Mrs. Hamblin Shepard, who occupies a pleasant home on section 1, White River Township, Hamilton County, is a native of the neighboring state of Ohio. She was born in Champaign County in 1831, and is a daughter of Francis G. and Jane (Lutz) Reynolds, who were of German descent. The father was born in Kentucky, and died in this county at the advanced age of 81. His wife was a native of the Keystone State, and when a child went to Ohio. She died in this county in 1850. The Reynolds family had eight children, five of whom are yet living.

Under the parental roof Eliza Reynolds spent the days of maidenhood, and after she had arrived at years of maturity she was married, on the 9th of Dec. 1855, to Hamblin Shepard. He was a native of Vermont, born Sept. 8, 1822, and a son of Dr. Roswell Shepard. The father was a well-known physician, and for many years practiced medicine in Ohio. Hamblin Shepard extensively engaged in stock dealing, and all through the war made contracts with the Government for furnishing the troops with mules, horses, ect. He was entirely a self-made man, and through good business ability, industry and perseverance won a comfortable competence. He died Feb. 27, 1867. Mr. and Mrs. Shepard had four children, but only one is living. Two died in infancy, Alma E., born Sept. 6,1855, was a beautiful and highly esteemed young lady, who died Oct. 16, 1873; Eva B., who was born May 7,1862, became the wife of Josephus S. Eakin, who died Sept. 8, 1885. Two children graced that marriage, Grace and George Hamblin. Mrs. Eakins and her children now live with Mrs. Shepard. The family occupies a pleasant and comfortable home, where they are surrounded with all the necessaries and many of the luxuries of life. They are widely known in the county, hold an enviable position in social circles, and have many warm friends, who esteem them highly for their worth and many excellencies of character.

Transcribed from Portrait and Biographical Record Of Madison and Hamilton County,Indiana--Chicago--Biographical Co.--1893)


Augustus F. Shirts was born in Hamilton County, IN Nov. 26,1824. He is of German descent, his parental grandfather, accompanied by three brothers, having emigrated from Germany to the United States in an early day and settled in the east. The father of our subject, George Shirts, in his youth learned a trade of a miller. At the age of 22 years, he entered the army as a volunteer of the War of 1812, also with Gen. Harrison as messenger and scout in the Indian campaign. During that time he became aquatinted with the soil and climate of Indiana, and also formed the acquaintanceship of William and John Connor.

The mother of our subject was a daughter of Solomon Finch, who was a remote descendant of Sir John Finch, once high in authority in Great Britain. Solomon Finch, accompanied by his family, including our subjectÂ’s mother, came to the county of Hamilton for permanent settlement in April 1819. The country was then new, settlers few and hardships innumerable. There were many obstacles to be surmounted, large tracts of land to be cleared, and farms to be developed from the wilderness.

The Shirt family was both large and poor, Augustus F. being the second child was compelled to labor for support of himself and the family until he attained the age of 15. He received a limited education, the tuition and his board being paid by his own labor. At about this age, his father died, leaving a widow with seven children and no property. A guardian was chosen for the children, and Augustus F. was apprenticed to a farmer to serve until he reached the age of 21. For this he was to receive $100.00, board and clothing, and nine months of common school. His time was devoted to hard labor on a farm, and he received only about half the schooling promised.

When the apprenticeship expired, our subject took charge and provided for his mother until she again married. Having in the meantime learned the trade of a tanner, in Feb. 1847, he embarked in the tanning business, continued thus engaged for about six years.

In Jan 1849, Mr. Shirts married Nancy Barnhill. In 1854 he engaged in a small way in the cattle business, and continued in that enterprise for two years, when he sold out and embarked in mercantile pursuits, conducting a store until 1860. In 1858 he began the study of law, and in 1861 commenced the practice of his profession, which, being more to his liking than his former business, he has conducted at the present time.

In 1878, Mr. Shirts was nominated by the Republicans of Hamilton and Madison Counties as their candidate for Judge, but was defeated, Madison County giving about the same majority of Democratic that Hamilton gave Republican. He has three children living, two sons and one daughter, all of whom are married. His oldest son is a fine lawyer, and his youngest son has for many years been the cashier of the Citizens State Bank of Noblesville. Mr. Shirts has written many very readable articles upon the pioneer history and time of Hamilton County, and it may be said that he is an authority on this subject. In business he has been a success, having accumulated a competency for use in his old age. He proposes soon to retire from the practice and devote his attention to writing a pioneer history of his native county. Having risen from obscurity and poverty to his present position in society, his life will be an example for struggling young men in the condition in which he found himself in his youth, and they may, if they will, profit thereby.

