Born Emeline Benton, she was the twin of Angeline "Angie" Benton Rood, and the daughter of Joel Benton and Margaret Miller Benton. When she was three years old, Scarlet Fever swept through her family home in Sandusky, Ohio. Her health was severely and permanently damaged by this bout with what in modern days is called strep (streptococcus bacteria). Her twin, Angeline, lost the use of her left eye as the fever ravaged the twins' health.
About 1845, when Emeline and Angeline were six years old, the Benton family left their home in Sandusky, Ohio headed west to a land claim a mile and a half beyond the Wabash River, in Adams County, Indiana. When they reached the Wabash River, it was flooded and the family had to wait three weeks for the river waters to recede, before they could cross to the far bank. When the river finally returned to its normal course between its two banks, all the family's belongings and each family member were ferried to the other side of the river in a canoe. One at a time, they crossed the now calm river waters. Two men, one at each end of the canoe, paddled the craft across the recently wild Wabash, depositing the Benton family safely on the far bank.
The river's proximity to the Benton's new land claim provided them with an ample source of water and a place to wash clothes as the family settled into their new home. At first, the Benton's used roughly made furniture in their new homestead. Their beds were made by forcing four forked tree limbs into the dirt-swept prairie house floor. Brush was placed atop the poles that provided a bed-frame for the crude four-poster bed. The family's new home had a large fireplace where the family cooked all their meals. Eventually, an outdoor oven was added which helped to keep their prairie house cool in the summer. Emeline was at least fifteen years old before she ever saw a store-bought cook stove. Since Emeline's family made and used brown maple sugar, she was at least eighteen years before she ever saw white sugar purchased from a store.
That was in 1857. As a new decade approached, the Winds of War were blowing through America. They heralded not only changes for the nation, but personal changes for the Benton family as well. The American Civil War threatened to rip apart an America that was less than a century old, an America that Emeline's grandfather, Zebulon Benton, had fought for. The Benton family would contribute four son's to the nation's preservation. However, Emeline was not to live to see it. At the age of 21, she passed away, sucombing at last to the physical devastation wrought by the Scarlet Fever at age three.
Emeline Benton was a beloved member of the Benton family. She pioneered with them in Sandusky, Ohio and Adams, Indiana on the Wabash River. She was sunshine on the prairies and the lives she crossed. She was greatly missed by her family.
The above bio is based on a newspaper interview given by her twin, Angeline Benton Rood, on the occasion of her 100th Birthday. Emeline's twin, Angeline, lived to be 102 years old.
Bio contributed by:
--Rebecca Benton McKnight
About 1845, when Emeline and Angeline were six years old, the Benton family left their home in Sandusky, Ohio headed west to a land claim a mile and a half beyond the Wabash River, in Adams County, Indiana. When they reached the Wabash River, it was flooded and the family had to wait three weeks for the river waters to recede, before they could cross to the far bank. When the river finally returned to its normal course between its two banks, all the family's belongings and each family member were ferried to the other side of the river in a canoe. One at a time, they crossed the now calm river waters. Two men, one at each end of the canoe, paddled the craft across the recently wild Wabash, depositing the Benton family safely on the far bank.
The river's proximity to the Benton's new land claim provided them with an ample source of water and a place to wash clothes as the family settled into their new home. At first, the Benton's used roughly made furniture in their new homestead. Their beds were made by forcing four forked tree limbs into the dirt-swept prairie house floor. Brush was placed atop the poles that provided a bed-frame for the crude four-poster bed. The family's new home had a large fireplace where the family cooked all their meals. Eventually, an outdoor oven was added which helped to keep their prairie house cool in the summer. Emeline was at least fifteen years old before she ever saw a store-bought cook stove. Since Emeline's family made and used brown maple sugar, she was at least eighteen years before she ever saw white sugar purchased from a store.
That was in 1857. As a new decade approached, the Winds of War were blowing through America. They heralded not only changes for the nation, but personal changes for the Benton family as well. The American Civil War threatened to rip apart an America that was less than a century old, an America that Emeline's grandfather, Zebulon Benton, had fought for. The Benton family would contribute four son's to the nation's preservation. However, Emeline was not to live to see it. At the age of 21, she passed away, sucombing at last to the physical devastation wrought by the Scarlet Fever at age three.
Emeline Benton was a beloved member of the Benton family. She pioneered with them in Sandusky, Ohio and Adams, Indiana on the Wabash River. She was sunshine on the prairies and the lives she crossed. She was greatly missed by her family.
The above bio is based on a newspaper interview given by her twin, Angeline Benton Rood, on the occasion of her 100th Birthday. Emeline's twin, Angeline, lived to be 102 years old.
