Howard-Shelby County IN Archives Biographies.....Silcox, Joseph 1844 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com April 24, 2006, 12:47 am

Author: Jackson Morrow

JOSEPH SILCOX.

    Among the enterprising and progressive citizens of Howard county none stand
higher in the esteem of his fellow citizens than the gentleman whose name forms
the caption of this sketch. He has long been actively engaged in agricultural
pursuits in this county and the years of his residence here have but served to
strengthen the feeling of admiration on the part of his fellow men owing to the
honorable life he has led and the worthy example he has set the younger
generation, consequently the publishers of this biographical compendium are glad
to give such a worthy character representation in this work.

    Joseph Silcox was born in Shelbyville, Kentucky, January 4, 1844, the son of
Joseph Louis and Letticia (Ryder) Silcox. Grandfather Silcox was a native of
England, who came to America about 1807, settling first in New York, later in
Maryland. He and his wife raised two children to maturity.

    The father of the subject was born in New York August 25, 1808. His early
educational advantages were limited, but by close application he has become a
well informed man on general topics. He went with his parents from the Empire
state to Maryland and became a journeyman shoemaker and followed his trade until
he came to Indiana in 1846. He was married in Kentucky. He operated a grist and
saw mill in Shelby county, this state, the mill having come into his possession
by inheritance, and which he managed for a number of years, continuing to
operate it all his business life, dying in 1856, at the age of forty-eight
years, having been killed in an explosion in a saw mill. The mother of the
subject was a member of the Christian church. She lived until about
seventy-three years of age. They were the parents of ten children, two of their
sons having met death in the same unfortunate manner as their father at the same
time. The other children lived to maturity; one of them, William, was a soldier
in the Thirteenth Indiana Cavalry, serving two years until the close of the war.

    The subject's early education was obtained in the district schools of Shelby
county. He afterward attended graded schools, working on the farm after his
father's death, later working at the carpenter's trade.

    Our subject was one of those patriotic sons of the North who could not stand
idly by and see the foundations of the Republic shaken with rebellion,
consequently giving rein to his patriotic feelings he enlisted in 1863 in the
Thirteenth Indiana Cavalry and served in a most gallant and commendable manner
until the close of the war. He took part in the battles around Murfreesboro,
Tennessee, and the siege of Mobile, and was in all the battles and campaigns in
which his regiment w<as involved from the time of his enlistment to the close of
the struggie, having been honorably discharged in 1865, after which he came to
Howard county, where he bought an interest in a saw mill, which he successfully
managed for several years. Then be bought eighty acres of heavily timbered swamp
land, which he cleared, drained and made a comfortable home on and where he has
since resided. He has a splendid dwelling house and several convenient out
buildings. His farm is well fenced with both wire and rails and is well tiled.
His land is rather low, being in the creek bottoms, consequently it is kept rich
by deposits of silt and on favorable years is very productive. He rotates his
crops on the fourth year plan, corn, wheat, oats, clover: and he says his soil
is in a much better state of productiveness than when it was new. He feeds all
his corn to hogs and sheep, his favorite breed of the latter being Shropshire.
He uses even- home method known to keep his soil fertilized, but does not employ
commercial fertilizers, and he now produces much more wheat per acre than
formerly and it is just as sure a crop. He still raises good apples, but this
crop is not so sure as formerly, but peaches do fully as well, for our subject
undertsands [sic] the care of fruit trees, being something of a horticulturist,
although he has not followed spraying, a system employed by many. But he has the
best of luck with his trees and when there is a failure of either apples or
peaches it is invariably due to climatic conditions, rather than pests and other
causes.

    Mr. Silcox was united in marriage in 1869 to Mary E. Hercules, daughter of
William and Margaret (Newcomb) Hercules, natives of Ohio. Her father was a
soldier from Shelby county, Indiana, serving out his enlistment.

    Five children have been born to the subject and wife as follows: Nettie,
born in 1870, died when a child; Henry, born in 1871, is also deceased; Jennie,
born in 1874, is single and a member of the home circle; William, born in 1876,
is married and the father of three children; George A., who was born in 1882, is
single and living at home with his parents, assisting with the work on the farm.

    Mr. and Mrs. Silcox are faithful Christian people, always doing what they
can to foster religious principles in their community. Fraternally Mr. Silcox is
a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, having filled all the chairs
in the local lodge, and has been representative to the Grand Lodge. He has been
active in Republican politics for many years, having been for some time justice
of the peace and he is in 1908 assessor, successfully performing the duties of
this office in a laudable manner. He is known to his community as a man of
upright business principles and but few men in his township stand higher in the
estimation of the public.


Additional Comments:
From:

HISTORY OF HOWARD COUNTY INDIANA
BY
JACKSON MORROW, B. A.
ILLUSTRATED
VOL. II
B. F. BOWEN & COMPANY
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA

(circa 1909)

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