Jesse went with the family in the Autum of 1783 to Sevier Co., Tenn.
where he lived until 1808. Jesse and his family setteled at Ripperdam Valley, Harrison Co., IN in 1808, ten miles southwest of Corydon, IN. This couple had 12 children, all information given in J.A. Shields History.
We find that Ellen M. Clark who is the great granddaughter of Jesse Shields, youngest son of Robert and Nancy Shields, is now living in St. Paul, Minn. She was one of the greatest help in securing the names of the
descendants of Jesse and Catherine Fox Shields, both of whom died at Mauckport, IN and are buried in the Shields Plot of the Old Cross Roads Cem. on the Pike between Corydon and Mauckport, about two miles from the latter place. (About 12 miles from Mauckport, IN)See Shields HISTORY, 1980 pg. 69
Family info submitted by Walter S. Beanblossom, Rt. 1, Box 953, Hawesville, KY, 42348, as of 10 Nov 1973.Youngest of the Ten Brothers. He settled at Mauckport in Harrison County, Indiana in 1808. He was a farmer and sheriff.
John A. Shields says Jesse was 3 years old when he was taken to Sevier County, Tennessee. In 1808, he migrated to Ripperdan's Valley in Harrison County, Indiana. He is buried at Old Cross Roads Graveyard, near Mauckport, Indiana.
Jesse Shields served in the War of 1812 in Captain Caleb Newman's Company of Indiana Militia and in Captain John Tipton's Company September 5-20, 1812 to repel an invasion of Indians in Clark County, Indiana. He was commissioned a captain of he Fifth Regiment of Indiana Militia in 1816 and a colonel in 1821.
From SHIELDS FAMILY HISTORY page 71-72
Jesse SHIELDS was the smallest and youngest of hte ten sons of Robert and Nancy Stockton SHIELDS. He was born in the Shanandoah Valley of Virginia March 10, 1782. In the Autum of the year 1803 he was married to Cahterine Fox, of Sevier County, who was born March 26, 1786, and died at Mauckport, Indiana, July 18, 1877. Jesse Shields is one of the immigrant party of SHIELDS who left Sevier County in 1818 and settled along the Ohio River in Indiana. He and his family settled at Ripperdan's Valley, Harrison Couty, Indiana and ten miles southwest of Corydon. He became a man of prominence in county affairs, and died Sept 16, 1848. He was buried in the SHIELDS Plot of the Old Cross Roads Grave Yard on the pike between Corydon and Mauckport, about two miles from the latter place.
They had 12 children, listed in the outline above. Of some of these and their descendants we know but little. Jane was born in 1807 and died in 1848; her husband was W. M. Morrison. John was born in 1811 and died in 1841; his wife was Eliza Marsh. Rachel was born in 1812 and died in 1876; her first husband was William Moore, and her second H. G. Barkwell. Mark Fox was born in 1813 and died in 1838. Catherine was bonr in 1819 and died in 1867; her husband was Jonathan Hisey, and they had a daughter Mary who married Horace Sonner. Maryt Parmelia was born in 1828 and died in 1851; her husband was Clark Highfill. Such information as we have of the other chidlren of Jesse and Cathrine Fox Shields is listed under their respective names below.
See notes under Robert Welch. Ann came to America in 1820 with her
daughter. She was living with Robert and Elizabeth Welch in the 1850 census of Ross Co., Ohio, Jefferson Twp. Dist 131. She died sometime after that as she is not found in further records with any of the family.In the Baptismal, burial records of The Parish of Sigglesthorne, Yorkshire, England are some Smith names which are probably closely related to Ann Smith, as they also are listed as from Seaton.
BURIALS 1795
June 18th, Mary Daughter of John Smith of Seaton
July 1 st. Ann daughter of John Smith of SeatonMarriages, Parish Records of Catwich in the Archdioces of
the Last Rising of the County of York
November 27th, 1800 John Bowes, Widower and Ann Goforth of this Parish,
Widower were married
In April 1793, a call came for volunteers to put down a threatening raid by the Indians, among those responding were Joseph Shields, then a lad of 18, and Joshua Tipton, his brother in law. After starting, Joshua rode back and
requested Jeannette to name the expected child, if a boy, for him if he failed to return. His premonitions were correct, they were ambushed by a band of Cherokee Indians April 18, 1793. Joshua was killed and Joseph Shields was severely wounded. The baby was named Elizabeth. What trying days were those, testing ones faith and trust in God.From SHIELDS HISTORY, 1980 Pg. 57
Joshua was ambushed and killed by a band of Indians 18 April 1793, in Sevier Co., TN. Janet and her brother, Jesse were given "Letters of Dismission" from the Pigeon Forge Baptist on the 30th of Sept. 1808. This was probably about the time that she moved with her four small children to Seymore, Harrison Co., IN where she lived the rest of her life.From THE TIPTON-HAZELTON-PAYNE-BARR FAMILIES
By Ellen Mae Rose & George H. Rose
Pgs 26-27 Joshua, marriage records of Botetout County show that in 1785 Joshua married Jennett Shields. He moved to Sevier County, TN where he was killed by Indians April 18, 1793. An article in the Outook, Nashville, TN states that, "Joshua Tipton was born in Maryland and came to Tennessee before 1786." He was killed on Little Pigeon River, Sevier County, TN. IT apprears that he was the ancestor of General John Tipton who was prominent in the affairs of early Indiana.NOTES: Tipton1.FTW
He tried to help form the state of Franklin with his brother, John Tipton. Joshua migrated to Eastern TN from Maryland with ihs family. He was killed by Indians in 1793. His widow was pregnant with Agnes at the time of Joshua's death. She took their four children to Indiana Territory fourteen years after his death.
In the fall of 1807 or early 1808, Janet and her family migranted to Inidana and settled at Brinley's Ferry, now Evan's Landing, on the Ohio River in Harrison Co. She later moved to what is now Jackson Co. and lived at her brother, Robert SHIELDS' fort, the present location of Seymour, IN. Janet is buried at Seymour, Indiana. Janet (SHIELDS) Tipton married Joshua Tipton, son of General John Tipton. Joshua was killed by a band of Cherokee Inidans 18 April 1793. Janet and the children moved to Indiana in the fall of 1807 and settled in Harrison Co. on the Ohio River at the fort commanded by her brother, James, located just north of present site of Seymour, where she died in 1827.
To her son, John Tipton, the State of Inidana owes more in it's early history than to any other individual who ever lived within her borders .... military leader, (General in US Army, Statesman, US Commissioner of Indian Affairs (Which he was killed while discharging his duties as an officer of the law.) Line in Record @I6200@ (RIN 288521) from GEDCOM file not recognized:
James, located just north of the present site of Seymour, where she died in 1827.
Born either in Va. or N.C. Jeanette moved with her family and other of the
Shields relatives, among them her brother James Shields, into Southern Indiana in 1807, settling first in Harrison Co., at Brindley Ferry, later moving into Jackson Co. and establishing a fort near the present city of Seymour, IN.Janet Tipton, was appointed teh administrator of the estate of Joshua Tipton, dec's in Jefferson Co., TN. Book 1792-1810, pg. 218. His personal property is listed and "possession of claim of land". There was a sale of this land and purchasers were: Wm. SHIELDS, Janet TIPTON, Col. John RENFRO, Thos. SHIELDS, John JOHNSON, David SHIELDS, John MAHON and Elijah ANDERSON.
See SHIELDS GENEALOGY by Mary O. Derrick Coleman, about 1937 pg. 2 & 3. Jeanette moved with her family and other of the SHIELDS relatives, among them her brother James SHIELDS, into Southern Indiana in 1907, settling first in Harrison Co. at Brindley Ferry, later moving into Jackson Co., and establishing a fort near the present city of Seymour, Indiana.
John TIPTON, only son of Jushua and Jeannette Tipton, married his cousin Jeanette or Jennie SHIELDS, daughter of John SHIELDS.Bill Navey spells this name as Jeanette.Janet was pregnant with Agnes at the time of Joshua's death.
In the fall of 1807 or early 1808, Janet and her family migrated to Indiana and settled at Brimley's Ferry, now Evans Landing on the Ohio River in Harrison County. She later moved to what is now Jackson County and lived at her brother Robert's Shields Fort, the present location of Seymour, Indiana. Janet is buried at Seymour, Indiana.
Janet and her brother Jesse received "Letters of Dismission" from the Pigeon Forge Baptist Church 30 September 1808, probably about the time they moved to Harrison County, Indiana.Her tomstone made was made by her brother James Shields Reads:" In Meomory of Jennet Tipton , Born in Va. March 7, A. D. 1762 died Feb. The 17, A. D. 1827.
SHIELDS FAMILY HISTORY by John Arthur SHIELDS, 1917, pg. 27-28.
Joshua SHIELDS, one of these lads, was born in Knox County, Tennessee. He was married to his cousin, Rhoda Tipton, a daughter of Janet SHIELDS TIPTON. He died in Clay township, Cass County, Indiana. Upon settling in Indiana, in Harrison County, he enrolled in the militia, and served in the war of 1812; he was with General Harrison at Tippecanoe where he was wounded in the arm. He died Jan 22, 1852, and his wife died July 7, 1837. They had five children. ..... All of them died young except Arnet. He was born in Harrison County, Indiana, Jan 28, 1816, and was married to Jane Irvin on May 11, 1837......
SHIELDS GENEALOGY by Mary O. Derrick Coleman, abt 1937.
Joshua, son of Thomas, (See story under father), was one of these brave boys, married his cousin, Rhoda Tipton, a dau. of his Aunt Jeannette and Joshua Tipton. Upon settling in Harrison Co., IN. he enrolled in the Militia and served in the War of 1812. He was with General Harrison at Tippecanoe where he was wounded in the arm.
Their children, John Tipton, Nancy, Agnes, Thomas and Arnet, of whose descendents we know nothing save of Nancy and Arnet. Nancy m. John Lindsey in 1833. Arnet married Jane Irwin 11 May 1837. Their descendants will be found in the history written by J.A. Shields.Judge Little reports Joshua was said to be the first child of European descent born in Sevier County, Tennessee. Joshua served in the War of 1812 and was wounded at Tippecanoe.
Arnett Riley Shields reports that Joshua Shields was born 10 April 1788 in Knox County, Tennessee.
Rhoda was given a "Letter of Dismission" in Dec. 1807, Pigeon Forge Baptist Church records.
Death date also given as 4 July, also died in Cass Co. instead of Harrison Co., IN.
From the book TIPTON FAMILY BY W. HORD TIPTON
In appearance, John was described as small featured, and of medium height. He had grey eyes and stiff sandy hair. He was a typical frontier politician, a hard-drinking, hard-hitting, Indian fighter, an adroit land speculator. He died a very wealthy man and was buried with the Military rites of the Masonic Order.
The Twentieth Century Biographical History of Notable Americans: Volume X, TIPTON, Thomas Warren.
