My Genealogy Hound

THEODORE J. SHRODE, Principal of the high school at Lynnville, was born in the township and county where he now lives, December 10, 1858, the oldest of five children, all living, born to the marriage of Francis M. Shrode and Mary Taylor. Francis Shrode, father of Francis M., was born of German-Irish parents in Pennsylvania in 1789, and moved to Indiana in about 1816. Francis M. was born in this township June 13, 1835, the twelfth of a family of fourteen children. He died March 29, 1876. His widow was born June 28, 1828, in this county, daughter of Mark and Catharine Taylor, and is yet living. Her father, Mark Taylor, was born August 27, 1806, on Clear Creek, near Princeton, Ind., and was the first white child born between there and the Ohio River. He married in Kentucky, but the greater part of his life has been passed in Indiana. John Taylor, his father, was a soldier for seven years in the Revolutionary war, while John’s brother was a “sermon reader” in the British Army, and a sworn enemy. After the war John settled in North Carolina, but in 1804 walked through Kentucky working at the tinker’s trade. In 1805 he settled in Indiana Territory, dying in 1834. The characteristic features of the lives of our subject’s ancestors were industry, patriotism, longevity and morality. Theodore J. is one of Warrick County’s promising young men. He was left fatherless when eighteen years old, with a debt of $300 on the home of his mother, brothers and sisters. With commendable energy this he paid off, and by the time he attained majority he was sufficiently qualified to teach school. Possessing pride, he has continued storing his mind with useful and valuable material, until he now ranks among the best educators of the county.