Source: History of Boone County, Indiana, by Hon. L.M. Crist, 1914.

JAMES WILLIAM BATTERTON There is no class of men of whom the biographer
likes to write about more than the old soldier or the pioneer and when he finds a subject
who is both he feels that he cannot say too much of such a character, for it took bravery,
fortitude, and many of the best elements that go to make a man to induce the youth to
leave the old home and go to the seat of conflict and risk his life for his country's sake.
Indeed, it took but little less courage for him to brave the wilderness, where lurked many
an unseen foe and still more obstacles and hardships awaiting to be subdued before his
humble home could rise and he could get established in a way that would insure his
happiness and freedom from want through the years to come. It is doubtful if the young
men of today, we of the second generation at least, would leave the pleasures of advanced
civilization and go out to fight Indians, kill the snakes, cut down the giant forest trees,
drain the swamps and do a thousand and one things that this worthy band had to do.

Mr. Batterton was born June 11, 1832, near Richmond, Madison county, Kentucky. He is
a son of Gabriel and Mary (Karr) Batterton, both natives of the Blue Grass state also, the
date of the father's birth being March 4, 1803, and that of the mother, March 2, 1808.
They grew to maturity in their native locality and there were married, and continued to
reside until 1832, when they removed with our subject, then an infant, to Shelby county,
Indiana, arriving there on October 10th. There the parents established their home in the
wilderness, cleared and developed a farm and endured the hardships incident to pioneer
life, and there they remained until 1848 when they removed to Tipton county, where they
spent the rest of their lives on a farm, the death of the father occurring about 1873 and the
mother passed away about three years later. They were the parents of five children, only
one of whom, James W., of this sketch, who was the third in order of birth is still living;
the two eldest children were Mrs. Elizabeth Fisher and Jeremiah; and the two youngest
were Martha and Priscilla.

James W. Batterton grew to manhood amid pioneer environments and he worked hard
when a boy assisting his father with the general work of clearing and raising crops. He
received a meager education in the old time log school house in his neighborhood in
Shelby county. On July 28, 1862, he enlisted in Company B, Seventy-fifth Indiana
Volunteer Infantry, under Captain Montgomery. He first went to Indianapolis, thence to
Louisville, and he later saw much hard service, including the great battles of
Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain and those of the memorable
Atlanta campaign. He was in the Fourteenth Army Corps under General George M.
Thomas, later was with Sherman in his march to the sea. His left arm was badly injured
by a cannon ball, and he was sent to the hospital at Nashville, Tennessee, where his wife
came and nursed him and saved his life. After his release from the hospital he was unfit
for further service and was honorably discharged, May 21, 1865. He proved to be a
faithful and gallant soldier, according to his comrades.

After his military career Mr. Batterton located in Clinton county, Indiana and turned his
attention to farming, where he remained until his removal to Owen county, where he
engaged in the mercantile business until 1882, when he came to Boone county, locating
in Lebanon on the lot where he still resides, the said lot being sixty-two by one hundred
and twenty-three feet, and on it now stands two good houses, one of which is kept rented,
the other cozy and well kept dwelling is the home of our subject. After locating in this
city he turned his attention to carpentering, which he followed for many years, becoming
a very skilled workman, but he is now living retired.

Mr. Batterton was married June 14, 1853, to Lucinda Cooper, in Tipton county. He was
born June 9, 1834, in Rush county, Indiana, and is a daughter of John and Jane (King)
Cooper. She grew to womanhood in her native community and received a common
school education.

Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Batterton, namely: Jeremiah, born April 16,
1854; Mary J., born November 25, 1855; Emma A., born August 29, 1858, is deceased,
Charles S., born January 23, 1861, is deceased; and Jessie M., born February 4, 1871.

Politically, Mr. Batterton is a Progressive. He belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic
post at Lebanon, and fraternally is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Religiously, he belongs to the Baptist church, in which he has been a deacon for forty
years, and he assisted in building the new church edifice in Lebanon, in fact, has long
been one of the pillars in this church.

BATTERTON COOPER FISHER KARR KING MONTGOMERY SHERMAN
THOMAS

Submitted by Amy K Davis