Jackson County Indiana Biographies

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HEZEKIAH THOMAS is a native of Shelby County, Ky., and was born May 24, 1809. He was one of a family of eight children born to William and Mary (Seyfres) Thomas, who were natives of Virginia and Pennsylvania. At an early age he re-moved with his parents to Clarke County, Ind. They here engaged in farming, to which pursuit the subject of this sketch was reared. He received such school training as the schools of that day afforded. At the age of twenty-one he was married to Miss Polly Blunt, a native of Washington County. Nine children were born to this union, the first died in infancy: W. C., James A., Sarah Ann, Hezekiah, David B., Ezra, Louis C. and Mary; all are living, except Mary and an infant. Mrs. Thomas died at the age of forty. He was again married, in 1854, to Rebecca Prather, a native of Clarke County, Ind. There were born to them seven children: George, Ira P., Leutitia; Edgar, Edward, Mary, Olefand Charles E., all of whom are dead, except Mary and Charles. The latter was born March 9, 1864. Charles E. Thomas received his elementary training in the schools of Seymour. He is now proprietor of the Lynn House, gents' furnishing goods store, where, by fair dealing and courteous bearing, he has built up a profitable business. Mr. Hezekiah Thomas was formerly in the hardware business; then conducted a livery stable. He is a member of the order of A. F. & A. M., and also. O. O. F. He and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he is at present a trustee. He is one of Jackson County's oldest citizens and most successful merchants. .-- History of Jackson County, Indiana by Brant and Fuller, Chicago, 1886, Pages 723 – 724

CHARLES W. THOMPSON, a leading citizen of Jackson County and resident of Houston, was born in Lawrence County, Ind., May 26, 1838. He is the fourth son of Andrew and Eliza (Cummings) Thompson. The father was born in 1801, came to this county in 1845 and located one mile from Houston. He is still living and was born in Kentucky; the mother in Tennessee. Charles W.'s education did not extend beyond the common schools. April 7, 1859, he married Mary E. Cornett, of this county, who has borne him six children: Walter, Hamlin F., Charles L., Rosetta A., Tessa L. and David W. In October, 1861, he enlisted in Company H, of the Fiftieth Indiana Regiment, and was mustered out July 22, 1802. He is a member of the G. A. R., in which he is now Commander. He is a Democrat and is active in his party's behalf. He has been township assessor and trustee four years each, and central committeeman six years. He will doubtless receive other honors at his party’s hands. For several years he has been practicing law, and he belongs to the bar of Brown, Lawrence and Jackson Counties. Both Mr. and Mrs. Thompson are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. - History of Jackson County, Indiana by Brant and Fuller, Chicago, 1886, Pages 747 - 748

TURNER W. THOMPSON is one of the old men who were born and raised in Jackson County, his parents having come to the county in 1817 from Kentucky: They were Jonas and Catherine(Bottom) Thompson. Turner W. is the fifth of a family of nine. He has always lived on the southern part of Driftwood Town-ship, where he is rather an extensive farmer. He has a farm of160 acres of land, and has always followed farming, preferring that to any other calling. Mr. Thompson was among the many patriots and, when his county called him, gave up his home and family, and went to the front in Company E, Fifth Indiana Cavalry, where he served three years, his regiment being commanded by Col. Graham. His organization was engaged in that most disagreeable service of skirmishing on detailed duty, fighting much of the time what was known as "bush-whackers." After his discharge he returned to his former occupation which he has continuously followed ever since, so far as his broken health has permitted. August 4, 1842, he was married to Miss Polley E. Thompson, daughter of John and Mary Thompson, of Washing-ton County. She died July 12, 1865. To them were born five children: Francis M., Unity E. (deceased), Laura, Clinton L. and Polly O. Mr. Thompson is a member of the Christian church, the G. A. R. and is a Republican in politics. He is a man highly esteemed by all who know him. .-- History of Jackson County, Indiana by Brant and Fuller, Chicago, 1886, Pages 654 - 655

