USA > Indiana > Sullivan County > A history of Sullivan County, Indiana, closing of the first century's history of the county, and showing the growth of its people, institutions, industries and wealth, Volume I > Part 4
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A unique distinction belonged to William Bledsoe, who died at his home in Dugger, November 14, 1905, in his eightieth year. It was as- serted that he was without doubt the most famous hunter the county ever produced. He had lived in the eastern part of the county since he was grown, and throughout his active life was an ardent and successful Nim- rod. The claim is made that he killed the last wild deer which was ever seen in the county. He had a record of killing sixteen deer in three consecutive mornings. He was born in Lawrence county, Indiana, Oc- tober 29, 1826.
William Alfred Brunker, who died April 8, 1902, had been identified with the town of Farmersburg for nearly half a century. In 1858 he had established a general store and grain market at that place, during the sixties was engaged largely in farming, and then began the manufacture of a healing compound known as "Brunker's Balsam," the patent for which
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY
in 1880 he disposed of to an eastern firm. He had served as postmaster at Farmersburg during the administrations of Buchanan and Lincoln, and was a justice of the peace three terms. He was a native of England, born in 1825, had to contend with poverty and had few educational oppor- tunities, and for a number of years was employed in hospitals and asylums at Bristol, where he met his wife, Phoebe Say. He came to America in 1851, and began work at a dollar a day, but rapidly rose in prosperity.
Jacob Booker at his death, January 22, 1882, was one of the oldest residents of the county. He was born in Jefferson county, Kentucky, in 1798, and had located in Indiana when about twenty-one years old. He lived many years in the northeast part of Haddon township.
In his reminiscences of the early Indiana courts and bar, Oliver H. Smith relates the ridiculous experience of State Senator George Boon (e), in courting a young lady in his neighborhood. Whether this incident happened in Sullivan county is not related, but it was probably founded, in fact or romance, in Kentucky, where Boon's family home belonged. He claimed relationship with the great Daniel Boone. George Boon was called in later years the Abraham Lincoln of Sullivan county. He was nearly seven feet tall, of massive proportions. His large feet came in for the greater part of the ridicule and jokes at his expense. Despite his un- gainly body he was a very popular man, and was repeatedly elected to the legislature. During his service in the assembly the question of internal improvements was the most discussed and more nearly concerned the people than any other affair. Boon was opposed to the state undertaking internal improvements on the scale then demanded, and his failure to ask, or obtain, anything for his county in this direction was the cause of his defeat by Colonel Haddon for one term, when he was again successful,
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and he continued in the legislature until his death, at the age of about 57. He wanted to go to Congress, and at one time was in opposition to John W. Davis and John Ewing, the latter gaining the coveted honor.
Tavner Bowen, who died December 1, 1890, and was buried in the Indian Prairie cemetery, had lived in this vicinity many years, and was the first president of the F. M. B. A. Lodge 2903. He was born in Jessa- mine county, Kentucky, January 1, 1818, and at the age of eighteen moved to Indiana with his parents, settling in Knox county. In 1838 he married Anna Robbins, and came to Sullivan county, where he passed the re- mainder of his life. He was the father of ten children. In 1844 he united with the Indian Prairie Baptist church under Rev. Stephen Ken- nedy. In February, 1864, he enlisted in Captain Gillman's company (C) of the 120th Regiment and served till the close of the war. He also served as a justice of the peace in his township.
It was said of James Brewer, who died near Fairbanks, October, 1889, aged sixty-eight, that he was a prominent man not because of offices held, but for his virtues. The Masons conducted his funeral, and J. H. Meteer came from Crawfordsville to preach the sermon. He was a mem- ber of the Brewer family which has so numerously and actively been iden- tified with the county, was born in Butler county, Ohio, and came to this county when he was two or three years old.
William Brewer died at his home in Turman township, October 24, 1899, one of the oldest native citizens of this part of the county, having. been born near Graysville, March 26, 1826. He was a farmer most of his life, but was also a member of the firm of Brewer and Burton of Sul-
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livan. His first wife was Mary Ann Hawkins, who died in 1867, and in 1868 he married Amelia Miles of New Lebanon, who died in 1893. In 1895 he married Rebecca Thornberry of Graysville.
