John MCCORMICK Jr. Married Bethiah CASE in 1811 when Great Britain declared war the second time, he left his young wife in Hamilton,Ohio and enlisted in the army the Indiana war in Ohio fighting Indians employed by the English.When peace was declared they left Ohio and returned to his fathers homestead in Connersville, they remained there until a treaty with the Indians signed a strip of land thru Central Ohio and Indiana to the Goverment called the "NEW PURCHASE". This was done under a big sycamore Tree in Greenville,Ohio. March 1820 they decided to strike out for a new site Westward. Brother Samuel went along. they cut through the Vigin Forest,traveling by Castadaga Wagon Placed on sled runners.Brother Jamesfollowed with their famlies. they settled in the banks of the white river known as Fall Creek. it took them eight days to go 60 miles.There they built a cabin ,established the first white settlement that Indian Territory.Samuel settled near Military Park.
The following May,state commisioners appointed by the first governor of Indiana met at the McCormick cabin and tavern combined because it was the most convenient.The State Capital was formed, the town was platted "MILE SQUARE" John's wife Bethiah helped to muster courage at the special session of Indiana General Assembly. She got up on the Platform and said..."We and the Pogues were the first settlers in this part of the State, i know you must think i'm a little bragger indead to be standing here in front of you, i didn't want to but i want you very much to consider the name Indianapolis the Goverment Seat." And it was estabalished Indianapolis, "State Capital Of Indiana". The John Pogue Family moved the following month in April after the McCormick's. Pogue on the west bank of the river and McCormick's on the eastside. Bethiah welcomed her new neighbors who came to the new settlement......BATES / OSBORNS / RAY or ROY / HARDINGS / MAXWELLS / JOHNSONS / COWANS / BARNHILLS / WILSONS / DAVIS / CORBALAYS. John and James McCormick started the first sawmill.
(1) Jacob b.1811
(2) Katherine b.1812
(3) John W b.1815 Married... Susan GREGG
(4) Lavina b.1816 (Twin) Married... Issac MARTZ (Twin)
(5) Tabitha b.1816 (Twin) Married... Moses MARTZ (Twin)
(6) William Henry Harrison b.1818 Married... Katherine DRENNAN
(7) Mary Ann b.1819 Married...James HAWKINS
(8) Eliza Ann b.1821 Married...Hiram GARDNER
(9) Jane b.1826 Married...Ebenezer JONES
After John's Death in 1825 Bethiah and children returned to Connersville,Indiana and she married John KING and had three more children. Bethiah Died in 1874 in Arcadia,Indiana
(1) Julia A b.1829
(2) John C b.1830 Married...Martha PACK or PARK
(3) Cornelius b.1832
At First we had to paddle down the river to Spencer Town to buy salt,wheat,cornmeal. Travelers passed through and some stayed.the Indians called the river the musical name..."Wa-Ma-Ca-Me-Ca" name meaning, pure clean water. i had a hired girl to help me with the meals and general housework. John hunted and fished and managed the business. there were a few bad Indians,but having experiences in Ohio and Fort Connersville we were determined not to make any trouble with them and give them excuses to molest us.the woods were full of them.there chief was called Johnny QUAKE and he could talk some English.He was a nice old Indian and never favored the bad ones and told us "Don't be afraid to drive the bad ones away".and we did except a couple of times. One bright sunny morning,middle of March 1831 one Deleware Indian threatened to scalp me if i didn't ferry him across the river, of course i screamed * HELP MURDER* i was alone but soon the neighbors gathered and he was guided down and i was not hurt.
Another time,William Henry Harrison was nearly killed by a bad Indian. he was asleep in his cradle, the men folk had gone to the field and we were alone in the cabin. in the event the Indians bothered us again,all i had to do was to blow a horn and the men would come running back. i was ironing when suddenly i looked up and there was a drunken Indian standing in the doorway. i went to get the horn but it was not there where we kept it. he was yelling WISK-WISK,IN THOSE DAYS EVERYBODY KEPT THE RED JUICE,and i told him no! because he was already drunk and could hardly stand up. Seeing the baby,he staggered over to the cradle and held up his TOMMY HAWK and said CHOP-CHOP, if i didn't give him some of that fire water.Frightened, i gave him some, but before he got away the men came home and what a wolluping that Indian got.he was knocked out and when he came to,he was told to skin out and never come back. "we never saw him again".
