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Capt. Joseph O. Pedigo
CAPT. JOSEPH O. PEDIGO, the popular mayor of Lebanon,
springs from French lineage -- the name being originally
spelt Pergory, by the older members of the family. The
founder of the family came to America at a period long
antedating the war of the Revolution. Edward Pedigo, a
Virginia soldier in the Revolutionary war, was the
great-grandfather of Capt. Joseph O., and his holster and
pistols have been handed down to the present generation,
showing he was an officer and rode a horse. He moved with
his family to Kentucky and settled in the wilds of what
afterward became Barren county, near the head of Beaver
creek, about 1790. He cleared a farm and became a
substantial farmer and slave owner, and died on his
homestead, aged 104 years, a member of the Baptist church.
Joseph Pedigo, Sen., son of the above and grandfather of the
captain, was born in Patrick county, Va., and was also a
soldier in the Revolutionary war. He was a man of family,
when he went to Kentucky with his father and other
Virginians, and was the father of the following children:
William, Nancy, Polly, John, Joseph, Henry, and Edward.
Joseph Pedigo, Sen., cleared up a farm, on which he lived
until he died of fever, aged sixty six years, a member of
the Baptist church and a substantial farmer and slave owner.
Maj. John Pedigo, son of above, and father of our subject,
was born in Patrick county, Va., and was about seven years
of age when taken to Kentucky. He received a common school
education and was reared a farmer. He was a great reader,
and became an intelligent man, and was a colonel in the
Kentucky state militia. He married Elizabeth Oldham, and to
them were born five children, who lived to mature years:
Edward, Charles, William F., Elizabeth and Mary. Mrs. Pedigo
died, and he married Jane Polson, and to them were born two
children, who also lived to maturity: Harriet and Willis.
This wife also died and he married Jane P. Hobbs, daughter
of John and Sarah Obanion, and widow of Dr. Hobbs; the
Obanions were of Irish descent, and all old Kentucky
families. By this wife nine children were born: Joseph,
Robert, Sarah, Alford, Sanford, Elbert, Madison T.,
Josephine (died at eight years) and John W. Col. John Pedigo
was the father of eighteen children; one died an infant, one
at eight years, and all others lived to be men and women,
and all are living now, except Elizabeth and Sanford. Col.
John Pedigo lived to the age of seventy-six years and died
in Kentucky in 1859. In politics he was an old-line whig,
and afterward a republican and a strong Union man. He had
four sons in the Civil war: Joseph O., in company G,
Seventy-ninth Indiana volunteer infantry; James A., in
company G, Seventy-ninth, Indiana volunteer infantry;
Sanford P., company A, Seventieth Indiana volunteer
infantry, and Egbert T., company H, One Hundred and
Thirty-fifth Indiana volunteer infantry.
Col. John Pedigo was a slave owner, his slaves having been
left to him, but was an anti-slavery man in politics. He was
a member, first of the Baptist and then of the Christian
church. He had a high character and was respected by all.
About the year 1842, Col. John Pedigo's slave Aaron married
a slave woman of a neighbor's family, by whom he had five
children. The owner, a Mr. Hamilton, sold his farm and was
proposing to move to Missouri. Aaron wanted Col. John Pedigo
to buy his wife and children, but he was opposed to the
buying of slaves, and although Aaron was valued at $2,000,
gave him his freedom papers and Aaron rode away to Missouri
on his own horse.
Capt. Jos. Pedigo was born December 26, 1835, on his
father's farm in Barren county, Ky. He learned to work on
the farm, attended college at Danville, Ind., received a
good education and became a school-teacher, and for two
years followed this profession in Boone and Hendricks
counties, Inc. He married, April 5, 1860, Mary E., daughter
of Zenos and Agnes (Bridges) Darnall, an old settler of
Indiana from Kentucky. To Capt. and Mrs. Pedigo was born one
child, Cora O., wife of Frank P. Byrum, druggist of Lebanon.
At the beginning of the war, Capt. Pedigo was a farmer. On
August 13, 1862, he enlisted at Indianapolis, in company G,
Seventy-ninth Indiana volunteer infantry, and was made a
sergeant on the organization of the company. He served in
this capacity until the spring of 1864. In 1862 he was in
the following battles: Stone River, Chickamaugua, Missionary
Ridge and many numerous skirmishes on the route to and at
Knoxville. He was in the battle of White House Landing in
June, 1864, and guarded a wagon train across the
Chickahominy river, where a severe running fight was had. He
was also in the battle of Perryville, and was later in the
pursuit of Gen. Bragg. April 1, 1864, he went before the
military examining board at Cincinnati, Ohio, and was
commissioned as captain by the war department and assigned
to the Twenty-eighth regiment, United States colored troops,
as captain. July 30, 1864, he was in the siege of
Petersburg, and was in the assaulting party when the
explosion of the mine occurred. He remained in this command
until the general march of Grant's army in March, 1865, on
to Richmond. His regiment was the first infantry regiment to
enter Richmond on April 3, and was reviewed by Abraham
Lincoln on the next day. In June the command was sent to
Indianola, Texas; from there they went to Corpus Christi to
watch the Emperor Maximillian. Capt.. Pedigo was honorably
discharged at Indianapolis, January 7, 1866, and returned to
Lebanon and has since been engaged in the practice of law
and the real estate business, having read law after the war.
In 1892 he was elected mayor of Lebanon, an office which he
still holds.
Fraternally, he is a member of Ben Adhem lodge, No. 472,
I.O.O.F., of Lebanon, and has filled all the offices; also
is a member of the Red Men, Winnebago tribe, No. 36, and has
filled all the offices of the lodge; also a member of
Magnolia encampment, I.O.O.F., No. 45, and has here also
filled all the offices. He is a member of the G.A.R. Rich
Mountain post, No. 42, and has held all the chairs, and a
member of the Loyal legion; he is also a member of the
Rebecca degree, I.O.O.F., No. 2, as is also his wife. Both
Mr. and Mrs. Pedigo are members of the Christian church, and
in politics Mr. Pedigo is a republican. No family in the
country stands higher in the esteem of their neighbors.
Source Citation:
Boone County Biographies [database online] Boone County
INGenWeb. 2007. <http://www.rootsweb.com/~inboone>
Original data: "A Portrait and Biographical Record of
Boone and Clinton Counties, Ind.: Containing Biographical
Sketches of Many Prominent and Representative Citizens,"
A. W. Bowen & Co., Chicago, IL: 1895, pp 407-408.
Submitted by:
T. Stover - October 27, 2007
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