USA > Indiana > Fayette County > History of Fayette County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions > Part 55
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114
Caleb B. Smith was born in Boston, April 16, 1808, and when six years of age located with his parents in Cincinnati. After completing the course of studies given in the University of Cincinnati he entered Miami Univer- sity at Oxford, Ohio, where he was graduated in 1827. He had read law while in college and continued his study during the summer of 1827, and in "the fall of that year located in Connersville, where he resumed his legal studies under the tutelage of Oliver H. Smith.
No better description of Caleb B. Smith has ever been written than that prepared by his mentor, Oliver H. Smith. It is here given as it appeared in his "Early Indiana Trials and Sketches."
One day I was sitting in my office at Connersville, 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 remained with me until he was admitted to practice, and commenced his professional, as well as his political, 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 successful before the court and jury.
Caleb B. Smith completed his studies under O. H. Smith and was admit- ted to the bar in 1828, although he was not yet of age. In 1831, being only
586
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
twenty-three years of age at the time, he made the race for the Legislature, but was defeated by a narrow margin. In June of the following year he associated himself with M. R. Hull in the establishment of a newspaper known as the Indiana Sentinel. He made a second race for the Legislature in 1833, was elected and was re-elected for the three following sessions, serving as speaker of the House in the sessions of 1835 and 1836. In 1840 he was elected to the Legislature for the fifth time and in that same year was chosen as one of the Presidential electors on the Harrison ticket.
Mr. Smith was first elected to Congress in 1843 and was re-elected in 1845 and again in 1847, serving six years in all. During his three terms in Congress he was the leader of the Indiana delegation and at the close of his last term was probably not only the most prominent man in national affairs from Indiana, but also one of the most prominent men who has ever repre- sented the state in either branch of Congress.
In the early fifties Caleb B. Smith became interested in railroads and in 1851 was made president of the Cincinnati & Chicago Railroad Com- pany, with headquarters at Cincinnati. The railroad proved a losing ven- ture and the company soon became bankrupt, Sinith himself losing a con- siderable portion of his fortune. In 1856 he was a presidential elector from Ohio on the Fremont ticket. He had been a resident of Cincinnati since 1851, and made his home in that city for eight years.
In 1859 Mr. Smith removed from Cincinnati to Indianapolis in order to devote all his time to his law practice. He was chairman of the Indiana delegation at the Republican national convention at Chicago in 1860 and was - no small factor in bringing about the nomination of Lincoln. Such were his services in the campaign of 1860 in behalf of Lincoln that the President recognized him by making him a member of his cabinet. He served as secretary of the interior from the beginning of the administration, March 4, 1861, until December 25, 1862, when he resigned to accept the judgeship of the United States court for the district of Indiana. He took this office on the first of the following year, and died about a year later, January 17, 1864. He died in the court building at Indianapolis as a result of a hemorrhage.
As an orator, Caleb B. Smith had few equals, particularly excelling in "stump" speaking. He had a singularly clear, sonorous and penetrating voice, which made it easy for him to address large crowds. His language was copious and musical, often striking and always clear. At his death President Lincoln sent a telegram to Indianapolis ordering that. the post-
587
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
office be draped in mourning for fourteen days in honor of him "as a pru- dent and loyal counselor and faithful and effective coadjutor of the admin- istration in an hour of public difficulty and peril."
Smith was married July 8, 1831, to Elizabeth B. Watton, of Conners- ville. They had several children, all of whom are now deceased. His widow survived him several years.
SAMUEL W. PARKER.
Samuel W. Parker, a member of Congress from 1851 to 1855 and a resident of Connersville from 1828 until his death in 1859, was born on September 9. 1805, in Watertown, New York. When ten years of age he removed with his family to Cincinnati, and three years later the family located at Oxford, where young Parker completed his education at Miami University, graduating at the head of his class in 1828.
Shortly after his graduation, Samuel W. Parker located in Conners- ville, and in November, 1828, opened a private school in the village, which he taught for several terms. He was principal of the county seminary when it opened, and maintained his connection with that institution until April, 1830, when he resigned to engage in newspaper work in the village. The newspaper chapter elsewhere in this volume sets forth his connection with the press at Connersville.
While teaching and later while engaged in newspaper work, Mr. Parker devoted his spare moments to the study of law in the office of O. H. Smith. He was admitted to the bar in August, 1831, and from that time until his death he was engaged in the active practice of his profession, with the exception of the time he spent in Congress. He served in both branches of the General Assembly of the state and also served by appointment as prose- cuting attorney. His first election to Congress was in 1850 and by re-elec- tion he served from March 4, 1851, to March 4, 1855. He could easily have been elected for the third term had he so chosen, but he declined to accept the renomination. As soon as he had left the halls of Congress he returned to his home in Connersville and from that time until his death divided his attention between the practice of law and the direction of the various rail- road interests with which he was identified. He was president of the Junction Railroad Company at the time of his death, February 1, 1859, and had for several years previous been president of the White Water Canal Company.
