USA > Indiana > Hendricks County > History of Hendricks County, Indiana, her people, industries and institutions > Part 64
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James B. Dooley was born in 1837, about one mile west of Danville, Hendricks county, Indiana. He is a son of Moses and Elizabeth (Bohan- nan) Dooley. Moses Dooley was born in Virginia in 1799, and at the age of thirteen years came to the state of Kentucky with his mother, his father having died in Virginia. The mother and son lived in Shelby county, Ken- tucky, and there Moses grew to manhood and married Elizabeth Bohannan, a native of that state. In pioneer days Moses Dooley and his wife came to Danville, Hendricks county, Indiana. That was a primitive day, and he as- sisted in the clearing of timber from the court house yard in Danville. Their eldest child, Martha J., was born in Kentucky, and their other children were born in Hendricks county. Moses Dooley's first farm was one mile west of Danville, but later he moved to a farm of one hundred and sixty acres situ- ated between Belleville and Clayton. He met with pecuniary misfortune by
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going security for a friend and crediting others, which caused him to lose his farm. He had only three hundred and fifty dollars left, but later succeeded in buying another farm six miles northwest of Danville, in Marion township, where his son, James B., the immediate subject of this sketch, grew to manhood.
James B. Dooley was married in 1860 to Mary Buntin, daughter of Harvey Buntin and a sister of John H. Buntin, of North Salem, Hendricks county. In August, 1862, he enlisted in Company H of the Ninety-ninth In- diana Volunteer Infantry, which was assigned to the Army of the Tennessee under General Logan and General Sherman. Major J. B. Homan, of Dan- ville, was captain of this company and Rev. D. R. Lucas was chaplain. Mr. Dooley participated in some of the important battles of the war, among them being the battles of Dalton, Resaca, Atlanta, and many other engagements in- cidental to the march to Atlanta. With his company he accompanied Sherman to the sea, and was near Raleigh, North Carolina, when Johnson surrendered to General Sherman. The Ninety-ninth Regiment did as much marching as any in the service. Before going on the Atlanta campaign it saw much hard service at Haines Bluff during the siege of Vicksburg. They also partici- pated in the battle of Mission Ridge and many other noted engagements. From Raleigh the horses and mules and artillery were loaded on cars and shipped to Washington, and the infantry was obliged to walk. They marched through Petersburg, Richmond and on to Washington, where they partici- pated in the Grand Review, Mr. Dooley receiving an honorable discharge at the close of the war.
After the war Mr. Dooley returned to Hendricks county, reaching home on June 15th, a late time of the season for a farmer to start work. His good wife had saved five hundred dollars from money he had sent her from the front, and she, like many other patriotic women of that day, had, by dint of hard work in the harvest fields and by other heavy labor, managed well. He was thus enabled to buy a small farm, chiefly on credit, which he was able to dispose of the following spring at a profit. He then purchased twenty acres, paying cash, and this gave him a substantial start. He subsequently traded this and secured more land in Marion township, and in time became the owner of a good sized farm, a part of which, however, was inherited by his wife. He and his wife had eighty acres in one tract and he had fifty- two acres in another part of the township, where the family home was estab- lished. He farmed there until he was unable longer to bear the burden of active work.
