Bartholomew-Jefferson County IN Archives Biographies.....McEwen, William 1816 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com March 4, 2007, 5:37 pm

Author: B. F. Bowen (1904)

WILLIAM McEWEN.

   William McEwen, who during his life was a well known and representative
citizen of Columbus, Bartholomew county, Indiana, was born near Salem, North
Carolina, on the 22d of August, 1816. He was the eldest of three children and
the only son of Archibald and Lettie J. (Brown) McEwen, both natives of North
Carolina and of Scotch-Irish descent. Archibald McEwen was a farmer by
occupation and came to Bartholomew county, Indiana, in quite an early day. He
was a poor man, and upon his death, which occurred when William was a young man,
the task of supporting the family fell upon the latter's shoulders. Right nobly
did he perform this filial duty, and in consequence thereof grew to manhood
without the advantages of intellectual training obtained in schools. Possessed
of strong practical sense, he early developed great aptitude for business, which
enabled him to transact successfully the duties of a very active business life
and make a record such as few with much greater advantages ever attain. He began
life for himself on rented land, but by his industry and successful management
as a trader he soon succeeded in securing a home of his own, and in time became
the owner of a large amount of valuable real estate in Bartholomew and other
counties. Subsequently he engaged in the porkpacking business at Madison,
Indiana, and in 1852 he removed from his farm in Haw Creek township to Columbus,
became interested that year in the Kentucky Stock Bank, of which he was one of
the founders and principal stockholders. In 1857 he was elected president of the
bank, and continued in that capacity until the suspension of the bank in 1870.
As already stated, he early became interested in real estate transactions and in
addition to his large possessions in the country, he accumulated a great deal of
valuable city property, which he continued to buy and sell until within a short
time of his death. In all his business dealings Mr. McEwen was the soul of
honor, and in all public and private charities of Columbus and Bartholomew
county, his name and individual efforts were foremost.

  Though a Democrat of the Jacksonian type, Mr. McEwen never aspired to official
honors, but his influence in party affairs was so potent that he was twice sent
as a delegate-at-large to national conventions, those at Charleston and Chicago,
in 1860 and 1864 respectively. During the war of the Rebellion he was a firm
friend of the Union cause, and such was the interest he evinced in behalf of the
soldiers of Bartholomew county that he won and ever retained the esteem of those
who were formerly his political opponents. He was for some time a director of
the Indianapolis & Madison Railroad, and while holding this position was
instrumental in furnishing employment for a great many persons of the city. In
every walk of life Mr. McEwen showed himself to be a man of uncommon sagacity
and discreetness of judgment, of scrupulous integrity and gentlemanly demeanor.

   On the 27th of December, 1838, Mr. McEwen was married to Miss Mary McFall,
who was born in Switzerland county, Indiana, October 23, 1819, the daughter of
William and Mary (Fenlen) McFall. She died on the 12th of August, 1881. To them
were born six children, three sons and three daughters, namely: Lettie J.,
Archie, Gideon B., Mary A., Ruth L. and William E. Mr. McEwen became a member of
the Methodist church early in life and until the day of his death, October 8,
1876, he was an earnest and sincere Christian, and in his last illness
exemplified the full faith he had in a hope beyond the grave. He was a man of
large sympathy, and in all the attributes of honorable manhood, honesty of
purpose, uprightness of character and Christian simplicity he stood prominent.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from

BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF BARTHOLOMEW COUNTY
INDIANA

INCLUDING BIOGRAPHIES OF THE GOVERNORS AND OTHER REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS OF INDIANA

ILLUSTRATED

1904

B. F. Bowen PUBLISHER


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