TIPTON, John, Senator, was born in Sevier Co., TN, 14 Aug 1786. Son of Joshua Tipton who was massacred by the Indians, 18 April 1793. He received a limited education, and became prominent as an Indian fighter, and in 1807 he removed with his family to Harrison Co., IN, where he engaged in farming. He was largely instrumental in freeing the district of counterfeiters and horse theives, by whom it was overrun, and in 1809 he joined the company of Yellow Jackets, and served as ensign in the battle of Tippecanoe where on the death of captain and both lieutenants he succeeded to the command of the company. He was appointed in 1820, to select the site for the new capital for Indiana, and described in a journal his search for a locality and the final choosing of Fall Creek. In March, 1923, he was appointed US Indian Agent for the Pottawattamie and Miami tribes. He was elected US Senator to succed Robert Hanna (q.v.), taking his seat, 31 Jan 1832, and was re-elected for a full term expiring 3 March 1839. He purchased extensive tracts of land in Indiana, and gave the site for the city of Columbus, which for a time was known as Tiptonia. He died in Logansport, IN, 5 April 1839.
FAMILY TREE MAKER CD VOL 18, Tree #1918
General and Senator from Indiana
John was a general in the US Army, because of his father's death at the hand of Cherokees and the general terror he experienced as a young boy, John Tipton was born an Indian hater. Further examination of his dealings with the Indians as federal agent, does not totally support that claim. He pursude Indian War parties in his early days and lamented in his writings when they escaped. Although he may have at times taken monetary advantage of his position as commisioner of Indian Affairs through land dealings and hte appointment of friends and relatives to lucrative jobs, he was neither better nor worse than those who served at the time in similar positions. Paul Wallace Gates, Cornell University historian, said in his introduction to "The Tipton Papers," "Rugged, fearless, a hard fighter and a warm friend. Tipton left an indelible mark on the state which had so significantly honored him. Donor of the site of the Battle of Tippecanoe, the memories of which he ever cherished, founder and first citizen of Logansport, friend of Indian Chiefs, yet supporter of frontier demands for the removal of the red man; framer of reform n the national capital, all this might have been placed on his tombstone."
As a minor officer under General William Henry Harrison, Tipton won his first promotion at the Battle of Tippecanoe. He rose rapidly to the rank of Brigadier General in the Indian militia and was later a general in the US Army, United States Commisioner of Indian Affairs and a US Senator from Indiana. As a member of the Indiana Legislature, he was on the committee that selected Indianapolis as teh capital of the state and was on the commision that drew the boundary between Indiana and Illinois from Vincesses to Lake Michigan. He also founded the cities of Columbus (Originally Tiptonia) and Logansport.
John's first wife was Martha Jane SHEILDS, his first cousin and daughter of John SHIELDS, who participated in the Lewis and Clark Expedition. His second wife, Matilda Spencer, was the daughter of a close friend, Spier Spencer.
Captain John Tipton's Company of Mounted Militia, 5th Regiment, Indiana Militia, was ordered into service to repel an invasion of Indians on Clark County, Indiana during the War of 1813. Included in his company were Joseph SHIELDS, ensign; Benjamin SHIELDS, sergent; Joshua SHIELDS, corporal; Jesse SHIELDS, private; and Nathan Veatch, private. The SHIELDS were probably all uncles of John Tipton, and Nathan Veatch was probably the brother of Mary and Martha Veatch. (Tipton.FTW)
John TIPTON (1786-1839) of Logansport, IN. Born in TN. Member of the Indiana State House of Representatives, 1819; US Senator from Indiana, 1832-1839. Internment at Mt. Hope Cemetery. Tipton Co., IN is named for him.
TIPTON, JOHN 1786-1839
Years of Service: 1832-1837; 1837-1839
Party: Jacksonian DemocratTIPTON, John, a Senator from Indiana; born near Sevierville, Sevier Co, TN, 14 Aug 1786; received a limited schooling; moved to Harrison Co., IN, in 1807 and engaged in agricultural pursuits; served with the "Yellow Jackets" in the Tippecanoe campaign and subsequently attained the rank of brigadier general of the Militia; sherriff of Harrison Co., IN, 1816-1819; member of the House of Representatives 1819-1823; one of the commissioners to select a site for a new capital for Indiana in 1820; commissioner to determine the boundary line between Indiana and Illinois 1821. Appointed US Indian agent for the Pottawatamie and Miami tribes 1823; laid out the city of Logansport, IN, in 1828; elected as a Democrat to the US Senate on 9 Dec 1831, to fill a vacancy caused by the death of James Noble; reelected in 1832 and served from 3 January 1832 to 3 March 1839; due to poor heath he declined to be a candidate for reelection in 1838; chairman, Committee on Roads and Canals (Twenty-Fifth Congress), Committee on Indian Affairs (Twenty-Fifth Congress); died in Logansport, Cass Co, IN, on 5 April 1839; interment in Mt. Hope Cemetery.
Biography
American National Biography, Dictionary of American Biography; Blackburn, Glen A. "The Papers of John Tipton." Dr. D. dissertation, Indiana University, 1928; Robertson, Nellie and Dorothy Riker, eds. The John Tipton Papers. 3 Volumes, Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Bureau, 1942.
TIPTON PORTRAIT SELLS FOR $46,000
by Elizabeth Johnson
There as a certain bit of irony surrounding the Gen. John Tipton portrait that sold for $46,000 (no premium) at a Doug Davies auction on 12 June in Lafayette, Indiana. The 50" by 40" oil on canvas was the work of Geortge Winter, a pioneer artist noted for his depictions of Native Americans. It's rather incongruous that the artist who did so mcuh to provide us with an understanding of Indian life along the Wabash River Valley, would be called upon to render a portrait of a soldier/politician instrumental in removing those same people from the state.But first things first. The unsigned portrait was consigned to the sale by the Tipton Masonic Lodge #33 of Logansport, Indiana, of which Tipton was a charter member in 1828. The lodge took on Tipton's name after his death, commemorating the man who was once their Worthy Master as well as Grand Master of the state.
After Tipton's death in April 1839, the Logansport lodge commissioned Winter to paint a portrait of Tipton. The final work was based on a small water color sketch made by Winter the morning after Tipton's death.
Following it's completetion in 1839, the portrait was hung in the lodge, where it remained until this year. In an effort to raise money for a new facility, the lodge chose to auction the painting and replace it with a color photo of the same size.
The fact that the piece was a period portrait of Tipton would have been enough to draw serious interest from a number of collectors and Indiana institutions. Tipton, who came to Indiana from Tennessee, fought with future President, William Henry Harrison against a confederation of Indians on 7 November 1811, at the Battle of Tippecanoe. He commanded rangers in the War of 1812, served as Harrison County Sherriff and as a member of the state legislature, was appointed in 1823 by President James Monroe to be Indian Agent for the Potawatomi and Miami Indian tribes, and was Indiana's first US Senator from 1831 until 1839.
Tipton's feelings toward the Indians were made clear in a letter to Gov. Gibson on 24 April 1813. Then a major, Tipton wrote, "Since I have had command of the militia stationed on the frontiers of Harrison and Clark counties, there has been much mischief done by Indians in those counties. It is much to be designed that those rascals, of whatever tribe they be, harboring about those towns, should be routed, which could be done, with one hundred mounted men in seven days...."
In addition to Tipton;s significant historical role, the portrait was a remarkable find due to the involvement of Winters, whose works seldom come onto the market. Born in England, Winters emigrated to the US in 1830, working primarily as a portrait painter. In 1837, while living in Middletown, OH, he decided to go west after hearing of the impending removal of the Potawatomi Indians from their Wabash Valley Reservations. He wrote that "the enthusiasm of adventure and love of the romantic" led him to the Logansport area "for the purpose (before I should return East) of seeing and learning something of the Indians and exercising the pencil in this direction."
During the late 1830's and early 1840's, Winter completed numerous paintings and sketches, a mixture of both portraits and camp scenes of Potawatomi and Miami Indians. Although the quality of his work has at times been called into question, Winter's depiction of Indian costumes and daily life are unsurpassed. His fascination with his subjects was instrumental in creating a visual history of the same people Tipton once fought against.
When the portrait of Tipton was auctioned in June, the institution that had previously expressed an interest in teh piece were relegated to the role of observers as two private collectors vied for the painting. The winner at $46,000 was Dennis Longmire, a former Indiana resident now living in Texas. Although he also deals in antiques, Longmire plans to keep the painting As it turns out, General Tipton is Longmire's great-great-great grandfather.
Longmire learned of his genealogical link to Tipton years ago while researchign a large horse weathervane from a barn on the Tipton Family estate. He bought the weathervane when the family wanted to sell the piece but didn't want to risk putting it in an auction. At the time of that purchase, Longmire did not know of the family connection. As for the portrait of Tipton, Longmire was well aware of the family ties, a factor that obviously affected the final selling price.
--- Maine Antique Digest, 1996
Tipton County History
Pioneers entering Tipton County during the early 1800's found that the Indians from the Miami, Delaware and Pottowatomie Tribes used the swampy prairies and hardwood forests of the area as a shared hunting ground. Although the Indians may well have resented the entry of white settlers into the area, there is no record of any battle bewteen settlers and Native Americans having ever taken place on the soil of Tipton County.An 1826 treaty with the Indians ceded all the Northwest Portion of Indiana to the government, and established what is now Howard and Tipton Counties as the "Miami Reserve". From 1823 until 1838, the lands within the Reserve were purchased from the Indians, at which point the remaining residents of hte Reserve were "escorted" to their new homes west of the Mississippi.
John Tipton, namesake of the City and County of Tipton, was a native of Tennessee, moving to Harrison Co., IN with his family in 1807 at the age of 11. He joined a militia group known as the "Yellow Jackets" in 1809, and took part in the Battle of Tippecanoe on November 7, 1811. After the battle, Ensign Tipton was elected to take the place of his commanding officer, Captain Spencer, who had fallen during the battle. He was eventually promoted to Brigadier General. Tipton held many civic offices, serving as justice of the Peace in Harrison Co. at the age of 25, and at the age of 30, served two terms as Harrison Co. Sheriff. He was elected to the State Legislature, where he served two terms as Representative, servign on the Commission which selected Indianapolis as the site for the new State Capitol. He later served on a commission established to set the boundary lines between Indiana and Illinois.
Tipton County was organized and named after General John Tipton by an Act of the General Assembly of the State of Indiana on January 15, 1844. Samuel King donated 100 acres of his property to the County for purposes of establishing a county seat. Pioneers discovered that the area was a harsh place to live, with lands covered in dense forest canopy and malarial swamps, offering only sparse amounts of land near creek banks fit for farming. Efforts to clear woodlands and build roads was hampered by the fact that only one gravel pit could be found to supply the needed agrigate. Many of the Pioneers who came to Tipton County emigrated from southern Indiana, adding to immigrants from Germany, Scotland, Sweden, Ireland, England and France. Settlers with an urge to "Push West" came to Indiana from Ohio, Pennsuylvania, Connecticut, Virginia, the Carolinas and Kentucky, making their way to the swampy wilderness of Tipton County.
