Counties of Clay and Owen, Indiana : Historical and biographical., Part 32

Author: Blanchard, Charles, 1830-1903, ed
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago : F.A. Battey & Co.
Number of Pages: 982

USA > Indiana > Clay County > Counties of Clay and Owen, Indiana : Historical and biographical. > Part 32
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GEORGE A. BYRD, of the firm of Holliday & Byrd, attorneys at law, real estate agents and abstracters, of Clay County, Ind., was born in Montgomery County, Ind., on September 3, 1850, of parents William and Elizabeth (Britts) Byrd, the former a native of Kentucky, the latter of Virginia. The parents located in Indiana in 1829, settling in 'Mont- gomery County, where they remained on the farm first owned by them; the father dying February 22, 1861, the mother still living on the. farm. Our subject lived on a farm until he was sixteen, when, in 1865, he enlisted in Battery L, Second United States Light Artillery. The war of the rebellion being over, he served in the Indian war in Oregon, Idaho, Washington Territory and California, suffering all the hardships incident to camp life on the frontier and a campaign among the Indians. On November 2, 1868, he was discharged at Fort Hancock, Washington Territory. When he returned home, he entered the Hopkins Academy, at Ladoga, Ind., where he remained until the close of the school year of 1870. He then entered Asbury University, at Greencastle, Ind., and remained two years. Having completed his studies there, and having read law for two years prior to this, in 1872 he entered the Law De- partment of the University at Ann Arbor, Mich., graduating from there. in 1874, after which he returned to Middlebury, Ind., and formed a law partnership with G. W. Wiltse, with whom he remained three years. In.

David . A. Hill

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1877, he removed to Brazil, and followed the practice very successfully until 1879, when he formed a partnership with Mr. Holliday, with whom he is now associated. The firm is doing quite an extensive law business, holding at least their share of patronage, and they have the finest set of abstract books in the county. On September 29, 1874, he was married to Lethe E. Miller, of Montgomery County. They have had two children, only one of whom is living, viz., Lena Maud, born December 11, 1875. Mr. and Mrs. Byrd are both members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity. For five years he served as County Attorney. Politically, he is a Democrat.

JOHN CADDY, proprietor of the " Miner Arms Saloon," at East Brazil, was born in Shropshire, England, December 5, 1829. Raised in a mining district, he had no education, but at the age of eight years was set to work in the mines to make his own living. At the age of thirteen years, he went into an adjoining shire, where he followed the same bus- iness for nineteen years-for the first few months receiving 12 cents a day. In 1870, he emigrated to the United States, landing in New York, but going immediately to Huntingdon County, Penn., where he engaged in mining a short time, going thence to Bloomington, Ill., and in 1874 coming to Clay County, Ind., where he followed mining success- fully until March, 1882, when he established his present business. Mr. Caddy was married in February, 1878, to Sarah Winters, of Brazil. One child (now deceased) was born to them. Mr. Caddy is a member of the Knights of the Universal Brotherhood. He is still hale and active.

JEREMIAH CALEY, inventor of Caley's Adjustable Frame Sulky Plow, Cultivator and Stalk Cutter, was born in Pennsylvania, March 6, 1846. In 1868, he moved from there to Edgar County, Ill., and, having previously served an apprenticeship at the blacksmith trade, he worked at it in Illinois, in connection with farming, until 1881, when he moved to Brazil, where he yet resides, prosecuting his trade. On November 22, 1865, he was married to Catharine Grader, a native of Pennsylvania. To them have been born five children, viz .: Clara, Laura, Charles, John and Lillian. They are both members of the Christian Church, and strong supporters of the temperance cause. Mr. Caley is a man of unusual energy and industry, and possesses an invent- ive mind, which has produced several useful appliances of farm machin- ery. In 1879, he first conceived the idea of his combination plow, cultiva- tor and stalk cutter, which, in the way of farm machinery, has never been excelled for utility, and out of this he is certain to realize a life- time competence.

