USA > Indiana > Clark County > Baird's history of Clark County, Indiana > Part 12
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in July, 1900, on account of ill health. The captain in retirement loves to talk of the older days, where his grandfather Hoke raised tobacco on a large farm near Jeffersontown, in Kentucky. His aunts worked in the field and made cigars which were retailed for ten cents a hundred, tied up in pack- ages with a piece of bark. Captain Howard treasures as a curious heirloom two cigars which his aunts made over a hundred years ago. He also cher- ishes a big key, which opened his father's mill at Fisherville, Kentucky. His father, who came from the eastern shore of Maryland to the woods of Ken- tucky was bound out and learned the trade of millwright.
In 1846 Captain Howard married Nancy, daughter of Leven and (Grismore) Howard, by which union there were four children : Rose A., who died in 1904; Lydia C., who died in 1860; Lucinda, who is her father's homekeeper, and Fannie Belle, wife of T. M. Dehoney, who resides in Chicago. The mother died in February, 1855, and when the father started to war it was with an aching heart that he left his four children with his par- ents as he marched away to fight his country's battles. In October, 1869, Captain Howard married Laura A. Porter, a native of Breckenridge county, Kentucky, who died in September, 1903. The ceremony was notable, being the first marriage that took place in the Presbyterian church at Jeffersonville. In 1845 the captain became a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and is at present a member of the Wall Street church, for whose construction he carried the first brick. Formerly he was for a time a member of the Presby- terian church and served as elder. He is a member of the Golden Cross and has been a staunch Republican since the organization of that party.
HON. REUBEN DAILEY.
A strong virile and picturesque personality, generous disposition and strong convictions on important questions, were the traits that made this veteran editor of Jeffersonville influential at home and widely known abroad. During the days of his activity his name was familiar all over the state and few of Indiana's newspaper men so impressed their individuality upon the public or were so fre- quently mentioned in the news columns. He was of foreign nativity of mixed English and Irish descent. Michael Dailey, the paternal grandfather, who was a native of Queen's county, Ireland, and a pronounced Roman Catholic, mar- ried a Miss Gibson, who was just as pronounced a Protestant, and reared all her sons in that faith. William Bird, the maternal grandfather, was an Eng- lishman by birth and a shoemaker by trade, ; was of very religious tempera- ment, and composer of sacred music. He married Sarah Singleton, and Han-
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REUBEN DAILY.
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nah Bird, a daughter of this union, became the wife of Nicholas A., son of Michael Dailey, and this couple were the parents of the noted Indiana citizen, who constitutes the subject of this sketch.
Reuben Dailey was born at Tottenham, Middlesex county, England, March 6. 1844, being the youngest of a family of nine children, of whom the only daughter and four sons reached maturity. Reuben was strongly inclined towards a ministerial career, but his father offered violent opposition to this choice, his argument being that preachers should not be educated in the or- dinary way, but depend on supernatural influence for their accomplishments. When still quite young Mr. Dailey came to the United States and spent some time at Pittsburg and Cincinnati, but was living at Newport, Kentucky, at the breaking out of the Civil war. He was eager to enlist, but met opposition on account of his youth, later, however, succeeding in enrolling himself as a men- ber of Company F. Fifth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which in due time he joined the Army of the Potomac. An illustration of his youthful ambition as well as the characteristic turn of his mind is found in the fact that in addition to his accoutrements he always carried with him a set of shorthand books. These he studied industriously in leisure moments, having made up his mind to become a reporter. Being religious and moral he avoided the or- dinary dissipations of camp life, such as cards, profanity and drink and long before the end of his enlistment he had mastered the intricacies of shorthand reporting. During his service of three years and two months he was frequently employed as clerk for the company and the brigade surgeon being wounded in the face in an engagement that took place at Culpeper Court House, August 9. 1862, he was shortly afterwards detailed as clerk to General Halleck, subse- quently acting as shorthand reporter for several court martial and military commissions. In April, 1865, Mr. Dailey became river reporter for the Mem- phis Argus, and retained this place for three years and a half, during which time he held the offices of magistrate and United States Commissioner, the latter by appointment of Judge Trigg.