The Brewer family, one of whose representatives is Orlando C. Brewer of Fairbanks township, was founded in Sullivan county before 1820, by John and Mary (Cook) Brewer. John Brewer once cultivated a farm on land that is now included within the city of Terre Haute, and from there moved to Graysville, where most of his life was spent, being a merchant there, and a member of the Methodist church. He died May 20, 1880, in his eighty-fourth year.
At New Lebanon, during the forties, quite an industry was carried on in the building of flat-boats for the Wabash river traffic. One of the pioneers who engaged in this business at that place was Richard Anderson Bland. He was a cabinet maker at Carlisle and New Lebanon, and also had a sawmill. He spent his last years at Sullivan, where he died August 3, 1904, in his ninetieth year. He was a venerable citizen and early resi- dent of the Methodist community at New Lebanon, and it was his dis- tinction to have been a member of the church over sixty-five years, and to have assisted in the building of the old Methodist church at New Le- banon as also the present church edifice there and likewise the M. E. church at Sullivan. He was born in Nelson county, Kentucky, January 6, 1815, when a boy moved with the family to New Albany, and in 1834 the family home was established at New Lebanon, where, in January, 1835, he married Eusebia Mason. William H. and Thomas F. Bland were among the nine children of this union. After the death of his first wife in 1876 Mr. Bland married Amelia Ann Allen, who died in 1891.
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The Burnett family which belongs to the early pioneer epoch of Sullivan county was especially identified with Gill prairie and New Le- banon. The date assigned for the settlement of the family on this prairie was 1813. Joseph Burnett, the son of the original settler, died in the county February 10, 1876. He was born in Kentucky, September 13, 1809. He was a Democrat and Methodist, and a wholesome citizen of his time.
John R. Burnett, another member of the family, died at New Le- banon, January 21, 1892, aged eighty-eight years. At one time he owned all the land on which New Lebanon is built, but lost most of his property . by going security.
Stephen G. Burton, who died October, 1875, at one time represented Sullivan county in the legislature.
On September 25, 1890, passed away one of the oldest men of Sulli- van county. , Christian Canary was probably the last survivor of the war of 1812 in Sullivan county. Born near Danville, Mercer county, Ken- tucky, May 7, 1792, he married Nancy South, on June 8, 1812, and soon afterward enlisted for service in the war with Great Britain, under Captain Lankister and General Carter. In October, 1816, with his father-in-law, Henry South, he moved to what was then the northern part of Knox county, but which in the following winter was made Sullivan county. The name is especially identified with the Gill township neighborhood, where a son of Christian Canary still lives, himself now an old man. One of the celebrations of age and family which had more than picturesque interest was the gathering of relatives, descendants and friends on the 4th of May, 1882, in honor of the ninetieth birthday of this patriot and pioneer. There was dinner, music by the Sullivan Opera House band,
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stories of the old time, and the festivity and pathos that mark such an occasion. Christian Canary joined the Methodist church when eighteen, was one of that Methodist community that made New Lebanon a center of church and educational affairs fifty years ago, and to the end of his life remained a member of the church.
The name of William Curry has been perpetuated in Curry township, which was named in his honor, as the first settler. He came there about 1817 from Kentucky, and was followed by Samuel and Robert Curry. Not only these pioneers, but many of their children have passed away, and only representatives of the third and fourth generation are now resident in the county. Thomas Franklin Curry was probably the first of the family to claim this county as his birthplace. He was born in Curry township October 4, 1818, and died January 1, 1878, leaving ten children. He was a member of the Presbyterian church 44 years.
. Another branch of the Curry family was represented by John F. Curry, who died at Sullivan, October 30, 1889. He was born near Terre Haute, in 1824, a son of James Curry, who was a pioneer in the vicinity of Vincennes. John F. Curry lived for many years at Carlisle, having learned the tailor business under Peter Hawk there. He was elected sheriff of the county in 1872, and after his term continued in business at Sullivan till his death. He was a Presbyterian and a member of the Odd Fellows order.
