McCain - Thomas Hart - Montgomery InGenWeb Project

Source: Portrait & Biographical Record of Montgomery, Parke & Fountain Counties, Indiana. (Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1893) p 609.

T. H. B. McCain, editor of the Daily and Weekly Journal is located at Crawfordsville, this state. The Journal is an incoporated company, its stock owned by Mr. McCain and son, Arthur A., and J. A. Greene. You can get all the news part of the time and part of the news all the time, but you can't all the news all the time, unless you are a subscriber to the Crawfordsville Journal. This paper gives all the local news in a clear, clean, readable manner. Church news, society news, business news and police news are all handled for what they are worth and no more. The telegraphic service is complete, concise and of the latest. The editorial department is thoroughly Republican and treats of local as well as general politics. Other matter of readable as well as useful nature is given space in the Daily Journal, which has a circulation and goes into better homes than any other daily in Montgomery County. It is clean, progressive, aggresive and popular. The Weekly Journal is the official organ of the Republican party of Montgomery County. It has the largest circulation of any weekly paper in this section of Indiana. It gives all the news and is considered a household companion and necessity in every home in the county. Hundreds of its subscribers have taken the paper for over a 1/3 of a century, without a year's discontinuance and its stability, authority, exactness and impartiality are only equaled by its popularity.

The Journal does job printing. We would impress this fact on all our readers and friends. More than that, it has the the best equipment for this work in the county of Montgomery. This department is in charge of A.M. Smith and has been for the last 11 years. Mr. Smith is the most thoroughly practical printer in the city and with the finest qualities of ink and paper always used, he is able to turn out work superior to most, and equal to that of, any office in the state. If you have never patronized the Journal job office, try it once and you will be surprised to see what will be the result of fine ink and high grade paper, put together with taste and skill. T.H.B. McCain was born in Clinton County, ind Jan 24, 1839. His parents were Hugh B. and Minerva (Douglass) McCain. Hugh B. McCain was a farmer and was descended from a long line of Scotch-Irish ancestry. He was originally a Democrat, but became a Republican in 1854. He was a stanch Union man and died Feb 17, 1893. Both he and his wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Our subject served as a soldier in the 86th Indiana Infantry, having enlisted as a private. A year later he was promoted to be Sgt-Major of the regiment, where he served one year. The last year of his service was as 1st Lt. of Co.. I. He took part in all the battles in which his regiment participated, the more important of which were Stone River, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, and all the battles of the Atlanta Campaign, including Franklin & Nashville. On his return from the war, he began the publication of the Delphi Journal. Subsequently he moved to Lebanon, Ind and there published the Patriot a year and a half; thence he moved to Murfreesboro, Tenn and published a Republican paper for six months and in 1868 became a resident of Crawfordsville, Ind. He bought the Crawfordsville Journal and has since published the same. In 1783 he was appointed Postmaster and held the office 8 years. May 7, 1867 at Lebanon, ind he was married to Miss Salome S. Longley, daughter of A.H. and Sophronia (Snoe) Longley. Mr. and Mrs. McCain have had born to them two sons: Arthur A, who is business manager of the Journal and Fred T, who is a student in Wabash College. Mr. McCain has always been a Republican and is recognized as influential in the ranks of his party in the state.

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Source: Crawfordsville Journal, May 6, 1898 - Friday, p. 1

Death of THB McCain - The Editor of the Journal passes Away After an Illness of Several Months Duration
Sketch of His Life

T.H. B. McCain, editor of The Journal died Sunday evening at 8:05 o'clock at his home on East Wabash Avenue. He had been ill since January and for nearly 3 months was confined to his home. The disease was hemorrhage of the brain together with a clot in one of the blood vessels. A second hemorrhage occurred Saturday since which time the end was hourly expected. Thomas Hart Benton McCain was born in Clinton County Jan 31, 1879, and was the son of Hugh and Minerva McCain. Hugh McCain died in 1893 [note: hard to read] but Mrs. Minerva McCain is still alive and has made her home in this city since her husband's death. The McCain family is of Scotch-Irish descent and the American branch has been in this country for more than a century.

THB McCain in his youth enjoyed such educational advantages as were afforded by the common schools and the famous Thorntown Academy. After completing the course there he taught school during the winter season and in the summer worked as a printer in the newspaper offices of Lebanon. When the civil war broke out he was among the first to enlist and entered the service as a private in Company I of the 86th Indiana Regt. After a service of several months he was promoted to the office of Sgt. Major and during the last year of the war, he served as 1st Lt. of the company, being Captain in effect as the Captain was serving as a member of the staff. He took part in all the battles in which his regiment participated, among the more prominent being Missionary Ridge, Chickamauga Stone River, Franklin and the battles of the Atlanta Campaign... [He was] captured and was in Libby Prison at Richmond for several months, suffering not a little from the privations which all who were incarcerated there endured. He was finally exchanged and returned to his regiment at the earliest possible moment immediately after the war.

He located in Delphi and began the publication of the Delphi Journal, in a short time he removed to Lebanon and there remained a year and a half as the editor of the Patriot. From Lebanon he went to Murfreesboro, Tenn, and in 1868, began the publication of a Republican newspaper. Murfreesboro was not at that time an especially good field for a Republican Paper so Mr. McCain returned the same year to Indiana and with John H. Hendricks purchased the Crawfordsville Journal.

Mr. Hendricks because of poor health soon sold his interest to John T. Talbot, who remained a partner in the business until 1876 when Mr. McCain became sole proprietor, remaining so until the organiation of the Journal Company in 1902. He had charge of the editorial department of the paper from 1868 until his health broke in January and he was known the state over as ....[one of the most] forcible writers in Indiana. It was his ambition to maintain a modest country newspaper and how well he succeeded. The Journal is a testimonial.

Mr. McCain was prominent as a member of the Knights of Pythias, Odd Fellows, Tribe of Ben Hur and GAR. He was identified with every movement that was for the upbuilding and improvement of the city and was always progressive. He was one of the first to interest the city in building and loan associations and at the time of his death was president of two associations and director of a third.

On May 7, 1867, at Lebanon, Mr. McCain was married to Miss Salome Longley, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A. H. Longley. She with two sons, Arthur A and Fred T., surviving him. In his home life his splended character was seen at its best and there was in Crawfordsville, no happier home than the one which his death leaves desolate.

The funeral took place from the family residence on E. Wabash Avenue Wed afternoon at 1:00 o'clock.