JEFFERSON COUNTY
(By W. P. Hendricks, Esq.)
from
Biographical and Historical Souvenir
for the Counties of
Clark, Crawford, Harrison, Floyd, Jefferson, Jennings, Scott and Washington
1889


                                     Citizens of Madison, County Seat of Jefferson County

COL. JOHN PAUL, was the fourth child and second son of Michael Paul and Ann Parker, who were married at Germantown about the year 1751 or 1752. Michael Paul was a native of Holland. Michael Paul was a native of Holland. The time and place of his birth is unknown, as is also the date of his emigration to this country, and the fact as to whether he came alone, or with others of his father's family; however, it is known that he had two brothers who lived at the same place-Germantown, Penn. He left Germantown in the year of 1766 or 1777, and went to Redstone, Old Fort, now Brownsville, Penn. From there he went to what is now West Virginia, and from there, in 1781, to Hardin county, Kentucky, where he died in 1801.
   Ann Parker was born in Germantown, Penn., in the year 1724. She belonged to the order of the Dunkards. She was a cousin to Rev. Samuel Davis, D.D., a noted Presbyterian preacher of that day, and president of one of the early theological schools of Pennsylvania and New Jersey (perhaps of Princeton.) She died in Hardin county, Ky., in June, 1813, at the age of 89. They were the parents of seven children. 
   John the subject of this sketch, being the fourth. He was born in Germantown, Penn., November 12th, 1758, and died June 6th, 1830, in Madison, Ind. He went with his father to Brownsville and to Virginia, and after-wards to Kentucky.
   In the year of 1778, he went with the expedition of Gen. Geo. Rogers Clark in the campaign against the Indianas in Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. The expedition went by boats from Louisville, Ky., to Kaskaskia (now) Illinois. When they debarked at Kaskaskia, the soldiers had to wade for a great distance in water up to the armpits, carrying their guns and powder horns above their heads to keep them dry, before reaching the fort. In 1794, he was married to Miss Sarah Thomberry Grover, at Danville, Ky. She was born in or near Baltimore, Md., March 21st, 1775, and went to Kentucky with her parents somewhere in the decade of 1780. They had four children, Mary Berry, the oldest, dying quite young.
   In 1809, Col. Paul left Xenia and came to the Indiana Territory, landing with his family at the point where Madison now stands, on October 6th. Previous to this, he had gone to the "Vendue" of public lands at Vincennes, where he bought the land upon which New Albany now stands. Upon his trip home from that sale he stopped at his purchase to fix a home, but concluding that it was an unhealthy locality, he prospected along the river for a more healthy situation. He decided upon the present site of Madison as being best suited to his wishes, and went home to Ohio to await the opening of the sales at Jeffersonville where this land was to be sold. In the spring of 1809, he went to the sale and bought the land, and returned home and arranged for the immediate removal of his family to this place, where he afterwards lived till his death.
   Col. Paul was a man full of the milk of human kindness. His benefactions in the way of property for public uses are seen all along the pathway of his life. At Xenia, Ohio, he gave the site for the court house. In Madison, the ground for the old graveyard, on Third street; the site for Wesley Chapel Church, now the opera house. In Ripley county, Indiana, the ground for the graveyard in Versailles, and ground for the Academy. He was a practical surveyor, and a very good judge of the quality of land; as is proven by the fact that a great many tracts of the best land in this county and Ripley were bought by him from the United States government.
   He was a man endowed by nature with all of the elements of a leader amongst men, and he was one. In this day and generation he would have been called an athlete on account of his strength, activity, and powers of endurance.
   He was tall, of a fine attractive physique; he had a commanding appearance. Kind hearted, he was gentle in manner to alll, tender to those in distress; magnanimous, he was generous to a fault, always a friend to the poor and helpless, and ready to lift up and help forward young men. He was beloved by his friends, and respected by all men who knew him, even by his enemies,-for, like all men of positive character, he had them. He was an energetic business man, and engaged in farming, milling and real estate business. He was the first representative in the Territorial Assembly from this part of Clark county, and was a member of the Legislature after this county was organized. He was elected as Senator from Switzerland and Jefferson counties to the first Legislature of the State of Indiana, which convened at Corydon, Monday, November 4th, 1816. He was called to the chair of the Senate as President pro tempore, and was the first presiding officer of the State.
   He was the first Clerk and Recorder of this county, which offices he held for many years.
   Col. Paul was the first clerk of Green County, Ohio, and laid out the town of Xenia in that county. He also named Jefferson county and Madison town.
   Col. John Vawter, in a letter written in 1850, says of Col. Paul: "He was one of George Rogers Clarke's men in the expedition against the British posts at Detroit, Mich., and Kaskaskia, Ill. He was at the capture of Vincennes in 1779, February 24th."
   At the time he located in this county, his family consisted of himself and his wife, Miss Ruth Grover, a niece of his wife who made her home with them, and three children; the eldest, Ann Parker, was born March 18th, 1799, in Harding county, Ky., John P., who was born in Greene county, Ohio, December 23rd, 1800, and Sarah G., who was born March 21st, 1802, in Greene county, Ohio.
   Ann Parker was married May 19th, 1816, to William Hendricks. From this union were born nine children. She died September 12, 1887, in the 89th year of her age. John Peter Paul was a graduate of Washington College, and became a surveyor. He was married to Miss Eliza Meek. He died in September, 1835, in Clark county, in the thrity-fifth year of his age. Sarah G. Paul was married three times; her fist husband was Dr. Robert Cravens, who died leaving one son, Judge John R. Cravens (who still resides in Madison); her second husband was Dr. Samuel M. Goode, who died leaving one son now living here in the city, and known as Dr. Goode. Her third husband was B.C. Stevenson, a Methodist preacher. She died in September 14th, 1877, aged---. Mrs. Paul, the mother of the family, died May 8th, 1866, in the 92nd year of her age.
   Col. Paul and his wife and daughter, Mrs. Stevenson, are all buried in the old graveyard on Third street, in the city of Madison.


