ELIAS G. DENNEY, who is farming one of the valuable homestead farms of Curry township, is a son of John W. S. and Sarah (Gaskins) Denney, and was born in Curry township June 14. 1853. John W. S. Denney was born December 9. 1809, in Kentucky, and in his early manhood he went from that state to Monroe county, Indiana, with his father, William Denney, who lived the remainder of his life in that county. The son was there married, and about 1850, with his young wife, he came to Curry township and entered eighty acres of land two miles west of Farmersburg, but, selling that tract, went to Vigo county, this state, in 1867, and bought eighty acres, which he sold in 1881, and returning to Curry township, bought the old Spencer farm of one hundred and thirty- four acres, two and a half miles northwest of Shelburn. After disposing of that farm he retired from an active business life and lived among his children until his death in January of 1889. He was a Republican, and both he and his wife were members of the Methodist church. She was born in Washington county, Indiana, April 6, 1816, and died on the 3d of March, 1896, in Fairbanks township. There were eleven children in their family, namely: William, who is residing in Sullivan; Mary Cowen, deceased; Margaret Mitchell, of Middletown; Elizabeth Pogue, also of Middletown; John, whose home is in Farmersburg; America B. Mitchell, deceased; Rose Dilley, of Fairbanks; Elias G., who is mentioned later; Emeline Watson, deceased; Samuel, of Chicago, Illinois; and E. Clay, a resident of Springfield, Illinois.
Passing from the common schools to the seminary at Farmersburg, Elias G. Denney received a good educational training and for five years was a school teacher. After his marriage he bought eighty-five acres of the farm where he now lives, two and a half miles north of Shelburn, and later added thirty-five acres to his original purchase, thus increasing the boundaries of his farm to one hundred and twenty acres, one of the best improved estates in the township, and he is engaged in both grain and stock farming.
On the 9th of February, 1878, Mr. Denney was married to Mary Dilley, who was born in Fairbanks township of Sullivan county October 31, 1856, a daughter of Jonathan R. and Adeline (Henry) Dilley, both of whom were born in Kentucky, and both are now deceased. The father was a life-long farmer, and during the Civil war he served for three years in Company I, Seventy-first Regiment of Indiana Volunteer Infantry, serving under Grant. Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Denney, namely: Grace, who was born in Curry township, May 26, 1879, married William Bennett; James G., born March 21, 1881, is the cashier at the interurban station in Terre Haute; Baxter, born August 29, 1883, is teaching school; Wade, born March 4, 1889, is at home; Gertrude, born January 15, 1894, is attending school: and one, the fourth born, died in infancy. Mr. Denney votes with the Republican party. He is an earnest and faithful member of the Church of Christ, as is also his wife, and he has preached the gospel during the past twenty years. His path has been ever upward through life, and he is numbered among the truest and best citizens of Curry township.