The Andrew Wylie Family Letters - Indiana University Bloomington

in the West.
McKelvey, Hugh Aiken. b. 1818 Chester County, SC; Indiana University graduate 1843, classmate of Samuel T
Wylie; preacher and teacher.
McKinney. May be John Orchard McKinney, Indiana University graduate 1843; a dentist.
McPheeters, Dr. Joseph Glass. 1810-1888. Born in Fayette County, Kentucky; Died in Bloomington. Indiana
University graduate 1834; MD from Transylvania University in Kentucky; physician and surgeon in Bloomington;
Trustee of Indiana University 1851-56; 1861-1864 surgeon and Medical Director in the Union Army.
Morrison, John Irwin (Judge Morrison). b. 1806-1882. Born in Franklin County, Pennsylvania; died in
Knightstown, Indiana; graduate of Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 1829; founded Salem Female Institute 1835;
Professor of Languages at IU 1840-43; Trustee 1846-55, President of the Board 1853-55, 1875-78; state Senator
1847-50; State Treasurer 1865-67.
Morrison, Sarah Parke. Daughter of the Hon. John I. Morrison; educated Salem Female Institute, Indianapolis
Commercial College, Mt. Holyoke Seminary, Massachusetts; first female graduate of Indiana University (1869);
teacher at Vassar College, State Normal at Terre Haute, IN, and adjunct professor of English Literature at Indiana
University.
“Old Tip” William Henry Harrison. 1773-1841. Instrumental in securing Indian lands in Indiana and Ohio for
settlers; led battle against Tecumseh at Tippecanoe; Whig candidate for president with running mate John Tyler,
“Tippecanoe & Tyler too”; ninth U.S. President, 1840, died one month after taking office.
Orchard, John & Samuel. Brothers, born in Kentucky; proprietors of a boarding house in Bloomington since
1820s, variously called Temperance Inn, Temperance Hotel, and Orchard House; ad in "Bloomington Herald"
3/23/1850 “Temperance Hotel, J. & S. M. Orchard. Three story Brick, South West of the Public Square on West
Main street, Bloomington, Indiana. Good stabling, with sheds for carriages.” see 9/22/50
Otto, William T. (Judge Otto). b. 1816 Philadelphia; 1833 graduate of University of Pennsylvania; studied law;
came to Indiana in 1836; practiced law, Circuit Judge 1844-1852, Indiana University Professor of Law 1847-52;
appointed Assistant Secretary of Interior by President Lincoln; Reporter for U.S. Supreme Court 1875-1884.
Parvin, Theophilus. b. 1829 Buenos Aires; Indiana University graduate 1847, M.D. from the University of
Pennsylvania; teacher and physician; president of the American Medical Association in 1879.
Pering, Cornelius. Native of Bath, England; a cousin of John and Samuel Orchard; came to Bloomington in 1832
to become Principal of the Monroe County Female Seminary, which he ran very successfully until he resigned to
move to Louisville, Kentucky in 1846 after the death of his wife; a contemporary recalls “Mr Pering himself was a
man of fine personal appearance… Perhaps no man was better dressed than he. He wore a high silk hat and goldrimmed
glasses and presented a striking figure when he appeared on the street.” (“The Old Monroe County Female
Seminary,” a paper read before the Monroe County Historical Society 11/23/1906)
Pering, Madame. Wife of Cornelius Pering.
Poor, Susan B. Daughter of Dr. Daniel Poor, missionary to Ceylon; friend of Maggie Wylie, married name John.
Read, Daniel. 1805-1878. Born near Marietta, Ohio; Died Missouri; graduate of University of Ohio; Professor
of Ancient Languages at Indiana University 1843-1856; taught at University of Wisconsin 1856-1865; President,
University of Missouri 1966-1878; brother of E. J. McFerson.
Read, Theodore. b. 1835, son of Professor Daniel Read, brother of Agnes and Julia who attended Glendale
Seminary; graduate of Indiana University 1854; practiced law until enlisting in the Union Army; he was killed at
Appomattox Bridge, in Virginia, in the spring of 1865.
