Saturday, May 30, 2015

JOHN CHINN

JOHN CHINN, farmer, Ohio County, was born March 31, 1842, and is the eldest of his father's family. His parents were Robert S. and Mary Masterson Chinn, who were both earnest and industrious people and members of the Methodist Church. The former died in December, 1860, and the latter in May, 1875. His grandfather, Rolla Chinn, came from Virginia and settled first in Scott County, and afterward near Hartford, Ohio Co., Ky. Game at that time was exceedingly plenty, as many as fifteen deer having been seen in one drove, and wild turkeys were so plenty that rail pens were built in which hundreds were caught. Mr. Chinn was married on Christmas day, 1867, to Temple D. Sublet, of Warren County, Ky., who was born in 1846. Her father died when she was only three days old, and she was brought up by her step-father, John Pirtle. They have seven children: Annie Lee, Eliza Bertie, Leslie T., Robert Pirtle, Thomas H., Bedford Forest, Grover Cleveland.  Mr. Chinn enlisted in Company C, Ninth Kentucky Infantry, under the command of Capt. John E. Pendleton in the fall of 1861, and served two years and three months. He was captured in the fall of 1863, and was a prisoner two months. At the close of the war Mr. Chinn was penniless, and had his mother, two sisters and a brother to provide for. By industry and perseverance he has earned for them, and has now a pleasant and comfortable home.


Source: J. H. BATTLE, W H. PERRIN, & G. C. KNIFFIN 1895

Note: Mr. Chinn died 6 April 1938 in Ohio County and is buried in Sunnyside Cemetery.


Thursday, May 28, 2015

ROBERT ENOS CHILDS

ROBERT ENOS CHILDS may justly be placed amongst the enterprising citizens of Ohio County, Ky. He was born in Baltimore, Md., March 20, 1835, and in 1852, engaged with an engineer corps at McConnelsville, Ohio, after which, in 1855, was engaged in the construction of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad, and its branches — part of the time as contractor. In 1870, he bought land near Rosine, and improved his present home. He is the son of Enos R. Childs, of Baltimore, Md., a midshipman in the United States navy, who had command of the "Thunderbolt," at Norfolk, in the late British war. He died in 1851, at the age of fifty-eight. His wife, Eleanor V., daughter of Capt. Goss, of the merchant marine, of Charleston, S. C, was born in 1805, and died in 1865. Their offspring are Virginia (Marsh), Mary (Lawrence), Cordelia F. (Macleod), Willie J. (Bestor), John E., Robert Enos, and Stephen D.  In youth Robert Enos Childs was favored with an excellent education. He was married December 30, 1863, to Mary D., daughter of John A. and Martha (Roberts) Cox, of Nelson County, Ky.; she was born May 12, 1837, and to them have been born Ida V., Mary L.; Robert E., Agnes E., and Charles D.  Mr. Childs is at present engaged in farming, fruit culture and wine making, owning 118 acres of productive land, well improved, and in a high state of cultivation. He has demonstrated the adaptability of a variety of fruits to this latitude. On his farm are strata of coal and fireclay, which he has developed to some extent. In politics, Mr. Childs affiliates with the Democratic party.


Source: J. H. BATTLE, W H. PERRIN, & G. C. KNIFFIN 1895

Saturday, May 23, 2015

ARCHIE LITTLE CHICK

ARCHIE LITTLE CHICK, Ohio County, was born in Logan County, Ky., November 8, 1839. He remained in his native place until the age of fourteen, when, in 1854, he removed to Ohio County, and settled near the town of Beaver Dam, and there completed his education and made farming his business. His father was born in Louisa County, Va., in 1815; at the age of eighteen he immigrated to Wilson County, and settled on a farm. He married Eleanor Sanders, a native of the same county, in Virginia. There were five members of his father's family: James E., married to Clarissa E. Williams; Milton S., who died in childhood; Judith A., wife of W. A. Austin, a grocer in Beaver Dam; Caledonia, wife of Burgess Austin, of Beaver Dam. The mother died in 1872; the father still lives at an advanced age. Archie L. Chick married Lucy Ann Austin, on the 13th of October, 1864. She was the second child of A. J. Austin, and was born near Slaty Creek in the southern part of Ohio County. They have had four children: Ambler B., October 10, 1865; William B., January 1, 1867; Estelle C., July 14, 1869, and died May 19, 1878; Claudius D., October 4, 1876. Mr. Chick has a good farm near the town of Beaver Dam, on which he has a beautiful and convenient home. He affiliates with the Democratic party. His family, his parents and himself are faithful and consistent members of the Baptist Church.


