Elijah Redmon (1781 - 1861)

The following is the Will of Elijah Redmon as recorded in the Tipton County, Indiana Will Records at the County Courthouse in Tipton, Indiana, Book A, pages 123-126:

Elijah Redmon’s Will

I Elijah Redmon of Tipton County Indiana do hereby make and publish this my last will and testament:

First - I will and devise to my beloved wife, Elizabeth Redmon, and my son John Thomas Redmon, all my real and personal property to use and enjoy the same during the natural life of the said Elizabeth my wife.

Second - At the death of my said wife, I will and devise to my said son John Thomas, four hundred dollars, if the said John Thomas should survive my said wife.

Third - I will and devise ten dollars to Charlotte Harbaugh upon the demise of my said wife.

Fourth - I will and devise fifty dollars to Hiram Redmon, upon the demise of my said wife.

Fifth - Upon the demise of my said wife, I will and devise to Andrew J. Redmon ten dollars.

Sixth - I devise to Neville Redmon the W ½ of the NW qr Sec. 24 Town 22 N of R 4 East in Tipton County Indiana to take effect upon the death of the said Elizabeth my wife.

Seventh - I will & devise to Hannah Hays seventy five dollars, upon the demise of my said wife.

Eighth - I will and devise to Sally Ann Ballard ten dollars, upon the demise of my said wife.

Ninth - I will and devise to Daniel Redmon one hundred dollars, upon the demise of my said wife, if it be then ascertained that he is then living, if not then living, I will that William Byron Redmon, son the said Daniel, have fifty dollars.

Tenth - It is further my will that none of the aforenamed devisees and legatees, also are all my sons and daughters (with the exception of my said wife and the said William Byron) be required to refund to my Executor, hereafter named, or whoever may have the settlement of my Estate, any amount of whatever sum of money or other article I may have heretofore have given them and each of them.

Eleventh - I further will that if the said John Thomas should die before receiving the four hundred dollars hereby willed to him and if the said Daniel should not be known to be living at the time aforenamed whereby his said son Wm Byron only gets fifty dollars, then and in that case that the four hundred dollars, John Thomas’ portion & the fifty dollars a part of the portion of the said Daniel, after deducting the fifty dollars willed to his said son, together with whatever residue there might be (provided the said John Thomas and Daniel were living at time aforesaid) remaining after the aforenamed legatees should have procured their portions hereby willed and bequeathed to them, be divided equally among the aforesaid legatees, with the exception of Charlotte Harbaugh to whom I bequeath none of the said last named.

Twelfth - I hereby appoint George Ballard and Neville Redmon the Guardians of my said son John Thomas, who is insane, and direct them to lay his portion hereby bequeathed to him out in interest, and manage his estate and business to the best advantage for said ward.

Thirteenth - I hereby appoint my son Andrew J. Redmon my Executor of this will.

Witness my hand and Seal this 14th day of March 1854.

Elijah Redmon Seal

Signed, sealed and acknowledged by the said testator in our presence and attested and subscribed by us, as witnesses to this will in the presence of said testator and in the presence of each other, this 14th day of March 1854.

Joseph A. Lewis George E. Pickerill State of Indiana Tipton County Be it remembered that on the 31st day of December A. D. 1861 in vacation of the Tipton Common Pleas Court, before the Clerk thereof personally came Joseph A. Lewis one of the subscribing witnesses to the annexed last will and testament of Elijah Redmon who being by me duly sworn deposes and swears as follows to wit,

That the testator at the time of executing said will was competent to devise his property and that he was not under coercion or restraint - that at the time of executing said will Elijah Redmon the Testator aforesaid was a resident of Tipton County Indiana, that he signed said will in his presence and in the presence of George E. Pickerill and that they Joseph A. Lewis and George E. Pickerill signed their names as witnesses to said will at the request of said Testator and in the presence of each other and further he saith not. Joseph A. Lewis In testimony whereof I E. C. Hill Clerk of the Tipton Common Pleas Court hereto subscribe my name and affix the Seal of said Court this 31st day of December A.D. 1861

SS E. C. Hill Clerk per J V Cox Depty State of Indiana Tipton County

I Ellisen C. Hill Clerk of the Tipton Common Pleas Court, do hereby certify that the annexed last will and testament of Elijah Redman has this day been duly admitted to probate and duly proven by the oath & examination of Joseph A. Lewis one of the subscribing witnesses thereto that said will together with the proof or testimony of said witness has been duly recorded in my office in record of Wills of Tipton County at pages 123 to 126 inclusive. Witness my hand and the Seal of Said Court this 31st Seal day of December 1861 E. C. Hill Clerk Per J. V. Cox Depty

[Note: George E. Pickerill was a brother of Fanny Jane Pickerill and son of Dennis Pickerill].