Data Entry Volunteer: Kelly Ann Runyon....Chattanooga,Tennessee
My McCormick History Web Site
HON. MAHLON E. BASH, former judge of the Probate Court of Marion County, is a lawyer by profession, but from January 1, 1915, until his retirement, December 31, 1930, devoted all his time to his duties as probate judge. During these fifteen years he administered estates aggregating $250,000,000, and his court at the time of his retirement had about five thousand persons under guardianship, with estates aggregating about $75,000,000. Judge Bash showed a rare patience and capacity for the careful detailed work involved in such a responsible position. He was born in Marion County, Indiana, October 14, 1880. His people have been in Marion County for several generations. He is a son of William E. and Nancy Jane (Emery) Bash. His father is a native of Marion County and his mother of Hamilton County, Indiana. His grandparents were Smith and Hannah (Horniday) Bash and John Mahlon and Dianna (Swarms) Emery. Judge Bash's father was at one time in the building material business and later a real estate man and in 1916 served as president of the Indianapolis Real Estate Board. Both parents live in Marion County. Judge Bash was educated in public schools, attended the Manual Training High School of Indianapolis and graduated from the law Department of Indiana University in 1905. For ten years he had a busy law practice, being associated with Charles Martindale, retiring from the partnership when he took up his duties as probate judge. He was elected in 1914 and served four consecutive terms. Judge Bash is a Republican and at one time president of the Irvington Republican Club. His home is at 5255 Pleasant Run Parkway in Irvington. He was a delegate to the national Republican convention of 1920, when Harding was nominated, and also to the Kansas City convention of 1928, when Mr. Hoover was made the candidate. He has been on a number of party committees, including the state central committee. As probate judge he handled the largest number of receiverships of any court in the state. Judge Bash is a Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner, member of the Delta Upsilon fraternity, the Columbia Club of Indianapolis, and he and his family are members of the Irvington Methodist Episcopal Church. He married, December 10, 1914, Onedia Kingen, who was born in Hancock County, Indiana, daughter of John R. and Martha J. (Roberts) Kingen. They have one daughter, Martha Jane, and are also rearing a daughter of Mrs. Bash's brother, Anna Jane Kingen.
WHO'S WHO IN HAMILTON COUNTY
When the tractor began to take the place of many horses, numerous veterinarian doctors gave up their profession and entered other lines of endeavor. Not so with James R. Carson ,Veterinarian of Cicero. He still continues his practice and has all the work he can do.
Mr. Carson was born on a Hamilton County Farm, October 10, 1867. He attended common schools in Hamilton County. Early in his boyhood days he acquired a great love for livestock and he determined that he would always do some type of work that pertained to the living creatures which were created to act as burden bearers or for the furnishing of food to man.
It was a joyful period of time for him when he entered the Indiana Veterinary College where he trained himself for the very thing that he loved to do. Dr. Carson graduated from this school in 1907 and immediately started practicing his profession in Cicero.
Dr. Carson can attribute much of his success to the fact that he always enjoyed his work. Many of his friends remember when he started his practice, riding a wild bronco over the county, meeting his calls of duty, through rain or shine, hot or cold weather. Dr. Carson has found that modern customs makes his profession a much easier task.
For back in the days of horse and buggy, there were many of night calls that a veterinarian had to answer. Now, many night calls are eliminated and the modern means of transportation make his work easier. When the horse became more scarce, Dr. Carson began to specialize in the doctoring of hogs and in testing dairy cattle for T. B. Instead of his practice dwindling, it has steadily grown until it extends outside the border of the County into the neighboring counties. Dr. Carson considers the veterinary profession an open field for any young man who like to work with livestock.
