Jacob Daubenspeck (1797 - 1893) and Elizabeth (Mock) Daubenspeck (1802 - 1882) of Rush County, Indiana

I’ve always liked looking at the lists of unclaimed letters that were published in old newspapers. In one such dead-letter-warning-list that I read recently, I found mention of a “Mr. Dobinspeak,” a resident of Rush County, Indiana.

His unique name caught my eye, but I was also intrigued that he was one of only two individuals (Mr. Oneal being the other) that appeared in the list with a title and surname but no first name. I wondered if this was because he was a community elder or otherwise held a position of relative importance to 1842 Rushville. Or, maybe the postmaster that put together the list was unfamiliar with Mr. Dobinspeak, and since the letter was addressed that way, it may have just been published as such. I decided to find out.

In the 1840 Federal Census of Rush County Indiana, there is a Jacob Dobenspec [sic] enumerated with his family. There are ten members of the household in total: four males and six females. The 1840 census listed only heads of households by name. All others were recorded only by age category and sex, so we don’t know for certain who the other family members are. However, there is one female in the household between the ages of 30 and 40 and all others enumerated are 20 years old or younger. It’s relatively safe to assume that the oldest female is Jacob’s wife and all others in the household are probably their children. [2]

In the 1850 census, we learn the name of Jacob’s wife, Elizabeth, and the names of their nine children, the youngest of whom, Marshall, was born after the last decennial federal census. [3] Jacob is 52 years old in this census and Elizabeth is 48. Their eldest child, Wesley, was born in Kentucky, as were Jacob and Elizabeth, but the rest of their children were born in Indiana. Given this information, we search even older census records, hoping to learn when the family arrived in Rush County.

In the 1830 census, Jacob and his family are already present, as is another household of Daubenspikes [sic], this one headed by a man named Peter. They are living in very close proximity to one another, likely making Peter a relative of Jacob’s - perhaps a brother or a cousin. [4] [5]

Peter was between 20 and 30 years of age in 1930, [6] and in 1829, he married Ruth Kitchen in Rush County, Indiana. [7] At the time of the 1840 census, Peter and his family had moved to Pike Township in Marion County, Indiana. [8] This leads me to the conclusion that the “Mr. Dobinspeak” in the dead-letter-warning-list from The True Republican was Jacob and not Peter.

After just a bit more research, it becomes evident that I’ve stumbled upon an interesting character who was indeed a community elder and person of significance in Rush County, Indiana for decades.

The image pictured at left was taken from the memorial page for Jacob on the Find A Grave website. Here, we also learn that Jacob and several of his siblings made their way from Kentucky to Indiana, settling in Miami, Marion, and Rush counties. We also find that branches of this generation of the family also grew in Kentucky and Illinois. [9]

From an online biography of H.E. Daubenspeck, one of Jacob’s grandson’s, we learn that Jacob and his family arrived in Rush County in September of 1827, and that Jacob at one time owned more than 700 acres of farm land in the county. [10] Jacob and his wife Elizabeth were also founding members of the Union Baptist Church, established in 1829, which was reorganized in 1830 as the Church of Christ at Little Blue River. This same church still exists and is today known as the Ben Davis Creek Christian Church. [11] Jacob Daubenspeck was a minister at the Church of Christ at Little Blue River [12] and additionally served as a pastor at the Fairview Christian Church [13] and The Christian Church at Arlington, [14] both congregations in Rush County.

The photo at right, which was shared August 29, 2020 on the Facebook page of the Church of Christ at Little Blue River, is an image of the contemporary church. [15]

Within an 1879 biography entitled The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin, there also appears a biographical sketch of Jacob Daubenspeck. Franklin was a pioneer preacher of the Restoration Movement who traveled the Midwest [16] and established a network of like-minded ministers throughout, including Jacob. From this biography we learn that Jacob was born Dec. 9, 1797 in Kentucky and that he arrived in Rush County in 1827, settling on the banks of Ben Davis Creek, about seven miles north of Rushville. [17] The 1879 plat map, pictured at left, shows the location of the Daubenspeck farm along the northern branch of Ben Davis Creek. [18]

Jacob was raised Presbyterian but experienced a spiritual awakening at the age of thirty-two, stating that he had “fallen out with sin, and purposed in his heart to lead a better life.” He initially converted to the Free Will Baptist faith, which was that of the Ben Davis Creek Church at the time of his conversion. However, he quickly found his spiritual home among The Disciples of Christ, and the strength of his faith helped lead the Ben Davis Creek Church to reorganize as well, facilitating the congregation’s reformation to that of the Church of Christ. Jacob ministered for more than fifty years, primarily in Rush and Fayette Counties, and reportedly refused all compensation for his ministerial activities. [19]

We already know that Jacob and his wife Elizabeth, pictured at right, [20] were founding members of the Union Baptist Church, which later became the Ben Davis Creek Christian Church, and that Jacob played a central role in the ministry of both Rush and Fayette counties, traveling extensively to preach, officiate weddings, and to perform baptisms and funeral services. As the research is proving however, Jacob was instrumental in other aspects of Rush County’s development as well, especially the economy of the rural, farming community.

Jacob raised pigs, cows, mules, and horses and did business with a Cincinnati-based pork packing company for decades. [21] In 1869, we find that Jacob was the Vice President of the County Board of Agriculture, [22] and in 1871, along with a Mr. Griffin, Jacob established the Rush County Stock Sales Company. [23]

Without further investigation, it’s impossible to say how long Jacob held a position with the county’s agricultural board or the years in which the Rush County Stock Sales Company was in business. However, the biographical sketches of Jacob from various sources all note that he was an industrious man with seeming boundless energy. Even when he was well into his eighties, these biographies consistently report that he was busier than most men half his age.

