USA > Indiana > Morgan County > The pioneers of Morgan County : memoirs of Noah J. Major > Part 15
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This senatorial district, from 1822 to 1826, was com- posed of the counties of Sullivan, Vigo, Parke, Mont- gomery, Vermillion, Clay, Owen, Putnam, Greene, Hen- dricks, and Morgan, and the senator was John M. Cole- man. Of Mr. Coleman we know nothing personally. He was not a Morgan county man. Indeed, it was sev- eral years before this county had a senator chosen from among her own citizens.
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At this time Greene, Owen, and Morgan counties were grouped together for a representative, and Hugh Barnes, Eli Dickson, and Daniel Harris were chosen in the order written. Of these we know no more than of Senator Coleman, but feel certain that they did not reside in this county.
THOMAS J. MATLOCK.
In 1826 Morgan and Hendricks, and all the country north of Hendricks to the Wabash river, formed a dis- trict, and Thomas J. Matlock was representative. Mr. Matlock was probably a Hendricks county man, as a large and influential family of that name lived in Hen- dricks county sixty years ago, and one, David Matlock, entered land in Clay township, this county, in 1820-'21, but we do not know that he ever made his home there.
JAMES B. GREGORY.
In 1826 the counties of Decatur, Shelby, Johnson, and Morgan formed a district, and James B. Gregory was senator. In 1829 the district was Shelby, Johnson, and Morgan, but in 1830 Decatur was again added, Mr. Greg- ory continuing senator until 1831. James B. Gregory was a son of William Gregory, the patriarch of whom we wrote in a former sketch. There is no record of the Lower House for 1828.
DR. CURTIS GOSS HUSSEY.
In 1827 the counties of Morgan and Hendricks were represented by Dr. Curtis Goss Hussey, and he seems to have been the first citizen of Morgan county chosen as representative. Dr. Hussey added to the practice of medicine, merchandising, pork packing and flatboating.
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He resided for a time in Mooresville, then in Gosport, afterward going to Pittsburgh, where he amassed a for- tune and lived to a ripe old age.
ALEXANDER WORTH.
In 1830 Alexander Worth represented Morgan and Hendricks, and the strip running north to the Wabash river. Mr. Worth came from Washington county where he had been a clerk in Booth & Newby's store, and where he had acquired a good knowledge of the mercantile business. He located in Mooresville about the year 1826, where he bought a large stock of goods for those early times. He also built and operated a woolen factory, which was of great benefit to the people. He was en- gaged in pork packing about the year 1840. In this venture he lost considerable money. He was a useful man to the community and a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal church. In politics he was a Whig.
JOHN W. Cox.
In 1831-'32 Morgan county for the first time was rep- resented singly, John W. Cox being chosen. Mr. Cox was born in Pennsylvania, moved first to Ohio, in 1823 to this county, where he built mills on White river at what is called High Rock, but for many years known as Cox's mills. Mr. Cox was something of a politician as well as millwright ; a pronounced Democrat who always took an interest in elections. In 1846, immediately after the call of President Polk for volunteers, a company was organized in Martinsville for the Mexican War. John W. Cox was chosen captain, but so rapidly was volun- teering going on in the State that the company did not get in, although tendered within thirty days after the call.
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In 1850, a few years after the death of his wife, Mr. Cox sold his property to his son James, and his son-in- law, G. W. Clapper, and went by way of Cape Horn to California to seek a fortune in the gold fields. He died soon after landing in San Francisco. He was an honest and respected man; in religion, a Universalist. He served two terms in the Legislature.
LEVI JESSUP.
In 1831-'32 our county was joined to Hendricks and Boone, and Levi Jessup was senator. Mr. Jessup was probably from Hendricks county, where the Jessups have been prominent citizens for many years.
LEWIS MASTIN.
Lewis Mastin was senator from this district in 1833-'34. Of him we know no more than of Jessup.
GRANT STAFFORD.
