USA > Indiana > Morgan County > The pioneers of Morgan County : memoirs of Noah J. Major > Part 18
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In 1874 Mr. Henderson was elected State Auditor and re-elected in 1876. During those campaigns he was most of the time "in the saddle," and left nothing undone that would contribute to the success of his party. Perhaps the Democratic party in Indiana was never more healthy or
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better organized than when he was chairman of the State Central Committee, to which position he was chosen in 1884 and again in 1886. In 1887 he was appointed deputy com- missioner of internal revenue, which office he held until the close of President Cleveland's first term. He has always been a farmer as well as a politician, sometimes on a large scale.
In 1873, he, in company with T. H. Parks and W. R. Harrison, built and equipped the largest and most up-to- date porkhouse ever in or near Martinsville. It stood on the ground now occupied by the woodenware factory. It had a capacity of several hundred hogs per day. It was a good thing for the farmers nearby-much better than for the owners, as the sequel proved. They ran it for about ten seasons, during the winter only, when the weather was cold enough to freeze the ground of nights. The winter of 1882-'83 was one of the warmest ever experienced in this climate. There were thirty days and nights, mostly in January, that the ground never froze. During this period the company and others had nine thousand hogs in the pens, mud deep to their knees. They bought and fed hun- dreds of bushels of corn that were a total loss, as the hogs were continually shrinking in weight. Much of the meat that they packed that winter was damaged, and had to be sold at a reduced price. And to cap the climax of ill luck, the price kept on the down grade to the end.
The summer packing houses in the large cities soon put an end to the smaller concerns in the country towns, and Henderson, Parks & Co. closed up their house in 1883, and that ended pork-packing in Martinsville.
In 1888 Mr. Henderson established the Home Lawn Sanitarium, with which he did considerable business until 1893, when it accidentally burned. He immediately set about rebuilding, and soon had the second adventure going ;
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but it did not prove to be profitable, and he closed out all his holdings in Martinsville and returned to the farm where he was born, and which his father purchased in 1831, when as yet it was but a wilderness. Excepting the four years when he was State Auditor, during which time he resided in Indianapolis, he has made his home in and near Martins- ville. Years ago he erected the fine residence which now forms part of the Home Lawn Sanitarium.
Mr. Henderson was born June 2, 1833. His parents, James C. Henderson and Mary Piercy Henderson, were natives of Shelby county, Kentucky, and were married in July, 1831. They came to Morgan county the following fall, where James Henderson entered eighty acres of land about four miles northeast of Martinsville. Here he built the pioneer cabin and began clearing land and farming. So successful was he that at the time of his death, January 8, 1867, he owned 360 acres of land. The mother died in Martinsville, October, 1879, at the home of her only son and child.
Ebenezer Henderson attended the common country schools until he was eighteen years of age, when he entered the Indiana University, where he took a two years' course in the scientific department. Returning home he assisted his father in farming and stock feeding. In 1856 he was married to Miss Anna C. Hunt, daughter of Jonathan Hunt, ex-sheriff of Morgan county, and merchant, pork packer, and boatman to New Orleans. To this union were born seven children: Frances (Mrs. Parks), Ella (Mrs. Dr. Cook), William, Magdaline (Mrs. Piercy), June, Howard, and Courtland. All are living but Mrs. Cook and the youngest daughter, June.
Mr. and Mrs. Henderson have always been equal to the responsibilities and requirements of the positions in life which they have occupied, and have accommodated them-
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selves to the varied fortunes and misfortunes of the affairs of this life. They are genial, social, and sensible; at all times showing themselves true neighbors and faithful friends.
JAMES MAXWELL.
Following Mr. Henderson as senator was James Maxwell. He was not so much given to politics as his immediate pre- decessor. But he has always been in line and sympathy with the Democratic party. He has seldom been a candi- date. The nominations have sought him much oftener than he the nominations, but when named by the party for an office, he was not slothful in the business of the campaign. He served with diligence and credit the senatorial term for which he was chosen. But Mr. Maxwell is much more of a farmer than a politician. He and his wife own about seven hundred acres of fine land several miles southwest of Martinsville, and a commodious residence in town. They have a goodly hold on terra firma and know how to hold it. Mr. Maxwell was born in this county, the 27th of February, 1839, and is the son of John and Catherine Maxwell, na- tives of Ireland. The grandfather of James J. was an Englishman, who emigrated first to Ireland and thence to America in 1805, settling first in Germantown, New York. About 1813 he moved to Lebanon, Ohio, thence to Dear- born county, Indiana, and finally to Morgan county, where death came to him and his wanderings ceased. He was by trade a weaver, and that was his lifelong business. His family consisted of seven children: Robert, James, Will- iam, Henry, Nancy, Ellen, and John.
