USA > Indiana > Carroll County > History of Carroll County, Indiana : With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 51
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258
HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
convalescence after his wound at Stone River, was with the regi- ment, a private in the ranks, from first to last, in all its marches and battles, and no regiment from Indiana encountered harder service or made a better record than the Eighty-sixth.
Mr. Lytle returned to Battle Ground and engaged in the drug business. He remained there until Jannary 15. 1868. when. having sold his business at Battle Ground. he came to Delphi and re-entered the drng business, forming a partnership with Mr. Jakes, the style of the firm being Jakes & Lytle. The firm was highly successful in business, and rapidly enlarged their stock and patronage. In 1875. Mr. Jakes retired from the firm. and the business was continued by Mr. Lytle. During the year 1878. he. in company with his brother. started a stave and cooperage factory under the name and style of the Lytle Manu- facturing Company. A few months later. the company aban- doned this line of manufacturing. and substituted that of spokes. hubs, plow beams, etc. This line of business is still pursued. Changes have taken place in the business associates, but Mr. Lytle, the leading figure of the company, has remained. and un- der his management the industry has rapidly developed. so that at present it ranks with the best of its line in the West. In building up this industrial establishment, he has manifested an interininable energy and the possession of great executive ability. In 1880. the manufacturing department demanding so much of his attention. he disposed of an interest in the drug business to Dr. A. A. Wells. of Stockwell.
Mr. Lytle was married. September 23. 1869, to Miss Emma E. Casad. of Crawfordsville.
He is an active member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. holding membership in Carroll Lodge. No. 174, and Delphi Encampment. No. 127. He was also a charter member of Boothroyd Post. G. A. R .. of this eity.
GEN. ROBERT H. MILROY.
One among the earliest and most prominent of the pioneers of the territory ont of which Carroll County was organized was Gen. Samuel Milroy (father of Gen. R. H. Milroy), who was born August 14. 1780. in Kishakoquillas Valley. Mifflin County. Penn. His grandfather. John McElroy, the Earl of Annandale. in Scotland, and a lineal descendant of Robert Bruce. was pro. scribed for supporting the cause of Charles Stuart in the attempted revolution in 1744. fled with his young wife to Ireland, and. changing his name to Milroy. after a few years emigrated to the American colonies, and. settling near Carlisle, Penn .. became a prosperous farmer. He had a family of two sons and three daughters, and afterward was. with his eldest son. killed by the Indians. Henry. the surviving son, married and settled in Mifflin County. and had a family of four boys and two girls. Gen. Sam- uel Milroy (for a more extended account of whose life. political prominence and social virtues we respectfully refer the reader to Dr. J. H. Stewart's " Recollections of Carroll County ") was the third son of Henry Milroy. Samuel Milroy. having purchased a tract of land in Kentucky in 1809, was married the following year to Miss Martha Houston. a relative of Gen. Sam Houston. and one of a family of eleven children of a widow, who had moved to Kentucky at an early day and settled in Nelson County. Martha Houston had nine brothers. each of whom, when grown. was over six feet high. To Samuel Milroy and Martha (Houston) Milroy were born seven sons and three daughters.
Gen. Robert H. Milroy, the eldest son, was born June 11,
1816. in Washington County. Ind., near the city of Salem. In 1826. with his father's family. he came to Carroll County.
After obtaining an elementary education in the meager coun- try schools of those early days. Gen. Milroy earnestly entreated his father to be allowed a collegiate training, offering to sur- render his claim on the paternal estate therefor. but to no avail. Gen. Samuel Milroy having an aversion for "college npstarts." as he termed college graduates. and believing iu self-made men. Young Robert. however, determining upon an education. unas- sisted by his father if imust be, and making use of his father's excellent library nntil twenty-four years of age, when. in 1840. on a visit to relatives in Pennsylvania. he continued his way to Vermont, and, entering the Norwich Military University. he was graduated from that institution in 1843. being Valedictorian of his class, and taking the degrees of Master of Arts. Master of Civil Engineering and Master of Military Science. In 1850. he received a diploma from the law school at Bloomington. Ind .. taking the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He had. indeed. begun the study of law in 1844, but. his inclinations for a military life leading him, in 1845. to visit Texas, he took the oath of allegiance and became a citizen of the young republic. Called home soon after by the death of his father. he remained to settle his father's estate, and, by the entreaties of his mother. abandoning a return to Texas, he resumed the study of law once more, only to relin- qnish it again to enter the Mexican war as a Captain in the First Indiana Regiment. Returning from the Mexican war, and. as mentioned before, graduating at the Indiana University Law School in 1850. two years later. in 1852. he was commissioned by the Governor as President Judge of the Eighth Judicial Dis- trict of Indiana. In May. 1854. he located in Rensselaer. Jasper Co., Ind., and enjoyed a successful law practice until the begin- ning of the war of the rebellion. After the war. he returned to Delphi. Carroll County. and opened a law office. with Judge John H. Gould as a partner. In 1873. he moved to Olympia. Washington Territory. where he still resides.
