USA > Indiana > Wayne County > Richmond > Memoirs of Wayne County and the city of Richmond, Indiana; from the earliest historical times down to the present, including a genealogical and biographical record of representative families in Wayne County, Volume II Pt II > Part 6
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John Macy .- The first record of the Macy family in America was at Newbury, Mass., in 1639, when Thomas Macy was made a freeman. He and his wife, Sarah Hopcott, came originally from Chilmark, England, and settled at Newbury, Mass., in 1631. In 1639 Salisbury, Mass., was founded by them and others. Thomas Macy was an extensive planter and merchant and of much im- portance in the settlement. He was a Baptist in his religious faith and often exhorted the people when the regular pastor was away. Many laws were passed designed to prohibit exhorters of all faiths, except the Puritan, in Massachusetts, during the years 1656-57, and among those thus proscribed was Thomas Macy. Laws were also passed requiring all Baptists and members of other denomina- tions to attend the Puritan churches, but Thomas Macy and other Baptists did not obey and he was eventually fined five shillings for cach absence. In 1659, with nine others, he purchased Nantucket Island, and in the same year was fined thirty shillings by the Gen- eral Court for sheltering four Quakers. In the fall of that year, with his wife and five children, he removed to Nantucket Island, and they were the first white settlers to locate there among the friendly Indians. (See Whittier's poem, "The Exiles.") Thomas Macy's life there as a fisherman was long and useful, and he died in 1682, at the age of seventy-four years, his wife following him in death in 1694, at the age of eighty-four years. Of their union were born seven children, the sixth in order of birth being John Macy, born July 14, 1655, and died Oct. 14, 1691. He married Nantucket Deborah Gardner and the eldest of their eight children was Jolin Macy, born in 1675 and died in 1751. He married Judith Worth and they joined the Society of Friends in 1711, being the first of the Macys to become Quakers. He was a ship builder by occu- pation and he and his wife were the great-great-grandparents of Edwin M. Stanton, who served as secretary of war in President Lincoln's cabinet. To John and Judith (Worth) Macy were born thirteen children and their eighth child was John, born at Nan- tucket, Dec. II, 1721, and died at New Garden, N. C., in 1796. Hle married Eunice Coleman and in 1761 removed to New Garden, N. C. They were the parents of fourteen children, the ninth in order
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of birth being Berechiah, born at Nantucket, Feb. 24, 1760. He married Lucinda Barnard at New Garden, N. C., March 20, 1783, and moved to Lost Creek, Tenn., in 1802. From that place he re- moved to Economy, Ind., and died on a farm near Economy, Ang. 27, 1832. Ile and his wife became the parents of eleven children, among whom Isaac, father of John, was ninth in order of birth. Lucinda Barnard was a native of North Carolina, the eldest of nine children born to Benjamin and Eunice ( Fitch) Barnard, who had removed to the Old North State in 1764. Isaac Macy was a wood workman and had a shop on his farm, where he stocked plows and made farm wagons complete. With a wood turning-lathe he made the hub and spokes for the wheels of the wagons and also a few carriages that were in demand in the 'qos. Ile was a good penman and was one of the assessors of Wayne county before Dalton town- ship was organized. He did much in the way of writing wills and deeds in his neighborhood. He was an Abolitionist, believing it right to aid the slave in gaining his freedom by fleeing to Canada. The maternal grandparents of John Macy were Henry and Ann (Maulsby ) Thornburgh. Ann Maulsby was born, in 1771, in Penn- sylvania, and in 1777 moved with her parents to Maryland, later to Virginia, and still later to Tennessee. She married Henry Thornburgh at Lost Creek, Tenn., and in 1819 they removed to Wayne county, settling on West river, in Dalton township, where they purchased government land at $1.25 per acre. She was known as "Aunt Nancy" and was a gentle and kind Quaker woman, doing considerable millinery work in the making of Quaker bonnets. She and her husband lived together sixty-eight years, until his death, Aug. 11, 1862, and she afterward removed to Iowa, where she died in 1867 at the age of ninety-six years. The husband, Ilenry Thorn- burgh, was born in North Carolina, May 25, 1773, a son of Ilenry and Rachel (Moon) Thornburgh, who were married in 1758 at New Garden, N. C. The former was a son of Walter Thornburgh and died at Lost Creek, Tenn., in 1789. Eleanor (Thornburgh) Macy, mother of John Macy, was fifteen years old when she came with her parents from Tennessee to Wayne county, Indiana. She often talked to her children about the long trip in wagons and of crossing the Ohio river at Cincinnati, then a small town. She lived on the same farm sixty-eight years. She and her husband were pioneers in the Springfield Monthly Meeting of Friends. She was devoted to the education of her family of nine children in all that was noble to a true character. The greatest trial of her life was during the Civil war, when three of her sons responded to their country's call and the youngest, Henry B., a lad of eighteen years, was mortally wounded at the battle of Franklin, Tenn., and a few weeks later was brought home a corpse. Isaac and Eleanor (Thornburgh) Macy were married April 5, 1825, and removed to the present farm of their son, John, in 1826, remaining on this land the residue of their lives, the father's death occurring Dec. 16, 1847, and the mother's on Feb. 10, 1894. They were the parents of nine children : Lydia Ann, born Jan. 4, 1826, first married William Good and after his death Edward Starbuck, and she died March 27,
