USA > Indiana > Wayne County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 11
USA > Indiana > Franklin County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 11
USA > Indiana > Union County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 11
USA > Indiana > Fayette County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 11
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61
Dr. Pierce was first married in 1873 to Miss Cordelia Cassity, a member of a prominent Kentucky family, her parents being Shelton and Caroline (Casky) Cassity. Shelton Cassity was a son of Reuben Cassity and son-in- law of Robert Casky, the last named being a native of Germany, who emi- grated to this country in early life and settled in Kentucky, where he was a farmer and miller and owned a large number of slaves. Shelton Cassity, a blacksmith and wagonmaker, did an extensive business; he was born and lived and died in Kentucky. His widow is still living. Their children are: Mary J .; Mrs. Martha Cooper; Alice, wife of Albert Wills; and Cordelia, who was the wife of Dr. Pierce. The parents and all the children identified themselves with the Christian church. By this marriage Dr. Pierce had two children, namely: Blanch, wife of A. L. Adams, an attorney-at-law, French- burg, Kentucky; and Herman, who is connected with a furniture factory at Connersville. Mrs. Cordelia Pierce died in 1877. In 1879 the Doctor mar- ried for his second wife Miss Mary Myers, a graduate of medicine and a woman of much culture. Previously to taking up the study of medicine she was for some time engaged in teaching. She was born in Kentucky August 16, 1856, daughter of John H. and Julia A. (Greenwade) Myers, both natives of that state. Her grandfather, John Myers, was one of the pioneer settlers of Kentucky, where he owned a large tract of land and a number of slaves. He was of German descent. Mrs. Pierce was the second born in a family of eight children, the others being as follows: Sarah, wife of W. B. Howard; John, a resident of Kentucky; Ellen, wife of I. W. Horton; J. C., a farmer of Fayette county, Indiana; Mordecai, of Kentucky; Anna, wife of C. Hazle- rigg; and Nannie, at home. Mr. and Mrs. Myers and family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. By his present wife Dr. Pierce has one son, Ray H., born August 27, 1887.
Dr. Pierce is associated with numerous fraternal organizations. He is a member of the F. & A. M., I. O. O. F., K. of P. and I. O. R. M. In the 6
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Masonic lodge he has filled all the chairs except that of worshipful master; is noble grand elect of the I. O. O. F .; and is past chancellor in the K. of P. and Sir Knight in the uniform rank of that order. He and his wife are mem- bers of the Christian church at Harrisburg and are active workers in the Sun- day-school.
GENERAL JONATHAN MCCARTY.
General McCarty was born in Virginia, August 3, 1795, reared on his father's farm in Franklin county, Indiana, within sight of the village of Brookville and on the banks of Whitewater river, and in the little log school- house of that place he received his education. For a time he assisted his brother in the duties of the clerk's office, at intervals reading law, without the assistance of a living teacher, and at length he was licensed to practice at the bar. He was soon elected to the legislature from Franklin county, and as a member of that body he procured the passage of a law creating the county of Fayette.
Soon afterward he removed to the new county, settling at the county seat, Connersville, where he was the first clerk of the courts and also per- formed other duties in county offices, ex officio, serving until 1828. The next year he was appointed receiver of public moneys in the land office at Fort Wayne, Indiana, and in 1830 he moved his family there. In 1828 he ran for congress on the Democratic ticket, but was defeated by Judge John Test, of Brookville, a National Republican. In 1831 he was elected to congress from his district, defeating his former competitors, Judge Test and Oliver H. Smith, in a heated canvass. He served his district from 1831 to 1837, and in 1848 or '49 removed to Keokuk, Iowa, where he died about 1852, and where now rest his remains. He was a man of limited scholastic training, but possessed great natural powers. He was one of the most talented men of Indiana, a forceful and eloquent speaker.
GEORGE HILL.