On the 17th of May. 1849. he was married to Miss Mary J. Armitage. a daughter of Valerins Armitage. a large contractor. at the time of his death (1838), in the construction of the Wa- bash & Eric Canal. Seven children were born of this union, only three of whom are living.
Gen. Milroy received his first military commission June 3. 1846. as Captain of the " Carroll Horse Guards." a militia com- pany. A few days later. he raised a company, which he took into the Mexican war. January 15. 1861. he was commissioned as Aid-de-Camp to Gov. Henry S. Lane. with the rank of Colonel. Gen. Milroy was a thoughtful student of history. and clearly foresaw the logic of events long before the war. but his pro- dictions were not believed. So firmly impressed was he that war was imminent that, on the 7th of February. 1861. he opened a muster-roll in his law office at Rensselaer, and issned a call for troops. With all his earnest appeals. up to the fall of Fort Sumter, he had succeeded in getting but two recruits Gideon C. Moody. afterward Captain and a member of Gen. Thomas' staff: and Albert Guthridge, afterward Captain. While it was still dark on the morning of receiving the news of the fall of Fort Sumter. with a martial band and by ringing the court honse bell. he aroused and assembled the citizens of Rensselaer, and filled up his muster roll before breakfast. and reported the same day to Gov. Morton at Indianapolis. He was commissioned a Cap- tain of the "Iroquois Guards" April 16. 1861. and, ten days later, Colonel of Ninth Regiment Indiana Volunteers, and or-
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Maj. Gen. Robert H. Milroy
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DEER CREEK TOWNSHIP.
dered to West Virginia. By his personal bravery, endurance of hardships with his soldiers and solicitation for their comfort. he ROBERT MITCHELL. gained their confidence and won for himself am admiration closely akin to worship. In the presence of an enemy he was ready for fighting, and chafed under the restraint imposed by superior officers in their tedious preparation for battle. He opened the battk at Laurel Hill. in which the enemy was completely routed. in direct violation of orders. He stood the brunt of the three. months' campaign in West Virginia, making but few reports. however, and, as a result, getting little credit for what he did in the histories of the war. February 6, 1862. he wa- commis sioned a Brigadier General, and, March 10, 1863. a Major Con- eral. ranking from November 20. 1862. He was never defeated but once when be hold full command, and that was at Win. chester, Va .. by Leo's forces, when on his raid into Pennsylvania. and through the treacherous conduet of Gens. Halleck and Schenck. ! County, where he remained until March. 1817. when he returned
The subject of this sketch was born in Ross County, Ohio. January 2, 1823: died January 3, 1878. His parents, who were okdl residents of Ohio, moved to Carroll County November 1. 1537. and located on the farm just north of Delphi yet owned by his widow. In his boyhood he was deprived of the edneational ad vantages enjoyed by the youth of the present day, but for this deficiency there was tople compensation in the possession of good judgment, interminable energy and an unyielding deter- mination to sneered in whatever was undertaken. March 15. IS43. at the age of twenty, he was united in marriage to Miss Sarah A. Shaw. Immediately after his marriage. he moved to what is now known as the Greennp farm. on Deer Creek Prairie. where he lived about two years. Thence he moved to Howard Cien. Milroy's war racord is that of a true soldier and a sie- cessful General. Had the same impartiality been shown hin as a volunteer officer that was apparent in the advancements and opportunities allowed to West Point graduates, he would have proven still more his natural military genins. His integrity and morality were unspotted. He was always anxious to be fighting. but was still more anxious that the war should end. While in the service, he had three horses shot under him one of them, a present from Jasper County. Ind., shot twice. As an evidence of the high esteem in which he was held by officers, soldiers and to the oldl homestead. In 1572. he was elected Sheriff of the county, and so faithfully and well did he perform the duties de. volved upon him that he was re-elected in 1874. At the expira- tion of his official relations to the county. he returned to his farm, where he spent the remainder of his days. For several year's prior to his death. he had been an active member of the firm of Hubbard. Harley & Co .. lime manufacturers, and also was a stockholder in the Delphi Lime Company. These inter ests, with those of his farm, proved lucrative, and he rapidly accumulated money. It was easier, however, for him to make citizens. he had three swords presented to him while in the service ! money than to save it, because of his practical acceptance of the
one. a handsome, gold-plated sword, by officers of his com- mand, at Winchester. Va. : the second. a thousand-dollar sword, with sash and belt, presented by the Twenty- fifth Ohio Regiment Volunteers, and inscribed with the battles in which this regiment participated while under his command: the third sword. presented by the loyal citizens of Shelbyville and Bedford County, Tonn. Gen. Milroy has quite a military appearance, standing six feet
two and a half inches in his stocking feet, and with a form as . charity. His heart ever heeded the appeals of the sorrowing. straight as an arrow. The war over and no more fighting to be done, he resigned from the service and resumed his law practice.
