Jesse - James
Source: H. W. Beckwith History of Montgomery County, Indiana, (Chicago: HH Hill, 1881) p 364
Up to 1829 all the settlement seems to have been in the
northwest especially, and the northeast parts of the township
(Walnut). In 1829 the stage of action enlarges southward, and
history chronicles the arrival of Wilson Browning and wife, and
James B. Jesse, wife and babe. Mrs. Browning being disabled for
duty, Mr. Browning requested Mr. Jessee to abide with them the
first winter, that Mrs. Jessee might perform the domestic duties.
Mr. Jennison having arrived in the new country with but $8 in
pocket, and almost destitute of life's wherewith, gladly
consented. By the united efforts of the two men a cabin of hewn
logs was built, and the two families took possession. In the
following year, 1830, Mr. Browning having suffered from illness,
desired to visit an Indian doctor, Dudley, in Ky. Accordingly Mr.
Jessee, his nephew, set out with him for that purpose. Arriving
at Indianapolis the sick man was unable to go farther, and there
d. in Sept. 1830 and was bur. there. This was most likely the
first death from Walnut Twp. His widow married and moved away.
James B. Jessee built a cabin where now the flouring mill stands,
and there kept an occasional traveler, charging him the usual
fare. He also made a pair of shoes, or did anything that offered
itself. In a short time he received $60 from his brother in
Virginia, a debt due him. To this he borrowed $20 at
Crawfordsville, paying interest at the rate of 20 per cent. The
$60 and $20 added to the little he had saved, purchased his first
80 acres of land, on which, in 3 or 4 years, he built and
occupied. He began to have company in the "wilderness" and
succeeded in adding a little land till he owned 240 acres. In
those early days Mr. J. hauled wheat to Chicago, sold pork at
$1.25 per hundred and went to Attica for salt, paying $8.50 per
barrel. In 1829 John Kelley entered land here. - typed by kbz
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Source: H. W. Beckwith History of Montgomery County, Indiana, (Chicago: HH Hill, 1881) p 379
James B. JESSEE, farmer (retired), New Ross, was born in
Russell County, Virginia, October 13, 1803, and was the son of
Archie and Nancy (BROWNING) Jessee, both natives of Old Virginia.
James studied his books but forty or fifty days, his education
being derived by looking over the shoulders of others, and
gathering from observation. He adapted himself to any trade, now
farming, then carpentering or blacksmithing, or sat on the bench
of a shoemaker. Mr. Jessee was married in September 1827, to
Nancy CANDLER, daughter of Squire John Candler, of Virginia. She
was born in April 1808. In 1829 Mr. Jessee, wife and babe,
immigrated to Indiana and settled in Montgomery County. His
uncle, Wilson Browning, came the same year and entered the land
on which New Ross now stands, and Mr. Jessee having nothing but a
few household goods and $8 in cash, lived the first year with his
uncle, whose wife being lame Mr. Browning proposed that Mrs.
Jessee keep house, and all live together, which was agreed to by
the second party. Some three or four years after, Mr. Jessee
received from his brother $60, which was due him, and by putting
what he had to this, and borrowing $20, and paying 120 per cent
interest, he purchased eighty acres of land on which he still
lives. He has added to his farm till he owned 240 acres. He now
lives with his son, I. W. Jessee, on the homestead, about one
fourth of a mile south of New Ross. Mr. and Mrs. Jessee had seven
children: Martha, Dorothy, Jane, Dosha A., now Mrs. G. T. DORSEY;
Thomas J., who died at Pittsburg Landing, during the late civil
war; James M., now of Aurora, Illinois, who enlisted three times
in the civil war; and I. W., at home. Mr. Jessee has always been
a warm Whig or Republican. He and wife are Methodists. His memory
is still fresh, and he remembers well the War of 1812, in which
his father was captain of a light horse company. His father was
a1so a member of the Virginia legislature for twelve or fifteen
years, and his grandfathers Jessee and Browning were in the
revolution, the latter having been a captain and having lived to
be 102 years of age. Mr. Jessee has been a prominent man in his
vicinity for fifteen years, and was justice of the peace. In his
old age he is a great reader and good converser. His settlement
of Montgomery County is further noticed in the general history of
Wa1nut Township. - typed by kbz