THORNBURGH, William H. - Putnam

Before passing from the subject of early merchants of Greencastle, although not in proper chronological order, we venture to note the name of William H. Thornburgh, without a record of whose career no history of Putnam County could be called complete. No man ever lived who labored more zealously and accomplished more for the prosperity and well being of the community and the memory of no other person identified with the development of the county is more deserving of perpetuation. A native of Washington County, Virginia where he was born Feb 5, 1804, he drifted to Putnam County in the fall of 1824, his first employment here being teaching school for a brief time in the country west of Greencastle. Prior to his removal to Indiana he had, although quite young, been captain of a steamboat plying between Nashville and New Orleans. After the death of his wife, he returned to the river, becoming captain of a steamer in the Louisville and New Orleans trade, but in 1830 he was back in Greencastle again where he soon went into the mercantile business. In 1835 he erected a brick building on the corner of Washington and Indiana Streets, the first of its kind in the town. He was a leading and influential member of the Methodist Church and took an active part in the erection of the church building on the corner of Indiana and Poplar streets, to which he contributed both time and money, as, also, he did at a later date for the erection of Roberts Chapel. Indeed, there is perhaps no church in the city to which he did not contribute. In 1858 he built the largest edifice in town, known as the Thornburgh block on the west side of the public square, which was an enterprise of wonderful magnitude for that day and well worthy the admiration and encomiums it called forth. He also built, at the corner of Franklin and Locust streets, a residence which is grandeur and magnificent proportions far surpassed anything of its kind in the county. He was one of the original stockholders and early promoters of the Terre Haute & Richmond (now Vandalia) Railroad, devoting much time in securing the requisite amount of stock in his county. He was one of the earliest trustees of Asbury University, continuing as such with two brief intermissions from 1837-1860 and acting as president of the board for four years. On every occasion he lent his influence and energy to the great enterprises which were to be for the public good and such as would develop the industries and enrich the whole country. Possessing the first money safe in the county, Capt. Thornburgh's store became, in effect, a bank of deposit, where speculators, merchants and farmers alike found a secure place of keeping their surplus funds. "We of the present day," observes one who knew him well, "with our banks and multiplied facilities of communication, cannot estimate the value of such a man nor can we fully appreciate the amount of confidence which, without deposited security, could intrust so much for safe-keeping, assured of its prompt return when demanded." His career as a merchant covers a space of 31 years, the life of a generation. He died October 26, 1876. A public meeting, presided over by the mayor of Greencastle, was held at the court house to arrange for his funeral and appropriate resolutions expressing sorrow for his death and respect for his memory were adopted. One of the unfortunate things in Capt. Thornburgh's life, after his many years of commercial success was a series of business reverses to which he was forced to yield early in 1861. He suffered so keenly from chagrin and remorse that he issued a statement to the public through the columns of a local paper, which has in it so much of real pathos and evinces a spirit of pride and honor so sensitive and so unusual in these latter day of commercial indifference to public opinion, it will not be without its lesson to reproduce it here. Under date of March 21, 1861 in the Putnam County Banner, he said: "To My friends and Fellow Citizens - it becomes my painful duty to appear before you through this medium and announce to you that circumstances are and have been such as to require the withdrawal of my name from the list of merchants. I have been for over 30 years among you in that capacity, during which time I have enjoyed the patronage of many among you and the confidence embracing a wide range, which confidence it was my pleasure so to demean myself as to in some measure justly merit. I have during that time passed through many financial storms and had successfully weathered them all till now by a train of circumstances known to most of you through the advice of able financiers and men of unquestioned veracity and wealth I have taken the course now known to most of you - that of retirement from the busy bustle of that long-cherished occupation which it has been my pleasure to pursue. In take this, my leave, it is not without the deepest feelings of obligation to my creditors and numerous customers who, on the one hand, freely sought my custom and sold me goods at fair prices and dealt with me so kindly, which naturally engendered high social feelings which I have always prized so highly and which were so reciprocal. To such I shall ever feel the deepest weight of obligation as long as life endures. To my patrons and friends here accept this humble tribute of gratitude to you for your liberal and confiding patronage. During the last 30 years we have greeted each other and enjoyed many pleasant hours which I shall ever kindly remember. In taking my leave of you as a merchant, please receive my thanks for your patronage and confidence and I hope in my future I shall do nothing to counteract the good opinion you have been pleased to feel and express. Life is one changing scene and its revolutions I have, with many before me, felt and feel its heavy shaft, but amid all its storms will try to pass the waves as to ultimately outride them all and seek my final port in safety. Most respectfully, WH Thornburgh."