WILLIAM W. CARTER, a citizen of Brazil, Clay County, Ind., was born in Warren County, Ohio, September 10, 1836, and is the son of John and Jemima (Patton) Carter, the former a native of Virginia, the latter of Maryland, and of English and Welsh lineage. His pater- nal grandfather was a Revolutionary hero, having been a soldier under George Washington at the final surrender of Yorktown. For a short time his father was a teamster in the second contest with Great Britain. In October, 1837, he moved with his parents to Clay County, Ind., and settled in Posey Township. The locality at that time was little else than a vast expanse of unoccupied territory, and here, amidst the surround- ings of a rural home, began the career of young Carter; and here he was taught the use of the ax, the mattock and the hoe. His early schooling was that afforded by the rude pioneer schoolhouse, yet good use was made

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of these meager facilities, so that, at the age of seventeen, he entered the Literary Department of Asbury University, where he remained two years. While at college, he aided himself by cutting wood around town at 10 cents the hour. At the end of this time he decided to qualify himself for the law profession, and entered the law office of Hon. R. W. Thomp- son and Hon. H. D. Scott, the former now an ex-Secretary of the Navy, and the latter an ex-Member of Congress and Judge of the Circuit Court, and began reading the text books. This, however, continued but a short time, when, for the purpose of augmenting his exchequer, that he might take a course of study in a law school, he again repaired to the farm, and, in 1857, he entered the Law Department of the Asbury University, where, in the spring of 1859, he graduated with honors, and immediately after located in Bowling Green, then the county seat of Clay County, and entered upon the practice of the law. A few months subsequently, he became associated with Hon. D. E. Williamson, of Greencastle, Ind., and from the outset Mr. Carter demonstrated that his profession was well chosen, for he rapidly adapted himself to its requirements, and steadily acquired a lucrative business. At this time Clay County was largely Democratic in politics, and there never had been a newspaper, except Democratic, published in the county until Mr. Carter started the Hoosier Patriot, a weekly Republican newspaper, which lived, however, only from January to December, 1860.

Mr. Carter had become initiated into the intricacies of his profession, when he considered it his duty to take his place among the Union hosts against secession. He enlisted as a private in Company D, Seventy-first Indiana Volunteer Infantry, July 22, 1862, was mustered in August 18, 1862, and went immediately to the front. At the call for the first 75,000 troops for three months, he raised a company at his home, but when he reported for duty the call was filled, and he was compelled to disband his company, and from this time up to the date of his entry into the service, he assisted in the raising of troops. The first engagement in which he participated was the battle of Rich- mond, Ky., August 30, 1862, where the Federal forces were defeated by E. Kirby Smith, and where a large portion of his regiment was captured, including himself. It was at this desperate encounter that the brave William Conkling, Major of the regiment, was killed. Thus an impor- tant vacancy was to be filled, and a combination of circumstances pointed to Private Carter as the man for the place. After the prisoners had been paroled, the regiment went to Camp Dick Thompson, at Terre Haute, Ind., and remained there until the last of December, 1862. An exchange of prisoners was effected in the September preceding, and the regiment was again ready for active service, but a Major was wanting, and Decem- ber 13, 1862, there occurred the remarkable instance of commissioning a private soldier to the command of a battalion-of promoting Private Car- ter, over the heads of all the commissioned and non-commissioned officers of the regiment, to the rank of Major, some of these officers being avowed aspirants for the position. Commencing with the January following this event, his regiment was stationed at Indianapolis, guarding rebel prison- ers chiefly, until July 4, 1863, when it was recruited and changed to the Sixth Indiana Cavalry. John Morgan making his raid after this into Indiana and Ohio, the Seventy-first was sent to the Ohio River to inter- cept the movement, and spent some time at Louisville, New Albany, and on the river. During the succeeding September and October, the battal- ion was stationed at Mount Sterling, Ky .; in November, at Somerset,

