Indiana Soldiers' and Sailors' Children's Home

Brice D. Fort, farmer of Center Township, was born on a a farm three miles north of Knightstown, Henry County, April 10, 1844. He was the son of Benjamin and Eliza (Laten) Fort, who were natives of Virginia, and Maryland respectively. His boyhood and early youth were spent upon the old homestead where he was born. He received in the district school an ordinary common school education. At eighteen years of age he began to learn the blacksmith's trade in Knightstown under the instruction of John D. Cameron. He became the partner of Mr. Cameron at the end of eighteen months and thev continued to operate a shop together for a period of nine years. Mr. Fort then purchased the interest of Mr. Cameron and continued alone for two years longer when he sold out. In the meantime he was united in marriage August 4, 1870, to Miss Alice A. Woods, daughter of Joseph and Elsie (Pearson) Woods, the former of whom was born in Wayne County, Ind. In about 1875 Mr. and Mrs. Fort removed from Knightstown to Center Township, this county, in which they have ever since resided. They have occupied their present home since 1876. The whole attention of Mr. Fort since coming to this county' has been given to farming, and he now has a rank among the prosperous and well-to-do farmers of Center Township. He and w' ife are the parents of three children as follows : Charles V., Minnie I. and Harry B., aU of whom are living. Mr. and Mrs. Fort and daughter Minnie, are members of the Friends' Church. In the fall of 1864 Mr. Fort entered the service of the Union army in Companj- A, One Hundred and Thirty-ninth Indiana Regiment, with which he served in the capacity of Second Sergeant for one hundred davs when his term of service expired. He is a member of the Masonic Fraternity, the G. A. R., and in politics he is a Republican. He owns a farm of 120 acres, about 100 of which are in a high state of cultivation.

Passage source: History of Rush County, Indiana, from the Earliest Time to the Present : with Biographical Sketches, Notes, Etc., Together with a Short History of the Northwest, the Indiana Territory, and the State of Indiana, published 1888.

James H. Foxwortht, of Center Township, was born in Fleming Oounty, Ky., April 4, 181 7. He was the son of Samuel and Mary Ann (Calvert) Foxworthy, the former of whom was born in Virginia, being the son of William and Clarissa Foxworthy, and the latter was the daughter of Landon and Ann Wood Calvert. He was reared upon a farm in his native count}^ and continued with his parents until he became of age. For a number of vears thereafter he was engaged as a farm hand in Fleming and Mason counties, Ky. In the fall of 1S46, he came to Rush County, and during the following winter he taught public school in Center Township. In the fall of 1S47, he returned to Kentucky and was engaged as a teacher in Lewis County during the w^inter which followed. In the fall of 1S48, he went to St. Francis County, Ark., thence, in company with his uncle, Stephen Calvert, to New Orleans. In the spring of 1S49, he returned northward to Fleming County, Kv., and a month or so later he again came to Rush Countv, in which he has chieflv resided ever since. He was married September 12, 1849, to Miss Cynthia A. Barrett, who w'as born in the State of Virginia, January 21, 1822, being the daughter of Rev. Samuel and Clarissa (^McCoinnias) Barrett, both of whom were also natives of Virginia, the former being the son of Edward and Esther Barrett, and the latter being the daughter of William and Dicy McCommas. Mr. and Mrs. Foxworthy entered upon their married life in Knightstown, and during the winter of 1S49 and 1S50, Mr. Foxworthy taught school in Ripley Township. In the spring of 1852, they removed to their present home in Center Township, which they occupied ever since. The whole attention of our subject since then has been given to agricultural pursuits, and in this connection his labors have been attended with a reasonable degree of success. He and wife have had two children: Mary F., now the wife of Robert T. Overman, of Knightstown, and Anna D., now the wife of Hon. Thomas M. Green, of Rushville. Mr. and Mrs. Foxworthy are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In her earlier life, Mrs. Foxworthy taught public school four terms - two of which were in Knightstown, and two in Ripley Township, this county. In politics, Mr. Foxworthy is a Republican. He has a farm of sixty acres, which is fitted up with a good residence and is otherwise substantially improved. He is an industrious and successful farmer. The grandmother of Mr. Foxworthv, Mrs. Ann Wood Calvert, was a relative of Lord Baltimore.

Passage source: History of Rush County, Indiana, from the Earliest Time to the Present : with Biographical Sketches, Notes, Etc., Together with a Short History of the Northwest, the Indiana Territory, and the State of Indiana, published 1888.

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Read the whole chapter on Center Township - 12,146 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.