John Maxwell, the father of our subject, was born in County Down, Ireland, July 24, 1805, and was married in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1837, to Catherine Graham, who was born in 1812. After marriage, Mr. Maxwell located in
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Lawrenceburg, Indiana, and in 1838 he finally located in Washington township, this county, where he died, Febru- ary, 1872. He was the owner of a good little farm at the time of his death. His family was as follows: Susan, Jane, Susanna, John, Robert F., Catherine, and James J. The mother survived the father several years.
Senator Maxwell attended the common schools until he was eighteen or twenty years of age, then he went to school in Cincinnati. February 14, 1866, he was joined in wedlock to Miss Cynthia A. Hodges, daughter of John and Lucy Hodges, pioneer settlers in the southwest corner of this county. To them were born eight children, five of whom are living. They are bright, intelligent, educated children, of whom the parents may justly be proud. Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell are members of the Christian church and highly esteemed citizens.
DR. HARVEY SATTERWHITE.
Dr. Harvey Satterwhite was elected representative of Morgan county in 1872. This was a year for heaping hon- ors on Martinsville, for, besides Dr. Satterwhite, William S. Sherley and James J. Maxwell were chosen-Mr. Sher- ley being elected joint representative of Morgan and John- son counties, and Mr. Maxwell, senator.
Dr. Satterwhite hails from the commonwealth of Ken- tucky-the land of beautiful women, fine horses, and hot- headed revolvers. He was born on a farm near Bedford, Trimble county, January 15, 1832. His ancestors were Virginians.
He came to Indiana in November, 1846, locating for a time in Johnson county. After studying dentistry in Frank- lin he changed his location to Martinsville, coming here in February, 1856. He continued the dental business five or six years-"a workman that needeth not be ashamed." At
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that time gold was principally used for plates, and a full set of teeth cost one hundred dollars. Dr. Satterwhite be- came a banker at the time of the organization of the First National Bank of our city, owning stock in it as well as in an Indianapolis bank several years later. He was in the banking business about thirty-two years. He is a man of fine business qualities, and at various times has held official positions on the town boards of education and corporation, and his books are remarkably free from errors.
Some time in the '70's he had a little experience in chasing a couple of bank debtors, who cut the biggest figure of the kind ever noted in this county. Presley Buckner, son of John Buckner, one of the most respected and sub- stantial old settlers in the south part of Washington town- ship, had been dealing in live stock, using the names of his father and father-in-law as endorsers. Young Buckner had borne a good name, and was counted one of the rising farmers and stock dealers in the south part of the county. He had associated his brother-in-law, William Wiley Baker, in business, and the two made a lively brace of traders. Buckner had been a heavy borrower at the First National Bank, keeping his father and father-in-law on the bills as endorsers. The old gentlemen had become somewhat neglectful about endorsing, having all confidence in the boys' honesty. Finally Buckner and Baker bought a large drove of horses and mules, some on time, and of men with whom they had heretofore honorably dealt and who had no suspicion of what was coming. They had borrowed heavily in bank and from private individuals. Bidding their families good-bye, they started South with the mules and horses.
Sufficient time elapsed for their return, but no word was heard from them; even their wives did not know where they were. Considerable excitement prevailed and people
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began to conjecture as to the fate of "Pres" Buckner and "Bill-Wile" Baker. Some thought they had been foully dealt with, as it would likely be known that they had money about them. Others hinted that they were engaged in some "self-sharpening" speculation, and would turn up all right. However, their long absence and profound silence were omens of no good and finally it became apparent that they had absconded, leaving their wives as much dumfounded as their creditors. The most remarkable thing about this heartlessness was that Baker's wife was Buckner's sister. So far as known there had never been any trouble or domes- tic infelicity in either family. Why they should have so cruelly deserted their wives no one can tell.
