| |
| |

Relative
to the Daily Family of Clark County, Indiana |
| |
| |
| |
| |
SILAS BOTTORFF
History
of the Ohio Fall Counties and its Cities by L.A.
Williams Silas was the 2nd of four children,
three boys and one girl. His father Jacob was a
native of PA who had moved to Kentucky early and
then to Clark County, IN in 1816. He married
Isabella Fouts, the daughter of Jacob Fouts (born
in North Carolina January 14th 1782) and Mary
Dongan. Her parents had married in 1806 and her
father Jacob died 26 October 1860, her mother
Mary on 29 October 1869.
Silas and Isabella
were the parents of five children: William A.,
Mollie, Carrie, Belle and Jacob F. Bottorff.
|
| |
JACOB BOYER
History
of the Ohio Fall Counties and its Cities by L.A.
Williams Jacob Boyer was born near Lexington
and emigrated to Clark county when he was a boy.
His father Philip was a saddler by trade and had
married Barbara Liter and had had six children,
Jacob being their eldest. Jacob was a shoemaker
by trade but devoted most os his time to farming.
His wife, Jane Kelly, was the daughter of Captain
William Kelly who was born in Virginia in 1733,
and married to a woman by the name of Margaret.
Jane was born on 06 January 1811 and died on 26
August 1879.
William Boyer, son
of Jacob, was born March 27, 1839. He married
Annette E. Consley on February 2, 1875, daughter
of Squire S.G. Consley who had been born in Clark
county on January 24, 1827 and was the son of
John Consley who was born in KY on 06 March 1800
and had married Elizabeth Giltner on 13 march
1823 who had come to Clark county from Lexington
in 1808. William and Annette were members of the
Presbytarian Church and the parents of three
children.
|
| |
JESSE COOMBS
EXCERPTS OF History of the Ohio Fall
Counties and its Cities by L.A. Williams Jesse Coombs came from
Kentucky in about 1808 and married his wife Mary
in 1809. His father, Jesse Coombs, Sr., was
killed by Indians in about 1790.
The mill site of
the Coombs mill in Union twp was used first for a
saw mill in perhaps 1812 by Joseph Carr. After
that Enos Tuttle built a log grist mill for
grinding corn only, this about 1818. It burned
down and the site fell into the hands of Jesse
Coombs who rebuilt it for grinding wheat and
corn. The present mill house built in 1840-1841
belongs to heirs of John D. Coombs and does some
grinding yet.
William Coomb's
Will dated April 9th 1810; Mentions son John
Coombs - two beds and bedding with curtians, case
of drawers, the cupboard and furniture, the
fallen leaf table, one half dozen chairs and
kitchen furniture - also choice of a horse beast
and saddle, the loom and tackling - the crop of
wheat that is growing. Also mentions sons Pope,
William, and Daughter Margaret. Executors: Thomas
Carr/Nancy Coomb.
David H. Coombs,
son of Jesse who died in 1857, was born in Clark
County, Indiana. At the age of 17 he entered the
Charlestown Academy until age 21. He then studied
with Dr. James Athen and went to Louisville
Medical University, graduating at Jefferson
Medical College in Philadelphia in the Spring of
1850. He married Sarah Goodman, the youngest
daughter of Colonel Goodman, on 04 November 1851
and moved to his wife's farm in Utica in 1876.
She died in March of 1880 leaving a family of
seven children.
William C., son of
Jesse, was born in Clark county in 1831, married
Rebecca M. Nugent of Charlestown in 1860 and had
three children.
Hanibal H. was the
son of Joel Coombs who had become a citizen of
Clark county in 1801 and was formerly of PA. He
had married in Kentucky and moved to Washington
county in March of 1816, dying in Clark county in
1853. In 1847 H.H. Coombs moved to his father's
farm. His brother William was killed at Buena
Vista. In 1837 he married Rachel Houghland and
had fourteen children. He had served as sheriff
in Clark county in 1857-58-59.
|
| |
CARR, JOHN
History
of the Ohio Fall Counties and its Cities by L.A.
Williams
by William S.
FerrierIt becomes our painful duty in this
week's paper to announce the death of General
John Carr, who died on the 20th instant [January
20, 1845], after a long and very painful illness.
His death created a space which cannot soon be
filled. General Carr was a man of no ordinary
character. He had long occupied an elevated
standing among his fellow-men. He was born in
Fayette county, Pennsylvania, on the 6th of
April, 1793, and had at the time of his death
nearly completed his fifty-second year. he
emigrated from that State with his father to the
territory of Indiana, in the spring of 1806,
having been a citizen of this county ever since -
a period of thirty-nine years. During the summer
of 1811 he was engaged in several scouting
parties on the frontier, and in watching and
guarding against the approach of the Indians, who
were then known to entertain hostile feelings
toward the settlers. At this time he was but
eighteen years of age. In the fall of the same
year he joined the Tippecanoe expedition, with
Captain Bigger's company of riflemen, and was
engaged in that memorable and bloody conflict,
which occurred on the 7th of November of that
year. On the declaration of war in 1812 he was
appointed a lieutenant of company of United
States rangers, authorized by an act of Congress
and organized for the defense of the western
frontiers. during the years of 1812 and 1813, he
was actively engaged in several important and
fatiguing campaigns, which were attended with
extreme hardship and peril. the Missisinewa and
Illinois or Peoria campaigns were particularly
distinguished for their many privations,
difficulties and hair-breadth escapes; in all of
which he participated. During much of this time
the command of his company devolved upon him, in
consequence of the absence of the captain. Though
then but a youth he was equal to any emergency.
After the war he
filled successively several military offices.
