This genealogical summary is part of a larger work on the descendants of Jacob Troxell (1797-1885) of Fayette County, Indiana. An earlier work was published in 1998. These summaries are part of a new publication which is in progress. Levi’s biographical sketch is more developed than some of the others at this time as he has no known living descendants. His only child who lived to adulthood never married.

6. Levi⁵ Troxell (Jacob⁴, Abraham³, Christian², Peter¹), born 1830, Fayette County, Indiana;[1] died 20 May 1884, Connersville, Indiana.[2] He married on 21 November 1869, Fayette County, Indiana, Sarah Jane Campbell, daughter of Thomas and Rachel (Jones) Campbell.[3] She was born 21 May 1849, Fayette County, Indiana, and died 12 December 1909, Anderson, Indiana.[4] She married (2) on 16 February 1886, Fayette County, Indiana, Mahlon Warner.[5] He was born 17 June 1846, and died 12 December 1910, Anderson, Indiana.[6]

Born and reared in Fayette County, Levi likely spent his whole life as a resident of the county. Enumerated with his father in 1850[7] and 1860,[8] he appeared as the head of his own household in 1870, living next door to his brother Jacob.[9] However, his exact whereabouts in 1880 are unknown but presumably somewhere around Waterloo as his obituaries four years later state he was a well-known citizen of the township.[10]

Levi and his brothers registered for Indiana’s statewide military draft in 1862 and again in 1863 for the federal draft.[11] However, Levi did not serve during the Civil War.

Levi died tragically in a wagon accident on 20 May 1884. While helping his brother Jacob move furniture into a new house in Connersville, Levi drove a two-horse team with his son Elzirus and Jacob’s wife, Marinda, accompanying him while Jacob followed behind in another wagon. After waiting over for over an hour at the Sixth Street railroad crossing in Connersville, Levi’s horses became spooked by the steam engines and unmanageable. Once the wagon cleared the tracks, the horses bolted. Levi was thrown from the wagon and dragged a short distance; his head was crushed by a wagon wheel. The unmanned horses continued to pull the wagon and collided with a buggy occupied by Mrs. Charles Brookbank several blocks later. The horses were finally caught be Thomas Hinebaugh.[12] The following week, Fayette county coroner John Farner determined that “Levi Troxell came to his death by being thrown from his wagon while his team was running away, causing his skull to be crushed and fractured, and that said team became frightened at an engine standing on the White Water railroad track, while…Troxell was driving it along Sixth Street.”[13]

Levi’s widow, Sarah, appeared before the probate court the following fall on September 30, 1884:

“At this day Sarah J. Troxell widow of Levi Troxell deceased presents to the Court her application to have the property of her deceased husband set apart to her, alleging the sum to be less than $500 in value. She also files the Inventory of Said property, appraised by Jesse Chrissman Selected by the clerk of this court, and Horace L. Hurst chosen by herself, at the Sum of $388.00 and asks that the ownership of the same may be invested on her said inventory application and affidavits read as follows. To wit (Ite. I). And the Court having seen and examined said papers orders and adjudges the said Sarah J. Troxell to be the absolute owner of all the property belonging to her deceased husband Levi Troxell and the court further directs the clerk upon application to issue to said Sarah J. Troxell – a certified copy of this order. All of which is ordered and adjudged by the court.”[14]

Almost exactly a year later, Sarah lost her twelve-year old son Levi to typhoid fever.[15] The newspaper described Sarah’s situation in the year between the two deaths: “The widow and children have fought the wolf from their door in their little home near Waterloo ever since…the brightest side of which is the kindness displayed by Horace Hurst and other neighbors of the stricken family.”[16] The following year, on 16 February 1886, Sarah married widower Mahlon Warner.[17] Mahlon’s first wife was Polly A. Youngs whom he married on 17 April 1868, in Franklin County, Indiana,.[18] Mahlon and Polly had at least two children, Thomas Warner, who died on 7 March 1891 and Martin Warner, who died 11 January 1901.[19]

Mahlon and Sarah eventually moved to Anderson, Indiana, where they lived in 1900, and remained until their deaths.[20] They had three sons: Louis, Jesse, and Charles.[21]

Known children of Levi⁵ Troxell and Sarah Jane Campbell:

     36.       i.   DAVID⁶ TROXELL, born about 1868, Indiana.[22] No further information but likely died before 1884 as most sources indicate that Levi and Sarah had only two children. David was not named as an heir of Jacob Troxell in 1885.[23]

     37.      ii.   ANDREW TROXELL, born 2 October 1871, Fayette County, Indiana;[24] died 25 October 1957, Anderson, Indiana.[25]

     38.     iii.   LEVI ELZIRUS TROXELL, born about 1873, Fayette County, Indiana;[26] died 15 May 1885, Waterloo, Indiana.[27]

[1]       1850 U.S. census, Fayette County, Indiana, population schedule, Harrison Township, p. 200 (stamped), dwelling 6, family 6, Jacob Troxell; NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 144. Levi was recorded as a 20 year-old male, born in Indiana.

[2]       “Fatal Runaway Accident,” Connersville Examiner (Connersville, Indiana), 21 May 1884, p. 2, col. 3; digital image, NewspaperArchive (https://newspaperarchive.com : accessed 9 February 2023). Also, “Terrible Accident,” Connersville Times (Connersville, Indiana), 21 May 1884, p. 8, col. 4; digital image, NewspaperArchive (https://newspaperarchive.com : accessed 9 February 2023).

