16                  HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY

A pioneer of Floyd county, Indiana, Nicholas Holston, the grandfather
of Levi P., with his wife, Rebecca (Slythe) Hoiston, there spent his years
as a farmer.
    Born in Floyd county, Indiana, October 2, 1818, Commodore Perry
Holston began the battle of life for himself when but sixteen vears old,
coming then to Clay county with but sixty-two and one-half cents in his
pocket, which, with the homespun clothing that he carried in a cotton
handkerchief, comprised his entire wealth. The greater part of Clay
county was then a vast wilderness owned by the government, and for sale
at one dollar and a quarter per acre. He soon found employment in clear-
ing and tilling the land, receiving but scant wages for his toil. Prudent
in his expenditures and wise in his savings, he accumulated a sufficient
sum after a while to enable him to enter forty acres of government land
lying on the west bank of the Eel river in section twenty, Lewis town-
ship. After his marriage he assumed its possession, living for several
vears in a small log cabin. Subsequently buying another tract of land in
the same section, he was there prosperously employed in general farm-
ing until his death, November 13, i888, He was a man of indomitable
perseverance and excellent judgment, and became one of the largest land-
holders in this part of the county, acquiring title to more than eleven hun-
dred acres of land, thus enabling him to materially assist his children in
obtaining a good start in life. He married Nancy Reed, who was born in
Lawrence county, Indiana, a daughter of Levi Reed. Her father came
from North Carolina, which was, probably, his native state, to Lawrence
county in pioneer days, and a few years later moved to Clay county.
Locating in Lewis township, he bought land in section twenty-one, on the
Eel river, and on the farm that he redeemed from its original wildness
spent his last days. He was three times married, his first wife, the mother
of Nancy Reed and grandmother of Mr. Holston, having been Sally
Hamstetter, who died in Lawrence county and was buried in the church.
yard in Bedford. Fifteen children were born to Commodore Perry and
Nancy (Reed) Holston, seven of whom grew to years of maturity, as fol-
lows: Martha, deceased; William, deceased; Nelson, living in Clay
county; Levi P., the subject of this sketch;. Paulina, living in Clay county,
and Lavina, of Warren county, Indiana, twins; and Nancy Ellen, a resi-
dent of this county.
    Attending school whenever he had on opportunity, and when out of
school assisting his father in his agricultural labors, Levi P. Holston
grew to manhood on the homestead, living there until his marriage. Buy-
ing then forty acres of unimproved land in section twenty-nine, Lewis
township, he began farming on his own account, and in his various under-
takings has met with much success. He has erected a substantial set
of frame buildings, and his house, sitting back from the roadside with a
grove of beautiful trees in front, makes an ideal rural home. From
time to time he has hired additional land, and is now the owner of two
hundred and ninety-six acres, the whole being one of the most attractive
and valuable estates in the community.
    Mr. Hoiston married, in the year 1885, Lydia J. Jackson, who was
born in Owen county, Indiana, a daughter of James Jackson. She comes
of Scotch ancestry and is the descendant of one of Indiana’s pioneer
settlers, her great-grandfather on the paternal side having settled in
Dearborn county soon after coming to this country from Scotland, improv-
ing a farm upon which his children, including Enoch Jackson, Mrs.