Henry County, Indiana - Chapter 22: Infantry Continued, 1906

Chapter 22: Infantry Continued

Roster of the 140TPI Indiana Infantry - 147TH Indiana Infantry - Histories OF the Regiments - Biographical Sketches of Captain George W. Shane and Family - Colonel Milton Peden and Family - Private Samuel Van Swearingen and Family.

One Hundred And Fortieth Infantry Regiment Indiana Volunteers

In the following roster, the name of each officer and man is followed by his postoffice address at the time of enlistment. In some instances the soldier was not a resident of Henry County at the time of enlistment but moved to that county after the Civil War. In such cases the name of the county from which he enlisted is substituted for the postoffice address, and that is followed by the place of settlement in Henry County. The date of muster for the officers is the date they were actually mustered into the service of the United States and not the date of commission.

Company H was considered a distinctively Henry County organization and, for that reason, the names of all its members are published, with their postoffice addresses, to complete the roster, whether they lived in Henry County or not. Where the postoffice address is unknown, the name of the county from which the soldier enlisted follows his name.

Second Lieutenant

Robert C. McConnell, Cadiz. Mustered in October 18, 1864. Resigned June 14, 1865. John M. Thornburgh, Middletown. Commissioned June 15, 1865. Not mustered. Mustered out as First Sergeant, July 11, 1865.

First Sergeant Wagoner

Benjamin F. Shockley, Dan Webster. Mustered in September 29, 1864. Died at home, in Blue River Township, Henry County, Indiana, December 26, 1864.

Indiana Volunteers

The One Hundred and Fortieth Regiment was recruited under the President's call of July i8th, 1864, for five hundred thousand men, and was organized and mustered into the service, for the period of one year, on the 24th of October, 1864, at Indianapolis, by the consolidation of parts of two regiments, raised, respectively, in the Third and Fifth Congressional Districts, and nuinbered the One Hundred and Fortieth and One Hundred and Forty First. Upon the organization of the regiment, Thomas J. Brady was commissioned and mustered in as Colonel. On the 15th of November the regiment left the general rendezvous at Indianapolis, and proceeded direct to Nashville, Tennessee, Avhere it remained but one day, and then, under orders from General Thomas, was hurried to ]\Iurfreesboro, Tennessee, reaching there on the 23d of November. It was immediately placed on duty in Fortress Rosecrans, where it remained during Hood's operations around Nashville, taking part in all the battles and skirmishes in the vicinity of Murfreesboro. On the 7th of December it was engaged in a skirmish south of Murfreesboro, under General Rousseau, losing one man wounded. At this time the regiment was temporarily assigned to the Second Brigade, First Division* Twentieth Corps. Previously it had been permanently assigned to the Twenty Third Corps, with orders to join it Avhen the exigencies of the service permitted. Immediately after the defeat of Hood's Army, the regiment took up its line of march, leaving ]\Iurfreesboro on the 24th of December, and arriving at Columbia - at which place the Twenty Third Corps was halted - on the 28th of December. Here it was assigned to the Third Brigade (then commanded by Colonel Stiles, of the Sixty Third Indiana), of the Third Division (then commanded by General Cox\ Twenty Third Corps.

On the 2d of January, 1865, the regiment commenced the march across the country to the Tennessee River, reaching Clifton, Tennessee, on the 6th. On the 16th it embarked on steamers and proceeded down the Tennessee and up the Ohio, disembarking at Cincinnati, and moving thence by rail to \\^ashington. District of Columbia. Remaining in camp near that city until the 3d of February, it then moved to Alexandria and embarked on the ocean steamer Atlantic, and with the expedition against Fort Fisher, proceeded to the vicinity of Wilmington. North Carolina. Arriving near Fort Fisher on the night of the 7th, the regiment was landed on the 8th, and participated in the several attempts made to cross the bayou above the Fort. Proceeding up Cape Fear River, it crossed over to Smithville on the i6th, and on the 17th started toward Wilmington. In the attack on Fort Anderson the regiment was exposed to a severe fire from our own gunboats, and during the assault Company A captured the garrison flag. On the 20th the Confederates were overtaken at Town Creek Bridge, where the regiment participated in their rout and capture, two companies of the regiment being the first troops to enter the enemy's works. On the 21st the regiment arrived in front of Wilmington, and on the 23d marched through the place and encamped in the vicinity.

