USA > Indiana > A biographical history of eminent and self-made men of the state of Indiana : with many portrait-illustrations on steel, engraved expressly for this work, Volume I > Part 28
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great work intrusted to him. In the discharge of these important duties he disbursed many millions of dollars, and to his undying honor be it recorded, not one dol- lar of deficiency was ever charged against him by the accounting officers of the treasury, after the most care- ful scrutiny of his accounts. This is, indeed, a fact of which the relatives and friends of General Ekin may well be proud, although he might not boast of it him- self; for, if his attention were called to it, he would probably say, "I only performed my duty in preserving untarnished my honor." Nevertheless, an incident so praiseworthy should be recorded, not only because of its inherent merit in a time of war, when fraud and pecu- lation were so rife in the land, but because it will serve as a bright example in our own day for the imitation of many who are the custodians of public and private funds, and mayhap will impress more deeply upon their minds the truth, that, after all, "honesty is the best policy." Soon after Captain Ekin's arrival in Washing- ton, that is to say, on the 24th of February, 1864, he was appointed, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, chief quartermaster of the cavalry corps of the Army of the Potomac, in addition to his charge of the cavalry bureau as chief quartermaster. On the 6th of August, 1864, under the act of Congress of July 4th of that year, for the better organization of the quartermaster's department, Lieutenant-colonel Ekin was, in recogni- tion of his faithful and meritorious services, assigned to duty, with the temporary rank of colonel, in charge of the first division of the quartermaster-general's office, to date from August 2, 1864. Here his duties were still more enlarged and his labors greatly increased; but, as in all other positions, he was found fully equal to the new and important tasks devolved upon him. In this branch of the office he was charged with the multifari- ous business pertaining to all regular supplies and miscel- laneous stores required for the army, to the numberless animals needed, to the barracks and quarters to be pro- vided, and to the vast multitude of claims for property of various kinds taken for the use of the United States troops during the War of the Rebellion. Yet, under his intelligent administration, all the complex machinery of this important branch of the quartermaster-general's office moved with the regularity and precision of clock- work. Indeed, so well known and conspicuous had be- come the fine administrative talent of Colonel Ekin, that it did not fail to attract the attention of the highest officers of the government ; and on several occasions, by direction of Presidents Lincoln, Johnson, and Grant, he was assigned to duty, during the absence of General M. C. Meigs, quartermaster-general, as acting quartermas- ter-general of the army; and from the last-named distin- guished officer he has also been the recipient of many complimentary acknowledgments. In view of these facts, it is no wonder that Colonel Ekin's promotions
in the army were frequent and rapid, for he fully earned them all by able, faithful, and efficient service. Hence we find that on the 8th of March, 1865, just before the close of the war, he was appointed brevet brigadier-gen- eral United States volunteers, having in less than four years, by his own acknowledged merits, and through the recognition of faithful services by his superior offi- cers, risen from the rank of lieutenant to one of the highest and most honorable grades in the army. In order to preserve the chronological order of this narra- tive, it may here be stated that on the 19th of April, 1865, General Ekin was detailed as a member of the guard of honor to accompany the remains of the late President Lincoln from Washington, District of Colum- bia, to Springfield, Illinois; and on the 9th of May, 1865, he was detailed a member of the military com- mission appointed by Paragraph 4 of Special Orders War Department, No. 211, May 6, 1865, for the trial of the assassins of President Lincoln. It is known that, as a member of this historic military court, General Ekin favored a commutation of the death-sentence of the un- fortunate Mrs. Surratt; and it is a well-authenticated fact that the paper containing the recommendation of a majority of the commission for executive clemency in her case-which, it was claimed by Judge Holt, was attached to the proceedings and findings of the commis- sion, but which, it was alleged by President Johnson, was not thus appended to the papers, and, therefore, claimed by him not to have been seen-was in the clear, bold, and legible handwriting of General Ekin. This in- cident is here mentioned to show that the action of this distinguished officer in this serious and solemn matter, involving the question of the life or death of an accused woman, was governed by considerations of humanity and mercy. Resuming our narrative, the military record of General Ekin shows that on the 28th of June, 1865, he received three brevet appointments, as major, lieu- tenant-colonel, and colonel in the regular army, "for faithful and meritorious services during the war," to date from March 13, 1865. On the 17th of July, 1866, he was commissioned a brevet brigadier-general in the regular army, to rank as such from March 13, 1865. On the Ist of December, 1866, he was appointed deputy quar- termaster - general, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, United States army, under the act of Congress approved July 28, 1866, to rank as such from the 29th of July, 1866. After nearly six years' continuous service as chief of one of the largest and most important divisions in the quartermaster-general's office, during which he acquired high distinction as an able, efficient, and upright officer, and won the well-merited encomiums of presidents, sec- retaries of war, and more immediate superiors, General Ekin was, on the Ist of April, 1870, relieved from duty in that office, and on the 23d of the same month assigned to duty as chief quartermaster of the Depart-
