Madison County, Indiana - Chapter 25, 1897

Among tlie okl-timers who have lived in Anderson none i.s more worthv of complimentary mention than Enoch M. Jackson, who died on the 2Uth of March, 18SiS, while filling the responsible office of Justice of the Peace.

He came to Madison county when four years of age with his father, Andrew Jackson, and spent the remainder of his life here. He was a man of more than ordinary sense, and well educated. 'He was of fine physique and polished manners, making manv new friends and holding fast to older ones.

He was for inanj- years in the marble business in Anderson, and during the year of 1868 erected a handsome monument dedicated to the Hamilton county soldiers by the commissioners at Noblesville, which was unveiled on the Fourth of July in that year. Mr. Jackson delivered an address on that occasion that endeared him to the hearts of the people of Noblesville and Hamilton county Its language is perfect, and the sentiments uttered are full of true patriotism. This piece of oratorv will be remembered while its author is sleeping through ages yet to come. It is embodied in the reports of the Adjutant General of Indiana, and is filed in the archives of the State, where it will remain as long as time shall exist.

" We have met upon this our nation's birthday for the purpose of unveiling and presenting to the citizens of Hamilton county this beautiful monument. It is proper that such a presentation should take place upon such a day. Our memories revert to the days of 1776, when our forefathers in solemn council assembled and declared that the colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent.

"The generations which succeeded them have given every evidence of the same spirit of patriotism which imbued their hearts, and have erected monument after monument in mem- oiv of their fallen heroes. So it is with us in our day. An unnatural and cruel war has passed away. In its cause many have fallen, and many hearthstones are desolate ; many sons, brothers and husbands have fought their last fight, and have given the imperishable crown to victory.

" Their names and their memories are engraved as indeliblv upon our hearts as they are engraved upon this stone. We need no better evidence of the spirit of reverence for our brave and gallant soldiers than is exhibited bv the generous liberalitv of vour County Commissioners in the purchase and erection of this marble shaft, draped so aporopriately with the banners of our country, the Stars and Stripes. Upon its summit is perched the American eagle, emblem of freedom, inviting the oppressed of every land to shelter under its widespread wings.

"In erecting this monument jour commissioners simply ilid their dutv. Those boys had the promise, Avhen they left their homes, that they would be remembered. How noblv has Hamilton county responded, in having engraved hereon, not only the names of her dead, but of her living heroes, who fought on many a bloodv battle-field with Spartan zeal, that they might retrieve, in part, for the loss of their fellow comrades, and prove to us that a republican form of gov'ernment was a success, and to the world a guarantee of universal freedom .

'-And. in conclusion, we now piesent and coinmit to vour hands and keeping, through Governor Baker, this monument. L pon its smooth and polished tablets are engraved the names of Hamilton county's gallant defenders. May the names of our fallen ones ever be in our remembrance. May the hand of charity and of friendship be ever extended to the heartstricken loved ones upon earth. May this beautiful monument ever call to our minds, that love of countrv and that heart-felt patriotism of ever true American is a noble defender. And may the glory and renown of America prove as imperishable as this graven stone."

Moses Maynard, the oldest man who ever lived in Madison county and. perhaps, in the state of Indiana, was for man}- years a resident of Monroe township, and died at the home of his son, Barnabas Maynard. on the hlth of June, 1iST4. He was born September 23, 1763, near Hillsboro, X. C, and had reached the extreme age of lOS years at the time of his death. His life was an eventful one as he was the only man known to the people of this section of the Cduntry, who could s;iv that lie voted for George Washington for president of tiie United States. Mr. Maynard claimed to ha\e \oted at every Presidential election since the time that (ieorge Washington ran for iiis first term down to the time of Horace Greelev in 1S72, and in his latter days he persistently contendeil that Horace (jreeley was elected to fill the presiilential chair. He related many interesting circumstances when in a friendly con versal i(in. He remembered the British soldiers whipping his father in an unmerciful manner in a corn field during the Re\ olutionary war, where his father was engaged in gathering corn, because he would not disclose the whereabouts of a brother, who was in hitling from the ISritish

Tories. He had another brother who was taken by the British soldiers, and who never returned. He was a man who always ilrank more or less, from his boyhood to old age, and was a striking example of the theory that some advocate, that good whisky properly used is a benefit rather than an injury to the human family. During his residence in Madison county, it was not an uncomniou sight to see him galloping along the road toward Alexandria to replenish the family jug. which he always kept about his premises. In religion he was a Baptist, and was a prominent mendjer of that church. He was the father of eleven children in Madison County. The immediate descendants of this old man are ver\ numerous. An uncle of Moses Maynaril \n as a \olunteer soklier in the Revolutionarv war from Xortli C:iroliii;i. In speaking of the customs of liis old Carolina home, he stated that there were no wagons in that country, and in toting " their tobacco to market, the people took hoop poles and lashed their tobacco hogsheads to them, and then hitched their horses to them, and rolled them a distance of fifty miles. L ntil a year prior to his death Mr. Mavnard raised iiis own tobacco, and did many chores about the house of his son. where he lived. Only one picture of this old man is in existence. It is a tin type taken a short time before his death, from which the accompanying illustration is taken.

