USA > Indiana > Henry County > Hazzard's history of Henry county, Indiana, 1822-1906, Volume I > Part 68
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
In the chapter in this History, entitled "General Officers," there is published a full biographical sketch of Judge Martin L. Bundy, Major and Paymaster U. S. V. and Brevet Lieutenant Colonel U. S. V., and incidentally that of his family. To that sketch is attached biographical reference to his son, Omar Bundy, above named, and reference is thereto made for all biographical information necessary to be supplied in regard to Omar Bundy, whose complete record at the United States Military Academy and in the Regular Army, is above set forth.
LUTHER SCOTT WELBORN.
Luther Scott Welborn was appointed to the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, on the recommendation of Congressman Milton S. Robinson, entering the Academy, July 1, 1875, where he remained until June 13, 1879, when he was graduated sixteenth in a large class and promoted in the army to
SECOND LIEUTENANT, 5TH CAVALRY, JUNE 13, 1879.
Served : on Frontier duty at Fort D. A. Russell, Wyoming, September 30 to October 1, 1879-Ute Expedition, to March 21, 1880-Fort Laramie, Wyoming, and Scouting, to May 22, 1882-and Fort McKinney, Wyoming (leave of ab- sence, November 16, 1882, to March 13, 1883), to August 2, 1883 ; at the Military Academy as Assistant Professor of Mathematics, August 28, 1883, to October 2, 1884; on sick leave of absence, to April 27, 1885; on Frontier duty at Fort Reno, Indian Territory, to August 19, 1885,-Fort Supply, Indian Territory, to January 13, 1886; and on sick leave of absence, awaiting retirement,
( FIRST LIEUTENANT, 5TH CAVALRY, APRIL 21, 1887).
Retired from active service, for disability in the line of duty, April 17, 1891.
Residence, Knightstown, Indiana.
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HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
The Welborn family was among the early immigrants who came to Indiana from North Carolina. Joshua Welborn, the head of the family, was born in Guil- ford County, North Carolina, July 6, 1800. Phoebe (Healey) Welborn, his wife, was also a native of the same county, where she was born June 6, 1802. She was the sister of Jesse H. Healey, the first sheriff of Henry County. The Healeys came first to Indiana in 1818, settling in Wayne County, near Richmond. In the Spring of 1821, before the organization of the County of Henry, they settled near the present townsite of New Castle. Jesse H. Healey took an active part in the organization of the county and became the first sheriff as above noted.
Owing to the favorable reports sent by Jesse to his sister in North Carolina, as to the opportunities afforded by the new county, and to their desire to escape from the environments of slavery, Joshua Welborn and his wife and two chil- dren came to Richmond in September, 1822, and in the Spring of 1823 settled in Henry County, first near the present town of New Castle and afterwards, in the southwestern part of the county, where the family has ever since played an important part.
Joshua and Phoebe (Healey) Welborn were married September 22, 1818. and were the parents of twelve children, namely: Jesse, Peter C., William J., Joel, Oliver H., Shelby R., Marion E., Martin Van Buren, Irene Ellen, Joshua T. C., Amanda and Henry C. The two oldest children were born in North Carolina but all of the others are natives of Henry County. Joshua Welborn died November 23, 1878, and Phoebe (Healey) Welborn, his wife, died October 18, 1886, and both lie buried in the Old Cemetery, at Knightstown. The only survivors of this numerous family are Jesse, who is now living in Anderson, Indiana, at the advanced age of more than ninety years, and Joshua T. C. Welborn.
Joshua T. C. Welborn was a soldier of the Civil War in Company F. 11th Indiana Infantry and in Company F, 84th Indiana Infantry, reaching the rank of Captain in the latter. Shelby R. Welborn and Henry C. Welborn were also soldiers of the Civil War, the former in Company B. 42nd Indiana Infantry, and the latter in Company A, 139th Indiana Infantry. The military services of each of. the above named are fully set forth in their respective regiments, as published in this History.
Peter Clinard Welborn, the second son, born in Guilford County, North Carolina, December II, 1821, and brought to Henry County by his parents, when about a year old, was the father of Luther Scott Welborn. In after life, he became a man of affairs and an important factor in business at Knightstown and vicinity, as a farmer, stock raiser and general trader. He died April 10, 1896. and is buried in Glencove Cemetery, near Knightstown.