Among these were Brigadier and Major-general of
the Militia of Indiana. The latter office he held
at the time of his death. General Carr was
repeatedly honored with the confidence of his
fellow-citizens in the election to several civil
offices of trust and honor. he filled at various
times the offices of recorder, agent for the town
of Indianapolis, clerk of the Clark County
Circuit Court, to which he was re-elected, and
Presidential Elector on the Jackson ticket in
1824. All these duties he discharged with honor
to his country and himself. In 1831 he was
elected a member of the House of Representatives
of the Twenty-first Congress of the United
States, and continued to serve in this body for
six consecutive years. In 1837 he retired, but
was re-elected for the fourth time in 1839, and
served two years more, making in all eight years'
service in that body. His Congressional career
was noted for industry, efficiency, and
usefulness. he originated the sale of lands in
forty-acre lots, thus bringing within the reach
of all the home that so many needed. He assisted
in passing the pension act, by which so many of
the old Revolutionary soldiers received pensions,
and afterwards aided many of them in establishing
their claims to this hard-earned bounty of their
Government. In private, as well as in public
life, he was distinguished for his nice sense of
honor and the uprightness of his conduct. Of him
it may be said in truth that he was one of God's
noblest works, an honest man. In his intercourse
with his fellow-men, he was modest and
unassuming. he was at the same time frank and
open, yet courteous. He had but few if any
personal enemies. Among his neighbors he was
beloved and esteemed by all. In the family circle
he was a kind and tender husband and parent.
Although General Carr was not a member of any
church, we are happy to learn that during he last
illness he sought Christ, and found pardon. he
expressed a perfect resignation to die, and met
death as became a Christian. His wife had
preceded her consort to the grave; and in a few
short weeks the domestic hearth has been bereft
of its parental head, and those who were happy a
few days ago under parental control and
protection are now orphans. He left behind him
give children, numerous relatives, and a host of
friends. He was followed on yesterday by a large
concourse of people to his place of interment in
this town. he has been snatched from his friends,
almost in the meridian of life, thus verifying
the great and solemn truth, "in the midst of
life we are in death."
|
| |
WILLIAM CRAWFORD
History
of the Ohio Fall Counties and its Cities by L.A.
Williams William Crawford came from Virginia
in 1814. He'd married previous to coming, Miss
Sarah McCormack. They had three children in
Virginia and four born in Clark county. Of those
living in 1882, Mrs. Mary Ann Taggart, James C.
and Josiah.
Reverend Josiah
Crawford was born in Brook county, West Virginia.
His father William was a native of Pennsylvania
and came to Indiana in 1818, settling in
Charlestown township where he lived until his
death in 1871.
Reverend Josiah
Crawford graduated from Hanover College in 1839
and from theological school in 1839. He married
Miss Amanda Stewart in 1839, but she died in
1842. In 1848 he then married Phoebe H. Crosby,
the daughter of Theophilus Crosby of
Massachusetts, and had by her seven children.
|
| |
DAVID
WISE DAILY
History
of the Ohio Fall Counties and its Cities by L.A.
WilliamsThe father
of David W. Daily removed from Kentucky to
Indiana in the year 1796, settling at a point
some two and one-half miles south of Charlestown,
in the then wilderness of this locality, which
was chiefly inhabited by Indians. At that time
all of the country lying between the mouth of
Fourteen-mile creek and the Fall of the Ohio was
covered by forest and dense undergrowth of cane.
Not only savages, but wild beasts made their
abode here. The panter, bear, and wolf added to
the dangers which met the hardy and brave
pioneers on the threshold of their forntier life
in those days. On the 16th of August 1798 David
W. Daily was born in a log house in which his
father lived, on what is called the old
homestead. A few years later, about 1801, his
father commenced to build a new house - the first
hewed log in this portion of Southern Indiana. In
this house Mr. Daily spent his early days. The
house is still standing (1882) and in very fair
repair, although over three quarters of a century
have elapsed since its construction. The first
school he attended was situated on what was
called "Bald Hill" near what is now
called Buffalo lick, or Denny's lick, about one
mile and a half from the place and about three
miles from the "old homestead" is
situated. The danger was so great from wild
animals that his mother was accustomed to go with
him a part of the way to school, and to meet him
on his return in the evening, carrying a younger
child in her arms. He subsequently attended
another school near where the union church
stands. It was in the winter time, and but for a
very limited time that he was permitted to attend
school at al. School facilities in those days
were very limited at best, and of a very inferior
character. It was toils and hardships and dangers
which sur-rounded the first settlers and native
born inhabitants of this country that Mr. Daily
spent his boyhood and developed into a vigorous
manhood. It is related of Mr. Daily that in 1809
at the age of , when the first sale of
Charlestown took place, he with a stock of nice
apples planted by his father probably the first
orchard in the part of the county - which he sold
to the people attending the sale. This was his
first experience in trade. He was married to Miss
Mary A Shirley, the daughter of a pioneer who
lived near to his fathers place of residence on
the 30th of August 1818 - the day of his funeral
being the sixtieth anniversary of his wedded
life. He became the father of eleven children,
five boys and six girls, all of whom lived to be
grown. Captain D.W. Daily, who did a few years
since, forms the only break in the circle of
children. There are thirty-one of his
grandchildren and eighteen of his
great-grandchildren living. He has also two
sisters living.
He
made several trading excursions to New Orleans in
flat boats before engaging in business at
Charlestown, on one occasion piloting his own
boat over the Falls of the Ohio. At one time he
took Mrs. Daily and his oldest son, Colonel Harry
Daily, then a lad, with him, remaining South
about eighteen months.
