USA > Indiana > Fayette County > History of Fayette County, Indiana: containing a history of the townships, towns, villages, schools, churches, industries, etc.; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; biographies, etc., etc. > Part 17
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DISTINGUISHED DEAD.
OLIVER H. SMITH-JONATHAN MCCARTY-CALEB B. SMITH-SAMUEL W. PARKER-JAMES C. MCINTOSH.
" Ah! who can tell how hard it is to climb The steep where fame's proud temple sbines afar; Ah! who can tell how many a soul sublime Has felt the influence of malignant star, And waged with fortune an eternal war- Checked by the scoff of pride-by envy's frown, By poverty's unconquerable bar,
In life's lone vale, remote, has pined alone,
Theu dropt into the grave unpitied and unknown!"
TT is thought that a chapter devoted to the lives of deceased citizens, who were honored with high official positions, or reached eminence in their profes- sions, may with propriety be given in this part of the work. Sketches of the lives of other deceased citi- zens of equal worthiness, and perhaps prominence in their several fields, have been given in various other chapters throughout the work, as, for instance, New- ton Claypool, Daniel Hankins, George Frybarger, Joshua Harlan, and others among the early business men of Connersville; Abraham Van Vleet, Daniel Rench and others, of the press; Wilson Thompson, James Conwell and others, of the clergymen; Judge Reid, the Truslers and others, of the legal profession; Drs. Gayle, Moffitt, Mason and others, of the medical profession; John Conner, Thomas Simpson, Judges Helm and Webb, Jonathan John and many others of the pioneers in general, etc., etc., etc.
OLIVER H. SMITH.
Oliver H. Smith was the only resident of Fayette County who reached the high position of United States Senator. His place of birth and early life can not be more beautifully and impressively related than in his own language: "My grandparents on both sides were friends and associates of William Penn; crossed the Atlantic from England with him, and belonged to the same society. The steamer, as she runs up the Delaware (from Philadelphia) passes one of the most beautiful countries, on the Pennsylvania side, in the world, highly cultivated. On the Jersey side it is more wild and picturesque. On the Penn- sylvania side stands the beautiful city of Bristol. On the Jersey stand Burlington and Bordentown. Near the latter is seen in the deeply shaded grove the man- sion of the late ex-King, Joseph Bonaparte, as it rose from the ashes of his former splendid residence. The city of Trenton, the capital of New Jersey, stands
prominent on the right. The more humble Morris- ville covers the left bank at the falls of the Delaware, where the permanent arch-bridge unites the two cities.
" When but a mere youth, as I was approaching Morrisville in the dusk of the evening, I heard the cry of fire just as I reached the center of the town. I saw a man walking upon the top of a house, bucket in hand, without a hat, sprinkling water upon the roof. A gentleman in the crowd asked me if I knew who he was, and remarked, 'This is Gen. Moreau, of France.' The General came down after a short time, and I had a full view of him. I looked upon the hero of Hohenlinden at the time with much interest. He was short and thick, dark complexion, black hair, eyes and whiskers, stern countenance. He afterward fell by a cannon shot at the battle of Dresden in 1813, while fighting with the allies against the French Army under the command of Napoleon.
" At Trenton the tide ceases; the rocky shoals and rapid currents of the Delaware commence. The trav- eler leaves the steamer and takes the cars. Some twelve miles above the city of Trenton, the current of the river becomes still more rapid; the water dashes over Well's Falls; Smith's Island divides their chan- nel at the base. That island belonged to my grand- father, and descended to my father. Here I must stop and let the traveler pass on to look at the moun- tain scenery on the upper Delaware, as it winds its serpentine way north to the State of New York, where he finds his source. I have arrived at the place of my birth, on the 23d of October, in the year 1794. The beautiful Delaware, with its clear waters, rapid currents, floating rafts, fine shad and beautiful striped bass, stretches away in the distance from my father's farm, the Jersey hills rising one above another to the clouds on the east; on the west a beautiful ridge; on the north Bowman's Hill. Near the junction of the hills was found many years ago a few acres of level ground in the woods. The early settlers, my father among them, selected this spot for their schoolhouse. It was a most solitary location, only found by the schoolboys by their winding paths from their valley and mountain homes. The neighbors met, the ground was prepared, and the schoolhouse built.