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Ky .; and in December, it went to East Tennessee, via Cumberland Gap, where it was engaged in several severe skirmishes. About this time, the regiment suffered great privations and hardships while in East Tennes- see, on account of insufficient food and clothing. Its next order was to return to Mount Sterling, Ky. From Mount Sterling it went to Paris, and then to Camp Nelson, and afterward constituted a part of Gen. Sher- man's army, and soon after crossed over the mountains, and joined the main army near Dalton, Ga., about the 10th of May, 1864. Maj. Carter's command remained with Gen. Sherman's command until his forces reached Atlanta, participating actively in most of the great battles of that memorable campaign, and then it returned to Nashville, Tenn., where it went into temporary encampment in Camp Smith. While in Camp Smith, at Nashville, Maj. Carter was ordered with his command to Pulaski, Tenn., where, September 27, 1864, his regiment participated with other troops in a stubbornly contested engagement with Gen. For- rest. At this battle the Major commanded a brigade, being the oldest officer in it, and was complimented for his gallantry on the field by Gen. Croxton. Forrest retired from the State, and Maj. Carter returned to Nashville. At this time, Maj. Carter was attacked with a severe illness, came home, and was confined to his bed for several weeks. In the mean- time, his regiment participated in the battle of Nashville. December 15 and 16, 1864. Soon after this battle, however, the Major joined his command at Edgefield, remaining there until March, 1865. He and his regiment were then ordered to Pulaski, where, on the last of June, 1865, they were mustered out and sent home. History teems with the con- flicts, difficulties, and ever diversified career of this gallant regiment, and of the hardships and privations it passed through; and yet no one has said it ever shrank from duty. The course of Maj. Carter was ever praiseworthy and commendable. He was brave and resolute, and showed great regard : for the welfare of his men, by whom he was highly es- teemed. After the close of the war, Maj. Carter returned to Bowling Green, and at once resumed the practice of the legal profession. In 1868, he was the Republican candidate for Congress, making the race against Senator Voorhees, by whom he was defeated by only 128 votes. Two years later, Mr. Voorhees carried the district against Hon. Moses F. Dunn by over 1,400 majority. In 1868, Maj. Carter formed a law partnership with Hon. Silas D. Coffey, which continued till March, 1881. In May, 1877, the firm of Carter & Coffey moved to Brazil, now the county seat of Clay County, where they have since been located. In politics, Maj. Carter is a zealous Republican. In 1878, he was placed at the head of the Republican county ticket for Representative to the Legislature, against his expressed wishes, but, the county being largely Democratic, of course he was defeated. June 16, 1869, he was married to Lucy E. Campbell, an amiable young lady, and daughter of John S. and Julia A. Campbell, of Bowling Green. The couple have two chil- dren, viz., Olive and Howard C). As an attorney, Maj. Carter takes rank with the most eminent lawyers of the State; as an advocate, he stands at the head of the Clay County bar; as a public speaker, he has few, if any, who have more distinguished themselves on the stump. He is a gentleman of high personal honor and integrity, and as a result has the confidence and esteem of all who know him. April 5. 1883, he was appointed and commissioned by President Arthur Collector of Internal Revenue for the Seventh District of Indiana, vice Hon. Delos W. Min-

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shall, resigned, his principal competitor being Capt. J. B. Hager, of Terre Haute. Maj. Carter qualified by filing a bond in the sum of $100,- 000 as Collector, and $10,000 as Disbursing Agent, which last named position was conferred upon him by the Secretary of the Treasury. He entered upon his duties May 1, 1883. To give an idea of the responsi- bilities attaching to the office, it is remarked that the Collector had un- der his supervision fifteen deputies, clerks, gaugers and storekeepers, and collected revenue at the rate of more than $1, 500,000 annually. Soon after he assumed the duties of the office, the First and Seventh Districts were consolidated, Gen. J. C. Veach retiring from the First, and Collector Carter taking charge of the new district, which is still known as the Seventh. August 1, 1883, he entered upon the duties of Collector of the new district, which is composed of thirty-three counties, and yields an annual revenue of nearly $2,000,000. About thirty employes are un- der his charge, and no fears are entertained that the public money will not be faithfully collected and accounted for. During his service in the army, Maj. Carter, like most other soldiers, passed through some hardships, and had many narrow escapes. At the battle of Pulaski, Tenn., he had his horse shot under him; in the winter of 1863-64, while conducting a reconnoissance, in East Tennessee, the Major's command suddenly encountered a large force of the enemy's cavalry, and, while making a personal investigation as to their position and numbers, he was fired upon by an invisible portion of the rebel command, who were not more than forty yards distant; yet he escaped without a scratch. We have not space in which to record all the events in the life and times of this remarkable man, but enough is given to demonstrate the fact that he is one of the representative, and one of the most distinguished citizens of Clay County, Ind.

JAMES T. CASTEEL was born in Madison County, Ind., on Sep- tember 2, 1845, of parents Franklin and Martha A. (Dunlavy) Casteel, of Spanish and German extraction, great grandfather Dunlavey hav- ing been banished from Spain on account of orthodox faith. Franklin Casteel was a native of Ohio, his wife of Kentucky. He was married in October, 1844, in Madison County, Ind. James was reared on a farm, and his facilities for an education were rather meager. On the breaking- out of the war, he enlisted in Company I, Sixty-seventh Indiana, the first battle he participated in being that of Munfordsville, Ky .; thence the march to and siege of Vicksburg. On May 18, 1865, he returned home and engaged in saw- milling and speculating, and in 1874, he and his brother opened on his father's farm a coal mine, which proved a success. In the same year, he engaged in the mercantile business at Benwood, and continued in this business until he received from the Democratic County Convention the nomination for the office of County Auditor. Up to this time he had kept up his general speculation, but, closing out his business in the autumn of 1878, he again entered the campaign with his usual de- termination to succeed, and was elected by a reasonable majority, filling the office with such credit to himself and satisfaction to his constituents that, in 1882, he was re-elected to the same position, which office he is now filling. In politics, he is a zealous Democrat. In 1872, he was elected Justice of the Peace, which office he was holding when elected County Auditor. On September 3, 1866, he was married to Miss O. J. Taylor, daughter of Giles and Elizabeth Taylor, of Clay County. They have had five children, viz., Minnie, Emma, Weby, Frank and Bence,

