Elijah Martindale

Elijah Martindale (November 10, 1793-July 21, 1874) was an Indiana pioneer and a leader of the Restoration Movement in that state. He was called Elder Elijah Martindale.

Martindale was born in Laurens County, South Carolina. He moved with his family to Warren County, Ohio in about 1801 and there they established a farm just outside Waynesville, Ohio. There the family lived, largely self-sufficiently, making their own clothes and raising their own food. In about 1811, Martindale’s father determined to move again. He resettled the family to Whitewater Valley, in Indiana Territory, on a brook still called Martindale Creek. The family raised a cabin in October and cleared eight or 10 acres (40,000 m²) by the following spring. During the aftermath of the Battle of Tippecanoe and during the conflict with Great Britain later called the War of 1812, the neighboring settlers decided to erect a small fort around the Martindale cabin and several moved in. Uncomfortable with the rough lifestyle, Martindale’s parents decided to move back to Ohio and waited out the war there before returning to Indiana.

In October, 1815, Martindale married a Wayne County, Indiana pioneer named Elizabeth Boyd. In the spring of 1832 Martindale moved with his wife to Flat Rock, near New Castle, Indiana, in Henry County, Indiana. In 1865 they moved to New Castle.

In 1820, Martindale preached his first sermon. From then until his death, he preached throughout Henry County, Wayne County, Fayette County, Indiana; Rush County, Indiana; Delaware County, Indiana; Madison County, Indiana and some in Hancock County, Indiana and in Ohio. He organized, or inspired the formation of Disciples of Christ churches throughout eastern Indiana and Ohio, including: Hillsboro, Henry County, Indiana; New Lisbon, Indiana; Middletown, Indiana; Prairie Township, Indiana; Bentonville, Indiana; Plum Creek, Indiana; and Fairview, Indiana.

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