Member of Indiana House of Representatives, 1889-91. Son of Benjamin Franklin Claypool (b. 1825); grandson of Newton Claypool and Jefferson Helm. Married Mary Buckner Ross in 1893. Parents of Benjamin F. Claypool (b. 1894). He was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa (honorary) and the Delta Kappa Epsilon college fraternities and received an honorary Master of Arts degree from Miami University,
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Though for nearly twenty-five years past, Jefferson H. Claypool, lawyer, publicist and banker, has been a resident of the city of Indianapolis, his extensive real-estate and other interests having taken him to the capital city of Indiana in 1893, he has ever retained the most earnest interest in the affairs of the city and county of his birth and no review of the times in Connersville or Fayette county would be complete without passing mention of this, one of the best-known and most influential of the sons of old Fayette. Indeed, so closely interwoven with the history of Fayette county is the history of the Claypool family during the past four or five generations that reference to the one hardly could be made without touching in a general way the history of the other, and the reader of this volume will find throughout this general review of the history of Fayette county frequent reference to the part taken by the Claypools in the general social, political and industrial life of this community, even from the days of the beginning of a social order hereabout, for the Claypool family has been represented in this county since territorial days, the founder of the family in Indiana having settled here in 1813, among the very earliest of the pioneers of this section of the state.
Jefferson Helm Claypool was born in Connersville on August 15, 1856, son of Benjamin F. and Alice (Helm) Claypool, prominent and influential residents of that city, whose last days were spent there. Benjamin F. Claypool, for many years one of Indiana's most distinguished citizens, also was a native son of Connersville and spent all his life there, an influential lawyer, statesman, banker and landowner. He was born on December 12, 1825, son of Newton and Mary (Kerns) Claypool, pioneers of Fayette county and potent influences for good during the formative period of this now well established and flourishing community and further and fitting reference to whom is made elsewhere in this volume of history and biography. Newton Claypool was a Virginian who came over into Indiana from Ross county, Ohio, in 1813 and established his home in this county, becoming a considerable landowner at the very edge of what after awhile came to be the thriving city of Connersville. He was a man of education, of great native force of character and naturally became one of the leaders in the new community, it being undoubted that his influence had very much to do with the establishment of the firm foundation upon which this community now rests. In his day he represented this district in both the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Indiana General Assembly and in other ways contributed of his time and his talents to the public service.
Benjamin F. Claypool was reared in Connersville and supplemented his course in the public schools of that city by a valuable course of private instruction under the efficient tutelage of Professor Nutting, a prominent local educator of that period, who had come to this state from Massachusetts, acquiring under that tutelage a knowledge of the various branches taught in the seminaries of that day, together with an acquaintance with the Latin and French languages. In the fall of 1843 he entered old Asbury (now DePauw) University and remained there until the spring of 1845, when he entered the law office of the Hon. 0. H. Smith at Indianapolis and after a thorough course of reading under that able preceptor was admitted to the bar in March, 1847. Shortly thereafter he opened an office for the practice of his profession in his home city and it was not long until he was occupying a foremost position at the bar of Fayette county. Mr. Claypool's practice was not confined to the local bar and for many years he was found engaged on one side or another of most of the important cases tried in the courts of this part of the state. Reared a Whig, Mr. Claypool took an active part in political affairs even before he had reached his majority and when the Republican party was organized he was one of the most active men in Indiana in that behalf. In 1856 he was a delegate to the convention at Philadelphia that nominated John C. Fremont for the Presidency: in 1864 was presidential elector for the fifth congressional district and in 1868 one of the electors for the state at large. In 1860 Mr. Claypool was elected state senator from the counties of Fayette and Union and in that capacity took a prominent part in the legislation of Indiana during the period of the Civil War, being regarded as one of the leaders in the various patriotic movements based upon the emergencies of that trying time. In 1874 he was the nominee of his party for Congress from this district, but went down to defeat in the memorable Democratic "landslide" of that year. In addition to his extensive legal practice, Mr. Claypool gave considerable attention to his banking and real estate interests and became one of Connersville's well-to-do men, owner of a large farm and for some years president of the First National Bank of Connersville, having also been president of that concern's predecessor, the Connersville branch of the Bank of the State of Indiana.
On August 4, 1853, Benjamin F. Claypool was united in marriage to Alice Helm; who was born at Rushville, this state, a daughter of Dr. Jefferson and Eliza (Arnold) Helm, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of the Isle of Wight, England. Dr. Jefferson Helm for years was one of the best-known medical practitioners in Rush county and his daughter was a highly cultivated woman, who contributed much toward the successful career of her husband. She died in August, 1882, and her husband survived her for six years, his death occurring on December 11, 1888. Of the children born to Benjamin F. Claypool and wife, Jefferson Helm Claypool, the subject of this biographical sketch, is the only survivor. Benjamin F. Claypool was the second in order of birth of the four sons born to his parents, Newton Claypool and wife, the others being Austin B., Abraham J. and Edward F. The latter years ago published a very interesting volume of autobiography in which much valuable material relating to the history of the Claypool family in this county was preserved.
