GEORGE W. HOUSE, one of the old and honored pioneers of Tippecanoe County, engaged in farming and stock-raising on section 19, Randolph Township, is a Kentuckian by birth, born in Bourbon County, April 28, 1815, a son of GEORGE W. HOUSE, who was a native of Redstone, Pennsylvania, and a soldier of the war of 1812. The subject of this sketch was reared to the vocation of a farmer, and in his boyhood attended the subscription schools of his day, where he received but a limited education. In the fall of 1828 he came to Tippecanoe County, Indiana, locating in Wea, now Randolph Township, when Indians and wild animals were the principal inhabitants of the surrounding country, and the now prosperous town of Lafayette was but a hamlet.

The father of our subject left his county in the fall of 1833, for Montgomery County, Indiana, and several years later removed to Mahaska County, Iowa, where he died in 1883 in his 102nd year. The family was noted for their longevity. The grandfather of our subject died in his 101st year, and the grandmother lived to attain the remarkable age of 106 years.

GEORGE W., our subject, was early in life inured to hard work, but the lessons of industry and perseverance learned in his youth have been of lasting benefit to him. He began life for himself at the age of nineteen years without a cent in his pocket, but by hard work and strict economy he has succeeded well in life, and by his own unaided efforts he has gained a respectable fortune, and is now the owner of 700 acres of land, well improved and under a high state of cultivation. He is classed among Randolph Township's most highly respected and prominent citizens, and is esteemed by all who know him. He is a strong adherent of the cause of temperance, and is a devoted Christian. In 1874 he built a fine, substantial frame church edifice, 40x55 feet in size, and to this added a classroom about 20x80 feet, doing this at his own expense, at a cost of $5,000, and presented the same to the Methodist Episcopal church at Romney. He gives liberally of his means toward to the support of any worthy enterprise, and performs many acts of kindness and charity. In his political views he is a Republican.

MR. HOUSE was married January 31, 1850, to MISS MARTHA ALLEN, a daughter of WILLIAM ALLEN. Two children were born to this union, named DAVID W. and ELLEN T., both now deceased. The former died at the age of eighteen years, and the latter after marriage to JOSIAH N. BEACH. She left at her death one child, MARY E., who is now being educated at DePauw University, at Greencastle, Indiana, by her grandfather, GEORGE W. HOUSE, the subject of this sketch.