USA > Indiana > Henry County > Hazzard's history of Henry county, Indiana, 1822-1906, Volume I > Part 50
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71
After his return from the war, Lieutenant Shedron engaged in merchant tailoring, at Middletown, but his military life had undermined his health and, to escape the confinement of his trade, he retired to his farm, about three miles from Middletown, where he remained until 1889, when he once more took up his residence in Middletown, where he continued to reside, enjoying an unusual share of the esteem and regard of his fellow citizens, until, stricken by disease. he died January 15, 1905. His remains are buried in Miller Cemetery, near Mid- dletown.
439
HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
On November 28, 1868, Charles C. Shedron was united in marriage with Maria Van Matre, daughter of David and Maria Van Matre, of Delaware County, Indiana. They were the parents of twelve children, of whom seven survive, namely : Arthur F., Osee B., Elroy, Charles A., Josephine L., William G. and Lola M. One brother and three sisters of his are also still living, namely : William Shedron, of Camden, Indiana; Elizabeth Ice, wife of Thomas Ice, of near New Castle; Martha R. Crooks, of Camden, Indiana, and Bell Long, of Lafayette, Indiana.
Lieutenant Shedron was a member of the George W. Lennard Post, No. 148, Grand Army of the Republic, New Castle, Indiana, and politically, he was a firm Republican all his life. He never sought public office, however, his political views being the result of his convictions. He was well informed on broad questions of policy and kept fully advised of the trend of events. He was not a demonstrative man, but whatever he did was done earnestly and manfully. He was a man of unusual intelligence, and when in health, was often called upon to deliver addresses or to read papers before soldiers' meetings. These were always entertaining and instructive. He took great pride in his soldier record and delighted to associate with his old comrades and to talk over army experiences. If within his reach, he seldom failed to attend a soldiers' meeting or reunion.
During his last illness, Lieutenant Shedron realized that his chances of recovery were slight and made partial arrangements for his funeral, selecting as his pall bearers: Hiram B. Brattain, Joseph Dutton, Joseph Graves, Richard Laboyteaux, Andrew J. Minnick and John M. Shoemaker. All these gentlemen had been soldiers in the same company and regiment, as himself. For burial, the deceased was clothed in a uniform of the Grand Army of the Republic and the casket was draped with the American flag. A large number of comrades of the Grand Army attended the funeral, which was of a most impressive character. The George W. Lennard Post, No. 148, Grand Army of the Republic, New Castle, of which, during life, he had been a member, adopted the following resolutions, regarding the death of Comrade, Charles C. Shedron :
RESOLUTIONS
GRAND ARMY POST ON THE DEATH OF LIEUTENANT C. C. SHEDRON.
One by one as the days and weeks go by we are called upon to chronicle the death of some comrade.
This time we are called upon to mourn the loss of Comrade C. C. Shedron, who departed this life on Sunday, January 15th, 1905. Therefore,
Resolved, That in his death our Post has lost a worthy comrade, and his family a - devoted, kind and faithful husband and father.
Resolved, That Comrade Shedron was a brave and loyal defender of his country in her hour of peril, and for this reason we will ever cherish his memory.
Resolved, That the Post be draped in mourning for the coming thirty days.
Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be spread upon the record of the Post, and a copy furnished the family of the deceased comrade, and a copy furnished the press for publication.
ALBERT W. SAINT, HENRY L. POWELL, THOMAS W. GRONENDYKE, Committee.
440
HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF JOHN MARCUS SHOEMAKER.
PRIVATE, COMPANY H, 69TH INFANTRY REGIMENT, INDIANA VOLUNTEERS, AND FARMER.
The ancestry of John Marcus Shoemaker takes root in Germany, whence his progenitors came to this country in early days, settling in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. This German element became very strong in that colony and its steadfast support of the cause of the colonies, during the Revolutionary War, contributed in no small degree to their success. The original German emigration to America was largely from the lower or Rhine and the upper or Bavarian Palatinate, during the disastrous wars concerning the succession to the Palatinate (1689-1697). This emigration steadily increased in later years, until the large infusion of German blood, especially in Pennsylvania, produced a distinct type of American manhood, commonly called the Pennsylvania Dutch. They were a sturdy, industrious and courageous people and have contributed much of value to American character and institutions.