On May 16, 1906, occurred the death of William Curry, one of the oldest citizens of the county, and almost a native son, having come to this county with Samuel Curry, his father, in 1822, when two years old, and for eighty-four years had been a resident of Curry township. In 1846 he
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married Rebecca Russell. Joseph Wolfe Curry and Spencer Russell Curry are two of their four children.
The Calvert family settled at Carlisle shortly after the close of the war of 1812. They were Kentuckians, and John Calvert, who died Oc- tober 26, 1883, was born in Springfield, Kentucky, September 16, 1807, and had lived in the county since he was nine years old. He married, February 26, 1830, Delilah Pitts, and had eleven children. The family were Methodists.
Thomas Martin Campbell, who died at his farm north of Sullivan, February 26, 1884, was born in Knox county, Ohio, March 17, 1820. He represented an old Presbyterian family, and had himself been a member of the church since he was twenty-one, and was an elder in the church at Sullivan at the time of his death.
George Carrithers, who died at Graysville, January 23, 1882, was a man of note not only because of his sixty-five years' residence in this vicinity, but for the character and strength that are naturally associated with the pioneer. "I do not remember," said Rev. J. H. Meteer, "to have met another man who had so supreme a contempt for idleness, and whole life so nearly conformed to his theory. ... Those who were favored with his intimate acquaintance always gained by his counsel, whether in matters of business or religion." He was born in Kentucky, in May, 1800, came with the family to this state in 1817, at which time he and his brother went into the woods and cut and split 500 rails, with which they fenced ten acres of ground from which the family raised its first crops. At the age of 28 he married Jane Weir, and his death broke their wedlock of fifty-four years. Four children were left. He had united with the
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Scaffold Prairie Presbyterian church in 1835, and the same year was chosen an elder of Hopewell church of Graysville.
Bennett Caffee, whose death occurred at Frankfort, Indiana, March 25, 1896, was at one time identified with the newspaper business of Sulli- van, having come to Sullivan in 1868 as publisher of the Democrat. In 1862 he married Belinda Briggs, a daughter of Benjamin Briggs. He was sixty-five years old at the time of his death.
Joseph Click was born in Kentucky, March 10, 1817, and died Feb- ruary 27, 1894, having been a resident of Sullivan county since 1865. He became a member of Mt. Tabor Methodist church. He married Cynthia Hays, January, 1851, and had nine children.
Joseph Cunningham, who died suddenly August 1, 1893, had been for several years the efficient superintendent of the Sullivan County Agri- cultural Society, and shortly before his death had, with W. H. Crowder, erected the new mill at Sullivan. He had been held in high esteem by his fellow citizens, having been first nominated for public office in 1878, when he appeared on the National ticket for the office of sheriff. Though he failed of election that time, after running ahead of the rest of the ticket, he was nominated for the same office in 1880 and polled double the number of votes given to any other name on the ticket, though not enough to give him the office.
William E. Catlin will be remembered as one of the early merchants on the north side of the square at Sullivan. He established his store in 1850, and for many years carried a general stock of merchandise, dry- goods, groceries, and liquors. He was born in Washington county, Ken-
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tucky, February 21, 1818, and died at his home in Sullivan May 31, 1906, leaving a son, William Francis. The family had come to Sullivan county during the early twenties, living a short distance north of Carlisle. Wil- liam E. Catlin during his youth taught four years of school in the school- house that stood on his father's farm. When he first voted for a president, his ballot was cast for Martin Van Buren. He married, in 1838, Eliza- beth H. Ridge.
The name Creager that is owned by numerous persons in this county was among the early names at the old town of Merom. One of the oldest of the family was William Creager, who died at Merom, March 30, 1868, and one of the last of the town's pioneers. He was a native of Kentucky, and for many years had been a justice of the peace at this locality.
June 12, 1878, William Combs, a county commissioner, then serving his second term, died in Cass township, where he had long. been a resident. He was about sixty years old, was a successful farmer, was known for his strong practical sense and uprightness of dealings.
