My Genealogy Hound

Warren Vertrees, manager and superintendent of the Aurora Mining and Smelting Company, is of French descent, and was born in Morgan County, Ind., July 25, 1827. He is a son of Charles and Gincy (Ballard) Vertrees, who were born in Hardin County, Ky., and Hillsboro, Ohio, respectively. The paternal grandfather, John Vertrees, was born on the river Rhine, in Alsace, France, and came with his brother, Jacob Vertrees, to the United States during the French Revolution. They were of noble birth, but were compelled to leave France, owing to the war. They came to Pennsylvania and thence to Kentucky about the time of Daniel Boone’s settlement, and from these two brothers the Vertrees in the United States have sprung. The grandfather was among the first white settlers of Hardin County, Ky., and there died. The father was reared in Hardin County, Ky., and learned the blacksmith’s trade, but followed the occupation of a farmer. He moved to Morgan County, Ind., about 1820, three years before Indianapolis was laid out. He was compelled to do his milling at Terre Haute and Bloomington. He became a resident of Wabash County, Ind., in 1841, and died there in 1852. Previous to his residence in Wabash County he had resided two years in Springfield, Mo., which was then a village of about 400 inhabitants. The mother died in Indiana in 1860. They were the parents of ten children, only three of whom are living: Warren, Mary (Mrs. Bobbitt) and Jane (Mrs. Jones, a widow). Warren Vertrees was reared on a farm, and remained with his parents until twenty-one years of age, receiving a very limited education in the old log school-houses of early times. In 1855 he moved to Rice County, Minn., where he was engaged in farming until 1866. He represented that county in the State Legislature, and at the latter date moved to Mercer County, Ill., where he remained two years. He then went to St. Francois County, Mo., and in 1869 located about five miles north of Aurora, in Lawrence County, and in 1885 moved to Aurora. The following year he became manager and superintendent of the Aurora Mining and Smelting Company, which position he still holds. He is a candidate on the Union Labor ticket (1888) for State treasurer. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and K. of L. The most of his life has been spent on the frontier among the Indians. In 1847 he married Isabella C. Matlock, a native of Hendricks County, Ind., who bore him six children, two of whom are living: John H. and Susan R. (Mrs. Stockton, of Eureka Springs, Ark.).