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HISTORY OF

MIAMI COUNTY

INDIANA

A Narrative Account of Its Historical Progress, Its People
and Its Principal Interests

Edited by
MR. ARTHUR L. BODURTHA

ADVISORY EDITORS

Mr. H. p. Loveland
Mr. James W. Hurst
Hon. Chas. A. Cole
Mr. Alfred E. Zeiirixg

VOLUME I

ILLUSTRATED

THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY

CHICAGO AND NEW YORK
1914

THE KE'Af YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY

^, LENOX AND
N rOUNDATlONE
1319 L

PREFACE

Eighty years liave passed since Miami county was organized under
the provisions of an a^t of the Indiana legislature. To note accurately
and make a record of the principal events of those eighty years is the
purpose of this work. Although this history ni;iy luit iill the proverbial
•'long felt want,"' the editor and publisluMs desire to state that no
effort has been spared to make it both authentic and comprehensive.

The division of the subject matter into topics and the arrangement

of chapters is, we believe, the best that could be made and will prove

of great convenience to the reader. The chapter on the City of Peru

was written under the immediate supervision of Hon. Charles A. Cole, i

whose long residence in the city and close identification with municipal

.,^, ati'airs render him peculiarly qualified for tlie task. In the preparation

' of the chapter on the Bench and Bar acknowledgement is due to li. P.

<X Loveland, Nott X. Antim, W. B. McClintic and E. P. Kling. who

N furnished valuable information relating to the courts, the Bar Associa-

Nf tion, etc.

■^ Acknowledgement is also due to Drs. J. O. Ward, E. H. Andrews,

v:} M. A. McDowell and C. J. Helm for their assistance in the preparation

of the chapters on Medical Profession and Cliarities: to Omer Ilolman,

of the Pern Rej)ul)lican ; Alfred E. Zeliring, of Uennett's Switch;

James W. Hurst, of Maey; Hal C. Phelps, prosecuting attorney; Frank

M. Stutesman, Henry Meinhardt, and the various county officials and

their deputies, all of whom rendered assistance in the collection of

information, and to Lou Baer for a number of photographs to be

used as illustrations.

The editor and his assistants desire to e.x|)ress their thanks and
obligations to Miss Gertrude II. Thiebaud, lil)rai'iMn of tlie Pern public
library, and her assistants, Miss Vivian K'eaiii aiid .Miss .Vda YorU,
for their uinform courtesies while this work was in c<ini-se of prepai'ation.
As far as it was i)ossible to do so, information has been taken from
official sources. The works consulted in tlie compilation of the liistory
include the foJIowinir:

Official Pi(^/it«<«o«.s'— Reports of the I'nited States Bureau of
Ethnology; United States Census Reports and liidletins; Reports of

■.-:;»

iv PREFACE

the Commissioner of Indian Affairs; Reports of the United States
Department of Agriculture ; Reports of the Indiana State Geologist, the
Bureau of Statistics, the Bureau of Inspection and the Railroad Com-
mission; the Adjutant-General's reports; Session Laws of Indiana, and
the pubUc records of Miami county and the city of Peru.

Miscellaneous Works — Graham's, Brant & Fuller's and Stephens'
Histories of Miami county; Meginnis' "Life of Frances Slocum"; Dil-
lon's W. H. Smith's and Dunn's Histories of Indiana; Levering's "His-
toric Indiana"; Cockrum's "Pioneer History of Indiana"; 0. H.
Smith's "Early Reminiscences of Indiana"; Benton's "The Wabash
Trade Route in the Development of the Old Northwest"; Cox's "Recol-
lections of the Early Settlement of the Wabash Valley"; Dunn's "True
Indian Stories"; English's "Conquest of the Northwest"; Grand Lodge
reports of various fraternal societies, and the files of the Miami county
newspapers.

Abthub L. Bodubtha.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I
PHYSICAL FEATURES, GEOLOGY, ETC.

Miami County — Location and Boundaries — Lines op Survey — Rivers
AND Creeks — Underlying Rocks op the Upper Silurian and
Devonian Periods — Quarries and Lime-kilns — Along the Missis-
siNEWA — Bog Iron Ore — The Glacial Epoch — The Wabash River
— Moraines — The Gl.vcial Dript — Economic Geology — Clays —
Sand — Gravel — Natural Gas and Oil — Primitive Forests and
Their Destruction 1

CHAPTER II
ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS

The j\Iound Builders — Theories Regarding Their Antiquity —
Thomas' Division op the United States into Districts — Char-
acteristics OF Each District— Few Relics in Miami County —
The Indians — How Distributed in 1492 — The "Six Nations" —
The Miami Tribe — Habits and Customs — Their Domain — Vil-
lages IN the Wabash Valley — The Pottawatomi — Character and
Traditioxs^Villages — Policies in Dealing with the Indians. .15

CHAPTER TIT
INDIAN CHIEFS AND TREATIES

Early Miami Chieps — Little Turtle — John B. Richardville — Legend
OF How he Became Chief — His Characteristics — Tribal Organi-
zation — War Chief.s — Shepoconah — Francis Godpeoy — How he
WAS Chosen War Chief — His Family — His Death and Will —
Gabriel Godfroy — Pottawatomi Chiefs — Treaties with the Pot-
tawatomi — Treaties with the Miamis — Full Text of the Great

vi CONTENTS

Treaty op 1838 — Schedule of Indian Land Grants — Treaty of
1840— The White Man in Possession 28

CHAPTER IV

THE STORY OP FRANCES SLOCUM

Her Capture by Indians in Her Childhood — The Long Search for the
Lost Sister — Her Life Among the Indians — Discovered in Her
Old Age by Colonel Bwing — Correspondence Between Colonel
EwiNG and Her Family — Visited by Two Brothers and a Sister —
Refuses to Return to Civilization — Her Death — The Slocum
Monument 52

CHAPTER V

THE PERIOD OF PREPARATION

Early Explorations in the New World — French Posts in the
Interior — Spanish Claims — Conflicting Interests of France and
England — French and Indian War — Indiana Part of the British
Possessions — Pontiac — George Rogers Clark's Conquest of the
Northwest — Indiana a Part op Virginia — The Northwest Terri-
tory — Campaigns of Harmar, St. Clair and Wayne — Treaty of
Greenville — Indiana Territory Organized — Treaties op Ces^on —
Tecumseh and the Prophet — Battle op Tippecanoe — Wab op 1812
— Battle op the Mississinewa — Battle Ground Association —
Indiana Admitted as a State — Location of the Seat of Govern-
ment 67

CHAPTER VI

SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION

Early Explorers and Missionaries — Indian Traders— John McGre-
gor — First Actu.al Settlers — The Ewings — Pioneer Life and
Customs — Amusements of the Early Settlers — A Bear Story —
Legislation Concerning Miami County — Organized in 1834 — First
County Officers — Location of the County Seat — First Jurors —
First County Election — Courthouses and Jail Buildings. .. .80

CHAPTER VII

TOWNSHIP HISTORY

Formation of the First Two Civn^ Townships — Now Fourteen in
THE County — Allen — Butler — Clay — Deer Creek — Erie — Harri-

CONTENTS vii

SON — Jackson — Pioneer Settlers in Each — First liiiiTiis, Mar-
riages AND Deaths — Mills and Other Early Industries — Schools
— Early Relioioi's Services — Towns and Villages — Railroads —
Miscellaneous Events 109

CHAPTER VIII

TOWNSHIP HISTORY— Continued

Jefferson Township One of the First to be Settled — -Perry — Peru —
. Pipe Creek — An Indian Village — Richland — Union — Washing-
ton — Location, Boundaries and Physical Characteristics of
Each — Pioneer Settlers — Early Births, Marriages and Deaths —
Primitive Industries — First Religious Meetings — Pioneer Schools
and Teachers — Towns and Villages — Transportation — Miscella-
neous Events — The Pioneer's Place in History 132

CHAPTER IX

THE CITY OF PERU

The Holman Purchase — Miamisport — Early Settlers — Sketches of
A Few Pioneers — Peru Laid Out — Secures the County Seat —
Early Prominent Citizens — First Incorporation of the Town —
First Officers and Ordinances — The "Red Ladders" — Incorpo-
rated BY Special Act op the Legislature in 1848 — Hog or No Hog
— Additions to Peru — Fiee Department — Water Works — Gas
Works — Electric Light Plant — Commercial Club — City Park —
Public Improvements — Postoffice — Municipal Finances — List op
Mayors — Miscellaneous 153

CIIAPTKK X

TOWNS AND VILLAGES

List of Towns that Are or Have Been in Miami County' — When-
Founded AND By Whom — The Pioneer Settlers — Early Indus-
tries and Business Enterprises — Schools and Churches — Wht
Some Towns Perished — JIiscellaneous Events — Population in
1910 — List Of Present Postoffices 179

CHAPTER XI

MILITARY HISTORY

Early Militia System — The Peru Blues — The Chipanue War — Wab
With Mexico — The Civil War — Miami County Prompt to Respond

viii CONTENTS

— Thirteenth Regiment — Other Regiments in which ]\Iia.mi
County was Represented — Fourteenth Battery — :\IiscELi,ANE-
ous Enlistments — The Indiana Legion — The Roll of Honor —
Relief Work at Home — Spanish- American War 204

CHAPTER XII

INTERNAL niPROVEMENTS

First Highways — The Old Strawtown Road — Rivers as Thorough-
fares — Wabash & Erie Canal — Intern.vl Improvement Act of
1836 — CoLL^tPSE OF the State System of Improvements — Bene-
fits Resulting from the Canal — Its Final End — Steamboat
Navigation of the Wabash — The Railroad Era — Lake Erie &
Western — The Wabash — Pan Handle — The Eel River Railroad
— Peru & Detroit — Chicago, Indiana & Eastern — Chesapeake
& Ohio — Electric Line — Miami County's System of Drainage 241

CHAPTER XIII

FINANCE AND INDUSTRY

Public Finances — Bonded Debt of the County — Banks — Trust
Companies — Agriculture — Statistics Relating to Crops and Live
Stock — Manufacturing — Character of the First Factories —
Peru as a Manufacturing Center — Natural Gas Era — Its Influ-
ence ON Industry — Oakdale — Report of Bureau op Inspection—
— The Oil Field — Outside Industries — Factories in Other
Towns 267

CHAPTER XIV
EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

First Schools in Indiana — Congressional School Fund — State
Endowment Fund — Pioneer School Houses — Character of the
Early Teachers — The Three R's — County Seminaries — Peru
Collegiate Institute — William Smith 's School — Denver College
— First High School in Peru — Present High School — Value of
School Property in the County — Vocational Education — County
Superintendents • — Distribution of School Funds — Parochial
Schools — The Press — Brief Histories op the Various Newspapers
— John A. Graham — Early Library Projects — Peru Public
Library — School Libraries 291

CONTENTS IX

CHAPTER XV

THE BENCH AND THE BAR

Purpose of the Courts — Eighth Judicial District — First Courts
IN Miami County — Character of the Early Judges — The Court-
House Fire of 1843— Wabash Bridge Case — Personal Mention
OF Judges — Seal of the Circuit Court — Change in Courts by the
Constitution of 1852 — Probate Court — Court of Common Pleas
— Court of Conciliation — List op Judges and Prosecuting
Attorneys — The Bar — Sketches of Old Time Lawyers — Bar
Association — Attorneys in 1914 — A Few Cases 310

CHAPTER XVI
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION

Early Conditions in the Wabash Valley — Work and Fees of the
Frontier Doctor — ^Ialaria — Character of the Pioneer Physician
— His Remedies — His Social Standing — Balzac's Tribute to the
Country Doctor — Brief Sketches of Early Practitioners — List
OF Old Time Doctors — Miami County' IMedical Society — Medical
Registration Law — Licensed Physicians in Miami County... 831

CHAPTER XVII

CHURCH HISTORY

Fin>T .\I issionaries — The Catholics — Methodists — Presbyterians —
]5ai'Tists — German Baptists or Dunkards — Christians or Dis-
ciples — New Lights — United Brethren — Friends or Quakers —
Episcopal Church — Lutherans — Congregationalists — Seventh
Day Adventists — The Church of God — Universalists — Brief
Histories of the Various Congregations and Theik Houses of
Worship 344

CHAPTER XVIII

CHARITIES AND CEMETERIES

Overseers of the Poor in Early Days — -Custom of Farming Out
Paupers — Its Disadvantages — Miami County's First Poor House
— Present County Asylum — Old Folks' and Orphan Children's
Home — Dukes iMbmorial Hospital — Wabash Railway Hospital

X CONTENTS

— Country Graveyards by Townships — Odd Fellows' Cemetery
AT Macy — Mount Hope Cemetery at Peru 370

CHAPTER XIX

MISCELLANEOUS HISTORY

First Flag in JIiami County — Lawlessness — A Vigilance Committee
— Petition to President Polk — Early Prices and "Wages — The
Stranger's CtRavb — Trading Wives — Queer Real Estate — Some
Prominent People — Political Meetings — Temperance — Disas-
trous Fires — A Stormy Summer — Historic Floods 3S3

CHAPTER XX

SOCIETIES AND FRATERNITIES

Agricultural Societies and Fair Associations — Social and Literary
Clubs — Miscellaneous Societies — Detective Association — Amboy
Civic and Industrial Club — -Masonic Fraternity — Independent
Order op Odd Fellows — Knights of Pythias — Grand Army of
the Republic — Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks — Im-
proved Order op Red Men — Otheb Fraternal Orders — CatSolic
Societies — Daughters of the Revollttion — Young Men's Chris-
tian Association .- 409

CHAPTER XXI

STATISTICAL REVIEW

Increase in Population and We^vlth — Chronology — Events Le.\d-
ing up to the Organization of and Connected with the History'
of the County — Official Roster — A Complete List of County
Officers from 1834 to 1914 429

INDEX

Aaron, Jacob, 7'-iii

Aaron X. Dukes Memorial Hospital. 374

Aboriginal inhabitants, 15

Agrii'iiltiire, 272

Af;ricultural societies ami fair ass(icia
tions, 409

Alspacli, Abner J., 697

Altnian, Snnford 10., 459

Allen Township, location, 110; area, 110;
first actual white settler, 110; first
entry of land, 111; organized. 111;
first white child born, 112; first school
in, 112; schools, 112; earliest indus-
tries, 112; first churches, 112; ceme-
teries, 376