Source: J. H. BATTLE, W H. PERRIN, & G. C. KNIFFIN 1895

Note:  Mr. Chick died 27 March 1898.  He is buried in the Beaver Dam Baptist Church cemetery.


Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Golden Wedding Celebration

  Golden Wedding Celebration
Sulphur Springs, KY

December 29. 1902

Chloe Ann Elizabeth & Noble Bean

Uncle Noble and Aunt Bet Bean, of Sulphur Springs, Ky., celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of their wedding Tuesday of last week. Uncle Noble is now 72 years old and his wife is 70.  They were married on the night of December the 23rd, 1852, and to them have been born ten children, all of whom are living but one.

The children thinking it a nice time to return a bit of gratitude to the aged couple, a dinner was prepared secretly for the old couple, consisting of all the goodies an appetite could ask for, and everything else was done to make the old folks know that they had raised a family who were glad to honor them on an occasion like this. 

About  9 o’clock the children began to arrive, with baskets and boxes of good things.  The table was set in Uncle Noble’s store at this place.  As the door flew open and the old gray-headed couple stood facing 28 of their beloved children and grandchildren and a nicely set table, they could not speak, but a tear from their shrunken eyes told the story. 

It was a scene long to be remembered , and after a benediction on the children from the gray-headed old man, and a hearty grasp by each hand, they began to assemble around the table, father at one end, and mother at the other end, children on either side.   

A blessing was asked by the father and then they began to partake of the delicacies before them.  A couple of hours were spent pleasantly together in the store and all enjoyed the occasion highly.

Source:
1902 Hartford Herald,
Dec. 31, 1902, Page 3, Col. 5

           ~.~


Front row, L to R:   Brenton Bean, Isabelle Thomas, Corinne Thomas, Mabel Thomas, Noble Bean, Foster Thomas, Chloe A.E. Bean, Crow Thomas, Bell Bean, Ruth Bean, Esther Thomas, Caleb Bean. Second row:   John Henry Thomas, Martha Thomas, Myrtie Thomas, Judelle Bean, Timothy Bean, Dresden Bean, J.W. Thomas. Third row:   Cook Bean, Charlie Bean, Lizzie Bean, Dewey Bean, Redford Bean

~.~

Noble Bean was born in the spring on May 7, 1830 in Sulphur Springs, Ohio County, Kentucky.  He was the son of Leonard Bean (1787-1841) and Sarah Ann Boswell (1789-1868).  When he was twenty-two, Noble married Chloe Ann Elizabeth Acton (1833-1910), the daughter of Bartemus Acton and Sarah Ann “Sallie” Robey from Charles Co., Maryland.  The young couple became the parents of ten children:

1)  Henry Franklin Bean md Mary E. Tabor – Nov 1, 1877
2)  William Timothy Bean md Ida Bell Bean – Sep 22, 1880
3)  Sarah Esther Bean md James William “Buck” Thomas – Dec 18, 1879
4)  Caleb Wemmes Bean md Margaret Mary Peach – May 20, 1911
5)  Jane Evaline Bean md Mr. Cole - ?
6)  Martha Temperance Bean md John Henry Thomas – Oct 6, 1887
7)  Gabriel Brinton Bean md Cora Bertha Magan - ?
8)  Redford Keener Bean md Ida Emma Hines – Sep 30, 1896
9)  Tilden Carter Bean md Elizabeth E. Bean – Dec 26, 1900
10)  Dresden Palmer Bean md Ruth Jane Hunt – Dec 24, 1901

         According to the biographical sketch of this family in Westerfield's book:

"Mr. Bean is a successful farmer, owning 425 acres of fair land in a good state of cultivation .  He is a member of the Masonic fraternity; in religion is a Methodist, and in politics, a Democrat.  He always resided on the old homestead farm near Sulphur Springs, Ohio County.



Item:  The Hartford Herald, September 15, 1915, Page 2:

Mr. Noble Bean Dead

“Mr. Noble Bean, one of Ohio County’s oldest and most highly respected citizens, died at his residence at Sulphur Springs, this county, last Friday.  He had been in bad health quite a while of ailments incident to old age.  He joined the Methodist church at age 21 years and lived a faithful member until death.  His birth occurred on May 7, 1930, making him considerably over 85 years of age, when death claimed him.