Parker was the leader of the Whig party in Indiana for twenty years and his services as a campaign speaker were in constant demand throughout
588
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
the country. He was married on July 16, 1834, to Susannah Watton, of Connersville, who survived him many years.
WILLIAM WATSON WICK.
William W. Wick, the first lawyer in Connersville and a resident of Fayette county until 1822, was born at Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania, Febru- ary 23, 1796. When he was four years of age he removed with his parents to the Western Reserve of Ohio, where he grew to manhood. During the two years following 1814 he taught school in Washington county, Pennsyl- vania, and in the spring of 1816 went to Cincinnati. There he taught school and began the study of medicine, but later decided to forsake the medical profession and engage in the practice of law. About 1818 he began the study of law at Lebanon, Ohio, and sometime during the following year was admitted to the bar in that state. Having been admitted to the bar, the next question was where to locate. He heard of the newly-organized county of Fayette in Indiana and finally decided to cast his lot with its county seat. Accordingly in December, 1819, he located in Connersville, the first lawyer to settle in the county. In December, 1820, he was chosen clerk of the Indiana House of Representatives and served through two sessions in that capacity. The Legislature elected him president judge of the fifth judicial circuit, February 7, 1822, and with his election to that office he severed his connection with Connersville forever, and located in Indianapolis.
There is probably not a man in Indiana who filled more official posi- tions than William W. Wick. The different official positions he held covered practically the whole period from 1822 to 1857, his official positions follow- ing: President judge, 1822-25; secretary of state, 1825-29; quartermaster general, 1826; prosecuting attorney, 1829-33; president judge, 1834-39; congress, 1839-41 and 1845-49; president and circuit judge, 1849-53; post- master of Indianapolis, 1853-57.
Wick was first married in 1821 to Laura Finch, a sister of Fabius M. Finch, one of Indiana's best lawyers. After the death of his first wife in 1832, Wick was married, in 1839, to Isabella Barbee, who died in 1875. He spent his declining years at the home of his daughter at Franklin, Indiana, where he died on May 19, 1868. .
JONATHAN M'CARTY.
Jonathan McCarty, one of the famous distinguished residents of Fay- ette county, although not born in the county, was nevertheless prominently
589
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
identified with its early history. He was born. in Virginia, August 3, 1795; removed with his parents to Franklin county, Indiana, in 1804, was reared in sight of Brookville, and lived in that county until Fayette county was organized in 1819. He served as deputy clerk of Franklin county under his brother, Enoch, spent his spare moments reading law and was eventually admitted to the bar. He early began to interest himself in politics, was elected to the Legislature from Franklin county and introduced the bill which provided for the organization of Fayette county. Upon the organization of the county on January 1, 1819, he removed to Connersville and was elected as the first clerk of the circuit court, serving also as recorder.
Mr. McCarty filled the office until 1828, when he resigned, having been notified of his impending appointment as receiver of the land office to be established at Ft. Wayne, Indiana. He took charge of the land office in 1829 and the following year made the race for Congress against John Test. In the course of the campaign he made the following statement in one of his speeches :
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 [this was before Franklin was organized in 1811], then in Franklin, then in Fayette, my present resi- dence. * * * * Having been reared and educated in the western country, accustomed to its policy and laws, I necessarily imbibed, at an early period, those republican principles so repeatedly and practically illustrated in the Western states-and have always been proud of the name and title of a Republican.
While McCarty called himself a Republican, it must be understood that it was not the party that it is today; in fact he was a follower of Jackson, really a Democrat. His opponent, John Test, was a National Republican. Though McCarty was defeated in his race for Congress in 1828, he was successful two years later, defeating his former competitor, Test, and Oliver H. Smith. In the course of the campaign, Samuel W. Parker, then editor of the Political Clarion at Connersville, and a violent fighter against McCarty, referred to the latter in the following manner ;
General McCarty for four or five years had particular notoriety as a heated parti- san of President Jackson. As a man he is possessed of natural abilities which rate considerable ahove mediocrity; abilities which could not but have rendered him truly and justly conspicuous. had they been properly disciplined and directed. From village to national polities, he is shrewd. calculating, artful and indefatigable, and in his demeanor he is affable, courteous and interesting.
This statement from a political adversary, as will be noticed, recognized the ability of the man. Another, and probably a truer estimate of the man,
590
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
is recorded by O. H. Smith in his "Early Indiana Trials and Sketches." In speaking of McCarty, Smith said :
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 [he served from 1831 to 1837] 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.
In 1848 or 1849 McCarty left Indiana and located in Keokuk, Iowa, for the practice of law, but had only fairly established himself in that city when his death occurred. He died in Keokuk in 1852 and his remains rest there.
