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ITEMS OF INTEREST February,
2002 The
following Clay County
histories were used to collect the items of interest below.
A History of Clay
County, published in 1909 by William Travis
Clay County, Indiana,
published in 1984 by the Clay County Historical Society History of Clay County, Indiana, published in 1884 Charles Blanchard ANDERSON—
Among the well-known and highly esteemed residents of Dick Johnson Twp.
Lieutenant William T. Anderson
occupies an assured
position. A veteran of
the Civil War, he is distinguished not only for his own life and work, but
for the honored ancestry from which he is descended, being a grandson of
Reverend Daniel Anderson,
one of the first white settlers of Indiana.
Rev. Anderson, it is thought, was a native of
Kentucky. A
Methodist preacher and
an old-time circuit rider, he located in Monroe County, Indiana, in
1813, and a few years later settled in Owen County……....Vincent Anderson,
the Lieutenant’s father, was born in Kentucky, July 26, 1813, & was
named for his uncle, Vincent Anderson…..Pg.
371-2; Travis; V. 2 BANKS—Sylvia
May (Abbott) Curtis
Banks was born in Bloomington on
January 26, BARNES—An
early preacher was Rev. Hugh Barnes,
of Owen County, who held services BEATY—(George
Ringo) has been twice married;
first, April 15, 1841, to Amanda Beaty,
who was born January 14, 1820, died April 26, 1856, leaving eight
children, all living in BEAUCHAMP—The
Harmony Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1855 by Rev. Joseph Asbury,
at the residence of John Beauchamp,
who lived in the northern part of BOWMAN—John
Woods, one of the pioneer
farmers of Washington Township, was born in Anderson County, Ky., December
26, 1813, and was the sixth in a family of nine children BROWN—V.
E. Brown, bookkeeper in one of
the leading warehouses of Clay City, was born BROWN--W.
B. Brown, physician, and also
farmer, was born July 10, 1821, in Guilford BROWN—William
J. Brown was born June 13,
1830, in Lawrence County, Indiana, was the BUTLER—The
physicians of the town (Clay City) from the time of its founding (1873) to
the CHASTAIN—Donald
Miller (b. April 22, 1931)
married Norma Jane Stewart,
daughter of Harley and Edith Stewart.
They had three children, Roger Ray, Beverly Kay, and COFFMAN—Volunteered
in Clay County 97th Regiment:
Aug. 10, 1862 William Coffman;
CRAFTON—Poland
the only town in Cass Township, lying within a half mile of the Owen
County line, six miles north of Bowling Green, dates its beginning back to
1841, when DUGGER—Raymond
Fagg married Florence Dugger
and had three children: Jack, Jerry, and Carol.
He died in 1976, and is buried in California.
Pg. 204; Clay County, Indiana 1984 FRAZIER—Emigrating
from Wester Cappein, Prussia, to
the United States, Henry G. Schroer
settled in Washington Township, Clay County, Indiana, in 1833, and a short
time after wards sent to Prussia for Miss Ann M. Frazier,
the young lady to whom he was engaged GALLOWAY—When
twenty-one years of age, Mr. (Isaiah S.) Easter
was married on the 27th GOBLE—Within
the period of thirty days, including the latter part of the month of July
and the GRIMES—George
W. Grimes, native of Virginia,
born in Loudoun County, October 3, 1826, son of George and Elizabeth Grimes,
who emigrated to Indiana in 1840, son of George and Elizabeth Grimes,
who emigrated to Indiana in 1840, when
George, junior, was 14 years of age,
locating in Clay County, one mile south of the site of the town of
Ashboro. Here, in 1842, were
made & burnt the first bricks, &
the first brick dwelling house built HARPER—
Warren P.