Mr. Bean was married to Miss Elizabeth Acton, December 23, 1852.  To this union, there were ten children born, nine of whom are still living.

Funeral services were held by the pastor of the deceased, Rev. Vanhoy, assisted by Rev. T. J. Acton, at Mount Vernon church.   Interment occurred in the cemetery nearby.  Mr. Bean leaves many relatives and friends to mourn the departure of a good man.”
~.~
Item:  The Hartford Herald, September 15, 1915, Page 2, under column for Dundee:

“Mr. Noble Bean died at Sulphur Springs last Thursday night and was buried Saturday morning at 10 a.m. at Mt. Vernon church.  He joined the M.E. church over 50 years ago and was always a faithful and hard worker for his church, ever ready to help the needy, the poor, or anyone who needed assistance.  His wife preceded him a few years ago.  He leaves 9 children, 19 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren.  He had been afflicted for about 10 years and was ready to go.


Mount Vernon Cemetery, Sulphur Springs, Ohio County, Kentucky


                                            "In Memoriam”

“Chloe Ann Elizabeth (Acton) Bean was born April 3, 1833, died May 30, 1910, aged 77 years, 1 month and 27 days.  She was married to Noble Bean, December 23, 1852, and to them were born 10 children, all but one of whom survive her.  The husband has lost a true and devoted wife, the children a kind and loving mother, whose life was spent for their pleasure.  She was an invalid for several years, and for the last two years was confined to her bed.  All that could be done to restore her to health was in vain.  Often she would call her husband and children to read the Bible and sing her a song.  She left us assurance that she was ready and willing to go.

Seems but a dream, but 'tis true, mother is gone.  Now we look with true faith to meet her in the sweet bye-and-bye.                                                                                                                                                                                                                 SON"
Item from The Hartford Herald, June 1, 1910, Page 1:

“Mrs. Noble Bean, who has been ill and bedfast many months, died at
 her home at Sulphur Spring, Sunday.  Her husband, who has also been
 ill a long while, is the brother of Rev. G. J. Bean, of Hartford.”


Inscription: C.A.E.; Wife of Noble Bean; Born Apr. 3, 1833; Died May 20, 1910;

“We shall meet again, Sweet mother, in a brighter time than this; Where the anguish of this world of ours, is lost in deathless bliss.”

Mount Vernon Cemetery - Sulphur Springs, Ohio County, Kentucky, USA


Submitted by Janice Cox Brown





Saturday, May 16, 2015

JOHN WESLEY CANNAN

JOHN WESLEY CANNAN, was born September 18, 1829, in Ohio County, Ky. where he has always resided. In 1861, he enlisted in Company Y, Seventeenth Kentucky Volunteer Infantry, and remained in the national service three years and four months. His father, John Cannan, was born in 1804, in Mercer County, Ky., where he was reared to manhood, and then located in Ohio County, where he died in 1872. He was the son of William Cannan, a native of Ireland. John married Nancy, daughter of Daniel and Francis Iler; of Ohio County, who died in 1862, at the age of fifty-five years. The result of their union were the following named children: William, John Wesley, Cassia A. (McCord), Ellen, Debie (Haley,) and James H., died in the Union army. John Wesley Cannan has been twice married; first, July 8, 1856, to Mrs. Artemissa McEntire, of Ohio County, born May 28, 1834, and died in 1867, and from this union sprang Thomas (deceased), Alonzo T., Florence (White), John (deceased), and William (deceased). He was again married, June 11, 1879, to Zelma F., daughter of Grandville and Mary (Bean) Crawford, of Ohio County, born June 11, 1857, and to them were born James Clarence and Ida Pearl. Mr. Cannan is a farmer, owning 144 acres of land in a good state of cultivation. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and in politics a Democrat.


Source: J. H. BATTLE, W H. PERRIN, & G. C. KNIFFIN 1895

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

George Helm Yeaman

George Helm Yeaman 


           This posting is a bit of a stretch for my Ohio County History blog, but you will find a connection below.  I think Mr. Yeaman is an interesting subject because he was a principal character in the recent movie “Lincoln” that most of us saw and enjoyed (2012).