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"The building was 20x26 feet of undressed mountain rock, one low story, four windows of 8x10 glass on each side, and two at each end, a continuous desk around the wall on three sides, with a corres- ponding bench for the scholars. When I first entered the schoolhouse, at the age of six years, in the year 1800-I distinctly remember the day-with my little dinner basket on my arm, the master was sitting at his desk on the right of the door, and a large bucket of water on the left. Our playing grounds were cleared smooth from surface rock. Our path led us to the top of Bowman's Hill, where we had a splendid view of the Delaware and surrounding country for many miles. I have often thought, in after years, that these views in my youth exercised a powerful influence over my mind. The same feelings that prompted me in my early life to break over the bounds of my valley home, pushed me on to look over the towering Alleghany into the beautiful valley of the Mississippi.
" The school-boys one evening roped a little intox- icated Irishman, who happened to be passing by. He got very angry and named the schoolhouse Lurgan, after a place of that name in Ireland, and from that day it went by no other name. I saw it when after an absence of twenty years in the West, I visited the home of my youth; I looked upon it with deep feel- ings, as my alma mater."
The parents of the distinguished Senator were Thomas and Lætitia Smith buried, the former at Wrightstown and the latter at Byberry.
At Lurgan our subject received about all the regular education he ever obtained. What he acquired afterward was under his own tuition.
In 1813, on the death of his father, he left home on foot with a few dollars in his pocket, to see the world. "I had seen very little of the world; thirty miles was the furthest I had ever been from home. I longed to see beyond the river hills of the Delaware." He went by way of Morristown to New York, and "gazed up and down the city with astonishment and delight." Thence he went up the Hudson, and on reaching West Point he says: "This spot was conse- crated to my youthful mind; here waved the Nation's flag. I asked the Captain to stop and let me see Fort Putnam. He at once consented and we landed. I now stood on Revolutionary ground, my heart beat quick and joyous; I ran np Mount Independence, where stood old Fort Putnam, venerable in its ruins, stern monument of a sterner age; it had survived the assaults of tyranny, and the attempts of treason. I stood at the rock from which the chain was stretched across the narrow channel of the river in the time of the Revolution, to prevent the passage of the British vessels. While I stood upon old Fort Putnam, and
cast my eye far down the magestic river toward New York, the scenes of the Revolution, the treason of Arnold, the capture and execution of Andre, with a thousand associations, rushed upon me."
He returned home again, but whether he remained any length of time we do not know, but presume he did not, as he was employed in a cotton or woolen mill for some time in Pennsylvania before coming West. In the spring of 1817 he came to Indiana and first settled at Rising Sun, where he remained until the winter of 1818, then removed to Lawrenceburg, where it is believed he read law with Gen. Dill and was admitted to the bar at the March term of the Dearborn County Court, receiving his license to practice from the hand of Judge Miles C. Eggleston, who examined him in person. Says the Senator: "His remarks made a deep impression upon me. My means were exhausted, and it was a question of life and death with me." The Judge kindly remarked: " Mr. Smith, I will sign your license, but you are only prepared to commence the study; but don't be discouraged, but persevere in your studies, and you may yet stand high in your profession."
Young Smith directly after procuring his license re- moved to Versailles, in Ripley County, and there began his professional life. His first case was a trespass quare ctausum fregit-"as his Blackstone told him." A neighbor had bored another's sugar-tree without asking. Smith represented the plaintiff and secured a verdict of 12} cents. His fee was $2.50. In the spring of 1820 Mr. Smith left Versailles, removing to Connersville, where he made his first plunge into the heady current of pioneer life. He had been in Con- nersville but eighteen months when he was induced to run for the Legislature, and in August, 1822, he was elected. He served during the session of 1822- 23 and was the member by whom the name was given to Johnson County, which was named after Judge Johnson, of Indiana. Mr. Smith remarks, "It so hap- pened that it was the greenest Legislature ever con - vened in the State. The raw material was not so defective as the experience of the members. The session lasted six weeks and perhaps no Legislature ever met and adjourned in the State doing less harm."