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ment of Texas. On the eve of his departure from | lost to the government, and the work is done with the Washington for this new field of duty, the most affec- utmost regularity and perfection. A "pay-day " at the Jeffersonville depot is always an interesting occasion ; for then may be seen long lines of respectable sewing women awaiting their turn to hand in their pay certifi- cates to the cashier, and receive their well-earned wages, which range as high, in some cases, as forty-five dollars per month. These women, with, in many cases, helpless little ones dependent upon them, are made contented and happy by this just, liberal, and certain reward of their labor ; and in the humble homes that are thus made bright and cheerful, the name of their benefactor, General Ekin, is held in loving and grateful remembrance. One of the most conspicuous, as it is one of the most commenda- ble, traits in the character of General Ekin is his strong, earnest, and practical religious conviction. He is, in the truest sense of the term, a sincere Christian gentle- man, and diffuses around him, at all times and under all circumstances, the light of moral and religious ex- ample. In the fall of 1842 he united with the Asso- ciate Reformed Presbyterian Congregation of Bethesda, in Elizabeth Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylva- nia, and was for several years a trustee of the Church. In the year 1858 the Associate Reformed Church and the Associate Church were united, forming the present United Presbyterian Church. Of this Church organiza- tion General Ekin is, and has been since its formation, one of the most active, zealous, and influential mem- bers. His name is as well known and as highly hon- ored in the Church as that of any layman connected with it. He has lost no opportunity to advance the interests of the organization. Many of his hours of retirement, when freed from the cares and responsibil- ities of official duty, have been devoted to this purpose. The columns of The United Presbyterian, published at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, bear abundant evidence of his zealous labors in that direction. He has, especially of late years, contributed many instructive and interesting articles to that paper, illustrative of the rise, progress, condition, and needs of the Church. His recently pub- lished " Memorials" of some of the most distinguished ministers of the United Presbyterian Church, written, as they were, in a graceful and vigorous style, are val- uable contributions to the literature of the Church, be- sides being of great historic interest. As may have been conjectured from what has already been writ- ten, the personal traits of character most notable in General Ekin are integrity, kindness, and firmness, blended with great suavity of manner. So affable is he in official and social intercourse that even one who might fail to receive some expected favor at his hands would go away rejoicing in the happy remembrances of the pleasant interview. But with a warm and sympathetic heart that would, if it could, take the whole world to its embrace, General Ekin has never declined to tionate and touching demonstrations of respect were paid him, not only by the officers who had been associ- ated with, and the clerks and others who had served under him, but also by the citizens of the national me- tropolis generally, high and low, rich and poor, white and colored, to all of whom he had become endeared by his genial manners and generous friendships. A large multitude of friends and admirers gathered at the rail- road depot to bid him a heart-felt God-speed on his dis- tant journey, and many kind and grateful words were spoken, and fitly responded to, before the train moved off on that well-remembered night. During General Ekin's two years' service as chief quartermaster of the Department of Texas, his administration was marked by the same high degree of intelligence, probity, and effi- ciency, which had signalized his supervision and control of previous important and responsible trusts. General Ekin was relieved from duty as chief quartermaster of the Department of Texas on the 29th of April, 1872, and on the 8th of May of the same year was assigned to duty at Louisville, Kentucky, as chief quartermaster of the Department of the South, succeeding the lamented General McFerran. On the 11th of December, 1872, he was announced as chief quartermaster of the Division of the South, on the staff of Major-general McDowell. Early in the fall of 1876 the headquarters of the Depart- ment of the South were transferred to Atlanta, Georgia ; but General Ekin, being in charge of the Jeffersonville depot of the quartermaster's department, found it expe- dient to remain at Louisville, in view of the large public interests at the depot which required his personal atten- tion. He continued, however, to act as chief quarter- master of the department for some weeks, and until a successor was appointed. In the mean time he continued in charge of the great supply depot at Jeffersonville, and was also appointed disbursing officer of the quarter- master's department at Louisville, Kentucky, and offi- cer in charge of national cemeteries in Kentucky and Tennessee. These threefold important duties he is now (May, 1880) performing with the same ability, zeal, and faithfulness that distinguished his career on other fields of service. As officer in charge of the Jeffersonville depot, which, besides being a great storehouse for all kinds of army supplies, has, through the efforts of Gen- eral Ekin, become also a large manufacturing depot, he has been enabled to give profitable employment to many hundreds of poor sewing women in Jeffersonville, New Albany, and the surrounding country. The materials for the manufacture of shirts, and other articles of cloth- ing for the army, are taken by these worthy people to their homes, and made up in accordance with the require- ments of the service. Under the careful system of accountability and inspection in practice, nothing is ever
