William Axe

William Axe, the worthy subject of this sketch, is a prosperous farmer living in Bloomfield, Indiana, who was born in Wayne county, Ohio, April 22, x837, and who traces his ancestors back to Germany, from which country his grandfather, Jacob Axe, came to America before the Revolutionary war and settled in Pennsylvania, where he followed the profession of charcoal burner. He s spent his life in the Keystone state and raised the following children: Jacob, father of the subject of this sketch; Isaac, John, William, Reuben, Sarah and Katherine. The subject’s father, Jacob Axe, married Eliza Darrough, both natives of Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, but they were married in Wayne county, Ohio. About 1855 they moved to Greene county, Indiana, and settled in Richland township, where they bought one hundred and thirty acres of land, mostly unimproved, from Jacob Moore, but the father and son soon cleared the land and had a comfortable home. He and his wife were members of the Church God and were good Christians. Jacob was a Democrat. They had the following children: Catherine, Margaret, William, Thomas, John, Daniel, all living; Jacob, Elizabeth, Reuben and Almeda, all deceased. The subject’s father died in 1866. His wife died in 1871.

The subject of this sketch was seventeen years old when the family came to Greene county, Indiana. Having remained at home until he was twenty-one years old, he was able to obtain a limited education in subscription schools, taught in log school houses with puncheon floors and seats. In 1858 he married Mary Henry, and soon afterwards hired out, working by the day for fifty cents. He split rails for fifty cents per hundred, splitting five thousand five hundred in one spring at fifty cents per day !for Alfred Cutch [Kutch] in Richland township. He finally bought a team and rented ground until 1878, when he bought a twenty acre farm in Fair Play township, Greene county, Indiana, which he still owns. In 1884 he bought another forty acre farm in the same township, which he still owns. He also owns thirty acres in the White River bottom in Washington township and his home place in Bloomfield, Indiana. In 1896 he retired and moved to town, to enjoy the rest he had so well earned by an unusually active career.

The wife of the subject is a native of Richland county, Ohio. She is the daughter of Lewis and Susie Henry, who came to Greene county, Indiana, about 1851, where they farmed and spent the remainder of their lives. The Henry family was highly respected, and took great interest in the work in the Church of God. Mary (Henry) Axe, wife of the subject, was called to her reward March 27, 1908. The subject and wife had the foilowing children: Elizabeth, deceased, who was the wife of William Briles. She had five children, namely; the first, died in infancy, Everet, Oscar, Walter, Lela. Lewis was the subject’s second child, who died in early life; William lives in Kansas. He is a farmer and married Rachel Terrell. They have four children. Jacob, the fourth child of the subject, has been deceased for some time. He married Mary Bond, They had one child, Mary E. John, the fifth son of the subject, lives on his father’s farm in Fair Play township, Greene county, Indiana. He first married Rettie Sheppard, who died, leaving one child, Harold. He married the second time, his last wife being Minnie Rusher. They have three children, Naoma, Herbert and Esther. Thomas, the sixth son of the subject, is living in Grant township, Greene county, Indiana, on a farm, having married Catherine Muterspaugh. They have seven children. Rettie, the seventh child of the subject, is the wife of William Daily, who lives in Richland township on a farm, He has three children, Mary, Robert and Renie. Catherine is the eighth child. She is the wife of William Retter, a dairyman, who lives in Richland township. They have three children, Morris; Mary and Paul. The subject’s wife was a member of the Presbyterian church.

The subject of this sketch gladly offered his services in the defense of his country, and enlisted in August, 1862, as a recruit to the Sixty-ninth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, Company C, and participated in the following battles: Corinth, Raymond, Mississippi ; Jackson, Champion Hill, Vicksburg, where he was wounded in the right arm from which over six inches of bone had to be removed. He was sent to B hospital where he remained until the close of the war, having been discharged at Madison, Indiana, in June, 1865.

The subject is a member of the Independent Order of Foresters and of the Grand Army of the Republic, and he is a loyal Republican. He was coroner of Greene county, Indiana, for twelve years, having performed the duties of this important office with the greatest satisfaction. Mr. Axe is not only well but favorably known for his honesty and sound business principles.

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"Biographical Memoirs of Greene County, Ind. with Reminiscences of Pioneer Days", B.F. Bowen & Co., Indianapolis, IN, 1908, Vol. 2 pg. 840-3

Last updated 8.11.2009