CALEB PETTY, an old and highly esteemed pioneer of Miami County, is a native of Surrey County, North Carolina. His parents, William and Mary (Cogshell) Petty, were both natives of the same State. William Petty was a son of Zachariah and Nancy Petty, who were among the early pioneers of Surrey County, North Carolina. They were the parents of twelve children, of whom 6 were sons, viz: Daniel, Josiah, Williams, Dotson, Elisha, Elijah and William, the father of our subject. William Petty was born in Surry County, North Carolina, May 11, 1787. He was married October 8, 1812, to the above Mary Cogshell, who was born in North Carolina, March 21, 1792, and was a daughter of Peter and Mary Cogshell. In 1825, William and Mary Petty moved to Wayne County, Indiana, and from thence, to Miami County, Indiana, in 1837, where they resided until their deaths, which occurred as follows: The mother, September 25, 1869, and the father, February 3, 1872. They were the parents of thirteen children, viz: Daniel, born August 3, 1813; Caleb, born August 25, 1814: Zacariah, born January 5, 1816: William A., born August 4 18i7;Mary A., born June 22, 1819; Nancy C., born October 9, 1821; Milly M., born May 20, 1823; Thomas S.. born March 25, 1825;Jonathan E., born April 28, 1827: Aaron N:, born March 3, 1829: Rachel, born March 16,1831; Zeno, born July 13, 1833, and Eliza J., born March 23, 1837. Caleb Petty came with his parents to Wayne County, Indiana, in the fall of 1836, and later, to Miami County, where he has since resided. He was married in Richland Township, March 18, 1847, to Matilda, daughter of George and Elizabeth (Basset) Swisher. She was born in Ripley County, Indiana, August 10, 1823. Immediately after Mr. Petty's marriage, he settled upon his present farm, in Richland Township, Section 29. He owns 160 acres of fine and well-improved land. He has had born to him ten children, viz: Samantha J., born June 30, 1849; George W., born October 7,1850: Francis M., born April 17, 1853, and died February 24, 1861; Mary E., born February 7, 1855, and died February 21, 1861; Eliza A., born September 23, 1857, and died February 21, 1861: Malinda A., born February 25, 1860; Phebe L., born November 23, 1863; Margaret, F., born December 22, 1865, and died February 1, 1867; Dora B., born December 12, 1867, and died October 4, 1883, and an infant daughter, the eldest member of the family, which died young and not named. Mr. Petty and wife are members of the Baptist Church.
(History of Miami County, Indiana: From the earliest time to the present ... By Brant & Fuller, Chicago. Contributed by Barb Z.)

PURYEAR, Richard Clauselle, a Representative from North Carolina; born in Mecklenburg County, Va., February 9, 1801; moved with his parents to Surry County, N.C.; pursued classical studies; engaged in planting near Huntsville, N.C.; colonel of militia; magistrate of Surry County; served in the state house of commons in 1838, 1844, 1846, and in 1852; member of the state senate; elected as a Whig to the Thirty-third Congress and reelected as an American Party candidate to the Thirty-fourth Congress (March 4, 1853-March 3, 1857); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1856 to the Thirty-fifth Congress; was a delegate to the Confederate Provisional Congress which assembled at Richmond in 1861; delegate to the peace congress held in Philadelphia after the Civil War; resumed agricultural pursuits; died on his plantation, “Shallow Ford,” in Yadkin County, N.C., July 30, 1867; interment in the family burial ground.
(Source: Biographical Directory of the United States 1774-present.)