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To James B. and Mary (Buntin) Dooley were born four children : Hat- tie, the first born, is the wife of William Bowman, and they live at Maple- wood, Indiana, and have two children, Ernest and Homer. Minnie is the wife of Edward Dow and they live on East Twelfth street, Indianapolis, and have six children, Mary, Lora, Ruby, Vivian, Phyllis and Byron. Lizzie is the wife of John Crosby, a successful farmer, and they live two miles north and three-quarters of a mile east of New Winchester, Indiana, and they have two children, Ray and Carlos, both now students at Purdue Uni- versity, Lafayette, Indiana. Lester, the youngest by Mr. Dooley's first mar- riage, died at the age of eighteen months. The first Mrs. Dooley died in 1903. She was a faithful member of the Christian church at New Win- chester, and a woman of many lovable traits of character. On November 17. 1908, Mr. Dooley was married to Mrs. Leanah (Buntin) (Walton) Wright, a sister of his first wife. She was born about two miles west of New Winchester and grew to womanhood in Marion township. In January, 1861, she married William Walton. One son, Amos Mcclellan Walton, born of this union, died at the age of two years, of diphtheria. Mr. Walton and Mr. Dooley enlisted for service in the Civil War at the same time and in the same company, and were together until Mr. Walton's death by typhoid fever, near Lagrange, Tennessee, in the winter of 1862-3. Mrs. Walton later married John Wright, a native of Marion township, a son of William Wright and wife, who were pioneer settlers in Marion township. William Wright was in Missouri at the time the Civil War began and came home and en- listed in the state militia which was called into service at the time of Mor- gan's raid. Mr. Wright was a farmer and did a great deal of teaming and hauling timber. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Wright lived for seven years in the state of Illinois, when Mr. Wright's health failed and they then returned to Hendricks county, where he died. Mrs. Wright remained a widow twenty-four years, during which time she lived on a farm in Marion township. There were seven children born of her marriage to William Wright. Lena is the wife of Otis Hedge and they live near Valley Mills, and they had two children, only one living. Edna, who is the wife of Chester Jay. Retta, the second child, died at the age of twenty-one. Oscar Wright is a grocer and horseman at Franklin, Indiana. Maude is the wife of Fred Sears and they live in the eastern part of Marion township, Hendricks county, and have one daughter, Maxine. Donna was the wife of Charles Graham and both are deceased, leaving two children, Vesta and Bernice. Alice is the wife of Raymond Rudd and they live at Franklin, Indiana,
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where Mr. Rudd is a partner with Oscar Wright in the grocery business ; they have two daughters, Farrell and Leanah. Homer Wright has been a government employe in the Indianapolis postoffice for past eight years and makes his home with his mother and Mr. Dooley.
James B. Dooley is retired from active life, and on September 15, 1909, removed to his present home at No. 1902 Commerce avenue, Indianapolis, which they had bought a year before. He and his wife are members of the Christian church and he belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic. Po- litically, he was formerly a Republican, but is now allied with the Progres- sive party.
Mr. Dooley has always been a loyal and patriotic man, loyal to the laws of his country in times of peace and patriotic in defense of the flag in times of peril. He was one of six sons, of whom five were soldiers in the Civil War, and none of them were in the same regiment. Henry was wounded and Arthur was captured and confined in a Confederate prison, but all came home alive.
DANDRIDGE TUCKER.
Among the families of Hendricks county who have descended from Revolutionary stock is the Tucker family, whose history is not only of general interest, but of especial interest to the many descendants of that illustrious family.
Dandridge Tucker, one of the most highly respected and best beloved men of Hendricks county of a past generation, was born in Casey county, Kentucky, March 3, 1827, and died in Danville, in this county, on June 18, 1892. He was the only son of Lee and Miranda (Durham) Tucker. Lee Tucker was one of the first pioneers in Hendricks county, and was born in Bedford county, Virginia, May 4, 1803. Lee Tucker was the eldest son and third child of a family of ten children, born to Dandridge and Nancy (Set- tles) Tucker, who were also natives of Virginia. The father of Dandridge Tucker was William, a soldier of the Revolutionary War for seven years.
William Tucker, who grew up in Virginia, married Nancy Settles, and their son, Lee, became the father in turn of Dandridge, whose history is herein presented.
Lee Tucker, the father of Dandridge, was eight years of age when his parents moved from Virginia to Casey county, Kentucky. He was reared to manhood on his father's farm in Kentucky and married, on March 7, 1826,
DANDRIDGE TUCKER
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Miranda Durham, the daughter of Thomas and Frances ( Moss) Durham, natives respectively of Virginia and Maryland. Miranda (Durham) Tucker was born December 16, 1805, in Mercer county, Kentucky, and after his mar- riage he and his wife continued to live on the old homestead farm until the fall of 1834, when, on account of his opposition to slavery, he came to In- (liana, arriving in Eel River township, Hendricks county, on September 12, 1834. He immediately entered one hundred and sixty acres of unimproved land in this township, and afterwards entered one hundred and twenty acres more. When Lee Tucker and his family came here in 1834, practically the only cleared land in the township was that of Isaac Trotter, all the rest of the township being a dense wilderness. In 1826 Mr. Tucker and his wife joined the Methodist Episcopal church in Kentucky and soon afterwards he was ap- pointed class leader. Upon coming to Indiana he organized a church society of six members and his own house served as the place of worship for some time. Later he organized the first Sabbath school in Eel River township, which was also held in his own home. He served as class leader, steward and trustee in the church until his death. His house was always the ren- dezvous of the ministers, and no man in the county ever took a more hearty interest in this work than did Lee Tucker. He was an earnest advocate of temperance and was the first man in his township to refuse to furnish in- toxicants at his log rollings or in the harvest field. Politically, he was an old- line Whig, but upon the organization of the Republican party he became affiliated with that political institution. He was always among the foremost to aid in every good cause. His death occurred June 23, 1884, his wife having passed away July 24, 1872. Three children were born to Lee Tucker and his wife: Lee Ann, the wife of John Durham; Dandridge, and Francis, who died when seven years old. In addition to rearing these children of their own, Mr. and Mrs. Lee Tucker reared eight orphan children, all of whom grew to be useful members of society.
