USA > Indiana > Boone County > Early life and times in Boone County, Indiana, giving an account of the early settlement of each locality, church histories, county and township officers from the first down to 1886 Biographical sketches of some of the prominent men and women. > Part 20
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MARTIN CONRAD.
Mr. Conrad was born in North Carolina, and came with his parents when a youth to Eagle Creek, settling near the Hamilton County line, near where Benton's Mill was built. Mr. C. learned the shoemaker's trade and worked at it many years, most of the time at Indianapolis, where he made his
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start in the world from a poor boy to rise to one of the solid men of the county. He early in life joined the M. E. Church, and ever since has been a faithful member, making no great show or parade in life, but rather pursuing the even, quiet tenor of life, that speaks volumes for him. He has been in the grocery business in Zionsville the past ten or fifteen years, where he enjoys the confidence and patronage of the people he has lived so long amongst. But few men were better than Mr. Conrad. You always know where to find him on the right side for morality and humanity. In politics he is a stanch Republican and a lover of his country. Long may he live to enjoy the hard earnings of his early life.
AUSTIN DAVENPORT.
Mr. Davenport was one of the pioneers of Boone County, settling on Eagle Creek about the year 1824 or '25. He was elected the first sheriff of the county, and represented the county in the state legislature from 1832 to 1834. He built the first brick house in the county on the Michigan Road in the year 1835, where he owned a fine tract of land and where he died in the year 1836, highly respected and loved by all who were acquainted with him. He is the father of Mrs. Eliza Lowe, Indianapolis, Henry Davenport (deceased), Mrs. May Hopkins (deceased), Milton S. Davenport of Zionsville, and William Davenport (deceased). Mr. Davenport is buried on his old farm on the Michigan road, between Eagle Village and Clarkstown. The Davenport family was one of the most prominent in the early history of the county. He was a stanch friend to the poor poople, and a Christian gentleman. Long may his memory live. He was in the War of 1812, serving as drummer, and his brother Jesse as fifer.
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MARK A. DUZAN
Was the son of William Duzan, an early settler of Clarks- town. He was born in Tennesse, and come with the family to Indiana in 1834 when he was a lad of fifteen years of age. He worked on the farm, using his spare time in acquiring a good or rather a useful education. He was born about the year 1819 or 1820, for he was barely old enough to take his seat in the state senate in 1844 and 1845, to which he was elected to represent Boone and Hamilton counties. In 1846 he went in the army to Mexico, serving as private with credit. In 1850 he was elected a member of the Constitutional Con- vention, where he served to the satisfaction of the people. In 1852 he went, or rather started to Oregon, but died on the plains and was buried there. Mark A. Duzan had one of the happiest make-ups of any man I ever was acquainted with. He could adapt himself to the senate chamber or drive oxen, run, hop, jump, or make a capital speech, as the case required. In person he was perfect; 5 feet 10 inches high, well formed, weighing 175 lbs., with fair complexion and auburn hair. He was elected to the above office as a Democrat. Mr. Duzan was never married. Though he sleeps in an unknown grave he will be remembered by many citizens of Boone County. :
JACOB DINSMORE.
Mr. D. was born in Kentucky. Came, with his brother and other members of the family, to Harrison Township, Boone County, in 1834, where he has since resided, just east of the town of New Brunswick. His wife died a few years ago, and he is now making his home with his son, William F. Dinsmore. The family are, in faith, Baptists, and most of them are members of that church, and have been ever since a society was formed in that part of the county. He is the father of William F., John T. and Pleasant J. Dinsmore,
IAM
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all prosperous farmers in Harrison Township, and where they are highly respected as honest, upright citizens. While ean- vassing for this work I was kindly entertained at their houses.
JOHN DUZAN.
The one whose name heads this brief sketch was born in the State of Tennessee, about the year 1807. Came with the Duzan family to this county in 1834. Just entering a life of usefulness, he was long a citizen on Eagle Creek, and where he owned and operated a grist mill for years. He, like the other members of the family, was a Democrat, and as such was elected to the lower house of the state legislature in 1844-45. Served one year. He is the father of Mrs. Benjamin Shelburn, of Eagle Township, also of Mrs. Mark Simpson, a banker of Zionsville. Also of James and William, both deceased, both of whom had prepared themselves for the practice of medicine. The former died in Oregon, in 1852, is buried on the Colum- bia River. He was near twenty-two years of age. William died at about the same age. George N. studied medicine with his uncle, W. N. Duzan, and is now practicing at Zionsville. Another daughter married Hon. I. N. Cotton, in 1856. She died several years since. Mr. Cotton resides four miles south- west of Zionsville. There were perhaps other children but their names we do not know. Mr. D. was a fair speaker and well informed man. He died at Zionsville about the year 1873.