In 1893, Dr. Carson married Lavina A. Flanagan and they enjoy their beautiful home in Cicero and their many friends over Hamilton County. he takes quite an interest in the flowers ,fish pond and things which beautifies his home. He also owns and manages a 40 acre farm.
Dr. Carson's hobby is fishing. He fishes many of the lakes and streams of northern Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin each season. While very busy in his profession, he finds time to be of service to his community. He is a member of the Odd Fellows and Redmen Lodge and serves on the City Town board ........................(unreadable)
This was an old newspaper clipping probably from the late 1920's to the early 1930's..........from Cicero, Indiana.
The ancestors of this gentleman were early settlers in Pennsylvania, and were of Irish origin. John Carson, the parental grandfather, was a native of Penn., and in 1733 emigrated by way of Pittsburgh, and settled in Butler County, Ohio, where resided until his death, in 1838. He was the father of 11 children. His son John was born at the old home in Penn. in 1787; he was reared and educated a farmer. In the war of 1812, he was a soldier under Gen. Hull, and was in Detroit at the surrender of that place to the British. He was afterward married to Miss Nancy Potts, a lady of Scottish ancestry. He then settled on a farm in Butler County, where he resided until 1820, when he removed to Indiana and settled In Fayette County, Indiana, near Connersville, and then in 1835, he moved to Hamilton County and settled 140 acres of Government Land in the township of Jackson, near the present village of Cicero, where he resided until his death in 1863, at the age of 76 years. His widow survived until 1867, dying at the age of 70 years.
They were parents of eleven children, named John, William, Alexander, Mary A., Rebecca, Leah, James R., Margaret, Nancy (Deakyne), Elizabeth, and Emily. Of those the only ones living are John, James and Mary. John resides in Dubuque, Iowa and Mary in Illinois. James R. was born at the old house in Butler County, Ohio on the 12th day of October 1827.
His boyhood was spent in assisting in the clearing up of a new farm, and his opportunities for obtaining an education were limited to home instruction and an occasional term at private schools. He remained at home with his parents until 20 years of age, when he learned the blacksmith's trade, which he followed for two years.
About that time he became engaged to Martha Jane Spurgeon (Sprugin), of Bartholomew County, Indiana, and they were united in marriage on the 6th day of March 1851. By this union there were three children, named, Melissa, Viola, and Virginia. Melissa was killed by a falling tree in 1862, at the age of ten years. In 1854, Mr. Carson removed to Livingston County where he remained for five years, at which he was bereaved in the death of his wife, who died on the 15th of July 1859, at the age 31 years.
Soon after the death of his wife, Mr. Carson came back to Hamilton County, and placed his motherless children in the care of his father and mother. He then purchased a flouring mill, which he managed for the next two years.
During this time he made the acquaintance of Miss Orrenda Willes, a lady of intelligence and education, the daughter of Wilder and Orrenda (Orinda) Willes, of Potsdam, New York. They were united in marriage on the 8th day of March 1860. In 1862, he sold out his mill interest and purchased a farm of 100 acres adjacent on the north to the village of Cicero, on which he has resided ever since. He has since added 20 acres to his farm, so that he has 120 acres of rich, fertile land, well adapted to the production of all grains and fruits for which that locally is so justly celebrated. On another page of this work, a fine view of the farm home of this worthy family may be found.
Mr. Carson is a man of much influence and consideration in his locality, and has at various times served in positions of trust and responsibility to the satisfaction of his constituents. He has served for many years on the School Board of Cicero, and at this time the President of the Agricultural Society of Hamilton County. In 1876, he was elected to the House of Representatives of the Indiana Legislature, and served two years. In politics, Mr. Carson was a Republican and always takes an active part in the various questions at issue in the political field. He is regarded with the highest respect and confidence as a man of good judgment and integrity.
He and his excellent wife are proud parents of 8 children named Della, Edward W., Benjamin Wade, James R., Jessie M, Samuel Wilder, Fred C. and Grace. All living except Edward who died at 12 years of age. Viola, the daughter of his first wife, is married to Frank Armstrong. They reside in Wabash County.
