History of Randolph County, Indiana with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers : to which are appended maps of its several townships, Part 74

Author: Tucker, Ebenezer
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago : A.L. Klingman
Number of Pages: 664

USA > Indiana > Randolph County > History of Randolph County, Indiana with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers : to which are appended maps of its several townships > Part 74

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Judge Peelle has worthily won the reputation he so gallantly bears.

NANCY (RICHARDS) STOCKDALE, DARKE COUNTY, OHIO.

Nancy (Richards) Stockdale was born in Maryland in 1790; married, in 1808, to Eli Stockdale, born in 1788, died 1845.

They came to Greensfork, Randolph County, in 1835, forty seven years ago. Her husband died in Greensfork.

In 1855, she moved to Daike County, Ohio, where she still resides.

Her husband was a soldier in the war of 1812 for fifteen months, and she now draws a pension of $8 per month on his account.

The old lady is quite strong and healthy. She has been hard of hearing for twenty-five years, but her mind is clear and bright. She rode to town in a spring wagon, into which she climbed her- self, with but slight help.

She has had thirteen children, oight living.

David, farmer, north of Spartansburg, Ind.

Henry, money-lender, Union City, Ohio.

Larkin, farmer, Hillgrove, Ohio (lives with him).

Edward, farmer, near Spartansburg, Ind.

Richard, farmer, near Spartansburg, Ind.

Jane (Morrow), California; husband a Presbyterian clergy- man.

Susanna (Arnigosch), farmer, Darke County, Ohio. Mary (Caskey), Union City, Ohio.

It is truly wonderful to the present generation what hard- ships and privations these heroic souls, remnants of a by-gone age, have endured in their time. The life of this aged grand- mother dates to the year after the Presidential inauguration of Gen. Washington, and her life measures almost the whole space of our constitutional existence as a nation. When she first opened her eyes upon the light, we were an infant republic, despised by the old nations, hardly daring to believe in its own future, striving feebly to carve out an unknown destiny, now a strong and mighty people of fifty millions of souls. Then, a narrow string of settlements scattered along the Atlantic coast; but now, lo! the whole boundless stretch of continent from ocean to ocean is ours!

She is old enough to have seen all the Presidents, since she was a lass in her tenth year when Washington died. Her life has witnesed .the entire growth of the gigantic West. Only a few thousand persons were in the great valley of the Mississippi at the date of her birth. Cincinnati, St. Louis, New Orleans, Detroit, were but insignificant villages. Chicago, Cleveland, Milwaukee, had not been even imagined. Chicago was not begun till she had passed her third of a century.

What will the next ninety years show to the dwellers in this land, in the year of grace 1982?

G. CLARKSON TUCKER, SWEETSER, IND.

G. Clarkson Tucker, son of Rev. E. Tucker, was born in Knox County, Ohio, in 1846; moved to Randolph County, Ind., in 1846; Nora, Ill., 1854; Liber, Ind., 1859; volunteered in the One Hundredth Indiana, Company H, September, 1862; first with Grant, then with Sherman. The regiment marched with Grant, in the fall of 1862, to Central Mississippi, and back to Holly Springs after the capture of the supplies there by Van Dorn; went down near Vicksburg in the spring of 1863: to Jack- son in pursuit of Jonhston; across Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia to Chattanooga; into East Tennessee after Longstreet, and back, fall and winter of 1863; through Georgia with Sher- man's conquering columns to Atlanta and the sea; from Savan- nah to Raleigh, Richmond and Washington; thus accomplishing a march of I know not how many thousands of miles, east, south, north, through Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, District of Columbia. They

were in all the battles fought by the army of which they were a part, bearing, with cheerful ardor and unflinching courage, all the hardships and sufferings which fell to their lot, leaving their dead behind at every step, but pressing onward, ever onward, to the goal of victory. The regiment was never captured, and never driven back in battle. Always forward, right forward, was its unvarying motto. It hal to retrace its steps, indeed, from Cen- tral Mississippi, but that was the fault of the troops who were sent (but who failed) to defend the supplies gathered for their use.

He was but sixteen years of age, a mere lad, when he eu- listed, but, without a murmur and without a fear, with steadfast heart and determined will, with his gallant comrades, he trav- ersed the length and breadth of the land, resolved never to seek his childhood home again until the work of crushing the rebel- lion was an accomplished fact. And he achieved his purpose. The One Hundredth Indiana was a part of the mighty host, vet- eran and stalwart. brouzed with toil and wern with hardships. but resolute and determined as ever, that marched in solid pha- lanx through the streets of Washington on that wondrous gala day, in grand review, under the kindly, kindling eye of the com- manding Generals, especially of that one who, for long years, had been their especial leader, trusted, tried, wellnigh idolized.

