Thomas J. Brookshire
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas J. Brookshire
No more estimable citizen may be found in Liberty Township, nor no more capable and prospering farmer than Thomas J. Brookshire, who ahs been a resident of the State all his life and of Grant County since 1867. A veteran of the Civil War, his record is one of the highest honor and integrity, and he enjoys the unqualified esteem of the best people of his township, and wherever he is known. He was born in Henry County, Indiana, on November 26, 1844, the son of Emsley and Elizabeth (Shelley) Brookshire. The father entered land in Henry County, and in addition to his farming activities, was widely known as an itinerant preacher of the Wesleyan faith. He lived and died on the land he obtained from the government, there rearing a family of ten children, of whom two are yet living at this writing. Besides the subject, the only other survivor is Sarah A., who married Joshua Nuby of the State of California, and there resides. Three of their sons, among which was Thomas J. of this review, served in the Civil War.
Thomas J. Brookshire was reared on the Henry County farm of his parents, and attended the district schools of his community. He was still very young when he enlisted in Company E of the Ninth Indiana Cavalry from Henry County, of which he was made first corporal, and he rendered a service approximating almost three years during the course of the war, the same being characterized by the most valiant action throughout. He was discharged in 1865, when the last gun had been fired, and the period of his service embraced some of the most exciting campaigns and the Atlanta Campaign; and fourth in many of the most hotly contested battles of the war. Following his discharge he returned to the Henry County farm, devoting himself quietly to farm life.
In 1866 he married Clementine Akers, of Rush County, Indiana, and to them were born ten children, six of whom are living at this writing. They are Leroy; Anna, the wife of John Dare; Jesse, living in Missouri; Cornelius, living near Hackelman; Nixon H., of Liberty Township; and Nettie, the wife of Leroy Saders. Sixteen grandchildren have been added to the progeny of the family, and one great-grandchild, James Frederick Smith.
The year 1867 marked the removal of the family from Henry County to Grant County, and here he has a fine farm of two hundred and eighty acres in Liberty Township. In the years that passed he has acquired title to a goodly bit of land in the county, at one time owning as high as five hundred acres. His present holdings, however, are sufficient for his demands, and here he is busy in the breeding of Percheron and Belgian horses, while the finest grade of shorthorn cattle may be found on his place. He has prospered all his day s in his farming enterprise, and his neighbors know him for a successful man, as well as one of the most trustworthy men in the township, where he has a wide circle of stanch friends, as have the other member of his worthy family. He helped organize the Citizens Bank of Fairmount, was a director of the institution for several years and now a heavy stockholder and a director of the Fairmount State Bank.
Mr. Brookshire is a member of the G. A. R., and has served the local post as commander at times. He and his family are members of the Wesleyan Church at Backcreek, taking an active part in the varied enterprises of that body, and in his politics Mr. Brookshire is a Progressive Republican. He is a man who ever manifests a good citizen's interest in political affairs relative to his own community at least, and is now serving on the advisory Board of his township, where he has performed a valuable service for the town. He is known to be one of the progressive men of the county, not content to live in the past, but up and doing with the most advanced men of his community in both thought and action.
Centennial History of Grant County Indiana 1812-1912. The Lewis Publishing Co., 1914.