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grant to a worthy person any reasonable request, if within the range of possibility to do so. No govern- ment officer of his time, with necessarily limited oppor- tunities, has been more instrumental than he in promot- ing the welfare and happiness of others. Many now in public office, and some of them in high position, are indebted to his generous influence for their elevation to honorable and lucrative trusts, and among all of them his name is cherished and revered. The fine personal appearance of General Ekin is indicative of his noble character. His figure is tall, well-proportioned, grace- ful, and commanding. His forehead is high and ex- pansive, and his mild but expressive eyes look out from a countenance beaming with all the well - developed marks of intelligence and goodness. His voice is clear and musical, and his conversational powers, combined with his genial manners, render him exceedingly capti- vating. As a public speaker he is very pleasing; but he rarely appears upon the platform, and then only in response to urgent calls to promote some good cause. Although his hair is silvered by the frosts of more than threescore winters, he walks erect, with all the vigor and elasticity of younger manhood. In any assemblage, however distinguished, his fine physique, and calm, dignified appearance, would attract attention, and indi- cate him as a man of mark. The domestic life of Gen- éral Ekin has been one of great contentment and hap- piness. In early manhood (September 28, 1843) he was united in marriage to Miss Diana C. Walker. Since that bright and happy day they have journeyed hand in hand together, with more of sunshine than of shadow above their pathway. Theirs has always been a Chris- tian home, in which mutual love and forbearance have uniformly dwelt. Five children have blessed this happy union, two of whom (a son and daughter) still survive, to cheer the declining years of their honored and affec- tionate parents, whose days it is fondly hoped may yet be long in the land, and continue bright and prosperous, until the golden sunset of their beautiful lives shall melt away into the perpetual sunshine of a glorious immortality.
MERSON, FRANK, of Brownstown, Indiana, was born in Haverhill, Grafton County, New Hamp- shire, and is a son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Stark) Emerson. His father was a farmer: his mother was a niece of General Stark, of Revolutionary fame. In his early youth Mr. Emerson attended the common schools, and then studied for college at Peacham Acad- cmy, Vermont. He entered the sophomore class at Dartmouth in 1836, graduated in July, 1838, and then studied law in the office of Wm. C. Clark, at Meredith, New Hampshire. In 1841, at Decatur, Illinois, he was admitted to practice in the Circuit Courts, and in De-
cember of the same year, at Springfield, to practice in the Supreme Court. He then settled at Decatur, and continued the practice of his profession there until 1843, when he removed to Charlestown, Clarke County, Indiana. In September, 1845, he settled in Browns- town, Jackson County, where he carried on a successful law practice until the breaking out of the Mexican War, in 1846. He enlisted as a private in the 3d Regiment Dragoons, was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant, and took a prominent part in the siege of the City of Mexico. He returned home Au- gust, 1848, resumed his professional work, and in the fall of that year was elected assistant secretary of the state Senate. He was re-elected in 1849, and in 1850 became secretary of the Senate. In 1851 he rep- resented Jackson and Scott Counties as state Senator, and served one year. In 1852 and in 1854 he was elected treasurer of Jackson County. For the four years following October, 1856, he served as Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. In 1862 he was appointed commander of the military camp at Madison, Indiana, and in August, 1862, colonel of the 67th Regiment In- diana Volunteers, which rank he held until, on account of wounds, he tendered his resignation, September 30, 1864. He was wounded at Arkansas Post in January, 1863, and at Mansfield, Louisiana, in April, 1864. Upon returning to Brownstown he again resumed the practice of his profession, and in 1868 was elected Judge of the Common Pleas Court. Being re-elected in 1872, he served until March, 1873, when he was appointed Judge of the Circuit Court. In that position he served until the Oc- tober election, since which time he has given his atten- tion to the practice of law. He married, July 5, 1849, Adeline Redman, daughter of the county auditor. He is the father of ten children, of whom three boys and six girls are now living. He was reared a Congrega- tionalist, his parents being members of that Church, but is not a member of any religious sect. He is one of the acknowledged leaders of the Democracy of his por- tion of the state.