GOV. WILLIAM HENDRICKS L.L.D., was born in Ligonier Valley, Westmoreland county, Penn., Nov. 12th, 1782. His parents were Abraham and Ann (Jamison) Hendricks. He was brought up on a farm, and educated himself, laboring at different occupations in order to make the money for his support during his school and college life.
   Among other labors, he was a hand in a powder mill or factory for one year. When he was fitted by his studies for the calling, he taught school, and finally by means made by his occupation, finished his course at college at Cannonsburgh, Pa., in the year 1810. After graduating he came west to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he studied law in the office of Mr. Corry, teaching school in order to support himself for the bar. He reamined in Cincinnati till the year 1812, when he came to Madison where he settled, and lived all the remainder of his life, excepting two years which he spent at Coryden, while he was Governor of the State. In the records of the common pleas court of Jefferson county, Indian Territory, July 5th, 1813, is this entry: "William Hendricks presented to the court license as counsellor and attorney at law, and thereupon took the oath required by the laws of the territory.
   In connection with Wm. Cameron, he established a printing office and published a paper called the Western Eagle, the first issue of which was dated Madison, Indiana Territory, May 26th, 1813. It was the second paper printed in the State, the Western Sun being the first-published at Vincennes. He sold his interest to Cameron in 1815.
   In the spring of 1813 he was made Secretary of the Territorial Legislature, at Vincennes, which was then the seat of government. "The Legislature of Indiana Territory was not convened in the year 1812; but on the 18th of December in that year, General John Gibson, the Secretary and acting Governor of the Territory, issued a proclamation, in which he required the Territorial legislature to meet at Vincennes, on the 1st of February, 1813."  (Dillon's History of Indiana, page 517.)
   In the summer of 1814 he elected as a member of the Territorial Legislature.
   In June, 1816 he was appointed Secretary of the Convention to form a State Constitution. This convention met at Corydon, the seat of Government for the State, on the 10th day of June, and adjourned on the 29th day of the same month, having completed their work, and made the first Constitution for the State of Indiana.
   In August, 1816, he was elected as the first and sole Representative to Congress from the State, and served three successive terms, until 1822, when he was elected Governor. He removed to Corydon (then the seat of government) in the fall of 1822, and lived there until the spring of 1825. The trip was made from Madison to Jeffersonville in a flat boat, in which was carried all of his household furniture and goods, besides the horses, on which the rest of the journey, from Jeffersonville to Corydon, was made. There were three families on the flat boat, (or broad horns as they were then called) Mr. Samuel Merrill, and family, and Mr. Douglass and family, and a Mr. Virgus and family. The last two were printers. Douglass went to Indianapolis, and Virgus afterwards to Logansport.
   During the last winter of his term as Governor, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, and resigned his position as Governor, in order to take his seat in the Senate on the 4th of March, 1825. He was re-elected to the U.S. Senate on the 4th of March, 1825. He was re-elected to the U.S. Senate in 1830-31, and served altogether twelve years in that body.
   He made the journey to the capital, usually, on horseback, as far as Ligonier Valley, Pennsylvania, thence to Washington by stages. On one of these journeys, his wife accompanied him on horseback, riding the entire distance from their home in Madison, Indiana, to the city of Washington. 
   These horseback journeys occupied from two to three week's time, depending upon the condition of the roads and the weather.
   Gov. Hendricks' political opinions were tryly Democratic. He was never elected to any position as a partisan, and never gave a strictly partisan vote, but voted for those measures which, in his belief, were best for this country and constituents. When he ran for Governor he had no opponent. No other man in the history of the State has been so honored.
   In 1840 he was one of the State electors on the Van Buren ticket; and it was during this campaign that he contracted bronchitis, from which he suffered all of his subsequent life. This was his last political campaign, as the condition of his throat prevented public speaking, and he was afterwards engaged only in his personal affairs. May 19th, 1816, he was married to Miss Ann P. Paul, eldest daughter of Col. John Paul, of Madison. (see Col. Paul's sketch in this book). Gov. Hendricks and wife were the parents of nine children; William, who died an infant, Sarah A.; John A., who was killed at the battle of Pea Ridge, Ark.; Josiah G.; W.P. Paul--died Dec. 17th 1885; Thomas who died December, 1863, from effects of a wound received at Icaria, La.; Mary, who died an infant, and Ellen C. Sarah Ann and W.P. are now (1889) living in Madison Ind.; J. Grover (Josiah G.) is living in Wisconsin, and Ellen C. in Springfield, Mo.
   On the 16th day of May, 1850, he died at the house on his farm, where he had gone that morning, as was his custom to seperintend the construction of a burial vault. He climbed the hill on foot, and the exertion brought on a paroxsym of heart condition, which he had been subject to for some years previous, from which he died that night at 11 o'clock.
   Gov. Hendricks was a man of comanding appearance; six feet in height, handsome in face and figure; he was of a ruddy complexion with black hair and blue eyes. He was easy in manners, of a kind and genial disposition. He was a man who attracted the attention of all, and won the warm friendship of many. He was brought up in the Presbyterian faith in religion and early united with that church, and lived a consistant, earnest Christian life.
   The literary degrees of A. B., in 1810, A.M. and L.L.D. were conferred upon him by Washington College, Pa.
   "William Wesley Woolen, in his biographical and historical sketches of early Indiana, says of Gov. Hendricks;*****Thus it will be seen that for twenty-one years- from 1816 to 1837- he served without intermission the people of Indiana in the three highest offices within their gift."
   "Men who found empires should not be forgotten. They plant the tree of civil liberty, and water its roots, while those who come after them but trim its branches to preserve its symmetry. If they plant carelessly and in poor soil the tree will have but a sickly growth. That the men who planted Indiana in the wilderness sixty-seven years ago, planted wisely and well is evidenced by its wonderful growth.*******"
   "William Hendricks had as much to do with laying the foundations of this great State and commencing its superstructure as any other man, excepting Jonathan Jennings only, and yet how few there are who know he ever lived."*******
   "He made the first revision of the laws of the State and had it printed on his own press. The Legislature offered to pay him for this work, but he declined all pecuniary compensation. It then passed a resolution of thanks, the only return for his labor he would take."
   "The Indiana Gazaetteer of 1850 thus speaks of him:
   "'Governor Hendricks was for many years by far the most popular man in the State. He had been its sole Representative in Congress for six years, elected on each occasion by large majorities, and no member of that body, probably, was more attentive to the interests of the State he represented, or more idustrious in arranged all the private or local business entrusted to him. He left no letter unanswered; no public office or document did he fail to visit or examine on request; with personal manners very engaging, he long retained his popularity.'"
   "Governor Hendricks was of a family that occupies a front place in the history of Indiana. There is probably no other one in the State that has exerted so wide an influence upon its politics and legislation as his. His eldest son, John Abraham, was captain in the Mexican war, and a lieutenant-colonel in the war of the rebellion. He was killed in the battle of Pea Ridge, while in command of his regiment. Another son, Thomas, was killed in the late war, during Gen. Banks' campaign up Red river. A brother and a nephew sat in the State Senate, and another nephew, Hon. Thos. A. Hendricks, has received the highest honors his State could confer upon him."
   Since the above was written, by Mr. Woollen, Hon. Thomas A. Hendricks was elected to the Vice-Presidency of the United States, and has gone to the grave. He was also United States Senator from Indiana, and Commissioner of Pensions.