By mere accident in January, 1869, he obtained a position as reporter on the Louisville Courier Journal, and was assigned to Jeffersonville and New Albany. Later he bought the National Democrat, a weekly publication, and on November 18. 1872, began the publication of the Jeffersonville Evening News, in handbill form. From that time until the close of his career, he was editor and publisher of this sprightly sheet, which was the first daily paper ever published in Clark county. He steadily improved the quality, while in- creasing the size of his paper, and achieved a financial success, which was chiefly due to his versatility and enterprising methods. Originally Republican in politics, Mr. Dailey's views underwent a change as a result of what he saw of the working reconstruction in the South, and he returned to Indiana as a
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convert to Democracy. By his personal activity and strong editorial utterances he wielded a potential influence for his party in and around Jeffersonville, and was long regarded as one of the "wheel-horses." In 1892 Mr. Dailey was elected to the lower House of the State Legislature as Representative from Clark county and made a creditable record. For two years he served as chair- man of the Democratic Central Committee of Clark county, and in this position "exercised a large influence. Mr. Dailey was generous to a fault, never turning a deaf ear to any applicant, and though often imposed on readily forgave the impostor if occasion made it necessary. He kept what he called his museum, which contained objects purchased from mendicants merely as an excuse for giving. His last illness, which began in January, terminated fatally on April 8. 1906, and during the time he proved a very patient sufferer, never murmur- ing. however great the pain. Mr. Dailey's funeral occurred April 11th, and while his remains laid in state at the First Presbyterian church, of which he was a member at the time of his death, they were viewed by all the school children and nearly every man, woman and child in the city. Most of the leading business men at one time were carriers on his paper, the "News." His remains rest in the Eastern cemetery at Jeffersonville, Indiana, where, in- scribed on his tomb are the words, "He lived for others."
On December 26, 1865, Mr. Dailey was married at Newport, Kentucky, to Anna Eliza Deviney, a native of Louisville, and the only surviving child of Captain Madison Deviney. There were five children by this union, as fol- lows : Kate Middleton, Bird, Reuben Seymour, all deceased. Those surviving are a daughter by the name of Nahma, who married Nelson R. Bird, of the Art Engraving Company in London, England. She is quite accomplished as an artist and wood carver, having studied in Paris and also under Benjamin Pittman and Henry L. Fry, of Cincinnati. The latter was one of the carvers for the houses of parliament and the throne of England. Mrs. Bird has three children. Clarence Irving Dailey, the only son, now thirty-four years old, suc- ceeded his father as editor of the Evening News and publishes the paper in connection with his mother. Mr. Dailey's home life was ideal, his hospitality unstinted and his affection for his household strong and tender. While sta- tioned at Washington during the war, he professed religion in the Methodist church, and subsequently was baptized into the Christian church at Fulton, Ohio, although early in life he never had any fixed denominational belief. He was a member of Tabor Lodge, No. 92. Independent Order of Odd Fellows: Eureka Lodge. No. 3. Knights of Pythias: Falls City Lodge No. 8. Ancient Order United Workmen; Rain Commandery, No. 15. United Order of the Golden Cross, Veteran Odd Fellows' Association and the Grand Army of the Republic.
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JAMES McGREGOR.