The grandparents of John Marcus Shoemaker were John and Elizabeth Shoemaker, who came from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 1833, and settled one mile north of what is known as the "Cross Roads," Delaware County, Indiana, where they lived and died. Their remains lie buried in the Saunders Cemetery, east of Daleville, in that county. They belonged to the German stock above men- tioned and neither of them could speak much English. They were the parents of the following children : Michael, John, Jonas, Jacob, David and two girls, who were married and remained in Pennsylvania. Elizabeth Shoemaker died October 19. 1861, and John, her husband, died January 22, 1865. They were very re- ligious people.
The parents of John Marcus Shoemaker were Jacob and Amanda (Tomlin- son) Shoemaker. The former was born in Pennsylvania, March 31, 1812, and died September 9, 1885. The latter was a native of North Carolina where she was born December II, 1817: she died November 10, 1865. Her parents were John and Dorothy Tomlinson, who came to Delaware County about 1832 and settled in that strong German Baptist neighborhood hitherto referred to as the "Cross Roads." Jacob and Amanda (Tomlinson) Shoemaker were married April 9, 1840, and were the parents of seven children, namely : Gilla D., born January 17, 1841, afterwards Mrs. David T. Painter, now deceased ; John Marcus, the subject of this sketch : Sarah E., born November 10, 1845, now deceased ; Dorothy S., born August 31, 1847, who makes her home with her brother, John M .; Martha E., born April 17, 1850, now Mrs. Richmond Wisehart, whose husband was for eight years Auditor of Henry County, and who, with her husband, moved in 1905 from New Castle, Indiana, to Pasadena, California ; Mary C., born April 16, 1853, now Mrs. Oscar Clark, residing at St. Paul, Minnesota, and Jacob D., born June 30, 1857, who died in infancy. The last named, together with John and Dorothy Tomlinson and Sarah E., are buried in the Painter Cemetery, near Middletown. Mrs. David T. Painter is buried in the Miller Cemetery.
JOHN MARCUS SHOEMAKER.
John Marcus Shoemaker was born April 8, 1843, on his father's farm near the
1
John M Alvernaker
441
HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
celebrated "Cross Roads," in Delaware County, Indiana. His experience, as the son of a well-to-do farmer, was in no wise materially different from that of the average American farmer boy. He grew up on the farm and became an able assistant to his father in the cultivation of the soil. While thus engaged he was uniform in his attendance upon the common schools of the community and thereby gained a very fair education.
Very soon, yes, immediately following the firing of the first gun which ushered in the Civil War, John M. Shoemaker determined to answer the first call for volunteers but was disappointed in this and it was not until the Summer of 1862, August II, that he was able to enlist. He assisted in recruiting and organizing what became Company H, 69th Indiana Infantry, and was mustered into the service of the United States, as a private in that company, August 19, 1862. The history of the "Old Sixty Ninth" is the military history of John M. Shoemaker. He was in all of its campaigns, marches, skirmishes and battles, except the siege of Jackson, Mississippi. The list of battles, skirmishes and engagements in which Private Shoemaker participated is a notable one and constitutes a record of faithful service and valorous deeds to which his descendants can proudly refer : Richmond, Kentucky, August 30, 1862; Chickasaw Bayou, Mississippi, Decem- ber 28-29, 1862: Arkansas Post, Arkansas, January 1I, 1863 ; Richmond, Louis- iana, March 30, 1863; Port Gibson, May 1, 1863 ; Champion Hills, May 16, 1863; Big Black River, May 17, 1863; general assault on Vicksburg, May 22, 1863; Siege of Vicksburg, May 18 to July 4, 1863 ; all in Mississippi ; and Matagorda Bay, Texas, December 29-30, 1863; Alexandria, Louisiana, April 27, 1864; and Fort Blakely. Alabama, April 9, 1865.
After the fall of Vicksburg and prior to the removal of the regiment to Jackson, Mississippi, private Shoemaker was taken ill and was sent aboard a hospital boat from which he was afterwards transferred to Jefferson Barracks, near St. Louis, Missouri, and from there to a military hospital at Madison, Indiana. Because of this illness private Shoemaker was absent from his regiment about three months, rejoining the same at New Iberia, Mississippi. This period of illness constituted the only absence of Private Shoemaker from his reginient and company during his entire service in the army.
At the battle of Champion Hills, May 16. 1863, Private Shoemaker was slightly wounded in the right wrist, being struck by a minie ball. He was slightly wounded a second time on May 22, 1863, in the general assault on Vicksburg, being struck in the shoulder by a piece of a bursting shell. These wounds were not of a serious character and did not disable him nor necessitate his leaving the regiment or the field of action. From the beginning to the end, he was a faithful, brave and intrepid soldier, and to such as he can be attributed the salvation of the Union.
