64                  HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY

and thus for two years he was the custodian of the state funds Since
the organization of the party he has been a stalwart champion of Repub-
lican principles and has long been recognized as one of its leaders in the
state. He maintains pleasant relations with his old army comrades through
his membership in General Canby's  Post, No 2 G.A.R. His course in
public office has ever been above suspicion. The interest of the county
and state have always been first with him and he has placed the gen-
eral good before partisanship and the welfare of his constituents before
personal matters. He commands the respect of all who know him through
out the state, but at home in the city of his residence where he is best
known, be inspires personal friendships of unusual strength and all who
know him have the highest admiration for his excellent record as a soldier
and public officer and also for his good qualities of heart and mind
    Major Samuel Hill , elder brother of Major R.S. Hill, at the break-
ing out of the war of 1861 was a member of the Fourth United States
Cavalry and had crossed the plains with Albert Sidney Johnson to Salt
Lake City to put down the Mormon Insurrection. He was appointed
major of the Second Indiana Cavalry by Governor Morton on the recom-
mendation of his uncle,John P. Usher, Secretary of the Interior

 Major Samuel Hill was noted for his fine drill and disipline and
always  drilled the officers of his regiment.  He was wounded and cap-
tured at Hartsville,Tennesse,December 7,1862.He came home to
recuperate from his wound, and after one month at his home he reported
for duty at Louisville  Kentucky.Being still unable  for field duty, he
was assigned for court martial duty. The enemy appearing in numbers
in the vicinity of Louisville and he being an experienced officer was sent
out on a reconnaissance,from which he caught a severe cold,which aggra-
vated his  wounds, from which he died in March, 1863 at  Lebanon,
Kentucky. Major Samuel Hill like all of his family was loyal to his
country and his friends.  His body was brought to his old home and laid
in the old Hill cemetery on West Main Street Brazil, Indiana.

    Joseph T. Adams.-A soldier during the Civil war and for many
years after a successful and popular school teacher.Joseph T. Adams,of
Perry township,is now extensively engaged in agricultural pursuits, hav-
ing a well-kept and finely managed farm.He is numbered among the best
men of his community, socially and financially,and especially valued as
a large hearted public-spirited citizen whose enterprise and forethought
have contributed greatly to the comfort and happiness of the people about
him. A son of Samuel C.Adams,he was born July 16,1841,in Adams
township , Parke county,of Scotch-Irish ancestry,his great-grandfather,
Samuel Adams,having been born in Ireland,of Scotch lineage,and came
to America in the early part of the eighteenth century.
  James Adams,grandfather of Joseph T.,lived near Harrodsburg,
Kentucky,untill 1814.Migrating that year to the territory of Indiana,
he resided for two years near Vincennes.Pushing on then to the interior,
he entered two hundred and forty acres of land in what is now Rac-
coon township, Parke county.In 1816,his corn not maturing for bread,
he went to Vincennes,seventy miles distant,to mill,buying the corn
at that place. Improving his land, he was there employed in tilling the
soil the remainder of his life, passing away at the advanced age of eighty-
one years. He was a man of much force of character, very prominent
in public affairs, and Adams township in Parke county was named in his
honor.