On the 6th of March the One Hundred and Fortieth took up its line of march for Kingston, and made the distance of eighty six miles, through swamps, in five days. On the 19th it started for Goldsborough, North Carolina, arriving there on the 2 1st, and remaining in camp near that place until the 2d of April. It was then detached from the brigade and placed on duty as commissary train guard between Goldsborough and Morehead City, and was so engaged until the loth, when it was. relieved. Joining the brigade, it moved to Raleigh, arriving there on the 14th,. where it remained until the 6th of May. It then marched to Greensboro, North Carolina, and there remained on duty until the nth of July, 1865, when it was mustered out of service, and proceeded to Indiana. Arriving at Indianapolis on the 2ist of July, it was present at a grand reception given to returned regiments, in the Capitol grounds, on the 25th, on which occasion addresses were delivered by Governor Morton and Major General Sherman. On the 28th the regiment was. paid off and finally discharged.

Biographical Sketch Of George Washington Shane Engineer And Farmer

The American soldier holds a place in the hearts of his countrymen that nothingcan move or change and his deeds of valor will ever call for songs of praise. The soldier of the Revolution; the soldier of the War of 1812-15; the soldier of the Mexican War; the soldier of the great Civil War; and lastly the soldier of the Spanish- American conflict; each is enshrined in the memory of a grateful nation. It is well that the American people, who enjoy the priceless results of their sacrifices, should honor the heroism of their soldier dead. On every field they have fought, not at the command of authority, not with the desire of gain, but to uphold and perpetuate an idea, and of all the wars of the nation, this is especially true of the soldiers of the Civil War.

George Washington Shane was a typical American soldier, actuated by the same love of country that took thousands of young and fearless men from their homes into the maelstrom of the Civil War. He was born September 6, 1837, in Cincinnati, Ohio, his parents being Timothy and Mary Ann vShane, the former, a native of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, born May 2, 1813, and the latter, of Steubenville, Ohio, born February 14, 181 5. Shortly after their marriage, the parents in 1838 moved to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and in 1839 changed their habitation to Beavertown in the same State. In 1845 ^^^7 nioved to Marietta, Ohio, where they remained for twelve years. Here the subject of this sketch worked for four years in a tub and bucket factory. In 1857 he came with his parents to New Castle, Henry County, Indiana. He was then about twenty years of age and during the year 1858 worked on the farm of Stephen Cory and attended school. Following this he became engineer in a mill at Sulphur Springs, Henry County, remaining there for a year and a half, when he went to the Middletown Mills, located at Middletown, also in Henry County, where he continued until 1861. Besides young Shane, there were employed at the Middletown Mills, which were owned and managed by John Swope, two other young men, Benjamin F. Elwood and Samuel A. Mitchell, who were destined to attain prominence among the soldiers of Henry County.

At the call of President Lincoln for seventy five thousand volunteers to aid and assist in the preservation of the Union, both Shane and Elwood enlisted in what became Company B, 8th Indiana Infantry (three months). . Shane became a Sergeant of the company and immediately following the recruiting and organization of the regiment was sent with it into what is now West Virginia and at the battle of Rich Mountain, July 11, 1861, he was seriously wounded, a minie ball striking him in the left breast, passing through the left lung and out at the right shoulder, breaking the bone in three places. Henry Lycurgus Powell of New Castle was also wounded in this battle, the bones of his right ankle being shattered by a ball from the enemy's gun, a woimd that Mr. Powell has been compelled to dress daily since his return home from the war nearly a half century ago. After the eng-agement, Shane and Powell were taken to the home of a Virginian, living dose by, named Hinkle, where they received necessary surgical treatment. Several weeks later they were brought to their respective homes in Henry County, the one by his father, Timothy Shane, and the other by his father, Simon T. Powell, both of whom immediately after the battle went to Virginia to look after the wants and needs of their wounded sons. The reception accorded these youthful heroes by their friends and neighbors was especially enthusiastic and constitutes an episode in Henry County history which will not soon be forgotten.

The term of service of the regiment having expired, many of its members, at the second call for troops, enlisted in the 8th Indiana Infantry (three years). Shane, owing to his wounds from which he had not yet recovered, did not reenlist. In this regiment, however, Samuel A. Mitchell, who was not in the three months' service, for reasons which will be found on page 277 of this History in the biography of Mr. Mitchell, assisted in organizing what became Company E, 8th Indiana Infantry (three years).

George W. Shane, though still suffering from the effects of his wound, in the Summer of 1862, at the especial request of Governor Oliver P. Morton, undertook the organization of what became Company K, 54th Indiana Infantry (three months), of which he became First Lieutenant. This regiment was raised, organized and put into the service especially to guard Confederate prisoners confined in old Camp Morton, Indianapolis, but on account of Bragg's invasion of Kentucky, it was sent post haste into that State. At this time Shane was hardly fit for duty, his wound still giving him a great deal of trouble. The regiment was mustered into the service of the United States on June 10, 1862, and by reason of expiration of term of service, was mustered out September 22, 1862.

