CHANCEY VERMILLION. On the first day of January, 1910, Chancey Vermillion, a pioneer resident of Richland Township, and Madison County, died at his home, full of years and leaving behind him a record for useful living that will be an honor to his memory far into the future, For seventy-six years he was a resident of Madison County, and few there are who won a more secure position in the hearts and minds of the people than did he, A farmer of the most prosperous order, he was long known to be a man of means, and he retained to his last years an active interest in farms and farming in and about the County.
A son of Jesse and Catherine (Justice) Vermillion; he was born on the 12th of May, 1834, on the home farm in Monroe Township, where the family settled when they migrated from Lawrence County, Ohio, Jesse Vermillion was then a young man, ‘just launching out into independent life, and he gained a foothold in the new country in 1835 by entering a tract of one hundred and sixty acres of government land in Monroe Township, where the family home was maintained for years. There the children were reared, and there Chancey Vermillion passed the early years when character was being firmly moulded and habits of integrity and industry formed that were destined to direct the course of his future life, When Jesse Vermillion died he left a family of six children, Chancey was the oldest, and the others were Elizabeth, Cynthia, Columbus, Samuel and Sarah.
The schooling of Chancey Vermillion was limited to a few months in a most inadequate and inefficient log-cabin school peculiar to that early day, but it is a significant fact that he did not permit himself to be restricted in the matter of improving his knowledge, He showed himself in many ways to be a man of ambition, but not the least of these was his application to books all through his life. He came to be thoroughly familiar with the world’s best literature, and was ever a close student and withal an intelligent and understanding one, of Biblical history,. When a boy at home he worked for his father, and later, when the elder man opened a store at Fairmount, he went into the store as his father’s assistant, With the approach of manhood the young man undertook farming for himself, and he began his independent life on the old homestead that his father had entered from the government in earlier years, His farm of one hundred and forty acres on the Moonsville Pike, some six miles from Anderson, he came into possession of in later years, and there the bulk of his accumulations was brought together. He was a capable farmer, and one who kept well abreast of the times, owilling and eager to know the best in relation to the performance of his regular daily tasks. That progressive and enterprising spirit won for him his position of prominence in the community, his reputation for efficiency throughout the County and all the material success that came his way in life.
The first marriage of Mr. Vermillion was to Amanda Pence, deceased, a daughter of David Pence, Their children were: Mary, who has never married, and Amanda, who married a Mr. Alvin Curtis and has two children, Thurman and Cecil, On the 17th of November, 1863, Mr. Vermillion was married to Miss Esther Keicher, born on her present farm, a daughter of Peter and Katherine (Lambert) Keicher, the father from Tennessee and the mother from Virginia, They were old pioneer residents of Madison County and the first .settlers in the neighborhood. To this second union of Mr. Vermillion were born five children, concerning whom brief mention is made as follows: Alice, the eldest, living at home; Willis, who married Hattie Broadbent, and has a family of four children, Oliver, Easter, Ernest and Stella; John married Bertha Matthew, and they have two daughters, Mary and Marjorie; Elmer married Emma Keicher, and they have four children, Rhea, Doris, Kenneth and Conrad Marshall; Cora is the wife of William Beall, and they have two children, Nondas and Curren.
From his marriage in early life until his passing away Mr. Vermillion was a consistent resident of Richland Township, and his friends were legion. His advice was sought in matters of public welfare, and he served on many occasions as the arbiter of cases of dissension among his fellows, Good citizenship characterized him all his days, and none bore more staunchly their share in the civic responsibilities than did. he, His fine country home was the center of hospitality in the Township, and a great good-will ever prevailed on his dominion, In early life he was an enthusiastic Mason, but in his later years withdrew from his activities in the order and held little or no intercourse with the society, But the spirit of brotherhood, despite that fact, was ever strong within him, as none will gainsay. A Democrat, he gave of his interest and energy to the furtherance of the cause of that party, Never a politician, he was yet one who felt a good citizen’s interest in affairs of that ilk, and he played well his part as a member of the party all the years of his life, His death, which resulted from the effects of a paralytic stroke suffered some months previously, removed from Richland Township one of the most honored and loved men that ever shared in the daily life of that community, and though three years have passed since his going, his memory is still fresh in the hearts of all who knew him.