Isaac  Tull


          Isaac D. Tull, a prominent farmer of Brandywine Township, and an ex-Treasurer of Shelby County, was born in Bracken County, Ky., February 11, 1832.  He was the fifth in a family of ten children, eight sons and two daughters, born to  Joseph and  Hester A. (Pilchard) Tull, both natives of Maryland, of English descent.  When he was yet a child but two years of age, his parents came to Shelby County, and located upon a i6o acre tract of wood land, which the father had entered in Sugar Creek Township.  There the boyhood and youth of our subject were spent in assisting to clear and cultivate the farm.  For some two or three years after he reached the age of twenty he acted in the capacity of stationary engineer in the States of Indiana and Illinois.  In 1854, he engaged in mercantile pursuits in the village of Fairland, this county, and thus continued about six years.  A period of three years, beginning with 1861, was spent in prospecting.  In 1864, he located upon a farm in Sugar Creek Township, and continued to devote his attention to agricultural pursuits in that township about six years.  He purchased and located upon the farm he now occupies in 1872.  He was married in January, 1865, to  Miriam E. McFadden,  a native of Sugar Creek Township, this county, born March 20, 1844.  She was the seventh of eleven children, five sons and six daughters, born to  Hugh and  Rebecca (Huff) McFadden, both natives of Ohio.  Mr. and Mrs. Tull are the parents of six children:  Ella, born April 29, 1866, died January 8, 1873;  Nora C., born February 1, 1868;  Fannie, born October 14, 1870;  Albert, born April 5, 1874;  Gibson, born October 26, 1879, died November 15, 1882, and Jessie, born August 3, 1883.  Mr. Tull is a member of the F. & A. M. Lodge, and a Republican.  He was elected to the office of Justice of the Peace in 1874, and served four years.  In November, 1882, he was elected Treasurer of Shelby County, which reflects very creditably upon his standing in the county, considering that he had an opposing majority of over 800 to overcome.  He was elected by a majority of 447.  When he was elected Justice of the Peace he overcame a majority of about eighty.  In the fall of 1886, he was the candidate of his party for State Representative, but failed to overcome an opposing majority.  He is a reliable and influential man, and he and wife are worthy and honored citizens.
History of Shelby County, Indiana, Chicago: Brant & Fuller, 1887, "Brandywine Sketches", pages 627-628.
Contributed by Phyllis Miller Fleming

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