Again in the Summer of 1863, when General John H. Morgan and his Confederate forces made their famous raid into and through Southern Indiana, Lieutenant Shane with unsubdued martial ardor assisted in organizing at Middletown what became Company C, logtli Indiana Infantry, or Morgan Raid Minute Men, and was made First Lieutenant of the company, which was practically identical with the Middletown Rifles of the Indiana Legion.

Once more in the Fall of T864, when there was a call for additional men. Lieutenant Shane came to the front as a soldier, this time organizing what became Company H, 140th Indiana Infantry, of which he was made Captain. He was mustered into the service of the United States on October 18, 1864, and was mustered out with the regiment on July 11, 1865. This regiment served in East Tennessee, principally around and about Murfreesboro and later in North Carolina, where it took part in the expedition against Fort Fisher. Still later the regiment joined General Sherman's victorious forces at Greensboro, North Carolina, and with his command went to Washington City, where on May 22 and 23, 1865, it participated in the now memorable grand review of the armies of- the LTnion.

During the time in the Civil War that Captain Shane was not actually at the front, he maintained his connection with military afifairs at home, being a member of the Middletown Rifles. Indiana Legion, a local organization which like a number of other organizations with fanciful names, such as the LTnion

Guards of Knightstown, the Xeedmore Rangers of Mechanicsburg, the New Lisbon Indiana State Guards of Xew Lisbon, and the New Castle Guards of New Castle, constituted a part of the militia organization of the State of Lidiana and served to keep alive the military spirit at home and to familiarize the 3-oung men with military discipline, thus making of these local organizations a recruiting agency for the regiments already at the front and for new regiments when additional calls were made. The Middletown Rifles were officered as follows : Frederick Tykle, Captain; George W. Shane, First Lieutenant; James B. Tennell, Second Lieutenant ; succeeded later by Amos Gronendyke who was in turn succeeded by Jeremiah W. Gustin.

The war was over. How readily the volunteers, enured to battle, gave up the training and trappings of the soldier and merged into civilian life, has always remained the wonder and admiration of the civilized world. Captain Shane, bearing his honors as became a soldier, returned to his home at Middletown, Henry County, and soon entered the employ of the Panhandle railroad, as a fireman, his run extending from Richmond to Chicago. At the end of three months he left the railroad and went to Liberty, Union County, where he remained until 1868. working at his trade as a mechanical engineer. He then bought of his fatherin-law, John Swope, an interest in the Middletown Mills where he had been em- ])loyed at the breaking out of the Civil War. This interest he disposed of shortly afterwards and went to Kokomo, where he remained for about seven years, acting as mechanical engineer for Worley Leas, who owned the principal flouring mill at that place.

On April 2, 1862, Captain George W. Shane became the husband of Lienor (Eleanor), oldest child and daughter of John and ]\Iary Ann (Stewart) Swope. born April 17, 1842. During the time Captain Shane was in the army, his wife kept and maintained her residence at ^liddletown. They were the parents of two children : IMary Virginia, born October 29, 1863 ; and Martha A., born October 8. 1867. The latter died December 26, 1880, and is buried in South Mound Cemetery, New Castle, Indiana.

In the Spring of 1876 Captain Shane moved to his farm which he had previously purchased, comprising two hundred acres, situate five miles northwest of New Castle, which is known as the William Lynas place. The latter entered the land from the government and its transfer to Captain Shane is the only one made since it left the possession of the United States. The aforesaid William Lynas, an old pioneer of Henry County, was the uncle of Captain Shane and the patents for the land are now in the ])ossession of ]\Irs. Shane. Shortly after going on this farm, Captain Shane and Mrs. Shane visited San Diego, California, for the benefit of the former's health. They remained at this favorite California resort for about two 3rears during which time Captain Shane was greatly benefitted physically. Returning home he continued to reside on the farm until December. 1898, when he and his wife went to Miami, a popular Florida winter resort, and there he died January 28, 1899. His remains were brought to New Castle and were buried with all the honors of war by the George W. Lennard Post, No. 148, Grand Army of the Republic, of which he was a member. His remains rest in South Mound Cemetery. He was a gallant soldier. He was in at the first call and he was among the last to be honorably mustered out of the service. He

Avas not only a brave soldier but he was an excellent citizen and in the hearts of those who knew him best, none had a warmer spot. The daughter, Mary X'irginia. has preserved as heirlooms, the minie ball by which her father was wounded at Rich Mountain, the same having been taken from his body soon after he was wounded; his sword, sash and army canteen and a Confederate carbine captured from the enemy by her distinguished father.

i\Iary Virginia, the daughter, was married June 15, 1897, to Joseph J. Buck, who was born near Richmond. Indiana, December 19, 1867. Thev are the parents of two bright and interesting children, namely : Nellie and George Henry, the latter being named after his grandfathers, George W. Shane and Henry Buck, the latter for many years a well known contractor .and builder at New Castle. Joseph J. Buck is in charge of the farm now owned entirely by Mrs. Shane. He is a practical farmer, exceedingly industrious, and very methodical. He is certainly adding year by year to the value of the farm, than which there is none better in the county.