The work of war was donc. The reign of peace had come, and the citizen-soldiers came home to be soldier-citizens.

And grandly did that mighty host undergo that transforma- tion. A single month after the last regiment was discharged, a stranger traversing our country would never have dreamed that, within a brief period, the land had been alive with soldiers and filled with marching armies.

The subject of this sketch went forth a mere boy in years, but firm in purpose, steady of habit and faithful to principle. He returned to his home as he went out, only more so-more firm, more resolute, more settled in the great principles of truth and liberty, for the defense of which he offered himself to the service of his country.

And thousands upon thousands of others did the same. The baptism of war through which they passed was to them a holy, sacred, purifying flood, which brought them into a new and glor- ious life for God and their fellow-men.

He now resides at McGrawsville, Miami Ce .. Ind., between Marion and Logansport, on the Pan Handle Railroad.

He has resided, since arriving at manhood, at Kingston, Mo., Nora and Lena, Ill., Raymond and Midway, Miss., and Union City, Sweetzer and McGrawsville, Ind.

He has been a teacher, a farmer and a carpenter, and he now owns and runs a steam saw-mill at McGrawsville.

He is a Congregationalist and a Republican.

He has been twice married. His first wife was Mary Pon- roy, of Nora, Ill., and the second was Emma Teagle, of Grant County, Ind. He has had three children, all of whom are .ving.

He has the reputation of unusual strength. Stories pass from lip to lip among his acquaintances of the remarkable feats he has performed in this respect.

G. C. Tucker, on the 5th day of June, 1865, was hurt in the saw-mill, in which he had been working for several years, by ac- cidentally having his foot thrown against the saw in motion. The limb had to be amputated. Blood-poisoning (pyemia) set in, and in about ten days, June 15, 1865, at about 2 P. M., ho de- parted this life, with a well-grounded hope of a part in the first resurrection: and his mortal remains were on the next day de posited, in the presence of weeping family and sympathizing friends, in the cemetery at Marion, Ind.

REUNIONS, SURPRISES, WEDDINGS, ETC.

In the olden pioneer times, weddings were often a very sim- ple thing. Frequently they were celebrated with no display or ado. At one occasion of the sort within the knowledge of the writer, the wedding feast consisted of a bountiful supply of roasted potatoes, scraped from the ashes and eaten, as the cus. tom was, with salt.

But in these later times, occasions of festivities have become very elaborate and expansive affairs. And, as each age produces

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HISTORY OF RANDOLPH COUNTY.

something now. so, in these days, we have re-unions, surprises, , golden, silver, diamond, etc., weddings. And especially the last few years have been fruitful in surpises. The times selected are chiefly some anniversary of birth. marriage, etc. Many have been held in the county, some very large, with several hundred in at- tendance. It would not be easy to state the method employed, since no two are alike. Often one of the heads of the family is taken into the secret. Sometimes, however, both are kept en- tiroly in the dark until the whole thing bursts suddenly upon their astonished vision. The party (one or more) to be surprised is sometimes enticed from home to give a clear field for the de- nouement of the plot.

Particulars cannot well be given. Suffice it to say, the occa- sions are sources of much labor, considerable expense and more or less astonishment. But the pleasure afforded to all concerned is reckoned to be an abundant recompense for all the outlay in- curred, of whatever kind.

WEDDINGS.

Within a few years past, the various sorts of wedding anni- versaries, golden, silver, etc., have been celebrated by a supper and the bestowal of more or less costly presents.

The anniversary of the wedding of John and Jane Fisher. who had been married sixty years, was celebrated two or three years ago with a large assemblage of relatives and mnuch rejoice- ing. The old patriarch has lately been called from earthly labor and suffering to heavenly peace and rest And so, at the present ! stretch of country in the Mississippi Valley, and bearing back writing, has the bereaved widow. Jane Fisher, dying nearly a year after her husband.

Weddings themselves have, for a short time past, been made the occasion, among well-to-do people. of costly, not to say val- nable gifts. Sometimes a mere list of the presents bestowed fills half a column in the newspaper publishing a notice of the nup- tial festivities.

It would seem a pity that such costly practices could not be discouraged and checked. Were none but the wealthy to adopt the custom, it might not (thongh useless, even with them) be so harmful. But in this country, no one likes to be behind, and the general adoption of so needless, not to say foolish, a custom, will lead many into costly outlays who can ill bear the expense.