Our subject was made Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary. Referring to his first effort in that body the Senator says, "All eyes were turned to me, as the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, suppos - ing, of course, that I knew all about it. The house was filled with a distinguished audience from all parts of the State, and several from Kentucky. I arose. It was my first effort in a Legislative capac- ity, and much was expected by the audience. ‘Mr. Speaker,' said I. These were my only words. I grew blind, and down I sank in my chair, almost uncon-
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scious, when Maj. Henry P. Thorton, who was our Clerk, a great wag, sprang from his desk, ran to where I was seated, and whispered in my ear, 'My dear sir, you must have studied your speech at home; you have made a powerful constitutional argument '"
In 1824 he was appointed Prosecuting Attorney of the Third Judicial Circuit by Gov. Hendricks, in which position he served two years, and distinguished him- self by the prosecution of some of the most noted cases in the criminal history of the State. The southern court was at Vevay and the northern at Fort Wayne, aud during the two years he served as Prosecutor there was not a single court held or a grand jury impaneled in his absence on the circuit. He became a candidate for Congress in 1826 and was elected by a majority of 1,500. His competi- tor, the Hon. John Test, was one of the first men of the State; had been on the court bench, was a fine lawyer, a good speaker and had repre- sented the district three full terms. Mr. Smith served during the sessions of 1827 and 1828, contem- poraueous with such men as Tristriam Burgess, John Randolph, Samuel C. Southard, McDuff and others.
It will be well to inform the reader that the first effort of Mr. Smith in Congress, though not flatteringly born, resulted in greater success than his first effort. in the General Assembly of the State. A bill appor- tioning $100,000 to the work of constructing the Cumberland road was before the House. Philip P. Barbour, of Virginia, one of the strongest men in the House, had made a long constitutional argument to prove that the General Government had no power to make appropriations to construct the work. His speech was able and its effect upon the favorite meas- ure of the Indiana delegation was greatly feared. " My colleagues were not disposed to speak; I had not spoken. I felt much reluctance to speaking, but duty seemed to require it. I got the floor for the next day. The Committee arose, and the House ad- journed. I was in for my first speech in Congress. I passed a sleepless night. I concluded to back out. By daylight I was up walking the pavement before my boarding house, when the newsboy handed me the National Intelligencer, wet from the press. I opened the paper, glanced over the Congressional proceed- ings, looked under the editorial head, when, Oh ! horror of horrors ! there it was, 'The Hon. Oliver H. Smith will address the Committee to-day in reply to the Hon. Philip P. Barbour on constitutional powers.' Here I was; there was no backing out without dis- grace. I could eat no breakfast. The hour arrived. The house was crowded. Mr. Barbour was seated before me. My friends were around me to give me courage. I grew more bold as I advanced, and never to this day did I feel when I closed a two hour's
speech that I had done myself more justice. The bill was passed by a large majority."
In the House Mr. Smith made no conspicuous mark, but earned and gained the reputation of a hard working, honest and sensible member. On the expiration of his term in the House he returned to the law, and continued in very active pursuit of his profession, till he was elected to the United States Senate in December, 1836, over Gov. Noble and Gov. Hendricks, his predecessors. He first entered the Senate during the executive session of March, 1837. He was made Chairman on the Committee on Public Lands in that body over R. I. Walker, then of Mis- sissippi. Here his habits of hard, constant labor shone conspicuously, no less unimpeachable integ- rity and sound judgment. "So thoroughly was his judgment trusted by his associates on the Committee, and his industry relied on to do all necessary work, that he became absolutely the whole Committee, and when a reference was made to it, it was expected of course that Mr. Smith would see all about it. He was publicly complimented by Mr. Clay for his services to the country in that position. During his term as Senator, we believe in 1838, he removed from Connersville to Indianapolis, where lie after- ward resided, practicing his profession steadily and successfully, until his disease compelled him to abandon all labor."
Mr. Smith, soon after the election of James B. Ray as Governor of the State, was offered a seat on the bench of the Supreme Court, "but having no judicial ambition, and not being willing to be laid on the bench at a salary of $700, I had the fortitude to resist the temptation." The Senator was the author of a work published in 1858, under the title of "Early Indiana Trials and Sketches."