Timothy Shane, father of Captain Shane, was also a soldier. He enlisted from New Castle in Company G, 13th Indiana Cavalry, and was mustered into the service of the United States on March 9, 1864. He was appointed Color Sergeant and was mustered out November 18. 1865. He died in 1899, a fewmonths after the death of his son, George W. Shane, and lies buried in the cemetery at Swayzee, Grant County, Indiana, at which place he lived at the time of his death.

Captain Shane also had two brothers in the Civil War. Thomas Jefferson Shane, who belonged to Company H, 140th Indiana Infantry (this was the company of Captain Shane) and William Shane who went from Grant County, Indiana. The latter was killed at the battle of Richmond, Kentucky, August 30, 1862. His remains were buried on the battlefield. The number of his company and regiment are not now obtainable. Captain Shane's grandfather was a soldier of the Revolutionary War serving in a Pennsylvania regiment and was in camp with the army under General Washington at Valley Forge.

Besides his service in the Middletown Rifles of the Indiana Legion, Captain Shane served four distinct enlistments in the army during the Civil War, as follows : Sergeant, Company B, 8th Indiana Infantry (three months) ; mustered in April 25, 1861 ; mustered out August 6, 1861 ; First Lieutenant, Company K, 54th Indiana Infantry (three months); mustered in June 10, 1862; mustered out September 26, 1862; First Lieutenant, Company C, 109th Indiana Infantry (Morgan Raid) ; mustered in July 10 and mustered out July 17, 1863; Captain, Company H, 140th Indiana Infantry; mustered in October 18, 1864; mustered out July II, 1865.

No soldier from Henry County in the Civil War gave more willing or greater support to his country than Captain George Washington Shane. His record is without a stain and his life as a soldier and a citizen and as a husband and father is a lasting memory of deeds done, of promises performed and today when old veterans, his comrades in arms that knew him well, meet around the old camp fire and the name of George Washington Shane is mentioned, there comes the silence of speech which goes straight to the heart and touches it with a feeling no words can describe. P^e sleeps now the sleep that knows no waking this side of the grave; there let him rest until the resurrection morn shall come when the old soldiers may gather together and in line march to that final reunion which shall last through all eternity.

Ancestry Of Mrs. George W. Shane

- The first record of Mrs. George W. Shane's ancestry in Henry County, Indiana, is found of entry, December i6, 1823, when Michael Swope, her paternal grandfather, was commissioned by Governor William Hendricks, a Lieutenant in a militia company, organized in the southeastern part of Henry County. Of this company, Archilles Morris was Captain and William Hough, Ensign. It is otherwise well established that when the Swopes first came to Henry County, probably from Virginia, they settled on Symons Creek, in Dudley Township. In 1835 Michael Swope moved to Avhat is now Jefferson Township, where he entered eighty acres of land, one mile north of Sulphur Springs, which is now known as the Albert N. Yost farm. He accumulated other lands in that locality and continued to reside there until his death. His remains and those of his wife are buried in Bethel Cemetery, two miles north of Sulphur Springs. On page 279 of this History, in treating of the ancestry of Mrs. Samuel A. ^Mitchell, they are said to be buried in the Sulphur Springs Cemetery but subsequent investigation shows them to be buried as here stated.

John Swope, the father of Mrs. Shane, was born December 14. 18 18, and died June 27, 1876. He was married April 29, 1841, to Alary Ann Stewart, who was born May 5, 1825, and died November 13, 1881. Their remains are interred, side by side, in the Miller Cemetery, east of IMiddletown.

John Swope was in his day one of the most progressive and prosperous of Henry County's large list of prominent citizens. He was a pioneer in the milling business in the county, his first venture in that line being made in 185 1. On November 25th of that year, he purchased of Washington Franklin, for the sum of twenty five hundred dollars, the combined flour and saw mill, situated on Deer Creek about half way between Middletown and Mechancisburg, just west of the lands now owned by James Rice Connell. After the building of the present Panhandle railroad through Middletown, he purchased the site of the Middletown Mills, from Joseph Yount, for one hundred and ten dollars, and erected a mill and had it in operation in 1859. He continued as proprietor of the mill until February 11, 1876, when he sold it to Martin Painter for four thousand dollars. While Mr. Swope will always have the credit of having established this mill, it has, nevertheleess, been remodeled from time to time to meet modern conditions.

