McHAFFIE, Melville F. - Putnam

MELVILLE F. McHAFFIE.

Among the citizens of Mill Creek township, Putnam county, Indiana, who have built up a comfortable home and surrounded themselves with large landed and personal property, none has attained a higher degree of success than the subject of this sketch and his life demonstrates what may be accomplished by any man of energy and ambition who is not afraid to work, his success being the result of his well-directed and persistent efforts, his capable management of his business interests and his sound judgment. In all the relations of life he has commanded the respect and confidence of those with whom he has been brought in contact and he is today numbered among the representative men of his county.

The subject of this sketch is descended from sterling patriot ancestry, his grandfather, John McHaffie, having been a soldier in the war of the Revolution, participating in the battle of Yorktown, where he witnessed the surrender of Lord Cornwallis. He was a native of the state of Virginia, volunteered at the early age of sixteen years, and sometime after the securing of national independence he married Elizabeth Hackett. Among the children born to this union were three sons, Robert, John and Andrew. Robert and John were soldiers in the war of 1812, serving with different Tennessee regiments, and at the battle of Horseshoe, Robert took an active part, John being in the reserves, the same condition existing at the battle of New Orleans. They were valiant soldiers, as was their father before them. Robert died in Putnam county, Indiana, and John in Hendricks county, the latter being now buried in the burying ground at the McHaffie homestead. Andrew McHaffie was too young to enlist and when old enough he learned the tanner and harnessmaker's trade. In 1830 he made the trip on horseback from Tennessee to Indiana and entered nine eighty-acre tracts of government land in Morgan and Hendricks counties, near the northeast corner of Mill Creek township, Putnam county, and he also entered one hundred and sixty acres near Mt. Meridian for his brother James. He arrived on this land in October, 1832, with his family consisting of his two daughters and son, the subject of this sketch. The daughters were Haney Emeline, who became the wife of William P. Roberts, and Thirza Jane, who died at the age of twelve years. The homestead residence was erected in Hendricks county, but afterwards the father removed to Stilesville, where he remained until 1841, when he bought a home located across the highway from where his son, the subject of this sketch, now lives. Andrew E. McHaffie first married Nancy D. Woods, the mother of the children before mentioned, who died in 1830, and in 1838 he married Nancy D. Denning, of Knox county, Tennessee. To this union was born one child, Mary Angeline, who subsequently became the wife of Haney Lee and is now deceased. leaving three sons. Andrew McHaffie died in 1866 and is buried at Stilesville.

Melville F. McHaffie was born in Knox county, Tennessee, December 27, 1826, and he was reared on the parental homestead. When the family first came to Indiana they located in the midst of a dense forest, the only timber felled being that cut to make way for the National road, which was being constructed. The subject witnessed the early efforts made to clear the country and has a distinct recollection of the tremendous labor incurred in the construction of this road, when laborers worked for fifty cents a day and boarded themselves. A cousin of the subject ran a boarding house (or rather cabin) for these workers. Mr. McHaffie helped clear practically all the land from a half mile west of his house to Stilesville and has thus had an important part in this early work of transformation. He raised steers from young calves and with the aid of these he hauled logs and pulled stumps. Game was plentiful and he has killed many deers within a short distance of his present home and in his early boyhood saw many bear tracks there.

In 1851, the year following his marriage, he was preparing to build a home for himself, when his father bought one hundred and sixty acres of land from Lewis Orth, in section 29, in the northeast corner of what is now Mill Creek township. Mr. McHaffie located on this tract and it has been his home continuously since, a period of practically sixty years. Their first home there was in all old brick house, but in 1870-72 Mr. McHaffie erected in its stead a fine large brick house, the finest in the locality, its original cost having been twelve thousand five hundred dollars, aside from much of the work done by the subject himself. Today, forty years after its erection, this house is still considered one of the best in that part of the county.

In his business affairs Mr. McHaffie has met with a gratifying measure of success. As a farmer he was practical and progressive in his methods and indefatigable in his efforts, and as he has prospered he added to his landed possessions from time to time, until he became the owner of over sixteen hundred acres of land. His investments have not been confined to the Hoosier state, as he entered eleven hundred acres of land in Missouri, one hundred and twenty acres of which was converted into farm land. He also bought eighty acres of splendid farm land three miles east of Tuscola, Illinois, for which he paid ten dollars an acre, later selling the same for forty dollars an acre. Mr. McHaffie became interested in the southern mule trade a number of years ago and his business in this line rapidly grew to enormous proportions, having not a little to do with the making of the city of Macon, Mississippi, which became the headquarters for the trade. He was considered one of the best judges of mules in the country and made big profits in this business, having at one time cleared over two thousand dollars on a single carload. Through his trades he secured a good deal of southern cotton land.

