James Terhune, an old and highly respected citizen of Johnson County, Ind., was born in Mercer County, Ky., February 3, 1821, and is the son of Garret and Nancy (Davis) Terhune. Garret was the son of William, who was born in New Jersey in 1756, served in Revolution, and died in Kentucky, 1828, Garret was born in New Jersey, on November 15, 1791, and died January 24, 1875. Other children of William were: John, James, William, Stephen, Rule and Patsy. Nancy Davis, daughter of Edward and Sarah Davis, was born in Tennessee on April 9, 1794, and died on February 18, 1851. She was the daughter of Edmund and Sarah Davis, both natives of Tennessee. To this union were born the following: Lewis, Julius, Samuel, Alpha, Nancy, Polly, Ann, Eliza, Absalom and John, died in Kentucky, in boyhood, of yellow-fever, also mother Davis. Garret and Nancy were married August 15, 1813, and to them were born children as follows: Sarah, born August 10, 1814; Mary A., August 25, 1815; Harvey, March 22, 1817; William, July 4, 1819; James, February 3, 1821; Martha, July 3, 1822; Margaret, August 7, 1824; Lucinda, March 8, 1826; Ida R., October 5, 1829; Davis, September 23, 1831; Minerva J., January 10, 1834; Obadiah G., April 10, 1836; of the above the two sons and six daughters survive. Garret Terhune was thrice married, the second time on August 3, 1851, to Jane Forsyth, who was born September 30, 1787, and died February 2, 1856, and the third time September 4, 1857, to Nancy Pickerell, who was born on February 3, 1794. No children were born to the last two marriages. Garret Terhune left New Jersey with his parents in about the year 1792, and located in Mercer County, Ky. In the year 1830, he came to Johnson County, Ind., and settled west from Franklin, on the Franklin and Martinsville road six miles southwest of the former town, on an eighty-acre tract of land which he entered about 1826, while living in Kentucky. In 1839, he removed to another eighty-acre tract near the present town of Trafalgar, where he resided until his death. He was a member of the Christian Protestant Church, and so also was his first wife, Nancy Davis. Jane Forsyth, the second wife, was an old-school Baptist, and Nancy Pickerell, the third wife, a Methodist. James Terhune, the immediate subject of this sketch, was reared on a farm, and secured only a limited education. Beginning life for himself when about twenty-one years of age, he located on a farm about nine miles west from Franklin, which contained forty acres. A few years later he sold that farm and purchased sixty acres in Nineveh Township, which he also sold, and later purchased ninety-five acres in Hensley Township, to which he subsequently added forty acres, and the farm, now embracing 135 acres, he owns at present. In July, 1881, he purchased eight acres of land in the suburbs of Franklin, and, after erecting a suitable residence, removed there, too, and retired from farming. Mr. Terhune was married on March 17, 1842, to Eusebia N. Nay, who was born in Oldham County, Ky., on October 11, 1825, and is the daughter of Asa B. and Lucinda (Whitesides) Nay. Her great grandparents were John and Katie. Asa B. was born in Oldham County, Ky., on November 30, 1799, and was the son of Samuel Nay, who was born in Culpepper County, Va., on March 9, 1763. From Virginia Samuel Nay emigrated to Oldham County, Ky. To him, and his wife Nancy, the following children were born: Catherine, born August 29, 1784; Bennett, April 3, 1787; James, August 23, 1789; Jolin, June 13, 1791; Mary, August 25, 1793; Nancy, August 6, 1795; Samuel, June 3, 1797; Asa B., November 30, 1799; Rhoda, March 7, 1802; Elizabeth, June 27, 1805; Presley, June 17, 1808; Phoebe, February 19, 1810; Lucy, October 20, 1813. Of this family, Phoebe survives. Samuel Nay was a soldier of the Revolutionary War. Asa B. Nay was an old-school Baptist preacher, and removed to Johnson County, Ind., in 1833. His wife, Lucinda, was born in Oldham County, Ky., on June 2, 1806, and was the daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Button) Whitesides, who lived and died in Kentucky. Their children are: John T., November 19, 1823; Eusebia, October 11, 1825; James A., March 3, 1828; Joseph W., April 11, 1831; Samuel M., April 2, 1834; William S., April 6, 1837; Asa F., April 29, 1840; Nathan W., April 29, 1840; Robert H., August 11, 1843; Mary E., September 19, 1846; infant son, October 9, 1850; Leander T., June 20, 1852. Of the children, one daughter and five sons are deceased. Asa B. Nay, father of Mrs. Terhune, died December 1, 1876. His wife died March 8, 1876. The maternal grandparents, Joseph and Elizabeth (Button) Whitesides, were parents of four children: John, Mathew, Lucinda, and William. To our subject and wife the following children have been born: Thomas L., April 17, 1844; Asa G., September 29, 1846; William D., August 11, 1849; Lucinda M., November 18, 1852; John W., May 5, 1856, and died October 18, 1879; Ermina A., January 5, 1861; Dillard W., January 7, 1864, and died November 7, 1865. Both our subject and wife are members of the Baptist Church. Stephen, the great grandfather, was a native of Holland, and came to the United States in colonial times.

Transcribed by Cheryl Zufall Parker

Banta, D. D. History of Johnson County, Indiana. Chicago, IL: Brant & Fuller, 1888, page 661.