John Swope and his wife were both earnest, active members of the Christian Church, and did all that lay in their power to strengthen that large denomination. Mr. Swope had the confidence of the entire community, among whom his word was regarded as good as his bond. He was active in his support of the Civil War; warm in his allegiance to the Government, and contributed liberally of his time and means to the forwarding of sanitary and other supplies to the soldiers in camp and field and hospital. His son, Joseph A. Swope, enlisted in Company C, 109th Indiana Infantry (Morgan Raid), and served until the invasion of Indiana soil was ended. He afterwards enlisted in Company G, 17th Indiana Infantry, and was mustered into the service of the United States, as a private.

Mr. and Mrs. Swope were the parents of eleven children, namely : Elenor (Eleanor), now Mrs. George W. Shane; Margaret, now Mrs. Samuel A. Mitchell; Joseph A.: Louisa, afterwards Mrs. Calvin L. Swain, now deceased; Delila, afterwards Mrs. Francis M. Sanders, now deceased; Jonas B. ; Perthena. now Mrs. John Weesner, of New Castle ; George W. ; Charles ; Sarah Jane and Sophia, both of whom died in infancy. On page 280 of this History, in naming the children of Mr. and Mrs. Swope, the name of Delila is inadvertly omitted and Louisa is recorded as the wife of Francis M. Sanders. The correct list of their children and their marriages is as here given.

Mustered For One Year

In the following roster, the name of each officer and man is followed by his postoffice address at the time of enlistment. In some instances the soldier was not a resident of Henry County at the time of enlistment but moved to that county after the Civil War. In such cases the name of the county from which he enlisted is substituted for the postoffice address, and that is followed by the place of settlement in Henry County. The date of muster for the officers is the date they were actually mustered into the service of the L^nited States and not the date of commission.

Company H was considered a distinctively Henry County organization and, for that reason, the names of all its members are published, with their postoffice addresses, to complete the roster, whether they lived in Henry County or not. Where the postoffice address is unknown, the name of the county from which the soldier enlisted follows his name.

Company

William M. Saint, Greensboro. Mustered in March 10, 1865. Promoted Adjutant. Clement H. Weaver, Cadiz. Commissioned August 3, 1865. Not mustered. Mustered out as First Sergeant, August 4, 1865.

On the 20th of December, 1864, a call was made for eleven regiments of infantry to serve for one year, and recruiting rendezvous were established at the headquarters of the District Provost Marshals, from which recruits were forwarded to the general rendezvous at Indianapolis. Chief recruiting officers were also appointed in each district whose exertions materially aided the recruitment of the regiments. Subsequently five additional regiments for the same arm and term of service were called for to be recruited in the same manner.

The One Hundred and Forty Seventh Regiment was composed of seven companies recruited in the Fifth Congressional District, two companies raised in the Eleventh District, and one company composed of detachments from Benton. Henry and Fayette counties. These were organized into a regiment at Indianapolis, on the 13th of March, 1865, of which Milton Peden, of Knightstown, was commissioned Colonel. On the i6th it left Indianapolis for Harper's Ferry. V^irginia, and on arriving there w^as marched to Charlestown, where it was assigned to one of the provisional divisions of the Army of the Shenandoah. From that time until its muster out, on the 4th of August, 1865, it was engaged in doing guard and garrison duty at Stevenson Station. Summit Point, Berry ville. Harper's Ferry, and Alaryland Heights. On the 9th of August it arrived at Indianapolis, with thirty two officers and seven hundred and forty three men for final discharge, and was publicly welcomed home, at a reception meeting held in the State House Grove, on the nth, at which speeches were made by Lieutenant Governor Baker, General Benjamin Harrison and others, to which Colonel Peden responded.

Biographical Sketch Of Milton Peden

Colonel Milton Peden, of Knightstown, Indiana, is a native of Washington County, Pennsylvania, where he was born, March 20, 1823. In 1835 '"''''' parents, James and Margaret Peden, removed, with their entire family of eight children, to New Paris, Preble County, Ohio, and in November of the following year moved to Madison County, Indiana, settling where the town of New Columbus was then situated, which is now known as Ovid postoffice. In the Fall of 1842, Milton Peden came to Knightstown where he worked as a farm hand for two years, then took up the trade of cabinet making for one year, after which he worked as a millwright with Oliver H. Armstrong, until October, 1849. About this time the report of the discovery of gold in California and the alluring accounts of that new El Dorado, which were drawing so many of the young men of the East to the Pacific slopes, also attracted Mr. Peden. He joined in the exodus to the West, went to California where he worked at mining until 1851, when he returned to San Francisco and there took passage for home on the steamer Carolina, via the Isthmus of Panama. The vessel, however, was caught in a furious equinoctial gale on September 19th and driven ashore on the coast of Central America. Leaving the wrecked vessel, Mr. Peden traveled through Nicaragua, to San Juan del Norte, where he took passage on a vessel botmd for New York, from which port he finally reached Knightstown, December 24. 185 1. A full account of Mr. Peden's experiences in California, as well as on his journey to and from that country will be found elsewhere in this History in the cha]:)ter entitled, "Henry County Emigration to the Gold Fields of California."