At the conclusion of the war, Private Shoemaker was mustered out of the service at Indianapolis, July 5, 1865. Following his discharge, he at once returned home and resumed his place on his father's farm. He remained with his father for a period of three years when he together with his father and family moved to Fillmore County, Minnesota. settling on a farm near Spring Valley. He resided there for four years and then returned to Henry County but his father did not return until 1879. Soon after returning to Indiana, Private Shoemaker was
442
HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
united in marriage January II, 1872, with Sarah, daughter of Jacob P. and Hannah Miller, who lived two miles east of Middletown, in the center of what was for many years known as the "Miller Settlement," and close to the German Baptist Church of that section. Following his marriage he rented of his father-in-law the home farm, on which his wife was born and reared, and has lived there as tenant and owner from that time to the present. Mr. and Mrs. Shoemaker, by industry, thrift and economy, have acquired a very fair competency. They own close to three hundred acres of land, the same being in the highest state of cultivation, and on which is their excellent old fashioned, two-story, nine-room brick residence, with a wide hall running through the center. This substantial home was built by Mr. Jacob P. Miller about thirty six years ago and is in a fine state of preservation. In addition to the home, there are the main and smaller barns, cattle sheds and other farming conveniences. Upon the successful farmer rather than upon the successful merchant or professional man has depended the marvelous growth and development of our country in the last half century.
To John M. Shoemaker and wife were born the following named children : Ada L., born November 20, 1872; married to Andrew J. Hupp, February 16. 1892; William O., born July 28, 1874; married to Allie Lindamood, July 8, 1896; Martha E., born February 10, 1877: died August 21, 1895; buried in Miller Cemetery ; Bertha M., born February 13, 1882; married to Walter Marshall, October 7, 1903. To Andrew J. Hupp and wife were born three children : Helen, born January 15, 1893; John B., born February 15, 1897; and Sarah Elizabeth, born March 27, 1904. Mr. Hupp, the son-in-law, and William O. Shoemaker, the son, are both prosperous young farmers and each has his home within a mile of the parental roof. William O. Shoemaker and wife are the parents of three chil- dren : Joseph Francis, born September 15, 1897 ; John Marcus, born December 5. 1899; and Raymond Theodore, born November 22, 1904. These six grandchildren all have a very warm place in the hearts of the grandparents and their presence at the old homestead is always hailed with delight.
John M. Shoemaker is a member of George W. Rader Post, No. 119, Grand Army of the Republic, Middletown ; Middletown Lodge, No. 97, I. O. O. F. : and both himself and wife are faithful members of the Christian Church, a denomi- nation which has a strong hold upon the religious people of the community throughout Fall Creek Township.
It is a notable fact that the Shoemaker family sent nine of its members into the Civil War. They were: Sanford Harrison Shoemaker and Silas Marion Shoemaker, Company G, Seventh Indiana Cavalry; Henry M. and Levi P., Com- pany E. Eighth Indiana Infantry (three years) ; John M., Company H, Sixty Ninth Indiana Infantry; John P and Joseph R., Company B, One Hundred and Thirty Fourth Indiana Infantry ; and David and John, who enlisted and served in Pennsylvania regiments.
ANCESTRY OF SARAH ( MILLER ) SHOEMAKER.
The parents of Sarah (Miller) Shoemaker came from Rockingham County, Virginia. The father, Jacob P. Miller, was born June 12, 1811, and the mother, Hannah (Coffman) Miller, February 19, 1812. They were married in Virginia. December 1. 1829. and moved to Ohio, settling near New Carlisle. After about
443
HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
three years, they moved to Fall Creek Township, Henry County, Indiana, following relatives who had preceded them, and purchased from Thomas Watkins, eighty acres of land, the same being the land upon which the brick residence above mentioned is located and which now forms a part of the three hundred-acre farm owned by John M. Shoemaker and wife. Mr. Miller also entered the following described lands, situate in Jefferson Township: October 30, 1834, the northwest quarter of section two, one hundred and forty eight and six one hun- dredths acres; November 5, 1835, the west half of the southwest quarter of section one, eighty acres; November 7, 1835, the east half of the southwest quarter of section thirty five, eighty acres; all in township eighteen north, range nine east. It is on the first described tract that the German Baptist Orphans' Home, near Honey Creek is located.
