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 70

Author:
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Cincinnati, Ohio : Western Biographical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1038

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 70

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feature of his character, and makes him very compan- ionable, often smoothing his way through what would otherwise be difficult. In domestic relations he is one of the most amiable of men, his home being the scene of perfect harmony. During his long residence in Mun- cie he has become one of the ablest lawyers and most highly respected citizens of Delaware County.

ROWNE, GENERAL THOMAS MCLELLAN, of Winchester, member of Congress from the Fifth Indiana District, was born in the village of New Paris, Ohio, April 19, 1829. His father, John A. Browne, was a native of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and his mother was born in Cane Ridge, Bourbon County, Kentucky. He remained with his parents, at New Paris, until the death of his mother, which oc- curred in 1843. That misfortune broke up his father's family, and Thomas Browne, then thirteen years of age, was apprenticed to a merchant in Spartansburg, Ran- dolph County, Indiana. Leaving him there, his father removed to Grant County, Kentucky, where he died in the year 1865. The rare ability, energy, and probity that formed the basis of the character of his master impressed themselves upon the mind, and ultimately upon the life, of the young lad. In this situation he learned the rudiments of success in business-attention, method, energy, dispatch, and a strict adherence to truth. He learned more. Being brought into daily contact with the people, he acquired a knowledge of their modes of thought and action which has been of great advantage to him throughout his career as a pro- fessional and public man. In the spring of 1848 he removed to Winchester and began the study of law. While thus engaged he attended, during one short ses- sion, the Randolph County Seminary. This was his only opportunity of going to school, except his casual and brief attendance on those in the village before going to Winchester. Such, however, has been his faithfulness in study, that few persons unacquainted with his early life and advantages would ever be led to think from their intercourse with him, either in public or private life, that he had not enjoyed the advantages of a liberal education and thorough culture. Few pub- lic men in the state now possess a wider or more thorough legal, political, and general knowledge than he; and none are better able to convey it to others. Once fairly engaged in the profession of law, being a gifted and eloquent pleader, he soon acquired a large and profitable business. In 1863 he entered with zeal and energy upon the graver and more trying duties of a soldier. He assisted in recruiting the Seventh Indi ana Cavalry, was elected captain of Company B, and before leaving the state for the field was promoted to

the rank of lieutenant-colonel. With his regiment he served in Western Kentucky, in Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. He took part in the raids of Generals Grierson and Smith through Tennes- see and Mississippi. In the battle of Guntown, Missis- sippi, June 10, 1864, he was wounded, and his horse was shot from under him. His commanding officer, by special order, commended both him and his command for gallant conduct in that action, and he was soon afterward promoted to the colonelcy of his regiment, receiving the rank of brigadier-general by brevet, "for gallant and meritorious conduct," from the hand of Pres- ident Lincoln. During the winter of 1865-66 he was in command of the United States forces at Sherman, in the northern part of Texas. In this position he was brought into frequent and interesting relations with the people of that state, and, while holding the reins of authority with firmness, he manifested so much moderation, gentleness, and kindness as to win "golden opinions from all sorts of people." He returned to his home, leaving in the state of the "lone star" many devoted friends among those whom he had lately met in the field as foes. Mr. Browne was admitted to the bar of the Circuit Courts of Indiana in August, 1849, and to that of the Supreme Court in May, 1851. When it is remembered that these advances were the results of his professional attainments, ascertained by judicial examination, and not, as at present, a constitutional right secured to every voter, it will be manifest that he had diligently im- proved his brief novitiate. Before he was twenty-one he was elected as prosecuting attorney of Randolph County, in which position he served two years. In 1855 he was elected prosecuting attorney of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit ; he was re-elected in 1857, and again in 1859, and discharged all the duties of the position with marked ability and success. This, at a time when the bar of the circuit was among the ablest of the state, was a high compliment. In 1862 he was elected to the Senate, and took a leading part in its proceedings and debates during the session. The correspondent of the Cincinnati Gasette thus describes him at this time:

" Thomas M. Browne, Senator from Randolph, is a young man of sanguine complexion, an excellent speaker, full of fun and irony. There is a vim about him that tells in a popular audience, and brings down the house. Now a burst of eloquence surprises you, and now a flash of fun; at times a torrent of indigna- tion comes out that is startling. This young man will make his mark in our country yet."