(Transcribed from : The Portrait and Biographical Record of madison and Hamilton Counties. Chicago Biographical Company-1893)


History of John Ransom Smith

John Ransom Smith (born 1803) moved from Ohio to Indiana in 1841. It took four wagons and four weeks to make the trip. He started farming in the Aroma area, (Hamilton County), with other Quakers. His daughter Luisa taught school at the Ironwood Seminary and boarded with the Jehiel Williams family. His daughter Luisa placed Ransom being born in Vermont. Little information has been found about Ransom Smith. It is known that he married a woman named Rebecca Stall, also of Ohio, and they were the parents of nine children. He moved the family from southeastern Ohio to Hamilton County, Indiana in 1841 after the first three of his children were born -- all under seven years old at the time. An elderly descendant noted in a letter that the trip required four wagons and took a demanding four weeks to make. The remaining six children, whose names are unknown, were born on the farm he bought there.

With another man, Ransom built the Hopewell church and became its preacher. From this point onward, nothing further is known of him.

Their prospects must have been promising. The soil in Hamilton County was among the richest to be found anywhere, Indiana had become a state in 1816 and the last Indians, the Potawatomie, had been driven out in 1838. Whether or not Ransom Smith lived to profit from the promising prospects is uncertain as the date of his death is not known. (Taken from: A Family History: The Ancestors of Thomas Wilson Faust, by Donovan Faust 1997) Luisa wrote the following letter in Aroma, Indiana, July 9th, 1922: "As I am the only one left of a family of 11, Father, Mother & 9 children. My Father John Ransom Smith was borned in 1803 in Vermont, my mother Rebeca Stall Smith in 1804, in Ohio. I was borned in Janeville, Ohio, 1838. My father moved from Ohio to Indiana in 1841, in 4 wagons, took 4 weeks to make the trip. My father bought the farm where Clint Lower now lives, and he & the Cory Brothers built the Hopewell Church, and my father was the Preacher. I joined church there, when I was 15 years old. I taught school at Ironwood Simnary and boared at Jehial Williams, in 1861 I was married to Eli Baldwin, in 1869 Mr. Baldwin enlisted in the army. Lauisa Baldwin, age 85 yrs.". Tombstone reads: "Lauvisa"

Contributed by J.P. Smith


C. H. TOMLINSON, physician and surgeon, has practiced ever since leaving medical college in the town and community of Cicero in Hamilton County. It has been a long and honorable service, and he is highly respected for his abilities as a professional man and as a citizen constantly devoted to the welfare of his home people. Doctor Tomlinson was born June 12, 1869. His father, Levi B. Tomlinson, was born on a farm north of Westfield, in Hamilton County, and devoted his active lifetime to agriculture. He was one of the farm leaders of his day and for years was president of the Hamilton County Fair Association. Doctor Tomlinson’s grandfather, Robert Tomlinson, came to Indiana from North Carolina and first settled southwest of Indianapolis, and then moved to Hamilton County. The Tomlinson family has been in America since about the time of the Revolution. The Doctor’s great-grand father came from Ireland. Doctor Tomlinson was reared on a farm, attended the public schools and completed his academic training in the Union High Academy at Westfield. He also spent a year in Earlham College at Richmond and then entered the Indiana Medical School at Indianapolis, where he finished the course and received the M. D. degree in 1895. In the same year that he graduated he located at Cicero, and the people of that community have many times congratulated themselves upon the presence of so capable a doctor. Several times he has been honored with the office of president of the Hamilton County Medical Society and for eight years has been the county health commissioner. Doctor Tomlinson married Miss Luella Hadley, who finished her education in Earlham College. They have two children. Their son, Russell, is a graduate of DePauw University, taking his A. B. and M. A. degrees there, and is now a professor in Lake Forest College at Lake Forest, Illinois; he married Miss Unita Thomas, also an A. B. graduate of DePauw University, and they have two children, Russell, Jr., and Margaret. Marion Emily, the daughter of Doctor Tomlinson, graduated from the Cicero High School in 1929 and is a student in Earlham College. Doctor Tomlinson is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and Independent Order of Odd Fellows, is a Methodist, and politically has been aligned with the Republican Party. He was a Stand Pat Republican chairman in the campaign of 1908, and since that year has been active in party politics. He is a member of the Indiana State and American Medical Associations and belongs to the County Historical Society and the Indiana State Historical Society.


