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