Dandridge Tucker, reared by such parents, could not help but be a man who would be an ornament to any community. Coming to this county when he was seven years of age with his parents, he spent the rest of his life here. He assisted his father to clear and improve the home farm and was given the meager education which was afforded by the subscription schools of that period. He was married on May 5, 1850, to Catherine Davis, who was born March 11, 1830, in Montgomery county, Kentucky, the daughter of Nathan and Nancy (Kidd) Davis, her parents coming to this county in 1835. To Dandridge Tucker and wife were born four children, David Lee and Nathan
(42)
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A., whose histories are presented elsewhere in this volume; Miranda F. and Robert E.
After his marriage in 1850 Dandridge Tucker settled on the farm where his sons, Nathan and David, now reside, and gradually improved the farm until it was as productive as any in the county.
Religiously, Mr. Tucker was a loyal and earnest member of the Metho- dist Episcopal church and his wife of the Christian church. His wife died February 15, 1883, and some years later he married Jennie Hadley.
Mr. Tucker was always an active worker in the Republican party, and in 1847 he was appointed township trustee. He was elected treasurer of the board and served in that capacity until the new Constitution was adopted in 1852. He was a great student of Masonry and was one of the oldest repre- sentatives of the grand lodge of Indiana. He had taken all of the degrees and was one of the first thirty-second-degree Masons in the state. He was a man of broad, generous character, a good citizen in every sense of the word and a man who was indeed and in truth "four square to every wind that blew."
DAVID LEE TUCKER.
The Tucker family have played an important part in the history of Hendricks county. The history of this family, which has been traced back through the Revolutionary War, discloses the fact that its members have al- ways played an honorable and prominent part in the affairs of the various communities in which they have resided.
David Lee Tucker, who has lived more than three score years in this county, is a man who stands high in the estimation of his neighbors and friends, whose interests he has always sought to promote while endeavor- ing to advance his own. He is a man of courage, self-reliance and of the utmost integrity of purpose, with the result that he has earned a full share of this world's goods and at the same time has taken a part in the civic life of the community in which he lives. He is a son of Dandridge Tucker and his birth occurred February 13, 1852, on the farm where he now lives in Eel River township, this county. Since the Tucker family history is given in the sketch of Dandridge Tucker, the reader is referred to that biography for the ancestry of David Lee Tucker.
David L. Tucker grew up on the farm where he is now living and after
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completing his common and high school education in the North Salem schools he attended Wabash College. He was married December 31, 1903, to Lillian G. Overstreet, the daughter of Aaron and Catherine (Elder) Overstreet. Aaron Overstreet, the son of James and Susan Overstreet, was born in Casey county, Kentucky, January 19, 1826. He was reared in Kentucky, and on December 24, 1850, married Catherine Ann Elder, and two years later came to Hendricks county, Indiana, and after living in several different parts 01 the county he settled in Union township. In August, 1862, he enlisted for service in the Union army in Company G, Ninety-ninth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and served during the remainder of the war. He was in the battles of Jacksonville, Chattanooga, Vicksburg, all of the battles of the Atlanta campaign, and was with Sherman on his march northward from Savannah to the final surrender at Guilford court house in the spring of 1865, and in August of that year he was mustered out of the service, when he immediately returned to this county, where he lived as a farmer until his death, which occurred June 22, 1910. To Mr. and Mrs. Overstreet were born twelve children. Both Mr. and Mrs. Overstreet were active members of the Christian church, and, fraternally, Mr. Overstreet was a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and also of the Grand Army of the Republic. He was an honest, industrious man who had great faith in the better side of human life. He was truthful and optimistic to a marked degree and not only mild when life looked dark and gloomy, but believed that the man who is worth while he is the one who will smile when everything goes against him.