Indian agent for the Pottawottomies and Miamis; laid ouit Logansport, IN; and was a US Sentor from Indiana, 1832-1839.
He married Miss Shields, daughter of his mother's brother, John SHIELDS, gunsmith and scout of the Lewis and Clark expedition. The last's wife sister of Hugh Lawson White, US Senator from Tennessee and candidate for President. John and Martha SHIELDS were cousins.
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John had an earlier marriage about 1807 and was divorced in 18818.SHIELDS FAMILY HISTORY by John Arthur SHIELDS, 1917, pg. 25.
John Tipton's first wife as his cousin, Jennie Shields, generally thought to have been the only daughter of John SHIELDS, the explorer; of this we have no conclusive evidence. The writer has assumed it to be the case. They had two sons, one whose name is not known, the other named Spier Shields Tipton, who graduated from West Point, was a captain of dragoons in the Mexican War, and later was commander of the Indiana troops.
Tipton's second wife was Matilda Spencer, daughter of his old friend Spier Spencer. Three children were born of this union. George lived and died in Logansport, Indiana. John graduated from West Point and entered the Army, but he died while in California just before the outbreak of the Civil War. Harriet married Thomas S. Du Pont and settled in Oregon, where she died. Several of General Tipton's descendants now live in Loganport and Fort Wayne.
John Tipton died April 5, 1839, and was buried with military honors and in the rites of the Masonic Order. The original of his only protrait hangs in the Masonic Lodge rooms at Logansport, of which Lodge he was one of the founders and for many years a leading member.John Shields, only son of Jeannette Shields and Joshua Tipton, married his cousin, Jeannette Shields, dau. of John Shields.
General and Senator from Indiana.
John was a general in the United States Army, a United States senator, United States Commissioner of Indian Affairs, grand master of the Grand Masonic Lodge of the Northwest Territory and founder of Columbus, Logansport and other cities in Indiana. He surveyed and platted the city of Indianapolis and established the boundary between Indiana and Illinois.
John Arthur Shields said that, because of his father's death at the hands of the Cherokees and the general terror he experienced as a young boy, John Tipton was a born Indian hater. Further examination of his dealings with the Indians as federal Indian agent does not totally support that claim. He pursued Indian war parties in his early days and lamented in his writings when they escaped. Although he may have at times taken monetary advantage of his position as commissioner of Indian affairs through land dealings and the appointment of friends and relatives to lucrative jobs, he was neither better nor wore than those who served at the time in like positions. Paul Wallace Gates, Cornell University historian, said in his introduction to "The Tipton Papers," "Rugged, fearless, a hard fighter and a warm friend, Tipton left an indelible mark on the state which had so signally honored him. Donor of the site of the Battle of Tippecanoe, the memories of which he ever cherished, founder and first citizen of Logansport, friend of Indian chiefs, yet supporter of frontier demands for the removal of the red man; framer of reform legislation for Indian welfare; advocate of internal improvements and careful guardian of Indiana's interests in the national capital, all this might have been placed on his tombstone."
As a minor officer under General William Henry Harrison, Tipton won his first prominence at the Battle of Tippecanoe. He rose rapidly to the rank of brigadier general in the Indiana militia and was later a general in the United States Army, United States commissioner of Indian affairs and a United States senator from Indiana. As a member of the Indiana legislature, he was on the committee that selected Indianapolis as the capital of the state and was on the commission that drew the boundary between Indiana and Illinois from Vincennes to Lake Michigan. He also founded the cities of Columbus (originally called Tiptonia) and Logansport.
John's first wife was Martha Shields, his first cousin and daughter of John Shields, who participated in the Lewis and Clark Expedition. His second wife, Matilda Spencer, was the daughter of a close friend, Spier Spencer.
Captain John Tipton's Company of Mounted Militia, 5th Regiment, Indiana Militia was ordered into service to repel an invasion of Indians on Clark County, Indiana during the War of 1812. Included in his company were Joseph Shields, ensign; Benjamin Shields, sergeant; Joshua Shields, corporal; Jesse Shields, private, and Nathan Veatch, private. The Shields were probably all uncles of John Tipton, and Nathan Veatch was probably the brother of Mary and Martha Veatch.
SUMMARY OF JOHN TIPTON'S LIFE: 1786-1839
14 August 1786--Born in Sevier County, Tennessee
1783--Father Joshua Tipton killed by Cherokees
1807--Moved to Harrison County, Indiana with mother and members of her family, notably her brother James Shields.
20 June 1811--Elected justice of the peace for Harrison County, Indiana.
7 November 1811--Elected captain of Rifle Company following Battle of Tippecanoe.
5 March 1812--Commissioned captain.
14 May 1812--Commissioned major in 5th Regiment, Indiana Militia.
4 June 1813--Commissioned lieutenant colonel in 5th Regiment.
22 April 1814--Commissioned colonel of 5th Regiment.
5 August 1816--Elected sheriff of Harrison County, Indiana.
23 May 1817--Commissioned brigadier general of Third Brigade, Indiana Militia.
July 1817--Divorced from first wife, Martha Shields.
March 1818--Appointed commissioner to relocate Warrick County, Indiana seat.
3 August 1818--Reelected sheriff.
29 December 1819--Appointed commissioner to relocate Owen County, Indiana seat.
11 January 1820--Appointed commissioner to select site for Indiana capital.
7 August 1820--Elected representative to Indiana General Assembly from Harrison County.
14 September 1820--Elected grand master of the Grand Lodge of Masons in Indiana.
3 April 1821--Appointed a commissioner to mark boundary between Indiana and Illinois.
6 August 1821--Elected representative to the General Assembly.
25 January 1822--Commissioned major general, 2d Division, Indiana Militia.
28 March 1823--Appointed Indian agent at Fort Wayne, Indiana.
22 December 1823--Appointment confirmed by United States Senate.
1825--Married Matilda Spencer, daughter of close friend Spier Spencer.
24 May 1826--Appointed commissioner to negotiate treaty with Miami and Potawatomi Indian tribes.
9 January 1828--Appointed commissioner to negotiate with the Eel River Miami tribe for the Thorntown Reserve.
April 1828--Removed the Indian agency to the Miami Reserve, opposite the mouth of the Eel River.
27 November 1828--Elected grand master of the Indiana Grand Lodge of Masons.
9 December 1831--Elected to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of James Noble.
31 December 1831--Resigned as Indian agent.
10 December 1832--Reelected to the United States Senate.
27 August 1838--Appointed by Governor David Wallace to effect the removal of the Potawatomi tribe from Indiana.
3 March 1839--Completed his term in the United States Senate.
5 April 1839--Died at his home at Logansport, Indiana.From Tipton-Hazelton-Payne-Barr Families by Ellen Rose & George H. Rose. 1967 by J. Grant Stevenson publisher, Provo, UT.
Senator John Tipton was the son of Joshua Tipton and grandson of Mordecai Tipton. He was the nephew of William Tipton of Montgomery Co., TN. He was the newphew or great nephew, of Thomas Tipton who when one hundred years old made application for a pension referred to his nephew, U.S. Senator John Tipton, and to his brother William Tipton of Montgomery Co., KY. Joshua Titpon was killed by the Indians at Pigeon Creek on April 18, 1793.
In 1807, John Tipton, son of Josuha, settled in Harrison Co., IN at what was known as Brinley's Ferry. His two sisters, half brother and mother accompanied him. He acquired fifty acres by splitting rails. He joined the militia and became a member of Captain Spencer's Yellow Jackets. He was made the Ensign in the Tippecanoe campaign and on the death of the company commander he was promoted to command his company.
In the course of time he was called upon to conduct compaigns against maurauding Indians. He commanded at Fort Vallonia. On March 23, 1813 he and his company set out to repel a band of marauding Indians. As Tipton;s men approached, the Indians fled on a raft across White River to an island. Tipton divided his men, surprised the Indians killing one and shooting others in teh water. In the course of this battle Tipton had commanded absolute silence. One big talkative fellow insisted on talking as he pleased. Tipton disarmed him, tied him to a tree while bullets flew all around, and so, enforced disipline. To this day the scene of this battle is known as Tipton's Island.
On April 24, 1813 John Tipton addressed the following letter to acting Govenor Gibson:
"Since I have had command of the militia stationed on the frontier of Harrison and Clark counties, there has been much mischief done in those counties, of which I have made a correct report to Col. Robert M. Evans, believing it his duty to make report to you. On the 18th of March one man was killed and three wounded near this place (Vallonia). At that time I was not here. On my return I took twenty nine men and went up Driftwood twenty five miles. I met a party of Indians on an island in the river, a smart skirmish took place; and in twenty minutes I defeated them; killed one dead on the ground and saw some sink in the river; and I believe all taht made their escape by swimming the river, if any done so, lost their guns. I lost no men killed or wounded. On the 16th instant two men were killed and one wounded eight miles southwest of this place, and five horses stolen. I immediately took thirty one men and followed them three days, notwithstanding we had five large creeks to raft, and many more to wade waist deep, and every day heavy rain. The third day I directed my spies to march slow (as my horses were much fatigues) and not try to overtake them until night. But contrary to my orders they came up with one who had stopped to fix his pack and fired on him. From his motions they think him mortally wounded, as he fell, but raised and run away. They all left their horses and other plunder; and the ground being hilly we could not catch them, as they were on high hills and we were in a deep hollow except the spies. Had it not been for my orders being disobeyed, I would certainly have killed them all at their camp teh ensuing night. On their way out they passed the Saline Salt Creek, and there took an old trail leading direct to the Delaware towns; and while the Government is supporting one part of that tribe the other is murdering our citizens."
"It is much to be desired that those rascals of whatever tribe they be, harboring about those towns should be routed, which could be done with one hundred men in seven days. If there is not effective measures taken to guard this place the whole of Clark and Harrison Counties will break. It is rumored that when the militia come out the rangers will be dismissed. If so our case is a dangerous one as it is hard for mounted men to range through the swamps and backwater of Driftwood and Musctituck rivers as they have been, most of the season, more then a mile wide, by reason of low marshy bottoms that overflow, and many times three or four miles wide. They (the Indians) come in and secret themselves on some high ground surrounded with water, and by help of bark canoes come in and do mischief, and until I came out could not be found. Since I came ouit they have made two attempts to take off the horses. The first time on the 12th instant, I took all their horses but one; the last I tok all and followed them with footmen. The last time we lived three days on a little venison, without bread or salt; and I believe if there are to be rangers there should be spies of young and hardy footmen who could lay and scout through the swamps and thickets like the Indians do, and then we'll be secure, not else. I have been constantly out for the last eight days; have seen much signs of Indians, such as camps where they have lain, killed hogs and cattle to live on, and made many canoes to approach our settlements; and I am concious if you had not ordered out the additional companies and made those excellent arrangements of the 9th of February, the whole frontier would have been murdered ere now. The citizens are now living between hope and despair waiting to know their doom."This letter appears in HISTORY of FREEMASONRY in Indiana by Daniel Mc Donald, Indianapolis, 1898.