GEN. JOHN TIPTON was born in Sevier County, Tenn., August 14, 1780. His father, Joshua Tipton, was a native of Maryland. When quite young, being impelled by a desire to participate in the excitements of pioneer life, he removed to Tennessee. He was one of the most formidable adversaries of Indian strategy, to which he finally fell a victim in 1793. In the fall of 1807 John Tipton, with his mother, two sisters and a half-brother, removed to Indiana Territory, and settled near a place on the Ohio River known as Brinley's Ferry. He purchased fifty acres of land, for which he paid by chopping and splitting rails at 50 cents a hundred. In 1811 he became a member of Capt. Spencer's company of mounted riflemen, known as Yellow Jackets. This company did excellent service in the campaign against the Indians on the Upper Wabash. In the battle of Tippecanoe, November 7, 1811, all the company officers above En-sign Tipton having, been killed, he was promoted to the captaincy by Gen. Harrison in the hottest of the fight, and by his superior tact and courage maintained the reputation of his men. He continued in service until the close of the war in that locality. Subsequently he was promoted, by regular gradations in the Territorial and State militia, to the position of major-general in 1822.At the first election under the State constitution, in 1816, he was made sheriff of Harrison County, and was re-elected in 1818.In 1821 he was chosen to represent Harrison County in the State Legislature, and during the same year was one of the commissioners that located the State capital of Indiana. In the session which followed he was appointed commissioner on the part of Indiana to meet a like commissioner from Illinois to locate the boundary line between the two States. The duty was satisfactorily performed. In the spring of 1824, without his solicitation or knowledge, he was appointed by President Monroe to the Indian agency, then located at Fort Wayne, which embraced the Pottawattomie, Miami and other Indian tribes on the Upper Wabash and Tippecanoe Rivers. Soon after his appointment he re-moved to Fort Wayne, and remained until March, 1828, when, at his instance, the agency was removed to Logansport. He was one of the commissioners appointed by John Quincy Adams to superintend the treaties with the Indians in his jurisdiction, and to his eminent ability were chiefly due the important provisions of the treaties of 1826, whereby valuable lands were opened tithe public. He continued in charge of the agency until December, 1831, when he was elected United States Senator, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Hon. James Noble. In December, 1832, he was elected for a full term of six years, from March 4, 1833. As a senator he ranked high, distinguishing himself by his accurate knowledge of men and their relations to public affairs, and in working for the best good of the nation, without reference to politics. During the summer of 1838 he was delegated by the President to remove certain disaffected Pottawattomie and Miami Indians to the land which had been re-served west of the Mississippi River. Though these Indians had disposed of their lands, they were unwilling to emigrate, and the contractor had found it utterly impossible to proceed further. Gen. Tipton, however, readily comprehending the situation, over-came the difficulties by strategy, and, with a celerity scarcely anticipated, removed the remnants of the once mighty tribes. In March, 1839, he returned to his home in Logansport, and commenced improving his vast landed estate on the Wabash. Had he lived to execute his plans for developing the immense resources of that locality, he would have given to Cass County in general, and Logansport in particular, a place in the industrial world un-equaled in Indiana. He died, April 5, 1839, from a sudden illness induced by exposure. Gen. Tipton was twice married-in 1822 to Miss Shields, who died soon after, and in April,1825, to Miss Matilda Spencer, daughter of Capt. Spear Spencer, who was killed at the battle of Tippecanoe. They had four children, all of whom are now dead, excepting one daughter, who is the wife of Capt. Thomas S. Dunn, of the United States Army. In 1817 Gen. Tipton received the several degrees of Ancient Craft Masonry, in Pisgah Lodge No.5, at Corydon, Ind. Upon the organization of the Grand Lodge, in 1818, he was elected Grand Senior Warden, and served until September, 1820. He was then elected Grand Master of the State, and served during the fourth and twelfth sessions. In 1822 he was made a Royal Arch Mason, in Louisville, Ky. In the fall of 1828 he organized Tipton Lodge No. 33, of Logansport, and in 1837 procured a charter and organized Logan Royal Arch Chapter, No.2. .-- History of Jackson County, Indiana by Brant and Fuller, Chicago, 1886, Pages 724 – 726

J. G. W. TRAYLOR, farmer, was born in Montgomery County, Ky., January 18, 1823. His father, Nicholas Traylor, was a native of North Carolina, and his mother, Mary (nee Trimble), of Virginia. His educational advantages were limited by the frontier character of the times of his youth. When he was seven years of age his father, with his family, immigrated to this State and settled upon a farm near where Scottsburg now stands. Our subject remained upon the farm until about 1852, and with his parents till he was thirty-five years of age. In 1852 he was appointed deputy sheriff of Scott County, and four years after-ward was elected sheriff; and, being subsequently re-elected, he served two terms. In the meantime he was engaged in mercantile business for about two years. In the fall of 1862 he was elected county clerk, when he, for the first time, left his farm home and fixed his residence at the county seat in March, 1863,and continued there until 1871, serving in the above-mentioned office. He then moved upon a farm, where he, in addition to agriculture, also conducted a mill. While there the county auditor died, and Mr. Traylor was appointed to fill the vacancy for one year; was on his farm again until 1877, when he returned to Scottsburg, opened a boarding house and ran it until 1880. Then he came to Seymour, bought the furniture and fixtures of the city hotel, conducted that institution for two years, and sold out, since which time he has not been engaged in anything specially. April 16, 1867, he married Sarah J. Wilson, a native of Washington County, Ind., and of their four children two are living: Rose and Cary. Politically Mr. Traylor is a stanch Democrat. .-- History of Jackson County, Indiana by Brant and Fuller, Chicago, 1886, Pages 726 – 727

GEORGE F. TURMAIL was born December 21, 1860, in Brownstown Township, Jackson Co., Ind. He comes from a Ger-man ancestry, his grandparents coming to Jackson County nearly half a century ago. He is the eldest of a family of seven children born to Frederick and Lucetta (Dickmyer) Turmail. George’s childhood was spent on his father's farm. At the age of nineteen he entered the St. Louis Business College, which he attended about ten months. After his course was finished at St. Louis he attended school six months at Brownstown, after which he followed farming until December, 1884, when he began merchandising at Vallonia, where he is still in business and is the leading merchant in the place. He has annually about $15,000 of sales which is the result of his own business sagacity and energy. In1881 he was married to Miss Anna Geyer, daughter of Louis Geyer, of Jackson County. She was born August 18, 1861. To them have been born two children: Theodore L. F. and Clarence L. W. He is a member of the German Lutheran Church, having been a member three years. He is a Democrat in politics. Mr. Turmail is an illustration of what a young man of enterprise may do for himself and the community in which he lives. .-- History of Jackson County, Indiana by Brant and Fuller, Chicago, 1886, Page 655