Aniboy, ISO

Amboy Bank, 271

Amboy Gas and Oil Company, 2S0

Ancient Order of Hibernians, 420 ^

Andrews, Claude Y., 50;i

Andrews, Ellis H., 524

An extraordinary "swap," 391

Anson, ISl

Area of the county, 1

Arniitagc, .John t', 582

Associate .iudges, 320, 323

Atkinson, Hattie I., 751

Atkinson, Orie C, 751

Augur, William 11., .522

Bailey, Walter C, 549

Bair, George, 591

Bair, .lames S., 591

Baker, Lewis, 49S

Baldwin, Charles P., 728

Baldwin. .John A., 724

Baldwin, Verne E., 720

Balsbaugh, Walter, 681

Banking institutions, 268

Bappert, Michael, 489

Baptists, 355

Battleground Memorial Association, 84

Battle of the Mississinewa, 82

Battle of Tippecanoe, 81

Bar Association, 328

Bargerhnflf, Benjiimin F., 777

Barnhisel, Noah B., 694

Barron. John C, 742

Bear storv, 95

Bearss, A'lbert C, 512

Bearss, D.aniel R., 158, 511

Bearss, Frank W., 519

Bench and bar, 310

Benevolent and Protective Order of lOlks,

424
Bennett 's Switch, 181
Eerger, Aaron S., 788
Berger, Henry, 787
Betzner, Anna M. K.. 574
Bet7ner Brothers, 526
Betzner, Louis F., 526
Betzner, Louis, 72S
"Big Reserve," 121, 386
Binkerd, .James P.. 624
Birmingham, 181
Black. Charles H., 016
Blackburn, Daniel F., 723
Blair, James, 463
Blair, James J„ 802'
Blair, Lvdia M., 404
Bodurtha, Arthur L.. 104. 830
Bond Family. 651
Bond, Charles, 068
Bond, lona, 6.53
Bond, .Jesse, 667
Bond, Walter S., 653
Bonded delit of the county, 267
Boone, .John, 678
Boone. William G., 400
Booth. John, 800
Bouslog, Rawley H., 815
Bowlanil, T)avid A., 680
Bread line, showing work of the .Vsso-

eiated Charities at time of great flood

in March. 1913 (view), 373
Broadway in the sixties (view), 104
Brower, Isaiah C. 609
Brownell, 182
Brownell, Charles H.. 469
Hundy, Wni. F., 717
Munker Hill, 142, 182
Hunker Hill Light Guards, 238
Burke, Michael, 5S4
Husaco, 184
Musby, Thomas M., 784

XI

INDEX

Butlev Township, loi-atioii, 11."; pic-
turesque scenery, 114; first white man,
115; first settlers, 115; early indus-
tries. 116; first white child liorn in,
117; organized, 117; first school, 117;
schools, 117; railroads, 118; cemeteries,
377

Butler, Frank C, 555

Butt, Douglas M., 514

Butt, Elias, 472

Butt, Heury K., 692

Butt, Samuel W., 691

Canal era, 242

Capital, 85

Carl. Omer l'., 657

Carter, Charles, 718

Carter, Phineas B., 749

Cary, 184

Casper, Jacob, 619

Catholics, 344

Catholic societies, 426

Cemeteries, 376

Chamberlain, George R.. 506

Charities, 370

Charters, Charles M., 532

Charters. David, 531

Charters, Samuel M., 532

Charters. William J., 531

Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad, 118, 128,
131, 139, 151, 258

Chicago, Indiana & Kastern Railroad,
258"

Chili, 145, 184

' ' Chipanue War, ' ' 205

Christians or Disciples, 360

Christian Scientists, 369

Chronology, 430

Church history, 344

Church of God, 368

Church of the Brethren. 358

Circuit judges, 322

Citizens' Bank of Macy. 271

Citizens Gas and Pi].e Line ('iinii)an\,
280

Citi7ens' National Bank of Pern. 269

City of Peru, 153

City Park, 172

Civil War, 206

Clark, Eugene M., 634

Clark, Gen. George Rogers, 71

Clay Township, location, 118; last in the
county to be settled, 118; first white
man, 118; settlers, 118; first election,
119; early industries. 119; first school,
120; schools, 120; railroads, 120

Cleland, A. P., 740

"Cliffs," 114

Cole, Albert, 159, 774

Cole, Charles A., 827

Cole, James O., 775

Cole, Richard H.. 797

Concrete bridge over Wabash River, Peru

(view), 268
Condo, Daniel W., 559
Conflicting claims of English and French,

70
Congregationalists, 367
Congressional school fund. 292
Conn, Milo P., 658
Conner, Joseph R., 750
Conradt, Godlove, 487
Converse, 185
Cory, Charles E., 787
Costin, Jlichael P., 570
Coucher. James M., 690
Country doctor, 332
County line wedding, 130
County poor asylum, 370
County seat, 153
County seminaries, 294
County superintendents, 297
Courter, 188
Courthouse. 100
Courthouse fire, 313
Court of Common Pleas, 321
Courts, 310
Cox. Jabe?. T., 813
Craig, Jasper J., 693
Creeks, 2

Crop statistics, 273
Crouder, William F., 040
Crnme. Pliny M., 524
Cunningham, Jacob A., 622

•
Daughters of the Revolution, 427
Davis. John C 507
Davis, John H., 770
Davis, John W., 733
Davis, Wm. Edward, 767
Deedsville, 14S. 188
Deer Creek Township, location, 121;

earliest settlers, 121 ; early industries,

122; first school in, 123; schools, 123;

railroads, 123; first churches, 123;

cemeteries, 377
Denuith, William, 739
Denver, 188
Denver College, 296
DeWald, John L., 761
Dice, John H., 649
Dingman, Peter, 476
Disastrous fires, 395
Distribution of school funds, 297
Dnan, Alva, 721
Douglass, Milton, 808
Douglass, Seymour A., 809
Doyle, 189
Drainage, 2lil
Dukes. Aaron N., 494
Dukes, Elberf J., 495
Dunkards, 358
Dunn. Timotliy E., 578

INDEX

Eagle, Ilpiiry A., 566

Earliest niaiuifai'tories in Miami County,

275
Early atturneys, 324
Early explorers, 86

Early exiilorations in the New World, 67
Early militia system, 204
Early prices and wages, 389
Farly trailiers, 293
EdMcatioiial development, 291
Edwards, Kicliard A., 563
Eel River Ifoad, 257
ElliLger, R. P., 328
Eighth Infantry, 210
Eitliith jtidieial district, 311
Eighty seventh Infantry, 221
Eikenlierry. B. F., 544
Eikenlierry, George, 613
Fikenberry, Levi I., 613
Eikenlierry, William M., 804
Elp'trie lighting plant. 170
Electric lines, 261
Eleventh Infantrv, 210
Ellis, E. A., 707
Engel, Henry, 593
Episcopal Chtirch, 364
Erie Township, location, 123; smallest in

county, 123: area, 123; settlers, 124;

early industries, 125; churches, 125:

railroads. 125; schools, 125; cemeteries,

378
Estimated value of all the school property

in the county, 296
Everts, Gustavus, 311

Falk, .Fulius, 539
Falk, Mos.s, 538
Farmers' State Bank of Bunker Hill,

271
Farmers' Bank of Converse, 271
Farmers ' Bank of Denver, 272
Father liarlin, 344
Father Rivet. 291
Faust, Joseph A., 520
Fidler, .lohn H., 470
Fifth street looking east from Broadway,

boats landing on courthouse lawn

(view), 403
Fifty-first Infantry, 219
Finance and industry, 267
Fires, 395

Fire Department of Peru, 166
First county .iail, 106
First courts. 312

First election for county ofTicers, 100
First exclusive high school luiilding, 296
First flag in Miami County, 383
First gas well, 12

First great flood of Miami County, 399
First highways, 241
First .jurors, 99
First missionaries, 344
First National Bank of Peru, 268

Fiist physician in Miami County, 333

I'iist printing press in Miami County,
299

First railroad in the United States, 253

First regular school, 291

First session of the circuit court, 311

First settlers, 88

I'irst telejihone exchange, 279

First train to arrive at Peru, 259

Fisher Family, 599

Fisher, Frank, 590

Fisher, Henry, 600

Fisher, Isaac, G53

Fisher, Joseph, 597

Fisher, Otto L., 462

Fisher, Peter, 599

Fife, Charles F., 603

Five Corners. 190

Floods, 399

Florence, 190

Foote, Carter, 520

Foote, Charles, 520

Foote. Jesse, 520

Formation of the first two civil town-
ships, 109

' ' I'ort Wayne, ' ' 76

Fort Wayne & Northern Indiana Traction
Company, 139, 262

Fortieth Infantry, 218

Forty-sixth Infantry, 219

Founder of the City of Peru, 156

Fourteenth Battery, 232

Fraternal Order of Eagles, 425

Fraternities, 416

French and Indian War, 70

French claims, 67

Friends or Quakers, 363

Frontier doctor, 331

Fulwiler, James B., 159, 441

Fulwiler, Louis B., 442

Funeral oration over Francis Godfrey,
36

Gahs, Charles V., 771

Gallahan, Albert Q., 581

Gallahan, Schu.vler W., 820

Garritson, Margaret, 738

Garritson, Read S., 738

Gas works, 169

Geology of county, 3

German Baptists or Dunkards, 358

German Evangelical Association, 366

Germann, Gustave A., 454

Gerhart, Frederick, 713

Gilead, 138, 190

Ginney, Timothy M.. 669

Glassburn, Alfred, 704

Godfrov, Francis. 33, 36, 164

Godfro'y, Gabriel, 39

Godfroy, Gabriel (portrait), 39

Godfrov, Jacques. 33

Graft Familv. 614

Graft. Lerov. 615

Graham. John A., 299, 828

XIV

INDEX

Graham, Ira, 673

Grand Army of the Republic, 423

Grandview, 191

Graves, Clement, 778

Great flood of March, 1913, 401

Green, Burton, 748

Grimes. Harrison, 551

Grimes, Louise il., 552

Grimes, William. 551

Griswold, Edward H.. 548

Guendling, John H., 553

Gnstin, William H.. 6.S2

Gwinn, Elmer E., 581

Gysin, J. Frank. 490

Haag, Charles C, 776

Haas, Homer C, 547

Hacklev. Frederick S., 796

Hackle'y, Lavant E., 796

Hall, Clarence N., 544

Hall, Hal L., 812

Hall, Joseph, 803 _ _

Harmar, General, 76

Harris, Charles C, 760

jlarrison, Benton. 586

Harrison, Reuben C, 586

Harrison. General William H., 77

Harrison Township, location, 126; set-
tlers, 126; organized, 127; first
churches, 127; early industries, 127:
first school, 127; schools, 127; rail-
roads, 128; cemeteries, 378

Harter, Daniel, 523

Harter, Delliert D.. 523

Hattery, James E., 762

Helm, Charles J., 484

Helm, John H., 483

Henton, Dr. Benjamin, 333

Hensler, Moses D., 771

Herrell. Absalom, 765

Herrell, Beeeher, 641

Hiner, John, 479

Hiner, John M.. 479

Historic floods. 399

Hite. John C, 496

Hockman, Solomon, 644

Hoffman, Lorenzo. 792

Holman, Joseph, 153

Holman, Omer. 827

Holman Purchase, 153

Home Toleiihone Company, 282

Hood, John T., 596

Hood, Martha A., 597

Hood, William N., 156, 826

Hoover, Newton, 641

Hooversburg. 191

Horan, Michael, 445

"Hospital Hill," 375

Hostetler. Frank, 783

Howes. John Q. A., 659

Hughes. Charles R., 561

Hurst. Hurd J., 504

Hurst. James W., 826

hidings. Richanl S.. 665

Improved Order of Red Men, 425

Improvement and Park Association, 17"J

Increase in population, 429

Increase in wealth, 430

Independent Order of Foresters, 426

Independent Order of Odd Fellows, 419

Indians. 20

Indian chiefs. 28

Indian traders. 86

Indian treaties, 41

Indian villages, 23, 25

Indiana admitteil to Union, 85

"Indiana Ap]iian Way,"' 249

Indiana Legion. 234

Indiana Manufacturing Company, 277

Indiana medical registration law. 342

Indiana National Guard. 238

Indiana Union Traction Company. 139,
142

Indinnapolis, 85

Indianapolis Northern Traction Com-
pany, 262

Indianajiolis. Peru & Chicago Railroad,
255

Industries outside Peru. 288

Internal improvements, 241

Irwin, David, 580

Irwin. David & Co., 580

Isler, Frank F., 637

Itinerant Methodist ministers, 346

Jackson. Marshall. 656

Jackson Township, location, 128; area,
128; settlers. 129; organized, 129; first
election, 130; county line wedding,
130; churches. 130; schools, 131; rail-
roads, 131; cemeteries, 378

Jefl'erson Township, established. 132;
area, 132; location, 132; first to be
settled by white men, 132; settlers,
132; early industries. 133; first death,
134; first regular school house, 134;
schools. 134; railroads. 135; first
churches, 135; cemeteries, 378

Jenkins, Benjamin F., 677

Judges, 311

Kagv. Vites E., 535
Kalbfleisch, A. H.. 530
Kendall, Alvin, 805
Kepner. Amos A., 716
Kercher, Charles H., 683
Kessler, Ira A., 745
Keyes, Isaac, 568
Keves, Thomas, 568
Keyes, Thomas A.. 568
King. Daniel. 560
King. Noah W.. 810
Knauff, Henry, 760
Knights of Columbus. 426
Knights of the Maccabees. 426
Knights of Pythias, 422

INDEX

XV

KiHJX, .I(jlin. "Ill
Kottennaii, Tiuiiiaii, 759
Kraiis, Miltou, S13
KriMitzer, John J.. 446
Kurt?, Andrew J., 7.'il

Ladies of the Maccabees, 4l'()

La Fontaine, Francis, 32

Lake Krie & Westarn Railroad, 123,

135, 139, 142, 148, 254
Landrnin, Caswell 11., 710
Larimer. James, S06
Lavengood, Jacob S., 675
Lawyers, 323
Laving cornerstone of new courthouse,

iOo
Leedv, George E., 747
Leouda, 192
Lewis, Henry, 607
Licensed physicians of Miami County,

342
Litigation regarding new courthouse, 102
Little Turtle, 28, 78
List of county officers, 433
List of old-time doctors, 340
Liston, Dr. James T., 333
Live stock, 274
Location, 1

Location of seat of .iustice, 98
Lockridge, Brenton W., 583
T-ockridge, Earle B., 5S4
Lockwood, George Browning, 306
Long. Abigail, 567
Long, Charles M., 566
Long, Charles W., 606
Long, .lames A., 662
Long, Michael F., 485
Long, William H., 654
Loree, 192

Loveland, Ebenezer P.. 450
Loveland, Hood P., 452
Loveland, Tfobert J., 453
Loyal Order of Moose, 426
Lucas, William L., 676
Lutheran parochial school 298
Lutherans, 365
Lutz, William C, 763
Lynch, Otho R., 795

Macy, 113, 193

Macy Fair Association, 410

Macv, Oliver H. P., 129

Malott. Richard, 674

Malsbury, Laughlin O'N., 602

Jfanufacturing, 275

Manufacturing statistics of Peru, 2S4

Masonic Fraternity, 416

Maus Family, 612

Mans, .losiah, 613

Mayors of Peru, 177

McCaffrev, Hugh, 817

McCarthy, John S., 540

McCaitliV, Jud R., 504

Mi-Conuell, Clarke 11., 647

ilcCoimell Family, 647

McConnell, William E., 648

Mcllanicls, William, 807

MrKlhenv. Kranklin K., 468

McLirawsville, 12S, 192

McGregor, William A., 162

McKillip, David, 757

Meilical jirofession, 331

^lelcher. Solomon A., 577

Meiinonites, 35!)

