3. | Gen. John Tipton (1.Joshua1) was born 14 Aug 1786, Sevierville, Sevier County, Tennessee; died 5 Apr 1839, Logansport, Indiana; was buried Mount Hope Cemetery, Logansport, Cass County, Indiana. Notes:
Military service in War of 1812. John Tipton advanced to the rank of major general by 1822. He purchased the Tippecanoe Battleground and gave it to the State of Indiana. Elected Offices included: U. S. Senetor, Indiana Legislator, Harrison County Sheriff. Some sources record his first wife as Martha Shields.
GEN. JOHN TIPTON was born in Sevier County, Tenn.,August 14, 1780. His father, Joshua Tipton, was a native ofMaryland. When quite young, being impelled by a desire toparticipate in the excitements of pioneer life, he removed to Ten-nessee. He was one of the most formidable adversaries of Indianstrategy, to which he finally fell a victim in 1793. In the fallof 1807 John Tipton, with his mother, two sisters and a half-brother, removed to Indiana Territory, and settled near a placeon the Ohio River known as Brinley's Ferry. He purchasedfifty acres of land, for which he paid by chopping and splittingrails at 50 cents a hundred. In 1811 he became a member ofCapt. Spencer's company of mounted riflemen, known as YellowJackets. This company did excellent service in the campaignagainst the Indians on the Upper Wabash. In the battle of Tip-pecanoe, November 7, 1811, all the company officers above En-sign Tipton having, been killed, he was promoted to the captaincyby Gen. Harrison in the hottest of the fight, and by his superiortact and courage maintained the reputation of his men. He con-tinued in service until the close of the war in that locality. Sub-sequently he was promoted, by regular gradations in the Terri-torial and State militia, to the position of major-general in 1822.At the first election under the State constitution; in 1816, he
was made sheriff of Harrison County, and was re-elected in 1818.
In 1821 he was chosen to represent Harrison County in the StateLegislature, and during the same year was one of the commis-sioners that located the State capital of Indiana. In the sessionwhich followed he was appointed commissioner- on the part ofIndiana to meet a like commissioner from Illinois to locate theboundary line between the two States. The duty was satisfacto-rily performed. In the spring of 1824, without his solicitationor knowledge, he was appointed by President Monroe to theIndian agency, then located at Fort Wayne, which embraced thePottawattomie, Miami and other Indian tribes on the Upper Wa-bash and Tippecanoe Rivers. Soon after his appointment he re-moved to Fort Wayne, and remained until March, 1828, when,at his instance, the agency was removed to Logansport. He wasone of the commissioners appointed by John Quincy Adams tosuperintend the treaties with the Indians in his jurisdiction, andto his eminent ability were chiefly due the important provisionsof the treaties of 1826, whereby valuable lands were opened tothe public. He continued in charge of the agency until Decem-ber, 1831, when he was elected United States Senator, to fill thevacancy occasioned by the death of Hon. James Noble. In De-cember, 1832, he was elected for a full term of six years, fromMarch 4, 1833. As a senator he ranked high, distinguishinghimself by his accurate knowledge of men and their relations topublic affairs, and in working for the best good of the nation,without reference to politics. During the summer of 1838 hewas delegated by the President to remove certain disaffected Pot-tawattomie and Miami lndians to the land which had been re-served west of the Mississippi River. Though these Indians haddisposed of their lands, they were unwilling to emigrate, andthe contractor had found it utterly impossible to proceed further.Gen. Tipton, however, readily comprehending the situation, over-came the difficulties by strategy, and, with a celerity scarcelyanticipated, removed the remnants of the once mighty tribes. InMarch, 1839, he returned to his home in Logansport, and com-improving his vast landed estate on the Wabash. Hadhe lived to execute his plans for developing the immense resourcesof that locality, he would have given to Cass County in general,and Logansport in particular, a place in the industrial world un-equaled in Indiana. He died, April 5, 1839, from a sudden ill-ness induced by exposure. Gen. Tipton was twice married-in 1822 to Miss Shields, who died soon after, and in April,1825, to Miss Matilda Spencer, daughter of Capt. Spear Spencer,who was killed at the battle of Tippecanoe. They had four chil-dren, all of whom are now dead, excepting one daughter, who isthe wife of Capt. Thomas S. Dunn, of the United States Army.In 1817 Gen. Tipton received the several degrees of AncientCraft Masonry, in Pisgah Lodge No.5, at Corydon, Ind. Uponthe organization of the Grand Lodge, in 1818, he was electedGrand Senior Warden, and served until September, 1820. Hewas then elected Grand Master of the State, and served duringthe fourth and twelfth sessions. In 1822 he was made a RoyalArch Mason, in Louisville, Ky. In the fall of 1828 he organizedTipton Lodge No. 33, of Logansport, and in 1837 procured acharter and organized Logan Royal Arch Chapter, No.2.
----------
Reference:
"Kin of my Grandchildren, Vol III", Judge Noble K. Littell, 1992, p 18, 25.
"History of Jackson County, Indiana.", Brant and Fuller, 1886, p 724-726.
John married Martha Janette "Jennie" Shields 1822. Martha (daughter of John Shields and Nancy) was born 1791; died 1850; was buried Little Flock Baptist Cemetery, Crandall, Harrison County, Indiana. [Group Sheet]
Children:
- 7. Spire Shields Tipton
was born 1814; died 1847; was buried Ninth Street Cemetery, Logansport, Cass County, Indiana.
- 8. Harriet B. Tipton
was born 1829; died 10 Feb 1887; was buried Little Flock Baptist Cemetery, Crandall, Harrison County, Indiana.
- 9. Tipton
- 10. Tipton
|
John married Matilda Spencer 11 Aug 1825, Harrison County, Indiana. (daughter of Capt. Spear Spencer) [Group Sheet]
|