[3]       Fayette County, Indiana, Marriages, v. 1: 612, Levi Troxell and Sarah J. Campbell, 1869; “Indiana Marriages, 1811-2019,” database and images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 9 February 2023), FHL film #004,540,452, image 334/693. Also, Indiana State Board of Health, death certificate no. 352 (1909), Sarah J. Warner; State Department of Health, Indianapolis. Sarah’s parents are recorded as Thomas Campbell and Rachel Jones on the death certificate.

[4]       Indiana death certificate no. 352 (1909), Sarah J. Warner.

[5]       Fayette County, Indiana, Marriages, v. 3: 217, Mahlon Warner and Sarah J. Troxell, 1886; “Indiana Marriages, 1811-2019,” digital image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 9 February 2023), FHL film #004,540,516, image 139/319.

[6]       Indiana State Board of Health, death certificate no. 437 (1910), ‘Mahilon’ Warner; State Department of Health, Indianapolis.

[7]       1850 U.S. census, Fayette Co., Ind., pop. sch., p. 200 (stamped), dwell. 6, fam. 6, Jacob Troxell.

[8]       1860 U.S. census, Fayette County, Indiana, population schedule, Waterloo Township, p. 149 (penned), dwelling 1094, family 1088, Jacob ‘Troxuell;’ NARA microfilm publication M653, roll 256.

[9]       1870 U.S. census, Fayette County, Indiana, population schedule, Waterloo P.O., p. 14, dwelling 485, family 491, Levi Troxell; NARA microfilm publication M593, roll 312.

[10]     “Fatal Runaway Accident,” Connersville Examiner, 21 May 1884. Also, “Terrible Accident,” Connersville Times, 21 May 1884.

[11]     “U.S., Civil War Draft Registrations Records, 1863-1865,” database and images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 9 February 2023), citing Levi Troxell, 5^th Congressional district, Fayette county, Indiana, volume 6, unpaginated, line 18, image 58/63 and Levi Troxell, 5^th Congressional district, Fayette County, Indiana, volume 2, p. 465 (penned), line 2, image 440/541.

[12]     “Fatal Runaway Accident,” Connersville Examiner, 21 May 1884. Also, “Terrible Accident,” Connersville Times, 21 May 1884.

[13]     “Coroner’s Verdict,” Connersville Times (Connersville, Indiana), 28 May 1884, p. 4, col. 6; digital image, NewspaperArchive (https://newspaperarchive.com : accessed 9 February 2023).

[14]     Fayette County, Indiana, Probate Order Book 8: 517, Estate of Levi Troxell; “Indiana, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1798-1999,” database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 9 February 2023), citing Fayette, Order Books, Vol. 7-8, 1878-1885, image 601/641.

[15]     “Additional Local,” Connersville Daily Examiner (Connersville, Indiana), 20 May 1885, p. 2, col. 5; digital image, NewspaperArchive (https://newspaperarchive.com : accessed 9 February 2023).

[16]     “Additional Local,” Connersville Daily Examiner, 20 May 1885.

[17]     Fayette Co., Ind., Marriages, v. 3: 217, Warner and Troxell.

[18]     Franklin County, Indiana, Marriages, v. 8: 583, ‘Malon’ Warner and Polley A. Youngs; “Indiana Marriages, 1811-2019,” database and images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 9 February 2023), FHL film #004,170,990, image 46/1193.

[19]     Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 9 February 2023), memorial page for Thomas M. Warner (1869-1891), Find A Grave Memorial no. 46,294,709, citing Duck Creek Stone Church Cemetery, Blooming Grove, Franklin County, Indiana. Also, 1870 U.S. census, Fayette County, Indiana, population schedule, Columbia P.O., p. 20, dwelling 136, family 152, Mahlon Warner; NARA microfilm publication M593, roll 312. Also, Indiana State Board of Health, death certificate no. 281 (1901), Martin Warner; State Department of Health, Indianapolis.

[20]     1900 U.S. census, Madison County, Indiana, population schedule, Anderson 1^st ward, enumeration district (ED) 80, sheet 13-B, dwelling 252, family 266, ‘Malon’ Warner; NARA microfilm publication T623.

[21]     1900 U.S. census, Madison Co., Ind., pop. Sch., Anderson 1^st ward, ED 80, sheet 13-B, dwell. 252, fam. 266, ‘Malon’ Warner.

[22]     1870 U.S. census, Fayette Co., Ind., pop. sch., Waterloo P.O., p. 14, dwell. 485, fam. 491, Levi Troxell. David was enumerated as a 2 year old male. David was born prior to the marriage of Levi and Sarah in November 1869. Several scenarios are possible: David was actually two months old (an enumerator error), Levi had a wife, prior to Sarah, who was the mother of David, or Sarah had a prior husband who was David’s father. However, at this time no marriage records for either Levi or Sarah have been located prior to their 1869 marriage.

[23]     “Notice to Heirs and Creditors,” Connersville Daily Examiner (Connersville, Indiana), 22 July 1885, p. 2, col. 8; digital image, NewspaperArchive (https://newspaperarchive.com : accessed 9 February 2023).

[24]     Indiana State Board of Health, death certificate no. 033466 (1957), Andy Troxell; State Department of Health, Indianapolis. 

[25]     Indiana death certificate no. 033466 (1957), Andy Troxell.

[26]     “Additional Local,” Connersville Daily Examiner, 20 May 1885, p. 2, col. 5.

[27]     “Additional Local,” Connersville Daily Examiner, 20 May 1885, p. 2, col. 5. Also, “Additional Local,” Connersville Times (Connersville, Indiana), 20 May 1885, p. 5, col. 4. Also, Connersville Times (Connersville, Indiana), 27 May 1885, p. 1, col. 4.