USA > Indiana > Franklin County > History of Franklin County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions > Part 26
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 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125 | Part 126 | Part 127 | Part 128 | Part 129 | Part 130 | Part 131 | Part 132 | Part 133 | Part 134 | Part 135 | Part 136 | Part 137 | Part 138 | Part 139 | Part 140 | Part 141 | Part 142 | Part 143 | Part 144 | Part 145
Logan, William
1
25.88
So. Carolina
March 4, 1831 68
Mann, John
20.00
Massachusetts
March 4, 1831 82
Masters, John
96.00
Virginia
July 28, 1819 84
Myers, Jacob
96.00
No. Carolina
July 19, 1819 90
Nithercut, William I
96.00
No. Carolina
October 6, 1823
74
Reynolds, Joseph
37.43
No. Carolina
March 4, 183I
73
Sims, William
28.33
Virginia
March 4, 183I 70
Slicer, Lucas
50.00
Pennsylvania
March 4, 183I 75
Smith, Richard
96.00
Virginia
Oct. 14, 1818 -
Smith, Richard
I00.00
Virginia
March 4, 1831
72
Templeton, Robert
23.88
No. Carolina
March
4, 183I 75
Trusler, James
20.00
Virginia
March
4, 1831
79
Van Winkle, John
80.00
Virginia
March
4, 183I 81
Vincent, John
55.00
Virginia
March
4, 1831
78
Wiggins, William
20.00
Pennsylvania
March 4, 1831
72
The Franklin County Historical Society has endeavored to locate the burial places of all Revolutionary soldiers in the county. It is known that the following veterans of the struggle for independence are buried in Frank- lin county :
Job Stout-Died February 28, 1833, aged seventy years; buried in Big Cedar cemetery.
Andrew Shirk, Sr .- Died January 14, 1829, aged seventy-five years ; buried in Big Cedar cemetery.
David Gray-Died December 27, 1839, aged ninety-two years; buried in Bath township.
Joseph Seal-Died September 3, 1834, aged ninety-six years; buried in Springfield township.
Benjamin McCarty-Died August 16, 1837, aged seventy-eight years; buried in Brookville township.
Lemuel Snow-Died September 3, 1834, aged sixty-six years; buried in Snow Hill cemetery.
John Vincent-Born August 24, 1750; died January 5, 1837; buried on the farm now owned by Harry M. Stoops on land he entered in 1806, section 19, township 9, range 2 west.
John Masters-Buried in Fairfield township.
John Mann -- Died April 30, 1849, at the age of ninety-nine years, and was buried in White Water township, at Otwell chapel.
1
1
1
1
I
I
1
I
1
281
FRANKLIN COUNTY, INDIANA.
Robert Hanna, who came to this county in 1804, lived in Fairfield town- ship, but is buried in the Sims cemetery in Union county.
SOLDIERS OF WAR OF 1812.
James H. Speer served in the War of 1812 and was under General Hull in Detroit when that general surrendered the city, August 16, 1812. Speer was kept a prisoner by the British until the close of the war, and after his release returned to Cincinnati. He followed the carpenter's trade for two or three years, then entered the book trade, and in 1819 built the first paper mill in Cincinnati. He followed this line of business until 1834, when he came to Brookville and established a paper mill, which was in continuous operation for many years. He was born in New Jersey, July 27, 1786; lo- cated in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1811; came to Brookville in 1834, and died in the latter place November 21, 1863.
Other soldiers of the War of 1812 who are buried in the county are as follow :
Jeremiah Fowler-Died April 1, 1835, aged thirty-six years.
David Smith-Died August 7, 1844, aged sixty-two years.
Samuel Shirk-Died September 5, 1859, aged sixty-seven years.
Philip Jones-Died August 27, 1864, aged seventy-five years.
William F. Taylor-Died May 23, 1873, aged eighty-nine years.
Daniel Morford-Died November 25, 1876, aged eighty-two years. James Conwell-
John Malone-Died at the age of ninety years.
George W. Kimble-Died January 28, 1881, aged eighty-four years.
Spencer Wiley, who was one of the most prominent citizens of Brook- ville for many years, was appointed an ensign by Governor William Henry Harrison, April 10, 1811. On June 13, 1813, he was commissioned captain of a company in the Third Regiment of Indiana Militia. His daughter, Mary Wiley, of Brookville, has in her possession his commission signed by Governor Thomas Posey. Mr. Wiley was a member of the state Legisla- ture, 18.45-46, and again in 1857-58. He was also a member from Franklin county in the constitutional convention of 1850-51.
