Benjamin Wilcox, BiographyPorter County biographical sketches . . . .
Transcribed biography of Benjamin Wilcox
BENJAMIN WILCOX, deceased, was a native of Middletown, Conn., was born May 18, 1816. He was a son of Benjamin Wilcox, who was a ship-builder of Middletown, and of English descent. Benjamin, Jr., spent his early years in his native town, afterward moving with his parents to LeRoy, N. Y., and from that time started in life on his own responsibility. He taught school and worked his own way through college and graduated from Williams College in about 1840, and soon after this took the Principalship of Yates Academy, in Orleans County, N. Y., and while officiating in this capacity married in 1843, in Durham, Conn., Miss Harriet M. Parmalee, who was born in December, 1824, and was a daughter of Phineas Parmalee, of Durham. Succeeding his marriage, Mr. Wilcox remained as Principal of Yates Academy for some time, afterward going to Wilson, Niagara County, and assuming the Principalship of the Wilson Collegiate Institute. In 1856, he removed to River Falls, Wis. , and took the Principalship of the academy at that place, and also engaged in a drug trade and farming, and remained there until 1864, when he came to Valparaiso, Ind., and took charge of a school, and afterward was elected Principal of the Public Schools. In 1870, he went to South Bend, and was elected Principal of the Public Schools there, which position he retained until his death, August 16, 1875. His first wife died in 1853, and to their marriage were born three children, all yet living. His second wife was Caroline E. Parmelee, sister of his first wife, and this lady bore him three children, and is yet living in South Bend. Mr. Wilcox was a Republican, a member of the Masonic fraternity, and was an Elder in the Presbyterian Church at the time of his death. W. P. Wilcox, a son by his first marriage, was born in Wilson, N. Y., June 23, 1848. He established his drug store in Valparaiso in 1870, but previous to that time was in the drug trade here, in partnership with W. A. Bryant. He was married. December 31, 1872, to Ella C. DeGroff, of Valparaiso, and to them has been born one son - Willis D.
Source: Goodspeed, Weston A., and Charles Blanchard. 1882. Counties of Porter and Lake, Indiana: Historical and Biographical, Illustrated. Chicago, Illinois: F. A. Battey & Company. 771 p.
Page(s) in Source: 277
This biography has been transcribed exactly as it was originally published in the source. Please note that we do not provide photocopies or digital scans of biographies appearing on this website.
Biography transcribed by Steven R. Shook