History of Hamilton County Indiana with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some Prominent Men and Pioneers
Chicago Kingman Bros. 1880
JAMES RALSTON CARSON born Oct. 12,1827,Butler County, Ohio, of Scotch-Irish ancestry. Attended private schools. Married MARTHA J. SPURGEON, 1851(3 children)-died 1859; married ORRENDA WILLES.1860 (8 CHILDREN). Methodist. Moved to Fayette Co., Indiana, in 1830; to Hamilton County in 1835; to Illinois in 1854; and returned to Hamilton County, Indiana in 1859. Blacksmith; miller; farmer; livestock trader; operated a flour mill in Hamilton Co., Indiana for 2 years. Democrat until 1856; Republican until 1885; Democrat. Member, board of school trustees, Freemason; Hamilton County Fair Association president. Died September 14,1889, Hamilton County, Indiana.
"(footnotes: English; Portrait; Helm-Hamilton; People's-Hamilton; AOF.)
Hon. James R. Carson was for many years inseparably associated with commercial and political history of Hamilton County, and was recognized throughout this section of the state as a man of eminent abilities. A gifted orator, logical in reasoning and convincing in argument, he was in especial demand during political campaigns, and he was recognized as one of the more fluent speakers in the county. A man of many noble qualities, charitable in disposition, his death, in September 14, 1889, was deplored as a public loss.
Before noting in detail the principal events in the life of our subject, it will not be amiss to mention a few facts concerning his ancestry.
His father, John Carson, was born in Pennsylvania 1788, and at the age of six years, accompanied his parents to Butler County, Ohio, whence, in 1830, he removed to Fayette County, Indiana. Five years later he came to Hamilton County and settled on a farm, consisting of 160 acres, near the Village of Cicero; there he remained until his death in 1865. He served in the War of 1812 and was present at the surrender of Detroit. Though by trade a weaver, he devoted his attention primarily to farming. A man of extensive information, he was a thoughtful reader of general history, and especially delighted in the study of the Bible. He was a Presbyterian in his religious belief.
The paternal grandparents of our subject were John and Mary (Ralston) Carson, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Scotland. After settling in Butler County, Ohio, they continued to reside there until death. The mother of our subject, Nancy Potts, was born in 1797, of Scotch parentage, and married John Carson in 1813. Eleven children were born of that union, concerning whom we note the following:
John, a resident of Dubuque, Iowa, has served as a Justice of the Peace for thirty years and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church in that city; William and Alexander, the latter a soldier in the Union Army, are deceased; Mary A is the widow of John DeMoss, of Illinois; Rebecca deceased, was the wife of H. DeMoss; Leah, Mrs. Thomas DeMoss, is deceased; James R., Margaret, Nancy (Mrs. William Deakyne), Elizabeth and Emily (Mrs. Thomas Gerald) are all deceased.
The subject of this sketch was born in Butler County, Ohio, October 12, 1827, and resided with his parents until he attained manhood. His schooling was limited to about one year's attendance in the pioneer "temples of learning", but being possessed of a tenacious memory, he became well informed upon general topics of the times, and was especially conversant with history. At the age of about eighteen he was apprenticed to learn the trade of blacksmith, which, however he followed only a short time. He married Martha Jane Spurgeon (Spurgin) in 1851, and three years later moved to Livingston County, Illinois, where he located upon a farm consisting of one hundred and sixty acres. There he remained for five years. After the death of his wife, he came with his three children to Hamilton County and bought a gristmill in Cicero, residing in that village for two years, and then, in 1862, locating upon the farm where his widow resides.
