from the 1914 Hendricks County History (pages 629-631):
There are very few farmers in Hendricks County whose memory goes back to the time when there were but two roads in the county, the National Road (now US 40) and the old State Road (US 136). In those days, back in the thirties, it was possible to go out and shoot deer any place in Hendricks County, and wild turkeys, squirrels and small game of all sorts were as abundant as English sparrows are today. William Wallace Leach, who has lived in this county nearly eighty years, has seen as many as ten deer in a herd in his boyhood days in this county, and flocks of wild turkeys numbering hundreds. As he travels around over the highly improved roads of his county now in his automobile, his mind goes back to the time when in order to get to his home he had to follow a bridle path. The complete history of such a man as William Wallace Leach would be a history of Indiana for eighty years, civic, educational and moral.
William Wallace Leach, retired farmer of North Salem, was born in Bath County, Kentucky, October 15, 1835, the son of Meredith and Eliza (Allison) Leach, both of whom were natives of Kentucky, where they were reared and married. In 1836, when William Wallace was only one year old, his parents moved to this county and settled south of Lizton, in Union Township, where his father entered government land. The axe of man had never touched a tree on this farm and here in this primitive wilderness Meredith Leach and his young wife began housekeeping and here they remained the rest of their lives, his death occurring in 1859, while his wife survived him a few years. Mr. and Mrs. Meredith Leach were the parents of seven children, of whom William Wallace, whose history is portrayed here, is the oldest, the others in the order of their birth being as follows: James Valentine, deceased; Mary L., deceased wife of Amos Rook; Martha Jane, the deceased wife of Moses Rawlings; Sarah Ann, the widow of Jeptha West; Amanda Louisa, the widow of William Harrison and Francis Edna, who died in childhood.
William Wallace Leach was reared amid these primitive conditions, hearing the music of the axe in the daytime and yet he probably spent as happy a boyhood as any of the boys of today. A very meager education was his, because the schools in his day were confined to three "Rs" and very little of that. On February 20, 1862, he was married to Margaret F. Clark, who was born November 29, 1841, in Union Township, this county.
When Mr. Leach was married he already owned forty acres of land in Union Township, and here the young couple started in life. He rented land in addition to his own for farming, and by thrift and economy was enabled to save some money, and in a few years bought another eighty acres near his first farm. In 1844 he traded for a farm of sixty-five acres near North Salem and moved into North Salem, where he engaged in the grocery business for six years. He was also in the dry goods business for a part of the time when he lived in North Salem. He then traded his grocery for a farm two and one-half miles northwest of Salem, at the same time selling his sixty-five acre farm and buying one hundred acres adjoining the farm for which he traded, making him a total of one hundred and eighty acres of land, which he still owns. He lived on this farm for about five years and then bought property in North Salem, where he has lived for the past twelve years.
Mr. Leach is usually a Democrat in politics, although he does not hesitate to vote for the best men in local elections irrespective of politics. Mr. and Mrs. Leach have now been married for more than fifty-one years and are both enjoying good health at the present time. They are both able to read without glasses, have good hearing and are cheerful and genial at all times. In recent years they have made several trips to Hot Springs, Arkansas, and to Florida, and are frequently seen in good weather in their automobile driving around the roads of Hendricks County, enjoying themselves as if they were fifty years younger.
There are very few farmers in Hendricks County whose memory goes back to the time when there were but two roads in the county, the National Road (now US 40) and the old State Road (US 136). In those days, back in the thirties, it was possible to go out and shoot deer any place in Hendricks County, and wild turkeys, squirrels and small game of all sorts were as abundant as English sparrows are today. William Wallace Leach, who has lived in this county nearly eighty years, has seen as many as ten deer in a herd in his boyhood days in this county, and flocks of wild turkeys numbering hundreds. As he travels around over the highly improved roads of his county now in his automobile, his mind goes back to the time when in order to get to his home he had to follow a bridle path. The complete history of such a man as William Wallace Leach would be a history of Indiana for eighty years, civic, educational and moral.