His death occurred in Indianapolis, March 19, 1859, having been sick for nearly a year with a disease, the nature of which we believe was not clearly marked. The Indianapolis Journal of March 21, 1859, said: "There is not a corner of the State in which the melancholy announcement of the death of Hon. Oliver H. Smith which we make this morn- ing, will not wake feelings of deep and sincere sor- row. * * * He died as he lived, a firm and sin- cere Christian. No man since the lamented Mar- shall's death was more widely known or highly esteemed. His eminent public career, his great ser- vices to the cause of internal improvement, and his unspotted private life gave him a place in the pub- lic regard, that few have filled more worthily."
JONATHAN M' CARTY.
Among the number of families who settled in the vicinity of Brookville in the early part of this cen-
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HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY.
tury, from which sprang men of considerable note, was that of the McCarty name. Benjamin McCarty, with family, emigrated from Grainger County, Tenn., in about the year 1801 or 1802, and temporarily stopped on Dry Fork, in Ohio, and there awaited the preparation of the lands in what is now Franklin County, for market. He made the first entry in that county, and in 1804 removed thereto. He was made one of the first Judges of the county courts, under the Territorial Government. He is said to have been a man of herculean frame and of a strong mind. Enoch McCarty, a son, was a member of the first convention that formed the State constitution; of the Legislature repeatedly, and many years Clerk and Judge of the Franklin Circuit Court. Of him says Oliver H. Smith: "He was a cool, strong- minded man, of the very first standing in society, and contributed largely to the mass of mind that con- trolled early Indiana; cast all his influence on the side of morality and religion."
Gen. Jonathan McCarty, the subject of this sketch, was born in Virginia on the 3d of August, 1795. He was reared on his father's farm, which was in sight of the village of Brookville, and commanded a view of the rugged hills, beautiful and fertile valleys and rippling waters of the Whitewater, a country upon which had been poured out with a lavish hand of the beauties from nature's great store-honse. Impressive and grand is the scene. Here in the lit- tle log school house, that graced the hill-side and valleys of the neighboring settlements, was educated Gen. McCarty. In viewing the vicinity, the writer was impressed more than ever with the words of Web- ster and other statesmen. The former, on being asked where his youth was passed, in substance replied, "I lived in sight of the ocean." Others, in response to interrogatories concerning what was raised among the rock-covered hills and cliffs of portions of New England said, "Men." As we stood below the village on an evening in June, at a point taking in in full the grandeur of the scene under an air laden with the perfume of the wild roses, sweet clover and elders abounding on all sides, musing over the past, we asked ourself, Did not the Tests, the Hannas, the McCartys, the Nobles, the Wallaces, the Rays, the Eads, with numerous others, gather inspiration from these towering and forest-clad hills ?
Jonathan McCarty for a time assisted his brother Enoch in performing the duties of the Clerk's office, and at intervals read law, being, we believe, both his own tutor and perceptor, and in the course of time was licensed to practice law. He early became a poli- tician, was elected to the Legislature of Franklin County and procured the passage of the law laying off the county of Fayette. He then removed to the
new county, settling in the county town of Conners- ville. He was made the first Clerk of the Courts of the county and performed the duties of the several other county offices then devolving upon that officer. He served as Clerk of the Courts of the county until in 1828, and as such was the Recorder, Clerk to the Commissioners, etc. In 1829 he was appointed Re- ceiver of public moneys in the land office at Fort Wayne, and in 1830 removed his family from Con- nersville to that point.
In 1828 Gen. McCarty made the race for Con- gress, being a candidate on the Democratic ticket, his opponent being Judge John Test, of Brookville, a National Republican. The conflict resulted in the election of Judge Test by a triumphant majority. In an address delivered by the General during the canvass he made these observations: "I have resided for more than twenty-five years in the territorial limits of what now forms this Congressional District; first in the county of Dearborn, then in Franklin, then in Fayette, my present residence. *
* Hav- ing been reared and educated in the western country, accustomed to its policy and laws, I necessarily imbibed, at an early period, those Republican prin- ciples so repeatedly and practically illustrated in the Western States-and have always been proud of the name and title of a Republican." Referring to his views as regards measures of national policy, he says, "Upon the subject of internal improvements and a fair and adequate protection of American in- dustry and manufactures, about which so much has been said, and which has called forth the ablest talents of the Nation on both sides of these questions, it seems to me that there can be little or no division of sentiment in the Western States. All agree in the propriety of these measures and but few donbt the constitutional power of the Government upon these subjects. Should I be called by the suffrages of my fellow-citizens of this district, to represent them in the councils of the Nation, I shall support the principles of internal improvements and the pro- tection of American manufactures and industry."