Mercer, William S., 305

Methodists, 345

Mexico. 194

Mexico and Denver Railroad, 135

Miamis, 20

Miami, 195

Miami chiefs, 28

Miami Club, 415

Miami County Agricultural Association,

411
Miami County Agricultural Society, 409
Miami County Bank, 271
Miami County Bar Association, 328
Miami County Courthouse (view), 101
Miami County Driving Park and Agri-
cultural Society, 410
.Miami County Jail (view), 107
Miami County Medical Society, 341
"Miami County Sentinel." 299
Miami County Workingmen's Institute.

306
Mianiisport, 15.'i
Miller, Edward H., 493
Miller, Edward L., 819
Miller Family, 491
Miller, George C, 473
Miller, G. Lee. 486
:\riller, J, H., 536
Miller, James T., 491
Miller, John. 274
Miller, John C, 460
Miller, John L., 703
Miller, John W., 492
Miller, Joseph E., 595
Miller. Levi, .536
Miller, Philij), 605
Miller, Robert, 460
Miller, W. P., 822
Mills, Eugene. 742
Mills. Josejih S., 648
Militia companies, 238
Military history, 204
Minute men, 224
Mitchell, Elmer E., 576
Miscellaneous enlistments, 233
Miscellaneous facts regarding Peru, 177
Miscellaneous history, 383
Miscellaneous societies, 415
Missionaries, 86

Mississinewa battle ground as a nation.il
park, 83

XVl

INDEX

Mississinewa river, 2, 114
Model court houses, 106
Monday Xight Literary Club. 413
Mound Builders, 15
ilouuds of the United States, 17
Mowlray. William E., 328. 780
Muniaugh, Jesse, 645
Murden, George L., 589
!Murden. Jesse L., 589

iS'ash, Benoma. 517

Nash, Jessie F., 518

iSational Tile Company, 147

Natural gas era, 7, 145, 279

Natural gas of the county, 11

Nead. 196

Nelp. Louis, 515

Nelson, Susan, killing of, 317

Newell, Jay W., 682

New court house, 101

New jail, 106

New Light Christians, 243

New Lights, 361

Newman FamUy. 532

Newman, Medford Kyle, 533

Newman, Samuel Irvin, 601

Newspapers, 182

Niconza, 196

Ninth street bridge, Anderson, flood of
1913 (view), 331

Nineteenth Infantry, 291

Ninetieth Infantry^ 222

Ninety-ninth Infantry, 222

North Anderson Driving Park Associa-
tion. 262

North Broadway, Peru, March 25, 1913.
Elks home on the right. Masonic tem-
ple behind street car (view), 401

North Grove, 128, 197

Northwest Territory, 29

Northwest Territory divided. 30

Nyberg Automobile Works. 150

Oakdale, 166

Oakdale Improvement Compauv, 166, 283

Official roster, 433

Oil field, 285

Oil first struck, 286

Oldest banking house in Miami county,

268
Old court house (view), 104
' ' Old Folks ' and Orphan Children 's

Home," 372
Old Holman residence (view), 155
Old tow-path on the Wabash & Erie

Canal (view), 247
Old Sentinel office, southwest corner of

Main and Broadway, 1867 (view). 300
Old Settlers ' Afsociations, 411
"Old Squirrelly." 140
Old Strawtown road, 241
On the Eel River near Chili (view), 252

One Hundred Days' Men, 228

One Hundred and Ninth Infantry, 224

One Hundred and Twenty-seventh In-
fantry, 226

One hundred and Twenty-eighth In-
fantry, 227

One Hundred and Thirtieth Infantry,
228

One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Infantry,
228

One Hundred and Thirty-eighth In-
fantry, 228

One Hundred and Thirty-ninth Infantry,
229

One Hundred and Forty-second Infantry,
229

One Hundred and Fiftv-first Infantrv,
230

One Hundred and Fifty-fifth Infantry.
231

Order of the World, 426

Organization of county, 96

Other newspapers, 304

Overman. Thomas C, 709

Panhandle Railroad 120. 128, 131. 142,
256

Parent-Teacher Club, 414

Parkhurst, John W., 527

Passage. Dr. Henry V., 334

Pathfinders, 426

Patten, John C, 685

Patten. Lucinda, 685

Paw Paw, 197

Pennsylvania Lines, 256

People's Oil and Gas Company, 13

Peoria. 118, 198

Perry Township, location, 135; area, 135;
settler. 136; early births and deaths,
137; early industries, 138; first
churches, 138; first school house, 138;
schools, 138; railroads, 138; cemeteries,
379

Perrysburg, 198

Peru Township, location, 138; organized,
139; area, 139; railroads, 139; first
school, 139; schools, 139; cemeteries.
379

Peru, county seat, 153 ; early settlers,
154; founder of, 156; pioneers, 156:
laid out. 157; named, 160; first build-
ing on original plat, 160; incorporated
as a town, 160; first town election.
162; first mayor, 162; .early town
records, 162; incorporated as a city,
163; addition to, 164; fire depart-
ment. 166; first paid fire depart-
ment, 167; water works, 167; gas
works, 169; first electric lights. 170;
parks, 172; municipal im]>roven'ents,
173; postoffice, 174; finances, 175;
police force. 177; public school build-

INDEX

xvii

ings, 177; population, 177; mayors,
177; miscellaneous facts regarding.
177; first train to arrive in, 2n9;
banks, 268; first foundry in, 27o ;
manufactories, 275; railroad shops.
275; first telephone exchange. 279;
natural gas companies, 280; manufac-
turing statistics. 284; first oil wells.
28fi; schools, 295; newspapers, 299;
pul'lic library, .SOG; clubs, 412

Peru & Detroit Railroad, 257

Peru A: Iniliana|)olis Kailroad Company.
254

Peru Associated Charities, 372

Peru Basket Factory, 278

"Peru Blues." 204"

Peru Canning Company, 282

Pern Chatau<|ua Literary and Scientific
Circle, 412

Peru Choral I'nion. 415

Peru Collegiate Institute, 295

Peru Commercial Club, 171. 284

Peru Country Club. 414

Pern Daily Chronicle. SO.'?

Peru Drama League. 413

Peru Driving Park and Fair Associa-
tion, 410

Peru Evening Journal. .302

Peru Forester, 299

Peru Gazette, 299

Peru Gazette-Peru Democrat. 299

Peru Gravs, 238

Peru Herald, 299

Peru High School (view), 29M

Peru Light and Power Company, 17(1

Peru Literary Club, 413

Peru Lyceum", 306, 409

Pern Morning Journal, 303

Peru Mothers' Club. 414

Peru Musical Association, 415

Peru Natural Gas and Fuel Company, 12,
279

Peru Observer. 299

Peru Public Library (view), 307

Peru Ke.iding Club." 412

Peru Repubb.an, 302

Peru Trust Comnany, 269

Peru Woolen Mills. 275

Peru Y. M. C. A. (view), 428

Peters. John B., 753

Petition to the president, 386

Pettysville. 198

Phel'ps. Albert J., 695

Phelps. Caroline C. 701

Phelps. Frank C, 611

Phel|)s. George B.. 764

Phelps. Hal C, 5.34

Phelps, Thomas W., 701
I'hilapv, .lohn B., 576

Phillcliaum, William L.. 448

Philomathean Chautauqua Circle. 415

Physical features, 1

I'hysicians, 331

Pierceburg, 199

"Pillared Rocks," 4, 114

Pioneer amusements, 94

Pioneer life and customs. 89

Pioneer school house, 292

Pipe Creek Township, location, 139;

area, 139; first white settlers, 140;

early industries, 141 ; first churches,

141; first school, 141; schools, 142;

railroads, 142; cemeteries, 381
Place, Willard B.. (>m
Plotner. Harlen E., 663
Political meetings, 393
Pontiae, 70
Pontine 's war, 71
Population, 429
Po]nilation of Peru, 177
Portraits, Gabriel Godfrey, 40
PostoHice, Peru, 174
Postoflices in Miami county, 203
Pottawatoniis, 24
Presbyterians, 352
Press," the, 298
Probate court, 321
Progressive Brethren, 358
Prominent law cases, 329
Prosecuting attorneys, 323
I'ublie buildings, 100
Public finances, 267
Public libraries, 306
Puterbaugh, Eli, 573
Puterbaugh, Moses, 573

Queer real estate, 392
Quinn, Robert H., 734

Baber, Samuel, 587

Raber, Solomon D., 587

Railroad era, 253

Ramsey, Albion S., 655

Ray burn. James W., 769

Ream, Fdward B., 516

Ream. Fred S., 516

Reasoner, Ethan T., 818

Regular Array and Navy, 239

Report of the state bureau of inspection,
285

Resler, Joseph L., 768

Reyburn, William M., 823

Reynolds, George W., 466

Reynolds, Mary A., 466

Rhein, William L., 618

Rhodes. David E., 575

Rhodes. Thomas J., .594

Richardville. Jean Baptiste, 23, 29, 153

Richer, John, 628

Richer. Joseph, 629

Richland Township, location, 142; area,
142; first actual .settler, 143; settlers,
143; early industries, 143; first
churches, 144; first school house, 144;

XVIU

INDEX

schools, 145; railroads, 145; ceme-
teries, 381

Riiienour, David, 569

Kidenour David C, 570

Ridgeview, 199

Rivers, 1

River navigation, 242

Roberts, Frederick M., 661

Robins, Ezekiel V., 758

Roll of honor, 234

Rose, Henry, 670

Roval Arcanum, 426

Rimnells' mill, 122

Rutherford, Dr. C. F., 334

Runyan, Britton L., 478

Runyan, Richard B., 478

St. Charles Catholic school, 298
St. Clair, General Arthur, 76
Saudifur, Noah A., 699
Santa Fe, 118, 199

Scene on the Mississinewa (view), 114
Schedule of treaty grants, 47
Scheriuerhorn, Mrs. E. L., 63
See. Sylvanus, 744
Seidner, Alvin, 754
Seitner. Ira, 684
Seitner, Reuben, 684
Senger, Fred W., 554
Settlement, 86

Seventh Day Adventists, 367
Seventeenth Infantry, 212
Seventy-third Infantry, 220
Shanks, Stephen S., 311
Sharp, Charles, 706
Sharp, Samuel M., 704
She-po-con-ah, 33, 56
Shinn, Edward D., 627
Shirk Family, 541
Shirk, Elbert W., 543
Shirk, Joseph H., 543
Shively, LeRoy A., 818
Shirk, Milton, 542
Shrock, Joseph, 462
Shrock, Stella, 463
Simons, Charles E., 660
Simons, William, 660
Sims, William, 638
Sixteenth Infantry, 211
Sloeum, Frances, 52
Slocum monument, 65
Smith, George, 618
Smith, James H., 690
Smith, John W., 689
Smith, J. J., 708
Smith, Marshall, 702
Smith, Marshall, 821
Smith, S. S., 687
Snowberger, Levi, 756
Snow Hill, 199

Social and Literary Clubs, 412
Social organization of the Indian tribes,
32

Societies and fraternities, 409

Sollitt, Elmer A., 578

SoUitt, John B., 578

Sollitt, Raliih V., 578

Some prominent citizens, 392

Sommer, John H., 634

South Peru, 200

Spanish-American War, 235

Spanish claims, 68

Spaulding, Frank, 802

Speck, Julius T., 665

Spooner, Jared, 334, 535

Spooner, John P., 536

Springer, Eli J., 671

Sproal, SOas J., 698

Starkey, James E., 743

Statistical Review, 429

Steamboat navigation on the Wabash

250
Stevens, Carleton C, 517
Stevens, Jesse T., 517
Stineman, Peter C, 679
Stitt, David, 711
Stitt, Leonard G., 768
Stockdale, 200
Stock raising industry, 274
Stormy summer, 398
Story of Frances Slocum, 52
Stowman, Walter W., 528
Stranger 's grave, the, 390
Street Scene in Macy (view), 193
Stringtown, 201
Struble, Phillip, 466
Stutesnian, Frank M., 481
Stutesman, James M., 481
Sullivan, Florence, 790
Sullivan, Theodore J., 501
Sutton, Ebenezer H., 755
Sutton, Eddie B., 756
Sutton, William A., 623
Swafiford, John W., 616
"Swamp angelK," 149
Swigert, Joel, 621
Swindler, Jorden, 592

Table showing number of miles of pub

lie ditch in each township, 265
Tecuuiseh, 79
Temperance, 394
Teter, Jacob F., 715
The Swings, 88
Theobald, Jacob, 502
The Old Mexico Mill (view), 144
The Pillared Rocks (view), 5
The Prophet, 80

"The White Rose of Miami," 63
Thirteenth Infantry, 208
Thirty-fourth Infantry, 215
Thirty-ninth Infantry, 216
Tile drains, 266
Tillett, Joseph N., 443
"Tomahawk Right," 95
Tiimbaugh, George W., 696

INDEX

Tuiiiov, John, 45(i

Towns :iii(l villages, 179

Towns that aiv ami have lieen, 179

Tdwiisliip history, 109

Trading posts, 87

Treaties, 41

Treaty of Greenville. 77

Trilie of Ben Hur, 42(i

Trip]ieer, Benjamin, 598

Trip|ieer, Claude, ti20

Tudor, Averv P.. 779

Twelfth Infantry, 210

Twentieth Infantry, :;13

Twenty-ninth Infantry, 214

I'nger, .John F., 811

Union City, 201

Union Township, location, 145; area,
14.5; settlers, 146; early industries,
147; lirst election, 147; first churches,
148; first "school house, 14S; schools,
14.S; railroads. 148; cemeteries, 382

United Brethren. 362

U. 8. Postoffiee, Peru (view), 175

Union Traction Company, 151

Universalists. 368

Urliaria. 201

Value of taxable property, 430

Vaii.lalia Railroad, 145

Vandalia Kailroad System, 135

Views — The Pillared Rocks, 5; Miami
County Court House, 101; Old Court
House, 102; Miami County .Tail, 107;
Scene on the Mississinewa, 114; The
Old Mexico Mill, 144; Old Holman
Residence, 155; Broadway in the Six-
ties, 164; Water Works Pumping Sta-
tion, 168; U. S. Postoflice, Peru, 175;
Street Scene in ilacy, 193; Old Tow-
Path on the Wabash & Erie Canal,
247; On the Eel River Near Chili,
252; Concrete Bridge Over Wabash
River, Peru, 268; Peru High School,
293; Old Sentinel Otfice, Southwest
Corner of Main and Broadway, 1867,
300; Peru Public Library, 307"; Bread
Line, Showing Work of the Asso-
ciated Charities at Time of Great
Flood, March, 1913, 373; North
Broadway, Peru, March 25, 1913. Elks
Home on the Right. Masonic Temple
Behind Street Car. 401 ; Fifth Street
Looking East from Broadway, Boats
Landing on Court House Lawn, 403;
Peru Y. M. C. A., 428

Vigilance committee, 384

Vincennes, 69

Volpert, John W., 630

Wabash river, 1, 250

W.abash river bridge case. 314

Wabash River Traction Company, 261
Wabash Railway Rniplo.yes Hospital, 375
Wabash Railroad. 125, "l09, 256
Wabash & Kv\c Canal, 96, 247
Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railroad

Company, 256
Wabash \'alley Trust Company, 270
Wagoner, 201

Wagoner, William H., 511
Waisner, Albert M., 764
Waisner, Solomon, 737
Waite, Joseph II., 789
Wallace, Beniamin E., 785
Waltz, John 'C, 766
War of 1812, 81
War with Mexico, 205
Ward, Albert, 546
Ward, Beverly E., 772
Ward. Charles J., 571
Ward, Frank E., 686
Ward, Dr. J. O., 343
Ward, James O., 773
Washington Township, location, 148;

area, 148; settlers, 149; organized,

150; early churches, 150; schools, 150;

pioneer teachers, 150; early industries,

151; railroads, 151; cemeteries, 382
Waters, Frank, 643
Water works, 167

Water works pumping station (view), 168
Wauiiecong, 120, 202
Way, George L., 545
Wayne, Gen. Anthony, 76
Welch, Berne, 565
West, Elijah, 510
West. Harry E., 510
Wetherow, Edd B., 793
Wheatville, 202
Wilkinson, Jacob, 311
Will of Francis Godfroy, 36
William Smith's school, 295
Willson, Edward L., 732
Wilson, George F., 464
Wilson, John B., 475
Wininger, Michael B., 722
Winona Intenirban Railway, 138, 145,

263
Winona Tnterurban Railway Company,

139
Wolf, Levi B., 636
Wooleytown, 202

Xenia Gas and Oil Company, 12

Xenia Gas and Pipe Line Company, 280

Xenia Union Agricultural Society, 409

Yarian, Wilson, 714

Years, George M., 798

Younce, William W., 626

Young Men's Christian Association, 427

XX

INDEX

Z&rtman, Benjamin F., 610
Zartman, William F., 610
Zehring, Alfred E., 829
Zehring, Alonzo M., 646

Zehring, Benjamin F., 730
Zehring, Josiah, 741
Zimmerman, William H., 651
Zook, Aaron G., 824

History of Miami County

CHAPTER I

PHYSICAL FEATURES, GEOLOGY, ETC.