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all of whom are living. Mr. Casteel is a member of the Masonic frater- nity and of the Knights of Honor.

SILAS D. COFFEY was born on a farm in Owen County, Ind., on February 23, 1839. His parents were Hodge R. and Hannah Coffey, the former a native of Tennessee, and the latter of North Carolina. Our subject's early education was acquired through the medium of the com- mon schools of that day, until, in the year 1860, he entered the State University at Bloomington, where he remained until the breaking-out of the late rebellion, when he enlisted, first in the three months' service, and then for a year. When President Lincoln issued his 75,000 call, his regiment, the Fourteenth Indiana Infantry, responded, and was mustered in for three years, or during the war. He remained on active duty un- til June, 1863, when he was transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps, serving with it until the term of his enlistment expired the next year. The Fourteenth Indiana Infantry won an enviable reputation in the field, and of its number none were more deserving than Mr. Coffey. When he reached home, he determined to enter into the practice of the law, and for that purpose formed a partnership with Allen T. Rose, a prominent and influential member of the bar at Bowling Green. In the autumn of 1868, this connection was dissolved by mutual consent, and another one formed with Maj. W. W. Carter, which continued until after Mr. Coffey was appointed Judge of the Circuit Court. In 1866, he was the candidate on the Republican ticket for Prosecuting Attorney for the district composed of the counties of Owen, Greene, Clay and Putnam, Ind., making the race against Hon. John C. Robinson. but the district being largely Democratic, he was of course defeated. In 1873, he was candidate for Circuit Judge in Clay and Putnam Counties, and the same reason operated to prevent his election, although running far in advance of his ticket. His opponent was Judge Solon Turman, of Greencastle, Ind. On March 25, 1881, Mr. Coffey was appointed by Gov. Porter to fill the unexpired term of Judge Turman. In June, 1882, he was nomi- nated, by acclamation, by the Republican Judicial Convention for the same position. The counties of Clay and Putnam being intensely Dem- ocratic, it was at the time supposed to be impossible to elect a Repub- lican nominee, but in the fall he was elected over the Democratic candi - date, James J. Smiley, by a majority of 655, carrying his own county (which gave a Democratic majority of 190 on the State ticket) by a ma- jority of 128. November 1, 1864, Judge Coffey married Miss Caroline L. Byles, daughter of William and Sarah Byles, of Baltimore, Md., and to this union have been born one son and three daughters. As an attor- ney, Judge Coffey has achieved an enviable reputation; as a gentleman, he is possessed of fine social qualities, is quiet and unobtrusive, and of undoubted integrity. He also stands high as a member of the Masonic fraternity.

HON. ISAAC M. COMPTON was born in Hamilton County, Ohio, March 30, 1832, and was the tenth child of Nathan and Jane (Hankins) Compton. The father was of English-German descent, the mother of French; he moved with his father to Clay County, Ind., in October, 1837. his father settling on a farm five miles northwest of the new city of Brazil, where he lived until his death, July 19, 1857. Mr. Compton remained on his father's farm, having only the advantages of the com- mon schools, until his eighteenth year, when he engaged in the occupa- tion of a carpenter, which he followed for a few years, when he entered