Ritchie, Abigail “Ab, Abby”. Born 28 June 1810, the youngest of Margaret Wylie’s siblings. Beloved Aunt to the
Wylie children and a frequent guest in the Wylie home, where she lived from late 1848 through fall of 1850. Lived
with sister Eliza Ritchie McKee and family in California for some time, 1854 and later. Unmarried.
Ritchie, Craig. 1758-1833. Born December 29 in Glasgow, Scotland. Came to America 1772; settled in
Canonsburg, Washington County, PA about 1782; married Mary Price 1788; 13 children including Margaret Ritchie
Wylie; Trustee and benefactor of Jefferson College; Presbyterian; warm personal friend of George Washington,
whose Washington County lands he managed.
Ritchie, Craig. 1807-1879; eleventh child of Craig and Mary Ritchie; brother of Margaret Ritchie Wylie; married
Mary Ann Chickering in 1836; a storekeeper in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania.
Ritchie, Craig Dorsey. Son of William and Susan Summeral Dorsey Ritchie, grandson of Craig Ritchie born 1758.
Cousin to the Wylie children. Ritchie was a conveyancer, or writer of documents.
Ritchie, David. 1812-1867. Thirteenth child of Craig and Mary Ritchie; brother of Margaret Ritchie Wylie; studied
in Heidelberg; attorney, congressman.
Ritchie, Ellen Campbell “Aunt Ellen”. Wife of Margaret Ritchie Wylie’s brother John Ritchie.
Ritchie, Jane “Jean”. Aunt Jane to the Wylie family. Sister of Margaret Ritchie Wylie. Unmarried and often
unwell.
Ritchie, John. 1797-1870. d. in Texas; fifth child of Craig and Mary Ritchie; brother of Margaret Ritchie Wylie;
married Ellen Campbell.
Ritchie, William. 1792-1840. Brother of Margaret Ritchie Wylie; store owner in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania;
married Susan Dorsey; one child, Craig Dorsey Ritchie; William drowned in Ohio River near Wheeling.
Ryors, Alfred. 1812-1858. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; graduate of Jefferson College 1835; Presbyterian
minister; Professor of Mathematics at Indiana University 1843-1848; President of Ohio University 1848-1852;
President of Indiana University 1852-1853; Professor of Mathematics at Center College, Kentucky until his death.
Sal. Short for Salim, a Biblical name; one of the Wylie’s family’s horses.
Sontag, Henriette “Countess Rossi”. German operatic soprano famous throughout Europe beginning in 1823.
Came to America on a singing tour in 1852. Died of Cholera 1854.
Speed, James. 1812-1887. Born Jefferson County, Kentucky. Graduate of St. Joseph College, Bardstown,
Kentucky and Transylvania University Law School. Began law practice in Louisville, Kentucky, elected to
legislature as a Whig 1847-49 and strongly opposed the “Know Nothing” party that succeeded the Whigs. Was a
Louisville alderman 1851-54, taught law at University of Louisville 1856-58 and 1872-79, and served in the state
senate 1861-63 as a Unionist. He and all his family were strongly opposed to slavery but gently outspoken on the
subject among friends and business associates who supported it. He rather suggested gradual emancipation and
perhaps colonization of African Americans to Africa. Was a long time friend of Abraham Lincoln who appointed
him mustering officer for Kentucky at the outbreak of the Civil War and U.S. attorney general in 1864. In the latter
position he made two important recommendations—a military trial for Lincoln’s assassins and a non-military trial
for Jefferson Davis, which was one reason Davis was not tried for treason. Speed resigned the attorney general
post in 1866 in opposition to President Andrew Johnson’s policies. However, he remained active in Republican
party. He strongly supported the 13 th amendment to the U.S. Constitution to abolish slavery, the 14 th amendment for
equal protection under the law, and urged Kentucky Republicans to give the vote to African Americans—this to the
detriment of his further political career in Kentucky.
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