In April, 1859, he was appointed United States at- torney for the District of Indiana, by President Grant, but resigned his position in August, 1872. He filled this office with distinguished ability, and established a high reputation throughout the state as a sound lawyer and an able advocate. General Browne was nominated for Governor in 1872, by the Republican State Conven-

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tion of Indiana, on the second ballot, over two of the ablest and most deservedly popular men in the state, Godlove S. Orth and General Ben. Harrison, and was defeated by only about one thousand votes. He was elected to Congress from the Fifth District in 1876, and again in 1878, defeating the popular Democratic nomi- nee, W. S. Holman, by a handsome majority. General Browne's public services have ever been highly satisfac- tory to his constituency. He is a Master Mason, and has taken all the degrees of Odd-fellowship. While not a member of any religious denomination, his prefer- ences are in favor of the Christian Church, of which Mrs. Browne is a member. He married Miss Mary J. Austin, at New Paris, Ohio, March 18, 1849. But one child has been born to them, a son, who died at the age of about twelve years. This brief outline of Gen- eral Browne's career, tracing his progress from a humble station in life to some of the highest offices in the gov- ernment, shows to the young men of the nation what possibilities are within their reach.

URCHENAL, CHARLES H., lawyer, of Rich- mond, was born in Greensboro, Caroline County, Maryland, September 18, 1830, and is the only son of Jeremiah and Mary E. (Cockayne) Burch- enal. His ancestors in the paternal line came from England with Lord Baltimore's first colony, and settled on the eastern shore of Maryland, where the records still extant show them to have been in possession of estates as early as 1645. When he was but an infant his parents removed to Zanesville, Ohio, where his father engaged in mercantile pursuits until his death, in 1838. Mr. Burchenal's mother having previously died, he fell to the charge of a grandmother, by whom he was brought, in 1840, to Wayne County, Indiana, which has ever since been his home. By the death of his grand- mother, in 1842, he was left without any near relatives, and thrown mainly upon his own resources. He obtained a fair education in the common schools at Richmond, and, at Centerville, in Wayne County Seminary and Whitewater College. He first engaged in business as clerk in the county treasurer's office at Centerville, in which he continued three or four years. In 1850 he commenced the study of law under the instruction of Hon. John S. Newman, at the same place, where, after his admission to the bar in 1852, he began practice. In 1854 he was elected district attorney for the Sixth Com- mon Pleas District of Indiana, and served one term. This is the only public position he has filled, having ever since persistently refused to be a candidate for any office. Mr. Burchenal married in 1860, at Hamilton, Ohio, Miss Ellen Jackson, who died in 1863, leaving one son. He again married in 1871, at Baltimore,

Maryland, Miss Mary E. Day, by whom he has three daughters and one son. He is a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal Church, to which he is strongly attached, though quite liberal in his religious views. In politics he was originally a Whig, having cast his first vote for General Scott for President in 1852. Upon its formation he became a member of the Republican party, with which he continues to be thoroughly iden- tified. Though in early life an ardent politician, he has not of late years taken an active part in political affairs, preferring to occupy himself with his profession, and to gratify his taste for literature, art, and social life. In 1859 Mr. Burchenal removed from Centerville to Richmond, where he now resides, actively engaged in the practice of law, in which he has attained a prom- inent and leading position at the bar of the county and state.