Bio contributed by:
--Rebecca Benton McKnight
Born Emeline Benton, she was the twin of Angeline "Angie" Benton Rood, and the daughter of Joel Benton and Margaret Miller Benton. When she was three years old, Scarlet Fever swept through her family home in Sandusky, Ohio. Her health was severely and permanently damaged by this bout with what in modern days is called strep (streptococcus bacteria). Her twin, Angeline, lost the use of her left eye as the fever ravaged the twins' health.
About 1845, when Emeline and Angeline were six years old, the Benton family left their home in Sandusky, Ohio headed west to a land claim a mile and a half beyond the Wabash River, in Adams County, Indiana. When they reached the Wabash River, it was flooded and the family had to wait three weeks for the river waters to recede, before they could cross to the far bank. When the river finally returned to its normal course between its two banks, all the family's belongings and each family member were ferried to the other side of the river in a canoe. One at a time, they crossed the now calm river waters. Two men, one at each end of the canoe, paddled the craft across the recently wild Wabash, depositing the Benton family safely on the far bank.
The river's proximity to the Benton's new land claim provided them with an ample source of water and a place to wash clothes as the family settled into their new home. At first, the Benton's used roughly made furniture in their new homestead. Their beds were made by forcing four forked tree limbs into the dirt-swept prairie house floor. Brush was placed atop the poles that provided a bed-frame for the crude four-poster bed. The family's new home had a large fireplace where the family cooked all their meals. Eventually, an outdoor oven was added which helped to keep their prairie house cool in the summer. Emeline was at least fifteen years old before she ever saw a store-bought cook stove. Since Emeline's family made and used brown maple sugar, she was at least eighteen years before she ever saw white sugar purchased from a store.
That was in 1857. As a new decade approached, the Winds of War were blowing through America. They heralded not only changes for the nation, but personal changes for the Benton family as well. The American Civil War threatened to rip apart an America that was less than a century old, an America that Emeline's grandfather, Zebulon Benton, had fought for. The Benton family would contribute four son's to the nation's preservation. However, Emeline was not to live to see it. At the age of 21, she passed away, sucombing at last to the physical devastation wrought by the Scarlet Fever at age three.
Emeline Benton was a beloved member of the Benton family. She pioneered with them in Sandusky, Ohio and Adams, Indiana on the Wabash River. She was sunshine on the prairies and the lives she crossed. She was greatly missed by her family.
The above bio is based on a newspaper interview given by her twin, Angeline Benton Rood, on the occasion of her 100th Birthday. Emeline's twin, Angeline, lived to be 102 years old.
Bio contributed by:
--Rebecca Benton McKnight
About 1845, when Emeline and Angeline were six years old, the Benton family left their home in Sandusky, Ohio headed west to a land claim a mile and a half beyond the Wabash River, in Adams County, Indiana. When they reached the Wabash River, it was flooded and the family had to wait three weeks for the river waters to recede, before they could cross to the far bank. When the river finally returned to its normal course between its two banks, all the family's belongings and each family member were ferried to the other side of the river in a canoe. One at a time, they crossed the now calm river waters. Two men, one at each end of the canoe, paddled the craft across the recently wild Wabash, depositing the Benton family safely on the far bank.
The river's proximity to the Benton's new land claim provided them with an ample source of water and a place to wash clothes as the family settled into their new home. At first, the Benton's used roughly made furniture in their new homestead. Their beds were made by forcing four forked tree limbs into the dirt-swept prairie house floor. Brush was placed atop the poles that provided a bed-frame for the crude four-poster bed. The family's new home had a large fireplace where the family cooked all their meals. Eventually, an outdoor oven was added which helped to keep their prairie house cool in the summer. Emeline was at least fifteen years old before she ever saw a store-bought cook stove. Since Emeline's family made and used brown maple sugar, she was at least eighteen years before she ever saw white sugar purchased from a store.
That was in 1857. As a new decade approached, the Winds of War were blowing through America. They heralded not only changes for the nation, but personal changes for the Benton family as well. The American Civil War threatened to rip apart an America that was less than a century old, an America that Emeline's grandfather, Zebulon Benton, had fought for. The Benton family would contribute four son's to the nation's preservation. However, Emeline was not to live to see it. At the age of 21, she passed away, sucombing at last to the physical devastation wrought by the Scarlet Fever at age three.
Emeline Benton was a beloved member of the Benton family. She pioneered with them in Sandusky, Ohio and Adams, Indiana on the Wabash River. She was sunshine on the prairies and the lives she crossed. She was greatly missed by her family.
The above bio is based on a newspaper interview given by her twin, Angeline Benton Rood, on the occasion of her 100th Birthday. Emeline's twin, Angeline, lived to be 102 years old.
Bio contributed by:
--Rebecca Benton McKnight
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