Miami County — Location and Boundaries — Lines of Survey — Rivers
AND Creeks — Underlying Rocks op the Upper Silurian and
Devonian Periods — Quarries and Lime-kilns — -Along the Missis-
sinewa — Bog Iron Ore — The Glacial Epoch — The Wabash River
— Moraines — The Glacial Drift — Economic Geology — Clay's —
Sand — Gravel — Natural Gas .and Oil — Primitive Forests and
Their Destruction.

Miami county is situated north and east of tlie center of the state.
It is bounded on the north by Pulton county; on the east by Wabash
and (irniit counties; on the soutli by Howard, and on the west by Cass
and l''ulton counties. The forty-lirst parallel of latitude crosses the
northein part, about two miles south of the northern boundary, and the
elKhty-sixth meridian of longitude lies four miles west of the eastern
bounihiry. The main l)ody of the county is in the form of a parallelo-
gram, twelve miles from east to west and thirty miles from north to
sontli. Measured by the lines of tlic official survey, the northern bound-
ary is the line separating Congi-essional townsliips 29 and 30, and the
soutliern boundary is the line separating townships 24 and 25. A strip
two miles wide along the western l)order of the county lies in range 3,
east, tlien comes all of range 4 and four miles of range 5, east. At the
soutlieast corner of this parallelogram lies the civil township of Jackson,
which extends four miles farther east than the main portion of the
county. The total area of the county is 384 square miles.

Flowing westward through the center of the county is the Wabash
river, wiiicli separates the townships of Erie and Peru on the north from
Butler, Wasliington and Pipe Creek on the south. Farther north is
the Eel river, which flows in a southwesterly direction across the county

1

2 HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY

throiigli the townships of Richland and Jefferson. The ]\Iississinewa
river crosses the eastern border about the middle of Butler township and
flows northwest, emptying into the Wabash a short distance above the
city of Peru. The first white people to locate along this river pro-
nounced the name " JIassissineway, " which it is said corresponded
closely to the Indian pronunciation. The Indian name is "'Na-mah-
chis-sin-wa, " and means "much fall in the water," which indicates in a
general way the character of the stream.

Big Pipe creek flows across the county in a northwesterly direction,
touching every township south of the Wabash river except Deer Creek,
and leaves the county in .section 11, township 26, range 3, where it
enters Cass county. Its principal tributaries are Nigger, Walnut, Honey
and Turkey creeks. The Nigger rises in Harrison township, near North
Grove, and empties into Pipe creek in the northeast corner of Clay
township. Walnut creek rises in section 21, in Harrison township, and
flows northward until it discharges its waters into Pipe creek near the
northeast corner of the same township. Honey creek is formed in the
southeastern part of Harrison township by the east and west forks, then
flows northward past Amboy and empties into Pipe creek in section 11,
Jackson township. Turkey creek flows northward through the eastern
part of Jackson township and finally empties into Pipe creek near the
eastern line of section 18, township 25, range 6, east.

Little Pipe creek has its source in Butler town-ship, about halfway
between Big Pipe creek and the ]\Iississinewa river. Its general course
is toward the northwest, through the townships of Butler and Wash-
ington, until it joins the Wabash river near the lower part of the city
of Peru.

Through the townships of Harrison, Clay and Deer Creek, in the
southwestern part of the county, Deer Creek flows in a westerly direction,
crossing the western boundary line into Ca.ss county three miles north of
the southwest corner of Miami. Farther south is South Deer creek, and
near the village of Miami the Middle Fork empties into the main stream.

North of the Wabash river the principal creeks are Flowers, Weesau
(also written Wesaw), and Washoni's. The Big and Little Weesau
creeks drain a large part of Union township and unite near the north-
west corner of the old Weesau reservation, whence the main stream
flows southward until it empties into the Eel river a little below the
town of Denver. Flowers and Washoni's creeks both empty into the
Eel river near Chili, the former just above and the latter immediately
below the town. These streams, with a number of smaller ones, provide
a natural system of drainage, which has been supplemented by a number

HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY 3

of ditches, so tluit practically all the land iu iliaiui county lias thus
been brought under cultivation and the soil rendered more productive.

In geoldgical formation, Miami county belongs to the Upper Silurian
era, with traces of the Devonian in the western part. The former is
represented by the Waterlime and Niagara groups and the latter by
from thirty to thirty-tive feet of Coi'uifurous limestones. The surface
of the county consists almost entirely of glacial depo.sits — clay, sand and
gravel — varying in depth from a few feet to 300 feet or more, and the
few rock exposures are at points where the glacial drift has been washed
away by the action of the streams. In 1872, E. T. Cox, then state
geologist, made a report upon the rocks of Miami county, in which he
says:

"The rocks which were seen, and probably all the rock exposures
of the county, are of upper Silurian age and seem to be equivalent to
the silico-magnesia limestone mentioned in the description of Cass
county, and the overlying limestones; the first mentioned beds much
more argillaceous than in Cass couutj- — in some places becoming a
magnesia argillite. ... The highest seam exposed is a limestone
eiiuivalcnt to tile rock band at Delphi, in Carroll county. A light brown
colored magnesian limestone, which, from false bedding, is often seen
with strata dipping at every angle almost to a perpendicular. . . .
This bed was formerly burned for lime at Dukes" t^uarry, adjoining
Peru, the county town, but the kiln is not now in use. It is crowded
with skeletonized fossils, yet still retaining a sufficient modicum of
animal matter to prevent the lime from fully slackening in the short
time usually allowed for that purpose by workmen. Hence, this lime is
not suited for plasterers' use, unless the mortar is permitted to i-emain
in damp vats for several months before being spread upon the walls of
the houses. This is too slow a process for our fast age, yet the Roman
architect, who built for ages, would use only mortar which had been
prepared for a year or more before it would be needed by the artificer."

At Dukes' (juarry a surface opening was made into the beds of the
"silico-magnesia" limestone mentioned by Cox, but the stone was not
suitable foi- building purposes. The beds of light brown colored lime-
stone, referred to in the report, are generally local and of small extent.
About a mile north of Dukes' quarry, on the farm of E. H. Shirk, an
outcrop was formerly worked, and it is probat)le that the stone exists
through the entire intervening area between the exposure on the Shirk
farm and Dukes' quarry.

In the lower beds along the Wabash river, at Lyde's quarry, two
and a half miles west of Peru, Cox found a deposit "distinctly laminated,
the seams being filled with clayey matter and pyrites." Upon examina-

4 HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY

tion he decided that this stone might be used for foundations, oi- where
protected from the weather, but upon exposure the clay and' pyrite
matter would decompose and the stone become "shelly."

Similar beds of stone have been developed at Trippier's quarries,
two miles east of Peru, on the south side of the Wabash river, and at
Wallick's mill on Little Pipe creek, near the Lake Erie & Western
Railroad. State Geologist Thompson, in his survey of 1888, classifies
the rock exposures at these quarries as Niagara limestone. Concerning
the lime burned at Trippier's, Cox said: "It is similar if not equal to
the Delphi lime, slakes perfectly, works 'cool,' bears transportation
well, makes a strong and almost hydraulic cement, and deserves a more
extended market."

Near the mouth of the Mississinewa river there are extensive beds
of Niagara limestone suitable for building purposes, the outcrop show-
ing for over a mile. On the same stream, three miles east of Peru,
are the "Pillared Rocks," interesting alike to the scientist and the lover
of beautiful and romantic scenery. At this point the river is arrested
in its northerly course by a solid wall of "cherty, silico-magnesia lime-
stone" and makes a rather abrupt turn to the westward. The action of
the rushing water against a stone wall composed of different textures,
has caused an unequal disintegration of the rocks, carving them into
pillars, rounded buttresses, alcoves, grottoes and overhanging shelves
of beautiful and fantastic shapes. Cox says that in 1872 the summit of
the bluff was covered with cedars. The "Pillared Rocks," with their
celebrated picnic ground, form one of the beauty spots of Miami count}'.
Locally, these rocks are known as the "Seven Pillars," but are often
confused in name, by persons unfamiliar with them, with "The Cliffs"
farther up the river.

Farther up the Mississinewa there is a precipice on the north side
of the stream — part of the elevation known as "The Cliffs" — and at
this point Cox took the only section in IMiami county in his survey of
1872. That section was as follows :

Sandy soil, 4 feet ; white glass and grit stone, 10 feet ; porous lime
rock, 18 feet; cherty, laminated argillaceous limestone, to river, 35 feet;
total, 67 feet.

Concerning the porous limestone here Cox says: "Blocks of large
size may be obtained, and the unexplored beds, if found sufficientl.v
compact, will prove valuable for quarry purposes, as well as for 'burn-
ing.' " At the time Cox made his survey he found that some fine,
square blocks of stone had been taken from Thomas' (quarry, in the pool
of the mill dam at Peoria. This stone was quarried at the water's edge,
below the cherty stratum of the silico-magnesia division, but owing to

HISTORY UF MIAMI COUNTY 5

its location was difficult to obtain, so that the quarry could never be
operated at a profit, though the geologist pronounced it the best stoue
he had seen in the county.

The stone for the pilaster coping in the ('atholic church at Peru was
taken from a quarry near Brouillette's, on the Mississinewa river above
Peoria, and lias stood exposure to the weather well. In appearance it
is of a modest, neutral tint, that contrasts harmoniously with the red
brick walls, and resembles the Delphos limestone, of Ohio. This effect
has since been destroyed by covering the church walls with stucco work.

The I'lLi.ARED Rocks

Cox's prediction tiial the porous liiiifslonc along the Mississinewa
would ■prove valuable for (|uarry purposes, as well as for burning,"
has not hem rcali/ed, and the reason is explained by Thompson in his
report on .Miami county in 1888. He found the Niagara limestones of
the Mississinewa to be dolomitic, "hard and sub-crystalline in structure,
only fit for foundation work or flagging, and difficult to work." Says
he: "The Niagara limestones of Miami county do not possess the
properties of valuable building stone, although they may be profitably
used for foundations, or other rough work. The Waterlime rocks near
Peru, however, are much better even for the roughest work, conse(|Uently

6 HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY

there have been no special efforts made to develop a quarrying industry
along the Mississinewa river. For the manufacture of lime the Niagara
limestones furnish excellent material at many points along the Wabash
and Mississinewa rivers, and several parties have made profitable use
of the advantages afforded."

The Waterlime rocks are exposed along the Wabash river for a
distance of about half a mile above the Lake Erie & Western Railroad
bridge, and again about a mile west of Peru. Among the quarries
opened in these outcrops perhaps the most important were the O'Donnell,
Brownell and Kissell cjuarries, in the order named as one descends the
river. The ledges or layers range from three to sixteen inches in thick-
ness and maj^ be quarried in any desirable dimensions. The stone is a
hydraulic limestone, of fine texture, bluish in color, and is well adapted
to foundation work, bridge abutments, etc., the thin layers being exten-
sively used for flagging.

The only rocks of the Devonian formation that are exposed in the
county are along Pipe creek from the vicinity of Bunker Hill to the
county line. North of Bunker Hill, on Big Pipe creek, for a distance of
about three-fourths of a mile are almost continuous exposures of Cornif-
erous limestone, the larger proportion of which is a bluish gray lime-
stone, somewhat crystalline in structure, much of it being well adapted
to rough masonry, such as foundations, bridge abutments and similar
work. As a rule the Corniferous limestones of iliami county are too
cherty and silicious to make good lime, though there are a few localities
where fairly good lime has been burned from the gray, fossiliferous
limestones that overlie the cherty deposits.

In the northern part of the county bog iron ore is found in con-
siderable quantities at several places. Furnaces were operated along
the Eel river in early days and an excellent quality of iron was pro-
duced. The collection of the ore was attended by rather heavy expense,
however, and with the introduction of improved transportation facilities
the Eel river furnaces were abandoned, owing to their inability to
compete with mines more favorably situated. All over the county there
are traces of iron in combination with the soil and also filtered into the
limestone rocks. When these rocks become disintegrated and mixed with
the glacial drift a soil is formed that is not exceeded in fertility any-
where in the state. (See State Geologist's Report for 1888, p. 177.)

Probably no phenomena have proven more perplexing to students
of geology than those which brought about the destruction of vast beds
of rock and the distribution of their fragmentary remains over large
areas of territory far from their original location. For illustration:
The large bowlders found in all parts of Indiana, commonly called

HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY 7

''nignrerlifads. " are of a grranitoid charactpr. belonging to beds tliat are
nowhere represented in the state, and must have come from some phiee
beyond lier boi'ders. \'ai'ious tlieories have been advanced to aecount
for tliese eondilions, the most prominent of whieh. and the one most
generally aeeejited by scientists, is the Glacial theory-. The Glacial
epoch, or Pleistocene ])eriod of geologic time, sometimes called the
"lee Age." comprises the earliest part of the Qiiai"ternary period.
During the latter jjart of the Tertiary period, preceding, there was a
gratlnal lowering of temperature throughout what is now termed the
north temperate zone, until the entire surface of the earth in that region
was covered with large liodies of ice called glaciers.' These glaciers
were formed by pci'iddical oi' intermittent snows. During the periods
between these I'alls of snow, that whieh Jiad already fallen became so
compressed by its own weight that the entire mass was in time converted
into one .solid body.

