From Counties of LaGrange and Noble, Indiana; Chicago; F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers, 1882
Transcribed by Arlene Goodwin 

NOBLE COUNTY has had but little to do with any war in which the United States has been involved, either with foreign nations or with rebellious subjects, except the great rebellion of 1861. No resident citizen of the county, so far as known, except one, had any participation in the Revolutionary war. This one was Nathaniel Prentiss, father of Nelson Prentiss, of Albion. When the colonies threw off the galling and burdensome yoke of Great Britain, Nathaniel Prentiss was a youth of but twelve years of age. He entered the service of his country as servant to one or more continental officers, and continued thus three years, at which time, being large and strong enough to carry a gun, he enlisted as a soldier proper. He fought at the battles of Saratoga, Princeton, Trenton and Monmouth; was present at West Point when Maj. Andre, the British spy, was captured, and witnessed his lamented execution; was with Gen. Washington during his encampment at Valley Forge; was shipped on board a continental privateer, and finally captured by the "Jersey," which bears about the same relation to the Revolution that Andersonville Prison does to the rebellion of 1861. He was then, with others, taken, to the Island of Jamaica and kept in confinement until the close of the war, and then came to the United States via South Carolina, walking thence to Connecticut, and arriving home on Sunday; where upon he was arrested by the authorities, and fined by the barbarous laws of the Nutmeg State for violating the Sabbath. He was a Revolutionary pensioner from about 1824 until his death, in 1839. He lived about two years in the county, and now lies buried in the cemetery of Ligonier. His wife drew his pension form 1839 until her death in 1861.

The following residents of the county, among probable others, whose names cannot be learned, served in the war of 1812: Andrew C. Douglas, now dead; Niah Wood, dead; James McMann, dead; Adam Kimmell, Sr., who served six months in Pennsylvania; he was a pensioner of the Government for a number of years; he came to the county in 1852; died in 1870 *(From information furnished the writer by Adam Kimmell, Jr., Albion); Andrew B. Upson, dead; James Mael, living in Iowa at last accounts; Henry Kline, dead; John Johnson, dead; Alexander Montroth, died about a year ago; Peter Black, dead; Daniel Wiley, dead, was at the battle of Plattsburg; Daniel Johnson, dead; Mr. Wilson, died a few years ago within a few days of the age of one hundred years; was with Lewis and Clarke on their expedition to the Pacific coast, and was on board of Constitution when it defeated and sank the Guerriere; and Sheldon Perry, dead. Nothing further could be learned of soldiers in the war of 1812.

The knowledge obtained of the soldiers of the Mexican war is no better. The following is the brief record: Joseph Braden, yet living; James C. Riddle, living; James J. Knox, living, who went to Mansfield, Ohio, in the Third Regiment of that State; James Hinman, living, who also served at the age of about sixty-three years in the last war; he enlisted but was rejected; he then employed a barber and a tailor, who succeeded in making him appear about forty years of age; whereupon he was accepted as fifer in the Thirtieth Regimen, and served his country through the war; Aaron Field, living; George Hart, living; J. H. G. Shoe, died in the service; Jefferson Smith, dead; Mr. Gibbs, dead; Harvey McKinney, died in the service; Stark Bethel, dead; James Galloway, died in the service; Joseph Crow, dead; and George Carlyle, dead. Of these J. H. G. Shoe, Jefferson Smith, Mr. Gibbs, Stark Bethel and James Galloway went from Noble county. The most of the others went from Ohio or other portions of Indiana. It is said that a partially-formed militia company at Ligonier, Rochester and that vicinity offered their services as a body for the Mexican war, but were refused, as the quota was already more than full. Several of the Noble County boys resided at or near Wolf Lake. They were in the Second Regiment Indiana Volunteers, commanded by Col. Lane, and served along the Rio Grande River, participating in no engagements of note. In common with all the northern troops who went into the hot and peculiar climate of the "Land of the Montezumas," they suffered terrible hardships from privation and disease. Some of them lie buried under a tropical sun in the far-off land of Mexico; and their graves, like the tomb of Moses, are unknown. The brave boys who fought in Mexico must not be forgotten.