During the first half of the year, 1813, Tipton took part in several expeditions against the Indians. It will be recalled taht Tecumpseh, the Indian Chief had worked out an alliance with the British. This accounted in great measure for Indian hostility in Indiana. At the declaration of peace ending the War of 1812, President Monroe promoted John Tipton to the rank of brigadier general.
With the wars behind him, General John Tipton returned to Harrison Co. In the course of time he held the following offices.
1) Sheriff of Harrison Co., 1816-1819
2) Member of Commission to locate state capital, Jan 11, 1820.
3) Started on his mission with Govenor Jennings, Jan., 11, 1820.
4) Re elected to state legeslature 1821
5) On commission to fix boundary between Indiana and Chicago, 1822.
6) Appointed general agent for Pottawatomie and Miami Indians by President Monroe. He then moved to Ft. Wayne, 1823.On the death of United States Senator James Noble, Tipton's friends urged him to seek the office. He declined saying he could serve his country best as Indian agent. He did, however, at the entreaty of friends permit his name to be placed in nomination. At this time, all United States Senators were elected by the state legeslature as was provided by the United States Constitution, since amended to provide for election by popular vote. Seven ballots were taken, in the course of which, Tipton's support steadily rose from just one vote on the first ballot to fifty five on the seventh and decideing ballot.
General John Tipton took his seat in the United States Senate January 3, 1832. He was quite active in connection with the Indian affairs. He sought to encourage the Indians to settle disputes between themselves. His participation in debates is recorded in Congressional Debates VIII, pgs., 978 & 991.
Looking back on the life of General John Tipton, we recognize that he rose to public notice because he understood the ways of teh Indian and had the energy and cunning to defeat them at their own game. Settlers looked upon him as their ableprotector. He was a keen marksman, a leader among men, a man of good judgement, and with all, a pretty good student.Democrat
General Military Service ,Senator
FROM THE BOOK TIPTON FAMILY BY W. HORD TIPTON
In appearance, John was described as small featured, and of medium height. He had grey eyes and stiff sandy hair. He was a typical frontier politician, a hard-drinking, hard-hitting, Indian fighter, and an adroit land speculator. He died a very wealthy man and was buried with the Military rites of the Masonic Order.
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF NOTABLE AMERICANS: VOLUME X Tipton, Thomas Warren
TIPTON, John, Senator, was born in Sevier County, Tenn., Aug. 14, 1786; son of Joshua Tipton who was massacred by the Indians, April 18, 1793. He received a limited education, and became prominent as an Indian fighter, and in 1807 he removed with his family to Harrison County, Ind., where he engaged in farming. He was largely instrumental in freeing the district of the counterfeiters and horse thieves, by whom it was overrun, and in 1809 he joined the company of Yellow Jackets, and served as ensign in the battle of Tippecanoe where on the death of the captain and both lieutenants he succeeded to the command of the company. He was appointed brigadier-general of state militia; was sheriff of Harrison county, 1815-19, and was a representative in the state legislature, 1819-23. He was a member of the board of commissioners appointed in 1820, to select the site for a new capital for Indiana, and described in a journal his search for a locality and the final choosing of Fall Creek. In March, 1823, he was appointed U.S. Indian agent for the Pottawattamie and Miami tribes. He was elected U.S. Senator to succeed Robert Hanna (q.v.), taking his seat. Jan. 3, 1832, and was re-elected for a full term expiring March 3, 1839. He purchased extensive tracts of land in Indiana, and gave the site for the city of Columbus, which for a time was known as Tiptonia. He died in Logansport, Ind., April 5, 1839.
FAMILY TREE MAKER CD VOLUME 18, TREE #1918
General and Senator from Indiana.
John was a general in the United States Army, because of his father's death at the hands of Cherokees and the general terror he experienced as a young boy, John Tipton was born an Indian hater. Further examination of his dealings with the Indians as federal agent, does not totally support that claim. He pursued Indian War parties in his early days and lamented in his writings when they escaped. Although he may have at times taken monetary advantage of his position as commissioner of Indian affairs through land dealings and the appointment of friends and relatives to lucrative jobs, he was neither better nor worse than those who served at the time in similar positions. Paul Wallace Gates, Cornell University historian, said in his introduction to "The Tipton Papers," "Rugged, fearless, a hard fighter and a warm friend. Tipton left an indelible mark on the state which had so signally honored him. Donor of the site of the Battle of Tippecanoe, the memories of which he ever cherished, founder and first citizen of Logansport, friend of Indian Chiefs, yet supporter of frontier demands for the removal of the red man; framer of reform legislation for Indian welfare; advocate of internal improvements and careful guardian of Indiana's interests in the national capital, all this might have been placed on his tombstone."
As a minor officer under General William Henry Harrison, Tipton won his first prominence at the Battle of Tippecanoe. He rose rapidly to the rank of brigadier general in the Indiana militia and was later a general in the United States Army, United States commissioner of Indian affairs and a United States senator from Indiana. As a member of the Indiana legislature, he was on the committee that selected Indianapolis as the capital of the state and was on the commission that drew the boundary between Indiana and Illinois from Vincesses to Lake Michigan. He also founded the cities of Columbus (Orignally Tiptonia) and Loganspport.
John's first wife was Martha Jennie Shields, his first cousin and daughter of John Shields, who participated in the Lewis and Clark Expedition. His second wife, Matilda Spencer, was the daughter of a close friend, Spier Spencer.
Captain John Tipton's Company of Mounted Militia, 5th Regiment, Indiana Militia was ordered into service to repel an invasion of Indians on Clark county, Indiana during the War of 1812. Included in his company were Joseph Shields, ensign; Benjamin Shields, sergeant; Joshua Shields, corporal; Jesse Shields, private; and Nathan Veatch, private. The Shieldses were probably all uncles of John Tipton, and Nathan Veatch was probably the brother of Mary and Martha Veatch.
John Tipton (1786-1839) of Logansport, Ind. Born in Tennessee. Member of Indiana state house of representatives, 1819; U.S. Senator from Indiana, 1832-39. Interment at Mt. Hope Cemetery. Tipton County, Ind. is named for him.----------------------------------------------------------------- ------
TIPTON, John, 1786-1839----------------------------------------------------------------- ------
Years of Service: 1832-1837; 1837-1839
Party: Jacksonian; DemocratTIPTON, John, a Senator from Indiana; born near Sevierville, Sevier County, Tenn., August 14, 1786; received a limited schooling; moved to Harrison County, Ind., in 1807 and engaged in agricultural pursuits; served with the 'Yellow Jackets' in the Tippecanoe campaign and subsequently attained the rank of brigadier general of militia; sheriff of Harrison County, Ind., 1816-1819; member, State house of representatives 1819-1823; one of the commissioners to select a site for a new capital for Indiana in 1820; commissioner to determine the boundary line between Indiana and Illinois 1821; appointed United States Indian agent for the Pottawatamie and Miami tribes 1823; laid out the city of Logansport, Ind., in 1828; elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate on December 9, 1831, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of James Noble; reelected in 1832 and served from January 3, 1832, to March 3, 1839; due to poor health declined to be a candidate for reelection in 1838; chairman, Committee on Roads and Canals (Twenty-fifth Congress), Committee on Indian Affairs (Twenty-fifth Congress); died in Logansport, Cass County, Ind., on April 5, 1839; interment in Mount Hope Cemetery.
Bibliography
American National Biography; Dictionary of American Biography; Blackburn, Glen A. 'The Papers of John Tipton.' Ph.D. dissertation, Indiana University, 1928; Robertson, Nellie and Dorothy Riker, eds. The John Tipton Papers. 3 vols. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Bureau, 1942.
Tipton Portrait Sells for $46,000
by Elizabeth JohnsonThere was a certain bit of irony surrounding the Gen. John Tipton portrait that sold for $46,000 (no premium) at a Doug Davies auction on June 12 in Lafayette, Indiana. The 50" x 40" oil on canvas was the work of George Winter, a pioneer artist noted for his depictions of Native Americans. It's rather incongruous that the artist who did so much to provide us with an understanding of Indian life along the Wabash River valley would be called upon to render the portrait of a soldier/politician instrumental in removing those same people from the state.
But first things first. The unsigned portrait was consigned to the sale by the Tipton Masonic Lodge #33 of Logansport, Indiana, of which Tipton was a charter member in 1828. The lodge took on Tipton's name after his death, commemorating the man who was once their Worthy Master as well as Grand Master of the state.
After Tipton's death in April 1839, the Logansport lodge commissioned Winter to paint a portrait of Tipton. The final work was based on a small watercolor sketch made by Winter the morning after Tipton's death.
Following its completion in 1839, the portrait was hung in the lodge, where it remained until this year. In an effort to raise money for a new facility, the lodge chose to auction the painting and replace it with a color photo of the same size.
The fact that the piece was a period portrait of Tipton would have been enough to draw serious interest from a number of collectors and Indiana institutions. Tipton, who came to Indiana from Tennessee, fought with future President William Henry Harrison against a confederation of Indians on November 7, 1811, at the Battle of Tippecanoe. He commanded rangers in the War of 1812, served as Harrison County Sheriff and as a member of the state legislature, was appointed in 1823 by President James Monroe to be Indian Agent for the Potawatomi and Miami Indian tribes, and was Indiana's U.S. Senator from 1831 until 1839.
Tipton's feelings toward the Indians were made clear in a letter to Gov. Gibson on April 24, 1813. Then a major, Tipton wrote, "Since I have had command of the militia stationed on the frontiers of Harrison and Clark counties, there has been much mischief done by Indians in those counties...It is much to be designed that those rascals, of whatever tribe they be, harboring about those towns, should be routed, which could be done, with one hundred mounted men, in seven days...."
In addition to Tipton's significant historical role, the portrait was a remarkable find due to the involvement of Winter, whose works seldom come onto the market. Born in England, Winter emigrated to the United States in 1830, working primarily as a portrait painter. In 1837, while living in Middletown, Ohio, he decided to go west after hearing of the impending removal of the Potawatomi Indians from their Wabash valley reservations. He wrote that "the enthusiasm of adventure and love of the romantic" led him to the Logansport area "for the purpose (before I should return East) of seeing and learning something of the Indians and exercising the pencil in this direction."
During the late 1830's and early 1840's, Winter completed numerous paintings and sketches, a mixture of both portraits and camp scenes of the Potawatomi and Miami Indians. Although the quality of his work has at times been called into question, Winter's depictions of Indian costumes and daily life are unsurpassed. His fascination with his subjects was instrumental in creating a visual history of the same people Tipton once fought against.
When the portrait of Tipton was auctioned in June, the institutions that had previously expressed an interest in the piece were relegated to the role of observers as two private collectors vied for the painting. The winner at $46,000 was Dennis Longmire, a former Indiana resident now living in Texas. Although he also deals in antiques, Longmire plans to keep the painting. As it turns out, Gen. Tipton is Longmire's great-great-great-grandfather.