After his return to Knightstown, Mr. Peden engaged in the quiet pursuits of agriculture for several years. In 1854 he was elected to the Indiana Legislature and served one term, having as his colleague in that body, the late Luther C. Mellett, of Prairie Township. In i860 he was elected Justice of the Peace and served as such until the beginning of the Civil War. During the interval between 1854, when he represented Henry County in the Legislature, and i860, he with many others, from Knightstown and other places in the county, went to Pike's Peak, during the excitement caused by the reported discovery of gold in that region, and a detailed account of his experiences, during this trip, will be found in this History, in the chapter entitled, "Henry County Emigration to Pike's Peak."

These adventures of his youth had well fitted him for command of men and when the great conflict began in 1861, he responded to the demands of the countr}^ with alacrity. He resigned as Justice of the Peace and early in August, 1861, was active and energetic in recruiting and organizing Company K, 36th Indiana Infantry, and was mustered into the service of the United States, as First Lieutenant of that company, September 16, 1861. Captain Morrow P. Armstrong resigned the command of the company, April 24, 1862, and was re-commissioned as Chaplain of the regiment. Milton Peden was then promoted Captain and mustered as such, May 13, 1862. In 1863 he was appointed Brigade Provost Marshal on the staff of General William Grose, Tliird Brigade, Second Division, Twenty First Army Corps. He participated in the important battles fought by the Army of the Cumberland from Shiloh, Tennessee, April 6-7, 1862, to the fall of Atlanta, Georgia, September 2, 1864. He was severely wounded in the right thigh at the battle of Stone's River, Tennessee, December 31, 1862, and unfitted for duty for a period of four months. The history of the 36th Indiana Infantry is the military history of Captain Peden until his muster out, with the regiment, September 21, 1864.

Captain Peden returned from the war to meet with civic honors at the hands of his fellow citizens, being elected to the Indiana State Senate from Henry Coimty and serving in that body during the session of 1864-5. He was an active supporter of Governor ]\Iorton and the State administration in all their efforts for the suppression of the war and restoration of the power and authority of the General Government.

At the urgent solicitation of Governor Morton, Senator Peden resigned his seat in the State Senate and was appointed Colonel of the 147th Indiana Infantry, and was mustered into the service of the United States, March 15, 1865. He was ordered, with his command, to the Valley of Virginia, where he continued to serve until the close of the war, when he was mustered out, August 4, 1865, at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, his total military service covering a period of three years and six months.

The longed for peace had come and Colonel Peden returned to Knightstown tvhere he engaged in the stove and tinware business until May, 1882, when he was appointed a special timber agent under the General Land Office of the Government and was. assigned to duty in the pineries of Northern Minnesota to protect the Government's interests therein. He continued to fill this position to the satisfaction of the Government until April, 1886, when he retired to private life.

Colonel Peden is a member of Jerry B. Mason Post, No. 168, Grand Army of the Republic, Knightstown, and is also a member of the Indiana Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. He is a member of Golden Rule Lodge, No. 16, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and of Knightstown Commandery, No. 9, Knights Templar. In religion. Colonel Peden is an adherent of the Presbyterian Church and a faithful follower of its tenets. Since his return from the Northwest, he has been for a number of years Justice of the Peace.

In July, 1866, Colonel Peden was married to Mrs. Mary A. F"urgason, daughter of Sidney Muzzy and widow of Samuel W. Furgason, who died in February, 1864. Two daughters were born of her first marriage of whom Maud alone survives. She is the wife of Dr. Olin E. Holloway, a leading physician of Knightstown. Sidney Muzzy, father of Mrs. Peden, died in 1875.

From his adventurous youth to his present venerable age. Colonel Peden's life has been crowded with incident. Conspicuous in the civil and political life of Henry County, he also bore an honorable part in a great war and was brought in contact with many eminent men. He knew, intimately, Oliver P. Morton, Richard W. Thompson, Albert G. Porter, Benjamin Harrison, Conrad Baker. Henry S. Lane, Solomon Meredith, Caleb B. Smith, Samuel W. Parker and man}' other of Indiana's prominent and influential men. In a summary of his career, however, Colonel Peden justly considers the most important events in his life to have been his support of Abraham Lincoln for President in t86o and 1864 and his military services in the Civil War.