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a dry goods store, at Brazil, as clerk, where he remained until about the year 1860, when he opened, on his own account, a grocery store, which he successfully ran until 1865. August 4, 1862, he enlisted in the Seventy- eighth Indiana Infantry; was elected First Lieutenant of Company G, by his comrades, and sent with his company to Munfordsville, Ky., and on September 14, 1862, participated in the battle fought there, and on the 17th of said month, at the same place, after being engaged in battle for two days, was taken prisoner, paroled, and sent home. Having de- termined to adopt the law as his profession. after several years' close ap- plication, he was, in 1866, admitted to the bar as a practitioner, and formed a copartnership with Hon. Milton A. Osborne, of Greencastle, Ind. This partnership expiring in the year 1871, he formed a like re- lationship with S. W. Curtis, which partnership was of short duration, but from January 1, 1874, to May, 1877,'he was a partner of Charles E. Matson. In October, 1879, the present firm of McGregor & Compton was organized. In 1854, Mr. Compton was elected Assessor of Van Buren Township, and re-elected in the year 1856; at the election in April, 1857, he was elected Justice of the Peace of said township, and re-elected to the same office in the year 1861. In 1872, Mr. Compton received at the hands of the Democrats the unanimous nomination as their candidate for Representative to the State Legislature. That being the Greeley year, the Republican was the successful party, and he, with the balance of the Democratic ticket, was defeated. In 1876, he was again a candidate before the primary election for the same office, and was nominated, receiving a majority of 856, and was at the October elec- tion elected by 301 majority. In 1878, he was again nominated, receiving 999 majority at the primary, and was at the election in October re-elected by 320 majority; at the regular and special session in 1877 (the Legislature being Republican), he was a member of and served on the committees of organization of courts, rights and privileges, railroads, and was chair. man of the special committee on mines and mining, and at the regular and special sessions he was chairman of the committee on mines and min- ing, and served as a member on the following committees, viz .: On ju- diciary, railroads, on mileage and accounts, and on the joint committee on public buildings. At the session of 1877, he introduced House Bill No. 66, known as Compton's Ventilation Bill, an act providing for the safety of the coal miner, which passed the House, but was defeated in the Senate; and at the session of 1879, he introduced House Bill No. 7, known as Compton's Ventilation Bill, an act providing for pure air and protection for the miner in the bank, and providing for a lien on the works for their (the miners') pay, which was passed by the House without a dis- senting vote, and afterward passed by the Senate, and received the approval of the Governor and became a law. In 1880, his party again called him as their leader, and elected him Joint Senator for the district composed of the counties of Clay and Owen, giving him the nomination without opposition. In the contest which preceded the election, Mr. Compton acquitted himself as an able and sagacious politician, and, al- though compelled to battle against the combined forces of the Repub- lican and National parties, he was elected by 1,620 majority, carrying Owen County by 782, and his own county by 838 majority, while the re, mainder of the county ticket, except Representative, was defeated. His Senatorial record is brilliant, and full of important achievements, he having (the Senate being Republican at its regular and special sessions of

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1881) served on the following standing committees, viz .: Organization of courts, mines and mining, on lands and on federal relations. At that session he introduced a bill, which passed both Houses, amending the mining law so that the mine inspector was appointed by the Governor, and was paid a salary out of the State Treasury. At the session of 1883, he was chairman of the committee on the organization of courts, and on mines, mining and manufacturing, and served as a member on the following standing committees, viz .: Insurance, railroads and tem- perance. In 1859, Mr. Compton became a charter member of Brazil Lodge, No. 264, A. F. & A. M., also a charter member of Brazil Lodge, No. 215, I. O. O. F. In politics, he has always been a zealous Demo- crat, but never a bitter partisan. In 1883, Mr. Compton was selected chairman of the Democratic Central Committee, and by his energy and skillful management, the county was redeemed from the Republicans, the Democrats electing the full county ticket, and carrying the county on the State ticket by 190 majority, and on the Congressional by 268 majority. He was chairman of and presided over the Democratic Congressional Convention, held at Rockville, in 1883, that nominated the party's candidate for Congress. Mr. Compton was the first attorney for the town of Brazil; also the first attorney for the city of Brazil, when it was organized into a city government. On November 3, 1853, Mr. Compton was married to Mary A., daughter of Benjamin F. Elkin, of Bowling Green, Ind. Two children, living, were born to this union-Lizzie, the wife of J. B. Smead, and Charlie W. Mrs. Compton died on May 24, 1879. Mr. Compton was next married, on September 5, 1883, to Mrs. Mary E. Winn, a native of New York, but for several years a resident of this county. Mr. Compton has rendered much valuable service to his city, county and State; is a safe, shrewd and careful man in his busi- ness, and, as a citizen, esteemed by all who know him.

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Counties of Clay and Owen, Indiana : Historical and biographical., Part 32

Author: Blanchard, Charles, 1830-1903, ed Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Chicago : F.A. Battey & Co. Number of Pages: 982

Author: Blanchard, Charles, 1830-1903, ed
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago : F.A. Battey & Co.
Number of Pages: 982