During his younger days, when the British were firing on Lexington and Bunker Hill, he was an observer of some of the tragic scenes of the Revolution. Thomas Paine's productions, "The Crisis," -'Common Sense" and "Rights of Man,"' were read to Mr. Maynard fresh from the hand-- that wrote them. The wife of Moses ^laynard was Sarah Greenstreet. During the Revolutionarv war she is said to have subsisted, together with her mother, one wiiole week on boiled beans and poke leaves, it being the only means of support, as the\' were compelled to hide in ambusii to avoid the British cavalry. Mr. Mavnard is uiulouhtedlv the only man who ever lived in ^ladison county who had the pleasure of meeting in person the immortal Wasiiington, also Jefferson and Franklin. William Mavnard. the father of Moses, was a siioemaker b}- trade, and this was the means of liis traveling from one section of the country to another. Moses Maynard eventually, after liis marriage, laniled in Kentucky, near tlie Big .Sandy river, and lived there until he was twenty-eight years old, when he came to Madison county and entered for himself eighty acres of land on the Little Kilbuck, on what is now known as the Benjamin Walker farm. He also entered forty acres for his eldest son James, the last mentioned tract being known as the McKowen farm, on the .\lexandria pike, one mile north of Prosperity. The memory of this old man was very acute, and after passing a period of lassitude wlien he was aliout ninety-five years old, his perceptive facilities became quite active. He could recite many daring instances of his early life. For several years prior to his death he was quite childish, but was not considered a burden by his son and estimable daughter-in-law, who took care of him. He iiad the notoriety of being the oldest man in the commonwealth of Indiana, and when he died the news of tiie decease spread throughout tlie liuul. The Louisville' Courier- Joiirinil gave quite an account of the event, written by Miss Laura Ream, who visited him during the trial of John E. Corwin, in the winter of 1874. Miss Ream was at that time correspondent for the Louisville Coiiricr-fouriial, and while in attendance at the trial she was made acquainted with Mr. Maynard through Lee W. Trees, a prominent merchant of Anderson at one time, who conveyed iier to the Maynard residence, where she held quite an interview with the old gentleman and the family with whom he residetl, which resulted in a long communication to the paper, in which a complete history of Mr. Maynard from the time of his birth to the day of the interview appeared.

In the year 1807, Capt. R. M. Ilarriman, of Anderson, with his father-in-law, J. R. Ilsley, together with a man of the name of Folsom, engaged in the manufacture of e.xcelsior, a product of bass-wood and other soft timber which was cut up and used for packing purposes, and also for making mattresses. The business was carried on on north Main street on the ground now occupied by the plainng mill of C. E. Springer & Co. These gentlemen did a very successful business for several years, but Capt. Harriman was a seafaring man, and could not content himself with the plodding waj's of the " land-lubber"; therefore, about the jear 1869, he and his estimable wife took their departure for the sea, and he again embarked in his old occupation, that of commanding a vessel. He was master of tlie An:erican brig Alberti. until the 25th of January, 1878, when he lost his life while at his post of duty.

While at sea off Lizard's Point, in a storm, Captain Harriinan's vessel was run down l>y an Italian bark, and in his efforts to save his crew and cargo, was so severely injured that he died within an hour after the occurrence.

Captain Harriman had ordered the life-boats lowered, and picking his wife up in his arms, started to take her to a place of safety to transfer her to tlie Italian vessel, which stood close beside the Alberti. At this time a quick surge of the Italian bark caused her to strike the .Vlberti with such force as to nearly bury her in the sea, knocking the captain against the rigging, mortally wounding him, and for a time disabling Mrs. Harriman. At this juncture the Italian vessel cleared away from them and left them to the mercies of the sea. The mate, Edward Kelly, at once took command of the crippled vessel and safely landed her in Plj-mouth harbor. Besides the loss of Captain Harriman, a sailor was for some time missing, but it afterward was ascertained that he had gotten aboard the Italian bark in the scramble and was not long afterward landed in the harbor to join his associates. Mrs. Harriman has lived in Anderson ever since this occurrence, and was, on the 18th of May, l^T'.l. married to the Hon. D. W. Wood, with whom she is now living at their pleasant home on west Xinth street, in Anderson. A claim for damages was afterward paid by tlie Italian vessel. The Albert! was boinid for Herbice when the accident overtook her.