In the old Carlisle cemetery, in a small lot surrounded with an iron fence, stands a plain marble obelisk with a base on which are stated only these simple facts : "Hon. John W. Davis, born in New Holland, Lancas- ter county, Pa., April 16, 1799, died at Carlisle, Ind., August 22, 1859," together with the name of his wife, Ann Hoover Davis, who died De- cember 28, 1859. To one who was unfamiliar with the early history of Sullivan county and of Indiana the monument tells only the mortal facts about a man who, in reality, for thirty years was prominent among the men who shaped the history of Indiana. He served in the legislature of the state six terms, and was three times speaker of the house ; was sent
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to Congress four times, and was the first of three Indiana men who served as speaker of the national house of representatives; was commissioner to China, governor of Oregon territory, and a judge of the probate court, besides many other connections with public and private life. In his reminiscences, Oliver H. Smith said of him, "few men in this or any other state have held so many prominent positions or discharged their duties with greater ability."
Of his family, none now live in Sullivan county, though a son is a resident of Greene county. An earlier generation would remember him as much for his services as a physician as in public life. He graduated from the University of Maryland as a physician in 1821, and two years later arrived at Carlisle with three cents in his pocket and a wife to sup- port. For five years he practiced as a country doctor, part of the time being at Terre Haute. He entered politics in 1828, but was defeated for the state senate by William C. Linton. He became probate judge, and later was a successful candidate for the legislature. He tried for election as congressman in 1833, but John Ewing defeated him by two votes. Two years later he was successful against the same rival by a thousand votes. Persistency was the strongest element of his character, and through its exercise he accomplished many things that a less determined nature would not have attained. In 1841 his opponent was the noted Col. Dick Thompson of Terre Haute, who was elected. Immediately after his defeat, Dr. Davis successfully sought election to the state legislature, and was elected speaker of the house. Two subsequent terms he was sent to Congress, and during the twenty-ninth session was speaker of the house.
In 1847 President Polk appointed him commissioner to China, and on his return two years later he again went to the legislature and was chosen speaker. In 1852 Mr. Davis was chairman of the Democratic
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national convention which met at Baltimore in June, 1852. Cass and Buchanan were the principal candidates for nomination, but the delegates were so divided that after thirty-five ballotings had been tried no candidate had sufficient support to make him the nominee. The convention ad- journed at noon with the understanding that Virginia should bring in a compromise candidate. Franklin Pierce was the "dark horse" brought forward, but when the balloting was completed it was found that Pierce led Davis of Indiana by only one vote, though on the forty-ninth ballot the nomination was made practically unanimous for Pierce. President Pierce later appointed Dr. Davis governor of Oregon, and after this he was elected to the legislature of the state, "by the most flattering vote," he said, "I ever received from the good people of Sullivan county." His last public appointment was by the secretary of war as a member of the board of visitors to the West Point Military Academy, and he served as president of the board.
According to an estimate of his life published some time ago, Dr. Davis was a plain, substantial man, not of extraordinary mental calibre, but of good sound judgment, and unusually qualified as a presiding officer. "As a safe and prudent legislator," said W. W. Woolen of In- dianapolis, "he was the equal of any man in the state in his day. More- over, no one ever doubted his honesty. He kept his hands clean. With opportunities for money-making possessed by few, he contented himself with his legitimate earnings, and died a poor man." He was a Democrat in politics. While making a political address on one occasion, some one in the audience annoyed and interrupted by asking him regarding his advocacy of this and that Democratic measure. At length he said: "My friend, to save you trouble and me annoyance, I will say now that I en- dorse everything the Democratic party ever has done, and everything
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that it ever will do." He was a large man, over six feet tall, with light hair, blue eyes and a florid complexion.
In the Palmer's prairie graveyard in Cass township is a slab marking the grave of Hon. James DePauw, who once represented this county in the legislature, and whose son, Washington C. DePauw, has perpetuated the name by his liberal gifts to the university which is now DePauw University. Harvey Wilson was authority for the statement that James De Pauw made his canvass for the legislature in advocacy of a new tax law, was elected on that platform, and succeeded in having the law changed to conform to his theory. Previous to 1835 the public revenues were obtained from what were known as "specific taxes," i. e., so much tax was levied on every horse, so much for each yoke of oxen, so much for an acre of land, etc., and no distinctions were made between the objects of each classification on the basis of value. Mr. DePauw was the first man in this locality to advocate taxation on an ad valorem basis. The date usually assigned for the settlement of James DePauw in this county is 1832. He located at Caledonia, in the vicinity of the water-power mill on Busseron creek, and did a large business in flat-boating from that point, being one of the early pork dealers who shipped pork from this locality down the rivers to the southern market.