Grant Stafford was our representative for 1833-'34, and our senator from 1836 to '40. Mr. Stafford was born in Ohio in the year 1803, and came to Morgan county in 1821 or 1822. According to the best information given, he taught the first school in Brown township. He was twice married, his wives being half-sisters. He was the father of ten or eleven children. He was a successful stock dealer, and owned one of the best farms in the' county. He held other important trusts and offices, be- sides being representative and senator. He was ap- pointed to fill the unexpired term of Treasurer Roberts, after the death of Mr. Roberts in 1852. In those days the collector and treasurer visited different parts of the county in the discharge of his duties. On one of these
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trips an accident occurred which came near ending his career. White river, which formed the north boundary of his farm, was bankfull, and as Mr. Stafford was cross- ing it, the ferryboat, by some mishap, began sinking. When the water reached the saddleskirts, his famous saddle mare stepped out of the boat in water ten feet deep. As she went out Mr. Stafford grabbed at her mane and both went to the bottom in an instant. But the mare popped up like a cork and started for the bank in gallant style, Mr. Stafford clinging to her mane. His son Wiley started to swim ashore, but seeing the saddlebags, which contained valuable papers, floating off, turned and swam after them and brought them to shore. Manuel, another son, pulled himself to the bank by the ferry rope. After all were safe on terra firma, though wet, muddy, and shivering with cold, Mr. Stafford patted his mare on the neck and said, "Now nothing but grim death shall ever separate you from me." And so it was. Nothing would have induced him to part with the plucky little mare that had saved his life.
Mr. Stafford was a Whig, and at one election suc- ceeded by just two votes-his opponent being John W. Cox. He suddenly died about the year 1853, leaving a good estate to his wife and children. He and wife were members of the Christian church, and first-class pioneers, whose farm and abiding place was in the extreme north- east corner of Washington township.
WILLIAM H. CRAIG.
Our representative in 1835 was William H. Craig. The Craig brothers were among the first settlers in the county. William H. was elected sheriff in 1830, and again in 1837. He resided in and near Martinsville, and was a merchant, farmer, stock dealer, pork packer, and
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flatboatman as well as politician. Mr. Craig was by nature an intellectual man. He had a common-school education, which he very much improved by historical reading. He was what some people call peculiar. He cared little for amusements. I never saw him with a gun, a fishing-rod, or a pointer dog; never knew him to read a novel, or go to a play-party or a "shindig." Yet he very much enjoyed a social chat in the company of friends. He was correct and punctual in his business, reducing everything of importance to writing, and carry- ing his high hat full of memoranda. He was almost painfully correct in his manner of speech.
He was four times married. His first wife was Miss Whitaker, who died in a year or two, leaving a little daughter, who, at an early age, became the wife of the late Clement C. Nutter. His second wife was Miss Gray, who also died in early life, leaving two small children. The third wife was Miss Burton, who at her death left three little ones. The fourth wife was Mrs. Isabelle Clark, a widow with six children. In due time three more were added to the foregoing group, making nine of his own, among whom there was but one son, James Craig.
There was a period in Mr. Craig's life, principally through his own action, when his feet well-nigh slipped from under him. He was greatly embarrassed with debts ; however, through heroic efforts he overcame all losses and crosses, and died in 1862, leaving a good prop- erty to his fourth wife and all his children. He was a Kentuckian, a Whig and, later on, a Republican, a mem- ber of the Christian church and the Sons of Temperance, to whom he owed much for the recovery of his once lost position.
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HIRAM MATTHEWS.
In 1836 Hiram Matthews represented Morgan county. He came from North Carolina about the year 1820. He was in at the county's organization and was one of the four justices of the peace elected in the beginning and commissioned by Governor Jennings, May 22, 1822. From this time on Mr. Matthews was associated with the county and township affairs almost to the day of his death. As executor and administrator he settled many estates and was often guardian. He was a man to be fully trusted at all times, under all conditions. He was of a sedate turn of mind, generally keeping his own counsel. He made agriculture his principal business, and his farm three miles south of Mooresville is still known as the "Judge Matthews Place." He was twice married and brought up a family greatly respected. He was a Whig, a Republican, and a valuable citizen. He lived to the ripe age of eighty-three years.
DR. JOHN SIMS.