On February 20, 1845, he was united in marriage with Jane Eliza, daughter of Jesse and Anna Scott, by the Reverend William Lynn. The Scott family came from Rockingham County, Virginia, and were early settlers in the northern part of Rush County, Indiana, living on the south side of the State Road, one mile south of the present town of Dunreith. Peter Clinard and Jane Eliza (Scott) Welborn were the parents of the following named children: Mary Frances, now Mrs. J. Lee Furgason, of Knightstown; William Clements ; Jessie
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Ann, now widow of Professor Charles Hewitt, of Knightstown; Augusta. Virginia, now Mrs. Alpheus O. Morris, of Knightstown; Luther Scott; Nannie Narcissa, now Mrs. William L. Manson, of Boston, Massachusetts; and Charles Eugene, now of Kansas City, Missouri.
Luther Scott Welborn was born in Spiceland, Henry County, Indiana, November 14, 1856, and was appointed a cadet at the United States Military Academy, as above stated. On October 22, 1903, he was united in marriage with Luna Belle Confare, daughter of Ephraim and Angelina Confare, of Indianapolis, at the residence of the bride's parents, by the Reverend Lewis Brown. Ephraim Confare was a Henry County soldier in the Civil War, who attained the rank of Captain of Artillery. His military service is fully set out in con- nection with the Second Indiana Battery of Light Artillery, published elsewhere in this History.
THE UNITED STATES NAVAL ACADEMY.
Prior to 1845 the training of boys for officers of the line in the United States Navy was practical rather than theoretical. Midshipmen, many of them of tender age, were appointed from civil life and sent to sea, usually in groups on board of the larger ships. Some facilities for study and mental improvement were afforded, but stress was laid upon knowledge of seamanship in its various forms, from sailing a frigate down to the insignificant feat of splicing a ropeyarn.
In the year above named the "Naval School" was established at Annapolis, Maryland, on land occupied by Fort Severn, where students were admitted as midshipmen or acting midshipmen, each according to the term of his previous service. The length of the course of study was five years in the beginning, the first and fifth at the school, the intervening three at sea, but it was changed from time to time, apparently in an experimental way, until March 3, 1873, when it was fixed by law at six years, four at the Academy, two at sea, and has so continued .. Likewise, the age limit of admission, at first between "fourteen and eighteen" years, was changed in 1889 to "fifteen and twenty," and in January, 1904, to "six- teen and twenty" years. The official title of the students has also run the gamut of changes-Acting Midshipman, Cadet Midshipman, Naval Cadet and finally, again in 1902, it was fixed at Midshipman.
In 1849 the name of the institution was changed from "Naval School" to "United States Naval Academy," the corps of instructors was enlarged, the course of study extended and a system of separate departments adopted, to be fol- lowed a year later by other changes and extensions, as recommended by the board of examiners, inaugurating a system which has been continued, with some slight modifications, to the present time.
In the beginning candidates for admission to the Naval Academy were named by the Senators, Representatives and Delegates, one for each. The increase of Congressional representation, due to the admission of new States and the growth of population, aided by the decadent condition into which the Navy was permitted to fall after the Civil War, resulted in a surplus of officers of the line, and various means were resorted to to dispose of the graduates from the Academy. .
The halcyon days of the navies of the world were when wind was the-
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motive power and the handling of a ship under sail the criterion of the ac- complished officer. The introduction of steam as an auxiliary force was looked upon with contempt by old officers of the line, but. it was not to be frowned down, and won out, so that, today, no man-of-war is fitted for sailing, but all are mere fighting machines. - This transformation has brought about a material change in the personnel of the Navy, and has helped to solve the problem of over- production at the Academy.
In 1866, 1871, 1872 and 1873 classes of cadet engineers were admitted to the Academy and graduated at the end of a two-year course. A class admitted in 1874 was given a four-year course. By an act of Congress approved August 5, 1882, it was provided that from those cadets completing the six-year course. appointments should be made each year to fill vacancies in the lower grades in the Line, Engineer and Marine Corps, and the surplus of graduates be given one year's sea pay and honorably discharged. The Act of Congress, approved March 2, 1889, provided for a division of the cadets then commencing their fourth year into two divisions, one for the Line and Marine Corps, the other for the Engineer Corps, and directed a course of study fitted to each. In 1899 the Engineer Corps was transferred to the Line, and thus ended a long and bitter fight for recognition by the Engineer Corps.