Longmire learned of his genealogical link to Tipton years ago while researching a large horse weathervane from a barn on the Tipton family's estate. He bought the weathervane when the family wanted to sell the piece but didn't want to risk putting it in an auction. At the time of that purchase, Longmire did not know of the family connection. As for the portrait of Tipton, Longmire was well aware of the family ties, a factor that obviously affected the final selling price.
---Maine Antique Digest, 1996
Tipton County History
Pioneers entering Tipton County during the early 1800's found that Indians from the Miami, Delaware and Pottowatomie tribes used the swampy prairies and hardwood forests of the area as a shared hunting ground. Although the Indians may well have resented the entry of white settlers into the area, there is no record of any battle between settlers and Native Americans having ever taken place on the soil of Tipton County.An 1826 treaty with the Indians ceded all of the Northwest portion of Indiana to the government, and established what is now Howard and Tipton Counties as the "Miami Reserve." From 1823 until 1838, the lands within the Reserve were purchased from the Indians, at which point the remaining residents of the Reserve were "escorted" to their new homes west of the Mississippi.
John Tipton, namesake of the City and County of Tipton, was a native of Tennessee, moving to Harrison County, Indiana with his family in 1807 at the age of 11. He joined a militia group known as the "Yellow Jackets" in 1809, and took part in the Battle of Tippecanoe on November 7, 1811. After the battle, Ensign Tipton was elected to take the place of his commanding officer, Captain Spencer, who had fallen during the battle. He was eventually promoted to Brigadier General. Tipton held many civic offices, serving as Justice of the Peace in Harrison County at the age of 25, and at age 30 served two terms as Harrison County Sheriff. He was elected to the State Legislature, where he served two terms as Representative, serving on the Commission which selected Indianapolis as the site for the new State Capitol. He later served on a commission established to set the boundary line between Indiana and Illinois.
Tipton County was organized and named after General John Tipton by an Act of the General Assembly of the State of Indiana on January 15, 1844. Samuel King donated 100 acres of his property to the County for purposes of establishing a county seat. Pioneers discovered that the area was a harsh place to live, with lands covered in dense forest canopy and malarial swamps offering only sparse amounts of land near creek banks fit for farming. Efforts to clear woodlands and build roads was hampered by the fact that only one gravel pit could be found to supply the needed aggregate. Many of the pioneers who came to Tipton County emigrated from southern Indiana, adding to immigrants from Germany, Scotland, Sweden, Ireland, England and France. Settlers with an urge to "push West" came to Indiana from Ohio, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Virginia, the Carolinas and Kentucky, making their way to the swampy wilderness of Tipton County.
Indian agent for the Pottawottomies and Miamis; laid out Logansport, Ind.; and was U.S. senator from Indiana, 1832-1839.
He married Miss Shields, daughter of his mother's brother, John Shields, gunsmith and scout of the Lewis and Clark expedition. The last's wife sister of Hugh Lawson White, U.S. senator from Tennessee and candidate for President. John and Martha Shields were cousins.
________________________________________________ __________John had an earlier marriage abt 1807 and was divorced in 1818
Martha Jeannette (Jennie) SHIELDS
John A. Shields refers to Joshua Tipton's first wife as Jennie. Later data indicate her name was Martha. Bill Navey also refers to her as Jennie.
John TIPTON and Jeanette were divorced in 1810.
From the book TIPTON FAMILY BY W. HORD TIPTON
In appearance, John was described as small featured, and of medium height. He had grey eyes and stiff sandy hair. He was a typical frontier politician, a hard-drinking, hard-hitting, Indian fighter, an adroit land speculator. He died a very wealthy man and was buried with the Military rites of the Masonic Order.
The Twentieth Century Biographical History of Notable Americans: Volume X, TIPTON, Thomas Warren.
TIPTON, John, Senator, was born in Sevier Co., TN, 14 Aug 1786. Son of Joshua Tipton who was massacred by the Indians, 18 April 1793. He received a limited education, and became prominent as an Indian fighter, and in 1807 he removed with his family to Harrison Co., IN, where he engaged in farming. He was largely instrumental in freeing the district of counterfeiters and horse theives, by whom it was overrun, and in 1809 he joined the company of Yellow Jackets, and served as ensign in the battle of Tippecanoe where on the death of captain and both lieutenants he succeeded to the command of the company. He was appointed in 1820, to select the site for the new capital for Indiana, and described in a journal his search for a locality and the final choosing of Fall Creek. In March, 1923, he was appointed US Indian Agent for the Pottawattamie and Miami tribes. He was elected US Senator to succed Robert Hanna (q.v.), taking his seat, 31 Jan 1832, and was re-elected for a full term expiring 3 March 1839. He purchased extensive tracts of land in Indiana, and gave the site for the city of Columbus, which for a time was known as Tiptonia. He died in Logansport, IN, 5 April 1839.
FAMILY TREE MAKER CD VOL 18, Tree #1918
General and Senator from Indiana
John was a general in the US Army, because of his father's death at the hand of Cherokees and the general terror he experienced as a young boy, John Tipton was born an Indian hater. Further examination of his dealings with the Indians as federal agent, does not totally support that claim. He pursude Indian War parties in his early days and lamented in his writings when they escaped. Although he may have at times taken monetary advantage of his position as commisioner of Indian Affairs through land dealings and hte appointment of friends and relatives to lucrative jobs, he was neither better nor worse than those who served at the time in similar positions. Paul Wallace Gates, Cornell University historian, said in his introduction to "The Tipton Papers," "Rugged, fearless, a hard fighter and a warm friend. Tipton left an indelible mark on the state which had so significantly honored him. Donor of the site of the Battle of Tippecanoe, the memories of which he ever cherished, founder and first citizen of Logansport, friend of Indian Chiefs, yet supporter of frontier demands for the removal of the red man; framer of reform n the national capital, all this might have been placed on his tombstone."
As a minor officer under General William Henry Harrison, Tipton won his first promotion at the Battle of Tippecanoe. He rose rapidly to the rank of Brigadier General in the Indian militia and was later a general in the US Army, United States Commisioner of Indian Affairs and a US Senator from Indiana. As a member of the Indiana Legislature, he was on the committee that selected Indianapolis as teh capital of the state and was on the commision that drew the boundary between Indiana and Illinois from Vincesses to Lake Michigan. He also founded the cities of Columbus (Originally Tiptonia) and Logansport.
John's first wife was Martha Jane SHEILDS, his first cousin and daughter of John SHIELDS, who participated in the Lewis and Clark Expedition. His second wife, Matilda Spencer, was the daughter of a close friend, Spier Spencer.
Captain John Tipton's Company of Mounted Militia, 5th Regiment, Indiana Militia, was ordered into service to repel an invasion of Indians on Clark County, Indiana during the War of 1813. Included in his company were Joseph SHIELDS, ensign; Benjamin SHIELDS, sergent; Joshua SHIELDS, corporal; Jesse SHIELDS, private; and Nathan Veatch, private. The SHIELDS were probably all uncles of John Tipton, and Nathan Veatch was probably the brother of Mary and Martha Veatch. (Tipton.FTW)
John TIPTON (1786-1839) of Logansport, IN. Born in TN. Member of the Indiana State House of Representatives, 1819; US Senator from Indiana, 1832-1839. Internment at Mt. Hope Cemetery. Tipton Co., IN is named for him.
TIPTON, JOHN 1786-1839
Years of Service: 1832-1837; 1837-1839
Party: Jacksonian DemocratTIPTON, John, a Senator from Indiana; born near Sevierville, Sevier Co, TN, 14 Aug 1786; received a limited schooling; moved to Harrison Co., IN, in 1807 and engaged in agricultural pursuits; served with the "Yellow Jackets" in the Tippecanoe campaign and subsequently attained the rank of brigadier general of the Militia; sherriff of Harrison Co., IN, 1816-1819; member of the House of Representatives 1819-1823; one of the commissioners to select a site for a new capital for Indiana in 1820; commissioner to determine the boundary line between Indiana and Illinois 1821. Appointed US Indian agent for the Pottawatamie and Miami tribes 1823; laid out the city of Logansport, IN, in 1828; elected as a Democrat to the US Senate on 9 Dec 1831, to fill a vacancy caused by the death of James Noble; reelected in 1832 and served from 3 January 1832 to 3 March 1839; due to poor heath he declined to be a candidate for reelection in 1838; chairman, Committee on Roads and Canals (Twenty-Fifth Congress), Committee on Indian Affairs (Twenty-Fifth Congress); died in Logansport, Cass Co, IN, on 5 April 1839; interment in Mt. Hope Cemetery.
Biography
American National Biography, Dictionary of American Biography; Blackburn, Glen A. "The Papers of John Tipton." Dr. D. dissertation, Indiana University, 1928; Robertson, Nellie and Dorothy Riker, eds. The John Tipton Papers. 3 Volumes, Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Bureau, 1942.
TIPTON PORTRAIT SELLS FOR $46,000
by Elizabeth Johnson
There as a certain bit of irony surrounding the Gen. John Tipton portrait that sold for $46,000 (no premium) at a Doug Davies auction on 12 June in Lafayette, Indiana. The 50" by 40" oil on canvas was the work of Geortge Winter, a pioneer artist noted for his depictions of Native Americans. It's rather incongruous that the artist who did so mcuh to provide us with an understanding of Indian life along the Wabash River Valley, would be called upon to render a portrait of a soldier/politician instrumental in removing those same people from the state.But first things first. The unsigned portrait was consigned to the sale by the Tipton Masonic Lodge #33 of Logansport, Indiana, of which Tipton was a charter member in 1828. The lodge took on Tipton's name after his death, commemorating the man who was once their Worthy Master as well as Grand Master of the state.
After Tipton's death in April 1839, the Logansport lodge commissioned Winter to paint a portrait of Tipton. The final work was based on a small water color sketch made by Winter the morning after Tipton's death.
Following it's completetion in 1839, the portrait was hung in the lodge, where it remained until this year. In an effort to raise money for a new facility, the lodge chose to auction the painting and replace it with a color photo of the same size.
The fact that the piece was a period portrait of Tipton would have been enough to draw serious interest from a number of collectors and Indiana institutions. Tipton, who came to Indiana from Tennessee, fought with future President, William Henry Harrison against a confederation of Indians on 7 November 1811, at the Battle of Tippecanoe. He commanded rangers in the War of 1812, served as Harrison County Sherriff and as a member of the state legislature, was appointed in 1823 by President James Monroe to be Indian Agent for the Potawatomi and Miami Indian tribes, and was Indiana's first US Senator from 1831 until 1839.
Tipton's feelings toward the Indians were made clear in a letter to Gov. Gibson on 24 April 1813. Then a major, Tipton wrote, "Since I have had command of the militia stationed on the frontiers of Harrison and Clark counties, there has been much mischief done by Indians in those counties. It is much to be designed that those rascals, of whatever tribe they be, harboring about those towns, should be routed, which could be done, with one hundred mounted men in seven days...."
