A Portrait and Biographical Record of Hendricks County (Chicago: A.W. Bowen & Co., 1895)--pages 1027-1030
The Christie family, of Hendricks County, Ind., is one of the most estimated and substantial families of the county, well known for the integrity of its members and their sterling worth, and is an old colonial family of Scotch-Irish stock. The name of the original founder of the family in America is unknown. It is known of him, however, that he was educated in England for a Catholic priest, and that his convictions being strong against that religion, he came to America in order to enjoy religious liberty, and settled in Virginia. It said that he married a lady of refinement in Philadelphia, Pa., and that the only offspring was James Christie, the father of William, who was the original pioneer and founder of the branch of the family in this county. James Christie, when quite a young man, enlisted in the Continental Army and served seven years, or during the entire period of the Revolutionary War. He married on the James River, in Virginia, Sarah Lemon, and settled in Franklin County, Va., where he lived until 1803, when he moved with all his family to Lincoln County, Ky., and the next year to Shelby County, where he taught school until his death, which occurred at the home of his son, Israel.
James and Sarah Christie were the parents of ten children, named as follows: Mary, Christina, William, Sarah, James, Israel, Isaac, Hulda, Elizabeth and John. It is probable that Mary, the oldest child, was born about 1783. She married Evan Miles in 1800, and died at New Marion, Ind., March 15, 1833, the mother of eleven children: Sarah, John, William, Enos, Elizabeth, Jesse, Levi, Isaac, Nancy, Susannah and Hezekiah. Christine, the second child of James, married Abraham Lewis, of Ripley County, Ind. Of William, the third child, a full sketch is given below. Sarah, the fourth child, married Jesse Miles, in Shelby County, Ky., August, 1807, and moved to Indiana in 1814. Mr. Miles was ordained a Baptist Minister in 1829, and preached in Indiana and Wisconsin, and organized churches. He moved to Wisconsin in 1843, lived to be eighty years old, and died in 1870. His wife, Sarah, died in 1881, aged ninety-two years. James, the fifth child of James, was born May 13, 1790; his first marriage was to a Miss Lewis, in 1812; she lived but a short time. They had one child, Hulda. He married Elizabeth Herring, October 23, 1795. Her children are as follows: Louisa, Nancy, James, William, Elizabeth, Mary J., Isaac L. and Preston. The sixth child and third son was Israel, who was born in Franklin County, Va., September 5, 1793. His father moved to Lincoln County, Ky., the same year, and the next year to Shelby County, Ky. He married Elizabeth Cook, December 19, 1815. He lived in Davis County, Mo., until his death, January 21, 1873, in his eightieth year. He and wife were the parents of fifteen children. They all lived to marry. Isaac, the seventh son of James, married Susan Cline. He died in Missouri. There were three children: Lemon, William and Elizabeth. Hulda, the eighth child of James, died when young. Elizabeth, the ninth child, married Hosea Dunn. John, the youngest and the tenth child of James, was born December 8, 1801. He married Elizabeth Brockly; settled in Indiana, Switzerland County, where he died December 8, 1876, and he and wife were the parents of ten children.
William Christie, the oldest son and third child of James, was born August 25, 1786, in Virginia, and was sixteen years old when he moved with his parents from Virginia to Kentucky, and had but little chance to gain any education, but learned to read and write by his own efforts. He first acquired a fair knowledge of law, and was a wide reader of the Bible, and well versed in the general topics of the day. He married, at the age of nineteen years, August 15, 1805, Sarah Miles, who bore him one child, Mary, and died about one year after marriage. Mary, the daughter, married William Vaughn and moved to Illinois, where she died in 1857. On the 20th of February, 1810, Mr. Christie married Elizabeth Miles, a cousin of his first wife. He enlisted in the war of 1812, and served as captain of a pack-horse company. After his return he lived in Kentucky on a farm, and held some local offices. He moved to Indiana, in the fall of 1836, and located in Hendricks County. He first stopped at the house of John Pierson, and afterwards purchased the old homestead, on the Rockville Road, of John Stephenson, where h e lived until his death. To Mr. and Mrs. Christie were born eleven children: Belinda, June 4, 1811; Lemon, October 28, 1812; Elizabeth, August 7, 1815; John, January 6, 1817; James, June 26, 1818; Sarah, January 3, 1820; William, April 11, 1822; Elisha, March 16, 1824; Isaac, February 1, 1826; Israel, February 24, 1828, and Eleanor, August 31, 1832. His wife, Elizabeth, died on the first day of August, 1833, and on the 19th of February, 1834, he married Elizabeth Rodgers. The family is now one of the most extensive in Hendricks County, as all the children, except one, settled in this county, and seven of the original family are still living. When this sketch was written the number of grandchildren was forty-four; great-grandchildren, 127 (living 103); great-great-grandchildren, two. Total number of descendants, 202; living, 156.
William Christie, at the age of eighteen years joined the regular Baptist Church, and for over seventy-three years discharged his duties as a church member, and died May 30, 1878. Politically he was a Jacksonian Democrat. John Christie, the second son of William, was born January 6, 1817, in Shelby County, Ky., and came with his father to this county in 1836. He became a farmer and married Lucinda Bush, December 27, 1842, in Hendricks County, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Horton) Bush. To them were born eight children. After marriage Mr. Christie settled on the land where Thomas J. Christie now lives, then all in the thick woods. This first eighty acres is supposed to be the first entered in Hendricks County, and by a Mr. Tinston. The children are as follows: William, James T., Thomas J., Sarah E. (died about a year old), Lemon M., John W., Franklin D. and George W. After about two years William Christie moved to his father-in-law's farm, William Bush being one of the pioneers of Hendricks County and owned at one time about 400 acres. Mr. Christie remained on the farm until 1865, when he moved to the homestead now occupied by his two youngest sons, George w. and Frank, and here spent the remainder of his days. He died November 8, 1887, aged seventy years. Both Mr. and Mrs. Christie were members of the Regular Baptist Church. He was a man of good business ability, and accumulated about 700 acres of land. He was self-educated and had by study and the reading of good books gained a substantial education.
Thomas Christie was born January 15, 1847, and was brought up a farmer, attending the Danville public schools, and also a short time at the State University. He then taught school in Marion Township, one year in ___ and then made a business trip to Louisiana with stock. He married, September 30, 1874, Mary J. Kreys, daughter of George and Zarelda (Gabbert) Kreys. Mr. Kreys was born in Maryland, of sturdy German stock, the founders of the family settling in Maryland, near the Mason and Dixon line, in old colonial times. He came to Indiana and married, near Columbus, and to himself and wife were born six children: Philip, Mary J., Ida, William, Caroline and George. Mr. Kreys' family settled near Stilesville, where he became one of the early merchants. He is now an aged man and settled on his farm near Stilesville. After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Christie settled on their present farm. They are the parents of three children: Virginia, Paul and Luano. Mrs. Christie is a member of the Christian Church, and Mr. Christie a practical farmer and stock-raiser, and is extensively engaged in dairying. He has a fine farm of 400 acres of land and has erected a tasteful and attractive residence, and has one of the most pleasant homes in the county. The surroundings evince taste and cultivation. The descendants of the Christie family may well take an honest pride in its sterling qualities. The founders of the family in America have been prominent and patriotic, and its members have been in every war that has been fought to establish and protest the Union. We have no family in the county which ranks higher in the respect of the people.