W. S. Dukes

W. S. DUKES

Was born in Ross County Ohio. Came with his parents to Boone County in 1834, settling on the line of Clinton County. He now resides in Sugar Creek Township, near Colfax, in Clinton County. He was married to Matilda Graham, December 27, 1849. Mr. W. S. Dukes was born February 6, 1825. The following are his children’s names: Lewis C., born April 4, 1851; married to Julia Trewit, April 15, 1871. (She is deceased). Mary E., was born January 12, 1853; married to Jasper P. Holloway, May 5, 1870; resides in Clinton County. John C. was born December the 16th, 1854; married to Sarah C. Cones, February 27, 1873; resides in Sugar Creek Township. All doing very well in their respective homes. "I have worked hard all my life, most of the time on a farm. I resided in Colfax five or six years. When we came to this county it was quite new. Our neighbors were few and far between, but they were social in the extreme. It was well it was thus, for we had but little property and things necessary to keep house with. There was plenty of wild game in the woods, such as deer, turkeys, and squirrels by the thousands. We had great trouble in getting corn to stand, for so plenty were they. The county at that time had but few inducements for the first settler; woods on every hand, hardly a stick amiss. The water was running out in every direction, especially in the spring. Little by little our truck patches widened out; the forests began to disappear; neighbors began to multiply; school houses were being built; then we began to feel like we were in a fine country. When I look back forty years, it seems like a dream to me, the changes have been so many. The woods have given way to well cultivated fields, and like improvements have sprang up till we have a fine county to live in. But it has cost toil and labor to bring about these changes. Many have died. A few have lived to see what then seemed an impossibility. The pioneer was needed; they came, filled their places on the frontier. In my early life my school advantages were poor, and I have been compelled to pass through the world with but little education. I am glad, however, to see such grand improvements to schools, which are the hope of our country. I am also glad to see our county rise and take a stand amongst the foremost in the state. With the best soil, we can raise almost any grain we wish, and that with good results. We are also advancing in the way of roads, ditches, dwellings, in fact, in everthing [sic] that we could desire.

"My father was born in Maryland, January 8, 1796. He was married in Ross County, Ohio, December, 1823; died July 25, 1853. My mother was born in Ross County, Ohio, March 10, 1804; died September 16, 1847. They had twelve children, three of whom are dead. James and Ezekiel were in the late war; the first wounded, the second killed by a cannon ball in the battle of Greenbrier, Virginia.

"My grandfather’s name was Isaac Dukes; was born in Maryland. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. He was married to Elizabeth King in Maryland. A few years after they removed to Ross County, Ohio, where they remained until the year 1833, when he came to this county, settling on the line between Boone and Clinton Counties. They are buried in Clinton County. They raised a family of five boys and three girls.

          W. S. Dukes” Sugar Creek Township, February, 1887.

Mr. and Mrs. Dukes belonged to the M. E. Church, 1860. He was a Democrat until 1860, when he went with the Republican party. Mr. Dukes now owns about four hundred acres. Lewis was married to Judia Hopkins, for his second wife.

Transcribed by: Julie S. Townsend - June 11, 2007
Source: "Early Life and Times in Boone County, Indiana," Harden & Spahr, Lebanon, Ind., May, 1887, pp 263-264.