Francis Marion Busby

Whose portrait appears on another page, was for many years one of the most prominent figures in the commercial and political history of Boone County. Coming to Lebanon in 1834, he was, at the date of his death in 1886, one of the few remaining of the little band of pioneers who had settled at this point prior to 1840. From early manhood to the close of his useful and eventful life, he was foremost in all movements calculated to benefit his adopted town and county, as well as being active in all measures for the amelioration of his fellow-men, and it is but just to his memory to say that no other man’s personality was ever so deeply impressed upon the community. He was a witness to the progress of Lebanon from its inception until it had become a busy city of five thousand souls, and the county which he first beheld as a wilderness, he lived to see developed into a vast area of cultivated farms, dotted with thrifty towns and villages, and populated with a sturdy, prosperous, and enterprising people.

Mr. Busby was born in Bath County, Kentucky, on the 29th of May, 1831, and with his father and mother removed to Lebanon in 1834. In 1853 he was married to Miss Lucinda Haun, at Thorntown, and to this union were born five sons and one daughter, the latter dying in infancy. The five sons – Charles E., Elmer D., John H., Albino O., and Dick L. – are all engaged in the milling business in Lebanon, in the large plant established by the father and Charles E., and known as the Globe Roller Mills.

Mr. Busby’s character was known to all men as being of such sterling worth that he became a veritable public servant. The confidence reposed in him was never abused or betrayed, and he was universally regarded as a wise counsellor[sic] and an efficient executive. He was twice elected treasurer of Boone County, and during the dark days of the Rebellion he rendered valuable service to the cause of the Union. For a period of twelve years he was postmaster at Lebanon, and this trust, as in the case of all others that were in his keeping, he discharged with the utmost fidelity. He was a member of the city council for several terms, and a few days before his death he had been appointed to a vacancy in the school board.

In early life he had followed the trade of carpentering with his father, but later on he successfully engaged in farming, stock-raising and milling. He was deeply interested in the breeding and development of horses, and was the originator, promoter and first President of the Indiana Trotting and Pacing Horse Breeders’ Association, which he lived to see firmly established.

As a politician, few men in Indiana outranked him for sagacity, and during Governor Morton’s regime he was one of the great War Governor’s closest friends and counsellors.[sic] He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and a Freemason of high standing. To the latter order he was especially devoted, and he practiced the teachings of the Mystic Tie in spirit and in truth.

His death was keenly felt in the community in which he had lived so long and for which he had done so much, and citizens of all classes abandoned their usual vocations in order that they might do homage at the grave of one who had in life been the unswerving friend of the poor and distressed. At all times he was generous, and in all things just. His charity was as broad as humanity itself, and the world was the better by his being in it. Of him it may be said:

     “He never made a brow look dark, nor caused a tear
      But when he died.”

One who knew him thirty years, and who was opposed to him in many a hard-fought political contest, wrote this truthful and beautiful tribute to his memory: “Vengeance had no abiding place in his heart. He never suffered a wrong he did not freely forgive. The virtue of goodness in Francis M. Busby made him great.”

Transcribed by: Julie S. Townsend - June 6, 2007
Source: "Early Life and Times in Boone County, Indiana," Harden & Spahr, Lebanon, Ind., May, 1887, pp 243-245.