Contributed by: Dawn Montgomery <montgomery@parlorcity.com>

Transcribed from Biographical Memoirs of Wells County, Indiana, B.F. Bowen, Publisher, Logansport, Indiana 1903, p 378, 379, 380


McCullick, Henry Clay


One of the original pioneers to whom the present generation is indebted for the comforts and blessings which attend the denizens of a well improved and highly cultivated commonwealth is Henry C. McCullick, a son of Henry McCullick, a native of Maryland, but of Scotch parentage. The father of the subject married for his first wife Martha Twible (Twibell), a native of Maryland whose parents, John and Elizabeth Twible (Twibell), were natives of Scotland, John, the father, having come to America with the British army. His inherent love of Freedom, however, later led him to desert the British and attach himself to the American cause and thereafter he fought in many battles for independence, passing through many narrow escapes, having at different times had five bullet holes shot through his clothing and one through his hat. After his marriage the elder McCullick settled in Tyler county, Virginia, where he remained until 1832 when he removed to Henry county, Ohio, remaining there until the fall of 1834, at which time he again removed to Wells County, Indiana.


February 11, 1835, when the subject was seven years of age, Henry, Sr., became one of the first settlers of Chester township, Wells County, a typical pioneer belonging to that class to whom too much honor can not be accorded by succeeding generations. Upon his arrival in the new country Henry, Sr., settled upon land which is still in the family, being the farm now occupied by Isaac McCullick.


At the first election held in Chester and Jackson townships there were but seven votes cast. Henry, Sr., was chosen for office and his oldest son was also elected to fill the office of justice of the peace. The oldest brother of the subject of this sketch was the first man who took out a marriage license in the new county of Wells. When the subject with his father's family came to Wells County, they moved into an Indian settlement of three hundred souls, with whom he run, played and slept and declares that they are the best class of citizens the United States ever had if they had only been let alone. Henry, Sr., was a soldier of the ware of 1812, and died in 1863 at about the age of seventy-five years. His wife, Martha, died in 1847. The subject was three times married. To his first union nine children were born. John, deceased; Rachel, deceased; Josiah, deceased; Elizabeth, deceased; Lindy, deceased; Henry, the subject of this sketch; Mary J., the wife of St. Claire Raush, who is deceased; Penelope, the wife of Silas Jones; William, who is a resident of Michigan and married to Margaret Goodfrey. Henry, Sr., married the second time, and this wife dying, he chose for his third wife Susie Hunt, the widow of Harvey Hunt. To this third union was born one child, Ellen, who married Edward Terhune.


Henry Clay McCullick went to school but thirteen days, there being but few school facilities until after he had attained his majority. His parents being uneducated, he, by his own efforts, learned to read, write and cipher. The first lesson he learned to read as a whole was the third chapter of Matthew, after which he soon learned to read well, an accomplishment which he cultivated through life. He remained with his father until he was nearly twenty-five years of age. The latter having been confined to the house for fourteen years a sufferer from white swelling, Henry C., aided by his sister, Lindy A., cleared the farm, she working with him every day. Just before he was twenty-five years of age he put out the first crop, of which he received a share, which was one-fourth of the product. The next year he went to work on his own land, having traded a yoke of oxen, a one-horse wagon and a colt for a tract of land in the woods. He went to work clearing it up, and the first summer had cleared thirteen acres, built a house and got himself a wife. He moved into the house before it had any windows. This farm was in section 30, Chester township, on which he lived until 1872, when he purchased the Hammer farm and moved on to that. This farm is now occupied by Isaac McCullick. In the year 1870 he owned three hundred and fifty-five acres of land, which he sold for ten thousand dollars, but owing to the failure of the parties to meet the payment either of interest of principal he was compelled to take back the land. He moved onto the farm where he now lives in 1880. His present home is a farm of sixty and three-fourths acres of finely improved land. The subject has devoted his time exclusively to farming, occasionally shipping stock, etc.

Mr. McCullick has been twice married. His first wife, to whom he was married November 23, 1850, was Elizabeth Anderson, daughter of Samuel and Rebecca (Cochran) Anderson, natives of Virginia. Elizabeth was born in March, 1827, and died March 7, 1875. As a result of this marriage nine children were born: Jasper, deceased; Nun, a resident of Montpelier, Indiana acquired a high education; Lot; Wyley, deceased; Isaac, a farmer in Chester township; William, a resident of Wells county; Sarah J., deceased; Lucy, the wife of William Alexander, of Fairmount, Indiana. For his second wife Mr. McCullick married Mandania McIntyre, the widow of Thomas McIntyre and daughter of Robert Hathaway, this marriage occurring August 18, 1876. To this union one child was born, Emma, now living at home with her parents. Mr. and Mrs. McCullick are both workers in the church of Christ. Politically the subject is a Prohibitionist, having never voted any other ticket save once.

The last sentence of the previous biography should read: "Politically the subject is a Prohibitionist, having never voted any other ticket save once when he voted for the Hon. A. N. Martin for congress."