at Shelbyville, Indiana. and served throughout the War of the Rebellion. He, with his command. was sent from Indianapolis to the South by way of Louisville and Nashville, and thence to Lookont Mountain, where he remained until May 1, 1864. He took part in the At- lanta campaign, being with General Sherman in his memorable march to the sea. He marched from Nashville, Tennessee, to Washington, D. C., where he took part in the grand review, and was later honorably discharged. His grandfather Young was in the War of 1812, and the grandson at one time
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visited the fort at Savannah, Georgia, where he found his grandsire's name enrolled among the roster of soldiers of that eventful conflict.
Edmund Dunn and wife are members of the Missionary Baptist church. where they have been identified for many years as Christian workers and citi- zens of influence in the community in which they live.
PETER HEY, JR.
Born of thrifty German parents, Peter Hey, Jr., while not equipped with wealth, was well provided with brains and brawn to enable him to make his way in the world. He first saw the light on September 23. 1843, in Mill- hofen. Germany, being the son of Peter Hey, Sr., who was born June 29, 1816, in the same town. The elder Hey took to wife Catherine Ottman, of the village of Nerderhorbach. She was born November 27. 1816, and died in Shelby township several years ago. He received his education in Germany and was a farmer there until he married in 1842. Some years later, in 1851. he bade farewell to the Faderland, and with his family started for free Amer- ica. In those days the sailing vessel was the means of trans-oceanic travel, and Peter Hey and his little flock embarked for a three months' voyage. It finally ended, and they disembarked at New Orleans, their port of entry. Continuing their travel by water the sturdy farmer and his family went up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers to Cincinnati, where a home was established near the city. The senior Hey engaged in farming and gardening until 1856. when he sought a home in Hoosierdom, settling in Addison township. Shelby county, and going to work for John DePrez on a farm. He stayed here for a year and then rented land for four years more. Later he obtained eighty acres of government land in section 13. Shelby township. The land was heavy and wet, and largely covered with timber, but offered possibilities to the thrifty German. He chopped the trees that went into his log cabin and started to make a home for himself and family. By dint of hard work and saving he added onto this little farm until he accumulated two hundred and fifty acres. He cleared up about one hundred fifty acres and still lives on the place that he brought into cultivation. He has always been a farmer and applied his knowledge of agriculture to his ultimate success. He is a mem- ber of the German Evangelical Protestant church. While he has always taken more or less interest in politics, and a Democrat in his political affilia- tions, he has never aspired to office. Peter Hey. Sr., was the father of eight children, as follows: Peter, Jr., the subject of this biography; Jacob, who married Amanda Ross, both being dead, one child, Catherine, surviving; Margaret, who married John Emerich, of Shelby township, has two children ;
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George, who married Christina Parr, is a farmer of Rush county, and has two children : John, who is farming the old homestead in Shelby township. mar- ried Louisa Bates : Catherine married John Bird. of Rush county, and they have two children : Daniel married Samantha Schutt and lives in Shelby township and has eight children. The eighth child died in infancy.
Peter Hey, Jr .. attended a German school two years and the common school of Shelby county, but owing to the circumstances surrounding him at the time had little chance to better his educational attainments. He lived at home until he was twenty-seven years old and married in 1872, to Minerva E. Maple, of Shelby township. His bride was the daughter of David and Frances (Gore) Maple. he being a native of Pennsylvania, and she of Vir- ginia. They came to Shelby county when mere children, and lived there all their days.
Peter Hey, Jr., has ten children. as follows: William. single, living at home; Charles, a farmer in Noble township. married Frances Collins: they have one child. John, single. employed in the oil fields at Oil Center. Cal- ifornia ; Catherine, wife of Delman Clark, a farmer in Addison township, has one child; Minnie is the wife of Alvin Ray, a farmer in Shelby township, and has three children, Rufus, Mary and Carl. David married Nora Mohr, lives on a farm in Shelby township: George. Thomas, Martha and Daniel are all living at home.
Peter Hey, Jr., has always been engaged in farming, having entered that vocation soon after leaving home, on his own account, and is still living " in Shelby township in section 24. He acquired twenty-three acres of land, which was rough and untilled. He built a log cabin and a stable and in 1892 erected a fine farm home and made all the improvements as they stand today. As a result of his toil he has an excellent farm and surroundings, well stocked with sleek and thrifty-looking cattle, horses and swine. Mr. Hey never aspired to any political office, though he has worked and affiliated with the Democratic party. He cast his religious lot with the Evangelical Lu- theran church and is credited by his friends and neighbors as having lived the life of a useful citizen.
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MARTIN LUTHER JENKINS.
Among the enterprising farmers and public-spirited citizens of Hen- dricks township is Martin Luther Jenkins, a man of high standing and wide influence in his community and a representative of an old and highly esteemed family whose history has been identified with that of Indiana since about the year 1812. Mr. Jenkins' paternal ancestors were among the early settlers of Massachusetts of which state his grandfather, Prince Jenkins, was a native.
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His father, Oren Jenkins, was also born in the same commonwealth and first saw the light of day on Cape Cod. where the family appear to have resided for many years. About the year 1812 Prince Jenkins moved his family from their New England home to Franklin county. Indiana, making the trip by wagon and flat-boat, and experiencing many vicissitudes and not a few hard- ships on the way. Shortly after arriving at his destination he entered a quar- ter section of land in Franklin county, which he improved and upon which he lived the remainder of his days, having been accidentally killed by falling from the top of a fence years after migrating to this state.
Oren Jenkins, who accompanied his father to Indiana, after living for some years in Franklin county, removed to Preble county, Ohio, where . he engaged in agricultural pursuits and where he continued to make his home until 1866, when he changed his residence to Shelby county, where his death occurred two years later. He was reared a farmer and in connection with agriculture taught school for a number of years, and studied medicine which he practiced to some extent in Ohio and Shelby county, Indiana. He was a prominent member of the Christian church and an influential local politician of the Republican party, and in different capacities proved a valuable man to his community and a high-minded. praiseworthy citizen.
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