Albert R. Tucker, M.D., Auditor of Hamilton County, was for more than twenty years a professional physician and surgeon of Cicero, and is now an influential citizen of Noblesville. A man of good prominence in the professional circles of the state, he served for one term as president of the County medical Society, for four years as President of the Untied States Pension Examining Bureau of Noblesville, and four terms as medical director of the Grand Army of the Republic for the state of Indiana.

Born in Marion County, IN, March 24,1844, our subject has from youth been closely identified with the growth and progress of the state. His father, Robert Tucker, a native of Kentucky, was a pioneer of Indianapolis in 1821, when the now flourishing city boasted only five hundred inhabitants. He was the first cabinetmaker in the place, and, as the population increased, found ready employment at his trade. His wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth C. Reed, was born in Virginia and a daughter of Archibald Reed, who located in Indianapolis in 1819. He served as Colonel in the War of 1812, and later represented his constituents in the State legislature of Indiana.

The Tucker side of the family was of Irish origin and was early represented in Virginia, where, Grandfather Tucker made his home. A gallant man, he enlisted in the Colonial Army during the Revolutionary War and as a captain of a Virginian regiment, led his men on to victory. Later he participated with equal bravery in the War of 1812 and both as a sailor did and citizen was well and favorably known. The parents of our subject are deceased, the mother passing away in 1848, and the father in 1872. They had a family of five children, of whom Albert R. was the fifth in order of birth.

Remaining in Marion County until 1859,our subject attended the home schools, and later continued his studies elsewhere, receiving benefits of instruction in the common branches until he was sixteen. In 1861, at the age of seventeen, he enrolled as a member of Company B, Seventeenth Indiana Infantry, commanded by Col. John Haskell, later by Col. John E. Wilder, and assigned to the Army of Virginia. After serving for eleven months, he was honorably discharged on account of disability. Upon his recovery, he again enlisted, in the summer of 1862, becoming a member of Company D, 72nd Indiana Infantry, under Col. A.C. Miller, assigned to the Army of the Cumberland. In the winter of 1862, the command was mounted, and our subject was detailed as scout in WilderÂ’s Brigade, serving in that capacity until the close of the Chickamanga campaign. He was then promoted to Division Scout, under the command of Gen. Garrard, in the Atlanta campaign, after which he was promoted to corps scout, under the command of Gen. George H. Thomas. After Hood’s retreat, in the winter of 1864, he was transferred to Gen. Wilson’s corps of scouts.

Among the engagements in which Dr. Tucker participated may be mentioned by the following:
Greenbrier, VA in 1861,Hoover’s Gap, Manchester, the siege of Chattanooga, Harrison’s landing, Buzzard’s Roost, Rock Springs, Chickamanga, Resaca, Oak Church, Dalton, Altoona Pass, Big Shanty, Kenesaw Mountain, siege and battle of Atlanta, Rome City, Franklin, Nashville, Ebenezer Church, Selma, Ala, Wilson’s raid to Macon (GA), participating in the capture of Andersonville and Jefferson Davis in the spring of 1865, beside numerous engagements on his raid through Kentucky.He also bore a part in the campaign after John Morgan. Though constantly in danger of capture and death, during his hazardous experience as a scout, he passed safely through the vissitudes of war, and in July, 1865, after a period of almost continuous military duty from the firing of the first gun at Fort Sumter to the close of the war, was honorably discharged.

Returning to Indiana, our subject resided for a time in Colfax, Clinton County. At the age of 21 years he entered Bryant & Strantton’s Commercial College in Indianapolis, and in the spring of 1866, was graduated with honors. Later he read medicine with Dr. Joseph E. Milburn; a prominent physician of Colfax and in 1867 entered Rush Medical College in Chicago, graduated from that institution in 1869. For a time he engaged in practice in Colfax, from which place in March 1871, he cam to Hamilton County and located in Cicero. In a comparatively brief time he gained an enviable and widespread reputation as a successful medical practitioner and skillful surgeon.