Since 1842 he has made his home at Knightstown and has witnessed its expansion from a village into a beautiful town and now at the age of eighty two years he is regarded as Knightstown's grand old man, loved and honored by all.

Reuben Peden

Probably no citizen of Knightstown ever stood higher in the estimation of that community than the late Reuben Peden, younger brother of Colonel Milton Peden. He was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, November 20, 1824, and came with his parents to Ohio and upon their removal to Madison County, Indiana, accompanied them there. He acquired a good education and taught school for a time at various points in the State, but in 1848 he joined his brother, at Knightstown, where he settled permanently. In 1849 ^""is brother, Milton Peden, sought the gold fields of California and Reuben took his place as millwright with Oliver H. Armstrong.

While working for [Mr. Armstrong, he was united in marriage with Ominda Armstrong, daughter of his employer, the marriage being solemnized July 22, 1852. by the Reverend John Fairfield. To this union were born six children, namely : Mary F., Arthur M., Hiram V'.. Lizzie A., Charles E. and Nellie B. Of tliese children, one son and one daughter are still living, the son, Hiram V., living at Huntington, Huntington County, Indiana, and the daughter, Lizzie A., being now Mrs. William J. Hatfield, of Frankfort, Clinton County, Indiana. His widow, 2\lrs. Ominda Peden, is also still living and resides with her daughter, Mrs. William J. Hatfield.

Mr. Peden continued to follow his trade of millwright until early in the Civil War, when he entered the grain business which he prosecuted diligently and successfully to the end of his life.

During his lifetime, Reuben Peden belonged to the Masonic Order and was one of the best informed Masons of the State. He was for a term Grand High Priest of the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Indiana ; also Eminent Commander of the Grand Commandery of Knights Templar of the State of Indiana. He was likewise . Master of Golden Rule Lodge, No. 16, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Knightstown, for many years. So intimate and profound was his knowledge of the craft that he was regarded as an eminent authority on most questions coming before the various Masonic organizations.

Reuben Peden was instantly killed, Friday, December i. 1893. His warehouse was located immediately south of the Panhandle depot at Knightstown. In the course of his business, it was his daily custom to carry his mail across the tracks of the railroad to the depot and there mail it. On the day mentioned a freight train, standing on the side track between the main track and his warehouse, had been cut in two to make an opening for the Jefiferson Street crossing, just west of his place of business. At this moment Mr. Peden, in pursuance of his custom, started to cross the track, but his view was obstructed by the freight train and the noise of escaping steam from the freight engine prevented his hearing the sound of an approaching west bound express train, running at the rate of sixty miles an hour. Passing in front of the freight, he was struck by the express as he was in the act of stepping from the track to the station platform. His body was thrown a distance of eighty feet with such frightful force that a watchman's

This is probably the most tragic death in the annals of Henry County. The entire community was shocked and Knightstown, accustomed for many years to his goings in and out, was a city of mourners and the entire county evinced its s\'mpathy. How forcibly is the uncertainty of life brought home to all by this sad event. Mr. Peden had been crossing the railroad track at this particular point for this particular purpose, almost daily, for thirty years, when in the twinkling of an eye, death claimed him.

In his contact with his fellows, Mr. Peden was quiet and unassuming, modest of demeanor, noted for his kindly disposition and possessed of the highest character for probity and honor. He was a devout Christian, a member of the Presbyterian Church, and had been clerk of the church session continuously for thirty three rears.

Biographical Sketch Of Samuel Van Swearingen And Farmer

The field book on deposit in the Auditor's Office of Henry County, which is the transcript made up from the records of the United States Land Office, after the pubHc lands in Henry County had been exhausted, shows that on March i, 1832, Van B. Swearingen entered from the United States, at one dollar and twenty five cents per acre, the east half of the southeast quarter, section six, township eig-hteen, range eleven east, eighty acres. Again on August 30, 1832, he entered the west half of the southeast quarter, section six, township eighteen, range eleven east, eighty acres. This land, which thus earlv came into the possession of the Swearingen family, is located in Prairie Township and its northeast corner is only a quarter of a mile southwest of the town of Rogersville. Van B. Swearingen continued to live on this farm until the day of his death.

Van B. Swearingen was born in 1802 in West Mrginia. Elizabeth ( Murdock) Swearingen was born in 1803. l>oth were bprn near Morgantown, Monongalia County, and Marion County from which this couple emigrated to Henr\' County, Indiana, was formed from a part of Monongalia County. They were married in Virginia.