Jacob P. and Hannah (Coffman) Miller were the parents of nine children, namely : Absalom, Samuel, David, Elizabeth, now Mrs. Enos Lindamood Phillips ; Sarah, now Mrs. John M. Shoemaker; Mary, afterwards Mrs. James Alexander, now deceased; Laanah, afterwards Mrs. James T. Abshire, now deceased ; Martha H., now Mrs. Joseph Sharp, of Frankton, Madison County, Indiana.
No man was better known throughout Fall Creek Township than Jacob P. Miller and no man was held in higher esteem by his friends and neighbors. He was full of good humor and enjoyed the society of his friends and acquaintances. He lived in strict conformity with his church, the German Baptist, and it was through him that the Miller Cemetery was established, his son Philip being the third person to be buried there, in 1858.
Indeed it may be said that the Miller family together with that of the Shoe- makers had very much to do with the settlement, growth and present prosperity of Northwestern Henry County; and their descendants are keeping step with the pace set by their ancestors.
444
HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF ISAAC VAN DUYN.
PRIVATE, COMPANY H, 69TH INFANTRY REGIMENT, INDIANA VOLUNTEERS, AND FARMER.
Isaac Van Duyn was a native of Ohio, where he was born May 15, 1822. He was the oldest son in a large family of children. The date of his leaving Ohio and coming to Indiana is not known, neither is it a matter of family record when he was married, but, according to the memory of the persons supposed to be best informed as to his life, that event must have taken place in the year 1845, as the oldest child, George W., was born in 1846. His wife's maiden name was Phoebe Judge. She was a member of the hale, sturdy and prosperous family of that name which was so active and prominent in the early history of Western Henry and Eastern Hancock Counties, Indiana.
For several years after their marriage, the young couple lived on the farm now owned by John R. Kitterman, cashier of the State Bank of Shirley, which is situated one mile east of that rapidly growing, highly prosperous, hustling town. Leaving that place, Mr. Van Duyn and wife moved to a farm not far from the village of Mechanicsburg, and it was there, in the Summer of 1862, that he deter- mined to heed the call of his country in the hour of peril. He enlisted in Com- pany H, 69th Indiana Infantry, and was mustered into the service of the United States, as a private, August 19, 1862. He was mustered out May 23, 1865.
Company H was under the command of the late Captain David S. Yount, who during the last year of his life had much to do with the preparation of this History for publication. The military history of the famous 69th Regiment is elsewhere in this chapter fully set forth and every soldier who had the fortune to belong to that regiment is fully entitled to share in the honor and fame which attaches to the regiment as a whole, and none more so than Isaac Van Duyn. Mustered into the service as above related, Private Van Duyn parted with his wife and his growing family and went with his regiment to the "front." which was then just across the Ohio River, in Kentucky, owing to the fact that the Confederates under Generals Braxton Bragg and E. Kirby Smith, in a general advance, were rapidly approaching the dividing line between Indiana and Ken- tucky.
Soon afterwards the battle of Richmond, Kentucky, was fought, the Union forces were disastrously defeated and the 69th Regiment captured. This battle occurred August 30, 1862, just eleven days after the 69th was mustered into the service and it is an historical fact that the regiment, composed of raw troops, undrilled and not properly equipped, was unfitted to render soldierly service and ought not to have been ordered to take part in the engagement against the veteran soldiers of the Confederacy. Nevertheless they behaved most gallantly, nor did the unforunate issue of their first essay in arms dishearten or dismay officers or men for the 69th afterwards rendered distinguished service in the Civil War.
Following the battle of Richmond, Private Van Duyn was taken down with intermittent fever and was furloughed home. He was sick for several weeks and, although scarcely able to travel when his furlough expired, yet he promptly re- turned and rejoined his regiment and was with it continuously from that time
Isaac Van Duyn
445
HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
until mustered out May 23, 1865. He returned home at the close of the war, broken in health by the hardships endured in many campaigns, and to his other afflictions was added the almost complete loss of eyesight. Notwithstanding the constant physical distress to which he was subjected, he lived for many years to experience the beneficence of the Nation whose integrity and honor he had bravely helped to defend.