In addition to Tipton;s significant historical role, the portrait was a remarkable find due to the involvement of Winters, whose works seldom come onto the market. Born in England, Winters emigrated to the US in 1830, working primarily as a portrait painter. In 1837, while living in Middletown, OH, he decided to go west after hearing of the impending removal of the Potawatomi Indians from their Wabash Valley Reservations. He wrote that "the enthusiasm of adventure and love of the romantic" led him to the Logansport area "for the purpose (before I should return East) of seeing and learning something of the Indians and exercising the pencil in this direction."
During the late 1830's and early 1840's, Winter completed numerous paintings and sketches, a mixture of both portraits and camp scenes of Potawatomi and Miami Indians. Although the quality of his work has at times been called into question, Winter's depiction of Indian costumes and daily life are unsurpassed. His fascination with his subjects was instrumental in creating a visual history of the same people Tipton once fought against.
When the portrait of Tipton was auctioned in June, the institution that had previously expressed an interest in teh piece were relegated to the role of observers as two private collectors vied for the painting. The winner at $46,000 was Dennis Longmire, a former Indiana resident now living in Texas. Although he also deals in antiques, Longmire plans to keep the painting As it turns out, General Tipton is Longmire's great-great-great grandfather.
Longmire learned of his genealogical link to Tipton years ago while researchign a large horse weathervane from a barn on the Tipton Family estate. He bought the weathervane when the family wanted to sell the piece but didn't want to risk putting it in an auction. At the time of that purchase, Longmire did not know of the family connection. As for the portrait of Tipton, Longmire was well aware of the family ties, a factor that obviously affected the final selling price.
--- Maine Antique Digest, 1996
Tipton County History
Pioneers entering Tipton County during the early 1800's found that the Indians from the Miami, Delaware and Pottowatomie Tribes used the swampy prairies and hardwood forests of the area as a shared hunting ground. Although the Indians may well have resented the entry of white settlers into the area, there is no record of any battle bewteen settlers and Native Americans having ever taken place on the soil of Tipton County.An 1826 treaty with the Indians ceded all the Northwest Portion of Indiana to the government, and established what is now Howard and Tipton Counties as the "Miami Reserve". From 1823 until 1838, the lands within the Reserve were purchased from the Indians, at which point the remaining residents of hte Reserve were "escorted" to their new homes west of the Mississippi.
John Tipton, namesake of the City and County of Tipton, was a native of Tennessee, moving to Harrison Co., IN with his family in 1807 at the age of 11. He joined a militia group known as the "Yellow Jackets" in 1809, and took part in the Battle of Tippecanoe on November 7, 1811. After the battle, Ensign Tipton was elected to take the place of his commanding officer, Captain Spencer, who had fallen during the battle. He was eventually promoted to Brigadier General. Tipton held many civic offices, serving as justice of the Peace in Harrison Co. at the age of 25, and at the age of 30, served two terms as Harrison Co. Sheriff. He was elected to the State Legislature, where he served two terms as Representative, servign on the Commission which selected Indianapolis as the site for the new State Capitol. He later served on a commission established to set the boundary lines between Indiana and Illinois.
Tipton County was organized and named after General John Tipton by an Act of the General Assembly of the State of Indiana on January 15, 1844. Samuel King donated 100 acres of his property to the County for purposes of establishing a county seat. Pioneers discovered that the area was a harsh place to live, with lands covered in dense forest canopy and malarial swamps, offering only sparse amounts of land near creek banks fit for farming. Efforts to clear woodlands and build roads was hampered by the fact that only one gravel pit could be found to supply the needed agrigate. Many of the Pioneers who came to Tipton County emigrated from southern Indiana, adding to immigrants from Germany, Scotland, Sweden, Ireland, England and France. Settlers with an urge to "Push West" came to Indiana from Ohio, Pennsuylvania, Connecticut, Virginia, the Carolinas and Kentucky, making their way to the swampy wilderness of Tipton County.
Indian agent for the Pottawottomies and Miamis; laid ouit Logansport, IN; and was a US Sentor from Indiana, 1832-1839.
He married Miss Shields, daughter of his mother's brother, John SHIELDS, gunsmith and scout of the Lewis and Clark expedition. The last's wife sister of Hugh Lawson White, US Senator from Tennessee and candidate for President. John and Martha SHIELDS were cousins.
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John had an earlier marriage about 1807 and was divorced in 18818.SHIELDS FAMILY HISTORY by John Arthur SHIELDS, 1917, pg. 25.
John Tipton's first wife as his cousin, Jennie Shields, generally thought to have been the only daughter of John SHIELDS, the explorer; of this we have no conclusive evidence. The writer has assumed it to be the case. They had two sons, one whose name is not known, the other named Spier Shields Tipton, who graduated from West Point, was a captain of dragoons in the Mexican War, and later was commander of the Indiana troops.
Tipton's second wife was Matilda Spencer, daughter of his old friend Spier Spencer. Three children were born of this union. George lived and died in Logansport, Indiana. John graduated from West Point and entered the Army, but he died while in California just before the outbreak of the Civil War. Harriet married Thomas S. Du Pont and settled in Oregon, where she died. Several of General Tipton's descendants now live in Loganport and Fort Wayne.
John Tipton died April 5, 1839, and was buried with military honors and in the rites of the Masonic Order. The original of his only protrait hangs in the Masonic Lodge rooms at Logansport, of which Lodge he was one of the founders and for many years a leading member.John Shields, only son of Jeannette Shields and Joshua Tipton, married his cousin, Jeannette Shields, dau. of John Shields.
General and Senator from Indiana.
John was a general in the United States Army, a United States senator, United States Commissioner of Indian Affairs, grand master of the Grand Masonic Lodge of the Northwest Territory and founder of Columbus, Logansport and other cities in Indiana. He surveyed and platted the city of Indianapolis and established the boundary between Indiana and Illinois.
John Arthur Shields said that, because of his father's death at the hands of the Cherokees and the general terror he experienced as a young boy, John Tipton was a born Indian hater. Further examination of his dealings with the Indians as federal Indian agent does not totally support that claim. He pursued Indian war parties in his early days and lamented in his writings when they escaped. Although he may have at times taken monetary advantage of his position as commissioner of Indian affairs through land dealings and the appointment of friends and relatives to lucrative jobs, he was neither better nor wore than those who served at the time in like positions. Paul Wallace Gates, Cornell University historian, said in his introduction to "The Tipton Papers," "Rugged, fearless, a hard fighter and a warm friend, Tipton left an indelible mark on the state which had so signally honored him. Donor of the site of the Battle of Tippecanoe, the memories of which he ever cherished, founder and first citizen of Logansport, friend of Indian chiefs, yet supporter of frontier demands for the removal of the red man; framer of reform legislation for Indian welfare; advocate of internal improvements and careful guardian of Indiana's interests in the national capital, all this might have been placed on his tombstone."
As a minor officer under General William Henry Harrison, Tipton won his first prominence at the Battle of Tippecanoe. He rose rapidly to the rank of brigadier general in the Indiana militia and was later a general in the United States Army, United States commissioner of Indian affairs and a United States senator from Indiana. As a member of the Indiana legislature, he was on the committee that selected Indianapolis as the capital of the state and was on the commission that drew the boundary between Indiana and Illinois from Vincennes to Lake Michigan. He also founded the cities of Columbus (originally called Tiptonia) and Logansport.
John's first wife was Martha Shields, his first cousin and daughter of John Shields, who participated in the Lewis and Clark Expedition. His second wife, Matilda Spencer, was the daughter of a close friend, Spier Spencer.
Captain John Tipton's Company of Mounted Militia, 5th Regiment, Indiana Militia was ordered into service to repel an invasion of Indians on Clark County, Indiana during the War of 1812. Included in his company were Joseph Shields, ensign; Benjamin Shields, sergeant; Joshua Shields, corporal; Jesse Shields, private, and Nathan Veatch, private. The Shields were probably all uncles of John Tipton, and Nathan Veatch was probably the brother of Mary and Martha Veatch.
SUMMARY OF JOHN TIPTON'S LIFE: 1786-1839
14 August 1786--Born in Sevier County, Tennessee
1783--Father Joshua Tipton killed by Cherokees
1807--Moved to Harrison County, Indiana with mother and members of her family, notably her brother James Shields.
20 June 1811--Elected justice of the peace for Harrison County, Indiana.
7 November 1811--Elected captain of Rifle Company following Battle of Tippecanoe.
5 March 1812--Commissioned captain.
14 May 1812--Commissioned major in 5th Regiment, Indiana Militia.
4 June 1813--Commissioned lieutenant colonel in 5th Regiment.
22 April 1814--Commissioned colonel of 5th Regiment.
5 August 1816--Elected sheriff of Harrison County, Indiana.
23 May 1817--Commissioned brigadier general of Third Brigade, Indiana Militia.
July 1817--Divorced from first wife, Martha Shields.
March 1818--Appointed commissioner to relocate Warrick County, Indiana seat.
3 August 1818--Reelected sheriff.
29 December 1819--Appointed commissioner to relocate Owen County, Indiana seat.
11 January 1820--Appointed commissioner to select site for Indiana capital.
7 August 1820--Elected representative to Indiana General Assembly from Harrison County.
14 September 1820--Elected grand master of the Grand Lodge of Masons in Indiana.
3 April 1821--Appointed a commissioner to mark boundary between Indiana and Illinois.
6 August 1821--Elected representative to the General Assembly.
25 January 1822--Commissioned major general, 2d Division, Indiana Militia.
28 March 1823--Appointed Indian agent at Fort Wayne, Indiana.
22 December 1823--Appointment confirmed by United States Senate.
1825--Married Matilda Spencer, daughter of close friend Spier Spencer.
24 May 1826--Appointed commissioner to negotiate treaty with Miami and Potawatomi Indian tribes.
9 January 1828--Appointed commissioner to negotiate with the Eel River Miami tribe for the Thorntown Reserve.
April 1828--Removed the Indian agency to the Miami Reserve, opposite the mouth of the Eel River.
27 November 1828--Elected grand master of the Indiana Grand Lodge of Masons.
9 December 1831--Elected to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of James Noble.
31 December 1831--Resigned as Indian agent.
10 December 1832--Reelected to the United States Senate.
27 August 1838--Appointed by Governor David Wallace to effect the removal of the Potawatomi tribe from Indiana.
3 March 1839--Completed his term in the United States Senate.
5 April 1839--Died at his home at Logansport, Indiana.From Tipton-Hazelton-Payne-Barr Families by Ellen Rose & George H. Rose. 1967 by J. Grant Stevenson publisher, Provo, UT.
Senator John Tipton was the son of Joshua Tipton and grandson of Mordecai Tipton. He was the nephew of William Tipton of Montgomery Co., TN. He was the newphew or great nephew, of Thomas Tipton who when one hundred years old made application for a pension referred to his nephew, U.S. Senator John Tipton, and to his brother William Tipton of Montgomery Co., KY. Joshua Titpon was killed by the Indians at Pigeon Creek on April 18, 1793.
