He was in the 5th Regiment of the Indiana Calvalry (90th Regiment, Indiana Volunteers) in the Civil War.
Samuel T. Foudray, an enterprising and progressive farmer of Jefferson Township, Pulaski County, who was born in Fleming County, Kentucky, near Hillsboro, May 31, 1844, his parents being Sacheverell and Ellen (Hamlet) Foudray. The father was of French lineage and lost his own father during his infancy. During early manhood he [Sacheverell] was married to Ellen Hamlet, in Fleming County, Kentucky, and there made his home until 1853, when he removed to Fulton County, Indiana, settling on a farm, which he made his home until he went to Bloomingsburg, Indiana, where he engaged in merchandising, being also Postmaster of that town for fourteen years. He also served as Justice of the Peace and was Assessor of the township. In his political views he was a Democrat, and in religious faith a Universalist. His life was upright and honorable, and at all times he merited and enjoyed the confidence of his fellowmen. He died in 1882, at the age of seventy-five years. His children were Betty Ann, John H., Hannah, Josephine, James V., Susan, Samuel T. and Butler. Three of the sons, John, James and Samuel, were loyal defenders of the Union in the war of the Rebellion. John was a drummer in the Sixteenth Kentucky Infantry and participated in the Battle of Atlanta, and James was in the Fifth Indiana Cavalry.
Samuel T. Foudray was a youth of nine summers when he came with his parents to Indiana [in 1853]. He obtained his education in the common schools, and was reared on the home farm, aiding in clearing the land and transforming it into rich fields. He also worked in a sawmill to a limited extent, but during the Civil War he put aside all personal considerations, enlisting June 15, 1862, at Rochester, Indiana, and being mustered in September 6, at Indianapolis, as a member of Company I, Ninetieth Indiana Infantry or Fifth Cavalry. He was mustered out at Pulaski, Tennessee, June 15, 1865, and was honorably discharge in Indianapolis. He participated in the chase after General John Morgan, following him from Cumberland, Kentucky, to Buffington Island, Ohio, where his regiment captured thirteen hundred Confederate prisoners. Mr. Foudray was also in the battle of Knoxville, Tennessee, and in the famous Atlanta Campaign was under fire for seventy-two days. He took part in the engagements at Atlanta, Kenesaw Mountain, Lovejoy Station, Rome, Burnt Hickory and many skirmishes, and went on General Stoneman's famous raid. After the battle of Macon he was captured, at Sunshine Church, by the forces of General Joseph Wheeler, and was taken to Andersonville, where he was confined for five months and twenty days, suffering all the hardships of prison life. He was captured July 28, 1864, placed in Andersonville about the 1st of August [1864], and paroled December 20, 1864. At the time of his capture he was a strong young man, weighing less than one hundred and twenty pounds, but he was even then much more fortunate than many of his comrades, for he was never ill during that time, his reduced weight being occasioned by the lack of nutritious food. He was forced to live on corn bread made form meal oftentimes unfit for human food, and once or twice a week a small portion of bacon or a little corn or rice were added to the bill of fare. Mr. Foudray was also robbed by the Confederates of all of his clothing, being allowed to retain only a pair of trousers, a cotton shirt and an old hat. His boots being taken from him, he was forced to go barefooted throughout his prison life. He had no cooking utensils, save an old tin cup, in which he prepared his entire meal, and at the close of the war he returned home with the cup as a relic of his army life. The drinking water was obtained from a creek that ran through the stockade, and was very much polluted; but on one occasion, after a terrible thunderstorm, it was found that a spring had forced its way through the ground, and form that time on it yielded an inexhaustible supply of fresh, pure water, which was a godsend to the poor soldier boys in that hot summer, when the unclean water was spreading disease throughout their ranks. After being taken from Andersonville, Mr. Foudray was transferred to Florence, where he found prison life by no means improved, and in some conditions even worse than at Andersonville. The horror of the situation was often too terrible for description. When paroled he was taken to Annapolis, Maryland, where he remained for a few days, when he was granted a furlough and returned home, remaining until April 2, 1865, when he rejoined his regiment at Pulaski, Tennessee, where he served until the cessation of hostilities. He was never ill or wounded, but as always found at his post of duty, cheerfully and loyally defending the old flag and the cause it represented.
When the war was over Mr. Foudray resumed farming in Indiana, and also engaged in the manufacture of lumber at various places. He was married in Fulton County, Indiana, April 18, 1875, to Clarissa J. Miller, who was born February 28, 1855, in Palestine, Kosciusko County, Indiana, a daughter of Jacob and Mary A. (Windbigler) Miller. In early life her father was a druggist, but later became a farmer. He was a representative of one of the old Pennsylvania Dutch families, and in Palestine, Indiana, he [Jacob] wedded Mary A. Brockey, a widow, and the daughter of John and Polly (Borchter) Windbigler. Her father was a prominent farmer and owned three hundred acres of land near Rensselaer, Indiana, at the time of his death. Jacob Miller, the father of Mrs. Foudray, was a farmer of Kosciusko County, and died there at the age of fifty years. His children were Susannah and Mary Ann, twins, the former now deceased; and Clarissa J. Miller. Mrs. Miller was three times married, her first union being with Jonas Brockey, by whom she had five children: Levina, Fiana, Nathaniel, Elizabeth and Mariette. Her third husband was Charles Osburn, by whom she had a son, Jeremiah. Mr. and Mrs. Foudray have but one child, Bertha, who was born in Fulton County, Indiana, September 3, 1885.
After their marriage [in 1875], Mr. and Mrs. Foudray located in Fulton County, Indiana, where he engaged in sawmill work. He purchased and operated a sawmill and carried on the lumber business, both in Rochester and Medaryville, his connection with that enterprise continuing for twelve years. He purchased timberland in Fulton County, and used the forest trees in his mill, his business returning to him a good income. In 1893 he purchased one hundred and twelve acres of wild and very wetland, and at once began the development of a farm. He has drained the place, has erected excellent buildings, planted a fine orchard and small fruits, and now has one of the most highly cultivated and desirable farm properties in the [Pulaski] county. It is marvelous what he has accomplished within six years [1899], and his farm may well be regarded as a monument to his enterprise, thrift and business ability.
Mr. and Mrs. Foudray are most highly esteemed residents of the community, and are consistent members and active workers in the Church of God. In his political connections he is a Republican, and served as Constable in Newcastle Township, Fulton County. He formerly belonged to Bloomingsburg Lodge, I.O.O.F., and served as its recording secretary. He is a self-made man, owing his prosperity entirely to his own efforts. He is most reliable and trustworthy in all trade transactions, is accounted one of the substantial citizens of the community, and well merits the respect in which he is uniformly held.
1 Samuel T. Foudray's widow, Clarisa J. Foundray, apparently then living in Tennessee, filed for a pension as a result of his service in the Civil War.
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