The pressure upon the yielding mass of snow imparted motion to
the trlaciei-, which carried with it rocks, soil and other mineral matter.
As it moved forward the grinding and equalizing work of the glacier
ultinuitely wi'ought great changes in the topography and meteorological
conditions of the earth. Not only were the mountain peaks in the path
of the glacier woin down and the general leveling of the earth's. surface
brought about, but also vast quantities of earth and sand were carried
forward by the streams of wjiter formed by the melting of the ice and
deposited in the ocean. In this way shores of the continent were pushed
forward iluring a period of several centuries and the superficial area of
the land was materially increased.

As a general rule, the course of the North American glaciers was
toward the south. One of them extended over Canada and the north-
eastern part of the United States, reaching from the Atlantic ocean on
the east to the slopes of the Rocky mountains on the west, and covering
the entire basin of the Great Lakes. When the ice melted, the rocks
and other debris carried along by the glacier were left to form what is
known as the glacial drift, also called till, bowlder clay and older
diluvium. As the glacier glided slowly along — probably not more than
one foot per day — the bowlders and other hard ininerals at the bottom,
pressed downward by the gigantic mass above, left marks or scratches
on the lied rock, and from these marks or stris the geologist has been
able to determine with reasonal)le aceuracj- the course of the glacier by
noting the direction of the striic. Concerning the course of the glacier
in this state. State Geologist Thompson, in his report for 1888, says:
"In Indiana the general direction of the glacial movement was a little
west of south. There are localities in the state where the striae or sand

8 HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY

marks on the ice-ground rocks run from east to west, and in almost
every other horizontal direction ; but by careful study these are found
to be merely local exceptions to the general rule. . . . The glacial
deposits of Indiana by their conformation, by the materials found in
their mass and by the stria- underlying them, have come into the state
from a direction almost north and south."

The accumulation of earth and stone carried by the glacier was
sometimes heaped up along the margin, where it formed a ridge or
deposit called a lateral moraine. When two glaciers came together, the
deposit formed at the point of conjunction is called a medial moraine.
The nearly level deposit under the body of the glacier is known as the
ground moraine and the ridge formed at the farthest point reached by
the glacier is the terminal moraine. The valley of the Ohio river was
the terminus of the glacier that once covered Miami county and the
channel of that stream owes its origin to the melting of the ice and the
flow of water which always underlies the bed of a glacier. As the
melting process w^ent on, the terminal margin withdrew to the north-
ward, and wherever there remained undestroyed rock barriers or dams
they gave direction to the waters of the terminal moraine. In this way
the course of the Wabash river was determined, or modified, centuries
before Columbus discovered the New World. To quote again from
Thompson :

"From Wabash to Delphi the Wabash up-lifl (called the Wabash
Arch) has determined the course of the Wabash river, just as it also
determined the form of the drift mass immediately south of it. The
river itself is runuiug along the general line of a wide fracture or
system of fissures in the Niagara rocks from Wabash to Logansport.
At the latter place it has cut through a spur of the Devonian formation,
and at Delphi it curves around the ba.se of a curious conical up-lift of
the Niagara limestone. To my mind it is plain that the river simply
follows the example of the ice current which went before it plowing out
the great furrow which we call the Wabash valley. At present evidence
is wanting to prove any theory as to what particular part of the glacial
age was devoted to the work of channeling out a groove for Indiana's
greatest river, but it would appear that this must have been the first
result of the glacier's contact with the low but compact and stubborn
knobs of the Wabash Arch. Subsequently, as the ice field grew in
weight and power it arose and surmounted this barrier, grinding away
its conical peaks and tearing out of its hollows in many places the non-
conformable Devonian and Carboniferous rocks."

In some portions of North America the lateral moraines rise to a
height of five hundred or even one thousand feet. The terminal moraine

HISTORY OF :\riAMI COUNTY 9

in uortherii Indiana that marks the southern boundary of the Great
Lake basin contains several mounds that are from 150 to 200 feet
in height, and "the existence of a grand moraine lying across central
Indiana has been fully demonstrated." Along the line of this great
moraine the contoui- of tile drift mass is found to be comparatively
regular, the glacial matter having been more uniformly deposited. In
this territiiry lies Jlianii eouiity. where there is al)undant evidence of
glacial action, though great local changes have taken place in the surface
of the drift mass since it was first deposited. Upon the retreat of the
ice the whole drift area was left bare and desolate, accompanied by an
arctic teinpei-ature and without either animal or plant life. Rain and
wind were active forces in leveling or modifying the surface during the
period that elapsed before the northward migration of plant life began
to clothe it with a garment of resistance and render it habitable. How
long that period may have been geologists can only conjecture. It was
by this method that the surface of iliami county was formed.

Concerning the depth of the drift in Sliami county, Thompson says:
"South of the Wabash river the drift varies in depth from nothing to
one hundred feet or more, though it is only along the streams where it
has been carried away by the water that it is wholly wanting. At Bunker
Hill, gas well No. 1, it is 58 feet thick; at Xenia (Converse) it is 50
feet thick, while at Amboy, midway between the two points, it is 35
feet thick. The alluvial matter in the Wabash river bottom varies from
5 to 50 feet in thickness. In gas well No. 2, at Peru, it is 10 feet thick;
in well No. 1, Northside, it is 36 feet thick, while at the Bearss gas well.
No. 4, bored on the high lands two miles north of Peru, the drift is 324
feet thick. It is quite likely that the maximum thickness of the drift
north of the Wabash river in iliami county will approximate four
hundred feet, even if it does not exceed that ilepth."

At widely distant places in the glacial iltil't of the United States
have been found the remains of prehistoric animals of the IMiocene
period, but which l)ecame extinct in the Pleistocene, or lee Age. The
most common of these remains are the bones of the mastodon — so-called
from the shape of its teeth — an animal closely allied to the elephant of
modern times. Several times in making excavations in Miami county, a
few bones of this great monster of a past era have been found, but it
was not until the fall of 1904 that a complete skeleton was unearthed.
Some men engaged in digging a ditch about twelve miles north of Peru,
found a few bones, which were given to Pred Kite, a taxidermist of
Denver. Jlr. Fite employed some helpers and continued digging in
the locality until the entire skeleton, with the exception of a few minor
bones, was found. He then spent some time in cleaning and articulating

10 HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY

tlie parts of the skeleton, supi)l.viii£r the place of the missing bones with
wooden substitutes, and in the spring of 1905 his mounted skeleton was
finished. It stood nine feet high and measured eighteen feet in length,
the tusks being nine feet long. In hauling the bones from the place
where they were found to his laboratory two \vagous were used, the
entire collection weighing over a ton. It was not long after he had the
skeleton mounted until ]Mr. Fite received several offers for it. He finally
sold it to a museum in Detroit, Michigan, for .$500.

The principal elements that go to make up the drift formation in
Indiana are silica, alumina, lime and iron. Silica is found principally
in the clays, sands and bowlders; alumina in the clays and bowlders;
lime in the clays, marls, chalk and the peat-like bog deposits, and the
iron is abundant in the swamps in the form of bog ore, or in the gravel
dei^osits. In Miami county some of the drift deposits are of economic or
commercial importance. Some years ago John E. ililliron, of Denver,
began a systematic study of the county's mineral resources, especially
the clay deposits. At several points near Denver he found clay suitable
for a good article of pottery, and clays adapted to the manufacture of
tile or brick may be found in nearly all parts of the county. ]\Ir.
Milliron also found an ochreous kind of i-lay, of fine texture and strongly
impregnated with iron, that makes a good quality of mineral paint when
ground and mixed with oil. Paint made from this clay has been used
at Denver and has been found to possess durability, and it is believed
that a profitable industry might be built uji in lis manufacture. Four
miles northwest of Denver, on Weesau creek, there is an extensive
deposit of clay that burns to a light cream color, stands fire w'ell, does
not warp to any great extent during the burning process, and could no
doubt be utilized to advantage in the manufacture of brick, tile and
pottery. (See State Geologist's Report for 1888, p. 176.)

Sand in abundance is found along all the creeks and rivers of the
county, and in lenticular beds at various places in the drift. A large
portion of the iliami county sand is valuable for building purposes and
there are deposits that are well adapted for the grinding of glass or for
molders' use, but these deposits have not been developed along those
lines. ^lost of the sand used in the Indiana glass factories comes from
distant points, much of it from outside of the state, and there is no
question that the development of some of these beds would prove of
great convenience to the glass manufacturer, as well as a source of
profit to the owner of the sand-pits.

In his report for the year 1905, State Geologist Blatchley devoted
considerable attention to the road-building materials of the various
counties of the state. He found gnod gravel alnindant near ]\Iaey and

HISTORY OF :\IIAMI COUNTY 11

at some other points in the glacial till plain in the northwestern part
of the countj-, though most of the gravel in other portions north of the
Wabash river was found only along the streams. The south half of the
county, also a till plain, has a sandy clay as the surfaeo soil, with a
coarse ([uicksand in places that is used for road-building and makes a
fairly good highway. The Wabash river bluffs, ranging from twenty-
five to forty feet in height, contain very little gravel, being generally
composed of clay, but there are good gravel deposits along some of the
other streams in the southern part of the county, notably at Bunker Hill
and Amboy. At the latter place the upper deposit of clay has been
removed along Big Pipe creek and there are half a dozen or more good
gravel pits. Blatchley also found small gravel deposits at several places
in the moraine south of the Wabash. From the information at his com-
mand he expressed the opinion that it would not be necessary to haul
gravel more than three miles — probably not that far — anywhere in the
county for the construction of roads.

Notwithstanding the statements of the state geologist, in the report
above referred to, it is a well known fact that practically all of the
Wabash river valley — that is, the river bottom and the bluffs which bound
it on either side — is underlaid with gravel. These deposits are the most
extensive, the most important, the most easily accessible and the most
valuable in the county. In all other portions of the county, the deposits
are scattered, less valuable, more expensive to develop and more difficult
to render available for use. In the southern part of the county much of
the gravel used on the roads is pumped from the bed of Pipe creek, or
from other beds below the water level. It is of very inferior quality as
compared with the Wabash valley gravel.

No account of the geology of the county would be complete without
some mention of natural gas and oil, both of which have been found
within tlic county limits. Natural gas is described as "a member of
the paraffin series (hydrocarbons), a combination of carbon and hydro-
gen, about sixty per cent, as heavy as air and highly inflammable." It
is composed of marsh gas, or methane, the gas fields in Ohio and Indiana
having been formed by the decomijosition of animal matter, while the
Pennsylvania field is composed of decaying vegetation. The decom-
position, or chemical change, that generated the gas is believed to have
taken place at a comparatively low temperature within the porous
rocks of the Lower Silurian formation, the Trenton limestone especially
serving as a reservoir for the aeeummulated gas.

It is quite probable that natural gas was first used in connection
with the Delphic oracles, about 1,000 B. C, and it has been used for
centuries by the Chinese in the evaporation of salt water. It was first

12 HISTORY OF .MIAMI COUNTY

used ill the United States in 1821, when a well one and a half inelies in
diameter and twenty-seven feet deep was drilled near a "gas spring"" at
Fredonia, New York, and the gas was iised for lighting the streets of the
town. In 1838 the presence of gas was observed at Findlay. Ohio, and
about three years later it was found in a well at Charleston, West
Virginia. While developing the oil fields of Pennsylvania, in 1860, the
gas was used vinder the boilers instead of coal, but the first systematic
use of it as a fuel was at Erie, Penns.vlvania, in 1868.

Prior to 1884 little was known of the Trenton limestone, except from
the outcrops in Canada and a few places in the United States. In that
year gas was struck at Findlay, Ohio, in the Trenton limestone, which
marked the beginning of an era of great prosperity for that city and
led to prospecting in Indiana. On March 14, 1886, the first gas well
in Indiana "blew in" at Portland, Jay county, where the gas was also
found in the Trenton formation.

The people of Miami county were among the first in the state to
undertake an active search for natural gas. Soon after the discovery
of gas at Portland, the idea became prevalent that gas could be found
almost anywhere in paying (|uantities by drilling down to the Trenton
limestone, and prospecting became general throughout the central part
of the state. The Peru Natural Gas and Fuel Company was incorporated
on October 25, 1886, "for the purpose of prospecting for natural gas,
coal, coal oil, or any other valuable mineral." The first gas well was
drilled in the northern part of the city of Peru, at an altitude of 657 feet
above the sea level. The following is the record of the strata passed
through in drilling:

Alluvium — river drift, 36 feet ; Niagara limestone, 385 feet ; Hudson
river and Utiea shales, 454 feet ; Trenton limestone. 30 feet ; total
depth, 905 feet.

In this well a small quantity of petroleum was found at a depth of
880 feet, or five feet after the drill first entered the Trenton rock. At
900 feet a strong vein of salt water was struck, but no gas was found.
A second well was drilled just south of the city of Peru, but with no
better results. The third well was on the Y'onee farm, about seven miles
southeast of Peru, and well No. 4 was on the Bear.ss farm, about three
miles north of the city. Here the drill went to a depth of 1,041 feet,
penetrating the Trenton limestone for thirty-one feet, but without find-
ing gas.

Xenia (now Converse) was the first point in Miami county to secure
gas. The Xenia Gas and Oil Company was incorporated on January 4,
1887, and the first successful gas well in the county was drilled the

HISTORY OF MIAm COUNTY 13

folliiwiiif^ suimiicr. The record below illustrates the eharacter of the
strata throuy;h whieh the drill passed :

Soil. 4 feet; gravel, 46 feet; waterlime, 31 feet; Niagara limestone,
238 feet; Hudson river and Utica shales, 587 feet; Trenton limestone,
31 feet : total depth, 937 feet.

Tiie altitude at the surface of the well was 815 feet and the Trenton
rock was first struck at ninety-one feet below the sea level. A strong
vein of water was struek in the Niagara limestone, but it was cased off
and the drilling proceeded. Soon after piercing the Trenton i-ock water
was reached, and this had the effect of weakening the flow of gas, so that
the well was never a heavy producer. The second well at Xeuia was a
strong one, yielding a suflicient quantity of gas to supply the entire
town. Several strong wells were also found at Aralioy and in the
immediate vicinity. At Bunker Hill tlie drill went down to a depth of
1,004 feet, or 12 feet into the Trenton limestone, where salt water was
struck. This water raised in the bore of the well to within twenty feet
of the surface and caused the drillers to suspend operations.

The People's Oil and Gas Company, of Peru, was organized by
approximately one hundred citizens in the spring of 1897, but was not
incorporated at the time. The fii-st well was bored on the B. E. Wallace
farm, just east of the ^lississinewa river. It proved to be a "dry hole,"
but the members of the company did not lose hope and a second well
was drilled in the northwestern part of Peru, on a tliree-cornered tract
of land belonging to A. N. Dukes. Trenton rock was struck at a depth
of 855 feet and on July 19, 1897, the well was yielding about twelve
barrels of oil daily. The company was then incorporated, the well was
tubed and pumped and the output was thus increased to 120 barrels
daily. 'I' wo other wells in the same locality yielded 150 and 175 barrels,
respect ively. By the close of the year over two hundred wells had been
drilled. A more complete account of the development of the oil and gas
fields of the county will be found in the chapter on "Finance and
Industries.'"

