Source: History of Boone County, Indiana, by Hon. L.M. Crist, 1914.

FOREST G. BRUSH, D. D. S. The profession of dentistry has an able exponent in
Boone county in the person of Dr. Forest G. Brush, of Zionsville, Indiana, who, because
of his skill and long years of practice here is well known throughout the locality and who
ranks high among his professional brethren in this section of the Hoosier state, being a
member of the Indiana State Dental Society and local societies; for he was, it seem, well
adapted by nature for the vocation which has long claimed his undivided attention, being,
in the first place, a student, so that he has kept well abreast of the times in everything that
pertains to his work, and he is also the possessor of those personal traits which one must
have in order to be popular with the masses. He is a man to be depended upon, and his
hundreds of patients know that they can repose the utmost confidence in him and rely
upon his judgment. He is also of a sociable and optimistic nature; he believes in finding
the silver lining to every cloud, maintaining with the poet Riley, that all clouds have such,
and that the obstacles we daily encounter on the road of life should but serve to arouse
our combative nature and cause us to accomplish more rather than yield to the perverse
rulings of fate.

Dr. Brush was born in Jamestown, Boone county, Indiana, August 26, 1877. He is a son
of Henry C. and Fanny A. (Davis) Brush. Owing to the prominence of the family the
biographer deems it advisable here to give its history in some detail before proceeding
with that of the immediate subject of this article.

Henry C. Brush is a venerable veteran of the Civil war, a substantial farmer and honored
citizen of Lebanon, Boone county. He is a descendant of sterling Scotch and old colonial
stock, originally of the state of New York. John Brush, the great-grandfather of our
subject, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, in which two of his brothers also fought
and were killed at the battle of Cowpens. He married Elizabeth Todd and to them seven
children were born, named as follows: George, Blakley, David, James, Jane, Nancy and
Mary. The family eventually left the Blue Grass state and settled near Waveland,
Montgomery county, Indiana, among the pioneers and there grandfather Brush passed the
remainder of his days. He became a prosperous farmer and gave to each of his children
one hundred and sixty acres of land. He was a typical frontiersman, brave, courageous,
hard-working, hospitable, was a Whig in politics and an influential man in his
community.

James Brush, grandfather of our subject, was born in Shelby county, Kentucky, on a
farm, in the year 1811, and he was nine years old when his parents brought him to
Indiana. He was reared amid pioneer environments and worked hard assisting his father
develop the home farm. Upon reaching manhood he married Elizabeth McCormick, and
they began housekeeping near Ladoga, Montgomery county, and there they remained
until he retired from active life. He then removed to Jamestown, Boone county. To these
parents seven children were born, namely: John A., Ann, Elizabeth, Jennie, Sallie, Eliza
and Henry C., all born on the farm in Montgomery county. Both Mr. and Mrs. Brush
were members of the Methodist Episcopal church in which he was a class leader and
steward. He was a Henry Clay Whig in politics, and later a Republican and a strong
Union man. During the Civil war he had two sons, John A. and Henry C. in the Federal
army. The former served in the famous Eleventh Indiana Volunteer Infantry under Col.
Lew Wallace, who became a famous general, author and statesman. Later John A. Brush
served in the Second Indiana Cavalry until the close of the war, taking part in many
battles. The military record of Henry C. Brush will be referred to in a later paragraph. His
father, James Brush, spent the rest of his days in Boone county, dying here at the age of
seventy years, an honored and respected man.

Henry C. Brush was born January 15, 1847, in Montgomery county, as intimated in the
above paragraph, and there he grew to manhood on the home farm and received the usual
common school education of those early days. During the last of the Civil war he enlisted
in Company G, One Hundred and Sixteenth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, in response to a
call for six months men, under Capt. Robert W. Harrison and Col. William C. Kise. After
a service of seven months he was honorably discharged at Lafayette, Indiana, March 1,
1864. He was with the army in eastern Tennessee, during which time he participated in
the battles of Blue Springs, Greenville, Knoxville, Walker's Ford and Tazewell, proving
to be a very faithful defender of the Union. He was also in a number of hot skirmishes
and did a great deal of hard marching. He was at the front all the while with the exception
of one week when he was confined to the hospital at Knoxville. He was in all the battles,
skirmishes and marches in which his regiment was engaged during that period, and
although he was but a little over seventeen years of age when he returned home he
conducted himself like a veteran while in the service of his country. He then entered the
high school at Ladoga, later spent one term in school at Greencastle, this state. On June
24, 1869, he was married in Hendricks county to Fanny A. Davis, a daughter of Walter
and Mary M. (Spears) Davis. Her father was born in Montgomery county, Kentucky,
December 12, 1823, and was a pioneer and wealthy farmer of Hendricks county. He was
of Welsh descent, and the Spears family was of Scotch extraction. Walter Davis and wife
reared the following children: John S.. Quincy A.. Martha E.. Nancy A., Robert F., Fanny
A., and Charles E. After the death of the mother of the above named children, Walter
Davis married Mary A. Scott, and to this union five children were born, namely: Walter
S., Lorenzo D., Thomas, Myrtle and Edgar L. The father, Walter Davis, was a Republican
in politics, and he belonged to the Methodist Episcopal church in which he took a very
active interest, having been identified with its membership from the age of nineteen years
until his death. In 1835 he moved with his father to Eel River township, Hendricks
county and there he spent the rest of his life, dying there January 11, 1893. Two of his
sons were graduated from DePauw University at Greencastle, one of whom, Walter S.,
later took a post-graduate course at Cornell University, also in Germany and only
recently won high honors in Chicago University. John S. Davis was a soldier in the Fifty-
first Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and took part in the raid of General Straight and he died
of sickness during the service and was buried in the National Cemetery at Nashville,
Tennessee. He was but twenty-one years of age. He was a devout Christian. Quincy A.
Davis was also a soldier in an Indiana regiment during the war between the states.

