Charles Henley
Charles Henley was born in
Randolph County, N. C., July 17, 1814. He is the son of Joseph
and Peninnah (Morgan) Henley, and removed with his parents to Ripley
Township, Rush Co., Ind., in the spring of 1837. He was then a young man
about twenty-three years of age. He immediately entered his brother
Henry's store as a clerk, and in the following spring he become a partner.
The spring of that year he made his first trip to Cincinnati on horseback to buy
goods. The goods were all wagoned through, which usually required as much
as twelve days to make the round trip. Mr. Henley was married on June 25,
1846, to Tamar Hill, daughter of Jesse and
Mabel (Overman) Hill, and started immediately for Cincinnati, in a buggy, to
buy a new stock of goods, taking his young wife with him. On his return he
settled down in Carthage, where he has ever since resided. Their children
were born as follows: Charles, deceased; William C.,
deceased; Sarah and Caroline. The subject
of this sketch remained in the mercantile business twenty-twp years, after which
he turned his attention to the milling business and farming, he having become
possessed of two farms north of Carthage. The four mill and woolen
mill he managed for twenty-three years. The grist mill burned down June
22, 1879. He sold the mill site to his nephews, Robert and William P.
Henley, who rebuilt the mill. In the spring of 1876 he engaged in the
banking business and organized the first bank in Carthage, and was made
president of the bank, which position he has held continuously up to the present
time. With his interest in the bank and his farms, Charles Henley has
little time for idleness, although he claims to be living a retired life.
He resides in Carthage, has a pleasant home, is a well-preserved man, a member
of the Friends' Church, and votes the Republican ticket.
History of Rush County, Indiana, Brant & Fuller, page 577.
Contributed by Phyllis Miller Fleming
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