Jacob lived to the age of 95, dying in March of 1893. He is buried at the Ben Davis Creek Cemetery in Union Township, Rush County. [24]

The Daubenspeck surname is still prominent Rush County today, an obvious legacy to Jacob and his wife Elizabeth. Perhaps less obvious is the importance of this early settler couple in the religious legacy of the county, which is today home to more than a dozen Restorationist and Disciples of Christ congregations.

Sources:

[1] “List of Letters” The True Republican (Rushville, Indiana), Fri, Jan 7, 1842, Page 3

[2] Jacob Dobenspec household. Year: 1840; Census Place: Union, Rush, Indiana; Roll: 93; Page: 136; Family History Library Film: 0007729, Ancestry, digital image, accessed 7 Apr 2021.

[3] Jacob Daubinspeck household. Year: 1850; Census Place: Union, Rush, Indiana; Roll: 170; Page: 521b, Ancestry, digital image, accessed 7 Apr 2021.

[4] Jacob Daubinspike household. Year: 1830; Census Place: Rush, Indiana; Series: M19; Roll: 26; Page: 299; Family History Library Film: 0007715, Ancestry, digital image, accessed 7 April 2021.

[5] Peter Daubinspike household. Year: 1830; Census Place: Rush, Indiana; Series: M19; Roll: 26; Page: 299; Family History Library Film: 0007715, Ancestry, digital image, accessed 7 Apr 2021.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Peter Dobbinspeck. Indiana, Marriages, 1810-2001. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013., Family Search, index entry, accessed 7 Apr 2021.

[8] Peter Dobinspike household. Year: 1840; Census Place: Pike, Marion, Indiana; Roll: 88; Page: 260; Family History Library Film: 0007727, Ancestry, digital image, accessed 7 April 2021.

[9] Jacob Daubenspeck. Find a Grave, digital image, accessed 9 Apr 2021 from https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/70028541/jacob-daubenspeck.

[10] “Biography of H.E. Daubenspeck,” accessed 9 Apr 2021 from http://www.onlinebiographies.info/in/rush/daubenspeck-he.htm, citing Gary, A., & Thomas, E. (Eds.). (1921). Centennial History of Rush County, Indiana. Indianapolis, IN: Historical Publishing Company.

[11] Gary, A., & Thomas, E. (Eds.). (1921). Centennial History of Rush County, Indiana. Indianapolis, IN: Historical Publishing Company, page 415. Internet Archives, digital image, accessed 9 Apr 2021 from https://archive.org/details/centennialhistor01gary/page/n447/mode/2up?q=%22jacob+daubenspeck%22.

[12] Ibid, page 422.

[13] Ibid, page 417.

[14] Ibid, page 418.

[15] Ben Davis Creek Christian Church. (Aug 29, 2020). Digital image, accessed 9 Apr 2021 from https://www.facebook.com/BenDavisCreekChristianChurch/photos/3264684026980487.

[16] Daugherty, E. (n.d.). Pioneer preachers - Benjamin Franklin. Retrieved 9 Apr 2021 from https://ohiovalleyrestorationresearch.com/preacher-profiles/45-pioneer-preachers-benjamin-franklin

[17] Franklin, Joseph and Headington, J.A. (1879). The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin. St. Louis, MO: J. Burns, publisher, pages 138 - 140. Internet Archives, digital image, accessed 9 Apr 2021 from https://archive.org/details/lifetimesofbenja00franrich/page/138/mode/2up

[18] Beers, J.H. (1879). Atlas of Rush County, Indiana: to which are added various general maps, history, statistics, illustrations. Chicago, IL: J.H. Beers & Co., page 44. Digital Image, accessed 18 Apr 2021 from https://ulib.iupuidigital.org/digital/collection/HistAtlas/id/1786
[19] Franklin, Joseph and Headington, J.A. (1879). The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin. St. Louis, MO: J. Burns, publisher, pages 138 - 140. Internet Archives, digital image, accessed 9 Apr 2021 from https://archive.org/details/lifetimesofbenja00franrich/page/138/mode/2up

[20] Beers, J.H. (1879). Atlas of Rush County, Indiana: to which are added various general maps, history, statistics, illustrations. Chicago, IL: J.H. Beers & Co., page 47. Digital Image, accessed 18 Apr 2021 from https://ulib.iupuidigital.org/digital/collection/HistAtlas/id/1786

[21] Beers, J.H. (1879). Atlas of Rush County, Indiana: to which are added various general maps, history, statistics, illustrations. Chicago, IL: J.H. Beers & Co., page 73. Digital Image, accessed 18 Apr 2021 from https://ulib.iupuidigital.org/digital/collection/HistAtlas/id/1786

[22] Eleventh Annual Report of the Indiana State Board of Agriculture and the Report of Prof. E.T. Cox, State Geologist. (1869) Indianapolis: Alexander H. Conner, printer. page 392. Digital image, accessed 18 Apr 2021 from https://books.google.com/books?id=K6IZAQAAIAAJ

[23] Gary, A., & Thomas, E. (Eds.). (1921). Centennial History of Rush County, Indiana. Indianapolis, IN: Historical Publishing Company, page 415. Internet Archives, digital image, accessed 18 Apr 2021 from https://archive.org/details/centennialhistor01gary/page/n83/mode/2up?q=%22daubenspeck%22

[24] Jacob Daubenspeck. Find a Grave, digital image, accessed 18 Apr 2021 from https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/70028541/jacob-daubenspeck.