In a modest frame cottage on one of the residence streets of Jefferson- ville may be found an interesting man to talk to in his leisure hours. Large and well built, six feet four inches tall, his personality is unusually impres- sive, of quiet demeanor and unassuming, it is necessary to "draw him out" to talk of himself, though few have more entertaining stories to tell of the heroic days when the Union forces were opening the Mississippi. James Mc- Gregor was born in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, September 11, 1840, and was a son of Matthew and Ellen (Veasey) McGregor, the latter the daughter of an Irish mother and Vermont father. When four years old James was partly orphaned by the death of his father and being taken to Gallia county, Ohio, he spent the next eleven years in that locality. In 1855 the family re- moved to Henryville, Clark county, Indiana, and four years later he secured a job with the Jeffersonville & Madison Railroad Company as construction hand. He "stepped off" the distance for the setting of telegraph poles from Seymour to Columbus, walking all the way. He was thus employed when the Civil war broke out and in 1862 enlisted in the Forty-ninth Regiment, In- diana Volunteer Infantry, with which he went to the front and saw arduous service. He participated in the bloody affair at Haines Bluff, when the un- successful attack was made to break the lines at Vicksburg. He was with his command in the boat trip up White river and overland to Arkansas Post when that place was captured with seven thousand prisoners. The next severe engagement was at Port Gibson, whose capture forced the Confederates to abandon Grand Gulf. Sixteen days later Mr. McGregor was taken prisoner at the battle of Champion's Hill, but was exchanged several months later and took part in a four months campaign in Texas. After a trip up Red river he was assigned to guard duty in New Orleans and Algiers for four months. Next he was on an ocean steamer for fifteen days, guarding Confederate offi- cers who were being taken to New York. The vessel was loaded with powder captured in the forts at Mobile and it stopped two days at Key West on the voyage to the North. His next service was as train guard on the Kentucky Central Railroad, which lasted until his muster out in 1865. Among Mr. McGregor's reminscences is a story which establies his reputation as an ex- cellent shot. A sharpshooter of the enemy, from a distant clump of brushes. was picking off men in the Union skirmish line, one at a time. Five had fallen, Mr. McGregor was the seventh in line and as his time was soon to come he determined to head off the dangerous "Johnny" if he could. Drop- ping to a knee he waited for the next puff of smoke and fired at this target in ambush. After the battle he found the dead sharpshooter at the place he had made so fatal to the Federals. On another occasion a group of rowdies tried to jostle him off the sidewalk, but bringing to bear his massive frame, he
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shouldered them into the gutter in quick succession and asked ironically if they had any friends who wished to meet him. Shortly after the war Mr. McGregor resumed his old position with the Indiana Railroad Company and in two months was appointed brakeman, then foreman and on May 15, 1870, was promoted to the place of engineer. He has been with this same company since and is probably the oldest continuous employe as he is now in the fiftieth year of his service.
On July 7, 1870, Mr. McGregor married Rebecca J., daughter of Joshua and Matilda Bennett, residents of Scott county, one mile east of Vienna. They have had six children : William H., the eldest, married a Miss Deark and was killed while engineering on the Pennsylvania Railroad, May, 1908, leav- ing two children; Belle is the wife of W. A. Ponle, a monument dealer ; Frank is an extra conductor on the Henderson route; James, Jr., died in childhood; Nellie married Charles Young and resides west of New Albany; Earl Bennett is with his brother-in-law in the monument business.
Mr. McGregor is a member of the Clark Lodge, No. 40, Free and Ac- cepted Masons, of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, and the Chris- tian church of Jeffersonville.
MAJ. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN BURLINGAME.
It has been nearly thirty years since he passed away, but hundreds still remember "Frank" Burlingame with feelings of regret. A brave, true man in all the relations of life he made and held friends as the result of his kindly accommodating disposition. He could fight when fighting was necessary, but preferred peace, and always dealt nobly with his fellow men. His children recall with delight the care and devotion he showed them and are justly proud of his memory. The flowers scattered on memorial day reach no mound that covers a braver soldier, a warmer friend or a more honest man than this dead comrade. Benjamin F. Burlingame was born in Syracuse, New York, in 1832, his parents being Benjamin F. and Adeline (Merrill) Burlingame. The latter located in Wilmington, Dearborn county, Indiana, when their son was a small boy and there he grew to man's estate. While a student at the Wil- mington Seminary he was always a leader in the debates as well as the pranks so characteristic of abounding youth. He early developed a liking for the trades, was not afraid of work and before reaching his majority was able to secure good positions. One of these, which he filled acceptably, was as master mechanic of the Cochran shops, a large car manufacturing company in the suburbs of Aurora. At the outbreak of the Civil war he enlisted as a private in a company commanded by Captain Patterson, of Aurora, and the first
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military organization formed in Dearborn county for the Union. He rose to the rank of sergeant during the three months' service, re-enlisted as second lieutenant and was later promoted to the position of major. At the battle of Carrick's Ford Major Burlingame shot and killed General Garnett, the first Confederate officer of that rank who fell in the Civil war, the encounter tak- ing place in a thicket. About the year after the close of the war Major Burlin- game removed to Jeffersonville and took a position as foreman in the car works. He was later made superintendent and held this important place until his death, in 1880.
