William Jefferson Mc Intosh

The annuals of Greene county would not be complete without a record of the life history of this very early pioneer, whose, life was closely interwoven with the history of the county in the early days. Numerous representatives of the family are still residents of the county, and through their prominence and activity contribute much to the history of Greene county today.

There is a well founded tradition that the Mc Intosh family now under consideration are lineal descendants of General Mc Intosh of Revolutionary fame, and later a United States congressman from Georgia, but since much of all history back a hundred years is traditional, and often well founded, we may be pardoned for here introducing this means of tracing a family genealogy. William J. Mc Intosh was a son of William Mc Intosh, of pure Scotch antecedents, though how far removed is not definitely known.

The subject of this review was born in Bath county, Kentucky, July 10, 1802, and died in Greene county, Indiana, September 13, 1876. He was reared on a farm near Licking river in Kentucky, and when a young man of twenty embarked with his parental family on board a house boat, known as a "pirogue", and floated down the Licking into the Ohio, thence down the Ohio to the mouth of the Wabash, up the latter by poling, continuing their way under many hardships and dangers, up the White river to near the mouth of the Eel river, where they disembarked and settled on the east side of White river in 1822. (Another reliable authority fixes this date as 1821). This trip, covering eleven hundred miles, was made in forty days, though the perils of such a journey cannot be estimated in days and weeks. They were traveling over unknown waters, through a country then scarcely known to the white man, the adjacent forests abounding in wild animals, and, perhaps, wild men. Though the Indians had been subdued and mostly driven away, there yet remained parties of prowlers bent on revenge for real or fancied wrongs. Then the country to which they were going was wild and unsettled, and their "homecoming" was no more alluring than the long and dangerous voyage. Establishing a home in the wilderness, they at once began the laborious work of clearing up a farm and producing the means of subsistence. The forests yielded a rich harvest in all kinds of wild game, and the reveries of the finny tribe had scarcely been disturbed. Those days, too, when there was such a thing as "pure maple sugar", and this was a source of satisfaction not enjoyed to the full by present-day citizens.

ABout 1837, as previously intimated, William J. Mc Intosh removed his family from Marion county to Greene county and here his days were ended. He was one of the early sheriffs of the county and served six years in that office. He was so closely attached to the peaceful and quiet life of the farmer that he did not move his family to the county seat when elected, but continued his home on his farm. He was a man of very strong domestic ties, and exemplary husband and kind and indulgent father, a friend to everybody - a man who daily tried to make the world better for his having lived. He was a friend to humanity in general, liberal to a fault and helpful in every avenue of human effort. Unscrupulous persons took advantage of his generous impulses and he often rendered aid to unworthy applicants, and frequently indorsed with people who left him to pay their debts. For these reasons, he never accumulated wealth, but probably enjoyed earning money for others, even when unworthily bestowed. The later years of his life were embittered by incurable disease, and from 1861 until his death he was a helpless cripple from sciatic rheumatism, though he had been partially crippled from early life. But during the later years of his life he suffered intensely, and was bed-ridden, or at best only able to move about with the aid of crutches, and that in great pain. But he bore his sufferings with a degree of patience seldom manifested in human existence. He was always cheerful, always ready to receive calling friends and greet them in the old way so well known to them. This bright and sunny temperament remained with him through all his sufferings, and he went to his grave as he had lived, trying to cheer and brighten the lives of others. He served the people in different official capacities twenty-one years while living in Greene county, and his record as a citizen and official was without a blot or stain.

In religious views he was a believer in the doctrine of universal salvation, but was not intolerant of others views, and contributed liberally to the support of the gospel of whatever name. At the time of his death he was a member of the Christian church.

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Biographical Memoirs of Greene County, Ind. With Reminiscences of Pioneer Days, Illustrated (1908, B. F. Bowen & Co. Indianapolis, Indiana) Vol. 2 Pg.512-6.