There are approximately 20 entries in the Tipton County Probate records regarding the settlement of Elijah Redmon’s estate. The Final Settlement was not completed until May 23, 1868. An entry in Probate Book 3, page 136 on May 18, 1865 discussed the sale of real estate (land) owned by Elijah in what appeared to be Section 27 (but was 24 per the Will record) in Township 22 North, Range 4 East of Tipton County. On page 601 of Probate Book 3, on August 22, 1867, an entry was included regarding the sale of the land, which was 80 acres according to the description in the Will (1/2 of a quarter section). The land was sold to Joseph Waits for $100 dollars and he made a payment of $33.33 and put the remainder on a note. The entry for the Final Settlement of the Will was included in Probate Book 4, page 108 and was as follows (note that a new Administrator had to be appointed as Elijah’s son Andrew, who was originally appointed in the Will, died before the estate was settled. I saw somewhere in the information included in the Tipton County Library that Andrew died when he fell from a horse (he may have instead died of Typhoid per Dr. Franklin Wright)):

Saturday May 23rd 1868 Absolom M. Vickrey, Administrator With the Will annexed of the Estate of Elijah Redmon Dec’d

Comes now said Administrator now with the will annexed of said deceased and submits his report and vouchers in final settlement of said estate in which he is charged with Estate come into his hands amounting to the sum of $1,241.06 and claims credit for disbursements 266.57 Balance $974.49 and he claims credit for insolvent claims 132.33 [leaving] $842.16 and he claims credit for payment to Legatees according to the terms of the Will of the sum of $842.16 leaving nothing for administration. And the Court having seen and examined said report does now approve and confirm the same. And said estate is declared finally settled and said administrator now is released and discharged from any further liability - or trust - in the matters of said estate.

Following is a newspaper article taken from the Noblesville, Indiana Daily Ledger, from July 19, 1975:

Soldier In War Of 1812 Grave Of Sgt. Redmon Receives New Marker

Sergeant Elijah Redmon was practically a forgotten man for more than 100 years.

Born on August 3, 1781, in Pennsylvania, Redmon moved as a child with his family to a new home near Lick, Ohio. Shortly after his 21st birthday he enlisted in Lt. William Russel’s company of militia. The young United States of America had declared war on the British. The conflict is now called the War of 1812.

Redmon worked his way up to the rank of Sergeant, which not many young men did, in less than six months. He was discharged from the military service on February 22, 1812 [s/b 1813 – enlisted August 20, 1812] near Miami Rapids, Ohio.

From the Pennsylvania beginnings, Redmon had come to the point that he now qualified, by virtue of his military service, for bounty land which was given to veterans who applied after Congress acted in 1850. He applied for 80 acres of land in the unbroken west and when the land was granted to him, he sold the tract and bought property in Jackson Township in Hamilton County (Indiana).

His family at that time lived near Tipton and the Hamilton County land overlooking Cicero Creek seemed to be a good investment. The acreage now adjoins Morse Reservoir and the town of Cicero. Redmon’s grave is in the Cicero cemetery on land which he donated to the community after he built his farm near the creek.

One can only imagine the lengths he went to in order to make the land fruitful in that day of non-mechanized farm equipment. One thing is likely - he often thought about his friends back in Ohio and perhaps even gave thought to one of his neighbors in particular, Jesse Grant. Mr. Grant’s son had gone to the U.S. Military Academy and later became the commander who concluded the War Between The States or Civil War. He was Ulysses S. Grant, the famed Civil War general.

Redmon died before seeing his neighbor rise to great prominence. It was on December 15, 1861 that his body was carried from the little farm house just south of the cemetery to the plot where he now lies.

In April, 1973, Redmon’s great-great grandson, Dr. Franklin Wright, began application for a modern marker for his ancestor’s grave. Dr. Wright, originally from Peru, Indiana [Note: Dr. Wright was actually born in Des Moines, Iowa - his mother was originally from Peru, Indiana], is now professor of history at Southwestern at Memphis College [Note: the name of the college, “At Southwestern At Memphis”, was changed to Rhodes College in 1984]. Working with Hamilton County Veteran Service Officer Richard Mallery, Wright completed the necessary arrangements for the shipment and placing of the granite marker.

Late last month, with many of the ancestors [Note: “ancestors” should be “descendants”] on hand, the memorial was dedicated. Now both the new stone and the original one placed there in the early 1860’s mark the pioneer grave.

A picture accompanying the article above shows Dr. Wright and Richard Mallery at the burial site of Elijah Redmon, where both the old and new markers are located. The caption under the picture states that the grave site is located in the northeast corner of the Cicero cemetery on land donated by Redmon.

- Pension file records from the National Archives in Washington, D. C. for the War of 1812 indicate that Elijah served in the 2nd Regiment of the Ohio Militia commanded by Lieutenant William Russell and General Edward W. Tupper. Elijah was drafted on August 20, 1812 and continued in service for a six-month term and was honorably discharged at “Miami Rapids in the said state of Ohio” on February 22, 1813.

- “History of Hamilton County, Indiana”, page 121 under chapter Jackson Township states, In 1831, Elijah Redmon, Dennis Pickerill, and James B. Freel settled within the present limits of Cicero, and Abel Gibson settled on Section 6. Isaac and Henry Jones came in 1832 or 33, and Jesse Evans and Jefferson N. Redmon [probably son of Elijah] came early in 1832 or late in 1831. Each entered land in 1832, on Section 35. Dennis Pickerill and Elijah Redmon appear to have been long-time friends and the families intermarried significantly. Dennis and Elijah’s families were included on the same page of the 1820 Census, Byrd>Brown>Ohio and they are buried next to each other in Cicero Cemetery. - Information from Dr. Franklin Wright's records, "Elijah Redmon was born Aug. 3, 1781 (in Pennsylvania according to the 1850 census). He married Elizabeth Stephenson on Oct. 17, 1805. The marriage service was performed by Mills Stephenson, who also performed the marriage service for two other members of the Redmon family; Joseph Redmon to Ann Woods on Feb. 9, 1815, and Susannah Redmon to David Lawwell on Sept. 19, 1804…Elijah Redmon served in the mounted militia in western Ohio from August 1812 to February 1813, during the War of 1812.”