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Vermillion County Genealogy

Biographical and Historical Record of Vermillion County, Indiana


408 - History of Vermillion County

nessee. She died in 1863 leaving one child, John A., now of Compton, Kentucky. November 14, 1866, Mr. Goodwin was married to Mrs. Susan Dykes, daughter of James Nutgrass. To them were born two children, but one is living -- William L., Mrs. Goodwin had two children by her first marriage -- Nancy J. and Thomas M. Dykes. Mrs. Goodwin died July 9, 1873, and March 19, 1874, Mr. Goodwin married Susan, daughter of E. Moore. Mr. and Mrs. Goodwin are members of the Baptist church. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic.

WILLIAM WOOD, a worthy representative of one of the early pioneer families of Vermillion County, is a native of Indiana, born in Terre Haute, October 21, 1822, a son of Ichabod and Catherine (Mars) Wood. He was the fourth white child born in Terre Haute, and is now probably the only one of the four living. He was but a year old when his parents settled in Clinton Township, Vermillion County, and since that time has always lived in the township. He has occupied his present homestead on section 32, for more than a quarter of a century, and has one of the best improved farms in his neighborhood. Mr. Wood cast his first presidential vote for James K. polk in 1844, and has never since missed a general election, his last vote being cast for Grover Cleveland. During his early manhood he spent a few years flat-boating, making eight trips to New Orleans. He was first married to Miss Ann Wright, in April, 1849. She was born in Clinton Township on section 32 where her brother William Wright now lives, a daughter of George Wright, Jr., one of Vermillion County's pioneers. A year after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Wood settled on land which they owned, and to them were born three children -- George, now living in Clinton Township; Jane, who died in her nineteenth year, and Ann, who died in infancy. Mrs. Wood died in March, 1855, and Mr. Wood was married a second time to Miss Jane Ballard who died not long after her marriage. Mr. Wood was again married January 19, 1862, to Miss Mildred C. Hall, a native of Virginia, born in Rockingham County, April 21, 1841, where she was reared and educated. In 1858 she accompanied her parents, Andrew and Elizabeth (Jordan) Hall, to Paris, Illinois, where her mother died in 1858, aged fifty-one years. Her father is still living, aged eighty years. She came to Vermillion County in 1860, where she has since lived. To Mr. Wood and his present wife have been born two children -- Andrew, living at home, and Israel, who died in infancy. Although deprived almost entirely of educational advantages in his youth, Mr. Wood has by constant reading and close observation become one of the best posted men in his township, and is greatly interested in public affairs. He has served several terms as assessor in Clinton Township, and it is no disparagement to others to say that the township never had a more efficient officer. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to Jerusalem Lodge, No. 99, at Clinton for many years. Ichabod Wood, the father of our subject, was born and reared at Middlebury, Massachusetts. He came west when a young man, and for several years worked at the carpenter's trade at Terre Haute, Indiana. He was married there to Miss Catherine Mars, who was a native of Bordentown, New Jersey, and to this union the following children were born -- William, the subject of this sketch; Priscilla died in early childhood; Israel lives on sec-

Biographical Sketches - 409

tion 24 Clinton township; and Mary Ann died in childhood. On coming to Clinton Township, Vermillion, they settled on section 24, in a rude log cabin, where Mrs. Wood taught one of the first schools in the township. The father often had to leave his family to find employment at his trade. He did not live to make many improvements on his place, his death occurring about 1828. His widow subsequently married William Swan, and reared another family. She died in Clinton Township in September, 1875.

ALONZO L. MACK, farmer and stock-raiser, section 15, Helt Township, was born May 10, 1844, a son of Spencer Mack, who came to Vermillion County, with his parents when a boy, settling in Helt Township, where he grew to manhood and spent his life. He was by trade a blacksmith and also carried on a farm, being assisted in his occupations by his sons. Alonzo Mack remained with his parents until manhood. He was given a good education attending the district schools and the high school at Montezuma. In 1863 he enlisted in the war of the Rebellion and was assigned to Company C, One Hundred and Twenty-third Indiana Infantry, and served twenty months, participating in many severe battles, some of the more important being Resaca, Nashville and Kingston. After his return from the war he clerked six months in the store of M. P. Hedges at Clinton, and since then has devoted his attention to agriculture. He owns a good farm of 145 acres, and Mrs. Mack owns eighty acres. He pays special attention to stock-raising, having fine short-horn cattle and Poland-China hogs. Mrs. Mack was married October 21, 1866, to Isabel White, a daughter of Enoch White, an early settler of Helt Township. They have had nine children, seven of whom are living -- Eschol L., Nettie G., Annie G., Serena B., Roy W., Daisy and Forrest. Mr. and Mrs. Mack are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.

HIRAM S. CADY, one of the active and public-spirited citizens Newport, was born in Western New York near Mount Morris on the Genesee River, February 22, 1826. His father, Jabez Cady, was a native of Steuben County, New York, born December 13, 1801, where he was reared, and was there married to Miss Sybil Church, a native of the same county, and after his marriage he located on the Genesee River but subsequently returned to Steuben County. The Cady family is of Scotch ancestry, Jonathan Cady, the great-grandfather of our subject, coming from Scotland, to America, and settling in New York State in a very early day. When the subject of this sketch was eleven years old, his parents removed to Washtenaw County., Michigan, remaining there until he had reached the age of eighteen years, when the family settled in Ripley County, Indiana. Jabez Cady was a carpenter and builder by occupation, and December 22, 1861, he was killed by falling from a scaffold on which he was working. His widow survived him some three years. Of the six children born to them, five are yet living -- Harriet A., Hiram S., Susan A., Manly S. and Sarah. One son, named Delos L., died in the army in 1861. Hiram S. Cady came to Indiana in 1849, and April 19, 1849, he was married in Ripley County, to Miss Lucinda D. Knapp, a daughter of Charles and Susan Knapp, who were natives of Connecticut and Vermont, respectively. The parents of Mrs. Cady settled in Ohio soon after their marriage, and in 1836