CHAPTER XX. MILITARY.

REVOLUTION-INDIAN WARS-WIDOWS, PENSIONS, ETC .- MILITIA, 1832-MEXICAN WAR-WAR OF 1861 -GENERAL RELIEF, BOUN- TIES, ETC .- ACCOUNT OF REGIMENTS, BATTLES, PRISONS, OFFI- CERS, SOLDIERS, DEATHS, BURIALS, RELIGION, DECORATION DAN. RE-UNIONS, ETC .- REMINISCENCES. BIOGRAPHY-SANITARY OFE- RATIONS,

REVOLUTIONARY WAR.

RANDOLPH had small connection with the war of Independ ence. A few old sokliers came to these wilds to spend the tranquil evening of their days amid the Western forests. One Revolutionary veteran lies buried in Fairview Cemetery, dying at the age of ninety years, long, long ago, though the date of his death is not stuted.

Another was laid to rest in Mt. Zion Graveyard, in White River Township, not far from the former residence of William Kon- nedy, himself a pioneer of that region, perhaps the earliest to settle east of Winchester. He is stated to have been one hun dred and five years one month and fifteen days old, dying Feb- ruary 15, 1851, not, indeed. of weakness and old age, but, as. ! will be presently seen, by a fatal accident. bringing his life to a premature close.

The ancient veteran must have been more than twenty-nine years old at the first rattling of musketry at Lexington, and nearly forty years of age during the closing hours of the great strng- gle for independence. And he lived on through toil and trouble

till he reached his one hundred and sixth year. How much longer the ancient soklier might have dwelt among men cannot now be told. His life was brought to an untimely end by an un. looked-for casualty. His bodily health and strength had been good, and he had not ceased to perform active labor on the farm. While upon a load of oats which was being driven to the barn, after he had loaded the sheaves as they were pitched by a boy from the shock, in the month of Angust. 1850. as the wagon drew up alongside the stable where the grain was to be deposited, he was somehow jostled from the load, and, being blind, he could not see to shield himself. Falling upon the end of a log pro- jecting from the corner of the stable, his ribs were broken, and internal injuries were received. Yet even this did not suffice to kill the old veteran, but he clung to life still, lingering on from August. 1850. till February. 1551, and only dying at the latter date.

We know not much of his history. It would have been a thing of interest to trace, had the thing been possible, his path- way backward into the mists of departed years, and discover the momentous events during a life of so unusual duration, and his own connection therewith.

He was a child when Gen. Washington, himself a mere youth, accomplished his perilons journey, at a risk of life several times repeated, through the Virginia mountains to the valley of the Ohio, to give warning to the French that the English intended not to allow them an undisturbed occupation of that woudrons

the answer which hurled French defiance against English threats of warning. And when that war closed, when the Gallie power yielded the contest and gave the English free scope through that whole vast continental territory, that aged soldier, who died a violent accidental death in the latter half of the nineteenth cen- tury, was, though young. yet a man in stature and in strength, able to hew through the busy world his stubborn way, either in the conflicts of rugged war. or in the hardy labors of the workshop or the farm. He was a lad of nine years when the world was startled by the earthquake which tumbled the city of Lisbon to ruins, and whelmed thousands of her terrified people fathoms deep beneath the wrathful billows of the Atlantic.

When the young republic of the West shouted rejoicing accla- mations for the elevation of the venerated Washington to the chief magistracy of the nation he had saved. our soldier had advanced into the forty- fourth year of his earthly existence. He witnessed the accession of thirteen Presidents, five of whom performed a double service.

There were doubtless others, perhaps many of them, who dropped in one by one, accompanying, in their old age, or fol. lowing their sons or their danghters from the worn out lands east of the Alleghanies, into the Western Paradiso, the grander Canaan of the " New Era."

This aged patriarch was almost threescore years and ten when the very earliest emigrant planted his stake in the soil of Randolph, and he hoped, doubtless, when he changed his domi- i cile from the land of the rising to that of the setting sun, sim- ply to behold with his failing eyesight the paradise of the poor and the landless, and to thank God, as he closed his aged eyes, for the prospect that his posterity would enjoy so goodly a land through the ages to come.

But lo! through more than a generation he was spared to witness with his own vision the transformation which began in 1814 and progressed in a rapidly increasing ratio to his latest day.

But he died at last. and was buried; and all of him that was mortal rests in peace in the sacred soil of Randolph.

