Jesse Y. Demaree is the son of George W. and Sarah W. (Young) Demaree. The father was born in Mercer, Ky., March 29, 1812, and died in this county, October 13, 1851, and the mother was born in Pennsylvania, April 16, 1814, and died in this county August 15, 1864. They were married in this county, January 25, 1838. This marriage resulted in the birth of the following children: Jesse Y., David M., deceased, Robert B., deceased, Margaret J., Rachel B., deceased, Elizabeth M. About 1835, George W. Demaree came to this county, and lived here till he died. He entered the farm our subject now lives on. He was a zealous member of the Presbyterian Church, in which church he served as elder. The subject of this sketch was born and reared on the farm he owns. He received a fair education by attending the country schools. He has followed farming as an occupation. He was married April 3, 1865, wedding Mary M. Miller, who is the daughter of William and Rhoda Miller. She lived but a short period of time after this marriage. In 1872, October 3, Mr. Demaree married, for a second wife, Margaret A. Winchester, daughter of John M. and Harriet Winchester. Mrs. Demaree was born in this county, September 6, 1852. The children born unto the second marriage of our subject were: Mary Ester, Hattie, Sarah B., deceased, Bertha Jane, Mabel Edna, deceased, Byron M. and John R. Our subject began the battle of life for himself at an early day. His father died when he was but thirteen years old, and to support the widowed mother and the family placed upon him much responsibility; but he succeeded in his efforts, and now owns the old homestead his father entered, excepting forty acres. He volunteered in Company F, Seventh Indiana Regiment, in August, 1861, as a private, and was engaged at the battle of Winchester, Va., in 1862, where he received a gunshot wound in the left thigh, and this necessitated his discharge in October, 1862. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church, as is also his wife. He is a Master Mason of Union Village Lodge, No. 545.