The  Shelbyville  Republican
Friday, September 14, 1934
Page 7, column 4
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NOTE--This article, written by Mrs. Chapman, was read at the Keaton-Spurrier reunion, which was held at the home of Zelda Haskett, Sunday, September 2, 1934, and will prove interesting to many citizens in the Morristown community.
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READ  AT  REUNION
          "Thomas and Rebecca Young Keaton, the grandparents of  Aunt Zelda Haskett, was born in Philadelphia.  The United States capital at that time was in Philadelphia, and Rebecca, then a small child, has often related to her children how her mother carried her to the window to watch the presidential parade go past at the time George Washington was inaugurated president.
          "The father, Thomas Keaton, learned the cabinet making trade by serving as an apprentice to an old gentleman in Philadelphia.  Their way of finishing the cabinets was by using glass which caused such a dust that his eyesight was so impaired that he was forced to quit.
          "After quitting this, he and his wife and children started west across the Allegheny mountains.  At that time people traveled by weight in wagons and it took the mother and her two small children to make one hundred pounds.  They first settled in a place in Ohio, by the name of Redding.  Later they came to Indiana and settled in the New Purchase, located southwest of Fairview.  To enter this land, they had to go to Brookville, Indiana.  They spent all their time clearing the forest, except Saturday afternoon, which was taken off to hunt squirrels, because they were eating up their corn, and also for fresh meat for the coming week.
          There was so much to be done and so little to eat that instead of him going to the house for dinner, Rebecca would take it to him.  He cut rails for fence and in one corner he planted apple seeds, and peach seeds in two corners.  When the peach trees were gone the apples were ready.  He raised several hogs and the only feed they had was beechnuts.
          "To this union eight children were born, namely, William and Lydia, twins, Joe,  Ambrose,  Benjamin,  John,  Mary and  Susan.  Later Thomas and Rebecca moved with their son, Joe and wife, to Grant county, where they both died.  They were buried at a cemetery at Rigdon.  The son, Benjamin, having been born February 2, 1811, was only three months old at the time the family came west.  When he became a young man he left home to work on the Ohio river.  On one occasion the boat he was on capsized, but he managed to cling to the sides until he was rescued.  He returned home after three years only not to be recognized by his mother, as he had not shaved during his absence.  The money he had made was to be spent for a tract of land, so his father, Thomas, went to Indianapolis and entered four hundred acres of land at $1.25 per acre.
          "On the fourteenth day of December, 1837, Benjamin Keaton and  Mary Spurrier were joined together in the holy bonds of wedlock by a minister who was a stranger and soon after took his departure.  The ceremony was performed at the home of the bride's father, Garard Spurrier, one half mile east of Morristown.  For a short time they lived with his brother, William, on what was later known as the Holmes Keaton farm, but they soon took up their abode on the same dooryard where Aunt Zelda lives.  L. B. Keaton and  Mary K. Chapman occupy the remaining acres that remain in the family.
          Their home was built of logs, the cracks having been filled with mud.  Their bed was made from straw and boards, that were placed between the logs in the wall.  The wife cooked out by an old stump, the place now marked by a crabapple tree.  They became the parents of eleven children,  Emma,  Jane,  Elizabeth,  America,  James L.,  Walter A.,  Alonzo,  Missouri,  John T.,  Albert R. and  Aunt Zelda, the only one now living.  The building of the present home began July 29, 1874, and was completed by the following January.  The mother, Mary Spurrier Keaton died March 22, 1888.  The father Benjamin Keaton, died September 24, 1895.  The grandchildren now living number fourteen and the rest of the descendants, including nieces, nephews, great-grandchildren, and on down, number many.
          Today, September 2, 1934, commemorated the 100th anniversary of the settling of the Keaton homestead, and also the 81st birthday of Holmes Keaton."
Submitted by Barb Huff


The  Indianapolis  Star
June 21, 1923
Page 4
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          Morristown--- Glen Hauk,  son of  E. E. Hauk  and  Wilma Spurrier, daughter of  Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Spurrier, were married at the Methodist Episcopal Church.  The Rev. Mr. Collins  read the ceremony.  They were attended by  Gerald Zike  and  Lucille Bass.
          Mr. Hauk is a graduate of the local high school.  They will reside here.
Contributed by Janet McColley Franklin


The  Shelbyville  Republican
Tuesday November 27, 1917
Page 1 column 2
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          Mrs. Margaret Spurrier,  of Hanover township, was granted a divorce today in the Shelby circuit court from  James L. Spurrier, by Judge Alonzo Blair.  Mrs. Spurrier’s maiden name to her by order of the court.  The couple was married June 27, 1914, and separated August 20, 1917.
Contributed by Barb Huff


The  Shelby  Union  Banner
February 18, 1864
Page 3   column 1
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S P U R R I E R     H O U S E,

G. W. SPURRIER, Proprietor,
SHELBYVILLE, INDIANA.
          This Hotel is one of the largest and finest buildings in the State. Rooms large and commodious in suits or single.

T H E    T A B L E

          Always supplied with everything in the market...........feb 11-tf
Copied by Phyllis Miller Fleming


The  Shelby  Union  Banner
February 18, 1864
Page 3 col 1
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Guardian's Sale.
          Notice is hereby given that the undersigned, Guardian of Aften Spurrier, a minor, will sell at public auction, on the premises, near Morristown, Shelby County, Indiana, on Saturday the 5th day of March, 1864, the undivided one-half of the south part of the southwest quarter of section twelve (12), in township fourteen (14) north, of range seven (7) east, containing sixty-one acres, more or less, in the county of Shelby, State of Indiana.  The land is well-improved and in a very desirable location, and adjoining the town of Morristown.  For further particulars inquire of the undersigned at the Spurrier House, Shelbyville, Ind., or Josiah Glover, Morristown, Ind.
          Terms of Sale. -- One-third of the purchase money cash; the residue in two equal payments of six and twelve months, with notes drawing interest from date, waiving valuation and appraisement laws, and secured by good freehold sureties.  Sale to begin at one o'clock P.M.
GEO. W. SPURRIER,  
Guardian.
Feb-4-4w
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