John F. Cushman was born in Vernon township at the Cushman home, east of Fortville, March 2, 1847. He is a son of Isaac and Sarah J. (Pritchett) Cushman, his father a native of Pennsylvania, his mother of Ohio. His paternal grandparents were Thomas and Elizabeth (Jenkins) Cushman. Thomas Cushman was born in England and came to America with four brothers about 1832, he located in Pennsylvania and his brothers in New York and other eastern states. He engaged in farming in Pennsylvania for several years and, in 1838, removed to Hancock county and bought a farm east of Fortville, adjoining the farm on which the subject of this sketch was born, and on which he spent his boyhood years. On the maternal side, George and Nancy (Caudell) Pritchett were the grandparents of the subject of this sketch. They were both natives of Ohio, but came to Indiana in early times, about 1838, locating in Vernon township, Hancock county, in the neighborhood of the Cushman home. George Pritchett was a soldier in the War of 1812.

Isaac Cushman was educated in Pennsylvania and came to Indiana with his parents when he was about twenty-one years old. He located in Vernon township, bought a farm and built a home and engaged in farming. He had a farm of one hundred and forty acres on which his home was located, and also owned another tract of eighty acres, which is now owned and occupied as a home by his son, John F. Cushman, the subject of this sketch. The other members of his family are Diana Houp and Mary Bolander.

John F. Cushman was educated in the schools of Vernon township. His school advantages were somewhat limited because of his father not having good health, making it necessary for the boy to do a good share of the farm work. From the time he was eleven years old he worked on the farm and took entire charge of the farm before he had attained his majority. He cleared nearly all the land on the old home place and contributed a full share of the work in converting the unbroken forest into cultivated fields. He now owns the farm of one hundred and eight acres on which is located his present homestead, and a forty-acre tract near by, all of which he cultivates in general farming. Mr. Cushman has been twice married. His first wife was Mary C. Moon, daughter of William Moon, of Madison county, to whom he was married in 1871. To this union four children were born: William, Sarah H., Harry and Anna M. He was married, secondly, in 1890, to Mary J. Price, daughter of Thomas Price, of Buck Creek township, Hancock county. The first two children by this marriage, Ila and John, are dead; Russell is the only living child. Mr. Cushman'a affiliation is with the Baptist church

Transcribed from History of Hancock County, Indiana, Its People, Industries and Institutions by George J. Richman, B. L., Federal Publishing Co., Indianapolis, Indiana, 1916. Pages 901-902.

Submitted by Sylvia (Rose) Duda, Laingsburg, MI September 24, 2001.

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