One of the early residents of Richmond, Wayne county, was George Hill, whose death occurred in this town, August 21, 1882. With the excep- tion of a period of perhaps a dozen years, when he was engaged in farming in Madison county, he was actively associated with the development of this region during his entire life, and no one was more thoroughly interested in everything which pertained to the progress of the community in which he dwelt. His life was strictly honorable, upright and just, being in accord with the highest principles of human conduct, and, as far as known, he had not an enemy in the world. Kindly and obliging in disposition, he always strove to do good to those with whom he had dealings, and many a
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poor and needy one whom he assisted in his quiet, unostentatious way still remembers him with affection which time does not dim.
Robert Hill, father of George Hill, was a native of Guilford county, North Carolina, and a son of William Hill, of that state. In 1801 Robert Hill settled in Hamilton county, Ohio, near the present city limits of Cincin- nati, and engaged in his accustomed calling, agriculture. At the end of five years he removed to what is now Richmond, but then a vast forest, and took up a quarter-section of land from the government. This property, now owned by Augustus C. Scott (son of Andrew F. Scott), is two and a half miles east of the present city limits of Richmond. There were but very few families living here in the wilderness when he came here, but gradually the on-coming wave of immigration drifted families here by the scores and civil- ization became an assured fact in the back-woods of Indiana. In 1831, hav- ing previously cleared and cultivated his farm for many years, he retired and conducted a gristmill in Richmond for a few years, where the Starr Piano Works now are located. In his younger days he dealt extensively in live stock and drove cattle and hogs to Cincinnati, where he disposed of them. He was retired for many years before his death, in August, 1850. He died on the old homestead in the same house that had sheltered him for many years, his son-in-law, Benjamin Stratton, then having charge of the place. Religiously he was a member of the Society of Friends, and was actively engaged in church work, always faithfully attending the meetings. In poli- tics, he was a Whig. For his wife he chose Susanna Morgan, of North Car- olina, and ten children were born to them. Only three of the number sur- vive, namely: Mrs. Elizabeth Shute, of Richmond; Charles, who was a farmer and teamster but is now retired and a resident of Richmond; and Rob- ert, a farmer of Willow Branch, Hancock county, Indiana. Those who have passed to the better land are Martha, William, Benjamin, Samuel, Mrs. Mary Parry, Mrs. Penninah Shaw and George.
The birth of George Hill occurred in Richmond, November 7, 1825, and in the private and public schools of this place he received his education. When he arrived at his majority he took charge of a farm on the Williams- burg turnpike, three miles north of Richmond, it consisting of eighty acres. After several years he removed to Madison county, and was there occupied in agricultural pursuits for twelve or thirteen years. As a business man he was practical and progressive, making a success of nearly everything which he undertook. Reared in the Society of Friends, he continued to be active in that organization as long as he lived, and held various official positions in the local church.
March 30, 1853, Mr. Hill married Miss Tacy B. Hibberd, a daughter of Benjamin and Charity (Beeson) Hibberd. Mrs. Hill is a native of Rich-
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mond and has spent nearly her whole life here. Four children were born to" herself and husband: one is deceased, and the others are Alice J., wife of George R. Dilks, of Spring Grove (see his sketch printed on another page of this work); Theodore H., a member of the firm of Louck & Hill, lumber manufacturers and contractors of this place; and Annie E., wife of T. J. Ferguson, of Richmond. The father of Mrs. Hill was born in Carroll county, Maryland, but came to Richmond in 1825, and was soon numbered among our most enterprising citizens. Before coming here he had been engaged in the manufacture of woolen goods in Maryland and in Virginia, and soon after reaching Richmond he bought thirty acres of land and founded the Fleecy Dale Woolen Factory, the site of the works being where Sixteenth street now is. He conducted the factory very successfully for a number of years, and later rented the premises. For a score or more of years prior to his death he was practically retired, but to the last maintained his deep interest in the world's progress and was an earnest student and thinker. For years an elder in the Society of Friends, he was always present at meeting and used his influence and means in the support of the church. His children were three in number,-Jane, Alice and Tacy. Jane died in 1894 and Alice twenty years previously, and thus Mrs. Hill is the only survivor of the family. Her loved and honored father passed to his reward in 1864, aged seventy- seven years.
CHARLES H. BURCHENAL.
One of the most distinguished jurists that ever practiced at the bar of Richmond was Charles H. Burchenal. The following sketch is taken largely from a memorial published at the time of his death and is a well merited tribute to the abilty of this honored man.
