Part of the Indiana Biographies Project
M. M. Lacey
One of the most honored residents of Fountain City, M. M. Lacey is a native of Wayne county, his birth having occurred in New Garden township, about two miles north of this place. May 21, 1835, and in this portion of Indiana the major part of his life has been passed.
The history of the Lacey family has much of interest, extending, as it dess, over a number of centuries, and being interwoven with the annals of several countries. A brief outline, only, can be given here, but sufficient to show that the ancestors of our subject have borne an important part in their time and country. The family is of French origin, the name being spelled DeLacey, meaning "house of Lacey." The first authentic history of those bearing the name relates to three brothers, William, John and James DeLacey, who fought under the leadership of William the Conqueror, and figured extensively in the wars and political strategies of their day. One of the brothers went to Austria, where he won fame as a general in the army of the celebrated empress, Maria Theresa, but suffered defeat at the hands of Frederick William, of Prussia. One of the brothers went to Spain, and served with distinction in the Spanish army. His surname was spelled "Lassey" by the people of that country.
Though it is not definitely known from which of these three brothers the family in the United States is descended, it is recorded that, at an early day, Robert Lacey and two of his brothers came to America to cast in their fortunes with the young British colony since known as the United States. The Robart Lacey mentioned settled in Virginia, on the banks of the James river, and one of the other brothers located in New York. Robert Lacey became the father of several children, among whom was John, who, in turn, had five sons and four daughters. The sons were: Benjamin, who removed to New Jersey; Ephraim, who settled in Maryland; James, who went to the vicinity of Blue Licks, Kentucky; Robert, who went to the then far west, Arkansas; and William, who took up his abode in Georgia in 1793. The last mentioned, who was the father of John and William Lacey, of Wayne county, Indiana, was a distinguished officer in the Revolutionary war, serving throughout that struggle under the leadership of Marion, the "swamp fox," and holding the rank of a colonel of Virginia cavalry. The old records, moreover, state that Colonel William Lacey and John Lacey were among the wedding guests at the marriage of General Washington. Three of the sisters of the Colonel were: Susanna, who married Joseph Scofield, and settled in Maryland; Elizabeth, who became the wife of a Mr. Horniday. and lived near Elk, Noble county, Ohio, and Mary, who married a Georgia gentleman, whose name is not remembered.
Colonel Lacey married Mary, daughter of James Moore, of Pennsylvania. She had several sisters and three brothers, Benjamin, Hiram and James, all of whom served in the war for independence. James was shot and killed by a Tory, while he was quietly returning from church one Sunday. The last will and testament of Colonel Lacey is dated February 9, 1804, and his death occurred the same year, in Columbia county, Georgia. His widow later removed to Clinton county, Ohio, with her four children, John, Mary, William and Jane. Afterward she became the wife of George McKenzy, and lived and died near Spring Valley, Ohio. Her daughter Mary died unmarried, and Jane wedded a Mr. Mills and after his death a Mr. Hawkins, and she spent her last years in Hendricks county, Indiana. During the war of 1812 both William and John Lacey gave their services to their country, the former serving one year in a volunteer company commanded by Captain Titus, and the latter being in the army for two years. John Lacey married Elizabeth, daughter of James and Naomi (Hollingsworth) Spray, of South Carolina.
The early years of M. M. Lacey, sixth child of John and Elizabeth Lacey, were passed on the old homestead in New Garden township. He became a thorough and practical farmer, under the guidance of his father, and worked for neighbors from time to time until he was eighteen years of age, thus earning money to pay for his clothing and to meet other expenses. He had but very limited educational advantages, and did not realize the importance of the matter until he was in his nineteenth year, when he pursued a course of study in the graded schools of Fountain City. In 1857 he began learning the milling business in the Richmond flouring mill, and at the end of two years he accepted a position as clerk in the clothing store of J. S. Starr, of the same city.
A notable period in the history of our subject was the years which he spent in serving his country, as his patriotic ancestors had done. One of the first to respond to the president's call for brave men and true to put down the rebellion, he enlisted in April, 1861, soon after Fort Sumter had been fired upon. Becoming a member of Company I, Eighth Regiment of Indiana Infantry, he was commissioned captain of the company and acted in that capacity until August 6, 1861, when his term of service expired. Soon afterward he re-enlisted with the Sixty-ninth Indiana, and continued with that regiment until he was mustered out and honorably discharged at the close of the war, in July, 1865, at Mobile, Alabama.
Returning to Indiana, when his country no longer needed him, Mr. Lacey engaged in buying wheat for the firm of Henley, Stratton & Starr, for about one year, after which he was bookkeeper for the Richmond Plow Works for two years. Elected chief of police of Richmond, in 1869, he served, to the satisfaction of all concerned, until 1873, when he resigned the duties of the office. During the following year he kept the books of William King & Son, lumber dealers. In 1875 he went to Prince George county, Maryland, and for the next decade was industriously occupied in the cultivation of a farm. Then, going to Washington, D. C., he opened an office as an attorney, and practiced until ill health compelled him to leave that section of the country. Returning to Fountain City, he established an office here and has continued in business. As long ago as 1888 he was elected justice of the peace, and is still serving in that office, and since 1889 he has been the president of the city board of trustees. In his political convictions he is an unwavering Republican, firmly trusting to the party which has safely steered the ship of state through two wars, through the stormy period of reconstruction, through two financial crises, and passed other perilous breakers. Frateinall}- he is a member of the Odd Fellows' society, which order he joined in 185S; has been connected with the Knights of Pythias since 1891, and assisted in the organization of Fountain City Post, No. 420, Grand Army of the Republic.
On the 2d of February, 1857, a marriage ceremony was performed which united the destinies of Mr. Lacey and Miss Eliza A. Osborn, who was a daughter of Eli and Edith (Reynolds) Osborn, of Wayne county. W. L., the eldest son of our subject, is assistant engineer of the public parks of Indianapolis; Walter D. was killed in June, 1888, on the railway bridge at Dayton, Ohio; Maud, the eldest daughter, is the widow of J. E. Rogerson; Edith is the wife of J. Clyde Powers, superintendent of public parks, in Indianapolis; Mabel J. is the wife of J. L. Scarce, of Fountain City; and Laura Pauline, also a resident of this place, is the wife of G. A. Dwiggins. On April 5, 1899. Mrs. Eliza Lacey passed into the silent land, leaving a large circle of friends to mourn her loss. The Lacey family is held in high esteem, and the kindly social qualities with which they are endowed by nature win for them the friendship and good will of every one.
Source:
Biographical and Genealogical History of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin Counties, Indiana, Volume 1, The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, 1899