ERRIER, WILLIAM S., editor and proprietor of the Clarke County Record, at Charlestown, Clarke County, was born at Newville, Pennsylvania, May 17, 1825. His parents, David and Jane (Ryan) Ferrier, were both natives of Pennsylvania, and when he was two years old removed to Georgetown, Brown County, Ohio, where his father was recorder of the county and master commissioner in chancery. At the age of fourteen his parents removed to Greensburg, Indiana, and a year later to Charlestown. He received a common school education at Georgetown, Ohio, at the county seminary at Greensburg, Indiana, and at the seminary at Charlestown. On leaving school at fifteen,
Men. I. Fumier
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he engaged in the printing business in Charlestown with Mr. Hucklebury, proprietor of the Southern Indianian. Two years later he published the Clarke County Mirror, at Charlestown, and in 1843 he resuscitated the South- ern Indianiow, which he continued to publish for some three years. In 1844 he received an appointment as cadet at West Point through Thomas J. Henley, Con- gressman for his district, but owing to death in the family he did not report to the commandant. In 1846, being then in poor health, he sold out his interest in the paper to Henry B. Wolds and removed to New Richmond, Ohio, where he held a clerkship, for a short time, under David G. Gibson, in a large mill. * In 1847 he returned to Charlestown and published the Western Farmer, continuing in the newspaper business until 1864, when he again sold out. The spirit of journalism being strong in him, in March, 1869, he commenced the pub- lication of the Clarke County Record, the chief paper of the county, which enjoys a large circulation, and is well and ably edited. It is now, in 1880, in its twelfth vol- ume. Mr. Ferrier served four years as director of the Southern Prison, at Jeffersonville, from 1864 to 1868, and was president of the board. He has been a mem- ber of the Order of Odd-fellows for a number of years. During the early period of his journalistic life, he was a Democrat and published a Democratic paper, but the last Democratic President he voted for was James Bu- chanan. From the outbreak of the Rebellion he warmly sympathized with the government, and took strong grounds against the action of the Democratic party at that time. From that time forward he has acted with the Republican party, in which he is a zealous worker. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church, of which he has for some time been an elder, and for twenty years past superintendent of the Sabbath-school. Mr. Ferrier is a man whose record is without a blemish. His char- acter is pure and elevated. He is an honored and re- spected scholar and gentleman, and is now in the prime of life, enjoying most excellent health, the comforts and happiness of a pleasant home and loving family, and a fair share of this world's goods. He was married, Octo- ber 10, 1844, to Martha E. Houston, of Charlestown, daughter of Littleton B. Houston, formerly of Dela- ware. Such is the brief record of one of Clarke County's most representative men.