The only son of Jeremiah and Mary E. (Cockayne) Burchenal, he was born at Greensboro, Caroline county, Maryland, on the 18th of September, 1830. His remote ancestors, of French origin, came from the neighbor- hood of Caen, in Normandy. At the time of William the Conqueror, some members of the family settled in England, where they remained and kept up the name for many generations. One or more of them came to America with Lord Baltimore's first colony and settled on the eastern shore of Mary- land. Mr. Burchenal's branch of this family is descended from Jeremiah Burchenal, a planter of Kent county, Maryland, where some of the family still reside. He was born in 1700.
When Charles H. Burchenal was still a child, his parents removed to Zanesville, Ohio, where his mother died in 1836. His father was engaged in business in that place until 1838, when, while visiting his old home near Bal- timore, Maryland, he too died, and the boy was brought by his grandmother, a member of the Society of Friends, to Wayne county, Indiana. At her
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death, four years later, Mr. Burchenal went to live with Achilles Williams, with whom he remained eight years. In 1844 Mr. Williams was elected treasurer of Wayne county and removed from Richmond to Centerville, which was then the county seat. While he lived in Richmond Mr. Burche- nal attended the common schools of that city, and after his removal to Cen- terville became a pupil in the county seminary. In 1847 he was appointed clerk in the office of the county treasurer, a place which he held until 1850.
He was a boy of extraordinary promise, bright, quick and clear-headed, but very fond of fun and "mischief." Early in 1850 he entered the law office of Newman & Sidall, and he was allowed to sit within the enclosure of the court-room reserved for lawyers, a privilege from which the general public was excluded. Mr. Newman, then the leader of the Wayne county bar, greatly aided the ambitious pupil, and two years later the young man was admitted to the bar. Although the new constitution of Indiana, adopted in 1851, provided that any citizen of full age and good character should be allowed to practice law with no further qualification, Mr. Burchenal was unwilling to enter the profession upon such terms, but voluntarily submitted to an examination by a committee appointed by the lawyers of the county, an examination which he passed with credit.
The best legal talent in Indiana was then collected in the little town of Centerville, and, thrown into contact with such men as Oliver P. Morton, George W. Julian, Nimrod H. Johnson, etc., he was stimulated to put forth his best efforts. During the early years of his professional career he became a member of the " Dark Lyceum," a debating society of Centerville, the pur- pose of which was to improve the members in extemporaneous debate. Its sessions were held in the dark, so that they might speak and gesticulate with greater freedom. Mr. Burchenal was prominent in this order. Sometimes the members were tried in solemn form for misbehavior. Judge Kibbey, for instance, was indicted for marrying without the consent of the lyceum. He had violated the following by-law: "Members are absolutely prohibited from engaging in any matrimonial alliance without first obtaining the appro- bation and consent of the lyceum, and having granted unto them a marriage dispensation in due form, under the signature of the prelate and seal of the lyceum. Any member convicted of wilfully violating the provisions of this by-law shall be ignominiously expelled, his books confiscated and his mar- riage declared utterly null and void." Mr. Burchenal was the " prelate " of the organization at the time and defended bis friend, who was acquitted because the "prelate " himself, who had been duly notified, had forgotten to inform the lodge. Many are the reminiscences of the forensic triumphs in the Dark Lyceum. The Monroe doctrine, the Wilmot proviso, the Kansas- Nebraska bill, Kossuth and Hungary and other great problems were disposed
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of by its invisible oratory, and the practice and experience thus gained proved of no little benefit to its members, especially to the representatives of the bar.
