From the 1878 Atlas of Hendricks County, Indiana: VANNICE, PETER C.: Among the old pioneers of Hendricks Co. who still live to tell the story is Peter C. Vannice, of Marion Tp. His father, Peter, settled in the county in 1833, in Marion Tp., with his mother, Deborah Demott, whose ancestors were among the number who were driven from their native France at the massacre of St. Bartholomew. His father died in 1843; his mother in 1855. Peter C., the third child of a family of eight, was born in Mercer Co., Ky., July 17, 1801; his boyhood days were spent in farm labor. In 1828, Feb. 14, he was married to Sarah A.W., daughter of Zachariah and Agatha (nee Dicken) Smith, a family that settled in Hendricks in 1831. Sarah A.W., one of ten in family, was born in Garrard Co., Ky., in 1809. Her father, Z. Smith, died in 1844; her mother, Agatha, died in April, 1874, aged 94 years. For two years after his marriage, Peter C. Vannice was overseer of slaves on the plantation of H. Cowan, of Danville, Ky. In the Spring of 1831, he entered, from the Government, 160 acres of land--a part of his present farm--and in the Fall of the same year, with a five horse team, with his wife's folks, moved to Marion Tp. His first home, a cabin, in the woods, did not need any windows for light or ventilation. He succeeded during that Winter in felling the trees upon an acre of ground, and while he was called from home in helping his neighbors at "log-rolling," his wife kept up the fires in the log-heaps. Their first corn crop was bitten by frost in the Fall, which damaged the grain for bread purposes to such an extent that bake as best they could, the center of Sir Johnnie Cake would remain raw. Passing over the years of privation, hard work and scant living, we come down to the present, and find Uncle Peter and Aunt Sarah in the enjoyment of health and surrounded by plenty. For thirty-five years, Uncle Peter has drank neither tea nor coffee, and at this time is able to perform as much work as any ordinary farm hand. Children's names--Louisiana (now Mrs. Edom R. Hadley), William H., Samuel N., Joanna (Mrs. Tandy Allen), Amanda J. (Mrs. John Trotter), Sarah (Mrs. Rev. W. T. Ferguson), Milton B. and Ellen, wife of Rev. O.C. Hawkins. Deaths--James R., died Nov. 12, 1851, aged 6; Ellen, died Nov. 4, 1851, aged 3; Henry S., died Sept. 23, 1862, aged 12.