RYNEARSON-Ezekial - Fountain County INGenWeb Project

Ezekiel Rynearson (deceased); Hillsboro, died at Hillsboro, Indiana, February 21, 1874, in the eightieth year of his age, of erysipelas in the face. The loss to the community in which he had lived for almost half a century was deeply and sincerely felt, and demands more than simply a passing notice. He was born in Ammel township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey, August 9, 1794. He was the eldest son of Nicholus and Jane Rynearson, who removed from New Jersey to Warren County, Ohio, in the year 1806. November 23, 1823, he married Miss Elizabeth Applegate, who, after a married life of over fifty years, survives him as his widow. In 1829 he removed to Fountain County, where he settled in the heart of the forest, which was then unbroken, and began the laborious task of clearing a spot for cultivation. By persistent endeavor, through long years of hardships and privations, he succeeded in redeeming one of the best farms in the county from the dense wilderness that hedged it in. He remained on the farm, one mile west of Hillsboro, until 1871, when he removed to the town named, here finishing up a life of forty-five years in this immediate neighborhood. But little more than a week before his death he was a perfect health for one so old, busy at work, for he was never idle. He went to Crawfordsville to have a small tumor cut from his face, fearing it might be a cancer. A day or two after he had the operation performed erysipelas set in, and death was the result. He was the father of fourteen children, five of whom are dead. At the time of his death he had living twenty-five grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. His whole life was one of true nobility of character and fixedness of purpose. Though not identified with any church, he lived a life of irreproachable morality, always casting his influence upon the side of right in questions affecting the welfare of the community in which he lived. He was strongly opposed to intemperance, the use of tobacco, profanity, or idleness in any one. As a citizen, he was universally respected; as a friend, he was always to be relied upon; as a husband, beloved; as a father, indulgent and revered. The old homestead is now owned and occupied by his son, Washington Rynearson, who was born here February 15, 1836, and received his education at one of the early schoolhouses, his preceptor being Mr. J.M. McBroom. Throughout his life he has been engaged in husbandry, with the exception of the time he spent in the army, having enlisted in the 154th Ind. Vols. His large farm is well improved, his residence and farm buildings being tasteful and handsome. In 1870 he married, in Ohio, Miss Sarah E. Herr, the result of which union is one son, Curtis Edwin. His brother, John M. Rynearson, also served in the war of the rebellion, having enlisted in the 116th Ind. Reg., and is now engaged in the lumber business, at Fowler, Benton County.