Transcript:Indiana, United States. Biographical and Genealogical History of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin Counties/B/Bracken, William H.

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Lieutenant William H. Bracken (p 880)

Undoubtedly one of the most conspicuous figures in the political world of eastern Indiana, and certainly in Franklin County, is this sterling citizen of Brookville. During the great Civil War he won distinction and well-deserved honor, and in the legal profession he ranks high. His history possesses much of interest to the general public, and his innumerable friends, in different parts of the state, will enjoy a perusal of the chief features of his life, as here presented.

In tracing his ancestry it is found that the Bracken family was founded in America in the early part of the last century, when three brothers of the name crossed the Atlantic, leaving their native England, and thenceforth resided on this continent, one locating in Canada, one in the south and the third in Pennsylvania. From the last mentioned was descended Thomas, grandfather of William H. Bracken. Born in the Keystone State, he went to Ohio after the close of the War of 1812, and before Indiana was admitted to statehood he became a permanent resident here. His first settlement was in what is now known as Dearborn County, and soon after the land office was located in Brookville he came here and entered a quarter-section of land four miles east of Rushville, Rush County. There he spent the remainder of his life, quietly engaged in farming, and his home was the headquarters of all the pioneer ministers and brethren of the church. He was a devout Methodist, and frequently occupied the pulpit himself, when desired to do so. He died at the rip age of eighty-one years, loved and revered by every one. By his marriage to Matilda Coen he had four sons and eight daughters.

Dr. William Bracken, father of our subject, was born in Dearborn County, Indiana, May 26, 1817, and for over three-score years he was engaged in the practice of medicine. His preceptor was Dr. Sexton, of Rushville, who had received collegiate advantages in the east and stood high in his profession. After practicing for two or three years in Jackson County, where he located in 1836, Dr. Bracken established himself in Palmyra, now Richland, Rush County, later went to Milroy in the same county, and in 1862 removed to Greensburg, where he has since resided. Notwithstanding his advanced age, he still practices to some extent among his old patients, who will not give him up. He has always taken an active interest in politics, his allegiance being given to the Democratic Party, and he is the only surviving member of the state constitutional convention of 1850, as is believed. Religious work has been a matter of deep moment to him throughout his life, and, like his father before him, he is an ardent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

For a wife, Dr. Bracken chose Miss Patience A. Berry, and together they trod the pathway of life for many long years. The devoted wife and mother was summoned to the silent land, April 16, 1898, when eighty years of age. Five of their children lived to maturity, namely: William H.; Thomas E., a farmer of Decatur County; James B., who was a successful physician and surgeon for years, and is now retired and living with his father; Martha E., who is at home also; and John L., an attorney of Greensburg, Indiana.

The birth of William H. Bracken occurred in Jackson County, Indiana, September 9, 1838. His early education was acquired chiefly in the old-fashioned subscription schools, and when in his fourteenth year he entered Asbury University. There he continued but a few months, owing to his delicate health, and some time afterward he accepted a position in a woolen mill at Big Flat Rock, his father being a partner in this concern. Subsequently he clerked in a store partly owned by his father, at Milroy, the firm name being Smith & Bracken. When Mr. Smith withdrew from the business it was carried on, under the style of Bracken & Son, from 1855 until the fall of 1859. In June, 1860, our subject went to the west, and after looking the country over considerably returned and on the 27th of September came to Brookville and took up the study of law, with Wilson Morrow as his preceptor. Admitted to the bar the following year, he was soon afterward appointed deputy prosecuting attorney, which office he filled acceptably until June, 1862, at the same time acting also in the capacity of town clerk, to which position he was elected.

At the time just mentioned, Mr. Bracken turned over to others all of his business and official duties in order to fight for the stars and stripes. He assisted in raising Company B, Fourth Indiana Cavalry, and upon its organization was made first lieutenant. During much of his three years of service in the army he was on detached duty, doing excellent work in several important departments. At Henderson, Kentucky, he was made post quartermaster and commissary, and served as such from August, 1862, until the following April, when, his regiment being ordered to join the Army of the Cumberland, he was ordered to report to General Mitchell at Nashville, where he was assigned to the commissary department. Later, ordered to Murfreesboro, General Rosecrans placed him in charge of a "courier line" --- some twenty-five men, engaged in the transmission of dispatches from one branch of the army to the other, through a very dangerous section of country. During the advance from Murfreesboro to Chattanooga, the lieutenant was ordered to report to department headquarters, and held the very important post of chief of the secret service department in that locality, submitting all dispatches received to General Garfield, chief officer on the staff of General Rosecrans. Soon after the battle of Missionary Ridge he was ordered to assume the command of a train running on the railroad from Nashville to Chattanooga, his position being that of military conductor. At the end of a few months he was assigned to the office of the provost marshal at Nashville, was then made assistant provost marshal under General John F. Miller, by General Sherman, and was in the same branch of the military service at the time that he was mustered out, in June, 1865, at Edgefield, Tennessee. From the beginning to the close of his service he was faithful, ever at his post of duty, ready to undertake any necessary work, however perilous, and his superior officers placed all confidence in his fidelity, sagacity and promptness in the performance of the arduous tasks assigned to him.

For a few months after the war had been successfully terminated, Mr. Bracken was engaged in the practice of his profession at Nashville; but finding sectional prejudice too strong at that time, he returned to the north, and in March, 1866, resumed his long interrupted practice in Brookville. In February, 1880, he entered upon the duties of clerk of the circuit court, to which position he had been elected, and here he continued to serve the public for two terms, or eight years. After an interval, in which he was again engaged in regular law practice, he became collector of internal revenue for the sixth collection district of Indiana, filling that office from November 1, 1893, to October 31, 1897. He has ever been a strong Democratic partisan, active in the promotion of his party's welfare, and for twelve years or more was chairman of the county central committee, besides having been at the head of the electoral ticket in 1892. Well and favorably known in all parts of this state, it is safe to say that few of Indiana's native-born sons are more honored or more earnestly concerned in her prosperity.

In the local fraternities Mr. Bracken has a distinctive place. He is past master of Harmony Lodge, No. 11, F. & A. M.; is past high priest of Brookville Chapter, No. 16, R. A. M.; is a charter member and was the first past chancellor of Brookville Lodge, No. 76, Knights of Pythias, organized in 1877; and is past commander of Hackleman Post, No. 64, G. A. R.

On the 16th of January, 1863, Mr. Bracken married Miss Phoebe A. Kerrick, of Low Point, Illinois. They have three sons and three daughters living. William K., the eldest, is a successful attorney of Bloomington, Illinois. Josephine M. is the wife of Professor William L. McMillen, teacher of English in the Fort Wayne (Indiana) high school. Martha E. married George W. Kimble, a railway postal clerk, of Liberty, Indiana. Thomas E., a young man of much promise, graduated in the Indiana University in the summer of 1899. Sarah B., the youngest daughter, is now the wife of Professor Herbert S. Voorhees, superintendent of the Brooklyn schools; and Leonidas L. is a student in the State University. The children have been afforded excellent educational advantages, and are well qualified in every way for the serious duties of life.