Part of the Indiana Biographies Project
John H. Short
This well and favorably known citizen of Boston, Wayne county, is now living retired from the active duties and cares of life, enjoying the fruits of his years of toil in the past. About four years ago he gave up the management of his farm, which is located in the suburbs of Boston, a portion of the place having been cut up into town lots, indeed, and since then his eldest son has carried on the homestead. Though born and reared in the south, Mr. Short was not in sympathy with the Rebellion, and in April, 1864, he enlisted in the one-hundred-days service in Company A, One Hundred and Thirty-third Indiana Infantry, under Captain William R. Mount. He was stationed chiefly at Bridgeport, Alabama, and employed in doing guard duty, until his time was up, when he was mustered out in Indianapolis.
Born near Greensboro, Guilford county, North Carolina, July 25, 1834, a son of Alfred and Hannah Short, our subject was left an orphan at the age of fourteen, at which time his father died, while death had bereaved him of a mother's love and care some four years before. With his sister and five brothers John H. grew to manhood in his native state, and there they all continued to live, with the exception of himself. They stayed on the old farm until the marriage of the eldest brother. John H. is now the only survivor of the family, besides one other brother, Alonzio Short, who is now in the south.
When he was sixteen years old John H. Short started out to make his own way independently. Going to Rockingham, Virginia, he found employment as a traveling salesman for a tobacco manufacturer. His business was to take a well equipped wagon and travel from one town and plantation to another, selling tobacco, of which he had a full supply in all grades and prices, and, as was customary in those days in the south, he followed the courts, which convened at the various county seats. Thus employed, two years rapidly rolled away, and we next find him at school again, in Jamestown, North Carolina, for he felt the need of better educational training by this time. Afterward he was employed with a railroad engineering force, in the testing of the ground for grades in a line laid out by railroad surveyors.
On the 1st of May, 1857, Mr. Short arrived in Richmond, Indiana, on his way to Kansas, in company with a friend and former schoolmate. With not the slightest intention of remaining here, Mr. Short concluded to stay over until the following Monday, in order to visit with George Irwin, an old friend whom he fortunately met here. For several reasons, and because he liked the looks of the country hereabouts, he stayed and found employment at cutting wood and in manufacturing brick. He helped manufacture much of the brick that went into the houses of Joel Railsback, near Chester, Daniel Brower, near Boston, and John D. Josheaway, of Abington. The next winter he took a contract for cutting one hundred cords of wood and the following year he went to Illinois and worked in a brickyard at Bloomington for one season. The succeeding winter he again cut wood and the next three years he was employed on the farm of Benjamin Brown, of Boston township. He also worked for J. M. Bulla, James Hart and others, some across the line in Union county.
October 4, 1863, Mr. Short married Margaret Conley, who was then living with her aunt, Mrs. Judith Grimes, lately deceased, and then a resident of Wayne township. Mrs. Short was a daughter of John J. Conley, formerly proprietor of large nurseries and greenhouses in Richmond, and later the owner of the farm which is now the property of our subject and wife. For one year Mr. Short rented a farm of John Ropers, and subsequently leased land of George Davidson. In 1866 he took charge of the toll-gate on the Boston pike, a mile south of Richmond, and continued to occupy that position for nearly thirteen years, after which he bought his present farm, the old Conley estate. One of the noticeable features of the homestead is the splendid orchard, one of the best in the county, and the fine stately rows of pine trees which adorn the landscape. Oran, the eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. Short, is an energetic young farmer and is caring for the farm with ability. He built a neat, modern farm house on the turnpike a few years ago and there he and his cheerful, thrifty wife, formerly Minnie Millott, dwell in comfort. Louie, the only living daughter of our subject, is the wife of Douglas Druley, and mother of Hattie, Maggie, Eva, John and Ernest. Mattie, youngest daughter of Mr. Short. died at the age of ten years, three months and twenty-three days; and Albert and Walter are at home. Mr. and Mrs. Short are consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and in politics Mr. Short is a Republican.
Four brothers of Mr. Short were Union soldiers in the civil war, Jasper N., Winster M., Alonzio P. and Albert. Alonzio P. rendered service for four long years in a cavalry regiment, and yet was never wounded. He and the subject of the foregoing sketch are the only sons now living.
Source:
Biographical and Genealogical History of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin Counties, Indiana, Volume 1, The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, 1899