When the Hrst white men raiiie U> what is now Miami county they
found the surface covered with a heavy growth (jf tindjer. The great
forests contained many beautiful .specimens of walmit, poplar, various
varieties of oak, ash, maple, hickory and other valuable trees, and there
were likewise a number of less important species, including sycamore,
beech, locust, mulberry, wild cherry, elm and willow. At that time the
soil was of more value for cultivation than the timber. Consequently
many trees were cut down and burned that, if they were standing today,
would be worth more than the land upon which they grew. Then no
tliought of a timber famine ever entered the minds of the pioneers.

14 HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY

Far away to the westward stretched the boundless forest and to the
frontiersman it seemed, if he gave it a thought, that there would be
timber enough to supply the wants of the people for generations to
come. The ax, the fire-brand and the saw-mill have done their deadly
work so well that now, though less than a century has passed, the con-
servation of American forests is an engrossing subject. Possibly much
of the timber might have been saved, but would the people of the present
day act differently under the same conditions? Probably not.

CHAPTER II

ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS

The Mound Builders — Theories Regardixg Their Antiquity —
Thomas' DmsiON of the United States into Districts — Ch.uj-
acteristics of Each District — Pew Relics in Miami County —

The Indians— How Distributed in 1492 — The "Six Nations"

The ^liAMi Tribe^Habits and Customs — Their Domain — Vil-
lages IN the Wabash Valley— The Pottawatomi — Character and
Traditions — Villages — Policies in Dealing with the Indians.

Before the white man, the Indian ; before tlie Indian, who? The (iiies-
tion is more easily asked than answered. When the first Europeans came
to this country they found here a peculiar race of copper-colored people,
to whom they gave the name of "Indians," but after a time some stu-
dents of archaeology came to the conclusion that this race had its prede-
cessors. Who were they? The archaeologist has given them the name of
"Mound Builders," on account of the great number of mounds or
earthworks they erected, and which constitute the only data from whidi
to write their history. During the last century a great deal of dis-
cussion concerning the character and fate of the Mound Builders has
been indulged in by antiquarians and archaeologists, but the qu(;stioii
seems to be no nearer a positive settlement than when it first came up
for consideration. In 1812 the American Antiquarian Society was or-
ganized and during the years immediately following made some inves-
tigations of the prehistoric relics left by the primitive inhabitants. But
the first work of consequence on American archaeology — "Ancient Mon-
uments of the Jlississippi Valley" — compiled by E. G. Squier and E. II.
Davis, did not make its appearance until in 1847. The authors, who had
made an exhaustive study of the mounds and earthworks in the section
indicated, advanced the theory that the jMound Builders were a very
ancient race and that they were in no way related to the Indians found
here when the continent was discovered by Columbus. Allen Lapham,
who in 1855 wrote a treatise on the "Antiquities of Wisconsin," also
held to the great age and separate race theory.

In fact, most of the earl>- writers on the subject have supported this

15

16 HISTORY OP MIAMI COUNTY

hypothesis, and some have gone so far as to arrange the period of human
occupancy of the Mississippi valley into four distinct epochs, viz:
1. The :\Iound Builders; 2. The Villagers; 3. The Fishermen; 4. The In-
dians. This somewhat fanciful theory presupposes four separate races
or peoples and is not sustained by any positive evidence. Other writers
have contended that the early American aborigines were descendants of
the lost tribes of Israel and efforts have been made to substantiate such
an assertion. With regard to the :\Iound Builders. Baldwin, in his
■'Ancient America," says:

"They were un(iuestionably American aborigines and not immigrants
from another continent. That appears to me the most reasonable .sug-
gestion which assumes that the :\Iouud Builders came originally from
Mexico and Central America. It explains many facts connected with
their remains. In the Great Valley their most populous settlements were
at the .south. Coming from Alexico and Central Ainerica, they would
begin tlieir settlements on the Gulf Coast, and afterward advance grad-
ually up the river to the Ohio Valley. It seems evident that they came
by this route, and their reuuiins show that their only connection with
the coast was at the south. Their settlements did not reach the coast at
any other point."

On the other hand, McLean says; "From time immemorial, there
has been immigration into :\Iexico from the North. One type after
another has followed. In some cases different branches of the same
family have successively followed one another. Before the Christian era
the Nahoa immigration from the North made its appearance. They were
the founders of the stone works in Northern Jlexico. Certain eminent
scientists have held that the Nahoas belonged to the race that made the
mounds of the Ohio and Mississippi valleys. Following this people came
the Toltecs, and with them the light begins to dawn upon ancient Mexican
migration. They were cultivated and constituted a liranch of the Nahoa
family. . . .In the light of modern discovery and scientific investiga-
tion, we are able to follow the Mound Builders. We first found them in
Ohio, engaged in tilling the soil and developing a civilization peculiar to
themselves. Driven from their homes, they sought an asylum in the
South, and from there they wandered into Mexico, where we begin to
learn something definite concerning them."

Here is a fine illustration of "When doctors disagree." Two more
widely diverse theories than those advanced by Baldwin and McLean
can hardly be imagined, yet they show the vast amount of speculation
indulged in by writers upon the subject. There is not, and never has
been, a unity of opinion regarding the ]\Iound Builders. While the early
writers classed them as a hypothetical people, supposed to have antedated

HISTORY OP -MIAMI COUNTY 17

tlic Indian ti-il)t'.s \>y several cciiliii-ics as inlialiitants ol' tlic Oliio and
Mississippi valleys, the iMouml Hnildrrs arc now regarded "as the ances-
tors and representatives of the tribes foiiiul in tlie same region hy the
Spanish. Frerieh and English pioneci-s. " Says Hrinton:

"The period wiicn the Mound Builders tlourisiu'd has Ix'en differ-
ently estiniatetl : but there is a growing tendency to reject the assump-
tion of a very great anti(|uity. There is no good reason for assigning
any of the remains in the Ohio valley an age antecedent to tiie Christian
era, and the final destruction of their towns may well have been but
a few generations before the discovery of the continent hy Columbus.
Faint traditions of this event were still retained by the tribes who occu-
pied the region at the advent of the whites. Indeed, some plausible
attenii)ts have been made to identify their descendants with certain
e.xisting tribes."

In the early part of the sixteenth century De Soto and the French
explorers found in the southern part of the present United States cer-
tain ti'ibes who were mound builders, their structures differing; but
slightly in character from those for which great antiquity is claimed.
The culture of the !\lound Builders was distinctly Indian in character
and the relics found in many of the so-called ancient mounds differ but
little from those of known Indian origin. As these facts have been devel-
oped in the course of investigation, archaeologists have generally come
to accept the theory that the Mound Builders were nothing more than
the ancestors of the Indians, and i)roliably not so very remote as for-
merly believed.

Cyrus Thomas, of the United States Bureau of Ethnology, who has
made a careful study of the ancient earthworks of the country, divides
the mounds of the Uniteil States into eight districts:

I. The Wisconsin district, which embraces the southern half of Wis-
consin, the northern portion of Illinois and the northeastern part of
Iowa. This district is replete with effigy mounds — that is mounds hear-
ing a resemblance to some beast or bird. These are believed to have
been copied from some bird or aniuud that served as a totem for the
tribe, though they may have been objects of veneration or worship.
Effigy mounds are likewise found in some of the other districts, one of
the most notable examples of this class being the "Great Serpent"
mound, of Adams county, Ohio. This mound is located on a narrow-
ridge, almost surrounded by three streams of water. It is in the form
of a serpent and is 1,348 feet in length. The opened jaws measure sev-
enty-five feet across and immediately in front of the mouth is a circidar
or elliptical inclosure with a heap of stones in the center. The body of
the serpent is from thirty to fifty feet wide and about eight feet in

18 HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY

height at tlie highest part. The state of Ohio reeeiitly purchased the
tract of groimd upon which this ancient work is located and converted
it into a park, or reserve, in order to protect the mound from the ravages
of the curiosity hunter.

2. The Upper Mississippi district, which includes northern and cen-
tral Illinois, southeastern Iowa and northeastern Missouri. In this dis-
trict the mounds are generally conical tumuli, located on the ridges of
the uplands and possess very little that is of interest to the archaeologist.

3. The Ohio district, which covers the state of Ohio, the eastern part
of the state of Indiana and the western part of West Virginia. Forti-
fications and altar mounds constitute the distinguishing features of this
district, though the ordinary conical tumuli are by no means absent. One
of the largest known mounds of this character is the famous mound on
Grave creek, West Virginia, which is about three hundred feet in diame-
ter at the base and seventy feet high. In the state of Ohio alone about
thirteen thousand mounds have been found and many of them explored.

4. The New York district, embracing western New York, the central
lake region, and a small section of Pennsylvania. In western New
York there are a number of inclosing walls or fortifications.

5. The Appalacliian district, which includes western North Carolina,
eastern Tennessee, southwestern Virginia and southeastern Kentucky.
In the mounds through this district have been found a large number
of human skeletons, stone pipes, copper bracelets, mica plates and other
relics unlike any found in the other districts.

6. This district includes the middle portion of Mississippi, south-
eastern ilissouri. northern Arkansas, western Tennessee, western Ken-
tucky, southern Illinois and the Wabash valley in Indiana. The distin-
guishing feature of this district is the truncated and terraced pyramid
mounds, which are found here in larger numbers than in any other part
of the country. There are also some inclosures resembling fortifications,
ditches or canals, and pottery and stone coffins have been found in several
of tlie mounds that have been explored. Near Cahokia, Illinois, is a
truncated pyramid five hundred by seven hundred feet at the base and
ninety-seven feet in height.

7. The lower ilississippi district, which includes the southern half
of Arkansas, the greater part of Louisiana and tlje southern portion of
]\Iississippi. It was in this district that De Soto and the French explorers
above mentioned found, upon their early visits to the region, certain
Indian tribes who were mound builders. The mounds here are chiefly
of the simple, conical type and show no special characteristics.

8. The Gulf States district, which embraces the southeastern part of
the United States. In this section the large, flat-topped pyramidal

iiisTORV OF :\[rA:\ii county 19

iiiouiuls and iin-losiiiTs or furtilieatiuus are abundant. There are also
a number of effigy mounds, the great eagle mound of Georgia being one
of the finest exampli's of this class in the country.

Concerning the structure and purpose of the mouuds, Brinton says:
"The mounds or tumuli are of earth, or earth mingled with stones, and
are of two general classes, the one with a circular base and conical in
shape, the other with a rectangular base and a superstructure in the
form of a tnuicated i)yramid. The former are generally found to con-
tain human remains anil are, therefore, held to have been barrows or
sepulchral monuments raised over the distinguished dead, or, in some
instances, serving as the comnuinal place of interment for a gens or elan.
The truncated pyramids, with their flat surfaces, w^ere evidently the
sites for buildings, such as tem{)les or council houses, which, being con-
structed of perishable uuitcrial, have disappeared."

While much of the foregoing is not directly applicable to i\riami
county, it shows the various theories concerning the aborigines who dwelt
or roved about in this country long before the white man even knew of
the existence of the continent. At various places in the Wabash valley
ajid the valleys of its tributaries — the Sixth district in Thomas" division
— there are numerous relies of Jlound Builders, even though iliami
county is lacking in works of interest to the archaeological student. With
regard to the archaeological reuuiins in iMiami county, State Geologist
Thompson, in his report for 1888 (page 188), says:

"The ab<irigines of ^liami coiuity left but few monuments to per-
petuate their memory. Occasional mounds are about the only earth-
works, and these, or the greater part of them, are in the southern part
of the county. As a rule the mounds observed are merely small, conical
hillocks, varying in height from two to five feet, and in diameter from
twenty to fifty feet.

"Implements of stone are not rare, but they are by no means so
plentiful as tiiey are in some other parts of the state. Stone axes of
the grooved pattern are sometimes plowed up in the fields, or picked up
in other places, and the smooth form of axe, or scraper, peeler or flesher,
as it is sometimes teriued, an; fretiuentiy found. Flint arrow and spear
lieads of various patterns, including the barbed, stemnu'd, rotary, ser-
rated, triangular and leaf-shaped forms, are common, though not plen-
tiful.

"Pottery has only been found in fragments, and pipes are very rarely
found. Perforated and |)olished pieces are rare. The Indian or ]\Iound
Builder of ^liami county was an economical kind of citizen, and did not
throw his implements of war or the chase away recklessly."

20 HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY

The Indians

At the time the Western Hemisphere was first visited by Europeans,
the continent of North America was peopled by several groups or fam-
ilies of Indians, each of which was distinguished by certain physical
and lingviistic characteristics and occupied a well defined territory. In
the north were the Eskimo, a people who has never played any important
part in history. South of them and west of the Hudson bay were the
Athapascan tribes, which were scattered over a wide expanse of terri-
tory. Next came the Algoncjuian group, which occupied a great triangle,
roughly bounded by the Atlantic coast on the east, a line drawn from
the northernmost point of Labrador in a southwesterly direction to the
Rocky mountains, and a line from the Rocky mountains to the Pamlico
sound, on the coast of North Carolina. South of the Algonquian and
east of the Mississippi river was the Muskhogean family, which included
the Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw and some other tribes. Directly west
of this group, on the west side of the Mississippi, were the Caddoan
tribes. The restless, hardy and warlike Siouan tribes occupied the upper
Missouri valley, and in the western part of what is now the United States
was the Shoshonean family. Along the St. Lawrence river and the
shores of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, in the very heart of the Algon-
quian country, were the brave, warlike Iroquoian tribes, who were doubt-
less the most intellectual of all the North American Indians.

ilost of the Indian history of the nation centers about the Algonquian
family, which was not only the most numerous, but also inhabited the
largest scope of territory, and was so located that its tribes were the
first to come in contact with the white men. This great family consisted
of several hundred tribes, the most prominent of which were the Miami,
Pottawatomi, Delaware, Shawnee, Chippewa and Ottawa. Among the
Iro(iui)is the principal tribes were the Oneida, Onondaga. Seneca, Mohawk
and Cayuga. The Algonquian invasion of Iroquois territory at an
early date led to a confederacy being formed by these tribes, which
became known as the "Five Nations," and which was a powerful factor
in most of the early treaties made lietween the Indians and the whites.
Subsequently the Tuscarora, another Iroquois tribe, was taken into the
confederacy, which then took the name of the "Six Nations."

The tribes that played the most conspicuous part in the region includ-
ing Miami county were the Miami and Pottawatomi, both belonging to
the great Algonquian family. Of all the tribes that inhabited the central
part of the United States, the Miami was the most powerful and influen-
tial. The tribal name is said to mean "People of the peninsula," and is
pi-obably of Chippewa origin, as in early times that tribe and the Miami

I

HISTORY OF :MIAMI COUNTY 21

were closely related. As a tribe they have been variously designated as
the Omes, Omamees and Auniianiis by the French, and the Twightwees,
Tweetwees or Twa Twas, by the English, though the name "Miami"
tinally came into general use. In the Jesuit Relations for 1658 Gabriel
Druillettes refers to these Indians as the ' ' Omamik, ' ' and says they then
inhabited the country about the mouth of the Green bay, in Wisconsin.
Ten years later Perrot found at least part of the tribe "living in a
fortified village on the headwaters of the Fox river, with some of the
Mascoutens, " and Baequeville de la Potherie says that in 1667 "this
tribe, with the ;\Iascoutens, Kiekapoo and part of the Illinois, settled
in the .Mississippi valley, sixty leagues from their former habitation,"
but he neglects to inform his readers where that former habitation was.