Meantime the rapid growth of the Navy made apparent the need of more officers. In 1900 the appointment of cadets every four years instead of every six was authorized ; in 1902 an Act of Congress provided. in addition to the naval cadets already authorized. that the President should appoint five midshipmen (the title being changed by the same act) and two from each State, upon the recommendation of the Senators. Again in 1903 the law was amended to permit the appointment of two midshipmen by each Senator, Representative and Dele- gate in Congress, two from the District of Columbia, and five each year at large. to continue in force until June 30. 1913. The same act provided for the ap- pointment of one midshipman from Porto Rico.
In May, 1861, the Academy was moved to Newport, Rhode Island, where the midshipmen were quartered in the Atlantic House and on board the frigates "Constitution" and "Santee," moored alongside Goat Island in the harbor. It was taken back to Annapolis in the Summer of 1865. where it has since remained.
Until 1898 most of the buildings of the Academy were very old, many of them dating back to the early part of the nineteenth century, and the accom- modations were inadequate and unsuitable. The Spanish War forced attention to the needs of the institution upon Congress and a liberal plan of rebuilding the Academy was adopted. An expenditure of $8,000,000 was authorized, and the result will be the production of the finest naval institution of learning in the world.
The course of study and instruction is very much more elaborate and ad- vanced than the term Academy would imply. It is as comprehensive as that of any university or college in the country, in fact approximates that of many post-graduate technical schools. The following representatives of Henry County families have been admitted as cadets to the Academy :
COURTLAND CUSHING CLEMENTS.
Courtland Cushing Clements was appointed Acting Midshipman, at the United States Naval Academy. Annapolis, Maryland, September 27. 1860, on the
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HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
recommendation of David Kilgore, then representing the Fifth District in Con- gress, of which district, Henry County was then a part. He remained at the Naval Academy, at Annapolis, Maryland, and at Newport, Rhode Island, until May, 1863, when he resigned on account of failing health and injury to his eyesight. While at the Academy, he stood very high in his classes and main- tained a high reputation for efficiency and discipline, in all matters pertaining to a naval career. It has always been a matter of regret in Henry County that young Clements' health did not permit him to finish his course at the Academy and graduate as an officer in the United States Navy, in which he would un- doubtedly have had a brilliant career.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
Courtland Cushing Clements, son of the late James Morris and Catharine (Ferris) Clements, was born at Blooming Grove, Franklin County, Indiana, March 26, 1843. His father was a native of Caroline County, Maryland, where he was born March 2, 1805. In 1812 he moved with his parents to Warren County, Ohio, where he resided until 1826, when he moved with his parents to Blooming Grove.
On December 2, 1830, James M. Clements was married to Hester Slaughter. To this union were born four children, all of whom died in infancy, except a daughter, Tamzen V., so named for her maternal grandmother. This lady afterwards came to Henry County with her parents, where she married Theodore Newman, of Richmond, Indiana. She was born September 25, 1831, and died March 7, 1904.
After the death of his first wife, Hester (Slaughter) Clements, James M. Clements was married in Franklin County, October 10, 1841, to Catharine Ferris, who was the sister of the late James S. Ferris and of Dr. Samuel Ferris, the latter, a well remembered physician of New Castle. This lady was born August 23, 1815, and died December 22, 1880. To this last union were born two sons, Courtland Cushing and Milton Ferris Clements.
In 1857 James M. Clements, with his wife, daughter and two sons, moved from Franklin County to New Castle, where he continued to reside until his death, which occurred June 29, 1880. Both himself and wife are buried in South Mound Cemetery, New Castle. He was a Civil Engineer by occupation and was held in such high esteem by the people of Henry County, that he was elected County Surveyor, for five consecutive terms, serving from November 6, 1860, to November 6, 1870.
Courtland Cushing Clements, after his resignation from the Naval Academy, returned to his home in New Castle, and not long afterwards went to Denver, Colorado Territory, where for two years he acted as Receiver of the United States Land Office, for that territory. He was then appointed, by President Andrew Johnson, Register of the United States Land Office, for the Territory of Utah, and moved to Salt Lake City. In August, 1869, President Grant appointed him Surveyor General of Utah Territory, which office he held for four years.
