James Highley
Mr. and Mrs. James Highley
In 1847 James Highley and wife came to Richland Township, Grant county, Indiana, and settled upon a tract of land in the wilderness, the land being located at the northwest corner of Section twenty-three in Richland Township. He entered this land from the government at that time, although it was not put up for sale until 1848, at which time he bought it in. That land consisted of one hundred and sixty acres, and James Highley and wife continued to live on the far, cleared it up, ditched, drained and in other ways improved it, and there Mrs. Highley the widow of James Highley, still lives. She owns the homestead, which is one of the few, if not the only farm in Grant County that is owned by one of the parties who originally entered the land. James Highley and wife had been married only a few months, when they moved to Grant county, and they worked hard together, prospered, reared a family of children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and when James Highley died July 6, 1891, he was mourned by hundreds of his neighbors and fellow citizens.
James Highly was born in Virginia. His father was also named James, and moved from Virginia to Union County, Indiana, when the son James was seven years of age. There the latter attended the local log schools of pioneer times, underwent practically all the hardships incidental to country life in the early days, and on May 9, 1847, married Sarah Meyers, a daughter of Samuel and Susanna (Kingery) Meyers. Sarah (Meyers) Highley was born and reared in Union County, Indiana. Her father, Samuel Meyers, was born in Pennsylvania in 1804, came to what is now Union County, Indiana, with his parents, as a small boy. His wife, Susanna Kingery Meyers, was born in Virginia, also in 1804, and in 1806, when two years of age, came with her parents to what is now Union County. Samuel Meyers, the father of Mrs. James Highley, died when the latter was a small child, but her mother lived many years, always a widow and died at the advanced age of eighty-seven. In August, 1848, James Highley and wife, a bride and groom of only a few months, came to Grant County and settled on the farm where Mr. Highley remained until his death, and where Mrs. Highley still lives, hale and hearty, and with mental faculties unimpaired at the age of eighty-three years. Her son, Daniel M. Highley, a sketch of whom will be found elsewhere in this volume, manages the old homestead for his mother. James Highley and wife were hard working, God fearing and prosperous citizens, and accumulated over four hundred acres of some of the most valuable land in Sims and Richland Townships. The land has been divided among the children and sold, except for the old homestead of one hundred and sixty acres where Mrs. Highley has her home. The ownership of this place is still in her name.
James Highley and wife were the parents of seven children, as follows: David F.; Samuel M.; Daniel M.; Lydia, deceased; Clayburn; Martha, wife of William Eller; and Jacob M. The family are members of the Christian Church.
Centennial History of Grant County Indiana 1812-1912. The Lewis Publishing Co., 1914.