In 1807, John Tipton, son of Josuha, settled in Harrison Co., IN at what was known as Brinley's Ferry. His two sisters, half brother and mother accompanied him. He acquired fifty acres by splitting rails. He joined the militia and became a member of Captain Spencer's Yellow Jackets. He was made the Ensign in the Tippecanoe campaign and on the death of the company commander he was promoted to command his company.
In the course of time he was called upon to conduct compaigns against maurauding Indians. He commanded at Fort Vallonia. On March 23, 1813 he and his company set out to repel a band of marauding Indians. As Tipton;s men approached, the Indians fled on a raft across White River to an island. Tipton divided his men, surprised the Indians killing one and shooting others in teh water. In the course of this battle Tipton had commanded absolute silence. One big talkative fellow insisted on talking as he pleased. Tipton disarmed him, tied him to a tree while bullets flew all around, and so, enforced disipline. To this day the scene of this battle is known as Tipton's Island.
On April 24, 1813 John Tipton addressed the following letter to acting Govenor Gibson:
"Since I have had command of the militia stationed on the frontier of Harrison and Clark counties, there has been much mischief done in those counties, of which I have made a correct report to Col. Robert M. Evans, believing it his duty to make report to you. On the 18th of March one man was killed and three wounded near this place (Vallonia). At that time I was not here. On my return I took twenty nine men and went up Driftwood twenty five miles. I met a party of Indians on an island in the river, a smart skirmish took place; and in twenty minutes I defeated them; killed one dead on the ground and saw some sink in the river; and I believe all taht made their escape by swimming the river, if any done so, lost their guns. I lost no men killed or wounded. On the 16th instant two men were killed and one wounded eight miles southwest of this place, and five horses stolen. I immediately took thirty one men and followed them three days, notwithstanding we had five large creeks to raft, and many more to wade waist deep, and every day heavy rain. The third day I directed my spies to march slow (as my horses were much fatigues) and not try to overtake them until night. But contrary to my orders they came up with one who had stopped to fix his pack and fired on him. From his motions they think him mortally wounded, as he fell, but raised and run away. They all left their horses and other plunder; and the ground being hilly we could not catch them, as they were on high hills and we were in a deep hollow except the spies. Had it not been for my orders being disobeyed, I would certainly have killed them all at their camp teh ensuing night. On their way out they passed the Saline Salt Creek, and there took an old trail leading direct to the Delaware towns; and while the Government is supporting one part of that tribe the other is murdering our citizens."
"It is much to be desired that those rascals of whatever tribe they be, harboring about those towns should be routed, which could be done with one hundred men in seven days. If there is not effective measures taken to guard this place the whole of Clark and Harrison Counties will break. It is rumored that when the militia come out the rangers will be dismissed. If so our case is a dangerous one as it is hard for mounted men to range through the swamps and backwater of Driftwood and Musctituck rivers as they have been, most of the season, more then a mile wide, by reason of low marshy bottoms that overflow, and many times three or four miles wide. They (the Indians) come in and secret themselves on some high ground surrounded with water, and by help of bark canoes come in and do mischief, and until I came out could not be found. Since I came ouit they have made two attempts to take off the horses. The first time on the 12th instant, I took all their horses but one; the last I tok all and followed them with footmen. The last time we lived three days on a little venison, without bread or salt; and I believe if there are to be rangers there should be spies of young and hardy footmen who could lay and scout through the swamps and thickets like the Indians do, and then we'll be secure, not else. I have been constantly out for the last eight days; have seen much signs of Indians, such as camps where they have lain, killed hogs and cattle to live on, and made many canoes to approach our settlements; and I am concious if you had not ordered out the additional companies and made those excellent arrangements of the 9th of February, the whole frontier would have been murdered ere now. The citizens are now living between hope and despair waiting to know their doom."This letter appears in HISTORY of FREEMASONRY in Indiana by Daniel Mc Donald, Indianapolis, 1898.
During the first half of the year, 1813, Tipton took part in several expeditions against the Indians. It will be recalled taht Tecumpseh, the Indian Chief had worked out an alliance with the British. This accounted in great measure for Indian hostility in Indiana. At the declaration of peace ending the War of 1812, President Monroe promoted John Tipton to the rank of brigadier general.
With the wars behind him, General John Tipton returned to Harrison Co. In the course of time he held the following offices.
1) Sheriff of Harrison Co., 1816-1819
2) Member of Commission to locate state capital, Jan 11, 1820.
3) Started on his mission with Govenor Jennings, Jan., 11, 1820.
4) Re elected to state legeslature 1821
5) On commission to fix boundary between Indiana and Chicago, 1822.
6) Appointed general agent for Pottawatomie and Miami Indians by President Monroe. He then moved to Ft. Wayne, 1823.On the death of United States Senator James Noble, Tipton's friends urged him to seek the office. He declined saying he could serve his country best as Indian agent. He did, however, at the entreaty of friends permit his name to be placed in nomination. At this time, all United States Senators were elected by the state legeslature as was provided by the United States Constitution, since amended to provide for election by popular vote. Seven ballots were taken, in the course of which, Tipton's support steadily rose from just one vote on the first ballot to fifty five on the seventh and decideing ballot.
General John Tipton took his seat in the United States Senate January 3, 1832. He was quite active in connection with the Indian affairs. He sought to encourage the Indians to settle disputes between themselves. His participation in debates is recorded in Congressional Debates VIII, pgs., 978 & 991.
Looking back on the life of General John Tipton, we recognize that he rose to public notice because he understood the ways of teh Indian and had the energy and cunning to defeat them at their own game. Settlers looked upon him as their ableprotector. He was a keen marksman, a leader among men, a man of good judgement, and with all, a pretty good student.Democrat
General Military Service ,Senator
FROM THE BOOK TIPTON FAMILY BY W. HORD TIPTON
In appearance, John was described as small featured, and of medium height. He had grey eyes and stiff sandy hair. He was a typical frontier politician, a hard-drinking, hard-hitting, Indian fighter, and an adroit land speculator. He died a very wealthy man and was buried with the Military rites of the Masonic Order.
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF NOTABLE AMERICANS: VOLUME X Tipton, Thomas Warren
TIPTON, John, Senator, was born in Sevier County, Tenn., Aug. 14, 1786; son of Joshua Tipton who was massacred by the Indians, April 18, 1793. He received a limited education, and became prominent as an Indian fighter, and in 1807 he removed with his family to Harrison County, Ind., where he engaged in farming. He was largely instrumental in freeing the district of the counterfeiters and horse thieves, by whom it was overrun, and in 1809 he joined the company of Yellow Jackets, and served as ensign in the battle of Tippecanoe where on the death of the captain and both lieutenants he succeeded to the command of the company. He was appointed brigadier-general of state militia; was sheriff of Harrison county, 1815-19, and was a representative in the state legislature, 1819-23. He was a member of the board of commissioners appointed in 1820, to select the site for a new capital for Indiana, and described in a journal his search for a locality and the final choosing of Fall Creek. In March, 1823, he was appointed U.S. Indian agent for the Pottawattamie and Miami tribes. He was elected U.S. Senator to succeed Robert Hanna (q.v.), taking his seat. Jan. 3, 1832, and was re-elected for a full term expiring March 3, 1839. He purchased extensive tracts of land in Indiana, and gave the site for the city of Columbus, which for a time was known as Tiptonia. He died in Logansport, Ind., April 5, 1839.
FAMILY TREE MAKER CD VOLUME 18, TREE #1918
General and Senator from Indiana.
John was a general in the United States Army, because of his father's death at the hands of Cherokees and the general terror he experienced as a young boy, John Tipton was born an Indian hater. Further examination of his dealings with the Indians as federal agent, does not totally support that claim. He pursued Indian War parties in his early days and lamented in his writings when they escaped. Although he may have at times taken monetary advantage of his position as commissioner of Indian affairs through land dealings and the appointment of friends and relatives to lucrative jobs, he was neither better nor worse than those who served at the time in similar positions. Paul Wallace Gates, Cornell University historian, said in his introduction to "The Tipton Papers," "Rugged, fearless, a hard fighter and a warm friend. Tipton left an indelible mark on the state which had so signally honored him. Donor of the site of the Battle of Tippecanoe, the memories of which he ever cherished, founder and first citizen of Logansport, friend of Indian Chiefs, yet supporter of frontier demands for the removal of the red man; framer of reform legislation for Indian welfare; advocate of internal improvements and careful guardian of Indiana's interests in the national capital, all this might have been placed on his tombstone."
As a minor officer under General William Henry Harrison, Tipton won his first prominence at the Battle of Tippecanoe. He rose rapidly to the rank of brigadier general in the Indiana militia and was later a general in the United States Army, United States commissioner of Indian affairs and a United States senator from Indiana. As a member of the Indiana legislature, he was on the committee that selected Indianapolis as the capital of the state and was on the commission that drew the boundary between Indiana and Illinois from Vincesses to Lake Michigan. He also founded the cities of Columbus (Orignally Tiptonia) and Loganspport.
John's first wife was Martha Jennie Shields, his first cousin and daughter of John Shields, who participated in the Lewis and Clark Expedition. His second wife, Matilda Spencer, was the daughter of a close friend, Spier Spencer.
Captain John Tipton's Company of Mounted Militia, 5th Regiment, Indiana Militia was ordered into service to repel an invasion of Indians on Clark county, Indiana during the War of 1812. Included in his company were Joseph Shields, ensign; Benjamin Shields, sergeant; Joshua Shields, corporal; Jesse Shields, private; and Nathan Veatch, private. The Shieldses were probably all uncles of John Tipton, and Nathan Veatch was probably the brother of Mary and Martha Veatch.
John Tipton (1786-1839) of Logansport, Ind. Born in Tennessee. Member of Indiana state house of representatives, 1819; U.S. Senator from Indiana, 1832-39. Interment at Mt. Hope Cemetery. Tipton County, Ind. is named for him.----------------------------------------------------------------- ------
TIPTON, John, 1786-1839----------------------------------------------------------------- ------
Years of Service: 1832-1837; 1837-1839
Party: Jacksonian; DemocratTIPTON, John, a Senator from Indiana; born near Sevierville, Sevier County, Tenn., August 14, 1786; received a limited schooling; moved to Harrison County, Ind., in 1807 and engaged in agricultural pursuits; served with the 'Yellow Jackets' in the Tippecanoe campaign and subsequently attained the rank of brigadier general of militia; sheriff of Harrison County, Ind., 1816-1819; member, State house of representatives 1819-1823; one of the commissioners to select a site for a new capital for Indiana in 1820; commissioner to determine the boundary line between Indiana and Illinois 1821; appointed United States Indian agent for the Pottawatamie and Miami tribes 1823; laid out the city of Logansport, Ind., in 1828; elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate on December 9, 1831, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of James Noble; reelected in 1832 and served from January 3, 1832, to March 3, 1839; due to poor health declined to be a candidate for reelection in 1838; chairman, Committee on Roads and Canals (Twenty-fifth Congress), Committee on Indian Affairs (Twenty-fifth Congress); died in Logansport, Cass County, Ind., on April 5, 1839; interment in Mount Hope Cemetery.