JAMES F. D. LANIER was born in the bounty of Beaufort in the State of North Carolina, November 22nd, 1800.
His father was Alexander Chalmers Lanier, and his mothers' maiden name was Sarah Chalmers. His first paternal ancestor in this country was Thomas Lanier, a Hugenot of Bordeaux, France, who fled from the religious persecutions, about the middle of the seventeenth century, going first to England and afterwards to this country, and settling in North Carolina.
   Soon after the birth of the subject of this sketch, his father removed to Bourbon county, Kentucky, and in 1807 he removed to Eaton, Ohio, where the childhood of Mr. Lanier was spent. In 1817 his father removed to Madison, Indiana, where he died in 1820, leaving a widow and one son.
   Mr. Lanier's early education was of a limited character, both as to time and extent of studies. About eighteen months in Eaton at a common school, and in 1815-16, about a year and a half at an academy at Newport, Kentucky, and about the samelength of time after he came to Madison, at a private school, comprises it.
   At Eaton he was employed in a store of general character, and there got the foundation of his business education. In 1819 he commenced the study of law in the office of Alexander A. Meek, and finished his legal studies by a course at the Transylvania Law School in Kentucky, graduating in 1823. He commenced the practice of law in Madison, practicing in the southeastern district of Indiana, which comprised a number of counties. 
   In 1824 he appointed Associate Clerk of the House of Representatives of the State Legislature, and continued i that position till 1837, when he was made principal clerk of that body. His salary as clerk was $3.50 per day. In 1833 he went into the Madison Branch of the State Bank, which was chartered in that year, and took a prominent share in the management of it. He was made Pension Agent for a portion of the Western States in 1837.
   In 1849, he removed to New York City, for the purpose of engaging more largely in railroad operations, forming a copartnership with Mr. R.H. Winslow in the business of negotiation of rairoad securities and a general banking business. He continued in this business in New York till his death in August, 1881.
   In 1819, he was married to Miss Elizabeth Gardiner, of Kentucky, by whom he had eight children, of whom six are now living;  Elizabeth G., Washington City, widow of Gen. Wm. M. Dunn; Drusilla D., wife of Judge John R. Cravens, Madison, Ind., the eldest; Margaret Pangelly, 'Morristown, N.J.; Mrs. Mary Stone, New York City, and Mr. Charles Lanier, of New York City.
   He was married a second time in 1849 to Miss McClure, of Chambersburg, Pa., by which marriage he had one daughter, Katie, who is a widow residing at Lennox, Mass., and one son who died young. His widow survives him and lives at Lennox.