On March 25, 1862, Major Burlingame married Elizabeth, daughter of John P. and Rachael (Peynton) Rogers. Three of their children died in infancy and Frank, a promising son, passed away at the threshold of life, when eighteen years old. The surviving children are Paul, secretary to the Mayor of Louisville; Minnie, wife of Charles Rose, who resides in Jefferson- ville, and Roger, a reporter for the Louisville Times. Elizabeth, who mar- ried Harry Bird, of the Jeffersonville News, died April 16, 1907, leaving one child, John Arthur. About 1890 Mrs. Burlingame removed to Greencastle in order to give her sons the advantage of an education at DePauw Univer- sity. She engaged in business and through no fault of her own became in- volved in financial difficulties. Although in a position to refuse payment to creditors, like the high-minded woman she is, the opportunity was spurned, and she assumed bravely the entire obligation and by her own efforts earned the money to pay off every cent. Thus she preserved her financial honor un- impaired, besides proving herself a woman of excellent business qualities. This is precisely what her lamented husband would have desired her to do and in doing it she obtained the additional satisfaction of feeling that she had honored his hallowed memory, by leaving a stainless record for their children.
CAPT. HENRY DUGAN.
Mark Twain should have known this veteran boatman before he wrote his celebrated account of learning to be a pilot on the Mississippi. Captain Dugan could have given him pointers and furnished him lots of humor equal to that of Clemens himself. He was born in Switzerland county, Indiana, in 1853, his parents being William Perry and Mary (Wiley) Dugan, the latter a daughter of a Virginia farmer and the former a son of George Dugan, a Baptist preacher in Kentucky. While Henry was a small boy his family re- moved to Madison, and in 1862 to Jeffersonville. While at school one day he and his fellow pupils saw a lot of Confederate prisoners marching from the steamboat landing. The little boys showed their patriotism by throwing
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gravel at the "Johnny Rebs," among whom happened to be Simon Bolivar Buckner, destined to become a candidate of the Gold Democrats for President in a later day. When a little older the future steamboatman "played hooky" and worked for twenty-five cents an hour helping roll flour onto freight vessels. He also worked in the big government bakery, where they made "hard tack" for the army. A druggist who went to the war turned his store over to young Henry and an elder brother and the boys ran it with a rush until their father stopped them for fear they would poison someone. Before being thus called down they had done a land office business with the soldiers and officers camped east of Jeffersonville and were making money. An un- amiable school teacher who was too zealous with the rod caused Henry to run away from home at the age of thirteen and join a steamboat crew as roustabout, bound for New Orleans. He soon became homesick from the cursings and thumpings received from his rough associates, but the pilots learning that his father was the well known captain on the Louisville mail boats rescued him from his pursecutors and taught him to steer the craft. On that trip he began his experience as pilot and engineer, the passion for which calling has kept him on the river ever since. He has been on the Ohio, the Mississippi and its tributaries in every capacity connected with steamboat work. He taught the business to his brothers and probably fifty other boys acquired the same knowledge from Captain Dugan. He is employed by the Louisville and Jeffersonville Ferry Company and for the past twenty years has had charge of their excursion boat, handling crowds that average one hundred and twenty thousand each summer. He has never had an accident for which the management was liable, a record for prudence and skill of which any captain might be proud. Captain Dugan has seen Jeffersonville grow from a small town, where nearly all the business was on the square of Spring street, from Market to the river. When he came here the square on which the city hall now stands was a public park. Near the present location of the city hall was the primitive log jail, which was in use until a prisoner set it on fire and caused its destruction.
December 24, 1876, Captain Dugan married Hanna, daughter of Charles and Adeline (Seibert) Deirflinger. Their six children are: Ida May, wife of Clarence E. Howard, a well known contractor and builder of Jefferson- ville; Madison, who married Lina Schultz; Harry, who married Myrtle Stig- wald; Georgia, wife of William Worral, of Jeffersonville; William Henry, assistant engineer of his father's boat; Raymond Scott, at home with his par- ents. Captain Dugan is a member of the Knights and Ladies of Honor, and the Odd Fellows. His wife is active in the Daughters of Rebekah, as well as in the Wall Street Methodist Episcopal church, of which both are members. Captain Dugan has represented the Fourth ward in the City Council and at present is a member of the County Council, which has the appropriation of
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all county funds. He has been an active Democrat for several years, having served during the past campaign in the County Central Committee.