In
1826 he removed to Charlestown and engaged in
merchandising. His first stock of goods was
purchased at auction in Cincinnati. Although
inexperienced in business of this kind, his
natural good sense served him in this as in many
other emergencies all thought his varied business
experience. he closely inspected the various
business men competing for bargains at this sale,
selecting as his guide the one his judgement
point out as the most reliable, and when a lot of
good that suited him were up cautiously kept a
shade in advance of his shrewd competitors. By
this means he obtained a tock of goods upon which
he was enabled to make a fair profit and deal
justly with his customers. In his long and
successful experience in merchandising, he always
maintained his integrity and retained the
confidence of all who dealt with him by honorable
and fair dealing, and by pursuing a liberal
policy towards his customers. By his financial
ability and his disposition to accommodate he
became a tower o strength and usefulness to the
community in which he did business. In all of his
long business life as a merchant and trader, and
subsequently a man of means to loan to his
neighbors reasonable rates of interest, no men
can say that D.W. Daily ever oppressed them, or
took any legal technical advantage of them. On
the other hand, there are numerous instances of
his having offered voluntary and timely financial
aid to struggling and poor men - instances where
men who need money, and could not find men who
were willing to join in their notes as surety,
were not coldly rebuffed by him, but kindly
assured he would confide in their honor,
furnishing the needed help without security. In
the death of D.W. Daily this community
universally and deeply realize that one of the
best and most useful of men has been removed from
them.
The
high esteem in which his fellow citizens held him
cause them to make demands upon him as a public
servant. He was elected sheriff of Clark county
in 1828 and was re-elected to the same office in
1830, serving two terms. In 1835 he was elected
to fill the unexpired term of John M. Lemon in
the State Senate, Mr. Lemon having been appointed
receiver in the land office. At the expiration of
this term, Mr. Daily was re-elected to the State
Senate from the join district composed of Clark
and Floyd counties. During this term of service
the notorious and fatal internal improvement bill
passed the Legislature of Indiana. Mr. Daily, to
his lasting honor, with but ten members of the
Senate, bitterly opposed its passage. Finding
themselves in a hopelessness minority, they
determined to bolt and thus prevent the passage
of the measure by breaking a quorum. Their horses
were ordered for their departure from the State
Captial, when, through the influence of Tilghman
A. Howard, one of the eleven bolters, they
finally determined to remain and make the best
fight possible in the Senate against the measure.
Mr.
Daily died Thursday, August 29, 1878, aged eighty
years and thirteen days. he was an extremely kind
and indulgent father and affectionate husband, a
good citizen in every true sense of the word, a
most faithful friend and accommodating
neighbor."
|
| |
THOMAS HART DAILY
History
of the Ohio Fall Counties by L.A. Williams
Thomas
Hart Daily was a captain on General Jefferson C.
Davis' staff (who was also a 2nd and 1st
Lieutenant), as was his brother David W. Daily,
both listed as having been of Georgetown.
This was the 22nd Infantry regiment, Company D,
which was authorized for three years
service. On August 17th (1862) it was
transported to St. Louis, where it joined
Fremont's army, and was sent up the Missouri to
the relief of Colonel Mulligan, who was
beleaguered at Lexington. It moved with
Fremont to Springfield and Otterville; was in the
affair at Blackwater, and marched in January with
Curtis' expedition against Sterling Price,
participating in the battle of Pea Ridge, in
which it bore a prominet part, losing nine killed
and thirty-two wounded, including Lieutenant
Colonel Hendricks. Its most famous
engagement thereafter were at Perryville, Stone
River, and Mission Ridge, and it was in a number
of minor engagements. After the
reorganization as a veteran regiment, it took
part in the Atlanta campaign, the march to the
sea, and the final marches and battles
northward. It was mustered out at
Washington early in June and publicly welcomed at
Indianapolis on the 16th of that month.
Among the commissioned officers of Company D -
Captain David W. Daily, Georgetown; Captain Isaac
N. Haymaker (also a 2nd lieutenant), Georgetown;
Captain James M. Parker (also 1st lieutenant),
Georgetown; Captain Thomas H. Daily (also 2nd and
1st lieutenant), Georgetown; and First Lieutenant
William H. Kalts, Georgetown. Among the
non-commissioned officers listed, was Sergeant
David N. Runyan.
THOMAS
H. DAILY
History of Johnson County,
Indiana by David Demaree
Thomas H. Daily
(deceased) was born December 4, 1841, in the town
of Charlestown, Clark Co., Ind., and was a son of
David W. and Mary A. (Shirley) Daily, natives
respectively of Indiana and Kentucky. He was the
youngest of a family of eleven children, seven of
whom are living, and grew to manhood in his
native county, in the common schools, of which he
received the elements of an ordinary English
education.
When the war cloud
gathered over the country in 1861, he responded
to the call for volunteers, enlisting when but
nineteen years of age, in company D,
Twenty-second Indiana Infantry, with which he
served gallantly for a period of three years. He
entered the service as a private, but soon
obtained a lieutenant's commission, and later,
was promoted captain, in which capacity he served
on the staff of Gen. Jefferson C. Davis, between
whom and himself there existed an intimate
friendship. He participated in a number of
campaigns and battles, and was with his command
through all its varied experiences in the
service, during which time he gained the good
will of his men and the confidence and esteem of
his superiors in office. He passed safely through
various engagements in which his command took a
part, but was severely hurt by being thrown from
his horse against a tree, the effect of which was
materially to shorten his life.
He was mustered
out of the service of Atlanta, Ga., September 14,
1864, and on quitting the army he received
through the interposition of a friend, the
position of passenger conductor on the J., M.
& I. Railroad without having to pass through
the usual preliminaries and promotions required
for such service. He ran a train for twelve
years, but owing to physical disability
superinduced by the injury received while in the
army, was finally compelled to abandon the road,
which he did very reluctantly. For about three
years and nine months previous to his death, Mr.
Daily was a confirmed invalid and during that
time his comfort and satisfaction was to meet and
converse with his old army comrades and recall
the scenes of his battles and campaigns in which
they took part while in defense of the flag.
He married
September 27, 1868, Miss Maggie Walsh, daughter
of John Walsh, Esq., who shared with him the
future vicissitudes of life, and who is now
living at her home in the town of Edinburg. Mr.
Daily died on the 3rd day of May, 1881, and was
buried in his native town of Charlestown.