The three children born of Mr. Carson's first marriage are: Mellissa, who was killed by a falling tree; Viola, wife of Frank R. Armstrong, of Indianapolis; and Emily V., who married Joseph Hackney of Indianapolis. In March of 1860, Mr. Carson married Orrenda Willes, a native of St. Lawrence, New York who came to Indiana in 1856. She was graduated from the Newberry Collegiate Institute with the Class of '55 and prior to her marriage followed the profession of a teacher. Her parents were Wilder and Orrenda (Kimball) Willes, the former who died in 1882, and the latter on October 23, 1893. Mr. and Mrs. Carson became the parents of eight children namely: Della, wife of James Allen of Oklahoma, Edward W. deceased; Ben W., residing in Oklahoma; Ralston and Jessie M. who lives with their mother; Sam W. residing in Oklahoma; Fred C. and Grace who are with their mother.
In politics, Mr. Carson was a Democrat until 1856, after which he affiliated with the Republicans. He served as trustee in Cicero. In 1876 he was elected to the Legislature, and took an active part in the affairs of the State at the time when the appropriation was made for the Capitol. He represented his constituents eminently satisfactory manner, and by his honorable and faithful service reflected great credit upon himself. In his religious beliefs he was identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church. Socially he was a demitted Master Mason.
A Portrait and Biographical Record of Madison and Hamilton Counties, Indiana, Published: Chicago : Biographical Publishing Co., 1893
GEORGE HARRISON DAVIS has spent twenty years in the practice of medicine and surgery, and during most of that time has been one of the able members of his profession at Union City in Randolph County. Doctor Davis was born in Darke County, Ohio, October 23, 1874. His parents were James K. and Adeline (Wenrick) Davis. His father was born at Bellbrook, Ohio, in June, 1847, and his mother in Darke County, April 27, 1856. James K. Davis lived his active life as a farmer and is now retired at Union City. Doctor Davis grew up on a farm and became well acquainted with its labors and responsibilities during his youth and early manhood. His primary education was acquired in public schools, and later he resolved upon a professional career. For that purpose he entered the University of Indiana, pursuing the full course, and was graduated M. D. in 1909. Doctor Davis for two and a half years practiced at Spartansburg, Indiana, and then removed to Union City. After a general practice of ten years he began limiting his work more and more to his specialty in obstetrics and the diseases of children. In this field he enjoys especially high rank. He is a member of the Indiana State, Randolph County and American Medical Associations. His office is at 232 Oak Street, and he and his family reside at 636 West Division Street. Doctor Davis married, in 1910, Miss Opal Blanton, who was born in Hamilton County, Indiana. She died in 1916. Doctor Davis subsequently married Emma Ellen Robinson, who was born at Delaware, Ohio, daughter of Harry K. Robinson. Mrs. Davis is a graduate nurse. They have two children, Jane, born in 1920, and Marion, born in 1923. Doctor Davis is a Republican and is a member of the Christian Church.
MITCHELL O. DEVANEY was a very capable Indianapolis physician and surgeon, where he had practiced his profession for nearly twenty years prior to his death on December 31, 1919. Doctor Devaney was born on a farm in Hamilton County, Indiana, April 13, 1879, son of Henry and Olive (Small) Devaney and a grandson of Thomas Devaney. The family moved to Indiana from North Carolina, and Henry Devaney was a substantial farmer in Hamilton County, took a deep interest in civic and political affairs and served as town trustee. Dr. Mitchell 0. Devaney during his boyhood had the training in wholesome work, which is found on every farm. He attended schools regularly, was graduated from the Sheridan a High School and later entered the Indiana Medical College at Indianapolis, graduating M.D. in 1901. He remained in the capital city to practice, and handled his work with a rare degree of skill and efficiency. For several years he was a medical director of the Indianapolis Life Insurance Company. He also sought the opportunity to do his bit for the Government during the World war. He enlisted June 10, 1918, and served until discharged on January 10, 1919. He was sent to the Mexican border, ranking as a lieutenant in the Medical Corps. Doctor Devaney was a member of the Marion Club and the Chamber of Commerce, was affiliated with the B. P. 0. Elks and belonged to all the medical organizations. He was a man of fine character, capable, trusted by his patients and deserving of their trust. He married, August 6, 1902, Miss Lulu Myers, who survives him and resides at 3970 Broadway in Indianapolis. Mrs. Devaney has three children: Henry E., who married Mary Larmore, Kathryn, wife of Herman C. Emde, and Marjory.