William Wallace Leach, retired farmer of North Salem, was born in Bath County, Kentucky, October 15, 1835, the son of Meredith and Eliza (Allison) Leach, both of whom were natives of Kentucky, where they were reared and married. In 1836, when William Wallace was only one year old, his parents moved to this county and settled south of Lizton, in Union Township, where his father entered government land. The axe of man had never touched a tree on this farm and here in this primitive wilderness Meredith Leach and his young wife began housekeeping and here they remained the rest of their lives, his death occurring in 1859, while his wife survived him a few years. Mr. and Mrs. Meredith Leach were the parents of seven children, of whom William Wallace, whose history is portrayed here, is the oldest, the others in the order of their birth being as follows: James Valentine, deceased; Mary L., deceased wife of Amos Rook; Martha Jane, the deceased wife of Moses Rawlings; Sarah Ann, the widow of Jeptha West; Amanda Louisa, the widow of William Harrison and Francis Edna, who died in childhood.
William Wallace Leach was reared amid these primitive conditions, hearing the music of the axe in the daytime and yet he probably spent as happy a boyhood as any of the boys of today. A very meager education was his, because the schools in his day were confined to three "Rs" and very little of that. On February 20, 1862, he was married to Margaret F. Clark, who was born November 29, 1841, in Union Township, this county.
When Mr. Leach was married he already owned forty acres of land in Union Township, and here the young couple started in life. He rented land in addition to his own for farming, and by thrift and economy was enabled to save some money, and in a few years bought another eighty acres near his first farm. In 1844 he traded for a farm of sixty-five acres near North Salem and moved into North Salem, where he engaged in the grocery business for six years. He was also in the dry goods business for a part of the time when he lived in North Salem. He then traded his grocery for a farm two and one-half miles northwest of Salem, at the same time selling his sixty-five acre farm and buying one hundred acres adjoining the farm for which he traded, making him a total of one hundred and eighty acres of land, which he still owns. He lived on this farm for about five years and then bought property in North Salem, where he has lived for the past twelve years.
Mr. Leach is usually a Democrat in politics, although he does not hesitate to vote for the best men in local elections irrespective of politics. Mr. and Mrs. Leach have now been married for more than fifty-one years and are both enjoying good health at the present time. They are both able to read without glasses, have good hearing and are cheerful and genial at all times. In recent years they have made several trips to Hot Springs, Arkansas, and to Florida, and are frequently seen in good weather in their automobile driving around the roads of Hendricks County, enjoying themselves as if they were fifty years younger.
from the 1914 Hendricks County History (pages 629-631):
There are very few farmers in Hendricks County whose memory goes back to the time when there were but two roads in the county, the National Road (now US 40) and the old State Road (US 136). In those days, back in the thirties, it was possible to go out and shoot deer any place in Hendricks County, and wild turkeys, squirrels and small game of all sorts were as abundant as English sparrows are today. William Wallace Leach, who has lived in this county nearly eighty years, has seen as many as ten deer in a herd in his boyhood days in this county, and flocks of wild turkeys numbering hundreds. As he travels around over the highly improved roads of his county now in his automobile, his mind goes back to the time when in order to get to his home he had to follow a bridle path. The complete history of such a man as William Wallace Leach would be a history of Indiana for eighty years, civic, educational and moral.
William Wallace Leach, retired farmer of North Salem, was born in Bath County, Kentucky, October 15, 1835, the son of Meredith and Eliza (Allison) Leach, both of whom were natives of Kentucky, where they were reared and married. In 1836, when William Wallace was only one year old, his parents moved to this county and settled south of Lizton, in Union Township, where his father entered government land. The axe of man had never touched a tree on this farm and here in this primitive wilderness Meredith Leach and his young wife began housekeeping and here they remained the rest of their lives, his death occurring in 1859, while his wife survived him a few years. Mr. and Mrs. Meredith Leach were the parents of seven children, of whom William Wallace, whose history is portrayed here, is the oldest, the others in the order of their birth being as follows: James Valentine, deceased; Mary L., deceased wife of Amos Rook; Martha Jane, the deceased wife of Moses Rawlings; Sarah Ann, the widow of Jeptha West; Amanda Louisa, the widow of William Harrison and Francis Edna, who died in childhood.
William Wallace Leach was reared amid these primitive conditions, hearing the music of the axe in the daytime and yet he probably spent as happy a boyhood as any of the boys of today. A very meager education was his, because the schools in his day were confined to three "Rs" and very little of that. On February 20, 1862, he was married to Margaret F. Clark, who was born November 29, 1841, in Union Township, this county.