After finishing his official career in Utah, he remained for a time in the West. subsequently, however, returning East and locating, first at New Castle, then at Richmond, Indiana, and finally at Washington, District of Columbia, where he
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HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
now resides and where he is engaged in the practice of the law, giving especial attention to land and mining cases. His experience in Colorado and Utah gave him an intimate knowledge of that class of business and has secured him a highly successful and remunerative practice. Milton Ferris Clements; his only brother, had soon followed Mr. Clements to the West, living first in Colorado, then in Utah and now is a resident of the State of Washington.
At New Castle, Indiana, August 26, 1868, Courtland Cushing Clements was married to Ella, daughter of General William and Mrs. Rebecca Grose. The fruits of this union were Laura Rebecca, Courtland Cushing, junior, Ella Grose, Corinne C., George Chilcott, William Grose, Guy Clement and Catharine.
WILLIAM HENRY ELLIOTT.
William Henry Elliott, son of the late Judge Jehu T. and Hannah S. Elliott, was born at New Castle, Indiana, July 4, 1844. Elsewhere in this history is pub- lished a biographical sketch of his father and incidentally of his family, and to that reference is made for all the facts that should be supplied.
At the age of about sixteen years, he conceived a desire for a military career and sought appointment as a cadet to the United States Military Academy, at West Point, New York. It happened, however, that the Honorable David Kilgore, Representative in Congress from the Fifth District, was able to tender him the choice of appointment to either the Military or Naval Academy. He chose the latter, and on February 23, 1861, was appointed an Acting Midshipman in the United States Navy, by the Honorable Isaac Toucey, Secretary of the Navy, and was ordered to report at Annapolis, Maryland, for examination in the following Sep- tember.
In the meantime the Civil War came on, and as a matter of precaution the Naval Academy was temporarily removed to Newport, Rhode Island, where Mr. Elliott reported as directed, passed the required examinations and on September 27, 1861, entered upon his naval career as Acting Midshipman on board the historic frigate Constitution.
. During the Summers of the four years' course at the Academy, the several classes to which Mr. Elliott belonged, cruised in search of Confederate privateers and assisted in the blockade of the Confederate ports, serving in succession on board the frigates Macedonian and Santee, the sloops John Adams and Marion, the gunboats Winnipeg and Marblehead and the yacht America.
Mr. Elliott passed his final examinations and graduated as a Midshipman, September 25. 1865, and in the following December was ordered for duty on board the U. S. S. Rhode Island, flagship of the North Atlantic squadron, which vessel cruised through the West Indies and along the Atlantic coast as far north as Halifax, Nova Scotia.
On December 1, 1866, he was promoted to the grade of Ensign, was detached from the Rhode Island and ordered to the gunboat Huron, as ordnance and navigation officer, and sailed for Brazil. Soon after arrival at Rio de Janeiro in April, 1867, he was ordered ashore to apprehend deserters, and in defending himself against the attack of a desperado, lie was compelled to use his firearms and was charged with violation of the sovereignty of the country. He at once
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HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
surrendered himself to the authorities and demanded trial. He remained under . detention eight months, was twice tried for his life, each time being promptly acquitted by a jury, and in December, 1867, was set at liberty.
During the period of his incarceration, he was several times offered a free and unconditional pardon by the emperor, Dom Pedro II, but declined freedom upon any other terms than a verdict of innocence. The stand taken by Ensign Elliott, in support of his duty as an officer ordered to go armed, even in a foreign country, was commended by students of international law and his experience has been handed down to the officers of the Navy as an approved tradition.
Soon after his release and return to duty, Ensign Elliott was transferred to the U. S. S. Quinnebaug, which vessel, after a short stay at Montevideo, Uruguay, sailed to Capetown, South Africa, cruising thence up the west coast of the con- tinent in search of evidence of slave traffic. Returning to Rio de Janeiro in the Fall, Ensign Elliott found his commission as Master, of the date March 12, 1868, and orders to return to the States on the U. S. S. Shamokin, awaiting him.