Van B. Swearingen was the head of the family in Henry County, having come from Marion County, West Virginia, and settled here in the year 1829. The family has ever since lived within two and a half miles of the land entered as above stated. Among his large family of children, there was a son named Jacob H., born in Marion County, West Virginia, in 1822. In 1841, at the age of nineteen, he married Mary Bechtelheimer, but continued to live on his father's farm for two years. He then moved to a farm in Stony Creek Township which for more than half a century has been known as the "Swearingen farm," most of which is now, however, owned by Charles W. Mouch of New Castle. Jacob H. Swearingen is still living and has his home at Mooreland, Henry County. Mrs. Jacob H. Swearingen died December 28, 1864. During his long life, Jacob H. Swearingen has been a prominent business man of the county. To his union with ]\Tary Bechtelheimer, fifteen children were born, among the number being a son named for his grandfather, Samuel Van Swearingen. He is the second child and oldest son of this marriag-e and the subject of this sketch.

Samuel Van Swearingen

Samuel Van Swearingen was born December 11, 1846, and lived at home with his parents, working on the farm in Summer and attending the country school in Winter, until the Winter of 1864-5. In those last years of the Civil War, the need for troops was becoming more and more insistant, and }oung Swearingen, who had been but a child at the beginning of the war, was now ready to assume the duties of a man and citizen, and feeling it to be his duty, enlisted as a private in Company E, 147th Indiana Infantry, and was mustered into the service of the United States, at Richmond, Indiana, February 7, 1865.

Milton Peden of Knightstown was Colonel of this regiment, and the officers of the company were Captain James D. Hiatt and First Lieutenant George W. Shroyer, both of New Burlington, Delaware County; Second Lieutenant ^^lilton N. Goff of Selma, in the same county. This regiment served in West Virginia, near Harper's Ferry, and in the Valley of the Shenandoah. Private Swearingen was with his regiment continuously until he was mustered out of the service at Indianapolis, August 4, 1865. The history of the regiment, published immediately preceding this sketch, is the military history of Samuel V. Swearingen.

After his discharge from the army, he returned to his father's home, where he continued to reside until the Fall of 1868, when he acquired from his father, one hundred and sixty acres of land, located in the southwest part of Stony Creek Township, three and a half miles from Blountsville. This land was a part of the well known Swearingen farm above referred to. Mr. Swearingen still owns this land and through his efforts, it has been made as attractive and put under as high a state of cultivation as any farm in the northeastern part of Henry County. It is a model farm and shows to advantage the practical skill of its owner.

On October 29, 1868, Samuel V. Swearingen was married to Rachel Bird, daughter of Joseph and Rachel Bird, who were among the earliest settlers of Blountsville. Joseph Bird was born August 2^, 1803, and died January i, 1868; Rachel Bird was born November 8, 1806, and died December 12. 1877. They emigrated from New Jersey to Henry Count}- in 1835 and were highly respected and well known throughout the northern and northeastern part of the county.

To Samuel V. and Rachel (Bird) Swearingen were born two sons: Ira E., born September 7, 1869, died March 25, 1905, and is buried in Mooreland Cemetery; and Wellington W., born April 6, 1874; both had the good fortune to make their homes continuously with their parents. Wellington W. was married October 14, 1894, to Mattie E. Dakins, who died November 14, 1899, and is buried in Mooreland Cemetery. To this marriage was born a son. November 9, 1899, named Herbert. The child being only five days old at the time of his mother's death, he was taken by his grandmother Swearingen and now lives with his grandparents at their home.

Mr. Swearingen is a practical farmer and in all his labors, whether on the farm or elsewhere, has been materially assisted by his wife. He is a friend and advocate of education and has given his children the benefit of the best education the opportunities afford. Every situation and every obligation of his life has been squarely met. In politics he is an ardent Republican. He is a member of the Henry County Association of \^eterans of the Civil War, and is a good citizen, who enjoys the friendship and good will of his neighbors. He is a very industrious man and never idles away a moment of time. Everything about his farm shows the work of a methodical and energetic man. The home, the bams, the fences exhibit taste and care and the best methods of cultivation are employed on the land.

A farming life is not, perhaps, the most eventful, but its daily round of duty well performed calls for the best energies of its followers and it is from this school that so many of the country's leaders have graduated.

Van B. Swearingen and Elizabeth (Murdock) Swearingen, his wife, parents of Jacob H. and paternal grandparents of Samuel V., are buried in the Rogersville Cemetery. Samuel and Rachel Bechtelheimer, maternal grandparents of Samuel V. Swearingen, are buried in the German Baptist Cemetery in Stonv Creek Township. Samuel V. Swearingen's mother was first buried in the Rogersville Cemetery but her remains were afterwards removed and re-interred in the A'looreland Cemetery. Joseph and Rachel Bird, parents of Mrs. Samuel \'. Swearingen, are buried in the Blountsville Cemeterv.