The one who was buried in the cemetery at Fairview was the father of Antony MeKinney, who was himself a pioneer of Green Township. and a soldier in the war of 1812.

Meshach Lowallyn, the earliest emigrant to settle in Frank. lin, was an old man when first he phinged into the dark forests on the banks of the Mississinewa.

James Massey, too, who was among the very first on the same river above what long afterward came to be the bustling town of Deerfield, was an old man.

Silas (olywood)

GEN. SILAS COLGROVE.

Among the many prominent citizens of this county, few, if any, are entitled to more recognition and popular gratitude than he of whom we write. As a pio- neer. as an attorney and as a soldier, he occupies a place that is inseparably a part of the history of Randolph County, and in each of these positions has ren- dered distinguished services. He is a native of Steuben County, N. Y., where he was born on the 24th of May, 1816. His educational advantages in youth were limited, being only such as the common schools of early days afforded. But the meager instructions there received were the groundwork for a rich and varied atore of useful knowledge, acquired by patient study at leisure times, and by his energy aod diligence, he has risen to the first rank in his profession. He ia one of a family of eighteen children, of whom all but one grew to maturity and were married, and fifteen are still living. Five reside in New York, three in Ohio, and others in Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota and California, respectively. In 1837, the subject of this sketch was united in marriage with Miss Rebecca P. Stone, in New York, and in the fall of the same year left home with hia bride for the West. He was accompanied as far as Winchester, Ind., by some relatives, who were en route to Illinois, but at this point he took leave of them, having decided to locate here. He began the study of law at his home in New York, completing hia course of preparation in the office of Zachariah Puckett, one of the early attorneys of Win- chester. He was admitted to the bar of Randolph County in 1839, and has been one of its foreinost members in the years that have followed. In April, 1839, he was elected Justice of the Peace, serving five years in this capacity. lo 1852, he was elected Prosecuting Attorney for the district composed of the counties of Randolph, Henry, Wayne, Jay, Blackford, Grant and Delaware, in which capacity he served two years. In 1856, he was elected Representative to the State Legislature, from the district composed of the counties of Henry, Wayne, Randolph, Jay and Blackford, serving four yeara. His term of office had scarcely expired when the slumbering fires of rebellion broke out, and a call was made upon the patriotism of every American citizen. He was the first in this county to raise a company for the service, and his own name was the first on the roll of enlisted men. It was enrolled as that of a private soldier, and he expected to serve io that capacity. But in three days he had a company of 140 men, and before they left for Indianapolis, he was elected Captain by a unani- meus vote. Of this number, 100 were accepted for the three months' service, the remainder returning to their homes. This company was assigned to the Eighth Regiment, sod Captain Colgrove was commissioned Lieutenant Colonel. The regiment was in Maj. Gen. McClellen's army, in the West Virginia campaign, with Gen. Rosecrans as their brigade commander. They took part in the battle of Rich Mountain, and assisted in the capture of Garnett'a forces. At the expira- tion of his term of enlistment, Col. Colgrove returned to Winchester, and Bagieted in organizing the Eighth Regiment for the three years' service. Shortly afterward, however, he was appointed Colonel of the Twenty-seventh Regiment

