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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