...which had no boundaries in time and space, where lurked musical and strange names and mythical and lost peoples, and which was itself only a name musical and strange.
Ross Lockridge, Jr.
Boston 1948
The Novel
TThe
story is told all in one day, July 4, 1892.
Replete with history,
romance and adventure, the tale is brilliantly intertwined with a
series of flashbacks.
Ross
Lockridge Jr. eloquently paints with words, a living masterpiece
that transports the reader back in time to when Raintree County, (Henry
County), was just a youngster
The inspiration for the
setting of this book and the
characters are based
upon Ross Lockridge Jr's
own ancestors, such as
his maternal grandfather, John Wesley Shockley,
who is the hero in the book, John Wickliff Shawnessy.
The town of Waycross, situated on the National Road, is in reality, the town of Straughn in Dudley Twp., Henry Co. Indiana, the "old home place" of the Shockley family.
The book "Raintree
County", was published in 1948 and was heralded as the "The Great
American Novel".
Ross
Lockridge Jr., captured within it's pages, the very essence
of post Civil War America.
If you have ever dreamt of taking a peek into the daily lives of early Henry Co. citizens, here is your chance. This book is one that will transcend generations. Although it is a work of fiction, it will bring you to a greater understanding of your own ancestor's lives, loves, triumphs and trials in Henry County.
The Biography
Another great work, "Shade
of the Raintree", written by Larry Lockridge,
son of Ross Lockridge Jr. is a must
to read.
Sadly, just two months
after "Raintree County" was published, Ross
Lockridge Jr. took his own life. Larry
Lockridge was only 5 at the time.
"Shade
of the Raintree"is a splendid exploration of the man behind the
novel, Raintree County.
In it, you will travel
with the Lockridge and Shockley families from one generation to the next,
and witness a son
getting to know his famous
father along the way.
It is brilliantly written,
entertaining and enlighteningly honest.
My deepest appreciation to Larry Lockridge and Ross Lockridge III for generously giving me their permission to use the images you see on this page. All of the rights to these images belong exclusively to them and can be found also on their web site.
This page is dedicated to, two outstanding gentlemen and their impressive books. I feel very fortunate to have had the privilege of creating this electronic tribute and hope that all who read this will find both books as enriching as I have.
To learn more about these
books and their authors, please visit their web site by clicking here:
Raintree
County
You
will be more than glad that you did!
The Legend
of
The
Rain Tree
Legendary Johnny Appleseed
wandered the midwest,
carrying among his apple seeds
a single, exotic seed...from the
golden Raintree. Looking for
a place it would flourish and grow,
he planted it somewhere here
in Henry County.
Legend has it that those who
>find the Raintree discover the
realization of all dreams.
Genealogy
The Shockley Family
~~~~~
*NOTE*
"The counterpart in the book,
Raintree County, is noted in red next to the name of the actual person.
~~~~~
William B. Shockley - (Timothy
Duff Shawnessy)
1801 - 1876
Married:
Louisa Conwell
- (Ellen Shawnessy)
1806 - 1873
(Fifteen children
were born of this union)
Son of William B. and Louisa (Conwell) Shockley:
*
*
John Wesley Shockley
- (John Wickliff Shawnessy)
1839 - 1907
Married 1st in
1861:
*
*
Susannah Duke
- (Susanna Drake)
1844 - 1877
(One child born
of this union)
"Son of John Wesley
and Susannah (Duke) Shockley:
*
*
James Shockley
- (James Shawnessy)
1862 - 1919
*
*
John Wesley Shockley
Married 2nd in 1877:
*
*
Emma Rhoton -
(Esther Root)
1857 - 1937
Daughter of Franklin
Rhoton - (Gideon Root)
and Susannah Garrett
***
(Three children
born of this union)
1. Ernest Vivian
Shockley - (Wesley Shawnessy)
1878 - 1924
Married:
Viva Irene Anger
2. Elsie
Lillian Shockley - (Eva Shawnessy)
b. 1880 Henry
Co. Indiana - d. 1961
Married in 1902:
Ross Franklin
Lockridge Sr.
1877 - 1952
3. Frank
William Shockley - (Will Shawnessy)
1884 - 1954
Married:
Borgia Haskett
The Lockridge Family
~~~~~
James Allen Lockridge
1813 - 1856
Married:
Delana Green Butler
(Seven children born of this union)
Son of James Allen and Delana Green
(Butler) Lockridge:
*
*
Brenton Webster Lockridge
1850 - 1922
Married:
Charlotte Ann Wray
1854 - 1930
(Seven children born of this union)
Son of Brenton Webster and Charlotte
Ann (Wray) Lockridge:
*
*
Ross Franklin Lockridge Sr.
1877 - 1952
Married in 1902
>Elsie Shockley
1880 - 1961
(Four children born of this union)
*
*
1. Robert Bruce Lockridge
1903 - 1919
2. Vivian Shockley Lockridge
1904 - 1986
Married:
Mary Kay Geaks
1905 - 1971
3. Lillian Louise Lockridge
1909 - 1961
4. Ross Franklin Lockridge Jr.
- (Author of "Raintree County")
1914 - 1948
Married in 1937:
Lillian Vernice Baker - (Nell
Gaither)
1914 - 1994
(Four children born of this union)
*
*
1. Ernest Hugh Lockridge
1938 -
2. Larry Shockley Lockridge -
(Author of, "Shade of the Raintree")
1942 -
3. Jeanne Marie Lockridge
1944 -
4. Ross Franklin Lockridge III
1946 -
Source of genealogical information: "Shade of the Raintree" by Larry
Lockridge
Copyright: 1994
"Now briefly the river lay again across his life, opaque and green, a serpent water.....He would be that dreamer, and he would have perhaps again his ancient and eternal dream......Of a quest for the sacred Tree of Life. Of a happy valley and a face of stone - and of the coming of a hero.......Of beauty risen from the river and seen through rushes at the river's edge.....And of all its summers when the days were long."
From: Raintree
County
- Ross Lockridge Jr. 1948
Family Photos
John Wesley Shockley
The maternal Grandfather
of Ross Lockridge Jr.,in his yard at
Straughn, Dudley Twp.,
Henry Co. Indiana.
The paper in his lap
is a copy of the Indianapolis News.
He was the Hoosier
Schoolmaster and Poet who inspired the character,
"John Wickliff Shawnessy"
in the novel Raintree County.
Elsie Lillian Shockley
College
portrait, 1899.
Mother
of Ross Lockridge Jr. and the inspiration for the charcter,
Eva
Shawnessy of Raintree County.
"Elsie
aspired to a life of intellectual and spiritual ideals.
For
her day she was a feminist, but her progress toward a degree would soon
be interrupted by marriage to Ross Lockridge Senior and childbearing."
(as
quoted from the Raintree Co. Homepage)
Lillian Vernice
Baker
Wife
of Ross Lockridge Jr. and his inspiration for Nell Gaither of Raintree
County.
In
this portrait, taken in 1928, she is 14 years of age.
She
retyped the manuscript for Raintree County and was the first to read it.
Ross Lockridge Jr.
Taken
in the summer of 1946 at the "Old Home Place" in Straughn, Henry Co. Indiana.
Life
Magazine was considering a feature article and at their request,
Ross Jr. came back to Henry Co. This photo and several others were
never published however, because they instead, printed an excerpt from
"Raintree County" which appeared in the Sept. 8, 1947 issue.
Ross Lockridge Jr.
At
Eel River, Miami County, Indiana in the Summer of 1946.
A
return visit made with his father, Ross Lockridge Sr. and son Ernest.