After his admission to the bar Mr. Burchenal advanced rapidly in the profession. In 1854 he was elected district attorney of the common-pleas court of Wayne county and served for two years. He never held any other office. In 1861 he moved from Centerville to Richmond and entered into partnership with William A. Bickle, afterward judge of the superior court, a connection which lasted until September, 1864. After this he practiced alone for many years. In 1885 he formed a partnership with John L. Rupe, which continued until August, 1895, a short time before his death. His extra- ordinary ability brought him at an early day to the front rank in his profes- sion. He was for many years the leader of the bar, being engaged on one side or the other of nearly every important case, and his practice was the largest and most lucrative in the county. But, although he had the utmost regard for his professional reputation, he cared little for money. He was not a good collector of the debts which were due to himself, and saved but little from his income. In knowledge of the general principles of law, in skill in pleading and readiness in practice he had no superior in Indiana. He was never so dangerous as after he had been apparently overthrown. He always landed upon his feet. One of his associates said: "I remember two cases in which he had been defeated in the trial court, and again in the supreme court. There seemed to be no possibility of success, and yet, by a masterly argument, he secured in each case a re-hearing from the same judges who had decided against him. Then followed a reversal of each case, and favorable settlement in the court below." Mr. Burchenal was not, how- ever, fond of compromising his cases. He generally fought to a finish. Although physically weak and apparently exhausted during a long trial, he would often test to the utmost the endurance of his adversary. "I remem- ber well," said one who opposed him, " the case of Horney versus Patterson. We had been several months in making up the issues. Finally the case came on for trial, and we worked on it night and day. We were both com- pletely worn out, but neither of us would give up until finally Judge Col- grove, who tried the case, became ill and could proceed no further. Then we continued the suit until the following fall, and went to Europe together to recuperate, after which we came back and fought it out !"
Mr. Burchenal never entertained personal animosity toward those whom he opposed in litigation. His professional antagonists were his warmest per- sonal friends. He was a consummate master of the art of pleading. He never betrayed the slightest sign of weakness to an adversary, although in confer- ence with his own clients and those who were associated with him he gave
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due weight to the advantages of his antagonists. It was often wonderful to his associates to hear him unfold in consultation, one line of defense after another, things which had been entirely overlooked by others, but which pre- sented an impenetrable barrier to the prosecution. He was not naturally a fluent speaker; he did not cultivate the graces of oratory; he never sought to impose upon a jury by the thundering tones and artificial impressiveness by which many lawyers of second-rate ability seek to win success; there were few figures of speech; but all the points in the case were clearly and exhaust- ively stated in a manner which appealed mainly to the reason and very little to the prejudices of his hearers.
In the adjuncts of his practice, in a knowledge of medical jurisprudence, of handwriting, of bookkeeping and of business methods, his information was extensive and accurate.
One of his most marked characteristics was his love of nature. He enjoyed nothing more than long rides, drives or walks with his family and inti- mate friends. During the summer months, when he was at home, Sunday afternoons were spent by the family in driving through the beautiful country surrounding Richmond, and, toward evening, picnicking at some favorite spot; and there were many such places, each one having a particular name invented by the children. His literary and intellectual resources were inexhaustible. He had continually some allusion, some story, some quotation from every field of literature and from actual life, opposite to the question under dis- cussion.
He read and enjoyed all that was best in modern fiction. Tolstoi especially attracted him, not only by his wonderful powers of description and his deep knowledge of human nature, but also by his remarkable religious and social views. Mr. Burchenal was especially impressed by the doctrine of non-resistance as developed by the Russian author, although not satisfied that it would apply to present conditions. He insisted that Tolstoi's ideas of self-sacrifice and non-resistance to evil represented something toward which humanity should constantly strive. He was also an admirer of the works of the Polish novelist, Sienkewicz, discovering in them a virility of thought and power of description beyond that of most contemporary literature. He also read and admired Balzac, whose power of portraiture he fully appreciated. He insisted that of all men he had seen and known, Robert G. Ingersoll and his own townsman, Oliver P. Morton, had most impressed him by the personal magnetism which they exercised over those around them. Early in life Mr. Burchenal joined the Episcopal church, and retained his membership, always enjoying the service and mode of worship. His belief, however, was far from orthodox. His natural interest in religious topics, and especially those of a more spiritual nature, led him to a close
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study of the works of Emanuel Swedenborg, and his religious belief was largely founded upon them.
