A Portrait and Biographical Record of Hendricks County (Chicago: A.W. Bowen & Co., 1895)--pages 958-959
Capt. Jacob H. Fleece, one of the old soldiers of Hendricks County, and son of an original pioneer, was born in Boyle County, Ky., June 4, 1829, and was seven years of age when he came to Indiana, where the family settled in Eel River Township, Hendricks County, in 1836. He received a common school education and was reared a farmer. He married, in November, 1853, Lettie, daughter of Silas and Nancy (Radford) Ashby, and to them were born three children: Silas F., Lula (who married Leroy Moore, a merchant of North Salem) and Joseph B. Mr. Fleece settled on a farm of 120 acres one mile west of North Salem, to which he added, by thrift and industry, until he now owns 273 acres. He voted for Gen. Scott for president and for Gen. Fremont, the first Republican candidate for the same office. He was active in politics, and was one of the founders of the Republican Party. He was elected recorder of Hendricks County in 1858 and filled this office three years, resigning to take the captaincy of his company in the army. He enlisted, in 1861, at North Salem, and was mustered into the Indiana state service on September 12. He was elected captain of Company A, Fifty-first Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and mustered into the United States service December 22, 1861, and served until the last of August, 1862, when he was honorably discharged on account of disability from exposure to the wet and cold. His service was in Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama. He was in the army of the Ohio and took part in many skirmishes, and in the battles of Shiloh, where his regiment was detailed to bring up and join the wagon trains, and the night before the second day's battle they marched all night, making about thirty miles. Capt. Fleece they went with his regiment to Corinth, where they had a hard skirmish, and were several days under fire during the siege. Capt. Fleece was an active and efficient soldier and commanded his company until taken sick from exposure. He was never in hospital, but remained in his quarters under the care of a surgeon. He was on several hard marches, the most notable one, during the exceeding hard weather, during the siege of Corinth. The regiment was detailed to recruit more men among the mountaineers of Alabama, and rendezvoused at the home of a Mexican veteran, Col. Davis, who was in hiding in the mountains. The colonel was signaled, and came in and assisted to recruit the natives. An active old lady rode through the mountains and summoned men who were hiding, and forty of them were recruited to the Union cause. At Stephenson, Ala., Capt. Fleece was obliged to resign his command and return home, and for several years he was an invalid, and, in fact, he has never yet recovered his health. He remained on the farm until 1890, and during this time he was elected to the state legislature in 1883-85-87, a period of six years. He was active in the cause of temperance in Hendricks County at an early day, and in the legislature he secured the introduction of the local option bill, which was defeated by the “Green Smith dead-lock”. He voted, also, for the “prohibition amendment” to the constitution. Capt. Fleece was always on the side of temperance and morality and had the support of the moral element of Hendricks County. He and wife are members of the Christian Church, in which the captain has been an elder for thirty years. He is also a member of the G.A.R., Joseph Fleece post, of North Salem. Capt. Fleece was in the mercantile business at Ladoga from 1852 to 1854, and in North Salem from 1856 to 1858. He has now retired from active business, in which he has been generally successful. He is a son of Charles and May (Harland) Fleece. Charles Fleece came to Hendricks County with his family in 1836 and settled in Eel River Township. He was the father of fifteen children: George, Harriet, John, Catherine, Jerry, Mary, Susan, James, Elizabeth, Jacob H., Parmelia, Nicholas, Joseph, Paulina and Christina, the last five born in Indiana. Charles Fleece died in Eel River Township. He was a substantial farmer, respected citizen, and in politics an old-line Whig and Republican, and a strong Union man, with two sons in the Civil War—our subject and Joseph B., the latter of whom was in Company A, Fifty-first Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and was in the battles of Stone River, Nashville, and on Straight's raid. He commanded his company at the battle of Nashville, where he was shot through the heart. He was a gallant and patriotic officer, and the G.A.R. post of North Salem is named in his honor.