Meantime Dr. Satterwhite got an inkling of their where- abouts and started after them. He located them in Texas and caused their arrest, but by reason of some technicality of law-a loophole worn slick by rogues-they were re- leased, and before proper papers could be prepared they again "skipped." The Doctor gave up the chase as a bad job on Texas soil, and returned home. Whatever became of these two evil-doers is not known to the writer.
In politics, Dr. Satterwhite is and has long been a straight Republican. He attended the extra as well as the regular session of 1873, acquitting himself acceptably to his party and with honor to himself.
His first wife was Miss Sarah Ellen Thomas, daughter of Isaac Thomas, who for many years conducted the prin- cipal hotel in Martinsville. She died, leaving no children. He was married the second time to Miss Harriet E. Ste- vens, of Lebanon, Ohio, who has been a helpmate in the highest sense. They have one daughter, Mrs. Frank Rudy, now living in Ohio.
Dr. and Mrs. Satterwhite own two or three good farms, besides the home residence and other property in Martins-
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ville, and notwithstanding the reverses which they met a few years ago when an Indianapolis bank collapsed, are in comfortable circumstances. In religious belief they are Methodists.
Dr. Satterwhite has been long identified with the business interests of Martinsville, and has contributed largely to its growth into a city of beautiful homes and health resorts.
WILLIAM S. SHERLEY.
As before stated, William Sherley was elected joint rep- resentative in 1872. Always taking part in elections, and often giving much time to campaigning, and while an earnest and conservative Democrat, through all the ups and downs of that party he has not been much of an office- seeker, preferring the remunerative certainty of the law practice to the whimsical nature of politics. He is self- respecting and dignified, whether in court or the Legis- lature, and commands the respect of those whom he ad- dresses. As an attorney he is diligent and painstaking as well as successful. He is a safe counselor, often saving his client much cost and vexation when he sees he has no case, by advising him to compromise. He has been inore or less engaged in farming and stock feeding for several years, but has made the practice of law a specialty, and is still a prominent member of the Martinsville bar.
Mr. Sherley was born on a farm in Oldham county, Ken- tucky, September 6, 1836. He worked on the farm and attended the country schools as was the custom in those days, completing his education at Lagrange College in Lagrange, the county seat of Oldham. After his college course he attended the law school at Louisville, Kentucky, where he graduated in March, 1858. He was county sur- veyor of Oldham for two years.
Being now well equipped for his life's work, he deter-
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mined to try his fortune among live Hoosiers, and selected Martinsville as the beginning point. He arrived here in November, 1858, finding about seven hundred inhabitants. He soon found plenty of lawsuits, present and prospective. In time he formed a law partnership with G. M. Over- street, a good lawyer of our neighboring city, Franklin, and thus glided smoothly into a permanent practice. His next partner was W. R. Harrison, of our city. This firm began in 1862 and continued until 1874, doing a very large per cent. of the practice of Morgan and adjoining counties. Succeeding Attorney Harrison as partner was Judge John C. Robinson, of Spencer, from 1874 to 1876. From this date until the fall of 1895 he was practically alone. At that time he and our present judge, M. H. Parks, formed a partnership which continued until Judge Parks took the bench, November, 1900.
Mr. Sherley has been twice married. His first wife was Miss Martha J. Meginnis, of Bloomington, Indiana, to whom he was married November 28, 1861. She was a daughter of Rev. William Meginnis, a prominent minister in the M. E. church and a member of the Indiana con- ference. Mrs. Sherley died November 20, 1867, leaving two daughters, Anna (Mrs. Howard Prewitt), and Mar- garet. January 14, 1869, he wedded Miss Sarah N. Con- duitt, daughter of Hon. A. B. Conduitt, of Indianapolis. To them were born four children-Mabel (Mrs. J. W. Rose), Bernice, Georgia (Mrs. Ed Kriner), and Richard.
Mr. and Mrs. Sherley have been fortunate and reason- ably successful in the affairs of life, but in nothing more so than the training and education of their children. The Sherley home is a model of parental training and filial devotion-a home that will never be forgotten by those who first saw the light therein.
Mr. and Mrs. Sherley have a valuable farm joining our
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city border and a handsome residence on North Jefferson street, where the "old folks," in all probability, will be at home to their many friends until life's labors are over. They are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and highly esteemed citizens.