UCKLES, REV. ABRAHAM, of Muncie, was born in Ohio, August 26, 1799, and died at his home, near Muncie, Indiana, October 9, 1878, in the eightieth year of his age. His father, John Buckles, was a native of Virginia, to which his grand- father, Robert Buckles, emigrated from England before the Revolution, and settled at a place afterward known as Bucklestown. The subject of this sketch was married, September 3, 1818, to Elizabeth Shanks, a lady of Ger- man and Welsh descent. After the marriage he re- moved to Springfield, Ohio, and thence to Miami County, in that state. In 1829 he was ordained minis- ter of the Baptist Church. In October, 1833, he re- moved, with his family, to Delaware County, Indiana, and settled on a farm near Muncie, where he continued to reside till the close of his life. Soon after his arrival in that neighborhood he organized the Mun- cie Baptist Church, and served as its pastor forty- five years without other reward than a consciousness of the faithful discharge of duty. In the early part of his life Mr. Buckles held various political offices, and in 1839 was elected to a seat in the General Assembly as Representative from Delaware County, a position which he filled with honor and credit to himself and to the people. Mr. Buckles had five children: Hon. Joseph S. (see sketch) ; Thomas N., now in California; John S., deceased, formerly an able lawyer in Gene- seo, Illinois ; Mary (Mrs. Goble) ; and Ellen (Mrs. Campbell), who died a few years ago. Of Mr. Buckles's marriage and of his character the Muncie Times, from which the above facts are taken, says:

" The union was a happy one, and for nearly a half century the twain bore together life's burden, living the life of humble Christians; rejoicing in their common love for each other and their children, and trusting their eternity in the merits of their professed Savior. Honest as the day in all his dealings, industrious and untiring

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in his efforts for a livelihood, bold and fearless as an advocate of the right as God gave him to see it, kind and gentle as a husband and father, obliging and social as a neighbor and friend, strong in body and intellect, his whole life modified and controlled by an abiding faith in the providence of God and the atonement of a Savior, he left an impress upon those about him which will reach through all time, and that influence was only for good. He was a man of peace. Through- out his life of fourscore years he never was a party to a lawsuit, and was never known to have bickerings with his neighbors or fellow-men, though a man of strong personal attachments and dislikes. Men in whom he had not implicit confidence and respect it was his rule to avoid."

UCKLES, JUDGE JOSEPH S., of Muncie, was born near Springfield, Clarke County, Ohio, July 29, 1819. His father, Abraham Buckles, was born in the same state, and was a descendant of Robert Buckles, an Englishman, who settled in Virginia before the Revolution. His mother was Elizabeth Shanks, whose parents were Joseph and Eleanor (Clawson) Shanks, respectively of Scotch and German descent. Joseph Buckles lived till he was fourteen years old in Miami County, Ohio, to which his father had removed several years before; and then, in 1833, went to Muncie. This has ever since been his home, except during a period of nine months spent in Blackford County. Much of his time was necessarily employed in the work of the farm, and little could be devoted to school; but while he did attend he studied most diligently. Such was his thirst for knowledge that when obliged to labor all day he pursued his studies at night by the light of the open fire-place. In this manner, aided to some extent by private instruction, Mr. Buckles acquired pro- ficiency in the common branches and some acquaintance with general history. He now began, at the age of nineteen, the labors of a district school-teacher. While thus engaged, in 1838, he was urged by Mr. Kennedy, then member of Congress from this district, to commence the study of law. This he did in Mr. Kennedy's office, and was admitted to practice in the Circuit Court in 1841, and in the State, Supreme, and the Federal Courts in September, 1850. After practicing about five years, Mr. Buckles was elected prosecuting attorney for the Sixth Circuit. At the close of the term of two years he was chosen state Senator from the district composed of the counties of Grant and Delaware; and while in the Senate was chosen chairman of the Judiciary Com- mittee. In 1857, at the expiration of the term, he returned, and devoted his time to his clients until 1858, when he was elected Judge of the Seventh Judi- cial Circuit. In this position he remained twelve years, and then resumed practice in the State and Federal Courts. During the campaign of 1872 Judge Buckles

