Meharry - Isaac Newton - Montgomery InGenWeb Project

Source:  1878 Atlas of Montgomery County, Indiana

   

Source: H. W. Beckwith History, Montgomery Co IN (Chicago: HH Hill,   1881) p 492

   

Isaac N. Meharry, farmer and stock raiser, Pleasant Hill, is a   son of Thomas and Emily (Patton) Meharry, among the earliest   settlers of Montgomery county. Thomas Meharry was a native of   Adams county, Ohio.

   

He was born April 27, 1799.

   

When he was thirteen years of age his father died, leaving the   boy to fight his own life's battles.

   

The battle proved victorious to his arms of industry.

   

In 1827 he made a trip to Montgomery county, Indiana, and   entered the S.W. ¼, Sec. 2, and the S. ½ of N.W.   ¼ Sec. 2, R. 6 W., Coal Creek township.

   

Uninviting as were the surroundings, infrequent as would be   the visits of neighbors and friends, Thomas Meharry and his wife,   Emily, bravely set out for their new home.

   

They landed in 1828 with $50 to expend in improvements, and   forty yards of jeans for wearing apparel.

   

Toil and good management soon changed their circumstances.

   

The acres began to grow broader until he became an extensive   land-holder, owning land in Champaign, McLean, and Shelby   counties, Illinois, and Tippecanoe county, Indiana, as well as at   home.

   

The slab shanty in two years gave place to a frame dwelling,   16X26.

   

In 1842 this was displaced by a brick two-story residence   covering forty feet square.

   

Financially Mr. Meharry's life was a success.

   

In politics he was intelligently a republican.

   

He was a Jackson man until the "Bank' question drove him to   the whig ranks.

   

He and wife were members of the Methodist church.

   

She was born August 16, 1802, and is now living with Isaac,   their son.

   

They had eight children:

   

Jane, Mrs. Eli Dick, of Champaign county, Illinois; William,   of same county; Ellen, Mrs. John Martin, of Fountain county,   Indiana; Jesse, of Champaign county, Illinois; Polly A., Mrs.   Calvin McCorkle, of Tippecanoe county, Indiana; Abraham, a twin   brother to Isaac, now in Campaign county, Illinois; and   Isaac.

   

Isaac Meharry was born February 16, 1842, on the old homestead   in Montgomery county.

   

His life has been that of a farmer and stock raiser.

   

He has remodeled the house his father built.

   

Everything on the farm has the appearance of toil well   directed.

   

He owns 440 acres in the home farm, and 120 acres of   timber.

   

In politics he is a republican.

   

He was married September 17, 1863, to Mary E. Moore, daughter   of Henry W. and Maria (Davidson) Moore, who came from Brown   county, Ohio, and settled in Coal Creek township, about 1840.

   

Mrs. Meharry was born in Brown county, Ohio, June13, 1845.

   

Mr. and Mrs. Meharry are members of the Methodist Episcopal   church.

   

They have four children:

   

Effie, Anna, Jennie, and John A..

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Source: Bowen History.  Bowen's Montgomery County, Indiana, Wingate, Coal Creek   Township p. 1130