Reared in Connersville, the city of his birth, Jefferson Helm Claypool was prepared for college in the public schools and by private tutors and in the fall of 1870, he then being but fourteen years of age, he entered Miami University and after a course of three years in that institution entered the University of Virginia, class of 1875. Meanwhile he had been giving close attention to the study of law, under the able preceptorship of his father, and in 1877 was admitted to the bar, beginning the practice of his profession in partnership with his father at Connersville and continued thus connected until the latter's death, the firm having an extensive clientage in this and adjoining counties. During this time Mr. Claypool was gradually enlarging his real-estate interests in Indianapolis and in 1893 he moved to that city, where he since has made his home, giving most of his time to his private business, which includes banking, farming and real-estate development. Mr. Claypool has been an active Republican from childhood, receiving inspiration from his father, who was one of the founders of the party, and in the sessions of 1889 and 1891 represented this district in the Indiana General Assembly, thus being the third in direct descent of the Claypool family to represent the district in the Legislature. For fourteen years Mr. Claypool served as a member of the Indiana state board of election commissioners and during the memorable campaign of 1896 was a member of the advisory committee of the Republican state central committee. For many years he has been a frequent contributor to magazines and newspapers, many of his articles on public questions being widely copied on account of their force and clearness of expression.
In 1893 Jefferson H. Claypool was united in marriage to Mary Buckner Ross, who also was born in Connersville, daughter of the late Major John W. Ross, a memorial sketch of whom is presented elsewhere in this volume, and to this union one child has been born a son, Benjamin F. Claypool, who was graduated from Miami University in 1916 and is now a student in the agricultural department of Purdue University. In 1912 Jefferson H. Claypool received the honorary degree of Master of Arts from Miami University. He is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa (honorary) and the Delta Kappa Epsilon college fraternities.
"History of Fayette Counties, Indiana"
published by B. F. Bowen & Co. Indianapolis, IN 1917

Member of Indiana House of Representatives, 1889-91. Son of Benjamin Franklin Claypool (b. 1825); grandson of Newton Claypool and Jefferson Helm. Married Mary Buckner Ross in 1893. Parents of Benjamin F. Claypool (b. 1894). He was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa (honorary) and the Delta Kappa Epsilon college fraternities and received an honorary Master of Arts degree from Miami University,
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Though for nearly twenty-five years past, Jefferson H. Claypool, lawyer, publicist and banker, has been a resident of the city of Indianapolis, his extensive real-estate and other interests having taken him to the capital city of Indiana in 1893, he has ever retained the most earnest interest in the affairs of the city and county of his birth and no review of the times in Connersville or Fayette county would be complete without passing mention of this, one of the best-known and most influential of the sons of old Fayette. Indeed, so closely interwoven with the history of Fayette county is the history of the Claypool family during the past four or five generations that reference to the one hardly could be made without touching in a general way the history of the other, and the reader of this volume will find throughout this general review of the history of Fayette county frequent reference to the part taken by the Claypools in the general social, political and industrial life of this community, even from the days of the beginning of a social order hereabout, for the Claypool family has been represented in this county since territorial days, the founder of the family in Indiana having settled here in 1813, among the very earliest of the pioneers of this section of the state.
Jefferson Helm Claypool was born in Connersville on August 15, 1856, son of Benjamin F. and Alice (Helm) Claypool, prominent and influential residents of that city, whose last days were spent there. Benjamin F. Claypool, for many years one of Indiana's most distinguished citizens, also was a native son of Connersville and spent all his life there, an influential lawyer, statesman, banker and landowner. He was born on December 12, 1825, son of Newton and Mary (Kerns) Claypool, pioneers of Fayette county and potent influences for good during the formative period of this now well established and flourishing community and further and fitting reference to whom is made elsewhere in this volume of history and biography. Newton Claypool was a Virginian who came over into Indiana from Ross county, Ohio, in 1813 and established his home in this county, becoming a considerable landowner at the very edge of what after awhile came to be the thriving city of Connersville. He was a man of education, of great native force of character and naturally became one of the leaders in the new community, it being undoubted that his influence had very much to do with the establishment of the firm foundation upon which this community now rests. In his day he represented this district in both the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Indiana General Assembly and in other ways contributed of his time and his talents to the public service.