DR. JOHN KENNEDY.
The Republicans in 1874 nominated and elected Dr. John Kennedy to represent Morgan county. Although not a professional politician, the Doctor enjoyed the canvass and his seat in the House very much. During the session he offered six bills, five of which were passed, and, as we suppose, remain on the statute book yet. He is to the manor born a Morgan county Hoosier, coming into Jef- ferson township on the 30th day of September, 1833. He was the second born to Luke C. and Jane (Blackford) Kennedy, who were natives of Kentucky, and of Irish, German, and Welsh descent. The father came to Lamb's Bottom with his young wife, October, 1830, where he en- tered eighty acres of land which formed the nucleus of the old Kennedy homestead of 220 acres, whereon the parents closed out their useful lives, the mother in 1850 and the father several years later.
The Doctor's great-grandfather was a Revolutionary soldier. He was twice married and the father of ten sons. Peter Kennedy, grandfather of our subject, was born in 1769. When twelve years of age he was stolen by the Indians, and remained nine years a captive, then escaped and returned to his parents in Hardin county, Kentucky. He was afterward employed by the government as a sen- tinel on the Kentucky frontier. He was the father of seven children, Luke C. being the fourth.
Our representative began the activities of life on his father's farm, as soon as he could wield a hoe and hold
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a plow. He attended the winter schools a good part of the term of sixty-five days, until nineteen years of age, when, in 1852, he made a trip to New Orleans as a bow- hand on one of J. M. & S. M. Mitchell's flatboats, which was steered by the late William Cox, ex-marshal of Mar- tinsville. This was the twenty-ninth trip down the river for that veteran boatman. As the Doctor remembers, there were ten boats from Martinsville that spring, five for the Mitchell firm and five belonging to Parks & Hite. Of the men composing the crews at that date, only a few are remaining. He remembers Mike Haase and Oliver J. Glessner, as yet being among the living-Haase after- ward being a surveyor, and Glessner a judge of the circuit court. When those guides of the old broadhorns meet there is a genuine greeting, and immediately a recital of incidents and accidents begins and lasts until parting hands are shaken.
The winter following this trip the Doctor taught school in his home neighborhood. In 1854 he attended the sum- mer term of the Belleville Academy, in Hendricks county, and the following winter taught school in Ray township. In 1855 he attended the summer term of the Edinburg high school, then under the management of Professor J. R. Woodfill, and was retained as assistant teacher for one or two terms. Following this he taught a winter school in the Drake schoolhouse west of Edinburg. In 1856 he began the study of medicine under Dr. Clark, of the above town.
Some time after this he returned to his father's farm in consequence of ill health, where by sensible work and careful diet he soon regained his health. At this time he was learning how to grow strong and how to keep so, and putting in all spare time in studying his chosen profession. He next taught in Sangamon county, Illinois, because the
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wages were better there, teaching two terms of five months each, returning and working on the farm during summer.
The Doctor knows all about farm work, having begun. it when it was a hand-over-hand business, from hoeing corn and potatoes, mowing grass, and cradling wheat, to rolling logs and plowing new ground with oxen. He says he could cradle four acres of wheat or five of oats in a day. This was an acre or an acre and a half above the average man. In the early spring of 1859 he decided to quit teaching, although he had been quite successful, par- ticularly in mathematics, for which he has a fine faculty and great liking. In this branch, if so minded, he could have reached the top. His early training by Professor David Anderson, an Irishman, and one of the best mathe- maticians in the United States, was of much advantage to him in his teaching.
At this date he returned to Gosport, and, with Dr. H. S. Osgood, continued the study of medicine. Following this, he attended a course of lectures at the Eclectic Medical Institute, of Cincinnati, Ohio.
In June, 1860, he began practice in Paragon, within can- nonshot of the old homestead wherein he was born, nursed, fondled, and spanked into boyhood, and then taught to rough it into manhood; all of which was no mean part of his solid education. His large practice and success en- titles him to front rank among the first physicians of the county. He still loves and clings closely to his practice, and fires pills and potions at microbes as of old.