Gen. Milroy always heartily encouraged public enterprises. He was one of the original movers in the effort that has resulted in the Chicago & Indianapolis Air Line Railroad. The existence of the Olympia & Fenimo Railroad. in Washington Territory. is i dne to him.
There is something exceptionally high and noble in Gen. Milroy's character. To know him is to admire and love him. His fidelity to truth and right is of the most unflinching kind. As a citizen and official. he is singularly pure and conscientions. As a father and husband. he is devotedly attached to his family. If the honors and emoluments rendered to him for his services to his native land and to his fellow-men do not compensate him. the high esteem and regard in which he is held by all who know him should at least be a satisfaction to him and to his descendants.
doctrine that " it is better to give than to receive." He was a veritable " Man of Roses " among the poor, and scattered his bone- factions with an open hand. Perhaps no more fitting tribute to a noble manhood, such as he possessed. can be recited than the following, written by a friend at the time of his death: " He was the embodiment of all that is generous and honest, and it, indeed, he had a besetting fault. it was an unbridled spirit of the homeless and the poor, and his benefactions were scattered with generous hand. His charities were not on the highways of life, but along its dark and devions by-paths, museen of all save Him who searcheth the hearts of men." He was for many years a member of Carroll Lodge. No. 174. I. O. O. F ... and was also a miember of Carroll Encampment. No. 22.
He was a member of the Second Indiana Constitutional Con. vention in 1850. In 1867, he was elected by the General Is- HON. JAMES ODELL. sembly of Indiana a Trustee of the Wabash & Erie Canal. In Hon. James Odell was born in Wayne County, Ind., Septom- 1871. he was appointed Marshal of Wyoming Territory, but de- . ber 18, 1810. His father. James Odell, Sr., was born in the State of South Carolina March 10. 1765, and was married to Miss Sarah Martindale March 12. 1795. clined to accept, In 1872. he was appointed Superintendent of Indian Affairs of Washington Territory, and bold the office nutil it was abolished. in 1874. In ISTA, ho was appointed United He removed with his family to the State of Georgia in 1799. the State of Ohio, settling in the valley of the Little Miami. States Prosecuting Attorney for Washington Territory, but de. ' and, after one year's residence there (1800), again removed. to clined to accept. The position which he holds now that of In- dian Agent he received in 1875.
Again, in 1810. he removed his family to what has since be. come Wayne County. State of Indiana, and finally, in 1525, to the Wabash Valley, locating upon the farm now owned by John D. Wilson & Bros .. of Deer Creek Township. this county. Death robbed him of his companion May 20, 1526. and he departed this life April 17. 1815, at the home of his son-in-law. Isane Jnekson. also of Deer Creek Township.
He was among the first white settlers of Carroll County, en. tering the lands now owned by Charles Gros. Christian Gros. Jr .. Eleanor Jackson. Andrew Martin, a part of the Houry Lyon furmu.
260
HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
and a quarter-section in Cass County. His house was always open to the weary traveler. and noted for its gemine hospit- ality.