CHRISTOPHER HARRISON  was a man of strange habits and life. Born at the town of Cambridge, Dorchester Co., Maryland, of wealthy parentage, in the year 1775, he migrated to Indiana Territory in 1808. He led a solitary, secluded life for some years, avoiding all society, occupying himself entirely with hunting, and his books. Disappointment in a love affair was understood to have been the cause of his course of life at the time. He seems to have been attracted by the beauty of Fair Prospect Point, for we find him settled there probably as early as 1808. He remained there until about 1815, when he sold his land of George Logan. (see Logan's sketch before).
   In the records of the Common Pleas Court of the date of Thursday, Oct. 22d, 1812, we find the following entry: "Gen. Christopher Harrison took the place of Williamson Dunn as Judge of the Common Pleas Court." A previous entry of the same court shows that General Christopher Harrison was acting as one of the grand jurors of the court. He seems to have given up the secluded life he had been living at this time, for we notice his name on the records of the court up to the time he sold out his land. He went to Salem from here in 1815, and engaged in keeping one of the frontier stores, dealing in all articles in use at that time by the frontier settlers. Jonathan Lyons, one of the proprietors of the town of Madison, was engaged in the business with him.
   He still retained some peculiarity of character as will be seen by the following quotation from a sketch of his life in "Biographical and Historical Sketches of Early Indiana," by W.W. Woollen (to whom I am indebted for some of my incidents. W.P.H.)
   "While at Salem, Christopher Harrison lived alone. His dwelling was a little brick house of two rooms, on of them barely large enough for a bed. An old colored woman came each morning to tidy up the house and put things in order, and with this exception, no one scarcely ever entered his door. But the lot upon which it stood was often visitied. It was fifty feet on way by one hundred the other, and nearly every foot of it not covered by the house was planted in flowers. Here the boys and girls of the town would come for flowers, and seldom did they go away empty handed. The master of the house made bouguets and gave to them, drew pictures for them, and in many other ways sought to please and make them happy."
   Mr. Harrison was elected Lieutenant Governor of the State of Indiana on the first Monday in August in the year 1816. First Lieut. Governor of the State. He resigned his position as Lieut. Governor because the Legislature did not think as he did on a subject which has divided the Supreme Courts of the State since that time. That is, whether a law of the State restricting the governor to that office only, is a tenable and binding one or not. It was set aside in this case and in several others, by high handed assumption and sustained by personal friends of Gov. Jennings who were in the Legislature. Soon after Gov. Harrison quit business and went onto a farm, and a few years after returned to the scenes of his nativity in Maryland, where he died at the age of eighty-eight.
   Lieut. Gov. Harrison was a gentleman of culture and education, and well fitted for any position to which he aspired, but he lacked in suavity of manner and tact; qualities very necessary in the make up of a successful politician.


