USA > Indiana > Fayette County > History of Fayette County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions > Part 56
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
When he was twenty-one years of age, Francis M. Roots and his brother,
595
. FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
Philander H., decided to come to Connersville and establish a woolen-mill. At that time (1845) the White Water canal was just being opened through the town and this fact, together with the opportunity of utilizing water power for their factory, offered such an attractive inducement to the two brothers that they decided to establish a large woolen-mill here.
The Roots brothers at once erected a five-story building, one hundred by forty feet, and when operated at full capacity, as they did during the Civil War period, employed at least one hundred men. This building was in constant operation from the time it was opened for manufacturing until it was destroyed by fire in 1875.
Before the woolen factory burned the Roots brothers had become inter- ested in another manufacturing enterprise of even greater magnitude. In 1860 they succeeded in getting patented what became known as Roots' rotary blower. This machine was awarded first premiumis at three inter- national expositions: Paris, 1867; Vienna, 1873; Philadelphia, 1875. It sold extensively not only in this country, but in Europe as well. By 1885 no fewer than five thousand had been sold in England alone, while as many more had been sold on the continent.
Francis M. Roots became interested in banking in Connersville in 1873. and was president of the First National Bank from 1879 until his death, October 25, 1889. An extended sketch of his life, which covers his business career in detail, is given in the biographical section of this volume.
LIEUT. SAMUEL J. SHIPLEY.
Samuel J. Shipley, a resident of Fayette county from 1819 until his death in 1897, a member of the first class to graduate from the United States Naval Academy, at Annapolis, a participant in the Civil War and one of the best beloved men of a past generation in the county, was born in Wilmington, Delaware, December 24, 1813, the son of Joseph and Mary H. (Test) Shipley. He came with his mother to Fayette county when he was six years of age, his father having died leaving his wife with four small children.
It was the childish ambition of Shipley to become a sailor, and when he was nineteen years of age Jonathan McCarty, then congressman from this district, secured an appointment for him as midshipman in the navy. This was before there was a naval academy and it was not until 1839 that Congress established such an institution, the first one being located at Phila- delphia. Shipley was enrolled as a student at the time of its inception and
596
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
when the academy was removed to Annapolis the following year, he became a member of the first class, graduating in the spring of 1840.
Shipley continued his career at sea year after year, being advanced to a lieutenancy in 1847 at the close of the Mexican War. At the opening of the Civil War he was stationed at Fortress Monroe as commander of the "Brandywine," but his health became impaired and he was compelled to retire from his command in 1863. He at once returned to his home in Fayette county and settled down on his farm in Harrison township, which he had purchased in 1837. There he continued to reside with his daughter until a few years before his death, when he moved to Connersville where he died on July 11, 1897.
Lieutenant Shipley was married on November 14, 1841, to Martha Holden, but his wife died two years later, leaving a daughter, Jennie, who is still living in Connersville.
LOUIS THEODORE MICHENER.
Louis T. Michener, attorney-general of Indiana from 1886 to 1890, was born near Connersville, Indiana, December 21, 1848, a son of William and Mary Michener. After receiving a common-school education he spent one year in Brookville College and then began the study of law with James C. McIntosh, at Connersville. He was admitted to the bar in 1871 and located in Brookville for the practice of his profession. The same year he was appointed deputy common pleas attorney for his district and served in that capacity for two years. In 1873 he moved to Winfield, Kansas, but a year later returned to Indiana and located at Shelbyville, where he formed a partnership with Thomas B. Adams. He continued to practice in Shelby- ville until he was elected attorney-general of Indiana, serving by re-election from 1886 to 1890. After retiring from the office he went to Washington, D. C., where he has been practicing several years.
Mr. Michener took an active part in politics in former years. He was a delegate to the Republican national convention at Chicago in 1884, and was political manager for Gen. Benjamin Harrison from 1884 to 1892. From 1884 to 1886 he was secretary of the Republican state committee of Indiana, and during 1889-90 was chairman of the state committee. He was married on May 30, 1872, to Mary E. Adams, of Brookville, Indiana.
CHAPTER XXII.
GLIMPSES. OF. FAYETTE COUNTY.