In the Indiana American of January 21, 1870, there appeared a list of pensioners of the War of 1812. The following appear from Franklin county : William Wilson, Laurel: Daniel Morford, Whitcomb; J. P. Case, New Trenton; C. W. Burt, Laurel: Carlton Taylor, Whitcomb; George Crist, Whitcomb: James Ware, Laurel; Theodore Hulmock, Laurel; Ruth
282
FRANKLIN COUNTY, INDIANA.
Bryson, Laurel; Ballard Wilson, Metamora; Elizabeth Elwell, Laurel. These names were attached to a petition asking Congress for the passage of a law to increase the pension of all veterans of the War of 1812 and their widows.
There was at least one soldier who fought at the battle of Tippecanoe, November 7, 18II, who later located in Franklin county and spent the re- mainder of his life here. This was Hugh West, the grandfather of Hugh West, a veteran of the Civil War and a resident of Brookville at the present time. He came from Virginia and returned to that state at the close of the War of 1812. In 1827 he came to Franklin county, and died in Brookville township in 1842. He is buried on Little Cedar creek in that township.
THE MILITIA PERIOD, 1816-1846.
When the forty-three men who made the constitution of 1816 came to the question of providing military protection for the people of the infant state, they planned to have all of the men of the state capable of bearing arms organized into companies, regiments and brigades. At that time three- fourths of the state was still owned and occupied by the Indians and it was essential to the welfare of the state that ample provisions be made for the protection of the settlers. After the state was organized the legislature took cognizance of the need for protection and various laws were passed year by year to provide proper security against the Indians.
Within one year after the state was organized, Franklin county had raised a company, which was attached to the Sixth Brigade of the Third Division. The names of some of the officers of these early militia companies have been preserved, and the following list contains many of the most promi- nent men of the county in their day :
Robert Hanna, brigadier-general of Sixth Brigade, Third Division.
Noah Noble, colonel of Seventh Regiment.
Conrad Saylor, major.
Miles C. Eggleston, aide-de-camp.
Thomas Brown, colonel of Sixteenth Regiment.
John Miller, lieutenant-colonel.
David Erb, major.
David Oliver, colonel of Seventh Regiment.
Thomas Carter, inspector.
The following captains have been found in the record: Jesse Clements, William Chilton, John Bryson, Jonathan McCarty, Isaac Fuller, Andrew Shirk, James McKinney, Robert Faucett, Samuel Lee, John Dunlap, Edge-
283
FRANKLIN COUNTY, INDIANA.
hill Burnside, David Carr, John Flynn, William B. Rose, William Bucet, Jacob Sailor, Richard Blacklidge, Thomas Clark, Edward Brush.
The following men served as lieutenants in local militia companies : Mar- tin McKee, Thomas Winscott, Alexander Gardner, James Abercrombie, John Hackleman, Powell Scott, John Hiday, Thomas Water, George Rudicel, Tim- othy Ellison, William Jones, James Smith, John Newland, William Nichols, Thomas A. R. Eaton, Robert Nugent, John Peter.
Ensigns of the early militia companies included the following: James Dixon, Henry A. Reed, William Maple, William Golding, Peter Brackin, Joseph Moore, Jacob Faucett, Elisha Clark, James Peter, John Adams, Peter Vandike, Benjamin Gully, Enoch Wright, John Brown, William Davis, George Cline.
Although there were plenty of the early settlers of Franklin county who were willing to fight, there were some who were conscientiously opposed to the bearing of arms. In the early history of Indiana it was provided by statute that persons opposed to military service were to be exempt from per- forming military duties upon the payment of a certain stipulated sum. On February 29, 1820, there was returned to the commissioners of Franklin county by Lieut-Col. John Miller, of the Sixteenth Regiment of Indiana Militia, a list of such persons as had indicated their opposition to military service, presumably on account of religious scruples. Upon the filing of these names the commissioners ordered that each person so exempted be re- quired to pay a tax of four dollars, the same to be collected by the sheriff of the county. It seems from the record that Samuel Ritter and Henry Elkin- berry were assessed only two dollars, but no reason is assigned for this reduc- tion in the tax. The list is here given in full as it appears upon the record : Samuel Howell, Jacob Maxwell, Samuel Ritter, Samuel Kingery, John Whit- tier, Henry Elkinberry, John Richardson, Jonathan Hudelson, Caleb Wicker- sham, William Maxwell, Christopher Furnice, Aaron Stanton, William Tol- bert, Lothan Stanton, Isaac Cook, Jr., Isaac Cook, Sr., Zimri Cook, William Bird, Ezekiel Hollingsworth, Eli Henderson, Isaac Gardner, William Gard- ner, William Pierson, Joseph Cook, Thomas Maxwell, Thomas Swain, Rich- ard Tolbert, Thomas Gardner, Paul Gardner, John Hayworth, Joel Hay- worth and William Lewis.
