from The History of Hendricks County (Indianapolis: B.F. Bowen & Co., 1914)----pages 528-530
Among the old and highly respected farmers of Hendricks County there is no one who stands higher in the esteem of his fellow citizens than the gallant old veteran whose name forms the caption of this sketch. His three score and ten years have been spent within the limits of this county with the exception of the two years when he served his country so nobly at the front. For the past fifty years he has been actively engaged in agricultural pursuits in this county and the years of his residence here have but served to strengthen the feeling of admiration on the part of his fellow men, owing to the honorable life he has led and the worthy example he has set the younger generation.William Henry Applebay, one of the youngest soldiers who enlisted from this county for service in the Civil War, was born in Center Township, Hendricks County, Indiana, December 2, 1844. His parents were William and Sebith (Sears) Applebay, the father being a native of Lincoln County, Kentucky, born in 1815, and his mother a native of Clark County, Kentucky, born in 1818. The grandparents of William Henry Applebay were Philip and Mary (Walker) Applebay, who reared a large family of ten children. After the death of his first wife Philip Applebay married Susan Dancer and to this second marriage were born seven children. William Applebay, father of the subject of this sketch, came to Hendricks County, Indiana, in 1839, locating in Danville, where he remained for the succeeding eighteen years. He then moved to Franklin Township, this county, where he remained until his death, which occurred on May 11, 1863. To Mr. and Mrs. William Applebay were born twelve children: Wesley, who married Sarah Fisher, and they were the parents of three children; Mary, who married William H. McCloud, and they are both deceased, and to this marriage were born nine children; Maria died unmarried; William H., the immediate subject of this sketch; Mariah, Milton, Susan, David and Nancy, twins, Martha, Amanda and Isabelle. Nancy, Martha and William H. are unmarried and living today.
When the Civil War broke out William H. Applebay wanted to enlist at once, but on account of his age the local recruiting officer would not take him in. As soon as he reached the age of eighteen he enlisted in Company E, Seventy-eighth Regiment, under Captain A.J. Lee, and served two months. Later he enlisted in Company B, of the Fifty-ninth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, under Captain J.M. Lee, and was immediately transferred to General Sherman's Twentieth Corps in eastern Kentucky. He was in the eastern part of Tennessee and in March, 1864, started with General Sherman on his memorable march to the sea. He was in all the battles from Resaca, in the northwestern corner of Georgia, through Dalton, Atlanta to Savannah, which was reached on the 25th of December, 1864. He was in the rear and around Atlanta during the months of June and July of that summer. In the spring of 1865 his company was attached to the brigade which went north with Sherman to South Carolina and North Carolina, and he was headed for Greensboro to the surrender of General Johnson to General Sherman in April, 1865, at Greensboro, North Carolina. He served one year and a half in a creditable manner, after which he was mustered out at the close of the service and returned to his home in Hendricks County, Indiana.
When Mr. Applebay enlisted in the army his mother was a widow with a large family of small children. He was their main support, for they were poor and owned no land. He fixed up an old log cabin for them to live in during his absence, but while he was in the service the owners of the cabin put the mother and children out of their little home. However, she bravely struggled to keep the family together, spinning and weaving and making their clothing and doing a man's work as far as was necessary. She was a woman of strong character and reared her children to honorable and respected manhood and womanhood.
For the past half century Mr. Applebay and his two sisters have lived in Franklin Township. None of them has ever married, their affection for each other being such that they have always led a very happy existence in their home life together. Here on his farm Mr. Applebay has lived the simple, plain and unostentatious life of a farmer, doing all that came in his way in the best possible manner. Year in and year out he has taken his part in the community's affairs, has been a factor in local politics, although he has never held any office aside from that of district central committeeman. He has always been a factor in the church at Stilesville. In fraternal affairs he has been a Mason for forty years and is one of the best informed men on Masonry in the county. He has passed through all the chairs of the lodge from tyler to worshipful master. It is needless to say that he is a loyal and enthusiastic member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and the Greencastle Post has no more loyal member than Mr. Applebay. He is one of those genial, whole-souled men who always meets every one with a smile. It is his habit to always see the silver lining of the darkest clouds, and his optimistic nature has made him a general favorite with all in the community where he has spent his three score and ten years. It will not be many years before he will answer the last roll call and when his hearty voice is no more heard in the streets there will have been gone one friend who figured largely in the daily life of this locality. His whole life has been characterized by honesty, truthfulness and all those qualities which mark him as a true citizen.