Benjamin F. CURRENT - No name is more familiar to the resident of
Jay county, Indiana, than the name of CURRENT, families of
prominence and influence having borne that name for years and been
associated with all that was good and noble. They were known among
the very earliest pioneers in this section of the state and have
contributed their full quota to the progress which has been rapid and
steady since the first white settler braved the anger of the red man and
the ferocity of the wild beasts to carve for him a home in this fertile
country. Of all the large number who have been a credit to the name,
none have been held in higher esteem or have led more honorable
lives than the gentleman whose history it is our pleasure and privilege
here to briefly portray, Benjamin F. CURRENT. Born October 12, 1831,
near Grafton, Taylor county, West Virginia, he inherited the courtly
manner and kindly hospitality for which the south is noted, and his
home today is one of the most cheerful spots in all Jay County. His
immediate ancestors were John and Mary ( NORRIS ) CURRENT,
while those twice and thrice removed were both known as James. The
great-grandfather, James CURRENT, was born in Ireland in 1730, and
died in America August 15, 1822, near Grafton, West Virginia. He first
came to Maryland and then to West Virginia, where he secured
thirteen hundred acres of land, trading therefore a gray horse. He was
the father of the following children: William, John, Martin,, Mollie,
James and Enoch, most of whom lived and died in Virginia. His son
James, the grandfather of our subject, was married in 1796, to
Margaret JOHNSTON, who was born in a b1ock- house, in
Pennsylvania, August 7, 1777. They came to Indiana in 1835 or 1836,
settling in Henry county, where their children had already made
homes, and where they both passed away; reaching advanced ages.
He died February 2, 1845, and she January 23, 1875. Their children
were as follows: Peter, Nellie, John, Susanna, Mary, James, Abraham,
William P., George W. and Nancy. George, William, John and Nancy
lived in Jay county, and in 1839 first settled here. Peter came later, and
afterwards went to Nebraska where he died. His daughter, Rachel, is
the wife of Ila T. LAKE, of Redkey, and his son Samuel is the father of
William CURRENT, who lives south of Red-key. Oscar, another son,
resides in Redkey. George W. died at the age of sixty-two years,
leaving a son, John W., and two daughters in Randolph county.
William P CURRENT is now in his eighty-sixth year and resides at
Wadena, Minnesota. He has two daughters living here, Nancy, wife of
Daniel Bird, and Mary, wife of Thomas Dragoo and mother of Del
Dragoo, of Redkey. Nancy KEENER is now nearly eighty years of age
and lives in Kansas. John CURRENT was born April 25, 1802, on the
old homestead near Grafton, West Virginia, and died July 24, 1881. He
was married February 19, 1829, in the Old Dominion, to Miss Mary
NORRIS, who was born December 24, 1803, and died January 9, 1875.
Five years after marriage, in 1834, they came to Henry county,
Indiana, and six years later, in 1840, they came to Jay county and
settled on the farm where Jacob DAUGHERTY now lives, his wife
being a daughter of John CURRENT. On this farm they spent the
remainder of their lives. Nine children were born to them, as follows:
Harriet Jane, who married John BOOTS and resides in Randolph
county at the age of seventy-one years; Benjamin F., our subject;
Henry O., who resides one mile north of Redkey; William M., who
resides in Dunkirk; Susan M., wife of Jacob DAUGHERTY; David,
who resides in Redkey; Rebecca E., who married George JACKSON
and died in early life, leaving two children; Mary E., wife of Abraham
SUTTON, of Knox township; and James K., also a resident of Portland.
The CURRENT family held their first re-union on October 12, 1895,
the birth-day of Benjamin F., on the old homestead in Richland
township There were about two hundred members of the family
present, among them William P. CURRENT, of Wadena, Minnesota.
This proved to be such a success in every way and was attended with
so much pleasure that it was voted to hold these re-unions annually
and Benjamin F. CURRENT was made the president of the meeting.
The other meetings have been held on the old James CURRENT
homestead in Henry county, and on the Jacob DAUGHERTY farm, in
Jay county. Benjamin F. CURRENT was but nine years old when his
parents came to Jay county, and here his boyhood was passed in
assisting, his father to clear up the farm. He remained at home until
April 3, 1853, when he was united in marriage with Miss Luesa
CLORE, a sister of' George and John CLORE of Blackford county,
Indiana, and daughter of Charles W. and Frances ( SNYDER ) CLORE.
She was born in Madison county, Virginia, December 4, 1830, and was
about nineteen years of age when she came to this state, locating near
Redkey. After Mr. CURRENT's marriage he first settled in Jay county,
and in 1862 moved on a farm in Jackson township, Blackford county,
which he improved, and on which he resided until 1864, when, he
purchased and settled on the farm on which he now resides. He
enlisted October 10, 1864, in the Twenty-third Indiana Regiment,
joining his regiment in the spring of 1865. The regiment went with
Sherman, but Mr. CURRENT was sent to Dalton, Georgia, to do guard
duty and was later sent back by way of Nashville, to Moorehead City,
North Carolina, and marched to Kingston, where they took part in the
battle. The battalion in which he marched also included the Twenty-
fifth Massachusetts, and after joining his regiment at Goldsboro,
North Carolina, they remained there until the surrender of Johnston,
when they marched to Washington and took part in the grand review,
being discharged July 29, 1865, at Louisville. Mr. CURRENT has lived
on his present farm since 1864 and has brought it from a meager start
to its present splendid condition; He did not have much of a start for a
farm when he began here. The house was of logs and the ground was
covered with timber. He has cut off the timber, tiled the land and
carried on general farming, planting three acres of fruit, which yields
him the choicest variety of delicious fruit of all description. His
buildings are all good and a credit to the community. He is a
Republican and has held minor offices and attended the conventions
of the party. He is a member of the Primitive Baptist church,
worshipping at the old Mississinewa church in Delaware county, and
is deacon and church clerk, taking an active part in all church work.
Of the children born to them but five are living. They are as follows:
John W., of Portland trustee of Green township; William Sanford, who
died in infancy; Isaac Henry, of Redkey; Albert F., a mechanic of
Redkey; Laura Ann, who died at the age of fifteen; Mary F., at home;
Esther M., at home; and nine grandchildren who are living at this
time.