The old militia system which was established by the Legislature early in the history of the state was continued without much change until 1831. By 1828 an official report of the adjutant-general states that there were sixty- five regiments, which were organized into eighteen brigades, with a total en- rollment of forty thousand officers and privates. In 1831 the Legislature re-
.
284
FRANKLIN COUNTY, INDIANA.
vised the militia laws of the state, but from that time forward interest in local militias gradually died out. In 1832 the adjutant-general reported fifty thousand nine hundred and thirteen officers and privates. That as late as 1833 Franklin county was still devoted to the idea of keeping a local militia company is shown by the fact that in that year notices were run in the local newspapers concerning the companies in Franklin county. In order that fu- ture generations may have some idea of what regimental orders meant in those days, the following is taken in its entirety from the Brookville En- quirer of February 22, 1833:
"REGIMENTAL ORDERS.
"The 7th Regiment I. M. will take notice that the following persons have been by me appointed the Regimental Staff, to be obeyed and respected as such, viz :
"Surgeon, John Davis; surgeon's mate, George Berry; Adjutant, Sol- omon Williams; Quarter Master, Allen Backhouse; Paymaster, James Clem- ents ; Judge Advocate, Robert Fausette ; Sergeant Major, William T. Beeks ; Quartermaster Sergeant, John A. Matson; Provost Marshall, Morgan Roop; Foragemaster, William Sholts ; Drum Major, Philip Rudicil ; Fife. Major, Asa Giltner.
"Musters for 1832 as follows :
"Ist Battalion at David Mount's, Friday, May 3.
"2nd Battalion at Isaac McCarty's, Saturday, May 4.
"Regimental at Brookville, Friday, October 4.
"Drill, Friday and Saturday, April 5-6, at Brookville.
"Court of Assessment, First Monday in November.
"Court of Appeals, First Monday in December.
"It is expected that all privates will appear armed at each of above Mus- ters -- in case of failure, the law will be rigidly enforced. The officers must appear in the uniform prescribed for this Regiment and will be particular in noting the delinquences in their respective commands.
"All that part of the company commonly called Brookville Company, east of the West Fork of White Water is attached to Captain Clary's, and that part west of said river to Captain Alley's company, of which all concerned will take notice.
"BEN. SED. NOBLE, "Col. 7th Regt. I. M."
285
FRANKLIN COUNTY, INDIANA.
MUSTER DAY.
Holidays were few and far between in the early days of Indiana, but there was one day in the year toward which old and young looked forward to with pleasant anticipation. It was muster day-the day on which the local militia donned their uniforms, shouldered their muskets and side arms and paraded before an admiring populace. The law required all able-bodied men between the ages of eighteen and forty-five to muster at least once a year, and from reports which have come down through the children of these patriotic citizens it seems that muster day was the one big day of the year. Regimental musters were held in the spring or fall, and owing to the fact that the county had several infantry and cavalry companies, it was necessary to provide drill or parade grounds. One was near Vandyke's tavern on the old Holland road on the farm owned by John R. Goodwin. The other parade ground was located at Metamora. The general muster, which by law must be held once a year, brought forth all the men of military age in the county. Absence from the drill on this particular day was followed by arrest and the assessment of a fine. In writing of this general muster day the late T. A. Goodwin pictured it in the following interesting manner :
"They came on horseback, on foot and in wagons; the old came and the young. They came partly to see the muster, partly to see each other, but chiefly to eat ginger bread and drink cider, beer or something stronger, and some to engage in regular annual fist fights. The column was usually formed on or about the public square in Brookville, then unfenced, and thence marched into the bottom, down James street to the residence of Judge Mckinney ; thence north to the open ground between the tan yard and the mill. There were then no houses in that part of town. The infantry and other uniformed companies led in the march; then followed the great unwashed, the 'flat-foots,' which constituted the finest possible burlesque on military movements. Men with all kinds of hats, or no hats at all, hundreds of them bare-footed, most of them in their shirt sleeves or at best with linsey wamuses, some with canes, some with hoop-poles, some with corn stalks, some with fence rails ten feet long, sometimes four abreast and sometimes ten; some sober and some drunk-and thus they marched. Ludicrous as this must have been, yet it constituted a muster in the eyes of the law.