GEORGE DYE, SR.
This grand old pioneer was born in Green County, Penn- sylvania, January 30, 1786; was married to Sarah Calvert January 7, 1807. She was also born in the same county and state, December 7, 1785. One year after their marriage, Benjamin, their first child, was born, January, 1808, died May 18, 1879, at his home in Hamilton County, Indiana, on Little Eagle Creek, where he is buried. This was the first
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death in this large family, when the youngest was fifty-one years old. About the year 1808, Mr. George Dye, Sr., moved to Morgan County, Ohio, where nine children were born to them, as follows: Isaac, born 1809, lives near Northfield ; Fanny, married to Jacob Stonking, she was born December 16, 1810, resides in Zionsville ; James, born October 28, 1812, resides in Northfield ; Jacob, born August 14, 1814, resides at Zionsville ; George W., born October 3, 1816, resides in Ore- gon ; William, born October 18, 1818, lives one mile north of Zionsville; Elizabeth, born September 13, 1820, married to John Ford, moved to Iowa and died there; Sallie, born Jan- uary 12, 1823, married Robert J. Harmon, resides in Kansas ; Samuel H., born November 11, 1828, married Malissa Hage, resides in Dakota. In 1830 Mr. Dye moved to Miami County, Ohio, remained there until the year 1833, when he came to Eagle Creek, Boone County, where he lived until his death at Lebanon, March 3, 1847. Mrs. Dye died July 8, 1845, in the house now occupied by William Dye. Both are buried at the
cemetery in Eagle Village. Mr. Dye was in the war of 1812, and was wounded by the Indians. He was hotly pursued by the Indians and had several hand-to-hand encounters with them in Ohio. He was one of the best men that ever lived in the county. Was a Methodist, and a devoted member and public speaker. He was a great hunter, a very large, strong man, six feet one inch high, well made. He was one of the best made men that ever lived on Eagle Creek. He built the Dye mills on the creek soon after his arrival in the county. Mr. Dye entered and bought 640 acres of choice land on the creek. George Dye will be remembered as a bold, fearless pioneer of Boone County.
GEORGE DODSON
Was one of the early settlers of Eagle Creek, arriving as early as 1827. He was born in the State of Virginia in 1776. He married Martha Lockhart in Virginia ; subsequently moved to
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Kentucky, and remained there until the year 1827. He was among the first Baptist Ministers who preached in Boone · County, and mainly through his influence the church called Eagle Creek Regular Baptist Church was organized, which is yet living and has had great influence for good the past sixty years. Mr. Dodson was a regularly ordained Baptist minister ; was at the constituting of the above church, and served as its preacher till death ended this good man-died in 1848. He is buried at or near the church, and where his best days were spent, and where he did so much to develop-not only in a spiritual sense, but he helped with his own hands to clear away the woods ; helped make the roads, and, in fact, was in every good word and work. Just such a man was needed. He came, filled his mission, and filled it well. He left a spotless record, both in and out of the church. The good George Dodson did lives yet, and will for years to come. Reader, should you visit his grave, on Eagle Creek, you may truthfully say : "Here lies a good man, the noblest work of God." The following are his children's names: Elizabeth, Nancy, Mar- garet, Irena, George, Martha, Ruel, John, Mary, Judah, Robert and Jemima. Elizabeth, married to Maston Johnson, died in 1872, at the age of eighty years, and is buried in Pleasant View Cemetery, east of the cemetery in Worth Township. Thomas married - . He died in 1883, aged ninety years, and is buried in Eagle Creek Cemetery beside his com- panion. Nancy was married to William Davenport. She died in 1854. Margaret resides in Kentucky. Irena, mar- George married Rebecca ried to John Vaughn, is yet living. Martha married Aaron Headspeth, and lives in Virginia.