History of John Harvey and Malinda Canaday Harvey
John HARVEY homesteaded a tract of rich land in the northeast part of Hamilton County, Indiana, the deed for which was signed by the then President of the United States, Andrew Jackson. He married Malinda CANADAY in 1833. She was the seventh of the ten children of his father's friend from Wayne County days, Charles CANNADAY. The four children of their marriage, when grown, all lived on adjoining or nearby farms.
For their final home, John built a very substantial two-story brick house on his farm. The walls were a foot thick, and the bricks used in its construction were made on the property. It remains in the family to this day, the home of Carolyn Johnson who compiled much information about Malinda CANADAY and her descendants. A glass compote originally belonging to Malinda, is a prized possession of the Carolyn.
In many ways, John was a stern man, but apparently loving with his children and grand- children. The stories recalled by the family about this patriarch of the Hamilton County HARVEYS are legion.
John HARVEY was one of the most progressive and successful farmers in the community. For instance, he owned the first reaper in the township. A story is told that while demonstrating the machine he severed the end of a finger except for a strip of flesh. He asked that someone finish cutting it off with his pocket knife. When everyone demurred, he said "If thee will not, I will." And he did.
John and Malinda HARVEY lived their lives conscientiously according to the strictest precepts of the Society of Friends. They were pillars of a Meeting organized in 1837 and held in the home of John's brother Caleb until 1840. At that point, a small log meeting house was built on John HARVEY's land; it was called the West Grove Meeting. At first, the church had a partition through the middle, the men sitting on one side and the women on the other. The service held there consisted of one hour of silent meditation. John's grandson, Cyrus, recalled attending this church as a boy and having to sit quietly on the straight, hard wooden benches until his legs went to sleep. Not a word was spoken for what seemed to him an interminable time. His main interest was in heedfully watching his grandfather, for church was over when John HARVEY rose put on his hat and walked out.
A story often told illustrates how devoted John was to his austere Quaker philosophy. It concerns Jessie Kimmel HARVEY, wife of his grandson Cyrus. Jessie, a pert curlyhead, was an accomplished pianist, having studied in Chicago before her marriage. She owned a beautiful black walnut Steinway piano, the only one in the neighborhood. Naturally, many young women in the community implored her to give them lessons, to which she agreed in order to supplement her young husband's income. This was a grave concern to John who adored Jessie but felt she was wronging both herself and her students, as music to him was the work of the devil. Being fond of him and wishing to respect his beliefs, she always stopped the lessons whenever she saw him coming. But one day he surprised her, and she never forgot the look of infinite sadness on his face as he put his arm around her and said, "Jessie doesn't thee know that thee are going straight to hell?"
As John and Malinda grew older and the new generation became more liberal in its thinking, including songs and other forms of expression in worship of which they could not approve, they withdrew from the meeting house to their own sitting room for meditation. Each evening, when he came in from the fields, they spent a time sitting opposite each other in front of the fireplace with hands held in a position of supplication and deep in spiritual thoughts.
They had a granddaughter who, perhaps because her mother had died when she was only six weeks old, became a special favorite. Her name also was Malinda, and she loved to cross the field from her home for a daily visit with them. But if she came at their time of meditation, she was required to come in and sit quietly until it was over. Although only a very young child, little Malinda soon learned to peek in the window before making herself known. She wore very long dresses, and if the tops of her high-buttoned shoes inadvertently showed, her grandmother admonished her with "Linnie, put thy dress down." The bond of affection was very strong between the two, but Linnie could never remember being kissed by her grandmother because "It would make thee vain."
An accident later in life left John with a frozen knee, which required him to use a cane. Then one day, when he was opening the barnyard gate to let his horses to the water trough, some of the colts ran over him. The trampling broke loose his still knee joint, allowing him to throw away the cane.