"The companies were dismissed soon after reaching the parade grounds, much to the relief of the uniformed companies, which then spent an hour
286
FRANKLIN COUNTY, INDIANA.
or two in drilling. The disbanding of the 'great unwashed,' as the cornstalk militia was called, was the signal for an attack upon the gingerbread wagons which had stationed themselves all over the bottom. So great was the attendance upon these days that the gingerbread merchants of Brookville were not equal to the occasion of satisfying the rapacious appetites of the multitude, and dealers in the ginger commodity from far and near resorted to Brookville and also reaped a harvest. It was said that at one muster, about 1826 or 1827, one of these gingerbread dealers sold a half a cord of his famous brown pastry. It would be interesting to know just how this gin- gerbread was made, but the receipe for this delicious confection has been lost with other valuable records. However, some mathematical statements concerning it have been preserved. It was sixteen inches square and an inch and a half thick, with lines deeply sunken dividing the whole cake into four equal parts. These were respectively sections and quarter sections, and the country beau or big brother who could march up with his own sister, or somebody else's sister, and invest a quarter in a section of ginger cake, with another quarter in cider or spruce beer, usually secured the right to take that sister to singing school for the next twelve months at least, as against a rival who had not treated the sister in a similar manner at the general muster.
"My recollection is that most of these wagons usually handled whisky as well as cider and beer. There was no lager beer in those days and tem- perance laws were unknown. Whisky retailed at fifteen cents a quart and some of those old cornstalk soldiers could drink several fifteen cents' worth in a day. By noon on this eventful day the fist fights began, and from then on until the day was over individual combats were waged on every side. More blood was shed in this way than was ever spilled by the militia in the performance of their duties."
And so it continued until the latter part of the thirties when the interest in the local militia practically died out. No effort was made to keep the companies full and the men equipped according to the law. The Indians had disappeared ; England was no longer to be feared and consequently there did not appear to the hard-headed Hoosier that there was any necessity for spending so much time in drilling and parading. During the Mexican War the Legislature passed an act putting an end to the local militia, and the muster days became a thing of the past.
287
FRANKLIN COUNTY, INDIANA.
THE MEXICAN WAR.
The Mexican War was brought about by the annexation of Texas to the United States in 1845. In 1836 Texas had declared her independence from Mexican rule and from that time until 1845 it was trying to induce Congress to annex it to the United States. The immediate cause of the break between the United States and Mexico was a dispute over the territory between the Rio Grande and Nueces rivers, a strip about one hundred miles wide. In the spring of 1846 the United States sent General Taylor to the frontier of Texas and when he crossed the Rio Grande it amounted to a declaration of war on the part of the United States. With the shedding of the first blood, the President of the United States issued a call for volunteers, and as soon as this was known in Indiana the Governor of the state immediately began to raise the quota assigned to the state.
On May 22, 1846, Governor Whitcomb issued a call for volunteers, and in the Indiana American of May 29, 1846, the Governor's proclamation is graced with a flaming eagle and the words: "Polk, Dallas, Texas and Victory." The Governor first called for three regiments of volunteers and Franklin county took immediate steps toward raising a company. On Tues- day evening, May 26, a large number of citizens of Brookville and vicinity met at the court house to discuss the question of raising a local militia com- pany. Doctor Kennedy was called to the chair, William Robeson was appointed vice-president and James N. Tyner officiated as secretary. William M. McCarty was delegated to prepare a set of resolutions, and he performed his duty faithfully, as is evidenced by the eleven resolutions which he read before the meeting. The whole tenor of the resolutions were to the effect that Franklin county was enthusiastically in favor of the war and that its citizens were ready to shoulder their arms and fight. Before the meeting closed a committee of eleven citizens, one for each township, was appointed to receive the names of volunteers. The committee was as follows: Brook- ville, William M. McCarty; White Water, J. B. Campbell; Springfield, A. Boyd; Bath, William Bake; Fairfield, Dr. Crookshank; Blooming Grove, Dr. Miller; Laurel, H. D. Johnson; Posey, John H. Farote; Salt Creek, Reuben Hawkins; Ray, Sanford Hutchison; Highland, B. Cottrell.
Before the meeting closed Dr. Berry offered a resolution that Franklin county "be requested to appropriate the sum of ten dollars out of the county treasury to each of the first ninety-three citizens of this county who shall volunteer and muster into the service of the United States in the manner directed by the governor of the state."
288
FRANKLIN COUNTY, INDIANA.