WILLIAM FLETCHER HOBSON.
In the death of the subject of this sketch there was presented to the world the sad story of an act of heroism that was seldom, if ever, paralleled in the state of Indiana, and those who saw William Fletcher Hobson deliber- ately sacrifice his life that others might be saved, will never be able to efface that scene from their memories. Death in a terrible form came to this cour- ageous man when he was in his prime and although he could have escaped it by deserting his post, this he refused to do, thinking only of the human freight for whose safety he felt himself responsible. When the soul took leave of the mangled body it marked the passing of one of the truest friends and most honorable citizens of Jeffersonville, a man with a record that was open to the inspection of the world.
No servant of the corporation, in the service of which he met his untimely death, stood higher in the estimation of the officials than Mr. Hobson and none were more popular among the employes, for all of whom he ever had a cheery word and a hearty handclasp.
Mr. Hobson was born December 23, 1861, at Utica, Indiana. His par- ents were Manlus and Sarah (Snider) Hobson. Manlus was a school teacher and died when William was five years old. The little boy then went to live with his grandparents, with whom he remained until November 10, 1885. when he was united in marriage to Eva Graves, daughter of Alfred and Cynthia (Strutt) Graves, of Charlestown. Five children were the result of this marriage, Herbert, May, Otto, Roy and Leta. Herbert and Otto are both in the employ of the Louisville & Southern Traction Company. Herbert is married, his wife's maiden name being Nellie Blyth. They have one son, Evan Fletcher Hobson.
When the first street cars were started in Jeffersonville William F. Hob- son was placed in charge of one of them as motorman. He operated the first cars that were run on the Chestnut and the Court avenue lines, and it was his car that hauled the first trailer from New Albany to Jeffersonville, and also that which was pulled from Jeffersonville to Charlestown. For one year he served in the capacity of inspector for the local street railway system. Death came to him on July 20, 1907, while at his post of duty, in a collision be- tween his car and a big work car near Watson. The work car, through a mistake of the motorman as to the time, was pushing along the rails of the main line at a great speed, when it should have been on the sidetrack, and
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the two cars met on a sharp curve. The subject had plenty of opportunity to jump and save his life, but instead of doing so he vainly endeavored to stop his car, but it had attained a rate of speed that made this impossible, and in the terrific crash that came his life went out.
Herbert Hobson, son of William F., had an experience in 1908 that would indicate that the young man has inherited some of the nerve that was possessed by his father. At the risk of his own life he snatched an elderly woman from in front of an approaching car when there seemed to be no chance, whatever, of saving her life.
Mr. Hobson was a lifelong and most earnest member of the Methodist church. He belonged to but one secret order, the Modern Woodmen. That he was a man of strong religious convictions was evidenced by the fact that a well worn Bible, in which many impressive passages were marked, was found on his mangled body. His record may prove a source of inspiration to others, and it is certainly a priceless heritage to his widow and children. His daily life was proof that he loved his fellow men and his heroic death was the fruits of such a life.
GEORGE M. RICKARD.
The story of the career of the gentleman of this review is that of a young man, who though confronted at almost every turn in his life with discourage- ments and obstacles, never faltered in his determination to reach the goal upon which his vision had been focussed since early boyhood. His early struggles to secure an education that he might go forth well equipped to take up the battle of life were, in a way, a true index to his sturdy character.
George M. Rickard was born in Toronto, Kansas, October 25, 1881, the son of Louis and Sarah E. Rickard, the latter's maiden name being Snyder. The parents of George M. had moved from Washington county, Indiana, to Kansas in 1876. They remained in the Sunflower state until George M. was seven years old, when they moved to Missouri. At the end of a period of three years they returned to Indiana, taking up their residence in Jeffer- sonville, where they have lived most of the time since. The paternal grand- parents of George M. Rickard were George and Catherine ( Motsinger) Rick- ard, and they at one time owned an entire section of land. The former helped build the Louisville and Portland canal. The great-grandfather of Mr. Rick- ard came to this country from Germany in 1777, settling in Pennsylvania. Later he made a trip to South America, where he remained for seven years, returning to Pennsylvania at the end of that time. The grandfather of the subject came west in 1810 and settled in Washington county, Indiana.
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