The most voluminous writer on early Fayette county history was Oliver H. Smith, who issued a volume entitled "Early Indiana Trials and Sketches," in 1858. While a considerable portion of his volume of more than six hun- dred pages is devoted to a discussion of lawyers and courts in the state, yet there are a large number of brief sketches pertaining particularly to Fayette county. It seems appropriate to present a few of these sketches of Fayette county to the readers of this history. Smith located in the county in 1820, the year after it was organized, and was in continuous residence there until he permanently located in Indianapolis in 1839.
Smith had a style peculiarly his own, and his pithy sketches abound in witty situations which he portrays in a most humorous manner. He had a vivid sense of the ridiculous, and, along with this, the ability to express his ideas in a picturesque style. All of the sketches which are found in this volume were first printed in the Indianapolis Journal, and were so well received by the public at large that he was induced to collect them and issue them in book form. A few of his sketches pertaining to Fayette county are here reproduced.
ARRIVAL IN CONNERSVILLE.
In the spring of 1820 I left Versailles, and settled in Connersville, in the beautiful White Water valley. John Conner, the proprietor. lived there at that time, and as he had been many years in his youth among the Indians, at their homes, Connersville was daily filled with his first forest friends. The only hotel was kept by my distinguished friend, Newton Claypool; the only attorney in the place was my friend, William W. Wick, who was soon after elected judge of the "new purchase circnit," including the seat of government. Court was in session when I arrived. The great case of Isaac Jones against Edward Harper was on trial.
When I arrived in Connersville in May of the year 1820, I stopped at the hotel of Newton Claypool. He was about my age. I had been licensed to practice in March before, and was looking for a location. My last dollar had escaped from the top of my pocket. Breakfast over, I met Mr. Claypool in the bar-room; as we met I remarked : "Look at me and see whether you will risk me for my board a year.""
"Who are you? Where did you come from? What is your trade, and how do you expect to pay for your board?"
"My name is Smith; I am from Lawrenceburg; I am a young lawyer, and I expect to pay yon from my practice."
"Rather a bad chance, but I will risk you."
598
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
That day my acquaintance with Mr. Claypool commenced, and I found him my friend in need, as well as in deed. An intimacy grew up between us, which has lasted thirty-seven years, withont the slightest interruption, and which I have no doubt will continue while we live. He never was a candidate for office that I did not support him, nor was I ever before the people 'or, the Legislature, that he was not my fast friend. Mr. Claypool represented the county of Fayette many years, in both branches of the General Assembly, with signal ability. He voted for me for United States Senator when I was elected. His greatest forte was in his practical knowledge applied to the subject by his strong common-sense. He was one of the most efficient men of the Legislature for many years. The boarding was paid, and in after years I had both the: honor and pleasure of receiving his son, Benjamin F., into my office, as a student.
A "POLITICAL PREACHER" IN A "FIX."
I was early initiated into the mysteries of electioneering, by several of the most adroit men of the county. Among them I name Marks Crume, who afterward held several high offices and was one of the commissioners who concluded the treaty with the Pottawatamies of the Wabash. He was a warm supporter of General Jackson, while I sustained Henry Clay. He had represented Fayette county several times in the Legisla- ture, and in 1836 was again a candidate. I was anxious for his success, as I was about to become a candidate before the next Legislature for the United States Senate, and I kuew him to be my fast friend. His competitor was a nameless newlight preacher- long, lank and stoop-shouldered, wearing a blue muslin gown, a queue hanging down to his waist, and his head covered with one of these old-fashioned corn-shuck hats, with a rim extending to his shoulders. He was a fair electioneerer, in open day. This, Crume could meet. But he also preached at night. Here Crume entirely failed, although he was the son of Rev. Moses Crume, of Ohio, who was said to have borne a striking resemblance to General Washington. F .* There' remained but a week before the election. Crume became alarmed. It was evidently to be a close contest. The next week the battalion muster, at Squire Con- ner's, four miles below Connersville, on Whitewater, was to come off. This was looked to by the candidates with much interest, as the closing of the campaign before the election. The preacher lived a few miles west of town, and having no horse walked down early in the morning, expecting to get one there. Crume and his friends kindly offered to procure one, and borrowed of Robert Griffis a very small jackass. The preacher mounted, when it was found that his feet would drag upon. the ground. This they immediately remedied by taking up the stirrups, drawing up the legs of the preacher like the letter K, his gown covering. the whole jack but his head and ears, and off they started for the muster.