He was a devoted
member of the Catholic Church, in which faith his
wife and children were also raised. Mr. and Mrs.
Daily raised a family of three children, namely:
Katie, born July 8, 1869; Ella W., born January
4, 1872, and Maria, born November 25, 1873, died
February 28, 1880. Mrs. Daily has looked
carefully to the intellectual training of her
children, Miss Katie being a graduate of St.
Mary's academy, an education institution located
near Terre Haute. The other daughter, Ella W., is
pursuing her studies at the same school.
|
| |
JACOB FOUT
EXCERPTS
OF History of the Ohio Fall
Counties and its Cities by L.A. WilliamsJacob Fout's wife, Mary
Dougan, was the daughter of Thomas who was a
native of North Carolina. She was born on 19
March 1788 and died on 29 October 1869. They were
the parents of nine children, including Mary who
married William H. Work in 1841 and daughter
Isabella (the 5th of their children) who married
Silas Bottorff in 1837.
Mary Fout was the
daughter of Captain Jacob Fouts who was born in
Randolph County, NC on 14 Jan 1782 who had been a
farmer and had married Mary Dongan/Dougan on 02
October 1806, emigrating to Clark county and
purchasing 362 acres. Her mother, Mary Dongan was
the daughter of Thomas, a native of NC. She was
born on 19 March 1788 and died in October 1869
and had been the parents of eight other children,
the eldest having died in infancy, but the others
living to maturity. Her brother John Calvin Fouts
had married Hester Ann Prather.
Mary's husband,
William H. Work, was the son of Samuel Work and
Elizabeth Henley. He had bought the Thomas Henley
farm in 1853. He and Mary were the parents of
Henry Francis Work 1842-1918; Dr. William T. Work
(1851) - who had one son, died without issue; and
daughter Mary Elizabeth Work (1844) who married
on 21 June 1866, William H. McIlvaine, a native
of Henry Co, KY and lived in New Castle, KY with
two children.
John Fout was the
youngest child of Captain Jacob Fouts who was
born in Randolph county North Carolina on 14
January 1782. Jacob married Mary Dongan who was
born March 19, 1788 and died in October 1869. She
was the daughter of Thomas, a native of North
Carolina. They were the parents of nine children.
Their eldest child died in infancy.
John C. Fouts
married Hester A. Prather, the daughter of Isaac
and sister of Calvin. Hester was born near
Jeffersonville, Clark county, Indiana on August
15th 1836. The couple had five children.
|
| |
JOHN HAY
EXCERPTS
OF History of the Ohio Fall
Counties and its Cities by L.A. Williams John Hay settled in
Charelstown in 1806. He emigrated from Kentucky.
His son Campbell studied medicine with his
brother A.P. and for many years practiced in
Clark County. He was in the Black Hawk war as a
U.S. Ranger in Captain Ford's company. Later in
life he filled the office of auditor and clerk of
the circuit court. In about 1882 he was town
treasurer and was engaged as a druggist.
|
| |
GEORGE HUCKLEBERRY,
SR.
History of the Ohio Fall
Counties and its Cities by L.A. Williams George Huckleberry, Sr.,
was a native of Wurtemburg, Germany. He came to
America and settled in Pennsylvania until the
year 1784, when he moved to Kentucky, Jefferson
County, near Abbott's Station, where he had one
son captured by the Indians. When the Indians
found that they were being pursued they killed
the boy near the Twelve-mile Island, which was
the cause of the creek on the Kentucky side being
called Huckleberry.
In the year 1796
he moved to Clark Co., Indiana, near Charlestown
Landing, where he purchased a large tract of
land. He had seven sons and two daughters. His
sons performed military duty on the frontier:
Martin was in Captain Wells' company at St.
Clair's defeat; Henry was in the battle of
Tippecanoe; George was one of the volunteers that
went to the relief of Fort Harrison when Major
Zachary Taylor (afterwards President Taylor), was
besieged by the Indians. John C. Huckleberry was
a son of George Huckleberry, Jr., born in 1810.
He was a member of the Legislature several terms;
was proprietor and editor of the Southern
Indianan; postmaster from 1838 to 1841; was
sheriff of Clark County from 1845 to 1847;
removed to Missouri in 1867, and thence to Reno
County, Kansas and died August 1879. George
Huckleberry left five children, two boys and
three girls. William P. Huckleberry, his youngest
son, was born in 1819, and is now acting as a
claim agent and notary public.
|
| |
W. A. MC
NAUGHTON
History of Johnson County,
Indiana by David Demaree
The subject of
this sketch, is one of the leading young citizens
and business men of Franklin, Johnson Co.,
Indiana and proprietor of the largest dry goods
and carpet establishment in the city and county.
He was born at Leavenworth, Crawford Co., Indiana
on November 4, 1849. He is the son of Rev. S. W.
and Sarah (Forbes) McNaughton. The father was
born in Indiana, in 1826, and is a minister of
the Methodist Church and has been a member of the
Indiana Methodist Episcopal Conference for about
thirty-five years, during which time he has
occupied pulpits at many points in the
southwestern portion of the state. He is now
stationed in Vanderburg County. The mother was
born in Pennsylvania, and died in 1868. To this
union eight children have been born, two of whom
are dead. The father has since married.
Our subject was
reared from his thirteenth year in Edinburg,
Johnson Co., Indiana, and secured a limited
education in the public schools. He began life as
a cash boy in the store of Harvey Lewis, at
Edinburg, and thence was promoted to a clerkship,
and later was cashier and bookkeeper in the bank
of Mr. Lewis, remaining with that gentleman until
his retirement from business in about 1872. He
next took an interest in the dry goods store of
John Walsh, and in 1880 the firm removed to
Franklin. Upon the retirement of Mr. Walsh, from
the business, in 1883, our subject assumed full
proprietorship of the business, and continues the
same at present.