In the year 1837, Dr. John Sims was elected to the Lower House of the General Assembly, having prior to that time served as county treasurer. He was an honest and efficient officer. Dr. Sims was not a politician ; the bent of his mind was in another direction. Up to his time no man in our county had a more checkered career than he. He was from New Jersey, where he had ac- quired a good education and received a medical diploma. If not the very first, he was among the first educated physicians to practice in this county. He came to Mar- tinsville in 1823 and at once stepped into a good practice. The same year he began to keep tavern; also a general store, on a small scale, to which he added a larger stock
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of goods each succeeding year. He soon had a tanyard going, then bought the Graham yard and ran both of them.
In 1829, he was in partnership with a Mr. Drake in the mercantile business, but he soon cut loose from him, preferring both to steer and paddle his own canoe. At that time, he was also buying land and farming on a large scale. He owned most of the ground from the west border of the town to White river, on which he produced large quantities of corn, oats, and hay, feeding it to hogs, cattle, and mules, with good profit. He also had a porkhouse, and bought and packed thousands of hogs, sending the produce in flatboats to New Orleans.
The boom of '36-'37, born of the Internal Improve- ment System, caused him to branch out still far- ther, so that when the crash came and lowered property values 50 per cent. his assets were not half equal to his liabilities. He tried to stem the tide by borrowing money. His credit had always been good and his busi- ness transactions straight, consequently he had plenty of good indorsers who believed in his ability to weather the storm if reasonable time were given. But in March, 1843, he suddenly sickened and died, leaving his business in a chaotic state. At the time of his death his son Henry was on the way to New Orleans with a boatload of pork. As there were judgments in court hanging over him, it was said that he in some way transferred the boat and lading to his son to prevent levying on the cargo. When his son returned, he refused to turn over any part of the proceeds.
Dr. H. R. Stevens, Grant Stafford, William A. Major, and Jonathan Williams, four of the heaviest indorsers in the bank, were appointed administrators. They brought suit against Henry for the value of the load of pork, but were finally beaten, and, it was said, the estate
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lost $5,000. The estate went into court in 1843 and lin- gered there for ten years before final settlement. The inventory is the largest on record in the Morgan circuit or probate courts. After ten years of grinding between the upper and nether millstones of courts, lawyers, and litigants, a 28 per cent. dividend was declared and the books closed.
Dr. Sims came to Martinsville with little more than his good young wife and three small children. He had no bad habits, was industrious and frugal, and soon came to be one of the leading men of the south half of the county. Near the close of his life he and his wife became mem- bers of the Christian church. Politically he was a Whig, though politics with him was a matter of secondary consideration.
His wife, Mrs. Ann Sims, lived many years after the death of her husband, highly esteemed and well beloved by all who became familiarly acquainted with her. Two of their children, Calvin F., and Mrs. Sylvanus Barnard, are still living in Martinsville, where they were born. Others of their descendants are in the Far West. The doctor and his faithful wife sleep side by side in Hill Dale Cemetery.
JONATHAN WILLIAMS.
In 1838 Jonathan Williams, Sr., was elected to the Lower House. Here is an instance of two large and influential farmers of different political parties, and whose farms joined, holding seats in the General Assem- bly at the same time, Mr. Stafford as senator and Mr. Williams as representative.
Mr. Williams came to the county in 1820 and was a prominent man from the beginning. He was appointed to fill a vacancy on the board of commissioners in 1822,
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was elected sheriff in 1834 and again in 1836. He also had the mail and stage route from Indianapolis to Bloom- ington during the thirties. He was a man of determined will, backed by great energy; a successful farmer and stock raiser, and a good log-roller in the woods, or in politics.
He was born in Tennessee, February 17, 1795, and died September 15, 1845, in the prime of life, leaving a wife and eight children, with a large and well-stocked farm, free of incumbrance.
He was a soldier under General Jackson, and gloried in the election and re-election of that famous old "war horse." Only two of his children are now living-Will- iam and John-and they have resided in the county con- tinuously for eighty years.
JOHN ECCLES.
John Eccles, who represented the people of Morgan county in 1839, was a lawyer. He was the second attor- ney to locate in Martinsville, and the first to gain a seat in the Legislature. He was among the first to stump the county in the interest of elections. He was the State's attorney for one or two terms in the thirties, but was not a very great terror to the evil-doers, inasmuch as most of his indictments were quashed and but few con- victions were had during his official career. He did bet- ter in the justice's court, where he had no one but Benjamin Bull, the other local lawyer, to contend with.