Arriving at the field, the horsemen rode in at the bars, but the jack of the preach- er "took the studs," and in spite of all the kicking, pounding and whipping, refused to budge an inch. The eyes of the battalion were soon directed to the preacher and his jackass, when suddenly the stubborn. animal was seen to spring forward, and forcing his head through the rails, the hat of the preacher towering over the top of the fence, commenced braying at the top of his musical voice, while shout followed shout from the field. This was too much for the nerves of the candidate. With a great effort he forced back the head of the jack from the fence and turned his countenance. toward town, A traveler met him slowly jogging up the road, evidently ruminating on the vicissitudes of political life. The morning paper gave us notice that he had declined. Crume was elected without further opposition, and, best of all, he gave me his . vote for United States Senator.
599
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
A POLITICAL JURY.
The Fayette circuit court was held soon after the great contest for president had ·terminated in favor of General Jackson against Henry Clay. There was perhaps never 'a more exciting election in the country. Gabriel Ginn was the Jacksou candidate for sheriff, and Robert D. Helm the Clay candidate.
A few days before the election John Murphy, a very respectable citizen, and others, put in circulation a handbill against Helm, making. charges against his integrity. Helm was defeated, and employed myself and Samuel C. Sample to bring suit for libel. The action was brought. and came on for trial at the next court. Both the sheriff and his deputies were warm Jackson men, and it so happened that ten of the regular panel of jurors were of the same politics. James Rariden, John T. Mckinney and Gen. James Noble appeared for the defendant. The regular panel were called and all answered.
The Court-"Does the plaintiff take the jury?"
"We.are content."
General Noble at once challenged, peremptorily, the two Clay men; the sheriff imme- .diately filled their places with two leading Jacksonians.
"We take the jury," says Rariden.
"So do we; let them be sworn.".
My client ran forward and whispered in my ear, "All is gone, they are all Jackson men."
We proved. the publication beyond question. Mr. Sample opened very briefly for the plaintiff, and was followed by the defendant's attorneys with their usual force, upon the question of law and fact. Each closed with a strong appeal to the politics of the jury, and the fact that the defendant was a Jacksonian and the plaintiff a Clayite, was pressed with all their power. My client whispered to me to give up the case and suffer a non-suit.
As General Noble elosed his speech, about half past eleven in the forenoon, Judge Eggleston inquired, "Shall we adjourn now?"
"I prefer closing before dinner."
"You certainly cannot do that."
"I'll try."
"Gentlemen of the jury, we are trying one of the most important questions that has ever been tried in the county. I hold the affirmative of the issue, the counsel opposed to me the negative, and you are to decide it by your verdict. It is, whether a Jackson man will regard his oath, and find according to the law and evidence. You were selected because the counsel for the defendant supposed that you would perjure yourselves to acquit their client. I believe that a Jackson man is just as honest as a Clay man, and will be no more likely to perjure himself to acquit a Jackson man, than would a Clay man to convict him. Your names are on the record; the eyes of the people are upon you; my client will not take a cent of your verdict; I only ask you to give him his counsel fees, one hundred dollars.".
I occupied about fifteen minutes, The jury retired, and before court adjourned returned a verdict for the plaintiff of one hundred dollars damages. Judgment accord- . ingly.
THE STORY OF BETTY FRAZIER.
In early times, before the first land sales of the beautiful White Water valley, 'where Connersville, Liberty; Cambridge City, Centerville and Richmond now stand, there lived upon the east bank of White Water, a mile ahove Connersville, a most remarkable woman by the name of Betty Frazier .. She was a small, tough-looking, rather swarthy' woman ; her husband, George Frazier, was a poor cripple, and with their children were supported entirely by Betty. They had settled upon a. small fraction of
600
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
government land, intending to purchase at the sales. The landoffice was at Cincinnati, and Gen. James Findlay was the receiver. The 'spring of the year, after a severe winter, had come; the sales were to take place the next winter, and Betty had the season before her to raise the money to pay for her land. She commenced with a young stock of hogs, caring for them daily, driving them to the best mast, and preparing a good patch of corn for the fattening process. She had one horse only to tend her crop, and to ride to Cincinnati when she drove her hogs down to sell, and buy her land.