Mr. Tucker has one hundred and sixty acres of well improved land in Eel River township, where he grows all the grains, vegetables and fruits common to this section of the state. He devotes a great deal of time and attention to live stock and has earned a reputation more than local as a cattle raiser. He is a man of progressive ideas and tendencies, and by adopting modern methods of farming and keeping in touch with the more advanced thought on the matter of agriculture and stock raising, has achieved definite success. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias at Jamestown, while, religiously, he and his wife are both members of the Christian church at North Salem. He is a man of keen business discernment, is able to foresee with remarkable accuracy the probable outcome of a transaction, and is by nature a man always on the alert, progressive, yet scrupulously honest, straightforward and unassuming, obliging and courteous, kindly and hospita- ble and he numbers his friends only by the limit of his acquaintances, and has won the good will and confidence of all with whom he has come in contact.
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CHARLES E. KURTZ.
In the history of Hendricks county, as applying to the agricultural in- terest, the name of Charles E. Kurtz occupies a conspicuous place, for through a number of years he has been one of the representative farmers of Marion township, progressive, enterprising and persevering. Such quali- ties always win success, sooner or later, and to Mr. Kurtz they have brought a satisfactory reward for his well-directed efforts, and while he has bene- fited himself and community in a material way, he has also been an in- fluential factor in the educational, political and moral uplift of the com- munity favored by his residence.
Charles E. Kurtz, the son of Henry and Margaret (Logan) (Van- nice ) Kurtz, was born in Marion township, this county, September 10, 1867. His father was born in Nelson county, Kentucky, February 10, 1823, and was brought to this state by his parents when six months old. They settled in Putnam county on a farm, where he was reared and, with the exception of the three years he spent in the army during the Civil war, he always resided on the farm. He was married October 9, 1851, to Mar- garet Logan Vannice, the daughter of Lawrence and Caroline Vannice, after which they settled on a farm, where they continued to live the re- mainder of their lives, the farm at the time they took it being an unbroken wilderness. At the opening of the Civil War there were four little children in the family and when the husband and father enlisted, on August 13, 1862, to battle for the Union, he left his family not knowing whether he would ever see them again. He enlisted in Company G, Ninety-ninth Regi- ment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and was assigned to the Army of the Tennessee, and, with his regiment, participated in all the campaigns and battles of that command until July 22, 1864, when in the great two-days battle at Atlanta, he was taken prisoner and confined to the stockade at Andersonville. He was in this historic prison from August 1, 1864, until October 24th of the same year, and during this time he experienced all the horrors and privations of that terrible prison pen. From Andersonville he was taken to the stockade prison at Florence, South Carolina, and confined here for three months. On February 28, 1865, he was exchanged and sent north, being almost dead from the hardships he had endured. He arrived home March 22, 1865, and, since the war was nearly at an end, he did not re-enlist. While in the army he wrote home as frequently as the mails would permit and his letters give thrilling glimpses of the battles. marches
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and incidents through which he was passing. Many a day his loving wife took the little flock to the forest to gather such wood as she could find for fuel. Many a night she put the children to bed, extinguished the light and sat with her face pressed against the window, where she saw men pass along the road to meet and plot against the government for which her husband was risking his life, but he returned and their happy life was resumed and they lived for fifty years after this terrible struggle was over. In 1901 they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary and in 1911 their sixtieth an- niversary. and on these occasions abundant testimony was given of the high regard with which this venerable couple was held. To them were born eight children: Mrs. Caroline F. Underwood; Jacob L .; Mrs. Eliza Hadley; William H., deceased; Mrs. Jennie Hadley ; Charles E., Oscar and Wilbur, deceased. Living together for more than sixty years, they were separated in death only a few days, Mrs. Kurtz dying on May 28, 1913, and he dying a few days later, on June 8, 1913.