In April, 1862, he married Angeline, daughter of Richard and Matilda Farr Laughlin, of Owen county. They have had ten children, five yet living: T. C. Kennedy, a teacher by profession ; Mrs. W. W. Washburn, of Goodland, Indi- ana, whose husband is a stockholder and manager of the Western Telephone Company of that city ; W. E. Kennedy
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is a dentist of Indianapolis, with a branch office at Para- gon; Frank Kennedy is in the senior class at the Indiana Medical College, and John, the youngest, is in the Paragon high school. Dr. and Mrs. Kennedy are members of the Christian church, of which he is an elder. Few families have contributed more, or as much, to the moral and intel- lectual advancement of Paragon and vicinity as the Ken- nedys. Their motto seems to be, "No excellence without labor."
JUDGE G. W. GRUBBS.
In the year 1876 Major Grubbs was chosen representa- tive of Morgan county, and in 1878 was elected to the Senate, thus serving six consecutive years in the General Assembly of Indiana. Morgan county has seldom been honored in the Legislature with a brighter or abler member than the Major. His known ability as a lawyer brought him to the mind of the Speaker as a most suitable member for chairman of the judiciary committee, to which he was appointed, and served with marked ability. The same honor was conferred on him in the Senate, and at the close of his senatorial term he was justly recognized as one of the foremost members of that branch of the Legislature.
Although a strong partisan and decidedly positive, he never forgets to be manly and mannerly, and respectful to an opponent. His election to the Legislature for six years, and seat on the judge's bench for eight years, with increased majorities at each re-election, attest the high esteem in which he is held by his constituency.
His military record is equally marked by his advance- ment from the ranks to that of major. He was born in Franklin, Indiana, September 26, 1842. He was the second son of Richard L. and Louisa (Armstrong) Grubbs. His ancestors came from Pennsylvania. His grandfather Arm-
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strong was a soldier in the War of 1812. It was the Major's good fortune to have been born in a town of superior schools at the time of his school age. It was his good sense that prompted him to take the tide at its flood and secure a good education. After going through the com- mon school training, he entered Franklin College, from which he graduated in June, 1861. He was principal of the Franklin Academy one year. In July, 1861, he entered the military service, enlisting in Company I, Seventieth Indiana Volunteers, and was soon promoted to second lieutenant. In June, 1863, he was promoted to first lieu- tenant and assigned to command of Company F, same regi- ment. His next promotion was to assistant adjutant general on the staff of General Benjamin Harrison, commanding the First Brigade, Third Division of Twentieth Army Corps in the Atlanta campaign. He was in all the battles in which his regiment took part.
In November, 1864, he was commissioned major and assigned to command the Forty-second United States (col- ored) Infantry, stationed at Chattanooga. He was in the Nashville campaign and for a time commander at Hunts- ville and Decatur, Alabama. He was mustered out of service March 12, 1866.
What memories come to him as he calls to mind the inevitable scenes of those four years and eight months of army life! The monotony of army diet, the humdrum of the drill, the weariness of "masterly inactivity," the petty jealousies of the high and low, the camp snarls-all these were bravely borne by the true soldier and are no small part of the hardships which he must needs undergo. Be- sides, there was the long, swift march toward the bloody field, where military honor and glory are to be won or lost and where many a brave and generous boy is made to give up his life, with thoughts homeward speeding as on wings
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of light, while the heart is emptying out his body's blood. Perhaps his last thought is, what will mother do when she hears of this?
What of those who are detailed to gather up the wounded and bury the dead? What sickening sights are presented to view! The horse and his rider are overthrown and mingle with the debris of a silenced battery, while blood and iron, for the moment, are amalgamated. When will it be that
"To plowshares men shall beat their swords, To pruning hooks, their spears"?
Never, no never, until the golden rule bears universal sway.
But now let us go back thirty-five years to the time Major Grubbs came home, and, after a short rest and happy greetings of friends and relatives, he entered the law office of Porter, Harrison & Fishback, of Indianapolis, than which a stronger firm could not have been found in Indiana. Here he applied himself with his usual industry to the study of law. Next he entered the Indianapolis Law School from which he graduated. In May, 1868, he came to Martinsville, where he began practice. He has been associated with the following attorneys under the firm names of Griggs & Grubbs; McNutt, Montgomery & Grubbs; Grubbs & Montgomery ; and Grubbs & Parks.
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