            There is a little “cross-roads” town named Yeaman about 14 miles NE of Beaver Dam, as the crow flies, near the Ohio – Grayson border, and actually located in Grayson County.  This town was probably named for George Helm  Yeaman, a U. S. Congressman from Kentucky (November 1, 1829 – February 23, 1908) (please note that this little town might also be named for a Postmaster’s son).  I guess the name of the town is not important, but I find it interesting.

           George Helm Yeaman was born in Elizabethtown, Hardin County, Kentucky, the son of Lucretia Sneed (Helm) and Steven Minor Yeaman. George  completed preparatory studies and studied law. He was admitted to the bar in 1852 and commenced practice in Owensboro, Kentucky. He served as judge of Daviess County in 1854, and served as member of the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1861.

            Yeaman was elected as a Unionist to the Thirty-Seventh Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of James S. Jackson, who had resigned his seat and been killed at the Battle of Perryville. Yeaman was reelected to the Thirty-Eighth Congress and served from December 1, 1862, to March 3, 1865. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1864 to the Thirty-ninth Congress; losing the election he became a lame duck representative when the 13th Amendment was being debated in late 1864 and early 1865. He apparently had little to lose by switching his vote to outlaw slavery in the United States and he was most probably promised his next job in return for his vote, although today no one actually knows whether or not Yeaman was promised an appointment in exchange for his vote.

            In any event, Yeaman was appointed and served as the United States Minister to Denmark from 1865 – 1870. He resigned in 1870 and settled in New York City. He then served as a Lecturer on constitutional law at Columbia College. He served as president of the Medico-Legal Society of New York.

            Yeaman died in Jersey City, New Jersey, on February 23, 1908. He was interred in Hillside Cemetery, Madison, New Jersey.

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Tom Eblen: In 'Lincoln,' forgotten Kentucky congressman plays a pivotal role

BY TOM EBLEN
Lexington Herald-Leader columnist Tom Eblen, November 25, 2012 

"I hope to have God on my side," Abraham Lincoln remarked in 1861, "but I must have Kentucky."

Indeed, Steven Spielberg's new movie, Lincoln, makes it clear that the 16th president needed his home state up to the very end of the Civil War.

Kentucky is all over this terrific drama. Daniel Day Lewis stars as Lincoln, who was born in what is now Larue County, and Sally Field portrays Mary Todd Lincoln of Lexington. Field even spent time in Lexington to prepare for her role.

Early in the film, Lincoln is seen talking with two black soldiers who mention they enlisted at Camp Nelson in Jessamine County. A constant presence in the movie is the ticking of a watch that Lincoln owned — recorded at the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History in Frankfort, where it is part of the collection.

The movie focuses on Lincoln's quest in 1864 and 1865 to abolish slavery, in border as well as rebel states, by expanding his 1862 Emancipation Proclamation with the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. To do that, he needed to get the Senate-passed amendment through a divided House of Representatives.

A pivotal vote Lincoln needs is that of U.S. Rep. George Helm Yeaman of Owensboro, who is played by Michael Stuhlbarg, a California-born actor who affects a convincing Western Kentucky accent. At this point, even Kentucky history buffs in the audience are scratching their heads. George Helm Who?

Yeaman, then 35, was born in Hardin County, the nephew of former Gov. John L. Helm. A talented lawyer, Yeaman was Daviess County judge before being elected to the General Assembly and then Congress.

Yeaman was a Unionist. But the two major parties in Congress were Republicans and Democrats, although their personalities were the opposite of what they are today. Democrats were more conservative, Republicans more liberal.

Many Democrats supported slavery, while most Republicans, including Lincoln, opposed it. The so-called "radical Republicans" even believed in racial equality; at the time, no political idea was more radical than that.

Yeaman disliked slavery, but he feared that abolition would destroy Kentucky's economic and social structure. On Dec. 18, 1862, he gave a lengthy speech in the House denouncing Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.

"I protest against it as a violation of the Constitution and the liberties of my country," Yeaman said. "I protest against it as unwise, uncalled for, tending to widen the breach rather than to hasten the conclusion of this war."

"Yeaman was reflecting the views of his constituents," said Aloma Dew, who taught Civil War and Reconstruction history at Kentucky Wesleyan College in Owensboro and wrote The Kentucky Encyclopedia's entry about Yeaman.

