James  Hendrickson


          “James Hendrickson was born in Mercer County, Kentucky, May 9, 1827.  He was the youngest of six children born to  James  and  Elizabeth (Voyls*) Hendrickson, natives of Virginia and North Carolina, respectively.   His mother was of English and German parentage, his father of Welsh parentage.  His father,  James Hendrickson, Sr., came to Kentucky when about sixteen years old.  He was reared on a farm, and early learned to be industrious and honest.  He was married early in life, and in 1827, moved to Shelby County, where he took up eighty acres of land.  He assisted in the organization of his [Noble] township, for he was among the early settlers, and in his time there were only Indian trails for roads.  His wife was a great help to him in this hard life of the pioneer, she spun and wove flax, and wool, and in this way clothed the family.  Mr. Hendrickson was a Whig in politics, and an honest, upright man.  He died in 1842 at the age of sixty-three.  His wife lived twenty years after his death and died in 1862, at the age of seventy-eight years.  Mr. James Hendrickson, Jr., is the only living member of the family.  He has spend his entire life in this township, having never been out of the State but once, when he visited some of the Western States.  He was but six years old when he came to this county with his parents, and his father died when he was fifteen, leaving him and his mother to take care of the farm, where he lived until he was married.  He married  Miss Belinda* Dunn, born in Jefferson County, Indiana, December 7, 1829, the daughter of  Hosea*  and  Elizabeth (Christie) Dunn, natives of Kentucky, of English and German parentage.  They had ten children;  Sarah J.,  John P.,  Mary E.,  Ruth W.,  Lewis M.,  Susan A.,  Joseph M.,  James U.,  Melissa A.  and  Harvey Rosco.  Mr. Hendrickson resided on the old farm until his mother's death, when he purchased his present home in 1864.  He now owns a farm of 160 acres of improved land, mainly the fruit of his own labor.  He is a member of the Republican party, and one of the hard workers of his township.  He is a member of the Presbyterian Baptist Church, a hard working, honest man and highly esteemed by all who know him."
History of Shelby County, Indiana:  "Noble Sketches",  pages 728-729 of Brant & Fuller, 1887
Submitted by Don T. Mitchell 
* means changed or corrected by DTM

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