Eighth Generation

2097. Samuel F. Bedwell²⁵⁴ was born on 20 Oct 1861 in Indiana.²⁵⁴ He died after 1930.

• Biography extracted from Centennial History of Grant County, Indiana 1812-1912,
Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago and New York 1914:

SAMUEL F. BEDWELL. Representing one of the old and substantial families of eastern Indiana, Samuel F. Bedwell has spent practically all his life in Grant county, and as a carpenter, lumber mill man and a general business affairs has gained a substantial degree of prosperity at Upland.

Samuel F. Bedwell is of English ancestry, and his grandfather, Samuel Bedwell, was born March 6, 1796, in one of the eastern states. His vocation was farming, and early in the last century he came west and located in Henry county, Indiana. In Henry County he married a Miss Stanley, who was born January 20, 1794. They began their married life in Henry County, and some years later moved into Delaware County, where he did well as a farmer and was also honored my his fellow citizens in the office of township trustee. Still later he and his wife moved to Marion, Indiana, where both died, he on the 26th of December, 1863, and she on December 21st of the same year. They were both supporters of the Methodist church, and assisted in the establishment and maintenance of several churches of that society in the locality where they live. His politics was of the Whig order until the organization of the Republican party. Samuel Bedwell and wife had the following family of children: James, born November 20, 1820, died in California and left a son William; Sarah, born October 5, 1820, died in 1840, as the result of a lightning stroke in Delaware county; Allen, born October 12, 1824, spent most of his life in Wisconsin and Michigan and had a family; Aaron, the father of the Upland business man, is mentioned in a following paragraph; and Hannah W., born March 30, 1832, died at the home of the brother Aaron at the age of thirty-eight years.

Aaron Bedwell, who was born in Henry county, Indiana, June 13, 1830, grew up there and early in the '50's married Nancy Buck. She was born May 31, 1829, in Marion County of this state. About ten years after their marriage they moved to the city of Marion, in 1865, and there Aaron Bedwell continued his business as a cooper and plasterer with success until his retirement. He died while living with his son in Upland, on May 8, 1875. His widow survived, and she lives in Marion with her daughter, Mrs. Josephine Rhodelamel, still active in mind and body. Her religious faith is in the New Light Christian church, while her husband belonged to the Methodist faith, and in politics was first a Whig and later a Republican. The children of Aaron Bedwell and wife are given record as follows: Sarah E., born February 20, 1854 is the wife of Rev. Samuel Ballenger, a Quaker minister at Upland; William A., born February 17, 1856, is a bachelor and lives in Upland, his business being that of an oil well driller; Charles M., born April 7, 1858, is also engaged in drilling oil wells, and he lives at Upland; Samuel F., is next in line among the children; Adolphus, born October 7, 1863, lives in Marion; Josephine, born March 20, 1867, is the wife of Esta A. Rhodehamel, of Marion; and Matilda, born May 13, 1869, is the wife of James Moore, of Upland.

Samuel F. Bedwell, who was born October 20, 1861, was fourteen years of age when he lost his father, and from that time was dependent upon his own resources and activities, and has earned practically every dollar of his present substantial prosperity. Early in life, after getting a fair education in the public schools, he learned the trade of a carpenter and of general wood-working, and for the past sixteen years has been connected with the lumber mill and the house furnishing and supply business in Upland, of which for the past four years he has been superintendent and general manager. His general success as a business man is well represented by his relationship with this firm, and also by his attractive and substantial eight-room residence, which he built at the corner of North Lucas and Washington streets in 1894. He has also been active in local political affairs, and for the past two years has served as a member of the Upland town board, representing the Fifth ward. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias.

At Upland on July 6, 1889, he married Miss Adah A. Huffman, who was born in Monroe township of Grant County February 27, 1868. Her home has been in Upland since she was two years old. Her parents were Samuel and Mary (Bollinger) Huffman, her father a native of Ohio and her mother of Indiana. After their marriage in Jefferson township of this county they lived in Monroe township until 1870, and then located in Upland, where her father was in business until his retirement. On November 13, 1913, he celebrated his seventy-sixth birthday. His wife passed away May 24, 1897. She was born in Grant county May 10, 1844, and belonged to an old family of Quakers, to which faith her husband also belonged.

Mr. and Mrs. Bedwell are the parents of the following children: Grant H., born May 6, 1890, was educated in the public schools, was for a time an electrician and is now a clerk for the Pennsylvania Railway Company at Upland. Orville, born June 20, 1892, is a graduate of the Upland high school. He is a telegraph operator at Upland. Mary, born on Christmas day of 1983, is a graduate of the Upland high school with the class of 1912. She was afterward a student in the Marion Business College, and is now engaged in teaching in the Upland public schools. Herbert, born June 17, 1896, is now a junior in the local high school and shows the quality of his useful enterprise in the operation of a picture show at Upland. Ralph P., born April 12, 1899, is now in the local schools in the grammar department. Lillian, born March 24, 1901, died April 2, 1907. Robert Aaron was born June 2, 1913. Mrs. Bedwell is an active member of the local Quaker church.