Mr. Eccles and his two sons-in-law, Drs. Huff and Matheny, came to Martinsville from Nashville, Brown county, but were originally from Kentucky. Mr. Eccles moved away early in the forties, leaving the impression that he was as honest and sincere as he knew how to be.
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In this he stood at the head of his profession. He was a Methodist and Democrat-a thing common in those days, but rare enough now.
PERRY M. BLANKENSHIP.
Our representative in 1840 was Perry M. Blankenship, who sprang into notoriety that year when the Whigs were looking for a mouthpiece to stand as the candidate of the party. They were fortunate in their selection, for young Blankenship proved to be a good expounder of "Whiggery," a ready speaker and debater, and a fairly good "mixer," as it is called to-day. He was a charter member and elder of the Christian church at Martins- ville, and here he began his career as a public speaker, his first effort being made in old Brother McNaught's dwelling house one hot summer afternoon at 4 o'clock. He was not a little embarrassed, for news of the appoint- ment went throughout the neighborhood, about three miles north of Martinsville, and filled the old log cabin from wall to wall with men, women, and crying babies, curious-all but the babies-to hear what "this young babbler" would say. His effort was not a success and none present felt it more keenly than himself; but the four years intervening between this and his nomination had wrought a marvelous change in his ability as a speaker.
Elder Blankenship was somewhat handicapped because many people expressed the opinion that ministers had better be fenced in their pulpits and not allowed to trail their ecclesiastical robes in the slimepit of politics where mud-slingers had free tickets. But Elder Blankenship was not a man to take fright at bogies. He was ambi- tious and went in to win, and whatever he did he did
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with all his might. He was a man of whom it might truly be said: "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." He was frank and open at all times and harbored no secrets.
A man of his makeup cannot be neutral in anything, even if he wishes to be; hence, as the slavery question became more and more intensified, he became more interested in national affairs and took part, though not as a candidate, in almost every campaign so long as his health permitted. Perhaps his most notable speech was made on the public square in 1856, in answer to Colonel May, who was stumping the State for Buchanan.
It was in August and he was in his shirt sleeves, all dirty and begrimed with sawmill grease and road dust, for he had just driven an ox team and heavily laden wagon from Paragon, where he then lived and owned a sawmill. He went to the speaker's stand in time to hear most of the Colonel's speech, but not, I think, with the intention of replying. There were several new-fledged Republicans present, and when Colonel May concluded they began to yell for Blankenship. He leaned his long- handled ox whip and lash against a shade tree and mounted the box in hot haste, all accoutered, as it were, in his unbleached cotton shirt and linen jeans trousers ; and from the way he fired into the Colonel, one would judge that he was heavier loaded than his ox wagon. I will not say who got the worst of it in that war of words, but could, if I would, tell who got mad first and stayed mad the longest.
When the Civil War began and President Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers, Blankenship attended the first or second meeting in Martinsville and made one of his characteristic war speeches for the encouragement
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of enlistment, and this he frequently did until the close of hostilities.
One forenoon in August, 1861, he came riding into town at the head of a procession of about thirty wagons and forty or fifty horsemen, mostly from Ray township, the object being to raise a company of volunteers "on the double quick." He was commissioned major of the Seventy-ninth Regiment, but did not serve long in that capacity.
After the war was over he engaged in the real estate business at Indianapolis. His first venture proved profit- able enough, being on a small scale and before the bubble burst. His second deal proved most disastrous, involv- ing him hopelessly in debt, against which he struggled until the close of his life.
He was born in Jennings county, Indiana, December 6, 1811. His parents died while he was quite young, and he was apprenticed to John B. New, father of John C. New, to learn the trade of cabinetmaker. His first marriage, which was to Miss Boner, occurred when he was nine- teen years of age and his bride, seventeen. Soon after this event he came to Martinsville, where his wife died in 1843, leaving him with three small children. His sec- ond marriage was to Miss Basheba Hodges, daughter of the late Philip Hodges. To them were born eight or nine children most of whom continue to reside in the county-notably, Quincy A. Blankenship, our repre- sentative in 1897-'99.