Philps ; both are dead ; died in Illinois. Rual married Mary Dickerson ; both died in Illinois. John died in Virginia at the age of nineteen years. Mary married Elijah Dickerson ; both died in Boone County, and are buried at the Eagle Creek Cemetery. Juda married John Kinman, and resides in Mis- souri. Robert, married to Mary White, resides in Worth Township, where he has lived over fifty years ; owns a splendid
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farm, and enjoys the confidence of the people with whom he has lived so long. He too, as well as his aged companion, know all about the early life in Boone County. They both belong to the Regular Baptist Church, at Eagle Creek. Jemima, married to Stephen Lane in 1839, is yet living. Mr. Lane is yet living.
W. S. DUKES
Was born in Ross County Ohio. Came with his parents to Boone County in 1834, settling on the line of Clinton County. He now resides in Sugar Creek Township, near Colfax, in Clinton County. He was married to Matilda Graham, Decem- ber 27, 1849. Mr. W. S. Dukes was born February 6, 1825. The following are his children's names: Lewis C., born April 4, 1851; married to Julia Trewit, April 15, 1871. (She is deceased). Mary E., was born January 12, 1853; married to Jasper P. Holloway, May 5, 1870; resides in Clinton County. John C. was born December the 16th, 1854; married to Sarah C. Cones, February 27, 1873 ; resides in Sugar Creek Town- ship. All doing very well in their respective homes. " I have worked hard all my life, most of the time on a farm. I resided in Colfax five or six years. When we came to this county it was quite new. Our neighbors were few and far between, but they were social in the extreme. It was well it was thus, for we had but little property and things necessary to keep house with. There was plenty of wild game in the woods, such as deer, turkeys, and squirrels by the thousands. We had great trouble in getting corn to stand, for so plenty were they. The county at that time had but few induce- ments for the first settler; woods on every hand, hardly a stick amiss. The water was running out in every direction, especially in the spring. Little by little our truck patches widened out ; the forests began to disappear ; neighbors began to multiply ; school houses were being built; then we began to feel like we were in a fine country. When I look back forty years, it seems like a dream to me, the changes have been so
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many. The woods have given way to well cultivated fields, and like improvemens have sprang up till we have a fine county to live, in. But it has cost toil and labor to bring about these changes. Many have died. A few have lived to see what then seemed an impossibility. The pioneer was needed; they came, filled their places on the frontier. In my early life my school advantages were poor, and I have been compelled to pass through the world with but little education. I am glad, however, to see such grand improvements in schools, which are the hope of our country. I am also glad to see our county rise and take a stand amongst the foremost in the state. With the best of soil, we can raise almost any grain we wish, and that with good results. We are also advancing in the way of roads, ditches, dwellings, in fact, in everthing that we could desire.
" My father was born in Maryland, January S, 1796. He was married in Ross County, Ohio, December, 1823; died July . 25, 1853. My mother was born in Ross County, Ohio, March 10, 1804; died September 16, 1847. They had twelve children, three of whom are dead. James and Ezekiel were in the late war ; the first wounded, the second killed by a can- non ball in the battle of Greenbrier, Virginia.
" My grandfather's name was Isaac Dukes; was born in Maryland. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. He was married to Elizabeth King in Maryland. A few years after they removed to Ross County, Ohio, where they remained until the year 1833, when he came to this county, settling on the line between Boone and Clinton Counties. They are buried in Clinton County. They raised a family of five boys and three girls. W. S. DUKES."
SUGAR CREEK TOWNSHIP, FEBRUARY, 1887.
Mr. and Mrs. Dukes belonged to the M. E. Church, 1860. He was a Democrat until 1860, when he went with the Repub- lican party. Mr. Dukes now owns about four hundred acres. Lewis was married to Judia Hopkins, for his second wife.
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JOHN DAVIS.