It is to be noted that according to the Governor's proclamation, "All the volunteers are to furnish their own clothing, serve twelve months, must be between the ages of eighteen and forty-five, and while engaged in actual service they shall be subject to the rules of war." Privates received eight dollars a month and the pay ranged upwards through the various ranks to the captain, who received forty dollars a month. It is interesting to note the clothing which each volunteer had to furnish. It was as follows : Dress cap, forage cap of glazed silk, uniform coat, woolen jacket, two pair of woolen overalls, cotton jacket, three pairs of cotton overalls, two flannel shirts, two pairs of drawers, four pairs of bootees, four pairs of socks, leather or silk stock, great coat, linen fatigue frock, blanket. The official notice concerning the equipment says : "No more clothing is necessary and inspecting officers will see that volunteers are not overloaded with baggage." A company such as Franklin county hoped to raise consisted of one captain, one first lieutenant, one. second lieutenant, four sergeants, four corporals, two musicians and eighty privates-a total of ninety-three men.
By the first of June Franklin county was endeavoring to raise two companies. On June 5, the Indiana American reported that McCarty's company was nearly full and that Captain Sullenberger's company was fast filling up. C. F. Clarkson, the editor of the American, seemed to have been a bellicose individual himself. An editorial in his paper of June 5th, said : "We believe two companies will be easily raised in this county. The American office is contributing to the rank and file of our gallant army; two or three of our journeymen have already left for the seat of war and two or three more want to go. The editor has enrolled his name and will soon be on his way to Mexico, full of war and cabbage."
THE FRANKLIN GUARDS.
On Monday, June 8, the first Franklin county company, called the Franklin Guards, was organized with the following officers: William M. McCarty, captain ; John B. Campbell, first lieutenant ; John E. Meyers, second lieutenant. They immediately tendered their services to the Governor and were instructed to collect at Brookville, Sunday evening, June 14, to be ready to go to New Albany early the next morning. There were no railroads then and the men were taken by canal packets to the Ohio river and thence down the river to New Albany, where they were ordered to report. On leaving, the Franklin county boys were escorted to the canal boat by prac- tically the whole population of Brookville, and just before the boat started,
289
FRANKLIN COUNTY, INDIANA.
Mr. Johnson, in behalf of the town and county, bid them farewell in a short and appropriate speech. When the company. reached Harrison they were presented with a flag by the ladies of that town.
It was known in Brookville by the time the American came out on June 19, that the Franklin Guards were the thirty-first company organized in the state, and, since the Governor had only called for thirty companies, the Franklin Guards would not get a chance to be mustered in unless someone of the thirty companies failed to put in an appearance at New Albany. As soon as it was found out that the thirty companies had already been raised, Captain Sullenberger ceased all exertions to complete his company.
In the issue of June 26, 1846, the American says that the Franklin Guards had been disbanded as a company. Many of them returned home, while other enlisted in other companies. There appears to have been some politics mixed up in the refusal of the Governor to accept the company from Franklin county, or at least the editor of the American seemed to think so. "We have no doubt that our company was outrageously treated by the Governor. We have been told by a distinguished Democrat of this con- gressional district that he was in the secretary of state's office when the offer of the Franklin Guards arrived at that office-and that it was the twenty- eighth company. But it was pushed over to make way for some favorite."
There evidently was some truth in the charge that the Franklin Guards should have been accepted. The American of July 3 has a long article from John M. Meyers, who was second lieutenant of the local company, and later a member of the Columbus Company. He maintains strongly, vio- lently and even profanely that "Whitcomb is the damndest rogue of all and so universally despised is he here that each soldier thinks it is his duty to insult him." Twenty of the Franklin county boys joined Captain Boardman's company from Columbus, and McCarty, who had been elected captain of the local company, enlisted as a private in the same company. Later, McCarty was elected lieutenant-colonel of the Second Regiment.
No roster has been found giving the names of the ninety-three men who composed the Franklin Guards, due to the fact that they were never mustered in as a company. However, as has been mentioned, several of the Franklin county boys enrolled in other companies, and in a letter of John M. Meyers, dated July 28, 1846, and appearing in the American on the 4th of the following month, he gives their names. At that time Meyers states that none of the Franklin county boys in his regiment, the Third, are missing. Andrew Berry, John B. Gilmore, Robert Harper, Willis Moore
(19)
290
FRANKLIN COUNTY, INDIANA.
and a few others have been sick, but were on the way to recovery. The total number of the Franklin county boys in the Third Regiment was as follows : William M. McCarty, J. C. Burton, Robert Harper, Willis Moore, Thomas V. Kimble, Peter Headrick, Andrew Berry, Orville Dyer, Henry H. Green, R. W. Lane, T. F. Reardon, William Landfair, J. B. Gilmore, J. C. Wilkin- son, John Hudson, Henry Smith, Alexander Eads, John Miller, J. M. Conrad, Lewis Fedderman and John M. Meyers.
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.