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Fifth Generation
265. Benjamin Franklin
CURRENT240,241 was born on 12 Oct 1831 near Grafton, Taylor, Virginia
- now West Virginia.33 He
was a member of the Primitive Baptish Church on Green St southwest of Dunkirk.33 He was a farmer and a wheelwright.33 He died on 11 Nov 1919 in Red
Key, Jay, Indiana.
Benjamin F Current was drafted D County, 23rd Inf Reg. in 1864 and mustered out
J uly 23, 1865.
Benjamin F. Current 1831-1919
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 himself 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 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. (This
has since been disproved by Jeff Wilfahrt through land records.) He was the
father of the following children: William, John, Martin, Mollie, James and Enoch,
most of whom lived and died in Virginia (Actually most of them left Virginia.
John and Martin died in Illinois, James died in Indiana Enoch died in Virginia.)
His son James, the grandfather of our subject, was married in 1796, to Margaret
Johnston, who was born in a block-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 (I have Abraham
James born in 1812), 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 Redkey.
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 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 reunion on October 12, 1895, the birthday
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 reunions 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 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 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.
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United States Discharge to Benjamin F. Current
To Whom It May Concern:
Paid July 29thh 1865, W.C. Woodring P. M____
Know ye that Benjamin F. Current a Private of Captain of J.W. Hammonds
Company (D) 23rd Regiment of Ind. Infantry Volunteers who was drafted on the
19th day of October one thousand eight hundred and Sixty four to serve one years
or during the war is hereby Discharged from the service of the United States
this Twenty third day of July 1865 at Louisville, Kentucky by reason of Genl
Ord No 26 H. ___ Army Gen.. (No objection to his being re-enlisted is known
to exist*)
Said Benjamin F. Current was born in Taylor Co. in the State of Virginia
is 33 years of age, 6 feet 1 inches high, dark complexion, hazel eyes, dark hair
and by occupation when enrolled a Farmer.
Given at Louisville Ky. This Twenty third day of July 1865.
Robert H. Woods
1st Sgt. 64th Ill Vols
A. C. M. 4th Div 17th A.C.
This sentence will be erased should there be anything in the conduct or physical
condition of the soldier rendering him unfit for the Army.
(A. G. No. 99)
J.W. Hammonds Capt.
Comdg Dle 23rd Ind. Infantry
Filed for Record
December 28th 1875 at one o’clock P.M.
F. M. McLaughlin, RJC
Benjamin Franklin CURRENT and Louisa CLORE were married on 3 Apr 1853 in Jay,
Indiana.242 Louisa
CLORE243 (daughter of
Charles Wesley CLORE and Frances SNYDER) was born on 4 Dec 1830 in Madison, Virginia.
She died on 14 May 1920 in Red Key, Jay, Indiana. Benjamin Franklin
CURRENT and Louisa CLORE had the following children:
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