CAPT. ISAAC CHAMBERS-Capt. Chambers was born in Melton county, Kentucky, May 18th, 1795, and was raised on a farm. His education was quite limited. He was in the war of 1812-15, and was at the battle of New Orleans. After the battle he walked to his home in Kentucky and raised a crop there; and then came to Indiana and entered a tract of land in Jefferson county in the fall of 1815. He built him a cabin and then returned to Kentucky. In the year following he removed his family to his land in (what is now) Monroe township, Jefferson county, Indiana. He was a man who was respected by his neighbors and by the citizens of the whole county. He was a good citizen, honorable, honest and upright in all his dealings with his fellow men.
   In 1840 he was elected as a member of the State Legislature from this county. He was a captain in the State militia.
   In his youth he flat-boated on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Upon his return home from one of his trips to New Orleans, he was taken sick, and stopped behind the other men who were traveling with him, as they supposed to die. Fortunately he fell into the hands of an old Spanish woman, who understood his case and cured him so quickly that he, by taking a short route, was enabled to overtake his comrades before they got home. When he approached their camp they supposed that it was his ghost and were very much frightened, but finally he was able to prove to them that it was himself and no ghost, and they journeyed hom to Kentucky together. The old woman could not understand his language, but knew how to treat the malarial diseases of the country, which was much better for him.
   Capt. Chambers lived on the place that he entered in 1815 jntil his death, which occurred in 1865.


JUDGE WILLIAMSON DUNN was a man whose name was connected very intimately with much of the early history of this country. He came to the county in the year 1809, and settled on a farm on which a part of the town of Hanover now stands. Here he lived for the greater portion of his remaining life.
   Williamson Dunn was appointed as Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, for the county of Jefferson, Indiana territory, which place he held until April, 1813. At this time he was commissioned as captain of a company of rangers, which had been enlisted in this county and in Kentucky, near here.
   Judge Dunn was Associate Judge of the Circuit Court of Jefferson county in 1814, and for some years after that date.
   In May, 1820, Judge Dunn was commissioned Register of the Land Office, for Terre Haute district. The land office was afterwards removed to Crawfordsville and Judge Dunn was re-appointed to the position of Register. He and others pruchased the land on which Crawfordsville was laid out, and he donated the land upon which Wabash College was built. He also give land for the establishment of a college at Hanover. In 1829 he returned to Hanover and resided there the rest of his life. In 1832 he was a candidate for the State Senate, but was defeated; but was chosen as Senator in 1837, to fill the vacancy caused by the registration of Lieut. Gov. David Hillis. In 1843 he was again nominated by was defeated by a division in his party, caused by Shadrach Wilber, who was also a Whig, running as an independent candiate for the same office-the State Senate-and Jesse D. Bright, a Democrat, was elected. In 1846 Judge Dunn was elected as Probate Judge of the county, and was re-elected and held the office at the time that the court was abolished under the new Constitution.
   Judge Dunn was born Dec. 25th, 1781, near Danville, Ky. He was the third son of Samuel Dunn, a native f Ireland. The family were Presbyterian in their belief. In September, 1806, he was married to Miss Miriam Wilson, of Garrard county, Ky. They raised a family of eleven children-seven boys and four girls. The family have been scattered over the country, and the most of them are dead. There are only four of them now living. (Jan. 1889)
   Judge Dunn joined the Presbyterian church at about the age of thirty-five, and was an earnest Christian the balance of his life. For over thirty years he was a ruling elder in the church. He was a man of fine character and sterling integrity; a man who always had the courage to act upon his convictions, no matter how unpopular they might be. He was a man of good judgment; rather low in forming conclusions, but once formed in his mind and convinced of their righteousness, he was a hero in their defense. His record during life, in all of the positions which he was called upon to fill, was good and perfectly clean. His wife died in October, 1837, and he was remarried in November, 1839, to Mary Fleming, who survived him.
   Judge Dunn died Nov. 11th, 1854, from the effects of a sunstroke in the month of September previous. 