Charles E. Kurtz received his education in the district schools of his township and grew to manhood on the home farm, part of which is now owned by him. He has operated his present farm since his boyhood days and has improved it in every way. The farm is well drained, well fenced, and he has a fine home, excellent barns and other outbuildings, the place being a model of neatness and convenience. While he raises all of the crops peculiar to this latitude, he makes a specialty of stock raising and breeding. He breeds Hereford cattle and ships them to all points in the United States. He has taken part in many fairs and expositions and has won many prizes away from his home county and in different states. He has displayed his cattle at the International Stock Show at Chicago and has carried off prizes, winning over cattle from all over the United States. He also is a breeder and raiser of Spotted Poland China hogs and finds a ready sale for his surplus stock.
Mr. Kurtz was married in 1892 to Alice Henry, daughter of Thomp- son and Esteline (Jesse) Henry. Thompson Henry is a native of this county and grew to manhood on the old Nathan Tucker farm in Eel River township. He and his wife, who also was a native of this county, are now living retired at Jamestown. They reared a family of eight children, Jesse, George H., Oliver, Alice, Effie, Mattie, Reddie G., deceased, and one who died in infancy.
Mr. and Mrs. Kurtz have four children, all of whom are at home, Ralph, Verla P., Henry H. and Charles E. Mr. Kurtz is a member of the
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Free and Accepted Masons and the Knights of Pythias at North Salem, and also is a member of the Royal Arch Masons at Danville. He is a Re- publican in politics and has always taken a more or less active part in local political affairs. He has been a member of the Hendricks county council and in that capacity has stood for all measures which promise to better the condition of the county. He and the members of his family are adherents of the Presbyterian church at New Winchester and are generous contribu- tors to its maintenance. Mr. Kurtz has been a hard worker all of his life and is richly deserving of the success which has come to him. On his fine farm of two hundred and eighty acres he has the opportunity to show what a progressive farmer can accomplish and it needs but a glance over his well- tilled fields to show that he has taken advantage of the opportunity. Such men are welcomed in every community, and the greater the number of this class the better it is for the community, for it is people who live in any locality which really make it what it is. Therefore, Mr. Kurtz can be justly regarded as one of the best representative men of Hendricks county today.
MARTIN HESSION.
The history of the Hoosier state is not an ancient one. It is the record of the steady growth of a community planted in the wilderness in the last century and reaching its magnitude of today without other aids than those of continued industry. Each county has its share in the story, and every county can lay claim to some incident or transaction which goes to make up the history of the commonwealth. After all, the history of a state is but a record of the doings of its people, among whom the pioneers and the sturdy descendants occupy places of no secondary importance. The story of the plain common people who constitute the moral bone and sinew of the state should ever attract the attention and prove of interest to all true lovers of their kind. In the life story of the subject of this sketch there are no striking chapters or startling incidents, but it is merely the record of a life true to its highest ideals and fraught with much that should stimulate the youth just starting in the world as an independent factor.
Martin Hession, the subject of this review, was a native of Ireland, born in county Galway, and about the year 1834, when fourteen or fifteen years of age, he came unaccompanied to America. His mother had died previous to his coming, and some time after he had established himself in
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the new land his father joined him. He was the son of Daniel and Sarah Hession and was one of a family of four children, the others being Charles, Michael and Ellen. Mr. Hession first set foot in the new world at New Orleans, after a long and tedious journey in the sail boats of that day, and remained there for about two months before coming to Indiana. After arriving in Indiana, he found friends in both Marion and Hendricks coun- ties and worked out among them on their farms at day labor. In this manner he employed himself for eight or nine years, when he felt able to invest in a farm for himself and purchased a forty-acre tract in the eastern portion of Brown township, this county. He lived there for three or four years. when he sold it and bought a forty-acre farm in Boone county. There he resided for two years, when he traded that farm to a brother tor forty acres in' Brown township, when he again became a citizen of Hen- dricks county, and has since remained here. Mr. Hession has carried on general farming and kindred interests and, by reason of his unfailing energy and tireless efforts, he has prospered. The forty acres secured from his brother has formed the nucleus for his present holdings, comprising three hundred and fifteen acres of as fine land as the county can boast, and the reputation of Hendricks county for excellent soil is well known.
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