James Terhune, an old and highly respected citizen of Johnson County, Ind., was born in Mercer County, Ky., February 3, 1821, and is the son of Garret and Nancy (Davis) Terhune. Garret was the son of William, who was born in New Jersey in 1756, served in Revolution, and died in Kentucky, 1828, Garret was born in New Jersey, on November 15, 1791, and died January 24, 1875. Other children of William were: John, James, William, Stephen, Rule and Patsy. Nancy Davis, daughter of Edward and Sarah Davis, was born in Tennessee on April 9, 1794, and died on February 18, 1851. She was the daughter of Edmund and Sarah Davis, both natives of Tennessee. To this union were born the following: Lewis, Julius, Samuel, Alpha, Nancy, Polly, Ann, Eliza, Absalom and John, died in Kentucky, in boyhood, of yellow-fever, also mother Davis. Garret and Nancy were married August 15, 1813, and to them were born children as follows: Sarah, born August 10, 1814; Mary A., August 25, 1815; Harvey, March 22, 1817; William, July 4, 1819; James, February 3, 1821; Martha, July 3, 1822; Margaret, August 7, 1824; Lucinda, March 8, 1826; Ida R., October 5, 1829; Davis, September 23, 1831; Minerva J., January 10, 1834; Obadiah G., April 10, 1836; of the above the two sons and six daughters survive. Garret Terhune was thrice married, the second time on August 3, 1851, to Jane Forsyth, who was born September 30, 1787, and died February 2, 1856, and the third time September 4, 1857, to Nancy Pickerell, who was born on February 3, 1794. No children were born to the last two marriages. Garret Terhune left New Jersey with his parents in about the year 1792, and located in Mercer County, Ky. In the year 1830, he came to Johnson County, Ind., and settled west from Franklin, on the Franklin and Martinsville road six miles southwest of the former town, on an eighty-acre tract of land which he entered about 1826, while living in Kentucky. In 1839, he removed to another eighty-acre tract near the present town of Trafalgar, where he resided until his death. He was a member of the Christian Protestant Church, and so also was his first wife, Nancy Davis. Jane Forsyth, the second wife, was an old-school Baptist, and Nancy Pickerell, the third wife, a Methodist. James Terhune, the immediate subject of this sketch, was reared on a farm, and secured only a limited education. Beginning life for himself when about twenty-one years of age, he located on a farm about nine miles west from Franklin, which contained forty acres. A few years later he sold that farm and purchased sixty acres in Nineveh Township, which he also sold, and later purchased ninety-five acres in Hensley Township, to which he subsequently added forty acres, and the farm, now embracing 135 acres, he owns at present. In July, 1881, he purchased eight acres of land in the suburbs of Franklin, and, after erecting a suitable residence, removed there, too, and retired from farming. Mr. Terhune was married on March 17, 1842, to Eusebia N. Nay, who was born in Oldham County, Ky., on October 11, 1825, and is the daughter of Asa B. and Lucinda (Whitesides) Nay. Her great grandparents were John and Katie. Asa B. was born in Oldham County, Ky., on November 30, 1799, and was the son of Samuel Nay, who was born in Culpepper County, Va., on March 9, 1763. From Virginia Samuel Nay emigrated to Oldham County, Ky. To him, and his wife Nancy, the following children were born: Catherine, born August 29, 1784; Bennett, April 3, 1787; James, August 23, 1789; Jolin, June 13, 1791; Mary, August 25, 1793; Nancy, August 6, 1795; Samuel, June 3, 1797; Asa B., November 30, 1799; Rhoda, March 7, 1802; Elizabeth, June 27, 1805; Presley, June 17, 1808; Phoebe, February 19, 1810; Lucy, October 20, 1813. Of this family, Phoebe survives. Samuel Nay was a soldier of the Revolutionary War. Asa B. Nay was an old-school Baptist preacher, and removed to Johnson County, Ind., in 1833. His wife, Lucinda, was born in Oldham County, Ky., on June 2, 1806, and was the daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Button) Whitesides, who lived and died in Kentucky. Their children are: John T., November 19, 1823; Eusebia, October 11, 1825; James A., March 3, 1828; Joseph W., April 11, 1831; Samuel M., April 2, 1834; William S., April 6, 1837; Asa F., April 29, 1840; Nathan W., April 29, 1840; Robert H., August 11, 1843; Mary E., September 19, 1846; infant son, October 9, 1850; Leander T., June 20, 1852. Of the children, one daughter and five sons are deceased. Asa B. Nay, father of Mrs. Terhune, died December 1, 1876. His wife died March 8, 1876. The maternal grandparents, Joseph and Elizabeth (Button) Whitesides, were parents of four children: John, Mathew, Lucinda, and William. To our subject and wife the following children have been born: Thomas L., April 17, 1844; Asa G., September 29, 1846; William D., August 11, 1849; Lucinda M., November 18, 1852; John W., May 5, 1856, and died October 18, 1879; Ermina A., January 5, 1861; Dillard W., January 7, 1864, and died November 7, 1865. Both our subject and wife are members of the Baptist Church. Stephen, the great grandfather, was a native of Holland, and came to the United States in colonial times.

source of biographical sketch (verbatim transcription): “History of Johnson County, Indiana”, 1888, page 661

Contributor:
genienuts 1976 - [email protected]



70y 11m 18d
"This monument marks the silent grave"

Franklin Republic, 29 January 1892

On Thursday night, of last week, occurred the death , at his home in Trafalgar, of James Terhune, a pioneer, and one of the most highly respected citizens of Johnson County. Mr. Terhune was in his seventy-second years, and being in feeble health, was unable to withstand the shock of a severe attack of la grippe.

The funeral occurred at 10 o'clock A.M., on Saturday the services being conducted at the late home, after which the remains were taken for burial to Mount Pleasant Cemetery.

The deceased was born in Mercer County, Kentucky, February 3, 1821, was the son of Garret and Nancy Terhune, being the fifth of their family of twelve children. In 1830, the parents came to Indiana, the father having in 1826 entered a tract of eighty acres about seven miles south-west of Franklin. In 1839, the family removed to a farm near the present town of Trafalgar, where James remained until about twenty-one years of age, when having required a limited education, he began life for himself as a farmer, locating upon a forty acre farm nine miles west of this city. On March 17, 1842, he married Eusebia N. Nay, daughter of Asa and Lucinda Nay. Unto this union there were born seven children, of whom there still live, Thomas l., Asa G., WIlliam D., Lucinda M. Shank and Emma A. Shuck, all residents of this county. Mr. Terhune resided successfully in Nineveh and Hensley Townships, and finally retiring from farming, removed in 1881 to a home in the south suburbs of Franklin. In 1888 he removed again, this time to Trafalgar, where he remained until his death. The deceased was never a seeker after prominence or position, yet was well and widely known as an intelligent and conservative business man, while his life and character were universally admired. Politically, he was a life long Democrat. He was an earnest Christian, and for many years a member of Bethel Regular Baptist Church.