Politically a Republican, Dr. Tucker takes an active part in county, state, and national political affairs. He has served as delegate to numerous state and congressional conventions, and has stumped the adjoining counties during presidential campaigns. In the fall of 1892, as a candidate of the Republican Party for the posistion of Auditor, he was elected to that office, and entered upon his duties in March 1893. As before mentioned, he is a member of the County, State, and American Medical Associations. Socially, he affiliates with Cicero Lodge No., 199, A.F.&A.M., Noblesville Lodge, I.O.O.F., Bernice Lodge, K.P., and Cicero lodge No.26, A.O.U.W. A valued member of the Grand Army of the Republic, he has always enjoyed the reunions where, side by side, the veterans, tried an true, discus perils and sacrifices of long ago.

In Clinton County, IN, in 1866, Dr, Tucker and Miss Anna C. Benjamin, a native of Rockaway County, NJ was united in marriage. Mrs. Tucker is a daughter of E.J. Benjamin, an early settler of Colfax, Clinton County, and IN. Three sons have blessed this union: Harry B., who is a dentist of Noblesville, Frank W., who resides with his parents; and Fred A., who is employed in the AuditorÂ’s office. Dr. Tucker, his wife and their children all identify with the Christian Church, and assist in the benevolent enterprises of their denomination. Within their handsome residence on East Division Street, Noblesville, whom they hospitably entertain. It is safe to say that a few residents of Hamilton County posses to so large degree the esteem and regard of the community as subject of this sketch.

(Transcribed from Portrait and Biographical Record Of Madison and Hamilton County,Indiana--Chicago--Biographical Co.--1893)



David B. Zimmerman, a young and prosperous farmer and influential citizen of White River Township, Hamilton County, has ever since his residence have been an active part in local affairs, and has held with ability the office of Township Trustee, discharging the duties of the responsible position to the great stisfaction of the general public. A man of energy and business ability, he has rapidly won his upward way, and, appreciated for his sterling integrity, has an apparently bright future before him as a private citizen and trusted official. Our subject is a native of Ohio, and was born in Williams County, Jan. 9,1859, and is a son of David and Sarah (Blue) Zimmerman, highly respected residents of the Buckeye State.

The father of our subject was born in Frederick County, MD, Feb. 14,1831, and died Feb. 8 1859, when our subject was only five weeks old, and passed away in Williams County regretted by all who knew him. The parental grandparents, Barney and Sarah (Sager) Zimmerman, cared tenderly for the orphaned child of their deceased son. The grandfather was a native of Maryland, and grandmother was born in Germany, emigrating to this country when only a little girl. They were Ohio pioneers and settled in Seneca County in May 1836, when the country round about was little more than a wilderness. The grandfather entered into rest the 5th of March 1888, at the age of 84 years, but the grandmother, 83 years of age is yet living on the old farm. The mother is a resident of Montpelier, Williams County, and Ohio.

Our subject, the youngest of three sons, is the only brother who has not made his lifetime home in Ohio. They are all farmers and have devoted themselves from their early youth to agricultural pursuits. The grandfather, born Nov. 15,1804, and grandmother, born March 7,1810,courageously shared the trails and privations of pioneer life in the early west, and upon their old home farm, our subject was reared from his tenth year to his 19th year, receiving his education in the little school of the district. In 1879, Mr. Zimmerman went to Illinois, where he worked by the month for two years, then returned to Ohio and worked by the month one summer in his native state, which held for him a strong attraction in the person of his future wife.

Upon Nov. 15, 1881, were untied in marriage. David B. Zimmerman and Miss Mary E. Rosenberger, who was born in Seneca County, Ohio, Aug. 2, 1858. Mrs. Zimmerman is a daughter of Anthony D. and Jane (Michaels) Rosenberger. The former was born in the state of Virginia, but removing with his parents to Ohio when only four years old, spent the rest of his life in Seneca County, where he died at age 51 years. The parental grandparents of Mrs. Zimmerman, Henry and Jane (Shaull) Rosenberger, were Virginian by birth, but 1839 journeyed to the far off state of Ohio, and, settling upon land in Seneca County, contained there until their death, at a very advanced age, the grandfather surviving to four-score and six. The estimable wife of our subject was one of three children, all of whom are alive.

