JEHU HADLEY is one of the most prominent farmers of Hendricks County. His farm is one of the best in the county, and none have required more labor to change from a state of nature to that of high productiveness. March 4, 1838, Mr. Hadley bought 320 acres of land on section11, Franklin Township, at that time a swamp adjacent to Mill Creek, which flowed through it, a sluggish stream. The part of his purchase that was arable was covered with a heavy growth of timber. Old settlers pronounced the estate valueless and predicted starvation to the owner, but today it is the model farm of the county. This change has been wrought by incessant toil and perseverance. Two thousand rods of tile drainage, 400 rods of open ditch, one mile of levee on the banks of Mill Creek, indicate the character of the improvements. Every acre of the land is improved. The fine park and amphitheater was built for the use of the old settlers, who have held their annual re-unions there for thirteen years, with an average attendance of 6,000 persons. Mr. Hadley at one time owned 650 acres, nearly all of which he improved. Probably no other man in Hendricks County has cleared and improved as much land as he. Part of this he has sold and parts he has deeded to his children till his farm is now reduced to 200 acres. His beautiful brick residence, built in 1876, is a model of convenience and comfort, and cost, with surrounding outbuildings, over $10,000. No man in Hendricks County is more widely known, and certainly no one is more highly respected for the many qualities that combine to make a true manhood than Jehu Hadley. In deal he is more than just, he is generous. Honorable himself, he never distrusts a man till he has proved him. Liberal and charitable, he never refuses aid to a worthy man or object, and for forty years the needy have known that in him they had a friend who never turned any empty handed away. Strong in his likes and dislikes; he loves his friends but eschews his enemies. Mr. Hadley was born in Chatham County, N.C., Oct. 19, 1810, and in 1825 accompanied his parents, James T. and Mary (Richardson) Hadley, to Hendricks County and located in Center Township. He was married Aug. 3, 1837, to Jerusha Stiles, a native of Vermont, born July 19, 1819, daughter of Jeremiah and Sibyl Stiles. Her father was the founder of Stilesville, locating there in 1821. Mrs. Stiles died in January 1828, and was the first married woman who died in that place. Mr. Stiles subsequently married again. He died of cholera, at Savannah, Mo. But three of his children are living---Mrs. Hadley, Mrs. Sibyl Whicker, and Lewis (son of second marriage). One son, Luke, a physician, of Chicago, Ill., died in 1884. To Mr. and Mrs. Hadley have been born ten children---Mrs. Nancy Daggy, of Danville; Mrs. Mary Gibben, of Butler, Mo.; Henry, of Eel River Township; Sibyl, deceased, wife of William Wilson; George Washington and Marcus Lafayette, enlisted in the war of the Rebellion and died in the service; Mrs. Alice Matlock, of California; Mrs. Laura Masten, of this township; John and Jerusha (twins), at home. Mr. Hadley is a member of the Christian and Mrs. Hadley of the Missionary Baptist Church.

HISTORY OF HENDRICKS CO. INDIANA 1885 - Franklin Twp.

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