Randolph  County,  Indiana

William  Y. Puckett


            This well-known citizen is another of the old soldiers who went out to fight their country's battles a half century ago. What a splendid sight it is at the present day to see a company of these honored veterans go by on Decoration Day or the Fourth of July, in their blue uniforms and their battered flags flying. But they will all be gone in a few more years, and nothing will be left but a memory. That memory should be something more than a sound. Their deeds should be perpetuated in song and story, in monument and perpetual commemoration, so that future generations may draw inspiration from their patriotism and gallantry.
            William Y. Puckett, of Winchester, Randolph county, has had an eminently successful, active and useful business career. He has played his part well in the general development of his town and county, and as a result of his public spirit, his genial address and obliging nature he enjoys the confidence and esteem of all who know him, having a wide acquaintance throughout the locality of which this volume treats. He was born in Winchester, Indiana, February 23, 1843. He is a son of Benjamin and Sarah (McNees) Puckett. The father came with his parents, Joseph and Mary Puckett, when a small boy, from their home in Pennsylvania, having made the long overland journey in wagons when most of the states comprising the Middle West were only sparsely settled. This family located on a farm in Randolph county, Indiana, near the town of Buena Vista. The father was a physician, was very popular among the pioneers, practicing in Winchester for a period of thirty-six years, being one of the best known and most successful physicians in this part of the state in his day and generation. Politically, he was a Republican and was active in the affairs of his party. His death occurred on September 18, 1871, his wife having preceded him to the grave twenty-three years, dying on July 23, 1849, when the subject of this sketch was six years old. He was one of six children the others being Luther G., of Winchester; Jehu N., deceased; Hardy H., deceased; Sarah and Mrs. Adolph Rocheleau, both of Winchester.
            William Y. Puckett was reared in Winchester and here he has been content to spend his life. He received his education in the common schools and in the old Winchester Academy. He has engaged in various pursuits. In later years he became a general contractor, especially of sewer and street construction. He built practically all of the sewerage system of Winchester. He has been very successful in a business way, having managed well and dealt fairly with his fellow-men. He owns a finely improved and productive farm of sixty-one acres, four and one-half miles southwest of Winchester which he superintends.
            Mr. Puckett has been twice married, first, on February 23, 1872 to Belinda Monks, daughter of Scott and Crestilla Monks, an old family of Randolph county. To this union two children were born-Benjamin and Edward, both now deceased. The death of the wife and mother occurred on August 11, 1883. On September 19, 1885 Mr. Puckett married Sarah Green, daughter of William and Tenie (Bowers) Green, a highly respected family of this county. To this second union one daughter was born, Bernice E., who is at home with her parents; she was graduated from the Winchester high school, class of 1912.
            Mr. Puckett has always been a loyal Republican and has been active in public matters since reaching manhood. He has a most praiseworthy record as a member of the city council of Winchester for the past twenty-five years during which time he has done as much as any other man for the general upbuilding of the city and the protection of its interests. He was instrumental in securing the fine sewerage system, good water works for the city and in securing the paving of all the principal streets with brick.
            Mr. Puckett was the last president of the town board of Winchester, before it became an incorporated city.
            During the Civil war he enlisted in Company F, One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Indiana Volunteer Infantry for three months, at the expiration of which he enlisted in Company K, of the One Hundred and Fifty-fourth regiment for one year, in which he served most faithfully, until the close of the war, in the army of the Cumberland and the East, participating in many hotly contested engagements, but he was never wounded or taken prisoner. He is a member of the Nelson Trusler Post No. 60, Grand Army of the Republic. Fraternally, he belongs to the Improved Order of Red Men. He owns an attractive and well-furnished home at 332 South Main street, Winchester, of which city he is regarded as one of the most substantial citizens.
Past and Present of Randolph County, Indiana, 1914.
Contributed by Gina Richardson

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