served as a senatorial elector, and canvassed the greater part of the state. Prior to 1860 he was a Free-soil Dem- ocrat; but he then deemed it his duty to support Presi- dent Lincoln's administration, and has ever since been strongly attached to the Republican party, believing the maintenance of its principles essential to good gov- ernment. Judge Buckles has been foremost in all enter- prises conducive to the public welfare, contributing without stint to educational, benevolent, and religious objects, and initiating the building of turnpikes and railroads. He was one of the originators of the Lafay- ette, Muncie and Bloomington Railroad, its attorney, and a member of its board of managers; he was also instrumental in the construction of the Fort Wayne and Southern Railway, and became the treasurer and general financial agent of the company. He is not a member of any secret society, nor of any religious body, though a firm believer in Christianity, and an attendant of the Presbyterian Church, with which his wife and two daughters are connected. He married, January 27, 1842, Catherine H. Williams. She was born in Ohio, and is the daughter of Abel and Rebecca Williams, the former of whom is of Scotch descent. Mr. and Mrs. Buckles have eight children, four of whom are still liv- ing : Elizabeth, wife of Captain A. K. Lindsley, of Kan- sas; Rebecca, now Mrs. J. W. McCrea; Josie, wife of William E. Yost, of Muncie; and Cora, the youngest, who remains at home. Judge Buckles carries on agri- culture as well as the practice of law. His farm contains six hundred and fifty acres of choice land, with good buildings, and is "beautiful for situation." His home is a happy one, and those who enter its precincts, or meet him elsewhere in hours of leisure, find him a most agreeable companion, fond of a harmless joke or anecdote, and possessed of good conversational powers. For twenty years he has been successful in politics, and one of the leading lawyers in that part of the state in which he resides. The circuit in which he administered the duties of judge embraced five of the most populous counties; and none ever wore the ermine with more regard for justice. He has also been successful in busi- ness enterprises. He unites energy with prudence, at- tempting only that which deliberate judgment sanctions ; and when once engaged in an undertaking he bends to it all the forces of his strong, unyielding will. A man whose mind is controlled by such motive power does not require the advantages of wealth and influence to attain success, but, whatever causes combine to retard his progress, steadily and surely advances. Judge Buckles's example should encourage every aspiring youth to feel that, however dark the future may appear, perse- verance, with a conscientious regard for truth, will win a just reward. He has never deviated from that rigid rule of honor that ought to actuate and govern a true man.

I L Bundy

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UNDY, JUDGE MARTIN L., of New Castle, was born November 11, 1818, in Randolph County, North Carolina, but from infancy he has lived in Indiana, and has sustained an important relation to the welfare of the commonwealth. When he was only three months old the family came to this state and settled near Richmond. He was soon placed in charge of his grandfather, Christopher Bundy, who in the spring of 1821 purchased a farm adjoining the tract on which New Castle was afterward located. The first years of Martin Bundy's boyhood were passed in a common school ; then a desire seized him to rise above his humble surroundings and bear an active part in the great, busy world, of which he had as yet only a vague conception. With this noble aim he studied under the private tuition of the late Judge John Davis, of Madison County, and spent a brief term at Miami University, then under the presidency of R. H. Bishop, D. D., who, having conceived a liking for his pupil, advanced him by private instruction. There was no father's or benefactor's purse upon which to draw for his expenses, but he was obliged to defray them from his own slender earnings. The hard-working, studious youth of those days foreshadowed the able and useful man of later years. Though obliged to leave school, he did not relinquish his purpose, but entered, as soon as practicable, the office of the late Hon. J. T. Elliott, Judge of the Supreme Court of the state, whose biog- raphy appears in this work. He was admitted to the bar and commenced practicing in New Castle in 1842. Being known as a well educated young man of good moral habits, Mr. Bundy had the confidence of the people, and, having married a sister of his preceptor, he bent all his energies to the work before him. His efforts were not in vain. Two years elapsed and he was elected treasurer of the county. At the close of the term of three years, declining a renomination, he re- turned to the bar with renewed zeal. He advocated the election of Henry Clay, of whom he was an ardent admirer, and in 1848 he was made a member of the Philadelphia Convention, which nominated General Zachary Taylor for President. Mr. Bundy gave him a cordial support, but preferred the Great Commoner, to whom he adhered so long as there was a chance for his renomination. The same year, 1848, he was elected to the state Legislature, and served very creditably in that body during the session of 1849. Three years later he was elected a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and was re-elected in 1856. Having joined the Re- publican party at its organization, he was chosen a dele- gate to the state convention, to represent the party in the National Convention at Philadelphia in 1856. There and during the campaign he earnestly supported John C. Fremont. At the expiration of his second term as judge, in 1860, he was again elected Repre-