The fact that a few years later the Miami Indians were known to be
scattered over a large territory compels the belief that the Indians
mentioned by these early French writers were merely subordinate
ti-ibes and did not include the main body. The French divided the tribe
into six bands, viz: the Piankeshaw, the Wea, the Atchatchakangoueu,
the Kelatika, the Mengakonkia and the Pepicokia. The last four have
disappeared, or have been absorbed by other tribes, and the Piankeshaw
and Wea came to be recognized as separate and independent tribes.
The Eel Rivers, an ofif-slioot of the Miami, lived for some time on a
reservation near Thorntown, Boone cou-nty, but subsequently joined the
main body of the Miamis on the Wabash river.

Early writers describe the Miami men as "of medium height, well
built, heads rather round than oblong, countenances agreeable rather
than sedate or morose, swift on foot and excessively fond of racing."
The dress of the men consisted chiefly of the loin cloth, but the women
wore gowns made of dressed deerskins. The French explorers found
the women to be "distinguished for their polite manners, mild, affable
and sedate character, and their respect for and obedience to their chiefs,
who had greater authority than those of any other Algonquian tribe."

While they depended largely upon the chase for their food supply,
they also raised maize, or Indian corn, and some other vegetables. The
women s\nin thread of buffalo hair and this thread was used to make
bags in which to carry their supply of dried meat. The principal form
of dwelling was the wigwam, composed of skins stretched over a frame-
work of poles, tliough many lived in huts roofed with rush mats. They
worshiped the sun and thunder, hul they did not have a multitude of
minor deities as did the Huron. Ottawa and some other tribes. Usually
the dead were buried in hollow logs. Occasionally, as in the case of
some warrior of distinction, a solid log was split in halves and hollowed
out for a coffin, and sometimes l)odies were buried in the ground in a
recumbent position, without a coffin of any kind.

22 HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY

Morgan divides the tribe into ten geutes, viz.: 1. Mowhawa (wolf),
2. Mongwa (loon), 3. Kendawa (eagle), 4. Alipakosca (buzzard),
5. Kanozawa (panther), 6. Pilawa (turkey), 7. Ahseponua (raccoon),
8. Monnato (snow), 9. Kulswa (the sun), 10. Nape (water). Chauvig-
nerie, writing in 1737, says the principal totems were the elk and the
crane, and toward the close of the eighteenth century the chief totem
was the turtle. It was used in signing at the great conference in 1793
and also at the treaty of Greenville. None of these totems are mentioned
by Morgan in his list.

About 1671 or 1672 the Miamis separated from the Mascoutens and
settled about the south end of Lake Michigan, establishing their princi-
pal villages at Chicago, on the St. Joseph river and where the city of
Kalamazoo, Michigan, now stands. Missions were established in these
Indian settlements bj' Father Allouez before the year 1700. Early in
the eighteenth century a Miami village was established at Detroit, but
the village of Ke-ki-on-ga, at the head of the Maumee river, where the
city of Fort Wayne is now located, continued to be the headquarters of
the tribe. Other villages were Chi-ea-gou, Ko-ko-mo and Little Turtle's
village on the Mississinewa river. Not long after the village was estab-
lished at Detroit, a Wea village — called by the French Ouiatenon — was
founded by that tribe on the Wabash river, not far from the present
city of Lafayette.

Margry says Cadillac reported from Detroit that about 1695, or
perhaps a little earlier, the Sioux made a treacherous attack upon the
Miamis and killed about three thousand of them, men, women and ehil-
di'en being slaughtered without discrimination. A few years later came
the Kickapoo, Pottawatomi and other northern tribes and forced the Mi-
ami back to the Wabash river. The tribe then made new settlements on
the Miami river, in Ohio, extending as far east as the Scioto river, and
they held this country until after the treaty of 1763, when the.y removed
back to Indiana. ]Miami traditions tell of a confederacy that claimed
dominion over the territory now comprising the western part of Ohio,
all of Indiana, a large part of Illinois, the southern part of Slichigan
and part of the state of Wisconsin. It is believed by most historians
that the alliance of the Miami with some of the other tribes inhabiting
the Ohio valley was formed about the time of the invasion by the
northern tribes, and the "Great Miami Confederacy" became to the
Indians of the West what the "Six Nations" were to the East — a
power that was not easily overcome and a potent factor in dictating the
terms of treaties. For many years the headquarters of this confederacy
were at Ke-ki-on-ga (Fort Wayne), whither all the .subordinate chiefs
came to present their grievances and receive their instructions. When

lliSTOKY OF .MIAMI COUNTY 23

oiu' is familiar with the various c-haiiires made l)y the Miami Iiuliaiis
ill their place of resideiiee. the speech of Little Turtle (ile-she-ke-iio-
(juah), the great Miami chief, at the council of Greenville, in 1795, is
better understood. At that council General Wayne proposed that the
Indians reliiuiuish all claim to the lands east of a line running from the
miiutli of the Kentucky river northward thr()u<rii Fort Recovery, Ohio.
To tliis proposal Little Turtle replied for his people as follows:

"I liojie \-on will listen to what I now say to you. "^'ou have pointed
out to us the boundary line between the Indians and the United States.
I now take the liberty to inform you that the line, as you would have it,
cuts off from us a large section of country which we have occupied and
enjoyed from a time the oldest of us cannot remember, and no one —
white man or Indian — has ever disputed our rights to these lands, or
offered to disturb us in our possession. It is well known by all my
brothers present that my forefather kindled the first fire at Detroit;
thence he extended his lines to the headwaters of the Scioto ; thence to
its mouth ; thence down the Ohio river to the mouth of the Wabash, and
from there to Chicago and over Lake Michigan. These are the bound-
aries within which the prints of my ancestors' houses are ever.ywhere
to be seen."

After the return of the tribe to Indiana, following the treaty of
1763, the .Miamis established several new villages, the most important of
which was the Osage village, situated on the west bank of the ilissis-
sinewa river about a mile above its mouth. This village was so called
from an Osage Indian, whose name appears in treaties as "Osage the
Neutral." The site of this village was included in the reservation
granted to John B. Richardville in 1838.

Across the river from this village and extending back perhaps a mile
from the stream was another village, the name of which appears to have
been lost. Possibly it was merely a straggling extension of the Osage
village. The site is now occupied by what is known as the ' ' Goodenough
Farm."

Seek's village, the Indian name of which was Maconsaw, was situated
on the Eel river, about three miles from where Columl)ia City, Whitley
(;ounty, now stands, and was named after a Miami Chief. The village
and its accompanying reservation were ceded to the United States in
1838.

Choppatee's village, named for the chief who inhabited it, was on the
west bank of the St. Joseph river, a few miles from Fort Wayne, and
Meshingomesia's village was on the northwest side of the Mississinewa
river, in what is now Liberty township, Wabash county. A reservation

24 HISTORY OF :\IIAMI COUNTY

was established here for ^letosiua iu 1840 aud iu 1872 the land was
divided among the surviving heirs of the old chief.

Niconzah's village, also called Squirrel village, was on Big Pipe
creek, not far from the present town of Bunker Hill. Other village
chiefs were Chapine and White Loon, near the present town of Roanoke,
Huntington county ; Black Loon and Big Majenica, near Andrews ;
La Gros, near the town of Lagi-o, which bears his name ; Allolah, south of
the present city of Wabash; Joe Russiaville aud IMississinewa, west of
La Fontaine; and Shepoconah, or the Deaf Man, near the line that now
separates Miami and Wabash counties, in Wabash county.

Near the site where the battle of Tippecanoe was fought in 1811. the
Miamis established a village at an early date. Afterward this village
was occupied by the Shawnees. While the latter were there the village
was attacked and destroyed by Wilkinson in 1791, at which time it con-
sisted of 120 houses. Some years later the village was rebuilt by the
Pottawatomi Indians, who in 1808 invited Tecumseh and his brother to
make it their headquarters, when the place took the name of Prophet's
Town. After its destruction by General Harrison in November, 1811,
it was never again rebuilt.

In 1846, after several treaties, the majority of the Miamis iu Indiana
removed to a reservation in Kansas, in which state there is also a i\liami
county named for this once powerful tribe. By the treaties of 1854 and
1867 their lands in Kansas were taken from them and they were con-
federated with the remnants of the Piankeshaw, Wea, Peoria and
Kaskaskia tribes in the Indian Territory. By the consolidation and
intermarriage of these tribes the identity of the Miami has been almost
completely lost.

When the white men began to establish settlements iu central Indiana
they found all the region north of the Wabash river inhabited by the
Pottawatomi Indians. Originally this tribe was one of the most numer-
ous of the Algonquian family. The name "" Pottawatomi" signifies
"People of the place of fire," aud the Jesuit Relations state that until
about 1670 the tribe was known as the "Nation of fire." In early times
the Pottawatomi, Chippewa and Ottawa were closely allied, if they were
not in fact one tribe, and they were known as the "Three fires." Their
tribal traditions say they lived together about the upper end of Lake
Huron. After their separation the principal branches of the Pottawa-
tomi were those on the St. Joseph and Huron rivers, in Michigan, and
on the Wabash river in Indiana.

Morgan divides the Pottawatomi into fifteen gentes, to wit: 1. Moah
(wolf), 2. Mko (bear), 3. Muk (beaver), 4. Misshawa (elk), 5. Maak
(loon), 6. Knou (eagle), 7. Nma (sturgeon), 8. Nmapena (carp),

HISTORY OK .MIAMI COUNTY 25

9. IMfrozcwa (bald eaglcj, 10. Clickwa (thunder), 11- Wabozo (rabbit),
12. Kakatrslu' (crow), l\i. Wakeshi (fox), 14. Penna (turkey), 15. Mke-
tashslickakah (hawk).

Till' Pnttawatoiui have been described as "the most docile and affec-
tionate toward the French of all the savages of the West." They were
naturally polite, more kindly disposed toward' the early missionaries
and the religion they taught them than any of the western triin'S, though
some wi'iters say they were filthy in their habits, low in their nature,
lazy, and would rather fish and hunt than tn till the soil. In their
religion they had twci spii'its — Kitchemontlo, llie good spirit, and
JIatchemondo, the evil .spirit — though Schoolcraft thinks these spirits
were the result of the teaching of the missionaries. He says that in
early times the Pottawatomi worshipped the sun and practiced polyg-
amy. When starting to battle the tribe appealed to the two spirits,
asking Kitchemondo to give them the victory and Matchemondo to
confuse their enemies.

Prior to the peace of 17G;!, the Pottawatomi sided with the French.
They were with Pontiae in the uprising of that year and at the begin-
ning of the Revolutionary war they cast their lot with the British. At
the treaty of (ireenville, August 3, 1795, they served notice ui)on the
Miami tribe that they intended to "move down upon the Wabash,"
which they did, in spite of the protests of the ]\Iiamis, "who claimed all
that territory. About the beginning of the nineteenth century, the
Pottawatomi were in possession of the country around the head of Lake
]\Iichigan. extending from the Milwaukee river, in Wisconsin, to the
Grand river, in .Michigan; thence across Michigan to Lake Erie; thence
southwest, over a large part of Illinois, and all that part of Indiana
lying north of the Wabash river. Within this teriitory they had about
fifty villages.

Ashkum, a Pottawatomi chief, had his village on the north side of
the Eel river, not far from the present town of Denver, in Miami county.
The village of JMetea, a chief distinguished for his bravery and oratory,
was situated on the St. Joseph river, at the mouth of Cedar creek, near
the village of Cedarville, in Allen county. JMetea was one of the leaders
of the i)ai-ty that nuissacred the families of the garrison and settlers
about old Fort Dearborn (where the city of Chicago now stands) as
they were retreating to Detroit at the beginning of the War of 1812.
His band of wari'iors also haiTassed the troops that were marching to the
relief of Fort Wayne, in the fall of 1812, and in one of the engagements
he was shot in the arm by Gt'ueral Harrison. At the treaty council in
October, l.S2fi, he was one of the Pottawatonu Indians who imiiressed his
hearers li\' his elo(|uence, but the following year he died in a drunken

26 IllSTUKV OF .MlA.Mi COUXTY

debauch at Fort ^Yay^e. His village, the Indian name of which was
lluskwawasepeotan. was sold in 1828.

The Pottawatomi took part in more than forty treaties with the
United States. The last important treaty was that of February 27, 1837,
soon after which the tribe left Indiana and took up their residence on a
new reservation in Kansas. Although the tribe was one of the strongest
of the Algonquian tribes numerically, it is probable that it never num-
bered more than 3,000 or 4,000 warriors. In 1908 it had dwindled until
the number in the United States was 2,522. Of these 1,768 lived in
Oklahoma, 676 of what was left of the "Prairie baud" lived in Kansas,
and 78 of the same band lived in Michigan.

There is something pathetic in the manner in which the North
American Indians were dispossessed of the lands where they and their
ancestors had lived for generations before the coming of the white man,
and it may be worth while to note the policies adopted by European
nations to get possession of these lands. As eai-ly as 1529, Cortez,
captain-general of New Spain, was directed by the Spanish government
to "give his principal care to the conversion of the natives," and
directed that "none shall be given to the Spaniards as slaves or
servants." Bishop Ramirez, acting governor under Cortez, tried to
carry out this royal edict, as well as the instructions of his church, but
without avail. Indians were enslaved, treated with great cruelty and
made to work in the mines, and their lands were taken ruthlessly and
without promise of compensation. This was especially true in the con-
quests of Mexico and Central America, and a similar policy prevailed
among the Spaniards to some extent in the southern part of the United
States.

The French had no settled policy in dealing with the Indians. The
Jesuit fathers were interested in their conversion to the Christian faith
and the other early French immigrants were chiefly interested in the
fur trade. They made little or no effort to cultivate the land or to
dispossess the Indians, but the two peoples lived as neighbors, the
Indians peaceably permitting the French to dwell among them and
allowing them sufficient land for their needs, and the French always
recognizing the rights of the natives as the original owners.

In the English policy the Indian was not entirely forgotten, as may
be seen in the early charters, but no provision was made for the educa-
tion, support or conversion of the natives. Charters granted by the
English kings generally authorized the colonists "if God shall grant
it, to vanquish and captivate them ; and the captives to put to death, or,
according to their discretion, to save." (Lord Baltimore's charter to
Maryland.)

HISTORY OF ^[IA]\ri COUNTY 27

Cyrus Thomas, of the United States Bureau of Ethiicrfogj", says:
"Frequent and bloody wars, iu wliich the whites were not always the
aggressors, unavoidably ensued. European policy, numbers and skill
prevailed. As the white poi)uliition advanced, that of the Indians
receded. The country in the immediate neighborhood of agriculturists
became unfit for them. The game fled to thicker and more unbroken
forests, and the Indians followed. . . . Tliat law which regulates,
and ought to regulate in general, the relations between the conquerer
and the coucjuered, was inapplicable to a people under such circum-
stances. ' '

The Indians were therefore treated by the English colonists as mere
occupants, or tenants. In lime of peace they were protected, to some
extent at least, in the possession of their lands, but were not regarded as
capable of transferring their title to others — the crown grants did that
— and in war they were expelled, when their lands were "taken by con-
quest"' without renuineration or recourse.

