Charles Thomas McCaughan

HITZER, MCCAUGHAN, SHEPPARD, WHITE

Posted By: Judy Wight Branson (email)
Date: 10/11/2004 at 07:30:28

“The History of Madison County, Iowa”
Unions Historical Company, Des Moines, 1879
page 543, 544

C. T. McCaughan, (Rev.), Winterset; born in Trigg county, Kentucky, in 1814; there he remained until 1831, when he removed to Ohio; he was educated at the Miami University and graduated from that institution in 1837, and took his theological course at Allegheny; he was licensed to preach in April, 1840, and ordained in 1841, and at the same time was installed pastor of the church at Sidney, Ohio, and continued this relation seventeen years; he afterward had charge of the seminary in Urbana three years, and of the Mansfield academy, Pennsylvania, for the same length of time; he came to Madison county and located in Winterset in 1865, and took charge of the United Presbyterian church in this city; he has pursued his chosen course with untiring zeal and great success, and the denomination with which he is connected are largely indebted to his services in the building up of five churches in this county; he at present has charge of the church at Peru.

In 1841 he married Miss Elizabeth S. Sheppard, who was a native of Trome, England; their family consists of nine children: John S.; Frances A., now Mrs. White; Emily C., wife of D. Hizer; Thomas S.; Mary S., R. Bell; James McC.; George E.; Jessie E. and Frederick G.; they have lost three: Charles A.; Josephine and an infant; he is a pioneer in the temperance cause; as an advocate of total abstinence, has labored earnestly and incessantly, yet without ostentation; his generous nature revolted at the thought of man’s holding property in his fellow man, and from his earliest manhood was known as an abolitionist who dared to denounce the wickedness of slavery, and to proclaim the right of universal liberty; he voted for Birney, the abolition candidate for president, and there were only two others in the county to follow his example; socially of a retired position, caring but little for large crowds, he enjoys the company of a few known friends, and is never more happy than when thus surrounded, discussing some topic of religion or reform.
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“A Memorial and Biographical Record of Iowa”
The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, 1896

Transcribed and edited by Kent G. Transier, 07 Jan 2010

Rev. Charles Thompson McCaughan. D. D., a venerable minister of the United Presbyterian Church, now living retired at Winterset, Iowa, is a man who has during his active land useful life been the means of accomplishing untold good. He has made his home in this city since 1865, and there are few men here who are better known or held in higher esteem than is the Rev. Mr. McCaughan.

Born on a farm in Trigg county, Kentucky, June 19, 1814, he is a son of John and Hannah (Johnson) McCaughan, his father a native of county Antrim, Ireland, and his mother of Blount county, Tennessee. John McCaughan’s early life was spent in county Antrim, and his education was received there, and at the age of nineteen he emigrated to the United States, Kentucky being his objective point. After teaching school in Pennsylvania for a while, he married and settled down to farming in Trigg county, where he continued to reside for a number of years, then removing to Preble county, Ohio, and finally to Shelby county. Late in life he returned to Ireland on a visit and while on his way back to his home, was taken ill, and died at Rochester, Pennsylvania, this being in 1850. After surviving him some years his widow died in Shelby county, Ohio. In their family were eight children, six sons and two daughters, - all born in Kentucky, - the subject of our sketch being the fifth born, and one of the two who still survive. His sister, Mrs. N. J. Wilson, is a resident of Sidney, Ohio.

Charles T. spent the first seventeen years of his life in his native county, his studies during that time being pursued in a private school. He then entered Miami University, at which institution he graduated in 1837, after which he went to Allegheny Seminary, where he took a two-years course in theology. Next he entered the seminary at Oxford, where he continued his theological studies, and where he graduated in 1841. The year before his graduation at this last named institution he was licensed to preach, and the summer following he spent in missionary work in Indiana and Ohio.

He began preaching at Sidney, Ohio, in what was called the Associate Reform Church, afterward know as the United Presbyterian Church, and he served this congregation at that place for a period of seventeen years. Following this pastorate he for two years had charge of the Urbana Female Seminary, and the next two years he preached and taught at Mansfield, Pennsylvania, now called Carnegie in honor of the “Iron King.” While in charge of the seminary at Urbana he preached as a supply to a congregation which had no regular pastor. In 1865, as already stated at the beginning of this sketch, Mr. McCaughan became a resident of Winterset, Iowa. He was pastor of the United Presbyterian Church here and in other parts of the county, up to 1882, since which time he has been retired from the active work of the ministry. He, however, still preaches occasionally. Previous to 1882, in addition to his work as pastor at Winterset, he organized four churches in Madison county, Iowa. His work in the ministry has all these years been characterized by earnestness and devotion, and has been crowned with success.

Mr. McCaughan was married November 2, 1841, to Miss Emily S. Sheppard, a native of the village of Frome, in Somersetshire, England, and a daughter of John Gergory Sheppard. Her father emigrated from England to the United States in 1825 and located in Steubenville, Ohio, where he was for many years engaged in the manufacture of woolen goods. In 1865 he removed to Winterset, Iowa, where he spent the last twenty-five years of his life, and where he died at the extreme old age of ninety-seven years, an honored citizen of Winterset. For more than fifty years Mr. and Mrs. McCaughan have traveled life’s pathway together, and now, both in possession of all their faculties, they are comfortably situated in a delightful home, and happy by being surrounded with a large family and numerous friends. Four years ago they celebrated their golden wedding, which was largely attended by their children and grandchildren. Their descendants number nine children, twenty-nine grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Of their children, five sons and four daughters, we make the following record: J. Sheppard is a resident of Durango, Mexico; Frances A. is the wife of J. G. Steel, of Winterset, Iowa; Emma C. is the wife of D. N. Hiese, of Colorado Springs, Colorado; Mary S. is the wife M. C. Shafer, of Great Bend, Kansas; Thomas S. resides at Carnegie, Pennsylvania; James M. and George E. at Des Moines, Iowa; Jessie E. at Fairbury, Nebraska; and Frederick G. at Valley Junction, Iowa. All are married and have families except the youngest daughter, Miss Jessie E., who is a popular and successful teacher of Fairbury, Nebraska.