Over the years, John became increasingly deaf. He learned to read lips, but men speaking to him had to be clean shaven. After Malinda's death in her 68th year, John Harvey became a very lonely man who rarely left his home. He missed her very much and could not hear, so most of the time he sat in meditation. A rigid Quaker to his last day, he ordered that at his death, no ceremony be performed, no silver or bright metal be on his casket, no flowers be brought, and his body be taken to the cemetery in a wagon rather than a hearse. He died at age 82.
With his death, an era of the strictest social, moral and religious discipline was closed. John HARVEY and his antecedents were peaceable people of plain dress, who tolerated no dancing, frivolity or music, nor were they permitted to marry a non-Quaker or enter a church of another persuasion. Often the victim of religious persecution because of their unique beliefs, they wished to be left alone to worship in their own way, allow others to do the same, but not to impose a doctrine or intermingle.
Despite the rigidity of their beliefs, John and Malinda were progressive, prosperous and happy.
From " A Family History: The Ancestors of Thomas Wilson Faust," 1997 by Don Faust.
John & Malinda are resting in the Methodist church cemetery, Aroma, IN, in row 2, GS1. According to county history (Haines, 1915, page 261), John Harvey and two other men, built the first public road through Aroma about 1838. They used several teams of oxen, plowing the road until it was in useable condition. The village of Aroma was named by William Haworth, who settled to open a store. He settled on the name because of the smell of forest flowers. Some people scoffed at the name and nick-named it "Toadlope", after the croaking frogs in nearby Duck creek.
Contributed by N. Massey, Sept., 2000.
Donated by J.P. Smith
Jason S. Kitchell, M.D., a prominent physician and surgeon of Noblesville, was born in Morris County, N.J. on the 6th day of Nov. 1827. He traces his lineage to England, whence his paternal ancestors emigrated to America and made settlement in New Jersey during the earliest period of the history of that state. His parents, Jason and Abigail (Audres) Kitchell, were both from New Jersey. After having completed the literary studies in the schools of New Jersey, the subject of this sketch immigrated west to Ohio and located in Butler County, Ohio. He conducted his medical studies under the preceptorship of Dr. Dicks, a prominent practitioner of Hamilton County, that state. At the breaking out of the Civil War, he gave sympathy and active co-operation to the cause of the Union, and in 1864, enlisted as a member of Company H, 179th Ohio Infantry, commanded by Col. Moore. He served on guard duty until the expiration of his period of enlistment, when he was honorably discharge. Returning to Ohio the Doctor commenced the practice of medicine and surgery, and gained a local reputation for skillful diagnosis and successful treatment. In 1869 he came to Indiana and locating in Nobelsville has since conducted a general practice in that city and throughout the surrounding country. As a physician, his abilities are universally recognized, and the success with which he has managed difficult and intricate cases has won for him the confidence of the community. He keeps abreast with every advance made in the profession, and is a thoughtful and regular reader of medical journals. While professional duties require his principal attention, Dr. Kitchell always finds time for the consideration of public affairs, and gives his support to every measure for the advancement of the best interests of his fellow citizens. He has always identified himself with the Republican Party, and is an unfaltering champion of it principles and platform. In his fraternal connections he affiliates with the Grand Army of the Republic, being a prominent member of the Lookout Post No. 133, at Noblesville. The marriage of Dr. Kitchell and Miss Harriet N. Anderson was solemnized on 14th of April 1852. The bride was born in Caldwell, N.J. and was reared to womanhood in the neighborhood that afterward gained national celebrity on account of having been the home of President Cleveland. She was the daughter of Elijah Anderson, a farmer by occupation, who engaged in agricultural pursuits in New Jersey, and afterward in New York. In her religious connections she is a devoted member of the Presbyterian Church. The Doctor, while not actively connected with any religious organization, is a liberal contributor to church and benevolent work. Dr. and Mrs. Kitchell are parents of three daughters: Belle V.; Fannie, who is the wife of Alvin Caylor, of Noblesville; and Minnie, who is at home.
(Transcribed from Portrait and Biographical Record Of Madison and Hamilton County,Indiana--Chicago--Biographical Co.--1893)
Deb Murray