SPENCER G. BEVILHIMER. For more than sixty years a resident of Madison County, Mr. Bevilhimer is one of the citizens whose name and a brief record of whose career should be permanently recorded in any history of the community, He represents a family which had its part in the early development of the County, he was himself one of the Madison County’s soldiers for the war of the Rebellion, and since his return to the County as a veteran soldier he has had his full share in the responsibilities of making a living and providing for home and family, and has also discharged his duties to the general community, with an efficiency which brings him honor.
Spencer Gorland Bevilhimer whose farm of one hundred and fifteen acres is situated in Lafayette Township was born September 12, 1845, in Franklin County, Indiana, His parents were Charles and Sarah (Gorland) Bevilhimer, The father, a native of Pennsylvania, had the following family of children: Susan, deceased; George, who was a soldier of the Civil war, and now deceased; Edmund, deceased, also a soldier of the war; Spencer G.; Sarah, Elmer, and Anna, deceased; Charles M.; and Lewis.
The father brought his family to Madison County in October, 1849, and located his home in Lafayette Township, It was in this vicinity therefore that Spencer G. Bevilhimer spent his early career and when he was a boy he went to school in an old log school house, which stood in the neighborhood, He is probably one of the few citizens still living in this County whose early schooldays were passed in one of the old-time structures, with its slab basis, its fireplace, and its generally rough and primitive accommodations and facilities. During his school days he also worked on the home farm, and in this way passed his years until he was eighteen. Then in 1863 at Anderson he enlisted in Company B. of the One Hundred and Thirtieth Indiana Infantry under Captain E B. Downe and W. H. Mays, The One Hundred and Thirtieth Indiana was assigned to the First Brigade, second division, of the Twenty-third Army Corps, under General Scofield, The brigade contained the following regiments, the Third and Sixth Tennessee; the Fourteenth Kentucky; the Twenty-Fifth Michigan; the Ninety-Ninth Ohio, and the Sixth Michigan Battery, comprising about 3,500 men in all. The engagements in which Mr. Bevilhimer and his regiment participated were as follows: Taylors Ridge in Georgia, Rocky Face, Snake Creek, Buzzards Roost, Sugar Valley, Burnt Hickory, Kingston, Rome, Resaca, Pumpkin- vine Creek, New Hope Church, Pine Mountain, Lost Mountain, Culp’s Farm, Kenesaw Mountain, Marietta, Chattahoochee River, Peach Tree Creek, Decatur, Atlanta, Rough and Ready, Jonesboro, Lovejoy, Rome, Nashville, Kingston, and the final surrender of Johnson, the Confederate leader at Greensboro, North Carolina.
After the war Mr. Bevilhimer returned to this County and began his practical career as a farmer, He rented land from Stephen Kerr, and it was as a tenant and by hard labor and good management that he finally secured enough to provide for a home and to buy land for his career as an independent farmer.
On December 23, 1866, he married Miss Eliza J. Jenkins, a daughter of Daniel and Tabitha (Moore) Jenkins, from Pike County, Ohio. The parents settled in Lafayette Township, Her mother’s father, Samuel Moore, was one of the early pioneers, Mrs. Bevilhimer has one sister and brother living. Isaac Jenkins of Anderson and Mrs. Thompson. Mr. and Mrs. Bevilhimer attended the same school. The nine children of Mr. and Mrs. Bevilhimer are Altha, Nora, Frank, Amanda, Anna, Wade, Walter, Lethie and Nila, Mr. Bevilhimer is a past commander of his G. A. R. Post No. 244 at Anderson. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Masonic Order Lodge No, 78 at Anderson, and with Commandery No, 32 K. P. He is a member of the Methodist church and in politics affiliated with the principles of the new Progressive party.