In some degree, the United States inherited, or copied tlic English
policy. Article IX of the Articles of Confederation gave congress the
sole right to deal with the Indians and Indian affairs, under certain
restrictions. Aiid by the act of March 1, 17SJ3, entitled "An act to regulate
trade and intercourse with the Indian tribes," it was provided:

"That no purchase or gi'ant of lands, or any title or claim thereto,
from any Indians, or nation or tribe of Indians, within the bounds of the
United States, shall be of any validity, in law or ('(|uity, unless the same
be made by treaty or convention entered into pursuant to the constitu-
tion.

Under this policy treaty followed treaty, each crowding the Indian
farther toward the setting sun. After the treaties with the Miami and
I'ottawatomi tribes in Indiana, as they left their cabins and favorite
hunting grounds along the Wabash, the Kankakee, the Tippecanoe and
tile ]Mississinewa, they cast longing looks backward toward the land which
had so long been their home, and sorrowfully bade adieu to the scenes of
llieir childhood forever. About all they have left are tlie names of the
streams and towns, which the white man has adopted. And

' ' The pale-face rears his wigwam where the Indian hunters roved.
His hatchet fells the forest fair the Indian maidens loved. ' '

CHAl^TEB III

INDIAN CHIEFS AND TREATIES

Early Miami Chiefs — Little Turtle — John B. Richardville — Legend
OF How HE Became Chief — His Characteristics — Tribal Organi-
zation — War Chiefs — Shepoconaii — Fr.\ncis Godfroy — How he
WAS Chosen War Chief — His Family — His Death and Will-
Gabriel Godfroy — Pottawatomi Chiefs — Treaties with the Pot-
tawatomi — Treaties with the Miamis — Pull Text of the Great
Treaty of 1838 — Schedule of Indian Land Grants — Treaty op
1840 — The White Man in Possession.

Little is known of the ;\lianii chiefs prior to July 3, 1748. On that
date a treaty was concluded at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, between the
chiefs of several tribes on one side and commissioners appointed by the
English colonial autliorities on the other. In this treaty, which was
merely one of peace and friendship, the name of A-gue-naek-gue appears
as principal chief of the Miamis. At that time he lived at Turtle vil-
lage, a few miles northeast of the present city of Fort Wayne. Two
other .Miami chiefs from the Wabash country also signed the treaty,
which lasted until after the establishment of the United States govern-
ment.

Aguenackgue married a ]\Iohican woman, according to the Indian
custom, and one of their sous was ]\Ie-she-ke-no-quah, or Little Turtle,
who was born at Turtle village about 1747, and who became principal
chief of the Miami nation upon the death of his father. About the time
he succeeded to the chieftainship his tribe was regarded as the leading
one in the West. His people were brave and fearless, were considered
more intelligent than those of the surrounding tribes, lived in better
habitations, possessed a greater degree of self respect, and were more
careful in their dress and habits. To be the principal chief of this
great tribe, one must have both physical and intellectual powers of a
high order.

Little Turtle was not lacking in any of the essential qualifications.
From his mother he inherited many of the superior qualities of the
Mohicans. Agile and athletic, his physical ability was not to be ques-

28

HISTORY OP MIAMI COUNTY 29

tioiit'd for a luoinciit. As a youth his inHiu'uiice was made inaiiit'est
on numerous occasions, and even the older warriors listened with
respect when he presented his views in council. After he became chief,
not only his own tribe, but also others of the Miami confcderncy. ackimwl-
edgetl him as their great leader and followed him without the slitjhtest
envy or jealousy. No military academy taught him the art of war. hut
in the management of any anuy he showed the skill of a Napoleon. His
prowess in this line is seen in the masterly manner in which lie conducted
the assault on General St. Clair's army, November 4. ITHl.- Not until
he met General Wayne, whom he designated as "tln' man who never
sleeps," did Little Turtle acknowledge defeat. He was likewise a states-
man, as well as a warrior, and was a conspicuous figure in tlie negotiation
of several of the early treaties with the Cnited States. Having once
affixed his signatiu'e to m ti'eaty. Iiis honor would not |>eruiit him to vio-
late its stipulations, and by this mean^ iu> won the confidence and esteem
of the whites. General (ieorge Washington, while president of the
Cnited States, presented him with a medal and a handsome sword, which
were buried with him at Fort Wayne, where he died on July 14, 1812.
He was buried by the white people with honors, a monument was erected
over his grave, <ind it was said of him that "he never offered or received
a bribe."

Jean l'.aj)tiste Kicluii'dviilc, commonly called John 15. Kichardville,
became principal chief of the iliainis after the death of Little Turtle. His
hulian nanu> was Pe-she-wa 'the l.vnx), a name indicative of his char-
acter — always alert and watchful for his own interests and the welfare
of his tribe. Richardville (pronounced Roosheville) was not a full-
blootl Miami. His father, a noted Fi-encb trader, .was Joseph Drouet
de Richardville, a scion of a noble family of France, and there is a tra-
dition that he was an officer in the French service in Canada before be-
coming interested in^the fur trade. His brother was a trader at Vin-
cennes, where some of his descendants still live, and who according to
Meginnis have in their possession valuable documents "which trace their
ancestry back to the year 1162."

The mother of Chief Richardville was TahJvum-wali, daughter of the
old chief Aguenackgue and a sister of Little Turtle. He was born at
the Miami village of Kekionga (Fort Wayne) about the year 1761. His
election to the chieftainship of the tribe was the result of a daring feat
that for bravery is entitled to rank with the defense of the pass at Ther-
uiopjlae or the heroic .sacrifice of .\rnold W'inkelricd. A white nuiii was
captured by a war part\- of ilia mis and brought into the Indian camp
on the Maumee river. Little Turtle's successor had not yet been chosen
and, after a consultation of the head men. the uiifoi-tunate prisoner

30 HISTORY OF .MIAMI CorXTY

was seuteuced to be buriu-d at the stake. Among the ]\Iiainis there were
some who wanted to abandon this barbarous custom and one of these was
Tah-kum-wah, the mother of Richardville. With her son she stood apart,
sileuth- watching the preparations for the sacrifice of the prisoner, who,
knowing that protestations were useless, resigned himself to his horrible
fate. The stake was planted, the captive ))ound to it securely, the fagots
piled around him, the bloodthirsty savages around him reveling in
fiendish anticipation. When all was ready the torch was applied and
the Indians "began tlu^ir awful dance of death." Then Richardville 's
mother thrust a knife into his hand and bade him assert his claims to
the chieftainship. Springing through the circle of frenzied dancers and
kicking aside the blazing fagots, Richardville (juickly severed the cords
that bound the prisoner and bore him beyond the cordon of flames. It
would probably be a difficult matter to say which was the most aston-
ished — the liberated captive or the Indians whose barbaric ceremony
had been so rudely interrupted. Jleginnis says they were "by no means
pleased at the loss of their prize, yet the young man. their favorite, for
his daring conduct, was at once esteemed as a god by the crowd, aiul
then became a chief of the first distinction and honor in the tribe."

The story then continues to the effect that Richardville 's mother took
charge of the man, placed him in a canoe, covered him with peltries and
sent him down the ilaumee under the protection of friendly Indians.
Some years later, while on his way to Washington, Richardville stopi)ed
for a few hours in a town in Ohio and while there a stranger came up to
him, gave him a warm greeting and declared himself to be the rescued
prisoner.

- The story of this dramatic incident, was related by the chief to Allen
Hamilton, the Indian agent at Fort Wayne, and has since been repeated
by several writers, all of whom describe Richardville as a young man
at the time he did the daring deed that won for him the chieftainship
of his tribe. The same authorities agree that he did not become chief
until after the death of Little Turtle, in the summer of 1812. The story
of the rescue may be true, but if Richardville was born in 1761 and did
not succeed to the chieftainship until after the death of Little Turtle,
he was therefore past fifty years of age when he became the principal
chief, civil ruler and great lawgiver of the Miamis.

There is abundant evidence, however, that for years prior to that time
he had been one of the leading men of his tribe. He was more of a diplo-
mat than a warrior, but he took part in the action that defeated General
Harmar's army in October, 1790. He was one of the Miami representa-
tTves in the council of Greenville, which resulted in the treaty of August
3, 1795 ; was one of the signers of the treaty of Fort Wayne, June 7.

HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY 31

1803, ami nf the treaty oT (Irousi'laiid. Aii<i-iisl 21. ISO."). 'J'lic tfcatics (if
1818, 1826 andl8.'i8 he signed as principal cliii'f.

Richard ville was one of tlie chiefs who received $500 from the fjov-
erniiient about 1827. with which to huild a hoii.se. To tlie apjjropriation
he added a eonsiderahK> sum of his own money and luiilt a ratlirr ])re-
tentious residence' on one of his I'esei-vations. Tlie "'Handbook" issued
by the United States Bureau of Ktimology says: "His house on the bank
of the St. Mary's, abdut four miles from Fort Wayne, was foi- many
years known as the abode of hospitality."' For a mimher of years he
conducted a lai-jre tradint; house at Fort Wayne, where he spent most
of his time, but about 1836 he removed his trading post to Wabash and
contiinied in linsincss there for some time, his wife and the younger mem-
bi^rs of the family remaining at tiie houie on the St. Mary's. The follow-
ing description of him is from the pen of Judge Horace P. Biddle, who
was personally aei|uainted with the chief for several years preeedinij
his death :

'"In stature Richardville was about five feet ten inches, with broad
shoulders, and weighed about 180 pounds. His personal appearance was
attractive and he was graceful in carriage and manner. E.xemjit from
any expression of levity, he is said to have 'preserved his dignity umlei-
all circumstances.' His nose was Roman, his eyes were of a lightish blue
and slightly protruding, his upper lip pressed firmly upon his teeth, and
the under one slightly projecting. That he was an Indian half-breed
there can be no doubt. His own statements and unvarying traditions
conclusively prove that he inherited his position through his mother, by
the laws of Indian descent, and contradict the theory that he was a
■•'renchman, who obtained the chieftainship by trickery or purchase.
In appearance he was remarkable, in that his skin was neither red nor
white, but both coloi's combined in his skin, which was mottled or spotted
red and white.''

Richardville died at his home on the St. Mary's river on August 13,
1841. The next day he was buried by the Catholic church, the services
being conducted by Father Clark, the priest from Peru, in the church
of St. Augustine. His body was first interred where the cathedi'al of
Fort Waj'ue was afterward erected, and when work on that building
was commenced his remains were removed to the Catholic ceuieteis- south
of the cit}-. His grave is marked by a marble monument placed there by
his daughters. On the east side of the monument is the inscription:
"Here rest the remains of Chief Richardville, principal chief of the
.Miami tribe of Indians. He was born at Fort Wayne, about the year
1760. Died August 13, A. I). 1841," and on the west side: "This
monument has been, erected l)v La Blonde, Sarah and Catherine,
daughters of the deceased."

32 ■ HISTORY OF JIIAMI COUNTY

Catherine, whose Indian name was Po-con-go-qua, became the wife
of Francis La Fontaine (To-pe-ah), who was the last principal chief of
the ^Miamis. Like his illustrious predecessor, he was the son of a Preuch-
niau and his mother was a Jliami. His marriage to the daughter of
Biehardville occurred when he was about twenty-one years of age, and
but a short time before the old chief's death. In that short interval he
took such interest in the welfare of the iliamis that he was unanimously
selected as chief soon after the death of his father-in-law. La Fontaine
is described as a "tall portly man, weighing about 350 pounds." His
home was on two sections of land a short distance east of the city of
Huntington. But his elevation to the position of chief came after the
treaties of 1826 and 1838, which had taken from the Miamis their lands
and humbled their pride, hence he had no opportunity to display liis
(lualifieatioiis as a leader. He accompanied his people to their new
reservation in Kansas, spent the winter there with them, and the follow-
ing spring set out to return to his home in Indiana. On the way he was
taken ill and died at Lafayette, Indiana. April 13, 1847. His remains
were taken to Huntington and interred in the Catholic cemetery.

With regard to the social and political organization of the Indian
tribes, J. N. B. Hewitt, of the United States Bureau of Ethnology, says:
■'Among the Nortli American Indians a chief may be generally defined
as a political officer whose distinctive functions are to execute the ascer-
tained' will of a definite group of jjcrsons united by the possession of a
common territory or range. . . . The clan or gens, the tribe and
confederation present more complex forms of social and political organi-
zation. The clan or gens embraces several such chieftaincies, and has
a more highly developed internal political straeture with definite land
l)oundaries. The tribe is constituted of several elans or gentes, and the
confederation of several tribes. . . . There were in several com-
munities, as the Iroquois and Greeks, civil and sub chiefs, chosen for
jicrsonal merit, and permanent and temporary war chiefs."

The social and political structure of the iliamis was very similar to
that of the Iroquois and Creeks. The principal chief was the civil ruler
and executive official of the tribe, and under him were the war chief and
the chiefs of the clans or gentes. There is a tribal tradition that at an
early date a chief named Osandiah, at the head of one division of the
]\liami tribe, left the Wabash country and established himself on the Big
Miami river in Ohio. Some time afterward he visited President Wash-
ington, who presented him with several tokens of regard. His popular-
ity with the white man 's government awakened the jealousy of some of
the other clans and Osandiah 's death followed in such a way as to give
rise to the suspicion that he had been poisoned.

HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY 33

His son Ataw-ataw then became chief aud upon his 'death was iu turn
succeeded by his son Met-o-cin-yah (or Me-to-sin-ia), who led the clan
back to Indiana, locating near the line between the present counties of
Grant and Wabash. Of his ten children Me-shin-go-me-sia, the eldest
son, became chief of the band upon the death of his father. He was
born in what is now Wabash county, about the time of the Revolutionary
war, according to Indian tradition, and lived until December, 1879. At
the battle of the Mississinewa, December 18, 1812, he distinguished him-
.self by his bravery and qualities as a leader, but at his death the band had
become so decimated that the chiel'tainship perished.

From this tradition it appears that at least some of the minor chiefs
inherited their honors, though the known history of the tribe shows that
L'liii'fs were frequently selected for their intellectual ability, or as a
reward for the performance of some noteworthy action, as in the case of
Richardville.

In Little Turtle the functions of civil ruler and war chief were com-
bined. After his death, when Richardville became the principal chief,
the mantle of the war chief fell upon She-po-con-ah. later known as
the Deaf i\lan, who was the husband of Frances Slocum, the white woman
mentioned in another chapter. Shepoconah is described as a large,
heavy set man and a great warrior until his hearing became affected.
His headciuarters were at the Osage village, near the mouth of the
Mississinewa river, until he retired from the chieftainship, when he went
farther up the river and built a log house, where a settlement grew
up that became known as "the Deaf Man's village." He died iu the
early '30s and was buried on a knoll a few hundred yards from his
dwelling. Graham, in his History of IMiami County, says that Shepo-
conah i)artieipated iu the battle of Fort Wayne, August 20, 1794; the
battle of Tippecanoe, November 7, 1811, and the battle of the Mississi-
newa, December 18, 1812. In the last named engagement he was one of
the leaders of the Indian forces against Colonel Campbel