He is a member of
the K. of P. Order, uniform rank, and of the
Methodist Episcopal Church. He was married
December 27, 1870, to Annie C., daughter of John
Walsh, who was born in Edinburg. To this union
five children have been born, all of whom are
living. Mrs. McNaughton is a member of the
Catholic Church.
|
| |
MAJOR ALEXANDER F.
MORRISON
Early Reminiscences
of Indianapolis by John H.B. Nowland
(Generously
contributed by David F. James)The brother of Judge and
William H. Morrison, was born in New York city,
but with his brothers came to Charlestown,
Indiana, in the year 1818. He there learned the
printing business. In the Legislature that
convened on the first Monday of December, 1830,
he represented Clark County, and while here made
arrangements to commence in the spring
publication of a weekly paper, to be called the
"Indiana Democrat." In accordance with
this arrangment, Mr. Morrison, with his family,
removed to this place early in the spring of 1831
The
"Democrat" was started in the interest
of and supported General Jackson for re-election
to the Presidency. Mr. Morrison was a ready
political writer, and made the
"Democrat" a spicy paper. Its
editorials would compare favorably with those of
the city papers of the present day. He was very
bitter toward his opponents, and his articles
sometimes read as though he had dipped his pen in
gall.
He engaged from
time to time in various kinds of business here
during his life. He was one of the "bloody
three hundred" that in 1832 went out to meet
Black Hawk, but all returned without any other
than their own scalps.
During the Mexican
war he was a quartermaster in the army, and it
was while there his already feeble constituion
was greatly impaired. I do not think he ever
experienced a well day after his return. His
eyes, that were naturally weak, were almost
entirely destroyed.
Mr. Morrison was a
very kind, generous-hearted man to his friends,
but very bitter to his enemies, or those he had
reason to believe were such. In his social
relations and intercourse with his neighbors, he
was deservedly popular, and a very hospitable
man. As a husband and father, he was devoted and
indulgent, anticipating every want of his family.
Mr. Morrison
leaves two sons, Will. Alex and Charles, and also
two daughters, Mrs. Allison and Mrs. Murphy, who,
together with their mother, yet reside in the
city.
Major Morrison
died in December, 1857, at the age of fifty-four,
regretted by many old friends and acquaintance.
"Unfading
hope, when life's last embers burn,
When soul to soul, and dust to dust return."
|
| |
JUDGE JAMES
MORRISON
Early Reminiscences
of Indianapolis by John H.B. Nowland
Contributed
by David F. JamesIt is when I attempt to
write a fitting tribute to the memory of such a
man as Judge Morrison, that I feel the magnitude
of the task I have undertaken, and my
incompetency to hand down to posterity and future
generations, that they may have a proper
appreciation of his great legal ability, and his
many moral and social virtues.
My acquaintance
with Judge Morrison began when I was a boy, and
before he had reached the noonday of life. Forty
years ago I was often his fishing companion upon
the banks of the White River and Fall Creek, he
angling for the fine black bass with which those
streams abounded at that time, and I for the tiny
minnow he used as bait.
He was a great
smoker, and carried a tinder-box for the purpose
of lighting cigars (this was before such a thing
as locofoco matches were thought of). I have
often been attracted to his place of concealment
on the banks of these streams by the clatter of
his tinder-box, or the curling smoke of his
fragrant Havana, rising above the bushes. This
was when the vanities and sorry conceits of the
world were strangers to me, and when my youthful
spirit had known but little of the evils of this
inconstant world. It was upon the bank of these
streams that I learned much of the true dignity
of character he possessed, and before either of
us thought we would ever bear the relation of
attorney and client to each other, which we did
for years afterwards.
Although my hair
is now silvered o'er, and my brows bear the mark
of time, I have not outlived the memory of those
happy days in the early history of this city; the
days of so much enjoyment that I passed as a boy,
and the reflection of whose pleasures linger with
me yet.
In the
"Indianapolis Journal" of the 22nd of
March 1869, I find the following announcement of
his demise:
"The early
settlers of the State, and the founders of our
city, are dropping off in such close succession
that we are warned of the near approach of the
time when we all shall have passed away, and the
birth of Indianapolis have ceased to be a memory
to any, and faded into history. Since the
beginning of the year two have left us, and in
the last decade they far outnumber the years. We
cannot think without profound sorrow of the
inevitable hours when all the names so long
identified with our prosperity and honored as the
links that still bind the present to the past,
have ceased to speak a living presence, and to
offer a living example of beauty, of goodness,
and a well spent life.
"Among all
that have left sad vacancies, no one has filled a
more prominent place than the Hon. James
Morrison; though for some years his failing
strength and feeble health have secluded him from
the active life, his presence has been felt, his
existence has been an influence, and his death is
not so much the end of a flickering light as the
extinguishment of a gleam that leaves darkness in
its place.
"He died on
Saturday evening, the 20th instant, of pneumonia,
after an illness of several days."
From the
"Indianapolis Sentinel," of the same
date I copy as follows: "Judge Morrison was
born in Ayrshire, Scotland, the birth place of
Robert Burns, in the year 1796. His parents came
to this country when he was quite young, and
settled at Bath, in Western New York. He studied
his profession with William B. Rochester, a
distinguished jurist of that State, and when
admitted to the bar he emigrated to Indiana, and
located in Charlestown, Clark County, where he
practiced law for many years with the late Judge
Dewey, who was one of the truly great men of the
nation.
"He remained
in Charlestown about ten years, and a gentleman
who knew him during his residence there, says his
devotion to his family (he was the oldest son)
was remarkable, and that he was their main
reliance.
"In the
winter of 1828-29, he was elected Secretary of
the State by the Legislature, and removed to this
city, then a town of 1,100 inhabitants, January
1st, 1829. Subsequently he filled the offices of
Judge of this Judicial Circuit Court, President
of the State Bank for ten years, succeeding
Samuel Merrill, Esq., Attorney General, the first
to fill that office, and other trusts of less
importance. So had of an appreciation had the
members of the bar for his qualifications for the
judgeship, that they presented him with five
hundred dollars to induce him to take it."