Most of Yeaman's constituents supported both the Union and slavery. "He felt that the power to confiscate private property was unconstitutional," Dew said, adding that he also thought blacks were unprepared for freedom.

In the movie, Yeaman, serving as a lame duck after being defeated for re-election in 1864, is first shown giving a speech against the proposed 13th Amendment. He warns that ending slavery could eventually extend the vote to blacks and, even more horribly, to women. The House erupts in jeers.

This speech leads Lincoln's operatives to think Yeaman can't be bribed with a government job, which they were using to win the votes of other lame duck opponents. But the president decides to try to persuade him anyway.

Calling Yeaman to the White House, Lincoln tells him how his father, Thomas Lincoln, moved the family from Kentucky to Indiana and then Illinois because "he knew no small-holding dirt farmer could compete with slave plantations."

"I hate it too, sir, slavery," Yeaman tells Lincoln. "But we're entirely unready for emancipation."

Lincoln replies that the nation is unready for peace, too, but will have to figure it out when the time comes.

Days later, when called upon to cast his vote, Yeaman first mumbles, then shouts his "Aye!" to the shock of amendment opponents. He becomes a key swing vote for abolishing slavery.

After Lincoln's assassination, President Andrew Johnson appointed Yeaman as ambassador to Denmark. In that role, he negotiated the sale of the Virgin Islands to the United States, only to have it rejected by Congress. (The sale was later consummated in 1917 at more than three times the cost.)

Yeaman resigned his ambassadorship in 1870 and settled in New York. The former congressman who had opposed the Emancipation Proclamation on constitutional grounds wrote several books about law and government and taught constitutional law at Columbia University.

President James Garfield reportedly offered Yeaman an appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court, but was assassinated in 1881 before he could follow through. With his wife in failing health, Yeaman moved to a country home in Madison, N.J., where he died in 1908.

Spielberg's movie offers insight into the central role of Kentuckians in the Civil War, including a nod to a reluctant hero who might otherwise have been forgotten.

---------------------------------------------<>---------------------------------------------

"Lincoln" Kentucky Representative has historians excited

By: Berry Craig, West Kentucky Journal
Posted: Tuesday, December 4, 2012 3:11 pm.

(Mayfield, KY - December 4, 2012) -    Kentucky history buffs are abuzz over an all-but-forgotten Owensboro congressman who is featured in Lincoln, the new Steven Spielberg movie.

     On Jan. 31, 1865, George H. Yeaman cast a key vote for the 13th Amendment, which outlawed slavery. With his timely help, the Republican-majority House passed the amendment by the necessary two-thirds majority.

     (The 13th Amendment had won Senate approval in 1864, though Unionist Kentucky Senators Lazarus W. Powell of Henderson and Garrett Davis of Paris voted against it.)

     Before Lincoln, Yeaman, played by actor Michael Stuhlbarg, was largely unknown in the Bluegrass State.

     Anyway, Yeaman wasn't the only Kentucky congressmen who was for the amendment. Lucian Anderson of Mayfield, William H. Randall of London and Green Clay Smith of Covington also voted "aye."

     Kentucky's five other representatives voted "nay": Henry Grider of Bowling Green, Aaron Harding of Greensburg, Robert Mallory of New Castle, Brutus J. Clay of Paris and William Henry Wadsworth of Maysville.

     The Kentucky congressmen were elected as Unionists in 1863. By then, relations between border slave state Kentucky and the Lincoln administration had gone from bad to worse.

     Almost every white Kentuckian hated the anti-slavery "Black Republican" president and his Emancipation Proclamation of Jan. 1, 1863, though it didn't apply to their state. While most citizens were pro-Union, they were also pro-slavery.

     Fearing Unionist candidates might lose to conservative, anti-Lincoln Democrats, state authorities denied the vote to anybody suspected of disloyalty. (Suspected Unionists were disfranchised in the Confederacy.)

     Anderson could never have been elected otherwise. Though occupied by Yankee soldiers, deep western Kentucky remained defiantly Rebel.

     Likewise, Yeaman would have had a harder time winning had Southern sympathizers been allowed to vote.

     On the other hand, Randall and Smith probably would have been elected, no matter what. Their bailiwicks were staunchly Unionist.

     At any rate, the 13th Amendment became part of the constitution in December, 1865, after the requisite three-fourths of the states -- Kentucky not among them -- ratified it. "The next year, in a senseless act of defiance, the Kentucky House of Representatives refused to ratify the amendment," Lowell H. Harrison and James C. Klotter wrote in A New History of Kentucky. 