James Odell. the subject of this sketch, was a lad of fourteen years at the time his father came to this county. School privi- leges at that time being meager. he grew to young manhood. obtaining an elementary education as best he could by the per- usal of rude editions of school books. The art to "cipher" was acquired from Pike's Arithmetic. His industry and application thus helped him, while still a youth, to engage in teaching, and many of the remaining old citizens can bear witness to having been his pupils.
He was married. July 7. 1836. to Miss Sarah Hatfield, and they twain reared a family of six children. viz. : John C. (now an attorney at Delphi). Elisha. Cyrus. James D .. Sarah J. and Frank P .-- all of whom are yet living except Sarah J., who died in 1871. at the age of twenty-five years. His amiable companion departed this life in the city of Delphi. November 16. 1876.
In the main. his vocation has been that of a farmer. He early set to work to open up the large farm, two miles southeast of Delphi. upon which he has since resided. He has seen the dense forest give way before the pioneer axman, and has aided many neighbors to open up their homes. Some forty years since. he erected a saw-mill upon his farm, and. later. purchased from Gen. Milroy a quarter-section, including another saw-mill. both of which mills he operated successfully for several years. In 1850. while assisting to erect a bridge across Deer Creek. near Royster's farm. he fell a distance of twenty-two feet. inflicting injury to both his ankles. and from which he has never fully re- covered.
At the age of twenty-three. he was elected Sheriff of Carroll County, which position he held two years : filled the office of County Commissioner in 1844, 1845 and 1846. and again in 1853. In 1848. he was elected to the lower branch of the In- diana General Assembly, and. in 1858. to the State Senate. Ho was elected Clerk of Carroll Circuit Court in 1871. and re-elected in 1874. Thus having served the public so many years, he re- tired to his farm. there to spend the remainder of his life. He has often been chosen to act as guardian for orphan children. and as administrator for estates, having, perhaps, transacted more business of this nature than any other individual of the county.
His private life. too. has been very exemplary. Never in his life was he known to have uttered a profane word. never to have used tobacco in any form. and never to have drank a glass of in- toxicating liquor as a beverage. He never in his life sued a man on his own account. and was never sued.
He has been a successful farmer, at the same time acquiring an extensive acquaintance by his genial nature and by his many years of public life. Always a consistent, conservative Democrat in politics. yet his numerous personal friends. are irrespective of party.
Noted for his uniform kindness and sterling integrity. he en- joys the fullest confidence and esteem of the community. In the discharge of public trusts. he seems to have ever held in view the best interests to the greatest number. In fact, ever inculeating. by both precept and example. principles of high moral worth. ho will leave behind him an honorable name and a life worthy of enmlation. And now, having reached his three score and ten. he will erelong fold around him his mantle and go to his re- ward.
GEORGE W. PIGMAN.
The subject of this biographical sketch is the Clerk of Carroll County, and wears, in addition, the honors of being the first Au- ditor of Carroll County, having been elected to the latter office as early as 1841.
His father (Joshua Pigman) and mother (formerly Miss Nackey Penny were natives of the State of Maryland. whence they emi- grated. in the year 1806. to the then newly admitted State of Ohio. Here, in Clermont County, their son, George W. Pigman. was born. on the 31st day of August. 1811.
The subject of our review obtained his education in the rude commou schools peculiar to those early times, and at a later pe- riod. by a three years course of study at Angusta College, Ken- tucky.
Following then the preferences and inclinations of his boy- hood. he embarked upon the sea of mercantile life in Butler County. Ohio, in 1833. Three years later. in 1836. he removed to Delphi. Ind .. and here again began and continued. with vary- ing success. in his chosen line of business for upward of thirty years.
For a number of successive years after its incorporation. Mr. Pigman was chosen to the office of City Clerk of Delphi. and, in 1878. he was elected to the position of Clerk of Carroll County. Originally a Whig. since the formation of the Republican party he has been an active and patriotic Republican. In religion. he is a Methodist. this faith prevailing on both sides among his an- cestors almost as far back as the birth of that denomination. He is a member of the Delphi Lodge. No. 28. I. O. O. F .: also of Carroll Encampment. having. in the years of his membership. filled all the chairs of both orders.
On the 5th day of April. 1838. Mr. Pigman was married to Caroline S. Armstrong, in Ripley, Ohio, the result of this union being seven children -four boys and three girls. Miss Arm- strong was the danghter of William Armstrong, one of the four brothers who emigrated to America from Ireland at an early day and became successful merchants in Ohio and Kentucky. Though fairly within the shadows of half a century of married life. Mrs. Pigman, like her husband, enjoys the blessing of excellent health. and lives in the serenity of having been a faithful and affection- ate mother and a devoted wife ..
