BROOKSHIRE, Drake - Putnam

Ladoga, May 28 – The funeral of “Uncle” Drake Brookshire was held at the home of his son, Lee Brookshire, yesterday afternoon at 2 o’clock. A history of his life was read by his son, Drake Brookshire, Jr. of Roachdale. Short talks were made by George E. Grimes of Crawfordsville; AM Scott of Indianapolis and Rev. Elic Mayhall of Roachdale offered prayer. The music was furnished by Mrs. WO Winkler. Miss Carrie Robbins and messrs. Everett Harshbarger and Donald Henry who sang, Will There Be Any Stars in my Crown; Going Down the Valley and Nearer My God To Thee. Mr. Harshbarger sang as a solo, Death is Only a Dream. A large crowd attended the funeral services of the oldest resident of the county. Those from a distance were Andrew Daugherty; AM Scott and Curt Brookshire of Indianapolis; Mrs. May Kluty, Brownsburg; Mrs. Sue Morrison and Mrs. Routh, New Ross; GE Grimes and son, George, Jr, AM Brookshire and son, VOris Tobin, Misses Grace Young and Grace Miller, Crawordsville; Mrs. Ella Welch, Mattoon, Ill; Mrs. Sarah Graves and son Mart, Wingate; Elijah Grantham and wife, Joel Brookshire and family, Greencastle; Calvin Graves, Thorntown; Mr. and Mrs. Frank Meyers, Lebanon; Rev. Elic Mayhall, Drake Brookshire and family, Dode Crodian and family, Mrs. Calvin Brookshire and family, Roachdale; Mrs. Fannie Taylor, Darlington and EV Brookshire, Washington, DC.  The following obituary of this remarkable pioneer was edited by his son, Drake Brookshire of Roachdale, ex-county commissioner of Putnam County: “Drake Brookshire, son of Joel and Sarah Slack Brookshire, was born in Randolph County, NC, Feb 27, 1819 and departed this life May 24, 1913 at 10 o’clock and 10 minutes p.m. being at the time of his death, aged 94 years, 2 months 27 days.  He was the third son of a family of five sons and seen daughters, and of this old family but two survive, Mrs. Jane Bell of Ladoga, 86 years past and Mrs. Bryant Graves of Wingate who is 80, also the youngest member of this family.  On the 10th day of March 1930 (sic) father and the other members of the family except grandfather started on their long journey to Indiana and their conveyance consisted of a two-wheeled cart mad entirely of wood and drawn by two pair of little mountain oxen. They crossed the Blue Ridge Mountains at a point called Goodspur stopped on the Holstein River in Virginia and harvested wheat like unto Ruth and Naoma of old in the field of Boaz. They crossed the Ohio River at Uttica, 11 miles above Louisville, on the 6th of September of the same year. They took up their abode in a log cabin a short distance southwest of the Dunkard Church, north of Ladoga. The following spring they moved to a double cabin about 150 north of Robert Ashby’s country home and the corner stones of this old building remain there to this day. In the summer of 1839 father worked for Joshua Harrison on the farm that DePeuw Hyten now owns for the sum of 10 cents a day. On the 22nd of September 1841, father was united in marriage to Sarah Graves.  To this union was born 10 children, 9 sons and one daughter. The surviving members are: Andrew G of Gelenia, Kansas; Allen of Brownsburg; Alex M. of Crawfordsville; Elijah V of Washington DC; Joel of Greencastle, Drake of Roachdale and Lee who lives at the old homestead. The deceased members are James, who died in infancy, March 10, 1853, mother on the 29th of February, 1896; Calvin on Oct 8, 1902 and Maryty E. Tobin Aug 26, 1905.  In 1847 father bought of Curtis Gilbert, a banker of Terre Haute, assignee of Charles Harrow, for $10 per acre, 320 acres and let his brother Elijah have the 80 acres that Mrs. JC Knox now owns and his brother, Swan, the 80 known as the Frank Frantz farm and to Uncle Wm. Myers the 80 where Frantz Meyers lives and kept for himself the 80 known as the WM Henry homestead. This was his turning point from poverty to prosperity. In 1853 he sold this place for $40 per acres and bought the Aaron Foust farm south of Crawfordsville where Tinsley’s Chapel is located. He then sold this farm and in the same year bought the present homestead and has been the undisputed owner for the past 60 years. He built this dwelling house in 1856 and last Saturday night was moved out of the corner where he had done his sleeping for 57 years.  In 1832, when but 13 years of age he was in Crawfordsville and being invited by the election board to vote cast his first ballot for Andrew Jackson and has voted 20 times for president. The old clock that has recorded the hours for 63 years when he ceased his worldly career went right on recording the time as though nothing had happened. He had a 4200 watch which he drew in LD Sing’s lottery in 1860 which he prized very highly. This closes the career of one of the strongest men physically and in some ways intellectually this community has ever known.”