One day about midsummer she saw a horseman ride up to her cabin in full uni- form. She met him at the bars: "Well, General Hanna, how do you do?" -
."Very well, Mrs. Frazier." .
"What on earth has brought you all the way from Brookville to my poor cabin?"
"I am very sorry to tell you, Mrs. Frazier, that I am the sheriff, and have an execn- tion against your property."
"Well, General, I always submit to the law; come with me to the stable and I will give .you my only horse as the best I can do."
There were no "exemption laws" then. Betty and the General proceeded to the stable. It was a strong log building with a single door, no window, overlaid with a solid platform of logs, and filled with hay for the horse. The door fastened outside with a large wooden pin in a log.
"There, General, is the horse-take him."
The General stepped in and commenced untying the horse. Betty immediately fastened the door outside, driving the pin into the hole to its full length, and left the General to his reflections while she attended to her household affairs. Time passed away; night came on; but no relief to the captured general.' Morning came, and with it came Betty.
"Well, General, how did you sleep last night?"
"Not very well. I am ready to compromise this matter; if you will let me out and show me the ford over White Water (the river was muddy and high), I will leave you and the horse and return the execution 'no property found.'
"Upon honor?"
"Yes, upon honor."
Betty opened the door. The General mounted his horse and silently followed Betty down to the river side.
"There, General, you will go in just above the big sycamore, and come out at that haw-bush you see."
The General started; at the second step both horse and rider were under water out of sight, and the chapeau of the General was seen floating down the river. Still, he being one of the pioneers, and his horse a trained swimmer, gallantly stemmed the current, and exactly struck the haw-bush; his horse swimming to the very shore, while Betty stood on the bank screaming-"I guess the Brookville officers will let me alone now till I have sold my pigs and bought my land."
The General rode on dripping wet to his brigade that mustered that day. But the end was not yet. Time rolled on; the pigs grew to be well-fatted hogs. Betty mounted her pony ; the little boys started the hogs for Cincinnati; they had ten days to get there before the land sales; the distance was about seventy miles. Nothing unusnal occurred on the road until they arrived at New Trenton, at Squire Rockafellow's. The night was stormy; the snow fell deep; next morning found Betty at the usual hour on the pony, well wrapped, with an infant a few hours old in her bosom. She arrived with her hogs at Cincinnati the day before the sale, sold them for cash, and the late General Findlay told me that she stood by his side on the box and bid off her land, with her infant in her arms. Surely, "truth is stranger than fiction."
601
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
A "DIVINELY COMMISSIONED" THIEF CATCHER.
One night in the spring of 1823, John Williams had his horse stolen from his stable in Connersville. The woods for miles around was scoured by the citizens, and the horse was found in a thicket fastened to a tree. A watch was set, and William Boice was taken in the act of feeding the animal. Boice was tried, convicted and sentenced to two years at hard labor in the penitentiary, at the next term of the Fayette circuit court. I was attorney for the state at that time .. Boice was taken to the state's prison by the sheriff. The word soon came from the keeper of the penitentiary that Boice had broken jail and escaped, and offering a reward of one hundred dollars for his cap- ture and return to prison. The above common occurrence is merely introductory of what follows. It so happened that in this very period of time there lived not far from Connersville, a man I call Joseph Abrams, who was laboring under a peculiar delusion. He believed in "special providences"-that all men were created equal for special pur- poses, and set apart for the particular work by the Almighty; that they had no power to resist, nor could any harm come to them while engaged in this particular calling. In this particular case he believed that he was specially created and commissioned to take horse thieves; that he was required to be diligent in his calling. He had no doubt whatever, that he could take with his single arm any number of horse thieves, however armed, without any power on their part to do him harm. He never went armed him- self, but always carried with him his pockets full of ropes to tie the horse thieves as he caught them. He was a large, young, powerful man, as active as a cat and fearless as a rifle. He believed, that as a part of his missiou, he had the power given him of recognizing a horse thief the moment he saw him.