The subject of this sketch was born in Hamilton County, Ohio, January 19, 1803; came to Boone County in 1835; was married to Elizabeth A. Coldwell in Franklin County, Ind., in 1830; settled in Union Township; died June 12, 1878. Buried at the " Ross" Cemetery in Union Township, where all the deceased members of the family are buried. Mrs. Davis was the daughter of Andrew and Nancy Coldwell, born in South Carolina December 5, 1803. John Davis, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Pennsylvania in the year 1755, and on the 22d day of September. He died December 6, 1802. Mrs. Davis, his mother (Agnes Davis), born August 13, died March 14, 1769. She left a family of five children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the youngest. The wife of Mr. D. died August 21, 1851. The following are the names of John and Elizabeth Davis' children : John, born September 28, 1832. Andrew, born June 14, 1834; both born in Franklin County, Ind. Sarah E., born May 22, 1838. Mary, June 3, 1840. Samuel S., born October 16, 1842. William N., born June 30, 1846. Benjamin F., born May 1, 1848. Mary A. died June 12, 1869. William N. died August 4, 1869. Sarah E. died May 15, 1878. Benja- min died April 5, 1882. This pioneer family will be remem- bered as one among the first of Union Township, where, with others, they had hard times to make a home in the woods. Let us keep their names bright, never forget them. Samuel S. Davis, son of John Davis, resides in Union Township, where he owns a fine farm near the Midland R. R., and is a patron of the "Early Life and Times of Boone County."
JOHN DULIN, SR.
Mr. Dulin was born in Virginia January 10, 1806. His parents names were Edward Dulin and Mary Dulin, born re- spectively 1774, 1772; died in Kentucky. John Dulin was
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married to Angeline Allen October 29, 1828, in the state of Kentucky ; died there November 23, 1834. The following are their children's names by the first marriage : James E., Thomas W., Nancy F. James died in Minnesota. Thomas W. lives in Clinton County, Ind. Nancy F., deceased, is buried at the Mount's Run Cemetery. Mr. Dulin was the second time married to Miss Priscilla Boswell December 8, 1835. The following are the children's names: George B. resides in Worth township, married to Elizabeth Wysong. Mary A., married to L. P. Shoemaker, lives in Union Town- ship. Matilda J., married to T. S. Dooley, resides in Marion Township. John A., married to Mary A. Carr, lives in Union Township. Sallie E., married to Isaac Isenhour, resides in Worth Township. Clarinda E., married to B. Marsh, died October 26, 1864. Thaddeus V. died August 31, 1849. Eliz- abeth M., married to Willis West, resides in Center Township. C. O. Dulin, married to May A. Baber, resides in Union Town- ship. Milton F. died in infancy April 18, 1854. All the de- ceased members of this family are buried at the Mount's Run Cemetery. John Dulin was one of the first settlers on Mount's Run, where he lived till January 26, 1882, highly esteemed by all. Both Mr. and Mrs. Dulin were members of the Reg- ular Baptist Church, and among the first to join this church in Union Township. Mrs. Dulin is yet living, quite well pre- served for one of her age. Her parents are buried in Ken- tucky. In person John Dulin was full six feet high, strong, well proportioned, well calculated for the hardy pioneer that he was. Many who read this will call to mind John Dulin, one of the early citizens of the county.
JAMES B. DALE.
It is interesting to notice, in the struggles which have con- vulsed the country and tried our institutions, whether national or local, how so many of the men who have been laborers in these great scenes did not come upon the arena filtered through
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generations of scholars and statesmen, but came unheralded, save with the advantages which a democratic republic offers to every citizen. The majority of the foremost men of the country in every calling are the legitimate sons of democracy .. That hard, Spartan mother trained them early to her fatigues and wrestlings and watchings, and gave them their shields on entering the battle of life with only the Spartan mother's brief : "With this, or upon this." Native force raised James B. Dale to the position of the leader of the Anti-Monopoly party in Boone County. And the working of the same generous laws, that permits each toiler to carve a destiny for himself, saw him write his name upon the minds and hearts of the people throughout the county. The early years of Mr. Dale present a fair average of the advantages and struggles incident to the Hoosier youth. His father, Matthew Dale, was a son of 'Squire Dale, who was born in western Tennessee in the year 1792. He was married to Elizabeth Smith about the year 1810. He was in the war of 1812. A short time after his marriage he emigrated to Lawrence County, Indiana. He stayed there a few years, and from that county he moved to Putnam County, and in 1828 he moved from Putnam County to Jackson Town- ship, Boone County. He entered a tract of land on a stream called Eel River, upon which he lived the rest of his days. He died in March, 1848. His wife died in August, 1877, being eighty-three years of age.