Benjamin F. Claypool was reared in Connersville and supplemented his course in the public schools of that city by a valuable course of private instruction under the efficient tutelage of Professor Nutting, a prominent local educator of that period, who had come to this state from Massachusetts, acquiring under that tutelage a knowledge of the various branches taught in the seminaries of that day, together with an acquaintance with the Latin and French languages. In the fall of 1843 he entered old Asbury (now DePauw) University and remained there until the spring of 1845, when he entered the law office of the Hon. 0. H. Smith at Indianapolis and after a thorough course of reading under that able preceptor was admitted to the bar in March, 1847. Shortly thereafter he opened an office for the practice of his profession in his home city and it was not long until he was occupying a foremost position at the bar of Fayette county. Mr. Claypool's practice was not confined to the local bar and for many years he was found engaged on one side or another of most of the important cases tried in the courts of this part of the state. Reared a Whig, Mr. Claypool took an active part in political affairs even before he had reached his majority and when the Republican party was organized he was one of the most active men in Indiana in that behalf. In 1856 he was a delegate to the convention at Philadelphia that nominated John C. Fremont for the Presidency: in 1864 was presidential elector for the fifth congressional district and in 1868 one of the electors for the state at large. In 1860 Mr. Claypool was elected state senator from the counties of Fayette and Union and in that capacity took a prominent part in the legislation of Indiana during the period of the Civil War, being regarded as one of the leaders in the various patriotic movements based upon the emergencies of that trying time. In 1874 he was the nominee of his party for Congress from this district, but went down to defeat in the memorable Democratic "landslide" of that year. In addition to his extensive legal practice, Mr. Claypool gave considerable attention to his banking and real estate interests and became one of Connersville's well-to-do men, owner of a large farm and for some years president of the First National Bank of Connersville, having also been president of that concern's predecessor, the Connersville branch of the Bank of the State of Indiana.
On August 4, 1853, Benjamin F. Claypool was united in marriage to Alice Helm; who was born at Rushville, this state, a daughter of Dr. Jefferson and Eliza (Arnold) Helm, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of the Isle of Wight, England. Dr. Jefferson Helm for years was one of the best-known medical practitioners in Rush county and his daughter was a highly cultivated woman, who contributed much toward the successful career of her husband. She died in August, 1882, and her husband survived her for six years, his death occurring on December 11, 1888. Of the children born to Benjamin F. Claypool and wife, Jefferson Helm Claypool, the subject of this biographical sketch, is the only survivor. Benjamin F. Claypool was the second in order of birth of the four sons born to his parents, Newton Claypool and wife, the others being Austin B., Abraham J. and Edward F. The latter years ago published a very interesting volume of autobiography in which much valuable material relating to the history of the Claypool family in this county was preserved.
Reared in Connersville, the city of his birth, Jefferson Helm Claypool was prepared for college in the public schools and by private tutors and in the fall of 1870, he then being but fourteen years of age, he entered Miami University and after a course of three years in that institution entered the University of Virginia, class of 1875. Meanwhile he had been giving close attention to the study of law, under the able preceptorship of his father, and in 1877 was admitted to the bar, beginning the practice of his profession in partnership with his father at Connersville and continued thus connected until the latter's death, the firm having an extensive clientage in this and adjoining counties. During this time Mr. Claypool was gradually enlarging his real-estate interests in Indianapolis and in 1893 he moved to that city, where he since has made his home, giving most of his time to his private business, which includes banking, farming and real-estate development. Mr. Claypool has been an active Republican from childhood, receiving inspiration from his father, who was one of the founders of the party, and in the sessions of 1889 and 1891 represented this district in the Indiana General Assembly, thus being the third in direct descent of the Claypool family to represent the district in the Legislature. For fourteen years Mr. Claypool served as a member of the Indiana state board of election commissioners and during the memorable campaign of 1896 was a member of the advisory committee of the Republican state central committee. For many years he has been a frequent contributor to magazines and newspapers, many of his articles on public questions being widely copied on account of their force and clearness of expression.
In 1893 Jefferson H. Claypool was united in marriage to Mary Buckner Ross, who also was born in Connersville, daughter of the late Major John W. Ross, a memorial sketch of whom is presented elsewhere in this volume, and to this union one child has been born a son, Benjamin F. Claypool, who was graduated from Miami University in 1916 and is now a student in the agricultural department of Purdue University. In 1912 Jefferson H. Claypool received the honorary degree of Master of Arts from Miami University. He is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa (honorary) and the Delta Kappa Epsilon college fraternities.
"History of Fayette Counties, Indiana"
published by B. F. Bowen & Co. Indianapolis, IN 1917