Randolph  County,  Indiana

Samuel  Paul


            We of the present generation cannot realize what the young men of the early sixties had to go through with, what a sacrifice they made of home ties, business opportunities and even health and life itself, to say nothing of the suffering in both body and mind; but they did it all gladly for the sole purpose, as the martyred Lincoln said, "in order that this nation, under God, might live." Had they not sacrificed, fought and bled, what a difference in everything there would have been today! No united, prosperous, happy people constituting the richest, mightiest and best nation on the globe. So we owe these veterans of the Union army every possible amount of respect, as we owe their fallen comrades every degree of reverence.
            One of this heroic and honored host, whose place of abode is Farmland, Randolph county, is Samuel Paul, one of our most substantial and worthy citizens, a successful man of affairs and a large land owner. He was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, December 31. 1846, and is a son of James and Mary J. (Sullenberger) Paul and is one of nine children, namely: Allen B., a merchant in Santa Anna, California, married Mary Lowe, of Galion, Ohio, and they have one child; Samuel, of this review; Margaret, Ella, John and William, twins; Anna; Donnan and Frank died in infancy.
            The father, James Paul, was a shoemaker by trade in his early life, and was a minister in the United Brethren church, in later life his confirmation certificate dated from 1873. He was a native of Pennsylvania, from which state he removed to Galion, Ohio, where his death occurred at the advanced age of eighty-four years. His wife was a native of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, where her birth occurred on February 6, 1826; she died at Galion, Ohio, in 1884. The paternal grandfather of our subject was a minister in the Presbyterian church.
            Samuel Paul received a common school education. When the Civil war came on he enlisted in Philadelphia in Company D, Second Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry, under Capt. William P. Briton and Col. R. B. Price, serving gallantly and faithfully for three years in the Army of the Potomac. He is one who survived the horrors of Libby prison, where he was confined four months, having been captured by the enemy. Mr. Paul served in the army under Gen. Phil Sheridan, and he was orderly for some time under General Gregg, during the last year of his service. He fought in the greatest battles of the war, such as Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Fredericksburg, Cold Harbor, and many of lesser note, including skirmishes and raids. He had a horse shot from under him at the time of Stewart’s raid on Washington City.
            After being honorably discharged from the army, Mr. Paul returned to the peaceful pursuits of life, and for a period of forty years was engaged in railroading, being a passenger conductor for twenty-five years on the Erie, the Wabash and Lake Erie & Western railroad; in fact, was one of the first conductors on the last named road. He was one of the best known railroad men in his part of the country and his long continued service is criterion enough of his faithfulness to duty and of the confidence reposed in his ability, industry and honesty by his employers. He has for some time made his residence near Farmland, where he has a commodious and comfortable home. He owns two well-improved, productive and valuable farms of one hundred and seventy-five acres in this locality which claim his attention, however he takes life easy and merely oversees his property. He lived in Moberly, Missouri, twenty-five years.
            Mr. Paul was married August 30, 1870, to Rebecca A. Gray, of Randolph county, where she grew to womanhood and received her education. She is a daughter of Lemuel Gray, a highly respected farmer, whose family consisted of nine children, and who owned a good farm in Monroe township, where his death occurred on January 19, 1909. His son, P.W. Gray, now lives on the home place, retired from active life. The paternal grandfather of Mrs. Paul was a solder in the Revolutionary war.
            The following children have been born to Mr. And Mrs. Paul: Stella May, born September 28, 1875, married George C. Deskin, a railroad man, and they have two children, Anna Mildred and Paul Cortland; Rolla S. born March 28, 1879, is a traveling salesman, married Mildred White, and they have three children, Pauline, Richard S. and Mildred.
Past and Present of Randolph County, Indiana, 1914.
Contributed by Gina Richardson

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