BIO: Olleman, Ezra A. - Mercer Co., KY ------------------------------------------------ Contributed by: Diana Flynn "ivie@tima.com" October 21, 1998 ------------------------------------------------ OLLEMAN, TISINGER, KELLEY, WHETSEL "COUNTIES OF MORGAN, MONROE & BROWN, INDIANA. HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL." CHARLES BLANCHARD, EDITOR. CHICAGO: F. A. BATTEY & CO. PUBLISHERS. 1884. F. A. BATTEY. F. W. TEPPLE MORGAN COUNTY, INDIANA MADISON TOWNSHIP PAGE 355 EZRA A. OLLEMAN was born in Mercer County, Ky., October 6, 1828, and is the eldest of four children born to James and Mary (Tisinger) Olleman, natives res- pectively of Virginia and North Carolina. At the age of fourteen, Ezra lost his father; he was then employed at drivng cattle from Indianapolis to New York, at $6.50 per month; was thus engaged, alternating with farming, until 1846, when he began a three years' apprenticeship at cabinet-making in Cincinnati. In 1849, he came to Mooresville, and for three years conducted business as cabinet-maker, then sold out and engaged in merchandising at Waverly until 1858; he next purchased 320 acres of land in this township, on which he has since resided, with the exception of three years, when he was employed as associate editor of the Indiana Farmer at Indianapolis. During this period he also established, in company with James Buch- anan, the Sun, the first paper ever published in the interests of the Greenback Nation- al party, of which party he was the first Chairman of the State Central Committee, and also first Chairman of the State Executive Committee. Through the regular ses- sion of the Legislature of 1863-64, and the called session of 1864-65, he served as a Republican, having been elected from a district that usually gave 700 Democratic majority. In the spirng of 1863, he enlised in Company D, Seventieth Indiana Vol- unteer Infantry, but was discharged on account of physical disability. August 16, 1849, he was married to Amanda M. Kelley, daughter of James S. and Eliza (Whetsel) Kelley, natives of Harrisburg, Penn., and Wheeling, Va. Her father was a soldier in the war of 1812, and the Whetsel family came to Indiana in 1819, and settled on the banks of the White River, in Harrison Township, this county. Mr. and Mrs. Kelley were married in December, 1826; were the parents of four children, and died respect- ively in 1862 and 1852, members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. and Mrs. Olleman are the parents of five children--Orlando A., Alma Belle, Flora E., Laura E. and Edward L., and are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. O. is also a member of the Mooresville Masonic Lodge, No. 78. ============================================================================= USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free genealogical information on the Internet, data may be freely used for personal research and by non-commercial entities as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may not be reproduced in any format or presentation by other organizations or persons.Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for profit or any form of presentation, must obtain the written consent of the file submitter, or his legal representative and then contact the listed USGENWEB archivist with proof of this consent.