The mother of Mrs. Zimmerman is the daughter of John and Eliza (Abbott) Michaels. Mr. Michaels was a native of PA. And Mrs. Michaels was born in Conn. They came to Ohio when they were very young people and spent their entire married life in the Buckeye State. Mr. Rosenberger, the father of Mrs. Zimmerman, was born June 11, 1828, and died Oct.27, 1879. His wife was born October 3,1833 and died may 22,1862. The maternal grandmother of Mrs. Zimmerman was at the time of her death 72 years, eleven months, and thirteen days old and passed away June 23, 1882. The maternal grandfather was seven years older than his wife.

The union of Mr. and Mrs. Zimmerman has been blessed by the birth of four children, three of whom are now deceased. Owen D., was born in Seneca County, Ohio, Jan. 12,1885, and died Feb. 1,1891;Glen G. was born in Seneca County, Oct. 9,18886, and died Dec. 15,1890; Ethel R., was born Sept. 15,1889, in Hamilton County, and died April 6, 1890; Otis A. was born in Hamilton County, Oct. 27, 1893. Immediately following his marriage, Mr. Zimmerman settled on a farm belonging to his father-in-law, and lived there six years. He then sold a 160-acre farm, which he owned and removed his family to Indiana, and in 1888 bought the old Stehman farm, since his permanent home. Mrs. Zimmerman remained the most time in Ohio up to 1888, when she moved to her present home. The farm purchased by our subject is one of the hallmarks of the past, and its 200 acreage, highly cultivated, contains some of the best land in the state.

Mr. Zimmerman peroperously conducts general farming, and is also interested in valuable gas well. In 1890 he was elected upon the Democratic ticket to the position of Town Trustee, and takes an active part in the local affairs of the county. He and his worthy wife are devout members of the Evangelical Church, and are foremost in good work. Our subject has been an efficient Sunday school Superintendent, and, a friend to the religious and educational advancement of the young lends his earnest efforts to the promotion of the good cause. In the comparatively brief time of his residence in Indiana, Mr. Zimmerman has made many friends and has identified himself with the progressive enterprises of his home locality, where he is highly respected.

(Transcribed from Portrait and Biographical Record Of Madison and Hamilton County,Indiana--Chicago--Biographical Co.--1893)


Isaac Spencer Collings was born in Floyd Twp., Putnam County, Ind., on October 16, 1827, the son of William C. Collings (1805-1874) and Sarah "Sallie" Monnett Collings (1806-1878). All four of Isaac's grandparents were early Putnam County residents recognized as pioneer ancestors by the Society of Indiana Pioneers. Isaac married Caroline Lake (1830-1915), daughter of Elisha Warford Lake and Rebecca Hanna Nugent Lake, on May 4, 1848, in Putnam County. Caroline's parents and grandparents were also Indiana pioneers.

In the 1850 federal census, Isaac was listed as a physician, age 22, in Cass Twp., Clay Co., Ind. He was a founding member of the Fidelity Lodge, No. 309, A., F. & A. M., at Boxley, Hamilton Co., on May 26, 1854.

He received a Doctorem in Arte Medica degree from Universitatas Iowaensis in Keokuk, Iowa, on 25 Feb. 1857. The Keokuk Medical College Bulletin for 1907 lists him as an 1857 graduate of the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Keokuk. The school subsequently became a part of the State University of Iowa at Iowa City.

The 1860 federal census listed him as a physician in Boxley, Adams Twp., Hamilton Co., Ind., but it has the wrong spelling of his surname ("Collins"), the wrong spelling of the township ("Addams"), the wrong age ("34"), and the wrong spelling of his daughter's name ("Eliner").

Less than four months after the outbreak of the Civil War, Dr. Collings was commissioned, July 22, 1861, as a Captain in the Indiana Legion, the first of several military assignments he filled during the war. On July 8, 1863, it was believed that a Confederate force had crossed the Ohio River and was moving on Corydon, Ind. Dr Collings was among those who answered the Governor's call to organize a defense. On July 10, he was commissioned as a Captain, Company I, 109th Regiment, Indiana Militia (Minute Men of Boxley, Hamilton Co.). His son Zenas/"Zenith," age 14, was enrolled the same day as Musician in the same regiment. The unit left Indianapolis by rail on July 13 and went to Hamilton, Ohio, and then to Cincinnati. They returned to Indianapolis when the emergency passed and were mustered out July 17.

He resigned as Captain of the Adams Guards, Indiana Legion, on March 18, 1864.

