Fountain County IN Archives Biographies.....Welsh, Joseph S. 
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Author: H. W. Beckwith (1881)

   Dr. Joseph S. Welsh (deceased). Few persons in private life, dying, have been
mourned by a wider circle of warm and admiring friends than was Dr. Joseph S.
Welsh. He died on Coal creek about the year 1846, having lived there presumably
sixteen or eighteen years. It is much to be lamented that more is not known of
his early life, his education and training. It is said that no stone marks the
spot in the Coal Creek cemetery, where his remains are deposited. His record is
in the hearts of many who survive him. The industry with which he attended to
the medical profession did not prevent his giving attention to general
literature, and he wrote many poems and prose sketches of merit. In 1838 he
published a small volume of poems, entitled the "Harp of the West," which
indicates the goings of his mind. Some of them are devotional; some breathe a
spirit of high patriotism. The imagery is not always well chosen, and the
versification is sometimes faulty, but many of them have high merit in various
ways. They are rich in knowledge of Indian, as well as general, history. He
excelled rather as a prose writer. His style was rich, flowing and elegant. He
possessed a vivid imagination, and descriptive powers of high order. Reading his
descriptions of natural scenery, the movement of armies and military
engagements, one cannot help thinking what a war correspondent he would have
been had he lived during the war of the rebellion. His conversational powers
were even more remarkable. With the resources of a good voice, a lively fancy, a
ready command of the best words, and added to these a splendid physique, he
could delight, enchain, and electrify his auditors. Very naturally his
conversations would often become monologues. Some of them are said to have been
better than anything he ever committed to writing. As a teacher he had few
equals. Youth looked up to him with wonder and admiration while he discoursed to
them in a strain too high for their full comprehension, but which held in their
hearts and memories, their awakened curiosity, and enlarged understanding,
sooner or later made clear. Of himself he wrote: "My highest ambition is to
plant in the bosoms of the rising generation, the youth of our favored land, the
great, the good, and ennobling principles of morality, virtue, and patriotism."
His life, then, was a magnificent success. Truth regulated all his actions and
guided his words.

COLUMBIA'S HYMN OF FREEDOM.
BY JOSEPH S. WELSH.

When Washington the sword did wield, 
His country's hope, his country's shield, 
He cried, "To arms!  Disdain to fly! 
Preserve your rights, or nobly die!"

Then Mercer, Morgan, Warren, Wayne, 
Rushed onward to the battle-plain, 
While round them throng'd their valiant band, 
To guard and save their native land.

******

The storm is past and victory's ours, 
And gone those dark and troubled hours. 
Peace to the good and gallant dead, 
Who pressed the soldier's gory bed.

To Thee, eternal God, on high, 
We owe our peace and liberty; 
Still guide us by Thy mighty hand, 
And shield and bless Columbia's land.

0 great Columbia! blest, romantic land! 
High o'er thy mountains — far along thy strand 
May freedom's sacred light in splendor shine, 
And heaven's rich gifts, my country, still be thine!


Additional Comments:
Van Buren Township

Extracted from:

HISTORY OF FOUNTAIN COUNTY,

TOGETHER WITH
HISTORIC NOTES ON THE WABASH VALLEY,

GLEANED FROM EARLY AUTHORS, OLD MAPS AND MANUSCRIPTS
PRIVATE AND OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE, AND OTHER AUTHENTIC, THOUGH, FOR THE MOST
PART, OUT-OF-THE-WAY SOURCES.

BY H. W. BECKWITH,
OF THE DANVILLE BAR; CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETIES OF
WISCONSIN AND CHICAGO.

WITH MAP AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

CHICAGO: H. H. HILL AND N. IDDINGS, PUBLISHERS.
1881.

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