JOHN HENRY WAGNER, Mr. Wagner was born in Franklin county, Penn. The exact date of his birth is not known, as his parents died when he was quite young, and he was bound out till he was of age. The custom in those days was to bind out orphan boys till twenty-one years of age, and girls till eighteen.
   If there ever had been any record of his father's family it was either lost or destroyed. He learned the blacksmith's trade. He married in Pennsylvania, Mary J. Hoffman, who was also an orphan and a bond-girl. In some way they were informed that there was only twenty-one days' difference in their birth. Mr. Wagner and wife were both of German parentage. They kept a tavern in Chambersburg, Penn. They came to this county May 23rd, in the year 1808, and landed at about where now is the foot of Jefferson street.  They floated down the river in a old-time flat boat called a broadhorn. When they arrived at this point, they determined to settle here, and so removed from their boat, the lumber of which was used for flooring of their cabin. Their cabin (the first one built in the town) stood at where is now the north-east corner of Mulberry and First streets, on a high bank which has since been cut away, the second bank or rise from the river. Having his tools with him he set up a shop, and so far as is now known was the first iron worker in the settlement. Previous to his coming, the settlers had gone over the river into Kentucky to have their blacksmith work done. This consisted chiefly in making axes, hoes and other edge tools, bells for horses and cattle, and all articles of hardware, belonging to their department of work, besides a great deal of other work which is out of the line of the blacksmith of the present day. Mr. Wagner and wife raised a family of four boys and three girls.
   They remained in Madison for many years, when they removed to a farm on the Michigan road, four miles from town, and from thence to Jennings county, when they returned to Jefferson county, where they died. Mr. Wagner died May 25th, 1841, and his wife died August 13th, in the same year. They were supposed to have been bout eighty years old at the time of their death.


THOMAS WISE, was born in Maryland on the eastern shore in 1793. His parents emigrated to Kentucky when he was only two years of age. His father died soon afterwards, leaving five children, three boys and two girls. In 1800 his mother came to Trimble county, where the family remained. Thomas came to Indiana first on the day of the first sale of town lots in Madison, but returned to his mother's, where he remained till a few days after the Pigeon Roost massacre, which occured on September 3rd, 1812, about sunset. Having heard of the massacre, young Wise and a companion went down to see the place. The sight so fired his young blood that he joined the "Rangers" and went out on the "Delaware campaign," as it was called. The company was mustered into the service April 13gh, 1813. After the year had expired - of his enlistment - he came back to Jefferson county and made it his home. He was a farmer and lived on the land which he entered in 1814, till he died. He was a member of the Board of County Commissioners of this county for twenty-one years and was as well known probably as any man in the county. He was respected for his honesty by all who knew him. He represented this county twice in the Legislature.


LEWIS DAVIS, One of the original proprietors of the town of Madison, was a man of middle age when he met John Paul at the land sale at Jeffersonville in the spring of 1809. Where he was born or where he died is not known. He left Madison some time in 1812 or 1813, and went to Xenia, Ohio, to reside. Afterwards he resided in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1817 he was there, as is found by a deed conveying his entire remaining interest of lands in Madison, Indiana Territory, to Lewis Whiteman, bearing date of November 24th, 1817. On October 8th, 1813, Davis had sold one-half of his interest in Madison to Mr. Jacob Burnet, of Cincinnati, he then being a resident of Greene county, Ohio.


JONATHAN LYONS, The third partner in the original town of Madison, came down in a flat-boat in the spring of 1809 in search of a place of abode. He landed his boat near to the cabin of Wm. Hall, in what is now called Fulton, on the eastern limit of Madison, and after prospecting around the county a few days, and being pleased with the lay of the land, he bought out Hall's claim and left his family here in Hall's cabin and went to Jeffersonville, where he found that John Paul had purchased the site of Madison. He then entered the land on the claim which he had bought of Hall and other pieces of land, and finally became one-third owner with Paul and Davis of the Madison tract. He returned here and lived for some years, and built a number of houses in the place. The first was on the bank between the old Ross tan-yard and the river, where he lived for some time.
   In 1815 he removed to Salem, Ind., where he died quite an old man, and where his descendants are to this day. He there engaged in merchandise with Christopher Harrison (see sketch of).