To them were born eight children, three boys and five girls. Matthew, the second son, was born on the 4th of May, 1820. He was married to Miss Frances A. Reese, a daughter of Sam- uel Reese, a highly esteemed farmer of Washington Town- ship, on January 1, 1843. They raised ten children, seven boys and three daughters. His wife died in March, 1864. He married the widow of Reuben Scott in January, 1867. To them were born two children, one boy and one girl. He died in November, 1874. James B. Dale, the fifth child by the first marriage, was born December 18, 1850. He received the training usually accorded to farmer boys. He worked on
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the farm, after arriving at the proper age, in the summer sea- son and attended the district school in the winter. About the time he reached his sixteenth year he entered the academy at Ladoga, Indiana, while that institution was conducted by Prof. Milton B. Hopkins. While he was there he boarded with the professor, who took quite an interest in him. Mr. Hopkins urged him to complete the course of study and remarked to to him that his native ability was such that he might become a profound scholar and one of the foremost men of the state. But when Mr. Hopkins left Ladoga and went to Kokomo, Indiana, James B. quit the school and never entered it again.
At the age of eighteen he began teaching in the public schools of this county. He taught about ten winters in suc- cession, and working the meantime through the summer sea- sons on the farm. He was six feet high, and weighed 185 pounds. He was never sick any until the time of his death. On the 1st day of January, 1874, he was married, as most teachers are, to one of his pupils, Miss Maggie Jackson, daughter of Elisha Jackson, a prominent citizen of the county. This union proved a very agreeable one. To them were born six children, three boys and three girls. The oldest, a girl, died in infancy. The rest still live with their widowed mother on the farm. Young Dale was rocked in a Democratic cradle, and his complexion was Democratic until after he reached his majority. But, to use his own words, he says, " That the first Democratic medicine I ever took was the Greeley pill, and that did not digest very well, so I wouldn't take any more." He was twenty-three years old when the financial panic of 1873 occurred, and seeing how distressed the masses of the people were in consequence of this stagnation of business throughout the entire country, he set to work to understand the nature and causes of panics and how they might be prevented. From that time on as long as he lived he was a tireless student of political economy. In consequence of his studies he saw fit to change his political views, and therefore identified himself
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with the anti-monopoly party, of which he soon became the leader in this county. 1
In the summer of 1876 he canvassed the county for the office of County Clerk. During this campaign he made several speeches in each township in the county, this being his first effort in making public speeches. His party not being very strong, he was defeated. Again his party nominated him for office in 1882, this time for Representative. It was not from choice on his part that he made this race, there being no chance of an election. But the workers of his party conceded that he was their leader and therefore put him forward as their champion.
He was free from moral cowardice, and so convinced that the measures he advocated were right, and must therefore eventually triumph, that, like the Norseman, he was deter- mined to find a way or to make it.
Mr. Dale was in an unequal battle from the first. With both the Republican and Democratic parties marshaled against him, he threw himself into the campaign. The dauntless spirit that had faced odds in the previous campaign never flinched as he saw the handwriting on the wall. Determined to do all he could do, his tremendous energies created a kindred zeal among his followers, but he was defeated by the votes of Mr. Sterratt.
After this campaign was over, Mr. Dale turned his atten- tion to the farm more closely than ever before. He thought he would never again take an active part in politics. But in this he was mistaken. For, in making two campaigns in the county, he had gained the confidence of the people, his abilities were established, and hosts of friends from all parties flocked about him, urging him again to canvass the county. So again in 1884 his party nominated him unanimously, as it had done in both cases before. He also received the nomina- tion of the Democratic party, with considerable opposition.
Of an earnest and impetuous temper for what he deemed
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right, and wedded to the principles which he advocates by all the instincts of his being, his enthusiasm knew no bounds. Both parties caught the glow of his zeal, and he was this time elected by a handsome majority.
At the close of this campaign he was conceded by all par- ties to be one of the best speakers in the county. He had that power of statement which made him so characteristic as a speaker. He possessed decision of character, self-reliance, and an inflexible will. And with these qualities standing out prominent as a basis for his qualifications to the office to which he had been elected, he goes to the state legislature.
While acting in that body, he was placed on several impor- tant committees. And every public measure on which he was called to act, received his careful attention ; he weighed it in all its general bearings and then mastered it in detail. The thoroughness of his knowledge was his first source of power as a speaker. After this session adjourned he returned to the farm ; but by this time he began to comprehend that his native health was to be in the service of the people.
His friends were expecting to send him back to the legisla- ture in 1886, but this was not to be; death stepped in and interfered.
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