     Neither Anderson nor Yeaman, who joined Randall and Smith in the fledgling Kentucky GOP, returned to Washington.

     A Conservative-Democrat defeated Yeaman in 1865. Anderson knew he couldn't win another term, so he chose not to seek reelection. A Conservative-Democrat took his seat, too.

     On the other hand, Randall and Smith were reelected in 1865.

     -- Berry Craig is a professor of history at West Kentucky Community and Technical College in Paducah and is the author of True Tales of Old-Time Kentucky Politics: Bombast, Bourbon and Burgoo, Hidden History of Kentucky in the Civil War, Hidden History of Kentucky Soldiers and Hidden History of Western Kentucky. The books are being sold to raise money for scholarships at WKCTC. They are available by contacting Craig by phone at (270) 534-3270 or by email at berry.craig@kctcs.edu.

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            The other interesting thing about George Yeaman was that his election to the U. S. House of Representatives was contested by his opponent, John H. McHenry, Jr.,  who was born in Hartford, Ohio County, 21 February 1832 and who served as Commander of the 17th Kentucky Volunteer Infantry (Union).

            McHenry filed the documents for contest on December 9, 1863, with the House of Representatives in Washington, stating that the election held August 3, 1863 (Thirty-Eight Congress), was unconstitutional.  McHenry asked the House of representatives to vacate the election and that another election be held. 

            The specific grounds for the contest were that shortly before the election Yeaman conspired with Colonel John W. Foster, 65th Indiana Volunteers, with the conspiracy leading to Foster issuing “General Order No. 12” which prescribed an oath to be taken at the election; that the oath was unconstitutional; that General Order No. 12  was distributed to the general public before the election; that Foster had no right to issue General Order No. 12; that various other Orders were issued concerning the election; that armed soldiers were placed at the polls to intimidate voters; that said soldiers required voters to take the oath and threatened to arrest voters; and finally, generally alleging fraud in the election. 


            While the Yeaman connection to Ohio County is weak (although McHenry was born in Ohio County), this election contest may be is interesting to those of you related to McHenry or those of you that are also addicted to the history of Daviess County or those of us addicted to general Kentucky history.  If you have further interest, you can read the official documents, many of which are sworn depositions of Daviess County citizens and officials, in an online book that is free:


           If that link fails to work, search for Google Books (a separate web site) and then search for the following: Yeaman The House of Representatives. The First Session of the Thirty-Eighth Congress.1863-'64   The first item listed is the book that includes the McHenry v. Yeaman documents, which cover more than 100 pages of material.

Monday, May 11, 2015

Walton' Creek Lodge, Freemasons 1867

FREEMASONS

Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky,

at a

Grand Annual Communication,

in the

City of Louisville,

Commencing on Monday,

the 21st day of October, 1867



At page 55:


     RESOLVED, That a Charter be granted to Walton’s Creek Lodge, No. 455, to be located at Walton’s Creek, Ohio County, Kentucky; and that W. I. Rowe be the first Master, Wm. Ashby, Jr., be the first Senior Warden, and W. C. M. Roan be the first Junior Warden thereof.

Saturday, May 9, 2015

MARCY T. CAIN

MARCY T. CAIN, Ohio County, is the son of Charles S. and Minerva (Thomas) Cain. The father, a native of Grayson County, Ky., removed to Indiana about 1855, where he died, in 1864, of wounds received on the battlefield of Columbia, Tenn. He was a member of the Fourth Indiana Cavalry, having enlisted in 1861. The mother, Mrs. Minerva Cain, now resides in Spencer County, Ind.  Marcy T. is the eldest of seven children, and was born in Grayson County, Ky., September 28, 1847, and when very young removed with his parents to Spencer County, Ind. There he received his education at the common schools and spent his youth on the farm. In January, 1872, in Grayson County, Ky., he married Annie Horn, by whom he had two children: Minnie and Cora. Mrs. Cain departed this life in July, 1876. January 18, 1878, Mr. Cain married Mary, eldest daughter of Rev. George P. and Margaret Jane Jeffries. The issue of this marriage is two children: Minerva Jane and Earnestine. Mr. Cain is the owner of more than 300 acres of good land, on which he has excellent improvements, a fine lot of stock, etc. He and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he and wife are members of the Masonic fraternity, the latter of the Eastern Star Degree. The other members of his father's family are Sarah, the wife of Benjamin Meredith, a soldier in the Fifty-eighth Indiana Volunteers and also a spy; Nancy E., wife of Andy Jackson Persley; Hardin; Letitia, wife of Edward Roberts, of Indiana, formerly a soldier of the Fifty-fifth Indiana Volunteer Infantry; Kitty Ann, and Hester E.  Mr. Cain is largely interested in buying and selling stock, and the large farm which he has lately purchased in Ellis Precinct is devoted largely to raising fine graded stock and cattle. His father's two brothers were officers in the Union army: Richard Cain, a captain in the Twenty-fifth Indiana; and Daniel Cain, a Baptist clergyman, and a major in the Forty-eighth Indiana.