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1863, the mother of two children by her first marriage-Lawrence P. and Macy-both deceased; Lewis, born Feb. 10, 1828, married Eliza Petro and died Sept. 10, 1879, the father of two children -- George J., of Columbus, Ohio, and John S., of Indianapolis, Ind .; Elvira, born May 6, 1830, is the widow of Thomas Marshall and re- sides in Economy, the mother of two children-Ellsworth and Ella ; Jesse W., born June 7, 1832, resides near Galveston, Tex., is mar- ried to Emma Osborn and they have two children-Lulu and Iona ; Irena, born March 21, 1836, died Feb. 6, 1861; William T., born Jan. 19, 1839, in the newspaper business at North Manchester, Ind., married Eva Guinther and they have a daughter, Emma; John is the next in order of birth ; Sylvanus, born Nov. 18, 1843, a veteran of the Civil war in the same regiment with his brother, John, and for twenty years connected with the Allen Pinkerton detective force, lived with his brother, John, and died there March 27, 1911; and Henry B., born Feb. 14, 1846, was wounded in the battle of Franklin, Tenn., and died in an army hospital about Feb. 12, 1865. John Macy was born on the farm where he now resides, May 8, 1841. His boyhood days were spent on the farm and at school age he spent three winter months each year in the district school. His father died in the winter of 1847, leaving the widow and a family of nine children-six sons and three daughters. At the age of seventeen years John was encouraged by his older brother, Jesse, to attend a graded school at Whitewater, nine miles north of Richmond. One of the inducements to country students was that they would have an opportunity to cut cord wood on Satur- days to pay their tuition. After attending this school a term of twelve weeks a similar school was started at Economy by Thomas Charles, a late graduate of Horace Mann's college in Ohio. This school being nearer home, Mr. Macy spent one term there and was then sufficiently qualified, at the age of nineteen, to teach a district school. In 1862 he enlisted as a soldier in Company D of the Sixty- ninth Indiana infantry for service in the Civil war. In speaking of his military career Mr. Macy gave to the writer of this review the following statement : "Company D of the Sixty-ninth Indiana infantry was composed of men living in the town and neighborhood of Economy, Wayne county, and in and around Huntsville, Ran- dolph county. They volunteered under the call of 1862, when a wave of patriotism swept over the Northern States. Father and son, two and three brothers of the same family, offered their serv- ices. Fourteen sets of brothers were in this company, and only one pair-William and Thomas W. Botkin, of Huntsville, remained to- gether and were mustered out at the end of the war, the others being separated by death, discharge, or other causes. We were mustered into the United States service, 100 strong, Aug. 19, 1862, and were attached to the Sixty-ninth regiment of Indiana volun- teers. Myself and brother, Sylvanus, were members of this com- pany. The regiment was ordered to Indianapolis, immediately equipped with arms and clothing, and, without any drill whatever, was sent to the front. On Aug. 30, after eleven days' service as Yankee soldiers, we met the enemy in deadly array. Kirby Smith,
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with an army of 30,000, was advancing through Kentucky, headed toward Cincinnati. We were assigned to General Manson's bri- gade. Our forces, all told, amounted to 7,000 and we met the enemy in an all-day battle near Richmond, Ky., making three different stands during the day, but were overpowered and cut to pieces. Our regiment's loss in killed and wounded was twenty per cent. of the number engaged in the battle and over two-thirds of the number were taken prisoners. We were paroled and allowed to return home. We reorganized at Richmond and drilled until we were properly exchanged. I now recall my thoughts as a boy of nineteen on the farm. The only idea I had of the people south of Mason and Dixon's line was what we got by reading "Uncle Tom's Cabin,' and from early childhood we were taught the sad story of 4,000,000 slaves held as property by cruel men of the South. Furthermore, we, the young men of the North, were confronted with this propo- sition : Shall we stand by our Government by taking up arms to maintain our forefathers' principles of freedom, or submit to South- ern rule and the extension of slavery to all our new territory ? With six boys in our family, three of us-myself, Sylvanus, and Henry-volunteered on this proposition. In our reorganization Governor Morton sent us Col. T. W. Bennett, who had seen serv- ice in the Thirty-sixth Indiana infantry as major. I well remem- ber the first week he was with us. He ordered all non-commis- sioned officers to meet him in a private