In 1831 Gen. McCarty was elected to Congress from his district, defeating his former competitors, Judge Test, and Oliver H. Smith. The General was a supporter of the administration and the election terminated an unusually heated canvass. During the canvass Samuel W. Parker, who was then editing the Political Clarion, and who, it will be borne in mind, was opposed to the election of the General, thus alluded to him in that paper: "Gen. McCarty for four or five years had particular notoriety as a heated partisan of President Jackson. As a man he is pos- sessed of natural abilities which rate considerably above mediocrity, abilities which could not but have
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rendered him truly and justly conspicuous, had they been properly disciplined and directed. From village to national politics, he is shrewd, calculating, artful and indefatigable, and in his demeanors he is affable, courteous and interesting.
Gen. McCarty served his district in Congress from 1831 to 1837, and in 1848 or 1849 removed to Keokuk, Iowa, with the intention of there practicing his profession. He was twice married, the first time to Miss Desdemona Harrison, who died during their residence at Fort Wayne; and the second wife was Elizabeth Parsons. His death occurred at Keokuk, Iowa, where rest his remains, in about the year 1852.
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Oliver H. Smith, in his "Reminiscences," remarks of him, "He was one of the most talented men in the State. He was defective in education, but had great native powers; represented his district in Congress for several years with ability. As a stump speaker he was ardent and effective; his person was above the medium size; his head and face of fine mould; his voice strong and clear, and his actions good."
CALEB B. SMITH.
This distinguished man was born in the city of Boston, Mass., April 16, 1808, and at about the age six years his parents removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, in which city he grew up and there gathered most of the associations of his boyhood. At the age of fif- teen he entered the Cincinnati College, where he, for a period, pursued his studies, theu was sent to the more extended and celebrated institution of Miami University, at Oxford, Ohio. He entered the uni- versity in 1825 and remained until 1827. On leaving college he returned to Cincinnati, and there at once commenced reading law. In the fall of 1827 he removed to Connersville and there resumed the study of law under Oliver H. Smith, who thus alludes to the first introduction:
"One day I was sitting in my office at Conners- ville, when there entered a small youth about five feet, eight inches high, large head, thin brown hair, light blue eyes, high, capacious forehead, and good features, and introduced himself as Caleb B. Smith, of Cincinnati. He stated his business in a lisping tone. He had come to read law with me if I would receive him. I assented to his wishes, and he re- inained with me until he was admitted to practice, and commenced his professional, as well as his polit- ical, career at Connersville. He rose rapidly at the bar, was remarkably fluent, rapid and eloquent before a jury, never at a loss for ideas or words to express them; if he had a fault as an advocate, it was that he suffered his nature to press forward his ideas for utterance faster than the minds of the jurors were
prepared to receive them. Still, he was very suc- cessful before the court and jury."
He completed his law studies and began practice in the fall of 1828. Three years later, (1831) at the age of twenty-three, he made the race for Representa- tive from the county in the General Assembly, but was defeated. In June, 1832, he, in connection with Matthew R. Hull, established at Connersville a weekly newspaper styled the Indiana Sentinel, the first of its name. The paper was spirited and con- ducted with marked ability. It supported Henry Clay for President. In May, 1833, Mr. Smith with- drew from the paper and was that same year elected to the Legislature and re-elected in 1834. The great question of internal improvement was now agitating the minds of the country, and for the system young Smith took an active part; also for Gov. Noble, the champion of it. In 1835 he was sent to Washington by the Governor to obtain from the War Depart- ment an order detailing Col. Stansbury and a corps of engineers to survey the routes of some or all of the great projected lines of canals and railroads which it was in contemplation to construct, and determine their practicability. On returning to Connersville he was again elected to the Legislature, and in the following December was elected Speaker of the House on the first ballot.
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