He was sworn in as Assistant Surgeon, 57th Regiment, Indiana Volunteers, on March 12, 1865, at Huntsville, Ala. His regiment went to East Tennessee in April. In a letter to his 13-year-old daughter, Elmira, dated April 10, 1865, he wrote, "I am well as could be expected. I took a bad cold a few days ago but am better and think I will be well in a day or two. I know you would laugh to see how we do. Me and Capt. Hoback bed together. We drove 4 forks in the ground put in 2 short cross pieces and then put rails on lengthwise and spread our blankets on the rails and sleep like fine fellows. O how nice it is to up on to one of these little mountains or large hills and look over the country-farms and farm houses for miles from where I am sitting in my tent I can see the Paint Rock Mountain part of the Blue Ridge away 20 miles to the South east looking generally like a dark blue cloud. ..."

The regiment went on to Nashville, where Dr. Collings apparently began to lose weight. He continued with his unit in June to New Orleans, but apparently showed further signs of ill health. He and many others in the unit suffered from seasickness in crossing the Gulf to Texas in July. He was sent to the 2nd Division Hospital for two weeks in August, and his health continued to fail after he returned to duty. He died at an army hospital at Camp Irwin on Placido Creek, about 12 miles west of Port Lavaca, Tex., Sept. 10, 1865. He was first buried on the north bank of Placido Creek. His was one of 150 bodies subsequently removed from various military graves in Texas and reburied in the National Cemetery, Galveston, Tex. He was subsequently reburied in Alexandria National Cemetery in Pineville, Louisiana.

Dr. Collings was survived by his wife, Caroline, and three children: Elisha William Zenas Collings (1849-1919), Elmira Rosalie Collings Six (1851-1926), and Franklin Chandler Collings (1855-1915). Caroline, age 34, filed a Widow's Application for Army Pension on Jan. 20, 1866.



Turner Edson & Phebe Adelaide Farrington Edson

Turner Edson (born Sept. 20, 1820) and his wife, Phebe Adelaide Farrington Edson (born July 26, 1827), came to Indiana in the 1850's. He was a cabinet maker and undertaker.

The family lived first in Shelbyville, where their daughter Eugenia was born in 1858. In 1859, they moved to Hamilton County [The People’s Guide: A Business, Political and Religious Directory of Hamilton Co., Ind. (1874), p. 208]. They were listed in Noblesville in the 1860 census, with Turner listed as a cabinet maker. In the 1870 and 1880 censuses, they were in Cicero. History of Hamilton County, Indiana (1880), p. 126, in an article about “Early Merchants” in the Town of Cicero, lists among the “present” business firms, “furniture dealers, Edson & Gerber.”

Sometime after 1880, Turner and Phebe moved to Sheridan, where Turner died Oct. 10, 1898, and Phebe died Aug. 26, 1911. Both are buried in Crown View Cemetery at Sheridan. Their tombstone, in the shape of a tree trunk, has an anchor on it – presumably a nod to Turner’s birthplace and/or to his life before their marriage.

In addition to Eugenia Edson Collings (1858-1930), the Edsons were the parents of Carlos or “Charles” or “Carl” Edson (1850-1923), LeDora “Dora” Edson Boxley (1854-1932), and Cora Bell Edson Hare (1861-1958). Eugenia was married to Franklin Chandler Collings (1855-1915). Carlos was married (1st) to Alice Miller, (2nd) to Emma E. Webb, and possibly (3rd) to Mary ______. (His death certificate identified him as a widower whose wife was Mary. Either that is an error or Mary was a third wife.) Dora was married to Caswell Boxley (1855-1912). Cora was married to William L. Hare (c. 1853-1928).

Turner’s exact place of birth is unknown. In the 1880 census, it is listed as “Prince Edward Isle” – assumed for years to be the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island. But he is known to have had a brother, Samuel Brock Edson (1816-1892), who lived in Madison Co., Ind., in 1860 and 1870 and later in Williams Co., Ohio. Samuel married Sarah Sutherland Peterson in 1842 at Warkworth, Ontario, Canada. Not too far away is Prince Edward County, Ontario, which is also an island. For that reason, Prince Edward County must be considered a possible birthplace of Turner. His parents’ identities are unknown, but the 1880 census indicates that Turner’s father was born in Massachusetts and his mother in “Prince Edward Isle.” Most of the Edsons in the United States are descendants of Deacon Samuel Edson, who settled in Salem, Mass., in 1639. Some of them were Loyalists who fled from Massachusetts to Canada before or during the American Revolution.