Harper,
sergeant, promoted
second lieutenant;
member of the 43D HUFF—
Among the prominent and well-known agriculturists of Perry Township is
numbered Montervill V. Huff,
whose valuable and well improved homestead is located in section 27,
Perry Township. He was
born in section 28 of
the same township November
22, 1849, a son of William and Mathilda (Likens)
Huff, born respectively in
Clark County, Virginia, and
in Mercer County,
that state, and
the mother was a
daughter of Jonas Likens,
also from the Old Dominion state. In
an early day William and Mathilda Huff
made the journey from Virginia to Ohio on horseback,
and a
few years later came
to Clay County, Indiana,
where they entered on one hundred and sixty acres of
land in Perry Township, a
part prairie and the remainder timberland……...Pg.
170; Travis, Vol. 2 HURST—
Taken from Necrology:
dates of deaths and
ages were gleaned from
personal knowledge, monuments
and other sources, but mainly from announcements in current
local press. Ages are
given only in full years nearest the
actual date of death.
F. M. Hurst
died February 1901,
aged 68; Mrs. Jane S.
Hurst died
November 14, 1892, aged
58. Pg. 327; Travis,
Vol. 1 JOHNSON—From
Necrology: Sylvanus
Johnson died January 27, 1873,
aged 19. George W. Johnson
died January 8, 1900,
aged 20. Jeriah
Johnson died
April 6, 1909, aged
73. LLEWELLYN—
It was on the 5th of December, 1869, that
Mr. (Joseph) Crooks led
to the marriage alter Miss Elizabeth K. Llewellyn,
who was born in Ohio October 29, 1849,
while her parents, Thomas J. and Elizabeth (Lewis)
Llewellyn, were both natives
of Wales. Pg. 431; Travis, Vol. 2
(See also page 15 of this publication—“Jamestown”.) MYERS—
The first settlers with staying qualities to occupy the ground now covered
by the city NICHOLAS—John
M.
Nicholas Clay County
soldier in
43D Regiment,
Company “A”;
mustered into service Aug. 20, 1861……..discharged
Dec. 22, 1862. Pg.
367; Travis, NICHOLS— From Necrology: William Nichols died December 8, 1887, aged 24. Mrs. Julia Nichols died July 18, 1888, aged 73. Pg. 336-337; Travis, Vol. 1 SANDERS—Gaudenchy
Dulucky Sanders,
farmer and
stock-raiser, the third in the
family of William and Rebecca (Hughes)
Sanders, was born in Clay County, Ind., March 27, 1849.
His parents died when he was
about one year old, from
which time until he was eleven years of age,
he lived with his grandfather,
and from the public schools learned something of reading and
writing. March 1, 1864,
he enlisted in Company K, One
Hundred and Thirty-first Regiment Indiana Volunteers (Thirteenth
Cavalry), and served until the close
of the war….In May, 1864, he was captured, and after three days made his
escape while his captors were reveling on the spoils of a distillery.
In 1866, he drove
wagon teams through Colorado and Montana,
and for the succeeding four years
he “wacked” bull teams across the plains.
He saw Kit
Carson and afterward
attended the funeral of that noted scout.
He was more than once the bedfellow of
the Hon. William F. Cody
(Buffalo Bill), enjoyed
the acquaintance
of the famous
W. W. Edwards, and
was present
when the
Sioux and
Arapahos lifted that
hero’s scalp. August
10, 1876, SANDERS—Samuel
H. Sanders, stock-raiser and
farmer, is the fifth of the family of
Joseph and Edna (Brock)
Sanders, natives of Indiana
and Ohio, and of Irish and German descent respectively.
He was born at Lockport, Ind., March 9, 1824, from which point his
parents removed to this township in 1832,….. He was reared a farmer and
later married Hannah, daughter of
Jesse and Susanna Neal, who
left at her death two children—Jesse L. and Edna Sarena (both deceased).
….Two years after the death of his SHEPHERD—
David Shepherd, stock-raiser
and farmer, is the sixth son of Stephen and Sarah (Porter)
Shepherd, natives of
Kentucky and North
Carolina, and
of Scotch and Irish descent
respectively. David was born
in Sullivan County, Indiana, in 1823; his education was wholly neglected,
by application and observation he has acquired
a practical knowledge
of books and business.