lecture, and he said he would not take a lieutenant from one company and make him cap- tain in another, as he believed, among the non-commissioned offi- cers of each company there was plenty of material from which to make commissioned officers. This was a ray of hope and we got busy. We had to study, as we were in a new school. We had to lay aside our high school books and take up 'Hardee's War Tac- tics,' and the ambitious sergeant or corporal could be seen at old Camp Wayne on the frosty mornings in November, 1862, soon after the roll call, with a drill squad, and with book in hand, teaching the manual of arms. About Nov. I the news reached Camp Wayne that we had been exchanged, and we were hurried down to the Mis- sissippi river by the way of Indianapolis and Cairo, Ill., and then by boat to Memphis, Tenn., where we were assigned to the Thir- teenth corps. We took part in Sherman's Yazoo expedition, which was a failure, and then, in January, 1863, were with Sherman in his attack on Fort Ilindman, on the Arkansas river. This was quite a success, resulting in the capture of the Confederate force of 5,000 men. At this point Gen. P. J. Osterhaus took command of our division and was our commander throughout the Vicksburg campaign and until August, 1863. Just about this time General Grant conceived the idea of passing Vicksburg by the west coast of the river; so we were moved down to Young's Point, La., in the lowlands opposite Vicksburg, and the whole army was put on police duty to cut a canal across the country and make a safe pas- sage for our fleet past Vicksburg. The Sixty-ninth did its share of excavating, but the effort was a failure. While we were encamped here for six weeks we lost by death thirty men. We were removed.
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from these lowlands up the river to Milliken's Bend. About this time in the history of our regiment Oran Perry was promoted from adjutant to lieutenant-colonel. The captain of our company-John Ross-and Second Lieutenant Jackson had resigned, and our first lieutenant, S. J. Miller, was made captain. I was promoted from second sergeant to first lieutenant, James N. Cropper was made second lieutenant, and many other changes were made in different companies. During the winter there had been several attempts to find a foothold in the rear of Vicksburg, on the east side of the river, without success, which determined General Grant to try his fortunes by the way of the west bank of the river. The flood was still at its height, the bayous were over their banks for miles, all known roads were out of sight, and the prospect of finding a route without a very wide detour to the west seemed extremely doubtful. The experiment had to be made, nevertheless, and it is the especial pride of the Sixty-ninth that it was chosen for the work and that it was successful in every particular. Under the command of Gen- eral Osterhaus a way was found, and with the Sixty-ninth in ad- vance the army followed the west bank down to Perkins' planta- tion. The Federal gunboats and transports succeeded in running the blockade, thus providing sufficient transportation for the move- ment General Grant had in mind. On April 28 the Thirteenth corps embarked on transports and followed the gunboats to the vicinity of Grand Gulf, where it watched the bombardment by the gun- boats until nightfall, when the infantry disembarked and marched across the neck of land to Hard Times, where it met the gunboats and transports again and was ferried over the river to Bruinsburg on the afternoon of April 30. Marching all night with the rest of the division to gain the high land back of the river, the Sixty- ninth was one of the first to engage in the battle of Port Gibson. In this battle the regiment was in the closest situation of its entire career. For an hour it engaged the enemy at close range, being separated by the brow of a small hill, and after the battle the dead of each side lay but 200 feet apart. The regiment lost about seventy- five in killed and wounded and sixteen were buried on the battle- field in one grave. Following this battle the regiment was engaged at Champion's Hill, Black River Bridge, and the two unsuccessful assaults at Vicksburg. A few days after the beginning of the siege, on May 23, the regiment was ordered back to Black river and for the next six weeks did strenuous duty along its banks, until the fall of Vicksburg, July 4. It then assisted in the pursuit of John- ston back to Jackson, taking part in all the actions that occurred, and performed efficient service in the siege of that place. Leaving Jackson, July 21, 1863, the regiment returned to Vicksburg. The city having fallen, under orders from General Grant, not to exceed four enlisted men from each company were given a leave of ab- sence and officers were also given a furlough, with the provision that at least one commissioned officer must remain with each com- pany. Various plans were followed in the different companies to select the four favored ones, but in Company D we settled, the matter by selecting the four oldest married men. As Captain