sentative to the Legislature, in which he served with distinction during both the regular and special sessions of 1861. During this period he gave Governor Morton hearty encouragement in his efforts to aid in the sup- pression of the Rebellion, and enjoyed the confidence and friendship of the great War Governor through all those trying times. In August, 1861, he was appointed, by President Lincoln, a paymaster of the army, and rc- mained in that service until the spring of 1866, when he resigned. He was then commissioned brevet lieu- tenant-colonel, for " faithful and meritorious services." In 1864 Judge Bundy established the First National Bank of New Castle, of which he was made president, and continued in that capacity for ten years, during which the institution was very prosperous. In 1874 he estab- lished the Bundy National Bank, of which he was also president until December, 1877, when he retired. In 1868 he received from the Secretary of the United States Treasury the appointment of examiner of the national banks of Indiana, and served as such until 1874, when he resigned the office. With such ability and faithful- ness had he performed these duties that the government again required his services, and Secretary Sherman ap- pointed him examiner of the national banks of Ala- bama and Tennessee, in which capacity he spent the winter of 1879. Few men have filled more stations in the public service, and none with more general satisfac- tion. Judge Bundy has now resumed the practice of his profession, in which he has long stood second to none in Henry County.

URSON, JOHN WILLIAMS, late banker of Mun- cie, was born near Bursonville, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and was the son of Doctor Edward and Jemima (Stroud) Burson. His paternal grand- parents were David and Lydia (Williams) Burson. The former was a native of Wales, and came to the United States while they were yet colonies, about the middle of the eighteenth century. The latter was one of a nu- merous family who settled near the Delaware River, above Bristol, not far from Irvina. His maternal grand- parents were Colonel Jacob and Elizabeth (McDowel) Stroud. Jacob Stroud was the founder of Stroudsburg, now a flourishing and beautiful village, situated just above the Delaware Water Gap, on a fine plateau be- tween a spur of the Alleghany and the Pocono Mount- ains, at the confluence of Brodhead's and Pocono streams. Though quite a young man, he was on the staff of Gen- eral Wolfe in the campaign of the English against the French in Canada, and was present at the death of that general in the storming of Quebec. In early childhood Mr. John Burson received an injury that for several years greatly impaired his health; but at last he outgrew it,

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and was able to attend school, although the advantages there afforded were in those times of an indifferent char- acter. In 1832 his parents removed to Stroudsburg, Northampton (now Monroe) County, and he remained with them, engaged in light farming. During this time there was employed in the family as teacher a Mr. Hub- bard, an excellent instructor, under whose tuition John Burson received a good intellectual training. He sub- sequently spent perhaps a year at West Town boarding school, at that time, with the exception of Haverford Col- lege, the leading educational institution of the Friends in America. In 1837 he removed with his parents to Clinton County, Ohio, one mile north of Wilmington, and for several years his time was employed in superin-, tending and conducting a farm. About the year 1846 he was elected teller in the Preble County branch of the State Bank of Ohio. While living in Ohio he married Mary Elizabeth Wilson, who, with two children, a son and a daughter, still survives him. In 1853 he removed with his family to Indiana, and started the Cambridge City Bank, at Cambridge City, Wayne County, one of the few banks that stood firm through the great financial crisis that occurred a few years later. In 1856 Mr. Bur- son removed to Muncie, where he organized the Muncie branch of the Bank of the State of Indiana, which in 1865 was changed into the Muncie National Bank. He continued in charge of this bank up to the time of his death, on the twenty-first day of September, 1872. He endeared himself to hundreds of citizens who sought his aid and counsel in business matters; and, foremost in every enterprise for the good of the country, he was re- garded as the most judicious and successful business man in the community. Yet his acquaintance was not limited to a few persons or places, but was co-extensive with the northern and eastern part of the United States. He served one term, in the winter of 1870-71, in the Indiana Legislature, as Senator for the district composed of the counties of Madison and Delaware; and in 1869 and 1870 he was one of the government directors of the Union Pacific Railway. For Mr. Burson to plan was to execute; and his active, far-seeing mind ever had in view some important scheme, not wholly for self-aggran- dizement, but the general good as well; for he was one of those large-hearted men who love to increase in their own thrift the prosperity of others.

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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 70

Author: Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Cincinnati, Ohio : Western Biographical Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1038

Author:
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Cincinnati, Ohio : Western Biographical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1038