WILLIAM CHAMBERS, SR., The subject of this sketch was the oldest son of Alexander Chambers, who was the son of David Chambers, who was the son of David Chambers who emigrated to America from England during King William's war, about the year 1689 or 1691. David Chambers at that time was a mere youth, and settled with his father, Samuel Chambers, in Rockbridge county, Virginia.
   In 1756, Alexander, the father of William Chambers, was born, and in the war of the revolution was the only survivor of three brothers; the other two Samuel and David, losing their lives in the struggle for liberty from the British crown. After the close of the revolution, Alexander removed with his mother to Rutherford county, North Carolina, where in 1789, he married Ann Monroe, an aunt of the Rev. Wm. Y. Monroe, who at one time was County Treasurer of Jefferson County.
   In 1791, the oldest son, William, was born, and in 1799 removed with his father to near Boonesboro, Ky. Here they resided till 1806 when with about thress other families, Alexander removed to the Wabash country, near Vincennes, where they resided about two years, when Chambers, with his family, removed back to Kentucky, and remained there one year; then he removed his family to what is now known as Kent, in Jefferson county, Indiana. At this place Alexander and his son William, now a young man of eighteen years of age, erected a fort or, as it was then called, a blockhouse. This was in the year 1809. This was the point of defense against the Indians of the various tribes who roamed through the wilderness.
   In the war of 1812, William Chambers was a soldier in Capt. Williamson Dunn's company of Rangers. Just before the battle of Tippecanoe, Dunn's company was ordered to join General Harrison's army, and started to do so, but when near where Columbus, Ind., now stands, Co. McFarland countermanded the order and sent the Rangers under Dunn back to the settlements, as reports were sent them of threatened attacks by the Indians. William Chambers was one of a detachment of twenty-five men that went to the "Pigeon Roost" massacre-ground, the day after the massacre, and assisted in burying the bodies of the twenty-three persons who were butchered by the Indians. After peace, William Chambers married Sarah Blankenship in in the year 1816. The license issued to him being the first one recorded in the county. From this marriage, one child, James B., was born in 1825, who is still living near the site of his fathers first settlement. In 1825 his wife died, and the next year he married Catherine Blankinship, a sister of his first wife. Nine children were the fruit of this marriage, all of whom are dead, except one son. J.G. Chambers, of the firm Branham & Chambers, furniture dealers in Madison, Ind., and one daughter, Mrs. Le Roue, of Evansville, Ind.
   Mr. William Chambers was a member of the Baptist Church at White River, which was organized at the fort in June, 1811, where they held their services of worship for a number of years. His membership extended over a period of time of more than sixty years; for more than fifty years he was a deacon in the church.
   In 1823, when returning from a trip to New Orleans, on the steamboat "Old Tennessee," the boat sank on the night of February 9th, in the middle of the Mississippi river, near Natchez. He saved his life by swimming ashore, leaving all the money he had - which was gold - tied around the banister of the boat. William Chambers died July 16th, 1879, at the age of seventy-eight years. His father died in 1857, at the extreme age of one hundred and one years, one month and fifteen days.
   Sketch furnished by J.G. Chambers, of Madison, Ind.