IELD, DOCTOR NATHANIEL, of Jeffersonville, one of the oldest physicians in the state of Indi- ana, is a graduate of Transylvania Medical School, founded at Lexington, Kentucky, in the early part of this century. He was born in Jefferson County, Ken- tucky, on the seventh day of November, 1805, and settled in Jeffersonville in the autumn of 1829, where
he has since resided. He is, in some respects, a re- markable man, and is an original thinker, forming his opinions independent of popular sentiment or the authority of books. Whatever he believes to be right and just he advocates boldly, regardless of consequences to himself. Though born in a slave state and in a slave- holding family, at an early age he contracted a dislike to the institution of slavery, and wrote a tract against it, entitled "Onesimus." He was one of the first vice- presidents of the American Anti-slavery Society, was president of the first anti-slavery convention ever held in Indiana, and president of the Free-soil Convention held at Indianapolis in 1850. As an illustration of his uncompromising devotion to the principles of right and justice, in June, 1834, he voted against the whole town- ship of Jeffersonville on the question of enforcing one of the black laws of the state. At a township election in the month mentioned, the following question was pro- pounded to every voter: "Shall the law requiring free negroes now in the state, and such as may hereafter come into it, to give bond and security for their good behavior, and that they will never become a public charge, be enforced ?" The law had been since its en- actment a dead letter on the statute-book, and this new- born zeal for its enforcement was prompted by hatred of the negro, and not any fear that he might become a criminal or a pauper. At that time pro-slavery mobs were wreaking their vengeance on the Abolitionists in the Northern states, destroying their printing-presses and burning their property, their efforts culminating in the cowardly murder of Elijah Lovejoy, at Alton, Illi- nois. The mob spirit was at that time epidemic, and was never at a loss for a pretext to make war on the poor negroes. After scanning the paper proposing the question, Doctor Field noticed that every voter in the township, saints and sinners, had signed the affirmative column, demanding the enforcement of the law. It was just before the close of the polls that he was requested to vote. He was surrounded by a crowd of sinister- looking loafers and roughs, exasperated at the idea that the Abolitionists were trying to put the negroes on an equality with them. These worthless vagabonds were anxious to see if Doctor Field would take sides with the negroes, in opposition to the whole community. Knowing that hostility to the negroes would prevent them from giving the required bond, and that their ex- pulsion at that time in the year would be attended with the loss of their crops and great suffering, he under- took to reason with the excited mob, and pleaded for an extension of time, until they could make and gather their crops. But to no purpose. He might as well have asked for compassion of a herd of hyenas. After giving his reasons for delay, he put his name down in the negative, the only man in the township who voted for mercy. As might have been foreseen, the
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negroes could not give security, and were driven from the town and neighborhood. For three weeks there was a perfect reign of terror. The negroes were shamefully abused, and fled in every direction. No magistrates or constables dared to interfere with the mob. Doctor Field was notified that he would have to share the fortunes of the negroes, whose cause he had espoused. Without a moment's delay he prepared for defense, determined to sell his life dearly, and perish in the ruins of his house, rather than succumb to a lawless mob. He provided himself with plenty of fire-arms and ready-made cartridges, and fortified his house. He had one brave friend willing to occupy the fortress with him. After all the arrangements were made, the mob were notified to commence the siege whenever it suited their pleasure or convenience. But, fortunately for them, and perhaps for Doctor Field too, the invitation was declined. Notwithstanding the perils of those days that tried men's souls, he has lived, with a few other pio- neers in the anti-slavery cause, to see the downfall of slavery and the enfranchisement of the African race in the United States. In 1854, by the death of his mother, he came into possession of several valuable slaves, whom he immediately emancipated, thereby proving the sin- cerity of his anti-slavery principles. In July, 1836, Doctor Field represented Jeffersonville in the great Southern Railroad Convention, which assembled at Knoxville, Tennessee, for the purpose of devising ways and means to make a railroad from Charleston, South Carolina, to Cincinnati, with a branch to Louisville from some point west of Cumberland Gap. He represented Clarke County in the state Legislature in 1838 and 1839. Doctor Field was chairman of the select committee to investigate charges against the president of the state university, the late Doctor Andrew Wylie, and made an able report, completely acquitting him. He was sur- geon of the 66th Regiment of Indiana Infantry, and rendered important services on several battle-fields, hav- ing charge of hospitals for the wounded for several con- secutive weeks, and performing with skill nearly all operations known to military surgery. In 1868 he was president of the Indiana State Medical Society, and has written quite a number of articles for its transactions and for the State Medical Journal. He has also written several lectures, among which are those entitled, " Moses and Geology;" "The Spirit of the Age ;" "Arts of Im- posture and Deception Peculiar to American Society ;" "Financial Condition of the World ;" " Hard Times;" and "Capital Punishment." One of the most remark- able circumstances in the life of Doctor Field is that he has been a minister of the gospel for half a century, and all that time has been pastor of a Church in Jeffer- sonville without salary or earthly compensation for his services. He has immersed nearly a thousand people in the Ohio River, and his Church at the present time num-
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