Wayne County IN Archives Biographies.....Meredith, Henry Clay 1843 - July 5, 1882
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Glapha Cox rcoxfam@earthlink.net January 23, 2006, 10:10 am

Author: History of Wayne County, Indiana;Volume II, (1884)

Jackson Township
p. 584 & 585

Henry Clay Meredith was born in Wayne County, Ind., in 1843, and died in 
Cambridge City, July 5, 1882. To shorthorn breeders, not only of Indiana but 
of the whole country, the name of Meredith is familiar. Father and son have 
been associated with the improvement of live-stock and the development of the 
agricultural interests of Indiana from the earliest days. For more than a 
quarter of a century the Merediths were exhibitors at the State and other 
prominent fairs of the country, and in all important matters of internal 
improvement they lent a helping hand, but especially were their efforts 
devoted to the encouragement and fostering of all that pertained to the 
farming interest. The father of our subject, General Solomon Meredith, came to 
Wayne County, Ind., from North Carolina, in 1829. Here, a penniless boy, he 
began the battle of life by cutting cord-wood, earning the princely sum, as he 
then thought, of $6 per month. Here he grew to manhood, winning and holding 
the confidence of his fellow citizens, and receiving at their hands 
successively the offices of Sheriff, County Clerk, Representative and United 
States Marshal. And here in later years, he organized and led away to the grim 
fields of war the first contingents of old Wayne and adjoining counties, 
which, under his stalwart leadership, were destined, upon the classic fields 
of Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, South Mountain, Chancellorsville and 
Gettysburg, to win imperishable renown, and render forever famous the 
achievements of the “Old Iron Brigade.” Our subject in his boyhood received 
the advantages of a common-school education, and in 1863, having prepared 
himself for a collegiate course, entered the freshman class of the State 
University at Bloomington, but shortly afterward volunteered as an aid on his 
father's staff, who was then serving in the Department of the West. He 
remained in the army a short time and then returned to college and graduated 
in 1867. In the meantime General Meredith had been appointed Surveyor General 
of Montana Territory, and the two years following his graduation Henry passed 
with his father, performing the arduous duties of a  Government Surveyor in 
the wild regions of the Northwest. In 1869 he returned to Cambridge City and 
entered upon a journalistic life, establishing the Cambridge City Tribune, 
which he ably conducted till 1872, when he disposed of his property and 
engaged with his father in breeding short-horn cattle, Southdown sheep, and 
several improved varieties of hogs. Under their management the Oakland herd 
achieved a wide reputation, and their public sales realized high prices, many 
of their animals going to distant States to form the nuclei of other herds, 
while several were sent to England at high figures. The firm was dissolved in 
1875 by the death of General Meredith, Captain Meredith subsequently 
continuing the business alone. In their breeding the Merediths were not wedded 
to any particular strains of blood, but added to their herd from time to time 
such animals from the herds of other breeders as, in their judgment, were 
worthy to be perpetuated, and upon these they crossed bulls of good individual 
merit and well established pedigree. In 1880 Captain Meredith was elected to 
represent his county in the General Assembly and served with distinction, 
taking special interest in all measures relating to agricultural questions. He 
was a member of the State Board of Agriculture several years, and was 
President of the society at the time of his death. He was married in 1870 to 
Virginia, daughter of Hon. Austin B. Claypool, of Connersville, a most 
estimable lady, who is his sole representative, no children having been born 
to them. In his social relations Captain Meredith was peculiarly happy. His 
friends were legion. His kindly sympathies took in the whole world, and no one 
who crossed the threshold of the old home that was proverbial for its 
hospitality, and received the grasp of his hand in greeting, but felt the 
genuineness of his welcome. He was faithful in his duties as a man and a 
citizen, loyal in his friendships, generous in his sympathies, whole-souled, 
broad-hearted, and clear-headed. In his death the agricultural and live-stock 
interests, of Indiana especially, sustained an irreparable loss; for these 
interests constituted his chosen field of labor, and he had entered upon his 
work with a rare enthusiasm, aided by an intelligence that promised the best 
results for the cause he espoused.

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