Indiana Volunteers, which was sent forward and placed under the command of Brig. Gen. Banks. They took part in the terrible battle st Ball's Bluff, and helped to convey the dead across the Potomac after the fight. The regiment was a part of the Army of the Potomac, serving firet with the Fifth and afterward with the Eleventh Corps, and participating in all the important battles in which these corps were engaged. Finally, the Eleventh and Twelfth were consoli dated, under the name of the Twentieth Army Corpa, with Gen. Hooker in com- mand, and sent to Chattanooga, where they joined Gen. Sherman, remaining with hia army until the fall of Atlanta. During hia period of service, Col. Col- grove was wounded several times, but remained bravely at his post, although his injuries were sufficiently serious to justify him in leaving the service, had he chosen to do so. He was a brave officer, and his distinguished services to the Union were recognized by President Lincoln, who conferred upon him the rank of Brigadier General, by brevet, on the 7th of August, 1864. He resigned, later in that year, and returned to his home at Winchester, having, in the meantime, heen appointed by Gov. Morton to fill the unexpired term of Judge Elliott, who had been chosen one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of Indiana. In the same year, he was elected President of the Cincinnati, Fort Wayne & Grand Rapids Railroad, and on the 19th of December, 1864, was appointed President of the Military Commission for the trial of Horsey, Milligan and Bowles, the trait ors. The trial was in progress for a period of 100 daya, and the defendants were found guilty and sentenced to death. This sentence, however, was commuted to imprisonment for life, and the trio were finally set free by the Supreme Court of the United States, on the ground that a military tribunal had no jurisdiction over the offense. In 1865, Gen. Colgrove was elected Judge of the circuit com- posed of Randolph and Delaware Counties, serving six years. In 1873, he was again elected to this office, continuing to occupy the bench until 1879. Retiring from this position, he resumed the practice of his profession, in which he is etill actively engaged. As an attorney, he has attained marked succesa; as a judge, his opiniona were always profound and his decisions just. He was always respected for his kindness and courtesy in this capacity, aod hia entire course on the bench was marked by a conscientious fidelity to the trust reposed in him. As a citizen, he has always been enterprising and public-spirited, and during his residence in this county has been identified with many of ita public improve- ments. In politica, he affiliated with the Whig party during its existence, but afterward became a Republican, and has ever since continued to act with that party. He united with the Odd Fellowa of Winchester at an early day. He has lived nearly half a century in this community, and by an upright, honorable life has gained the confidence and esteem of all who know him. His wife still survives, and ahares with him the regard of a large circle of friends. To bless their wedded life, there were eleven children, four of whom are now living. One son became celebrated as an æronaut, but lost his life in the pursuit of this per- ilous profession, near San Francisco, Cal.

EX- SHERIFF CAPT CO A ZOTMIND V VOL INF

Clicca, macy.

CAPTAIN W. W. MACY.

William W. Macy was born October 17, 1841, in Randolph County, Ind. He is a lineal descendsut of Thomas Macy, who came from England, probably as early as the year 1635, aud certainly not later than 1639. He was one of the first settlers of Saliebury, Mu-a .. was a man of prominence, and the progenitor, perhaps, of all who bear the name of Maty in the United States.

William W. Macy represents the ninth generation. Hie father, Dr. William Macy, owned and operated a steam saw mill st Farmland, and the son was engaged in aseiet- ing him about the mill iruen not attending school, by hauling loge through the woods ; he became an expert in the management of oxen, thie being his favorite branch of labor. At this vocatma, too, and at that youthful age he manifested a zeal and an nnyielding purpose, which have since so prominently characterized his career, both in military and civil 1.je. His winters were spent in attending the public school of his district, and before his studies were interrupted by the war, he had soquired @ fair common school education.

On the 15th of July, 1861, he enlieted as s private eoldier in Company "C," Nineteenth Regiment, Indiana lofantry Volunteers, and was mustered into the service et Indianapolis, on the 29th of the same month. Shortly afterward, and hefore enter- ing the feld, he was promoted to the rank of Fifth Duty Sergeant. Hie regiment arrived at Washington City on the 9th of August, 1861, and was assigned to duty with I ie Army of the Potomac, forming a part of the First Brigade, First Division, First Army Corps. The battle of t'edar Mountain, on the 9th of August, 1862, was the first engagement in which the regiment participated, the preceding year having been passed in the routine of camp life. After this, they had their full share of the "grim labor of war," participating under command of Gen. Pope in the ekirmishes against Stone- wall Jackson along the Rappahannock, and in the battlee of Gainesville, the second Bull Run, Surth Mountain and Antietam. In the last named engagement, Mr. Macy receivert a slight wound in the ecalp, s minie-ball leaving its track across his head. Though painful, it was not serious, and did not unfit him for duty. He took part in the battles of Fredericksburg, December 12 to 15, 1862, his regiment going into win- ter quarters at Belle Plain Lending, on the 18th of the esme month.

On the 26th of April, 1863, he received his commission as First Lieutenant, hav- ing been promoted to that rank during the winter, for meritorious services. He took an active part with his regiment in the campaign of the following. spring, participat- ing in the battles of Fitz Hugh Crossing, April 28; of Chancellorsville, May 3, and of Gettysburg, July 1 to 4, 1863. On the morning of the 3d of July, just about day- break, as he was lying asleep on the ground, he received the second minie-ball wound in the head, this one proving more gerioue than the first, though leaving less of s scar On the Ist of November, 1863, he was detailed to return to Indiana on recruit-

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History of Randolph County, Indiana with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers : to which are appended maps of its several townships, Part 74

Author: Tucker, Ebenezer Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Chicago : A.L. Klingman Number of Pages: 664

Author: Tucker, Ebenezer
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago : A.L. Klingman
Number of Pages: 664