Phebe was born near Syracuse in Onondaga Co., N.Y., the daughter of Jacob Farrington and Eve/Eva Clute, erroneously listed as “Andrew” Farrington and “Mary” Clute on her death certificate. (The death certificate was filed under the name “Adalade” or “Adelade” Edson. The letter a and e are written on top of one another in such a way that one cannot be certain which spelling was intended.) Phebe’s parents were in the Town of Lenox, Madison Co., N.Y., in the 1820 census and in the Town of Van Buren, Onondaga Co., N.Y., in the 1830 census. Phebe’s mother died when Phebe was about 5 years old, and her father went west (he’s in the 1860 census in Delavan, Walworth Co., Wisc.) without her – apparently leaving her in the care of older married sisters. Family tradition is that she traveled back and forth between the homes of her sisters along the Erie Canal. This seems probably true. She had a younger brother, Andrew (probably explaining the erroneous name “Andrew” for her father on the death certificate), who was a boatman on the Erie Canal. Phebe’s paternal grandfather was Robert Farrington of Town of Lenox, Madison Co., N.Y. (1820 & 1830 censuses), and her maternal grandparents were Isaac Clute and Helen/Lena Barheit Clute, who were in Lenox, Madison Co., N.Y., in the 1820 census and in the Town of Camillus in western Onondaga County, N.Y., in the 1830 census. Isaac’s will and other estate papers in the Onondaga County Courthouse in Syracuse provide evidence of Phebe’s being a daughter of Jacob and Eve/Eva.

Family tradition is that Turner Edson was a friend of one of Phebe’s brothers-in-law. From Prince Edward County, Ontario, it would have been a relatively short trip across Lake Ontario to Oswego County, N.Y., and then to Onondaga County, N.Y., which may be further reason to believe that Turner’s place of birth was Prince Edward County rather than the province of Prince Edward Island.

Complicating the issue, The People’s Guide (1874), p. 208, lists Turner’s place of birth as “Prince Edward’s Dominion,” and a granddaughter of Samuel Brock Edson (Mrs. Alger W. Bailey of Ft. Wayne, Ind.) wrote in 1963, about her grandfather, “His brother Turner came first and settled in Indiana. My father was born in Canada and they crossed over at Buffalo, N.Y. I remember hearing him say that they lived in many towns in Indiana. They lived in Noblesville, Cicero, Frankton, and might have lived in Windfall – I don’t remember hearing that name.” It’s unclear whether the “they” refers to Samuel and his brother or to Samuel and his wife and children (remembering that she says Turner came first). Samuel definitely lived in Frankton and Windfall, and Turner definitely lived in Noblesville and Cicero. It is unknown if Samuel ever lived in Noblesville and/or Cicero. If it is true that one or both of the brothers “crossed over at Buffalo,” that, again, would seem to make it more likely that Turner was born in Prince Edward County, Ontario, rather than in the province of Prince Edward Island.

Turner and Phebe are presumed to have married about 1849 in New York State, but their marriage record has not been found.

See also Turner Edson (1820-1898) and Phoebe Adelaide Farrington (1827-1911) of Hamilton County, Indiana, by Jay Brown Wright, Ph.D. 1977 (copy in Indiana State Library).

Contributed by Jay B. Wright


OBITUARY (Statesman, Salem, Ore., Fri., March 15, 1957, page 5, column 3, w/ photo]

Ex-Minister Of Friends Church Dies

The Rev. Edgar Perry Sims, 76, pastor of Highland Friends Church in Salem for eight years, died Thursday in a Salem nursing home. He was a resident of 530 Cross St.

The Rev. Sims, retired since 1938, was born March 3, 1881 in Hamilton County, Ind. He married the former Mary Griffin in 1902 in Hamilton County.

In 1899 he enlisted in the Army and saw duty during the Phillippine Insurrection.

The same year he graduated from the Union Bible Seminary, 1913, he was recorded a minister by the West Grove Quarterly Meeting at the Western Yearly Meeting of Friends.

After serving two pastorates in Central Indiana, he and his wife came to Oregon in 1919 where he served first in Scotts Mills. He completed his Salem pastorate in 1933 and the next five years was pastor of the Piedmont Friends Church in Portland.