The news that Boice had escaped prison reached Abrams about sunset in the even- ing ; he said nothing to anyone, but left town about ten o'clock that night. Squire Ross was traveling the road leading by the cabin of Boice, when all at once he heard loud screams ahead. Spurring his horse he soon arrived at the cabin. "As I rode up to the fence," he said. "I saw Abrams dragging Boice out of the door of the cabin, tied fast with ropes, and Boice's wife beating Abrams over the head and shoulders with a clap- board." It appears that Abrams had demanded of Boice to open the door, that Boice had refused and armed himself with a butcher knife; that Abrams broke down the door, seized Boice and wrested the knife from him, threw him upon the floor and tied him, while the wife of Boice was belaboring Abrams all the time. Abrams placed Boice upon his horse, tied his feet together and immediately started with him to the peniten- tiary, and actually delivered him up to the keeper, and received his reward. Boice was a powerful man, weighing not less than two hundred pounds and courageous as a lion.
Soon after this occurrence, Abrams met John Willey, sheriff of the county, took him off his horse, tied him and carried him to a justice of peace. I was sent for and had him discharged late at night. The fact that I appeared for Willey caused Abrams to suspect me of being an accomplice. and the next day on my way to the Franklin circuit court. I met him in the road. I saw his pockets full of rope. "You are a horse thief ; get down and I will tie you." I smiled in his face. "Can't you wait until I come back and then tie me?" "Will you say upon honor, that you will meet me at Conners- ville next Saturday?" "Yes, I will." "Go then, but fail not at your peril." We parted. 1 returned home on Saturday morning; Abrams was there. As we met in front of the old court house, he gave me his hand with a fixed look, "You are discharged, you are no horse thief, you have kept your promise." "Thank you. Mr. Abrams, I knew that you would learn from the spirit of your mission that I was not one of them." He smiled and we parted.
602
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
JOHN M'CORMICK-CONNERSVILLE AND INDIANAPOLIS.
According to the best authorities the first settler on the present site of Indianapolis was John McCormick, who was one of the first settlers in Con- nersville. O. H. Smith states that McCormick was the first man to build a house outside of the stockade in Connersville and that he continued to reside there until February, 1820. In view of the fact that Connersville furnished the first permanent resident of Indianapolis it seems fitting to give in this connection some facts of McCormick's career. It is planned to erect a monu- ment of some kind at Indianapolis on the site of McCormick's cabin, which was located near the east end of the Washington street bridge over White river.
John McCormick, Sr., the founder of the McCormick family, so far as accurate records are obtainable, was born near Winchester, Virginia, August 30, 1754. He enlisted three times in the War of the Revolution, twice from Virginia and once from Pennsylvania. His last enlistment was in 1780. His place of residence at that time was Bedford, Pennsylvania. The facts just stated are taken from the records on file in the office of the secretary of war at Washington.
.On March 24, 1785, he was united in marriage with Catherine Drennen of Pennsylvania. Miss Drennen was born on January 25, 1769.
HAD FOURTEEN CHILDREN.
To them was born a family of fourteen children, nearly all of whom lived to be three-score and ten, and some of more than four-score and ten years. John McCormick, Jr., the fourth child of John and Catherine McCor- mick, was born in Pennsylvania, September 15, 1791. Later he came to Ohio with his parents and was married, to Bethiah Case of Hamilton, Ohio, in the year 1811. A short time after their marriage the second war with Great Britain was declared, and like the father he took up arms in defense of his country. -.
. The war records show that John McCormick served as a private in Capt. Allen Scrogg's company, First Andrews Regiment, Ohio Militia, war of 1812; that his service began on September 21, 1812, and that he was trans- ferred on December 9, 1812, to Captain Allan's company .. The records also show that he was transferred again on February 28, 1813, regiment or com- pany not given.
603
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
SETTLED NEAR CONNERSVILLE.
After peace had been declared he and his wife came to Indiana and settled near Connersville, Fayette county, where his father was then living, having moved there in 1809.
They continued to reside at Connersville for a few years, when the spirit of adventure led him to seek a residence in the tract of land known as the "New Purchase," where he became the first settler of the proud capi- tal of Indiana.
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.