Mr. Blankenship was cabinetmaker, minister, contrac- tor and builder, sawmill man, farmer, and stock feeder. In the '40's he was the best known minister and revival- ist of the Christian church in the county. He died at his old home in Paragon, March 11, 1880, surrounded by wife and chilldren. He sweetly sleeps beneath the gran-
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ite shaft erected to his memory in Hill Dale Cemetery. The Perry M. Blankenship Post of the Grand Army of the Republic, was named in honor of this distinguished "old settler."
PARMINTER M. PARKS.
Parminter M. Parks followed Grant Stafford as sena- tor in 1841, and was twice re-elected, serving six con- secutive years. The Democratic party of Morgan has had few men the equal and none the superior of Mr. Parks as a pillar of democracy. His popularity as a politician did not lie in his ability as an orator, though he was an average good "stumper" for his time, but in his personality. He made and kept friends wherever he went, seemingly without effort. He was a prudent man and studied men and things in their relation to each other to a degree that enabled him to form a correct judgment. He was seldom deceived and never more than once by the same individual. His success as a business man has never been surpassed in Martinsville.
It was as a merchant and trader that he appeared at his best, and this was undoubtedly his calling. He was swung into politics by the party because he was a proper man, and not that he desired to engage in statecraft. He came to Martinsville in 1835 with not more than a thousand dollars in capital and began merchandizing. A great commercial crash was just a little ahead of him, but not yet in sight of the shrewdest trader. His first deal in pork was, I think, to the amount of $800 worth of hams, bought of William A. Major in 1836. This venture lost him some money but he perhaps gained an equivalent in experience. He was one of the few men in Morgan county doing much business in 1840, whose credit stood at par during the whole storm and whose
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obligations were promptly met. From this time on to the close of his life his financial success was all that ought to be desired.
In company with his brother-in-law, Milton Hite, he combined pork packing, farming, and flatboating with their general store business, handling thousands of dol- lars' worth of goods every year. In 1860 they established the first bank in the county, with $50,000 capital, under the Indiana banking law. Mr. Parks was president and James Deakin cashier. In 1865 this was merged in the present First National Bank, with Mr. Parks, president ; M. Hite, vice-president, and H. Satterwhite, cashier. As a business man Mr. Parks was well known beyond the confines of his own county. He was a prominent man in the State, and his advice was often sought by those in official position on questions of State finance. Besides being State senator, he held at various times positions of trust and honor. In politics he was a conservative Democrat, supporting Mr. Douglas in 1860. As he was opposed to secession, he stood by the administration in its endeavor to perpetuate the Union, but he never affiliated with the Republican party for party purposes.
Mr. Parks was born in North Carolina in 1807, and was a son of the late James Parks, who walked about the streets of Martinsville after he had passed his one hundredth birthday. James Parks came to Indiana in 1814, and to Monroe county in 1816, where young Parks remained until he came to Martinsville. At about the age of twenty-two years, Parminter M. Parks was joined in marriage to Miss Lucinda Hite, sister of Mil- ton Hite, Sr. To them were born nine children, seven of whom lived to adult age. Four are yet living and are residents of the city of their birth. Mr. Parks was a lover of music, and soon after his arrival in Martins-
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ville was engaged, Sunday afternoons, in leading an old- fashioned singing school in the old courthouse, using the Missouri Harmony as a textbook. He bought for his daughter Marietta (now Mrs. Simpson) the first piano ever shipped to Martinsville, and, I think, the first in the county.
Mr. Parks and wife were members of the Christian church, Mrs. Parks becoming a member soon after its organization and taking great interest in the discussions that took place at that time between the so-called "Camp- bellites" and their opponents. She was an unusually intellectual woman and soon became throughly con- versant with the arguments used by the "Reformation," and hurled them at the heads of the heresy hunters of Martinsville, with the nicest precision. Mr. Parks was one of the most substantial members of the organiza- tion, a regular attendant, and liberal contributor. His interest in and love for the cause was shown in his bequest of $5,000 to the church, the interest of which was to be used in payment of ministerial salaries. But in 1870 the church wrangled itself into great disorder over the choice of a pastor, and the Parks heirs, suppos- ing the church had gone to pieces, brought suit in court to set aside so much of their father's will as related to this endowment. The church refused or neglected to set up any defense against this proceeding, and judgment went by default.
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