Source: J. H. BATTLE, W H. PERRIN, & G. C. KNIFFIN 1895


Wednesday, May 6, 2015

WILLIAM SPURRIER BYERS

WILLIAM SPURRIER BYERS, Ohio County, was born April 14, 1829, in Grayson County, Ky., where he grew to manhood; in 1856 removed to Jackson County, Ill., in 1858 returned to Grayson County; in 1866 settled in Gibson County, Ind.; and in 1883, located in Ohio County, where he now resides. In 1863 he enlisted in Company H, Thirty-fifth Kentucky Infantry, and remained in the service seventeen months. His father, Daniel Byers, a Baptist minister, was born in Grayson County, in 1803, was a Union soldier in the late war, and died in 1875. He was the son of John Byers, a native of Kentucky. His father, Daniel, was a pioneer from Pennsylvania. Daniel, Jr., married Margaret, daughter of William and Elizabeth (Avery) Bratcher, of Grayson County; born in 1805, and died in 1883, and their children are Anderson R., Avery, William S., James D., Elizabeth (Ford), John, and Margaret (McSheery). Mr. Byres was married December 10, 1850, to Nancy M., daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Humphrey) Tanner, of Daviess County, born August 26, 1828, and to them have been born Daniel (deceased), Minerva J. (Williams), William A. (deceased), Samuel P., Alonzo C. (deceased), Kit Carson, Sarah A. (deceased), and Richard A. Mr. Byers is a farmer, owning fifty-three acres of good land in a high state of cultivation. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity; a Missionary Baptist, and a Republican.


Source: J. H. BATTLE, W H. PERRIN, & G. C. KNIFFIN 1895


Saturday, May 2, 2015

CHARLES W. BUTLER

CHARLES W. BUTLER, Ohio County, was born in Hart County, Ky., May 1, 1831. He was reared in his native county, and in 1851, removed to Grayson County; to Breckinridge County in 1856, and to Ohio County in 1866, where he has since resided. His father, John Butler, a native of South Carolina was born in 1795, removed with his parents in 1805, to Hart County, Ky., and died in Grayson County in 1861. He was the son of Enoch Butler, a Virginian, who died in Hart County, Ky., in 1837, aged seventy-two years. His father was John Butler; his wife Mary A., daughter of Harry Clagett, of Grayson County, died in 1854, at the age of fifty-six years. From their union sprang Henry C., Minor E., Charles W., Joseph A., and John W. To subject's father, by a second marriage, was born Cynthia J. (Day). Charles W. Butler's educational advantages were such as the common schools of Kentucky afforded. February 13, 1855, he married Anne E., daughter of Moses W. and Matilda (Bishop) Stone, of Grayson County, born October 22, 1837, and to them were born Thomas E., February 13, 1866, and Mary A., June 19, 1868. Mr. Butler was reared a farmery vocation which he followed until 1865, when he commenced merchandising,, and in 1866, came to Pattieville, where he engaged in general merchandising until 1878, when he, in connection with many others, failed on account of the defalcation of a Louisville commission house. With commendable zeal he continued his business as dealer in leaf tobacco, and is now a successful and useful member of the community; he has been engaged in the tobacco business for eighteen years. He owns and cultivates 106 acres of good land; is a committed Mason; has been for fifteen years a ruling elder in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He is a Democrat.


Source: J. H. BATTLE, W H. PERRIN, & G. C. KNIFFIN 1895

Mr. Butler is buried in the Pleasant Grove Cemetery, Ohio County.