Reaching home the latter part of December, he was immediately ordered to duty at the naval station, Mound City, Illinois, where he remained a year, except a short period of time in August, 1869, when he was engaged in taking a fleet of five monitors down the Mississippi River to New Orleans, in which service lie contracted a serious illness that hung to him for two years and caused a change in his life plans.
On March 26, 1869, Master Elliott was commissioned a Lieutenant by President Grant, and in the following December was ordered to duty on board the double turreted monitor Terror, at Boston; participated in the Peabody funeral pageant at Portland, Maine, and continued to serve until April 20, 1870, when, on account of the discouraging symptoms of the illness above referred to, he felt compelled to hearken to the importunities of his family and accordingly resigned his commission, but retained his affection for the Navy and his shipmates.
Returning to his home at New Castle and finally recovering his health, Mr. Elliott took up the study of the law and, upon being admitted to the bar, entered upon the practice of the profession in partnership with his father, Judge Jehu T. Elliott, and continued alone after the death of the latter in February, 1876, until. after a short experience as editor of the New Castle Courier, in 1877, he concluded that journalism best suited his taste and inclination, and arranged accordingly for the purchase of the Courier, to the publication of which he devoted his time and energies during the succeeding twenty one years.
When the war with Spain came on in 1898, Mr. Elliott, conceiving that the conflict would rest most heavily on the Navy, considered it his duty to do what he might to aid that branch of the service. He went to Washington and tendered his services to Secretary Long, and on May 1I, 1898, he was re-appointed a Lieutenant and ordered to join the collier Leonidas, as executive officer, at New York, and continued in that capacity throughout the war. The Leonidas followed the fleet to Key West, Santiago and Guantanamo Bay, and was about to sail with other vessels designated for the coast of Spain, when the war came to a close. On October 31, 1898, Lieutenant Elliott received his honorable discharge with the thanks of President Mckinley.
Lieutenant Elliott returned to his home from Cuba in ill health and suffered
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an attack of fever. He recovered, however, in time to represent Captain Harry Taylor, Commander of the Battleship Indiana, at the ceremony of presenting the battle flag of that ship and a rapid-fire gun, captured at Santiago, Cuba, to the State of Indiana.
It was Mr. Elliott's purpose to resume the management of the Courier, but before he had arranged to do so, he was offered an appointment in connection with the organization of the postal service of Porto Rico. He at first declined the honor, but went to Washington in response to a telegram from Senator Fairbanks, and upon arrival there was kindly, yet firmly informed by President Mckinley that he had been selected for that service and was expected to accept. He agreed to go for one year. He was thereupon appointed to the newly created position of Director General of Posts of Porto Rico, and was duly empowered, by order of the President, to establish and administer the Department of Posts, wholly independent of the Military Government then in existence.
Mr. Elliott landed at San Juan, Porto Rico, February 22, 1899, and on the following day assumed charge of the postal service and proceeded to organize that department. He found the surroundings so different from what he had anticipated, and his work so very interesting, that he concluded to remain longer than the year, and accordingly, in September following, moved his family to San Juan.
By operation of the law providing a civil government for Porto Rico, the Department of Posts lapsed on April 30, 1900. The effect of the new law was not discovered at Washington until April 26th, on which date Mr. Elliott was in- formed by cable that he should be prepared to turn over the affairs of his depart- ment on May Ist, and on that day, the reports and remittances of every one of the seventy six postoffices of the island were in without an error or the loss of one cent.
Of the postal service in Porto Rico, under the direction of Mr. Elliott, Post- master General Smith, in his annual report for 1900, was pleased to say: "The management of the service while thus conducted was efficient and the results as satisfactory as the means available would permit. A signal and acknowledged advance in the whole administration of the mails followed, and the integrity both of its direction and of its individual contact with the people was demonstrated under the most searching scrutiny, and when the act went into effect, May I. 1900, the island service, though distinct, had been so conformed to our methods that it merged into our system without disturbance or embarrassment."
Mr. Elliott proceeded to make preparations to return to his home in New Castle, but one day he received a cablegram from Senator Fairbanks, informing him that the President had determined to appoint him Commissioner of the Interior for Porto Rico. Conceiving that whoever accepted such a position, at that formative period in the affairs of the island, should do so with the intention cf serving a full term of four years, he hesitated, but finally accepted with that determination in mind.
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