"Of the Clark
County bar, he leaves but two survivors, we
believe, Judge Thompson, now in the city, and
Judge Naylor, of Crawfordsville.
"Of the
Indianapolis bar of 1829, the year he became
connected with it, he was, as we recollect, the
last, not one now left. Harvey Gregg, William
Quarels, Hiram Brown, Henry P. Coburn, B.F.
Morris, Andrew Ingram, Samuel Merrill, Calvin
Fletcher and William W. Wick, who were his
associates then, all passed away before he was
called to his final rest.
"As we call
the familiar names of those so prominent in the
early history of the bar of Indianapolis, the
convulsive throbs of many hearts will attest
their worth and appreciation with which their
memories are still cherished. Yet the sadness
with which we recur to the ties of early
associations, and the early friendship of the
past thus severed, will place to the cheering
thought that those endearing ties will be
renewed, refined and strengthened in the new life
upon which they have already entered.
"Judge
Morrison was also identified with the history of
this church of this city; he was one of the first
class which was confirmed here about thirty years
ago, and the rite was administered by the now
venerable Bishop Kemper, of Wisconsin, who was
then Missionary Bishop of the Northwest. For
twenty-five years he was Senior Warden of Christ
Church, in this city, and since the organization
of St. Paul's Church he has filled the same
office in that parish. He was educated a
Presbyterian, but became a Churchman after
thorough investigation, and remained so with
steadfastness through life.
"Judge
Morrison was a man of decided convictions, strong
prejudices, with fixed habits which only physical
inability could change or overcome. He had
opinion upon all subjects and questions to which
his attention was directed, and, as would be
expected from his peculiar mental organization,
they were always positive even to ultraism. He
was thoroughly a lawyer. His eminent talents and
active mind were peculiarly adapted to the
profession in which he attained such high
reputation, only yielding active participation in
it when compelled to surrender to the great enemy
of man. He was learned and profound, and had
thoroughly mastered the science of law.
"As a husband
and father, Judge Morrison was affectionate,
devoted and indulgent, and he leaves a wife, sons
and daughter, who will, through life, cherish the
memory of his many virtues and unfailing
affection and kindness."
I cannot add more
than I have said in the beginning of this sketch,
and what is said in these extracts of the
"Journal" and the "Sentinel,"
announcing his death.
"Friend after
friend departs,
Who hath not lost a friend?
There is no union here of hearts,
That finds not here an end."
|
| |
JAMES HARVEY OVERMAN
History
of Richardson County Nebraska by Lewis C.
Edwards, B. F. Bowen & Company, Inc. ,
Indianapolis, 1917.James Harvey Overman,
well-known veteran hotel-keeper at Stella, this
county, former postmaster of that village,
formerly and for years engaged in the mercantile
business there and since pioneer days one of the
leading factors in the development of the town,
is a native of the old Hoosier state, a fact of
which he never has ceased to be proud, but has
been a resident of this section of the country
since the days of his early infancy, having come
out to the neighboring state of Iowa with his
parents in the, spring of 1852, he then being but
an infant in arms, and one year later, in 1853,
came to Missouri.
He was born in
Clark county, Indiana, not far across the river
from the city of Louisville, January 10, 1852,
son of James L. and Mary (Dailey) Overman, both
of whom were born in that same county, members of
pioneer families in southern Indiana, and who
later became pioneers of this region, their last
days being spent at Stella.
The Overmans are
of Dutch stock and the family has been
represented in this country since Colonial days.
James L. Overmans father, whose wife was an
Amick, became early settlers in Clark county,
Indiana, where James L. Overman was born on
February 15, 1824. His father died about six
years later and he early began working on his own
account, learning the coopers trade. On
December 29, 1845, he married Mary Dailey, who
also was born in Clark county, Indiana. May 16,
1819, member of a pioneer family in that section
of the Hoosier state, and there made his home
until 1852, when he came West and settled in
Iowa, one year later settling in Missouri. In
1858 he moved over to St. Deroin, on the river,
just at the southeast corner of Nemaha county,
where he began operating a ferry, at the same
time setting up a small cooperage establishment,
and was living there when the Civil War broke
out. Previous to the formal declaration of war,
however, in March, 1861, he had enlisted as a
member of the local company of Home Guards, for
service against the bushwhackers, and
was later transferred to Company D, Fifth
Missouri Cavalry, with which command he served
for sixteen months, that command doing effective
service against the guerillas that caused so much
trouble in Missouri and throughout this section.
Later James L. Overman was engaged in the
cooperage business at St. Joseph and at Amazonia,
where he established a cooperage shop, but after
awhile returned to St. Deroin and there remained
until 1884, when he moved to Stella, this county,
where he spent the remainder of his life, his
death occurring there on December 28, 1894. His
widow survived him nearly fifteen years, her
death occurring at Stella on February 4, 1909.
They were the
parents of four children, of whom the subject of
this sketch was the last-born, the others being
Kate, widow of Peter Fraker, of Stella; Andrew
M., who enlisted for service in the Union army
during the Civil War and whose fate thereafter
was unknown to his family, and Arabella, of
Stella, widow of J. M. McCollough.
As noted above,
James H. Overman was but an infant when his
parents came West and he was about six years of
age when the family, on March 6, 1858, settled at
St. Deroin, this state; the state at that time,
however, being under a territorial form of
government. He consequently has been a witness to
and a participant in the development of this
region since pioneer days and one of the
recollections of his childhood is of the burial
at St. Deroin of the old Indian chief, Joseph
Deroin. He received his schooling in the
primitive schools of his boyhood days and when
seventeen years of age began clerking in his
brother-in-laws store at St. Deroin. In
July, 1871, Mr. Overman began clerking in a store
at Severance, Kansas, and was there engaged in
business until 1874. He then returned to St.