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Miller had been wounded and Second Lieutenant Cropper had been taken prisoner, there was no furlough in sight for me, as I was the only commissioned officer left with the company. The last cam- paign of the regiment was in 1865. Having been reduced in num- bers, the regiment had been consolidated into a battalion of four companies on Jan. 31, of that year. It was assigned to the Second division, commanded by Gen. C. C. Andrews, and I was detailed as ordinance officer on General Andrews' staff. The division left Pen- sacola, Fla., March 20, marching through Florida to Pollard, Ala., thence westward to the Alabama river, joining the main army at Blakeley on April 1. On this march I had charge of the ammuni- tion train, which consisted of ten goverment wagons-six mules to each wagon-and each wagon loaded to the bows with ammuni- tion. The quartermaster's train followed. It was in the spring of the year, and the sandy, water-soaked soil was covered by a thin sod which easily gave way under weight, and this made progress slow and very difficult. Frequently the army was compelled to wait until the wagon trains came up with them. To end the siege of Blakeley an assault on the works was ordered for April 9, which took place at 5:30 p. m., participated in by all of the Federal troops, resulting in the capture of the defenses of Mobile and of the troops defending them, together with all of the material for war. It occurred on the day of Lee's surrender and was virtually the last battle of the war. The Sixty-ninth was mustered out on July 5, 1865." Immediately after the close of the war Mr. Macy was employed by T. E. and B. W. Clark, drygoods merchants of Econ- omy, and remained with them one year. He then sold goods for himself in Indianapolis two years, at the end of which time he re- turned to Economy and taught school one year, it being the first school in the first brick school-house on the present school-house site. This was in the winter of 1868-69, and about 1870 he was induced to buy the old homestead, and for five years he and his aged mother kept house, with the aid of the faithful hired hand, Willie Leavell, Mr. Macy teaching school in winter and Mr. Leavell caring for the stock. On Sept. 28, 1876, he was married to Anna Luella Wiggins, of Richmond, a late teacher in the Economy pub- lie schools, and this proved a most happy union. For three years Mr. Macy engaged extensively in the live stock business'and lived in Hagerstown, his brother, Lewis, living with the mother on the farm. In the autumn of 1879 he and his family returned to the farm and have made it their home until the present writing. At the fall election of 1888 Mr. Macy was elected commissioner for the western district of Wayne county and commenced his term of office, Jan. 1, 1890. Ile was a member of the board during the building of the present court house. As his sons grew into man- hood he has given all his time to farming, and has not been slow to adopt new methods in the progress of up-to-date farming. And with the opportunities afforded by the general prosperity of our country he has added more acres to the old farm, and the old log house has been replaced with a more modern farm residence. More than 500 sugar trees are yet standing on the old "Sugar Camp
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Farm," and with the improved evaporator maple syrup is one of the products of the farm. Being of Quaker ancestry, Mr. Macy and his wife, since making their home on the farm, have always attended the Friends' Meeting and are now with their children members of the Economy Friends' Meeting. Mrs. Macy was born March 26, 1857, and is a woman of lovable character and charitable traits. To her and her husband were born five children: Harry Burr, born Aug. 10, 1877, has a farm adjoining that of his father, married Lillian Parker, of Economy, and they have a child, Lois; Frank Wiggins, born Nov. 29, 1879, graduated at Purdue Univer- sity with the class of 1906, is a civil engineer on the Pennsylvania railroad, located at Pittsburgh, Pa., married Jennie Williams, of Economy, and they have a son, Burr Williams; Lawrence Good, born Aug. 27, 1884, graduated in the agricultural course at Purdue University with the class of 1912; Byram Robbins, born June 9, 1888, graduated at the Hagerstown High School with the class of 1910 and resides at the parental home; and Philemon Forrest is a student in the same school with the class of 1912. The parents of Mrs. Macy were Philemon F. and Mary (Burr) Wiggins, of Rich- mond, the former a native of Jericho, Long Island, born Sept. 16, 1826, and the latter of Hamilton county, Ohio, born March 31, 1828, the fourth child of the family. Philemon F. Wiggins came with his parents to Richmond in 1833 (see sketch of Stephen R. Wig- gins). He was a blacksmith by trade, but later engaged in the meat business in Richmond and became well known and prominent. His business methods were such as to win him hosts of friends and he ever had the regard of his fellow men. He served as quar- termaster of the Thirty-sixth Indiana infantry in the Civil war, be- ing promoted to division quartermaster under General Nelson, and was mustered out in 1865. He was a member of the Presbyterian church. His death occurred Sept. 22, 1874, and the tribute paid to him by his friends was significant of the esteem and veneration in which he was held. He was twice married; first on March I, 1848, to Mary Burr, daughter of William and Phoebe (Brown) Burr, of Hamilton county, Ohio. She departed this life Oct. 10, 1865, and after her death Mr. Wiggins married Henrietta M. Mc- Cullough, Sept. 22, 1870.