• 1900 Census for Jefferson, Grant County, Indiana, shows Samuel F. Bedwell, born Oct 1861, an engineer, as head of household: Adah J., born Jan 1868, his wife of ten years who has had five children with five still living; son Grant, born May 1890; son Orville, born June 1892; daughter Mary, born Dec 1893; son Herbert, born June 1896; and an infant (no name), born April 1899. They are homeowners.

• 1910 Census for Jefferson, Grant County, Indiana, shows Samuel Bedwell, 46, an engineer at a planing mill, as head of household with: Adda, 41, his wife of 21 years who has had six children with five still living; son Grant, 19, a laborer at a planing mill; son Orville, 17; daughter Mary, 16; son Herbert, 13; and son Ralph, 11. They are homeowners.

• 1920 Census for Jefferson, Grant County, Indiana, shows Samuel Bedwell, 58, a laborer at Clancy (?) Mill, as head of household containing: wife Adah, 51; daughter Mary, 26, a public school teacher; son Ralph, 20; and son Robert, 6. They own a home on Lucas Street.

• 1930 Census for Upland, Grant County, Indiana, shows Samuel F. Bidwell, 68, a planer in a planing mill, as head of household consisting of: Adah, 62, his wife of 40 years; son Ralph P., 30, a mailman who is shown as married for two years but there is no wife listed for him; and son Robert, 16. They own a home on Main St. worth $2800.

• I'm not sure how these listings connect with this line of Bedwells, but it must somewhere:

1900 Census for Jefferson, Grant County, Indiana shows Frank Bedwell, born May 1873, a day laborer, and Rosey, born June 1878, his wife of two years who has had two children with none still living.

1910 Census for Upland, Grant County, Indiana shows Frank Bedwell, 36, a laborer at a coal dock, as head of household along with: Rosa, 32, his wife of 12 years who has had five children with five still living; daughter Minnie, 10; daughter Bessie, 9; daughter Katie, 8; and son Guy, 3. (Where is the fifth child?)

1920 Census for Jefferson, Grant County, Indiana shows Katie Bedwell, 18, a cook in a restaurant, as a stepdaughter living in the household of Reed and Rosa Atkinson. Also in the household is Guy E. Bedwell, 13, listed as a stepson.

It looks probable that Rosa/Rosey remarried after having children Katie and Guy Bedwell, but who was Frank? And what happened to him? Why was he not listed in the bio of Samuel F. Bedwell?

Samuel F. Bedwell and Adah A. Huffman were married on 6 Jul 1889 in Upland, Grant County, Indiana.²⁵⁴ Adah A. Huffman²⁵⁴ (daughter of Samuel Huffman and Mary Bollinger) was born on 27 Feb 1868 in Monroe, Grant County, Indiana.²⁵⁴ She died after 1930. Samuel F. Bedwell and Adah A. Huffman had the following children:

+4205
i.
Grant H. Bedwell.
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ii.
Orville Bedwell²⁵⁴ was born on 20 Jun 1892 in Upland, Grant County, Indiana.²⁵⁴
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iii.
Mary Bedwell²⁵⁴ was born on 25 Dec 1893 in Upland, Grant County, Indiana.²⁵⁴
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iv.
Herbert Bedwell²⁵⁴ was born on 17 Jun 1896 in Upland, Grant County, Indiana.²⁵⁴

• An article in the Indianapolis Star, 8 May 1918, includes a notice that "Herbert C. Bedwell, Grant City, Upland, field artillary" graduated from the officers' training school at Camp Stanley, Leon Springs, Texas.
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v.
Ralph Paul Bedwell²⁵⁴ was born on 12 Apr 1899 in Upland, Grant County, Indiana.²⁵⁴

• World War I Draft Registration card, dated 12 Sept 1918, shows Ralph Paul Bedwell, born 12 Apr 1899, single, employed as an assistant undertaker by A.M. Ragsdale of Indianapolis, medium height and build, brown eyes, red hair. Nearest relative is Adah Bedwell, his mother.
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vi.
Lillian Bedwell²⁵⁴ was born on 4 Mar 1901 in Upland, Grant County, Indiana.²⁵⁴ She died on 2 Apr 1907 in Upland, Grant County, Indiana.²⁵⁴
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vii.
Robert Aaron Bedwell²⁵⁴ was born on 2 Jun 1913 in Upland, Grant County, Indiana.²⁵⁴