Bibliography
American National Biography; Dictionary of American Biography; Blackburn, Glen A. 'The Papers of John Tipton.' Ph.D. dissertation, Indiana University, 1928; Robertson, Nellie and Dorothy Riker, eds. The John Tipton Papers. 3 vols. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Bureau, 1942.
Tipton Portrait Sells for $46,000
by Elizabeth JohnsonThere was a certain bit of irony surrounding the Gen. John Tipton portrait that sold for $46,000 (no premium) at a Doug Davies auction on June 12 in Lafayette, Indiana. The 50" x 40" oil on canvas was the work of George Winter, a pioneer artist noted for his depictions of Native Americans. It's rather incongruous that the artist who did so much to provide us with an understanding of Indian life along the Wabash River valley would be called upon to render the portrait of a soldier/politician instrumental in removing those same people from the state.
But first things first. The unsigned portrait was consigned to the sale by the Tipton Masonic Lodge #33 of Logansport, Indiana, of which Tipton was a charter member in 1828. The lodge took on Tipton's name after his death, commemorating the man who was once their Worthy Master as well as Grand Master of the state.
After Tipton's death in April 1839, the Logansport lodge commissioned Winter to paint a portrait of Tipton. The final work was based on a small watercolor sketch made by Winter the morning after Tipton's death.
Following its completion in 1839, the portrait was hung in the lodge, where it remained until this year. In an effort to raise money for a new facility, the lodge chose to auction the painting and replace it with a color photo of the same size.
The fact that the piece was a period portrait of Tipton would have been enough to draw serious interest from a number of collectors and Indiana institutions. Tipton, who came to Indiana from Tennessee, fought with future President William Henry Harrison against a confederation of Indians on November 7, 1811, at the Battle of Tippecanoe. He commanded rangers in the War of 1812, served as Harrison County Sheriff and as a member of the state legislature, was appointed in 1823 by President James Monroe to be Indian Agent for the Potawatomi and Miami Indian tribes, and was Indiana's U.S. Senator from 1831 until 1839.
Tipton's feelings toward the Indians were made clear in a letter to Gov. Gibson on April 24, 1813. Then a major, Tipton wrote, "Since I have had command of the militia stationed on the frontiers of Harrison and Clark counties, there has been much mischief done by Indians in those counties...It is much to be designed that those rascals, of whatever tribe they be, harboring about those towns, should be routed, which could be done, with one hundred mounted men, in seven days...."
In addition to Tipton's significant historical role, the portrait was a remarkable find due to the involvement of Winter, whose works seldom come onto the market. Born in England, Winter emigrated to the United States in 1830, working primarily as a portrait painter. In 1837, while living in Middletown, Ohio, he decided to go west after hearing of the impending removal of the Potawatomi Indians from their Wabash valley reservations. He wrote that "the enthusiasm of adventure and love of the romantic" led him to the Logansport area "for the purpose (before I should return East) of seeing and learning something of the Indians and exercising the pencil in this direction."
During the late 1830's and early 1840's, Winter completed numerous paintings and sketches, a mixture of both portraits and camp scenes of the Potawatomi and Miami Indians. Although the quality of his work has at times been called into question, Winter's depictions of Indian costumes and daily life are unsurpassed. His fascination with his subjects was instrumental in creating a visual history of the same people Tipton once fought against.
When the portrait of Tipton was auctioned in June, the institutions that had previously expressed an interest in the piece were relegated to the role of observers as two private collectors vied for the painting. The winner at $46,000 was Dennis Longmire, a former Indiana resident now living in Texas. Although he also deals in antiques, Longmire plans to keep the painting. As it turns out, Gen. Tipton is Longmire's great-great-great-grandfather.
Longmire learned of his genealogical link to Tipton years ago while researching a large horse weathervane from a barn on the Tipton family's estate. He bought the weathervane when the family wanted to sell the piece but didn't want to risk putting it in an auction. At the time of that purchase, Longmire did not know of the family connection. As for the portrait of Tipton, Longmire was well aware of the family ties, a factor that obviously affected the final selling price.
---Maine Antique Digest, 1996
Tipton County History
Pioneers entering Tipton County during the early 1800's found that Indians from the Miami, Delaware and Pottowatomie tribes used the swampy prairies and hardwood forests of the area as a shared hunting ground. Although the Indians may well have resented the entry of white settlers into the area, there is no record of any battle between settlers and Native Americans having ever taken place on the soil of Tipton County.An 1826 treaty with the Indians ceded all of the Northwest portion of Indiana to the government, and established what is now Howard and Tipton Counties as the "Miami Reserve." From 1823 until 1838, the lands within the Reserve were purchased from the Indians, at which point the remaining residents of the Reserve were "escorted" to their new homes west of the Mississippi.
John Tipton, namesake of the City and County of Tipton, was a native of Tennessee, moving to Harrison County, Indiana with his family in 1807 at the age of 11. He joined a militia group known as the "Yellow Jackets" in 1809, and took part in the Battle of Tippecanoe on November 7, 1811. After the battle, Ensign Tipton was elected to take the place of his commanding officer, Captain Spencer, who had fallen during the battle. He was eventually promoted to Brigadier General. Tipton held many civic offices, serving as Justice of the Peace in Harrison County at the age of 25, and at age 30 served two terms as Harrison County Sheriff. He was elected to the State Legislature, where he served two terms as Representative, serving on the Commission which selected Indianapolis as the site for the new State Capitol. He later served on a commission established to set the boundary line between Indiana and Illinois.
Tipton County was organized and named after General John Tipton by an Act of the General Assembly of the State of Indiana on January 15, 1844. Samuel King donated 100 acres of his property to the County for purposes of establishing a county seat. Pioneers discovered that the area was a harsh place to live, with lands covered in dense forest canopy and malarial swamps offering only sparse amounts of land near creek banks fit for farming. Efforts to clear woodlands and build roads was hampered by the fact that only one gravel pit could be found to supply the needed aggregate. Many of the pioneers who came to Tipton County emigrated from southern Indiana, adding to immigrants from Germany, Scotland, Sweden, Ireland, England and France. Settlers with an urge to "push West" came to Indiana from Ohio, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Virginia, the Carolinas and Kentucky, making their way to the swampy wilderness of Tipton County.
Indian agent for the Pottawottomies and Miamis; laid out Logansport, Ind.; and was U.S. senator from Indiana, 1832-1839.
He married Miss Shields, daughter of his mother's brother, John Shields, gunsmith and scout of the Lewis and Clark expedition. The last's wife sister of Hugh Lawson White, U.S. senator from Tennessee and candidate for President. John and Martha Shields were cousins.
________________________________________________ __________John had an earlier marriage abt 1807 and was divorced in 1818
Marriage may have been in MayDeath date also given as 14th instead of 5th.?
William may have been a relative of Susan Edwards, wife of David Shields.
Birth date also given as 1793.?
Bill Navey gives Elizabeth Tipton's date of birth as 1793.
Thomas Shields, oldest child of Robert and Nancy Stockton Shields was born in 1763 (at the Ft. in Jackson Co., near now Seymour, IN.) and married Rhoda (last name not known). He was the only member of his family killed by the Indians. The story as told by our line of the family says he was killed while plowing corn on his land near the fort. Tradition from those still living in the vacinity of the fort, is that he was shot from ambush on Burch Creek while getting water in his sugar tree orchard with which to boil for sugar. His two little boys, one of whom was named Joshua, saw their father fall and the Indians rush up to scalp him. While the Indians were thus engaged, the boys, eight and ten years of age, unhitched the old blind horse fromt he sled used for hauling the sugar water and mounted the horse and started for the fort over some of the rougher country in Tenn. Only by Omnipotent power could this poor old blind horse have reached the fort without falling. Thus the lives of these two brave boys were saved, they moved to Indiana with Jeanette and family in 1807-1808.
See page 58 of SHIELDS HISTORY, 1980
Thomas SHIELDS enlisted in the Rev. Army under Gen. John Sevier. On 7 Oct. 1780, he fought at the Battle of King's Mountain, one of the most important battles of the war. After being mustered out he spent a year hunting and exploring in what is now the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. For nearly two years more he wandered through the area of the mountains returning to his father's home in Sevier County, where he was married in 1783 (Name of wife unknown). It is told that his son, Joshua, was the first white child born in what is now Sevier Co., TN., in 1785. Reports have been made that there was another son,name unknown, which probably died young since nothing can be found on this child.
In 1795, Thomas and his two small sons were boiling sap in the sugar maple orchard on Birch Creek when he was shot from ambush. Ordering his sons to run, he rolled behind a log within reach of his rifle. He shot one of the Indians before he was killed. Thomas was the only SHIELDS son killed by Indians. His death can be fixed fairly accurately by a newspaper clipping found in the Knox Gazette (Newspaper) dated 6 mar 1797.
"Just as this paper was going to press we received information that Thomas SHILEDS was killed by Indians in Sevier County. They cut his head nearly off, took out his bowells, otherwise shockingly cut and mangled him... The youth lived with his parents Robert SHIELDS an Nancy SHIELDS at the Upper Middle Creek section of the county."Oldest of the Ten Brothers. Was killed by Indians in Tennessee. John A. Shields says Thomas had descendants in Tennessee and Indiana.Judge Littell says Thomas enlisted in the Revolutionary War under General John Sevier. He fought in the Battle of King's Mountain 7 October 1780. After being mustered out of the Army, he spent a year or two hunting and exploring in what is now Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
In 1795, Thomas and his two small sons were boiling sap in the sugar-maple orchard on Birch Creek when he was shot from ambush. He ordered his sons to run and rolled behind a log within reach of his rifle. He shot one Indian before being killed himself. His death was reported in the Knox Gazette of 6 March 1797: "Just as this paper was going to press, we received information that Thos. Shields was killed by Indians in Sevier County. They cut his head nearly off, took out his bowells, otherwise shockingly cut and mangled him. The youth lived with his parents, Robert and Nancy Shields, at Upper Middle Creek section of the county."
John A. Shields says in 1780, Thomas Shields visited his cousins at the Yadkin Settlement in North Carolina, intending to proceed to Daniel Boone's new town at Boonesboro, Kentucky. But, instead, he enlisted in the Revolutionary army under John Sevier. This was a loosely organized but extremely effective band of pioneer mountaineers. On 7 October 1780, he fought at the Battle of King's Mountain, where the British were repulsed and their power in the South broken.
After being mustered out of the army, he spent a year hunting and exploring in what is now Great Smoky Mountain National Park, coming out through the Valley of the Little Pigeon, which would later be his home. For nearly two years after that, he wandered through the highest mountains east of the Rockies in East Tennessee and West North Carolina, returning to his father's home, where he was married in 1783. His son Joshua was the first white child born in what is now Sevier County, Tennessee. Joshua was born in 1785.
John A. Shields says there were 12 Cherokees in the party that ambushed Thomas and his sons.
Moved to Indiana with the rest of the Shields family.