He resided with his parents until his majority,
when he began working
on the W & E Canal, and
later on a farm in Illinois. In
1853, he returned to this State. March
19, 1854, he married
Christina Badders,
their alliance gave being to eight children—Sarah E., Mary L.,
William T., Anderson W., Stephen R. (deceased), David A. (deceased),
Delanie L. and Henry H. … Pg. 546; Blanchard SMITH—
Ed. W. Smith was born in
Forsyth County, N. C., on July 20, 1843, and spent a part of
his youth on a farm, and part
in a
machine shop, having
had only common school advantages
until he arrived at maturity, when he was engaged to work in a barrel
factory. At the breaking-out of
the war of
the rebellion, he
enlisted, in
May, 1861, and was
wounded at Winchester, Va. He
entered the service as an Orderly for the Colonel of the regiment but was
mustered out with the rank of Captain in 1865.
……On January 29, 1869, he was married to Anna Pate,
a native of Kentucky. Mrs.
Smith has borne her husband two children, viz.:
Jessie A., aged seven years, and Bertha B., aged two years. Mr.
Smith is one of the energetic
business men of Brazil, and his industry and business tact have made him
the owner of several fine pieces of residence property, in desirable
locations….. 386; Blanchard STEARLEY—
George Stearley,
Sheriff of Clay
County, Indiana, was born in Wittenberg, Germany,
on Jan. 27, 1848, and is the son of John & Rosanna (Burkhart)
Stearley, natives of Germany.
The father was a weaver by trade, but followed farming after his
marriage, and came to this country in 1851.
George was reared on a farm, and had no opportunities for an
education whatever, but the knowledge he possesses he acquired through his
own perseverance, aided by an intellectual and educated wife, since his
marriage. He worked for his
father until he was twenty-two, then branched out for himself; learned the
blacksmith trade at Bowling Green, the then county seat of Clay County,
following this business until 1880, when he sold his shop to a younger
brother and engaged in the saw mill business, which he still manages.
On October 20, 1869, he
married Elizabeth
Duteel,
daughter of August
and Josephine
Duteel,
of Clay County…..
Pg. 387-8; Blanchard STOUT—
Elijah M. Stout,
retired farmer and stock-raiser,
is the fourth son of William
and Mary (Van Dyke) Stout,
natives of Virginia, and probably of German-Irish descent.
He was born in Spencer County, Ky., on September 14, 1811. He
came to this State in 1835 and settled where he now resides.
During his youth, he attended
school some time and VEST—
Francis M. McBride,
Marshal of Brazil, was born in Clay County, IN, June 8, 1835, and was the
third in a family of four children of David and Rhoda (VEST)
McBride, his father being of
Scotch and his mother of French-Irish lineage.
Pg. 373; Blanchard WALKER—
Thomas Walker, a pioneer of
Clay County, was born in Hardin County, Ky., June 4, 1815, and
in 1822 came to Clay County, Ind., with his mother,
uncle and grandfather, entering
land where Washington
Township now is, where,
amid all
the hardships
of pioneer life,
surrounded by savages and
wild beasts, Thomas grew to manhood.
Losing his father when
very young, Thomas lived with
his uncle, and owing to the
newness of the country and necessity of
working, his education
was limited. He remained
with his uncle until December 3, 1840,
when he married to Eleanor Jones.
These children were born to this union, viz.,
John D. (deceased), Mary
E. (now Rodenbarger),
Harriet I. Walker.
George W., and Daniel L. (deceased).
Mr. (Thomas) Walker’s second marriage occurred March 15, 1860, to
Mary Ann Cromwell.
Three children have been born to this marriage, viz.,
Sarah E. (now Richardson),
Cynthia J. (now Cullen),
and David T. Mr.
Walker now lives upon a farm near Bowling Green…… Pg. 414; Blanchard WELLS—
Taken from a partial list of those who were lost in Company D,
Seventy-first YANT— D. W. Yant, of Poland, died at Calhoun, Kentucky, on January 12, 1862, while serving in the Civil War. Pg. 94; Blanchard
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