Soon after their marriage Henry C. Brush and wife located on a farm near Jamestown,
Boone county, on which they remained three years, then moved to Jamestown where they
lived eight years. In 1879 they moved to Lebanon where they still reside. There Mr.
Brush has been successfully engaged in the livery business, also in buying and shipping
horses, doing a large business in the latter for many years, but more recently he has
devoted his attention to dealing in live stock, feeding large numbers for the market, from
time to time, also in farming. He has exercised sound judgment in his affairs and has been
very successful in a material way and ranks among the substantial citizens of the county,
is widely known and highly respected by all. Politically, he is a stanch Republican. He is
a worthy member of the Masonic Order, Boone Lodge No. 9. He is also a non-affiliating
member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and belongs to the Knights of Pythias.
He holds membership in the Rich Mountain Post, Grand Army of the Republic at
Lebanon. He and his wife are faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal church.

Six children were born to Henry C. Brush and wife, named as follows: Mrs. Ada M.
Stonecipher, who lives in Lebanon; Laura died when six years old; Otto T. died when
seven years of age; Dr. Forest G., of this sketch; Jewel died in infancy; and Mrs. Eva L.
Cox, of Danville, Illinois. The father, Henry C. Brush, owns valuable real estate in
Lebanon, including a handsome residence, also a valuable farm near that city. He is
known for his integrity, honest dealings and public-spirit, and his wife, who has been a
true helpmeet, is a woman of refined tastes and many praiseworthy characteristics.

Dr. Forest G. Brush was reared in Lebanon where he received his education in the public
and high schools. He entered the Indiana Dental College at Indianapolis in 1899, where
he made an excellent record and from which he was graduated with honors in 1901,
ranking among the first in his class. Soon thereafter he returned to Boone county and
located for practice in Zionsville where he has since remained, enjoying a large, lucrative
and ever-increasing practice, many of his patrons coming from remote parts of the
country. He has a neat and modernly equipped office where high-grade work is promptly
and satisfactorily done, the latest and most approved methods being employed.
Politically, Dr. Brush is a Republican and fraternally, he belongs to the Knights of
Pythias.

Dr. Brush was married November 22, 1903, to Lynn Belle Richardson, a native of
Hamilton county, this state, and a daughter of W. J. and Sarah E. (Walker) Richardson.
The father was born December 7, 1855, and is a son of George and Margaret Richardson,
the former born in 1830, and the latter in 1833. Mrs. Sarah E. Richardson was born in
Clay county, Indiana, February 14, 1861, and is a daughter of Thomas and Mary Ann
Walker. The latter was born January 24, 1824. She first married David Walker and after
his death she married his brother Thomas Walker, who was born June 4, 1815. To this
last union two children were born, Thomas and Sarah E. The latter married W. J.
Richardson in 1881, and six children were born to them, named as follows: Edward, born
March 21, 1882, married Lulu Barnes; Lynn Belle, born March 16, 1884, is the wife of
Dr. Brush of this sketch; Josephine May, born February 16, 1886, married O. B. Harvey,
a well-to-do farmer, and they have one son, Beeson Harvey; George, born March 26,
1888, married Lulu Davidson; William Clark, born September 6, 1890, who has remained
single, is practicing dentistry at Francesville, Pulaski county, Indiana; Ruth, born
November 20, 1892, died January 14, 1894.

To Dr. Brush and wife one child has been born, Richard Clayon Brush, whose birth
occurred September 20, 1905. He is an exceptionally promising lad, is a favorite among
his little companions, is another Eddie Foy, has a remarkably plastic mind, and can quote
quite extensively from the Bible. Our subject and wife are pleasant people to meet,
genial, refined, well read and obliging; they are popular with the best circles of
Zionsville, and have made a host of friends throughout the southern part of the county
since locating here.

BARNES BRUSH COX DAVIDSON DAVIS HARRISON HARVEY KISE
MCCORMICK RICHARDSON SCOTT SPEARS STONECIPHER TODD WALKER
WALLACE

Submitted by Amy K Davis