Deroin and clerked in the store of A. J. Ritter
until March, 1879. In 1877 he was appointed
postmaster at St. Deroin under President Hayes,
serving until 1879, having previously served as
deputy postmaster. In 1879 he moved to Corning,
Missouri, and was there engaged in business for
about three years, at the end of which time he
came to Stella. Soon after the townsite was laid
out at Stella, this county, in February, 1882, he
opened a store at that place, in June, 1882, and
has ever since resided there, with the exception
of ten months spent conducting a hotel at
Humboldt. Mr. Overman was appointed postmaster of
Stella on January, 1898, by President McKinley,
and on April 27, 1904, was reappointed postmaster
by President Roosevelt, and was reappointed by
President Taft, serving until October 1, 1916.
His life has been practically devoted to
merchandising and hotel-keeping and he now has a
well-appointed and modern hotel of twenty-three
rooms at Stella, one of the best-known and most
popular hostelries in this county. Mr.
Overmans hotel at the corner of Main and
Third streets is of brick, three stories in
height and is equipped in accordance with modern
demands for the greatest degree of comfort on the
part of the traveling public. Mr. Overman is a
stanch Republican and has for years been looked
upon as one of the leaders of that party in
Richardson county.
On March 24, 1878,
James H. Overman was united in marriage to
Lucinda Marie Thomas, who was born in Putnam
county, Missouri, daughter of Elijah P. and
Samantha Ann (Hillis) Thomas, natives of Kentucky
and Indiana, respectively, who became pioneers in
Missouri. Elijah P. Thomas was born at Maysville,
Kentucky, February 11, 1827, son of John and
Margaret (Harmon) Thomas, the former of whom was
born in Kentucky about 1795 and the latter in
Champaign county, Ohio, not far from Urbana. John
Thomas was the son of Solomon Thomas, a Virginian
by birth and a soldier of the patriot army during
the Revolutionary War, his father, Solomon
Thomas, Sr., having been a Welshman who came to
this country in Colonial days and settled in
Virginia. John Thomas was a farmer and miller and
served as a soldier during the War of 1812. He
moved from Kentucky to Missouri and died in
Scotland county, that state, at the age of eighty
years. His wife died in Putnam county, that
state, she also reaching a ripe old age. Elijah
P. Thomas was married at Knoxville, Iowa,
September 15, 1853, to Samantha Ann Hillis, who
was born in Indiana on March 18, 1833, daughter
of Dr. J. D. B. and Lucinda (Stearett) Hillis.
Dr. J. D. B. Hillis was born in Bourbon county,
Kentucky, January 10, 1810, and his wife was born
in the vicinity of Urbana, Ohio, in 1813 Doctor
Hillis served in the Civil War as surgeon in a
Wisconsin regiment, and served as state senator
in Iowa - a capable man.
Mr. and Mrs.
Overman are members of the Church of Christ
(Scientist) and take an earnest interest in the
affairs of the same. They have no children of
their own, but reared to womanhood a niece of
Mrs. Overman, Mary Palmer, who was educated in
the schools of Stella and who on September 22,
1895, married George W. Harris, who is now
engaged in sheep raising at North Yakima,
Washington. Mr. Overman is a member of the local
lodge of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and
in the affairs of that organization takes a warm
interest.
|
| |
A. J. REED
History of the Ohio Fall
Counties and its Cities by L.A. Williams
Born in Washington
Co., Pennsylvania on January 5, 1815 he remained
there until July 6, 1828 when he came to
Louisville, Kentucky where he lived only a short
time before going to Washington D.C. to live with
his grandfather who was then a member of
Congress.
He lived with him
in Washington until 1832 and returned to
Louisville in November of 1832. In August of 1834
he became a citizen of Clark County, Indiana, but
spent 1848, the year of cholera, in Cincinatti,
and from there to Nashville until September 1851
where he found the cholera there very bad and
returned to Clark County.
In 1858 he
purchased a farm in Monroe Township of 360 acres
where he married Miss Ann Dunberry who was born
in Washington Co., Pennsylvania on january 8,
1823. They have five children.
|
HON. DILLARD RICKETTS
Early Reminiscences of
Indianapolis by John H. B. Nowland
Contributed
by David F. JamesHas been a citizen of
Indianapolis since 1867, although he has been
well known to our prominent citizens for many
years. He is a native of Kentucky, born in Clarke
county, but lived some time in Henry county
previous to his coming to Madison, his first
residence in Indiana.
He was for several
years a successful merchant of Edinburg, and
while residing there represented Johnson county
in the State Senate. He was for several years
extensively engaged in the purchase and packing
of pork at Jeffersonville, and did a larger
business in that way than any other person in the
State at that time.
Several years
since he was selected president of the
Jeffersonville & Indianapolis Railroad
Company, and at a time its stock was scarcely
worth ten cents on the dollar. During his
presidency it gradually advanced in value until
it is now at a large premium, although the
company had purchased the Madison &
Indianapolis railroad and built lateral branches
of their own road - one from Columbus to
Cambridge City, another from Jeffersonville to
New Albany.
Mr. Ricketts and
Samuel H. Patterson, of Jeffersonville, as the
representatives of the railroad, were active in
procuring the building of the railroad bridge
across the Ohio river at the southern terminus of
their road, and to them Indiana and the country
is mostly indebted for uniting New York with New
Orleans by one continuous and unbroken chain of
railroad communication through our State.
Mr. Ricketts has
ever been an energetic man, contributing largely
to the great prosperity of the State. He
possesses a frank and manly bearing and a
dignified kindness calculated to win upon those
that he is thrown in contact with.
His estimable lady
is the daughter of the Hon. David W. Daily of
Clarke county, who for many years represented
that county in the State Senate. We remember him
as one of the firm friends of the administration
of General Jackson during his Presidency. Mrs.