WILLIAM MCKEE DUNN, JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL U.S.A. - Mr. Dunn was born at South Hanover, Jefferson County, Indiana Territory, December 12, 1814. His parents were Judge Williamson Dunn, and Miriam Wilson. See Judge Dunn's sketch in this volume.
   He was the fifth child and the fourth son of his parents, and inherited from them a robust frame and vigorous constitution. These were developed and strengthened by work upon the farm and general out-of-door exercise, in which he spent his childhood and youth. He had a genial, cheery disposition, and enjoyed good helath during the greater portion of his life. Having these advantages he was well fitted for the life of toil through which he passed, and was enabled to bear up till very near the end in full vigor of both mind and body.
   He used to laugh at the recollections connected with the first schooldays in the log school-house at Hanover, and the rough times at the school, relating incidents that were full of mirth to the man, but had been of sore distress to the boy.
   He attended the State University at Bloomington, Ind., where he received the degree of A.B. in the year 1832. In the year of 1835, he received the degree of A.M. from Yale, Bloomington and Hanover Colleges. He was principal of the Preparatory Department of Hanover College from 1833 to 1835. Post graduate studies in science Yale College, in 1835; professor of mathematics at Hanover College, 1836-37. He was a member of the Indiana Legislature in the session of 1848-49.
   He studied law 1837-39, and was admitted to practice at the bar at Lexington, Scott county, Indiana, in 1839. He located in New Albany, Indiana, in the practice of his profession, and remained there for three yers, removing to Madison, Indiana, in the falll of 1842, where he resided until 1864, where he resided until 1864, when he removed to Washington city, D.C., where he lived until his death, which occured July 24th, 1887.
   At Madison he engaged in the practice of his profession, first in partnership with Michael G. Bright, and afterwards with A.W. Hendricks.
   In 1849 he was the Whig candidate for Congress in this district, but was defeated by Cyrus L. Dunham. In 1850 he was elected as a member of the Constitutional Convention from Jefferson county. In 1858, he was elected as member of Congress, serving from 1858 to 1860. In the campaign of 1860 he was re-elected to Congress, and in 1862 he was defeated for that place. At the breaking out of the rebellion he was offered a Colonelcy by Gov. Morton, and an appointment as Brigadier-General by President Lincoln. He declined both of these, preferring to finish his term in Congress. At the close of his term in Congress, he was appointed, in 1863, as Judge Advocate General of the Department of Missouri, headquarters at St. Louis. In 1864 he was appointed Assistant Judge Advocate General of the Army of the United States, headquarters at Washington city. At the death of Gen. Holt, he was made Judge Advocate General of the Untied States Army, in 1876. He was retired in 1881. In 1877 he was given the degree of L.L.D. by Hanover College.
   He was a man full of honors from his fellow-men and deserving of them.
   In the fall of 1841, he was married in Madison, Indiana, to Miss Elizabeth G. Lanier, eldest daughter of J.F.D. Lanier. (See his sketch). They were the parents of seven children, four of whom are still living. Major Wm. M. Dunn, of U.S. Army, Mrs Fannie McKee, of Washington city, Lanier Dunn, farmer, of Virginia, and Mr. George Dunn, lawyer, of Denver, Colorado.
   His widow still survives him, living in Washington city. D.C.
   Mr. W.W. Woollen, of Indianapolis, is engaged in writing a full history of him which will be published in the near future.


COL. MICHAEL C. GARBER, The late Michael Christian Garber, was of German and Scotch-Irish ancestry. He was born in Augusta county Virginia, in 1813. His grandfather Michael Garber, was the inventor of the first machine to make cut nails. When a youth Mr. Garber went to Pennsylvania, where he engaged successfully in merchandising, canal and railroad building. In 1843 he removed to the West, and finally located in Madison in 1849. He purchased the Madison Courier of S.F. Covington, and continued its sole or principal proprietor until his death. Mr. Garber had become convinced that slavery was a mistake for all parties concerned by his residence in Pennsylvania, hence his sympathies as an editor, when he took control of he Courier were not as strongly pro-slavery as those of Hon. Jesse D. Bright and his wing of the Indiana Democracy. With this as a basis of disagreement the combative and independent spritis of Garber and Bright were not long in unison. The result was Bright and Garber read out of the Democratic party, and the bold and aggressive editor went further and further in his opposition to the fugitive slave law and advocacy of free soil until he became one of the Indiana leaders of the movement that culminated in the organization of the Republican party. He was the chairman of the party's first State Central Committee and was one of the draughtsmen of its first State platform. When the war broke out Mr. Garber was commisioned a brigadier quartermaster with the rank of Captain. He was promoted to Brevet-Major for gallantry in the battle of Mill Springs, Ky., in 1862, and subsequently was promoted to be Colonel for conspicuous efficiency in the Red River campaign of Gen. N. P. Banks. He was afterwards quartermaster of the Army of the Tennessee, and was attached to Gen. W.T. Sherman's staff, as Quartermaster-in-the-Field of the great Army of the West in its march from Savannah, Ga., to Washington, D.C. After the war Col. Garber was retained in the service for over a year and sold vast quantities of government stores, ships and other property, in the Southern States. Declining a commission in the regular army he returned home in 1866 and resumed editorial control of the Courier.  He was recognized as a great force in Indiana journalism and loved and honored his occupation. In 1857 he was appointed postmaster at Madison, and was stricken with hemorrage of the brain April 2d, 1881, while standing at his desk in the office. His death occurred five days subsequent. Col. Garber was of tall, stalwart form, and of genial, preposessing appearance. He was characterized by patience, industry, courage and pertinacity. Few men have exerted a more wholesome influence, so far as their careers extended, than he. His family life was particularly happy. He was married in 1837 to Miss Ellinor Schell, of Schellsburg, Penn., who with three daughters and two sons survivied him.

RETURN TO TABLE OF CONTENTS