Mr. McHaffie has taken an active interest in general business affairs and assisted materially in the organization of the Central National Bank of Greencastle, of which he was tendered the presidency, but the other demands on his time would not permit him to assume the duties of the position, and he became vice-president of the institution, which soon became one of the leading monetary concerns of the county. His son Ernest was for some time a clerk in the bank, but he longed for the open life on the farm and relinquished the position. Mr. McHaffie's ability was recognized in his appointment as a member of the board of county commissioners, to fill out an unexpired term, and he was afterwards elected to succeed himself. In this position he gave efficient and satisfactory service. Mr. McHaffie is a Jackson Democrat and has always taken a commendable interest in public affairs, being one of the strong and influential citizens of the county.

In his younger days Mr. McHaffie was an accomplished horseman and at one time he shot a deer from the back of a wild mustang in Missouri, standing in the stirrups as he shot. That he was also possessed of much endurance is evident from the fact that he rode from Tuscola, Illinois, to his home in Putnam county, a distance of over one hundred miles, during the daylight of one day. This forced ride, which was made on a mule, was because of an urgent business matter which required his presence at home. His love of horsemanship has been inherited by his grandson Robert, who has now a widespread reputation because of his expertness in this line. At the age of fourteen years he competed with old and experienced riders at county fairs and at one of the state fairs he won a one-hundred-dollar premium. Mr. McHaffie's success has come as the result of his own persistent efforts and now he is enjoying that ease to which he is so justly entitled. Standing at his beautiful home, he may look a mile north, a mile and a quarter east, a half mile west and a half mile south, and the land within that scope of vision is all his, and this despite the fact that he has given to his children twelve hundred acres of land. The attractive and well arranged home was planned by Mrs. McHaffie and is as fine a home as can be found in either Putnam or Hendricks counties.

On August 15, 1850, Mr. McHaffie was united in the bonds of wedlock with Mary Ann Thomas, a daughter of Jonathan and Catherine (Ulrich) Thomas. She was born at Georgetown, Pennsylvania, and came with her mother to this county, her father having died in Pennsylvania. Subsequently her mother married Theodore Long at Dayton, Ohio, and the family came to Putnam county in the fall of 1849. Mr. and Mrs. McHaffie fell in love with each other at first sight, and this mutual feeling was never altered in any degree, she proving to her husband a "helpmate" in the truest sense of the word. She was a woman of splendid personal qualities, endowed with a liberal share of sound common sense, and she not only reared their children to honorable manhood and womanhood, but she also took an intelligent interest in business affairs and Mr. McHaffie placed a high value on her advice and counsel in business affairs. She is spoken of flatteringly today by those who enjoyed her acquaintance. Her death occurred on the 21st day of July, 1897. To Mr. and Mrs. McHaffie were born the following children, ten in number.

(1) Florence Alice became the wife of Charles Bridges, a native of Putnam county, who later became a successful business man at Indianapolis, where his death occurred; she still resides in that city.

(2) Thurza Jane, generally called Jennie, became the wife of Thomas S. Boggess, of Macon, Mississippi, but she died of typhoid fever in that state about two years after her marriage. She left a son, Bennett Mack Boggess, a trader and cotton grower, who is married and has a daughter, Caroline.

( 3 ) George W. is a farmer and resides on three hundred acres of land southeast of Stilesville, given him by his father. He married Emma Cosner and they became the parents of three children, namely: One died in infancy; Katie married Harry Tincher, a successful lawyer at Louisville, Kentucky; Mary Ann lives at home with her parents. She and her sister were both educated at St. Mary's-of-the-Woods, at Terse Haute.

(4) Minnie became the wife of Dr. M. G. Masters, who was born and reared at Stilesville, Indiana, the son of Alexander and Almira (Graham) Masters, these parents subsequently moving to Kansas, where their deaths occurred. Dr. Masters died in 1902 at Plainfield, Indiana. To him and his wife were born four children, of whom three, Orian, Eva and Max, are deceased, the survivor being Lex, now sixteen years old, who lives with his mother in the home of Mr. McHaffie, and who is now a student in the Stilesville high school.

(5)Andrew E. died at the age of seventeen years.

(6) Clemmie died at the age of three years.

(7) Marcus F. died at the age of four years.

(8) Oscar S. is a farmer, living on three hundred acres of land adjoining his father's farm. He married May Leachman, daughter of James Leachman, of near Fillmore, this county, and they have a son, James Melville, now a student in the agricultural department of Purdue University at Lafayette. Indiana.

(9) Ernest married Annie Greer, daughter of John and Mary Agnes Greer, of Seymour, Indiana, and they have three children, Ernestine, Robert and Maxine.

(10) Mamie became the wife of John F. Shiel, of Seymour, Indiana, and they have one son, John McHaffie Shiel.