It has been well said by   one of the great writers of olden times that the deeds of men   live after them, so it is but just that the deed of the man whose   name heads this sketch should be remembered for the benefit of   his posterity. His life was such that the future generations of   the name will with pride read its history. He was a self-made   man, possessing a large store of general knowledge and good   business tact, and with a determination that was characteristic   of the man, he set about when a boy making for himself fortune   and an honored name at the same time. With industry for his   motto, he plodded up the rugged hill that leads to success, and   became one of the most substantial farmers and prosperous   citizens in the northwestern part of Montgomery County, leaving   behind him a large and valuable landed estate, but what is more   to be appreciated by his family and descendants, the record of an   honored life and untarnished name, Mr. Meharry having a number of   years ago been gathered into the sheaves of that grim reaper who,   in the lines of the poet Longfellow, "Reaps the bearded grain at   a breath and the flowers that grow between.' The life of such a   man has a wholesome influence on the community which he honored   by his citizenship. Isaac Newton Meharry, for many years a   leading agriculturist of Montgomery County and the able president   of the Farmers' Bank at Wingate, was born on February 16, 1842,   at the home where his widow now resides, near the town of   Wingate, Coal Creek Township, this county. He was a son of Thomas   and Eunity (Patton) Meharry. Thomas Meharry was born in Ohio and   his wife in West Virginia, August 16, 1802. They were married in   Brown County, Ohio, December 4, 1827, where she had moved with   her parents at the age of ten years. In the spring of 1828, they   left the Buckeye State and came to Montgomery County, Indiana,   here establishing the permanent home of the family, developing a   good farm by their industry and close application, and here they   spent the rest of their lives, the father dying in 1874 and the   mother's death occurred on August 7, 1887, while on a visit in   Fountain County. They were the parents of seven children, all now   deceased but two daughters. Their children were named as follows:   Mrs. Jane P. Dick, of Tolono, Illinois; William, who lived in   Tolono, deceased; Mrs. Ellen Martin, of Attica, Indiana; Jesse,   who lived at Tolono, Illinois, deceased; A. P., who also lived   there, deceased; Isaac Newton, of this memoir and Abraham T.,   were twins; the latter is also deceased. Isaac N. Meharry's   career was somewhat unusual in that the place of his birth, his   home during life, and the place of his death are located within   the enclosure of his late home, and within a radius of   twenty-five feet. He assisted with the general work on the home   farm as he was growing to maturity, and in the winter months he   attended the common schools, studying one year at Wesley Chapel;   in fact, it may be said that he remained a student the rest of   his life, being a wide reader, and he became a well informed man.   He was married to Mary Elizabeth (Moore), September 16, 1863, and   their married life proved to be one of continued happiness and   sunshine. She was born June 13, 1845 in Brown County Ohio, and   she was two years old when her parents brought her to Indiana,   and here she grew to womanhood and received her education in the   common schools. She has lived in the vicinity of Wingate since   she was nine years of age. Her parents were Henry Wilson Moore   and Maria (Davidson) Moore. They were the parents of four   children, two of whom are still living. To Mr. And Mrs. Mcharry   were born ten children, four of whom are still living, namely;   Mrs. Effie Rebecca Meredith is living in Kansas; Etta Lulu is   deceased; Annie Mary is living at home; Jennie M. married Charles   Fraley and she is deceased; John Abraham, who married Jessie   Carter, is living at Shawnee Mound, Indiana; Carrie M. is   deceased; Vinton Switzer, the youngest child, is living at home.   Three others, a boy and twin daughters, died in infancy. Isaac   Meharry devoted his life to agricultural pursuits and stock   raising with ever-increasing success until he became one of the   leaders in his vocation in this section of the county, and he   left four hundred and forty-four acres of well improved and   valuable land in Coal Creek Township. This his widow still owns   and it is being managed successfully. She has a large pleasant   home and on the place is also a substantial and convenient set of   out-buildings. At this home occurred the death of Governor   Matthews. An excellent grade of live stock is kept at all seasons   and a general farming business is carried on extensively. The   Council Grove Horse Thief Detective Association was organized in   an old locust grove on Mr. Meharry's farm, our subject having   been one of its organizers, and he did much to make it   successful. It was the first association organized in the United   States. Politically, he was a Republican, but he was not in any   sense a public man, being content to lead a quiet life on his   fine farm. We quote the following from a local news paper, which   part of an extended article on Mr. Meharry's death: "The death of   Isaac N. Meharry occurred on December 10, 1904, at the age of   sixty-two years, nine months and twenty-six days. Mr. Meharry was   converted and joined the Methodist Episcopal church at Shawnee   Mound under the pastorate of Rev. S. P. Colvin, during a series   of meetings in January, 1869 and since that time he lived a   useful, true and exemplary Christian life. "He was a trustee and   steward of Shawnee church for about twenty years continuously. As   a husband he was true and faithful. As a father he was loving and   kind and good in the truest sense. As a citizen he was   honor-able, trustworthy, upright and public-spirited. The people   knew him as a warm-hearted, true and earnest man. "A man of   strong friendships of a strictly moral life. For many years he   suffered from ill health, which interfered to some extent with   his plans and desires. He was president of the Farmer's Bank at   Wingate during the last two years of his life, holding that   office at the time of his death. "The funeral services were held   in the presence of a large circle of relatives and friends. The   funeral decorations were many and beautiful. The body was laid to   rest in the Meharry Cemetery located on the farm on which he was   born.

Isaac Meharry, the well known citizen of Coal Creek Township, has been made defendant in a $10,000 damage suit, brought by Isaac H. Earle, administrator of the estate of Emanuel Boots, deceased. The complaint sets forth a state of facts about as follows: Isaac Meharry has a farm and deals to some extent in “horse flesh.” He is known to have horses to sell, and a few months ago Emanuel Boots, a citizen of Coal Creek Township, who had considerable hauling to do, being a teamster, went to him to buy a horse. Brother Meharry took him out in the woods pasture and calling up his drove offered them for inspection of the prospective purchaser. Mr. Boots did not care for a fast gaited roadster or anything of that sort. He merely wanted a good old plug that was capable of doing the light hauling for which he wished it.