Oscar Aaron Brown, a resident of Wayne county since his birth, was born in Dalton township, this county, March 27, 1865, son of Samuel H. and Margaret Ann (Fouts) Brown. The paternal grandparents were David and Maria (Knode) Brown. David Brown came from Washington county, Maryland, to Wayne coun- ty, Indiana, and settled north of Hagerstown, engaged in farming the residue of his life and passed away Nov. 13, 1890. (See sketch of Adam Rowe.) The maternal grandparents of Oscar A. Brown were Jesse and Sarah (Staller) Fouts, the former a native of Preble county, Ohio, his parents having migrated there from the Carolinas; and the latter was a native of Pennsylvania, coming thence to Ohio with her parents, and in that State met and mar- ried Jesse Fouts. After their marriage they came to Wayne county and located on Martindale creek, in Jefferson township, but later
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removed to Dalton township, settling on the farm which is now the home of their grandson, Oscar A. Brown. There they resided the residue of their lives, the grandfather dying July 15, 1892, at the age of eighty-one years, and the grandmother passed away Feb. 27, 1897, at the age of ninety-three years. They were the parents of two children : Mary A. is the widow of Ellwood Thornburg and resides in Jefferson township, and Margaret Ann is the mother of Oscar A. Brown. Samuel Harrison Brown, father of Oscar A., was born in Maryland, Jan. 22, 1840, and was about ten years old when his parents came to Wayne county. Ile was educated in the district schools in Maryland and in Wayne county, and assisted his father until twenty-one years old, after which he worked for others for a number of years. After his marriage, which occurred Feb. 3, 1863, he located on the farm of his father-in-law in Dalton town- ship. This remained his home the residue of his, life, his death occurring Aug. 3, 1892, and his widow resides with her daughter, Mrs. Dr. Stotelmyer. Two children were born to these parents- Oscar A., and Sarah Alma, born Aug. 12, 1870, wife of Dr. Charles I. Stotelmyer (see sketch). Oscar A. Brown received his elemen- tary education in the district schools of Dalton township and worked on the farm with his father until the death of that parent, after which he managed the farm and his grandfather's estate sev- eral years. Ile purchased the interest of the other heirs in 150 acres, his present homestead, and has since been most successfully and lucratively engaged in his calling. In the matter of politics he has been allied with the Democratic party since becoming a voter. On Feb. 14, 1884, Mr. Brown married Miss Allie Ulrich, daughter of George and Catherine (McSherley) Ulrich, of Henry county, where Mrs. Brown was born Sept. 19, 1865. Of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Brown there is a daughter, Ruth Irene, born Dec. 14, 1895. Mr. and Mrs. Brown are members of the Church of the Brethren, otherwise known as the Dunkard or German Baptist Church. The paternal great-grandfather of Mrs. Brown was John Ulrich, a native of Germany. He came to America when a young man and located at Roaring Springs, Pa., where he married and lived the greater part of his life. He was twice married and by the first union had four sons and two daughters-Daniel, John, Elizabeth, Jacob, Christian, and David. The second son, John, grandfather of Mrs. Brown, was born and reared in Pennsylvania and was united in marriage to Catherine Teeter. Ile came to In- diana with his father in an early day and together they purchased 1,600 acres of land near Hagerstown, the place then being but a collection of log cabins. John Ulrich resided in Wayne county until the Pennsylvania railroad was completed and then sold out and moved to Henry county, upon the farm of 184 acres now owned by George Ulrich, father of Mrs. Brown. There he resided the re- mainder of his life, dying in 1865 at the age of sixty-two years. To him and his good wife were born eleven children-Daniel, Han- nah, John, Christian, Elizabeth, Barbara, Mary, Jacob, David, George, and Martin T. George Ulrich, father of Mrs. Brown, was born in Wayne county, Nov. 23, 1840. Ile was educated in the
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