Jonathan Evans West

JONATHAN E. WEST, an influential citizen and farmer of Marion township, Boone County, Ind., is of Scotch-Irish descent, but comes from American families of long standing on both the paternal and maternal sides. His grandfather, Willis West, was born in Kentucky in 1800, was married, in that state, to Miss Dixon, reared four children -- Samuel, Sally A., Ebenezer and Mary E. -- and finally became a prominent farmer of Clinton township, Boone county, Ind. The maternal grandfather of our subject was Jonathan Evans, who was born in Ohio in 1803, was a farmer and a deacon [of] the Baptist church, and died at the age of fifty-three, in Boone county, Ind. Samuel West, son of Willis was born in 1822 [correction: He was born May 29, 1825], and was two years of age when brought from Kentucky to Indiana, by his father. He was reared in Boone county, and married, in 1844 [correction: Married September 30, 1845], Susannah Evans, the result being twelve children, born in the following order: Willis, Jonathan E., Martha J., Rosella, James (died in infancy), Margaret, Mary E., Samuel A., Charles J., Susannah, Albert and Harvey. The father of this family, at his marriage, was given eighty acres of land by his father, to which he added eighty acres by purchase, which, with the assistance of his willing helpmate, he drained and cleared, and then sold and moved to Lebanon, where he followed carpentering and kept stock for eleven years, making money rapidly; he then purchased a farm in Worth township, six and a half miles east of the city, and now has 236 acres, beside helping all his children, some of whom now reside in Kansas and Missouri and the rest in Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. West are both members of the Antioch Baptist church, and rank high in the community in which they live.

Jonathan E. West was born December 18, 1848 in Boone county, Ind., was educated in the common schools and was reared a farmer. At the age of twenty-four years he had accumulated $800 by his own industry and economy, and married Miss Malinda E. Wheeler, who was born December 25, 1853, the daughter of Judson and Nancy (Jones) Wheeler. The young couple went to housekeeping in an old-fashioned log cabin, but laid the foundation of a future fortune. The husband was assisted by his father with a present of eighty acres of land in Marion township, but this he traded for eighty acres located near his present farm; he then bought forty acres adjoining, for which he went in debt, but with the aid of his faithful wife he paid for it in due course of time, made another purchase of eighty acres, and now has a fine property comprising 200 acres. The marriage of Jonathan E. West and wife has been blessed with the following children: David J., Lillian E., Samuel J., Edgar S., Nancy, Florence, Joseph B., and Nora E., all in excellent health. The family reside in a large house conveniently arranged in every respect and furnished with seven fire-places adapted to the use of natural gas. The dwelling is trimmed throughout with walnut, the natural growth of the premises. A commodious barn accommodates the live stock, and all the out-buildings and appurtenances of the farm denote the care of a practical and careful manager. Mr. West makes a specialty of live stock, but general farming is his controlling vocation. He is a stockholder in the Natural Gas company and of the Horsethief Detective association; also of the Sheridan Fair association, in which he has served as superintendent of the cattle department. In politics he is a democrat and is a school director, and no man in the county is more highly esteemed by his fellow-citizens.

Judson Wheeler, the father of Mrs. West, was born in Ohio, August 23, 1825, and at the age of one year was brought to Indiana by his parents, who located in Rush county. By his marriage with Nancy Jones he became the father of four children, viz: Benjamin; Peleg, who died in youth; Mary and Malinda. He is the son of Pelag and Mary (Raridan) Wheeler and grandson of John Wheeler, a baptist minister.
 

Source: "A Portrait and Biographical Record of Boone and Clinton Counties, Ind." pp 528-529. A. W. Bowen & Co., Chicago. 1895.

Transcribed and submitted by: T. Stover - March 25, 2007
"I'm interested in corresponding with anyone researching the West & Evans families in Boone County, Indiana."