Obadiah Nail
Obadiah
Nail, a pioneer of Shelby County, and an old resident of Brandywine Township, was born in
Rowan Co., N. C,
September 22, 1818. He was next to the youngest of thirteen
children, born to Henry and Mary (Keller) Nail, both natives of
Pennsylvania, of German descent. His brothers and sisters in the
order of their ages were: John, Dorthea, Katie, Daniel,
Samuel, Lydia, Henry, Martha, Emily, Greenberry,
and two others that died
in infancy. In 1824, while the subject of this sketch was yet a
young child, he came with his parents to Shelby County, where he
grew up to manhood and where he has almost ever since resided. He was reared upon the farm and at the age of nineteen, on March
28, 1838, he was married to Jane Allison, who was born in
Franklin County, this State, May 11, 1819. She was the daughter of
Timothy and Nancy (Walker) Allison, the former a native of
Ohio, of German descent, and the latter a native of Georgia,
of English descent. Her paternal grandparents were John and
Sarah Allison. Mrs. Nail was the eldest of fourteen children as
follows: Jane, Martha M., Sarah W., La Fayette,
Eliza Ann, George W., Eunice, Thomas, Elizabeth, Elbert,
John, Isabel, James and Ellen, of whom Eliza Ann,
George W., Eunice, Elizabeth, Elbert and James, are deceased.
After their marriage Mr. and
Mrs. Nail continued to reside upon the former's old home place in
Brandywine Township for about ten years. They then removed
to another farm in that township, but in May, 1851, they went to the State of Illinois, but in the following November they returned
to this county and again settled in Brandywine Township, in which
they have ever since resided. They located where they now reside in March,
1878. They are the parents of seven children as
follows: Mary E., born December 10, 1841, died October 15, 1841;
Lottie, born October 30, 1843; Martha A., born November 15,
1845; William H., born March 25, 1849; Nancy E., born March
14, 1851; Warren, born March 26, 1855, and James A., born June
22, 1858. Mrs. Nail is a member of the Protestant Methodist
Church. In politics, Mr. Nail is a staunch Democrat. He and
wife have a comfortable home where they reside in a quiet, happy
way.
History of Shelby County, Indiana, "Brandywine [Township] Sketches", page 622, Brant & Fuller, Chicago, 1887.
Contributed by Phyllis Miller Fleming
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