Biography of William Deems, page 130.  History of Northeast Indiana; 
LaGrange, Steuben, Noble, and DeKalb Counties, Vol. II, under the editorial 
supervision of Ira Ford, Orville Stevens, William H. McEwen, and William H. 
McIntosh. The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago and New York, 1920. 

   William Deems is one of the honored survivors of the great Civil war, and 
for three years he represented DeKalb County in that great conflict.  He has 
been a resident of DeKalb County all his life, and is well deserving of the 
comfortable retirement he now enjoys on his home farm in Wilmington Township.
   He was born in that township November 22, 1843, a son of George and 
Hannah (Dudgeon) Deems, the former a native of Pennsylvania, and the latter 
of Ohio. George Deems, was one of the pioneers of DeKalb County and lived in 
Wilmington Township until he met death in 1845, being killed by a falling 
tree.  The care and rearing of the six children then devolved upon his 
widow. These six children were named, John, Joseph, Eli, Eliza, George and 
William, William being the only survivor.
   William Deems grew up on the home farm and had a limited education in 
the log cabin district schools of his day.  He was only eighteen when the 
war broke out, and in August, 1862, he enlisted in Company H of the Eighty-
Eighth Indiana Infantry.  He served faithfully as a corporal and was 
mustered out in June, 1865. After the war he returned to DeKalb County, 
farmed and worked as a farm hand, and eventually acquired and independent 
holding.  He now has seventy acres’ of good farm land in Wilmington 
Township.  Mr. Deems’ parents were members of the Methodist Church.  He is 
affiliated with Meade Post No. 44 of the Grand Army of the Republic. and 
is a republican in politics.

Submitted by:
Arlene Goodwin
Auburn, Indiana
Agoodwin@ctlnet.com