Ricketts has two brothers well-known to our
citizens: The first, Harry Daily, son-in-law of
the late Judge Morrison. The second brother,
Thomas Daily, married a Miss Walsh of Edinburg,
Indiana.
|
| |
JOHN WALSH (Deceased)
History of Johnson County,
Indiana by David Demaree
Among the men
identified with the material interests of
Edinburg in the past, few, if any, occupied a
more conspicuous place than the gentleman whose
brief biography is herewith presented. John Walsh
was a native of Ireland, born in County Galway,
on the 9th day of August, 1816, the son of John
and Margaret (Flannary) Walsh. He was reared amid
the active scenes of farm life, and remained in
his native country until sixteen years of age, at
which time he came to America and located in the
city of Quebec, Canada. After spending several
years in that place he went to New Orleans,
thence a little later to Madison, Indiana, where,
as in the former cities, his employment was that
of clerk and bookkeeper.
November 16, 1845,
he married Miss May Dalgleish, who was born in
Scotland on the 28th of October, 1821. Mrs.
Walsh's parents, John and Margaret (Wallace)
Dalgleish, were each descended from old and
prominent Scotch families, the Wallaces being
among the families noted in the history of that
country. Shortly after his marriage Mr. Walsh and
wife emigrated to Indiana, and settled in Johnson
County, where for a period of thirty-four years
he was prominently identified with the mercantile
interests of Edinburg. Having by successful
management succeeded in accumulating a
comfortable competence, Mr. Walsh transferred his
business to his sons and son-in-law, in 1886,
from which time until his death he lived a
retired life. In addition to his mercantile
business, Mr. Walsh was, for a number of years,
extensively engaged in agricultural pursuits,
which added largely to his pecuniary gains. He
became the owner of valuable real estate in
different counties, which, with his other
property, represented the fruits of his own
industry.
Mr. Walsh was
public-spirited man in all the term implies,
fully alive to the interests of the town and
county, and all movements having for their object
the general good, found in him an earnest
supporter and liberal patron. A Democrat in
politics, he never aspired to official
distinction, and a Roman Catholic in religion, he
encouraged the dissemination of religious truth,
irrespective of church or creed. He was a kind
husband and a devoted father, and exemplary
citizen, and in his death the community realized
the loss of a friend and benefactor. Mrs. Walsh
still survives, living at this time in Edinburg.
Mr. and Mrs. Walsh were the parents of seven
children, four of whom are living, namely:
Maggie, wife of T. H. Daily; Annie C., wife of W.
A. Mc Naughton; Mary E., wife of W. M. Howell,
and Francis V. Walsh.
|
| |
WILLIAM WORK
EXCERPTS
OF History of the Ohio Fall
Counties and its Cities by L.A. Williams
William Work was
of Scottish descent. His ancestors left Scotland
on account of religious persecution in 1690 and
went to Holland. In 1792 they emigrated to
Pennsylvania. His father, Samuel, was born in
Washington county, PA on 10 October 1787. When
about age 15, Samuel's father Henry emigrated to
Beargrass Creek, Jefferson county, Kentucky and
died there the first season. The family removed
from there two years later to Work's Landing in
Clark county, Indiana where Samuel had bought
land.
Captain Samuel
Work had married Elizabeth Henley, the daughter
of Jesse who was born on July 3rd 1796 and came
to Clark county from North Carolina. Elizabeth
was a sister of Colonel Jeff Henley, who was
elected to the Legislature when just past the age
of twenty-one. He was the first native Hoosier
elected to congress and later the first
Postmaster of California. Captain Samuel Work
died on 28 December 1871, and his wife Elizabeth
died on July 5th 1850.
William H. Work
moved to the farm he bought from Thomas J. Henley
in 1853 and married Mary Fouts who was the
daughter of Jacob. William and Mary's children
were Frank, Lizzie (who married W.H. McIlvaine, a
native of Henry Co., KY), and Dr. William T.
Work. William and Mary were members of the
Christian Church.
John Work settled
in Charlestown on the farm now owned by Green's
heirs (Dodd's Farm) in 1804. He began building
mills in 1806 and at one time had three flouring
mills four saw mills, a powder mill, and a
stillery all in successful operation. The turmoil
was tunnel was three years in excavation and was
the work of four men. The cost was $3,333.33
according to John Work's own statement. The
tunnel mill was built from 1814-1817, the same
time required to complete the tunnel.
Believe John is
the one who embarked with his brother Henry from
their home in Red Stone, PA, thirty miles above
Pittsburgh for the settlements at the falls of
the Ohio. They were iron workers in PA, but early
in the spring of 1804 when they were planning on
moving to Indiana, Henry fell ill of fever and
died. John then took his family, Henry's widow
and her children to Indiana were John was a
surveyor, mining engineer and mill wright. After
his death, his son operated the mill until 1854.
Henry Work and his
brother John came from Lancaster, PA to Franklin
County while it was still undivided from
Cumberland county - to that part of Peters Twp
which later became Montgomery Twp. He and John
were on the original tax list for Cumberland 1772
and were listed as free men. Henry served under
Captain Wm Huston 1780-81 and was elected Sheriff
of Franklin County, PA, and served in that
position until 1793. His will was filed in
Chambersburg. He had received 1417 acres of land
in KY from two land grants one in 1786, the other
in 1798, which he bequeathed to his son Samuel.
Henry's wife Sarah was the daughter of Edward
Crawford and Sarah Sterrett. She was born on 29
July 1752 in Fayetteville, PA and died 10 Sep
1833. Henry was buried in Old White Graveyard in
Mercersburg, PA. Their children were born in
Franklin County, PA.
|
| |
| |
 | Site Map | Search |
|
Updated
27 Jun 2009
Web Pages Designed & Maintained by P.
Davidson-Peters © 1999
All Rights Reserved. |
| |
|