AMANDA (DE BAUN) SHERMAN.-Mrs. Sherman has spent many years of her life in Sullivan county, and is loved and honored for her many sterling characteristics, for her Christian character and for her life of usefulness and helpfulness. She was born near Middletown, in Vigo county, Indiana, August 13, 1840, a daughter of Samuel and Phylinda (Shattuck) De Baun. The father was born on the 14th of January, 1820, in Mercer county, Kentucky, and is now living with his daughter in Farmersburg, but the mother, born April 2, 1817, in the state of New York, died on the 14th of February, 1866.
Samuel De Baun is a son of Samuel, Sr., a native of Kentucky, and he in turn was a son of Joseph De Baun, who was of French descent and was a stone mason throughout his life. His son Samuel embraced the occupation of agriculture. He came to Sullivan county, Indiana, in 1831 and died here in 1833, of cholera. His wife, two of his own children and a son-in-law were also stricken with the dread disease and died. There were nine children in the family of Samuel De Baun, but all are now deceased with the exception of the son Samuel.
Samuel De Baun, Jr., was only thirteen years of age when his father died, and he was yet in his teens when he engaged in the grocery business, but after his marriage he turned his attention to farming in Vigo county and became the owner of seventy-two acres of land. He left the farm after the death of his wife in 1866, and three years afterward, in 1869, he married Susan Earnest, and in the same year went to Shelbyville, Illinois, where he was engaged in the coal business until the death of his second wife in 1886. Coming then to Sullivan county, Indiana, he was engaged in buying and selling live stock until his retirement in 1904. Of the eight children born to Mr. and Mrs. De Baun, five are now living, namely: Amanda, who is mentioned later; William S., who was born December 13, 1841, and resides in El Reno, Oklahoma; Margaret A., born February 26, 1843, resides in Farmersburg; Alonzo, born April 11, 1845, died in infancy; Phylinda and Hilinda, twins, born December 23, 1846, died in infancy; Emily R., born November 9, 1848, resides in Farmersburg; and Isabelle A., born July 18, 1851, is also a resident of Farmersburg.
Mrs. Sherman was left motherless when she was quite young, and for over twenty years in her early life she taught school in Sullivan county. On the 22d of September, 1895, she gave her hand in marriage to Thomas K. Sherman, who was born seven miles west of Sullivan, on the 26th day of September, 1829, and died on the 30th of September, 1903. During the latter part of his life he was engaged in the mercantile business, and was very highly respected by all who knew him. He was an earnest Christian worker, and was an elder in his church, at one time the only one holding the office in the church. One of the most cherished possessions in the home of Mrs. Sherman is an old family Bible which has been handed down from generation to generation in the De Baun family and is now in the possession of Samuel De Baun. At his death it descends to the next oldest living relative. The Bible is a Holland edition, for its first possessor lived in that country, and it is supposed to be several hundred years old, by some said to be six hundred years old, and it has been in America for over three hundred years. Mrs. Sherman is a member of the Christian church, and is an earnest and efficient worker in the cause of Christianity.