About the year 1880, Mr. Van Duyn purchased a farm, three quarters of a mile north of the town of Shirley, and there his large family of children grew to maturity. The children are all established now in homes of their own. It was there also that the aged veteran met the last enemy, death, September 6, 1903, aged eighty one years, three months and twenty one days. He is buried in Harland Cemetery, near Warrington, Hancock County. His widow and eleven children, five sons and six daughters, survive him. The sons are: George W., of Shirley ; Columbus, who lives two miles north of Shirley ; Wallace Warren, who lives near Warrington, Hancock County ; Isaac, who lives on the home farm with his mother ; and Oran Perry Van Duyn, of near Shirley, the last and youngest, being so named for and in honor of General Oran Perry, of Indianapolis, who was Colonel of the 69th Regiment in the Civil War, and is now Quartermaster General of Indiana. The daughters are: Eliza Ann, wife of Thomas Cronk, of Shirley ; Margaret Ellen, wife of Austin Barrett, a farmer, who lives near Grant City; Highland Mary, wife of Daniel Enright, of Greenfield; Linnie Jane, wife of Oliver Coon, who lives near Cadiz; Sarah Catharine, wife of Abijah Smith, a farmer, who lives one and a half miles north of Shirley; and Elizabeth, wife of Allen Craig, who lives two and a half miles north of Shirley. One daughter, Lydia Marinda, who married Martin Craig, died several years ago.
The soldiers of the Civil War are fast passing away. Every year makes inroads in their ranks and one, or at the most two, decades more will leave the Grand Army, a memory only. Every trade, every profession, every class of the community was represented in that mighty host. Of all the sons of the Republic. however, who joined in the clash of arms between the North and the South, none were more loyal to the flag, none more steadfast in difficulty, danger and defeat. than the lads from the farms. On the farms of America are nourished her true freemen and her sturdiest defenders.
The experience of Isaac Van Duyn in the army had served to quicken his faculties and harden his resolution. His after life, passed in the peaceful and uneventful pursuits of husbandry, was characterized by industry, prudence and providence. His many children were prepared at home to make their way in the world and received from the parents generous support and a helping hand. He was a good soldier, a good husband and an indulgent father. His memory will long be honored by his descendants. At the time of his death, he was the owner of more than two hundred acres of land not far from Shirley.
ARTHUR CLINTON VAN DUYN.
Arthur Clinton Van Duyn, son of George W. Van Duyn and grandson of the old soldier above mentioned, was born October 20, 1870. He was a studious youth and with no other opportunities than those afforded by the country schools, he was prepared to teach at the age of seventeen years. He taught ten successive
446
HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
terms in Hancock County, all but two of them being in Brown Township in which the western part of the town of Shirley is located. While teaching school, he was industriously preparing himself to take up the profession of the law. He was postmaster at Shirley from November 20, 1893, to May 11, 1897. After retiring from the postoffice, he moved to Greenfield, Hancock County, and began the active practice of the law. For four years he was the prosecuting attorney of Hancock County, and discharged the duties of the office with fidelity and zeal. He is now practicing his profession in Greenfield where he is deservedly popular. The prospects of his having a long and useful career at the bar are very bright.
98 yourt
447
HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DAVID STRICKLER YOUNT.
CAPTAIN, COMPANY H, 69TH INFANTRY REGIMENT, INDIANA VOLUNTEERS, AND MERCHANT.
The Commonwealth of Virginia was once a crown colony of Great Britain and owned most of the territory, now embraced in the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan, together with all that part of Minnesota, east of the Mississippi River. As a preliminary step to the bringing about of the con- vention which framed the constitution of the United States and the formation of a "more perfect union," she ceded her claim to this vast empire to the Continental government, and in 1787 the same was formed into "The Territory Northwest of the Ohio River." Thus, in the early days of the Government, and perhaps now, the citizens of the "Old Dominion" cherished a genuine attachment for the States carved out of that territory and for the people thereof. This attachment was, if anything, stronger towards Indiana than any other State. The early emigra- tion from Virginia was first to Ohio, then to Indiana and later to Illinois.
Of the many sons and daughters of Virginia, who came to Indiana, in general, and to Henry County, in particular, it would be difficult to make a first or special selection, but it is certain that a more noble or worthy couple never emigrated from Virginia to Henry County than Joseph and Sophia Yount, the parents of the subject of this sketch.
Joseph Yount and Sophia Crim were both natives of Rockingham County, Virginia, the former being born there, December 24, 1805, and the latter, August 9, 1810. They were united in marriage, December 17, 1829. To this union, prior to the removal of the parents to Indiana, were born two daughters, namely : Elizabeth Catharine, March II, 1832, and Sarah Agnes, February 20, 1834. The first named, Elizabeth Catharine, was afterwards, on June 15, 1848, at the family home in Middletown, Indiana, married to the late Joel Murphey, of New Castle, Indiana. Sarah Agnes, on March 10, 1852, at the same place, became the wife of the late Steel Baldridge, of near Walnut Level, Wayne County, Indiana.
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.