Ancestors |
Posted by Marsha Pearson
by Vivian Zollinger
The study of Owen County Dyers has been one of confusion and frustration. At the time the James pictured here was living near Vilas in Franklin Twonship, there were at least threee other James Dyers living in or near Owen County. A James Dyer born 1802 lived near Whitehall; another Jmes born 1854 at Cloverdale married Alda Crull and lived in Worthington; and a James Madison Dyer born 1814 married Mary Clark and lived in Jefferson Township. The first and last were cousins. Mrs. Chester Smith has managed to sort out her line and shares some interesting data.
Her ancestor James was the son of Edward and Catherine (Danely) Dyer. He was born in 1823 in Greene County and married 16 April 1844 Elizabeth Jackson (b. 25 June 1827 - d. 10 Oct 1903), daughter of Henry and Nancy (Dyer) Jackson. They had eight children: Albert Wilson (1845-1920) who married Sarah A. Snyder; Sarah J.(1847-1865); Henry Edward (1849- ) who married Sarah Neill; Nancy Catherine (1851-1906) who married James Thomas Smith; William E. (1854-1865); Mary M. (1856-1928); Martha E. (1857-1864); and Amanda Theresa (1862-1953) who married 1st David Harrah and 2nd Richard Skaggs.
James and his brother Alfred bought one of the early sawmills near New Hope and brought in machinery for grinding corn and wheat. Alfred eventually left the business and moved into Spencer to become a lawyer. This literate and intelligent family was antislavery and they were among the first to volunteer for the Civil War. James and Alfred, brothers, Albert and Armstead, brothers-in-law Andrew Jackson and Joseph Pruett, and James' oldest son Albert all volunteered several in the same unit.
We know some of the hardships they endured through young Albert Wilson Dyer's military record. At age eighteen he left the family home (the farm was later home to Amanda Skaggs and the Sam Smith family with his uncles for Indianapolis where they were mustered into Company F of the 71st Regiment later changed to the 6th Indiana Cavalry. Within days they were sent to Richmond, Kentucky, where the regiment lost 215 killed and wounded, and 347 captured. Company F lost William D. Dunivan, Andrew G. Auten, Elijah J. Bivens, James Deem, Thomas D. Fields, Noel Johnson, Eli Nations and Josiah Sheppard. Nearly all the rest were captured but later pardoned and returned to Terre Haute.
Young Albert wrote "I was camped near Terre Haute, Indiana...I was sick and asked for furlough and was granted one." Somehow Albert found his way home that December of 1862. The following morning he was too sick to get up and a doctor was called. The disease was diagnosed as mumps. Complications resulted and his recovery was slow.
Shortly before Albert was furloughed his uncle, Capt. Alfred Dyer, died of typhoid fever. By the time Albert rejoined the unit they went south again as the 6th Indiana Cavalry and engaged in the siege of Knoxville and operations against General Longstreet. In August 1864 Albert, Jacob Humble, Jacob Rasler, and others were captured and taken to Andersonville Prison where they nearly starved. Albet was marked for exchange because of medical problems but General Sherman had destroyed rail roads and made transportation impossible. He was finally discharged June 24, 1865, and was in ill health the rest of his life.
Mrs. Smith has preserved other personal lore related to that trying time in her family. While Sgt. James Madison Dyer, his brothers, son, and other family members were away fighting in the war, Elizabeth and the younger children managed to keep the farm going near Vilas. They carried their clothes to the creek, heated the water, and washed them there to save the labor of hauling water to the house. There was a large flock of sheep on the farm and the army's demand for wool for blankets and uniforms brought the price of wool to a new high; but the men were all away and there was nobody to shear the sheep. Little Nan, barely ten years old and never to be discouraged declared, "if the other children can catch and hold the sheep, I'll shear them." And she did. The determination later led her to enter the seminary in Bloomfield at a time when most girls did not finish eighth grade. She married James Thomas Smith and had Mamie (Smith) Landis, Gertie (Smith) Stevens, Roy Smith and Ralph Smith.
It is startling to note that in addition to the hardships suffered by this courageous family in the Civil War, three of James and Elizabeth's children died young: Sarah, William and Martha all died in the years 1864 and 1865 another reminder of the difficulty of the lives of our Owen County ancestors.
Nancy, Albert W., and Amanda spent most of their lives in Indiana. Two of Nancy's children and their spouses lived in Spencer. They were Ralph and Armina Smith and Roy and Gertie Stevens. Two of Nancy's grandchildren, Darwin Stevens and Klea Beamon still live there. Some people in Owen County may remember Amanda (Dyer) (Harrah) Skaggs who died in 1952 and her daughter Ida Opal (Harrah who married Samuel Smith. To day, two of Amanda's grandchildren, Ward H. Smith and (Smith) Hanson, and their families live in Owen County.
Eula Smith, P.O. Box 86, Mentone, IN 4639 furnished this information.
Page 4, Wednesday, March 25, 1992, Spencer Evening World