MINOR MEEKER.
Minor Meeker, a farmer of Harrison township, was a man of unusual ability. Born in Orange county, New York, July 5, 1795, he was left an orphan at the age of two years, fought in the War of 1812 in a New York regiment, and then learned the tanner's trade in Steuben county, in his native state. In 1819 he started for the West in company with Minor Thomas and others, the party going down the Ohio river and stopping off at a point about five miles above Cincinnati. From that point they made their way overland to Fayette county, Indiana. Meeker settled in Connersville and at once engaged in the tanning business.
In January, of the following year, he married Rachel Thomas, the daughter of Minor Thomas, the leader of the party to this county. After his marriage he moved onto his father-in-law's farm and subsequently bought a farm in Harrison township. He built a log cabin on his farm, moved into it before it was completed, began clearing his land, and there on that farm he lived the remainder of his days. Before his death he was one of the largest landowners of the township.
Minor Meeker divided his attention between farming, tanning and shoe- and boot-making, distilling and the pork-packing business. He was also one of the directors in the White Water Canal Company and always took an active part in urging public improvements of all kinds. Successful as he was as a farmer and business man, it is his record as a public official which insures him a place in the hall of Fayette county's distinguished men. It is said of him that so popular was he in the county that he was never defeated for any office to which he aspired. He was first elected as repre- sentative to the Legislature in 1841, serving in the twenty-sixth and twenty- seventh sessions, and again in 1845, serving in the thirtieth and thirty-first
591
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
sessions. In 1852 he was elected to the state Senate and served in the thirty- seventh and thirty-eighth sessions. An examination of the House and Senate journals shows that he was a prominent figure in both houses of the Legislature, and active in shaping legislation.
Meeker died on May 10, 1865, and his widow died on March 1, 1885. They had two children, Marcella, born on October 23, 1823, and Chester C., July 27, 1828.
JAMES COTTINGHAM M'INTOSH.
James C. McIntosh, one of the leading lawyers of Connersville for many years, was born on January 13, 1827, in Connersville. His parents, Joshua and Nancy McIntosh, natives of Virginia and Maryland, respect- ively, settled in Connersville in 1824. The elder McIntosh was a local preacher in the Methodist church and for many years one of the associate judges of Fayette county. The son was educated in the schools of Conners- ville and then entered Asbury (now DePauw) University, at Greencastle, Indiana, and graduated at the head of his class in 1849, completing the reg- ular four-year course in three years.
For a short time after graduating Mr. McIntosh taught school in Lagrange, Indiana, but in 1850 he commenced the study of law, his pre- ceptor being Samuel W. Parker, of Connersville. In 1851 he was admitted to the bar, and from that date until his death, August 27, 1878, he devoted himself to the practice of his profession. He never cared to mingle in politics and frequently declined to make the race for office. In commenting on the life of this distinguished lawyer, a local biographer thus character- ized his life :
From the beginning he worked his way upward in his profession until he made a reputation as a lawyer surpassed by a very few. And be it noted that the public prominence he attained was as a lawyer-politics had nothing to do with it. He never asked for office; in fact, he refused to allow his name to be used in that connection, and while many of his associates in the state have left their names to be tossed about on the billows of politics, he quietly toiled on in his profession, leaving a work that will last as long as jurisprudence has a place in the state he loved.
His devotion to his legal studies and duties, however, had no effect in diminishing his religious interest, nor did it then, or ever, interfere in the slightest degree with his faithful performance of his church duties. Always calm and dignified, never demonstrative, his entire Christian life was a steady, persistent, elevated plea for the truth of Christian doctrines, and the purity and elevation of Christian character. He did not flash with the fitful and momentary glare of the brilliant meteor, but glowed with the steady light of the planet that keeps the track of its orbit.
592
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
James C. McIntosh was married April 28, 1851, to Elizabeth W. Mar- tindale, and at his death left his widow and five children.
COL. JAMES C. REA.
Col. James C. Rea, a veteran of the War of 1812, a resident of Fayette county from 1818 until his death in 1876, a successful farmer, school teacher, justice of peace for nearly a quarter of a century and holder of other public offices, was born in Rockbridge county, Virginia, June 16, 1789. He served in the War of 1812 with a company of Virginia militia, and in 1818 was appointed lieutenant of the Thirteenth Brigade, Thirteenth Regiment Vir- ginia Militia.
Colonel Rea's connection with Fayette county, Indiana, began in the summer of 1818, in which year he and his brother Daniel came to the county and settled in Harrison township. He took a prominent part in the militia of the county and before the system was abolished in 1846 he had reached the rank of colonel. He lived on the farm in Harrison township, where he first settled, until his death, September 25, 1876.
