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

THOMAS V. CALDWELL In nearly every community have lived individuals who by
their innate ability and sheer force of character have risen above their fellows who have
been content to merely drift with the current. Of the former class was the late Thomas V.
Caldwell, who for many years, was identified with the agricultural life of Sugar Creek
township, Boone county, his career as a progressive man of affairs having been
synonymous with all that was upright and honorable in citizenship. He contributed freely
to the maintenance of his church and all other institutions which he deemed would make
for the general good, using his influence in a general way to advance the public good and
the individual interests of his neighbors and close friends. He was a public-spirited citizen
and a whole-souled gentleman, whom to know was to admire and respect, and he not
only delighted in public improvements, but liked to see also the promotion of such
interests as were conducive to the comfort and happiness of his fellow citizens. The life
of Mr. Caldwell most happily illustrates what one may accomplish by faithful and
persistent effort in carrying out noble purposes, even in the face of discouraging
circumstances. It is the story of a life that has made the world better for his having lived
in it, for his actions sprang from a heart filled with the best feeling for humanity and was
a blessing to all who were within range of his influence. Personally, Mr. Caldwell was a
broad-minded, obliging, genial gentleman, his private character having always been
unassailable. His life may be safely imitated by the young, and the great amount of good
which he did, while laboring for his own advancement and that of his family, will never
be fully known until the last great day when the book of life shall be opened and every
man receive due credit for his works, his actions and his influence while on earth.

Mr. Caldwell was born in Franklin county, Indiana, March 16, 1834. He was a son of
David and Elizabeth (Wanzsly) Caldwell, natives of Ohio and early settlers in Franklin
county, Indiana, later removing to Decatur county, this state, and finally to Warwick
county where they died, having devoted their lives to farming.

Thomas V. Caldwell was reared on the home farm and worked hard in those early times,
and he received a meager education in the old-time subscription schools. When twenty-
two years of age he began farming for himself on the home place and when the Civil war
came on, he enlisted in the Forty-second Indiana Volunteer Infantry and proved to be a
most faithful and gallant soldier for the Union. He was on furlough in Marion county, this
state, when he married, February 11, 1864, Elizabeth Clark, who was born February 10,
1834, in Jennings county, Indiana, from which her parents moved to Marion county in
1835. After his marriage Mr. Caldwell returned to his regiment in the field and he was in
many battles but was never wounded. He was honorably discharged in July, 1865. After
the war he moved to Boone county and purchased a farm in Jefferson township, forty
acres lying in section 16, thirty acres of which was timbered and on it stood a log cabin
and a log stable. He set to work with a will and cleared and developed the place and built
a comfortable house and there he resided fifteen years when he sold out and moved to
Washington township, buying one hundred and twenty acres. This he sold two years later
and bought an eighty acre farm of which only about thirteen acres were cleared. He began
farming here in 1883 and continued successfully as a general farmer and stock miser until
his death.

Politically, Mr. Caldwell was an ardent Republican. He was a member of the Grand
Army of the Republic at Thorntown. He was a devout member of the Presbyterian church
and active in the affairs of the same. He was for many years a member of the Presbyterian
session.

Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Caldwell, namely: Edward M., who was killed
in Nashville, Tennessee in 1896; Anna E. lives with her mother in Thorntown; and Irvin,
who lives in LaFayette, Indiana.

CALDWELL CLARK WANZSLY

Submitted by Amy K Davis