The Rev. Sims served on the Evangelistic and Church Extension Board of the Oregon Yearly Meeting of Friends for 20 years and at one time was president of the board.

The deceased, a resident of the Salem area for about 37 years, is survived by his widow, Mrs. Mary Sims.

Services will be held Monday at 1:30 p.m. in Highland Friends Church. Arrnagements are in charge of W. T. Rigdon Mortuary.


Sanford S. Wright & Hannah Lake Wright

Sanford S. Wright was born March 1, 1831, in Indiana – probably in Putnam County. In the 1850 census, Sanford, age 19, is listed in Jackson Twp., Putnam Co., in the household headed by his father, Willis Wright, then 60, who was born in Virginia. Willis’ wife in that census, Ann, age 40, born North Carolina, must have been the former Ann Pinkerton, because there is a Putnam County marriage record for Willis Wright and Ann Pinkerton, married Jan. 9, 1838.

That suggests, obviously, that Ann was a second wife. In the 1880 census, Sanford says his mother was born in Kentucky, which provides further evidence that Sanford’s mother was not Ann. Index, 1840 Federal Population Census, Indiana (Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1975, p. 371) lists two households headed by men named Willis Wright, but neither is in Putnam County. However, Index, 1830 Federal Population Census, Indiana (Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1981, p. 243) lists two households headed by men named Willis Wright, and one of them, is in Putnam County (p. 418 in the census). It seems probable that the latter is Sanford’s father, already in Putnam County before Sanford’s 1831 birth.

Sanford married Hannah Lake were married in Putnam Co., Ind., on Jan. 10, 1852. Hannah, born May 27, 1835, in Carroll Co., Ind., was the daughter of Elisha Warford Lake and Rebecca Hanna Nugent Lake. Elisha was the son of Zenas Lake, a native of Hunterdon Co., N.J., who bought land on the White River (present-day Indianapolis) in Marion Co., Ind., in 1821. Rebecca was the daughter of Joseph Hanna, an Indiana pioneer from South Carolina. She first married William Nugent, who died about 1825, leaving her with two young daughters. She married Elisha Lake in Marion County in 1828.

Sanford and Hannah were apparently already living in Hamilton County by the time their first child, Mary Emma Wright, was born in December 1852.

Sanford and Hannah are listed in the 1860 census in Jackson Twp., Hamilton Co., and Sanford was a farmer.

Sanford served as a Private in Company E, 155th Regiment, Indiana Volunteers, from Hamilton County. He was mustered in March 21, 1865. The regiment was organized at Indianapolis on April 18, 1865, just three days after President Abraham Lincoln’s death. It was sent to Washington, D.C., then to Alexandria, Va., and later to Dover, Del. Sanford and other members of the regiment were mustered out Aug. 4, 1865, at Dover and returned to Indianapolis on Aug. 6, 1865. On that day they were welcomed at a reception on the Capitol grounds. See Hamilton County and the Civil War (Burgess, pages 130 and 212) and A History of the Formation, Settlement and Development of Hamilton County, Indiana (Shirts, 1901), page 362.

In the 1870 census, Sanford and Hannah are listed in White River Twp., Hamilton Co., and Sanford was a farmer.

In the spring of 1876, the family moved from Indiana to Rice Co., Kans., and Sanford and Hannah are listed in the 1880 census in Lincoln Twp, Rice Co, Kans., and in the 1900 census in Lyons, Rice Co., Kans.

Sanford died April 4, 1901, apparently in Lyons. Hannah died Dec. 28, 1921, in Lyons. Both are buried in Lyons Cemetery.

The children of Sanford and Hannah were Mary Emma Wright Hanna (1852-1940), Marietta “Retta” Wright Embree (1854-1923), Joseph A. Wright (1857-1936), Nancy Wright Caldwell (1860-1953), Julia or Julian or Juliann Wright Adams (1862-1904), Elisha W. Wright (1865-1951), John Franklin Wright (1867-1950), Bessie M. “Bess” Wright Six (1869-1960), Belle J. or Juriah Belle Wright (1871-1893), Charles Corbin Wright (1874-1954), Zenas Kansas Wright (1877-1960). All except Zenas were born in Indiana.

Contributed by Jay B. Wright


Deb Murray