Colonel Rea was married, April 20, 1823, to Mary Stockdale. They were the parents of a large family of children, nine of whom became suc- cessful teachers in the county, a record which has never been approached during the whole history of the county. The names of the children follow : Elizabeth M., Hetty J., Rheuamy, John, Robert, James C., Joseph B., Nancy H., Sarah A., and India B. The mother of these children died on Novem- ber 10, 1846.
Colonel Rea was looked upon as one of the leaders in the county for half a century. He taught school for a number of years, even being found in the school room when he reached the age of seventy-eight years. He served on the board of tax commissioners in 1833, filled the office of justice of peace in his township from 1834 until 1857, and was appointed in 1851 to appraise the real estate of Waterloo, Harrison and Posey townships. He was a Jackson Democrat, an "old school" Presbyterian, and a man of firm and resolute character in every respect ; a fine type of the sterling pioneers of the county, who reared large families to lives of usefulness and honor, took an active part in the life of their respective communities, and in every way worked for the good of the county honored by their residence.
593
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
ABRAM B. CONWELL.
Abram B. Conwell, for years the most prominent merchant of Con- nersville, and identified with the history of the city from 1819 until 1886, was born in Lewiston, Delaware, August 15, 1796. He was apprenticed to a tanner at the age of fifteen and served an apprenticeship of five years. In 1818 he and his brother, James, left their native town for the West, and on arriving at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, James secured a position in a ship- yard, leaving Abram to continue his journey westward alone. He went on down the Ohio river and stopped in Kentucky, but a year later he left that state and came to Fayette county, Indiana, and located at Connersville, where he lived until the day of his death, November 1, 1886, being in his ninetieth year.
In the fall of 1818 three of the Conwell brothers, James, William and Isaac, made a prospecting trip throughout the Northwest looking for a suitable location. James, a Methodist preacher, located at Laurel, Franklin county ; William settled at Cambridge City, Wayne county ; Isaac chose Lib- erty, Union county : while Abram finally decided to cast his lot with Conners- ville. All of the brothers became successful merchants in their respective communities, Abram achieving the most pronounced financial success.
Having learned the trade of a tanner it was but natural that Conwell should start a tannery as soon as he got located in Connersville. He bought one acre from John Conner, the founder of the town, and proceeded to build a fine residence on the same, the building still being in an excellent state of preservation. He was married February 22, 1821, to Elizabeth Sparks, a daughter of Matthew Sparks, one of the earliest settlers of Franklin county. They were the parents of three children, Lafayette, who was associated with his father in business until his death; Anna K., who became the wife of William Merrell, a banker and merchant of Connersville, and Charles K., who died in 1876.
To tell the business career of Abram B. Conwell, extending as it did over three-quarters of a century, would transcend the limits of this article. He was financially interested in a large number of projects in the city and county, and nearly all of them were successful. Primarily he was a merch- ant-a store keeper, he called himself-and it was in trading that he made his greatest success. He gradually branched out into other lines of activity and such was his versatility that he was capable of handling his many diverse (38)
594
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
interests in a way to make them successful. He bought a mill in the village and later built a new one, installing the latest and most improved machinery. Still later he became interested in the pork-packing business and it is said that during some years he sold more than six hundred thousand dollars' worth of pork .. In the meantime he was buying up land in the county and at one time he owned about fifteen hundred acres. Thus he had four enter- prises in hand at the same time-his store, flourmill, pork-packing estab- lishment and finally his hundreds of acres of farming land.
When the question of completing the White Water canal through Con- nersville was being agitated in 1839 and 1840, Mr. Conwell became one of the leading promoters of the new company, which finally secured the right to complete the canal, and he was one of the heaviest stockholders. Likewise, when the proposition of building the present Cincinnati, Indianapolis & Western Railroad was broached, he took a prominent part in raising the money to build the branch, connecting Dayton and Rushville. He invested sixty thousand dollars in the project and got no other returns. except such as came indirectly through the improvement of the city.
Mr. Conwell was one of the charter members of the first Masonic lodge established in Connersville. In politics he was a life-long Democrat, but never during his long career would he consent to become a candidate for a public office. His life work was in the business world, and with an indom- itable will, ceaseless energy, unquestioned integrity and well-directed effort he built up a truly remarkable business for his day and generation. During all of his life he took a hearty interest in the welfare of the community and contributed generously of his means to all worthy causes. His life spanned four score and ten years and with his death in 1886 there passed away the greatest merchant Fayette county has ever produced.
FRANCIS M. ROOTS.
Francis M. Roots, for many years one of the leading business men of Connersville, was born at Oxford, Ohio, October 28, 1824. His parents, natives of Vermont, had located at that place in 1816, his father, Alanson Roots, at once establishing a woolen factory at Oxford. Alanson Roots' three elder sons assisted in the factory and in this way learned all the details of the business. Francis M. entered Miami University, located in Oxford, when he was sixteen years of age, and was graduated from the scientific course.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.