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Biographies
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. Ferrier

It 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. Williams

The 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. Williams

Jacob 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. James

It 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. Overman’s 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 cooper’s 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-law’s 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. Overman’s 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. James

Has 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.

 
 
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