In politics Mr. Burchenal was originally a Whig, having cast his first vote for General Scott in 1852. When the Republican party was formed he attached himself to that organization and continued firm in his adherence of it until his death. He was stalwart in his Republicanism, and had little con- fidence in any reform to be accomplished by destroying or weakening the party which had saved the Union, overthrown slavery and established universal suffrage.
In 1860 Mr. Burchenal married Miss Ellen Jackson, who died in 1863, leaving one son, John. In 1871, in Baltimore, he married Miss Mary E. Day, by whom he had three daughters, Ruth, Elizabeth and Emma, and two sons, Carlos and Selden. Mr. Burchenal was the most hospitable of men. His house and heart were always open to his friends. Even during the extreme suffering of his last days, no one could visit him but he would make some faint effort to renew the old times of jovial companionship. He died Decem- ber, 1896, after a long and painful illness. The tributes paid to his memory in the letters written to his widow, and in the inemorial and speeches made at the bar meeting on the occasion of his death, were not the mere customary tributes to the memory of the dead; they were the heartfelt expressions of a genuine conviction of his great ability as a lawyer and worth as a man. E. B. Martin, who had known him for years, said : " His singular refinement, generosity and sincerity of nature, his breadth and variety in sympathy and acquirements, and his strength and delicacy of apprehension, added to his warmth and faithfulness in friendship, made him a man among ten thousand ; " ยท while General Benjamin Harrison said, " He added to fine intellectual powers a high sense of personal and professional honor. " At the bar meeting Judge Comstock thus appropriately summed up his qualities : " Any true estimate of his character must credit him with marked individuality. He never copied any one. He was very quick to see the imitation. He was a law unto himself. He was independent and self-reliant. In his judgment of men he was indulgent. He was a modest man. He never obtruded himself either in social, public or professional life. The success of others never gave him pain. He was free from the base passion of envy. He did not attempt to exalt himself by the disparagement of a brother. He performed his duties in life fearlessly and honestly, without expectation of applause. He was absolutely free from fraud or sham. There has not been at this bar any one of his fine mental fibre, nor of his learning in law, history and general liter- ature. I have heard members of the bar say that they had more confidence in his first impressions upon a legal proposition than in the mature judgment of most lawyers. He was not, in the popular sense, a great advocate, but
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his thorough familiarity with the principles of the law, and the precedents in the decisions of our highest courts, and his own fertility and coolness, which never forsook him, made him always formidable. He was a versatile man. He might have succeeded in literature and art. He had the taste and touch of a true artist, and knew more of painting and music than many professionals."
He was a self educated man, yet so extensive and thorough was his reading that there was no branch of literature which he left unexplored. He was a great lover of poetry and the drama. He wrote verses of no mean ability, but he never disclosed this fact except to his intimate friends. Among his papers the following stanza was found, added to Tennyson's poem, " Crossing the Bar:"
" Dawn and the morning light That shines above the deep, And there will be rare visions of delight When I awake from sleep. What though through dark and gloom my bark shall sail On its strange quest, So in the morning I the goal may hail The islands of the blest."
JOHN H. SHORT.
This well and favorably known citizen of Boston, Wayne county, is now living retired from the active duties and cares of life, enjoying the fruits of his years of toil in the past. About four years ago he gave up the manage- ment of his farm, which is located in the suburbs of Boston, a portion of the place having been cut up into town lots, indeed, and since then his eldest son has carried on the homestead. Though born and reared in the south, Mr. Short was not in sympathy with the Rebellion, and in April, 1864, he enlisted in the one-hundred-days service in Company A, One Hundred and Thirty- third Indiana Infantry, under Captain William R. Mount. Hewas stationed chiefly at Bridgeport, Alabama, and employed in doing guard duty, until his time was up, when he was mustered out in Indianapolis.
Born near Greensboro, Guilford county, North Carolina, July 25, 1834, a son of Alfred and Hannah Short, our subject was left an orphan at the age of fourteen, at which time his father died, while death had bereaved him of a mother's love and care some four years before. With his sister and five brothers John H. grew to manhood in his native state, and there they all continued to live, with the exception of himself. They stayed on the old farm until the marriage of the eldest brother. John H. is now the only sur- vivor of the family, besides one other brother, Alonzio Short, who is now in the south.
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