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Note: General, Benjamin Garr (or Gaar) was born in Madison County, VA, February 17, 1788. He was the youngest of a family of twelve children - six boys and six girls. On his father?s side was Lawrence (or Lorenz) Gaar, his grandfather; and Andreas Gaar, his great-grandfather. This Andreas Gaar was the founder of the American family by that name. Both his grandfather and great-grandfather Gaar were born near the city of Dinkhofbuhl, Bavaria, Germany. *Little is know of the early life of Benjamin Garr. He is known to have inherited a vigorous constitution, and in his early manhood was noted for his wonderful strength and courage. He was a soldier in the War of 1812, being stationed at Norfolk, Va. He at one time made a trip to the State of Georgia on horseback. The writer - a grandson - remembers his detailing a visit to the tribe of Cherokee Indians then inhabiting Northern Georgia; how these denizens of the forest sat in a circle around a kettle of boiling hominy; how the chief of the tribe, dipping a large wooden spoon into the kettle, would fill his mouth with hot hominy, and pass the spoon to grandfather, who would go through a similar ceremony, and pass the spoon to his next neighbor, and so on around the circle, each taking his turn at ?feeding? until the hominy vanished. *On January 8, 1815, and in his twenty-seventh year, the subject of our sketch was married to Nancy Smith, daughter of William Downing Smith and Diana Yeager. In the year 1828 Benjamin Garr removed with his family from Madison County, Va., to Jefferson County, Ky., and settled near Bear Grass Creek, nine miles southeast of Louisville, Ky. Here, in the course of time, he became a large landholder. Here his children grew up, were married, and from there most of them removed to Johnson and Howard Counties in Indiana. *October 4, 1862, was an eventful day in the life of Benjamin Garr, for it was on that day that his wife Nancy, with whom he had lived for nearly a half century, with a smile upon her face passed from this fife forever. This, and the burning of his old home a short time thereafter, was a stroke from which his strong spirit never rallied. On March 7, 1870, at the ripe old age of 82, he yielded up his spirit and was laid away to rest. Close beside one of the many beautiful in Cave Hill Cemetery, at Louisville, Ky., stand side by side two modest marble slabs. These mark the head of two graves, in which repose all that is mortal of Benjamin Garr and his wife Nancy. *Benjamin Garr was no ordinary man. He was possessed of a commanding physique. Large, portly, a large head set upon broad shoulders, heavy eyebrows overshadowing dark deep-set eyes, with large aquiline nose, he was the embodiment of power and self-possession. His movements and bearing were those of a patrician - a man born to command admiration and respect from all with whom he came in contact. He was not a hard worker in the sense of performing manual labor. He was built for a different purpose; he was a thinker, a planner. Had he been educated in the law, he would have made a most excellent judge. He was often called on by his neighbors to settle disputes; to assist in the division of property; to administer upon estates. ?Uncle Ben?, as he was familiarly called by his neighbors, was noted for his good judgement, high integrity, and strict impartiality in his dealing among his fellows. Had he lived in this day and generation, he would have made a most excellent banker or business man. All of his business ventures were successful. He had an intuitive idea when and how to make investments. As his children grew up, he had a father?s solicitude for their welfare. He advised their removal with their increasing families from the thickly settled and high-priced lands of Kentucky to the wilder, but richer and cheaper lands of Indiana. Increasing time has confirmed the wisdom of his foresight. *While he was the youngest of his father?s children, he bore toward them the relation of ?elder brother.? His advice and companionship were sought by them. His next-to-the-oldest brother, Abram, residing near Richmond, Ind., and the head of the ?Gaar family? at that place, came on horseback to Kentucky along in the thirties to visit ?Brother Ben.? His children nearly always address him or spoke of him as ?Father.? Though many of them were self-willed, they invariably bore toward him unquestioned obedience. They had respect for their father?s judgment and opinions. He was not stern; he was firm. He was kindly disposed toward his grandchildren, all of whom had great respect and reverence for ?Grandpap,? as he was called by them. The same face that could look like a lion?s, when aroused, could brighten in the presence of a child and win his affection. *He lived as he died - respected, honored, and loved by all who knew him. NEWTON B. SMITH, Kokomo, Ind., April 1, 1894.? S. Genealogy of the Descendants of John Gar, or More Particularly of His Son, Andreas Gaar, John Wesley Garr, John Calhoun Garr.
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