William A. Pigman, whose life, noble service in defense of his country, and death, are set forth in another portion of this history. was the eldest son of the subject of this sketch. George W. Pig- man. Jr. (third son), entered the United States Naval Academy in 1861, and was graduated in three years. He has been in the service of the United States since graduation, holding at present the rank of Lieutenant Commander. He is now connected with the United States steamer Wachusett. James C. Pigman, another son. is a merchant in La Fayette. Ind. Charles Pigman. the youngest son, resides in Delphi. and at present is acting in the capacity of Deputy Clerk of Carroll County. Of his three daughters, the eldest. Mary B. Pigman. is the wife of George B. Dewey. a com- mission merchant in Cincinnati. George served almost three years in the late war as a member of the Twenty-fourth Battery. Indiana Volunteers, having enlisted under Capt. J. N. Sims. The second daughter. Lillie. is the wife of Charles R. Pollard, a prominent and successful lawyer. Lucy E. is the wife of Will- iam A. Anderson, who is connected with the War Department in Washington. D. C.
As a citizen. Mr. Pigman is widely known and highly re-
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DEER CREEK TOWNSHIP.
spected. He has served in official capacity with credit to himself and with serapnlous tidelity to the interests of the people. His genial and indulgent disposition strikingly displays itself in an excessive fondness for children. Although past the allotted three- score years and ten, he is the picture of robust health. and, rip- ening into the sear and yellow leaf. seems to defy the advance of old age.
CAPT. WILLIAM A. PIGMAN.
A TRIBUTE FROM COL. JOHN H. GOULD, OF THE FORTY-SINTH INDIANA REGIMENT.
" The elements
So mix'd in him that Nature might stand up And say to all the world, ' This was a man! "
After life's labors are ended, then follows the impartial judg ment of history. But the biography of the early dead is always a melancholy one, for the brilliant promise of the future life of usefulness is gone, and the mournfnl record recalls the joys and hopes that lie buried together. In contemplating the record of the young life portrayed in these pages, by those who knew him best and loved him most. it seems almost incredible that fifteen years have come and gone since his untimely death, and that grief will not yet sleep. When those who knew his manly worth are gone from among the children of men. the tears they have shed will be forgotten, but the name and memory of the man they loved will live in a more endearing form than in the memory of perishing and perishable men.
William Armstrong Pigman was the eldest son of George W. and Caroline S. Pigman, and was born at Angusta. Ky .. on the 15th day of May, 1840. His childhood and early manhood were spent with his parents at Delphi. Ind. His childhood was happy and hopeînl, full of love and loveliness. In after years, when in the discharge of the serions duties of life as a soldier of the Re- public, he often spoke of his gentle mother, who had watched. and praved. and hoped, and smiled over the helplessness of his infancy. To him his home was a real paradise, and it remained to him a perpetual fountain of holy memories: and amid the dis- comforts of the camp. the toil of the weary march and the bloody terrors of the battle-field, these memories were with him. to gnide. to cheer and to sustain.
In April. 1861, Sumter was bombarded and the war of the re- bellion inaugurated. His heart was with his country's flag in that dark hour of the nation's peril, and he did not hesitate an instant in ranging himself on the side of the Constitution and the Union. Before, the sound of the enemy's guns had ceased. a company was organized at. Delphi, awaiting orders from Gov. Morton. It was immediately mustered into the service as Com- pany A of the Ninth Regiment of Indiana Volunteers, with Will iam A. Pigman as Second Lientenant. His regiment was the tirst that left the State for Virginia. leaving Indianapolis on the 20th of May. and reaching Grafton on the 1st of June. He was with his command and participated in the engagements at Phil ippi, Laurel Hill and Carrick's Ford. At the expiration of the term of service, the regiment returned to Indianapolis, and was discharged soon after.
It was now apparent that the struggle would be a protracted one, and, at the organization of the Forty-sixth Regimnont. at Logansport, on the 4th of October, 1861, he was commissioned First Lientenant of Company A of that regiment. The regiment contained three companies organized in Carroll County. The regiment soon marched to Kentucky, and, during the following winter, was on duty at Camp Wickliffe, Bardstown and Mul-
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