Thomas Little, one of the most prominent citizens of Fairmount township, Grant county, Indiana , and a veteran of the Rebellion, was born December 9, 1842, in Randolph county, North Carolina, the second child of John and Rachel (Modlin) Little. His brother, Alexander, is a gas-fitter of Fairmount, and a soldier of the Civil war.

        John Little was born in Randolph county, North Carolina, in January, 1814, and died in November, 1853. He received but a meager education and devoted his time to farming in his native state for many years, and finally came with his wife and five children to Randolph county, this state, in a one-horse wagon. After remaining there one year he came to Fairmount, where, one month later, he was called to his lasting rest. He was a man of strong religious proclivities and a strict adherent of the Wesleyan Methodist church. Firm and decisive in all his convictions, his integrity admitted of no question, and he was held in high esteem by all who knew him. Formerly a Whig, he afterward advocated abolition and was one of the strongest opposers of slavery to be found in this locality. His wife was born in Wayne county, North Carolina, in November, 1818, and died January 20, 1898. She was a kind, Christian gentlewoman, who favored the doctrine of the Friends, and whose memory will ever be treasured in the hearts of her children.

        Thomas Little was a child of some eleven years when his parents became residents of Grant county, and received his early educational training in his native state. The first school-house was a frame building 16x20 feet, with a frame foundation, heated by two fireplaces, one at each end of the building, between which the master sat. The seats rested on wooden legs, were minus backs, and made from trees which were split in two. The desk for the older pupils was a long board supported against the side of the wall by wooden pins, and the pen was fashioned from the goose-quill. The reader for all scholars was the New Testament. At the age of fourteen he left home to become a laborer in the great army of wage earners, receiving for his services the sum of seven dollars per month. He began at the bottom rung of the ladder leading to prosperity and climbed perserveringly, step by step, until he reached the present honorable eminence, and has obtained the good will and esteem of all who know him. The forty-seven years passed in this vicinity have been spent in a most worthy manner, and his conduct has been such as to win commendation and has been above reproach.

        In response to a call for arms, Mr. Little enlisted in Company H, Eighty-fourth Indiana Regiment, at Winchester, under Captain G. U. Carter and Colonel Tressler, joining August 9, 1862, and first going into camp at Camp Wayne, Richmond, this state. They were sent to Covington, Kentucky, to engage the enemy under General Bragg as he was about to move the Rebel forces to Cincinnati. This expedition was commanded by General Lew E. Wallace. Thence to Gallipolis, Ohio, to intercept the Johnnies in the Kanawha valley, and after following them south of the Big Sandy our subject was taken sick and was carried to Nashville, Tennessee, where, on April 23, he received his discharge and came back home. On August 8, 1863, he had sufficiently recovered to re-enlist and joined Company B, Seventh Indiana Cavalry, under Colonel J. P. C. Shanks, and was sent into camp at Indianapolis. On December 1 they were sent to Camp Columbus, Kentucky, and later took part in several important engagements, the first near Jackson, Tennessee. Then followed the battles at Okolona, Mississippi and Guntown, where General Sturges suffered defeat, and Verona, after which they retired to Egypt Station. Here Mr. Little was detailed to carry ammunition to a point which necessitated crossing between the Rebel lines under cross fire, where the bullets whistled around him, making very unpleasant music, and the chances for reaching his destination were exceedingly slim. But like a brave and obedient soldier he started on his perilous trip and was permitted to run the gauntlet unharmed. He was in very close quarters also during the battle of Okolona, when a Rebel standing about thirty feet distant filled Mr. Little's clothing full of buckshot, but, happily, did not strike the body. Following several days skirmishing at Oxford, Mississippi, came the battle which was bitterly contested, and which will never be forgotten by Mr. Little, as it was indelibly stamped on his mind by a thrilling experience and narrow escape from instant death. A companion, G. W. Smith, of the home company, was knocked senseless at the side of Mr. Little by the bursting of a Rebel shell, and the impression, even among those scenes of horror, was a terrible one. They next had an engagement at Raleigh, and here he inflicted a wound on himself by the premature discharge of his gun, the ball scraping the ankle bone and inducing necrosis, from which he suffered greatly. He took an active part in the engagement at Bolivar, and has suffered all the privations of a soldier, remaining in the saddle for three days at a time when rations were very scarce indeed. His regiment was stationed in the vicinity of Memphis for a time, and was then sent down the Mississippi river to the mouth of the Red river and up that river to Alexandria, Louisiana. From there they marched by way of Burrow's Ferry to Hampstead, Texas, following a part of Pierce and Taylor's command as they were marching toward Mexico. They eventually landed in Austin, Texas, where they were mustered out of service on February 18, 1866, the last regiment of Indiana volunteers mustered out, and received their honorable discharge at Indianapolis March 14, 1866.

        Mr. Little returned home to don the civilian's costume and take up the duties of a private citizen, and one year later, January 27, 1867, formed a matrimonial alliance with Miss Susannah Fouse, who was born in Randolph county, Indiana, October 6, 1848. She was a daughter of James and Dinah (Pickett) Fouse, whose family consists of three sons and two daughters, all of whom are residents of this state except John, who lives in Arkansas. Both parents were natives of North Carolina, the father having been born in Orange county in 1811, and having died November 1, 1876; the mother passed to her reward in her forty-second year. They were of German-descent and followed farming, emigrating to Randolph county, this state, in 1832, the grandfather having entered government land there, the deed still being kept by his descendants. They were members of the Friends church.

        Mrs. Little was a maiden of fifteen when she became a citizen of Grant county, and obtained her education in the public shcools. She has been a careful, considerate wife and an able assistant in all her husband's undertakings. Their start was made on rented land and was in every way satisfactory, their crops being good and their income sufficient to warrant them in purchasing seventy-three acres of land, which was bought of the other heirs. After moving on and cultivating their own ground they have continued to prosper and have accumulated a neat property sufficient to permit them to spend the declining years of life in comfort and plenty. Eight sons and five daughters were sent to gladden their home and share its pleasures, four having since been transplanted to the home on high. The nine living are as follows: Winfrod, who makes his home with his parents; Florence, wife of G. W. Hill, a farmer of Fairmount township; John R., who is engaged in the vocation of agriculture in Fowlerton and is also one of the most successful teachers in this part of the country, having been retained as teacher in one school for seven terms. He received his diploma from the common school in 1891, and was a student of Fairmount Academy, and is a man of family; Albert is a farmer of Mill township; Charles, who is a glass-blower here; Leonard, a student of Fairmount Academy , who is preparing for the profession of teaching; Franklin, who is a mechanic; Grace, a student of the eighth grade; and Robert, the youngest and a student of the sixth grade. All of the children have been given good common-school educations, and three of these received their diplomas.

        In politics Mr. Little is a Republican. In religion both he and Mrs. Little are strict adherents of a branch of the Society of Friends, and have aided in the erection of this church and others in the community, contributing to all benevolences worthy of their consideration. They are honorable conscientious people, whose characters will admit of the closest scrutiny under the searchlight of truth, and are held in the highest esteem by every one. Mr. Little is a charter member of Beeson Post, No. 386, G. A. R., of this place, and was junior and senior-vice and officer of the day. He is also a member of Jonesboro Lodge, No. 109, F. & A. M., of Jonesboro, and has been an active worker since being taken into the order in the spring of 1867.

        Of the five children of Mr. Little's parents, only two are now living, viz.: Alexander and Thomas. All of the brothers and sisters of Mrs. Little are now living, and the youngest is fifty years old.