A daughter of James DePauw married John Y. Dodd, who was born in Kentucky in 1802 and died in this county, January 10, 1892, lacking about two months of attaining the venerable age of ninety years. After his marriage he began farming near Caledonia, where his father-in-law then conducted a general store and pork-packery, and was probably pro- prietor of the mill. Mr. Dodd was a man of considerable strength of character, warm in his attachments, and extremely firm in his convictions.
Vol. J-4
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The older citizens of Gill township recall varied memories of William F. Dodds, who was postmaster at New Lebanon for thirty years, was a squire for a quarter of a century, and very well and favorably known in that community. He was born in Kentucky in 1809 and came to Bloom- ington, Indiana, when ten years old, and in 1830 located at New Lebanon, where he lived until his death in August, 1873. He was a member of the M. E. church thirty-seven years, and was buried with the ceremonies of the Odd Fellows order, having been a member of the Carlisle lodge twenty years.
One of the well known merchants of Sullivan was John Davis, whose death in 1891 removed one of the old citizens of the county. He was born near Vincennes, September 30, 1811, and had lived in Sullivan county since March, 1819.
John Dudley, who served as sheriff for two terms in the seventies, died in August, 1899, being at the time one of the oldest native sons, having been born in the county in 1824. His first wife was Anna Springer, of New Lebanon, and the second, Mary Jane Benefield, of Sullivan.
A family name that has been associated with Haddon township and Carlisle during early years was that of Dooley or Duly, as it was also spelled. There is a stone in the Carlisle cemetery, much defaced by age and weather, placed there "In memory of John Duly, who was born --- , and died February 18, 1837, aged (63?) years."
A more familiar personage, and one whose name appears on some of the early official documents to be found in the county, was Henry Dooley, presumably a son or relative of the above. He served as orderly
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sergeant in Captain Briggs' company of volunteers for the Mexican war, and after his return was for six years sheriff of the county, and then a justice of the peace.
The Eaton family was established near Carlisle about 1813, perhaps a little later. William Eaton, who died near New Lebanon in July, 1873, was at that time about eighty years of age, a native of Fleming county, Kentucky. He served, so it was said, in the war of 1812, and probably located in this county during and soon after the close of that war. He married Mary Hunt in June, 1815, and in 1825 moved to New Lebanon. He had become a member of the M. E. church in 1817, and held the office of trustee and class leader at the time of his death.
Probably a brother of William Eaton was the old justice of the peace at Carlisle, John H. Eaton, who lies buried in the cemetery there. Ac- cording to the inscription on his tombstone, he was born November 25, 1794, and died March, 1842. During the thirties he was a justice of the peace in Haddon township, and must have been a man of some promi- nence. He had the habit of writing the initial of his middle name so close to the E of the final name that it seemed one word, and to a stranger his name would seem to be John Heaton. It was so mistaken in several instances where his name occurred in print. It seems that the chiseler who cut his name on the tombstone was instructed to carry out this pecul- iarity, for at first glance the name on the stone seems to be Heaton.
The Ellis family, which is represented in the third generation by Claude A. Ellis of Carlisle, was of Virginia origin, the grandparents John W. and Sarah E. Ellis both being natives of that state and coming to this county some time in the '20s or early '30s. Thomas O. Ellis, a native son of the county and representing the second generation of the family
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here, is a man of unusual historical interest because of his connection, while a young man during the fifties, with the Nicaraugua filibuster under Captain Walker, which was one of the romantic episodes of American history.
William Ernest, who died at his home in Fairbanks, August 29, 1882, had lived in this state since 1827, and joined the Baptist church in Fairbanks in 1834. He was born in North Carolina in 1804, and came to this state with his parents.
Alexander Engle, who died December 16, 1904, was for many years a local preacher of the Christian church, having united with that denomina- tion in 1861. He was born in Sullivan county, October 20, 1826, and in 1849 married Patsy Rose.
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