When Mr. Leach was married he already owned forty acres of land in Union Township, and here the young couple started in life. He rented land in addition to his own for farming, and by thrift and economy was enabled to save some money, and in a few years bought another eighty acres near his first farm. In 1844 he traded for a farm of sixty-five acres near North Salem and moved into North Salem, where he engaged in the grocery business for six years. He was also in the dry goods business for a part of the time when he lived in North Salem. He then traded his grocery for a farm two and one-half miles northwest of Salem, at the same time selling his sixty-five acre farm and buying one hundred acres adjoining the farm for which he traded, making him a total of one hundred and eighty acres of land, which he still owns. He lived on this farm for about five years and then bought property in North Salem, where he has lived for the past twelve years.
Mr. Leach is usually a Democrat in politics, although he does not hesitate to vote for the best men in local elections irrespective of politics. Mr. and Mrs. Leach have now been married for more than fifty-one years and are both enjoying good health at the present time. They are both able to read without glasses, have good hearing and are cheerful and genial at all times. In recent years they have made several trips to Hot Springs, Arkansas, and to Florida, and are frequently seen in good weather in their automobile driving around the roads of Hendricks County, enjoying themselves as if they were fifty years younger.
There are very few farmers in Hendricks County whose memory goes back to the time when there were but two roads in the county, the National Road (now US 40) and the old State Road (US 136). In those days, back in the thirties, it was possible to go out and shoot deer any place in Hendricks County, and wild turkeys, squirrels and small game of all sorts were as abundant as English sparrows are today. William Wallace Leach, who has lived in this county nearly eighty years, has seen as many as ten deer in a herd in his boyhood days in this county, and flocks of wild turkeys numbering hundreds. As he travels around over the highly improved roads of his county now in his automobile, his mind goes back to the time when in order to get to his home he had to follow a bridle path. The complete history of such a man as William Wallace Leach would be a history of Indiana for eighty years, civic, educational and moral.
William Wallace Leach, retired farmer of North Salem, was born in Bath County, Kentucky, October 15, 1835, the son of Meredith and Eliza (Allison) Leach, both of whom were natives of Kentucky, where they were reared and married. In 1836, when William Wallace was only one year old, his parents moved to this county and settled south of Lizton, in Union Township, where his father entered government land. The axe of man had never touched a tree on this farm and here in this primitive wilderness Meredith Leach and his young wife began housekeeping and here they remained the rest of their lives, his death occurring in 1859, while his wife survived him a few years. Mr. and Mrs. Meredith Leach were the parents of seven children, of whom William Wallace, whose history is portrayed here, is the oldest, the others in the order of their birth being as follows: James Valentine, deceased; Mary L., deceased wife of Amos Rook; Martha Jane, the deceased wife of Moses Rawlings; Sarah Ann, the widow of Jeptha West; Amanda Louisa, the widow of William Harrison and Francis Edna, who died in childhood.
William Wallace Leach was reared amid these primitive conditions, hearing the music of the axe in the daytime and yet he probably spent as happy a boyhood as any of the boys of today. A very meager education was his, because the schools in his day were confined to three "Rs" and very little of that. On February 20, 1862, he was married to Margaret F. Clark, who was born November 29, 1841, in Union Township, this county.
When Mr. Leach was married he already owned forty acres of land in Union Township, and here the young couple started in life. He rented land in addition to his own for farming, and by thrift and economy was enabled to save some money, and in a few years bought another eighty acres near his first farm. In 1844 he traded for a farm of sixty-five acres near North Salem and moved into North Salem, where he engaged in the grocery business for six years. He was also in the dry goods business for a part of the time when he lived in North Salem. He then traded his grocery for a farm two and one-half miles northwest of Salem, at the same time selling his sixty-five acre farm and buying one hundred acres adjoining the farm for which he traded, making him a total of one hundred and eighty acres of land, which he still owns. He lived on this farm for about five years and then bought property in North Salem, where he has lived for the past twelve years.
Mr. Leach is usually a Democrat in politics, although he does not hesitate to vote for the best men in local elections irrespective of politics. Mr. and Mrs. Leach have now been married for more than fifty-one years and are both enjoying good health at the present time. They are both able to read without glasses, have good hearing and are cheerful and genial at all times. In recent years they have made several trips to Hot Springs, Arkansas, and to Florida, and are frequently seen in good weather in their automobile driving around the roads of Hendricks County, enjoying themselves as if they were fifty years younger.
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