This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: O’Shea, Fitzgerald, Smith, Kelley, Moses, Classification: Biography Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/Hi.2ADE/1104 Message Board Post: This book has no cover, and no index, I bought it on Ebay, it just has the insides, but it full of Indiana biographies. I am not researching this family, just thought I would share. I do not know anymore about these families or these surnames. Typed by Lora Radiches: Surnames in this biography are: O’Shea, Fitzgerald, Smith, Kelley, Moses, WILLIAM FITZGERALD, Sr. A member of the Indiana bar for more than forty-five years, the career of William Fitzgerald, Sr., deceased, serves as an illustration -of the fact that no other occupation than the law, save agricultural and banking pursuits, strikes so deeply into the roots of the commonwealth But neither of the latter presents the latitude for moral digression, for intricate and questionable interpretation, vouchsafed the learned disciple of legal science. It is for this reason that the man of principle, of steady application and unswervable purpose leads in the matter of really superior compensation, and like considerations prevailed in the career of Mr. Fitzgerald, who had the profound respect and esteem of the people of North Vernon and Jennings County. William Fitzgerald was born on a farm in Stark County, Ohio, in 1860, a son of John and Honora (O’Shea) Fitzgerald. His parents, natives of Ireland, came to the United States as a young married couple and took up their residenc! e in Stark County, Ohio, where John Fitzgerald engaged in agricultural pursuits. Later he moved to Indiana, and here passed the remainder of a long and honorable life. William Fitzgerald was a child when brought to Indiana by his parents and here completed his education in the common schools and the normal school at Ladoga, Indiana. He then began teaching school, and in his spare time applied himself to the study of law, principally in the office of Hon. Alonzo G. Smith, later attorney general of Indiana, at North Vernon. Admitted to the bar in 1884, he continued to teach school until 1885, when he settled down to the practice of his profession at North Vernon, where he became one of the legal bulwarks of the county, his age, important services, fine personal appearance and well-stored mind contributing to a whole of great practical importance to the community. He was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of Indiana, the Appellate Court and the United States District Cou! rt and was the leading member of the Jennings County bar, and the oldest member in point of service, having practiced for forty-five years continuously. He was a member of- the Indiana State Bar association, the Jennings County Bar Association and the American Bar Association, and had so numerous important business, civic and fraternal connections. During the World war he took a very active part in assisting the various drives and campaigns for war bonds. As an attorney Mr. Fitzgerald had a thorough knowledge of the technicalities of law and he their application, as undertaken by the general rather than the special practitioner. Clear and logical in presenting a case to a jury, he was keen in locating the weak points in the armor of an antagonist, and three score years and ten did not rob him of a commanding presence, eloquence of word and gesture, and fine grasp of the amenities and obligations of his profession. His efforts brought wealth and high social standing in their ! train, and he included among his friends many prominent men in various walks of life throughout the county. While he was not a seeker of public preferment, he was at all times cognizant of the duties of citizenship, and for four years served in the capacity of city attorney of North Vernon. Mr. Fitzgerald married Miss Lida Kelley, a native of Canada, and to this union there were born two children: Mabel, a graduate of St. Mary of the Woods, who is now the wife of Edward Moses, of North Vernon; and William Jr., a graduate of the North Vernon High School, the University of Notre Dame and the law department of Georgetown University, Washington, D. C., who is now engaged in the practice of his profession at North Vernon. William Fitzgerald, Sr., died June 28, 1930, ripe in years and the respect and esteem of his fellow men.