Alexander J. Bays

Alexander J. Bays was born October 25, 1838, in Center township. He had no opportunity to attend school, remaining at home until he was sixteen. He worked for various persons until his first marriage in 1862 to Lucy Ann Talbot, of Ohio, who is now deceased. They had three children -- KATIEe, FIDELIA and ROBERT. He married Levina Bland, of Highland township, a few years later, and they had six children, as follows: HARLEY, MINNIE, MAGGIE, ORRIS, STELLA and ERNESTt. He had five children by his third wife, Annie Bingham, namely: ROSCOE, OSCAR, OTTO, BERT and DON.

Mr. Bays enlisted August 22, 1862, in Company C, Ninety-seventh Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry. After drilling at Indianapolis and Terre Haute the regiment was sent into Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Georgia, taking part in many battles, including Vicksburg, Missionary Ridge and Kenesaw Mountain. He was seriously wounded by a shell on June 27, 1863, and was sent to a hospital in Rome, Georgia, but rejoined his regiment in three months and was with Sherman on his march to the sea. He was in the grand parade in Washington at the close of the war and was discharged June 26, 1865.

After the war he lived in Highland township, Greene county, Indiana, until 1873, when he moved to Pleasant Ridge, Richland township, where he was since resided. He has conducted a store since 1891, at the same time being engaged in the poultry and farming business, his farm consisting of one hundred and four acres. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic Post at Bloomfield, Indiana, a member of the Methodist church, and votes the Republican ticket

Alexander J. Bays is the son of Hubbard Bays, a native of North Carolina. He married Martha Bland. They came to Greene county, Indiana, with their parents in an early day, being the first settlers in Center township, where he entered eighty acres of land, on which he and his wife remained until their death. They had seven children, namely: LORENZO, MORDICA, HUBBARD, JACKSON, EVELINE, NELLIE and JANE. Hubbard Bays lived at home until his marriage, when he moved to Beech Creek township, Greene county, where they lived for many years. They moved to Marshall, Illinois, where both he and his wife lived until their death, raising four children, namely: Alexander J., the subject of this sketch; Sallie, who married Jesse Bland, of Richland township, Greene county; James, who is a farmer in Beech Creek township, Greene county; Martha, who married Chris Bland, of Terre Haute. Source:

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Biographical Memoirs of Greene County, Ind. With Reminiscences of Pioneer Days, Illustrated (1908, B. F. Bowen & Co. Indianapolis, Indiana) Vol.2 Pg.446-8 ;